FREE! NAVIGATE Issue 14 | May 2008 PLUS! PREVIEWED! SOLID 4 QUAKE WARS Fragging good fun PFree Magazine3 For PlayStationZine 3 Gamers.Read it, Print it, Send it to your mates…

ALONE IN THE DARK Only on Spooky in Central Park PlayStation 3! Top 10 PS3 only games revealed inside... HAZE Preview & Interview

REVIEWED! FREE MINI-MAG! REVIEWED! 5 Prologue EXCLUSIVE! 4 Engines at the ready... Unravel the conspiracy Get ready for more arcade-style gun toting CONTROL NAVIGATE |2 Welcome The latest & QUICK FINDER DON’T MISS!greatest titles Every game’s just a click away This month’s highlights... on PS3 Quake Wars to In-depth preview inside... 1942 Joint Strike Race Driver: GRID P3Zine Section 8 Just Cause Faith and a .45 Quake Wars PlayStation 3 is getting stronger and stronger Kung Fu Panda by the day, and to celebrate its growing Street Fighter 2 HD Haze prowess we’ve pulled together the hottest ten Wolf of the GT 5 Prologue titles that are exclusive to your console of Only on Alone in the Dark Battlefield: Time Crisis 4 choice. Each and every one of these titles Conspiracy in Central Park Commando 3 Condemned 2 won’t be available to 360 fanboys anytime soon... PlayStation 3! Talking of soon and exclusive to PS3 we Top 10 PS3 only games revealed inside... MORE FREE MAGAZINES! LATEST ISSUES! have a quick peek at the latest news on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots; along with an in-depth hands-on preview and developer Time Crisis 4 interview for the much anticipated Haze. Lock and load! As ever, keep your feedback coming - we really do read every e-mail... The arcade classic Enjoy the issue. is back...

MAGAZINE Dan Hutchinson, Editor FEEDBACK! [email protected] DON’T MISS ISSUE 15 SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! Click here to tell us what Prologue WARNING! M ULTIMEDIA DISABLED! you think of Pretty. Very, very pretty the magazine. If you are rea ding this, then you didn’t cho o se “Play” when Ado be R ea der aske d you ab out multime dia when MEET THE TEAM you opene d the magazine. There’s nowt they don’t know about PlayStation INTERVIEW Without the multimedia playing, the magazine will lo ok correct, but you will be missing out on all of the extra content built into each issue, like videos, animated screenshots, annotations, quizzes, competitions and more. We recommend you close and re-open the magazine and select “Play” when Steve Hill Ian Morris Chris Schilling asked about the multimedia to enj oy the magazine as intended. Hot on the heels of Condemned to a life of Looking forward to Bourne again Haze Haze. sequels. GTA IV... Inside the Conspiracy Plus! Hands-on preview

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |3 Previews As you can no doubt tell from this screen, Home’s looking FIRST gorgeous. We wouldn’t mind living here in real life. Home LOOK Why don’t you come on over? What is it? Publisher: SCEE If you’ve ever played Second Life, you’ll feel instantly at... erm... home, Developer: SCEE in Home. A virtual world that lets you meet up with friends, own Heritage: Wipeout, 24: your own house, play mini-games to pass the time, or even go to the The Game cinema, Home is one of the most intriguing prospects on the PSN, and Link: http:// its release date’s drawing ever nearer. uk..com/ games-media/games/ So, what’s new? detail/item73986/Home/ Since the last time we reported on Home, a whole bunch of new ETA: July screens have been released in conjunction with the launch of the official Japanese site, and they show just how well Home has been progressing. But whilst visuals are impressive, it’s the functionality With plenty of advertising going on in the game world, “Home is one of the that matters, and it’s this that’s got us most excited. With each game should be able to afford to keep Home free for its users. rumoured to have its own “hub” in the world, you’ll be able to travel Hopefully, that also means free updates, and free extra clothes. most intriguing from section to section, and take part in all sorts of uniquely themed prospects on the activities in each game’s world - currently rumoured by are a 2D platformer, and a 3D Warhawk War Room, complete with PSN” a holographic battle map, where you and your friends can plan The bowling alley lets you chill out with every move before entering the your friends and enjoy a quick game. We fight. just hope they don’t charge you per play. When do we get to see more? Currently rumoured to enter open beta in May, with a full launch this July, Home should be hitting our hard-drives in the not too distant future. How much of a success it is PREVIEW depends almost entirely on how FEEDBACK! well each game supports it, but Click here to we’re certainly looking forward to tell us what finally earning some trophies, with you think of the launch of the long-awaited Home Accomplishments system.

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Rainbow Six: “Best selling squad shooter” © 2008 Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Persistent Elite Creation, Ubisoft, the Ubisoft logo, Ubi.com and the Soldier Icon are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Rainbow Six, Red Storm and Red Storm logo are trademarks of Red Storm Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is a Ubisoft Entertainment Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2008 company. “3” and “PLAYSTATION” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. , , , Xbox Live, and the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. “Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition” logo © 2008 Guinness World Records Limited.

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Previews - frantic, but with plenty of visual guides to help you see what’s going on. FIRST Metal Gear LOOK Publisher: Developer: Solid 4 Heritage: Metal Gear Link: www.konami.jp/ A limited edition for the final instalment kojima_pro ETA: June 12th We know what it is, so, what’s new? As the final instalment of the Metal Gear Solid series, you wouldn’t expect it to go out with anything less than a bang, and to that extent, PREVIEW no less than three bundles are planned for the Japanese launch. A FEEDBACK! normal edition, with Metal Gear Online starter disc will sit side by side Click here to with a collector’s edition, and even a limited edition PS3, that comes tell us what complete with a collector’s copy of the game, and a limited edition you think of Dual Shock 3. MGS4 Hold on, Metal Gear Online? “With sixteen players The online component of MGS4, Metal Gear Online is everything you duking it out online, could hope it would be. Letting up to sixteen players duke it out online, Ooh, shiny. We like there’ll be a heavy there’ll be a heavy emphasis on team-based stealth play, requiring the gunmetal effect, emphasis on team- you to sneak up on other players rather than run in all guns blazing. It though we can’t help based stealth play” should provide something fresh and original compared to most other but think it could be a multiplayer titles out there, and with set to bit more... fancy? be released shortly after the launch, you can be sure of a fully fleshed online experience. When do we see more? Metal Gear Solid 4 launches worldwide on the 12th of June, and although we’re not certain whether the UK will see the With an emphasis on limited edition PS3, we’d kill to team based stealth get our hands-on one. Happily play, Metal Gear Online though, a European beta is set to be something test for Metal Gear Online is special, and could rumoured to be starting shortly, be supported by possibly tied in with a pre-order downloadable updates campaign. Keep your eyes for up to ten years! peeled.

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INCOMING Kung Fu Panda Another magnificent seven riding into town... Publisher : | ETA: May 2008 k, we know movie-to-game conversions are Ousually about as fun as a root cavity, but there’s Faith and a .45 something that attracts us to Kung Fu Panda. Whether Section 8 Publisher: TBA | ETA: ‘09 Publisher: Gamecock | ETA: ‘09 it’s the fact we’ve been watching the hilarious trailer ne word – wow. From the makers of Total over and over for the past few days that’s clouding our rom the makers of Fear: OOverdose and Chili Con Carnage comes Faith judgment remains to be seen... FExtraction Point comes and a .45, a co-op adventure set in 1930’s mid- Section 8, a futuristic Sci-Fi FPS. depression America. With some beautiful visuals, and Focusing on the eighth armoured promising early footage, we’re keeping our fingers Wolf of the Battlefield: infantry, a unit nicknamed Section crossed that this one finds a publisher soon. 8, the US army code for a soldier Commando 3 who’s been discharged due to Publisher: | ETA: Summer being mentally unfit, this shooter is Street Fighter 2 HD nother remake of a sounding interesting to say the least. Publisher: Capcom | ETA: Summer Aclassic Capcom arcade game, Commando 3 is 1942 Joint Strike hile the Xbox 360 version allegedly crumbles a semi-top-down co-op Publisher: Capcom | ETA: Summer under the 360’s download size limits, the PSN W shooter, for up to four-players, either online, or on the remake of the classic beat-em up is still on track to be he first “re-imagined” PSN same console. Letting you drive vehicles, use all sorts of delivered in glorious HD and full 1080p. Promising full Tgame this month, 1942 mad weaponry, and generally wreak havoc together, this online play, Joint Strike is looking amazing. could be a great PSN game when it’s released. A 3D makeover of the classic alongside 2D vertical-scrolling shooter, the graphical 1942 was a classic in its time, overhaul, and a game that’s still more than this is going Race Driver: GRID playable today – hopefully, with to be taking Publisher: Codemasters | ETA: Summer the added gorgeous graphics, the up a lot of his looks absolutely gorgeous. A new racer from gameplay will stay intact. our time this TCodemasters, GRID takes the , and summer. re-writes the rule book. Giving Gran Turismo a run for its money in terms of both SPRING SUMMER AUTUMN WINTER quality, realism, and variety, IN THE this is one we’ll be keeping a LEGO: INDIANA JONES ETA: May HAZE ETA: May 2 ETA: September RESISTANCE 2 ETA: November really close eye on. Plus, it has PIPELINE GTA IV ETA: April 29th MGS4 ETA: June 12th LITTLE BIG PLANET ETA: September ETA: December damage modelling too!

