We Happy Few: XBox One Preview

We Happy Few: XBox One Preview

Platform: XBox One
Developer: Compulsion Games

The tone for dystopian nightmare We Happy Few is set very early on.

Sat in an office, mindlessly censoring or approving snippets of information sent to you in cannisters, you are reminded it's time to take your Joy pill. So far, so depressing and so familiar to many office drones, trapped in a daily 9 to 5.

But refusing to take your pill and biffing them into a cannister, the world seems to clarify around you.

However, what transpires next as you're invited to a pinata party is truly nightmarish as a group circles around a table, chanting at you to hit the pinata with masks of warped joy on their faces. It's like something out of the League of Gentlemen - and it concludes in truly warped fashion as it's revealed the pinata is actually a rat and people are scrabbling to eat it.

Though in many ways, this garish start is perfect for We Happy Few; it's a bolt upright reveal that boldly sets the tone for Compulsion Games' trip to an alternative 1960s England.

And it's pretty warped as the game plays out.

Once you've recovered from the shock reveal, the game drops you into a bunker underground and you have to head out and basically survive. From dealing with thirst to injuries that prove to be mortal if untended, We Happy Few's emphasis may well be on survival but it's also an exploration game with some combat thrown in for equal measure as well.

Wandering around gets you into the company of others, and lets you explore the world of Wellington Wells, that would appear to be the antithesis of a Disney-esque version of a British surrounding. And as you struggle to survive more, the idea becomes that you have to get by without anyone suspecting that you're off your meds and a danger.

The alpha stage of We Happy Few is certainly a stylish blast of an alternative world that really wouldn't be out of place in the annals of the likes of Brit sci-fi anthology 2000AD. Its blackness and crueller edges are what set it above the rest of its ilk, but it really does need a little more story to keep you hooked.

Exploring is fruitful but the idea of where to go and what to do is somewhat lacking. While that direction is perhaps laudable, it soon means the stylish elements are what remain in your mind, rather than story-led rug pulls.

Graphically, the game is excellent, with the sense of unease crawling off the screen and under your skin without any kind of warning. It's creepy and unsettling and that really marks out in this world where everything is similar or an ever-so slightly unusual version of similar.

Ultimately Compulsion Games' alpha shows the reasons that We Happy Few really stood out at E3 - it's a demonstration of something unique and hopefully something a little more original. It scores highly for a truly out of the box opening that really does offer some visual shocks and set the tone for what lies ahead  - darkly delicious and potentially devious, with some more indication of what's expected, it looks like We Happy Few could be a force to be reckoned with.

Win No Man's Sky on PS4

Win No Man's Sky on PS4

It's the most anticipated game of the year - No Man's Sky!


Your Universe Awaits in No Man’s Sky on PS4.

Forge your own path through a living, breathing universe on an unprecedented scale and discover new worlds from a possible 18 quintillion unique planets.

Uncover new species, gather precious resources and forever make your mark on the galactic map.

Thanks to PlayStation we are giving away one copy of the game. 

To find out more about No Man's Sky on PS4, click here

To win a copy of No Man's Sky, all you have to do is email me what you would name a planet if you discovered one!

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  OR simply CLICK HERE 

In the subject line put NO MAN'S SKY and remember to give me your planet name!

Please include your name and address and good luck!

This competition's open to residents of New Zealand only and will close on August 24th!

Good luck!

Tricky Towers: PS4 Review

Tricky Towers: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by Weirdbeard Games
Coming to PS Plus in August

Tetris is an obsession.

A global obsession if you will - simply sliding the blocks into place, building structures and keeping it together under pressure has always been a fun past time.

Well, Weirdbeard Games has realised that and has crafted this mash up of Tetris and also bizarrely, the graphics and gruntings of a Rayman game. Brick stacking has never been anything less than passably entertaining and occasionally addictive and Weirdbeard's embraced that in Tricky Towers.

All you have to do is stack a series of bricks, a la Tetris and ensure they don't fall over, wiping out both your structure and your life. Seems easy right? But that's not all of it - using magic and the wizards you are in charge of can help sway the game your way.

