Kitchen: PS VR Review

Kitchen: PS VR Review

Released by Capcom
Platform: PS VR

If Resident Evil: Biohazard has any plans to scare us stupid in January, then Kitchen's VR Demo (available free on the PS Store now) is an indication we'll all need to be wearing nappies come release date.

Utilising the idea of the SAW movies, Kitchen drops you, cable-tied and sitting in a kitchen setting where it's evident the cleaner's not been for months. Grubby, grimy and looking like hell, you've got a recording camera shoved in your face, as you raise the motion controller to see your hands are tied.

As you thrust the camera away, what looks to be a body to your left comes to life - and that's where the nightmares start; not because it's a zombie but because it's a desperate scrabble to get away from something else lurking in the room.

What Kitchen gets right in its very brief execution (the thing lasts all of about 5 minutes) is the sense of depth and immersiveness. The sole location, with its dirty decor, is terrifying and claustrophobic, and while some of the play-out of the piece is frankly obvious to anyone aware of the horror genre, the clever stretching out of the tension adds much.

With Biohazard likely to be a PS VR Exclusive for a while, the bar's been set reasonably high. And with sound and atmospherics playing a large part here, here's hoping the wait will be worth it.

Dishonored 2: PS4 Review

Dishonored 2: PS4 Review

Developed by Bethesda and Arkane Studios
Platform: PS4

The first Dishonored was a great game.

Mixing treachery with the supernatural, revenge with stealth proved to be a major boon for the first outing and a return to Dunwall was inevitable after it snagged some 100 Game of the Year awards.

This latest sees you returning on the 15th anniversary of the death of Jessamine Kaldwin and the arrival of a coup, spearheaded by an unknown existence and threat which has lain dormant for years. With Emily and her protector Corvo Attano thrust from power, you're on the run - and you get to choose which person to play as.

Heading to Karnaca, the coastal city, secrets begin to come to light as you take on the forces that have seized power and claw your way back up to reclaiming your rite - and the throne of Dunwall.

Playing as Emily is a choice many will choose in this stealth sim, that's as much of a thrill as the first game was back in 2012. Arkane Studios has really built on the promise of the first game in this revenge driven thriller that hits all of the stealth bases.

But you actually have to play the game - even on the easiest setting. There's no way to simply blunder into proceedings and to hope to survive. You need to be stealthy, creeping around and eliminating those in your way before they become too alert to your presence and take you out.

And that's sometimes easier than it sounds; even on the game's easy setting, guards go from zero to alert in seconds, meaning you have to be onto it. From teleport powers to specific powers tailored for whichever character you choose to be, Dishonored's two-for-one deal means that really, many will find time to want to play this through again as the other once completion is hit. It's a canny move from Arkane, but rather than reeking of cash-in, it's a perfect way to play.

The game itself looks good, but at times, some of the mouths and eyes look hollow, with patches of white appearing unannounced and reminding you you're playing a game - it's a shame as visually, the Victorianesque streets of Dunwall and the brighter worlds of Karnaca look incredible, a testament to what the PS4 can achieve.

Ultimately, Dishonored 2's attention to detail, its revenge plot and its simplicity of play mean it's a title well worth picking up - even in the busiest part of the tail end of the year, it's a game that shines out and that deserves to be applauded.

Ah, Arkane, you've done it again.

Carnival Games VR: PS VR Review

Carnival Games VR: PS VR Review

Released by 2K Games
Platform: PS VR

All the fun of the fair comes to your front room with 2K Games' first VR outing.

Essentially a game that's all about racking up points, getting tickets and using said tickets to buy toys and collectables like a normal fair, Carnival Games is very much as you'd expect from the VR Experience.

As a pair of floating hands, it's up to you to control things and take control of the games.

Whether it's a case of hurtling balls at a mountain of bottles for points, or rolling them for a high score in Alley Ball, this is family friendly fare that hits the spot and is fun if you get a heap of mates around and start a series of mini game challenges.

The tracking is smooth, and while the floating hands is severely weird and looks rather unusual the game mechanics work pretty simply and relatively well. It's also immersive in its own cartoony way as you have to spin all the way around to ensure you get all the delights of the fair ground (though that's trickier if you're trying to utilise the Move controllers in a seated environment, and can lead to the bashing repeatedly of the walls).

There are 12 games to play and while the tickets gained give you the chance to purchase prizes, the idea of playing with them in the Playroom to unlock achievements seems more than a trifle odd (and to be frank, a little banal). Tickets are needed to unlock further alleyways and more games, so it's a sense of grind there in many ways.

Nicely colourful and very playable in a few family sessions, Carnival Games VR may be as heady a thrill as the fair is, but the novelty wears off quickly. More a distraction than a long time gaming prospect, Carnival Games (much like SingStar) benefits best from a family session or a gathering of mates - which is no bad thing for a headset that essentially turns the social into the anti-social.

Independence Day: Resurgence: DVD Review

Independence Day: Resurgence: DVD Review

Released by 20th Century Fox Home Ent

20 years after director Roland Emmerich audaciously blew apart the White House in one of cinema's enduring images, the aliens are back.

(Even if some of the original cast is not).

On the 20th anniversary of the 4th July invasions, and with the world living in harmony since the incursion, thanks to a large weapon and space defence force, things look pretty good.  But those involved in the original battle are haunted by visions of a return...

Independence Day Resurgence is everything you'd expect.

And so much less.

Clouded in gloomy dark visuals and with a cast that's way too big to service decently, it's a disaster movie that revels in its special FX, its cornball lines ("It's July 4th, let's show them some fireworks!") and feels like a desperate attempt to recapture some of that lightning in a bottle that struck so brilliantly some 20 years ago.

It's also dour too as it tries to shift the balance of power to the next generation of heroes, who are given the piecemeal tokenistic broadbrush character onceover and hope that the audience engages with them. It's a hard ask, even for Liam Hemsworth as a cocksure salt-of-the-earth pilot whose heart is in the right place. Worryingly, once again, it's the guys who save the day, even though we have a woman president (Sela Ward) and women scattered through power positions.

Fortunately, Goldblum and Spiner have a blast re-inhabiting their old roles as David Levison and Dr Okun respectively and enlighten proceedings in only the ways they can. Goldblum excels at rattling off wry one liners, remarking at one point in the destruction that the aliens "like to get the landmarks". Even Pullman pulls off crazy haunted well, before delivering a speech of unity to a hangar full of a handful of pilots, with a rousing OST building and swelling beneath him.

Emmerich once again displays an eye for destruction, but there's nothing as iconic as the original White House shot - and if anything, he's taking the mickey by delivering a barrage of destruction that simply knocks a US flag on its side atop a building. Only London Bridge gets a battering. That said, as the rote CGI destruction tears apart cities and countless lives that we once again don't care about, the carefully measured and clinically executed FX look the business on the big screen.

But it's ultimately soulless; a disaster film that juggles too many characters, throws in a bus load of kids just because it can and serves none of them brilliantly. Everyone's a cypher to the proceedings as the mash up of Aliens, Top Gun, Star Wars dog-fights and the first film plays out and consequently, despite being a film about humanity's unity (a fascinating concept), it's left to the Americans (and a couple of token Chinese) to band together to save the world.

The end hints at a "We're coming for you" third part, but really, this thinly veiled tantalising tease of America invading the cosmos just fills with dread - there's no need for more nostalgia; this latest has moments of fun and an original cast that's back for the ride, but this aiming-for-guilty-pleasure sequel isn't necessarily proof that bigger is always better. 

Newstalk ZB Review - Allied, The Founder and Sing Street

Newstalk ZB Review - Allied, The Founder and Sing Street

This week with Jack Tame, I sat down to discuss Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard's Allied, Michael Keaton's The Founder and Sing Street on home release.

Take a listen below

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

EVE Valkyrie: PS VR Review

EVE Valkyrie: PS VR Review

Platform: PS VR
Released by CCP Games

The dogfighting simulator is perhaps one of the few ideas that has really begun to fly on the PS VR.

Whether it's the tanks of Battle Zone or this latest, there's something about the ethos, immersiveness and ability to view 360 degrees that's really hit with the launch of the PS VR.

And EVE Valkyrie is no different.

Assuming the role of a cloned pilot, and feeling very much like Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, it's into the stars you go - with hordes of ships coming your way.

Pursuing targets, floating around space and generally looking around to see what is ahead and what is overhead is nothing short of thrilling in EVE Valkyrie. Dogfights are good fun and the game's smoothness staves off any rearing of motion sickness' ugly head.

Slick presentation makes the game feel like it's worth spending time with and while it's a progression that began with the likes of Elite, EVE Valkyrie rightly feels like the next step. There's nothing more exciting than seeing the craft below your hands and the cockpit feeling smooth, slick and spacelike.

With a good solid pace and an execution that genuinely makes you feel like you're in space, EVE Valkyrie is one of the more thrilling executions in PS VR - and is a game that's more game than experience; but ultimately, it's an essential purchase.

Win a Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prize pack

Win a  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prize pack

To celebrate the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 15th, we've got a prize pack of Star Wars merchandise to give away!

About  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are producing, with John Knoll and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers.

The story is by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, and the screenplay is by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” opens in NZ theatres on December 15, 2016.

To enter simply email to this address: darrensworldofentertainment@gmail.com or CLICK HERE NOW!

Please ensure you include your name and address - competition closes December 15th!