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Dark Sector © 2008 Digital Extremes, London, Canada. Dark Sector and the Dark Sector logo are trademarks of Digital Extremes. Digital Extremes and the Digital Extremes logo are trademarks of 1085522 Ontario Ltd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Published by D3 Inc. under license from Digital Extremes. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. “ ”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS3” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

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HANDS ON

Publisher: Eidos Developer: Avalanche Studios Heritage: Just Cause Skydiving is back, and just Link: None Just Cause 2 as extreme as before. ETA: Autumn Why are we writing a preview of this? Just ‘Cause... n 2006, there weren’t that many necessary adjustments, Avalanche setting for the new game. games around that were quite have been striving away on a sequel With some insanely impressive Ilike Just Cause. Giving you to Just Cause for some time now, topography, the game’s new island an to run round in, taking into account all the criticism is a real sight to behold. Consisting consisting of some 1,024 sq km of they received, and coming up with of a real mix of geographical tropical island paradise, Just Cause a solution to their problems. The features, from mountains to deserts, was a real tour-de-force for the result? Chaos. Just Cause 2 has put a stop to the PS2, pushing the hardware to its Just Cause 2 puts you back in the original’s repetitive environment very limits. But while the game was shoes of Rico Rodriguez, everyone’s in one fell swoop, and in case you huge, it certainly wasn’t without its favourite cheesy secret agent, who’s needed reminding, it’s looking “With some insanely shortcomings. With a hit-and-miss called back into action to hunt down gorgeous. Just taking a look at the combat system, and some poor and kill his mentor and former friend, shots surrounding these pages impressive topography, vehicle handling, our main problem Tom Sheldon. As luck would have shows just how detailed everything’s the game’s new island is a PREVIEW was that the island just felt... well... it, Tom just happens to be hiding become, from the characters, to real sight to behold” FEEDBACK! empty. Thankfully, having listened to out on the beautiful island paradise the weapons, and even the Click here to consumer feedback, and made the of Panau, which makes a perfect environments themselves, and this tell us what you think of A bigger island means more baddies. And that means The stunt system’s been Just Cause 2 more guns. Just check out this rocket launcher. redesigned letting you crawl over the outside of the vehicle, before leaping off, Bond style.

Thankfully, the enemy AI is a lot better this time round, with enemies taking cover and not just soaking up your bullets.

CONTROL P3Zine WWW.GAMERZINES.COM NAVIGATE |9 Previews “Each weapon is fully upgradable, with a choice Just Cause continued of 2000 parts on offer” all leads to a better, more compact everything up to and including experience. a Jumbo Jet available to hijack, To counter the feeling of the there’ll be no shortage of interesting island being empty, in Just Cause 2, things to drive either, and brilliantly, there are over 1000 smaller “Chaos” each vehicle, and weapon is fully events for you to complete, which upgradable, with a choice of 2000 replace the crummy side-mission parts on offer! system of before. These range Possibly most importantly, from simple tasks like stealing however, the combat itself has also a government official’s car, to been given an overhaul for Just destroying a structure of military Cause 2, and this is the real music importance, and due to their sheer to our ears. No longer will the quantity, you’ll never be far away enemies be mere cannon fodder Big explosions all around, from the action. - instead, they’ll duck and dive for and don’t they look pretty? One of parts of the cover, work together as a team, and original Just Cause was the massive even call in reinforcements, such as selection of drivable vehicles, and paratroopers, or helicopters! this is something the developers With a wide range of weapons have improved drastically for the on offer, from laser guided rocket second instalment. Now, rather than launchers, to sticky remote- Rico looks a bit older handling the same on every surface, detonated C4, there’ll be all sorts of this time round the vehicles will control differently ways to cause Chaos on Panau this - hopefully, that’s on snow, ice, mud, or normal roads, Autumn. “But why would we want indicative of a more meaning you’ll have to choose to do that”, we hear you ask? Just developed plot. the right vehicle for the job. With ‘Cause!

If you can see it, you can hijack it - anything is drivable in just cause 2, from Jeeps to Jumbo Jets! Brilliantly, the jungle all looks a lot more realistic this time round, as opposed to the “cluster of trees” look of last time. P Zine PERCENTAGE COMPLETE FIRST IMPRESSIONS 3 80% 75% Words can’t do this justice. Just look at how beautiful it is. One trip to paradise you won’t want to miss.

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HANDS ON

Publisher: Activision Developer: Splash Damage/Z-Axis Heritage: Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Enemy Territory/ Dave Hit hard. Hit fast. Hit Strogg Mirra There’ll be plenty of vehicles available for you Link: www. f there’s one thing you may be really set Quake Wars out from to use, such as this cool Strogg flying beastie. enemyterritory.com thinking the PS3 doesn’t need the crowd. Whereas games like ETA: When it’s ready Imore of, it’s online shooters. Battlefield have you simply trying With Vegas and its sequel filling up to hold onto a certain number of the stealth play ranks, UT3 taking flags until the enemy’s score has the honours for fast-paced action, depleted, in Quake Wars, you’ll and Resistance doing a good job of be either completing missions, or plugging the rest of the gaps, the trying to prevent their completion, PS3’s online line-up seems pretty depending on your team’s role solid. It’s lucky for us then that no on the map. These objectives can matter what type of shooter you range from anything from building like playing, Enemy Territory: Quake a bridge, to escorting your team’s Wars should have something that’ll mobile command centre, and once PREVIEW appeal to you, thanks to its unique they’ve been completed, they can’t FEEDBACK! brand of Battlefield-esque gameplay. be “reversed” by the other team. Click here to Made by British software house This leads to some incredibly tense tell us what Splash Damage, the same people stand-offs, as the two squads fight you think of behind the free Enemy Territory mod desperately to either complete, ET:QW for Wolfenstein, Quake Wars takes or prevent a goal, safe in the “The mission-based the Enemy Territory concept, and maps set Quake places it into the Quake universe. There’s a strong emphasis on teamplay in Wars apart” Letting you play as the Strogg, or Quake Wars, and it’s this that’s one of the the Global Defence Force, you’ll be most appealing aspects. fighting alongside up to sixteen other players, as you blast your way across a variety of mission-based maps, striving to push back the enemy forces, and secure the victory for your team. And in actual fact, it’s the Certain classes can construct huge mission-based maps that are what batteries on the map.

CONTROL P3Zine WWW.GAMERZINES.COM NAVIGATE |11 Previews “Everything from the PC version will be This bit certainly looks quite Quake-y. ET:QW continued battery if you’re playing field ops, making the leap over Watch out for the Strogg! completing these objectives will to PS3” knowledge that once it’s been not only help your team progress completed, your team is either one towards victory, but also gain you XP, step closer towards victory, or their and up your character. ultimate failure. The PS3 port is being handled To spice things up a bit, certain by Z-Axis, the people who used to objectives in each mission can be behind the Dave Mirra games only be completed by a certain before they were swallowed by character class, of which there are Activision, and then suddenly closed five to choose from; engineer, soldier, recently. Still, we’ve been promised covert ops, field ops and medic. This that everything from the PC version means that in order to, say, hack a will be making the leap over here, computer system, you’ll have to have including some minor tweaks to an engineer in the right place, at the make the gameplay flow better. With right time (or at least get him there), the game looking but that’s not to say there isn’t plenty gorgeous (nearly for the other classes to do in the as good as the PC It’s not all pretty in Quake Wars - there’s certainly meantime. version does with a sinister side to some of the levels too. As the battle wages on, you’ll be everything whacked constantly being fed new missions up to max), you can through your HUD, specific to be sure of this taking your character class. Whether this up a lot of our time If you can’t shake the enemy on your tail, get one of your buddies is simply healing a team mate as a when it’s released on the ground to take him out medic, or constructing an artillery “when it’s ready”.

It’s always the way, As always, there’s bound to be a isn’t it. You’re just out huge rush for the air units. enjoying yourself on the lake, driving round in your little boat when some big bully shows up. Shooting down a river in an inflatable dingy has to be one of the cooler things to do in Quake Wars. P Zine PERCENTAGE COMPLETE FIRST IMPRESSIONS 3 75% 80% The PS3’s been needing a Battlefield type game for some time

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HANDS ON

Publisher: Atari Developer: Heritage: Test Drive Alone in the Dark Unlimited What’s lurking in the dark, hidden away, at Central Park? Link: www.centraldark. com f the official Alone in the Dark Park Conspiracy seem believable is ETA: June 20th website is to be believed, there’s nothing compared to the amount Isomething sinister going on in of work that’s gone into creating an ’s Central Park. In over atmosphere of realism in the game 150 years, the 843 acres of Central itself. “The phenomenal PREVIEW Park have remained untouched, Set almost entirely in or around set pieces will FEEDBACK! despite the exponential growth of Central Park, Alone in the Dark is full Click here to the city. And while New York’s debt of phenomenal set pieces that will leave your jaw on tell us what approaches an all time high of $4.8 leave your jaw on the floor. Whether the floor” Here’s Paranormal Investigator you think of billion, Central Park has remained it’s running through the remnants Edward Carnby. He’s alone. And he’s Alone in the untouched - despite numerous of a subway train that’s falling from in the dark. Fancy that? Dark approaches to build on it, and its a cliff, or surviving the collapse of an phenomenal real estate value of $528 billion. According to Alone in the Dark’s developers, Eden Making use of objects in Despite the gorgeous graphics, the game Software, that’s enough of a reason the game world is one still retains that Alone in the Dark feel. to be suspicious, and the perfect of the key features here starting point for a - this fire extinguisher can be used either to game. break down the door, If there’s one thing that quickly or spray at the fire. We becomes clear with Alone in the think Ed made the right Dark, it’s that realism is the key. Just choice here. taking a look at the game’s official website reveals a whole host of articles making claims about the “Central Park Conspiracy”, backed up by numerous real life articles from reputable sources. It’s an impressive research feat for any game, but the amount of work that’s gone into making the Central

