Impact Winter release date revealed

Impact Winter release date revealed

Your winter survival experience starts on APRIL 12^th, 2017 with IMPACT WINTER on PC Digital and later this year on Playstation®4 and Xbox ONE Digital

Pre-order the PC digital version to receive the official game soundtrack by Mitch Murder!

Winter season will be long this year as IMPACT WINTER is coming on April 12^th, 2017 on PC digital.BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe and Mojo Bones are pleased to announce that their post-apocalyptic survival adventure will also be available later this year for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on digital versions. By pre-ordering the PC digital version now, bolder players will receive the official soundtrack, created exclusively by composer Mitch Murder.

An asteroid has collided with Earth, and the world we once knew is now nothing more than a snow-covered wasteland. Almost everyone and everything perished in the harsh, sub-zero temperatures. But you didn't. And you received a radio transmission that has filled you with hope and the will to survive the next 30 days. Take on The Void as Jacob Solomon, a lone survivor wandering around the frozen wilderness when he stumbles upon a snow-buried church sheltering four other survivors and their robot, AKO-LIGHT. Each with their own unique field of expertise, they'll form a makeshift team, hunting and scavenging to stay alive despite the weather conditions and slumping morale, while furiously focusing on lowering the Rescue Timer...

IMPACT WINTER will be coming on April 12^th, 2017 on PC and later this year for digital distribution. To know more about IMPACT WINTER please visit  impact-winter.com, and to know more about BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe’s other products feel free to visit us at https://www.bandainamcoent.eu or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoEU or join the conversation on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/bandainamcoeu.

For Honor BETA: PS4 Review

For Honor BETA: PS4 Review

Released by Ubisoft
Platform: PS4

Ubisoft's BETA month is well underway.

What with Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Wildlands hitting and the For Honor BETA also being delivered, it's a fairly busy time ahead of these releases in the coming months.

For Honor's Closed Beta (an open one is being held very soon) offered a tantalising glimpse at a new way of playing online competitive brawling. And for the large part, it was a very intriguing one.

If anything, it showed that a great deal of practice is necessary to ensure that when the game kicks in, you're in line with what's expected and can survive, as well as help your team to victory.

Real-time countering is a skill to master and is vital, no matter which faction you choose to play. Whether you're Viking, Knight or Samurai, if you can't defend then you're gone. It's a skill that takes a little time to get your head around but it's terribly important during the ongoing combat.

Talking of which, the plot loosely revolves around the world having been shattered by an earthquake and different factions fighting for resources afterwards. As ever, world-changing means that groups spring up - and allying yourself to one of these is the way forward.

The opening video is nothing short of spectacular. Fighting through the ages is demonstrated by the world changing around the characters and it's very wonderfully executed, a sort of age-old conflict given a graphical new spin.

With the closed Beta offering 1 v 1 duelling, 2 vs 2 or 4 v 4, the combat element is as mentioned the most important part of the game. And it's fluid, brutal and if you've not mastered what you need to, likely to signal an end to your time in the world before you've even realised what's going on.

The full on brawling where zones are captured are ones that will require tactics - gaining a zone collects you points, but losing that zone and then dying in said zone deducts them. It's a smart touch to ensure one side never romps home with the prizes but it does make the counting down clock a major enemy to your march to victory.

While the Beta had a few glitches and many were choosing the samurai because of their long length weapons meaning you could kill before your opponent's anywhere near you, most of it felt balanced and a good learning curve to what lies ahead.

With loot, XP and the customisations on hand, For Honor could well be a tantalising prospect to the age old online brawler. It's certainly got the premise and promise down pat - here's hoping the Valentine's Day release will hit the highs that the BETA's pointed to.

Fifty Shades Darker: Film Review

Fifty Shades Darker: Film Review

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Bella Heathcote, Rita Ora
Director: James Foley

To be fair, no-one is expecting cinematic mastery of the celluloid domain with the erotic flick Fifty Shades Darker.

The adaptation of the first Fifty Shades of Grey mummy porn movie wasn't exactly thrilling and rendered the dangerous world of BDSM and talk thereof rather dull and flaccid.

But to say the sequel, which centres on a wounded Christian Grey determined to get Anastasia Steele back in his life, has a bit more life and a lot more kinky fuckery (to quote Ana) is to damn it with feint praise.

Sure, the terrible dialogue is ever-present, every touch leads to near orgasm and the leering gaze of the camera lingers a little too often on Dakota Johnson's shapelier assets. There are obligatory moments of Jamie Dornan sans shirt and giving that slightly constipated and pained squirrel look that he did in the first; but let's face it, that's what most of the audience coming to this weak 80s softcore rip-off are looking for.

From lingering looks, talk of nipple clamps, romps to endless changing soundtracks, and discussions of renegotiating terms, the second film is very much about The Domestication of Christian Grey, where he has to consider serious issues like trust and allowing a girl to move in, rather than deciding which blindfold and which sub to master that night.

And yet, around the edges of this creaky wannabe psychological push and pull, there are elements of a psycho-sexual thriller lurking and failing to garner enough light.

However, the tension that's supposed to be built with hints of Grey's dangerous past teased out are laughably dispatched in a piecemeal fashion that's irritating.

Two sequences that threaten danger to our protagonist are over and resolved within moments, robbing the film of any kind of drama as the duo weave their way through the sheen of masquerade balls and flirting over the coring of a capsicum. A sub-plot about Ana working for a publisher with a seedy boss feels strongly like set-up, but it's all so summarily dismissed that the episodic nature of the film fails to fire.

Ana's constant "I want you but I don't want you" flip-flopping grates on the screen as she debates and then hops into another romp - though one suspects that is sorely down to EL James' source material and her controlling desire to write the screenplay. However, Johnson brings some light to the role, and sells the continual uncertainty and actually gives a bit more to the one dimensional Ana. Even if you're still troubled by how much she refuses the sub lifestyle and then demands it before rejecting it once again...

Dornan's confined to the sidelines a little more this time around, going from a more playful Grey to a Horny looking Kato at the ball. There's a softer edge to him in the latest, which renders the stalking message and one-spanking-away-from-an-injunction Christian Grey a little more palatable in the second film.

Ultimately, a lot of Fifty Shades Darker lurches from one ludicrous moment to another, saddled with some
laugh out loud dialogue (none of it intentional), and there's no disputing the fact it's dull in parts. And there's still a shocking disparity over the amount of male / female nudity within.

Yet, bizarrely, there's also a clarity of vision here, with the sex ramped up as that's clearly what the audience wants. First time around, all the discussion of contracts and sexual fantasies robbed the film of the lusty edge - here, it's all on, with the between the sheets action being left to do the talking. There's no denying that Foley delivers it all in a manner which will titillate parts of the audience and leave them breathless as this saga of the love affair plays out.

But there's no hint of suggestion, no delicious tease of sexiness and while there's one Johnson that more than rises to the occasion this time around, giving her Ana a little more than the one dimensions set down on the page, Fifty Shades Darker remains still a damp cinematic squib.

Fences: Film Review

Fences: Film Review

Cast: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Mykelti Williamson, Joven Adepo
Director: Denzel Washington

Based on the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play by August Wilson from part of the Pittsburgh cycle of plays, Fences rarely transcends its theatrical roots in its transition to screen.

And while this tale of an ordinary family and the ordinary everyday battles with life's choices may overwhelm some unable to disassociate the non-filmic experience, for those who stay in their seats during the 140 minute run time, the reward is a powerful performance from a pair of searing leads.

Washington plays Troy Maxson, a rubbish truck worker in 1950s Pittsburgh. Resigned to the life laid before him after he was rejected from the Negro baseball league, Maxson's determined to make a promotion to driver of the truck becoming the first African-American to do so. Believing he was passed over by the white man because of his colour, Maxson's bitterness is infecting his family.

From his long-suffering wife of 18 years, Rose (played with a quiet ferocity by Viola Davis, who's on award-winning form) to his son Cory, who wants to try out for the football leagues, Troy's righteous anger bubbles deep below the surface.

But as the bullish and mood-swinging Troy continues his quest to cope with the price paid to keep the family together, the simmering resentment and frustration he feels at his situation is corrosive to all around him...

Fences benefits from a powerhouse performance from Davis, and a little less so, with Washington, both reprising their award-winning roles from the stage performance.

While Washington's is clearly the more showy turn, with plenty of exposition and "Remember when?" ethos soaking his at times, didactic dialogue, the quieter more effective Davis as Rose is the more explosive of the two.

Hers is a subtle performance of a tragedy within and her reserved outlook for most of the film means when the inevitable moment comes, its intensity and power is evident. It's a relative shoo-in for her for an Academy Award this year, based on the politics of the film and the subtle energy of her performance.

The allegory of Troy Maxson's family obsession with building a fence within the play isn't lost on the audience, with it being mentioned several times that it's to keep things out and simultaneously things in, but the poignancy of the reasoning behind it doesn't become clear until the end.

However, it's a long way to the end, and with the film's flow very much feeling like a four act play with distinct ends and fades, there's a degree of endurance needed to get through Washington's relative workmanlike direction of Wilson's play. He rarely makes use of any of the spaces around him, with the dialogue demanding that stationary sets and relatively static positioning be used doing little to shake off the more theatrical feeling of Fences.

Consequently, Fences becomes somewhat of a punishing movie, and some of the electricity that would be delivered in the live arena of the theatre is, unfortunately, somewhat lacking. As the story of the ordinary suburban family plays out, one can't help but feel more of an edge would have generated a little more of a frisson for ordinary film-goers.

As it is, the confines of the stage writ large upon the big screen, rob Fences of some of the moments that would land in that live venue and with the electricity of an audience. That said, in the back half of Fences, this performance of actors acting becomes more of a tour de force, mainly thanks to its leads and their lengthy monologues.

The Elder Scrolls Online | Own Your Own Home in Tamriel With Homestead

The Elder Scrolls Online | Own Your Own Home in Tamriel With Homestead

It’s time to take the big leap and become a homeowner … in Tamriel.

Today PC/Mac players of The Elder Scrolls Online receive the first major DLC of 2017 – Homestead – a free update that will allow them to buy apartments, homes, manors – and even an island – in Tamriel. Available for both in-game Gold and through the Crown Store, homes can be customized with more than 2,000 decorating items, including furniture, décor, books, barrels and a whole lot more.

Homestead will release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on February 21.

Tons of Homes – First One Free!

Homestead releases with nearly 40 instanced homes to choose from, each styled after one of the game’s 10 playable races. Anyone who would like to grab their own Tamriel digs can get one for free through an initial tutorial quest. Once that introductory quest is completed, players can move on and up, owning multiple homes of various sizes that can be shared across all of their in-game characters.

Not Your Friend’s House

Owning a house is only the beginning of Homestead – it’s not truly a home until you decorate it. Players can make their new residences truly unique by acquiring and placing more than 2,000 items with the game’s new Housing Editor. Furniture and other décor are available through in-game vendors and the Crown Store, but players can also craft their own using existing crafting skills. Available décor includes tables, chairs, chests, beds, bars, counters as well as decorating items like books, food, barrels, paintings, light fixtures, plants, trees, and more. Looking for more utility? Players can also place items like combat dummies, crafting tables and assistants in their homes.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege Operation Velvet Shell Available Tomorrow

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege Operation Velvet Shell Available Tomorrow 

TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX^® SIEGE OPERATION VELVET SHELL AVAILABLE TOMORROW

The first main content update of Year 2 introduces a brand-new map with two new operators, an additional gameplay feature as well as a major navigation update 

Sydney, Australia — February 7^th 2017 – Today, Ubisoft announced that Operation Velvet Shell, the first free update of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Year 2 will be available for Xbox One, Sony Playstation^®4 and Windows PC from February 8, 2017. Year 2 pass holders will instantly receive the two new Operators of the Spanish Counter Terrorist Unit as well as their 4 signature weapons skins and non-Season Pass owners will be able to unlock them using Renown in-game currency or R6 Credits starting on February 14, 2017.

Click below to view trailer.

The new Coastline map featuring Operation Velvet Shell

In Operation Velvet Shell, players will be plunged into an effervescent night ambiance on the seashore of Ibiza. While embodying two Spanish operators from the Grupo Especial de Operaciones, the Rainbow team will regain control of the coastline thanks to their unique tactical expertise:

·         Mira has proven her strength and endurance but her best asset is her knowledge in mechanics. She is specialized in armoring process for ballistic protection. Equipped with the Vector 45 ACP and ITA12L as primary weapons, she can find the weaker spot on any machinery and reinforce it.

·         Jackal has developed his expertise in tracking down HVTs and intercepting narcotics shipments with the G.E.O.s. Equipped with the C7E and PDW9 as primary weapons, he triggered an acute sensitivity relating to his environment, which enables him to spot irregularities rapidly.

Additionally, as part of the ongoing commitment to enrich Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege playing experience, Year 2 will start with new dynamic navigation interface, making all players activities such as challenges, news and boosters available in the same place. Xavier Marquis, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Creative Director explains “We are working hard on ensuring the game’s longevity. Since we are here to stay, we’re making sure that you are getting comfortable”. 

To learn more about Operation Velvet shell, please visit www.rainbow6.com/VelvetShell

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is currently available worldwide for consoles and Windows PC.

More information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, is available on rainbow6.com  

Ubisoft Reveals For Honor 360° Immersive Experience, Pre-Load Open Beta Now

Ubisoft Reveals For Honor 360° Immersive Experience, Pre-Load Open Beta Now

FEEL THE THRILL OF THE FOR HONOR BATTLEFIELD WITH “IN THE BATTLE”, A 360° IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Sharpen your Blade by Pre-Loading the Open Beta Now

To download all assets please visit the press extranet: ubisoft-press.com

SYDNEY — February 7, 2017 — Today, Ubisoft released ‘In the Battle’, a CGI video that transports viewers directly to the ground floor of a clash on the battlefield. This motion-captured, 360-degree video experience introduces viewers to the world of For Honor as Knights, Samurais and Vikings embark in perpetual conflict.

In the midst of a foggy plain, an everlasting war continues as the 3 great Factions are locked in battle. Each of them strives to rebuild their nations as they take to the frontlines in fierce close-range combat to bring glory back to their people. The 360-degree “In the Battle” experience is viewable here on YouTube and here on Facebook.

Click below to view 360 Battle trailer.

Players looking to experience the thrill of ruthless melee-combat firsthand can now pre-load the For Honor open beta on current-gen consoles and PC. Available from February 10 to February 13, 2017, this beta will include the new Elimination mode, a best of five rounds four-versus-four match with no respawns. Elimination joins three additional modes playable in the open beta including Dominion, Brawl and Duel, and nine playable Heroes. At launch, For Honor will feature twelve playable characters, five different multiplayer modes and a Story mode.



On February 8, 2017, at 9:00 am AEST, Ubisoft and Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, will call forth the fiercest warriors to participate in War of the Factions Live – a livestreamed event that will showcase the new Elimination Mode and help decide which Faction reigns supreme. Players looking to get a head start in the battlefield can sign up for Twitch Prime to receive 10-day Champions Status, available at launch on February 14, 2017, which comes with XP boosts that can be shared among friends along with more XP from crafting, more loot at the end of each match, and a special emblem they can use to customize their warrior. For more information and to sign up for Twitch Prime, visit: https://twitch.amazon.com/prime