Black Ribbon's Top 5 Games of 2014 (As picked by Drake)

No, I'm not dead, just extremely lazy!

With the flurry of Next-gen releases in their first year, picking my top 5 should be a really difficult task. Although the monumental cock-ups make this list dubiously easy. In no particular order, lets get the list going...

1 - Shadow of Mordor

Shadow of Mordor was one of the games that has slid under the rug in many lists for the overall year and its a rather sad sight when Assassin's Creed Rogue is consider better. I often find myself questioning he logic of many of the groups to select a game with no innovation on the previous
generation console over a new IP with incredible mechanics and gameplay. Shadow of Mordor's visuals and story occasionally let it down but the creative power struggle system, fun combat, its return too Middle Earth and the vocal talent created something truly spectacular that has great length.

2 - Far Cry 4 

Ubisoft's year has been tainted by bugs, poor gameplay, hype and generally poor creations. Fortunately for them, many of us still bought into the series' and that's all they really care about.
Although they are likely to pay for that, they have had relative success with Far Cry 4. Unfortunately, I never managed to get around to reviewing much around the October Gamergedon but here is my TLDR version - Incredible visuals, addicting gameplay, fascinating story and characters with the added "I'm not running away from a psychopath in case he gets even angrier" ending that finishes the game in anything up to 15 minutes with gameplay that lets you walk around the room and finally, lets not forget that Troy Baker plays Pagan Min. Who can hate it? PS - Fuck the eagles.

3 - The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf Among Us is another Telltale game based off of the comic book series "Fables". The story of Bigby Wolf and the sudden murder spree to hit Fabletown is one with bigger twists than a twirl bar, more violence than a Michael Bay movie and an art style which elevates the series to new

heights. The wonderful thing about The Wolf Among Us is how engaging it is. The space between episodes was filled with The Walking Dead Season 2 and looking at the Wikia in the vain hope the next episode would appear. Its adventure into fable characters would normally be very Disney or Pixar like but Telltale and Fable's creator turned the world upside-down to create a dark, atmospheric neon lit world filled with a rising evil and isn't afraid to get its hands dirty.

4 - Walking Dead Season 2 

So, I've already mentioned Season 2 and it stands as one of the best game series' that I have ever played. The Walking Dead game inspired me to watch the TV shows and get into the comics and I've

never been happier with such a creation. Season 2 follows Clementine's fight for survival without Lee in her life. The fight for survival by a little girl in a traumatic world is distressing enough but when she feels more like a daughter and your responsibility is to protect her, anything that happens can be disastrous if you get it wrong. Telltale's knack and style has successfully carried The Walking Dead into 3 seasons and DLC that will stay with me as some of my all time favourites. A must play for any zombie survivalist.

5 - Dragon Age Inquisition

Every Dragon Age fan wet their pants with glee upon the news of another instalment in our beloved series. While 2 is considered the worst and often belittled, some of its characters carry over into
Inquisition alongside one or two from Origins that is incredibly gratifying to be reunited with. Bioware has a knack for creating games with vast worlds and territories that bring you into contact with some of the most crazy and loveable characters ever written. As for next-gen visuals, what Dragon Age lacked in texture, it made it up with the lighting. Atmospheric and beautiful, is not it for Bioware, the combat system and gameplay have improved drastically making Dragon Age a deadly competitor in the RPG market.


As a bonus, I feel an honourable mention should be made to another 3 games that I absolutely adore.
Bonus - Titanfall for its incredible reimagining of the FPS genre, Plants VS Zombies for its whacky take on modern shooters with a family friendly game that also appeals to the hardcore gamers and finally, Hearthstone. Not one for Blizzard MMOs and RPGs?, Say no more. Hearthstone blends the World of Warcraft characters into a FREE card game with balance, no pay to win features, a competitive community and all round fun.

How'd I do? Let us know your picks in the comments down below! Also go check out our new writer's view on this years movie selection. Click here to see his top 5 movies of 2014.

Best Films of 2014 (Picked by our new writer, Dan!)

5. The Raid 2: Berandal

Godfather Part Two. The Empire Strikes Back. Aliens. Get the trend? Sequels that were arguably better than their predecessors and the Raid 2: Berandal nicely fits into this list. Action-packed, beautifully choreographed, and includes the character of "Hammer Girl". Every film needs a character called "Hammer Girl".

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The first of two Scarlett Johansson films on the list, while also following The Raid 2 in being a better film than its' predecessor, The Winter Soldier is a fantastic, paranoid spy thriller that differs slightly from the Marvel Film format in triumphant fashion with a great performance from Robert Redford and paving the way for dramatic changes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

3. Godzilla

A possibly controversial pick as many believed Gareth Edward's take on Godzilla was rather boring and slow with it only properly showing the big guy himself towards the latter stages of the film, however after seeing Edward's previous outing "Monsters", I kind of expected this to be the case. The dramatic build up throughout the film led to an epic conclusion and personally, I thought the film was fantastic, especially that HALO scene. WOW.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy

One of the main reasons Guardians of the Galaxy is so high on this list is that I went into the cinema with my expectations rather low. What a joy then to have witnessed probably the best addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe which not only included fantastic characters and laugh out loud moments throughout, but a brilliant soundtrack (Ooga-Chaka) and the best prison-breakout scene i've seen in a long time. Utterly charming.

1. Under the Skin

Now here is a change of tone. I missed Under the Skin when it was in the cinema so i chose to rent the Blu-Ray when it was released and it is fair to say i was blown away. Blimey Charlie. Firstly, it definitely isn't a film for the masses with its' dark tone, slightly ambiguous death sequences, and lack of dialogue but for me it was a perfect blend of art, sci-fi, and horror, something that i hadn't seen in a long, long time. Simply, it is brilliant.

