Les Misérables is quite possibly the
best novel based, turned musical play, turned film, ever. Alright, that might
be a bit of a small category area, but it’s still pretty damn good. It has
something for everyone and even the most masculine of people won’t be able to
help but enjoy this well told story.
Les Mis is a musical drama set in France
during the 19th century, which itself is a brilliant historical
place and time. The story follows a man named Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), an
ex-convict who breaks bail and is constantly on the run from a police officer called
Javert (Russell Crowe). During the film Valjean comes into contact with a range
of different people, spanning from prostitutes and convicts, to revolutionaries
and priests. Each one of them has a unique tale to tell about their lives, and
each one is gripping in its own way.
As you would expect with a musical
there is quite a lot of singing in this film. In fact, unlike most other
musical films, this story is almost 100% sung to us. At first it seems a little
strange, but after the first five minutes you kind of forget that it’s a
musical and you just find yourself engrossed in the character’s lives. Most of
the music, like most of the film, is really quite depressing. But you kind of
have to expect that in a film that is about the people at the bottom of society
in a time and place that was well and truly hard.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Thénardier
(Sacha Baron Cohen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) bring a comical element
to the film and just as you’re about to cry they will make you laugh. I
honestly think this is the best role Cohen has ever played. It’s like it was
written just for him.
That been said, every single actor played
their role perfectly and the acting really could not have been improved. It’s
even more impressive when you think that most of the main actors aren’t professional
singers. One actor that stood out for me though has to be the young Daniel
Huttlestone who plays Gavroche, a child soldier who is more than aware of his position
in society and is more than happy to do his part for the French revolution.
The only real complaint I have to make
about this film is that it did go on a little too long. Even for a brilliant
musical, 158 minutes is quite a long time. So even though there is something
for everyone in this film, it goes on for a while so you might be waiting
sometime between the parts that you enjoy. That been said though, I personally
enjoyed the entire thing, just some parts more than others. It’s still worth
sitting through and it is really only the ending that seems to drag a little.
THE
VERDICT
Les Misérables might turn out to be the
best musical you’ll have seen in recent memory. It is set in a period of French
history that was a really hard time to live in, and tells the story of one man
and those that he comes into contact with throughout his life. The music and
songs sang tell the story brilliantly and the acting is next to flawless. Even though
the film goes on for quite a long time, it is still one that could make you
shed a tear or two and will definitely make you laugh on occasion.
Apparently Destiny has been in the pipeline since Halo 2
which is about seven years ago and it sounds like this story focused
multiplayer game is going to revolutionise online gaming for consoles in the
same way that Halo 2 did. Although we’ve known about this game for the past few
months, Bungie have only just fed us some official snippets of information to
try and get our mouths to water. Before I saw the new pictures and watched the
new teaser video, I wasn’t that bothered to be honest. And now I’ve seen them,
my mouth is dripping with excitement.
The Story
Destiny appears to be an online based MMOFPS or “Shared
World Shooter” as it is being called, and is set in the future. The story as
far as we know is set after humanity has expanded across the solar system, and
after it has all been lost again. Something (aliens I assume) “tried to stamp
us out. No one knows exactly what” but we do know that not many survived, and
those that did owe their lives to “The Traveller”.
The Traveller appears to be a huge sphere that, in a way, sacrificed
itself to save humanity. Since then the few survivors in the world have built a
city underneath The Traveller because this is the only place that we are truly
safe. Every other city in the world has fallen and this is where we make our
last stand. So in other words Destiny appears to be set on a futuristic post apocalyptic
world. Now humanity has built a new home for itself we have started to explore
our old planet to find that there are a number of alien races living here as
well, and they don’t like us all that much. The alien races are looking for a
way to finish humanity off for good.
Your role in Destiny
This is where you come in. You play a Guardian in the game
and it is your job to protect the city. You’ve managed to harness some of The
Traveller’s power, suggesting that you will be some sort of super solder. You
have to find a way to save the city. “If you fail the last light of
civilisation will go out”... no pressure then.
There are three classes that we know of that you can choose
from to play as:
·Hunter
·Warlock
·Titan
Everything about your character will be editable and unique to
you. You can change your colours, edit how you face looks, amour, cape, weapons,
and helmets are all changeable. The idea is that everything that you do will be
rewarded, which should encourage you to comeback day after day to play this
game.
Game Play
As we’ve already said this is MMOFPS. From what Bungie has
told us you’ll have factions that you can join as well as your own clans that
you can make. You start in a place known as “The Tower”. In The Tower you can
meet up with other players for pretty much anything. By that I mean you can
just sit around and chat, discuss strategies before going on a quest or just
find people to team up with. From there you can go on to do the campaign
missions or the large amount of side quests that will be available.
