CONTENTS

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES
18 STREET FIGHTER IV
CHARACTER BIOS
24 DRAGONICA
LOVE DRAGONICA
28 NEW YORK COMIC CON
HIGHLIGHTS
30 FIFA ONLINE 2
EA SPORTS FIFA ONLINE 2

PREVIEWS
34 RESIDENT EVIL 5
ZOMBIES WHO THROW PARANGS? S**T!
36 TOM CLANCY’S H.A.W.X.
FINALLY, THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
38 MADWORLD
WHERE’S JACK THOMPSON NOW, HUH?
40 EMPIRE: TOTAL WAR
BRINGING THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE TO EVERYONE
42 GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS
CHINA SMALL, SMALL
43 GUITAR HERO: METALLICA
NEVERSOFT GOOD, NAPSTER BAD
44 THIS IS VEGAS
BETTING ON THE HIGHWAY
45 EAT LEAD: THE RETURN OF MATT HAZARD
IT’S TIME TO KICK FPS ASS

REVIEWS
52 HALO WARS
THE CHIEF AIN’T IN IT
54 NINJA BLADE
NINJA GAIDEN’S YOUNGER BROTHER
56 F.E.A.R. 2 PROJECT ORIGIN
ALMA’S BACK!
58 STREET FIGHTER IV
SIMPLY COMPLEX
60 GTA IV: THE LOST & DAMNED
PEACE AND PROSPERITY BE DAMNED
62 THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL
NO MORE WHINING ABOUT KIDDY GAMES
64 DEADLY CREATURES

18STREETFIGHTER IV
IT AIN’T A BUG’S LIFE
65 WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR II
WAR LIKE YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED IT

ZEE-GIEF BLANK-PLAY DINO-KEN

- Don’t make me angry
or I’ll beat the crap out
of you!
- Next time we meet, I’m
gonna break your arms!
- Wow! You make me
feel so powerful!
- Seeing you in action is - I need a better workout
a joke. than this...where’s Eliza?
- Now you realize the - Now you really know
powers I possess. how it feels to be a loser!
- Do you want to be - Shoryureppa!...
friends!? Shinryuken!... Feel my
burning vigor!
 EDITOR’S NOTE MARCH MADNESS
Hello,
You know, I’m not a Singaporean. But I was here for
a while way back in 1992 and 1993. I still remember
how Street Fighter II fever was sweeping across the
arcades. Being from a third world country, and a
gamer, I was going ga-ga and happily engulfing
myself in the madness.

I wasn’t (still am not) a good Street Fighter II player

but it was awesome to play with other people and

34
kick ass (mostly, it was me getting my ass whooped).
There’s always one guy who is ridiculously good with
Dhalsim. Seriously, who plays with Dhalsim? But
still, there’s always one random guy who’s
unbeatable with Dhalsim and I’m always on the
receiving end of a beatdown.
PUBLISHER
Fast-forward to last month. Street Fighter IV came Jacky Choo
out and offices were missing people in the mornings, jacky@playworksonline.com
especially the offices in the gaming industry. We had
MCs, leaves, unofficial office tournaments (and EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Adam Tun-Aung
some official ones) and it was pretty hectic and fun.
adam@playworksonline.com
The cool thing about today’s consoles is that you can WRITERS
go online and play with other people. That brings Aaron Khoo
back memories of the arcades, especially with Street aaron@playworksonline.com
Fighter IV and not to ruin my childhood memories, Marcus “Swordplay” Soh
I’m still getting my ass whooped by some random marcus@gxleague.com
guy on Xbox live using Dhalsim. My hatred for all
things yoga has blossomed newfound motivations. CONTRIBUTORS

36
Eugene Neubronner, Jared Tay, Carlo Coloma,
Anyway, for all you Street Fighter IV fanatics, we’ve Mariel Wong, Luisa Lai, Alden Tan
got a special on the character bios. Do you know
why Blanka, who is essentially a human, has green CREATIVE DESIGNER
skin? You will after reading the feature. If you do Marcus Greiert
know already, you’re an overly-obsessed fan and we marcus@playworksonline.com
recommend you some fresh air and socializing, in
DESIGN CONTRIBUTORS
real life.
Elaine Hu
elaine@playworksonline.com
Enjoy the rest of the mag with our usual gaming Kenneth Choy
geek goodness. We won’t mention the word kenneth@playworksonline.com
“recession” much this issue. We (touchwood)
apparently still have our jobs. Send us COMMUNITY & PROMOTIONS
congratulatory words or snide remarks at Mohd Nizam
letters@playworksonline.com. nizam@playworksonline.com

Oh, and if you happen to be someone who uses ADVERTISING SALES AND MARKETING
Dhalsim in Street Fighter IV, don’t play with us on Email: sales@playworksonline.com
Xbox Live. Media Manager Aaron Yip
aaronyip@playworksonline.com

38
Thank you very much. Business & Content Manager Shawn Chung
shawn@playworksonline.com
Business Development Executive Melodie Ng
Hating people who play with Dhalsim,
melodie@playworksonline.com
Adam Tun-Aung
Editor PRINTING
Printer Regent Printing (S) Pte Ltd
REGULARS 521 Bukit Batok St 23 Level 5 Singapore 659544

04 INBOX PLAYWORKS is a monthly publication of Playworks Pte Ltd,

11 Stamford Rd #02-04 Capitol Building S(178884)
LETTER OF THE MONTH Email: mag@playworksonline.com
www.playworksonline.com
06 NEWS
Copyright© 2009, Playworks Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. No part
THE LATEST HOT TOPICS of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in, or introduced to
10 GAMER GIRL a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means
without the prior consent of Playworks Pte Ltd. and © for all
TM

STACY other products, characters and its graphical depictions contained

therein are properties of their respective trademark and
14 GRANADO ESPADA

65
copyright owners.
OCCULTA FORTRESS
PLAYWORKS PTE LTD 11 STAMFORD ROAD #02-04
16 RANKINGS CAPITOL BUILDING
SINGAPORE 178884 Tel: +65 6339 3083
OFFICE TOP 5 Fax: +65 6339 3079

CHUN-BONER SAG-KHOO GER-GUILE

- I’m the strongest woman - Your weakness will not - Go home and be a
in the world? satisfy my vengeful rage! family man.
- Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Yatta! - Fatuous fool. - That was a Sonic
- Whew! That was a gas... Challenging me with Boom that hit you,
It looks like I’ll never be such puny strength. not a tank!
an ordinary woman - Had enough, have you? - Too easy...
again! This makes you now one
of life’s losers.
 INBOX >>
ALL LETTERS ARE ANSWERED BY THE PLAYWORKS TEAM
LETTER
OF THE MONTH
Hey Playworks,
Great job! Love your mag. Anyway, I realize that games are have
been evolving a lot, particularly how most games today are going
multiplatform. I’ve been a PC gamer almost my whole life, and I
know some of the games on the consoles really rock. Question is,
should I bother getting one? I am sorry, I think PC is the way to go. I
mean, playing FPS games on the consoles just isn’t the same.
Mouse and keyboard works so smoothly. It’s such a pain to twiddle
my thumbs and fingers just to look around in a game. Another thing
which doesn’t translate well over to consoles is the RTS genre. No
way could consoles produce the same seamless gameplay should
they have say, Warcraft, Red Alert or Warhammer.
And multiplayer rocks more with the wider network we got. The PC
can handle graphics better too! Nuff said. The PC is and always will
be stronger in terms of technical capabilities. I mean, consoles didn’t
even get Crysis, and that is one heck of a resource-intensive game.
What do you guys think?
Thanks! Mouse+keyboard FTW!
Regards,
Allergic Tan
004 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
OUR REPLY
Dear Allergic,
What’s up Ally. Can we call you Ally? Of course we can. Thanks
for writing in. Well, we acknowledge the power of the PC
ourselves. We love games, be it for consoles or for the PC. We
know (with a powerful PC), graphics are better than their
console counterparts, but hey, console graphics are really good
too. Unless you are very nit-picky about it, it wouldn’t disappoint.
Also, the consoles are way more stable and reliable. Just pop in
the disc, and you’re on your way. We think it’s a major plus not
having to worry about ram, disk space, graphics card and what
have you. You may have bought the latest graphic card, but if
it’s not compatible with your motherboard, boom. That’s the end.
Our new intern can testify to that since he tried to upgrade his
now-defunct desktop and ended up buying a laptop instead.
Relax Ally. We strongly recommend a console. Sure, the PC
may be able to handle certain games well, but what about the
other way around? It’s highly unlikely you can enjoy an RPG as
much as one does on a console. Take for example the first
Fable. While a great game on its own, it just didn’t feel the
same.
As for Crysis, well, erm, the PC doesn’t have Gears Of War 2 or
Killzone 2. So, take that!
Cheers,
Playworks
NEXT ISSUE’S
MIDNIGHT CLUB
Letter of the Month writer will walk
away with Midnight Club: Los
Angeles for the Xbox 360! so keep
writing to
letters@playworksonline.com
 REGULARS NEWS
NEWS
THE LATEST HOT TOPICS
THE DEAD RISE AGAIN
Capcom recently announced the sequel to its
violent zombie slaying action game Dead Rising.
While the first game was an Xbox 360 exclusive,
the 2nd game, Dead Rising 2, will be also be
available for the PS3 and the PC.
Dead Rising 2 takes place several years after the
first game. It appears that after the events of the
first game, the zombie epidemic failed to be
contained and spread across the country. It might
be bad news for the characters in-game but it
means more zombies to chop up. Capcom has told
LOST PLANET 2 FOUND
Earlier in February, Capcom teased gamers with an
announcement that a top-secret game trailer for a
yet announced game would be heading to Xbox
Live on the 23rd. On the 23rd of February, it was
revealed that the unannounced project was the
sequel to Lost Planet.
Producer Jun Takeuchi introduced the new title and
explained some of the new features that would be
included in the upcoming title. According to
Takeuchi, Capcom received a lot of feedback
regarding the game’s multiplayer aspect and
demand for a co-op multiplayer experience. He was
006 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
gamers to expect to take on tens of thousands of
zombies.
The game will take place in a new location, Fortune
City, a casino. The new location will provide a whole
new bunch of ways to slay and destroy the undead
hordes. Also, from the screenshots that have been
released, it seems that a new blonde male will be
the protagonist. No information regarding release
dates has been released, so we’ll just have to sit
tight and wait.
pleased to announce that in response to these
demands, Lost Planet 2 would feature a rich co-op
experience.
Lost Planet 2 ditches the old Arctic environments of
the first game in favour of new lush jungle
environments. The video trailer which was
composed of mostly in-game footage showcased
Capcom’s impressive proprietary graphic engine
and team-based gameplay. Takeuchi was unable to
release any information regarding the game’s
release date but told gamers to keep an eye out for
more news on the game soon.
Quake Live is LIVE!
Quake Live, the browser based first person
shooter, is now in open beta! Quake Live is an
internet browser based version of Quake III
Arena, allowing Quake players to play from
anywhere as long as they have an internet
connection and a compatible internet browser.
All you have to do to join in on the carnage is to
visit the Quake Live website at www.quakelive.
com and register for an account. After verifying
your e-mail address for your account, head back
to the website, download and install the plug-in,
restart your browser and you are ready to go.
There is a brief tutorial that calculates your skill
level, allowing you to look for other similarly-
skilled players when you play online. There is
also a Practice mode, allowing you to play
against bots, all for free currently. For more info,
head on over to www.quakelive.com.
FIFA Online Tournaments
IAHGames is hosting a series of tournaments for
its newly launched free-to-play online football
title, FIFA Online 2. The game allows players to
create their own customized team of players
which they can train and personalize. They can
then face friends or foes in online matches
across the internet. The game offers both 1v1
and 2v2 game modes so that up to four players
can play together.
The first tournament took place on the 28th of
February and was the kick off to more
tournaments to come. The series of tournaments
have a total of $5,000 worth of prizes up for
grabs. At the recent tournament, which took
place at Game Haven, players were able to win
cash prizes on the spot. So, if you’re interested in
football or winning some cash, look out for the
next tournament in the series. For more
information head on over to
www.EAsportsFIFAonline2.com.

FUN IN HELL
EA has been proving that it is willing to take a risk
with its radical new IPs Dead Space and Mirror’s
Edge. Once again, EA shows that it won’t just sit on
its laurels milking its franchises with its new title
Dante’s Inferno.
Based on the famous poem by Dante Alighieri,
albeit with quite a few creative liberties taken,
Dante’s Inferno puts you in the shoes of the poet
himself. This time though, Dante is not a simple
poet but instead a veteran warrior returning from the
Crusades. Upon his return, he finds his fiancée
RESIDENT EVIL 5 BUNDLE
To usher in the arrival of the next big anticipated
game of the year, Resident Evil 5, Microsoft will be
releasing the RE5 Xbox360 Special Edition Bundle.
At just $590, you will get a copy of Resident Evil 5,
an Xbox 360 wireless controller, a wired headset,
an exclusive premium Resident Evil 5 theme for
your Xbox, a making-of RE5 DVD, a 3-month Xbox
live GOLD subscription, an exclusive tin case and
finally, a bonus card to download the hit Arcade title
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
If that long list of goodies doesn’t tantalize you, then
we seriously don’t know what will. Resident Evil 5
continues the story of the long standing Capcom
murdered and her soul being lured into the depths
of hell by Satan. From then onwards, he makes it
his quest to find out what is going on and rescue his
beloved.
While the poem may not have been packed with
action, the developers, who happen to be the same
people behind Dead Space, have stated that the
game will be filled with intense combat. No release
date has been revealed but the developers stated
that the game will take at the very least a year more
to complete.
franchise which has received much critical acclaim
for its solid gameplay, stunning graphics and scary
atmosphere. RE5 features an all-new two-player
co-op experience where gamers can choose to play
together online or through split-screen.
REGULARS NEWS
Your chance to attack suddenly!
This March on the 3rd, Asiasoft’s Sudden Attack
will be opening its doors to the public with the
start of its Open Beta Test. Sudden Attack is an
intense first-person shooter which pits two
opposing teams against each other in various
game modes similar to Counter-Strike. Players
are able to upgrade their characters with various
weapons and equipments as they battle it out in a
wide range of exciting maps.
In lieu with the OBT, Asiasoft will be giving out
RM$10,000 to the best players in Singapore and
Malaysia. Prizes will be given out through an
in-game event conducted over a period of five
weeks. The top five players who have
accumulated the most in-game experience each
week will be rewarded RM$400. The contest
period begins on the 3rd of March and ends on
the 6th of April.
In addition to this, two new weapons, as well as a
brand new map titled “Mad Cage”, will be
introduced to the game. The two new weapons
include the Gurkha knife and the AKS-74U. Find
out more at the official site suddenattack.
asiasoftsea.net.
Granado Espada deals
IAHGames is offering an exclusive Limited Edition
Bonus Pack for its award winning title Granado
Espada. The special bonus pack is limited to
1000 sets in Singapore only.
Within the GE Limited Edition Bonus Pack,
players will find the following items:
- 170,000 G-Points
- 100 Adelina Booty Searches
- 1 x Impervium +5: Veteran
- 1 x Impervium +6: Veteran
- 1 x Crystal Wings (exclusive, specially
designed back costume)
The items within the set are valued at over $200
but the promotion which is exclusive to SingTel
Mobile Postpaid customers is available for just
$120. Also, players can now choose to have the
GE client delivered directly to their homes by
simply sending an SMS. For more information on
these offers visit ge.iahgames.com.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 007
 REGULARS NEWS

NEWS
THE LATEST HOT TOPICS
LINEAGE II COMMUNITY EVENT

Xbox Live deals

As of February 23rd 2009, Xbox Live Gold
members will be able to enjoy new and special
deals every week. Some of these deals include
discounts on Arcade titles, Game add-ons, Xbox
Originals and other exciting content.

To kick off this new promo, the critically acclaimed

Braid, which has won several awards for its
platforming/puzzle-solving action, is now selling at a
discounted rate of 800 MS points instead of 1200
MS points. The offer gives gamers a 33% discount
off the original price. The deals seem to follow
Valve’s weekly Steam offers. Valve recently
released news that its offer of Left 4 Dead at a 50%
discount resulted in higher sales than the game’s
retail opening sales, a huge shock for the industry.

Later this month, gamers can expect discounts for

additional game content for Ninja Gaiden II, Project
Gotham Racing 4 and Fable. Keep track of our DLC
feature to keep up with just what’s happening on
On the 21st of February, iAM Interactive, official a Singapore team for the upcoming SEA battle Xbox Live.
distributor of Lineage 2, hosted its first Singapore tournament.
Lineage 2 community event. At the event, players
were invited to participate in several events Kit was also able to share with us some of the
including a raffle and various tournaments. products that iAM Interactive will be launching in the
Participants were able to win various in-game prizes near future, both of which are free-to-play. One of
as well as Lineage 2 merchandise. these was Exteel, a futuristic, arcade-style
mechanoid game. Exteel focuses on fast-paced,
We got the chance to speak to Kit Dela Cruz, Head action-packed gameplay that offers instant
of Business Development at iAM Interactive, about gratification. Players can customize their robots with
the event, iAM Interactive itself and their future a host of special weapons and abilities to increase
prospects. their effectiveness on the battlefield. As always, New PSP rumours
players can expect constant updates to the game to It seems the PSP rumour mill has been hard at
iAM Interactive was the result of a recent re- improve its quality including new maps which will be work as of late. Quite recently, we’ve been hearing
branding of AMDG. The new iAM Interactive is the released every month. Exteel also offers strong a lot about what is suspected to either be a new
online banner of AMDG and acts as a hub for all community features for clans, which include clan PSP model or the PSP 2.
iAM Interactive’s games which include Lineage 2 territories and rankings. Closed Beta for the game is
and Guild Wars. Also launched with iAM Interactive expected to start this March. If the rumours are true, the new PSP will be a
was the iAM wallet which provides a universal game complete redesign of the old one and according to a
account management system that allows users to The other title that iAM Interactive will be introducing recent article on VG247, it will feature a sliding
manage all their accounts through a single tool. is Go Go Racer, a cute kart-racing game targeted at screen. David Perry, who founded Shiny
the casual audience. What sets apart Go Go Racer Entertainment in 1993, stated in a recent twitter, “I
We asked Kit about why the decision to host the from other kart racers is its deep crafting and hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank
event in Singapore was made. According to her, customization which allows each player to create goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-
iAM Interactive received many requests for their own unique kart. Players can expect plenty of sucking UMD disc drive,”
Singapore community events and in response, they tracks, special items and a multitude of cute avatars
decided to host the event as a reward to their loyal to suit their liking. As of now, Sony has declined to comment on the
Lineage 2 fans. She told us that iAM Interactive is rumours. Whether or not the new development will
focused on rewarding its community and bringing iAM Interactive’s recent efforts have shown that it is turn out to be a new PSP model or the PSP 2 is
value to its users. When asked about future events, dedicated to providing the best services and value unclear. What you can probably bet on though is
she told us that we can expect more local events in to its customers. Local support for the gaming that we can expect some announcements from
addition to the already successful online events that community is a great thing and we hope that we’ll be Sony later this year.
have been held. She also told us of plans to create seeing more of it.

008 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 GAMERGIRL STACY

STACY
WO
RDS
&P
SO, WHAT GOT YOU STARTED IN GAMING?
HOT After a game at my friend’s place, it was C.S, I got hooked!
OG
RA
PH
YA
DA M

PersoStana l
Name: cy Wee
ouette Serenade
Nicknames: Silh
Age: 23
siness Executive
Occupation: Bu
Status: Single

GamteinGegnre: Flash Games, FPS Hero series

Favouri unter-Strike, Guitar
(s): Diner Dash, Co
Favourite Game Wii
d: PC, Nintendo
Consoles Owne
at: 14, I think.
Started Gaming

Other:sShopping, dinner with my girls and of course, games!

Hobbies

BE THE NEXT GAMER GIRL!

Hey ladies, if you happen to know the difference between Grand Theft Auto IV and
Gran Turismo 5, or you’ve a high level 70 World of Warcraft character, then we want
you as our next Gamer Girl. Send us an image of yourself and a brief email on why
we should pick you to mag@playworksonline.com, and if we choose you for
next month’s gamer girl feature, you stand to win some great prizes and a shot at
the Gamer Girl of the Year crown!

010 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 GAMERGIRL OF THE YEAR

KA S O N
GAMER Girl
PLAYWORKS

OF THE YEAR

2008
Congratulations to Kason Tay, aka Valkyrie, on winning our
Gamer Girl Of The Year! She was featured in our July issue of last year
and emerged with the most votes. Thanks to everyone who voted and
amongst those who voted for Valkyrie, here is one lucky winner who would
walk away with some goodies.

Name: Siow Wei Jian

NRIC: SXXX1725B

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 011

 REGULARS DEE-EL-CEE SPACE

DEE-EL-CEE with EMENZEE!

…we scan PlayStationNetwork, Xbox LIVE, and WiiWare Channel for COOL stuff!
Welcome back to the DEE-EL-CEE!
It’s the month of March and the school holidays are
here again. It’s time to share some quality time with
your family, friends and loved ones. How about
snuggling up together on a couch for some good time
fun with some free games from the Marketplace? The
economy is still gloomy but that doesn’t mean our
spirits should stay down.

While you’re watching your budget, it does not mean

that your gaming hobby should suffer. Now is the
perfect time to relook at your games collection and
replay those which you have ignored, played halfway,
or simply revisit to uncover the extra goodies.

