Novastream Magazine Issue 10

EDITOR’S NOTE Hey Novastreamers, After three long years of hype the follow-up to the extremely divisive Man of Steel is here. It is... divisive, and in a guest column, cakey. We’ve dedicated six pages to the Warner Bros epic and it’s still impossible to form an opinion. It’s a moody, joyless affair that will entertain the same audience that defends the gratutious and senseless CGIsaturated Superman V Zod fight. Ask Alaisdair? He loved it! Like I said, divisive...

A big welcome to the crew at JustGame for their first issue with us. As Novastream has shifted further towards movies, television and streaming they have stepped in to fill the void.

Be sure to check out their interview with Australian developers Witch Beam Games and the detailed look at Quantum Break - right here in black and white before it has even hit the shelves!

In television and streaming Netflix once again dominates with the sophomore season of Daredevil, the forth season of House of Cards and the debut season of Judd Apatow’s Love, starring Paul Rust and Community’s Gillian Jacobs. Fun Show.

The one show that continues to dominate? The Flash. It never lets us down, and it kicks goals as it continues its second season. It crossed over with CBS’ Supergirl the other night for a really fun, enjoyable forty-two minutes of television. I’d only caught two Supergirl episodes prior and yeah, the crossover made it look cool.

In fact, I’d rather watch the Flash and Supergirl team up than Batman and Superman and Lex and Doomsday and everyone else battle it out in desaturated, boorish... look, I should stop talking about BvS. But Wonder Woman was cool.

Thanks for reading,

MARK HALYDAY, EDITOR

IN THIS ISSUE: FEATURES: 4. WITCH BEAM STUDIOS 6. ASSAULT ANDROID CACTUS

MOVIES: 8. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

10. THE WONDER WOMAN FACTOR

12. A LETER ABOUT CAKE 14. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE 16. GRIMSBY

THE TEAM: DAVID

CHATTAWAY,

JAMES

LAMB,

AIDEN

KYVAL,

TOM

BRITTANY ALAISDAIR LAM,

JAMES

HOWARTH, LEITH, MANTON,

ZACH POWSON, DALE O’DONNELL, JASON ROGERS,

TELEVISION & STREAMING:

JUST GAME:

18. DAREDEVIL

30. QUANTUM BREAK

20. HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON 4

34. TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION

24. LOVE SEASON 1

37. THE DIVISION: 7 TIPS & TRICKS

26. SUPERGIRL/ FLASH CROSSOVER

38. VIRTUAL REALITY: IS IT WORTH GETTING EXCITED?

28. NEW TO NETFLIX

40. THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT FOR NO MAN’S SKY

:

David Chattaway chats to Brisbane-based Witch Beam Studios on their genesis and recent success with Assault Android Cactus

WHEN it comes to making it big in the gaming industry, having Sony back your game is an undeniably clear sign you’re doing the right things.

The indie developers behind Assault Android Cactus have managed just that, with their arcade-style title listed as a finalist in the PlayStation Plus Vote to Play competition.

But, after chatting to the guys behind the title, it was clear that even without the epic nod from the gaming powerhouse, it was just a matter of time before Witch Beam became a household name amongst gamers.

The three-man team out of Brisbane work full-time doing what they love … and their passion is evident in the game’s finely crafted plot, characters and environment.

Witch Beam developer Sanatana Mishra spoke to JG in the lead-up to the game’s PlayStation release – which just happens to be today! Sanatana said the team had been confident the title would do well, but couldn’t believe their fortune when Sony came knocking at their door.

“It’s definitely a good feeling.

Having Sony back your game and put it front and centre on all (its) channels is pretty incredible” “We’ve always felt very confident in Cactus being a great game that people will be excited about if they just knew it existed, so we couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity than this.”

The game, born from a female character developed more than a decade ago by the team’s animator, Tim Dawson.

Breaking away from the bigger guys and starting their own company was a brave move which has obviously paid off.

“Cactus herself is actually a very old character Tim created a decade ago and has been keen to explore ever since,” Sanatana said, “She was always kick-ass and we thought this style of game was perfect for her.”

“We really just wanted to create something that reflected what we’re passionate about,” Sanatana told JG, “We had enjoyed working together so much that when the idea of forming our own team came up, we reunited without hesitation.

Although Cactus is front and centre, she’s supported by an entire ensemble of kick-ass ladies.

“I still remember the meeting where I asked Jeff for advice on finding a composer and he responded by “At their core every character is chasing the same goal asking to be a part of the team instead.” to be an interesting addition that really adds to the world and experience rather than just being another Taking advantage of being able to communicate directly mesh swap added for the sake of variety,” Sanatana said. with fans throughout the development of their game, Witch Beam shared an open blog.

The game is fast-paced and pushes the tempo from the beginning until the credits role. The final product “We just love the way indie development breaks down is gorgeous and you’ll be immediately drawn in by the barriers between players and developers. That kind of unique styling and soundtrack which accompanies it. blog would never have been possible at our industry With development on the game spanning an incredible jobs, but here it’s this wonderful portal where people three years, we asked the team whether they were free can see exactly how this thing they are excited about is to do anything else during the development, or if they being made,” Sanatana said. were truly chained to their computer desks.

Here at JG we love picking industry insider’s brains, in “I’ve had some late nights, but it’s really Tim who ends the hopes of offering guidance for aspiring developers. up having to do the most draining hours and work,” I asked Sanatana for any words of advice for our readers Sanatana said, “He’s the sole artist, animator, and who might be dreaming of making their own games programmer on the project and as you can imagine one day. that’s a very intense thing for a project of this size.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who works as hard as Tim … he definitely dreams about the characters and every other aspect of the game.”

Before joining forces and starting Witch Beam, the boys (Sanatana Mishra,Tim Dawson and Jeff van Dyck, pictured) all worked together at SEGA. With some of my fondest gaming moments created on various SEGA platforms I had to ask Sanatana what it was like working for the gaming behemoth.

“I’ve never worked with so many incredibly talented and ridiculously hard-working people as I did during my five years at Sega, and it’s highly likely that statement will remain true throughout the rest of my career in games,” he said.

“Make something you genuinely care about,” he said.

“If you want to be independent then that’s the only kind of experience that matters and if you want to join the larger industry then it’ll act as a great representation of who you are as a developer. Also, learn a programming language or scripting language in any game engine.

Even if you’re an artist or designer, this is an invaluable skill that will help you be a better developer in so many ways.”

Three years of hard work and the team will finally see their game released on the PlayStation platform. How do they intend to celebrate?

“We plan to celebrate by sitting together on Jeff ’s “I’m still eternally grateful for everything I learned veranda listening to some amazing music of his choice,” during that time and a big part of that was working Sanatana said. with Jeff and Tim. We actually only worked together for a portion of that time, as Jeff and Tim decided to Our review of Assault Andriod Cactus can be leave Sega much earlier than I did.”

found on the next page. >>

David Chattaway on the debut from Witchbeam Studios.

A game that throws you into the deep end and doesn’t relent until you’ve laid waste to the last enemy. You’ll build some serious hand-strength playing Witch Beam’s first offering. Three hours of twin-stick mayhem and the option of playing with up to 4 player co-op (local) all sweeten the deal. Assault Android Cactus is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but offers tons of re-playability and will show some love for the PlayStation Vita when it releases on the PlayStation store March 8. Two sore thumbs up from this reviewer ;) Last November I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Van Dyck from Witch Beam Games at Pax Australia. The team had a small stand setup in the Indie games area and were showcasing their recently released title Assault Android Cactus (AAC). My first impression of the game was that it reminded me a little of Resogun, being a twin-stick shooter. Jeff went on to explain that other influences for the game were Robotron and Super Smash TV (arcade classics). After checking out the two he mentioned I can see where the inspiration has come from.

Ahead of the games release for PS4 and VITA on March 8, I thought it was appropriate to have a go of the manic shooter and cast my opinion out to aid JG fans with their decision to play … or not to play.

Each level begins by your selected character landing on a small platform area. There’s no time to take in the scenery or plan out much of a strategy, because mere seconds after your feet touch the floor, enemies begin to flood through.

From that point until the end of the level you’ll be using your left analogue stick to navigate between enemies and the environment, while constantly pointing your right stick in the direction of anything that moves. The game moves at a breakneck speed and demands agility and coordination, along with constant movement to achieve success.

levels. Should you not pick up a battery you’ll power down and the level ends … there’s no checkpoints in the middle of a level, so you’ll need to restart from the beginning. Not a huge concern as each of the levels are quite quick. In fact the whole game is a short affair, it took me a little over three hours to roll the credits. This isn’t a bad thing though, the game moves quickly and because each of the levels have a play time of around 3-7 minutes it’s absolutely perfect for the VITA and The game rewards success handsomely, fallen enemies the time constraints that players might have in transit randomly drop weapon modifiers which can either with the handheld. increase the rate of fire or enable your character to move faster for a period of time. In addition to Although I didn’t get a chance to checkout the co-op picking up modifiers you’ll also need to keep a look features this game offers, I’m confident a 2-4 player out for batteries. Witch Beam have incorporated an couch session wouldn’t disappointment. My mind’s interesting twist on the health system for this game, already buzzing with fun drinking games which could instead of having a health bar depleting, you drain be incorporated… power.

With a short, yet satisfying campaign, tons of reUsing your weapon and getting up when you’re playability in the form of style scoring, up to 4 player knocked down both drain the precious resource. local co-op and beautiful visual and audio design …

This means that provided your shooting isn’t terribly you really can’t go wrong with this game and there’s inaccurate and you can use the left-trigger to dodge little to fault. I thoroughly enjoyed the short romp attacks you’ll have more than enough juice to lay with Witch Beams first title and I can’t wait to see waste to everything, while topping up your reserve what they produce next. with batteries that randomly drop throughout the Perhaps one of the greatest things about AAC is the scoring for levels. In a similar fashion to how Devil May Cry gives you a style score at the conclusion of each level, AAC also scores your efforts. This means that despite the game not having a difficulty setting, players of all skill levels can work their way through the story and return to challenge themselves further … should they be so inclined.

Assault Android Cactus is out now on PC and will be available on PS4 and VITA on March 8. This review was completed on PC.

it’s Day V Night, Black V Blue, God V Man in the ULTIMATE superhero smackdown. FINALLY, after three years of teasers, images, announcements, controversy, fan scrutiny and doubts it is time to put all of your worries to rest.

Or is it? Alaisdair Leith on the first (arguably!) entry to the DCEU! If you haven’t seen 2013’s Man Of Steel don’t worry! You won’t be cast out into the cold or left bewildered, this movie does enough catching up to keep you on top of things. After witnessing the wreckage of the alien fight in Man Of Steel, millionaire Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) evacuates the Wayne building in Metropolis while witnessing Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod (Michael Shannon) smash each other and the city in a fight. Feeling helpless and recognising an imminent threat, he takes up the mantle of Batman in Gotham city and confronts Superman. Little do the two know that a larger plan through the villainous Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is on the horizon and the sooner they realise how much in common they have (orphans! hello!) the better the planet will be.

Now I’m not saying much about the plot as I don’t want to ruin any surprises, twists or turns that may (or may not!) occur (Insert smug comic book boy smile here) What I DO want to talk about is the other parts of this movie that serve to cement the future of the Justice League shared movie universe. First of all I am going to give this movie some pardon for its sheer ambition, for daring to hinge all future films in the franchise (and there are quite a few!) on the shoulders of one movie.

The story is STUFFED to the brim and of course there are a few pacing issues but it is not a reason to dismiss this movie.

contrast to the bright, jokey, happy Marvel movies that have been force-fed to us for the last eight years (I am not saying this is a bad thing, I LOVE the Marvel films) The films reek of Zak Snyder’s typical film properties, dark and gritty set pieces, hard and fast action scenes, a lot of CGI effects and broody performances and this film is full of them!

This is not a bad thing, this comic book universe calls for it, it fits in with Batman’s head space, Superman’s struggle to “fit in” with human society. These issues are throughly explored in this and are executed perfectly.

What the film DOESN’T do will is Doomsday, one of the biggest Superman villains in the comics and arguably in the universe is reduced to a pretty small role in the film and feels only rarely threatening, that partnered with the horrible CGI effects they decided to use just feel like a waste of one of their best villains and this is what left me gutted. It’s not all gloom and doom as Lex Luthor takes the villain role and executes it perfectly. He is menacing, two-faced and is nothing like he is portrayed in the trailers (everyone rejoice!)

So far “movie critics” and audiences are divided, the critics are panning it, audiences are loving it and we all know that based on the Transformers franchise, that audiences who see these movie in droves (and they WILL!) generate global box office dollars that will push the movie universe ahead and drown DC has presented their universe as a dark out the naysayers who come to super hero one, it is gritty, real and often a scary and films expecting indie darling Oscar winning confronting place. This is in complete quality.

If you love these characters like I do, you will love this film, seeing them come to life and unite together is tear inducing and many audience reactions in my screenings echoed this. DC is going to have to be patient and pave the way for a different type of superhero film not full of jokes, and while this won’t convert all, it is a bloody good start! Bring on Justice League Part 1!

It seems the general consensus is that you have to see Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice twice to really taken in its magnitude.

There is a lot of key dialogue that’s easily missed, it’s hard to make out who that guy is leaping through the time portal, and did Batman really just kill those dudes?

Heck, that’s ignoring the enigma wrapped in questions and topped with a mop that is Lex Luthor.

But, just as this is widely accepted, so is the idea that Gal Gadot was a perfect Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is a feminist icon that has been saving the world since 1941. She is a Princess, an Amazon, and in some reimaginings she is even a demigod.

Unlike the very human Batman or Alien Kal El, Wonder Woman’s world revolves around Greek mythology and she even has an enemy in the Greek god of war: Ares. Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman is actually the character’s first live action film debut after 70 years, having only previously had one animated film.

To put that in perspective, Batman has 12 and that’s not including his long list of animated films.

Words by Britt Howarth

Gal Gadot, unfortunately, missed out by 2 years to be Wonder Woman’s first theatrical film appearance. That goes to Cobie Smulders who voiced Wonder Woman for 2014’s The Lego Movie.

It’s a shame that it has taken TV and movie studios this long to grant Wonder Woman her place on the silver screen. However, they have done it in style.

She immediately stands out amongst the crowd in her first scene and becomes the biggest presence in the final battle. The team of Batman V Superman has successfully created a feminine Warrior, a woman who in no way had to compensate femininity for her strength and power.

I have heard many complaints that there actually wasn’t enough of her throughout the film. She did have very few lines and only interacted with Bruce Wayne in person twice before the final show down. But we have to keep in mind, this movies is Batman V Superman. The fact that Snyder even put Wonder Woman in this movie is fantastic. The other criticism is that we only ever hear her called Miss Prince. This is a fair point.

The fans can argue that DC’s trinity has been engrained into the public’s knowledge for an age but for people outside this pop culture loop, the first clear indication of who she is happens very late in the movie. Months before the movie’s release, I showed my dad the Wonder Woman’s costume to which he replied: Who’s this? Which shows even with her name being mentioned as she leaves the plane, there are those who might not recognise the red, blue, and gold because of every colour being Snyder-fied.

Also, did one of Lex’s workers really design a logo for each of those Meta humans?

Even so, the positives of Wonder Woman vastly outweigh the negatives. Her strength in femininity astounds me and the possibilities for Wonder Woman’s solo movie are staggering. I just thank my lucky stars that I was alive to witness this new age of female superheroes.

As a film student/graduate who likes to board hype trains and flare my geekiness around like a 4-year-old throwing tantrums, I'm in defeat. I wanted Batman vs Superman to be the best superhero movie of all time. As a consequence, my expectations told a better story than the actual movie.

It's without a doubt that Warner Bros executives held a large party without booking a reservation. They asked for every item on Goyer's menu and requested that he blend it all into one massive cake, they also demanded that it be baked within 2.5 hours.

That comes to a surprise to Snyder who is head chef in the kitchen, mixing around the over-sweet and bitter ingredients to bake the cake. Larry Fong (Cook/Director of Photography) forgets to preheat the oven, frustratingly whisks the eggs and milk with a shaky Imax camera and makes a mess of the kitchen.

Then they ask the editor/saucier to butcher said cake by removing the essential base of the cake and smothering it with icing and sprinkles at a desperate attempt to make it look pretty.

What remains is a blob of sugary goo made from very expensive ingredients and wasted time. Yet they decide to serve it anyway because they know that the table will eat it. They have waited a long time, it was their idea to eat at that table and they are hungry.

I wanted a cake, what I got was a clot of flour stuck in my teeth and a massive headache.

Guest contributor Zach Powson on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and it’s sugary appeal and the pain that followed.

WHAT WORKS: BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN & THE BALLSY ENDING

WHAT DOESN’T DREAM SEQUENCES, HALFBAKED CAMEOS, ANOTHER SENSELESS CGI SMACKDOWN

John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead star in the secret sequel to Cloverfield.

Words by Mark Halyday

10 Cloverfield Lane is a “spiritual successor” to an okay 2008 New York monster/alien flick Cloverfield, according to producers JJ Abrams and Drew Goodard. The pair have some serious power behind them – previously collaborating on Lost and Alias, now in charge of Star Wars and Marvel/ Netflix Daredevil respectively – so why turn their attention to a not-even sequel to something that underperformed?

Since John Goodman’s character is so overwhelmingly physically powerful the movie becomes purely psychological. It begins with a rapid and desperate exploratory period that ends with Goodman absolved, allowing the film to weave layers of complexity/exposition into the script more naturally.

Housekeeping aside, it’s a brilliant thriller that plays the science fiction angle cynically and fantastically.

It twists the abduction trope and lends some credibility, which is probably due to the title in all truth. The audience knows Cloverfield happens, so John Goodman’s apparently deranged rambling seem truth til the evidence becomes insurmountable.

It also faces little competition on the big screen and certainly none in its niche sub-genre. The real test is to get the audience away from House of Cards’ super-serious politics to 10 Cloverfield Lane’s different kind of mindgames. In saying that the marketing for the film has been almost non-existant outside of the ultra-publicised Superbowl television spot.

The final conflict is a multi-layered affair that goes for the throat and lasts a hefty amount of runtime.

Furthermore, after the film I learnt the pair don’t As such it risks double-bagging the ending with even share the name fictional universe. Originally multiple out-of-the-blue conflicts but ultimately titled The Cellar, the odd title is their only connective the realisation of all the hypotheticals keeps it tissue. Okay then. intriguing.

Goodman has played psychos before to acclaim but it remains jarring to see the eighties funnyman menace at his captors. The script plays into this occasionally by framing him as a saviour teddybear and it sticks unlike any other film in the genre. It’s very possible that he did save a woman on the side of the road as the apocalypse occurred. The audience recognises that both individual events have occurred and its extremely likely the screenwriters framed them concurrently for added dramatic tension.

The project was produced on the down-low with only four cast members and constantly changed names. It flew under the radar nearly entirely until Superbowl, adding an unknown quantity to the flood of imagery secured for the event. It wasn’t as popular as Batman V Superman’s audacious tiein or Captain America: Civil War’s epic chanting (obviously) but it did ignite something.

10 Cloverfield Lane is a fine film that showcases The other side of the coin is Mary Elizabeth the immense talent of John Goodman and Mary Winstead. She’s spotted along the last decade of Elizabeth Winstead. If it were in the same continuity, movies in interesting and compelling ways, but it would serve as an upgrade to a gimmicky found most notably for the double act of Bruce Willis’ footage original. In fact, retconning that misguided daughter in Die Hard 4.0 and Scott Pilgrim’s love statement would make a Cloverfield 3 that dovetails interest Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim VS The these experiences all the more enticing.

World. Since then it’s been mostly indie stuff and 10 Cloverfield Lane fits that bill.

Ali G. Borat. Bruno. Grimsby.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest efforts costars muscle man Mark Strong and a host of comedians. Unfourtunately, James Lamb was not impressed.

For comedy films, 2016 has got off to a very shaky start. If it weren’t for the presence of a certain fourth-wall breaking superhero, tragic misfires like Zoolander 2, Ride Along 2 and Dirty Grandpa might have fans of the genre worrying a bit. Unfortunately, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest flick Grimsby does nothing to alleviate these concerns. Instead, it may just intensify them, as Baron Cohen offers up a movie that’s offensive, crass, juvenile, and, worst of all, just plain unfunny.

Baron Cohen plays Nobby, a football hooligan and father of eleven from the rural English town of Grimsby. Separated from his younger brother during childhood, Nobby has spent the best part of three decades searching for his sibling. A chance sighting by a fellow resident of Grimsby gives Nobby the chance to reunite with his brother at a government charity function. His brother, Sebastian, (Mark Strong), in the intervening years, has become an MI6 agent, and is attending to prevent an assassination attempt. Nobby’s presence causes Sebastian to shoot the wrong target, making Sebastian a wanted man, forcing him to go rogue and to uncover a larger plot so that he can clear his name. And Nobby comes too.

purpose. Even Ali G’s latest appearance at the Oscars is evidence of this, ignoring political correctness without sacrificing humour.

In Grimsby however, none of this wit is on display. Instead, Baron Cohen goes for shock humour for the sake of shock humour, expecting laughs from the mere mention of things that usually go undiscussed. But by the time the film reaches its most shocking point, and Nobby and Sebastian have to hide themselves inside an elephant’s vagina (yes, you read that right), the audience is so worn down by the bombardment of laugh-less crass humour that it just feels asinine and desperate rather than funny.

To Cohen’s credit, he’s at least trying though.

Even if the script he’s written is painfully bad, he attempts to imbue Nobby with some sort of relatability, bringing a touch of heart to the backstory of his estrangement with his brother. Plus, he well and truly commits to the foul antics he’s plotted out for himself, which is more than can be said for pretty much everyone else. Mark Strong looks embarrassed to be there, and Rebel Wilson, as Nobby’s girlfriend, is on autopilot. Penelope Cruz, who plays an actor/philanthropist responsible And that’s not the worst premise in the world. for the charity function, can’t even gather the It’s not the most original, but there’s plenty of wherewithal to make her character’s plans fertile soil in a buddy-spy film utilising time- sound remotely convincing. tested comedic roles, with Strong playing the straight man to Baron Cohen’s funny man. The only redeeming feature might be some Some serious issues arise though in terms of decent action sequences. The film delves into what Baron Cohen considers funny. some pretty cool first-person perspective shots during some of the fight scenes, but, really, it’s The tone is set immediately, and never lets up, not what you going into a Sacha Baron Cohen as a barrage of jokes about dicks, asses, faeces film for. and ejaculation get trotted out consistently throughout. It even manages the rare dick- There’s definitely an audience for this film. faeces combination joke in one particularly It will depend on where the line is for you off-colour scene in a South African hotel. between edgy and desperate. Those new to the genre might get a kick from the lack of And though pushing the boundaries of good political correctness, but those familiar with taste has been Baron Cohen’s bread and butter, Baron Cohen may resent Nobby for being by it’s usually been done with at least some wit and far the least funny of Sacha’s personas.

Our newest addition Tom Lam on the gritty Netflix original Substituting its key show-runners of its debut season, the latest instalment in Marvel’s Daredevil sporadically deviates into a sophomoric slump.

However, the addition of fan favourite characters in Elektra and The Punisher should satisfy Marvel’s most enthusiastic and binge-savvy audience.

Satisfying to our Netflix cravings and the floundering format of a home binge watch, Marvel’s capitalising and universally success of its cinematic universe transcribed over the realms of television, delivering one of the finest debut seasons of the past twelve months. Now, in a year

riddled in superheroes, the devil of Hell’s Kitchen fight sequence that rivals its precursor hallway fight returns for yet another bombastic 13-episode plunge last season. into internet television at its finest.

However, the latter episodes deviates to its lowest Successfully reeling in crime lord Wilson Fisk at the points. In the midst of The Punisher storyline, conclusion of last season, masked vigilante Daredevil another fan favourite in Elektra introduces herself to continues attending to the crimes and destruction of the latest season. And in a terrific performance from his city in Hell’s Kitchen. But as a slew of murders Elodie Yung, her storyline across Murdock’s life are far corrupt perpetrated by the troubled Frank Castle, from investing as Castle’s. While offering a satisfying Matt Murdock finds his double life stagnating before enough storyline to Daredevil, her narrative remains him. But it’s only when a former flame in Elektra an often bore rather than entertaining. Convoluting Natchios enters his life once again, taking himself and her story with involvements with crime lords and his alter ego into even dark and elusive territories. repetitive video game like fight sequences, Marvel’s Daredevil evolves from the unique and original Taking the world by storm once again, Netflix and superhero story it was once was to derivative “we’ve their reign in binge-watching original programming seen it all before” territory. Here also, the season has taken die-hard viewers by storm, allowing on deviates to a courtroom drama. While a necessity to hours on hours of quality television, easily digested the season’s overall narrative, one questions when will into one glorious, yet agreeably unhealthy, single The Punisher return to his routine of kick-assery? viewing. But alas, the latest season of Daredevil is upon us and while the slumps and slips are noticeable A universe built on terror and violence, previous here and there, Marvel’s Daredevil remains a helluva show runners in Drew Goddard and Steven S. entertaining binge. The watchful guardian of Hell’s DeKnight delivered brought a world unlike any of Kitchen returns after a stellar debut season last year, Marvel’s cinematic universe. With writers Doug blasting Netflix viewers out of the water once again Petrie and Marco Ramirez taking over as show in a brutally violent, emotionally investing and runners, the consistency and world-building fails to staggeringly performed instalment to the Marvel recapture the essence and energy established in its brand. previous season. Not as consistently entertaining as its debut year, Marvel’s Daredevil fuels energy The predicaments of Nelson and Murdock remain as and pure adrenaline throughout the season despite strife as ever but for Matthew Murdock, his double occasionally drifting into meandering territories. life as the protector of Hell’s Kitchen takes him to Where Wilson Fisk dominated every moment to unraveling levels of crime, violence and injustice. thrilling results, the latest season often deviates to Returning to his coveted and title role, Charlie Cox repeat and even mirror elements of its debut season delves deeper into the psychology and immensely and its sudden guest appearances and surprise dark sensibilities of Matt Murdock and Daredevil. character returns are an evidence in that.

The stakes remain higher as ever for Nelson & Murdock as the “avocados at law” return in deeper Marvel’s Daredevil sees the studio’s reign on strife, just as the devil of Hell’s Kitchen takes on the television at its most successful prime. Yet even in a streets against The Punisher. year riddled with superheroes, the show nevertheless takes its audience on a thirteen-hour saga that Indeed a tough act to follow from Vincent D’Onofrio’s remains an engagingly fun ride for the show’s die violently dark turn in Wilson Fisk, Jon Bernthal’s hard of viewers. Even when the show takes to tedious portrayal in The Punisher will indeed satisfy the and quite dull turns, Daredevil’s city of Hell Kitchen need of all Netflix bingers. Scene-stealing in every remains as troubled and corrupted as ever, leading proportion, Frank Castle’s narrative remains naturally to another prime fun binge of Netflix programming investing and much like Fisk, we are given glimpses at its most boisterous.Substituting its key showof his character to sympathise for. In perhaps the runners of its debut season, the latest instalment season’s best, its episode entitled New York’s Finest in Marvel’s Daredevil sporadically deviates into a sees Daredevil and The Punisher head to head in an sophomoric slump. However, the addition of fan dialogue fuelled square off in the psychologically favourite characters in Elektra and The Punisher demanding efforts of right and wrong, life or death, should satisfy Marvel’s most enthusiastic and bingecapping off in a violent and wondrously orchestrated savvy audience.

The Netflix staple takes more of an interest in Claire Underwood as Robin Wright gains more creative control, though ultimately delivers another intruiging entry of chapters to Frank’s biography.

Mark Halyday on the forth season.

The forth season of House of Cards plays in two distinctive parts bridged by a shocking plot twist that enabled it’s world-class actors to act their absolute assess off. House of Cards is still awesome, despite a couple of hiccups.

In saying that, returning to the well of threedimensional characters is a treat. Bit players like Cathy Durant, Donald Blithe, Jackie Sharp, Tom Hammerschmidt, ‘Bob’, Russian President Petrov and Freddy all foil Frank in compelling ways.

In the first half President Frank Underwood’s biggest enemy was Heather Dunbar, opponent for the Democratic nomination, and Claire Underwood, First Lady of the United States of America. Dunbar’s integrity is the reason she is such a formidable opponent - but as the series notes later on with a smalltime politician - the Underwoods are where they are due to their willingness to do whatever necessary.

The best examples of these are the internal toe-totoe with Cathy after she was asked to hand her VicePresidential votes to Claire and ever-simmering Freddy finally giving Frank a piece of his mind. In the most heated exchange of the season the old chef expresses his absolute condemnation of selfish prick Frank and wounds our anti-hero more than a bullet ever could.

For Claire, this varies to a range of immoral deeds including extortion of Jackie Sharp’s affair with Remy Danton and using her ailing mother as a cover up for her marriage woes.

Although at this stage Frank isn’t even an anti-hero, nor is he progressing from good to bad a la Walter White. He is simply a ruthless bastard hungry for power.

For Frank, this involves suffocating Peter Russo in the first season and throwing Zoe Barnes in front of a train in the second season premiere, as well as forcing the hand of the ex-President to strongarm his way into the White House.

A quality House of Cards should keep is the everlastingness of its characters. Even entirely defunct players like ex-President Garrett Walker and Raymond Tusk still have chips left to play when nudged in the right direction by those more foccussed on the board. The best example of this is the Zoe Barnes This is the reason Heather Dunbar never stood a plot. Although long-dead her replacements have been chance. Although a likable and still active character it under watchful eye and her old associates Lucas and was never going to be her to bring down Frank.

Tom have been key background players.

Claire meanwhile takes an unflinching and brutal swing at Francis in his home state, causing widespread embarrassment and ridicule. She then has the audacity to admit to the disgression to prompt a conversation with the President. In it she states that if the marriage is to remain viable their objective will be to have an Underwood-Underwood ballot, with Claire stepping into the role of Vice-President.

After Lucas was wrongly convicted he campaigned to a variety of characters to believe his story, causing Heather Dunbar to lose her duel with Frank. His failure caused the attempted assassination of the president and subsequent suicide by police, catching Frank’s dutiful and ultimately likable bodyguard Edward Meechum in the crossfire.

Widespread coverage of the event gave Zoe and Lucas’ A great deal of runtime is allocated to coerce the old boss Tom a lead and after a nudge from Heather audience into believing this is plausible but it is an to Remy and from Remy to Walker lead to a full piece overreach that constantly snaps the suspension of on Frank’s abuse of power. Albiet void of murder disbeleif. While Robin Wright is a fine director of allegations, the article worked with the promise of four episodes her appointment into the executive more to come. producer chair (if that is what caused this plot point) has damaged the show.

It feels like an eons old plot most thought abandonned is finally being addressed. For his entire life nobody In fact House of Cards faces a problem now that it has been able to properly hold Frank accountable for has been wrestling since the end of its first acclaimed his immoral ruthlessness. More powerful men and season. Where to from here? Murder is the ultimate women than Tom Hammerschmidt have chipped sin and the presidency is the ultimate goal, and while away at his armour unsuccessfully. A combination re-election has been shuffled onto the next season it of luck, timing, dogged determination and secrecy remains how the writers can keep it fresh. allowed Tom to catch Frank completely off-guard.

The closing episodes feel like the beginning of season five as Tom goades Frank about the near-certain Department of Justice investigation and the impact this article will have on the election. He prophecises all sorts of pain for the President in the near future and later Frank admits to Claire that he is frightened by the prospect.

Scream’s Neve Campebll excels and feels like the only expansion of cast outside of the antagonists. The plots and the dimensionality of characters expand, but with so many bodies hitting the ground so frequently the ensemble has not grown to replenish the dead.

The pair seem evenly matched and share a few honest conversations over a few episodes, but the best exchange is between their wives. While staying at the White House the Senator’s wife asks Claire if she regrets having children and Claire icily replies with ‘Do you regret having them?”

The final plot point occurs in the final moments of the season, when Frank is elsewhere occupied with the news reports. An American splinter of ICO - House of Card’s fictionalised ISIS mirror - has captured three civilians and demand to talk to the Republican candidate rather than the President.

In fact, after Meechum’s passing, not a whisper was mentioned of his inevitable replacement. It seems it Meanwhile the true election is underway between has simply been filled by Bodyguard #2.

Frank and the Republcian candidate Senator Conway.

There’s a lot of jabber about metadata and personal And such is the fundamental problem with this season surveillance that would have felt more at home in Mr of House of Cards. It has explored every avenue Robot than House of Cards. It’s nice they try, and they extraordinarily thoroughly and now is beginning to nail the cutesy social media aspect aptly, but it’s hard splurt and splutter as it runs out of fuel. It certainly to make metadata compelling for anybody despite its hasn’t cut the accelerator yet but the symptoms are prevelance in real-world politics. there. Best to pull over for gas before it’s too late.

It’s one of the moments that make the audience root for the evil Underwoods.

While the Republican has been another foil for Frank - younger, savvier, more charasmatic but equally ruthless - he hasn’t done anything outside of the Once considered an equally evil accomplice and now bounds of any other villian. Here, upon the crisis, he viewed as a sick, almost freakishly gremlin is Doug. It is afforded a humanity as he wrestles with the good of was once sympathetic to watch him wrestle with his his campaign versus the good of the civillians. alcoholism and mental instability but now it comes off like a sip of off milk.

After some grandstanding Claire makes a deal with their leader and everything is looking fairly textbook, It’s uncomfortable, and in retrospect, what did he only for the leader to back out and demand his quasiactually do this season? He was able to keep his students kill their captives and become matyrs. This head on for the Russia crisis by guiding Donald and happens. securing a new liver for the President. He lost every time he stood up to Claire and even sparked an Claire suggests they use the tradgedy to smuther the uprising from his two senior staff. He’s lost control news investigation by declaring war. Frank obliges, and another awkward relationship so soon after the as Claire’s is the only opinion he has ever afforded prolonged hooker plot feels off-kilter. consideration.

