Strategy showdown 11-PAGE SPECIAL FEATURE! TONS OF REAL-TIME STRATEGY GAMES PREVIEWED! The PC Gaming Authority W N E E R FOR OVER 2IS0S YUEEA 2R6S4 W L O C E P R I 9 9 4 . $ SPECIAL REPORT LIVE ANYWHERE MICROSOFT BRINGS XBOX LIVE TO THE PC! HOW IT WILL WORK, WHY IT WILL ROCK LL LL EE CC WW !! RR EE VV II RR EE EE PP OO NN TT SS -- DD NN NN AA HH TT UU SS II VV EE LL II NN XX CC LL PP EE EE GG SS AA EE LL BB UU DD OO MM OO DD EE SS == BB EE SS TT PP CC VV EE RR SSIIOO NN YY EE TT!! MMOOWWTTEEHH MMEEAATTRRKKEEEEBBCC HHTTOO HHFFEEAAEE AAMMRRTTOOUUDDRRSSSSEETT!! AA LL LL PP LL AAYY BBOORRIINNGG TTOOPPIICC EEVVEERR SSEEXXYY!! PLUS: REVIEWED WATRHRE4E MNPINAA SGNTPEE BESREC VWHTIIEIONTWRHD TLRDEOERGDMEEA BONM RRDFCA AHILDELES RT:R A 006ISSUE 264S. $6.99 Canada Display Until July 25 DEUS EX! AND MORE! JULY 2$4.99 U.CGW.1UP.COM CONTENTS JULY 2006 ISSUE #264 50 24 96 32 77 (cid:31)COVER STORY SPLINTER CELL DOUBLE 66 AGENT Honing stealth skills for our latest covert op, we got inside Ubisoft’s offices without the receptionist even noticing. Once inside, we got the SPLINTER CELL world-exclusive scoop on multiplayer forSplinter Cell Double Agent. 12 Editorial 14 Letters What’s the real-time strategy for getting the EIC The short bus made a field trip to the post office 20 Radar to turn in his editorial? We have no clue. this month. Here are the results. Met in la-la land (read: MMOs), married in real life: That won’t work...or will it? Polygonal relation- ships turn physical in Love Bytes. Plus, outspo- kenSystem Shock,Deus Ex, and Thief producer Warren Spector speaks out in the CGW interview. 50 Strategy Showdown Incoming research- and resource-rich strategy fare faces off with the arriving army of instant- action RTS games in our 11-page preview feature. 20 26 77 Viewpoint Action heroine Lara Croft returns to fine form in Love Bytes Test Drive Tomb Raider: Legend, and military shooters get real with Red Orchestra. 1UP.com producer Jane Pinckard delves into the story-versus-gameplay controversy with her look at Dreamfall, and Tom and Bruce find out who’s better at Oblivion. 78 Tomb Raider: Legend 82 Commandos Strike Force 84 Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 86 The Lord of the Rings: 32 45 The Battle for Middle-earth II 88 Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach 90 Condemned: Criminal Origins Interview Haze 91 Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 92 Tom vs. Bruce: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 10>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD GAME INDEX 29 Armed Assault 81 Atlantis Quest 54 CivCity: Rome 52 Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars 82 Commandos Strike Force 62 Company of Heroes 90 Condemned: Criminal Origins 91 Dreamfall: The Longest Journey 88 Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach 92 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 87 Guild Wars 45 Haze 59 Joint Task Force 86 The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II 84 Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 24 Shadowrun 81 Shangri-la Deluxe 66 Splinter Cell Double Agent 58 Star Trek: Legacy 83 Strategic Command 2 Blitzkrieg 55 Supreme Commander 26 Test Drive Unlimited 78 Tomb Raider: Legend 55 Warhammer: Mark of Chaos 56 World in Conflict 50 Strategy showdown 96 Tech 106 Greenspeak 96 Tap your inner nerd, delve deep into the guts of Gahz’rilla or pasta? One brave and lonely man must your PC, and put on your thinking caps for this decide between World of WarCraft and dinner. full breakdown on motherboards and how to plan Tech ahead when building that new monster machine. THIS MONTH ON 1UP.COM WWW.GAZERK.COM The world’s greatest videogame search 78 84 engine is here! Gazerk, the newest addi- tion to the growing 1UP Network, is now in public beta—and it’s the perfect way to Tomb Raider Red Orchestra find whatever info you’re looking for on your favorite games. WWW.GAMEVIDEOS.COM Gamevideos.com hosts the latest game trailers, as well as machinima, speed runs, and all those wacky joke videos that get forwarded around the office. CGWRADIO.1UP.COM 91 92 Why read what the CGW editors have to say when you can listen to their geeky, whiny voices instead? Join the fun and find out Dreamfall Tom vs. Bruce why all the girls are going wild. CGW.1UP.COM<11 STAFF REDITTORIASL 26 4REBORN TM EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor-in-Chief Jeff Green Managing Editor Sean Molloy Senior Editor Darren Gladstone Not just your daddy’s clickfest EEddiittoorrRShyaanw nS cEolltiottt FileFront Liaison Logan Parr DESIGN PARDON ME FOR SLIPPING INTO GEEZER MODE Art Director Michael Jennings Associate Art Director Sean DallasKidd for a moment, but let me give you younger kids a CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Loyd Case, Tom Chick, Robert Coffey, Jason Cross, Bruce Geryk, quick history lesson regarding real-time strategy James Mielke, Matt Peckham Founder Russell Sipe games (you old folks can either proceed to the rest of ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA GAME GROUP the issue or stick around just to be, ya know, part of PSerensioidr eVincte S Pcroetsti dCe.n Mt acnCda rGtheyneral Manager, 1UP Network Ira Becker the hip crowd here). VViiccee PPrreessiiddeenntt oanf dS aEledsit oSrciaolt tD MirceDcatonrie Jlohn Davison Vice President of