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| | The Ragol.co.uk Hunters Gazette |
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Back Once Again! June 3rd 2005
E3 2005 | Sonic Rush | Spartan: Total Warrior | Shadow the Hedgehog | Full Auto | Condemned | Conclusions | Links | Credits |
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 In this fortnights edition of the Ragol.co.uk Hunters Gazette, we turn away completely from Phantasy Star, but keep it in line by reporting the other happenings from the great SEGA at the biggest trade show in the world! |
Of course, our biggest attention went to Phantasy Star Universe this E3, and we couldn't have wanted anything more... well, maybe except to have had the chance to have gone and played it for ourselves, but beggars cant be choosers, unfortunately. We're a European website, so we have to make do by keeping up with others words! However, Phantasy Star Online isnt Phantasy Star Online without one key element, and thats SEGA, the reason Ragol.co.uk is around. So we celebrate them this time around, as Ragol.co.uk, being big SEGA fans, alongside PSO fans, turn to SEGA's other displays this year that attracted major attention.  We're gonna start off by bringing you another great Sonic Team game, and a nice surprise to see was Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS to be released at the end of this year. Last year when the Nintendo DS was shown off in full, Sonic Team showed off what they could contribute in the form of 2 demo's. One was a demo of the amazing Project Rub, and the other was the possibility of what Sonic the Hedgehog can do for Nintendo's new handheld. The result was pretty simple and great to see. It was a simple tech demo where you had to rub the screen as fast as you possibly could to make Sonic run faster and faster. The faster he got, the greater the effects were on screen, with the image of Sonic blurring with each extra mph he went. However this time around, Sonic Team have obviously kept the speed factor, but gone old-school by remaking the whole game to make a Nintendo DS friendly SEGA Mega Drive Sonic the Hedgehog title. "WHAT?! A REMAKE?! Pfft whatever, not me thanks". Yeah whatever mate, this game is by no means a remake. The game is viewed from a SEGA Mega Drive camera angle perspective, but has a lot of 3D grpahical elements to make this game looking top dollar. Of course it follows the tried and tested Sonic gameplay and stories, but this time uses 2 different characters in the main game. Of course, you can be your favourite blue hedgehog, OR you could be an all new character entitled Blaze... a cat! You'll be teaming up to uncover the Sol Emeralds, precious jewels using mystical forces! What makes this game great thought is its use of the Nintendo DS' 2 screens. The camera's perspective has been made so if Sonic starts to volt down a long hill incredibly fast, the view of Sonic moves upto the top screen, so you, the players, can view more of Sonics line (Where's he's about to run), so you can pick off obstacles before he gets there! As already mentioned, the game has 2 selectable characters, Sonic & Blaze, who each have their own special levels for their own special abilities to utilise, as standard for Sonic games nowadays, and the game is also said to include some great little stylus controlled mini-games should you start getting fed up of the main adventure!
    A great game, and definately my pick of whats to come from the great Sonic Team, apart from PSU, of course... or is it...
 'The Spartan', the main character in this game, is a man on a mission... to beat down the romans - marching around like they own the place, under the order of Emperor Tiberius - and he's got his own little garrison (The Sparta!) to help him out against most of the roman empire! The game is a basic RPG game, and you start of with a Sword, and a Shield. You use it to charge into great numbers of enemies at the same time, and swipe them all down in what i'd guess was a Episodes I & II type control system, except with many many more enemies at one time. This definately seems to be one of the games most notable features - The amount of enemies you can see on the screen at any one time to take down. You can slice, dice, and just generally chop through dozens of enemies at a time in this slaughter-fest sounding title, and thats something we're all used to as great hunters of our time! If he doesnt like swords, he can switch to a bow and arrow, but aparently the ammo is limited, and isnt really what the games about. Its about digging into huge crowds, and using anything you can to smash them to kingdom come once and for all. You can even use your shield as a weapon if you so wish to stun the enemy, which could prove handy in the bigger attacks. You'll also encounter many legend and mythical creatures throughout the game, and take part in many fights on ancient and famous landmarked areas of the world, so you can take the name of a true legend.
  The game is being developed for all 3 current generation consoles (PlayStation2, Xbox, and Nintendo Gamecube) and comes out in September of this year, and should be something of a purchase for sure!
 A game i expect many were amazed to see as it was announced earlier in the year from SEGA, after everyone expected to see the blue hedgehog take on the consoles again, when in fact, it was quite the opposite... but still a hedgehog of course! Being developed in time for christmas for PlayStation2, Xbox, and Nintendo Gamecube, Shadow the Hedgehog graces our screens this time, as he takes on a planet under attack by powerful alien forces while trying to obtain the seven Chaos Emeralds so he can uncover his true identity and past history, living in the life of a haunted rebel. The RPG game features all things hedgehog, as you control Shadow through the 50+ various levels, and attempt to collect all the Chaos Emeralds, when you come to a sudden crossroads, lying well in the knowledge that you could join Dr. Eggman in his own hunt for the same Chaos Emeralds, or join Sonic and Co. to collect them all! The decision you make will also decide the ending, as there's multiple endings to unlock as you make your way through the game and make various implications throughout the game. Taking control of Shadow gives you special access to all his special abilities, including Chaos Control and Chaos Blast to alter time and space or destroy it all respectively! The game also gives you access to any of the enemies advantages, such as... err... borrowed weapons, and vehicles, including alien aircrafts, government vehicles, and laser guns!
 
  Its a hedgehog with more attitude then you could shake a grenade at, and definately should be worth a gander and entry onto the christmas list this xmas.  SEGA demand they kick off the next generation by announcing Full Auto, one of their 2 great new titles for the Xbox 360 this christmas, full of boot kicking and engine blowing! Grab your own customised vehicle of destruction and buckle up, because within 10 seconds you could be out of that windscreen faster then you can ask "Have we Started?". Full Auto merges games such as Need for Speed and Burnout with classics like Carmageddon and Vigilante 8, as you race amazingly detailed fast cars, with fair weaponry and explosive tricks added on top to give you that little extra advantage. Not only are the vehicles very graphically enhanced, but they handle aparently well, and drive very fast indeed. Guns and other weapons also vary from car to car, and you control them with the use of a few buttons on the Xbox 360 controller when you feel the need for that extra bump to the finish line. With all racing games, you also get boosts should you need them, but what makes Full Auto different, is its 'UnWreck' feature. Now i bet you're thinking... "Unwreck? Surely that means i can just race while my car is kept in mint condition", but you're wrong, because its actually a time controller. Hitting the unwreck button rewinds time for a small amount while your car reverts back to its previous condition so you can either relive the moment or dodge what you know the other racer behind you is thinking! However, when you're car is fully mashed, it'll explode, and its all over bud, unless you've got the AA on speed dial.
 
  Full Auto looks top notch, and if you're considering the Xbox 360 at launch, make sure you also consider Full Auto at the sametime. Also, if you get hit by a car with a gun on top weeks before the launch of the game and the console, then its clearly a sign in its own right.  You're name is Ethan Thomas, and you work for the FBI, in the Serial Crimes Unit (Is there any other unit?), and its your job to hunt down manic serial killers, living in their stereotypical urban lifestyles with the pee smelling dark alleys and dingey creeky houses! Track the routes of your prey, as the FBI normally do (Not that i've been in contact with them recently, or at all, of course, hehehe...), and follow them up and strike them down to justice, using any method you find the most effective. Oh, yes, and you also carry a gun! If you're not busy shooting the hell out of manic killers who enjoy writing letters and paying the bills with their own blood, you'll probabily be solving small puzzles using your FBI belt full of handy gadgets and gizmo's. Pick a lock here, find a switch there, its all standard, but placed with a mix of out of this world thriller instinct with unreal graphics, eery music, lifelike and scarily sophisticated AI enemies, and everything else that mixes fun, with horror.   All in all, if you want to buy a game you may very well end up bringing back because its too scary and real that you think it could actually cause you to look twice before you turn off your new Xbox 360, also released at/near launch, then get Condemned! E3 2005 went very well for SEGA, and they have definately shown that they're still around, and not running off with what they've got at the moment. It seems like everyday, theres a Japanese guy at the SEGA offices dipping into a bit more magic dust to come up with another great looking idea for a blinding game that turns out just as good as you'd expect from the legends that are SEGA. What will we possibly see next year? Is there possibly anything else that could surprise you? If you'd like to comment on this editions main article, then do it in our forums, in this particular Ragol.co.uk Forum Thread! Share your point of view with the world! Do you agree, dont you agree, DO post on our forums! | | The Ragol.co.uk Hunters Gazette |
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Credits June 3rd 2005 Hunters Gazette Edition by: Lee-yoshi
Images: SEGA of Europe
© Ragol .co.uk |
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