Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Private Beta features first taste of endgame content

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Private Beta features first taste of endgame content

Tom Clancy’s The Division^® 2 Private Beta Features First Glimpse of Endgame Content

Players will experience a transformed Washington D.C. in both main missions and endgame during the Private BetaTo download all assets please visit the press extranet: ubisoft-press.com

Sydney, Australia — January 31, 2019 — Ubisoft^® have revealed details of the Tom Clancy’s The Division^® 2 Private Beta including early game and endgame missions, running from February 7 at 8 pm AEDT through February 11 at 8pm AEDT. Private Beta preload begins on February 6 at 8pm AEDT. Xbox One, PS4, and PC players can secure their access to the Private Beta by pre-ordering The Division 2 at participating retailers. Already the fastest registering beta in Ubisoft history, players can register for beta access now for a chance to play at tomclancy-thedivision.ubisoft.com/beta.

In the Private Beta, players will be able to get a taste of what awaits them in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. After establishing their Base of Operations in the White House, Agents will be able to venture into a transformed Washington D.C., unlocking new skills and abilities while they upgrade to a level cap of seven and discover the eastern part of the open world featuring the following content:

·         Two main missions, available in Story, Normal and Hard Mode

·         Five side missions and additional activities in the open world

·         Unique PvPvE gameplay in one of the three new Dark Zones

·         Organized PvP gameplay in one Conflict mode, Skirmish

Click image below to view trailer.

In addition to this content, beginning Saturday Feb. 9^th at 3am AEDT, The Division 2 fans will have the opportunity to have a first hands-on with endgame content with one Invaded mission. Players will experience gameplay at the level cap of 30 and unlock brand new Survivalist, Sharpshooter or Demolitionist specializations.

For further details about the Private Beta, please visit: www.thedivisiongame.com/faq/beta

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 releases worldwide on March 15, 2019, on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

Led by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with seven other studios around the world**, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is the next evolution in the open-world online shooter RPG genre that the first game helped establish. Set seven months after a deadly virus was released in New York City, Tom Clancy's The Division 2 will bring players into a fractured and collapsing Washington D.C. The world is on the brink, its people living through the biggest crisis ever faced in human history. As veteran Division agents, players are the last hope against the complete fall of society as enemy factions vie for control of the city. If Washington D.C. is lost, the entire nation falls. Building upon more than two years of listening to and learnings from The Division community, Tom Clancy's The Division 2 will offer a substantial campaign that organically flows into a robust endgame, to create a cohesive and meaningful experience for all types of players.

For more information on Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, please visit: tomclancy-thedivision.ubisoft.com. For the latest news on Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 and all of Ubisoft’s games, visit Ubisoft News: news.ubisoft.com.

*Preorder any edition of Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 at participating retailers and platforms, strictly pursuant to the terms of the private beta phase to get access to it.  Terms and conditions strictly apply and will be communicated at a later date, as determined by Ubisoft.  Subject to availability and while supplies last.  Content and system requirements pending; check all requirements/details/restrictions prior to purchase/redemption. Promotional offer. Void where prohibited or restricted. More detail on www.thedivisiongame.com/faq/beta

Ben Is Back: Film Review

Ben Is Back: Film Review

Cast: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Kathryn Newton, Courtney B Vance
Director: Peter Hedges

A film of two halves, very much held together by a career best from Julia Roberts, Peter Hedges' addiction drama Ben Is Back treads some of the same furrows ploughed by Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet in Beautiful Boy.

Set one Christmas Eve in rural America, Hedges is Ben, who returns without warning from the rehab centre he's been attending. While his mother Holly (played with emotional range and tenacity by Roberts) is ecstatic at his return, the rest of his family is wary, borderline suspicious.

However, over the 24 hour period, both Ben's resolve and Holly's love are tested, stretched to beyond breaking point.

Ben Is Back is a solid drama, that starts in a very familiar place and treads a familiar route before segueing into a different kind of film.

Hedges and Roberts deliver powerhouse performances that don't rely on the showy antics that can usually populate such dramas. And while Roberts' Holly delivers a couple of rants against the system that has pushed the drugs, this slight misstep is forgiven in the overall tableaux of the rest of the film.

Equally, Hedges gives Ben an edge of uncertainty, a feeling of a soul teetering on the edge as various truth bombs are slowly and subtly dropped by the script. While his relationship with Holly skirts around one of a child wanting to reconnect with his family, the film's indelibly exciting and emotionally raw.

Others get to flirt with this dramatic orbit too, but in the overall wash, Peter Hedges' script is about these two at the core - and consequently some of the later interactions with supporting players (notably Vance's husband Neil) feel less enticing as they could be, as they wallow in the underwritten and slightly cliched mire that's been created.

The second half of the film which switches from suburban angst to an examination of the druggy underbelly of Holly and Ben's home is an odd tonal lurch, feeling akin to Taken than anything else - and it also allows Hedges via Roberts to voice frustrations at drug laws and systems seemingly letting down the public. These moments derail the film and the intimate intentions of what transpires.

Ultimately though, Ben Is Back is a complex portrayal of a self-destructive relationship, an examination of the depths of love, and in Roberts, a sign that this actress continues to deliver a breadth that surprises and enthralls.

Hunter Killer: DVD Review

Hunter Killer: DVD Review

It's hard not to view Hunter Killer as the kind of film that wouldn't be out of place in the 1980s.

A mix of submarine thriller, shoot-em-ups and improbable rescue, Hunter Killer's B-Movie vibe is one of solid, yet unspectacular fare that spools out almost like a game of submarine movie cliche bingo.

Butler is unconventional commander Glass, who's given the command of a ship after a US Sub goes AWOL tracking a Russian sub in foreign waters. Whilst initially, it's a rescue mission for the sub, thanks to a Russian coup, it soon filters out into a further rescue mission to save the Russian President (yes, echoes of the "Has Fallen" film series spring easily to mind).

But if this mission should fail, World War 3 could break out...

Hunter Killer pulls the usual punches for the genre, though it's given a contemporary frisson with the Russians being the bad guys and the US facing off against them. In parts, it's the kind of film that US President Donald Trump could embrace in some ways.

To be honest though, Hunter Killer meshes Call of Duty, Lone Survivor, Has Fallen series and Hunt for Red October, and blends it all through a prism of army recruitment video. It's stock-standard fare that takes itself seriously, and ticks all the boxes.

Butler delivers his usual half-smirking performance, but there's an earnestness to his underwritten commander that's vaguely endearing. Nyqvist, in his final role, is utterly wasted, a sad farewell to a nuanced great.

The tension is largely missing throughout Hunter Killer, until a final act sequence brings together the inevitable consequences of everyone's actions and Marsh concentrates on delivering something solid, via repeated use of swirling cameras, cliches and military might.

Sure, there's a case to say the Americans are painted in a positive light, and those damned Russians are tricky foreigners determined to powerplays over diplomacy, but Hunter Killer cares not for your sneering approach.

Instead it charts a course through familiar and formulaic waters, with only one course in mind - but it comes close to sinking in 2018, when it potentially would have risen to the surface in the 1980s. 

Wildlife: DVD Review

Wildlife: DVD Review

Paul Dano, best known for acting, turns his attention behind the lens in Wildlife - and does so to relatively spectacular singular effect.

Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal star as Jeanette and Jerry, a married couple who have moved to 1950s Montana to find work. Along with them is their son Joe (Ed Oxenbould, rapidly growing up on screen from his debut in Paper Planes).

After Jerry's fired from a job on a golfing course, he takes a job away from home tackling the mountain wildfire that's threatening the region - much to the dismay of his wife.

As time continues with Jerry away, Jeanette begins to fall apart before rebuilding herself into a potential affair with Bill Camp's town rich guy. All of which happens under the nose of Joe...

With tricks such as close ups tackling reactions of people while conversations affecting them happen off screen and wide scenic shots, Dano's relatively adept at keeping the focus on the right places in Wildlife.

It's interesting that this rather rigorous approach lends the film a feeling of formality which is hard to shake, but also one which somewhat amps up the rather frosty and oppressive nature of proceedings and also exacerbates the horror with which Joe observes the breakdown and after effects.

It's relied on a little too often in some ways, but it is effective, anchored as it is by some sensitive performances from Mulligan and Oxenbould.

In a weird way, Oxenbould's coming of age story is one which is that of a boy thrust into the man of the house role. But equally, his role becomes that of surrogate disapproving spouse as his mother transitions from housewife to free spirited-about-to-make-a-mistake woman.

He grasps the mantle well and adds a level of maturity that belies his years.

Equally, Mulligan's turn as a wife who longs for more ("If you've got a better plan for me, then tell me - it'll be better than this" she frustratedly vents at one point) has a slow-burning power which takes time to manifest. As she heads towards an inevitable mistake, there's a feeling that Mulligan's giving her all in this small-town tale of self-destruction and social climbing.

Ultimately, Wildlife is at times a can't-tear-your-eyes away from the about-to-explode style viewing experience. It's a little stilted in places, though giving the thing a whole sheen of this ilk also helps to feed into the oppressive desire to break out.

Dano's delivered an impressive debut in Wildlife, an emotionless look behind the veneer of an implosion.

Ghost Stories: DVD Review

Ghost Stories: DVD Review

Based on the stage play of the same name, and should have been released last year for Hallowe'en, Ghost Stories' triptych of supernatural tales is nothing short of unsettling - even if some of the twists can be seen from far off, and the jump scares are a little heavy handed.

Nyman plays psychic debunker Professor Phillip Goodman, whose world is turned upside down when he's contacted by long-presumed lost paranormal investigator and inspiration Charles Cameron.

Asked to investigate three cases of real ghost sightings, Goodman starts to look into them - but what he finds could change his world...

Steeped in an atmosphere of unease, Ghost Stories is actually unsettling fare which plays to some of the darker edges showcased in director Jeremy Dyson's other well-known TV project, The League of Gentlemen.

The trio of tales benefit from some terrific build-up, but shy away from resolution within them, initially leading to a flat feeling and unkempt edges. It's best not to know what most are about to be frank, as it robs something of the suspense, but they're suitably long enough in their execution to ensure that, ending aside, the tension laid out is actually gripping (even if a lot of the onscreen action is shrouded in more dark than you've ever seen in an episode of The X-Files.)

Playing with the tropes of the genre, shifting expectations, and offering twists as tantalising bits come together or clues are dropped, Ghost Stories works well, even if its final resolution almost derails the entire house of cards.

Nyman's performance delivers an arc that takes in a kind of cock-sure foundation that gradually becomes unstable as the maudlin melancholy sets in. Drained of colour, the drab Britain which unfolds on screen adds greatly to the overall feeling, and the stories are helped by some wonderfully off-kilter character work from the likes of Whitehouse, Lawther and Freeman.

Much like anthology series like Tales Of The Unexpected, Ghost Stories' apparent loose threads come together in ways that are easy to determine in hindsight.

Ultimately, this is perhaps one of the most psychologically perturbing and unsettling films of the year.

It's not a straight horror in many ways, and much like Hereditary's denouement proved polarising, Ghost Stories' portmanteau has a way of inveigling itself under your skin and unnverving you

Juliet Naked: DVD Review

Juliet Naked: DVD Review

Crowd pleasing in extremis, the adaptation of Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked is a charming film that leans on its screwball edges more than it should.

Chris O'Dowd, in a sly mix of both humour and pathos, stars as Duncan, a man obsessed with disappeared rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke, looking like a Reality Bites reunion 20 years on). His long-suffering partner Annie (Rose Byrne) is nearing the end of her patience at his obsession which has seen their lives affected and put on hold.

When Duncan receives a hitherto-unknown copy of one of Crowe's beloved albums, Annie posts a less-than effusive review online - and is stunned to be contacted by Crowe himself. As their friendship grows from afar, things begin to change....