Marketing, Research, and Events Rey Ledda Way back in ye olden days of CGW—when I was Vice President of Circulation David Rock Group Creative Director Simon Cox still the new guy, Quake was the deathmatch game COPY DESK Copy Chief Susie Ochs of choice, and current reviews editor Ryan Scott was Copy Editor Kaitlen Jay Exum Copy Editor Andrew Fitch still in diapers (and in 10th grade)—real-time strat- PRODUCTION Senior Production Manager Anne Marie Miguel egy games like Dune II, Command & Conquer, and Production Manager Monica Brent WarCraft: Orcs and Humans were breaking ground by SALES Vice President of Sales Scott McDaniel making the then-revolutionary decision to remove the mechanic of players taking Senior Director of Advertising Sales Marci Yamaguchi TERRITORY MANAGERS AND ACCOUNT EXECS turns. No longer would you be able to methodically mull over your next move, GAMING ACCOUNTS Northwest plotting your strategy while the other players grew cobwebs waiting for you to Regional Sales Director Amy Mishra Account Executive Brent Martyn react—now everyone would keep moving simultaneously, forcing you to not only Southwest Southern California and Arizona think smartly but to think quickly. Regional Sales Director Leslie C. Gelfand Account Executive Rita Kline And of course, many old-time players, distrustful and antagonistic to change EALa,s AtR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, of any kind, balked. “That’s not a strategy game!” said one CGW editor, while MSCO,, SMDS, ,T MNT, ,T NXC, U, NT, DV,A N, EV,T ,N WHA, N, WJ, IN, WMV, ,N WV,Y N, CY,a OnaHd, aOK, OR, PA, RI, Regional Sales Manager Andrew Reedman watching two other editors play Command & Conquer. “It’s just an action game! Account Executive Jessica Reback Whoever clicks the fastest wins!” CSeOnNioSrU DMirEecRt oArC oCf OCUonNsTuSmer Advertising Sales Marc Callison West Regional Sales Director Laura Hill It’s now 10 years later, Ryan is out of diapers (during the daytime), and real- East Regional Sales Director Bruce Kaplan Account Executive Jessica Reinert time strategy has firmly established itself as “real” strategy. It’s even subdivided Automotive - DetroitRegional Sales Manager Ken Stubblefield Promotions Manager Wendy Donohue into two genres: those that balance economics and combat, and those that offer Senior Advertising Coordinator Tipler Ubbelohde Administrative Assistant Lynn Fortunato just straight-up combat. This issue, we take a close look at the next genera- Sales Assistant Tiffany Orf 1UP.COM tion of RTS games, and see what (if Editor-in-Chief Sam Kennedy Senior Manager of Client Services Alex Jakovleski anything) they bring that’s any dif- Senior Manager of Ad Operations Adam Carey ZERGLING RUSH Audience Development Manager Nopadon Wongpakdee ferent from those classic decade-old Advertising Campaign Coordinator LeAnne Hsu MARKETING titles. Kudos to Darren Gladstone Vice President of Marketing, Research, and Events Rey Ledda SEAN MOLLOY Research Director May Tong and Shawn Elliott for putting this one MANAGING EDITOR PMRa rMkeatninagg eCro Joarsdoinn aFtroeird Veannfeeldsssa Alvarado together. And the rest of the issue After a series of near-fatal StarCraft MTo acroknetatcint gSa Glersa &p Ahdicve Drtiessinigg,n pelera Dser ecwal l H(4a1t5h) a5w47a-y8000 andTotal Annihilation LAN binges in doesn’t suck, either! IMHO, of course. college, I’ve been a lot more care- ZCIhFaFir mDAanV I&S CMEEOD RIAo,b eINrt CF.. Callahan /JEFF GREEN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ful about my former addiction. Doh, CExheiecfu tFivinea Vnicciea lP Orefsfiicdeern tM &a rCk hMieofy Cerontent Officer Michael J. Miller gotta run, Molten Core raid in 20! Executive Vice President, Licensing and Legal Affairs, General Counsel & Secretary Gregory Barton Now Playing: World of WarCraft, Galactic N1UoPw.c Polmay Binlogg: :H cegrowejes fof.f1 MUPi.gchotm and Magic V C1UivPil.iczoamtio nBslo IgI: cgwsean.1UP.com PSSJaclRosoEaotnStn IC SDY.eo EMyuNmncTgoCS ua(Crr to(hEnyns tu(eGmrpaermris eTee GGchrroo/Suupmp))all Business Group) SENIOR VICE PRESIDENTS Ira Becker (Game Group) Kenneth Beach (Corporate Sales) DARREN GLADSTONE RYAN SCOTT Jim Louderback (Editorial Director, Consumer/Small Business Group) SENIOR EDITOR (FEATURES/TECH) EDITOR (REVIEWS/COLUMNS) AMnagrtehloa MScahnwdaarratzn o(C (uSsatolems aSnodlu Mtioanrkse Gtinrogu, pIn)ternet) You want strategy? Here we go: Right The Battle for Middle-earth II monopo- Michael Vizard (Editorial Director, Enterprise Group) now, I’m dragging a big box across all lizes most of my current RTS time...but VICE PRESIDENTS our desks. Edit gang, you’re hotkeyed to I can’t wait to get my hands of Rise of JAoahronn D Gaovilsdobne r(gE d(Mitoarriakle Dt Eirexcpteorrt,s G)ame Group) group one. Art guys, group two. When I Legends, as I still hold a soft spot in my Barry Harrigan (Internet) Kristin Holmes (International Licensing) give the order, we converge on the bar heart for its predecessor. Michael Krieger (Market Experts) downstairs. Go! RReicyk L Leedhdrab a(Mumar k(eInttinegrn, eRt)esearch and Events, Game Group) Now Playing: SiN Episodes: Emergence Now Playing: Guild Wars Factions Carlos Lugo (Production) 1UP.com Blog: cgw_gizmo.1UP.com 1UP.com Blog: cgw-ryan.1UP.com ECrhicri sL uMnadgqinunis t(I n(Etedritnoert-)in-Chief, eWEEK) Jim McCabe (PC Magazine) Scott McDaniel (Sales, Game