At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog.
The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
The companion series to The Walking Dead is a curious beast.
It suffers from the fact that everyone knows what is coming. given the main show, and yet somehow, it never quite captures the thrust and thrill of what drives the idea.
Set before the global pandemic that released the undead, it centres on Cliff Curtis's Travis, a teacher who finds himself and his family in the midst of a strange day as the virus begins.
Essentially moody and atmospheric but also a little slow at times, the series never quite reaches the potential of the Walking Dead in terms of character and those in the firing line aren't exactly characters you're fully cheering for.
That said, Fear The Walking Dead uses its panic premise well and executes the build up subtly.
The second season is supposed to be longer than these six episodes and it's to be hoped the show builds on its ideas rather than spending time in a military zone that stalls proceedings.
The show needs to develop its characters a little more to give it the edge and it's hoped that if it builds on this, season two could be a real killer.
Starting today, we are excited to deliver on something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time – bring Mods to a console audience. With the latest title update for Fallout 4, Xbox One gamers are now able to browse Mods on Bethesda.net and, more importantly, can directly download and play Mods within the game’s main menu.
Playing Fallout 4 on PlayStation 4? Your wait is almost over, too. We anticipate Mods arriving on the PS4 next month.
For news and updates on Fallout 4 Mods, keep your eyes on Bethesda.net, our community forums, and on the @bethesdastudios and @fallout Twitter accounts.
Mods and the players who create them have always been an important part of our games, going all the way back to Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set. We believe that our games become something much more special, when we put the power of creation in your hands. New quests, environments, characters, dialogue, outfits, weapons and more – with Mods, the possibilities of what you can do are endless. You are creating new experiences that enhance and take our games into amazing and surprising new directions.
For Fallout 4, our goal was to make Mods easier and more accessible than ever before – for both the creators and the players. By building an all-new system with Bethesda.net we’ve made a huge leap forward in achieving that.
You can now browse and search for the latest and greatest Mods, choose your favorites, post feedback, and install them – all within the game. Simply select Mods from the main menu, and start browsing. You can also browse through mods online on Bethesda.net.
If you want to try making Mods (and we think everybody should), the Creation Kit – the same tool that we used to create Fallout 4 – is a free download via the Bethesda.net launcher. You can check out the Creation Kit Wiki, our online documentation and help file, for more details and tips on how to make them.
We plan to update and evolve Mods and the Creation Kit based on your experiences so be sure to leave feedback in our forums.
For console players, Mods will be coming to Xbox One in May and PlayStation 4 in June. We have a lot to do yet, but we hope it changes console gaming the way it has changed PC.
Finally, we’d like to thank all the Modders who volunteered to beta test the Creation Kit and Mods during our closed beta. Your feedback has been invaluable and we couldn’t have done it without you. For them and for all our players, we can’t wait to see what you create.
Ubisoft® Celebrates 30 Years of Creating Games at E3 2016
Ubisoft has revealed its plans for E3 2016, where its creative teams will proudly present highly anticipated titles such as Watch Dogs 2, For Honor™ and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands. They’ll also detail new content coming for live games and – as usual – unveil some surprises.
The week will kick off with Ubisoft’s E3 2016 Conference, taking place on Monday, June 13 starting at 1 p.m. PDT and preceded by a 30-minute pre-show. E3 attendees can experience Ubisoft games at its booth (booth #1023, South Hall, Los Angeles Convention Center) from June 14 – 16. More than 1,700 fans also have the opportunity to play Ubisoft games and meet the development teams at the fourth-annual Ubisoft Lounge.
“E3 is always a very special moment when everyone in the entertainment business does their best to amaze and engage gamers. For Ubisoft’s teams, it’s a period of pride and of anxious anticipation because they are finally showing off the games they’ve poured so much passion into, and receiving feedback from players and peers. Our industry has evolved so much in the past 30 years, but what hasn’t changed is my love and respect for the limitless passion and talent of developers and players alike,” said Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO, Ubisoft. “The video game industry continues to enjoy strong momentum, with powerful new platforms that enable more creativity, expression and imagination. More than ever, video games are showing how they will shape the future of entertainment. I can’t wait to be at E3 and see what the future has in store.”
