T H E N E I U F R E E □

MAGINE A PIWINGAME WHERE Y0UUY AND TRADEARS ONLINE. . . ")ny reveals its revolCitidnaryans for network gaming

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T E K K E NThe world's great(beat-'em-up returiAll-new shots insi

Go head-to-head with other Star Wars hns, using the official 4-player multi-tap on PlayStaticIn Star Wars Super Bombad Racing, you and your friends can choose to be any one of a number of characters from all your favourite Starfilms. Race against each other in space vehicles and remember, there's more at stake than pride here. Lose, and on your own head

PlayStation®^' O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E - U K

ISSUE 010/AUGUSr2001

j F i m E R E X

It's time to pack those en herbsour woriMlHifiiusive review

106 GIFTQuiri(y French platformer starring;in search of a princess. Mine's a S(

108 NBA STREETBash ball, as hustled by shell-toe% stress of Harfem. Alley-oops upsi<C r i Y C R I S I S

W A O I A L I E N G EOT^MlRALRANmSIA

J I V O F n p A D%i|LD l JRUCnON LEAGUE:CARf Y CHAMFtONSHIP RA(INTERNitnONili LEAGUE SOCCI

ah couldn't wait for the nextinstalment of Katie's holiday

;e with the dreamy Julio.

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Going on holiday? Take your Vodafone Pay as you Tallphone with you. All our customers can now talk an(even text from abroad, just like they can at hom(To use your phone on holiday, call 191* before you g(

You're on holiday. They're not. Rub it in.

vod4 fon3 .com

•Service is available in over 120 countries. In USA & Canada a tri-band phone is required.Charges occur when calling 191 from abroad. Text messaging is foreign network depender

issueten/august2001

PlayStation.^/ O m C U t t l M G A i m t - U K

L E m R N S H O U R SThe worttfs most grueUng motonport hits PS2i Play * here!

^ « & 1 C C I 9

E X C L U S I V E l l

l i : r - * ' 9

□ NON THIS MONTH'S DVD-ROM, WEVE PLAYABLE DEMOS,PREVIEW FOOTAGE PLUS OUR EXCLUSIVE GTS FESn

PLAYABLE DEMO 1/L£ MANS 24 HOURSNot quite a day's racing here, but three laps of SuzukaEast with a choice of six cars should whet your appetite.

PLAYABLE DEMO 2/SIAR WARS: SUPERB O M B A D R A Q N GCute kart racing as eitherYoda or Darth Maul, Canyou triumph over theEmpire's finest?

PLAYABLE DEMO 3/G A U N T L E T:D A R K L E G A C YAn olde woride adventure

updated for PS2 ftom theclassic coln-op of yore.Get spellcasting!

PLUS/THE MAKING OF GRAN TURISMO 3To celebrate the release of Gr3, wepresent an exclusive mix of music,interview, behind-the-scenesfootage and even a quiz!» FULL DETAILS: RAGE 10

F E R T U R E 5

0 3 4 T H E P S 2 I N T E R V I E W :S A M H O U S E R

The President of Rockstar Gamesrecounts the day videogamesbecanne officially cool.

0 6 8 N E T W O R K H E AV E NConfused about PS2's onlinepowers? We make It easy with thehelp of SCEE's Phil Harrison.

072 MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE?How Paradigm Is turning Midway'sclassic game licence Spy HunterInto an automotive espionagethriller for PS2.

078 EXTREME TEAMX-Games heroes Tony HawK MatHoffman, Kelly Slater; ShaunPalmer and Shaun Murraytogether In one, rad-lnfused room,

0 8 2 T H E 5 0 R E A S O N S T O O W NA P L AY S n n c n O N 2

Why you've made the bestpurchasing decision In the historyof videogames in our massivesummer preview,

E n m EP R E N I E U J E

016 TIME CRISIS 2Buffed-up port of the arcadefavourite, now with all-newG-Con 2 support.

0 2 0 A L O N E I N T H E D A R K : T H EN E W N I G H T M A R E

PSone smash hit makes thestep up to challenge Resfssurvival horror supremacy.

0 2 2 M X R I D E R

024 TWISTED METAL BLACK

027 DAVE MIRRA FREESTYLEB M X 2

028 SILENT SCOPE 2:D A R K S I L H O U E T T E

0 3 0 L O T U S C H A L L E N G E

032 MX 2002 FEATURINGR I C K Y C A R M I C H A E L

R E B U L R R E

006 Editor 's Letter008 Cont r ibu tors014 Postal

From you to us with words.040 Next Month043 Spy

All the very latest happeningsIn the world of PS2.

124 PSone ReviewsWorld's Scariest PoliceChases and the bestPSone releases.

126 SubscribeSave 10% and have yourcopy of 0PS2 delivered toyour door

128 MediaTraffic and Requiem For ADream reviewed on DVD, plu:an Inten/iew with graphicnovelist Warren Ellis

1 3 4 H a r d c o r e

Part two of our MDK2walkthrough plus tips forCrazy Taxi and more.

140 EndGameWhere you get Involved.

1 4 6 G a m e O v e rThis month, Mr Jago takes orOnimusha: Warlords.

5 0 A N 5 T D D U J NOUR MASSIVE 14-PAGE SUMMER PREVIEW BEGINS ON PAGE 82

PlayStation®^' O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E - U K

E D I TO R ' S L E T T E R

M l J N I

S u m m e rreadingSummer then. Usually a quiet time of year for people who work on videogamesmags. Yes, our Journalistic Interest Is piqued by a Japanese Web site here or a straypress release there, but the mie Is that If you're sneezing your face off with hayfever,then It's the season where the videogames Industry has a bit of downtime. 'Yes, well,we'd love to send you a copy of Jovel/n Man Attack Attack 12 but It's not out untilsome t ime around October. . "

This issue makes a mockery of that truism. Rrst off, and gorgeously bearing allon page 82, Is our massive 14-page summer preview. It's bright. It's bouncy It'sbased around the 50 reasons why the coming year will be fantastic for PlayStation 2and It rocks like no other massive 14-page summer preview ever written or designedor subbed ever The rBason? Just take a look In our Top 50 are the real reasons youbought your console - life-changing games, bizarro gadgets, bone-crunching sports,the darkest of horses, emerging stars, wide-eyed visionaries, four-colour heroism andsome damn cool games. Not wanting to give said game away too much, I'vemanaged to describe what's in it without actually describing what's In It but suffice tosay, this feature will leave you with a warm feeling somewhere nice. And that feelingwill be a helluva lot warmer if you win the massive compo at the end.

So not much else going on then as the development community swaps itssleeping bags for Speedos? Nah, not really Weil, there's the announcement of Tekken4 over in Spy (page 44), plus a little game by the name of Onlmusha 2. A fewsimilarly low-key summer titles you'll find floating around this month's Issue includethe G-Con-2-toutlng Time Crisis 2, lush Res/ rival Alone in The Dai% the verypromising Lotus Chalienge and a small game that we've exclusively reviewed by thename of Resident Evil Code: Veronica X. So, yeah, nothing much going on.

And the point of this nothing-much-happens-in-summer gimmick? To big up afew things In this issue, of course, but also to show you that only nine months Into Itsshelf life, the PlayStation 2 has such a momentum behind It that not only have wehad to expand the release date listings In what Is already an expanded Spy section,but that things show no sign of ever slowing down. Ever

All of which leaves three questions. (1) How thick Is this magazine going to get?(2| When do we get a holiday? 13) Can anyone Imagine how big next year's summerpreview is going to have to be?

T H E U K ' S B E S T S E a i N G P S 2 M A G A Z I N E ^

Play5tation®E' O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E - U K

MIKE GOLDSMITHSenior Editor

SAVE10%With an Official PS2 subscription youget six issues at just £4.50 each

Call 01458 271184 now, quotingorder code EDTIO, or turn to page 126for more details. Offer ends 14/08/01

Overseas readers ca l l +44 1458 271184Lines open 24 hours, seven days a week

)06 Play5tatlon,E

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REMT 3 GAMES FOR THE PBICE Of 2

Get the best out of your PlayStation 2. New releases available for 2 nights,all other titles available for 5 nights. Offer available Monday to Thursday.

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FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD, 30 MONMOUTH ST, BATH BAl 2BWTelephone: 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 732275 Email: PS2@futurenet.co.uk

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Editorial

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Contributing WritersJean-Marc Demoly, Nick Ellis, Steve Faragher, Lee Hart, Alex Hutchinson, Nick Jones,Adrian Lawton, Rowan Mclntyre, Steve Merrett, Joel Snape, Keith Stuart

Contributing PhotographersGavin Roberts, Amanda Thomas

Contributing IllustratorsWill Barras, Mr Jago, Lee Woodgate

Japanese OfficeAmos Wong

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Printed in the UK by Ef Heron© Future Publisfiing Ltd 2001

Future Publishing Ltd Is part of The Future Networi pic.

Ttie Future Networi< produces carefully targeted specialist magazines and Web sites for groups of people who share apassion. We aim to satisfy their passion by creating tfties that offer supertD value for money, trustworthy Infonnatloa multipieways to save time and money, and are a pleasure to read or visft Today we publish more than 90 magazines and over 30magazine Web sttes and networks from offices in five countries. TTie company also licenses 39 of its titles resulting in over150 local editions In 30 other countries.

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Media wf thpasshn

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www.thefuturenetworkplc.ukBath, London, Milan, New YorkParis, San Francisco, Wroclaw

A B C ABC 81,883 JUL-OEC 2000A member of the AuditedBureau of Circulations

CONTRIBUTORSWe asked them what else they do. Here's their replies.

# 1 0NiCK JONESSince stumbling Into civilisation after beingejected from his rustic Devon homeland formeddling with witchcraft Iwearing a digitalwatchi, Nick has adapted with startling rapidityto the world of high technology. Having honedhis craft on the staff of Stotion and Arcademagazines, Nick is currently writer-in-residenceat 0PS2 Towers. Although deeply suspicious ofany videogame not involving Mario, he'sdeveloped a grudging respect for office favouriteWinning Eleven 5, and a hearty disregard for itsnemesis, International League Soccer. Hisobsession with monkeys borders on the sexual.

Game Of The Moment: "Gran Turismo 3: A-spec. Great tyre noises, nice shadows andyou can drive really fast" Now there's a writer-in-residence speaking...

I'm holding my breath for "The time when big robot suits like those in ZOE andGundam come on the market, so I can act out my robot love fetish fantasies."

STEVE FARAGHERDont let those grey streaks fool ya, our Steve isonly a sprightly 37 His vast experience in theworld of videogames has encompassed stints onthe once-mighty Amiga Power and our sister magOfflciai PiayStation Magazine. However, Steve Ishappiest when immersed in the world of thetable-top role-playing. Often caught wasting timepainting those little metal elf figures instead ofchecking our speling lyke heez ment to bedooing, Steve dashes from the office each day tojoin his friends from the sadly-defunct Arcanemagazine to go and wave plastic swords around.Move up to magic level threel

Game Of The Moment: •Onimusho: Warlonis. Being able to go back In time andmassacre zombies is instantly appealing."

I'm holding my breath for: "Sleep. I havent been getting much recently Sleep, I mean.Not too bothered about the other stuff, really"

WILL BARRAS0PS2 illustrator extraordinaire Will tokes from thesame dubious ciggie as our other featured artistthis month, Mr (Duncan) Jago. Coincidentally thepair share a studio called Newboysshoes In thelovely South-Western city of Bristol, where theyare both regularly attacked by seagulls. Will listshis favourite pastimes as ten-pin bowling, buyingrecords, "and drawing of coursei" in case weforgot why he's here. In fact, people love Will'sdrawings so much that you can actually buythem on T-shirts, although you probably have togo to Bristol to purchase said attire. Try the shopIn front of Imperial Records on Park Street

Game Of The Moment: "For a while, my life was consumed by 'The HawK and now by'The Hawk 2." We think we know where he's coming from.

I'm holding my breath for: "Gran Turismo 3: A-spec - remember, no-one outside the0PS2 office has played it yet I always wanted to be a racing driver and still do."

ALEX HUTCHiNSONDespite the Aussies tanning our asses thissummer at cricket, rugby and probably tennisand swimming and stuff too, our man DownUnder has been too polite to mention it Probablybecause he's busy opening tinnles and throwingshrimps on the barbie. Alex currently writes forGamer's Republic as well as HQ, Syzygy,RealTime and Dialogue Iwhich we can onlyassume are crazy Aussie mags that you readupside down). Although last time we looked atthe map, Australia was kind of near Japan, Alexcan be found raging about the lack of Jap gamesgaining PAL releases in the Antipodean state.

Game Of The Moment "Chrono Cross on the PSone. Possibly the finest RPG of recentyears and its absence from PAL release lists is a tragedy"

I'm holding my breath for "Herdy GenJy, Kionoa 2, Final Fantasy X and the true waveof second generaton PlayStation 2 games."

108 PlayStation,?

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Red P ton - Game and SoftVMar® © 20Qt THb int. develdp8<( by Volitioif, tnc. Rsd Faction, Stolrtion, Geo-Mod Te^notogy, THQ afjd theif respective togoBar* ,trad«nart?8 and or regtslwed frsitejnartcxif THQ-lpc. Reived.; PlayStatton.? ' ra a regtsteretf trademark erf Sony Con

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. E m R N 5 2 < H O U R S» worWs most srueiii« nwtor^port hits PS2! Play it hetvi

C C L U S I V E !

HE MAKING OF GRAN TURISMO 3

PlayStation®?' OFFICIAL MAGAZINE-UK

N»playable demosother magazines let you watch, only 0PS2 lets you play...

I P L n y H B L E □E m o o n e

LE MANS 24 HOURSPublisher: Infogrames/Game type: Driving sim/Demo type: Playable/Out Now/Players: 1 (1-2 in full game)

k stuffed disc this month, full ofdemos, footage and more. Wekick off with three ace playabledemos. The excellent Le Mans 24

Hours (scoring 8/10 last issue).Star Wors: Super Bombad Racingplus the entire first level fromGauntlet: Dark Legacy.

This month's preview^s includeJak And Daxter, a look at the newFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Withintrailer plus a huge 14-gameshowreel from SCEE includingsverything from Klonoa 2 andMrBlade to This Is Foattiall 2001.

Lastly, we're celebrating theaunch of GT3; A-spec with ansxclusive and exhaustive five-partook at the game, its makers,music and heritage. All cappedjff with an interactive quiz on:hls, the daddy of driving sims.^njoy the feast - and I'll beseeing you around...

T H E G A M EThe headlight. That's how it all began. But the race that started off in 1923 as a showcase for thetechnological marvel that made crashing into owls a thing of the past, has matured into the ultimateendurance motorsport bar none. Infogrames' superb Le Mans 24 Hours captures the thrills, glamour and(should you choose to compete in real-time) the pressure sores of this automotive equivalent of themarathon. Beautifully realised with plenty of blinding, unlockable cars and modes to cater for all gameplaytastes, this is a racing game that comes into its own as the light fades and darkness envelopes the track.And you're still driving at 120mph around a bend. You may never play for a straight 24 hours but don'tthink you won't feel every tense second tick by as you thread your way to victory.

» CONTROLSL E F T A N A L O G U E S t e e r c a r

® Accelerate® Change camera© Look behind(g) Brakem Gear down (manual transmissioniCD Gear up

T H E D E M OWe're giving you the chance to drive one of a selection of six cars around the winding Suzuka East trackover a three lap race. Once you've loaded the demo from the DVD title screen, select Quick Racewhereupon you'll be whisked to the Race Set Up menu. Ignore the option to 'Go Race' for now andenter the Set Up options. Now you can choose your car You have a choice of two models each fromthe GT Open Prototype and Closed Prototype classes Once you've made your choice and selectedeither automatic or manual transmission, you'll be prompted to set difficulty levels for bothyou and the other drivers. Rnish here, confirm the track selection as Suzuka Eastand you're ready to race. Once you've finished you may press O or wait fora s h o r t w h i l e , a f t e r w h i c h a r e p l a y o f t h e r a c e w i l l r o l l . , ^When you're done the PS2 will reset, but you can playt h e d e m o a s m a n y t i m e s a s y o u l i k e . %

Sather ine Channont e n i o r D i s c E d i t o r

'S To use this DVD load it up onour PS2. Then scroll between

!ames and rolling demos withhe and t keys. To chooseMthin a section use «- and'ress (S) to start your choice up.^lease note, you may have toBset the PS2 after some demos.

>10 PlayStation E

I P L R y n s L E □E m o t u u d

STAR WARS:SUPER BOMBADR A C I N GPublisher: Activision/Game type: Kart racer/Demo lype: Playable/Out Now/Players: 1 (1-4 in full game)

T H E G A M EU)rel of the Sith. Disciple of the Phantom Menace. Spiny-bonced goth. Darth Maul was called manythings before being separated from his legs, but 'cute' wasn't one of them. Until now that is. SuperBombad Racing fashions fiendish tracks from familiar Episode I locales lil e Naboo and Coruscantand pits wacky caricatures of Mr Maul, HRH Amidala et al against one another In frantic races. Asyou'd expect from a kart racer, Bombads courses are filled with sly power-ups that can have youleapfrogging to first place one minute and cursing Master Yoda as he smacks you stupid with theForce the next. Impressively imaginative environments, frenetic action and the perverse thrill ofbeating everyone as Jar Jar BInks. What are you waiting for?

T H E D E M OBoot up the demo and you'll be greeted by the main title screen. You may only select a one-playerrace so do this as prompted and choose your rider You have a choice of two: Jedl master, Yoda andDarth Maul. Take your pick, confirm selection and you'll be taken to the track selection screen. Thedemo will allow you to choose the winding Dune Sea tracK so do this and prepare to race. Youhave the time it takes to finish three laps to beat the cast of Episode I and avoid driving Into theside of an untethered Dewback When you're through, you can wait and watch the race play back asseen by the track droid cams, or reset your PS2 and start again.

» CONTROLSLEFT ANALOGUE Steer vehicle(g) Accelerate® Change Camera© Honk hom/taunt@ Brakem Power -upm J u m pCD Spe^ boost

P l a y S t a t i o r v g ^il mONS 2< HOURS

»DN THE DMDm O R E D E m D ^

s/ideo pnevieujsrouVe read the previews now take a look at the games in action.

T a [ K t o u s i»Comments and queries about this cover disc shouidgo to me, Cat, at i%2efuturenet.co.ul(. Sorry, i can'tanswer your questions over tiie phone,

»if you have further profaiems with your disc pop thetroubiesome thing in an envelope and send It to thefollowing address. We'll test it and, if faulty, send you anew CD. We're at Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, DiscReturns, Customer Services, Future Publishing, CareyCourt, Bancombe Road Industrial Estate, Somerton,S o m e r s e t T A l l 6 T B

'Remember, though, this disc will only work on a PS2.

I P R E N I E L U T L U D

JAK AND DAXTERPublisher: SCEE/Game type: Adventure/Demo type: Pneview/Out November/Players: 1

JAK AND DAXTER is a potentially ground-breaking adventure from CrashBand/coot veteran Naughty Dog When Jak's best friend Daxter falls into a pooi ofmysterious gunge, he's transformed into a weasel-like creature. The pair must thensean:h a massive, free-roaming world filled with amazing characters, puzzies andsub-games for a way to get the old Daxter back With the kind of sumptuous in-game animation that should have Disney shaking its corporate noggin in disbelief,this is set to take the piatform adventure to a whole new level. Watch our videopreview and you'll see what we mean.

Publisher: SCEE/Game type: Adventure/Demo type: Preview/Out Winter/Players: 1

POSmVELY HUGE IN scale and depth,Drakon is a total re-imagining of the hit PCadventure centred on a mystical questcarried out by Rynn and her Dragon Arokh.Praised for its genuinely challengingpuzzles, character Ai on a par with theincredible Half-Life and a seductivemixture of land-based exploring anddragon-perched aerial combat, Drakancould be a breakthrough RPG for what isstiii regarded as a niche genre here in theWest Take a look for yourself.

E X r R E M E - G 3Publisher Acclaim/Game type: Future racer/Demo type: Preview/Out September/Players: 1-2

SHOWING A BLATANT disregard for the laws ofphysics, Extreme-G 3's mind-boggling tracks showthat when it comes to insane futuristic racingenvironments, WipEout Fusion no ionger has the fieldto itself. This is weapon-assisted superbike racing atthe speed of sound. With up to 12 competitors perrace, coming first wont be easy. But you may be toobusy trying to stay alive to care. Get a flavour of themadness here.

I P R E M I E U L J F O U R

HIDDEN INVASIONPublishers Vitgin/Game type: Beat-'em-up/Demo type: Preview/Out TBC/Players: TBC

INHABTTING THE SAME futuristic, martiai arts and gunplay domain asOnl, Hidden Invasion casts you as a Special Forces soldier who discoversthat a tennrist group is in fact an aiien invasion force out to infiltratehumanity. HI boasts impressive character animation and design, actionmovie gameplay, and expansive urisan environments all wrapped up insome very slick graphics indeed. The invasion begins later this year; butyou can get a sneak preview now.

L2 PlayStation.

Time for something a little bit special.

» i a

. a i b o . c o m

I P R D m o

A I B ORobotic pooch promo.

THE EXISTENCE OF AIBO, Sony's spookilysmart robodog (or Artificial Intelligence roBOt)confirms that whereas you can't teach an oiddog new tricks, you can persuade 3,3 lbs ofplastic and components to act like a dog.More than just a quirky toy for the fiscallydeluged, AIBO Is packed with sensors, acamera and Al that means It will learn as Itlives' with you, Whether you would love it orend up using it as a beer transporter is up toyour conscience. Regardless, this cute promovideo is a blast Want one! Want one nowl

E3 SHOWREELPubl isher; SCEE

Put together with the kind of verve you'dexpect from the latest Hype Williamsvideo, this promo reel is the essential oilsqueezed from Sony's roster of futuretitles, as shown at this May's ElectronicEntertainment Expo. Fourteen games, nofillers and all set to an eerily thumpingdub track. Pure sunshine for the gamer'ssoul. Stretch out and bask in the glory,

THE GAMES: Gran Turismo 3/Ace Combat 4WipEout Fusion/Oropship/ATV OffroadKloona 2: Lunatea's Revenge/Drakan/Dark CloudFormula One 2001/This is Football 2001Twisted Metal; Black/AirBladeWorid Rally Championship 2001Jak And Daxten The Precursor Legacy

HNAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WfTHINPubl isher : Co lumbia Tr IS tar

Prepare for a massive attack of goosebumps. Final Fantasy's big screen debut isalmost upon us and this astounding trailer effortlessly lays to rest fears that TheSp/r/ts WIth/n would just be a lazy videogame tie-in. With the likes of cult godSteve Buscemi providing the vocal talent, a script worthy of the epic games andCGI that makes Jurassic Park's dinos look like phone pad doodles, this is goingto be massive. Take a look. You may want to take a seat first, mind.

plu!

K a z u n o r i Ya m a u d i i

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I B P E C I R L P R E M I E L U

G T 3 F E S TThis month as a tribute to the sheer automotive gob-smacl<ery of Gran Turismo 3: A-spec, we proudlypresent an exclusive, five-part special on the game, itscars, history, music and the architect of it ail -Kazunori Yamauchl. Whether you're a newcomer to theseries or a seasoned veteran of Trial iviountain this isan essential introduction to a landmarl< game. Enjoy

HISTORY OF GRAN TURISMOGron Tur/smo virgins report here now. In fact, even if you'veplayed Gf before you're certain to learn something new fromthis stylish and comprehensive introduction to the series.Charting the evolution of the Gran Tur/smo concept fromYamauchi's earliest PSone games to GT3, this mini-documentary gets the lowdown straight from the man himself.

G T 3 : T H E M U S I CReading lilie the line up of the Pumping Cool stage at asummer festival, the list of groups giving an injection of sonicadrenaline to Gr3's on-screen overdrive Is a notch above a lotof dedicated compilations out there. Muse, Ash and Death InVegas are in the mix, as are Feeder, who are inten/lewed hereabout tunes, games and how it all happened.

I N S I D E T H E G A M EYou know about the series, you know about the music. Now it'stime to hear the storv behind the latest and greatest ofPolyphony Digital's driving sims, GT3: A-spec. Hear fromYamauchi-san about his ambitions for the game and how heand his team went about improving on a classic. Fascinating

M O T E G I T W I N R I N GNot some horrendous marital aid as first feared, MotegiTwinring is, in fact the race track where Polyphony Digital cameto record the screeching tyres and revving engines of GTJsfour-wheeled cast of hundreds. This film however focuses onKazza's private racing heroes as he gears up for a spin on thetrack In his own circuit car, the Mitsubishi Evo.

GT3 QUIZOkay. Watched the lot? Think you're pretty smart, we bet Butjust how much attention were you paying to it all? Yes, even theFeeder interview and Yamauchi's description of physics engines.Well, try this purpose-built noodle teaser and put your GT3knowledge to the test Gentlemen, start your brains.

Play5tatlon.E (

THE Utrs KSTSELUNG PS2 MAGAZINE

PlayStation®^/ n m r i B i u u : a » M c . i i i r

Your replies, requests, responses a id rants...

winner of the Staitetter each issue gets an exclusive OfKckil PS2Magazine T-shirt. Sadiy, anyone eise printed gets nowt - except, ofcourse, the rare honour that is seeing their name in print in this finetome. Although we're wotWng on something else, like games. Sendthose lovely letters to: Milte Goldsmith c/o Postal, OfficialPtayStation 2 Magazine, Future Publishing, 30 Monmouth Street,Bath BAl 2BW. Or email PS2@fiiturenetco.uk. Get you writing now!

TIME GENTlfMEN, PLEASEI am writing about the length of games, i thinl< peopie just don't see games for what theyare. They are Just another part of the entertainment business, and a lot of other forms ofentertainment oniy last about an hour How much do you pay to watch a Premier Ijeaguefootball match which Is oniy 90 minutes iong or to see your favourite band in concert? Theband Is oniy on stage for two hours and even after the cost of a ticket, you've got to paytravel expenses The cinema is the same, with most Aims only lasting about two hours.

A videogame, on the other hand, always lasts a lot longer PS2 games give you thechance to make your own music, be an action hero or take your team to the top of thefootball league. So If the time it takes to play a game equals value for money thenvideogames are doing okay In comparison with other forms of entertainmentSimon Miller, via email

And once mom Into the breach. We've hod plenty of letters on this contentious subjectsince It was brought up In Postal a few Issues back Ul<e Simon, some of you are moreworried about the actual gaming experience than the hours logged -you'd rather hoveyour retina burned off by ten hours of searing gameplay than 64.52 hours of swoppingmagic gem points with an albino goblin named Coiin. That said, some of you want tosacrifice sleep, life and possibly health to see a game through to Its very end - and fairplay to you iot too.

So where does that leave us? it leaves us sat on a fence to a certain extent There's noright answer to this - some games are meant to be short some are meant to be longand some [hello Winning Eleven 51 are 'reployabie' until the end of time. All we can say is,when applicable, we'll endeavour to Inform you In our always-definitive reviews about howlong a game will roughly take you to finish, the game's replayabillty la key point hem,especially at forty quid a popj and what kind of experience you're going to receive - aIntensive burst that'll keep you happy for a multitude of half-hour sessions or a long butenjoyable slog through the dungeons of time. We'll also tell you if It's crap or not butthat's a whole different kettie of letters...

PC OR NOT PC?I was amazed by the three level demo ofRed faction and the mag's great Recentlyi was in a local computer game shop andi spotted Unreal Tournament for PS2.1picked it up and then I glanced to theshelf opposite and saw the PC version - Itcost £35 less than the PS2 versioniFurthermore, the screenshots on the boxwere much better compared with thoseon the PS2 game.

As a loyal PS2 fan, i hope graphics willImprove to this sort of quality. Will gamesget better In the same way that the PSonegames got so much better? Are PS2developers going to be able to makemuch better games In the future?Martin Rogers, via email

To be honest we were all a bitdisappointed by Unreal Tournament Itlooked fine, It played fine, It moved like adog... Thankfully the obviously-talented

Epic Games are committed to FS2 soexpect things to get better from them andother previously PC-only developers.

X MARKS THE GROTI have been reading your excellentmagazine since issue #01.1 have alsoowned a PS2 since launch day and of theten games i currently own, 1 am fairlyhappy with the quality so far

Despite this, 1 am hoping for a iotmore in the future, so after reading acouple of reports from this year's E3,1have become concerned about Microsoftthrowing their endless supply of cash atsome developers to get exclusive titles ontheir Xbox - especially those that wereoriginally Intended for the PS2.

For example, DIno Crisis 3, the followup to Onimusho: Warlords, Buffy TheVampire Slayer, Dead Or Alive 3 and TheMatrix So far as I'm concerned It's abouttime that Sony hit back and started

getting some big third party exciuslves oftheir own - for example. Devil May Cryand Resident Evil 4, because I have anagging suspicion that both thesefranchises could become Xbox exciuslves.Matt Seeley, via email

Okay Let's begin. By now, you'll have readour E3 issue, which revealed thatStuntman, Soul Reaver 2, Devil May Cryland a sequel!. Silent Hill 2, Grand TheftAuto 3 and a certain Metal Gear Solid 2are all PS2 exciuslves until the end of2002. Second of ail, have another ganderonilne and you'll see that Microsoft didn'texactly have the most Impressive E3.Combine the above with this Issues Top50 preview (see page 821 and well, yknow,relax... i mean, Bufly, for God's sake

JUNGLE CROOKI was in Dublin at the weekend andnoticed The Jungle Book on sale, I had£40 burning a hole in my pocket andthought, 'Now there's an excuse for a bit ofa party when I get home to the UK.'

Anyway I looked for a few previews onthe Net, but 1 couidntflnd one, but foundyour latest mag Instead. Four out often?! 1nearly fell over. Just like Baloo did in thegame. Back to the alcohol, 1 think!

I'm keeping my money for the newPoRappa or what ever gets a good review.Rob Chasmer via email

Is this where we say 'Man, he shouldalways read 0PS2 review before splashingour brown drinking vouchers? Yes, It Is

TO BE THAT GOOD...I am writing in response to a letter fromStadidas which 0PS2 printed in issue #08..

1 have been a proud PSone owner foralmost six years and am hoping for a PS2for my birthday - games like EXO, MGS2and Silent Hlii 2 are getting me veryexcited. I have never written in to a magbefore but that guy clearly hasnt got hisfacts right!

1 am also a Dreamcast owner andconsider myself a hardcore gamerStadidas stated in his letter that the DCfailed because the standard of games waspoor I'll have him know the DC failedbecause Sony already had the mass-market and owners had no reason to buya DC with the prospect of the PS2. Poor

mari<etlng and advertising on Sega'sbehalf also contributed.

Games on the DC 'poor? Crazy Taxithe oniy decent game? I wouldn't evenconsider Cnjzy Taxi in my top ten! I'm

sorry but Shenmue, Phantasy Star Onilne,Metropolis Street Racer: VIrtua Tennis andJet Set Radio are ground-breakinglyoriginal titles. He obviously hasnt playedany of these games because Stadidas'Judgement is so way off.

Sega has a lot of respect in theindustry and going multi-platform can onlybenefit PS2 owners - trust me. Crazy TaxiIs just the tip of the Iceberg. When you areaddicted to VIrtua Tennis (and hate tennlSj,when you're zooming around a perfectlyrecreated London and Neo-Tokyo in MSR,this Is as realistic as it gets! And dontforget the unrivalled, immersive worid ofShenmue All of these games are comingto PS2 so stop moaning and embraceSega's genius.Richard Gill, via email

A fine repast some fine games and a finelast line - Indeed, we expect AM2's backcatalogue to be the first on the way toPS2. So, Mr Stadidas - what you think?

FORMULA ONE: ONEI take my motorsport pretty seriously, andI'm writing to you in a state of frustration,confusion and utter bewilderment Yousee, I've Just bought a copy of F1 2001along with a Speedster 2 steering wheelwhich Is recommended for the game.

Imagine my surprise anddisappointment when I set It up toactually drive/race, I find there's only 20degrees of free play at the dead centre,which 1 can do nothing about as there Isno calibration or remap option in thegame settings. Tills to me, in my madobsessive little world, is a crying shame.Especially when the wheel is of a very highquality in both looks and feel.

With a Gamester Dual Force Wheel,I've driven the pants off TOCA 2, ColinMcCrae, WIpEout 2097 and even FormulaOne Grand Prix With these, there is aNeg-Con setting which works extremelywell and you actually feel as if you aredriving a car and not trying to competeagainst a remote control system in orderto get round the track

Also concerning SCEE's F1 2001.1note that there is no In-car view, and thecamera pod Is above the drivers head.This goes a long way to destroy theIllusion that you are the driver and makeswhat would be excellent wing mirrors,small and too far away

Periiaps Sony are saving this to helpmake sure that those in pursuit of perfectrealism will buy next year's game. It can'tbe to do with processing power surely not

14 PlayStation.?

P O S T A L - E X T R AByte-sized chunks from the 0PS2 digital postbag.

Since this feature has been In almostevety other race game since i canremember This is unforgivable, intentionalor otherwise, and I have hardly evenstarted playing the game. This game Isabout simulation - simulation meansclose to the real thingDave Nicholson, via email

FORMULA ONE; ANOTHER ONEI noticed your review of Formula One 2001in the May Issue of 0PS2.1 would like topoint out some serious problems I hadwith the game.

First of all is the Al, It's both good andlaughably bad. Okay it's nice to see howcompetitive the other drivers are, but haveyou seen how they react to a stalled caron the track? They Just ram Into you!

Also, the Al drivers dont seem tojudge the surroundings very well becausethey are always hitting the back of my carIt's not because I brake too soon. I've beenplaying F1 games for years and I drive Justlike I have done before.

Then there is the problem with thelack of driver errors from the Al opposition.Haven't you noticed that they never makemistakes unless you're involved In them?Race at Monaco, drive a 50% race andyou'll see that all of the drivers finish - allof themi Now that's just unrealistic! Part ofthe excitement of a Grand Prix race Is tosee the other drivers make mistakes Justlike yourself It's also realistic to gain aposition due to other drivers' mistakes.

And It's also realistic to see smokepouring out of the back of other drivers -those things were a part of F1 '9;( F] '99and F1 2000 It's a huge disappointmentnot having these features in F1 2001.

Then there is the total lack of a SafetyCar No matter how chaotic it gets, nomatter how much debris and mayhemthere Is, the bloody Safety Car nevercomes out - It did in F1 '99 and F1 2000!

The yellow flags have no significancewhatsoever; because the yellow flagperiods are always so abrupt and short -there isnt even a green flag to signal theall-clear And you can overtake without anypenalty during yellow flags.

And on 1 go - have you done asession of qualifying? It's just plain badand does nothing to create anyexcitement. Mun^y blurts out some of themost irrelevant commentary I've everheard, and he seems just to care who'sgoing out on the track - and notmentioning at all how the drivers aredoing on the track not even how you aredoing like he did in F1 '97 There he told

you if you were going faster or slower Ineach section. He also told you how faraway from the race leader you were. Thatkind of thing made the qualifying sessionsfun and realistic. F1 2001's sessions are a

far cry from the excellence of F1 '97's.Then there is the difficulty settings. You

can make the game too easy by setting Itto Novice or Amateur but then you canhave the ABS brakes and Traction Controlaids on. However If you want a toughergame and more challenging oppositionand set it to semi-ptt), pro or expert, thenyou cannot choose those driver aids, eventhough traction control and ABS brakescan officially be used by all the driverstoday - even Michael Schumacher; atriple world championi

Finally, there is the absence of theyellow TV style bortiers that show the raceleaders and sector time difference. It's noteven there in qualifying, and even worse Isthe fact that Murray never tells you whothe race leaders are or anything! I reallydon't understand why SCEE chose toignore this. I find myself going back to Fl'97 and Fl '99 for some realism.

Otherwise the game is pretty good.The driving sensation is excellent, thegraphics atB top notch as is the sound -except for the really bad Murray/Brundiecommentary which is no good.

I Just hope Sony fixes these problemsfor next year and Fl 2002...An, Iceland

We've given over a lot of space to just twoletters from what is already a bulgingpostbag of complaints about problemsthat didnt arise in the review code that0PS2 reviewed In issue #07. As 0PS2 goesto press, we're still waiting for the officialSCEE reply on these We'll bring you a fullrundown in next issue's Q&A section Iseepage 1381 but until then, keep writing.

PlayStation 2/ 8 F n O U M « U n N ( M

M Vaughan emails to ask whafs happeningwith The Getaway and whether we'll becovering it in the near future. We can tellyou that The Getaway Is on course for aMarch 2001 release and yes, we will begiving such a potentially brilliant title thecoverage it deserves. Watch this space...David Leggate Is a massive fan of the GTseries but is concerned about the releasedate of GTS - will it or wont it be out on 27July? You're right, David, the release datehas changed - but this time for the betterIt's come forward a week and will now beout on 20 July... "Are you planning toInclude save games and Yabasic programson future demo discs?", asks Cliris Davy viaemail. Well, in a word, 'Yes". All that and alot more besides. Expect a massive

overhaul of the 0PS2 disc aroundChristmas... Ash on email has been hearinga lot of rumours that Xbox will be able toplay PlayStation 2 games. Where? Let ustBassure you that this is most definitely notthe case. THE HARDWARE IS TOTALLYDIFFERENT Got that? Take everything youread on the Web with a pinch of salt, MrAsh. Please... And finally Paul Cunninghamwants to know when SSX Tricl<y is comingout and If It'll be worth waiting for? Well,Paul, the game's scheduled for a winter2001 release. Essentially ifs a reworking ofthe original game but it will include extratracks and six new characters, plus it's nowon a DVD Instead of a CD, so we fullyexpect it to be better; if not entirely differentWhich is a good thing of course.

ARCADE HELL"Gran Turismo 3: The real drivingsimulatof? Erm, NOI" GT3 is anything but asimulator - it's an arcade racer It shouldbe called The real arcade racer*. I don'tknow if they are planning on using thiscatchphrase with GT3 as they did before. ItIs false advertising It does not do exactlywhat it says on the tin. I think TradingStandards should be informed!

Okay so developers have to appeal tothe mass-market to make a profit, butthere are ways of catering for both fans ofracing sIms and arcade racing Consolegames should not be Just about having aquick five minute blast. Who decided thatyou should play a sIm sitting at acomputer and a console game slumpedin a sofa?Dimitri Herring, via email

DImitri angry. Dimitri want real sim. Dim/trilie down (but DImitri actually have a point

In there although maybe Dimitri shouldJust skip Gran Turismo 3, buy himself acar and cut out the middle manl.

URINE; THE ARMY NOWHas the worid gone mad? I see in issue#08 on p59 that 3D0 are worried thatLucasArt:s' use of the name Starflghter inStar Wors: Starflghter might infringe theircopyright ("Stof Hghter) and may damage3D0's reputation.

Unless I'm mistaken, this would be thesame 3D0 of Army Men shame? Methinkstheir reputation is damaged enoughwithout Mr Lucas' assistance...

lain Hingston. via email

Good point, weli made.

To be eligible for the Stari^tter prize,remember to include your full nameand address. 0PS2 reserves the rightto edit letters for clarity and style.

pTayslation ^ PlayStation E. / . B m C U l M W U I W O R '

SIX: Exclusive UK review of StorWars; Starfighter, a huge playableZOE demo on the disc, Sega onPS2 and Onfmusha previewed.

SEVEN: World exclusive Crazy Taxireview, playable demo of StariAfars; Storfighter, Herdy Gerdyfeature and Fur Fighters preview.

m

EIGHT: Red Faction reviewed,Shinji Mil^ami interview, CrashBandicoot preview, Dropsh/pfeature, MTV MG2 on the disc.

G R R N T U R s m a

a s + s i ! ¥ K ^

NINE: Gran Turismo 3; A-speceight-page review, inside K-Project,AirBlade and Jok And Doxterfeatures, playable Fl 2001 demo,

To ortler back Issues of 0PS2, write to Official PlayStation 2 Back Issues, Future Publishing, Cafy Court, Somerton, Somerset, TAll 6TB,or call 01458 271184. Back issues are priced £5.99 (UK), £6.99 (Europe) and £799 (Rest of the World). Supplies limited.

PlayStation. C

\ J

I D D R D 5 : 5 T E \ i e m E R R E T T

5 Pto tame that itchy trigger finger and tal^e onPS2's first light gun-based arcade shooter Atieast a metre away from the screen though...

P u b l i s h e r S C E EDeveloper Namco

Players: 1-2R e l e a s e : N o v e m b e r

h, the buddy movie. Two seeminglyincompatibie cops thrust together anito unite their respective foibies in theof the latest big screen vliialn. DannyIn Lethal Weapon and Chris and Jacl<Rush Hour are two of the most mem(

pairings, but prepare to meet the new kids on the biocCrisis 2's responsibie-sounding Keith Martin and Robin

Based on Namco's 1998 arcade game, Time Crisisbrililant slightly po-faced and equally bralniess take onbuddy movie genre, with two cops battling Insurmountodds within a scenario that throws up more explosionsset pieces and maniacal ringleaders than all four LetheWeapons put together Ail that's missing are the wise-ciwith the pairing of Keith and Robin more akin to the n(nonsense Bodie and Doyie from The Professionais thanHollywood's sharp-tongued stars. Nevertheless, Time Cishares the same simplicity and penchant for big bangsemployed by the buddy brigade, with the player polntirsupplied G-Con 2 light gun at the screen and picking owealth of uniformed bad guys with a volley of cathodeTo describe Time Crisis 2 so simply, however, does thegame no favours whatsoever Because, as simple as Itsmay be, the conversion enjoys an immediacy rarely setoutside of the arcades and Is balanced by the kind of fpaced action sequences that allow you to lose yourselfgraphically stunning and thoroughly engrossing misslor

But first the plot Keith and Robin are on the trail olead by Insane master criminal Ernesto Diaz, who has!military satellite that he plans to use to hold the worldransom. The game starts off within a hotel room. Our gtoting law enforcers kick open the door, cap a few hemand proceed on a three mission quest to retrieve the ntechnology and off Diaz. Armed with the trusty G-Con 2player controls either one of the pair; with the handgun

□U N N I N [

This is what happens when you are hit square in the face bya well-aimed bullet. See this four times and you lose a life.

Time Crisis 2 comes packed with a piece.

a / c i t a t T ' t t

T h e n e w G - C o n 2 w i l l b e a v a i l a b l ebundled with copies of Time Crisis 2 orseparately, but Its perfectly positionedbuttons and unerring accuracy make ita must-have add-on. The matt blackunit plugs into tiie one of the USBperipheral ports on the front of thePlayStation 2, with a secondary yellowcable slotting into the accompanyingmulti-out lead adapter. Just like G-Con1. The G-Con 2 Is also a tiiird smallerthan Its clunky PSone predecessor, andIs surprisingly light with the positioningof Its reload buttons at the rear, baseand either side of the gun making Itperfect for either left- or right-handedplayers. Scrooges can breathe easily -your G-Con 1 will still be compatiblew i t h T i m e C r i s i s 2 .

This boss is particularly hard to kill. Especially as you are required to shoot him from amoving train while he darts about in a helicopter

In IVvo-player moae the screen splits and provided you've goguns a co-operative campaign can be waged against the ene

PlayStation.

P R E N I E U UTIME CRIS IS 2

/ /This conversiondisplays an

immediacy rarelyseen outside of

the arcades / /

T LURB H TimE DF HERDEBime Crisis 2 throws up more action set pieces than a dozen Hollywood action films, witheith and Robin boarding trains, using speedboats and entering a scientific base In theirursuit of Ernesto Diaz. But the following have to be seen to be believed...

' i w i i s ! t i l i

- I P t■ - N « i ^

he Boat Chasehe second stage sees the pair take thehoppy waters in pursuit of one of Diaz'senchmen. As boats skim across the'ater - which showcases the effortamco has made to enhance the game -lasked assailants give chase in motoringhies. As the boats are buffeted by theaves, aiming is tricky but hit adversariesimbie satisfylngiy into the drink.

The -n-ainKeith and Robin board a heavily armedtrain, which Is duly overtaken by anotherfreight vehicle. As Robin boards the slow-moving train, Keith Is left to lean out ofthe window and pick off anyone trying totarget his mate. Keeping an eye out forsignal poles that threaten to decapitatecareless passengers, the action concludesin a battle with another of Diaz's cronies.

The Rocket SiloDiaz is holding a female hostage and isabout to launch the satellite weaponready to take out key UN sites. Beforethey can get to him, Keith and Robin mustpick their way through a claustrophobicmaze of packing cases - with gun-totinghenchmen scrambling all over the placeto get to them. Cue a bout of close-quarter panic shooting mayhem.

% l l i l l i y ™ n n n " - 3 1 *0, it's not a hi-tech nightclub lighting rig. It's a laser Certain objects that the terrorists hide behind willJtting device and it's being used to slice you in two. explode when hit, Idlling them all at once.

S dozen or so shots before forcing the player to duck behindsome convenient scenery to lock and load. This one simplemovement however; does as much to signpost Time Crisis ZsIntentions to thrill as any other and also shows off the beautifuldesign of the G-Con 2 light gun.

Now, it has to be said that there's something vaguelyridiculous about sitting in front of your TV pointing a largeplastic gun at the screen. No matter how engrossing the action,there Is always a nagging feeling of slight foolishness that pricksat your conscience as you pick off the procession of bad guysthat pop up on screen. But despite recalling Danny Glover'scomments about "getting too old for this" in participants waybeyond their teens, never before has a peripheral been so welltuned for use In a game. And it can all be attributed to twoInnocuous l i t t le buttons.

Situated at the back of the gun. Just above the handle, theG-Con 2 has a digital crosshair that doubles as a reload buttonwith another larger button conveniently placed at the base ofthe gun. These duly allow two different shooting styles, with MelGibson's favoured two-hand approach perfect for using thebase-mounted button, while the digital crosshair allows for one-handed action, with the thumb flicking across the pad to reloador duck behind a wall. Coupled with the instinctive accuracythe gun offers - shooting from the hip Is eminently possibleand much cooler than using the sight - all that remains now isto sit back and enjoy the show. And what a show...

With the arcade game nearing its third birthday there was adistinct possibility that Time Crisis 2 on PlayStation 2 couldhave ended up looking rather dated. Thankfully Namco hastaken this into account and totally reworked the visualelements of the coin-op to create a far more contemporarylooking adventure and one that is fleshed out with scene-setting sequences that segue into the action sections. It's allvery glossy but more Impressive when seen in the context ofthe game with its fast-moving camerawork truly conveying the

feel of being In a running gun battle. As befits such a fast-pacedgame, the action Is sporadic but frequent. Bad guys tumble onscreen In batches of a dozen or so, before the Walt' messageappears and the camera pans around to the next zone whileyou release the breath you didn't realise you were holding

The locations used are also refreshingly diffetent. Theendless army of criminal types appear In restaurants, drivingspeed boats and In the old buddy movie haunt of a log cabin,and the inventiveness of the situations and the suntiundingsgenuinely mal e up for what little true interactivity the gameoffers. Basically the player's mission Is to shoot at whateverrears Its head, while using the duck and reload button to avoidthe swords, grenades and missiles lobbed their way. But whatsounds like a rather repetitive fish-ln-barrel' shooter situation Ispadded out Into a surprisingly engrossing experience.

SQUEEZING THEM OUTOne minute, for example, you'll be picking off rubber-suitedvillains as they abseil into a picturesque courtyard, the nextyou'll be ducking as a train pulls alongside the one the copshave boarded and blows out all the windows with a hall ofmachine-gun Are. As such, while the game does Indeed bolldown to shooting things, it can be anything from an armouredcar to a absolutely massive thug who swings a Polaris missileas if It were a cricket bat - It's this aesthetic variety and theconstant succession of surprises that keeps things fresh. Theseset pieces also create a game of such pace and intensity thatyou'll wince as you duck beneath a swinging crane and swearout loud when you are hacked down by a sword-wielding ninja- and any game that provokes such an instinctive reaction isfine by us. Meanwhile, even though Time Crisis 2s simplicity isbeing masked by this procession of clever touches, the linearityof the game Is also masterfully disguised with the two copssplitting up and tackling major hazards separately Similarly,picking off an assassin as they move In on your buddy provides

as satisfying a moment as any of the cloying schmaltz Mel,Danny and the like can offer

Despite lacking Innovative gimmicks such as Silent Scope'sSniper mode, Time Crisis 2 Is a riot from start to finish. It Ishappy to sacrifice such additions In favour of ballistic gameplayof a shoot-first-worry-about-content-iater ilk The unrelentingthrills offered by its breath-taking boat chase, the way bad guystwitch and buckle under repeated Are, and how the camerapans effortlessly to reveal the next battle scene are beautifullyworked, while the game's difficulty level is perfectly judged tomake progression slow but sure.

To bolster the mission-based Story mode there are a rangeof different shooting range challenges in which to hone youraiming ability. In fact these are extensive enough to beconsidered mini-games of their own, giving you the opportunityto shoot at clay pigeons, moving targets and then get scoredaccording to your accuracy. Of course, you could just hold thegun two inches from the screen but where's the skill in that?

With additional gloss coming via a Dual Gun mode foreither team-based double bolstered heroics or a John Woo-style slngle-playet; Time Crisis 2 has got the lot. Ljock 'n' load,people, we've got extremely high hopes for this one... □

□N T R R E E T P T l f T l E C R B B 2Huge entertaining gunplay, with the cleverly plotted levels and fastpace more than making up for any lack of varied content.

H E R O I S MYou'il give cover fire,pick off snipers andblow up vehicles.

G R A P H I C S

Ughting and watereffects improve onthe arcade game.

^ SHARP SHOOTING: A choice of one or. two guns - and the G-^ Con 2 is so accurate,

Ooh look at the pretty water effect. Allglistening and... Oh dear I've just been shot.

Stop admiring the sunset, fool! There's a man justabout to fill you with lead over there.

P R E M I E UALONE IN THE DARK: TTIE NEW NIGHTMAI

NUJDRD5: 5TE\JE FRRRGHER

N E N

N T1 / r

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Veteran survival horror franchise Alone In The Dark hasbeen around so long it invented the genre. Can it make a

comeback and challenge Resi for top zombie dog?

Publisher InfbgramesDeveloper Infbgrames

Players; 1Release: Sep^ber

or evidence of the appeal of this title, youneed iool< no further than the recent PSonecharts. In its PSone incarnation, Alone In TheDork: The New Nightman has dominatedthem for the past couple of months, hoggingthe number one spot against the challenge

of Simpsons WKstllng, Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX and evenFormula One 2001. Alone In The Dork is the nevK Resident Evilland the old, see Skeletons In TTie Cupboard) blending harem-scarem thrill-a-minute cinematics with pumplng-heart-buried-under-the-floorboards plot and anxiety-generating sonlcs. Andwe already love it.

The creepy plot follows the adventures of professionaloccult investigator Edward Carnby or researcher Aline Cedric asthey Investigate the suitably isolated and gloomy ShadowIsland, Edward is searching for clues as to who killed his bestfriend, while Aline is more interested in finding out her fathersmysterious past. The two characters are a choice at the startand give two different games with much the same physicalterrain covered, but a completely different set of puzzles

The game feels very much like Resi, with exploring evilmonsters to defeat, puzzles to solve and keys to collect. Thesetting consists of a mansion. Its grounds and the cavesbeneath. One smart touch is the use of light in the game Notonly do you carty a torch to illuminate the places you'researching (think The X-Files or indeed Silent Hill 2) but this lightcan have a real effect on the creatures you encounter too.

However; while the plots in Res; follow the traditionalJapanese obsession with scientists dabbling in forces theydont understand and unleashing monsters iGodzliia, Akira et allAITD has a more occult feeling to it, and is loosely based on thecult writings of early 20th Century author HP Lovecraft whocreated his own pantheon of unspeakably evil gods and beastsknown as the ahulhu Mythos after its greatest god. Thisdifference in plot makes a significant difference to the game;

=3KELETnNS IN THE CUPBDnRDlost people vjrongly identify Resident Evil as the first ever survival horror game. We made theiistake ourseives in iMue #07. The truth is that Alone In The Dark was making use of supernaturalto iines, e lore-and-shoot game dynamics and dramatic camera angles for some three yearsefore the first Resi ever appeared. Here are the ground-breakers..

ALONE IN THE DARK' ■ * ; R e l e a s e : 1 9 9 3i g ! P l a t f o r m : P C

^ Heroes: Edvirard Camby and Emily

V^lj§^ J '/ Emily's uncle Jeremyt * I J H a r t w o o d c o m m i t s s u i c i d e . I t ' s n o' s u r p r i s e - t h e a n c e s t r a l L o u i s i a n a

: h o m e , D e r c e t o , i s k n o w n t o b eI B h a u n t e d b y a n e v i l p o w e r Y o u

1 m u s t u n r a v e l t h e p i r a t e ' s c u r s e^hen make an escape from

A L O N E I N T H E D A R K 2Release; 1994Platform: PC, PSone (as Alone InThe Dark)Heroes: Edward Camby and GraceS a u n d e r sPiot Christmas 1924, and a younggirl, Grace Saunders, has beenkidnapped. The clues lead to amansion called Hell's Kitchen andanother pirate, called One-EyedJack Can you prevent Grace'ssacrifice by the Zombie Witch?

m

A L O N E I N T H E D A R K 3Release: 1994P l a t f o r m : P CHero: Edward CambyPiot Edward finds himself In thetown of Slaughter Gulch In theMojave desert Investigating thedisappearance of the this timenon-playable Emily Hartwood.Edward must collect the clues andface down evil cowboy, Jed Stone.

" i

S P R I T E I N T H Em n T E R R LL U D R L DWaxing lyrical over Alone In The Dark.

don't expect to be finding any hidden scientific bases here, thisgame reiies on pure, good old haunted house innagery to makeyour heart stop.

Just one note of caution though, amid ail this unashamedtrumpet-biowing. Whiie doing our research for this preview, wecame across an old PC demo of the 1993 original Alone In TheDark at www.gamesdomaln.com/demos/demo/aionedrkhtmland - for the heli of it - downloaded it to take a look While asyou can see the graphics are godawful and dated (in fact itlooked like it had been coded in the Twenties, rather than ]ustset in it) we were surprised to find that the character animationof Edward Carnby was a good deal more sophisticated thanthat of his present-day incarnation - when fighting he wouldcrouch, punch and kick Which led us to wonder., are we losingout on some elements of gameplay in the quest for next-gengraphics? Sure AITD looks great, but there is something ratherwooden about the way the characters move, just like there is inResident Evil Code: Veronica and Onlmusha: Warlords. Perhapsthe extra power of the PS2 should be used to make controleasier and animation more fluid as well as to make the gamelook better Or Is that Just us? □

□N TRRGET^PH I T D - T H E N E U U N I E H T m R R ECan Alone In The Dark disembowel Resident Evil and leave it to dieslowiy in the gutter?

V I S C E R ABlood, Biood.Everywhere, My God.T h e h o r r o r . . .

Monsters attack in groupswhen they get the chance.

1Um around and th is fe l low. p o p s u p o u t o f t h e w a t e r .

Stewart Copeland (he used to be The Police'sdrummeri has written a track especially forA/one In The Dark which plays during the intromovie and upon successful completion of thegame. We know it's lazy journalism to quotestraight from press releases, but we couldn'tresist this risible entty for Pseud's Corner"Copeland's work Is marked by unpredictablerhythmic progressions; often fusing thedisciplines of minimalism and rock with thesensibility of modernistic, sometimes ironicallydetached film scoring. This style is especiallyevident in the work that he has created forAlone In The Dark: The New Nightmare. Thetheme song aptly named Alone In The Darkcombines hard-edged rhythmic riffs fromelectric guitar and acoustic bass with rich sultryeffects from electronics along with lyrics thatcapture the essence of the game's spine-tingling plot." Speaks for itself, really...

Impressive muzzle flash, non?

' R E MM X R I D E R

XLUDRDB; DDEL 5NRPE

The first of two PS2-bound motocross titlespreviewed tliis month - this the more sim-like

offering Oh yes, and it lets you race in Swindon.

Publisher InfbgramesDeveloper Paradigm

Players: 1-2Release: August

— here's a jump up ahead. You lean forward toload up the front shocks, back to get extra airas you crest over the top, then squeeze theback brake In the air for a perfect two-pointlanding, screeching out ahead of the packThen, Just to rub It In as you take first place,

you nonchalantly pull a handstand on the saddle as you sailover the finish line. This Is motocross riding

MX Rider isnt really one game, but three. Motocross takesplace over long outdoor courses and Is the closest to a straightbike race Supercross Involves indoor courses full of bumps,where getting a good rhythm and catching the Inclines right Ismuch mone Important than taking tight corners. Rnally, there'sFreestyle - MX Rider's courses have been designed fromscratch, so you'll find plenty of flaming hoops to leap through.

Paradigm's game has been mainly developed as a sIm,ensuring that motocross aficionados wlli immediately feel athome. Rather than simply plonking trees and other obstacleshere and there around the tracK MX Rider's courses weredesigned with the aid of countless videos, photos and elevationdrawings of the real thing Still, Paradigm realise that It has towork as a game above all, so they haven't shied away fnomoccasionally steepening an Incline or tightening a corner tomake things more Interesting The bikes handle as a real bikewould, so you'll need to hit the front brake as you go into turns,but nudge the rear brake when you're airborne to tilt the bikefonward for a soft landing

In Freestyle mode, you'll feel the benefits of lighter gravityand bigger air The stunt system feels odd at first - involving abutton press and then a twirl of the stick for a combinationmove while airborne - but after a while it becomes instinctiveenough to let you attempt combinations. The biggest change,though. Is the boost bar Pull a Heeicllcker; and you're awardedboost points - giving you a quick burst of speed. With morethan 30 stunts available. It's a system that rewards extra effort

The Swindon course - just the thing to cool you down in the summer,

l e S i Nice touches l i l te hot-a i rbailoons taking off heip thatail-important atmosphere.

s j m r

while you're racing and gives the game more depth - clever;even if it's a tricl< stolen from SSX.

