Issue 39, November 2003
Eating your sweets? Had a look at the 12 all-new playable demos on the disc yet? Had a flick through the XIII comic? Seen the world exclusive Medal of Honor: Rising Sun review? Or the world exclusive Club Football review? Checked for your golden ticket to see if you’ve won £5000? Only with OPS2 are these things possible.
What is also possible is getting your opinions in the biggest selling games mag. We’re after boys and girls capable of writing the sort of hilarious and yet well judged nonsense we knock out every month. Fancy it? Then send me a sample (of your writing…) And if you’d rather appear than write, we’re also looking for people willing to travel here to Bath and tell us what they think of pre-release games. Fancy it? Then drop me a line telling me why you’d be perfect for the job.
And if you’re wondering why I’m in cartoon form, it’s to celebrate the XIII comic. We love that cel-shaded look so we had Ubisoft doodle us up – check out all the section intro pages. Better than the real thing, that’s for sure.
Richard Keith, Editor
Features
Are you a Lord of the Rings? – This feature rates how big a Lord of the Rings fan the reader is, in anticipation of The Return of the King. The categories range from absolute newbie to superfan who knows the most minor characters, who only have one line of dialogue but entire backstories gleaned from supplementary materials.
OPS2 VS The Playstation Experience – The annual visit to the Playstation Experience. As well as the pre-release games and competitions, there’s a fair bit of misfortune, including Fitz’s fighting game commentating career being brought to an abrupt end when the game crashed twice, Tim having a half-eaten sausage thrown at him and then stealing a Coke can out of impatience, and the team being mistaken for the staff of another Playstation magazine.
Monthly Articles
Funny Nicknames – This month, everyone names their favourite comic character, in honour of XIII.
“Oh Good Gawd!” – The worst promotional item sent to the magazine. This month, Digital Fantasy Painting, a guide for creating digital paintings of fantasy artwork.
Previews
Tony Hawk’s Underground – “Every year we ponder how Neversoft will improve the Tony Hawk’s games, and every year it shames us like fickle disciples. Pure, playable genius with a nod towards GTA. Sounds good? No, it’s better.” Meltdown
Worms 3D – “Worms 3D is the first Worms game that hasn’t trapped us in a social-life-destroying mantrap. But we’re prepared to give it more time to burrow into our system. It might be a grower.” Warm
Ratchet and Clank 2: Locked and Loaded – “R&C 2 promises another mouth-watering feast of sci-fi flavoured action. However, it seems to be rather similar to its predecessor. Will it be eclipsed by the fresh and footloose Jak 2: Renegade?” Hot
SSX 3 – “SSX 3 is prettier than the first snowstorm of winter and tighter than Elise’s cheek-caressing salopettes. Grab your board, don a fetching hat and embrace it like the Second Coming.” Meltdown
Ford Racing 2 – “Low expectations have been kicked into touch by a decent racer with neat challenges. That said, in a field packed with competitors, is ‘decent’ enough to win Ford Racing 2 a following?” Warm
Rogue Ops – “Rogue Ops wins nil points in the originality stakes. However, we’ve got to admit it’s a darn sight more competently produced than at least one of the games it borrows from. (That’ll be Tomb Raider.)” Warm
Onimusha 3 – “Onimusha 3 couldn’t be looking any better. Far from detracting from the original formula, the dual-hero system should make for double the action and, with any luck, twice the game.” Boiling
Gran Turismo 4 – “Gran Turismo 4 remains one of our ‘most wanted’ for 2004. We’re still to be convinced by the online mode, but with 100 tracks, over 500 cars and much improved visuals, how can this fail?” Meltdown
World Rally Championship 3 – “While WRC 3 isn’t going to shock anyone, it’s come up with the goods yet again. There certainly seems to be more than enough here to keep WRC fans on the edge of their bucket seats.” Hot
Ghosthunter – “Ghosthunter is a good prospect. As it stands, it has moments of brilliance and of frustration in equal parts, but just how much gameplay can there be in capturing ghost after ghost?” Warm
Updates for Dancing Stage Fever, XIII, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Pop Idol, NHL Hitz Pro, Secret Weapons Over Normandy, Beyond Good and Evil and Maximo VS The Army of Zin.
