Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time: PS Vita Preview

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time: PS Vita Preview

The weasel is heading back to the world of the PlayStation.

Well, I say weasel, it's more Raccoon.

Sly Cooper is one of those characters who's become kind of synonymous with the gaming world; from the recent HD outing of the three main adventures to a bit of background in the PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, there's always been a hint that Sly was readying himself for a return.

And here is the first hint of what lies ahead.

In this demo of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, it's access all areas (well, two at least) for the thieving raccoon and his buddies. Following the cartoonish opening which relates how someone's stealing all of the family thieving secrets from the Thievius Raccoonus and that simply can't happen. So, despite settling down with Carmelita Fox (who's been tracking his alter ego Sly), it's back into the world of the sneaky stealth with an adventure aimed at going back and forth in time.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will be out on the PS3 too, so it's perhaps a little unfair to say that the PS Vita demo I had some time with does little with the features of the VITA. Sure, there's a bit of tapping the screen front and back, but no real sign yet that it's likely to utilise all that's been on show. As I say, early days...

The platformer skews young and cartoony but it's actually quite knockabout fun. Taking on the roles of Sly, sidekicks Murray and Bentley, this animated Back to the Future theft story is going to really appeal to families, looking to gather around the PS for a bit of fun and frolics in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

Sly can do all of his usual antics - sneak, rush, jump and collect tokens; Murray bashes everything in sight and Bentley uses computer wizardry to help from behind the scenes. In one section, you get to be the firewall breaker by a mini game aimed at you taking down a CPU from within. It's great bitesize fun with heaps of collectibles to gather, loot to unlock and treasure to collect. After breaking into a museum in Paris (the opening level) it's off to feudal Japan for a bit more sneakery - and it's here the game starts to reveal a few treasures of its own.

An open plan world gives the sense of sandbox, while not exactly widening up the scope of it, it certainly gives you more of a desire to explore rather than just do a mission, beat a boss and move on. Mini games lie within as well as the collectibles, so there seems to be hints of plenty to do if you feel like veering off from the main story and investing a bit of time in other mini quests. Throw in upgrades of costumes and an arcade section and there's scope aplenty.

All in all, Sly Cooper fans will get what they'd expect of this series and its latest outing which mixes time travel and platforming suggest plenty of fun ahead. Hopefully, the PS Vita will be tested a little (otherwise the simple port over from the PS3 could annoy some) but Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time looks like a promising addition to the platforming world.

Sly Cooper Thieves in Time is due out March 2013.

God of War: Ascension Controller revealed...

God of War: Ascension Controller Revealed

In anticipation for the release of Santa Monica Studios' epic mythological masterpiece; God of War: Ascension, Sony Computer Entertainment has created a special edition DUALSHOCK®3 Wireless Controller for God of War fans.

The Kratos themed controller will be available to purchase at launch (13th March) alongside software for the game.

Sounds good to us!

Zero Dark Thirty: Movie Review

Zero Dark Thirty: Movie Review

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong, Mark Duplass, James Gandolfini, Joel Edgerton
Director: Kathryn Bigelow

From the Academy Award winning director of The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, comes this film, a look at the decade long hunt to track down and bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Based on first hand accounts of what happened, there's already critical buzz circling around this film, with talk of an Oscar on the way for its star (who has already claimed a Golden Globe).

Jessica Chastain stars as Maya, a CIA agent brought in to the hunt for bin Laden after the September 11th terror attacks. Initially reticent to take part in the controversial methods of torture (waterboarding, deprivation techniques) the CIA used out in the field, Maya begins to work a series of leads which she thinks will find bin Laden's courier.

But, at every turn, she finds obstacles in her path to pursuing this route - from the bosses at the CIA insisting she prevent attacks on the homeland rather than following a vendetta which isn't coming to fruition to reticence from agents in the region who believe she's wasting her time.

However, when Maya finds the compound where bin Laden's hiding, suddenly her decade long quest moves into sharp focus...

Zero Dark Thirty is a terrifically thrilling film, which takes its time to inveigle its way under your skin, but when it does, it refuses to let go.

Chastain is electrifying as Maya, the initially wet behind the ears agent, who refuses to take part in the torture of suspects but whose life outlook is changed when her friends are killed and she goes from wavering agent to steely determined agent, who's looking for success no matter what the outcome. But Chastain's great strength in this role is how it gradually builds up to this point and how plausible she makes the character's motivations. When her friends are killed in a bomb attack, Maya explains how she believes she was spared and intones that she's going to "smoke everyone involved in the operation. And then I'm going to kill bin Laden." It's to Chastain's credit that this key line is delivered plausibly and not in true Hollywood fashion with gung ho music and fists being punched in the air. We also know little of Maya outside of the job too - so it's understandable that she's so consumed by it all - and none of that lack of outside life matters to the portrayal as everything we need to know is up there on the screen.

And some of that credit must also be given to director Bigelow, who's fashioned a quiet thriller of a film which builds to a stunning final sequence which follows the Navy SEALS who took down bin Laden's compound. That edge of your seat action is so compelling, heart-stopping and clinical in its direction and execution. Kathryn Bigelow's also pulled together a film which gets the best from its actors and delivers a career defining acting killer punch from her lead. It's also respectful too - there are no gloating shots of bin Laden's body, which is only subtly seen through a digital camera snap. Some may feel it's a propaganda piece, but that's missing the point - at the end of the day, this is about one of the CIA's best kept secrets, an examination of the drive and determination of one woman, out to get justice.