It's also a testament to the developer's devotion to thesport that they've made such an effort to recreate how/ messy ItIs, iviud sprays the camera as your tytBS churn up beautifullyreflective puddles. There isn't any rain as such, but the gloomyclouds of the Swindon level will be familiar to anyone who'sever been there. Riders even get progressively caked In mud ordust as they career around the track. Just as Important as theway the bike rides, is the way the game tries to capture theatmosphere of a motocross event. Fireworks burst, camerasflash and race marshals dive for cover if you veer towards them,in another style-rewarding ploy, pulling crowd-pleasing stunts inSupercross mode will add to your reputation, Increasing thechance that you'll be offered sponsorship and extra cash. Youspend this on extra kit and flashier bikes - tuning your tyres tomatch the terrain will be essential in the Championship modes.

With Its realistic handling and attention to detail, MX Riderlooks like an obvious choice for PS2 owners already into thesport. It will be a question of whether the stunts and tricks addenough variety to make It a worthy purchase for everyone else,ijet's hope so. □

□N T R R E E T P f T l X R I D E RIt's set to be ttie most realistic motocross racer on PS2, but can thattranslate into an entertaining game?

S P E E D

Impressively nippy,with only rare casesof slow-down.

S T U N T S

Better than /(TVOffroad, but not asgood as SSX.

' 0

M U DMore splattery thanJackson Pollock onhis excitable days.

KAn intelligent Replay mode chooses tlie most excitinghighlights of the race to play back on its own.

T H I N K B I K E0PS2 cau^ up wi^ Chris Johnson, Producerof MX R/der to talk bike.

'i

ViHi've mentioned Tbiv Hawk's and SSXas influences. How much reaBsm hasbeen compramised to make the gamemore playable?In Supercross and (Motocross modes, wehaven't really - the physics model's veryrealistic. In Freestyle, though, you'll be able toget huge aln and weVe added some tricksthat arent really feasible - like the Barrel Rolland the Pommel Horse. Some of them scaredthe riders. Each Ai rider has their ownparameters - we've got guys looking at thereal riders to see how they tackle coursesand we're translating that to the game. Someof them will do more stunts than others,some will take turns tighter, and so on.

How much input have you had from realmotocross r iders?We've got six original supercross tracks thatFreddy Vertierstraten helped to fine-tune -he's a professional track designer: We alsomotion captured the world record holder forthe longest wheelle - I think he lasted about11 hours. He did some of the stunts in azero-gravity harness, and he did the crashesas well - he was getting pretty Into It

Sticking to the racing line's important.. Air this big's rare in motocross - time to show off.

Play5tation,E 0

P R E ^ I E U UT W I S T E D M F I A L : B L A C K

L U D R D S r n O R I R N L R L U T O N

Take cover! Twisted Metol's death-dealinglunatics are back to make the streets an

altogether more dangerous place.

P u b l i s h e r S C E EDeveloper Incognito

Players: 1-4Release: September

R R E N R■or a taster of what awaits you on the battlefield, here's three ofhe most twisted arenas that we've picked out

leath 2 A particularly nasty one this,he snow-covered surface Is almostIctlon-free and has deadly drops on allides, as you'll discover the first timeDu fly off the end of the platform toleet a horrible death below. L^eam toudge opponents over the edge.

Suburbs This sprawling arena is full ofareas to explore Here we'ne in thehospital, where the unfortunate patients(complete with wheelchairs) are perfectroad-l(ill material for the motorisedmaniacs. Sick, yes, but entertainingn o n e t h e l e s s .

T J i i f c O

The Rooftops A series of interconnectedskyscraper roois nigh above a city. Theshattered remains of a passenger Jet liesbetween two buildings, it's torn bodyserving as a bridge. There's even a hugestained-glass church window that youcan drive straight through.

Special weapons are ahighlight. Crazy 8'selectric charge andOutlaw's projectilezombie are most cool .

^ he murderous collection of psychos to befound in Twisted Metal: Block are primecandidates for a dose of shock therapy. Eventhe residents of Gotham City's ArkhamAsylum pale into insignificance compared tothis assortment of Joy-riding nutters, back

causing mayhem after a successful run on PSone. Outlaw, MrGrimm, Spectre, Junkyard Dog and co are all at large in thecommunity and as deranged as ever but this time vvith aserious facelift for PS2. The car smashing weapon-wieldingmadness of Twisted Metal has returned. Fasten those seatbelts.

Veterans of the previous four games will know exactly whatto expect Set In a darK pseudo-apocalyptic future, you mustassume the role of one of these dangerous individuals andimmerse yourself in their violent worid of motorised gladiatorialcombat. There's one rule and one rule only: annihilate everyonebefore they do the same to you.

While not tinkering with the simplistic appeal of the series,TM:B upgrades the experience considerably Arenas are bigoften muiti-leveiied affairs (see Step In The Arena) and much ofthe enviiDnment is destructible. Want to smash down abuilding? Sure thing Tree in your way? Just drive straightthrough it Helicopters circle in the sky raining fire down fromabove, spectacular weapon effects illuminate the gloom,characters, turned into human torches when their vehicles aredestroyed, run screaming from the smouldering wrecks -there's loads of this Immersive detail crammed into each area.

The vehicles are also an impressive bunch, each tiedexclusively to one of the game's characters. There are 16available Initially, each with Its own characteristics and specialweapon. Hop into pick-ups, off-roaders, taxis, Juggernauts andeven onto motorbikes, all armed to the rotten back teeth.

Once you've chosen your chariot, for the single-player TM.Boffers up a Story mode where you progress through the levels,taking on the game's bosses along the way Challenge mode

Multiplayer mayhem is what this series is all about and TM.B is suitably mayhemic

24 PlayStation.E

allows you to randomly pick arena and opponents, whileEndurance Is simply a case of lasting as long as you canagainst an Infinite number of adversaries Although the one-player game Is fairly short-lived It serves an important purpose;to unlocl< all the Juicy extras for the multiplayer game, incognitohas clearly spent a lot of time on the multiplayer action andthough currently suffering from slow-down ptDblems and somedodgy camera angles, they've done a reasonable job. With aMuitlTap plugged in, Deathmatch mode offers you and threecompatriots around 20 levels of serious mechanised mayhem.On top of this, a two-player co-operative option means you anda friend can team up In the Story mode and Last Man Standinglets you both face-off In the same vehicles

After indulging in hours of ceaseless motorised slaughter;0PS2 can assure you that TM.B retains all the action andmultiplayer larks of the series, while giving the whole thing agood next-gen makeover Plus, Sony is planning an online addon pack for the game once the PS2 Network Adapter arrivesWith this added bonus and frantic split-screen action, TwistedMetal: Black should prove to be a safer more enjoyablealternative to ram-raiding your local shops on a Friday night. □

□N T H R E E T P T U J E T E Dm E T R L B L R C KCombining triumphs of the past with the power of the future lool<s likea heady molotov cocktail, but is Twisted Metal: Black realty up for it?

G R A P H I C SCool vehicles, hugearenas and gloriousspecial effects.

M U L T I P L A Y E RSplit-screen anticsand the promise ofonline ptay? Hey now!

A R M O U R YG e n e r o u s a s s o r t m e n tof nutty weapons isits strongest feature.

/yDeathmatch mode offersyou and three compatriotsaround 20 levels of serious

mechanised mayhem//

" Ti m e S p l i t t e r s i s t h e o n e t i t l e y o u s h o u l d d e fi n i t e l y bd a s h i n g h o m e w i t h o n c e y o u ' v e s e c u r e d y o u r P S 2 . "

Official PlayStation Magazine - 9/10

" G r a b a c o p y n o w f o rs o m e o f t h e f a s t e s t ,

m o s t f u l l - o n f r a g g i n g o ft h i s o r a n y c e n t u r y . "

Official PlayStation 2 Magazine - S/10

" A s l i c k s h o o t ' e m u pw e t d r e a m . "

P o w e r - 9 / 1 0

" A n a d r e n a l i n e - fi l l e d h y pa d d i c t i v e , h e a d - b u z z i n i

t h r i l l k i l l f e s t . "p s i - 2 - 9 0 %

" A g l o r i o u s m u l t i p l a y e r m a s s a c r e . "The Player - 5/5

" G e t a P S 2 , g e t a m u l t i - t a pa n d g e t T i m e S p l i t t e r s . "

" T h i s i s e a s i l y o n e o f , i f n o tb e s t t i t l e s o f a r o n P S 2 . |

Total Station - Q1S t a t i o n 2 -

C j G Z T T O C j f c T H f c RS f c T T L G : T H f c S C O R f c .

PlayStation®^ www.1- |me£.p l i t - t -e rE . -p&c£. (zam.FREES

R A D I C A L» Radka) Design 2000. The "nmeSplltters and Free Radical Design n; re ftte property ot Free Radical Design Llmtted. )>ubtts)ied under licence by Ei (Ltd. 2000. All Other logos are the property ot th«r res tecBve owners. Ail rights reserved. Jir and "PlayStation" 8« registered

lay5tatlon®2

49^

Dastardlij & NlMttlei) - Racing onto Plai)§tcctton«2.11 © INFOGRAMES. and 'PlayStation' are registered trademarl<s of Sony Computer Entertainnnent Inc. All Rights Reserved.

U J D R D 5 : N I C K □□N E 5

\

5 T y□m x E

Sure it has bunnyhops, endos and barspins but can Dave iviirra offer

anything different to all other the BMXgames on the market?

P u b l i s h e r A c c l a i mDeveloper Z-Axis

Players: 1-2R e l e a s e : O c t o b e r

R E NDAVE MIRRA FREESTYLf BMX 2

he original Dove M/rro Freestyle BMXwas the first of its kind on PSone butwasnt briiiiantiy received, especiaiiyconsidering the ail-round praise forMat Hoffman's Pro BMX. Taking adifferent approach to Activision's

arcadey stunt fest, Dove Mirra was a more demandingexperience, making the piayer actually leam the tricksbefore he could use them. Likewise, this is theapproach taken by Dove M/rra 2 - it Is easy to get in tobut does require a bit of practice before you'll becomeanything near an expert.

Naturally, the extra power afforded by the PS2 hasenabled Z-Axis to create larger and far morB complexlevels, the developer is boasting that they'rB some fourtimes bigger than in the PSone's Dave Mirra. So thisbasically means much more variety and more ramps,half-pipes and surfaces to pull stunts. You can evenhitch a ride with moving traffic and use the cars as youmight a regular ramp or rail.

Your basic objective in the game is to earn respectfrom other BMX riders. You do this by interacting withthe computer-controlled riders on the level - they setyou challenges and if you meet the challenge, you earntheir respect and are allowed to progress. The kind ofstuff you can expect? Well, fairly standard show-off BMXstuff - make a particularly dangerous Jump or smashsome high up street lights or the usual 'get the pointsin the time limit'. Naturally levels are your typical BMXstuff ranging from street-based to dirt tracks to parksand off - road.

You can also talk to pedestrians and spectators toget tips and directions to secret areas. Not being theonly rider in a level is an interesting touch and theseother riders along with traffic and pedestrians help to

give the levels a bit more life and make the wholeexperience more realistic.

As far as the number of tricks go, Dave Mirra 2 hasthe upper hand on anything else in the genre - itboasts some 1,500 in total. This is thanks to a Modifierbutton which enables you to add your own touch to thestandard tricks. All you do is go for a standard trick, hitthe modify button and a direction and you've got a one-handed Superman, for example, in the interests ofcompetitiveness a muitiplayer game has been includedand appears to be more interesting that the usual'bolted on' kind of thing we usually get - ten differentgames are promised.

Ljet's be realistic here. Dove Mirra's 2 is not going torock the world of videogames. However, as a BlviX stunt-'em-up it achieves the necessary level of redness tomake this type of title a success. A few things will haveto be rectified before the game is released - Issues likeslow-down and background textures but if everythinggoes well. Dove Mirra's 2 should be Just about the mostbike-related fun you can have on PS2. □

□N T R R G E T P D R N E m i R R RP R E E B T y L E B f T l X EEssentially an update of the PSone's Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, thisPS2 Incarnation should be a massive Improvement.

Q

S T U N T S

Everything your e m e m b e r a s a k i da n d m o r e b e s i d e s .

| o

C O m K O LT h e c a m e r a c a nmake things a littletricky at times.

C R A S H E S

Ball-shattering falhthat'll make youw a n n a w / l n c e .

L E N E L T H E L E N DWhat people in 1994 wouldVe called "landscapegardening for Generation X" - the Level Editor...So eight levels of stunt-pulling mayhem not enough foryou? That's a problem easily solved. Using Dove Mirra 2'sLevel Editor you can make your ov»n. Not exactly a newidea, but here you can select from a number of predesigned 'shells' and then tweak them and add orremove your own features lending that real pro feel.

1. Almost every feature inthe game is available to you- cycle through and select.

2. Nov^ test your parK tweakIt and you've got your owncourse to swap with mates.

The more air you grab, the easier it is to pull off those I'm-golng-to-DIE stunts.

Challenges set by BMXsters mustbe met to progress to new levels.

Show your contempt for the bill and earn extra points. Moving vehicles are a bit more difficult to use as ramps... The huge urban sprawls make ideal BMXing territory.

Play5tation.E 02

R E MSILENT SCOPE 2: DARK SILIKHJETTE

U J O R D S ; N E K 3 0 N E S

55

N2 :

□R R K 5 U E "

Take to the roofs of old Ljondontown to rid the world of evil

terrorist dudes.

P u b l i s h e r K o n a m iDeveloper KCET

Mayers: 1-2Release: September

s a launch title for PS2, the originalSilent Scope was a fun If flawedaffair Its arcade heritage was evidentwith its simple yet pretty addictivegameplay but it lacked real replayvalue being rather short. Silent Scope

2 won't exactly remedy this fact but for fans, more ofthe same Is really what you're after

The biggest change Is that there are now twosnipers In the game You can play as either - the sniperfrom the first game or the new guy a freelance sniperwho's working on your side Changing snipers gives youa different point of view for each level and, In effect,makes the game twice as big You can also play a Cooperative mode with a friend or against him In a Duelmode In one of three different locations - the idea hereIs to take out your opponent first. It's like a deathmatchbut at very, very long range.

We hardly need to tell you the, ahem, story. The badguys have stolen some missiles from somebody andyou have to get them back Character development,emotional conflict, witty dialogue, who needs themwhen you've got the power to blow someone's headclean off at 100 paces. This time. Silent Scope 2 shouldinstantly appeal to us Brits. The action begins in London- Tower Bridge, to be precise - and yes it is a lot of fun

blowing tent)rists into the Thames. We dont stay InLondon for long though. As you chase the temsrlsts,you move onto Egypt and the Swiss Alps among otherplaces around the globe.

It follows almost exactly the formula of the original- shoot the terrorists, defeat the various bosses and

choose a few different routes through the levels. Simplestuff you'll agree, but actually very satisfying to play

interesting this time round you get to use a couple ofnew hi-tech sniper weapons, the Thermal Vision Scopeand X-Ray Scope Thermal Vision is used at night inconfined areas, while the X-Ray Scope can see temjristshiding behind walls.

Like the first game. Silent Scope 2 eschews thelight gun found in the arcade version and Instead putsall the control on the joypad. Using the analogue stickyou move your cross hairs around the screen with theability to zoom In and out on your target Even thoughthis does seem to be the only solution to the problemit Isnt exactly ideal and you lose something of thenovelty of using a 'real' sniper rifle, as you get In thearcade game. Why no G-Con 2 compatibility?

Essentially Silent Scope 2 is more of the same.We're still womed about the longevity Issue but theinclusion of the two-player game and being able to playthe game from different points of view should make thissequel different enough from Its predecessor For thoseof you who enjoyed the arcade thrills of the first, S/tentScope 2 will have some calibre. □

□N T R R G E T P 5 I L E N T E C D P E2 . D R R K 5 I L H D U E T T EAside from the extra weapons and sniper views? This iatest Scope is astraight sequei - but where's the problem with that?

O

R E P t A Y V A L U ETwo snipers theremay be, but it won'tiast long.

M U L T I P L A Y E RCould be limited butadds needed depthto the game.

S A n S F A C n O N

Getting a head shotis a sickeninglybeautiful experience.

No, putting your hands up won't save you. Expect the usual mix of dramatic set-pieces and flying hostages.

>28 PlayStation E

P R E NL O T U S C Hl A L L E N G E

L U 0 R D 5 : R D R R N L F I L U T D N

5L L E N (

GT3 may be top dog amongPS2's racers, but f anyone can

challenge its supremacy, it's tine#le and finesse of Lotus.

Publisher VirginI n t e r a c t i v e

Developer KujuPlayers: 1-2

Release: 14 Septemlier

c n m E R n .r R n r T i D N iotus Challenge's Stunt mode offers relief from the track-lased antics. Here's a taster from the Hoilywood scenarios.

. Wait for the train to 2. Head over to the left toppear on the right hand get a good approach angleide of the screen, hit the and mal(e a beeline foras and keep pace with it, that handy ramp...

. Keep the car upngm 4. Avoiding the telegraphnd aim to Jump over the poles, land svieetiy to earnat-bed canlage that the serious street cred. Leeain is pulling and... Majors? Eat yer heart out!

I Jlf, ilo (Jq >1 -^25""The El ise is another firm favouri te.

30 PlayStation 2

eing charged with producing anofficially-endorsed iDtus game is abig responsibility. As quintessentlallyEnglish as sipping a scone v^hllescoffing a freshly-baked cup of tea,the sports car manufacturer has a

fifty-year heritage in road-based and Fcnnula Onevehicles Anything less than an accurate digitalrepresentation of Its mechanical masterpieces would belike casting Sly Stallone as James Bond - not cricket

Developer KuJu seems to be taking the task veryseriously and the game has been produced in close cooperation with Lotus, resulting In a comprehensiveinteractive histoiy of their products. For a nostalgic tripinto the motor racing's past, why not hop into the 1957Elite or the 1962 Elan? Or if it's more contemporarythrills you seek, take a 1980 Esplrit or the 1996 Elise fora spin. The individual physics are based on originaltechnical data used during the actual car's design,giving each unique handling and characteristics.

Cars are divided into several classes Including A, B,Super and Formula One and each has It's own 'classic'variation. While many of these older vehicles feelpainfully slow, competing In the Championship soongives access to the game's more powerful motors. Thisconsists of a series of races dictated by the class of caryou're driving A total of 15 tracks are staged at fiveworldwide locations and each Is convincingly realised,taking in a typically overcast England, night-timeJapanese cityscapes and the searing sunshine ofArizona along the way A mWure of both imaginary andActional, each track is rated according to difficulty fromNovice, through Pro and onto Champion. The latter ofthese involve high-speed straights mixed with vicioushairpins and provide a serious challenge.

In addition, Lotus Challenge offers a Challengemode, where you show off your driving skills on theLotus test-tracks, a reasonable two-player game (thoughcurrently sport:ing unsightly pop-up) and an entertainingStunt mode (see Lights, Camera, Traction!). One of themost interesting parts of the game though Is In thecontrol methods offered. As you'd expect, the leftanalogue stick Is used to steer but in addition to theusual left-right motion, the game also allows the optionfor the stick to be rotated through 360 degrees as youwould a steering wheel. This takes getting used to but Isactually fairly effective and gives precise control.

Graphically the game is mostly solid, but there isstill work to be done on collision detection. Also, whilethere are successful reflection effects on the cars, theirinteraction with the environment is not convincing - atthe moment, they have that floaty' feel, not reallygripping the road. Al needs attention but given thateverything is flne-tuned before release, Lotus Challengeshould earn the honour of sporting the Lotus badge onIts bonnet when it goes on sale this autumn. □

□N T R R E E T PL D T U E C H R L L E N G ESporting a big-name licence and a plethora of classic sports cars, thiscould well prove a popular rival to PS2's other big racers.

C A R SPacked to the gillswith stacks of classica n d m o d e r n m o t o r s .

G R A P H I C S

Accurately modelledcars and a goods e l e c t i o n o f t r a c k s .

L O N G E V I T Y

Championship,Challenge, Tv/o-playero n d S t u n t m o d e s .

Split-screen, two-player heaven. The stylish Elan is an ail-time classic. Aahh, Tol<yo at night! Luweriy aint it?

_ I n t h e a b s e n c e o f'S j? 8 sun visors you'ii have

to wear^tudes.OODTOQCQGILgj)

ti3E)0Q[t£IP

0 a a Q £ ©

P R E MM X 2 0 0 2 F E AT U R I N G R I C K Y C A R M I C H A E L

L U O R D B : N I C K I D N E 5

X 2 0 0 2F E R T U R I N E

R C K y C R R m C H R E L

More motocross madness inthis nnontli's second offroad

biking racer preview.

Publisher THQDeveloper Pacific Coast

Power And LightPlayers: 1-2

Release; September

X 2002 has it all: racing andstunt shows, Indoors and out,and all the Jumps and crashesthat go with this filthy bikesport. Boasting some 20 tracks,based on real motocross tracl<s,

and ail the riders and bikes that you couid possiblywant Including the said Ricky Carmlchael, up andcoming star of the motocross world. There's also aCareer mode, where, you guessed It, you create a bikerand have yourself a little motocross career, workingyour way up the ladder to the very top of the sport. Youcan also just play for kicks In the Freestyle mode andburn around courses pulling stunts.

The most appealing aspect of MX 2002 so far isthat It's an extremely playable title from the outsetThere's an arcade leaning In the gameplay with theemphasis on having fun, catching some of that 'big air'and pulling outrageous stunts that would make acertain Tony Hawk proud.

Despite these arcade qualities, there is a surprisingamount of subtlety - through various button pressesyou can open the throttle, give the bike a bit morepower to pull wheeiies or get an extra push for a bigJump. This latter part Is pretty Important becauseJudging your landing right can be the differencebetween keeping your momentum or landing on anupslope and losing It In conjunction with this you canmove your bike around In the air to line up with thegradient of the ground, again helping you get that extrabit of speed.

However; missing at present is a satisfactory feel toriding your bike, especially considering the surfaceyou're racing on. When you're racing It should feel likeyou're fighting against your bike around the corners,

trying desperately to keep your back end from slidingout from under you. It's a surprise then that the bikefeels a bit sluggish and floats rather than skids - not atall iike a bike would react to a loose surface. Thephysics couid also do with a bit of work - collisions arehaphazard and your bike bounces around the trackrather than Jumping and landing in a realistic waySeeing as the game isnt scheduled for release untilSeptember; there should be enough time for thedeveloper to get this stuff right Oh, and while you're atit we'd like to see some of that mud from the track

splat up onto the bikes and the riders - just a smallpoint but It would add a bit of realism and this isPlayStation 2, after all,

if Pacific Coast can fine tune the handling and sortthe physics out a bit then MX 2002 should be a worthyalternative to the simulation style MX Rider (see page22|. it has all the courses, riders and challenges thatany budding motocross fan couid wish for tet's Justhope that the racing part gets the feel that the rest ofthe game deserves. □

□N T R R E E T P m X E 0 0 EP E R T , R I E K y E R R m i E H R E LEverything you could want from a motocross game but a wee bit rougharound ttie edges at present.

O "

P H Y S I C SNeeds a bit of workto give it a more' rea l i s t i c ' fee l .

o

G R A P H I C SLooks like a souped-up PSone title. Hugedraw distance, mind.

o

S K I D SNot mucil like racingin mud, more likeracing in chocolate.

Stunt mode is where you get to show off. And break your back. . . . to downtown cons t ruc t ion s i tes .Combining triclts racks up those stunt points.

EEtOtALLEP^

H D U

THE PlayStation®^ INTERXIIEUU/ OFFICIAL MAGAZINE-UK

WORDS: SAM RICHARDS/PHOTOGRAPHY: GAVIN ROBERTS

We got GTA on BBCnews four times inone nighit, we hiadJeremy Paxmanfrothing... I realisedvideogames couldbe rock 'n' rollFrom out of nowhere in 1999 came abunch of young upstarts calling themselvesRocl star Games. Clutching a bunch of cop-baiting Grand Theft Auto sequels in onehand and flicking the bird at industrydinosaurs lil<e Activlsion and Electronic Artswith the other; they came to makevideogame publishing cool. At Rockstar'shelm was an outspoken Brit calledSam Houser; rarely seen without Aviatorsclamped to his face, who went aroundproclaiming that running club nights wasust as important to the Rockstar ethos asmaking games. Now, with shades off andPS2 hits Smuggler's Run and Midnight Ciubalready behind him, Houser explains histrue, all-encompassing vision for takinggames fonward.

LOS ANGELES. LESS THE CITY OFangels, more the city of smog conspicuousconsumption, so-sue-me politics and racialparanoia. Then again, over here in West Hollywood,whole Industries have been built aroundextravagant dreams and fantasies that obscure theimmediate strife of life. Standing on the balcony ofChateau Marmont's penthouse suite at dusK it'salmost easy to forget that LA is anything but onebig playground.

Pointing out exactly where John BeiushI sippedhis last daquiri is Rockstar President, Sam HouserAs a company, Rocl<star has striven to lend addedcool cachet to videogames - and few who'veenjoyed Its entertaining press campaigns forgames like GTA2 can deny It has succeeded -even If It's meant resorting to a little rock 'n' rollcliche. The Chateau's penthouse, itself a nockclich6 in a city of rock cllchfe. Is the Ideai place forHouser to spell out his manifesto. Some mayalready have Houser down as a chancer and acynical self-publicist (probably those shades again)but he's actually a modest enthusiast and full of 0

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PlayStation®^ INTERN!! OFFICIAL MAGAZINE-UK

0 praise for his game industry peers. Every manicsentence typicaily ends with an apology for being"over-excited" and going "off on one'. Arriving invideogames via Get Carter and Tal<e That, Houser'sonly real aim is to sire some great software thatamplifies the energy and intensity of his favouritemovies and music.

You're not from a game coding or designbackground originally, so how did you getinvolved with the industry?Well, obviously, I got involved at a personal levelaround the age of about five or six. And i thinlythat's relevant because my generation is the firstto have really grown up with games all our lives -it's natural for us to think In an interactive wayProfessionally, I was working at BMG records fromabout 1990 onwards, i was an Intern while at

college and then It turned into a real job.

So is music your first love?Yes, i was like obsessively into music whengrowing up. i always wanted to work In musicor films or whatever and I think my position nowis a testament to the fact that an Interest in music

and games and toys and stuff can actually leadto something.

Anyway, I was Just answering phones at first,then doing a bit of research on the dance musicscene, then I started taking photos for the label,but It ail changed one day when they said, 'We'vegot this band we'd like you to meet' They were thesame age as me, from Manchester; they'd had acouple of average singles out but the label thoughtthey were going to be massive. So that's how iended up hanging out with Take That!

You were Take That's road manager?Not really I was kind of chnanlcling their progressfor BMG as it ail blew up, taking photos andmaking documentaries. We would turn up to In-store PAs with one security guard and getswamped by girls. There were police escorts,helicopters, the lot An incredible time.

What were Robbie and pals actually like?Tfiey were a great bunch of guys. I got toexperience the rock 'n' roll lifestyle first hand -Take That didn't f**k about. They had fun doingwhat they did, at least for the first year or two.

How did you go from Take That and Back ForGood to game publishing?it was 1995 and BMG wanted to get Intomultimedia - before multimedia was a dirtyword. BMG interactive began life as a pretty broadinitiative and videogames were lumped In withInternet stuff and CD-ROMs. I was more confident

about the games side of things so I ended upbecoming a kind of A&R man for gamedevelopers, running the International ProductDevelopment team.

Did the vagaries of operating within a'multimedia' division leave you with quite abizarre range of game product?It was the first wave of PSone software. We put outSpicier and Pandemonium... actually really bossgames but they took too long to release andmaybe looked better on paper than they turnedout Then right towards the end of BMGInteractive's life came Grand Theft Auto.

I got involved relatively early on because Itlooked exciting but the American arm of BMG tried

036 PlayStation.^

i/ 'The onlyelement o f th isw h o l ec o n v e r g e n c emyth that'sactually real isvideogames"/^

to kill GTA on three or four different occasions,thinking that a top-down game would never workMyself and my UK boss Gary Dale viewed itdifferently We really believed in [GW developer]DMA Design, we thought the product was daringand different. So GTA actually did really well, butBMG were committed to pulling out of the gamesmartlet by then. That's when a ilttle-known NewYork company called Take 2 swooped in andoffered to take us all to the States. GTA had alreadybeen sitting in ttie Top Ten PSone chart:s for a fewmonths so that was obviously the key factor

Grand Theft Auto was an important game forthe whole games industry - it started gettingmentioned and referenced in places wherevideogames had never been befora..The fact that we did have success with publicisingGrand Theft Auto across a range of media Is part:of the reason Rockstar now exists I remember

Edge picked up on the game first and Its frontcover got the ball rolling so we did pay ourhardcore game dues... I mean GTA was reallydifferent and innovative from a gamepiayperspective, the stuff about car-Jacking andgangsters was Just an extra hook Anyway i thoughtthe game deserved some serious marketing sothat's when we brought In Max Clifford and the restIs history. He got us on BBC news four times Inone night, we had Jeremy Paxman fiothing.. irealised videogames could be rock 'n' roil.

Did you feel any backlash against the hype?Perhaps to the effect that you were dwelling onera's controversial subject matter as opposedto the gamepiay?I already felt with Grand Theft Auto thatIrrespective of what we did on the PR andmari<eting side, we created a f'king cool game. It's

LRLl l . LUHRT E IT □□□□ FDRPCrime does pay - following success with Grand Theft Auto and Its spin-offs, Rockstar hasperpetuated Its portfolio of illegality. Coming up on PlayStation 2 you can look forward to drug-running (Smuggler's Run 21, car-jacking /Grand Theft Auto 3), rioting /State Of Emergency) and massgenocide (Max Payne). Mario fans need not apply.

a cool concept - the contemporaty toyset. GTAwas the first game that really had that successfulcontemporaty edge to it, using themes fromgangster movies. There was definitely a maturegaming audience out there waiting for that kind ofthing so the game i^ind of promoted itself

Do you think game developers have had toradically change their Ideas in recent years?Yeah, when you lool< baci< to the old days therewetB a lot of totally abstract games and it didn'tmatter because they were fun. But as thetechnology became more sophisticated and youcouid start to create more realistic, immersive andcolourful worlds, you had to think about fillingthem with characters that people would actuallycare about .

Going back to Rockstar, how did the labelactually take shape as part of Take 2?When i came to New York I brought a couple ofguys over - a very strong technical guy called GaryForeman who's now the CTO of Rockstar, and ayoung producer from the pop video andcommercial side called Jamie King [nowDevelopment Director). Then came my long-termfriend and partner-in-crlme Terry Donovan who'sthe COO of Rockstar The idea was to start our own

label pouring in everything we had learnt aboutattitude and identity from our time in the recordbusiness, in about January 1999 we came up withthe name Rocks ta r

We knew we were right at the bottom of thegame publishers' ladder so we had to use ourenergy and our vision for computer entertainmentto take us fonward. The first great thing we did asRockstar was GTA London, it was the first gamethat featured cockney rhyming slang and that's

gotta be worth some points.

//*^D\6 you knowmy Mum was inGet Carter? MyMum naked i nb e d w i t l i M i c l i a e lCaine, tliat'sf**king cooVV/

Sam Houser cou ld havebeen the forgotten sixthmember of Take That .Instead, he formed hisown videogamecompany. Rockstar 1,Jason Orange 0.

You hit on the Brit Gangster trend early...Weil I'd always been intetBsted in Brit Gangsterfilms. Did you know my mum was in Get Carter?Weil she's the main girlfriend, the one you seenaked in bed. My mum In bed with iviichael Caine,that's f "king cool. She wasn't in too many filmsafter that because i was born, but she appeared Inevery cool TV series from the New Avengers toJason King.

Terry [Donovanl's Dad was a very famousfashion photographer called Terence Donovan. Hewas one of the pioneers of British fashionphotography, a true Sixties style leader So Terryand i really felt justified to tear at thoseInfluences and we were, like, 'Gotta make a gameabout i t ! '

Even though it was in fact just a mission packadd-on, GTA London was actually moresuccessful than the true sequel GTA2. Why doyou think that was?Well, now I look back and GTA: London actually hada lot more character Grand Theft Auto 2 had somereally cool things in there but It was ]ust too subtleand there wasnt enough of a leap forward forpeople - i think that we're addressing that lastissue now with what we've got going on in thethird game.

Where did Rockstar go to find new games?Bear in mind that at Take 2 we didn't have tons

and tons of money so we were trying to Just makeit happen with what we had. We did Thrasher.Skate And Destroy - which I still f *king love, and istill think is more true to skateboarding than TonyHawk's - and the football game Three L/ons.

Wha t was Rocks ta r ' s rou te i n to the nex t

generation of gaming?The key moment was seeing Midtown Madness onthe PC for the first time. The technology beingused there In terms of a driving game just blewme away i f'king loved it. At E3 '99 we made abeeiine for [M/dtown Madness developer] AngelStudios and i met up with the CEO, Diego Angel.He's a lunatic genius Columbian and such awonderful, wonderful character Being a hot-blooded wildman, he really understood ourattitude and we managed to rapidly cultivate anamazing publisher/developer relationship.

This was Just around the time that PS2development was starting up and i found outAngel Studios was actually doing R&D for Sony soit had the fast-track to PS2. So that's how we gottogether for Smuggler's Run and Midnight Club.

What's your process for going out and findingexciting new games and new star developers?it's tough, because there's so much moneyinvolved in developing a game now, much morethan was required to develop a PSone game. We'vetried to ally ourselves with a few developers weknow and trust. We now own DiviA which Iscurrently 55 people based in Edinburgh. Ourselvesand DIVIA have been through a lot together -without going in to all the detail, there was a pointwhere the situation was so f'ked up that DIviAalmost disappeared forever but we rebuilt thecompany around the core talent. Eighteen monthsago our acquisition of DMA couid have been ahuge write-off, this October we'll be shipping GTA3which looks amazing

We've been working with VIS on State OfEmergency for three years. This was the brainchild El

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PlayStation.^/ OFFICIAL MABAZtNE-UK

S of another Scottish wildman Chick [real nameStewart Watersonl who origlnaliy wori<ed on GTAl.He said 'iVe got this great idea, it's a flying riotgame!' So obviousiy i'm the man to tail< to about ariot game. And after numerous changes ofdirection i think we've got something speciai.Peopie have been freaking out about State OfEmergency at this year's E3,

We're bringing Max Payne to PlayStation 2 andthen we're looking at console versions of DukeNukem Forever which is an amazing game - fiveyears in the making but it's worth it. We're lookingat a new version of Thrasher... there's a ton of newideas kicking about but at the moment it's aboutexecution and making our existing products asgreat as they can be.

What's your favourite thing about Grand TTieftAu to 3 a t t he momen t?Wait until you see the mission briefings. In theprevious games you Just got boring old-skooi textbriefings but In GTA3, they're all done through cut-scenes. And not Just cheesy, pre-rendered cut-scenes either - we storyboanded the scenes andhad actors perform them in motion-capture suitsbefore transfening the data to the game engine. Itlooks bioody Incredibie. Then we've got a bunch ofgreat actors to voice the pari:. Tliey're famous butwe cant say who they are because If we use theirnames we've got to pay them a lot more money ijust wanted them for their voices [goes on tomention a slapheaded Matrix and Sopranos star, aReservoir Dogs hardman, and a veteran rapperfamed for Jazz crossovers].

The music for GTA3 is stunning We're doingmore stuff with Moving Shadow, we're licensingtracks from my dub hero The Scientist and Giorgioivioroder's Scorface soundtrack. The whoie radio

stations thing is going to be expanded, you caneven pick up taik radio now. We're ciose to whatwe wanted to achieve from the beginning with GTAthat Is a living breathing city.

Your major brands are Grand Theft Auto,Smuggler's Run, Midnight Club and State OfEmergency. Why the obsession with breakingt h e l a w ?Middle ciass peopie with authority problems? Yeah,guilty as charged! There's something veryaspirational about criminals, I don't know what itis, but look at movie history. Criminals are sexy i'mnot talking about murderers and rapists but

C U R R I C U L U M V n A E

//''X know that itlooks like we're anabsolute buncli ofsliock jocks, butwe're really not">/

N a m e : S a m H o u s e r

Nationality: EnglishDate of birth: 3/11/1971Birthplace: London

1990 - 1995 BMG Records, worlied with everyone from Take Tliat to David Bowie1995 - 1998 BMG Interactive, Producer for games such as Pandemonium and

G r a n d T h e f t A u t o1998 - 1999 Take 2 Interactive, Producer1998 - Present Rockstar Games, founder and President, commissioned games such

as GTA- London, G1A2, Smuggler's Run, Midnight Club

Favourite games: Jetpoc, Summer Games, Wave Race, Speedbail 2, Metal Gear Solid,PaRappa The Rapper, Duke Nukem 3DFavourite films: Fast Times At Ridgmont High, Scarface, Goodfeilas, Get Carter, StrawDogs, The Warriors, Less Than Zero, Bruce Lee In New GuineaFavourite Dlrectots: Sam Pecklnpah, Michael Mann, Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick,Alfred HitchcockFavourite bands/muslclans: Grand Funk Railroad, Giorgio Moroder, AC/DC, Small Faces,Gang Starr, Rick James, Phil CollinsFavourite book: The Great GatsbyUltimate Role Model: Don Simpson

038 PlayStation.E

over-the-top London characters. I met [great trainrobber] Norman Parker once and he wascompletely fascinating

We don't put crime In our games to shock Wedo it because that's what we know from watchingAims and listening to hip-hop. We didn't chooseillegal street racing for Midnight Club simplybecause It was illegal, we just thought It was thecoolest fomi of racing out there because guyslove tuning their hotrods.

I know that it looks like we're an absolutebunch of shock jocks, but we're really not. There'sdifferent stuff coming down the pipe. I'minterested by music creation games right now...We know that the Rockstar brand is broader than

law-breaking games

Is Rockstar really a complete entertainmentbrand or just a clever way of marketingvideogames?Well you know how the word at the moment is'convergence', and to me that's just another way ofsaying multimedia. But the only element of thiswhole convergence myth that's actually real isvideogames Games show off how ail thesedifferent media can work together, so games areas good a place to start: as any Rockstar iscommitted to quality audio - music is such apowerful stimulus within the gaming experiencethat It cant be an afterthought Music is still underused in games and we're trying to take it to thenext level, getting cool musicians Involved at aneariy stage of development, having a proper scoreas opposed to just licencing tracks.

What's the latest on the club nights or theRocks ta r reco rd l abe l?

We still periodically host loft parties in Manhattan.For various reasons New Yort< nightlife is prettyslow of late [Um, The Strokes? Anyone? - Ed], sothere's lots of demand for cool parties. We ainthem under the Rockstar brand because c lubsare more relevant to videogames than a lot ofpeopie realise.

We'd love to do a record label in the future, butthe games are our priority at the moment. WithAims, we're still waiting for Hollywood to comeround to our way of thinking The movie industrydoesnt understand videogames yet. We'vediscussed the idea of a GTA Aim many many timesbut I see it as more Man Bites Dog than Gone In60 Seconds. Low budget, high impact □

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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE-UK

FHE WINNER OF LAST YEAR'S GAME OF THE YEAR BAFTA AWARD,CAN DEUS EX MAKE THE TRIP FROM PC TO PS2? NEXT MONTH, 0PS23RINGS YOU THE LX)WDOWN ON iONSTORM'S TECH-NOIR SHOOTER

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On/musha 2 i s on the way p4?Whafs topping the PS2 charts? p5;PoRoppa The Ropper on TV p5SGet physical with Mike Tyson Boxing p5?Sicko noir thrills with Max ftjyne p6i

WipEout Fusion: back and better p6(

THE KPE DF IRONI ^ f e j j — -

Exclusive! 0PS2 has all the details on N

FHjHT fans have been waiting a long timefor information on the next instalment in thebest-selling Tekken beat-'em-up series - nowthat excruciating agony is finally over Namcohas announced the completion of the arcadeversion of its new fighter, Tekken 4. which willstart kicking and punching its way Into selectJapanese arcades towards the end of July Asthe game utilises the Sony/Namco System 246architecture based on PlayStation 2 hardware,you can be absolutely sure that the Tekken 4console conversion due In March/April 2002will be nigh-on perfect

Although last November's Tekken TagTournament may have done something to quellthe appetite of brawl-hungry gamers, the lack ofnew characters left hardcore fans somewhatdisappointed. No such worries this time around.Tekken 4 will be a true sequel to Tekken 3, withold favourites such as Yoshimltsu and MarshallLaw rejoining the fray alongside newcomersincluding the British middleweight boxingchamp Steve Fox (originally Dean Eanwicker)and granddaughter of Eddy Gordo, ChristieMonteito (see An Eye 4 An Eye, next page).

The game's labyrinthine story begins withTekken bad-boy HelhachI MIshlma's attempts tobecome all powerful by splicing Ogre's DNA withhis own. However, his scientists have realisedthat this is impossible without the mysterious'Devil Gene' present In Jin Kazama, thepossessed fighter who disappeared afterwinning the last tournament While searchingfor Jin, HeihachI stumbles upon photographicevidence that the mysterious G Corporation hasalso been tinkering with evil genetics. Not onlythat but it has extracted data from the corpseof his hated son Kazuya. whom HelhachI castinto a volcano twenty years eariier With S

latest beat-'em-up blockbuster - Tekken 4!

New character CraigMarduk looks l ike he'salready had a run inwith 'Iron Mike'. (Seepage 59 for news ofMike Tyson's Boxing.)

M 1

A N E Y E 4 A N E Y ETekken 4's default character llne-up

The new counter moves mean that even a fighter backed into a comer can quickly recover and put his opponent on to the back foot.

0 his crack Tekken army, Heihachi storms thecompany's Nepalese laboratory to retrievehis son's genetic material, oniy to find thatKazuya is ailve, having already been clonedby the G Corporation! Ttie revived Kazuya Isfurious that his father has ruined his ownplans to discover the terrifying truth of thedevilish tendencies within his newlyresurrected body, so he obliteratesHelhachl's Tekken soldiers, destroys the iaband escapes. Heihachi decides to entraphis wayward offspring by announcing TtieKing of Iron Rst Tournament 4, with the topprize being his Mlshlma Zaibatsu financialempire, an offer that Kazuya cant resist - achance to finally defeat his father Thedeadly competition begins, drawing otherTekken characters Into the fray and givingthem a violent opportunity to settle theirown ancient scores. Fight!

Tekken 4 has a revamped play systemnot based on tagging', that Includes severalexciting changes. The first is the addition of'walls' - physical bamers such as statues or

c a n

ily spring asurprise attack froma weak positiony/trees that players can use to smashopponents Into or pull off devastatingcombos while they lie helpless on theground. The second Is the nifty ability tochange your character's position If they'retrapped In a comer - basically this Is acounter-attack move that means playerscan spring Into a surprise attack from aseemingly weak position In a fight The thirdIs the decision to Include side moves,meaning that piayers not only have forwardand back moves, but a full 360 degreescircle of movement around opponents,bringing In an unprecedented amount offreedom during bouts. Namco's gamepiayoverhau! has ensured that Tekken 4 will

have plenty for hardcore followers of the

series, but also enough new characters andmoves to bring in a different generation ofbeat-'em-up addicts, previously wooed byTecmo's Dead Or Alive or Sega's VirtuaFighter series

All this action is wrapped up in some ofthe most beautiful graphics ever seen in avideogame, thanks to the advanced andpowerful PS2-compatlble System 246. Fromcrisp, beautifully-realised tropical forestenvironments alive with gently swayingtrees, to darK urban skyscrapers guarded bydistant helicopters, Tekken 4 Is a thrill forthe eyes An expanded cast of smoothly-animated characters populate this virtualworld, displaying an amazing variety offighting moves and combos, clashing limbswith loud vocal outbursts and pepperingthe screen with explosions of colour

Battle-ready gamers will have to thrashTekken 4 in the arcades for now, but PS2owners will only have to wat until nextspring for a conversion to hit their console.We'll bring you more next Issue. □ JS

The new 360" movement adds greatly to the game. Check out wvvw.namcoarcade.com/tekken4 for more.

Kazuya Mish imaDefeated by Heihachi 20 years agoand thrown into a volcano, Kazuyaoffers his body to the G Corporationso he can discover the secrets of thepowerful devil blood flowing throughhis veins. After Heihachi's invasion ofthe lab, the now-doned Kazuya entersthe tournament to kill his father.

Y o s h i m i t s uLooks positively terrifying but the newwinged Yoshimitsu wants to win theI r o n R s t To u r n a m e n t 4 a n d t h e r e f o r ethe l^ishlma Zaibatsu fortune so hecan save his MangI people, who havebecome poverty-stricken refugees.

P a u l P h o e n i x

Undefeated in Teklten 3, Paul returnshome thinking he's champion, but tohis horror discovers that Jin Kazamawas pronounced winner No-onebelieves his story so he enters thenew competition to prove that he Isactually the true champion.

H w o a r a n gConscripted Into the Korean armyHwoarang excels In many missionsutilising his advanced Tae Kwon Doskills, but he soon becomes restlessHis wish to fight the missing JinKazama again drives him to go AWOLfrom his army commitments and headfor the tournament

M a r s h a l l L a wAfter Tekken 3, Marshall sets up aChinese restaurant chain that doeswell In the LIS Ino, really), but his sonForrest runs away from home and hisbusiness falls into ruins. The newtournament gives ivlarshall renewedvigour and he vows to win the mainprize to regain his fortune.

Ling XiaoyuXiaoyu was studying at the Mishima

j, _ College until she received a strange'■iM email telling her that she was indanger from Heihachi. Thinking themessage could've been from Jin, sheenters the tournament in the hope ofcatching up with and finding the truthbehind the message

KingKing Is entering the toumament forrevenge. He wishes to fight the man(Craig Marduk?) that killed his fosterfather and mentor Armor King in a barbrawl by persistently kicking him afterhe fell to the ground.

Chr is t ie Montei roCollege graduate Christie ioins the IronFist Tournament 4 in the hope offinding her grandfather Eddy who isout to avenge his father's death bykilling the devilish Kazuya.

S t e v e F o x

Forced to flee from London becausehe refused to take a dive in a fightrigged by the Mafia, this supremelytalented British boxer is also enteringthe King of the Iron Fist Tournament 4,with the aim of continuing the searchfor his real parents who abandonedhim as a ch i ld .

Cra ig MardukA vicious Vale Judo fighter who endedup in a bar fight with over 30 drunks,killing one of them. After spending twoyears In jail, he is unexpectedly offeredbail by a mysterious benefactor andgiven a flight ticket to the toumament.

44 Play5tation.E

Everyone will hear you scream when you play Aliens: Colonial Marines.HR GIGER CREATED THE most terrifying sci-flcreature ever to stalk the human race and nowIt's about to burst out of PlayStation 2. Aliens:Colonial Marines Is the first next-gen title tofeature the face-hugging, acld-for-bloodXenomorphs featured In the four successfulfeature films stan-lng SIgourney Weaver

This stunning first-person shooterdeveloped by Fox Interactive Is set Just afterAliens and stars a gung-ho squad of marinessent to the t.V-426 colony to discover why thelast army unit disappeared without trace. Thesoldiers soon find out the horrifying truth and

have to survive by battling against hordes ofnightmarish monsters as well as completingover 20 missions in five locations that Include

the home planet of the Aliens themselves.Players take control of a unit containing

four soldiers whose differing skills can beutilised collectively to help solve puzzles,rescue comrades and set lethal traps for theAllen vermin. Heavy weaponry Is In plentifulsupply with grenades, pulse rifles and flame-thtDwers the de rigeur equipment for anyfuturistic marine trapped In a claustrophobic,ooze-fllled foreign environment

However, there's one element that's goingto make Aliens: Colonial Marines stand apartfrom the FPS competition - atmosphere.Possessing much of the brooding pace of AllenResurrection on the PSone, the game createsan excruciatingly tense, frightening world withgorgeous visuals and animation, plus all theoriginal movie sound effects of alienscreeching guns blasting and that heart-stopping 'blip' of the scanner as It suddenlydetects movement. Al iens: Colonial Marines Is

scheduled for a March 2002 release throughEA - more gory details as they appear... □ JS

B L U E L I N E SAt last! The first PS2 price cut due to European exchange rates has seen machines go on sale for £269.99 » Dead Or Alivedeveloper Tecmo has announced plans to release a survival horror game called Project Zero in Japan next Spring. No word onwhether it'll reach the UK yet »THQ has acquired the worldwide rights to the geeky tabletop fantasy game WarhammerAOk

R m D N0PS2 gets exclusive details on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition.

WHO WANTS TO BE A Millionaire has been a hugesuccess. A top-rated IV programme the world over and alucrative videogames spin-off that has become thefastest-selling title in the UK, Impressively shifting overone million units on PSone. Now Chris Tarrant is on hisway to the PlayStation 2 with a brand new next-gensequel, Who Wants To Be A Miitlonaire 2nd Edition.

" W h i l e t h e P S o n e t i t l e w i l l c o n t i n u e t o u s e 2 D

graphics, the PS2 game will be created entirely usingreal-time 30," says Executive Producer Martin Alltimes."Although WWTBAM Isn't the most lil^ely candidate forcutting-edge technology, the format of the show is goingto allow us to produce highly detailed 3D models andeffects." In practice, this will mean a complete virtualstudio and audience, plus a llp-synched virtual ChrisTarrant, who has been digitally mapped Into the gamewith 'Eyetronics' software.

A major criticism of the PSone game was the often-slow loading times between questions. For the PS2version, Alltimes and his team are concentrating heavilyon eliminating the lengthy pauses that interruptedImaginary fortune-seeking gamers' enjoyment of the title.Who Wonts To Be A Millionaire 2nd Edition will also packin over a 1000 new questions and, of course, ail thoseclassic music and graphics from the Celador show.Publisher Eldos anticipates the game will be convenientlyreleased just before Christmas. A guaranteed numberone? Are you sure? Yes, quite sure, Chris. □ JS

L I S TF i v e o f t h e b e s t P S 2power-ups - which is them o s t d e s t r u c t i v e ?

» Quad DamageYou Just knowt h a t i n t e r n a lorgans are goingto be decoratingdungeons assoon as the dark,d e m o n i c v o i c e

announces youVe discovered thisQuake ill Revolution psycho pick-me-up. Can reduce the toughestof opponents to a viscous massof exploded matter with one deftflick of a finger7.5 on the Richter S c a l e

» R u m b l e

Ready 2 RumbleR o u n d 2u n d e r s t a n d s t h a tmerely punchingBill and Hillary'slights out isnte n t e r t a i n m e n t

enough for today's thrill-hungrypublic. No, R2RR2 has threel e v e l s o f ' R u m b l e - m e t e r * t h a tcharge up with successful hits.U n l e a s h a n u l t i m a t e S l i v e rRumble attack and you'll knockyour opponent out of the ring.6.8 on the Richter Scale

» F i r e

I Midwa/s NBAHoopz has a redhot power-upt h a t c a n b u mthe rlm-dodglngopposition. Score

' t h r e e b a s k e t s i n

a r o w w i t h o u t t h e o t h e r t e a m

getting a look-in and you set thebasketball ablaze, enablingspectacular slam dunks that'llm a k e t h e H a r l e m G l o b e t r o t t e r sspill their beans with envN1.2 on the Richter f '

/ P S 2» l H c k B o o s t

I In the Icc l a s s i c it h e r e ' s af a b u l o u s Tr i c kBoost waiting tobe snaffled by a' speed-hungi

snowboander With the aid c'marvellous gravity-defyinginvention, gamers can pull offdelightful tricks such as the 1080Mutation To Late Sinful Indlewithout having to gain huge air3.4 on the Richter Scale

» T h e T o r n a d o

I Rumble RacingI doesnt do:hing by

] halves. Alongwith your run ofthe mill speed' boosts and

bombs, there's a modest lookingpower-up that unleashes atwister of biblical pnoportions.Pretty soon, It's raining oppositioncars yet your outlook is sunnyand clear all the way to the finish,8.9 on the Richter Scale

Five games that should havep o w e r - u p s

R F A 2 0 0 1

Charge your player's anger meter to pulloff a violent barrage of ffsticuffs andcareer-ending necK-high tackles.S i len t ScopeA hidden super-powered machine-gunallows gamers to take care of anyterrorists, plus any other living thingwithin a five mile radius.Donald Duck: Quack AttackHow about a real quack attack? WitnessDonald in a kill-frenzy, biting fleshychunks out of other character's faces.S p a c e A c eAn In-game power-up automaticallydestroys the game and shoots thebroken CD into the nearest bin.R u g b yA superb power-up that changes the'egg" into a football, removes a fewplayers and places a net on tfie posts.

Play5tation.E 0

N N E R S R LDinosaurs, mummies and bandicoots dominate Vivendi-Universal's PS2 iine-up.THE INTERACTIVE ARM of top filmcompany Universal Studios Is In theprocess of publishing two PS2 titles basedon modem big budget film licenses -Jurassic Park Survival and The MummyReturns - as well as the PS2 debut forCrash Bandicoot in Wroth Of Cortex.

Rrst up Is third-person dinosauraction epic Jurassic Park Survival,inspired by the latest Jurassic Park illmovie and developed by new UScompany Savage Entertainment forrelease this November As David Vaughn,players have to survive the terrllyingattention of prBhIstorIc predators anddefeat a group of terrorists attempting to

smuggle dinosaur DNA off the notoriousfantasy Island. Expect puzzie-solving, amodicum of stealth, spine-tlngiing tensionand several major gun battles againstgorgeously-detailed Raptors, Compys, T-Rexes and Spinosaurs.

Unlversal's second titie for release thiswin ter cent res on the unwelcome

reappearance of that tightly-bandaged,lurching baddie Imhotep and his undeadarmies In the videogame version of box-office smash, The Mummy Returns Thegame has voiceovers from the film's castand gives players the bizarre choice ofcompleting this thitti-person adventure aseither the hero Rick O'Connell or architect

of all the evil mayhem, the arch-mummyhlmse^, Imhotep.

Crash Bond/coot Wroth Of Cortex is

the company's other major title, appearingon PS2 In November: Traveller's Taies has

developed a massive worid packing over30 colourful cartoon-y levels set In areassuch as tropical Jungie and labyrinthinecaves of fine, with Crash and sister Cocoable to zip about in fantastic vehiclesIncluding a Mini-Scooter and Heil-Pak.

We'll have more Information on allthese exciting launches as well as a fewsurprises next month as 0PS2 reports onlocation from the Universal Studios Ftort

Aventura Theme Park In Barcelona. □ JS

B L U E L I N E SYou gotta believe! The new PaRappa The Rapper Japanese Web site supporting the forthcoming PS2 game has gone live. Check out vvww.parappa-the-rapper.com » Freakoutdeveloper l easure is working on a manic shoot-'em-up entitled Ikatvga for the Japanese arcades - expect confirmation of a PS2 conversion soon » PhyStation 2 is taking o /erthe planet! Sony's cool console has already reached 13 million units sold worldwide, with combined PSone/PS2 sales in excess of 100 million. Now, where'd I put those shares...

5 D N ! d 5 N H G 5 5 E G HSega's first batcii of new PS2 tities are coming soon.THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Japanese game giant Sega and our best mate Sonycontinues to blossom as It has now been announced that SCEE will be publishing Sega gamesin Europe for the foreseeable future. The publishing agreement constitutes seven namedgames: Virtuo Fighter 4 and Ferrari F355 Challenge from AM2; K-Pnoject and two SpoceChannel 5 games from United Game Art:ists; Ecco The Dolphin from Appaioosa; andH e a d h i / n t e r f r o m A m u z e .

Ecco The Dolphin will not be a direct port: of the Dreamcast version as first thought.Instead, Hungarian developer Appaioosa has taken on board criticisms made of the Dreamcastgame in order to provide a new-and-improved update for PS2, In response to claims that EccoThe Dolphin was too hard and that objectives were too obscure, a more straightforward systemof mapping the game's marine levels Is being developed. Each stage will be mote denselypopulated than before and it's likely that the clues doled out by fishy friends will be a littlemore direct The graphics - already Impressive for a Dreamcast game - will also be given aPlayStation 2 makeover

The first of these games likely to see a release is the bizarre and beautiful K-ProjectHowever the original Spoce Channel 5 may soon disappear from the release schedule unlessUGA top bod Tetsuya Mizuguchi can get the game re-translated to his tastes (see page 50 forthe full Space Channel 5 story). □ SR

•46 Play5tation.2

t ' -

Ecco The Dolphin swimsto the PS2 surface.

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T C R y = 5

Expect Dune to be an adventure game,and not a version of PC smash Dune 2 -the game credited with creating thereai-time strategy genre.

CRYO'S RELEASEST h e G i f t . O u t N o wJ e k y l l A n d H y d e A u g u s t

We know all there is to know about the French PS2 publisher..Mega Race III,Frank Herbert's Dune.

GAMES PUBUSHER CRYO is set to release aseries of PS2 titles over the next six montiisincluding Jekyll And Hyde, Dune, and Zorro. Uttlehas been heard of Galiic developer since thelaunch of the console iast year but with thisnew line-up of promising games and a newdistribution partner (Acclaim) Ctyo Isorchestrating a fuli-scaie assauit on the next-genmachine that has already begun with Innovative(if slightly boni<ersl platformer Gift See ourreview on page 104 for more.

