Win $10k with Dark Souls III

Win $10k with Dark Souls III

DARK SOULS III – WIN $10,000 CASH IN THE DARK SOULS III SPEED RUN COMPETITION

Bandai Namco Entertainment are proud to announce a competition for the upcoming Dark Souls III on PS4, Xbox One and PC – The Dark Souls III Speed Run Competition!

Australian and New Zealand consumers will be able to enter this competition where they will strive to finish the game in the fastest possible time – termed the ‘Speed Run’, made famous in games like Dark Souls, Dark Souls II and Bloodborne. The quickest time will win an amazing $10,000 Cash!

To enter, consumers need to purchase Dark Souls III on their format of preference and complete their ‘Speed Run’ and then post their time on the Bandai Namco Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/bandainamcoau under the competition posting. Entrants must also upload or stream the entire run to their Twitch account with the hash tag #DS310KSpeedRun. The competition runs for 4 weeks ending Tuesday 10^th of May, allowing gamers plenty of time to hone their ‘Souls Skills’ and deliver their best time and performance in their ‘Speed Run’. The Bandai Namco Au facebook page will be updated regularly with a table of the top competitors, allowing entrants and fans alike to compare their styles of play, methods and tricks with others, leading to more enjoyment of what is easily the best game of 2016 so far! Full terms and conditions will be available on the facebook page before the competition starts on April 12.

So, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a player, get along to the Facebook page now and check out the post and start preparing for the ‘Speed Run’ of a lifetime! You could win that $10,000 cash! Just think of how many copies of Dark Souls III you could buy with that?

You can view the Twitch stream of the Dark Souls III Launch event containing the ‘Speed Run’ announcement here:  

Watch live video from 6t4bites_aus on www.twitch.tv

If you need any hints and tips on how to play Dark Souls III better and to level up yourself, please view the ‘Comprehensive Guide’ here:

Trackmania Turbo: PS4 Review

Trackmania Turbo: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Ubisoft

Developed by Nadeo and released by Ubisoft, Trackmania Turbo is one hell of a ride.

Reminiscent of the mechanics which made Modnation Racers such a cartoony thrill on the PS3, this racer is as arcade as they come and as much fun as it can get.

Set over 200 tracks and with no pretensions other than to entertain, the game's almost ACME style racing is as pure a blast of fun and games as you'd expect. It begins with you being dropped from a giant height by a helicopter onto a metal racing grid and off you go. Drifting around the relatively quick course and speeding, it's all about getting the best time and being number 1. As you go through the tracks and achieve certain medals, further tracks unlock to you, leading you into different courses, different ways of driving and different challenges.

Colourful and easy to play, Trackmania Turbo has a bite size quality to it that's compellingly easy to get stuck into and yet incredibly difficult to put down. As you race around the tracks - essentially against the ghost cars of higher medal achievements - there's always the feeling that you can just beat that time, if you just do one more thing or take one turn slightly better. As the tracks are short, and have their own tricky moments to deal with, there's really the feeling that anything is possible - leading to an addiction setting in.

But they're not just all roads - sometimes, the game takes you off road too and into either water puddles or onto uneven ground. It's here the game's dynamics kick in more and you have to be a bit savvier about the racing. It's a neat way to keep the racing fresh.

Coupled with the multiplayer elements and the ability to build your own tracks, Trackmania Turbo works well on a responsive front, luring you into mechanics which feel natural and which play out with an ease whatever your level of racing skill is.

The multiplayer's fun too - although it's against 100 other people at the time, being part of the pack is a nervy thrill that forces you to be a little smarter in your own game. Admittedly, the look of the 100 game takes a little getting used to as ghost cars hurtle past you, onto victory and leaving you a tad confused as the colours of your cars are all the same. Equally the games run to a timer, which means that they can just end abruptly when the timer runs out, rather than when the race is done.

These are minor niggles though and the match-making is second to none; there was nary a wait as the game's lined up for you and it's straight into it, with hardly any problems during it. And the added bonus of being ranked either in your country or across the world will drive many to glory.

All in all, Trackmania Turbo is a fine game - it's fun, disposable and enduring as well as endearing. It may not win any awards for depth, but for sheer playability, it's right up there for hours of fun.

Rating:

The Huntsman - Winter's War: Film Review

The Huntsman - Winter's War: Film Review

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Nick Frost
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

If the latest entrant into the Huntsman franchise is to be believed (Liam Neeson's sonorous voiceover at the end hints of more to come) then the series seems to be in danger of losing any identity it has.

Meshing Merida from Brave, a sort of Tolkien-esque quest complete with dwarves and throwing in a snifter or two of Frozen's plot, The Huntsman - Winter's War somehow fails to really eke out any real USP of its own.

This time around in a sort of prequel cum sequel (it's a tad confusing), the once upon a time concentrates on the sisterly relationship between Theron's Ravenna and Blunt's Freya. When Freya suffers a tragedy, her latent ice-queen powers are unleashed and she flees the kingdom to wreak her own terror.

Recruiting stolen children into an army of Huntsmen, Freya's forbidden any kind of love - but when Hemsworth's Eric and Chastain's Sara defy her wishes, they're banished from each other. 

Seven years later and Eric, along with Nick Frost and Rob Brydon's dwarves. are tasked with finding the Magic Mirror before it falls into the clutches of the Ice Queen....

Missing Kristen Stewart's Snow White in only the slightest fashion, The Huntsman 2 - Winter's War is nowhere near the level of film that it could be or that a sequel should be.

Tonally lurching between comedy dwarves / banter to love torn apart drama doesn't serve it well and actually makes the whole piece feel unsure of itself and also leaves it lacking in any kind of emotional stakes.

Despite some incredible production designs and costuming (though Charlize Theron's returning Ravenna looks like she's stepped out of an emo L'Oreal ad at the end of the film), the film's only saving grace is its Tarsem Singh-esque visuals and FX work which is restrained and left for set pieces.

It doesn't help Hemsworth and Chastain have little chemistry - not to mention bizarre Scottish brogues - and feel like their Sara and Eric's love story doesn't even hit home with them as they move into Romancing the Stone territory style squabbling. At times, you're never quite sure whose story it is either - is it Sara and Eric, is it Freya and Ravenna; they're all blurred and blended up together in a mixture that feels under-cooked.

On the plus side, the CGI is used sparingly and is saved for Ravenna's almost Spider-Man Venom like attack on the Huntsmen and a creation of a Goblin also impresses. Director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan was in charge of the FX the first time around, and he does a good solid job of ensuring it doesn't overwhelm proceedings, but he has little to work with other than some nicely choreographed fight sequences.

And to be fair to the dwarves' dynamic, Sheridan Smith and Rob Brydon work well in terms of banter and humour; Frost and One Chance's Alexandra Roach add a softer sweeter touch to their interactions.

All in all, The Huntsman - Winter's War may have promoted its co-lead and his raffish Hemsworth charm to lead, but by not providing enough to work with and muddling other portions, the whole underwhelming thing feels like it's failed the Mirror, Mirror test before it's even started.

DOOM Open BETA Announced

DOOM Open BETA Announced

We’re pleased to announce DOOM’s Open Beta will run from 15-18 April. This Open Beta will not require a code and players will simply be able to logon to the platform of their choice and download to accessTeam Deathmatch and Warpath on the Heatwave and Infernal maps.

These maps and modes are just a fraction of what players will experience when the game launches May 13 on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. In a recent video series we explored the maps, modes and power-ups of DOOM’s multiplayer – all things players have to look forward to at launch. But support for DOOM doesn’t end when the game is out. For the rest of the year, we expect to provide free content updates across SnapMap and multiplayer.

We know the DOOM community has always been about great user-generated content, and that’s something we want to continue to encourage with SnapMap, an innovative new component of DOOM designed to make creating, sharing and playing new game experiences fast and easy.  On top of being able to access and play new modes and maps created by fellow gamers, id plans to offer content updates for SnapMap, including map modules; props and objects; additional features and functionality; AI enhancements; editing tool enhancements and more. Multiplayer will also receive content updates in the form of new game modes. Both of these SnapMap and multiplayer updates will be free to use and play.

In addition to the planned free support and content updates, we will also be releasing three premium multiplayer DLC packs after launch, which will get you a number of new maps, hack modules, playable demons, weapons and more. The first DLC will be available this summer and give you access to:

·         Three new maps

·         One new weapon

·         One new playable demon

·         One new armour set

·         One new piece of equipment

·         New hack modules and taunts

·         New customization colours and patterns

Each DLC pack will cost $23.95 AUD / $26.95 NZD , or you can get them all at a discount with the Season Pass for $59.95 AUD / $74.95 NZD. Check your preferred retailer to pre-order the DOOM Season Pass.

Dark Souls III: The Witches Animated Trailer

Dark Souls III: The Witches Animated Trailer

THE WITCHES ANIMATED TRAILER

Discover ‘The Witches’: a Dark Souls animated trailer directed by Eli Roth.

Also available is a special behind the scenes video: 



Light up the Fire on April 12th, on PC, Xbox One and PS4! 

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Assassin's Creed Trilogy Pack for PS Vita

Assassin's Creed Trilogy Pack for PS Vita

ASSASSIN’S CREED^® CHRONICLES TRILOGY PACK AVAILABLE NOW FOR PLAYSTATION^®VITA SYSTEM

Sydney, Australia — April 6, 2016 — Today Ubisoft^® announced that the Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles Trilogy Pack is now available for PlayStation^®Vita handheld entertainment system. This pack brings the full Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles experience to PlayStation^®Vita system and includes Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles: China, Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles: India and Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles: Russia. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack was released on February 9 for PlayStation^®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC. 

Developed by Climax Studios in collaboration with Ubisoft Montreal, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles brings the thrill of being a Master Assassin to 2.5D. A natural fit for PlayStation^®Vita controls, players journey to three distinct civilizations and time periods throughout history, the Ming dynasty in China at the start of its downfall, the Sikh Empire as it prepares for war in India and the aftermath of the Red October Revolution in Russia. Each chronicle stands on its own with a unique setting, art style, story and Assassin, but they are all tied together narratively.

Assassin’s Creed^® Chronicles Trilogy Pack for PlayStation^®Vita is available for download now on PlayStation^®Store.