Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Dungeon Siege III

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.

Starting with 2011 games, you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.

• Dungeon Siege III

Senna (2010) – 8/10 Formula 1 documentary movie review

Cast / crew Director: Asif Kapadia

Senna (2010) Documentary. Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna had a single-minded attitude toward racing fueled by belief in God, belief in himself and belief that he was being persecuted by ‘the establishment’ for being too good. 8/10 A peek behind the curtain of Formula One and it’s most mythical hero, Ayrton Senna, this is a must-watch for any F1 fan. It’s interesting and illuminating and features a whole stack of terrific footage we haven’t seen before including some amazing footage of the movie’s villain FISA president Jean-Marie "my decision is best decision" Balestre, wonderful on-board driving action, a great Jackie Stewart interview and in-car radio (especially from Senna’s Brazilian Grand Prix victory). Just from his racing Senna always came across as destructively single-minded (nothing was ever his fault) and this documentary reinforces that and adds the personal, though not entirely unfounded, paranoia and belief system that fueled that despite him being the most lauded and feted driver in the world. There’s less race footage than you might expect but there is still more than enough to satisfy, especially as so much of it is wonderful onboard of Senna in his office doing what Senna did best: drive every car on the knife-edge of control all lap, every lap. This movie contains several sexual swear words and undetailed but unpleasant scenes of real death and injury. Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Jonathan Creek 3.04 Ghost’s Forge (1999) – 6/10 black comedy crime mystery drama TV review

Cast / crew Alan Davies: Jonathan Creek Caroline Quentin: Maddy Magellan Writer: David Renwick Lysette Anthony: Mimi Tranter Gina Bellman: Samantha Stuart Milligan: Adam Klaus Producer: Verity Lambert Director: Richard Holthouse Executive Producer: David Renwick

Jonathan Creek 3.04 Ghost’s Forge (1999) Creek looks into the 18-month-old case of the death of Ezra Carr, found knifed in the back in his mansion Ghosts Forge. The motive of burglary had been dismissed as all Carr’s valuables were still intact but, to be honest, Jonathan’s only investigating because Maddy’s charming and beautiful friend Mimi Tranter fluttered her eyelashes and asked him. 6/10 Two mysteries for the price of one this week as Creek investigates an 18-month-old murder and the mysterious disappearance of Maddy in an empty upstairs bedroom. The latter is more convincing while the former comes up with a simple enough explanation of the crime itself but a fearsomely complicated and unconvincing explanation for the aftermath. Lysette Anthony’s big eyes and lovely legs provide much for Maddy to entertainingly seeth over and Renwick delivers a before-it’s-time gag regarding giving someone who doesn’t understand the language a gift with an insulting Japanese phrase on it. Curious to note that the title card of the show is spelt wrong, i.e., with an apostrophe. This Jonathan Creek episode contains adult dialogue and sexual violence, knife violence and sexuality. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over. Links Jonathan Creek Screened by Slimm Previous episode: The Omega Man Next episode: Miracle in Crooked Lane

Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Alice: Madness Returns

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.

Starting with 2011 games, you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.

• Alice: Madness Returns

Jonathan Creek 3.03 The Omega Man (1999) – 7/10 black comedy crime drama TV review

Cast / crew Alan Davies: Jonathan Creek Caroline Quentin: Maddy Magellan Writer: David Renwick John Shrapnel: Prof. Lance Graumann Michael Brandon: Captain Frank Candy Producer: Verity Lambert Director: Keith Washington Executive Producer: David Renwick

Jonathan Creek 3.03 Omega Man, The (1999) Maddy gets a scoop on the discovery of an extra-terrestrial skeleton but the U.S. Army swoops in and takes the evidence for themselves. When they return to the base, however, and open the truck, the skeleton has disappeared. 7/10 There are some nice jokes and you’ll never guess precisely how the alien skeleton disappeared but your first thought won’t be too far off the mark. (SPOILER You’ll probably think of an ice statue that melts but it’s clearly not ice; it is frozen mercury which becomes liquid at room temperature.) This Jonathan Creek episode contains mild swear words. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance. Links Jonathan Creek Screened by Slimm Previous episode: The Eyes of Tiresias

Jonathan Creek 3.02 The Eyes of Tiresias (1999) – 8/10 black comedy crime drama TV review

Cast / crew Alan Davies: Jonathan Creek Caroline Quentin: Maddy Magellan Writer: David Renwick Margery Mason: Audrey Panguitch Rebecca Front: Heidi Diana Weston: Delia Masson Producer: Verity Lambert Director: Keith Washington Executive Producer: David Renwick

Jonathan Creek 3.02 Eyes of Tiresias, The (1999) An elderly woman has a dream that eerily and exactly predicts the circumstances and sounds of a man’s death. This is shortly followed by another dream and similar death. Now thoroughly unnerved, her next dream causes real terror: it is her own bloody death by a one-eyed man. 8/10 This Jonathan Creek episode contains gory gun violence, gory and unpleasant scenes and non-sexual nudity, sensuality. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over. Links Jonathan Creek Screened by Slimm Previous episode: The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish Next episode: The Omega Man

Jonathan Creek 3.01 The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish (1999) – 8/10 black comedy crime drama TV review

Cast / crew Alan Davies: Jonathan Creek Caroline Quentin: Maddy Magellan Writer: David Renwick Andrew Tiernan: Lenny Spearfish Rachel Power: Alice Spearfish Griff Rhys Jones: Jeremy Sangster Stuart Milligan: Adam Klaus Producer: Verity Lambert Director: Keith Washington Executive Producer: David Renwick

Jonathan Creek 3.01 Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish, The (1999) Jonathan and Maddy meet the Spearfish’s who have recently had a remarkably turn of luck and come into a fortune. Lenny Spearfish reveals why: he signed his soul over to the Devil. Putting it down as creepy but coincidental, Jonathan and Maddy are astonished when shortly afterward Lenny survives being shot twice in the chest as the bullets bounced off him leaving only burn marks on his flesh and holes in his shirt. Is he under satanic protection? 8/10 This is a thoroughly intriguing mystery but the explanation, though it works, is just ever so slightly unconvincing (and there’s a definite bit of cheating going on with the air taser). The side plot featuring Adam Klaus defending a salacious accusation of improper conduct is fun and even has a cunning punchline. Content-wise, this is a bit more troublesome than a lot of the previous episodes as it features an unexpectedly bloody murder and some sado-masochistic sexuality; the former used as an unnecessary visual shortcut to show the murder was real (it doesn’t convince us of that at all; a couple of lines later on do that) and the latter is used as a clever explanation of part of the mystery. This Jonathan Creek episode contains adult dialogue, mild swear words and unexpectedly gory gun violence, gory and unpleasant scenes and brief sado-masochistic sexuality. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over. Links Jonathan Creek Screened by Slimm Previous episode: Black Canary Next episode: The Eyes of Tiresias

Jonathan Creek 1998 Christmas Special Black Canary (1998) – 7/10 black comedy crime drama TV review

Cast / crew Alan Davies: Jonathan Creek Caroline Quentin: Maddy Magellan Writer: David Renwick Rik Mayall: D.I. Gideon Pryke Hannah Gordon: Marella Carney Kate Isitt: Charlotte Francis Matthews: Jerry Bellinitus Murray Melvin: Lionel Prekopp Stuart Milligan: Adam Klaus Producer: Verity Lambert Director: Sandy Johnson

Jonathan Creek Xmas 1998 Black Canary (1998) Maddy and Creek investigate the suicide of the mother of an old flame of Jonathan’s but there are complications. First of all the last person to be seen talking to her left no footprints in 4-inch deep snow, secondly the fatal shotgun wound to the head, according to pathology reports, happened five hours before it was witnessed happening and third, she was already dead from an overdose of drugs. Fortunately, the police detective assigned, D.I. Gideon Pryke, appears to have a bit of savvy and may not even need Jonathan’s help in solving the mystery. 7/10 Renwick’s ability to come up with small pieces of business that add flavour and interest to his already intriguing plots is unmatched. The first is the gender of a sergeant, the second being Rik Mayall as that most unusual of characters in the amateur-detective series, an intelligent police official. On top of these two main themes, there are many other things to enjoy; Jonathan Creek’s magician ogling a young costumier, his frog suit, his trip to hospital; Creek locking his car door when he sees an enormous ugly man walk up to the car next to him; a suitably horrific saw-the-woman-in-half trick that goes bloodily wrong. The spark of life that is supposed to be delivered by Caroline Quentin (and is not) has obviously been playing on the mind of writer / executive producer David Renwick and producer Verity Lambert and the solution proved to be the casting of Rik Mayall as an intelligent and as-clever-as-Creek police official. He pops up, smarms, charms and grins his way around the screen; an irrepressible ball of energy. Also of note in the cast is Sanjeev Bhasker as the doctor who has the pleasure of delivering the film’s final and, perhaps, best gag to round things off nicely. This Jonathan Creek episode contains adult dialogue and gory and unpleasant scenes, extremely horrific scenes (more so than you’re expecting with a pg), very strong gun violence, attempted suicide. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance. Links Jonathan Creek Screened by Slimm Previous episode: Mother Redcap Next episode: The Curious Tale of Mr Spearfish

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010, PS3) – 8/10 third-person action game review

Cast / crew Writer: Alex Garland Writer: Tameem Antoniades Andy Serkis: Monkey Lindsey Shaw: Trip Richard Ridings: Pigsy Music: Nitin Sawhney Dramatic Director: Andy Serkis Dramatic Director: Tameem Antoniades Development Director: Nina Kristensen Technical Director: Mike Ball Creative Director: Tameem Antoniades

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (2010) A lucky break sees Monkey escape his captor’s bonds only to find himself plummeting to earth aboard a falling transport vessel. He’s not the only one, though, as a girl is racing toward the escape pods just ahead of him. While they both manage to escape, Monkey comes to after the crash landing to find himself in a situation he thought he’d just extricated himself from: enslaved; but this time to the girl who commands, needs, his help. 8/10 This is a great, fun game with a more interesting than usual story and characters let down by an intrusive lack of fluidity of the in-game camera and stuttery character traversal of uneven terrain. There is also a significant sound bug (on PS3, at least) and the game also crashed once. Yet the simple but satisfying combat (enhanced by the metal-bashing sound effects when they work), simple but satisfying gameplay, striking art direction and emotional investment in the characters are more than enough to overcome the technical deficiencies. The story offers up some funnies (one of Pigsy’s late lines in The Dam excepted), some intrigue (why were they on the ship at the start? Why did she do that? Why did he do that?) and solid audience involvement with characters brought to life, once more (after Heavenly Sword) by Andy Serkis; this time backed up brilliantly by Richard Ridings. This game contains mild swear words, adult dialogue and violence against machines only, strong violence and unpleasant scenes in game over cut scenes. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over. Links Eurogamer Head-to-Head: 360 Lens of Truth Head-to-Head: 360 / PS3 DLC: Pigsy’s Perfect 10

Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Red Faction: Armageddon

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.

Starting with 2011 games, you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.

• Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Guerrilla (2009, Games for Windows Live) – 7/10 third-person science fiction demolition shooter game review

Cast / crew Project Design Director: James Hague Project Design Architect: Luke Schneider Writer: Drew Holmes Producer: Rick White Project Technical Director: Chris Neihengen Project Technical Director: Jeff Massung Project System Architect: Dave Baranec Troy Baker: Alec Mason Kari Wahlgren: Samanya

Red Faction: Guerrilla (2009) After his dog is killed by Mars police, Alec Mason joins revolutionary organisation Red Faction. As he presents his concerns to the authorities using a space sledgehammer, he discovers an alien artefact so powerful, so astonishing, so important that he completely forgets about it for the rest of his life and keeps sledgehammering dudes instead. 7/10 If Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson were to make a third-person action game, this would be it as every problem in the universe, including international diplomacy, extra-terrestrial mining, and freedom fighting is solved using a hammer. Once the even more stupid than usual story quickly goes off and sulks in a corner, the delirious, spectacular action takes centre stage and a daft grin starts to etch itself onto your face. As a generous helping of gravy, you then start getting new weapons and they’re all tremendous fun and / or unexpectedly cool. Which offsets the fact that, thanks to the all-powerful sledgehammer, you don’t need any of them. Perhaps Red Faction: Guerrilla’s most notable achievement is that the destructibility of the world is particularly well designed and communicated: you always know what can be destroyed and what can’t; most unusual. This game contains sexual swear words and extreme sledgehammer violence, gun and fantasy gun violence. Classified 16+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 16 or over.. Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence. Links Lens of Truth Head-to-Head: 360 Eurogamer Head-to-Head: 360 Unskippable