Looking for something new to play? How would you

like to win a mystery game? Send an email to
nizam@playworksonline.com with your name, age
and the type of console you own and we’ll contact you
if you’ve been selected to win something from us!

XBOX LIVE ARCADE XBOX LIVE DEMOS (FREE) Our pick this month is:
All Arcade games come with a trial version which
you can download for free. If the game is to your
liking, download the full version using Microsoft
points. Our picks this month:

THE MAW
Maw is a cowardly fat blob concerned mostly
with snacking and lounging. He can,
however, absorb the traits of anything he
eats, is virtually indestructible, and can grow
to unlimited size. In this action/adventure
game, he’s the best friend of our hero Frank,
and only by working together can the two of
them eat their way to freedom (actually
Maw’s doing the eating, Frank is just leading).
FUNTOWN MAHJONG
A rare release of the traditional
Chinese title game in full English! The
full version allows you to pit your skills
against other opponents on Xbox Live
and enjoy tons of exciting Mahjong
variations.
RESIDENT EVIL 5
Here’s your chance to experience one of the highly-anticipated
games for 2009 that is scheduled to be released this month. Play by
yourself in a single player campaign or with a partner in co-op mode.
This can be done online, offline or local (with a split-screen).
XBOX LIVE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Our pick this month is:
GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE LOST & DAMNED
The first of two Xbox 360 exclusive expansion packs is finally here.
For 1600 MS points, you are treated to at least ten hours of game time
with a new character, a fresh storyline, new weapons and vehicles
and cool multiplayer modes. Check out our review on Page 58.

XBOX LIVE DEMOS (FREE) Our pick this month is:

GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR

There’s a whole list of tracks for
TOM CLANCY’S H.A.W.X.
download from the marketplace,
f you’re craving for some combat in the sky, try out UbiSoft’s latest
ranging from Wings, Acoustic Track
Tom Clancy’s franchise. Fly through the breathtaking landscape of
Pack, Oasis, the Grateful Dead and
Rio De Janeiro and feast your eyes on the lifelike rendition of Christ
many more. Time to call in your friends
The Redeemer, one of the magnificent structures on Earth. H.A.W.X
to rock the (recession) blues away.
is also scheduled for release this month.

012 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com


Downloadable Games
Demos are available for free, and the full
games can be purchased for a small fee.
Our pick this month is:
NOBY NOBY BOY
Push the boundaries of your imagination in the
latest game from the creator of the Katamari
Damacy series! Control the main character, BOY,
to play, stretch and interact with objects and
characters in surreal worlds!
Wii Ware Channel Our pick this month is:
LIT
Dark creatures have taken over Jake’s high
school, and it’s up to you to guide him through
each classroom in order to be reunited with his
girlfriend Rachael. Existing light sources must be
used smartly to create bridges of light for Jake to
cross. LIT is a horror/puzzle game that requires
the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers. It
contains 30 levels, five boss battles, replay
modes, and several unlockables including
multiple endings, Dark Mode timed challenges,
and an unlockable character.
LONPOS
Looking for a puzzle game that anyone can play,
but still offers plenty to master? Here it is. Each
puzzle revolves around a rectangular playing field
of 55 spaces. Using a set of twelve pieces, the
goal is to place every piece into the playing field,
filling it completely. The higher the level, the more
pieces need to be fit into the playing field
correctly. Challenge yourself with two single-
player modes or bring a friend into the game and
choose from more modes which allow you to
compete against or cooperate with the other
person.
REGULARS DEE-EL-CEE SPACE
DEMOS (FREE) Our pick this month is:
AFRO SAMURAI
Discover why Blood is Beautiful in this demo. Take
control of Afro as he searches for Justice, his
Father’s killer. Break your enemy’s guard with the
brute force of the combo system, and then learn to
focus, and send them to the grave with precision
and style. Take an arm, take a leg or take a life; the
choice is yours.
ADD-ON GAME CONTENT Our pick this month is
STREET FIGHTER 4 BRAWLER
COSTUME PACK
The Brawler Costume Pack includes all-new
alternate costumes for Street Fighter IV’s
hand-to-hand high-powered combatants: Abel,
E.Honda, El Fuerte, Rufus, and Zangief. More than
just colour changes, these five costumes allow you
to dress up and customize your fighters for all to
see. See El Fuerte in a chef’s outfit, E.Honda in
classic attire and Zangief in a truly Capcom classic
outfit.
NARUTO: ULTIMATE
NINJA STORM PACK 9
(FREE)
Download Storm Pack 7
and unleash the legendary
Sound Ninja Jirobo as your
support character in battle.
The Storm Pack 7 also
contains new Ultimate
Mission to engage!
For regular updates, visit our
forums and blog:
Brotherhood of the Box: www.bob.com.sg/forum
PlayWorks Blog: www.playworksonline.com
My Blog: http://xboxnizam.spaces.live.com
Modes of Transaction:
Xbox LIVE Marketplace:
Retail – 1600 MS points ($33.00)
Credit Card – (various denominations available)
PlayStation Network:
Credit Card only
(content priced in local currency)
WiiWare Channel:
Retail – 2000 points ($39.90)
Credit card - (various denominations available)
 REGULARS GRANADO ESPADA

TEXT HRIN, Regional Community Manager -- http://ge.iahgames.com

OCCULTA FORTRESS
ARE YOU THE NEXT INDIANA JONES?
With the recent opening of the mystical Mayan temple,
the Occulta Fortress, comes your opportunity to be
the next Indiana Jones!
Doorway: Unraveling
the Sundial…
The mysterious sundials
are located at the Meridian
of Zeia and the Twilight of
Zeia. The sundial at
Meridian of Zeia will
requires 5 Ancient Runes
– Ti while the sundial at the Twilight of Zeia map will
require 5 Ancient Runes – Te.

If you manage to make it pass these headless

ARE YOU THE NEXT INDIANA JONES?
Preparation for your adventure:
Collect the Runes!
To enter the Occulta Fortress, collect 5 Ancient
Runes – either Ti or Te. These ancient runes can be
found at either the Meridian of Zeia or the Twilight of
Zeia.
warriors, good luck in dealing with the kobold
warriors who are out for your blood!
Hallway of Headless Guards
Upon entering the fortress, you will be presented
with rows of headless guards on either side of the
hallway trying to deter you from entering. Beware
though - These headless armors will come to life
and attack you to defend their fortress!

014 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

The Blender Room: Care to be juiced?
After escaping the claws of the kobolds, your next
nightmare begins. Get to know what life must be like there.
as a fruit before it gets juiced by the blender, as you
struggle to make it out alive from the rows of rotating
blades covering the entire room with turrets at the
sides.
Here’s a tip on how to resolve this little dilemma.
Use an expert level ‘Nar’ character to talk to the
sundial right outside the room.
If you have the Ancient Rune - Ar required by the
sundial, it will shine brightly and voila! The trap
would have been disabled.
Goodbye blender!
A Seemingly Harmless Corridor?
After leaving the Blender Room, you will arrive at a
“seemingly harmless corridor”.
However, once you start moving forward…
… spikes on the floor pop up which will instantly kill
your characters. Unfortunately, the traps in this room
cannot be disabled, so strategy and teamwork is
required for this.
The safest way to get across would be to walk along A Dead End?
the sides of the room but beware of the turrets Inside the last room of Occulta Fortress, there will be
a door at each of the 3 corners of the room which will
require a ‘Key to Occulta, General’s Room’ obtained
from the Necro Shaman to open. If the wrong door is
opened, monsters will flood into the room. However,
if the correct door is opened, a mission lobby to the
‘General’s Room’ will be opened at the location of the
correct door.
Meet Boss, Necro Shaman
The boss in this room, Necro Shaman, is located in
the middle of the room which will drop a ‘Key to
Occulta, General’s Room’. You will require this to
face the last boss in the zone. Nerco Shaman will
cast ‘Dark Explosion’ which will inflict ‘Enervation’ on
players reducing ATK, ATK Speed, Movement
Speed by 50% and reduce HP by 30% and halt HP Final Stop: Mufasa
regeneration. Upon entering the mission room, there will be a
dialogue by Ania before she summons the boss
‘Mufasa’.
Mufasa uses the following skill Armageddon that will
cause confusion that halts SP regeneration and
disables all skill. The Wall of Fire he casts causes
burn that restricts all attacks and skills and reduces
max HP by 25%. His last skill, Frost Hand, causes
cold wave that reduces attack and movement speed.
His random punches will reduce the DEF of the
targeted character to 0.
The only way out of this room would be to use an
expert Nar and follow the green arrow at the end of
the room.
So, now that you know all about what lies ahead in
Decisions, decisions the Occulta Fortress, are you ready to be the next
Indiana Jones?
Upon entering the room, there will be 3 warp gates
inside. One of the warp gates inside is the correct
warp gate which will create a warp gate in the
previous room which will allow players to advance
further into the dungeon. If the wrong warp gate is
selected, players will be teleported back to the
previous room and monsters will be spawned.
When you reach the end of the map, there will be
another sundial which requires 10 of each Ancient
Runes before it will summon the warp gate to the
last room in the Occulta Fortress.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 015
 REGULARS RANKINGS

OFFICE TOP
FIGHTING ON THE STREETS
5
MEDIA TOP GAMES

1
STREET FIGHTER IV

GAMES
The day after the game came out,

TOP 10
half of the office went missing, or on
MC, or on leave. The next day, they
all came in really late. The day after,
the boss had to make really strict
rules about coming in on time. Then
we all setup the projector in the Games
meeting room with a 360 and had
ourselves an office tournament. Yes, 1. Halo Wars (Xbox 360)
this game is bad… for work.

2
GTA IV: THE LOST & DAMNED
It’s been a while since we’ve cruised
down the streets in Liberty City,
listening to Russian songs and
shooting random pedestrians. But
we’re raising hell once again with the
release of this 4-moths-delayed-but-
damn-well-worth-the-wait Xbox 360
exclusive expansion. New character,
new storyline, some new weapons
and rides, oh, hell yeah.

3
2. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II (PC)
WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR 2 3. Street Fighter IV (PS3)
This one, it’s for the PC guys in the 4. Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360)
office, namely Khoo and Swordplay.
5. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
They’ve been really raving about it
before the release and once they got
their crummy little hands on the
game, they’ve been playing it almost
nonstop. Heck, they even missed a
bit of our Street Fighter IV tournament
in the conference room. PC geeks.

4
HALO WARS
This one, the PC geeks didn’t like
much. Khoo was acting all pompous
and criticizing how it is just a 6. Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
mediocre RTS game and citing
examples like his Dawn of War II and
7. Necrovision (PC)
whatnot as the real good RTS titles. 8. Killzone 2 (PS3)
Come on, it’s an original RTS title on
a console. And it’s quite polished.
Appreciated it, you snobs! Stop being
so righteous and PC (pun).

5
THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL
Our dear intern Alden and Khoo were
fighting and bitching over a few
lunches over this title. No, they
weren’t arguing whether it’s good or
not. They’re arguing who’s getting in
the way of the other. Co-op
gameplay, apparently, is not very
suitable for these two. The German
9. Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
and Adam tried a bit as well but since
it’s on the Wii, they didn’t like it much. 10. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

016 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 COVER STORY STREET FIGHTER IV

Character Bios
While the Street Fighter series has always been known for its superb gameplay and general mastery of the genre, the same cannot
really be said of its story. As a matter of fact, most fighting games tend to shy away from any sort of coherent, comprehensive plot,
preferring instead to focus on the action while leaving any semblance of a storyline to rot in some deep, dark dungeon.

That said however, while Street Fighter IV chooses to eschew story-telling in favour of instant action, there is actually a pretty rich
background behind each character in the series. It’s hard to grasp the background story of every fighter by simply playing the game
so we’ve come up with a detailed feature that we hope will help shed some light on your favourite brawlers.

