Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 40

CALGARY HERALD Saturday, April 2, 2005 ENTERTAINMENT Coming Soon Sunday D00M3(Xbox) Monday LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (Xbox) Mercury (PSP) MLB (PSP) Tuesday Atelier Iris Eternal Mana (PS2) Classified: The Sentinel Crisis (PS2) RiseoftheKasai (PS2) Spyvs.Spy(PS2, Xbox) Close Combat: First to Fight (Xbox) MX World Tour featuring Jamie Little (Xbox) World Championship Poker (GameCube) World Championship Poker: Deluxe Series (DS) FIFA Soccer (PSP) April 11 Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2) April 12 Dead to Rights II Predator: Concrete Jungle (PS2) Virtual Pool: Tournament Edition (PS2) 1 Brothers in Arms (PS2) 2 GranTourismo4(PS2) 3 Brothers in Arms (XBox) 4 Star Wars: Republic Commando (XBox) 5 Fight Night Round 2 (PS2) 6 MX vs. ATV Unleashed (PS2) 7 Fight Night Round 2 (XBox) 8 Timesplitters: Future Perfect (XBox) 9 GodofWar(PS2) 10 Devil MayCry3(PS2) 99 99 gaming, gadgets TOP 10 -c til 1 4 .31 and gizmos Rogers Video (all platforms, for the week ending March 27) noi GAPING, GADGETS GIZMOS 3rn 5rf REVIEW GAMING GIZMOS fll Ah -Vn i'U iff- (h ii Courtesy.Sony uou vi vvir meryea dim iinpiuves some great aspects oi oiner games. Fashion sense, however, isn't one of them, Fantastic God of War lords over gaming world Splinter Cell ik spies on Igreatness MARCSALTZMAN CanWest News Service Gamers bored with mindless 3-D shooters should strap into the boots of Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Chaos 4 Theory, a deliciously tense stealth ac-1 tion sequel that stars a covert National Security Agency spy out to squelch I threats to world peace. Not only is Chaos Theory the finest Splinter Cell game in the popular three-year-old series, but if the Xbox version we've been playing is any indication, it may be REVIEW the best game Splinter Cell: you've played on Chaos Theory your console to Platforms: Xbox, date (yes, Halo 2 PlayStation 2, included). GameCube, PC Rather than fo-Rated: cus on clear-cut for Mature acts of terrorism, Rating: as was the case out of five with the original tl; Splinter Cell and its sequel, Splinter Cell: Pandora To- morrow, this new Montreal-made techno-thriller (once again starring Canadian actor Michael Ironside in the lead role) focuses on information warfare.

Without giving away too much of the story, the Tom Clancy-inspired tale involves rising tensions between Japan, China and North Korea. Devastating blasts to the Japanese stock market, city power grids and the country's defence systems were all caused by computer attacks. International intervention, including the dispatch of a U.S.-led investigation, brings the region to a boiling point which is where you come in. Sam Fisher, a deadly field operative commissioned to infiltrate enemy ground, gamer evidence, skilfully snuff out enemies and exit undetected, begins his mission in Asia. He must seek out a hostage and scan crates for important data related to his mission, He begins by creeping into an en- emy fortress by scaling rocks near an $fj ocean shoreline, tiptoeing across a bridge and hiding in the shadows to fv: avoid the guards.

Moreso than other Splinter Cell games, or any other third-person stealth action titles such 5 as Metal Gear Solid, this game is refreshingly open-ended, so each gamer may complete the missions differently. y. For example, when you reach a tor-ture room, you can pick up an object such as a pop can and throw it to distract the enemies. Or you can snipe a bad guy from afar. Or you can don your night vision goggles and shoot out the lights.

Or perhaps you'd like to sneak up from behind to slit an enemy's throat, and then hide his body behind a tree? It's entirely up to you. You can even tweak your loadout before each under Poseidon's statue right now. It is one of the best video games I've ever played and one of the best purchases PlayStation 2 owners can make. It is a third-person action title that, like the Onimusha franchise, incorporates aspects of puzzle-solving in REVIEW between ferocious God of War battles. At different Maker: Sony times, it'll be either System: the action or the PlayStation 2 puzzles that leave Rating: you frustrated, but because of everything before it, you'll be compelled to get past an obstacle.

God of War is based on Greek mythology. You play as Kratos, a Spartan warrior and mortal indebted to the gods. We meet him as he hurls himself off a cliff, and as he falls to his doom, he flashes back to the events three weeks before. That's when the action begins. As Kratos moves through stages, we uncover more of his past and grow to like him more as an action hero.

Kratos' initial weapon is two swords Keep in touch and save the world PETER WILSON CanWest News Service GameOptics X1620 LCD Display, $60.10 US. Playing a game on your PC with your screen fully occupied with whatever you're zapping at the time can make you one very isolated person. But this readout device will allow gamers to keep on top of their instant messages, incoming e-mail and the like including MP3 playback while otherwise occupied. Included software allows you to set up such programs as iTunes, Windows Media Player 9, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ. and Yahoo Messenger to work with the LCD display.

It also allows you to check your e-mail accounts and read the headers. Photos, CanWest News Service The Canon Selphy photo printer. Canon Selphy CP600 compact photo printer, $375. Say you're at a family birthday party or on the road for your job and you want to get some photos you've just taken printed out and handed around. This lightweight dye-sublimation offering from Canon could be just what you're seeking.

