Issue 94 (January 2008)

                                                                Issue 94, January 2008

Editor’s letter
       Happy new year! We all hope you had a fab Christmas and that Santa brought you all the games that you asked for. Me, I didn’t even get the Ratchet and Clank socks that I wanted.
       To kick off 2008 we’re taking a look at the best games coming out in the months ahead. Heading up the previews is our cover game, Alone in the Dark. I popped over to France to have an exclusive first play and you’ll find our huge feature on p52.
       Meanwhile, the rest of the team have gone ga-ga for Rock Band, and there was nearly a scrap when deciding who got to write the preview on p20.
       There are loads more games in our preview section, too many to mention here. But I do have to mention the Art of God of War feature on p68, a thing of great (but gory) beauty we think you’ll agree.
       In other news, after 16 issues as editor, this will be my final month at OPS2’s helm. So it’s with a tear in my eye that I bid you a fond farewell.
       Thanks for reading!
                                                                            Nick Ellis, Editor

Features
Alone in the Dark

The Art of War – A gallery of previously unrevealed concept art for God of War, including Blue Kratos and African Tarzan Kratos, who had the Blades of Chaos tied to his dreadlocks. There’s also commentary from the artists on the direction they were going for with each piece.

Monthly Articles
Google Fight – Game characters or series battle it out via Google Fight. This month, Final Fantasy beats Kingdom Hearts, with 51,900,000 hits to 6,640,000.

Mouth Piece – A staff member gives their view on a particular topic. This month, Mike asks is Guitar Hero killing music?

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

Reader Reviews – This month, Guitar Hero II, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2007, God of War II and Final Fantasy VIII.

Your Game in Lights – Readers submit their own game ideas. This month, Zombie Blast, in which you bring about the zombie apocalypse, Mind Openers, a puzzle game, Ring of Pain, a fantasy wrestling game, and Mushroom Kingdom, which has nothing to do with Mario.

The Level – Celebrating the PS2’s best levels. This month, Naszran Foundry from Black.

The PS2 Games you Should Own – PS2 cult classics. This month, Devil May Cry 3.

The Greatest – This month, weapons.

Unsung Hero – PS2’s best characters. This month, Dr N.Gin from Crash Bandicoot.

Quit or Retry? – This month, are games sexist? Kim says yes, Andy says no.

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

Scene Stealer – PS2’s best scenes. This month, the first t-rex in King Kong.

Brief History – This month, Final Fantasy.

Collector’s Item – Gaming merchandise. This month, Onimusha 3’s katana controller.

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

Top 10 – This month, locations.

Playstation Workout – Get into a gaming genre through four games of increasing difficulty. This month, racing games. Easy – Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast. Medium – Burnout Dominator. Hard – Colin McRae Rally 2005. Killer – Gran Turismo 4.

Top Chumps – PS2’s worst characters. This month, Spyro’s sidekick Sparx the Dragonfly.

The Year in Playstation – This month, 1999. The Best – Metal Gear Solid. The Worst – Ford Racing. Underrated – Silent Hill. Overhyped – Final Fantasy VIII. Forgotten – Ape Escape. Never Again! – Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes.

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

Split Screen – Playing a game two different ways. This month, Star Wars Battlefront 2 in rebel and imperial styles.

Previews
Rock Band
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Dirt: Origin of the Species
Persona 3
Iron Man
Ar Tonelica: Melody of Elemia
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Lego Indiana Jones
Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Ghostbusters
Sega Superstars Tennis
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Godzilla Unleashed
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rise to Power
Speed Racer
Fallout 3
Conflict: Denied Ops
Unreal Tournament III
Echochrome
Patapon
God of War: Chains of Olympus

PS2 Reviews
Realplay Pool – “It works, but a lack of variety and entertainment value means Realplay Pool is no substitute for the real thing.” 5/10

Realplay Racing – “Want to race with a steering wheel? Buy Burnout, buy a proper wheel peripheral, avoid this game like the M25 at rush hour.” 2/10

Realplay Golf – “A feeling of accuracy is what you need in a golf game, but this peripheral doesn’t provide a shred of it.” 4/10

Realplay Puzzlesphere – “It’s a rare title that makes us ashamed that we play videogames. That is Puzzlesphere’s sole achievement.” 2/10

Buzz Junior: Monster Rumble – “A multitude of monstery mini-games that makes for a festival of family fun.” 7/10

Eyetoy Play: Astro Zoo – “It gets thin pretty quickly, but it’s a definite necessity for kids’ parties and all-round cutesy good times.” 6/10

International Cricket Captain III – “This stuffy management game requires the patience and dedication of a Franciscan monk to play.” 5/10

Alvin and the Chipmunks – “It’s primary-schooler-friendly, but without all the gimmicks found in other rhythm-action titles, it’s essentially a £30 mini-game.” 5/10

CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder – “An old-fashioned point-and-click game with stories that are interesting enough but give new meaning to the phrase ‘slow-paced’.” 6/10

High School Musical: Sing It! – “Almost a 10-year-old girl’s dream come true, but too short and too no-frills: could have been a lot more.” 6/10

PSP Reviews
Alien VS Predator Requiem – “Concentrates on totally accommodating casual players, at the expense of entertaining fans.” 7/10

Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow – “Make room, Metal Gear Solid: ballsy, tough, heroic spying is officially cool again.” 9/10

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice – “Extreme, yes; pursuit, lots of it; fun, mostly; but essential? Not really.” 7/10

FIFA 2008 – 8/10
The Simpsons Game – 8/10
WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2008 – 8/10
Football Manager Handheld 2008 – 8/10

PS3 Reviews
Burnout Paradise – “Burnout Paradise is a truly superb racer; fast, vast and there’s plenty to do under that super-slick surface.” 9/10

The Orange Box – “With the right people playing with you, this is one of 2008’s top shooters.” 8/10

Timeshift – “A workmanlike shooter with a cute gimmick that isn’t close to being enough.” 6/10

Need for Speed ProStreet – 6/10
FIFA 2008 – 6/10

Disc Content
Playable Demos
Asterix at the Olympic Games
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Crash of the Titans
Lumines Plus
Singstar Rocks!
Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy
Black
Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Need for Speed Carbon
Outrun 2006: Coast to Coast
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Trivia
* Videogames have it rough this month, and it’s not because of Manhunt 2 for a change. First, The Romantics sued because a cover of one their songs in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s was so good, people couldn’t tell the difference between the cover version and the original. Second, the England football team blamed their failure to qualify for Euro 2008 on videogames, which the spokesman for a children’s football charity described as “At best, overly simplistic and, at worst, negatively focusing attention away from much more pressing issues.”
* Major clanger this month, as after the mature and civil “Are games sexist?” debate, in which both sides raise valid points and come to an agreement on how to improve the situation (that debate would be far more hostile today), the Babe-o-Meter is on the very next page. They could have at least spaced them out a bit, or not had the two articles in the same issue so they don’t shoot themselves in the foot.
* There were two other Realplay games planned, Realplay Bowling and Realplay Tennis. Aside from boxart mock-ups, it doesn’t appear that these two were ever released. If they were, they weren’t reviewed anyway.
* After several months of readers sending in their Guitar Hero high scores, a dedicated section for them is added to the magazine this month.
* Following in the footsteps of Tim Clark last month, this month sees Ben Wilson return for a cameo appearance, providing a second opinion on International Cricket Captain III.

Quote of the Month: “We would have the best team if we could go into every household and throw away every Playstation, Xbox and videogame.” Sour grapes much?

Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 130