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens - TRAILER

Let's be honest, we are all excited for this. No matter how old you are. Brace yourself, the internet is about to explode. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Assassin's Creed Unity - Review - [XBOX ONE] - Spoilers

Reviews and stuff are having to be put on the shelf at the moment due to heavy university load so things will come out when I feel up to doing something other than stare at a blank word document...

Assassin's Creed Unity was probably one of the biggest draws for users to upgrade to the next generation systems in the last couple of months only to be disappointed by the outpouring of hate on its initial release. Sold by the 4 player co-op, upgraded visual mechanics and streamlining functions among the French Revolution is very appealing, even if you've never touched an Assassins Creed game. However, Ubisoft have failed once again. Their huge undertaking with new IPs and the double release of the Assassins series left them at loggerheads with their dedicated audience. The time and budget for all of the recent games has really taken a beating and is suffering from CoD syndrome - The same thing every year, repackaged.

This instalment we follow a young man named Arno. As a child you watch his life falls apart with the assassination of his father and being taken into the care of an elderly man and the parent of the red head (Elise) who you chased about in the prologue. Any self respecting fan knows this story of a young man whose rebellion is typically the better of himself. We are looking at a complete Reskin of Ezio. Due to Ezio's huge success, trying to create a character like him was always going to end badly. We saw this with Connor and now with Arno. Both with the likeability of an ice cream in Antarctica. A few years soon pass by for Arno to a time where his adopted father is assassinated right in front of him. His mission now is to avenge the death and find the culprit, only to find something far bigger. Its not a story we haven't seen before but as we have seen in the trailers, the pairing of Elise and Arno from rival factions was something that drew huge attention and criticism. Some wondering why the Assassins have allied with a Templar and others welcoming the change. Although here is the problem, Elise and her Templar upbringing through her father (Arno's adopted parent) were never really implemented in the game for too long. Often enough it was just Arno on his own while this so called deadly Templar ran around uselessly in the background. Her relationship with Arno was heavily played and did add a few layers to him but its full blown impact did very little. (PS - if you can't implement women central characters into the series because it takes too much work, why do we have Elise?)... Then you have the Creed. In all honesty, Arno doesn't need to be there. He plays the central role and everything else does nothing but shout and moan.

The main problems for AC:U don't lie with the story. The majority of it was Ubisoft's incompetence. Its unnecessarily bad glitches that would throw you out of the game, the incredible AI's who would switch between male and female if you walked past them, the AI's that also stood on each others heads and initiated combat for no reason, because they are a general bunch of ass-hats with the competence of a 2 year old. Perhaps the degradation of controls and mechanics that drove many fans insane on their first experience of AC1! Or finally, probably the biggest problem that Ubisoft have; Uplay. The god awful servers and service that it creates has caused many issues for those wanting to play online with friends, but also the blackmail within the game. You cannot progress, unless you have uplay to access extras and you cannot unlock in-game chests if you don't have the AC:Unity companion app on your phone or tablet. Although some achievements are dedicated to getting all the chests, such a task may prove impossible for those with a temper shorter than Warren Davies.

The visual quality expected from a next-gen game is typically quite high and rightfully so. For Ubisoft, this should be plain sailing as long as they avoid the awful shading and waxy features of Black Flag, but noooo. Here we are, with another next generation console game, looking as if its been ported for the previous originally. Characters look awful unless they are in a cutscene and anything from the next upwards looks like every character has elephantiasis. More attention was paid to the AI characters cleavage rather than de-swelling her face from the recent bee attack.

Overall, the game was fucked harder than my bank account. Its terrible gameplay functionality leads the game into the record books for one of the biggest fuck ups this year. Its story was half-baked and its relevance to the Order and the overall arch cannot be seen at this moment. Perhaps the DLC will enlighten many as to where Arno will be soon considering the whole WTF ending. Before I close, I would like to point out a enormous issue I had with a particular "bridging" scene. With its release so close to that of the American's veterans day and the UKs remembrance weekend, climbing the Eifle Tower in occupied France and shooting down Axis forces is far from relateable to the story but also slightly disrespectful at this time of year.

Fury 2014 - REVIEW - SPOILERS

In December of last year when I worked on the list of stuff I shall be keeping an eye out for, I noticed an unnamed David Ayer project featuring Brad Pitt, Shia Labeouth, Jon Berthnal, Logan Lerman and Michael Peña as a five man tank team during world war 2 in Nazi German towards the tail end of the conflict. Seeing we haven't had a great war film in many years, the concept of approaching the conflict from the tank teams perspective was rather intriguing. As my love for Brad Pitt kept growing, my excitement for little titbits of news and information was building huge expectations in my mind. The trailer alone helped solidify what I was going to think of this film and to put it simply, the film was great.
During WW2, Nazi weaponry was typically far more advanced and their tanks were tearing into US units with ease. The tale doesn't have a narrative that drives the movie like an action movie. Documentation springs to mind with its portrayal of the lives of those who fought in these tanks and the hardships they went through. After loosing their machine gunner, the Fury team were given Norman (Logan Lerman), a young man with no combat experience, 8 weeks in boot camp, never been in a tank and never killed before. Quite common in the time but we follow him as he is forced into the deep end with a crew of hardened fighters who don't take kindly to having a weakness in the armour. The main character appears to be Norman. Over the 2 hours his character changes vastly and to see the conflict and infighting that gets him to where he needs to be is really engaging towards the audience. In this short period of time, we follow a boy become and man and what it makes of good men and the pain they went through to do their job. The final act is where the real action sets in with a convoy of tanks making their way too hold off a possible German advance but soon gets whittled down by a German tank. Upon defeating it, Fury stands on its own and carries its orders out until they hit a mine and lose one of the tracks. During repairs its found that Nazi forces are moving down the road and the final decision to fight or run is made. If I were to spoil it here, I don't feel that would be fair. It ends rather dramatically with a blaze of glory and a barrage of emotions which I can only describe as epic. With its character driven story, it can feel a little slow towards the beginning when Norman is reluctant to do much but it grows even bigger with each step he takes.

