Doctor Who Legacy - Talking its 2 year life and the future

Doctor Who Legacy - Talking its 2 year life and the future

With Doctor Who celebrating its 52 anniversary this November and Christmas on the way too, it’s never been a better time to pick up Doctor Who Legacy, the gem-matching game that also matches up a lot of the show’s history.

It’s the perfect gift for Xmas too for all ages to enjoy before the appearance of the Doctor on our festive tellies.
The game’s celebrating its second year anniversary as well this year and has launched some new premium content for fans of all ages to enjoy. There’s the Kids Content which aims at players of younger ages, and the Sonic Adventures which is a slightly trickier proposition for games with bombs and strategy needing to be deployed.

But Tiny Rebel Games has never lost sight of the community it serves – and while there were initial launch problems for some with the Premium content, both Lee and Susan from TRG tirelessly worked through the contacts and replied to everyone individually (something which is incredible for the amount of work they have on).

Equally, a server issue at their end recently saw them reward their community with a free character once it was fixed, continuing their patented approach of community and players first.

So with the 2nd year anniversary just gone past, and with there never being a better time to buy the Premium content as a Christmas present for the Whovian in your life, I reached out to TRG for a chat about the content, the future and what the plans are for Christmas this year.

Susan Cummings from Tiny Rebel Games got back in touch (for which I am grateful for her time)


The Kids content evolved from Anna’s Playground, but how did the gorgeously adorable artwork come about?
The BBC had shown us some of the early art in the new style they were developing a bit before we launched Anna’s Playground, and we were all in the process of trying to decide what, if anything, we would do with it in Legacy. Once it became obvious that there was a significant demand for more younger-Whovian oriented content in the game things just fell together neatly. We loved the art style from the moment we saw it =)

What was your general desire for achievement with the Kids Content? And how has the Kids stuff been received?
Anna’s playground started because we were sitting around on Boxing day going through support tickets, and someone had emailed us about their daughter, Anna. By lunch time we had a level mocked up, designed around the idea that we could tweak the core gameplay enough to truly let young kids have a compelling experience on their own, and had emailed Anna’s father back asking for a list of her favorite enemies so we could personalize the level for her. Our desire was to do something for the daughter of one of our fans, but once it became clear there was demand for more if it, our desire changed to doing that the best way we could. In the short term, that meant launching a second Anna’s playground and then that shifted to doing a full Kids area for the game. We’re very happy about the reception to the Kids area by our amazing community =)

You’ve dropped some new levels, proving once unlocked, the investment in the game’s paid off – will there be more kids content on the way and what’s the ultimate plan?
Internally we’re treating the Kids area like the Fan Area – once unlocked we’re going to keep updating it as much as we can. The first level pack for the Kids area has already been released, and I hope to get a second one out after Christmas. I can’t see us doing less than 4 expansions to the area, hopefully a lot more than that.

Turning to The Sonic Adventures, your own spin-off series in many ways, what was the plan with that one – it introduces Jo Grant to the game, the Eric Roberts Master ; was it always the idea to have older characters within the game to reflect the show’s legacy?
At launch we began with the most recent seasons, with a plan to continue backwards as far as we could (ideally to An Unearthly Child), but after launch as we started talking to the BBC about new characters for the game, and the community made it very clear that these should include many classic characters.  We therefore shifted the whole of the Legacy project over to a much more “classic inclusive” position, while also trying to keep right up to date with canon alongside each new season. When we found out from the BBC that we were going to be able to start putting Sonics into the game we were faced with a decision – we could do this slowly over time as with any other ally, or we could try and do it all at once and wrap it all together in our first “real” expansion. By doing that we were able to put together a self-contained adventure including a massive selection of sonic devices from throughout canon, as well as many hours of gameplay. When we got to that point we started talking about how this would tie into the canon of the game, and I decided that we would treat it as a side story to chapter 4. If you’re a user who stays with only free content then you shouldn’t be effected by the fact that this adventure is happening off to one side. You shouldn’t feel pressured to go take part in it. But for those who do decide to join the first Doctor you get some insight into the larger chapter 4 story as the TV Movie Master spearheads a counterattack against the Doctor.

The self-contained adventure of The Sonic Adventures is quite tricky, how much thought goes into strategies for the game and is there anything else like you’d like to do with this series? Could it be expanded?
We’re always looking at new ways to change the core gameplay in order to keep players on their toes =) You’ll see more of this next year.

Are there other plans for Premium content within the game? Or is there something else you’d love to do within the Game?
The next chapter of Bigger on the Inside will be premium content, and will be heavily story driven. We have years’ worth of plans for the game. We’ve only just started =)

There may be some who feel that outside of the Sonic Adventures and the Fan area Frenemies level,  there’s little chance to continue levelling up to 60 without access to the Strands of Time – it must be hard for you to balance the freemium mode you’ve done so successfully with the need for continual re-investment into the game – how do you counter comments like that from the community? (Even with continual weekly free drops, there must be some pressure / desire to keep it financially sustainable)
The plan was always to give Sonic Adventure players access first, then the Fan Area, and then to everyone else – sadly some players will have to wait but considering that to have that complaint they’re likely 50 – 60 hours into the game without spending a penny to speed that up in any way, I’m sure they don’t mind waiting a little longer.

The game’s been going for 2 years now and with weekly story levels dropping for the current Peter Capaldi TV show, what’s been your proudest achievement with it?
We’re very proud of the fact that we’re the first mobile game in history to shadow a running TV show in this way, the fact that we’ve done it for two years, and the fact that we can do it for free to our users.  But I would say our proudest achievement is undoubtedly the amazing community we have.

What are the plans for the future of Doctor Who Legacy ? Given Season 9 ends soon, what’s next for DWLegacy?
In order:
Special Fan Area level coming in the next few weeks
More Titan Comics costumes and characters
“The Event” starts in the next few weeks
Signature Series in Fan Area
Bigger On the Inside, Chapter 2
Chapter 4 continuing
We have plans past that with the BBC which run through to the end of next year, however these are the ones I’m comfortable mentioning right now.

Will there be an Advent Calendar this year in December? And will you all be taking some well-deserved down time after the efforts you’ve poured into the game and the community?
We released this info yesterday!

2015 Advent Calendar plans!!  – There have been a lot of questions regarding the advent calendar plans for 2015, so here is the official reply: because season 9 of the show is running into December this year, and then we have to prepare for the Christmas episode, we haven’t had the space between the end of the TV season and the start of advent to plan and execute an additional month of free content. However, as we continue to say – users who financially support the game through unlocking the fan area deserve special recognition for what they’ve done (it’s the 5% of players who have financially supported the game over the last 2 years who have kept it going, not the 95% who don’t), so we’re doing a very special “SIGNATURE SERIES” of characters exclusively for the fan area.

Over the last year the team at Tiny Rebel have gone from one Doctor Who convention to the next in order to tell Whovians about the game. During these travels we met members of the cast of the show, we would thank them for agreeing to be in the game, and we started asking them something very specific – would you mind signing your in-game art so we can do a special series of characters for fans of the game. Enough said yes that, for the week before Christmas, the Fan Area will receive a new set of characters, re-balanced, each displaying the actor’s signature on the profile page.

The fan area launched with 9 levels, and now has over 50. We hope the addition of the Signature Series helps reinforce the promise we made when we launched the game – if you unlock the fan area we’re going to keep giving you unique goodies as a thank you for as long as we’re making the game.

Lee. Creative Director.

To play Doctor Who Legacy for free and get into the game that's got Whovians buzzing, click on the various formats below:

In The Heart of The Sea: Film Review

In The Heart of The Sea: Film Review

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Benjamin Walker
Director: Ron Howard

The tale of Moby Dick is not a new one by any stretch of the imagination.