CONTROL P3Zine WWW.GAMERZINES.COM NAVIGATE |13 Previews

As well as Alone in the Dark cont... are most proud about - really forcing lighting the you to think, and make use of the area, a flaming entire hotel, Eden Games have gone limited selection of items you’ve got chair also makes out of their way to keep your pulse to get through each situation. Although the a fantastic racing throughout, with great effect. With an emphasis on real-world majority of the game bludgeoning instrument. However, what’s possibly even thinking, Alone in the Dark looks set takes place in Central more impressive is the way that to bring a new meaning to survival. Park, you can be sure you interact with the environments. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too of plenty of variety in the environments. Objects in game are controlled long to get our hands on it. with the right analogue stick, and this allows for an incredible level of control. If you want to hit an enemy “If you can do something with an with a chair leg, simply move the object in real-life, the chances are right stick quickly in the direction you want to strike. However, things you’ll be able to do it in-game” get really interesting when you There’s a hefty plot in place, realise if you move the stick slowly, and although details are mostly you can use the leg to reach things being kept under wraps, we can that are too far away, or manipulate reveal the game will take place Set pieces make up a large in TV style “episodes”, and last for objects that you couldn’t otherwise part of the gameplay, ensuring around 10 hours. reach. It’s a small touch, but it’s you’ll never have long to catch innovative, and it provides the your breath... framework for a number of puzzles which can only be solved through some logical, real-world thinking. Objects too, deform as they No need for a fancy inventory screen here would in real life, with metal doors - simply select your tool from the inside of bending when struck, and tables your trench coat. One thing to try is the first splintering. Electric wires can be aid spray, which can be combined with the moved to touch metal grates; tables lighter to form a deadly flamethrower. can be flipped over to become makeshift shields; petrol can be left in a trail, then set alight, and, even more brilliantly, practically everything wooden can be burnt, and then used as a makeshift torch. PERCENTAGE COMPLETE FIRST IMPRESSIONS If you can do something with an P3Zine object in real-life, the chances are 80% 90% you’ll be able to do it in-game, and Survival horror just turned next-gen it’s this aspect that the developers

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |14 Previews Offroad Xtreme! HANDS ON

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Free Radical Heritage: Timesplitters, Haze Second Sight Taste the sweet, sweet Nectar… Link: www.hazegame. little bit of what you fancy 2048, and a guerrilla faction calling com doesn’t do any harm at themselves The Promise Hand are ETA: May 2008 Aall. However, too much of apparently up to no good, led by a good thing can be a problem, the charmingly named Gabriel potentially turn you into a feral, ‘Skin Coat’ Merino, so-called PREVIEW “A soldier ripped to the gills hallucinating, indiscriminate killer. due to his alleged penchant for on Nectar will be oblivious FEEDBACK! That good thing is Nectar, the flaying his enemies and turning Click here to mysterious ‘nutritional supplement’ them into menswear. As for to the horrors of war ” tell us what that fuels the private military your good self, you are Mantel you think of contractors of Mantel Global trooper Sergeant Shane Carpenter, dispatching rebels with a pocket full Haze Industries. accompanied by three squad- of bollocks and a gullet full of Nectar. It’s South America in the year mates (AI, online, LAN or splitscreen) The perfect drug for combat, a soldier ripped to the gills on Nectar will be oblivious to the horrors of war – postmodern irony alert - seeing it as little more than a bloodless videogame. Playing as a trooper, you can give yourself a little boost of Rebels are so hard they Nectar to increase your performance, don’t need helmets. but if you use it too much you’ll overdose, losing the ability to tell friend from foe, and finding it difficult to control your trigger finger. Weapons can be fleeced from the twitching corpses of the fallen. The rebel fighters are able to exploit this shortcoming in three imaginative ways. Smashing an individual trooper’s back-mounted Nectar pack – either through sniping or meleeing – sends him loopy, as The faceless Mantel troopers are does slathering a knife in Nectar oblivious to the obscenity of war. and stabbing him or throwing it

CONTROL P3Zine WWW.GAMERZINES.COM NAVIGATE |15 Previews Haze continued oppression and become noble A cloud of Nectar gas at him. And the pièce de résistance freedom fighters. sends the troopers loopy. is the Nectar grenade: by dousing a We’ve had a quick dabble on both normal grenade in the spilt Nectar of sides of the divide, and suffice to a dead trooper, it can then be used say it’s all highly entertaining stuff. to unleash a cloud of Nectar gas, Playing as the rebels, we took the turning anyone in the vicinity into a wheel of a jeep as our three squad- psycho killer. mates clung on, meting out justice Over the course of Haze, you’ll get to the Mantel troopers. By no means to experience combat from both easy, it eventually involved more sides of the divide, as in a major elaborate tactics than driving into twist Sergeant Carpenter switches the middle of their base with all guns allegiance after he discovers blazing. We also played the container the filthy truth behind Nectar ship level, made trickier by the ship addiction. This about-turn is relayed listing in the water, which not only via a lengthy cut scene in which made us nauseous but caused “Turn anyone in the Carpenter discovers a crate full of the grenades to roll back towards our twisted corpses of his comrades. It’s feet. We then switched sides to play vicinity into a strong stuff, but following a keynote as a trooper in multiplayer, and took psycho killer” address to his fellow troopers, you a big old swig of Nectar. We were all shed the chains of government promptly asked to leave... Squad tactics are rudimentary but often effective. Massive outdoor battles are commonplace.

Vehicles are plentiful. Not sure he’s thought this through.

Respect to the brave Hurrah for the noble Mantel troopers. rebel uprising.

P Zine PERCENTAGE COMPLETE FIRST IMPRESSIONS 3 90% 85%

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |16 Interview The west London School run became HAZE increasingly precarious. Derek Littlewood pools his knowledge

ree Radical’s highly anticipated Haze is almost here. Project Flead Derek Littlewood peers something you’ve made up? story. Mantel troopers have this through the mist. It’s not mainly about drugs; that’s the censored view of war, which makes thing that people interpret when dead bodies fade away. That’s the Haze is another first person you start talking about Nectar. What thing we’re exploiting, so it actually shooter, but would you say Nectar does is provide a tool for reinforces the narrative, which makes it’s more serious than the us to put across a message. When it a very strong idea. Timesplitters games, which you start playing the game, you were a bit cartoony? Haze play as a Mantel trooper, you’ve There seem to be a lot of massive seems more macho. got the power-up button, dead open-air areas, it’s not just Macho isn’t a word I’d bodies fade away, it’s very much running down corridors. particularly apply to it, but like a videogame, the killing is very When you’ve got four characters I think it’s a bit darker in consequence-free. As you progress in your squad to start with you’re tone. It is more serious through the game the player’s always going to need slightly in tone and I think it’s perception of that changes. That more open environments. There actually got something journey that you go on, that is the is a range, there are some more to say. It’s trying to message that we’re trying to put communicate a bit of a across. message to the player. How come Rebel fighters have Is there a deep the ability to feign death? “It’s ver y much like a allegory? What is It’s not a new idea but I think the videogame, the killing is Nectar in the scheme way it works within Haze is unique of things? Is it just because it feeds back into the ver y consequence-free”

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |17 Interview Rebels versus Troopers. Where have we heard Interviewcontinued that before? claustrophobic environments like in an ideal world. Like working with the container ship, the interior of any piece of hardware, once you that is much tighter. We wanted learn your way around those quirks, to have a good range of different you can get good results out of it. scale environments; we wanted to make the large open environments People are talking Haze up as properly large, properly open. The maybe the game that will sell the scale of the environments is bigger PS3. Is that any pressure on you? than anything we’ve done before, I think we put a fairly high degree of definitely. pressure on ourselves to start with. We always want to make the best Haze is a PS3 exclusive. Was that game we can. People always want always the plan? to attach labels like that to titles like As a company, we’ve always got this game that are solely coming good results out of PlayStation out on one platform. As far as we’re hardware. Like any console, the PS3 concerned we’re just trying to make has certainly got its quirks, there are the best game we possibly can. certainly things I’d improve about it Publisher: UbiSoft Developer: Free Radical Heritage: Timesplitters, Second Sight Link: www.hazegame.com ETA: May 2008

It’s all about vehicle-mounted machineguns these days.

More problems at “The scale of the environments is bigger than Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. anything we’ve done before” CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |18 Feature OUT 10 WINTER THE LOWDOWN The latest from developer is a third-person action- adventure with sandbox elements, not dissimilar to the 360’s Crackdown, but more reminiscent of PC MMO City of Heroes. It’s a game about moral choices, with the player able to mould their character into a true hero or an anti-hero figure. You have a series of at your disposal, being able to fly and conduct electricity, and also to perform super-jumps, among other abilities. Sony has been keeping about this, but it looks like the wraps may be coming off within the next month or so...

WHY IT’S HOT Sucker Punch is a hugely skilled developer, as the underrated Sly Cooper games prove, while its earlier Rocket: Robot on Wheels garnered real critical acclaim. This is its first game for Sony’s new console and should have a polish and graphical quality befitting a first-party release. The game’s terrific teaser trailer made it look very appetising indeed, and with plenty of time until release to get things running perfectly, we’re confident it’ll be one of the best PS3 games this year. As we say, Sony will be unveiling this before June, so expect to get very Ten Hottest PS3 excited about inFamous very soon indeed. Hero or villain? The choice is yours in Sucker Games Of 2008 Punch’s inFamous. With the last twelve months representing a solid rather than spectacular start for PS3, it’s the line-up for the rest of 2008 that’s had everyone predicting that this is Sony’s year. The phenomenal range of multiformat titles appearing on PS3 is one thing, but it’s the exclusives that set Sony’s EXCITEMENT LEVEL console apart from the competition - and here are ten of Until we see a little more, we don’t want to get our hopes too high. But the developer’s pedigree and the intriguing the very best heading your way. Remember: every single premise get us hot under the collar. one of these can only be bought on PS3...!

