Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad: PS5 Review 

Developed by Game Studio Inc
Published by Bandai Namco
Platform: PS5

The world of Sword Art Online is of course a perennially popular one.

So the chance to jump back into that Manga-led world for a game that gives you your own protagonist and then lets you develop the world around you is going to prove enticing enough to many.

But the creation of this latest falls a little short in terms of its engagement with players even though you're one of 10,000 players trapped in a world created by someone else.The twist of course is it's a death game you've been pushed into and death in the game means death in real life too, upping the stakes substantially.

But a mechanic that slows you from levelling up and getting further into the game without a grind proves to be one of the game's more problematic elements, leading to growing frustrations with the game. 

Covering 100 floors and inserting you into the world may seem like a great proposition, but the lack of relative freedom inside the game means that it's very easy to feel like you're trapped in the world, rather than living within it. It's not helped by the fact that even though the world itself looks good, and occasionally spawns monsters for you to fight, it feels decidedly empty and unworthy of plenty of time spent within it.

This is a shame, given how well-populated the world of Sword Art Online as a whole is.

Quests and side missions in the game are also a hindrance too, with a need to level up beyond your means to progress. It's a real barrier for the game and the idea of completing one mission to then have to go back and grind before you can take on the next feels like a really disappointing mechanic to have to endure.

All in all, Sword Art Online: Echoes of Aincrad may deserve praise for deepening some of the Manga lore around it, but the lack of real progression ability and the need to replay and grind proves to be a fatal flaw in its execution - especially for the casual player who's not massively aware of the intricacies of the Sword Art Online world itself.

Star Wars: Zero Company: PS5 Review

Developed by Bit Reactor
Published by EA
Platform: PS5

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars games were everywhere.

Mostly focusing on multiplayer or racing games, the universe was scattered full of their ilk, capturing the vibes of what it was like to be part of either the Rebellion or the Empire.

But despite the joys of Star Wars: Battlefront, none of them fully fused the mix of story with campaign effectively well - aside perhaps from Star Wars: Outlaws, much overlooked and underappreciated.

So the latest game presents a curious proposition in a year when two Star Wars games are about to appear. However, adding in the idea of a turn-based game to a Star Wars universe jaunt has proved to be better than it ought to be and an improvement on anything the Star Wars universe has tried to innovate for years.

You play as Hawks, the leader of a ragtag group of mercenaries known as Zero Company, and a former Republic officer tasked with now protecting the universe from a growing threat. Set during the Clone Wars, Hawks and his group find themselves in substantial debt to one of the Hutt clan and forced to take jobs to pay it off before it's too late.

The story's not incidental to Zero Company and represents a kind of leap forward in terms of narrative that Star Wars games have been lacking for a while, but which delightfully seems to be making a welcome return to the gaming world.

But the bread and butter of Star Wars Zero Company relies on the strategy and successful outcomes of the missions played out during the game - and it's here that the turn-based tactics start to come together to form something cohesive and enjoyable - once you get past the idea that any Star Wars battle or mission would present a stop-start option for those competing in it.

As you progress, you can build up your squad, swapping out mercenaries to come and join your crew and expanding skillsets - it's a solid touch that allows time for you to bond with your compadres. And to further compound that bond, there's an option to build relationships within the team too, whether they agree or disagree with your choice of actions, giving the game a kind of democracy feel that's welcome and immersive.

Characters within the game also feel like they have different loyalties, leading to a general overview that covers all the moral bases. Whether it's Clone War troopers disagreeing with Separatist plans or subtle prejudices seeping to the fore, Zero Company makes great fist of fleshing out the entire world.

In terms of turn-based combat itself, it's fairly simple to pick up even if you've never played an XCOM style game before. With the ability to support your team members, extend zones where if enemies move you can shoot them and various other touches, the turn-based combat feels rich enough to achieve what's needed but also occasionally short enough to feel like you could lose it all within one go.

It's not all perfect though. Cutscenes when you head back to your base are repetitive and the same, leading to a feeling that the game's going through motions. And the camera being blocked during certain turns leaving you to guess whether your gang survived a threat is not a welcome touch either.

But all in all, Star Wars: Zero Company makes a great fist of the idea that the Star Wars universe can feel alive in ways you'd never expect. With an engaging story, different worlds and missions, and characters that feel real, this is one company you'll clearly be happy to fall in with.

Grand Theft Auto VI extended look reveals scale and size of game

Rockstar Games has revealed its first official extended look at the world of Leonida and Jason and Lucia in a 26-minute long showcase of Netflix.

The game, which releases on PlayStation and XBox on November 19, has been highly anticipated.

The extended look showed off the scale of the city, as well as some of the gameplay mechanics for the characters.

From getting fit to scuba diving, to sky-diving revealing the size of the city, the game also demonstrated the Bonnie and Clyde mechanics of Jason and Lucia as their story goes from simple one to crime-ridden chaos on the streets.

For more, watch the Grand Theft Auto VI extended look on YouTube below.

Caterpillar: DVD Review

Cast: Marta Dusseldorp, Anais Shand, Lisa Harrow, Matt Whelan
Director: Chelsie Preston Crayford

Set in the 2000s in New Zealand's capital Wellington, director Chelsie Preston Crayford's first full-length feature is clearly a personal passion project.

It follows three generations of the same family - there's single mother Maxine (A Place To Call Home's Dusseldorp), who's struggling to finance a film she's been pursuing for years; her daughter Cassie, an aspiring actress (Shand, almost a double for Crayford's looks) and matriarch Huia (Harrow), who's on the cusp of dementia and is obsessed by Monarch butterflies and wants to go to Mexico to see them.

In terms of plot, Caterpillar is light on developments outside of the home, with Crayford fixing her gaze on the internal dynamics of an errant mother and her struggling daughter, and keen to explore the parallels of how her own life was affected by the relationship she had with her own grandmother.

As a result, Caterpillar feels almost insular in its execution and less coherent in terms of drama and narrative than perhaps it could do.

And yet, there's a radiant beauty in this movie that plays out with subtlety, restraint and great heart.

Shand's excellent as the daughter, struggling to get her mother's attention and trying to find her own place in the world. While Dusseldorp has perhaps the more thankless role in proceedings given the perceived gaps and conflict within the family, the moments she shares with the two other protagonists sees the somewhat stereotyped creative character, pursuing it all whatever the cost may be, elevated.

Harrow has perhaps the more wistful role as her Huia struggles with the implications of what's coming while trying to never burden the family. It's a very familiar role and route that she pursues, but the narrative restraint that's bestowed upon the arc adds much to the heft. 

Yet the film's narrative failings are overcome by Crayford's eye for moments that stay with you after the movie's finished.

Whether it's a near perfect final shot that will emotionally destroy those who invest or the revelation of what chaos a Post-It note causes, there are plenty of eye-catching scenes within this to lift it from a female gaze to a director who has an eye for beauty in front of the lens.

There's a quiet dignity in Caterpillar and even if the drama comes crashing in at around the one-hour mark, the work done by the quartet of women involved does much to make it powerfully evocative and its considerations universal, no matter how occasionally insular and singular it feels.

Grand Theft Auto VI extended look

Rockstar Games is to reveal an extended look at its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI on Thursday August 28.

The new look will premiere on Netflix Thursday, August 28 at 5 a.m. Australian Eastern Time (7am NZT) and will also launch on the official Rockstar Games YouTube channel and the Grand Theft Auto VI site at 11a.m. AEST (1pm NZT) on August 28.

The Dog Stars: Movie Review

Cast: Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Jacob Elordi, Guy Pearce, Alison Janney, Benedict Wong
Director: Ridley Scott

If the post-apocalyptic genre has already been done to death in pop culture, The Dog Stars, from the 2012 novel by Peter Hellar, and Gladiator director Ridley Scott, shows no sign of that trend slowing down.

And while it does feel like it has so many elements of other films, TV shows and books within its mix, what Ridley Scott has created - aside from a genuinely inauspicious start - is a film that wrests fresh tension from familiar tropes and conventions.

Set in March 2035, the world has been laid waste by a flu virus. With vaccines no longer available or working, pockets of humanity have set up in spots around the world, defending themselves from marauding packs of feral hunters.

One such pocket is populated by Hig (a relatively solid Elordi), his dog Jasper and former US soldier and survivalist Bangley (Brolin, gruff, yet approachably warm). Hig, a pilot and mechanic, spends his time making runs for supplies in nearby Denver, fending off any would-be hunters and delivering supplies to the local Mennonites community, much to Bangley's chagriin.

But Hig is also circling a wave of grief brought on by the death of his wife before, suicidal tendencies and a glimmer of hope in the form of a radio message from Grand Junction, where he believes other survivors are. 

However, when tragedy hits Hig and Bangley's world, Hig sets out to see if the Grand Junction dream is the salvation he needs...

The Dog Stars mixes in elements of I Am Legend, 28 Years Later, Mad Max and The Last Of Us along with a large dose of humanity.

It's anything but wall-to-wall sci-fi action ripped from the zombie genre, preferring to slowly build a world (perhaps a little too slowly initially) that feels like it's been ripped from humanity's clutches.

There's a tenderness that Scott spends time creating, and with plenty of shots of Hig flying the skies, the scale of the loneliness becomes apparent without being subtly overstated. Yet there are moments of shocking brutality within that world, a constant reminder that surviving comes at a price, and these are carefully constructed by Scott to ensure the most tension comes from the briefest of action moments.

Elordi occasionally spends too much time moping and isnt quite strong enough fir the emotions needed, and while flashbacks reveal the reason for his misery, it doesn't quite convey enough of the gravitas of a man who's on the edge. He's better in interactions with Brolin's Bangley as their opposing world views rub gently against each other and clash - there's much here to be said about being a good man and being a practical one, and whether the two can co-exist. Brolin's the stand-out here and he works wonders with a more subtle approach to what could be a caricature. (And yes a contemporary theme of isolation vs connection in a post-COVID world goes without saying.)

Of the rest of the cast, Qualley and Pearce add a strong human element as a pair of other survivors - and while the romance between Qualley and Elordi's characters is telegraphed from a distance, Scott once again uses time to suggest a bond and a connection, rather than crashing them together. The West Wing's Alison Janney also deserves plaudits for an unbelievable appearance late in the film which sets up a truly memorable chain of events.

Ultimately, much more than just the sum of its parts and a screenplay that feels wildly familiar throughout, The Dog Stars cleverly inveigles its way under your skin, even though it's muted. Granted, there are themes of colonialism and guilt here, but at its heart, it's the well-told story of a man labouring under the desire to do his best in a world that's gone west, while battling with the spiritual and physical strength needed to survive.

Scott's delivered one of the most sincere films of the year, and inadvertent companion piece to the more meditative elements of the 28 Years Later series of films - and that's no bad thing at all.