But this true story whale tale sees Hemsworth and director Howard reuniting after the much-overlooked Rush to tell the story of the story of the sinking of the Essex back in 1820 which inspired Melville to write Moby Dick.

Complete with John Wayne drawl, Hemsworth plays Owen Chase, the rugged first mate who's always overlooked for captaincy of vessels heading off to see from Nantucket to gather whale oil. Hooked in by the promise of being a captain in a next voyage, Chase takes his position on the Essex, and defers to Benjamin Walker's Captain George Pollard who's installed in charge by way of nepotism rather than via hardy hours at sea.

With this tension and a crew that barely seems sea-worthy, the Essex sets out on its fruitless search, but falling foul of not enough supply but plenty of demand, Pollard pushes the crew out into the uncharted waters. But it's here the crew faces its biggest challenge as they're struck by a massive white whale and suddenly have to put aside their quarrels and survive.

In The Heart of The Sea is a muddled film that at times, finds itself at sea.

By balancing two narratives as Gleeson's older survivor tells his story to Whishaw's author Melville who's seeking inspiration and by flashing back and showing the fate of the Essex, Howard inadvertently strips the story of any real tension, preferring to use a hoary old narrative crutch instead of letting the drama talk for itself.

And while the sequences when the great white attack show a sense of urgency, even though they're over incredibly quickly, In the Heart of the Sea isn't exactly in a rush to get to its destination.

Large portions of the second half of the film see the men all at sea a la Unbroken and Life Of Pi, but because earlier stretches of the film do little to build character outside of Chase, the plight of the rest of the crew is somewhat lost in the wash (even the tension between Pollard's silver-spooned captain and Chase's tired of being passed over falters dangerously close to undeveloped) and consequently lacks the engagement needed.

Fortunately that gap is filled by Gleeson's weighty performance of a man desperate to unburden his soul but terrified of what the truth reveals about the lengths gone to for survival. It's here the gravitas is brought and Gleeson becomes the film's MVP without any shadow of a doubt, pulling in pathos, horror and eliciting emotion from the simplest of looks. In stark contrast Hemsworth seems too clean cut and lacking in any real depth; there's no disputing his good intentions, but there's equally no escaping the one dimensional nature of this landsman in these flashbacks - it's a fatal flaw that holds you at arm's length.

Howard's cinematography is replete with images from the level of the ropes and the masts that scatter the ship and his solid directorial eye brings an interesting take on the hoary old sea dog stories, even if it does lapse into water-bound visual cliches and proffers little in the way of new perspectives.

Ultimately, In The Heart of the Sea relies a little too heavily on its CGI creatures and leans not enough on its own character developments; there are tantalising hints of what the film could have been, but these elements don't quite gel together. In stopping the story at crucial points for a flash-forward and failing to build all characters other than Chase (who borders on a caricature) In The Heart of the Sea proves a fitful beast, and one which isn't exactly destined for Davy Jones' Locker but one that never quite gets the wind it needs in its dramatic sails.

Rating:

Inside Amy Schumer: DVD Review

Inside Amy Schumer: DVD Review

Rating: R18
Released by Roadshow Home Ent


Amy Schumer has had a blistering 2015 and this collection of her two series goes someway to explaining why.

Mixing stand up, skits and NY set street chats complete with some near the knuckle humour, Schumer skewers perceptions, cooks a snook at Hollywood sexism and generally elicits as many laughs as she can.

It's helped by some strong writing which mocks the double standards and some moments that shock; there's no target off limits and no boundary too hard to push. Explicit humour is threaded through here and there, but make the contrast between the hypocrises that Schumer's trying to demonstrate and actual attitudes stand out.

If season one is strong, season two sees the show and its humour hit its straps and vault its own ambition. Complete with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a geniality which is disarming, Inside Amy Schumer is a devious treat, a daredevil sketch show which hits more often than it misses

Doctor Who: The 10 Christmas Specials: DVD Review

Doctor Who: The 10 Christmas Specials: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

The Doctor is in.... a festive mood with this collection of the 10 Christmas episodes the show's dished out since its revamp.

Over a 4 disc set, you get to relive David Tennant's 6 Festive outings, including his demise and Matt Smith's more knockabout Xmas eps (apart from the one where he died obviously) and Peter Capaldi's first Xmas outing. (Though one wonders why this set wasn't released in the New Year after the latest with River Song)

Complete with a bonus feature where Rufus Hound takes a look at the Christmas specials and why they work, this set is a must for any Who fan - sure, they've all been released before, but when you have eps like The Christmas Invasion and Voyage of the Damned, you can see why it's all worth it.

Ongoing threads will make little sense to the casual viewer, but Dr Who this time around has never been afraid to embrace some of the excess of the festive period at the expense of the spectacle.

A nice collection of 5 graphically drawn cards makes this set a real treasure but to the die hard Who fan it's more a stocking filler as these are out already in many different forms.

Absolutely Anything: Film Review

Absolutely Anything: Film Review

Cast: Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Eddie Izzard, Rob Riggle
Director: Terry Jones

It could have been so good.

Using the remaining Monty Python team as the voices for aliens and having Simon Pegg as a hapless human caught in their plan, Absolutely Anything is a film that never quite reaches its potential.

Pegg plays sadsack teacher Neil, who's desperately in love with his downstairs neighbour Catherine (the ever radiant Kate Beckinsale) but who lacks the edge to do anything about it.

One day on a whim, a group of aliens presiding on high choose a random human to be granted the powers to do "absolutely anything" with - and end up bestowing this on Neil....

Riffing on Bruce Almighty, Absolutely Anything is another of those movies which had some serious comic potential, but ends up feeling like a sketch the original Monty Python team would have jettisoned or used as an ongoing non-sequitur gag in one of their films.

Boasting an incredible Brit cast (Joanna Lumley, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Eddie Izzard) who are largely wasted, Pegg flounders as Neil, trying to imbue the usual loser character with a bit of edge, but floundering around dealing with a series of silly scenarios that border on the tedious rather than the chucklesome in this what if an idiot had all the powers in the world. Pegg channels his usual charm as the hapless guy caught in the middle, and he gels well with the gorgeous Beckinsale's just looking for a decent guy Catherine, but it never quite hangs together as it should.

Rob Riggle pushes things over the edge as Catherine's stalker and even Robin Williams, in what would be his last role, adds to the syrupy mess as Dennis, Neil's dog, who's biscuit and trouser-leg obsessed. The Americans add little to this comedy except to compound the clumsiness of its execution.

Channeling some of Douglas Adams' Hitch-hikers Guide To The Galaxy's Vogons, the Python's CGI renderings are nicely executed, but poorly scripted and fail to build on the premise of their return.

Quite frankly, Absolutely Anything would have worked better if the story had put aside its more fart-obsessed silliness and embraced its childish premise; as a kids' comedy, this film would have had some real legs and a more amused audience as it heads towards its Python-esque elements of silliness in its final stages.

NZ Audiences may get one moment of laughs when there are declarations of war towards the end, but quite frankly, Absolutely Anything offers very few laughs elsewhere. It's a mess of a film and a travesty of wasted talent.

Rating:

Youth: Film Review

Youth: Film Review

Cast: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano, Jane Fonda
Director: Paolo Sorrentino

Following up the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino once again heads into whimsical and philosophical territory with this two hour, occasionally meandering piece.

Caine is famous and retired composer Fred Ballinger, who's holidaying at a sumptuous hotel occupied by quirky individuals, and friends. One of those is screen writer Mick Boyle (Keitel) who's teaching a group of writers how to finish off their screenplay in the hopes of turning it into a film and making his way back to Hollywood.

