Issue 90 (October 2007)

                                                               Issue 90, October 2007

Editor’s letter
       Please allow me to introduce you to your all-new OPS2.
       We’ve overhauled the entire magazine from the front cover to the back page, and we think you’ll love the results!
       The design’s changed and the pages are stuffed with dozens of new features, but one thing most certainly hasn’t changed: the passion we share with you for Playstation 2 gaming.
       As ever, we’ll be scrutinising the latest and greatest games out there under the OPS2 microscope.
       And what better way to kick off our new look than with a hands-on preview of The Simpsons? Head to p50 for the first verdict.
       And as well as covering the most exciting of today’s games, we also celebrate PS2’s distinguished heritage.
       If you’re not sure which great game to play next, check out the OPS2 Hall of Fame where you’ll find our all-time top 100 PS2 games. Another must-read is our celebration of 20 years of Metal Gear Solid.
       There’s plenty more besides. Enjoy!
                                                                        Nick Ellis, Editor

Features
A Great Game At Last – The Simpsons Game

Wii has a Problem… – Realplay, a collection of Wii-competing games, each with their own motion-sensing controller.

20 Years of Metal Gear – A look at the character casts of all the Metal Gear Solid games and their roles in each story.

Monthly Articles
Google Fight – Game characters or series battle it out via Google Fight. This month, Scooby Doo defeats Parappa the Rapper in a surprisingly close match, with 2,370,000 hits to 1,550,000.

Mouth Piece – A staff member gives their view on a particular topic. This month, Sophie is more excited for Guitar Hero 3 than Rock Band.

The World According to Playstation – Issue 82’s Around the World in 80 Games returns as a monthly feature, with various locations around a specific theme. This month, aliens.

Reader Reviews – This month, Final Fantasy X2, Scarface: The World is Yours, Hitman: Blood Money, Burnout 3: Takedown and Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

Your Game in Lights – Readers submit their own game ideas. This month, The Circus, where you run a circus, Halfbound, in which you must kill the devil to break a curse, Manhunt 3: Search for the Lambs, in which Daniel Lamb tracks down his relatives, and Xbox Hunter. You’ll never guess what you do in that one!

The Level – Celebrating the PS2’s best levels. This month, Mos Eisley Spaceport from Lego Star Wars 2.

The PS2 Games you Should Own – PS2 cult classics. This month, Yakuza.

The Greatest – This month, crimes.

Unsung Hero – PS2’s best characters. This month, Harman Smith from Killer 7.

Quit or Retry? – OPS2 debate gaming questions. This month, does the first game you play in a series always end up being your favourite? Nick says yes, Andy says no.

OPS2-O-Meter – Unlike the old version, which highlighted the best and worst moments of each month, now it measures games along a certain theme. This month, violence.

Scene Stealer – PS2’s best scenes. This month, Vayne’s boss transformation in Final Fantasy XII.

Brief History – Another returning feature, though it’s only a column now instead of multiple pages. This month, Spider-Man.

Collector’s Item – Gaming merchandise. This month, a statue of Cloud on his motorcycle.

Great Game Ingredients – What goes into the best games? This month, Silent Hill.

Top 10 – This month, stupid game names.

Playstation Workout – Get into a gaming genre through four games of increasing difficulty. This month, stealth. Easy – Hitman: Blood Money. Medium – Shadow of Rome. Hard – Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Killer – Metal Gear Solid 3.

Top Chumps – PS2’s worst characters. This month, Ethan Waber from Phantasy Star Universe. OPS2 once described him as being so lame, “he can never ever get laid, not even if he rescued a pram from rolling into heavy traffic.”

The Year in Playstation – This month, 1995. The Best – Tekken. The Worst – Street Fighter: The Movie. Underrated – Warhawk. Overhyped – Battle Arena Toshinden. Forgotten – X-COM: UFO Defense. Never Again! - Myst

Playstation Education – Demonstrating various examples of a certain item in PS2 games. This month, fashion.

Split Screen – Playing a game two different ways. This month, Hitman: Blood Money in silent assassin and deranged slayer styles.

Previews
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
The Sims 2 Castaway
Jackass
Ratatouille
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Prototype
Alien VS Predator: Requiem
Sega Rally
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

PS2 Reviews
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights – “A surprising success, Juiced 2 is a glamorous, feature-rammed racer with variety by the hood-scoop load and mass appeal.” 8/10

Stuntman Ignition – “If you can handle the mental strain, ignition is worth a look but we wouldn’t jump through flaming hoops to get it on our PS2.” 6/10

Grimgrimoire – “There are a few frustrating niggles, but Grimgrimoire is stunning to look at and seriously addictive all the same.” 7/10

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 – “Another year, another solid but not stunning addition to the Tiger series, despite the interesting new ‘confidence’ system.” 7/10

Madden NFL 2008 – “Looking to invest in some serious American sports action? Then there’s no better way to spend your 40 quid than on Madden 08.” 9/10 (Scott the Woz will be happy his favourite game scored well!)

Surf’s Up – “Surprisingly well made for a film tie-in, this should keep kids happily occupied for hours.” 7/10

Xyanide Resurrection – “Limited structure, minimal levels and invariably mindless. Not recommended.” 4/10

PSP Reviews
Worms Open Warfare 2 – “As addictive as they come and a great laugh to play with mates, but also features a highly enjoyable single player mode.” 8/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – “Good-looking, good-natured and entertaining but simplistic and shallow too.” 7/10

Exit 2 – “Takes a fair while to get comfy with, but you’ll really reap the rewards once you have.” 8/10

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 5/10
Shrek the Third – 3/10

PS3 Reviews
Stranglehold – “An exhilarating shooter brushed with John Woo’s genius, Stranglehold plays like Max Payne in a bag of snakes.” 8/10

Heavenly Sword – “Too short despite early promise of an epic, Heavenly Sword is quite a disappointment.” 7/10

Warhawk – “Highly addictive with a damn near perfect gameplay balance, Warhawk is the bomb.” 9/10

Resistance: Fall of Man – 7/10
Motorstorm – 8/10
Formula 1 Championship Edition – 7/10
Rainbow Six Vegas – 8/10
Transformers – 4/10

Disc Content
Playable Demos
Crash of the Titans
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Rogue Galaxy
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
Spartan: Total Warrior
Shrek Super Slam
Yakuza
Project Eden
Moto GP 3
Crash Nitro Kart

Trivia
* The long-awaited redesign finally takes place in this issue. While the previous redesigns were largely tweaking what came before, this is nothing less than a complete overhaul! With only 10 issues left, it’ll take a bit of getting used to.
* Even the dimensions of the magazine itself change, with the pages now being smaller in size. The demo covers also change from DVD cases back to CD sleeves as with the first 5 issues. This time, the sleeves are made of card instead of plastic.
* In terms of layout, the letters page has moved from the front of the magazine to the middle, and is significantly expanded, with reader profiles, puzzles and the return of reader reviews. Choice quotes from the letters are also highlighted in yellow, which looks rather naff and tacky to be honest.
* The Hot 100, or the OPS2 Hall of Fame as it is now known, has also gone through significant changes. Instead of a list over two pages, it now covers 12 pages, with each game getting a profile, as well as associated facts or cheats. Instead of being an alphabetical list, the games are now ranked from number 1 to 100. On paper, this seems like a big change, but in practice it isn’t that different from before. When there is a new entry, it replaces a game as before, rather than being inserted into, let’s say number 45 as an example, then having every game move down one place, and the old number 100 being removed from the list.
* Previews no longer have a summary sentence or anticipation score, hence why that section is just a list now.
* Big change with the reviews: previously, each game was scored out of 10 in four categories (Graphics, sound, gameplay and lifespan). Those are gone, replaced with smileys to indicate pros and cons.
* PSP and PS3 coverage is dialled back significantly, with only four pages for each of them at the back of the magazine, in the same vein as the PSOne coverage in early issues. Ironically, this is when PS3 reviews start appearing. In case you’re wondering, some of the PS3 and PSP games only have scores and don’t get full reviews.
* Most of the older monthly features are gone, (Google Fight, Your Game in Lights and Playstation Education are the only remaining ones, because those three were still new) and there is a massive list of new features. This represents the biggest change to the magazine, as it shifts from new and upcoming releases (PS3 is becoming the primary console, and PS2 is now in the process of being phased out. As a result, there aren’t many new PS2 games left, and even fewer major ones – it’s mostly film and TV tie-ins, and new versions of Buzz and Singstar from here on in) to looking back at the PS2’s impressive back catalogue.
* The biggest criticism I have of this era is that there is a fair bit of redundancy in the monthly articles, not in their content which is as entertaining as ever, but in the concepts behind them. The World According to Playstation, The Greatest, OPS2-O-Meter and Playstation Education are all variations on the same theme. Ditto for Mouth Piece and Quit or Retry?, and The Level and Split Screen. Perhaps OPS2 themselves recognised the redundancy, as some of these ended prior to Issue 100.

Quote of the Month: “There’s an awful lot of eerie nodding going on.” 90 issues in, and I’ve finally got an excuse to post a Simpsons GIF! Hooray!

Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 130