Now here is the part that I find quite intriguing but at the
same time a little worrying; bungie are making Destiny so that other players
can drop in and join your mission. Once the mission is over and you’ve got your
rewards/loot, you can team up with these other players or go your separate ways.
We’ve seen drop in campaign before in games like Dead Island and, although it
works fine, I personally find it a little strange having strangers come in on
my game experience. But Bungie promise that it won’t even be noticeable and
that it’ll be like a normal thing that happens.
The missions themselves are based all around our solar
system which tells us one important thing: there will be space travel. With any
luck this means that we’ll be able to customise our own space craft as well.
Phone App
Of course there is a phone app, there’s a phone app for
everything! Yeah but this sounds like it’s going to be a little different. All
Bungie have really said is that you’ll be able to keep up to date with what
your friends are doing and may even be able to help them via the phone app. As well
as this you might be able to edit your own character whilst you’re away from
your console. But the thing that seems like quite a new idea is that the app
will tell you when new quests are available. In other words the game is going
to tell you that you need to play it.
The History and Future of Bungie
So Bungie, for those that have been living under a gaming rock
for at least the past eleven years, are the studio that brought you such games
as Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo Wars, Halo 3 ODST, Halo Reach, and Marathon... did I
mention that they did some stuff with Halo? Anyone who is a fan of Halo and
online gaming for consoles has Bungie to thank for this. They wrote and
developed Halo until Anniversary (and Halo 4) came out. And for those of you
old enough (it wasn’t that long ago really... honest) to remember when Halo 2
came out, it was pretty much the game that revolutionised online game play for
consoles. This was mainly because Bungie made it so that you could join a lobby
with your friends and then search for a game together. But it didn’t stop
there, oh no. After the game was finished you and your friends would all still
be in the lobby together, ready for the next game. Mental right? I know this is
something we all take for granted these days and no one can imagine playing
anything that doesn’t do this now, but this really was a huge progression in
gaming at the time.
Back then Bungie was partnered with Microsoft, but they
broke away a year or so ago and have recently taken a ten year publishing
contract with Activision. During this time they are set to work on the Destiny
universe and I’m pretty sure they have three games set to come out in this
time. At the moment Bungie have their entire 360 person studio working on
Destiny, so this is a pretty big project for them that they can’t afford to let
fail. Bungie have also said that Destiny will be a multi-platform game, meaning
that for the first time ever Playstation will have access to a Bungie game and
trust me Playstation fans, you are in for a treat.
A thing to note as well is that the music composer that was
with Bungie through their Halo years is still with them and is working on
Destiny. This might not seem like a big thing to many, but this is fantastic
news to those that where big fans of the old Halo games.
Release Date
Finally, the game has been rumoured to be coming out late
this year on Xbox 360 and PS3 as well as “next generation consoles”. However,
it might be safer to expect it out early 2014 instead. This is for two reasons.
Firstly, this is Bungie’s biggest project and there is no way they can afford
to rush this out. Secondly, Activision hasn’t put anything in their budget
report that suggests that they plan on making any money whatsoever during 2013.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Activision have said in a press release that Destiny will not be coming out in 2013 - 18/02/13]
The Verdict
Destiny looks like it is going to be the new game franchise
that gives things like Halo and Call of Duty a run for their money. It’s set to
be a massive multiplayer online first person shooter and it’ll be something
that we haven’t seen before on consoles. You’ll fight for the survival of
humanity whilst being able to edit your character in any way that you like. You’ll
team up with your friends and be encouraged to make new ones in order to
complete missions and get bigger rewards. As well as this there will be a phone
app that allows you to procrastinate whilst you’re at work or school. So even
when you’re not playing the game you can still be a part of it. This universe
is set to last us ten years and although we can’t confirm when Destiny will be
ready to play we can say one thing at least, and that is that Bungie plan on redefining
how FPS and online multiplayer gaming is played... Again!
Ralph (John C. Reilly) is a computer villain in an arcade and he’s been around for thirty years. It’s his job to wreck the crap out
of things whilst Fix-it Felix (Jack Mcbrayer), well, fixes it and is loved by everyone
for it. Ralph on the other hand is hated by everyone in this computer game
universe, even though he’s really a nice guy who has been programmed to do a
bad job. So after thirty years of being bullied for been a bad guy Ralph decides
he can be a hero and goes on a quest to prove it by game jumping across the arcade
that he’s in. During this film Ralph and other characters show a range of different
games and characters from different gaming generations.
Wreck-it Ralph is a well animated film with some great voice acting. It has a
funny storyline for both young children and adult gamers. The film is bright
and colourful and very fast paced, which will keep children entertained. At the
same time there are some well hidden adult jokes (similar to how The Simpsons do
it). If you’re an adult gamer then you’ll appreciate it even more as they’ve
sneaked in loads of little references to games and consoles
(like the Konami Code). So if you have a young child that you want to keep occupied
for an hour or two and you’re into computer games, then this film is perfect
for you!
Wreck-it Ralph is superb role modelling for children as well. It shows
that some people that seem bad might be good and that those that seem good,
might be bad. It also teaches that you shouldn’t bully people because of things
that they’re born/programmed with. I know that you’d probably expect that from
a Disney film, but to be honest they have a huge track record of racially and
sexually profiling their characters. This doesn’t seem to happen in this film
though and this made me very happy, especially with female badasses like Sergeant
Calhoun (Jane Lynch) and Vanellope von Schweets (Sarah Silverman). With any luck
this will be a direction that Disney continues to go in.
The film could probably have done with featuring more of the real game
characters as they don’t really make very many appearances. However, they may
have made the right decision not to give them bigger roles because if they got
it wrong there would have been a lot of complaining from the gaming community. Something
that they shouldn’t have done though is put in that awful ‘music’ by Rihanna, although
it did fit quite well and I almost didn’t notice it until she repeated the word ‘drive’
several times.
THE VERDICT
Ralph is bad, and that’s good. He’ll never be good, and that’s not bad. In
fact, it’s pretty damn brilliant. This is a great story for young children,
parents, and adult gamers. It sets a good example for children to follow whilst
entertaining them, and has some brilliant voice acting in it too. At the same time
Wreck-it Ralph is filled with adult humour and gamer references. We don’t see
as many real game characters as would be liked, but it still works very well.
Disney have made a great family film here and I really recommend that if you’re
taking the kids to the cinema this weekend, that you take them to see this
film.
You are Wei Shen, an undercover cop in modern day Hong Kong. Your mission is to infiltrate the criminal underground, provide information to the Hong Kong Police Department and take down the gangs from the inside. The story starts with a small drugs operation which you play a role in. The operation is busted and you make a run for it. Straight away it is noticeable that there has been a considerable effort put into the game. The cut scenes transition smoothly into game-play and the game-play itself is fluid and easy to grasp. The drugs operation is busted and you end up in jail. There you meet a childhood friend, Jackie, who is now a gang member, and it's no coincidence that he's part of the gang you've been tasked to infiltrate. Your story is explained and you are let go by the police to contact Jackie to begin your introduction to the gang.
After the introduction you're sent out to do some menial tasks. As you'd expect the initial missions involve petty territory squabbles, protection money collection and chauffeur tasks. The combat system is very easy to pick up, you are able to counter enemies who are about to strike you (which you'll know because they glow bright red) and strike them back with a range of combos which become better as you progress up the ranks. There's not too much innovation here, think of the recent Batman games and you'll be along the right lines. Nevertheless it works very well in this style game. The driving holds the best and worst parts of the game. On the one hand it has an arcade-like feel which works well in the game and makes the overall experience fun and enjoyable. This is particularly noticeable when driving the motorbikes, which unlike other games in this genre handle well and don't send you flying at the first sign of a bump. That being said, there are issues with the camera angles, especially when trying to negotiate tight spots and turns, it wasn't enough to ruin the game but it was enough to cause a sigh of frustration every now and again.
The game itself is a third person style game very similar to the Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row type games but takes on a more serious note. Humour is sprinkled here and there but you really get a sense of the stresses faced by Wei Who is not only trying to gain respect amongst the gang and not blow his cover, but also receives pressure from his superior officers.
Throughout the game you attempt to gain respect with the gang you are infiltrating and also with the police. Balancing the role of an undercover cop sees you punished for the unnecessary destruction of property and in the same mission rewarded for the elimination of an enemy gang member. Knowing how to balance this becomes one of the more interesting parts of the game and you are rewarded with separate Police and Triad experience which in turn allows unlocks to separate upgrade systems. You'll also gain 'face' from the people of Hong Kong, who you can help out in various side missions. This way you'll unlock further passive upgrades which help you along the way.
THE VERDICT
Overall the game is easy to become immersed in, with the setting of Hong Kong being brought to life through realistic and believable voice acting, ambient sounds and decent graphics. The side missions and tasks are varied, fun, innovative and are a joy to play. This a game which is definitely worth your money and time. It will keep you busy for hours and you'll enjoy every second of it. Except for maybe the three point turns.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Thénardier
(Sacha Baron Cohen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter) bring a comical element
to the film and just as you’re about to cry they will make you laugh. I
honestly think this is the best role Cohen has ever played. It’s like it was
written just for him. 