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |19 Feature Q Games is making a name for itself with OUT easy-to-play but Buzz! Quiz TV SPRING innovative PSN titles. 8 PixelJunk Eden should continue that trend. THE LOWDOWN So far the PS3 has made do with the excellent SingStar for current-gen party thrills, but that’s all set to change with the arrival of Quiz TV in just a couple of short months. The Blu-Ray disc that the game comes on holds a whopping 5000 questions, split into five different ‘channels’ The PSP game looked for players to choose from, while it looks like you’ll be able to download ‘tens of thousands good, but this is streets ahead. Prepare yourself more’ over time via the PSN. And that’s just for starters... for one of the fastest racers around. WHY IT’S HOT PixelJunk: Eden OUT We’ve been looking for an excuse to dust off those red-button controllers, though with WipEout HD OUT 9 Q3 2008 any luck we’ll be able to throw them away and use some brand new wireless ones instead 7 MAY - surely a fresh new look for the buzzers is in order? But besides that, the reasons to get excited about Buzz! Quiz TV are plenty. That vast array of questions is one, the possibility of THE LOWDOWN many, many more to be made available in special ‘quiz packs’ for download is another. But THE LOWDOWN The PlayStation Network is one of the PS3’s unsung heroes, providing some top-quality Quiz TV will also let you compete online - instead of competing against your relatives, make a The original WipEout was one of the PlayStation One’s defining titles, used heavily in the downloadable titles for very low prices. The PixelJunk titles (particularly the second - the family team and challenge other groups across the globe with the game’s online play. Or you console’ marketing to establish this hip new brand. The incredibly fast futuristic racer featured amazingly addictive tower defence game Monsters) are among the best games on the can even write your own quizzes - these can be uploaded to the brand new MyBuzz website, some of the best 3D visuals of the time, with a superb contemporary that helped service, and this third game in the series looks to be the best yet. It’s certainly one of the where you can download them to play on your own PS3, or even allow other PSN users to it appeal outside the traditional gamer demographic. WipEout made gaming cool. And now most unique looking PS3 titles we’ve seen, though its abstract feel shares a little with both sample your questions. it’s back. This isn’t a brand new game, but a HD revamp of the PSP’s WipEout Pulse, running Everyday Shooter and flOw. It’s a game about collecting pollen and transferring it to create in full 1080p HD and at sixty frames per second. Regardless of its origins, it’ll be one of the new life in the game world. And though it may not sound like it, creator Dylan Cuthbert has best looking games on the console, with every texture and building model being given a suggested that Eden has similarities with the Mario platformers. hi-res makeover.

WHY IT’S HOT WHY IT’S HOT The PixelJunk games have a very interesting development mantra. The design is focused on For anyone who experienced the original - or even the recent handheld games - the chance four tenets: simplicity, familiarity, originality and 1080P. And each game has a development to play a WipEout game (which has always primarily been an amazing sensory experience) cycle of six months and no more. It’s an unusually rigid approach, but one which has on a large screen in full high-definition sounds too good to be true. There’s definitely going to reaped considerable rewards already, and looks to be doing so again with both this and the be some future downloadable content too, though that’s not yet be confirmed - expect some forthcoming PixelJunk: Dungeons, which should also be with us before we ring in 2009. If new tracks and ships, and maybe even a new game mode or two. And it looks likely that it’ll Eden plays as well as it looks - and those gorgeously stylised visuals are poetry in motion With a slightly cooler and more stylish presentation, Buzz could well be the party cost just £14.99 from the PSN, which sounds pretty bargainous to us. - then we’re in for a very reasonably-priced treat. game of choice for PS3 owners this year. EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL We’re looking forward to getting our hands on Eden Amazing online functionality, and One of the best future racers, to find out exactly what it’s all about. Expect this the questions will never get old. looking and sounding better number to rise then. This could be massive. than ever? Sold.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |20 Feature Haze looks a little more You’ve driven the Chimera out of OUT serious than the light- OUT Britain, now it’s time to do the same hearted approach we Home SEPTEMBER in the US - this time across two NOVEMBER normally get from Free 5 separate campaigns. Radical, with a storyline that sounds highly intriguing. THE LOWDOWN Okay, strictly speaking it’s not a game, but Sony’s forthcoming online service, which gives all users their own virtual space, has the potential to revolutionise online gaming. The idea is that you can ‘meet’ people online and invite them to play games - certain titles will have their own specific rooms, and a host of existing titles will have Home-based improvements. For example, the Resistance room will allow you to listen to various bits of radio chatter between allied forces, while Uncharted’s portal lets players walk through the levels as their Home avatar. Haze OUT Resistance: Fall of Man 2 6 MAY WHY IT’S HOT 4 Well, for starters it looks a lot cooler than something like the PC’s Second Life - its virtual world is cleaner, crisper and hopefully less full of weirdos. It’s all hugely accessible, and the THE LOWDOWN additional options it provides for certain games makes it potentially more interesting and THE LOWDOWN Ubisoft’s shooter is one of the few third-party exclusives coming to PS3 and it’s looking very flexible than Xbox Live. One of our favourite ideas is the Warhawk War Room, where you can Until Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Resistance was the PS3’s fastest-selling title. Launching with impressive indeed. It’s from , developers of the TimeSplitters series, so its enter with a group of friends and discuss online strategies - but not only that, you’ll be able the console, Insomniac’s shooter was a thoroughly enjoyable FPS that didn’t quite live up to core FPS mechanics will almost certainly be well up to scratch. It’s set in the year 2048, and to demonstrate your battle plans with a small sandbox featuring models of and planes loftier expectations. Its 40-player online matches have kept many fans amused while waiting sees you controlling a soldier from a Private Military Corporation, sent to fight a brutal rebel that you can push around. The arrival of Home should also finally see the much-rumoured for the inevitable sequel, and thankfully that’s going to be here before the year’s out. This faction in an unnamed country in the middle of a vicious war. You won’t only have your guns ‘accomplishments’ make their debut with trophies appearing in the online house. time it’s set in the US rather than the UK, though you’ll still be playing as Sergeant Nathan to rely on either - you’ll be provided with vehicles to get around faster, and the mysterious Hale. It turns out that Hale isn’t the only one who’s resistant to the Chimera virus, and a task Nectar - a performance enhancing substance which grants its users special powers. force of those immune to the disease is set up, called the Sentinels. The Chimera return, launching a full-scale aerial assault on both the East and West coasts of the - as WHY IT’S HOT usual, it’s up to you to destroy them all and save the world. Free Radical is one of the most consistent developers in the industry, and Haze looks comfortably up to its usual standard. Its stunning environments are streamed in without WHY IT’S HOT a pause, meaning players shouldn’t experience any loading times between levels - quite a The extra time the developer has spent with the PS3 hardware since Resistance has obviously technical achievement. We’re really looking forward to seeing the Nectar effects too - taking reaped dividends - Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is one of the best graphical the medication will not just imbue your soldier with certain enhanced skills, but also affect Our only concern with Home is showcases on the console, and Resistance 2 is already looking much better. Not only that, but how the world looks, too. There are plenty of online options, too - including a four-player whether it’ll be quick and easy there will be two separate campaigns, one of which will support eight player online co-op. enough to set up online games. co-operative mode. Given how much expertise FRD has in creating compelling multiplayer Fingers crossed Sony gets the And as if forty online players wasn’t enough, there are ambitious plans to have sixty-player experiences, we’d say that this is probably where Haze will be at its very best. balance spot on. matches this time round. EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL Yet another PS3 treat for May - and We’ve already been waiting too long for Those multiplayer options are seriously impressive, this could be the best of an already Home - now all these new features are making and the solo campaign looks like a big improvement impressive bunch. the delay even harder to take. on the first, too.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |21 Feature Hopefully the Helghast AI won’t Snake’s getting on a bit now, but he OUT be quite as dense as in the first OUT can still get around - especially with KillZone - though they may well LittleBigPlanet SEPTEMBER his new Octocamo suit which blends JUNE 12TH overwhelm you in numbers here. 2 into the environment. THE LOWDOWN The barest squeak away from our number 1 slot, this ingenious creation from British developer could be the most innovative game you’ll play all year. It doesn’t really sit easily in any pigeonhole - about the closest comparison is to a 2D platformer - because its approach is just so different to anything that’s gone before. The game features a series of levels, each with a set of objects that behave as their real-world counterparts would. It features some of the most complicated physics we’ve ever seen, as you and your buddies work together to try to get past all the obstacles and reach the goal at the end of each stage. OUT Pile up small objects to climb up to unreachable areas, roll down hills on mini-skateboards... KillZone 2 SEPTEMBER it’s like a virtual playground. Metal Gear Solid 4: 3 Guns of the Patriots WHY IT’S HOT 1 THE LOWDOWN The main reason LittleBigPlanet floats our boat isn’t the stages the developers have put in Arguably the one game on our list with the most riding on it, KillZone 2 is the follow-up to there - it’s the ability to create your own levels that we’re excited about. With an incredibly THE LOWDOWN what was a fairly average PS2 shooter. Yet it has built up a significant amount of hype about flexible yet intuitive creation system, you can position items anywhere you like, create and It’s the return of one of gaming’s most iconic characters, and one of its most charismatic its release. The reason for this is that video three years ago which showed footage of the add your own backgrounds, skin certain items based on a generous number of presets real-world personalities. This is the last Metal Gear Solid game for both and game - purportedly in-game visuals, but in reality nothing of the sort. Though Sony was - or even use your own pictures saved on your PS3’s hard drive. After you’ve done that, you - and both are looking to go out with a bang. This time, a much older Snake has heavily criticised for the misleading clip, it definitely set the ball rolling - but it wasn’t until can upload your stage to the PSN and share it with others to be rated by fellow users, so been sent to the Middle East to take out Liquid Ocelot, who is heading up a Private Military two years later that people really started sitting up and taking it seriously. The video shown it shouldn’t take too long to find and download a particularly good piece of level design. Company (all the rage these days) and about to start a very serious insurrection. at E3 2007 didn’t look a million miles away from that early ‘target footage’, and KillZone 2 Sony hopes that everyone will contribute towards making a huge LBP community - fingers looked like it might finally live up to the billing. crossed this comes off, because it could be one of the most amazing online experiences you’ll WHY IT’S HOT ever have. Kojima has spoken of the struggle his team have had in squeezing the game onto a 50GB WHY IT’S HOT Blu-Ray disc - suggesting there’s a hell of a lot of content. Indeed, MGS4 is essentially For starters, it looks amazing. One of the original game’s strongest points was its visuals, two games in one, with Metal Gear Online forming part of the package. It’s the single- and so it’s no surprise that Guerrilla has fashioned what looks like an incredibly atmospheric player most people will be interested in, however, and this promises to tell a compelling, setting - that of the Helghast’s home planet, Helghan. Yes, you’ll be taking on the gas emotionally-charged story, with several flashback sequences explaining what happened in mask-wearing antagonists in their own back yard this time, and with an atmosphere prone all the previous games. These are all skippable, but will fill in a lot of important background to electrical storms, expect scorched skies filled with rumbling clouds, and forks of lightning Even your ‘sackboy’ avatar’s clothing information, especially for those who haven’t played the earlier games. Graphically, it looks can be customised - LittleBigPlanet regularly cascading down. As long as Guerrilla can create a compelling story, then we think should be an intensely personal utterly spectacular, and you can expect with fight choreography that rivals the best KillZone 2 stands a strong chance of being the best FPS this year. experience for every player. Hollywood blockbusters, and a series of unforgettable battles. EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL EXCITEMENT LEVEL Ridiculously good-looking, If this catches on, then it could be one of the most Game of the and hopefully it’ll play influential videogames yet created. A potential Year material - June can’t just as well, too. masterpiece. come soon enough.

