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Sean Devlin: Irishman. Race-car driver. Terrorist.

If that last word brought on a tiny bit of a wince, then you’ve just reacted the same way as I did when I first encountered EA Games’ The Saboteur. Sure, the game might be set in Paris during World War II (with Nazis as the bad guys, so killing them is a good thing), but there are still some connotations that don’t sit particularly well, and that’s one of them. To get away with something like that, you’ve got to have a pretty good game, or at the very least, one that’s incredibly fun to play.

But “fun” is an unusual concept for The Saboteur: set in Nazi-occupied Paris, it features an unusual combination of gameplay and styles, checking all the boxes on the driving-platforming-shooting list and attempting to combine them together into something rich and gritty. The game puts players in control of Sean Devlin, an Irish racing driver (with a dubious past, obviously) who finds himself caught up in the French resistance during World War II. He’s not without his own motivations though, with the game beginning as Sean attempts to drown his sorrows over the death of his close friend, which through no small act of fortune happens on the eve of the German invasion of France and at the hands of a German driver.

With the story laid on thick (and somewhat predictably), the game leaves us to explore open world of Paris and its neighbouring countryside and in many ways, becomes a standard sandbox affair: with the Germans as the villains, Sean is taking them down left, right and centre, whether it’s climbing to the top of a building for a sniper mission, simply driving from one section of the city to another, or something far more explosive. There are both story missions and side missions, either unlocking perks or more weapons or vehicles for Sean to use. But regardless of the mission’s content, the goal is all painfully similar, whether it’s assassinating a prominent Nazi , ferrying resistance members from one part of the city to another or retrieving equipment. The story missions aren’t too different, with most of them just increasing the stakes by a small bit, making Sean’s target an entire base to be sabotaged rather than just one vehicle.

Sean’s success in freeing Paris is measured by the game’s unfortunately-named WTF factor, standing here for “Will To Fight. Under German oppression, the streets of Paris are portrayed in muted greys, with Nazi iconography and red flags standing out as the only colours. But as Sean’s actions restore Paris to the French resistance, hope is also restored, with the colours returning to the streets and even affecting gameplay by encouraging some of the bystanders (or nearby resistance members) to help Sean if he runs into a bit too much trouble.

There’s very little in terms of actual variety or complexity to The Saboteur, which is unfortunate because it could easily prove the game’s saving grace: while driving, fighting and shooting are all important parts of the story’s progression, all are incredibly simple to execute, and the game doesn’t really provide a learning curve or increasing levels of difficulty, and in some cases, the game even appears to contradict itself. While there’s an emphasis on sneaking in the game’s mechanics, both by wearing disguises and not indulging in any illegal activities when guards are nearby, it’s often frustratingly inconsistent: some things can only be done in plain view while others expect the suspension of such disbelief that Sean can’t be seen around  the edge of a car.

Equally frustrating is the game’s method of transportation: with vintage cars a-plenty on the streets of Paris, the game is a car-lover’s dream, although driving is rarelyanything other than a means of getting from A to B, making an escape, or maybe setting the car on a collision course to take care of a tank. Usually, similar games offer an alternative means of travel for those of us whose video game driving is as bad as our wheel control in real life, but The Saboteur provides no such out: there are no taxis (as in the uncomfortably similar Grand Theft Auto series) and while Sean can take to the rooftops to get around Paris, you’ll probably get there faster just walking directly.

Stylistically, the game provides some beautiful scenery, with the WTF aspect providing a really intriguing and beautiful noir-element (both literally and thematically.) The musical choices for the game add to this, but then there’s the downside: the black and white colouting just makes it too darn difficult to see what’s going on at times. And yes, that even goes for seeing the goddamn road when driving out in the country!

In theory, The Saboteur is a must-have game, but in execution, it needed just a bit more work before it hit consoles. Similarities to Grand Theft Auto IV will abound for anyone who’s played in Liberty City, and the setting alone isn’t quite enough to set the game apart. But hey, who doesn’t like killing Nazis?

Zombie Rating: B-

The Saboteur is available now on Sony PlayStation 3, XBox 360 and PC.

PlayStation 3 and Nissan Ireland have joined forces once again for GT Academy 2010. GT Academy wants to find Ireland’s fastest gaming racing driver and give them an opportunity to transfer their skills to real world racing tracks. Download the GT Academy time trial to your PlayStation 3 console and take the first step towards becoming a professional racing driver by posting your fastest lap time.

Driving fans with a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Network (PSN) account can download the GT Academy Gran Turismo 5 time trial from the PlayStation Store. Participants will race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and record lap times in both a standard road version of Nissan’s stunning 370 Z as well as a tuned version of the same car. Combined lap times will give each player their leader-board place and they have until January 24^th 2010 to complete and register their time. Holders of the 20 fastest lap times will then be invited to take part in a head to head final in February 2010 to determine Ireland’s national champion.

At this stage, the competition will move from the virtual to the real world. The national champion will travel to Silverstone to undergo an intensive weeklong training programme to see if they have what it takes to make it as a real world racing driver. They will compete against their European counterparts to find two overall winners who will go on to spend a further 8 weeks in Silverstone to qualify for their international racing licence. Only one of these final two participants will be successful and go on to race a full season as part of the Nissan team in the European GT4 Cup in a Nissan 370Z car.

If all that sounds appealing, you’ll need to download the time trial by steering your PS3 to the PlayStation Store and get practising on that fastest lap before January 24th. You can find more information on the Time Trial, and the PlayStation Store here.

New Year’s Eve is as good a time as any to look back over some of the best of what 2009 had to over. On that note, we bring you the inaugural Burnt Zombie Awards, a run-down of the finest movies, games, music, TV and comics had to offer this year. Of course, if you disagree, we can discuss below. It’s not as if we’ll send the zombies around if we don’t agree with you…

Movies

Movie Of The Year (Drama/Comedy/Romance): Synecdoche, New York

It may have been a 2008 film, but it only got released here in Ireland this year, and even then, only in limited cinemas. Still, Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut was everything you would expect from the writer of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind: brilliant, bold, witty, confusing, and ultimately heartbreaking.

Philip Seymour Hoffman took centre stage as Caden Cotard, a hypochondriac writer struggling to reconcile the stage with real life, as both his work and his life begin to crumble around him. The star’s performances are legendary, and it’s unfortunate that this movie was somewhat overshadowed by his Oscar nomination for Doubt, not least because of the performances from a supporting cast that includes Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Tom Noonan and Dianne Wiest. By the end of the film, neither the audience nor Cotard himself are sure what is real and what isn’t (and perhaps Kaufman doesn’t know himself) but it doesn’t make the film any less moving.

Movie Of The Year (Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror): Star Trek

Hands down one of the year’s most entertaining and successful films, Star Trek proved to surpass most expectations at the box office: we expected something good, but never something this good. Rebooting the ailing franchise, J.J. Abrams brought his back to the beginning with an origin story for the original crew of the USS Enterprise that established itself in a new universe while lovingly acknowledging a history that spans over five decades.

Perhaps more interesting was the fact that Star Trek didn’t feel rushed, but crammed a hell of a lot of action into it’s running time, never letting up on the adrenaline, but never letting the story slip either. It’s the first film in a long time that won over new fans to the series, usually a good sign when eleven movies in, and it doesn’t look like this will the final frontier or anything like it.

Honourable Mentions:

Avatar; Paranormal Activity; The House Of The Devil; Moon

Games

Game Of The Year (Cross-Platform): Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum takes the Burnt Zombie for Game Of The Year, with its rich story, impressive graphics and some seriously fun gameplay. Although there have been plenty of games that have put players in control of the Caped Crusader, few others have had the depth to the character as this game, embracing the tactical elements of Batman’s nocturnal exploits as well as the combat techniques of one of the best fighters that comic books have to offer. Not to mention what it’s like in the shoes (and cape) of the World’s Greatest Detective.

With a sequel already announced, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll be limited to Arkham Asylum for further adventures, but that may even be a disappointment: the asylum’s location on an island gave the game a sandbox feel, with no areas off-limits or out-of-bounds. If any further games can do the same with Gotham City itself, they may just blow everything else out of the water.

