Mafia III: PS4 Review

Mafia III: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Released by 2K Games

Already one of 2K Games' biggest titles, Mafia 3's 1960s set America is a veritable powder-keg of a game.

The third person shooter sees you taking control of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam war veteran who's after revenge for his murdered mates. Put in the context of New Bordeaux in 1968 where racism is rife and violence is never far from the arsenal, this semi-sort of Goodfellas tale gives you the chance to explore 10 different regions and work across several differing sandbox storylines.

Pitting you against fellow Haitian mobs and other would-be hoodlums, Clay has to work his way to the top, and using stealth and occasional brute force, it's a long road to get there.

What Hangar 13 and 2K Games have done with Mafia III is relatively astounding, even if there are elements which feel repetitive in the story missions.

The game oozes with atmosphere, and the era of the time. From the use of Jimi Hendrix's All Along The WatchTower at the start through to the less savoury elements, the game's embracing of the period makes this Grand Theft Auto South style game feel authentic and occasionally uncomfortable.

Coupled with a great script, some documentary style edges and some good solid voice acting, Mafia III's higher elements work better than the moments that feel familiar and retread old mission ground. Robbing, murdering - they're all part of the various missions scattered around the sandbox world and pushed around the different regions for you to perform. And they all form a purpose too, as you gain control of regions and take charge of lieutenants to carry out your desires and keep you stocked up with weapons.

While the game has glitches here and there (I spent some time riding around New Bordeaux's areas half melded into another car after trying unsuccessfully to drive over it), there's a lot to be said for the scope of Mafia III and the ugly reality it embraces.

There's a strength to the reality of Mafia III and it makes a gameplay experience feel more grounded than the likes of GTA - its commitment to recreation deserves great praise, and its solid core mechanics demonstrate it's understandable why it's been so popular.

For a sandbox game to sink your time into, Mafia III makes an offer you'd be foolish to refuse.

Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood: PSVR Review

Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood: PSVR Review

Developed by Supermassive Games
Platform: PS VR

There's nothing worse than a haunted house ride.

A rollercoaster takes you through a series of static locations where some goon presses a lever and out pops a ghost that looks like it wouldn't scare a 2 year old - it's a pitiful sight most times.

So it is that the Until Dawn developers have taken this concept on board and created a light gun shooter that panders to the scope of the VR World.

Taking you into the seat of a rollercoaster (even so much that unlike Batman VR you have legs and arms) you're sent spiralling around a series of levels via haunted house / rollercoaster and out into the environs that you may recognise from parts of the original Until Dawn game.

The premise is simple - you have 2 guns and you have to shoot things. It's not rocket science, but it's also not your usual shoot at the rubber duckies carny fare either. As you move slowly but with certainty around the tracks and into one location after the next, it's all about using the dual PS Move controllers to load up, fire and reload when the guns glow orange.

Ducking and diving to avoid low hanging obstacles is present too - and it's occasionally hit and miss as to whether you actually hit and miss.

Taking out some static targets boosts the multiplier and others are collectables, but at the end of the day, this is about shooting what comes at you from within the dark - be it mannequins that require an inordinate amount of bullets to stop them dead or scary clowns that menace you.

The scope of the VR means you're constantly scanning around as you play through seven levels and with bits going on on the side of it all, it means that there's always something to look at. If you're a horror buff, you'll know the tropes and maybe won't jump as much as others will, but there's something to be said for the pace of the game and the way it knows what it wants to do.

Less effective is monitoring your life as you take on hits from others. Because there's always something happening on screen, it's uncertain how much health you have left in the face of attacks and during the marauding moments, there's no indication of how close to death you are which is frustrating to say the least.

Ultimately, Until Dawn A Rush of Blood gives you the kind of adrenaline boost you'd get from a haunted house ride - it's kind of fun, occasionally tough and occasionally corny and cliched, but it shows there's great promise in VR in creating entire worlds that feel organic.

Trolls: Film Review

Trolls: Film Review

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, James Corden, Russell Brand, Christine Baranski
Director: Mike Mitchell

Finally, a film that will make you re-consider your opinion of Trolls.

Rather than the pain in the ass online lurkers, these Trolls are the Dreamworks film version of the Thomas Dam toys and quite frankly, this is going to be one of the summer family films.

The preternatural preppy Kendrick is Princess Poppy, the upbeat pink haired Troll whose life is all perpetual happiness. 20 years ago, she and her fellow Troll-kind escaped the clutches of the monsters of the Bergen town for good.

Believing the only way to happiness is to consume a Troll, the villagers of Bergen are furious but one day, their chef (Christine Baranski) stumbles across the Trolls' hideaway and snatches a couple of them. Setting out on a rescue mission due to their "No troll left behind" ethos, Poppy and pals - along with the grey stained and anti-Trolls happiness Branch (Timberlake) - try to save the day...

Make no mistake, the brightly coloured, utterly fluffy and energetic blast that is Trolls is a family film that will delight the youngsters and will keep the parents amused enough to paper over the fact there are shallow characters on screen and scant little story.

The film keeps on the right side of darkness (BFG style snatching, eating Trolls for happiness - it's all got a Grimm fairy tale element bubbling under) but even the three-year-old I was with was entranced from the get-go declaring that the Scary Lady (Baranski's marauding chef) was the best part of the film.

