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July 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
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.
Call of Juarez: The Cartel July 28, 2011 Leave a Comment
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L’Illusionniste aka The Illusionist (2010) An elderly Parisian illusionist seeks work in the dwindling music hall scene of Britain and winds up in Scotland. After a private gig where a young poor cleaning girl is enraptured by his magical abilities, he generously buys her a new pair of shoes. She decides to accompany him as he travels to Edinburgh to find further work, eagerly awaiting his next miracle. 6/10 L’Illusionniste is a technically terrific animation with a nice nostalgic 70′s Disney look and an impressively beautiful Edinburgh setting but I simply never got past when Alice, a teenage girl, wordlessly attaches herself to the elderly illusionist and gets him to buy her stuff he can’t afford. She is introduced as a hard-working cleaner in a pub but is supposed to be so naïve that she doesn’t realise that people earn money to buy stuff; she sees him as miraculously producing a new pair of shoes for her. Because her naïveté isn’t quite sold, most of the rest of the movie feels like she’s taking advantage of him. She isn’t; she truly believes in magic, generously cooks for all the guests in the hotel and eventually hooks up with a guy who doesn’t buy her anything. But because Alice’s complete naïveté isn’t sold initially, it’s only at the end with his message to her and the showing of a photograph he carries with him, that the plot comes into clear focus. But it didn’t need to be a late save. This movie contains attempted suicide.
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July 23, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Certain that her husband is philandering, Lady Sarah Ashley travels to Australia to confront him and insist he sell their land and return home. When she arrives, her husband is murdered by a Aboriginal witch doctor and she learns that she cannot sell their cattle ranch Faraway Downs at a proper price due to the corrupt influence of cattle merchant King Carney. She determines to conclude her husband’s business and put the ranch back on its feet and needs the help of cattle drover, er, Drover to do so. Preferably without his shirt on. 7/10 Clearly aiming at Gone With the Wind stylistically, this is a highly watchable and entertaining movie, thoroughly captivating for the entirety of it’s running time. It boasts some terrific scenes ("ooh, kangaroo’s", all the cattle drove, Hugh Jackman with his shirt off) but it’s not entirely successful. It’s failure is evident in the utter lack of impact in the death scenes; you’re simply not all that invested in the characters. However, Jackman powers past this and really sells his big emotional scene and forces an emotional response from the audience that wasn’t there otherwise; he is one of the most convincing male actors when it comes to crying and conveying emotional distress. Every time he does it (in various movies), it carries real weight, has tremendous emotional impact and, unlike almost every other male actor, doesn’t appear silly or look like he’s laughing or forcing himself to pass wind while thinking about puppies being run over in front of burning orphanages. This movie contains mild bad language, racially prejudiced language and unpleasant scenes and a sex scene.
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July 23, 2011 Leave a Comment
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.
Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon July 22, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Elder Scrolls IV, The: Oblivion (2006) Languishing in prison you find yourself interrupted by a very surprised Emperor’s bodyguard swiftly followed by the Emperor himself. It seems that the Emperor’s secret escape tunnel is located in your cell and that the cell should, obviously, be empty at all times. Emperor Uriel Septim seems less surprised and tells you that he saw you in a dream and that you should follow them. This is a ticket to freedom, true freedom, as when you finally leave you could assist the Emperor and his Knights’ mission. Or not, it’s up to you; you could become a mercenary and buy yourself a nice house. Or both! What will you do? 10/10
Truly impressive and immersive fantasy action romp. Everything is just that little bit better than normal, just that little bit better than even good games. The quests tend to be little bit more interesting than usual. The dialogue is more engaging than usual despite sounding like only four people voiced the entire populace outside of Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean. The offensive and defensive combat is just a bit more involving than usual; my setup eventually had a 70% chance of reflecting damage back on the attacker so they’d essentially hack and magic and bash themselves to death while I stood there saying "Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself." The locations are just that bit better designed than usual; you could tell which town you were in without referring to a map and where the temple, your house and preferred merchants were. This is one of the best, and biggest, games ever released and it casts a gigantic shadow over every other swords-and-sorcery-themed western RPG released since. Because they’re not as good.
This game contains mild swear words, mild adult dialogue and fantasy substance abuse and fantasy, blade, projectile and melee violence.
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July 22, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Britt Reid is a layabout playboy who resents his holier-than-thou newspaper publisher father. One night, he and his coffee maker, Kato, interrupt a mugging and Reid sees that fighting crime can be a fun and worthwhile diversion. 5/10 Certainly never clicking, this is an interesting nearly-good film with some good ideas but Rogen and Jay Chou needed chemistry and the script needed polishing. Gondry does supply a couple of interesting visual moments with one absolutely baffling how-did-they-do-that split-screen shot where each shot splits into two but seamlessly continues. The main problem is pretty clear: Rogen is, surprisingly, not terribly likable as Britt Reid and there is little convincing development; indeed, late in the movie, there is a inexplicable regression which loses any building goodwill. The second problem is Cameron Diaz who, sorry to say, does not convince here as an expert journalist and has definitively aged past the point of playing young bimbos (even with brains). It’s distracting and a shame, as she’s a far more charming and interesting actress than a bimbo role offers. This movie contains mild swear words, adult dialogue and violence, some scenes of brief but extremely unpleasant violence.
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July 22, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Frank Moses is a retired CIA operative coming to terms with the mundanity of suburbia but his old existence explodes back into his life when he is unknowingly marked as RED – Retired: Extremely Dangerous – and his name put on a list of people who must die. 6/10 Boasting ideas, good details and some unexpectedly good-looking and cool action sequences, what we have here is a movie that, somehow, isn’t quite the sum of its parts. The biggest problem is certainly the story which is an off-the-shelf conspiracy that goes to the top (almost) and a romance that is intriguing but never really given enough time and attention to become involving. While frequently fun, it’s also not quite as bright and breezy as I think it should be; this kind of thing should be Roger Moore Bond jolly (mind you, I think most action films should be; I love me some Roger Moore Bond). Highlights are undoubtedly two action moments: one outrageously cool cop car exit and shooting for Bruce Willis (it’s right up there with the Die Hard skyscraper jump in coolest Bruce Willis scenes) and a gorgeously-photographed hand-gun / rocket-launcher duel for John Malkovich. A jolly good six, then. By the way, I thought Ernest Borgnine was dead and the commentary might have the coolest / most chilling intro ever. This movie contains a single sexual swear word, mild swear words and strong violence, unpleasant scenes.
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July 10, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Wallace and Gromit become entangled in a fiendish sheep-rustling plot when they are called on to wash the windows of beautiful local shopkeeper Wendoline Ramsbottom. 8/10 It feels so mean giving this wonderful, hilarious, imaginative, technically astonishing film eight stars. Yet there is a lack of emotional involvement (with the romance and Gromit going to prison elements) that was there in The Wrong Trousers. Still, you can look at those linked screenshots and realise that the even the weaker elements are peppered with wonderful ideas and funny gags. It culminates with a completely classic chase climax featuring sheep, a motorcycle, porridge and a terminator. The sequence is absolutely gob-smacking and extraordinarily funny. In summary, then, this is an eight, yes, but a must-watch, all-time classic. This movie contains momentary and mild comic violence.
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July 8, 2011 Leave a Comment
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.
F.E.A.R. 3July 5, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Pigsy’s Perfect 10 (2011) Pigsy decides to make himself a perfect companion and, after carefully making plans, sets off with his robot buddy Truffles to collect the parts. However, they are all in Mech-patrolled territory and he will have to use all his cunning and gunning to make it through unscathed. 8/10 Pigsy ("I eat therefore I am") wants the perfect woman for a companion but it’s a relief to note that he never gets disasteful in this DLC pack for Enslaved like he did in the main game. There are gripes: checkpoints are only saved at chapter breaks, I didn’t realise that you could EMP and Bomb turrets (because in Enslaved, you can’t), there’s still some stuttering graphics and Pigsy’s abilities in this prequel disappear in the main game. However, Richard Ridings (Pigsy’s voice) is outstanding again, the design remains wonderfully detailed, the size and gameplay is satisfying and, perhaps most memorably, it’s got a really nice story; very sweet and worthwhile to experience. This Enslaved: Odyssey to the West game contains robot violence. Links |
July 4, 2011 Leave a Comment
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Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) Sam is struggling to find a place back in the real world but a secret that has been kept since the late 1960′s is about to erupt into his life and involve him in the fate of the world once more. Though no-one has anyway of knowing for certain, he suspects that some stuff might get blown up. 6/10 Restoring the fun to the franchise before going all serious for the Chicago-levelling third act but never achieving the greatness that the fantastically cool pre-credits sequence, awesome Buzz Aldrin cameo and Leonard Nimoy’s Sentinel Prime promise, Dark of the Moon is a Michael Bay movie that has several good moments. Unfortunately, it does devolve into a series of beautiful visuals featuring too many robots you frequently can’t differentiate around which the bullet-, missile-, concrete-, gravity- and crash-landing-proof Shia LaBeouf is hurled and thrown and dropped. If he ever wanted to destroy the world, there would be no way to stop him. This movie contains the obligatory sexual swear words to ensure the certificate and graphic and extreme violence by robots on humans, graphic and extreme robot violence and ‘hilarious’ homosexual misunderstandings, sensuality.
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July 2, 2011 Leave a Comment
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.
Shadows of the Damned Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance. 
Classified 12A by BBFC. Persons under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult. 
Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.
Classified U by BBFC. Universal: Suitable for All. 
