Evolve: PS4 Review

Evolve: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by 2K Studios

It's time to do the monster smash with Evolve, the latest from Turtle Rock and 2K Studios.

It's a team based game that sees you taking on a monster intent on marauding and causing chaos - but the twist is that you can be the fifth person in the game and take on the character of the monster as you stomp and kill your way to potential victory.

A clever take on the old hunters becoming the hunted game, Evolve is tremendously good fun to play with the spirit evoking the old Godzilla films in more ways than one. Starting off as the creature, you get to work your way up by hunting animals and eating them (thus kickstarting your evolution) and smashing and destroying buildings as part of the raison d'etre. But as ever, this kind of behaviour doesn't go unnoticed and soon you're facing a group of hunters of different classes (medics, assault, trapper and support) all hellbent on bringing you down.

The final showdowns are good fun to play with unpredictability and fraught anguish as you try desperately to get out of traps, wires and bombs all aimed at you. Success means a chance for your creature to go to the next level and grow into something even more deadly.

Which is all very well until it comes to the other side of the coin and you're facing off against a creature as part of a team. Then the rush to kill it before it evolves is something a little more critical as you work as a component of the multi-player to get it all together and to try and save the day.

But, herein lies some of the problem of Evolve - its multiplayer assets haven't worked as well for me as I'd have expected. There have been some frustrations getting to be part of games and even getting into the servers in the first place. When it's worked, Evolve has worked well, but there's been a little bit of a hit and miss process getting there and it's one that I'd have expected to have worked itself out by now (hence the reason for holding this review past release to give the game base a chance to grow)

Technically, visually and aurally, Evolve is evocative and in keeping with its genre. Its clever use of environment and sounds mean you feel like you're there and with the characters in the games evolving as time goes by, this feels like a rounded experience that's heading somewhere.

All in all, Evolve feels like the first evolution of something great; it's not quite there yet but with some nurturing and some patience, it could be a great game. It's just a shame that a few pieces here and there hold it back from scaling the heights of greatness that early reveals promised to make.

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Kidnapping Mr Heineken: Film Review

Kidnapping Mr Heineken: Film Review

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Kwanten
Director: Daniel Alfredson

This story of the true life kidnapping of Freddy Heineken is the second telling of the same tale.

The Swedish director Alfredson (best known for his entrants into the Millennium trilogy) brings together the story of five friends who were financially down on their luck but determined to change things around.

After the recession hit and the group lost money, cash was becoming scarce for Cor Van Hout (Sturgess) and his pals (in among their number is True Blood star Ryan Kwanten and Avatar's Sam Worthington). With a successful robbery in the bag, the boys turn their swagger and attention to someone bigger and kidnap the heir to the Heineken brewery Freddy (a rather muted Hopkins) and decide to hold him ransom.

But time passes and the boys don't quite get the reception they want to their demands....and with the pressure mounting internally, their breaking point rapidly approaches.

Slick and flashy the first portion of Kidnapping Mr Heineken feels like a heist movie made in Hollywood, replete with car chases in Amsterdam and shots being sprayed left right and centre.

But it's here that some of the problems of Kidnapping Mr Heineken emerge; very little is done to set up the main characters in the group with really only Sturgess and Worthington getting the deeper treatment (perhaps that's unsurprising given that it's based on von Hout's book) - all have a range of accents too, with Worthington's Aussie twang being the chief offender which does little to set the tone of the piece or the inept group themselves.

Hopkins channels some of the calm psychosis that he had as Hannibal Lecter during his captivity as Mr Heineken, with hints of a deeper psychological game being played with the kidnappers (another thread that's under-developed), but these scenes skate along with hardly any back and forth for you to latch onto.

It's left to the overly bombastic OST to help set the mood and the group's subsequent demise (which comes out of left-field) and that does little to push Kidnapping Mr Heineken into taut thrilling territory.

While Sturgess and Worthington are solid players and Hopkins does brilliantly with his few scenes, there's little more at stake than just a once-over-lightly approach to the story and blatant exposition.

All in all Kidnapping Mr Heineken does little to fully capture your attention; a little more depth here and there would have worked wonders and left this brew with a stronger after-taste rather than the slightly sour and bitter one that you're left with when the lights go up.

Rating:

Deep Silver unveils new studio

Deep Silver unveils new studio

Deep Silver UNVEILS THEIR THIRD STUDIO,
DEEP SILVER DAMBUSTER STUDIOS

First title, Homefront®: The Revolution will ship in 2016

Sydney, Australia - March 13, 2015 - Deep Silver today unveiled the new logo and website for their latest AAA in-house development team – Deep Silver Dambuster Studios – and set out their vision for the makers of upcoming open-world FPS, Homefront®: The Revolution.

