Issue 66 (December 2005)

                                                                Issue 66, December 2005

Editor’s letter
       There was a time – about ten days ago, actually – when the words ‘interactive movie’ were enough to make a right-thinking gamer chew through their tongue. The description was a contradiction in terms. Like ‘funny comedienne’ or ‘delicious salad.’ And in most cases, it was shorthand for a gameplay ratio of one button press to every half hour of lavish cut-scene watched. [Insert your own Metal Gear joke here.] But now, brothers and – fingers crossed – sisters, we stand at the dawn of a new age. King Kong is an interactive movie, but in all the right ways. It’s a perfect blend of storytelling and action, delivered with Hollywood production values and a real sense of drama. More than that, it’s a brave game. Check out the lack of on-screen meters and bars. Or the fact that you can actually play as the super-sized ape; and rather than a gimmick, it feels like Prince of Persia meets Walking With Dinosaurs. But don’t take my word for it, stick this month’s massive demo on and find out for yourself – then devour the exclusive review that starts on page 74. Of course, I’ll understand if you get distracted by our majestic PS3 feature on the way. Gaze long at the first shots of Devil May Cry 4 and gaze hard. You won’t find them anywhere else. We’ve also got a brilliant dissection of the MGS4 trailer and loads more new PS3 titles for your perusal. Back in the now it’s all about PS2 and PSP. And as ever we’ve got a barrage of exclusive reviews lined up for you, including From Russia With Love, Soul Calibur III and the handheld version of Pro Evo 5 – head to page 96 for the surprising verdict. With a few hours to spare, we jetted over to Florida for the unveiling of Superman Returns. See how the Man of Steel’s looking on page 38, and if the answer is ‘nervous’, that’s probably because Kong has now set the bar for movie-based games so high.
                                                            Tim Clark, Associate Editor

Features
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? – Superman Returns

PS3 for all – The latest PS3 announcements and screenshots. Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4 and the first appearance of Assassin’s Creed lead the charge.

Monthly Articles
Funny Nicknames – This month, who’s your favourite monkey?

Could be a Classic – This month, Loco Roco, the other weird Japanese ball-rolling favourite.

Replay – Online reviews for 187 Ride or Die, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, Rainbow Six: Lockdown and Virtua Tennis, and what the other mags said about Resident Evil 4, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Burnout Legends and FIFA 2006.

OPS2 Investigates – This month, The 50 best downloads to stick on your PSP today. The best one is a copy of the cursed video from The Ring. You never know when it might come in useful…

                                                            This month's Save Point.

Monitor
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories – “The fact that this is shaping up to be a complete GTA experience in your pocket is exciting enough, but the multiplayer is brain-fusingly exciting. Could make all other PSP multiplayer games redundant.” Meltdown

Urban Reign – “It’s a brawler with brawn and brains. With meaty, satisfying fighting and eccentric weapon play this is shaping up to be a nice surprise for early 2006. If you can call a bottle over the head a nice surprise.” Boiling

Driver: Parallel Lines – “The car dynamics, physics engine and retro-cool setting are all there – now all Reflections has to do is craft a game around them. Shouldn’t be too hard, should it? Erm, should it?” Hot

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers – “With significant changes to the already satisfying tactical combat, this has the making of a great sequel. Assuming the controls maintain their simplicity, this should be worth a second tour.” Hot

Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence – “Even if you own the original it’ll be worth trading it in for this. The online mode is a blast and there are more extras than you can shake your snake at. And that third disc? It’s essentially Metal Gear: The Movie.” Meltdown

Sonic Riders – “Like a flatter, super-fast SSX, Sonic Riders seems to be defying our misgivings offer a game that’s actually amazingly good fun. Still nowhere near as fast as Burnout though, but what is?” Warm

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus – “Final Fantasy goes all shooter-shaped, and the results are promising. But developer Square-Enix has gotta get the action right, or it’ll be no (20-sided) dice from us.” Hot

Field Commander – “Turn-based strategy that’s looking very promising.” Hot

PS2 Reviews
King Kong – “A brilliant action adventure that could well be the world’s first classic movie tie-in. Innovative and flawlessly paced.” 9/10

Star Wars Battlefront II – “This is a rollicking, if flawed, Star Wars combat game. Not got broadband? You may want to lop off a point.” 8/10

The Warriors – “An enjoyable beat-‘em-up that does the movie justice. But there’s little more than a basic scrolling brawler under all the great ideas.” 7/10

WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2006 – “We expected a humble roster update. Instead we got a game so comprehensive it renders every previous wrestling title redundant.” 9/10

The Sims 2 – “Filled with neat innovations and bringing a real focus to its story-mode gameplay, The Sims 2 is the best console God sim yet.” 8/10

Ultimate Spider-Man – “This could’ve been stunning, but after a strong start, the story and missions descend into repetitive, formulaic play.” 7/10

SSX On Tour – “SSX still rules the snowboard scene, but On Tour fails to live up to its predecessors. Hopefully PS3 SSX will redress the balance.” 8/10

The Matrix: Path of Neo – “Fun on a kicking-people-in-the-face level, but below the surface this is as shallow as groping a computer-generated lady.” 7/10

From Russia With Love – “The best Bond film becomes the best Bond game on PS2. Like all the best entertainment, it’s simple, undemanding and enjoyable.” 8/10

