FREE! NAVIGATE Issue 31 | June 2009 Also inside! BIOSHOCK2 STALKER Call of Pripyat Stronghold Natural Selection 2 Subversion PCGZine : Free Magazine For PC Gamers. Read it, Print it, Send it to your mates… Dragon Rising and more! review! Massive The hottest news and exclusive interviews from 2009... Modern Warfare 2 BONUS! ink Free ARMA II Br Screensaver! Splinter Cell You think you know war? Think again. ewed! revi PLUS ALL THESE GAMES & MORE

reviewed! reviewed! reviewed! reviewed! s: Hired Gun ed Edge Officers WWII Left4Dead 2 DIRT2 3 Jagg Is it an Officer’s Mess? Valve’s latest revealed! Cars and... /Battersea? Some Anti Aliasing required. Back? They never left... CONTROL NAVIGATE |02

Don’t miss! This month’s highlights… PCGZine Ah, it’s that time of year again: the sun is The Sims 3 shining; the birds are singing; and at E3 ears are Forget Big Brother, we’re watching our sims. ringing to the sound of a thousand throbbing bass amps. We were there and we’ve returned, ears bleeding, with a host of new screens and info all the hottest games at the the show. We’ve a special extended preview section this month to bring you exclusive E3 interviews from ArmA II Spinter Cell Conviction exciting new titles like Brink and Splinter Cell Exclusive Interview! Conviction, plus new screens and info for Alan War on a scale you’ve never seen... Wake, Modern Warefare 2, Valve’s new Alan Wake Left4Dead sequel and loads more. It’s a great New screens and info! month for games news. But we’re not all about E3 this issue. Check out our READER epic ArmA2 review and see if FEEDBACK! you’ve got the guts for war! Click here to tell us what Dan Hutchinson, Editor Left 4 Dead 2 Brink Modern Warfare 2 you think of [email protected] Or you cadaver at this preview first... Was this the best of E3? It’s all gone a bit Die Hard 2... the magazine! MEET THE TEAM MORE FREE MAGAZINES! LATEST ISSUES! Probably the best games writers on the planet QUICK FINDER Every game’s just a click away! Left 4 Dead 2 Modern Warfare 2 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Splinter Cell Conviction DiRT 2 ArmA II Operation Flashpoint 2 The Sims 3 Andy Griffiths Will Porter Brink Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge Welcome new staff writer Andy, Will’s braved LA and come back Alan Wake Officers: World War II you’ll be seeing a lot of him... alive with tall tales to tell... CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |03 Previews New characters will each FIRST have a distinct personality LOOK of their own. Left 4 Dead 2 Publisher: EA Developer: Valve Bigger, badder, and in the Deep South Heritage: CounterStrike, of America… Left 4 Dead returns Left 4 Dead Link: www.l4d.com What’s the story? ETA: November The outbreak is sweeping across the US, and this time it’s heading for New Orleans. This new version of the multiplayer shooter features the adventures of four entirely new characters who must fight to survive. PREVIEW FEEDBACK! What do we know? Click here to The game will not focus on melee combat, as bats, frying pans tell us what and chainsaws have been shown off in the new trailer and the videos. you think of The maps will also be far more open, allowing you to take multiple routes Left 4 Dead 2 through any given level to the end area. Not only that but the Director will be able to rebuild the level ahead of you for dramatic effect, changing the very layout of the world. When do we get more? There’s not a lot of time before the game hit – it’s out in Q4 this year – but we can expect Valve to reveal a whole lot more detail on the various maps before then. New horde challenges will mean Massive new maps allow some constant flows of zombies. creativity for your journey. Anything else to declare? This rapidly produced sequel has lost nothing in momentum. It’s bigger than the original game – both in terms of having one more campaign and the maps being bigger within all five campaigns – but it’s also got bigger environments and a new zombie type – the charger. Expect an awesome challenge from this sequel.

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©2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, Ubi.Com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. Anno, Anno 1404, Sunflowers and Sunflowers logo are trade- marks of Sunflowers GmbH in the U.S. and/or other countries. Sunflowers GmbH is a Ubisoft Entertainment company. Produced by Blue Byte GmbH, Developed by Related Designs GmbH, All rights reserved. Artwork by Tobias Mannewitz.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |05 Previews FIRST S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: LOOK

Publisher: Deep Silver Developer: Call of Pripyat GSC Gameworld Heritage: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: New zone, new story – could this apocalyptic sequel Shadow of Chernobyl be the ultimate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game? Link: http://cop.stalker- game.com What’s the story? ETA: Q4 2009 Ukrainian masters GSC have returned once again to the Chernobyl exclusion zone to tell a tale of nature gone haywire and technology gone bad. Call of Pripyat tells the tale of what happened after Shadow of Chernobyl. This time PREVIEW the player is an agent of the Ukrainian government, sent into the zone to FEEDBACK! figure out why it is still inaccessible after the blast from the original game. Click here to tell us what What do we know? you think of Call of Pripyat will constitute the largest addition of new material to the zone S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: so far, with three entirely new regions for players to investigate. The finest of Call of Pripyat Monsters will be lurking – there’s even a new psychic beastie. these will be an entire district of the abandoned city, Pripyat, and the rotting shipyards of the river basin. When do we get more? The game’s out at the end of 2009, and we’re expecting videos of new features and plenty of in-game info to appear on our radar in the coming months. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. site is regularly updated with info tidbits. Anything else to declare? The worst elements of the previous game (Clear Sky) have been dropped, with the A-life intelligence running the factional disputes, rather than the Players can now sleep faction system. Most players seem to favour this idea, making the world to find themselves at Huge new environments the right time of day. will dominate the return much more alive. to the zone.