Dune Is based on the sprawling sci-fi epicnovei by Frank Herbert which was later adaptedfor the big screen by David Lynch. However,rather than being some PC-style real-timestrategy title as you might expect, this game Is athird-person action adventure. As the Aim's heroPaui Atreides you must unite and organise themysterious Fremen people to defeat theHarkonnen tribe, control the production of

valuable 'Spice' and hopefully bring water to thegiant worm-infested desert planet of Arrakis.

The swashbuckling Zorro, meanwhile, Is astealth/adventure game in the mould of Tenchu3 with eight missions stuffed with daring swordduels, dangerous traps, romantic dalliances andexotic locations. Cryo has high hopes for thisblade-flashing title being developed by In Uterowhich Is also In the process of turning the storyof Jekyll And Hyde into a videogame. A spine-chilling adventure based on the classic novel setIn Victorian ijondon, gamers have to controlboth good and evil alter egos of the maincharacter by consuming a powerful potion.

Other titles on their way to PS2 are WIpEoutrival Mego Race III and the medieval rompArthur's Kn/gfits. 0PS2 will have more details onail of Ctyo's brand-new games in the comingmonths. Check out the expected releasedates to the right □ JS

N E L U 5 0 r n (E UUORLO T H I S m O N T H : F R H N C EVIDEOGAMIIMG ON A GIDBAL SCALE

France has 63 million inhabitants,with 4,600,000 of them owning aPSone and 400,000 with a PS2.

l_aunched on the 24 November 2000,with only 50,000 units available, thePlayStation 2 sold out of stock almostimmediately causing Infamous riots ina Paris Virgin Ivlegastore.

Despite the cost of 2990 F (£277),Gallic PlayStation 2 addicts wantedtheir fix of Tekken Tag Tournamentand SSX. Currently, French sales ofthe l=S2 stand at around 400,000 units,with gamers eager for the releaseof SCEE's sublime driving simulationGran Turismo 3: A-spec - c'estmagnifique! □ JEAN-MARC DEIVIOLY

Top 10 Fkcnch PS2g a m e s1. SSX

2 . Z 0 E

3. FIFA 2001

4 F1 Racing Championship5. Sky Odyssey6. Tekken Tag Tournament7 Quake Hi Revolution8. Star Wars: Starflghter9. Shadow Of Memories

10. Crazy TaxiChart source: GfK IMoy 200II

R W E H m n Z l N G F R C T S H B D U T F R R N C E1. A whopping 55 kilos ofbread are eaten by eachFrench person every year

2. The total turnover of theFrench videogame market inthe year ending 2000 was 5.5billion FF (£500 million).

3. The top selling PlayStationgame in France Is GronTurismo, with over 850,000copies sold.

4. in excess of 1.4 millionTomb Raider games havebeen sold in France.

5. An impressively massive 13million videogames were soldto French punters during2000. Qa jeu pour moil

T h e l a t e s t s c r e e n s f r o mthe latest games...

D E U S E XP u b l i s h e r : E i d o sR e l e a s e d a t e ; A u t u m n 2 0 0 1

Deadly conspiracies threaten theworld in this dark, futuristic FPSfrom the mind of System Shockand Ultima creator WarrenSpector. More next month in ourexclusive cover report.

R O C K YPublisher: RageRelease date: TBC 2002

Monosyllabic action icon Slystars in this officially-licensedPS2 boxing game based on theRocky films. Sweat, grunt andpunch your way to the top bybeating nefarious opponents.

T R I B E S 2Publisher: UniversalRelease date: Winter 2001

A PS2 conversion of theincredibly popular PC team-based first-person shooterAlthough the first release isoffline bots-only Iwaheyl), gamerswill eventually be able to teamup with friends and frag online.

D R I V E NP u b l i s h e r : B A M !Release date: November

Yet more Stallone videogameaction in a crash 'n' smash driverbased on the upcomingHollywood blockbuster Playersspeed around intemationaltracks, taking part in a Stallone-voiced Stoiy Mode.

brand new arcade-style tour-on-four ice hockey game entitled NHL HItz 20-02 tliis Autumn. No release for NFL Blitz 20-02 ftough. Shame » SIMS, whoproduced Sega Bass fishing in close association with Sega, has announced plans to develop PS2 titles » Rockstar Games has produced a new Web site for their upcomingSmuggler's Run 2 driving adventure. Visit www.rockstargames.com/smugglersrun2 for more » Ape Escape 2001 will feature 2001 monkeys! Your Job is to suck their pants oft..

PlayStation.^ (

Onimusha 2s Tokyo announcement raises eyebrows.

THE POSSIBILITY OF an Onimusha sequel was never In doubt - Keji Inafune spoke ofIt way back In 0PS2 Issue #02 and Onimusha: Warlords even Included a preview moviefor the game. The big question for fans of the game was - who would take the place ofTakeshi Kaneshiro as the basis for the game's central hero this time round?

"I wanted someone who would make an even bigger Impact than Kaneshiro,"remarked Inafune, when 0PS2 caught up with the game's Producer during the recentannouncement event In Tokyo. The surprise Is that Inafune has chosen a dead celebrityrather than a live one. Yusaku Matsuda, best known Internationally for his role as arebellious Yazuka In Ridley Scott's 1989 film Black Rain, will take Kaneshiro's place forCapcom's much-anticipated sequel.

Inafune's hopes were instantly fulfilled with Onimusha 2's 'star' ail over the nextmorning's news In Japan. The Producer had considered many current celebrities, but feltthat would be limiting. 'You cant use an actor who's already passed away for a movie,but it's possible for a game, iviatsuda is an icon for many people who are in their 30s -including myself They'd have a strong sense of nostalgia for him and i thought he'd alsoappeal to players in their 205."

Matsuda's digital alter-ego will portray the character of Jubel Yagyuu, named after alegendary samurai from Japan's Edo period (1603 - 1867). Set 13 years after Onimusha,Yagyuu returns to his village to find it has been destroyed by Nobunaga and his demonicarmy Endowed with magical powers drawn from ogres, Yagyuu goes on a warpath todefeat Nobunaga. Raising the bar on Onlmushds award-winning CG opening, inafunementioned that while only human motion-capture was previously used for these scenes.Onimusha 2 will have motion-captured horses in there as well! 'This time, the peopleand their horses will move In unity, with more naturalism."

Graphically, Inafune Is eschewing a full 3D world, choosing to push the pre-renderedbackground style to a new level Instead. "We'll be bringing the scenes to life throughatmospherics - like rain, for example. It's a motif that was used throughout AkiraKurosawa's The Seven Samurai, and we used it In Onlmushds opening." He stressed thatthe Improvements will not be graphics alone. "Action was the focus of the first game, sowe made the script comparatively simple," Inafune admitted. Onimusha 2 now promisesto be more a fusion of action and drama. There's also hints of greater use of facialexpressions and body language allowing players to analyse and predict personalities.

Of course, the enemies played a large part in the original and they're back in force,with Keita Amemiya in charge of character designs. Inafune reckons Amemiya's style isperfectly suited for Onimusha 2; the production sketches displayed were a blend oftraditional Japanese styllstlcs and robotics. Also new to the team Is Sound ProducerTarou Iwashlro. Inafune remart<ed that the sequel's music will be more subtle, reflectingthe Increased drama of the stoty. Onimusha 2 is slated for a Japanese release onMarch 7, 2002 - the UK version should be on the shelves by Autumn next year □ AW

// 'l actually have a playable version [ofOnimusha 2| already/' Keljl Inafiine,Producer of Onimusha 2J/

)48 Play5tation.E

Hero Yagyuu's nemesisfor Onimusha 2 - theevil Nobunaga.

D R I P P I N G W I T HA T M O S P H E R EPlayable demo showcasesgraphical enhancements.

The audience is probablythinking that all we've done iscreate scenes just for the videopresentation," Inafune Joked,after the footage was screened."Actually, I have a playableversion ready" Teasing hecontinued saying that he wantedeverybody to be able to have ago, before adding "But this time,it's just me." Opening in Jubel'sdevastated village during astorm, the Producer's claims ofOnimusha 2s atmosphericupgrades were proved rightFrom the lightning-induced lensflare to the heavy downpour ofrain and splashes on the ground,it seems not a detail wasmissed. When Jubei slashed hisway to a river bank, the rapidswere beautifully animated. Thedigital Matsuda was spot on,right down to his tough guystare. Having spoken with thelate actor's agency, inafunedecided that the period in whichIviatsuda starred in DetectiveStory - considered his coolestrole - would be used as areference point

*

1 ( ,1 B E 1 I K 5

Rage gets a head for David Beckham Soccer.IT MUST BE incredibly difficult maidng a game featuring the superstar footballer and sarong-wearing model David Beckham. One minute he's sporting a number one skinhead cut, the nextthe cheeky scamp has a splendid mohican that would put that gibbon out of Sigue SigueSputnik to shame.

So Rage, maker of the forthcoming footle extravaganza David Beckham Soccer has comeup with a novel solution - model numerous digitized heads with different, lovingly createdbamets. It's that simple.

Whether you'll be able to change Becks' haircut in-game hasn't been confirmed, but thetitle will feature a Beckham biography, a Beckham training mode and over 350 international andomestic teams at its release next year We can't wait. □ JS

H D ^ n i N EWelcome to the utterly bizarre prehistoric world ofOutrage's Rubu Tribe.HOW ABOUT THIS for a game idea. You're the leader of a tribe of little people who live in asettlement perched on top of a huge, lumbering dinosaur (called an Uut) in sean;:h of a 'mystiiplace' and have to remove objects in your path with the aid of a weapon consisting of a stickwith an octopus stuck on the end.

Rubu Tribe Is a completely unique game from the maker of the Descent series thatcombines strategy with exploration and action as you guide your tribe through dangerousworlds populated by a multitude of strange and dangerous creatures and obstacles. Schedulefor launch In winter 2001 through Interplay, Rubu Tribe Is a welcome breath of fresh Jurassicand mote proof that the PS2 Is capable of constantly inspiring a huge variety of high quality,innovative games. □ JS

PlayStation.E

//"We took the morebizarre route in CueboffVMoritf'Archer lyiadean,Awesome Deveiopmeiits//

Z ) N 3

rArcher Maclean talks Jimmy White's Cueball World.

PHRASES SUCH AS 'Cueboll World developer Archer Maclean invites us Intohis beautiful house' are more likely to be found In the likes of He/to/than thismagazine. There's a first time for everything though, so Maclean gives 0PS2 theguided tour of his expansive manor before taking the wraps off Jimmy White'sCueball World - Maclean's third snooker title, but his first for PlayStation 2.

As he proudly shovi/s off his pool, In-house arcade machines and full-sizesnooker room, Maclean comes across as the last of the playboy programmers.His garage even contains a Ferrari with AM 147 plates - not a bad recoup for agaming CV that Includes C54 classic Divpzone and three snooker games. Duefor release through Virgin In November Cueball World offers a very different takeon snooker; with Maclean using the word 'bizarre' a great deal when discussinghis latest project.

Forget 'bizarre', though - It's surreal. Using a reworked version of the existingCueball 2 code, Maclean has created the most realistic snooker title availablewith ball physics identical to the real thing However, Maclean's developmentteam. Awesome, has set each game within stages including graveyards, a U-Boat and Stonehenge Simllariy, each of the eight, increasingly skilfulcompetitors are also odd, with the disembodied hands of zombies and gorillaschalking their cues around the high-resolution baize. "After the realism ofCueball 2, we were more than happy to take the bizarre route," Macleanreasons. "We have created a snooker title wherein anything that happens in thereal thing can be perfonned In the game. The movement of the balls isabsolutely perfect. It's just the settings that are a bit, well, bizarre."

'Peoples' Champion' and face-on-box Jimmy White - a close mate ofMaclean's - once again introduces the game. "Jimmy appears In the filmedIntroduction to each stage," Maclean explains.

"He also has a bit of input into the game, telling us ways certain shotsituations are sorted." Sadly despite a promise that White would be present todiscuss the game with us, a bleary-sounding call saw him rain off citing feodpoisoning' "More like the result of a bender;" smiles Maclean,

And what next for Archer? "More snooker;" he says, unsurprisingly. 'We'd liketo take the physics model one step further so the hands are replaced withbodies. That way we could create a fat player whose stomach nudged balls ashe leaned over..." As we said before, bizarre... □ SM

N 11 I N N (Space Channel 5 may not get a UK nslease but the sequel Is sounding sexy.

"Eveiybody dance/Clap yourhands/Clap your hands..."

AS HRST REPORTED back In 0PS2 #06,United Game Artists (fonnerty Sega AM9| hasconflnned that It will be bringing both SpaceChannel 5 and its sequel to PlayStation 2 -however, the first game may not find a releaseIn Europe, The retro-futurlstic dance-'em-upwas released for Dneamcast last year, althoughUGA's head honcho Tetsuya MizuguchI revealsthat he wasn't too happy with the Englishtranslation. "One of the reasons for SpaceChannel 5's popularity in Japan was the uniqueand amusing slang spoken by lead characterUlala. When the game was localised IntoEnglish, they translated her speech Into boringphrases. Now I'm looking for a good writerl"

At least the Space Channel 5 sequel shouldmake It to the UK Tfie game once againfeatures the slinky, pink-haired VJ Ulala, wholeads a cast of thousands on a pilgrimage tolounge pop heaven. According to Mlzuguchl-san, the game will be, "More like a musical.Maybe you can sing when you play along! Therewill be more playable characters and theenvironments will be even more colourful.These wlli be drawn In real-time 3D, unlike thepre-rendered backgrounds of the first game."

MizuguchI has a lot on his plate right now -he's also readying the stunning synaesthesiashoot-'em-up K-Project for a November release.More on this next Issue. □ SR

150 PlayStation.2

ONE OF THE TO^PRODUCT TESTWE'VE EVERJI H

, > U ^ / V B f R o r rT I l I M B

I N V E N T D R aYour one-stop guide to the PS2 power-ups.

BFG lOK; As t a n d a r d ■

. U S M I K C -

. 1 0 : T H E U L T i m n T EL U E R P D NSounds good! Sign me up. What is it?The grisly apex of any self-respecting,shoot-'em-up's kit bag of death, theUltimate Weapon comes In many formsbut Its function Is eternal: To even theodds and level the siaying field.

Erm, in layman's terms?KIN heap many baddies. Some UWs likeQuake Ill's BFG lOK help you out of atight spot with an Indiscriminately hugerange. Others like Unreal Tournament'sRedeemer allow for remote contralsadism via a misslle-eye-cam. Sticky.

But surely there are drawbacks?Too right. Most UWs are viciouspuppies that will bite lie vaporise! thehand that fires them unless there's atleast a good postal district betweenyou and your intended victim.

I choose to ignore your warning.What does a UW look like?It's eight times the size of that handbagpistol you started the game with, andappears to have a Lambonghlnl'scooiant system bolted on theunderside. It hums like a bastard.

Okay! I'm going in! Any advice?Remember: Any Ultimate Weapon Isonly a gore-coated papenwelght if thesafety's still on.

R J

Join the Heil's Angeis of tine future in SCEA's Kinetica

Disney's Thin hias obviously beenan inspiration for tlie designers.

IF THE NUMBER of futuristic racing games skimmingtowards us Is anything to go by, the neon-adomedroads in the next century are going to be chock-a-block. Kinetica Is the latest addition - a pumped-uptechno motorcycle racer from SCEA the originator ofTwisted Metal: Black (ptBvlewed on page 24|.

A scl-fi blend of Tron, WIpEout and two-wheelarcade racer Moto GP, Kinetica gives players controlover bizarre cyborg/motorcycle hybrids that move andreact physically depending on the speed and directionof the vehicle. Execute a speed boost and the metalhuman forni will smoothly place Its head and amisdown aerodynamlcally or If you hit the brakes before acorner it'll cleveriy lean Into the tum.

The competitors chase around elaborate highwayspeppered with short cuts, loops and transparentsections that reveal detailed worlds below. Eachtobobike can pull off extreme stunts and death-defyingJumps, with the opposition's mean Al ensuring thatgamers need to weave, duck and dive to avoid beingconsigned to the scrapyard.

A speedy Two-player mode will definitely beIncluded and an online multiplayer option via anadditional disc hasnt been ruled out SCEA ispublishing the game in the US later this year andalthough there's been no release date set for the UKas yet, 0PS2 can conflnn Kinetica will make Its wayacross the Atlantic later this yeai: □ JS

H M V P 5 2 C H R R T 5 Brought to you In conjunction with HMV.

# 2 : C R A Z Y T U aJust pipped Into second piace isSega's magnificent first PS2 titie.Crazy Taxi Is pure non-stop arcadeaction involving driving cabsInsanely around beautifuily-reailsed city streets. An absolutemust-buy for Sega fans.

T T T l £

1 . F 1 2 0 0 12 . C R A Z Y 1 A X I

O E V E U > l > E R P U B U S H E R

...Studio Uverpooi SCEE-.Acclalm/Sega J\ccialm

3. MTV MUSIC GENERATOR 2 .4 . R U M B l f R A C I N G

. J e s t e r . . .

,...EA...

. . . . C o d e m a s t e r s

. . . E A

5. STAR WARS: SUPER BOMBAD RAONG -Lucas Learning Actlvlsion6. ALL STAR BASEBALL 2002 Acclaim lAustinl Acclaim7. TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 2001 EA Sports EA Sports8 . Q U A K E I I I R E V O L U T I O N B u l l f r o g . E A9 . S H A D O W O F M E M O R I E S K C E T K o n a m i10. STAR WARS; SIARRGHTER . . . L u c a s A r t s . . . . . . A c t i v i s i o n

# 1 : F 1 2 0 0 1

Screeching in from nowhiere totake the chequered flag thismonth is SCEE's ultimate F1 sim.Featuring the incessant gibberingof Murray Wail<er, F1 2001 is theclosest yet to recreating the hair-raising thriiis of Fomnuia One.

topdogfon

#3: MTV MUSIC GENERATOR 2Wannabe the next Hear'Say? Ofcourse not, so get to workproducing your latest thrashhardcore retro acid house Ibizaepic with Jester's inspiring musicc r e a t o r T h e r e ' s e v e n a U S B

sampler to buy separately

www.hmv.co .uk

F R C T B E L C HWE set the questions. YOU give the answers.

QUESmON: What is your favourite PS2multiplayer game?

A S S X

B 77meSp/WersC Quake III: Revolution

D Tekken Tag ToumomentE I S S

QUESTiON: What would be your dream holidayl o c a t i o n ?

'Source; A random sample of 50 reoders' nsp/ies toPS2@futurenetco.uk. It could still be you! ,

S2 Play5tation.2

5 I Z I - F ROur first hand's-on impression of Run Like Hell.0PS2 RECENTLY GOT its first chance to play updated code of Digitai Mayhem'sthird-person outer space adventure, Run Like Hell. This terse, panic-chase titiefeatures Captain Nicl< Connor, who loses the crew of his space station and his wife toa vicious alien creature, leaving him to desperately scramble through his spaceship tofind out how to defeat the silmy Invaders, Whiie we'd piayed eariy levels in the past,this was the most complete version of the game yet.

For newcomers. Run Like Hell Is an 'explore and klli' title, with developer DigitaiMayhem paci<lng in plenty of mini-games alongside all the adventuring Of these, wetried out a button-pummeiling test of strength to open a sealed door (think Track AndField meets World's Strongest Man} and a cold sweat-inducing sequence where, tolead Connor away from an alien whiie avoiding obstacles In his way, we had topush the right buttons at exoctlythe right time, Shenmue meets PoRoppo aboardthe Nostromo? Oh yeah.

A fleet of well-known actors have been signed to perform the voices for thecharacters, including Michael ironside (Storship Tivopersl. Kate Mulgrew (CaptainJaneway from Star Trek Voyaget] and Aliens' 1-ance Hendrikson. Add to that at least 35hours of gameplay (seven levels, each taking five hours), and It looks like you're goingto be doing a whole lot of running when Run Like Hell Is released next year □ JS

Man have big shooter gun. Man can blast big alien. Why man try run away?

L I M I T E D E D I T I O N

T O M B R A I D E R

G I F T PA C K E X C L U S I V E LYT H R O U G H O N E 2 O N E .

' /

¥. ^ ■ '4

• Enhanced Er icsson T20e handset

• Tomb Raider "Chronic les"

P C g a n n e t '• Special edition hands-free headset

Tomb Raider EMS symbols• Plus," collect the Tomb Raider

Secret Symbols"" and discovert h e r e w a r d s -

Get your l imited edit ion box seth o w. C a l l 0 5 0 0 5 0 0 1 2 1 f o r y o u rn e a r e s t O n e 2 O n e r e t a i l e r .

Take out the enemy base,blow up a tank and thenhome for a spot of tiffin.

Create merry helicopter hell in Core Design'sThunderhawk: Operation Phoenix.

ANSWERING THE PRAYERS of PlayStation 2 gamers starved of ahelicopter action title comes the latest and greatest episode in CoreDesign's well-known gunship series. Thundeifiawk Operation Phoenix isan explosive upgrade of the original arcade blaster that appeared onvarious consoies including the PSone, with the original team stiii firmlybehind the controls of the project. Players pilot a powerful gunship andhave to complete distinctly underhand-sounding missions to terminatedefective or unstable governments.

The game incorporates an intuitive control system, based aroundmovement of the two analogue sticks. You just grab the Dual Shock 2, letthe PS2 automatically equip your 'copter with the latest high-techweaponry and unleash the aerial bombardment with ease. An element ofstrategy Is also provided in that you are required to instruct ground tanks,troops and wingmen la la Starfighteri to attack certain targets or distractenemy forces while you batter their base defences.

Thunderhawlf has the usual smattering of relevant heavy weaponrywith machine guns, air-to-ground rockets and guided missiles that youcan steer (complete with on-board cami, plus bonus Items you cancapture from enemy installations including Turbo Boosts and Shockwavebombs. There's even a voyeuristic Sniper mode which uses the D-pad tozoom in and pop off the enemies' heads and legs.

All the graphics In Thunderhawk have been improved accordinglywith building damage, missile trails, weather effects, time-of-day settings,night vision and ground-shaking explosions scattering burning debrisover a detailed interactive landscape. The developer has announcedfurther plans for a split-screen Co-operative mode for mad multiplayerhover bother Thunderhawk: Operation Phoenix will be released throughEidos this September □ JS

//There's a vc^euristicSniper mode which letsyou zoom in and lilow offa few anns and legs//

PlayStation®?/ OmCIALMAGAZlNE-UK

Distinguishing features: Ponytail, haunted expression, smellsof gunpowder and offal

COLJUECT THE ENTIRE SERIES!SWAP WITH YOUR MATES!

CUT OUT AND KEEP!SEND NO CASH!

IS BIG FUN!

L o o k s Despite the penchant tor zombie-splattering, Claire's right saucy 8 6

A t t a c k Guns, rocket launchers - Claire isa lady for superior firepower 8 3

Defence Rurlning away a lot, plus the use of'special herbs' for healing 3

[ Species Dead brainy - can spot theundead coming a mile off 7 7

Age: 32 I Height S'S' Blood Type: Infected with T-VirusDistinguishing Features: Gaping wounds, bad teeth,

missing jaw, no sense of humour

Not going to win any beautycontests. Basically, you wouldn't

Heroine of two Resident EvU games, Cialre battles against themysterious Umbrella Corporation and hordes of the undeadwith her bno', Chris, a member of the S.TAR.S. police force.

Sub-human (that is dead], your Res/ zombie still manages tolumber around, hit things, eat passers-by, moan loudly andtread terribly-staining Intestines/brains/blood into any carpel

54 PlayStation.^

i n n a p a nI Edited by Amos Wong.

) ) 1 1\ T \ l 5

Everyone's favourite beanie-wearingBASED ON THE CULT Bemani game for thePSone, the new PoRoppo The f?opperanlmeseries goes out every Saturday eveningAninnation studio Production IG have forgone thelush designs of Its previous efforts llncludinganinne classic Ghost In The Sheli and kept tothe sweet, 2D characters and backgrounds ofMasaya Matsuura's 'Flat-Stanley-goes-J-Pop'original. While the funky opening titles certainlypiques one's hipster radar; story-wise the show Isstrictly for kids.

In the latest episode, a fortune report ieadsPaRappa to believe he'd have an 'ultra superspecial lucky day'. Things indeed seem rosy whenhe and his pals come across a conveyor beltsushi restaurant and are offered a free meal, butunfortunately the owners turn out to be thedastardly villainous Casta and Gelba In disguise.They've hatched a plan to rob the 'Bangin' Bank'next door, using the sushi carrying apparatus to

pooch gets an anime spin-off.transport the moolah. Typically being clumsypartners in crime, the operation Is a failure: astray stick of dynamite sends the contents of thevault through the roof and singes the pair tocrisps. Later, the bank manager has a crisis onhis hands as townsfolk gather to makewithdrawals, so PaRappa gallantly offers toplacate the crowds, while cash Is sought.

How do they manage? They run the conveyorbelt Into the bank and offer free food for theslowly seething masses! When the sushi runsout, it's up to PaRappa's karate performance tosave the day and of course, it ail ends well,

PaRappa The Rapper is great for the young'uns, though Fuji TV may need some superspecial luck themselves If they want to keepolder audiences' Interest for an entire season.Still, with PaRappa on his way to PS2 thisautumn (see www.parappa-the-rappercom for asneak preview), you just gotta belleve...n AW

PREI'IELU! PREUIEIU!GRDLULnNBER 11--T H E 5 E N 5 E□F □U 5 T E EJust one year after the end of a war between threeneighbouring kingdoms, a border event threatens toinstigate another catastrophic war Its up to Weln, ayoung knight from the kingdom of Barnshutaln toprevent history from repeating itself. The 'non-stopdramatic RPG' features character designs by SatoshiUrushihara, infamous in the UK for the weii-endowed and bouncy female cast [Amos? Are yousure? - Ed) in the anime Plastic Little [Amos/ - Edl

TRKE BUS NO TIHE!T D K y O S U E R O EIn another 'public transport sIm' you piay as a trainee forthe city bus service, and must follow the daily scheduleand obey road rules to get your licence. Originally anarcade game from Forty Five, the conversion boasts anadditional route set In the Tokyo tourist spot Odalba, adriving course Challenge mode (with three courses andtypes of buses) as well as a Pocket Station driving rulequiz. And we thought Densha De Go/ was tedious...

NOI NCH mRSCOTI

L I 5 T E R I N EThe Japanese distributors of Usterlne mouthwashhave taken their advertising to new depths oftastelessness. Adopting the all-encompassing cutemascot philosophy Iminus the cutenessi, theirnew spearhead is a dead ringer of the baby from

David Lynch's disturbingfeature debut

E r o s e r h e a d

Imagine the pitch," H o w a b o u t adiseased gum withlimbs and missingteeth?" The fleshypink muppet starson the ads, buttruly bizarre is thegiveaway accessoryfor mobiles withevery bottle.

P 5 2 C H R R T !

□ n p R N E T O P 1 0GRAN TURISMO 3: A-SPEC (SCEIjSIMPLE 2000 SERIES VOL 1:THE TABLE GAMES (03)ENDONESIA (ENIX)W O R L D S O C C E R W I N N I N G E L E V E N 5(KONAIVII)KNOCKOUT KINGS 2001 (EA SQUARE)M A G I C A L S P O R T S K O U S H E I N 2 0 0 1IMAHOU)PHASE PARADOX iSONY]A R M O U R E D C O R E 2 ; A N O T H E R A G E(FROM SOFTWARE)KESSEN II (ENIX)

10. BIOHAZARD CODE: VERONICACOMPLETE (CAPCOM)'Chart source: Dengekl (28/5/2001 - 3/6/2001)

3 0 D R y SI N T D K a OA MONmiN THE UFE OF OPSZ-SMAN IN JAPAN, AMOS WONG

I S o n y e x p a n dtheir range of

: v e r t i c a l g i z m o s .

Day 1 (t^ay 19|I'm failing into the gadget black hole.Buy myself a Sony Dolby Digitai/DTSamplifier and satellite speaker/subwoofer system, it's so cool - thesilver amp's footprint is smaller thanthe magazine you're holding, it's just atad thicker than three DVD cases andyes, the gear also stands up on itsside. My room now sounds like a warzone and amazingly there's been nocomplaints yet from the neighbours.

Day 12It's no secret 1 have a fetish foroddball character Bumt Bread ManI'Koge Pan' in Japanese). Toys aside,latest gifts from friends Includedelicious chocolate powder coveredtraditional Japanese sweets andIthankfuily unburnt) bread buns.A l m o s t t o o c u t e t o e a t

D a y I SPop by a friend's place to gape at thelatest electronic gear he's reviewingand check out Crozy Taxi 2. Damnedfine game too - if It eventually gets aPS2 port, I'd be a happy man.

2<n3lliwghcfcI t *

G T S + r S 2 i -Very Ekcited^Japanese."

Day 21The PlayStation 2 GTS racing pack hitsthe streets today but if people reallywanted to get their mitts on it, they'dprobably have them already, wouldn'tthey? Wonder how a F/no/ FantasyX/PS2 bundle would sell if<heyreleased it a day or two before thegame Itself?

Day 24Can't make It to the Sony Awards heldtonight, but have been told since thatit mainly comprised of costumeddance numbers by teenage girls. Andthe surreal sight of a man in theaudience being dragged up onto thestage, dressed up in baby clothes andhaving a pacifier stuck in his mouth. Isure hope it wasn't Kutaragi-san...

PlayStation.E 0

Half-Life set for major PS2 overhaul.

WE'VE KNOWN FOR some time ttiatPC first-person shooter Holf-Ufe is wellinto production for PS2. Although it'sunlll ely to be released this yean newdetails have emerged that should notonly whet your appetite, but get youdribbling lil^e a fool.

Just to let you i^now, Holf-Ufe isone of the best games ever to appearon PC. It puts you in the role of oneGordon Freeman, a lab techniciancaught up in a government plot tocover up an alien invasion. Shootingpuzzles and a cool conspiracy theorystory makes for a heady mix in thisground-breaking first-person shooter

According to developer Gearbox,the PS2 version will feature a

muitlpiayer Co-operative mode, setwithin the game's universe. This Co-opmode, called Decay, pits two playersagainst this government/alienconspiracy and scoring highly opens upnew areas of the game such as a PS2exclusive playable character, Allen Slave.Yes, you can play the game from thepoint of view of one of those alien

Youll need to be nippy -Iceman's right'behind you.

scumbags. Gearbox also promise afrantic, head-to-head Deathmatchmode, with 12 brand-new PS2-onlymaps Half-Life will also be compatiblewith a USB mouse and keyboard.However; the game has also beendesigned so that it works just as wellwith the Dual Shock 2,

TTie PS2 version promises to be avast improvement over its three-year-old PC cousin in the graphicsdepartment Character models havebeen given more detail, allowed by thePS2's extra polygon pushing power andall the scenery has been given amakeover with better lighting effectsand more detai led textures.

Rnaiiy, there's been no word onwhether PS2 Half-Life will include BlueShift, an extra mission originallyplanned for the Dreamcast version. Butwith the Dreamcast version recentlybeing canned its not Impossible thatthis all-new extra mission (played fromthe point of view of one of the securityguards) will make its way to the PS2.Here's hoping.. □ NJ

<Fly the unfriendly skies in Digital Integration's Top Gun.FRENCH PUBUSHER TmiS has scooped up the rights to the15-year-old movie Top Gun and is in the process oftransforming this epitome of Eighties Hollywood cheese into ablockbusting PlayStation 2 game.

Starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGliiis as romanticallyentwined fighter pilots. Top Gun was one of the biggest films of1986, smashing box office records and spawning a hit single inBeriin's bog-awful Take My Breath Away. Luckily, the game isonly loosely based on the plot and characters of the film with

respected PC flight slm developer Digital Integration (maker ofthe excellent F/A-18E Super Hornet) in charge of bringing theexciting aerial combat to life. Players engage in over 30missions from the Seventies to ttie present day, spread overfour varied locations including Northern Russia and South EastAsia. As one of the movie's characters llvlaverick, Jester Icemanor Viper] you can climb in to the cockpit of a selection of theUS Navy's top aircraft - the F-14, F-18 or F-22 - to undertakemissions that require the destmction of enemy targets in the

air and on the ground as well as pulling off daring boom 'n'z o o m m a n o e u v r e s

Graphically Top Gun Impresses, especially with the level ofdetail on the buildings in the various locations and a Replaymode that cuts dramatically between different camera shots.From hands-on play, 0PS2 reckons the game could benefitfrom an injection of speed, but the handling and flying physicsare solid. Top Gun will be entering the PS2 Danger Zone thatKenny Lcggins sang so highly of this November □ JS

)56 PlayStation.E

"Hmm. An import game,is it? Riiight, step thisway please, sir, and I'lljust get the gloves..."

I L L U S T R AT I O N : M R J A G O

= : H 5 T \ I 5 U L I E S TWhy do some Japanese game oddities sneak tlirough to the UK while others get left behind? 0PS2 investigates.UNLESS YOU OWN an import console and speak Japaneseyou will never pilot a jumbo jet in Jet De Go (complete withcustom 'Jet Plane' controller) or play Treasure's superlativehand-drawn party game Rakugaki Showtime. And worst ofall you will never find out what kind of game deserves a titlelike SuperMic Chan: Ultra High Tension Ijovely Girl.

These titles, and many more, are seldom releasedoutside Japan. More often than not this is because the mostInteresting thing about them is their title, but others deservewider exposure. Why have we never seen a pure dating simIn English despite Japanese sales in the millions? VictorIreland, President of Working Designs in the US, the publisherof numerous Japanese titles in the West, believes it's acultural difference. "Male-female dynamics are very awkwardin Japan, with much socially-sanctioned 'shyness' on bothsides. Dating sims are a natural, though ultimately unrealistic,outlet," he reckons.

It's another example of how stratified our understandingof the three major markets (Europe, America and Japan) hasbecome. Western gamers are seen as radically different totheir Japanese counterparts and many games are simplyignored. The success of Final Fantasy surprised Sony whohad already decided that RPGs werent right for the West andoriginally blocked the release of Arc The Lad in America.

The most negative aspect of this martlet 'zoning" is thatnot only do PAL territories get their games last (and oftenwith cropped and slowed displays) but we get fewer gamesoverall. The last three Square RPGs for PSone, for example,including the sublime Chrono Cross, were never released inEurope despite being localised for the American market.Neither was the charming dating RPG Thousand Arms andboth Lunar 'Complete' editions.

"I think it boils down to approaching me design in adifferent manner," explains Ireland. "Japanese gamers aregenerally more patient and methodical gamers, whereasmuch of the West is definitely in the 'wham-bam, thanks forthe glam' school of graphics consumption." Dimitri Criona, VPof Sales in the US for Japanese games company Atlusagrees. "Although there is some overiap, certain genres willalways reflect the tastes of a particular society," he says.Perhaps the relative scarcity of certain genres in the UK is

J A PA N AT TA C K S !The three genres from the East that made it to the West.

merely a sign of how mainstream the scene has become inJapan, where gaming is a massive part of everyday life. | .

It's an overground success that could happen in the UK- the PSone has sold seven million units, while the PS2should shift more. Hopefully this success, the PS2 Networi<Adaptor and the multi-lingual advances made by games likeSega's Phantasy Star Online will all help homogenize themarkets, allowing the UKgamer to buy according to qualitynot locality. Anyone for a spot of Sakura Ko/sen? □ AH fi

B e m a n i

Bemani, or Yhythm and action' games, werebroken in the West by the irrepressiblePaRappa The Rapper on the F^one. Addictive,attractive and as weird as you could everhope, Bemani was also one of the fewcompletely 'new' genres to emerge over thelast few years. Its success in the West wasfollowed by Konami's equally enjoyable DanceDance Revolution (Dancing Stage in the UK)and Masaya 'PaRappa' Matsuura's elegantlysimple Vib Ribbon.

iR P G s'Final Fantasy VII definitely raised awareness,"says Victor Ireland at Working Designs. "Was ita cheap trick to show only CG in thecommercials? Probably. But plenty of peoplebought the game based on thosecommercials and forever expanded awarenessof the genre." Dimitri Criona at Atlus USconcurs, "One can never underestimate theinfluence of Final Fantasy as well asNintendo's Zelda series. These gamesnormally sell quandtes way beyond thenormal reach of the RPG market share"

M e c h a IPerhaps due to the popularity of 'home grown'mecha titles like the Mech Warrior and HeavyGear series for PC, European consoles arefinally getting a taste of more eccentricgenres. In this case a whole world of animeand manga inspired games based aroundhuman controlled robots called mecha. ThePS2 is already bristling with quality mech titlesincluding ZOE, Armored Core 2 and Gun UG r i f f o n B l a z e . !

»Sega has announced a cross-platform development planwhich will allow PS2, PC andDreamcast owners to play onlinegames together The f rst title tosupport the new Initiative will bea simple collection of classicgames such as Chess andMahjong, rolling out to Japaneseusers In August. Euro news soon.

» According to the NewScientist the Korea ResearchInstitute In Taejon has Invented aYuri Gelier-lnspired videogame Inwhich players bend a spoon byjust thlnl<lng about It A specialheadband detects alpha andbeta brain waves allowinggamers to Influence the ons c r e e n a c t i o n .

»In Japan, Square hasconfirmed that Final Fantasy XIwill work with both analogue andbroadband connections with thePiayOnllne server able to supportupwanjs of 300,000 subscriberspaying monthly fees. Noinformation was givenconcerning the company'sEuropean plans, despite itspublishing deal with SCEE, Morenews as we get it.

» More Sega news: the companyhosted a press conference InJapan where it revealed plans todevelop technology beyondvideogames, demonstrating howit has truly been "let off theleash". The decidedly eclecticprojects include VR technologyfor use in theme park rides andtraining simulators,movie/animation production,touch-screen sushi dispensers,keep-fit clubs and edutainment.

»Infogrames is planning to usethe high-profile Atari brand withIts major game releases. TheFrench publisher acquired therights to the name and popularT-shirt logo when it took over theailing Hasbro Interactivecompany last year Reflections'Stuntman Is confirmed as one ofthe first PS2 titles to bepublished under the Atari name,

»The Tomb Raider movie hasbecome the largest grossingmovie starring a lead femalecharacter after taking $47million in three days in the US -the record was previously heldby tongue-in-chIc babe-actionflick Charlie's Angeis.

» Namco has announced that ItIs working on a PlayStation 2game based on an upcomingcomputer-generated movieentitled Axis, an expensiveFrench-produced scl-fl adventurefilm from Chaman Productionsstarring KIrsten Dunst (The VirginSuicidesI as a heroine set tosave her people from destructionlyawnj. The new movie and PS2tie-ln will both be released at thesame time next year

I

B L U E L I N E SJonny Mosely Mad Thx isa freestyle skiing titie from 3D0, due tliis Christmas » Just as cliiiling, Eidos's Salt Lake 2001 (pictured) wiil bring tliis year's Winter Oiympics to PS2 thisXmas » Street Rghter £X3 developer Arika is woriting on a sea-diving action/adventure game called Everblue, where players must search for sunken treasure, rare ocean-dwellingwildlife and hidden wrecks » News just in! Uonhead has confirmed that the PS2 version of Black Aad White will be finished' in June 2002. A release date is sadly still unknown

Play5tation.E 0!

R KFantastical locations and mythical creatures abound in Surreal's Drakan.

LETS FACE fT, swooping out of the sky on the back of a bloodygreat dragon would make getting to school or work a damn sightmore Interesting - It'd definitely be less dangerous than a train. So,with riding crop a-ready we usher in Drakan, a new fantasy actionthird-person adventure from Sun^al Software.

The story centres on the mythical iand of Drakan, which hasbeen cursed with dark magic, leaving saucy heroine Rynn and hertrusty dragon pal Arohk the task of freeing the Immortal SpiritDragons and saving the world from certain doom. Rynn, a womanmost definitely In the mould of Lara Croft, proceeds through Drakanjumping puzzle-soiving interacting with other characters and hackingthrough spiders, skeletons, ogres and other mystical beasts with acornucopia of heavy-duty metal weaponry. A rechargeable magicpower-up Is also on hand to unleash heavy attacks against foes

which Rynn ieams as she makes her way through snowiy wastes,underground caves, mountain kingdoms and enchanted forests.

However; as In Sega's arcade-style blaster Panzer Dragoon, Rynncan engage in thrilling aerial combat using the dragon ArohKdogflghting high above the detailed landscape against other flyingwinged beasts and huge bosses such as two-headed serpents in akind of D&D version of Ace Combat 4. Well, ish. There's nomultipiayer option, which unfortunately means you wont be able toindulge in flery dragon deathmatches, but Surreal is concentrating onmaking the one-player game as involving and non-linear as possible,with smart graphics and effects, intriguing characters, atmosphericmusic and a great story line. Drakan is scheduled for a Christmas2001 launch through SCEE - check out OPS?s exclusive movie ofthe game on this month's DVD. □ JS

5 F , 511 D HAnother continent, another place to race through. How about GTC Africa?GRAN TURISMO 3 IS a fantastic game, butduring a competition you're never actually indanger of ploughing your gleaming souped-upMitsubishi Lancer into a migrating wildebeest,in contrast, Rage's fabulous new racer GTC(Global Touring Challenge) Africa has wildanimals by the sackful, taking in 19 individualcircuits spanning the entire African continent.

From Tunisia with its rolling desert: dunes,through the dense rainforest of the Congo tothe modem city of Cape Town in South Africa,this is a mammoth trek through some of themost inhospitable and beautiful areas of theplanet Everything seen on screen during the

game has been drawn in three dimensionalpolygons giving backgrounds a more solidsense of place. They also have an impressivedepth of vision - the fully animated rushlrgwater of Victoria Fails on the Kenya circuit hasto be seen to be believed.

There'll be the usual choices of Single- andTwo-player split-screen modes, a smattering oflicenced cars from well-known manufacturersincluding Subaru and Mitsubishi, plus surroundsound using Sony's S-Force technology thatcreates a 3D aural Image through normalstereo speakers. GTC Africa will be released forPS2 through Rage at the end of 2001. □ F'F

060 Play5tation.E

With Rowan Mclntyre, Deputy Editor of coin-op bibie AB Europe. Games of arcade past.

L kNamco goes head to head with Sega in beat-'em-up battle.AS THE COIN-OP market enters the summer season, manufacturers tend to go quiet as thearcades hungrily await the holidaying hoards. This year; many would be forgiven for notnoticing the difference when It comes to one of the biggest game-makers, Namco

The company's software division has not contributed to a coln-op releasesince the debut of Ridge Racer V last October All that Is about to change,with a stack of new releases Including the latest Instalment of Namco'sclassic fighting game, Tekken 4. Slated for a coln-op release at the end ofthe month, the game will feature new characters, new moves and newlocations. It will also see the return of one of the great arcade rivalries,as Sega unleashes Virtua Fighter 4 at the end of the summer Seeingthe two titles side-by-slde once again will stir fond memories for manycoln-op fans who remember those halcyon days of arcade gaming

Both games are planned for release on the PS2 early nextyear; with Sega likely to beat Its competitor to the punch, so tospeak Mrtuo Fighter 4 is expected around Jan/Feb, whileTekken 4 Isnt likely to be seen before March/April 2002.D RM

. 1 0 : B i N E T R R ( B B S )Despite the ongoing demise ofthe Williams/Midway arcadedivision, there is no doubting thatthe company made some greatgames of the past. Not leastSlnistor, a l<ind of Asteroids/Defender hybrid that involvedshooting space rocks, collectingcrystals and building bombs todestroy a completely evil, bigfloating face. Addictive gamepiay,surreal scenario, pure quality.

5 C D PR R N GU D E N

Shoot you, sir: NoDallas 'GrassyKnoir level yet.

RNamco goes downhill in Alpine Racer 3.Although less likely to make it on to a consumer platform, anotherof Namco's popular arcade series is set for a new addition. Underthe working title of Alpine Racer 3, Namco is to make a return tothe silvery slopes of the skiing game after a break of around threeyears. And, for all you boarters out there, forget the snow scene,AR3 will be followed up by an as yet un-named surflng-sim -totally tubular, as they probably say.

Konami's Silent Scope EX shootsup the place.Following the phenomenal success of the firsttwo Silent Scope coln-op pieces, KonamIhas rewarded eager fans with a morearcade-oriented follow up. Siient Scope£X features an extra large 38 Inchscreen and Improved graphics, thanks tothe proprietary Viper handware. The gamepiayItself has also been adapted to make It morearcade friendly, with shorter mission levelstaking the place of the normal story lineDespite these changes, KonamI Insiderswouldn't rule out the l ikelihood of a consolerelease and gamers can be confident thatKonamI has the PS2 as a high priority.

PlayStation.? 06

S P U

T H E d k H U R TTake 2's Max Payne shoots up the PlayStation 2,

THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT Rockstar is converting tiie 'spectacular PC game Mox Payne to PS2 should be greetedwitli much rejoicing and dancing in the streets. If you'reunfamiliar with the hype surrounding the Remedy/3DRealms-developed title, Max Payne is a raw third-personaction adventure, starring a cynical New York cop whoseeks revenge after his parents are murdered and he isframed for the killing of his police chief by an evil Mafiacrime syndicate.

Max Payne takes its inspiration from Hollywood moviesby Tarantino, the Wachowski Bros and Hong Kong actioncinema, treating players to sequences where they canstorm into a building and let rip with a tremendous hail ofbullets, splitting apart furniture, sending objects flying andcutting any bad guy in the vicinity to fleshy ribbons. Anextremely cool cinematic power-up can be used to slow

i3ie a on right down, twirling the camera around Max 360degrees . tQematical picks oeach enemy with adouble-handed round of gunshots. t

Rockstar is promising to keep the dad^film noirappeal of the game for PS2, which has cut-scenespresented as a graphic novel with an atmospheric PhilipMarJowe-style private detective voiceover. Expect, an 18certificate too, writh a heavy dose of ultraviolence anddisturbing torture sequences set amongst the li r-strewnNYC back streets, dirty subways and sleazy tenementblocks ov^un with your everyday neigNxxiitiood crackwhores.' Max Payne is due for a vnnter 2001 releasethrough Itockstar - more news soon. □ JS

*Check out the Max Payne Web site -maxpayne.got mes.com. Big ups to PC Gamer.

Max Payne strugglesto look hard af terreceiving a particulariyfull-on wedgie.

B L U E L I N E SVampire Night, the System 246 arcade shooter developed by Namco and Sega is on target for a PS2 release next year utilising the G-Con 2 light gun » Square has begun airing aFinal fantasy X television advertisement in Japan, featuring exciting clips of the eagerly awaited PS2 RPG on sale in Japan on July 19th - it's next summer for us 'lucky' UK gamers» WWF Smackdown! developer Yukes is working on a PS2 title for Eidos called EOE- Eve Of Extinction, featuring a character fighting against an evil bioengineering company i i

N ( I R E BMake a splash in Opus Corporation's Jet-Ski-endorsed Wave Riders.

THE RRSr OmCIALLY UCENCED Jet-Ski game, Wove Ridersis being developed for PlayStation 2 by Japanese developerOpus Corporation, recently responsible for the ultraviolentPSone beat-'em-up Ultimate Fighting Championship. It JoinsSea Doo Sim Splashdown as one of two high speed waterracers coming to the console.

By working closely with the Jet-Ski manufacturersKawasaki and watersport accessory experts Jet Pilot, Opus hasbeen able to recreate an authentic look for the game,

complete with all the actual trademark livery and designssplattered on the various player craft and wet suits.

But the star of the show In Wave Riders is, of course, thoseSploshdown-rivalling water effects, utilising what Opus call a'GZWave Engine' that creates incredibly realistic waves andwater physics As our exclusive shots show, things are lookingvery watery indeed.

A multitude of game modes including Championship andFreestyle mean that players can race around diverse locations

that include the Norway Ijonds, or they could always choose tolaunch their Jet-Skis off rolling breakers for sickness-inducingstunts off the beaches of Rorida.

Opus has also made sure that PlayStation 2 buffs can gohead-to-head In a stunning two-player split-screen battle, thatretains all of the single-player game's speed while keeping theeye candy as sparkling as it should be. Wove Riders isskimming towards a winter 2001 release through publisherEidos - more news soon. □ JS

362 PlayStation,?

World Rally Championship 2001: Due fromSCEE at the end of the year.

i n c o m i n gNeed to know when a game is coming out? Look here.

August 2001 G e n r e P u b l i s h e r 1 Prisoner Of War Strategy C o d e m a s t e r s

Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 Extreme sports A c c l a i m Rayman M P l a t f o r m e r U b i S o f t

E x t r e m e - G 3 F u t u r e r a c e r A c c l a i m R o b o t W a r s A c t i o n B B C

M a d d e n N F L 2 0 0 2 Sports Sim EA Sports S a l t U k e 2 0 0 2 Sports Sim E l d o s

Supercar Street Chalienge A r c a d e r a c e r A c t i v i s i o n S i l en t H i l l 2 A d v e n t u r e K o n a m i

Tokyo Xtreme Racer A r c a d e r a c e r U b i S o f t Silent Scope 2: Dark Silhouette S h o o t e r K o n a m i

S h a u n P a l m e r ' s P r o S n o w b o a r d e r Extreme sports A c t i v i s i o n

September 2001 G e n r e P u b l i s h e r 1 Sled Storm 2 Extreme sports EA Sports Big

Alone in The Dark: The New Nightmare Adventure Infogrames Smuggler's Run 2 A r c a d e r a c e r R o c k s t a r

D a r k C i o u d / RPG S C E E S o l d i e r O f F o r t u n e F P S T B C

1 8 W h e e i e r A r c a d e r a c e r A c c l a i m Spyro The Dragon 4 P l a t f o r m e r U n i v e r s a l

Ephemeral Fantasia RPG K o n a m i S t a r Tr e k : S h a t t e r e d U n i v e r s e Space shooter InterplayEv i i Tw in A d v e n t u r e U b i S o f t Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force F P S T B C

F1 Championship Season 2001 Racing Sim EA Sports Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Extreme sports A c t i v i s i o n

F r a n k H e r b e r t ' s D u n e A d v e n t u r e Cryo Tr i b e s 2 F P S U n i v e r s a l

F r e a k o u t P l a t f o r m e r Swing Wa v e R i d e r s A r c a d e r a c e r E i d o s

G i a n t s ; C i t i z e n K a b u t o Strategy Interplay Who Wants To Be A l^iiiionaire 2nd Edition TV t ie - in E i d o s

Legion: Legend Of Excallbur Strategy Midway WIpEout Fusion F u t u r e r a c e r S C E E

Lotus Chaiienge Racing Sim Virgin World Rally Championship Rally Sim S C E E

MX 2002 featuring Ricky Carmichaei Extreme sports THQ W TA To u r Te n n i s Sports sim K o n a m i

N H L 2 0 0 2 Sports Sim EA Sports WWF SmackDown! "Just Bring It!" Wrestling THOParis-Dakar Raily Rally Sim A c c l a i m Zombie Revenge A d v e n t u r e A c c l a i m

Project Eden A d v e n t u r e E l d o s

Resident Evii Code: Veronica X A d v e n t u r e Capcom 2 0 0 2 T B C G e n r e P u b l i s h e r 1

Rune: Viking Warlord A d v e n t u r e Ta k e 2 A l i e n s : C o l o n i a l M a r i n e s F P S E A

Spy Hunter A r c a d e r a c e r Midway B l a c k A n d W h i t e G o d S i m E A

Thunderhawk: Operation Phoenix A c t i o n E l d o s Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon Adventure T B C

World Championship Snooker Sports Sim C o d e m a s t e r s Capcom Vs SNK 2 Beat-'em-up CapcomD u k e N u k e m F o r e v e r A d v e n t u r e R o c k s t a r

October 2001 G e n r e P u b l i s h e r 1 Ecco The Dolphin A d v e n t u r e S C E E

Age Of Empires 11 Strategy K o n a m i E x o A c t i o n InfogramesA i r B i a d e Extreme sports S C E E F355 Challenge Racing S C E E

A r c t i c T h u n d e r A r c a d e r a c e r Midway Final Fantasy X R P G S C E E

Batman Vengeance A c t i o n U b i S o f t H a l f - U f e F P S U n i v e r s a l

C o n fl i c t Z o n e Strategy U b i S o f t H e a d h u n t e r A c t i o n S C E E

Crash Bandicoot : Ti ie Wrat i i o f cor tex P l a t f o r m e r U n i v e r s a l I c o A d v e n t u r e S C E E

D r i v e n A r c a d e r a c e r B A M ! K i n e t i c a A r c a d e r a c e r S C E E

G r a n d i a i i R P G U b i S o f t Kingdom Hearts RPG S C E E

Grand Theft Auto 3 A c t i o n R o c k s t a r M a fi a A c t i o n Ta k e 2

Herdy Gendy Platformer E l d o s M a t H o f f m a n ' s P r o B M X 2 Extreme sports A c t i v i s i o n

Hidden And Dangerous 2 A c t i o n Ta k e 2 M a x i m o P l a t f o r m e r CapcomJames Bond 007... Agent under Rre A c t i o n E A Max Payne A c t i o n R o c k s t a r

K i o n o a 2 P l a t f o r m e r S C E E Medal Of Honor: Fighter Command Flight action E A

Motor Mayhem R / S Infogrames M e d a l O f H o n o r : F r o n t l i n e FPS E A

M X R i d e r Extreme sports Infogrames M e t a l G e a r S o l i d 2 A d v e n t u r e K o n a m i

No One L i ves Fo reve r F P S E A Mike Tyson Boxing Sports Sim C o d e m a s t e r s

Shadow Man: 2econd Coming A d v e n t u r e A c c l a i m M o t o G P 2 A r c a d e r a c e r S C E E

S o u i R e a v e r 2 A d v e n t u r e E l d o s O n i m u s h a 2 A d v e n t u r e CapcomT h e W e a k e s t L i n k T V t i e - i n A c t i v i s i o n P i r a t e s O f S k u l l C o v e Strategy E A

Tw i s t e d M e t a l : B l a c k R / S S C E E P r i m a l A c t i o n S C E E

SOCOM: US Navy Seals C o m b a t s i m S C E E

W i n t e r 2 0 0 1 G e n r e P u b l i s h e r 1 Spider-Man The Movie A c t i o n A c t i v i s i o n

B l o o d O m e n 2 A d v e n t u r e E l d o s Star Wars Racer 2: Revenge A r c a d e r a c e r A c t i v i s i o n

Cool Boarders 2001 Extreme sports S C E E State Of Emergency A c t i o n R o c k s t a r

Commandos 2: Men Of Courage Strategy E l d o s S t u n t m a n A r c a d e r a c e r InfogramesC o n fl i c t : D e s e r t S t o r m A d v e n t u r e S C I SSX Tricky Extreme sports EA Sports BigD e u s E x FPS E l d o s Te k k e n 4 Beat-'em-up S C E E

Devil May Cry A c t i o n K o n a m i The Getaway A r c a d e r a c e r S C E E

Dropship Strategy S C E E T h e L o s t A d v e n t u r e C r a v e

Endgame Light gun action Empire The Simpsons: Road Rage A r c a d e r a c e r E A

E v e O f E x t i n c t i o n A c t i o n E l d o s T i m e C r i s i s 2 Ltghtgun action S C E E

F I FA 2 0 0 2 Sports Sim EA Sports TimeSplltters 2 F P S E i d o s

Good Cop, Bad Cop A c t i o n T B C To m b R a i d e r : N e x t G e n A d v e n t u r e E i d o s

J a k A n d D a x t e r P l a t f o r m e r S C E E Tu r o k E v o l u t i o n F P S A c c l a i m

Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer Extreme sports A c t i v i s i o n Vampire Night Light gun game S C E E

Kessen I I Strategy E A Virtua Fighter 4 Beat-'em-up S C E E

K-Project S h o o t e r S C E E World Sports Cars Racing sim EmpireP o l i c e 2 4 / 7 A c t i o n K o n a m i *Game release dates are correct at the time of going to press.

n n o B TL U R N T E D

Te n o f O P S Z s m o s twanted games. Nextmonth, It's your turn.

1 M E T A L G E A R S O U D 2 :S O N S O F U B E R T YYou know how good this game Isgoing to be.Release Date: Feb/March 2002

2 W I N N I N G E L E V E N 5(UK name TBClThe UK version wiii be better. Wecan hardiy wait.R e l e a s e D a t e : N o v 2 0 0 1

3 T O M B R A I D E R : N E X T G E Nit's i^ra but not as you l^now herCore promise a radical departuref r o m To m b R a i d e r .R e l e a s e D a t e : i - a t e 2 0 0 2

4 T E K K E N 4The return of the king of fighters.Features fuily 3D fighting arenas.Release Date: Spring 2002

5 M E D A L O F H O N O R :F R O N T U N EDreamworks' exceiient WWiishooter series debuts on PS2.Release Date: Spring 2002

e S T U N T M A NFrom the makers of Driver -featuring the cooiest stunts frommovie history.Release Date: Spring 2002

7 K - P R O J E C TAbstract 3D blaster of maniacalproportions, set inside your PS2from the mind of MIzuguchi.Release Date: Nov 2001

8 T H E G E T A W A YLondon's seedy underbellyexposed in this brilliant gangianddriver/action title.

5 Date: Spring 2002

9 H E R D Y G E R D Y

Herding-based adventure.Sounds rubbish, actuaiiy a workof genius.R e l e a s e D a t e : O c t 2 0 0 1

1 0 T I M E S P L T T T E R S 2

Go/den£ye-esque first-personshooter sequei.R e l e a s e D a t e : M a r c h 2 0 0 2

Y O U R G O !We want to know what yourmost wanted games are. Drop usa line with the games you cantwait for and a photograph ofyourseif and we'ii do the rest.iVlost Wanted, OfficialPlayStation 2 Magazine, FuturePublishing, 30 IVIonmouthStreet, Bath BAl 2BW. EmailPS2@futurenet.co.uk

Play5tation.2 06

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bhe beaubipul game0PS2 continues its search for ttie most amazing PS2 games never conceived. This montli: The best snowboarding game in the w/orld ever.

