feb 2012 - issue (14)

M A S H U P S

A L M A F I E R A

M U S I C

G I G F LY E R S G A M I N GG A M E S C H A R T S

A N N O 2 0 7 0

M O V I E SN E W R E L E A S E SM O V I E Q U I Z

C O V E R B A N D S P E C I A L

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P L A Y S TA T I O N VITA

Launch Special

L I T T L E B I G P L A N E T K A R T I N G

K I N G D O M S O F A M A L U R :

R E C K O N I N G

C A S H f r o m C H A O S

T H E W O R L D O FO N L I N E M U S I C

J A C K A N D J I L LR A M P A R TT H E M U P P E T S

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

O U T &A B O U TC a r t i n g , B o w l i n g , P a i n t b a l l , I n d o o r g o l f , S k a t e b o a r d i n g , B M X , P l a y a r e a s , m u s e u m s , f u n p a r k s . . .y a d a y a d a y a d a

S A I N T S R O W - T H E T H I R D

2 0 1 2 B A F TA V I D E O G A M E S A W A R D S

LOCAL BAND FEATURES - REVIEWS - GIGS - EVENTS - INTERVIEWS - GAMING - MOVIES + MORE

www.goguidemagazine.co.uk

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Contents

- - - - - - - MUSIC - - - - - - -

MASHUPS (pg3)For get Glee but lets look at the world of Mashups.

COVER BAND SPECIAL - Feature We take a look at 2 of the best covers bands around the local music scene..

CASH FOR CHAOS (pg4)The classic sounds from the Punk era.

ALMA FIERA - Feature (pg5)Much more than just a rock covers band.

THE WORLD OF ONLINE MUSIC (pg6)Do bands need to up their game in the online market?

GIG FLYERS (pg11)All the best shows from local venues and bands playing around the area.

- - - - - - - MOVIES - - - - - - -

MOVIE NEW RELEASES (pg20)All the new releases in cinemas this month.MOVIE QUIZ (pg21)(Answers on inside back page)

JACK AND JILL - Review (pg22)The latest Adam Sandler release, has he still got it?

THE MUPPETS - Review (pg23)Does the Muppets revival starts here.

RAMPART - Review (pg24)Woody’s back and this aint no toy story...

MOVIE FLYERS (pg26)Posters for some of the latest cinema releases.

- - - - - - - GAMES - - - - - - -

ANNO 2070 - Review (pg44)How will you cope with the loss of earths resources?

Although we hope to ensure our information is correct before uploading some details on these pages are subject to change.Please check online or with each location directly for fully up to date information.

CONTENTFEB 2012 - issue (14)

Click on the orange page number link to go to that page.

GAME CHARTS (pg44)Top 10 games across PS3, Xbox and PC.

PLAYSTATION VITA SPECIAL (pg45)News floods in about the latest hardware realease from Microsoft.2012 ‘GAME’ BAFTA VIDEO GAMES AWARDS (pg53)The BAFTA’s hit the games scene..

KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING (pg58)Has Elder Scrolls and Fable met their match?

SAINTS ROW - THE THIRD (pg60)With no GTA on the horison for another year (or 2) we loom at the latest in the Saints Row series.

GAME FLYERS (pg62)Posters for some great games released this month.

OUT & ABOUT (pg73)Some great indoor and outdoor stuff to get up to.

CLASSIC MOVIE POSTERS (back page) We take a look back at some classic movie posters.

GOGUIDE is a local online magazine for the West Lothian area. We are trying to be less focused on local ‘news’ and more a, ‘what’s on’ or ‘happening’ guide to the local area. At the moment we are heavily focused on the whats going on in the local music scene, whats on and good @ the movies and what is happening in the world of PC/Console gaming.

We do have a pretty modern approach to GoGuide content and eventually hope to produce articles on subjects outside our usual stuff such as Clubbing, Internet, Lifestyle, Sport and Fitness etc.

www.goguidemagazine.co.ukwww.myspace.com/goguideFacebook Search For: GoGuide

With the vast majority of our content sourced from local contributors we are always on the lookout for new people to bring onboard to help us provide input to this content hungry mag so if your keen on writing stuff and getting it published in the mag feel free to drop us a message at [email protected]

Who are GOGUIDE...???

http://www.goguidemagazine.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/goguide

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goguide-Music-Page/293686737354033

mailto:content%40goguidemagazine.co.uk?subject=I%20would%20like%20to%20contribute%20to%20GOGUIDE

mailto:content%40goguidemagazine.co.uk?subject=I%20would%20like%20to%20contribute%20to%20GOGUIDE

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Mashups are songs or composi-tions created by blending to-

gether two or more songs into one new track that are sometimes classed as better than the originals... now can we forget GLEE while we do this feature. Their mashups are just cover versions that have been blended together, what they do is completely different from what we are discussing here as the idea is to use the artists recorded tracks to mix with. Now remixes of tracks is nothing new or even rapping over some old 80’s hit has been done to death but Mashups theoretically have had very little done to the actual tracks and consist usually of purely an overlay of one track over another or say the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another. Sometimes this may require a small amount of speeding up, slowing down, repeating sections, adding loops/beats or some other basic DJ mixing techniques to achieve the de-sired results but usually both songs can be heard very distinctly rather

than a completely remixed version that has been massively changed from the original.

One of the best sites for examples of these mashup tunes is ‘GoodBlimey.Com/tunes’ where you can find a staggering collection of tracks for your enjoyment. For me some just don’t work at all, to my untrained ears it sounds just too much of a mess, but on others the mixing has been done incredibly well and its amazing how someone can manage to get 2, or sometimes 3 and 4, completely different tracks to sit so well in a mix and make them sound so good together.

Nowadays computers and spe-cialist music recording software plays a massive part in gluing all these individual tracks or sections together quickly and accurately with tool suites such as Ableton Live and, most popular of all ACID Pro. These packages and others have all being tweaked in later versions to accommodate the needs of this new “scene”. The biggest changes being features like beat-mapping (a technique which simplifies the synchronization of samples of differ-ent tempos) and online previewing (allowing the composer to audition a sample, playing at the right

pitch and tempo, alongside their existing composi-

tion) have all made it

easier for many people with musical ability but little professional studio experience to knock together new combinations in a fraction of the time it would take with traditional tools, such as the old tape methods that artists such as Coldcut and John Oswald had to endure in the beginning.

Mashup tracks come in numerous guises but can usually found tagged as ‘vs’ tracks. Some mashups have been so successful that the artists have actually re-recorded the tracks and released them to great success. Check out the Linkin Park/Jay-Z collaboration ‘Collision Course’ as one example of this. More recently mashup DJ’s have been unhappy with just an audio track for their creations and have branched out into the video world and actually mashed the video tracks together for their audio, mostly to great ef-fect. Checkout www.mashup-charts.com for a massive jukebox of video mashups.

