Shadow of Mordor: Game of the year edition unveiled

Shadow of Mordor: Game of the year edition unveiled

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition.  The expanded version of the award-winning third-person open world action game, developed by Monolith Productions will launch in New Zealand on May 14 for $99.95 on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor earned enthusiastic reviews when it launched this past spring, winning more than 25 awards including Game of the Year at the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards and eight awards from the 2015 D.I.C.E. Awards amongst many others. Featuring the innovative Nemesis System, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition expands on the critically-acclaimed original title, which includes the main game and all currently available downloadable content (DLC) packs, allowing fans to experience hours of added gameplay and content including:

●        Story Packs: The Lord of The Hunt and The Bright Lord

●        Skins: The Dark Ranger, Captain of the Watch, Lord of the Hunt, The Bright Lord, Power of Shadow and Lithariel Skins

●        Runes: Hidden Blade, Deadly Archer, Flame of Anor, Rising Storm, Orc Slayer, Defiant to the End, Elven Grace, Ascendant, One with Nature

●        Missions: Guardians of the Flaming Eye, The Berserks and The Skull Crushers Warband Missions

●        Challenge Modes: Test of Power, Test of Speed, Test of Wisdom, Endless Challenge, Test of the Wild, Test of the Ring, Test of Defiance Challenge Modes

●        Additional Features: Photo Mode

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor delivers a dynamic game environment where the player orchestrates their personal plan of vengeance as they bend Mordor to their will. The game begins on the night of Sauron’s return to Mordor, as his Black Captains brutally execute the Rangers of the Black Gate. Players become Talion, a ranger who loses his family and everything he holds dear, only to be returned from death by a mysterious spirit of vengeance. Based on the player’s actions with the in-game Nemesis System, every enemy encountered is distinct and can evolve to become a personal archenemy through the course of the game.  As Talion’s personal vendetta unfolds, players uncover the mystery of the spirit that compels him, discover the origin of the Rings of Power and confront the ultimate nemesis.

Destiny: Livestream for Trials of Osiris

Destiny: Livestream for Trials of Osiris

Bungie is about to unveil the latest addition to Destiny - Trials of Osiris.

Watch the Destiny Trials of Osiris Livestream here:

Watch live video from Bungie on www.twitch.tv

Boychoir: Film Review

Boychoir: Film Review

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas, Debra Winger, Kevin McHale, Garett Wareing, Joe West
Director: Francois Girard

Heavenly voices, predictable story and made for TV movie moments.

That pretty much sums up Boychoir, from the French director Girard (The Red Violin). It's the story of Stet, a troubled kid (played sympathetically by Wareing) whose life is chaos at school and turbulent at home with an alcoholic mother.

When the unthinkable happens, Stet finds his life at a cross-roads and despite failing an audition to enter a prestigious musical academy, Stet's estranged father (Josh Lucas) ends up making the school a financial offer it can't afford to ignore to secure him a place, rather than face the indignity of telling his current wife and family that Stet exists.

Thrust into the Harry Potter style school, complete with blonde-haired nemesis and prodigy Devon (West), Stet becomes the underdog in his campaign to get a place on the touring American Boychoir. But under the tutelage of the brisk Carvelle (a genial Hoffman) and a puffy English teacher (Eddie Izzard), will Stet find his voice?

Boychoir hits the right notes in many places, doing exactly what you'd expect of a crowd-pleasing feel good movie that's probably more at home on the small screen than the big.

While there are certainly goosebumps to be had with the singing scenes, the relative one-note characters and drama outside of the Harry Potter and the Chamber Choir antics (Izzard is Snape, Hoffman is Dumbledore, Devon is Draco etc etc) is under-cooked and poorly serviced in terms of development.

Girard steers clear of too much sentimentality though, with several scenes which could have wallowed in the moment brusquely dealt with to help the film's flow. Though, along with Stet's father's dilemma being largely confined to looking troubled through a window, more could have been made of that situation and the crux of the Boychoir dilemma - namely, that their heavenly voices have only a short window to shine through before nature cruelly drops them down a level. Missed opportunities scatter this aria throughout and conspire to drag the film down.

