Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness dated

Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness dated

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PSYCHO-PASS: MANDATORY HAPPINESS COMING TO EUROPE

THIS SEPTEMBER ON PS4, PS VITA, AND STEAM!

NIS America is very excited to announce that PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness is coming to Europe on 16 September 2016 as a physical and digital release on PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®Vita! We will also be bringing the game to Windows OS via Steam, and will have more information on that at a later date.

About the Story:

In the near future, advanced technological developments have allowed one’s mental state and disposition to be quantified and profiled.

For the public’s welfare, all emotions and thoughts are documented and managed by the Sibyl System. This system measures the quality of each person’s life by what is known as the Psycho-Pass, a reading of an individual’s mind. Broken down into two main components, the Psycho-Pass is the system’s omniscient eyes of justice. One of these components is the Hue, which is a visual representation of the Psycho-Pass that conveys a person’s stress level. The other is the Crime Coefficient, which is a numerical value that represents a person’s criminal capacity. This number determines whether an individual requires enforcement by the detectives of the Public Safety Bureau. Detectives are divided into two groups: Enforcers, who are tasked with the investigation of crimes and the apprehension of criminals, and Inspectors, who are charged with managing the Enforcers.

About the Game:

The player can choose between two new detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department’s Division 1; Nadeshiko Kugatachi, a calm and serious Inspector whose memories were wiped, and Takuma Tsurugi, a hot-headed Enforcer who is searching for his missing childhood friend. 

You must decide the best course of action for each given situation, but regardless of the hierarchy that separates Inspector from Enforcer, players must be mindful that every decision has its own repercussions. With an intricate decision-making system, PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness offers a twisted plot and compelling cases, providing a number of different endings.

Ultimately, depending on the choices made, Hues may deteriorate beyond recovery, cases may be left unsolved, and the game may end quicker than expected.

DOOM: PS4 Review

DOOM: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Bethesda and developed by iD Software

There's just something hellishly good about DOOM.

And yet, at the same time, with a racing heartbeat in its multiplayer zone, there's also something that's likely to push people right to the edge.

The first person shooter can't be unknown to many and this update is certainly on the money.

Set on Mars, you play someone who's caught up in a hellish conspiracy in a research facility on the red planet. Awaking to find yourself strapped down and with demons nipping at your toes, you break out of your sarcophagus and start shooting your way to safety while you fight through the hordes of bad guys heading your way. With a portal open and the hellhounds unleashed by a cult head determined to wreak havoc, there's little for you to do except blast your way to survival.

Fast-paced, perfectly crisply graphically executed and eminently playable, DOOM really is a heartbeating, pulse pounding blast that is as engrossing as it is gory. It really is a case of no guts, no gory, because the simple MO of the game's original DNA has been transplanted into a new century update.

The soundscape created is also terrifying too - with the hordes of hell gurgling as the world swirls around you. Redolent of the atmosphere of Alien, DOOM works on many primordial levels.

Chiefly though, it's about the gore and the dispatching of the bad guys. From chainsaws to the newly minted glory kills (where you can stun the bad guys, and then rip them apart for more health and power ups), the game never loses sight of its single MO - to pander to the bloodlust of the shooter.

It's not all about the shooting though - you have to negotiate the base's mazes and the external caverns of Mars too to get where you need to. You actually need a degree of strategy, because while there is plenty of health power ups and weapons refills stashed around, there's skill needed to ensure you're not caught short.

The game's rendering is totally fluid too, meaning that in the HD format, its hyper-real look is never anything less than terrifying. It's a game that wreaks of atmosphere and old school nostalgia and uses both of these to great effect.

While the single player campaign is exactly what you'd expect, the wealth of online multiplayer content is more than you'd expect.

Racing around as part of a team in the Deathmatch has pre-occupied my time in the early stages of the game - but it's been never anything less than fun, even if the skill level matching is occasionally skewed too far one way. Facing up against players of level 30 when you're on level 7 is difficult at best, given the opposition's access to upgrades, but to be fair to the 10 min games, you usually end up with someone of a higher calibre on your team also. Equally, upgrading and gaining XP is quickly done and in a few matches, my customisable character had hit the highs necessary. The levels aren't exactly complex in terms of mapping, but occasionally, I've actually lost players in the myriad of blood-spattered walls - despite their size, it's easy to lose the action.

Along with Soul Harvest (where you collect the souls of those you've sent back to hell) and community made maps, customisable characters and mods, there's more than enough in the multiplayer to keep you away from the solo game - and with more to come, it's certainly something to get lost in.

While it's still early days for the great multiplayer (more on that to come in a future piece), the signs are that this DOOM has it all correct.

It embraces the core DNA of the original and updates it very nicely.

DOOM won't win awards for subtlety but for its brutality and ultra-violent edges, this reboot for the 21st century is likely to plague your gaming nightmares for a long time to come; simply put, DOOM is bloody fun.

Battleborn: PS4 Review

Battleborn: PS4 Review

Developed by Gearbox Software
Released by 2K Games
Platform: PS4

The latest FPS from Gearbox is a mish-mash of the multi-player ethos of Gauntlet and the visual sensibilities of the Borderlands games.

Wrapped in the studio's trademark humour, the game's space setting and convergence of the end of the universe vibes in the Solus System means the pressure is on from the beginning. As bad guys the Varelsi consume stars, threatening everyone's very existence, it's up to the usual rag tag group of mercenaries to try and save the day.

The game's cartoony aesthetics and colourful overload at the start could be close to a visual meltdown for many, but it showcases what Gearbox has achieved with this title - a sense of meshing so many different sensibilities and genres into the somewhat traditional FPS.

It's simple to shoot and it's not quite as simple to power up (though it is easy to come across power ups) so it's a slightly confused message on that front. Augmenting gives you a chance to build your powers into something a little more ferocious and when played in tandem with other characters online, it's really where the game delivers.

You can play through the story solo or co-op and either way, it's a chance to get to know the colourful characters a bit more. Playing through as some of them (there are 25 in total for the unlocking) gives you an idea of some of their nuances - one, a heavy machine gun toting lunk head comes complete with stereotyped lunk head dialogue that amuses, but ultimately starts to grate; others are a little more effective such as the Butler-esque character, Marquis, who gives a level of class to the affair.

But that's the thing with Battleborn - it embraces the absurdities of the genres it is sending up and bundles them into a package that's both colourful and playable.

Online activity's been fun as well - with a 5v5 Player ethos worth exploring in its different forms. From incursion (a defence game) to meltdown and arena, there's more than enough to get into - and it's here that the game comes to life, particularly with your ability to augment your powers in tandem with others.

Overall, Battleborn is a tremendous amount of disposable fun; it allows you to immerse yourself as far as you want to go in it all - with aesthetics that will either see you fully on board or will take you a few moments to adjust.  Its lunatic MO and its ease of play are a great boon for it, and while some will dismiss it because of its overall feel, it has the potential to be one of the first truly pick up and play FPS for a very long time.

Hitman: Episode 2: Sapienza: PS4 Review

Hitman: Episode 2: Sapienza: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Square Enix and IO Interactive

The Hitman episodic release schedule may have irritated some, but given the depth and breadth of episode 1 and the scope of the Italian Job in episode 2, it's an irritation that is unfounded.

This time around, Agent 47 is hitting the streets of Sapienza, and its gorgeous vistas to take out target Silvio Caruso, a brilliant bio-engineer who's been working on a DNA-specific virus that could signal bad things for everyone around the world.

Sounds simple? And in true Hitman style, once again it is - as long as you have all the right pieces in place for the execution.

Sapienza is a location that is dressed in beauty.

From its wider map and its beach side shops and other settings, it's a level that encourages exploration before you uncover extinction of your target.

As ever the Opportunities system which randomly presents itself to you while passers-by lurk help provide you with clues as to what to do or what you could do, but it's all about the information-gathering before the hit is executed.

In terms of the gameplay, not much changes with episode 2 but what does emerge is that the episodic structure is really working out for Hitman.

In any other game, the zipping through levels that have clearly been designed with time in mind wouldn't serve to benefit this game - these are areas that crave exploration and duly reward you for doing so in the long run. Plus, with something that looks as gorgeous as Sapienza, the pressure's on to take it all in, rather than race to complete it within a certain time level.