018 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com


“While the Street Fighter series has always
been known for its superb gameplay and
general mastery of the genre, the same
cannot really be said of its story”
Nationality: Japanese
Fighting Style: Martial Arts
rooted in the Assassination
Arts
Super Combo: Shinkuu
Hadouken
Ultra Combo: Metsu
Hadouken
Background: Life hasn’t
always been easy for Street
Fighter’s most recognized
fighter. Ryu, an orphan, was
found and raised by martial arts
master Gouken. Even at an
early age, Ryu displayed a remarkable talent for martial arts which prompted
Gouken to train him.
Ryu is constantly striving to improve his martial skill, travelling around the globe
in search of opponents who can test his true strength. In Street Fighter IV, Ryu
once again joins the Street Fighter Tournament to test his mettle and also for a
chance to spar with his old friend, Ken.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 019
 COVER STORY STREET FIGHTER IV
Nationality: French
Fighting Style: Mixed
Martial Arts
Super Combo: Mushin
Ultra Combo: Muga
Background: Abel was
discovered in an abandoned
lab without any memories by
the leader of a small band of
mercenaries. He was taken
care of by this leader who
treated him as family. After the
leader died in an accident, Abel
was left once again with no family and memories. The only thing he
remembered was that his “father” always warned him to stay away from
Shadaloo. Tt turned out the lab he was found in belonged to them.
Chun Li, who knew Abel, took pity on him and informed him about the
tournament implying that he could seek out more of his past there.
Nationality: American
Fighting Style: Boxing
Super Combo: Crazy Buffalo
Ultra Combo: Violent Buffalo
Background: Before his
career at Shadaloo, Balrog was
a heavyweight boxing
champion. Unfortunately
though, his uncontrollable
temper and violence led to him
being banned from the ring for
life. Looking for a way to
support his lavish lifestyle, Balrog turned to illegal means. He worked his way
up from the bottom of the Shadaloo organization, impressing M. Bison so
much that he was promoted to one of the Four Lords of the Shadaloo.
In Street Fighter IV, Balrog is called to duty once again by an unknown
employer whose intentions are left hidden.
Nationality: American
Fighting Style: Battlesuit
Augmented Style
Super Combo: Emergency
Combination
Ultra Combo: Burst Time
Background: Not much is
known about the American
secret agent Crimson Viper. All
that has been revealed is that
she works for S.I.N. and uses a
prototype Battlesuit to aid her in
fights. The suit is produced by
S.I.N. but has not been
perfected, thus only Viper has been able to use it to its full potential.
As a result of her mastery of the Battlesuit, Viper has been tasked to test the
limits of the Battlesuit in the coming tournament. In return for her services, she
has been promised ownership of the mysterious BLECE project.
020 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
Nationality: Japanese
Fighting Style: Surge of
Murderous Intent
Super Combo: Shun Goku Satsu
Ultra Combo: Shun Goku Satsu
Background: Akuma and
Gouken both trained under the
same master, Goutetsu.
Through that, they learned a
fighting style made for
assassination. While Gouken
chose to remove the
murderous intent of the style,
Akuma chose to focus on it.
His anger and violence ultimately led to him killing his own master.
Akuma is constantly training, awaiting the arrival of a suitable challenger to
unleash his wrath upon. In Street Fighter IV, he goes out in search of Ryu to
test his mettle against his brother’s student.
Nationality: Brazilian
Fighting Style: Self-taught
Super Combo: Grand Shave
Rolling
Ultra Combo: Lightning
Cannonball
Background: At the age of
six, Blanka, then known as
Jimmy, was a lucky survivor
of a plane crash in the
Amazon rainforest. Growing
up in the wild, Blanka
developed his own unique
fighting techniques. His
repeated use of chlorophyll to camouflage himself in the forest left his skin
permanently coloured.
Prior to Street Fighter IV, Blanka was able to reunite with his mother after
she recognized him in the newspaper reports of the Street Fighter
Tournament. Blanka rejoins the tournament in order to relieve his mother of
the constant ostracism she suffers because of his appearance.
Nationality: Chinese
Fighting Style: Chinese
Martial Arts
Super Combo: Senretsu
Kyaku
Ultra Combo: Housenka
Background: At a young
age, Chun Li’s father
disappeared while
investigating M. Bison’s
secret organization,
Shadaloo. After his death,
Chun Li began training in
order to take revenge on her
father’s killer. Thanks to her father’s training, she was easily able to become
one of the most skilled female martial artists in the world.
As part of her path to dismantling Shadaloo, Chun Li joined the International
Criminal Police Organization (ICPO). After M. Bison’s defeat, Chun Li
returned to her civilian life.
 Nationality: Chinese
Fighting Style: Saikyo style
Karate
Super Combo: Hissho Buraiken
Ultra Combo: Shisso Buraiken
Background: Dan originally
began his training under his
father Go Hibiki but he was
never able to realize his
potential because of his
recklessness. Believing he could
learn more under another
teacher, Dan left his father in
search of a new master. During this time, his father was killed by the fearsome
fighter Sagat. On his travels, Dan enrolled under Gouken but was soon
expelled when Gouken found out he was training to gain revenge on Sagat.
After being expelled, Dan began to develop a style of his own called
Saikyo-Ryu. He enters the tournament to prove to those who criticised him
and the strength of Saikyo-Ryu.
Nationality: Japanese
Fighting Style: Sumo
Wrestling
Super Combo: Onimusou
Ultra Combo: Super
Onimusou
Background: Since childhood,
Edmund Honda was trained by
the world’s most famous sumo
wrestling coaches. Early in his
career, E. Honda was shocked
to find out that outside Japan,
few knew or even considered
sumo wrestling to be a true sport.
After this epiphany, E. Honda made it his goal to introduce the world to the
power and strength of sumo wrestling. In Street Fighter IV, E. Honda returns
once again to prove his skill and show the world the glory of sumo wrestling.
Nationality: Chinese
Fighting Style: Jeet Kune Do
Super Combo: Rekka Shin
Ken
Ultra Combo: Rekka Shin Geki
Background: Following in the
foot steps of his role model
Bruce Lee, Fei Long is an avid
practitioner of Jeet Kune Do
and a famous actor. He was
able to spar with Ryu once and
lost, leaving him disgraced in
front of his fans. Since then he
has strived to improve his
fighting skills and reclaim his pride.
Fei Long recently began filming a new movie that focuses on an evil terrorist
organization. That very organization later launched several attacks on his film
crew, forcing Fei Long to set out and discover the root of the issue.
Nationality: Indian
Fighting Style: Yoga
Super Combo: Yoga Inferno
Ultra Combo: Yoga
Catastrophe
Background: Dhalsim was
educated by the greatest
Yoga masters. Dhalsim
gained the ability to extend
his limbs to extreme
lengths to strike distant
foes. Although he is a
master of combat, Dhalsim
only uses his abilities to
defend himself or the weak. During his earlier years, a famine in his
village led to death of several children whose skulls he now wears around
his neck in reverent remembrance.
The recent criminal events of an unknown organization have caused a
drought in Dhalsim’s village, forcing him to take up arms and enter the
tournament to uncover the source of the drought.
Nationality: Mexican
Fighting Style: Lucha Libre
Super Combo: El Fuerte
Dynamite
Ultra Combo: El Fuerte
Flying Gigabuster
Background: One of the
odder fighters, El Fuerte’s
skills are not only limited
to the arena. El Fuerte
has a successful career
as a luchador but also
has a great love for the
culinary arts. His goal in
life is to become one of the best chefs in the world.
The recent tournament has given him the opportunity of a lifetime. He
decides to join not only to prove his fighting skills but also to find out what
the strongest fighters in the world eat to keep themselves in tip-top shape.
Nationality: Chinese
Fighting Style: “Mourning
Style” and “Hateful Style”
Super Combo: Jyakoha
Ultra Combo: Ryukoha
Background: While Gen
may seem like a harmless
old man, his beginnings
could not be any further
from that. In his early years,
he was an assassin and
good friends of Goutetsu,
the famous teacher of
Gouken and Akuma. After
finding out about Goutetsu’s death, he went into hiding while training
students, fearing that Akuma would come after him.
One of Gen’s students was Chun Li’s father. After his death, Gen has kept a
watchful eye on Chun Li. Chun Li’s return to law enforcement has prompted
him to leave the shadows and protect his pupil’s daughter.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 021
 COVER STORY STREET FIGHTER IV
Nationality: Japanese
Fighting Style: Martial Arts
rooted in the Assassination Arts
Super Combo: Forbidden
Shoryuken
Ultra Combo: Shin Shoryuken
Background: No one other
than Gouken has trained more
martial artists from the Street
Fighter series. Among his more
prominent students are the
likes of Ryu, Ken and Dan.
Gouken himself trained under
the legendary master Goutetsu
alongside his brother Akuma.
After Akuma murdered their teacher, Gouken continued to perfect his art.
As of the events before Street Fighter IV, Gouken was presumed to be dead
after engaging in a battle with Akuma. It is revealed however, that he was only
in a coma and he has reawakened to unite with his students.
Nationality: American
Fighting Style: Martial Arts
rooted in the Assassination Arts
Super Combo: Shoryureppa
Ultra Combo: Shinryuken
Background: Unlike his good
friend Ryu, Ken’s earlier life
wasn’t filled with hardship. He
was born the son of a wealthy
family but was sent to study
under Gouken because of his
reckless behaviour. While
Gouken had no connection to
Ken or his family, he decided to train Ken because of his latent potential.
At the time of Street Fighter IV, Ken is married to his long time girl friend Eliza
who is expecting their first child. Ken decides to join the tournament after
receiving an invitation from Ryu who wishes to spar once again with his
friendly rival.
Nationality: Italian
Fighting Style: Soul Power
Super Combo: Aura Soul
Spark
Ultra Combo: Illusion Spark
Background: Rose’s birth
was the result of M. Bison’s
attempts to master his Psycho
Power. In doing so, he chose
to discard what he considered
to be the “weak” parts of his
soul. It was these very parts
that reformed into Rose,
making her his polar opposite.
Her nature led her to hunt down the evil M. Bison at the Street Fighter
Tournaments. It was during the end of the second tournament that she
witnessed what she thought was the death of Bison at the hands of Akuma.
Rumours of Bison’s return have made her question that death.
022 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
Nationality: American
Fighting Style: Full-Contact Martial
Arts and Pro Wrestling Techniques
Super Combo: Double Somersault
Ultra Combo: Somersault
Explosion
Background: During his service
as a major in the U.S. Air Force,
Guile lost a close friend named
Charlie. After returning from an
unsuccessful investigation, Guile
got news that his best friend
Charlie had been sent to track M.
Bison. After almost a year, there
was no word from Charlie and he
was presumed dead. Since then,
Guile has been on a mission to find his lost comrade.
Much to Guile’s dismay, his superiors gave up searching for Charlie. Guile
threatened to resign and continue his search personally but a new threat from an
unknown organization has forced him to once again join the Street Fighter
Tournament.
Nationality: Secret Society of
Shadaloo
Fighting Style: Psycho Power
Super Combo: Knee Press
Nightmare
Ultra Combo: Nightmare
Booster
Background: The history of
Street Fighter’s most famous
villain has always been
shrouded in mystery. Few
know exactly how he rose to
power but there have been
many rumours. Bison is the
leader of the massive
Shadaloo criminal organization. He utilizes the organization to further his
plans of world domination.
The Street Fighter Tournaments are usually hosted by Bison who usually uses
them to lure out the world’s greatest fighters for his own nefarious purposes.
This latest tournament however, is not hosted by Bison who only recently
recovered from grievous wounds.
Nationality: American
Fighting Style: Kung Fu
Super Combo: Spectacular
Romance
Ultra Combo: Space Opera
Symphony
Background: It would be
hard to convince anyone that
Rufus is a master of Kung Fu
but under his rotund bulk lies
a martial artist. At least that is
what Rufus thinks. Rufus
believes that he is America’s
greatest martial artist and will go to any end to prove this.
Rufus finds himself in the shadow of Ken’s popularity and decides to join the
tournament to defeat Ken, whom he has labelled as his rival, to prove that he
is indeed America’s greatest fighter.
 Nationality: Thai
Fighting Style: Muay Thai
Super Combo: Tiger Genocide
Ultra Combo: Tiger Destruction
Background: In his youth, Sagat
received grievous damage to his
eye during a vicious battle. Soon
after, he was forced to defend
this title from Go Hibiki (Dan’s
father) who took advantage of
Sagat’s weak eye to bypass his
defences. Recognizing his
weakness, Sagat chose to stop
defending his eye and retaliate
as Hibiki lashed out. Sagat’s
move granted him victory cost him his eye and Hibiki’s life.
In the first Street Fighter game, Ryu confronted Sagat and defeated him in single
combat, leaving Sagat with his trademark scar. Ever since then, Sagat has held a
deep hatred for Ryu and has spent all his time training for his next chance to
defeat his rival.
Nationality: English
Fighting Style: Shadaloo
assassination techniques &
Special forces training
Super Combo: Spin Drive
Smasher
Ultra Combo: Gyro Drive
Smasher
Background: Cammy wasn’t
always on the side of the good
guys. For a long time, she
served M. Bison, who had
brainwashed her, killing his
enemies with violent efficiency.
On her last mission for Bison,
her incomplete brainwashing caused her to question her actions and abandon
her mission.
The events that followed were vague but some time later, Cammy was found
by Colonel Wolfman of MI6 who trained her and led her to join Delta Red. The
recent tournament’s mysterious background has Cammy sent on another
mission to investigate its origins.
Nationality: Russian
Fighting Style: Sambo and
American Pro Wrestling
Super Combo: Final Atomic
Buster
Ultra Combo: Ultimate Atomic
Buster
Background: Zangief began
his career in the Russian
Wrestling Federation but he
soon found his foes there
lacking any real challenge. In
order to better himself, Zangief
began learning new techniques and moves while developing some of his own,
the most famous of these being the spinning piledriver. During his training, he
was known to have wrestled bears which left him scars that he proudly wears.
Zangief’s reason for joining the latest Street Fighter Tournament is simply to
prove himself to his fans and critics who think that wrestling is staged.
Nationality: Japanese
Fighting Style: Imitation of
Ryu’s style
Super Combo: Karu Ichiban
Ultra Combo: Haru Ranman
Background: Sakura’s life
wasn’t always filled with
drama. For 15 years, she
lived a normal life just like any
other girl. One day however,
after witnessing Ryu in a fight,
she became obsessed with
his skill. She began to teach
herself his techniques while
seeking him out. When she
finally found him, he was impressed by her but refused to take her as a
student feeling he lacked the experience to be a teacher.
Saddened by the rejection, she unwillingly enrolled as a student under Dan.
The upcoming tournament has given her an opportunity to once again ask
Ryu to be her master.
Nationality: Spanish
Fighting Style: Spanish Ninjitsu
Super Combo: Flying
Barcelona Special & Rolling
Izuna Drop
Ultra Combo: Bloody High
Claw
Background: Descended
from Spanish nobility, Vega
was raised in a life of wealth.
In his early years, he studied
the Spanish tradition of
bullfighting and later travelled
to Japan, studying Ninjitsu.
When his father murdered his
mother for not showing him respect, Vega sought vengeance and killed his
own father. The event left him traumatized for life and caused him to develop
a split personality.
Vega fights with a mask to protect his “beautiful” face from any scars during
combat. Like Balrog, Vega is summoned by an unknown employer to
participate in the tournament.
Nationality: Unknown
Fighting Style: Unknown
Super Combo: Tandem
Storm
Ultra Combo: Tandem
Stream
Background: Seth, the new
final boss of Street Fighter IV
is the CEO of S.I.N., the
weapons manufacturing
division of Shadaloo. He was
created to provide M. Bison a
new body that could properly
utilize Bison’s psycho power.
When Bison disappeared, Seth took the opportunity to overthrow Bison’s
reign.
Seth is able to absorb the techniques of other fighters and has used this
ability to hone his fighting skills to extreme levels. He decides to host the
tournament to gather the best fighters from around the globe and steal their
skills.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 023
 FEATURES DRAGONICA
ven before the Dragonica servers
were opened at 3pm (GMT +8) on
an off-peak weekday afternoon this
past 13th February, thousands of gamers
were preparing to pull all-nighters for the
27-hour Valentine’s Preview of the new CBT
build.
For the special event, gamers were allowed
to retain their characters permanently upon
hitting Level 10. 10,000 cash points were
also given free to all those who had signed
up with a CBT registration code obtained
from various game sites.
The goodies didn’t stop coming. By the
second Session beginning on 20th
February, Level 15-19s were also
automatically leveled to 20, and those
already 20 and above were provided with 3
024 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
free Skill Reset Scrolls to truly customize their
character builds and try out different skills.
Even for returning gamers, it was a brand new
adventure, with new skill-trees, new equipment
and item-enhancement systems, new maps
like Steven Trading Port and the four
mysterious Sanctuaries, new enemies like the
fiery Sparks, odd-looking Shrooms and
Mini-boss Mambo Raccoon Atoo, as well as
completely reworked Area- and Continent-boss
dungeons.
For many though, this was their first time in
Dragonica after a long wait. Gamers showed
their enthusiasm by taking work leaves,
rescheduling appointments and counting down
the minutes to server opening time on the
forum, just so they could lose themselves in
the lands of El Grego undisturbed for a brief
period of fast-paced fun.
Whether they were questing, exploring new
areas, PVP-ing, racing through maze-like
obstacle maps, or just hanging out in
beautiful Port of Winds, the newly-recruited
Dragonians did not forget to explore new
interactive systems like Guild leveling
quests, the new Player Market, and go on
an in-game date or two with fellow-gamers!
The event came to a close on 21st February
amid a cacophony of Megaphone protests
and pleas for an extension.
We’re sad to say goodbye, but then a bigger
event is in the works.
Sign up at http://dragonica.iahgames.com
and we’ll see you during the CBT!
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 025
 FEATURES NEW YORK COMIC CON
IGHTS
HIGHL
New York Comic Con recently wrapped up in early February. While it’s
more famous for its American comics, game developers were out in force
to pimp some of the latest titles before the groundswell that is E3. Here’re
the highlights of the show.
WOLFENSTIEN
The new Wolfenstien just keeps looking prettier
and prettier. Back in the classic shoes of B. J.
Blaskowicz, Activision revealed some new details,
including a “Veil stone” – the game’s way of
upgrading itself to things like bullet time – and
some reveals on the plot.
The Nazi’s are looking for “Geist energy”, a
supernatural pool of matter that’s ridiculously
powerful. For starters, those heavily-armored
Nazi’s shooting what we thought were tesla coiled
lightning? Yeah, Geist-guns of laser doom.
OVERLORD 2
Pure evil for evil’s sake makes for a fun distraction,
and Overlord was an excellent example of it. As a
new evil mastermind leading his armies of minions
to overtake the world, this new game appears to be
giving us more of the same, with minor upgrades.
These upgrades include vastly different powers
depending on your choices, more pronounced than
the first game, the ability to have minions ride
mounts, and more personalized troops – think the
jester in the castle of the first title.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES:
SMASH IT UP
Debuting the trailer at New York comes a blast from
the past. The green reptilian dudes’ Smash Up is a
3D brawler, looking to mix in different fighting styles
such as bare-handed and weapons-drawn,
alongside a comic-style “Wham! Bam!”. It shouldn’t
be a surprise, coming from the developers of
028 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
perfect-10 scoring Super Smash Brothers Brawl,
which is why we have high hopes that the production
and realization of classic turtle action will be a good
one.
BATTLE FORGE
Here’s an interesting little title – an online-only RTS,
with card-based elements. While developers
Phenomic were quick to stress that the “cards” you
play only create the army and then it’s back to
traditional RTS, the game looks absolutely stunning
already.
With four factions, a micro-transaction model to
purchase booster packs of eight cards (USD$2.50 is
the developer’s going rate for now) and a storyline
meant for co-op, here’s a game you should be
keeping an eye on. Oh, and did we mention your
cards can get upgraded when you replay old maps?
Yeah, we like it too.
MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE2 : FUSION
For those who don’t follow Marvel, the Civil War arc
was possibly one of the most epic ones conceived.
Following a botched take-down of a super-villain and
the subsequent deaths of hundreds of Americans
and several heroes, the USA has passed an act
requiring all masked crusaders to register
themselves and publicly reveal their identities. Battle
lines are drawn when heroes disagree, creating the
biggest hero versus hero showdown ever.
And in Ultimate Alliance 2, you can take part in that
showdown. This time around, new fusion powers –
combinations of different heroes’ abilities – will be
available. For instance, Iron Man shoots a
concentrated beam of energy at Wolverine, who
uses his adamantine claws to disperse it against
every enemy surrounding them. Cool.
THE CONDUIT
An under-the-radar indie title that’s hit the bigtime,
The Conduit is a traditional FPS in every sense of
the word. While it’s hitting the PS3, 360 and Wii, it’s
the Wii version that has us enamored. This game
looks good – like a solid next-gen title should be. Its
usage of the nunchuk and Wiimote to aim and
move around also feel solid, instead of the wiggly
overcompensations found on other titles.
This is done by being integrated with the upcoming
Wii MotionPlus, which was Nintendo’s way of
saying “Yes, we know some of you prefer pinpoint
control, here’s the answer”. This only fills us with
hope that The Conduit will be one of those rare
titles on the Wii whose FPS controls will be tight
and responsive. - Neubronner Eugene
 FEATURES FIFA ONLINE 2
A SPORTS
E
ree to download and free to play, EA
SPORTS FIFA Online 2 (FOL2) brings you
the quality and goodness you have come to
expect from their EA SPORTS FIFA games without
needing to pay a single cent.
FOL2 is a fully-featured, free-to-play game,
consisting of a robust single player League game
system and a multiplayer system that allows
players to play in ranked matches, solo matches,
2-on-2 team matches and even a tournament style
game of 4 or 8 players.
The best part about FOL2 unlike other Massively
Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) is that even if
you are the only player awake in the game server,
you can totally enjoy and entertain yourself with the
single player League game while waiting for other
players to wake up or come online.
The FOL2 League Play features a variety of
different leagues ranging from the well-known
Barclays Premier League which features teams like
Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to the
Serie A Italia which has teams like Juventus, Roma
and Inter. There are also other leagues which the
average soccer fan has probably not heard of, but
can try their hand at mastering for some bonus
in-game currency called LP.
Whenever you feel up to the challenge, you can
head on over to the multiplayer lobby at anytime. If
you are playing in a non-ranked match like the
1-on-1 or 2-on-2 or a tournament of 4 or 8 players,
you can choose to use your own team or choose
030 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
from any of the other teams from any of the league to
represent you. Choosing your own team has the
benefits of levelling up your players at the cost of
tiring them out. Choosing from any other team allows
you to choose a more powerful team.
For ranked matches, FOL2 features a World Tour
mode where you will be auto-matched with another
player who is online of a similar skill level. In World
Tour mode, you cannot choose any other team
except the one you are currently managing. So,
having a good team with star players is an
advantage.
When you start off with any of the teams from any of
the leagues, the players will only start off at a
percentage of their full potential. You will have to
keep playing with the same players over and over to
level them up to their full potential. You can also
acquire random uniform cards as rewards after every
match or head over to the player auction to buy
uniform cards.
FOL2 uses 2 types of currencies. There is LP, the
in-game currency which you will need to extend
contracts of players you own or buy items like energy
drinks or health kits to replenish their energy or heal
up injured players instantly. You can save up LP if
you have plenty of substitute players, allowing you to
sub out tired or injured players who will recover their
energy or from their injuries after a few matches
sitting on the sidelines.
The other currency is cash points, which will allow
you to purchase premium in-game items granting
you advantages when playing FOL2. With cash
points, you will be able to purchase extra LP,
purchase trainers that will grant players in certain
positions on your team extra experience points and
also buy 10 blue uniform cards which can be
opened to reveal random players of varying skill
levels.
If you want more of an unfair advantage, GXCredits
is now offering SingTel Mobile customers a 10%
bonus when purchasing EA SPORTS FIFA Online
2 Game Value Codes, giving you more purchasing
power in the cash item shop.
So, why not try it out yourself? EA SPORTS FIFA
Online 2 is totally free to download and play. Head
on over to www.easportsfifaonline2.com and try
it out yourself. And if you are a SingTel Mobile
customer and want an unfair advantage, head on
over to www.gxcredits.com to take a look at the
10% unfair advantage you will be getting if you
purchase game value codes from them.
 PREVIEWS RESIDENT EVIL 5

“Much like RE4’s “Las Plagas” set of plague hosts, these

zombies are more intelligent than other forms of undead.”

RESIDENT EVIL 5
ZOMBIES WHO THROW PARANGS? S**T!
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC -- GENRE SURVIVAL HORROR -- PUBLISHER CAPCOM -- DEVELOPER CAPCOM -- RELEASE MAR 2009
urvival horror prides itself on the darkness, Much like RE4’s “Las Plagas” set of plague hosts, being used to give great details and variety to
on the unknown, on scaring the living hell out these zombies are more intelligent than other forms zombies and landscape alike. Capcom went wild
of you. Resident Evil 5 (RE5) is looking to of undead. They can run, use cover, wield weapons, with the budget, so things like ripples from bullet
bring you for another round of that, with a little bit of flank and follow through doors and other means. shells, full face motion-captures for perfect
“so much more”. synchronization between speech and in-game
Later zombies will morph, such as dogs who can faces, and a “shaky camera” effect have all gone
Set in the fictional African town of Kijuju, RE5 covers split their heads in half to form a much larger gaping into a subtle but effective looking work.
the following ten years since the first Resident Evil, mouth.
showing what former STARS officer Chris Redfield IT’S JUST THE TWO OF US
has been up to. And in another departure, a good portion of RE5 will Co-op mode is making its expanded way from
feature daytime combat. Zombies? Daytime? Not so RE4 here. The mercenaries challenge mode that
It also sets the stage with little details that become scary, right? Maybe. But in the confines of the was available there is back, but alongside that,
clear in later (earlier?) parts of the timeline, such as claustrophobic narrow alleyways of Kijuju’s joining the ranks of games like Gears Of War and
how Tricell Industries and Umbrella Corp are linked shantytown or an industrial facility, even daylight Halo games, players can now finish the entire
together. won’t save you from hearing their moans. game as two players.

THE DARK HEART OF AFRICA?
The story sees Chris arriving in the town as part of a
new anti-terror unit called the BSAA (Bioterrorism
Security Assessment Alliance) and hooking up with
new character and partner, Sheva Alomar. It’s all fine,
at first. The villagers are going about their work, even
if they do sport leering scowls at the foreigners. But
then suddenly, everyone just disappears. It’s like they
vanished.
Then the zombies start comin’.
The Resident Evil series seems to be straying from
its roots these days, though. Both RE4 and RE5
feature hordes of zombies attacking, when it originally
tried to capture more “Holy s**t!” scare moments in
the first few titles.
I CAN SAY LEH-ZER SIGHTS?
Some of the notable improvements which have
finally made their way to the series are the ability to
peek and fire from cover – around walls, for instance
– and a quick-dodge movement. Quick-dodging will
utilize the right analog stick, and we’ve already seen
in trailers how it would be necessary with the hordes
of enemies approaching.
Unfortunately, the control scheme is still as finicky
as ever. Beyond the addition of the quick-dodge, the
various control schemes from RE4 have been
ported right over. That’s fine for those who’ve played
the game, but not being able to run and shoot (even
if wildly inaccurate) strikes us as a real bummer.
When you do run though, you’ll notice how the
graphical enhancements to the game aren’t just
Co-op allows for jump-in, jump-out action if you so
choose, allowing one person to go grab the zhi
char downstairs when dinner time rolls around,
and doesn’t give significant differences to other
characters. Both Sheva and Chris play like mirror
images of each other.
But emphasizing how much co-op is going to be
important is the way the story will play out. The
first boss, who we’ve been privy to, requires one
player to distract it to reveal its vulnerable back to
the other player. Who gets to do what switches
back and forth of course.
RE5 is full of such moments, such as another later
level where both have to make their way through
an abandoned mine. Abandoned mines without a
whit of power that is. One player will thus have to
carry the cumbersomely large flood light to
illuminate the way, which can make for some

034 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

frightened screaming when the light turns left and
ZOMBIE PROOF YOUR... BUTT?
suddenly spots a zombie who has crept up behind you.
If you haven’t already, make your way
In some parts of the game, players will split up, or have down to the local bookstore and pick
to boost each other, making it feel like co-op wasn’t a up “The Zombie Survival Guide:
bullet-point tacked on near the end of the game’s Complete protection from the Living
development cycle. Dead” by Max Brooks. While the book
focuses on more traditional, slower,
If you don’t have said buddies to play with (either online zombies, its list of how to zombie proof
or off), Capcom’s AI directors have worked on making your flat (near impossible) and how to
partner Sheva seem as life-like as possible. She’ll get out of town make for valuable
automatically try to punch her way through to you when reading in our opinion.
you go down to revive you, shout for assistance, or can
be directed to pick up weapons and ammo. While we’re If you’ve played Left 4 Dead or watched
not sure how exactly the contextual commands will be 28 Days Later, you’ll know that sadly,
relayed (D-pad simple commands sounds like our best the zombies have decided it’s fun to
bet), Sheva’s aggressive AI suggests we won’t fee like mutate into faster, more intelligent
we’re being tethered to an anchor. forms who know how to break down
doors or worse, wield weapons against
STARS AND GARTERS you. Surviving those will require more
With the release of Resident Evil: Degeneration helping serious help. Like getting fit.
to fill in what happens a year after Resident Evil 4,
we’ve been stoked to know what exactly went down in Yes, we know it’s a pain. Gaming and
the ten years between RE1 and RE5. RE5 looks to give chilling out or working up a sweat and
even more hocus-pocus backstory, and carve out a new coming back tired? Sounds like a
chapter in daytime scares. no-brainer (Hah! – Ed) but did you
know you could work out while playing
We’ve stocked up the diapers for when the game hits games?
us. Watch for the review next issue.
- Neubronner Eugene Try squeezing and holding your butt in
for about ten seconds while sitting on
the couch, before slowly releasing.
Repeat ten times. You’ll begin noticing
a tighter ass – which helps support the
spine and allow for better running – in
no time.