Ubisoft E3 2016 Conference
Actress and comedian Aisha Tyler hosts her fifth Ubisoft E3 Conference, which will include all new trailers and gameplay demos for upcoming Ubisoft games. The conference will be broadcast live and on demand on Ubisoft.com, Ubisoft’s YouTube channel as well as on its Twitch channel.
Ubisoft Booth -- #1023, South Hall, LACC
E3 attendees can visit the Ubisoft booth to further explore the lineup, which includes:
For Honor™: Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, For Honor drops gamers into the chaos of a raging battlefield during an ongoing war between three Great Factions: the bold Knights, the brutal Vikings and the enigmatic Samurai. For every battle, players can choose which warrior they want to embody amongst the unique Heroes from this pantheon, using their distinct skills and weapons to fight for land, people and honor, decimating all soldiers, archers and opposing Heroes who stand in their way.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands: Set a few years from now, Ghost Recon Wildlands lets players lead a team of Ghosts, a four-player U.S. Elite Special Operations unit, on a covert mission to eliminate the Santa Blanca drug cartel, an underworld power and growing global threat within Ubisoft’s imagining of an incredibly beautiful, yet dangerous Bolivia.
South Park™ The Fractured But Whole™: Delve into the crime-ridden underbelly of South Park as the newest member of Coon & Friends. As the New Kid, players must harness their super powers to fight crime and become part of the most beloved superhero franchise of all time.
Eagle Flight™: Developed exclusively for virtual reality, players will soar over the skies of Paris as an eagle and experience the freedom of flight. Players take on enemies in fast-paced multiplayer battles for up to 3v3 or level-up flying skills in single player to navigate their eagle gracefully through the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Special guests will be in attendance and a jam-packed program of performances is scheduled throughout the week.
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakes BB-8 Character video
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens Character Spotlight Series Continues with NEW BB-8 Video
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment yesterday released the next video in a series of LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens character vignettes spotlighting BB-8, the lovable astromech droid and loyal companion of Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. The video showcases BB-8’s LEGO® character in full form through key gameplay moments, cinematic cut scenes and authentic audio, all with signature LEGO® humor.
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Force Awakens will be released on June 28, 2016 and marksthe triumphant return of the No. 1 LEGO® videogame franchise, immersing fans in the new Star Wars™ adventure like never before. Players can relive the epic action from the blockbuster film in a way that only LEGO® can offer, featuring all of the storylines from Star Wars™: The Force Awakens, retold through the clever and witty LEGO® lens. The game will also include exclusive playable content exploring New Adventures set in the time leading up to Star Wars™: The Force Awakens, providing further insight about the new movie and its characters.
Additionally, LEGO®Star Wars™: The Force Awakenswill showcase original dialogue from key members of the theatrical cast, providing the most authentic Star Wars™for experience for players, including: John Boyega (Finn), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) and other top stars from the film. The game will be available for PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U™, Nintendo 3DS™ and Steam (Windows PC).
Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart star in the action comedy Central Intelligence,
for New Line Cinema and Universal Pictures.
The story follows a one-time bullied geek who grew up to be a lethal CIA
agent (Johnson), coming home for his high-school reunion. Claiming to be on a
top-secret case, he enlists the help of the former "big man on campus" (Hart),
now an accountant who misses his glory days.
But before the staid
numbers-cruncher realizes what he's getting into, it's too late to get out, as
his increasingly unpredictable new friend drags him through a world of
shoot-outs, double-crosses and espionage that could get them both killed in more
ways than he can count.
