Back To The Noughties
Time traveller Nick revisits the Gamecube launch in May 2005
On 3 May, the Gamecube arrived on European shores, meaning that PAL customers finally had access to the full slate of nextgeneration consoles. The months leading up to the launch were rife with uncertainty over both the date and price, but due in part to a prelaunch price cut, it was a belting success. The Gamecube smashed the UK console launch record by shifting 69,000 units in its opening weekend, with plenty of stock still available for those who found themselves suddenly bowled over by the plucky console. Only time would tell whether this was an Xbox-style temporary period of success, or the foundation for a serious challenge to Sony’s iron-clad dominance of the console market.
There was plenty to play, too, with 21 games available at launch. However, the key games hadn’t changed much from the other regional launches – Super Monkey Ball (88%, NGC ), Luigi’s Mansion (90%, NGC) and Wave Race: Blue Storm (91%, NGC ) all dated back to the Japanese launch eight months prior, and Star Wars: Rogue Leader was present at the US launch a couple of months later. Other strong sellers included third-party games such as Burnout (86%, NGC), Crazy Taxi (70%, NGC), Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (87%, NGC ) and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. The Blue Blur’s latest adventure wasn’t as enthusiastically received on Gamecube as it had been on the Dreamcast, though. NGC scored the game 70%, with reviewer Neil Randall complaining that it wasn’t the “far superior” original.
More fun was clearly on the horizon too, as Capcom’s terrifyingly detailed remake of Resident Evil scored 8/10 in Edge’s import review. The game earned praise for its “breathtaking technical achievement” and its ability to “install a permanent sense of unease”, but was criticised for failing to correct some of the original game’s shortcomings.
Not everything releasing overseas inspired such enthusiasm, though – Doshin The Giant was given a 5/10 review, with Edge unmoved by the 64DD conversion’s brand of “gentle, if limited, entertainment”. Smashing Drive received a 3/10 review, only garnering coverage “due to the dearth of releases coming out on Nintendo’s system”.
But Namco’s arcade racer was saved the shame of being the month’s worst game, by Xbox import Nezmix (scheduled for western markets as Sneakers). Media.vision’s dire puzzle game was panned, earning 2/10 in spite of its “expertly realised” locations, due to “limited interaction” and the impression that “the implied nonlinearity is utterly superficial.” Another Xbox exclusive coming from Japan was Gunvalkyrie, an action game that was originally destined for the Dreamcast. Despite initial good impressions from a preview, Edge was underwhelmed with the final game, giving it 5/10. While it was found to
offer thrills and some challenging areas, the control system was considered “complicated” and “too fussy,” with
the reviewer concluding that the game “offers hardcore gaming at its very best, and at its very worst”.
Over on the PS2, the PAL release of Final Fantasy X was the biggest title of a relatively quiet month, scoring a warm 8/10 in Official Playstation 2 Magazine, which liked the visual achievements of the game and greatly disliked its overall linearity and unskippable cutscenes. Other releases included PC conversion Deus Ex (9/10, OPS2), vampire sequel Blood Omen 2 (6/10, OPS2), G1 Jockey (5/10, OPS2) and Sled Storm (5/10, Edge).
On the PC, Freedom Force pleased reviewers with its superhero charms. Edge gave the game 7/10, criticising what it felt was poor AI but praising the sheer variety of heroes and powers that were available to explore, noting that it was a game well-suited to expansion packs. PC Gamer was more enthusiastic, with future comic book writer Kieron Gillen awarding the game 88%. He felt that the game’s “considerable failings are entirely overwhelmed by the double whammy of the irrepressible surface veneer of Sixties-hyper-camp and the beating heart of hardcore game theory”. Dungeon Siege was even better, scoring 92% in PC Gamer. Reviewer Jim Mccauley wasn’t a fan of the fact that the game did “focus more on fighting and acquiring stuff than storytelling” and felt that the game would irritate Dungeons & Dragons fanatics, but felt that it was “crammed with new ideas that every second-rate RPG developer will be nicking next year.” Console conversions Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (87%, PC Gamer) and Grandia 2 (83%, PC Gamer) rounded out a month in which computer gamers were well served.
But the biggest story in PC Gamer was the impending return of one Lara Croft, whose new adventure Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness was set to overhaul the series’ formula after five broadly similar games. Core Design’s team name-checked the likes of Shenmue and Deus Ex as influences, and showed off new urban environments and stealth-based gameplay. But developer Adrian Smith was still unsure of the game’s direction, stating, “Sometimes I sit and worry that we have changed the game too much, at other times I think we haven’t changed it enough.” Players were set to decide for themselves later in the year, with the game pencilled in for a November release.
Join us again next month to see if the Gamecube can maintain its momentum, and whether the console software slump will end.