DREAMWORKS DRAGONS DAWN OF NEW RIDERS SOARS ONTO GAME CONSOLES

DREAMWORKS DRAGONS DAWN OF NEW RIDERS SOARS ONTO GAME CONSOLES

DREAMWORKS DRAGONS DAWN OF NEW RIDERS SOARS ONTO GAME CONSOLES

Presented by Outright Games, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe, and Universal Games and Digital Platforms, DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders is out now for PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.

The launch coincides with the release of DreamWorks Animation’s new movie How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in cinemas across Europe.

Developed by Climax Studios, the game tells a new story based within the popular DreamWorks Dragons universe. Players will take to the skies in an epic battle to save Dragon-kind from Eir, a fiery new foe who is determined to control all Dragons to do her evil bidding. Alongside new friends Scribbler and Patch, players will discover exciting new locations and return to old haunts, meet familiar characters, and clash with fierce enemies in this all new action-adventure.

KEY FEATURES:

• A NEW, AUTHENTIC ADVENTURE: Help Scribbler recover lost memories and forge a friendship with Patch, his unique hybrid dragon
• EPIC BATTLES: Unlock powerful abilities and take on fearsome foes
• EXPLORE VAST NEW LOCATIONS: Fly to familiar locations, as well as new locations, including Havenholme, Valka’s Mountain and Blood Briar Island
• SOLVE PUZZLES: Swap between Scribbler and his dragon Patch to conquer obstacles

DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders is available now for PlayStation® 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch™ and will be available for purchase on PC Digital from February 15^th.  For more information about the game and other products from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe please visit: https://www.bandainamcoent.com/, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoEU , or join the conversation at https://www.twitter.com/BandaiNamcoEU.

For Honor Year 3 begins with new hero The Black Prior

For Honor Year 3 begins with new hero The Black Prior

YEAR 3 – SEASON 1 “VORTIGER” LAUNCHED ON ALL PLATFORMS JANUARY 31

Following the release of the Marching Fire expansion last November, this new Season kicks off For Honor’s third year. “Vortiger” will add a new Hero to the Knight faction, the Black Prior. Masters of the sword and shield, Black Priors are protectors of the battlefield able to block and counter attacks from all directions. The Black Prior will be immediately playable for all owners of the Year 3 pass on January 31, while all other players will be able to unlock the Black Prior on February 7 for 15,000 Steel.

Click image below to view trailer.

With Year 3 – Season 1, the development team also continues to enhance overall balancing, with comprehensive gameplay improvements to the Shugoki, Warlord and Peacekeeper. Additionally, a new map “Harbor”, new gear, new customization options and matchmaking improvements will be added to the game free for all players on January 31.

As presented in the yearly development roadmap, Vortiger will also introduce an all new time-limited event later in the season.

For the full Y3S1 patch notes, please visit: https://forhonor.ubisoft.com/game/en-us/news-community/152-342840-16/patch-notes-v2040.

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