From what I'm aware, the tanks used for filming were genuine vehicles and a great addition when you consider the over saturation of CGI in modern media. Visually the movie was great. I didn't see any CGI that wasn't the obvious blood splatter and shots on the tanks. Everything was fantastic in the visual department. The only issues that I do have were a few of the goofs. More down to the cutting and editing but switching from day to night in one cut was rather jarring. With the ringing of bullets and the roars of engines, the sound was clear and crisp. Enough to excite but not to deafen. Although with excitement we normally have music to help ramp the scene up. I don't remember any of the songs and nothing really captured me enough to return home and search for whatever song was used (although I now probably will) like I enjoy and that's a real shame for a movie that has prided itself on great cinematography and prop work.

There really isn't much to talk about in the case of acting. We have a group of actors that have already proven themselves as adequate in many of their other appearances. Although Logan stands as the main, Brad Pitt steals it from him with a far superior performance and Shia was rather good. With his recent outbursts and nutty-ness, his career was in real turmoil but he has certainly managed to pick it up and be a part of something to really be proud of. The rest of the cast were brilliant too. There's really no fault on their part. So my overall conclusion is that the movie is brilliant. The goofs can be forgiven but they are rather drastic and shows sloppiness by the cutting crews and there were some rather lengthy chunks of space that felt rather empty that didn't achieve much for the flow. I seriously think the movie deserves all of the praise it is getting and I look forward to getting it on DVD with a few little extras and maybe a directors cut. My score for Fury is 8/10

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel - Quicky Review

 

I'm rather disappointed by this new Borderlands. I was hooked from the day they released info on the playable characters and that Claptrap was actually one of them. Being my favourite character and all, I was excited to get my hands on it at this years EGX, only to feel that the game wasn't as smooth as I hoped. "Perhaps that's because I'm playing on a PC that has a really low sensitivity setting" I thought to myself. Alas, I was wrong. The game has an awesome premise. Jump back to the beginning with the introduction of Jack before he became Handsome Jack - The Hyperion boss.
My problems stem more from that actual gameplay and its lack of change. If something works, don't fix it seems to be what was going through their minds on creating this. The game has had many issues with it through the years and nothing has been done to really address these issues. One of this issues are the image and texture rendering. I run the most recent Xbox 360 and hasn't incurred any damage to give it reason to run slowly or have any issues but it was having huge problems loading in textures and left some areas resembling smeared feces. It was always something that bugged me with the previous games. Although they are quite old now and software was different, I just let it slide but when you have the huge increase of technology in consoles in preparation for the next gen releases, things like this shouldn't be happening more often that you find a hooker in the red light district. The style of the game is great and with them working with Telltale games to create an episodical based game is something that could really flourish but the here and now is rather disparaging. Its not just wandering about the map and loading in areas poorly, its also mid combat where the game cannot cope and begins to grind and drop frames rapidly, albeit momentarily, it is another common occurrence that severely hampers the flow of the action.

Now combat also had its fair share of problems. The slowness of movement does little to help with my play style and comfort but my main angst is with the balancing. Playing as Claptrap, a robot, you would think rigid aim with weapons would be something rather standard but aiming down the sights of a rifle will only aid you if you wish to hit anything a mile away from your target in an attempt to scare them off. As a character, he has always been funny and I will always choose him over anyone else, yet he seems extremely underpowered. Combined with his Vault Hunter.EXE power and skill tree it can all do more to screw you over rather than the ones you should be killing. From Claptrap to general enemies, you won't find anyone actually level with you for a fair fight. If the enemy is equal to below your level, you waste them faster than Charlie Sheen with some 7gram rocks and if the enemy is higher than you, run. Run like the wind. If you can't get into cover quick enough, get riddled by every single round they fire. Their aim is impeccable and enough to kill in seconds. The balance for everything is grossly disproportionate. Some bosses where hard as nails while the very last boss only took a pistol and a repetitive action to kill.

So, terrible balance, the accuracy of a blind man firing a 50.Cal and a piss poor skill tree that hinders more than benefits. What do we really have left? squat. Sure the story was quite good and a nice insight into who Jack was prior to going crazier and the process that unfolds but it does become a real pain in the ass when you feel you've reached an end only to be slapped with another thing that requires you to run back and forth for another hour just so you are at a level equal to the quest. Its not something that has sat very well with me. I enjoyed the first 2 but I'm seeing nothing exciting, innovative or game changing in a series that was growing in popularity so well. I'm thoroughly disappointed. With huge potential, came great disappointment. At the price of £30, its not too bad but I suggest, no, I implore you to get it when it drops into the 15-20 range to tide you over between releases that are going to be far better. 6/10.

Shadow of Mordor - UK Quicky Review - Xbox One

With one of the most low-key advertising campaigns and some of the worst adverts I've seen for a game in quite a while, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor arrives to the masses. Prior to release day, I saw little to indicate anything about the game. Considering my only interaction other than pre-ordering it months ago was my recent trip to EGX London where I got to play Shadow of Mordor a whole week before its UK release. After getting a hands on, I left happy.

Set in between the events of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books & films, Shadow of Mordor follows the story of Talion. A ranger guardian of the Black Gate prior to its fall to Sauron and his forces. Its fall is where we meet Talion for the first time and watch him get sacrificed by a group of Sauron's cronies called "The Black Hand". Upon dying, the spirit of an elf lord whose identity is that of Celebrimbor. This may rings bells with many of those well versed in the lore of LOTR as Celebrimbor is the creator of the rings of power and the one ring. As for the rest of the lore, I know very little. When Talion was originally killed, he also lost his family. His role from this point is too find those who killed him and his family, cut their heads off and every other thing that spreads Sauron's will. As you progress, it becomes more than revenge. It becomes a duty. With great power comes huge responsibility and you do this through saving slaves of the Uruks and Orcs, fending off the hordes of evil and finding out who and why you were chosen. In theory, the story is actually fairly short. The only reason I logged a total of 32 hours until completion was because I found myself wandering off to kill the relentless hordes and do a multitude of side quests. As much as I enjoyed the story and relished returning to one of my favourite worlds, the actual bones of the story didn't engage me as well as they should have. Certain characters just appear and its only through collectible artefacts that you find more in-depth content as to who these characters are before they vanish, never to be seen again. The story does well to construct why you're still alive and the combat, collectibles and side missions give the game sufficient length.

