Avowed: XBox Series X Review

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment
Platform: XBox Series X

The Last of Us' fungus has a lot to answer for.

Having collectively ravaged the consciousness back in the games and then the phenomenally popular TV series, the ripple effect of the idea lives on in Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed.

Within moments of opening, a curious and cute critter is overrun by spores, its decaying body turned into a mesh of spores and hatred (looking somewhat like an iconic Brian Bolland 2000AD cover too) - signalling the previously lush-looking Living Lands are about to become a nasty fighting ground for your future gaming pleasure.

As an envoy of a distant empire, you have been sent to investigate - and what you find at every corner is less than ideal, but requires you to summon all your RPG experience to ensure the future of the Living Lands as well as your own.

While you investigate the plague (known as the Dreamscourge) you also get to meet a myriad of characters and face a large amount of choices, as well as fighting off reanimated corpses, skeletons and other creatures determined to see you go.

Avowed does what it does very well.

While it has been criticised for not breaking the mould, it's an unfair arrow to sling - sometimes games don't need to offer new mechanics to exist, nor do they need to be outrageously different simply because. It's something Obsidian knows well here, making sure that the game is immersive and also engaging enough for those who want to purchase it.

With plenty of customisation options as well as many different ways of upgrading for combat, there are more than a few options for players to lose themselves in - and while the options are many, the need for them is light.

Simple gameplay mechanics take a little time to adjust to, but once it kicks in, Avowed heads off at a gallop as it spins off from the Pillars of Eternity universe.

With a substantial world to explore and plenty of reasons to engage for long periods with the game, Avowed shows that just committing to the bit is sometimes more than enough.

Synduality: Echo of Ada: PS5 Review

Developed by Bandai Namco
Published by Bandai Namco
Platform: PS5

Marking Bandai Namco's return to the mecha-heavy world of gaming, Synduality: Echo of Ada is a perfectly playable game that's bogged down early on by somewhat of a grind that feels unnecessary and almost punishing.

Set in the world of 2222, it's upto you to control a group of freelancers called the Drifters who pilot mech machines to earn their keep and help humanity to survive. But it's no easy task - especially when blue rain kills humans on contact but makes animals and plants vicious to deal with.

Simply put Synduality: Echo of Ada is a shoot and collect kind of game, the sort you've seen in some ways before.

But where it benefits is in its sleek design and visuals which are crisp and offer enough visual heft to make you realise that you are actually piloting a massive craft and have the future of the world on your shoulders.

With a slow burning plot though some may feel the game isn't quite up to speed for what it should offer. Details of the story are dripfed and feel like they're deliberately withheld to encourage further playing on.

Yet with perfectly serviceable mechanics and some impressive graphics, the game has a tendency to bury its way under your skin, leading to you becoming more obsessed than you'd have thought.

The more you upgrade your craft, the more devastating it is when you lose it and its contents - and the more frustrating it is to have to start all over again. But much like any survival game, this is about knowing what the right way to tackle a situation is - and evolving with the game rather than your own desires.

Ultimately serviceable enough, Synduality: Echo of Ada makes an impressive beeline into the mech world - but had it moved slightly faster and been a bit more engaging early on, it would have become more essential than it is.

Fuck Marry Kill: Movie Review 

Cast: Lucy Hale, Virginia Gardener, Brooke Nevin, Samer Salem, Brendan Morgan
Director: Laura Murphy

True crime junkie Eva (Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale) is turning 30.

Split from her long-time cop beau and goaded by her friends into making a change and embracing one night stands on the apps, she decides to throw caution to the wind - at around the same time a serial killer is picking off women in her locale.

But the more she casually dates around, she begins to suspect one of her casual flings is the Swipe Right killer who's despatching their victims after dates on the apps...

Fuck Marry Kill is a fairly light entry into the comedy horror genre, with there being less of an emphasis on gory deaths, and more of a peppy take on dialogue and physical comedy led primarily by Hale herself.

Yet with an exuberant edge of irreverence and occasional meta touches, Laura Murphy's film feels enough of a bubblegum watch to get through than an essential entrant into the genre.

As mentioned, it's Hale's film - with a script that doesn't damn her for her casual approach to relationships and its reliance on on-screen graphics, this is clearly a film for the Gen Z gang, who are all into casual hook-ups and no consequences.

There's a zip to it, and in truth, if it weren't for Hale's performance, the film would truly flounder under an unoriginal banner and a lack of clever touches. But whereas Heart Eyes fused these elements into something a little more cohesive, Fuck Marry Kill ends up being a film that never quite finds a killer edge or instinct - apart from through Hale herself.

Fuck Marry Kill is streaming now on Prime Video.

Smile 2: Blu Ray Review

Cast: Naomi Scott, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner
Director: Parker Finn

The sequel to 2022's Smile is here - and has a lot to live upto.

The original film packed in examinations of trauma, deeply unsettling imagery and a lingering sense of unease before its conclusion led to a desperate whiff of cash-grabbing sequel material.