Reviews
Pro Evolution Soccer 3 – “The most fun you’ll have with 22 tiny men. The perfect football game demands the perfect OPS2 score.” 10/10
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun – “From the attack on Pearl Harbor to the jungles of the South Sea islands, Rising Sun is a must-play.” 9/10
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds – “It plays like an interactive episode of the vamp-tastic TV series. Essential for fans but not quite in Resi’s class.” 7/10
Jak 2: Renegade – “The rarest of videogame animals – an epic treat with quality that soars throughout. You need this game.” 9/10
Bomberman Kart – “The only kart game this conjures up is one that’s driven by men in orange overalls and filled with rubbish.” 4/10
Hunter: The Reckoning Wayward – “A satisfying blend of hack-and-massacre gameplay and decaying minions. Not perfect but gratifying.” 7/10
Finding Nemo – “A cracking story and oh-so-cute characters but the wet wanderings are far too simplistic for our liking.” 5/10
The King of Route 66 – “Wears its arcade origins with pride but the lack of a chunky cabinet leaves limited appeal.” 6/10
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter – “A respectable outing for the veteran series, but there are far superior examples of the genre on offer.” 6/10
Freaky Flyers – “The mini-games are cool, but it’s not quite enough to justify such a big chunk of your hard-earned cash.” 6/10
Hardware: Online Arena – “One idea, but a good one. Its success rests firmly in the online arena. See you on the battlefield.” 7/10
Chess Challenger – “Despite a lack of thrills and presentation, CC manages to be cheap and rather cheerful to boot.” 6/10
Motorsiege: Warriors of Prime Time – “A pleasant surprise. Original it ain’t but there’s plenty to like and at a tenner this is virtually a risk-free deal.” 7/10
Everquest Online Adventures – “Everquest offers perhaps the purest role-playing opportunity in gamedom – so what’s not to like?” 8/10
Reel Fishing 3 – “Of course it’s not a patch on the ‘reel’ thing, but RF3 does land praise for its detail and gentle atmosphere.” 6/10
My Street – “A larger scale to the online activity and more mini-games would have helped to raise this above the bar.” 6/10
Club Football – “Lacks some depth in gameplay but still a must-buy for non PES-loving fans of the teams involved.” 7/10
Rugby 2004 – “Sloppy work from the masters of presentation, and as hollow as an over-inflated ball.” 4/10
Gallop Racer 2003 – “Simply too dull. Even the most dedicated horse-heads will have trouble staying in the saddle for long.” 3/10
Road Rage 3 – “Seriously low rent ‘racing’. It’s bloody cheap, but in more ways than one.” 1/10
Cool Shot – “There aren’t any other pool games for £9 on PS2. But that’s no reason to buy this.” 3/10
Home Run – “Awful baseball sim. Even rich people with lots of £8.99s to burn shouldn’t buy this.” 2/10
Alter Echo – “However pioneering certain aspects are, the good work is lost in a distortion of crass visuals and sheer linearity.” 6/10
Wallace and Gromit: Project Zoo – “This won’t win any awards, but bigger games should take note of the simple, effective characterisation.” 6/10
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists of the Roses – “A worthy addition to the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! and a must for fans of card games. We prefer Top Trumps.” 6/10
AFL Live 2004 – “It’s niche for sure but it’s a fair dinkum adaptation of this Antipodean oddity.” 6/10
Bionicle – “Bionicle fans may get a kick out of this but they, and us, deserve a tighter platformer.” 5/10
Boxing Champions – “It’s not Rocky or Knockout Kings but as a budget bruiser it’s worth a punt.” 6/10
Bust-a-Bloc – “Basically a tarted-up Super Breakout clone that goes in to bat with some aplomb.” 6/10
Hardcore
Walkthroughs for Soul Calibur 2, Colin McRae Rally 4, Conflict Desert Storm 2 and Freedom Fighters, plus Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter, Silent Hill 3, The Great Escape, Dead to Rights, Whirl Tour and Starsky and Hutch.
