p.

42
One of adventure gamings
longest journeys concludes
DREAMFALL
CHAPTERS
4
PC P OWE R P L AY

5
0 5
FRONTEND
13 Release Schedule
14 Big Pic
16 Digital Curtain
18 Black Annex
20 The Indie Microbrewery
24 Indies @ Home
30 10 to Watch
34 PCPP Interview: Outlast
OPINION
36 Source Code
38 JAM
40 Generation XX
FEATURE
42 Dreamfall Chapters
TECH
52 Warranty Feature
58 AMD Interview
60 Hotware
61 My PC
62 NVIDIA Triple Threat:
GTX 700M
64 NZXT Phantom 530
65 Thermaltake Volus
Thermaltake Cronos
67 BenQ XL2411T
THE BUNKER
70 MSI Z87 XPower
72 Overclocking ARMA II
REVIEWS
78 Amnesia
80 Card Hunter
82 Dragon Commander
84 Influx
85 Magrunner: Dark Pulse
86 Beatbuddy
87 Megabyte Punch
88 Gone Home
90 Papers, Please
91 Space Hulk
92 Splinter Cell Blacklist
94 PayDay 2
96 The Bureau: XCOM
Declassified
STATE OF PLAY
101 Deus inexperienced
102 Spelunky
104 Extended Memory
REGULARS
08 Inbox
98 Subscriptions
106 Next Month
MSI Z87
XPOWER
p. 70
The Bunker-worthy
motherboard overflowing
with features
WARRANTY
WORRIES
p. 52
How consumer
laws are protecting
your tech purchases
THE INDIE
MICROBREWERY
p. 20
Behind the scenes of Australias
new indie game publisher
AMNESIA: A
MACHINE FOR PIGS
p. 78
More terrifying than swine
flu?
NVIDIAS
TRIPLE THREAT
p. 54
How the new GTX 700M is
revolutionising laptop gaming
INDIES @ HOME
p. 24
The Australian indie games
that will change PC gaming
PC P OWE R P L AY


7
PC P OWE R P L AY
EDITORIAL
EDITOR Daniel Hindes
dhindes@nextmedia.com.au
GROUP ART DIRECTOR Malcolm Campbell
mcampbell@nextmedia.com.au
DESIGNER Oliver Barles
obarles@nextmedia.com.au
TECH EDITOR Bennett Ring
bennettr@internode.on.net
INTERN Zac Naoum
gamesintern@nextmedia.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS
Nathan Cocks, James Cottee, Anthony Fordham, Steve Holt,
Terrence Jarrad, James OConnor, Meghann ONeill, Stephen
Schulze, Dan Staines, Daniel Wilks, Katie Williams, Matt
Wilson, Theo, Wonkers
ADVERTISING
GROUP NATIONAL ADVERTISING MANAGER
Cameron Ferris
cferris@nextmedia.com.au
02 9901 6348
M: 0405 356 419
ADVERTISING TRAFFIC
Alison Begg
abegg@nextmedia.com.au
02 9901 6346
PRODUCTION MANAGER Alison Begg
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Carole Jones
SUBSCRIPTIONS
www.mymagazines.com.au
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Locked Bag 5555,
St Leonards, NSW 1590
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
David Gardiner
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Bruce Duncan
PC PowerPlay is published by nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805
970, Building A, Level 6, 207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW
2065 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may
be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission
of the publisher. Printed by Webstar Sydney, Distributed in
Australia by Network Services. ISSN 1326-5644. The publisher
will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of
information or opinions expressed in the publication. All material
submitted is at the owners risk and, while every care will be
taken nextmedia does not accept liability for loss or damage.
Privacy Policy
We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide
personal information through your participation in any competitions,
surveys or offers featured in this issue of PC PowerPlay, this will be
used to provide the products or services that you have requested
and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may
be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the
event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our readers,
we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may
use the information you provide us to inform you of other products,
services and events our company has to offer. We may also give
your information to other organisations which may use it to inform
you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not
to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold
about you by getting in touch with our privacy officer, who can be
contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590
Dream A Little
Dream For Me
W
hen you go to E3 for a PC magazine, its an experience
thats far removed from, say, my colleagues over at
HYPER. Ravenous over the impending launch of the new
consoles and gorging on booth previews of frst-party
exclusives, such multi-platform magazines have their big
stories handed to them on a platter (read: blasted at them
on giant televisions amidst a hail of dubstep).
Me, not so much. Dubstep is more of a warning signal:
avoid, avoid. Our big stories werent projected onto wall-
high screens or confned to hardware showings in glass
cases. You may recall our cover story in PCPP#218 on the
Oddworld: New N Tasty remake; a story that resulted from
an impromptu tweet at Lorne Lanning, then arranging to
meet by the bin next to the Starbucks just outside E3s
South Hall.
Meeting with Dreamfall Chapters developer Ragnar
Tornquist the next day was slightly more glamorous (we
rendezvoused by Wargamings giant replica tank, because,
how can you miss it, its a goddamn tank), but the fact
remains: these people, and the projects theyre working on,
are of so much more interest to PCPP than the big publisher
booths dressed to the nines just a few metres away. All you
have to do is fnd them.
And so we set about conspiring to put Dreamfall Chapters
on the cover; the result - the issue youre holding now. Its a
game we want to champion for a number of reasons - which
you can discover by digesting Meghanns thorough preview
on p.42 - but the most important is its legacy as one of the
most well-written adventure game series on PC, starring
some of the most true-to-life and strongest protagonists
ever put to in-game dialogue boxes. Chapters is all the more
interesting for how it will respond to the many missteps of its
predecessor, along with how it will set up an old-school, true-
to-its-roots successor if everything falls into place.
There are precious few strong female protagonists in PC
gaming. Beyond Good & Evils Jade; Syberias Kate Walker;
The Longest Journeys April Ryan. Many would argue the Zoe
Castillo of Dreamfall isnt worthy of such a list. Tornquist is
confdent Dreamfall: Chapters will change their minds. Yet
we ourselves are torn, for we almost dont want this journey
to end. But before it does, Ill be spending next years E3
appointment times chasing down more developers by the bin
next to Starbucks.
Daniel Hindes
Editor
@dhindes
Have you ever
done any Android
rooting before?
Great, youve
ruined gherkins
for me.
Im way too
young for a
labiaplasty.

8
F
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0 8
LETTER OF THE MONTH
I
ve been an avid reader for about
three years now and every month
has me clamoring to get my hands
on the newest PCPP. Keep up the
good work.
Having said that, I was a little
dismayed at Terrences review of
MechWarrior Online in PCPP#218.
I cant help feeling he was a little
harsh in his verdict. Maybe Im
just biased; Im a MechWarrior
fanboy. I have been since the
MechWarrior 2 trilogy and have
loved every iteration since, with
numerous gleeful memories from
my early youth, stomping about in
giant mechs and laying waste to
all in front of me.
Ill admit the game is far from
perfect. Yes, it could do with more
variety in game modes and the in-
game menus are currently a mess
(soon to be addressed with UI
2.0). Ive heard all the complaints,
read all the forum QQing... I still
think if you just keep the right
mindset, youll have a good time.
If youve ever played a shooter, the
controls are easy enough to grasp
and as long as you work with your
teammates youll be okay. Ive yet
to play Hawken. Frankly, my twitch
skills arent up to much so I may
struggle there, but hey... Ill gladly
give it a go when I get the chance.
Granted, MechWarrior Online
may not be to everyones tastes
and thats fne. At the end of the
day, if Piranha Games stay true to
the feel of the previous games and
keep up what theyve been doing,
thats more than enough for me.
Now where did I park my Atlas?
Michael Barrs
Thanks Michael! Though the
comparison between Hawken and
MechWarrior Online is perhaps a little
unfair both are worth playing on their
own terms its their close release
with near-identical free-to-play models
that makes it diffcult to commit to
more than one. MechWarrior Online
is clearly further behind in the polish
department than Hawken, but we trust
Piranha Games is up to the task. And
if the result is a signifcantly improved
game, were more than happy to re-
review it down the road.
DEAD AND CONQUERED
Oh, Command and Conquer, how
you have fallen. Obviously, I was
quite surprised and happy when
they released a trailer for C&C:
Generals 2 back in 2011. The
Frostbite engine made the game
look good, with gritty new graphics
while staying somewhat realistic.
This realism is what made the
original Generals so good and
possibly my favourite of the series.
My anticipation was dampened
when I hear that they had decided
to change the game to a free-to-
play format, and I instantly thought
it would be a pay-to-win RTS. Still, I
held onto my love for C&C.
Go ahead Michael,
mech my day
However, when some of
the newer trailers came out,
it seemed they had cut out
quality for quantity. The detail
in the vehicles and units had
been traded for some pretty
explosions. But that wasnt
the worst bit; the look of the
game seemed so cartoony. The
Generals (especially Thrax) and
units looked stupid (a sniper was
just a colourful hooded cloak
with a funny sniper-rife) and the
vehicles looked as though they
were pulled out of the Red Alert
reject-bin. And as far as I could
tell, nearly all the tanks had twin
cannons, something supposed to
be reserved for the Overlord.
I played and loved Generals
for its use of (mostly) real-life
vehicles and weapons, like the
Raptor and Scorpion tank, so I
dont think that the zany look and
feel of everything belongs under
the Generals banner of C&C.
Alan Phan
Its not all bad, Alan! Check our
PCPP#219 Strategy Special
interview with the devs for a closer
look at why this C&C is what it is.
Even if this former-Generals 2 isnt
to your liking, its success could
pave the way for more of the old-
school C&C you love.
BOSSED AROUND
I know there is some tough
boss fghts out there. Two
of them were in Dragon Age:
Origins. Yet this boss fght is
easily the hardest and it took me
around sixty attempts and some
YouTube tutorials to break the
back of this monster. The game
is Deadpool, a game which only
got around a six out of ten on
your reviews. A game with such
a tough boss fght, I just want it
to go down in gaming history as
the hardest!
Mitchell Hall
We believe that was Mister Wilks of
HYPER magazine who slapped the
six on that game, and he doesnt
recall any such diffculty spike. We
asked Deadpool himself, and he
told us to ask you if youve tried
not sucking?
LETTER OF THE
MONTH WINS!
Write in to PCPP with
your rants, considered
opinions, and endless
run-on sentences of pure
awesome. The address
is letters@pcpowerplay.
com.au. Each letter read by
hand! This months winner
scores themselves a
mesmerising Kisai Optical
Illusion LED Watch, thanks
to Tokyoflash!
PC P OWE R P L AY


10
PC P OWE R P L AY
Welcome to the PCPP competitions page! With the office
positively overflowing in PC gaming goodies, its become so
difficult to do our ridiculously awesome jobs that we decided to
pass the savings onto you. And by savings, we mean free stuff.
Games, collectibles, swag, and all kinds of media that screams PC
gaming. Or perhaps those are the screams of the intern trapped
under the boxes of giveaways. Only one way to save them:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au to enter!
To find the competitions, simply mouse over the Community
tab in the main menu at the top of the homepage, and click on
Competitions. Click through to each individual competition
page, fill out the form (be sure to agree to the terms and
conditions) and youll be in the running to win! Keep an eye
out for this page in future issues of PCPP, as we roll out new
competitions every month!
Corsair RM650
The Corsair RM Series power supplies are built for
silence, modularity and supreme effciency. Thanks to
Corsair, weve got a RM650 to give away!
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Get your stealth on with the return of Sam Fisher!
Thanks to Ubisoft, weve got 5 copies of the 5th Freedom
Edition of Splinter Cell Blacklist to give away!
Rayman
Legends
Thanks to Ubisoft, weve
got 5 copies of Rayman
Legends to give away,
with a bonus bundle that
also include the Rayman
Collection thats a total
of 5 Rayman games each!
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
Why does your PC need to be silent?
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
Where is the worst place to get a splinter?
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
How does Rayman jump with no actual legs?
1
PSU
TO WIN!
5
COPIES
TO WIN!
5
PRIZE PACKS
TO WIN!
WIN
WIN WIN
COMPS

Tesoro Colada
and Shrike Pack
The Colada is the latest in
mechanical keyboard input
with aluminium WASD key
caps! Plus, weve thrown in a
Shrike mouse! Thanks Tesoro!
Battlefield 4
Get ready for the most
dynamic, destructible
multiplayer maps yet in
Battlefeld 4, along with a
return to epic and tactical
multiplayer naval combat!
Thanks to EA, weve got
10 copies of the game to
give away.
Total War:
Rome II
The biggest Total War
game yet sees you take
part in epic battles and
rewrite the history of
Rome! Thanks to Sega,
weve got 10 copies to
give away.
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
Why would the Tesoro Colada and Shrike increase your skill?
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
What vehicle have you always wanted to see in
a Battleeld game?
TO ENTER:
Head to www.pcpowerplay.com.au
In 25 words or less, answer the following question:
Who would make a good Emperor of Australia?
10
COPIES
TO WIN!
10
COPIES
TO WIN!
WIN
WIN WIN
TERMS AND CONDITIONS: 1. Entry is open to residents of Australia and New Zealand except employees and immediate families of nextmedia Pty Ltd and the agencies associated with any promotion. 2. Entrants under the
age of 18 must obtain the prior consent of a parent or legal guardian to enter. 3. Only entries completed with these terms and conditions will be eligible. 4. Entry is by fulflling criteria noted with the competition. Competitions
are games of skill and chance plays no part in determining winners. 5. Competition begins at 19.09.13. Entries close at 24.10.13. In determining eligibility the judges decision is fnal and no correspondence will be entered
into. 6. Judging will take place on 24.10.13 at nextmedia Pty Ltd. 207 Pacifc Highway, St Leonards, NSW 2065. 7. Prizes must be taken as offered and are not redeemable for cash. 8. The promoter is not responsible for
misdirected or lost mail. 9. The winners of prizes over $100 will be published online at www.pcpowerplay.com.au. Allow four to six weeks for delivery of prizes from time of print. 10. Comps are as follows: SPLINTER CELL
BLACKLIST: Total prize value is $500. Five winners will receive 1 x copy of Splinter Cell Blacklist 5th Freedom Edition from Ubisoft. RAYMAN LEGENDS: Total prize value is $500. Five winners will receive 1 x copy of Rayman
Legends and 1 x copy of the Rayman Collection from Ubisoft. BATTLEFIELD 4: Total prize value is $900. Ten winners will receive 1 x copy of Battlefeld 4 from EA Games. TOTAL WAR: ROME II: Total prize value is $900. Ten
winners will receive 1 x copy of Total War: Rome II from Sega. TESORO COLADA AND SHRIKE PACK: Total prize value is $350. One winner will receive 1 x Tesoro Colada and 1x Tesoro Shrike from Tesoro. CORSAIR RM650:
Total prize value is $189. One winner will receive 1 x Corsair RM650 PSU from Corsair. 11. By entering entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless nextmedia Pty Ltd., participating promoters and their affliates,
subsidiaries, advertising and promotional agencies and prize suppliers from all claims and damages arising out of entrants participations in this sweepstakes and/or acceptance of any prize. 12. The promoter is nextmedia Pty
Ltd ABN 84 128 805 970 of Level 6, Building A, 207 Pacifc Highway, St Leonards NSW 2065.
PRIVACY NOTICE: We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this issue of PC PowerPlay this will be used
to provide the products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing
prizes or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our company has to offer. We may also
give your information to other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by
getting in touch with our privacy offcer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590.
HEAD TO
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11
PC P OWE R P L AY

12
PC P OWE R P L AY
1 2
THIS MONTH...
DANIEL HINDES
got blacklisted from
everything
@dhindes
MALCOLM CAMPBELL
caught the Bitch Tits
on tour
F
R
O
N
T
E
N
D
ANTHONY FORDHAM
disregarded the
squeegee mops safety
card
@popsciau
STEPHEN SCHULZE
earned the nickname
Captain Crunch
@jackablade
BENNETT RING
expired three days
past his warranty
@bennettring
STEVE HOLT
discovered how
to super-power
Chernarus
MEGHANN ONEILL
fell down a Norwegian
rabbit hole
@rkraags
OLIVER BARLES
looked smashing in his
new pink sweater
KATIE WILLIAMS
was a 90s kid, what
of it?
@desensitisation
CAMERON FERRIS
siphoned Eastern
Europes finest
@pcpowerplay
ZAC NAOUM
denied that twerking
ever took place
@zacnaoum
18 Black Annex
The solo Aussie indie thats bringing Syndicate back
26 10 to Watch
Audiosurf 2, the return of the JRPG, Martian exploration and
more!
30 PCPP
Interview
Can you outlive the horror of
Outlast?
32 JAM
The chilling truth of the
Double Fine Kickstarter
JAMES COTTEE
has a way better
camcorder in his phone
@j_cottee
TERRENCE JARRAD
played a different kind
of Bad Piggies
@hailtonothing
JAMES OCONNOR
worked off the sleeping
gas in Everetts pad
@jickle
DANIEL WILKS
needs to work on his
quads
@drwilkenstein

13
PC P OWE R P L AY
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
T H E R E L E A S E S C H E D U L E
Looking ahead to the upcoming PC game releases
F
R
O
N
T
E
N
D
RAVEN S CRY
OCTANE GAMES,
$TBA
BATMAN:
ARKHAM ORIGINS
WARNER BROS,
$TBA
24
th
25
th
LEGEND: Good Old Games Download Retail Steam Origin uPlay
BATTLEFIELD 4
DI CE, $TBA
31
st
FIFA 14
EA, $TBA
DEADFALL
ADVENTURES
THE FARM 51,
$TBA
VOLGARR THE
VIKING
CRAZY VI KI NG,
$TBA
TAKEDOWN:
RED SABRE
SERELLAN LLC,
$1 4. 99
PAC-MAN DX
MI NE LOADER,
$9. 99
SHADOW WARRIOR
FLYI NG WI LD HOG,
$39. 99
THE KING OF
FIGHTERS XIII
SNK, $29. 99
AVGN ADVENTURES
FREAKZONE,
$1 4. 99
LEGEND OF
DUNGEON
ROBOT LOVES
KI TTY, $9. 99
FOUL PLAY
MEDI A TONI C,
$1 4. 99
TETROBOT & CO
SWI NG SWI NG
SUBMARI NE, $TBA
LILLY LOOKING
THROUGH
GEETA, $TBA
X REBIRTH
EGOSOFT, $49. 99
ASSASSINS
CREED IV
UBISOFT MONTREAL,
$89.95
RISE OF VENICE
GAMI NG MI NDS,
$TBA
ALIEN RAGE
CI TY I NTERACTI VE,
$TBA
27
th
27
th
NOVEMBER
CALL OF DUTY:
GHOSTS
I NFI NI TY WARD,
$TBA
NEED FOR SPEED
RIVALS
GHOST, $TBA
5
th
1
st
16
th
19
th
WATCH DOGS
UBI SOFT
MONTREAL, $TBA
22
nd
14
th
19
th
20
th
26
th
26
th
27
th
28
th
F1 2013
CODEMASTERS,
$TBA
5
th
31
st
COMMAND & CONQUER
VI CTORY, FREE-TO- PL AY
HOTLINE MI AMI 2
DENNATON, $TBA
THIEF
EI DOS MONTRE AL, $TBA
MURDERED: SOUL SUSPECT
AI RTI GHT GAMES, $TBA
DYING LIGHT
TECHL AND, $TBA
CONTAGION
MONOCHROME, $TBA
PLANETARY ANNIHILATION
UBER ENTERTAI NMENT, $TBA
PATH OF EXILE
GRI NDI NG GE AR, FREE-TO- PL AY
SOUTH PARK
OBSI DI AN, $TBA
STARPOINT GEMINI II
LGM, $TBA
CHAOS CHRONICLES
COREPL AY, $TBA
ARMA III
BOHEMI A, $89. 95
ARMA III
BOHEMI A, $89. 95
Q3
Q4
2014

14
PC P OWE R P L AY
1 4
F
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Betrayer
DEVELOPER BL ACKPOWDER GAMES
PUBLI SHER BL ACKPOWDER GAMES
DUE T BA
www.bl ackpowder games.com
From ex-developers of FEAR and No One Lives
Forever comes this highly-stylised frst-person
shooter set in the New World at the turn of the
17th century. Check that visual style, cause
this aint just concept art - the in-game graphics
have just as strong a Frank Miller vibe. Whether
this give you headaches as you explore the
environment and fght ghostly Conquistados
remains to be seen. But what we have seen
looks beautiful. Now who is that woman in red...

15
PC P OWE R P L AY
1 5

F
R
O
N
T
E
N
D
VI S C E RA C L E ANUP DE TAI L
WHY VISCERA CLEANUP DETAIL
FREAKS ME OUT
- All the bad parts of abandoned space station
games... turned up to 11.
- The idea that geeks will play this while their
real-life flat gets steadily filthier around them.
- The yellow rubber gloves. Something about
yellow rubber gloves handling body parts...
- Space-mop is crappy normal mop with
metallic tube glued on the side.
CHOICE QUOTES
Dont expect it to be perfect or resemble a
completed game at all!
The first version of the game was only built
in 10 days in a rather intensive work process.
V0.12 was only an extra week of work
(Emphasis ours.)
As the janitor, it is your duty to get this place
cleaned up.
Half-eaten brains all over the CO2 scrubbers ate my brain!
DE VELOPER RUNEST ORM
ORI GI N WARKI NG HOARD AND FORCED I N SERT H EFFRI CA
r unest or m.com/vi scer a
H
ey guys, hey hey you guys, you gotta
see this awesome YouTube video.
Its like this joke Unreal Tournament mod
where a guy has to clean up a space
station after the lone marine gibbed all
the cacodemons or whatever, and theres
goo on the walls and he has to mop up
the blood, and his mop gets all bloody so
he has to push a button to squeeze out
his mop and then throw the skulls and
mashed kidneys into the incinerator, its
an awesome piece of satire and... wait,
you mean this is a real game?
As in, a game you can play? A game
that Valve has actually Greenlit on
Steam? That you can download the
free alpha of and wander around a
space station and literally mop the
floors? Okay... uh... so what it is, is that
sometimes people take a joke too far.
Someone gets drunk and says (in a thick
South African accent): How funny would
it be if you were the janitor on a space
station after the eldritch horror just got
defeated, hahaha?. And the normal
response to that is either a kind of half-
laugh, or if youre crazy, youll spend a
week making a joke YouTube video. Then
you get it on cracked.com and go back
to making your real game (Rooks Keep, a
fantasy melee deathmatch brawler billed
as UT with swords).
On the other hand if youre not just
CRAZY but SHARLTO COPELY in ELYSIUM
crazy, is ACTUALLY MAKE a game called
Viscera Cleanup Detail and expect
gamers to engage with it. Runestorm
a veritable torm of runes has spent
hours, probably more than 100 hours,
building some test levels and modelling
the way the mop gets soaked with blood
and then just starts making the floor
dirtier again.
However, they have taken the time
to set up a pre-order form on their
website. You too can be part of VCDs
development with a one-time $5
donation. Five bucks. Enough to feed a
starving child for a day. In Africa.
The best part of all this? At the
moment, the station is still just as
abandoned and empty as it was when
the demons were getting blasted.
Except this time nothing jumps out at
you. You just work your space-mop, over
and over, presumably cursing the son-
of-a-bitch who put you on... (cue title
card)... viscera cleanup detail.
PC P OWE R P L AY
16


Shall we to men benighted, the
lamp of life deny?
BLACK ANNEX
DEVELOPER MAN FIGHT DRAGON
DUE 2014
www.blackannex.net
F
orty-one point eight megabytes. Thats
how big the zip file containing the
PAX Australia build of Black Annex is.
Its impressive to think that compressed
within this file, is a playable version
of one of our most anticipated indie
games. Scratch that. One of our most
anticipated games, full stop.
Developer Lance E. McDonald, known
also by his studio name Man Fight
Dragon, feels there is still a lot of work
to do. I need to create more missions
and agents so I have a lot more content
in which to test the game. Its so often
that I get things working so smoothly for
every situation in a given mission, but
then I take things to another mission
and everything is unpredictable.
Hes referring to Black Annexs
world of corporate espionage with
influences harkening as far back as
1993 to Bullfrogs Syndicate, and it
immediately shows. While pixel art is
hardly uncommon in this era of indie
resurgence, theres something else
here: a cold colour palette and utilitarian
design that projects a tone of near-future
cyberpunk dystopia without a word of
exposition uttered.
Its retro approach belies both its
internal complexity and difficulty. Tasked
with a simple objective, to kill or capture
an enemy agent, we failed the first try.
And the second. Then the third. Fast
forward several hours, and success
materialised through dozens of failed
starts and near-misses.
Whats notable is not only the
unnoticed passage of time, but our
lack of internalised frustration. Pre-
alpha code or no, this element of Black
Annex is nigh perfect; it never felt like
failure was the fault of the game. Lance
doesnt agree.
Its still not at that point, but I am
watching people play and learning things
I need to change to avoid those unfair
failures. The player needs to feel like
they have learned by failing, and that its
an important part of the progress.
Asked whether hes meeting his own
milestones, he responds, There hasnt
been a time-frame set out for
Black Annex at this point I just
tell myself If I dont finish this
in 2014, somethings probably
wrong. Its clearly going to
take some time for this one
man development studio to live
up to its employees own standards,
let alone to release Black Annex into
the wild.
So it seems that those forty-one point
eight megabytes contain so much more
than just a game demo. Compacted right
alongside code and sprites are thoughts
and ideas, certainty and possibility,
hope and ambition. Our hands-on was
a pre-alpha build, a wisp of what the
final version is striving to achieve, but
the hours following the file extraction
left no doubt in our mind that Lance E.
McDonald will fully realise his vision.
TERRENCE JARRAD
18 bLacK aNneX
20 tHE iNdiE mIcRobReWerY: sUrPriSE
aTtAck
Indies @ Home
24 hAnD oF fAtE
aSsAulT aNdRoiD cAcTus
25 fRaMed
26 mUsE
fRaCtuReD sOuL
27 sQuAre hErOes
nInjA pIzzA gIrL
28 dUnGeoN dAsHerS
mEtaL dEAd: eNcOre
10 to Watch
30 tEmPorUS
aUdIosUrF 2
hYbRis
31 MtbfrEerIdE
pRoJecT pHoEniX
pReCinCT
32 sNoW
sEcRetS oF rAeTikON
lAcUna pAsSagE
33 vOlUme
the Pcpp InterView
34 rED bArRelS: Outlast
18
PC P OWE R P L AY
tHE nOvEltY
oF tHiEveS

We cleared the demo level
on the first attempt using
an assault team to cut a
bloody swathe to our target.
Deceivers can hack servers
to set off a remote terminal,
distracting enemy Decievers
and allowing their capture.
Create a solution by
selecting the team members
and kitting them out with
the right tools for the job.
Enforcers are your ticket to
front-row seats at a bloodbath.
Shoot through doors and
enemies with equal disregard.
The stealthy approach
frequently resulted in
discovery, which quickly
meant death at the hands
of enemy enforcers.
CamerAcreaTure Haseyes |
QBASIC shenanigans
aside, whats Lances
favourite feature so far?Im really happy with the way sound
works in the game. Its mostly invisible, but under-the-hood, the
sounds your weapons make, or the sound of an alarm going off
or an agent calling for help; they all behave in a very detailed way.
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PCPP: Indie publishing thats got to be an
oxymoron, right?
Wright: The inspiration I had was Indie
record labels, and thats exactly the same
thing in music, but they view it in an entirely
different way. Indie record labels are loved,
theyre a stamp of quality and being on a label
that you love means youre probably going
to buy a record because you love that band.
But with the bigger labels, youre not going to
buy a record because its on Sony Music, just
like you wouldnt buy a game because its an
EA game necessarily. All it tells you is that
its good quality, because theyre not going to
put out a game with really shitty production
values, so you can expect certain standards.
The same thing should apply for games.
Devolver Digital [Publisher of Hotline Miami
and the upcoming Shadow Warrior remake] is
my sort of reference indie publisher; I think
theyre doing it right and they have a really
strong flavour to each of their games; theyre
going to be a bit edgy. So we want to do
the same thing essentially, where you see a
Surprise Attack game and you think Alright,
Ive got a sense that thats probably going to
be pretty good.
What are you doing as a publisher, in
a practical sense? Are you funding
development?
Were not funding development; thats
the goal, but we dont have the resources
to do that yet. We take on all marketing
duties essentially, thats where most of the
investment goes, and we also cover most
of the marketing card costs. Weve got our
booth at PAX, if we want to do websites we
pay for that if we need it and so on. Theres
some hard money, but mostly its a lot of
time. Were running a campaign for the team.
Theyre involved in it, theyre co-owners of the
campaign; basically, we dont try and exclude
the dev from the marketing, but ultimately we
take responsibility.
Its crucial to give the dev creative input
into that, because a triple-A publisher is very
much about the publisher; the dev has a bit of
a say, but its a much stronger ownership. The
whole thing with indie is were trying to keep
that flavour and creative freedom, so if we
start taking freedom away from them, then we
lose that goal.
What would be involved in rejecting a game
from the label because it didnt meet your
level of quality?
We look at the theme and quality of the
game, we look at whether we can make a
difference to the game, I dont want to sign
something and feel like its too big for us.
Take, for example, Antichamber. Its a game
that I never went anywhere near, because
Aussie indie marketing agency Surprise Attack has launched a new initiative
into the world of indie game publishing. DANIEL HINDES shared a cold one in
a Melbourne basement pub with brewmaster Chris Wright to distill what this
means for Australias indie developers.
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PC P OWE R P L AY