My top 5 songs are listed below and are selected using the truest sense of the mashup ethos (meaning with-out any pro re-recording etc). Paste them into Google to check them out or jump on to one of the sites mentioned and spend a few hours, days or even weeks enjoying these talented guys creations…

MUSICFeature

5: No Wonderwall Diggity by DJ Schmolli 4: Crazy In The Deep by Dark Ninja 3: She Sells Grapevines by Irn Minky 2: Poker Kids by Lostdimension (checkout Weezer doing exactly this mashup LIVE on You-Tube - serach for ‘ weezer mgmt pokerface‘)

1: Did You See Me Moving Along - by Marc Johnce

Mashup Links: GoodBlimey - http://goodblimey.com/tunes/ Mashuptown - http://www.mashuptown.com/ Mashup Charts - http://www.mashup-charts.com/

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Cash From Chaos have been riding the wave of the punk revival over the past 4 years

or so after they began back in April 2007. Now for the purist out there I know that there hasn’t been a punk revival because PUNK never went away..!!!! For the sake of argument though let’s say that it has definitely seen a lot more popularity in the mainstream again in the past few years.

This has enabled acts like ‘Cash From Chaos’ to thrive and deliver their flavour of punk tribute to our doorstep. The good thing about punk for a covers band is of course the massively diverse catalogue to choose from. The punk and spin off new wave scenes had many, many different styles of music crammed under their umbrella so is an ideal picking ground for top notch tunes.

Paying tribute to those days the ‘Cash From Chaos’ with Skid (vocals), Lizzie (drums/vocals), Mark (bass) and Paul and Simon (guitars) are not just a typical covers band but more pay proper tribute to those days with not just you typical Pistols or Ramones cover but delving much deeper into the punk scene and into those catalogues of The Stranglers, The Rezillos, Stiff Little Fingers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adverts, X-Ray Spex etc. to bring a real sense of the punk and new wave scene back then.

Live ‘Cash From Chaos’ have Sup-ported many of the original punk masters including Stiff Little Fingers, Sham 69, The Rezillos, Uk Subs, Henry Cluney (SLF), Anti Nowhere League, The Members, The Vibrators And The Business. Their travels have taken them far and wide from the stage of the famous ‘Hope and An-chor’ in London to the ‘Nice’n’Sleazy Festival’ in Morecambe for the past two years running and even taken things state side with a gig at the

‘Double Down Saloon’ in Las Vegas. They have shared bills with classic pub punk band ‘Eddie and the Hot Rods’ and the legendary punk poet that is ‘TV Smith’ (Adverts) as well as playing with the ‘Sex Pistols Expe-rience’ and the ‘Threats’.

Times are good for the guys with plenty of big shows coming up so catch them if you can, you will defo be blown away by their amazing ability to transport you back to those chaotic days.

www.cash-from-chaos.com

Images: Kim Ayres @ www.kimayres.co.uk

MUSICFeature

CASH FROM CHAOS

COVER BAND SPECIAL

http://www.cash-from-chaos.com



FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Alma Fiera are not your typical covers band that you book for your wedding,

party or event, well actually they are and sometimes you can. But they are oh so much more than that, for one they don’t particularly look like your average covers band and their catalogue doesn’t quite shout out covers band either.

Covering songs from artists like Alanis Morissette, Blondie, Kings of Leon, P!nk and Tina Turner would be fine for most events but then Alma Fiera can turn a little bit nastier by letting their hair down and slam-

ming us with audio treats from say AC/DC, Guns ‘n’ Roses or Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. I’m sure my mum would have fainted at my wed-ding had RATM been blasted across the room. It is these heavier ditties that lift this band into an-other league as far as covers bands are concerned and they pretty much guarantee that no-one leaves a gig disappointed!

Brett (guitar/vox), Graham (guitar), Lynda (bass/vox) and Pete (drums/vox) formed the band back in 2005 when they finally came together having first played for years in a variety of other covers and original bands. They brought together their varied influences and have a set list with so much range that it is hard to disappoint anyone who comes along to see them.

The band has worked hard over the years, and as such have amassed a rather large fan base among the rock and biker community through regular gigging and their many slots over at local venue ‘Dreadnought Rock’

along with ap-

pearances at various bike rallies and festivals.

As a female-fronted classic rock band Alma Fiera do a great job and in particular Lynda on main vocals stands out as a great front woman and for the oldies among us the obvious comparisons to Suzie Quatro are bound to crop up… pity they don’t actually do any of her stuff, well not that I know anyway, would love to hear them do ‘Can the Can’ or ‘Devil Gate Drive’.

Being a covers band they kinda wear their influences on their sleeves but even when doing a cover you can still hear little snippets of their own personalities coming through both in their playing and in how much of a good time they have on stage. Check them out if you can.

Info over @

www.almafiera.comwww.myspace.com/almafiera

COVER BAND SPECIAL

http://www.almafiera.com

http://www.myspace.com/almafiera

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

MUSIC

Although taken from a US perspective its not to difficult to imaging a UK type scenario and remember music is a GLOBAL medium now so why shouldn’t our smaller local bands target the global market?Interesting reading and hammers home the need for bands to think carefully about what is needed in the music industry now. I’ve been saying for the past 5-6 years now that all bands need an extra ‘non-playing’ person who should be thought of as an integral part of the band to push all of these areas just as hard as the band reheares or play live - the two are NOT mutually exlusive...!!!!

Original Source @ http://a1.grovo.com/img/infographics/the-world-of-online-music_1000.png

http://a1.grovo.com/img/infographics/the-world-of-online-music_1000.png

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Chronicle (TBC) / 20th Century Fox

Best Laid Plans (15) / Vertigo Films

Bombay Beach (TBC) / Dogwoof

Carnage (15) / STUDIOCANAL

Jack And Jill (PG) / Sony PicturesJourney 2: The Mysterious Island (3D) (PG) / Warner Bros.

Man On A Ledge (12A) / Entertainment One UK

Martha Marcy May Marlene (15) / 20th Century Fox

Young Adult (15) / ParamountStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (3D) (U) / 20th Century Fox

American Evil (15) / Metrodome

Big Miracle (PG) / Universal Pictures

A Dangerous Method (15) / Lionsgate UK

Girl Model (TBC) / DogwoofThe Muppets (U) / Walt Disney

Rampart (15) / STUDIOCANAL

The Vow (12A) / Sony Pictures

The Woman In Black (TBC) / Momentum PicturesExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close (12A) / Warner Bros.Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (3D) (12A) / Entertainment One UK

Hadewijch (TBC) / New Wave Films

Position Among The Stars (12A) / Dogwoof

The Adopted (15) / STUDIOCANAL

This Means War (TBC) / 20th Century Fox

The Woman In The Fifth (15) / Artificial EyeTopp Twins: Untouchable Girls (TBC) / November Films

Blood Car (18) / Left Films

Black Gold (12A) / Warner Bros.

Deviation (TBC) / Revolver EntertainmentLaura (R/I) (U) / bfi Distribution

One For The Money (TBC) / Entertainment Film Distributors

Red Dog (PG) / G2 Pictures

Safe House (TBC) / Universal Pictures

NEW RELEASES THIS MONTH

IN SELECTED CINEMAS NOW !!!!!Some details are subject to change - please check online or with cinema directly for latest information.

MOVIESRELEASES

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

NAME THE MOVIES ??

12

4

5

3

Answers on

inside back

page !

MOVIESGG Quiz

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Basically I am a pretty big Adam Sandler fan and for me his mov-ies are usually a good

bet for a few honest laughs in a way that only he seems to have been able to pro-duce over the past 10 years or so. Every now and again though he seems to slip into the darker side of comedy which is where I don’t think he lives very well. Stuff like Reign Over Me, Funny People or even Spanglish just don’t do it for me even though they are some of his more critically acclaimed movies. I prefer Gilmore or say The Wedding Singer or even Click as a more Sandler’esque title to enjoy.

In Jack and Jill Sadler plays Jack Sad-elstein, a successful director of com-mercials who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Erin (Katie Holmes) and their two children. It is Thanksgiv-

ing and the movie kicks off with the arrival of Jack’s dreaded twin sister Jill (Sandler in drag), a single woman with a much exaggerated New York drawl. The Sadelsteins are Jewish, a point that Jack reminds us over and over again with his often stated paranoia regarding anti-Semitism which he tends to confine to his un-fortunate assistant (Nick Swardson).

The character of Jill is offensive to be blunt, she’s domineering, oblivious to social etiquette and has rather incestuous feelings towards her brother, which apparently first started back when they were infants and she would spoon Jack in their crib and she would place little hand on his rear. As a grown woman she still harbours longings to do the same, creeping up behind him as he naps. “Why can’t you lay with me?” Jill whinges huffily when Jack retreats away from her.

Some of the movies main plot revolves around Jack’s efforts to find his sister partner of her own to deflect these unwanted attentions on to. He turns to first your typical

dating website, then via Craigslist (a centralized network of online communities in the states). When he has exhausted all other efforts he tries to hook her up with Al Pacino who plays himself in the movie. What Jack has failed to notice is that his nice Mexican gardener Felipe (Eugenio Derbez) is smitten with her. Felipe invites Jill to join him for a regular Mexican family pastime – picnicking in the park, playing soccer, eating chimichangas and “stealing white people’s wallets.”

I’m sure you will really want to forgive Jack for hating his sister because I’m sure we all want to hate her too. The most cringe moment in this movie is when, like so many, it insists on attempting to shove the case for sibling bonding down our throat with the two eventually car-rying out a weird declaration of love, the climax of which is done entirely in the twin’s own secret language.

Not one of Sandlers best movies but defo one for the fans i suppose.

MOVIESReview

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JACKandJILL

Director: Dennis DuganCast: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino

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MOVIESReview

Back in my day the Muppets, created by puppeteer Jim Henson, were mas-

sive. “The Muppet Show” ran for five seasons in the UK, between 1976 and 1981. The series format was one of a manic collection of puppets mixed with massive guest stars from across all areas of the entertainment indus-try. Once the series ended it spawned half a dozen film spin-offs with varying degrees of success.

The first Muppet movie boasted cameos by Bob Hope, Mel Brooks, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor and Orson Welles. This was a line-up that cemented The Muppets standing in the industry and positioned Kermit and co. as the natural successors to a half-century or more of prime-time slapstick musical entertainment.

Since those heady days the brand has fallen rather sharply into decline and its fair to say that the chances of any kids nowadays know any of the

Muppets if you were to hit them on their cute little heads with a Kermit, Fozzie or a Miss Piggy never mind a Scooter, Chef or Gonzo.

Just when you thought it was all over a knock on the door comes in the form of Forgetting Sarah Mar-shall star Jason Segel, who admitted to a fetish for singing puppets in the movie and who seems to be tasked with the mantle of taking Jim Hen-son’s fabric-and-thread creations into the next generation.

The Script, also panned by Segel with his Sarah Marshall direc-tor Nicholas Stoller, takes us on a strange standpoint by telling us initially that the good old days are over for the Muppets. This tactic is a dangerous ploy as it clearly risks turning this movie into too much of a farewell move and tagging it with the ‘nostalgia’ badge thus alienating the younger elements of its target audience.

So the story goes that Gary and Walter are brothers, but no ordinary brothers. Gary (Segel) is your typical homosapien while Walter is more,

well, more of a material person… made of material of course. Not only that but he is a massive Mup-pets fan. So when Gary invites his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) for a romantic break to Los Angeles, it’s only expected that Walter would come along too because it has been both their dreams to visit the Mup-pet Studios.

A little problem crops up when they get there; they find the building is run-down and about to fall into the hands of crooked oilman, Tex Rich-man (Chris Cooper). The only way to save it of course is to try to persuade Kermit to get the old crew together and host a telethon, a comeback comedy special to raise funds to save the studio. Musically the tunes are mostly for novelty value, like the barbershop rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Chris Cooper rapping, badly.The new Muppets isn’t the best or the worst of the big-screen outings so catch it if you’re in the mood for some harmless fun with the 4 year old.

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MOVIESReview

Rampart is a movie that centres on a special division of the LAPD in which were

the subject of a major cor-ruption scandal back in the late 1990’s. The Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (or CRASH) anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Rampart Division had more than 70 officers implicated in misconduct, making it

one of the most widespread cases of documented police misconduct in United States history. The offenses include shootings, beatings, evidence planting, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics among a host of others.

The Rampart Scandal is more nota-ble in interest due to the fact that three Rampart officers were found to be on the payroll of hip-hop big shot Marion “Suge” Knight of Death Row Records, LAPD investigators also alleged that Rampart CRASH of-

ficers were thought to have been in-volved in the 1997 drive-by murder of recording artist Notorious B.I.G..

So, with a little background on the department over with, the move features Woody Harrelson as dirty cop Dave Brown. Harrelson has perhaps never been better than he is in the this seedy, shocking mix-up of a movie.

Set in 1999, the movie is set in a time when public trust in law enforcement on a whole has been brought down by the scandal involv-ing the Rampart precinct. Director Oren Moverman and crime

RAMPART

Director: Oren Moverman.Cast: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver.

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

RAMPART

novelist James Ellroy have created a story around one particularly bad cop who seems to have carte blanch to run riot in Rampart. Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) doesn’t need anyone else to cause a whole host of trouble he manages it quite ef-fectively on his own. Reminding me a lot of Richard Gere’s character Dennis Peck in movie Internal Affairs, Brown has many layers one of internal decay, the product of many years of bend-ing the rules to breaking point. This is apparent in not only his work life but also in his life outside the precinct. With two ex-wives (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon) and a daughter from each marriage we see in his character all of that conflict, housed inside his head competing for space along with what’s left of his moral compass.

The movie kicks off with Brown in his true home, his beat. Looking the part in his nicely pressed uniform, the sun glinting off his classic aviator

sunglasses, he is checking out the gang ridden streets he calls home. Quickly you have a glimpse of his warped view of the world as he instils his wisdom on the younger cops. Before long we are shown ex-actly what Brown is with his first on screen arrest where he is seen gen-tly forcing a confession from a con-venience store thief. We then have him caught on camera in a Rodney King-style beating where he leaves the guy inches from death. Before we even have time to recover from these exploits he is next involved in a suspicious shooting. Christened ‘Date-Rape Dave’ by a date rape suspect he got rid of under dubious circumstances, soon finds himself in trouble with the department already plagued with problems and may face having his hand tied or maybe even forced to retire.

Some light relief is had while watch-ing Dave try to worm his way around the assistant district attorney (Sigourney Weaver), along with the awareness that the problem for is

bosses isn’t so much what he’s done but the embarrassment he’s become by getting caught.

All civility is left behind In Rampart and Harrelson is a credit to the char-acter he has to portray and the fact that you feel anything for him by the end is a testament to his abilities.

As the action progresses Dave meets strung-out defence attorney Linda Fentress (Robin Wright) in a bar and he seems to have found a weird solemate that matches his scepti-cism and sexual desires. Hartshorn (Ned Beatty) as the retired cop who’s been covering for Dave for years, handles his own black soul with such evil grace it’s chilling. Lots of this movie is shot in a fashion relying on heavily on handhelds and the use of large amounts of natural lighting, by director of photogra-phy Bobby Bukowski’s, which adds greatly to the overtly primitive feel of the movie.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Uncharted 3: Drakes DeceptionBattlefield 3 FIFA 12 Batman: Arkham CityPro Evolution 2012F1 2011Sonic GenerationsGoldenEye: Reloaded

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimBattlefield 3FIFA 12Forza Motorsport 4 Batman: Arkham City Kinect Sports: Season Two Skylanders: Spyro’s AdventureGears of War 3Rage

The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Football Manager 2012Battlefield 3The Sims 3: PetsThe Sims 3The Sims 3: GenerationsRageThe Sims 3: Late NightLA Noire

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GG GAMES CHARTS

PCX-BO

X

PS3

The Top 10 games for Playstation, Xbox and PC as voted by GoGuide2

Fifa 12 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Battlefield 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Need For Speed: The Run Saints Row: The Third Rayman Origins Sonic Generations

Fifa 12 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Battlefield 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Forza Motorsport 4 Kinect Sports: Season 2 Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Saints Row: The Third Kinect Sports Need For Speed: The Run

Football Manager 2012 Star Wars: The Old Republic The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Sims 3 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Battlefield 3 The Sims 3: Pets The Sims 3: Generations Anno 2070 The Sims 3: Late Night

GG GAMES CHARTSPCX-BOXPS3

The Top 10 games for Playstation, Xbox and PC as voted by GoGuide

1

10 10

1

In 2070 our world has changed. The sea’s ris-ing level has harmed the coastal cities and climate

change has made large stretches of land inhospitable.

The latest in the award-winning strategy series, Anno 2070 offers a new world full of challenges, where you will need to master resources, diplomacy and trade in the most comprehensive economic manage-ment system seen yet in the Anno series.

Build your society of the future, colonize islands and create sprawl-ing megacities with multitudes of buildings, vehicles and resources to manage. Engineer new production chains such as Robot Factories, Oil Refineries and Diamond Mines and trade with a variety of goods and commodities.

While adhering to the fundamen-tals that made the Anno franchise a success, the near-future setting will brings numerous new gameplay mechanics, architectural break-throughs, and all new challenges. Additionally, you can build massive cities, the scope of which has never been seen in prior Anno games so why not become an architect of the future?

Face the current world challenges to positively shape the world of tomor-row. Choose either an industrial and efficient course by joining the Tycoons or a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly direction by siding with the Ecos.

Your decisions will have an impact on the environment, the architectur-al look of their world, and the needs of populations.

New depths are there to be dis-covered. Take advantage of the transport systems of the future and develop a powerful economy.

The enhanced Anno with new fea-tures to master

Smuggle wares between harbors without being detected by the coastal patrols or forge alliances with powerful figures to expand your influence... its really all up to you.

So... Whats are you going to do today?

GAMINGReview

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FEB 2012 - issue (14)

GAMINGSPECIAL FEATURE

Sony’s new handheld console ‘PlayStation Vita’ stole the headlines at E3 2011

with a triumphant unveiling of the system, games and services. It will be known as the ‘PSVita’ when it finally arrives in UK shores at the end of Feb or maybe ‘PSV’ or perhaps ‘PSP2’… only time will tell. It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and was released in Japan and parts of Asia on December 17, 2011.

The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED

multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Internally, the Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, as well as LiveArea software as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar.

The device is fully backwards-compatible with PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation Store. However, PS One Classics and TurboGrafx-16 titles were not compatible at the time of the primary public release in Japan. The Vita’s dual analogue sticks will be supported on selected PSP games. The graphics for PSP releases will be up-scaled, with a smoothing filter to

reduce pixilation.

The device features a “super oval”-shape similar to the design of the original PlayStation Portable, with a 5-inch (130 mm) OLED capacitive touchscreen in the centre of the device. The device features two analogue sticks (unlike the PSP which features only a single analogue “nub”), a D-pad, a set of standard PlayStation face buttons ( , , and ), two shoulder buttons (L and R), a PlayStation button and Start and Select buttons.

The device also features a rear touch pad, two cameras (a front and a rear), stereo speakers, m i c r o p h o n e ,

Sixaxis motion sensing system (three-

axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), three-axis

electronic compass, built-in GPS (only for the 3G version) as well as Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR connectivity. The two cameras feature the abilities of face detection, head detection, and head tracking. It also allows for customization and personalization.

The PlayStation Vita will have 512 MB of system RAM and 128 MB of VRAM. The amount of RAM allows cross-game chat to be used on the system (in contrast to the PlayStation 3, which only has 256 MB dedicated to system RAM and 256 MB dedicated to VRAM).

The PlayStation Vita will be released as two different versions: one with 3G support, and a cheaper version without 3G support. The more expensive 3G-version will also come pre-loaded with some special applications that take advantage of 3G’s “always-on” capabilities, such

as augmented reality software. The 3G service will be partnered with Vodafone.

Unlike the PSP (2000 and 3000), the PlayStation Vita will not support video output or contain a removable battery. Sony also confirmed that the battery would last 3–5 hours of gameplay (no network, any sound, and default brightness level), 5 hours of video and up to 9 hours of music (listening with the screen off). An external battery option was announced in an interview by SCEA Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida. PS Vita is equipped with a storage media slot in addition to the PS Vita card slot, so that users can choose their memory capacity based on their use.

Software for the PlayStation Vita is distributed on a proprietary flash memory card called “PlayStation Vita card” rather than on Universal Media Discs (UMDs) used by the original PlayStation Portable. PSVita memory cards will be available in size from 4 GB to 32 GB, with 4 GB versions currently available. 5–10% of the writeable space is reserved for data added by the user after purchase, such as game save data and patches. The size and form factor of the card itself is very similar to the SD Card. Some media applications and games will require a proprietary PlayStation Vita card inserted to be used.