Disc Content
Playable Demos
Jak 2: Renegade
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Conflict: Desert Storm 2
Beyond Good and Evil
Judge Dredd: Dredd VS Death
My Street
The Italian Job: LA Heist
Freestyle Metal X
Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure
World War Zero: Ironstorm
Rolling
Footage
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
FIFA 2004
Ghosthunter
Hardware: Online Arena
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
Whiplash
Trivia
* There are 12 playable demos this month, but I only listed 11. What gives? The Italian Job is two separate demos, one each for the racing and stunt modes. Rather odd that there wouldn’t be one demo that includes both modes, as you’d expect.
* As the editor’s letter states, the profile images this month are drawn in the XIII art style instead of using the usual photographs.
* Fun fact, unrelated to the magazine: Ubisoft is recognised as a word when I’m typing this, and yet Playstation isn’t. Go figure.
* OPS2 had an impact on the development of Rogue Ops. Following criticism of the protagonist Nikki Connors looking too much like Lara Croft when the game was covered in issue 37, the developer redesigned the character to make her look more different, the most notable changes being blonde hair, some stylish glasses and smaller (but still pretty big) breasts. To confirm that this wasn’t a coincidence, a member of the development team emailed the magazine explaining the change, while showing off the new design.
* Pro Evolution Soccer 2 ran an ad campaign comparing it to a religion. For Pro Evo 3, OPS2 get in on the fun by running with the Cult of PES, including followers, non-believers, a place of worship, and even the Ten Commandments (Example: “Thou shalt forgive those who buy FIFA for they know not what they do”.) It’s hilarious, if slightly sinister. Pro Evo 3 also starts the series off on a run of annual 10/10s that wouldn’t be broken until Pro Evolution Soccer 2008.
* Road Rage 3 was developed by Atlus. Yes, that Atlus, of Persona fame! They must have seen Driving Emotion Type S, rival JRPG developer Square’s attempt at a racing game, and thought “Hold my sake.”
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelists of the Roses out-wacky-spinoffs WWE Crush Hour. The plot involves Yugi and his various friends and enemies LARPing the Wars of the Roses (A civil war in which two rival houses, the Lancastrians and Yorkists, fought over the claim to the English throne) via the medium of card games. Naturally since this is Yu-Gi-Oh!, ancient forbidden magic is heavily involved.
* I’ve been bemoaning the lad content for the last few months, and this month, that new approach reaches its nadir, with the infamous Rate Your Mate. On the back page of this issue, you will find a picture of reader Filip’s girlfriend Karolina, and she’s naked, with copies of the magazine included in the photo to barely cover her modesty. I’m not going to include a photo of the page, partly because I’m not really comfortable with the ethics of sharing a stranger’s nudes, and partly because someone else has probably already done it anyway, so if you’re curious, you can look for it yourselves. Anyway, this article is the primary thing the magazine is remembered for, and by extension, the reason why it isn’t remembered nearly as fondly as the original PSOne incarnation of the magazine, which is quite sad in my opinion. It’s actually part of the reason I started this project, to show off the magazine as a whole, not just the bit that should be on the Never Live It Down page of TV Tropes. For the sake of the person who suggested this article, I hope Twitter doesn’t find it and do some digging, or that writer would be blacklisted from the industry before they could say “It was a different time!”
Quote of the Month: “I like playing games. Sounds like a strange thing for a games journalist to be saying, but there it is.” Frankly, we could do with this sort of reassurance nowadays!
Cover price: £5.49
Page Count: 146
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