OPERATION BABEL: NEW TOKYO LEGACY COMING TO PS VITA

OPERATION BABEL: NEW TOKYO LEGACY COMING TO PS VITA

OPERATION BABEL: NEW TOKYO LEGACY

COMING TO PS VITA AND STEAM® IN 2017!

NIS America is excited to announce that the dungeon RPG, Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy, will be coming to North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand in 2017 on the PlayStation®Vita as both a physical and digital release, as well as on Steam®!

About the story:

Continue the story of Operation Abyss and defend near-future Tokyo from a new threat in this dungeon crawling RPG. When a mysterious object - dubbed ‘the Embryo’ - appears in the sky, the CPA and the Xth Squad are mobilized to face the new threat. Venture into challenging new labyrinths and create the perfect team to challenge each threat. Featuring a mysterious new story, unprecedented character customization through the new ‘Sub-Blood’ system, and item-based character ability modifications, Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy will give you a world to lose yourself in.

Key Features:

Extensive Character Customization - Expanding on Operation Abyss’ Blood Code system, you’ll now be able to assign characters supplemental Blood Codes to create hybrid job classes.

Item-Attached Skills and Spells - Add new skills and spells to perfect your squad by equipping items that bring with them new abilities.

Balanced Challenge and Reward - With the return of the Rise & Drop system you’ll be able to recover increasingly powerful drops - if you’re willing to risk increasingly powerful enemies.

A New Operation to Complete - After a short period of peace in near-future Tokyo, dive into the battlefield once again and continue the story of the Xth Squad in a new mysterious adventur

Watch_Dogs 2: PS4 Review

Watch_Dogs 2: PS4 Review

Released by Ubisoft
Platform: PS4

It's a hard life being a sequel.

Especially when you're following the much derided Watch_Dogs, an Ubisoft title that got itself a fair share of unfair criticism for its dour plot, slightly dull protagonist and repetitive game play.

Well, even though apathy may have hit some at the news a second Watch_Dogs was on the way, they'll be blown out of the water by the game which easily eclipses its past and emerges as a real contender for game of the year as we head into the last 2 months of 2016.

This time around, rerouting the action to San Francisco and the Bay area seems a great move - and throwing in a lead whose punkishly amusing trains of thought and execution fuel a great deal of fun in the game.

The Big Brother machine ethos is still in full effect in Watch_Dogs 2 with your main character Marcus Holloway setting out to take down his profile from the Central Operating System as the game begins. Once this mission of infiltration is complete, Holloway's kidnapped by a hacking collective known as DedSec.
Coming to, Holloway realises he's been inducted into their world and sets out to be part of the group, following their aims and desires to bring a bit of anarchy to the monitoring system that's in play.

And this is really where the fun begins in this open world game.

Revelling in an ethos that came to life in the massive open world of Grand Theft Auto, Watch_Dogs 2 is a bright, vibrant, loose and nimble sequel that is easy to lose hours in.

Whether it's fulfilling the ongoing missions that are laid down by DedSec, or becoming an Uber style driver with various tasks (a la taxi missions from GTA) to simply lifting cash from passers-by by hacking into their phones, there's so much to do, explore and see in Watch_Dogs 2 that it's no wonder the main story missions end up being sidelined.

It helps that the NPCs fuel such a rich world around the Bay Area and that every encounter proves to be another distraction; this is a world that's both realistic and utterly compelling; a sort of Second Life San Fran to throw yourself into. Stealth is once again needed and Holloway gains experience and followers by completing jobs (thus expanding out his own experience and skill base).
But there's much that's rich on display here and a smattering of social commentary thrown in as well (one of the Uber style missions sees your passenger starting to lay claims against what Uber's doing to the industry) and these ingredients all combine to keep the world feeling like it's incredibly realistic and utterly engaging.

Marcus himself is a nicely visualised character and the DedSec gang all work well (no real Hackers style cliches here, but to be frank, they'd be forgiven) - from using drones or a RC to help him achieve some of his tasks, there's much around to ensure that Marcus can progress easily. Most of the time when things go wrong, it's due to your own efforts, rather than glitches from the game. The police are ferocious and chases are frenetic and adrenaline-fuelled; there's little to do when the chase is on but try to get out of it as quickly as you can.