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www.gamerzines.com CO N T RO L P3Zine NAVIGATE |23 Reviews The bangs are big and the flailing enemies very satisfying. Time Crisis 4 Grab your gun, go to and get yourself some terrorist ass. Publisher: Sony Developer: et’s be straight here - Time fair. Time Crisis ushered in a new style Heritage: V, Crisis is the gun game that of gun game which featured scary 6, Soul Calibur Lstarted it all, properly. Before terrorists and full-on armies instead Link: Time Crisis arrived, gun games of ducks, policemen or cowboys. www.timecrisis-4.com were all about shooting ducks And, thanks to the G-Con gun OUT NOW on or blasting shoddy peripheral, Time Crisis was deadly looking cowboys in camp, poorly accurate and now, the best light gun scripted themed arcade ever has become even better on games, currently residing in Cornish PS3 . It’s got recoil and is even more of your TV. The set-up can be used “The best light gun amusement arcades. Of course, the accurate thanks to the little plug in on any screen, whatever size and shooting scenes in these games sensor that is attached to the PS3 - if you really feel the need - can ever has become even were as accurate as the shooting USB socket - along with two cubes be hooked up to a giant plasma better on PS3” gallery at your local travelling gypsy which neatly dangle from the sides or projector screen. The downside

Roll over screen for annotations

In the arcade mode, you can see other team members.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |24 Reviews

Time Crisis 4 continued It’s rousing stuff and makes you thrill-a-minute replica of the giant feel every bit the Jack Bauer you arcade machine. of the new gun is that it’s orange always wanted to be, as long as The new mode uses the two (government rulings) and makes the you don’t look at the giant, bright sticks on your gun which make Time game cost more than a usual release orange water pistol in your right Crisis behave like an FPS with added - it’s 64.99. hand. Or your name badge. You’re ‘real gun’ bits. Instead of watching But before we get into that, let’s Captain Rush and the terrorist a series of passing screens with talk about the plot. There’s new organisation is called W.O.L.F. If that’s targets, Rush strolls around harbours, terrorists - European ones this time not bad enough, you’ve got two E.U airports and other terrorist (and - and they’re attacking America. counterparts who, if we’re honest, bug) infested hide-outs with ease, look like male models from a salon strafing and sneaking as he goes. It’s advert and also look like they like like Metal Gear at points, ducking each other. It’s a Japanese game, under vans shooting ankles, blasting so expect dramatic voice-overs, at bio-suited terror monkeys with Switch weapons THE G CON3 and you’ll get a Guns & Ammo dodgy translations and the odd gruff voices, all the while getting brief glimpse of non sequitur. Still, you’ve got a love info updates and flirty updates from what you’re ‘re- interest called Beth and - important Beth. Beth is the call centre honey ally’ packing. Ie: this - a new mode in addition to the charged with bleating about the not the orange flip screen arcade mode, which is an danger while being represented pistol. accurate (but short lived) on-screen by a little anime portrait shot. Walking around in the new mode with the increasingly complex Next Gen? “Makes you feel G Con3 (8 buttons, two sticks and every bit the Jack a trigger) is a struggle at first. You Close up, the enemies look great and the animation is fantastic - it’s based on the famed Havok engine beloved of anyone making games Bauer you always with realistic rag-doll physics. Closer still, the details on effects like wanted to be” Run out of bullets and you the fire sprinklers shown here are something that you just wouldn’t get a knife. We don’t fancy see on the PS3. Loading times are quick too - if you install the 2.5 gig your chances much... game to your hard drive. The Side The Front The Back

The SideFrontBack SideYouAnd can hereon, seethe is the theG Con3 anglefirst looks stick, you’ll normal, used see formost if walking a often. bit bright. andNote the Note second reload the stick black buttons. at lead rear whichClaspingof the chamberlimits the howgun plus withfar weapon you both can hands changego from means buttons, your that PS3. thenyou Why feel the isn’t thetwo it recoil wi-fibuttons orbut Blutooth?feelon the slightly, side. The It just allpad slightlygets is wireless a bit less confusing cooland eventhan in shootinghas the Sixaxis. heat one-handed.of We’rethe battle going and to needthe G toCon3 speak is, technically, to Sony’s Phil the Harrisson most complex to clear weapon this one we’ve up. Oh, seen. hang on...Eight buttons? For a gun?!

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |25 Reviews PULSOMETER Signs of life He’s wearing shades AND You set up You shoot a terrorist You shoot a terrorist Time Crisis 4 continued a balaclava - he must the gun with a pistol with an Uzi can move the camera independently really want to keep his identity secret. of walking as usual, but the presence of the light gun feels strange - you look for a traditional cross-hair but then realise that you’re playing a gun game and actually holding a gun, not a pad. You set up the gun You explore You detonate Eventually, the use of the G Con3 sensors and TV the area a truck becomes second nature but it’s a bit of a military option getting it set-up and it feels a bit clunky given that it is Crisis 4 - a fun shooter full of bravado attached to the PS3 with a USB cable. and the kind of acting you see in a Surely, in this wi-fi world, Namco level has sea that looks like it comes start. The plot is exciting and, again, Steven Segal film, which is great could come up with a wireless gun? from a previous PS2 version of the increasingly bizarre and cheesy but but ultimately formulaic and a bit Still, the added walking, strafing game and backgrounds sometimes fans of Time Crisis know the drill short lived. dimension makes Time Crisis 4 a lack sparkle. Enemies are impressive, and for those that don’t, a quick Richard Melville must for fans and a feels much more especially in close, knife based look at trailers on the official site of a game than a simple translation combat but you’ll barely have time will tell you everything you need to of an arcade machine designed to look (or even think) before you know. If Dante from Devil May Cry to impress onlookers and gobble pull the trigger. Puzzles are kept worked for the FBI, he’d be a Time pound coins. The new mode is the simple, given the tricky task in Crisis character, swirling around a meat of the game but, strangely, hand and the game eases you in, simplistic and macho world with doesn’t have quite the visual polish realising that you’re not going to bravado, spurting catch-phrases at that you would expect. The harbour be performing head shots from the every dynamic turn. And that is Time

TERROR BITES Crisis? What crisis? P3Zine Great new controls Good value, overall There’s not just enemy They’re all over the airport Peering around corners Messages pop up in anime In arcade mode, two Verdict men out to get you, there’s and will test your shooting is possible thanks to the style from your military players can compete and Brash, loud and Visuals aren’t up 77 terrifying beetle critters skills. Best equip the dual-stick FPS controls commander and Mei Ling. take on enemies as one exciting. But limited too. Shoot, shoot, SHOOT! machine gun. which feature the odd cut And by Mei Ling we mean unit. to PS3 standard to your character. Beth. for solo play. everywhere

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |26 Reviews GRAN TURISMO LANDS IN LONDON England’s capital sets new graphical Gran Turismo 5 The Ferrari F1 car can only be standards bought when you’ve completed the single-player game. And it costs two million credits! Publisher: Sony Developer: Polyphony Prologue Digital Heritage: Gran Turismo A playable demo worth paying for? Link: http://www.gran- turismo.com/en/gt5p/ ou can’t help but admire “Gameplay and OUT NOW Sony’s audacity. With Gran technology that YTurismo 5 Prologue you are essentially paying £25 for what is stands alone” in effect a playable demo; a mere sampling of content from the full is Gran Turismo, this is Polyphony If you’ve downloaded the Gran Circus skills Getaway Replay game that’s due sometime in the Digital - and as such you’re getting Turismo HD sampler from the next year. While other companies are access to gameplay and technology PlayStation Store, you’ll have some happy to release free demos online that stands alone in its sheer idea of the beauty of the game’s or multiplayer beta-tests, it’s quite magnificence. cars, the wonderful 1080p visuals GetawayReplayCircus skills astonishing that with GT5 Prologue Right from the off, GT5 Prologue and the super-smooth 60 frames AlthoughAsSet usual, in an areathe Sony best encompassing and way Polyphony to appreciate Trafalgar Digital the are Square scenery keeping and in Mum,Piccadilly a Gran word Turismo Circus, is you’re actually required to pay a fair impresses with a level of quality per second update. GT5 Prologue thatgameGran the Turismo is tobasic check 5’swork interpretationout on the this wonderful brilliant of a citysectionreplay circuit modes. of theis actually world’s While framederived most rate old wedge of cash for it. But this rarely seen in any console game. steps things up to a new level with fromisfamous dropped Studio city to isSoho’s 30 easily frames work the per moston thesecond, graphical cancelled resolution superb Getaway isGT increased circuit PS3 title. yet and Theseen, a vast photorealisticarrayboasting of beautiful an obscene effect special islevel certainly effects of visual reminiscent are detail. employed. of that previous work.

