To celebrate the release of The Nice Guys on DVD and Blu-ray, we’re giving away three copies on Blu-ray.
Holland March (Ryan Gosling – The Big Short, La La Land) is a wise-cracking, down-on-his-luck private eye in 1977 Los Angeles, and a useless single parent to sweet and sassy daughter, Holly, who takes care of him. Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe – Man Of Steel, The Mummy) is a hired enforcer and debt collector who hurts people for a living. Fate turns them into unlikely partners after a young woman named Amelia (Margaret Qualley – TV’s The Leftovers) mysteriously disappears following the production of her ‘experimental artistic film’. Healy and March soon learn the hard way that some dangerous people are also looking for Amelia, and anyone else who gets involved in the case seems to be winding up dead. Before they know it, their investigation escalates into pandemonium, with dead bodies, wild parties and gun-toting car chases galore.
From the producer (Joel Silver) that brought you Lethal Weapon, The Matrix and Predator and genius director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3, The Predator) comes the most unlikely of comedic duos in a film that flaunts as much exhilarating action and slap-stick comedy as it does banter and wit. Complemented by an unforgettably funny breakout performance from newcomer Angourie Rice (Spider-man: Homecoming), THE NICE GUYS has a distinctively unique comedy that will have you laughing out loud over and over again.
How to enter to win
We have three copies of The Nice Guys on Blu-ray to giveaway.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter below:
To celebrate the release of The Walking Dead Season 6 on Blu-ray and DVD, we’re giving away three copies on Blu-ray along with a special merchandise pack with each.
In the new reality the survivors have found themselves in, there are also new dangers, new opportunities and new complexities to face. To claim their place in this newfound landscape, the group must become the threat themselves, as terrifying as any of the adversaries they’ve encountered. Plus don’t miss the ultimate cliffhanger that everyone’s talking about…
We even have an exclusive behind the scenes clip to share with you:
How to enter to win
We have three copies of The Walking Dead Season 6 Blu-ray set and merchandise to giveaway. The merchandise packs include a fitbit, tshirt, beanie and magnet.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter below:
English actor Andrew Lincoln is best known for his portrayal of Rick Grimes, the lead character on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead, which has run for six seasons. We have an exclusive Q&A with him.
His first major role was in the BBC drama This Life followed by roles in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers and Mark in the 2003 romantic comedy film Love Actually among many others…
Growing up, do you remember the first zombie films and the ‘video nasties?’
I do remember them. I remember I Spit on your Grave and Driller Killer and I remember that there was this sort of subversive cult. There were whisperings of these certain VHS tapes and some were apocryphal myths. Some films were said to be snuff movies, when they clearly weren’t.
Do you remember any zombie films, specifically?
When I was a teenager I used to go round to my friend’s house, James, a dear friend from school and he had The Evil Dead films. He was very keyed into that genre. We have a common history of vampires and Mary Shelley but the zombie mythology, specifically, comes from America and I wasn’t as keyed in to that. Obviously, I have become a part of it now. I would say that the horror movies that spoke to me as a teenager were Jaws and Don’t Look Now, which was huge. I think [Don’t Look Now director] Nic Roeg is such a different kind of filmmaker. That film is so challenging and, editorially, he is really clever. It was more a meditation on grief, like a lot of horror movies. It is about fear, death and bereavement.
The sad thing is that a film like that probably wouldn’t get made today…
You are absolutely right. It’s a very interesting point. Where would that market be and where would that sweet spot be now in current filmmaking? I am not sure. It is probably on television now, for that kind of film. It is an interesting thing, a question to be posed. Would it be made? There will always be auteurs that will get films made, but who is going to stump up the cash to make something like that? You can imagine the pitch: ‘It’s about a couple that lost their child and they go to Venice and they are haunted by it.’ It doesn’t make any sense but I think it is a beautiful, beautiful love story, really.
Why do you think The Walking Dead has proved so popular?
There are whole conventions given over to this genre and it is a remarkable thing. I don’t know. My first thought would be Frank Darabont who was instrumental in identifying that there was a niche market that hadn’t been explored on television and he decided to write something that I had never read before, where the first episode was like a silent movie. I had never read a pilot quite like it. And then I think a lot has to be said for [comic book creator] Robert Kirkman. He has written source material that has lasted for over 12 years now and which continues to have a voracious market. So that obviously has good storytelling — to be able to hold a very savvy readership. Those two things — one of the most pre-eminent storytellers in Hollywood and source material that has had longevity — combined with having Gale Anne Hurd, one of the most amazing producers in Hollywood. Then, also, shooting on film had a huge impact. And it was a great original idea to make something was six hours of a continuous movie and a continuous story that is ever-changing and which keeps reinventing itself through the loss of characters and the movement of trying to find a safe haven. It is lightning in a bottle. Sometimes it happens and maybe the time and the culture were right for it to capture people’s imaginations. It feels like the media fuelled it as well; social media really took off as this was growing. The [fans’] ownership rights on it became more tribal as well, and maybe that built the cult status into something bigger.
When you play a character for six years, do you find that the writers start incorporating parts of your personality into the role?
You are right. All the characters I have played in 23 years of acting, part of it them are me and my imagination. What happens when you do a long-running TV show, certainly, with this where there is a plethora of really talented actors, is that we riff a bit and we improvise and we see things in off-cuts of scenes that surprise the writers or the show runners. And they go, ‘We’ll look at that,’ and it germinates into a storyline two seasons down the road. So I think if you throw things out there, certainly with the quality of the writers that we have got and the sort of fastidiousness in the way Scott Gimple runs the edit, I think you are absolutely right. People spot things that will be quite interesting to pursue further down the line.
How do you think that Rick Grimes has changed across the six years you’ve played him?
He has changed enormously since the first guy that I woke up with in the hospital. And that is one of the enduring appeals of playing the part; their environment forms these people. Is it nature or is it nurture? That is the eternal question that is thrown into this crucible. What is learned, what is already there? That is the interesting thing about the father and the son. He [the son] has fewer things to hold onto from the old world so perhaps his adapting into this new world is less painful than someone who has been anchored in what came before. For me, it is a really interesting thing to explore. Rick has changed a great deal. I love the fact that he is almost replicated. He was almost channelling Shane [Walsh, played by Jon Bernthal] in Season 5, while he was at odds with him in Season 2. He was the sort of moral high ground, or the old moral code, and now he has adapted just this last episode. In the returning [Season 6] mid-season premier, he has recalibrated his leadership again. He has had to. He has admitted he was wrong and now we stand at the beginning of a potentially civilised nation, a real civilisation. So he has got hope again.
What are the conflicts that abound in Season 6?
Our show needs thrills and spills and jeopardy. There is also nuance, of course, but that is something that is very appealing. You will see in a certain episode that it is almost the first time that we have ever tonally changed the show to such a large degree. It is much more about hanging with these people. What is it like to be with them [in a more civilised environment]? What are we fighting for? Romance? Love? Laughter? Future? It’s about the beginnings of culture again, and how do soldiers do that? Maybe we are a little early in the show for a comedy of manners [laughs] but we have a little bit of that in a certain episode.
Do you enjoy the action scenes? Rick is a badass…
I love it. And the people I trained with at RADA think it is hilarious; I am classically trained and yet I wear cowboy boots and a Stetson and I shoot zombies for a living. I am a zombie-slayer so yes, it is [hilarious]. People often say, ‘Do you think it struggles to break out of the genre of horror?’ And I say, ‘It is not a horror; it is a Western. That’s what we do.’ This is like an apocalyptic Western. We shoot it like a Western. There is a very classical Western theme throughout it. One of my favourite movies is The Magnificent Seven. One of our most recent episodes is our version of The Magnificent Seven. We get to play and do crazy stuff, daily, and it changes. It is not like procedural dramas that I have done before where you know that there’s a murder, it needs to be solved, there is a side story, a love affair. This is not like one of those law shows, which is maybe why people engage with it. It is stripped of everything and it is wild. It is the Wild West!
Did you grow up watching a lot of Westerns?
The things on a Saturday that we used to tune into were very American, The A-Team, Knight Rider. Also, I loved Blake’s 7, and Star Trek. All of those things I dug. But then, of course, it became about the language of film as I got more into drama as an idea of making a living. Then I started eating up all the ’70s and ’80s indie East coast filmmaking in America.
The ’70s was a golden age of American filmmaking…
I think so. Certainly political filmmaking had a real fervour. What really attracted me was the fact that there was a moral imperative behind a lot of filmmaking, which is something that we need to re-engage with.