Dambuster Studios was founded in July 2014, in Nottingham, UK. Lead by Hasit Zala (also Game Director on Homefront: The Revolution) the studio currently numbers 126 staff, the vast majority of whom are veterans of Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design).

Development on Homefront: The Revolution continues at full speed, with the game now scheduled for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Mac, as well as Windows and Linux PC in 2016.

“We are excited that Deep Silver’s acquisition of the Homefront IP and assets from Crytek has allowed development of Homefront: The Revolution to continue with minimum disruption,” said Hasit Zala. “The team here believes we are working on something truly special.”

“Dambuster Studios are an extraordinarily talented group,” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO Deep Silver. “We are giving the team every opportunity to turn Homefront: The Revolution into a best-selling title, and have set a 2016 release date to provide them the time they need to achieve this. You can expect to hear more about the game later this year.” 

Full details of PS4 update unveiled

Full details of PS4 update unveiled

PLAYSTATION®4 USHERS IN THE FUTURE OF PLAY AS SOFTWARE UPDATE VERSION 2.50, “YUKIMURA,” GETS READY TO LAUNCH

Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand (SCE NZ) has today revealed full details around the imminent PlayStation®4 (PS4) System Software Update Version 2.50, “Yukimura,” making the world’s most powerful system, more socially connected than ever before. The first major update of 2015 will become available soon, and will see the arrival of a range of new features and improvements, including the arrival of the much anticipated Suspend & Resume functionality, allowing players to suspend and resume games near-instantly at the touch of the power button. Other key features include 60fps streaming for both Remote and Share Play and improved trophy integration. In addition, “Yukimura” will also see the arrival of Facebook friend finder features and the ability to share PS4 footage directly to Dailymotion. ”Yukimura” makes it more convenient than ever to play on the world’s most powerful console with the introduction of System Suspend & Resume functionality. This feature allows Players to seamlessly suspend their PS4 during gameplay and resume playing from exactly where they left off*1 at the touch of a button, putting PS4 into standby mode without interrupting long sessions of play. Another standout feature of the update is the ability for Players to stream both Share Play and Remote Play at 60 frames-per-second*2. This jump in streaming quality offers Players with high-speed Internet connections a loss-less experience when playing through a secondary device, maintaining the lightning-quick performance that Players have come to expect from PS4. Making all aspects of gaming a more social experience, ”Yukimura” improves trophy integration by automatically capturing a screenshot at the moment each is earned, making it easier than ever for Players to share their greatest gaming moments on PS4 with friends. This process has also been streamlined with the ability for trophies to be shared via a press of the Share button on DUALSHOCK®4 wireless controller. Another major addition for “Yukimura” is the ability for subaccounts to be promoted to master accounts via PS4 for those Players who are over the age of 18, giving full control to the account holder whilst retaining their existing PlayStation®Network profile, complete with trophies and entitlements. Players who turn 18 will be prompted via the PS4 UI to provide the updated information required to graduate to a master account. Ensuring PS4 is the most socially connected console experience; “Yukimura” also introduces the ability to import your Facebook friends directly onto your PS4 friends list, giving players greater opportunity to find each other and play together. When sharing standout PS4 moments via the Share button on DUALSHOCK®4, “Yukimura” also allows Players to upload directly to Dailymotion, providing more choice of services and options to share their PS4 game play moments. "Yukimura" also introduces a wide variety of supporting features designed to heighten the user experience on PS4, including inverted colours on screen, text to speech, enlarged text, a bolder fonts, higher contrast user interface options as well as the ability to zoom for displayed pictures .　Users will also be able to assign custom button configurations for the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller to suit their particular needs, ensuring all Player’s have a control setup that fits their habits and play-styles. The PS4 System Software Update Version 2.5, codenamed “Yukimura” will be available soon to players in New Zealand.  For more information and a full list of features please visit http://nz.playstation.com.

NZIFF 2015 Autumn Events unveiled

NZIFF 2015 Autumn Events unveiled

Bertolucci, The Beatles, Kubrick and Pinocchio. NZIFF presents giant screen classics at Autumn Events.

Putting spectacular cinema classics onto spectacular cinema screens is one of the great pleasures of working at NZIFF. Every winter we relish the challenge of breaking out the new, but there’s something strangely refreshing about revitalising the tried and the true every autumn. For the third year our Autumn Events Classic Film screenings aim to provide the perfect supplement to the popular revival screenings at the annual mid-winter festival. Walt Disney’s Pinocchio and two very different Kubrick epics – Spartacus and2001: A Space Odyssey – all come to us in freshly minted studio digital transfers, while new digital restorations give us the best possible reason to celebrate A Hard Day’s Night and Bertolucci’s ravishing The Conformist. As the HD era continues apace, the choice of great films in digital formats expands. Films conceived to be projected on the grand scale are a priority for us – and no one ever accused Walt Disney, Bernardo Bertolucci or Stanley Kubrick of thinking small. We also love the sense of occasion that gathers around films best seen in a crowd: Beatlemania works so much better as a group activity. You don’t have to have been there the first time around to know that. In fact I’m a little envious of anyone encountering these films for the first time at these screenings: they will be looking astounding and sounding terrific. Go straight to our site or scroll down for links to screening details for all five films. And because giving is what we like to do, you’ll find an extra March giveaway at the end of this extra March newsletter. Bill Gosden Director NZIFF Autumn Events Classic Movies in Auckland screen from Thursday 16 April through to Sunday 19 April at The Civic. NZIFF Autumn Events Classic Movies in Wellington will screen across three weekends in May at the Embassy Theatre. Tickets will be on sale directly from the Embassy Theatre. On sale date to be advised. NZIFF Autumn Events in Dunedin screen from Friday 17 April to Sunday 19 April at the Regent Dunedin. Tickets are now on sale directly from the Regent Dunedin. NZIFF Autumn Events in Christchurch will screen across three weekends in May at Hoyts Riccarton, starting on Saturday 2 May. Tickets will be on sale directly from Hoyts Riccarton. On sale date to be advised. Classic Movies screening at NZIFF Autumn Events 2015 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick’s looming monolith of sci-fi spectacle needs no introduction. But can you say you have truly seen 2001 if you haven’t seen it on a giant cinema screen? “It feels as intelligent and provocative as ever, bearing years of conceptual dreaming. Until today’s equivalent of novelist Arthur C. Clarke commits a hefty chunk of time to envisioning the beginning of human civilization, as well as the far ends of the future, there will be no new film that supplants it.” — Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York Spartacus Young Stanley Kubrick stepped up to filmmaking on the grand scale to direct the most literate and enjoyable of all Hollywood’s ancient-Rome epics. Producer/star Kirk Douglas is forever remembered as the shirtless rebel slave, but it’s the rest of the cast who give the film its zest. The immortal “I am Spartacus” aside, it’s the villains that have the best lines in writer Dalton Trumbo’s sly characterisation of the decadent and divided slave-trading one percent. The Conformist Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 masterpiece is a psychological-political thriller set in Mussolini’s Italy. A monument to art deco style, The Conformist intoxicates with its exultant design and chills with its furious, contained energy. This new release is the result of a 2011 restoration from original source materials, supervised by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and approved by Bertolucci. Pinocchio It takes a giant screen to reveal the wealth of detail literally drawn into every frame of this 75-year-old Disney wonder. With battalions of animators at his disposal, Disney transformed Carlo Collodi’s fairy tale about an obnoxious living puppet into an action-packed moral fable about a gullible one – and a virtuoso example of pure cinematic storytelling. A Hard Day's Night “A glorious new 4K digital restoration with a remixed and remastered soundtrack produced by Giles Martin (son of longtime Beatles producer George Martin). The movie certainly hasn’t looked or sounded this good since 1964 and the net effect is one of wonder and revelation.” — Andrew O’Hehir,Salon.com

Still Life: Film Review

Still Life: Film Review

Cast: Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt
Director: Uberto Pasolini


The wonderful Eddie Marsan stars in this beautifully poignant drama.

Marsan is John May, a quietly unassuming man who's spent his 22 years at the South London council trying to help those who've died alone. His job is finding next of kin and trying to get them to funerals that he's organised. But in many cases, there is nobody - so John is the one who stands there alone, writing eulogies and farewelling those who have moved on.

But, despite the thoroughness and the attention to detail with which he runs his world, the council decides his job is no longer necessary and makes him redundant. He's given three days to close his last case - and prepare for the inevitable...