The Honda Integra Type R. The Ferrari 430 is just one of a The only choice as your first range of Italian stallions you can motor in GT5. Anything else add to your garage - if you can The new drift challenge scores you on powersliding on is a waste of money. earn enough cash. different sectors of the track.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |27 Reviews A close-up of the maniacal Next Gen? Ferrari F40, one of the cars Super-mini versus Lotus on the London circuit. added to the UK version of This track does have some slowdown and screen the game. tear when lots is going on. ’s next gen credentials are beyond doubt - it’s easily one of the most technically accomplished games seen on PlayStation 3. This shot of the London street racing track gives you some idea of the visual magnificence the game offers in 1080p at 60 frames per second. There’s also support for uncompressed 7.1 surround sound too. The best argument for buying GT5 Prologue is its undeniable status as the most impressive technological tour de force for PS3.

GT5 Prologue continued Content-wise, things look pretty different tracks to master. However, good on paper considering that it is in practice, only a handful of the cars even more detail, far more ambitious indeed a mere ‘prologue’. There are are actually practical for the tasks circuits and the best, most realistic 71 cars contained in the game - a the game charges you with, and the lighting effects seen in any console broad cross-section of motors from circuit variations do little to stave off game. Just as a demonstration piece the most basic to the most powerful an inevitable sense of déjà vu as you for the power of PlayStation 3 it’s a supercars on the planet, along with battle through the many races on wonderful piece of code, but more six courses. These circuits each offer in the single-player mode. than that, Polyphony has managed have two variations (either reverse It’s effectively just an enlarged to improve the core gameplay - the versions or else slightly tweaked beautiful physics model that powers renditions with more the game’s handling system is even corners) effectively Roll over screen for annotations better than ever. giving you 12 “The physics model is even GRAN TURISMO: FINALLY ONLINE better than ever” Up to 16 players battle it out for racing supremacy

GT’s beautiful The race kicks off and the Of course, with this many Races are banded by the Some of the most intense presentation extends to amount of automotive players taking part, class of car participating. racing actually comes with the online races, which metal on-screen at any the carnage when you Enter a Class A race slower cars in smaller, kick off showing your car given point is astonishing. reach the first corner is without a Ferrari or more intimate races being prepped by the incredible! GT-R and you’re hopelessly through the streets of engineers. outclassed. London.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |28 Reviews GT5 Prologue continued PULSOMETER Signs of life playable demo, to the point that the arbitrary tool for making sure you It’s a Gran Turismo game. On And it works online too! The beauty of the game actually forces you to re-play drive properly and we can only hope PS3. And it looks AMAZING But can be laggy as hell... wonderful replay mode. the single-player events over and that Polyphony introduce a better over again in order to accrue enough system in the final game. cash to buy the cars required to Online racing also makes an participate in certain events. By the appearance in GT5 Prologue, time you reach the elite S Class races, offering up to 16 players taking you’re looking at over two hours of part simultaneously. At its best it’s gameplay (usually driving around absolutely brilliant and obviously And it plays beautifully too, just Having to keep racing the same oval track again and around the Daytona oval circuit) makes up for the disappointing as you’d expect from a GT title and again to afford a new car gets boring simply to get enough cash to buy computer AI, but at the time of the first required motor that’ll keep writing there are only limited online Complete the A races and you’re given the you competitive in the next round events set-up for you to compete great professional physics mode and freedom to tune and hone each of your cars. of races. in with only a limited range of tuning section that GT old-timers will There are also disappointing signs customisation options available. really love, but we really can’t say that The exotic Ferrari 430 easily has the bettering that Polyphony is still to address the What’s more, you still need to get the 10 per cent of a GT game for 50% of this Honda Integra Type R. core weakness of the GT series - the qualifying cars in the single-player RRP represents good value. lacklustre driver AI. Although it’s a mode so like it or not, you’re getting Richard Leadbetter touch better than GT4 on PlayStation to be spending a lot of time playing 2, there is still no real sense of any and replaying races just to get the challenge from the computer motors required to have fun online. drivers who only seem to be there A split-screen two-player mode to make up the numbers, or just is also available for offline racing get in your way. There’s also no sign though which is a bonus. of crash damage either, despite its In short, this is a beautiful demo appearance as standard on all of and a wonderful workout for the Gran Turismo’s competitors. PS3’s advanced silicon, and being On the plus side though, Gran Turismo, the actual driving GT5 Prologue does introduce experience is utterly sublime. That punishments for smacking into said, the racing fundamentals and barriers and barging other cars off progression through the game can the road; but these are introduced be frustrating, there’s a number of only at the S Class level, taking the graphical glitches (screen tear and The best graphics form of crippling four-second go- frame drops) and online isn’t quite P3Zine on PS3 slow penalties. This should work, as good as it could’ve been. It’s also Beautiful GT only the implementation is lacking. rather over-priced at £25, but if gameplay You can be driving in a straight you’re a mega GT fan willing to put Verdict line, then you get rammed by a the time in playing the same events Lacking game, but Repeating races 81 computer-controlled car but it’s you over and over again, there are a lot awesome driving for cash gets The Daytona oval circuit also includes a variant that gets the time penalty. It seems of cars to collect, including the latest experience tedious track that actually has some right turns in it. like a somewhat clumsy, extremely Ferrari Formula 1 car. There’s also a

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |29 Reviews Condemned

Publisher: Developer: Monolith 2: Bloodshot Heritage: Condemned, Will Condemned 2 be Condemned to the bargain bins, F.E.A.R We’ve seen scarier things Link: www. or a sequel worth having? than this on Broad Street condemnedgame.com f you’ve been a starch supporter killer. Set a few years after the events at midday. Hey, maybe he OUT NOW of the PlayStation brand, and of the last game, where Ethan is a just wants a hug? Idon’t own an Xbox 360, the broken, and bitter man, Condemned chances are you may have missed 2 again sees Ethan drawn back into out on the original Condemned. the line of fire, to track down yet every discernible way. Not only is the seem a lot darker in tone, with Part of the 360’s launch line up (and another group of serial killers. Yet this game itself, with its emphasis on sick many walls coated in a mysterious certainly one of the stronger titles time, it’s even better than before. hand-to-hand bludgeoning combat, black goo, which seems to spawn amongst it), the original Condemned Condemned 2 is really everything an incredibly adult experience, but monsters. was a disturbing ride through horror it sets out to be - it’s gruesome, it’s the actual environments themselves In a stark contrast to the first hell, as you played Ethan Thomas, a at times, genuinely unnerving, cop hot on the trail of a deadly serial and above all else, it’s very, very dark, in “Gruesome, Roll over screen for annotations unnerving, and very, very dark”

For once, the PS3 experience is just as smooth as on other formats. Guns are a rarity in Condemned 2, and come with just one clip of bullets.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |30 Reviews Forensics are more optional this time, but still just as The ability to “re- much fun. spond” to characters is new for Condemned 2. Being attacked by a flaming corpse is not good.

Condemned 2 continued game, Condemned 2 seems to be a makes the game scarier, and adds addition of new combos, such as and makes fighting with enemies lot more about the paranormal, and a great deal of intrigue to the story, the ability to do a one-two punch, a lot more interesting. The original’s this is, in fact, a good thing. Giving which would actually be quite weak followed up with a devastating sickening environmental kills also the game a much spookier feel, without it. third blow (accompanied by the make their return here, and are a lot whilst also turning the game away However, possibly the greatest relevant prompts on screen), speeds easier to pull off, with the relevant from some the harsh realities of the improvement to Condemned 2 everything up a surprising amount, hot-spots in the environment original, the whole greater emphasis is the combat, which now seems on paranormal activity actually to flow a hell of a lot better. The

“The greatest improvement to FREEZE FRAME Condemned 2 is the combat” Wh-who are you? Wh-what do you want?

5 MINUTES 10 MINUTES 60 MINUTES 90 MINUTES 120 MINUTES This bum’s the first guy Before too long you’re A bit later, you’re reunited Before long, you’re back Problem is, once you’re you meet, but Ethan attacked by some weird with your former police to your old ways, scanning sucked in this far, it’s often instantly insults him. dude, and then things buddies. This guy had bodies, and reporting quite hard to escape. That’s not how you make start getting out of hand. scary eyes, so we just did evidence, like a good Muhahahahaha! Ahem. friends... what he said. police man should do.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |31 Reviews Flaming man, flaming wood, or a flaming crowbar? Either way, it looks pretty deadly. You think this is bad? Who knows what lurks You should see what she around that corner? If it did to me arse! was a fluffy bunny, that would really surprise us.

“Everything you could hope a sequel could be” NIP TUCK Condemned 2 continued Dr., I think we’ve got a problem marked with skulls from the second everywhere seems more realistic. been tweaked to perfection. There’s you start dragging your enemy As a secondary effect, this also also no lengthy install to sit through towards his inevitable doom. means there are more weapons before you can start playing, which, The level design, too, seems a around, which makes it all the easier in these days of Devil May Cry 4, is lot better than before, with more to defend yourself when a raging something of a welcome change scripted scenes breaking up the psychopath jumps out from behind from the norm. And though its gameplay, though never enough to that toilet... environments are decrepit, and its intrude on the sense of lonesome Condemned 2 is really everything enemies are disturbing, something fear. Thankfully, the environments you could hope a sequel could be. about Condemned 2 will keep you you’ll explore are not only a lot It’s bigger, better, bolder, and more coming back for more. more varied, but also a lot more action packed than the original, with Ian Morris cluttered than before, and as a result, a layer of polish, and combat that’s Tools of the Diagnosis, The clues! Hey, you’ve got a trade murder Excellent combat bit of goo on your P3Zine chin... No, there’s ToolsDiagnosis,The clues! of the murder trade still a little more. Well Verdict designed ThePullingIf you’re forensics out lucky, your system your PDA, partner was you onechoose on of the the the other most relevant end successful of path the ofPDA parts investigation, will of find a A terrifying 86 Condemned,andlink touse something the tool and as we’re in required, her pleased records, either it’s and present photographing before and you correct know the it, inevidence, onethe sequelthing pleasure asorleads scanningwell. to Toanother, initiate the area and it, forall you’re youa certain havehot on tomaterial. the do istrail find It’s of something theall very criminal. CSI suspicious, - butSorted. it’s Poor plot andgreat. then choose to investigate.

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |32 Network

Say hello to another duo of new games Reel PlayStation Network available for download today... Fishing Publisher: Natsume Developer: Victor Interactive | Price: £3.49

ever let it be said that Sony mistreats us Europeans. NWhile America gets exclusives such as Everyday Shooter and Pain a good few months before us, Sony have let us get one up on our American neighbours, with the “We were looking exclusive UK re-release of PlayStation forward to Pain because One powerhouse, . Oh. it looked like the perfect With a learning curve that’s steeper than most cliffs, Reel Fishing doesn’t videogame” exactly welcome you with open Publisher: SCEE | Developer: Idol Minds | Price: £4.99 arms, and seems to have been Pain designed almost exclusively for the e’ve been waiting for final thing’s here, we find ourselves itself to a whole new audience, but insistence on trying to sell you extra “hardcore” fishing crowd, if such a this one for some time, somewhat disappointed. by making the most of every button characters for real-world money thing exists. We’d suggest you put Wand not only because Yes, the game is still the fun blend on the face of the PS3, we think it’s leaves this one feeling fun, but your pennies towards Pain instead, it was released on the US store of immature, vulgar humour, random managed to overcomplicate things limited. as that’s by far the superior game. several months before it’s finally objects, withthe unsurpassable joy somewhat. seen release over here. No, we were of slamming your character’s face With four modes on offer, which looking forward to Pain because, through a plate glass window we mostly revolve around either P3ZineVerdict P3ZineVerdict to us, it looked like the perfect expected, but the whole experience smashing your way through various Could have been better It got away. videogame - a light hearted, tongue is somewhat dampened by the over pieces of scenery, or throwing in cheek splat-em-’up, that was complex controls. Had the game someone else through them, there’s Fun for a while Fish fans may like it everything Flatout’s party mode had a simple, one button control certainly plenty to do here, but the provided, and more. Yet now the scheme, then it could have opened single play area, and the game’s Overly complex 72 Bottom feed 40

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |33 Column “The question is, are Regardless of format, GTA IV should be well worth waiting for. A massive adventure created you better off buying by one of the finest developers in the business. G.T. Eh? it on 360?” Why PS3 owners are getting a raw deal on IV

ince the release of GTA III, the buying it on 360. pricing. WHSmiths has already names of Grand Theft Auto Now before people go unveiled a poster with pictures Sand PlayStation have been demanding my head, let me explain of the boxart on both consoles some extra content, and instead synonymous. It’s been a hugely why this is the case. The first reason - with a £39.99 pricetag under the that’s only going to be available to important franchise to Sony, is admittedly more of an educated 360 box and £44.99 under the PS3 the 360 - depending on how many Chris Schilling helping to shift millions of PS2 assumption than something based one. Meanwhile, both Game and there are after Episode One, this Chris is the proud units alone, on its way to on absolute cold, hard fact, but Gamestation recently confirmed could really hurt PS3 owners for owner of all three becoming the biggest series in doesn’t anyone else find it a little their pricing would likely be the some time to come. ‘next-gen’ consoles. gaming. And, by the time you read worrying that everything we’ve same. Again, there’s probably a Why Sony has allowed this to Every issue Chris will this, it’ll be a mere seven days away seen so far about the game has workaround - order it online and happen, I don’t know. Perhaps they chart the progress of from release. So, you’re going to been based on 360 code? Pretty you’ll likely find somewhere that’s feel the bond between PlayStation PS3 and commenting buy the PS3 version, right? Well, if much all the previews you’ve read, selling both versions cheaper, and and GTA is too strong for a few new on Sony’s latest and you don’t own any other consoles, the shots you’ve seen, the videos for the same price. But that’s not the missions or a five pound cheaper The sales comparison greatest initiatives. of course you are. But if you’re one the developer itself has unveiled point - to your average Joe on the pricetag to make the difference. But between the two of the fortunates who owns both a - it’s not been the PS3 version on street, GTA IV is cheaper on the 360. in this fickle gaming climate, many major formats will be PS3 and a 360, then that choice no show. Indeed, the suggestion was Advantage Microsoft, once more. multiformat gamers are going to of as much interest longer looks like a wise one. Because, that Rockstar had found Sony’s Yet the one thing which should make a choice that sees GTA moving to some as the game much as a publication focusing on console more difficult to develop really rankle for PS3 gamers is that away from what some would call its itself. Expect the Sony’s console shouldn’t really be for, which in part led to the game’s 360 owners will be getting exclusive spiritual home. internet to go mental admitting this, you’d be better off delay from October last year. While downloadable content for their in a couple of weeks’ this can’t be proven, it’d certainly version. GTA: Episode One (as it’s time. fit with the excuses trotted out by been tentatively named) will be other developers for shoddy PS3 hitting the Xbox Live Marketplace in ports in the recent past. Still, with no August. Now granted, GTA IV is a big, real evidence that there’s anything big game - one which most players particularly unusual going on, we’re will struggle to completely finish for going to have to concede that any a long time. With a hundred hours’ potential technical weaknesses are worth of game including eight full We can only hope that the DLC doesn’t just that - potential. And besides, if hours of cutscenes, it should keep amount to anything important - or anyone can create the perfect port, the average player busy well beyond maybe even that it will eventually it’s Rockstar. August. But even so, it would have appear on PS3. What is a definite issue is the been nice to have the option of

CONTROL P3Zine NAVIGATE |34 Next Month Issue 15 Out May 15th MORE FREE MAGAZINES! LATEST ISSUES!

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Design: Tanya Oliver Cranberry Publishing Limited Contributors: Steve Hill, Ian Morris, Chris Schilling, Rich Melville www.cranberrypublishing.com All rights reserved. This publication may be copied in its entirety without Publishing Director: Dave Taylor modification for non-commercial purposes, for example but not limited to copying Email: [email protected] to CD-R for a friend, but it may not be offered for download from PLUS! any website or similar without the prior permission of the copyright holder. You are Editorial Director: Dan Hutchinson free to, and encouraged to, link to the original file for download from our website Email: [email protected] and you can find help on doing so here. While the greatest care is taken in producing Commercial Director: Duncan Ferguson this guide, we do not accept responsibility for the loss of any data or any other Haze damage caused by following the instructions in this publication. We always Email: [email protected] recommend that you keep a backup of your hard disk data and ensure that you check all files for viruses before installing or using any new software. None of the Telephone: 0117 986 6550 information in this guide is intended as legal advice. All articles are for information LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures Call Duncan to discover how e-publications can work for you! purposes only. Websites mentioned in this publication are not affiliated to or controlled by the publisher. We are not responsible for the contents of these sites or any changes made to them. Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution All contents © Cranberry Publishing Ltd 2007 Company registration number: 4987058

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EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW THE BOURNE CONSPIRACY PLUS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW We talk to Lead Designer Ror y McGuire insi de... CONTROL

SPECIAL Bourne has plenty of melee INTERVIEW moves to take the enemy down.

A well-timed Welcome attack will send your enemies hile the explosive film flying. W trilogy looks to have run its course (internet rumours “Out of the frying notwithstanding), Jason pan and into the Bourne is set to continue his PROFILE fire applies to search for the truth on the Rory McGuire is Bourne in spades” small screen. Hot on the Lead Designer at Blocking incoming heels of Identity, Supremacy Studios ROLL OVER blows is as and the man behind important as going and Bourne the hunter being sent on and Ultimatum, this summer ’s THE BIG on the offensive. assassination missions for will see the release of Robert Bourne Conspiracy. PICTURE Treadstone. From a game play Ludlum’s Bourne Conspiracy standpoint, this allowed us to create on next-gen consoles. By an that gives players the dipping in and out of the combat skills, his ability to escape option of moving seamlessly between films, and the late Ludlum’s deadly situations and even his skill fighting and shooting. Ultimately, the behind the wheel of a car. Bourne design of the combat in the game novels on which they were Bourne to win finds himself in these situations and the arsenal and abilities given to based, Conspiracy is set to because in the films, he’s a players are well within the parameters fill in the gaps for Bourne- Lead Designer Rory McGuire waxes lyrical about malfunctioning government agent on of the character of . philes everywhere. Taking Jason Bourne’s first videogame adventure the run. He’s also developed a over where Matt Damon left conscience - a traumatic side effect The game spends some time off, you get under Bourne’s re the events of the game Bourne is conveyed through the of his past as an assassin and, at exploring Bourne’s past prior to more closely inspired by action, the experiences and sense of times, an indiscriminate killer. This is events in Identity - will certain skin as you punch, kick and ARobert Ludlum’s original control players will feel in settings why firefight scenes are brief in the scenes have more resonance to shoot your way through a novel, or the Bourne Identity film? that are both recognisable and fresh. movies; he’s not going to run around those who are more familiar with swathe of enemies across a The is a companion to gunning down those hunting for him, the series? series of bleak global both the films and the books. It’s From the screenshots and especially considering that, for the Working with the Ludlum estate and destinations. We were privy essentially a third shelf, adding a footage shown so far, it looks like most part, these are civil personnel Tony Gilroy - the screenwriter on all to an exclusive preview video game based on Jason Bourne’s there’s more gunplay in the game like he used to be. Yet to us, even in three films - we expanded on the mythology to the existing Bourne in comparison to the Bourne those brief moments with a gun, storyline of the books and films to version, and played it until entertainment library. We’ve taken films - why is that? Bourne still displays that same uncover the events that led to our thumbs ceased and we inspiration from both the films and All the action in the game is defined combat expertise. For the game, we Bourne’s breakdown. In the game, became hyper sensitive to books, redefining Bourne from a film around Bourne’s signature abilities created a framework for both fighting players relive missions from Bourne’s light. Read all about our and book action hero into a game that make him the perfect human and shooting by letting players past as a fully functioning flashback and what you can character that players can become. weapon. This is represented in the become both Bourne the hunted (i.e. government weapon. Each expect from the full version... In the game the notion of ‘being’ films through Bourne’s hand-to-hand the Bourne you know from the films) mission, while fun to the player, is