The best way out is to fashion Doug as an opponent.

All the foundation has been laid and the newspaper investigations are going to question a lot of allegiances.

To watch Doug oppose Frank and Claire would be a cage match worth watching.

And as such House of Cards deviates so far away from reality that it will be extremely harder to make a legitament mirror for our own world. If it returns the series to form then it is a welcome development. If not, there’s a problem.

The other reason Doug feels a little redundant is new addition Leanne, the strongest move the showrunners made this season. Initially Claire’s woman, and to a degree still remains as such, she has been brought into the inner circle to win the election.

Pandora’s Box is open for the news investigators and a war is imminent. House of Cards again offers a satisfying cliffhanger and a handful of fantastic episodes. With a touch more care they could all be as unfallable as Frank and Claire.

The Netflix staple takes more of an interest in Claire Underwood as Robin Wright gains more creative control, though ultimately delivers another intruiging entry of chapters to Frank’s biography.

Mark Halyday on the forth season.

Judd Apatow does Netflix.

Hit or miss?

Here’s James Lamb’s thoughts on the entire debut season.

Oh, Judd Apatow, what would we do without you?

roommate Bertie. She actually ends up being onehalf of the series’ comedic high point in episode five, The super-producer behind Girls, Trainwreck and “The Date”, when she and Gus end up on an incredibly Anchorman (just to name a few) is at it again with his awkward date. A tired premise, yes, but played out in a first series for Netflix, Love. Starring Paul Rust and clever fashion, as both try to out-awful the other, when Community’s Gillian Jacobs, the first season of Love is they realise how poorly the date is going. ostensibly the opening stages of a love story between Rust’s and Jacobs’ characters. Almost immediately Pair this with amusing spots from Brett Gelman as the though, it becomes apparent that, for the most part, psychologist Mickey works for, and from Jordan Rock, this is Gillian Jacobs’ show, and everyone else is just younger brother of Chris, as Gus’ confidante on set, along for the ride. and a fleshed out, funny world of Love really starts to engage the viewer. Particularly of note is an appearance Fresh out of their respective breakups, Gus (Rust), from Andy Dick as himself. Though problematic due to an on-set tutor for child actors, and Mickey (Jacobs), his off-screen issues, Dick’s cameo is nonetheless equal a program manager for a psychologist’s call-in radio parts and amusing and poignant, as he and Mickey show, have a chance meeting at a convenience store, and bond over their issues with alcohol and with life, while go from there. The tightly wound Gus quickly develops completely off their faces. a crush on the more free-spirited Mickey. Early on, the show flirts dangerously with some Manic Pixie Unfortunately, the show falls off significantly towards Dream Girl tropes, as Gus starts embracing life more in the end of the season. Our main characters seem to Mickey’s company. Thankfully, Love avoids the worst of change their personalities completely in the seventh them, as Mickey’s shown not to be a shallow muse for and eighth episodes, and undo much of the goodwill someone else, and her inner life gets laid increasingly the show had stored up. Disappointingly, the laughs bare as the series progresses. dry up around this point as well, though not for want of trying. The previously awkward, but funny and And this is when the show really hits it stride. Through good-hearted Gus suddenly becomes callous and the twists and turns of their courtship that get explored mean-spirited, while Mickey becomes a clingy ball of throughout the middle of the series, we get a deeper neuroses overnight. Though these changes in character look into Mickey’s psyche. Her boss psychoanalyses her, arc aren’t bad or unbelievable in and of themselves, the and others start calling her out for the bad decisions rapidity of the changes is off-putting and does the show she’s making. Mickey ends up being another product a disservice. In hindsight, a couple more episodes to of Apatow’s recent trend of giving depth to characters flesh this out would’ve been appreciated. that would have been shallow if made during his most prolific period in the mid-to-late ‘00s. This deeper look If you’re into romantic comedies with a hint of an edge into Mickey, often through the eyes of those around her, though, you’ll probably enjoy Love. It’s not breaking is often the show’s most affecting element, as she works any new ground, and it’s not always as funny as it through issues with alcohol, drugs, and relationships. thinks it is, but Gus and Mickey are interesting enough in how dramatically different they are to pull you Speaking of those around Mickey, it ends up being the through the rough patches. And if that doesn’t do it for supporting cast that holds much of this show together. you, a tremendous alternative and indie soundtrack Claudia O’Doherty, a stand up comedian from Sydney, permeates the whole thing, and makes even the credits is particularly delightful as Mickey’s Australian worth watching/listening to.

Plus Claudia O’Doherty, in explaining Aussie drinking habits, sings “Here’s to Bertie, she’s true blue/She’s a pisspot through and through”. Is it weird to be proud that that song is being exposed to a worldwide audience?

WORLDS FINEST Britt Howarth on the channel-hopping supehero crossover

Ok, I totally ship Flash and Supergirl now.

Supergirl episode 18, World’s Finest, has Siobhan Smythe using her new found powers for evil. She wants revenge on Kara and can only get to her if she kills Supergirl. Who better to help her than Livewire? But these villainesses aren’t the only new dynamic duo.

After trying to become quicker, Barry Allen has accidently jumped worlds and ended up right on time to “save” Kara from plummeting from the CatCo building. Before sending him home, the two team up to take down Silver Banshee and Livewire. But after Supergirl sends Barry home, Non unleashes his Myriad plan.

After a great build up, the audience is finally greeted with Supergirl’s newest villain: the Silver Banshee. The episode has given this villain fantastic pulsing visuals with her scream, along with shattering windows and bleeding eardrums. Canary, take note please. Her origin has been changed compared to her comic’s supernatural family ritual. Siobhan learns that

she has these abilities because of a curse put on all the women in her family. The abilities, and the curse, are activated when someone wrongs them and the only way to break the curse is to kill the wrong doer. In this case, Kara. This makes for a nice twist, but all the good work put into this character comes tumbling down when her costume is revealed.

Siobhan Smythe has been revealed to be very stylish and city wise during her time at CatCo. This seems to go out the window when Livewire takes on board the challenge of dressing her villainess pal. Yes, the hair is pretty amazing, but the makeup is powdery and unthreatening.

And her suit just looks like black pants and a top with white boots. Oh, I forgot the simple lace glued across the chest. Her comic book counterpart has what looks like white flames coating her feet and arms which creates a fantastic supernatural aspect. Perhaps it was the change in origin that caused a less than satisfying suit. Or maybe it was to create a less threatening villain for Supergirl’s younger audience. Either way, the suit didn’t suit.

Meanwhile, Livewire’s look has gotten a slight change. She still has her rocking jacket and jeans that match her attitude, but her hair has lost its blue. Back in episode 4 when Leslie Willis was just discovering her powers, her hair was a washed out blue with the look of recently being shocked. It was a nice change to Livewire’s usual comic look of a pixie cut and it brought her character into the modern, and live action, world. However, this episode has Liverwire attempting to recreate the albino Taylor Swift (Look out for the court order, Supergirl). Her hair is dead straight, white and, most disappointingly, very much a wig. Her face has been powdered white making her red lips dramatically stand out. It was an unnecessary and unexplained change.

Perhaps the time in the DEO cell weakened the electricity in her system and then changed her appearance. It certainly wasn’t a positive change.

But, and here comes the positives, the Flash brought an amazing life to the episode.

Supergirl was almost giddy to finally have a cheerful superhero on her side, and so was I. The pair worked amazingly together and created some wonderfully dorky banter with their villains. The integration of him into her world was very smooth and leaves me hoping she might one day visit his world. But how?

Well, the multi-verse is only separate because of the worlds’ different frequencies and Siobhan’s comic book counterpart is fantastic with soundwaves and teleportation. Oh, and there’s Cisco. Now can we make this happen, please?