I took one look at the game and said to
[developer] Alexander Bruce, You know
what, I would just get in the way, you dont
need me, and if I did get involved, it would
just spoil the fact that youve got this single-
minded vision.
We definitely have a sense of who the
audience is, what we call the connoisseur;
people who are typically older, and for them
its about the new game, not the big game, so
rather than playing Call of Duty, they want to
play a shooter that does something different.
Think about Carlton. Its a very popular
beer, lots of people like it, but it cant be too
offensive and it cant change its ingredients or
its recipe because it is what it is. Its the same
with a big triple-A game; they need to sell so
many units now that they have to take the edges
off. You cant be edgy or risky, because you cant
afford to have people not come. You look at a
game like Mirrors Edge and the reason it didnt
necessarily work so great the first time, yet you
start to see that some people embraced it and
loved it, but for most people it was too different
and they werent prepared to take the risk. Indie
games really opened up that audience, so for us,
all our games are targeted at that person.
So which beer is the Surprise Attack game?
I guess its a range of beers, in the way that
weve got beers today from Hawthorne and
theyre becoming a popular brew, theyve got
a range of different flavours, but each of them
comes with the same attitude. For me its like,
the First SurprIses |
Two of the first games
to come out of the
new Surprise Attack label will be on PC. Particulars is a
unique puzzle game in which the player is transformed
into a quark and must interact with rooms of other
control-modifying particles to proceed.
The second game, Burden, could not be more
different, resembling a tower defence game on the
move. Players construct static defences on the back of
a massive colossus as it roams the landscape under
threat from tiny climbers and flying nasties.
Our hands-on time with both games provided a clear
sense of the unique brew Surprise Attack is concocting.
We cant wait to see whats next in the pipe.
s
21
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theres nothing wrong with Carlton,
and theres nothing wrong with a big
triple-A game from a big triple-A publisher,
but Im excited about the stuff at the
edges, the stuff that might not be a
particularly polished experience, but it does
something really different. Like Proteus; its
definitely not for everybody, but you play it
and if you get it, you just love it.
As a former Director of Marketing at the
now-folded THQ Australia, do you see the
lack of risk-taking in the triple-A space ever
reaching a critical mass and starting to
decline?
I call the triple-A games publishing
business an arms race, and this is the
thing; its not the publishers fault at all, its
the symptoms of the market that create it.
Since the beginning of games, theres been
an arms race of technology; people are like,
Now were doing this new thing and Ive got
to invest more, and now look Ive got fancier
graphics or sound, and it just escalates,
escalates, escalates. The price point always
stays the same. It isnt based on what it
costs to develop; its an arbitrary price point
that dictates what you can do. We did all our
forecasting based on, for example, selling
a game for $80. Call of Duty sells over 20
million units every single year, so their dev
budget is fucking huge! So how can another
triple-A shooter compete with that?
So what were seeing is a thinning out of
who can do triple-A games, because only
some games can be big enough to justify the
production values that people expect at that
cost. You see games like Tomb Raider that
was one of the fastest selling games of the
year, one of the best rated games of the year,
but it broke even at over three million units.
Its insane, right? So I think triple-A isnt
going away, but its had to change. Well see
is a lot more games that are maybe coming
out at maybe $30 instead of $80, or $20,
or $10. Through digital distribution you can
make that work, because the pie goes back
and there are fewer people involved. Well
see more games that like that will serve the
connoisseur.
Whats going to stop Surprise Attack from
turning into another Activision; you know,
the big evil publisher?
Theres no room for a new Activision;
theres no space in the market for that. And,
philosophy-wise, its not what we want to
do. Right now were self-funding, so were
bootstrapping, salary sacrificing as directors,
putting all the money from our agency side
into the publishing. We are going to seek
out investment, but were only going to take
investment from people that understand the
mission and the vision and thats why theyre
buying in. As long as we keep the philosophy
right, and stay small enough we dont
intend to have more than eight or nine games
a year, at most. Were currently on three
and were not looking to sign up anything
immediately because we want to focus on
what weve got.
Im excited about the stuff at the edges that
might not be a particularly polished experience
but does something really different
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ANY CARD
Fight your way through the hand youre dealt
HAND OF FATE
DEVELOPER DEFI ANT DEVELOPMENT
DUE Q1 2014
www.def i ant dev.com
Its ominous, to explicitly see your path laid over cardbacks; before you, the
unknown. Move your counter and reveal the next increment of your story. Pray
at the altar, yes or no? Choose to engage bandits or lizardmen, based on your
gear and taste for battle. Fight, or quietly hide away from rain in the monster
cave? Hide? Why, pick a card, any card; success, failure, failure or massive failure
(Massive failure meant fghting 2 bandits and 4 ratmen, just quietly).
Developer, Morgan Jaffit tells PCPP, Hand of Fate is a fantasy roguelike where
you build a deck that then becomes your adventure. It is a hybrid of lots of
different styles; action-RPG, card-based games like Dominion, and roguelikes
like FTL and The Binding of Isaac. So, if you happen across a weapon or
armour card through chance or a choice well made and discard a lesser
alternative, you must then be prepared to use it. Flexible, action combat occurs
on discrete levels, against a range of enemies with differing fighting styles and
characteristics.
There will be consequences for the choices you make during the course
of the unfolding story, and an economy to explore alongside evocative
descriptions of the landscapes you travel through. But be wary of the
Field of Poppies. It shuffles all of the cards around your feet. Your route
may become frighteningly circular.
DIE, ROBOTS!
Speeding up the shoot em up
ASSAULT ANDROID CACTUS
DEVELOPER WI T CH BEAM
DUE OCT OBER
www. Assaul t Andr oi dCact us.com
Assault Android Cactus is intense, aggressive and pulses horribly when youre about
to run out of juice. So, its one hell of an exciting game, an arena shooter meets bullet
hell with old-school arcade feel. As well as blending classic sound effects with a clean,
engaging soundtrack, brightly coloured levels are dynamic, with pieces dropping in and out
as you take down a variety of stylish robots.
Failure isnt tied to a loss of hit points, of which there are few; its tied to a loss of power,
consumed very quickly and impossible to conserve. Power simply needs to be maintained
by destroying enemies and full battery drops wont occur until a number of enemies are
down. Designer Sanatana Mishra says, The batterys purpose is to nudge the player
towards a more aggressive playstyle where they are not just strafing away all the time.
Influences are cited as Smash TV, Radiant Silvergun, and late 90s arcade games.
Youll find temporary powerups to spawn drones for additional firepower, to shutdown or
freeze enemies and, if this wasnt already fast enough for an old girl like me, accelerate.
Its an experience thats fresh while also being quite nostalgic. Interestingly, all of the
playable characters are female. Expect a unique weapon set for each, and to combine their
strengths for four-player, local co-op across 25 levels.
Australian, independent game development comprises a diverse range of options for PC, plenty of genre
hybridisation and a wealth of original ideas. MEGHANN ONEILL has spent hands-on time with ten of
the best, many of which are releasing later this year.
Indies
@
Home
eXpLorInG tHE
lOcaL IndEpEndEnT
dEveLoPmeNT
sCenE
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OUTSIDE THE SQUARES
Because the little man inside them keeps dying
FRAMED
DEVELOPER LOVESHACK ENT ERTAI NMENT
DUE Q1 2014
ht t p : //f r amed-game.com
Comic books are great, I agree, but who wants to just read
them? Okay, I do. But, what if the silhouette of the man with
the suitcase needed a little help? Youd help, right? What
if there were cops, with guns, in the very next panel? What
if you could move that panel elsewhere, to after where the
character had scaled to a rooftop? Well, youd be playing
Framed, described by Lead Designer Joshua Boggs as a
narrative-puzzle game set in a noir, comic book world.
Its a clever idea that brings the medium to life and one
that relies on a combination of influences Boggs cites as,
Alfred Hitchcocks films, Saul Bass art style, Frank Millers
Sin City, Scott McClouds Understanding Comics and the
iconic silhouettes and characters in the animated series
Cowboy Bebop. The demonstration PCPP
played was set to a very sparse cityscape
in greys, pinks and with well-defined black
accents, and some smoky saxophone. But how does
it feel to play?
Well, it looks like a platformer, but isnt. Its a bit
like a puzzle game, but it isnt that, either. Although
youll find clues here and there, youre never quite
sure how the little man will interact with a frame until
after youve moved it. As Boggs says, This results
in a unique interactive narrative, where every action
is framed by the last, and the only thing tying the
narrative vignettes together is the context the player
carries in their mind.
For those interested in level design, many frames
are deliberately disorienting in their perspective on
the same space. Or, they join seamlessly together.
No puzzle presented us a challenge, so far, though.
In fact, on some pages, the task is to
simply swap two panels and then interpret
events. Although Framed certainly has the potential to feel
gimmicky, and without a deal of replay value, the idea that
the puzzles could get meatier, more difficult and enigmatic
at the games release is exciting.
But this is not something to be mastered. You could
certainly try to plan a solution to each page, but failures
provide more insight into how the action works, as well
as fleshing out the many premature routes to The End.
For every improbable escape, its nice to be reminded that
there were so many potential bullets to the heart along
the way. Theres no dodge or block maneuver, only an
omniscient rearranging of routes.
The eight pages we played form a sequential story,
following the flight of the silhouette with the suitcase
through buildings and down drainpipes. Certainly, I want to
know more. Why is he running? Whats in the suitcase? Has
he been framed? Framed for what? All I know is that I was
complicit in his daring getaway and invested in helping him
through whatever else happens. Its likely the interpretation
will be left to the player, though. Framed is fuel for the
imagination, more than anything.
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HEAR ME
Trip the light fantastic on a transformational journey
MUSE
DEVELOPER CURRENT CI RCUS
DUE Q4
ht t p : //cur r ent ci r cus.com/pr oj ect s /muse
It begins with only an aural wetness, some bubbling and an occasional,
distant groaning; maybe a squeak or two from nearby, pulsing jellyfish.
Before you emerge from your tunnel of origin, however, youve collected a
simple combination of pitch and rhythmic material, represented by individual
polygons and loosely related in a consonant kind of a fashion, to a definite
pulse. One time I was something distinctly Trance. Another time, I was
almost World Music.
What made the difference? Its hard to tell. In one sense, you have
absolute control over your composition, because you are collecting and
transforming objects. In another sense, I still have no idea how most of
this happens. But traveling through a tunnel of glowing rings accelerates, or
decelerates, the tempo. I got that far. Dont worry, though. As you journey in
this strange and bright, open place, youll glean at least some understanding
of what you are and your aural your context within it.
Designer Josh Birse says, Muse is a musical exploration game set
in an abstract and surreal world that encourages players to experiment,
collaborate and share their musical experiences. We are inspired by
games that offer deeply emotional and synaesthetic experiences like
Rez,Electroplankton, Flower and Bjorks Biophilia. Muse uniquely engages
the player in the construction of an abstract and unique aural self. (It would
make a great teaching tool, too.)
THE TWO OF ME
When one dimension gives you lemons, drink lemonade in
another
FRACTURED SOUL
DEVELOPER ENDGAME ST UDI OS
DUE OCT OBER
www.f r act ur edsoul .com
Whats special about this 2D platformer? Its set in two
dimensions. Two parallel realities, that is. In one exists you, the
Entity; in the other, only a translucent possibility of yourself. So, if
theres a problem, like gun-toting enemy robots, dimension-shift to
where they fail to exist. Its a simple idea, utilised to great effect.
Going deeper, one reality may be submerged, or gravity inverted,
meaning that if youre about to fall to your death, your possible self
can probably be perched on the bottom of whatever youre standing
on. Or, if one dimensions snowstorm is blowing you around, the
others passageway might be enclosed, but more dangerous. There
are 24 levels, plus 6 bonus ones, with backdrops ranging from
chaos and lava, to outer space in which you can control a ship.
Co-Founder of Endgame Grant Davies says, Fractured Soul
is like Mega Man on two screens - a retro style, side-scrolling
platform game. For the duality aspect, we took inspiration from the
ultra-challenging shmup game Ikaruga. As well as clever, often
reflexive puzzling, using level design to tell an enigmatic story has
twice the depth, here. What is, and what could be, get inextricably
muddled, somehow. That levels are named things like, spite,
isolation, and suffering, and deliver little pieces of lore at
loading, is icing on quite a menacing cake.
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POIGNANT FACES
Its hip to be square when youre wasting
the bad circles
SQUARE HEROES
DEVELOPER GNOMI C ST UDI OS
DUE Q1 2014
www. gnomi cst udi os.com
This is going to sound slightly nuts, but its
the facial expressions that first command
your attention here. Its the story of a
stressed-looking yellow square in a top hat,
who winces in pain and smiles so gleefully
when things are going well. Hes a Square
Avenger, collecting artifacts from revengeful
aliens and transporting them via teleporter/
time machine.
As sequel to Square Off, Square Heroes
is a charming arena shooter. As well as a
single player campaign, there will be online
multiplayer, co-op survival and deathmatch
modes. Lead Developer Aranda Morrison
says influences include, Many old school
games including Worms, Joust, Smash TV,
The Chaos Engine, as well as Left 4 Dead and COD: Nazi Zombies.
With a jetpack and choice of two weapons, its easy to glide right in.
The cuteness will keep you playing, especially when enemies explode
hilariously. Just like shooting a watermelon. I imagine.
IN A DAYS WORK
Two pizzas, garlic bread and a hug,
please. People are mean
NINJA PIZZA GIRL
DEVELOPER DI SPARI T Y GAMES
DUE J ULY 2014
www.di spar i t ygames.com
As the average age of people who play
games rises, and designers seek to strike
out on their own, family-based developers
may start to become a lot more common.
This Brisbane-based team draws on the
experience of two generations, with the 2D
artwork being cre ated by sixteen-year-old
Raven Stark. She cites her biggest influence
as Hayao Miyazaki.
In her words, NinjaPizza Girlis a side-
scrolling platformer about a teenage
girl whofaces the ultimate challenge of
delivering pizza, while learning how to be her
own kind of awesome. With lighter than air
leaps, long slides and multiple paths to your
destination, through levels influenced by the
rooftop slums of Hong Kong,
its a pleasure to play.
Well, until the enemy ninjas start surprising you with some genuinely
hurtful insults. Being called a loser, or similar, is a surprisingly
compelling motivation to play well, as well as learning the skills and
timing required to progress.
A WAR OF
RAINBOWS
What a Jackson Pollock game might
look like
PAINTERS UNI TE
DEVELOPER CANVAS I NT ERACT I VE
DUE Q3 2014
www.f acebook.com/ Pai nt er sUni t e
Compared to, were not ready to talk
about it, its a treat to sometimes see a
game quite early in development. Painters
Unite is, in the words of Creative Director
James Betar, a top-down, online, multiplayer
shooter, with no death or violence, and
is influenced by schoolyard games, like
Jailbreak and Build up Tips.
Its about a group of corporate house
painters, over vying for business the
traditional way, and recruiting through
paint. I played with three others to get
a feel for it. Its surprising that being
covered in, and converted to, a new colour
only hurts momentarily. Once youre no
longer yellow, but red, you then become
accountable to red teammates for
converting more people. Yellow is
old news.
PCPP would be interested in
seeing the concept expanded
before release, with a range
of objectives explored. Betar
adds, Other modes will see
players finding invisible players
with paint, painting buildings for
territory control and trying to
avoid cleaners, who try to
wash paint off them.
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MISLAID TOGETHER
So, an elf, a fighter, a wizard and this other
guy walk into a dungeon
DUNGEON DASHERS
DEVELOPER JI GXOR
DUE Q3
www.dungeondasher s.com
Do you dare enter the Passage of Rubicon, the only known path through
the Obsidian Blockage? No-one has ever returned to give counsel. Or will you
remain, and stagnate, in the Realm? I dont know about you, but thats exactly
the kind of introduction that compels me to kick that Passages butt. Dungeon
Dashers is a turn-based party game which developer Andrew Sum describes as,
Streamlining the typical dungeon crawler experience to make it as fast and as
fun as possible.
The demonstration we played shows a very carefully-crafted tutorial,
introducing you to characters and abilities, alongside related aspects of terrain
or combat. The enigmatic, possibly-wizard-disguised-as-rogue can blink across
chasms, the burly watchman can bash boulders and so on. There is also a more
obviously dressed wizard and elven archer to flesh out your strategic approach to
a range of enemies. We found lots of little details, like the rogue always getting a
critical hit to an enemys back.
With mystery to uncover and characters who always know more than you
do about the plot, it makes for an intriguing narrative. Who are the Prime
Architects? What is this place, really? And, with level-based puzzles you can see
the solution to before you reach, and conveniently placed teleporters, yes, this
game plays very quickly. Its an immensely satisfying way to approach the genre.
Its also shipping with a full campaign editor.
METAL MINDSET
Its totally possible to point and click
with your hand making the horns
METAL DEAD: ENCORE
DEVELOPER WALK T HRU WALL S
DUE Q2 2014
www.wal kt hr uwal l s.com
Theres something about the combination
of a heavy metal lick and an impending
helicopter crash that sets your heart
racing, there just is. Metal Dead: Encores
designers say theyd like to create the first point and click adventure game to
get an R18+ rating in Australia. We think theyre joking. Maybe. The quality of
the gratuitous, cartoon gore in the short scene PCPP played was nothing short
of, well, soaking.
In this unique take on the undead apocalypse, designer and writer Liam
OSullivan says, We have a really strong story with an emotional backbone to
it, this time around. It follows the well-received Metal Dead, described by our
own James OConnor as, more than capable of planting a big dumb grin on
your face, and which you can buy through Desura, right now. Encore promises
both more of the same and some key improvements, however.
Most obviously, the all-important aural backdrop is of higher resolution.
OSullivan says that a fan of the original contacted them and asked to compose
music for the sequel. We heard both a very clean sounding, enduring climax,
with subdivisions and drum fills, that should make your fingers and arms ache
in sympathy, respectively, as well as a gentler texture behind a contrasting
scene. Somehow, its a formula that just works to light and typical adventure-
style puzzling. So, keep an eye out for this game (and a falling helicopter).
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TEMPORUS
DEVELOPER FI REBELLY ST UDI OS
DUE Q4
www.t empor.us
Ever since Tyrian weve been fans of the little
shmups that could. Though Temporus probably
wont ship with DESTRUCT mode, it is doing
some nifty things with the players ability to board
other ships. Upon a successful boarding, the
view switches to that of a sidescrolling platformer
chock full of environmental navigation, puzzles
and boss battles. You can even explore your own
ship and check out the various engineering and
research decks. Will Firebelly take a page out of
Mass Effects codex and include love interests?
HYBRIS
DEVELOPER MONST ERS
DUE Q2 2014
www.monst er sar eher e.com
Imagine Trine if it were terrifying, and youre on
the way to getting a sense of Hybris. Developer
Monsters calls it a psychological puzzle-platformer,
with a Gaiman-esque magical world behind that of
the player character, a kid named Kevin. Hell need
to pay close attention to his environment as he
solves physics and inventory-based puzzles in order
to escape danger and survive the nights onslaught
of dark creatures. And whos on board for the
soundtrack but none other than Austin Wintory, last
heard composing Monacos smooth ragtime tunes.
AUDIOSURF 2
DEVELOPER DYL AN FI T T ERER
DUE T BA
ai r. audi o-sur f.com
Okay, so, remember how this whole
indie game revolution started? Thats right:
Audiosurf. As one of the frst super cheap,
high concept indies available on Steam
a digital distribution platform that, really,
until then, was for Valve and other triple-A
games it helped us be more inclusive of
the entire indie scene. Audiosurf 2 probably
wont be as revolutionary, but a switch to
frst-person that allows you to ride, sprint
and swim your music is just as intriguing
as the original idea. We should check on our
high scores.
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MTBFREERIDE
DEVELOPER MT BF T EAM
DUE T BA
mt bf r eer i de.wor dpr ess.com
Imagine if Trials Evolution was
a hardcore, realistic bike riding
simulator. It wouldnt really be Trials
Evolution anymore, but thats the game
MTBFreeride is taking on in the helpful
graphs on its Steam Greelight page that
explain how physics actually works. Youll
still be going over jumps, but youre not
going to be catapulting into the heavens.
What MTBFreeride DOES offer is a full
physics simulation of suspension, so
when youre barrelling down those offroad
slopes, youre going to feel it in the force
of your frst-person view. Now, whered we
leave our Oculus Rift?
PROJECT
PHOENIX
DEVELOPER PROJECT PHOENI X T EAM
DUE Q3 2015
www.pr oj ect phoeni x .i nf o
This could possibly be the most
successful indie Kickstarter campaign
ever. Yes, we say that for nearly all
of them, but check this out: Project
Phoenix reached its funding goal in
NINE HOURS; quadrupled that cash in
FOUR DAYS, and did so all with some
sweet pieces of concept art and a few
big names behind it. Yes, big names;
devs from Final Fantasy, Diablo III, LA
Noire, and more. Whatre they making?
The frst big Japanese Kickstarter
game, and its something of a real-time
strategy crossed with JRPG bits.
PRECINCT
DEVELOPER JI M WALL S RELOADED
DUE 2014
www.pr eci nct game.com
From the creator of Sierras adventure
series Police Quest comes this frst-
person reimagining of the cop-based
adventure game. So, Police Quest for
a new generation, then. This aint no
point-and-clicker; Jim Walls is promising
car chases, shootouts, shooutouts
whilst in car chases, chases on foot,
and interactive bar fghts where you can
indiscriminately pepper spray perps. After
an unsuccessful Kickstarter attempt, the
devs are now taking funding through their
own site. At the time of writing, its not
even 3% there. Go give them some love,
or the mayorll have their arse for this.
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SNOW
DEVELOPER POPPERMOST PRODUCT I ONS
DUE T BA
www. snowt hegame.com
The indie dives into downhill sports
continues with this open-world skiing sim,
Snow. Developer Poppermost Productions
is most proud of what it calls a massive
and dense mountain environment, packed
with various slopes to slalom (Alliteration
SLAM -Ed) and jumps to pull 1080s off in
a more realistic interpretation of winter
sports. Are 1080s still realistic though? I
hope so. Anyway, there wont be a minimap,
so youre free to explore the mountain
as you see ft. Or, if you want to look at it
another way, its like Skyrim except the only
direction you can go is down.
SECRETS OF
RAETIKON
DEVELOPER BROKEN RULES
DUE Q4
secr et s-of-r aet i kon.com
An exploration game set in a mysterious
alpine wilderness, Secrets of Raetikon
follows on from Broken Rules Wii U
exclusive aerial racer, Chasing Aurora.
Whyd they branch out to PC? Because
being indie doesnt mean you only want
three people to play your game. As
mentioned, this is more about exploration
that fying around collecting pickups, as
it sees the player characters wild animal
on a quest to restore pieces of old
machinery. We didnt know animals could
use machines! Oh no, lock the doors!
LACUNA PASSAGE
DEVELOPER RANDOM SEED GAMES
DUE DECEMBER 2014
www.r andomseedgames.com
Space is awesome! If you dont think
so too, you probably havent looked up
in a while. Do so, and you might see a
little red dot in the night sky. Thats Mars!
And this game goes there! But it aint no
Bohemia Interactive rover-simulator, oh
no Lacuna Passage is about surviving
on Mars as a PERSON after the frst
manned mission to the Red Planet goes
awry. What results is a System Shock-like
archaeological exploration of the events
leading up to the disaster, with mission
logs to fnd, audio logs to listen to and
a hostile atmosphere to contend with.
Space is awesome!
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VOLUME
DEVELOPER MI KE BI T HELL
DUE 2014
mi kebi t hel l games.com/vol ume
Developer Mike Bithell is fast on his way
to becoming Londons own indie master of
minimalism. The creator of Thomas Was
Alone an existential exploration of self-aware
geometry is upping the visuals in his next
game, Volume, but keeping something of a
minimalist approach.
This aint no indie platformer, however.
As the games tagline states, Volume is
a stealth game about being heard. This
implies a more active, rather than reactive,
approach to stealth: taking action and using
distractions rather than sitting and waiting
for an opportunity to slip by. As you move
through the game, youll become more
notorious and fnd more items flling your
inventory, including more advanced tools for
aural manipulation.
But its the super-accessible approach to
creation that intrigues us the most. Bithell
wants Volume to be a stealth game that is
continually added to and modifed by the
community. Hes inspired by Metal Gear Solid
developer Hideo Kojimas approach to frst
making levels out of Lego. Rather than hand
the result over to players, why not let them
dive into the brick pile themselves? Partners
in crime, then.

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After a distinguished career designing camera
controls for PoP: The Sands of Time and
Uncharted, PHILIPPE MORIN set his focus on indie
development. The result is Outlast, a horror game
so intense its left play-testers scarred for life...
R
ed Barrels co-founder
Philippe Morin is pleased
with the way PC gamers have
been responding to his new
horror game. Outlast is proving
so successful at inducing fear,
it made a man playing the E3
demo faint clear away.
He just collapsed. He
fainted for half a second, and
that was enough for him to
collapse. Sometimes people
become so tense that their
legs just lock. And then, at
some point when the tension
releases, they just: [smacking
sound]. Their legs just bend,
and they fall down.
Outlast saw similar results
at PAX. Three times we had
people knock the walls of the
booth, because they jumped,
and they would hit the wall.
The game has even veteran
play-testers sweating profusely,
and taking frequent breaks to
escape the existential dread.
Why is this game provoking
such strong reactions? Because
its creators have strived
to make the purest horror
experience possible, untainted
by the extraneous trappings of
mainstream horror games.
For starters, the only way you
can escape the games setting,
an eerie mental hospital, is by
hiding and running. There are
no weapons. None at all. Its
almost as if your camcorder
is your weapon. Thats why we
treated it as a gun. You have
to fnd ammunition, which in
our case are batteries, and you
have to reload. And thats your
only tool. So its really about
immersing the player in the
game world. Making him feel
like hes stuck in there with
all those patients, with very
different personalities.
Its a little bit like if you
walk down the street, and you
see Hannibal Lecter, you would
never know hes a criminally
insane person. Its the same
feeling were going for. You walk
down a hallway, and theres a
patient further down, and you
dont know if hes going to talk
to you, or if hes going to jump
on you, chase you, ignore you...
So its the unpredictability of
the patients behaviour that will
help create this atmosphere of
tension.
Beyond the main priority
of survival, the protagonist,
an investigative reporter, can
pick up clues regarding the
horrifying medial experiments
that created the deformed
freaks baying for blood. Or you
can just ignore the scrawling
on the walls and run for your
life. Its up to the player to
decide how much investigation
he wants to do. And while he
has the camera up, hes going
to be able to record stuff that
will give him more background
information. But if players just
want to focus on surviving, and
getting out of this place alive,
they can do so. But those who
take the time to
explore, and use the camcorder
to record stuff, will get more
information, more backstory.
Run and hide, live or die;
Philippe was proud of the purity
of the experience his team
has created... and lamented
the way mainstream horror
titles had become so watered
down. What theyre always
trying to do is to reach a wide
audience, as much as possible.
And so whats been happening
over the years is that theyve
been incorporating stuff in
their horror games that might
make it more appealing to
some gamers, but at the same
time it turns off horror fans.
At the end of the day, its like
everybody wants to become the
next Call of Duty. I guess thats
why they keep putting more
and more shooting, and more
and more action set pieces in
those horror games. And in a
way, maybe it helps to reach a
wider audience. But it defnitely
makes the game feel less and
less about horror. In contrast
with Dead Space 3, Philippe
assured us there would be no
microtransactions.
Outlast will take around eight
hours to play through, and will
sell on Steam for $30; perhaps
a bit less. Philippe sees this
premium budget title space
as the niche where a small
studio is most likely to survive.
Thats the bet we made when
we started this thing, How can
we keep on making the games
that weve been making so
So successful at inducing
fear, it made a man playing the
E3 demo faint
THE PCPP INTERVIEW
WHO PHI LI PPE MORI N
WHERE RED BARREL S
WHY OUT L AST
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far, and try to bring the same
production value weve been
bringing to games like Sands
of Time, Splinter Cell, and
those other games? But keep
in within a certain scope that
we can manage it with a small
team. Were ten people right
now. So for us, it made sense
to go for a game of that length,
and try to sell it at a price
point where it makes sense for
gamer to try a new IP.
Kickstarter was not the
frst choice for funding
Outlast, despite its success
in getting indie game projects
off the ground. The reason:
government largesse. Were
very fortunate in Canada. We
have something called the
Canada Media Fund. Thats
where about 70% of our
budget comes from. Of course,
crowdfunding mightve been
an option if we couldnt rely
on the Canada Media Fund.
Personally, I havent dealt with
it. But Ive heard people say its
a lot of work just to work out
the page. Most people told me
its about a month of work to
get it started on the website.
So I guess in our case, we just
fgured that that month would
be best spent working on the
game, instead of trying to raise
more money. Obviously, if we
were to reach a point where we
desperately needed money, we
would consider it. But currently
were almost done with the
game, so well be fne.
On the other hand, Quebecs
oft-lauded games industry tax
breaks were no help at all.
The way it works, you have
to complete your frst fscal
year before you can submit
and receive money. So by the
time we get that money, well
be done with the game for a
while. So its not really helpful
for start-ups, unfortunately.
The Canada Media Fund was
a big help to get us started,
but the Provincial Program is
mostly helpful to big studios
who already have a cash-fow.
In other words, its just another
form of corporate welfare.
That said, Philippe is amazed
at the progress of the Montreal
indie scene. At E3, I think
there were four indie studios
from Montreal. Thats new. We
never had that before. I think
the Montreal industry right now
has reached a point, a certain
level of maturity, where we
feel like weve learned what
we needed to learn from big
studios, and now are ready to
move on and try other things.
We also asked what
advice he had for aspiring
indies. Stick to your guns, I
guess. Dont forget, its just
money! [awkward gales of
laughter] Philippe stressed
the importance of paying down
ones personal debts, and
being in a fnancial position
where you could, say, survive
for 18 months without any
positive cash-fow. The funny
thing is that now, knowing what
we know today, we wouldve
been able to get it going within
six months. But thats the
thing, you know. You have to
learn as you go. And learn
from your mistakes. Try to put
yourself in a position where
you can adapt to whatever
happens, because unexpected
things will happen.
Yet in spite of the risks,
Philippe has fallen in love with
the freedom that the indie
lifestyle brings. Were just ten
people. We need to discuss
something, we just get up
and talk about it, and make a
decision on the spot. No need
for some people across the
ocean, or six hours away, to
have them take a meeting and
eventually come back to you
with some feedback. Its just us,
and were making it happen.
Even if his new company
never discovers any cities of
gold, theres no doubt in his
mind that going indie was the
only way forward. A grown man
cannot spend his whole life
in his parents basement. Its
the same thing for us. We just
fgured that were ready to make
the move. And we havent had
any regrets since then.
Its great. I would never go
back. I would rather change
career than go back to working
for a big studio. Im having
way too much fun right now.
[laughs] JAMES COTTEE
Oh, my stars! *faints*
I find you searching for me
to be quite disagreeable

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S
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he bar door slowly swings open and a large
group of young men and a few women
stumble through, eyes barely open, struggling
to keep their heads up. They slump gratefully
onto chairs and barstools as one approaches
the bar. The bartender looks at the assembly.
Bloody hell mate. Have you lot been out
fighting bushfires or something? Nah, says
the producer. Were game developers. Weve
just finished crunch. Ah. The bartender
nods sagely as a tester falls off a stool with a
loud thud and begins to snore.
Game development is an industry of
extremes. The expense of making games
and high rate of financial failure means
a few small mistakes can kill even a very
successful development studio. As we saw
recently with THQ, a few larger blunders can
even fell a major publisher. Because of this,
the publishers who provide the funding for
games have to become ever more ruthless
when dealing with studios. Along with putting
a clamp on creativity in favour of the familiar
and well tested, this will mean a very rigid
schedule of milestones and tighter deadlines.
This is seldom more evident than towards
the end of a project when those time
restrictions really come into play. This time
is universally known as Crunch, a period
where the amount of overtime required to
complete the game drastically increases, the
typical 8 hour working day ballooning to 12,
14, 16 hours or even beyond in particularly
extreme cases. In an ideal world, a well
planned project shouldnt require crunching
at all, but it is extremely rare for a title to
ship without at least a few late nights for the
team. Developing a game is an organic and
very complex process and elements will often
take longer than expected to create while
new ones will no doubt be added over the
process of the development cycle.
Theres a certain novelty to starting crunch
that will last for a day or two, particularly if
you havent been through many of them in the
past. Youll likely start on a fairly manageable
extra 23 hours. You have a little excitement
from moving on to the final push on the game
youve been on for months or even years. The
management will bring you a pizza dinner. If
youre lucky you might even be generating
time in lieu for a holiday after the game
ships, assuming youre not immediately laid
off. Its kind of fun.
From there, things will begin to
deteriorate. If the team is really behind that
initial nine oclock finish will drift towards
the small hours of the morning as deadlines
loom. Taxi fares will likely be provided
when the team start finishing too late for
public transport. In particularly extreme
circumstances its not unheard of for
breakfast options to begin appearing in the
studio kitchen to feed those staff for whom
there is little point in going home before
returning again the following morning.
Even minor crunches can take a toll on
developers physically and emotionally. Its
the fatigue youll feel first. Even if youre
only doing a few extra hours and not actually
staying awake any longer than you normally
might, the extra hours focusing on the
task at hand are draining. Youll become
progressively more tired as days pass, which
will leave you more stressed, slower in your
work and more likely to make mistakes. All
likely to make your tasks take that little bit
longer, which will in turn exacerbate your
stress levels and the tension between your
colleagues.
Health can also suffer if the crunch is
prolonged. Long sedentary periods with
minimal time for exercise; a subsistence on
coffee, energy drinks and greasy fast food;
late night after late night and that heightened
stress level are a recipe for any number of
ailments during a period when you absolutely
cannot afford to take sick leave. Depression
and the occasional angry outburst are also
not uncommon as the physical duress, tense
environment and enormity of the task at hand
take their toll. In my own experience one
of the biggest contributing factor to crunch
time blues came from the lack of sunlight.
Getting in early in the
morning, working in lowlight
conditions all day and
then getting out after dark
meant never really seeing
the sun, something which
I found had a surprisingly strong negative
impact on the emotions.
It takes a certain type of person to survive
in the games industry for long. One whos
prepared to make a few sacrifices for the
love of their chosen discipline. One wholl
endure some hardship to make the best
game they can, even if that game is about
ponies. Game developers are one and all
a little mad, but theyre some of the most
chilled out, fun and entertaining folks youre
likely to meet. Theres a lot of fun to be
had in games, but there are a lot of tough
times too. Whether the project is triple-A or
shovelware, its the team at your side that
make it worth persevering.
Its not unheard of for
breakfast options to begin
appearing in the kitchen
CRUNCH TIME
The grim final charge for the gold master disc
STEPHEN SCHULZE is an Australian developer
whose worked at Sidhe and Tantalus spanned
over 15 shipped titles.