The game's MO is very simple - it rotates between different challenges which unlock further challenges. Stack bricks over a certain level to win, rotate bricks into a puzzle that's in front of you or make sure you stack all of the bricks that are thrown your way without losing three times - there's little but variations on a theme in play here. However, it's surprising how quickly you become frustrated at the end of a level and dive back in again at the start.

Physics play a part in the game as well - one simple mistake of stacking and it's all over. There are spells to help bind the blocks but they don't always help save the day given that if they fall, they fall. Multiplayer is yet to work properly on the game because it's not fully launched yet as this was early access review - though one imagines it will follow a similar pattern of taking one friends in competition levels.

Local co-op is there, and there are options to pay for more packs of wizards; there are also plenty of levels to play through but this is very much bite sized fun or game for family afternoon on the couch together at a local level.

All in all, Tricky Towers' cartoony cutesy style and simplistic game mechanic make it eminently disposable but hollowly entertaining as well.

Win a double pass to see Ben-Hur

Win a double pass to see Ben-Hur

“BEN-HUR”

Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures present

“Ben-Hur”

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov

Written by Keith Clarke and John Ridley

Produced by Sean Daniel, Mark Burnett, Joni Levin, and Duncan Henderson

Executive Produced by Roma Downey, Keith Clarke, John Ridley, and Jason Brown

Cast:               Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman, and also starring Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, and Sofia Black D’Elia

Synopsis:         BEN-HUR is the epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army.  Stripped of his title, separated from his family and the woman he loves (Nazanin Boniadi), Judah is forced into slavery.  After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but finds redemption.  Based on Lew Wallace’s timeless novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.  Also starring Morgan Freeman and Rodrigo Santoro.

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  OR simply CLICK HERE darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com

In the subject line put  BEN-HUR!

Please include your name and address and good luck!

Competition closes August 25th

Win a double pass to see Kubo and The Two Strings

Win a double pass to see Kubo and The Two Strings

Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA.  Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Hashi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and Kamekichi (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). 

But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. 

Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known.  With the help of his shamisen - a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara)  to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family and fulfill his heroic destiny.

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com  OR simply CLICK HERE darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com

In the subject line put  KUBO!

Please include your name and address and good luck!

Competition closes August 18th

HITMAN Episode 4 Bangkok Release Date

HITMAN Episode 4 Bangkok Release Date

HITMAN: Episode 4 Bangkok Coming August 16^th

SYDNEY, 8^TH August 2016 - Io-Interactive today confirms that episode 4 of HITMAN will be set in Bangkok and will be arriving on August 16^th. 

The "Club 27" mission transports players to the opulence and splendour of the Himmapan luxury hotel and resort, situated on the Chao Phraya River outside Bangkok.  Your targets are rising rock star Jordan Cross, front man of trending indie band The Class, and Cross’ family lawyer, Ken Morgan.  Both are currently residing at the luxury hotel as the band finishes its highly-anticipated sophomore album.

Explore the grand hotel's exquisite interiors and bask in the natural beauty of the exotic gardens adorning the hotel's exterior pavilions.  Or just enjoy the vista of the Chao Phraya River as you plan how best to carry out your mission. 

“Bangkok is the exotic setting for the next episode in our HITMAN season,” said Hannes Seifert, Studio Head at Io-Interactive. “We’ve gone a bit rock and roll with this one as your targets are the lead singer of the band The Class and his family lawyer – so expect musical instruments to be used for some unusual activity.”

With all-new opportunities and disguises, plus over 65 different challenges unlocking new gear, weapons, and items, Episode 4: Bangkok is not to be missed. 

An early sneak peek of the new episode is available via the latest music video ‘Are We Stars’ from Jordon Cross and his band The Class, filmed on location at the Himmapan hotel in Bangkok: https://youtu.be/iy7p9IkAmj0

HITMAN began with a Prologue and Paris location in March, continued with Episode 2: Sapienza in April, Episode 3: Marrakesh in May, the Bonus Episode in July and Episode 4: Bangkok in August. Next will be the United States before the season finale in Japan later in 2016.