Developed by Monolith and WB Games, you may recognize the combat and movement features as they originated from the Batman Arkham games. Was this good?, in a way. Having played all of the Batman games, it felt quite a common experience. Unfortunately the controls can be finicky. Rather than impaling a dude with your sword, you often end up diving around like a dog with a bag on its head and there's often feels like a few seconds delay that means counters don't take effect and ends your combo. Its parkour can be unbelievably infuriating due to item borders that are bigger than the visual object. As someone who enjoys a good bit of button mashing hack and slash games, its combat was really fun. Dramatic combat finishers with enough blood to satisfy Dracula's thirst and have me giggling with glee. Sure, its a little repetitive and the variation of combat finishers isn't particularly vast, especially considering that you can counter 2 people at once but for some reason no dual execution. Another disappointment is the boss fights. In all honesty, there should have been 4-5. It only felt like 2 because the rest were so short, it didn't require much combat and those that did became quite tedious after a while of dealing with the finicky controls. What pulls it back for me if the Sauron's Army section. Although erratic, it is great fun. These Captains and Warchiefs are the leaders of the Orc army plaguing Middle Earth and you need to wipe them out before they become too powerful. Leave them and they grow stronger and become a huge pain in the ass if you stumble upon them on a merry trot around. Its a relatively simple thing to learn and full of achievements that can be done through the story without trouble.

For many gamers, one name pops up fairly regularly and has voiced some of the best and most iconic characters in recent years. His name is Troy Baker. Troy voices Talion this time around and I have to be honest, I didn't realise it was him until I looked it up. His ability to shift into these different persona are phenomenal and to actually witness him do it, sits heavily on my bucket list (sad, right?). If there's any Dragon Age fans reading, you will also be happy to hear that Claudia Black is also lending her voice for another spooky witch. Futurama's Bender also voices, courtesy of John DiMaggio alongside quite a substantial cast of names. The voice acting was right on par. Troy Baker nails the voice creating yet another gritty voice for another badass. Variation between Orcs are obvious but continual conflict means that you get through them in a short period of time but otherwise, everyone did a fantastic job and killed it.

The game looks wonderful. Playing on an Xbox One, the resolution is lower than its PS4 counterpart but I've never been one to see such a huge difference between HD resolutions. The only issue I can honestly pick is that the rain looks a bit dated and occasionally characters look more like wax rather than flesh. I've also mentioned about item borders but in total, it doesn't really affect the most important factor which is the story.

So, we have a hack and slash Lord of the Rings game with characters voiced by Troy Baker, Morrigan and Bender with a story that is meaty and gameplay that hooks you for longer than 6 hours. What's not too love? Straight off the bat I can say this game stands as one of the best I've played in quite a while. Pure fun for everyone, even if you aren't a Lotr fan! Probably one of the best games this year, Shadow of Mordor stands upon the graves of lesser games. Although, we haven't had a great year in gaming in reality. Overall, I feel that the game is great and it deserves all the praise it has been getting. 8/10 for a wonderful cast and story but its controls really agitate me and the boss fights were a huge disappointment. Worth the trip too your local game store...or Amazon...

Dracula Untold - No sparkly shit for Luke Evans today! - Review - SPOILERS

Considering that pretty much every film that involves vampires recently has been dominated by the gay, teen angst, sparkly shit, it is a blessing that Dracula Untold got funding. Something that portrays the king of vampires as a real monster rather than a sex symbol is a good start in my book and hell, I'd hope it would be in everyone else's. Rather than drag on about how much I hate modern vampire culture in media of recent, I shall simply sum it up in a small little section. Twilight is the scourge of modern media and its butchering of vampires actions infuriates me. As for True Blood, I find it piss poor. With some rather shocking motion blur and the constant barrage of sex, it leaves me begging for the return of Buffy and Angel.

Now to the real question. Is Dracula Untold good? Yes, in fact it is brilliant. Origin stories can go drastically wrong, especially when the history behind it from decades of film and TV appearances have shaped generations of media. Dracula Untold is the origin story of the one and only Vlad The Impaler who was turned into Count Dracula by author Bram Stoker. In the movie, much like the described events of his life, Vlad was enslaved at a young age by the Ottoman empire who he later fought against when he regained his power. Although what happens in Dracula Untold is not exactly what happened according to the history records, the simplified "Ottomans stole him, used him for war and Vlad killing a load of them" was actually true. This time around, Vlad was given 2 options, give up 1000 children or face the wrath of the Ottoman empire. Vlad had no choice considering the fact that he had no army to fight alongside, he agrees but soon retaliates once they threaten to take his son along with the other 1000. This eventually leads to Vlad becoming the vampire we all know and love in his attempt to save his people and more importantly, his family. Many writers tend to simply ignore history when the create a story but this way its refreshing to see someone consider the history behind the man but also tweak it a little to bring in the element of fantasy.

So we have a good story. Do we have good acting? Meeeh. Its alright. As per usual we get a unrecognisable child with the likeability Kim Jong Un to his republic. Vlad's wife spends more time looking clueless and vacant with absolutely no stage presence among the rest of the cast. As for the rest of the cast, it felt like they just didn't exist. We didn't particularly meet any of these but towards the end we are meeting a lot of people who are so anonymous, not even the NSA know who they are. I guess in reality, the movie wasn't about these people. After all it is named after him. I've been waiting for a good Dracula since Blade 3 (Also the reason I like to go by the name Drake!). Luke Evans isn't a man of incredible talent. Its safe to say that he is good, just good. In this, I feel he has actually managed to fill the role of a character that has a lot of heritage and actually make a character I would like to follow further. Now once again we meet Dominic Cooper. An actor who has appeared in many movies as of recently and typically plays the bad guy. Funnily enough, he still is playing the bad guy but now as the Ottoman leader. There's not a lot to really say about Cooper. He just about suffices as an evil doer but I want someone I can really hate or someone who can scare the audience. The one that was actually able to do so was the one who gifts his power unto Dracula; Charles Dance.

Visually the movie had a lot of work to do to create good scenes look even better. Unfortunately a lo of the screen had very little depth and it was obvious that most of it, if not all of it was recorded on a green screen. Apart from that, the action was great fun. A lot of the time it didn't appear very clear but it was very well choreographed considering some of the movements that would take place when Dracula would morph into different states to travel the battlefield. If you're an action junkie, you will love it. The general action is an almost constant state of brutality which has me giggling with glee from the get-go.

Sure, we didn't know many characters, those we did weren't particularly well acted and the real villain wasn't scary by any means. A little of the story didn't mean anything and some things didn't exactly work out correctly. However, its ending was something enjoyed. It left on a note that meant that we could be seeing a return of Luke Evans' Dracula with the Master Vampire, Charles Dance. If real vampires are your thing, you will get jiggy with this. Many complain about Dracula not needing an origin, but in reality, what's the point in just refreshing him without exploring something about him with a bit of history. I guess that's what you get from the Daily Mail and its ilk. Its a movie of good fun, violence and real vampires. 7.5/10!

The Equalizer - When you look at me, what do you see? - Review - SPOILERS

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see this until Wednesday due to being at EGX London (Video coming soon). After months of waiting I can say that it met all of my expectations. For years I've been waiting for a Denzel movie as fun, exciting and aggressive as Man on Fire was.

In the Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays the role of Robert McCall. Portrayed as a man of compassion and kindness working in a Homebase/B&Q department store with a very simple life. His past is something that only a few know and its a while before his past really comes into its own. The majority of the first act is character development between his work colleagues and people he meets in his very coordinated life. Perhaps something along the line of OCD is the reasons he is a well scheduled man with a common pattern. Due to insomnia, Robert end up in a diner in the early hours of the morning drinking tea and reading books. Often he arrives at the same time Chloe Grace Mortez's character "Teri" is in the building. Upon meeting her, it is obvious that she is a prostitute. Evidently under the control of a pimp/group when she arrives the following night with a black eye. Unfortunately this isn't the end of Teri's problems. After spending time with Robert to avoid her job, she refuses to answer her phone and promptly ends up disappearing. Robert's life continues on the normal schedule but he soon finds out that she was admitted to hospital due to being severely beaten by said pimps. This is where Robert becomes his past. Upon tracking down the pimp that beat her near to death, he gives them an offer. Payment for her freedom. Its turns out they didn't like this offer and swiftly tell him to do one but as we all know, this is Denzel and he won't be having any of that. After dispatching the 5 or 6 stains on humanity, McCall gets on with his life. Although we have a problem. These pimps weren't just pimps. As a wing of the Russian Mob, many believe it to be a

gang war execution and causes huge problems between the factions. From this point on it becomes a bit of cat and mouse until the Russian Teddy (Marton Csokas) tracks down the real culprit of the killing. During this time, Robert has taken it upon himself to deal with any crimes against his friends and once he catches wind of the mob on his tail, the real action begins. Chaos ensues on an epic scale as we watch the good and the bad face off.

Sure, its generic. However, the writers have created something on a far grander scale. A real story with real connections and just enough mystery to keep Robert's character secret. His brand of retribution is comical and the people he interacts with actually have quite the impact on the story and make you appreciate Robert much more. Unlike Neeson in Taken or recently A Walk Among The Tombstones, Robert is a solid guy and his interactions only make him better. The outcome is very easy to predict but how it got to that point is the best part. Although action doesn't happen for a large chunk of the movie, once it appears it is worth the wait. The creative ways used to evade, fight and kill are brutal. Mixed with a blend of slow motion effects and high contrast lighting, the fight scenes are great fun and greatly reminiscent of Tony Scott's Man on Fire.

Visually the movie is great. As I previously mentioned, the slow motion is a fantastic addition to the combat. Perhaps its a little over used at points but it aids the capturing of the small pieces that you wouldn't otherwise notice at a regular pace. As always the aim of the cinematographer is to present the villain as a psychotic asshole. Fortunately enough, it has been done well. When he is in the process of killing someone, life around him carries on as normal as the shot expands a little and draws on for a long period of time showing how casually he walks off his actions. As for the rest, the shots were nice. Nothing grabbed my attention and held me, really the visual effects for the combat etc were rather good but the rest is fairly neutral.

Denzel is one of my favourite actors. I don't always watch his movies but I tend to hear good things about his acting and its been that way for years now. The Equalizer is no different. Its a well known fact that Denzel is also a rather nice man and in reality, he is down to earth. His characters are much the same and I feel that really propels him to the top of the bill. Chloe Grace Mortez is someone I'm not always drawn too. She was good in Kickass and is good in this, but casting her for a role that feels more of an extra role doesn't feel quite right for someone in her position.

Overall, the movie is quality. Great fun, exciting and very tense. If Man on Fire sits at the top of your favourites list, like myself, you will certainly enjoy this outing. With a good balanced cast, great action and a well constructed script/story, The Equalizer is a movie that will stand with the greats of this year. 8/10 - Totally worth the watch!

