Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (2009, PS3) – 5/10 mildly satirical third-person shooter game review

Cast / crew Will Arnett: Matt Hazard Neil Patrick Harris: Wallace "Wally" Wellesley III Olivia Hack: QA / Evil QA Lead Producer: Bryan West Producer: Chris Puente Lead Game Designer: Dave Ellis Lead Level Designer: Michael Nelson Writer: Dave Ellis Lead Technical Programmer: Doug Cox Lead Gameplay Programmer: Allan Campbell Motion Capture Performer Matt Hazard & all various other characters: Richard Dorton Motion Capture Performer Matt Hazard: John DeMerell

Eat Lead: Return of Matt Hazard, The (2009) Reprising his role as gaming’s greatest hero once more, Matt Hazard is confused and dismayed to find himself getting killed at the end of the first chapter in a surprise twist. A hacker helps him survive but the game designers keep throwing in enemies from Hazard’s past to get rid of him once and for all. 5/10 This is a fine idea which certainly raises a smile and has potential for some delightful gameplay anachronism but look at the cover. Why would anyone buy a game with such a ugly cover? Look at Hazard’s ill-proportioned head. That’s not the face of a hero, of someone a player wants to inhabit. Look at the guns. The assault rifle has been made as big as the mini-gun which is the reason the picture is subconsciously wrong. Ironically, a photoshop done to balance the picture ends up unbalancing the viewer’s mind and puts off potential buyers without them knowing why. Once in game, there’s good music and voice work but it’s consistently a little clunky control-wise (aim and shoot are on the wrong buttons for PS3) and the level / gameplay designers simply have no idea of how to make battles fun, flowing and exciting. And the potential for delightful gameplay anachronism? Disappointingly, the anachronism isn’t even there, delightful or otherwise. This game contains 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 Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard PS3 cover

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Xbox 360 vs PS3 Head-to-Head Face Off: Batman: Arkham City

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.

• Batman: Arkham City

Agatha Christie’s Poirot 3.05 The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor (1991) – 6/10 period murder mystery TV review

Cast / crew Writer: Agatha Christie David Suchet: Hercule Poirot Hugh Fraser: Captain Hastings Philip Jackson: Chief Inspector Japp Writer (Dramatisation): David Renwick Ian McCulloch: Jonathan Maltravers Geraldine Alexander: Susan Maltravers Producer: Brian Eastman Director: Renny Rye Executive Producer: Nick Elliott

Poirot, Agatha Christie’s 3.05 Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, The (1991) Poirot is called by a hotelier to solve a case where every person has a perfect alibi. When he arrives, however, another, more urgent case, grabs his attention as a wealthy but sick man is found dead. Poirot immediately suspects murder and the young widow finds herself the next target. With Poirot’s little grey cells up to full speed maybe he can solve both cases. 6/10 A bit of a weak episode thanks to some variable pacing and the deliberately difficult-to-believe supernatural elements (which are portrayed amateurishly) but there are still items of note including the reason for Poirot’s presence in the town, Poirot’s waxwork (both added by writer David Renwick) and a particularly horrible murder (not shown graphically but still a nasty one; the victim sleepily opening his eyes to behold his fate was a quality touch). Renwick also supplies a healthy number of lovely incidental gags ("Doctor? There’s a gentlemen outside suffering from Hercule Poirot. He seems to think it’s quite serious.") and bits of business which Suchet and Fraser take full advantage of. This Poirot, Agatha Christie’s episode contains one scene of strong, impactful gun violence. Classified 12 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over. Links Agatha Christie’s Poirot Screened by Slimm

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Los Cronocrímenes aka Timecrimes (2007) – 7/10 time-travel thriller movie review

Cast / crew Writer: Nacho Vigalondo Director: Nacho Vigalondo Karra Elejalde: Héctor Candela Fernández: Clara Bárbara Goenaga: La Chica en el Bosque Nacho Vigalondo: El Joven Ion Inciarte: Héctor Ocasional