Juliet, Naked is your typical spin on the usual Nick Hornby fare - a manchild forced to confront his ways and with music involved, it's the same story, just told differently.

And whilst it has an ending that suddenly appears as if an author's reached his page limit, what Juliet, Naked manages to do is carve a path to mainstream rom-com that's both commendable and comfortable at the same time.

Issues of regret, longed for family, teen obsessions and desires to rectify past mistakes all swirl together in one crowd-friendly mix that never once loses sight of a simple desire to entertain above all else.

Frivolous and flighty, and actually laugh-out-loud funny in places, Juliet, Naked's central trio add much to proceedings, with each capturing an element of the same lost coin; from Duncan's desire to hold true to what mattered when he was young, to Crowe's realisation of life lost, never to be regained to Annie's stuck in this life trajectory, there's much to hit an audience of a certain age.

Certainly, Hawke's never been better - an antithesis to the festival's earlier First Reformed, his Tucker Crowe is an extension of the slacker from Reality Bites, a musician now facing mortality and looking for one more chance even though he doesn't know it.

And while Juliet, Naked's desire to simply amuse and spin a nice romantic comedic yarn usually would be roundly mocked, (and deserves to be thanks to a trite unformed ending), what actually emerges is a rare commitment to mainstream fare, that's both pleasantly watchable and also richly resonant in the sum of its charming parts. 

She Shears: DVD Review

She Shears: DVD Review

Director Jack Nicol's She Shears has ambitions.

But it seems primarily these ambitions are confined to presenting a story rather than digging a little deeper.

Entrenched in bucolic touches, She Shears takes a look at the sport of sheep shearing, an industry dominated by men back in the 80s and now seeing an increase in the number of women taking part.

In the 80s, it was 1 woman in 5000, now it's 1 in 40, so there's clearly been a sea change in righting the gender imbalance.

Following five shearers, two of whom are established names - Emily Welch, and Jills Angus Burney -
She Shears is a pleasant doco that is graced by some stunning cinematography and slow mo shots of the work being done.

It takes a look at this quintet as they look to either enter the world of competitive sheep shearing (Hazel, Pagan and Catherine being the youngest and newest) and their drive and reasons to do so. It goes some way to give us their backstories on the Road To The Golden Shears competition held in Masterton with Pagan's history being the most intriguing thanks to the traditional sports underdog /hit by injury story.

However, it's potentially fair to say that perhaps She Shears should have narrowed its focus a little more on maybe three of these competitors as some have longer in the spotlight than others, and certainly, given the way the competition pans out, not everyone gets to where they want.

It's a frustration to be borne with She Shears - and certainly, the focus feels a little more like it could have done better to spotlight the problems of getting women into this industry.

All five talk of various levels of discrimination in among the support as well - and it's at this stage, the most intriguing and strongest element of the doco emerges that could have provided a sharp sting in a post MeToo world.

Certainly there's great disparity on display when the commentators of the Golden Shears markedly and pointedly refer to the male and female competitors in different terms. "Two little girls there" is the worst offender and points to some signs the entrenched sexism exists within - certainly, there's no diminutives levelled at the male competitors. It's a shame this narrative isn't expanded out, and Nicol's spotlight wasn't shined more at this, because it provides a stronger proposition to the film as it goes on. (And is mentioned by all five in their careers and how people view it).

That said, Nicol gives his doco a wondrously filmic approach in its shots of competition, with wool being flung in slow motion, shears guided around hindquarters and sweat dripping from competitors all looking glorious in slow mo and on the big screen. Nothing's been held back in ensuring the look of this generally pleasant piece is anything but top notch.

Ultimately, She Shears feels like a doco that slightly tracked down the wrong way for its focus. Granted, it gives the women competitors their time in the spotlight, and while narrowing that focus may have paid dividends, it does show that when it comes to showcasing and capturing the countryside, its animals and its people, Nicol has a sharp eye for what looks sensational on screen.