A Walk Amoung The Tombstones - QUICKY Review - SPOILERS

Let's be honest, what do we really expect from a Liam Neeson movie? The answer is - Not much, not much at all. We also know his acting range which is rather short. Movies like Luc Besson's 'Taken' demonstrate the exact character archetype and cast-typing that goes through every writers mind when they write a mid-level thriller on a budget. Although the Taken series is very beloved by myself. Mindless, simple and to the point action that is only a little exaggerated by the fact Neeson isn't getting any younger and no emotional ties needed to connect to a rather cool frontman.

Walk Among the Tombstones is something a little different. Evidently the writers have tried to create something very difficult and provoking but in reality have created something extremely basic. With an intention to create something convoluted, the aim is to make it difficult to understand and to leave you dazed as you try to figure the mystery yourself before the puzzle pieces are fitted finally by the story. Any aspect of thriller was drilled out by the fact that there was no mystery. Nothing solid enough to bite into as everything is already being shown. Even in the trailers we know the back story of Neeson's character 'Matt Scudder' before the movie even came out. Other than that, we hear about it towards the end rather than fairly early on if it mattered so little. The reality of Among the Tombstones is that we have a cop drama with very little drama and action. As an unlicensed PI, Scudder is called upon to investigate the rape, black mailing, murder and dismemberment of Kenny Kristo's (Dan Stevens) wife. It soon becomes clear that these guys work over women of particularly dangerous men who are traffickers of illicit drugs. Their connection to the drug industry means that police contact will only end with them in jail. Forced to pay the ransom, the women never return and the money disappears. This time, its caught the attention of Neeson who takes it upon himself to end it, once and for all. See, not very elaborate...

So we've spoken out Neeson's acting degree and its short tether. Now we must look at the rest of the gang. Eric Nelsen plays the character who originally introduces Scudder to Kristo. A troubled artist who left the army with a heroin addiction. With that sort of premise, his character could have been something intricately deep but he just sits in the background with a lit cigarette and little chance to flourish. As for Nelsen's acting, it was rather bland. Simple and easy. Certainly not worthy of an Oscar and not worth loosing any sleep over when you forget his name. Dan Stevens is a man who has only recently popped onto my radar with The Guest released in recent week. With experience in Downton Abbey I feel its safe to say that he is a fairly solid actor. Although his lines weren't great, he is convincing enough to make you feel sympathy for his character but once again he was let down by a rather disappointing script. As for our villains, don't expect anything good. For a pair who have some ghastly scenes that managed to make me recoil into my shell, they had the worst directing ever. There is a significant difference between acting dark and psychotic and just plain nothing. There was nothing remotely scary about this pair, one of which does very little talking and looks like he's continuously got a crowbar wedged up his arse. So bad that I won't even grace their IMDB's on this page. Or that I'm too lazy.

Is it worth a night out to see? Sure...A Wednesday with EE/Orange 2 for 1. A fairly dull movie with little to engage or excite. Action that is practically non-existent with a rather annoying child that appears throughout. 6/10.

Destiny [Xbox One] - Next Gen Review

If you've lived under a rock for the past 18 months, you probably haven't heard about the new big kid on the block. His name is Destiny. Created by Halo's original makers - Bungie - and Call of Duty's Activision, Destiny is a new creation that supposedly incorporates open-world styling in a first person shooter setting. Think about Defiance but on a fairly restricted scale. But what is it?

Continuously we were bombarded with messages saying that this game had huge and expansive open areas for you to explore and fight enemies within. However this is not the case. These big areas are just CoD maps. You cannot just wander and explore the world, you follow a set path. You have to go on "Patrol" to really explore these worlds yet we have no inclination to actually do so. Its not open world. With very little to actually find on the surface, why should I bother spending ages looking about for some chests that are in vastly limited numbers when I could be getting on with the story?

This is were it gets funny. The story is almost non-existent. Thrust into this war to save the traveller (giant floaty ball), you must defeat its enemies that have come to claim it. You go all Master Chief

This time I chose the Warlock. Very Star Lord

and go kill everything in your way. You meet new races and your only reaction is to kill them. Each planet have their own race of fighters mixed in with the "Fallen" that fight each other...for some reason...Its simply not engaging. Riding off of the success of CoD and Halo is all that this is doing with a few vocal talents thrown in for good measure. I can't quite tell if the story is so convoluted that its just dull or that it suffers from CoD syndrome and lacks any substance other than "BLOW HIS FUCKING FACE OFF!"...

I'm playing on the Xbox One. With all they hype of graphics for the game, I felt my next gen console would grant me far superior visuals than my 360. Although I cannot speak for the PS4, the game does look good. Visuals are sharp and the landscapes do look great. The Guardians also look wicked. One thing I've enjoyed is finding new armour and weapons that look cool and improve my general look. But wait...Wasn't there talk of customization? Sure, there was. At the beginning, you choose the race, type and colour of your guardian but you won't see this often enough to actually care in the long run. If you wish to customise armour, you aren't in luck. Trying to create something that doesn't look like you're planning a gay pride parade across Mars, Venus and Earth is a huge pain in the ass. Simply because you need to actually find things that both improve and match. If its vastly better for defence, you don't want to hold onto something that just looks good but will hurt you in the long run. You can however get shaders. I have one. I can't use it yet as I'm not level 20 and I only got it because I pre-ordered the game alongside the upcoming CoD. Finding others are a mystery to me so I've left it down to looking a bit like a gay Star Lord.

Gameplay. What we all want to hear about. "How does it play?" I hear you asking. Well...Its alright. Aiming is rather slow and feels as if you're moving through glue. The rest of the shooty stuff is fine. You would expect it to be considering the developer combination. Moving is just a huge problem. Running about and shooting in chaotic areas means you cannot see where you are going. Often you end up getting stuck in a gap and then the game has a fit. Unable to jump out of this hole, all your character does is panic and appears to have some sort of seizure until he finally shakes out or you're shot dead because you can't turn around. When you play with other players, it can also be a huge pain in the ass when they continually push into you or walk into the line of fire causing you to waste rounds into the back of their skull. While also playing online with randoms, you will suffer. Continually I have suffered with it. Almost always finding people who are either inactive or inept.

This big fucker made life rather difficult

Just prior to writing this, I completed a strike mission with over 100 more kills than my team "mates" without being downed in the final attempt. Even worse is the fact that those inept are actually higher levels and will often try and grief you. From annoying humans to stupid AI's. Within the Beta testing, many complaints were raised about the Spider Tank and its incredibly high power for its level. Although I didn't have such a problem with it myself (Hide under the bridge and snipe it through the gap) it was substantially nerfed for release. Further into the game upon approaching several other bosses, these were also incredibly OP on their own or had continuous support respawning that you couldn't take him out without being surrounded by 2 dozen hostiles. The other issues is that many of the enemies don't know what to do with themselves. You can either find them hidden behind cover without moving or attacking or you will see them simply standing out in the open with little desire to do anything. The only other thing to really talk about is The Crucible. Online matches for those who get bored of the story. A mix of Captures and TDM's that do little to entice or excite me in the slightest. If you get bored of the story or feel you can't be bothered, they probably are the better place to go but in reality, we have plenty of other things we could be playing.

Perhaps my expectations for Destiny were rather high. Perhaps I caved in to the over generated hype by all the outlets and marketing campaign but is this really an excuse when Bungie and Activision were at the forefront of creating such a storm? I don't think so. The game is a huge disappointment. Already packs are being mentioned and are on pre-order in the hope to pad out the game in the long run but when you buy a game for upwards of £40, you want something with meat on. This was always the case before DLC became such a money-spinner and it angers me that I have to wait and pay more money to understand what the hell is going on with the story or get new game modes/maps. Being so utterly disappointed by Destiny, my only aim is to complete it, get some achievements and put it back on the shelf to look at in the future. Would I recommend buying it? Probably not until its on sale for a tenner. This grand piece of art only turned out to be CoD on a bigger scale. My rating for this feels like a 6/10. Maybe 7 if I get bored.

What did you think of Destiny and do you think DLC 'extras' are something we should embrace?

I'm just going to sit here and think about all the money I just wasted

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For - Quicky Review - SPOILERS

9 years after the original, Frank Miller returns with "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For". Based loosely on the past events, A Dame to Kill for is something of a muddle. Both a prequel and a sequel to the original, this time around we focus on a few characters that we had previously met and a couple new ones to mix it up a little. Being that the movie jumps from past to present, following the general plot would normally be quite the task for many other movies to pull off. Much like the first instalment, it jumps around a lot between characters with no conceivable connection, which I can only assume is to mimic the way comic book series work from time to time. The problem here is that we never saw the host of characters meet/interact in the first one but now we actually do. Although the only connection made is to the muscle "Marv" for some help killing people or beating the utter shite out of them. Although it was fun, connections between characters like Dwight or Johnny and Nancy would have given the movie a flow that was far less jarring and added a layer of character development that could have been extremely fun had it been done in the right way.

Now for a story, I don't quite know how to describe it. Marv just goes around doing what he did in the first, just this time his plot wasn't driven by Goldie's death but more for the hell of it. Johnny is a gambler who has some sort of ability to win everything he does causing problem between him and the senator. On the topic of Senator Roark, Nancy is doing her stripper thing but aided by an alcohol addiction and crippling depression after the death of Hartigan. With the aim to kill the senator, we follow her through a dark process of gaining the courage to act upon her desires. Finally we have Dwight. Originally played by Clive Owen the role has now been filled by Josh Brolin who is being screwed about by Ava (Eva Green) and her lackie - previously played by Michael Clarke Duncan - Manute without the golden eye. Dwight's story is probably the most in depth story from the group and one of the better acted.

Having only watched the original the day before, I wasn't sure how everything would have panned out. For acting, I was expecting something a little more engaging and realistic. Other than going with cheesy one-liners or short quotes like a comic book, I wanted something plausible for this new instalment. Those who really achieved it were Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Josh Brolin. Taking over from Clive Owen isn't a hard job for anyone by Brolin makes the character his own. For all the characters, they had to act like they had come straight from the comic and its rather disjointing when watching Miho jump about killing people as she is frozen in position but the background is travelling and it looks rather corny and honestly terrible. Although Levitt's character was more of a waste of time for those who haven't involved themselves with the comics, he was an interesting character to watch nonetheless. His story arch did little to impact the story of all the characters apart from the Senator but he was enjoyable to follow.

Considering everything I've picked out, the movie was very enjoyable. The acting isn't always great and constantly being barraged with nude/sex scenes is rather painful and often unnecessary but the general flow of the movie was entertaining. Does it make me want to read the comics? I'm still not quite sure. I may invest some time into the first to see how well it goes down but I'm sceptical of the potential. So for an overall experience, you're going to have to watch the first to even understand this appearance but I think it deserves a 6/10, potentially a 7 if it grows on me at some point.

Lucy - Quicky Review - Can I really Spoil a Movie With No Plot? - Watch me

Created by the undeveloped mind of Luc Besson, Lucy appears on-screen. Sure, The Taken series is pretty cool. Terribly acted and the most generic storyline known to man repeated 3 times for money rather than filmmaking is the problem with it. Straight off the bat I was ready to tear into this wannabe Limitless. Unimpressed by the fact that they base the whole movie on the myth that we only use 10% of our brains (Busted by our favourite Mythbusters) and if we use higher percentages than that, we gain super powers. Unlocked by a synthetic drug, Scarlett Johansson is now super women. Granted super intelligence and ability to see "data waves" she can manipulate the world around her. Upon unlocking more of her mind, she gains more powers to manipulate the world around her. This whole idea is utter rubbish. I like sci-fi movies and super hero movies but this is ludicrous. It tries too hard to legitimise itself making it incredibly convoluted and the most boring piece of shite I've watched for many years.

