There is only one dominant life form in this universe, and it carries a steel-barrelled sword of vengeance. Become the Slayer and hunt Hell’s armies to the far reaches of the earth and beyond. The only thing they fear… is YOU.
RAZE HELL when DOOM Eternal arrives on March 20th 2020 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC
Pre-Order DOOM Eternal to get a free digital download of DOOM 64. Pre-orders of DOOM Eternal also include the Rip and Tear Pack, which comes with: – DOOT Revenant Skin – Cultist Base Master Level – Throwback Shotgun Weapon Skin
Join the Slayers Club, the official DOOM fan club, at SlayersClub.com for exclusive rewards.
For more information on DOOM Eternal, follow these channels:
Rumours have been abundant in the last 24 hours that this year’s E3 event was going to be cancelled due to the ongoing Corona Virus situation, and this afternoon UK time, the ESA has finally confirmed that the event will no longer be taking please.
The Statement reads:
“After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry–our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners–we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.”
“Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.”
This is far less of a surprise considering just how many events across the world have all started to disappear from the event schedule, especially in the US with precaution being taken rather than risking the public and those who run the events.
A little closer to home in the UK, we are yet to see if EGX Rezzed will continue to run from March 26th-28th this year, last week in only a matter of days the DOOM Eternal musical live concert was both announced, sold out and then ultimately cancelled by the end of the week. With under three weeks to go, many eyes will now turn to see if Rezzed will also be cancelled.
With 2020 suppose to have the launch of the next generation of console in Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, how will this impact their reveals as of course Sony had already announced their plan to skip E3 once again but Xbox were driving towards a massive event for the Xbox Series X generation news reveal.
Rumours have been abundant in the last 24 hours that this year’s E3 event was going to be cancelled due to the ongoing Corona Virus situation, and this afternoon UK time, the ESA has finally confirmed that the event will no longer be taking please.
The E3 team is devastated to share this news. This decision was not reached lightly, but it is the right one for the health and safety of all involved. Read our statement here: https://t.co/1uOWxTerN9pic.twitter.com/gD2IxNACLX
“After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry–our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners–we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.”
“Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.”
This is far less of a surprise considering just how many events across the world have all started to disappear from the event schedule, especially in the US with precaution being best rather than risking the public and those who run the events.
A little closer to home in the UK, we are yet to see if EGX Rezzed will continue to run from March 26th-28th this year, last week in only a matter of days the DOOM Eternal musical live concert was both announced, sold out and then ultimately cancelled by the end of the week. With under three weeks to go, many eyes will now turn to see if Rezzed will also be cancelled.
With 2020 suppose to have the launch of the next generation of console in Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, how will this impact their reveals as of course Sony had already announced their plan to skip E3 once again but Xbox were driving towards a massive event for the Xbox Series X generation news reveal.
Update:
Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, has just tweeted out their plans to hold an online event to continue their road to Xbox Series X launch:
E3 has always been an important moment for Team Xbox. Given this decision, this year we'll celebrate the next generation of gaming with the @Xbox community and all who love to play via an Xbox digital event. Details on timing and more in the coming weeks https://t.co/xckMKBPf9h
1917, the critically acclaimed, multi-award winning action spectacle including Academy Award® winner for Best Cinematography arrives on Digital Download 4th May, 2020 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-rayTM and DVD 18th May, 2020 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Hailed as “One of the most stirring films of the year’’ (BBC Culture), the universally acclaimed film combines groundbreaking film making, memorable performances, and an unforgettable insight into the human experience against the shattering background of war. Additionally an Oscar® winner for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Mixing, 1917 is “an epic piece of filmmaking’’ (Time Out London).
In 1917 at the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (MacKay) and Blake (Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s own brother among them. 1917 comes to Digital Download, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-rayTM and DVD with bonus content showcasing the incredible craft and artistry behind the immersive feature, including a detailed look into the production design, how the film engineered a one shot, 360-degree format and interviews with the cast and crew.
In 1917, Academy Award®-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Spectre, Skyfall) brings his Golden Globe® and BAFTA award-winning directorial performance to a script co-written alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“Penny Dreadful”). The filmstars breakout actors George Mackay (Captain Fantastic, Pride, Sunshine on Leith) and Dean-Charles Chapman (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”). Accompanying Mackay and Chapman are standout performances by Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor, Kingsman, The Imitation Game), Andrew Scott (“Fleabag”, Sherlock, Spectre), Richard Madden (Netflix’s “The Bodyguard”, Rocketman, HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman, Bridget Jones) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Dr. Strange, The Imitation Game). The film was produced by Mendes, Pippa Harris (“Penny Dreadful”, “Call the Midwife”), Jayne-Ann Tenggren (Spectre, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), Callum McDougall (Spectre, Skyfall, Casino Royale) and Brian Oliver (Rocketman, Black Swan).