1 . S U P E R S N A P SThe ability to createyour own characters bymapping In any face -including friends,celebs or your ownmush, by using a digitalcamera plugged intothe PS2's USB port.Cue the sight of youpersonally pushing thelatest teeny bands e n s a t i o n o v e r a

precipice, closelyfollowed by the entireBig Brother cast fromS e r i e s O n e . A n d Tw o .

2 . K I S S - A S S R A W KThe chance to careerinto and decapitatem e m b e r s o f U S s h o r t smetal bands like TheOffspring, Limp BizkitBlink 182, Everclearand Lit whose insipid,sub-Chili Pepperscorporate cack oftencrops up on thesetype of things.

3 . C O U P D E G R A C EThe game will featirecomedy ski schoollines which can beearnt as a bonus byrace v^r tnners . There wi l lalso be the option topepper the course withu n c o o r d i n a t e d s c h o o l

parties and 'busty" skib u n n i e s w h o s e

salopettes fly off at theslightest contact withski poies/twigs/air

4 . H A N G T I M EGo online using thenew official PS2Network Adaptor andchallenge your matest o a r a c e . F a m o u ssnowboarders such asShaun Palmer wouldbe forced, via asophisticated ankletagging system, to playonline at any time ofday or night.

5 . G I B B E R I N G W R E C K

Players wiil have attheir disposal astockpile of hideousweapons such asrocket launchers,s a m u r a i s w o r d s a n ds t i c k s w i t h n a i l s i nthem. A tap of the ®b u t t o n w i l l s e n d

opponents skitteringmerrily down the virginwhite slopes. There'llalso be stuptd-assweapons andpower-ups too.

6 . C H A I R M A N

Realistic, innovativeBoard Editor allows youto experience theslopes on the board ofyour choice. Ironingboards (with slip cover),MDF shelving,floorboards, stiffcorpses and varnishedW e l c o m e m a t s a r e a i la v a i l a b l e . N o w w i t hrealistic physics!

7 720° TUMBLE DRYOur perfectsnowboarding gamehas a catalogue ofhundreds of incrediblegravity-defying tricksand combos forgarnering hugeamounts of points.Includes an amazingquadruple, backwardtriple-flip combinationwith a vomit-Inducing360 degree knee-rotating head spin thatmomentarily dislocatesevery limb on youraching body.

8 . S U P P E R Y- S U I » E YThe silky intuitivecontrols ofSSXn-ixedwith the dellghtfuanalogue feather-ioucho f t h e N 6 4 ' s 1 0 8 0

Snowboarding.

064 PlayStation.2

♦Superb SnowboardingI L L U S T R A T I O N : B E N K I R C H N E R

9 . M E B E S T M A T E

Apr6s ski mint-gamefusing first-persons h o o t e r m e c h a n i c swith Japanese datinggame senstbiiities.Chase guffawing,toothsome pubiicschooi oiks in dodgy,Fat Face fleeces aroundthe iodge withsharpened fondue forksand pots of moltencheese, or just sit bythe bar 'interacting'w i t h b o r e d c h a l e t m a i d

via on screen prompts.

1 0 . B O M B T H E B A S EP a r t i c u l a r l e v e l s w i l l

give gamers theopportunity to take onr e a l w o r l d l o c a t i o n s -s n o w b o a r d d o w nEverest stalefish alongNew York City'sChrysler Building orjust grind London'sTower Bridge.

11. BURN, BABYR e a l i s t i c w e a t h e r w i t hG r e e n h o u s e E f f e c tOverdrive Option'". Asyou start your race, thesun gradually rises,melting all In its path.Yo u a r e f o r c e d t o m a k ei t t o t h e fi n i s h l i n eb e f o r e a l l t h e s n o w a n d

ice melts and the bearsemerge looking forb r u n c h . A n d K e v i nCostner turns up.

1 2 . S H U P E R BS o n u s M i s s i o n s

Including PaparazziP u r s u i t M o d e w h e r e

you get points fortaking snaps of Royalfamily members withunusual piercings. Also,J a m e s B o n d m i s s i o n s

incorporating cuttingedge Crap Shof"enemy Ai andsnowboarding pursuerswho strangely explodeon hitting trees. Asyou would.

J\ E NC K L E R 5

Rayman M, Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Evil Twingiven a once-over

CHRIST, rrs EIGHTY degtBes outside, we're eating ice creams and gamesdeveiopers are already preparing for tiie Christmas games rush. Hence these threenew games from French pubiishers, Ubi Soft.

Ubi Soft's big titie for Christmas is the iatest in their cutesy piatformerfranchise, Rayman M. However, this is not a sequei to Rayman Revolution - it's apiatformer/racing hybrid. The characters from Revolution must race head to headover a series of 'piatform trades', running jumping, ciimbing and being ilmbiess asthey go. To add a bit of spice to the gamepiay there are aiso switches which canbe used by the player behind to activate traps and siow the leader down.

To/yo Xtreme Racer owes a lot to Gran Turismo but instead of racing oncircuits the world over, you tai^e to Tokyo's motorways, it's a boy racer's dream.

Rnaiiy there's Evil Twin, where your character, Cyphrien, is transported to aparallel universe to help save the world. You get to solve puzzles as both good andevil versions of your character in this nightmarish piatformer. We'll be having acloser lool< at these three games next issue. □ NJ

(Top) Evil Twin robs at least one idea from Zelda. (Middle) Tol^o Xtreme Racer.(Below) Rayman & Co go head to head in the platform/racer Rayman M.

PlayStation, 0€

(From left) Racing through clouds; boosting arrows; in-cockpit view proves the most challenging. WipEOUt FUSiO/l makeS StUnniPg prOgreSS.

THE LATEST 'WORK in progress' code from SCEE's Studio Liverpool shows that WipEoutFusion is everything we hoped for The l ey elements for a top racer seem well In place -roliercoaster tracks, opponents that respond like real drivers and, naturally, the game movesat a lightning pace. This latest code also reveals three new weapons - the Grav Stinger;Grenades and the Proton Cannon.

The Grav Stinger drops some kind of disrupter thing behind your ship that messes withthe engine of someone who flies over and slows them to a fnjstrating halt for a few seconds.Grenades are well, just what they sound like - this power up fires three bouncing bombsforward of your craft. Collecting the Proton Cannon meanwhile gives you a very powerfulforwarti firing gun.

Pleasingly the Ai of the computer opponents Is coming on a treat Unlike the PSonegames, where the other racers simply followed a pre-set route around the track the ships InWIpEout Fusion have their own agendas, fighting among themselves, taking different routesacross the more open areas of the courses and making mistakes. This has the effect ofmaking the race different every time you play

WipEout Fusion is set for a winter release and, with Its advanced AI and brilliant balancebetween racing and fighting promises to rewrite the books on how to do futuristic racers.Watch out for a more In-depth look in these pages In the coming months, □ JS

Every issue, we put five questions to five industry professionals.This montli: PS2 online gaming

How important is online gamingt o t h e P S 2 ?

At present, online gaming is notparticularly significant to PS2. Owr thenext few years that will change as onlinegaming becomes increasingly importanton alt platfomis. At that stage, PS2 willneed a large, active community of onlinegamers to maintain its lead.

Simon ProtheroeDir(;ctor Ht Eidps

It'll probably take some time for mostconsole users to incorporate onlinegaming into their PS2 experience. So inthe short-term, it's not nearly asimportant as the overall quality of thesin^e player games coming out on thesystem. In the long-term, however, itshould become very important

Very important The broadband nsvolutionmay just appear faster than we think itwill. This is a ^st moving business soPlayStation will always move with thetimes, i think Ken Kutura@ and his teamanaund the world will be the pioneers ofthe mainstream broadbande n t e r t a i n m e n t r e v o i u t i o a

To an old gamer like myseif, online playopens up a world of gameplaypossibiltttes that you just don't get insingle-player environments - I thinkonline gaming is important full-stop.What I'm not so certain of is wrtiether themass-market will adopt online gamingjust yet The question may be, 'Howimportant is the PS2 to online gaming?

So far the products of the gamesindustry are mainly taiiored towanis alimited level of sociat Interaction, Thisfrustrates some people - who wouWrather go to the pub! Online gaming, or'piaying" as I prefer to call it. Is one of theattributes of PS2 that could open up andattract a whole new audience.

H o w c a n t h e P S 2 a t t r a c tmainstream gamers toward itso n l i n e c o n t e n t ?

The only thing that will guaranteebringing gamers online is compellingcontent Other things which Viriil helpkick-start the move include weli-knowngame titles appearing online and apricing structure that mates value-for-mon^ t ransparent.

Make the content very easy to access!

Because ITs PlayStation. The brand isone of the biggest youth brands there'sever been and there is an almostfanatical loyalty to it The gamesexperiences vie are familiar with todayvtflll evolve into very bnwdband ^baigaming events. Can you imagine racing Ina Gron Turismo tournament with playersfrom around the worid?

Dont let the technology get in the way ofthe action!

The simple response to this is, 'Makecontent that appeals to users' needs andIrishes'. Games iike Quake and Unn?olTournament do offer gameplay thatcaters for some of these needs -however it Is clear to me that there isstill some way to go. After all, how manymiddle-aged mothers can you seeframing their coffee morning friends?

What can online gaming offerthat regular non-networkedgames cant?

The ability to play virith, or against realpeopte. No matter how sophisticated tiieAI gets, nothing can compare to theexperience of playing a human being -and beating them hollow!

MuWplayer games without a split-screen.More ttian four-player multiplayer games.Player matching Tournaments.

More interactivity, more possibilities.Online gamir^ con offer so much more,it's just that so far its been limited toquite simple game experiences. There'smore to online gaming than Quake,Counter-Strike and EverQuest We'retalking about some big changes here tothe w^ we are entertained so I think itwill take sonte time.

I'm really into co-operative play at themoment Games like Counter-Strikeand Tribes 2 are so addktive because ofit and I think this plus the old randomhuman element would be the basicextra mechanics to make this adifferent worid.

TT>e main thing is social interactkin. Atthe moment I mainly piay games when Iwant to get away from things, and getinvolved in my own littie world. But IwoukJ k}ve to play videogames that allowme to share a world with others!

What PS2 gaming innovations doyou see happening online overthe next five years?

As an online gaming community buildsup, I expect to see more ambitiousgames that make use of a variety ofdifferent interfaces - consoles, Webbrowsers on PCs, wireless devicesincluding PDAs and mobile phones,maybe interactive TV - to buikJ a trulyimmersive experience.

I see PS2 games taking on more acommunity feel through online gamingPlayers will be abfe to taunt and joke witiieach other while they compete. Voicecommunication will also become part oftiie experience. Users wilt be able to moreeasily create new levels that they cantiien trade witti tiieir friends.

One that I'm definitely following is theevolution of Rnof ftrntasy bySquare in Japan. The Play Onlinedemonstratfons that have been shown inJapan are incnsdible. I tiilnk broadbandgaming will open up the world of Hno)ftintasy to more game players tiian arecurrently interested in it

Obviously, there's the episodic stuff.This is going to be great for allconcerned - as tong as each episode isreasonably priced, of course, and theindustry doesnt just see it as anotiierr e v e n u e s t r e a m .

in terms of technology? Broadband andv o f c e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a r e o n t h e c a r d s . I n

terms of gameplay? Wortdwklecommunication, proper languagetranslating software and worid buildingtools. No doubt there v^ll be others, butmy crystal ball is a bit quiet at the mo'.

■Which PS2 game are you mostlooking forward to being able toplay online?

TlmeSp/ftters 2.

♦EWos' TimeSpttttefS 2 shotrfd be our Morcft 2002.

c h e c k t h e M e s t o n v M w J n i c o M k A s 2 . t t l r t l .

Tony Hawk's 3, of course!

Tony Howk Witt be Wsttfng the PS2 in November.

I'm a big fan of EA's Medal Of Hot orgames and I'm really looking forw jnd toplaying the new PS2 games that ^ re indevetopment. it's like being tiie st ir inyour own WWII film. I'd tove to ha\e afew friends join me online in som i topsecret misston behind Jeny tines.

'Look out for Alreiad« In October and Shi y RedCar fwortdftg trtte) tfiis Chrtetmos.

Anything that supports team wori< will dofor now but if a game like 4X4 Evolutioncould be online, and I mean tfie fullcompetition structure not just quickraces, that'd be realty cool too.

"Max Payne fthfs WInted and Grand Theft Auto 3(Octobed ore rohe 2% b(g new games.

t'm just hoping tiiey make an onlireversion of iSS. Just Imagine, 22 playersplaying on the same pitch, from 2^PlayStation 2s around the worid. Youcould even have a 23rd player tak ngconbDl of the ref!

tnterplay are readying Batdur's Gate 2 for aiOc tobe r r e tecse

066 Play5tatlon.E

^ © '

To extend the range of your PlayStation 2You just need to have the right connections

Take our Multi Scart Adaptor, for example. This ttiree-into-one switchableScart block allows up to three items of Scart-enabled hardware to beconnected to a single Scart socket.

Want to connect your PlayStation 2 to your TV? Our high quality RF Unit doesthe job in style, straight through the aerial. Maybe you prefer a Scartconnection? Then use our Scart AV Lead for improved picture and sound

quality. And remember, each of these products has gold connectors forreduced static and a perfect contact every time.

But if you want control at your fingertips, you'll really click with our cool newDVD Remote Controller. This funky infra red unit puts you in charge of theDVD player functions on your PlayStation 2, wherever you are in the room.

Stay ahead of the game.Connect with your nearest games retailer NOW!

( www-raci icauk.com jPLAYSTATION IS A REGISTEFED TRADEMAflK OF SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC

T H E U N F A I R A D V A N T A G E

WORDS: SAM RICHARDS/PHOTOGRAPHY: GAVIN ROBERTS/ILLUSTRATION: LEE WOODGATE

N E T I i J O R KSony's E3 pronouncements left the gaPlayStation 2 is online - but what willwhys, the whens and the hows of theSenior Vice-President of SCEE, Phil Hz

, As we reported last issue, a day before May's E3 gameshow, Sony Computer Entertainment revealed exactly how

J its online plans will take shape. A piece of equipment calledthe Networl< Adapter will be released for $39.99 (theequivalent of about £30|. This small but momentousrectangular plate attaches to the back of the PlayStation 2

and allows you to connect to the wonderful world of the internet In fact theNetwork Adapter Is actually two devices in one. Itie first Is an analogue 56kmodem, the standard speed modem used by most current home computersto connect to the Internet The second is an Ethernet connection designedfor users with a cable TV connection in their homes Cable can provide amore reliable Internet service than analogue connections, at a much higherbandwidth (a service such as this is classed as broadband).

A number of strategic partnerships were announced by Sony at E3 - youwill surf the Net from your PS2using Netscape as a browserand AOL as your internet ServiceProvider (although the AOL dealhasnt yet been confirmed forthe United Kingdom).

The software required to runthese programs will becontained on a disc that willcome packaged with theNetwork Adapter This Intemet

connection is also your gateway to a world of online gaming.At the same time as the Network Adapter, Sony will also release a Hard

Disc Drive (HDD). This Is likely to retail for about £200 and slot into theexpansion bay on the back of your PS2. Ttie purpose of the HDD is to storelarge amounts of data - so we're not just talking game saves, but ultimatelyentire games that you have downloaded from the Intemet In combinationwith the Network Adapter; the HDD opens up all kinds of new gaming

//'Within five years you willproba^ be able to downloadan entire film or game at thedick of a button"//

possibilities, partlculariy the ability to download additional levels, features andepisodes. The HDD will store 40Gb of data (about eight DVDs).

It was originally thought that the HDD and Network Adapter would bepart of the same piece of kit. However; Sony is deliberately selling the devicesseparately In order that gamers unable to afford the expensive HDD can stillenjoy the pleasures of Net surfing and online gaming. It's still likely that In thefuture Sony will announce smaller capacity HDDs (probably 20Gb and 10Gb)that will retail for less

So these are the basics of Sony's online PS2 strategy, but at this earlystage, there are still undecided issues. One of the men with his finger on thepulse within SCEE is Senior Vice-President Phil Harrison. 0PS2 pestered himroyally In order to elicit the Information you asked to know about.

Sony has announced a number of strategic partnerships with the likes ofWeb specialists Macromedia - who make Flash - and Java. What doesthis mean for the PS2 user?Flash is effectively the standard program for animation on the Web. I dontknow of a Web user who doesn't have Flash installed. There are two benefitsto a partnership with Macromedia. Rrstly it lets PS2 users view Flash-enabledsites. Secondly bearing in mind there are 700,000 Flash developers aroundthe world, it gives us access to 700,000 new content providers. Obviouslysome of that stuff is really, really interesting to the PlayStation 2 user There'sa whole culture of Flash cartoons on the Web.

Even before we had any relationship with Macromedia, we'd written aFlash player at our Team Soho studios for front-end menus for PlayStation 2games It turned out that the content designers we were hiring for this typeof job were all Flash experts so it made sense to work In their familiarmedium. Flash is a design tool, so development can become more of adirect artistic process than a matter of programming The same goes for Java.

What is the benefit of Sony's partnership with Real Networks?RealPlayer 8 delivers streaming media content There are 25,000 Internet

068 PlayStation.P

DlAGRAMMAnCAU-Y SPEAKINGYour new-look PlayStation 2.A See the expansion bay labelled on theback of your machine? Remove the taband have a look. There's a huge hollowspace for your Hard Disc Drive!B This Is the port that will connect thePS2 to the Network Adapter.C The HDD itself, which will slot all theway into the machine and connect to theNetwork Adapter on the outside.D The Network Adapter, which will clampto the back of the machine.E 56k analogue modem connection.F Broadband Ethernet connection.

radio sites out there plus countless sports, news, music and film sitesstreaming audio and video, essentially using the Web as a broadcastingplatform. The PS2 user w/ill have access to all this.

Is the primary idea of these partnerships with Macromedia, RealNetworks et al to allow PS2 users who don't invest in a Hard Disc Driveto be able to gain access to the majority of Web content?Yes, but don't just think about them as being adjuncts to a Web browser;think about the technology being embedded within games. I can imagineRealPlayer being embedded into a sports game so you can have a vi/indowstreaming in real-life sports entertainment news or footage as you play. Thereal benefit of these partnerships is to allow us very quickly to broaden thetype of content that is available on PlayStation 2. When you start blendinggames and streaming content you can do some very interesting things. Thegauntlet is being thrown to developers.

The idea is that we work with as many open standards as possible, bethey Java, Flash, Linux, whatever, because PS2 is an open platform. Fnom PS2to infinity!

What's the benefit of Sony's partnership with AOL?This partnership is somewhat US-centric at the moment. AOL is the largestISP and content provider in the US with something like 26 millionsubscribers. They obviously dont have the same number of users over here,although AOL Europe is doing very well. In Europe, I think you'll see usmaking a number of other announcements with more Euno-centric providers.The good thing about AOL is that it gives us instant messaging chat andemail functionality on PS2.

Did you ever think about setting up a Sony ISP?We did, but it's a very, very expensive proposition. There's a lot ofconsolidation in that market now and we thought it best to partner with acompany who's done that hard work already

How will PS2 users be able to store the programs that run Netscape,AOL, Flash etc without purchasing the HDD as well as the Adapter?The likely mechanism is that a disc will come packaged with the NetworkAdapter containing the ISP technology and the display technology. Couldthese programs then be downloaded to a PS2 Memory Card for subsequentuse? It's technically possible, but obviously it depends on the size of theprograms, and this is partly up to AOL or the relevant ISP

We envisage there could well be a proportion of PS2 users who only wantInternet access and have no interest in downloading games content, musicor videos. However, I think most fully-integrated entertainment consumers willwant the Hard Disc Drive too.

How are you planning to get around the fact that text-heavy Internetpages are difficult to read on most televisions?I think if anyone wants to do a serious amount of Web surfing via theirPlayStation 2, they will be buying an XGA monitor, either Sony's own brand orone of the many third-party makes already on the market. For access toonline gaming and downloadable content - which is what 1 really think theNetwork Adapter is all about - we will be producing TV-friendly graphics, Justas we would within a PlayStation 2 game.

What are the details of your partnership in the UK with the cableoperator Telewest?The partnership with Telewest is only the first of a number of strategicalliances we'll be announcing in that field. We've performed broadband PS2trials with Telewest in 'laboratory conditions' between offices, but obviouslythe next stage is to test a typical consumer interface. A major purpose ofthese trials is to find out the usage patterns of target consumers and howmuch they are willing to pay for these sen/ices.

As far as we're concerned, the payment model for broadband services viaPS2 is very much to be confirmed at the moment It could turn out to beanything from completely free to a subscription sel lce to pay-per-play S

- m E L O W D O W NNetwork Adapter□ Price: $39.95 US

E 4 0 T B C U K

□ Release date: Nov 2001 USFeb 2002 TBC L

□ Features: 56k modem or Etheadapter for connectithe FS2 to the Inten

Haid Disc Drive□ Price: $200 TBC US

£200 TBC UK

□ Release date: Nov 2001 TBC IF e b 2 0 0 2 T B C I

□ Features: 40Gb of storagecapacity

PlayStatlon.E

M E T U J O R K H E R U E N

G L O S S A R YWhat are we on about? Tricky technical terms explained below.

A O LStands for AmericaOnline, USA's biggestInternet Service Provider(or ISP).

B a n d w i d t h

Basically, the speed atw h i c h d a t a c a n fl o w

through an onlineconnection, usuallymeasured in kbps.

B r o a d b a n dA high bandwidthI n t e r n e t c o n n e c t i o n a b l eto transfer multiple

c h a n n e l s o f d a t a

simultaneously. There (sno standard definition ofwhen a connection speedbecomes classed asbroadband, althoughSCEE has quoted it as atleast 2mbps (2,000kbps).

B r o w s e rA program that allowsyou to view informationon the World Wide Web.Virtually all computersnow use either NetscapeNavigator or MicrosoftInternet Explorer as their

Web browsers, Sony Ispartnering with theformer for PS2 - can youguess why, readers?

C A T VTtils simply stands for' c a b l e t e l e v i s i o n ' .

D S L / A D S LStands for DigitalS u b s c r i b e r L i n e o rAdvanced DigitalS u b s c r i b e r L i n e .

Essentially a technologyfor providing a high-b a n d w i d t h c o n n e c t i o n

service tiirough existingtelephone lines.

E t h e r n e tA form of networkconnection that supportshigh bandwidths.

I S PStands for InternetService Provider Acompany such as AOLthat provides the userwith access to the Weband also often offersemail and chat senrices,along with its own

information, news andentertainment pages.

kbps/mbp$Kilobits/megabits persecond, a measurementof data flow through ano n l i n e c o n n e c t i o n . A

megabit is 1,000 kilobits.

Massively multiplayerAn online game thatsupports a large numberof players simultaneouslyUsually used to refer togames such as Verant'sEverquest or the

forthcoming Stor WarsG a l a x i e s t h a t a l l o w

players to roam in apersistent online world.

M b / G b

Megabytes/Gigabytes, am e a s u r e m e n t o f d a t astorage (there are eightbits in a byte, a millionbytes in a Megabyte anda billion bytes in aGigabyte). Forcomparison, your PS2Memory Card can store8Mb of data, a DVD canstore 5Gb and the Hard

D i s c D r i v e w i l l s t o r e awhopping 40Gb. jS M S jStands for Short MessageS e r v i c e , T h a t ' s m o b i l e

phone text messaging toyou and me.

X G AS t a n d s f o r a E x t e n d e d

Graphics Array A step-upfrom the standand VGA Int e r m s o f h i - r e s m o n i t o r s .

Sony plan to release aXGA Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse pack in the US.

0 Surely the major concern about the progress of your online plans Is theability of network companies to provide a broadband infrastructurewithin the timescale you've set?I understand the concern, but I think the migration to iDruadband is anunstoppable force. It will tal<e time - some places will get it sooner thanothers, some countries wili be mote evolved than others and there willcertainly be a difference in bandwidth between different operators. Yes, this is

iargely out of Sony's control.Some of it will be down tolegislation in different countriesabout what telephonecompanies can do andderBguiation will help as it startsto spreads across Europe. Incertain parts of Scandinaviathey're already getting 20mbpsup and down.

//'Imagine how compelling itwould be if you could exchangereaktime video chat whileplaying a game"//

SCEA President KazHirai shows off aNetwork Adapterprototype at E3.

But the great majority of UK homes don't have cable access...Well, what you've got to lool< at is not Just access, but the number of homesthat are passed by a cable. It might mean digging up the roads again but it'san inexorable process.

Do you think cable is definitely the way forward for broadbandtechnology as opposed to satellite or DSL (high bandwidth phone line)?The current specs for DSL as offered by the major companies are not soattractive, but we're continuing to work closeiy with the networks to find asolution. Whatever we decide, the PlayStation name comes with a reputationfor piug-and-piay simplicity and we need to uphold those core values ineverything that we produce.

Sony has previously given the impression that the PS2 wouldn't be goingonline until a comprehensive broadband network was in place. Whyinclude the 56k modem alongside the broadband Ethernet connection?For certain applications you don't need broadband so analogue is actuallyquite useful. Obviously for ail the AOL applications like emaii and chat youonly need analogue, but also massively muitipiayer online games likeEverquest dont actually spit out a great deal of data. It's about 1kbps whichIs well within the reach of a 56k modem.

Broadband doesnt necessarily mean faster - that depends so much onthe various server connections - but It does mean wider Imagine how

compelling it would be if you could exchange real-time video chatwhile playing a game. That kind of thing Just isnt possible with 56k

The exchange of much larger packets of data on a broadbandnetwork wili mean that the online gaming experience wont be

limited to ainning around a pre-defined maze.You couid transfer dynamic world data, such asthe deformabie landscapes of Red Faction, withfar greater ease. With more Megabytes of dataflying around, it's really up to developers to takeadvantage of the possibilities It offers.

How would you engender a culture of online gaming different to theextremely hardcore image of online PC gaming?it's not something we can really control. I hope developers do recognise thevery broad nature of game-playing skills reflected in the potential audience,but I think there wili be iots of different definitions for online gaming in thePS2 era. You'ii have the server-driven Everquest-type massively mulitpiayergames, you'll have games where you're racing against one or two or threeopponents for example, you'ii have the games that use downloadablecontent to augment an existing retail product., i can imagine for example aGran Turismo game where you couid trade a car online and download a newcar paid for with real or virtual money There will be games which streamcontent from the Net. There will be online communities.

These communities are already being fonned at the basic level withpeople uploading their high scores or fastest lap times on to the Net tocompare with other players. With Formula One 2001 you can already uploadyour race times on to a high score chart via SMS. it's the most popularsegment on the SCEE Web site at the moment. Some 10,000 users registeredwith us in the first three days of the game going on sale, emphasising thedemand for online communities.

We're going to do things with World Rally Championship whereby the top16 players in Europe as ranked by the Web site will be invited, via a textmessage, to compete In a special championship together If you're at the topof the table and then someone uploads a faster time, you couid get an emaiior an SMS in a natural way, perhaps in the form of a commentator saying'he's been relegated into second place!' You might even find a profile of theplayer who's beaten you, send them a mail, and become friends, it's ail aboutbuilding communities.

Do you see it as very much the individual developer's task to shape theironline communities depending on the game?Yes, and that's the beauty of the whole thing It isn't legislated by the mediaor marketing or retail stocking policy An online community lives andbreathes by itself

it's actually somewhat sad that developers work up to two or three yearsputting a game together and when it comes out In the shops, they wavegoodbye to It forever The idea of online communities gives the developer achance to extend their concept if desired.

Communities also put the player in closer contact with the developerand the publisher Developers can learn an awful lot from that relationshipand hopefully produce better games a result.

Is the idea of downloadable content going to change the whole way inwhich we buy videogames? Will high street shops eventually become athing of the past?I think eventually - five years from now - downloadable content will becomewidely used. Within five years you will probably be able to download an entiregame or film from an online library at the click of a button. But this may notchange the fact that the cheapest way of getting five Gb of data intosomeone's home is on a disc - bandwidth doesn't come for free. Mine maybe a contentious view, but the world is changing Eventually you won't haveto go into a store to buy software. Personally, I cant waiti □

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WORDS; MIKE GOLDSMITH

m s s o vHow do you update a classic without screwing it up? Tliat's tine problem facing Midway as the USpublisher/developer attempts to bring its arcade heritage to PS2. The game? Revered coin-opracer Spy Hunter. The magazine? 0PS2. The venue? MicRvay's San Diego HO. The mission?Uncover whether its Bonus Credit or Game Over for Midway...

"Dan-dan-dan-dan-dan-dan-DAN-dan."Okay, that 'dan' might actually be a 'dur', but whatever

El 1 the approximation, sing those eight notes in a slightlymenacing manner and you have Henty Mancini's classicTheme From Peter Gunn - the quintessential TV spytheme, 'sung' by Jake-and-Elwood-alikes at Blues Brothers

revivals and a tune that is currently donuting around 0PS2's brain like amigraine joyrider. Why? Because just as the theme tune was used for acertain Midway coin-op classic nearly 20 years ago, it's now beingresurrected for a new version of the game heading for PS2. And the nameof that particular videogame?

T o o b i n T

Assistant Producer Ed Tucker laughs, joined in by a few chuckles fromMichael Gottlieb (Producer) and Andy Kaffka (Associate Producer). AtariMidway's paddle-a-fat-bloke-down-a-river-on-an-inner-tube arcade hitfrom 1988 might not be the most obvious game ripe tor a PS2 makeover,but it was one of 20 or so looked at by the Midway production trio whenthe San Diego-based company decided It wanted to develop next-genversions of its classic Eighties coin-ops. Other games given the once-overincluded Joust (sword and sorcery meets flying ostriches) and Defender(see Smart Bomb!) but the trio finally settled on an undisputed classic -Spy Hunter Originally a top-down scrolling driving/action title (see ACrash Course) from Bally Midway, Spy Hunter is one of those' games that

sends thirtysomethings spiralling into the depths of I Love 1983 nostalgia.Insane speed, malicious enemies, the chance to turn from a car into aboat - the purest gameplay It was James-Bond-meets-Knight-Rider and itgobbled your ten pence pieces like a malicious taxman.

"Management were saying, Do you have any lost classics, any coin-opgames that never made it?'," recalls Gottlieb. "We started digging throughthe files and found a couple of games that didnt ship - we rapidly cameto the conclusion that they dldnt ship for a good reason. They sucked."

"We've looked at around 15-20 design documents but nothing reallyfitted," continues Kaffka. "But once we saw the design document for SpyHunter, everyone saw that it could be really cool. It wasnt even aquestion of whether we wanted to do it or not."

TME BEGINNtNGThe process began over two years ago, with confirmed Spy Hunter fansParadigm Entertainment (see Paradigm Entertainment) signed up for thePS2 project As a 20 driving game. Spy Hunter was an obvious choice fora move to the 3D environs of the home console but It proved a lottougher a job than just shifting the in-game view to the driver's seat.

"Spy Hunter used a very simple gameplay mechanic that had toevolve," agrees Gottlieb. •Tlie original idea of 'let's Just do it in 3D andbring back the old enemies' was a good starting point, but then we didthat and realised it wasn't enough. We had to do more."

See that crosshair?You know wha t we ' resaying here..

I

072 PlayStation 2 '

M P H

Carnage at thedockyard. Switch tosecondary weaponto let fly with thehoming missiles!

Leave a smoke screento fend off enemies tothe rea r.

That means missions. And set objectives. And short cuts and newvehicies and weapons and pick ups and FMV and basicaily everything thatmakes Spy Hunter a true PS2 game, and not a polished version of therisibie arcade makeovers (stand up Asteroids, Space Invaders, Froggerand Centipede) that plagued the PSone a few years back.

Retaining the original's breakneck speed and action-addled gameplay,Spy Hunter boasts 14 missions where you must take on evil multinational,the NOSTRA Corporation. Your main weapon is a cool futuristic car - theG-6155 Interceptor (think a Lotus Esprit with a Bond makeover). The G-6155 is not only armed with guided missiles, machine guns, oil slicks,cluster mines and other such 007-esque paraphernalia. It's also able totransform into a speedboat, a Jet ski or a motorcycle depending on yourmission/environment. Whatever your vehicle, you've got a Job on yourhands to avoid being rammed, shunted, shot and generally blown to bitsby rabid NOSTRA agents chasing you down In cars, trucks, sedans, boatsand helicopters.

TOO LEGIT - TO QUn?So far, so dangerous, but rather than just keeping to the 'stay alive' ethosof the original Spy Hunter, Midway have added narrative missions for youto complete while avoiding your Inevitable digital death - accompanytrucks to pick up points, pick up satellite links, blow up experimentalhelicopters, seek and destroy supply trucks carrying contraband - there'splenty to do in the 14 missions, and a bundle of ways to do it. You'll haveto take short-cuts to make up time, get (and stay) ahead of your enemies,blow up everything in your path, liaise with your weapons truck..,Transported from the original coin-op, this truck is a travelling HQ helmedby a Q type who'll supply your vehicle with new weapons for thedestruction ahead. In a sentence, it's absolute bloody carnage out there.Think a mission (rather than time-based) take on the ultra-addictive panicgame genre and you're close-ish to the sheer mania of Spy Hunter.

Back on the road/water, you'll be driving and riding through thecobbled strasse of Germany, the picturesque canals of Venice, the lushJungles of Panama plus the likes of Key West, France, England and theivllddle East. 0PS2 saw an earlier version of Spy Hunter where looks hadbeen sacrificed for speed and can now attest that, a few pop-up nigglesaside, the game looks as good as it is fast. Considering Spy Hunter is very,very fast indeed, that's a compliment indeed.

What does it look like? It looks cool. Sleek hi-tech weaponry, a derigueur Matrix Bit (as your G-6155 morphs into a speedboat, the camerarevolves around in bullet time) arcade handling, cool animation while all S

S P Y H U N T I R : ACRASH COURSENever heard of Spy Hunter?R e a d o n .

Created for the arcades byGeorge Gomez back In 1983,Bally Ivlidway's Spy Hunter was abeast like no other. Beneath alush arcade cabinet was a gamethat played as good as It looked.You hit Start, you went flat outyou shot enemies and you died alot but It didn't matter - your lOpbought a set amount of time, soall you did when you died was hitstart all over again.

As for gameplay, what otherdriving game let you drop oilslicks, fire missiles, transform Intoa boat Ihead for the shedll andhit a flashing button in the middleof the cabinets steering wheel tocall up a weapons trucks -something that sent yourenemies into spasms of rage asthey tried to prevent you getting anew set of missiles.

Cool vehicles, ultra-responsive controls, classic top-down view and a theme tune(Theme From Peter Gunn) thatmade all other games sound likerubbish, at the time Spy Hunterwas truly the nuts.

Want to play it now? Klidway'sAndy Kaffka hinted the originalcould find Its way Into the PS2version but if that doesn't happen,hunt down a copy of Arcade'sGreatest Hits: Ttie MidwayCollection 2, which features theoriginal Spy Hunter plus BurgerTime. Blaster. Joust 2, Hoot BeerTapper Splat and the classyMoon Patrol Or, webbed-upgamers should head towvw.midway.com orwww.shockwave.com for free online versions of Spy Hunter andother such Bally Midway classicsas Robotron, Defender, Joust andthe mighty Sfn/stor.

The lush jungles ofPanama are there tobe torn apart.

PlayStation E o:

Lock on to the

helicopter to dispencesome homing justice!

Fins? A jet engine?That means i ts t ime total(e to the water. . .

P A R A D I G ME N T E R 1 A I N M E N TSo then, who is actually makingthe thing?

Based in CartDllton near Dallas,Texas, Paradigm Entertainmentare the techno-bods behind SpyHunter for Midway. Thecompany's baci<ground Isdesigning games for the N64,Including such titles as F1 World ■Grand Prix I and II, Indy Racing2000, Aem Fighters Assault and ithe extremely-good-indeed Pilot 1Wings 64. Pilot Wings saw the 'company develop games for suchpublishers as Nintendo, ElectronicArts and Infogrames, with thedeal struck with Midway for SpyHunter inked In May of 1999.

Dont expect to see any moregames for Midway though. Sincethen. Paradigm Entertainmenthas been bought up byInfogrames to develop titles fornext-generation consoles,including PlayStation 2. Paradigmhas just finished the PSone-bound iDoney Tunes: DuckDodgers for Infogrames, but willbe a much bi^er concern whenthey finish MX Rider (see page 22)and a certain big budget PS2game we're under pain of deathnot to reveal. The company'stechnical background andexperienced R&D Team meansthe PS2 should be getting somepretty good-looking games -anything like Pilot Wings 64, andwe're in for a treat

'For more Info, see www.pe-icom

0 the time retaining the original's hardcore action and addictive speed, thePS2 Spy Hunter is good - and as Gottlieb admits, it bloody well had to be.

"Everyone who walked up to Midway's stand at E3 must have said, 'OhGod, Spy Hunter - they brought this back?' or 'Hey! Spy Hunter! That'scool, but is it legit?' I think we've done justice to it - and I say thatbecause before Spy Hunter, we worked on a version of Paperboy (retronewspaper-delivering bike game) for the N64. Again, this was an old gamefor a new console that everyone was really fired up about, but we tried tobe a little too retro - we ended up being so true to the orignal, that Itwasnt necessarily a game that fitted into the modem gaming paradigm.

"With Spy Hunter, we threw off the shackles of the licence and wentand did whatever the hell we wanted. That was the best thing we couldhave done - we got everything that was great about the original and thenwent beyond that. There are gameplay dynamics with the PS2 versionthat are new and unique and innovative and cool with some differenttwists on things. Even though it's very old, it's also really really new."

BRAND NEW, YOU'RE RETROIf Gottlieb sounds evangelical about his project, it's understandable. TheProducer's standard West Coast attire of sneakers, T-shirt and shortsbelay a man of A Certain Age who actually tested the original Spy Hunterback In the Eighties.

"I worked part time for Williams and Bally testing games, plus therewas also a local arcade called Just For Fun that would pay us to test thelatest titles," Gottlieb recalls. "It was the number one test location for allthe new coin-ops, and I remember riding my bicycle to the mall first thingon Saturday morning When you were done playing, they'd give you fourbucks an hour or whatever which was good money - you bought yourselflunch and spent the rest of the day in the mall playing games. So for me,it's like coming full circle to be involved In the remake of something Iremember testing when I was 12-years-old."

I top-down view of apy's best friend -our gorgeous G-6155i t e r c e p t o r

174 PlayStation E

SPU HUNTEF

T i ? v t r -

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TVv 1M P H

:iiiiii3^

One minute, you're aboat flying off ramps,the next you're a bikedodging mortar fire.Sheesi i etc etc.. .

/k.X'1 a;L S Y - . . .L©'^-1S-

Thankfully, Gottlieb has managed to remove his rose-tintedspectacles enough to ensure that the 1 2 Spy Hunter is far more than apolygonal polish of his beloved original. So why do people want to revisitthese old games In the first place?

"It's probably the same as disco," laughs Gottlieb. "People look at Itas being hip and cool and amusing. It brings back memories - hell. Itbrings back a better time In some people's lives when nothing elsemattered apart from playing games and goofing around. But I also thinkIt's a backlash to technology and some of the games around today thatlook great but aren't any fun to play

"People think back to what's fun and Just why it's fun - that purity ofgameplay Hardcore gamers today remember going into arcades In theirteens and, every weeK there was a new game being released. Thegarnet's appetite was being fed very rapidly and on some levels, thebatting average meant that games were better back then. I say that withthe caveat that programmers back then didn't have to fight thetechnology. I remember when we worked on Joust, Defender, Robotron -all those classic games. You would get a prototype up and going - it wasa weekend, a case of beer and a pizza and you could get something upand moving around on screen. Nobody cared what It looked like. A lot ofthe guys were artists who did packaging or guys that did pinball art and

//''It was a weekend, a case ofbeer and a pizza and you couldget something up on screen''//

they came over and did the art on graph paper, filling in the squares indifferent colours to create a Joust character or a ship for Defender. Theother thing is just how fast those games were - 3D really slowed usdown! Pixels and sprites are really fast - Defender and Spy Hunter arereally fasti - and they require lightning reflexes. With some of the early3D games, you were lucky If they were running at 30 fps. They werechuggy and sluggish and Just not as cool.

Which obviously sets the alarm bells ringing for Spy Hunter - will Ittoo be "Just not as cool"?

"Of course, we looked forward to doing this sequel to Spy Hunter butthe first caveat from a design standpoint was that we didn't Just want toapply a new coat of paint on the house," argues Gottlieb. "As far as we'vecome from the original Spy Hunter to this version, we're going to have totake another leap when we go to the next level, rather than justsequelizing ourselves into obsolescence the way all these other retrofranchises have."

All of which is bold talk and looking way into the future - a futurewholly dependent on whether the gaming public embraces the new SpyHunter as much as it did the old. From OPSZs exclusive look at this newSpy Hunter, the game has a good chance of making it. Why? Because itretains the original reflex-centred appeal and dares to build missions andnarrative on to it. Alright, it's not Gran Turismo with guns, but it is achance for PS2 owners to mainline pure frenetic arcade action when allthe well-meaning sims of the world leave them a little dry. But why takeour word for it?

"I saw George Gomez, the guy who designed the original Spy Hunter,a couple of days ago at E3," concludes Gottlieb. "He has been a goodfriend of mine for years and is someone who has seen me grow up inthe business. I said to him, 'Whattya think?". He said, 'It's great - it'sbeyond what I ever thought or conceived of doing with It.' That made mefeel good, but also made me feel I've done the right thing." □

S M A RT B O M B !And the other cult classiccoming to PS2 is a little gameby the name of Defender...

While seeing Midway at E3, 0PS2had the chance to watch a topsecret showreel behind closeddoors. On it was a near photorealistic 3D space shooter wherea X-Wing-lype spaceship wasrushing high and low over adeserted moon. Its mission? Tosave the stranded spacemen onthe surface below, reeling them Ion a grappling hook while stavlnioff the attacks of the Swarmerand Lander aliens gathering allaround you. The only weaponsavailable? A laser or two - oh,and a certain Smart Bomb...

You know what we're onabout Midway are currentlydeveloping a new PlayStation 2version of Defender, EugeneJarvis' classic 1980 slde-scrolliniarcade shooter for Williams. Muclike the remake of Spy Hunter,the game will be a 2D-to-3Dspace shooter (think Star Wars:Storfighteri where the freneticgameplay is backed up bymission-based gameplay. Thereare no visuals as yet, but If thepre-rendered intro teaser we've

; seen is anything to go by, thiscould be good. Why? Because tfman at Midway promised thegame will look like the IntraReally? Hmm. Well, we'll seet h i s a u t u m n .

The best action can

. - l i

JSHA: WARLORDS' TOUKICHIRO KINOSHITA YUKI MUSC COMPOSER MAMORUSAMURAGOCH;ST OF SHOW AWARD SIGGRAPH COMPUTER ANIMATDN FESTIVAL

APCOM WWW.CAPCOM-EUROPE.COMtrademark of CAPCOM CO., LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, .t.' and -PlayStation" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

EXTREfHE TERm

WORDS: SAM RICHARDS/PHOTOGRAPHY: GAVIN ROBERTS

T e n mHow many extreme sports legends can you cram into one room? 0PS2managed five: skater Tony Hawk, BMX rider Mat Hoffman, snowboartler ShaunPalmer, surfer Kelly Slater and wakeboarder Shaun Murray. The connection?They ve all got PS2 games coming out soon under Activision's 0' brand

It's role reversal time at LA's E3 show. Out on Activision's specially-erected half-pipe, members of Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Pro Skaterdevelopment team are manfully attempting to recreate theirdigital exploits In physical fonn as a sizeable crowd whoops Itsencouragement Meanwhile, Inside a tiny press room, the world'smost famous skateboarder Is demoing the latest version of his

top-selling videogame."If you make the first four grinds you trigger an earthquake," reveals Tony Hawk

(for It is hel. 0PS2 makes two grinds before falling flat on Its arse. The Joypad Ispassed to Mat Hoffrnan who, with an Intense look of concentration on his face.Immediately wedges the crotch of his on-screen skater on a railing The man who'sendured more painful scrapes on his BMX than he's eaten hot dinners winces Insympathetic pain. He knows how It feels

It's left to the 0' posse's newest recruit Shaun Murray, to show us how It'sdone. Shaun M Is a big name In wakeboarding, which is a bit like water skl-Ing ona snowboard. He's also been playing Tor)y Hawk's Pro Skater 3 all morning andracks up an impressive end-of-ievel score. Impossibly talented surfer Kelly Slaterapplauds Meanwhile the man USA Today called the World's Greatest Athlete - akaheavily-tattooed snowboarder Shaun Palmer - appears to be shaking off aparticularly menacing hangover In the comer The meeting of the most renownedextreme sportsmen on God's Earth Is now In session.0PS2; Do you all play each others' games? If so, who's the best?Kelly: i think that comes down to who's the laziest and who spends more time

Indoors on their butt.Tony: Shaun [Murray] Is getting pretty good at my game...Shaun M: It's the first time I got to play it here so I'm trying out allthe new levelsMat Palmer and i are fighting for last place. I'm playing Tony's newone at the moment and 1 basically suckKelly: (charitably) Mat might be really good at my game but wedont know yet because It Isnt available. Maybe we'll put In an Extra

Easy mode so he can play it.0PS2: After playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, do you think the rest of

you will be able to cut It on the vert ramp?Shaun P: I used to skate when I was younger and I do ail kinds of other

sports besides snowboanding so I reckon I could get out there on the half-pipe...[Shaun modestly doesnt mention his successes In the fields of motocross,mountain biking or skl-lngiKelly: Palmer's going to come out with, like, Shaun Palmers Pro Everything.0PS2: How well did you know each other before the 0 brand roster took shape?Tony: Myself and Mat have done a lot of events together In the past so It's not like(adopts sarcastic sympy tone) videogames brought us together!0PS2; But since youis was the first game, Tony, did Activision go to you for adviceon who to approach to front the other 0' titles?Tony: A little bit, yeah. I thought Mat was the obvious choice for a BMX game and E

TO N Y H AW KSport :SkateboardingAge: 32N e e d s n ointroduction. Startedcompeting in 1978and has won moret i t e s t h a n i t ' s

possible to list here.Perhaps best knownfor being the firstskater to pull a 900"in competition, Tonyhas now semi-re t i r ed . He ' s t hereason why we're allhere, folks.Games: Torjy Hawk'sSkateboarding, TonyHawk's Pro Skater 2(PSone), Tony Hawk'sP m S k a t e r 3

looming on PS2).

M A TH O F F M A NSport BMXAge; 29The youngest everBicycle Freestyle proaged 16, Mat hadtotally redefined thediscipline of BMXvert by the time hewas 20 yeat3-old.Ten world titles land14 operations!!behind him. Mat hasmore recently turnedh i s a t t e n t i o n s t o

base-jumping off3,500 footNorwegian fjords.G a m e s : M a tHoffman's Pro BMXIPSonel, MotHoffman's Pm BMX

S H A U NP A L M E RS p o r tSnowboarding(among others!Age: 32An amazinglyversatile athlete,Shaun has baggedn u m e r o u s X - G a m e sgolds for bothboanJercross andhalf-pipe eventssince turning pro In1985. Also competesa t w o r l d c l a s s l e v e lIn mountain biking,downhill skiing,m o t o c r o s s a n d

snowmobi l lngG a m e s : S f t a u n

P a l m e r ' s P r oS n o w b o a r d e r

(coming on PS2|.

178 PlayStation.E

E X T R E I T I E T E R f TE] the other guys kinda suggested themselves, but it's amazing that we actualiy

got them all together on the same programme.0PS2: Do you thinly that the games have piayed any part In popularisingyour sport?Tony: i thinly the success of my game shows how much effort and devotionNeversoft has put in. They just wanted to make the game seem tBal... and,yeah, i think people have got a hankering to go skating because of playingthe game, which I never thought wouid be the case. I just thought It wouidbe for hardcore skaters.

0PS2; So does that mean you get people coming up to you at events ilkethis who previously wouldn't have known anything about skateboarding ore)cttBme sports?Tony: Yeah, for sure.Mat It's cooi that Tony's game has been abie to capture the core marketI've heard skaters say something like 'When I'm older and i cant physicallyskate and I'm worried about injuring myself, I'm just gonna retire and playTony's game'. They've said there's either stuff In the game that they'll never beabie to do, or that they would never try because they'd hurt themselves toobad. But then the game has also captured the Imagination of people whohave never even skated before.Tony: Now when you go out skating everyone knows what a crooked grind isor whatever That never happened befotB, you'd have a handful of people thatunderstood all the lingo and all the technical aspects of skating and now it'slike, everyone knows! And everyone knows how hard these tricks are too.Kelly: That's because the difficulty actually relates to the score.Mat: Yeah, although some people have got a skewed version of that, sothey're ilke, 'Can you do this crazy handstand?'Tony: True. I get that all the time [mimics whiney fan voice] 'Can you do afront-foot impossible to crooked grind to shove-it to manual?' No. I'm justgonna go up and down for a bit.0PS2: Do you feel you need to keep Inventing new tricks and moves toremain at the forefront of your sports?Kelly: I dont know how skaters remember all that shit! Don't you go for twoor three months and then think 'Oh yeah, forgot about that one'?Shaun M: But the individuality for those guys Is just in the little variations...Tony: Well you do get a trick set and run that out for a while - you have tohave a basic rtjutine. But what people love about skating is that it's evolvingall the time. Sure, it's hard right now, because if you want to invent

//*^*Can you do a front-footimpossible to crooked grind toshove-it to manual?' No..."//

something new It's got to be super dangerous or super technical...Mat: ...that lasts three-quarters of a second.Tony: Right.0PS2: So what's the primary motivating factor for continual innovation withinyour sports?Mat: i wouldn't want to feel ilke I'm living off past glories.Shaun P: i Just get bored of my old tricks so I have to come up withsomething new.Tony: I don't think I could Justify being a pro if I came up with the same oldtricks all the time.

0PS2: How do you go about Inventing new moves?Mat: i go back to some of my old tricks and start pushing It, adding newtwists and seeing what comes off.Kelly: it's wholly by accident. Uke I'll try a flip and for some reason I cantland it right, so I'll add in a double spin and just hold on to it for longer andsuddenly it's like, 'Woah, I didnt think about that before'.0PS2: How much do you think about the risks involved in pushingyourselves that little bit harder In order to discover new tricks?Kelly: it's the risk that drives us.Mat: That's the whole point - you dont know whether a trick Is possible ornot. It's the attraction of the unknown.Kelly: You do learn how to fall. You learn how to ball out so the fall doesnthurt you so much. 1 can do you a video In the art; of wiping out! But youVegot to put yourself on the edge of that threshold.0PS2: So who can boast the worst Injuries?Shaun P: I hurt my pinkie. [Mock folorniy holds up a bandaged little finger.]Mat: I stubbed my toe...Kelly: He's not telling you the worst of it. Once, Mat actually died.Mat: I'm trying to break every bone In my body

K E L L YS L A T E RSpor t SurfingAge: 29After entering hisfirst contest agedeight, winning sixworid titles andbecoming acclaimedas the best surfer ofhis generation, Kellyactually retired fromcompetition over ayear ago, althoughhe still surfss h o w c a s e e v e n t sand may yet returnto the arena. Kellyalso finds time toplay guitar in asurfers' all-star band.Games: KellySlater's Pro Surfer

S H A U NM U R R A YS p o r t :WakeboardingAge: 25Started waterskl-ingage eight, switchedto wakeboarding inhis teens and Is nowinto his sixth year asa pro. He's won theworid championshipand just about everyother wakeboardingtitle although the X-Games gold medalstill eludes him |hefi n i s h e d s e c o n d

again last yeari. Newboy of the 0' team.Gaines: ShaunMurray's ProW o k e b o o r d e r

(coming on PS2|.

Will Kelly Slater's game be betthan Take 2 's ter r ib le H30Surfing? We can only hope.

0PS2: Have Injuries ever made you consider giving up your sport:?Mat: There are times when the pain outweighs the pleasure...Kelly: I go through phases. Every winter I go surfing In Hawaii. All year youwori up to these big waves so you're psyched to go push yourself. Even ifyou get hurt; you're still riding off the buzz so It doesnt seem as bad.0PS2: How do you motivate yourselves to take the kind of physical risks inpursuit of your sport;s that most normal people wouid never even consider?Mat: You dont really think of It as one big thing It's like you Just push a littlefurther on what you did last time, and push a little further and next thingyou know you've done a 900'.Tony: You get to the point when you've done everything out there, so youneed to try something new.0PS2: How can you describe the feeling of being 30 feet Inthe air, midway through a huge trick or jump?Mat; It's a kind of... chaos. Except you've gottaconcentrate othenA/ise It's gonna be a painfulending So it's like trying to control somethingthat's out of control.0PS2; After all, physics never meant for youto be up there...Kelly: Why not? I'd rather be there than, like,playing paintbali with Ave guys hunting medownl [It transpires that the guys spentmost of the day before shooting each otherwith Dulux pelletsjMat; Man, I got nailed from all sides. I hadsome big old bruises come todayKelly: It's easier when your only enemy isyou yourselfShaun M: Yeah, you dont have thatfeeling of letting someone else down.0PS2: So do you feel that your sportsare quite solitary pursuits?Tony: Yeah, there's been a load of timeswhen it's just me and the board.Mat: It's good to ride with other guys and trade moves and stuff, but most ofthe time you're on your own.0PS2: Did you ever try out for less extreme sports like football and baseball?Tony: I remember my Dad dragging me out of the skate part< and taking mealong to basketball practice with all my pads on and I just thought, I dontwanna be here.

Kelly: My Dad was a football coach - we had, like, a clash of personalities...0PS2: Did you feel like rebel athletes because you were opting out ofprescribed school sports to go skating or surfing or whatever?Tony: I just preferred the community of the skate park to the school sportsteams because It dIdnt come with a big set of rules.Kelly: it was always a separate thing for me. I had my school life, and I hadmy surfing life.Shaun P: "i was a f'k-up at school!"0PS2; Is there still a rebel culture behind your sport;s or are they Justanother part of the mainstream now?Tony: There's still that rebel aspect to It, but skatings becoming way moreaccepted now.0PS2: Is being mainsttBam a good thing?Mat: Weil you dont have to worry about people looking down on you orhaving to struggle to make a living out of sports. Of course, there's always ahardcore who want to keep it underground...Kelly: Its cool that we can ail be held up as role models. 1 mean, rebelsurfers are fine but you dont see them in the championships because Ithink they spend half their energy being rebellious.Shaun M: Some people would think not working in an office for a living andhaving the freedom to do what you want is rebellious.0PS2: Have any of you ever had to work nine-to-five jobs?Shaun P; I think I lasted a day..Kelly: 1 worked for five days and that drove me nuts.Kelly: Some people's jobs might be what they love but whatever It is there'snot much freedom in a nIne-to-five.OPS2: Without being rude, some of you are getting on a bit these days. Howlong do you think you can continue taking risks for your sport?Tony: 1 dont know. I guess I've already stopped trying all the dangerous stuffbecause there's too much to lose, so I've been concentrating on technique, idont have a long-term plan, but sure, I cant keep doing this foreverMat: It's nice for me because I'm kind of immortal in the worid of BMX vert;,even If 1 stop tomorrow. My body will tell me when it's had enough.Kelly: I'm just hoping my game's going to be great and everyone loves It andit sells millions of copies. Then i can retire for good. □

PlayStation.E 0

WORDS: NICK JONES AND PAUL FITZPATRICK/ILLUSTRATION: WILL BARRAS

5 0 P E R S O N STO QlUN R PSSFact: PlayStation 2 is brilliant. Indeed, the fact that you'rereading this hene magazine means you no doubt agree - solet's have a bit of fun. Over the next 14 pages, we present the50 reasons why the next 12 months are going to beabsolutely blinding for PS2.

From the Snake-baiting Deus Ex (#37 to Ms Lara Croft(#27). From modern survival horror (#20 to retro chic (#31).From the sweet promise of online play (#35) to...

Get the drift? We know you do, so suffice to say get stuckin, and after you've had a good flick through, let us knowwhat you think of our number one reason. There could besomething in it for you...

C R i m EP R y s

'Parole' playing games.

Ready for parole after a stretch indevelopment chokey, anotorious trio of PS2troublemakers will soon be ~-1on the streets courtesy ofRockstar. Grand Theft Auto 3 seesthe criminally good series evolvingnto stunning 3D. Smuggler's Run 2■elocates to even more hostilejadlands and last up, with good,lonest, street fighting State OfEmergency promises to be a riot.Jterally. Meanwhile, the menace ofSCEE's The Getaway lurks in thei h a d o w s o f 2 0 0 2 .

R I R B L R O EThe new chairman of the board?

Just when it seems Tony Hawk's Pro Skater3 (#15| has got the board-based acrobaticarts aii sewn up for PS2, Criterion puils off amost righteous grind and ends up in thenear future with AirBlade for SCEE. Puttingthe 'mentai' back in experimentai, expectthe tituiar hover board of this urbanadventure to biow the tricl< bool< wide open.

PHOTOS: KATHARINE LANE-SIMS/AMANDA THOMAS

T H E B I G F I V E - D K"The future's not orange. It's black and blue.

I P H O N E SWAR'S up? Oh yes.

Not too long ago you could scarcely lift mobile phones withrisking a hernia. With today's diminutive models you can hachat with a mate in Brighton whilst snowboarding down K2your arm In a sling. And access the footle results while you'doing It. If the last ten years was about getting the technolocheaper and smaller, now it's about making it fun. WAP Is ashowing that Snake was Just the beginning with mobile boxanri firct-nersnn RPRs almadv on the wav. And with 3G lust

R R C R D EP O R T S

Time for a cabinet meeting.