Los Cronocrímenes aka Timecrimes (2007) Héctor spots an attractive young woman taking her top off in a nearby wood and, while his wife nips out to get something for dinner, goes to see if he can get a better look. When he does stumble upon her, she is naked (result) but unconscious (uh-oh) and he is then attacked by a man with his face concealed by a pink bandage. Running for his life, he comes across a building with some sort of experimentation going on and a large machine in which the surprisingly compliant solitary scientist insists on hiding him. When he climbs out of the machine, it’s the previous day. 7/10 Addictively scripted and grippingly directed time travel thriller which suffers from paradoxes spinning around in the audience’s mind during the movie. After is fine, during is less than perfect. What the filmmaker tries to do with time travel movies is distract you from the paradoxes. The first two Terminator movies, Back to the Future parts one and three and Twelve Monkeys are the prime Hollywood examples of the best of the subgenre but this tight, intriguing entry shows you can produce a terrific time travel movie without elaborate special effects and other baubles and science-fiction tropes. This movie contains violence, unpleasant and very gory scenes and non-sexual female nudity. Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.

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The Sheepman (1958) – 6/10 light western movie review

Cast / crew Glenn Ford: Jason Sweet Shirley MacLaine: Dell Payton Leslie Nielsen: "Colonel Stephen Bedford" / Johnny Bledsoe Mickey Shaughnessy: Jumbo McCall Writer (Screenplay): William Bowers Writer (Screenplay): James Edward Grant Writer (Adaptation): William Roberts Writer (Original Story): James Edward Grant Producer: Edmund Grainger Director: George Marshall

Sheepman, The (1958) Jason Sweet rolls into a cattle-ranching town, punches out the local tough guy, and announces he’s moving in. With his herd of sheep. 6/10 Pacy awesome stranger western which suffers from a disagreeably predictable character for, an unconvincing performance from and lack of chemistry with Shirley MacLaine but is much better when Glenn Ford is locking horns with dastardly Leslie Nielsen (who at one point, with the entirely straight face that would become his trademark, rocks a hilarious pair of bright red trousers and a massive black belt). Experienced Destry Rides Again director George Marshall does a crisp job but the use of some speeded-up footage looks amateurishly silly. This movie contains violence.

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Xbox 360 vs PS3 Head-to-Head Face Off: Crysis

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.

• Crysis

Agatha Christie’s Poirot 5.03 Yellow Iris (1993) – 7/10 period murder mystery TV review

Cast / crew Writer: Agatha Christie David Suchet: Hercule Poirot Hugh Fraser: Captain Hastings Pauline Moran: Miss Lemon Writer (Dramatisation): Anthony Horowitz

Poirot, Agatha Christie’s 5.03 Yellow Iris (1993) Poirot is perturbed when a restaurant called Le Jardin de Cygnes opens in London on the same day he receives a yellow iris at his apartments. He knows it is a reminder of a two-year-old murder which he could not solve due to circumstances beyond his control but it looks like he may have another chance. 7/10 Splendid Poirot with a terrific prologue and epilogue ("the English do not have ‘cuisine,’ they have food") though the central mystery does seem short on clues and the memorable methodology was also used in the far more widely known SPOILER Sparkling Cyanide (Agatha Christie’s own novelisation of this short story). Still, what I absolutely love about these hour-long episodes is the relationship between Poirot and Hastings. They are so clearly the best of friends, it’s just lovely to see; here Hastings didn’t let Poirot not joining him in Argentina bother him. It’s so rare to see positive relationships in dramatic screen productions and it gave Poirot a uncommon identity and emotional connection that future filmmakers have seemed to overlook. This Poirot, Agatha Christie’s episode contains mild adult dialogue and unpleasant scenes. Classified PG by BBFC. Parental Guidance. Links Agatha Christie’s Poirot Screened by Slimm

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Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: Rage

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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.

• Rage

Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs PC Head-to-Head Face Off: F1 2011

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.

• F1 2011

Xbox 360 vs PS3 Head-to-Head Face Off: Dark Souls

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.

• Dark Souls