Mixing up CGI and some stop motion, Dreamworks' visual inventiveness for this one, keeps on the right side of upbeat as it trots out one retro tune after another. It's a visual candy coloured assault on the senses and while initially there may be elements of you sympathising with Doomsday Prepper Branch, the fun and frivolous nature of it all ultimately wears you down and wins you over.

While there's no real sense of an original film being rolled out here, and elements of The Odd Couple, Cinderella and Grimm Fairy Tales are all dusted into one overtly saccharine flick, the young kids will enjoy it and its message of happiness coming from within rather than being consumed.

Sometimes, subtlety is over-rated and Trolls is distinct proof of that - it's here for nothing other than a good time and running through its 90 minutes with exuberant energy and at a fair pace, it achieves that with ease.

Headmaster PSVR Review

Headmaster PSVR Review

Platform: PSVR
Developed by Frame Interactive

Ever wanted to be part of a stalag training camp aimed at ensuring you nod complicity while heading balls into a goal?

Well, then Headmaster is the game for you.

Cheekily dropping you into a training camp and pushing the idea that you can improve with practice, the game Headmaster is about little more than simply nodding the correct way and sending balls into the goal as you try to win your own freedom.

Using different angles, the ball heads different ways and it takes a little while to work out exactly what's the right way to send the ball flying into the goal mouth. The more you progress the harder it gets to knock the ball into the expected direction and the more obstructions are placed in the way.

It's a simplistic premise, and with the tongue in cheek humour (you train at night under the starry skies and with the silhouette of a watch tower in the background) the game's actually quite enjoyable when you consider how simplistic the actual premise of it all is.

Occasionally the tracking of the set makes it a little difficult to achieve the overall aim of what's required and goal attempts to the side are a little harder than you'd expect, but all in all Headmaster is actually a novel experience as you play through the Football Improvement Centre.

Newstalk ZB Review - The Accountant, Hacksaw Ridge and The Light Between Oceans

Newstalk ZB Review - The Accountant, Hacksaw Ridge and The Light Between Oceans

This week, while Jack Tame was in the USA getting ready for Trump-ageddon, there was time to look at movie releases and potential relief.

Up for discussion is Ben Affleck in The Accountant, Mel Gibson's war epic Hacksaw Ridge and NZ shot The Light Between Oceans.

Take a listen below:

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-the-accountant-hacksaw-ridge/

Batman: Arkham VR: PS4 Review

Batman: Arkham VR: PS4 Review

Developed by Rocksteady Games
Platform: PS4 VR

Hands down perhaps the closest thing PlayStation's released for the VR that is more than just an experience, Batman Arkham VR is a credit to Rocksteady's dealing with the franchise.

Completely immersive and utterly thrilling, the game puts you in the cowl and boots of the Bat (literally in the case of the cowl) and gets you into the world of Gotham like never before.

Following Bats through one Dark (K)night of the soul, it's a clever spin to get you around Gotham and meeting up with some of the Bat's most famous faces. It all begins with a flashback (which we've all seen time and time again) and a chain of events that put other things in motion.

But the thrill of Batman Arkham VR is the level of immersion that Rocksteady and the VR headset brings to you. From initially putting it on and getting calibrated, the game plunges you into the world of WayneTech and the excitement of transitioning from Bruce Wayne to Batman.

From grabbing a Batarang and hurling it around the Bat-cave with the use of Move controllers (which never gets tiring) to using the Batclaw and a scanning device at the side of your belt, this is a game that literally lets you become the bat.

Using the trigger motions of the Move Controllers, you can move from point to point in scenes and get into the story that way. With a floating hand (the only visual downside to this game) you can fire up the Batcomputer and dig into the story - it's totally immersive in a deeply satisfying way.

Interestingly, the only portion of the Bat world not fully explored is the vehicular side of Batman - there's no hurtling around in the Batmobile early on; everything is done via a cut-scene fade and may be a reaction to nausea hitting parts of the motion games of VR. It's a minor niggle that sort of takes you out of the full experience created by Rocksteady, but it is one that stands out.

Attention to detail is prevalent here - from the detail within the Bat-cave to the grime and grit of Gotham's seedy streets, just looking around gives a real tingle down your neck. The depth of the world is incredible and while it's perhaps a little off-putting that you simply can't fly off into the night, the scenery is well-worth taking in and shows that immersiveness is a real boon to this hybrid of experience and game.

It's perhaps prescient that so much of the VR takes in so much of the tech and deploys it so well, as this is what the headset does completely. In reality, you don a mask to don the virtual mask of the Bat - the synergy is impressive and the final result is nothing short of sensational.

Ultimately, Batman: Arkham VR is a great experience and demonstrator of what the VR simulations can do - it'll add weight greatly to the reveal of the tech and lend credence to the start of the pathway to a totally original and 360 degree gaming experience.

First look: T2 Trainspotting trailer

First look: T2 Trainspotting trailer

Here's your first look at the full T2 Trainspotting trailer which has premiered overnight.

Featuring the return of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie et al, the gang's back in the T2 film which hits cinemas next year!