BONUS FEATURES ON DVD:
Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Sam Mendes
Feature Commentary with Director of Photography Roger Deakins
The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes – Academy Award® winner Sam Mendes discusses his personal connection to World War 1
Allied Forces: Making 1917 – Learn how the one shot, 360-degree format was executed and the pivotal role Academy Award® winner Roger Deakins served in bringing Sam Mendes’ vision to life
The Music of 1917 – Composer Thomas Newman and filmmakers discuss the important role of the Academy Award®-nominated score
BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD & BLU-RAYTM, INCLUDING TWO HD EXCLUSIVES
Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Sam Mendes
Feature Commentary with Director of Photography Roger Deakins
The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes – Academy Award® winnerSam Mendes discusses his personal connection to World War 1
Allied Forces: Making 1917 – Learn how the one shot, 360-degree format was executed and the pivotal role Academy Award® winner Roger Deakins served in bringing Sam Mendes’ vision to life
The Music of 1917 – Composer Thomas Newman and filmmakers discuss the important role of the Academy Award®-nominated score
In The Trenches – Go behind the scenes with the cast of 1917
Recreating History – Filmmakers offer a detailed look at the production design challenges of recreating the First World War
1917 will be available on 4K Ultra HD combo pack, which includes 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray™
· 4K Ultra HD is the ultimate movie watching experience. 4K Ultra HD features the combination of 4K resolution for four times sharper picture than HD, the color brilliance of High Dynamic Range (HDR) with immersive audio delivering a multidimensional sound experience
1917 4K Ultra HD is available with HDR10+™, providing a premium HDR picture quality. HDR10+ transforms your movie watching experience with incredible brightness and contrast for each scene, delivering brighter brights and deepest darks
Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound
Playtime can be fun with the Paw Patrol Magicubes from Geomag, here is our two minute review.
Here you can find all the friends from the Paw Patrol on Geomag Magicubes. Match up the magnetic cubes to build Marshall’s fire truck or Skye’s helicopter and much more! The magnetism gives instant gratification as you build and makes the activities very accessible to all young children.
A Closer Look
Final Thoughts
If you want to get your child playing with blocks, colours and shapes, and they are fans of Paw Patrol (and who isn’t) then these could be for you.
All of the Magicubes are made of 100% recycled plastic. They easily pull apart and easily snap back together. You can make whatever you want, whatever shape, size, colour, the choice is yours.
These are a lot of fun and very easy to play with and will bring hours of fun. All you need is your imagination.
The Magicube Paw Patrol sets are available now priced starting at around £12 each. There are different sets to choose from, so have a look and see which one fits you best.
Today Call of Dutybecomes bigger, crazier and free-er than ever before as it reveals its all-new, and first ever free-to-play experience inspired from Modern Warfare.
Launching on 10th March, Warzone delivers a new, free-to-play gaming experience featuring signature Call of Duty combat for up to 150 players in a massive world filled with exploration and discovery.
Warzone is available to all players on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Players new to Call of Duty can jump into training mode, where they can learn the basic mechanics and hone their skills before jumping into full online Battle Royale matches.
One of the most powerful questions a fan of comic books can ask is simply ‘What if’? The moment where your imagination as a fan goes off creating your own stories creating new worlds for the heroes we love to read or watch on the big screen is a truly magical thing. Thankfully DC Comics also loves to ask this question with their “Elseworlds” series of stories and now my own personal favourite one has become the latest animated feature from WB Animation.
‘What If’ are two very powerful words and when used with
comic books they can truly create some incredible stories and Superman: Red Son
is perhaps the greatest example of this. Just imagine if Superman did not crash
as a baby in Smallville Kansas and was raised by the loving adopted parents Martha
and Johnathon Kent, and then imagine if Superman had not been brought up to value
truth, justice and the American way. What would such a being with that much
power become if raised differently?
Superman: Red Son tells the story of the last remaining son
of Krypton crash landing on Earth but instead of small town America, his ship
crashes in the communist country of Stalin’s Russia. As a 12 year old boy, he
shows his abilities to a friend to explain why he runs away from the bullies
instead of fighting back who promptly says that he should give his powers to
the state and thus the Russian Superman is created but not with the iconic S
for hope as the emblem on his chest but the Sickle and Hammer of Communism
which visually is striking to see on screen.
The story has an array of powerful and thought-provoking
themes which go far beyond the traditional good versus evil approach to an
animated story. There are just so many grey areas to all the characters as both
political and ethical beliefs collide. We see a Superman raised to believe in Communism
and doing whatever it takes to better the state whilst at the same time we see
an America without its greatest hero who instead under Lex Luthor, sees this
godlike being as a serious threat that must be eliminated for the safety of the
world. Lex himself is not really the villain of the piece either, he genuinely
believes that Superman is a threat to America and the world but this time he
has the full support of the American Government due to the propaganda footage
Russia is sending out to the world featuring their greatest weapon Superman, to
which America has no real answer to.
You also have a Superman who believes he is helping the state and the people but thanks to a chance meeting with Lois Lane-Luthor, yes she married Lex, is shown the truth of Stalin’s Gulag prisons where the vulnerable people seen as nothing more than cheap work labour to Stalin, and when he tracks a site down and finds the childhood friend who convinced him to reveal his powers, his anger leads him to decide that he alone is capable of bringing peach to the people of the planet. What begins with good intentions slowly over time sees him take a more Dictatorial rule to bring his vision to life, aided by the entity Brainiac to create his world still heavily based on Communist theology.