LAUNCH SPECIALPlayStation®Vita

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GAMINGSPECIAL FEATURE

LAUNCH SPECIALPlayStation®Vita

PART 2

“I want to see how people will re-act to the new ways to play that PS Vita brings such as the rear touch pad, Augmented Reality features and AAA titles on a portable device with a real game interface. Plus, I’m interested to see how developers will take advantage of the potential of PS Vita. Looking at the Japan launch titles, the future looks very promis-ing.” Shuhei Yoshida, president, SCE Worldwide Studios

“It’s going to be great to see consum-ers get their hands on PS Vita. I be-lieve it will really shake up the whole portable gaming space with richer, deeper and more immersive experi-ences than before. There are lots of fantastic games coming that deliver true dual analogue stick action, as well as existing series that have been reinvented for PS Vita and great, new, innovative games and apps that show off many of the system’s other cool features.” Michael Denny, senior vice president, SCE Worldwide Studi-os, Europe

“Escape Plan: it appeals to my aes-thetic and auditory senses like few games do. Seems like some great opportunities for fresh gameplay on a new device.” Dayne McClurg, community manager, Gotham City Impostors

“I’m looking forward to Wipeout 2048, Little Deviants and Motor-Storm RC. They’re all great games that I’ve really enjoyed playing this year, and my teams have done a great job bringing them to PS Vita. Apart from those titles I can’t wait for people to play Uncharted Golden Abyss and Escape Plan.” Mick Hock-ing, vice president, SCE Worldwide Studios

“Other than our own F1 2011, I’m keen to tinker with some of the AR features and just drool over that amazing screen.” Nick Craig, vice president, Codemasters

“I’m really looking forward to the launch of PS Vita. It is a great device and there are loads of games that I can’t wait to get my hands on.” Si-mon Bursey, art director, BigBig Stu-dio

“Escape Plan looks like a great little game with interesting and unique gameplay; Gravity Rush seems to be a new concept with a cool style to go with it; and, Uncharted: Golden Abyss seems to push PS Vita to the max – it will be interesting to see how Drake plays on a handheld.” Tore Blystad, game director, Hitman: Absolution

“Definitely Resistance: Burning Skies. I know it sounds like I’m plugging my own but that’s why I got into this business – to finally see the games on the shelves when they’re done.” Daniel Brooke, producer, SCE World-wide Studios

“I’m really excited about Unit 13, which we recently revealed. I think it’s going to be one of the most suc-cessful titles during the launch win-dow.” Ara Demirjian, assistant pro-ducer, SCE Worldwide Studios

PS Vita launches in Europe on 22 February 2012.

PLAYSTATION VITA FEATURES

Designed for games: With a stun-ning screen and dual analogue sticks, PS Vita is every gamer’s dream come true.

Always connected: Take your pick from an always-on 3G Mobile Broadband or a Wi-Fi only model.

Social gaming: Locate, connect, discover, share and play with your friends wherever they arePower and performance: PS Vita uses the latest technology to deliver the best performance and graphics.

PlayStation Network: PS Vita is fully compatible with PlayStation Network, as well as connecting with PS3.

Innovative games: Built-in cameras and GPS help create augmented reality and location-based experi-ences

Find out what video game industry experts are looking forward to most when PS Vita

launches this month.

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

GAMINGFEATURE

The 2012 GAME Brit-ish Academy Video Games Awards takes place on 16 Febru-

ary at the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane and, for the fourth year running, will be hosted by comedian and gamer Dara O’Briain.

Games were entered by both de-velopers and publishers into all the award categories and were initially voted on by BAFTA’s video games members and a carefully selected panel of industry experts via a secure website.

The titles with the most votes went through to specialist juries who receive the games prior to making their nominations. Each juror signs confidentiality papers and casts their votes on paper. The results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.

GAME is Europe’s leading special-ist retailer of pc and video game products. With 11 stores in the UK, it has grown to a chain of over 1,300 outlets and operates stores in ten countries supported by its eCommerce website.

The Academy today announced the nominations for the. 48 different games have been recognised and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.

Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire are both nominated for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Design, Original Music, Performer and Story. In addition, Batman: Arkham City is nominated for Ac-tion and Audio Achievement.

L.A. Noire also got the nod for Debut Game and Game Innovation. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and LittleBigPlanet2 both received nominations for Artistic Achieve-ment and Performer. Uncharted 3 was also nominated for Action, Audio Achievement, Original Music, and Story. LittleBigPlanet 2 received additional nods for Design, Family, Game Innovation, and Online-Multiplayer.

Portal 2 is nominated for Action and Performer. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim received nominations for Artistic Achievement and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game, Design,

and Story.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution received nods for Action, Original Music, Story and Strategy.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both have three nominations.

Bastion, Battlefield 3, Dance Cen-tral 2, Dark Souls, FIFA 12, From Dust, Kinect Sports 2, Monster-mind, The Nightjar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, and Total War: SHOGUN 2 all received two.

This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2011. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 2012, L.A. Noire, Minecraft, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

Read on to see the full nominations list for ALL categories. We gave marked with a GG who we think should win and in next months is-sue we will bring you all the results in full.

AND GAMES

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GAMINGFEATURE

AND GAMES

Assassin’s Creed RevelationsMartin Schelling, Darby McDevitt, Raphael LacosteUbisoft Montreal/UbisoftBatman: Arkham CityJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Adam DohertyRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games/Activision BlizzardDeus Ex: Human RevolutionJean-Francois Dugas, Antoine ThisdaleEidos Montreal/Square- EnixPortal 2Valve/ValveUncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionEvan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy HennigNaughty Dog/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

A C T I O N

Batman: Arkham CityJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, David HegoRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentL.A. NoireSimon Wood, Cheekin Chan, Ben BrudenellTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesLitteBigPlanet 2Development TeamMedia Molecule/Sony Computers Entertainment EuropeRaymans OriginsMichel Ancel, Celine Tellier, Christophe VillezUBlart Montpellier/UbisoftThe Elder Scrolls V – SkyrimTodd HowardBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Game StudiosUncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionEvan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy HennigNaughty Dog/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

A R T I S T I C A C H I E V E M E N T

Batman: Arkham CityJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Nick ArundelRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentBattlefield 3Stefan Strandberg, Bence Pajor, Carl VikmanDice/Electronic ArtsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Development TeamInfinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard

Dead Space 2Andrew Boyd, J White, Steve PapoutsisVisceral Games/Electronic ArtsThe NightjarNick Ryan, Paul Bennun, Daniel JonesSomethin’ Else/Somethin’ Else

Uncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionEvan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy HennigNaughty Dog/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

A U D I O A C H I E V E M E N T

JoustDigital Knights

DreamweaverEvolved Ape

Tick Tock ToysSwallowtail

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BastionAmir Rao, Greg Kasavin, Darren KorbSupergiant Games/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentEufloriaRudolf Kremers, Alex MayOmni Systems Limited/Omni Systems LimitedInsanely Twisted Shadow PlanetMichel Gagne, Joe OlsonShadow Planet Productions/Microsoft StudiosL.A. NoireBrendan McNamara, Naresh Hirani, Alex CarlyleTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesMonstermindDevelopment TeamBossa Studios/Bossa StudiosRIFTScott Hartsman, Russ BrownTrion Worlds/Trion Worlds

D E B U T G A M EBatman: Arkham CityJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Ian BallRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertain-mentL.A. NoireBrendan McNamara, Alex Carlyle, Andrew HamiltonTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesLittleBigPlanet 2Development TeamMedia Molecule/Sony Computers Entertainment EuropePortal 2Development TeamValve/ValveSuper Mario 3D LandDevelopment TeamNintendo/NintendoThe Elder Scrolls V - SkyrimTodd HowardBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Game Studios

D E S I G N

BastionAmir Rao, Darren Korb, Gavin SimonSupergiant Games/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentChild of EdenTetsuya Mizuguchi, Takashi Ishihara, Yuki IchikiQ Entertainment/UbisoftFrom DustEric Chahi, Guillaume Brunier, Bruno GentileUbisoft Montpellier/UbisoftL.A. NoireBrendan McNamara, Oliver Bao, Franta FulinTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesLittleBigPlanet 2Development TeamMedia Molecule/Sony Computers Entertainment EuropeThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordDevelopment TeamNintendo/Nintendo

G A M E I N N O V A T I O NDance Central 2Development TeamHarmonix/Microsoft StudiosKinect Sports 2Development TeamRare and Big Park Studios/Microsoft StudiosLEGO Pirates of the CaribbeanDevelopment TeamTT Games/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentLEGO Star Wars III: The Clone WarsJon Burton, Kellam EanesTT Games/Activision Blizzard and LucasArtsLittleBigPlanet 2Development TeamMedia Molecule/Sony Computers Entertainment EuropeMario Kart 7Development TeamNintendo/Nintendo

F A M I L Y G A M E

Dead Space iOSDevelopment TeamIron Monkey Studios/Electronic ArtsMagnetic Billiards: BlueprintJohn Pickford, Ste PickfordPickford Bros/Zee-3 LimitedPeggle HDJP Vaughan, Paul O’Donnell, Sukhbir SidhuPopcap Games/Electronic Arts

QuarrelGary Penn, Aaron Puzey, Sean TaylorDenki Games/UTV Ignition GamesSuper Mario 3D LandDevelopment TeamNintendo/NintendoThe NightjarDevelopment TeamSomethin’ Else/Somethin’ Else

M O B I L E & H A N D H E L D

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GAMINGFEATURE

Gardens of TimeDevelopment TeamPlaydom/Disney Interactive Media GroupI Am PlayrOli Madgett, Steve Didd, Dan MayersWe R Interactive/We R InteractiveMonstermindHenrique Olifiers, Mike Bithell, Ric MooreBossa Studios/Bossa StudiosResistance 3Development TeamInsomniac Game/Sony Computer Entertainment EuropeSkylanders: Spyro’s AdventureDevelopment TeamToys for Bob/Activision BlizzardThe Sims SocialDevelopment TeamPlayfish/Electronic Arts

O N L I N E – B R O W S E R

Assassin’s Creed: RevelationsMartin Schelling, Darby McDevitt, Raphael LacosteUbisoft Montreal/UbisoftBattlefield 3Fredrik Loving, Joakim Bodin, Oskar GabrielsonDice/Electronic ArtsCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Development TeamInfinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games/Activision BlizzardDark SoulsDevelopment TeamFrom Software/Namco Bandai GamesGears of War 3Development TeamEpic Games/Microsoft StudiosLittleBigPlanet 2Development TeamMedia Molecule/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

O N L I N E - M U L T I P L A Y E R

Assassin’s Creed: RevelationsJesper Kyd, Lorne BalfeUbisoft Montreal/UbisoftBatman: Arkham CityNick Arundel, Jamie Walker, Sefton HillRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentDeus Ex: Human RevolutionMichael McCannEidos Montreal/Square-EnixL.A. NoireAndrew Hale, Simon HaleTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesThe Elder Scrolls V – SkyrimJeremy SouleBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Game StudiosUncharted 3: Drake’s DeceptionGreg EdmonsonNaughty Dog/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

O R I G I N A L M U S I C

Aaron Stanton(Cole Phelps) – L.A. Noire

Mark Hamill(The Joker) – Batman: Arkham City

Nolan North(Nathan Drake) – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Stephen Fry(Narrator) – LittleBigPlanet 2

Stephen Merchant(Wheatley) – Portal 2

Togo Igawa(Dipolomat, Advisor and Military General) – Total War: SHOGUN 2

P E R F O R M E R

AND GAMES

Batman: Arkham CityRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Battlefield 3Dice/Electronic Arts

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard

FIFA 2012Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

L.A NoireTeam Bondi/Rockstar Games

Legend of Zelda: Sky-ward SwordNintendo/Nintendo

2012 BEST GAME - PUBLIC VOTE

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DANCE CENTRAL 2Development TeamHarmonix/Microsoft StudiosDiRT 3Development TeamCodemasters Racing Studio/CodemastersFl 2011Development TeamCodemasters Birmingham/CodemastersFIFA 2012Kaz Makita, David Rutter, Aaron McHardyElectronic Arts/Electronic ArtsKINECT SPORTS 2Development TeamRare and Big Park Studios/Microsoft StudiosYOUR SHAPE FITNESS EVOLVED 2012Stephane Decroix, Igor Manceau, Philippe BaudeUbisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

S P O R T S / F I T N E S S

DARK SOULSDevelopment TeamFrom Software/Namco Bandai GamesDEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTIONJean-Francois Dugas, Frank LapikasEidos Montreal/Square EnixFOOTBALL MANAGER 2012Development TeamSports Interactive/SEGAFROM DUSTEric Chahi, Guillaume Brunier, Bruno GentileUbisoft Montpellier/UbisoftGHOST RECON SHADOW WARSJulian Gollop, Stefan Dyulgerov, Borislav BogdanovUbisoft/UbisoftTOTAL WAR: SHOGUN 2Development TeamCreative Assembly/SEGA

S T R A T E G Y

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITYJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Paul CrockerRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentDEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTIONMary DeMarle, Jean-Francois Dugas, James SwallowEidos Montreal/Square EnixL.A. NOIREBrendan McNamaraTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesPORTAL 2Development TeamValve/ValveTHE ELDER SCROLLS V – SKYRIMTodd HowardBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks EuropeUNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTIONEvan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy HennigNaughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

S T O R Y

Batman: Arkham CityJamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Nick ArundelRocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive EntertainmentFIFA 2012Kaz Makita, David Rutter, Aaron McHardyElectronic Arts/Electronic ArtsL.A. NoireBrendan McNamara, Naresh Hirani, Alex CarlyleTeam Bondi/Rockstar GamesPortal 2Development TeamValve/ValveThe Elder Scrolls V – SkyrimTodd HowardBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Game StudiosThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordDevelopment TeamNintendo/Nintendo

B E S T G A M E - J U D G E S V O T E

L.A NoireTeam Bondi/Rockstar Games

Legend of Zelda: Sky-ward SwordNintendo/Nintendo

MinecraftMojang/Mojang

The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimBethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Portal 2Valve/Valve

Uncharted 3: Drakes DeceptionNaughty Dog/Sony Computer Enter-tainment Europe

2012 BEST GAME - PUBLIC VOTE

Vote NOW for your favourite game LIVE @ www.baftagameaward.com

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Could EA’s ‘Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’ be their stab at a con-tender for the Elder

Scrolls and Fable franchises? Comparisons will obviously be made, and considering the genre, these allegations may well be right on the money.