Tautly paced, superbly directed and powerfully acted, Zero Dark Thirty deserves all the acclaim it's currently getting. I'd be highly surprised if this doesn't receive an Oscar nod when the time comes a little later this year.

Rating:

The Imposter: Movie Review

The Imposter: Movie Review

Cast: Frederic Bourdin, Carey Gibson, Beverly Dollarhide, Bryan Gibson
Director: Bart Layton

This documentary tore up the New Zealand Film Festival this year, with those who saw it raving about it. And now, those of us a bit slower on the hype bandwagon get to see what the fuss is all about.

Crikey, it's well worth a watch as well.

Director Bart Layton's taken the 1997 case of Frederic Bourdin, a serial chameleon, whose MO is to take on the lives of missing children. In 97, Bourdin decided to take on the persona of a missing teenager, Nicholas Barclay, who'd gone missing from his Texas home.

Only at the time, Bourdin was in Spain, and managed to persuade the authorities that Barclay had been kidnapped by the military and trafficked abroad....

Consequently, Barclay's family welcomed him into their home and believed him to be back in their lives....but that's when the alarm bells began to ring.

The Imposter is a superlative documentary, a richly woven tale which grabs you from the minute you read the premise to how it spools out on screen.

Every twist and turn has you screaming "WTF" and "How is that even possible" for a 23 year old man to inveigle his way into a family's life and to tell such barefaced and outrageous lies to get into their lives. But the real kick in the piece comes as the documentary begins to truly show its hand - and to reveal any more of that is to totally destroy the experience.

Using recreations, re-enactments and interviews from Bourdin and Barclay's family, Layton's pulled together an utterly slick and compelling piece which grips you in its vice and doesn't let go throughout its 90 minutes duration. He's employed some clever narrative techniques as well which keep you engaged as the story is told.

But, here's the thing about The Imposter - it's jaw dropping in its execution as the mystery really starts to set in. Everything in you questions how the family could believe that it's their child, how the authorities could be taken in and how Bourdin had the audacity to get as far as he did. Even Bourdin himself confesses, he never thought he'd get as far as he did - given the missing boy was a blonde haired blue eyed all American kid - and he was a brown eyed, half Algerian/ French dark haired man. He's got Keyser Soze like tendencies as he looks around him, initially when found by authorities to absorb his surroundings to his own benefit.

Layton manages to provide some answers about why Bourdin does what he does and delves a little into the psyche of the chameleon, but even more than that, you don't quite get the resolution on why the family goes along with it all. There are suspicions as this Pandora's box is opened wide, but this slickly put together piece has the cumulative effect of picking you up, spinning you around in your seat and plonking you back down puzzled, incredulous and confused as to how it may end.

Placing into sharp focus the closed minds of some Americans (one family member when told Nicholas was in Spain says "Isn't that, like, across the country?") this tonally deft piece of film-making demands you see it. It's a contender for one of the films of the year - already - and it's an utter must see for its story alone, as well as its high production values.

Compelling, riveting and sensational, it's one of the smartest films of 2013 - narratively rich and technically impressive, it raises the bar for future documentaries by being simple, yet sleek and never losing focus of what it's doing.

Rating

Samurai Jack - Complete Collection: DVD Review

Samurai Jack - Complete Collection: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Madman Home Entertainment


One of the most influential cartoons of the 21st century, Samurai Jack heralded some of the earliest work of Genndy Tartakovsky.

It's the tale of a Samurai, Jack, who's a displaced in time samurai warrior and who's fighting to avenge the death of his father against the demon Aku. But, as Jack's about to bring down Aku, he's sent forward in time. And so, begins Jack's quest to get back to the past.

Samurai Jack is a brilliant series, which will appeal to fans of Tartakovsky's lightning quick animation and trademark humour. With creatures of legend and moments which reference the Samurai films of the past, it's quite reverential and reminiscent of Kung Fu, the old TV series.

With all 4 seasons collected together, Samurai Jack is a must have for fans of the animation genre.

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Death Row - Into The Abyss: DVD Review

Death Row - Into The Abyss: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

German director Werner Herzog returns to the doco format after a brief outing as the bad guy in the Jack Reacher movie.

This time, he turns his attention to the death penalty in Texas by following a series of people, locked up for murders in parts of the region. A series of four stories, each looks at the cases involved in very great detail and at the ramifications of what lies ahead for the killers, their families, and the people affected by their actions.

With a viewpoint vehemently opposed to the death penalty, Herzog's crafted a series of pieces which aren't sentimental or skewed to his viewpoint, but which instead look at all facets of what's occurred and examine the human condition.

Hauntingly told, and in depth, they're likely to get under your skin as you realise the futility of what these people have done, how the system affects them and why it will never be a perfect world. Using a series of occasionally unorthodox questions, Herzog eschews the usual line of interrogation and instead manages to get under their skin in a way most doco makers would never achieve.

Extras: Four mini docos as well as a feature length film are enough material for this set.

Rating:

Three new Host posters unveiled

Three new Host posters unveiled

Three new posters from Stephenie Meyers' The Host have been released.

The Host starring Saoirse Ronan is due out in March and is directed by Gattaca's Andrew Niccol.