DRIVECLUB VR Announcement

DRIVECLUB VR Announcement

MEDIA ALERT Wednesday 17 August, 2016 DRIVECLUB VR Announcement

Good evening, PlayStation New Zealand are proud to officially announce that DRIVECLUB VR will launch in 2016 exclusively on PlayStation VR, so get ready to jump back behind the wheel! DRIVECLUB VR powers into an extended season of highly immersive virtual reality racing with a bigger, more powerful engine fuelled by PlayStation VR.  Real race fans can get closer to the action and closer to reality than they ever thought possible in wild-speed showdowns, seated in the cockpit of some of the most exclusive, high-end cars ever made. DRIVECLUB VR gives players the chance to live out their epic racing fantasies in a fully immersive, first person virtual reality driving experience that pushes their skills and reflexes to breaking point.  The depth of immersion not only allows players to feel the incredible speed, sensation and precision of driving some of the world’s most exotic high performance cars, but also the chance to race against or with one another in a completely new way. Key features include: Game modes: Online virtual reality multiplayer race modes and an action-packed single player career are joined by drifting and time trial challenges Tracks: New and classic DRIVECLUB tracks are brought to life through the power of PlayStation VR, including five all-new Urban locations A closer look: Every car is recreated with immaculate detail for players to explore up close with Inspection Mode Cruise control: A little time to kick back, open the throttle or just coast and explore any track, in any country at your leisure in Cruise Mode. Virtual passenger: An immersive thrill ride through exciting replays of hot laps as players watch themselves handle their greatest challenges from a unique viewpoint in Passenger Mode.

Our Kind of Traitor: Film Review

Our Kind of Traitor: Film Review

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Saskia Reeves
Director: Susanna White

The ordinary guys finding themselves seduced by wealth and lifestyle before being placed in an extraordinary situation is nothing new to the thriller genre.

And in the hands of director Susanna White (a predominantly TV series based director), this adaptation of a John Le Carre novel is fairly workmanlike, and unfortunately lacking in many thrills.

Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris star as Perry and Gail, who are holidaying in Marrakech and clearly trying to reconnect. When Gail's pulled away on a work call at dinner, Perry finds himself ensconced in a circle of Russians, headed up by Stellan Skarsgard's oligarch and money launderer Dima.

Attracted to the wealthier side of life, and seizing the opportunity it brings, Perry's soon asked by Dima to take a memory stick of information to the British authorities (here headed up by Homeland star Damian Lewis's stiff and starched Hector). Dima wants to defect and bring down the corrupt vein that's coursing through London.... but Perry and Gail find themselves thrust into the middle of a web of mistrust.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Our Kind of Traitor.

In many ways, White's execution of the Le Carre novel of the same name is a solid piece that lacks thrills to power it along, and feels curiously devoid of suspense throughout.

Of the cast, McGregor's fine as Perry, the man who's done wrong by Gail, but wants to do the right thing by others, and Harris is a muted presence as Gail. Fatally, the pair lack chemistry at times, though that could in part be due to the strained relationship they're supposed to portray as details of their chasm are drip-fed out. And any danger they may face is muted by this portrayal of the relationship.

But it's Skarsgard who has the bigger presence as the larger than life Dima.

His rounded character demonstrates what's missing in this thriller - characters that you really root for and engage with. While his portrayal borders on the over-the-top at times, it is a welcome source of wry humour and a distraction from the character elements that are unfortunately missing elsewhere.

Sequences of suspense that would have been page-turners in the original best selling novel are performed with such perfunctory flair that the film lacks a compelling sparkle with which to settle on and contains little sign of ever fully gripping you in its web of mistrust and intrigue.

In many ways, Our Kind of Traitor feels like a film out of time; perhaps fans of Le Carre's original novel will get some kind of buzz from its execution, but everyone else may feel this thriller is a little too vanilla and lacking in flair.

New Hitman Trailer - The Sarajevo Six

New Hitman Trailer - The Sarajevo Six

SYDNEY, 16^th August 2016 - The fourth target from The Sarajevo Six is available with the launch of Episode 4: Bangkok.

Your target is John Stubbs, a retired mercenary who is on holiday at the luxury Himmapan Hotel in Bangkok with his wife. There is a VIP in residence at the hotel at the same time, so expect heightened security presence. 