Still Life is an utterly wonderfully English film that reeks of sentiment and heart. thanks to the carefully measured and precise performance delivered by Marsan. Each case is meticulously investigated and every lead pursued with the forensic precision of a criminal investigator. With his gentle touch, nuanced performance and ensuring every single moment counts, Marsan is a tragic joy to watch in this. Every sequence with him aches with pathos and heart - and it's all down to the work done by Eddie Marsan.

While the investigation of the last case perhaps inevitably heads toward a saccharine conclusion, it still doesn't lose any of its power and certainly the last act had me wiping away a tear as the speeches, reflections and observations on life continue to hit him time and time again. It's also the eye for the details as well which hit perfectly - from a flat of the deceased that's got drying laundry hanging from everywhere to a head impression in a pillow which will no longer be used, every last moment is perfectly positioned and executed.

"You're a rare thing, Mr May" is one of the lines uttered in this piece, and it could be said of Eddie Marsan, who delivers an unassuming tour de force in this. 

Recommended as a reminder why life counts and why the small man is an ambition to aim for. 

Rating:

Chappie: Film Review

Chappie: Film Review

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Watkin Tudor Jones, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Contillo
Director: Neill Blomkamp

Director Neill Blomkamp keeps the South African flag flying with another flick that's a curious hybrid of sci-fi, violence and comedy set in and around the ghettos and slums of Johannesburg.

(Chappie's the extended version of Blomkamp's own 80 second short film from 2003, which you can view below)



In Chappie, it's the not too distant future and Jo'burg police are losing the fight against crime. Thankfully, an armed force of robots (designed by Dev Patel's local tech boffin Deon) is helping bring down the scourge from the streets.

But Deon's simultaneously working on an Artifical Intelligence programme to help evolve the cyber cops to the next level. When one of the robots is slated for decommissioning and against the word of CEO Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver, who barely features) Deon takes the robot for his own scientific plans.

However, when Deon's kidnapped by a group of thugs (South African rappers Die Antwoord Ninja and Yolandi), the AI's injected into the robot who becomes a mild and meek child-like creation called Chappie - and the lynchpin in a battle between good and evil / nature and nurture begins.

Chappie is not the film perhaps you'd been expecting from the visionary director of Elysium and District 9 Neill Blomkamp.

Which is, in this case, a good thing.

Mixing in his trademark documentary opening style, with some incredible mo-cap work from Sharlto Copley and the CGI wizards at WETA, the robot (as in Johnny Five's Short Circuit) is the centre of the emotional core of a film that juggles some all out guns-blazing Robocop style violence, Terminator musical stylings and some utterly loopy logic that forgoes any kind of sense in favour of a lunatic riff on Transcendence (ironic for a film that's about a robot and AI).

It's Copley's film by half with his overly eager, child-like and catchphrase quotable droid ("Chappie wants his book") providing the laughs -and heart - in what could only be described as a cartoon-like riff on parenting and growing up in the visually appealing ghettos of South Africa.

Inevitably, the tropes of the genre are all infused into this occasionally day-glo pulpy styled film - will the robot follow the creator's ethos or those who raise him just being one of the sci-fi cliches that's rolled out in a fairly simplistic story, that defies logic and belief as the end rolls around. (Complete with character choices and actions which seem out of place from all that's gone on)

Hugh Jackman growls and scowls as the khaki-shorted, mulleted frustrated and sidelined former soldier who advocates more for a shoot them all philosophy from his droids but does little else, Dev Patel brings a degree of warmth as the Frankenstein creator who wants to teach Chappie to paint and read rather than become a gun-toting, chain-wearing, mother-funking gangsta and Sigourney Weaver barely warms the screen as the number-crunching bottom line espousing CEO.

It's perhaps the rappers who offer the weakest one-note performance with Ninja's self-named gangster appearing to think he's in Grand Theft Auto the cinema version and who borders on R-rated parody as he shoots everything around him. Yolandi gives it a little more heart as the mother but ultimately ends up a little too bland to stand out despite the day-glo clothes and coloured weapons they all tout.

In among the action sequences, Blomkamp's eye for detail and co-ordinated chaos comes to the fore again; but it's just a shame that Chappie's intelligent ideas are thrown out of the window in favour of typical action blockbuster fare - the philosophies of nature/nurture are ditched to make way for an R rated fish out of water comedy that humanises the robot and demonises a large percentage of the human population.

Granted, Chappie is, to be fair, a little scrappy.

However, it's also a truly disposable piece of bubblegum blockbuster whose simplistic story, occasional robotic cuteness and execution subverts some of the sci-fi norm and audience expectations, but which wears its disarming heart and humour on its robotic arm.

Rating: