Plants vs Zombies 2: Garden Warfare: PS4 Review

Plants vs Zombies 2: Garden Warfare: PS4 Review

Released by EA Games
Platform: PS4

Sometimes, games should be nothing more than simple fun.

So it is with Plants vs Zombies 2: Garden Warfare, a game which explores the decades old battle between the plants and the zombies as they face off in a battle for supremacy.

If you're familiar with the first title, you'll know exactly what to expect here - it's once again the chance to simply pit yourself against the all too obvious third person shooter, with the hook that you're a plant in a world that's not exactly rooting for your survival.

Serious ain't the vibe with this game though - it's squarely about stupidity and playability, which is widely to be commended. Granted, there are plenty of bright colours to keep the youngsters amused and plenty of shooting to keep the hardcore gamer engaged, but at the end of the day, the variety of playing options for Plants Vs Zombies 2: Garden Warfare means the title will continue with its longevity.

It's predominantly the multiplayer which keeps this title alive and the single player is fun, but it's really about taking on others and seeing if you can kill them off that the game starts to really show its raison d'etre. Each character has a different kind of attack and a different melee power, meaning that co-oping is really the only way to go, especially if you're trying to up your class and level up.

Plants vs Zombies 2: Garden Warfare won't challenge you as much as you'd expect, but it will deliver a comic gaming experience that's worth your time.

It'll take some effort to get the rewards of the more powerful weapons, but at the end of the day, when it all falls into place and comes together with a degree of strategy, there's nothing to beat it.

Street Fighter V: PS4 Review

Street Fighter V: PS4 Review

Released by Capcom
Platform: PS4

It's been a classic since first released in 1987 and now nearly 30 years on, Street Fighter is back to kick some serious ass once again.

Sadly the BETA for Street Fighter V was an unmitigated disaster. Servers couldn't handle any hint of letting people get on to the game or even let them continue should they be able to do so.

It's not like the game's exactly breaking the mould for game play - it's simply a bash and smash to victory kind of game that relies on a bit of skill, a lot of timing and an ability to press several buttons at once in a co-ordinated effort to achieve victory.

There are newbies on the ranks too - from the likes of Laura to F.A.N.G, but it's essentially the same Street Fighter mechanics you'll be used to. However, with the exception that this is the next generation of console gaming, so it looks incredible. There's a cartoon fluidity to the game's play out that is startling and the HD elements really sing, from the backgrounds and the NPCs mucking about to the simplicity of the execution of the moves, it simply looks impressive.

The fights themselves play out nicely and take a longer time to reach a conclusion, but that speaks to the maturity of the game, in that it's not just about dealing out two or three combos and then it's done, it's more about ensuring a matching of the skill levels and an implementation of a strategy.

This game though is predominantly about the online environment rather than a single player experience, which is kind of disappointing.

Each character has a few levels to play through for their own story, but it's a once over lightly approach for the game and it's a shame there's no wider narrative that goes deeper and pulls them all together. Granted, given the number of  characters, there are plenty of options for story mode, but there are all too brief moments to enjoy.

The online works fine - though even after release, there's been a bit of trouble accessing the server. It's not quite as taut as you'd expect given the success of the game and that's a shame. IT's here that the fun lies though and it's to be hoped that Street Fighter V gets more of an upgrade later on.

As an experience and a fighter, it's a great one; but as an in-depth, plough hours of your time into it, it comes up a little lacking. So far.

Tom Clancy: The Division: PS4 Review

Tom Clancy: The Division: PS4 Review  

Platform: PS4
Released by Ubisoft

Tom Clancy: The Division is an incredible open world environment.

It opens with a series of distorted cut sequences which basically give you an insight into the end of the world and how Black Friday in New York became the Patient X for a pandemic.

Into this world, you are thrust -  you play an agent in a group known as The Division, which is activated once the devastating pandemic sweeps through NYC on Black Friday and the world starts to collapse. Chaos envelops society and without food or water, it's every man or woman for themselves. And that's where you come in - activated from your apparently sleeper cell status, it's up to you to try and restore some calm and investigate the source of the virus.

The first thing about Tom Clancy's The Division is how wonderfully realised the environment is. From a snow covered New York City that glistens with both wonder and menace, the rendering is nothing short of perfection as you hurtle around trying to achieve main game missions or play side quests which pop up without warning.

Missions initially include setting up a base camp to ensure you have somewhere to call your own, but you're faced with looters determined to take you out at any turn and who, in the desperate throes of survival, will do anything to get by.Combat's a little trickier too, if you're used to simply going hurtling, all guns blazing. The game is predominantly based on cover tactics and requires you to utilise all of this and protect yourself. The problem is that pressing X all the way down will guarantee you go toward a cover-based spot, but removing that halfway through, will see your player stop, stand up and get blasted or beaten. I get that it's a commitment thing, but the lack of being able to commit simply by tapping a button is a frustration, particularly if you're trying to launch directly into an attack after.
Cover shooting is not exactly the easiest either - and a few times, the agent I was in control of got caught off guard by an inability to see around corners and got his head bashed in. 

Loot collection is a little more difficult as well if combat is underway and you have to really clear the enemies away before stopping to snoop, a touch which if you're trying to gear up while in combat is another source of frustration.

Shooting takes some learning too, bizarrely. It's not just point and press - aiming carefully will do more damage than blasting blindly and blazing. That makes sense but when you're overwhelmed with combatants, it makes a showdown a little trickier and needs you to strategise rather than go nuts.

That said, The Division is quite eminently playable.

Wandering around the city proves to be fertile ground with other side missions and jobs needing doing prior to following the main narrative. 

Online the game flourishes too - it's easier to team up with agents and to execute missions within the game - match-making hasn't proved to be too much of a problem for the servers and there's little waiting to get into the action.

Equally, the quarantined Dark Zone which pits players against each other is perhaps the more challenging of the game, given how it relies on other people to play nicely or wreak chaos. It's unexpected and exciting because of it - and it soars when measured up against the rest of the game.

The Division's made great use of the DualShock speaker too, which sounds like an odd thing to say, but given you're doing missions and receiving comms, the almost metallic tones of the messages feel like you have an earpiece in and are in constant contact. It's a nice touch that helps the game reach the immersive level it needs to.

All in all, Tom Clancy: The Division feels like one of the most rounded titles releaseed with the TC moniker; its depth is enjoyable and its scope is impressive. Stay through some of the churn of the story levels at the start and the overwhelming feel of the city, its map and its ideas and you'll find a game that soars the more time you plough into it.

Newstalk ZB Film Review : Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Newstalk ZB Film Review : Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

This week, it was the review of long titled films.

Under the microscope were Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Kung Fu Panda 3 and on DVD The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

Take a listen below:

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-batman-v-superman-kung-fu-panda-3-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2/

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-batman-v-superman-kung-fu-panda-3-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2/

Just Cause 3:DLC: Sky Fortress PS4 Review

Just Cause 3:DLC: Sky Fortress PS4 Review

Released by Square Enix
Platform: PS4

The first DLC pack for Rico Rodriguez is the aptly titled Air expansion pack, the Sky Fortress.

It's fitting because the rebel spends pretty much most of his time zipping through the air, taking on drones and generally wreaking mayhem.

There's a very loose plot; called in by Sheldon (either mid or post game, it's your choice) Rodriguez is gifted a Bavarium powered jet pack boost to his wing suit following a drone attack. Chasing the drone, he discovers it is part of a wider fleet powered by the eDen corporation which is intent on mining Medici's plentiful Bavarium supplies for its own nefarious ends.

Things are further complicated when a massive airship shows, forcing Rodriguez to the skies to bring them down.

The air expansion pack is a reasonable add on but it lacks a degree of the fluidity of the main game.

The wing suit now becomes slightly defunct as the jet propulsion replaces the element of skill - and even packs in a rocket and shoulder mounted machine gun. It's somewhat tricky to fly properly too and a lot of the sky bound activity saw me grappling for spatial awareness rather than a smooth flight.

Drones line the skies and with drone factories being part of the Sky Fortress it's sensible to try and take them out. Equally, stronger Extractor Drones lurk around, and need despatching with a few well placed shots here and there.

The Fortress is there to be liberated and each section comes with its own challenges once freed, giving you a chance to upgrade the tech you have; and smartly the game's hidden away a few of its chaos objects, so it's not as easy to simply come in, shoot the breeze and head out as it all explodes behind you.

That said it is thrilling to swoop up and down in any degree of situation - if the game hasn't already been completed, one could imagine the edge it would bring.

It's good that this, an unlocked personal drone and a Bavarium tipped gun all carry through to the main game - though even with these advantages, combat on the airship was still a lot trickier than dealing with the general's ground idiots thanks to increased fire power.

Cut scenes are static, echoing the Just Cause comic but removing some of the charm and free wheeling lunacy of the main game. There's a sense of repetition in the tasks on the missions too - essentially clear two halves of the ship of baddies - but there are moments of lunacy too such as when you kick enemies from the sky and tack up impressive distance falls as they plummet to below.

Overall, the first DLC for Just Cause 3 is solid rather than spectacular. Niggly control issues blight the jet pack and make the game's fluidity suffer from sluggishness. There's no denying its fun, but by stripping out some of the more chaotic elements of the main game, the air expansion feels a little tied to the ground ironically rather than something that lives up to its title and soars through the air.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: Blu Ray Review

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: Blu Ray Review

Rating:M 
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

The end is nigh for Katniss Everdeen in the final part of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games franchise.

At the end of Mockingjay Part 1, the effects of the revolt were starting to be felt and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) had found herself an initially unwilling pawn in the face of the Revolution between Panem and the Capitol.

But with President Snow (Sutherland) severely upping the ante in the fight to crush her and with Peeta traumatised, the odds weren't in her favour....

So, deciding once and for all to seize her own destiny and stop being a pawn in a propaganda war, Everdeen sets off to kill Snow and end the conflict.

It gets dark in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.

There's the endless atmosphere of solemnity that hangs over the finale and makes part of it feel like dystopia's been washed over with a relentless grey tone. And it certainly wins the prize for some of the darkest material in a YA series that's been committed to screen; one sequence that demonstrates the horror of war and the lengths rulers will go to to achieve victory stands alone as the blackest witnessed on a screen. (Particularly at a time that terrorism's hit the headlines, viewing this through the prism of Paris is an odd experience)

As ever, Lawrence gives a great turn as the wounded veteran of The Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell  and the ongoing battle to make her the martyr the cause needs; but even she can't sell some of the moments of the story with a surprising emotional scene failing to hit the mark it needed to. There's a grit and determination to Lawrence that's seen her Katniss' resolve evolve through the run of films and there's definitely a feeling of an arc that's been undergone.

Learning from the relative lag of part 1 where there was much talking about a revolution, director Francis Lawrence delivers some great action sequences, chiefly during a Call of Duty: Panem: The Hunger Games version which sees Everdeen and a squadron of troops trying to make their way through a massive minefield. Equally, a tunnel chase section crackles with a kind of claustrophobic horror seen in Aliens and the Resident Evil game and a trap is brilliantly executed earlier on, there are moments that transcend the ongoing debate and ruminations of the effects of war, which are starting to grow weary as the series ends.

Unfortunately, it's not all gold in this Hunger Games film.

Inconsistencies with Josh Hutcherson's Peeta and his post-war behaviour mar parts of the film, and the love triangle that's grown with Liam Hemsworth's Gale and Peeta simply melts away, making your investment in it over the course of four films simply feel limp.

Also, supporting characters get very short shrift as the series wraps up - and at least one death which is supposed to resonate more, fails to generate the required emotive response. Equally, the denouement of the film with its multi-endings feels too quick leaving the conflict way too swiftly given how events have transpired.