Like any other RPG in the genre, you are able to customize your character such as deciding on is which race you want to play as. These are bro-ken into 4 for you to choose; Almain (noble Humans) the Ljosalfar (Light Elves), the Dokkalfar (Dark Elves), and the Varani (nomadic Humans). Each race has its very own individual stats and abilities. Once ‘Race’ has been decided, you then move on to customizing your character in basi-cally anyway you prefer.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this game for me was the fighting as it seems that this area has been

looked at by the programmers and tester in order to produce some-thing incredibly easy to use and intuitive. With all of the tools at your disposal from weapons, to magic, to potions, and all easily accessed from the controller layout which is setup in a very convenient way for battle (on a PS3 anyway). Square is your primary weapon, triangle brings secondary weapon up, and L1 is for your shield which still comes out re-gardless of weapon type. When you need to use either magic or potions, you are able to do so with ease.

Another great feature of KOAR is that while you are fighting, you are still able to jump between attack classes. Thus, there is no need to stay as say the mage or warrior class throughout the game. The system allows you to switch between them and others countless times.Let’s say you enter a fight and find that your main weapon isn’t having much effect on your foe, so you swap to your secondary weapon to find the same thing… Ahhhh…. no

need to worry in in this game you can actually change those as well. Pressing >Start and editing your weapons allows you to easily switch out your primary and secondry weapons for say a two handed sword, or a pair of daggers, or one of the other 5 weapon types mid battle.

Curt Schilling, 38 Studios founder, described the style of the game as “a marriage between God of War and Oblivion.”

We say he is pretty close on that and the creators have done a great job at marrying the two titles/genres. Fighting works based on the age old scenario of correct timing of button presses, similar to the style of any action RPG, with occasional QTE’s (Quick Time Events) appearing as they would in the God of War series or any other game from the past 10 years.

Graphically the game is made up of sections which are really excellent

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and the areas that are perhaps not as good but never at any time bad. Parts remind you of Fable while the fighting episodes are increasingly more awesome as you build up your abilities and character, with your powering up to provide a command-ing knockout punch to any enemy you might come across. Add to that some simply astonishing cut scenes and you don’t really have much to gripe about.

KOAR does have one little nig-gle considering we are now into 2012 and that is the lack of a real character voice, instead you are left with a simple dialogue box. For me that leaves me with a feeling of no real connection with my creation and it seems bereft of any possible personality. This seems strange as the other characters throughout the game are voiced brilliantly and it is just a pity that we couldn’t choose what we wanted to say and then have your character speak them for you. It would I’m sure have made

an already superb game a good deal better.

Although the combat element of the game is a big plus the other areas are on a par and using maps; mini, local and world, are all done with ease. Access to the 3 maps lets you zoom in or out and move around the local and world maps. Using these maps you can actually teleport to places you need to go to rather than go through the old RPG route of revisiting places repeatedly as you try to get to somewhere else.

Like all RPG the game relies heavily on numerous quests with varying degrees of difficulty. KOAR does a good job of branching these off into main, side and then into quests that solely belong to your chosen faction. The game directs you in what steps and directions you must follow to complete the quests. With regards to quests a nice inclusion is that an in game character who perhaps issues you a quest can be KILLED by those who attack you, so beware.

If you are still not convinced that this game is worthy of your purchase, I suggest you play the demo. The demo lets you do nearly everything you can without actually having to buy the full game. You are able to level up, buy potions, and try magic and various weapons. This is easily one of the most comprehen-sive game demos I have ever played. Of course, you can only complete 5 or so quests but the demo is worth downloading.

As we said at the beginning of the review Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckon-ing could be seen as EA’s, or even the PS3’s, answer to Fable or Elder Scrolls. Even if it doesn’t quite reach those dizzying heights at least EA has added yet another cracking RPG title to its roster.

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Being tagged as just a GTA clone the Saints Row games, despite their numerous dif-

ferences and colourful façade have constantly been barraged with accusations and criticism of its level of innovation in the sandbox genre that it resides in. Now that we have the 3rd in the series, Saints Row - The Third, released and the next GTA title not available until well in the future I’m wondering if it can finally shake that monkey well and truly off its back.

In the new game the Third Street Saints have somehow achieved inter-national status and are reaping the benefits of this stardom with stacks of movie deals and endorsements to their name. With this fame comes the reward of street dominance and with no genuine competition on the streets to defy them, as you might expect, get sloppy and complacent. This even-tually leads to a takeover by some Belgian banker and his buddies, who in time have brought the Saints Empire crashing back down to a small street level gang again.

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Gamers are put in the predicament of once again working their way back up the street hoodlum food chain, much like they did in Saints Row 2. Proceedings accelerate from small engagements into the bigger jobs of reclaiming of territories and eventu-ally to full scale wars using every resource at the gangster’s disposal including genetically grown human tanks and clones.

Sure it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before and a tad predictable with some of its characters portrayed of low-grade gangster film stereotypes. But that may not be a bad direction to take for SR3 as it is seen to not be taking itself too seriously and keeps the in game action well and truly on the higher end of the scale during the story.

Your cast of characters embraces eve-ryone from an auto-tuned voice in-fatuated pimp to a Mexican wrestling themed gangster so be warned and get ready for a good few cheap jibes and plenty of laughs along the way despite the lack of any real plot or twists anywhere to be seen. On the odd occation we do see Saints Row 3 taking things a little too far, which can be seen sometimes to be bordering on obnoxious and pretty naff from an overall story point of view.

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All the typical Saints Row gimmicks and trademarks have been carried over to this game, from theft and in-surance fraud to the good old pros-titution rackets, they are all there in their messed up glory. Not content with that though SR3 has some new ‘activities’ for you to enjoy, players can take part in a manic Japanese-style game show where killing is the no 1 tactic, or some Tron inspired motorcycle races.

At SR3’s heart is still the core game-play of Saints Row which has you earn cash, buy properties and gain discounts, while initiating a plentiful supply of chaos so that your reputa-tion meter keeps climbing to enable you access to more story missions and grow your character abilities.

As usual you start the game by choosing your character and cus-tomising to your heart’s content, not only at the start but throughout the game you can pop in and tweak at any time you feel the need to. There is also an upgrade option which al-

lows you to play around with things that might just help you survive on the Stillwater mean streets.

As you play you will hopefully become more powerful and thus your gang increases in stature too, which means even more options to customise stuff for your gang. You can kit them out with weapons, dress them up, organize them, the choices are yours and with a good gang behind you rebuilding an empire shouldn’t be too difficult and rewards you with a sandbox area that really lets you to discover your inner psychopath.

Numerous set pieces and scripted events keep the game fresh, and they range from the fun and divert-ing to the truly spectacular, while also giving the gameplay a much needed boost when events become a bit too similar to the previous Saints Row game.

A new co-op mode further com-pounds the craziness as you and

a friend cruise around Stillwater delivering all kinds of carnage, while “Whored Mode” pits you against waves of attackers while asking you to do so with some gameplay gags that limit or enhance your experi-ence. It’s a decent mode, but it doesn’t truly add anything to the experience, and could have done with a little more polish.

Gunplay hasn’t really evolved at all in the interim since the last Saints Row game, so don’t expect any sort of cover system for when fire fights quickly escalate into small skir-mishes between well armed militias on either side. Instead, you’ve got ample, regenerative health that can be upgraded, plenty of unlockable weapons and enemies who will throw themselves at you hoping that you’ll run out of ammo before they run out of body parts to blast off, while a few enemy variants are thrown in to the mix to keep things interesting.