Found everywhere from the neonhutches of Akihabara to Joe's Caff InGreat Yarmouth, arcade games offersome of the fastest, purest gameplayever likely to scar a gamer's retina.Here are five peerless changechompers making the leap to yourliving room this year.

Ferrari 355 Challenge (Sega AM2)Racer for fans of huge fiorsepower with aprancing pony on the badge. Go tifosi!

Police 24/7 (Konami)Shooting game with USB camera that 'sees'you dodging bullets. Us neither.

Silent Scope 2 (Konami)Sequel to original snipe-'em-up hit Nowwith trackball/gun peripheral.

Arctic Thunder (Midway)Bonkers snowmobile racing that makesSled Storm look like It's not very fast

Vampire NigM (Namco)Time Crisis meets House of the Dead, this Isa shooter with extra bite.

S T U N T m R NCrash and earn with tlie maimerso f D r i v e r.

Everybody expected Reflections' PS2debut to be Driver 3 but the peoplebehind the stunning automotive crimespree franchise had other ideas. Dueearly next year, Stuntman casts you inthe role of a novice stunt driver,learning the tricks of the trade beforepulling off increasingly elaboratesequences in front of the camerasWith exotic locations, and vehiclesfrom Thai putt-putts to Bond's LjotusEsprit, Stuntman promises distilled,driving madness with a thoroughlyglamourous edge. As if that's notenough. Driver 3 is still to come.

I R L F L I F E

C R A C K I N G C O D E10 REIVI Hypnotize - WARNING: Strobe Effects!20 OPEN WINDOW 640, 51230 SETRGB 1, RAN 1255), RAN(255I, RAN|255|40 FILL CIRCLE 320, 256, RAN 1390150 TEXT 35, 256, 'You will buy OfficialPlayStation 2 Magazine every month!"6 0 PA U S E . 0 67 0 G O T O 3 0

5 E G R 1 5C D m i N G

onic on PS2? Put a tenner on it..

'hy should you care who Sega are? Simple,scause a) their games are bloody brilliant, and b))u'll soon be playing them on your PS2.

Sega aren't Just your average games developerh no. Decades of developing top quality softwarer the arcade and home consoles has earnedem a reputation second to none. Now they'reBduclng some amazing games for PS2. Thelenomenal Cmzy Taxi Is Just a taster of things to)me - they've announced three new PS2 titles:rtua Fighter 4 (#36J, Headhunter and K-Project,ong with conversions of the Dreamcast classics)ace Channel 5, Ecco The Dolphin, F355lalienge and RPG Sokum Kaisen.

What's more, it's only a matter of time beforee big blue hog himself pitches up on the PS2lores. Yeah, yeah we know about that allegedaria duet, but where else is Sonic going to earnme much-needed moolah for Sega? Exactly

'HYWE LOVE SEGA...

Space Channel SSuper camp sci-fi funksterUlala faces would be alienInvaders In a galactic danceoff? Where are my pumps?

K-Pn4ectTempest meets Tron meetsKandinsky In this mentallst 30blaster/music generator? Wasthis acid brawn?

I Ecco Ttie DolphinHistory-changing alien ' SInvaders versus the worid'sfirst dolphin hero In super-

liul envirans? Gullup

H e a d h u n t e r

BIke-ridIng bounty-huntingdystopian future blow-outwith shades and guns? Oil mypump-action, I'm going out

F355 ChallengeTTie legendary Yu Suzukidigitises the ultimate Italiansports car for your drivingpleasure? Peaches and cream.

"In a Star Wars game, you

T R L KT D m E !

PlayStation 2: it l^nows wliat you're saying.

SOCOM: US Navy Seals is the first of an exciting breedof games that wili use amazing voice recognitiontechnology. With it you'll be able to issue a variety ofcommands to your team members.

The potential is huge. Imagine an adventure gamewhere the tone of your voice could determine how acharacter reacts to you. Or in a Star Wars game youcould talk directly to your wingmen. Fact ShinjiMikami and Hideo Kojima are both interested in voicerecognition technology for future games. Wow.

1

r r

. f f ;

H E R O y B E R O yA Itids game? Not on your life, mate.

To look at it, you'd think that Herdy Gerdy is one for thenippers, yet the painted visuals belie the complex gameplaywithin. Yeah, you have to shepherd animals into pens but,and here's the science bit. there's a whole eco-system atwork here where each of the game's 20 different speciesreact differently to one another. And that's the thing; it's thepower underneath the bonnet that makes Sony's black .b e a u t y w o r t h d r i v i n g . ^ •

V ' f

f

K P Z R N D R IHe created Gran Tlirismo. Now what?

With the brilliant Gran Turismo 3 in the bag, Kazanori Yamauchihas tumed his attention to the liiture of racing with thetentatively titled GTN - the 'N' stands for Network, meaning thenext incarnation of GT will feature online play.

But Kazanori is keen to stress that it woni be a simplematter of one-on-one racing over the Intemet or justdownloading new cars to your PS2 Hard Disc Drive - it will be amuch broader experience. Imagine an online garage whereparts and cars can be traded with other players and online GTchampionships where players compete for virtual prize money

Plus, would Kazza be the ideal person to breathe new lifeinto the worid of Formula One games? Well, the Fl-lype cars inGTS show he's giving it serious consideration, alongside histoying with an RPG and PS2 versions of Omega Boost and MotoToon GP, two of the PSone's most underrated titles. Easy fella.

si iwfrsj j

yPHOTO: ELENA DORFMAN I

5 T R RL U R R 5 :E P I S O D E I ILucas loves PS2 (ICOST).

It won't see the cinemas until2002 but Episode II is alreadyinspiring a number of PS2 games,and according to LucasArts bossSimon Jefferey they're, "Some ofthe most exciting concepts we'veworked on," As for Lucas himself,he can't praise PS2 enough. "What(Sony) have accomplished isbeyond comprehension,,." Result.

1 ^ ^ I D E U 5 E XPotential Snake harmer?

Near-future, stealth game featuring hard-as-nalls loner hero, festooned withpraise and loved with almost evangelicalfervour. Sounds familiar, no? Winner ofnumerous Game Of The Year avi/ardsincluding last year's BAFTA for Best PCGame, Deus Ex is the desktopcommunity's answer to Metal Gear Solid.Now, lonStorm's genre-defyingadventures of nanotechnology-enhanced,anti-terrorist operative JC Denton arecoming to PS2. Is this where weshamelessly plug next issue's exclusivecover feature? Yes. Yes It Is.

When stealth met shooting... Get rea fothe calming chaos of lonStorm's Deiis Ex.

^ iT

Fans of polygon-based ass-kicking are in for atrio of supreme beat-'em-ups currentlylimbering up in the PS2 development dojo.Early screens of Namco's Tekken 4 show theseries is taking its new opponents veryseriously And since they are the devastatlnglysharp Saul Calibur 2 lalso from Namco) andaega's platform leaping bruiser Virtua Fighter4, it's not hard to see why Plus there's greatlews for the 2D purist hardcore in the shape5f PS2 ports of the dazzling Guilty Gear X andOapcom Vs SNK In a word? Rghti

F I S T S O F3 0 F U R yIt's a three for all.

O N L I N Eon, tune In, get online.

liink PS2's online ambitions are a pipedream? Think again,iy the end of the year two things will have kick-start:ed theinline revolution. Broadband trials will have been carriedlut and Sony's Ethemet/56k Modem Network Adapter will10 a reality. By February 2002 UK gamers will be able tonap it up for around £40. With a 40Gb Hard Disc DriveDllowing soon after and deals with major Intemetompanies like Netscape, AOL and Macromedia alreadyIked, Sony's hardware is locked and ready to roll. And theames? By 2002 all new SCEE-developed PS2 titles willave an online component. The future Just got closer

A//T1iere are 25,000 sitesijoiit there streaming audiof''and video. The PS2 will

have access to all this"//Phil Harrison, Senior VP, SCEE

PHOTOr GAVIN ROBERTS

86 PlayStation-E

0PS2 and you.

It stands to reason. You've got thebest entertainment system in theworid. You're not going to settle foranything less than the finest PS2mag on the planet and the onlyone to give you exclusive, playabledemos every month. Want to knock50p off the cover price as well?Tum to page 126. Now.

PHOTO; POPPERFOTO

THE B IG F lUE DH"By 2002 all new SCEE-developed PS2 titles will have an online component;

m R D E I NJ R P R N

Our friends in the East.

•' Hard to believe but 'Made In Japan' used tobe a euphemism for badly made tat. How

things have changed. Emerging battered fromWWII the Japanese used the period of post

war American occupation to absorb westerntechnology and culture, copy it, then rapidly

improve on everything it touched. That was howit began. Fast-forward half a century and the land

of the rising sun relentlessly continues toinnovate technology and give it a human face.

And Japan's currency of success? UnbridledImagination and the courage to turn off-the-

wall ideas into fulty-functioning reality.Next time you chortle at remote control

paperiess toilets, power digger puzzlegames and square watermelons ,

remember that without Japan's more'bonkers' ideas, the epic liltes of MGS2,

GT3, Res/, Devil May Cry and, yes, yourPlayStation 2 would never have seen

the light of day. What's around thecomer? With Japan, it could beanything, and that's what mattes it sobloody exciting.

W h o k n o w s w h a tsweet genius is beinghatched ins ide theseneon-splatteredt o w e r s ?

S - '

V 7

R E T R OC H I C

T h e o l d b e c o m e s n e w.

As the generation weaned onSpace Invaders and Manic Minercomes of age and flexes itsfinancial muscle, pop culture hasslunk back to its darkenedteenage bedroom, pupated andemerged into the dawn of the21st Century as full on 8 bit RetroChic. From Yabasic Defender,through www.joystickjunkies.comand resurrected classics like SpyHunter, what better way to goback to the (old) school than withyour retro-ribbed PS2?

l U L U FSfTlRCKOqiUN! \' B R I N G I T ! \r am. GET OFF ME! ^J U S T

O w . O w w w . O w w w w .

A world wide phenomenon, WWF brought the extremespectacle of wrestling to a generation for whom BigDaddy Is Adam Sandler and not a fat man In a leotard,called Shirley. With two massively successful PSoneSmackdown games already under Its gaudy title belt,Japanese developer Yukes Is poised to unleash TripleHHH, "Hie Rock, Stone Cold and all their main .squeezes on an unsuspecting PS2 near you. fWith eerily realistic fighters, all their ^t r a d e m a r k m o v e s a n d t a u n t s , a n d *totally over the top gameplay 'Just :fBring It!' brings a fresh approach tothe beat-'em-up landscape.Expect a right royal rumble.

Orbital, SFA andU n d e r w o r i d a r eblazing theDolby Digital 5.1trail on DVD.

m u s i cMusic sounds better with PS2.

If you own a home cinema system or top of the range TV, youmay have noticed your PS2 is able to pump out audio inDolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The majority of DVD moviesnow take advantage of this, and games are also beginning tocatch on. But what about plain old music? While the recoiriIndustry dithers about 5.1, it has been left to Individual artiststo blaze trails. Recent DD5.1 albums include Underworld's livealbum Everything, Eveiything, Orbital's The Altogether andSuper Furry Animals' Rings Amund The World (also availableas a PS2-friendly DVD album]. Vl/ith luminaries such as CarlCox and Laurent Gamier heavily involved In 5.1 experiments,stereo is soon going to be painfully retro, dahling

Core's working on a new Croft original.

Lara Croft is an icon with nine lives. Justwhen it seems impossible for her to out-stripher earlier successes, she snatches victoryfrom the naysayers and hype starts soundinglike faint praise. Having already tasted deathon PSone Lara is soon to be resurrected onPS2, and ttie nest has done her a world ofgood. Aware that even a winning formula canbegin to lose its shine, Eidos has taken Laraaway from trap-infested tombs and placedher in Paris, framed for a crime she didn'tcommit and forced to elude capture whileunravelling the conspiracy against her.After a summer at the multiplexes it's goodto know Lara's coming home.

PHOTOS: JAMES COPE/AMANDA CRACKp T ? r

' •

me, recent games are too simplere like a leisurely stroll throughythills. Devil May Cry should be thelent of climbing a mountain../'ami, creator of Reskfent Evil and Devil May Cxy//

B IG F IVE DH"It's good to know Lara's coming home"

m i K R m iCapcom's genius in-residencepromises even more.

Planned as a new Resf Evil story,Devil May Cry mutated so muchin development that Mikamispirited it away and gave itroom to grow. The resulting"stylish, hard-action game" putsgamers in the gothic boots ofsword-swinging, gun-totingdemon/human hybrid Dante, outto lieep the underworld in checkand out of our own. An unlikelyYliietide hit is on the cards. Thenthere's the small matter ofResident Evil 4 which, Mikamipromises, will steer the series ina new direction. Resi Onlineanyone? Now that would be afiendishly good kiea...

USB: Connectivityfor the masses.

P L U G f T l E I NPeripheral visions for everyone.

With its analogue buttons capableof sensing 256 degrees ofpressure, the Dual Shock 2 Is noafterthought. But when it comes toperipherals, it's just the beginning.The two USB ports and an iUnl<port mean PS2 is primed tobecome a powerful media hublinked to devices ranging from akeyboard and mouse to Webcams, printers, digital cameras andmobile phones. And then there arethe peripherals fighting for ajoypad port:

-m iNGS OF JOYG - C o n 2The redesigned G-Con light gun is muchlighter, has new 'clip' and 'hammer*buttons and plugs into the USB for evengreater accuracy. Time Crisis 2 awaits.

Gran nirismo 3 Steering WheelThe peripheral for armchair petrol heads.Incredibly detailed force feedback makesfor tense, white-knuckle driving.

Web cam/THgger 'n' lyackballIn Police 24/7 the Web cam will senseyour bullet dodging prowess. The 'gun'will let you roam environments, aim andfire all with one hand. Yow.

D a n c e M a tPerfect for Bemani dance-a-thons andtrack and field exertions this mat cranksup the fun and robs you of your dignity.

DVD Remote ControlPlug the base unit into a controller portand enjoy 'grown up', wireless DVDplayback You know you want It

X I T I R SG R f T I E S

i g j u n n e t h o v e r B n y o u r s jtttteavaa^KjUjBHnttes avails

thsUK tMsCliri^B^BtheUKtMsE

m R XP R y N E

A world of Payne is due for PS2.

With its near photo-realistic graphics,incredible slow-motion magic bulletsequences and a hard-as-nails, noirstory line Max Payne has been devouredby the fickle PC community like a T-bone in a tank of piranhas. A PS2conversion promises this and more.

T H I S T i m EIT 5 UJRR

Worid War II threatens to annex PS2.

Typical. You wait half your life for a decentWorld War II game and then five turn up atonce. 1-2-Sound off!• M e d a l O f H o n o r : F m n t l i n e•Medol Of Honor: Fighter Command•Commandos 2•Prisoner Of War•H/dden And Dangerous 2

PlayStation 2 08<

P t o y S t a t l o n , 2 P t a y S t a t i o n ^ " P i a y S t o t l o n . ^ ^

F R N T R S a XSleepless nights, bleary eyes. One. More. Go.Final Fantasy returns.

I # '

You loved Final fantasy VII, VIII and IX. You losthundreds of hours of your life to them. You fell in lovewith Square's exquisitely designed characters. Are youready for more? Well this one's going to be veryspecial. Combat has been sped up and is lessfrequent but Square have retained the series' headymix of exploration, strategy and movie-like drama.Everything that made the games the best RPGs in thefirst place. And the future? Well, Final Fantasy XI isalready well under way promising a totally online , Jexperience, with you playing alongside fellow RPG 'nuts the world over Excited? Ybu bet we are. wir

H I

r i o l O N T H EI C 3 ^ M P l U P QI ■o I 5 H E L U E 5Great games... RIGHT NOW!

>D to reduce loa»oh, pretty and fast.

T H E1 D R R D R !jmmy, I'm scared.

e PS2 isn't Just supposed toJke you happy It also wants toare you shitless. The faint ofart should avoid the followingmes. For those who dare? To3ld fainting just keep remindingjrself, it's only a game... It'sly a game...

Devil May CryGothic shockerthat started outas Res/dent Evil 4before mutatingin to an ev i l wor ldof its own.

Soul Reaver 2and Blood OmenNot one but twogames that vantto suck your biad.Go give someonea bleeding hicky.

Alone in theDaric The t4ewNigh tmareA d a r k a n d

oppressive visionr e a w a i t e n s t h i s

sleeping giant

Silent Hill 2" W h a t T t i e f k . i sthatr A commonrefrain amongplayers of SilentHill. Expect to sayit again. A lot

Resident Evil 4A n e w w a v e o f

maggot-infestedzombies that justwon't stay dead arestumbling steadilycloser Scared yet?

Unlike Xbox and GameCube, you wont have to walluntil next year for great games - PS2 already has acatalogue of must-have titles. And there'ssomething for everyone. More traditional racinggames and shooters mingle with SSX and MTVMusic Generator 2. The choice Is yours.

THE TOP 10Gran Ttirismo 3: A-specTtie ultimate racing game.Speed, looks and depth.

S S X

Insanely addictivesnowboanding racer withstunning course designand amazing visuals.

TimeSpl i t te rsDesign you owndeathmatch levels in thefirst and best multlplayers h o o t e r o n P S 2 .

Onimusha: WarlordsAbsorbing samuraiadventure that challengesResident Evlts domination.

Quake IIIClassic PC shooterbrilliantly converted andenhanced for PS2.

ZOE (with MGS2 demo)Elegant mech shooter withgorgeous visuals. Includesground-breaking MetalG e o r S o / I d 2 d e m o .

Crazy TaxiSega's inspired take on thedriving genre where youplay a taxi driver.

Star Wars; SUrfighterBrilliant mission-basedshooter that takes placeafter Episode I.

MTV Music Generator 2Professional yet easy-to-use music sequencer/sampler/wibbly noise boxwith built in video maker

Teitken Tag TournamentThe latest instalment of thebest beat-'em-up series.

S P L n S H D D U J NSea-Doo a-go-go.

THE STUFF UJE DON Ty E T K N D I U R B D U T

Um, can you run that one by me again?

In the world of PlayStation 2 It's anyone'sguess what might happen next. WhenSony announced PS2 in 1999, who couldhave known that Just two years later, we'dbe preparing for an online Tony Hawk'sgame, surfing the Internet, talking to Vli

Suzuki about Virtue Fighter 4 or pastingour face into games with a digital camera?No-one What's more you can guaranteewe're going to be wonderfully surprisedagain half a dozen times before summer'sout. Is this a good thing? Damn straight.

If there's one thing Splashdown'sdeveloper Is keen to point outabout their forthcoming Sea-DooSim, It's the water So accuratelyhas It been constructed that itgives a completely unpredictableracing surface. Chances are thismeans you'll just fall off more, butwe reckon this Is a sure-fire fitslightly wet) winner

P H O T O : G A V I N R O B E R T S

T H E B I G F I V E - D H"Unlike Xbox and GameCube, PS2 already has a catalogue of must-have titles"

/ i s i i

r a p

BHIOECI'K O J I f T I R

// <Gnm0iiispio 3 has jipst con DutJn IJapan, Rnal ntasy X is out nR suMmrand Metal Gem' Solid 2 is outpter Ithink th 's a bright fiitlire for PS / fHideo Kojima,citatorofMefaf Gear So/icf 2// M i

He's giving you Metai Gear SoHd ZBut you're goine to have to waft...

As we talk, Kojima is holed up in hisTokyo studio putting the finishingtouches to the most anticipatedvideogame' of all time. That game, ofcourse, is Metal Gear Solid 2 and ifthere's a single reason why your PS2is the be^ thing ever, this is it

Kojim^ is the closest thing to afilm director that the games industryhas - he even considered a career inthe movie business. Luckily for us hechose videogames.

Kiqima's first game, the originalMetal Gear, appeared on an oldJapanese home computer, the MSX in1986. A sequel soon followed. Then, achange: two games, SnotcherandPolicenauts, showed Kojima's love ofcinetna - both heavily influenced byBlade Runner. In 1997, came MetalGear Solid on PSone and the rest isvideogaming history.

Ktou can expect Metal Gear Solid 2next February. And then what? Lastissue, Kojima mused of doing a MetalGear prequel set during WWII. That'sright, a Fox Hound agent up againstthe Nazis. Sounds crazy? Maybe, butwhatever he does next, PS2 is theplace to be when it happens.

Play5tation.E 091

E X T R E f T l ES P O R T S

For fans of the iffy stiffy..

Skateboarding, BMX, snowboanding - theextreme sports movement on PSone was atotal revelation and generated some entirelyclassic games, Thinl< Cool Boarders, TonyHawk's and Mat Hoffman - c lassics in theirow/n time. Well, extreme sports is about toexplode on PS2. SSX was Just the beginning...

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3Will feature online play and new totally Interactiveenvironments plus brilliant gameplay.

rding 2002Konaml's skateboarding sIm with fantastic' courses- an ocean liner, ancient ruins and a museum.

ESPN International Winter Sports 2002tjoads of winter sports: alpine skiing freestylemogul skiing, speed skating, bobsledding...

D K ) n STlie only console with DVD movie playback.

DVD is now the only way to watch films. Withsuper-sharp picture quality, surround sound and,more often than not, documentaries, trailers and ahost of extras, they have the power to transformyour living room into a home cinema PS2 is theonly console that offers you DVD playback straightout of the box: GameCube just plays games and

i with Xbox you'll have to shell out extra for thedrivers that enable it to play movies.

Over Christmas, DVD movies sold like hotcakes. According to the research bods atParamount, DVD players are now in some 2.5million homes in the UK (more than 3 million withPS2s taken into account) and sales of films nowenjoy a 30-70 split, currently in favour of VHS. Butthis is expected to rise to 50-50 by the end ofnext year which means more films being releasedand the price coming down. With stuff like theTomb Raider and Fina/ Fantasy special editions onthe way, you know you dont want to miss out.

D V D E U C I O U SCrouching Tiger,Hidden DragonLove and fighting inmythic China. And -oh! - the flying

G l a d i a t o rR o m a n s . S a n d a l s .

Tigers. Nasty, pointystabby things.

T h e M a t r i xK e a n u s a v e s t h ew o r l d . Yo u c a n k n o w

kung-fu too.

T h e T e r m i n a t o rS e m i n a l t e c h n o i rthriller with cuddlyu n c l e A r n i e .

Fight ClubB r a d P i t t a n d E d w a r dN o r t o n d u k e i t o u t t o

bring down capitalism.

D a r k S u m m r tMission-based snowboarder In a post-apocalypticworld where you're up against an evil ranger Yes.

S S X l K c k yTh\s sequel (of sorts) to The Best SnowboardingGame Ever'^ features new courses and boarders

C o o l B o a r d e r s 2 0 0 1

Somewhere between SSX and X-Games, tfiis trick-and racing-based snowboarder looks the business.

Face up to the future of videogames.

Wanna star in a game? Well, the technology isalready here In a number of Japanese games.All you do is, 1) Take your picture with a digitalcamera, 2| Hook it up to your PS2, 31 Pushsome buttons and - BAM! - you're a footballerin /SS or a golfer in Everybody's Golf

Things can only get better Word Is thatmany new games will feature this technologyincluding SCEE's fantastic-looking World RallyChampionship. Seeing your own face gothrough a windscreen. Now there's a thought

1 5 E X QIt's you against the 'bots with theworld as your prize.

Once-friendly city-controlling nabotsgo mad in the 21st Century - youand your team of gladiatorial,robotic-enhanced sportsmen arecalled in to rescue hostages, blastrobots and save the day in agloriously rendered future HongKong Features stealth andblasting gameplay along withkick-ass weapons androbot suits. Metal Mickeyt h i s a i n ' t

092 PlayStation-^

nlUIPEDUT_ F U S I O NPSone futuristic racing classic siiifts up agear on PS2.

In the l^one's early days, Psygnosis' WipEoutmote than any game, defined what SCEE'sconsole was about - the future, the tunes,the looks, the racing, the firepower, the sheerpower. WipEout Fusion takes its cue from thisseminal futuristic racer but Is not simplymore of the same. Redesigned, remodelledand with a roaring new engine, think of thecraziest, moj MWf ting roller coaster youcan, iwrt(5rnbine It in your head withtflper-fast sci-fi racing. Come November, youwill need this like you need air.

T H E B I G F l U E D H"Push some buttons and - bam! - you're a footballer"

□ R R KH O R S E S

Games that'll surprise you.

Some games just scream "YES!" at you -MGS2, for example. There are some,however, that take you completely bysurprise and turn out to be corkers Intheir own right - Tomb Raider on PSone,for example, PS2 has plenty of gamesthat boast this kind of potential.

I C OE t h e r e a l a d v e n t u r eset in a castle. Topof Hideo Kojima'sto pla/ list at thisyeaf s E3. Woo,

M a x i m o : G h o s t s

To G l o i yCute 3D rompinspired byCapcom's Eightiesarcade game,Ghosts 'n' Goblins.

Dead lb RightsJohn Woo-slyieblood and thunderthird-persona c t i o n - s h o o t e rfrom Namco,

Shiny Red CarSuper-slick city-based racing thatcomes screamingou t o f t he sc reenat you.

K-ProjectYeah, weVem e n t i o n e d i tb e f o r e - b u t l o o kat how mad it IsMagnificent.

P R I C EO R O F

Want that PlayStation 2 but want topay less? Come this way.

Thirty quid off the price of a PS2 notenough for you? There's been no officialconfirmation from Sony but insiderssuggest there will be another price dropsoon - either before Christmas or by thetime Xbox comes out next March. See?All this competition is a good thing Itmeans that you pay less to play

PlayStatlon.E 093

c o m i c sHoly lazy sub-titlel Sorry.

Comics have taken over the silver screen oflateSp/der-Man, plus new versions of Botmon, TTie Incredib e Hu/kand Wonder Womon due). Now they're makmg a 2domination. A new Spider-Man game (to coincide w, 2002 smovie), superman from Infogrames, a Tenchu-ke Wo' nneaction-adventure (SNIKT!), Botmon Vengeance from Softplus an X-Men RPG to be published by Activision. With thelikes of ex-2000 AD-er Simon Bisley recently providing arorkfor Fur Rghters and cult Brit author Warren Ellis (see pe 132)writing scripts for games, the best of comics 2001 is yet to hit.

Artd the beautiful'g e J- rjust got beautifuller... Wegive you the mightyWinning Eleven 5. r . ^

L/V > 4

l U I N N I N GE L E U E N 5

Putting the shoot-ooh into football.

We love Winning Eleven 5. It is without doubt the bestfootie game ever made. The instinctive passing, theliquid movement, the players who make mistakes. Thecommentator who keeps talking about Joey's socks.Add all of this together with addictive gameplay, andIt's exactly like... well, real football.

This PS2 version of ISS Pm Evolution is currentlyonly available in Japan but when It comes out in theUK (around November time) it will get a change ofname, improved player animations, real player namescourtesy of a FIFPro license and the gameplay will begiven a bit of a tweak And it's already the bestfootball game ever made. Did we mention that yet?

m H R R D D I S C□ R l U E

Expand your gaming horizons.

0

It slots neatly into the back of your PS2 and gives yc uthe option of 40GB of storage space on your PS2 bt tfor what purpose? Simple, get yourself a HDD alongwith a broadband Intemet connection and you'll beable to get your hands on movies, music and game:and a lot more besides. The new Lara game hasalready been touted as being episodic, with each'chapter' released over a period of time anddownloadable onto the HDD. Final Fantasy X will useIt to cut loading times. It's the start of something big -episodic gaming, brave new worlds and rentingmovies without even leaving your living room.

094 PlayStation.E

J R K R N DD R X T E R

TWO new superstars of gaming.

"Hiis is what happens when the maker of Crash Bandicoot goes allfreeform. Unlike Crash Bandicoot JakAnd Baxter is a free-roamingplatformer with huge worlds to explore and conquer Jak Is thecontrollable character while Daxter is his very attached side kick whoreacts according to Jak's actions: Jak swims, Daxter lies on Jak andsuns himself; Jak performs a roundhouse kick Daxter hangs on fordear life. Ljooks like Jak will be leading and we'll all follow.

0 3 • d D U C R N B EI N U I N C I B L E !

Immorta l i ty is just a ®i^ ®® away. .

Take a tip from us. Developers are gamers too and they love cheatcodes as much as you do. Whether you want to beat the odds andlive forever or just race as Jar Jar Binks in Super Bowbad, your PS2and OPS^s HartlCore section (see page 134) are the perfect combo.

I . A M . I N V I N C I B U ! ! ! !Star Wars: Starfighter Select 'Options' from the main menu, 'Codes' from thenext and enter this password - 'MINIME'

Oni: While playing hit S, highlight the Help section and enter

; to pause the game, then enterUnreal Tournament; Press [

S D N ! dThe Big Daddy.

f|- What could be better than having theI world's bluest electronic firm behindI your console? Movies, music and gamesI would be good for starters and that's

|v exactiy what Sony have. From Destiny'sM Child to PS2 to Crouching Tiger, Hidden^ Dragon, Sony is the world's bi estm entertainment firm as well. On top of this,

they're leading the way with Internet, DVD andm mobile phone technology and at the cuttingv edge of robot design with their Aibo cyber pets.m And the company's integration of all thisI entertainment and communication technology isr at the heart of their PlayStation 2 ideal. What

does this mean for you? Well, your PlayStation 2will become a gateway to a whole world of digital

entertainment - downloadable music, movies andgames via a broadband connection and theknowledge that your PlayStation 2 is supported by

the biggest electronics firm in the world. Smiling yet?Well, you damn well should be.

T H E B I G F l U E - D H"Your PS2 is a gateway to a whole world of digital entertainment"

■When Sony releasethe hardwareenabling PS2 ownersInternet access, thefun really begins.Slamming someonefrom Pern at Tekkcn4, sharpening mygaming skills againsta literal worid ofcompetition - who'sfirst? The worid Ismine!" StephenGreen, Wlnal

''PS2 has gameplaylike/SS 2-8 that hasnever been sochallenging andrealistic. Graphicslike those beautifulcars and tracksfrom Gran Turismo3. Fun like FurFighters, the biggestlaugh I have everhad." ChristopherDavies, via email

"When the onlinefacilities becomeavailable. ImaginewhatvKecando-dovimload all ourgames and moviesto our HDD." BenHilller, Wiltshire

"I'm looking forwattJto expanding mycollection of gameswith GT3 and MGS2,which look to besetting a newstandard for theirrespective genres."Mart!. SkrzypczyKvia email

"1 could spend therest of my lifebabblin on aboutjust how dam goodmy spankin', wicked,mental PS2 is!"TNT, via email

m ^ a u iIt's your PlayStation 2 - why do YOU like it?

This Issue, we've tried to give you the 50 reasons why you'vemade the right choice with PlayStation 2. We've detailed thebest games of 2001/2, the technology that will revolutioniseyour console, development stars who are mapping the futureand things we just happen to think are pretty damn cool.

But, without getting too philosophical like, PS2 is anindividual experience. Some people like the hardcore twitchgaming of yesteryear, some people like slobbing out with aDVD of American Pie and a beer while others cant wait todownload real-time weather stats for the San Marino grandprix. Like the PSone before it, the PlayStation 2 Is a personalthing that means something different to everyone. Somethingto do with that Emotion Engine that throbs at the heart ofevery PS2? Probably not, but beyond ail the psychobabble,you're the ones who've paid good money for your PS2 andgames - why do YOU think PS2 has a bright future ahead?

To the left of this paragraph, you'll find some of thereasons that regular Postal correspondents have sent to us togive you a few Ideas. We'd like you to answer the foiiowingthree questions about our Top 50 and then complete, in lessthan 25 words, the reason why PS2 has a great future. You'llfind the answers dotted about th is feature but the t ie-break

question is in your capable hands. Be creative, be clever, bepositive and be lucky because one lucky reader will win the50 PS2-related goodies listed at the side of the page.

1. WHICH JAPANESE DEVELOPER ISCONSIDERING A NETWORKED VERSION OF HISPS2 DRIVING GAME?2. WHAT PS2 PERIPHERAL NOW HAS 'CUF AND'HAMMER' BUTTONS FOR ITS LATEST GAME?3. WHAT PAIN- INDUCING PS2 GAME PROMISESTO BE A "RIGHT ROYAL RUMBLE'7

THE P1AYS1ATI0N HAS A BRIGHT FUTUREBECAUSE... (Complete in less than 15 words)

Send your answers on a postcard with your name, addressand phone number to: Top 50 Compo, Official PiayStotion 2Magazine, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, Somerset, BAl 2BW, oremail your answers to PS2@futurenet.co.uK marking yourmall Top 50 Compo'.

Competi t ion RulesNo purchase necessary. No correspondence will be entered into. Noemployees of Future Publishing or any affiliated company may enter. Nocash alternative is offered to these prizes. Closing date is 15 August2001. If any prize becomes unavailable, Future Publishing or affiliatedcompanies reserve the right to replace it with another of equal value,Multiple entries will be disregarded. The Editor's decision is final. Allnormal competition rules apply.

THE RFTY PRIZESI. A copy of On/mushoZ A Gount/et T-shirt3. A Speedster 2 steering wheelplus a copy of SCEE'sFl 20014. A vefy cool North FaceR o c k s t a r r u c k s a c k

5. A copy of EA's Rugby6. A very large pair of Reody 2Rumble Round 2 boxer shorts7. A copy of Le Mans 24 HoursS. A copy of Star Mfars;Storfighterfrom Activlslon9. Two DVD/CD packages -The UK Garage Project andVisions Of Ibizo Vol One10. A copy of ExtermJnotfonII. A very nice Capcom penIZ Some Gorlliaz stickers13. A bunch of PSone games14. A snow globe and mobilephone holder from Infogrames'RPG/adventure, Technomoge15. A copy of The Bouncer16. A US-only long-sleevedTlmeSp/ttters T-shirt17. ShnsK soundtrack18. A Street Hghter EX3 T-shirt19. A copy of UnrealTournament imm Infogrames20. A Rockstar beenie hat pluscool Haze-designed T-shirt2L A bundle of CDs includingTravis, Cast and Faithless2Z A copy of NBA Street23. A promo On/T-shirt24. Two new DVDs - DoubleJeopondy and The Preside25. A UEFA Cliallenge Adidasfootball and T-shirt26. A copy of Stor rttors; SuperBombod Racing from Activlslon27. A Rockstar hooded fleeceplus badges and stickers28. Red Rjction poster2 9 . A n U n n s o / T - s h i r t

30. An Activlsion 02 poster,signed by l essrs HawKHoffman, Slater and Palmer31. A copy of SSX3Z Infest the new Papa Roachalbum from Dreamworks33. A very limited edition copyof Reflections' Driver 234. A copy of R/ng Of Red plusthat' Metof Gear Solid 2 demo35. Rockstar wind breaker(okay, kagouij plus T-shirt36. A copy of Escape FromMonkey telond from Actlvision37. A Ring Of Red promo T-shirt38. A copy of Rumble Racing39. An Afro Thunder doll40. A copy of Siy Odyss^41. A UEFA Choilenge Adidasbaseball cap, nipper's size4Z A UEFA Ctjalienge Adidasbaseball cap, big nipper's size43. A copy of Cnjzy Taxi44. A very rare Tony Howk ProSkater skateboard45. A very cool North FaceTaikeetna jacket from Rockstar46. A copy of Quake III47. A copy of TImeSpfttters48. A generous pile of ^phicnovels from Titan Books49. A very limited platinumcopy of MTV Mus/c Genercftor 250. And finally, an extremelyliinited edition Lara Croftleather 'Rock Technology"Jacket, worth around £2001

•Mony, many, many thanks toall companies concerned forthe above swag. Stars all.

Gran Turismo* 3 O 2001 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All manufacturers,cars, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyrightedmaterials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Developed by Polyphony Digital Inc. Launch date subject to change.

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AV O I D D I S A P P O I N T M E N TRESERVE YOUR COPY NOW!GIVE THIS FORM TO YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL NEWSAGENT, AND HE'LLK E E P Y O U A C O P Y O F T H I S A C T I O N PA C K E D M O TO C R O S S M O N T H LY

Dear Newsagent : MXUK Is avai lab le f rom your local wholesaler

RESIDENT EVILCODE VERONICA X

Take a flame- th rower to t hem

»The latest instalment of the survival horror standard-setter comes meepingand gibbering to the PlayStation 2. Watch out - she's got claws.

^ E \ I I E I J U 5Tlie latest PlayStation 2 games - reviewed and rated

□ F F I C I R L

PlayStation d' mRGRZINE

0PS2 review rating Game reviews

If ifs for PlayStation 2, and heading for a store near you, we'veplayed It, argued about It, and, ultimately judged it Every Issue,we iook at the latest games and rate them out of 10:

10/10 Utterly essential9/10 Hugely satisfying and entertaining8/10 Highly recommended. Definitely w/orth your money7/10 Good, solid fate, and vi/eii worth a gander6/10 Better than average, and fine for fans of the genre5/10 An average game of some merit4/10 Raor, but may still have the odd moment3/10 Extremely disappointing2 / 1 0 To b e a v o i d e d1 / 1 0 B e e r m a t

Resident Evil Code; Veronica XGif tNBA Street

City CrisisUEFA ChallengeEphemeral FantasiaATV OffroadWDL WarJetz

CART Furyinternationai ijeague SoccerPSone Reviews

T h e O P S 2 S t a r « a y e r a w a r d M e d i a r e v i e W SAwarded to any game that gets 9/10 or over Tills is just ourlittle way of trying to hammer home what Is a fairty simple 128 DVD reviews; Traffic/Requiem For A Dream/Sexy Beast/Whatmessage; Get this game, and get It now Women Want/Raising Arizona/Scaiy Movie/Keeping The Faith

130 Top 10 Hi tchcock DVDs132 Inten/iew: Warren Eliis/intemet round-up133 Books/Magazlnes/Music reviews; The Beta Band/Aallyah/D12/More

X

\

1/

0 *

\ J X N X

m E E T T H E E n E T R L U n y EValiant champions of aii tilings good and iiuman, evii pawns ofthe corrupt Umbreiia Corporation, sticit them on an island,stand back and watch the blood fly. These are the heroes andvillains of Code; Iferonfco X...

Claire RedfieldThe heroine of Resident Evil 2. Afterescaping Raccoon City, Claite wascaptured by Unnbrella when sheinfiltrated their Paris HQ in searchof her brother, Chris. Imprisonedon a monster-inhabited island,C i a i r e m u s t u s e h e r r e s o u r c e s t o

save herself.

C h r i s R e d fi e l dThe hero of the original ResidentEvil and a member of the eliteS.TAR.S. police force. Missing Inaction since his heroics in the firstgame, Chris arrives at Umbrella'sIsland base after a tip-off that Claireis held captive there. As usual, he'sa couple of steps behind his sister

The siblings arefinally reunitednear the end. Aww.

S t e v e B u m s i d eSteve's father is an ex-employee ofU m b r e l l a w h o w a s d i s c o v e r e d

selling the company's secrets. Thewhole family was then Imprisonedat the base. Emotionally scarred asa result, Steve's attraction to Clairethaws him out and they worktogether to escape the Island.

RodrigoAn Umbrella agent but a decentb loke . A f t e r t he I s l and t u rns I n t o azombie-ridden hell the woundedRodrigo frees Claire from her prisoncell. In dire need of medicine, whenyou find some return to the prisoncompound and Rodrigo will giveyou a useful lockpick in exchange.

A l b e r t W e s k e rWorked alongside Chris in theS . TA R . S . f o r c e b u t t u r n e d t o t h edark side and became his evilnemesis in the original Res/dentEvil. Thought to have died at theend of the first game, Wesker Isback and seeking revenge on theRedfield family

Alexia and Alfred AshfordDirect descendants of one of thefounders of Umbrella, the Identicalt w i n s r u n t h e i s l a n d b a s e a n d a r ehell-bent on restoring the sinistercompany to its former glory (by anymeans necessary). The main villainsof the game, this strange pair arenothing like what they first seem...

□ F F I C I H L

Play5tation«2' mnGRZiNEPublisher CapcomE u r o s o f tDeveloper CapcomP r i c e : £ 4 4 . 9 9

Players: 1Release: 7 AugustW e b s i t e :

wvwv.capconi.co.jp/v e r o n i c a / i n d e x - h t m l

Back storyThe biggest and bestinstalment in Capcom'ssurv iva l hor ror ser ies has

finally lurched onto FS2.Orlgnally released onDreamcast, this version Isidentical apart from thea d d i t i o n o f t w o c u t - s c e n e swhich delve deeper Into thestory of villain Albert WeskerNo great change then, butenough to make this theu l t ima te Inca rna t ion o f theultimate Resident Evil game

You exit the prison compound througha dingy, blood-splattered corridor Onceoutside you look around... wait,, listen.Ttiere's no movement, no sound apart

from your own quickening pulse. Just a deathly,foreboding calm. Walking past the smoulderingwreck of a trucK it suddenly explodes and blastsyou Into a graveyard. From the blazing machine azombie emerges. Aflame fnom head to toe, hewalks toward you, reaching, almost smiling as hisundead brain registers the prospect of food. Youscramble away but the problem is about to getmuch worse as the unholy ground erupts andcorpses surface ail around. With only a knife forprotection there's no option but to turn and run.One of the zombie's grabs you and takes a bitebut you shake frBe and escape to fight anotherday You vow to return to this place. Only next time,you'll be carrying a gun...

For Resident Evii veterans, this openingencounter with the zombie hordes will be afamiliar enough set-piece to get the blood flowing

For newcomers to the world of survival horror, it'sJust the first step in one of the scariest videogameJourneys you'll ever take. Close the curtains, turnoff the lights and tell the neighbours not to worry ifthey hear skin-crawling screams in the nightResident Evii is back and it's bigger; bloodier andbetter than ever before.

Code; Veronica X takes up the epic ResidentEvil saga thtBe months after the events of Resi 2.Having escaped the zombie-infested Raccoon Citywith Ljeon Kennedy, Claire Redfield continues thesearch for her brother Chris, who has beenmissing in action since the original game. Inevents depicted in the stunning opening FMV,Claire infiltrates the Paris headquarters of thesinister Umbrella Corporation before beingcaptured and imprisoned on the company'sremote Island base. And that's the cue for you toJump in and take over.

As you'll soon discover, those clumsy Umbrellascientists have spilled the lethal T-vlrus once againand the genetically engineered monster-maker has El

Play5tation-E 101

Puzzles remain firmly in theRes/ tradition, such as solvingcryptic number problems (Top)and moving obstacles (Above).

g wreaked havoc on the island population. Instead ofbikini-clad ladies sipping champagne on the beachand sunburned blokes trying to simultaneously lookcool and play volleyball, this island community hasbecome rather more gruesome in nature.

Aside from masses of ravenous zombiesdesperate to take a bite out of your earhole, rabidhellhounds, vampire bats, giant spiders, poisonousmoths and several other nightmarish speciespopulate the island. Oh, and If you get past them,there are some terrifying bosses to contend //ith.While the previous Resident Evil games could beaccused of being a little short on enemies. Code:Veronica X has more monsters per square yardthan a hen night in Bradford.

Another area where Code: Veronica X offersincreased value for money is in Its sheer size Withmore hours of gameplay than all Its predecessorsput together for the first time in a Res/ game youcan feel both the size and the quality. Adddrastically improved visuals and sound to the mix,plus a superior narrative that truly draws the

//You can fee/ both thegame's size and quality.This is the pinnacle ofsurv iva l hor ror / /

player Into its chilling embrace, and we're lookingat the pinnacle in survival horror gaming.

The fomiat of the adventure remains in thetradition of Resident Evil titles: monster-blastingand cryptic puzzle-solving supply the action, whilenumerous creepy cut-scenes help to unveil thestory. Evolution rather than revolution it may be,but considering this familiar structure hascaptured the imagination of gamers worldwide,Capcom cant be blamed for not tinkering toomuch with a successful formula,

ISLAND OF LOST SOULSIn the red shoes of CialrB (and later the work bootsof Chris) your initial task is to try and make It offthe island In one piece. Along the way you'llencounter help in the form of Leonardo Di Caprlolookalike, Steve Bumside, a disturbed young manwho becomes Claire's romantic interest. As well ashindrance in the form of undead freaks and typical'locate blue shield to fit Into monument andunlock secret passage'-style puzzles, shocks comethick and fast thanks to a seemingly endlesssupply of ingenious set-pieces, some requiring adeadly trigger finger, others demanding brainsrather than brawn,

A favourite scene is the encounter with thezombie doctor and his undead patient in theInfirmary, At first you think you might be able to

"Shot through the heart/And Claire's to blame!"- that's the only way to kill the Nosferatu boss.

Cackling nutter Alfred Ashford runs the base andconstantly bothers you with his sniper rifle.

The survival horrorarmoury that wil lprotect you from a ^fate woree than death. More effective than In

previous Resi games asslashing now 'hits'zombies multiple times,but it's still bloodyuseless. Discard It in theitem box from the offset.

HandgunSlow-firing and low indamage but this will beyour most trustedcompanion in the earlystages. An upgrade canbe found later on tomake it automatic.

C r o s s b o wShoots arrows rapidlybut does very littledamage. Unless, that is,you combine the dartswith the gunpowder boxto make deadlyexplosive arrows.

Grenade LauncherG r e n a d e r o u n d s a r e

plentiful althoughthey're only useful fromclose range. Sadly, thefar more powerful acidand flame rounds arefew and far between.

S h o t g u nThis baby Is exclusive toChris's adventure. It nolonger blows zombies inhalf unfortunately, butaim high and you cant a k e t h e i r h e a d s o f f w i t h

satisfying one-shot kills.

D u a l A u t o m a t i c sCollected by Claire earlyin the game, avoidtemptation and savethese for the perilsahead because therea r e n o a m m o r e l o a d sa v a i l a b l e f o r t h e m .

102 Play5tation.E

R E MRESIDENT EVIL CODE; VERONICA X

sneak past unseen while they're busy eating eachother on the operating table. But once they catchsight of you, the two of them are across the roomin a flash, forcing some desperate close rangeshooting Although this type of bloodthirstycombat provides the bulk of the excitement, it'simperative to be careful with your ammo, avoidconfrontations If possible and save the mostpowerful weapons, iike the Uzis, for later in theadventure. This Is a difficult game, so If you wasteyour ammunition and end up facing one of thebosses with merely a handgun, then death is justa heartbeat away

After spending hours escaping the island, alithe previous Res; games would Just have endedthere. But not Code: Veronica X. At this point(having just crashlanded at Umbrella's AntarcticHQ), you're stiii only halfway through and there'splenty of exploring with Claire plus Chris's entire(and significantly different) adventure to negotiate.And it wouldn't be a Resident Evil game if theconclusion didn't take place in an eerie mansion,now would it?

This time atDund the evil protagonists at thecore of the stoty are the Ashford twins. Alexia andAlfred. Descended from one of the founders of

Umbrella, their Involvement in the T-Virus is morethan Just a business affair and the sadistic siblingspresent a powerful bamer between you and safety.

The private residence of the siblings Is amongthe best of the game's numerous, horror movieInspired locations. A haunted house on the hill. Itevokes menacing impressions of the Bates Moteland, like Norman himself, one of the Inhabitantshas a kinky form of psychosis. As you approachthe house, lightning flashes, thunder crackles andfog swirls around as if attempting to disguise themalevolence of the building Upon reaching thefinal staircase, sinister music reaches a crescendoand two Bandersnatches spring out to scare youhalf to death. These new, elastic-iimbed monstersare a handful to say the least but If you manageto dispose of them, the only thing between youand the interior of the residence is a door Thequestion is, just what the hell is lurking on theother side?

This cinematic feel Is enhanced immeasurablyby the superb aesthetics. Code: Veronica X maybe just a direct port from the original Dreamcastversion but it still looks better than the vast

majority of games out there, largely thanks to themuch-heraided switch to real-time polygonalenvironments. Ail the earlier Resi games - andeven Capcom's PS2 survival horror-'em-up,Onimusha - have pre-rendered backdrops andwhile these are extremely detailed, they dosacrlflce the sense of interaction, of really existingwithin the game world.

Don't get in the water wfith thisAlbinoid or he'll fry yo' ass withevil electricity bolts. ,

D u a l U z i sT h e U z i s a r e e f f e c t i v eb u t t h e i r a m m ocount drops at analarming rate. Andiike the DualAutomatics, youc a n ' t r e l o a d ' e m .

A K - 4 7 R i fl eA superb weapon for thelatter stages of the game,It can wipe out everythingapart from the weil-hardbosses. Again, there's noreplacement ammo souse sparingly

M a g n u mYou'll feel lucky, punks,when you get hold ofthis beauty. By far thebest weapon in thegame, it hardly has anyammo so you must savei t f o r t h e fi n a l b o s s e s .

B A T T l f S C A R R E DAfter finishing tlie adventure you're rewardedwitti the brilliant bonus that is the Battle mode.Here you can choose one of the main charactersand fight your way through loads of monster-infested envirt>nments. Depending on your actionsin the full game, the following goodies can beunlocked tor use in the Battle mode.

Combine the arrows with gunpowder to create explosive darts. Many hilarious undead infernos ensue.

1. Collect the sniper rifle to unlocl( a first-person perspective lAbovel.2. Perform well as Claire to unlock theAlternate Claire character3. Collect the Gold Luger to unlock Steve InB a t t l e m o d e .4. Pick up Wesker's sunglasses to unlock him.5. Finish Battle mode as Wesker to unlockAlternate Chris.6. Unlock Hunk (the crazy tofu man) byfinishing the main game in 3.5 hours |l!!l andcollecting every file and letter VirtuallyImpossible to get, this one.

Claire's first encounter with the living deadoccurs in the graveyard with this charming man.

E] Despite being In true 3D, Code: Veronica Xloses none of the detail in its backgrounds (whichlook as if they've been conceived by a twistedHollywood set designer) and has the massiveadvantage of being able to use a free-roamingcamera. No longer locked into position, it cantrack characters as they move, zoom into close-ups to show the emotion on their faces and evenpan into hidden crevices to give the unsettlingImpression that there could be a monster lying inwait, watching preparing to pounce.

Almost unheard of in videogames. Code:Veronica Xs soundtrack is Just as impressive asits visuals and plays an equal part in building the

//Almost unheard of invideogames, the musicis as impressive as theaccompanying visuals//atmosphere. The orchestral scone is a perfectmatch for the on-screen events; turning the chillsup to 11 when danger is Just around the cornerand becoming more tranquil when you're in thesanctuary of a save noom. Effects are suitablymacabre with familiar sounds like zombiesgnaaning and munching on flesh, the patter ofspiders scuttling in to attack and the unfamiliarland therefore more unsettling) noises emitted bythe less common creatures in the game. Even thevoice-acting has improved out of sight comparedto the earlier games. Admittedly, the performancesare unlikely to get Bobby De Niro worried but atleast the interaction between characters no longerinspires derision.

One area where improvement is desperatelyneeded in the Resident Evil series Is with Itsinfamous contnal system. Sadly, it remainscompletely unchanged. Code: Vemnica X doessupport analogue control but it isn't properlyconfigured and remains the same clunky systemthat was programmed for the D-pad back in theday of the original Resident Evii. There's noadvantage to using the analogue stick and insteadof having a full 360 degree range of movementyou still edge around like a malfunctioning nobot,barging Into walls and being grabbed by monstersyou should be able to avoid. On the plus side, the180 degree quick turn, which first appeared in

Mr Tyrant is back andhe's ain't happy. Usethe acid grenades toput him right.

The creepy BatesMotel inspired PrivateResidence. Pray thatmummy isn't home...

R E N I E mRESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA X

'u '

The Changing Rooms team went for the Goth vibe.

Dino Crisis, has been included and this doesmal<e it easier to get away when you'resunnunded by enemies.

RESIDENT PROBLEMSAnother feature malting an unwanted return is thestatic loading screen business; showing stepsbeing ascended and doors creaking open as youenter a new area. There is an argument forincluding these screens because, as every horrorfan knows, the scariest thing is what yourimagination tells you is skulking behind the doorso extending the suspense could well be anIntelligent concept However; it's highly unlikelyCapcom includes these loading screens forartistic effect and if it's just a case of lazyprogramming no-one would mourn their loss fromthe next survival horror instalment

An irritating aspect of Code: Veronica X thatCapcom has absolutely no excuses for is the factthat it hasnt been optimised for PAL release. Yes,those old miscreants slow-down and bordersraise their fetid heads once again, making thegame more sluggish than its NTSC counterpart.While not as harmful as in, say, a racing game, theslower pace does have a negative effect as it justexacerbates the already ponderous controlsystem. Rest assured, your enjoyment won't bediminished but it is disappointing that such a biggame hasnt been converted with the tenderloving care its status desen/es.

Aside from this, there's one more accusationthat can be aimed at Code: Veronica X. The factthat it's, basically an 18-month-old game. Theonly difference between this PS2 release and theearlier Dreamcast version is the addition of two

When Chris gets hold of his trustyshotgun, zombie dismemberment istalten to a new levei. Mmm, gory..

cut-scenes which feature the treacherous AlbertWesker; expanding on his shady involvement inthe big Umbrella conspiracy

Obviously, this means that if you've alreadycompleted the game on DC there's not muchpoint updating to this version. But for everyoneelse. Code: Veronica X is a categorical must-buy Aclassic that demands the biggest possibleaudience, its sinister power hasnt diminished oneiota. If you turn your nose up at the game merelybecause of its origins you'll be missing out on oneof the best adventure titles ever made.

For years the videogame world has beenobsessed with the notion of an interactive movieand Code: Veronica X comes closer to this holygrail than almost any other game. Its captivatingstory cinematic atmosphere, kinetic action, scares,thrills and blood-spillage are more effective than99% of the horror flicks that seep out of Hollywoodeach year Resident Evil Code: Vemnica X is TheShining of the survival horror genre, you'd be a foolto avoid its depraved clutches. □ Ijee Hart

nR E S I D E N T E V I L C O D E : V E R O N I C A X

I 1Why we'd buy it- r s t he bes t zomb le -

'em-up ever made- Hours of adventuring for

y o u r m o n e y- The r^agnum. It blows

undead heads clean off

Why we'd leave it:- That horrific control

system- Opening door loadingscreens? On the FS2?

- Not an optimised PALc o n v e r s i o n

A detaited postmortemreveals this is the pinnacleof survival horror. Get thegame, get the shotgun,get messy.

Incredibly detailed and atmospheric world B 8

339'SoiMid 1 Spooky music, vastly improved voice-acting 0 9

TTiriiilnR action-packed, typically ResI 0 9

l i f e s p a n By far the biggest survival horror game yet 0 6

PlayStation,2 MERDILTW M M M W I U I N E ^ I K

And if you needed another excuse to buyCode: Veronica X, there's the smail matterof a Devil May Cry demo...

The next, potentially astonishing, game tolunch out of Capcom's survival horrordungeon will be Devil May Cry. One of PS2'smost tiighly-anticipated titles, a demo of thegame was packaged with the Japaneserelease of Code: Veronica X and the goodnews is, UK gamers can look fom/ard to thesame treatment - except the demo we'regetting is a brand-new one which properlyshows off its RPG-style character points andthe bloodthirsty action as half-man, half-demon Dante wields his mighty blade.

This demo will be available to buyseparately in Japan but we can just hangtight for Code: Veronica X to be released on7 August buy that beauty and get the DevilMay Cry demo for nowt. Go Blighty!

PlayStation.^ lOi

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Using Gift's magic staff,you can freeze water,stop tlie fans andcontinue on your way.

i f -3 Dont give up tlie» 1 day job: Our hero

/ & ' c o c k t a i l s .%< tfif I

iVieet Gift, theP S 2 ' s a n s w e r

to iVIario (itsays here).

i ' - h

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Gallic flair or garlic breath? Whichever; Gift seems strangely representative of a nation.

Publisher: CryoI n t e r a c t i v e

Developer EkosystemP r i c e ; £ 3 9 . 9 9

P laye rs : !O u t N o wW e b s i t e :

g i f tcryogame.coni

Back storyGift is a collaboraflonbetween Phillipe Ulrlch, thecreator of Dune Ithe firstever videogame on CD-ROM] and R6gs iDisel, aleading creative figure in theFrench comic book industryGift has also appeared onPC and Game Boy Color

Thetie's a fine tradition of mad Frenchvideogames, rather in the mould ofmad FtBnch films (C/ty Of Lost Children,Delicatessen - need we say mote?]. In

fact, one now/ long-defunct videogames magazinehad an oft-repeated truism about it, 'It's kooky,because it's French, naturellement," they used tosay In Amiga Power, of any French videogame thatpassed under their noses.

Years pass, technology advances and yet itseems national characteristics stay the same, forwhat we have here is an amazingly kooky, andFrench, game. The plot then... stick with us on thisone, we know it doesnt make sense. You play thepart of a mischevious imp cocktail bannan (calledGift) who's seduced Into playing a videogame lavideogame within a videogame - masterful PMIhere (PMI? Postmodern Irony, natch] set in sevenworlds that are parodies of famous films eachmled over by a garden gnome who's meant to beone of the Seven Dwarves except that eachrepresents one of the Seven Deadly Sins too. Whenyou beat each world with the aid of your magicstaff you collect one of the dwarves in order topresent them to the object of your desire, theneeding-to-be-rescued voluptuous princess with a

Snow White complex, Lolita Globo who is based(and we quote the game's designer herel on, "Allthe gorgeous girts of Cryo who were walking Infront of our office". Clearly the only kind of PC tohave an impact in France is the one designed byIBM In the Eighties.

In fact, hidden beneath this ridiculous 'plot' isa fairly decent platform adventure with some braveand innovative ideas and one or two seriousdrawbacks. In fact one of the drawbacks is that it'sgot so many brave and innovative ideas that youcan get rather confused by them. Ijet's take a look

Ught and Dark The game uses light and darkin some very clever ways. There are somecreatures, called Little Clears that can only exist inshadow ansas, there are others called Little Darksthat can only live In light Quite a few of thepuzzles found in the levels rely on the essentialnature of these creatures.

If you move a canopy giving shade to a bunchof Little Cleans, they'll have to move too, to stay Inthe shadow. Similarly there are objects you canpush around in well-lit areas where Little Darksoperate. As long as you're careful to stay in theshadow of the object you're moving the LittleDarks wont get you. Ingenious, non?

The puzzles at theheart of Gift are of ifairly ordinary, 3Dadventure nature.H e r e ' s o n e s u c hexample.

B o x C l e v e rThe big glowing handmarks on this box are aclue that it can bepushed and pulleda b o u t t h e r o o m .

H o l e I n O n e

Conveniently it appearsto poke through thewall that unnecessarilybifurcates the room.That is lucky.

Going UpN o w t o r i d e t h i selevator platform to theother handy hole in thewall and get into theother half of the room.

O u t B o x e dW e ' r e i n t h e o t h e r h a l fof the room. Look! Wec a n u s e t h e b o x t o

jump up to anotherelevator platform.

S h e l l U k eN o w w e c a n r e a c h t h e

platform with theI n n o c e n t o n i t H e ' s aw e i r d c r e a t u r e w e c a n

pick up when stunned.

I n n o c e n t s A b r o a dPick him up and carrythe Innocent throughseveral doorways andthence Interminablylong corridors.

Open SesameOnDpping the innocent onthis floor switch keepsthe circular door open sot h a t w e c a n c o n t i n u e o nour merry way Huzzah.

L06 PlayStation.2

//Behind the ridiculouspiot is a great platformgame with a few veryinnovat ive ideas/ /

Light and shadow are also used in anotherclever way. On some levels you pick up a ShadowGun, This weapon has a fairly bizarre power -when you shoot at something's shadow with It, theobject casting the shadow becomes frozen.Patrolling monsters can be stopped dead In theirtracks for a limited period of time, but moreIngeniously, moving objects can also be stopped.There's one puzzle where an object drops down abottomless hole every time you go near itSolution? Freeze Its shadow with the Shadow Gunand you can go and collect it Simple.

PRESENT ARMSThis puzzle Imagination also extends to the magicstaff that Gift wields. The staff can be charged upwith energy balls that are found lying around thelevels and even by terriDrlsIng some creatures whocan be made to lay energy ball eggs. There arethen large crystals lying around which radiateeerily These crystals will change the power of yourstaff; yellow ones let you make light, so you canenter previously Inaccessibly dark areas, bluecrystals let you freeze things so that previouslyuncrossable stretches of water become Ice andgreen ones will drain your energy.

So what's wrong with the game aside from theludicrous plot? Excessive difficulty and Instantdeath just about sums it up. Make a mistake In thegameplay (and you can't always seem themcoming) and you lose a life. Lose enough lives and.

fairly obviously, it's game over There's a location onthe second level where, if you're patient enough,you can earn yourself infinite lives (at least weassume so, we stopped at 40). There's anotherplace, on the seventh level where we couldnt workout how to complete a jump. We tried. And tried.And tried. And we lost 40 lives doing It. And that'swhere we stopped playing and went for a pint

This Is a great game in parts; innovative andInteresting but the game mechanics of repeateddeath do nothing to involve you with the characteror story line, and the hero himself is, well, quiteunllkeable. Bizarrely it seems this Is deliberate.Phillipe Ulrich, the game's creator has said that,'The idea was to make a game where you don'tplay with a hero; the hero plays with you. We didntwant to make him another puppet-hero withoutpersonality." Unfortunately a puppet-hero withoutpersonality Is just the kind of thing you do wantYou want to be able to project some of yourpersonality Into the character you're playingothenA/ise you end up not giving a damn when thestupid, red Imp falls to his death again. Instead youstop playing the game. □ Steve Faragher

G I F T

Why we'd buy it- We love champagne,truffles, pat6 and acuteaccents (ahem)

- Ifs a surprisinglycerebral platfonner withlots of good ideas

VWiy we'd leave it- It's really frustrating to

die all the time- We hate the stupid main

c h a r a c t e r

A hlgtily original andamusing take on tiie old3D platfonner but one thatlets its riotous imaginationget in the way of providinggood, solid furi

Excellently atmospheric and crysta l c l e a r I

S o u n d Helps you play the game and rarej |y rankles IGameplay Lurches from genius to stupidityLife span Plenty of levels, but can you be ars e d ? l i

- 1

It's a bit clever this. By shooting the shadow ofthe floating blob with my Shadow Gun it's frozenit - you can do the same to any enemies.

Plav5tat ion.g \ IERDI1ZT

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REXJIEUN B A S T R E E T

Slam dunks are accompanied by a Motrix-y cameraand scary screaming from IVIr Commentator.

0--.

Despite their diminutive size, the female players areevery bit as nasty as their male counterparts.

P u b H s h e nEA Sports BigDeveloper EA SportsPrice: £39.99Players: 1-2Out JulyW e b s i t e :nbastreetea-com

Back storyNEW street is part ofElectronic Arts' EA SportsBig label. In other words,we're talking games basedon real sports only bigger;faster and more excitingArcade-styie games wittieasy picl<-up-and-piaygamepiay loud and V/ack/commentary and lots ofover-ttie-top visuals Tfieirlast game was the much-loved and high^ praisedsnowboarder, SSC

Not your usual EA Sports fane, is NBAV Street It's not at all like FIFA or any of

its ilk - the attention to detail isminimal, stats dent play a big part and

tfiere's no stupidly accurate physics model goingon. But It Is an official license and one that boaststhe daddy of all basketball licences, namelyivilchael Jordan's name and likeness. Hov^ever, NBAStreet is not your usual basketball game - itattempts to take the sport back to the street andin the process have a bit of lun' with It

Firstly, the normal player number of five-on-fivehas been reduced to three-on-thnee making formore quick-flre passing and shooting You nowonly get a single point for a basket within the areaand two from outside and, because this Is streetbasketball, fouling your opponent is just part andparcel of the game and will remain un-penallsed.It's like playing football with no offside anddeadball kicks, getting rid of the elements thatnonnally slow the game down. As a result It makesfor pretty decent videogame fodder - all the

action, the outrageous show-off slam dunks andalley oops without any of the boring tactical stuff -NBA Street is the fast food of basketball.

TTie game is not unlike a reworking of oldarcade/PSone basketball game, NBA Jam. Whenwe say reworking It's actually virtually identical inmany ways. Although NBA Jam featured two-on-two action, whereas in NBA Stnsetyou get an extraman on each side, the cone of the gamepiayremains the same: shoot hoops, stop the otherteam from doing the same and finst to 21 wins.

Ttie one-playen game is not as inspiring as youwould hope. Pick a squad from one of the NBAteams and then play them with street rules againstthe other NBA teams In ptDgnessively mone difficult

/y1\/BA Street is notunlike a reworldng ofold basketballgame NBA Jam//

Like real basketball,games a re won w i thgood defense (andvery tall men).

Players join your rostereach time you beat theCPU teams.

Combos and spectacular dunks give you buckets of pointswhich in turn build up that trick meter.

You want to know what the rules are? Tfiere areno rules! That's the rule. No, it isnt. YES, IT IS!

8 PlayStation.^

S T R E E T T U F FAs you progress through the game and beat moreteams, you get to 'earn' more players. Strangelyenough, the best players (apart from MichaelJordan) are actually those playing on die streetand not for the big time NBA teams. These arethe picit of a motley crew..

I N A J A MNBA Jam appeared in the arcades in the mid-Nineties and is clearly the inspiration for NBA Street.Let's compare the two to see exactly how similar they are..

1 . S i l l y p l a y e r s 2 . O u t r a g e o u s m o v e s 3 . ' F u n ' c o m m e n t a r yNo Freddy Krueger in NBA Street Huge, gravity-defying leaps in No commentary in Jam butbut I t has i ts fair share of made both games. does have the same stupidu p p l a y e r s . m o v e n a m e s .Verdict: NBA Street is aimost identical to a game you couid have piayed ten years ago, with only a fewtweaks. Is this realiy what we want on PlayStation 2? Yes it is, but we want so much more as weil...

4. Four playersAh. four piayers could play inJam but not NBA Street

¥Green under the player indicateswhether he's able to shoot .

tiers. As well as selecting a team you are given theoption to create a player, one of the moreabsorbing additions to the single-playerexperience. Everything from height, weight andtrainer colour can be adjusted to your taste.

HOOPS UR SIDE YER HEADBetween tiers you play street teams. The realincentive to winning here is to Improve your squad,tal<lng either a player from your recentlyvanquished opponents or bonus points that canbe used to improve a created player's vitalstatistics. Along the way you earn extra courts,special players and cheats. What this one-playerexperience unfortunately lacks Is any realchallenges with leagues, cups or any of the otherusual play modes you get with a serious basketballslm strangely absent

Luckily, the on-court game itself more thanmakes up for this, it's fast, frantic and showy.Imagine players leaping 15 feet into the air, bailsthat sparkle when a special shot is Imminent andexplosive baskets which detonate to signal the endof a game. Although as is the norm for basketballgames the play Is pretty much end-to-end,because the moves are so much more of a

rN B A S T T t E E T

Why we'd buy it- Easy to play- Two-player mode

Why we'd leave it- Not much longevity- Basic basketball

gameplay- Dont get much for yourm o n e y

spectacle, you won't tire of the gameplay quiteso quickly The locations are typical downtownhaunts like the beach, the boulevard or by thesubway and all are complete with fully-animated,loitering spectators.

As this is street basketball, the emphasis Is ondoing flashy tricks rather than scoring baskets. Themore long-range', 'special deliveries' and'reei2reeis' you perform, the more points you earnand the more prizes you receive. Different tricksenable you to get past piayers when one-on-one,or perform unfeasible slam dunk combos, butmost of all Just give you the chance to embarrassa human opponent with your skills. Of course, justto rub It in, you get an over-enthusiasticcommentator, shouting about your achievements.Thankfully, you can shut him up easily enough witha slide of a volume bar

Although not of the same calibre as EA Big'sother PS2 title SSX, NBA Street provides a greattwo-player experience - and that's all. It's simplymuch more fun performing a perfect combo moveagainst a friend than It is a soulless PS2, Play NBAStreet alone though, and It's only a moderatediversion. So then, one's dull, two's company andfour would've been great,, □ Nick Jones

Looks acceptable butdie Nineties aicade-stylegameplay doesnt offerenou^ to really grabthe attention.

Wa t c h i n a m a z e m e n tas men jump 15 milesinto the air

Some rules st i l lremain - you haveto pop off a shotw i th in 20 seconds .

Gra«iliics1

Nice animation but can be jerl^ <3t t imes

S o u n d Hip-hop soundtracK irritating conimentaryl_acks tactics and options

1 Life span Two-player will keep you going foi'awhi le |

D JThis Jamaican taxi driver |us neither} Is just about thebiggest show off in the game. Has a completerepertoire of dunks in order to wow the tadeez.

PlayStation.E IC

P u b l i s h e r Ta k e 2I n t e r a c t i v eDeveloper SyscomP r i c e : £ 4 4 . 9 9Players: 1O u t N o wW e b s i t e : w w w .

syscofii .cojp/engl ish/p roduc t /d fy.c r i s i s /i n d e x - h t m l

Back storySyscom Is handly knownoutside of Japan, and intruth isnt tembly weii-i<nown there. Past effortsinclude managementgames I Am The Air-TrafficContmller and The Bistrowhich boasts 230 kinds ofwine and 70 kinds ofcheese TWs orthodoxmanagement strategy gamestimulate your brain!"exclaims their entertainingWeb site in flawless Engrish.

City Crisis: literally, a city In crisis.Skyscrapers bum like gasoline-soakedrags, stranded children and animalsscream for help, people collapse with

heart attacks in the street. ThIcK choking smokecauses the emergency services to fall back. A redsports car hurtles thrciugh the streets, under themaniacal control of a serial dell-burglar

Into these mean and dangerous streets mustcome a hero. A hero with an enormous chopperYes, you. Suddenly the smoke starts to thin as theimpressive whuppa-whuppa of your rotorsdissipates the conflagration, your winchmanappears from the rolling clouds, snatches thecomatose victim from the gnound and It's up, upand away to the local hospital.

Such is the nature of City Crisis-, you pilot avariety of machines (see Getting Out Your Chopper)through a range of missions The missions fall Intodistinct, selectable modes: Rescue (using yourwinch to lift Innocent civilians from the burningrooftops and then putting out said fires usingeither your mysteriously self-repienishing water Jetor water bomb missiles that you collect as rewardsfor rescuing people), Chase (where you have tokeep your searchlight on that mad dell-burglar

while the police track him down), Time Attack(flying your chopper through a series of ringsfloating above the gnoundl or Rnal Rescue (anagalnst-the-clock trawl through the aftermath of aserious earthquake).

The game's environment is beautifully realisedas you can see from the grabs dotted around thispage. Every building Is unique, the streets are fullof moving cars, and Indlvlduaily-anlmated peoplestroll the pavements. There's a definite extra levelof realism here that shouts next-gen plaything atyou. The only slight disappointment Is when youcan clearly see that the picture of the driver Insidethe bus has actually Just been mapped on to theoutside of the shape, but given the changes inscale Involved as your helicopter rises up anddown several hundred feet with the city coming upto meet you or dwindling away below you, then It'sno surprise that a small amount of cheating hadto be done at the most magnified level. Hover awhile though and the city will amaze you. Read theadvertising hoardings hanging over the streets, orfollow the train around Its tracks for a while, or seethe kids rushing out of the school at breaktlmeand you realise Just what background effort hasgone Into making this one of the best-realised

110 Play5tation.E

C H O P U F T E RPay homage to Sega's seminal Eighties arcadepleaser, the iegendary Chop/ifter

i i :

City Crisis owes little to Choplifter bar the obvioushelicopter rescue tie-in, but it's great to see apicture of this 1983 classic again. If you needreminding, Choplifter involved flying behind enemylines to rescue your stranded troops from theenemy's clutches.

Cutting comers in Time Attacl< mode can be very fatal.

The trickiest Rescue mission - another chopper.

Plucking people from burning buildings is most satisfying That carnival boat swings back and forth - dont get in its way.

Delay in snuffing out a fire and it can spread.

virtual cities you've yet to see, on a par with thelil<es of Sim City 2000. And thats simpiy what'sgoing on in the background.

HOVER FLIESThe helicopters are well constructed too, nnostespecially in their control. The game uses the twoanalogue sticks to control the vehicle, just likecontrolling a helicopter in r^al life. The left sticktilts the chopper so that it files fora/ard, backward,left or right, while the right stick controls therotation of the blades and lets you turn yourhelicopter left or right or gain or lose heightIjearningto use the two sticks together is a realchallenge - nearly anyone can master It, but It isgoing to take time. But what mastery can beachievedl You'll learn to swoop down out of the airto effect rescues, zip In and out of tightly-packedcity skyscapes avoiding pylons and hoardings as

/An these mean anddangerous streets mustcome a hero. A herowith a huge chopper//

The icons alert you to a victim - colour denotes their status. Always attack the base of the fire. It goes out much quicker.

you go, it's a tribute to the delicacy and precisionof the Dual Shock 2 that this is achievable and wewouldnt mind betting that it would be possible topilot a real helicopter with a Dual Shock padhaving used It to achieve a level of controlimpossible with inferior controllers during thetesting of this game.

So it's a shame to report, after all thisunrestrained positlvity, that City Crisis is ultimatelydisappointing The mission-based Career mode isto blame, it offers the only real meat of the game,and there simply isnt enough on the bone. In totalthere are seven missions to play, about a third ofthe number we would imagine to be satisfying.There are four Rescue missions, a very measly twoChase missions (we think the missed opportunityto have a train on fire hurtling through the nightwhile passengers leapt screaming from It iscriminal) and the Final Rescue mission.

in a rather stingy attempt to spin out thegameplay, the missions become unlocked onlyafter you've completed the other availablemissions to a pre-determlned standard. You'reranked at the end of each mission In the samemethod as Resident Evil, earning an S, A. B, C, D orE ranking To open new levels you have to perform

to a certain standard in the missions, whichinvolves playing them over and over again toImprove your score slightly. This Is engrossingwithin limits, but ali-too-soon becomes simpiytiring as you attempt to shave another fiveseconds off your time to achieve that next rank

An othenwise wonderful and prBtty Innovativevideogame is likely to be consigned to history'sscrap heap because It simply doesnt offer thedepth of mission that we've come to expect fromthe likes of Red Faction or TimeSplitters or GranTurismo 3. What a pity. □ Steve Faragher

rC n Y C R I S I S

Why we'd buy it- Beautiful minlatutE

cities that live andb r e a t h

- Fantastic control system- Exciting fiie-flghting and

r e s c u e m i s s i o n s

Why we'd leave it- It simply doesnt lastlong enough

A rate combination ofinnovation, tight challengesand a superior controlsystem that's let down bya sadly inferior lack ofgame. It simply runs outo n y o u

Staggeringly good cit/scapesS o u n d W h u D D a - v / h u D o a

Gameplay Superb controls, great challengesUfe span Where did it all go wrong?

PlavStation,g XIERDICT

Play5tation.E 11

The shooting action is fmstratingly unresponsive and glitchy. Players react with typical histrionics when the cards come out.

Kearney (we assume that's Robbie Keane) larges itr putting four past the ageing Gooner defence.

Set pieces suffer badly from missing frames, making |||it virtually impossible to judge the flight of crosses. . m m A goal-scoring sweet spot. Run down the wing,

the keeper foolishy runs out, you slot the ball in.

U E F R E H n L L E N G EFootball has Just been taken to a new level of Sunday League incompetence.

CRyS' l ML t jMLL^. .Considering UEFA Challenge is totally useless as afootball game, we decided to test its capabilitiesas a fortune-telling device. Could it prove itsworth by predicting the Greece Vs England WorldCup quailing result? This Is what happenedunder (ahem) strict scientific conditions.U I D E O C & M F R E A L G A M E

Publisher InfogramesDeveloper InfogramesSheffield HouseP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9Players: 1-4O u t N o wWeb site: www.uk.infogrames.com

Back storyFrom the experiencedfootball game developersbehind once great PSonetitle Actua Soccer, the teamhas undergone a drasticloss of forni t UEFAChallenge Is anything to goby. Recently released onPSone to temble reviews,this PS2 version is. Ifanything even viiorsebecause it fails so miserablyto utilise the superiortechnology at hand

From Micmprose Soccer thnsugh KickOff 2, the sublime Sensible Soccer andright up to the present (jay's ISS series,videogames and the beautiful game

have alw/ays been inextricably linked. But for everyLuis Figo there has to be a Carlton Palmer andwhile we've been spoiled by the great footie gamesJust mentioned, we've also been abused by somehideous soccer stinkers. The infamous travestythat was World Cup Carnival, the sacrilegiousPSone 'update' of Sensible Soccer and many,many others have all spat a grenner in the face ofour national sport, UEFA Challenge is the latestdonkey to join this list of shame.

The horrendous loading times are likely to putyou in a bad mood, but once the ref blows hiswhistle and the match kicks off, that bad moodwill rapidly turn into stunned disbelief. It's difficultto fully accept how dreadful this games Is.

Collecting the ball, you amble down the wingpressing sprint but moving Jerkily and slowlybecause the frame rate is so sluggish. You try andsquare the ball to the edge of the box... thenquickly hit pass again because the player failed torespond the first time. As you had to press passtwice, when your team-mate receives the ball heimmediately lays it off to the opposition.

The other side hit a long pass whichdemolishes your offside trap and leaves the strikerclean through on goal. While the computer wastesvital seconds deciding which player to give youcontrol over the forward runs beyond the keeper

and instead of rolling the ballInto an empty net, he displays a

comedic level of Al by passingback to one of his wingers. After a

sliding tackle regains possession, youknock it up to a forward who shoots

first-time only for the ball to disappearinto some kind of space/time

continuum before re-emerging in thekeepers' arms. There's a severe, almost

fatal, case of missing-frame-itis going on here.

As the goalie prepares to clear upfield you'llnotice the most stari:llng example of the game'sineptitude: the goals are completely out ofproportion, standing about level with the keeper'sshoulders. If the developers couldn't even bebothered to draw the bloody posts properly weshouldn't really be surprised at how much thegame stinks.

Yes, there's a fairiy decent commentary fromBarry Davies and Graeme Souness. Yes, it mostlyhas the correct clubs, stadia and players - we saymostly because, due to some incrediblycomplicated licensing anomalies, not all the realplayer names can be used, meaning that thefamous duo Sykes and Berridge are now runningthe England midfleld. And yes, there's a decentrange of competitions to test your footballing skills.But when the footle is this bad who really cares?

A lethargic pace, unresponsive contrsis,missing frames, laughable Al - everything thatcould possibly go wrong In a football game is righthere. It's Sunday league standard compared to theworid class perfection of Konaml's Winning Eleven5, so for Hurst's sake wait for that classic to arrivein the UK rather than wasting forty quid on thisshoddy insult to the beautiful game A footballingtragedy, UEFA Challenge desen/es to go down inhistory as the Worst Football Game Ever On PS2..,Ye t □ L e e H a r t

V I D E O G A M EFirst half: A ratheruneventful first half vKithlittle goalmouth actionand some typicallydodgy offside decisionsfrom this stupid game.S c o r e : 0 - 0

Second half: Afterdominating possession,England finally get onthe score sheet on the57th minute thanks to aclinical finish in the boxfrom midfleld dynamoSykes. Berridge seals thevictory with a glorious25 yard drive nineminutes from time.Final score: 2-0

First half: A ratheruneventful first half withlittle goalmouth actionand some dodgy offsidedecisions from a stupidNomfegian linesman.S c o r e ; 0 - 0

Second half: Afterdominating possession,England finally get on thes c o r e s h e e t o n t h e 6 4 t hminute thanks to apredatory finish fromginger genius PaulScholes. David Beckhamseals the victory with aglorious 35 yard free kickthree minutes from time.Final score; 2-0

V E R D I C TUEFA Challenge Is clearly a magical predlct-o-matchtool. Everyone buy the game immediately and use Itto bet on the football results next season. Sigh.

UEFA CHALIENGE

Why we'd buy rt- Urn, it's football- We like throwing

money down drains

Why we'd leave rt- It's among the worstfootie games ever made

- Incompetent in almostevery department

A football game so terribleit's almost an admirableachievement Buy 1$$ orwait ft>r Winning Eleven 5.Do NOT buy this game.

Graphics Adequate visuals but terrible animation 0 3

02^S o u n d Decent if occasionally off-cue, commentaryGameplay A pitiful, almost unplayable, game of football 0 5Lifespan One match Is more than enough punishment 01 1

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r i E M E R A L FA N 1 A S I A

Closing time can get messy. "Watcliout, Kev! He's got a bloody scabbard!"

When you meet newallies you get a prettylightshow and swiriymusic. If only thishappened in real-life, j

Despite the well spaced out plot scenes, you'llspend a lot of time wandering about aimlessly.

Listening to the inane chatter of townfolk is sadly vital for piclung up clues.

Hmmm, they're possibly not talkingabout Blighty, then.

Yotf re-nevef far from a rude joke orvaguelysu^est ive comment.

■ a i lPuUishen KonamiDeveloper KCEJ EastP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9Out AugustW e b s i t e :vwvwJ«>iiami.cojp/kcc j /p roduc ts /e_fantasia/i is/i n d e x - h t m l

Back storyKonami has rarely flirtedwith the RR3 genre over thelast decade, producing onlya handful of sword andsorcery titles linciuding themuch overlooked PSonegem, Sulkoden: DemonCentury). The company ismore famous for its rfiythmaction fare - thinl< DancingStage, Beat Mania, DnimMania and Guitar Freaks ~so we're not overlysurprised with this game'sunique feature.

Tha t wonder fu l Gu i ta rFreaks cont ro l le r -available at an importshop near you...

We're prepared to bet a very large sumof money that, at no point In ttie entirehistory of the RPG has a gamer said,"Well this Final Rintasy lark is ail very

w/ell, but why can't you just sit down and play aguitar?" For some reason that hasnt stoppedKonami producing the worlds first RARPG. Whichstands for Rhythm Action Role-Playing Game. Andwe really hope it catches on.

It all starts like this You play IMouse, a rovingguitar player, songwriter and thief. When Mouse Issummoned to the small island of Pandule tocompose a romantic ballad for an impending royalwedding he immediately accepts the challenge. Atfirst, the Island's ruler Xelpherpolis seems like anice enough chap and his wife-to-be PrincessLoreille Is a corker But there's something rotten Inthe state of Denmark: Mouse cant shake a teniblefeeling of Impending doom and Uineille doesntseem overjoyed at her forthcoming nuptials. It'syour Job to find out what the heck Is going on.

This Is done In standard RPG manner -exploring communicating with people andransacking homes for magical Items. On top ofthat, whenever you venture out of the town or intoXelpherpolis' castle you'll find yourself engaged inrandom turn-based battle encounters withmonsters, which can - if you are not a veteranrole-player - get rather tedious (even If themonsters are called Doug Alex and Manchester).

But wait - this game has a surprise or two upNs silky trousers. The script Is bawdy, thecharacters are drunken downbeats, and the plot Isgenuinely Intriguing Xelpherpolis, as you'll And out,is an evil sorcerer who has the Island trapped In arepeating five-day cycle and you're the only onewho can break the spell. Until you do, the samefive days replay over and over again (but with littleclues here and there on how to change things), it's

not unlike Gnjundhog Day. But with guitars.Oh yes, the guitar At various points In the

game, you're required to pull out your six stringand perform a song Yes, we're In Konaml'straditional BemanI territory. Non-hardcore RPGerscan play perfectly well with a good old Dual Shock2 but the more otaku of you out there can alsoplay using Konaml's natty Guitar Freaks controller;available In an Import shop near you. As with theDual Shock 2, follow the coloured lines as they goup the screen, pushing the corresponding buttonson the axe/pad at exactly the right time toproduce tunes of tear-jer1<lng beauty. Not only doyou need this skill for your wedding performance,you also need it to impress other characters. It'snot a gimmick - It's really Integral to the action.Whether It's a gimmick worth the extra £50 aGuitar Freaks controller costs Is up to you.

Ephemeral Fantasia is. In many ways, a regularRPG. It has stats screens, hit points, and flghtlng-by-numbers - enough to put off a lot of gamers.Give It a chance though, and this oddball role-player has hours of gameplay When was the lasttime you played a sea shanty to a pub full ofdnjnken sailors In an RPG? Exactly. □ Keith Stuart

EPHEMERAL FAN1ASIA "1

Why we'd buy it- Interesting story- Amusing characters- A lengthy challenge- Guitar Freaks/

Why we'd leave it- Random monsterencounters get repetitive

- Some perplexing puzzles- Requires lots of

c o m m i t m e n t a n d

patience

For RPG nuts, and thosewilling to experiment (andget past some of thegenre's lx>ringconventions) this makes arefreshing change.

Graphics Great cut-scenes, neat backgrounds B E

0 7 'S o u n d Orchestral to sleazy lounge jazz O B

Gameplay Standard RPG stuff with added guitars P I 7

Lifespan It'll tease you for weeks Z B

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When motorcycle racing meets anti-gravity stunt flying anything can happen.- m o

Landing on other bikes and knocking off therider Is a dirty trick, but hey, this Is war.

Flying Is fun. Flying just before you're about totake a bend Isn't fun (as It will kill you).

P u U i s h e r S C E EDeveloper RainbowS t u d i o sP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9

Players: 1-4Out July 2001W e b s i t e :w w w . u k . s c e e . c o m /a t v o f f r o a d

Back storyRainbow Studios was alsoresponsible for the criticallya c c i a i r r e d P C r a c e rMotocmss Madness plus anInevitable sequel - theteann clearly cant getoffroad motortlking out oftfieir Pepsi Max-fllled heads,■feu may be surpnsed todiscover ttiat this Isnt thefirst ever quad bike game.On^ last year SegaIncluded the muddypastime in It's ExtremeSports tte - to notparticularly Impressiveeffect, mind you.

No t ime to admi re tha tsunset, young man.

"I'm flying Jack! I'm flying!" KateWInslet's famous w/ords may have beenyelled flT)m a doomed ocean liner andnot - unfortunately - a dirt-smeared

quad bike, but they'll priobably pop Into your headat least once during this offbeat, physicallyunfeasible game. Why? Because, while careeringthrough the 20 or so courses that make up ATVOffroad, you'll spend most of the time high abovethe earth, wondering periiaps what might becomeof your lunchbox as you flnally make contact withthe rapidly approaching ten-a flrma. This Is wherethe flight simulation and the driving game collide

Actually, forget simulation - if our planet'sgravity worked like this wed all be forced to wearmoonboots, and anything more than a modesthop would have us floating into the ozone likestray balloons. But It doesn't matter A7V Offmad islust a game and its slightly thinned gravity (plusthe fact that you can alter your bike's directionmid-fllghtl Is a mechanism In place to make Itmore playable - and that's fair enough.

So what you get Is a series of courses madeup of big hills, small hills, sharp bends andhorrifying drops. Every time you hit a decent-sizedramp, you're off, soaring through the air like ElliotIn ET. This brings a whole new tactical dimensionto the racing game. When approaching a series ofsmall hills, for example simply flooring the

accelerator and yelling 'Geronimol' Isn't goodenough. You need to build up the correct rhythm,hitting each ripple at exactly the right point toensure a smooth ride. For once, going as fast aspossible isnt always the answer You'll also needto use the analogue stick carefully pushing up toadd height to your Jump and pulling sharply downin order to level out.

While you're enjoying this experience It's agood Idea to keep an eye on your competitors. InATVs racing modes you're up against four otherdrivers who endlessly bash and tussle even whilein midair and this always ends In tears or, moreaccurately In flying dismounts followed bysickening interactions with roadside objects.

On paper this sounds great, in reality It's adifferent story. Due to the deadly combination ofmid-race accidents and an overiy-generous catchup system, It really doesn't matter what you do formost of the race as long as you get It together inthe final straight. While working thrciugh thegame's Pro-Career mode - a single-player

//Ybu need to build upthe correct rhythm,hitting each ripple atexactly the right point//

Speed combined withregular large rampsoften results In hideousaccidents - as theses c r e e n s r e v e a l . .

1. The mid-air collision.You never know who'sgoing to come out worse.Actually, It's usually you.

2. The 'crushed In thepack' collision. It's asthough they all have it Infor you. The bastards.

3. Ttie 'Inexplicable'collision. For no apparentreason, you're suddenlywrapped round a tree.

4. The collision withlandscape. Time alanding incorrectly andit's goodbye Mr Bike.

Jumping clear of thecrash is not alwaysthe best idea...

118 PlayStation.2

E \ J E L K N I E N E LWell not quite, but the Stunt mode does allowyou to perform some extraordinary moves

Of course the real fun' of the two-player game is knocking your friend' off his bike and then'riding' over his 'head'. Four-player mode offers the same thrills, but a tad slower. Good.

i « » « ip p w * *

S l o w - d o w n a n d

fogging affect theFour-player mode butit's still a good laugh.

competition featuring 11 five-iap races - it'spossibie to spend four laps in last place and thenon the last big Jump, find yourseif back with thepack. The resulting five-bike ianding usuaiiy seestwo or three of the competitors coming off theirvehicles - and then you're suddenly in secondplace - a qualilying position. Not quite thechaiienge we were hoping for

GETTING ZIPPY WrTH ITAdmittedly Rainbow has tried to lengthen thegaming experience with a series of single raceArcade modes. There are several stadium circuitsto work through and a decent Cross CountryEnduro option in which you race point-to-pointover a selection of unforgiving landscapes. There'salso a Freestyle mode where players performstunts - but as you can imagine, potentialfreestylers are hampered by the fact that they'renot on skateboards, they're on heavy all-terrainvehicles with four wheels. It doesn't really work.

The visuals arent quite there either AlthoughATV features a decent range of environments fromieafy forests to alpine ski resorts and scorching

Luckily, you can steer the bike in mid-air. Helpfulfor those 'I'm going to hit that sign!' moments.

deserts, the colours are drab and washed out, andthe background scenery is sparse and desolate.This is almost made up for by the engine noises,which are fabulous. When you're far from the packyour bike noise resembles a long raspberry beingbiown through a megaphone. When all thevehicles are together they sound like a pack ofwild boar being violated with sharp sticks.

Not far beneath the muddy surface of A7VOffmad, is a great game waiting to emerge. Sadlythe lack of a well-designed and challengingSingle-player mode and the mediocreprBsentation suggest that more time was neededon the project before it bobbed up from thedepths. As usual the presence of a workableMuitiplayer mode adds something to the game'slongevity and the experience of flying these crazybikes is fun, but in the end that's not enough.Even more than skateboarding, quad bike racingis a minority sport and it needed something trulyspecial to engage our imagination. This isnt theTony Hawk's of the quad biking sim, but you getthe feeling such a thing is easily within thisdeveloper's reach. □ Keith Stuart

A I V O F F R O A D

Why we'd buy it- It's a fresh variation on

the tired racing genre- The twisty, bumpy

circuits are good fun- Ttie physics engine is...

interesting

Why we'd leave it- The single-player Careermode is llmtted

- The Stunt mode doesn' t

really work- The opponent Al is flavred

■there's a lot of genuinepromise in what's on offerhere. If the developer getsthe chance to do a sequelit'll be one to watch outfor. This one doesnt quitecut the mustard though.

Graphics Functional rather than inspiration a l 1S o u n d i^ave those poor pigs aloneGameplay Individual, eccentric racing funL i fespan Not likely to challenge GT3 for st<aylng power |

.1

jas.

4. We've performed a beautiful Double Can Can, butthe points won't count if we wipe out,

Don't hit those tyres - judging by the harm theydo, they're made out of solid iron.

This biker hasnt attained enough height for thelanding. Smacking into that hump is gonna sting.

Play5tatIo.n,g \|ERDIIIT

PlayStation.E 1

Once unlocked, the UFO is one of the game's cooler craft.

r ' M ^ — \

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m U LT I P L R y E Rm E 5 5 I N E 5 5Take a look at a selection of the game's finest(ahem) Muftiplayer modes:

L U D R L D □E 5 T R U I I T D N-ERGUE: UURRZIETZWDL takes to the air But how this project ever got off the ground is beyond us. 1. Ace A straightforward deathmatch. Pick a clan I

and a plane and go head-to-head witii a mate andtwo computer-controlled opponents. The stealth- Jbomber is our favourite death machine. !

Publisher: 3D0Developer 3DOP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9Players: 1-2O u t N o wWe b s i t e :w w w 3 d o . c o m /w d l / w a i j e b

Back story3D0 has made a bit of aname for itself in recentyears - for all the wrongreasons. Inexplicablefrancfiises Army Men andMight And Magic have bothspawned numerous dineofferings for PS2 but withttie recent WDL ThunderTonks things improvedconsiderably. Sadly, 3D0has Just tal<en a major stepb a c k w a r d s .

WarJetz is the latest in 3D0's WDLfranchise and is set in the samenuclear war-ravaged future as itsforbean the surprisingly playable

Thunder Tanks. In these troubled times, society hasdescended Into anan^hy with rival clans fightingamong themselves for resources and settling theirscores through the World Destruction League - abrutal, futuristic sports series. Each clan has anarena based in its home territory such as Panama,Thailand, New York and the Antarctic where theplane-based events are staged, and to claimsuperiority in the skies you must beat the rivalgangs on their home turi^s.

Encouraged by the quality of Thunder Tanks,we were expecting WarJetz to be just as satisfyingUnfortunately, compared to the PS2 big boys likeGT3 and Devil May Cry, the visuals here are almostlaughable. Bland textures abound, the polygoncount Is decidedly iffy, effects are pitiful and thewhole thing just smacks of laziness. Casting an eyeover the screenshots, you may think we're beingharsh hens but they flatter the game - WarJetzactually looks better In still shots than it does inmotion - up and running it could almost be aPSone game and that's simply inexcusable.

WarJetz doesnt play much better There areseveral modes on offer the planes are contnallableenough and theiie are loads of hidden models tounlock (including the nuke-wielding Marauder anda UFOI but none of this pnDmpts any lastinginterest. The single-player campaign requires you

to travel to eight destinations onthe map and complete threestages In each. Planes must

be bought with hard cash(unimaginatively called 'bux'j

which is acquired by shooting downenemies and destroying scenery.

Missions involve wrecking rival planes and groundtargets, collecting flags and money or protectingfriendly vehicles, all of which pans out as justblasting the bejesus out of everything in sight.

We could forgive the tedium of the single-player game, to a certain extent, if the Multiplayermode was more palatable, but here too, WarJetzcrashes and burns. For a start, you can put thatMultiTap away as there's none of the four-playershenanigans of Thunder Tanks, instead, we'relimited to Just two combatants. Several modes areavailable (see Multiplayer MessinessI and two Alteams stand In for the missing players but It's nosubstitute for battling against three mates. Just toadd insult to injury, the poor visuals and sluggishspeed make it impossible to tell what the hell'sgoing on and the low-lying celling on the arenasrestricts movement to a frustrating degree.

TTie truth of the matter Is that WorJetz is justa bad game, especially considering the gorgeousvisuals and thrilling gameplay other developershave brought to PS2. If you fancy yourself as abit of a top gun, we suggest you wait for AceCombat 4 and avoid this kamikaze pilot like youwould the plague. Going down... □ Adrian Lawton

2. Flag Grab A pretty self-expianatory onaji v.Grab the required number of flags and rei themto your base before your opponents are aS to dothe same.

W D L W A R J E T 7

^ m m■a m 9 ^

3. Cash Frenzy Pick up the required amount of 'bux'to win the game. Resort to dirty tricks by shootingdown your opponents and nicking their cash.

Why we'd buy it-If we were trying to

waste money- We thought ft would

be like Thunder Tanks

Why we'd leave it- [jooks iike an averagePSone game

- Gameplay that sends

you to sleep- Forty nicker? You're

having a laugh...

It's unfortunate that a titlelike this has been so badlyexecuted. It could havebeen an enjoyable game.But Instead It's just awful.

G n ^ M c s Bloody awful. Which system is this? 0 1 1

0 2 'S o u n d Irritating and uninspired 0 5Terrible in-flight entertainment 0 2

1 Lifespan 1 About the same as a gnat l a a l L - J

Play5tationj2 MERDCT

That rocket car might looks the business but it aint as fast as it iooks. Those CART Fury views in fuii: first person, third person or head-to-head-i'm-gonna-kiil-you-dead-sunshine..

y o u K N D U JT H E D R I L L

Taxi for IVIrLawton... (Left) Ah,the romance of the ^Wes tway. . .

Certain elements come as standard in Midwayarcade racers and CART Fuiy has them allpresent and correct Here be a few examples.

'Simulation mode requires youo race throu^^ all the tracksjimrejnitro sistance.

_ R R T F U R y_ H n f T l P I D N 5 H I P R R I Z I N GMidway is back on track with yet another insanely fast arcade racer

1. Crashes Lots ot tnem, and the bigger the better.Expect to see massive car pile-ups on a regularbasis and debris strewn all over the track in front ofyou. A bit like real-life karting. one supposes.

Publisher MidwayDeveloper MidwayP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9Players: 1-2Out 13 July\ A t e b s i t e :www.car t fury.co i i i

Back storyCART Fury is the latestconsole conversion In aseries of Midway's populararcade t i t les and re ta ins thefrantic arcade thrills ofprevious releases such asHydro Thunder. Based onthe official season of the USmotorsport, ChampionshipAuto Racing Teams (or CAFfTfor short], CART Fury aimsfor more depth with theinc lus ion o f - wow! - aSimulation mode But thenagain, this Is Midway we'retalking about..

You can almost hear the developersbrainstorming at Midway; "Those carslook a bit plain - let's slap someflames blowing out the back of 'em!

Oh, and while you're at It, have them explode intotiny pieces the second they make contact withanything' "Great idea, Hank! But I think thehandling is a bit too realistic as well - make themsteer like Jet-fuelled hot rods on rails!" HydroThunder; 4 Wheel Thunder, Arctic Thunder: SonFrancisco Rush 2049 - all of them reflect Midway'sidiosyncratic racing philosophy and for pure,unadulterated, arcade fun It's hard to fault them.

CART Fury has somewhat loftier aspirationsthough. Realism rears its sober head In the form ofofficial CART drivers, and genuine tracks such asLong Beach are Included among the 17 circuits.You can even choose between four different drivingstyles; amateur; medium difficult and expert (thelatter even requiring manual gear changing).

In Arcade mode there's litt le to differentiate

these driving styles and no dlscemlble contrast Inthe handling of the cars on offer; and you wont beslowing down often enough to bother changinggears. As Its name suggests, the Simulation modedoes offer a bit more realism; allowing you totweak tyres, nose height and suspension to suityour driving style and the specific track conditions.But the vehicles stil! retain their arcade feel, so It'sbasically Just more of the same without the turbos.

Despite its no-doubt expensive licence anddubious claims of being a simulation, arcadeaction is what CART Fury Is really about Flying offthe starting grid, it's a case of hitting the nitro,dodging the flying debris from spectacular crashesand keeping that pedal to the metal until youcatch the leader

Visually the game is identical to its coin-opincarnation, however the A! of other drivers isannoyingly unpredictable. You'll fly past them withease only for the swines to come back secondslater; Irrespective of whether you're driving like MrSchumacher or Mr Magoo. Using the short-cutskeeps you ahead of the pack but the automaticcatch-up is still Infuriating; tBminlscent of theleech-like opponents In Nintendo's Mario Kort 64.

For the PS2 conversion, Midway has sensiblyadded a few extras to keep you interested.Including a driving school, a season mode and aload of self-explanatory mini-games such as LastMan Standing and Destruction. An entert:alningtwo-player mode enables you and a mate topartake In single races, a full season or battle itout in the mini-games.

While CART Fury holds true to Midway's usualformula of high-speed thrills, it does offer a littlemore to get your teeth into. As a simulation it's aworid away from the realism of games like GTS,but it is an entertaining slice of arcade racingaction. At least for a while. □ Adrian Lawton

2. Short cuts Sneaky short cuts are tuid away allover the shop. Often tricky to spot, they'll cut downthose lap times considerably and help you get Infront of the opposition. Uam them all.

3. The Superboost Burning rubber quite literally.Nftro assisted turbo power Is a pre-requlsite to anyMidway racer In CART Fury you have to achieve agiven lap time to obtain this fiery power-up.

r nCART FURY CAMPIONSHIP RAONG

I I

Why we'd buy it- Bang-on arcade thrillsIn suitably brashMidway fashion

- Loads of tracks, carsa n d e x t r a s

- Ace two-player mode

Why we'd leave it- Annoying opponent Ai- A realistic racing

s imu la t ion i t a In t- So many other racing

games to choose from

Big crashes, unrealisticphysics and faster thanSpeedy Gonzales on, well,speed, CART Fury isMidway to the core.

Graphics Arcade-perfect but a little datedS o u n d ijDud Americans and OTT effectsGameplfqr Insane arcade action all the wayL i fespan A few extras but no great depth 336?

PlayStat jon,g \ IERDIIZT

Play5tation,E 12

footballOn sale now!

R E MI N T E R N AT I O N A L L E A G U E S O C C E R

The refs make decisions randomly whiie tiie keepers are utter bobbins.

7 0 . r o r t u n a Look familiar? It's not only the free kicks that try to be like ISS,but almost the entire game. Apart from the gameplay that is.

At least 50% of throw-ins goto the opposition. Not good.

N T E R N n T O N R L- E R G L J E E D C E I E R

This month's second contender for the Worst Football Game Ever award...

L - R G U B : : i a C C B l - i

World Ranking Mode:

Publisher Eon DigitalE n t e r t a i n m e n tDeveloper TaitoP r i c e : £ 3 9 . 9 9

Players: 1-2O u t N o wW e b s i t e :w w w J n t e m a t i o n a l

leaguesoccerxom

Back storyInternational LeagueSoccer started off l i fe asGreatest Striker, a Japanesefootle game tfiat piqued ourinterest due to its promisngIbut actually not very goodimicrophone peripheral.Sadly, this UK edition arnvesminus the mic bu t w i th ane n d o r s e m e n t f r o m M a nUtd's prawn-munchingmidfielder Roy Keane,

Let's not beat around the bush:International League Soccer is awful.Sadly, we already knew that this wouldbe the case, as the publisher decided

to ship it straight into the shops, trying to getgullible punters to buy the game before reading areview. Always a sure sign of quality that.

There's so much wrong with ILS, it's hard tol<now exactly where to begin reviewing it A fittingplace Is probably the control system, in many waysthe most important part of a good football sIm, InILS unresponsiveness Is taken to a whole newlevel, with players reacting seconds later to buttonpresses. As any videogame football fan will attest,this Is often the difference between a goal andbeing tackled. Worse still, the players appear tohave little Al, running around with no idea offormation and the animation and movement Is ofthe basest quality. On top of that, the flawed ballphysics make it more luck than skill In getting holdof the ball and It's laughable when you see the bailmiraculously appear from nowhere under aplayer's feet As if to add Insult to Injury, dodgycollision detection makes tackling a random affairwhile the refereeing simply makes a mockery ofthe rules.

In fact it's fair to say that ISL hardly resemblesfootball at all. Yes, It has 22 players on the pitchtrying to kick a bail into a net. Yes, It has offsidesand free kicks and yes, It has tactics andformations. The trouble Is that all of this is

Implemented so badly that the sum barelyresembles the beautiful game at any level, nevermind at the international level ISL aspires to.

We did find one single Innovative element InISL, yet to be Implemented in any other PS2football title. Unfortunately It has no bearing on thegameplay In matches that take place inmid-afternoon the light changes from daylight, to

dusk, to night time and floodlights. It's a supereffect but hardly a reason to get excited andcertainly no reason for thinking It's worth shellingout for what Is essentially an unfinished title.

The Japanese version of ILS - the wonderfully-named Greatest Striker - came with a microphoneperipheral. True, it wasnt very responsive but thechance to have your barked orders translated intoshots, tackles and passes was fantastic. The tragicIrony is that despite the mic's no-show in the UK,you'll still find yourself shouting the same orders("Shoot, for Christ's sake!"l at ILS in sheerdesperation, even though they can't hear you.

It's difficult to stress enough how bad thisgame Is. international League Soccer isamateur ish and comes across as a second-rate

practice run for ISS that should have got canned along time ago. Why release It in the UK? We canonly guess that, the game arriving finished as itdid, that the publisher was hoping to make a fewbob out of any naive newbie PS2 owners out there.So don't, whatever you do, buy this game, Afootballing tragedy, International League Soccerdeserves to go down in history as the Other WorstFootball Game Ever On PS2,.. Yet. □ Nick Jones

I N T E R N E T

L U KGot yourself a copy ofIIS! Don't despair - atleast you have thechance to meet af a m o u s f o o t b a l l e r -

Eon Digital has set up anIntemet league forInternational LeagueSoccer - here you canpost your best scores,w i t h t h e c h a n c e o f

winning some prizes. Itw o r k s l i k e t h i s - w i n a

game by someconsiderable margin andyou'll be given a code.You type this code In onthe Web site and you geta ranking. The top prize?A chance to meet RoyKeane, If only they'd putthe same degree ofthought Into the soddingg a m e , , .

I N T E R N A n O N A L L E A G U E S O C C E R

Why we'd buy it- To protect the innocent

Why we'd leave it- Dreadful Al- Slow player reactions- Tembie co l l i s ion

d e t e c t i o n

I t wan ts to be ISS somuch but fails miserablyo n a l l a c c o u n t s . O n e o fthe worst footie games Inliving memoiy

Graphics Slow and Riitchy, poor player tepne s e n t a t l o n s I

S o u n d Commentary so bad. It's funny. At fi r s t I

Gameplay Trying desperately to be ISS Falls m i s e r a b l y 1L i fespan One match is more than enough

PiayStat lon.g XIERDICT

Play5tation.2 12;

R E M

r \

Edited by Official UK PlayStation Magazine's Nick Ellis

Wailing sirens and constant gunfire help weardown the suspect's resistance as shown in theIttt ie blue bar at the bottom of the screen.

R L D ' 5 E C R R I E E C E :E)Step away from the vehicle Tanner; a new breed of cop is in town...

PuUishen ActivisionDeveloper UDSP r i c e ; £ 2 9 . 9 9Players: One or twoO u t : N o w

PS o n e .W O R L D ' SSCARIEST POUCEC H A S E SGraphicsS l i c k w i t h n o n e o fDriver's pop-up agS o u n d

Exceiient, hiiariouscommentary

GameplayRnely-tuned andw e l l v a r i e d 0 gLife spanA bit short, butgreat replay value 00

Ta k e s t h e b e s te l e m e n t s o f P S o n e ' sfewurite maverick copand spins it on it'sbonnet to great effect

0 9N E R D I C T

Since WSPC has been apprehendedtram Fox's eponymous trashy reality TVshow, this mission-based cops androbbers driving game is surprisingly

good. In fact it's damn fine, which is unusual for agame licensed from an American telly series. Thepremise is simple You follow the career of a pair oftraffic cops tasked with keeping the highways safeftx)m drunks, gang members and other crims.

The influence of Driver is Instantly recognisableas you hare around an urijan sprawl, swinging yourpolice vehicle through the mean streets inmissions that involve shaking off tails and pursuingbad guys. It even has curved roads! But whereDriver 2 was over ambitious in size to the point ofnjination lawful slow-down and nasty pop-up), thesingle city approach in WSPC, means solid andlovingly detailed environments in which to enjoyyour motoring.

/You have to stop twocrazed brothers f romdestroying the downtownarea w i th tan l i s / /

Plus there's a big bonus - you get to usepistols, shotguns, M-16s and even rocket launchersin your pursuit of the criminals. The use ofweapons is at it's best in the two-playerco-operative mode. One player drives while theother leans out of the window trying to get thesuspect into the gunsights. Tireless fun.

What really makes WSPC stand out is thevariety in the missions. After a spell at the policedriving academy, you're out on the street chasingdown drunk drivers, escorting witnesses to thecourt house and losing nosy news vans. Then

Unlike Driver's 70's samey jalopies and gas-guzzlers, WSPC has many different types of vehicle.

You cant park that here! A bus is possibly theleast suitable patrol vehicle ever.

there's the mission where you have to stop twocrazed brothers from destroying the downtownarea with tanks. The tongue-in-cheek commentaryfrom real-life presenter Sheriff John Bunnell topsoff the gen-u-wine trash TV atmosphere.

Rewards for successful police wori< includebetter weapons and new vehicles - and while aGreyhound bus may not be the mostmanoeuvrable patrol vehicle, it's sure fun trying itout, especially when you've got an assault rifleresting on your lap. There's also a Free Patrol

, mode, giving you the chance to explore thefictional West Coast USA city of Ashland whilechasing down a succession of lawbreakers.

Where Driver was all about a shady criminalunderworid and gangster vogue, WSPC is all aboutbrash American redneck cops and their dailybattle with deranged loons who deserve nothingmore than the strongest arm of the law. And it's ailthe better for It □ NE

124 Play5tation.E

A R E NHere be dragons... And a good spot for fantasy fishing too.

Anyone who's ever picked up a Finalfontosy game will be instantiy famiiiarwith the basic elements of BOFs

gameplay. Tum-based combat withmonsters, spell casting, a mind-boggiing storylineand a fantasy world stuffed with exciting locations.All these ingredients are stirred into the epic storyof Ryu, a fishing-obsessed lad who's aiso a dragon,and his endearing party of oddbaii travellers. Thegame adopts a comic book appearance withmatching humour and you'll find yourselfirreversibly hooked by the end of the second act.including all the sub-games (fishing featuresheavily as does building a fairy colony), this willkeep you occupied for weeks, □ NE

The comic book appearance gives Breath Of Firea unique appearance. Bless.

N D m H G EGerman developers try their hand at RPG.

This RPG, very much in the Zeldamould, was a massive PC hit in itscountry of origin Germany. The game isfull of hearty Bavarian charm but sadly,

in porting the game to PSone, Sunflowers havemade the fatal error of downgrading the graphicswith disastrous consequences. For example,characters disappear through wails Into blackspaces. The story is decent enough - two tribescalled the Steamers (techno bods) and Dreamers(magic bods) caught In ideological conflict and ahero who must try and unite them. There areplenty of brain teasing puzzles and massive levelsto get lost In, but ultimately it fails short of thestandards set by the Japanese RPGs. □ NE

Good iHorning, Heivin. So, flnaHy, yougotu^

Technomage involves a conflict between thosewho believe in technology (Steamers) and thosewho choose magic (Dreamers). Game on.

N C K T D D N E R R I I I N EKart this trash off to the videogame rubbish heap.

Perhaps ail PSone gamers didsomething really really bad In a pastlife because there's no other

explanation as to why they should beserved up this utter dross, if you hadn't guessed Itfrom the title, Nicktoons Racing Is a cartoon cartracer featuring characters from Nickleodeon, thekids satellite channel. We've had several decent

examples of Mario Kart-styie racers - SpeedFreoks and Crash Team Racing were both blinding- yet the PSone has been plagued by dire, cheap

imitations (Smurfs 3-2-1, Woody WoodpeckerRacingl. Despite the presence of the ace Ren andStimpy N/cktoons offers little but tuiigidiy famiiiargameplay and ropey graphics. □ NE

PuUishen CapcomDeveloper CapcomP r i c e : £ 2 9 . 9 9Players: OneO u t N o w

The makers of Nicktoons Racing should beashamed of themselves. This is as diabolical as itis unoriginal.

PS o n e .A m a m m o t h R P G t h a tis chamiing, engagingand frustrating(multipie randomencounters ahoy!). Thegame should be cleariylabelled "If you lovedFinal Fantasy, you'lll o v e t h i s " .

' JN E R D I C T

Publisher InfbgramesDeve loperS u n fl o w e r sP r i c e : £ 2 9 . 9 9Players: OneO u t N o w

P S o n e .A nice Hy at breakinginto the Japanesed o m i n a t e d R P G s c e n ethat falls flat on its faced u e t o t h e a w f u l

graphics. However, itoffers hours of playand for RPG fans isw o r t h a t o o k .

f n f — 10 6' JN E R D I C T

Publisher infbgramesDeveloper HasbroP r i c e : £ 9 . 9 9Players: One or twoO u t N o w

P S o n e .A tired, hateful, seen-it-a l l - b e f o r e k a r t r a c e rwith lltde merit othert h a n a l e w d e c e n tc a r t o o n c h a r a c t e r s .

Badly drawn, confusingt r a c k s a n d z e r o

originality make for atwo-fingered salute.

02 ,N E R D I C T

A L S O R E L E A S E D I H t S M O N T H . . .Another dirtbike scramble with MOTOCROSS MANIA...Insipid Batmobile driving in GOTHAM CITY RACER...Sticl<y wicketsbut no pitch invasions with INTERNATIONAL CRICKET CAPTAIN 2000...Wave riding and ptx)-surfers in the aimostpassable CHAMPIONSHIP SURFER...Retro adventuring and madcap appliances with INSPECTOR GADGET...The original(and superb) SPIDER-MAN comes in at Platinum price...DRIVER and WORMS ARMAGEDDON are both a snip at £9.99.For aii the very latest PSone news, reviews, tips and interviews plus the only playable PSone demos around, catch a copy ofour gorgeously redesigned sister mag, OfTiciol UK PlayStation Magazine. You know you should...

PSoneR O U N D U P

T M

N E W S

H R R R y P O T T E RJK Rowling's trainee wizard Is set to amveon console at the same time as he makes

his big screen debut. The Ph/tosopher'sStone comes to PlayStation by way of theAladdin In Nasira's Revenge engine andwhile the Disney platformer wasn't great. Itwas rich in variety and had slick gameplaythat should ensure Harry Potter Isn't theeasy cash-in it could be. Young Potter willleap and bound across famiiiar locationsand we're promised that all the book'scharacters wi l l be on-hand too.

P R E V I E W

5 P O E R - m R N 2E N T E R : E L E C T R OThe web-slinging wonder returns for anotherdose of villain bashing and wail crawlingwith ElecttD, volt-spitting felon and the bigcheese behind the latest NYC crimewave.

Firmly following the previous Installment'swinning formula, that swings somewherebetween platformer and beat-'em-up. Enter:Electro offers new levels, new moves and ofcourse a new set of ridiculously-costumedbad guys to battle with. An Increased focuson puzzle solving is its main Innovation.

P R E V I E W□R N D B E E K H f l mE D E C E RThe boy David Is personally overseeing thedevelopment of this reworking of Rage'sUEFA Striker His influence Is leading to aslower-paced game with more focus onpassing build-up play and technique.Beckham claims this is more realistic and

Mr Mohawk will be on hand in the trainingmode to show you his signature tricks andguide you through a series of challenges toopen up nifty arcade modes.

Play5tation.E 12

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126 PlayStation,a

S P E C i n L 5 U B 5 ( I R I P T O N O F F E R

. E X H I L H R R T I D N P D I U E R

There are a million worlds of emotion out there.Subscribe via Direct Debit and you'll visit them every month.

PlayStation®?/ OFFICIAL MAGAZINE-UKDONT MISS OUT! SUBSCRIBE TO 0PS2 VIA DIRECT DEBIT ANDYOU'RE GUARANTEED TO RECEIVE THE ONLY MAGAZINE WITHA PLAYABLE DVD, DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR!Other magazines let you watch. PlayStaNonjig lets you play

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Play5tation.E 127

Michael Douglas forgets thet r a u m a a n d r e m e m b e r s h e ' smarried to Mrs Douglas. Git.