Honourable Mention:

Assassin’s Creed II

Game Of The Year (Platform Exclusive): Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The further adventures of Nathan Drake couldn’t have come sooner. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was a difficult game to improve upon, but its sequel did just that, bringing the humour and action of treasure hunting to the video game world that the fourth Indiana Jones movie failed to bring to the cinema. With the secret of ultimate power hanging in the balance, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves manages to turn the action up to eleven while still having time to throw in a femme fatale, a love triangle and a mythical city, making the PS3 a must-have console for this must-have game.

Honourable Mention:

inFamous

Game Of The Year (Downloadable/DLC): Shadow Complex

A platforming game with 8-bit style sensibilities, but in 2.5D and massive guns, Epic Games (also known as the guys behind  Gears Of War) brought Shadow Complex to the XBox 360, allowing players to explore a vast underground facility while uncovering a dark conspiracy that reaches to the top of the US government. What set Shadow Complex apart was that the game was customisable, and could be finished at several points, each leading to a different experience. And of course, let’s not forget the foam gun.

Honourable Mentions:

‘Splosion Man; Marvel Vs Capcom 2; Fallout 3 DLC

Music

Album Of The Year: Lady GaGa ‘The Fame Monster’

Pop, rock, dance…you name it, and there were traces of it on Lady GaGa’s second album. Not content to provide the soundtrack of the year with The Fame, the album was re-released with all new tracks and  bundled with a new album in the shape of The Fame Monster. Over the course of twelve months, Lady GaGa has worked with some of the top names in music, as a writer and a singer, and it doesn’t look like she’ll be stopping any time soon. What’s more impressive, though, is that you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone, no matter how “hardcore” who hasn’t found themselves singing along to one of the artist’s songs over the last year.

Honourable Mentions:

Florence & The Machine’s Lungs; Thrice’s Beggars

TV

Show Of The Year (Drama/Comedy/Romance): Modern Family

A dysfunctional (and not-so-conventional) family who love to hate each other: thankfully, Modern Family doesn’t have any will-they-won’t-they distractions, but instead a ribald dark look at family life. From the creators of Frasier, it’s like Al Bundy never left our screens, and I challenge anyone to watch the show without seeing some members of their own family brought to life.

Honourable Mentions:

30 Rock

Show Of The Year (Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror): LOST

Continuing to bring the finest in WTF-ery, Lost‘s fifth season jumped around in time before settling into answering…well, it still didn’t many questions, but we know it’s on its way there. But in a season that marked the series’ landmark 100th episode, along with some departures, what LOST hasn’t been giving in answers, it’s certainly providing in the shape of drama.

Honourable Mentions:

V; True Blood

Comics

Comic Series Of The Year: Dark Avengers – Brian Michael Bendis

What happens when the bad guys pretend to be good guys while…they’re kind of trying to really be good guys, even though they might be bad guys at heart? If you’re reading Dark Avengers, then you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, then why not? The series has brought some wonderful moments in its relatively short run so far, most of them involving Norman Osborn’s nefarious plans, slipping mental health and The Sentry being blown to bits. Repeatedly. The future of Dark Avengers really depends on what comes from Marvel’s Siege storyline, but 2009 has certainly been the year for this book.

Honourable Mentions:

Thunderbolts – Andy Diggle; Uncanny X-Men – Matt Fraction; Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man – Brian Michael Bendis

Amongst the other bad guys that the Comic Catch-Up came up against this week, we had to deal with aliens, Doombots and a lot of decapitation. With no DC stuff this week (don’t worry, we’ll be looking more in-depth at Blackest Night eventually), we take a look at some annuals coming at the end of the year, with Dark Avengers Annual #1 and X-Force Annual #1 as well as Siege: The Cabal, Strange #2 and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #5.

Ever since fleeing Norman Osborn’s crazy just after the opening arc of Dark Avengers, the extra-dimensional Marvel Boy has been mainly M.I.A., but he finally returns to take centre-stage in for the first time since his own mini-series in Dark Avengers Annual #1, written by Brian Michael Bendis; art by Chris Bachalo. Now that he knows his fellow Dark Avengers have more than a few choice nuts, Noh-Varr has been keeping a low profile and with the help of a college student and potential love interest that we’ll probably see again soon, has been trying to contact the Kree Supreme Intelligence of this reality, and, in doing so, find himself. Bendis has been sowing the seeds of Marvel Boy’s eventual jump to fully fledged hero for some time, going way back before Civil War, and this issue cements his potential, albeit accompanied by a dodgy-looking costume change. Bachalo is on his usual top form, with some kinetic fights and nods to previous work (look out for a squirrel-chomping Venom) making the issue is stunning to look at. While not everyone will be happy with Bendis’ change to Noh-Varr’s character from Morrison’s original creation,  the loss of some of the characters cockiness has made the new hero fun, if somewhat naive, and and it’ll be interesting to see where this jump to hero goes from here.

Best Moment #1: Noh-Varr gets a helping hand against The Sentry

Best Moment #2: Venom gets hungry.

With Dark Reign: The Cabal having kicked off the line of books under the Dark Reign banner, it’s only fitting that a Cabal book should close it, and that’s just what  Siege: The Cabal, written by Brian Michael Bendis; art by Michael Lark, does.  The temporary trust formed between villains under Norman Osborn has fallen apart, with Osborn trying to retain and cement what little control he can, while Loki proves the master manipulator and sets his master plan in motion. With some extra pages and less teasing of what’s to come, Siege: The Cabal could have been a great book, but Bendis seems unwilling to pull back the curtain on Osborn’s mystery man (or woman) despite some full-page teases. The lack of any real moment to steal the scene means that Lark is unfortunately never really given a moment to shine, and even the preview to Siege #1 can’t give the book that extra push. Those complaints aside, The Cabal is still a great mirror to The Illuminati and hopefully won’t disappear completely once Osborn’s reign has ended and they’ll get a defining moment before the Dark Reign ends fully.

Best Moment #1: Oh God not the bees.

Best Moment #2: Well what the hell is Osborn’s weapon?

Apprentices are nothing new to Stephen Strange and with Strange #2, written by Mark Waid; art by Emma Rios, we get some more focus on his latest, Casey Kinmont, a girl with a natural talent for magic that Strange has taken on. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to Strange’s frustration and anger after losing the mantle of Sorceror Supreme, but rather than dwelling on that, Waid crafts a fun adventure with some snappy dialog, while for her part, Emma Rios brings a manga style that keeps the book fresh and also perfectly captures the Lovecraftian horrors thrown at Strange and Casey. While this mini won’t offer anything groundbreaking it remains a fun story which Strange could use after all the misery thrown his way the last few years.

Best Moment #1: Rose tinted glasses sometimes let you see what people are really like.

Best Moment #2: Unspeakable horror isn’t always so scary when it’s kind of unpredictable.

While the Dark Avengers Annual focuses on one story, X-Force Annual #1 tells a number of shorter stories that are only partly related to the rest of the book. The main story, written by Robert Kirkman; art by Jason Pearsons,  has Wolverine sent into a Hyrda base with the sole purpose of retrieving one specific Hydra agent alive. The story is Robert Kirkman at his best, ranging from sweet, funny and of course graphic and it’s a shame that Kirkman doesn’t write some more books for the big two, with this standing alongside Jason Aaron’s work on Wolverine: Weapon X and is one of the best stories to feature the character in recent years. Acknowledging the Necrosha arc currently running through the X-books, there’s also UnDeadpool, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost; art by Carlo Barberi, in which the Acolytes have stormed Utopia in an attempt to take back Magneto and it seems as if Deadpool and Loa are all that stands in their way. The story does little to advance the overall plot, with just a little bit too much of Deadpool’s quips and jokes. It’s a fun read, if nothing new or worthwhile, but does little to make this book appeal to anyone who isn’t already a fan of the series (or the Merc With A Mouth.)

Best Moment #1: Well they were asking for it.