From the high profile of the Paris hit to the more relaxed vibe of Sapienza's seaside locale, it's clear the game's shaping up to be something quite special and varied, which is more than a bonus.

As this game rolls out, it's clear Agent 47 is bang on target.

Win a double pass to see X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Win a double pass to see X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

SYNOPSIS:
Following the critically acclaimed global smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer returns with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.

Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible.

Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign.

As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

ONLY IN CINEMAS From May 19th

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com and in the subject line put APOCALYPSE. 

Please include your name and address and good luck! NB Competition closes 24 May - editor's decision final!

New Transformers film will be called.....

New Transformers film will be called.....

 

X-Men Apocalypse: Film Review

X-Men Apocalypse: Film Review

Cast: James MacAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Evan Peters, Olivia Munn
Director: Bryan Singer

It's back into X-territory for the latest outing in the mutant franchise.

This time around, ten years after the events of Days of Future Past the mutants of Charles Xavier (MacAvoy) are forced into action when the First Mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) is re-awakened. Intent on destroying the world and unleashing chaos, Xavier's problems are further compounded when Magneto (Fassbender) joins Apocalypse's team...

That the latest X Men film feels a misfire is more a script issue rather than any kind of fault in its execution.

Granted, there's plenty of at times impressive CGI destruction to behold as Apocalypse and Magneto join forces to raze civilisation, but the script's lack of singular focus or clear vision means parts feel muddled and overly saggy without any real reason.

It may be that part of the story's rehash of how a mutant comes to be (in this case, Scott Summers, played by Mud's Tye Sheridan) feels so familiar having been explored before. Other characters in the film such as Angel, Storm and Psylocke have good opening sequences and introductions before falling away into narrative obscurity.

It's symptomatic of so much being juggled but yet nothing being fully fleshed out in X Men Apocalypse, that it leaves the whole thing feeling relatively soulless and without any real sense of jeopardy.

It's a shame because the opening in Egypt feels like a mutant version of the start of The Mummy but gives the film a sense of scale and threat that's lacking elsewhere. 

The problem comes that Apocalypse is a bit of a weaker villain for the piece, preferring to be an enabler of those recruited to his Four Horsemen gang, rather than an actual menace worthy of the series and of the tease that was proffered up at the end of Days of Future Past. Isaac does as much as he can under the blue prosthetics but he's saddled with scenes that simply find him in the action scowling and grumbling, rather than bringing a level of fear that the so-called First Mutant should evoke.

For the sixth film in this revamped series, the latest X-Men curiously defers all the personal interplay that helped lift the previous films in favour of over-egging the pudding. 

Curiously, the best moments of Apocalypse involve Fassbender's sense of tragedy as Erik is forced to abandon his living under cover and working in a steel-works - but even this emotional resonance is ultimately undercut by the ongoing tedium of the ideological battle between Xavier and Erik over their philosophical outlook on life. It's a thread that's repeatedly been explored before and one which finds nothing new added this time around.

Of the younger generation, Evan Peters once again excels as Quicksilver, with his central action piece of rescuing everyone from an exploding building being a visual highlight (even if it is a riff on his previous cinematic appearance) and Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner presents an intriguingly subdued take on Jean Grey, with more pent-up yet somehow repressed psychological damage being the order of the day.

Unfortunately though, with the over-stuffing of the cast, the film's younger generation don't exactly excel - despite all their efforts (Kodi Smit-McPhee's Nightcrawler is a nice take on the Alan Cummings'  much loved mutant) the script confines them to the sidelines or to a pointless excursion to Stryker's hideout and Weapon X, purely for fan service.

Equally, the Apocalypse group (who look like a bad 80s rock band) fall away in the wash. The Newsroom's Olivia Munn makes an initial impression as Psylocke before narratively she is eclipsed. 

It's symptomatic of the wider issues of X-Men Apocalypse, a film which is more concerned with rote CGI destruction (which is visually impressive to start off with, before repeatedly used) than character. If this series needs anything urgently with a 90s set outing planned, it's an injection of heart, soul and humanity, rather than a reliance on FX. 

If it doesn't go back to basics, concentrates on the core elements of the series and delivers a genuinely threatening villain or situation that doesn't feel contrived very soon, the X-Men franchise runs a risk of becoming cinematically and thematically alienated.