Jak X – “This is not Jak 4. It’s just a kart racer, albeit a quality one with bags of online potential.” 7/10

LMA Manager 2006 – “Restrictive in-match options, but LMA is a better bet than Champ Man and succeeds in creating a deep, enjoyable footy experience.” 8/10

Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves – “A brilliant adventure with more ideas in its little digital finger than some games manage in a whole disc. An essential purchase.” 9/10

X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse – “A game that’s forgotten it’s about superheroes. They’re supposed to be spectacular, aren’t they? This isn’t.” 6/10

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects – “With its horrible looks, non-existent gameplay and shallow controls, every possible effort should be made to avoid this.” 2/10

Soul Calibur III – “Calibur makes every other fighting game feel outmoded. Only our reservations over the new strategy element prevent a perfect score.” 9/10

Eyetoy Play 3 – “If you’ve never played an Eyetoy title before then this probably isn’t the best place to start. New ideas needed next time please.” 6/10

Xenosaga Episode II – “More story than game, Xenosaga II just about prevails in spite of itself as a title worth witnessing… for the patient.” 7/10

Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland – “Underneath the mixed bag of superfluous trimmings lies a game that’s still highly playable despite feeling very familiar.” 7/10

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood – “It’s a great shooter, especially if you want to use your brains as much as your ammo, but it doesn’t quite add enough as a sequel.” 7/10

American Chopper – “A raggedy-ass pointless cash-in that offers little to anyone and stinks like a fat biker’s leathers on a sunny day.” 4/10

Capcom Classics Collection – “A nice enough – but very brief – trip down memory lane, which would be better value stripped down and bundled as an extra with a more modern game, or on PSP.” 5/10

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi – “Closely in tune with the spirit of the DBZ universe, which must be brilliant for some gamers, but if that means nothing to you then neither will this game.” 5/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee – “From heroes in half shells to zeroes in bargain bins – this is a tawdry effort and should be justifiably ignored by all but the criminally insane.” 2/10

Ninjabread Man – “A basic and old-fashioned platformer, but Breadman has just a smidge of old-skool charm that makes it mildly likeable and just about passable.” 5/10

Dancing Stage Max – “No reinvention of the wheel, but the wheel remains firmly unbuckled and turning… good stuff for the fleet-footed.” 7/10

Anubis II – “Platform games like this were ten a penny a decade ago and have no place on a PS2 in 2005. Leave well alone.” 4/10

Trixie in Toyland – “This might have appealed to young kids who have 20 bucks to spend were it not for the rough edges and lack of, well, fun.” 4/10

Mini Desktop Racing – “Buy some toy cars and push them around your actual desktop with a pen – faster, and considerably more fun.” 3/10

Rugby Challenge 2006 – “Annoying flaws aside, this is an enjoyable sim with some brilliant touches – decent AI, great controls, smooth action. Certainly worth a try.” 7/10

NBA Live 2006 – “Shoot a hoop, defend, repeat to fade. NBA Live 2006 is an enjoyable update, but one that only the most ardent of fans will appreciate.” 7/10

PSP Reviews
Pro Evolution Soccer 5 – “It’s Pro Evo no doubt about it, and it’s a thrill to have it in portable format – it just ain’t quite right at the moment.” 8/10

The Lord of the Rings Tactics – “Take away the goodwill generated by the movies and the flaws in Tactics begin to show. There’s fun here, but not a lot of it.” 6/10

Namco Museum Battle Collection – “Playing this retro collection will only make you realise how much the present day rocks. It’s safe to say that these are best avoided.” 2/10

Disc Content
Playable Demos
King Kong
Ratchet: Gladiator
Spartan: Total Warrior
FIFA 2006
Genji
Evil Dead: Regeneration
Shrek Super Slam
LA Rush
Asterix and Obelix XXL 2
Dancing Stage Max
The Sims 2
Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves
Spytoy

Footage
Colosseum: Road to Freedom
Eyetoy Play 3
Hello Kitty: Roller Rescue
Jak X
Pursuit Force

Trivia
* Sometimes during particularly busy months, the magazine would have a few extra pages, but this issue is the last one to have more pages than usual.
* The full title of King Kong is Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. Sod typing that out more than once!
* This is the first issue for new games editor Ben ‘Babus’ Wilson.
* PSP coverage is now moved back into the main body of the magazine instead of having its own short section.
* “…From now on, we’re going to use the phrase ‘doing a Bond’ as a way of describing games that are ideal for filling desolate weekends.” I checked the remaining issues, and this phrase never comes up again. God, I’m lonely.
* If there's an Anubis II, is there an Anubis 1? If there is, why is the sequel literally (as in true, not as in exaggerated for emphasis) a re-skin of another game?
* Starting this month, PSP games are added to the Incoming page. Games are now highlighted to indicate whether they’re on PS2 or PSP, instead of the old Buy Me, Try Me, Avoid Me scale.
* On the back page, there’s a Crap Games Quiz, where you must match up games with the correct subtitle and review quote. Klonoa 2 in in there…

                                                            Why do I hear boss music?

Quote of the Month: “It’s either a game or a 1970s sex education cartoon.” This caption accompanies an especially suggestive Loco Roco screenshot. Alternatively, I need to get my mind out of the gutter...

Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 162