Best Moment #2: Deadpool’s just as confused (and concerned) as the rest of us when it comes to Magneto (or is that Xorn?)

Finally, over in the Ultimate Universe, it’s nice to know that out of all the crap that Peter Parker has gone through, he still has friends. A long list of friends if we’re to follow Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #5, written by Brian Michael Bendis; art by David LaFuente. Mysterio’s still a threat, and Shroud’s identity remains a mysterio…mystery, but even with those plot-lines waiting to be addressed, Bendis creates a fun book housing all the characters left both homeless and bookless after the events of Ultimatum. LaFuente continues to improve with each issue, offering kinetic and fluid fight scenes along with unique and refreshing character designs. With Iceman joining the book, Peter’s supporting cast continues to grow, and while his home may now be Super-hero Central, the book still retains its down-to-earth teenage feel. It’s hard for a book to improve on such a great formula but with LaFuente on art duties the book remains the best Saturday Morning cartoon that never got animated.

Best Moment #1: Barry Allen seems to have escaped the speed force only to end up in Ultimate Marvel.

Best Moment #2: Well, which is it Shroud?

Separating our two lead characters for most of the game, A Crack In Time picks up shortly after Quest For Booty (the previous game) with Clank being abducted by the Zoni, mysterious creatures with an affinity for time and who are working with the villainous Dr. Nefarious. While Clank tries to attain freedom, investigating the mysterious “Great Clock” at the centre of the universe, best buddy Ratchet realises he may not be the last of his kind after all, and teams up with bumbling superhero Captain Qwark to find and save Clank.

Gameplay is similar for both Ratchet and Clank in the game, ultimately a 3D platforming game with some puzzle elements: Ratchet’s access to a multitude of weapons means that his levels involve some run-and-gunning (for the most part, the weapons are either auto-aiming or have a wide enough area of effect that aiming is unnecessary) while Clank is mostly dealing with puzzles. Both of our heroes, however, find their adventures hampered by a series of problems with the timestream: in some cases, this is as simple as providing the reason for moving platforms or environments that change as you move through them, but for Clank, it requires using little-known powers to manipulate time, effectively working with past and future versions of himself (also controlled, or more accurately “recorded” by the player) to solve puzzles.

The physics of Ratchet and Clank’s universe provide some of the greatest moments of the game, both for the temporal manipulations and Ratchet’s weaponry as well. Everything in the game is beautifully animated, even down to Ratchet’s fur, both in cut scenes and in actual gameplay. But the series and the game are at their best with dialogue and a narrative that both reference and parody other games and the science fiction genre overall, and A Crack In Time is no exception to this, with a rich epic storyline in which every little thing has some contribution to the plot.

Ultimately, fans of the Ratchet and Clank series aren’t going to be disappointed with A Crack In Time but as the final entry in a trilogy of games, it’s somewhat difficult to invest in the game if you haven’t played its predecessors. But the series has also earned its place among the legends of platforming, and even the most basic of playthroughs of this game will win the series many new fans for their next outing.

Zombie Rating: B+

Ratchet And Clank: A Crack In Time is out now on Sony PlayStation 3.

But this is a conversation that can be held off for another time with the release of the much-improved Assassin’s Creed II, available now on PS3 and XBox 360. Like many recent sequels, this is a game which has improved upon its predecessor and earned itself a place amongst one of this year’s best games.

If you’re unfamiliar with the storyline of the first game, the opening moments of Assassin’s Creed II (and this review) are laden with spoilers: although the first game followed Medieval assassin Altair, the game was actually set in the present, with Altair’s descendent Desmond subject to a genetic experiment and re-living Altair’s memories as if they were his own, thanks to them being stored in his own genes.  But Desmond was being manipulated by the secret organisation known as the Templars, long-time rivals to the guild of assassins, in order to find some relics that would grant them ultimate power. Now, in Assassin’s Creed II, Desmond teams up with other assassins in order to combat the Templars, but to learn their skills, Desmond must enter a new model of the Animus and relive the memories of another ancestor, namely Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he becomes an assassin in 15th Century Florence.

Although told in two different times, the story of Assassin’s Creed II is fairly easy to follow, and the control system is one of the keys to understanding the gameplay: mere moments after Ezio’s birth, we are shown the face buttons providing context-sensitive controls to Ezio’s head, arms (one for attacking, and a free hand) and legs (allowing him to run or climb.) Trigger buttons are for locking on to enemies and blocking, as well as pushing Ezio’s movements to their limit: unusually for such a game, there is no jumping, but rather another context-sensitive control that allows Ezio to climb or free-run, navigating the balconies and rooftops of Renaissance Italy as he seeks out his prey.

As an assassin, Ezio needs to remain out of sight, one of the main complications of the game and of the real aspect of gameplay: with an assassin in their midst, some enemies will attack on sight, others will wait until you enter a restricted area or do something suitable assassin-like, but it’s something that the player needs to be constantly aware of in order to negotiate their other missions. If pursued by the authorities, Ezio can defend himself, but not without consequences. While assassination is clearly the key goal of the game, there are many other side-quests, including races, courier missions, collecting artefacts and glyphs: some missions are unlocked in Ezio’s time, but other side missions will be fed to Desmond from the present, where Lucy, Shaun and Rebecca follow Desmond’s gradually revealed memories.

There’s a real sense of character to this game, brought in no small part by the voice acting: Kristen Bell returns from the first game as Lucy, while British writer/humorist Danny Wallace provides the voice of Shaun Hastings. It’s also one of the game’s failings, however, with Desmond’s voice provided by Nolan North, the same actor (and the same voice) as provides the voice for Nathan Drake (in the Uncharted series) and the Prince in the most recent Prince Of Persia, doing little to set the game apart from its peers.

The sense of character is carried into the design of the game, with many aspects influenced by the work of Leonardo da Vinci, who features in the game as a sort of Q to Ezio’s Bond. The rich storyline makes da Vinci’s inclusion a natural part of the plot. Graphically, depth and textures abound, faces and clothing are immaculately rendered and the bustling streets, labyrinthine alleys and open piazzas of Florence are a perfect location for Ezio’s murdering and blood-letting.

If Assassin’s Creed II has a negative, it’s that the game slightly favours its aesthetic over the gameplay: while it will encourage many new gamers to pick up a controller and have a go, the free-running element to Ezio’s venturing over the rooftops is just a little bit too simplistic, and never quite works effectively enough to draw players into that element of the gameplay, relying a little bit too heavily on the story to encourage players to return to Ezio’s world. It’s a small criticism of a game that is otherwise enjoyable to play and simply watch, and really just depends on what type of gamer you are. Or maybe even better, what type of gamer you live with.

Zombie Rating: A-

Assassin’s Creed II is available now on Sony PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

BurnAllZombies’ Comic Catch-Up fittingly returns from the grave with some nostalgic heroics, a comatose man who is no longer ‘iron’ and one of Marvel’s lesser-known heroes taking down an airship with his hand. It’s the first look at some of DC Comics’ titles, including Detective Comics #859 and Superman: Secret Origin #3 while Marvel’s entries this week are Amazing Spider-Man #613, Fantastic Four #573, Invincible Iron Man #20, New Avengers #59, Secret Warriors #10 and Uncanny X-Men #517, though we’re not forgetting about Ultimate Comics Avengers #4.

Since issue #854 Detective Comics has been consistently one of the best all-round books on stands, with great art matching the writing, and with Detective Comics #859, written by Greg Rucka; art by J.H WIlliams III, that trend isn’t changing anytime soon. The main portion of the book focuses on a flashback following Kate’s expulsion from the army, her relationship with Renee Montoya and the inevitable moment that she decides to take up the Bat-mantle. In the hands of a lesser writer, Kate’s army ‘outing’ would have ended up preachy and melodramatic, but Rucka handles it with a tact that makes it both heartbreaking and perfectly in character. Williams continues to make every page worthwhile: from the Mazzuchelli-esque flashback to the grimy ‘current time’ pages, each image stands out and you’d be hard pressed to find a prettier comic currently being published. The back-up story, following The Question, may not be as visibly stimulating but is picking up pace as she teams up with Huntress to try and take down a network of slave traders. and while not a reason to buy the book on its own, it’s a welcome bonus.