Quote of the Episode: “All four of you standing there doing nothing. You look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show” – Cat Grant

NEW TO ORIGINALS: THE RANCH SEASON 1 - 1ST APRIL UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT - 15TH APRIL

MOVIES: ANTZ - 1ST APRIL EXPENDABLES 2 - 15TH APRIL E.T. - 20TH APRIL INSIDE OUT - 1ST APRIL MARLEY AND ME - 15TH APRIL MAGIC MIKE XXL - 21ST APRIL

TV: ARCHER SEASON 6 - 6TH APRIL CUCKOO SEASON 3 - 16TH APRIL MAD MEN SEASON 7 - 5TH APRIL KONG: KING OF THE APES: 15TH APRIL SPECIAL CORRESPONDANTS - 28TH APRIL TEAM FOXCATCHER - 29TH APRIL

My name is Jack Joyce. I’m an attractive young man with the world at my feet. I’m well-connected. My mate’s a pretty big deal in the science world and he’s working on stuff that’s so important and complex that I lose focus and drift off when he tells me about it. Something to do with time travel or some such. Oh, my brother Will ... he’s also pretty decent when it comes to science. He made a splash in the nerd world a few years ago and was given a pretty sizeable grant to expand his research. Not entirely sure why, but he literally wasted every dollar of that grant. My mate Paul Serene - he’s the bloke I was talking about earlier - asked me to come to the Riverport University and help him with something he’s been working on. It’s top secret and it better be good ... I don’t like getting up this early, not even for time travel nonsense....

David Chattaway on the new sci-fi game starring a mo-capped Shawn Ashmore

Quantum Break is the latest entry from Remedy Entertainment, the guys behind hits such as Max Payne and Alan Wake. This one’s perhaps a bit more ambitious than their previous entries. Not only have they decided to push the limits of the Xbox One by centring the gameplay around controlling time and interacting with frozen objects and the like, but they’ve also filmed several live-action episodes to run alongside the gameplay. It’s a bold move by Remedy ... but does it pay off? The answer to that question is both yes, and no.

and he’s not a very good guy. In fact, he’s quite the opposite. In these shortened sections of play, you’ll be given a choice of two options. Each impacts the flow of both the gameplay and the live-action episodes which follow. There’s been plenty of advertising about how the game gives the player choice, letting you shape the narrative and offering a varied experience. This is true, however having me make choices which impact so much based on Paul’s perspective meant that I started to become more invested in his journey than Jack’s.

To add insult to injury the live-action episodes that The best way to explain how the marriage of game immediately follow each of the junction choices and live-action has been achieved is to lay it out are generally from the villain’s perspective. nice and clearly for you.

Four live-action episodes - each with a running You’ll spend the bulk of the game controlling Jack time of over 20 minutes - meant that I got to Joyce. He’s the protagonist in this story and he’s know the baddies well ... really well. Even the the Joe-every-guy. He’s caught in a web of intrigue, soldiers wearing ski-masks seemed more human mostly pertaining to the fabric of time and how than usual. I mean, the blokes’ have probably got things are sort of falling apart. The playable parts families, a mortgage to pay and maybe they’re of the game’s story are spent predominately in not out for world domination at all. After all, for Jack’s shoes. You’ll be running away from baddies said ski-mask-wearing clone soldiers, working at and escaping from heavily-fortified buildings … Monarch Solutions is probably just a job. only to spend some more time getting back into The episode draws to a close and again I’m behind said heavily-fortified buildings. Jack’s a pretty one- the wheel of the Jack Joyce express. The demi-god dimensional character. The most interesting thing who now finds himself in a sticky situation because about him is the fact that - after an accident early of the choices I made as Paul. Jack’s tasked with in the game – he possesses pretty bad-ass time escaping the compound and as he steps outside of powers. a cell he’s met with a few of the ski-mask guys we empathised with earlier. Normally I wouldn’t care When it comes to the game play aspects of if I watched as the main character brought time to Quantum Break, Remedy have delivered a visually a stand-still while he emptied an entire magazine stunning and fun game. On easy difficulty you’ll into one of the unsuspecting villains, only to turn roam around each area with god-like power, bullets around and shoot the rest of the group one after the seemingly bouncing off you as you slow time and other. But - somehow - making choices as the main carve your way through the militia thrown at you. bad guy and then watching as the rest of the lesser On hard difficulty you’ll find yourself hiding behind baddies go about their lives made me invested in objects in the early parts of the game, wishing you them. I found myself wanting to be stealthier and had some basic combat options like melee or even sneak past the enemy instead of targeting them. silent take-downs.

Perhaps I could make my way across the other side to the elevator without dropping a single one of the Time spent behind the Jack Joyce wheel would - guys wearing a mask, I thought? Nope. Jack can’t in other games - be all about uncovering secrets, progress until every last one of these guys are dead. slowly pushing the narrative toward a conclusion where good succeeds over evil as a direct result of For a game that professes to be about choice; about your actions. Quantum Break for me didn’t feel how no action is without a reaction, Quantum that way. This is, in part, because the game’s other Break falls short in a critical area. It fuses gameplay playable sections see you behind the Paul Serene with live-action show just as it promised it would, wheel. Paul’s the leader of Monarch Solutions but in doing so it’s made me want to explore more choices. Perhaps even less profound, maybe subtle, butterfly-effect type decisions and subsequent impacts. It’s perhaps the game’s ambition to provide

more character development and to show you both sides of the coin that is it’s failing aspect. The gameplay feels reactive and a consequence of the choices you make as the opposition and the episodes you watch.

since it was announced way back in 2013 and nothing would have made me happier than playing through it smiling in awe of the graphics and sitting back with a box of popcorn as I watched each of the well-produced live-action episodes. Although I did enjoy the liveI feel that the opinions of the people who play this action stuff (without popcorn, sadly) I couldn’t get game will be quite divisive. Some will be swept up in passed the ‘this game looks cool’ to where I wanted to the cool time powers and go into auto-pilot, collecting land, in the ‘this game is amazing,’ territory. intel scattered throughout the levels and searching for upgrade points hidden and easily overlooked. They’ll There’s some technical things to consider when you get a thrill from shooting hundreds of Monarch walk into your local video game retail store also. infantry and making their way through each of the Quantum Break’s live-action episodes are all displayed game’s five acts, feeling satisfaction when the credits in 1920 x 1080p resolution (which is big, for anyone eventually role. For others - perhaps like myself - who doesn’t see where I am going with this). As there they’ll question the decision to give the enemy so are varied episodes based on your decisions during much screen time and to have them make the choices gameplay, there’s quite a few episodes. Due to the which shape the narrative. sheer number and size of each, these aren’t included in retail copies of the game, instead you’ll need to stream I liken the experience of playing as Jack Joyce in latter them or alternatively download them from the Xbox parts of the game to being the driver of a rally car. Marketplace. Although the price to download these is You’re in control and success or failure is a result very little, the data cost is staggering. Weighing in at of your skill and ability, but you don’t know what’s a whopping 75GB, the episode pack might prove too around the next corner and even if you manage big for many Aussie gamers with sub-par data plans. to scrape through, you might not agree with your This wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the live-action navigator’s directions. Sometimes I felt like the rally episodes weren’t such a critical component to the car, a high-performance vehicle purpose-built for the overall story ... or in this reviewer’s opinion, the best task was instead replaced with a family SUV, built for part of it. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft safety and to meet my comfort expectations. The SUV advertise clearly the game’s internet requirements, or isn’t equipped to handle the rough terrain and after a whether this will be overlooked in favour of casting a few hairy corners, it rolls. wider net.

I wanted to not only like Quantum Break … I wanted I played this game twice. The second play-through to love this game. I’ve been following its development was purely to see the changes in the game’s story when

opposing choices were made. I found that making different choices impacted secondary characters’ involvement in the game’s plot, however the core narrative remained the same. If Jack was a prisoner the first time around, he was a prisoner the second.

He still would need to escape, but perhaps with the aid of someone different. My choices impacted whether some of these secondary characters lived or died, a factor I found interesting and it made me wonder whether alternating choices at each junction (of which there is four) would further change smaller aspects of the story. Sadly, for this review I cannot comment on that, I have finished Quantum Break twice and that is enough for me.

In summary, it’s a game and it’s a show. In some areas it’s ground-breaking and in other areas, the stuff we gamers live for ... it’s not up to the task.

Ultimately Quantum Break is an experience; a short burn, taking you less than 10 hours of playing and watching to form your own opinion.

Would I recommend this game to people that like third-person action/shooters? Yes. Would I recommend this game to people who enjoy games purely for the narrative aspects? Yes. If you’ve got a small amount of time to kill and you want something which isn’t like what you’ve played before then QB will fit the bill. If you’re someone who is being held hostage by an internet service provider or likes to invest days, weeks or even months into a game ... perhaps leave this one on the shelf.

Tom Clancy’s: The Division is a hybrid shooter-RPG and is the latest release from Ubisoft. The game is visually stunning, with an immersive open-world map of the entire city of New York. The combat mechanics are not difficult to master and the RPG elements of the game will give players plenty of options to customise their character’s combat performance. There a couple of disappointing elements to the game, such as the limited character creation options, but these are minor issues and shouldn’t deter anyone from getting their hands dirty with this game. The Division’s PVP is a little underwhelming, but with some minor balancing it has the potential to be epic. Overall, this game is quite an achievement and the planned expansions should keep players busy for quite a while.

Dale O’Donnell on the eagerly awaited release

not discourage anyone that is unfamiliar with this game type from purchasing The Division.

The combat mechanics are fairly easy to master, and the RPG elements of the game do not become overly important until players reach higher levels and need to upgrade particular stats in order to take down some of the highly shielded bosses.

Whether you are a shooter kind of guy, or an RPG kind of guy, you are sure to find something you like about The Division. The game has been compared – somewhat unfairly – to other games that combine elements of shooters with RPGs, such as Destiny, or Unless you have been living under a rock for the last Borderlands. However, it is important to note that twelve months, you have probably been anticipating those games are shooters more than they are RPGs. the release of the latest offering from Ubisoft, Tom Farming, crafting, and re-rolling specs, will play a Clancy’s: The Division. Expectations for this game much larger part in The Division than the average have been high since it was first unveiled at E3 2014 Destiny player might be prepared for. and the finished product does not disappoint. The Division n is an open-world action RPG set in New While the combat mechanics of The Division York City after the release of a deadly pathogen on often require quick response, and coordination Black Friday. Players assume the role of an agent when playing with a squad, this can often be recruited by The Division … a secret government difficult because of how distractingly gorgeous organisation that activates its recruits in times of the environment is. The attention to detail in emergency. the recreation of New York City is amazing, and I have found myself several times just roaming First impressions of the game have been mixed, but around looking at street art, as well as the copious it is important to note not only what type of game it amounts of graffiti strewn around the city by the is, but also what type of game it is not. I described enemy factions within the game. In fact, it is easy The Division as an ction RPG, because despite to get lost in some of the alley ways and rooftops having the combat mechanics of a third-person that litter the map, but this is not a major concern shooter The Division is more RPG than shooter. as the game’s design is very intuitive with a built in Players that are expecting a pure shooter may be GPS that provides markers to help you get to your disappointed by this, but the RPG elements should destination. The ability to fast travel to certain

locations also makes the sheer size of the map bearable. However, you should still expect to do a fair amount of sprinting in NYC, especially if you are a completionist.

There are a multitude of side missions and encounters to complete, as well as hidden clues, such as phone recordings and surveillance footage.

All help to piece together the events that lead to the outbreak in the first place, and these collectables are one of the nicer touches to the game. Bungie’s Destiny was criticised for its use of grimoire cards which contained back story to the Destiny universe; however, these cards were not visible in game which frustrated many fans of the franchise. The Division actually gives you the option of taking in as much story as you want. You can complete the main missions for the basic story, but you can also find all the collectables around the map for more background… or not; the choice is left entirely up to you, and critical pieces of the back story are not hidden behind intangible objects that cannot be experienced in game.

One of the most prominent features of the map is the giant red section in the centre of it. This is the Dark Zone, which is one of the most anticipated aspects of the game. With players having the ability to go ‘rogue’ and take out fellow Division agents; not to mention taking all of the Dark Zone loot they drop. While I have only spent a few hours in the Dark Zone, I have not experienced anyone going rogue. In fact, one player accidentally shot me and went rogue, then revived me and performed a series of ‘jumping jacks’ in what seemed like an attempt to apologise.

This is a little disappointing, as the Dark Zone was supposed to be the most fiercely competitive part of the game. It seems that the risk outweighs the reward for going rogue, as you lose enormous amounts of DZ experience from dying and you will rarely find any gear worth stealing off another player. It was also ridiculously easy to rank up my Dark Zone level in the short amount of time I have spent there, and these are things that Ubisoft may attempt to balance in the near future.

The game performs on PS4 really well, with no discernible drop in frame-rate that I have experienced, except for a handful of situations that involved large groups of enemies with multiple explosions on screen. The servers also seem to perform well, despite the large number of players worldwide. In fact, apart from a minor hiccup on seeing this bad boy for about 90 min.

release day, and a three hour outage for scheduled maintenance, there has been no down time that I have experienced. This is critically important for a game that is always online, and Ubisoft have got that right so far.

I have only a handful of minor gripes with The Division, but these are easily outweighed by the positive aspects of the game. Character customisation is almost non-existent, apart from the myriad of neck tattoos that you can choose for your character … which is completely pointless as it is the middle of winter and most of the cosmetic items you will find will be turtle necks and scarves. Furthermore, there are only a handful of face ‘types’ to choose from, with most of the female faces looking suspiciously like male faces. Not to mention the fact that female characters have mostly short or cropped hair styles to choose from, making the androgyny even harder to bear.

By Jason Rogers

SEVEN TIPS &

It should be noted though, that there are limited opportunities in the game to stare at your character’s redeeming features, as you will spend the majority of your time looking at your character’s back as you sprint around Manhattan, or duck for cover from a large group of enemies.

This makes me question why Ubisoft felt the need to allow us to create up to four characters. With little in the way of character customisation, and an enormous amount of activities to complete in the game, who has the time or desire to create a second – let alone a fourth – character?

TRICKS

Despite some minor gripes, my overall reaction to this game is positive. The combat and customisation is fun, and the game is visually amazing. At face value the game seems to have a lot of replayability, but with the ease at which some players have levelled up to max rank, boredom may begin to set in for some, before any of the planned expansions and events are released. Although, they could always just complete all the side-missions, encounters, and find all the collectables, not to mention the many pop culture themed easter eggs that have been placed around the map.

DARK ZONE >

Is The Division worth your hard earned dollars?

The answer is yes based on the amount of hours required to complete all the side-missions alone, but more importantly, you will have fun doing it.

FOR THE DIVISION’S

Tom Clancy’s The Division is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. This review was completed on PlayStation 4 with a copy supplied by the publisher.

The Division is the hottest game out at the moment and has quickly taken the title of Ubisoft’s fastest selling game. I can see why with my playtime on it sitting at 35 hours, I will admit I have fallen for this game hook, line and sinker.

The main attraction that drew me to The Division was the Dark Zone, an area where players can team up in search of rich rewards or go rogue and try to steal other player’s loot. Through my albeit short time in the Dark Zone, I have learnt a few things that might help you players out there.

1.

Try and go into the Dark Zone in a group. You can do this either by partying up with friends or using the game’s

matchmaking system to be put with players also wanting to go enter in a group. Solo players will have a harder time dealing with the AI enemies and will be vulnerable to players that have grouped up if they decide they would like your loot for their own.

Follow an efficient route within the Dark Zone to get the

most amount of rewards in the least amount of time. An

example is a route posted on reddit by user Sairal. This will mean that you will get more gear drops, experience, phoenix coins and dark zone cash to spend on more gear.

Use your phoenix coins to buy a high end weapon blueprint from the advanced weapon vendor in the tech wing at your base of operations. I would suggest either the Vector 45 ACP or the High End Black Market AK74. This will increase your damage which in turn means you do point 2 faster by again being more efficient.

Know when to run away. There is no shame in running

away, especially if you have just stolen a high end piece

of loot from the group that is now chasing you.

Try to get to Dark Zone level 50 as soon as possible. There

is a lot of great loot that can be purchased from the Dark

Zone vendors but you need to be level 50 to do so. So remember to utilise point 4 to avoid dying as this removes valuable Dark Zone levels and cash from you if you do die.

Communicate with your party especially around targets and abilities. This can be used to focus down enemies quickly and to not stack valuable heals or abilities to ensure you get the most out of them.

Last of all have fun! There is a lot of enjoyment to be had

out there so don’t forget to enjoy what you’re doing and

that you’re not doing it just for the grind.

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It is easy to be sceptical about the upcoming wave of VR technology and experiences due by the end of this year, but the time is ripe and gaming just might be changed forever.

Gaming has long been a simple concept – you press buttons, move a stick and pixels on a screen respond to you. The core fabric of the genre has remained vastly unchanged from Pong in the early seventies, to games like The Witcher: Wild Hunt and Metal Gear Solid 5. The formula works. For almost as long, technical advancements have sought to revolutionise the way we play games, with varying degrees of success.

Remember growing up playing Nintendo’s Virtual Boy? Of course you don’t – it was an abject failure.

Bulky, expensive, and literally painful to use, Virtual Boy was an early attempt to bring virtual reality gaming to homes. In retrospect, the 32 bit graphics and limited systems from 1995 were always doomed to fail, but it proves there has long been an appetite for this sort of experience.