To watch ‘The Veteran’ Sarajevo Six video, please visit: https://youtu.be/waNOmj1l3X4

PS4 players get exclusive access to The Sarajevo Six. These are six bonus contracts that tell a self-contained side-story revolving around former members of a paramilitary unit called CICADA. Agent 47 will travel the world in pursuit of his targets, with one bonus contract available in each location from the game.

Visit hitman.com for more information on HITMAN and the Sarajevo Six.

Win Bound on PS4

Win Bound on PS4

Repair a broken world through the beauty of dance

Developed exclusively for PlayStation®4 by Plastic, the team behind innovative titles like Linger In Shadows and Datura, Bound combines a unique visual style with a powerful story and gameplay mechanics infused with modern dance.

Bound transports you into a beautiful, fantastical world that exists in the mind of a woman revisiting the memories of her childhood. Use dance moves to traverse vast environments filled with platforming challenges. 

As the game progresses, the introspective story unfolds through powerful metaphor and imagery, adding emotional depth to the protagonist’s journey.

To celebrate the release of Bound, thanks to PlayStation NZ I've got a code to giveaway!

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

In the subject line put BOUND

Please include your name and address and good luck!

No Man's Sky: PS4 Review

No Man's Sky: PS4 Review

Developed by Hello Games
Released by Sony on PS4

There's a section of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams that explains how "space is big. Like really big."

So it is that this passage from the Book in the adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect is called to mind when firing up Hello Games' No Man's Sky, one of the most anticipated titles of the year.

With its promise of almost 19 quintillion planets to explore and a universe out there waiting for you, it's no wonder that many were salivating at the thought of this deep-space wandering.

But it's interesting to note that No Man's Sky may not satiate everyone's desires to see the universe, and may even leave some feeling ambivalent in what occurs in this AI generated universe.

Initially, you find yourself dumped on a planet, with your ship slightly in tatters and your equipment needing an upgrade and serious repair before you can even head off into the stars. Your only tool to help with such a thing is a mining gun that helps you take out elements from the world around you so that you can craft your way off the rock. But, as you go around blasting resources and claiming them as your own, you have to be careful as flying sentinels circle your every move, and will attack if you're being greedy.

There's a line to tread between altruism and avarice in No Man's Sky, and how you decide to do it will define your game.

No Man's Sky is epic and lonely but a deeply spiritual experience.

Mixing in elements of BBC computer game Elite with Destiny's UI, No Man's Sky is an interesting game that will give you as much as you're willing to give into it. Hopping planets in systems and scanning everything as you go will take patience and won't be for everyone; meeting new animals and scanning them gives you money, feeding them makes them happy - and gives you nothing except a warm feeling in your spacesuit.

Exploring a planet will show off new terrain, full of flora and fauna and occasionally monoliths and educational plinths that give you insight into the language. Yes, No Man's Sky is that kind of game - a sort of space set hippy-dippy dive into 2001: A Space Odyssey territory. If you want to see things around, then you can. But there's no obligation to catalogue everything on the worlds and outside of mining resources to get you what you need to get back into space and head into the centre of the universe, it's unclear what the game aspires to definitively other than to provoke a sense of wonder.

There's a side story involving the history of the universe that adds a portentous mythical depth to proceedings and which helps you understand the world you live in. It also aids trading partners and your standing with aliens if you partake and it's been nothing but beneficial so far.

Trading and meeting aliens within space stations is all part of the game as well. Unlike Elite's desire to have you listen to the Blue Danube, docking is all automatic and landing all taken care of. This is not a game that relies on fiddly mechanics to fly and a lot of the game will require you to do so - yet, for all the time you spend in space, alone, there's little when leaping from one to the next to do except simply sit back and watch it happen. It's a confused experience, yet bizarrely one that gets the mundanity of space travel spot on. It's a game that has an inherent spirituality in between its peaks and its troughs - and yet despite all that, it feels slightly alone in the cosmos.

And alone is the right word; this is not a game that allows you yet to meet others. Which is something personally that is preferable. The idea of others intruding on your own journey is not one to be relished and thankfully, No Man's Sky's insistence on being solo is also one of its strengths. You interact with game generated creatures and ships, but no one else. It's a commendable ethos and a single minded purpose for such a game given how people's desire to "clock" a space game and then irritate people can ruin an experience.

From trading and grinding, to revisiting the scene of your death to re-claim all of your gear (the game operates on a Dark souls death experience that needs you to go back to where you died), there's more than enough to keep you occupied. With Hello Games' plan to release free DLC, it appears there is more on the horizon too.

At the end of the day, No Man's Sky is an experience - though quite why it was not held back for VR is beyond comprehension as its gameplay could have blown minds. It's a game that requires a grind and requires patience as you negotiate the worlds out there, chart uncharted waters and worlds and meet and greet the aliens. It's about you - and it's about what you put into it of yourself.

And yet, despite all of that, for pure escapism and for pure creativity, No Man's Sky achieves and exceeds expectations. It's about rhythms of life, and of going with the flow - and currently, the gentle mood and just being out there is personally speaking to the gamers.

It's just that whether that pull to keep on travelling and keep on cataloguing will still hold as strong in a couple of months' time remains to be seen.

For now though, I'm sold.

Fallout 4: Nuka-World Gameplay Trailer Released

Fallout 4: Nuka-World Gameplay Trailer Released

We’ve just released the official gameplay trailer for Fallout 4’s sixth and final add-on, Nuka-World, which will be available worldwide on Tuesday, August 30^th across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC for AUD$29.95 / NZD$34.95.  

Take a trip to Nuka-World, a vast amusement park now a lawless city of Raiders. Explore an all-new region with an open wasteland and park zones like Safari Adventure, Dry Rock Gulch, Kiddie Kingdom, and the Galactic Zone. Lead lethal gangs of Raiders and use them to conquer settlements, bending the Commonwealth to your will. Nuka-World features new quests, Raiders, weapons, creatures, and more. Enjoy the ride!

For more information visit www.fallout4.com.

Destiny: The Collection unveiled

Destiny: The Collection unveiled

Destiny – The Collection, will be available from September 20, 2016. FIVE ADVENTURES, ONE BLOCKBUSTER EDITIONDESTINY - THE COLLECTION AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON SEPTEMBER 20
 Destiny – The Collection to Feature the Upcoming Large Expansion – Destiny: Rise of Iron Legacy Gen Upgrade Path Begins Today 

AUCKLAND, New Zealand. – August 16, 2016 – Bungie and Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today one of the largest content offerings in gaming to launch this year – Destiny – The Collection.  Containing every release from the award-winning action shooter franchise to date, including the new large expansion,Destiny: Rise of Iron, Destiny – The Collection is the perfect opportunity for new Guardians to join the fight for humanity’s survival.  For legacy gen players, Destiny – The Collection marks the opportunity to transition to playing Destiny on a current gen system through the upgrade program which begins today and runs until January 31, 2017. Destiny – The Collection will launch alongsideRise of Iron on September 20, 2016 and will be available for the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One (PlayStation®Plus, Xbox Live Gold, required for some features).  Gamers who pre-purchase Destiny –The Collection digitally will be able to experience Destiny, The Dark Below, House of Wolves and The Taken King immediately, while awaiting the release of Rise of Iron.
 “Destiny – The Collection is the perfect starting point for gamers who have yet to experience Destiny,” said Byron Beede, Sr. Vice President of Destiny at Activision. “Destiny – The Collection contains some of the most engaging content Bungie has ever created and the soon-to-be released Rise of Iron. It also includes a character boost that will allow new players to instantly join in with friends who are already enjoying Destiny.” Players who pre-order Destiny – The Collection or Rise of Iron will receive the black and silver Iron Gjallarhorn*, a fan favourite weapon making its return to power. Those that pre-order digitally or at select retailers will also receive the Iron Gjallarwing Sparrow*.   Destiny brings you into a bold world of action and adventure where you are a Guardian of the last safe city on Earth wielding incredible powers. Explore the ancient ruins of our solar system as you immerse yourself in a cinematic single-player campaign. Join up with friends in three or six player co-op activities. Spar with your fellow players in a variety of competitive multiplayer modes. Upgrade your character to create a powerful hero as unique as yourself. Become Legend. Destiny – The Collection is rated M for fantasy violence and online interactivity.  Destiny – The Collection will be available at a suggested retail price of AUD$89.95.  At launch, PlayStation gamers will also get access exclusive content for Rise of Iron, timed exclusive until at least Fall 2017.