July 2002 Volume 83 Number 7 "serving the protectors"
Edited By John Ballantyne

Spider-Man
Format: Xbox, PS2, GameCube, Gameboy Advance, PC.

Jump into Spider-Man’s suit and experience some of his exciting adventures as he battles the forces of darkness in New York City.

This game allows you not only to replay scenes and confrontations from the recent blockbuster feature movie, starring Tobey Maguire, but also to engage in some new exclusive encounters that make up Spider-Man’s backstory.

It will be recalled that the story’s shy young hero – the nerdish high school student, Peter Parker – is bitten by a genetically altered spider and suddenly develops amazing powers, including Spider Sense, web-slinging and wall-crawling.

In this game, your imagination can really take flight as you crawl, leap and swing among the dizzying heights of skyscrapers in a stunningly recreated 3D New York City.

Features include:
• 30 cleverly designed levels to explore and swing through.

• All-new super villains, including Shocker, Vulture, Venom, Carnage, Lizard and Rhino.

• Different Spiderman costumes, each of which gives you special powers, such as additional strength, increased jumping ability or unlimited webbing.

• Well-designed cityscapes and worlds.

• Voice actors from the animated TV series, as well as the voice of Tobey Maguire, star of the recent feature film.

America’s Army: The Official U.S. Army Game
Format: PC

The US Army has hit on an exciting and innovative way to attract military recruits.

West Point Military Academy, in collaboration with entertainment producers, has developed two realistic computer games to give civilians a virtual experience of a soldier’s life in combat and basic training.

In the first of them, Soldiers, you create a character with specific career ambitions, character traits and resources, and then watch that character progress from basic training to retirement in a series of dynamic cinematic sequences with actions, dialogue, sounds and photo-realistic background images.

During the game, you encounter a vast array of tactical, technical and physical challenges, such as soldiers would face in their first tour of duty.

The second game, Operations, allows up to 32 players to enlist in “virtual service” with the US Army on various action-packed missions, each of them taking from five to 15 minutes to complete.

You are sent to disrupt illegal arms transfers, and to keep terrorists from obtaining anti-air missiles.

You use ultra-realistic weapons, and learn about the benefits of teamwork, leadership and training.

In addition to using spoken commands and radio messages, you learn to use an extensive system of authentic US military hand and arm signals that will allow you to communicate with your online team members without ever saying a word.

As there is ultimately a serious purpose behind these games, players are warned that any “friendly fire” incidents – no matter how slight – will result in automatic banishment from the server.

Both games – due to be released in July and August – will be available for free from www.americasarmy.com and www.goarmy.com.

Space Channel 5: Go Go Girl Saves the Galaxy
Format: PS2

This is a rhythm action game with a futuristic Swinging Sixties feel.

You take on the role of sassy intergalactic anchor girl Ulala who, with the backing of a kitsch Japanese lounge-core soundtrack, must dance away the invading alien hoards.

A group of Morolian aliens has intruded into a spaceport and is zapping innocent humans into a dance trance.

The only way to save the spaceport from impending doom is to out-dance the Morolian commands.

Find the rhythm and Ulala will mimic the aliens’ dance moves, aim her ray gun and either shoot an alien or release a hostage.

A more pressing matter for Ulala, however, is her ratings. If Ulala dances out of time, her viewers will switch off.

During her adventures, Ulala encounters rival TV channels, rival reporters desperate for a scoop, space tourists, hoards of Morolian aliens, and even Michael Jackson – but only she can save the galaxy through the medium of dance.

Wave Race: Blue Storm
Format: GameCube

This latest version of Wave Race looks better than ever, with stunning scenery and special effects.

As you race around a variety of exotic aquatic courses, your jet-ski bounces from wave to wave in a highly realistic manner.

The game is easy to pick up and play.

It features eight courses, eight riders, and three difficulty levels.

As you work through Championship Mode, you learn to master more intricate and subtle aspects of gameplay, such as leaning into turns.

The Stunt Mode enables you to perform mid-air jump stunts as well as trick stunts on the water.

Blue Storm boasts some quite outstanding features, including advanced wave physics, customizable weather effects (with wave heights varying from calm to tsunami), and other numerous options.

Waves will deform from the pressure of your jet-ski. This can be used to agitate the water surface in the path of your opponents, creating a less stable surface.

There can be a total of eight players on the screen – and these are not mere clones that perform exactly the same, but eight unique individuals with noticeable strengths and weaknesses which can actually affect gameplay.

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