Culture the other press PlayStation.c Atl eM! ame Reviews Devoloped by: Squaresoft ublished by: Squaresoft umber of Players: 1 orth American Release Date: ovember 3, 2003 oe ah http://otherpress.douglas.be.ca Couldn’t wait till November to play Final Fantasy X-2? Well nei- ther could I, so now all you faithful game readers out there can have an idea of what to expect from Square’s first true sequel in the Final Fantasy series. My first suggestion is to make sure that you finished playing Final Fantasy X, or else this game will make very little sense. As usual, with any import preview, I have no clue about the quality of the story really. It’s in Japanese, and I really have no idea what anyone is talking about unless they're calling someone an idiot. But basically, Yuna, Rikku, and a new character Paine, are searching for Titus, following his disappearance at the end of the last game. This is the only RPG to have an entirely female cast of playable characters, and this might explain why the direct translation of the battle system is called “Dress Up.” Well, technically it’s “job class switching during battles,” but they change costumes a la, magical girl, to swap abilities to suit their battles. This may not sound like the best idea, especially for those guys out there who would prefer a hero with a sword, but I really like the variety this system has. It allows you to adapt, and deal with any situation with ease, provided you're balanced in your job leveling. Some of the highest-level costumes are well worth the effort, because who doesn’t want magictech armor again? Since this is a sequel, you pretty much have the same world to explore, With the war in Iraq and all the coverage coming right into our homes on the very screens that these games appear on, it would be very easy to see when a war game lacks realism. After all, the real thing is readily available, and watched by millions for hours each day. Now imagine taking control of that action. Welcome to Ghost Recon. Ghost Recon is an especially elite team of Green Berets. They specialize in doing the dangerous dirty work behind enemy lines that simply must be done. They take out tanks, they secure vil- lages, they rescue hostages, they liberate towns and cities, and you are in complete control. First of all, one thing to be understood about Ghost Recon is that it is not a traditional shooter game. It is field combat sim- ulation. Anyone who has played any of the Rainbow Six games will feel right at home in Ghost Recon. Anyone who has played Counterstrike will also be in familiar territory. However, if you are looking for an Unreal Tournament type game, this is not for you. Ghost Recon is a far more methodical and cerebral. Ghost Recon gives you control of not one character, but a pla- toon. Six team members, divided into two squads of three mem- bers each. You can select less members if you so desire. There are four classes of soldier: Rifleman, Support, Demolitions, or Sniper. Kind of like the four food groups, but with guns. Each soldier has unlockable weapons within their class. In addition to this, you can also alter each soldier’s kit, which is the equipment they take with him or her. They have access to grenades, grenade launchers, extra ammo, pistols, and even binoculars. Think of them like GI Joes that really will kick ass. There are also stats for each soldier. Each Soldier has a rating on Weapon Skill, Stealth, Endurance, and Leadership. After each completed mission, you gain an attribute point to give any way you choose. You may be thinking, how would I control six soldiers? Well, Ubi Soft came up with brilliant and intuitive system for com- plete battlefield control. By pressing the left trigger, you bring up a map showing the battle area, your insertion and extraction points, the positions of known enemies and tanks, mission objectives, and the position of all six members of your platoon. April 2, 2003 which is good and bad. There’s no over-world map, and like FFX you merely pick locales to be dropped off at. Although this time around each locale has a difficulty rated mission, usually involving some twisted mini-game. FFX-2 has a staggering amount of mini-games, from Yuna shooting monsters, to Simon says. There’s even another in-com- prehensible game involving coins where the PS2 always beats you no matter what you do. Because this is a Final Fantasy game there is one thing we can always count on... graphics so good they have you drooling on the PS—well, some people anyway. It looks amazing. People often complain that the PS2 has bad graphics and will never look as good as the X-box. Well, I can honestly say I'd like to see the X-box have something look this good and run this smooth. Square certainly knows what they're doing when it comes to programming a PS2 game. The cut scenes are amazing—the opening is a concert that Yuna is performing at—she’s some sort of pop idol now, but hey, people can’t always pay the rent by killing monsters and selling items. despite only understanding the game-play mechanics, Final Fantasy X-2 is a very different but entertaining RPG. Also, an interesting note is the game will be limited to a fixed number of copies on release. Japan is limited to 1.8 Million copies, and North America will probably have even less. Want to tell your other Squad where to go? Set a waypoint on the map, and they'll go there. They will maintain radio contact with you. A lot of the time, they are better than you are, so don't be afraid to let them get dirty. This game has wicked multiplayer. Not only does it have co- op and adversarial modes split-screen, it has link and live play as well. But why only two players per box? Something the game seems steadfast on is that there will only be two teams of three, at all times. Thankfully though, this doesn’t detract from the game at all. This game holds together very solidly, and is an excellent all-around experience. If you have $70 on you right now, put down the paper and go buy this game. However, the wildly pop- ular expansion pack Island Thunder is slated for release before summer. This will be a stand-alone game, meaning you won't need the original Ghost Recon to play it, but it will be priced at around half the price of a standard Xbox game. It does not have as many single player missions as the regular game, but it has more multiplayer maps, and game modes. One of the best fea- tures of Ghost Recon is the multitude of unlockable goodies, which keeps the game fresh for hours. Altogether, Ghost Recon delivers in a way that few war games do—appealing to all gamers across all genres, in a very realistic and well-presented package. Good (+), Bad(-), Perplexing(?) + Amazing Realism + Excellent mixing of cross-genre elements - Insanely difficult to accomplish final tasks - Only 2 players per box! ? Only 2 players per box! Bottom Line: Buy it now. STOP READING! GO NOW! Next Week: Steel Battalion Cody_Sawatsky@hotmail.com Gamertag: Lotsakon page 11 ©