The Hunger Games franchise has always worked by way of its dystopian background, its discussion of war propaganda and its examination of people as pawns. There's been plenty of debate throughout the previous films that have coursed richly through this series' veins giving it a more adult feel than simply its love triangle.

That said, it's a shame that despite the darkness, grittiness and endless talk of how war damages our young and the dissection of post traumatic stress syndrome, there is an awfully out of place pat happy ending that feels like Suzanne Collins short-changed her characters' more mournful journey towards salvation.

While the film's to be commended for never sanitising its message and staying true to its series, the overlong The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 certainly lacks the emotional heft a finale should have.

Rating:

Sherpa: Film Review

Sherpa: Film Review

Jennifer Peedom's documentary on the Sherpas and Nepal is inevitably infused with a bittersweet touch, and is a scathing look at the unfolding industrial dispute on Everest.

Armed with a camera crew and with the intention of giving the Sherpas the moment to shine she felt they had been missing all these years, she couldn't have foreseen the tragic events that would brutally interrupt the 2014 climbing season - and after completing editing, the earthquake that struck almost exactly one year on.

However, before the tragedy comes the majesty of the mountain, thanks to opening shots that are pristine and clear and which cauterize the eyes with white. As the wind blows against the Everest that we are so accustomed to, which reaches out into the heavens, it soon becomes clear that the serenity is only in the sky.

In 2013 the discord on the ground threatened to boil over with a fight brewing between the Sherpas and those climbing the mountain being the final straw. It was this in mind, and Peedom's perception that the Sherpa race has been ignored despite doing the majority of the work that set the documentary in motion.

But what emerges from Peedom's utterly thrilling and yet equally sickening piece is the bitter curelty of timing. Against a backdrop of whether the Sherpa are working too hard to capitalise on a season that grants them ten times the average wage and ensures their families have food, nature intervened on 18th April 2014, bringing an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa and setting the debate into a chain of urgency that's as fragile as the snow hanging on the side.

Wisely choosing to follow Phurba Tashi, a Sherpa whose next climb up Everest will mark his 22nd and a world record, as well as Himalayan veteran Russell Brice who carries out commercial ventures with his crew in mind, Peedom's created a documentary that soars as high as Everest itself and scales the heights of cinematic greatness.

It may be concerned with matters thousands of metres above ground, but Peedom's non-intrusive eye keeps our feet squarely on terra firma and deals us with the cold hard facts of the inequality of the sherpas; namely, that they have to travel 30 times a season through a moving ice-fall to ensure that those who've paid the big bucks can make one simple trip to the base camp and summit the top.

Sherpa is never anything less than shocking as it exposes the widening gap between commercial venture and human life and there won't be many who don't fall squarely into the Sherpas' camp after the tragedy unfolds (that an American client claims terrorists have pushed them off the mountain when the Sherpa essentially strike fearing for their lives speaks volumes to their plight and the Western perception of entitlement).

Granted, Peedom's firmly in the Sherpa camp, but even she could have never predicted the sickening urgency that the doco takes when the wall of white comes down (and in its most harrowing moment, covers a camera clearly from the Sherpa team walking the crevices).

Her seamless weaving of the now and then of the Himalayas creates a rich timeline, but never loses its focus on the human faces of what is essentially commercial law. Even the Nepali government gets a serve over their apathy in the face of tourism woes, something this polemic subtly plants in your mind.

The inequality may be a slap in the face to those who remember Tenzing Norgay's smiling face, but by revealing the years that have been cruel to the race after this, Peedom's created something that's sickeningly gripping and viscerally raw from beginning to end - and which captures an unfolding tragedy in an entirely riveting way but which never loses sight of the human cost or gets caught up in the post-tragedy hysteria.

Sherpa is formidable film-making, one whose ending will be changed in light of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake but one whose ethical and moral issues will resonate with many for years to come thanks to Peedom's unswerving eye and concise skill.

It's jaw-dropping stuff, and not always for the reason you'd expect. Unmissable.