SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING GAMING, COMPUTER & TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE Vol. 16 Issue 11 11 PC / PLAYSTATION / XBOX / NINTENDO REVIEWS INCLUDING KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS GRAN TURISMO 6 ROCKSMITH 2014 KNACK UUUUUUUNNNGHHH... RAAAAGGGGHHHHH... BLUUUUUU... BRAINS! HARD TO PORT! WE ROUND UP A BUNCH OF PS4 PORTS TO SEE WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT MERCHANDISE GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT! NAG ZOMBIE T-SHIRT FRIDGE MAGNETS NAG SHOPPING BAG HEADSHOT CAP ITEM QTY COST TOTAL ZOMBIE T-SHIRT SMALL R120.00 ZOMBIE T-SHIRT MEDIUM R120.00 ZOMBIE T-SHIRT LARGE R120,00 ZOMBIE T-SHIRT XL R120.00 ZOMBIE T-SHIRT XXL R120.00 FRIDGE MAGNET CLIP - YELLOW R30.00 FRIDGE MAGNET CLIP - GREEN R30.00 FRIDGE MAGNET CLIP - ORANGE R30.00 FRIDGE MAGNET CLIP - RED R30.00 NAG SHOPPING BAG R50.00 HEADSHOT CAP R80.00 R45.00 MY TOTAL MY ORDER TOTAL POSTAGE INCLUDING POSTAGE [PLEASE WRITE CLEARLY] SEND MY ITEM(S) TO: Full name: Postal address: E-mail: Tel: PAYMENT METHOD [PLEASE CIRCLE]: Bank deposit / Credit card Visa/Mastercard number: Expiry date: CVV number: Signature: • Order by fax: (011) 704-4120 • Order by e-mail: [email protected] • Order by post: NAG, P.O. Box 237, Olivedale, 2158 Bank account details for direct deposits: NAG, Nedbank Fourways Account number: 1684170850 Branch code: 168405 Once you have paid the money into our account, fax a copy of the completed form plus the bank deposit slip to [011] 704-4120. No deposit slip = no sale. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. *Please note: No refunds will be issued for any of these items. Publisher Michael “RedTide“ James [email protected] Contents Editor Geoff “GeometriX“ Burrows geoff @nag.co.za Staff writers Features Dane “Barkskin “ Remendes Tarryn “Azimuth “ van der Byl 24 HARD TO PORT! Contributing editor Now that we’re offi cially living in the next generation Lauren “Guardi3n “ Das Neves (of gaming consoles), we’ve dissected some games RegularsRegulars that straddle the line between past and future (or Technical writer 8 Ed’s Note present) to discover whether or not it’s worth handing over the extra cash it’ll take to access all their next- Neo “ShockG“ Sibeko 10 Inbox gen-ness. International correspondent 14 Bytes Miktar “Miktar” Dracon 37 home_coded 50 Everything Else 30 PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES: GARDEN Contributors WARFARE – SOWING THE SEEDS Rodain “Nandrew” Joubert OF SILLINESS Walt “Shryke” Pretorius Plants! Zombies! Zombies nomming plants! Plants Miklós “Mikit0707 “ Szecsei Opinion needling zombies! There are a thousand diff erent Pippa “UnexpectedGirl” Tshabalala reasons to love PopCap’s garden defence series, and 14 I, Gamer now they’re adding a thousand more with Garden Art director Warfare. Grab some shears and we’ll fi ll you in on the 16 The Game Stalker Chris “SAVAGE“ Savides way to the frontlines. 18 The Indie Investigator Photography 20 Miktar’s Meanderings Chris “SAVAGE“ Savides 55 Hardwired Dreamstime.com 66 Game Over Fotolia.com Sales executives Cheryl “Cleona“ Harris Previews [email protected] +27 72 322 9875 28 Starbound 29 Nuclear Throne Hayley “HayleStorm” Weideman [email protected] 076 989 2191 Marketing and promotions manager Reviews Jacqui “Jax” Jacobs 36 Reviews: Introduction [email protected] 36 Mini review: Surgeon +27 82 778 8439 Simulator 2013 38 Killzone: Shadow Fall Offi ce assistant 39 Resogun Paul Ndebele 40 Ys: Memories of Celceta Contact details 42 Knack P .O. Box 237, Olivedale, 2158, South Africa 44 The Legend of Zelda: A Tel +27 11 704 2679 / Fax +27 11 704 4120 Link Between Worlds 45 Tearaway / Valdis Story: Subscription department Abyssal City [email protected] 46 Gran Turismo 6 47 Internet Ratchet & Clank: Nexus www.nag.co.za 48 Rocksmith 2014 www.zinio.com/nag www.facebook.com/NAGMagazine www.twitter.com/nagcoza Hardware Printing 52 Tech News Impress Web Printers 54 Dream Machine 031 263 2755 56 Versus: On-board audio Distribution versus discrete audio On the Dot 58 GIGABYTE P35K notebook Stuart Dickerson / 011 401 5932 60 MSI Z87I GAMING AC Copyright 2014 NAG 62 Cooler Master All rights reserved. No article or picture in this magazine may HAF Stacker 935 be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the express written consent of the publisher. Opinions 63 MSI GTX 780 Ti GAMING 3G expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the 64 PowerColor AXR9 290 OC publisher or the editors. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners. 65 Sharkoon Drakonia Black Don’t pirate NAG! Skullcandy SLYR / AOC this magazine when you’re fi nished with it. I2769VM 27” LED 6 February 2014 www.nag.co.za ~ A mess age from your editor ~ Time fl ies... ow is it February already? It a mix of too much booze, sleeping seems like every year we get and partying, and maybe a little bit of Hhere quicker and quicker; maybe Alzheimer’s. it’s one of those things about growing up Perhaps ironically, then – given – or older, at least; growing up is entirely our decidedly zombie-like behaviour optional. Whatever the cause of this these last couple of weeks – we worked phenomenon, sometimes I wish I had tirelessly to bring you some awesome real time manipulation abilities – due coverage of the exciting, vibrant to holidays and people going away, this and downright bonkers Plants vs. issue of NAG was put together in half the Zombies: Garden Warfare, which so amount of time that we usually have. boldly sits on our cover. Having nice You might be thinking right now “ooooh, artwork and character renders to that’s why this magazine is so skinny work with always makes our lives this month!” Nope, the truth behind that easier, and it keeps SAVAGE sane is, even though we’re down 16 pages which usually means everyone else is from last month, you’re still getting as a little happier. much content as you usually would – we just took out a bunch of those pesky I AM JOB ads! It’s a symptom of this industry’s We’ve decided to do something quite ridiculous desire to release games at out of character this month: we’re very specifi c times of the year – early Q1 looking for a sports game writer to being the most desolate. And this is on help us fi ll a gap that, frankly, we’ve the back of the PS4 launch, which could had for too long. You can fi nd all the desperately use a few more exclusives details on page 39, and I encourage right now. We’re a silly business, you to read all those words very sometimes. Thankfully, there are many carefully if you’re keen on this very exciting titles set for release over position. Please, please note that this the next few months. is not an in-house job; it’s a freelance, Getting anything done this time work-from-home gig that is likely to of year is a pain because most people be as sporadic as game releases in this are still crawling their way back to genre. I’m looking forward to reading work or are on a mental go-slow for your submissions so don’t be shy – the fi rst couple of weeks. At least let’s see what you’ve got. most of us have had a relaxing break Happy February! from the stresses of playing video games all day (not really), but all that Cheers, downtime has clouded our brains more than refreshing them. It’s likely - GeometriX 8 February 2014 www.nag.co.za ~Inbox~ INBox [email protected] LETTER OF THE MONTH The Letter of the Month prize is *Disclaimer: Most of the letters sent to this fi ne publication are printed more or less verbatim (that means “we don’t edit or fi x them” for you slow kids at the back), so ignore any spelling or grammatical errors. It’s not us… it’s you. sponsored by the good folks at Megarom. The winner receives two games for coming up with the most inspired bit of wisdom of cleverness. Note: You can’t Letter of the Month February 2014 change the games or the platform they come on. From: Ellen Hurst I just didn’t feel the need to just too far away. So my question HARD TECHNICAL STUFF Subject: Monkey in my pocket invest in a separate handheld is - any chance of a little regular LAND MAIL: P.O. Box 237, I’ve often noticed a semi- gaming device. feature in the mag? Olivedale, 2158 automatic dismissal of mobile Not all mobile games are BETTER MAIL: [email protected] games for Android and iOS by ‘generic 99c or free-to-play You’re right, mobile gaming is IMPORTANT: Include your details some NAG contributors, and shovelware’ (dec issue pg.19) not just growing as an industry when mailing us or you’ll never it’s not often that they get any although I totally get that lots of but has become a genuinely get your prize if you win. serious coverage in the mag. I them are, and I (mostly) actively solid way to get your fi x, and know the mag states its focus avoid anything containing we don’t really cover it nearly on the 3 major console brands in-app purchases. But there as much as we should (or as and the PC on the front (under are some jewels available.. much as we’d like to). But we’re The whole “piracy vs.