Ballinger meanwhile, is being courted by the Queen's Emissary (Doctor Who and Inbetweeners star Alex MacQueen) who is on a mission to get the maestro to perform his Simple Songs symphony for Prince Phillip's birthday, because according to the emissary, he never stops listening to the Simple songs. But Ballinger outright refuses, for personal reasons.

Also in the hotel is actor Jimmy Tree (Dano) trying to escape from the role which made him big, and Ballinger's daughter (Rachel Weisz) who's just been broken up with. Plus a portly former footballer who bears an uncanny resemblance to Maradona who just wants to be left alone.

Populated by characters and accentuated versions thereof, Home has moments of extreme beauty and moments of extreme tedium, as the philosophising continues and moments of profundity are unleashed on the audience. And yet at times, thanks to some truly wondrous eye candy and vistas that are committed to the screen, he almost pulls it off as the idiosyncracies are dialled up to 11. (A scene where the maestro sits alone in a field full of cows and conducts them, with their cowbells ringing springs squarely to mind - some will adore this indulgence, others will despise it)

With ruminations on ageing and people's place in the world, this is Caine's film by far, his almost mullet-like grey hair and sunken eyes suggesting a life well lived and occasionally regretted. As the acceptance of truths storyline progresses, all the other supporting players fade away into inconsequence which is a real shame - Keitel's ultimate fate never really has the gravitas that it should and Weisz's humane role as the woman scorned falls further out of the director's orbit.

That's some of the problem of Youth, a film whose mournful and reflective tone seems to have nowhere to go and is trapped in its own esoteric and quirky surroundings, a sort of Grand Budapest Hotel for the OAP population. Perhaps this kind of film works better in foreign language where the words drip with a beauty that's hard to translate to English; no matter, though, Youth with its occasionally deep vein of humour and endless philosophy works on some levels, but not others.

Rating:

Results: DVD Review

Results: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

Those expecting a mumblecore classic from the director of Computer Chess Andrew Bujalski will be completely upended by this rom-com with a prestige cast.

Centring on two personal trainers in a gym Kat and Trevor, played by Marvel stalwart Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce, it's the story of Danny (a very laconic Kevin Corrigan) who ends up at the Power 4 Life gym when he ends up being dumped.

Divorced and minted, he's the very epitome of boredom - in fact, he hits up local chatrooms at night to offer $200 for someone to come round and hook up his big screen TV. But his desire to hook up is taken to the next level when he meets up with Kat, who offers him home improvement fitness training.

Uptight Kat is solely focussed on her work but Danny has other plans in the only way he knows how - in his shambling and amusing fashion, he starts to work away at her defences.

Meanwhile, Trevor is keen to expand his empire and the cash Danny is sitting on, proves to be just the opportunity he needs...

Results is not exactly anything approaching the film that Computer Chess was (which is perhaps a good thing as I was not one of those singing its praises) and is in fact as close to mainstream as you can possibly get with the romantic comedy genre.

While there are moments that feel looser and improvised in the script, giving you more the feel of the movement as a whole, it's fair to say that Results at times shambles and ambles toward its destination. That it gets there greatly on the charm of its leads (particularly the under-rated Corrigan) is not to damn it with faint praise, merely to highlight the fact that this is perhaps one of the lighter entrants into the festival.

But equally, it doesn't all quite gel together - Danny's story gets a little lost in the final mix and Trevor's meeting with a Russian bodybuilder (bizarrely played by Anthony Michael Hall) and his oppressed girl (Brooklyn Decker) are just two of the ingredients that feel slightly under-cooked.

Not only do physiques get worked out in Results, but so too do relationship issues (perhaps, unsurprisingly) ; it's all gently told and ironed out in a wry manner, and you won't be surprised to see everyone is messed up in their own ways. That it doesn't quite convince in parts and skirts the mainstream rather than the indie that Bujalski's been known for, gives it the cred that it needs to be part of the festival - and may provoke the debate and perhaps disappointment in equal measure in his followers that the festival thrives on long after the lights have gone up.