the other press Anime Reviews Culture http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca “ETA td eNa Le or] Bi La al Meo Ni ohh Ss Nf M4" bale od Oy eed) Pe Realeased by: Bandai Entertainment Running Time: 125 minutes For those of you unfamiliar with what exactly ./ack is, basically it’s a mega project started last year in Japan that combines an anime series, a video game, and four OVA animations. At first glance, this may just sound like a bad marketing scheme, but I assure you it has more substance than most stories we see these days. So let us delve into the very blurry line between reality and virtual worlds. The video quality is amazing for .hack//sign it’s in 1.85:1 and encoded in anamorphic widescreen, and if you don’t have a widescreen television, that translates to letterbox- ing. It is very hard to describe how good this looks. The colours are lush and vivid, the animation is fluid, and it’s widescreen. You can't ask for much more from a DVD. The sound is presented in 5.1 surround sound for both the English and Japanese vocal tracks. It’s beautiful how the sound and vocals play out—I’ve been overwhelmed with the high quality of this disc. The menu for this disc is the Chaos Gate from the world, which rotate show clips from the anime while there is a simple selection screen for the various DVD options. Extras involve a small set of pro- duction drawings of Tsukasa and Mimiru, along with a trailer for .hack//Infection and the standard clean open and close animations. Also, this isn’t quite an extra, but it deserves a worthy note, is the fact that it has a separated audio track, which means you can easily get the audio off the DVD if you are so inclined. : Cody Sawatsky OP Game Critic = | dere + % i a a omy | oe Platform: Xbox Players: 1 Publisher: Ubi Soft Developer: Ubi Soft Stealth action games have experienced a recent explosion of popularity. With recent games like the Metal Gear Solid Series, The Hitman Series, and host of others, you'd think that like in any game boom, the quality of games would start to drop off. Not so. In fact, quite the opposite. Splinter Cell has the most jaw-droppingly high standard of quality that one has ever dared to imagine. All shadows are drawn in real time. All fabric drapes and flows realisti- cally, in real time. Sounds have distances and volumes attached to them—they are no longer merely triggers to set guards after you. Lighting is all drawn with astounding reality and clarity. It even reflects! This would all be incon- sequential if it didn’t figure into the gameplay, but it does. This game has been given the highest rating ever by any magazine, website, or student-turned-game-reviewer who has ever had the privilege to gaze upon it. The sheer amount of interaction and the complete open-endedness offered boggles the mind. There is not one or two, but lit- erally any way conceivable of completing a mission objec- tive, and everything behaves realistically. You can throw objects, knock enemies out, take them hostage for infor- mation, or simply dispose of them. Play through this game, and you will get stuck at least once per level. But rest assured, if you do the complete opposite of what you are trying, it just might work. You may, and will, run out of bullets, but there is always an alternate route to take. The most skilled of all Splinter Cell players will be able to complete missions without killing anyone. Splinter Cell features something nearly unheard of in the action game genre—a compelling plot. You play as secret NSA operative Sam Fisher. As the story unfolds with information you uncover, the effect of what a game is sup- posed to be is achieved. It pulls you in, and makes you feel March 26, 2003 Imagine the near future where games improve to the point of good VR head sets. You wake up the online RPG called the World. You can’t remember much of what hap- pened, but the only thing you know for sure is that you cannot logout of that world. You are no longer standing at your terminal in your home. You are physically in the game—lost, scared, and experiencing everything as if it were real. Thats Tsukasa’s situation, the young Wavemaster, wizard in D&D terms, who is depressed, moody, and very shy and reserved. As well, there are two other players that Tsukasa could consider friends: Mimiru the Heavy Blade, who among constant arguments with Tsukasa does her best to help him out, and Bear who is fre- quently at her side. Bear is a Blade Master who is always willing to lend a Newbie a hand. Beyond that, there is no need to mention the plot any further because it needs to be experienced first hand. Mere words in a review cannot do it justice. For those wondering about the tie-in with the hack game, this chronologically takes place before the events in the game, but after playing the first game I’ve noticed a large portion of tie-ins with the game. That’s not to say you need to experience both, but the anime espe- cially helps to flesh out the game’s story further. Project .hack is one of the most innovative and well exe- cuted ideas from anime I’ve ever seen. It’s something that will rank among the great works of anime. as though you are part of the story, instead of merely watching it. The plot is advanced through in-game updates and through news reports and briefing between levels. To sum up, this game is everything that a video game should be. Intelligent, engrossing, gorgeous, realistic, and above all else, fun. Splinter is the new standard for stealth- action games. With downloadable content, a sequel in talks, the multi-platform release hitting stores, and possi- ble other spin-offs, we may be seeing the dawn of a new breed of stealth action games. Kola Cell, the name of the released downloadable level, is simply amazing. It maintains the ludicrously high pro- duction standards of the release game itself, and spurns on desire for more. Many fans are hoping for a complete episode to be released online. Like me. To wrap up, one of the best elements of Splinter Cell is its level of immersion. The cut scenes and briefings happen in such a manner that youd almost believe they were real. It gives you the feeling that everything you see in the game could happen in reality. And if that isn’t the trademark of a truly freakin’ great game, I don’t know what is. Good (+) Bad (-) Perplexing (?) + Graphics are stunning. + Sound is integral to Gameplay, and breaks new ground in its uses. + Downloadable content - No custom soundtracks ? Why can I interact with absolutely everything, but I can- not pick up an enemy's gun? Next Review: Ghost Recon Cody_Sawatsky@hotmail.com page 9 © 7