As the Cold War era envelopes both the capitalist America and the Communist Russia collide not just on their ideologies but as nations with Superman pushing his will and methods of rule across Europe as America struggles to compete. The story is told over a number of years with a pace that enables the audience to see all the changes as Lex continues to find a way to defeat Superman and in Russia, a terrorist movement is rising with another surprising ‘What if’ as Batman is created from a survivor of Stalin’s Gulags who watched his parents die and blamed Superman for not protecting them. This Batman is not the Dark Knight of Gotham refusing to kill but instead someone who is happy to use Guerrilla Warfare tactics to achieve his goal of killing Superman. Meanwhile we also see a Superman whose vision to protect everyone has started to become more like Stalin’s own vision as he and Brainiac start converting criminals and the vulnerable into cyborg slaves, removing their will and using them as nothing but slaves and all the betterment of the state. Even Wonder Woman, who came from Themyscira to pledge her people’s support to his original vision of bringing peace to the world of man but soon begins to question Superman’s methods and viewing the world as being nothing more than one where Man will go to far and cause suffering no matter what help they offer. When Batman finally manages to corner Superman with some technological help from Lex Luthor, it’s a battle that is not for the faint hearted as we see Batman being able to physically beating Superman down but then the very scary sight of a Superman who is prepared to use his powers to kill to secure his own vision.
I love the very grown up and dark take on a lot of Iconic DC
Superheroes, with a superb script by J.M. DeMatteis and directed brilliantly by
Sam Liu, this has quickly become my favourite of the WB Animated DC Universe films
to date, it remains faithful to the original graphic novel and is so effortlessly
adapted for the small screen. The voice cast is superb with Jason Issacs
voicing Superman amazingly well by bringing the very different tone of this
version of the character to life in every scene. This is an absolute must have
for any fans of the DC Animated universe and a brilliant answer to the “What if”
fan question!
Not only is the animated feature fantastic but I have to say
that the Blu-Ray version is just filled to the brim with incredible bonus
features as well started with the bonus animated short “Phantom Stranger” as
well as look at the making of Superman: Red Son. You will also get two episodes
of the Superman: Red Son Motion comics which is a very nice touch but for me it
is the two cartoon episodes from the DC Vault, parts 1 and 2 of the Justice
League Animated Series titled “A Better World” which sees an alternative
universe Justice League known as “Justice Lords” who see ruling by absolute
force as the only way to have a peaceful Earth decide to invade the universe of
the real Justice League in order to replace them and take over their world as
well, one of the finest stories told in the Justice League Animated series.
Finally, we have a sneak peak at the next DC Animated Universe film ‘Justice League: Apokolips War’ which going by the preview, is going to be the biggest story and film yet in the continuity of this DC Animated Universe. Combine all the special features of this Blu-Ray with the best animated film WB Animation has released yet and you have the perfect evening of viewing for a DC Fan.
Superman: Red Son is available to watch digitally right now with Blu-Ray and DVD editions to release on March 16th 2020.
Today at Final Kombat 2020, the championship finale of the Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition esports series, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios revealed a new Mortal Kombat 11 gameplay trailer debuting Todd McFarlane’s fan-favourite comic book character, Spawn. The new video shows off the latest playable fighter’s iconic look, including his signature cape, chains, battle axe and more, which can all be used against opponents. The trailer also features two unreleased music tracks from heavy metal band, Trivium, entitled “IX” and “Scattering the Ashes.”
Spawn was formerly Al Simmons, the U.S. government’s greatest soldier and most effective assassin, before being mercilessly executed by his own men. Resurrected from the ashes of his own grave in a flawed agreement with the powers of darkness, Simmons was reborn as a creature from the depths of Hell – a Hellspawn. Now, he is thrust into the world of Mortal Kombat 11, where he will fight for supremacy against all Kombatants.
Spawn is voiced by actor Keith David, the original voice actor from “Todd McFarlane’s Spawn,” the Emmy award-winning HBO animated series. The new guest character will join the Mortal Kombat 11 roster on 17th March as part of the early access period for Kombat Pack owners, followed by wide availability on 24th March.
Kombat Pack owners will also have access to the new Spawn-inspired character skin, “Hellspawn” Jacqui Briggs, on 17th March, alongside the Matinee Skin Pack featuring “Osh Tekk Vandal” Kotal Kahn, “Swashbuckler” Erron Black and “Space Marine” Jacqui Briggs.
McFarlane Toys will also be releasing a Spawn Mortal Kombat action figure later this month, emulating the character’s distinguished look from Mortal Kombat 11. The Spawn Mortal Kombat figure will join Raiden and Johnny Cage as part of a line of action figures based on Mortal Kombat 11 fighters.
The final character coming to Mortal Kombat 11 via the Kombat Pack is Spawn (17th March early access, 24th March wide availability), alongside The Joker, Sindel, Terminator T-800, Nightwolf and Shang Tsung (all available now). Players can purchase the Kombat Pack as part of the Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Edition for £79.99 (RRP) (Local Prices) or individually for £32.99 (RRP)(Local Prices). All DLC characters and bonus character skins will be available for individual purchase after the one-week early access period.
Sea of Thieves is approaching its 2 year anniversary if you can believe it, and personally the addition of the Tall Tales, story and lore based voyages has been one of the best improvements and additions to the game in those two years. Now we have a teaser trailer revealing the next Tall Tale, ‘Heart of Fire’.
Looking to follow in the same cinematic style of ‘The Seabound Soul’, this is a Tall Tale set to feature many traps and a hint from RARE themselves that this Tall Tale will change each time you attempt it making it more of a challenge for players looking to collect and complete all the commendations for it.
Heart of Fire comes to Sea of Thieves on March 11th in the next game update.
The news PlayStation fans have been eagerly waiting for has finally come as the release date for Ghost of Tsushima has been confirmed for June 26th 2020 along with a new Story Trailer showing gameplay on the PS4 Pro:
With Tsushima on the brink of destruction, Jin Sakai must sacrifice everything to defeat the ruthless Mongol invaders and protect what’s left of his home and people. As he embarks on an epic adventure for the freedom of Tsushima, he is forced to set aside samurai traditions and become a new kind of warrior.
From the same studio that brought us the inFamous series, Sucker Punch Productions, this release date is a lot earlier than I believed it would come as I had expected it to be a possible launch title for the PlayStation 5 later this year. A very welcome surprise indeed!
Ghost of Tsushima will release for PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro from June 26th, 2020.
2020 has just been spoiling me with games based on my
favourite anime shows so far that is feels like Christmas. It kicked off with
the excellent ‘Dragon Ball Z : Kakarot’ enabling me to relive the incredible
sagas I watched over the years in such a brilliant and immersive experience and
now I was excited to have a similar experience with ‘One Punch Man: A Hero
Nobody Knows’ but I was a little intrigued by how the world of Saitama could be
recreated in the game considering that the main hero is so powerful he just
wins every single fight…with one punch, the question is, did they manage it?
The biggest issue the team behind this game had is pretty
much the same issue that troubles anyone trying to make an authentic Superman
game, how do you make a game challenging when you are playing as a god with
practically no weaknesses. Well the short answer is rather simple; you do not
play as Saitama. One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows does the very clever thing
of placing the player in the world of Saitama as a new fledgling Class C Hero
and puts you on the journey of reaching Class S Hero rating with the Hero
Association during the same time that Saitama is doing the same. I had a real
buzz from creating my own character and seeing him encountering the same heroes
and characters I loved from the anime show as well as fighting the same iconic
monsters and villains from the show…or I hoped I would be at least, but more on
that a bit later on.
Starting off you have only the very basic of cosmetic
options in creating your hero especially in the “costume” you start fighting
crime wearing. The strength of this game is mostly certainly born from the
ability to let the player become a part of this world and to feel like they are
an active participant in everything going on big or small and to be frank, I am
actually glad not to be playing as Saitama or Genos or any of the other heroes
which is the opposite to the way I felt about Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, as a fan
of One Punch Man, I would rather share the world with the heroes of the show
than playing as them and a lot of my enjoyment comes from this element to the
game but also has a downside as well.
One Punch Man is known for the ridiculous over the top
battles that the heroes have with the villains and monsters that frequently pop
up to threaten the good people of the city and the fighting is definitely the
focus of this 3D fighter. The combat system is quite simple with X for normal
melee attacks and Y serving as the heavy melee and doing a combination of those
will form your normal attacks and you can block with B and even parry an attack
with the right timing of hitting B. Where the fighting gets interesting comes in
the form of the different Battle types and the Killer Moves that they bring to
the party. The Battle types are simply the “power” of the heroes you know from
the anime and show such as “Normal” which is your basic more fist fighting
style move set to Psychic allows you to use more telekinesis attacks like
Terrible Tornado and even Machine style which is based on Genos and his cyborg
attacks and so on. As you progress and raise your Hero Ranking, more Battle
types will unlock.
Each battle type can be upgraded through 5 levels, with each
level opening up an extra Killer Move slow to adding more normal attack
combination moves. Every battle you win will earn you XP that raises your own
player level and XP for your battle type. Killer Moves are powerful moves that
are triggered by using Left Trigger and pressing the corresponding face button
and each one has a cost of energy bars which gauge builds during the fight to a
maximum of 9. When you use a Killer move is can cost anything from low energy
number to requiring using more depending on how powerful the Killer Move is.
Killer Moves are learned by doing side missions with the various heroes who
inspired the battle mode so a you grow your battle type to the maximum 5th
level, you should learn enough killer Moves to fill your slots. Reaching Max
level of the Battle type will unlock the Mode Change for that type which gives
access to the Super Killer Move, a massive animated power move that if it lands
will do incredible damage. Best way to describe Mode Change is to think of how
Goku can go Super Saiyan but here it enables you to enter Change mode which for
a very short window allows you to trigger your Super Killer Move if you have
one or just do more attack damage until the Mode change energy is used up, which
is a relatively short space of time.
Mode change also allows your hero to switch to their “Mode
Change Costume and appearance” for the time that they are in that mode. More
and more cosmetic items are unlocked by completing side missions and story
missions so whilst you may start off just wearing a t-shirt and tracksuit
bottoms, after some time you will soon be dressing like a real hero and
literally in some cases as you unlock costume items by the iconic main roster
of characters themselves such as Saitama’s costume and having Genos’ cyborg
arms for the Machine A battle type. Now for me, I made and saved a different
look for each Battle type just to keep it nice and fresh but you can change
Battle type at any time outside of battle just by using the game menu. Sadly,
you can only have a single “Mode Change” look which is shared throughout every
battle type so of course I set it to Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta and had zero
regrets.
Main Story missions are given out by the Hero Association and
follow the same path of the anime show, most will simply have you share in the
action until the moment Saitama shows up to just…one punch them for the victory
but this is where I have my first disappointment with the game as not all the
iconic fights from the show are fully recreated. For example, when experiencing
the House of Evolution, the story will jump straight to the final fight against
Carnage Kabuto with only a very short fight against Mosquito Girl that skipped
her initial fight with Genos. Where in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot they recreated
almost every detail of the show and battle, a lot of the time the sequences are
cut down to the bare minimum dialogue exchange and a short battle which robs
what made the show bringing them to life so awesome.
Side missions pretty much come down to doing fights against
randomly generated monsters with modifiers to change up the battle so you may
have to defeat an enemy or enemy team in a certain amount of time in order to
claim victory. The battle environment can also play a factor in the fight as
item drops will be flown in by drones which can be picked up by the player or
the AI enemy to give them a short boost of attack or defence power or even to
replenish some health. You can also get help or partners from either randomly
created heroes or established story heroes depending on how the random lottery
goes. A lot of this game requires grinding through a multitude of these Side
missions which can become tedious sadly especially when at points, you will
need to earn enough “community helped” points in order to open the next main
story mission. You also need to plough through a lot of these in order to
maximise each battle types and to learn more killer moves as more are unlocked
by doing side missions with the main hero of that power type.
The grind does make me put the game down for a break as it
can get a bit samey once you have put together your own combinations of attacks
and every fight just becomes rinse and repeat. The fights will get a lot
tougher and they are tiered so you know which would be too easy or too
difficult depending on where you feel your hero is but the rewards also
increase so more money and experience will be earned by completing the tougher
fights. The grind does allow you to build up your hero though and work on your
battle types to find the one that suits you best, but it would have been more
fun to have more story missions mixed in along with the Hero Association
missions as you can only earn Hero Class Ranking points from main story and
Hero Association missions which can feel like another grind task amongst all
the others.
The combat system itself can also be fiddly as well with hit
detection around killer moves and especially blocking and countering often
falling foul of being based on animation rather than input based reactions.
Learning the range of a Killer Move is vital as you can believe you are about
to extend or complete a combo with a flashy Killer Move only to see it miss
completely and end up feeling rather flat. I found the countering system very
clumsy as well and it can be frustrating to just get punched to the sky when
you know you have timed your counter perfectly.
I really do like the combat in the game however, and
building my own battle type setup is huge fun and creating combinations that do
big damage is immensely satisfying. I love interacting with Saitama and friends
in the world and I even quite like the “online mode” which is one big shared
mode with other players of the game and you can see their own hero’s in the
world but I do wish that visiting the Hero Association HQ was less crowded with
other players all running about or standing where you need to access a mission
point. There is also an online Ranked Team battle mode where you and the heroes
you have met and unlocked can go up against other players but I really found
this to be clunky at times with many disconnections and rage quitting so I
tended to focus on the Single player content and RPG elements like decorating
my in game room and I am not kidding!
Ultimately Saitama is just a hero for fun which is exactly
what this game is, fun. With refinements and updates I feel the fighting system
can be polished a little more going forward and it really never stops being fun
to take control of Saitama for the brief missions you can and just ending
everything with one punch. There is certainly more than enough to immerse
yourself in if you are a fan of the show or the anime but the game relies a lot
on your assumed fandom to make it through all the grind the game will expect
and make players do to get through the game.
This is a great way to enjoy One Punch Man universe and
whilst it doesn’t have the same depth of say Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, there is
certainly enough here to give fans hours of enjoyment as they make their
journey towards Class S hero and it is always fun getting told off by Terrible
Tornado!
Director Matt Reeves has been busy in recent weeks letting fans peek behind the curtains at the next Batman film starring Robert Pattinson. First we got to see the Batsuit which I personally really really like and then some on-set photos revealed a possible ‘Bat-cycle’ as a stunt man in the Batsuit was preparing for a stunt.
Last night Matt Reeves chose to give us a sneak-peek at another iconic Batman element in the new Batmobile and I am again just loving the visual look for how this is shaping up:
I am genuinely excited by the running theme of the visual look Reeves has given his Batman so far from the suit to the Batmobile. I love that it looks less “Wayne Tech” made and instead definitely something I cam picture a young Bruce Wayne preparing to introduce his Batman to the world with. A custom souped up muscle car with one hell of an engine on the back and what looks like an afterburner which is so synonymous with the Batmobile. It looks practical, armoured and has a utilitarian vibe to it instead of smooth Wayne Industries forged look.
Imagine being a bad guy being chased by this thing or the Gotham PD seeing this for the first time in the dead of night?
Everything revealed and teased so far has be extremely excited for what Reeves has in store for his Batman and very intrigued to see the Bruce Wayne/Batman that Robert Pattinson brings to the big screen.
It’s time to review the Creative Pebble v2 Desktop Speakers.
Here is how Creative are describing the Pebble v2:
“We are taking Pebble, one of our favorite 2.0 desktop speakers, and making it even better! Introducing Pebble V2, a successor to the popular Pebble speaker – we are keeping its minimalistic design, and giving it USB-C connectivity for higher power output! If you are using older computers with USB Type-A ports, not to worry, a USB-C to USB-A converter is included for you. Pebble V2 also has a built-in gain switch to help amplify your audio so you can turn up your music and it will still be nothing short of astounding.’
Specifications
What’s in the box?
The box contains the speakers and a USB-C to USB-A dongle, and some paperwork.
A Closer Look
Final Thoughts
The Pebble v2 desktop speakers are small and lightweight so they don’t take up much room on your desk.
Connecting them to your computer is simply a case of plugging in the audio cable and then connecting the USB-C for power. If your computer doesn’t have a USB-C port on don’t worry, Creative have included a USB-C to USB-A converter in the box, so just use that.
Once you’ve done that all you need to do in turn the volume dial to switch on and select your desired volume. There is also a gain switch you can use to activate high gain mode, if you wish, which provides peak power up to 16W.
The speakers themselves are angled to 45 degrees so that the sound is aimed more at where your ears are rather then around your mid section like normal desktop speakers. This really adds to the experience and was a good design choice!
The sound quality on the Pebble v2 is very good and if you are looking for a reasonably priced set of desktop speakers then you should look (or rather listen) no further!
The Creative Pebble v2 Desktop Speakers are available now priced around £22.99.
We are finally here, the Series 12 finale for the 13th Doctor and it has been an interesting journey to reach this point from the New Years opening special of Spyfall Parts 1 and 2. So far this series has been big on teasing massive Doctor Who lore changing events as well as delicately playing with the little things such as the relationship of Team TARDIS to the Doctor. We have seen the return of The Master and the introduction of the “Ruth Doctor” with her very own identical TARDIS. So many things have been thrown up in the air for this final episode which quite frankly has a lot to deliver. I was both nervous and a little uncomfortable heading into ‘The Timeless Children” and now in the minutes after the credits rolled….I am not sure what to think of it.
*Spoiler Warning: There are major spoilers within this review due to there being no other way to discuss this finale episode. You have been warned*
I am genuinely sitting here typing this review just following the end credits to ‘The Timeless Children’ rolling on my TV and I have purposely avoided looking on social media to see the reactions of other fans to the series finale because, I am quite honestly, a little uncomfortable with how Chris Chibnall has wrapped up this series. One of my biggest fears and concerns for Series 12, which I have raised ever since “Fugitive of the Judoon” threw in perhaps, the biggest lore changing moment in the 57 year history of Doctor Who. Now previous show-runners in Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have also made big changes to Doctor Who lore but with Chris Chibnall it felt scary but also a little on the side of him not earning the “right” to make the changes that he has suddenly made in only his second series going by how poor his opening attempt for the 13th Doctor was.
This second part to the series finale following on from “Ascension of the Cybermen” ultimately comes down to two characters, The Doctor and The Master and this was very much The Master’s stage to perform on. Sacha Dhawan is absolutely incredible in this episode, as he has been in each of the episodes that featured The Master. His version of the Master is by far the most unhinged and threatening than previous ones, even the Harold Saxon Master played brilliantly by John Simm pales in comparison to the absolutely villainous persona of Dhawan’s Master. Bringing this character back was a risk considering how The Master had a rather satisfying “ending” with the 12th Doctor. But he is, if you pardon the pun, just masterful here as the episode opens with him threatening to kill all the humans and Ryan unless the Doctor go with him through the Boundary back to the ruins of Gallifrey in order for him to reveal the lie he claims is the reason why he raised the planet to the ground.
Now before we get there, and believe me there is a lot to say about what is revealed to The Doctor by The Master, we do need to look at the other element to the finale, the threat of the Cybermen lead by Ashad the Lone Cyberman. In Ascension of the Cyberman we saw Yaz and Graham left stranded on board the Cyberman Warship along with a group of the last humans in the universe whilst Ryan was left on the planet where the ‘Boundary’ was found, a portal that was leading to none other place than Gallifrey. Much of this story has the group on the Cybership desperately trying to escape and find their way back to the Doctor, lead by Yaz who has the “Doctor level” crazy idea of having the group wear Cyberman Armour, pretend to be them and steal a ship and get to the planet surface. Ashad is still determined to bring the Cybermen to their greatest glory by following the guidance of the Cyberium, the AI construct that if you remember from “The Haunting of Villa Diodati’ , fought so hard to not be captured by Ashad that it took over a human, manipulated the perception filter of the entire house and then even chose the Doctor as a better vessel than Ashad. But now, this AI that contains all the knowledge of the Cybermen is more than happy to do whatever it takes to make that dream a reality which is a little jarring to me.
Ashad is such an incredible character that successfully made the Cybermen a credible threat and a true monster for the Doctor but in typical Chris Chibnall fashion, and he was the sole writer for this final episode, that is almost undone by the fact that a bigger star joined the party, The Master. The Master invites Ashad to bring his Cyberarmy through the Boundary to Gallifrey, and offers him an alliance and when Ashad reveals that his true plan is to remove the organic components of the Cybermen to remove that one weakness and achieve full mechanisation whilst also removing all organic live in the the universe by using the “Death Particle” stored in his chest. This is the moment that Ashad loses what made him a superb enemy for me as The Master, on behalf of the audience, points out that Ashad’s great plan to simply to make the Cybermen nothing more than robots is just…..stupid. Instead he offers a better plan, to team with The Master and instead of using regular organic material, that they should use the remains of the Time Lord bodies that The Master has kept, creating a new race of Cyberman and Time Lord.
Reducing Ashad to nothing more than a cog in the grand scheme of The Master’s grand plan felt to me that he was just discarded far too easily. The Whole ‘Death Particle’ was only introduced to provide a lazy way to defeat the Cybermen considering Ashad never mentioned it during ‘Ascension of the Cybermen’ episode. Even the manner in which The Master invited Ashad to Gallifrey just to steal the Cyberium from him by using his shrink weapon and turning Ashad into a toy figure to me shows just how little time Chibnall has for characters once their story purpose is over. I loved the visuals of the Cybermen Warship landing on the ruins of the Citadel of the Time Lords and watching the execution squads hunt down Ryan and co on the planet surface was classic Cyberman, not to mention the design of the ‘CyberMasters’ combining classic Time Lord Headdress with Cyberman armour. Seeing Gallifrey in ruins is heartbreaking to see but it has an immediate impact when on screen and Jodie Whittaker has done an amazing job in showing The Doctor’s emotional reaction to is all through the season and especially this episode as The Master constantly taunts her about their childhood memories growing up on Gallifrey.
There was an interesting moment which saw Graham talking to Yaz as they sat waiting for their Cybersuits to be made ready with Graham turning to Yaz and doing the “if this goes badly” speech telling her that she is the best human he knows. Now I still feel as though we could see a reduction in the size of Team TARDIS heading into the next series, ever since Series 11 my money has been on Yaz to become the true and only companion for the 13th Doctor. Ryan did very little in this episode other than find his Call of Duty love of weapons again as he happily threw a basketball size bomb destroying two squads of Cybermen and celebrating his “swish” aim. But overall, they had so little impact on this episode that if we still have Team TARDIS as it is currently going into Series 13, I really struggle to see how it can continue because other than Yaz, the rest are dead-weight in nearly every story outside of comedy bits and forgetful character moments.
This naturally brings me to the big story moment of the finale and the one that has been hyped up every since The Master made his return, the lie he discovered that made him destroy Gallifrey and the Time Lords. “Everything changes” were his final words to the Doctor and us the audience at the end of Episode 9 and it left a lot of fans and myself, feeling more than a little anxious as to what he was going to reveal. Taking the Doctor to the heart of the Time Lord Citadel, to the Matrix which is a repository of all Time Lord Knowledge and memories to trap her within a paralysis cage, The Master takes The Doctor’s conscious into the Matrix starting with the wonderful line of dialogue “are you suffering comfortably, then I shall begin”.
This really is the moment Chris Chibnall has been leading us to all of Series 12, to reveal whatever it was that would explain why The Master destroyed the Time Lords and raised Gallifrey to the ground and who the “Ruth Doctor” was. The Master begins to narrate the tale of someone who belonged to a race of people who existed on Gallifrey before the Time Lords, the first of Gallifrey’s people. This woman called Tecteun, was the first to leave the planet to explore other worlds and had discovered a monument on a strange planet that was a gateway to another dimension and universe. Beneath the monument was a child all alone, Tectuen chose to adopt this child as her own and they travelled the stars together before returning to Gallifrey after some years. Tecteun started to perform experiments to find out where the child came from but could find no answers. That was until an accident between the child and another child, which resulted in her falling off a cliff where she was discovered by Tecteun who witness something unbelievable the child….regenerated.