And that's nowhere near as easy as it sounds.

The online elements of the game are currently down due to Ubisoft issues, so can't be fully reviewed at this stage, but regardless of that, the main game itself is well worth owning.

The Watch_Dogs sequel is utterly essential; if you're after a game that consumes your life and you have a damn good time letting it do so, then this hacking saga is ultimately going to consume you. With its bright breezy gameplay and its tremendously engaging outlook, Watch_Dogs 2 is one for the ages - it's hard to see if they go for a threequel, how this slice of gaming perfection could be topped.

Batman Telltale Games: Episode 3: New World Order: PS4 Review

Batman Telltale Games: Episode 3: New World Order: PS4 Review

Platform: PS4
Developed by Telltale Games

The Telltale Batman game episodic series has been fairly compelling playing in its first 2 episodes.

But it's fair to say the third episode of the show blows everything out of the water in terms of story and propulsion of the narrative - and delivers one hell of a (spoiler) sucker punch at the end.

Sadly though, the third episode, The New World Order, is also the one that suffers from the most from technical issues, with at least 3 freezes forcing the restart of the game.

That aside, this is still all about Bruce Wayne, and follows Telltale's ethos that this is where the focus has been lacking in the past. Interactions with established characters, sinister machinations and at least one out of the blue moment ( as well as one slightly seductive moment) combine to make episode 3 the most turbulent yet.

With a heady mix of action and consequence starting to play out, and an established character heading down a path that has been long expected, Wayne's problems with his family legacy, his suspicion of others and his uncertain allegiances add up to one powderkeg of choice. Packing in narrative, some action and some detective work ensures all the elements are in place for an unpredictable ride that plays out before you.

As ever, the voice work is strong and both Troy Baker and Travis Willingham add a real emotional depth to the Wayne / Dent dynamic. There's real pathos at work here and the investment over the past few episodes is actually beginning to pay off (for reasons that again are too spoiler to go into further).

Ultimately, technical issues aside, New World Order is a real propulsion into the final two chapters of the story - with strong story-telling and real stakes being laid out, it's actually proving to be more worthwhile to play as Bruce than Batman. If anything, the Batman sections of the game slow things down and follow a degree of predictability whereas the human edges give the story nuances and reality.

Telltale Games has said episode four is a real game-changer and given the way three ends, it's going to be one hell of a wait to get into that penultimate episode.

The Founder: Film Review

The Founder: Film Review

Cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern, Linda Cardinelli, Patrick Wilson
Director: John Lee Hancock

A prime slice of business ethics and an attempt at a semi-biographical piece of McDonald's early life, The Founder is once again Michael Keaton's award nomination spotlight.

Keaton is Ray Kroc, a travelling salesman and a veritable magpie of a man when it comes to what he thinks are good ideas. But often, his gambles fail - as testified to by his terse wife played by Laura Dern who simply wants a normal life and to spend evenings at the club. When he gets an order for 6 multi-mix milkshake machines, he assumes it's an error and contacts the buyers.

But it turns out those buyers are Dick and Mac McDonald (Parks and Rec star Offerman and American Horror Story's Carroll-Lynch), a pair of good ole boys running a burger joint. Kroc heads to the joint to take in the operation - and sees a potential money-spinner in front of him.

However, the MacDonald brothers are principled and work under their own sets of rules and ethics; believing expansion could denigrate their brand, they resist Ray's attempts to jostle into the takeaway industry. But Kroc's dogged persistence pays off - and he begins to expand and build an empire...

But at what cost?

The Founder is in no way a love letter to McDonald's.

It's a serving of unscrupulous behaviour and questionable morality - and aside from one early sequence that dishes up nostalgia in the form of the McDonald brothers starting their empire does it leave you hankering for a fast food fix.

Much like the junk food itself, The Founder promises much but fails to deliver much nutrition.

Kroc's avarice is well documented by Keaton; and to be fair, there's never an attempt to portray him as anything more than a complete asshat, who appears to have run roughshod over any who oppose his desires. Simply put, in Keaton's hands (and to a lesser extent director John Lee Hancock), Kroc's story is solely about getting what he wants, consequences and people be damned.

The film's gentle and genial beginnings give way to a sense of flatlining as the tale goes on over two hours as narrative threads wither worse than a pickle left out in the sun for days.

Dern's wife is afforded scant characterisation and is wasted; and Wilson and Cardinelli float in as Rollie and Joan Smith (the latter of whom Kroc ended up marrying) but their burgeoning relationship is sketched over with little more than a few looks suggesting the big bad wolf in Kroc. Offerman and Carroll Lynch start off strongly as the McDonald brothers, whose fraternal bond is forged and deepened over fries. But they waft away in the film and even Offerman's nuanced and rarely seen dramatic turn can't save them from feeling like piecemeal offerings in the overall story.

It's moments like these which feel like The Founder's floundered its initial promise and premise.

Granted, there are times when Keaton's performances trumps all but the lack of emotional investment into proceedings and the under-playing of the ethical clashes mean this drama unfortunately has little to offer at the cinematic dinner table.

Newstalk ZB Review - Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Star Trek: Beyond

Newstalk ZB Review - Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Star Trek: Beyond

This week, it was time to check out the very latest from JK Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and also take a look at Star Trek Beyond.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-morning-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-fantastic-beasts-and-critic-proof-franchises/

Central Intelligence: DVD Review

Central Intelligence: DVD Review

Released by Universal Home Ent

Mixing Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion with a spy caper sounds like a recipe for relative success, but Central Intelligence lacks the relative finesse to pull it all off.

That’s despite great chemistry between the two leads, Dwayne The Rock Johnson and everybody’s favourite screeching screen star Kevin Hart.

Johnson plays Bob Stone, who was in an obese high school student humiliated some 20 years ago. Hart is Calvin Joyner, a jock and high school popular guy (known as The Golden Jet) who helped Stone on his lowest day. But voted most likely to succeed, Joyner’s now hit middle age and works as an accountant. 

On the eve of their high school reunion, Joyner’s contacted out of the blue by Stone, who’s now a fanny pack, unicorn T-shirt wearing beefcake. Intrigued Joyner goes along to meet him and finds himself thrust into a twisting cul-de-sac of espionage and potential lies.

There may be intelligence in the title, but there’s little intelligence on display throughout this broad buddy comedy.

Granted, the chemistry between the duo propels a lot of the nonsense of Central Intelligence along (before it simply lapses into guns being shot off and traditional action film fare). 

Dwayne Johnson has a blast playing goofy and a bit dorky as the muscle-head and clearly relishes the chance to be a bit broader than his usual action meat and potatoes action hero stance. Playing up the physicality and yet still professing mad love for Sixteen Candles works well for the slightly doofus approach that's taken. And Hart starts off well, winding down the usual squawking he's familiar for - but ultimately, falls back on this schtick of shrill screeching and flapping around.

Ultimately, Central Intelligence will rise and fall on how much you like these two because the plot itself is fairly non-existent and surplus to requirements.

It may sound disingenuous to dismiss Central Intelligence for its intentions, but there aren't enough laughs or more of a hook than the comedian being the straight guy and the action hero being the kook to carry it all the way through.

Fairly generic and formulaic in anything other than the leading duo's chemistry, Central Intelligence is nothing short of slightly punishingly predictable - with neither enough laughs nor enough flair to leave you feeling you've seen something special.

He Said, She Said Episode 1 - Reviewing Doctor Strange

He Said, She Said Episode 1 - Doctor Strange

Welcome to a brand new bite size movie review show, He Said She Said!

They say opinions are like assholes - everyone has one and when it comes to movies, nothing's truer!


Starring yours truly and a cohort of mine, Maha Albadrawi, the quick film show will be taking a regular look at the latest movies for you to decide whether they're worth it.

Watch the premiere episode of He Said, She Said below and then let us know which of us was correct!