Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon |
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Iron Man Three (2013) Another day, another supervillain: Mandarin. He’s managing to perform acts of terror that are not leaving any clues and he is closing in on his ultimate target: the President of the United States. Meanwhile, Stark is suffering from anxiety attacks (following the New York alien invasion) and a desperate lack of sleep but punching bad guys may be just the tonic he needs. 6/10
Largely fun knockabout superhero fluff with a good number of wisecracks, a couple of strong moments (usually involving Pepper), at least two surprise plot developments (Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin and the potential closing of Downey Jr’s reign as Iron Man) and one near-standout action sequence (Barrel of Monkeys), but it’s once more spoiled by it’s trailer (Iron Men reveal) and undermined by a cavalier disregard for plot coherence (aren’t Iron Man suits locked to Stark and Rhodes?), action scene continuity (spawning bad guys) and fleshbag Tony Stark being tossed around without harm while not in his eponymous suit. Yes, I understand that Iron Man is not the suit, it’s the man, but just highlighting that semantic does not make you impervious to physical damage. The end credit music is brilliant and should have been used in the film instead of the anonymous score.
This movie contains extreme fantasy violence, bad language, unpleasant scenes.
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Megamind (2010) As Metro City prepares to unveil a massive monument and museum to their resident superhero, equally resident supervillain Megamind plans to do battle once more. Once he escapes from prison, of course. 7/10
In a completely different league from director Tom McGrath’s execrable Madagascar movies, this is a charming, fun super-villain movie with an abundance of nice animation and a strong plot. Even though his voice is a bit old, Will Ferrell is also top-notch as he and Megamind’s animators manage to bring heart where (giant blue) head could easily dominate. Our impressively be-caped protagonist’s insistence on presentation and persistence are entirely admirable and uncommon backbones for any movie. Commending effort is a life skill that we can all benefit from. Much, much better than the superficially similar but morally obnoxious and dreary Despicable Me.
This movie contains violence, unpleasant scenes.
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Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Dead Island: Riptide|
Cast / crew |
F1 2012 (2012) 10/10
This remains the best racing series of it’s generation and a number of small tweaks and the new Austin track enhance the experience yet further. The inclusion of unpredictable weather was a masterstroke and Codemasters have also made the evolution of the car throughout a weekend with it’s differing tyre and fuel components even more distinct than before. Harsh penalties are still a minor issue, though; AI cars cannot receive penalties and their mistake / mechanical issues do not scale for shorter races meaning they never make mistakes. F1 2012, astoundingly, remains the only major racing title to feature all the principle elements of racing: practice and setup, qualification and racing with pit stops; something Forza and Gran Turismo have ostentatiously failed to deliver in the 360 / PS3 generation.
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The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012) Desperate to win Pirate of the Year competition, Pirate Captain redoubles his effort to steal as much gold as he can but the key to unrealised treasure is much closer to home. 6/10
I do not understand why pirates are held up as aspirational heroes. This is a film designed for all ages yet promotes stealing, murdering and self-interest. The film’s positive message that friends are worth more than gold, even worth more than ham, is clearly presented but overwhelmed by a finalé that emphasizes the magnitude and awesomeness of Pirate Captain’s law-breaking reputation. He wins by being branded, essentially, an international terrorist; he is labeled as a pirate Osama Bin Laden. Hmm. That said, the film is quite entertaining, has a couple of nice gags and is paced very well. With a bit of luck, all that stealing, murdering and selfishness will go over your child’s head in favour of growing a luxuriant beard. Even if they’re a girl.
This movie contains bad language, violence.
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Oblivion (2013) Jack and Victoria live on a post-alien invasion post-nuclear annihilation Earth manning Tower 49 and repairing flying gun drones that protect giant machines sucking up seawater to provide resources to humanity now living on Titan – one of Saturn’s moons – from Scavs, scattered surviving alien invaders. Unlike Victoria, Jack likes to peruse and collect some of the few 20th-century artefacts that survived the global holocaust. Life continues as normal until a beacon starts transmitting and brings Jack’s entire handle on his existence crashing down. 8/10
Visually and sonically spectacular science fiction action movie with enough intrigue to keep the interest. The movie gets off to an unnecessary start with a probably-added-at-the-last-minute opening narration that the next hour of the movie then retells us, ultimately verbatim, and Tom Cruise doesn’t quite convey the emerging emotions of his character. As with a lot of big-budget science-fiction movies with the subjects involved here, the plot doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny leaving the quality of the movie to be judged on the immediate entertainment value alone and I really enjoyed it.
This movie contains a single sexual swear word, bad language, violence, nudity, sexuality.
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Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.
Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All.
