Batman: Arkham Knight - The Grand Finale - Minor Spoilers!

The Rocksteady series of Batman games have been some of the best and undoubtedly, one of the best super hero games to date. Does Arkham Knight follow suit? Yes, yes it does.

So this is the first and last of the series to run on next generation consoles and its safe to say, it didn't go well. It seems as if a lot of games designed for the next-gen consoles seem to have huge optimisation issues on the PC. The issue was so bad, it led to WB pulling it from PC sale until its at a good standard. Now considering I played it on the Xbox One, I can't complain. The low runner in the current generation, the expectations aren't for 1080p, 60 FPS, 4K sorta' stuff but it held its own and looked gorgeous. Visually the game was stunning (as ever) but we suffer from the issue of 'Detective Mode'. The X-ray vision is almost in current use if you're trying to find something among the clutter of buildings and lights. Orange people normally mean some sort of outpost and any respectful completionist will get all of these. The same goes for the ridiculous amounts of Riddler trophies and riddles, just so you can fight him. While you're in detective mode, you are taken out of the world. Your view of the world is a menagerie of blues and oranges with a range of a couple hundred yards and finding anything outside of this view is near impossible without an online guide. I'll never deny how useful this device is, in fact it has aided me in my near completion of the game. However, given the chance, I would like to be able to find things in the world substantially easier. I don't want to wait for intel and I don't want to spend hours looking for the firemen in obscure areas of the map that you just can't admire.

But enough about that. Lets talk about what we are really here for. The story, the story of the Bat. Turns out the antidote against Joker's blood in Arkham City didn't actually fix anything. Batman is left with the blood coursing through his veins and is in a desperate chase to find a cure. While doing so, Scarecrow and the goonies decide to take over Gotham with the help of the Arkham Knight. A face completely unknown to Batsie until clues are literally slapped across your face like a wet fish. Perhaps a slightly more subtle approach would have created a huge gasp of excitement and glee but considering I can't remember much of the previous games, the clues gave me a good reminder. So, the Knight and his Militia crew join forces with Scarecrow, Penguin and Two-Face to take down Batman. Penguin and Two-Face supply the goods and Scarecrow gases the whole city in a new fear toxin while the Arkham Knight orchestrates it all in an attempt to kill Batman.

All very simple and understandable. However, it runs for quite some time. You can either divert and do the side-missions for each villain in the game or you can plough on with the main quest as you are haunted by the Joker which was honestly my favourite part of the whole thing. I spent 2 days playing, with at least 20 hours in game with a respectable ending percentage. All the side quests were fun, the stories were intriguing but the boss battles at the end were repetitive.

Repetitive, how? you ask. There is very little skill involved in beating these bosses. With a 3 or 4 stage sequence that doesn't alter as you progress, it feels like the mechanics never change. In fact, one of them isn't even a boss fight. You simply have to keep pace with them while they wear themselves out, 4 times. The combat is good but the nature of repeating yourself 3 times for the majority of the bosses lacks any individuality or excitement. Its a turd in the industry of boss fighting. We get very little variation from a platform based game like Dante's Inferno because they are limited to that scale but you had to put some sort of effort in. Simply brute forcing it would get you no-where while this, you can do very easily, especially when the AI is stupid enough to run in front of Batman's new tank. I'm not saying its all bad. The combat is still fluid, even though you still occasionally leap from one side of the room to the next, you still get that sense of achievement when you wipe out a room of goons with a few tactical advantages, even more so when its an uninterrupted combo streak. I previously mentioned the Batmobile and honestly, its incredible. Its rotation capabilities and speed is great and the combat missions with them is so much fun. Outnumbered by 40 other tanks, they have balanced it enough to be quite the task if you aren't paying attention and extremely fast paced.

Honestly the games haven't changed much from what they were. Is it a worthy send off for the series? Hell yes. Should you get it? Hell yes. Is it the greatest game? No. Yes we have many big name voices that give depth to the characters such as Telltale's Dave Fennoy who voiced Lee in the Walking Dead episodical series, John Nobel who voice Scarecrow. Mark Hamill who recites his role as The Joker and my favourite, Troy Baker, who voices a whole host of characters. The cast is simply perfect. The voice acting was spot on but the audio was an issue. It was never very clear or just cut off all of a sudden. Some things were simply too loud while others were so quiet, you hear half the conversation among the various other environmental sounds and people chatting over others is a huge annoyance. In all fairness, I can't reward it for its poor optimisation for PC users. That is a huge cock-up and a mark down and the elongated story that could have ended 5 times earlier were enough to make me wonder about the vast knowledge these super villains are supposed to have, even more so with Riddler. Honestly, in what world is shooting buttons in the order they light up or racing through an underground track deemed as a puzzle!? Its almost as if this instalment has taken the best of the previous and done very little to improve or derive something new, compelling and extreme enough to be any bit daring. Enjoyable, stunning and good fun, the game deserves a 7/10. Taking into factor the poor launch with a 3.5GB day one update and the general predictability, this could have been the greatest in the series but it played it way to safe.

TV Review: True Detective - Season Two Episode Two "Night Finds You" SPOILER ALERT

Shotgun Blues

Wow. HBO has officially become the number one slaughterhouse for main characters in any of its' many series, with the final scene of this week's True Detective episode seemingly killing off Colin Farrell's conflicted cop character, Detective Ray Velcoro at the hands of the same masked murderer (The Birderer as it were) who was seen driving the deceased corpse of Ben Caspere. This is HBO however, and in a similar vein to the death of Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, the death of Velcoro just seemed rather strange, if rather shocking, due to fact that not only was he undoubtedly the most interesting character on the show so far, but his storyline was slowly expanding into something much deeper and darker which was ultimately the backbone of the season so far. With this in mind, the fact that Velcoro took the bulk of his killers' shotgun blasts to the chest suggests that death may not be the outcome of such a tragic event, but hey, I assume we will find out in the near future. 

"Night Finds You" also began to expand on the death of City Manager Ben Caspere, starting with the autopsy in which our trio of heroes were subject to not only being told he was privy to an STI or two, but to be shown the remains of his John Thomas which had been blown to shreds by a shotgun (eh, ring any bells?). Also on the agenda of Caspere's death was the financial game of cat and mouse he was supposedly playing with Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon, with Caspere refusing to invest Semyon's livelihood in a field of industry swaying more towards the legal side of business than anything perhaps Semyon has encountered before. With money the hot topic on Semyon's mind, Caspere's death subsequently has sent him on his own personal investigation into his murder with the location in which Detective Velcoro was shot being one in which Semyon had found on his own accord. Was it just by accident that Semyon sent Velcoro to his supposed doom or was it in fact intended, with Velcoro's reluctance to continue playing puppy dog to Semyon's demands being the only justification for such that I can think of. 

Episode Two in this season of True Detective definitely explored much more ground than the previous in regards to the main story arc that will be focused on in the coming weeks, with greater character development of our heroic trio being greatly needed, whilst suffering once again from some cringe-worthy lines of dialogue (Velcoro's speech in which an E-Cigarette was seen as a robot's penis springs to mind) that endanger it into falling into a satire of its' own existence. The final scene will get the headlines undoubtedly, but I believe the death of one of the series' most interesting characters is a decision come way too soon and will subsequently be sorted out in the coming weeks but hey, this is HBO, anything could happen. 

Overall Score: 9/10

Film Review: Minions

And It Was All Yellow...

One of the many benefits of heading into my local cinema is to experience a wide range of movies which jump from one completely different genre to the next with my experience of watching Universal's Minions being a prime example, with it undoubtedly unlocking the 7 year old child that is still inside of me and seemingly transforming all the bad energy in the world to a charming and quite bonkers 80 minutes. The fundamental existence of the minion character has always managed to make me crack a smile, regardless of how I felt at that certain time, meaning before even entering the cinema I was bound to at least like Pierre Coffin's spin-off from the Despicable Me series, yet unfortunately for the cute little freaks, "like" seems to be the key word after watching Minions with it yes, being rather heartwarming and funny, but altogether not being pretty spectacular whatsoever.  

After years of isolation from both the world and a evil leader to follow, Minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob are tasked with leaving the confines of their cave in order to seek a new leader to follow in order to bring back the long-lost sense of purpose which has been taken from their race. During their journey, they are taken up by crime-lord Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock, Gravity), who tasks them with stealing the crown jewels in return for the race of Minions to serve once again. In terms of the plot of Minions, not only does it lack originality and freshness, but it is also completely bonkers and thriving with quite huge plot holes, but hey, it's a kid's film with bald, yellow alien things, what do you expect? Yet the fact that such plot holes were even picked up reinforces my sadness at how just un-engaging Minions actually was, with an over-reliance of the Minions either falling over or making a complete tit of themselves wearing off and becoming rather quite tedious after the first 15 minutes or so. 

On the upside of Minions, in places, it was rather funny, with the scenes in a rather rib-tickling overly stereotyped 1960's London being the highlight of the film, with every English character seemingly all having exactly the same traits including drinking tea, eating scones, and shouting "cor blimey," of which I found rather enjoyable. Overall, if a film such as Minions can just about hold a 21 year old's attention for its' short 80 minute run-time, then I'm pretty sure the kids will love it. Charming and funny in places, but lacking in originality and engagement in most, Minions passes the time, but don't expect it to be loved as much as you would like. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Slow West

Into The Wild

I recently took up the chance to add to my ever-increasing film knowledge and finally, after years of them being on my "to be watched later" list, sitting down and indulging in "The Man With No Name" Trilogy, the classic Western trio of movies including The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, featuring Mr Macho himself, Clint Eastwood. Although my knowledge of "Spaghetti Western's" in general is pretty limited to say the least, Sergio Leone's magnum opus's were pretty darn good and has led me to search out and broaden my horizons when it comes to this particular genre. How fate has intervened therefore with the release of Slow West this week, a action Western thriller featuring the brilliant Micheal Fassbender (Prometheus, Shame), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) and Ben Mendelsohn (The Place Beyond the Pines) whilst being directed by first-timer John Maclean. With the limited amount of Westerns that are released in the current cinematic environment, Slow West had the opportunity to shine and bring fresh life into my newly-found genre of movies but with Clint Eastwood thoroughly in the back of my mind throughout, it had an uphill challenge from the start. 

The premise of Slow West is one that is very reminiscent of the Coen Brother's True Grit (and obviously the original, of which, I haven't seen) whereby the hunt for the wanted is the main direction of the character's goals with McPhee's Jay and Fassbender's Silas essentially being carbon copies of Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn respectively, if for a little gender change on one part. In the case of Slow West however, the hunt for the wanted is due to the absence of love in contrast to the absence of cash with Jay searching the West for his long-lost love whilst Silas constantly being at his side acting as his protector and guide. Although the film contains strong levels of action and violence throughout, it was the underlying sense of black comedic value that made it hold its' ground so astutely, with it being very reminiscent of Joel and Ethan Coen as well as Wes Anderson, particularly in moments that could arguably be classed as entering the ground of "zany". 

The film's bright demeanor throughout contrasted the fundamental dark tones of the movie in which murder, betrayal and violence are particularly rife, only adding credence to the notion of the films' aim in making light of such matters by mixing in a strong comedic undertone which, for the most part, was its' strongest moments. Fassbender is ace once again in a leading role whilst young McPhee produces a strong performance as the heartbroken teen lost in the wild. Aside from a rather predictable ending and falling on rather similar territory in terms of the Western genre, Slow West was an enjoyable addition into the Western catalogue of movies, propped up by the strong element of dark humour that was prevalent throughout. 