Best Moment #1: Kate standing up to her superior over allegations of homosexual behavior.

Best Moment #2: Enter Batman

A re-imagining of Superman’s origin, it’s fair to say that Superman: Secret Origin #3, written by Geoff Johns; art by Garry Frank, is at its best when it doesn’t get tied down in continuity. After last month’s introduction of The Legion of Super-Heroes, this issue brings the book back to its simpler roots with Clark’s first day at the Daily Planet, meeting bumbling teen Jimmy Olsen, kind-hearted but firm Perry White and spunky Lois Lane. Johns writing makes the issue feel like an alternative cut of the Richard Donner films, helped greatly by Garry Frank’s drawing of Clark as Christopher Reeve creating a real sense of character, and a perfect sense of awe-inspiring nostalgia, especially in the moment that Superman is revealed to Metropolis. The issue is sparse on internal monologue from Clark, but hopefully future issues will give more insight into the thoughts of the Man Of Steel, and even if it doesn’t, there is still the eventual Superman vs Lex Luthor fight to look forward to.

Best Moment #1: Clark Kent, meet Lois Lane

Best Moment #2: Clark saves Lois from a bad fall.

Kicking The Gauntlet into gear, Amazing Spider-Man #613, written by Mark Waid; art by Paul Azaceta, starts the over-arching storyline in which multiple classic Spider-Man villains make their return to the book, most of them having been strangely absent since the events of One More Day. First up is Electro having traded in his goofy mask for a bare-faced look of anger and frustration. Taking his cues from the current economic climate, Waid rejuvenates Electro, re-powered thanks to The Mad Thinker, and using his wiles to capitalise on mob mentality, first bribing and then attempting to kill Dexter Bennet. Electro is once again an A-level threat, thanks in no small part to Azaceta’s bright art and rough edges, a sharp contrast to the softer, more rounded art usually found in the series. If the rest of The Gauntlet can keep up this level of quality over the next few months, it’ll easily go down as one of the best Spider-Man arcs.

Best Moment #1: Electro confronts Dexter Bennet, having some alone time.

Best Moment #2: Mob rules

After a great introductory arc, Fantastic Four #573, written by Jonathan Hickman; art by Neil Edwards, takes a break from all things serious, leaving Reed Richards alone while Franklyn and Valeria Richards hitch a ride with Ben and Johnny on a trip to Nu-World for a much-needed break. Being the Fantastic Four, nothing goes according to plan and Nu-World isn’t the same place it was when last seen in Fantastic Four #562. Dystopian futures and kids saving the adults is nothing new but Hickman manages to make the perfect balance between humour and seriousness throughout the issue, while Neil Edwards strikes a nice balance between predecessors Bryan Hitch and Dale Eaglesham while remaining unique. After their initial appearance in Fantastic Four, I made the mistake of ignoring Fantastic Force, but with the ideas displayed by Hickman, it’s clear that there are some interesting stories to be told with the characters and they’re well worth catching up with.

Best Moment #1: You should always bring a packed lunch on an outing to another world.

Best Moment #2: Hulk pops some heads

After the year-long World’s Most Wanted Arc, Invincible Iron Man #20, written by Matt Fraction; art by Salvador Larroca, has a difficult task ahead of the series: to rationalise the continuing existence of Tony Stark. Left comatose after a self-imposed lobotomy to stop Norman Osborn, Stark will still be considered the ‘bad guy’ by many due to his actions in Civil War, but Tony is given a chance to explain his actions with a video message to his remaining friends, along with a challenge to other heroes and readers alike: to save him, but only if they think he deserves it. By following this line of reasoning, Matt Fraction continues to re-humanise Tony Stark, refusing to wipe the slate clean but rather adding depth and humanity to an already complex character. Larroca’s art still looks somewhat uneven when people are not in armour: faces rarely look similar panel to panel and Frank D’Armata’s colouring doesn’t help. Thankfully, Fraction’s script shines through and the arc looks as if it will not just drown in dialogue, with some action provided by Madame Masque planning to take advantage of Tony’s current state for her own goals. Uneven art aside, Invincible Iron Man remains one of Marvel’s best books.

Best Moment #1: Tony Stark has some deja-vu

Best Moment #2: Tony’s monologue

While the standard has never really dropped, New Avengers seemed to be going through a slump of late, but thankfully New Avengers #59, written by Brian Bendis; art by Stuart Immonen, manages to strike the perfect balance between character interaction and action that Bendis can be relied on for. With some surprise guests providing help, The New Avengers concoct a plan to rescue Luke Cage from Norman Osborn’s grasp. Last-minute surprises, great character moments and some stand out scenes remind us that there’s a very good reason why Bendis has been writing the avengers consistently for over five years now. Immonen’s art continues the high standard he has set since joining the book with some truly great scenes including Iron Fist single-handedly taking down a heli-carrier. Here’s hoping the book continues this high standard even after the Dark Reign.

Best Moment #1: Iron Fist meets Heli-Carrier

Best Moment #2: You want to get to Luke Cage, you’re gonna have to go through this lot.

Secret Warriors #10, written by Jonathan Hickman; art by Alessandro Vitti, may seem more like an Ares comic than a Secret Warriors book but does a great job of filling in the blanks between Mike Oeming’s Ares mini-series and the character’s appearances throughout the Avengers titles. The father-son relationship between Ares and Phobos develops more and sheds some light on Ares’ conscience and the effect that his working with the Dark Avengers has had on his son. Where this development of Phobos leads, and whether he makes it to fully fledged demigod is yet to be seen, but whatever happens, it’s safe to say that at least one Secret Warrior will be around long after the title has run its course.

 

Best Moment #1: Alexander, the Godkiller

Best Moment #2: Alexander, the God Of Fear

For every good issue or arc of Uncanny X-Men under Matt Fraction’s reign, a mediocre one has followed. Since Utopia, that trend seems to have been broken and with Uncanny X-Men #517, written by Matt Fraction; art by Greg Land, Fraction finally lets loose with some of the plot points he’s been building up to. A horde of Predator X have been let loose on the island and Fraction breaks down his large supporting cast into small groups allowing each to have a moment against the monstrous onslaught. Rogue and Magneto in particular have some impressive ass-kicking to do and all of the quips that Fraction has built into character’s introductions, which had been getting tiresome, are all worth it for a scene in which Rogue absorbs multiple powers to take on a Predator X on her own. There’s a small, but very important, scene featuring the Stepford-Cuckoos that one can only assume is leading to the rebirth of a certain red-headed founding X-Man, echoing a similar scene in the recent Kingbreaker mini-series. Greg Lands ‘art’ remains dubious here, and while there is not an over-reliance on excessive amounts of female body parts, or his trademark static poses, the action scenes which make up most of the issue would be a lot more awe-inspiring and fluid under a better artist.

 

Best Moment #1: Rogue prepares to fight

Best Moment #2: The flight of the Phoenix

Best Moment #3: Skinning a Predator

Ultimate Comics Avengers #4, written by Mark Millar; art by Carlos Pacheco, continues Millar’s way of providing scenes we’ve already seen, only ‘different.’ The new Ultimates team ( not to be confused with Loeb’s upcoming New Ultimates) have their first outing, trying to take down Captain America on location in Paris. There are some well-orchestrated action scenes and some topical quips but don’t be expecting anything groundbreaking: most of the issue is adrenaline-fuelled action, with Millar trying to one-up his own work from the first two Ultimate volumes. There are hints at double-crossings and more Millarisms to come, with the Red Skull’s attempts to construct a cosmic cube and shape the world as he sees fit, but the fresh feeling that the first two Ultimate volumes had is starting to wear thin, and this book hasn’t quite found a voice of its own just yet.

Best Moment #1: Captain America vs War Machine

Best Moment #2: Captain America vs Nerd Hulk

• The Comic Catch-Up will be back soon with a bang: Dan will be looking after it. He’ll also be bringing you some other updates and trailers for next year’s big movies and games and other news as and when it’s newsworthy.
• In the world of Games, we’ll have reviews for Assassin’s Creed II and Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time up soon…once I can get past the really hard bits.
• Stuck for some Christmas presents? There’ll be an epic multi-part guide to Christmas presents: you want to buy your loved ones some games, consoles, DVD/Blu-Ray movies or maybe even some books or comics? We might be able to give you some ideas.
• As the nights are getting darker, it’s time to start hitting the cinema more, and we’ll have movie reviews for Where The Wild Things Are, The Box and coming soon, we’ll also have James Cameron’s epic Avatar.

Keep checking back for updates, or even better: follow us on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook or subscribe via RSS feed up in the corner there. Go on, you know you want to.

Even if you weren’t a tee

The latest entry in the SingStar franchise, this Take That game features 25 tracks from the band’s career, going from their debut “Do What U Like” right up to songs from their latest album The Circus. The goal is simple: sing along to your favourite Take That song and hope that you hit the notes better than your friends, a goal which isn’t always the easiest to reach when struggling to hit the high notes of Patience or Back For Good (c’mon, everyone knows the words to Back For Good, right?)

The benefit of a Take That version of SingStar is that, like the band and their music, you don’t have to be a teenage girl to enjoy, although it does help: many of those teenage girls from the 1990s have grown up and I can think of several mothers who’ll be thrilled to open their presents on Christmas Day to find this waiting for them. Mind you, there are also a few dads who really wish they were Robbie Williams and will be having a go after a few too many slices of brandy-soaked pudding.

The thing with singing games is, you either like them, you don’t, or you secretly like them but are far too ashamed to play them with other people around. With the likes of Rock Band and Band Hero around to exorcise that shame, that leaves us with those who like these games and don’t. And if you don’t like SingStar games, and you don’t like Take That…well, there’s just no hope for you any more, and you can drop all games consoles and music systems off at BurnAllZombies’ HQ for immediate confiscation.

Zombie Rating: B+

SingStar Take That is available now on PS2 and PS3.

1. A Million Love Songs
2. Babe
3. Back For Good
4. Beautiful World
5. Could It Be Magic
6. Do What U Like
7. Everything Changes
8. Greatest Day
9. Hold Up A Light
10. I’d Wait For Life
11. It Only Takes A Minute
12. Love Ain’t Here Anymore
13. Never Forget
14. Once You’ve Tasted Love
15. Patience
16. Pray
17. Promises
18. Reach Out
19. Relight My Fire
20. Rule The World
21. Said It All
22. Shine
23. Sure
24. Up All Night
25. Why Can’t I Wake Up With You

It’s a common request from thousands (if not millions) of kids around the globe: they want a pet for Christmas, but it isn’t always practical. For starters, Santa Claus has to find a way to transport them, and putting them in a bag with all the rest of his presents is just cruel. That, and he can’t guarantee that he’ll be able to keep the boy puppies and girl puppies away from each other. That’s why Santa invented the Tamagotchi a few years back (there’s an argument over rights, at the moment, so you won’t find him credited on Wikipedia just yet) and now, why Sony have invented the EyePet.

Exclusive to the PS3, EyePet provides what every kid dreams of: a pet in a box, all with the parental dreams of minimal clean-up and the ability to be turned off when it gets too much. The game comes packaged with the PlayStation Eye Camera and a card (more on this later) with the combined effect of allowing players to interact with a pet in their own home. By placing the camera at knee height, the console maps your living room (or as much of it as it can see) and then puts your EyePet inside, giving him (or her) their own space to play and interact. Movement within the area of play will impact the EyePet, whether an encouragement to jump up, to pounce on your hand or to rub the animal.

Like the aforementioned Tamagotchi, gameplay is all about looking after your pet, including feeding your pet, playing with it and exercising, along with the obligatory customisation that comes with so many games these days. The card that comes with EyePet, a black piece of plastic with an embossed paw print, is recognised by the game as a variety of different instruments: when the camera registers the image, it will overlay the card with a cup (for a feeding mini-game), or a variety of grooming or play products to interact with your pet. In real life, you’ll be sitting in your living room playing waving around a piece of plastic, but on-screen, you’ll be brushing your pet.

EyePet does exactly what it sets out to do, effectively bringing pet-based gameplay from a portable to a home console, but like those other games, the appeal wears thin rather quickly when you’re more used to using the PS3 to shoot aliens or watch movies. But what should interest any and all gamers here is the use of the PlayStation Eye Camera as a means of interacting with the game: it’s a simple game, but the technology at use and displayed is impressive thanks to the motion recognition, a logical next step from the Wii and already giving what Microsoft hope to provide with Project Natal. It’s a suitable update, moving the pet-based gaming from the realm of single button input, through touch recognition and out the other side.

Looking at just the technology, it’s going to be very interesting to see the what Sony brings up next. While EyePet itself will go down a treat with kids under ten, you might want to wait until they go to bed and have a go yourself, just so you can see exactly what Santa will soon be trying to push down the chimney, and what you’ll be asking him to bring as your own present this time next year.

Zombie Rating: B

EyePet is available now for PlayStation 3 on its own, and packaged with the PlayStation Eye Camera.

A family shouldn’t have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord. Now you can go to church every day without leaving your home. Participate in more than 24 unique and exhilarating Ceremonies. Be sure to try them all. The more you play, the more Grace points you collect. Then trade in your Grace points to unlock the Holy Mysteries. Only from Prayer Works Interactive. Help bring your family closer. To Heaven. Learn more at MassWePray.com

via Mass: We Pray – The Video Game.

A few days ago, when the above video and site went live…well, let’s just say that people were confused. And rightly so. Few hardcore gamers (or people who spend more than five minutes a week on the internet) could say with any sense of certainty that such a game would or wouldn’t definitely exist.

It’s with something akin to a sigh of relief that the site has since been updated. Try pre-ordering the game (or clicking some of the other links) and you’ll be treated to an accusation of heresy, tying in with next year’s release of Dante’s Inferno, along with a new gameplay trailer and a facebook app.

The funny/weird/scary thing is, if Mass: We Pray were a real game, you can guarantee that someone, somewhere would be buying it.

It just wouldn’t be the festive season without some Christmas movies to get us in the mood: early November might just be a little too early for some people to begin decking the halls, but the season is starting early with Disney’s presentation of A Christmas Carol, the classic tale written by Charles Dickens and now brought to the big screen by Robert Zemeckis.

Disney’s take on the fable is animated though uses a form of motion capture similarly to that previously seen in Zemeckis’ The Polar Express and Beowulf (although for this movie, the look is a lot smoother, embracing the fact that it is, ultimately, an animated film.) It’s a perfect opportunity for the multi-faceted Jim Carrey to play several roles, this time taking on Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts who haunt him on a Christmas Eve night.

For a modern adaptation, A Christmas Carol is surprisingly faithful to Dickens’ source: set in an impressively realised Victorian London, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge shows off just how miserable he can be when dealing with gentlemen seeking alms, his nephew Fred (Colin Firth) who invites him along for Christmas dinner and his own clerk Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman.) That night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley (also voiced by Oldman) who pleads with Scrooge to recant on his greedy ways, telling him that he will have three visitors over the next two nights who will show him the folly of his ways. Those three visitors, as everyone should know, are the Ghosts of Christmas Past, of Christmas Present, and of Christmases Yet To Come.

As with most interpretations of A Christmas Carol, this film depends on Ebenezer Scrooge being a despicable man, but one who isn’t without salvation and one that viewers want to see redeemed by the end of the film. In such a role, Carrey is impressive: Scrooge’s voice fits into the London of the 19th Century, and Carrey’s capable of c0mmunicating not only meanness, but also fear and longing with his voice in the same lines of dialogue. As the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, however, Carrey isn’t quite as successful: there’s a forced wackiness for Christmas Past, just as much in the animation as in the character’s portrayal, and the booming joviality of the Ghost of Christmas Present is just a bit over-the-top when juxtaposed with some of the film’s more touching scenes (not to mention a cringeworthy Irish accent.)

While the film is entertaining, it doesn’t turn its back on some of the more serious messages of Dickens’ tale, and although this is a family movie, parents of young children might want to consider the story before bringing their kids along: the poverty of the Cratchit family may be underplayed in favour of their warmth and care, but it’s there nonetheless, and the ghosts live up to their name as spectres of death. There’s some terrifying imagery, in particular related to the rotting chained body of Marley and the shrouded-Death-like figure of the Ghost of Christmases Yet To Come that will scare some adults, never mind young children accompanying them, and while such scares are in keeping with the film’s fantasy theme, and are probably no worse than can be seen in similar films, they are indicative of the darker elements of A Christmas Carol.

But this isn’t a film purely about darkness: it isn’t much of a spoiler to say that Scrooge discovers the true meaning of Christmas by the film’s close, and the heart-warming aspects of the story easily outweigh those darker parts as Scrooge finds a family and realises that his money doesn’t equate with happiness.

There are elements of the film that play up the animated style, at times drifting from somewhat realistic to totally fantastic, and some of these scenes feel a little forced, or at least drawn out, to highlight the film’s 3D presentation: they don’t last too long, and provide an impressive, if incomplete, view of Zemeckis’ London, but they distract from the heart of the story, perhaps struggling to create some visual magic, little realising the emotional magic already there in the story.

As such, kids might not quite get what’s going on in the more story-focussed parts of A Christmas Carol, but will nonetheless be entertained, and it’s been quite a while since a Christmas film has been quite so oriented towards the whole family. It’s a surprisingly magical experience because of that fact, and although the kids might have more fun with the adventure, even the most hard-hearted of adults will be pushed not to find this, with its messages of family and altruism, one of the most charming Christmas movies of the last decade.

Festive Zombie Rating: B

A Christmas Carol opens in cinemas worldwide on November 6th, 2009, presented in Disney Digital 3D, IMAX and IMAX 3D where available.

In the game, you take control of a city planner with the goal of building tower blocks  (as the name suggests) which are formed by dropping single blocks one by one on top of each other using a crane. The trickery with the game arises from the fact that the blocks themselves will swing from the crane’s cable, a movement that is complicated by the fact that the tower itself will also sway once it reaches a certain height, or if not built totally straight. Points are earned by stacking more and more blocks (which encourages inhabitants to move into the tower, swooping in my umbrella) with bonuses earned for perfectly stacking sequential blocks, a feat that is much more difficult than it sounds.

The premise is simple, but as with the best puzzle games, it’s this simple premise that makes Tower Bloxx Deluxe so addictive. There are different types of blocks and towers (for example, the blue cubes are a lot easier to stack than their red counterparts, a similar shape but with rounded edges) so although the gameplay remains similar throughout, there are small subtle changes to keep players on their toes.

There are also three different game types to Tower Bloxx Deluxe: quick play, with the goal of building as high a tower as possible without dropping more than two pieces; timed mode, with the goal to reach a certain (and ever-increasing height) within a certain time period; and build mode, where your goal is to fill the city with different types of towers, with the added complication that new towers can only be built beside another tower of a certain colour or height.

Having played Tower Bloxx Deluxe on the XBox 360, it’s little surprise that this is a game which has found itself onto mobile phones, easily proving as addictive as Tetris or the holy grail of mobile gaming, Snake. The simple gameplay won’t appeal to all gamers (certainly, those of you who didn’t grow up on the aforementioned games will find this offering somewhat lacking) but if you remember how they made them in the olden days, then Tower Bloxx Deluxe will be an appropriate, and wholly enjoyable, spend of your Microsoft Points and may even have you spending a lot more time with it than you expected.

Zombie Rating: B

Tower Bloxx Deluxe is available now for download through XBox Live Arcade.

Paranormal Activity doesn’t open this side of the Atlantic until the 25th November (though you might be lucky enough to catch a paid preview screening on Friday 13th) but it was also the surprise film at this year’s Horrorthon at Dublin’s IFI, and if that screening is anything to go by, the film will prove just as successful this side of the Atlantic as in the US.

Befitting a low-budget film (costing only $15, 000 to make), the film takes a mockumentary style in which the lines between reality and the film are blurred: some text at the beginning claims that the footage was found after the events of the film, footage which is recorded on a camcorder bought to record the strange nocturnal events in the home of Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston (the actors lend their own names to the characters in the pursuit of realism.) What follows are about three weeks of footage (cut down to a little over ninety minutes) as Micah and Katie come to realise that the disturbances in their house aren’t just neighbourhood children or creaking floorboards, but a malevolent presence that doesn’t take kindly to being challenged or recorded.

Paranormal Activity‘s strengths lie in the fact that it knows how to play with its audience. There’s little identifiably scary in the film: turning its back on the zeitgeist, there’s no gore, no men with big knives standing behind the hero and heroine, not even a scary mask to be seen. Rather, this is a film that taps into some very primal fears, arguably in a very clever way, putting its audience through the same experiences as its characters and providing a fear that can neither be ignored, nor run away from.

Most horror films have a bad guy (or maybe the word ‘thing’ would be more appropriate) and many films depend on this ‘thing’ to bring the horror to the title, whether it’s purely visual (like the Necromorph in Alien) or experiential (who doesn’t squirm in terror at the helplessness experienced by hordes of teens as they’re followed by a slasher?) Paranormal Activity combines both aspects: in one of the opening scenes, Katie and Micah are visited by a paranormal investigator who tells them outright that this is not a ghost that they are dealing with, but rather a demon that has been haunting Katie since she was a child. As Micah investigates further, the book he reads on demons give us an idea of just what the presence in their house might look like, and some other scenes show us the kind of power it has. And that’s the point when things start to get scary.

There are two basic types of scene within the film: during the day, Micah (or occasionally Katie) will carry the camera around, watching footage recorded the night before or just talking about their experiences. The handheld camera makes sure that we look where they do (or rather where director Oren Peli wants us to.) By night, the camera rests on a tripod in the corner of Micah and Katie’s bedroom, focussed on their open bedroom door and the darkness of the stairs beyond. The fixed camera means there’s no chance to look away, no hope that the camera might break, and as there are crashes and sounds from downstairs (and sometimes, the sound of stomping up the stairs), there’s a constant fear that something’s there in the darkness, looking at the camera (and us) and is something that will become visible any minute.

The two types of scene begin to blur as the film progresses: as the demon’s manifestations become more difficult to ignore, Micah runs to the camera before leaving the room to investigate, meaning yet again that the audience have to investigate as well, and will be forced to confront whatever awaits the couple. It a roller-coaster ride of a movie, and once the tension picks up, rarely lets go, proving an insidious and uncomfortable force to sit and watch, in a way that only the best horror films can be.

But the film isn’t all about the bumps and scares, effective as they may be: Micah and Katie are both better realised as characters than those featured in many other horror films. Both are flawed and do stupid things, which may irritate some audiences, but also make their characters quite believable. Much like the characters, there are aspects of the film that might prove annoying, wondering why certain things weren’t done differently, but there are already two different versions of the film (the current cinematic release and the original version screened at festivals in 2007 with different scenes and an older, less effective ending that has already found its way onto the internet.)

For a small-budget film originally made over two years ago, Paranormal Activity has already proven itself to be one of the most successful movies of the year, even beating the gore-fest of Saw VI at the box office: the comparisons to The Blair Witch Project are already coming in droves, but admirably so, and this will hopefully encourage more horror movies that focus on being scary than just gruesome or gory excuses for special effects.

This is really one of those films you need to see in the cinema (if only to be sure that there’s nothing in the house with you when watching it) and it’s not just the first-person camera that gives this the feeling of being more an experience than a film. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anything so insidiously terrifying, and even the most stalwart of viewers who’ll never admit to getting scared at a film will have to acknowledge how effective the film is, even if they’re the only ones able to get a good night’s sleep afterwards.

Zombie Rating: A-

Paranormal Activity is on general release now in the US and opens in Ireland on November 25th, with preview screenings on November 13th.