It can operate on an included heavy-duty battery, so you don't even have to have a place to plug it in. You can print in various sizes, including 4x8 and 4x6, and get them very quickly. For example 84x6 print can be in your hands, under ideal conditions, in just over a minute. And you're not restricted to Canon cameras, thanks to the built-in PictBridge technology, which is included in most brands of most current cameras. Nikon Coolpix Si digital camera.

$380 US (no Canadian price yet). 1 he we re told, stands for style in this first of a promised new series of Nikon Coolpix cameras. This 5.1 megapixel model is certainly small (3.5 inches by 2.2 inches, or 8.89 by 5.59 cm), thin (.77 of an inch, or 1.96 cm) and good looking. It features a large especially considering the size of the camera 2.5-inch (6.35 cm) LCD screen and a 3X optical zoom Nikkor lens that offers the 35-millimeter equivalent of a 35 to 105mm lens. Includes a Coolstation dock that makes image downloading quick and easy.

Face-priority autofocus aids users in portrait shooting. Sony Cybershot DSCT7 digital camera, $650. The late Duchess of Windsor used to say you could never be too thin, and Sony is ready to prove this with its 5J megapixel DSCT7, which is just a third of an inch (1.68 cm) thick. Equipped with a 2.5-inch (6.35 cm) LCD screen, the camera comes with 3X optical zoom and allows the user to shoot in 10 scene selection modes including fireworks, beach, twilight and snow. If you want macro shooting, a magnify-ing-glass mode allows you to get as close as one centimetre from the object being captured.

The Sony Cybershot camera. NICK LEWIS To let you in on the world of the video game critic (at least the daily newspaper one), we hardly ever finish titles we begin to review. Often, getting to stage four is enough to be judicious. So when we're actually compelled, maddeningly driven to finish a title, even after we've reviewed it, we know we have a great game on our hands. Sony's God of War is so entertaining, so much fun to play, so challenging and so beautiful to look at that it pains me to be writing this review instead of finishing the underwater challenge Montreal makers add strategy to Chaos wrapped around his arms with chains.

He can use these chain-blades to attack enemies from afar and with combos can devastate a small squad with one move. As Kratos sticks his blades into his enemies and chops them in two from the midsection, the screen spurts with blood. God of War isn't for the fainthearted and is rated (mature) for reason. One challenge has you dragging a screaming, pleading, innocent man to death by fire as a sacrifice for the gods. He begs for your humanity as you pull the switch to his death.

Beyond the violence, there's also a sex mini-game (you can have a menage a trois with two naked women in your bed), so parents, be warned. But for others, God of War blends the best aspects of Ico, Onimusha, Devil May Cry and Prince of Persia, four excellent games by themselves. You won't find better graphics in any other PS2 title and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable title to play. Now, back to the game 1 i lit Courtesy, Ubisoft Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Canadian actor Michael Ironside, who was also featured in the two previous instalments.

Tremblay also said discussions are underway to make a movie version of the game. "We're discussing right now with Paramount and there's nothing official, but it's coming." Andre Roy, who produced the blockbuster game, said Ubisoft went to Hollywood to consult Andrew Davis, who produced the movie The Fugitive. "Before we were just playing a game, but now we are developing characters." "We want our players to get emotional when they play our games, like when they go to a movie," said Roy. 1 1 PETER RAKOBOWCHUK The Canadian Press It's graphic, realistic and for adults. Ubisoft's latest video game, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, is the third instalment in the Splinter Cell series.

It took two years and more than 285 programmers, 3-D artists, animators and designers to put together the recently released game. At the official launch, Dany Lepage, one of Montreal-based Ubisoft's chief programmers, said the game is significantly sharper than the two previous games, which were rated for teens and have sold close to 10 million copies since 2001. "If you look at the graphics, there's a big difference and things look really realistic," Lepage said, referring to what it's like when you kill someone in the game. "This game is rated mature, and one of the main reasons is the graphics. You get the kind of graphics and atmosphere that are not appropriate for everybody." The new game is not just a mindless shooter like the two earlier instalments.

It involves what's described as information warfare. The plot line follows rising world tensions and computer attacks on city power grids and defence systems. Ubisoft CEO Martin Tremblay said it cost $10 million to develop, the most money Ubisoft has ever spent. APRIL 3 mission or go with the default suggestion of weapons and gadgets. Sneaking through these areas, picking locks, shimmying across ledges and placing "sticky" surveillance cameras that can release poison gas all add to the wonderful tension and suspense syn- Jbnymous with the Splinter Cell series.

The stealthy action is comple- jj i mented by graphics so real the game looks like a Hollywood movie, from jjlsmart characters that move with life- like animation to photorealistic envi-' ronments, lighting and shadows, and such weather effects as pouring rain. vc, Splinter CelL-Chaos Theory is a near-perfect adventure. The lack of a robust tutorial costs the game a couple of marks (some non-interactive video fjhelp is available), but at least gamers can save their progress at any time. Whether or not you've ever played one of these tense and mature Splinter Cell games in the past, Chaos Theory is an extraordinary title that is well worth your time and money. Step into the boots of Sam Fisher in "And we invested another $10 million on marketing, so that means we have invested $20 million before anyone is even going to buy the game." Tremblay described Chaos Theory as a stealth action game aimed at players whose average age is 28.

"Five years ago, the average gamer was 18 years old. Now the average gamer is 28." Tremblay said 1.5 million copies of Chaos Theory have been shipped to distributors. "We expect to sell more than four million units over the next seven months." The voice of Sam Fisher, the main character in the game, is done by i LLSOOTG Catch the live coverage of the PGA TOUR'S BellSouth Classic this weekend. 4.