Central Intelligence also stars Oscar® nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone),
Aaron Paul (TV's Breaking Bad) and Danielle Nicolet (TV's The Game). The film
is directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (We're the Millers, Dodgeball). The
screenplay is by Ike Barinholtz & David Stassen and Rawson Marshall Thurber,
from a story by Ike Barinholtz & David Stassen.
It is produced by Scott
Stuber (Ted), Peter Principato (TV's Black-ish), Paul Young (Black-ish) and
Michael Fottrell (Furious Seven). Serving as executive producers are Ed Helms,
who worked with Thurber on We're the Millers, Samuel J. Brown and Michael
Disco. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE IS IN CINEMAS JUNE 30TH To enter to win a double pass to CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE all you have to do is drop me an email, with your name, address and the words CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE in the subject title! Email is darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com NB Competition closes 30 JUNE - editor's decision final!
Rating: PG Released by Roadshow Home Ent Given the popularity of the 62 odd children's horror novellas by American writer R L Stine, the film of Goosebumps has a lot of readers to satisfy.
But by cleverly using the scares that make the series so popular and not dumbing them down, theGoosebumps movie is a smart, occasionally nightmarish trip and scary take on the typical story of the new boy moving to a new town and trying to fit in.
That boy is Dylan Minette, whose Zach has moved to the small backwater of Madison where his mum (Amy Ryan) is taking up the deputy principal-ship of the high school. But Zach finds his attention focussed on the girl next door (Odeya Rush) whose father (Jack Black) keeps her home schooled and locked up a night a la Rapunzel.
However, when Zach breaks in to investigate what he believes to be a domestic, he discovers the father is actually the famed horror writer R L Stine. And things get more complicated when Zach inadvertently lets loose a monster from the pages of Stine's books...
Using a mix of CGI, comedy horror and old school scares, Goosebumps works cleverly to keep its audience entertained without ever stooping to the lazy cliches and writing.
While the kids are most likely to be taken in by the suspense and the chase set pieces, adults will find some joys too in this Rear Window / The Blob / Zathura / The Shining / IT pastiche, which revels in meta-commentary about book sales, Stephen King and writing - it even throws in aGulliver's Travels sight gag too as gnomes tether Black down.
Black channels madcap as Stine, but keeps it on the right side of not going OTT and also does a great job as the menacingly homicidal mannequin, Slappy, the main villain of the piece (and fave of the book series). Minnette continues his road to fame as the likeable Zach (who has a great bond with his mother) and Rush manages the part well, but the pair lack some of the chemistry which feels forced upon them; there's the obligatory comedy sidekick in Ryan Lee's champ to get you through the mix of jump scares and tension.The FX are reasonable; certainly when the words spring to life off the page and bring the creatures into the world, it's a great effect, though later on there are moments when the film starts to creak. Equally, there's a lot of simply chasing around which does grow a little repetitive towards the end as if the story itself is running ever so slightly out of steam.
But all in all,Goosebumps succeeds in a self-aware wave of nostalgia for the books' source material and a reverence to what makes them so popular - they simply set out to scare their readers and offer entertainment; it's something which the film manages in great spades of both parody and B-movie moments.
As we head to the end of the year and movie fatigue is on the verge of setting in, it may actually give you Goosebumps because of how good it actually is.
It suffers from the fact that everyone knows what is coming. given the main show, and yet somehow, it never quite captures the thrust and thrill of what drives the idea.
The story follows a one-time bullied geek who grew up to be a lethal CIA
agent (Johnson), coming home for his high-school reunion. Claiming to be on a
top-secret case, he enlists the help of the former "big man on campus" (Hart),
now an accountant who misses his glory days.
The FX are reasonable; certainly when the words spring to life off the page and bring the creatures into the world, it's a great effect, though later on there are moments when the film starts to creak. Equally, there's a lot of simply chasing around which does grow a little repetitive towards the end as if the story itself is running ever so slightly out of steam.