HITMAN is available on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Blu Ray Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Zack Snyder is not the kind of director who is going to deliver subtly.

And given that, the revelation that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is an exercise in wilfull bombast turned up to 11, will come as no surprise to anyone.

In this iconic showdown, served up with hints of foreshadowing and set up, Snyder has served up a film that's indifferent to the cries that haunted Man Of Steel and carried on the idea of spectacle over story, of destruction triumphing once again over coherency.

And yet, as the film begins, delivering, once again, a re-view of how the Bat came to be, the indifference is tempered by the 9/11 allegories, contemporary bombings and allusions that span off from the massive fight with General Zod at the end of Man Of Steel. The ground level view of the fracas is impressive and sets out the film's stall and MO with ease -it is a film of consequence as it starts both Batman and Superman on a collision course with each other.

But this is also a story of guilt, of seething indignation and of cunning, all lassoed together with an all too brief appearance from Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, all lithe kicks and guitar licks when she finally shows.

Affleck surprises as Bruce Wayne, a greyed, chiseled and buffed up Bats, who's wearied by the continuing injustice around him and whose bubbling anger is borne of a desire to protect. Equally, Cavill conveys the gravitas needed as the bell tolls for him in light of his previous actions and the raging public suspicion and debate that this Messiah may just be a naughty boy whose intentions are less than good.

Snyder makes an excellent fist of setting up these character conflicts and uses a nervy wiry Jesse Eisenberg as the puppet master / Joker-esque Lex Luthor to tug at the strings for his own nefarious means. (Even if Eisenberg's twitchy Zuckerberg-lite character is polarising, switching between manic and overly chatty bordering on the intellectual camp of a 60s Bat-villain a la Riddler).

But despite these, Snyder then manages to throw away some of the good intentions by delivering a third act that is just wall to wall OTT extremely loud action sequences that continue to hurtle your way with little coherence, some questionable Uruk Hai CGI and some rote formulaic destruction all thrown in for good measure. Equally, most of the pieces of the film don't fully hang together for non-comic book lovers; sequences that hint at other future events will be lost on those who don't know their comic book lore or casual viewers here for the eye-bruising and unrelentingspectacle.

The film can't also escape some of the weaker trappings of its writing too - conflicts are set up and resolved in the most emotionally unsatisfying of manners (the enmity between Batman and Superman being a major casualty of this) as the wider confines of the DC Universe converge on the bigger screen. The set up is well done and the hints of a greater foundation for the film are laid earlier on but the build up to the main event does well to paper over the disappointment of the ultimate showdown.

All of that taken into consideration, in among all the posturing and the incessant gloom of Metropolis and Gotham, some light emerges.

Jeremy Irons' sardonic Alfred is a highlight - a dismissive and wry sarcasm drips from his every delivery. Laurence Fishburne's Daily Planet editor Perry is a delight, delivering humour where necessary and gravitas when needed - and Amy Adams' Lois Lane is ballsy for the most part, even if she teeters dangerously into damsel-in-distress toward the end. The human elements work well and simply stand to point out the absurdity of the gods-among-us storylines and behaviours.

While there's no doubting that Snyder delivers on spectacle (and certainly with some specially shot IMAX pieces effectively utilising all of the screen) and on bombast (a great soundtrack is blasted into overdrive), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice simply becomes another one of those dour superhero films that relies on a formulaic end to service all but its fans. And it's a crippling shame there's no more of Diana Price - her appearance both in and out of costume gives the film a sparkle it needs to take it away from the pomposity it borders on.

It's a sprawling story that somehow manages to feel both over-stuffed and under-explored, and a film which has great ambitions but ends up feeling too long and with sections that struggle with incoherence to the casual viewer.

There's no doubting fans will enjoy the spectacle and there are plenty of moments if you're a comic book fan, but all in all, while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is perfectly serviceable, it probably will stand better on re-appraisal after the other films in the imminent franchise have launched.