Group) Paul O’Reilly (Event Marketing Group) SHAWN ELLIOTT LOGAN PARR EBlelethn RPeepaerltma a(Hn uEmdaitno rR-ine-sCohuirecfe, sC)IO Insight) EDITOR (PREVIEWS/FEATURES) FILEFRONT LIAISON David Rock (Circulation) Stephen Sutton (Audience Development, Consumer/Small Business) How I learned to loathe dirt farming (RTS Does anyone remember Impossible Stephen Veith (Enterprise Group Publishing Director) resource hunting and harvesting): Star Creatures? Talk about making some MRaonndicya Z Vainlae ((ECvoernpto Mraaterk Cetoinmgm Gurnoiucpa)tions) Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. Carbon, ore, pretty wicked hybrid critters. I think I IT West Coast, Senior Technical Analyst Bill Schmelzer nova, wha…screw all umpteen varieties spent more time building my creations Desktop Administrator Nick Kalister of space crystals; why not let the walkers than I did using them for fighting in Contact anyone on this masthead via e-mail using [email protected] walk and the speeders speed? this game. PERMISSIONS Now Playing:Auto Assault Now Playing: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Cpaorpt ywriigthhot u©t p2e0r0m6i sZsiifof nD aisv ipsr oMheibdiitae.d A. lFl origr hptesr mreissesriovend t.o R reeupsroed mucattieornia iln i nw thhoisle p ourb ilnic a- 1UP.com Blog: egmshawn.1UP.com 1UP.com Blog: logans_run.1UP.com trieopnr i(notrs ,o cno tnhtias cwt eFbossitteeR) oepr rtion tuss aet o8u6r6 l-o8g7o9, -e9-1m4a4i.l [email protected]. For SUBSCRIPTIONS For subscription service questions, address changes, or to order, please contact us at: Web: http://service.computergamingworld.com (for customer service) or http:// subscribe.computergamingworld.com (to order); Phone: U.S. and Canada (800) 827- MICHAEL JENNINGS SEAN DALLASKIDD 4450 or (850) 682-7624, elsewhere (303) 604-7445; Mail: Computer Gaming World, P.O. Box 57167, Boulder CO 80322-7167 (please include your mailing label with any ART DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR caondrr eCsapnoanddae n(8c5e0 a) s6 8it 3c-o4n0t9a4in,s e ilnsfeowrmhearteio (n3 0th3a) t6 w04ill- e0x5p1e8d; iEte- mpraoilc (epslesainsge) ;t yFpaex : yUo.uSr . Huge stack of story folders in the queue. RTS games…? Those are the ones with fSuull bnsacmripet iaonnds :t hTeh ea dodnree-syse aart swuhbiscchr iypotiuo ns urabtsec risib $e1): 9s.u9b7h oerlp [email protected] wutitehr gCaDm-iRngO.Mco. m. Hotkey between four environments and the maps, right? Cissoumep mutaeyr cGoaumnitn ags W a osruldb sisc rpiputbiolisnh iesdsu me,o an tcholym, wbiinthe do cocr aesxiopnaanld eexdc eispstuioen ms: aAy scpoeucnita l multiple (often highly erratic and some- athse t wUo.S s.,u abdsdc r$ip1ti6o np eisrs yueeasr, faonr ds uthrfearcee m maayi l,s oUm.Se.t ifmunedss b oen alyn. Pelxetaras eis asluloew. O4u-6ts iwdee eks times unresponsive) units. Hours until bonef oarne erxeicsetiinvgin gsu ybosucrr ifpirtsiot nis.s Buaec aks I swseulel sa:s Bfoarc akn isys suuebss acrreip $tio8n e cahcahn ing etsh eto U t.aSk.e, $p1la0c e deadline: 72. CGW : The ultimate RTS. etoa cCho emlspeuwtehre Grea (msuinbgje Wcto trold a. vMaialailb yiloituy)r. rPerqeupeasytms eton:t Bisa rcekq Iusisreude.s ,M Zaifkf eD cahveisc Mkse pdaiay aInbcle., P.O. Box 53131, Boulder, CO 80322-3131. Mailing lists: We sometimes make lists of our customers available to mailers of goods and services that may interest you. If you Now Playing:City of Villains Now Playing: Tomb Raider: Legend dP.oO n. oBto wx is5h7 1to6 7re, cBeoivueld tehre, iCr Om a8il0in3g2s2, -p7l1e6a7se. write to us at: Computer Gaming World, 1UP.com Blog: cgw_jennings.1UP.com 1UP.com Blog: The_dallaskidd.1UP.com 12>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD Letters REMEMBER KIDS, WE TAKE ISSUE 264 CASH, TOO! LETTER OF THE MONTH people out there that don’t know things like this the game, so I purchased a copy. My decision and won’t know unless smart f***ers like you tell to buy the game is directed more at the rest of them how to do it, so just tell us. If you don’t, the protection-crazy companies, like Sony and you will receive this same e-mail at least fi ve that Russian company’s StarForce protection... times per month. ANSWER ALREADY! whatever the hell it’s called. I urge all my fellow Ralphy gamers to pick up a copy of Galactic Civiliza- tions II. Reward this company for its gutsy move. Dear Ralphy, try this: C:\Program Files\ Rax Nahali Doom3\Base. Also, try Google next time. We’re too busy fi nding pictures of E3 booth VIOLENCE/DRUGS/ALCOHOL = babes to deal with dips***s like you. GOOD. SEX = BAD. I don’t know if y’all noticed, but the May A bountiful [number] of centuries ago, when HOORAY FOR FLIGHT SIM X! issue I received was FILLED WITH PORN Canadian Corner adorned the Letters section, I read your preview of Microsoft Flight Simulator GAMES! Come on! Seriously, I love to read my dearest papa spoke of E3. His dying eyes X [June 2006] with some interest. However, CGW to find out about the RPG and action glazed upon my brother and me as he spoke when I looked for the release date—it was games coming out, but this issue was a with the quietness of a monk of the close-lipped missing! So release the release date! Or I’ll buzz disgrace. The April issue had the queer story Russian-bride–like women called “booth babes.” your offi ces! With Jeff Green strapped to the in it, and now this. That’s strike