Overall Score: 7/10 

TV Review: True Detective - Season Two Episode One "The Western Book of the Dead" SPOILER ALERT

Vice City

With Game of Thrones over for another year at least, HBO has delightfully helped us deal with the death of Jon Snow by rewarding us with the return of the brilliant True Detective, albeit with a completely different cast and story to the first season which featured Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as its' lead stars. Replacing them in the lead roles of Season Two is the equally brilliant Colin Farrell (Phone Booth, In Bruges) and the less-than remarkable Vince Vaughn (Swingers, Dodgeball) who has decided to play against the stigma of his highly associated comedic roles and embrace the darker side of his acting ability. With True Detective running for a solid eight-week run, I will be doing weekly reviews of HBO's highly engaging crime drama and conclude with an overall season score. The first thing to say about Season Two of True Detective is that it has a high threshold to follow after the critically acclaimed first series, yet the first episode has presented some promising, if rather familiar, story arcs to settle down into over the course of its' two month run. 

Of course, acting as an anthology of stories per season rather than a continuation of character arcs and plot-lines, Season Two was inevitably going to begin by highlighting some in-depth characterisation of the key players in this years' storyline. Within "The Western Book of the Dead" therefore we are introduced to characters on both sides of the law, with Colin Farrell's troubled Detective Ray Velcoro arguably having the most interesting on-screen presence, solidified by the performance of Farrell who manages to sway the character of Velcoro away from the stereotypes of the corrupt cop into a much deeper and darker ground.  The scene in which he faces his "child's" bully was quite startling, if rather OTT to say the least, but the sheer range of emotions Farrell managed to cruise through in a single scene was evidence of what a great leading actor True Detective has once again managed to bag. Of course the hyphenated use of "child" signified my first response to seeing Ray's "son", yet the plot thread of knowing that he may have been born out of rape only adds fuel to the fiery rage of one of this seasons' most interesting characters already. 

Also on the side of the law is Officer Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) and Detective Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) who follow in the footsteps of Velcoro in each having their own particular vices, suggesting that the trait of the damaged cop is particularly ripe in the state of California, yet vices aside, the entirety of "The Western Book of the Dead" pretty much offered backstory to these three core characters, with the final scene highlighting the main plot thread for the series and conjoining the trio together for the first time. On the opposite side of the law, Vince Vaughn's Frank Semyon offered a point of view from the criminal enterprise which is set to offer a much more in-depth and layered insight into the main story arc of the series by having characters that we may possibly root for on both sides of the law. True Detective can also offer redemption for Vaughn as an actor with a much more serious and darker role offering the chance to rescue Vaughn's career from sliding off into the depths of despair and from the small screen-time we had with his character, it seems it may be slowly being saved. 

"The Western Book of the Dead" therefore offered plenty of backstory for the characters of True Detective Season Two, whilst leaving us with a final scene which established the core plot thread for the series in which murder mystery is set to be rife once more. With a strong cast heading the bill once again, True Detective is set to offer two months of engaging entertainment and compelling drama. HBO, we salute you.

Overall Score: 8/10

Film Review: Mr. Holmes

True Detective

The world-renowned image of one Sherlock Holmes is now hotly, and justly, associated with Mr. Cumberbatch who has taken the popularity of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective to obscene levels of popularity in the 21st century. It is only apt therefore for an actor of status such as Sir Ian McKellen to add a further level of depth to an already well-established character on the big screen, with Mr. Holmes delving into the later life of the great detective, who aside from struggling from the normal growing pains of memory-loss and tiresome limbs, struggles too from the pain of a long forgotten case whilst simultaneously finding redemption in the form of young apprentice, Roger, played by newcomer Milo Parker. If the BBC production of Sherlock can be aligned with traits of being both fast-paced and highly engaging, then Mr Holmes can be seen as a much more mellow and somber affair with the primary action taking place in jump cuts to actions that have previously occurred. The fact that young Roger himself continually asks Sherlock to try and recollect such previous encounters, thus echoing my own feelings, suggests that the filmmakers are well aware of the need to hurry up and get to the highly engaging flashbacks which deeply overshadow the less than captivating moments in which we see Sherlock attend to his apiary.  

Based upon "A Slight Trick of the Mind" by Mitch Cullin, Mr Holmes does feature a stunning lead performance from one of cinema's most beloved actors in the form of Sir Ian McKellen, who embraces the chance two-fold to portray the great detective himself, whilst young Milo Parker and Laura Linney provide solid enough support as mother and child double act. Although the film flew by and had just enough entertainment to keep me engaged throughout, fans of the Cumberbatch era Sherlock may be unhappy with the lack of overall Sherlockian mystery that Mr. Holmes presents, yet the film does not shy away from the fact that instead of just another big-screen adaptation of such, Mr. Holmes intends to show an older and more fragile side to the detective that we are used to and for that, I applaud it. 

Overall Score: 8/10

TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Ten "Mother's Mercy" SPOILER ALERT

Long Live the King...

After ten glorious weeks of Game of Thrones, Season Five has now come to an end, and what an end it has left us with. The death of one of the programmes most beloved and sacred characters will inevitably produce shock-waves across the fandom whilst those conniving book-readers who knew such a fate was set to occur can laugh at us whilst our emotions completely pour out in front of them. Although there was also a sense of inevitably around the death of Jon Snow, the one shining bright light in the terrible realm of Westeros, his death was still incredibly hard to witness, topped off by young Olly, the killer of Snow's lover Ygritte, landing the final blow. Of course, this is Game of Thrones, and not everything is always as it seems, particularly when you take the timely arrival of Melisandre into account who finally realised Stannis was not the King she and her Lord of Light had been looking for and instead, had maybe come to the realisation that Jon was that person all along. 

Whatever it means, the "death" of Jon Snow topped off a fantastic episode which carried all the elements of what makes Game of Thrones tick in a season which suffered from a range of difficulties amidst some exciting and memorable plot-lines that ultimately will lead into another exciting season next year. 

Aside from the death of Jon Snow, we also said goodbye to Selyse Baratheon who decided to hang herself after causing the death of her only child, whilst Myranda was murdered by the hand of Reek, who finally began to redeem himself in the eyes of Sansa who was subsequently aided in her escape from Ramsey and the Bolton's. Although lost and defeated in the snow-ridden lands of Winterfell, Stannis's supposed sentence to death from Brienne was not captured on-screen, meaning he could well have been saved, yet such a scenario is very unlikely with Brienne's vengeful nature for the death of Renly obviously engulfing her, so much so that she missed Sansa's call for aid. The rushing of the battle at Winterfell made the death of Stannis rather anti-climatic in all honesty, and although there was a lot the show-runners had to get through in a short space of time, I felt the episode could have handled that particular scene much, much better. 

One scene that was handled terrifically well however was Cersei's atonement in which she was forcefully made to walk stark naked through the streets of Kings' Landing after committing her crimes to the High Sparrow. Although Cersei has been the evil Queen of Westeros since the beginning of the show, her bloodied feet and pained expression brought about the smallest amount of sympathy from me for her, whilst reinforcing Lena Headey's sheer dedication to the role of one of Game of Thrones' most hated, yet brilliantly thought out characters in the whole of the Seven Kingdoms. Elsewhere, the poisoning of Myrcella by the ever-vengeful Ellaria was rather predictable, whilst the return of the Dothraki left Daenerys in a rather ambiguous turn of events which left Tyrion, who was finally reunited with Varys, in charge of Meereen. Braavos once again was the platform for weird, eerie scene of the week with Arya finally getting her revenge against Meryn Trant whilst ever-further being trained by the masterful ways of Jaqen H'Gar who warned her against the use of a new face on someone that is "no-one", resulting in Arya seemingly going blind. 

Overall, Season Five of Game of Thrones has suffered at times from dragging its' heels into the land of boredom whilst also offering scenes of sheer excitement and tension, particularly in the second half of the season with the battle at Hardhome and Daenerys' dragon rescue in the previous episode being the highlights that first come to mind. The death of some major characters this season will inevitably have repercussions heading into the next season, as it always does, whilst the fact that the TV series has finally overtaken the books and heading into the unknown makes the future of Game of  Thrones an exciting proposition to say the least. Until next year, Game of Thrones. 

Overall Episode Score: 9/10  

Overall Season Score: 8/10

Triple Whammy - Jurassic World - Does it have enough teeth?

Dan - In terms of childhood memories, particularly those of a cinematic pedigree, the Jurassic Park series was one that I never wholly took to and thus never really had a set place in my heart like other childhood films such as Back to the Future, Star Wars and even Lord of the Rings, a trilogy of movies that did, and still does, have a secure place in my love of cinema. Sure, I recall watching Jurassic Park and even remember watching Jurassic Park III in the cinema as a child, but the sheer wow factor of the "dinosaur dystopia" in which Spielberg and co. had created never really excited me in ways that other films did. I recently watched the trilogy once again after years of them being in the category of just "seen it", in order to discover whether my childhood had in fact been a complete disgrace, yet my feelings still remain the same. From a a much more mature and critical standpoint also, it was clear to see that the first Jurassic Park was clearly the best out of the trilogy, with it to this day still having moments of pure excitement and tension, but it then all being spoilt by its' predecessors The Lost World and Jurassic Park III which were, let's just say, nowhere near as good. So now, 22 years after the original movie, we have Jurassic World starring Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3), Vincent D'Onofrio (Daredevil) whilst being directed and partly written by Colin Trevorrow of Safety Not Guaranteed fame. Before entering my local multiplex, I was cautious of Jurassic World maybe carrying on the torch of another mediocre dinosaur film but as soon as the credits rolled it was clear to see this was definitely not the case. In fact, its' almost as good as the original. Almost.

When scientists at the world famous Jurassic World theme park, located on the Isla Nublar, disobey rules clearly laid out in the first three Jurassic Park films such as DON'T MESS WITH DINO DNA, their new creation, the aptly named Indominus Rex, decides to go AWOL, leading to mass panic and mass murder on the island, forcing park manager Claire (Dallas Howard) and trainer Owen (Pratt) into finding a solution to prevent the death of not only themselves, but the 20,000 tourists stuck on the island with them. Seems like a pretty straightforward Jurassic Park style plot doesn't it? And it most definitely is, but one of the things that I loved about Jurassic World was that it didn't stop long enough for you to really care about the weakness of its' plot with it constantly ramming up the dinosaur action up to eleven, leaving you continuously with a sense of breathlessness and feelings I probably should have felt when I watched the first film as a child. Not only does the tension hit home due to the surprising amount of bloodshed and death on-screen throughout, but also due to the expertly crafted dinosaurs that we are faced with. Each and every scene in which a dinosaur appeared was genuinely jaw-dropping and deserves a round of applause for the amount of precise detail that those tasked with the creation of such have adhered to. Top marks.

Of course, the film does have weaknesses, and weaknesses that have been current in the franchise from the start such as having quite a few incidental characters whom are used simply as cannon fodder for death-by-dinosaur on screen, and having an annoying tendency for making human beings seem actually quite stupid in the line of fire, but these weaknesses are glossed over by the sheer spectacle that is presented, with likable leading characters in the form of Pratt and Howard also doing well in solidifying Jurassic World as one of the forerunners in the 2015 blockbuster race. In a nutshell then? Miles better than the two previous Jurassic Park entries but maybe just below the original in terms of quality, Jurassic World is a bigger, bolder and cooler entry into an inevitably ever-growing canon of movies. Jurassic World, you have my endorsement. 

Dan's Score - 8/10

Josh - When I first watched the trailer for Jurassic world I was psyched. I had a lot of hopes for this film. Little did I know that what I was watching was the bloody highlights of the film!  Which did partially spoil the film. Yes this is done so often nowadays and I will always rant about it.

Yes being a Jurassic park film you can immediately tell the plot of the film, dinosaurs get loose, people get eaten, as the cast try to escape the island. That's just what the films are about fair enough it's good, however when it gets to the point you can tell who is going to get eaten  and by what it just loses all of the thrill and almost horror side which made the previous films all so enjoyable.

You would think after all the deaths and accidents from the previous films they would make more safety precautions to deal with the protection of guests. nearly all the way through the film I was face palming, if there was a desk I would be slamming my face into it I mean the stupidity of  characters its like they don't realise that the dinosaurs eat people! Yes I can see them lowering the intelligence of the human characters in an attempt to make the "indominus rex" and the Raptors seem smarter but not like this! Also they know clearly state that the "indominus rex" can see thermal heat yet they still try hiding 2 inches away from it *face palm*. Also, little side note, Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Beth somehow manages to cross all terrain from muddy grasslands to concrete while running faster then a T-Rex in high heels now I don't wear high heels (in public) but I'm quite sure this is actually impossible. There are a lot more weird plot holes but I weld be here all day to mention them all. Honestly I feel the whole kids characters to be slow and pointless and an attempt to copy the kids from the first movie. Also the character development was relatively poor to non-existent I mean the Nick Robinsons charter Zach's whole thing with him staring at all the girls at the park was ridiculously boring and brought no plot development and if anything made him seem creepy. And the whole their parents getting divorced was already used in Jurassic park 3. It all just seems recycled. I will give it props to relating to the first movie at some parts to the film with the kids finding the old Jurassic park banner and driving the old Jeeps.

Though I do agree with Dan in that the first was by far the best out of the previous trilogy, however I would disagree with him in that Jurassic world is on par with the first. If anything I would say that Jurassic world has made Jurassic park look even better and they should have created more suspense in being hunted or made it seem more like a thriller.

So far I have been biting chunks out of this film, but I did enjoy it aside from all the plot holes and annoying characters it was good to watch. As mentioned by Dan when the dinosaurs were on the screen it was amazing to watch. The detail and action scenes were superb and thrilling to watch with impressive use of the surrounds such as the use of the holograms in stalling the Raptor. The magnitude of the dinosaurs are impressive and that's exactly what I came to see, so much so I would actually like to watch it in 3D.
Josh's Score - 6/10

Pete - Josh and Dan both bring very valid points to the table. I myself sit on the fence. As I was raised on these movies, they have a special place in my heart. They are so fondly remembered that I can't help but watch them whenever they're on. So perhaps my view of the latest is one of a spoilt critic with an expectation of greatness. Jurassic World lacked. It lacked the tension and the heart pumping excitement that made the classics, classic but it had throwbacks to the past that gave the sense of nostalgia. Yet here I am, with my ass on a white picket fence.

It lacked the tension for many reasons. The build was not long enough and the pay-off was a generic, predictable mess and happened instantaneously. It feels that the movie is a children's one with an attempt to keep their minds focused on one thing for more than a few seconds without them pulling out their Iphones and playing Candy Crush. The need for the instant gratification ruins exactly what Jurassic Park is known for. Sure, the originals were PG but at the time, they were legitimate, scary thrillers. Now we have a 12A which sparks no fear or excitement. In many years time, I will show my kid(s) all of these movies and I could almost guarantee that the 4th will fade into their memory without a second glance. The only scene to really make me recoil was the abuse the kid's guide got from a multitude of dinosaurs which was actually overzealous. Although the CGI was on point I would enjoy seeing more practical effects throughout.

Josh rightly pointed out the issue with the plot holes and this is really significant. Things are happening everywhere, but we never really finish anything up. No one talks about the women murdered by the Mosasaurus or the fucking owner of the park! The group that try to weaponise the creatures are whisked in and the need to classify information from the owner just confuses the plot even more. By claiming they have to use other creatures DNA to breed the dinosaurs, why is it that the hybrid has Raptor DNA? and why do I need to know about the childrens parents getting a divorce, how does that change anything and why is this child so fucking annoying? Among a host of continuity errors, I find myself mad that this happens so much and it was let out of the gate. Its either that the cut way to much, or more likely, they never finished. With production being back and forth for years, many ideas have floated about and some genius had the idea to smash them all into one and hope it did something. The general production suffers, not only the visuals but also the script and the music. With a script written by a child and music probably crafted prior to the film, nothing fits. Its all disjointed and doesn't flow or create something magical and special.

I may be attacking this like a rabid dog but the reality is, this is a movie that has been created for the commercial reasons. They may claim its for the fans with a short appearance of the T-Rex but rather than targeting the original audience, you bombard them with more product placement than the Super Bowl ad break and pander to the child market so you can squeeze more money from the merchandise. Its feels cheap. As if they no longer value the franchise and want to abuse it like its into some sick dino BDSM. 

There were parts I'm okay with. It was a blast from the past. It was something that I was raised on and even though it has Chris Pratt in it, the rest is just a bit meh. Its one of those films that don't stick. It lost its edge and for the love of god, stop using child actors whose character and acting suck. I feel too generous awarding it a 7 so I feel that a 6 is far more appropriate. Bring on the Lego game!
Pete's Score - 6/10

Overall - 6.66/10

ARK: Survival Evolved - Early Access Review

Since I heard about a survival MMO with dinosaurs, my interest was peeked. After debating long and hard about my interest in joining the Alpha process, I held back until it came to Steam on the early access program. With Jurassic World just around the corner, its safe to say that this release is a big one which has seen almost 50,000 people on at this very moment. One of those being myself and I've thoroughly enjoyed myself. Its nature as an early access game means that the review is based on what I saw from day 1 onwards but it has seen a few gigs worth of updates since then to improve its optimization issues.

So ARK is a game you may have heard about. In fact, you should have heard about it. The game is a survival world dominated by dinosaurs. Your aim is to live, tame creatures and make your way to the end game bosses. Now its been a week since I started this review. Why I've taken so long? I got incredibly involved with the game. I'm now sitting on around 30 hours of gameplay with a crew of about 10 people starting out on a new server and we are no where near the end game. As an online experience, it is one of the best I have ever had. From starting off with a humble straw hut as I wandered around solo trying to navigate the map, my area and the gain a general understanding of the creatures that rule over the land. Its safe to say that you will spend some time trying to level up and gain better access to food. Although a little punishing to begin with, once you get a feel for the lay of the land, starting up is an easy task, as long as you don't wander near any of the carnivores.

So, for its early access release, there is just over 50 creatures in game from the little Dodo to the end game Dragons. With towering Brontosaurs and T-Rex there is a wide variety to see all across the map. So the work that has gone into them is extreme and stands to reason why the game is so poorly optimized. With a minimum requirement of 4GB of RAM, the understanding is that it should run at a fairly decent quality at that point, however, this is not the case. To run the game at medium settings,

my 8GBs are having trouble keeping up at times. Framerates can fluctuate at 10-15 with background processes or windows in the background or 15+ without it but no where near a decent 25FPS to give smoothness to the lower qualities. Even those with extreme PCs struggle with its epic scaling. Alongside this we have characters never leaving the server. Unconscious bodies litter small huts and bases, ripe for the picking. Without a wooden hut or a secure base, don't expect to be alive when you come back. Raiding is rife and you are a prime target when near a spawn.

Its not the only bug, but this is a game that only appeared officially to the public on the 2nd and is already blowing other games out of the water. With a plan that looks towards the groups developing a console version for the Xbox One and PS4 in a little over a year, early access is only a step at drawing attention and hopefully will become the first survival game to actually come out of early access without suffering from the DAY-Z syndrome.

ARK is incredibly fun. Taming creatures and working together as a group to achieve a goal is great but its so much more than that. The exploration and online community make it that much better. Unofficial servers draw the better groups of people and these people instantly talk to you and give you a helping hand if you're out and about on your own walking for 30 minutes with nothing but a Dodo to keep you company. RIP Billy, you fought that Megladon like a champion, you will be remembered. They share food, dive in to help you fight something or invite you to their tribe. As a tribal unite, the game only exceeds expectations. Never fight alone again and wage a war with a rival faction and enjoy the company.

Get this game, participate in an online community that are excited and passionate. Play in a world where you can ride a T-Rex into battle and fly a giant eagle across the skies, who wouldn't like it!? 8/10!