As technology improved, companies continued to innovate, and experiment with motion. The most successful of these is the Nintendo Wii, however that console tends to be derided by many gamers as being for children and old people. The system clearly sells well, however transitions of the Wii’s mechanics to more ‘serious’ platforms has been less than encouraging. Xbox’s Kinect and PlayStation’s Move controller have largely failed to integrate into the broader gaming experience. A game developer would be hard pressed to put valuable resources into developing an experience specifically for the PlayStation Move’s capabilities when it would shut out half of their market. That issue aside, console games have by and large remained the same experience in terms of mechanics; a person, a TV and a controller. This is even without mentioning the long held preference many PC users have for their mouse and keyboard.

Aiden Kyval’s thoughts on the new wave of gaming.

So how can Virtual Reality carve out a market?

There are many fears and concerns amongst gamers and journalists about VR. Will it be too expensive?

Will it be too bulky or cumbersome? Are there too many technological limitations to make it fun?

The answer to the first question is a big fat maybe.

The PlayStation VR has recently announced its price at $399 US ($549 AU, i.e. as much as you probably paid for your console) and that option is by far the cheapest. PlayStation VR’s two main rivals, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, are both considerably more expensive units and require specs for PC that would force many to make expensive upgrades. With such prices and the currently limited content, it seems like VR might well become a high-end vanity experience. However, it is important to consider the history and nature of technology. I’ll use a little analogy.

Last year I decided to buy a new TV and picked up a 42” Full HD LED unit for $400. It is larger, lighter, and with higher resolution than the flatscreen my mother bought five years ago and yet her unit cost in excess of $2000. Technology moves on and the sorts of televisions asking such a price now are extraordinary compared to their equivalents half a decade ago. Now I can cheaply buy a good television because the technology is cheaper and there is more competition and this is an indication of a wider trend. Chances are that in five years VR technology will be better, cheaper and more widely available and if a controller is going to set you back almost $100, I doubt many are going to mind spending a bit more for a virtual reality experience … especially if the game content is there to back it up.

Similarly, the concerns about the cumbersome nature of the VR hardware are soothed when looking at the trends of technologies becoming almost universally sleeker and lighter.

While it would have some difficulties, there is no reason that we could not see a game such a Skyrim incorporate VR technology into its mechanics. The player still holds their controller and the controls are the same, except they look around with their So the final – and most important – issue regarding actual head and become fully immersed in the VR remains; what sort of experience does it offer world. How cool would that be? Any first person to make it worthwhile? Clearly the visual and game could conceivably work VR into its game play immersive capabilities are the ground breaking with relative ease, and although its not quite the factors, but there are other concerns. Firstly, the same as swinging your actual sword, it’s likely a step issue of VR completely disengaging players from towards more enjoyable gameplay. Paradigm shifts the outside world has been raised, but honestly that don’t have to be immediate. very concept is half the reason why I play games.

I believe that with the money being thrown and the The biggest problem when immersing a gamer appetite for new experiences, VR has what it takes in a world and giving them the ability to interact to become hugely successful, maybe even ground with it using their hands, is that they will want to breaking. However, the danger of it becoming an interact with it with their feet too – and that could over-hyped, over priced and, frankly, tokenistic be a problem. Developers are not foolish enough failure would be stark if it failed to integrate into to encourage gamers to wander around their living gamers’ deep-seated style of play. room thinking they’re in some haunted house, so they will be stationary. We’ve seen this in examples Games started with buttons and joysticks, and such as Capcom’s ‘proof of concept’ at E3 in 2015 If Virtual Reality gives that mechanic even more – The Kitchen – where players (viewers?) were enjoyment and immersion, it’s only going to be a strapped to a chair and basically scared to death. success.

Probably more telling were games such as EVE: Valkerie and DriveClub, games that put you in the For details on the PlayStation VR release statements cockpit of a spaceship, or the seat of a car and let and more head to justgame.com.au you experience the world from a stationary position with in-built controls. I believe this sort of game is the near future for VR – driving, racing, piloting, and perhaps rail shooters. This is interestingly close to the sort of games seen in arcades, so we will see whether VR is relegated to casual gaming or becomes an integrated part of the gaming experience.

So what does the future hold for VR? While its impossibly exciting to think that you might get to wield a lightsaber yourself, or personally sword fight waves of enemies using your own hands (something I have long dreamed of) I actually see VR working with the controller, not replacing it. At least in the short term. Gamers are difficult beasts; always excited by new technology by constantly thinking wistful thoughts about beautiful games from their childhood and adolescence. Wanting cool new stuff, but not really wanting to change.

THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT FOR NO MAN’S SKY

Hello Games’ latest still has some hurdles to cross before James Manton is convinced

Over the past decade there has been a pretty notable trend of space-based games receiving large amounts of pre-release hype – almost always to the perceived detriment of the game.

2014’s Destiny had the hype-train running for years prior to launch, with an almostexpectation that the game would quite possibly become the biggest game in history – partly due to the Developer, Bungie, creating the current holder of that title; Halo.

Despite winning a number of game of the year awards, and holding the record for the largest new franchise opening in history, Destiny has suffered from a perception of disappointment and not living up to the prerelease fanfare (although its third expansion, The Taken King, has supposedly fixed a number of the initial issues with the game).

Going back a bit further – and somewhat more relevant to this preview – is Spore, released in 2008. Like Destiny, this game was spoken about as a potential watershed moment for the gaming industry, with its apparent scope and size promising endless possibilities for all players.

However, despite generally favourable reviews, the game’s gameplay was severely lacking and shallow, not allowing the full capabilities of its procedurally generated worlds and creatures to truly flourish.

No Man’s Sky has certainly been no exception.

Having been developed over the past few years by indie developer Hello Games – with co-founder Sean Murray intermittently creating the game engine by himself over its first year of existence – few, if any, games have received as much recent hype as NMS (helped largely by its immaculate presentation at E3 2014).

A first-person space survival/exploration game, there is no overall, definitive objective, but rather the utmost freedom for the players to go where and do what they please (though there is the general idea of moving further towards the centre of the galaxy, whereby the worlds become more life-filled, dangerous, and resourceful).

However the main point of interest is what also brought so much initial attention to Spore – the procedurally generated universe.

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Using mathematics and algorithms this writer won’t even attempt to comprehend, NMS is able create its worlds and all that is on them as they are discovered – meaning the developers don’t have to individually create each and every detail, rather allowing the maths to do the work with staggering variety.

The game offers players the opportunities to upgrade all of their equipment and ships, with a variety of different plug-ins allowing for widespread customisation of just about every facet, however is this enough to keep players coming back time and time again?

As a result, according to Murray, the game can host Other games which require a similar degree of 18 quintillion planets. ‘grinding to upgrade’ often have a storyline and defined goals (most prominently seen with World of If the sheer size isn’t terrifying enough, each Warcraft), not to mention offer regular updates and and every world – once discovered – will have its expansions to further add to the gaming experience. own unique flora, fauna, resources, terrain, and environment.

It’s difficult to see just how NMS can do similar given the entire game is dependent on mathematics Even when offline, every player will be capable rather than individually-created components. of travelling to every single planet – with every newly-found planet and its information able to be Much of its replayability will be up to the player and uploaded to the universally accessible Atlas, which their own desire to continue exploring for hours on allows all online players to offer notes and details. end, potentially without any apparent reward.

Going by this information, it isn’t difficult to see For the good of the gaming industry, many will be why NMS is 2016’s most eagerly awaited game. hoping NMS does succeed, simply because of the potential contained within how its universe creates And yet, there’s doubt. Not much, mind you, but it itself. is still there. The doubt is almost entirely due to the failure of Spore given their inherent similarities.

Outside of virtual reality, this concept and mechanic could be the most important stepping Promising so much, with countless options and stone for how future games are made and the sheer possibilities, will the game fall into the same pitfalls scope of gameplay – especially in regards to space and not live up to the hope it offers? exploration.

Spore is quite a limited game when it comes to actually playing it. There are a handful of key stages of evolution which offer different problems and capabilities, stopping when the player has accessed space exploration.

While this final stage can be played ad infinitum, there were only so many things you were able to do or planets to explore before the game became tiresome and the lack of a developed gameplay stood out.

Taking the story away from the creators and into the hands of the player, the term ‘sandbox’ game mightn’t even be enough to truly describe just how free and expansive they can be.

Of course, gaming history is nothing but a timeline of progresses, from one technological advancement to another.

So while NMS has every chance to be a spectacular success, even if it fails, its potential importance cannot be understated.

NMS is based almost entirely on its space travel and world exploration, with options to become involved It mightn’t be perfect, you may only play it once in conflicts between alien races and other side and never again, but for now just enjoy seeing – and quests as well. experiencing – what may very well be the next big leap forward in gaming.

Up until its release, there will always be the query as to whether Hello Games have managed to solve the issue regarding never-ending games; the incentive to keep playing.

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