Basic Bandicoots Beware – Customisation Coming to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Basic Bandicoots Beware – Customisation Coming to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

For the first time, Crash Team Racing fans will have the opportunity to customise their karts and characters in Crash™ Team Racing Nitro-Fueled!

Revealed today in a tricked-out trailer, which you can check out here, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will offer players a variety of ways to mix and match kart bodies, wheels, paint jobs, stickers, and even add decals to karts.  Now fans – both new and those who first fell in love with the ’90s classic -- can create a sweet looking ride!  What’s more, karts from Crash Tag Team Racing will be available in the new game.

In addition to the ability to customise karts, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will also let players customise their racers. Yes, lead developer Beenox is adding N. sane character skins to the remastered game. This will allow players to adorn their characters with a zany sense of swag and personality -
Boo-ya! Also new to the CTR experience are unique podium animations available to certain skins making celebrating victories even more amazing. And if that wasn’t enough, characters from Crash Nitro Kart will be available in the new game.

Players will earn customisation items by playing through the Adventure Mode and also by collecting in-game Wumpa Coins to swag out their kart and characters in the game’s Pit Stop area. What’s more, character stats, just as you remember are returning and will include Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced classes. So, whether you are a first-time racer, or a pro eager to put your skills to the test again, the wait is almost over!

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled launches June 21, 2019. 

RAGE 2 | Available Now

RAGE 2 | Available Now

Let the RAGE-ing commence! RAGE 2 is now available worldwide for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

In RAGE 2’s “shooterverse,” you’ll experience classic id Software combat in an insane Avalanche Studios open world as Ranger Walker, the world’s closest thing to a superhero and best hope at overthrowing the tyrannical reign of General Cross and his mutated Authority minions.

Master your devastating arsenal of flesh-chewing weapons combined with your performance enhancing Nanotrite-infused abilities to help turn your enemies into gelatinous cubes of flesh. From the River Hogs of the swamps, to the Goon Squad of the wastes, to the sewer-dwelling mutants and the samurai-esque Immortal Shrouded, everything in RAGE 2 is out to get you. Make sure you get all of them first.

Want to learn more about what RAGE 2 brings to the table? Check out the website here to see all the insane videos, community content and more.

The Division 2's first eight-player raid begins this week

The Division 2's first eight-player raid begins this week

The first eight-player raid in franchise history

“Operation Dark Hours” is playable from this Friday.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — May 15, 2019 — Ubisoft announced that “Operation Dark Hours”, the first eight-player raid in Tom Clancy’s The Division franchise history will be playable from 3am AEST Friday, 17 May. Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is available on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

With “Operation Dark Hours”, Ubisoft introduces the toughest of all challenges to date. “Operation Dark Hours” will test the teamwork and ability of the most experienced agents who have reached World Tier 5 and defeated Tidal Basin. Operation Dark Hours will bring Agents to Washington National Airport, controlled by the Black Tusks who are using it to fly in even more soldiers and supplies. Capturing the airport will strike a significant blow to their operations. Players will discover that the technology available to the Black Tusk is even more advanced than what they had to face so far.

Players will take on some of the games’ most challenging bosses yet. In a team of 8 players, agents will have to figure out the fight mechanics and work closely as a team to execute their strategy in order to overcome these tenacious opponents. The Raid will reward players with exclusive loot, such as new gear sets, an exotic weapon as well as other unique rewards.

Click image below to view trailer.

The first team to complete “Operation Dark Hours” after it goes live will be forever immortalized in-game by having their team photo and names displayed in The Division 2’s White House for all players to see. All other players that complete “Operation Dark Hours” until May 23 will receive a commemorative Arm Patch, while players who complete the raid after those dates will be rewarded with a clan banner icon and a trophy in their clan space.

Fans can follow the race to the World First by checking out “Operation Dark Hours: Race to a World First” Twitch Rivals Program athttps://www.twitch.tv/twitchrivals.

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 brings 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, helping players emphasize their freedom to make strategic choices and hone their own approach.

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.

A Kid Like Jake: DVD Review

A Kid Like Jake: DVD Review

Wisely steering clear of the hysterics that could come from a drama of trying to place a child in a school that's best for them, director Silas Howard's film version of Daniel Pearle's play is a piece that keeps itself grounded throughout.

Claire Danes and Jim Parsons play parents Alex and Greg, who seem diametrically opposed to their parenting approach - she's uptight, and almost neurotic in his eyes and he's indifferent and calm, to the point of comatose in hers.

Issues are further complicated by their son Jake whose desires extend to cross-dressing, a Disney princess obsession and long tresses as well as dresses which is causing problems when trying to pigeon hole him for future schools.

Inevitably, conflict arises as the parents find the pull of the familial sending them to places they'd not expected to go.

Imbued with a degree of WASP-ish indifference, it's hard to care really about the problems these guys face, something which would usually prove fatal to a drama. But by keeping everything grounded, Howard's manipulation of his actors and their commitment to the cause offers up more than just an insight into parenting choice, but also the deepest of human foibles and trivialities.

As Danes ratchets up the control-freakery, Parsons' laid-back approach threatens to derail everything - this at-times kitchen sink drama does inevitably boil over in one mightily familiar scene to many (parents or otherwise) but rarely, unfortunately, transcends its play-like setting.

However, it scores highly for its common touch, its exploration of doubt and its desire to avoid throwing the kid Jake into the middle; smartly, this works when it should and only occasionally teeters.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum: Film Review

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum: Film Review

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Huston
Director: Chad Stahelski

Keanu's back picking up his besuited assassin John Wick just moments after the end of John Wick 2, where he was declared excommunicado and a multi-million dollar bounty placed on his head.

With everyone apparently after him, Wick has to try and clear his name, and set the record straight as he deals with the consequences to his actions...

For the first half of the film, John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum is a taut, inventive brawler that finds new ways to breathe life into the genre.

Its commitment to bone-crunching beat downs delivered with tightly choreographed almost balletic fights are visually and kinetically thrilling.

But when the film tries to incorporate a mystical and mysterious edge, striving to flesh out the nefarious High Table organisation, it wallows in its pomposity, much to the detriment of why Wick worked before - a man on the run, or a man desperate to get out. It meanders when it should be sleek, and goes for lazy gunplay in one elongated section, when stripped back offers more pleasure.

In fact the fleshing out of the universe is almost criminal, a wider context not needed within the framework of why these films work.

Add to that a need to throw in some comedy with potential assassins turning out to be fans of Wick and the film testers dangerously into unwarranted self-knowing, winking territory .

It’s fatal to the vibe that’s gone previously and does little to stop the script dipping into campy one liners and dialogue delivery.

Reeves however excels, his Wick looking beaten, fragile and trapped when needed- but reeves digs deep to allow Wick the physical and emotional heft to fight back.

John Wick: Chaper 3 - Parabellum isn’t a full disaster. It’s a film of two halves and those involved in future elements would be wise to step back, regroup and reassess why the series was working and to build on those foundations, and stick to the basics, rather than trying to flesh it all out.

Free Solo: DVD Review

Free Solo: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Ent

There's an inordinate amount of set-up in Free Solo, the documentary that centres around what many would perceive as madness.

It's the story of Alex Hannold, the climber who's gained fame for going up tall mountains, without support or ropes. This follows him as he prepares for the ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite in 2017.

The first part of the doco is the usual stock standard character stuff - peppered by some more intriguing and interesting moments. Hannold undergoes an MRI to see if he's wired differently, reveals how much time he spends living in a van - it all goes to provide a portrait of someone who's definitely different to many others.

But the built up is like an extremely long tease as everyone is really just waiting for the climb itself.

Which it has to be said, delivers.

Shot from the bottom up to give the sense of scale for El Capitan and Hannold's actual feat, it's a vertiginous pay-off for what's gone ahead, a true salute to man's achievement.

It's worth it, also for the growing sense of guilt and unease on the ground - both from Alex's girlfriend but also the camera crew who wonder how complicit they would be should anything happen.

Ultimately, Free Solo delivers in its last 20 minutes - but like the mountain size itself, it's a big climb to get there.

Holmes & Watson: Blu Ray Review

Holmes & Watson: Blu Ray Review

Released by Sony Home Ent

The reteaming of the StepBrothers stars Will Ferrell and John C Reilly should in theory be a success.

However, what Holmes & Watson achieves is nothing short of an utter mess.

The supersleuths are called in when Moriarty apparently threatens the life of Queen Victoria. Claiming she will die within 4 days, the game's afoot for the duo.

Mixing slapstick and the usual Ferrell over-acting, Holmes & Watson is a struggle from beginning to end. Positing Holmes as a kind of idiot is an obvious choice, given the detective is barely ever wrong.  But making him a real dolt gives the film a hard watch from beginning to end.

While Reilly and Ferrell trade on their usual bromance, the film's stultefyingly stupid script  fails to land anything other than the truly corny and wildly unoriginal. It doesn't help that Rebecca Hall is utterly wasted as a love interest for Reilly's Watson.  An odd parody of Ghost in an autopsy room is just the tip of the iceberg of where the film goes - every lazy target is hit and every gag falls flat.

Holmes & Watson isn't perhaps the worst film ever made; though, to be frank, it's up there.