T R A F H CEntertainment In Video/£ 19.99/23 July

Rim: In Tijuana, Mexico, an honest cop attempts to bring downthe drug cartels which operate In league with the police forcehe works for Over in San Diego, a society housewife is facedwith a stark choice when her husband is arrested and tried for

drug trafficking. And in Ohio, the US government's drug tsar Isgiven an Insight Into the bigger picture when his daughterbecomes addicted to heroin.

With a canvas that covers two countries, three Intenweavlngstory lines, a host of characters and the biggest problem facingsociety today, Traffic is nothing if not ambitious And In theassured hands of Steven Soderbergh, that ambition pays off Infine style Aiong with a superb ensemble cast, he takes us on amemorable trip which demonstrates how the drug IssueIgnores both national and social divides. Totally captivating andoften educational. Traffic Is one of the most Intelligent films tocome out of mainstream Hollywood since the halcyon days ofthe Seventies. LHFeatures; A selection of deleted scenes, obviously cut for timeconsiderations rather than quality contrcl. Inten/lews with thecast and crew and some behind-the-scenes footage.Verdict A 100% pure shot In the arm for US cinema. 9/10

128 Play5tation.E

ham made sure they tookalong some entertainmentfor his latest charity walk.

REQUIEM FOR A DREAMMomentum/£19.99/6 August

ision Of The OmnjlbCockne^Cteeztts - coming to

pinema near you, slaaags. V V " ' s m

S E X Y B E A S TF i l m F o u r / £ 1 9 . 9 9 / O u t n o w

Film: Harry (Jared Leto) is a heroin deaierwfio never maizes any money because heand girlfriend Marion (Jennifer ConneiiyIalways get high on their own supply Hismother Sarah (Ellen Burstynl, is desperate tofit Into a little red dress so she can wear itfor a TV appearance. She turns to diet pillsand soon becomes hopelessly hooked. Allthe main characters descend into their own

drugs hell and while we've seen the despair;the grime and the petty theft before, we'venever seen It done quite lil<e this. DirectorDarren Aronofeky [previously responsible for

the excellent rt) pulls out all the visualstops here; experimenting with different filmstocks and techniques to illustrate the life-ruining effects of narcotics.

While it could occasionally be accusedof self-indulgence and it's hard to believedesperate Junkies could look as gorgeous asConnelly and Leto this is a powerful andrelentless Journey into addiction. l>iFeatures: Commentary by Aronofsky. Ninedeleted scenes and three quality featurettes.Verdict A nightmarish yet compellingdescent into drugs hell. 8/10

Film: Oh Christ, not another Cockneygangster flick Anyone who's endured thelikes of Rancid Aluminium would be forgivenfor mnning up the apples and pears (stairs]and hiding under the Right Said Fred (bedj atthis point

But hold those horses because despitestarring Ray Winstone and culminating witha robbery set-piece, Sexy Beost is far fromwhat you might expect. For one thing themajority of the film takes place under thebaking Spanish sun and for another; It'smainly a love story. Winstone is Gal, an ex-

thlef living the high life on the Costa DelCockney with his beloved missus. Their idylis rudely interrupted when fearsomegangster Don Lx)gan (a terrific Ben KIngsleylarrives at the villa determined to bring Galout of retirement for a Job back In Blighty.When he refuses to take no for an answer;gripping battle of wills develops. LHFeatures: Deleted scene. Cast and crew

interviews, Irritatlngiy cut at the point whensomething interesting Is about to be said.Verdict An unusual, highly effective look aimarriage and misdemeanours. 7/10

S e tThe b luebo t t i e caused' h a v o c i n G i b s o n ' s , -

N ic was a r res ted fo rpossession of a shirtthat disturbs the peacc

WHAT WOMEN WAISTTWarners/£19.99/6 August

R A I S I N G A R I Z O N A

Film: According to this hopeless romanticcomedy women want Mel Gibson to shavehis legs, wear tights and dance around hisapart:ment to Frank Sinatra songs - nowonder blokes have trouble picking out aValentine's Day present..

After being struck by lightning Melsuddenly has the ability to hear women'sthoughts. He initially abuses this new-foundgift to boost his career and love-life buteventually, and ail-too predictably he findshimself tuming into a better man as hebegins to understand the secrets of thefemale psyche. Mel makes the most of thelightweight material and has some fun as a

sexist boozehound before the tediousmetamorphosis into sensitive gent But thehigh concept cant disguise an almost totalabsence of laughs, making this another inthe long line of tenibie, modern rom-coms.They dont make 'em like they used to UHFeatures: An amiable commentary withDirector Nancy Meyers and ProductionDesigner Jon Hutman (where's Mel?). Twoflufly promotional featurettes interviewingthe cast and crew. As you'd probably expect,they're big on mutual admiration and short:o n s u b s t a n c eVerdict Whatever women land meni want,we're fairly sure it's not this 5/10

Fox/£15.99/30 July

Rim: Following the grim noir of their debutBlood Simple, the Coen brothers unleashedthe ingenious comic madness that wouldbecome their trademark with this Irresistiblekidnapping caper NIc Cage is the mbblshrobber HI McDonnough, who repeatedly getscaught and imprisoned. He falls for prisonguard Ed (Holly Hunter) and once out of Jail,they marry and settle down to start: a familySadly she is infert:ile and because of Hi'scriminal record they cant adopt a baby - sothey decide to steal one instead.

After reading about a family who've justhad quintuplets, the endearing coupledecide to kidnap one, figuring just a single

baby from so many wouldnt really bemissed. Naturally the parents dont see Itthat way and a cross-country chase ensue;with cops, bounty hunters and squealing famen all in pursuit of the hapless, would-bemom and pop. Featuring more memorableone-liners and hilarious sight gags thanalmost any other comedy of the last 20years (besides their own 0 Brother, WhereArt Thou? and The Big Lebowski RaisingArizona is the Coens operating right at thetop of their game. UHFeatures: Just the theatr ica l t ra i lerVerdict A classic comedy up there with thCoen brother's best efforts. 9/10

» A L S O R E L E A S E DElvis: That's Tlie Way It Is (Wamers/£15.99)/Lake Placid (Fox/£19.99l/Mrs Doubtfire (Fox/£1799)/Big (Fox/£15.99|/Pay It Forward(Warners/£19.99|/Under Suspicion (Wamers/£15.99|/Slidlng Doors [Paramount/£19.99|/Dr Dolittle (Fox/£17.99)/Battlefield Earth (Wamers/£19.99|

PlayStation.^ 12

S C A R Y M O V I EB u e n a V i s t a / £ 1 9 . 9 9 / O u t n o w

Film: When movie spoofs hit their mari<there's scarcely anything funnier Classicslike Airplane! and The Naked Gunsucceeded because they lampoonedsubjects that tool< themselves way tooseriously (Disaster Movies and Hard BoiledCop shows). Where the Wayans brothers'Scary Movie falls short Is by poking fun atfilms like Scream and I Know What You DidLost Summer - flicks that were ironic tobegin with. The end result Is less a spoofthan a remake of Scream Injected with T&A,

sicko jokes and nods to popular culture. Thescattershot delivery of gags does make forsome genuinely funny moments, but they'refew and far between. Stiil, for fans of gross-out comedy, there's a knob gag here thatoutdoes even the zipper crunch in There'sSomething About Mary. Ouch. PFFeatures: Woefully short behind-the-scenes featurette and six deleted scenesthat were axed due to their collectiveflushing down the U-bend of the taste lav.Verdict A hit and miss horror spoof 4/10

KEEPING THE FAITHWarners/£1799/6 August

Heard the one about therabbi, the priest and theb u s i n e s s w o m a n ?

Film: Palatable romantic comedies are alltoo rare these days, but any film starringtwo of Hollywood's finest young actors inBen 'There's Something About Mary Stillerand Edward 'Fight Club' Norton deservessome at ten t ion .

Keeping The Ftiith also marks thedirectorial debut of the latter, so while thefilm does seem a little eager to please It'salso intelligent and genuinely funny Stillerand Norton play childhood friends who Justhappen to have become a rabbi and apriest respectively Once you've swallowedthe religion-can-be-trendy-honest schticKthere's some subtle humour to be had atthe expense of our heroes who struggle tokeep their personal desires suppressedbeneath their pious robes. The situation is

exacerbated by the retum to town ofanother oid schoolfriend Anna (JennaElflnan] who's conveniently grown up Into anIncredibly sexy and desirablebusinesswoman. Naturally a love triangleensues with the confusion of Catholic guiltand Jewish pride ail mixed up In theequation. SRFeatures: The short reel of 'bloopers' Isamusing enough but the 20 minutes ofdeleted scenes are excessive given that theAim Is over-long anyway Ed Norton wasobviously on holiday when the audiocommentary was being recorded so we getscreenwriter Stuart Biumberg Instead.Verdict: Occasionally comes across like aFriends spin-off but, trust us. Keeping TheFaith is better than It sounds. 6/10

' I d o n ' t c a r e h o w

much you scream,you're not Iteepingmy bloody Rolex.'

TOP 10 HITCHCOCK DVDSThe 39 StepsCar1ton/£15.99Film: The first example of whatbecame Hitchcock's stock intrade: a wrong man, accused ofa crime he didn't commit, isforced to go on the run to solvean insignificant plot pointwhich Hitch termed theMacGuffin'l and prove hisinnocence. Action, suspense,romance and tongue-in-cheekcomedy ensue.Features: Documentary.

The Lady VanishesC i n e m a C l u b / £ 9 . 9 9Film; When an old womandisappears during a continentaltrain journey, two fellow BritsInvestigate and get caught up ina sticky web of intrigue. Aproduct of a more innocenttime, the playfui mystery andcharming stiff-upper-lippeiy onshow here are utteriy irresistible.F e a t u r e s : N o n e .

R e b e c c aP e a r s o n / £ 1 5 . 9 9Film; Hitchcock's often-overlooked adaptation ofDaphne Du Maurier's gothicpotboiler is one of his mostunusual classics. Joan Fontaineis the innocent young brideliving In the shadow ofLaurence Oiivler's (murdered?)first wife and fighting a battle ofwills with the scary (lesbian?)housekeeper.F e a t u r e s : I n t e r v i e w W i t h K i mNewman. Extracts from FrancoisTruffaut's Hitchcock book

S h a d o w o f a D o u b tU n i v e r s a l / £ 1 7 9 9Film: Munder arrives in small

t o w n U S A a s H i t c h c o c k ' s

beguiling, low-key Americanagradually reveals its malevolentfllpside when a teenage girlbegins to suspect her belovedUncle Charley may well be theNlerry Widow murtierer. But willhe kill her before she canu n c o v e r t h e t r u t h ?Features: Documentary.

N o t o r i o u sP e a r s o n / £ 1 5 . 9 9Film: A combination ofincredible suspense andpassionate romance that onlyHitchcock could pull off. Agencyman Gary Grant woos ingridBergman then persuades her tomarry Nazi spy Claude Rainsand stack up the evidenceagainst him. But can their lovesurvive the ordeal and will theNazis discover her treachery?Features; Hitchcock inten/iew.

Strangers On a Tt-ainWamers/E12.99Film: The film thatdemonstrates why you shouldnever talk to people on trains -they're invariably homicidalIdiots. When Farley Grangerdoes just that, he unwittinglybecomes embroiled in a 'crisscross' murder deal; I'll kill yourestranged wife, you kill myfather Events dont go quiteaccording to plan...F e a t u r e s : A l t e r n a t i v e v e r s i o n o fthe movie. Newsreel footage.

R e a r W i n d o wU n i v e r s 3 l / £ 1 7 . 9 9Film; It's hard to believe thatwatching a suspiciousneighbour through a window foralmost the entire duration of a

movie could make for grippingcinema. But In the company ofJames Stewart and with Hitch'smasterful direction, RearWindow is an all-time greatF e a t u r e s ; T w o d o c u m e n t a r i e s .

Vert igoU n l v e r s a i / £ 1 9 . 9 9Film; Hitchcock meets Freud inthis hauntng psychologicalthriller Identity and desire aswell as the titular fear ofheights are all examined whenJames Stewart attempts tocreate a twin of the woman heloved and lost Impossible todescribe, once seen, it'simpossible to forget.Features: Documentary.Commentary.

North By NorthwestW a r n e r s / £ 1 2 . 9 9Film: An updated, Hollywood-ised version of The 39 Stepswith added budget, spectacle,action and Cary Grant as thewrong man accused of murderand espionage. Thrillingentertainment full of legendaryset-pieces like the crop dusterattack and the nail-biting finaleo n M o u n t R u s h m o r e ,Features: Commentary. MakingOf documentary.

PsychoU n i v e r s a l / £ 1 9 . 9 9Film; It's that Norman Batesdressed up as his mum! Filmedon a shoestring and with littleregard for Hollywood tradition,all subsequent horror picturesa n d e v e n t h e i n d i e fi l mm o v e m e n t c a n b e t r a c e d b a c kto this ground-breaking classic.F e a t u r e s ; T h e a t r i c a l t r a i l e r

130 PlayStation.2

FANCY A 'NIBBAL?

EAT! Exclusive Hannibal preview: the DVD, the story behindthe film, and Hopkins talks to us about eating brainsSMOKEi Sign up for our Drugs 101 class to leam everything you

ever wanted to know about drugs.. .from DVDCUT! The best deleted scenes and alternative endings - and tlie stories behind them

Vertical Limit Scary Movie Me, Myself & Irene Road Trip: Unseen & Explicit The Sopranos Formula 1 2000 Jennifer Lopez and more.

WHAT DUD ISSUE 28 ■ ON SALE NOW M

» I N T E R \ I I E U J » I N T E R NI

W e l c o m e t o

TTie comics author talks moon-landings and games with 0PS2."I'm currently writing Ministry Of Space. It's analternate history of the British space program,where we get the German \/-2 scientists and alltheir kit before the Americans or the Russians. Sothe first man In space Is an ex-Spltfire pilot In 1949,and the Biltish Empire survives by going up. In2001, thafs Churchill Station in orbit there, andVictoria Base on the Moon. Tally bloody ho..."

in his very first sentence Warren Ellis sums upwhy you need to read his work. Based In Southend,the comics author has been applying suchquantum leaps of Imagination to reality for the lastten years. Comics buffs will know him fnom suchworks as The Authority (the best 'real' superherocomic since Wotc/imenI or his latest stint onMarvel Comics' X-Men titles. Given that Ellis openlydespises superheroes |"l never grew up with thebuggers, I never liked them, and I came to themwith Hate.."), Christ knows what's In store forWolverine and pals. For Ellis, comics aint kids stuff.

"Comics is the pure voice of one or two peoplecoming to you without any filters, without all thebullshit of film or TV," he evangelises. Thafs whycomics will break wider In the next few years. Theymake a new noise. We play you the real music."

Gamers, however, might know Ellis from hiswork for Rage Software on PC strategy title, Host/te

//''IVe discussed writinga PS2 game. I wantsome time witi i t i iebeast th is summei" / /

Woters. Ellis was Creative Consultant and

Scriptwriter for the titleThey hired me." he admits. They had the nut

of the central Idea and that was It. They wantedsomeone to add... well, everything else I took ahandful of their Ideas and generated the wholething from scratch."

What about PS2 - can it rival PC games fordepth? Would he consider working on a game?

"I've had exploratory conversations aboutwriting a PS2 game. I want to get some time withthe beast this summer," explains a man who likesHalf-Ufe but, "couldnt get on with Metai Gear Solidfor PC" "Interactivity Is a hype-word that needs tobe eliminated. Ultimately, you're talking aboutplaying a bloody game Immersion Is good.Immersion Is nice. But no-one's going to convinceme that vldeogamlng Is going to be anything otherthan passive entertainment That said, there's nolaw that says passive entertainment has to be bad,and there's nothing to stop the videogameinnovating Its a young art, and there's plenty oftime to be wild in It. I'm looking forward to thecinematic being built Into the gameplay moresmoothly with more density of Infomiation given."

If PS2 Is added to Ellis' agenda, how can hehope to ever stay on top of an ever-expandingportfolio that Includes film, comics, novels, the Web(www.warnsnellls.com) and probably a lot more?

"I take my Handspring Visor and its foldawaykeyboard down the pub. I write comics there, plugthe Visorphone wireless modem Into the top andemail the work in before last orders. Ufe Is easyTechnology Is good. Do not resist.." □ MG

T R A N S M E T R O -P O L I TA N : Y E A RO F T H EB A S T A R D

Set In a decaying near-future, TronsrTietropolitanIs the story of tattooedgonzo iournallst, SpiderJerusalem, and hiscrusade to bring down...well, absolutelyeverything A couple ofIssues ago, we reviewedIt. This issue, we askedEllis about the appeal ofSpider to fans and)oumos alike.

"Spider tells thetruth," offers Ellis. "Andhe tells it regardless ofwhat anyone thinksa b o u t I t o r h i m . T h a t ' sthe appeal.

"Spider remindslournallsts of why theygot Into ioumallsm. Nota week goes by when Idon't get mall fromsomeone who's off tostudy journalismbecause of Transmef. Ilike that I am buildingmy army, and youc a n n o t s e e t h e m . . . "

Transmetropolltan: Year OfThe Bastard fs ovof/oble fromTitan Books, priced £9.99

WORLD OF SPECTRUMwvw.worldofspectrum.org

This site will never win an award for good looks.Quite fitting then, considering the SinclairSpectrum's consistently dodgy design from theZX81 with Its laughable 16k memory to theungainly plastic brick that was the Insanelyoverpowered 128k+3. World Of Spectrum is theofficial archive of the home computers thatwere early Inspiration for a lot of today's gamedesigners. You'll find the usual wealth of detailedtech info, FAQs and manuals, but nestledalongside a quirky section dedicated to Speccygame music Is the real reason to visit A hugearchive of playable games from Chucky Egg 2 toManic Miner. Proof If proof were needed that it'sgameplay that turns hype Into lasting classicstatus. Oh, and a certain C Sinclair got 100% Inthe site's quiz. Insider knowledge? □ PF

J U S T I N S PA C Ewww.iustinspace.com

'Justin' is a designer and artist with a twistedsense of humour and famous friends. His Website Is a collection of bizarre oddities alongsidesome of his 'day job' art for clients like DisneyClick on Obscene Interiors and you'll And bitchycritiques pom shoot d6cor (with the fleshblanked out). Prairie Haunts Is a moving virtualtour of a long abandoned family house. The pickof the bunch is the Star Wars: Designer Editionsection. Within you'll find a host of Star WarsIcons given a makeover by top style bods. TheAT-AT makeover by the designers of the new VWBeetle Is class and Todd Oldham's refit of Aunt

Behru's kitchen Is a modern classic. □ PF

T H E T O P F N EFive Resident Evil Web sites that truly Wte.

1. www.new-blood.com |Thorough mix of info, features and news2. www.total lyre.com

Eveythlng you needed to know and more3. wwwj-esidentevi l fan.com

Emphasis on clips and user Interaction4. www.evilnet.evilganiing.netGreat site for walkthroughs and game che»ts5. www.capcom-europe.comT h e o f fi c i a l E u r o s i t e w i t h m u c h s l i c k s i c k n e s s

132 PlayStation.^

i T s a n e w T i w i w s

» P R I N T » r T l U 5 l ( Z

TOKYO: ACERTAIN STYLEAuthor/Photographer: KyoichiTsuzuk i /Pub l i sher : Chron ic leBooks/Pr ice: £8.99

"Here is the real Tokyo, where life is fast,rents are high, and space is cramped..." Forthis wonderfuiiy-annotated collection of fourhundred colour photographs, Tokyo-bornauthor/photographer kyoichi Tsuzuki hasconcentrated on the last bit of thatsentence to weave a pocket photo album ofhow modem Tokyo fits A Ijot into Not A ijot.

Tsuzuki visits 100 homes of happyfamilies, aspiring salarymen, kitsch-lovingschoolgirls, sad music Journos and HelloKitty otaku, weaving an anti-mlnlmallst uber-consumer photo-montage that's a mliilonmiles away fnom the paper-waiis-and-zen-bonzai-tree cliche of Japanese 'legend'.

Interviews with the crampedprotagonists iovingly reveal how thesecitizens adapt to their capital citys enforcedclaustrophobia, but beyond anyhypothesizing it's the sheet; unrelentingvolume that amazes - old SNES and

MegaDrive systems, exercise bikes, mangalibraries, stuffed toy monkeys. Clash posters,half-bullt mecha, thousands of records,broken stereos...As Tsuzuki-san says,"Collections of collections, and not athought for when the time comes to move."

What is It then? Ail of it's 'stuff, all ofIt's compieteiy In the way and all of It'sobviously indispensable to todays Tokyoite.Tsuzuki never really dares to ask why thisanal-rententlon-gone-mad is so endemic toJapan, but that was never the point Thepoint was to gawk inspect, marvel and pity.

Show your mum this and she'll neverask you to clean your room again. □ MG

1 1 I P i K e

.-'3^

J U X TA P O ZFrequency: Bimonthly/Price: $4.99/See: wfww.juxtapoz.com

On the outside, Juxtapoz Is a high-braw(but trash-loving] version of Grand-Royal-meets-Geortieod, with its InevitableBeastles coverage. Seventies retrospectivesand having Spike Jonze as a contributor Acloser inspection shows something morethan the usual pro fanzine cool. Publishedby shock artist Robert Williams (of GunsAnd Roses Appetite For Destruction coverinfamy] Juxtapoz lives up to the 'Art' tagthat sits Inside its cover masthead, lookingat such contemporary artists as TomSachs (Jeff Koons meets trash culture -see GamingContent] Syd Mead (BlodeRunner and Iron scl-fl design guru] andWlliiams himself Elsewhere, there's plenty

lunacy with subject matter flitting fromMexican wrestling to evil rabbits to Coke-fuelled clocks to Robert Cnjmb portraits.A verdict? Eclectic, surreal, provoking andjust plain gooiy.

The straighter indie kids will be kepthappy by Dan Ciowes Interviews, albumreviews and the iike, but for an accessibleavant-garde punk take on West Coast artculture, this Is an excellent starting point -If not much of a selling point.. □ MGGaming content: Not much. If truth betold, but expect occasional coverage andretro coln-op chic. In this latest Issue, artistTom Sachs tells of hooking up an oldDefender arcade machine to a 200 watt

Marshall stack amp. YES!

'We picked up Juxtapoz while at E3. Try their Website for a taster and subscription details.

Using the power of your PS2 with this month's best CDs?: THE BEIA BAND Hot shots ll IRegal Recordings]

Who? Second chancefor Scots oddbal lsafter even the bandthemse lves admi t tedtheir eponymousdebut album was atotal shed, HotS/iote Ifis much, much better.

Highlights: HumanBeing locks into aseismic groove akin toilve favourite Dry TheRain while epics iikeEclipse suggest a dub-heavy Wings losing theplot Great.

Lowli^ts: Thewhimsical mumblingof Gone is a bit dour,but rather that thanthe unbr id ledwackiness of before.

V e r d i c t A n

incomparably skewedfolk-dub space jam.The Beta Band maybe off-message butthey're entirely on themoney. 8/10

ASPECTS Correct English lHombr§)Who? Another b id forBrit hip-hop legitimacyin the fomi of old-skool Br istol lans whonamecheck TheWurzels. Will Harlemhomies get thereference?

Highlights: Much likespirttual cousins UglyDuckling Aspects elicitgood vibes with ease,m h o u t t o k e s / li nvoke s t rokes / inblokes," boasts ProbeMantis. True.

Lowlights: Too muchcheesy retrononsense. My Genre Isa whole track devotedto Eighties teen films,and We Get Fowlsamples cluckingch i ckens .

Verdict Aspects wontget British rap takenseriously, but the partythey're starting downSomerset way soundslike fun. Pack yourshellsutts and prepareto get goofy. 7/10

D12 Devil's Night OnterscopelWho? As everysuccessful solo rapperIs required by law tofo is t the mediocre micskills of their sizeable

posses on the publicat some point, hereare Eminem's mates.

Highlights: SlimShady hits form onthe rabble-rousingFight Song but hisbest work iselsewhere. He's no

producer either

Lowlights: Packedwith tediously graphtcmisogyny set to sub-sub-RZA beats, Devil'sNight makes for grimlistening throughout.

V e r d i c t T h eaccusat ions o f cn jdeluvenllia wronglylevel led at Eminem'ssolo projects are fullyjustified here. Not anice record, nor a verygood one. 3/10

REDMAN Malpractice [Def Jam)Who? Resilient rapperwhose bes t workusually appears onother people's records.Fifth solo albumco inc ides w i th fi lmrx)le In stoner comedyHow High.

AALIYAH Aaliyah Mrgin)Who? Precoc ious sou lstarlet presiding overt h e e x a c t m o m e n twhen R&B gets reallyweird. Produced byTimbaland alongsideRapture & E Seats, JayDub and Bud'da.

Highlights: Best trackby fer is theastounding SmoshSumth/n', produced -bizamely - by Britishex-d'n'b dude Adam R

Lowii^ts: Wise manhe say 80 minutes ofhip-hop album doesfor many averagetracks and crapsk i ts make.

Verd ic t There a resome great partytunes on Maiprcrctice,but lack of originalitymeans Redman isdest ined to remainthe hip-hopb r i d e s m a i d . 6 / 1 0

Highlights: Theeffortless blending ofsilky smooth vocals,cheap synth noisesand abrasive acidbeats on Loose Rop, UGot Nerve and It 'sWhatever mesmer ises.

Lowlights: Casio chicis taken a little too faron More 7?ion AWoman while Aaliyahis still prone to anoccas iona l a t tack o fthe Mar iahs .

Ve r d i c t M u c h l i k eDestiny's Child. Aaliyahis expert at sneakingin cutting edge technounder the guise ofmains t ream sou l .

Freal^ and fantastic,8 / 1 0

» A l J S O R E L £ A S E DCast Beetroot (Polydorl/MC Solaar CInqleme As (East West)/Carpenter Presents Studio 54The Underground Classics lObsessivel/Luke Haines The Oliver Twist Manifesto (Hut)/Niidd CosEverybody Got Their Something (Vlrginl/Vaiious Artists Kool It (Harmless)

PlayStation.^ 13:

Tips, tactics, tricks, cheats. Want to hp your new games to stnreds? Welcome to the section that's strictly for the HardCore.

T I D K E I R R i n n G E D D D I X

How time flies when you'redeprived of dayliglit. Mylatest plan to escape theH a r d c o r e N e r v eCentre/Mop Room bygetting myself voted intothe Big Brother House hasfailed. In retrospect Isuppose writing theapplication form using atwig dipped in a wealts o l u t i o n o f To i l e t D u c kmight have put them off. Itwas either that or thepicture of Rayman with ahastily scribbled goatee Iattached In place of acurrent passport photo.Whatever the reason, it'smade for a great tipssection this month. Not onlydo we have the second halfof our great MDK2Armageddon walkthroughbut we blow Crazy Tiixi'sbonus missions wide open.And of course there's theusual mix of codes and tipsfor your favourite games.Enjoy the spread and seeyou next month.

Paul FitzpatrickS t a f f W r i t e r

H E L P M E !

Stuck? Frustrated? Lonely? If you'reeither of the first two (Involvingvideogames) you're more thanwelcome to write to me and ask formy help, I'll do the best I can tounearth codes, secrets,walkthroughs or advice for anygame you want. So If you need ahand just pick up that pen orkeyboard and write to me at:Hardcore, Official PlayStation 2IVIagazine, Future Publishing, 30Monmouth Street, Bath BAl 2BW.Electrical cyberpost toPS2@futurenetxo.uk. Ooh yeah.

At the end of last month's cliffhanging episode of our MDK2 Armageddon walkthrough, DrFluke Hawkins finally defeated the monstrous BFB with the help of a round of atomic toastand a chaser of pure plutonium. While the good doctor recovers from an H-bomb of ahangover, we fly to Kurt Hectic who has dec ded to take on the aliens on their own turf...L E V E L S E V E N

J A N I T O R I A L D U T I E SCharacter: KurtDr Hawkins has located ShwangShwing's home world Swizzle Flrma.Time for Kurt to take the fight to thealiens' backyanj,

A R E A !Turn around and run. Take the right pathat the Intersection and continue on tothe ledge. Avoid the shots that arecoming from the alien taxi. Run quicklyas the taxi will be shooting the path outfrom underneath your feet Go throughthe door on the ledge.

A R E A 2

Snipe the Coneheads, and the threeturrets. The Grunts and Poopsles willcontinue spawning back In, so it isuseless to try to kill them all. Shoot theSniper Ball in the tube on the ceiling tothe left. Then shoot the Sniper Ball tothe right Now you must ride the fan upto the platform and shoot the SniperBall there. Then go back down the tubeand shoot the middle Sniper Ball. Nowthe second fan has been activated,allowing you to proceed to the next partof this level.

A R E A 3Pick up the Grenades on the right Thereis a hidden room behind a secret wallon the right side of this room. Stepthrough this wall and get the power-upshidden back there. Now throw aGrenade at one of the glass domes inthe floor to break it Shoot the SniperBall by the curved outcropping firstThen drop down Into the hole in thefloor and destroy the turrets. Grab theSniper Mortars. Use them to break theglass in the outcropping to the right andshoot the Sniper Ball. Go back Into thepit and pick up the Bouncing SniperBullets. Stand on the pink dot at the leftand shoot a Bouncing Sniper Bullet atthe blue pentagon to hit the Sniper Balibehind the mesh. Then go back Into thepit The way to the fan should be opennow. When you get to the cityscape run

towards the blue and yellow lights. Thetaxi will be shooting at you. Go into thedoor at the blue and yellow lights. Thisleads to Lewisham High St. Okay, that bitIsn't tme, but we're glad to see you'repaying attention.

A R E A 4As you walk into this room you will seethree Grunts beside three domeshanging from the ceiling. Dispatch theGrunts and then shoot the glass underthe domes. When the glass breaks aBouncing Sniper Ball falls out Shoot theBouncing Sniper Ball. Do this for allthree domes before you attempt to goInside one. Sniping the Bouncing SniperBalls turns on the fans under thedomes. Now use the fan to get insidethe first dome on the left. As soon asyou get Inside a lot of Inviso Grunts willspawn in on the floor Luckily there Is aCloak in this dome. Use the Cloak andthe Inviso Grunts will not bother you.Then go to the second dome and grabthe power-ups. The third dome Is theway out Try to get there before theCloak runs out

A R E A SThe first thing you will see in this roomIs a Conehead with his back to you.Shoot him In the back and then proceedInto the room with caution, as there arestill two Inviso Grunts somewhere Inside.Once you have dealt with the InvisoGrunts look at the two huge SniperBalls. You must shoot the reddish capsoff of the balls. For the ball whose cap ispointing downward, shoot off the capand then the Sniper Ball inside. ABouncing Sniper Ball will then fall outShoot it, natch. TTie ball with the cappointing up requires you to get a SniperMortar, which can be found on thearchway In tfiis room. Shoot off the capand fire the Mortar into the openingAnother Bouncing Sniper Bali will fallout. Shoot it Then walk to the top of thearchway above the entrance. A SniperBali at the top of the two huge onesshould now be activated. And yes, you

need to shoot It This will cause the floorto open up and four Grunts to run outKill them and proceed. In the cityscaperun towards the telescope platform atthe centre of the city and use yourchute to float over to it Get the power-ups on the platform and take theteleporter Go through the door on theledge after being teleported.

A R E A 6You enter a huge room. There is aplatform, which goes around the edge ofthe room. The middle of the room lookslike a giant spider and has twoplatforms. The upper one has ateleporter inside it. Around the edge ofthe room there are Sniper Balls. Onlyone of them is active at a tme. Whenyou shoot a Sniper Ball, enemies willappear and Items will spawn on theplatform near the entrance. To activateanother Sniper Ball you must kill ail ofthe enemies that spawn, if you fall intothe pit you can use the fan andteleporter to get back up to the balls.When you have sniped all of the SniperBalls and defeated all of the enemiesthe floor will open up allowing you toproceed to the next room.

A R E A 7The first two enemies you will see aretwo Grunts. Kill them and snipe theBouncing Sniper Ball to switch on thefan that will take you to the nextplatform. Get the power-ups above thehorns behind you. Continue sniping theBouncing Sniper Balls on each platformto switch on the fans that will take youup to the next platform. A handy trickfor the Bouncing Sniper Balls In thisroom Is to use your Laser Gatgun as Itbehaves just like sniper shots, but it hasa faster rate of fire. After the last fan isswitched on there are two UltraBottrocks. If you have a Sniper Shielduse it to safely snipe them from adistance, or just use a Cloak or DummyDecoy to sneak past them. Continueriding the fans up to reach the door atthe end.

BOSS RGHT: SHWANG'S TAXIThe easiest way to beat this boss is toarm a Sniper Shield and run into one ofthe two domes along the edge of themiddle platform. The domes willcollapse from the taxi's shots, so you'llhave to use Sniper Shields to avoid thetaxi's shots after that Strafe to avoid thetaxi's shots and snipe the balls along theside of the taxi, or use Laser Gatgunshots. The balls will fall off when hit.When you destroy all of the balls theboss is defeated.

L E V E L E I G K TX E N O I C - T H E L A Z A R U S E F F E C TC h a r a c t e r : M a xMax touches down on Swizzle Flrma justI n t i m e t o l e a r n o f t h e U l t i m a t e

Doomsday Device. Better disarm thatotherwise it's sayonara to mama Earth.

A R E A 1Run to the end of the street and go left.Look for the sign with the unhappy faceand gun. There is a nook In the wallwhere you can find weapons. Theyrespawn, so stay until you have fullweapons. Now run and turn right andthen take the first left. Keep runninguntil you see crates against a wall. Shootthem to reveal a tunnel. Enter the rightbranch of this tunnel and shoot out thegrates on the left wall. Run through thegrating to enter a room with two Bifs inIt You must keep killing the Bifs untilthey stop re-spawnIng Then thetriangular outcropping will pull back toreveal a passageway

A R E A 2The first thing you will see Is a circulardoor with four arms around It Run tothe side of the arms to attack them. Donot attack from the front as you willtake more damage. Strafe to avoid theturret fire and destroy the arms. Thecircular door will open. Run into the nextroom. There will be two Bottrocks and alot of statues and pillars. Shooting thepillars will reveal girders that you canclimb. Climb to the top of one of thegirders to get power-ups. Destroy thedevice on the celling to open the doort o t h e n e x t r o o m .

A R E A 3There Is a huge Jumbotron in this room.It has floating platforms all around It Acircular platform with Gatling Guns goesaround the edge of the room. Runaround the edge of the room collectingas many Gatling Guns as you can. Thereare three BIrdBralns firing at you. Try notto waste any ammo on them as theyrespawn indefinitely Now jump to thered edged floating platform (this Isopposite of the door you enteredthrough]. It takes you near to a blueledge on the Jumbotron. Jump onto ItThe way to finish this room is to shootthe red, green, and blue parts of thesupports holding the Jumbotron up.They can be shot from the red, green,and blue floating platforms. Once theJumbotron falls It will smash a big holeIn the floor Jump to the floor You willtake damage but there are two CarBatteries down there. Down the big holethere is a pipe. Jump on to the pipefrom the ledge that stretches out overthe hole and then jump inside of thepipe by standing on the thin wire. Thispipe leads to the next room.

134 Play5tation.E

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WALKTHROUGH: PART TWOLEVEL EIGHT CONTINUED

A R E A 4There are Bottrocks, a BottrockGenerator, and three spaceships fixed tothe wall. Grab the Gatguns In the room.Don't stop moving as the spaceships areconstantly firing at you. Take out theGenerator first and then concentrateyour fire on the spaceships. After thelast spaceship Is destroyed another onewill fly Into the room. This spaceship wlildrop off Bottrocks. When the Bottrockshave been defeated the ship will flydown. Jump onto the ramp and run intothe ship. Press the red button in thecockpit. The ship will then shoot out thel o c k e d d o o r

A R E A 5Get the Atomic Jetpack. The first thingyou will see is a large light on the wallof the reactor Use the Atomic Jetpackto fly up to It. Now keep flying to theright. There will be vents and lights toland on. Use these to climb up to thearms extending from the reactor Fly tothe small platform at the end of the armand then across the arms until you getto one that's close to the ledges thatmove in and out of the wail. Fly to theledges and use the Jetpack to climbthem until you reach a light locatedunder more arms. Here, fly up and landon the platform at the end of the arm.Stand there just long enough to refuelthe Atomic Jetpack, since the armslower as you stand on them. Now go onto the next one and so on until all ofthem are lowered. This triggers moreledges higher up. Fly up to these anduse them to climb up to a spindle ofpipes, in the centre of the spindle thereis a corridor that is marked by a largeglowing circle. Enter this corridor

A R E A Sin this room there are a lot of electricpillars. Use the Atomic Jetpack to fly toa pillar and use your guns to destroythe top half, it will shatter and reveal asmall platform for you to stand on.Refuel and proceed to the next pliiac Donot touch the pillars before they haveshattered or you will take damage.There are BIrdBrains and Ivlantaraysshooting at you. Your objective Is to getto the hole In the wall at the other sideof the room. Through here Is a corridorthat leads to the boss room.

B O S S F I G H T: F I N A L S H W A N GThere is a rocket in the centre of theroom. Red buttons that you can standon are all around the room right besidevarious large tools. Shwang will be In acast and a chair He will fly around theroom and shoot Intermittently at you. Atimer begins to count down as youenter this room, if you do not defeatShwang before the timer runs out theultimate doomsday device will go off. Todefeat him you must lure him near toone of the large tools along the wall andthen jump on the red button beside it.This causes a tool to hit Shwangcausing him massive damage. A coupleof the tools along the wall do not havebuttons. They must be shot anddestroyed when Shwang is near them, ifyou hit Shwang with enough of the toolsto get his health very low you should beable to flnish him off with your guns.

L £ V E L N I N E

A L L H E R O E SC h a r a c t e r : D r H a w k i n sT h e a b s e n t m i n d e d D o c a r r i v e s a t

Swizzle Firma to rescue liis friends butmanages to teieport himseif down tothe planet's surface rather than Kurtand Max up from it.mini-game: Avoid the rocks and thew o r m h o l e s ,

A R E A lYou will start In a large room with a lotof Conehead civilians running around.There will be a blue and red teleporterin one corner of the room, a rampleading to an upper platform and aramp heading down to a door. First runup the ramp to the platform. There willbe a corridor but ignore it for now. Keeprunning around the platform until youfind the power-ups. Then run back downthe ramp and go down the other rampthat leads to the door. Go through thedoor and Into the corridor.

A R E A 2

You will end up In a dark corridor with acheckpoint. Use the Atomic Toaster totake care of the Bottrocks in thecorridor Go through the door at the endof the corridor. This will lead to a maze.When in the maze there are manybuttons on the floor in various points. Ifyou press them all a secret door willopen up for you near the end of theroom. Try to go in the direction that theConehead runs. This Is olwoys the rightway to get to the maze exit. At the endof the maze you will run into twoBottrocks and a Bottrock Generator Killthem and pick up the Palatial LocatorThis will cause the teleporter to activate.If you pressed all of the buttons in themaze you can now pick up power-upsinside the large dome in front of you. Adoorway will have opened up on the farside. Then run into the teleporter Thiswill transport you back to the first room.You will be standing on the redteleporter. Run through the blueteleporter right beside you.

A R E A SYou will be standing on a red teleporter.You wilt see some pits In the room anda blue teleporter at the opposite end ofthe room. Run into the teleporter Youwill teieport into a very large room. Inthe distance you will see a floatingmaze. Run towards it. You have to killBottrocks and Bottrock Generators onthe way When near the maze, SODs willattack you. Kill them all, if possible, andproceed on to the maze. You need touse the ladder. The grey squares on theground and on the platforms are whereyou use the ladder. There is also asecret room in this maze, The wall rightbeside the straight platform closest tothe wall will open revealing power-ups.The object of the maze is to climb up tothe blue teleporter at the very top.

A R E A 4in this room you will see three buttonson the floor and a large tube. On thewall you will see what appears to be aConehead 'ant farm'. You will notice thatwhen you press a button the floordisappears in a section of the farmdropping the Conehead In it down onelevel. Your object is to get the ConeheadInto the fan at the bottom. It will grindhim up and fill up the tube a little bit.When the test tube Is full a wall will falldown revealing a blue teleporter If theConehead makes it across a level of the'ant farm' a Bottrock will spawn In andattack you. Grinding one moreConehead after the tube is already fullwill open a secret room containingp o w e r - u p s .

A R E A SIn this room there Is a BottrockGenerator and a lot of Bottrocks.Destroy the Generator and theBottrocks. There is now a button wherethe Generator used to be. Press it. Thisactivates the blue teleporter on theother side of the room. There are twoBIrdBrains guarding the teleporter Killthem. Now get the power-ups on bothsides of the ramp to the teleporter andt a k e t h a t r i d e .

A R E A 6

You will be teieported onto a circularplatform with some spinning red andblue lights In the centre. Kill all of theSODs and BIrdBrains so you can safelysolve the puzzle without being shot at.There are three buttons on the littleplatforms. There Is also a floatingplatform that goes to another with a recforce field. When you stand on a buttonone of the lights stops spinning. Theobject Is to stop the spinning lightswhen they are blue. Once all three lightsare stopped on blue, the force shieldwill disappear and you will be able topick up the Positronic Doohlcl^. Anda b o u t t i m e t o o .

A R E A ?You are back in the first room again.Run up the ramp and down the uppercorridor The first challenge is a redtreadmill. Study the pattern and run tothe nooks in the wall. In the next part othe room you will see buttons and wirefences blocking your path. You mustpress the correct buttons to get thefence to lift. If you press the wrongbutton you will take damage. From theleft, you must press the first button,second button, second button, thirdbutton, then the first button. There areBottrocks and Hosers behind the fence?There is also a hidden room behind asecret rising door In the back right ofthis room with power-ups In It. After thl:there are two more treadmills tonegotiate. You must navigate these toproceed to the last room. There are alscHosers lying In wait at the end of all ofthe treadmills.

B O S S R G H T :H O S E R S I N T H E P H O N E B O O T HYou will see a lot of buttons on the flooiand two BIrdBrains will rise to attackyou. Deal with them and then run to th(yellow button. Look at the celling whenyou press It. There are red lights abovethe buttons that correspond to thebuttons that you have to press. Onceyou have solved the puzzle a wall willshatter and a teleporter will be visible.Go pick up the Dimensional Destabilizeand step through the teleporter Youhave all three of the special Items now.Now walk to the phone booth In the finroom. Pick up the Pumpernickel andshoot it into the phone booth threetimes to kill the Hosers Inside.

PlayStation.^ 13

F I F R 2 0 0 1 / 1 5 5

R R R E

TIDK2 HRmRGEDDDN i^anbi inueizL E V E L T E N

z i z z r s P A L A C E

Character Kurt, Max or Dr HawkinsChoose your favourite character and getready for the final showdown with theultimate boss and alien leader, ZizzyBalooba. First off, we tell you how to getto Zizzy with Kurt, Max or Dr Hawkins.Then you can discover how to use eachof the characters' strengths to bring thebig Balooba down to size.

corridor until you get to a blue door Youwill now enter a room with a hugestatue and a water fountain in themiddle. Run up the staircase to the leftof the statue. Ttie door at the top of thestairs will not open so jump to the ledgeon your right Now follow the ledge untilyou get to a blue door that leads to ablue conldor At the end of the corridorIs Zizzy Balooba...

K U R TRun to the right, all the way to the fan.Float on the fan and shoot at the wall. Itwill collapse. Now run down thecorridor. There are turrets that shootblue bolts at you and Grunts that willattack you. Once you make it out of thecorridor you will be in a huge room.There will be Bifs and BIrdBrainsattacking you. Run to the left towardsthe blue door Ttie door will open to ared-carpeted corridor Follow the

D R . H A W K I N SRun to the left There are grey squaresthat you can use your ladder on. Use itto climb the wall and get into thepalace. Tfie first area after climbing thewall Is a reddish corridor Follow It and Itwill eventually lead Into another corridorthat has a reddish floor and purplewalls. Keep going along it until you getto the blue door that opens onto thetop of the stairwell In the statue room.You will meet Coneheads and BIrdBrains

in these sections. If you look left you willsee a place to use your ladder Climb tothe platform on your left and run to theblue door Tfie blue door leads to a bluecorridor At the end of the corridor IsZizzy Balooba...

M A XRun forward. The huge doors in front ofyou will open. Next you will see a largecircle on a wall In front of you. Runtowards the wall and It will open up foryou. In the next room Botducks and Bifswill spawn. Kill them all and run to thedoor at the end of the room. The doorwill open to a red-carpeted corridorFollow It until you get to a blue door Onthe other side of the door is the statueroom. Run up the staircase. Tfie door atthe top of the stairs will not open butnot to worry. Jump to the platformupper right and run to the blue doorleading to a blue corridor At the end ofthe corridor Is Zizzy Balooba...

THE RNAL BATTLE: ZIZZY BALOOBAWhen you enter the room Zizzy isstanding In the centre. Zizzy has fourattacks: laser shots from his trident,large blue walls sent along the floor thatknock you over If they hit you, greenbolts sent along the floor flt>m histrident, plus he raises his hands andwiggles his Angers to hypnotize you withhis Hypno-Attack This last one causesthe screen to spin and makes It verydifficult to control your character Toavoid his laser shots and the large bluewalls, strafe to the left and right Youshould avoid the green bolts by jumpingover them. To avoid being hypnotizedsimply tum your back on Zizzy when hewiggles his fingers. Collect all of the

power-ups along the outer walls of thisroom. Now shoot Zizzy until his healthbar reaches zero and he will go to themiddle of the room and spread his armsto suck you Into his stomach. OnceInside of Zizzy you have the juicy task ofdestroying all of his internal organs todefeat him. Of course, Zizzy isntdefenceless, even now. You are going tohave to deal with his stomach acid andBottWorms. The BottWorms can be veryhard to avoid, so they will require someserious strafing and jumping when youhear them getting close to you.

W i t h K u r t

Shoot the four heart chambers withyour Chalngun. Then lob a Sniper Mortarinto the hole In each lung After that useone of the holes with bubbles fiying outof It to fioat up to the ledge Just belowZlzzys brain and shoot out his eyes.Next shoot the big lug's brain. When youdo this you will see Sniper Balls floatingaround the surface of his brain. Shootthem with sniper shots, or yourChalngun, or, better yet use any SniperGrenades you have left.

W i t h D o cTum into Hyde to destroy the four heartchambers. You will need to ride on topof the bubbles to reach the two highestheart chambers. Use Pumpernickel orAtomic Toast to destroy Zizz/s lungs.Next use the leaf blower to blow Zizz/seyes Into the holes, or just push themaround with Hyde. Rnaily, use AtomicToast to destroy the brain by bouncingyour shots off his rib cage

W i t h I V l a x

Simply shoot every organ with your gunsuntil ttiey are all destroyed. Having fourRayguns equipped to use against Zizzysorgans will make things the easiest forMax. You have to use the AtomicJetpack to fly up to Zizz^s brain andeyes to destroy them.

Congrats, space cadet! You've justjust beaten MDK2 Armageddon.

IVIake the beautiful game evenmore beautiful with these codesfor FIFA 2001 and the ioveiy ISS.

R F A 2 0 0 1A u t o m a t i c W i n :

Play the game for a couple ofminutes and then pause. Now holddown ID and (B and enter

Play as Aii-Star Team:At the team selection menu, selectArsenal and hold down @ whenyou press S;. At the kick-off you'llbe playing as the Electronic ArtsA l l - s t a r Te a m .

I S SAii-Star Teams:At the team selection menu inputt , 4 - ,

ALl-SIAR ■ GUNbaseball! GMFFON2002 ■ BLAZE

A iittie hint tomake you a'd iamond 'geezer with'mounds' ofh o m e r u n s .Geddit? Oh,n e v e r m i n d .

When up to batpress @ tochange fromc o n t a c t t o

power Then youneed to line upthe upperc o m e r o n t h es i d e o f t h e

batting trianglewith the pitchingaid. Time yourswing correctlya n d n i n e t i m e sout of ten you'llhit a home nin.

Send fairnesss o u t h o f t h eborder withthis iittie gem.C r e a t e a f e m a l e

pilot with then a m e ' F E AMASTER! ' ande n t e r M e x i c o a sher nationality.Do this andyou'll start thegame with 12fuel evaporationb o m b s .

C R R T R U R y : □H R m P O N 5 H I P R R C I N S R E D F R E T O N

A collection of fun extras and hints on how you unlock the cars and tracks that matterF o g o n t h e t r a c k E n t e r C B , a i , ( g ) , ® , @ , @ a t t h e c h e a t m e n uGigantic head mode optionMore drivers and cars

... Enter @,@,(B),(b,oi,ib at the cheat menu

....Enter m at the driver selection screen to access more drivers (fromMidway's development teamj or m to access additional, noveltyvehicles Including a hotrod and a soapbox cart

Extra Option Hints.Once opened, these options can be accessed fiTjm the Cheat Menu.Unlock Thick Fog option And New York track.... ....Complete the game in Demolition Mode in all three difficulty settingsUnlock Rocket Wheels option and Boston Big Dig track .Complete the game in Block Your Opponent Mode

in all three difflcuity settingsUnlock No Time Out option and Moon track — ....Complete the game In Time Trial Mode in all three difficulty settingsUnlock Night Drive option and Alpine Raceway track...Unlock Death Car option and Miami trackUnlock Inflnlte Continues optionUnlock Jump option...Unlock Driving 101 FMV sequence...

...Complete the game in Lock-on Mode in all three difflcuity settings

...Complete the game in Simulation Mode...Complete the game in Season Mode...Complete the game In Last Man Standing Mode...Complete all Driving 101 options

Access the secret roof area In the Lobby Multiplier Map.To get there, go up to the second level of the area and pick up theRocket Launcher Arm it and aim for the comer of the wall where theskylight begins Isee beiowj. Rre a couple of times to smash a holeInto the ceiling and the wall, and continue launching rockets untilyou create a small alcove from where you'll be able to jump up ontothe roof Once you are up there, you'll find a Fusion Rocket Launcherand a Rail Driver This Is also a good vantage point for some sneakysniper action.

P a v e > ' ^K fi o : O

136 Play5tation.E

C R R Z y T R X I

C R A Z Y B O XLast month we set you up for fare-fishing success with a slew of indispensible playing tips covering the main game. Thismonth we jimmy open the world of Crazy Box, giving you the info to meet the insane challenges head on, unlocl< somefantastic mini-games and perfect some crucial driving skills at the same time.

Crazy JumpThis is the entry point into Ctazy Boxand aims to get you off to a flying startin more ways than one. It's relativelystraight forward but requires you tomaster the Crazy Dash to pass the150m clear point But why settle for apass? Squeeze three Crazy Dashes inand you'll soon be flying past the 300metre mark on every attempt Ablistering start is essential. Let thespeed buiid then Crazy Dash aroundmidway down the ramp and once moreas you speed to the edge of the jump.See if you can manage to puil off a 400metre jump.Challenge Rating; 2/10

Crazy FlagStill warming up but this time you'regoing to need to practice your CrazyDrift skiils. The key to hitting the flag atthe far end of the beach in record timeis to kick off with a Crazy Dash andperform a Crazy Drift immediateiy(toggle Reverse then Drive rapidly, whileturningl to puli off a bllsterlngly fast U-turn. See the flag? Floor It and with theheip of a few more Crazy Dashes youshould be able to hit the flutteringswine in under ten seconds. (Which isexcellentl. Remember, you don't needto brake on the spot so just keep thatfinger on the acceleratorChallenge Rating: 4/10

Crazy DriftsPuiling off the 15 combos required toclear this challenge isnt too hard, but aword of warning Keep off the grass, itsaps your speed and wili lose youvaluable time as you crank it up againto Crazy Drift. Try and stay on theTarmac and you'll make your iife awhole iot easier. Remember the mantraof accelerate, drift, accelerate and youshould be able to get an outstandings c o r e o f 3 0 c o m b o s .

Challenge Rating; 5/10

Crazy RushThis one is a reai stinker but never fearIt can be done Time Is Incredibly tighthere, so wasting time picking up ordropping off punters is out of thequestion. The way to make sure you dothis Is to simultaneously Crazy Drift andbrake as you approach the drop offpoints. It's not the easiest manouevrebut once you've got It down you'llalways come to a rest facing theremaining customers. It goes withoutsaying you'ii need to Crazy Dash assoon as the punter hops aboard.Challenge Rating; 8/10

w

Crazy HimA simple task but hard if you're still notCrazy Drifting with confidence Ali youneed to do is Drift araund each corner,take the ramp and finish in the endzone before the clock runs out Takeeach corner as wide as you can andremember that when you finish a Driftyou'll continue in the direction yourbonnet's facing so time the end well.It's entirely possible to Crazy Drift offthe end of the ramp and land facingthe finish point. Perfect this move andyou'll be laughingChallenge Rating; 6/10

Crazy JamReady for some precision driving? Threepassengers, one heli of a lot of trafficand no time to waste make this a blastAgain, time is short so you can't afforda single prang. Here's what you have todo. Get moving with a Crazy Dash andhead straight on to drop off your firstand pick up your second passengerThe next section Isnt such a breezeand will require some very sharprefiexes as you pick your way throughthe traffic. Even so, you'll need to throwa couple of Crazy Dashes in there tomake your life easier later on. After thatthere's a relatively straight routethrough the traffic. Tight, but you canhammer along quite happily. You wiilhowever need to swerve across severallanes of traffic to reach the thirdpassenger. Thankfully the final leg ofthe challenge Is pretty straight forwart.Challenge Rating; 6/10

Crazy BalloonsThis is the first of the tricky ones,mainly because the clusters of balloonsdisperse once you've hit and burst yourfirst batch. The way to get them all Inrecord time Is to throw In as manyCrazy Drifts as you can to repositionquickly You will have to make up somedistance to burst the stragglers on theedge of the area but that's why youhave Crazy Dash. Try for a worldbeating time of around 30 seconds. Ifyou can do that, you're unstoppableChallenge Rating; 6/10

Crazy BoundThis is the first really awkwardchallenge, requiring you to Crazy Driftoff the ramps and then to line up withthe next Jump. The trick Is to skid soyou leave each ramp side-on, flyingthrough the air sideways and landingready to drive straight on to the nextramp. The penultimate ramp is acheeky little number, because moreoften than not - unless your turn isIncredibly tight - you'ii shoot straightInto the sea. On the final stretch,remember to brake into the end rone,as It's all too easy to fly off the edgei n t o t h e w a t e r b e l o w .Challenge Rating: 7/10

C R A Z Y TA X I B O N U S i V I I S S I O N SIs there no end to Cmzy Taxi's generous gamepiay? Complete a row of threeCrazy Box challenges and you'ii unlock a hard bonus mission for your trouble.Read on to find out what they are and how you get the better of them.

zone where you mustdrop each passenger offoverlaps the railingocean, giving you a spacein which to stop the sizeof a gnat's wallet Theonly way to puil this off Isto Crazy Drift and brakeinto each zone, with yourflank parallel with theroad edge, so that you'refacing directly aheadalong the next strip ofroad. The 29 second timelimit Is harsh to say theleast but, as ever,practice makes perfectPull this off and you willtruly be a Crozy Taxi god.Challenge Rating: 10/10

Crazy BowlingAnd you thought TekkenBowl was fun? Try this onfor size. You're drivingaround an arena dottedwith pins and have al i m i t e d a m o u n t o f t i m e t o

k n o c k t h e m a l i d o w n . A s

you'd expect, you can'tafford to miss a singlepin If you want to beatthe challenge. The key tothis one Is to approacheach triangle of pins ft-omthe side and pull off adelicious Crazy Drift atthe last Instant Tills wayyou broadside the wholelot and position yourselfperfectly for the next setWatch out for the sidingsIf you overshoot, as youcan get trapped in themand waste time yousimply don't have.Challenge Rating: 8/10

Crazy PoleThis is one hardbolled challenge Aswith Crazy Rush, you'll have to brakeand Crazy Drift using poles as stoppingaids. Do this and you'll come to a(temporary) halt alongside them andfacing the remaining customers. Thistime, one Crazy Dash per leg won't beenough - not If you want to get anoutstanding time. Even though it doesmake stopping dead ali the more diceytry to flt a couple of Dashes In betweeneach drop off pointChallenge Rating; 9/10

Crazy Zigzag 2If the first Crazy Zigzaggot you fuming you mightas well sit down beforeyou read about this one.The task here Is similarto the first, only this timeyou have to ferry sevenpassengers to drop-offpoints on the narrowocean-bound freewayHowever, the green stop

Crazy ZigzagControl Is everything onthis challenge If you'vemastered the Crazy Drift(and If you haven't you'reunlikely to be here In thefirst place! you should befine Relatively speaking.Each corner is a rightangle, so It's helpfiji toremember that stoppinga Crazy Drift allows yout o d r i v e o n I n t h edirection In which youterminated the Drift. Withthis In mind the best wayto tackle the challenge isto Crazy Drift over thegap at the Intersection ofeach bend, leapingslightly over the spacebelow. This way you'llshoot straight ahead onto the next strip of road.Bear in mind that theroad Is very narrow(about twice the width ofyour taxll making roomfor error negligibleChallenge Rating; 9/10

Crazy ThroughAfter that last one this isa picnic. A Crazy Throughis a near-miss withanother vehicle so, allyou have to do Is speedclose to or between theheavy traffic on the road.Drive safely and the 30combo pass mark Iseasily achievableHowever, crash withanother car and the slateIs wiped clean forcingyou to start from scratch.The best way through Isto maintain a fairly directcourse with rather thanagainst the fiow of traffic.Playing chicken withoncoming traffic just Isn'tworth It. At least here.Challenge Rating; 6/10

Crazy ParkingTtie object here is tomake your way through abusy and clutteredmulti-storey car park.With only 25 seconds onthe clock barging yourindestructible waythrough obstacles Isn'tgoing to get you very farTlie trick here Is to pull aCrazy Drift off each rampto the nex t l eve l

(otherwise known as aCrazy Jump.) With a bit oflucK you'll miss some ofthe traffic and parkedcars, and land in a goodposition to cut diagonallyacross each fioor. Withagility and a spot or twoof luck you should beable to speed yourpunter to his destinationwith maybe a second ortwo to spare.Challenge Rating: 8/10

Crazy PartyThis Is the evil brother ofthe already infuriatingCrazy Zigzag 2. There areseven customers ande a c h o n e I s f o u n d i n a n

increasingly frustratinglocation. The seeminglygenerous 140-secondtime limit isn't, but withthis Information you'll bewell on your way tocracking the challengeT h e c u s t o m e r s c a n b efound in the followingl o c a t i o n s :1. To the left of where you

s t a r t .2. To the right of where

you start.3. Almost directly behind

where you start, in themiddle of the cluster ofc a r s .

4 . O n e e a c h o n t h e t w oraised areas (bewarethe spiral ramps).

5. Two ahead of whereyou start, on the raisedarea over the ramp.

The final slog to thedrop-off point is full oft w i s t s a n d a s n a r r o w a s

you like, so be careful.Challenge Rating; 10/10

Crazy AttackThe seventh Crazy Taxibonus mission Is onlyopened up once you'vecompleted ali six mainbonus missions. Theobject of this mini-gameis to make a completecircuit (anti-clockwise) ofthe Arcade city within afour-minute time limitThe traffic is very busyand you'll have to pull ofa virtually faultless lap.Crazy Dashing all the wayto have any chance ofsuccess. Beat this and It'stime to collect your hardwon reward. A push bikewhich can be accessedft-om the cabbie selectionscreen. Well done you.Just watch out for anytaxis while you're out andabout on your bike.Apparently they're abunch of maniacs.Challenge Rating: 11/10

PlayStation.E 13:

R R D C D R E

□ a nWant to know when Metal Gear Solid 3 is coming out? So dowe. But asl< us about almost anything else and we'll be sureto get on the case and get you the info you crave. Send yourquestions to Hardcore Q&A at the usual address or via theIntenweb at PS2@futurenet.co.uk.

S T R I P T E A S ESo far in Sky Odyssey I've found secret runwayson The Adventure Begins, Labyrinth, Mid-AirRendezvous, The Great Divide, and Towers OfTerror ieveis Where are the others?Glenn Harris, via email

Congratulations Glenn, you've found the lot! Ifyou've located these hidden landing strips you'llhave already collected all the parts required tobuild the Shinden concept plane and give it a Jetengine refit And you've snapped up the triplewing for the Swordflsh plane. But do you knowthat you can get custom parts for your planes bygetting a grade B or above In Adventure modemissions? And have you picked up the pontoonsthat allow you to land at sea by finishing theStormy Seas level?

ON YOUR MARKSi think my PS2 Is playing up. When inserted thediscs mal<e funny noises and the majority of thetime they dont ioad. There are also strangemarl<s appearing on the edge of the discs thatiool< iike iittie finger prints What should i do?Derek Bain, via emali

Y O U W H A T ?0PS2's stabilisers of righteous clarity bolted to the wobbly bike of inverseknowing. This month the question is "What is DSLrDSL is an acronym you're going to be hearing a lot more of as PS2 fuifiis Its oniinegaming potential. It stands for Digital Subscriber Line and refers to technology thatmakes it possible to transfer huge amounts of data via standard copper telephonelines. Effectively this means that a large number of the UK's existing phone lines canbe adapted to cany streaming video and the masses of high bandwidth Informationrequired for effective, smooth oniine gaming with your PS2. It does this by allowingdigital Information (ie the stuff your computer uses) to travel unmolested from serverto your PS2 or PC without having to go through the transfer bottleneck required whenit's sent in the same way your voice Is when you use the phone. Regular 56k modemswork with that bottleneck, rather than dispensing with it like DSL which is why the/reslower than Ethernet connections.

Every PS2 will occasionally make a hummingnoise when It's accessing large amounts of dataThis usually happens when a game Is firstloaded or between levels and Is due to PS2's 24xCD player (compared to PSone's 2x CO unltj. Youcan minimise the rumble by standing the PS2flat rather than on its end However; If the discsare actually getting marked or you're havingconsistent problems loading them it sounds likeyour unit may be damaged. We recommend youcall SCEFs Customer Careline on 08705 998877and they should be able to help with organisingfor a replacement machine, if required

E3 MGS2 @ 0PS2 DVD ASAP?I have one, simple request. Sometime very sooncan you put the highest quality version of theMGS2 E3 2001 trailer on your glorious demoDVD? i spent most of the day downloading thelow-quality version and was BLOWN AWAY. If therewere any doubts as to PS2's power and as to thefuture of videogames as a valid artform thiscrushes them.Colin Whiteside, via email

It's coming, Colin. The spectacular; second trailerfor MGS2, shown ot E3 and described Inexhausting detail in last month's Spy will be onthe 0PS2 DVD just as soon as we can - expect itnext Issue or the one after

PLAYING WITH MR SNAKEAs a long time subscriber of both 0PM and 0PS2magazines, I was Just wondering if you atB everlikely to include the Infamous MGS2 playabledemo that was included with the game ZOE, onyour demo disc.Michael Rathmell, via email

Again, we will be having a playable demo ofMGS2 soon. The details have yet to be confirmedbut we'll be shouting the news from the rooftopswhen they are. Watch this space

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE?is Confidential Mission coming out on PS2?Simon Cochrane, via email

HItmaker; developer of the accomplishedDreamcast light gun game with an espionagetwist have no immediate plans to bringConfidential Mission to PSZ Of course, if thatchanges you'll read it In Spy first You can alsostake out Hitmaker's bllinguai site(www.hitmaker.co.jpj and keep an eye open fora n n o u n c e m e n t s .

MEMORY, MANMaybe I'm doing something wrong, but why doesa game not recognise a Memory Card if it Is notin the left hand, or bottom memory slot of a PS2?It Is such a pain to have to change PSone and1^2 Memory Cards around, when changingbetween games. Also, how come none of thegames appear to have an anamorphic mode forwidescreen TVs? Sure, some of them you canblow up to fill the screen, but this loses qualityand therefore reduces the pointMike Seares, via email

Regardless of whether the game you're playinghas a multipiayer option or not, if you're playingsolo on PS2 the console autamaticaliy looks forboth the controller and Memory Card In the lefthand HI slot only Sadly that means having aconvenient, 'resident' PSone Memory Card in theright-hand slot isnt going to work. So, you'reeither going to have to carry on switching or

make new PSone game saves on yourbackwards compatible PS2 Memory Card.As for anamorphic display modes in PS2 games,there are a handful that offer just that FurFighters, Gran Turismo: 3 A-spec and Quake iliRevolution ail aiiow owners with the right kit toplay their games in glorious widescreen. Whyaren't there more? Weil, for now the relatively lowdensity of widescreen TVs out there just doesn'tmerit it Of course that's likely to change overtime but for now it's going to remain theexception rather than the rule

ONUNE ENQUIRY1. Do you know if Block And White wlli bereleased for the PS2?2. is there a PS2 USB Modem out at them o m e n t ?

3. When wlli the HDD/Broadband upgrade beavailable and how much will It be?Tim Framp, Airesford

1. Yes. A PS2 version of Lionhead Studio's hugelypopular PC God sIm is in development Thegame is to be published by Electronic Arts but atthis time there is no firm release date You'llknow as soon as we do.2. One third-party USB modem has startedshipping for PS2 In Japan, it's called theOnllneStation and It's manufactured by SunDenshl. Though to be honest, there are going tobe few compatible games released ahead of thelaunch of Sony's official Network Adapter earlynext year And since that unit will Incorporateboth a 56k modem and broadband Ethernetconnector for around £40, It's probably worthholding out until then. (Turn to page 68 for moreInfo on the Network Adapter in our interview withSCEE Senior VP Phil Harrison!.3. The PS2 Hard Disk Drive and Network Adapterwill be launched simultaneously in the UK nextSpring but will be sold separately We'vementioned the Network Adapter above. The HDDunit wlli initially have a capacity of 40Gb and willretail for approximately £200. In addition to this,lower capacity 10Gb and 20Gb units areplanned, and these will naturally sell for less.

r r s A D A T E ?1. Will Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 beout In the UK before Christmas?2. What games are Sega developing for PS2?G Hughes, St Helens

1. Sadly no. FFX and MGS2 will both be out Inthe UK early next year but firm release dateshave not yet been announced.2. Well, aside from Crazy Taxi Iwhich is out nowjthere are a slew of upcoming Sega games. Firstoff are the PS2 ports of Dreamcast titles. So, 18Wheeler Zombie Revenge, F355, a substantiallyreworked Ecco The Dolphin and Space Channel5 are all being developed. And then there ore aclutch of original games in the wings; VirtuaRghter 4, K-Project, Headhunter and a SpaceChannel 5 sequel. No, we can't wait either

PAL NO 'AMI' OF MINEI live In France, and I have had the PS2 eversince its launch, but frankly I'm growing tired ofthe French games coming out for It I wanted toknow. Is there any way at all I can make my PALEuropean PS2 play NTSC games? i sawsomething about patches on the Internet, but I'mnot sure. Would this mean i'd have to copy thegames using a CD-R drive and then burn thepatch onto It?Roham Gharegozlou, Paris

38 Play5tation.E

As it is, your PAL PS2 cannot piay NTSC gamesand as for patches, chips and other ways ofmodifying your machine, we recommend yousteer dear of them. Using patches does invoiveburning modified copies of the games you wantto piay This is liiegai and even if you did chooseto do it there's no guarantee of the finished discworking As for chips, you're Wke/y to need tosolder any modchip onto the PS2 circuitry andthis is a risky and difficult job. Once you'veopened up your PS2 you automaticaliy invalidateyour warranty so if you do siip with yoursoldering Iron you'il end up with a very expensivepaperweight instead of the biinding next-gengames machine you have now. Lost of ali, asidefrom some eccentric Japanese titles, the majorityof quality NTSC games wiii be released In PALformat before long any way often withconsiderable enhoncements.

D O U B L E T R O U B L EI've just got my PS2 and am totally blown awayby F1 2001 but I have one problem. I've boughtDeep Blue Sea and The Perfect Storm on DVDboth of which are Warner Bros discs and bothskip on layer 2. Now it's not the lens because allthe other DVDs are fine so i just wondered if youknew of anyone having any similar problems.A Greenfield, via emaii

Although Sony are giving DVD manufacturersoccess to PS2s so they can test their discs andprevent this problem, there are, for now, a smallnumber of DVDs that will not work on themachine laithough our copy of The PerfectStorm worked fine}. Sadly It's something that canhappen with any DVD piayer If anyone has had asimilar experience let us know and we'll draw upa handy list that we'll print on this very page

U F T M E U PI've got a problem with a couple of my DVDsbeing scratched after playing them on my PS2.Someone told me at work It has something to dowith how thick the DVD Is compared to thegames i piay and that the machine doesn't iift ithigh enough to read it. is there any truth In this?Jon Buttery, via email

Despite being crammed with a lot more datathan a reguiar CD, the DVD is actually the samethickness And it goes without saying that even ifthey were thicker the PS2 is designed to piayDVDs and CDs so that wouldnt be a problem.Moving the PS2 while it's playing may havecaused the scratches. However, if the prob/empersists and especially if playback is affected youshould cali SCEE's coreilne 108705 9988771 andarrange for a replacement.

5 0 H U R T ZPS2 supports a 60Hz display but gamedevelopers dont seem to be giving games thisoption. Most DrBamcast games did, giving you alovely full-screen game area. I find borders ongames so off-putting Even If the game is greatthe borders make it appear shoddy I know it's todo with the PAL conversion but if PS2 supports60Hz why cant developers use this to give us thesuperior display games are Intended to have?M Richardson, via email

Even though the PS2 can cope with the NTSCeOHz broadcast standard, not ail that many TVsover here In PAL territory can. That is why fewgames released over here have a 60Hz option.Until it's more widespread It's not going to beconsidered a high priority by developers. □

Q&A EXTRAQuoff deepiy from our well-stocl(ed mini-bar of queries.

Ali Hall adores his/her PS2 butwants to know if there's gonna be aPlatinum range? Weii certainiy. Butthe criteria for a Platinum gamestate that it has to sell a certainnumber of copies in 12 months. Andsince the PS2 itself hasnt been outfor a full year it's a little too soon forany titles to have fulfilled thoserequirements. Pete Falrey wants toknow the release date for Munch'sOddysee. Sadly the bog-eyed,flatulent one has taken a wrongturning somewhere and ended up inthe likely gaming cul-de-sac that isto be the Xbox. As a result it's a noshow on PS2. Ben Smallman askswhatever happened to WipEoutFusion and The Getaway as theywere previewed ages ago. Well,WipEout Fusion is with us in Octoberbut you're going to have to wait untilnext year for The Getaway In themeantime we're going to get the E3trailer of the game onto the DVD.Lastly Zaphod wants to know if thereare going to be any games thatrequire a light gun? Yes there are.Namco's Tfme Crisis 2 is on its way[read our preview on page 16).Following on its heels will be Namco'sother light gun game, Vompire Nights,while Empire promise the mysteriousEndgame. More on that next issue...

w u i i u . g a m e s r a d a r . c o m

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E N O G R f n EOpinion/gossip/lists/columns/truths/lies/odds/sods/and some stuff you write

; i g n e fAnimal testing has always been a contentious issue. In Paul Swing's Barmy BunniesIt's the animals themselves that are fighting bacit And they're mad as a hatter...

W R T T E T O :Designer Genes,Official PlayStation 2Magazine, FuturePublishing, 30Monmouth Street,Bath BAl 2BW. Ore m a i l u s a t P S 2 ®futurenet.co.uk Sendus a description ofyour game idea andtry to accompany itwith a few sketches ordrawings to bring yourwonjs to life, if we lll(eyour idea we'll sendyou an 0PS2 T-shirtand a signed print ofthe box art designedby art thug, Graham.

#10: BARMY BUNNIES/DESIGNED BY: PAUL EWING, GLASGOW"Barmy Bunnies is a 3D action adventuregame about rabbits that have been testedon. They are exposed to radiation andbecome stronger, faster and are able to

talK and they aren't taking any more crap."Ttiey steal loads of weapons, clone lots of good

bunnies and then brainwash them so they will be partof their army which they are creating to wage waragainst the humans

"You play as Fuzzy, a bunny who likes his ownerand takes a stand to fight for the humans In onder todo this his mission Is to save ail the good bunniesone of whom Is his girlfriend Wuzzy.

In terms of gameplay Barmy Bunnies Is a crossbetween Metal Gear and Fur Flghteis. You must

F U Z Z YThe buck daddy. Fuzzyis out to save hisb r a i n w a s h e d c h u m s a n dequally fuzzy girlfriendWuzzy. As you would.

R A D I A T I O N B U N N YThis rabbit is sick andbad to the bone. Givehim a ser ious smack.

complete Increasingly more difficult missions indifferent environments, all of which are on a hugescale because you are playing from the level of arabbit. Some of the missions require you to bestealthy and avoid detection while others are morelike a first-person shooter In one of the later levelsyou save your girlfriend. Tlien you have the option tofight as her as well and have double the flre-power

"At the end of each level you find the brainwashedbunnies, the more you save, the higher your score.

"Banmy Bunnies would also include other modeslike four-player Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and asub-game you unlock after completing the first fvelevels called Bunny Boxing Barmy Bunnies can bepiayed in first- or thlttJ-person."

nVUL GLANCEY |Creative Manager at Criterion Studios,currently working on AirBlade. i"This Is quite a good idea - apartfrom the rabbits. Ivlaking your game'wacky' makes it original, but it onlygets you so far in terms of salesbecause not enough people buyvideogames for solely their comediccontent Publishers are sawy to thatfact, so anything like this is always atough pitch. Is making the gameabout bunnies going to appeal tomore people than it would if it wereabout secret agents?

"If this was on the shop shelfnext to a Metal Gear Solid game,wouldn't Solid Snake get the saleevery time? Good title, though. Oldschool. Like a Spectrum game."

140 PlayStation.?

k : : : .

* - * " 5 S b " ' • •■■■ ' 5 S S * * - r f i i

OPSZs Jamie Sefton shows you how to make your own Yabasic games.

Looks just likelast month? Nope.This time out, youcan move theship around...

Left AnalogueRight Analogue..

( D . . .

C D . .

163 26 4

........1282 5 65 1 2

......10242 0 4 84 0 9 68 1 9 2

...16384

...32768

Add the following lines to last month's program between the 'Draw player' and'End of frame' blocks of code and you'll now be able to control your ship with theD-pad. Try experimenting with the different values In the 'IF AND' lines to controlthe ship with the different Dual Shock 2 buttons. Next month - collision detection.

T H I S M O N T H ' S C O D E

REM — Player control —c = PEEK ("portl")IF AND(c,16l = 16 THEN ply = ply - 5 ENDIFIF AND(C,64| (> 0 THEN ply = ply + 5 ENDIFIF AND|C,128) <> 0 THEN pix = pix - 5 ENDIFIF ANDlc,32| <> 0 THEN pIx = pix + 5 ENDIFIF ply < 30 THEN ply = 30 ENDIFIF ply > 500 THEN ply = 500 ENDIFIF pIx < 30 THEN pIx = 30 ENDIFIF pix > 500 THEN pIX = 500 ENDIF

*Thonks to Mike Dean at SCEE for his invaluable help with this column.

#2: PLAYER CONTROLWELCOME TO THE second instalment of a series that'll be demonstratingdifferent aspects of Yabasic - the game-making utility generously provided on thefree demo CD that came with your PS2. Every month we'll be providing new bitsof code that will eventually build up into an enjoyable mini-game.

in last issue's column we printed Yabasic code that generated a scrollingmountain range and a spaceship complete with a glowing, animated thruster Nowwe're going to show how you can add just a few lines to enable you to move theship about using the Dual Shock 2. The two variables of 'pIx' and 'ply' that affectthe ship's position can be altered by detecting which button has been pressed(using the binary AND operation) and moving the ship accordingly

The values of the different Dual Shock 2 buttons are:

....2

The ultimate office biuesbeater that Is thesplit-screen carnage of Time Crisis 2. Withtwo new etgonomic G-Con 2s! Die, suckas!

Summer. It makes you drink more andwear less. What a great idea.

The televisual translation of B/shI Boshfsmini-game madness that is the briiilant

Banzai. Place ya bets nowwwwl.

Rockstar Games. For its seeminglybottomless well of cool free stuff and for the

enthusiastic swearing of its President Sam'My Mum was in Get Carter Houser.

The effortlessly giam celeb haunt ChateauMarmont for hosting said Houser interview.

Finishing GTS. Believe us, thats somecause for ceiebration.

Electrotankcom's Flash-igolf. IjooK It's been a slow games month..

FEVER

j l

Z IPSSamE' l i iET"What's hot, what's not, what's out there..

C H I L L

ir Intemotionof League Soccer versus UEFAChallenge Like Runcorn against Staiybrldge

Ceitic on a wet Wednesday in January.

Summer You've got hay fever, you'resweating buckets and the newsagent's ail

out of Soleros. We're praying for rain.

Having to give away the massive sack ofPS2-related goodies we've tirelessly

accumulated as a prize in our 50 Reasonsfeature. We just hope you're bioody grateful.

Trying to work out what Phil Harrison istalking aiiout. Sod client side technologies,

let's just piay Quake III.

Not having any Amy Men games to slate.So we'il lay into WDL- WarJetz Instead. Same

publisher, same sorry sack of fHosnt therebeen a lot of swearing this month? - Edl

The swine wfio keep stealing all thebatteries from our remote controls.

Ageing pot-biack miscreant Jimmy White notturning up to our engagement citing a (andwe quote) food poisoning incident'. Yeah,

yeah, Jim, we've all read the biography

PlayStation.E 141

E N D G R m E

Bi—ainsbi a(~rnA whole 148 pages of PS2 in handy blipvert form-Follow the page numbers to see what you've missed.

' about a "Wanna be thenext Heai'Say? Of

" R o m a n s . S a n d a l s .Tigers. Nasty, pointy,stabby things" p.92

"Many others hav^wlgrenner in the face ofnational sport" p.li2-

"Deranged loons who deserve^n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n t h e " r *strongest arm of the law" p.l24'

"My Mum naked in bedwith Michael Calne -that's Polling cool' p.37

"Oh yes, and it le!you race inSwindon." p.22

"Great idea,Hank!" p.l21

<Wore monsters per^square yard tlian a

hen night inBradford" p.96

"Using a twigdipped in a weaits o l u t i o n o f To i l e tDuck" p.134

"Shaking off a partkularfymenacing hangover' p.78

UJNI T I C K E T S F D R U 2 0 0 1P L U 5 R B I E m E N B S L A SmP3 FLRldER mOBILE PHONE!

SUMMER - A SEASON for chronic hayfever, imbibing beverages in beer gardens and, of course, heading off tosummer festivals to see the best bands, have the best time and trying to remember where you pitched your tent Thisyear, 0PS2 has got together with Virgin Mobile to give you and three iucky mates the chance to win tickets to visitWeston Park, Staffordshire for V2001, sponsored by Virgin Mobile. On top of that, the winner will be able to phone hisnot-so lucky other mates from the festivai on a extremely cool Siemens SL45 MP3 player phone,

So who's on this year's blil? Everyone from the looks of it. Take a look at this lot...

■ Saturday 18th AugustRed Hot Chiii Peppers, Foo Fighters, David Gray, Piacebo,Neil Finn, Powderfinger, Toploader The Divine Comedy,Doves, Starsailor, Ben Foids, Webb Brothers, Turin Brakes,Ed Harcourt, Grandaddy Sparklehorse, Aifie, Bush Tree & Me

■ Sunday 19th AugustTexas, The Charlatans, Coldplay Faithless, Embrace, NeliyFurtado, Nina Pearson (Camp), Spooks, Muse, JJ72, ShedSeven, Wheatus, Phoenix, Snow Patroi, Kylie Minogue, GrooveArmada, The Avalanches, Hooverphonic, Relish

□ For fuli details of the line-up, keep an eye on the music press for news and announcements or visit www.vfestival.com.

THE PRIZE!□ A Siemens SL45 MP3 player mobile phone [connected to Virgin Mobile's Pay As You Go network]□ Two pairs (the winner plus three friendsl of tickets and weekend camping passes to V2001, sponsored by Virgin

Mobile (Weston Park, Staffordshire site oniy)□ Return train travei on Virgin Trains for ail four people

What do we want for this completely ace prize? Just the answer to the following question and the now-standard 25-words-or-less tie-breaker question. Good luck to all and well see you down the front

KYUE DUETTED WrTH ROBBIE WILUAMS ON WHAT CHILD-RELATED SONG FROMROBBIE 'S S /NG WHEN YOU 'RE WINNING ALBUM?TIE-BREAKER QUESTIONI WOULD VERY MUCH UKE TO GO TO V2001 BECAUSE... (COMPLETE IN LESS THAN 25 WORDS)

Send your answers plus name, address and contact number on a postcard to: V2001 Virgin Mobile Compo, OfficialPlayStation 2 Magazine, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, Somerset, BAl 2BW, or email your answers toPS20futurenetco.uk, marking your mall 'V2001 Virgin Mobile Compo'. Competition closes 31st July so getsending ttiem postcards.

Compet i t i on Ru lesNo purchase necessary. No correspondence will be entered into. No employees of Future Publishing virgin, Virgin Mobile or any affiliatedcompany may enter No cash alternative Is offered to these prizes. Closing date is 31st July 2001. If any prize becomes unavailable, FuturePublishing and Virgin reserve the right to replace It with another of equal value. Multiple entries will be disregarded. The Editor's decision isfinal. All normal competition rules apply. You heard.

142 Play5tation,E

The Qui1

Got now't else better to do? Feeling clever? Itmust be about time to attempt the OfficialPlayStation 2 Magazine Quiz then.

T H E A N A G R A MR O U N DYo u k n o w t h e d r i l l .' L m e s u c n b a r ' t h e l e t t e r s t omake game titles.1. Enter Koala Hind

2. Red Labia3. So Splenetic4. Ace Fungal Heel5. Ted Dranl< Ajax

T H E C R Y P T I CR O U N DTie your thinking walnut inknots in an attempt to findthe game publishers.1. World War ii sea battleleaves arcade fun betweenA and B2. When Japanese babyhedgehogs talk they...3. Pure as the driven snow.But not for long4. Cheat a French friend?

5. Return of the clapperboard

HANG ON, WHERET H E H E L L A M I ?M a t c h t h e l o c a t i o n s t o t h ePS2 games.1. Tahit i Maze

2. Me i te i s land3. Cape Canardo4. The Gaunt let5. The Jim Dandy

R E S I D E N T P E O P L EThese characters appeari n w h i c h R e s i d e n t E v i lgames?1. Kenneth Sul l ivan2. Nikolai ZInovlev

3. Alexia Ashford4 . Rebecca Chambers

5. Ben Ber to lucc i

S E R I A L K I L L E RQUESTIONSH a n n i b a l i s o u t o n D V D t h i smonth, but in which filmsd o t h e s e fi c t i t i o u s s e r i a lkillers appear?1. John Doe

2. Henry Lee Lucas3. Peter Foley4. Carl Stargher5. Francis Dolarhyde

H A P P I N E S S I S AW A R M G U NWhich games do theseweapons come from?1. Rail Driver2. Mercury Bow3. BFG lOK4. Bio Rifle

5 . Mauser

T R U E O R F A L S EWhich of the followings t a t e m e n t s a r e t r u e a n dw h i c h a r e f a l s e ?1. SSX Tricky will feature thevoice of Lucy Liu2. KelJI Inafune createdO n i m u s h a3. Hideo Kojima has a snaketat tooed on h is lower back4. A new Tekken 4 characterIs cal led Dean Eanwicker

5. 3D0 has the rights to do avideogame of Countdown

N B E H ?W h i c h N B A t e a m s a r eblessed with the followingn i c k n a m e s ?1 . Timberwo lves2. Raptors3. Trail Blazers4. 76ers

5. Kings

T U R N I N GJ A P A N E S EIn which PS2 games dot h e s e c h a r a c t e r s h a v eleading roles?1 . S a m a n o s u k e2 . G o k u r a k u m a r u

3. Shozaemon Hyuga4. Kobayakawa5. Eike

U E F A C H A L L E N G EF O O T B A L L R O U N DBecause a Euro footle quizi s f a r m o r e fi i n t h a n U E FAChallenge the game.1. Which club has theaccolade of winning theEuropean Cup themos t t imes?2. How many players weresent off in Liverpool's recentUEFA Cup victory?3. Which was the first Brit ishclub to win the EuropeanCup?4. Name the ex-Aston Vil ladonkey who was the leadinggoalscorer of Euro 20005. Who scored the third goalIn Man Utd's 1968 EuropeanCup win?

A N S W E R S(USE A MIRROR]

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Y O U R R A T I N G35-50 Stella Artois

25-35 Lager top15-25 Lime and soda (pint)0-15 Ditch water

D a t a b a s eWant to know more? Need to know arelease date? What about a game in thefuture? Something gone wrong? Here'sall the info you could ever need...

3D0 01895 456 700www.3doeurope.coni3D0 Europe, 21-23 Mossop St, London SW3 2LYA C C L A I M 0 2 0 7 3 4 4 5 0 0 0

www.acda imnat ion .com112-120 Brompton Rd, Knightsbrldge, LondonSW3 IJJ

ACnVISION 01895 456 789w w w . a c t l v i s i o n , c o m

Long Island House, Suite 3a, 1-4 Marple Way,London W3 ORQ

C O D E M A S T I R S 0 1 9 2 6 8 1 4 1 3 2

www.codemasters.comStoneythorpe, Southam, Warwickshire CV33 ODLCRAVE 00353 617 020www.cr3vegames.com58, Canalot Studios, 222 Kensal Rd, LondonW I O 5 B N

CRYO 0121 250 5072www.cryo-lnteractive.com186a StratfortJ Rd, Shirley, Solihull B90 3B0

DISNEY INTERACTIVE 0990 998 877vww.disney.co.ukPlayStation Carellne, PO Box 2047 LondonW I A 3 D N

EIDOS INTERACTIVE 0121 356 0831www.eldos.co.uk1 Hartfleld Rd, Wimbledon, Ijandon SW19 3RU

ELECTRONIC ARTS 0870 243 2435wvw.uk.ea.com2000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 OEU

EMPIRE 0800 783 0156wvw.empire.co.ukThe Spire, 677 High Rd, North Rnchley N12 ODAFOX INTERACTIVE 01932 454 032www.foxinteractive.com2000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 OEUINFOGRAMES 0208 222 9700www. in fogramescom116 Baker St, Ujndon WIM ILB

JVC INTERACTIVE 0207 240 3121

vww. jvc .com44 Wellington St, Covent Garden, LondonWC2E 7BD

KONAMI 0208 582 5573vww.konaml-europe.com7/9 The Oaks, Ruisllp, Middlesex HA4 7LF

L E G O 0 1 7 5 3 4 9 5 4 5 3

vww. lego.com33 Bath Rd, Slough, Berks SLl 3UFMICROIDS 0208 901 7388vww.micro ids.com2 Gayton Rd, Harrow, London HAl 2XUMIDAS INTERACTIVE 01223 522 000wvw.midas- interact ive.co.ukMatrix House, Cambridge Business Park CB4 OHH

M I D W A Y 0 2 0 7 9 3 8 4 4 8 8

wvw.mldway.com96 Kensington High St, London W8 4SGSCEE 0990 998 877wvw.piaystat ion-europe.comPlayStation Careiine, PO Box 2047 LondonW I A 3 D N

SCi 0207 585 3308www sci CO uk11 Ivory House, Plantation Wharf, York Rd, LondonS W l l 3 T N

TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE 0870 124 2222vww.take2games.eomSaxon House, 2-4 Victoria St, Windsor, BerksS L 4 I B Y

TMQ 01483 767 656vww. thq .comDukes Court, Duke St, Woking, Surrey GU21 5BH

UBI SOFT 0208 944 9000vww.ubisof t .co.uk1 Weir Rd, Wimbledon, London SW19 8UX

VIRGIN INTERACTIVE 0207 551 4222v w w . v i e . c o . u k

74A Charlotte St London WIP ILR

PlayStation-E 143

E N D G R m E

11 5 l a r I SIf it's for PS2, and on sale in the UK then we've played it, arguedabout it and played it some nnore. Our potted judgements on the95 games available begin below. Get you reading now.

□ F F O R L

PlayStation.r r i R G R Z I N E

^ Atfde markedVA with ourStarPlayer awardis your guarantee ofa t i t l e w i i l c i i e x c e i s

on every level.Looking for a truiygreat PS2 game?Then get tfiese.

4 X 4 E V O L U T I O N(Talffi 2/Tentiinal Reality)Flash but not fun off-roader.Reviewed 0PS2#06/Overal l 05

7 B L A D E S(Konami/KCEJINinja-styled adventurewith repetitive gamepiay.Reviewed 0ps2#05/0vera l l OS

A L L - S T A RB A S E B A L L 2 0 0 2lAcclaim/Acclaim StudiosAustin)A sensibly-designed aii-round ganne of basebaii withoodies of hidden depth.Rev iewed 0ps2#07 /0vera l l 07

AQUA AQUA:W E T R I X 2 . 0(SCI/Zed TWO)Addictive update of cuitpuzzier, Wetrix.Rev iewed 0ps2#01 /0vera l l 07

A R M O R E D C O R E 2(UbI Soft/From Software)infinlteiy-twealoble first-person mech shooter..Reviewed OPS2#04/Overal l 07

A R M Y M E N A I RA T T A C K : B L A D E ' SR E V E N G E(3D0/3D0)Duiisviiie heiicopter game.Reviewed 0PS2#09/0vera l l 02

A R M Y M E N :G R E E N R O G U Et3D0/3D0)On-ral is shooter whichpiumbs new depths.Reviewed OPS2*08/Overal l 01

A R M Y M E N :S A R G E ' S H E R O E S 2(3DO/3DO)Pooriy realised shooter.Reviewed 0 l>s2#07/0vera l l 03

B L O O D Y R O A R 3(Virgin/Hudson Soft)Transmogrification-fixatedbattler lacking depth.Reviewed OPS2#09/overal l 0«

C R A Z Y T A X I(Acclalm/Sega/Acclalm)Pure arcade thrills. If youwant speed, buy this now.Reviewed OPS2#07/Overal l 08

D E A D O R A L I V E 2(SCEE/Tecmo)Cult beat-'em-up with ablistering frame rate.Rev iewed 0 l ' s2#02 /0vera l l 07

D I S N E Y ' S D I N O S A U RlUbl Soft/Ubl Soft)Poor movie spin-off.Reviewed 0 l>s2#03/0vera l l 04

D O N A L D D U C K :

QUACK ATTACK(UbI Soft/Dlsney Interactive)More 'cack' than 'quack'.Rev iewed 0ps2#04 /0vera l l 04

D R A G O N ' S L A I R(Digital Leisure/Clnematronlcs)Unplayable retro adventure.Reviewed 0l>s2*03/0veral l 02

D R A G O N ' S L A I R I I :T I M E W A R P(See above)Painfully dull arcade sequel.Reviewed 0(>s2»03/0veral l 01

^e>a ider~ 's ChangeWHY EVERYONE SHOULD OWN... MOTO GP

D R I V I N G E M O T I O NT V P E - S(EA/Square)Dismal, dismal racer.Rev iewed 0ps2#05 /0vc ra l l 04

D Y N A S T Y W A R R I O R S 2(Midas Interactive/KOEI)Mixes strategy, sword-slashing, horse riding andshooting people.Rev iewed 0ps2#02 /0vera l l 07

E S C A P E F R O MM O N K E Y I S L A N D(Actlvislon/LucasArts)Adventure with smart visuals,a brilliantly witty script andIntelligent puzzling.Reviewed 0 l>s2#09/0vera l l 08

E T E R N A L R I N G(UbI Soft/From Software)Unoriginal Japanese RPG.Rev iewed 0ps2#05 /0vera l l 03

E V E R G R A C E(Ubi Soft/CraveE n t e r t a i n m e n t /

From Software)A depressing RPG whichfalls to engage on all levels.Rev iewed 0 l ' s2#06 /0vera l l 02

E X T E R M I N A T I O N(SCEE/Deep Space)Survival horror-fest crawlingwith design innovations.Reviewed 0PS2#08/Overal l 07

E S P N I N T E R N A T I O N A LT R A C K & H E L D(Konaml/KCEO)Graphically impressiveathletics sim with dodgy Al.Reviewed OPS2#01/0veral l 06

Nominated byB E NW A T E R W O R T Hfrom Reading" T U m t h e m u s i coff and listen tot h e w h i n e o ft h a t b i k e . "

"Moto GP Is all-round fun, while also being a great simulation.It has some of the best graphics I've seen come out of mylittle black box, especially In Replay mode. Okay, so the musicmay be rubbish, but turn it off and listen to the whine of thatbike - only GT3 beats It! The challenges, did I mention them?Some are easy but others are near impossible, I congratulateanyone who's completed them - I sure as hell cant! You saidit first, but Moto GP really Is Gran Turlsmo on two wheels!"

What's the PS2 game you think everyone should own? Write to Reader's Choice at the usual address or e-mailyour suggestion to PS2@futurenetco.uk. Enclose name, address, age, and photo to win a game of your choice.

E S P N N A T I O N A LH O C K E Y N I G H T(Konaml/KCEO)Gamepiay kinks put thisbelow its EA Sports rival.Reviewed OPS2#05/Overal l 06

ESPN NBA 2NiGHT(Konaml/KCEO)Vlip, only fun for gamerswho l ike basketball.Rev iewed 0ps2#05/0veta l l 06

ESPN WINTERX - G A M E SS N O W B O A R D I N G(Konaml/KCEO)Realistic snowboarding sim,hampered by bland graphicsand slow controls.Reviewed OPS2#01/Overal l 06

F1 CHAMPIONSHIPSEASON 2000(EA Sports/EA/VlsuaiSciences)Hardcore F1 fans willfind this a little too easyRev iewed 0 fS2#03/Overa l l 06

F 1 R A C I N GC H A M P I O N S H I P(video System/Ubl Soft)Good attention to detail butless fun than its competitors.Reviewed 0PS2f 06/0verari 05

FORMULA ONE 2001(SCEE/StudIo Uverpool)Tons of depth, but it'll feeljust too 'Simmy" for some.Still the best F1 game onthe PS2 to date though.Reviewed OPS2#07/Overal l 08

F A N T A V I S I O N(SCEE/SCEI)Tlie world's first fireworksgame. Not enormous but ofrare and random beauty.Reviewed OPS2#01/Oveial l 07

n P A 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA SportsCanada)Great graphics but seconddivision gamepiay.Rev iewed 0ps2#02 /0vera l l 06

F U R F I G H T E R S(Acclaim/Bizarre Creations)Cute fluffy creatures armedwith shotguns blast eachother to pieces in this eel-shaded cartoon adventure.Rev iewed 0p$2#08/0vera l l 08

GAUNTLET: DARKL E G A C Y(Midway/Midway EastGames)Dated gamepiay negatesany innovative additions.Reviewed OPS2#08/OveraH 05

G R A D I U S I I I & I V(Konami/KCET)Dull 2D arcade shooterReviewed 0l>s2#01/0verai i 02

☆ 3^GRAN TURISMO3 : A - S P E C

(SCEE/Polyphony Digital)GT3 Is the greatest drivinggame in the world - rallycars, F1 cars, they're all inthere A must-buy.Reviewed OPS2#09/Overali 09

G U N G R I F F O N B L A Z E(SwIng/GameArts)Another mech shooter forrobot fetishists everywhere.Reviewed OPS2#03/Ovetall 07

H 3 0 S U R H N G(Take 2/ASCM)Inadequate surf sim with aninfuriating camera angle.Rev iewed 0ps2»02/0vcra l l 04

H E R O E S O F M I G H TA N D M A G I C(3DO/3DO)Patchy PC adventure.Reviewed OPS2#08/Ovcral l 03

H O L O G R A M T I M ET R A V E L L E R(Digital Leisure/Sega)Avoid like the plague.Reviewed OPS2#03/Overal l 00

I N T E R N A T I O N A LS U P E R S T A R S O C C E R(Konaml/KCEO)Genuine squads and moreInstant terrace gratification.Rev iewed 0ps2#01/0vefa l l 08

K E N G O : M A S T E R O FB U S H I D O(UbI Soft/UghtWelght)A padded training modemakes up for this ninjafighter's limited nature.Reviewed 0l>s2#07/0veral l 06

K E S S E N(Electronic Arts/KOEI)RTS on a huge scale with100 warriors on-screen atonce. An ail-consumingwork of true beauty.Reviewed 0PS2#04/Overal l 07

K N O C K O U TK I N G S 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA Sports)Competent boxing sim. Notgood enough to earn itsroyal status though.Reviewed 0ps2#05/0vera l l 06

K U R I K U R I M I X(Empire/From Software)Bizarre two-player puzzlerfixated with greed.Reviewed 0 l>s2#07/0vera l l 07

L E M A N S 2 4 H O U R S(Infogrames/MelboumeHouse)More accessible for thegamer daunted bysimulation-style vehiclehandling, while has depthand thril ls in abundance.Rev iewed 0ps2«09 /0vera l l 08

M A D D E N N F L 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA Sports)PS2's most rewarding andcomplete sports game yetwith excellent presentation.Reviewed 0PS2#01/0veral l 08

M D K 2 A R M A G E D D O N(Interplay/BloWare)A unique, challengingadventure with Ideasbursting out of Its skin.Reviewed OPS2#07/Overal l 08

M I D N I G H T C L U B(Rockstar/Angel Studios)Speedy urban racing,boasting huge NYC andLondon environments.Rev iewed 0ps2#01 /0vera l l 04

M O T O G P(SCEE/Namco)Gran Turismo on twowheels (ish). A fantasticmotorb ike s im.Reviewed OPS2*03/Overal l 07

M c, M T V M U S I C

G E N E R A T O R(Codemasters/Jester)Home DJ sample/mixermusic maker Enormous funand nigh on faultless. One ofthe most exciting and wellput together releases yet.Rev iewed 0ps2#08 /0vera l l 09

N B A H O O P Z(MIdway/Eurocom)The most enjoyablebasketball sim on PS2.Reviewed: OPS2#06/Ovetal l 06

N B A L I V E 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA Sports)Solid and playable EAfranch ise .Reviewed: OPS2#05/Overal l 06

N H L 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA Sports,Canada)EA Sports' perennial icehockey licence has steppedup to the markReviewed Ops2#02/0veral l 08

O N I(Rockstar/Bungle Software)Pioneers new characteranimation In an enjoyablethird-person sci-fi romp.Rev iewed 0ps2#05 /0vera l l 07

144 PlayStation.E

5ix Bph e B e s t

S H O O T I N G G A M E S

1. STAR WARS;STARFIGHTERWhat's this doing here? in ashooters list? it's here because youshoot things and whether you're ina ship or not, this space fighter wiiirocl< any Jedi Knight's worid.•Starfighter is out now from Actlvlslon

2. QUAKE IIIS t r u c t u r e s a r ecurvaceous wiillecolours and liuesemanate from everyon-screen inch. Withbullets, blood andbravado, It's a FPS tobeat TImeSplltters.*Quake III Is out nowf m m C A

3 . T I M E S P U T T E R SA frenetic pumped-up3D blaster v»ithincredibly addictivegameplay. Jaw-dropping grapiiics,meaty weapons andway-out characters.Unbelievably fast too.*nmeSplitters fe outnow from Eidos

4 . R E D FA C T I O NAn explosive and epicadventure which keepsyou guessing up untilthe very end, featuringa wealth of FPS action.The downside? Only atwo-player Iplus robots]Deathmatch mode'Red Faction Is out nowf r o m T H g

t - A -

S . U N R E A LT O U R N A M E N TA festival of guns, gutsand gore with a hugenumber of well-designed levels andsuperb Deathmatchoptions - an FPSwhich really kicks ass.•Unreal Tournament is outnow from Infogrames

6 . Z O N E O FT H E E N D E R SA top-class mission-b a s e d t x 3 b o s h o o t - ' e m -

up from Hideo Kojimawith a free playableM e t a l G e a r S o l i d 2demo bolted on forgood measure.•Zone Of The Enders /sout now from Konom!

f /

O N I M U S H A :W A R L O R D SICapcom/Capcom)Impressive survival horrorwhich lets the PS2 show offwhat it can do. Gameplayisn't so fresh, though.Reviewed 0 l>s2*09/0vera l l 0«

O P E R A T I O N W I N B A C K(Midas Interactive/KOH)i-acks variety, but it's anenjoyable stealth shooterReviewed Ol>s2#07/0veral l 06

O R P H E N(Actlvislon/Shade lnc|Disappointing anime-insplred Japanese RPG.

R e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 1 / 0 v e r a l l 0 4

P O O L M A S T E R(Take 2/Ask)Dull pool Sim, despitesome tidy bail physics.Reviewed OPS2#02/Overall 05

☆li^QUAKE III(EA/BullfrogI

in four-player mode, thisfirst-person shooter is thebest muitipiayer yet Playslike lightning and looksabsolutely gorgeous.Reviewed 0PS2f 06/0verall 09

R A Y M A N R E V O L U T I O N(Ubi Soft/Ub! Soft)Animation-quality graphicselevate this classicpiatformer above others ofits kind. New elements addlongevity, and make forengrossing gameplay.Rev iewed 0ps2#02 /0vera l l oa

R C R E V E N G E P R O(Acclalm/AcclalinCheltenham)Last-gen graphics andsluggish frame rate adds upto an avoidable kart racerReviewed OPS2#02/Overal l 03

R E A D Y 2 R U M B L E :R O U N D 2(Midway/Midway)Ivlarveiious arcade-basedcomedy boxing game,pitting ridiculous cartoonfighters against one anotherRev iewed 0ps2#01 /0vera l l 07

R E D F A C T I O N(THO/Volition)First-person shootermelding MGS and Quake III.Its magnificence is marredonly by a little lazy design.R e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 8 / 0 v e r a l l 0 «

R I D G E R A C E R V(SCEE/Namco)initial high hopesscuppered by Jagged edges,limited size and a generallack of originality.Reviewed 0(>s2#01/0veral l 07

R I N G O F R E D(Konami/KCE)A mech RTS that's fun?Oh yes A must for thediscerning robo-fetishistafter something differentR e v i e w e d O P S 2 # 0 7 / O v e r a l l 0 >

R O B O T W A R L O R D S(Midas Interactive/DaZZ)Many other superior mechgames make this redundantReviewed OPS2*06/Overal l 04

R U G B Y(EA Sports/CreativeAssembly!More akin to Madden thanFIFA in approach, a highlyenjoyable take on the sport.Reviewed 0 l>s2#08/0vera l l 07

R U M B L E R A C I N G(EA/EA)Fast and furious racer withoodles of challenge andreplay value to die for intwo-player mode.R e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 8 / 0 v e r a l l 0 8

S H A D O W O FM E M O R I E S(Konami/KCET)A filmic adventure whichkeeps the surprises comingwith a serpentine plotReviewed OPS2#05/Overall 08

S I L E N T S C O P E(Konami/KCEO)Slick but simple shootinggallery-style game whereyou play a police sniper Anextremely taut andenjoyable game.Reviewed OPS2#01/Ov8rall 08

S I L P H E E D : T H EL O S T P L A N E T(Swing/li«asure, GameArts)Tedious top-down shooterRev iewed 0ps2#03 /0vera l l 03

S K Y O D Y S S E Y(SCEE/Cross for SCEI)A flight Sim where you donthave to shoot anything justcomplete crazy missions Thefun just keeps on comingReviewed OPS2#Oe/Overall 08

S K Y S U R F E R(virgin Interactive/Idea Factory)Dull extreme sporterReviewed Ol>s2#04/0veral i 03

S M U G G L E R ' S R U N(Rockstar/Angel Studios)Mission-based fun in whichyou escape from the copswith a trunkload of booty,impressively large free-roaming environments.R e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 1 / 0 v e r a l l 0 7

S P A C E A C E(Digital LeisurB/Clnematronlcs)Ancient arcade port.R e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 4 / 0 v e r a l l 0 1

☆s

☆n^ S S X(EA Sports Big/EASports Canada)

This outrageous, inventiverainbow-coloured highspeed snowboard game Ispacked with crazy courses.This is one game which willtake your breath away Ifthe PS2 ever needed anadvertisement, this is itR e v i e w e d 0 p s 2 # 0 1 / 0 v e r a l l 0 9

^STAR WARS:S T A R F I G H T E R

(Activlsion/LucasArts)A mesmerising 3D StarWars blaster with engagingmissions and film-perfectsound effects. A biindinglygood space shooter.Buy this game, you will.Rev iewed 0ps2*06 /0ve ra l l 09

S T A R W A R S : S U P E RB O M B A D R A C I N G(Acthrislon/Lucas Learning)Cartoon kart racer withwonky Ai and derivativegameplay The force isweak in this one.Rev iewed 0ps2#08 /0vera l l 05

S T R E E T H G H T E R E X 3(Capcom Eurosoft/Arika)A decent enough 2D/3Dbattier, but doesn't giveTekken Tag Tournamentanything to worry aboutRev iewed 0ps2#03 /0vera l l 07

S U M M O N E R(TOQ/Volition)The best PS2 RPG. A littletoo ugly perhaps, but still agem-like sprawling epic witha highly original plot.Rev iewed ops2#04 /0vera l l 08

S U P E R B U S T - A - M O V E(Acclaim/Taito)Another update of a classicgame, but a pointless oneas it adds nothing new.Rev iewed 0ps2#02 /0ve ra l l 04

S W I N G A W A Y G O L F(EA Sports/TSE Soft)Cutesy PSone golf slm letdown by a poor conversion.Reviewed 0 l>s2#02/0vera l l 03

T E K K E N T A GT D U R N A M E N T(SCEE/Namco)Fantastically playable andgraphically spectacularbeat-'em-up. All new taggingmoves will keep the testyTekken faithful happyReviewed OPS2«01/Overall 08

T H E B O U N C E R(SCEE/SquaresoftjA fun, accessible brawlerwhose adventuringelements are fairly limited.Rev iewed 0ps2#09 /0vera l l 06

T G D A R E D E V I L(Kemco/Papaya Studios)Fun driving slm, butlacks any depth.Reviewed OPS2«02/Overal l 05

T H E M E P A R K W O R L D(EA/Bullfrog)A God Sim to flip forEnjoyable, charming andwith a lightness of touch.Reviewed OPS2#03/Overal l 07

T I G E R W O O D S P G AT O U R 2 0 0 1(EA Sports/EA Sports)Fun enough golf slm whichsuffers from a seeminglyrandom control system.Reviewed OPS2#06/Overall OS

^TIMESPLTTTERS(Eidos/FreeRadical Design]

Fast and frantic muitipiayerfirst-person shooter Maylook 'old' when up besideQuake III Revolution. Oneof the best 'Shoot yourbuddies' PS2 games.Rev iewed ops2*01 /0ve ra l l 09

U N R E A LT O U R N A M E N T(Infogrames/Epic Games]Gory, over-the-top extremelyviolent and immenselyplayable FPS, let down by aslow frame rate In four-player mode Get Quake IIIor TImeSplltters for thesame deal but ahell of a lot fasterRev iewed Ops2#04/0vera l l 08

W A C K Y R A C E SS T A R R I N G D A S T A R D L YA N D M U T T L E Y(Infogrames/lnfogrames)Misty-eyed fans of the serieswill love the visuals,however the averagegameplay punctures anynurtured enthusiasm.Reviewed OPS2#09/Overal l 06

W A L T D I S N E Y ' SJ U N G L E B O O KG R O O V E P A R T Y(Ubi Soft/Disney Interactive]Disappointing Disney dance-'em-up. Go for the cheaperPSone version instead.Reviewed OPS2#08/Overal l 04

W A R R I O R S O F M I G H TA N D M A G I C(3DO/3DO)Dreadful adventure/RPG.Rev iewed ops2#07 /0vera l l 03

W D U T H U N D E R T A N K S(3DO/3DO]An arcade tank slm which isan absolute romp in four-player Deathmatch mode,although blowing up CPUcontrolled tanks in singleplayer isnt much fun.Reviewed OPS2#05/Overal l 07

WILD WILD RACING(Rage/Rage)Off-road buggy racing gamewith merely acceptablelooks and initiallydiscouraging handling Getsbetter the more you playR e v i e w e d O P S 2 # 0 1 / O v e r a l l 0 6

X-SQUAD(EA/EA Square)Team-based third-personshooter Enjoyable enoughfare, but never Inspiring.Rev iewed 0ps2#02 /0vera l l 05

^ZONE OF THEE N D E R S

(Konami/KCEJjCool graphics and intuitivecontrols make this a mechgame with soul. But thenwhat did we expect fromKojima? Oh, and then there'sthat free MGS2 demo.Reviewed OPS2#06/Overal l 09

PlayStation.E 145

G R m E O U E RThe best PS2 games/The best end sequences/The best illustrators

F A C m i EGame: OntmMlPublisher: Capcom EurosoftDeveloper; CapcomReview: OKZ #09

%a

/ y

0 n i m u s i ( a ( ~ i a fEndangered species impersonation caps feudal horror game shocker; brought to life by illustrator Mr Jago.

W H A T ?So how did we gett o t h i s b r t ?You are Samanosuke,samurai and protectorof maiden in peril,P r i n c e s s Yu m i . W h e nij)rd Nobunaga, killedin battle a year before,reappears on thes c e n e a t t h e h e a d o fa demonic army andkidnaps Yumi and heryoung step brother,S a m a n o s u k e a n d h i s

partner Kaede, afemale ninja, mustinvestigate. Afteryou've defeated untoldlegions of demonsand opened up a doorto the underv/orld youmust slay the demonking Fortlnbras in anepic show/down. Andyour rew/ard for thism a m m o t h e f f o r t ? T h echance to play againIn a Panda sui t v i / i th

flip top head. Yesss!

H O W ?Getting to play fancy dress isn't easy. You'vegot to slice and dice before you can get yourpaws on OnimustKti bear necessities.

Onimusho has a finely balanced learningcurve so even though It gets very tricky toplay in the later stages, the chances ofwanting a cheat code to unlock (and ruin)evetythlng are tiny Which Is good, sincethens Isnt one. Yet You can make yourjourney easier though by saving the gameat the Magic iviirrors or simply returning tothe Dark Realm to get some easy kills andstock up energy-boosting souls for thefinal showdown with Fortlnbras. A date withthe Shopkeeper awaits...

W H Y ?OPS^s resident quasher of evil, Paul 'Not theface! Not the face!' Titzpatrick explains whyOnimusho; Warlords is this month's choice.

TTie first thing that hits you aboutOnimusho is the graphics but start playingand you'll see the game gets an awfiji lotof other things spot on. Making the souls ofdefeated demons a source of energy Is agreat Idea and gets you spoiling for fightsat every turn. Puzzles are testing but dontslow down the action and nsstricting thesetting to a castle and Its grounds meansthat single locations can and will servedifferent purposes depending on yourprogress. A nice touch and a great game."

W H O ?Fearing for his pic-a-nic basket, illustrator MrJago 'bears' his soul about how this piece ofpanda-pop art came to be..."I had a lot of fun with this one. I really likedthe Idea of smacking baddies arounddressed as a panda. After rumbling throughlots of bad guys our hero has been told thathis girlfr-lend has been kidnapped, so I'vedrawn him looking worried and then shownhim donning his panda helmet and rushingto the rescue. (He's gonna deliver a freshbatch 0' wupass.| The background on theIllustration is supposed to suggest anoriental feel. I've been playing Quake III andTImeSplltters recently I'm on a shooty tip."

Y O U R G O !If you think you'ver e a c h e d a b e t t e r e n d

sequence, write to usand tell us what It is,how you got thereand why you thinkIt's so great Prizeso n o f f e r f o r t h e o n e st h a t w e f e a t u r e o nthis page include aframed print of thefinal artwork Write tous at GameOver,Officio/ PlayStation 2Magazine, FuturePublishing, 30il/lonmouth Street,B a t h B A l 2 B W . E m a i lP S 2 e f u t u n e n e t . c o . u k

146 PlayStation.^

seriouslyddd ictive...Escape F rom

M o n k e y I s l a n d ™

Escape From Monkey Island™ is thefourth chapter in this most celebratedand comical adventure game series.Guybrush Threepwood returns onceagain to face sociopathic parrots,freakishly deformed buccaneers and aninsult flinging villain with a sinisteragenda. Escape From Monkey Island™brings to PlayStation 2 all the saltyhumour, engaging game play and freshpuns for which the legendary seriesi s f amous . . . oh and a sh ip l oado f m o n k e y s ! »"A terrific example of how goodadventure gaming can be."8/10 Official PlayStation 2 Magazine.

t a t f y i M n t l c w l M M t e w H h « x d H ^ D J M « >

T T M O D E R N G R O p V E t

Ministry of SoundE d i t i o nK n r fl y K u t i a r M i P M l t M t a v n * I

U b i S o f t

S Ministry Of SoundFeaturing over 5 hours of the latest House,Trance and UK Garage music, mixed bysome of the most famous DJs around

including Tall Paul, Ferry Corsten andPaul Jackson. Containing a huge catalogueof interactive 3D objects, sprawlingbackdrops, film clips and other animatedimages, this unique piece of softwareallows you to create your own stunningvisuals and then sync them in time to yourown personal tracklist. Choose from over60 tracks, including some previouslyunavailable tunes, from the likes ofSonique, Bedrock and Schiller, then createyour visual masterpiece to either get theparty in the mood or to create the perfectpost-club chillout zone.

R e d F a c t i o n ™The revolution in gaming has arrived.Red Faction™ is the only FPS with realtime arbitrary geometry modification.Put simply, you can destroy theenvironment. Featuring an astonishingphysics engine, controllable land, seaand air vehicles, intense graphics,kick-ass weapons, 20 dynamic 3Denvironments and an intense andinvolving storyline. Red Faction™ is thenext must-have title for serious gamers."One of the most polished andengaging PS2 titles to date." PSM2

Gran Turismo ® 3 A-spec © 2001 Sony ComputerEntertainment Inc. All manufacturers, cars, brandsand associated imagery featured ir^ this game aretrademarks and/or copyrighted materials of theirrespective owners. All rights reserved. Published bySony Computer Entertainment Europe. Developedby Polyphony Digital Inc.

buy online atn n fi fi f v . h m v . c o . u k

O n l y £ 1 9 . 9 9

Gran Turismo 3 A-SpecGran Turismo 3 A-spec, the thirdinstallation of the best-selling racingfranchise, brings you the ultimate drivingexperience in the ultimate racing game.Featuring amazing special effects, mind-blowing graphics and the world's bestcars. Racing has never been this good."GT3 is the greatest driving game in theworld. A must-buy for every PS2 owner"9/10 Official PlayStation 2 Magazine.

All titles subject to availability at participating stores only

topdogforgamesbuy now from oner 100 stores natiomiifkle or G870 5 33 45 79

ne unstoppable \'iking on the road to \alhalla. Armed \\ith1 the skull-eraeking, body ehopping weaponry he ean earry.

Before camouflage,varr iors didn't hide.

v-w. take2games.com/rune

T A I ^ a i n t e r a c t i v e PlayStation.Bn u n c , n u m a n n e a a b t u o t o s a n d t t i e H u m a n H e a d S t u d w slogo are trademarts of HumanHead Studios, Inc. Take 2logo and Take 2 Interactive Software are trademarks ofTake 2 Interactive Software. All rights reserved."PlayStation" and the Family logos are registeredtrademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All othertrademarks and trade names are properties of ttieirrespective owners. © 2001 Take 2 Interactive