The great lie of the Time Lords is that their ability to regenerate was not something they evolved to do but instead it was something taken from a child from another universe and simply added to their genetic make up following years of experiments performed on the mysterious child to unlock the secret of regeneration. But Chris Chibnall takes this one stage further by tying in the Doctor with The Master revealing that the very child that was found and had the ability to regenerate was actually The Doctor and furthermore, the child had the natural ability to regenerate without limit and that when Tecteun finally discovered the genetic secret to regeneration and tested it on herself and found she also could now regenerate, she made the decision to implant this ability into her own people who would then go on to discover time travel and found the Time Lord civilisation, a decision was then made to force a limit of only 12 regenerations per Time Lord.
Having taking some time to process this revelation, I have to admit I am both relieved and disappointed at the same time. If this is true, and again, this could all simply be put down to a devious lie by The Master to try and break the Doctor should Chibnall or another future show-runner decide to U-Turn on it, then it leaves a lot of annoying questions left instead of fun ones for fans. For me the very fact that the story of the Doctor is about someone who refused to sit back and adhere to the Time Lord policy of non interference and chose to run away from Gallifrey and the Time Lords, taking a TARDIS and exploring all of time and space to battle evil and monsters wherever the Doctor was needed is now almost spoiled for me.
Chibnall in this move has turned ‘The Doctor’ into MARVEL’s Winter Soldier almost, a being that was used by a secret organisation of Time Lord authority known as ‘The Division’ and sent out to actually interfere in other civilisations who would then have all the memories of those missions and entire life spans wiped from memory and The Matrix as well to keep it a secret from Time Lord society itself. So really what is left, is a child who is not from this universe, someone who is older than Time Lord Civilisation whose genetic ability to regeneration was copied and introduced to a race of people who then continued to use the Timeless Child for secret missions, wiping entire lives away until we have The Doctor who we can only surmise was forced to regenerate back into a child who then had the lives that we now know has lead to the 13th Doctor.
But fans are now left to ask questions such as what was given to the 12th Doctor in order to have “a new regeneration cycle” when according to this truth, The Doctor has had many many life cycles and countless regenerations over centuries. This reveal explains why there is a “Ruth Doctor” and why the 13th Doctor has no memory of her but then why does the “Ruth Doctor” have her own Blue Box TARDIS? Does that mean that all these other forgotten “Doctors” had the iconic TARDIS that we know and love and has it always been in the form of a Police box even before the 1st Doctor as we recognise him, stole it from Gallifrey and the Chameleon circuit became stuck with it after arriving on Earth in the 1960s?
Now I will admit that a lot of this may not be any concern to some Doctor Who fans but if like me, the 57 year lore of this show and all the intricacies of the stories told over almost six decades and the 13 versions of The Doctor is something that you do care about, this mess of a lore change and reveal leaves far too many plot holes for me to just comfortably say to myself “oh OK, fair enough if The Doctor is good with it all then fine by me”. There could be an argument that all this has done is add more secrets to the Time Lords who already had plenty of them, but is just niggling away at my fandom heart for the show that we have so many loose ends and very little explanations given how quickly the story just moved passed it and into the closing moments.
The pace at which the story switched from the reveal above to the end sequence of events with the humans and Team TARDIS sent off in a different TARDIS to return to Earth by the Doctor whilst she made the only choice she felt she had, to take the one final bomb which could only be manually detonated, to trigger the Death Particle in the “Toy Lone Cyberman”. Her hope was to sacrifice herself in order to wipe out all organic life left on Gallifrey, which would take out the CyberMaster Race, the remaining Time Lord corpses, The Master and herself. Now of course the Doctor still could not pull the trigger to detonate the bomb when the time came, something The Master both knew and was letdown by, until that is the Guardian of the Boundary appeared, replacing the Doctor which allowed her to grab yet another TARDIS and escape whilst the bomb was detonated and seemingly wiping out all organic life and the bad guys on Gallifrey.
The ending felt so rushed and anticlimactic to me, in no small part to the mess it left the Doctor Who lore in my head. The finale went from undoing decades of show lore to a lame cheesy set up for what will probably be either the 2020 Christmas special but more likely the 2021 New Years day special when Doctor Who returns in “Revolution of the DALEKs” which will begin with the 13th Doctor in prison for life charged by the Judoon for the crime committed by “Ruth Doctor” during ‘Fugitive of the Judoon’.
Ultimately how you feel about this series finale in ‘The Timeless Children’ will come down to how much you care about Doctor Who lore and for me, this failed to live up to the hype of what Chris Chibnall has been teasing throughout Series 12. We are left with a Doctor who is no longer a Time Lord or from Gallifrey, which is now itself is now destroyed and gone, which following the brilliance of the 50th Anniversary Special and the 11th Doctor’s final moments actually feels quite sad. Having to wait until the end of the year or start of 2021 to see what happens next is a long time to sit and stew over what has happened in this finale.
It might take me that long to really decide where I stand with what Chibnall has done with Series 12 which ironically is exactly where I was this time in 2019 at the end of Series 11, worried about where Doctor Who is going under the stewardship of Chris Chibnall.
