Issue 60, June 2005
Editor’s letter
I’ve mostly been wondering about what Jose Mourinho would do. Specifically, I’ve been wondering how the Portuguese firebrand would impose his brand of man-management on the world’s finest videogames magazine. The answer is this: he would give the team a rousing, inspirational speech. So rousing, that some would shed a silent tear. Then he would send them off like attack dogs trained to hunt down the juiciest games. They would return swiftly, clutching screenshots of SSX 4, Ultimate Spider-Man and Call of Duty: Big Red One in their teeth. But that wouldn’t be enough for Jose. He’d also want the scoop on the biggest thing to happen to shooting since Heckler met Koch. The game is called Black, it’s from the Burnout boys, and it’s going to rock your world. But Jose still wouldn’t be happy. He’d also want to interview 50 Cent, flog more PSPs for under a fiver and bring you even more exclusive shots of Tomb Raider: Legend and Hitman: Blood Money – plus the first everything on Onimusha 4 and Burnout on PSP. Yup, all that stuff, and everything else you’ve come to expect. Like the best reviews in the business (God of War and Area 51 are both ‘must buys’) and the only DVD that actually lets you play games. He’d also want to do something special for the loyal fans. Like setting up a readers-only website, stuffed with top secret game footage. Ultimately though, Jose isn’t calling the shots… I am. Which means ‘phase three’ of my plan for global domination is complete, and you can expect more madness like this next month. One thing’s for sure, this mag really is the ‘special one.’ Enjoy.
Tim Clark, Associate Editor
Features
Surprise! – This feature includes a number of upcoming games that take big deviations from what came before, including Tomb Raider: Legend, Jak X, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Ratchet: Gladiator and more.
Black – Black
OPS2 Raps With Fiddy Cent – An interview with 50 Cent to discuss his game, 50 Cent: Bulletproof.
Please Love Me! – Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams.
Monthly Articles
Funny Nicknames – This month, what is the loudest noise you’ve ever heard?
Could be a Classic – This month, Spytoy. Turn your Eyetoy into a spy camera that can record everything it sees!
Replay – Walkthroughs for Gran Turismo 4 and Lego Star Wars, online reviews for Timesplitters: Future Perfect, Project Snowblind and Brother in Arms: Road to Hill 30, what the other mags said about Midnight Club 3, Devil May Cry 3 and Full Spectrum Warrior, and The Boot Room.
OPS2 Investigates – This month, How to make your girl love games in just 5 days. A guide to get non-gamer girlfriends into the hobby, just in case you need it.
Did We Really? – OPS2 dig up their old shames to point and laugh at them. This month, did we really give Grand Theft Auto 3 8/10?
Monitor
Hitman: Blood Money – “Previous Hitman games have all been hugely under-appreciated classics. Blood Money looks set to be the pinnacle of the series, with its deep in-game modification, lush looks and intelligent stealth action.” Meltdown
Burnout Revenge – “Bigger, better, faster, more is the motto for Burnout Revenge. Bigger crashes, better looks, noticeably faster and loads more tracks. No matter how speedy it is, Revenge can’t get here quickly enough.” Meltdown
Total Overdose – “Anything this insanely OTT has our attention.” Hot
Fahrenheit – “For a game named after a measurement of heat, it’s fitting to rate this one ‘hot’. It’s looking like a gory tale well told, but there’s a slight doubt that the clever control system masks an average adventure game.” Hot
Crime Life – “Looking about as hardcore as Blazin’ Squad.” Warm
Shadow the Hedgehog – “Sonic’s a huge star but he always was a bit of a wuss. Whether or not big guns fire Shadow to similar heights of spiky mammalian fame depends on how well the new arsenal works with the old gameplay.” Warm
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects – “Marvel Nemesis is probably our most wanted superhero game. The mix of Def Jam-styled fighting and the coolest/toughest/sexiest/weirdest Marvel heroes ever created is downright irresistible.” Boiling
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones – “Another outing for one of our favourite gaming heroes – like we wouldn’t be excited. They just need to get the stealth right and ditch Warrior Within’s ‘angry’ take on proceedings, or there’ll be hell to pay.” Meltdown
Without Warning – “Ready to leave the shadows and start shooting? Us too.” Hot
Final Fantasy XII – “Okay, so maybe we’re reading too much into it. But shades of Star Wars mean this could be the best crowd of heroes to have ever populated an RPG. A full hands-on in the coming months will answer that question.” Hot
Jaws Unleashed – “Playing as the shark will offer all sorts of people-eating potential. Free-roaming missions as the largest sea predator sound great, but if ‘being’ Jaws doesn’t feel right, this could well be a fish out of water.” Warm
Reviews
God of War – “If this doesn’t make Ancient Greece the new LA we’ll want to know what’s up. It’s one of the best games you’ll see this year.” 9/10
Monster Hunter – “Playing without a network connection doesn’t do Monster Hunter justice. You must play online to get the full experience.” 7/10
Area 51 – “Area 51 is atmospheric, fun, challenging, amusing, exciting and impressively gory by turns. Arguably the best shooter on PS2.” 9/10
Dynasty Warriors 5 – “Feeling old and out of date, there’s been almost zero evolution over previous games in the series. One for the most hardcore fans only.” 6/10
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – “While not broken, this doesn’t really bring anything new to the third-person shooter party. Deeply average, with only the occasional flash of style.” 4/10
CT Special Forces: Fire for Effect – “While rough around the edges and generic, CTSF rattles along with enough pace and brainless arcade action to make it a fairly decent laugh. Worth a rental.” 6/10
Championship Manager 5 – “CM5 lacks the flair of other ‘console’ management games and relies on a fairly small player database. Good then, but not that great.” 7/10
Moto GP 4 – “As technically polished as ever, Moto GP 4 is now much more accessible too. Recommended, even if you’re not a fan of bikes.” 8/10
Predator: Concrete Jungle – “The Predator name is ripe with potential, but Concrete Jungle squanders it to make a completely unrewarding experience.” 3/10
SRS: Street Racing Syndicate – “SRS pursues the pack, but never gets its nose into the lead. And the novelty extras do little to raise the score, either.” 6/10
Jimmy Neutron: Attack of the Twonkies – “Polished but average, the well worked flow is let down by a few annoying controls. Not a bad buy for £20, though.” 6/10
Master Chess – “Pushes real hard for title of Worst PS2 Game Ever. We’ve only given it a point because chess itself has been around for ages. Awful.” 1/10
Pinball Fun – “There’s a few minutes’ joy to be strangled out of this mess but it mainly involves twatting the table with the ‘tilt’ function. Avoid.” 2/10
Choro Q – “A cutesy kiddie racer that thinks it can take on the pros. But the mess of ideas and no content to make them work turns this one into a car crash.” 4/10
XII Stag – “Let’s be clear about this – XII Stag isn’t very good at all, hoping to get by with retro charm alone. But as a bargain buy it’s not entirely useless.” 5/10
Volleyball Challenge – “This game made us so angry we actually punched a desk. This not-at-all-worth-it 20 quid purchase has scarred us both mentally and physically.” 1/10
Winnie the Pooh’s Rumbly Tumbly Adventure – “Boring spoon-fed adventure, tied to a cute toy box that will keep younger fans of Pooh happy on rainy afternoons.” 5/10
Motorbike King – “Merits a three because it has the merest dash of ambition, but remains deeply rubbish. Do. Not. Play. This. Game. Ever.” 3/10
Energy Airforce – “Promising, up until the point at which the game begins. And what the hell does ‘Energy Airforce’ mean anyway?” 3/10
Aces of War – “The only game ever to ask us “Do you want to sally forth?” as an actual menu option. Complete rubbish in every way.” 2/10
Disc Content
Playable Demos
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
SRS: Street Racing Syndicate
Singstar Popworld
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer
CT Special Forces: Fire for Effect
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe
Stolen
Robots
Footage
Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance
LA Rush
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
Without Warning
Alien Hominid
Area 51
Resident Evil Outbreak: File 2
Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 Remix
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Goal of the Month
Game Saves
Gran Turismo 3
Jak and Daxter
Final Fantasy X
Kingdom Hearts
Killzone
Spider-Man 2
Need for Speed Underground 2
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Trivia
* Another new letters page feature this month: Reader Face Off, in which two readers argue for and against a certain topic, with OPS2 declaring the winner. On an unrelated note, someone also sent in an envelope full of hair.
* Gaydar: This month, Daniel Gay writes in brag about convincing a child to sell him a copy of Devil May Cry for £2.20, before selling it on at a £3.80 profit. You think that’s impressive? Well, I once bought a copy of Manhunt 2 for £1 and sold it on for £13, so there!
* Speaking of Daniel, another reader writes in having noticed his regular letters and asking if someone else could get a chance to be printed.
* At this stage of development, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is following in the grimdark footsteps of Warrior Within, but the edginess was luckily reined in by the time the game was finished. Between this and the Prince’s new design for Warrior Within coming pretty late in development, Ubi Soft sure do like leaving things until the last minute, don’t they?
* God of War came very close to a 10/10. The review states that the exact moment one point was knocked off the score came in one of the last levels, during the infamous ‘climbing up a rotating spiky pole’ bit.
* It’s around this point that the novelty of Dynasty Warriors wears off, and the review scores will only decline further as more games are released.
* Strangely, Energy Airforce is reviewed after Energy Airforce: Air Strike from Issue 58, which I assume is the sequel to this game due to the addition of a subtitle.
* After the Hot 100’s break last month, OPS2 take the opportunity to give it a complete overhaul. This month, there are no less than 19 new entries, a mix of clearing the backlog from the last couple of issues, and some older games entering or re-entering the list.
* This issue sees the first appearance of Lisa Ralph, OPS2’s go-to model for feature photos. Here, she plays the girlfriend for the photos in the How to make your girl love games in 5 days feature. She really is very attractive, so luckily we’ll be seeing more of her over the coming issues!
Quote of the Month: “Ay wass crackalackin?” Oh, stewardess? I speak jive.
Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 146
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