What moments in Season 6 fan might fans turn to and re-watch on DVD or Blu-ray?
I think Episode 3. I love that, with Glenn [Rhee, played by Steven Yeun]. And Michael Slovis, the first time he directed for us; he is a very established brilliant DoP (Director of Photography) on Breaking Bad and a great director in his own right. He came and he just nailed that episode, visually, and made it incredibly arresting. In terms of storytelling, I thought it was brilliant. Also, I always love the season premiers with all the scale and ambition. I think Scott [Gimple] has been fantastic at that. What I loved about Scott is that he went, ‘Right, we are not apologising for the fact that this a zombie show. It is full of zombies.’ I will say that the ‘back eight’ [episodes; each season has 16] is one of the strongest back eights that we have done. And the returning episode was amazing, for me, just because it felt like a combination of all the things that the show does as well. It is a thrill ride with big epic, action sequences. It was a coming together. It was very emotional but also it marked the end of a certain phase in Rick’s leadership and it was a rebirth. I will say that the final episode this season is just amazing. We leave the show in a certain place and we do something that we have never done before. When I read it, it shocked me to the core and the same when we were filming it. I think it is going to upset a lot of people but in a brilliant way. It is going to be a very extraordinary season finale.
A number of TV shows really shock their audiences these days…
It is wonderful because you can reward fans for loyalty by shocking them. Rhythmically, it is brilliant as well. It also helps as an actor. I didn’t realise that I would ever play something for six years. You come in with six years of history with an audience who sit there with that knowledge and it takes the pressure off somewhat and makes it more real in a sense. You do your utmost to not disclose how you feel. That is one of the gifts of doing stuff with a brilliant ensemble cast who are really committed and who love the show. It is exciting because Jeffrey Dean Morgan has joined the thing and he emailed me the other day and said, ‘I am so excited to be around people that are so creative, so up for doing something and pushing it.’
When you do conventions and meet fans of The Walking Dead, are there certain moments from across the seasons that always crop up and that they always want to talk about?
Yes. Laurie [Holden, playing Andrea Harrison] dying and that reaction. Hershel Greene [played by Scott Wilson]. All the big deaths. There is Sophia [Peletier played by Madison Lintz] coming out of the barn, and the killing of Shane. Basically, people recall the big deaths. People try and put their finger on why that is. It is a kind of endurance test watching this because it’s about people dealing with trauma. If people buy in to it, which they do and they love it and identify with certain characters, then they can’t help but be moved by those characters dying. Plus, the Governor [David Morrissey]. Everyone likes a baddie going down [laughs].
How do you feel Season 6 compares to previous seasons, in terms of its pacing?
Because I don’t watch it, I am not a particularly good person to ask that question to but I do know that it does feel like a tale of two mid-seasons. It leads over from last season and, chapter-wise, I think Scott writes close to a narrative that is honouring the comic book. And so sometimes the chapters can end mid-season like this one. That’s very much the end of a chapter that has probably spilled over from when Rick arrived at Alexandria towards the end of last season. So that is the way to look at it rather than season to season. But I would say that the second half [of Season 6] is much more kinetic. The first is more stately, and much more about the gang looking inwards. The second half is much more about looking outside at a much bigger universe.
Do the writers ever give you fake scripts with fake deaths? They are well known for doing that on Game of Thrones, for example…
I think they do for spoiler concerns. But Stephen Yeun told me that they were going to do a fake, or at least he wasn’t dead, and then I read Episode 3 and I called him up and said, ‘Dude, you ought to call and speak to your reps because it says that you die.’ It was the real deal. I went, ‘Seriously. I think this could be a problem.’ A lot of people on set were really grieving because it wasn’t common knowledge for quite some time.
Do you watch the prequel, Fear the Walking Dead, or would that ruin things for you?
No. I have met all of the cast, and they are lovely, and great actors. We met them all at Comic-Con. I am very focussed on just doing this, and there is something to be said about keeping isolated. We [as characters] are isolated and we don’t know certain things and if there is a common mythology I don’t want to know things that Rick shouldn’t know. I just haven’t had an opportunity to watch it but I know the lead actors’ work and I admire it very much.
The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season is out now on Blu-ray™ and DVD, courtesy of Entertainment One
Ubisoft has today released a new trailer for its upcoming open-world third-person hacking simulator, Watch Dogs 2.
The Watch Dogs 2 Story Trailer introduces us to Marcus Holloway as he is being scouted by the Dedsec crew to join its ranks. As Marcus joins Dedsec, we’re introduced to some of its members: Sitara, Josh, Wrench, and Horatio.
The Dedsec crew then work together in order to shut down any plans of the power-hungry Blume CTO, Dusan Nemec, in order to restore power to the citizens of San Francisco. These plans include backroom deals to trade our private information, massive-scale data manipulation, rigged elections, weapons programs, spying into the homes of citizens, and more.
Aside from sitting behind computers, the trailer shows Marcus and his crew adventuring through San Francisco to hack, shoot, and drive their way through the city. The trailer even shows a member of the original Watch Dogs crew, Raymond “T-Bone” Kenney, joins the Dedsec crew.
Watch Dogs 2 is scheduled to release on 15th November on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
With all PlayStation 4 players will be granted a 30-day exclusive access to all the post launch downloadable content.
2K and Hangar 13 have released Mafia III – The World of New Bordeaux – Weapons, the latest in a series of videos detailing a variety of exciting features in Mafia III.
In Mafia III – The World of New Bordeaux – Weapons, learn how Lincoln Clay’s years of military weapons training are called into action at home in New Bordeaux. Everything from firearms to explosives are put to use as Lincoln fights to take down the Marcano family in Mafia III.
Capcom has released another hard-hitting update today for Street Fighter V. The update includes Urien, the sixth post-launch character to be added to the roster this year, as well as a ton of other exciting content including new game modes and features like Daily Targets, Versus CPU mode, and new environmental stage KO areas. These additions are available to all players as free content, and Urien can be purchased using in-game earned Fight Money or real currency.
Urien
First introduced in Street Fighter III: 2ndImpact, Urien returns to Street Fighter Vdonning a pinstriped suit and a sinister smile. His unwavering confidence and tyrannical tendencies are tailor-made for menacing players who want their opponents to be outshined by Urien’s “Dominating Light.” In addition to his high-damage combos, he uses his slow-moving projectiles to pressure opponents and control the pace of the match. Urien can be purchased now for 100,000 Fight Money or £4.99 / $5.99 / €5.99 real currency. Daily Targets
New Daily Targets are available starting today to help players earn extra Fight Money and purchase additional content on a regular basis. Each Daily Target has a time limit, so players will need to log-in to cash in on these. Rewards range between 100 and 5000 Fight Money.
Versus CPU mode
Versus CPU mode is added as another option to standard Versus mode. Now, players can sharpen their skills before challenging others online by slugging it out offline against the computer, with varying difficulty options.
New Environmental Stage KO’s
New environmental stage KO’s have been added for all stages that were available at launch, so players can look forward to finding new ways to expand the playing field and humiliate their opponents.
Additional features included in the September update:
Fighter Profiles are updated and stat tracking will now go live, so players can further dissect their gameplay to find and eliminate bad habits or simply show off their skills to friends.
Colors 3-10 on default, and battle costumes for all confirmed DLC characters will now be included for all Season Pass holders.
Existing and future premium costumes will now include colors 3-10 when purchased. This will be retroactive for those that have already purchased the premium costumes.
Color bundles are available for purchase with Fight Money or via the Steam and PlayStation stores. Content and pricing is listed below:
Original Character Default Color Pack (3-10) – 85k FM/$4.99/ €4.99 / £3.99
Original Character Story Color Pack (3-10) – 85k FM/$4.99 / €4.99 / £3.99
DLC Character Default Color Pack (3-10) – 40k FM/$1.99 / €1.99 / £1.69
DLC Character Story Color Pack (3-10) – 40k FM/$1.99/ €1.99 / £1.69
Miscellaneous gameplay enhancements and bug fixes.
Holy One Night Only! Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is coming in to cinemas nationwide for one night only on 17th October. Starring the legendary Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin) and Julie Newmar (Catwoman) this is an evening not to be missed.
The film will also be available on Blu-ray and DVD 7th November and Digitally from 24th October.
It’s back to the 1960s as Batman and Robin spring into action when Gotham City is threatened by Batman’s most-evil opponents – The Penguin, The Joker, Riddler and Catwoman. The four Super-Villains have combined their wicked talents to hatch a plot so nefarious that the Dynamic Duo will need to go to outer space (and back) to foil their arch enemies and restore order in Gotham City.
“Those Dastardly Desperados” featurette – The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin and Riddler are impossible not to watch! Those Dastardly Desperados explores how these fiends became more than just antagonists in a Batman story; they became icons in American pop culture.
A Classic Cadre of Voices” featurette – A new talented cast of actors join Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar in Batman: Return of The Caped Crusaders. Go behind the scenes and witness the vocal techniques and timing needed to deliver a classic Bat-Comedy
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders pays homage to the original Batman series, reuniting Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar as they reprise their roles as Batman, Robin and Catwoman.
Today at this year EGX the Square Enix Collective has today announced its latest game Forgotton Anne – in a worldwide exclusive at EGX, running Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th September.
Forgotton Anne is a beautiful story-driven, hand-crafted 2D cinematic adventure about the Forgotton Realm, where all mislaid items from the human world – old toys, letters, single socks – end up. With the help of the Forgotlings – creatures composed of these mislaid objects – Anne and Master Bonku, the only humans trapped in this realm, are on a quest to find their way home…
In partnership with PlayStation, Square Enix Collective revealed this latest high quality and diverse title live on the PlayStation Access stage at 13:00 BST today like now. Those unable to attend EGX can watch a recording of the reveal on the PlayStation Access YouTube channel.
Developed by Copenhagen-based ThroughLine Games, Forgotton Anne will be playable throughout EGX on the Square Enix Collective booth, located in the Rezzed Zone. The game will be released on PlayStation, Xbox One and PC in 2017.
Square Enix Collective continues to demonstrate its diverse and quality catalogue of titles, with four additional playable games on the EGX show floor, including upcoming Black The Fall, Oh My Godheads and Tokyo Dark, as well as recently-released The Turing Test.
“Square Enix Collective is chuffed to partner with ThroughLine Games to bring Forgotton Anne to PC and consoles”, said Phil Elliott, creator and project lead on Square Enix Collective. “With its striking mix of Japanese-influenced animation, strong narrative-driven gameplay and world-class musical score – courtesy of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra’s game debut – we’re sure Forgotton Anne will impress gamers throughout EGX and all the way to next year’s launch”.
With the legendary hitman John Wick is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins guild, he’s back in John Wick: Chapter two
Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers. We will have a teaser trailer for John Wick: Chapter Two soon I cant wait for the second film at the first was totally awesome.
John Wick: Chapter Two is released in UK cinemas on 17th February 2017
PLAY Expo Manchester, the largest video game expo in the North of England, has announced today a series of specialist gaming stages that will feature for the duration of the expo and provide visitors with a weekend of non-stop gaming attractions!
Taking place at EventCity, Manchester, 8th and 9th October,PLAY Expo will have the gaming stages running in addition to the latest games to play, the Red Bull 5G Tournament, VR attractions, merchandising stalls, table-top gaming area, retro-gaming action and so much more, providing a packed schedule of entertainment, with unmissable, interactive attractions for gamers everywhere.
Powered by WiFi Wars and Gamerdisco, the Main Stage will play host to an unrivalled array of industry panels, talks, and perhaps most exciting of all, visitors will have the opportunity to take part in the legendary, multiplayer live show Wifi Wars! Winner of the Time Out coveted ‘Not to be Missed’ award and hailed as a Top Ten ‘Geek Night Out’ by Metro, WiFi Wars is hosted by Steve McNeil (Dara O’Briain’s: Go 8-Bit) and Chris Slight (Sky News) and promises a mad-cap show full of comedy and interactive gaming for all ages!
The Fighting Stage powered by MBA (Manchester Battle Arena) offers a chance for visitors to take part in fighting game tournaments throughout the weekend. With exhibition and casual play available, gaming pugilists can practise to their hearts content and if they’re feeling brave, for a small entry fee of just £5, enter the tournament for their chance to win a share of the £500 prize pot available!
Powered by the prestigious online audio magazine and podcast, The Sound Architect, The Sound Stage plans to offer a fascinating insight into the world of gaming audio, with an eclectic mix of panels, presentations, Q&A’s and much more. Guests to the stage include the award winning, BAFTA nominated composer David Housden, Voice Actor Jay Britton (heard recently in The Turing Test), Sound Designer for the VR phenomenon Eve: Valkyrie, Ash Read and Matt Griffin, composer of Unbox from Prospect Games.
PLAY Expo warmly invites Cosplay fans of Great Britain and beyond to the show! Powered by Rock Band Rivals from Harmonix, the Rock Band Rivals Cosplay Stage will be hosting a number of events throughout the weekend including a masquerade on both days with prizes for the best characters as chosen by our panel of judges! In addition, guests to the expo will have the opportunity to build-a-band and take part in the Rock Band Rivals tournament, as well as previewing the new game before general release! Cosplay specialists Dark Cleo Productions will be organising the stage events and running the Cosplay masquerade. Bound to be the most eye-opening part of PLAY Expo, plenty of press and magazine photographers will be at the event, and the expo encourages everyone to come in character should they feel so inclined!
“As we get ever closer to PLAY Expo, gamers can see just how busy a weekend we are planning for the event, certain to be our biggest expo ever,” said Andy Brown, Director for Replay Events. “We’re so excited to be offering gamers the chance to play the latest games, but that’s only part of the picture. At PLAY Expo, we’re offering so much more to see and do, providing a compelling and truly unmissable weekend of gaming based entertainment for fans of all ages.”
Returning for its fifth year, PLAY Expo Manchester is a highly popular two-day video game event, ideal for all the family and offering visitors an unrivalled experience with features, tournaments, exhibitors, industry guests, panels and so much more. Celebrating gaming and popular culture, the expo uniquely caters for casual fans and dedicated gamers alike and promises to be an event not to be missed.
The lines between entertainment mediums can really blur when it comes to video games and that has never been more the case than with this latest release from 505 Games. Reading the synopsis of this game, you can be forgiven for expecting the usual thriller mystery game where you find clues, solve the crime and be the hero. But I was not prepared for what perhaps is the most surprising gaming experiences of this year, and Virginia certainly took me by surprise.
Virginia puts you the player in the role of Anne Tarver, newly graduated FBI agent who is assigned her fist case to investigate the disappearance of Lucas Fairfax in the quiet town of Kingdom in Virginia. The player will experience the investigation through the eyes of Anne but right from the very start, I knew this was not going to be the usual mystery solving game that I am used to, and it was that first surprise that began to shape my time with Virginia.
The very first thing you are asked to do as the player, is to simply press the action button, now normally this is simply following the ‘Press A to start’ option as almost every game uses in order to get started by for Virginia the player is instead asked to ‘Press A to take a trip’. At the time of playing this for the first time, this little detail didn’t appear to be anything more than just a quirky change of text but as with so much about this title, the little details can be the most intriguing aspects to the game. Once you get to the main menu there is a great addition of reading a letter from the creators, where the history of the game and those responsible for its development explain what it took to bring Virginia to life and serves almost like the forward and dedication you would find in a book and gives a nice insight into the people who made the game.
The introduction and opening title sequence to Virginia plays very much like any Netflix or HBO television show would open each episode. The music helps set the mood of a serious and dark undertones and it really is the music to Virginia that drives the experience for me, composed by Lyndon Holland, the music sets the emotional tone of the story, the characters and each scenario so powerfully that I can only really compare it another game that uses music in much the same way, Journey. The musical score is very much needed because Virginia has no narration or spoken dialogue throughout which at first was a little confusing but the further into the story it simply showcased how tremendous the use of music and great animation was to telling the story.
Visually the game has a very retro feel with characters only having basic features but thanks to really impressive animation, the emotion in each scene from the characters involved is clearly defined and so expressive that dialogue is not necessary for the player to understand what is happening as the story unfolds. There is limited player interaction which leaves the gameplay feeling very much as though it is on rails, with it action button presses simply there to move the story forward. You can only move where the scene permits you to go and you can only interact with things needed to trigger the next scene. The focus is very much on experiencing the story through the eyes of Anne, and though you do feel as though you are simply along for the ride, the story and how it is told is really riveting.
The influences from iconic 90’s TV shows are evident throughout the story from X-Files to Twin Peaks. With movement very much on rails, early in the game it can be quite confusing to have the scenes abruptly change right in front of you. One moment you are in your supervisor’s office being handed a case file and suddenly you are walking down a corridor which then cuts to walking down stairs to then suddenly knocking on the door of the FBI agent you have been assigned with to investigate the missing person case. It does take a while to get used to this style of scene change and it can be confusing on your first play through but it gives the game a real TV show feel.
For me Virginia plays more like an interactive story experience than an actual video game and that really is its strength. Not having any dialogue forces the player to rely on their observational skills to help piece together what is going on along with the playing out of each scene. The story has many twists and turns as the investigation into Lucas’s disappearance unfolds around the different characters linked to the case as well as the player experiencing it all through the eyes of Anne Tarver. You quickly become engrossed in the story as each revelation pulls you in more and more, and noticing the little details in the sections that you can interact with the game world enhance this greatly, so it is worth taking the time when the game lets you, to explore every scene and locations.
Virginia really is a great example of showing how when the lines blur between mediums like video games and books, TV and films, it can deliver a refreshing and satisfying story telling experience that only the interactivity of a video game can deliver. With VR becoming more mainstream for gaming, this is an experience I would expect to become more frequent but the creators of Virginia have certainly set the bar high for how this formula can work. I loved how the story and the mystery being told without spoken words between the characters became a performance enriched by a superb musical score which completely managed to create a rewarding world to be a part of.
For such a low price Virginia game me a really enjoyable time that I was honestly not expecting to have. It is a testament to the creators who have managed to merge so many entertainment styles together to deliver a truly refreshing and different game. It has many secrets to discover that it will take more than a couple of play-throughs to collect them all as well as trying to see if you missed anything in the story telling.
With silly season now kicking off with big blockbuster titles being released almost weekly, Virginia is a great change of pace for those who appreciate great story telling and mysteries.
AMC released today the official key art for the highly anticipated “The Walking Dead” Season 7, featuring Negan (portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his infamous sidekick Lucille.
The series returns on Sunday, October 23 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
The first half of Season 7 sees the group fractured, broken, bereaved, and picking up the pieces while living under the thumb of oppression. Negan will have successfully brought the survivors under his will, brutally convincing them to live under his rules with a deadly and horrific example of what happens if they don’t.
“The Walking Dead” is executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero and Tom Luse.
To celebrate the release of A Hologram for the King on DVD and Blu-ray, we’re giving away three copies on Blu-ray.
Academy Award winner Tom Hanks (Bridge Of Spies, Inferno, Sully) is a desperate man searching for a way to get his life together in a strange and foreign land in A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING.
Cultures collide as a washed-up, desperate businessman Alan Clay (Hanks) is sent on a business trip to Saudi Arabia where he hopes to sell a state-of-the-art 3D holographic meeting system to the nation’s King. After losing his house and being divorced by his wife, Alan needs nothing more than for this deal to go through without a hitch. But once he begins work he quickly learns that he will have to adapt to a different culture and way of doing business in order to be successful. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (newcomer Alexander Black) who shows him how best to adapt to the Saudi culture. After suffering a panic attack in his hotel room, Alan meets a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury, Homeland) whose presence has a profound effect on the American, leading him to question the path his life has taken.
Adapted from Dave Eggers’ (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, The Circle) novel of the same name, A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING marks the second collaboration between Hanks and visionary director Tom Tykwer following their pairing on Cloud Atlas. With another tour-de-force performance from cinema’s greatest everyman at its heart, the film serves as inherent evidence that sometimes you have to change your scenery to change your life.
How to enter to win
We have three copies of A Hologram for the King on Blu-ray to giveaway.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter below:
The speedster comes racing back to homes, as The Flash season 2 comes to Blu-ray™ and DVD. The Flash stars Grant Gustin (Glee, Arrow), Danielle Panabaker (Sky High), Candice Patton (The Game, The Craigslist Killer) and Tom Cavanagh (Ed, Yogi Bear). To celebrate the HE release of season 2 we’re giving you the chance to win a Blu-ray™ copy!
Until recently, 25-year-old Barry Allen (series star GRANT GUSTIN) lived a normal life as a forensic scientist in the Central City Police department. Barry is deeply in love with his best friend, Iris West (series star CANDICE PATTON), daughter of Barry’s surrogate father, Detective Joe West (series star JESSE L. MARTIN), who adopted Barry 14 years ago, after Barry’s mother was murdered and his father, Henry Allen (recurring guest star JOHN WESLEY SHIPP), received a life sentence for the crime — though Barry maintains that a mysterious “Man in Yellow” was responsible.
How to enter
To be in with a chance of winning this brilliant prize, simply enter below.