Uncharted 2 is one of the most eagerly anticipated games for relase this year on Sony’s home console, and if you’ve played the first game (subtitled Drake’s Fortune), it’s easy to see why: with a seemless blend of athletic platforming, puzzles and combat with an immersive story involving a hunt for lost treasure and a lovably charming lead character, where can you go wrong? And that was just the first game. Picking up about a year afterwards, Uncharted 2 raises the bar in terms of the gameplay and provides an even more thrilling storyline.

This time around, our hero Drake is on the trail of Marco Polo, after finding evidence that the adventurer might have discovered the fabled land of Shambhala, or Shangri-La. But all doesn’t run smoothly: our hero is “among thieves” after all, and despite help from Victor “Sully” Sullivan and potential love interest Chloe Frazer, Drake’s investigations are plagued by interference from former friend and colleague Harry Flynn, working with the dangerous Zoran Lazarevich.

While the first game followed a fixed chronological progression, Uncharted 2 isn’t afraid to play around with some flashbacks: the game begins in medias res with Drake on a train, already in possession of an artefact that he doesn’t discover until some time later in play, and it serves to set how important story is to this game, an aspect that is just as important as the graphics or gameplay. This game also increases the scope significantly: while most of the first game took place on an island, Drake’s adventures this time around take him all around the world, from icy tundras to the jungle and even war-torn cities.

Level Concept Art

The level design of Uncharted was impressive, giving a real sense of location and Uncharted 2 provides more of the same: although most sections of the game follow a fairly linear path, there’s sufficient draw distance and layout that there’s never a sense of being on a “soundstage,” or indeed anywhere other than a jungle (or a palatial museum, or a city.) By moving around, the story is also allowed to grow somewhat naturally: as Nathan moves around various areas, he’ll come across some bad guys that aren’t even necessarily villains: they’re just in your way and you’re in theirs.

Of course, if there’s a bad guy in your way, you’re going to want to take care of him, and the game’s combat system is the most significant improvement over the first game. There are a number of different combat options to help you through, whether you want to gun your way along, opt for hand-to-hand or play the stealthy approach (although you’ll have to use a mixture of the lot to cover most areas.) Stealth attacks require making optimum use of the environment and the platforming elements of the game: Drake can take cover behind a wall (or crate) and silently take down someone on the other side, the same as can be done when hanging from a ledge or just approaching an enemy from behind.

Hand-to-hand combat is simple to execute, but looks impressive on screen, as Drake trades blows (with the square button) or countering an enemy attack (with the context sensitive triangle.)

Gun combat isn’t as simple as you might think, though: ammo is at a premium, and Drake can only take so much damage himself. While the first game made this easy, oftentimes providing a vantage point with lots of cover that couldn’t be broken by an enemy, and even gave a few seconds to collect ammo before another wave approached, Uncharted 2 is far less lenient: you’ll find few positions that can be secured with confidence, no matter how much cover you can duck behind, and you won’t have the freedom to find another gun/ammo without getting shot at. It makes the game much more interesting, but there’s also a frustrating side to it, as more than once I found myself getting used to the power and range of a particular weapon before I had to give it up due to a lack of ammo.

Other aspects of the game, the platforming and puzzles, while well-realised and impressive, aren’t much to comment on: most of the puzzles require finding a particular sign or pressing switches in a particular order, a standard distraction that won’t provide much trouble to regular gamers. There’s no wall-running or feats of ultra-athleticism, but Drake has no problems jumping over the rooftops or clinging to loose bricks as a handhold. He even flails and shouts when he’s in danger of missing a jump, something that makes the game feel a lot more realistic.

Concept Art For Nathan Drake

Nathan’s movements and the voice-acting really make him feel like more than just a video game character, and with his design and cheeky demeanour, provides a male antidote to Lara Croft’s ample charms. Yes, it’s hard not to fall in love with Nathan Drake. The fact that his voice, provided by Nolan North, is the same as lended to the prince in Ubisoft’s recent Prince Of Persia makes things a little bit same-ish, but it still works for the character, and he has some hilarious soundbites whether talking to “himself” or interacting with Chloe and Sully. Chloe, for her part, is portrayed in all her sultry charms by Claudia Black, better known for her role in Farscape (and we’ll begrudgingly admit she was in Stargate SG-1 as well.)

It’s not just the voices that lend an ultra-smooth realistic and cinematic feel to Uncharted 2, but the overall presentation, both during sequences of gameplay and cutscenes: in fact, there’s little difference between most of the cutscenes and the game itself, making use of the same models, lighting and camera angles. There are some sequences that play out as a mix of both, such as Drake making his way across a crumbling or collapsing environment, or running from vehicles and the game even opens with Nathan on a train, dangling off a cliff, a point at which I said “I hope I get to play through this.” And yes, yes I did.

The lack of a HUD (save for the occasional button cue or an ammo-meter when Drake’s using a gun) allows players to really enjoy all aspects of the game’s look and feel, and in case you’re worried how to keep an eye on Nathan’s health, the colour of the screen and hastening heartbeat should make it so you can’t really ignore.

In terms of bonus features, Uncharted 2 also includes a few different modes of play: trophy rewards can be spent on unlocking new skins for Drake and Chloe, filters (including a black-and-white and sepia modes) and one-shot kills can also be unlocked. But the game’s most important feature is under a menu called “multiplayer,” including a competitive deathmatch and a co-operative mode, separate to the main game but covering many of the campaign’s key moments. The game also features customisable twitter connectivity, meaning bragging rights can be spread around more than just your friends list.

Aside from the combat elements, there’s little that we can say Uncharted 2 offers by way of an improvement over the first game, but that’s stressing the fact that that’s not a bad thing, with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune still providing one of the PlayStation 3′s best games even years after its release. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is then the perfect follow-up, providing a near-perfect blend of action, adventure and intrigue across the story and the gameplay itself. If you own a PS3, the game is a must-have, and if you don’t, this is your reason to get one.

Zombie Rating: A+

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is available now exclusive to Sony PlayStation 3.

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! is the latest such video game and after having a go at first-person shooters, party games and racing games, this time around the characters are seeing how they get on in a tower-defense style strategy, available now for download exclusively through XBox Live Arcade.

The town of South Park is under attack from all manner of evil creatures, including gingers, underpants gnomes and zombies and it falls to our four favourite pre-pubescent kids, Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman to protect the town across several levels, including the High School, their homes and Hell’s Pass Hospital. It’s up to the kids to take down the invading forces by throwing snowballs, building obstacles and putting defensive towers around the map, including lasers and fireworks.

On each level, the kids have some time to set up their defense before the invasion begins: in early levels, the invaders take a preset route, although in others, the map is open and the bad guys will just swarm across, leaving the player to build walls and construct a path to slow them down. If the villains make it to the other side of the map, they’ll attack the town and a health bar down the bottom right of the screen lets you know just how safe South Park is.

Progressing through the story mode, the game begins with Stan and then unlocks Cartman, Kyle and Kenny, each with their own abilities in terms of the speed with which they can move, the strength of their thrown snowballs and their range. Snowballs are thrown with the A button, an attack that can be charged to make it stronger (resulting in a yellow snowball.)

Throwing enough snowballs will also charge up each kid’s special ability: Cartman summons a fiery attack that will clear (or weaken) all enemies on screen; Kyle improves everyone’s throw, giving all players a yellow snowball without charging; Stan restores health to the city as and when it takes damage; and Kenny steals money from the invading enemies (that can then be used to build or upgrade more weapons.)

Building each obstacle costs money, and while there’s enough money in the game to build a suitable defense, it’s at enough of a premium to make choosing the right weapon important, and the stronger weapons cost more money, with some ineffective on different enemies. There are also some map-specific obstacles that can take down multiple enemies, and also the kids themselves if you’re not careful.

Gameplay allows players to switch through the four main characters using the right bumper, able to make the most of each ability, but like the towers, it’s necessary to place each character strategically: fall into the path of the approaching enemies, and they’ll be immobilised, needing the help of another character to stand up. Towers are built using the X button and special abilities are triggered with Y.

The game itself isn’t just about the gameplay though: it’s an interesting game, fun to play and well worth the cost of 800 points, but what really makes it worthwhile is the sound-bites and clips that are scattered throughout the game, making it a must for South Park fans. The enemies have all featured in some form in episodes of the show, and include gingers, cows, underpants gnomes, old people, hippies, Mongolians and crab people, each with related audio and video explanations or introductions. The four kids also have their own dialogue recalling memorable moments from the series and voice-over is provided by a Japanese announcer who announces the start and “compretion” of each “rever.” Fan-favourites like Butters (and Professor Chaos) also surface, progressing the story and then becoming playable in a challenge mode as well.

If you’re a fan of the humour in South Park, then the game is a must-have, but you shouldn’t expect it to be any more politically correct than the series just because it’s a game. But if you download, you’ll be guaranteed a few hours of extremely replayable strategy gaming that just happens to be hilariously funny as well.

Zombie Rating: A

South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! is available now for download and play through XBox Live Arcade.

As the world descends into zombie-infected madness, Jesse Eisenberg teams up with Woody Harrelson to survive the harsh wilds of flesh-eating madness, and with the zombies moving like this, the film promises to be both hilarious and scary in just the right measure.

Check the hilarious clip below (though be prepared for the zombies with toilet roll) as Eisenberg shares his rules for survival in a zombie-infected world.

Zombieland is in cinemas October 9th.

On board the space-ship Elysium, Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) awakens from suspended animation: disoriented, he remembers little other than the role he was trained to fulfil as a member of the flight crew, taking over from another team who will then enter “hypersleep” themselves, who are strangely absent. When Bower is joined by the similarly awoken Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) the two struggle to find a way out of the anteroom in which they’re trapped. As both deal with the after-effects of their extended sleep, both physical and psychological, Bower makes his way out of the room and into the ship proper, where he finds what appears to be an abandoned ship is instead haunted by flesh-eating monsters, intent on stopping him from reaching his goal in the reactor.

There are really three different movies on offer in Pandorum: each on its own has the potential to be quite interesting: maybe not a wonderful film, but there’s the potential here for a psychological thriller, an all-out science-fiction film as humanity messes with forces it can’t comprehend and a balls-out creature-feature with some scary monsters. But the film flits between one and the other with no real reason to do so, wasting characters and actors in the quest to cram as much into its running time as possible (and, at shorter than two hours, the film feels a lot longer, in the worst possible way.)

For every thriller, there’s a twist, and there’s certainly a twist in this film that’s advertised so long beforehand you have time to adjust your speed accordingly. It’s not a terrible twist, but anyone who’s seen a similar film before will be able to spot the twist long before the film stops trying to act like there’s nothing to see. What science fiction elements there are to the plot are really only there as an ineffective plot device, mentioned at various points to remind us that the film is set in space. And then let’s take a look at the monsters, or rather, we’re going to call them Orcs, since they look and act just like they’ve been recycled from the Lord Of The Rings films.

What little we see of the “Orcs” is impressive enough to scare, but seeing little is the order of the day when it comes to Pandorum, and the film is successful in creating a sense of close, claustrophobic unease, contributing to the psychological side of things, but really doesn’t allow the audience a good chance to get a feel for either the villains of the piece, or the Elysium as a ship. It also depends too much on the performers to show us that they’re scared, rather than providing anything to really be scared of.

Foster may not have top billing, but he’s really the star of the film, certainly carrying the bulk of the story as he explores the ship relaying back to Dennis Quaid. In such a role, Foster isn’t given much to work with, and operates at extremes of tense to calm, often acting one when he has no right to be and should be the total opposite. Quaid brings a more mature sense to his own role as Lt. Payton, but most of that involves providing a foil to Foster’s tension/calm or acting at thin air, although the relatively bland over-acting of Cam Gigandet arrives later to give Quaid something else to act at. German actress Antje Traue has the action-chick performance down without acting, but the character she plays has little point but to progress the story, be an action chick and dredge up some compulsory sexual tension with Foster.

Coming from the producers of the Resident Evil movie franchise, the film never has that much potential to begin with, so when it doesn’t live up to it, it’s a much graver crime. It might be one of those movies worth picking up on DVD when it’s out, but only if you’ve got someone nearby to cry to about how bad it was afterwards.

Zombie Rating: D

Pandorum is out in cinemas now.

Set in the not-too-distant future, MAG puts players in the role of a soldier working for one of three PMCs (or private military companies.) As worldwide resources dwindle and countries find themselves unable to support their armed forces, three PMCs come to the fore, Raven, Valor and SVER, who will sell their military services to the highest bidder. The competition between the three PMCs increases until it becomes a conflict known as the “Shadow War,” a reputation-based conflict as the three PMCs try to undermine each other and lay claim to various resources that will increase their own reputation, and therefore their own business.

It’s a rich, if somewhat complicated, backgroud to what is, effectively an excuse for a massive on-line shoot-out, and MAG’s original title (with the since-dropped subtitle Massive Action Game) calls that to mind. Byrne has stated that the pillars for the game’s development were “scale, command and persistence,” with scope and size being the obviously important features for the game, with the upper-levels of MAG involving 256 players (in various different teams and squads) playing on-line simultaneously (although for those with slower connections, there are are also smaller-scale and quicker battles.) Regardless of the number of players, the nature of the game lends itself to constant replayability, with the parameters constantly changing as the balance of power shifts in the Shadow War.

With an emphasis on teams, there are subtle differences between the three different PMCs, each of which has access to exclusive weapons and with each appealing to a different type of gamer: the European-based Raven have access to more technologically advanced equipment, with a sci-fi edge, despite their relative inexperience; Alaskan-based Valor are themed on contemporary military outfits; and SVER, originating in Asia, embody guerilla tactics with older weaponry but more experience. Having chosen one of the three PMCs, players are treated to a training mission to accustom themselves to the feel for each PMC before immersing themselves in the online game. There are no offline elements to play, save for these training missions and the ability to personalise your own warrior.

There are four different, and individual, modes and styles of gameplay, ranging from all-out-assaults to sabotage missions: one of the PMCs “wins” the Shadow War when they achieve domination within one of these modes, at which point the balance of power resets itself to an equal footing. There are twelve maps overall, and to experience all of them, a player will have to play, and master, each mode of gameplay.

Because MAG is an on-line game, there is little AI and every soldier on screen, along with every event, is in some way triggered by one of the 256 players, from calling in air-strikes to tanks entering the area and carrying respawned soldiers. Addressing the “command” pillar, Byrne told us that as players progress through the game, levelling up in RPG styles and gaining access to points, new weapons and abilities (including improved speeds, health or sabotage/repair talents) they also gain the ability to move into a command position: when they attain level twelve, they can take charge of a squad of four players and issue commands, also becoming able to communicate with other command-level players. The squads of four give the game a personal feel despite the epic size, allowing the game to be as deep as the player wants, and players can also join a “clan” of their friends allowing them to play together.

As an incentive to obey orders, squads receive bonuses for obeying commands allowing all concerned to level up faster. To ensure that there’s no huge disparity amongst players, all games use a highly complicated matchmaking logarithm and, if at any stage, one faction proves significantly outgunned, Zipper intend to allow players to defect to another PMC to balance the tide.

With the game due for release in Q1, 2010, the conversation turned to some more specific questions about MAG: with the game currently in beta, feedback is still being generated, but response to the game has been overwhelmingly positive, with players already aligning themselves with various PMCs before even experiencing the full game. There should be no lag playing the game at slower connection speeds (although it will obviously run better at higher speeds) and there has already been talk of DLC, although the exact nature of which won’t be discussed or revealed until the game’s full release. Regardless, Byrne was open about the fact that the universe of MAG and the Shadow War itself may end up revisited in other titles, perhaps even moving away from the FPS genre.

We’ll have a more in-depth look at MAG closer to its full release and as changes are made to the beta, but it’s already shaping up to revolutionise online console gaming. The question is, when the revolution comes, whose side will you be on?

MAG is currently in online beta, and due for release on Sony PlayStation 3 in early 2010.