Soulcalibur VI: PS4 Review

Soulcalibur VI: PS4 Review

Released by Bandai Namco
Platform: PS4

The fight is back after a six year break away from major platforms.

And to all intents and purposes, there's little different from most other fighting games out there - except to say that Soulcalibur VI plays solidly and looks good.

With a roster of 20 characters, and a slot for over 100 customisable characters (some may argue it would have been better the other way round), Soulcalibur VI's sights are squarely on the smackdown more than anything else.

Rebooting the series and taking it back to an alternative 16th century, this brawler offers up a new mechanic in the Reversal Edge which allows you to halt the combat and choose another method of destruction for your opponent halfway through the fight.

Equally the characters can now use smooth animation and various weapons of choice to unleash hell on their combat game, meaning fluid fighting overcomes any feeling of fighting deja vu.

While the single player story is split into two different options - Libra of Souls and Soul Chronicle - each offers a different take on the singeplayer ideal. Libra has a very RPG-esque feeling, and suffers from an almost static-like way of telling the story, that's occasionally too dry. Chronicle is less wooden, and helps add to what Libra has had to offer.

Ultimately, Soulcalibur VI plays like a good brawler should - its 3D animations are both fluid and suitably OTT; it's probably better as a fighter with friends after a few drinks than a singleplayer, heads down campaign game, but until someone radically overhauls the fighting genre, this is pretty much up there.

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 - Now Available on Nintendo Switch

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 - Now Available on Nintendo Switch

Out Now on Nintendo Switch

To view the trailer click the image below

For the latest updates from NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, visit nba.2k.com/playgrounds, and follow the series onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Kingdom Hearts III - Big Hero 6 Voice Cast Announced

Kingdom Hearts III - Big Hero 6 Voice Cast Announced

Big Hero 6 powered into theatre’s on this day in 2014! To celebrate, we're announcing the heroic voice cast for

KINGDOMHEARTS III including Jamie Chung, Genesis Rodriguez, Ryan Potter, Khary Payton, Scott Adsit and more!

New Season of FIFA Mobile Powered by A Major Engine Upgrade Launches Today

New Season of FIFA Mobile Powered by A Major Engine Upgrade Launches Today

The new season of FIFA Mobile launches today for iOS and Android devices worldwide. You can check out the launch trailer here. 

This season’s update brings back top features and adds a number of significant improvements and new experiences, including: a substantial gameplay engine upgrade, visual overhaul and the introduction of one of our community’s most requested modes, Real Time Head to Head. Below is an overview of the changes you can expect in this new season:

• THE BEST GAMEPLAY YET: The most significant upgrade for the new season of FIFA Mobile is a complete gameplay engine overhaul that creates a realistic and responsive mobile football experience. Players move more fluidly on the pitch thanks to a dramatically overhauled animation system, and AI-controlled players operate much more intelligently and realistically on both sides of the ball.

• ALL NEW VISUALS: FIFA Mobile doesn’t just feel more realistic and authentic, it also looks the part. Player likenesses is better than ever, highlighted by a fresh set of star heads, authentic boots, and signature goal celebrations. Off the pitch, menus and player items have been completely redesigned—and they look stunning. 

• REAL TIME HEAD TO HEAD: Fans can now battle real time in our new Head to Head mode! We’ve amped up the competitive fun like never before with authentic 11 vs 11 matches that allow players to compete against one another from across the globe. Early on, in Amateur and Pro Divisions we may match you up against an AI Trainer to help you improve your skills on the pitch. Learn more about the specs for this mode here.

• NEW CHEMISTRY SYSTEM: Build your Ultimate Team in FIFA Mobile with the all-new Team Chemistry system, which will provide boosts to your Starting XI when you include players from the same real-world club, league, nationality, or live program.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about all the ways we’ve improved the features and modes, visit the FIFA Mobile site here.

THE QUIET MAN - ANSWERED

THE QUIET MAN - ANSWERED

ALL ANSWERS REVEALED IN NEW SOUND MODE

FOR THE QUIET MAN

SYDNEY, 9^th November 2018 – Square Enix Ltd., today released a new downloadable update for THE QUIET MAN™ to allow players to discover the secrets and final mysteries of the adrenaline-filled cinematic action experience.

THE QUIET MAN – ANSWERED – is available via a free update and allows players to re-experience Dane’s journey to rescue the singer Lala with sound, voices and full subtitle support for the first time. This new experience will provide the final answers to the lingering mysteries of THE QUIET MAN and let players know the truth within this unique interactive experience.

THE QUIET MAN is available now as a digital-only title for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and STEAM®. THE QUIET MAN – ANSWERED –features English voiceover and full subtitle support in 29 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. To learn more about the development ofTHE QUIET MAN, watch the “Who is The Quiet Man?” video here: https://youtu.be/bSF-mFJQHqc

Until 15^th November, those who purchase THE QUIET MAN from the PlayStation®Store will receive the game, a PlayStation®4 system dynamic theme, and a set of eight PlayStation™Network avatars. During the same period, those who purchase from STEAM® will receive the game, as well as a set of seven desktop and mobilewallpapers. In addition, those who purchase within this period on either platform will also receive a 10% discount*. 

* Terms and conditions apply. Discount requires an active PlayStation®Plus subscription in PAL territories for the PlayStation®4 system.

For more information visit https://www.TheQuietManGame.com

Marvel's Spider-Man: The Heist: PS4 Review

Marvel's Spider-Man: The Heist: PS4 Review

Developed by Insomniac Games
Platform: PS4

The first of three DLCs, The Heist sends you back to Manhattan to do pretty much much of the same stuff you did in the main Spider-Man game.

This time around, it's the return of Black Cat and the awkward relationship shared with Peter Parker. when Spidey gets word of a Mafia rise to power in the post-Wilson Fisk vacuum, he finds his world colliding with Felicia Hardy again.

With the paths set on the inevitable course, Spidey has to save the day - and maybe help an old frenemy.

The character work is why Marvel's Spider-Man: The Heist is engaging for a few hours (it's a relatively short DLC, more a minisode to complete in a few hours) and hints nicely at being part of an arc, while managing to feel almost complete too.

Screwball makes a return posting challenges in the wake of Taskmaster, and side missions involve the Spider-Bot which are repetitive but kind of fun. Black Cat is a nice addition, and while the team up potential's sadly not used until the end, the sparky relationship they've had carries on nicely from the main game. There's a piecemeal use of MJ, with a relatively pointless mission thrown in, but it's good to see that Insomniac's trying to carry on the character work from the main game.

While The Heist is fairly disposable and enjoyable, it does feel much like an extension of the main game, even if a couple of new characters (a baddie with a mini-gun) are thrown in. It's not quite the rounded finished product you'd expect in terms of story, but does feel like something bigger.

The Heist throws you back into the world - and if you've enjoyed that world before, it's no hassle to do so again. It remains to be seen though what part this first DLC will play in the overall summation of the upcoming two others.

Overlord: Film Review

Overlord: Film Review

Cast: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Mathilde Ollivier
Director: Julius Avery

Drawing more in truth from Bethesda Studios' video game Wolfenstein (complete with side missions - raid the castle, kill the baddies) than Dod Sno and revelling in its B-movie aspirations, Overlord is here for nothing but a good time.

Even if it could, in honesty, have lost 20 minutes of its near 2 hour run time.

A truly stunning and visceral opening drops a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears US troopers into France on June 6th 1944 - their sole mission is to take out a radio tower built on top of a church so the Allied Invasion can take place.

But they're not prepared for what their small number finds in the village...

Overlord starts brilliantly - the tension's ratcheted up as the troops get ready to make their drop, and the inevitable plays out. Meshing the war tropes with the everyman soldiers (and their cursory dialogue to give a degree of sympathy when they're offed) works well for it - but once it hits the ground, it doesn't run, but slightly stumbles in terms of pacing.

And while the B-movie body horror aspirations are on show early on, it's a full two-thirds of the film before Avery unleashes all the monster mash elements into a series of set pieces that bring the gore and jump scares, but not the over-show.

The science falls by the way side, and the allegories over Nazis and hell (talk early on of jackals, a tracking shot of a Jesus statue burning in a fire) are ramped up. Its only interest is in dispatching the "rotten sons of bitches" and in truth, Avery does it well, neither scrimping on what's expected or overplaying what's hinted.

It's a mix that works largely well, thanks in part to Adepo's sensitive everyman, man-with-a-moral-compass trooper, who tries to do the right thing, but finds, that in war, that's not always the best thing to do.

The body horror ramps up for the finale, one which can ludicrously be seen a way off, and feels like a cross between Wolfenstein, creature feature and a 2000AD story, but still manages to deliver what's expected.

Overlord is very much a case of a film that does exactly what it says on the tin, even if it does feel occasionally like it's holding back as it treads a fine line on the genre tightropes it's walking. The atmosphere is sustained throughout (even though earlier mentioned expeditious trim could have helped) and to be frank, while there are threads that could build a universe, as a stand-alone, one-off Nazi-killin, war story, brothers-in-arms, supernatural mix, it all comes together for an entertaining, if disposable, good time.