two for me. He told us momentous tales of wonder about wings! Ummm.... Note to staff: That’s supposed If the next issue is anything like the last two, magnanimous greats such as Sir William Wright, to be a threat, not an offer. I don’t think I’ll be renewing my subscription John Carmack, and Sid Meier, which stirred our Jonathan Fischer anytime soon. Please calm down the sex. The minds. Magnifi cent imagery gleefully churned P.S. CYA legal stuff: No threats are real. It’s all a violence, drugs, and alcohol are funny stuff, in our humble and simple hearts. In our eyes joke! Really! Please don’t send the Department but the sex? Come on—you don’t need that arose fl ickers of joy and happiness, as if we of Homeland Security after me! to sell your magazine. It’s awesome enough were reading a new Greenspeak column, when without it. poor Papa told us of the abundance of games As much as we’d love to see Jeff strapped Semi-Loyal Subscriber, waiting to be viewed. We wept with despair as to a plane (preferably on Oceanic Airlines), Chad Engler our poverty-stricken father passed away. We we’ll tell you Microsoft’s estimated release promised that one day in the forthcoming future, anyway: Holiday 2006. But don’t blame us if SURE, IT WAS A we would travel to the enchanted E3. But, sadly, they blow it. “JOKE”! we don’t have the fi nancial means to purchase I have to tell you guys, I loved those precious tickets. Our poor and under- HOORAY FOR GALCIV II! the deadpanned death-threat nourished country has been tarnished by a Kudos to the good folks at Stardock who put ad campaign for your pod- plague of e-mail spam. All of the hard-earned togetherGalactic Civilizations II! Any company cast on the hotly anticipated money has gone to a royal member of a Nigerian that puts out a game without copy protection 1UP Yours Wii-stravaganza. family. Humble and great Computer Gaming nowadays is OK in my book! I hope to hear more crew World, do you have any leftover tickets for my I wasn’t going to buy the game (I didn’t care members and sympatheti- brother and I? for the fi rst one that much), but after all the raves cally fl uffy animals threatened Redder (the orphan) I’ve been hearing from my friends—plus this with death and mutilation on the air, and I have decision by Stardock not to copy-protect it—I been converted to a fervent supporter of your Sadly, we got your plaintive e-mail after the decided to support the decision not to protect radio show by this one ad alone. show was over. Oh, the irony! But just to Toodles, make you feel better, above is our one and Marcus Mattern only shot of E3 booth babes to appear in this magazine. Live it up. Amazingly enough, not everyone got the joke. And, for what it’s worth, we should give credit SINCE YOU THREATENED US… I am once again e-mailing you because ya didn’t answer this question before. I’m a complete dips*** when it comes to getting mods to work, so if you’d actually answer it this time, it’d be great for all of the dips***s out there that play Doom 3 and can’t fi gure out what directory to sendDoom 3 mods to. There are so many SPEAK UP! Green is great. Green Keep your editors Computer Gaming You hate us. You love us. You will send is good. Let us thank and writers away World: the Crystal us $1 million in small, unmarked bills if him for our food. from the NoDoz, LSD, Pepsi of magazines. you ever want to see your puppy again. —Yamaben and the big, tempting —AB Prove your blind devotion by spewing MAIL Oxford Thesaurus. some of your bile and e-mailing BYTES —DoomGoober [email protected] today. You’ll be a better person for it. 14>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD LETTERS I don’t meant to make you paranoid about read- To the letters editors: I’m typing this with one ers watching your every move (it’s a conspiracy, I hand, as the other is broken, so forgive any typos. tell you!), but...readers are watching. I really like the new direction you’re going with I love it so far; I just need to decide which plat- the magazine. I think there’s a wide gap between form I prefer: PC or Xbox 360. At least the 360 largely hype-fi lled magazines (such as PC Gamer) doesn’t randomly crash like my new Dell Inspiron and industry magazines (like Game Developer) 5015.... Great computer...when it works. that needs fi lling. The move away from rating- Thanks for an entertaining article; I shall continue centric content and articles seemingly written by enjoying them. Cheers! speed-addicted chipmunks with ADD is, frankly, Lance Zielinski quite refreshing. Covington, WA (Our trucks are newer than That said, I wish you’d keep the level of content Kent’s!) more consistent. Some of your feature articles are quite well written and interesting, with well- CGW LOVERS AND HATERS developed and complex thoughts presented in CORNER an engrossing and coherent manner. However, Editor’s Note: The mail continues to pour at least in the fi rst issue after the change [May in—both pro and con—about our recent 2006], the reviews have a way to go. They felt like editorial changes. We don’t want the Letters reading preliminary wire reports from a fi rst-year section overrun with this stuff (unless it’s AP writer, or maybe stories in a fi fth-grade school where it’s due. The inspiration for the joke from our Canadian readers!), but we will newspaper (a really smart fi fth