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CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |07 Previews Operation Flashpoint 2 Publisher: | ETA: Autumn Subversion Publisher: Introversion Software | ETA: TBA The wide-open shooter of great realism – that’s the heart of the game that we’re Introversion have been revealing more not expecting to come out in the winter about their city game, Subversion. They’ve More golden nuggets of of 2009. It’s Call of Duty 4 without walls – shown off security systems and bullet gaming glory to come you can use the landscape to travel as far physics, suggesting a huge-scale infiltration up and as wide as you want, but there will game of some kind. It’s also getting funding always been a central mission urging you from a UK technology council, which allows 7 it to get even more experimental. DiRT 2 onwards. Don’t lose this war, soldier. Publisher: Codemasters | ETA: September Something very special is happening to Codemaster’s Stronghold Kingdoms racing series – they’ve Publisher: FireFly Studios | ETA: TBA discovered American culture. Firefly, the team behind Stronghold, have And you know what that decided to take the series online. Creating means: bright lights, rawk a web-based Medieval Europe, the team music, and living in a trailer are allowing us to become barons on our park. Okay, so the core game own time, collecting taxes, building remains a splendid off-road settlements and going to war with our racer, but the packaging is neighbours. It’s a genuine MMO-RTS, pure extreme sports. and we can’t wait to see it in action. Natural Selection 2 Publisher: Unknown Worlds | ETA: Q4 2009 winter Evolved The return of the real-time strategy and first- person shooter hybrid mod brings with it Publisher: Square-Enix | ETA: TBA 3 some genuine excitement among its die-hard Squeenix have been knocking out the Front Mission Autumn players. The team have taken years to turn this games for years on console, but this is a slightly different game around and now they’ve finally shown Splinter Cell angle – a third-person shooter angle to be precise. The some footage. And it’s impressive indeed. Mini Ninjas Conviction configurable robots will be shooting each other into July molten fragments as you make war in an urban setting. BioShock 2 Publisher: Games | ETA: TBA Digital Extremes, have been tasked Street Resident Assassin’s Fighter IV Evil 5 with making the underwater Creed 2 shooter an interesting experience for the online gamer. Apparently, Bionic elements of the game are going to Commando fill in the single-player narrative, as on you play the roll of a pre-collapse the plasmid tester. radar CONTROL PLAYBACK OPTIONS:

Dragonica™ and all associated Dragonica™ logos and designs, Gala Networks Europe/Barunson Interactive, the interlocking Barunson Interactive logo, and all associated Gala Networks Europe/Barunson Interactive logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gala Networks Europe/ WWW.GPOTATO.EU Barunson Interactive Co.,Ltd. © Copyright. publishing by Gala Networks Europe./ Development by Barunson Interactive Co.,Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |09 Previews “Paced and styled first look like a TV show, the dialogue and storyline seem impeccable” Publisher: Developer: Remedy Entertainment best of Heritage: The Max They say it changes when the sun goes down, around here… Payne series Link: www.alanwake.com e think it’s best to start with “Alan Wake is a best-selling writer, The Remedy fascination with player characters who appear constipated ETA: 2010 the bad news… in all but he has a problem,” explains E3 shows no sign of stopping. Wlikelihood, Alan Wake will producer Jyri Ranki ominously as we sit hit the 360 before it does the in the Microsoft booth at E3. “He hasn’t PREVIEW beautiful sun-kissed shores of the PC, as written anything in over two years, so Paced and styled like a TV show – in As for the action, well – as you FEEDBACK! at the moment they’re concentrating now his wife Alice has taken him away that it’s split into in-game episodes – might well suspect – it all deals with a Click here to on the console release. The good news to the idyllic small town of Bright Falls and somewhat reminiscent of Twin battle between light and dark. “Light is tell us what though, is that there’s little doubt that it in Washington to get back his creative Peaks, the dialogue and storyline of a key gameplay element,” explains you think of will be worth the wait. Finally, after a flow. But when she vanishes, Wake Alan Wake seem impeccable – it’s Ranki. “It reveals things as they truly are; Alan Wake painful hiatus, the latest from the finds himself trapped in a nightmare, genuinely eerie to find lost pages of it’s a safe haven for the player in the creators of PC action classics Max Payne and his latest work – a thriller novel he Wake’s manuscript before seeing them night and a combat tool for the player 1 and 2 has shown off gameplay that doesn’t even remember writing – is all come true in the gameplay. in the dark. A light source like a gives life to its beautiful engine. coming true before his very eyes.”

It looks jolly and yellow during the daytime, but it’ll be a different story come nightfall.

He’s not a happy chap, is our Alan. Poor thing.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |10 Previews Alan Wake continued Tender is the Night flashlight is always more important The dark is a worrying place to be… than, for instance, a firearm.” Essentially, darkness has tainted Bright Falls, shrouding its occupants, wildlife and even inanimate objects and machinery. As Wake guardedly walks through the game’s massive game world – in this case searching for an injured local called Rusty who’s been dragged through the forest by an unknown force – he must break through the shield of darkness from those stumbling after him, before finishing them off with his pistol, or Alan Wake is very much an Alone in the watch them fizz into nothingness by Dark for the 21st century – far more so firing a flare gun in their direction. Daytime Gloomy night Dawn than the recent Alone in the Dark game. Fixing generators and turning on lights, meanwhile, will gift him an area that When there’s a mechanised the forces of darkness cannot go into. dangling lift involved, you just DaytimeGloomyDawn night know something will go wrong… Sound and vision DuringAs the mistsun the comesdayrolls Bright in up and behind Falls your is torch thea pleasant mountains, flickers place on, you’ll you’veto be, be withgot begging to a expectreduced for the its chance raysunexpected. to of pierce someone the Not only are the visuals beautiful and pouncingSomewheretree-line. onNot like you. only this That does petrol said, it look station, the beautiful,locals however, will butstill goes it’llbehave fromraze oddly. thebeing poor Remedya mundane souls arethat buildingplaying are out up toto the music haunting, but the scripted theanget oasis factyou. that ofSo safety. many the supporting Thegames darkness-tainted have cast day of and Alan nightcreatures Wake cycles, will won’t be but strong, be this able is amusing tothe get first at and youto trulyfaintly as long as happenstances of Wake’s quest for his sinister.you’reembrace in With the it – light. makingthis in Stray mind, it ainto part the the ofday-time shadows, gameplay is however,for rather wandering than and environmentalyou’ll and NPCbe asking chit-chat. eyefor trouble.candy. lost wife are conjured up in stunning and suspenseful ways – the machines that suddenly lurch into life and strongest here. Yet it isn’t all corridors, bulldoze the buildings that he’s in, for Alan Wake’s adventures will take him example, are genuinely spooky. What’s over both hill and dale in a vast playing more, the slow-mo effects when the area that will see him pootling around dark taint is ripped from possessed in cars just as much as hiding behind a yokels by a burning red flare is portable light source. The 360 may well gorgeous and exciting to watch – the have Mr Wake first, but that’s no reason legacy of Max Payne can be felt at its to let him slip off your radar. PCGZine how complete? first impressions? 75% 85% We’ll be keeping an eye open for this one

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OUT NOW

© 2009 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark and Prototype is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. ‘2’ and ‘PLAYSTATION’ are registeredactivision.com trademarks of Computer activision.com activision.com Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Windows, the Windows Vista Start button, Xbox, , Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |12 Previews best of first look

Publisher: Bethesda E3 Developer: Splash Damage Heritage: Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Quake Wars Link: www.splash damage.com Splash Damage take us one step closer to the edge… ETA: 2010 The richest of the rich inhabit the vast aking the mentality of Enemy your team move through the level. Founder’s Tower. No prizes for guessing Territories Wolfenstein and Whether it’s sneaking behind enemy where the story will finish up… PREVIEW TQuake Wars and putting them lines to torture a hapless NPC foe FEEDBACK! inside a slick story-driven game is no Click here to simple task, yet over the past few years tell us what Splash Damage have been carefully you think assembling a development dream of Brink team with exactly that in mind. It all takes place in Ark, a floating haven for the world’s elite that bobs on the top of an ocean that global warming has seen swamp the land. Here Ark’s law enforcers are in constant conflict with the homeless stowaways trying to scrape a living there, often resulting in the spray of both bullets and arteries. Playing co-operatively You’ll be able to play Brink with three other players in co-op fashion in story- based missions, but brilliantly, in every level there will be players on the rival side doing their best to attain their own goals. Even more brilliantly, you’ll be swapping between different roles and selecting your own dynamically created personal mini-missions – each with a set amount of experience to The vibrant and crisp gain attached to them, according to graphical style is a pure joy. their relative difficulty – as you and

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |13 Previews The daring boys in blue escort a bomb defusal Brink continued robot through the fray. “There’s still a long into spilling his guts, or blasting a way to go for short-cut in the level… everyone has an assigned, and self-chosen duty. It’s Brink, but its wild the natural evolution of the defined ambition makes it a player roles and responsibility seen in remarkable prospect” the Enemy Territory series, and plays as a fast-paced bullet frenzy. locals aren’t over-chuffed with the boys in blue. Quite how the other side Level on show of the coin plays out is unknown, but The level on show at this year’s E3 was the security forces narrative sees four set in Container City, with the storyline bickering guards escort a bomb and action seen through the eyes of disposal bot through the settlement – Ark’s security forces rather than the with echoes of Wolf ET’s Gold Rush rebels. Formerly this is where map – and cut their way into a automated systems would ferry the container that holds slightly more elite’s belongings over to their than they bargained for. quarters as and when they were It doesn’t end with this refinement demanded, in the brave new world of of single and multiplayer dynamics Brink it has become a slum where the though, since Brink is also going a

long way in terms of manoeuvrability sliding and vaulting ensues – meaning Roll over screen for annotations – incorporating something that Splash that the fast-paced nature of Brink Damage call the ‘Smart’ system that never fades away. plays out like a condensed variation It’s very clear that there’s still a on Mirror’s Edge style acrobatics. Press long way to go for Brink, but its wild the Smart button and the game will ambition makes it a remarkable look at your environment and guess prospect. With its crisp, clear visuals that you’ll be intent on, say, sliding and engaging sci-fi mentality, it beneath an airport security laser – or if could very well blow our minds on you’re looking slightly upwards, that its release next year – let’s just hope you’ll be wanting to leap atop the that the flood waters don’t subside security gateway itself. Much skidding, for a while yet… PCGZine how complete? first impressions? 55% 80% A hugely exciting prospect for PC multiplayer gaming

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© 2009 NCsoft Europe Ltd. All rights reserved. NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, Aion and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |15 Previews best of first look “The chances are that the game’s box will come emblazoned with Publisher: Activision E3 Developer: Infinity Ward warnings about not Heritage: The Call of Duty forgetting to breath series, Medal of Honor: while playing…” Allied Assault The world’s greatest military shooter specialist prepares to shock and awe Link: http://modern warfare2.infinityward.com ure, it helps if the guns are big ETA: November Sadly there won’t be any snowmobiles and the explosions are pretty, in multiplayer. Lots of fun to scoot Sbut what Infinity Ward have around on in the main game, though. PREVIEW always specialised in is the delicate FEEDBACK! art of pacing a level; stuffing it with Click here to enough surprise and suspense to tell us what you ensure that your attention levels never think of Modern once fall below a level marked ‘utter Warfare 2 joy’. The level on show at this year’s E3 was an outright masterclass. Perilous mountain ascents complete with climbing axes and slow-motion NPCs flailing for your grip, rubbed shoulders with picking out blizzard-blinded sentries on a heartbeat sensor and blasting them from close range – or waiting for your sniping companion to do the business. A chaotic battle and a compendium of exploding MIGS on an enemy runway suddenly blurred into a headlong Die Hard 2 style chase through snowy forests on the back of a Skidoo. The chances are that the game’s box will come emblazoned with warnings about not forgetting to breathe while playing… “What we want to get across is that it’s a true sequel – the storyline picks off directly from cues in the first game,” explains Infinity Ward’s

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |16 Previews As well as the gun-toting mercenaries, there will also be Modern Warfare 2 cont. innocent civilians fleeing from the “Tweaks to the carnage in levels like the Rio favela. Robert Bowling, having leapt over a existing CoD 4 engine canyon to safety on his snowmobile mean that levels can steed and Uzi-ed five Russians in hot pursuit into pine trees. “At the end of now be bigger and Call of Duty 4 there’s the shoot-out on more varied” the bridge, and characters may, or may not, have died – but unfortunately one What’s more, tweaks to the existing of the villain Zakhaev’s main guys, CoD 4 engine mean that levels can Makerov, is still around.” Seeing as now be bigger and more varied, former player character Soap McTavish despite providing far more detailed is actually the chap ordering you environments and character models around in the E3 demonstration, it’s close-by. “The designers have the clear that there was at least one freedom to not do the scripted survivor, but the new menace of corridor levels, but levels like Favela – Makerov was more than enough to a mission that takes place in Brazil call in Taskforce 141 – who are the and gives you multiple paths that you international military super-unit, high can take, and dynamic AI that reacts profile target chasers and yourself – accordingly.” Explains Bowling, and Soap’s new comrades. referencing a Rio-based level that

features a colourful shanty town of levels set in Afghan caves and Roll over screen for annotations and the arms of the famous arms- Russian dockyards – and even a outstretched Jesus statue towering mooted sequence that involves the over the scene. “The new technology International Space Station. Then we have in our engine allows us to there’s the multiplayer that Infinity have these much bigger worlds.” Ward aren’t even talking about yet, But what else? Well there’s the but still sends a shiver down the spine utterly immaculate stunt motion- at the thought of it. There’s just so capture work, that sees enemies being much to be excited about and very yanked off snowmobiles with ice axes little doubt that Modern Warfare 2 will or pile-driven into sets of open lockers be the shooter of the year. November with weighty finesse. There’s the talk can’t arrive soon enough. PCGZine how complete? first impressions? 55% 95% A hugely exciting prospect for PC multiplayer gaming

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |17 Interview best of

Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Link: http://splintercell. E3 us.ubi.com/conviction ETA: Winter Fisher King It’s back to basics for Sam Fisher, even if the basics have become even more stunning than before…

So what’s happening with Sam of the things we don’t do any more is Fisher? What’s changed since last that we don’t force the shadows on the time round in Double Agent? player – it’s now more of a tool. Sam Well, Sam Fisher is on a personal quest isn’t weak in the dark now; he’s truly in Splinter Cell Conviction – his powerful and that’s the feeling we daughter died during Double Agent, want to give to the player. Also, so he’s essentially looking for the because we have this faster gameplay, answer to who killed her. Because of all we want people to be immersed the that, and because it’s more personal whole time. We don’t want any cut- this time, he’s more violent, more agile scenes and we don’t want any loading and the gameplay has changed. screens, so we’ve really innovated in how we unroll the story. We do stuff How so? like project movies onto walls while We want faster-paced gameplay. One you’re interrogating somebody, for example, so you can visualise it without The crowds of people in being pulled out of the game. different locations are a great feature of the game. So where will Sam Fisher’s sneaking-around antics take him in this game? Well, what we’re showing at E3 takes place in Malta, but most of the rest of the game will be in Washington DC – and we’re trying to use as many iconic locations as possible. Something else that’s new is that during loading times you see everything that’s going to be in the next map – the transition between the levels is hidden by the video showing where the enemies

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |18 Interview

With his extreme manoeuvrability there’s a greater feeling of guards being Fisher’s prey in Conviction, rather than the other way round.

Interview continued previous games, whenever you set off there’s an innovation called ‘mark and an alarm or got seen by a camera it execute’ – which is like when someone are in the next map, and hints as to was pretty much game over. With like Bourne or Jack Bauer scopes out what you should do. Conviction we want to give the player what is in a room, plans ahead and more options once that happens, so takes them all out as soon as he bursts Is it fair to say that Splinter Cell is we now have the ‘last known position’, through the door. We can promise you becoming more and more of a meaning that when you’re spotted, as that it feels really good to play. Hollywood action experience? soon as you vanish, you see a white The cinematographic look is definitely silhouette – which is where the AI When the game was shown two something we’re going for. Then again, thinks you are. So you can effectively years ago it was a very different… we’re not so much going for action as play cat and mouse with the AI. What’s Previously we were a bit too excited in what we’re calling ‘dynamic stealth’. In more, to allow for faster gameplay terms of redefining the franchise. But after listening to the fans and the The game’s opening is journalists, we went back to the entirely reminiscent to drawing board and said ‘Okay, let’s the start of Casino Royale. bring back what was fun in the old games, but give it a faster pace that ties in the with the story’. All the technology that we had in that first version though, it’s still in here – the civilian behaviour for example. It’s not like we went all the way back to Double Agent and started again!

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |19 Reviews

ArmA II Team Razor… disposable, or the best a man can get?

he key difference between a packing hunting rifles and hope; they soldier sim like ArmA II and a could be canny special forces backed Tmilitary first-person shooter by T-72 tanks and Frogfoot bombers. PCGZine like Call of Duty 4? Uncertainty. In You just don’t know. this follow-up to 2007’s flawed but These scary unknowns combined EXCLUSIVE peerless ArmA, half the time you don’t with immense tactical freedom and SCREENSAVER know where the enemy are, or even exacting realism make playing ArmA who they are. They could be miles II a deeply memorable experience, Click on the download button on the right to save away; they could be round the next but not one that will suit every taste. If the screensaver to your PC. corner. They could be rustic irregulars the screenshots scattered over these

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Reviews ArmA II Golden Rule #6: Shoot first, admire ecclesiastical architecture later. ArmA II continued pages were a true reflection of the campaign then 70 per cent of them would show Team Razor (a five-man Marine Corps recon squad sent in as part of a US effort to stop ex-Soviet Republic Chernarus from sliding into civil war) advancing warily through It’s hard to feel pity for villages and woods, or travelling a man in a mask. Publisher: pensively in the backs of helos and Developer: Bohemia APCs. Anticipation and atmosphere Interactive rather than action. Welcome to the Heritage: Operation reality of modern warfare. tactical taxis Flashpoint, ArmA have Why walk into battle when you can… Link: www.arma2.com obviously listened to the criticism ETA: 19th June levelled at the story segment of their last effort. Operation Harvest Red is a far more engaging affair, with System Requirements: better-drawn characters, superior Dual core CPU, 1GB RAM, dialogue and a richer backdrop. 256MB Shader Model Soon after parachuting into troubled gruesome war crimes and thought- has come ashore you find yourself 3-capable GPU Chernarus you’re confronted with provoking RPG-style choices. Always assisting government forces in bitter credible, early tasks tend towards streetfighting. Then things start the stealthy. Communication masts getting really interesting. “Bohemia have obviously topple, targets painted with laser With frontlines established, the listened to criticism rangefinders disappear in clouds missions assume a new flexible form. levelled at the story of smoke, unsuspecting Chedaki Rather than dump a single objective separatists slump to the cool night- in your lap, you are delivered to a segment of their last effort”time turf. After the main USMC force forward base where a CO reels off

freeze Fly like Swim like Sneak like a frame an Osprey an AAVP7A1 Taking you through a mission, one step at a time… 5 minutes 30 minutes 1 hour 3 hours 5 hours FlySwimneak like like like an an Ospreya M AAuddyfoxVP7A1 The boot camp instructors Hard hats on. The last of War is hell. Within minutes The war criminals can run The conflict starts getting InRivers,USMC real-life, mountain lakes the and MV-22 bikes large have ispuddles an expensiveno weapons of blood white areor armour, no elephant, problem but but they for in-game this do comeamphibious it’s with the are surprisingly polite. the tutorials introduces the of arriving in Chernarus you but they can’t hide from really complicated. Who perfectoddity.working Itsway bells. grenade to DRING-DRING!shrink launcher Chernarus means Out and of it’smy conduct prettyway, ChedakiHALO handy missions. in scum! a fight, too. They know you’re a vet. new base-building ability. find evidence of atrocities. your new toy, a nosey UAV. are the good guys again?

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |21 Reviews If one of Team Razor gets Chedaki camps and gun runners, bring killed it’s mission over. in suspects for questioning… how you go about achieving these goals is up to you. The freedom is invigorating, and exactly what the series needed to show-off its vehicular variety and vast landscapes. And Chernarus is a truly splendid place to soldier in. Soaring above its gloomy spruce forests, ruined castles and distinctive gold-leafed churches in the Venom air-taxi, or exploring its sleepy villages and deserted collective farms in trundling APCs, the country gets right under your skin. Not every local is willing to chat, but those that do often provide vital clues. Assuming you don’t antagonise them that is. ArmA II continued One of six flyable helos, The new campaign approach the USMC Super Cobra. a list of Things He’d Like Done, before might be a breath of fresh air, but, offering the services of the camp’s sadly, it’s not free of frustrations. helo pilot and UAV. Find evidence of Several times we found ourselves atrocities, locate arms caches, eliminate unsure how to proceed, or derailed

The locals speak Chenarussian (actually Czech) which adds to Armour modelling remains crude – the atmosphere. for the real deal try Iron Warriors.

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Reviews and try your hand at choreographing an entire battle – surprisingly easy. It ArmA II continued also introduces Warfare, a marvellous mod-inspired skirmish mode in which by inept AI and faulty triggers. The two sides scrap for control of an island on-call Venom is piloted by a prize while building bridgehead bases buffoon. If you’re not very careful with kill and capture-generated cash. picking LZs, there’s a good chance Neutralised an enemy rifleman? Have he’ll wrap his hoverer around trees $50 to spend on a new MG post or kit or buildings, leaving you dead or upgrade. Lovely stuff. earthbound for the rest of the mission. Multiplayer – the connoisseurs At other times it’s far from obvious choice – is as enticing as ever. With how to fulfil victory conditions. More implausibly high headcounts, guidance and a bit more polish priceless co-op (replay the entire wouldn’t have gone amiss. campaign with chums) and unrivalled Of course, the campaign is just one opportunities for applying authentic way to enter the fray. A small but well- tactics, it’s military service without crafted single mission selection let’s the physical rigours and PTSD. The best visual effects you play as the balaclava-ed baddies For more whimsical/truncated from the ACE mod have been integrated. Roll over screen for annotations

Vast beautiful vistas + realistic ballistics = sniper heaven.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE z |23 Reviews ArmA II continued pulsometer Signs of life play sessions, the armoury offers Sorry chaps, we’re Boar to our front. ArmA2.exe has a mountain of kit-unlocking mini- walking home Permission to engage? encountered a problem games. Ranging from skeet shooting and obstacle courses, to assassination and evasion challenges, they’re perfect tea-break fillers.

MEDIC! Need Follow orders or help “ArmA II’s tweaks and a medic here! locals? Hmmm… new attitude to injuries ensure incredibly spectre of build quality. ArmA had lots intense combat” of ragged edges, and sad to report, so does the sequel. On top of the minor However you access the action, campaign trigger and pathfinding ArmA II’s AI tweaks and new attitude problems mentioned earlier, there’s Advancing down the to injuries ensure incredibly intense also graphical glitches and savegame- middle of the road is combat. Hostiles are now far likelier related crashes. While an elderly seldom a good idea. to put trees, poles and walls between babushka embedded in a wooden themselves and danger. They also door doesn’t disrupt play, a broken seem more willing to flank and save does. Given the state of Bohemia lay down suppressive fire. If the Interactive’s last offering, you’d think adrenaline isn’t pumping as you they’d have been more careful. sprawl in the pine needles with So should you hang back? That’s bullets zipping over your , it will a tricky one. Most of the bugs we be once you hear one of your team encountered only damaged the calling for a medic. Because the injured campaign and then not grievously. can now be dragged or carried to Even with its blemishes, this is an safety then given life-saving aid, some incomparable war simulation. mad fool – usually you, though you Tim Stone could always send a comrade – has a duty to play the hero. Disappointingly, ArmA II doesn’t PCGZine Operation Flashpoint 2 eclipse its predecessor in every has its work cut out respect. The interface remains opaque and labyrinthine, a tangle of confusing menus. Yes, it’s so powerful More involving than ArmA % you could sit back at base, dishing An Aladdin’s cave of guns and rides Flight models seem a little out orders and probably still win the friendlier, but auto-hover game, but all that power should be Campaign wrinkles and clumsy UI still comes in handy. far easier to utilise. Then there’s the 84

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CONTROL ww PCGZine NAVIGATE Reviews The Sims 3 The biggest game in the world just got a bit bigger

House design doesn’t have Publisher: EA an McIan’s first kiss was a beautiful to be as strict as before. Developer: EA Play moment. He arrived at her door, fresh “The more options and Heritage: Sim City, Spore Ifrom a visit to the catacombs, his skin possibilities there are in Link: www.thesims3.com smeared with grime. His white The Sims, the more Oooh, we’re not fond OUT NOW underwear – the only thing he was of that carpet. Oh no. wearing – spoke volumes about the man; stories you have to tell” he pursued matters of the mind, not of System Requirements: the body. He was pathetic, but she didn’t features and tweaks it introduces. While 2 GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, seem to mind. He chatted to the girl for that’s all well and good for the back of 128MB SM 2.0 3D card hours about computers. He insulted her the box, it’s not the purpose of flatmate, he read her books. To avoid continuing this line. Yes, clearly at least passing out on the floor, he drank her some of its purpose is making enough coffee. And then he kissed her, wrapping money to buy Belgium, but it’s also his stinking arms around her and planting about making the ultimate game of PCGZine his festering lips upon hers. His first kiss, anecdotes. The more options and and it was beautiful. Then he asked her to possibilities there are in The Sims, the marry him. She refused, of course, and he more stories you have to tell. was humiliated. The next day, he died. The Sims 3 may not offer dramatic It’s always easy and tempting to write changes to what’s by now a very familiar about a new Sims game in terms of the formula, but it manages to be bigger

Yes ladies, freeze he’s single. frame Taking you through the game, one step at a time… 5 minutes 1 hour 3 hours 10 hours 12 hours Start with creating a Sim, Jobs are still essential, but The park’s a good spot to Even if you have created a Death comes for us all and their life goals – best- you choose what they get make friends. Or perhaps couch potato, nothing is eventually. Unless you feel selling novelist, or creature- up to at them – working enemies, if you’ve created denied. This slob could like turning off the ageing robot cross-breeder? hard, napping or yapping. a mean-spirited neurotic. yet be a sporty lothario. option, obviously.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE Reviews As always, conversion is done via speech bubble and ‘Simlish’. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Life, but not as we know it…

You can’t have a thriving town without a cemetery. managing their more metaphysical And that’s The Sims 3 all over: choice. Pod people Against Spin me The Sims 3 continued needs. A bookworm wants to read more While you’ve always been able to dictate nature right round books, an introvert wants to spend more your puppet-people’s appearance and in subtle ways – meaningful expansion time in his own bedroom, a mean- abode, now you’re really directing their in every direction, rather than simply spirited guy wants to write angry forum life story, and the game’s formerly PodAgainstSpin people me natureright round bolting a lump of new stuff onto the posts… It’s slotted into the Sims’ existing CreatingComeThis sounds house-design a Sim minor, is a joyfully but time, in practice complicatedyou’re not it’s limited crucial procedure to theset – itemseverythingSims 3 – evolving you from can customisefromjawline the to side. Most obviously, the Sims’ town is structure impressively, so that your little Put a virtual gym in theseries’ colours boxy trunks andpast. texturing Objectscan be tailored are of anything. no longer to your Want locked own adesigns. TVto 90-degreemade If there’sout ofrotations brick?a failing, You – it’s instead, got that it. now an open, persistent, free-roaming guys have new purposes alongside, your virtual house Youyouit’s impossible can thenminutely save to make tweak the templatesomeone their angles, totruly later grotesque. resulting apply to in Thisother houses is aitems, family that or look game, share like soyour houses, EA world, rather than a clutch of closed-off rather than replacing, the traditional and get virtually fit. newlyratherdon’t want createdthan nightmare boxes. piece Carving of creatures suburban out pools popping oddity and withup hills on the isthe gloriously huge content Sims downloadersimple community. now menus.too. houses. If you want to meet someone need to eat, sleep and micturate. The new, you don’t have to creepily turn up essential appeal of the Sims – creating at their door unannounced, take a your friends, enemies and favourite wander to the park or book store, or celebrities – grows massively, as you’re even elect to spend your working day now creating their personalities as well slacking off and chatting to co-workers. as their appearance. The knock-on effect It’s difficult to be lonely in this third Sims. is you get to prioritise how you play. Which, if you do want to design an introverted weirdo with only plants for company, is not ideal, but hey, you could always remove all the doors in his house. Perhaps more meaningful is the changes to the Sims themselves. They’re no longer simple ciphers with tiny bladders – that constant need to minutely manage their physical needs is mercifully reduced, in favour of

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE z Reviews pulsometer Signs of life I’ve made my best friend! I bumped into a I’ve just downloaded the And made him fat! girl in the park cast of Left 4 Dead

I can’t afford a house But she told me bigger than a wheelie bin I was boring

“The Sims 3 is one giant leap Building up your house closer to the infinitely and adding furniture is as great fun as ever. flexible game that we all dreamed The Sims would be” The Sims 3 continued individual situations starring individual For all that, this isn’t going to change homes and families there to be personalities, rather than simply anyone’s mind about The Sims. The new downloaded straight into your own rigid rules don’t get in the way too applying chaos theory and sadism to stuff is, in practice, just more buttons to game. Perhaps it’s a mite cynical on EA’s much. You’re now able to create what are otherwise identical setups. press, and much of it relies on the part, but it does mean there is always imagination. Be it a day at work, something new to play with, and that Roll over screen for annotations watching a movie or wandering around lends The Sims 3 a longevity even its a spooky crypt, all you see is the outside undying predecessors lack. This isn’t of a building and a floating progress bar. any shock departure – and nor should It’s an understandable design decision, it be – but it’s one giant leap closer to even if it’s an unfortunate one – this is a the infinitely flexible game that we all world without loading screens, and to dreamed The Sims would be when build in so many esoteric interiors and we first heard about it. animations would doubtless make that Alec Meer impossible. A real shame, as what is shown looks delightful – making the absolute best of low-tech graphics by PCGZine Perhaps a little too familiar, piling on more charm than a million- but it’s grown up in all the and-one Muppet shows. A compensation of sorts is building right ways the community content that’s always Wonderfully, charmingly silly % fuelled The Sims right into the game. A Loads more to do launcher application points you to an endless slew of homemade wallpapers Bodily functions still take hours and sad-faced fat men, with even entire 91

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |28 Reviews Hired Guns:

Publisher: Kalypso Media The Jagged Edge Developer: Morphicon Limited When money isn’t enough… Guess Who: Mercenary Edition. Heritage: Jagged Alliance Link: www.kalypso s it best to burn out or fade away? It “The game’s story is mercenaries, soldiers, policeman and media.com is a question which has preoccupied civilians in your way until you finally get OUT NOW Imany for decades but today we have based on removing a a swipe at the top dog himself. Checking out the guns a definitive answer for a game series despot leader of a Game structure is split into three How Jagged Edge works System Requirements: that, we are all sad to say, has passed its fictional African nation” distinct areas. First is the planning stage, Windows XP/Vista, Intel best. Jagged Edge is the unofficial which is where players kit out their hired Pentium IV 1800MHz, sequel to Jagged Alliance, and its lineage Through the nifty in-game laptop, mercenaries, check emails on mission 512MB RAM, 1Nvidia is faithful to the point of frustration. The emails are received constantly objectives and manage their income. GeForce 5600/ Ati Radeon problem is that the most recent game of explaining how the ruler is indeed a very Second is the free roaming in-engine 9600 Pro or higher video the series was in 1999, so Edge feels old, bad man and his henchmen deserve aspect, which involves positioning your card, Direct X 9.0c despite the shiny new 3D engine. everything that they get. Kill all men and talking to NPCs. The third The game’s story is based on removing a despot leader of a fictional African nation – Diamond Coast.

Combat often deteriorates in chaos. Making Strategically Assault decisions speaking mode MakingSAssaulttrategically modedecisions speaking TheThisFinally characteris where there theis screen Assault strategy is where mode, comes you and up, decide this as youis what where place character combatyour men hastakes or which women place. weaponry It’sfor anturn- – thereimmediatebased, is so an each impressive assault. character’s Alternatively, amount movement of detail talk to and and the action customisation local militias, drains AP policeon (Action offer. or villagers Points). to seeSome if they players can will help think achieve carefully your objective. about their next move, while others will find it incredibly frustrating –but hey, at least the trees look nice.

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |29

Reviews Hired Guns continued

area is engagement, where the action is slowed to allow for turn-based combat. All movements and shots are restricted by Action Points which regenerate after every turn. The problem is that AP’s are eaten up so quickly that after a shot or Friendly or Neutral NPCs are two, player characters can barely raise a usually at hand to help with smile let alone hit a target, yet enemy information on enemies. soldiers repeatedly get a direct hit. This section of the game is broken, and no indication is given why some shots miss Movement becomes a pain while others hit. AP demands also when you’re caught in the change turn after turn with no obvious line of sight by the enemy. reason why, so deciding on a clear strategy becomes redundant.

Transport is a big bonus to Roaming free your team, helping them Players only return to the free-roaming move around quickly. mode after all of the engaged enemies are killed. Enemies will often be dying in front of you, yet players will have to end The African Savannah is their lives ruthlessly, just to go back to faithfully represented. non-turned based exploration. This Those who remember the Jagged game borders on the masochistic at Alliance series fondly – and better games times and its frankly disheartening to like X-Com – will enjoy the nostalgic feel have to go back to. This is punctuated of this title. But for everyone else, and this with obnoxious AI, which is nigh on really does mean everyone else, there is impossible to overcome, even on nothing here for you. ‘newbie’ difficulty. Andy Griffiths Even the most basic tutorial would have been cherished, yet all gamers have to refer to is the in-game help PCGZine An update to a much-loved feature which does nothing more than series that sadly does provide a general outline. Graphics are vibrant but plagued by a rigid camera nothing for its good name system, and zoom functions vary only Fleshed out storyline and characters % between birds-eye and isometric. Broken combat Players are able to pan around but it seems oddly limited for a title which has Unapproachable such impressive environments. 45

CONTROL PCGZine NAVIGATE |30 Reviews

There’s plenty of action here, Officers: World War II but with a strong simulation thread right through it, too. For those who know their Shermans from their Cromwells ales and World War 2 games go World War 2 Allied Operations, Officers Treasured map Publisher: Kalypso Media together like Strawberries and covers five major battles in the war, all “Battles are often You’ll see this screen a lot in the game Developer: Games SCream. No wonder then, that important in beating back the Nazi long and gritty but Factory Interactive there are so many of them. Some are invasion. Maps are enormous too, with Players will see a lot of this map when playing the game, managing Heritage: Hired Guns: good and some are bad, and then tons of capture points to fight over inevitably satisfying” resources between bases and scoping out where to the enemy forces The Jagged Edge there’s Officiers, which slots in-between before trying to assault enemy bases – next. Reports constantly flood in about supply points and where your Link: www.kalypso nicely, with an RTS experience that which usually number in the handful. slowly bending to your will. Bases are soldiers are getting hit. media.com anyone can enjoy. Special attacks can be called in from constantly being fought over, with AI OUT NOW The campaign begins with Operation command, such as Artillery Strikes, which is both adaptive and surprisingly Overlord, continues with the Liberation Carpet bombs and Paratroopers. intelligent – often striking your weakest of Caen and concludes with the assault Battles are often long and gritty but line of defence. The day/night cycle System Requirements: on Germany. Much like a greatest hits of inevitably satisfying as you feel the fight adds further drama, as some units light Windows 2000/XP/Vista, up the sky with their firepower but it Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz Tanks for the memory. rarely factors into the battle’s outcome. or AMD Athlon 64 X2 It’s not all peachy with GFI’s title 5000+, 512MB RAM, however, as some of the music borders GeForce 6200 on annoying and the unchanging unit 128MB or Raeon HD chatter will keep reverberating around 2400Pro, DirectX 9.0c your brain even after play ends. They are compatible sound card niggles which become more significant as you continue to play, but overall it’s quite a good package. There’s a multi- player mode where players can choose from three factions (Allied, German and PCGZine Puts the fun in functional Russian) but sadly no skirmish mode. Officers is approachable fun and includes what most people would want from a WW2 RTS. Nothing Scope of maps % groundbreaking, and perhaps nothing Challenging AI many won’t have seen before, but enjoyable nonetheless. Niggles stop it from being a classic Andy Griffiths 78

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in the next issue… All rights reserved. This publication may be copied in its entirety without Cranberry Publishing Limited modification for non-commercial purposes, for example but not limited www.cranberrypublishing.com to copying to CD-R for a friend, but it may not be offered for download from any website or similar without the prior permission of the copyright holder. You are free to, and encouraged to, link to the original Commercial Director: Duncan Ferguson file for download from our website and you can find help on doing so here. While the greatest care is taken in producing this guide, we do not Telephone: 07770 648500 accept responsibility for the loss of any data or any other damage caused Email: [email protected] by following the instructions in this publication. We always recommend that you keep a backup of your hard disk data and ensure that you check PLUS Call Duncan to discover how e-publications can work for you! all files for viruses before installing or using any new software. None of the information in this guide is intended as legal advice. All articles are for information purposes only. Websites mentioned in this publication PrototypeWolfenstein Just Cause 2 Editor: James Cary 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. Staff writer: Andy Griffiths All contents © Cranberry Publishing Ltd 2009 Borderlands Aliens vs Predator Multimedia assistant: James Rawnson Company registration number: 4987058

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