E3 2015 Post-Mortem Part 1: Ranking the conferences (First Half)

Bethesda

The good

• ·      Fallout 4 (The whole demo!)

After the initial trailer sent a shockwave of excitement throughout the industry, Fallout 4 quickly became arguably the most anticipated title of the entire show. When it came to delivering at E3, Bethesda absolutely smashed it; so many new gameplay facets were shown in addition to mod details. Base-building, nearly endless customisation, seamless character creation, fully voiced protagonists, improvements to the shooting and an awesome power armour segment all laced together in a thirty minute presentation to build the ultimate anticipation. For many including myself, Fallout 4 was the game of the show; no other title had as much revealed and no other title had me more excited. There’s no doubt in my mind that the game is shaping up incredibly well and is sure to be a huge hit when it arrives later this year.

• ·      Dishonored 2 reveal

In 2012, Bethesda launched a new franchise called Dishonored; with its detailed setting and excellent choice-based gameplay it was another great addition to the stealth genre. In one of the more surprising moments of Bethesda’s conference, we saw the reveal of Dishonored 2. Set in a new location on the island of Serkonos fifteen years after the events of the original, the game will follow both Corvo Attano and Emily Kaldwin as they attempt to uncover the corruption behind the Dunwall rat plague. Judging from the initial trailer, the game’s oil painting style crossed with steampunk is in full effect and the game appears to have several new powers, most notably the summoning of dark spirit arms which aid in both traversal and combat. I really enjoyed the original Dishonored and I’m really looking forward to what Arkane Studios has in store for us next.

• ·      Doom demo

Another franchise making its long-awaited return this year is Doom; eleven years on from Doom 3, some were left wondering whether the series still had a place in modern gaming, given how the shooter genre is dominated by modern military shooters. But the Doom reboot was capable of making an impression with its fast-paced bloody carnage. Powerful weapons, grotesque enemies and the hellish settings are back and they’re looking better than ever before with the power of modern hardware. The surprise success of Wolfenstein:The New Order last year was a strong resurgence in classic single-player shooters. The Doom reboot could continue this trend, provided ID Software backs up the action with strong pacing and replayability.

In conclusion

With three hard hitting titles and other worthwhile news, Bethesda’s first E3 conference turned out really well; their demos and news were both incredibly exciting, but it was Fallout 4 that carried the day. Following the initial reveal trailer that built the excitement to a fever-pitch, Todd Howard made a solid and worthwhile follow-up that told everyone what they wanted to know about the game, including all kinds of new gameplay components. This is what a demo should be and Bethesda pulled it off brilliantly for their first try. Hopefully we’ll see them again at E3 in the future.

8/10 (Great)

Microsoft

The good

• ·      Not a single mention of Kinect or any other multimedia function

Kinect is finally gone, and very few of us will or should care where it went. At long last, Microsoft has finally realised just how much the peripheral was holding them back and dropped it out of their conference. Aside from a few voice commands, Kinect titles and functionality were completely barred and this was by far the best decision Microsoft made when it came to their conference this year. 100% focused on games and 0% focused on the things that had dogged them in the past, Microsoft’s conference knew exactly what it wanted to do and it concentrated on that to the max. There were hardly any deviations, no pointless fluff that got in the way and this is a testament to the hard work Phil Spencer has been doing to turn the company around in the eyes of the gaming community.

• ·      Backwards compatibility

When it comes to moving between console generations, the jump from Xbox 360 to Xbox One and PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 has been the slowest and most delayed in the history of the industry. Without backwards compatibility, early adopters have been forced to rely on either HD re-releases or streaming services such as PlayStation Now to relive the classics from the previous generation. All that changed at E3 2015 with backwards compatibility on Xbox One; while this may seem rather late considering how long the new systems have been out, the move may send ripples across the industry and serve as an accelerant to moving on from the previous generation. The question remains as to how well Xbox 360 games will run on the Xbox One but Microsoft appears to have the right infrastructure and resources to make it happen. In time the feature should prove a strong incentive for 360 owners to migrate as well as offer a boost to value which is absent from Sony and the PlayStation 4.

• ·      Actual new IPs, along with the Rare Replay collection

I’ve been quite critical of Microsoft in the past for reusing the same franchises over and over on Xbox, solidifying a reputation as a so-called “bro-shooter” system; this includes the likes of Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War and Forza. But 2015 I will remember as the year Microsoft really started to innovate with its exclusives on Xbox One. Of course we saw the expected gameplay demos for Halo 5: Guardians and Gears of War 4, but there were also several new titles that proved Microsoft’s willingness to invest in new franchises, something which they had been severely lacking. The sci-fi romp Ion, pirate-themed Sea of Thieves and scavenging Recore should hopefully be strong additions to the Xbox One’s library. Rare also made a full comeback this year. Freed from the shackles of Kinect, they’re free to focus on their new project Yooka-Laylee as well as Rare Replay; a collection of the developer’s greatest hits. Focusing on new projects is another step forward for Microsoft and if they continue to innovate in this way then they may be right on track to fully winning me over.

The bad

• ·      Scripted demos

While Microsoft does have the strongest exclusives games for the rest of 2015, the demos of their major titles did leave a lot to be desired. Halo 5: Guardians looked quite good with its squad-based gameplay but demos for Rise of the Tomb Raider and Gears of War 4 just didn’t have much going for them. With its controversial acquisition of Rise of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft has practically created a grudge match between it and the Uncharted series on PlayStation and it really shows. The impression I got from the demo is that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are doing anything and everything to best Uncharted in order to, quote “put the franchise on top of adventure gaming”. While the avalanche demo was great to look at, it didn’t show off how Rise of the Tomb Raider was setting itself apart from its biggest competitor. A later demo shown behind closed doors presented the light RPG elements of the game and this would have been a better thing to show at Microsoft’s presser. As for Gears 4, it was pretty average and nothing more; very little in the way of new gameplay scenarios and even less details on the plot for the new game.

• ·      Pricing of the Xbox One elite controller

It’s a small gripe, but it still feels pretty stingy to me; Microsoft announced a new controller for the Xbox One this year known as the Elite wireless controller. It features moddable components, a connector for headsets, improved triggers and profile integration with the Microsoft’s cloud storage. Weighing in at 348 grams, the elite controller has the potential to be a major upgrade in terms of feedback, but the $150 price tag (which translates to around £95 in the UK) will no doubt raise some eyebrows. Personally I wouldn’t pay more than £70 for a controller, even with all the physical upgrades. There’s also the question of the types of headsets which will work with the controller; Microsoft has taken criticism in the past for only allowing specific branded accessories to work with its hardware and would be another helpful step forward if they were to be more flexible in this regard.

Final score

Overall it seems that Microsoft is right on track to making a full comeback; they’ve cut the crap that bogged down their conferences before, reduced the rehashes of popular franchises and have a wide array of collaborations and partnerships under their belt. The only real downside was the demos; they seemed a little too scripted for my liking. While Microsoft had a rough start with the Xbox One, this year’s show was definitely their best in years and proof that the company is capable of listening and taking our feedback on-board.

7/10 (Good)

Electronic Arts

The good

• ·         Star Wars Battlefront gameplay revealed

The new Battlefront had a lot to prove at E3; following its initial reveal at E3 two years ago and a somewhat dubious CGI trailer earlier this year, gamers were anxious to see proper gameplay. EA delivered just that with a multiplayer match on the planet Hoth featuring AT-ATs, Snowspeeders and Luke Skywalker clashing with Darth Vader. It looked great, with the snow, character models and explosive action looking appropriately detailed and EA would later reveal cooperative missions and a survival mode, adding more meat to the overall package. Despite the gameplay reveal looking fairly good, I’m still very sceptical about the overall package; I just can’t feel so excited when the game has dropped so many features including space battles, instant action and galactic conquest which were all staples of the previous games. Inevitably it will fall to the gameplay and the business practices contained therein to make up for the lack of content when Battlefront is released in November.

• ·         Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst gameplay reveal

After showing a fairly basic concept video at E3 last year, we finally got a first glimpse of the new Mirror’s Edge, now branded “Catalyst”. The stage demo told us many things, from confirming the game is a prequel to Faith’s story to the fact that using firearms will not be an option when playing the game. The game will also have a full open world in the form of a city oppressed by a power-hungry government. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is a title which has been desired for a while by the fan-base and the game seems to be shaping up quite well. The open world has a lot of potential to build atmosphere as well as offer a huge array of avenues to play around with the parkour based gameplay. It’s just a shame that all of this info was confined to a mere five minutes of EA’s presser; we all would have wanted to see a lot more.

• ·         Unravel: A possible future for EA in indie development?

While it was the only original IP at the conference, Unravel served to highlight a possible future for EA in the indie scene. Allowing lone developer Martin Sahlin to nervously, yet tentatively take to the stage to talk about his ideas and his studio was a generous move, showing that the corporation is willing to take risks and support new projects, assisting up and coming developers in the process. Unravel is looking to be a very different and artistic kind of game and it’s a breath of fresh air to see this sort of thing coming from EA. The indie scene simply cannot be ignored nowadays and I hope that EA continues to make positive steps like this (and an end to their awful practices of course!)

The bad

• ·         The utterly pointless appearance of Pele

EA surprised everyone by having the biggest celebrity appearance at their presser; the legendary Brazilian footballer Pele. But unfortunately all that time and effort went to waste as the corporation and David Rutter saw fit to talk about “the beautiful game”; something which had absolutely nothing to do with FIFA itself. Pele clearly had far better things to do with his time than appear at E3 this year and didn’t talk about FIFA one bit, instead talking about his own experiences in real life football. It had no business being at E3 and would have been far better suited to a football press event. This is my personal message to EA; don’t try to make the FIFA game series seem artistic and meaningful by inviting a celebrity to your conference. At this point a vast majority of us know full well how lacklustre and stagnated the series is. It may raise football in the eyes in American audiences but this was the wrong place to do it.

• ·         Mobile games… Ugh.

We’ve seen companion apps and second screen experiences at E3 before but EA sank to a new low this year by featuring fully-fledged mobile games such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. Minions: Paradise was the biggest offender though, bearing traits similar to Clash of Clans. The plus signs next to the currency symbols to the right of the screen were a dead giveaway; microtransactions are likely to plague this game from top to bottom. Ultimately even showing mobile games at all was a complete waste of time and only succeeded in driving my attention away from the conference while this painful segment was presented.

• ·         Endless sports games… AGAIN!

Yet again EA’s conference suffered from poor pacing this year because of far too much talk of sports games; while this may be enjoyed by fans of hockey, basketball, American football and the like, it constantly distracted and delayed from what everyone was excited to see. At this point, EA should take a step back and realise that their sports games should be relegated to a separate conference; they read off the same old scripts every year, bragging about incremental improvements. Frankly I’m getting pretty sick of it at this point; it’s as if we had Infinity Ward talking about fish AI in Call of Duty Ghosts, then they made us listen to it over and over again every year.

Final Score

If EA’s conference proves anything, it’s that the infamous corporation is so out of touch with both gamers and the industry as a whole. The few games that we were excited about were quickly buried under a mound of painfully dull sports presentations and a rather insulting segment on mobile titles. These are mistakes which have occurred multiple times over the years and it’s baffling why the company still insists on making them time and time again. The company also remains very hypocritical when it comes to their business practices, pointing out that they’re listening to feedback while having in-app purchases clearly visible on their mobile titles. EA’s conference was easily the worst of the show this year.

4/10 (Poor)

Ubisoft

The good

• ·         For Honour

Ubisoft’s lone new IP this year was a visceral melee combat sim in which armoured knights and powerful samurai clashed on a medieval battlefield with combat that seems to advance the swordplay found in The Witcher and Souls franchises. It was a very intense and bloody affair with parrying, dodging and finishing moves all playing a role in the one-on-one duels. At the best of times it reminded me of the combat seen on Game of Thrones; converting this kind of impactful fighting could bring a new take on the medieval setting. On the other hand, there’s also the concern that the game’s scale could be diminished with players being locked into two-man fights. The Chivalry series has also experimented with a similar kind of combat before; can For Honour set itself apart?

• ·         Proper continuation and advancement of popular titles

Though Ubisoft’s presser wasn’t filled with new ideas for games, they did succeed in bringing back successful titles for another run as well as take a few steps forward for one of their franchises. With a massive critical and commercial success under its belt, 2014’s South Park: The Stick of Truth made itself known as the best video game adaptation of the raunchy cartoon. Ubisoft smartly decided to continue the series with South Park: The fractured butt whole, which looks to have more wacky humour and more of the crazy RPG gameplay that worked so well in the original as well as bringing back Trey Parker and Matt Stone to assist on its development. Trackmania Turbo is a much enjoyed arcade racer and Ubisoft’s acquisition, along with a full set of creation tools will bring its fanbase on-board. Finally, we had Ghost Recon: Wildlands, which transports the tactical shooter series into an open world with many different options for combat. This kind of tactical freedom could inject new life into the series, which hasn’t seen a proper main entry since Ghost Recon Future Soldier in 2012.

The bad

• ·         AAA titles that are hard to get excited about

Ubisoft’s AAA franchises have fallen on hard times in recent years and it’s becoming more and more difficult for them to find that spark that can reignite their biggest titles. This problem held true for The Division and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Division promises a highly dynamic and evolving game world where any player could be a friend or foe; but aesthetically the game looks very similar to Ghost Recon and the game is also at risk of falling into the same trap as Destiny, a game which promised and undelivered similar things. As for Assassin’s Creed; the series is so tired that barely anything will get me excited anymore. Yes the Victorian London setting has been a popular location for Assassin’s Creed, but the demos I saw felt so ho-hum and no different from Unity the year before. If only Ubisoft would dump the yearly cycle, they could come up with far more creative ideas for the series.

• ·         Awkward presentation… Again!

Trying to be hip and cool for the audience at E3 2015 has always come off as awkward, even irritating at times and nowhere was this more evident than Ubisoft’s conference this year. I don’t mean to slam Aisha Taylor; she has tried her best to bring a kind of flair to the show over the past few years. But when it devolves into buzzwords, dance contests and the cringe-worthy “Let’s make a MEME!” that’s when it slows the show to a crawl and distracts from all the positive aspects of Ubisoft’s presser. If Taylor and the Just Dance crew are to return next year then I’m sure it would greatly benefit the conference if the awkwardness was toned down a fair bit.

• ·         More expansions, less new titles

Ubisoft is in need of new ideas; many of their most popular franchises have become stagnated and tired whilst others have made the company infamous for its more recent business practices. Because For Honour was the only new idea they had to show, their press conference inevitably fell flat because many of the things we saw were expanding on things we already had, rather than innovating in fresh ways. Some of the expansions included Awesome Level Max for Trials Fusion, Anno 2205, Wild Run for The Crew and Just Dance 2016 (Let’s face it, the new dance game can’t really count as a fully-fledged entry). It really does take the wind out of a conference when many of the titles shown are simply expanding on titles which already came out.

Final score

Ubisoft’s presser was standard business this year. It wasn’t poorly put together like EA’s but it wasn’t really that memorable either. While the demo for The Division and some of Ubisoft’s new acquisitions did excite a little, but underwhelming expansions and an awkward presentation did end up undermining a fair chunk of their E3 conference. Ubisoft needs both new ideas and a new spark to their franchises to really excite us at next year’s show.

6/10 (Fair)

See the second half of "Ranking the press conferences" by clicking here

(All YouTube videos are the property of their respective owners; I do not own any of the videos used and am using them for the purpose of criticism and review)

John Wick Movie Review

Keanu Reeves is fairly synonymous as far as action films go; though he isn’t nearly as prevalent as he was in the nineties, the likes of Speed and The Matrix films built a strong image for the actor. After many years of average to poor offerings, the actor teams up with director/stuntman Chad Stahelski in one of his finest films yet. Taking inspiration from many films such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, John Wick is a strong and well put together addition to the action genre.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a retired hitman who is living a seemingly secluded life while mourning the loss of his wife (Played in brief moments by Bridget Moynahan). Unfortunately for John, his peace doesn’t last long as he stumbles across a band of youths led by Iosef Tarasov (Played by Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen). After a nasty spat at John’s home, John dives back into the criminal underworld on a vendetta to eliminate the Russian crime lords he once worked with. It’s a premise which has been seen many times before; in fact, at several points it reminded me of the much lauded Max Payne, minus the one-man police investigations (the 2001 game, not the awful 2008 film adaptation!). John Wick puts in the effort to mix things up with a network of acquaintances which John encounters on his crusade. His previous background in the criminal underworld provides far more twists and turns than there usually would be in a film like this, whether its assassins barging in to claim a bounty set by mob boss Viggo or an unexpected ally helping John out of a sticky situation. The film is paced well, giving audiences a good amount of time to learn about Wick and his day-to-day life before diving into the action. Above all else, John Wick’s plot gets all the plot attributes of an action film right and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.

The engaging plot of John Wick is backed up by some good performances from the main actors. In terms of physicality, Keanu Reeves is on his highest form since the Matrix trilogy. It’s also a welcome sight to see the actor take some tentative steps forward when it comes to conveying emotion. It’s a relatively simple bond between Wick and his wife, but you can see the resolution on his face as he hunts down those who wronged him. Above all else Reeves manages to portray John Wick with a sense of light duality; on the one hand, he’s calm and collected and on the other he’s ruthless and efficient. Michael Nyqvist is also solid as main antagonist Viggo Tarasov; you get the sense that Tarasov knows John Wick very well and this builds a dramatic tension between the two characters. Unfortunately the side characters can’t escape the trap of being side-lined as they often do in many modern action flicks; while they do contribute a fair bit to varying up the plot, they are relatively basic and generic. Willem Dafoe goes underused on Wick’s old partner Marcus and Alfie Allen doesn’t really have enough material to make Iosef as developed as his father. While the side characters do disappoint, the main cast ultimately redeems the film, particularly the interactions between Reeves and Nyqvist.

John Wick also carves a fine niche when it comes to choreography and editing; inspired by anime and martial arts films, the film incorporates the gun fu style, blending hand-to-hand combat with fast paced shoot-outs. It’s an incredibly engaging mix with the film quickly alternating between the two to ensure that neither becomes stale. It’s pulled off with some slick editing that keeps the action at a consistent medium frame at all times. Both forms of combat are also very impactful as well with the often bloody violence always putting across the film’s gritty setting and tone. The music is rough and pounding, adding even more flair to the film’s action sequences and the settings themselves look just as you’d expect; grim, underground, dark and seedy. Even with all the gruffness on the surface, John Wick understands that the best action comes through building tension and putting its central protagonist against overwhelming odds; although Wick is a professional, he doesn’t simply blaze through the opposition like many action films nowadays and this keeps the audience invested in his mission.

Move over Taken, there’s a new breed of visceral, moody action in town; John Wick is slick and stylish, setting itself apart from countless other action flicks with its brooding atmosphere, brutal fight scenes and brilliant editing.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Post-Viewing: Could Jurassic World hail a resurgence of dinosaurs in popular entertainment?

Jurassic World marks the prehistoric franchise’s thunderous return to cinema and I’m clearly not the only one who was looking forward to it; despite not being too much of a hit critically, the film has been incredibly successful with audiences everywhere. Clearly the franchise has a place in modern cinema and World is far more popular than I could have imagined.

For the few who have known me from a young age, I used to be a huge fan of dinosaurs as a child; I loved learning their names, I loved looking at all the skeletons and exhibits in the Natural History Museum in London and I enjoyed watching films and documentaries about them such as Walking with Dinosaurs from the BBC. Just why have dinosaurs struck a chord with so many people in this way? They’re simply fascinating, astonishing creatures and the fact that they’ve been lost to the world for millions of years has only fuelled a more intense interest in them. The journey of discovery for dinosaurs and other pre-historic animals has been a constant staple of palaeontology as well, meaning that there’s always a new find lurking just around the bend, which re-sparks interests with every news story published on the subject.

The Jurassic Park film franchise has always played on our fascination with dinosaurs and the premise of them co-existing with us in a modern world. Seeing dinosaurs fully realised on the big screen in the 1993 original was a truly awe-inspiring experiences for audiences the world over. It also made such a huge impact because audiences had never seen anything like it before; before Jurassic Park, dinosaurs on such a massive scale in films were a rarity. Some would argue that film audiences hadn’t been so enthralled by prehistoric creatures in film since 1925’s The Lost World which featured a stop-motion Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus (albeit rather inaccurately portrayed based on the findings of the time). Audiences had never seen anything like the dinosaurs featured in Jurassic Park and that’s why it gained such a strong success.

Jurassic World itself is clearly set to be a smashing success over the coming weeks; it’s already beaten multiple records for profit intakes, including June opening weekend and June opening day in the US and Canada. It’s managed to outperform other blockbusters such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises in terms in gross profits and has even topped Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 for the strongest worldwide opening weekend with a whopping $511.8 million taken. There’s no denying that dinosaurs are still incredibly popular with audiences and that the franchise is more than capable of making a full comeback.

Already we’re seeing plans for future sequels to Jurassic World with Chris Pratt signed on for an undisclosed number of films. But it doesn’t stop at film; video games are also beginning to bring back the dinosaurs. Titles like ARK: Survival Evolved and Primal Carnage are experimenting more and more with the use of dinosaurs in a multiplayer environment and so far this has shown to have a very dynamic effect on online play. In the years Jurassic Park has been mostly absent from the entertainment world, the likes of zombies, remade slasher villains and ridiculous B-movies have filled in. But now we may be seeing the welcome return of the dinosaur, and audiences should be in for a treat in the years to come.

Jurassic World Movie Review

Original article on CultNoise: http://www.cultnoise.com/jurassic-world-a-fun-filled-dino-romp/

Over twenty years ago, the original Jurassic Park astounded audiences everywhere with its breath-taking dinosaurs. But the sense of wonder the film brought in 1993 couldn’t strike again with its subsequent sequels. The series finally returns with Jurassic World; a film which, for the most part serves as an enjoyable update to a long-dormant blockbuster.

Jurassic World ignores the events of the second and third entries in the series and uses the original 1993 film as its main narrative springboard. Twenty two years after the Isla Nublar incident, the park is finally open with scores of visitors, tourists and celebrities visiting every year. But the dinosaurs seen in past films are no longer enough to keep the money flowing and the officials of the park, led by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) decide to create a genetic hybrid by splicing several dinosaur DNA strand together. The result is Indominus Rex; a super-intelligent Tyrannosaur more dangerous than all the other animals in the park put together. Following a few character introductions, (Most notably velociraptor expert Owen Grady played by Chris Pratt) the film unfolds from all over the park, swapping perspectives between the characters before it they all eventually come together for the film’s second half. Taking steps into genetic modification was a good move on Jurassic World’s part; taking the time to play about with both biology and palaeontology spices up the familiar formula, allowing the action to have much more impact and unpredictability. With this in mind, the film also veers off of common theories of palaeontology in favour of more action-packed scenarios which are sure to thrill any common film-goer.

We’ve already been wowed by the by the dinosaurs in the original film, so Jurassic World chooses to focus some of its efforts into the park itself; it’s definitely a sight to behold with all sorts of interesting technology drawing the viewer in. Unfortunately the plot of Jurassic World isn’t without its flaws. Modern clichés such as family dilemmas and forced romance sub-plots do creep in, distracting from the main attraction at many points. There’s also a fair degree of senselessness which the original film didn’t suffer from, be it dinosaurs popping out of nowhere or sending an untrained helicopter pilot to hunt down a deadly dinosaur. If Jurassic World maintained a greater plausibility, the plot could have been much more engaging.

The weakest area of Jurassic World though is its characters; a lot of them just aren’t very interesting or developed. The exceptions to this are the lead actors; Chris Pratt once again proves that he’s more than capable of handling roles in blockbuster films. The man is just plain likeable in every role I’ve seen him play so far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him make his way into other popular film franchises in the future. Bryce Dallas Howard is also quite good as Claire, who delivers equal parts comic relief and desperate urgency throughout the film. Sadly, the same praises cannot be sang for the side characters; Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins try to make the best of the material they’re given, but as child characters they really don’t do anything to distinguish themselves from the others seen in the series. The black sheep of the cast is Vincent D’Onofrio; as a human antagonist, his militaristic motives are painfully forced and it’s a real shame to see the scientific themes from previous films be shoved aside in this fashion. Because of this, Dr Henry Wu (B.D. Wong), the only returning actor from the original film is wasted and really doesn’t have much to do over the course of the film other than spout a bit of scientific talk here and there. It’s a shame that the characters of Jurassic World can’t hold up, given how clever and engaging they were in the 1993 film; instead they fill their respective roles and little more.

With the gradual reduction in the use of practical effects over the years, Jurassic World makes use of full computer generated imagery as opposed to the animatronics used previously. The burning question is of course, how good do the dinosaurs look? Quite good in fact; the creatures are all really detailed and maintain the look they had in the previous films. The skin and scales on the creatures both boast some solid texturing and the way they move and interact is far more varied, thanks to the tricks of modern animation. The signature dinosaur roars are all there and accounted for and they continue to thrill just as much as they did before. The music also makes an impact, rising with the action as the danger heats up in the park, whilst the cinematography always give a full and complete view of the animals on-screen. Jurassic World’s presentation ultimately does exactly what you’d hope for; maintain the style of the previous films whilst updating and modernising it for a modern audience.

Jurassic World is a huge amount of fun and if you liked the first few films like I did then you’ll be happy to see dinosaurs making their long-awaited return to the big screen. With that said, it does come up quite short in areas which the original film did a much better job with; namely character development and thoughtful themes.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Christopher Lee: A Reflection

Christopher Lee; an actor of truly legendary proportions passed away on June 7^th 2015 at 93 years of age. While his acting career was vast, expansive and varied spanning over 200 films, it’s also important not to forget his contributions to other areas, particularly his service in World War Two and his contributions to the metal genre in music. He truly was a person who lived life to the full and I’m looking back on some of his greatest moments in film.

His greatest moments

1. The Hammer horror films (1957-1976)

After beginning his acting career following the end of the Second World War, Lee rose to prominence with his involvement with Hammer Film Productions. Hammer remade numerous horror classics for nineteen years and Christopher Lee was a key anchor-point of their success. Starring alongside the likes of Peter Cushing and Boris Karloff, Lee played both the Frankenstein monster and Count Dracula, bringing a far more visceral and bloody take on the famous monsters which made their debuts in the 1930s. Interestingly, Lee grew less inclined to star in the films as the series went on, stating that the studio often used emotional blackmail to get him to appear in subsequent releases. Controversial casting aside, Lee’s portrayal of Dracula in particular has stood the test of time, arguably becoming almost as iconic as Bela Lugosi’s original performance.

2. The Wicker Man (1973)

Earning him his first Saturn Award nomination for best actor, Christopher Lee’s performance in The Wicker Man helped propel the film to the heights of horror masterpieces. Lee himself considered the film to be his best. His performance as the unassuming, yet calculating Lord Summerisle added a tremendous amount of character to the film while assisting in allowing the film to gain a strong cult following in British cinema.

3. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Lee was initially contacted by Ian Fleming (who was also a step-cousin of the actor) to the antagonist of the original 007 film, Dr No; but after the role went to Joseph Wiseman, Lee had to wait twelve years until he finally got his chance in 1974 with The Man with the Golden Gun. Lee said that he played the character of Francisco Scaramanga like “the dark side of Bond” and it really showed. Some argue that Scaramanaga was the best villain of the Roger Moore Bond films and despite only playing in one film, Lee undoubtedly left his mark on the series.

4. Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

Christopher Lee was so interested in being in Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic that he read the books several times over; he also happened to be the only member of the entire Lord of the Rings cast to meet the original author JRR Tolkien personally. When he was finally cast as the wizard Saruman the White in all three LOTR films (Plus two of the Hobbit movies in 2012 and 2014) the result was something to behold. Lee’s powerful voice and varied facial expressions brought Saruman to life beautifully, portraying the character both as a wise leader and a man consumed by darkness. He was just one of many actors who made Lord of the Rings such a stand-out series; aside from Sauron, Lee really was the most impactful villain in the series in terms of acting prowess.

5. Star Wars (2002-2008)

Inspired by Lee’s appearances in the aforementioned Hammer Dracula series, director George Lucas casted him in his epic science-fiction franchise; cross a vampire with a dark lord of the Sith and what do you get? Count Dooku. Lee did a brilliant job of conveying the sinister side of the prequel villain, but the most surprising thing of all was that he also managed to back it up with a deft contribution to lightsaber combat in the way he did most of the fight scenes himself, despite being seventy-nine years old at the time. Starring in both Star Wars: Episode 2 and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in the same year, Lee didn’t let his age slow him down and delivered two strong performances that captivated millions.

What I’ll remember him for

The most striking thing I saw in Christopher Lee was the imposing characteristics he brought to every villain he played, particularly in modern epics. Saruman the White and Count Dooku were both strong-willed villains who didn’t need to be physically imposing to make their impact. Instead Lee’s powerful voice and collected mannerisms brought a far more sinister presence to the screen; villains who asserted their dominance through authority and manipulation rather than brute force. Truly there will never again be an actor who can portray villains the way Lee did on the silver screen.

Fallout 4 Announcement: Trailer dissection and my thoughts

After a nearly five year wait, Fallout 4 has finally been announced; today on the third of June 2015 Bethesda announced the fourth main entry in the venerable post-apocalyptic series for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It’s an incredibly anticipated title and one that I’ve wanted to see since I first got into the series in 2014. So in a first for my blog, here is my own reaction to the initial trailer.

0:00 to 0:30

From the offset, we know for a fact that it’s Fallout; the classical track plays and we zoom out from the fifties style television to view a destroyed house. In this case the song is (if my shazam result is correct!) “It’s all over but the crying” by The Ink Spots, a vocal group who were popular in America through the thirties and forties

It’s also clear that the graphics have definitely taken a fair step forward from Fallout 3 and its pseudo-successor New Vegas. We can see the improved lighting radiating in from the window on the right. It is an announcement trailer so we should take this with a grain of salt for now until Bethesda shows off real gameplay.

0:30 to 1:10

As the camera pans around the ruined house, we see a lone dog sniffing about the place; I’d say we’re definitely going to have another companion similar to Fallout 3’s Dogmeat once again. As the dog explores, snippets of life before the bombs fell flash before our eyes, featuring various tenets of the series such as the robot Mr Handy alongside a relaying by what we assume is an American official over the radio. Are we going to see flashback sequences in Fallout 4? It could be an interesting direction for story and narrative purposes.

1:10 to 1:25

The dog runs out the back door and onto the desolate streets as statements from the official grow more serious, warning of the detonation of nuclear bombs. As the dog runs, the trailer cuts between the grimy ruins of the wasteland and the pre-war citizens running for cover on a significantly more colourful suburban street. This forms a fine contrast between the destroyed world and the peaceful society abandoned long ago.

1:25 to 1:30

We reach the top of a hill, the site of a vault guarded by soldiers in the popular power armour and marked with a Vault-Tec billboard. It’s here that Ron Pearlman makes his triumphant return, uttering the famous words from the series: “War never changes”. We can also see both the divide between those who survived the bombs by making it to the shelter of the vaults and those who failed to heed the warnings until it was too late.

1:30 to 1:36

The vault in question is Vault 111 and as the steel door opens we catch a hint or two of first person gameplay of the protagonist, emerging from the vault, shielding his (or her!) eyes from the natural sunlight. From what I’ve seen so far, the game’s graphics seem far brighter and colourful than any other previous Fallout game. It’s difficult to tell whether or not this may impact the immersion of exploring a ravaged game world at the moment.

1:37 to 1:40

The trailer then pans around some of the locations of the game and we see several landmarks including what I assume is the Bunker Hill Monument and later the Paul Revere statue and Massachusetts State House, confirming that the game will be set in Boston on the eastern coast of the United States. In the Fallout series, Boston is known as The Commonwealth and has only been mentioned in Fallout 3 in the quest “The Replicated Man”. It is described as a hub of technology and is also home to The Institute; an organisation home to all manner of advanced technology and artificial intelligences. From this it can be argued that the Brotherhood of Steel (who have a huge interest in technological artefacts) is sure to feature along with the return of androids.

1:40 to 1:50

After a brief view of what looks like an underground settlement we’re taking to the expanses outside the city where we see many different kinds of life-forms, including Deathclaws and feral ghouls, who have all received a fair few visual upgrades. These are accompanied what could be a far more detailed day and night cycle as well as a possible weather system; we can see the sun setting behind the deathclaw, rain pattering down on the underground settlement and stormy clouds building over the city outskirts. We also see what appear to be soldiers bearing a different kind of power armour; could these be Enclave remnants patrolling the wastes?

1:50 to 1:55

We now see other settlements in the Commonwealth including a metallic fortress and a trading hub which I believe is called “Diamond City” with stores for medical supplies (Chem-I-Care), general supplies (Diamond City Surplus) and possibly a store for melee weapons called Swatter. The baseball bat on the left has nails in it; could this hint at the return of weapon customisation, only to a greater extent than we could in New Vegas?

1:55 to 2:05

Next we see a new flying vehicle in the form of an airship flanked by the usual vertibirds seen in the series followed by more sweeping shots of the city. Again we see evidence of a more dynamic weather system with a red sun forming over the horizon before cutting back to vault 111, the first of its kind to have a vertical structure. Could we be seeing more dynamic missions taking place on and around these kinds of vehicles in the final product?

2:05 to 2:25

Following a final flashback to a nuclear explosion we cut back to the dog who is sniffing around a garage with countless items and loot, including a full suit of power armour before coming across the protagonist on the road next to the building. This could mean one of two things; either the player character may have the option to build and maintain safe houses to store items, or it could be a simple hideout that the player character stumbles across while wandering the wastes. Either way, it’s looking very exciting.

2:25 to 2:40

The concluding portion of the trailer sees the protagonist petting the dog and, for the first time in the series, speaking before setting off with the highest buildings of the Commonwealth in the distance. Nothing is set in stone yet but both the Vault-Tec jumpsuit and the pip-boy indicate the protagonist is from Vault 111. The player character having a voice may be controversial with some of the fan-base but personally I wouldn’t mind it, so long as we still have the chance to customise our character’s appearance from the offset.

My thoughts

Even though we’ve only seen the first trailer, my anticipation for Fallout 4 is already flying high. The technologically advanced setting of Boston holds all sorts of potential for new energy weapons, new enemies and possibly new moral dilemmas over the ethics of science and technology. What if we see Doctor Li from Fallout 3 again? Last time she was mentioned in the Broken Steel expansion, it was suggested that she headed north to find The Institute. With the number of years between Fallout 3 in 2008 and Bethesda’s development of Skyrim in 2011, there are all kinds of ideas to throw around and lessons learned to make their next game the best it can be. All eyes are now pointing to Bethesda’s first E3 conference in a couple of weeks, where they may reveal the first snippets of gameplay.

At the same time though, Bethesda also has some large expectations to meet. With the recent release of the Witcher 3 and its ambition in upping world size whilst reducing loading screens, Bethesda also has to keep up with the technicals; it may also be high time for the developer to iron out the bugs which have held their releases back a bit when placed against their competitors. If Bethesda can match this level of quality then I have no doubt that Fallout 4 will be a winner and another brilliant entry in the series.

All images taken from Fallout 4 - Official Trailer courtesy of Bethesda Game Studios. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4

(Images used in fair dealing for purpose of review)