(We don’t know what Eugene was on

when he wrote this sidebar but just to
assure you, we at Playworks DO NOT
squeeze our butts in like that to
exercise. We go out for a few drinks
and smoke. Hey, that’s getting out of
the house for some activity, right?
– Ed)

“In some parts of the game, players will split up, or have to
boost each other, making it feel like co-op wasn’t a bullet-point
tacked on near the end of the game’s development cycle.”
 PREVIEWS TOM CLANCY’S H.A.W.X.
“The ERS is thus a drastic handholder for those of us who get
confused with the 3D realm that comes from fighting in the air.”
TOM CLANCY’S H.A.W.X.
FINALLY, THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC, WII -- GENRE FLIGHT SIM/ACTION -- PUBLISHER UBISOFT -- DEVELOPER UBISOFT -- RELEASE MAR 2009
om Clancy returns with his newest
offering this time in H.A.W.X., or High
Altitude Warfare eXperimental (because
H.A.W.E. is not as cool) squadron, taking place
circa 2021. For those counting, it’s some time
after the events of Ghost Recon Advanced
Warfighter 2.
You’re David Crinshaw, a former H.A.W.X. pilot
who was retrenched and left for a private military
corporation. But that’s changed now, when the
corp decides to attack America for profit.
Ubisoft knows one thing, and it’s that flight sims
tend to be very user-unfriendly. Enter the ERS
(Enhanced Reality System) which will give
players’ HUD information, while also
automatically pulling players out of dangerous
crash dives or stalls.
The ERS is thus a drastic handholder for those of
us who get confused with the 3D realm that
comes from fighting in the air. Missiles fired on
you and coming in fast? Flick the d-pad panic
button, and then steer your plane through the “air
tunnels” and glowing HUD arrows to evade it. As
036 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
the game progresses, these tunnels become harder and
harder to maneuver through, so don’t count on it to help
you forever.
If you’re a veteran flight sim player, or (think) you know
what you’re doing, you can always turn it off. Doing so
results in much greater options for movement and quick
turns, and the current understanding is that ERS gets
you to the location, sometimes gets you out of sticky
ones, and otherwise takes a back seat.
H.A.W.X. will offer co-op, allowing players to hop in
together online to take on missions. If, however, you
don’t have the numbers, players will find AI buddies to
take to the skies alongside them.
These buddies utilize the same system that Endwar
does – responding both to button pressed commands or
specific terse orders that you can bark into headsets.
Ubisoft is capitalizing on a winning formula – one which
combines our love for the mythos of Tom Clancy’s
current universe as well as their previous game’s
technology to build a solid base. While we’ve never been
flight fans, H.A.W.X. is now firmly on the radar.
-Neubronner Eugene
 THE END OF THE END?
At the rate the story is progressing,
TOM CLANCY’S H.A.W.X.

we’ll reach Endwar’s “endgame” faster

than we think. What’s going to happen
then? Endwar 2 is already in the
planning stages that we know of, but
will it mean the end of all the various
franchises? Ghost Recon, Splinter
Cell, Rainbow Six? Hard to say.
 PREVIEWS MADWORLD
“For a monochrome game, and one running on the lower
graphical prowess of the Wii, it already looks fantastic.”
MADWORLD
WHERE’S JACK THOMPSON NOW, HUH ?
PLATFORM WII -- GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER SEGA -- DEVELOPER PLATINUM GAMES -- RELEASE MAR 2009
he words “Mad World” generally remind
gamers of Gears Of War’s use of Gary
Jule’s excellent rendition in the trailers.
Platinum Games are hoping to introduce you to
another “mad world” that has nothing to do with
quiet musings and everything to do with old
fashioned violence.
MadWorld’s third-person world is stark. The game
is a monochromatic, black and white world, with
the only additional colour coming from copious
amounts of blood spurting everywhere.
For a monochrome game, and one running on the
lower graphical prowess of the Wii, it already
looks fantastic. The dark, gritty buildings loom out,
from which vibrant white slashes of white etch out
details like an illuminated window. If you’ve seen
Frank Miller’s Sin City, that’s the exact sort of style
MadWorld’s developers are gunning for.
MAN DARTS?
All the blood has to come from somewhere, and
it’s explained in the Orwellian storyline of
038 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
MadWorld. You’re Jack, and for reasons unknown
you’ve been thrust into the famous and wildly
popular “Death Watch” reality TV show. Here, you’ll
have to follow a goodly set of rules to win your right
to live.
Mostly by killing plenty of other people in as stylistic
a way you can.
And we do mean stylistic. Shown so far as just tip of
the iceberg examples include ripping out a road sign
(which read “Caution” in a subtly sarcastic nod to
how little of it there is in the game), impaling an
enemy’s eye with it, (yes, eye), and then dragging
them around as they scream in pain.
Or grabbing a particularly tough, armor-clad man,
and then repeatedly ramming him into a convenient
bed of spikes to crack the armoured eggshell.
Watch the blood spurting everywhere, before it
slowly drips off you.
Most of the weapons available to Jack will be
melee-based to fit in with the stylistic setting of the
game show he’s on. We think it’s just an excuse to,
 in another particularly gruesome moment, line a
dumpster with razers, chuck an enemy into it and
then use it as a makeshift guillotine, slicing the body
in half.
But don’t think that the game is doing violence for its
own sake. The developers were quick to point out
that everything is being deliberately over-the-top not
so much to generate controversy (see Sidebar) as it
is about explaining how the dystopian story will play
out.
CHAINSAW MASSACRE
As if to emphasize this, out-from-left-field mini-
games will pop up as Jack fights. Players can opt for
basic combos like classic punch-punch-punch, or
use the Wii’s nunchuk to waggle for certain death
combos that trigger said mini-games.
These combos become contextual moments where
anything goes. So far, we’ve seen “Man Darts”,
which requires players to thrust with their nunchuks
similar to real darts throwing. The difference is,
every time you connect the thrust with an enemy,
said enemy will go flying, impaled, onto a gigantic
darts board that pops out of nowhere. Do well, score
points, earn the popularity of the crowd, and unlock
stuff.
“the game is coming out exclusively for the Wii, which is sure to give those
parents who believe the Wii to be the more kid-friendly console a heart attack.”
What still surprises us that the game is coming out
exclusively for the Wii, which is sure to give those
parents who believe the Wii to be the more
kid-friendly console a heart attack. When IGN asked
why, developer Atsushi Inaba gave a frank reply,
“On the PS3 and 360, there are a lot of action
games, but on the Wii, we felt we could make a
difference in the lineup and provide something
unique.”
Unique it certainly is, and if anyone has the
credentials to make a game like this, it’s Platinum
Games. We’ll be keeping an eye on this piece of
insanity. - Neubronner Eugene
A BANNED WII TITLE?
As can be expected, an ultra-violent game
that revels in pinning people to gigantic dart
boards was sure to attract controversy.
Mediwatch.UK, a British media watchdog
group, has already begun lobbying the
British Board of Film Classification to refuse
to classify the game – which would
effectively ban the game in Britain.
We’re pretty sure other countries famous for
simply refusing to classify and thus banning
games such as Australia (it refused to
classify Fallout 3 due to its substance abuse)
will follow suit as well. Whether the game will
make it here is a question we’d like to find
out. The MDA’s stand with the new games
classification system is to wait for a game to
be brought in and reviewed instead of simply
banning it outright.
The funny thing is, tech site Ars Technica
pointed out in their own coverage of the
complaints something interesting: That the
lobbyists seem more intent on the fact that
the Wii platform seems primarily aimed at a
family-friendly environment than the more
violent regimes of the PlayStation 3 or Xbox
360.
While this, of course, in no way means the
Wii is non-mature inclined, it does mean that
such games tend to stick out from the
Harvest Moons and (marginally less violent?)
fair like Call Of Duty.
Is this a fair assessment? Quite possibly.
Nintendo, no matter what its claims to be
all-inclusive, has been marketing the Wii as a
family-inclusive system with “kid” games.
Part of the shock factor of MadWorld is that
it’s an ultra-violent game on a system which
doesn’t have many of those.
If MadWorld came out on the PS3 or 360, it
probably wouldn’t garner as much interest
as it does right now.
 PREVIEWS EMPIRE: TOTAL WAR
“Empire: Total War is intending to recreate the rough times of the period,
when gunpowder was just beginning to find its way into wide usage.”
EMPIRE: TOTAL WAR
BRINGING THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE TO EVERYONE
PLATFORM PC -- GENRE REAL-TIME-STRATEGY -- PUBLISHER SEGA -- DEVELOPER THE CREATIVE ASSEMBLY -- RELEASE MAR 2009
mpire: Total War is the fifth in the Total War
series. It has a venerable pedigree now,
having carved its name out as THE
turn-based/real-time hybrid game for those with a
more strategic bent to their thinking.
The game will feature some fifty factions for players
to fight with and against. Most will be locked at the
start of the game – current numbers stand at around
twelve being unlocked at the start. The time period of
the 18th century means players can expect some
famous factions such as the Ottoman Empire,
Prussia, and America to be in the running.
THE CODE OF GEASS
For those unfamiliar with the Total War series, here’s
the low down. You take control of one of the
numerous factions during the 18th to 19th century.
Each faction comes with its various pros and cons.
The Red Indians, for instance, will have greater
mobility on land due to their keen understanding of
nature, but are almost worthless on water, since they
never historically developed a navy.
Depending on which faction you choose, the difficulty
040 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
and style of game can also be vastly different. The
Red Indians will start off controlling vast areas of
North America but will quickly begin losing ground to
the European colonists. Britain, on the other hand,
will have a solid, firm base in their country.
Determined enemies will have to force a battle at one
of the few coastal cities in 18th century Britain if they
wish to invade. And don’t forget airplanes haven’t
been invented yet.
After picking a faction, you’re given the lay of the
visible world – rough markings indicating unexplored
parts of the world. During your turn, you can
strategize, slowly pondering how to build up your
cities, conduct diplomacy, move armies or send out
settlers. When you’re done, any battles lined up will
offer you the choice of a quick-resolve key or letting
you dive into the RTS section of the game. More on
that in a bit.
Total War is renowned partly because it brings the
often arcane and esoteric application of diplomacy
used by other games into a lean, clean and mean
form. You can choose to be nice, forging trade
treaties. You can choose to dispatch assassins to
eliminate leaders who have been giving you
trouble – a new one gets voted in! You can
pressure leaders to accept religious envoys, who
will then spread your preferred religion into the
towns of the enemy. If they’re sufficiently pious,
they may convert to your side.
Empire is streamlining this aspect of diplomacy
by reducing the diplomatic units to gentlemen
and rakes. The former will be your primary
diplomats, and can earn your faction standing if
they successfully challenge enemy gentlemen to
duels and win. Rakes, obviously, are your
assassins/burglars/spies rolled into one.
CRUSH THY ENEMIES
Sooner or later, diplomacy will fail and it’ll be time
to turn your choice to that of war and glory.
Empire: Total War is intending to recreate the
rough times of the period, when gunpowder was
just beginning to find its way into wide usage.
Expect random occurrences such as explosions
that kill the wielder, or which barely work at all
when it rains.
 Close-in fighting is also being introduced, with
sieges on cities resulting in block-to-block fighting
and close-in fights. Holding the city centre for a
certain amount of time wins the fight, though the
older victory conditions such as routing the enemy
or capturing their forces are still around. Certain
units can now also take shelter in buildings or use
cover for effective defense, creating new tactical
locations to hold on to.
YOU AGAINST THE WORLD
So far, the single-player campaign, titled “Road to
Independence”, that has been revealed will focus on
the colonization of America. Split between three
chapters, the first will focus on Britain sending its
first expeditions to the New Land. The second on
the French-Red Indian-British three way war, and
the final between American colonists and the British
in the fight for America’s independence.
the AI will successfully keep their large empire.
Sometimes it’ll fragment right under them.
Empire: Total War is edging closer to modern
day warfare, but if it delivers us as great an
experience as Sid Meir’s Colonization, we can’t
complain. - Neubronner Eugene

This time round, naval battles – which were
previously automatically resolved – can be fought in
real time should players choose to do so.
One complaint of previous versions is how difficult it
was to really play the sneaky bastard. With a central
settlement controlling all aspects of a province’s
production – be it military, trade or what not, it
became difficult to effectively disrupt the enemy
without throwing a large army at it.
Since this isn’t always viable, it unnecessarily drew
out matches. Empire, however, will see different
parts of a province focusing on different aspects of
the settlement – which makes it far easier to attack
an outlying village and disrupt its weaker forces
compared to the main settlement.
Empire was delayed for three months of production,
and the biggest reason was found here. Multiplayer
has been expanded to allow for a full campaign
game to take place. While the released game will
see a two-player-only battle, Creative Assembly’s
developers are expecting to release a finished
version that allows for greater numbers to play at
once.
It’s fun to note that if you decide to play sandbox,
different factions may only show up if certain
conditions are met. The United States, for instance,
may never have been if you as the British can
successfully keep peace and the colonists happy.
The French Revolution may spring up if their
Dauphin mucks up his rule of them. This fluidity by
the game helps to keep things fresh – sometimes

BY THE BOOKS
Total War works by being at the Japanese recompensed
EMPIRE: TOTAL WAR

once historically accurate their conscripts – at least,

and taking liberties with the that’s what we think from
genre. Shogun: Total War, watching too much of Akira
for instance, had players Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.
paying for their armies in
rice. This was traditionally
one of the main ways that

HISTORY LESSON

If you intend to buy this game, you’d better

brush up on your history. Empire will focus
primarily on 18th century tactics such as the
slow advance-and-fire movement, which
allowed for reloading musketeers to “fall
back” behind their allies to reload. Naval
battles will revolve around having to turn
your ships at the right time to allow them to
fire their broadsides before the enemy can
– and even includes authentic ammunition
options such as grape shot, chain shot and
round shots.

“Multiplayer has been expanded to allow

for a full campaign game to take place.”
 PREVIEWS GTA: CHINATOWN WARS
“the DS will be a useful tool for the player to share favourite locations,
chat live through in-game instant messaging and trade in-game items.”
PLATFORM DS -- GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES -- DEVELOPER ROCKSTAR LEEDS/ ROCKSTAR NORTH -- RELEASE MAR 2009
GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS
CHINA SMALL, SMALL
f you followed through Nintendo’s E3 briefing last
year, the announcement for a DS-exclusive
Grand Theft Auto game would have caught your
attention. Entitled Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown
Wars, it stood out as one of the highlights of the
show then.
Due for release later this month, this is the
thirteenth game in the Grand Theft Auto series and
a fourth release on a Nintendo console. Previous
titles were Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto
2 for the Game Boy Colour and Grand Theft Auto
Advance for Game Boy Advance.
Players will assume the role of a 25-year old Huang
Lee who is a member of the triads. He is tasked to
deliver Yu Jian, a family heirloom and sword, from
his recently-assassinated father to his uncle Wu
Lee. Along the way, Huang was ambushed. So, he
attempts to recover the sword, while also avenging
his father’s death.
Chinatown Wars takes place in its own rendition of
Liberty City from Grand Theft Auto IV, and centres
on Alderney. However, instead of a ground-level
view behind the protagonist as seen on the Xbox
360 and the PS3, or a top-down perspective as
employed in the early series, the game puts you in
the perspective of a rotate-able and angled aerial
camera.
Chinatown Wars will feature cel-shaded polygons
with black outlines, giving it a comic book-like
aesthetic – a first look for the series.
042 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
REAL TIME TO DEAL
GTA: CHINATOWN WARS
Nintendo is famous for loading real-time
clock features into their games, the last being
Animal Crossing. It appears that this game
will also feature real-time weather effects and
a 24-hour day/night cycle. Imagine the player
stealing some time during the lunch hour to
monitor and attend to some drug-peddling
business in the game.
Chinatown Wars will offer a few unique gameplay Some new features will be supported, such as its
options. The player will be able to recruit Triad next-gen HUD and hailing taxis by whistling through
members from the streets, and these members are the DS microphone. To hijack a vehicle, the player
initiated through tattooing their bodies on the touch must use their stylus as a screwdriver in the key slot to
screen. To escape from the police, the player will hotwire it, upon which the alarm system can be turned
have to disable as many cop cars instead of the off. Different cars need different tools for hotwiring.
familiar “leaving a wanted zone”.
According to Official Nintendo Magazine, this game
Based on reports, the top screen will show to the was described as “one of the largest and most
player the game’s surroundings, while the bottom complex DS games” with 800,000 lines of code.
screen provides access to the PDA, GPS, access to - Mohd Nizam
people and map and for using hand-thrown
weapons. There is a radio feature but it is said to
feature a mix of instrumental and regular music.
Hidden packages are represented by the shoot-able
CCTV cameras, and would contribute to a decrease
in drug prices when they are destroyed.
Weapons are ordered through an in-game website
of Ammu-Nation, a familiar weapons store from past
titles, and these will be shipped to the safehouse.
The user interface is designed like a user interface
of a PDA. Rockstar continues to push the envelope,
this time by incorporating a mini-game that allows
players to peddle six types of drugs around the city.
This is not like those simple delivery missions seen
on previous releases as players will be rewarded
with a profit if they recognise the market conditions
and demands based on geography. It is said that
the DS will be a useful tool for the player to share
favourite locations, chat live through in-game instant
messaging and trade in-game items. It will also
upload your stats to Rockstar’s Social Club site.
 SONGS OF METALLICA
Guitar Hero: Metallica will offer a solid selection
GUITAR HERO: METALLICA
of 49 songs, 28 of which will be from Metallica.
Almost all of the band’s most famous hits have
made it in. A sample of what to expect includes
Enter Sandman, Fade To Black, One, Master Of
Puppets, Sad But True, and basically, every song
a Metallica fan could want.
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PS2, WII -- GENRE RHYTHM -- PUBLISHER ACTIVISION -- DEVELOPER NEVERSOFT, VICARIOUS VISIONS -- RELEASE MAR 2009
GUITAR HERO: METALLICA
NEVERSOFT GOOD, NAPSTER BAD
t seems like the rhythm genre is here to stay, or
at least that’s what Activision thinks. Yet another
Guitar Hero expansion is set to hit store shelves
next month in March. Apparently, some people still
have not had their Guitar Hero cravings met.
(Remember Drew? – Ed)
Guitar Hero: Metallica will be the first expansion that
will feature songs with tracks for the entire band.
While Activision could have simply released the
game with songs alone, they have decided to make
several changes to improve the gameplay. In order
to cater to the more “hardcore” crowd, the game will
be much more difficult than its predecessors. I think
this move will please a lot of fans who have
mastered the previous games. As part of the
increase in difficulty, Guitar Hero: Metallica will allow
players to attach a second drum pedal for use in a
new “Expert Plus” mode.
Unlike in World Tour, songs will be presented in a
linear series of sets as opposed to the gig
PREVIEWS GUITAR HERO: METALLICA
“The music creation mode that was first made available
in World Tour will be back with some new additions.”
progression method. To move on to the next set of selected, a big draw from anyone who loves
songs, you’ll have to earn a certain number of stars drumming. Battle mode will also be receiving some
based on your performance of songs within a new Metallica-themed power-ups.
certain set. Songs are generally unlocked in
chronological order, so you can expect what you will Overall, it looks like the developers have been
unlock as you play through. putting some effort into ensuring that Guitar Hero:
Metallica isn’t just another song pack. If you haven’t
As usual, the game will have a slight bit of story had your fill of Guitar Hero, or you’re a big Metallica
where you play as a band, following in the footsteps fan, look out for this one next month. - Aaron Khoo
of Metallica. As you progress through the game,
your band will ultimately get to play as the leading
act for Metallica themselves. Just like in Guitar
Hero: Aerosmith, you’ll be able to visit a wide range
of real-life locations that include the Hammersmith
Odeon, The Forum in Los Angeles and several
other famous locales.
The music creation mode that was first made
available in World Tour will be back with some new
additions. Some of these include new guitar, bass
and drum sounds. A new “Drum Over” mode will
allow you to play drum tracks over any song you’ve
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 043
 PREVIEWS THIS IS VEGAS
“Even in the opening moments, we can tell why this
game is attracting its own series of controversy”
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PC -- GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER MIDWAY -- DEVELOPER SURREAL SOFTWARE -- RELEASE MAR 2009
THIS IS VEGAS
BETTING ON THE HIGHWAY
e should preface this article with a
warning. If you go online to look for
more information on this game, you
could come across an adult porn site. We’re not
kidding. Hit the regular gamer websites if you have
to, but Google at your peril.
But you’re here for the game, right? This Is Vegas is
the latest in open-world sandbox titles ala the Grand
Theft Auto series. It’s just set in, hey-
whaddayaknow, Las Vegas! While it won’t be a
direct replica of the area, anyone with a modicum of
knowledge can see parallels between buildings like
Circus Circus and in-game Big Top.
The plot is decidedly pedestrian. A savvy
businessman by the name of Preston Boyer is
buying up the place, and stripping the strippers from
the land. The result – family-friendly tourist trap that
sucks the adults-only soul of Vegas right out. You
can’t have that, so you’re out to build your own
empire and take back the city.
Even in the opening moments, we can tell why this
game is attracting its own series of controversy.
With strong language, regular violence, and a
distinct disregard for respecting woman, we wonder
if it may even pass the censors here.
As an open-world game, This Is Vegas offers
players various ways to earn the cash and credibility
to fight. You can take part in old fashioned
gambling, for instance, and cheat at it too. Midway
said they want you to feel very much a part of the
game, so instead of merely loading you into a
044 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
mini-game, players will see their character sitting
down at the table. As the cards are dealt, you can THE SINS OF THE CITY
look around at others walking by or actively
watching you. Get spotted by the pit boss who We don’t really recommend drinking, gambling,
THIS IS VEGAS
oversees the grounds while cheating and you could and high-speed underground racing. They’re all
get tossed out (or even attacked and killed). deadly to you to one extent or another. That
said, This Is Vegas offers a remarkably real
Other options include going for underground races version of the sins of Vice City.
that raise your street cred, giving you the reputation
to accept new missions from the “old school”
proponents of Vegas, as well as hitting a dance
club. Now dance clubs sound like just an excuse to
include a dancing mini-game, but surprisingly,
Midway punched in quite a bit of content into that.
For starters, you can get onto the dance floor and
begin dancing, creating buzz and popularity for the
place (which again, drives your reputation up). You
can go behind the bar and become a bartender in a
Diner Dash styled game to keep as many patrons
as possible happy. Drinking yourself, of course, can
land you drunk, vision blurred, and puking all over
the place. And to end it all off, there’s wet T-Shirt
contests. Wet. T-Shirt. Contests. In a game. (No, we
checked, this is not a porn game – Ed).
Midway is also trying to one-up the competition with
the digs that your character will stay in. At the start,
you’re stuck in a cheap, run down motel. As you
earn more money, street cred and better cars, you’ll
eventually move up to the penthouses in the
glitziest hotels. - Neubronner Eugene