PREMIUM ALUMINIUM CHASSIS MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
NOW AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA
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2013 ICT Century (Australia) Pty Ltd, all rights reserved.
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Tesoro@ictcentury.com.au

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J
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JAMES COTTEE thinks youre all a
bunch of no-good icebergs. He budgets
videogames for breakfast.
The tiniest miscalculation
could set off titanic disaster
dominoes
B
ackers of the Double Fine Adventure
Kickstarter have reaped incredible
rewards from their modest donations:
kudos, cachet, street cred, and glimpses
of the development process thanks to an
exquisitely lit behind-the-scenes video series.
Theyre also getting a novel insight into the
emotional roller coaster ride that Majesco
Entertainment executives experienced when
working with Tim Schafer eight years ago,
back when losses from Psychonauts helped
push them $18 million into the red, causing
the Majesco CEO to resign in disgrace.
One could describe the crowd-funded
Double Fine Adventure, now dubbed Broken
Age, as a victim of its own success. Originally
budgeted for 300 grand and a 2012 release,
the overflowing Kickstarter war chest blew out
the estimated cost by an order of magnitude.
It also activated a slew of stretch goals,
which inexorably led to a dramatic increase in
complexity and scope. With this multiplier in
effect, the tiniest miscalculation could set off
titanic disaster dominoes, and Schafer soon
found himself looking at projections where
his team would run out of money long before
the new 2015 release window.
Suspicions festered. Would funds from the
Massive Chalice Kickstarter veer off course
into Schafers rapidly dilating black hole? Was
the Double Fine empire a house of cards?
Something had to give. And so, with the
wisdom of Solomon, Schafer decreed that his
baby would be cleft in twain, with funds from
its early-access Steam release (hopefully)
funding the project through to completion.
Its the 11th hour, and all is well. But how
and why did it all go so wrong? To be fair, this
whole Kickstarter business was unknown
territory for Double Fine. But once the funding
levels got locked in, it seems amazing that
an industry veteran and entrepreneur of such
standing, experience, and virtuosity couldnt
budget his time and money with an adequate
margin for error.
We may never, ever find out what the
deciding factor was. But there are certainly
clues scattered around, clues which laymen
might collect and combine with every single
object in their mental inventories; clues with
which one could, just maybe, cobble together
into an explanation. For one thing, Double Fine
is located in the heart of San Francisco, one of
the most expensive cities in the world to live
in. Rents, salaries, expenses; by necessity,
all must be sky high. Its a burg replete
with every distraction imaginable, and more
besides. Coincidentally, Double Fine staff have
traditionally identified their secret projects by
naming them after their favourite dive bars.
This would suggest an enlightened office
culture where employees are encouraged to
maintain a healthy work/life balance.
But there are other ways to get things
done. Irrational set up its Australian studio
in Canberra so their staff wouldnt be led
astray by beaches, culture, or fun. Fred Ford
and Paul Reiche III reportedly went one
better, retreating to Alaska before putting
the finishing touches on Star Control II. If
they ever abandon the Skylanders racket to
return to their roots with a Star Control IV
Kickstarter, one would hope that their stretch
goals would all be skewed towards isolation.
For three million, they might set up a dev
studio on an abandoned oil rig. Five million:
the South Pole. Twenty million: in space.
Come to think of it, Fez mightve come out
a tad closer to its initial 2009 release date
if Phil Fish had forgone swinging Montreal
for a shack amongst the lumberjacks. And if
George Lucas has taught us anything, its that
once one becomes fabulously successful, its
easy to get ensconced in the Comfort Zone
a two-dimensional prison from which quality
entertainment seldom escapes...
As an addendum, Id like to apologise for
a factual error in last months column. The
second annual Molyjam, Molyjam Deux, was
not a global programming marathon which
challenged participants to make games
inspired by the Peter Molydeux comedy
Twitter account. Rather, it dared
participants to make games
inspired by quotes from the
man himself: I keep finding
myself rejected by men, which
is a new experience for me.
What do the taps mean? The engine isnt
finished. Her buttocks are wrong. The man is
truly Gods gift to gaming.
Just as the futurists promised us, the
unending growth and convergence of
technology has led to a kind of singularity. Not
the primordial goop at the end of Evangelion,
but the power to make impossible dreams
come true. A decade ago, Peter Molyneuxs
thought bubbles would waft out into the ether,
their perfect forms doomed to dissipate and
die. Today, entropy has reversed. The human
race toils as one, and a grand souffl rises:
food for thought, the food of the gods. I might
just shed a tear.
THE GOD THAT FAILED
What really went wrong with the Broken Age Kickstarter?
The truth might be too disturbing to contemplate...


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G
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eneration XX is a strange column. It
started with an empty page and a desire
to more widely represent the population who
play games. Yes, I wanted to fill it. No, I didnt
deserve it, based on years of experience
blogging, or such, but I can certainly string 800
words together, make a deadline and happily
change stuff when its not good enough. Over
time, my page evolved from the absurdity of
being the weird lady in Games Wizards to one
persons unique take on the medium.
In some ways, I fit quite snugly into the
female gamer stereotype. I dont like shooters,
I want my game to tell a story and I got scarily
into The Sims 2 for a while there. (But if youre
mistaking me for some kind of casual gamer,
finish FTL without shields and well talk.) Of
course, theres actually nothing wrong with
being a casual gamer, or the silly mum who
doesnt like shooters. Everyone has a different
perspective, coloured by who they are.
Recently, I found myself listening to people
arguing for greater diversity among game
designers, so that resulting content might
more accurately represent less stereotyped,
less culturally-damaging conventions. It was
part of a panel discussion held by Australias
Human Rights Commission in Sydney. As
expected, there were a lot of questions raised,
most left unanswered. Do stereotypes make
it easier to relate to characters? Should your
white male designer be expected to portray
anything else? Is stereotyping just lazy writing?
Despite now having six years of experience
at least helping to represent a not-male
point of view, both in this column and the
magazine in general, I still didnt quite have
the guts to raise my hand and outline what I
think would be a really simple place to start.
In my mind, its not about affirmative action,
as was a debate that emerged concurrently
online, in the following weeks, although you
could certainly argue that this kind of process
provided me with an initial opportunity.
Instead, seen through the lens of human
rights, and this is something Ive studied at
tertiary level; if game designers are going to
become a more diverse group, from a range
of ethnic/religious/economic backgrounds,
genders, sexual orientations and whatever
else, people need to not be prevented from
gaining employment based on any of this,
but they also need to have equal access to
methods of appropriate skill acquisition and
feel very welcome.
Consider Twine, a tool that has been
embraced by a range of people, including
a proportionately significant group of
transgender designers. Content ranges from
typical narrative adventures, to the inclusion
of protagonists with a gay lover, to explicit
depictions of what its like to be transgender.
Because of this, the Twine community
increasingly feels warm towards everyone. Its
also easy to use, there are heaps of tutorials
online and its absolutely free for any purpose.
With accessibility in mind, I contacted
Rebecca Fernandez, IGDA Sydneys
chapter leader and programming teacher
at AIE. As further places to start, she
recommends Unity and GameMaker. She
also suggests, For those looking at getting
into programming, Pygame or XNA would
be good choices, with Pygame having more
practical uses. As well as these tools
having resources readily available, she
advises linking up with local IGDA groups
and checking out Pixel Prospector, TIGSource
forums and GameDev.net for support.
Further, when asked what key skills game
designers most need, Fernandez outlines,
Willingness to learn would probably be
number one and, for a designer specifically,
communication skills, ability to work well in a
team, creativity, perseverance, determination.
She highlights the difference between enjoying
playing and enjoying making games and says,
Watching people enjoy a game Ive helped to
create is the greatest motivation.
So, if the medium feels a bit saturated
by stereotypes at times, that doesnt mean
that designers cant create something
authentic based on unique experiences.
With increasingly better access to tools and
supportive communities,
the idea that literally anyone
could engage with game
making is exciting. Will
this eventually translate
into a diverse population
being employed across all tiers of design and
development? I hope so. If your current triple-A
developer still wants to ship White Male
Protagonist Shooter, sure, he can do that, too.
If you want to play it, go for it.
If not, or concurrently, try something like
Papo & Yo, and soak up some South American
art/level design, created by people who
innately know what that is. Diverse designers
mean authentically diverse games. Just like,
if youd never imagined going into EB with
a toddler and a basketball shoved up your
jumper, Generation XX is happy to bring that
experience to you, alongside batting eyelashes
at Geralt, of course. (I probably should write on
serious topics more often, shouldnt I?)
People need to have equal
access to methods of
appropriate skill acquisition
MEGHANN ONEILL doesnt fit the mold of
the usual PCPP contributor. Shes far more
fanatical about hoarding watermelons.
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF
Forget fitting the usual mold. Its full, anyway. Vive la diffrence


C
O
V
E
R

F
E
A
T
U
R
E
42
PC P OWE R P L AY

DREAM
FALL CHAPTERS: THE LONGEST JOURNEY
DE VELOPER RED T HREAD GAMES
DUE NOVEMBER 2014
www.dreamfallchapters.com
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...
43
PC P OWE R P L AY

T
he overarching series
title, The Longest
Journey, is apt. This is a
story that is taking its sweet
time, both in years measured
between releases and in narrative
structure. As the third game, Dreamfall
Chapters is the continuation of Zoe Castillos
story arc, from dispirited dropout to currently,
shall we say, indisposed. It would be quite
inadequate to claim that Dreamfall ended
with a cliffhanger. It was more a tangle of
loose ends and enigmatic semi-resolutions
that were hard to truly believe (in the best
possible, but also maddening, kind of a way).
Do players still crave insight into Zoes
journey and the seedy machinations of the
corporations and empires who framed it? Yes,
we do. Dreamfall Chapters was successfully
funded through Kickstarter at $1.5 million, far
in excess of its $850,000 goal. Director and
Writer, Ragnar Tornquist, says, We would like
to thank backers profusely. Profusely! This
was the only way we could make the game.
We did start the company before getting the
funds, but if the Kickstarter had failed, the
company would have folded. This allowed us
to get on our feet, get started and be where
we are today.
With intended release still more than a year
distant, what can we learn? Its clear that Red
Thread Games intends to craft an experience
that is most reminiscent of the first game,
although it will remain 3D, like the second.
Tornquist also emphasises, Its important
to point out that we are passionately making
an adventure game. Dreamfall tried to be
something else and didnt quite pull it off.
We dont follow the model of more recent
We dont follow the model of more
recent adventures. We are more
traditional than The Walking Dead
adventures. We are more traditional than
The Walking Dead, for example.
Where to Begin
Our first excursion into the parallel worlds
of cyberpunk Stark and magical Arcadia
occurred in 2000, where April Ryan, the
original protagonist for the series, was
introduced and widely lauded for her
detailed portrayal. At a time when the
adventure genre had branched into kids
games, 3D experiments and interactive
movies of the full motion video variety,
The Longest Journey was a rare treat for
those so fondly recalling the relative glut
of (largely) Sierra and LucasArts titles in
previous decades. It was, very simply, a
detailed, loquacious, 2D game with puzzles
to solve.
Mechanically speaking, Dreamfall
Chapters harks back to The Longest
Journey by entirely eschewing the
combat and stealth sequences Dreamfall
introduced. These were widely criticised,
largely due to a lack of reactivity in fight
scenes and the pointlessly frustrating need
to solve puzzles while dodging giant trolls.
Could this decision diminish the experience
in a 3D world? How will that tension, like
desperately clinging to a dark wall as an
Azadi soldier passes by, now be created?
Design Director, Martin Bruusgaard, says,
We want to prove that it is possible to
create tension with just the sound, the
camera and the writing.
He provides the following example, In
Kians escape from Friars Keep, he has
a friend who helps. Kian needs to move
because the guards are coming and we
make sure that the player knows this.
You hear prisoners screaming, the friend
How much for the stretch goal
to get Kian to take his shirt off?
44
PC P OWE R P L AY

iNdIgeNoUs InFluEnCes
Players have long speculated that the series
narrative is influenced by Aboriginal belief,
specifically The Dreaming. The setting
to The Longest Journey features a
distorted time/space where stories
are told and, potentially, realities
created. So, how deep does the
comparison run?
Tornquist says, The cosmic
backstory is based on the idea of
dreamtime, the world being created
by dreams and the essence of a
story being created by the dream
of someone. Were not saying that
this is the same, but we are taking
inspiration. This will continue in
Dreamfall Chapters. Its key to the
storys secret.
Consider Eingana. Aboriginal
knowledge describes her as both
creator of life and connected to every
living creature. In Dreamfall, Scheve
calls the entity they named Eingana,
the organic computer controlling the
dreamer technology. Her story is, as yet,
unresolved, as she grows stronger, but
more unstable.
So, the treatment is essentially more
a literal interpretation of the word,
Dreamtime, rather than a deeper
depiction of Aboriginal belief. If the pacing/
structure of the journeying of ancestral
beings again sounds similar to that in The
Longest Journey games, its likely part
intentional, part coincidence.
is telling him to hurry up and this creates a real sense of urgency.
You cant just linger. And, with the action still framed dynamically
in this way, Tornquist assures us, We are remapping the whole
control system. Its going to feel good for the mouse and keyboard,
addressing the other criticism of Dreamfalls action sequences.
Further, questing and puzzling are also approached more
conventionally, if lightly reimagined. Writer, Dag Scheve, explains,
Some quests are about speaking and making the right choices.
Others involve combining items in the inventory. Compared to The
Longest Journey, there will be fewer inventory objects, though. It wont
be a matter of trying everything on everything, just because you can.
Interestingly, Tornquist adds, Were making it less convoluted. You will
get a notification which tells you, these two items interact, or with
something in the world around you.
So, less likelihood of accidentally solving problems through
aimlessly manipulating a rubber ducky? Bruusgaard says, Were not
trying to make it too easy, were trying to make it less frustrating.
A lot of people found Dreamfall too easy, mostly because of the
very linear nature of some stretches of the game. Chapters will
be more demanding, in terms of problem solving, but it will be a
streamlined and easy to understand experience. The quality of the
puzzles in Chapters will be much higher. The goal should always
be that the player should say, Ah, okay, I get it now.
On the return of Dreamfalls minigames, like hacking and
lockpicking, Tornquist continues, I know our players appreciate
a change of pace. Minigames just have to work really well and be
something thats fun to do, over again. The designers then joke,
somewhat ominously, about fishing, perhaps an Arcadian challenge.
Gameplay will be varied, both in order to illustrate the narrative and
for the kind of pacing this unfolding story demands. The motivation
for solving puzzles, in both games, was always to experience the next
increment of compelling plot.
an Opening to neW Spaces
Also on pacing, players of The Longest Journey will recall that it
was several chapters before the magical world was hinted at, let
alone revealed. April, and her context within the generally dystopian
Newport, had already been firmly established, mostly through her
own commentary on people, places and events. Dreamfall provided
a similar introduction for Zoe in Casablanca, although the
plot unfolded more rapidly. For Chapters, Tornquist says,
45
PC P OWE R P L AY

nOt alL ThoSe whO
wAndEr arE LosT
Just in case youre confused about how
the series works, the games are named, in
release order, The Longest Journey (2000),
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (2006),
Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey
(2014), The Longest Journey Home (TBA).
Still confused? Okay. Anything with Dreamfall
in the title is Zoes cycle. Anything without is
Aprils cycle. So, April, Zoe, Zoe, April.
Of course, as Tornquist says, the stories
do interact and intersect. In The Longest
Journey Home, we will learn more about
why the optimistic and lively girl from The
Longest Journey became the embittered and
hardened rebel of Dreamfall. We will fill in the
missing decade of Aprils life, and also take a
step forward into the future and reveal more
of Aprils destiny, and origins.
He continues, The Longest Journey Home
will go back to the point and click adventure
game. Its going to be very traditional in terms
of the mechanics and presentation. The point
of that game is to restate our roots. It would
be more right to return to April after the
completion of Zoes story and it will make a lot
of sense why this is so.
Id say that around half the game is dialogue-style sequences and
conversational. That may sound like a lot, but thats par for the
course when it comes to this saga. Both of these games had a lot of
talking.
People like that. They want strong characters, winding dialogues
and tonnes of topics. Its going to be voiced by great actors. There
will be decision points and branching. This is part of the joy of these
games. Again, were taking inspiration from The Longest Journey
because Dreamfall had less talking. As to the other half of the
game, designers outline new approaches to exploration that promise
to make it far more open than previously seen in the series. In fact,
precisely how the game is paced could be quite player directed.
Bruusgaard explains, We have a new concept called
gamespaces, where you follow the storyline and at
certain points the game opens up. You might find yourself
in a forest or a city, or you may have multiple objectives.
Were telling the player that there are no time limits and you
can complete this in whatever order you want to. We want
to encourage curiosity. Curious interaction in The Longest
Journey, and especially Dreamfall, was indeed often limited to
townies, under the mouth icon, delivering a contrived description
of the immediate location.
And, yes, both games were exceptionally linear, with puzzles
sometimes just lined up sequentially; find Crazy Clara, liberate
Crazy Claras baby, get the information you need and so on.
In Chapters, Bruusgaard says, There will be things you have
to do to in order to progress, so when you have completed
a gamespace the story will become linear again. But, its
about that opening up and converging. Similarly, although
conversation in The Longest Journey and Dreamfall
sometimes allowed a couple of options for dialogue, it was
almost always to just lightly colour the characters reactions,
rather than to create meaningful consequences.
Branching story in Chapters is unlikely to result in significant
differences between playthroughs or close off large swathes of
content. Within a structure that painstakingly and provocatively
reveals every secret, this isnt necessarily desirable, anyway. When
asked how meaningful choice and consequence might be, Tornquist
answers, Its important to note that its not a game about branches
that will lead to 25 different endings. We have one ending. Its about
what happens along the way and the choices you make. You do have
to live with them.
46
PC P OWE R P L AY

Might the players choices decide
the fate of the magicals in Marcuria,
say, by Zoe becoming the first elven
representative of the ghetto? No wait,
that was Dragon Age: Origins. Sorry. (And
Zoe is entirely human, or so we currently
believe.) But, could player decisions perhaps
lead to ending this segregation? So far,
there is nothing to rule out this magnitude of
consequence in Chapters, although it would
alter the story significantly. Scheve does say,
Some consequences will be very subtle and
some might be very dramatic. Like traveling to
either side of Arcadia with Iorveth or Roche?
(Im fired, arent I?)
More likely, decision making will allow for
greater variation between Zoes and Kians
through wider roleplaying. Bruusgaard says,
There are choices that often provide very
different outcomes. That doesnt mean there
is one right and one wrong way, theyre just
shades of grey. We also didnt want you to ask,
Do I want to be a nice person or do I want to
be a bad person? We wanted the decisions to
reflect life, where there arent obvious good
choices to make. There is a decision very
early on, however, that hopefully defines
the way the entire game is played. It
activates one of two storylines that
follows you throughout the game.
Intriguingly, designers also outline
their intention to allow dialogue
between playable characters to result
in divergent content, too. Tornquist
does say, I think people really liked, in
Dreamfall, where Kian and April meet
and you get to play both points of view.
It was a good conversation but it didnt
give the idea full justice. There was no
consequence. There will be points when the
playable characters intersect and interact. We
will emphasise playing both sides but we want
to do it much better this time. Scheve adds,
Last time it was more of an experiment.
Those Along the way
You know what? That talking to yourself bit
in Dreamfall was pretty weird. But, you know
what else? Raw sovereignty over wild ideas
is as intrinsic a part of the series as any
other thing. A talking crow for a sidekick?
Why not? A talking crow for a sidekick who
You can hardly tell shes
hiding a crow under there
47
PC P OWE R P L AY

has a conversation with himself in Chapters?
Entirely possible. Allowing Kickstarter backers
to become fingerpuppets in Roper Klacks
puppet show? Yes, that happened. Also,
puppet show? Roper Klacks? Really? We hope,
at least, that this is one journey that wont
become too perfect. Idiosyncrasies are so
easy to love.
Of course, you may be asking, Who is
Roper Klacks? Well, thats a very long story
involving a flying castle and an artifact of
unimaginable technology. Do you have to
play The Longest Journey and Dreamfall to
adequately immerse yourself in Chapters,
which surely relies on intricate knowledge
of the world? According to Tornquist, This
is a very important consideration. And,
ostensibly, no. He says, Probably 90% of
our Kickstarter backers are fans of the saga
and have played the previous games but we do
want to allow new players in.
How will this be achieved? Tornquist says,
Were also going to release material before
the game comes out, like an app that is an
interactive storytelling tool recapping the
story of previous games. We have a graphic
novel and short story. All of this will contribute
to creating familiarity. Of course, as PCPP
discovered, even if you have recently replayed
the series, its shocking, all over again. Oh
yes, that lady was that characters mother. Oh
no, the Tyren are coming. And, seriously, what
the hell happened to that guy at the end of
Dreamfall?
Certainly, Red Threads designers
discovered a very similar thing as they
replayed The Longest Journey for a video
stream, as part of a Kickstarter event, and
forgot how to get April into orbit. So, youll be
in good company. Tornquist says, We want to
integrate recapping into how you experience
the story. There are lots of ways to do it.
The TV series, Lost, for example, allowed
characters to jump back to see what made
them who they are. Well take time to flesh
out our characters and recap as the game
progresses. Within a couple of hours everyone
should be up to speed.
By a Longest Journey measure, an hour
has always been the time it roughly takes
to play one chapter, with thirteen chapters
each, in all three games. Bruusgaard says,
Were distributing gamespaces evenly. Were
also doing the same with decision points.
So, if were to look at an hours slice of the
game, youll have engaging dialogue which
will probably lead to decision points, youll
probably see a gamespace. We tried to keep
it like this so people will have a little bit of
everything in an hour to an hour and a half of
playtime.
Scheve continues, Were trying to make
chapters bite-sized, like episodes of a
television show. And Tornquist adds, Our
audience is older now and they have about
an hour. At least, it will allow for slow-paced
playing. I rarely have time for a game for more
than one hour at a time. The mini-cliffhangers
at the ends of chapters that characterised the
other games will fall within this overarching
structure, too. So, if you play as intended,
be prepared to lose sleep worrying over
tomorrow.

aRE wE ThERe yET?
So weve learned that Dreamfall Chapters is
an adventure game that relies on traditional
mechanics and generous dialogue. Its
extensive locations will be opened into
gamespaces to allow for greater freedom in
meeting objectives and player-driven pacing.
Gameplay will comprise a variety of mechanics
and problem solving will be intuitive and
streamlined. We also hope the series will
retain the quirky, experimental qualities for
which it has become known. Theres just
one question that requires emphasis. How
important is it that this story is told, continued
and brought to conclusion?
If youd asked players thirteen years ago,
they might have said, Id play more. If youd
asked the same question after Dreamfall,
you would have heard a resounding, Yes,
now evidenced by the successful Kickstarter
campaign. As momentum escalates, so
does our hunger for answers. In Tornquists
words, We are tremendously grateful for
the opportunity and the confidence. So,
what might happen next for Zoe, in Dreamfall
Chapters, at this likely-to-be penultimate
waypoint? It is with incredible impatience that
we wait to find out.
WE ARE GOING CLUBBING
48
PC P OWE R P L AY

PCPP: Zoe Castillo is the
central protagonist. Given
her predicament at the end
of Dreamfall, how will she be
introduced?
Tornquist: We are going to pick up
right where Dreamfall ended. We will
reintroduce Zoe to established fans and
also introduce her to a new audience,
close to the beginning of the game,
dont worry.
Scheve: We have three playable
characters. We have Zoe and Kian, but
were not going to talk about the third
character, yet. Youll switch between
these characters at set points in the
game. The structure is roughly the
same as in Dreamfall, in terms of how
much screen time each character gets,
although Kian is getting a bigger role.
He is a more fleshed out character.
Can we expect the playable
characters to have opposing
perspectives on the action?
Scheve: The characters will react
to situations and see the world quite
differently. We arent including combat,
so we can focus on that. We have
some mechanics specific to each but,
for the most part, this game is about
storytelling, the differentiation between
characters and the world.
Bruusgaard: The choices available
to characters will affect who they are in
this world and how they perceive what
is happening to them, too.
Can we expect characters to
develop, in a personal sense, over
the course of the game?
Tornquist: The theme of Dreamfall
Chapters is about the phases of life
and how we constantly change. The
characters are required to change,
both their in perspectives and their
approach. In the first Dreamfall, Zoe
was a very immature person. She was
privileged, she was sorry for herself and
lacking direction. As Chapters begins,
Zoe has to very specifically confront
that, in order to move on. As the game
progresses, characters have to accept
who they are and become the people they were
always meant to be.
How will Stark look, this time? Where
have you taken influence?
Tornquist: Europolis has been referenced
in the previous games but its never been
shown before. Europolis is a cyberpunk city, a
dystopian future. Its the state capital of former
Europe. Its a Europe gone to hell, basically.
But the place that Zoe lives in, because she
has moved to Europolis near the beginning
of the game, is a very nice and friendly
neighbourhood. Its not all darkness. We tried
to establish something that feels homely.
You can walk around Europolis for a good
couple of hours, its always raining, talk to
people, get a sense of what the place is like.
As the game progresses, were getting hints
that everything is not as it should be. Youll
see more and more of that and the setting will
evolve. Its a land of European influences and
visual references from things like Blade Runner
and cyberpunk fiction. Its a great playground
for storytelling.
Bruusgaard: I love how The Longest Journey
captured the everyday life of a girl in a really
weird future.
Scheve: Yes, Casablanca, in Dreamfall, may
have felt too present day. Although there was
technology, we didnt go far enough showing
what the future had become. We had The Wire,
but The Longest Journey had
space travel. Were trying to be
more explicit about what the whole
world is really like.
And Arcadia?
Tornquist: Arcadia will, of
course, centre on Marcuria. I think,
for the first time, players will be
able to experience Marcuria the
way it was always meant to be
experienced. The Longest Journey
introduced you to this beautiful,
mystical place, but there were only
certain points you could go to.
You could jump to key locations.
Then Dreamfall made that into a
3D world and it lost some of the
magic, in the process. Although
locations were bigger, it felt more
restricted, smaller in scale than
the Longest Journey. This time
were taking all of the locations
from The Longest Journey and
Dreamfall, were hoping to connect
them so you can wander more
freely.
Bruusgaard: As Marcuria is
one of the gamespaces, youll
see its much more mazelike. In
Dreamfall it was more, go right or
go left. Just the simple fact that
now we dont have any loading
space makes a huge difference.
Of course, the city is still under
the Azadi. You will see the city
change as various plans come
to fruition. Marcuria is growing
and it is becoming, increasingly, a
bad place to be for all the magical
people.
Were also creating spaces for
quite a bit more of Arcadia; other
locations than Marcuria, larger
locations, places that make more
sense for magic. Again, were
looking to The Longest Journey,
not Dreamfall, in terms of variety
and how a magic world feels.
Tornquist: Arcadia is influenced
by more obscure references,
nature, culture, fantasy literature,
art, a good mix. On the story side,
Arcadia always had a sense of humour to it.
For me, it always had a bit of Discworld in it, in
terms of being slightly obscure and slightly
mischievous. A return to whimsical magic is
important to us.
Scheve: One of my inspirations is the Persian
Empire and its historical weapons, to create
that more human face that is starting to take
over. Weve become a bit caught up in the Azadi
empire and their repelling of magic. It ended up
that way.
Bruusgaard: Although the art influences are
varied, were trying to get a distinct visual style
in Dreamfall Chapters, away from Dreamfall
and back to how things looked in The Longest
Journey.
All My Stories Are True
Reading between the lines with Writer/Director Ragnar Tornquist, Writer
Dag Scheve and Design Director Martin Bruusgaard
The choices available to
characters will affect who they
are in this world
Ragnar Tornquist Martin Bruusgaard Dag Scheve
49
PC P OWE R P L AY


51
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
E
C
H
52 Warranty Feature
58 AMD Interview
60 Hotware
61 My PC
62 NVIDIA Triple Threat:
GTX 700M
64 NZXT Phantom 530
65 Thermaltake Volus
Thermaltake Cronos
66 Samsung Versus SanDisk
67 BenQ XL2411T
70 Menagerie
WHAT, ME
WORRY?
The Tech Editor doesnt need consoling
By the time you read this, the next-gen consoles will be just a
few short weeks away. In the past, this has been a terrifying
time to be a PC gamer, as our $3,000 investments are suddenly
outshone by $400 boxes of custom technology. However, as we
discovered while chatting to AMD and NVIDIA over the last two
issues, PC gamers have nothing to fear. This time around, the
PC will remain the most powerful gaming platform right through
the introduction of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, thanks to
the huge leaps in graphics technology of the last few years. Its
simply not possible for the consoles to match the huge amounts
of money and energy that goes into a high-end PCs graphics
subsystem, which is why even a mid-range PC will still have
more graphical oomph than the new consoles.
And with the news that John Carmack has just signed on as
the Chief Technology Offcer at Oculus, creators of the Rift VR
headset, it appears the PC will have one fnal trump card come
2014 its shaping up to be the only platform that will have the
grunt to meet the incredibly high performance demands of VR.
So rest easy guys all that cash you spent on your PC
hardware hasnt gone to waste, and be assured that the PC
version of Battlefeld 4 is likely to make the console versions
look decidedly last-gen.
Bennett Ring
Tech Editor
bennettr@internode.on.net
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Buy Award
goes to
products
that balance
performance
with price tag.

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FIGHT FOR
YOUR RIGHT TO
WARRANTIES
Do you buy PC hardware? If so, protect your investment and learn how the Australian Consumer Law
delivers much better warranties than you realise. BENNETT RING steps down from the bench to cut
through the legalese.

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WARRANTIES
O
ur computers are magical creations,
the end result of the last 50,000
years of human evolution. These boxes
of technological wizardry are some of the
most complex things ever built by humans,
intricately constructed from billions of
infinitesimally small transistors at the atomic
level. They can do amazing things, but theres
also one minor issue with such complex
devices: shit breaks down. Due to their high
levels of complexity, computer goods tend
to have a failure rate that exceeds other
products, at around three to five percent of all
computer products sold. Yep, theres a one in
twenty chance that something in your PC is
going to break in the near future. This is why
the issue of warranties is so important to PC
owners. Sadly, the vast majority of you guys
have absolutely no idea that youre covered
by some of the planets most protective
consumer laws. Fear not, as Im here to save
you bucketloads of time and money in the
case that something goes wrong.
Ask your typical Aussie about the warranty
covering their new CPU or monitor, and
theyll either have no idea if their product is
covered, or they might mention that theres
a warranty for twelve months provided by the
manufacturer. Thats what the pimply teen in
the store told them, so it must be right. Well,
it turns out that we have something down
under known as Australian Consumer Law,
which covers something else called Consumer
Guarantees. If you ever buy hardware, this is
something you absolutely, positively need to
know about, as theres a very good chance it
will save you hundreds, if not thousands, of
dollars.
AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW
Up until 2011, purchases made by Australian
consumers were covered by laws that had
been around since the 70s, and werent
designed to deal with the range of products
that had only sprung into existence since
the computer and technology revolutions of
the eighties, nineties and naughties. Each
state had different laws, which made the
issue of consumer protection a complex and
confusing issue. Delia Rickard, Deputy Chair
at the Australian Competition & Consumer
Commission, explains the need for national
legislation. It was about getting a national
regime in so that manufacturers, retailers and
consumers were all conscious about which
laws were to be obeyed.
On the first of January 2011, Australian
Consumer Law commenced. This single
law replaced over twenty different state,
commonwealth and territory laws, simplifying
consumer protection across the entire country.
It turns out that these comprehensive new
laws were inspired by our cousins over the
ditch, as Ms Rickard explains, Its fair to say
that consumer guarantee legislation derived
a lot of legislation from the New Zealand
regime. They might kick our butts at rugby, but
we owe the Kiwis a debt of gratitude when it
comes to consumer protection.
The key part of the new legislation that
were most interested in was the introduction
of the new Consumer Guarantees, a set of
rules that ensures consumers arent sold
dud products. This is especially important in
the world of PC hardware, as product failures
are relatively commonplace. The Consumer
Guarantees lay out exactly what to expect
when purchasing a product, as well as what
entitlements exist if the product doesnt
live up to the sellers claims. If youve never
heard of the Consumer Guarantee, you will
DOWNLOAD THE ACCC SHOPPER
Its very important to keep receipts of all of your PC purchases,
as its undeniable proof that you bought a product from a retailer.
To make this easier, the ACCC has created a free app for Android
and iOS called the ACCC Shopper. This can store photos of your
receipts, and also has all of the ACL and Consumer Guarantee
information in an easy-to-read format. If you find a store isnt playing ball, simply show
them the Consumer Guarantee section of the app. Its hard to deny the legislation
when its right in front of their face.
HOW LONG SHOULD IT LAST?
A rough guide to the lifespan you should expect you kit to have
SHOULD LAST: 1 to 2 years SHOULD LAST: 2 to 3 years
Delia Rickard, Deputy Chair at the Australian
Competition & Consumer Commission

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be amazed at just how well Australians are
protected when products fail. Even more
amazing is how few people know that this
guarantee even exists.
CONSUMER GUARANTEES
The first part of the Consumer Guarantee
explains what a consumer can expect when
buying a product. Every product sold in
Australia must be safe, lasting and with
no faults. Yes, it sounds like obvious stuff,
but youd be surprised at how many dodgy
retailers try to sell junk. It also must do all the
things that the consumer expects a product
would normally do. For example, if I buy a new
graphics card and it causes my computer to
crash every fifteen minutes after installing
it correctly, that behaviour is not what Id
expect the product to do, and I can return it.
Obviously, if a component dies entirely, its
also not doing what Id expect it to do.
The Guarantee also states that any product
sold must not have any hidden debts or charges
associated with it every cost must be clearly
explained up front. Finally, every product must
also have a spare parts and repair facilities
available for a reasonable time after purchase,
unless the retailer explains otherwise at
the time of sale. Basically, this part of the
Consumer Guarantee explains that when you buy
something, it should work, and it should also do
the job that its advertised to do. Pretty simple,
self-explanatory stuff, right? Its what consumers
are entitled to when this doesnt happen that
most eye-opening though; specifically, what
happens when a product breaks or stops
working. As youll see, theres a reason not many
retailers are shouting about this new legislation
from the rooftops, as it takes a rather large
chunk of change out of their tills.
WARRANTIES?
Most Aussies only know about two forms
of warranties Extended Warranties and
Manufacturer Warranties. Extended Warranties
are usually sold to you in the store, and are
provided by the retailer. Walk into any Harvey
Norman, Dick Smith or other electronic store
and buy a TV or computer, and youll probably
be bombarded with helpful advice on why
you should spend several hundred dollars
more on an Extended Warranty that will allow
you to return the product any time in the next
two or three years. Its a nice little racket that
earns the major retailers big bucks.
These Extended Warranties provide
protection that usually lasts longer than
the other type of warranty youre probably
familiar with: Manufacturers Warranties.
These types of warranties are provided by
the company that built the product, and are
usually printed on the box. For example,
most graphics cards usually have a 12-month
Manufacturers Warranty, while SSDs have a
three year Manufacturers Warranty. These are
the only two warranties the vast majorities
of Australians are familiar with. Now, are you
ready for the secret information that retailers
dont want you to know?
Generally speaking, neither Manufacturers
nor Extended Warranties are worth the paper
theyre printed on.
WARRANTY SCHMORRANTY!
Both Extended Warranties and Manufacturers
WARRANTIES
HP GETS PWNED
While many claim the ACCC is a
toothless tiger, the organisation has
had several major wins regarding the
ACL. Most recent of these was action
it took against Hewlett-Packard, which
came to a conclusion in July of this
year. The ACCC took the company to
court for several reasons, chief among
them that:
Consumers were required to have
their product repaired mu|tip|e
times before they were entit|ed to a
rep|acement
Consumers were required to pay
for remedies outside HPs warranty
period
As a result of the case, HP was fined
three million dollars, as well as having
to contribute to the ACCCs legal
costs. More importantly, it resulted in
HP changing its policies in Australia
regarding repairs, returns and
replacements. Nice work, ACCC!
A READERS EXPERIENCE
Gregory Lloyd is one of
the many PCPP readers
who shared his warranty
woes with us. His issue
centred on problems
faced when trying
to get his brothers
iPhone fixed, which had
developed a screen
fault after 14 months.
Gregory claims that
his brother visited
several Apple resellers
and was informed
the warranty was only for
12 months. Gregory then stepped in
to help, thinking his law degree and
knowledge of the ACL would make
getting a repair a breeze. After phoning
AppleCare, he was informed that he
would have to pay for the repairs, as it
was outside of Apples warranty period.
It was only after a lengthy conversation
that the phone was finally given an
exemption and Apple agreed to have
it repaired in a corporate store.
This tale of woe is not unique, as we
had several readers share their horror
stories with us. In most of these cases,
though, the readers didnt know about
the ACL. We wonder if they did whether
theyd have a happier story to tell?
SHOULD LAST: 3 years

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Warranties are superseded by you guessed
it Consumer Guarantees. If a product
fails to meet the Consumer Guarantee for
instance, it stops working the consumer can
claim a remedy from the retailer who sold the
product. This remedy can take one of three
forms: repair, replacement or a full refund
(cash not store credit). In certain extreme
cases, you can even claim compensation for
damages or loss. This is totally irrespective
of the Extended or Manufacturers Warranty. If
the store claims they only provide a 12-month
warranty, too bad, as the Consumer Guarantee
overrules whatever the store claims.
Note that its the retailer who must provide
the remedy, not the manufacturer. If a retailer
asks you to send the product back to the
manufacturer, theyre breaking the law; the
retailer is legally obliged to fix the problem,
not the manufacturer. Also, if the retailer asks
for the product to be returned, if the cost
of returning the product is substantial, the
retailer must pay for it.
Unlike the other types of warranties, which
have fixed lengths of time, the time limit on
the Consumer Guarantee protection for a given
product is a little bit vague. The legislation
states that the product must work for a
reasonable length of time, based on the
product. Ms Rickard explained why there is a
need for such vague terms. It is a little vague,
because obviously one piece of legislation
cant work it out for every single product. Its
about looking what claims have been made by
retailers and manufacturers about the life of
their products, or average life for that product
is. What does the product cost was it one
of the more expensive or one of the cheaper
ones? There are no hard and fast rules looking
at whats reasonable.
In non-legal speak, this basically means
that the more expensive and higher-quality
the product, the longer its expected to last.
For example, computer components such as
high-end graphics cards and CPUs should easily
last three to five years, whereas a very cheap
mouse might only last a year. As Ms Rickard
mentioned, there are no hard and fast rules, but
there is a way to find out what period of time is
reasonable for your product. You can call your
nearest Fair Trading office and get an idea of the
lifespan, because there are people there who
have really spent their life working on electronic
guarantee issues, explained Ms Rickard.
You can probably understand why retailers
arent advertising the Consumer Guarantee
in stores, as it makes most Extended
Warranties obsolete. Considering these
Extended Warranties can cost hundreds of
dollars, the retailers stand to lose a bunch
of income as more people start realising
theyre already protected by the Consumer
Guarantee. In some cases, if a retailer does
the hard sell on an Extended Warranty, they
could even be breaking the law. If theyre
selling them [Extended Warranties] in a
way that implies that if you dont buy the
Extended Warranty, you wont have any rights
if theres a problem with the product, then
that is illegal, and its something the ACCC is
taking action in regard to.
Ms Rickard went on to explain how to find
out whether an Extended Warranty is worth
considering. What we say to people is that
often there is no point in buying an Extended
Warranty. A lot of them will not provide you
with any additional rights over the consumer
guarantee. If you are thinking about it, ask the
THE CHEAT SHEET
A summary of the Consumer
Guarantees applying to goods
1. Suppliers and manufacturers
guarantee that goods are of
acceptable quality when sold to a
consumer
2. A supplier guarantees that goods
will be reasonably fit for any purpose
the consumer or supplier specified
3. Suppliers and manufacturers
guarantee that their description of
goods (for example, in a catalogue or
television commercial) is accurate
4. A supplier guarantees that goods will
match any sample or demonstration
model and any description provided
5. Suppliers and manufacturers
guarantee that the goods will satisfy
any extra promises made about them
(express warranties)
6. A supplier guarantees they have
the right to sell the goods (clear title),
unless they alerted the consumer
before the sale that they had limited
title
7. A supplier guarantees that no one
will try to repossess or take back
goods, or prevent the consumer
using the goods, except in certain
circumstances
8. A supplier guarantees that goods
are free of any hidden securities or
charges and will remain so, except in
certain circumstances
9. Manufacturers or importers
guarantee they will take reasonable
steps to provide spare parts and repair
facilities for a reasonable time after
purchase
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SHOULD LAST: 5 years

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WARRANTIES
WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
If a retailer refuses to give you a refund, repair or replacement, you should call your local Office of Fair Trading. These guys take care
of one-on-one investigations, whereas the ACCC concerns itself with retailers with repeated, ongoing violations of the ACL. To find
out who your local office of Fair Trading is, head to www.consumerlaw.gov.au and check under Consumer Questions & Complaints
for a list of offices by state.
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WHEN YOURE NOT COVERED
While the ACL and Consumer
Guarantees provide excellent
protection for consumers, there are
cases where a consumer isnt able to
claim for a remedy. These include:
Products bought before Jst January
2DJJ thankfu||y, theyre covered by
the Trade Practices Act, which has
simi|ar protections
Products bought from sa|es by
private se||ers eBay, garage sa|es,
etc
If the consumer simp|y changes their
mind about the product
salesperson What does this provide me with
that my Consumer Guarantee doesnt?
Its interesting to note that the ACL and
Consumer Guarantees also apply to second
hand goods, but there are some caveats. For
starters, obviously a second-hand product
isnt expected to last as long as a brand new
product. Secondly, if you buy the product
through a retailer, youre still entitled to all of
the protection of the Consumer Guarantee,
including a remedy if the product fails to
meet its expectations. However, if you buy
the second hand good through a private sale
say a guy on eBay who is selling off his old
gear youre not entitled to a repair, refund
or replacement. With so many of us buying
components second-hand off other PC gamers
on eBay and community forums, this lack of
Consumer Guarantees on private sales is
something to be aware of.
Theres another loophole in Consumer
Guarantees that is a bit of an issue repair
times. There is no acceptable length of time
for a repair to take place. As you can see from
our case example, sometimes it can take
up to six months for a faulty product to be
rectified. However, you can still take action if
you feel its taking too long. I think you would
find if there was a pattern of the store taking
too long, then youd get a consumer protection
regulator interested in investigating it,
explained Ms Rickard. You can also demand
a refund if you believe its taking too long, or
even take the product elsewhere for a repair,
and invoice the original supplier.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Its been two and a half years since the
ACL and Consumer Guarantees become
the standard in Australia, but sadly most
consumers and retailers still arent aware of
it. Walk into your nearest major electronics
chain and ask the salesperson whether their
Extended Warranty offers protection that
exceeds the Consumer Guarantee, and watch
the look of confusion that spreads over their
uninformed mug. That doesnt mean youre
not protected, though by being informed of
your rights, youre now able to insist that the
retailer lives up to its end of the deal. If they
dont, make sure you complain to your Office
of Fair Trading, as well as the ACCC. Retailers
found to have broken these laws face fines of
up to $1.1 million per offense, so its in their
best interests to play ball.
Despite the excellent protection offered by
the ACL, its amazing how many Aussies are
still wasting money on Extended Warranties, or
giving up when trying to get broken expensive
items repaired or refunded. Help stop this
needless waste of cash the more people
that know about this, the more retailers will
have to acknowledge these laws exist and
abide by them. And thats a good thing for all
of us.


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BENNETT RING speaks to Neal
Robison, Senior Director of Global
Software Alliances, about the impact
AMDs unique CPU and GPU combo
powering the next-gen consoles will
have on the company place in PC
gaming.
PCPP: Lets get the bad stuff out of the way
first can you give us an update on AMDs
stuttering issue?
Robison: The latest release of our drivers
has addressed most of the issues that were
brought to our attention. We spent time with
engineering resources and feel weve gotten
a grip on most of the issues many users have
posted.
So totally fixed then?
Yeah, Absolutely. This was the focus of the
last major driver release.
Glad we could get that out of the way. Onto
the interesting stuff about your work with
next-gen consoles and how itll impact
PC gaming! With both PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One using AMDs Graphics Core Next
(GCN) architecture, how will that impact
performance on ports that feature on both
consoles and PC?
Ive been involved in game dev and the
gaming industry for over twenty years, and
this is the first time that Ive ever seen this
much alignment on architecture with the
consoles and PC. For us, it signals a huge
benefit that developers can really spend
the time to create the content on the x86
architecture, and thats going to work across
both consoles and PC. Obviously, there are
going to be optimisations for each one of
those platforms, but overall this will help
reduce a lot of time and cost in game dev
thats done today.
In terms of performance, though, do you
think this will give your PC parts a benefit
over NVIDIA in cross-platform games, and if
so, what are the strengths of the GCN that
NVIDIA cant replicate?
Youre talking about the very basics of
the game being coded to take advantage
of the GCN architecture. If you start from
that very base layer, if you have that same
architecture in a PC, youre going to get the
best experience possible. We were chosen
because the AMD GCN architecture was
seen to be superior, giving better flexibility
especially thanks to heterogeneous
compute, using the graphics architecture for
computation beyond standard graphics.
So do you believe the optimisations that
are unique to GCN, wont be able to be
replicated by NVIDIA?
It makes it really difficult. NVIDIAs still
going to do a good job with PC graphics,
certainly theyve built up a good reputation in
many areas. But I think overall the fantastic
performance youre going to see in these
games, NVIDIA wont be able to touch those
unique optimisations. If they do, itll come at
INTERVIEW
THE DRIVING
FORCE
What AMD has in store for PC gaming

59
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the performance of their cards.
We know both consoles are using GPUs
based on GCN architecture, but are they
identical in their designs, in the same way a
Radeon HD 7950 is simply a cut-down 7970?
We know that the Xbox One has 50% fewer
cores than the PlayStation 4, but in terms of
the actual layout of the GPU, is it the same
method as PC graphics cards, where one is a
pared down version of the other?
Theyre actually unique designs, but they
come from the same architecture. I cant go
into any more detail as my friends at Sony
and Microsoft will get upset with me. But
overall, theyre derived from the exact same
architecture.
AMD has had eight-core CPUs on the market
for a few years now, and you were a few years
too early as nobody was coding for so many
cores. Now that we are going to see eight
cores in both consoles, how will this impact
the use of eight cores on the PC? Do you
think this is going to turn a corner in the next
year or two, where it becomes the norm?
Youve hit the nail on the head. Weve
seen that many PC developers have
embraced multithreaded coding in their
games, but this opens it up to a much
broader audience. Because these types of
cores are now available in the consoles, itll
give the developers a lot more security and
confidence that all the work theyre putting into
multithreading is going to carry over and mean
something for traditional PC gaming audience.
These cores have been around for a long
time, were seeing other software developers
starting to take advantage of the threading.
The clock speeds of these chips havent
increased a great amount over the last few
generations, but youre starting to see greater
use of multithreading to improve performance.
How much harder is it to code for eight
cores? Weve had four cores for years and
yet we still see brand new games coming
out that rely on just one or two cores. Is the
switch going to take 12 months? Two years?
Five years?
I think its a much shorter term. If you
look at multithreaded, its been around for a
while. The PS3 even had lots of cores that
had to be juggled. This isnt new for anybody.
But what youre seeing now is something
that hasnt happened before, that is a very
uniform approach across the platforms that
the publishers and developers care about.
Therefore its a lot less risky to explore and
expand into multithreading than ever before.
At this years E3, many keen-eyed PC gamers
noticed that the next-gen demos on Xbox
One and PlayStation 4 didnt look as good as
the PC demos. This is a new phenomenon. In
the past, the new consoles always looked as
good as the PC, if not better, at launch. Yet
it feels like this generation the PC will stay
out in front of the new consoles. Why do you
think this is?
I think it depends on the games you looked
at. It was still very early with the tools and
environment for a lot of those games. I think
if you looked at the lectures given by Mark
Cerny, a lot of the things that Microsoft and
Sony are doing to customise the performance
out of these machines, I think youre going
to see some fantastic looking games. At the
same time, the PC has always been on the
front. With the increase in performance over
the last couple of years, were literally at a
breakneck pace, delivering more and more
graphics performance for PC game devs. I
This is the rst time that Ive ever seen this
much alignment on architecture with the
consoles and PC
INTERVIEW
think thats going to continue to be the case.
The PC will always be out in front, because
the cost of the part, and the type of the part
we supply, are much more expensive, bigger
and hotter than anything youre going to see
in a console. Games are going to look great
on both sides, but if you look at pure visual
fidelity, the PC is able to display on multiple
screens, driving a tremendous number of
pixels on the PC, compared to the consoles
which use a single 720p/1080p screen.
Whats the most exciting thing for you
happening at AMD in the rest of 2013?
For me personally, the work were doing with
DICE on Battlefield 4. This game is unique in
all of the PC game market in terms of visual
fidelity. Our team have been very deeply
engaged with them on optimisations. In fact
they used our hardware to debut the game at
E3. 64 people all playing on AMD hardware all
running Radeon HD 7990s. Frostbite 3 is one
of those few engines that can harness all of
the horsepower that the 7990 has to offer. Its
going to look great on other graphics cards,
but for that ultimate experience the 7990 was
the one. So optimising games like that is really
exciting. At the same time, working with our
other partners at Sony and Microsoft to make
sure that all game devs across all platforms can
harness the power of the GCN architecture and
AMD technology behind it is one of the things
we love about being about this industry.

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05
04
01
WI TH TERRENCE JARRAD
02
03
1.
1920s German Light Bulb
Voltage Tester Bar
Price: 2,DDD Distributor: Restoration Hardware
www.restorationhardware.com
What appears to be a bathysphere for
alcohol (how do you think they got booze to
Rapture?) is in fact a repurposed light bulb
voltage testing device from the 1920s.
POWERED UP: A unique piece of furniture,
salvaged from a factory in Germany. Theres
almost 100 years of history right here, and
you could be drinking from it; three shelves,
three stemware racks and fve slots for wine
bottles.
PLAYED OUT: The postage calculator
doesnt recognise Australian postcodes, and
it weighs 120kg.
2.
Nokia Lumia 1020
Price: TBA Distributor: Nokia
www.nokia.com.au
So heres another smartphone. Wait! Where
are you going? This one has something
interesting, we promise! 41 somethings
to be precise. Those somethings are
megapixels.
POWERED UP: Video recording naturally at
1920x1080. Actually takes two photos, one
5mp for uploading to The Social Medias,
and a 35 or 38mp for high-detail snaps.
The built in pro-cam app lets wannabe
photographers mess with various settings to
get the perfect pic.
PLAYED OUT: Megapixels maketh not the
camera and theres still a long way to go to
replace even dedicated quick-shot cameras.
Also, Windows Mobile.
3.
Sigmo
Price: SD Distributor: Sigmo
buysigmo.com
An Indiegogo project thats already doubled
its $15k funding goal and still has 40 days
to go, the Sigmo is probably the closest
thing well have to a babelfsh in the near
future.
POWERED UP: The device, which is only a
couple of centimetres across, promises to
translate 25 languages.
PLAYED OUT: How does it do this? Well,
it hooks up to an Android or iOS
device via Bluetooth and uses
existing translation services,
such as Google translate. So it
seems its pretty much a glorifed
Bluetooth speaker.
4.
Wacom Intuous Creative Stylus
Price: JDD Distributor: Wacom
intuoscreativesty|us.wacom.com
With so many people owning various iWhatsits,
the market for dedicated graphics tablets
must surely be declining. All you really need is
a decent app to combine with your iPad (no,
Draw Something doesnt count) and with this
stylus, youre good to get your art on.
POWERED UP: Over 2,000
levels of pressure sensitivity,
and palm-rejection which
ensures you dont ruin your
masterpiece by resting your
hand on the iPad.
PLAYED OUT: Digital art,
shmigital art. Get yourself a
canvas, some oils, and knock yourself
out (seriously, dont breathe paint fumes).
5.
Saker S-1 Personal Jet
Price: 7,DDD,DDD Distributor: Saker
www.sakeraircraft.com
Lets be honest for a moment. The morning
commute can be a nightmare. Public
transport sucks. The roads suck. Whats
left? The Sky!
POWERED UP: With a top speed of Mach
1.1 (approximately 1168km/h) youll be at
work in no time.
PLAYED OUT: Theres a possibility that you
already accidently spent the SEVEN MILLION
DOLLARS you found between the couch
cushions, and therefore are unable to buy
this jet. Also fnding somewhere to park it
is going to be a pain. Oh, and youll need a
pilot, or some decent training before taking it
for a spin. We recommend DCS World.

61
PC P OWE R P L AY
1. Glen has discovered the
wondrous technology known as
shelves, designed by scientists
specifically for storing all the
crap that comes with todays
collectors editions.
2. If Glen ever gets lost in a strange
land filled with dragons, thieves
and vampires, hell know exactly
which way to go.
3. Yep, yet another PCPP reader
with dual monitors. Thanks
guys, way to make the staff feel
inadequate.
4. We hope Glen has since learned
from his sins, and now worships
the god of Battlefield instead of
the false prophet COD.
5. Awww cute, Glens mum obviously
bought him this Boyfriend card
so that he didnt feel like a sad, solo
gamer on Valentines day. Or maybe
that was our Tech Editors story.
GLEN AGE 29 | ELLENBROOK WA
FOUR MOST IMPRESSIVE FEATURES:
1. Coolermaster HAF 932 Case for awesome
airflow
2. Core i5 3570k with Noctua NH-D14 running at
4.2GHz
3. Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Edition
4. Dual BenQ RL2450H monitors
LAST UPGRADE: The dual monitors. I was using
a 46-inch 3D TV beforehand which was good for
big screen gaming, but dual screens at a desk is
much more comfortable for extended sessions.
DREAM UPGRADE: I think a GTX Titan or two would
be a nice upgrade, or a nice big SSD to eliminate
load times.
FAVOURITE FEATURE: That I spent the time
researching (mostly through PCPP issues) and
picking the right components to build a machine
that can run all my PC games comfortably and
reliably hopefully for some time.
MY PC IS SPECIAL BECAUSE: Every component
was carefully selected to make it run fast, cool
and silent without breaking the bank.
GLEN WINS!
An Ear Force Z300 headset from
Turtle Beach and QV Software! This
wireless 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound
set of cans provides an immersive
audioscape for PC gaming!
Send your MyPC entry today to mypc@pcpowerplay.com.au. Include the four most impressive elements of its hardware, your last
upgrade, your dream upgrade, your favourite feature and what you think makes your PC special. Make sure to include your name, age
and location. And last but not least, attach a 5MP or bigger image of your PC! No camera phone shots, and make sure its in focus!
01
02
03
04
05
This months MY PC
brought to you by

62
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
E
C
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VERDICT With such lacklustre
performance, the high price tag
of the Alienware 14 just doesnt
make sense.
6
PRI CE $2, 699
www.alienware.com.au
Alienware 14
Pay more for portability
I
t might only have a 14-inch screen,
but this welterweight packs a decent
punch thanks to the Intel 4th Gen
Core i7-4900MQ CPU, which peaks at
3.8GHz whilst gaming. Its matched
with the NVIDIA GTX 765M, which sits
around the middle of NVIDIAs new
700M series. As serious PC gamers,
we wouldnt recommend going any
lower in the 700M product stack than
this part, as youll see that even this
card struggles with prettier games. The
765M uses four of the SMX blocks
that are the basis of Kepler products,
delivering a total of 768 CUDA cores. To
give you an idea of how that compares
to a desktop GPU, the GeForce GTX
760 has six SMX blocks, for a total of
1152 CUDA cores. The GPU runs at
850MHz, but ramps up to the 1GHz
mark thanks to NVIDIAs GPU Boost 2.0
technology, while the memory bus is
clocked at 4GHz.
The rest of the laptop
is up to Alienwares usual
impeccable standards. The
chassis uses Alienwares slick
LightFX system to glow a range
of gorgeous colours, while the
1920 x 1080 display is a stunner.
16GB of memory is plenty, but the
64GB SSD is a little on the slim side,
despite being paired with a 750GB
mechanical drive.
As the benchmarks show, the
GTX 765M just doesnt have the
horsepower to run at this laptops
displays native resolution. Drop
things down to 1280 x 720 and its a
happier story, but at this price we really
expected much better performance.
The Alienware 14 might be conveniently
small, but this level of performance
shouldnt cost close to three grand.
NVIDIAS
TRIPLE THREAT
The GeForce GTX 700M series has nally arrived in force
The GeForce GTX 700M is the same architecture powering the kick-arse GTX 600
and 700 desktop series. BENNETT RING got his hands on three laptops, each using a
different 700M series part.
Hitman: Absolution:
1920 x 1080; Ultra Quality
3DMark 2013 - FireStrike Test, 1920 x 1080 PowerMark Battery Life
Metro: Last Light: 1920 x 1080;
Highest Detail; PhysX disabled
Tomb Raider: 1920 x 1080;
Ultra Detail; TressFX disabled
Origin EON15-S
Toshiba Qosmi
Alienware 14
Origin EON15-S
Toshiba Qosmi
Alienware 14
Origin EON15-S
Toshiba Qosmi
Alienware 14
Origin EON15-S
Toshiba Qosmi
Alienware 14
Origin EON15-S
Toshiba Qosmi
Alienware 14
51
5180 129
101
63
3157
2339
42 9 56
32
24
9
5
29
21
25
Minimum FPS
Score (higher is better) Minutes (longer is better)
Minimum FPS Minimum FPS Average FPS Average FPS Average FPS
68
41
31
14
11
36
26

63
PC P OWE R P L AY
t 4UJMM TUSVHHMFT XJUI NPSF EFNBOEJOH
UJUMFT
t -PWFMZ CJH TDSFFO
t 4QFFEZ $16 BOE (16
t #VJMU UPVHI
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VERDICT Rich in features,
built to last and with very
respectable performance, the
newest Qosmio is a great mid-
range gaming laptop.
VERDICT It doesnt get much
faster than this or more
expensive.
Toshiba Qosmio
X70-A014
Qosmic portability
8
9
PRI CE $2, 999
www.mytoshiba.com.au
PRI CE $4,422
www.originpc.com.au
Origin EON15-S
Burns through benchmarks and bank accounts
B
y the time we got around to testing
our third gaming machine, we were
a little concerned that wed never
see a laptop capable of playing the
latest and greatest. Thankfully, the
little laptop that could from Origin
proved those doubts incorrect. It might
look relatively demure, thanks to the
smaller chassis dictated by the 15-
inch screen, but thanks to the high-end
kit within, this baby ripped through our
benchmarks.
This is mostly thanks to the top-of-
the-line GTX 780M tucked away inside.
This uses eight SMX units, delivering
a whopping 1536 CUDA cores, a
huge step up compared to the GTX
770Ms 960 cores. Its also got faster
memory, running at 5GHz instead of
the 770s 4GHz, and its also running
over a much wider 256-bit memory
bus. These specs simply wipe the foor
with the rest of the 700M series, and
makes the 780M a very close relative
to the GeForce GTX 680 desktop GPU.
Origin has paired this potent GPU
with the Intel 4th Gen
Core i7 4930MX, the
fastest Haswell part
available, topping
out at 3.9GHz under
load. 32GB of memory is
overly generous, while twin Samsung
840 SSDs in RAID 0 round out the
stupid fast specifcations.
Unsurprisingly this machine
absolutely blitzed the benchmarks.
As it should, for over four grand.
Sure, it sounded like a small aircon
unit when things got hectic, but most
gaming laptops at this performance
level do. The EON15-S proves just how
damn fast the GTX 780M is, and is
one of the fastest gaming laptops on
the market. Pity about that price tag
though.
B
uilt using a similar Qosmio chassis
to those weve grown to love over
the last few years, this behemoth is
dominated by the massive 17.3-inch
display. The style is matched by rock-
solid construction. It weighs as much
as a Corolla, but its not designed to be
a lightweight road warrior.
At the heart of this laptop is
NVIDIAs new GeForce GTX 770M
GPU. Once again, we see the Kepler
architecture wheeled out, but this time
its built on the foundation of fve SMX
blocks; one more than the GTX 765M,
delivering a total of 960 CUDA cores.
The memory bandwidth has also been
increased compared to the 765M,
increasing to a 192-bit bus over the
765s 128-bit bus, which helps deliver
better high resolution performance.
This upper mid-range GPU is matched
perfectly with the
Intel 4th Gen Core
i7-4700MQ CPU, which
tops out at 3.4GHz during Turbo mode.
16GB of DDR3 memory is plenty for
todays PC games. Whilst our review
confguration came packing twin 1TB
mechanical drives, wed suggest
replacing one of these with an SSD.
The hardware still struggles with the
most demanding games on Ultra, but
on more reasonable detail levels and it
should be more than playable. Still, the
gap between the 770M and the 780M
is so darn high, buyers might not
realise this given the product naming.
But were rather enamoured by the
new Qosmio, with the excellent build
quality, huge screen and rock solid
performance making this a winner in
the three grand price bracket.
EDL:G
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64
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
E
C
H

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VERDICT The Phantom 530
stands out from the crowd with
its combination of good looks
and high build quality.
NZXT Phantom 530
An eye for design
8
PRI CE $179
www.pccasegear.com.au
CASE
W
e dont usually devote a
full page to PC cases, but
considering this is the frst chassis
weve had from the LA-based
designers, we fgured itd be worth
taking a closer look at the Phantom
530. This is the latest version of a
very successful series of cases that
debuted overseas in 2010, and the
end product shows how years of
iteration and evolution combine with a
unique eye for design, creating a case
that stands apart from the rest.
Before we delve inside the
cavernous interior, we simply have
to comment on this cases striking
apperance. Obviously, aesthetic
appeal is a subjective matter that
boils down to personal taste, but here
at PCPP we know weve got better
taste than most. Hey, its part of
the job. We think this a sexy beast,
one that delicately straddles the line
between bombastic and classy. It
manages to be striking and distinctive
without being crass or cheap, a
lesson many lesser Taiwanese brands
would do well to learn. Whether or
not you agree will likely determine
whether this is the case for you. Steel
is the predominant material used in
the construction, but the front white
door and overhanging top lip is built
from plastic, so wed be rather careful
when lugging this case around. The
top rear two thirds of the case is steel
mesh; great for ventilation purposes,
but absolutely useless for noise
control, making this case unsuitable
for those on a quest for silence.
An integrated fan controller is
mounted on the top, right next to
a button labelled I/O. This unique
feature activates a series of LED
lights around your motherboards
I/O panel, so you wont need to go
digging for a torch when you want to
plug in your TrackIR unit.
This whopper of a full tower is
designed for ATX systems, and
has plenty of room even for EATX
motherboards. Eight expansion slots
on the rear make this perfect for
triple or quad GPU solutions, while six
3.5 inch drive bays offer more than
enough space for torrent addicts.
Each bay includes a silent mounting
system. Theres a huge amount of
room inside for cable management,
and more fan bays than you can
shake a water cooler at, though only
two of them are occupied. Theres
also plenty of space for even the
biggest radiators. The entire interior
uses a relatively traditional layout,
and the tool-free design lacks any
nasty sharp edges.
Theres no denying that the
Phantom 530 is a head turner. Its
also cavernous and well built, but the
price tag does feel a little hefty. At a
tad under $200, its up against some
stiff competition and lacks some
of the extra goodies of this price
range, such as silencing material,
fans or external drive bays. Still,
looks alone are enough to make this
worthy of your consideration, and
we look forward to seeing what else
NZXT offers across the range of case
prices. BENNETT RING

65
PC P OWE R P L AY

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VERDICT The Volos range of
motion is smooth and accurate,
but the large number of
programmable buttons feel like
they could have been better
positioned.
VERDICT Whodathunkit
Thermaltake, the PC case
and cooler maker, actually
turned out a decent set of
headphones.
Thermaltake Volos
Gaming Mouse
Take it for a test drive rst
7
7
PRI CE $90
www.thermaltake.com.au
PRI CE $80
www.thermaltake.com.au
Thermaltake Cronos
Gaming Headset
Worth a second look
W
ere wary of cheap gaming
headphones made by companies
with no audio expertise, especially
when a key feature is huge red LED
strips that glow in the dark. So you can
imagine our surprise when we checked
out these Cronos headphones, made
by a company that specialises in PC
cases and with more glowing red lights
than a Sydney Airport runway, and
found they werent actually terrible.
A few hours of Beethoven in FLAC
always gives headphones a good
run for their money. To our delight,
the Cronos exhibited a clear, rich
soundscape, delivering a warm tone
that wasnt bass heavy or too tinny.
Next up was some good old Acca
Dacca, and the electric guitars of
For Those About to Rock carried
just the right amount of distortion,
although overall the sound was a
little fat compared to the lively Audio
Technica ATH-A500Xs PCPP uses as
a benchmark. Still, for $80, we were
quite impressed.
In gaming, where it really counts, the
Cronos does a fne job. The cans arent
brain-meltingly loud, with a top volume
that is still comfortable to listen to. The
bombastic soundscape of Battlefeld
3 remained relatively clear even during
the most intense frefghts.
Theyre not the best in their class,
but the Cronos are a damn sight
better than we were expecting. Throw
in a decent microphone, detachable
speaker cable (though its proprietary,
which might make replacing it tricky)
and a great price tag, and you could do
a lot worse than these headphones.
BENNETT RING
W
hen you frst swipe this mouse
across your surface of choice,
youll be forgiven for thinking somebody
has cranked up the gravity under your
desk. It weighs a tonne, but its six
4.5 gram weights can be removed,
making it less of a wrist-wrecker.
Youll then notice how the Volos flls
your palm, thanks to its larger-than-
usual dimensions. Its odd, but soon
becomes comfortable, offering more
support than skinnier rodents.
Were not sure why Thermaltake
went with Xbox-style buttons under
the thumb. Theyre well placed for
MOBA abilities, thought the blue
button was too far forward for this
reviewers miniature digits. Another
two buttons sit towards the rear under
the thumb, but theyre very awkward
to reach. Three more sit under your
pinky fnger, where the positioning is
less than ideal. In total, there are 14
confgurable buttons, one of which
will be used as the DPI selector. This
controls the top-quality Avago 8200
DPI sensor; arguably the best on the
market right now and explains why the
Volos feels so accurate. Thermaltake
also includes macro software for
customising each of the buttons, but
the clunky interface isnt our favourite.
We appreciate the number of
programmable buttons and accuracy of
this mouse, but the button placement
felt a little awkward. However, this
could simply be caused by our child-
sized hands, so if you can get your
mitts on the Volos and like the way it
feels, you should have no hesitation in
purchasing it, especially if youre part
of the MOBA set. BENNETT RING
I NPUT
AUDI O

66
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
E
C
H
H.|e e\(e.|:e || |\
:|.we| .:e||| || |\
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|e.(e:|||e (||:e
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||t|| (e||.|m:e
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|e|||; w|||;
VERDICT Samsung has done
it again, delivering a drive that
ts the bill in every conceivable
way. Our top pick for SSDs.
VERDICT The Extreme II is
still an excellent drive, but its
been pipped at the post by
Samsungs EVO.
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
The best just got better
10
8
PRI CE $210
www.samsung.com.au
PRI CE $259
www.sandisk.com
SanDisk Extreme II 240GB
Close, but no cigar
A
s one of the worlds largest
manufacturers of fash
memory, SanDisk is uniquely
positioned to build cheaper SSDs
than most. So why is the Extreme
II selling for $1.08 per Gigabyte,
a price that would have been
seen as ridiculously cheap a
year ago but now fails to excite?
Given the rather chunky price
tag, we expected absolutely top
tier performance, but sadly the
Extreme II didnt quite deliver.
Its not that this is a slow
SSD. Our benchmarks show that,
depending on the fle size, its got
the chops to beat the 840 EVO
some of the time. However, its
usually by a slim margin of a few
percent, yet when it loses against
the EVO it often gets thoroughly
trounced. Take the 128K test,
which is great for smaller fle
performance; the EVO leads by
almost twice the speed. Its not the
memory that is the problem, with
the Extreme II using speedy 19nm
MLC NAND modules. We think its
more likely to do with the Marvell
88SS9187 controller, the one
and the same found in the Crucial
M500 we recently reviewed.
If it is a controller
issue, theres hope
that a frmware
update will extract
top tier performance out of
the Extreme II in the future.
Until then, its slower and more
expensive than the EVO, so
you know which one wed buy.
BENNETT RING
W
hen a new high-speed SSD
arrives, its only natural
to assume itll come wearing a
ridiculous price tag. Not so with
the new 840 EVO. At just 84c per
Gigabyte, this is one of the most
affordable SSDs in the 250GB
range on the market. Given how
cheap it is, we naturally assumed
performance had taken a nose
dive, but on that count we were
wrong as well.
As the benchmarks show, this
SSD happily occupies the top rung
of the SATA 3 SSD performance
ladder. Its not always the fastest
in each individual test, but
measure the average across
all tests and its currently the
speediest SSD to mate with our
testbenchs SATA port. Samsung
has achieved this brilliant balance
of price and performance by
using new TLC NAND memory
manufactured on a 19nm process.
Paired to the existing Samsung
MEX controller found in the prior
840, the controller has been
given a sizeable speed boost, up
from 300MHz to 400MHz in the
EVO. Its one of the few affordable
SSDs to offer AES-256 encryption,
perfect for storing your
thermonuclear warhead
designs. Obviously, its
also utilising a SATA3
connection, necessary for such
high storage speed results.
Throw in a three year warranty
and we have an SSD that is simply
perfect. We cant fault a single
thing about it. Time to go update
The Menagerie. BENNETT RING
SAMSUNG VERSUS SANDISK
EDL:G
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The Extreme SSD Face-Off
Read Performance (MB/sec higher is better) Write Performance (MB/sec higher is better)
108.49
171.04
1| |1
128K
117.05
289.56
31.62
122.87
4K
32K
35.53
183.44
516.91
281.35
:e| 1H|
1| |la
506.81
271.57
65.59
297.63
4K
1| |la
67.33
252.3
468.86
257.81
:e| 1H|
1| |1
486.23
254.9
SANDISK EXTREME II 240GB SANDISK EXTREME II 240GB SAMSUNG 840EVO SAMSUNG 840EVO

67
PC P OWE R P L AY
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VERDICT Even ignoring
the icker free tech, this is a
high speed gaming monitor
for those who demand the
ultimate in smooth motion.
BenQ XL2411T
Why eyegonomics matter
9
PRI CE $429
www.benq.com.au
DI SPL AY
B
enQ took the gaming world by
storm with its prestigious, not to
mention pricey, XL2410T monitor back
in mid-2011. Since then, it has gone
on to release new models aimed at PC
gamers and the XL2422T is the latest.
Incorporating BenQs new ficker-
free technology, can it live up to the
reputation of its predecessor?
With a top refresh rate of 144Hz,
this high-speed display is perfect for
those who demand the ultimate in
blur-free PC gaming. This fact alone
helps to account for why a 24-inch
display costs so damn much, but the
$400+ price tag is nothing compared
to the two GTX Titans youll need to
play your games at 144 frames per
second. As expected, given the high
refresh rate, this display is certifed
for NVIDIAs 3D Vision 2 standard,
although its not quite as bright as
some of its 3D-capable competitors.
The key new feature is support
for BenQs ficker free technology.
Most LED monitors ficker when
the backlight adjusts for changing
brightness levels, due to a technology
called Pulse Width Modulation.
Extended viewing of this fickering can
apparently cause eye strain and even
damaged sight for screen-addicts
like us, so BenQs new monitors use
different techniques to change the
brightness. We should point out that
BenQ isnt the only ones doing this
there are over 25 other monitors on
the market that are ficker free, from
brands such as Dell and Apple.
Its hard to judge the impact of this
technology, as we use a Dell U2713H
for most desktop duties already, which
is also ficker free. However, if your
current monitor isnt ficker free, Id
highly recommend getting a demo of
the XL2411T to see if it feels more
comfortable. And given that BenQ
has several optometrists on record
as saying that ficker-free is good for
the eyes of heavy computer users, its
defnitely a feature worth considering.
As a gaming monitor, the XL2411T
sits very close to its predecessor. The
stand isnt as fexible and theres no
nifty profle switcher, but the image
quality is top notch for a TN panel
once its been calibrated. Out of the
box, the colour profle and gamma
settings arent ideal, but an hour or so
of calibrating helped deliver acceptable
colour and contrast performance.
Where this really shines though is in
the fact that its such a low latency
display. Best of all, its compatible with
a new hack dreamed up by display
enthusiasts that eliminates motion
blur entirely, delivering CRT levels of
crispness. This is thanks to the NVIDIA
LightBoost 2.0 tech used for 3D, but
its instead used for 2D gaming. The
only catch is that your game must run
at 120fps for the technique to work,
but its stunning when it does.
The XL2411T might not be a
massive improvement over its
predecessor, and in fact is inferior
when considering the stand and
profle adjustment. However, the all-
important increase to a 144Hz refresh
rate makes it even better for twitch
gamers, while the hack to enable
motion-blur free gaming has to be
seen to be believed. Finally, if the eye
doctors are right, this thing will also
save your eyesight, and that fact alone
makes it stand out from the rest.
BENNETT RING
EDL:G
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WI T H B E N N E T T R I N G
Its the quiet before the storm, with some big news
hitting next issue. Weve upgraded the monitor in our
Performance system to BenQs new XL2411T and
installed the Samsung 840 EVO in our Performance
and Premium builds, both reviewed this month.
TOTAL $5,291
PREMIUM
Crank everything to Ultra, including your credit card limit
CPU
Intel 4th Generation
Core i7-4770K + Corsair
H100i Water Cooling Kit
$399 + $180 www.intel.com
MOBO
ASUS Maximus VI
Hero $285 www.asus.com.au
With a new CPU socket comes an entirely
new motherboard.
RAM
2 x Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB)
DDR3 Low Height Kit
$144 www.corsair.com
16GB should be more than enough.
VIDEO
2 x Gainward
GTX 770
$958 www.gainward.com
Twin GTX 770s will smash anything.
POWER
Silverstone Strider
Plus 850W
$158 www.silverstonetek.com
A high end PSU to ensure stable overclocks.
SOUND
Creative ZXR +
Audio Technica
ATH-A500x $266 + $120
www.asus.com/audio-technica.com
OPTICAL
Samsung SH-B123A
Blu-ray Combo Drive
$89 www.samsung.com.au
Blu for you!
DISPLAY
Dell 30 U3011
UltraSharp
$1299 www.dell.com.au
Delivers pixel-perfect 2560 x 1600 resolution.
CASE
Cooler Master Cosmos
II Ultra Tower
$366 www.coolermaster.com
Big is best!
KEYBOARD
Razer Black Widow
+ Razer Orbweaver
$93 + $120 www.razerzone.com
Mechanical keys... drool...
MOUSE
SteelSeries Sensei
$69 www.steelseries.com
Amazing performance without paying
through the nose.
STORAGE
W.D. Caviar Black 1TB +
Samsung SSD 840 EVO
750GB $96 + $649
www.wdc.com/ www.samsung.com.au
TOTAL $1,101
BUDGET
The perfect entry-level gaming PC
CPU
AMD FX 6300
$141 www.amd.com
Its time to upgrade our AMD chip. Six-cores of
updated architecture are just what we need!
MOBO
ASRock 980DE3/
U3S3 AM3+
$107 www.asrock.com.au
Our new CPU needs a new ASRock home.
RAM
Kingston DDR3 8GB
1333MHz CL9
$27 www.kingston.com
For those times when four just aint enough.
VIDEO
Gigabyte GTX 760
Windforce
$329 www.gigabyte.com.au
This card came out tops in our GTX 760 review.
POWER
Cooler Master 500W
$59 www.coolermaster.com
Unlike high end PCs, the Budget build doesnt
need a lot of juice to get up to speed.
SOUND
Sennheiser HD201
+ ASUS Xonar DG
$56
Headphones plus soundcard yes!
OPTICAL
Lite-on DVD-RW
$21 www.us.liteonit.com
Wed happily retire the drive, but some of you
guys still believe in physical media.
STORAGE
Toshiba DT01ACA050
500GB HDD
$55 www.toshiba.com.au
Half a Terabyte should handle everything.
DISPLAY
Samsung
S24B300H 24
$175 www.samsung.com
Crystal clear 1920 x 1080 resolution.
CASE
BitFenix Shinobi
$64 www.bitfenix.com
Nice for the price. This is the little brother of
the case used in our Performance build.
KEYBOARD
Tt eSPORTS
Challenger
$45 www.thermaltake.com.au
Built for PC gamers. Macros, shortcuts, the lot.
MOUSE
Gigabyte M6900
$22 www.gigabyte.com.au
A sensor resolution of 3200DPI will make
your headshots count.
TOTAL $2,312
PERFORMANCE
Most of the bells and whistles, without breaking the bank
CPU
Intel 4th Generation
Core i5-4670K + Cooler
Master Hyper 612 PWM
$270 + $43 www.intel.com
MOBO
MSI Z87-GD65
$205 www.msi.com
This was one of the cheapest, best-performing
motherboards in our Z87 roundup.
RAM
Corsair CMX8GX3M2
-A1600C9 8GB
(2x4GB) DDR3
$69 www.corsair.com
VIDEO
Gainward GTX 770
$479 www.gainward.com
At around $150 cheaper than other brands,
this is one of the most affordable GTX 770s.
POWER
Corsair 650W VS650
$72 www.corsair.com
With minimum removable cables, this
overclock-ready PSU delivers!
SOUND
Audio Technica
ATH-A500X
$120 www.audio-technica.com
These headphones offer very solid quality.
OPTICAL
Lite-on DVD-RW
$21 www.us.liteonit.com
This is the one bit of kit that stays the
same between most of our machines.
DISPLAY
BenQ XL2411T
$429 www.benq.com.au
BenQs new 24-incher not only looks great,
itll also save your eyesight. Apparently.
CASE
BitFenix Shinobi XL
$151 www.bitfenix.com
Just like the beloved Shinobi, but biggerer.
KEYBOARD
Thermaltake Meka
G1
$105 www.thermaltake.com.au
Might as well go for a premium keyboard.
MOUSE
Razer DeathAdder V2
$44 www.razerzone.com
Doesnt bite!
T
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STORAGE
W.D. Caviar Black 1TB
+ Samsung 840 EVO
250GB $96 + $210
www.wdc.com/ www.samsung.com.au
www.sennheiser.com
www.asus.com.au
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TOTAL $17,942
THE
When overkill is barely enough...
CPU
Intel 4th Generation
Core i7 4770K +
EK-KIT H3O 360
HFX Cooling Kit
$399 + $349
www.intel.com
www.pccasegear.com.au
MOBO
Gigabyte G1.
Sniper 5
$550
www.gigabyte.com.au
This high end Z78-based board has
an excellent 3D BIOS tha makes
overclocking a breeze.
RAM
Corsair Dominator
Platinum 4 x 4GB
DDR3 2400MHz
$429 www.corsair.com
It doesnt get much faster than this.
VIDEO
3 x ASUS GTX
Titan $3897
www.asus.com.au
Welcome to crazy town,
population 200fps.
POWER
Thermaltake Tough
Power 1500W
$339
www.thermaltake.com.au
1500W should be plenty for the three GPUs
running alongside an overclocked CPU,
as well as the storage within.
KEYBOARD
Razer BlackWidow
Ultimate Stealth
Edition + Razer
Orbweaver
$199 + $120
www.razerzone.com
You name it, this keyboard can do it.
SPEAKERS
Paradigm Cinema 110
with dual subwoofers
and Paradigm monitor
center channel +
Pioneer VSX-921 amp
$3299
www.eastwoodhifi.com.au
OPTICAL
Samsung
SH-B123A Blu-ray
Combo Drive
$89
www.samsung.com.au
Putting in a Blu-ray drive allows your
PC to double as a powerful media box.
HEADPHONES + SOUND CARD
Creative Sound-
Blaster ZXR + Audio
Technica ATH-A500X
Headphones
$208 + $120
www.asus.com
www.audio-technica.com
STORAGE
OCZ 240GB
RevoDrive 3 X2 +
OCZ Vertex 4
520GB + 2 x WD
1TB Velociraptor
$469 + $799 + $552
www.wdc.com / www.ocz.com
DISPLAY
Panasonic AE8000
$2800
www.panasonic.com.au
Beautiful 1920 x 1080 gaming.
Unfortunately you wont be able to
do 3D gaming at anything higher than
720p due to the limitations of HDMI 1.4.
CASE
Cooler Master
Cosmos II Ultra
Tower $366
www.coolermaster.com
Its big, its beautiful, and its also nice
and quiet. The compartmentalised interior
ensures everything runs ice-cool.
INPUT DEVICES
Razer Mamba Wireless
Gaming Mouse + Xbox
360 USB Wireless
Dongle + Xbox 360
wireless controller
$179 + $40 + $40
www.razer.com / www.xbox.com
STEERING WHEEL
Fanatec CSR Elite
with pedals and
shifters $1199
www.fanatec.de
Theres nothing better than
Germangineering to deliver the most
precise force feedback around.
JOYSTICK
Logitech G940
$399
www.logitech.com
With a force feedback joystick,
separate throttle and dedicated
rudder pedals, the G940 is perfect
for any flight sim.
COCKPI T
Obutto oZone with
Buttkicker gamer 2
and TrackIR 5 Pro
$1100
Youre going to need somewhere to
mount your wheel and joystick, and the
Obutto frame is a favourite of ours.

MSI Z87
XPOWER
As MATT WILSON concludes, the Big Bang was only the beginning
PRI CE $499
http://au.msi.com
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M
SI launched itself aggressively forward
into the overclocking market with the
previous Big Bang edition of its motherboards,
though this time around a slightly more subtle
name has been decided upon. The XPower
is the current overclockers offering in the MSI
Z87 line up, sporting everything the aspiring
overclocker needs, along with a couple of
extras should you find yourself actually
wanting to do more with this board than DICE
or LN2 benchmarking.
The first thing that you will notice when you
unwrap this monstrous board is the sheer
enormity of it. With a full 7 PCIe slots, its no
surprise that it comes in a XL-ATX form factor.
This not only allows room for all of the PCIe
ports and a plethora of other connectivity, it
also allows for more on-board technology like
the PLX8747 and tracing.
Before everyone throws their hands in
the air and says oh gawd, not another SLI
chip! this one is different, we swear. While
the PLX8747 may have the same task as its
four-way-SLI capable predecessors, it has
one crucial difference when installed on the
XPower the ability to be bypassed completely
(and use the Intel PCIE 3.0 16 lanes) when
only using a single GPU. If you are using
multiple GPUs, however, there are 32 lanes
available, divided evenly amongst the number
of connected GPUs.
This is an important feature, as it means
not only is this board a good choice for four-
way SLI benchmarkers, it enables PC gamers
to just as easily remove additional cards for
single-GPU benchmarking without the need
of a motherboard change. This is something
many overclocking boards in the past have
overlooked.
As mentioned, there are other useful
features on the board should you plan on using
the XPower for more than extreme overclocking
and benchmarking. There is a 802.11n wi-fi
chip (2x2:2 Centrino N-2230, which means
2.4 GHz), a Realtek ALC1150 audio chip, two
onboard USB 3.0 headers, 10 SATA ports, 12
USB 3.0 ports, a Killer E2205 Gaming NIC and,
to top it all off, a three year warranty.
MSI would have been wise to exclude a few
of these features in exchange for a lower price
tag, palming off the extra fat to the MPower
Max instead (the extreme enthusiast board).
It would have been nice to see MSI take more
of a lead from the Gigabyte OC series, rather
than the ASUS ROG series for this boards
inspiration, but an odd blend of the two is
better than a direct copy of either.
At the time of writing, there were a few
teething issues with BIOS, most of which were
remedied with a new version, though some
problems still remained. There is a long POST
when running multiple GPUs, something that
you dont want while using LN2, as the system
can become unstable with cold temperatures
at POST (depending on CPU and cold bug).
This means you need to be constantly reaching
for your heat gun after crashes, and you burn
through much more LN2 getting the pot back
down to benching temperatures, resulting in
more condensation on the pot / board / CPU
socket.
Hopefully, this is just a teething issue and
not a permanent fixture for the XPower, as
LN2 overclocking aside this will become very
annoying for enthusiasts wanting to run a high-
end gaming machine only to find out that their
uber gaming system with 10 SSDs takes longer
to boot up than our $300 Compaq laptop.
Given this motherboard has a gigantic 32
power phases, its no surprise that there is
quite a chunk of metal bolted around the CPU
socket to keep things cool. This shouldnt be
an issue for most air coolers, though Noctua
D14 users may be left out of this one. Of
course, if youre running a board like this (or
should we say, making the most of a board like
this) then youre going to be running multiple
videocards and your CPU on at least water
cooling, if not a phase change or DICE setup,
so clearance over the PWM heatsinks shouldnt
be a concern.
The next point of interest for us are the
overclocking buttons. There is no doubt they
do come in handy, especially the OC Genie
button, which is useful for newbie tweakers to
quickly reach a stable overclock with a simple
button press. There is, however, a difference
with this motherboard layout, and that is the
inclusion of a switch sitting above the OC Genie
button reading OC Switch 1. This enables the
OC Genie key to clock 200MHz higher than the
default overclock for an i7 4770K, and possibly
a different increment for other CPUs, though we
only had the 4770K to test this on.
Good sound, more than enough SATA and
USB connectivity, expansion slots galore
and even wi- options
The other buttons present are for quick
overclocking without the use of a case or tool
to short out the front panel pins in order to
power up, shut down or reset the PC. There
is also a pretty sweet feature added to this
boards buttons: a new lightning button, which
acts as a hard reset. This button essentially
acts in the same way as removing the BIOS
battery from the motherboard whilst the power
is disconnected, resetting everything, including
the BIOS itself.
Overall, the XPower is nothing short of
superb. Its got everything you need for PC
gaming, with good sound, more than enough
SATA and USB connectivity, expansion slots
galore and even wi-fi options. The problem
with this, though, is the board begins to
become unfocused. Are we dealing with a
32 phase LN2 board with 4-way SLI/CFX?
Or are we dealing with a Hi-Fi LAN machine?
We cant help but feel that. if you are taking
full use of the gaming features and general
connectivity options of this board, youre not
going to be utilizing the OC development and
features available here. Conversely, if youre
only interested in the OC functionality, then
there is a whole heap of gaming and media
focused technology that you wont use either.
It seems whichever your focus is, there has
been R&D and real estate spent on features
you dont need.
8
VERDICT If you can afford it and what a board
that has it all, go for it. If youre after something
a little more focused and restrained, there are
smarter ways to spend your money.
71
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THINKING
LATERALLY
How STEVE HOLT overclocked a single game with... an iPhone?!
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Q
uite a few years back, when Bohemia
Interactives massive military sim ARMA
II touched down, many machines were brought
to their knees under the sheer might of the
games massive open world. Including mine.
With 225 square kilometres of sandbox map
on Chernarus alone, we were all invited to pit
our wits against each other and battle it out
just to stay alive.
A problem for many was that their PC
often got bullied by the sheer scope of the
game, causing low frame rates and terrible
stutter. This forced folks to tone down
the textures, reduce view distance
(something you NEVER want to do in
ARMA II) and basically let someone else
fly the helicopter.
Many made the choice to upgrade.
Some decided it was time to give
overclocking a go. I was in the latter group.
With the aid of an extra fan here and there,
and a sweet new CPU cooler, I managed to
transform my little Socket 775 rig from a
minor slug at 3.2GHz to a bit of a mover at
just over 4GHz.
RAMMING SPEED
The increased speeds helped, but still didnt
stop ARMA IIs in-game stutter. Continuing my
reading on the net, I came across some guys
on the community forums over at Bohemia
Interactive that had been experimenting with
RAM disks - partitioning a section of their
system memory (full tutorial in PCPP#215s
Bunker!) and loading ARMA II on to that
partition. With the promise of increased
frame rates and silky smooth squadplay, I
was hooked on the idea of coming up with
something that could help.
Remember, this was a number of years
ago. In those days, the idea of buying an SSD
was tantamount to selling a kidney, but with
ARMA II being over 8GB in size, there was
no way I could offer up that much space to a
RAM disk. I needed an alternative.
With the understanding that ARMA II
was coded to constantly stream textures, I
learned that my particular brand of in-game
stutter, or micro freezes, was being caused
by inefficient data retrieval. The concept for a
solution involves moving communally-loaded
source data to a faster drive. I was already
using a Western Digital Raptor and even that
was showing it still wasnt fast enough!
Watching my girlfriend loading music on to
her iPhone, I got a crazy idea: could try that
as a alternative to a SSD?
Doing more swatting up on the net and
running a few tests, I was able to identify
what files ARMA II regularly thrashed.
Connecting my own iPhone via USB and
accessing the compact flash drive, I copied
the majority of the games common files onto
to its storage.
This was an experiment, so all was cool,
but in the back of my mind I was thinking
itd be silly to compare a Raptors read/write
speeds with an iPhones USB transfer rates.
Still, I pressed on.
PHONING HOME
Using a small program found online, I was
able to seed the files transferred from ARMA
II onto drive C: and change the source links in
the game directory to point at the files copied
onto my iPhone, drive D:.
What a pleasant surprise it was to see
that, even though the transfer speeds of the
compact flash through USB were slower than
the peak of a Raptor, the latency, seek times
and burst rates combined averaged out to be a
much faster combination than a regular HDD!
Actual smooth gameplay and a mild
increase in frame rates followed. The ability
to stay alive longer, if only for a bit, plus no
longer having to have the level of detail and
Seek times and burst rates combined
averaged out to be a much faster
combination than a regular HDD
This ones for Jobs
textures dumbed down so hard that it was like
playing DOOM again, was amazing.
The idea of speeding up data retrieval to
enhance your gaming experience is not a new
one. Everyone loves to load PC games fast
and being the first to hop onto a new map
is pure win. With the cost of RAM and SSDs
plummeting, fast storage is not only becoming
part of the norm, but is pretty much expected.
With many motherboards being released
with inbuilt mSATA, small SSDs coming
tangibly close to the $1 per GB mark,
RAM being so cheap itd be silly not to be
running eight gigs of the stuff, this kind of
overclocking ingenuity is going the way of
the dodo. However, Intels RST, and AMDs
RAIDXpert software, is now being bundled
onto driver CDs, making cacheing a plug and
play feature - but that story is for another
time. Still, cacheing games is as valid today
as it ever was. 1-0 to the lateral thinkers!
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74
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W
hen it comes to
overclocking your
RAM, there are
really two different meanings
depending on who you talk
to. If youre talking to Intel,
anything over 1,333MHz is a
memory overclock, as that is
the default frequency of the
Haswell IMC.
If youre talking to a RAM
vendor, the response will likely
be that RAM overclocking is
running RAM above its own
rated frequency, regardless
of the stock IMC frequency.
Today, were going to give
a brief guide on the latter,
focusing on this new kit
from Corsair, the Vengeance
Pro, which gives you more
than enough overclocking
headroom and more than
respectable performance for a
very reasonable price.
GETTING STARTED
The first thing you should do
before overclocking any RAM
kit on Haswell is first enable
XMP mode (within the BIOS)
and reboot the PC. This should
load the RAM at its optimal,
or rated, specification. In the
case of the Corsair Vengeance
Pro kit were using today, that
is 2,666MHz with a fairly tight
cache timing of 10-12-12-31.
You can test this overclock
has been successful by
simply opening up CPU-Z and
selecting the Memory tab.
From here, we know that
your kit is functioning fine
and you IMC is capable of
running your RAM kits rated
specifications. One of the
strengths Haswell possesses
over previous Intel iterations is
a very strong IMC, so numbers
of 3,400MHz+ are not
uncommon with very high end
memory kits. Anyway, enough
stalling, lets get to the guide!
MANUAL CONTROL
The first step is to disable
XMP mode, if its enabled, and
switch memory control to
manual. From here, we want
to balance the BLCK of the
system along with the memory
divider and CPU multiplier
to achieve a balanced and
stable clock across all of the
motherboard components. This
will become important once
you find the upper limits of
your components and want to
push for every last megahertz.
Well begin by changing the
memory divider from the XMP,
or stock ratio, to something
a little more aggressive. The
way to calculate the final
frequency of your RAM with
this divider is to multiply the
second number by 100. For
example, if the ratio is 1:11, for
every 1MHz on the system
BLCK, 11MHz will be applied
to the memory clock. This
would calculate to a 1,100MHz
clock, or, after Dual Data Rate,
2,200MHz. Given the Corsair
Vengeance Pro is a 2,666MHz
CORSAIR
VENGEANCE PRO:
GETTI NG THE MOST OUT OF CORSAI R S 2, 666MHz RAM KIT
The Vengeance Pro ships
in four colours, for all
your designer needs
HOW TO

kit, we can push it a little harder.
If your motherboard supports it,
wed suggest beginning with a 1:14
divider and working your way up.
INCREASING POWER
The Corsair Vengeance Pro needed
a small voltage bump at 2,800MHz
to remain stable running the same
cache timings as XMP, though
this is to be expected. To do this
should be fairly straightforward.
Simply locate RAM voltage within
your BIOS (sometimes referred
to simply as DRAM or VRAM). It
should be 1.65v by default, and at
a 2,800MHz clock you may need
somewhere around 1.7v.
Pushing the RAM further may
require a few tweaks to the
motherboard BIOS. From here,
you will begin to find certain
instabilities when mixing high
memory clocks with very high CPU
clocks. While testing the upper
limits of your RAM kit, it would be
wise to run a default CPU clock to
help eliminate CPU instability from
the process of illumination when
dealing with system crashes.
VCCSA voltage and CPU PLL
voltages are very important to
memory overclocking above
3GHz. On some boards, the
automatic function for these
settings will be adequate, though,
depending on the manufacturer
and the BIOS, they may need a
slight manual boost.
THE LITTLE TWEAKS
If you run into troubles pushing up
to 3GHz on your kit, try applying
a manual voltage increase of
+0.25v to the CPU PLL. This
should raise it enough over the
default to regain stability of the
IMC. If this does not work, do not
keep applying CPU PLL voltage,
as it can overheat when pushed
too far. Even on LN2 cooling, the
maximum over voltage we would
recommend is +0.55v. VCSSA
can be increased by +0.15v to
+0.3v to help alleviate any IMC
instability, though again this
should be managed adequately by
the motherboards BIOS on most
decent motherboards.
If you continue to run in
to trouble finding that 3GHz
benchmark, try loosening up the
cache timings from 10-12-12 so
something like 12-13-13. This, with
any luck, will help you narrow down
whether or not cache timings are
the cause of your instability.
CHARGED PERFORMANCE
For reference, the Corsair
This new kit gives
you more than enough
overclocking headroom
Vengeance Pro achieved a
maximum frequency of 2,933MHz
with the rated cache timings of
10-12-12-31 at 1.75v. We were able
to hit a maximum frequency of
3,140 by loosening the timings
up to 12-14-14-31 at 1.8v. As you
can see in the results, however,
it is best to keep as low a cache
timing as possible whilst remaining
stable, as performance quickly
drops once you loosen the timings
back up. If youre after very tight
timings, we managed to run 9-9-
10-24 with the XMP frequency of
2,666MHz under 1.65V.
BENCHMARKS
AIDA64 READ WRITE COPY LATENCY
1333MHz CL10 20385 21112 10234 62.8ns
2666MHz CL10 31791 41569 33281 43.3ns
2940MHz CL10 34789 43121 35762 40.6ns
3140MHz CL12 34723 43791 35873 43.2ns

CORSAIR ADVERTORIAL
Gives new meaning
to striking gold
BUILT FOR
OVERCLOCKING

facebook.com/PCPowerPlay
I never asked to like this.

77
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T
hough we werent exactly impressed with indie
developer The Chinese Rooms rambling interpretation
of exploratory narrative in Dear Esther, its hard to
deny the talent that went into creating the games
accompanying environments. With almost every angle of
the games frst-person perspective illuminating something
that looked like a beautiful piece of concept art, The
Chinese Room established itself as one of the go-to indie
references for the creation of an immersive virtual space.
And now, the studio is tackling the Amnesia series; an
indie horror world that original developer Frictional used
to redefne the meaning of sheer terror. What results is
a slightly different interpretation of not just the horror
formula, but the Amnesia formula; something no doubt
informed by The Chinese Rooms work on Dear Esther prior.
Also branching from similar roots is The Fullbright
Companys debut exploratory title, Gone Home. Where we
criticised Dear Esther for its complete lack of interactivity,
Gone Home is overfowing with it though its less about
making items interact with one another, and more about
using micro-level examination as an extension of the frst-
person exploration that grounds all three of these games.
Each brings something different to the dinner table (like
bacon), but all are notable for the same reason: its so
refreshing to play a game where you dont have to shoot
anything.
DANIEL HINDES
Editor
dhindes@next.com.au
SCORING SYSTEM | PCPP scores its games on a 1 to 10 scale. The
higher, the better though 10 is by no means a perfect game. Were
not convinced such a thing exists, so consider a 10 a masterpiece of PC
gaming, despite its inevitable faws. A 5 is a decidedly average game; one
that doesnt excel in any particular area, without being an affront to our
senses the ultimate in mediocrity. Below this, youll start to fnd the games
our reviewers suffered an aneurysm getting through; above it, the titles truly
worth your time and money. And remember: a score is only a vague indication
of quality. Always read the full review for the defnitive opinion!
R
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S

WE PLAY WITH TURTLE BEACH!
When we are looking to get our game on, without the rest of the
world hearing us, we strap on our Turtle Beach Ear Force Z6A cans.
Packing an amazing eight acoustically angled premium speakers,
including dual 40mm woofers, the Z6As are powered by a powerful
5.1 channel amp with bass amplifcation, its perfect for
tracking those pesky footsteps. The Z6A amplifer
gives you quick access to independent
controls for all 5.1 audio channels, letting
you tune your Z6A for any gaming situation.
The headset and amplifer also feature a
quick disconnect so you can easily detach
it without having to unplug the 5.1 outputs
from your computer. Dont just take our
word for it, grab a pair yourself. For more info
click through to www.turtlebeachau.com
REVIEW CONTENTS
78 Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
80 Card Hunter
82 Divinity: Dragon Commander
84 Inux
85 Magrunner: Dark Pulse
86 Beatbuddy: Tales of the Guardians
87 Megabyte Punch
88 Gone Home
90 Papers, Please
91 Space Hulk
92 Splinter Cell Blacklist
94 PayDay 2
96 The Bureau: XCOM Declassied
WE PLAY ON ORIGIN!
During our frequent trips across
Australia and around the globe, when
we get that gaming itch, we just grab
our EON 17S Origin Laptop. Extreme
is the word, our lappy runs a 4GB
GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M
Graphics card pumped out through
an amazing Full HD 17.3-inch display at
1920x 180, and has the brains of an Overclocked Intel Extreme Edition
Core i7-3920XM Quad-Core 4.5GHz chipset to run everything. Add to
that 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory and a 480GB Intel 520 Series -
Solid State Drive and you have one serious mobile gaming solution.
Dont just take our word for it, you
can check them out yourselves at
www.originpc.com.au and tell em
PCPowerPlay sent ya!

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I
t seems Frictional knows the
old adage: when youre on to a
good thing, stick to it. Amnesia:
A Machine for Pigs is the latest
game from the masters of
horror, and though the studio is
actually acting as the publisher
for newcomer The Chinese
Room, theres some very heavy
involvement from Frictional staff,
and it shows.
From the outset, the mood
of A Machine for Pigs bears
the hallmark creeping terror
and oppressive ambiance that
so brilliantly defned The Dark
Descent. Unchanged too is the
games general premise: our
protagonist, Oswald Mandus,
suffers from the titular amnesia.
Hes aware only that he must
fnd his children, and with the
guidance of a mysterious voice on
the phone, must follow the path of
a saboteur into a pork-processing
factory, restoring the machinery to
functioning status along the way.
Without quite the same degree
of mechanical complexity as
The Dark Descent, this comes
off a teeny bit like - dare we say
it - survival horror streamlined. A
Machine for Pigs lacks the more
nuanced interplay between light
and darkness we saw in The Dark
Descent; moving between light
and dark areas doesnt mess
with Oswalds vision, his lantern
doesnt run out of fuel (though
it will still attract foes) and, bar
a few lamps, theres no ability
or real need to ignite other light
sources, so tinderboxes dont
make an appearance here either.
This also means Oswald
doesnt lose sanity when in the
dark. In fact, theres no sanity
mechanic to speak of. Vision
blurs and swims when recalling
past events, or when something
frightening happens, but thats
the extent of it. This also means
the player is free to observe the
terrors stalking the factory halls
without consequence.
The problem is that The
Chinese Room enjoys its
creatures a little too much, and
consequently wants to show them
off. It serves to remove the fear
of the unknown, and much of their
impact and the resulting horror is
lost in the last third of the game.
The Dark Descent worked
around this by forcing players to
hide and look away, which kept a
portion of the fear in players own
minds; the horror imagined was
so much more powerful than that
rendered by Frictional. In removing
this restriction, A Machine for Pigs
also removes a lot of its power
over the player and its ability to
control the mood of the game.
The fnal stages therefore
focus more on telling the story
of the mysteries surrounding
the machine, the events that led
to the sabotage, and Oswalds
missing children, than they do on
scares. This is not a failing; the
story is well written and pieces of
the larger mystery are parcelled
out to the player at satisfying
intervals, giving enough of a
glimpse to keep one pushing on.
And dont take this to mean
the game lacks in the horror
department, either. The frst two
thirds host scares a-plenty, with
several of those exploding into
moments of pure, adrenaline-
pumping panic. Its glorious.
The key, of course, is the
sound design, which is, once
again, outstanding. Distant
wails and screams create a
defensive and cautious approach,
blaring musical stings punctuate
dramatic events while dissonant
sounds set teeth on edge. And
then theres snuffing. Ye gods,
the snuffing.
Gameplay consists of much of
the same style of apprehensive
advancement, fnding written
notes along the way that fesh out
the pre-1900s environment. This
is one aspect which actually feels
improved from The Dark Descent;
The Chinese Room is more
focused on telling the story and
the writing quality seems more
refned and of a higher standard.
The notes give insight into
Oswalds current situation, or
provide clues to the games
frequent puzzles. These are
similarly unchanged from the prior
game, being fairly straightforward
fnd-piece-of-broken-machine,
insert-into-obvious-place-to-fx and
then climb-the-walls-while-screen-
shudders-and-lights-go-out affairs.
Combat is, again, non-existent,
but since this is essential to the
type of horror being wrought, we
welcome its continued exclusion
from the Amnesia experience.
And its an experience wed
recommend knocking it over
in a single session in order to
maintain the mood, because the
game is very short. Our play time
clocked in around fve hours, and
that was with some fairly thorough
exploration of each environment.
Its an impressive outing for
The Chinese Room, having so
perfectly replicated the feel of
what weve come to recognise
as Frictionals signature horror
design philosophy. In some
ways, having played the previous
Amnesia game is detrimental
to the experience on offer here.
Weve seen it all before, as this is
mostly more of the same. By the
same token, the small mechanical
tweaks that have been introduced
also make A Machine for Pigs
slightly weaker in the horror
department, so we couldnt
recommend this over The Dark
Descent if there were, for some
reason, a choice between the two.
Really, though, the negatives
of A Machine for Pigs are cast
like shadows upon the wall by the
distant light of The Dark Descent;
they appear much bigger than the
object creating them. Once that
illusion is revealed, its not quite
so troubling. The fact remains that
this is still an excellent survival
horror game, made by people well
practiced in the art of terrifying us.
TERRENCE JARRAD
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Hey Look! Theres something a pig-thing would like!
DE VELOPER T HE CHI NESE ROOM
PUBLI SHER FRI CT I ONAL GAMES
PRI CE $19. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT St eam, GOG, Desur a, Gamer sGat e, Di r ect Downl oad
www.frictionalgames.com
8
VERDICT Familiar design
thats thankfully still
thoroughly unsettling. Youll
never look at bacon the same
way again.
DEAR ESTHER
|| |||1|:| |H I1lI
The Chinese Rooms other game!
If its a game
INVADER ZIM: GAZ,
TASTER OF PORK
I|1|1 \/:||l I11l
Piggy piggy piggy piggy
PORK
\.a |.:e |..1 .:|e
|:e|;|||| |.|e. |||e (||
\.a |e (|e(|e1 |. |e:e|:e ||e (.we| .| ||e :|1.w|.|
\.a w| |. e|e| ||e ||| .| ||e .||||| (|||; .|
.||||| (|||;e..
AMNESIA: THE DARK
DESCENT
|||||1/| I1l1
::|; . |e||
::|; . |e||
Scares a-plenty, with several
exploding into moments of pure,
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02
03
04
The voice on the other end of the phone offers
help, but we dont know his motivations, or how he
knows us.
FILTHY PIGGY FILTH
1. Much of the game is grotesque; its writing often more so
than its imagery. This bizarre depiction of a pig carcass
on the cross (as well as the pig head in the stained glass
chapel window) bears direct relevance to the story.
2. The lantern is the only way to actually see anything in
much of the game. When it starts flickering on and off,
its probably time to consider putting it away and hiding.
3. The UI is, quite obviously, extremely minimal. When
entering new areas, a journal entry is often made and an
icon briefly displays here. There are few other gamey
elements to draw one out of the moment.
4. The darkness. It is safe. You will hide in it often.
Some disturbing period art adorns the walls of
this mansion, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
Hold the mouse button and pull open
things like these drawers. Expositional
notes are often found inside.
1. That grunting, snuffling sound; what is that shuffling in there in
there dark? Oh god, dont let it see us.
2. Okay, its gone past, lets bring out the lantern and make a run for
it before it comes back!
3. AHHHH ITS SEEN US! RRRRUUUUUUNNNNNNN!! GO! HIDE!!
BLESSED WITH PIG SENSES

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C
ard Hunter is a free-to-play
browser-based game made
entirely in Flash by an indie
developer based in Sydneys
Surry Hills. Depending on your
tastes, that could be fve, maybe
six, big red fags right there.
Free-to-play? Browser based?
Surry Hills...? Jesus. Why bother
reviewing it at all?
Well, heres why: its designed
by Jon Chey. If you dont know
who that is, then heres a quick
curriculum vitae: co-founder of
Irrational Games with Ken Levine
and Robert Fermier, project
manager and lead programmer
on System Shock 2, director
of product development on
BioShock, and now programmer
and designer at Blue Manchu.
Hes done a lot, and most of
it has been pretty great. Card
Hunter is no exception.
The elevator pitch is that its
Dungeons & Dragons meets
Magic: The Gathering an
isometric dungeon crawler
where collectible cards act as
your verbs in the game world.
Movement, attacks, defenses,
spells, and other miscellaneous
abilities are all represented as
cards, which are in turn attached
to equipment that can be found,
bought, or won. The goal is to
construct a powerful deck for
each of your three party members
using different combinations of
armour and weaponry.
Whether or not a character can
use a given bit of equipment is
determined by their race, class,
level, and available talent points.
There are presently three races
and three jobs to choose from,
each conforming to familiar
archetypes. That said, it can
be worth your while to resist
typecasting: my elven monk is a
godsend (pun intended) on the
battlefeld.
In the singleplayer campaign,
every piece of equipment in Card
Hunter comes with a talent point
cost. By and large, the more
powerful the item, the more
talent points it costs to equip.
This makes for a simple, but
powerfully enticing, carrot. During
most of the 25 hours it takes to
complete, therell be something
in your inventory, some awesome
weapon or bit of armour, just
sitting there, waiting to be used
for want of talent points. It will
call to you in a voice seductive
and sweet: Pleeeeease equip
me. Only one more level to go.
You can do it. Its crass and
manipulative and totally effective.
We love it.
The tone of the singleplayer
narrative, and the games
overall fction, is lighthearted
and self-aware, but without the
cloying preciousness the latter
term often implies. Rather than
set the game in Card Hunters
endearingly sincere world of
Cardhuntria, Blue Manchu has
wisely opted to set it instead in
a bizarro version of the 1980s
in which Card Hunter is a highly
successful pen-and-paper RPG.
You are not the grizzled dwarven
warrior fghting through dungeons
in search of treasure and glory
youre the nerd pretending to
be him.
Your goal? To help ubergeek
Gary and unlikely love interest
Karen complete a 24-hour
marathon run through Card
Hunters catalogue of modules,
showing up snooty brother/
antagonist Melvin in the process.
Its an affectionate and playful
parody of nerd culture that also
manages to be a cute coming-of-
age story.
Within the campaign there are
two different kinds of modules:
free and premium, the latter
purchasable one-at-a-time or
in a pack. Premium modules
comprise one of the basic
products in the Card Hunter
business model: theyre what
the free singleplayer campaign
is there to sell a gateway drug
to the money spinners that are
Randimars Rarities and Card
Hunter Club. The thing is, each
premium module guarantees
a unique, high-level item upon
completion, which gets you used
to the idea of spending money
for items.
Which you dont ever have to
do, by the way. If you wanted
to, you could play through the
entire singleplayer campaign
and then use the cards earned
therein to play multiplayer without
spending a single red cent.
Card Hunter Club membership
which costs 300 pizza slices, or
roughly eight bucks, for a thirty
day membership comes with
certain privileges, of course: you
get extra items from chests and
can create custom multiplayer
game-types. But it doesnt
make for a huge advantage,
competitively.
The same is true of buying
high-level items from one of
the in-game stores, such as
the aforementioned Radimars
Rarities. Because of the skill
token system, even players who
possess the means to purchase
a crapload of elite gear wont
be able to equip it all at once.
They have an advantage over
non-paying players, sure, but not
an insurmountable one. Thats
important I mean, how many
trading card games can you say
that about?
In closing, a disclaimer: At the
time of writing, Card Hunters
multiplayer infrastructure was
still anemic by most standards.
Matchmaking for casual and
ranked game types has been
implemented and works well,
as do the leaderboards, but
tournaments have yet to be
implemented and the options for
custom matches are limited. Blue
Manchu plans to address both
issues post-launch, and perhaps
even add co-op. If and when they
do, you have our permission to
add another point to the score
below. DAN STAINES
Card Hunter
The game of fantastical adventure limited only by your imagination!
DE VELOPER BLUE MANCHU
DI STRI BUTOR BLUE MANCHU
PRI CE FREE-T O-PL AY
AVAI L ABLE AT BROWSER
www.cardhunter.com
8
VERDICT Delightful and
thoroughly addictive genre-
blending fun teetering on the
cusp of greatness.
MAGIC 2014 DUELS OF
THE PLANESWALKERS
:/|1||:: C/H|: I1l
Approachable and pretty
But also quite limited
MAGIC THE GATHERING
H|||||:| l|
Shandalar! Still awesome even
to this day
:||||||; a.|||e . W|1.w. |
I. ||e;
H||:. |e C||e||| :|e|.| ||:||1 C|||e|1 |1
hand in it too
||C. 1 |C. |. |.|e||e| |||e ||I. :ee |...
H|:|.(|..e'. H.C ||C
||'. ||ee. H..||;
HEARTHSTONE: HEROES
OF WARCRAFT
|||ll/|| I1l
A Blizzard-developed TCG
Not actually out yet
An isometric dungeon crawler
where collectible cards act as
your verbs in the game world

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03
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Modules are usually preceded by a brief bit of dialogue
between Card Hunters protagonists, Gary, Karen, and
Melvin. (Melvin is kind of a jerk, but a likeable one.)
EXCELSIOR!
1. Those with cash to spare can spend it on premium
character figures like this one, which I acquired from
Cuthberts Costumes for a mere 80 pizza.
2. Note the talent point cost one silver, one gold. Its
worth it, though: check out all those gold-title attack
cards.
3. This screenshot was taken after a victorious battle,
hence the treasure chest. Note the extra booty I get as a
member of Card Hunter Club. Awww yiss.
4. This is all my shit. As you can see, I have lots of it.
Although the interface is clean and logical, selling loot
can still be a bit of a chore, so I tend to avoid it for as
long as possible.
This is the world map, where you can select new
modules to play, go shopping, recruit new party
members and cry into an empty bag of Doritos.
The little Firestorm card here indicates
that the green jelly suffers two points
of burn damage per turn. Yeah, take
that, green jelly.
1. Volcano turns every occupied square into fire, damaging occupants
for 10 points. This includes squares occupied by your guys.
2. For Volcano to be successful, your party should have move cards,
and your opponent shouldnt. They did. Nuts.
3. Not only did my Volcano fail to hit any monsters, it caused them to
rush my position and beat the crap out of my guys.
VOLCANO FAIL

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P
laying Divinity: Dragon
Commander evokes memories
of, what increasingly feels like, a
bygone age for strategy gaming.
This heady mix of different
strategy styles calls to mind
such PC classics as Ground
Control, Sacrifce and Giants:
Citizen Kabuto. Not because it
is a similar game, but because it
comes from a similar mindset. Its
developed by a team clearly bored
with the relatively predictable
scope of most strategy games
these days. Even if they havent
made the best genre entry of all
time, theyve certainly made one
of the most refreshing.
While plenty of other strategy
titles have combined RTS combat
with a turn-based campaign
mode, Dragon Commander
distinguishes itself by adding
an additional layer of domestic
diplomacy. So what? It is in
the way Dragon Commander
so effortlessly intertwines
these three disparate gameplay
elements, ensuring each feeds
into the other, that makes it so
thoroughly fresh and enjoyable.
Set in the Divinity worlds
distance past, Dragon Commander
places you as the bastard son
of a now-deceased emperor.
Unfortunately for the denizens of
your fathers realm, issues over
succession have led to an all-out
civil war between your legitimate
siblings. It is into this confict
that you step as the eponymous
dragon commander - so named
due to your existence being the
result of secret congress between
your father and a dragon (dragons
can assume human form in this
game - despite some loose sexual
politics, Dragon Commander
doesnt advocate sex with giant
winged lizards).
Maxos (the same Maxos from
Divinity II) deems you the best
chance the realm has at peace,
so it us up to you to reunite the
land and defeat your kin. You
must also govern your growing
empire and ensure the happiness
of its many and varied denizens.
No one said being a Dragon
Commander would be easy.
Your road to conquest is
broken up into three parts: RTS
battling, a boardgame-esque
campaign map and conversation
tree-driven diplomacy.
As an RTS, Dragon Commander
plays like a scrappier game than
others of its ilk, but the basic
premise is the same. Secure
production, build units and blow
up anything that isnt you. Not
that this area is fawed, but the
fne tuning of a title like StarCraft
isnt present here.
Where the RTS elements do
stand out is in the inclusion of
the Dragon Commander as a
playable unit. For a small sum of
resource points, you can spawn
on the battlefeld, instantly
turning the traditional top-down
RTS into an action packed hybrid.
Flying across the battlefeld with
explosions all around is not only
thrilling, but tactically sound. The
presence of your dragon form can
turn the tide of any given battle
through extra frepower, and a
variety of spells you can research.
The campaign map is not
as exciting by comparison, but
is, nevertheless, a critical part
of play. Theres solid tactical
decision making here as you
can enhance particular zones to
provide more research, gold or
even special ability cards that you
can play during or prior to battle.
Its not especially deep, but still
demands considered weighing up
of available options.
What is going to endear the
game to most is the unique
and somewhat silly diplomacy
aspects. While its no Crusader
Kings II, this conversation tree
driven aspect to the game is not
only engaging thanks primarily
to some great writing and voice
acting but also ties into the
campaign map, impacting your
ability to produce units.
As you progress, you are
approached by representatives
of the various fantasy races
that populate the land. Each
race aligns with a particular
political ideology; dwarves are
capitalists, the undead represent
fundamentalist religion, and
so on. Between turns, these
delegates will approach you
with proposals to further their
interests. Some of these have
no strategic impact, while others
may make units cheaper or
research more expensive.
Moreover, this impacts your
relations with each faction and
no decision is going to please
everyone. The impact plays out
on the campaign map with each
zone belonging to a particular
race. The better your standing
with the owners, the easier it is to
deploy forces. Its not enough to
completely override your decisions
on the map, or successes in
battle, but it does impact things
enough that diplomacy is always
in the back of your mind.
The proposals themselves dare
to cover contemporary issues.
Gay marriage, environmental
protection, censorship of
the press and other issues
are frequently present. The
communication can be ham-fsted,
but youll often be tempted to sell
out your own political views for
the in-game advantage.
Its a silly, light-hearted
package where you play a dragon
wearing a jetpack and can fnd
yourself married to a skeletal
bride with lipstick smeared
over her skinless mouth. As a
piece of entertainment, Dragon
Commander is a great success.
Its endearing and, at times, laugh
out loud funny. But it goes beyond
its slick presentation to provide a
truly inventive game. Its elements
work to produce a whole that
is greater than the sum of their
parts and is certainly one of the
freshest strategy games out
there. NATHAN COCKS
Divinity: Dragon Commander
Courting a lizard, turning into a dragon and legalising gay marriage all in one day
DE VELOPER L ARI AN
PUBLI SHER L ARI AN
PRI CE $39. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, GOG.COM
www.divinitydragoncommander.com
8
VERDICT Inventive, funny and
a whole lot of fun. An excellent
way to break up the over-
serious grind of most strategy
titles.
CRUSADER KINGS II
|/|/|/ I1lI
Detailed, intriguing diplomatic
strategy
Can overwhelmmore casual players
TOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2
|| |||/|\| /::|H||\ I1ll
Still one of the best grand strategy
titles available
Artificially unintelligent
W|. 1.e.'| w| |. |e 1||.:
\.a |||| .|||e|; |me. ||e ||em.e|:e. |.. .e||.a.|;
\.a':e |w;. w|e1 |. m||; ||ae .||e1 ||t|1
lady
SACRIFICE
:||1\ I111
|:e||:e :||. (:|e1 .|||e|;
gaming
A tendency to force stalemates
You can spawn on the battleeld,
turning the top-down RTS into an
action packed hybrid

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1. Put Andrew Ryan in a silly mechanical hat and you have the
gnomes. They prefer scientific progress over ethical concerns.
2. The undead represent the fundamentalist church of the game and
are pretty much party poopers for anyone looking for a good time.
3. The lizard folk are a libertarian bunch, which can make things a
little difficult in times of war. Especially if you plan on conscripting.
01
02
05
03
04
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
DEATH FROM ABOVE
1. Bringing the dragon out on to the battlefield gives the
game the flavour of a third-person shooter as you lay
fireball strafing runs.
2. Enemy forces are outnumbered by my own units.
Granted, the giant winged beast raining down death isnt
helping them much, either.
3. A wide array of steampunk flavoured units are at your
disposal. Land, sea and air must be dominated if you
hope to win.
4. Your abilities bar is where you will find your offensive
and defensive spells. Research more to gain the upper
hand.
5. This bar helps you gauge comparative army sizes. As
we can see here, I may need to up the ante somewhat
to avoid defeat.
Youre a dragon with a jetpack. So use it. With a
quick button press you can zoom to any part of the
map in a flash.
Your top level strategy is decided on the campaign
map. Move forces, deploy units, see the impact of your
political decisions.
Deploy expendable ability cards to give
yourself an edge in combat. Be warned,
your enemies can deploy cards too. Use
them wisely!

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I
nfux opens on a clear night
sky as a bluish... something
streaks across the heavens
like a meteor and plummets
to the ground. Its a somewhat
alien-looking ball, lit from the
inside like an otherworldly
lantern. This is your avatar
through which you explore and
experience the game. You could
call InFlux a puzzler, adventure
game or even a Marble Blast
Ultra rip-off if you were feeling
especially narrow minded but
its most easy explained as a
game in which you, quite simply,
go places.
There is no narrator, there
are no cutscenes and not a
word of dialogue. Even without
any kind of imposed narrative,
there is still a desire to see
InFlux out to the end. You
make your way through deserted
villages, the inhabitants
seemingly having just stepped
away to leave torches and
campfres still burning. What
happened to all these people
did they die? Were they
abducted by the spherical race
of aliens you might represent?
You have no way of knowing,
or even asking; youre only
there to roll around and solve
puzzles (and kick ass and chew
bubblegum).
Enormous, futuristic glass
greenhouse-looking structures
rise out of the environment at the
end of each exploratory segment
and are completely at odds with
the primitive, natural setting. You
enter straight through the side,
the glass rippling, transporting
InFlux
Like Limp Bizkit, were rollin rollin rollin
7
VERDICT Beautiful and
mysterious, though more for
lovers of tranquil exploration
and spherical geometry than
serious puzzle fanatics.
DE VELOPER I MPROMP T U GAMES
PUBLI SHER I MPROMP T U GAMES
PRI CE $9. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, DI RECT DOWNLOAD
www.influxgame.com
MARBLE BLAST ULTRA
C/|/C|C/H|: I11a
Similar puzzle style!
Only on Xbox
PROTEUS
|| |/\|| I1l
Have fun exploring an island on
your own terms
Literally nothing else to do
\.a |e|| H|||e ||.| |||| 1|1'| |:e e.a|| |ee|.
|\(|.||| |.|:||; a|e.|||:|e1, a:|a||e|e1 :.:e(| ||
is appealing to you
:(|e|e. |e a1e||e(|e.e|e1 m|.|||;
| |.1;'. me1|
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS
|/H || I11a
Similar exploratory gameplay
Only on PlayStation
you to a funky plane of existence
seemingly entirely inside the
weird glass cube youve found
yourself now contained in.
They act as giant puzzleboxes,
and while the puzzles are by
no means disappointing, they
certainly detract from the overall
experience, to an extent. Theyre
interesting, most relying on fairly
cool gravity-bending mechanics,
but are let down by the imprecise
controls. Being a ball, you are
subject to physics much more
than a standard character, which
is a great part of the experience
when exploring the outside
world, but these particular puzzle
segments require a more deft
touch and we were too often
left merely hoping that the
momentum of the puzzle ball
carried itself to its destination.
Youll often fnd yourself solving
something due to chance rather
than a comprehension of the
puzzle itself.
Somewhere along your journey,
whether its the mysteries
presented to the player, the
beautiful environments or the
bizarre puzzles, youll fnd that
you have the motivation to
continue and youve been playing
far longer than you realised.
Its a tried-and-true approach to
storytelling in an indie game,
presenting the base elements
of a narrative confict and have
the player decide what may have
happened, what events led to
this and even what your role
in it even is. It is by no means
exactly unique, but defnitely an
underrepresented method of this
scene. And as you comprehend
the nature of existence, you roll
ever onward. ZAC NAOUM
|e :a|e/.(|e|e w| ||e.
., e|e|| .||a|||e
perpetuated by indie
developers worldwide.
Being a ball, you are subject to physics much more than a
standard character, which is a great part of the experience
when exploring the outside world

85
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
he promise, technology
meets Cthulhu, may be
compelling, especially to a
background of fuorescent
cyberpunk, but expect this
only literally. From the studio
known for the Sherlock Holmes
adventures, Magrunner is an
ample puzzler wrapped in a
shallow narrative. Actually, its
fnest quality is how contrived
levels gradually open into
something truly breathtaking.
The game begins with a
lengthy barrage of backstory
for Dax, orphan and potential
tester of magnetic technology.
His foster father is mutant,
although the plot barely
references this again. Similarly,
were told LifeNET is an
ominous behemoth of social
interconnectedness but it then
fails to play any role in unfolding
events. Instead, Dax is put to
a tutorial of puzzles and the
world, inevitably, starts to come
inexplicably undone.
Yes, a straightforward start
makes sense, providing a few
objects sequentially, as well as
that these can be charged either
red or green, with like charges
attracting and opposites repelling
(it takes a bit of getting used to.)
But no, this doesnt make for
a gripping tutorial, with training
only broken up by holographic
congratulations and snippets
of lore. Its only when the game
changes that you can appreciate
such a forced opening.
The games pieces include
moving platforms, catapults,
blocks which can be explosive or
Magrunner: Dark Pulse
Magnets are red, magnets are green, blood is also red, look after your spleen
6
VERDICT Thematically
undercooked, but this
clever puzzler does feature
progressively exciting level
design.
DE VELOPER FROGWARES
PUBLI SHER FOCUS HOME I NT ERACT I VE
PRI CE $19. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, GOG.COM
www.magrunner-thegame.com
ANTICHAMBER
||H||| I1l
Disorienting, original puzzles
Not for the easily-confused
THE BALL
|| I1l1
Scary setting and level design
Less control than bowling
:.me|.w, ;.a| |||e ee1. |.|| m.|e |.||| 1
Lovecraftian horror
\.a : ,am( ||.m |.||;, |.|||| (|||.|m |. ||.|||
rock without being sick
\.a : |.|e||e ||e .::.|.|, m11e|| (|\e| |a|
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relevance
PORTAL 2
\/|\| I1ll
Satisfying solutions to clever
(|.||em..
1. |||a||a, .| m|e|.
boarded, padded boxes, turrets,
monsters, your mag glove and,
eventually, a robotic dog. By
charging objects, a route is
navigated from entry to exit of
each room. Soon enough, youll
fnd yourself using known items
in creative ways and fghting
against every system as the
game literally hurls one of
everything at you.
The puzzles are challenging,
not always in a good way. Missing
a shot while youre travelling at
speed can mean reloading the
level. You are also expected to
land sweetly on tiny platforms
from great, often dynamic,
heights. Sometimes there is an
object you need hiding in the
very corner of a mirror pointing
towards an area you cant
otherwise see. There is, however,
always a sense of, I know
how to do that, over mindless
experimentation.
And, this is a weird criticism,
but the game is too long.
Without more storytelling, the
genuinely convincing tension
created by dissonant music and
escalating diffculty becomes
grating, especially when you
start needing a second crack at
some of the levels. The game
delivers little holographic insights
into characters and setting, as
you play, but theyre few and far
between.
Is Magrunner for the lover
of Lovecraft and cyberpunk?
Not so much as it is for the
appreciator of great level design
and a transforming world. The
setting itself tells a subtler and
more satisfying story than the
explicit narrative, and there is
defnitely momentum provided by
the sick wondering of what you
might fnd behind the next door.
Whether its a nightmare worth
having relies on this. MEGHANN
ONEILL
While not really fleshing out either
|.:e:|||| .| :;|e|(a| ||eme.,
H||ae| e:e|||e|e.. (|e.e|. ||em
. ||e|e.||| ,a\|(..|||..
There is always a sense of, I know
how to do that, over mindless
experimentation

86
PC P OWE R P L AY
R
E
V
I
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W

B
eatbuddy relies on the
players sense of rhythm
to solve beat-based puzzles
it is, in a sense, a rhythm
based puzzle/adventure game.
A concept which is a sure-fre
recipe for a confused and
ultimately poorly-executed
game. However, Beatbuddy
pulls it off with fair and
fnesse whilst managing to be
downright fun.
The story frames you as the
spiritual embodiment of Beat
out to fnd your sisters Melody
and Harmony because the
total arse-hat Prince Joffrey
Maestro is stealing all the
music of the world? There
was a superbly well-narrated
intro that explained all this we
recall, yet ultimately, it doesnt
really play a huge part. What
really gives you purpose is the
phenomenal artwork, instilling
the atmosphere of a world
overgrown and creating a unique
sense of scale, at once being
enormous, or your character
seeming miniscule frame
upon frame never anything but
beautiful.
And, of course, there are
the tunes. The music, which
is necessary for both the
atmosphere and some of the
core mechanics, is fantastic. Of
course, electro-swing/jazz isnt
everyones cup of techno-tea
(even though, cmon, its electro-
swing!), so if you cant get into
the music, youre going to have
an irritating time with Beatbuddy.
Try looking up the music of Parov
Stelar, as he wrote the theme
Beatbuddy: Tales of the Guardians
These Guardians knew how to get down
9
VERDICT With an ambitious
concept, its easy to
forgive smaller mistakes
fortunately, Beatbuddy barely
has any.
DE VELOPER T HREAKS
PUBLI SHER REVERB
PRI CE $14. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM
www.beatbuddy.com
RETRO/GRADE
I1 |/|| I1l
Rhythmspace shooter, in reverse
Aesthetic can get confusing and messy
RAYMAN LEGENDS
|||:| H1||||||| I1l
Similar aesthetic
Not nearly as unique
||e:||. .w|| ,tt |. |e| e|
\.a w| |. (|.:e ;.a |:e ||;||m, w|||e |.;
\.a w| |||||e e\|| 1e(|| .a| .| ;.a| (att|e| ,|a|
not difficulty)
AQUARIA
|| || I11|
Ha:| m.|e |.:a. . e\(|.|||.
Ha.|: |. :..|1e|||; |e.. |a|;
to the frst level, and his style
is indicative of the game in
general. Other artists include
Austin Wintory, Sabrepulse and
La Rochelle Band each one
makes a spectacular addition to
the game.
One of the great strengths of
Beatbuddy is the ability to match
the pace and complexity of the
puzzles with the mood through
the music. This is all down to
the design of the enemies.
Being primarily a puzzler, these
arent your jump on head to kill
type foes; rather, each enemy
acts as an obstacle but also
as a layer of music. Theres a
hermit crab tapping out a hi-hat
beat, as well as a bassline
fower that acts as a launch
pad, and many more. It creates
kind of a language between the
player and the puzzle elements,
as you already know what to
expect from it just by hearing it.
This all kicks into overdrive
during the Beatbuggy segments.
Breaking up the relaxing, slower
paced portions, your character
climbs into a funky machine that
moves to the beat. During these
segments, the music really hits
its climax; with it comes faster-
paced action. These segments
take the most advantage of the
gameplay and music interaction,
as theyre less about slow,
languid puzzle-solving and more
about blowing through obstacles
with fnesse by moving to the
beat. In fact, the Beatbuggy
was so much fun that the game
would have probably beneftted
from being focused on these
segments rather than the
slower-paced, laughably easy
puzzle sections. ZAC NAOUM
|e 1e:e|.(e|., :||e|, |||.| .|||e1 .
|e||a11; . .|a1e| (|.,e:|. ||'.
|m(|e..|:e, ||:e ||e ||||; ||w|e..
e\e:a||. .| :.:.|a|e1 :.:e(|.
One of the great strengths of Beatbuddy is the ability to
match the pace and complexity of the puzzles with the
mood through the music

87
PC P OWE R P L AY
O
kay, confession time. Im a
huge fan of Super Smash
Bros. I know! A console game!
And on your little cousins
Nintendo, too! Look, I own a Wii,
though its less a Wii and more
a small white box that makes
Super Smash Bros happen. I
only play as Snake, I swear.
Have I mentioned I also like
robots? Especially when they
fght? Fight me in One Must Fall
2097, bro.
Its no surprise, then, that Id
take to the concept behind indie
beat-em-up Megabyte Punch
with glee. Heres a game thats
essentially Super Smash Bros
on PC, but instead of iconic
Nintendo characters, theres a
bunch of robots. Perfect, right?
No! Look, this is going to take
a little explaining. Okay, so, the
thing about Super Smash Bros
is it doesnt follow a traditional
fghting game format. Landing
a blow on an opponent doesnt
decrease health; it increases
their damage percentage, which
makes every subsequent hit
knock them fying a little bit
further. To win, you dont reduce
their HP to zero; you knock them
off the boundaries of the stage
by eventually punching them so
hard they zoom off the side of
the camera boundary.
Super Smash Bros is also
super accessible. There are no
ridiculous combos to memorise;
every character has the same
simple inputs, but those
inputs change based on the
character and their direction.
Forward punch, back punch, up
Megabyte Punch
Into a Gigabyte Kick
6
VERDICT A brilliant idea
brought down by its visual
style. Fun for its adventure
mode, but otherwise buy a Wii
and stick to Smash Bros.
DE VELOPER REP T I LE
PUBLI SHER REP T I LE
PRI CE $14. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, DESURA, GAMERSGAT E, DI RECT DOWNLOAD
www.megabytepunch.com
CAVE STORY+
1||/||: I1ll
Customisation-filled adventure
Few robots
SUPER SMASH BROS BRAWL
1|1|1| I11
Yes, youre allowed to like it
Wheres PC gamings all-stars
brawler? Gordon vs G-Man!
|.:| ma|||(|;e|, w||| |ew |me(1.! H.|e .| |||.,
(|e.e
\.a 1.'| .w W||
\.a |||e 1|e..|| a( |.|.|.
\.a':e |..| ;.a| H| I1| |.||| ||.((|e.
ONE MUST FALL: 2097
||\||:|1: |1||/|1H|1 l1
|| ma.|:
Forget OMF Battlegrounds exists
punch, etc. That accessibility
is important because, once
characters rack up a lot of
damage and start fying every
which way, the camera pulls back
to ft everyone on-screen and it
becomes rather diffcult to make
out whos who.
All of this applies to Megabyte
Punch. However, rather than
seeing iconic Nintendo characters
finging up into oblivion, this
games robots are a mess of
low-poly, stylised geometry that
makes distinguishing them
extremely diffcult. On top of this
is a layer of customisation that
further hurts recognition. Special
moves are bound to various
interchangeable parts changing
your torso will change the move
that is attached to that torso
piece. Thus, consistent abilities
are not bound by character, as
characters can mix and match
their moves with whats unlocked.
Which makes identifying the
match-up of these individual,
low-poly components an even
greater nightmare. And what fun
is a fghting game if youve no
idea what moves your opponent
is capable of, because their
character looks like every other?
When Mario goes fying across
the screen, you can still tell its
Mario because theres a blob of
red, blue and moustache.
What does work rather well is
the games singleplayer romp,
though its combat simply doesnt
compare to the frenetic pace
of a local multiplayer match.
Look, I would likely include a
game called Megabyte Punch in
my top ten games of all time.
Unfortunately, it just isnt this
one. DANIEL HINDES
|e || .|;|e .| ||e |e:e|. |.. .|.:a|e.
.|m||||;|.w(.|; :||:|e|.. ||'.
||||:, .a|e, |a| ||a.|||||.
Special moves are bound to various interchangeable
parts changing your torso will change the move that is
attached to that torso piece

88
PC P OWE R P L AY
R
E
V
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T
rudging the halls, peeking into
cupboards and cursing the
lack of a jump button with which
to view the top shelves, Im oddly
reminded of the stiff, emotionally-
assaulting Dear Esther. I fnd
letters strewn about, wistful
missives from my sister, and am
taken back to revelling in Proteus
dreamscape, a celebration of the
sheer joy of existence. I put on a
cassette tape containing a single
riot grrrl track, and echoes of the
mid-90s instantly send me back
to the era of arcade machines and
8-bit soundtracks the foundation
of every retro-aesthetic game
released these past few years.
Gone Home checks all the
boxes. Its an indie game, through
and through.
Its 1995 and youre home after
a year abroad, though none of your
family members are around to
welcome you. All thats available
to you is the boarding pass in
your inventory screen which
goes pretty much unused for the
rest of the game and a spare
house key hidden under a rubber
ducky. Gone Home is kind of an
adventure game, though thankfully,
dont expect that ducky to become
the cornerstone of any inane
makeshift-clamp-to-pick-garbage-
off-a-train-track puzzles. Instead,
its purely about narrative. Youll
spend the entire game picking
up objects with no purpose other
than to look at them, trying to
piece together the story of your
missing family from the scribbles
and debris theyve left behind.
Where the hell did they all go?
Who left the television on? Why
didnt they clean up all the grease-
stained pizza boxes before they
left?
Ive got to give Gone Home
some credit for its unconventional
method of narrative delivery.
Put together by a team including
former BioShock developers, its
not surprising that one thing they
absolutely nailed in Gone Home
was that use of environmental
storytelling. You poke around as
Kaitlin Greenbriar, but really, the
story that unfolds is that of your
sister Sam as well as that of
your moms unhappiness with
her marriage, and your fathers
tanking career as a writer of bad
conspiracy novels, and even your
once-reclusive, now-deceased
oddball of a great uncle.
While youll often hear snippets
of Sams thoughts shadowing your
examination of more signifcant
objects, its tiny details that
really highlight the nuances in
the familys stories depth here.
The two sisters responses to an
assignment on the reproductive
system speaks volumes about the
differences in their personalities,
and you may forlornly note that
class loser Sam has checked off
everything on her what-to-bring-to-
school list except for a positive
attitude.
As much potential as there
is for all sorts of joy, sorrow,
and humour to emerge from the
humble houses junk and scraps,
Gone Homes star is undoubtedly
and unfortunately sister Sam.
Her story tackles subject matter
thats been largely unrepresented
even in the more accepting and
experimental indie gaming scene,
and the territory it explores
bears relevance to conversations
happening both within and outside
of gaming culture right now for
this, Gone Home must be saluted.
Sadly, though, Sams chronicles
of teenage strife merely come
across as maudlin and bizarrely
breathless, especially towards
the end of the game. Meanwhile,
the more intriguing strands of
narrative are often cut short and
bluntly, or simply left to trail out
into nothing.
With the appearance of old-
school video game cartridges,
portraits of hilariously big hair,
and reference to feminist punk
bands, theres a tangible, stinks-
of-the-90s nostalgic value to
Gone Home but Im not quite
sure why. It doesnt seem to add
any body to the central story;
it merely favours it with the
occasional reference to plaid-
clad musicians. There might be
something to relive here from the
long-buried teen years of gamers
within the late twenties to early
thirties age window, but even
then, only if theyd lived through
a very specifc, Western strain of
the era. Dont expect any powerful
feelings if you grew up as anything
other than a got-it-good teenager
in a white-as-can-be suburban
nuclear family.
Gone Home gets some points
for including graphical options
than even many modern shooters
dont allow players to easily
twiddle with (when was the last
time you could adjust the feld
of view without having to edit a
.ini fle?) but, ultimately, it feels
poorly-optimised. On maximum
settings, this game about an
empty, unmoving, and almost
soundless house runs sluggishly
on my more-than-capable gaming
PC. Gamers shouldnt theoretically
have to worry about long draw
distances of fancy particle effects
here, but I still found myself having
to turn down the graphics settings
to get Gone Home into a more
acceptably playable state on
a machine that managed to run
recent frst-person blockbusters
without issue, mind you.
Indie gaming is often looked to
as a celebration of unheard voices
in the industry, or a championing
of emotional depth over aesthetic
fnesse; we know, by now, what to
expect. While Gone Home must
be applauded for the excellence
with which its story is delivered,
the central thread itself feels
unsatisfying and underwhelming, a
wannabe-revolutionary call to arms
acknowledgeable with little more
than a shrug. Like most big-name
indie games, this is something
youll probably fnd yourself playing
at some point, though hopefully
the future will see Gone Homes
unique gameplay focused on a
wider, more interesting range of
stories and characters.
KATIE WILLIAMS
Gone Home
The lights are on, but
DE VELOPER T HE FULLBRI GHT COMPANY
PUBLI SHER T HE FULLBRI GHT COMPANY
PRI CE $19. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM
www. gonehomegame.com
6
VERDICT Gone Homes got
serious potential, but doesnt
quite succeed in bringing the
house down.
PAPERS, PLEASE
|||/: ||| I1l
Fun in a mundane setting
Tetris effect, but with stamps instead
PROTEUS
|| |/\|| I1l
Musical exploration fun
Cant pick up bunnies
|e a||e|:||:e 1e|||. ||| ||||e|. |me
e:||.me|.: \.a':e |w;. w|e1 |. |.a:| ||| .|a||
\.a':e e:e| |e|| ;.a :.a|1 |.w H| |.a| ;.a| m.||e|
\.a| ||1|:a|.a., :|||ew.|||; :|||1|..1 :|a.|e. |e
:||1|e1 |; C.e |.me'. :e|e||||. .| |ee|e w.e.
DEAR ESTHER
|||||1|:||H I1lI
/ |a|||, |me(|;|e.. |me
Brutal end boss
Its tiny details that really
highlight the nuances in the
familys stories depth here

89
PC P OWE R P L AY
01
02
03 04
Plot twist: Dexter dyes his hair in this bathtub.
BAG OF HOLDING
1. Youre just back from a year-long trip overseas. We cant help
but feel that that would have made for a more interesting
game than Parents House: Operation Unlock the Door to the
Kitchen.
2. You can tell this is the 1990s, because you were still allowed
to smile in passport photos back then.
3. A map magically draws itself as you explore the house,
Silent Hill-style though maybe with a little less of that
foggy hell-world seeping through.
4. Certain objects will trigger vaguely creepy, non-diagetic
audio diaries from your sister.
Im not sure why my baggy t-shirts and scrunched-
up socks havent earned me any friends yet
The complex writing process
behind PCPPs reviews.
1. Now you know what gets your mom all hot and bothered. 2. Yes, thats exactly what you think it is in your parents drawer. 3. Dad puts on his robe and wizard hat
THREE THINGS YOU PROBABLY DONT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR PARENTS

90
PC P OWE R P L AY
R
E
V
I
E
W

S
ome of the most exciting
gaming experiences have
come from recognising the
mundanity of real life in digital
form. Its sort of thrilling when
you realise that your Sims need
to eat and sleep and go to the
bathroom, or that Niko Bellic
is a slave to his mobile phone,
just as you are.
The mundane in Papers,
Please is well beyond what
most games would dare. Its
not the privileged version of the
mundane that so many of us
are familiar with; it plops you
behind a border control booth in
the fctional communist country
of Arstozka and tasks you
with inspecting entry papers.
Youll be begged by women
who desperately need to join
husbands, bribed by desperate
men, revisited multiple times by
drug smugglers, and ultimately
grow numb to the misery
passing through the checkpoint
as you struggle to earn enough
money to buy the medicine your
family needs.
Papers, Please is a political
game, but not one that comes
out with an agenda per se. Its
more about inserting yourself
into a situation that is inherently
political in nature, becoming
a poorly-oiled cog in an unjust
system, and falling in step for
the sake of yourself and your
family. The action never leaves
the booth, your familys well-
being delivered in text-only
updates at the end of each
day, and a strong performance
is essential if you want to
Papers, Please
Pleased with papers
8
VERDICT As much as it can
wear you out, Papers, Please
is a game to reect upon and
cherish.
DE VELOPER LUCAS POPE
PUBLI SHER LUCAS POPE
PRI CE $9. 99 US
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, GOG.COM, DI RECT DOWNLOAD
www.dukope.com
GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
|||:/| I11|
Refugee seeks American Dream!
PC release for GTA V, please
DEUS EX
|1 :|H I111
Papers, Please isnt like other games
So ignore this list and play it
\.a .a.(e:| ||| ;.a ||e |||e |.| |||e1
\.a':e |e|| e|:.a. | :a.|.m. ||e, |||||.||; .|
otherwise
\.a 1|1'| :.|e |.| e 1||.
THE WALKING DEAD
|||/|| C/H|: I1lI
FEELINGS
|'m.| :|;||. \|'|| ||\|1C
keep them all alive. Cruelty is
encouraged the moment youre
offered a bonus for detainees,
its easy to drop your veneer
of compassion whenever you
fnd a discrepancy in a persons
documents.
Papers, Please has the good
grace to not explicitly judge
you for any of this. Youll be
abused and threatened by the
people you turn away (and even
a few you let in), but youll
know that its not your fault,
nor theirs. There are broader
narrative threads running
over the top of everything,
seemingly happening just off
to the sides of the games
borders, with daily newspaper
headlines revealing unrest and
violence, and a shadowy cult
member occasionally appearing
to slip you demands that you
can choose to ignore or take
seriously.
And during all of this, youre
stuck behind a desk, poring over
paperwork and adhering to daily
rule changes. Papers, Please
can be exhausting and boring if
you play through more than a few
days at a time, as condensed
as the drudgery is. But its never
less than totally compelling,
because drudgery is sort of the
point. When games are so often
about ridiculous power fantasies,
Papers, Please is about wielding
real, terrible power the power
to change or ruin peoples lives
all by looking over pieces of
paper and laying down a stamp.
Youll get more out of being
bored by Papers, Please than
youd get out of having fun with
many other games. JAMES
OCONNOR
Youll be begged by women who desperately need to join
husbands, bribed by desperate men, revisited multiple
times by drug smugglers...
The screen can get pretty hectic
when youre juggling a lot of
documents, but its still not as
messy as my work desk.

91
PC P OWE R P L AY
T
o gauge how much you may
like Space Hulk, you need to
ask yourself two questions; the
frst being, how much do I love
Space Hulk, the board game?.
If the answer is a whole lot,
youll probably love the core
mechanics of Space Hulk the
PC game, as they are all but
identical to the original tabletop
version. Yes, even right down to
virtual dice being rolled to see if
a giant Space Marine hits with
his giant bolter. The second and
perhaps most vital question
is, do I like my games to be
fast-paced, feel modern and
have a high level of polish?.
If the answer is yes, you
might want to steer clear of this
interpretation of Space Hulk. It
looks rough, moves at a glacial
pace and plays just like a board
game that was frst released
nearly 25 years ago.
At its core, Space Hulk
is still a brilliantly-designed
game. A player takes control
of a squad of powerful but
slow moving Terminators and
the AI, or another player, takes
control of the traditional enemy
of the Terminators (at least in
Space Hulk), the fast-moving
but rather squishy Tyranid
Genestealers. The asymmetrical
sides are beautifully balanced
the Terminators have fewer
Command Points to play with
per turn, making them trundle
along slowly and rely more on
reactive combat techniques, like
Overwatch, than searching and
destroying. The Genestealers,
on the other hand, have no
Space Hulk
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only slow trudging
5
VERDICT As a replica of the
board game, Space Hulk is
a success. Unfortunately,
as a videogame, its barely
average.
DE VELOPER FULL CONT ROL
PUBLI SHER FULL CONT ROL
PRI CE $29. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM
www.fullcontrol.dk
GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS 2
:/|||| I11a
Conquer the galaxy for the
human race
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WARMACHINE
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combat
PC version not out until next year
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ranged attacks but can utilise
more Command Points, move
further, are more numerous
and, until there is a direct line
of sight, only appear as blips
to the Terminators. Think of the
motion tracker in Alien. This is of
vital importance to Genestealer
strategy, as the blips might
indicate a location, but in no
way reveal numbers, allowing
the feral, slobbering aliens to
effectively set ambushes.
So, the core mechanics and
strategy are sound, but thats
entirely thanks to its design
foundation as a board game.
The problem with this PC version
is that there are some board
game remnants that simply
make the game feel old. Combat
is essentially binary, with each
attack being hit or miss. If its
a hit then the enemy is dead.
If its a miss there is no effect.
This either/or style of battle
saps combat of much of its
excitement there are no narrow
scrapes or troops fnishing a
battle with only a few drops of
blood left; just a single dice roll
that decides if a unit dies or
not. The lack of any real troop
customisation, aside from the
occasional new banner, also robs
much of the game of personality.
Its a real pity considering how
much 40k love has gone into
the voiceovers. The most grating
problem, however, is the pacing.
The Genestealers move at a
clip, making their turns fast
and fuid, but the Terminators
lumber around so slowly that
any maneuver more ambitious
than taking a step forward and
entering overwatch is a chore to
sit through. DANIEL WILKS
It looks rough, moves at a glacial pace and plays just
like a board game that was rst released nearly 25
years ago
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to that location.

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M
any people will be shot,
stabbed or otherwise
relieved of consciousness over the
course of Splinter Cell Blacklists
campaign, but the most signifcant
casualty is the loss of Michael
Ironside as the voice of Sam
Fisher. Exiting the series due to
Ubisoft Torontos new focus on full
performance capture, Ironside has
handed the role over to newcomer
Eric Johnson, whose interpretation
of the super-spy is imbued with
the charisma of a plank of wood.
Fisher has become a facsimile
of Mass Effects male Commander
Shepard, now leading his
espionage outft from the bowels
of an explorable cargo plane.
There are no love interests on
board however; unless one
counts the awkward bromance
with Fishers co-operative mode
partner, Isaac Briggs (you just
KNOW theyre going to bang as
soon as they get back on board).
The plot is like a terrible season
of 24, with a villain played by one
of the side characters from the
show, whilst mission briefngs see
mo-capped mannequins huddling
around a word map, exchanging
concerned glares and spitting
Clancynian techno-babble.
This brand of gibberish has
always been Splinter Cells modus
operandi. The difference is, it was
once delivered with a world-weary
charm through Ironsides Fisher.
One only has to recall the dialogue
of the impromptu interrogations
in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory to
see the intelligence and wit that
Blacklist has snuffed out. But
the move to performance capture
isnt necessarily the culprit. Elias
Toufexis better known to PCPP
readers as the voice of Deus Ex:
Human Revolutions Adam Jensen
steals the show as villain-turned
ally Andriy Kobin. The capacity is
there for the Sam Fisher we know,
but its absent in Blacklist.
More time is spent fetishising
the curves of Fishers new knife,
now symbolic of one of the
multiple approaches to Blacklists
gameplay. This is a stealth game
that supports a wide spectrum
of non-lethal, deadly and loud
acts of violence. Its clear that
whilst Chaos Theory was the third
iteration of a hardcore stealth
formula, Blacklist is the second
iteration of Convictions fashier,
accessible nu-stealth.
The thrill inherent to the series
no longer comes from having to
sneak because any other option
spells death, but because its the
cleanest option; one that requires
a heady combination of mastery
and restraint. Score breakdowns,
slightly weighted toward rewarding
a non-lethal ghost approach, help
to reinforce such goals that have
now become player-defned rather
than demanded by the system.
What elevates Blacklist far above
Conviction is that it now has the
capacity to support this player
expression, whereas Convictions
tunnel vision thrusted Fisher ever
forward as he put skulls through
television sets and cleared rooms
in seconds.
That Mark and Execute function
is still present, but its no longer
the instant-win button that littered
the DC Metro area with corpses
in 2010. Enemy archetypes
have been introduced that throw
a spanner in front of Fishers
perfectly-aimed bullets heavy
infantry wearing bullet-proof
helmets and riot shield-wielding
bastards require positioning from
above or behind to eliminate.
Sneaking within these systems
is a lot like playing with a rubber
band. Undisturbed, there is a
relaxed pace to the methodic
disposal of hostiles. As players
are pushed to attempt riskier,
faster manoeuvres, the rubber
band stretches, becoming
taut with palpable tension if
Fisher gets spotted. Its then
that Blacklists systems come
into their own; what previously
felt like concessions made for
accessibility transform into crucial
tools for players to improvise,
react and overcome equally
responsive and deadly AI. Though
the performance capture founders
in the campaigns cutscenes,
in this unscripted gameplay it
lends the animation of Fishers
deadly hugs a startling, brutal
effciency; his dives between cover
a desperation and urgency.
That visual effectiveness
also highlights how cover is
more important than shadow,
and how positioning within the
environment is more important
than manipulating it. Fisher can
break lights and hide bodies,
but theres little reason to do so
when levels are designed as a
linear series of small sandboxes,
rather than whole and consistent
locations. Checkpoints lock
doors behind Fisher, allowing
the geometry to fush from what
would be the games console-
based counterparts, as those
systems have the memory of a
goldfsh. Most areas still allow
a satisfying range of movement
and gadget-based trickery, though
less-engaging scripted sequences
come in hard and fast toward the
end of both singleplayer and co-op.
But its the return of the
asymmetric multiplayer where
Blacklists mechanical nuances
feel most appropriate. This fast
and brutal interpretation of Spies
versus Mercenaries takes the
games economy-based upgrades,
and separates them into distinct
classes that demand coordination
to succeed. Though there are
only a handful of maps to run,
gun and sneak through, theres
enough variety in the game modes
on offer to keep you playing long
after youve exhausted Fishers
own outings. The balance of
superior information for the Spies
with superior frepower for the
Mercenaries is near-perfect.
Blacklists singleplayer, co-op
and multiplayer are faster and
more accessible than Chaos
Theorys. The result: Splinter Cell
for everyone. Though Blacklist may
not be a better Splinter Cell game
than Chaos Theory, its easily the
best one since. DANIEL HINDES
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Sam Fisher controls the redistribution of stealth
DE VELOPER UBI SOF T T ORONT O
PUBLI SHER UBI SOF T
PRI CE $69. 95
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, UPL AY, RE TAI L
splintercell.ubi.com
8
VERDICT Though it lacks the
subdued intelligence of Chaos
Theory, theres still some
cracking good sneaking to be
had.
FAR CRY 3
|||:| H1||/| I1lI
Similar stealth, but in first-person!
Jason Bro-dude
MASS EFFECT 3
||W/|| I1lI
Bang everyone on the Normandy
Ending rage
||'. ||e |me :(|||e| |e|| |.:|:||. .|.a|1 |:e |ee
||e|; .| .|||e(|;e| 1 :..( m|..|..
:(|e. :. He|:. |. .|||| we..me
\.a':e |w;. w|e1 |. 1|e.. a( :m ||.|e| SPLINTER CELL:
CHAOS THEORY
|||:| H1||/| I11'
The highlight of the series
1. .e'. (|;|| :(|e. :. He|:.
Most areas still allow a
satisfying range of movement
and gadget-based trickery

93
PC P OWE R P L AY
1. Were playing co-op with the Tech Editor, whose relative
inexperience is making us jumpy. Hes right near you, Bennett!
2. Room cleared. We enter some codes simultaneously into these
computers to start moving the missile. Beep beep boop.
3. More guards have flooded the room! Were down! If Bennett doesnt
get here quick, its game over! (Spoiler alert: it was game over.)
01
02
05
03
04
MISSILE COMMAND
QOD OFF
1. An enemy! For this part of the mission, Fisher isnt
allowed to hurt anyone. Time to get super-stealthy.
2. Whats this? A camera! It projects a light that shows its
visual range, so it should be relatively easy to avoid.
3. This guy has a flashlight attached to his gun, making
shadows less valuable. Later on, enemies may even wear
night vision goggles. Quit copying us.
4. The lights on Fishers suit arent flaring, showing that
hes not in shadow; only cover. If that guy steps forward,
hes going to see us!
5. The radar is a compulsory upgrade that removes some of
the fun of stealth, but can thankfully be turned off in the
options menu. We highly recommend doing so.
Lasers? Lasers are so... 90s. And also really hard to
avoid in this particular room. Helps to feel like were
not meant to be there, though.
You want to give Sam Fisher pink goggles? Of course
you do! Why wouldnt you! Theyre proven to increase
stealth and fashion sense by up to 43%.
Sonar vision helpfully highlights climbable
objects along with enemies. On Perfectionist
mode, it cant see through walls.

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P
ayDay 2 isnt just about
robbing banks, though that
is the most thrilling scenario it
offers. Rather, its classic heist
flm inspirations result in only
a small portion of the kinds of
crimes youll be committing.
Youll be moving cocaine, stealing
paintings, breaking into the FBI
but its not until youre given the
objective defend and cook meth
that it becomes clear: PayDay
2 is less Point Break and more
Breaking Bad.
This is a frst-person crime
shooter; the kind of game that
takes the threadbare scenarios of
a Grand Theft Auto mission and
turns it into a smaller but more
detailed multiplayer space. With
this sequels introduction of a
mostly-viable stealth option, along
with a stronger focus on systemic
gameplay, PayDay 2 turns these
spaces into remarkably deep
explorations of what is possible in
a four-player co-operative shooter.
Stealth allows PayDay 2 to
recontextualise many of the basic
mechanics of the frst game. This
isnt a stealth game in a Thief or
Splinter Cell sense; here, stealth
is about fnishing a mission
without the police showing up.
This means bursting into a room
and yelling at everyone to get on
the fucking ground. Cable-tying
civilian hostages is no longer
about building a resource for
hostage trades, but keeping
them from pulling a mobile phone
and calling the cops as soon
as you turn your back. This is a
game where you need to control
a crowd; keeping civilians down
and making sure they dont try
anything stupid. Now imagine
trying this whilst dealing with
security systems, cameras, locked
doors, pagers and the like. Its a
dirty, hands-on and intoxicating
approach to stealth that we
havent seen anywhere else.
But its all-too-easy to screw up
this stealth approach and revert
the mission to its default state,
which sees the crew defend an
objective (usually a drill working
its way into a safe or vault) from
waves of enemy law enforcers.
This is the most common kind
of gameplay youll encounter
in PayDay 2, and its also the
games least-interesting. Where
the games unique approach to
stealth requires a whole range
of systems to be taken into
account, open-combat enjoys
little such complexity.
There are still systems at play,
mind you. The police may land
on the roof and food gas into
one of the rooms below. Crooked
cops may see an opportunity
to steal your loot bags out from
under you. Hostage rescue
squads attempt to free cable-tied
civilians, thereby depleting your
resources for future negotiation.
But such intricacies are lost in
the heated exchanges of gunfre
that really begin to drag on.
Yet theres a good reason
for that PayDay 2 isnt so
much about twitch aiming and
pulling off headshots as it is
about attrition. These assault
waves inevitably deplete the
crews ammunition and medical
supplies, gradually increasing
tension and encouraging a
quick and effcient heist. Its on
this side of desperation that
the emergent drama in PayDay
2s combat begins to unfold.
As ammo runs low, people are
downed and taken into custody,
whilst the rest of the crew might
decide to cut their losses and
make for the getaway car.
The capacity for such drama
is wholly dependent upon the
games revised skill trees, which
now separate abilities into clear
and distinct classes. Working up
these trees requires cash and
experience points, so the reward
for completing heists is the
chance to attempt a cleaner run
with newly unlocked mechanics.
At a low level, your opportunities
for expression in frefghts feel
limited; its not until you can start
bagging and moving corpses,
shouting down guards and making
them cuff themselves, or even
turning law enforcers over to your
side, that PayDay 2s combat
becomes as engaging as casing
the joint beforehand.
This is totally fne, because
there is much to learn about
the intricacies of each levels
mechanics before you even have
the chance to pull off a good run;
skill unlocks or no. Practicing
a heist has never been such
fun, because so much is left to
players to discover themselves.
Theres a bit of Dark Souls in
PayDay 2; you can level up all you
like, but unless youre levelling up
your understanding of the game
concurrently, itll count for naught.
Also new to this sequel are
multi-day heists, the longer of
which considerably ramp up
the tension especially when
going for a perma-death Pro
job. The physical size of the
levels feels slightly smaller
than the previous game, and
youll see the occasional re-use
of an environment with a new
objective, but its offset by a
degree of geometric and NPC
randomisation that requires you
to scope a place out no matter
how many times youve played
it. Though the total number
of heists available at launch
feels a little low, theres a high
degree of detail and mechanical
signifcance to most of them that
will keep you playing long after
youve exhausted other games
thrice its price.
What results is the ultimate
test in co-ordination amongst
four players you can fnd on
PC. In the levels that support
a more analogue spectrum
of approaches, youll actually
experience a pre-heist rush as
you dance between guards and
security systems, prepping for
the right moment to mask up
and burst in. In stealth, PayDay 2
is most thrilling when things go
right; in open combat, its when
things start going wrong that the
game shines. DANIEL HINDES
PayDay 2
I caught my rst tube today... Sir.
DE VELOPER OVERKI LL
PUBLI SHER 505 GAMES
PRI CE $29. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM
www.crimenet.info
9
VERDICT Its not the desire
for cash or gold thatll keep
you coming back, but the
desire to pull off the perfect
heist.
KILLING FLOOR
|||W||| I11
Point defence plus zombies
Not as mechanically complex
CHEMISTRY
||C| :||| l| ||1||\
Learn about science!
Dont use it to cook meth
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:/\ H\ 1/H| LEFT 4 DEAD 2
\/|\| I11
Four player co-op fun
Cant cable-tie the infected
Crooked cops may see an
opportunity to steal your loot
bags out from under you

95
PC P OWE R P L AY
1. Weve tapped into the buildings camera feed, so we can safely
cycle through various viewpoints and scope the place out.
2. We can mark a couple of guards through the camera; theyll
appear as red silhouettes to stealthy teammates.
3. Oh dear, someone saw us. Alarms blaring! Thats a lot of dead
bodies. Well, were nothing if not good at our jobs. Assault incoming!
01 02
05
03
04
STEALTH FAIL
VAULT HUNTERS
1. The Tech Editor is done lockpicking the safety deposit
boxes, so weve got enough cash to make a run for our
escape van. Itll be slow, as we have to haul the loot.
2. Problem is, theres an army of SWAT, FBI and dudes with
tasers between it and us. Things are looking desperate.
3. Police assaults come in waves, throwing more heavily
armoured dudes at you on higher difficulties. We could
hold out until the assault is called off to make for an
easier getaway. But we just have to conserve ammo...
4. Whilst were waiting for the assault to die down, we
might as well crack open a few more boxes. This would
be a lot easier if we unlocked the circular saw...
5. This dude has a bad-arse custom skull mask. Our suit is
better though.
This is Crime.Net; a fancy in-universe server
browser. Missions appear with random payouts and
difficulty levels. It could do with an in-lobby filter.
Were shot! If our partners in crime cant revive us in
time, well end up in custody and theyll have to trade
a hostage for us.
Props to Overkill for including
actual Windows desktops on
their in-game computers.
Which icon launches PayDay 2?

96
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I
ts easy to be cynical about a
game calling itself XCOM in
a time when modern franchise
reboots seem to be at an all-
time high. There are always
concerns about whether this new
reimagining will be true to its
roots, whether it will live up to
its name, and whether a whole
bunch of people are going to get
angry about it on the Internet.
Thankfully, XCOM has had its
reboot it was called Enemy
Unknown and if you want a
traditional XCOM experience, go
and play it instead. Think of The
Bureau: XCOM Declassifed as an
expansion of the XCOM universe,
a tale told from a perspective
unfettered by nostalgia, to
present a new experience.
Take our player character:
William Carter. Hes a hard-
as-nails agent with history of
insubordination that barely
toes-the-line. Hes a loner, a solo-
operator. He doesnt care what
anyone thinks, though is beset
with guilt over a family trage...
hey, wake up!
Okay, so, its not the most
creative of lead roles, but the
supporting characters add
dimension to the story. Theres
the scientist with a shady past
and loose ethics, the grey haired
do-whatever-it-takes Bureau
director, the high-ranking no-
nonsense snarky professional
female... yeah, okay, theyre
hardly original either.
This is the largest criticism we
can level at The Bureau: it feels
very safe. But given its years of
troubled development and the
multiple redesigns that have
entailed, we can hardly blame
2K for trying to hit an inoffensive
middle-ground to get the game
out the door.
Theres a heavy Mass Effect
infuence throughout. Its present
during combat in the squad
dynamics, in the ability to slow
the games real-time execution to
issue orders to squad members,
and even in the special abilities
the player and squad members
can unleash upon the invading
alien forces. Its present too in
the conversation wheels, the
ability to answer questions or
approach situations from different
philosophical angles, and its
present when roaming The
Bureaus base of operations after
each mission.
Outside of combat, it doesnt
really go beyond superfcial
mimicry, however. Theres not
enough depth in the conversation
to give it that weighty RPG
sensation of dialogue exchange.
Sure, characters will rattle off a
bit of information in response to
your questions, but its as though
they have a laundry list of items
to discuss, rather than an interest
in engaging with the player.
Being able to amble around
the base post-mission and hear
random NPCs chatting about
your latest achievements is cool,
but where are the interactions
with squad mates? Where is
the relationship development
that sees their loss in battle an
unacceptable outcome? Its all a
little faceless; a little impersonal.
On the other side of the coin,
the mission-based campaign
structure holds up fairly well. You
might not care about Carter or
his motivations, but none of that
really matters out in the feld.
Each mission begins with
selecting which two agents from
the pool of those available (read:
not dead) will join Carter on his
next foray into enemy territory.
Its possible to create and
customise new agents if those
The Bureau pre-supplies dont
quite ft the players demanding
expectations or playstyle. The
remaining agents can be bundled
off on other less-critical missions
to retrieve alien technologies and
gain experience.
For Carter, the third-person
combat with a bullet-time focus
mode feature bears the illusion
of giving the player the luxury
of time and planning. On the
higher diffculties, it does not.
Tactics lean towards the frantic
end of the spectrum while the
player scrambles to assess the
situation, avoid incoming fre,
dodge grenades, deploy special
abilities and revive downed squad
mates without dying.
Agents lost in the feld are
lost from the duty roster, and
the pain of this loss is directly
proportional to the agent
level, plus a certain level of
frustration with the controls.
These are clearly designed with
a gamepad in mind, and exhibit
a cumbersome execution on
keyboard. We considered plugging
one in, but decided the loss of
accuracy required for headshots
wasnt worth the trade-off.
Successful missions grant
experience and technologies;
the latter is a simple process of
picking up any new items, and
they are immediately added to
the players arsenal, ready to be
equipped at designated stations
mid-mission (or after the mission,
if playing on the toughest
diffculty). The former increases
the agents rank, unlocking new
perks. Some ranks unlock a
designated perk defned by the
agents class and specialisation.
Other ranks provide a choice,
forcing the player to meditate
briefy on how best to utilise
them, and which would be more
benefcial to their playstyle. They
are thoughtfully designed, with
pros and cons fairly weighted.
In truth, we would have liked to
have seen the game with more
active research elements, as
well as a grander global strategy
system, and though perhaps not
as accomplished or polished as
the aforementioned Mass Effect
series, The Bureau holds its own
as a tactical shooter provided
this is the only expectation you
approach it with. TERRENCE
JARRAD
The Bureau: XCOM Declassied
The very model of a scientist Salarian
DE VELOPER 2K MARI N
DI STRI BUTOR 2K GAMES
PRI CE $79. 99
AVAI L ABLE AT ST EAM, RE TAI L
www.thebureau-game.com
7
VERDICT A competent
tactical shooter that doesnt
push any boundaries and is
only peripherally related to
XCOM.
MASS EFFECT
||W/|| I11|
Epic space action drama thing!
Streamlined as series went on
X-COM ENFORCER
H|||||:| I11l
XCOM does third person shooter
Worst. XCOM. Ever
\.a':e ||e1; (|e(|e1 ||e||||e1 |.|am (..| |.a|
|.w |||. |.'| /|H, 1 ,a.| ee1 ||e mma|||.
\.a| /|H |m|| (|||...(|; : |e .amme1 a( .
'a||.e1, .|ma||.e1
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\.a'|e .a:|e| |.| ||:e|:.|:e1 |e1 :||:|e|.
XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN
|||//|: I1lI
||..|: |me(|; |e.||e1
| |e (a|.||||; 1||||:a||
We can hardly blame 2K for
trying to hit an inoffensive
middle-ground

97
PC P OWE R P L AY
01
02
05
03
04
Flesh out the world by finding various photos, notes,
and audio recordings scattered around the place. Or
just chat to people.
CARTER. WREX.
1. In Battle Focus mode, enemies are clearly highlighted.
We have told Smith to focus-fire on the Muton miniboss
because he packs a punch.
2. These command toolbars are how we order our squad
around. Its a bit clunky and not super-intuitive given the
same info is represented below...
3. ...In these general tool bars. They show health, skill
cooldowns, level, and experience. We kept clicking on
these to activate skills, which doesnt work.
4. Weve activated Carters heal ability, but his Lift is still on
cool down. We cant shoot while in battle-focus, so need
to disengage it for Carter to be useful.
5. Battle areas often have environmental hazards. This is an
enemy mine, but watch out for explosive barrels to turn
on the enemy.
Ding! You can apply new perks mid-mission
straight after levelling up, giving you the benefit
of new abilities immediately.
The Shield Commander generates
shields that protect other aliens.
Hes therefore annoying and
needs to be brought down quickly.
1. Time to recruit some new agents. I can have two of each class,
ready for duty with me, or to send on other missions.
2. Select a class and background. This determines weapon loadout
and passive perks like increased endurance or damage.
3. Customise the new recruits clothes to make them easy to
distinguish on the battlefield. Dont worry, this can be changed later.
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104 Extended Memory
Returning to the The Longest Journeys twin worlds
102 Spelunky
Indie gamings own precious jewel returns in glorious HD
100
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Deus inExperienced
Part 12: Theres Something About Morgan
I
f theres one thing Deus Ex is really
good at, its setting up red flags. Youll
wander into someones home, youll talk
to an NPC, youll take a quiet stroll, and
something about your experience just
wont feel right. A detail wont ring true.
An item will be misplaced. Objects that
appear fixed will move when you touch
them. Alarm bells will ring in your head.
Morgan Everetts home base is a
phenomenally designed gameplay
experience, from the moment you awaken
from your drug-induced sleep until you
(almost inevitably) run your sword through
the dodgy mechanic outside. You neednt
spend more than a few minutes in this
location, but anyone paying attention will
spend at least twenty. The true genius of
this section is that its not the obviously
crazy set-up that make you wary; its the
smaller details you pick up on over time.
Its not unusual that Everett has heavy
steel doors, or an industrial workspace
out the back, but its damn strange that
theres a giant bloody aquarium right in
the middle of his home, one that you
can find the key to, unlock and swim
around in. Its unsettling that he has a
maid and a cat (which appeared out of
nowhere midway through my exploration
of his place) that strongly resemble the
maid and cat I sedated back at Chows
place. Its downright alarming that, on
close inspection, the people in one of his
paintings are actually primitive robots. And
yes, alright, the fact that hes an Illuminati
leader doesnt exactly set one at ease.
Denton is PC gamings greatest detective
if youll let him be. It only takes a little
curiosity to discover Everetts secrets,
but when you do damn. Off behind the
computer room is Morpheus, possible
cousin of Zordon from the Power Rangers;
a giant floating A.I. head who practically
pulls you aside and encourages you to
consider writing an academic paper on
the role of surveillance in Deus Exs
game world. Its a damn creepy set piece;
Morpheus is a voyeur, a philosopher, and
a reminder that you should probably be
very, very worried about the increasingly
hostile presence of Icarus in your ear.
And then theres DeBeers, the ultimate
validation of ones something is not right
instinct, a skeleton wrapped in bone that
rasps its credentials at you from a cold
prison. I killed him, because seriously, what
good could possibly come from letting that
thing live? For a moment, I drop all pretext
of thinking from Dentons perspective the
creature locked in the basement frightened
me, and I wanted it gone from the world.
By the time I encountered the
comically overdone Odd Mechanic out
near Jocks chopper, I was too damn
freaked out to be concerned with how
lazily the game sets up this particular
mystery, or to get a kick out of finally
catching up with that whole bomb
meme. This game, guys. This game.
Its damn strange that theres a giant
bloody aquarium right in the middle of his
home, one that you can nd the key to
JAMES OCONNOR cant even deal with this
People dont usually
have wheels, do they?
Once again, JCs swimming
training comes in handy.
When it wants to, Deus Ex can
glue you to a conversation.
This was going to be a shot
of DeBeers, but*shudder*
101
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I
t had been a while since I had played
Spelunky, having briefly messed around
in the original free version for PC and later
bought it on XBLA. It was good and I was
terrible at it, but most of all I never really
understood the love that the diehard fans
had. The randomly-generated, platforming,
roguelike elements really appeal to me,
so it was with some respect but also mild
confusion that I started into the PC version.
I may have neglected to mention the level
to which I suck at Spelunky I suck a whole
lot. Nigh on biblical levels of sucking, is
what were talking about here. Regardless,
I managed to blunder my way into beating
Olmec, the final boss. There, I thought,
Ive beaten the game. But
it was in the borderline
existential, seemingly-
pointless runs that I
was doing afterwards
that I found the true
point of Spelunky. On
a whim, I decided to
follow the purple, alien-
looking structure up
to the top and at
the top I found a door,
which took me to an
alien mothership.
What. Entirely new
enemies, obstacles...
there was even a
unique score. Suffice
to say, I died almost immediately (the new
enemies primarily involved little aliens in tiny
bomb shooting tanks both adorable and
explosive).
I had a friend in primary school who told
me about how you could find a Mew in the
original Pokemon if you looked underneath
the truck in Vermilion City. I dont know how
many hours I spent either trying, or thinking
about how to move that truck to get to that
Mew there was even some who were
saying you had to fight the Elite Four one
hundred times for it to appear, I know cause
my uncle works at Nintendo or something
or other. There was no Mew under that damn
truck; maybe a small part of me knew that,
but there was definitely a larger part that
was thoroughly disappointed. This story is
not unique; there have been myths kept
alive through the childlike hope of young
gamers for generations, but theyre almost
always completely made up. But Spelunky
represents the collective satisfaction of
generations of gamers disappointment.
After reading a little into the secrets of
Spelunky, I came across this obviously fake
sounding piece of info apparently if you
put the damsel on the weird sticky orange
thing on the second Jungle level and wait,
then a giant worm comes out and eats it.
More than that, if youre on the weird orange
thing and let the worm eat you, you go to
a secret worm level, where you can get a
crystal knife that replaces your standard
whip attack and does maximum damage.
Total bullshit? Not at all, completely and
totally true I know because I did it (and
my uncle works at Nintendo). After
you realise that behind every out
of the ordinary occurrence
is either a secret level or a
hidden, unique treasure then
Spelunky really opens up
its the game you wish
you had when you were
10. And as a word of
advice, pretend you
have the technology of
yourself at 10 as well;
stay away from too
many internet guides
and explanations, as a
huge amount of the fun
in starting out in this game is
finding out the secrets for yourself. Although,
if you find out how to get to King Yama on
your own. youre a Man amongst men.
And you can always rely on the
randomised elements and terrifically hard
difficulty to sustain your interest long after
youve discovered all there is to see. Also,
with the Steam copy, youll get access to the
Daily Challenge, a run which is generated
randomly per day and is the same for
everyone but you can only try it once.
No longer does death only mean a simple
retry, but now you have the eyes of your
Steam friends and the rest of the Spelunky
community on you which actually makes
you play significantly better.
So this may be the second re-release
Spelunky has seen, but its easily the best
and still one of the most enduring indie
games out there.
ZAC NAOUM descends into history as he tackles
the apocrypha of Spelunkys PC re-release
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GO TO HELL
Okay, some MAJOR SPOILERS for
those not wanting to ruin their
adventurous experience. Theres
a true ending beyond just
killing Olmec that requires some
high-level play (and borderline
black magic) and most of all it
shows off the ridiculous string of
events that is necessary to fully
complete Spelunky. Heres how:
In one of the Mines levels, there
will be a golden key use it on
the chest with the golden lock to
acquire the Udjat Eye item.
On one of the levels of the
Jungle (the very next area), the
Udjet eye will begin blinking,
showing the location of the Black
Market.
Purchase the Ankh from it for
$50,000 (this gives an extra life).
In the Ice Caves, there will be a
level with the Moai Head (it looks
kind of like a blue Easter Island
Statue) kill yourself in this level
and youll respawn in the Head
with the Hedjet.
Still with us? Okay, in the
Temple, kill Anubis (bombs and
the paste are usually the easiest
method) and hell drop the
sceptre which, with the Hedjet,
will allow you to enter the City of
Gold on the next floor.
Near to the center of The City
of Gold is The Necronomicon.
Picking it up will cause Anubis II
to spawn, who youll have to kill
(again, bombs and paste).
In the room during the Olmec
fight, the Necronomicon will start
a kind of munching animation
over where the door to Hell is,
just above the lava at the bottom
of the arena. Make sure you ride
Olmecs head down and use it as
a platform to enter Hell.
Now just beat a series of the
hardest levels in the game and
youll be up to the King Yama fight
dont ask me how to beat him... I
regularly die on the Jungle.
103
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THE LONGEST JOURNEY
N
ewport is a chaos of contradictions,
from the shamelessness of Metro
Circle, with its towering highrises, Sextasy
and Liquid Dreams, to the serene Catholic
cathedral, behind Hope Street, where the
Amathin addled lie, prone. This is where
heavily-armoured Police, who diligently detain
even the lowliest skateboarder, can be
short-circuited by a carefully shaken soda.
Its a setting the outside observer could
appreciate, but never properly know.
Partly why Funcoms The Longest
Journey is so special, however, is that the
protagonist has such a distinctive take on
her surroundings. Having moved to the city to
study at the Venice Academy of Visual Arts,
April Ryan examines the large painting of its
founder, Mary Samm and remarks wearily,
Assassinated by some corporate hired gun
right after the school opened some 90 years
ago. Then, the poster reading, Actresses
wanted for snuff movie parody. Meet at Dock
12, Saturday, midnight, and keep quiet about
it, elicits that unique April-style blend of
amusement and concern.
In Newport, a parent could sell their family
into indentured labour on an off-world colony,
in return for a lifetime supply of Amathin. Its
a harsh reality. April affords one hardened,
runaway son limitless dignity in her dealings
with him. Another time, however, when she
sees a talentless busker, she quips that when
youre high on Amathin, your sense of rhythm
is the first thing to go. The setting isnt all
about the plight of the desperate, of course.
Its also about power. As the story progresses,
April uncovers some truths about The Church
of Voltec, genetic engineering and the very
ominous Malkuth Technologies Incorporated.
When her quest leads her to the upper
levels of the city, April writes in her diary,
Theyd never give access to a lowlife, like
me, so I have to fake it. Yet, it is literally
the lowest levels of Newport that are the
most vibrant and colourful places to be, and
where April wants to be. Between rampant
outbreaks of graffiti lies the Border House
and a wall adorned with a pretty mural. It
depicts a lush forest, a passageway forwards
and a lone figure with outstretched hand, the
promise, perhaps, of a gentler alternative?
The Longest Journey is only set in a cyberpunk dystopia if the idealistic, young art
student says it is. MEGHANN ONEILL explores the Stark side of the Divide.
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Youd think a space stationwould flummox April. Nope! She comments on a
window cleaner, We used to run simulations of similar pods, back in school.
Getting around by low-tech subway only requires money
and the right genes. Screens broadcast propaganda. As
April says, Theres no escape, anywhere.
FASTERTHANLIGHTNING|
Burns Flipper, spare parts dealer and purveyor of hardcore
porn cubes, is the perfect, paranoid product of Newports
ubiquitous, but offhand, attempts at control.
When both legs were amputated as warning against hacking, he invented a hovercraft chair.
When the chair starts to wobble, threatening to pitch him into the pit, only the merest chink in his
belligerent bravado can be seen.
In their very first conversation, Flipper verbally abuses April many times, in rapid succession.
Then he forgets her in the time it takes for her to walk across one room. She handles him
empathetically and adroitly, as only she can do.
104
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BEGINS
T
o think that two days ago, all I had to
remember was whether a customer
ordered a double decaf latte or a low-fat
cappuccino Theres a lot to be said for
simple ignorance.
From the boisterous yet warm environs
of the Journey Man Inn, to the island of
Alais, the world of Arcadia is one that is
consistently inconsistent. Far from the
predictable, mundane world of Stark, this
world is one in constant flux.
It is a world where a crow can become
your best friend and a wily magician can be
defeated with the power of a calculator. In
Arcadia, nothing is as it seems. It is a fairy
tale land of magic and wonder, of whimsy
and chaos.
Apparently, Im simply supposed to
accept, without question, that magic does
exist. Which is impossible. But clearly not
impossible enough because here, there IS
magic.
Its one that April finds constantly
startling. Even the mundane can leave her
surprised. A quick peruse of a Marcurian
fishmongers wares leaves her disconcerted,
remarking that only the presence of fins
and scales serve as clues as to whats for
dinner.
But it is in the chaos and magic of
Arcadia that April begins to grow, to step
outside of her comfort zone. In Stark, April
was in an illusion of control. She was able
to abandon her past life and her abusive
father. She had plans; she was going to be
an artist. Then Arcadia comes along and
everything changes.
Arcadias fanciful world is a jolt to April.
Its strange peoples, ancient lore and
breathtaking landscapes have no place in
Aprils world, but she comes to accept them
and her role. It is a world that brings chaos
and upheaval into an existence she thought
she had figured out. The Longest Journey is
a personal one; for April, it begins with the
acceptance that there is more to the world
beyond her experience.
Mystery is important. To know
everything, to know the whole truth, is dull.
There is no magic in that.
A double-faced look at April Ryans
futuristic world. Er worlds.
Order can only be maintained so long, such it is when chaos enters her life that
April must grow. NATHAN COCKS explores the Arcadia side of the Divide.
The bustling harbour of Marcuria is full of wonder, not to
mention religious sailors who think they can disobey their
gods if music is playing.
Aprils journeys even take her to the bottom of the sea as she seeks the
assistance of merfolk. Remember, she can breathe underwater now...
THEROLLINGMAN|
Despite also hailing from Stark, it would be a mistake to consider Brian
Westhouse to be in a similar situation to April.
The rolling man, so called due to his insistence on riding his bicycle (a contraption foreign to
Arcadia), came to this magical world of his own free will. And it cost him dearly. Trapped in the
divide between worlds for 300 years, Westhouse is positively a relic in Aprils eyes.
Despite the age difference, in many ways, Westhouse acts as a filter for Aprils vision of
Arcadia. It is through him that she can truly come to accept Arcadia as a real place. For a short
time, he is her connection to her homeworld, but also a stark reminder that discoveries such as
her dont come without cost.
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#221 ON SALE
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