grader, though). came from the legendary National Lampoon continue to highlight occasional missives of Maybe it’s just a matter of time and growth to get cover shown on pg. 14, recently voted by the hate and love. into the new style and away from the rapid-fi re American Society of Magazine Editors as one simplicity of the old reviews style, and if so, I of the top 10 magazine covers of the past 40 As a longtime subscriber to your magazine, I only hope you guys get some growth hormones with years. ask that you do one thing: Rate games. I read your meals. your magazine so that I know what sucks and Like I said, though, I really like the new WHITHER FALLOUT 3? what doesn’t. If a game scores low, it’s because direction. Don’t listen to all the whiners; the What is the fate of Fallout 3? Please give some of some kind of issue that I trust your staff to direction you appear to be going is a direction news, good or bad. I’ve played through Fallout 1 understand and relay to me through a rating. I that needs to be taken (now, just go back to the and2 so many times that I’ve lost count. don’t need to read about that low-scoring game, 400-page issues so that I can cancel my other KiddIcarus87 because that’s what your staff does. I don’t ask subscriptions). you to do anything else. This is your JOB. I pay Silas Ray The good news is that Bethesda had the cool- you to do this job through my subscription. If you looking poster of Fallout 3 shown above at E3 don’t do your job, I will fi nd another magazine A fi fth-grade school newspaper?! Cool! We this year. The bad news is that that’s all they that will. Thank you. were aiming for fourth grade! had on Fallout 3. So it’s safe to say that the Kirk game’s still years away. But, hey, at least the AT LEAST HE’S NOT COMPLAINING poster is cool! I was looking through all the letters from readers ABOUT REVIEWS in your June issue, and it struck me as odd that BOOOOO!!! Do you want to know why I boo GAME GEEZERS UNITE! a recurrent topic seemed to be that you were you,CGW? It’s because of your demolition Dear Grandma [Letters, May 2006], ripping people off and wasting their money by of the Check Out section. Why, may I ask, There are lots of us older gamers out here! My not including ratings in your reviews. I was rather did you get rid of a part of your magazine husband and I have been playing for years! “After amused by most of these letters, as a lot of the where, in the last issue, you said—and I quote: the kids move out, the cats will play!” We have people stated that they didn’t have time to read “One-thousand-frickin’-forty people” sent you had Elders’ guilds on a number of MMORPGs, through the entire magazine and just wanted the e-mails about not destroying the Check Out starting with EQ and now on WOW. I travel for my rating for a specifi c game. I was just wondering section, and you “couldn’t be more pleased.” work and take my PSP right along on the planes. exactly what kind of imbecile would purchase a And what does CGW do? YOU FREAKIN’ I also hook up my laptop and play with my magazine solely for a rating of a game, since they MORONS AXED IT! In my humble opinion, that husband from the hotels at night. It sure makes “didn’t have time” to read the reviews? If people was a funny part of the magazine with cool being away from home easier. Pulverizing ogres are really only concerned with the ratings, they bits of info. I would never have learned about is very therapeutic after a long day at the offi ce! could just as easily have browsed through the rat- the Rasterbator without it. And now it’s being Welcome to the club! ings part, and then put the magazine back down. replaced by an extended Tech section?!?!?! If Milo I fi nd your reviews (and Tom vs. Bruce, of course) you wanted to make the tail end of the maga- far more satisfying than arbitrary numbers that zine more interesting, I don’t see how a longer WE DON’T UNDERSTAND THE can be affected by how someone is feeling on a Tech section is going to help. Now, I’m sure TRUCK REFERENCE EITHER given day. Regardless, keep up the good work, that, with this e-mail, the editors of CGW will I was reading the Viewpoint article about and ignore the haters. If they’re so angry, then realize what a grievous mistake they’ve made Oblivion today in your June 2006 issue. In it, you they can go publish a magazine that only has a and will reinstate the Check Out section—or I mention the “short sip of wood elf you meet in picture of a game and a rating next to it. See how may have to go down there and get medieval Cheydinhal.” Perhaps all that Oblivion action is many subscribers they’ll get. on your asses. becoming one great blur, because Glarthir was in Ryan Elgringo Skingrad. I loved all the pro- Switching back to Basically, I am happy wheth- For the record, I don’t give a paganda about Spore scoreless reviews means er you rate games or not. flaming, exploding turd about [June 2006] and am that Scorpia wins. But if you start rating again, 1UP.com. waiting for my chance —Rogue replace stars with puppies. —Steve Woodward MAIL to evolve! —KC Rau K —Jon Elliott BYTES 16>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD RADAR NEWS, PREVIEWS, AND PERT OPINION, ISSUE 264 EVERY MONTH M O C O. DI U ST K PA A D, N A PIL N O R A A Y B S N O ATI R LOVE BYTES UST ILL When in-MMO marriage isn’t enough 20>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD preview Interview Culture E Test Drive Warren Spector War Lust D I Unlimited Our candid chatwith Deus SvelteCounter-Strikers take it S 26 Hawaii minus the five-o. 32 Ex’s distinguished daddy. 42 all off for cash and attention. N I culture or an exploiter? Are they uptight? Do they have a FOUR WAYS TO PLEASE > sense of humor? If you’re doing that every day for YOUR ONLINE LOVER “LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MARRIAGE weeks and months, you really get to know the fiber Thanks to Cosmo and Oprah, you know how and what BS this ‘fairy tale’ is,” says William of a person.” Or so he thought. to treat a real-life lover, but how do you main- Hughes, a 42-year-old veteran of romance in online games and, apparently, bad online- LEVEL 2: REAL LIFE tain the fire in an online role-playing tryst? gaming breakups. The object of Hughes’ cyni- Separated only by the four-hour drive between You can be my slave any cism? A four-year-long relationship that began in Hughes’ Connecticut abode and Caron’s former day, Leia. the virtual world of a role-playing game and ended residence in Massachusetts, the couple decided to in the real world only months before the couple’s take a chance on human-to-human contact. The Tremendo prospective wedding date. “Live by the sword, die short commute allowed what might’ve been a one- by the sword,” says Hughes. “How my relation- time hookup to turn into something more serious. ship came to be was also how it came to end.” “You can fly from New York to L.A. to meet some- It’s a familiar story for those who find in computer one,” says Hughes. “You can like or not like them, games not just entertainment, but also the perfect have a one-night stand, whatever. But it’s very diffi- 1 pick-up bar—a place where first impressions are cult to keep that kind of relationship going if you’re formed by what you say instead of how you look, not in a close proximity. That opened the door.” In games, as in real life, approach where you are whoever you pretend to be. Door opened, Caron and Hughes walked into the your romantic interest with tact and harsh light of real life, where things weren’t exactly subtlety. LEVEL 1: COMMUNICATION how they’d seemed online. There was the issue I brought you back a light- Unfortunately, when you build a relationship on the of Caron’s marriage, which she had claimed was saber power crystal. fiction of roleplaying, it’s hard to separate what’s over. “The online thing allowed her to take liber- real from what’s character. “In the online game ties,” says Hughes. “She really wasn’t divorced, Tremendo world, you’re seeing the person—and you’re not separated, or anything else that she said at the seeing the person,” says Hughes. “A lot of it is alter time.” Alarm bells should’ve gone off, but the cou- ego. You’re not a Quake killer or a jet pilot. You’re ple continued their relationship. Eventually, Caron doing a lot more exciting and memorable things in moved into Hughes’ Connecticut home, where the game than you are in real life.” In 1999, Hughes they discovered a new love: Star Wars Galaxies. (a systems engineer) and his now-ex-fiancée Caron Plugging away at separate computers for hours at (a dental assistant) began their comparatively a time, they fell into the grip of a 30-hour-a-week 2Obesia How romantic! action-packed alternate lives in a game called fantasy-life habit. “A game that should have con- Starship Troopers. They soon found themselves sumed free time began to eclipse all time,” says Shower your gaming crush with decoding the subtle flirtations hidden in text mes- Hughes. “The game devoured so much time that, presents brought back from your sages. “Typically, when you meet people [in real after six months, Caron left her job at a dental adventures. life], there’s a physical reaction. There’s eye con- practice. She played over the next six or seven Sometimes, it’s nice to get tact, hand gestures, a lot of subliminal messages months nearly full time.” It was during this gaming away from the grind. going on,” says Hughes. “With text, you’re just binge that the couple became engaged and began getting these words and phrases. A word could to plan their wedding. But while Caron and Hughes Obesia mean good things for one person and bad things seemed to grow closer in real life, their online lives for another. It’s just your choice of words.” were diverging. The two played the game together, typing out an elaborate modern-day mating ritual for a year LEVEL 3: BETRAYAL before finally agreeing to meet in person. It might “Our gameplay started to change,” Hughes says. seem like a long courtship in this age of socially “I’m a pretty hardcore combat type, and so was Makes you appreciate the acceptable online dating, but for Hughes and she. But Star Wars Galaxies offered all these other 3Tremendo simple things.... his ex-fiancée, the jump from the screen to the things that I hadn’t done: crafting, creating a finan- street was huge. “Nowadays, you have all these cial empire, different forays. I started going down Don’t just drag your girl out for audiovisual communications that you can use,” this other road, while she continued down the another night with the guild hooli- says Hughes. “You can just get online, talk to the player-versus-player road. As our gameplay and gans you call friends. Ask her out person, use webcams. You can see what they look styles changed, we kind of grew apart.” We’ve all on a date. like before you get in your car to drive up there.” known couples that split over religious, political, The couple had traded pictures, of course, but the or lifestyle differences, but can you really destroy Wow. According to Google Earth, vast majority of the time they spent getting to know a relationship with role-playing character develop- you’ve got a nice, big backyard.... each other had been inside Starship Troopers. ment? “You start grouping with different people,” Tremendo It put them in a strange new situation, having to says Hughes. “One’s gathering resources, and the guess each other’s real-life personality based on other is gathering bullets.” As in real life, bankers the way they play a computer game. “Depending don’t spend their time hanging out with soldiers, on the type of game, you get to know a lot of their so the two soon formed separate social circles. real qualities,” says Hughes. “Are they a hacker “We were getting involved with all these other > > IN THE HARSH LIGHT OF REAL LIFE, 4 Express interest in your mate’s THINGS WEREN’T EXACTLY HOW THEY real life, but don’t be a creepy SEEMED ONLINE. stalker. CGW.1UP.COM<21 RADAR LOVE BYTES people around the country,” says Hughes. “It gaming or otherwise, wasn’t just her flirting with other guys; I was flirting are built on trust. with girls in other parts of the country. The only dif- “Setting rules for a ference was that she actually followed through.” relationship is asking for Then one day, on the same carefree whim that trouble, whether it con- took her to Connecticut, Caron flew halfway around cerns online or offline the world to live with another Star Wars player, activities,” says John. though Hughes calls him an “online boy.” “I stress “There should be a ‘boy,’” says Hughes, “because he was 21 when she natural respect and limi- flew to Germany to meet him…after four months of tations that are under- knowing him online. She was 41 at the time.” stood. We live our lives With that, this half-fictional role-playing romance trusting that each of us was finally put to rest. William Hughes came out will respect the other. In of it relatively unscathed. He still cruises for single the case of roleplaying (cid:24)John and Tevys Taves tie the knot with Imperial pomp. women in online games, though he keeps his gam- online, I’m fully secure ing habit down to a more reasonable 10 hours a that whatever she roleplays stays in the game—and LEVEL 5: DEVOTION week. If he did find himself in the throes of another that when we step away from the computers, we’re While William and Caron lived only a few hours gaming relationship, though, he would do things a happily married husband and wife.” away from each other, John and Tevys were a bit differently. “In retrospect,” says Hughes, “it’s Of course, that’s easy to say when you’ve got separated by more than 5,000 miles. John worked probably advisable to set some guidelines: Always the (Star Wars–themed) storybook marriage of (as he does today) as an engineer for the U.S. play together. Don’t allow yourself to be in 1-on- John and Tevys Taves. The couple got to know Department of Defense in Germany, and Tevys 1 situations with members of the opposite sex.” each other mostly through the game’s message lived smack in the middle of the U.S.—Minnesota, Those are rules that most real-life relationships boards rather than in the game itself. Instead to be exact. It was an insane distance to travel for adhere to, but, again, Hughes’ situation is compli- of growing in different directions in their game, what could’ve been a disappointing meeting, but cated by the deceptive possibilities of online com- they started at opposite ends of the spectrum. the couple’s online relationship had gone as far munication. “The hard thing in the gaming world John was well on his way to becoming a Jedi as it could. “All I could think was: ‘I have got to is that with everybody on their own monitor, you Knight, while Tevys was a notorious villain on meet this woman,’” says John. “We were so alike. never really see what the other people are doing, the dark side. “I was a hardcore Imperial, and Either this was meant to be, or we were going to even if you’re sitting side by side,” says Hughes. he was one with the Force,” says Tevys. “We bring about the apocalypse when we occupied “If you’re not in the exact same space, you can’t were worlds apart, but we somehow found each the same space at the same time.” see what their interactions are. And worse, when other in the vastness that is Star Wars Galaxies.” Stateside, the two Star Wars–crossed lovers they’re typing text, there’s no way to know. They Separated by character class and culture, they had their first real contact. It was a nerve-racking could be saying, ‘Please pass me more ammo,’ interacted mostly on the boards, where Tevys was experience…until John stepped off the plane. “It or they could be setting up a rendezvous.” impressed by John’s suave persona. “One of the was very scary for a while, wondering if he would things that first attracted me to him was that even be the same,” says Tevys. “But he was the same LEVEL 4: TRUST when he knew I was a girl, he didn’t try to flirt with character I grew to love. It was perfection at first And then there are people like John and Tevys me or follow me around like a puppy dog,” says sight. He ran up and planted a big kiss on me. I Taves, a couple—now married—who met and fell Tevys. “He just played it cool.” was mush from that point on.” in love while playing Star Wars Galaxies. They’re The strategy paid off. After a year of forum flir- John proposed months later. “I went to the the kind of perfect couple that miserable single tation and occasional run-ins in the game, Tevys forums where we had gotten to know each folks love to hate, never short on good things to asked John if he was interested in taking their other,” says Tevys, “and there was a thread titled say about each other, floating around in a state online friendship in a romantic direction. “I knew ‘TEVYS.’ I clicked on it, and it was a picture of of perpetual teenage gaga love. Their story is I was going to open a big can of worms,” says him in a suit on one knee with a ring in his hand. the exact opposite of William Hughes’ nightmare Tevys. “The next PM from him was: ‘Where do I He had Photoshopped a bubble over his head scenario. Where Hughes now feels a need for turn in my application?’ So I sent him all sorts of that said, ‘Will you marry me?’ He flew in to give ground rules to keep a gaming mate on the up personal questions. His application was by far me the ring in person a couple of days later.” and up, John Taves thinks good relationships, the best, so he got the job.” LEVEL 6: FAIRY-TALE ENDING >> GOOD RELATIONSHIPS, GAMING OR The forceful brass of the “Imperial March” plays from loudspeakers as Darth Vader marches OTHERWISE, ARE BUILT ON TRUST. down the aisle with Tevys Taves at his side. They’re joined by four silent stormtroopers, perfect reproductions from head to toe. This is not some star system in a galaxy far, far away. It’s much more exotic and strange: Las Vegas, where Team Taves put on their ultimate Star Wars fantasy wedding. Their best friends from Galaxies were there, along with the usual family crowd, whom the couple delighted in freaking out. “All I could think was, ‘Man, I wish I could see what they’re seeing,’” says Tevys. “It must have been awesome, from the looks on their faces.” The couple now lives in Germany, where they remain a model for role-playing relationship seekers. “This is the happiest I have ever been in real life,” says Tevys. “Keeping roleplaying and real life separate is not the easiest thing to do, especially when they end up as intertwined as ours. Star Wars has impacted both of our lives in so many ways, and we couldn’t be hap- pier about it.”/Robert Ashley RADAR LIVE ANYWHERE LIVE ANYWHERE Microsoft gets aggressive on Windows gaming > XBOX LIVE GOT CONSOLE GAMERS ONLINE AND got them talking. We don’t have itthat easy. AT A GLANCE Here’s how coordinating team activity usu- ally goes on some remote gaming forum. “Which Microsoft’s chat client are you on? AIM?” “Are we set up for Games for TeamSpeak or Ventrilo?” “Anyone on Xfire?” Windows Yeesh! While not quite the Tower of Babel, con- initiative is giving the industry a long- necting PC games and PC gamers isn’t exactly overdue boot in the ass. More accurately, user friendly, either. MS is treating the OS more like a gaming Meeting with Microsoft execs over these past platform—and it’s about damn time! few years, we’ve hounded them about connec- (cid:23)Some 3,000 retail stores will have tivity. “When are you going to connect the Xbox huge interactive kiosks promoting Live service with MSN Messenger and let us PC games (just like in the Xbox, chat, communicate, or even—crazy thought, Nintendo, and PlayStation aisles). here—play games across platforms?” Final- ly, someone has an answer: Live Anywhere. (cid:23)Windows Vista, which will likely launch The promise of Live Anywhere is that you in 2007, has many concessions for can track down people to play with or against no gamers. “Drop and play” functionality matter what you’re doing—chatting on a Windows (no installation headaches) and easy-to- Mobile phone, playing Xbox 360, or even writing a access control panels top the list. story. Of course, this also means that your wife/ (cid:23)Full DirectX 10 support in Vista will fi ancée/boss can see when you’re screwing around. clown “next-gen” console graphics Microsoft obviously has a stake in pushing its various capabilities from the get-go. platforms (Live Anywhere will only work on Xbox 360, (cid:23)Live Anywhere. Windows Vista, and Windows Mobile cell phones), but several questions remain unanswered. How will the service work? Is it an evolution of Xbox Live, in that the service comes at a membership cost, or will it be free? Are PC gamers cool with the idea of a single gamertag for all of their games? No word yet, but check out these concept screens and examples of how Live Anywhere will work./Darren Gladstone EXAMPLE ONE: SEEK OUT THY ENEMY PlayingShadowrun on the 360, you hit the Guide button looking for buddies to challenge. (Shadowhuh? Read the preview on the next page.) As ever, Joe Shmoe is on his PC working. He needs a break, so you send him a game invite. On his PC, a message pops up. If you wanted to text chat, you could. Voice chat, no problem. But play a game? Now yer talking! Shadowrun con- (cid:24)Microsoft puts nects PC and console gamers for cross-platform fi refi ghts. on its game face. 24>COMPUTER GAMING WORLD