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in a sense a complete disaster. Bourne is given bad intel by his Treadstone handler Conklin, he’s put in bad situations and he’s always left fighting for himself without any plan to exfiltrate him. These situations The bone-crunching sound effects “The goal was to force him to fight his way out, will really make you wince. consistently make the indiscriminately killing those in his player feel like the way. For Bourne fans, it’s a new chapter and experience in the history star of the action” of the character they’ve come to Entertainment. With Robert Ludlum’s The game moves from know. For any action game fan, passing, they are the guardians of his one-on-one they’re exciting missions where the creative vision for Jason Bourne. we first began development, but that recreate the shaky-cam rapid- fights to larger objectives and situations are always They gave us the right boundaries for was during the time when he was cut action of the movies scale gun changing, and the action is running at the mythology Mr. Ludlum has publicly questioning if he would even themselves, how difficult was it to battles with a constant high pace. created for this character and his continue with the film franchise. We get the desired effect? amazing compelling story. That enabled us to want to establish a game franchise Indeed, we spent time directly with smoothness. How important was it to have the explore and become creative with for Jason Bourne. While naturally any Mr. Jeff Imada, the fight support of Robert Ludlum’s what we could do within that space. future games are going to be choreographer on the movies. He not estate holders? Did that allow you dependant on the success of this first only helped all our more freedom for what you could After Matt Damon ended his title, there still has to be a solid, animations, but he also assisted in include in the game? involvement with the series, consistent foundation for that. For us, designing the fight system that we It was critical to have not just obviously it was impossible to first and foremost, that reality came have today. Beyond just the involvement, but a good working have Bourne look like the actor. through creating compelling movements that the characters relationship with folks at Ludlum When he reconsidered his gameplay defined around the most execute, fight choreography is also position and meaningful elements that typify central in the movies and they way signed up for a Bourne. Ultimately, our goal is to they are framed. The handheld fourth film, did immerse players in the character and camera style of Paul Greengrass is you consider his universe, to let them ‘become really one of the essences of the WATCH THE approaching Bourne’. Celebrity involvement very Bourne franchise as a whole; and it’s TRAILER! him again, or quickly took a back seat for us. influenced moviemaking substantially was the game in the years that have followed since Click Play to too far forward The game has several brutal fight Supremacy and recently Ultimatum. see the game at that stage? sequences, which were The goal was to consistently make trailer now... We wanted Matt choreographed by the fight the player feel like they were the star Damon to portray co-ordinator on the film series. of the action when they were the game Given that the interactivity controlling the character; we wanted character when required means it’s impossible to to make sure that the player didn’t

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feel like the only time the game was participating in. When cinematic was during a . To the player gets a quick capture that feel of the movies, the action sequence, it’s approach that we took was a usually something philosophy of “The player always has incredibly over the top a camera man following him” this that is going to leave philosophy guided all the time we their jaw on the floor when they spent working on cameras. As a actually get to participate in it. result, we were able to get a very cinematic feel when the player was The game is split between hand- in-game and in control of Bourne. to-hand combat and gunfights, It wouldn’t be with Escape and Evade sections Bourne without Tell us more about the Quick- too - does the game lean more a blistering Action Events - what sets them heavily towards one single enemy presents himself, it’s the frying pan and into the fire” car chase – apart from the QTEs featured in aspect, or have you tried to mix ultimately up to the player how he applies to Bourne in spades. The and thankfully other games? it up as much as possible? solves a situation, he makes the essence of the Bourne character in the game The approach that we took with One of the true strengths of the choice whether it’s going to be the books and movies, but what we delivers on Quick-Actions was that it was game is the seamlessness of the through hand-to-hand or weapon use. captured in the game as well, isn’t that front in moments of action that normally hand-to-hand and shooting. Not only The player can choose to hang back just that he’s put into these situations, spades. most games would show in a the seamless transitions but the or rush forward and engage them. it’s his ability to react to them. cinematic we wanted to deliver in- control that the player has when We mix things up on the player for Playing as Bourne, the player will be game and with the player choosing who he engages. If an setups and the situations he runs put into these cinematic and tense into, but the player himself is also situations, at times without a weapon able to alter his strategy, depending and just their wits to get them past The gunfights will on how he feels at any given moment. an embassy full of marines or half of be more frequent the Parisian police force. and intense than in The pacing of the films is the films... arguably what makes them so Finally, do you think Conspiracy compelling - is that something might be the first step on the you were particularly keen to get road to a whole new Bourne across in the game? franchise? Absolutely. The pacing of the films is We have yet to announce anything for what makes them what they are. further titles, but both the books and Bourne always has a threat behind the movies are a large franchise with him pushing him along (such as police multiple stories in their series. We or military). Additionally, he’s always hope that Conspiracy is as well ...while certain sections require being presented with problems in received as the books and movies a more stealthy approach. front of him. The old cliché of “out of have been.

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Publisher: Vivendi Developer: Heritage: Darkwatch ROBERT LUDLUM’S Link: www. bournethegame.com ETA: June 27th 2008 THE BOURNE

The conspicuous CONSPIRACY red backpack is He’s Bourne again… lovingly recreated. n the space of five short years, eyebrow replaced by a furrowed the Bourne trilogy has seared brow, the holiday brochure locales Iitself indelibly into 21st century supplanted by bleak European cities, cinema, with Jason Bourne proving a and the gimmicky gadgetry giving prescient hero for an increasingly way to the techno stylings of 24. With paranoid world. If for some reason more than a nod to the brutal thrillers you’ve never seen any of the Matt of the 70s, such was the effect of Damon films, imagine a harder- Bourne’s arrival that the other JB “I’m the edged James Bond, with the raised was forced to re-evaluate his act, Daddy now!”

Should have taken the lift. GAMEPLAY VIDEO! Click Play to see Bourne in action...

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THE BOURNE CONSPIRACY CONTINUED culminating in Daniel Craig being repeatedly whacked in the bollocks in a pivotal scene in Casino Royale. The Bond films have of course spawned many a game, and the same fate was inevitable for Bourne. In fact you’d be hard pushed to think of a series that was better suited to a film adaptation. The amnesia- ridden lead character is a perfect blank canvas for the player, and he

Not the best BOURNE TOTO WIN WIN person to He’s the man who can… subject to a bit of road rage.

ROLL OVER With enough adrenaline, THE BIG pretty soon it does properly kick off. multiple PICTURE Initially, you get a chance to use your takedowns are CIA-honed skills in a bar fight in possible. Marseilles, batting away assailants spends much of his screen time involved, as is screenplay writer with a flick of the wrist and a slapping enemies upside the head, Tony Gilroy. While for the music, it’s pummelling of the pad. With a light shooting them, or using parts of the out with Moby, and in with superstar attack or heavy attack, various scenery in an inventive fashion. So DJ Paul Oakenfold, who has combos produce different it’s no surprise, then, that recorded an entirely new score. responses, and each can be charged Fighting Shooting Driving Conspiracy is every bit the DVD As for the story, it weaves around up to give your foe either a quick bonus content, with the key the fiction, with a few scenes lifted kick or full-on roundhouse. As you difference being that you are directly from The Bourne Identity, fight, your adrenaline bar fills up until Jason Bourne. including the Mini Cooper car chase, you are able to carry out a FIGHTINGDRIVINGSHOOTING Incidentally, you’re not Matt and the attempted assassination of takedown. It’s here that Bourne gets TheHe’s kindBournealso ofpretty blokeConspiracy handy who canwith is bystart a noshooter, anmeans argument able a driving to inpick an off Damon, who had no part in the Wombosi. In fact, the opening levels really creative, with Jason using any emptygame,enemies room,but with for Jason aadded shooting Bourne authenticity takedown spends it move,adoes large recreate as part well of as thethe project. In fact, it’s largely a clean build up to that key event, with the part of the scenery to disable his gameepicblow Parisianup in carshand-to-hand andcar chaseeven combat.the from odd The explodingTop Bourne grappling. barrIdentity. el. slate in terms of film talent, although game kicking off two days before enemy. fight choreographer Jeff Imada is the beginning of the first film. And Fans of the film will recognise the

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Problems escalated at Terminal 5.

Take ‘em down while standing on one leg. Nice.

relevant button, nearby enemies are That’s one way highlighted and targeted, enabling of livening up a you to rapidly pick them off without dinner party. exposing yourself for too long. The gunfights are on the frantic side of mental, with an entire army of terrorists taking over an airport as easily surmountable and not THE BOURNE CONSPIRACY you attempt to board a cargo plane, frequent enough to erode the CONTINUED traditional beat-em-up. for instance. general sense of turbo charged No shirker when it comes to Unsurprisingly, everything is progress. biro in the hand trick, along with the armoury, Bourne also progresses presented in an extremely cinematic With a healthy spread of levels book in the face, but with over 250 from pistol to shotgun to machine fashion, to the extent of Tomb Raider promised, covering both new ground animations included there are such gun, taking on multiple enemies style interactive cut scenes. At a key and old, Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne delights as smacking enemies faces from the fleeting safety of anything moment, such as leaping out of the Conspiracy is set to feature into a photocopier, drowning them in he can find to take cover behind - way of certain death, a button considerably more action than sinks or introducing them to the there’s a lovely touch where pretty flashes up on screen, and you have sitting in and watching the trilogy OUT blunt end of vending machines. It much all cover in the game is fully the ungenerous part of a second to in its entirety. Although it has to be TH really is some of the most brutal perishable. Utilising the so-called press it correctly in order to seal said, the latter option is much easier JUNE 27 combat we’ve seen outside of a Bourne instinct, by pressing the your fate. Thankfully, these are on the thumbs and heart rate.

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