Issue 93 (Christmas 2007)

                                                        Issue 93, Christmas 2007

Editor’s letter
       I managed to grab a few weeks holiday this month (which was very nice indeed, thank you). Upon my return I found that everyone in the office had, rather suspiciously, managed to become experts at Guitar Hero III.
       Now they’re all laughing at my feeble attempts to master Sunshine of Your Love by Cream on the Easy setting. They won’t be laughing as much when I hand them their P45s.
       So my hols meant I missed out on the Guitar Hero sessions, and indeed playing any of the other games that are packed into our review section like so many presents under the tree.
       However, I did manage to win the Master League double in PES on the Professional difficulty setting. Result!
       I’m sure you’ll all be playing plenty of games in December, too. Don’t forget to write in to Playstation Nation and tell us what you think of them, or how you’ve set an unbeatable high score.
       Merry Christmas! See you in 2008.
                                                                        Nick Ellis, Editor

Features
Who you gonna call? – Ghostbusters

Don’t Leave 2007 Without… – The annual best-of feature. Instead of being a countdown as with the last three years, this year instead highlights the best game of each genre, and some honourable mentions.

Monthly Articles
Google Fight – Game characters or series battle it out via Google Fight. This month, The Great Escape beats The Getaway, with 49,900,000 hits to 9,450,000.

Mouth Piece – A staff member gives their view on a particular topic. This month, Andy argues it’s time to give film-based games a chance, instead of immediately dismissing them.

The World According to Playstation – Various locations around a specific theme. This month, assassinations.

Reader Reviews – This month, The Warriors, Fahrenheit, Black, Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 and Gottlieb Pinball Classics.

Your Game in Lights – Readers submit their own game ideas. This month, Carbon Footprint, a game where you must bring global warming under control, Demon Blood, in which you must find a cure for cursed demon blood, Grand Theft Auto: Raccoon City, a GTA / Resident Evil crossover, and Citadel, in which you must demolish a skyscraper.

The Level – Celebrating the PS2’s best levels. This month, Rosa from Rogue Galaxy.

The PS2 Games you Should Own – PS2 cult classics. This month, Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

The Greatest – This month, sidekicks.

Unsung Hero – PS2’s best characters. This month, the Merchant from Resident Evil 4.

Quit or Retry? – This month, are cheats a good thing? Sophie says yes, Kim says no.

OPS2-O-Meter – Measuring games along a certain theme. This month, stealth.

Scene Stealer – PS2’s best scenes. This month, the intro to We Heart Katamari.

Brief History – This month, Crash Bandicoot.

Collector’s Item – Gaming merchandise. This month, a statue of Piggsy from Manhunt.

Great Game Ingredients – What goes into the best games? This month, Metal Gear Solid.

Top 10 – This month, hardest games.

Playstation Workout – Get into a gaming genre through four games of increasing difficulty. This month, first-person shooters. Easy – Call of Duty 3. Medium – Killzone. Hard – Black. Killer – Timesplitters 2

Top Chumps – PS2’s worst characters. This month, Ken Rosenberg from Grand Theft Auto. He couldn't intimidate a baby - believe him, he's tried!

The Year in Playstation – This month, 1998. The Best – Gran Turismo. The Worst – The Fifth Element. Underrated – Parasite Eve. Overhyped – Medievil. Forgotten – Theme Hospital. Never Again! – Asteroids

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

Split Screen – Playing a game two different ways. This month, The Sims 2 Castaway in sociable and hermit styles.

Previews
Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed
MX VS ATV Untamed
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus
Devil May Cry 4
Soul Calibur 4
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Bomberman Land
Syphon Filter: Combat Ops

PS2 Reviews
Torrente 3: El Protector – “If you liked the film, you’ll probably like the game. But, frankly, that says more about you than it does about the game.” 1/10

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – “All the best stuff from the first two games has been kept in and everything that’s been added just makes this GH the best yet.” 9/10

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground – “Grey, unfair, buggy: it’s a lacklustre entry to the series. Still, it’s better than Downhill Jam.” 6/10

Cars Mater-National – “As a racing game, Cars is good, straightforward family fun. As a movie licence, it’s a must for all fans.” 7/10

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 – “Looks great, good fun and packed full of modes but most fights play out the same way once you work out a winning formula.” 7/10

Alan Hansen’s Sport Challenge – “Unimaginative, uninspired and just plain unexciting.” 3/10

Cheggers’ Party Quiz – “Underdeveloped, underwhelming and just plain unbelievable.” 3/10

Boogie – “Like an X-Factor winner, this is nice to look at and entertaining for a little while, but is ultimately vacuous and short-lived.” 6/10

Avatar: The Burning Earth – “More than a little mindless, The Burning Earth is definitely one for fans only. Everyone else should leave it well alone.” 6/10

Singstar Bollywood – “All the classics are there, but they feel watered down because of the language.” 7/10

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal – “Frustrating, disheartening and broken in places: a perfect recipe for making kids cry.” 4/10

Need for Speed ProStreet – “Illegal street racing makes for a fun game. Auto testing on a runway doesn’t.” 6/10

The Golden Compass – “Not a disaster, but sorely lacking in polish. It is riddled with problems and takes too many liberties with the franchise.” 6/10

PSP Reviews
Silent Hill Origins – “Interesting details for fans but also works as a standalone game – plus it maintains the chilling atmosphere of the big-screen games.” 8/10

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron – “Disappointing effort; scrapes the barrel more than it feels the Force.” 6/10

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 – “So simple that it’s actually a bit limited, despite a substantial multiplayer offer.” 7/10

PS3 Reviews
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – “Like Tomb Raider but with more guns and fewer puzzles, Uncharted deserves to be 2007’s sleeper hit.” 9/10

Assassin’s Creed – “Not as good as expected but still a fun playground to be let loose in.” 8/10

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men – “An unrelenting, ugly parade of death and loss and regret. With bad controls.” 5/10

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 – 8/10

Disc Content
Playable Demos
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
PDC World Championship Darts 2008
FIFA 2008
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Rogue Galaxy
Okami
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Stuntman Ignition
God of War II
Everybody’s Tennis
Heatseeker
Brian Lara International Cricket 2007

Trivia
* Former editor Tim Clark makes a cameo appearance, presenting a Golden Joystick award.
* Gaydar: This month, Daniel Gay prefers linearity in games due to increased focus on story and character, and provides the reader review for Gottlieb Pinball Classics.
* Avatar: The Burning Earth is notable on Xbox 360 for being the Holy Grail of achievement hunters, because there are only 5 achievements, and it’s very easy to get all of them within minutes of starting the game. That’s one way of securing additional sales from demographics who wouldn’t give your game the time of day otherwise (see also: Terminator Salvation.)
* That watered-down language bit in the Singstar review isn’t a race joke, it’s a reference to how the game uses phonetic lyrics so that non-native speakers can also play it. As a side effect, this makes the game harder for native Hindi speakers, as they have to hold back and play within the constraints of the game.
* The best of 2007 feature also includes the year’s worst games, which is where Torrente 3 comes in. Speaking of which, it is the last game to score 1/10.
* Fun Ghostbusters fact: the Ecto-1 was originally going to be black, but it was changed to white after it was pointed out that a black vehicle would be difficult to see during night-time scenes.

Quote of the Month: “What’s up, glock?” I could easily imagine that as the title of a Looney Tunes cartoon.

Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 130