Whilst it's fair to say the second Smile lacks some of the tension of the original first film, director Parker Finn has managed to turn the fright-fest into something that's deeply unsettling and downright disturbing in parts.

Cleverly setting the tale in the pop world, a place that's already populated by fake grins, Smile 2 wastes no time upsetting audiences in many ways.

With a blistering performance by Aladdin's Naomi Scott as former washed-up popstar Skye Riley, who's on a comeback trail after addiction battles, the story spends no time in delving into the past or mythology of the smiling demon parasite, simply setting the action 6 days after the end of the first film.

As she readies herself for a global tour, and following a meeting at a contact's place that goes haywire, she begins to find herself haunted by strange goings-on.

Finn's foray into the pop world and mental trauma that comes with being in the spotlight is an excellent choice to set a tale that deals in fake platitudes and paranoia. With committed choreography and also some very well-paced scares and jolts, Smile 2's penchant for the disturbing proves to be potent.

But while the film's MO is much like the first, it's the constantly upsetting imagery, the perversion of some tropes and the staging of some set pieces (chiefly a backing dancer nightmare) that gives the film its frisson of frights to mask over the familiar creeps.

As mentioned, Scott is incredible in the role, taking her Skye Riley to the edge and teetering there for much of the film. From stalkers to self-doubt, Skye is put through the wringer, and Scott more than capably rises to the challenge.

Ultimately, Smile 2 sets the scene for a third outing - and quite where it goes next is tantalising to say the least. But with a requisite number of frights, Smile 2 will leave audiences with a smile on their faces that the sequel hasn't squandered the ideas of the first.

Black Bag: Movie Review

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Rege-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Soderbergh's second movie of the year offers another insight into the world of a family, the second film to do so after Presence a little earlier this year.

But unlike Presence's spooky goings-on, this one showcases a group unit of spies haunted by the fact one of them has betrayed the nation with thousands of people likely to die as a consequence.

Enter Fassbender's controlled, turtle-necked and icy spy George who's tasked with finding the mole and whose composed demeanour is rattled by the possibility the offender could be his spy wife and colleague Kathryn (Blanchett).

While it's fair to say that this 90.minute slice somehow feels langorous in pace in parts, it's a taut, twisty drama that's engrossing and intriguing - even if some of the dialogue us a little exposition-led.

While Fassbender and Blanchett feel detached throughout, the film actually belongs to Industry star and Amy Winehouse player Abela whose ambiguity the script plays with carefully and cleverly. Every scene she's in crackles with a nervous energy and her playful vibe with Fassbender's George as she needles him is a joy to behold.

In truth, all of the main cast shine in different ways, and with an "everybody lies" mentality throughout, both play the duplicitous edges to perfection.

Yet it's the script and its execution that also is the star here, with a story that chooses home soil and dinner tables for its drama, rather than globe-trotting and big set pieces and explosions.

There are traces of Agatha Christie as the slick spy thriller plays out and as the stylish edges come to the fore, the film cements its place as a movie that's a reminder that going back to basics in the spy genre is what makes it cool in the first place - and so enduring for years to come.

Moana 2: Disney+ Movie Review

Cast: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rose Matafeo, Dave Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Alan Tudyk, Temuera Morrison

Director: David G Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller

In the way that The Empire Strikes Back chose to be a darker sequel than its initial lighter first outing, Moana 2 strives for more cloudy sailings for the titular wayfaring heroine.

But unfortunately, the darker edges are purely represented by the animated colour palette rather than a narrative theme.

This time around Auli'i Cravalho's Moana is on a mission in uncharted waters after saving her island from an environmental disaster. Looking for other societies, she discovers proof they're out there, and returns home to a vision that shows her the way to where she needs to go.

Gathering together a ragtag crew, Moana sets out - in a collision course with both danger and a reunion with Dwayne Johnson's demi-god Maui.

There's much in the visuals of Moana 2 that impresses.

Whereas the coral clear blues and topaz have been jettisoned in favour of darker waters, purples and stormy greys, the story, with its message of togetherness and reuniting races, feels rote and underwhelming.

Again, much like the 2016 film, there's a deep appreciation of cultural significance, traditions and myths, but this time around, it largely feels like an episodic storyline that draws from the roots of the proposed Disney+ series rather than a fuller filmic sequel.

The quest storyline is solid enough and the likes of Rose Matafeo and Dave Fane impress in their respective roles, but a lack of a strong villain and a definite sense of purpose leaves the film floundering in waters that are clearly in place for a set up for future installments than a clear sequel tale.

Equally disappointing are the songs. This time around, many feel formulaic and lacking in the strength and life of the first (although the bar was set extremely high) - with perhaps only Maui's Can I Get a Cheehoo being the one that will be lodged in the brain after the lights have gone up.

While the movie's perfectably serviceable for fans of the not-Disney princess desperate to revisit that world, it doesn't seem poised for domination in perhaps the ways the first did. Its structural issues compete with its heroine and hero's energetic and vibrant performances.

Moana 2 is not exactly lost at sea - but it does feel like it's sadly lacking a definitive course and in need of a narrative correction for future installments hinted at in its denouement and mid-credits scene.