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You can’t have a Saints Row game without some kick ass vehicles and SR3 is no different and you will pleased to know that the handling has been tweaked a good bit and there is an abundance of different modes of transport to choose from. Steering is tighter and you grip the road better but without losing the all-important fun factor of course. The GPS system hasn’t changed much and makes anticipated turns and utilising shortcuts much simpler to use, this is probably an area that some other titles should look at as it really does ad to the game.

Graphically, as you probably already know from previous Saints Row games, SR3 replaces realism for something they can use a little more artistic integrity on. Stillwater is bathed in a neon glow which works for the most part with only a few glitches along the way.

The voice casting and integration is done really well in SR3 with most of the characters successfully portray-ing a typical low grade plot seem to push the story along admirably, while the obligatory selection of tacky compilation albums blare out of your car stereo.

Overall Saints Row 3 doesn’t really disappoint and is a more polished and better experience all round than SR2; the all-out gun battles to the melee combat sections, the sometimes odd camera angles, the slightly irritating weapon selection and the hordes of mutant freaks to do battle with. Definitely not an in-novation more of tidy up and ‘wipe it’s *rse’ as they say in the home improvement shows. Defo worth the investment if you liked SR2.

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The Bennie Museum The Bennie Museum opened in 1989 as a museum of Bathgate’s his-tory and life. It is run entirely by volunteers under the management of a Charitable Trust. It has been commended by the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions.

www.benniemuseum.org.uk11am - 4pm (Apr to Sep) & 11am -3.30pm (Oct to Mar) - FREE

9-11 Mansefield Street, Bathgate, EH48 4HU01506 634944

Almond Valley Heritage Trust,

Almond Valley is operated as a popular leisure destination that ap-peals to a diverse audience and promotes learning through discov-ery, family interaction and play. We also operate a formal education programme.

www.almondvalley.co.ukMillfield, Livingston, EH54 7AR

01506 414957

Bankhead Mountainball

Like many ‘extreme’ sports, Zorbing, Orbing or Sphereing was created in New Zealand back in 1994. The concept is quite simple, you build a human sphere which can accommodate up to two fully grown adults, secure them inside then let them roll down a hill in it (hamsters have been exercised for many years in a very similar way!)

www.bankheadmountainball.co.ukContact for opening hours

Bankhead Farm, Dechmont, Broxburn, EH52 6NB01506 811209

The Garage Skatepark Stu Graham and co have decided to open a new skateshop at The Garage Skatepark in Livingston! The shop is still in it’s early stages but should be open for business right now.

FACEBOOK: The Garage Indoor Skate Park Mon - Sat: 10am - 10pm - Sun: 10am - 8pm

5D Grange Road, Houston Industrial Estate, EH54 5DE

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Funtastic Fantasy Golf Limited Miniature golf arena but it’s one with a difference it’s BLACK-LIGHT UV which means that not only do the 3D prop’s glow in the dark but also the golf balls and art work on the wall do too. This facility is a fantastic family day out for all ages & abilities with a cafe that sell homemade food made onsite at their cafe ‘Dino Bites’

Mon - Sun: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm 3 St Andrews Way, Livingston, EH54 8HQ

07935 576943

Racing Karts

Racing Karts quickly established itself as a force in Indoor Kart Racing due to its attention to safety, cleanliness and customer satisfaction.They like to call themselves ‘The Friendly Circuit’

www.racingkarts.co.ukTimes: Booking required - call to arrange

Arrol Square, Deans Industrial Estate, Livingston, EH54 8QZ01506 410123

Deer Park Ten Pin Bowling

Deer Park Bowling Centre is a 16 Lane Bowling Centre with the ca-pacity to hold 128 bowlers. There is a bar and food served through-out. At ‘Late night Glow Bowling’ the lights are dimmed and the lanes come alive with GLOW IN THE DARK, ULTRA VIOLET lighting effects and music.

www.deer-park.co.uk Mon-Thur: 4pm-10pm / Fri: 12pm-midnight / Sat: 10am-midnight /

Sun: 10am-10pmGolf Course Road, Livingston, EH54 8AB - 01506 446699

Livingston Skate Park The Livingston Skatepark opened in 1981, at a time when most com-mercial skateparks were closing and was one of the most important facilities in Britain during a critical period in the development of skateboarding. It is an example of a free, unsupervised facility which achieved international status.

Daylight access all year round FREE

16 Northwood Park, Opposite Almondvale Shopping Centre, Livingston, EH54 6HR

OUTABOUTIN WEST LOTHIAN

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FEB 2012 - issue (14)

Delta Force Paintball Delta Force Paintball provides world class paintballing in Scotland. In addition to the scenery, incredible game zones provide players with an adrenalin-fuelled day of paintball action all year round.

www.paintballgames.co.ukWeekends + 1 Weekday - check online for details

Off Burnhouse Road, Dechmont, Livingston, EH49 6PL0844 477 5050

Go Ape - Beecraigs

It’s not in the dictionary, but if it was, Go Ape would be described as a ‘tree top adventure’. A dollop of breathtaking scenery; a smatter-ing of tree-top wires, crossings and wind-in-your-face zip wires; fin-ished off with a liberal dose of people in search of their inner Tarzan.

www.goape.co.ukCheck Web Site for opening times and bookings

The Park Centre, Beecraigs Country Park, Linlithgow EH49 6PL0845 643 9215

Overboard Soft Play

Overboard Soft Play is an exciting indoor Soft Play and entertainment venue for kids aged 0-11 yrs. They have it all, from chutes to ball pits to go-karts to ball cannons. With an underwater theme and seperate play zones for different age groups and abilities, your children are sure to have a great time from the minute they arrive until it’s time to go home.

www.overboardsoftplay.comWed - Sun: 10:15 am - 6:00 pm

3 St Andrews Way, Livingston, EH54 8HQ - 01506 873888

Five Sisters Zoo The Five Sisters Zoo was established in 2005 and is the only wildlife attraction centre in West Lothian. With over 100 different species of animals, birds and reptiles from all around the world your visit will be a fun, enjoyable and educational one - all ages.

www.fivesisterszoo.co.ukOpen 7 Days a week - 10am - 6pm (5pm Winter half of year)

Gavieside, West Calder, EH55 8PT01506 871 111

OUTABOUTIN WEST LOTHIAN

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FEB 2012 - issue (14)

MOVIESQUIZ ANSWERS

1The Assas-sination of

Jesse James by the

coward Robert Ford

Trainspotting

2

Twilight: New Moon

4Company Men

3

Zombieland

5

FEB 2012 - issue (14)

CLASSIC MOVIE POSTERS 101

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 monster horror film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes. The film was released in the United States on March 5, 1954.

Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed and originally released in 3-D requiring polarized 3-D glasses, and subse-quently reissued in the 1970s in the inferior anaglyph format (this version was released on home video by MCA Vide-ocassette, Inc. in 1980). It was one of the first Universal films filmed in 3-D (the first was It Came from Outer Space, which was released a year before). It is considered a classic of the 1950s, and generated two sequels, Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us. Revenge of the Creature was also filmed and released in 3-D, in hopes of reviving the format.

feb 2012 - issue (14)

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