Written Journalism Still Exists

Octopus with another of our brief summaries of the latest issue of the UK Official PlayStation Magazine, coming round every four weeks like a mildly interesting menstrual cycle.

The cover story this month is the review of Killzone 2, which recieved a wonderful 9. Say what you want about the honesty of an official platform magazine reviewing a key exclusive, but their review hyped me up possibly more that I already was - now I'm foaming even more at the mouth! Features in this issue of the mag include a rumour-mongering look at this year's secret games including Assassin's Creed 2, COD: MW2 and the new Team Ico game; a couple of new details on Uncharted 2 (Elena is back); an interview with Kaz Hirai; a peek at this year's upcoming awesome games; and the top ten games of 2008 according to a reader poll. The list is as follows: Dead Space, Bioshock, Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge, Burnout Paradise, COD: WaW, Fallout 3, GTAIV, LBP and good old MGS4 coming top.

The rumour machine (obviously the best feature) reads as follows: EA is to hold an auction that will be open to every player in the NFL for the chance to be Madden 2010's cover star (thought there was a supposed curse on that?); developers are already working on games for PSP2, which is tentatively scheduled for release in 2010 (heard this one elsewhere too, but why are MotorStorm and LBP not then PSP2 launch games?); Tetsuya Mizuguchi is looking to make a sequel to Rez, the rights for which are currently owned by Sega (yes please); Square Enix will unveil a 'different from Final Fantasy' MMO at E3 (wahey?); a PSP version of brilliant off-road racer Motorstorm is in the works and may be released before the end of 2009 (yep); despite the fact that FEAR 2 isn't even out yet, Monolith is already working on FEAR 3 (unsurprising, bad economy is leading developers and publishers into focusing more on sequels and established franchises); and Indiana Jones and Batman weren't the last film favourites to be tuned into blocks - Lego Harry Potter is on the way (I was pretty sure they denied this?).

Previews are of new racer Fuel (awesome), FEAR 2: Project Origin (not scary), Gostbusters (disappointing), and Supercar Challenge (super), and even Hydrophobia makes a tiny appearance, stuck to a March release date. Besides Killzone 2, reviews include Skate 2 (8), Patapon 2 (8), Savage Moon (7), LOTR Conquest (5), NPPL Champtionship Paintball 2009 (only 4), Madagascar 2 (3), Bolt (6), Way of the Samurai (6), History Civil War: Secret Missions (3), Age of Booty (6) and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (5). There are also online reviews of PES09 (5), FIFA09 (9) and COD: WaW (8). Oh and next issue is going to have an exclusive Resi 5 review.

PlayStation Official Magazine UK Issue 28 (February 2009) should on shop shelves today, and already in subscribers hands, and has a menacing looking Helghast soldier on the front.