Issue 95 (February 2008)

                                                                Issue 95, February 2008

Editor’s letter
       If you’d have told me two years ago, when I joined OPS2, that my first issue as Acting Editor would not only include a potentially great licensed Ferrari game (something that has so far eluded almost every console) but a 10/10 review score for an RPG as well, I’d probably have chortled a little and waved you on as a potential nutter.
       But here we are, at the beginning of 2008, with that exact scenario!
       Ferrari Challenge is every bit the dream game for car enthusiasts. It’s got the licences, the experts and the technical nous to be a winner.
       Likewise, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is everything a roleplaying game fan could want: gorgeous visuals, sexy characters and a stack of charismatic creatures to battle. And all with a unique twist…
       Then we have Destroy All Humans 3, Sega Superstars Tennis, Rock Band, Mercenaries 2, Lego Batman and stacks more on the way. It all adds up to a rip-roaring start to 2008 for PS2, so stay tuned.
                                                            Andy Hartup, Acting Editor

Features
Dark Force Rising - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The Silent Hill Files – A Silent Hill retrospective that covers the entire series and expanded universe material, but primarily focuses on Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4.

Monthly Articles
Google Fight – Game characters or series battle it out via Google Fight. This month, Canis Canem Edit upsets Deus Ex, with 647,000 hits to 335,000.

Mouth Piece – A staff member gives their view on a particular topic. This month, Sophie takes publishers to task for half-assed PS2 ports of Wii, PS3 and PSP games.

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

Reader Reviews – This month, Beyond Good and Evil, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Soul Calibur III and Canis Canem Edit.

Your Game in Lights – Readers submit their own game ideas. This month, Law Enforcement Officer UK, a police officer simulator, Stick Man Madness: Emo Edition, in which a mad emo stick man kills everyone, Zombies Take Over!, which is self-explanatory, and Fight Over the Planet to the Death, a superhero fighting game that has Galactus in it.

The Level – Celebrating the PS2’s best levels. This month, Sindain from Dark Chronicle.

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

The Greatest – This month, love stories for Valentine’s Day.

Unsung Hero – PS2’s best characters. This month, Lars Umlaut from Guitar Hero.

Quit or Retry? – This month, are games art? Mike says yes, Sophie says no.

OPS2-O-Meter – Measuring games along a certain theme. This month, hunks. Following on from last month’s Babe-o-Meter, it’s the men’s turn to be objectified this month. Hey, at least they’re equal opportunity this time.

Scene Stealer – PS2’s best scenes. This month, the parachute in Just Cause.

Brief History – This month, Resident Evil.

Collector’s Item – Gaming merchandise. This month, Metal Gear Solid Kubrick figures.

Great Game Ingredients – What goes into the best games? This month, Prince of Persia.

Top 10 – This month, hippy games.

Playstation Workout – Get into a gaming genre through four games of increasing difficulty. This month, platformers. Easy – Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy. Medium – Ratchet and Clank 3. Hard – Psychonauts. Killer – Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

Top Chumps – PS2’s worst characters. This month, the sacrifice from God of War.

The Year in Playstation – This month, 2000. The Best – Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. The Worst – Frogger 2: Swampy’s Revenge. Underrated – Vagrant Story. Overhyped – Tomb Raider Chronicles. Forgotten – Front Mission 3. Never Again! – 102 Dalmations: Puppies to the Rescue.

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

Split Screen – Playing a game two different ways. This month, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 in daring and fancy dress styles.

Previews
Ferrari Challenge
Sega Superstars Tennis
Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns
Far Cry 2
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Top Spin 3
Flat Out: Head On
MX VS ATV Untamed
Super Hind

PS2 Reviews
Persona 3 – “Spellbinding stuff with lashings of imagination: well worth top marks!” 10/10

Bee Movie – “An interesting blend of mini-games and bee-based action that’s undermined by poorly thought-out challenges.” 6/10

Asterix at the Olympic Games – “Should have stuck with the athletics minigames, because next to other platformers this takes the wooden spoon.” 5/10

PDC World Championship Darts 2008 – “It’s as close to perfect as a darts game can be but, thanks to the nature of darts, that means it’s still a bit dull, really.” 6/10

PSP Reviews
Football Manager Handheld 2008 – “Engrossing, in-depth and exciting, this is the closest you’ll ever get to being Jose Mourinho (unless you already are Jose Mourinho.)” 8/10

Final Fantasy – “Buy it if you didn’t play it the first time, but otherwise prepare to be disappointed.” 7/10

Sonic Rivals 2 – “Basically good but let down by annoying and compulsory combat sections.” 7/10

PS3 Reviews
Unreal Tournament 3 – “Technically very accomplished and graphically gorgeous, but ultimately unsatisfying, even in online multiplayer.” 7/10

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue – “A very welcome, tantalising glimpse of what’s to come from this iconic racing franchise.” 8/10

The Club – “Straight arcade action with no depth; play for points, though, and you’ll relish it.” 7/10

Disc Content
Playable Demos
High School Musical: Sing It!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Jak 3
Ratchet: Gladiator
24
Rise to Honour
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Sega Superstars
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Spyro: A Hero’s Tail

Trivia
* We’re fully into the wrapping things up phase by now, as you’ll notice Andy is Acting Editor rather than Editor. The page count has also been reduced by 16 pages.
* Ferrari Challenge seems like an odd game to put on the cover at first glance, bearing in mind Persona 3 is reviewed in this issue and would have made for a more unique cover. Having said that, it’s possible Persona 3 was too niche, and there hasn’t been a racing game on the cover in four years (the last one was Issue 47, which had Need for Speed Underground 2 on the cover), so another one was long overdue.
* High School Musical is the last new playable demo to appear on the disc. It’s a slightly underwhelming game to be the last demo ever, because as a karaoke game, an additional peripheral is required so not everyone can play it. In addition, I’m not sure how much overlap there is between OPS2 readers and High School Musical fans.
* Following on from last issue’s news section, the Romantics had their lawsuit against Guitar Hero (they argued that the cover used in the game was so good, people couldn’t tell it apart from the original) thrown out of court.
* Gaydar: This month, Daniel Gay writes a reader review for Canis Canem Edit.
* Sora and Kairi are included among the PS2 love stories, which notes “Although their love is more of a friendship, they are soulmates.” This hits different after Kingdom Hearts 3 got them as close to being a couple as it could get without explicitly confirming it.
* Persona 3 is the last PS2 game to score 10/10. I specify PS2 because there are a couple PSP and PS3 games that score 10/10 still to come.
* Speaking of which, one final instalment of Games that would never be made today: Persona 3. Okay, you could still make this one, but holding a gun to your head to summon demons would be an absolute no-go, so there will have to be some changes. Frankly, I’m surprised they were allowed to do this the first time around.
* The next issue promises a review of Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed. Yeah, about that…

Quote of the Month: The prize bundle for one of this month’s competitions includes “A busload* of OPS2 stickers. *May not literally fill a bus.”

Cover price: £5.99
Page Count: 114