It's a restrained Hoffman who generates some empathy and warmth from Carvelle, whose relationship with Stet could have easily fallen into some kind of musical Full Metal Jacket scenario, but wisely shows the power a proficient and caring teacher can make to a child's life. Wareing manages well too in his first lead, with the wide-eyed and naturalistic turn helping the more predictable and by-the-numbers elements of the plot along.

Ultimately, Boychoir offers a feeling of deja-vu; in the likes of Mr Holland's Opus, we've seen it all before, but, thanks to a lack of over-egging the pudding, the one note nature of the story just about manages to leave you with a warm glow.

Rating:

Just Cause 3 Gameplay Trailer

Just Cause 3 Gameplay Trailer

Square Enix and Avalanche Studios are delighted to debut the world-first gameplay reveal trailer for Just Cause 3. Captured straight from actual gameplay, the trailer shows Rico Rodriguez unleashing his unique brand of chaos and destruction across the Mediterranean island paradise of Medici as he seeks to destroy General Di Ravello’s hold on power by any means necessary.

Pre-order Just Cause 3 at participating retailers and secure the Weaponised Vehicle Pack, shown at the end of the trailer. The Weaponised Vehicle Pack includes 3 x exclusive luxury vehicles primed for action and fully loaded with the firepower to kick start a revolution.

Just Cause 3 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC in Holiday 2015.

Halo 5 Guardians cover unveiled

Halo 5 Guardians cover unveiled

The official cover art for “Halo 5: Guardians” has been revealed, with the title set to launch on October 27, 2015.

Last week, several cryptic images were released to various online channels across the globe with no instructions, no explanations and no references to the Halo universe. It didn’t take long for “Halo Nation” to scour the Internet to piece together the mystery to reveal the artwork.   

Xbox also unveiled a special video version that highlights the Spartan fireteams that play a crucial role in the showdown between the Master Chief and Spartan Locke. Who are these Spartans?  This and many more mysteries will be uncovered as we draw closer to the world premiere of “Halo 5: Guardians” at E3 2015.  Join us we #HUNTtheTRUTH.

Cobain: Montage of Heck: Film Review

Cobain: Montage of Heck: Film Review

Stars: Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Krist Novoselic
Director: Brett Morgen

Kurt Cobain - legend, junkie, father, suicide victim.

There's already so much which has been said about Cobain's brief 27 years on the earth and so much charted about the rise of Nirvana. So you could be forgiven for thinking this documentary had nothing new to cover, except to rake over the coals of long simmering resentments, reigniting old discussions about whether Courtney was the Yoko of the band and remember the tragedy of his passing.

But Brett Morgen (director of The Kid Stays in the Picture) manages to do something that rejuvenates the musical doco genre and breathes new life into a subject, long presumed fully researched.

Morgen was granted access to home movie footage from the Cobain family, access to Kurt's journals, drawings and tape recordings (which he didn't know existed); it's a wealth of information and one which gives an all access pass to the man's life, fears, hopes, dreams and consequently gets the most intimate insight into Cobain ever committed to celluloid.

Choosing to tell Cobain's story right from the start of his childhood years of misery in Aberdeen, Washington where he was a child of divorce (a rarity of the time) through to the bullying at school before the struggles and ultimate success of the band, this is the classic and time often told story of a tortured genius.

But Morgen chooses to use audio recordings from Cobain come vividly to life with animation, a move that borders on genuinely inspirational.  Animations in the style of Waking Life / Waltz With Bashir flesh out the past, leap off the screen and bring to life what could have simply been dry talking heads. Morgen also opts for a very small number of interviewees (no Dave Grohl though)  - including Cobain's first girlfriend who's never spoken before - which lends further intimacy to the proceedings (though it would have been beneficial to have heard more from Cobain Sr) and means the usual spouting talking heads who've been so outspoken on Cobain are kept quiet.

Pulling together footage from the band's early days through to Cobain's bizarre performance at the Reading Festival where he emerged in a wheelchair, the music is front and centre, guaranteed to give any Nirvana fan the aural thrill they seek.

The exhaustive nature of the doco and the wealth of material occasionally means that Morgen's direction sometimes feels a little overwhelmed, but the narrative thread is nicely woven through; however, it hits a minor stumbling block with a lag at about 90 minutes which is a surprise. Then home video footage from Kurt and Courtney's drug-addled time in their apartment stuns you into realising what was happening to the rocker and it's captivating in its weirdness as the pair loll around like Sid and Nancy before a damning Vanity Fair article takes aim.

Confessions from Love of a potential near-miss affair add new light to Cobain's first suicide attempt and a long bow is drawn to an inference that Cobain's fear of humiliation could have led to suicide (an implication that could have been probed further), but there's never any vilification here of any parties, merely an access to all the materials to help you draw your own conclusions. Eqaully, footage of a clearly drug-addled Cobain with his daughter Frances Bean is upsetting and harrowing, a sign that a father was losing his way.

With the lights out, it's no less dangerous - and Cobain: Montage of Heck, which will become the bar to which all future musical documentaries will be held up, certainly does entertain us. Perhaps in ways that really almost feel a little too close to the subject.

Cobain: Montage of Heck (based on a title from a mixtape Morgen found) is both exhaustive and exhausting (it could have stood to lose maybe 20 minutes) but it's a raw, unflinching, surprisingly intimate portrait of a hyper-sensitive artist and an unwilling spokesman for a generation, who will find new fans some 20 years after his death.

Rating:

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China Review

 Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China Review

Developed by Climax Studios
Platform: PS4

The Assassins' Creed series gets a much needed step away from its usual format with an unusual first release in what will ultimately amount to a trilogy.

It's also the first of the franchise to feature a female lead in its 2.5D release and one which will see you either hating - or loving - the aesthetics of the game.

You play Shao Jun in 1526, during the downfall of the Ming Dynasty. With the brotherhood of assassins despatched, it's up to you to wreak vengeance and restore order to China from the shadows and from upon high or low.

Predominantly,  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a lot about sneaking around and killing from a distance rather than outright combat. Shao has only a few bars of health, and despite the ability to leap free like a very flighty thing, when it comes to fighting, she's somewhat easily despatched, even with swords and knives to use.

So, it's a lot of skulking which makes  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China the game that it is - and it suffers a little for it unfortunately. Also suffering is the story-telling and character as all you're doing is moving from location to location, trying to complete tasks, earning Assassin's Gold (your way of levelling up) by completing jobs in the best possible outcome (ie not a lot of combat) and moving to the next location. It's all very reminiscent of Counterspy which was released earlier last year and sees a spy infiltrating Russian locales trying to defuse bombs and save the day.

But it's not to say that it's not eminently playable, more that it's a frustrating occasion. Saves don't always seem to work, meaning you can complete a task, do what needs to be done, move on and die - and suddenly, you have to do it all again. It's time constraining, annoying and irritating to retrace some of your trickier steps to make it all happen again.

Anything but stealth alerts a series of guards (a countdown clock to alert comes up if you're discovered) and creates more trouble than it's worth; so combat is really quite limited. Equally, your ability to carry only a couple of weapons (no more than 2) is a niggle as well, causing you to have to think laterally to solve tasks.

Being graded at the end of each section helps you know what to achieve, but also points out the problematic nature of anything but stealth; points are docked for dead bodies being discovered - which I suppose is in keeping with the Assassin's nature.

But it's graphically that the game looks impressive.

From its side-scrolling which won't set the world alight, there's a lot been brought to bear in the feel of the game, which looks like an ancient Chinese scroll, complete with gorgeous paint brush swishes and blood red palettes. It's visually gorgeous and well in keeping with the actual world within. As you move between worlds, the next gen elements of the PS4 come to life, making it feel like a diaorama that's opening out for you to enjoy and be amazed at. Occasionally, with the platforming nature of it all, and the back and forth flatness in places, it does feel a little iOS and suited to a small screen, so it's not all perfect.

All in all,  Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China is a good solid start to the spin off series. While it does feel like a DLC rather than a full-on game (even though it has a reduced price), it remains to be seen if the next two titles bring the series together in a surprising way.

Rating: