Film Review: Steve Jobs

"We Will Know Soon Enough If You Are Leonardo da Vinci Or Just Think You Are..."

Let's get this straight. I am seemingly one of the minority in the world where shopping in an Apple branded store for Apple branded products to me would be in similar vein to shopping at Waitrose. Sure everything looks nice and flashy, but it's price tag and lack of distinction from the norm really makes me want to shop elsewhere. With this thought in mind, I ventured into my local world of cine and into a midday screening of Steve Jobs with rather mixed expectations. On the upside, I love Danny Boyle, with his entire filmography stretching all the way back to Shallow Grave being something I will always love and cherish, and I love Micheal Fassbender, with his recent performance in Macbeth being one of my favourites of the year so far. So all in all, the signs were mixed, was Steve Jobs set to be a success in my own point of view after hearing of possible award ceremony attention heading its' way? Was Fassbender set to reel us in with his portrayal of Jobs and leave us wanting more by the end of it? After leaving the cinema my instant reaction to both questions was a sincere, yes, with Steve Jobs being one of the most entertainingly and highly engrossing written movies I have watched in recent memory.

Set in the form of three acts, each taking place before the launch of a major Jobs'-led product, Steve Jobs is a masterpiece in how, if written with extreme delicacy and understanding, a two-hour film set basically in one confined space, can become a work of art. Much like the Apple products themselves, Steve Jobs is a rife and intelligent beast, if rather fundamentally lacking in a sense of depth and scope, with Danny Boyles' latest relying heavily on the influence of Aaron Sorkin's script, a man best known for The West Wing and the simply brilliant The Social Network, a film which can draw a lot of similarities with Steve Jobs due to both having an extensive amount of the "walk and talk" nature of their scripts, a feat in which Sorkin is proudly famous for. Within the fundamental intelligence of Sorkin's script, is a heavy sense of theater and stage, giving room for the cast that includes the likes of Jeff Daniels, Seth Rogen, and particularly the one-two of Fassbender and Kate Winslet, room to go completely full on, adapting scenes of dialogue from Sorkin's script into a real sense of dramatic power and steel.

  Of course, Steve Jobs is not set to be for everyone, with its' heavy reliance on dialogue and concentration not entirely being set for mass appeal, whilst Fassbender's inhuman and simply cold portrayal of Jobs himself may be rather too alienating for some of the more humane audiences out there, yet for me personally, Steve Jobs exceeded my rather mid-level expectations twice-fold with its' flashy and intelligent script and rather brilliant performances of almost everyone involved, but with standout nods to particularly Fassbender, Winslet and Daniels, making Steve Jobs a real joyous surprise. Oscars, you may be right. Steve Jobs is a-coming.

Overall Score: 9/10

Film Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part Two

"Turn Your Weapons To The Capitol! Turn Your Weapons To Snow..."

Looking back at my time growing up as a teenager, it is rather fair to say that in terms of cinematic experiences that was forged during my development from child-minded youngster to well, child-minded adult, that I, and many others of similar age, were well and truly spoiled. I mean come on, we had the reinvention of fantasy epics with The Lord of the Rings, the angsty teen family friendly years of Harry Potter, and the re-invention of both the Bond and the Batman films, with The Dark Knight still being a huge turning point in terms of my understanding of what makes a truly great cinematic memory. This complete spoilage of greatness during my own personal childhood has only received further gratitude in recent times when examining the recent implosion of child-targeted franchises hoping to fill the gaps that series' such as Harry Potter vacated when they came to their concluding tales, most of which have seen that the teen-led dystopian universe is the right way to go. Although The Hunger Games series definitely is the leader of the pack when it comes to such, beating the Divergent and Maze Runner series' hands down, its' concluding tale in the form of Mockingjay - Part Two is an unfortunate mess, leaving the legacy of such a franchise ending with a whim, rather than a stage of defiance and strength in a vein similar to its' titular character.

If you aren't already well and truly versed in the plot-lines of the whole Hunger Games saga, there really is not much point attempting to try and explain almost seven hours worth of backstory right now except from the fact that the entire series is basically Battle Royale with cheese (yes, I loved that too Pulp Fiction fans) where aside from the rather important and intelligent notions of dystopian futures, uprisings and a fight against tyranny, something of which would give George Orwell a run for his money, The Hunger Games franchise has always seemed to be rather misplaced in my own personal point of view due to a variety of reasons that seem to come full circle in its' concluding chapter. Firstly, aside from Jennifer Lawrence well and truly embracing the role of Katniss Everdeen, a character in which is meant to symbolise a role model for many fans of the series, there really isn't one other character in which I can truly say I feel heavily invested in both emotionally and mentally. Because of this, the entirety of MJ Part One was rather a significant bore, with way too many scenes of exposition and explanation and much too less of actually getting to the point, highlighting the argument for why these concluding parts were not just made into one film rather than two. 

Such a problem continues in MJ Part Two, where scenes of excruciatingly dull dialogue are played out far too long too often in comparison to scenes of vital importance which are sped through way too quickly, resulting in a sense of continuous questioning and a jump between states of sheer boredom and utter confusion. Thankfully, with Lawrence in the titular role as the Mockingjay, such scenes are saved from total extinction with her performance as the "girl on fire", continuing her rather brilliant start to life as an actress, whilst the seedy, ice-like figure of the wonderful Donald Sutherland as the ruthless autocratic President Snow is also a trait in the film's favour. Amid scenes of sheer tension, particularly one in which our heroes and heroines venture into the city's sewers, is times in which the film's fundamental dark subject matter come into force, particularly in one scene in which we witness a mass gathering of children being blown to pieces, and it is here where the age-old question of classification comes into account, with MJ Part Two, being definitely in the category of top-end 12A's. In other words, do not take your seven year old child to see this. You may scar them for life.

Obviously as I am not a die-hard fan of the series, MJ Part Two was never going to fulfill all my expectations entirely, but the fact that the concluding chapter of this franchise is made in such a terrible fashion upsets me personally on behalf of its' core fans. It's messy, it's overlong, it features the worse love-triangle since Twilight, MJ Part Two for me, was a severe let-down from my already mediocre expectations, ending on a sour note rather than a show of brilliance that the first two in the series brought with it. At the end of the day, it may be a suitable end to the Mockingjay series for some, but for me, Mockingjay - Part Two was a wholly mediocre affair, too hell bent on getting too much done too quickly whilst reeling on the lack of assured substance and depth that may have been accomplished if made into one film rather than two for the sake of the accountants. And boy, that ending was truly terrible. 

Overall Score: 5/10

Film Review: Brooklyn

"Homesickness Is Like Most Sicknesses, It Will Pass..."

Within the midst of spies, dystopian uprisings, and that gangster crime-lord caper with that guy from those pirate flicks in, all of which are set to hit or possibly miss within cinemas across the country over this week and the next, has been Brooklyn, a film so meagerly advertised and highlighted within both cinemas and TV spots, that such a distinct change from the rather familiar fashion of the many propaganda-esque ways in which certain flicks force themselves on audiences today, suggests a rather distinct lack of faith on the film's standing against its' cinematic rivals, most of which are either worn-out sequels or money-making blockbusters. Yet for the case of Brooklyn, a film which on the face of it seems rather low-key and inherently straightforward, it manages to encapsulate something that most of it cinematic contemporaries fail to grasp; a deep sense of heart and soul, powered fundamentally by a simply mesmerising performance by Saoirse Ronan, an actress who already sits high in pedigree in my own eyes but excels herself in one of the best dramas of the year so far.

When young Ellis Lacey (Ronan) leaves her homeland of Ireland for Brooklyn, US of A, for purposes not only focused on that of a career path but a fundamental change of scenery, she quickly falls for Italian-American Tony Fiorello who helps Ellis recover from her severe strain of homesickness away from both her mother and sister. Settling strongly into her new way of life, Ellis soon hears of tragedy from her homeland, forcing her to return back to Ireland where she soon realises there more have been more to life back home after all, resulting in Ellis making a hard choice regarding whether to stay in her beloved home of Ireland or return to her newly found way of life and love for Tony and the city of Brooklyn. What makes Brooklyn so magical is that within all its' straightforwardness in terms of its' plot and story-line, is a straight-faced way in which the film attempts to tell a tale without need for an over-zealous use of dramatic set-pieces or particular scenes that can be singled out as possible key scenes or memorable moments of magic. Instead, Brooklyn chooses to play out its' tale of romance, alienation and choice in rather low-key fashion, something of which differentiates itself from most of its' cinematic contemporaries in which action and epicness comes first whilst plot and characterisation comes second.

At the heart of Brooklyn is a truly spell-bounding performance from Saoirse Ronan, an actress who has impressed me in all of her back catalogue in which I have seen so far, with last year's The Grand Budapest Hotel being the standout Ronan role so far alongside acting pedigree such as Ralph Fiennes, Willem Defoe and Bill Murray, yet Brooklyn is a true testament to her acting abilities and skills, with her emotional range well and truly being tested in a role that if gone to someone else, may have resulted in a film that may have not been as engaging as it is with Ronan in the lead role. Maybe it's just that Irish accent that results in a strange sense of affection for her, but Brooklyn, if anything, is the annual example of a low-key film being that good that to not be noticed from some sort of awarding body would be criminal, not that such an award would particularly matter in any sense with Brooklyn being a fundamentally wonderful movie, but to be recognised by the highest honours out there would be a testament to the film's overall greatness. In the mood for overblown action, messy plot lines and lack of characterisation? Go watch The Hunger Games. In the mood for a downright damn good drama? Seek out Brooklyn, it's really that good. 

Overall Score: 9/10

Film Review: Bridge of Spies

"We Have To Have The Conversations Our Governments Cant..."

Much like Disney, Marvel, and Bond, the singular word that is "Spielberg" automatically creates a blinding vortex of cinematic vigor and eager anticipation, a feat of which is arguably expected more so than any other directorial name that has come and gone in the past thirty years or so in the eyes (or ears) of the widespread general public. Of course such a household name such as Steven Spielberg has been helped in part to the simply spellbinding back catalogue that Steven Spielberg has created over the course of more than forty years, of which includes my personal favourites Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, and the first three Indian Jones movies among many many others that have gone on to win both critical and financial acclaim as well as a rafter of awards including the odd Oscar or two. With Bridge of Spies, Spielberg's latest offering only continues his remarkable career, combining the reliable acting efforts of Tom Hanks, the writing credits of the Coen Brothers, and a Thomas Newman score, creating a classy, entertaining, and pleasingly intelligent Cold War thriller.

Bridge of Spies focuses on the true story of American lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) and his attempt to successfully negotiate the exchange of the captive Soviet Union spy, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) for Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), an American pilot who was shot down and captured by the Russians during the height of the Cold War in 1957. What makes Bridge of Spies rather splendid is due to a wide range of different factors. One of the most important within the film was how, much like many Cold War era flicks including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Dr. Strangelove, Bridge of Spies manages to effectively handle the strange sense of paranoia and impending doom present in such an ambiguous era where nuclear disaster was a realistic and dangerous threat to both the Soviet Union and the US. Although not being directly part of the main plot threads, the possibility of nuclear war is rife throughout Bridge of Spies and is particularly startling during a scene in which we witness a young classroom watch help guides regarding what to do if a nuclear strike ever occurs on US soil, a frightening experience if ever there was one.

Yes, the Coen Brothers led script is aptly superb, and Janusz Kaminski's chilly cinematography adheres to the notion of the rather ironically named "Cold War", but the true winners here are no doubt the leading actors with Tom Hanks continuing on with his fine acting form present in Captain Phillips, whilst esteemed stage actor Mark Ryland as the Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel. also stands out with his suave, silent and sophisticated portrayal of the convicted felon, unsure of his future in either the confines of the US or his freedom in the homeland of Soviet Russia, being a integral part to the films' effectiveness. Although a shade too long in places, and ending on a sense of sentimentality that Spielberg is wholly renowned for, Bridge of Spies will no doubt be a huge part of next years' Oscar ceremonials as classy Spielberg war flicks tend to be the best kind of Oscar bait, but unlike some supposed Oscar tipped films that are set to come out in the upcoming months or so, Bridge of Spies is one film where it does deserve the credit it hopefully will get in the near future or so and fits snugly into the ever-growing list of films directed by one Comrade Spielberg. 

Overall Score: 8/10 

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode 10 "Face The Raven"

"I Will Die, And Nobody Here Or Anywhere Else Will Suffer..."

Here we go then... The departure of Jenna Coleman as long-term companion Clara Oswald has been big news in the Who fanbase for many months now, thanks in part to the overblown nature of the world in which social media prevents such things as spoilers and secrets (Screw you Daily Mirror!) when it comes to high profile shows such as Doctor Who, yet not many would have guessed that the departure of Coleman would have been done so nonchalantly and without warning in an episode that firstly, was not a series finale or mid-season break, but was not in fact penned by the lead writer, with newcomer Sarah Dollard being handed the task of crushing the hearts of many Clara fans out there within the Whoniverse, and given the chance to pen the final scenes between our beloved Twelfth Doctor and his latest favourite human, Clara Oswald. Coming from an eagle-eyed Who fan where even the writing or directorial credits announce something rather epic is set to happen, the untimely demise of our latest companion was a shock to say the least, albeit if it ends up serving a slightly different purpose in the next few weeks left of Series Nine.

Much like the latter end of Series Three, "Face The Raven" seems to be similar in form to that of the rather excellent "Utopia", whereby a first-thought standalone episode may in fact hold the beginnings of an epic trilogy, where this time its' focus is set clearly on the end of the line for Ms. Oswald as well as a possible return to Gallifrey, judging by the clips at the end of the episode which show the destination to which The Doctor is sent via that of a teleportation bracelet. Although the rather far-out plan spearheaded by an unknown entity forcing the Doctor into a sudden change of scenery featured way too many holes in terms of clear-cut explanation, the fact that "Face The Raven" is set to be part of a bigger story in the long-run means the two remaining episodes will hopefully clear up such mind-boggling plot-lines and explain why the character of Ashildr, played with confidence once again by the wonderful Maisie Williams, was ever needed in the first place (So much for her as the new companion too don't you think?)

If anything, "Face The Raven" felt strangely enough like a return of the Russel T Davies led Who, with the sets in which the unknown Diagon Alley-esque streets were presented feeling rather 420p, leading me to believe we had returned to 2007 and David Tennant as The Doctor, a notion not helped by the return of Davies era creatures such as the Judoon, yet witnessing Peter Capaldi looking rather suave in his Pertwee-inspired velvet coat gave a soft reminder that we were in fact back in 2015, with Capaldi once again showing his awe-inspiring range of emotion with his sheer heartbreak at not knowing what to do in order to save his long-term companion, a devastating loss that is set to have major repercussions in the weeks that follow. Whatever you do, don't make THIS Doctor angry. Although Clara's death in this week's episode of Doctor Who seemingly marked the end of the line for our latest companion, the means to her end ultimately felt strangely uncertain, albeit managing to  play rather effectively on the heartstrings, suggesting more is certainly set to come within the next few weeks in the concluding parts of Series Nine, a series which just keeps getting better and better.

Overall Score: 9/10

Rise of the Tomb Raider - Xbox One Review - Buy this game if you want to creep out your neighbours! - SPOILERS

Many moons ago, Josh reviewed the first instalment of Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider revival and spoke in detail about how much he enjoyed it. A few months later, I got my hands on it and loved it to pieces also, but will the latest episode hold its ground to its epic older sibling?

No.

In all reality, its a huge disappointment that has left me rather bitter. The previous Tomb Raider was an all-round quality game. Its visuals were impeccable, gameplay was fun, different and based heavily on survival and the story used that. It developed the origin story to one of gaming's most prominent characters that is loved the world around, whether its through movies or gaming. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a shit show.

Every single advert I saw brought huge attention to their review quotes, the Daily Star in particular said "Visually Stunning" and threw a whopping 5 stars its way. So, lets begin with that. First of all, its the Daily Star, so I don't need to go much further with that. Secondly, why are the visuals selected over everything else within the game? Well that my friends is because that is all this game has. Beautiful landscapes, levels, tombs and character details do not make a quality game, just great quality cutscenes. And trust me, you'll see plenty of those. In fact, so much so that you'll wonder if you're the one playing the game. Now, don't get me wrong, I play Telltale games and they're big, explosive adventures with a storyline so gripping, you can't help but feel like you've lost a little bit of your soul when you lose a beloved character, and the majority is a sequence of cutscenes with varying quick time events (QTEs) and doesn't have much in the way of raw gameplay. But this. This is shameful.

So, its "Visually Stunning" and hell, I can agree with that. Until it comes down to animations. When you move around the map, all is fine, its when you are involved in the action that it really falters. Running through endless hallways from a threat that can't hit a barn with a minigun from 30 yards is something you experience often and explosions miles away from you fling you whether you were near it or not. Say you're a little slow and something crashes through the wall ahead of you, instantly you're thrown into the wall as if it had actually hit and that is just poor planning. Like it or not, this shit happens way too often. Climbing up rock faces, boundaries are ridiculous and cause Lara to spaz out trying as she tries to work out which direction she wants to go and if you approach a ledge, you're lurched up onto it with a body that seems to be able to do the impossible. Not to mention the absolutely retarded falling mechanic which often freezes her mid-jump as she floats to the ledge that she may or may not decide to grab which results in a frozen corpse falling down the crevasse with a solid thud at the bottom.

On the topics of thuds, I've got to be honest, I would have loved a lot more focus on sound and music. One thing that should have been worked on is the voice acting. Sure, Camilla Luddington does a

good job as Lara. We saw that in the previous, but lets get to the brass tacks, I don't want to listen to a symphony of her moans and groans as she jumps across sections in what can only be described as a mass orgy porn flick. With little knowledge of what is actually going on next door, your neighbour may never look at you the same. Not to mention that any element of stealth is thrown out the window as the groans echo across the cavern like smashing a plate in a crowded restaurant.

What of gameplay? Well, as I said, stealth is something that honestly makes no sense. Its use in the game is to reinforce the survival aspect involved but also the fragility of Croft, however its of no use. Very few sections require stealth and when they do, you're tasked with killing everyone in the area rather than moving around and escaping the danger without turning into a one-woman army. Not forgetting the fact that you fart loud enough and everyone knows where you are, even if you've skulked off quietly in another direction. So, what happens next? Well, that fragile girl that is fighting for survival pulls out an AK-47 and mows down anyone near and crafts a menagerie of grenades and weaponry to kill them with varying degrees of brutality. Now I've spoken about character animations, but lets talk about her role as a historian. This "archaeologist" is armed from the get go but also has a distinct lack of interest in preserving anything. Everything she touches breaks. This so called archaeologist has broken everything to get one thing that, spoiler alert, she breaks! She kills hundreds of people, murders countless animals to get new crafting materials and destroys anything she touches. At Least Indie had the decency to kill Nazis. But lets not stop there! How about all that progression she made in the original game? She's forgotten it all. Literally everything has gone. It seems as if she survived, only to suffer a concussion when she got on the plane home and that really halts the immersion for a returning player. Perhaps if there was a bigger push towards weapon upgrades, progression and skills could have been done through that medium, not by erasing all previous progress.

Now we hit the real big issue, the story. Honestly it is a huge cluster fuck of sexual tension and daddy issues that make pornographic plot lines seem clever and highly under appreciated. Trident, a group of bible bashing Christians are after a tool for immortality that was created by Jesus. We track it down, they follow us, a twist occurs that was as obvious as an Afro-American at a KKK clan meeting, we find Jesus and escape together with the sexual tension so thick, you'd give Donald Trump a run for his money. So we are up against a bunch of clueless, delirious, religious nut jobs with a shit ton of money. Only to find out that this Trident force aren't done yet! We've got another one on route, just this time we might get away without the infuriating daddy issues that turned a survivalist into a drag.

Its not hard, I'm sure you've caught my drift by this point. Its not the Tomb Raider I wanted. Its not what should have been. You can't polish a turd and it seems like the graphics department tried their best to cover up the story that seemed apt for a teen novel. Including the removal of the rather enjoyable multiplayer scene, this game has taken a huge leap backwards rather than innovating and giving their loyal fans hope in a system of games that annualise the same thing year on year for inflated prices only to be slapped with a season pass on launch that costs an extra 50% that adds little to the experience in a game more baron than Katie Hopkin's soul.

6/10 - This is becoming all to common.

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episode Nine "Sleep No More"

"None Of This Makes Any Sense!"

As a huge advocate of horror movies in general, this week’s episode of Doctor Who attempted to hop aboard the well-and-truly-used trope train that is the “found footage” genre, a film-making technique that has now begun to strike fear into the heart of many critics who believe the invention of franchises such as Paranormal Activity and subsequent admirers, including this years’ terrible The Gallows, have well and truly sealed the fate of the once ground-breaking mode of movie-making which although came to the attention of many with the release of The Blair Witch Project in the late 1990’s, can be traced all the way back to the release of Cannibal Holocaust in the mid-1900’s. For me personally therefore, “Sleep No More” was bound to be an interesting and slightly off-key episode of Doctor Who, yet the signs were inherently positive from the beginning. Doctor Who meets The Blair Witch Project? Sounds unmissable in my book.

Beginning with a notable dismissal of the opening theme tune and credits, something of which I believe has not occurred throughout the shows’ 52 year history, we are introduced to a spectacle-wearing mystery, a man who appears to be the last survivor of a deserted space station, and a man who is very clearly telling us not to watch any of what is to come in the next 45 minutes. Intrigued? Sure, and add into the equation a minor rescue squad and the rather swift introduction of some rather eerie deathly creatures, this weeks’ episode sets the tone straight away, with “Sleep No More” essentially being Doctor Who meets Event Horizon with a dash of Blair Witch, and it’s rather brilliant. Although it can be easily argued that Who has kind of missed the boat when it comes to embracing the lost art of the found footage genre, it can also equally be argued that with all the nonsensical releases that adhere to such a format released in the past few years, that Who in 45 minutes has accomplished what some feature films completely miss out on, a sense of threat and drama which uses the found footage technique to its’ advantage in creating a spooky and fundamentally organic episode of Doctor Who, of which, I believe, will be one of the most memorable episodes of the Capaldi era in years to come.

Where the episode strangely both succeeds and fails is in its’ attempt to coherently paint a picture of what is actually happening aboard the spaceship, with the Doctor’s ramblings of “None of this makes any sense!” essentially mirroring the exact same feelings from the viewer with Mark Gatiss’ script obviously attempting to be rather ambiguous in a similar vein to last years’ Series 8 episode, “Listen”, a trait I believe will cause some viewers to underrate the episode because of its’ desire to not paint out a whole picture by the numbers and instead leave it dangling by a titillating thread. Ending on a rather spooky cliff-hanger, “Sleep No More” continues the trend of Series 9’s surprising consistency, mixing the found-footage genre in with the sci-fi wonder that is The Doctor and Clara’s ventures around time and space, making it for me personally, one of the best of Capaldi’s reign so far. 

Overall Score: 9/10

Fallout 4 - War Never Changes - Xbox One Quicky Review - MINOR SPOILERS

One of the biggest games of the year has dropped. We are back in the Wastelands of Boston. A lone Vault Dweller on the hunt for their son, armed with an arsenal of guns and some rusted power armour. We are a pre-war relic who watched the bombs drop on the US. We fled to the Vault and were lured into cryostat chambers that froze us for over 200 years until one day we wake, in a daze we watch as our wife/husband's casket is opened and the baby ripped from their hands and a bullet lodged into their skull and then we freeze again. Waking up again, we manage to escape and witness the effects of the experiments created by Vault Tech industries and we stagger out into the open to see what happened to our home. Now, this is as much as a can say without dropping some big spoilers but considering I've only logged in about 25 hours of gameplay so far and 5 of those are in the actual quest line, what little I have experienced so far is fascinating and incredibly engaging.

My experience with Fallout is very limited. I've watched gameplay footage from the first game and played a few hours in Fallout 3. I enjoyed the experience but I got frustrated when I ended up wandering the wasteland in zones way to big for me. So much so, I got lost and never managed to make it back. Since then, I've matured (a little) and have experienced the ever amazing Skyrim and find myself more than competent to progress through this. So I'm not fully versed into the narrative of the world but I know the lore behind the Vaults and the effects its had on the world and the mutated wildlife that has taken control of the environment.

Obviously as a company they would have cut a few corners to make them optimum for next generation consoles and this has been done by utilizing various parts from previous titles such as the animations from Skyrim. Now this isn't too much of a problem. For something so large scale, I tend to be a lot more lenient but a little variation wouldn't go a miss. Now here is the big issue that people raised prior to launch and that was the visual quality. Trailers made it look a little cartoonish but dropping in myself, I think its a gorgeous art style for a world ravaged by radiation for 200 years and it is much easier on the resources available. Now this hasn't stopped the game from loosing frames rapidly when loading areas and in combat situation and that comes down to poor optimization across the consoles which could have been resolved had it been play tested correctly. Otherwise it looks fantastic and the quality is fantastic. Sure, its not Square Enix levels of detail with incredible hair physics but its good enough.

As it stands, I had no idea what to expect from this. With the rate of triple A titles dropping that suck and the bombardment of early access games supported by industry giants that really don't live up to their own hype and run when shit gets difficult, faith in the industry is a little fractured, just look at the PC port of Arkham Knight. I had prepared myself for the worst. I worried about wandering off into the wasteland and never coming back home armed with nothing more than a kitchen knife, but I was wrong. I love it. I was hooked within the first 20 minutes. The opening sequence, War Never Changes is one of the most striking cinematics I've ever seen (Click the link to watch Sip's playthrough and experience the opening cutscene and some gameplay). Its a gorgeously filmed and animated piece that shows you the events that led up to the "Great War" that created this lawless world as narrated by our lead man. As the cutscene disappears, we are greeted by our narrator and his wife looking in a mirror readying themselves for the day ahead, this is our character customisation and creation. The customisation is a bit of a fiddle but its extensive and deep enough that you could almost create yourself. All the way through the process, both of the characters chat, little bits of information around items you've just changed from witty quips to cute interactions that made them feel so human, so real and then you begin your day. Walking to the crib of your new born to say morning,greeting your robot babysitter that does all the dirty jobs around the house and living the daily routine while the news chatters away in the background. We all know the bombs are dropping and shit goes wild, I won't ruin anything from here for you but its such a touching experience that gives the characters an incredible amount of story in such a short space of time, even if the baby does look like its farther was actually an alien...

How about its core mechanics? The shooter aspect is very clean, weapon variation has been fairly limited and buying weapons is pretty much a definite no no. Modification of the weapons is the best way to increase your chance of survival and they're giant, from tons of saw blades too new receivers and various other pieces that physically change the aesthetic of the weapons too. Alongside the classic VATS system that now slows time down, means you have to make on the fly choices on where to hit and the estimated damage can significantly drop by the time you accept your desired choices. One of the biggest talking points is the power armour. The Fusion powered heavy armour that gives you a huge level of strength and protection is great fun and getting it from the start of the game allows you to survive the harsh environment a lot more effectively, however, its cumbersome to obtain the Fusion Cores to run the armour as they either cost a fortune or you have to find locations and caches out in the world. I, however, stole a ton because the guides online were actually wrong for my playthrough. If you were playing the Fallout Shelter app that released earlier this year on the reveal of the game, you'll love this next section. You can have bases. You craft items, make sure your people have beds, food and defences to protect them. Its a cathartic experience that I've spent an unhealthy amount of time and effort working on. It doesn't have much of a purpose yet but its a typical thing that would appear in such an environment. As for the rest of the core mechanics, many are derived from Skyrim. Slight differences in skill management but the typical dialogue tree is very basic and doesn't allow for a variety of choice dependant on skill.

To sum it up in the briefest ways possible, we are back in Skyrim. They've taken something successful and implemented it into one of their other titles and added a load of extra little features.  If you enjoyed Skyrim, its a guarantee that you'll love this. The Music is phenomenal and side quests are really where your time is going to be spent, whether you mean to or not. Its a game that is going to last. Not a 6 hour campaign with so many hours of multiplayer that is a literal repeat, over and over again. Its varied and probably has a good hundred or so hours crammed in that are immersing and engaging. Its taken pieces from other titles, albeit bearable, there is no variation between them and that really knocks it out of you and characters have no facial expressions with very little mouth synchronisation in conversation which is fairly poor for new titles. Considering that is is highly addictive and I'm shooting through this, just so I can get back to playing it is testament enough to how enjoyable it is (I've hardly been on ARK too!). At £40, its value for money. Its not often that you get hundreds of hours playtime with very little bugs and glitches. There are a few glitches, one has surfaced in the last few days that can crash the game completely across all consoles and I've witnessed mutated bears moonwalking up trees but for the current gaming era, its got most of its shit together and thoroughly deserves..

8/10!
PS - Deathclaws be scary

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - WHEN WILL IT STOP!? - Xbox One Review

About 6 years ago, I began my foray into the Call of Duty series with Modern Warfare 2 for my brand new Xbox 360. MW2 is the most beloved and coolest CoD game to date, ever since, I've made sure to get my hands on them and play them but nothing lived up to Infinity Ward's quality. The game took a huge hit with Black Ops. It's quality was naff and it's general gameplay and story were duller than a blunt kitchen knife. It seemed a trend but does it stop here?

Well...Not really. We are 40 years after the events of Black Ops 2, subtle references to the villain of the past give reasoning to the huge amount drones and their constant reliance on something so easily manipulated, as we keep finding out. We are a nameless character, male or female with the ability to choose from a selection of facial pre-sets. The male voice is played by Farscape's Ben Browder and the female by Abby Brammell. We are also joined by a whole host of faces and names throughout from Christopher Meloni, Neal McDonough, Ron Perlman, Robert Picardo, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Amendola and the legendary Nolan North to mention a few. Its not only their voices, many of them have their faces digitally mapped into the game much like Advanced Warfare's Kevin Spacey and Troy Baker to create another selling point. Now sure, they look good and it was cool to see a few familiar faces but it didn't add much, especially when you watch the movement of the faces during dialogue and all you see is an empty black hole into the abyss. I wouldn't have been surprised to have seen someone's hand and a couple black lines from the side of the mouth too their chins. As for the general voice acting, its was alright. Now we shift to our character. The need to even create one is rather obscure, you only see yourself in a few transitions prior to levels and in game cutscenes, so its general need could have been fulfilled in a far more practical manner - AKA, not have it at all. The quality of our face is also far less than that of any other character so its difficult to justify why they simply didn't use their voice actors like every other character. Typically, as ever, there is a bad guy. We need to find them and kill them. This time however, its a "complicated" story of AI, CIA and biotech enhancements on your squad. Rather than spoil anything, you have a chip in your brain that allows you to control certain aspects of the world around you and give you advantages on the battlefield. But, we never started with this. In fact our first mission is us diving into Egypt to save a high ranking official. Upon rescuing him, we are treated to a rather impromptu massage from a defective masseuse that pulls a couple limbs off and uses them to beat me into oblivion. But all is not lost! Rescued by an elite group of operatives fitted with biotech chips, top of the line prosthetics and Meloni at the helm, the very same organisation that we join in return for saving our life. Now as a story, its lives under its own guise of "oh so complicated" when in actual fact, its a very basic story that decides to throw some of its Nazi zombie features in for no apparently reason other than, "eh, fuck it". Character development is non-existent and the attempted love/relationship story arises from nowhere and vanishes quicker than a fart in the wind.

So what else is there? Anything new you may be asking?. Well there are a couple things. One is the biotech chips which give you a select amount of abilities that can control the flow of enemies and remove threats more effectively. Some allow remote hacking of devices for control purposes while others garner the ability to fuck shit up and implode combat drones. They've also reduced strafing

abilities from AW, only giving you a forward slide which is a faff in general as its only engaged while running at a certain speed so its a little bit annoying for sliding between cover. It's also taken another leaf from AW but we all know that this leaf came right from Titanfall and that is the wall running ability, but this time you have to unlock it with points rather than it being part of your super solider get-up and its a really clunky affair. Its not smooth and its hardly used. Unless you're like me and it suddenly appears that you need it to cross a gap for 1 section and you didn't unlock it because it was already part of your training and you presumed you still had it!...

Visually the game looks sharp. Some textures aren't perfect and as I've already mentioned, faces lack a good form of animation and suffer from looking like clay or wax models. But its not all bad. The UI HUD is fantastic. Very simple and easy to use and the tactical elements included give some great guidance throughout and reveal kill zones and enemy locations. However, when setting my safe boundaries, loading screens prior to levels completed ignored that and cut the majority of the level names out which was a rather infuriating issue that bugged me consistently. The music is okay. Nothing dramatically amazing that sticks to mind but the sound effects need toning down. I was playing with the stereo output via the controller with my Razer Kraken Neon Pro's at a decent level but voices were often distant and the explosions were physically painful.

 Now, multiplayer. The only reason anyone buys these games? Probably. My experience is short and it'll stay that way with Fallout 4 on my lap, Tomb Raider on the back of a truck on route to me and Star War Battlefront so soon after. I opened it up to be greeted by a selection of classes. Typical destroyers and abilities were attached to them which would have certain effects within the game, their genders can't change but they have a variety of customisable pieces. So, jumping into my first game, I've already been kicked out of 3 and joined lobbies where nothing happens at all. Team balancing takes an age and starting and getting into a game is just agonisingly long when you just want to play a single round. Perhaps its the Xbox's awful wifi receiver connection or perhaps its the CoD servers being rammed or more than likely, a combination of both. Levels gained in the campaign also do not affect the online multiplayer meaning that it is useless to have such an unnecessary mechanic. But considering I finally managed to make in into a game, lets talk about it. Bearing in mind it was one map and my only match so far, it was alright. I fell off the high-rise building a few times and often got myself lost looking for people who blended into the environment making them rather difficult to see. Upon entering the round, we are greeted by a League of Legends (Maybe Dota, I don't play it) player roster that details the enemy players and what class they are running, once again, a pretty useless addition that tries to give the illusion of strategy to then round out the match with a podium finish of those who performed the best that features a short bit of dialogue from the top character. Honestly one of the most cringy experiences I've ever had to witness in a game. Now here is my biggest gripe. I can hear where the enemy team is. Not because of their footsteps or movement but because the characters are screaming and shouting. In close quarter situations, its becomes a cluster of shouting that draws more and more people in and any element of surprise is removed when some bell shouts "Enemy down!" at the top of their lungs. 

Now has the game changed? No. Not at all. If you scrap all of the tiny little additions of the player rosters and the "new guns" You'll probably see the lifeless corpse of Treyarch's World at War and Infinity Studio looking back in disgust at the desecration of the classic Call of Duties that made the series such a big hitter in the market. Now, I don't think we've seen the end of it. In fact, I'm sure it'll continue for a few years now with the same dull and boring story with minute mechanic changes because its audience so wholly digest it, they cannot actually comprehend that the series is simultaneously fucking them while gradually feeding them more content so they keep their mouths shut. We are left with a series that is watching its audience become self-aware (perhaps that's what the story was really going for) and see what they're paying for year on year.

Use Cara Delevingne as much as you want. It ain't going to make the game good! 6/10
Buy it cheap, play it for a few hours and watch as the map packs destroy and displace the player base.

TV Review: Doctor Who Series Nine Episodes Seven/Eight "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion"

"You Have Left Us With An Impossible Situation, Doctor..."

This week I have to admit to taking a slight and minor kop-out when it comes to our weekly review of Doctor Who wherein instead of focusing on just one episode, I felt it was plausible to review both stories of the returning Zygon menace at the same time due to not only having all the facts and all the answers to the questions from both parts of the story, but mainly because it fits in rather well with my over-burdened work schedule (Screw you real life!). Returning from their short stint in the 50th anniversary episode, "The Day of The Doctor", an episode where we were left with the notion that the remaining Zygon threat had successfully been integrated into society via that of a rather flimsy peace treaty, "The Zygon Invasion/Inversion" focuses on the uprising of a rogue Zygon threat, hell bent on releasing chaos throughout the world whilst attempting to break free from the secretive nature of their newly found Earth-based lifestyle. It is no surprise that this season of Doctor Who has definitely been more on the solid and consistent side than those previous with the return of the two-parter no doubt being one of the many reasons why with this week's story only adding to the quality that has been inherent throughout this year's entry into the Who canon so far.

The fundamental image that comes to mind whenever the Zygons are on-screen in Doctor Who, whether it be their first appearance in the 1975 Tom Baker serial Terror of the Zygons, or in today's NuWho, is that of the alien race present in the many versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a tale in which the titular "body snatchers" slowly take over the earth by hatching duplicates of those they have captured and then integrating themselves into society. Sound familiar? Of course, but what this week's tale effectively managed to do was increase the paranoia and sense of unknown of which the alien Zygon race automatically bring about with them whenever they appear on our screens culminating in a rather spectacular appearance of the "evil" Clara, a Zygon doppelganger of our beloved companion who tortuously attempts to bring about the death of not only Clara, The Doctor and that UNIT, but the entire world, with Jenna Coleman clearly having bundles of fun with her newly found evilness in such a role.

Where part one of this latest Zygon tale sought to show the uprising of the Zygon threat, the second part ultimately concluded in a resolution that not only was similar to that of the discussion that took place between human/Zygon Kate in "Day of the Doctor", but also gave Peter Capaldi another chance to shine, with his speech in which he describes the horror of war and the consequences it brings being another accolade in the Twelfth Doctor's already star-studded reign as the travelling Time Lord, a speech both incredibly heart-felt and powerful whilst being incredibly apt for a British audience in terms of its' relevance to Remembrance weekend. Not only does "The Zygon Invasion/Inversion" show how the two-part format most definitely has added a new level of consistency to NuWho, but it also shows that when a story is given that extra amount of time to breath and to metaphorically spread its' legs, can result in a quality that may have been absent if squeezed into the relatively short and rather familiar, 45 minute time slot, something of which we seemingly are returning to next week in the Mark Gatiss penned, "Sleep No More". Will it hold up to the quality of Series 9 so far? We shall see. 

Overall Score: 8.5/10