There really is no plot to actually write about except that she wonders about using her powers to get the rest of the drugs. If she was so fucking smart, it would have ended 20 minutes sooner and we wouldn't have had to go through one of the worst action scenes I've ever seen. Had the movie actually thought about what it was actually getting at, the outcome could have been plausible and engaging. So with no real story, what is left? How about acting? Yeah, um...

Scarlett, I love you with Marvel as Black Widow but this is just awful. As a character who is supposed to be emotionless (but somehow still has emotions...) your voice is as if you've given up on life (I don't blame you with this script) and its excruciating to listen to. The scenes where you have emotions are so poorly acted, its as if you've never acted a day in your life and combined with the overall fuckery, it truly is a disgrace to watch such a star perform so poorly. I cannot stress this enough, if you're going to use action, it needs to be fun, if you want to create something that uses sci-fi elements and A-list actors, you're going to want to write a decent storyline and make sure they can act it! The acting isn't just down to the main stars, the rest of the crew were just as bad. One particular Korean guy stands as the worst person I've ever seen on screen. You've probably seen him with the rocket launching sliding on his knees like he's on stage with Motley Crue in the 80's - awful hairstyle included. 

I'm not doing a quicky review simply because I have other things to do or that I really cannot be bothered, this time, I'm so shocked as how bad this movie is, I really don't know what to write. I would say that they were simply using both Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson as crowd pleasers but the reality is that this will never work for this movie. I'm surprised it has the rating it does from the critics. To me, this movie wouldn't even stand up as Sci-fi. Its poor quality and overly convoluted direction would turn Syfy pale if it was to ever appear on their channel. I wouldn't bother wasting your money on this and suggest you experience something a lot more fun, perhaps Limitless or a drill bit to your testies. 5/10 for this one - Sorry Scarlett...

The Expendables 3 - Quicky Review - SPOILERS

So if you're expecting a critical analysis of Expendables 3, I would recommend you close this window. Renowned for its historic cast of action/adventure actors and its excessive action, the series was always going to be a hit. Expendables 3 is no different, just a few new faces to spice it up a little. In all fairness, the series in general isn't something you can look at and go, "These movies are solid pieces of theatre art". It just doesn't work that way. Not many action movies can really collect such praise from critics but draw a lot of support from fans for the real reason many people watch them. They're fun. It’s the genre for the everyday man, not those who likeability sits firmly in the off position.

When we look at the Expendables, we see a big cast that has shifted fairly regularly over the series. This time around instead of having Bruce Willis playing Church, Harrison Ford took his place by killing Church off for good (Turns out Willis wanted £1million a day for filming). Of course we have the regular crew back but unfortunately, one of my favourites - Terry Crews - sat out for the majority of the film. Perhaps due to other commitments but at least we got to see him in action. Returning original Jet Li was also back in the fold and it was publicised heavily of his involvement but with only 5 minutes of actual screen time, I'm sad to say that it was a bit of a waste of time for him to have even turned up. Not entirely new and fresh, Arnie is back but this time he actually features throughout the movie getting his hands dirty and obviously we also have Wesley Snipes. Charged for Tax evasion, his return to the big screen ironically began in a train convoy returning to his black ops prison cell. With a little joke about his conviction thrown in, Snipes was an OG Expendable from the very beginning. After going a little mad for money, he got himself caught and went dark for 8 years. Once Barney Ross (Stallone) caught wind of his location, the plan was set into action and as you've probably seen in the trailers, he was busted out. With his help, the crew immediately go to a new destination to retrieve a bomb for the CIA. However, another OG Expendable by the name of Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) turns up even though Barney supposedly killed him many years back. Making a new name for himself and taking control of his own personal army, Stonebanks is now a billionaire weapons dealer who after finding out Barney was after him, sets out to cause him equal pain. Now you may be wondering who the new lot are and why they are even there. It turns out that after the encounter with Stonebanks, Barney retires the old group for their own safety in favour of a new crew who can hold their own but are a little messed up supplied by Kelsey Grammer. These include MMA's Victor Ortiz & Ronda Rousey, actor and model Kellan Lutz and Glen Powell, joined in the final third by the not so fresh faced Atonio Banderas to take down Stonebanks for good. As ever, not everything goes to plan and the old crew jump back into the fray to help. Out of the new group, my least favourite is Kellan. When trying to act as this big hard man, he looks like he's posing for a glamour shoot and it's fairly off-putting. Not including the fact that his character is a dick and his acting is awful.

Now that's out of the way, let’s get to what the movie is really about, the action. Its extremely fun and flows really well throughout. Enough explosions to give Michael Bay a hard-on the size of the Eiffel Tower, hand to hand combat with the experience of MMA fighters to really demonstrate how it’s actually done and general chaos and anarchy that they've always done so well. Obviously it wouldn't be an action movie without a bit of a cheese fest and witty one liners and they kindly obliged with some hilariously funny quips from their previous roles or history. Although the acting is pretty awful, in the face of stunts and action scenes, many of the characters were very competent. Ronda sticks out the most to me. In the final action sequence, she has quite the scene which really displays her UFC prowess. Moves that were incredibly well choreographed with a blend of music and shifts between a few other characters did help to create atmosphere within in the building that was set to blow. The only iffy bit of action was between Barney and Stonebanks. The acting and script for the scene was frankly laughable.

So if you got this far, cheers. Many of you probably just want the basics and seeing that I've run out of steam, here it is. Poor acting, awesome cast of classics and newbies, hella fun and Michael Bay's wet dream. Go watch it, have some fun and see the reason films exist. 6/10 for the outcome but that really shouldn't count. PS - Have a creepy photo of Snipes down below...