“Eat Lead’s appeal is clear – it’s for those of us who lived in
the transitional times of 8-bit graphics to today’s 3D world”
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 -- GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER D3 PUBLISHING -- DEVELOPER VICIOUS CYCLE SOFTWARE -- RELEASE MAR 2009
EAT LEAD: THE RETURN OF MATT HAZARD
IT’S TIME TO KICK FPS ASS
e like humour in our games, and those
which poke fun at the genre it sits in
are pretty rare (barring standouts such
as Sam And Max). Which is why we’re looking with
interest at Eat Lead: The Return Of Matt Hazard.
Based off an imaginary hero who – through
mismanagement of the development team – sank
into obscurity, you take on the one last redeeming
chance of Matt Hazard. This third person action
game pokes fun at all the staples of the various
stereotypes the genre offers, which is a good thing.
We really shouldn’t have been surprised. After all,
Eat Lead’s developers are Vicious Cycle, who
brought us the excellently deadpan Dead Head
Fred some time back. If anyone can make a witty
game, it’s them.
Eat Lead takes its mockery pretty seriously. We’ve
watched as Matt takes on an old Japan RPG boss
– complete with multiple forms, oversized sword…
and a small little box displaying his stats and attack/
defend options. We’ve seen Mario Brothers
lookalikes. We’ve seen 8-bit Nazi soldiers, comically
codenamed the “Wafferthinn” who, by turning right
or left, become “invisible”, since 2D characters don’t
have a plane for you to shoot on.
Power ups are also suitably biting in their mockery.
The Master Shield makes you impervious, while the
Maximum Hazard gives you supersized muscles for
uber melee attacks. All these little jokes add up to a
solid look at the state of the action game industry,
and it may come at a good time.
PREVIEWS EAT LEAD
But even though Matt’s here to mock everything, feels and plays rather generically. Whether or not
that doesn’t mean the game skips over itself. Small that’s intentional, we don’t know. But we do know
touches include the fact that Matt can slide around that just because a developer is making a statement
cover, which is a subtle, but very nifty, innovation. about the state of a genre, that doesn’t excuse
How many times have we been annoyed that we shoddy gameplay. - Neubronner Eugene
have to press a button to get out of cover just so we
can duck right back around its next corner? HAZARD MANIA
Because Matt’s enemies are downloads of all his
previous games, they can actually show up
anywhere in a level – sort of like random spawns.
And when they die, they turn into pixilated bits, ripe
for the upgrade system harvesting. Players can pick
and choose which guns to upgrade, giving them the
option to fire fire or ice bullets say, which allows for
some flexibility.
EAT LEAD: THE RETURN OF MATT HAZARD
Eat Lead’s appeal is clear – it’s for those of us who
lived in the transitional times of 8-bit graphics to
today’s 3D world. It’s for those who are hungering
for a good look back on “the good old days” but
remember how bad it was too. It’s also a not-so-
subtle nod at another washed up hero we dearly
miss and love: Duke Nuke’em. With all the big guns,
bad attitude, and hot babes a-plenty, we’re hard
pressed to see why we’d hate this winning formula.
What worries us is though, is that the underground
If the final game doesn’t give as good as the
hype for the game may not result in a satisfactory
stuff that’s been pumped out, we will be sorely
title. The high quality productions gone into building
disappointed. For a taste of the goodness,
up the metagame (see Sidebar) may create
check out sites such as
expectations it can’t match – if Matt can’t hack
www.doyouremembermatthazard.com,
enough funny, it may well be his final game.
www.hazardfan.com, and even, we kid you not,
www.therealmatthazard.wordpress.com.
This isn’t helped by word on the street that Eat Lead
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 045
 PREVIEWS READY 2 RUMBLE REVOLUTION
“If you’ve ever played the addictive WiiBoxing
title, you’ll know roughly how to play already.”
PLATFORM WII -- GENRE SPORTS -- PUBLISHER ATARI -- DEVELOPER AKI -- RELEASE MAR 2009
READY 2 RUMBLE: REVOLUTION
BOXING DAY PRESENTS...
hile we found Facebreaker to be a
perfectly acceptable cartoon take on
the boxing genre, nothing beats one of
the bigger originals like Ready 2 Rumble, which
was last seen on the Nintendo 64 after its heyday
on the Dreamcast. The franchise is back with
Revolution, and promises more over-the-top battles
in and out of the ring. And yes, Michael Buffer,
ringside announcer extraordinaire, is back to lend
his voicing talent too.
Part of the appeal of the Ready 2 Rumble (R2R)
series is its diverse cast that relies heavily on
stereotypes. Like Syphon Cruel, whose wit is
matched only by his blows, or Kaiser Kong, an
Arnold Schwarzenegger lookalike. The different
casts come with their own unique move lists,
ranging from chucking car tires to skating attacks.
Each brawler has different stats in speed, strength
and defense, and with some 20-odd characters,
there should be a good enough spread between
them. If you prefer though, there is a create-a-
brawler mode where players can partake in the
various career modes to unlock body parts for your
own unique character.
046 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
Completing matches will also unlock various
mini-games utilizing the Wiimote, like the Jump
Rope, where players will keep twirling the Wiimotes
while moving them in various directions to keep their
character training hard. Finishing these properly
gives minor bonuses and rewards. On the flip side,
do badly, and your stats may plummet. The
developers hinted that depending on what you train
on, some stats may rise while others fall, so you
won’t be able to create a super-demi-god character.
Sounds fair to us.
Something worth noting is that the developers
currently don’t have any plans to utilize the classic
controllers – so if you’re the type who bought a Wii
hoping to exercise and then got lazy, there’s no
excuse now. It’s not like the controls are hard. They
feel tight and responsive, and are pretty intuitive
with the nunchuks.
If you’ve ever played the addictive WiiBoxing title,
you’ll know roughly how to play already. The C
button changes swings aimed at the face to ones
aimed at the body, while the Z button blocks.
Depending on how you swing, uppercuts, jabs and
hooks will try to connect with the enemy.
BOX THIS
READY 2 RUMBLE
Ready 2 Rumble is a pretty venerable title.
While most gamers would point to more
well-known Punch Out! series as THE cartoon
caricature boxing title of all time (with
significant good reason too), Ready 2 Rumble
came out as a title that utilized features like
taunting to whip out flashy moves. It’s best
remembered for Afro Thunder.
And what kind of cartoon game is complete without
something zany? Every character will get their own
RUMBLE KO finisher. By landing combos of blows
on enemies, you’ll slowly build up a meter, which
can be unleashed for either devastating damage or
a potent finisher. Connect with the on-screen
prompts and hits, and watch the opponent go flying
off into space.
Graphically, if you haven’t figured it out by now, the
game is aiming for an over-the-top zany look, with
resulting graphical touches to match. The
Impersonator, an Elvis-lookalike, will have his
toupee fly off as he takes damage for instance,
while others will bruise and balloon up as they take
more damage. - Neubronner Eugene
 FUN FACTS PREVIEWS MONSTERS VS ALIENS
Fun fact:1 Stephen Colbert actually did try
MONSTERS VS ALIENS

to run for the US 2008 presidency. The

well-known comedian’s rise to popularity for his
deadpan and often spot-on jokes on the US
political scene meant many felt he could have
been a potential contender. Unfortunately, he
was ousted in a 13-3 vote for whether he could
run on the Democrat (Read: Obama’s party)
ticket.

Fun fact 2: Each monster is based off a

homage to old movie monster flicks, all of them
seminal hits in the day. If you’ve never seen
these flicks, you should.

Susan is from Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman, a

what-if on cosmic rays supersizing a woman;
The Missing Link is from
Creature From The Black
Lagoon; Insectosaurus is
typical Godzilla fare; B.O.B.
whose full name is
Bicarbonate Ostylzene
Benzoate, is a combination
of excellent B-flick Attack Of
The Killer Tomatoes and The “As a kid-friendly game, it follows in LEGO’s recent forays
Blob; while Dr. Cockroach is
by allowing jump-in, jump-out co-operative action.”
from the scary-movie The Fly.

PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3, PS2, WII -- GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER AMAZE ENTERTAINMENT -- DEVELOPER ACTIVISION -- RELEASE MAR 2009

MONSTERS VS ALIENS
BECAUSE IT HAD TO HAPPEN EVENTUALLY

reamworks Theatre’s latest cartoon will hit
us only in May, but you could get a taste of
this lovable looking title as early as March
(all the legal wrangling for movies doesn’t get in the
way of a good parallel import).
Based off the topsy-turvey storyline of aliens
invading Earth, our planet’s small cadre of
accidental monsters are all that stands in the way.
Which really doesn’t fill us with confidence, but
certainly has its charm.
After all, our heroes are a 50-foot-tall woman, an
even bigger 350-foot… bug, a blob (created from
the nuclear reaction of genetically altered tomatoes
and genetically altered ranch dressing. Our fears
come true at last!), a prehistoric fishman, and a mad
scientist with the head of a cockroach.
As a kid-friendly game, it follows in LEGO’s recent
forays by allowing jump-in, jump-out co-operative
action. Players utilize the different powers of the
monsters to advance. Ginormica, the 50-foot
woman, for instance, uses her towering body to
race from location to location by nabbing any car
available as useful roller skates. Big, set-piece Stephen Colbert (of The Colbert Report) and Reese
battles against the robot armies of General Witherspoon voicing it, we’re really hoping the game
Gallaxhar will have Godzilla-crossbreed will nab their respective voice talent as well. At press
Insectosaurus in a simplistic brawler. B.O.B. the time, whether the actors will be in the game as well
blob’s sticky goo can be used to walk on ceilings or was not answered. - Neubronner Eugene
slip through cracks under doors (Mr. Fantastic,
anyone?).
Most of the game will feature The Missing Link
though, the oversized fishman who is the
archtypical warrior who’ll take down the hordes of
mindless robots. Co-op comes in the form of the
final monster/hero, Dr Cockroach. While he’ll
usually follow quietly behind (or on!) other monsters,
a second player can pick up the controller and jump
in as a helping hand. He’ll be able to slow down
enemies.
Again, due to its kid-friendliness, we aren’t going to
expect a difficult – or long – ride through. What’s
been revealed so far is a beautiful-looking game
that’s colourful and seems to capture the style of the
3D-movie flick well.
Seeing as the movie has big names such as

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 047

 PREVIEWS SONIC AND THE BLACK KNIGHT
“Players can use their sword to rappel
up or slow their descent down walls.”
PLATFORM WII -- GENRE PLATFORM/ACTION -- PUBLISHER SEGA -- DEVELOPER SEGA -- RELEASE MAR 2009
SONIC AND THE BLACK KNIGHT
AS LONG AS HE DOESN’T TURN INTO THAT WEREWOLF...
rthurian swords and knights don’t seem to
mix with the words “Sonic The Hedgehog”.
But that’s what players get in this next
chapter of the Sonic Storybook’s series. (The first
one of the series, Sonic And The Hidden Rings,
was based off the Arabian nights series of tales).
So, here’s the story – Sonic’s been whisked away
by Merlina after King Arthur has fallen to a dark
curse. It’s now up to Sonic and his new talking
sword Caliburn to make matters right. In a fun twist,
the various characters we either hate or love such
as Tails, Shadow and Amy take the place of the
various knights and villagers players can fight
against or rescue.
At first blush, using the Wii controls for a sword to
attack with sounds suspiciously like the (really bad)
moments of Sonic Unleashed’s werewolf form. The
good news is unlike the slow and methodical
sections of Unleashed, The Black Knight focuses
almost exclusively on speed.
There are some interesting gimmicks we’ve seen so
048 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
the additional content is said to be in to the tune of a
hundred extra missions. These range from simply
snagging enough rings to satisfy the ungrateful
villagers to fighting enemies such as Knuckles and
Shadow. Beating them nets players these optional
characters with different moves. Knuckles comes
with dual swords, Tails is the local blacksmith.
Interestingly, there’s multiplayer available (yes, you
still have to use the awful Friends Codes system)
where up to four players can battle it out with each
other or do a small arena-styled fight-off with
enemies.
By the time you read this, the game should be out,
and we’ll hopefully have a review up next month on
it. - Neubronner Eugene
far, including using shafts of light to blow up crystals
and grinding on rails. Players can use their sword to A HEDGHOG OF MANY LOOKS
rappel up or slow their descent down walls.
With all the different styles of Sonic coming
SONIC AND THE BLACK KNIGHT
Most levels are “on rails”, with a straight path from out lately, it’s been really hit and miss.
the entrance to the exit. This gave developers the Unleashed, which we looked at recently, had
chance to create beautiful and, more importantly, amazing racing sequences which captured
smooth playing levels. The game slows down only quintessential speed but had terrible werewolf
when enemies show up to give players time to platforming sections. There have been terrible
switch to the new sword-fighting styles. spinoffs like Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean
Machine, Sonic Spinball, and good ones like
The Wii controls are basic – waggling and waving the Sonic RPG series.
swings the sword around. This lets players spin and
smash with their sword at the same time, keeping We’re hoping that Black Knight will do well,
Sonic’s trademark hectic speed even during boss especially since it’s aimed at a younger
fights. Do well and a Surge meter will build up, audience.
allowing for devastating homing attacks that chain
up combos.
The hokey storyline gives players an overworld to
explore, with various environments ranging from
King Arthur’s castle to the forests and caves
surrounding it. Players will be looking for items to
either equip or help Sonic advance, or saving
villagers.
Confused how it’ll fit in with the “naked” look of
Sonic? Players can equip two different items – there
are over 200 to collect and identify – which boost
different stats. Yes, stats. Black Knight isn’t going to
be one of those “one hit kill” games.
Players can revisit levels to complete missions in
them, and while one can ignore that to blast through
the main story – estimated at around eight hours –
 PREVIEWS LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA
“If you hate that yellow-spandex-wearing Hogan and his Real American
theme, shift it over. Become Andre, whoop his butt, and sit on him.”
PLATFORM XBOX 360, PS3 -- GENRE SPORTS -- PUBLISHER THQ -- DEVELOPER YUKES -- RELEASE MAR 2009
LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA
THE BIG BOYS ARE BACK
ven if you were not an avid fan of wrestling,
you must have at least heard of the biggest,
baddest annual wrestling event that is
Wrestlemania, the Superbowl of wrestling it’s called.
Remember the classic match between Andre the
Giant and Hulk Hogan and how history was written
when Hogan body-slammed the giant? If you do
remember going ape @#$% crazy over Hulkamania,
prepare to relive it, and take control, literally. Welcome
to Legends Of Wrestlemania.
Not to be confused with the less-than-stellar Legends
Of Wrestling series by Acclaim, Legends Of
Wrestlemania is being developed by YUKES, the
same folks who brought you the Smackdown Vs. Raw
series. So, take that sigh of relief and read on about
how YUKES is your ticket to Wrestlemania.
Legends Of Wrestlemania features a different control
scheme that is said to be more accessible, so even
non-veterans can enjoy. There won’t be any of that
complicated Ultimate Control Grapples or analog stick
grappling from the SVR games. Instead, the controls
of different moves, from grabs to punches, are simply
mapped out on the controller, so pulling them off will
not be a daunting task. We won’t know whether this
new simplicity would work until we get the final game,
but hey, seems like a fun arcade experience in the
works.
On top of the (many) legendary wrestlers along with
their entrance music are the new modes: Relive,
Rewrite and Redefine. The name alone says it all.
Relive allows a player to play as a wrestler and play
the matches which the wrestler has won. So, if you
050 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
have never watched the above Hogan vs. Andre match,
here’s your chance. What’s cool is that in Relive, you LEGENDARY ROSTER
have to perform specific in-game objectives during the
matches to actually progress. And the even cooler WWE LEGENDS
LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA
thing? These objectives were the actual events that Andre The Giant, Jimmy “Superfly”
happened during the real match years ago. For Snuka, Animal, Junk Yard Dog, Arn
example, in the Hogan/Andre match, you have to break Anderson, Kamala, Bam Bam Bigelow,
the giant’s bear hug, just like how it happened. King Kong Bundy, Big Bossman, Koko
B. Ware, Big John Studd, Michael
Okay, so you managed to leg drop Andre, just like how Hayes, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, British
it happened. Is that all? Nope. If you want, you can Bulldog, Nikolai Volkoff, Brutus “The
Rewrite. If you hate that yellow-spandex-wearing Barber” Beefcake, Ravishing Rick Rude,
Hogan and his Real American theme, shift it over. Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Greg “The
Become Andre, whoop his butt, and sit on him. In Hammer” Valentine, Rowdy Roddy
Redefine mode, you get to choose any wrestler and Piper, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt.
change the match type. Other cool additional features Slaughter, Hawk, Shawn Michaels,
include managers playing a role in the game. Don’t be Honky Tonk Man, Stone Cold Steve
surprised then, to have your wrestler thwarted as Austin, Hulk Hogan, The Million Dollar
Jimmy Hart grabs your leg from outside the ring. There Man Ted Dibiase, Hunter Hearst
will also be online play and a create-a-legend mode. Helmsley, The Rock, Iron Sheik,
Ultimate Warrior, Jake The Snake,
From what we have seen of the game, Legends Of Undertaker, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart,
Wrestlemania looks great. However, unlike the SVR Yokozuna
series, the character models in the game have a
MANAGERS
cartoon-ish tinge to them. And they look seriously
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Mr. Fuji,
beefed up.
Jimmy Hart, Paul Bearer
Legends Of Wrestlemania looks like it’s shaping up to
be a great wrestling game. Will the tradeoff of gameplay
for accessibility and simplicity actually be worthwhile?
We hope so. If anything, reliving every Wrestlemania is
going to rock. Check out the full roster in our Sidebar!
Hopefully that would be enough to appease before the
game is released. - Alden Tan
 REVIEWS HALO WARS

“Halo Wars has quite a lot going for it

slick graphics, awesome soundtrack,
diverse armies and more but it all feels
held back by the control scheme.”

HALO WARS
BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE!
EXCLUSIVELY ON

GENRE REAL-TIME STRATEGY -- PUBLISHER MICROSOFT -- DEVELOPER ENSEMBLE STUDIOS/BUNGIE SOFTWARE -- PLAYERS 1-6
he Halo series is arguably the most
recognized Xbox series. The sheer
popularity of the Halo franchise leaves
Ensemble Studio’s swan song project, Halo Wars,
with some ridiculously large shoes to fill. At the
same time though, the fact that it has the Halo name
attached to it will have Halo fans running to it like
moths to a flame.
RTS games on consoles haven’t exactly always
been a pretty affair. One of the major problems that
have plagued the genre on consoles is poor
controls. Most of the console RTS games, thus far,
have been ports, causing many to suffer from
badly-translated control schemes. Halo Wars,
however, was built from the ground up to be a
console RTS, meaning that Ensemble Studios was
able to design a more suitable control scheme from
the get-go. Moving units in groups and moving
across the maps is considerably easier but still far
below PC standards of control. You won’t be pulling
off any quick micro or coordinating two pronged
attacks with ease unless you have insane finger
dexterity.
To make up for the loss in precision control, Halo
Wars is simplified in several areas. Base-building is
limited to set locations, so you won’t have to
worry about where you place your buildings.
Bases also only have limited slots for buildings,
so you’ll have to decide carefully what to fill them
with. Units only have one ability each, or none at
all, giving you less to worry about on the
battlefield. Even the game’s tech trees are less
complex, allowing you to focus on other things.
None of these changes are particularly
groundbreaking but they help a little in
streamlining the game’s experience.
The single player campaign consists of 15
missions which don’t really stand out from the
typical RTS fare. It’s very possible to just move
your units as a giant blob of carnage while
mowing down the opposition with superior
numbers. Each mission is accompanied by
well-animated cut-scenes but the plot and
characters are clichéd. Overall, the campaign is
rather short and stale.
The multiplayer portion of the game provides a
slightly more interesting experience. You’ll be
able to choose from two factions – the UNSC
and the Covenant. Both of these factions have 3
selectable heroes that provide some diversity
within the factions. The two factions offer different
play-styles, so they aren’t simply mirrored armies
with a different look.
Halo Wars is one of the better looking RTS games
out there and features colourful, imaginative
environments. Units from the Halo franchise are
faithfully recreated though some seem to have been
rescaled. Units look good from afar but start to look
less appealing up close. Sound effects are spot-on
and the game has an excellent score produced by
Stephen Rippy who makes use of the original Halo
theme to great effect.
Halo Wars has quite a lot going for it slick graphics,
awesome soundtrack, diverse armies and more but
it all feels held back by the control scheme. It’s like
trying to play Halo 3 with your hands tied behind
your back. It may be a superb game but you can’t
enjoy it to the max. Halo fans, however, will
definitely appreciate the expansion of the Halo
universe. For first time RTS gamers, Halo Wars
serves as a nice entry point to the genre with its
well-known material but serious RTS gamers can
probably find a host of better titles on the PC.
- Aaron Khoo

FORGETTABLE CAST
While Halo Wars has some of the main characters, is yet VERDICT

7.0
beautiful cut-scenes, they are another gruff military-type
HALO WARS

unfortunately filled with some
of the most boring, typical
characters in the video game
world. Sgt. John Forge, one
that we’ve seen countless GRAPHICS 8 GOOD
times before. We need more SOUND 8.5 A decent RTS.
interesting characters here! GAMEPLAY 6
REPLAY VALUE 8

052 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS NINJA BLADE

“Ninja Blade focuses on cinematic action,

and that’s what you will be seeing a lot.”

NINJA BLADE EXCLUSIVELY ON

NINJA GAIDEN’S YOUNGER BROTHER

GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER MICROSOFT -- DEVELOPER FROM SOFTWARE -- PLAYERS 1 -- RATINGS AGE ADVISORY
t’s hard not to compare From Software’s Ninja
Blade with the acclaimed Ninja Gaiden series
which has set the bar for fast-paced ninja action,
so let’s just get that out of the way first. To put it
bluntly, well, Ninja Blade’s blade is blunt, from its
clichéd story to the tedious gameplay and so-so
graphics. It’s hard to imagine why From Software
would attempt to feed off the pie of the ninja action
genre, especially with such an unoriginal title. It is
FAR from the standard achieved by Ninja Gaiden,
falling short in almost every category, but it does
have some sparks of brilliance.
Ninja Blade puts you in control of Ken (What the,
and Ryu’s in Ninja Gaiden?), a bilingual ninja set on
ridding Tokyo of the infected. The infected are, you
guessed it, a bunch of zombie-like creatures called
“carriers” and were once human, but got infected by
a parasitic disease. Without spoiling the story too
much, Ken sets out to solve the infected problem
before they bomb Tokyo to bits. As far as story
development goes, it is not bad for an action game
given the cut-scenes in between levels provide a
little background and some twists to the plot.
The gameplay is where Ninja Blade shines most.
Like all ninjas, Ken can fight, scale walls, dodge
attacks, unleash ninjutsu, and unique to him,
execute ninja vision. Ken has a normal plus a heavy
attack, which can be stringed into different combos.
The game gives you 3 different weapons at your
disposal – the Oni Blade, Stonerender and the Twin
Falcons, each of which handles differently. Ninjutsu
is basically your AOE attack of different elements
like fire or lightning. It is indeed quite satisfying to
slice your way through the infected, resulting in a
bloody mess of gore and the reward of blood and
health orbs. Blood orbs allow you to upgrade your
weapons or ninjutsu, so as you progress through
the game, you will find yourself unleashing new
devastating combos. Ninja Vision is a fine addition
to the library of ninja moves. It basically slows down
time for more attacks, better dodging or revealing
secrets in the area.
Ninja Blade focuses on cinematic action, and that’s
what you will be seeing a lot. Throughout the game,
you will be encountering many quick-time events
which require you to press buttons on time when
alerted dramatically by zooming into Ken’s eye. It is
a visual feat as these events seamlessly flow into
the middle of the action at anytime, so you always
have to be on your toes and be prepared to jump
from building to building, dodge and toss gigantic
monsters or even ride motorbikes... mid-air on
broken debris.
While all that seems like the ingredients of a great
action game, Ninja Blade doesn’t exactly deliver
them well. The action doesn’t have that solid feel
and tends to get very repetitive. All of the enemies
and bosses lack variety, the latter mostly being huge
insects which you destroy in parts. The platforming
elements of the game aren’t really challenging
either. As for the quick-time events, well, they get
really old quick. Each mission has as many as five
quick-time sequences, and really, it’s excessively
overdone and extremely cheesy. I mean, there’s a
quick-time event to everything including jumping,
landing or riding a missile. You just know the
aforementioned zooming of the eye is Ken’s excuse
to act cool. Plus, it’s extremely easy and forgiving. If
you fail one, it simply jumps back a bit for you. The
game is also plagued with some bugs, so don’t be
surprised if you find yourself stuck on a wall or
encounter dumb enemy AI which try to attack you
too early from a hidden spot.
As far as graphics and sound go, the game is decent
at best. Graphics are sharp, but the textures can be
a little marred at times. The level designs are
uninspired as you basically romp through different
parts of Tokyo. While the sound effects are alright,
the music consists of mainly generic rock which is
forgettable.
Ninja Blade may not appeal to everyone, but anyone
looking for some decent action and a few hours of
fun wouldn’t be disappointed. - Alden Tan

NINJA BARBIE
Just like the doll, you get simply customize the VERDICT
NINJA BLADE

to play dress up with
Ken! Between each
mission, you can choose
to alternate between
colour. So, go ahead and
be as grandiose as
possible, it’s your best
shot at being a ninja
6.5
GRAPHICS 7 DECENT
SOUND 6 Blade ain’t all that
GAMEPLAY 7
sharp.

different costumes or turtle.

REPLAY VALUE 6

054 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS F.E.A.R. 2 PROJECT ORIGIN

“Expect dark corridors, flickering lights, doors opening

and closing on its own and most of all, hallucinations of
Alma and ghastly figures appearing right before you.”

F.E.A.R. 2 PROJECT ORIGIN AVAILABLE ON

ALMA’S BACK
GENRE FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER -- PUBLISHER WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT -- DEVELOPER MONOLITH -- PLAYERS 1 - (16 ONLINE)
onolith returns with solid, fast-paced
shooting action induced with horror elements
in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. Fans of the
game would remember Alma, the creepy little
long-haired girl who was subjected to different,
torturing experiments by the ATC, Armacham
Technology Corporation. And now, she’s back. While
a great game on its own, Project Origin doesn’t break
any new ground like its predecessor as everything
from the gameplay to the scary atmosphere seems
all too familiar.
Project Origin puts you in control of a new
protagonist named Michael Beckatt of Delta Force.
The story picks up where the first F.E.A.R. left off.
The city is in complete ruins and your first mission is
to capture the elusive Geneieve Aristide. Going into
detail would just spoil the story, but players would not
be disappointed to find that it packs a decent punch
as it delves into character development, digs into
dark history and provides a good, albeit predictable,
save-the-world plot. The presentation is also done
nicely, as you experience cut-scenes in the form of
flashbacks. Also, being in control of someone
completely new provides a refreshing perspective to
the story, so even though Alma with her scary face is
out in the open, it doesn’t feel all that stale.
Gameplay is one of the main attractions of the world
of F.E.A.R.. The gunplay feels as solid as any great
FPS would be. The arsenal in the game comes with
your standard issued rifles, pistols, shotguns and
returning with a bang is the hammerhead, a gun
which allows you to stick enemies against the wall
with neon barbs. Enemy AI in the game provides a
decent challenge at default difficulty. They shoot
and throw grenades at will, and new to the game,
even topple over furniture or debris for cover, like
you can. The ability to turn over things seems rather
redundant though, as there is no proper cover
system in the game. Returning in the game is reflex
time which allows you to slow the action down. This
is where the real thrill comes in as you indulge in a
matrix-like experience as you make waste of your
foes.
The original F.E.A.R. was known for its creepy
atmosphere and Project Origin tries to continue that
trend. Project Origin unleashes its horror through a
variety of ways. Expect dark corridors, flickering
lights, doors opening and closing on its own and
most of all, hallucinations of Alma and ghastly
figures appearing right before you. While all that
sounds about right for the element of horror, it is
heavily clichéd and tends to get old fast. We don’t
really fault this on Monolith as F.E.A.R. is a shooter
game at heart, but it feels like there’s a lack of
creativity and research here, as if Monolith
depended solely on the player’s courage and
capacity to take scares, especially from the tired,
iconic Asian film horror figure of a long-haired
female.
Multiplayer is fun to play with lots of people, although
it feels like another run-of-the-mill component which
was added just because it’s expected. You have your
standard serving of Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch,
Conquest, Capture the Flag and Failsafe. A cool
addition to the list of modes is Armoured Front, in
which a player from each team hops into a mech
while the others capture points. Sad to say, the
slow-motion modes that made the first F.E.A.R.
multiplayer so engaging have been omitted.
The game both looks and sounds great. Graphics
are clean and sharp. However, the level designs
aren’t very inspiring as you trot your way through
narrow corridors and control rooms in hospitals and
underground facilities. Project Origin shows off itself
mostly from the action, especially during reflex time
where you can view a grenade going off in slow-mo,
distorting the air like how bullets fly with an airstream
behind. The sound effects are spot-on with realistic
voice-acting and battles sound as great as it can be.
Furthermore, the little sound effects in the game
such as noises from the background to objects falling
helps add to the atmosphere.
Project Origin is a great game on its own. It may not
be as innovative as the first one, but with a good
story which ties loose ends and solid gameplay, it
wouldn’t fail to disappoint anyone looking for some
action along with a few moments of the jitters.
- Alden Tan

ARMOURED F.E.A.R.
New to the series are a couple of
mech-sequences. So prepare to VERDICT

7.5
F.E.A.R. 2

jump into gigantic, armoured GRAPHICS 8 GOOD

exoskeleton suits and crush your
SOUND 8 NoT so scary this
enemies. A good way to scream time around, but
GAMEPLAY 8 still, enjoyable.
bloody revenge and release those
scared emotions indeed. REPLAY VALUE 7

056 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS STREET FIGHTER IV

“While Street Fighter IV is more accessible than any of

its predecessors, it does so at no cost to its depth.”

STREET FIGHTER IV AVAILABLE ON

SIMPLY COMPLEX
GENRE FIGHTING -- PUBLISHER CAPCOM -- DEVELOPER DIMPS/CAPCOM -- PLAYERS 1-2
here’s been a huge Street Fighter craze
growing in the past month but has it been
warranted or was it simply over-hyped
nonsense? Street Fighter IV follows closely in
footsteps of its predecessor Street Fighter II. That
isn’t to say however that it’s the same old game with
a graphical update. Street Fighter IV may stick to its
core mechanics but it makes many tiny tweaks that
result in a vastly different game experience that is
more fun and beginner-friendly.
The first thing you might notice if you’re a veteran of
the series is that Street Fighter IV is a little more
lenient when it comes to command inputs. Basically,
you no longer have to perform absolutely perfect
inputs to pull of special moves. You still have to
execute the requisite actions but it doesn’t feel as
nitpicky as it did before. Combos receive similar
treatment and generally, the timing required to pull
them off is more forgiving. It’s a subtle change but it
allows you to focus more on the combat and less on
performing a perfect quarter circle forward. Not to
mention those who had trouble executing moves on
a certain side of the screen will now be able to do so
more consistently.
The first change I mentioned caters more to the
“casual” crowd but Capcom has not forgotten its
“hardcore” gamers. While Street Fighter IV is
more accessible than any of its predecessors, it
does so at no cost to its depth. One of the new
additions to the game is the focus attack which
replaces the parry system. Focus attacks allow
you to charge up and absorb a single attack, you
can then choose when to release it, the longer
the charge the more powerful the counter-attack
which, at full power, leaves opponents stunned.
It’s an excellent way to begin a combo and a very
useful tool for those who wish to practice its
intricacies.
The other new addition is the ultra combo which
utilizes a charge meter that fills up when you take
damage. Ultra combos are a large part of what
makes Street Fighter IV so accessible, they allow
players who are losing a match badly to make a
comeback without being too overwhelmingly
powerful.
Older techniques like EX moves which modify
special attacks with various properties (extra
damage, faster animations, etc...), attack
cancelling and super combos are still part of the
game and provide the extra depth that sets the
more “hardcore” players apart from the rest. New
players shouldn’t fret however as Street Fighter IV
includes an excellent training mode that will help
beginners and even veterans practice combos and
techniques of all levels.
Street Fighter IV is no slouch in the graphics
department either. I can, without a doubt, say that
this is the most visually-stunning game in the series.
Character models are beautiful, bold and distinct,
thanks to the very unique style utilized throughout.
The characters are vibrantly detailed and look like
something out of an art book. Music and sound
effects are served up equally well-polished and
there’s even an unlockable option to select between
English or Japanese dialogue.
I’ve been complaining a lot lately about games
catering to the “casual” crowd and ending up
“dumbed down” but Street Fighter IV proves that it is
possible to be accessible without sacrificing any
depth. Whether or not you choose to master all the
hidden techniques and complexities of the game,
you can still enjoy the game to its fullest. That’s what
makes Street Fighter IV the undisputed leader of its
genre. - Aaron Khoo

JOYSTICKS. THEY MAKE YOU HAPPIER & DEADLIER

If you’re an Xbox 360 owner, you conjunction with the game and
VERDICT
STREET FIGHTER IV

probably know that it has a having one makes the game

terrible D-pad. It’s inaccurate and
clunky, making it a hassle to use.
Even PS3 owners should look
into purchasing an arcade stick.
Quite a few were released in
9.5
infinitely more entertaining. Not GRAPHICS 9.5 GREAT
to mention the addictive SOUND 9 The revival of a
clicking and clacking of the genre.
GAMEPLAY 9.5
buttons/joystick (or am I the
only one who enjoys that?). REPLAY VALUE 10

058 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS GTA IV: THE LOST & DAMNED

“For S$30, there is substantial content and ten

hours’ worth of gameplay is a decent time-span.”

GTA IV: THE LOST & DAMNED EXCLUSIVELY ON

PEACE AND PROSPERITY BE DAMNED, MY BROTHER

GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER ROCKSTAR GAMES -- DEVELOPER ROCKSTAR NORTH -- PLAYERS 1
cheduled to be out last October, the four
months delay is worth the wait. The
expansion pack can be purchased directly
from Xbox LIVE for 1600 Microsoft points, but if you
want something physical to hold, keep and show
off, the retail version comes with a download code,
a double sided poster of yet another mysterious
lady character, a slightly updated map of Liberty
City, stored within a compact box, all for about the
same price.
For less than 2 GB of space, you are treated to a
storyline that puts you in the boots of Johnny, the
Vice President of Lost MC, a Biker gang. Johnny is
more interested in looking after the well-being of its
members while Billy, their recently returned
incarcerated leader is only motivated with leading
through violence and mayhem that is drug-
influenced. The story unfolds through the characters
you meet and it takes about eight hours to plough
through it. That is unless you die a lot during
missions, and you will if you’re careless. The Lost &
Damned seems to cater for advanced players of
Liberty City, and most of the missions adopt the
same fashion as the bank heist episode in the GTA
IV main story, so expect to take on waves of
enemies.
However there is one frustration from the main game
that has been removed in The Lost & Damned. Each
mission is now imbued with sub-checkpoints that are
cloaked within cut-scenes. Every time you encounter
one, rest assured that if you perish, you can restart
from that last point. This makes it more tolerable and
players who jumped in into the expansion without
much experience from the main game would
appreciate this feature very much.
Apart from the story, there are a couple of substantial
additions. Players will have access to new arsenal –
a sawed off shotgun, a grenade launcher, pipe
bombs and an automatic pistol, new vehicles and
bikes. New mini-games include air hockey, high-low
card guessing game and arm wrestling. Then there
are 54 new tracks and new dialogue spread across
the 19 radio stations, and a new TV show.
Riding along with your biker gang also incorporates a
new ‘brotherhood’ gameplay mechanic. Staying
within formation allows you to hear additional
dialogue that adds depth to the story and affords you
with a free recharge of body armour. You are also
rewarded with a cheaper access to weaponry if you
purchase from the gang’s armoury instead of from
the weapon store.
Another upgrade is in the multiplayer, which
contains six new modes albeit, variants of those
from the main game. We recommend that you try
Chopper vs. Chopper - a straightforward one-on-
one high speed chase between a helicopter and a
motorcycle.
The expansion is not without its flaws. There is a
grainy feature known as noise effect applied to the
camera but it can be turned off. The cover and
targeting system remains the same and feels
outdated. You do not have access to all the facilities
you discovered in the main game and certain
mini-games curiously disappear after completing
the story. Perhaps the most glaring flaw is that
Johnny has no option to a change of wardrobe, no
matter how cool his biker jacket is.
For S$30, there is substantial content and ten
hours’ worth of gameplay is a decent time-span. If
you want a short vacation back in Liberty City, we
recommend going for this download and return as
Johnny of the Lost MC brotherhood. -Mohd Nizam

RELIABLE BROTHERS
VERDICT
THE LOST & DAMNED

Pay special attention to shootout and get them

Clay and Terry. Clay brings
you a new bike and Terry
grants you access to the
gang’s armoury. Look after
them during every
“battle hardened” to 100%
for a cool achievement. Be
warned that if they die,
they’re lost forever (no
pun intended).
9.0
GRAPHICS 8 GREAT
SOUND 9.5 A jam-packed content
that is worth S$30.
GAMEPLAY 9.5
REPLAY VALUE 8.5

060 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD: OVERKILL

“Limbs fly and heads explode in a

wonderful orchestra of death that
frankly, the Wii has been lacking.”

EXCLUSIVELY ON

it comes down to the battle itself, the bosses seem a

little too simplistic. Boss weak-points are outlined
and painfully obvious, making it feel as though the
game is holding your hand throughout these
sequences. The ease of boss battles is an issue that
plagues other parts of the game. If you’ve played any

THE HOUSE OF THE

other House Of The Dead games, you’ll find Overkill
surprisingly easy. This isn’t as big of an issue as it

DEAD: OVERKILL
NO MORE WHINING ABOUT KIDDY GAMES
GENRE SHOOTER -- PUBLISHER SEGA -- DEVELOPER HEADSTRONG GAMES -- PLAYERS 1-4
tylish, that’s the first thing that comes to
mind when you load up The House Of The
Dead: Overkill. Everything from the game’s
opening menu to its cut-scenes has been soaked in
generous buckets of, you guessed it, style.
Overkill’s art style is based on a grindhouse theme
which it uses to great effect. The game simply
oozes high production values. The opening menu is
decked with awesome art and some freaky sound
effects that immediately get you into the mood.
When you start up the first level of the game, you’ll
notice the game’s film-based theme as the level is
introduced in a purposely campy fashion
accompanied by some hilariously corny dialogue
(which can get a little too vulgar at times) and
narrative.
The Wii may not be a graphic powerhouse but
Overkill makes sure to push its hardware to the
limits, making it one good-looking game. Character
models brim with details and visual flair that
graphically set Overkill one step above its Wii
brethren. The game’s environments are similarly
creative and each serves as a perfect backdrop to
the zombie-killing action. Tying together all these
elements is a slick use of grain filters that smartly
links the game back to its grindhouse film motif.
While Overkill is a splendid treat for the eyes, it isn’t
without fault. The beautiful graphics come at the
cost of slight stuttering during the game’s more
intense moments. Honestly speaking, it can be
annoying at times, but ultimately, it doesn’t take
away from the game’s graphic wonder or hamper
gameplay.
Overkill might be a looker but without any gameplay
to support its façade, it would just be a pretty husk.
Thankfully though, the game plays just as good as it
looks. There is a well-paced constant flow of
enemies throughout each level that keeps you on
your toes. Taking them out is extremely satisfying
thanks to the game’s gratuitous violence and
gruesome physics. Limbs fly and heads explode in
a wonderful orchestra of death that frankly, the Wii
has been lacking.
Every level ends with a boss fight that sadly can be
a bit anti-climatic. Each of these bosses is
introduced with a suitably grand cut-scene but when
seems however, since Overkill is all about scoring
points and while it may be easy to beat the game,
getting the top score isn’t quite as painless. The bulk
of Overkill’s replayability comes from trying to
achieve high scores, unlocking stuff and
upgradeable weapons, all of which are great fun
thanks to the solid combo scoring system.
Overkill’s controls are tight, the moment you get your
hands on the Wiimote and start blasting away at
zombies, you’ll notice that aiming is a breeze. You
can even choose to calibrate the Wiimote so that it
can be used like a real light gun, provided you
remain at the same distance from the screen while
playing.
Overkill has it all, gorgeous graphics, groovy music,
campy dialogue and addictive gameplay. If you’re
above 18 and you like blowing things to bits, this
game is for you. A word of warning though, this title is
definitely not for the light-hearted or the squeamish.
It bleeds not only style but guts, gore and loads
(LOADS!) of profanity. - Aaron Khoo

AT THE MOVIES
VERDICT
HOUSE OF THE DEAD

Each level of Overkill little details like these

8.5
has its own snazzy are what makes
movie poster that Overkill’s atmosphere GRAPHICS 8 GOOD
emphasizes the game’s so convincing and SOUND 9 Dripping guts and
style.
grindhouse film nature. awesome. GAMEPLAY 8
It’s a nice touch and REPLAY VALUE 8

062 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS DEADLY CREATURES

“Watching the scorpion jab its stinger straight into

the mouth of a lizard is as awesome as it sounds.”

DEADLY
IT AIN’T A BUG’S LIFE
CREATURES EXCLUSIVELY ON

GENRE ACTION -- PUBLISHER THQ -- DEVELOPER RAINBOW STUDIOS -- PLAYERS 1

ating grubs and crickets, battling rats,
lizards and snakes, it’s not something you
do everyday but in Deadly Creatures, you’ll
find that all these are just the run-of-the-mill
encounters you’ll face. In the game, you play as a
fearsome little spider and a, for lack of a better
word, deadly scorpion. It’s a refreshing new setting
for the action genre and the novelty never gets old
thanks to the imaginative settings you make your
way through.
Deadly Creatures tells an interesting tale of two
humans on a hunt for treasure. You don’t get to play
as these humans but rather, you see the events of
their story unfold through the eyes of the two insects
you play. The first encounter with the humans is an
epic event as you see them towering above your
tiny stature, the earth rumbling with every step they
take. It isn’t a complex tale but it serves as a
compelling backdrop to the action.
As I stated before, you get to play as a spider and a
scorpion, each chapter, you’ll rotate between the
two unique protagonists. The spider offers a faster
style of combat and some nifty abilities like shooting
web, pouncing long distances and travelling around
with the help of its web. The scorpion, on the other
hand, is a slower tank with the ability to block and
pull of brutal finishers. The finishers involve quick
time events with the Wiimote, resulting is
satisfyingly violent combos. Watching the
scorpion jab its stinger straight into the mouth of
a lizard is as awesome as it sounds.
A lot of the focus in Deadly Creatures is on
combat. You’ll constantly find yourself in mortal
combat with the other denizens of the desert.
These range from beetles to hornets and all sorts
of other vicious creatures. Given the focus on
combat, it is a good thing that the game has an
entertaining combat system. The combat system
smartly makes use of a combination of button
presses and Wiimote gestures, allowing you to
pull off a variety moves and combos, which you
acquire as you kill enemies. There are, however,
some flaws in the game that affect the combat,
most notably the camera, which can create some
blind spots and the poor collision-detection,
which can leave enemies clipping through walls
and becoming invulnerable.
Deadly Creatures manages to replicate the look
and feel of all its deadly creatures (pun woefully
intended) brilliantly. Both protagonists animate
beautifully with fluid attack animations and
movements. All of the game’s creatures resemble
their real life counterparts and might even freak out
people who hate bugs. The game’s environments
are just as captivating. Though the game takes place
in a desert, it never feels empty or dull. Every level is
filled with lots of little trinkets and items that make the
setting more believable. Some of the more
memorable moments include watching a pair of
venomous spiders climbing out of a friendly garden
gnome and traversing across the leg of dead body.
The game’s sound effects are ingenious, rendered to
make you feel like an insect. Human footsteps send
loud booming tremors and venomous spiders hiss
fiercely.
Deadly Creatures would have been a great game if
not for one fatal flaw. The game suffers from being
abysmally short. Consisting of only 10 short
chapters, I was able to finish the game within 4 hours
and most will be able to do so in far less than 10
hours. The only replayability is offered by
unlockables which aren’t very interesting and the
game is largely the same the second round through.
If not for its length, Deadly Creatures would have
been a must buy. - Aaron Khoo

A CAST OF TWO
Deadly Creatures Billy Bob Thornton and VERDICT
DEADLY CREATURES

7.5
features an impressive Dennis Hopper who
cast of two. Nope, I’m both offer gripping GRAPHICS 8 GOOD
not being sarcastic. performances in their SOUND 8 Sweet but short.
The two humans in the respective roles. GAMEPLAY 7.5
game are played by
REPLAY VALUE 4

064 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 REVIEWS DAWN OF WAR II

“Dawn of War 2 decides to bring a whole lot of

change to the genre that you’ll either love or
hate upon first impression.”

WARHAMMER 40,000:
DAWN OF WAR II EXCLUSIVELY ON

WAR LIKE YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED IT

GENRE REAL-TIME-STRATEGY -- PUBLISHER THQ -- DEVELOPER RELIC ENTERTAINMENT -- PLAYERS 1-6
nnovation in gaming has always been a point of
contention. Some gamers enjoy experiencing new
gameplay, others prefer to stick by the old idiom “if
it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn
of War 2 decides to follow the prior, bringing a whole
lot of change to the genre that you’ll either love or
hate upon first impression.
One of the most recognizable and controversial
changes in DoW 2 is the removal of base building.
Many complain that it removes a layer of strategic
depth but when you think about it, was there
anything strategic about memorizing a set build
order? The omission of traditional base building
allows you to focus on the battlefield where all the
action is. Meaning, more time is spent
micromanaging your squads and making tactical
decisions rather than deciding where to place your
power-plants.
Another big change is in the main game mode for
ranked play. While most traditional RTS games force
you to destroy your opponent’s base to win, this isn’t
the case in DoW 2. Instead, you’ll have to capture
and hold key victory points for a set amount of time.
This makes battles infinitely more dynamic and
intense as players are forced to move around the
map fighting for key locations instead of just
holing up in their base.
Target priority, flanking, cover and a myriad of
other tactical decisions become more accessible
and important than ever in DoW 2 since you can
focus entirely on your army. Every unit is carefully
tailored to a certain task, so you’ll have to direct
them in unison to maximize their strengths.
Master this and you’ll find yourself coordinating a
symphony of death. Pulling of an organized
tactical assault in DoW 2 leaves you with a warm
fuzzy feeling that is part of what makes the game
so great.
DoW 2’s single player campaign is another
massive departure from the traditional RTS.
There is no unit building at all and every squad
you control is led by a “hero” that can be
upgraded and equipped with a whole range of
gear. The customization of equipment and skills
offers a RPG-esque element that will have you
caring dearly for your tooled-out squads.
Missions are short and sweet but at times a little
repetitive. Overall though, the change in single
player is a welcome enhancement that I hope to
see in other games.
Multiplayer is where DoW 2 really shines. Executing
calculated tactical manoeuvres becomes infinitely
more complex and rewarding against living,
breathing human opponents. Each of the game’s
four races is unique, catering to a wide range of play
styles and strategies. The only thing lacking is a
large selection of maps but it’s a paltry issue
compared to the solid multiplayer experience.
Graphically and aurally, DoW 2 is amazing, period.
No other RTS comes close to looking as good.
Squads are chock-full of details that stand up
incredibly well to proximate scrutiny and
environments bristle with life. The din of battle and
accompanying music provide a strong, powerful
atmosphere that accentuates the chaos of war.
I said at the start that you’d either love or hate DoW 2
on your first impression but that’s not all there is to it.
As you continue playing and become accustomed to
its changes, many who hated it on first impression
will begin to see the brilliant masterpiece that is
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2. - Aaron Khoo

INVASION OF THE SWARM

The Tyranids are the supported by larger, more
VERDICT
DAWN OF WAR II

newcomers to the Dawn Of intelligent synapse creatures

War franchise. Their only goal
is to consume all life. Tyranid
strategy involves swarming
the enemy with hordes of
mindless, lesser creatures
9.5
that provide passive GRAPHICS 9.5 GREAT
bonuses. The combination of SOUND 9 The new benchmark
these allow for some intricate for the RTS genre.
GAMEPLAY 9.5
strategies that make the
Tyranids a blast to play. REPLAY VALUE 10

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 065

 REVIEWS MEN OF WAR
MEN OF WAR
WAR NEVER CHANGES...
GENRE REAL-TIME STRATEGY -- PUBLISHER 1C PUBLISHING -- DEVELOPER BEST WAY -- PLAYERS 1 (16 MULTIPLAYER)
real time strategy game set in Europe and
North Africa during World War II, Men Of
War (MoW) is the third game in a series of
real-time strategy games after Soldiers: Heroes Of
World War II and Faces Of War.
Unlike most other real-time strategy games which
focuses on base-building, resource-collecting or the
building of units from structures, MoW focuses more
on your men, resources, your tactics and the ability
to juggle them all at the same time.
MoW attempts to be semi-realistic in that
everything, from guns, explosives, stamina and fuel
are not unlimited. Each of your soldiers has an
inventory which must be filled by scrounging for
ammo and equipment on the battlefield. Run out of
REVIEWS X-BLADES
X-BLADES
SAVE THE WORLD BOTTOMLESS
GENRE ACTION-ADVENTURE -- PUBLISHER GAIJIN ENTERTAINMENT -- DEVELOPER SOUTHPEAK INTERACTIVE -- PLAYERS 1
he developers of X-Blades are clearly
believers of the age-old adage “sex sells”. In
X-Blades, you play as Ayumi who would be
just another forgettable female treasure-seeker if not
for her outfit or rather near lack thereof. Clad in a
revealing bikini top and the world’s most revealing
pants, Ayumi heads out in search of two powerful
ancient relics.
Predictably, you’ll be forced to do battle with an army of
foes who stand in your way. X-Blades is a hack-and-
slash game at its heart, so you’ll find yourself
constantly hacking your way through the many fights
Ayumi encounters during her journey. Ayumi comes
equipped with a pair of gun-blades as well as several
magic powers that can be unlocked throughout the
game. Most of the combat involves repeatedly
mashing the attack button to pull off strings of combos.
You will hardly be challenged to do more than this.
066 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
“MoW attempts to be semi-realistic in
that everything, from guns, explosives,
stamina and fuel are not unlimited.”
EXCLUSIVELY ON
ammo and your soldiers are pretty much useless. tools to help locate items and corpses to help you
Soldiers also have stamina, allowing them to sprint scrounge and salvage. You can also move the
only short distances before needing rest. In the same camera to almost any perspective and zoom in and
way, vehicles require ammo and fuel to function, run out at will.
out of fuel and you are basically a sitting duck.
If you love gritty, realistic World War II real time
You have an incredible level of control over your strategy games that will test your skill in tactics, Men
soldiers and vehicles, from being able to change Of War is the game for you.
their stance, to allowing them to move to cover on - Marcus “Swordplay” Soh
their own and also their rules of engagement. There
VERDICT
is even a feature where you can take direct control of
a single unit, allowing you greater control in aiming or
7.5
movement when engaging enemies.
GRAPHICS 8 GOOD
The graphics are really good and it is quite easy to SOUND 7 Gritty and
realistic WWII
get lost in all the detail and chaos happening on the GAMEPLAY 8 real time tactics
game.
battlefield. Fortunately, there are some easy overlay
REPLAY VALUE 7
“Clad in a revealing bikini top and the world’s
most revealing pants, Ayumi heads out in
search of two powerful ancient relics.”
AVAILABLE ON
Once in a while, you’ll use one her magic abilities
which can be mapped to four buttons which
seems to be enough, but later on you’ll have way
more abilities than button slots. Some enemies
are vulnerable to certain types of magic, so you’ll
often find yourself swapping out different spells to Combat is tedious and Ayumi doesn’t move as
counter various enemies. Unfortunately, swapping fluidly as you would like. Visuals are forgettable and
out spells is a cumbersome process that involves audio is generic. It’s hard to recommend it unless
pausing the game. you’re really hard up for some hack-and-slash
action. - Aaron Khoo
X-Blades is a pretty decent-looking game but the
stages and enemies aren’t very exciting or
interesting. Add to that the limited selection of both VERDICT
6.5
and X-Blades becomes a rather bland event.
Probably the only thing that stands out graphically GRAPHICS 7 DECENT
is Ayumi’s provocative attire. SOUND 6 Keep your pants
on.
GAMEPLAY 6
All in all, X-Blades is a painfully-average REPLAY VALUE 5
hack-and-slash game that lacks a certain polish.
 GADGETS & GEAR BUILDING A PC

DIY MANUAL
THE ULTIMATE MONEY-ON-THE-BANK GAMING RIG
hese days, with the economic downturn and
all, one simply can’t just buy a computer off
the rack without getting the best value for
money. Especially with so many parts available on
the market now, it can be quite difficult to know how
to stretch your dollar.

That’s where we come in.

Knowing full well just how far a budget often needs

to stretch, we’ve decided to create a little guide on
how to build a computer that has the power to run
the latest games and applications with ease.

Oh, and before we forget: this is a machine that will

cost less than S$2000.

068 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 GADGETS & GEAR BUILDING A PC
PARTS TO THE PUZZLE
Now, let’s focus on the four most important pieces of a gaming rig: the motherboard, processor, RAM
and graphics processing unit (GPU).  As many of you would know, these pieces would form the
backbone of your latest computer, and these are definitely the parts that one must be careful buying.

To begin, we chose to base our computer on the AMD
790GX motherboard; one built for gaming that is more
than ready to handle any overclocking or multi-GPU usage
that users may want to tinker with.
We then chose to go with a Phenom 2GHz Quad-Core
processor, the 9350e, which would be more than ready to
handle any grueling calculation that applications may
require. Trust us when we say that it’s more than enough.
Of course, we can’t forget our GPU. To this end, we chose
to power our computer with the ATI Radeon 4870 (512mb)
video card. A giant red hulk of a card, it not only looks
impressive, but is capable of delivering excellent
framerates for games like Crysis and Call of Duty 4.
Ah, but what good would these parts be without RAM?
Well, not much. However, while the AMD 790GX shows
support for 8GB of RAM, one need not go overboard. 4GB
of RAM will suffice, and the trick is getting good value for
money. To this end, we decided to purchase two sets of
Kingston 2GB (2x2) RAM sticks, which provide more than
enough memory for any games. You could go with cheaper
memory, but it won’t perform quite as well.
Oh, and before we forget: you’re going to need a lot of
power to run this system! Knowing this, we chose to power
our computer with the ASUS U-65GA 650W power supply.
It should provide more than enough electricity for the
computer and should still be enough to take advantage of
ATI’s Crossfire and for us to add an extra GPU in the
future.
As for storage, we went with a 320GB SATA drive from
Western Digital, which should provide more than enough
space for games, videos and everything else. If this is not
enough, one could always go for a 500GB hard disk or
even a second hard drive, seeing as they’re quite cheap.
The DVD drive was the easiest to choose out of all these
parts. This is mainly due to the fact that almost all DVD
writers can now be bought for less than S$50, and users
can choose with what brand makes them feel most
comfortable. For us, we decided to go with the LG
GH22NS40 (22x) drive, which has served its purpose
well.
Now that the interior has been taken care of, let’s talk
about its casing. There are many cases out there, and
prices can range from anywhere between S$50 to
almost S$300. To house our wonderful beast, we
decided to go with the Cooler Master RC-333 case.
Coming in a grey and black finish with a side window,
the RC-333 is an unbelievable steal at $59, and is able
to accommodate all your needs, including very large
third party processor fans that some users may opt to
buy.
Now, these goodies wouldn’t be much fun if we didn’t
have a screen to view our games on. Fortunately, there
are many good LCD monitors available out there. We
decided to go with the Samsung SyncMaster 2033SW
wide 20-inch LCD monitor (with a native resolution of
1600x900), and to be honest, we haven’t been
disappointed yet. However, as we said, there are many
choices out there, and one would be spoiled for choice
when it comes to hi-quality, affordable monitors.
We hope this little guide helps you in your quest for a
great gaming rig!
Oh, and if you’re not good with machinery… just
remember that you can simply pick out the parts at a
number of stores (such as those found in Sim Lim
Square), and they can do the assembly for you.
Good Luck!
- Carlos Reyes Coloma

SYSTEM COSTS - CORE PARTS

Phenom X4 9350e Kingston 4GB RAM - Cooler Master RC-333
S$102
2GHz Processor Casing
- ~S$ 259.50 (USD173) - S$59

Western Digital 320GB Samsung SyncMaster

AMD 790GX
Hard Drive - S$75 2033SW Monitor
Motherboard Chipset - S$228
- From S$150

LG (22X +/-) DVD ASUS U-65GA 650W

ATI Radeon 4870 Writer Power Supply
(512mb) video card - S$36 - S$179
- From S$339 Total cost for Core System
- S$1,427.50

Since you’ve got the whole

Xigmatek Red CREATIVE Razer Copperhead Razer Tarantula
setup going, why not splurge
Scorpion RS-S1283 SoundBlaster X-Fi Gaming Mouse Gaming Keyboard
on the cash to add onto your
Ultimate Rig? We do like Processor Cooler Xtreme Audio - From S$99 - From S$170
spiffy-looking well-designed - S$69 - S$119
accessories, and these did
the trick by our books.

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 069

 MOVIE FEATURE WATCHMEN
WATCHMEN
WHO WATCHES THEM?
ho watches the Watchmen? Most
people would, apparently. One person
for sure that wouldn’t would be Alan
Moore himself because he has long-ago made it
official that he’s against any and all adaptations of
his comics. Actually, he’s against comic-to-movie
adaptations in general. He even bashed Zack
Snyder’s brilliant adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300.
Well, Moore can blame 300 because it was that film
that impressed the studio and that was how Zack
Snyder was approached to direct this long-delayed
adaptation of arguably the most prestigious comic
book in history.
The film is getting quite some hype and those who
haven’t read the 12-issue comic are also getting on
the bandwagon. We hear that Zack Snyder made
the film to be as faithful to the comic as possible, so
those people who haven’t read the comic and are
expecting your typical superhero movie with a lot of
big explosions, well, they might get a tad
disappointed. Sure, there are some explosions in
the story (and one big mother of an explosion you
wouldn’t want to miss) but Watchmen is a different
kind of a superhero story.
We won’t spoil it for you but here’s what the story is
about. Set in 1985, the story is about a group of
superheroes (some retired, some working for the
government, some still being vigilantes) being killed
off one by one. All this is happening while the whole
world is on the brink of another world war with the
United States and the Soviet Union tensing up. And
to add more to all this drama, there’s something
070 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
“there are some explosions in the story (and one big
mother of an explosion you wouldn’t want to miss) but
Watchmen is a different kind of a superhero story.”
MOVIE STATS
GENRE Action
DIRECTOR Zack Snyder
CAST Jackie Earl Haley, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup,
Jeffery Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Malin Akerman
RELEASE DATE Out Now
DISTRIBUTOR United International Pictures
else bigger and more threatening to the world being
cooked up and it’s up to our heroes to figure it out
before it’s too late.
This adaptation had been in development hell since
before Singapore was found and had been through a
lot of hands like this certain young lady that I know. The
casting for the various characters had gone through
several changes with big names like Jude Law and
Keanu “Whoa” Reeves attached. Well, the final casting
turned out to be more low-key with no big name
dominating. We’re not quite sure with the slightly young MOVIES IN A MOVIE?
(compared to the characters’ age and status) cast but
No, not really. Not yet
we believe Snyder knows what he’s doing.
anyway. In the comic book,
there was a comic inside
One worrying thing for fans of the comic is that the
the comic where one of the
film’s previous scripts changed quite a few things,
side characters was
including the ending and though Snyder’s keeping it
reading a comic book
really faithful to the comic, we heard that the ending is
called Tales Of The Black
different. Gasp! Okay, don’t you all start
Freighter and the whole
hyperventilating… yet.
story was fleshed out. It’s
already a daunting task to
Whatever it may be, by the time you’re reading this, the
compress the entire comic
movie would have opened already. And fans would
into a movie so Snyder
have found out whether the film does the comic book
decided to do an
justice. One thing’s for sure, Alan Moore would still
animated version of Tales Of the Black Freighter
hate movie-adaptations of his comics and Adam would
with the voice talent of none other than Gerard
still look weird. (What does that have to do with
“King Leonidas” Butler. That, along with a pseudo
anything? – Ed). - Luisa Lai
documentary called Under The Hood, which was
an essay in the comics, will be released on DVD
and Blu-Ray. And here’s the best news, an
extended version of the film with Tales Of The
Black Freighter interspersed through the main
story is reportedly coming.
 MOVIE PREVIEWS

THE TALE OF
GENRE Animation/Adventure GENRE Action/Adventure
DIRECTOR Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen
DRAGONBALL DIRECTOR James Wong

DESPEREAUX EVOLUTION
CAST Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, CAST Justin Chatwin, James Marsters,
Dustin Hoffman, Sigourney Weaver Chow Yun-Fat
RELEASE DATE 12th March RELEASE DATE 13th March
MIGHTY MOUSE DISTRIBUTOR United International Picture KAME-HAME-WHITE? DISTRIBUTOR 20th Century Fox

Based on the Newbery Medal-
winning children’s book by author
Kate DiCamillo, this here is another
animated film by another company
that is trying to dethrone the mighty
Pixar. Well, it ain’t going to be easy.
This was released in the states back
in December of last year and only
now, it’s making its way here.
The story is about a little mouse
named Despereaux (voiced by
Matthew Broderick) who is born with
huge ears. But that’s not all that is
peculiar about him. He happens to not
fear most mice fear, like cats or
humans. And so goes his big
adventure when he even tries to
befriend a human princess (voiced by
Emma Watson). As with most
animated features these days, the film
has a lot of star power on its voice
actors, like Sigourney Weaver as the
narrator, Dustin Hoffman as the rat,
Kevin Kline as a human chef, and
more.
For most of us, Dragonball was one of
the first mangas and animes that
planted a craze inside our heads. Most
of us still remember the time when
Goku died, saving the world in
Dragonball Z. And of course, the
almost-universal sound of a
Kamehameha was epic in our
playgrounds back then. Since then, the
animes and mangas have released so
many episodes and volumes and there
were a few animated films and
countless video games. There was
even a life-action film done some time
back.
Now, the film is getting the Hollywood
treatment. Our gripe is that the protagonist
Goku will be played by a Caucasian, Justin
Chatwin. You may remember him as Tom
Cruise’s son in War Of The Worlds. There
are a few big names like Chow Yun-Fat and
James “Spike” Marsters involved. The film
is helmed by James Wong and one of the
producers is Stephen Chow.

FANBOYS RACE TO WITCH

GENRE Comedy GENRE Adventure
DIRECTOR Kyle Newman DIRECTOR Andy Fickman

THE FORCE IS STRONG, OH YEAH
MOUNTAIN
CAST Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, CAST Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino,
Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig
RELEASE DATE 19th March RELEASE DATE 12th March
DISTRIBUTOR Golden Village
RUN, ROCKY, RUN!
DISTRIBUTOR Buena Vista

This comedy film has a long history of
development. It is set in 1998 where
a bunch of Star Wars fans are waiting
for Star Wars Episode 1: The
Phantom Menace. But one of them is
suffering from caner and wishes to
see the film before he dies. So, the
four friends decide to break into
George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and
steal the early print of the film to
watch. They travel across the country
and various wacky things happen like
running into William Shatner (The
Shat!).
The development story was that
the film was shot and shown to a
few people and was given positive
feedbacks from Star Wars fan/film
director Kevin Smith and even
George Lucas himself. But a later
cut of the film took out the cancer
plot but after some fans who have
seen the early cut started
protesting, the cancer plot was
restored in the final cut.
There’s no doubt that Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson is the most
successful actor who has crossed
over from professional wrestling.
He’s not only done roles as the
typical action hero, he’s done
comedies and even serious dramas,
and he’s pulled it all off brilliantly with
his charisma. And women go ga-ga
over him.
This here is his new film, again for
Walt Disney, and it’s apparently a
remake of a 1975 film called Escape
To Witch Mountain, which itself is based
on a 1968 novel by Alexander Key. The
Rock plays a Las Vegas cab driver who
comes across a discredited
astrophysicist (played by Carla Gugino)
and a pair of orphans (AnnaSphia Robb
and Alexander Ludwig) who apparently
are paranormal little beings. And they’re
all being chased by some baddies and
they have to, you’ve guessed it, race to
Witch Mountain.
Looks like it’ll be a fun family-friendly
adventure.

TRAILER OF THE MONTH

OBSERVE AND REPORT
Funny guy Seth Rogan has been pretty busy and doing pretty well
for himself since making his mark in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has
since written and starred in good films, especially recently seen in
Kevin Smith’s touching comedy Zack & Miri Make A Porno. This new
film is about a bi-polar mall security guard who starts acting out
when a flasher started harassing customers, especially when a hot
girl he’s been eyeing on becomes one of the victims. There seems
to be some slightly disturbing underlying tone but it should be a
funny film. And the side characters look to steal the show.
www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 071
 MOVIE DVDS
ELI STONE (SEASON 1)
Imagine having an inoperable brain
aneurysm. The good news is, it’s not
killing you, yet. The bad news is, or
the better news if you will, the
aneurysm is giving you weird
hallucinations, like seeing a
fire-breathing dragon out of your
office window. That’s the story with
Eli Stone (Johnny Lee Miller) but
when some of his hallucinations turn
out to be predictions for the future,
things get intriguing and complicated.
Might he be more than just a victim
of a disease? Like say, a modern
prophet? The episodes are funny,
quirky and has a lot of George
Michael references (he even
guest-stars in a few episodes).
GENRE Drama/Comedy
DIRECTOR Various
CAST Johnny Lee Miller, Natasha Henstridge,
Loretta Devine
RATING M18
DISTRIBUTOR Scorpio East
072 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
MISS PETTIGREW
LIVES FOR A DAY
Ah, a period piece that’s not
necessarily depressing or boring. This
is the story about Guinevere
Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), a
down-and-out governess from
London who somehow runs into the
world of high society through an
American singer/actress Delysia
Lafosse (Amy Adams). Miss Pettigrew
finds out that Delysia is involved with
three men and tries to help her out
while she herself (after a makeover by
Delysia) become involved with a
lingerie designer Joe Blomfield
(Ciaran Hinds). It’s a little feel-good
film and Frances McDormand’s lively
performance is thoroughly
entertaining. Amy Adams is also
gorgeous and fits her role rather well.
GENRE Drama/Comedy
DIRECTOR Bharat Nalluri
CAST Frances McDormand, Amy Adams,
Ciaran Hinds
RATING PG
DISTRIBUTOR Alliance DISTRIBUTOR Scorpio East
MIRRORS
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL
Ah, good ol’ Kiefer Sutherland.
These days, he’s more known as
Jack Bauer rather than his real
name. All you 24-loving people, you.
For some of us, we know him as the
face of The Lost Boys, as David, the
uber-cool leader of the vampires. He
recently lent his voice for Call of
Duty: World At War as Sgt. Roebuck.
This here is a horror film that he
starred in last year. The film is
supposedly based on a Korean
movie titled Into The Mirror but there
are a few arguments regarding this
accusation.
In the film, Bauer, I mean,
Sutherland, plays a suspended
undercover police detective who
goes for his first day on the job as a
COLLEGE ROAD TRIP
Martin Lawrence’s films are
entertaining, especially his older ones
like Blue Streak and the really
touching Nothing To Lose, not to
mention the Bad Boys movies. But
this here is a Disney flick, and he’s
starring next to Raven-Symone from
That’s So Raven. Argh, don’t like her
much. Her smile’s too big. Anyway,
the film is about Melanie Porter
(Raven-Symone) who goes on a
college road trip with her dad (Martin
Lawrence) along with Melanie’s
friends. They get into all sorts of
mishaps before they eventually arrive
at their destination. It’s just a formulaic
family flick. But Donny Osmond got a
role in it. Can’t be that bad.
GENRE Comedy
DIRECTOR Roger Kumble
CAST Martin Lawrence, Raven-
Symone, Donny Osmond
RATING PG
night security guard. The place he’s
working at is an old department
store that has been burned down
and closed down for nearly a
decade. Of course, weird things
start to happen. We also find out
that the department store used to
be a psychiatric hospital and there
was a mass killing before it closed
down. No wonder the place is
creeper. So, our dear protagonist
runs into freaky things and tries to
figure out a way to not just keep his
job but also his life.
GENRE Horror
DIRECTOR Alexandre Aja
CAST Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton,
Amy Smart
RATING M18
DISTRIBUTOR Alliance
RANDOM GREAT DVD
DETRIOT ROCK CITY
After surviving through the
family-friendly College Road Trip,
you need something not so –family-
friendly, like this great road trip film
from 1999. My, that was ten years
ago. Based on a song by the rock
band KISS, this film, set in 1978, is
about a bunch of young guys from
KISS cover band in Cleveland
making their way down to Detroit to
see their idols in concert. Of
course, as usual, they get into all
sorts of mishaps and learn more
about themselves and about
growing up along the way. It’s a
true rock ‘n’ roll film and real
rocking road trip. No PG here!
GENRE Comedy
DIRECTOR Adam Rifkin
CAST Edward Furlong, Sam Huntington,
Giuseppe Andrews, James DeBello
YEAR 1999
 MUSIC ROCK BYTES

RAPHAEL SAADIQ - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN -

THE WAY I SEE IT
I hate most of today’s hip-hop and R&B music. Why?
Because of the lyrics. It’s all about women shaking their
tushies and men showing off how big their bling is. Call
me old-fashioned or just plain old, but I like my music
with a touch of decency. And to my pleasant surprise,
Raphael Saadiq (former singer or Tony! Toni! Tone`!) has
released a very classy album that goes back to the good
ol’ days of Motown Gold. You young kids need to try this.
WORKING ON A DREAM
The Boss is back! He got snubbed for the Oscars for his
song The Wrestler from the film of the same name
starring Mickey Rourke (though he won a Golden Globe
for the track), but he seems happier with life these days
(perhaps Obama winning the election might have
something to do with it) and this new album is chock-full
of optimistic tracks. From the first single My Lucky Day to
the political title track, you get happy Brucie. And all is
well.

- By Adam Tun-Aung

PEARL JAM
FEATURE ARTIST

BACK TO TEN
People know Pearl Jam, right? Some slightly older people know
them for Jeremy, Evenflow and perhaps even Daughter and some
slightly younger people (or kids) know them for Last Kiss (which,
even though very touching, was not their own song and was overly
covered by bar bands all over the world). But real fans know them
for Black, Better Man, Given To Fly, Yellow Ledbetter and as
arguably the greatest long-standing rock band in the world.

A.R. RAHMAN - GLASVEGAS -

Pearl Jam came into the public’s eye way back in 1991 (just close
to two decades ago) with their debut album Ten. Since then, they SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (OST) GLASVEGAS
A.R. Rahman has been a legend in Bollywood for a long, This new band from, you’ve guessed it, Glasgow has been
have been releasing records over the years and refusing to burn
long time now but with the soundtrack for Danny Boyle’s making waves in their native Scotland and the UK with
out or fade away like most of their contemporaries from back in the
brilliant film, he’s taken on the world’s stage. The reason their debut self-titled album. Their brand of melodic
day. Their longevity is one of the reasons why they’re considered
I love Rahman’s music is that though it has that European rock is catchy and all but I have some issues.
as one of the best of all time.
Bollywood/Indian flavor, it also incorporates a lot of other Namely, frontman James Allan sings in a really thick
genres and his melodies have that somewhat New Age Scottish accent… and he looks uncannily like funny man
No, I’m not doing a feature on them because they have a new feel. Though most of the tracks are not in English, you Ricky Gervais, albeit a thinner version, especially with his
album coming out. (They do have one but they’re still working on it can definitely feel the emotions. Great stuff. trademark sunglasses. Yeah, I’m mean.
and we can probably expect it sometime later this year). No, the
reason for this feature is that the band’s reissuing Ten, their debut
album this month.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH RANDOM GREAT CD
What’s so special about the re-release? Well, it’s going to be
released in four editions. There will be extras in them and they
come in the form of such goodies like a remastered and remix of
the whole album by producer extraordinaire Brendan O’Brien, six
bonus tracks (Brother, Just A Girl, State Of Love And Trust, Breath
And A Scream, 2,000 Mile Blues and Evil Little Goat), re-designed
packaging, a DVD of their 1992 MTV Unplugged appearance, an
LP of their 1992 gig ay Magnuson Park in Seattle, a replica of the
original Mamasan demo cassette (read up on the story online) and
a replica of frontman Eddie Vedder’s composition notebook. Marilyn Manson -
JEFF BUCKLEY - Mechanical Animals
That’s a whole lot of goodies. And the good news is that this is the EVERYBODY HERE WANTS YOU Marilyn Manson, love him or hate him, is one heck of an
first of the planned re-release of the band’s entire catalogue to lead I’m a fan of Jeff Buckley but I have to shamefully admit artist and he knows what he’s doing. From cock-rocker to
up to the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011. that only recently have I come across this official music shock-rocker to cyberpunk-androgynous… thing to
video for this lovely little number from his second, vaudeville-ringmaster to emo-vampire, he’s been doing
But even if there aren’t any new goodies, if you’re a fan of good, unfinished studio album Sketches For My Sweetheart his own thing. Personally, I think his 1998 album
no, great rock music and haven’t heard Ten before, you really need The Drunk. The track is very lounge-y and the lyrics are Mechanical Animals is his best work with many great
to go get a copy. From the hits like Even Flow and Jeremy to fan deep and sensual. But the video is quite well-done with tracks like Great Big White World, Speed Of Pain, The
favourites Black and the epic Alive, this is a classic album in all some old footage of Buckley being used rather nicely Last Day On Earth, I Don’t Like The Drugs (But The
sense of the term. Heck, it’s better than Nevermind. inside the story of the video. We miss you Jeff. Drugs Like Me) and the rather over-used (back then on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DwhPufaAzs MTV) Rock Is Dead.

074 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

 THE INK ZONE

What you might call a “legacy hero”, DC Comics’ mantle of

the Scarlet Speedster have been taken up by 4 different
men since Jay Garrick’s (the original Flash) 1st appearance
in Flash Comics #1 in 1940.

Here’s the quick rundown; Garrick is currently a member of

the Justice Society of America. Barry Allen the 2nd Flash,
caught up in 1956 and garnered his own 1990s live-action
TV series starring John Wesley Shipp. His nephew-
sidekick, Wally West, took up the mantle when Barry died
saving the universe but don’t worry, he’s slated to return this
year in The Flash: Rebirth. Wally’s the guy you’ve been
watching in the Justice League Unlimited animated series
and currently in the comics. Barry’s grandson from the
future (it’s complicated) Bart Allen, became the 4th Flash
when Wally disappeared for a year. In addition, many
heroes will also join in the dash to take up the name in the
far-flung future.

While Flash producer, Chuck Roven, would not confirm

which secret identity was in the running for the 2010 film, he
did mention that growing up, he was always a huge fan of
Flashes 1 through 3 and is excited to have the opportunity
to try and see if he could actually translate those characters
to the screen. The sciences of Relativity and Physics are
also going to be explored in the movie. Casting has been
unconfirmed with Ryan Rynolds and Adam Brody in the
running so far.

076 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com

With those very words, Prince Adam of Eternia became He-Man;
The most powerful man in the universe and heralds in one of the
most iconic animated series/toy franchises in the ‘80s created by
Mattel, Masters Of The Universe (MOTU). Aside from various
toylines, animated series and comics published by Marvel and
Image, Dolph Lundgren picked up the power sword at the peak of its
popularity in a 1987 live-action movie which also starred a young
Courtney Cox. The franchise is honestly that popular that it even
spun out to include the female demograph with She-Ra, He-Man’s
sister, who got her own toyline and animated series too!
He-fans around the world may have grown up with extremely fond
memories of the heroic brawny warrior who lives on Eternia (a planet
where sword and sorcery co-exists with futuristic technology) and
defends the mysterious secrets of Castle Greyskull from falling into
the evil forces of Skeletor. In 2002, a new animated series which
further explored the world and made the original mythos more
cohesive, garnered a new generation of fans and attracted members
of the old guard (now with added spending power!) back into Mattel’s
fold. Guilty as charged. If anyone out there has a complete Battlecat
in good condition, kindly write in. PLEASE!
by The Four Horsemen, who designed the 2002 resurgence, the
Classics line offers a modern take on the original toys just the way you
remember them. And there’s even more good news! The buzz was out
since the late ‘90s that MOTU was getting a possible movie with John
Woo attached but just recently, Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver
have set John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) to make his live-action
directing debut on a new Masters film! Silver is producing through his
Silver Pictures and Mattel’s Barry Waldo will be executive producer. WB
acquired the property in 2007, and Justin Marks wrote the first draft of
the script based on a story he wrote with Neil Ellice. Stevenson said he
made up his mind when he went to Mattel headquarters and was shown
into a secret lair that contained the visuals created by the toymaker staff.
“There was this locked bunker that you had to be escorted into,”
Stevenson said. “It was filled with art, some generated by the Mattel
artists, and I looked around, and said, ‘I get it.’ We started formulating a
specific vision for costumes, creatures, architecture, and the creation of
a mythology and look for a whole world we’ll create.”
I hope the M.A.S.K. and Silverhawks guys are paying attention.

Right now, you can also get your hands on an even newer toyline
called MOTU Classics which was just released last month. Sculpted

MTV News has confirmed with Brian Michael and was eventually
Bendis, currently one of the primary architects of brought under Marvel’s
the Marvel universe and writer of probably publishing imprint Icon,
almost every Marvel comic you pick up, that an to the small screen.
upcoming television adaptation of Powers will be Powers was optioned
piloted for FX Network. as a feature film in
2001, but the project
First published in 2000, Powers is a comic book never came to fruition.
series created by Bendis and Michael Avon “When we first sold it
Oeming that explores a superhero-populated as a feature, we were
world via the conventions of police procedural lucky to get it optioned
drama. “Powers is in active development as a right away by Sony,” said Bendis. “We
pilot at FX,” Bendis told MTV. “I just handed in a had to sit through waves of screenplays that
draft to the network and we’re getting our notes were just inappropriate for the product, and for
from the network as soon as this thing is over. fans of the book. There were whole drafts of the
So next week I’ll get the notes, and as long as screenplay without Deena Pilgrim (one of the
they don’t involve sock puppets and some sort series’ two main characters) in them. They’d
of orgy scene that I’m not interested in, then hand me the screenplay and go, “What’s wrong
hopefully it will go in the right direction.” with this?” and I’d go “He has no one to talk to!”

Bendis went on to describe some of the trials Sounds like Bendis’ the man with the plan. With
and tribulations of bringing the series, which any luck, this could be one of the better
began as an independently published project adaptations coming your way soon.

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 077

SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM
To Subscribe to Playworks, Mail to:

& WIN!
Playworks Subscriptions, 11 Stamford Road, #02-04, Capitol Building Singapore 178884.
SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES Email: subscription@playworksonline.com

The BacPac Run Plus with its classy look is THE alternative
to a sporty Notebook backpack! The unusual form as well
as its black/silver-gray color combination make it absolutely
attractive. It is the ideal companion for the everyday office,
short business trips or trade fair visits. Worth S$98, we
have 15 sets to giveaway to our lucky subsscribers! While
stocks last.
■ Rates
Yes! I would like a subscription to Playworks magazine
■ 1 year (12 issues) - $56.00
■ Personal details
Name ......................................................................................................
Date of Birth ............................................. Age...........................
NRIC ..........................................................................................................
Address ...............................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
Contact No ........................................................................................
Email .........................................................................................................
Occupation ........................................................................................
■ Payment details
■ I enclose a cheque made payable to
Playworks Pte Ltd

Signature

Date

CONTEST
GREAT PRIZES TO BE WON!
GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE LOST & DAMNED
VISIT our website www.playworks.com.sg/contest for a chance to CONGRATS TO THE NOVEMBER
CONTEST WINNERS
win gta IV: THE lost & damned for the XBOX 360
007 QUANTUM OF SOLACE
FOR THE PC
Sean Tan SXXX7854G

CLOSING DATE 30TH MAR

HALO WARS
VISIT our website www.playworks.com.sg/contest for a chance to SPIDER-MAN: WEB OF SHADOWS
FOR THE XBOX 360
win HALO WARS for the XBOX 360 Tiffany Ng SXXX4578H

CLOSING DATE 30TH MAR

REGULARS PLAYWORKS OFFICE

February was a month that was a tad too short and a tad too hectic with us recovering from the fallout of
the Chinese New Year holidays and surviving through Valentine’s Day and of course, working on our
magazine deadlines. Then of course, we took a handful of wacky pictures over the month. Enjoy.

www.playworksonline.com MAR 2009 PLAYWORKS 079

 RETRO FLASHBACK SUPER R-TYPE
“Super R-Type made sure you got your money’s
worth by being ridiculously difficult.”
NOTE: WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THESE IMAGES ARE NOT FROM SUPER R-TYPE, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE HAD TO WORK WITH. CHEERS ;)
he villainous Bydo Empire is attacking with
its aliens, mutagents and world-consuming
ways. The Force is the only capable thing
to stop them. No, not that Force. The Force, a little
orb of power that your R-Type fighter picks up
along the way to killing everything.
R-Type is a classic side-scrolling shooter, with the
deceivingly simple premise of shooting everything
that shows up as you head to the boss. Super
R-Type, however, like many other “Super whatever”
titles of the time, made sure you got your money’s
worth by being ridiculously difficult.
Difficult how? For starters, hit detection was often
wonky, so while you could sometimes just scrape
past a bullet, explosions that shouldn’t have hit you
often do. That’d be fine, but the game also features
a lack of checkpoints and doesn’t simply shoot out
another fighter at the spot you died.
No, you restart the level from the beginning, with
your fighter back to square one and looking for
aforementioned orb of The Force.
The Force is the great gimmick of the game. Once
you blow up a powerup alien ship and pick it up, it’ll
stick to either the front or back side of the ship.
From there, you can hit a button to send it with
smashing force in the same direction, where it’ll
slowly make its way back to you firing bullets.
Careful management of when to fire off The Force
and when to hang on to it for increased firepower
becomes critical to winning the game, as its
indestructible nature allows you to use it as a shield
in narrow corridors as well.
In fact, several bosses’ weak spots were based off
intentional usage of The Force. Stage one’s boss
080 PLAYWORKS MAR 2009 www.playworksonline.com
(!), for instance, was a sphere with its vulnerable
spot in the middle. Impossible to hit with regular
bullets, you had to send the Force smashing into it.
You could also charge up the beam to two different
levels, resulting in a spread shot, or a penetrating
blast.
Part of the anger/difficulty of the game also stems
from its regular slowdowns. Like many third-party
games for the Super Nintendo’s early life,
developers weren’t able to write proper codes that
SENSE OF HUMOUR
SUPER R-TYPE
could handle large amounts of things happening on
screen at once.
Irem is still kicking around, and its elaborate
Since the game regularly threw large numbers of April Fools jokes often revolve around
enemies and bullets your way (just barely pushing creating silly nods to its major series.
the differential limits of shooters and bullet-hell Instances include R-Type candy (comes in
genres), the game slowed to a virtual crawl. three flavors, Standard, Tentacle, and
Whether intentional or not, this allowed Irem to Anchor!), cars (again regular, sports or
ramp up the difficulty, already infamous in its convertible) and even a phony game console
series, to new heights. called the EXIDNA.
Masters of the game like our resident German
Marcus, utilized this slowdown to carefully dodge
bullets and throw out The Force. But once things
begin to disappear, the game speeds up again,
which means lightning quick reflexes are required
to prevent yourself from overcompensating the lag
and slamming into a hazard.
Super R-Type is essentially a port of parts of
R-Type 1 and 2, the former also being available on
VITAL STATS
RELEASED 1991
the Virtual Console. If you’re wondering whether to
PLATFORM SNES/ Wii Virtual Console
plonk down the 800 Wii points on it, R-Type III is
GENRE SHOOTER
also on the system, and works a hell lot better. Of
course, if you crave old school danger and like the DEVELOPER IREM
idea of using slowdowns to get your way, here’s PLAYERS SINGLE
your chance. - Neubronner Eugene