Call of Duty 2 (2005, 360) – 8/10 World War II first-person shooter game review

Cast / crew Project Lead: Jason West Executive Producer: Vince Zampella Senior Design Lead: Zied Rieke Art Lead: Michael Boon Art Director: Richard Kriegler Audio Lead: Mark Ganus Design Lead: Todd Alderman Design Lead: Steve Fukuda Engineering Lead: Robert Field Engineering Lead: Francesco Gigliotti Engineering Lead: Earl Hammon, Jr.

Call of Duty 2 (2005) Fight back against the Nazi war machine as and alongside British, American and Russian soldiers. 8/10 Great World War II game which benefits from fighting alongside lots of AI buddies and standard-setting, i.e., working, smoke grenades. Some annoyances like frequently getting stuck on scenery and afore-mentioned AI buddies who keep running in front of your gun sights (and insta-ending your game when shot and killed) are present but don’t greatly damage the atmosphere and intensity of the frequently pitch-perfect battles and shooting mechanics. This game contains mild swear words and gun and knife war violence. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over. Links Next from Infinity Ward: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Call of Duty Screened by Slimm

12 Rounds (2008) – 4/10 action movie review

Cast / crew Director: Renny Harlin John Cena: Danny Fisher Aidan Gillen: Miles Jackson Ashley Scott: Molly Porter Steve Harris: George Aiken Brian White: Hank Carver Gonzalo Menendez: Ray Santiago Taylor Cole: Erica Kessen Producer: Mark Gordon Producer: Josh McLaughlin Producer: Michael Lake Writer: Daniel Kunka

12 Rounds (2008) Patrol officer Danny Fisher makes the arrest of his life when he takes down international terrorist Miles Jackson but Jackson’s girlfriend is killed trying to make her escape. One year and a promotion to detective later, Fisher gets a phone call from Jackson informing him that he has escaped from prison, kidnapped Fisher’s girlfriend and wants Fisher to complete twelve tasks to ensure her safe return. 4/10 Sadly, this is Renny Harlin aping contemporary, awful, action film techniques instead of employing his own fluid style that produced the spectacular action of Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea. There’s plenty of action here but it’s all completely unintelligible. It’s a shame as the performances and script and action sequence ideas were largely adequate for a decent, if minor, Die Hard With A Vengeance-style actioner. The rating would have been a star higher but the action climax and bad guy exit is distractingly weak. This movie contains two sexual swear words and violence, unpleasant scenes. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Duke Nukem Forever

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.

Starting with 2011 games, you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.

• Duke Nukem Forever

Race to Witch Mountain (2009) – 6/10 science fiction action adventure movie review

Cast / crew Dwayne Johnson: Jack Bruno Annasophia Robb: Sara Carla Gugino: Dr. Alex Friedman Ciarán Hinds: Burke Alexander Ludwig: Seth Tom Everett Scott: Matheson Christopher Marquette: Pope Billy Brown: Carson Garry Marshall: Dr. Donald Harlan Writer (Original Book): Alexander Key Writer (Screenplay): Matt Lopez Writer (Screenplay): Mark Bomback Writer (Screen Story): Matt Lopez Director: Andy Fickman Cheech Marin: Eddie

Race to Witch Mountain (2009) After some history with a Las Vegas crime boss, taxi driver Jack Bruno thinks he’s got a couple of rich kids in big trouble when his cab is attacked by three black SUVs. What he doesn’t realise yet is that the SUV’s contained government agents and his two children are illegal aliens. The from-outer-space kind. 6/10 Noisily but only vaguely thrilling sci-fi action movie with a predictable eco-message and a predictable, well, just about everything. Even the orange or orange and blue posters are predictable. The only unusual element is to see a major car crash that has a tangible effect on the occupants (they’re winded and suffering from shock). It’s so unusual that it seems bizarre when the occupants don’t immediately evacuate what’s left of the vehicle all-guns blazing. While it seems highly negative to say that the movie is almost instantly forgettable and features nothing of lasting interest, it is professionally and pacily directed, effectively written and acted and is a reasonably thrilling, tightly-focused production. This movie contains violence. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance.