DARKMATTERS - The Mind of Matt

You met me at a very strange time in my life...

Read my novel: Complete Darkness

TREAT yourself to the audiobook version: DARKNESS AUDIOBOOK
Listen to the PODCAST I co-host: Hosts in the Shell

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Darkmatters Review: RED LIGHTS



Red Lights (15)

Dir. Rodrigo Cortés

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Are there forces beyond our comprehension out there? Do people walk amongst us who have supernatural powers? How much do we want to believe that there is more to this world than our short span of human life?
Welcome to the Red Lights – a fascinating, spooky new thriller that sees Spanish director Rodrigo ‘Buried’ Cortés proving that he can deliver quality tension and real cinematic suspense with the best of them.


Red Lights follows a team of scientists who investigate fraudulent psychics and anyone professing to have supernatural powers. Dr Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her younger assistant Dr Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) are a Mulder and Scully style duo of professional sceptics who shut down those preying on superstitious clients. These two know all the tricks and can spot the ‘Red Lights’ – elements that are out of place that give away how the supposed psychic is fooling their audience.

"shifty?"

For 30 years not a single case has failed to have a logical non-supernatural rationale –but now the team come face to face with a superstar blind psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro), who has reappeared after a long self-imposed absence. So Matheson has spent her life invoking science to disprove so called mediums, faith healers and psychics but she has history with Simon Silver and he seems to genuinely unnerve her. Might it be that deep down Matheson wants to believe in an afterlife – as a Christian I find this exploration of the rationale behind belief fascinating. The film also asks questions about how much faith you need to be a total agnostic which are worth thinking through.


"nice pout"

The build up to the climactic showdown is a fantastic eerie slow burn, thick with mystery. De Niro is on great form, the like of which we haven’t see on screen for many years and the final reveal / twist is one which will divide audiences. Red Lights is a film that engages the brain and merges some of the best elements of Hitchcock, Nolan and Shyamalan who have set the standard for this kind of creepy thriller.


Weaver, Murphy and De Niro get good support from the shapely form of Elizabeth Olsen who plays an eager student drawn to the work of the investigators. Red Lights is a film that will leave you pondering life, the universe and everything and it should be seen be thrill loving thinkers everywhere.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö - The truth might be out there...and it's worth searching for!?

4 – a strong creep-em-up thrill ride

Awesomeness öööö – clever limited use of special effects add to the feel

Laughs öö – occasional amusing moments

Horror ööö – creepy, bit nasty, one bloody violent scene

Babes  ööö  – Olsen is yummy

Spiritual Enlightenment  ööö  – reach out and touch faith...

"Elizabeth Olsen"


Darkmatters Review: PixelJunk 4am



PixelJunk 4AM (PS3)

Developed by Q Games / Santa Monica

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

It’s 4am – do you know where your children are?

PixelJunk 4am isn’t just a game – it’s a PS3, Move controller controlled, techno music making innovation overload…

The PixelJunk games are examples of some of the best available on the PSN – the team behind them have created masterpieces like PixelJunk Monsters, Shooter, Eden and now 4am which is less of a game and more of a freeform music-em-up…

"mix it up"

Using the funky PS Move controller you can actually pick up and play music, beats, rhythm and bass – just ‘grab’ the stream from the side of the screen and mix it into a musical mix. You can ‘pull’ loops in for different tracks including Bass and Rhythm. Other motions add reverb and the more you monkey with the tracks by making gestures with you hands the more complex the resulting music.

There are various playlists which rock visualizers for each song track. The 4am toolbox lets you alter, twist, bend, and completely remix the track to your heart’s content. It takes a little while to get the hang of manipulating the beats etc but once you ‘get it’ you’ll be generating some dancetastic creations in no time. Playing 4am over the PlayStation Network will see your action stream live so that other PSN users can watch.
"try it with 2 moves..."

The watching of others playing PixelJunk 4am is a great social element and talented PSN users build up fans who will tune in to check out their creations. When you find someone whose creations turn you on, you can follow them and check what they are broadcasting.

When you’re ‘Live Viewing’ you can feedback to the player by shaking your Move controller which will show up on their screen as ‘kudos’ / as well as a check on how many viewers they have.

PixelJunk 4am is a music fan's game – half high tech music creation device, half eye-popping visualizing software – this is a bold and fun piece of software which embodies exactly why the PS3 is leading the field in creativity.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

4 – Bring the beat back (to your PS3)


"Indiana Evans plays 4am in a bikini!?"


Monday, June 11, 2012

Darkmatters Review: Red Tails


Red Tails (12)

Dir. Anthony Hemingway

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

"From the last plane, to the last bullet, to the last minute, to the last man, we fight! We fight! We fight!"

Get ready to take to the skies with this ‘inspired by true events’ Red Tails from the mind of George Lucas. It’s been a while coming (he mentioned this project back when I interviewed him in 2005) and is one that he’s even financed himself.

Red Tails is the, erm, tale, of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first squadron of all black pilots who had to fight more than just Nazis in the Second World War. These brave and talented airmen risked everything and put themselves in harms way but in order to even earn the right to fly they had to battle institutionalized racism from within the army – all the way up to the top brass.

But the Red Tails – so called because the tails of their planes were painted red to be distinctive – had some mad skills in the air, none more so than hotshot maverick pilot Joe ‘Lightening’ Little (David Oyelowo) whose bravery extended to doing crazy acts of heroism such as taking on a fully armed Nazi battleship with nothing but his machine gun toting fighter plane.

"bring the pain"

As you might expect from a Lucas project, the special effects are excellent and the aerial dogfights really light up the screen. The plot and dialogue are alas less spectacular and serve to remind us of clunky lines delivered in a galaxy far, far away…

The plot sees the Red Tails develop over the course of four decisive air campaigns – from their early babysitting duties through to going all the way to Berlin, where they must go up against the technologically superior German get fighters.

The cast go about the gung-ho proceedings with gusto , the squadron is overseen by Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) who delivers the pipe smoking gravitas. The pilots are led by Marty 'Easy' Julian (Nate Parker) whose weakness for whiskey might be their undoing. Also in the lead group are the aforementioned Joe 'Lightning' Little, loveable youngster ‘Junior’ or ‘Ray Gun’ as he’d like to be known(Tristan Wilds) and ‘Smokey’ / comic relief (rapper Ne-Yo).

"we fight!"

Red Tails isn’t a classic of any kind but it is good fun and brings some quality aerial battling thrills that won’t soon be forgotten. It also serves as a stark reminder of just how recently rampart and hateful racism was openly endorsed by the armed forces.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö - the battle is won in the hearts of men

3 – Worth a look for Top Gun fans.

Awesomeness öööö – aerial battles are cool...

Laughs öö – some funny moments

Horror öö – not too grim, some bloodshed

Babes öö – one babe (Daniela Ruah) for love interest plot point

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – bravery doesn't reflect skin colour

"love interest"


Darkmatters Review: Frobisher Says


Frobisher Says (PS VITA)

Developed by HoneySlug

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Frobisher Says ‘screw WarioWare, let’s party - on the PS VITA’ – so crank up the micro game mayhem as you fire up the Playstation VITA which can strut past the limited inputs of the 3DS, wrap you in the loving arms of a fun, free, game which packs a super addictive punch…

Yes Frobisher is basically WarioWare for Sony gamers but it’s more madcap, slightly disturbed and full of gleeful fun that will keep you coming back for more as you work your way up the global leader boards or just try to set a new personal best.

"cake - to - mouth - delivery"

The games themselves are things like driving trains, busting open clams, fighting bears, squashing toffs, winking to make a naked guy dance, saying things into the mic (in different accents) and using the camera to find various coloured items. Slightly more dubious are the inviting friends into your hot-tub (the VITA picks the names of your PSN pals and slaps them onto the various party guests) or smiling at bikini-clad ladies / frowning at dodgy badgers who also try to catch your eye…

"Fan the hot lady"

Frobisher Says certainly outstrips the VITA Welcome Park app – by making the various input methods fun – and there are further adventures to come in the form of micro transaction DLC.

All in all Frobisher Says is a great game collection – one that lasts past the initial novelty factor and is a superb way to introduce the PS VITA to newbies.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

4 – Frobisher Says ‘buy my game!”


"8 bit classic hot tub action"


More VITA games (from E3) 


"no badgers here..."

Thursday, June 07, 2012

PS VITA blows the doors off E3 with new Games



Bring forth the PS VITA Games!!

Matt Adcock


Ah the PS VITA - the most powerful, fully functional hand held gaming device on the planet...

But even the tastiest hardware is nothing without great games - so thankfully Sony are bringing some seriously awesome ones out...

Gravity Rush launches this month (Darkmatters Review)



Resistance Burning Skies is a great FPS (Darkmatters Review), Uncharted shows that action adventures rock on the console (Darkmatters Review) and FIFA has been enhanced with touch screen passing (Darmatters Review)...

But the best is still to come and here are some trailers for what's hitting VITA in the near future:


"Mmmmm - games"

"new colour with Assassins Creed 3: Liberation"

Liberation in action...




Personal picks - 

Retro City Rampage - brings the 8 bit love...



Soul Sacrifice does impressive monster stuff...



PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale - multiplayer fun...



Little Big Planet VITA - redefines 'creativity'...




Monday, June 04, 2012

Darkmatters Review: Prometheus



Prometheus (15)

Dir. Ridley Scott

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“If we don't stop it, there won't be any home to go back to…”

Before the fateful events of the original Alien movie it seems that there were creatures from outer space tinkering with genetic DNA both on our planet and others.

Could these ‘Engineers’ have been the origins of life on Earth? If they were, who created them? And perhaps more importantly to fans of the Alien franchise, how and why did they come into contact with the acid blooded xenomorphic killing machines from the Alien films?

With Prometheus, Director Ridley ‘Alien and Blade Runner’ Scott sets about delivering some seriously cool, visually stunning and intriguingly thought provoking sci-fi, the like of which we have not witnessed for a long time.

"Love those quality space effects"

There are no Predators here and none of the crassness that the Alien vs Predator films have managed to sully the Alien franchise with either. No, Prometheus is something much more akin to the original Alien. The fate of the universe is in the balance again – because we humans can’t help poking our noses in when we find images in archaeological digs all over the Earth where ancient civilizations that shared no contact, somehow drew the same pictogram. Turns out it’s an invite from space…

The crew of the ill fated Prometheus (a scientific exploration ship named after the Greek Titan who purportedly brought fire to man) include feisty researcher Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), synthetic human android David (Michael Fassbender), icy corporate type Meredith (Charlize Theron) and maverick captain Janeck (Idris Elba). Each are on board for different reasons but all want to discover if the alien life forms who left us the invite are still waiting for us to visit. 

"for forgetting your spacesuit you'll have to fight the alien in your pants"


Scott does a fantastic job of re-shuffling the basic elements from his classic Alien film – including Rapace as the strong female who must pit wits against an alien foe wearing just her underwear. But Prometheus is less a straight horror prequel and more as a fascinating glimpse into a fantastic exploration of the Alien universe.

There is plenty of meticulous tense build up, some seriously icky human / alien interaction and a nice overall sense of creeping dread. Don’t go expecting gung-ho man versus alien gunplay (although there’s plenty of room left for a second Prometheus film that could take the ‘Aliens’ route).

Effective, compulsive and altogether a fitting addition to the Alien cannon, this is freaky sci-fi at it’s best.

Highly recommended.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö - In space, no-one can hear your jaw drop.

5 – Classy heavy duty alien adventuring

Awesomeness ööööö – some fantastic scenes, iconic...

Laughs ö – occasional dry wit

Horror öööö – strong stomachs required (literally)

Babes öööö – Rapace looks great, Theron wears a mean jumpsuit

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – are we human? or are we dancer?

"fun time Prometheus"

"Theron - out of this world"


Darkmatters Review: Diablo 3



Diablo III (PC / Mac - and rumoured PS3)

Developed by Blizzard

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Welcome gamer – come with me to Sanctuary, a wild and wonderful dark fantasy world where angels and demons clash, and the fate of mankind is in the hands of heroes of various classes…

Say goodbye to your life… The high heavens themselves need saving - time to step up!!

It’s been 11 long years since the excellent Diablo II turned otherwise normal people into fully geeked out fantasy game fans whose whole existence was consumed with finding and upgrading the be possible loot, defeating the lords of hell and generally levelling up as much as possible. It’s a fever, a compulsion, an addiction – testament to this is the fact that Diablo III is the most pre-ordered PC game in history!?

Now Diablo is back – back to re-enslave fans of the first two games and to potentially bring on board thousands of new players. Diablo III takes place some twenty years after the events of Diablo II – Non Player Character (NPC) Deckard Cain and his niece Leah find themselves in – the place where Diablo himself first walked the earth… Tristram Cathedral is struck by a mysterious star falling from the sky which strikes the Cathedral, creating a deep crater into which Deckard disappears.

Your player character, the Nephalem (although obviously you name them), arrives in New Tristram to investigate the fallen star. Kicking enemy ass with your starting powers / weapons and building them up via the sweet ‘quick’ levelling of the early game sees you on a mission to rescue Cain and finding out the fallen object is a person.

Seems you’re not the only person interested in the fallen person – a witch named Maghda muscles in and provides you with some great mini boss fights including old enemies from the Diablo world such as ‘The Butcher.’

The plot sees the world under threat from demon lords Belial and Azmodan – pals of Diablo himself and everything depends on you to stop them... Of course there's the chance to kick the big guy's ass too!?

"just a nice walk in the park - mind the zombies"

The first 2 Diablo games and expansion pack Lord of Destruction set new standards in the ‘hack n slash RPG’ genre and fans will be pleased because Diablo III keeps all the best elements from its predecessors, including the maddeningly addictive ‘just one more level up’ classic gameplay.

Graphically Diablo III doesn’t try to compete with games like Skyrim – the action here is all from an isometric camera angle and the gameplay is smooth and silky combo of mouse n keyboard – there is even a Diablo special edition mouse which you can buy. It all looks nice enough though and has some great weather effects – backed up by wonderful sound effects. You’re likely to feel a real chill when wandering through a desolate marsh and a thunder storm breaks over you!?

Creating new characters is easy and fun – and the 5 classes available from the start are barbarian wizard, witch doctor, monk and demon hunter, It is worth creating at least one of each and experiencing the different gaming styles they bring before deciding which you’re going to invest many hours / days / months of your life in leveling up all the way.

Every player starts in normal difficulty – which you have to beat to unlock harder versions, but beat the game on normal and you can step up to play on nightmare / hell and finally inferno levels. What is completely awesome about Diablo III is that playing on ‘hardcore’ mode – which is available once a character hits level 10 means that there are no respawns, virtual death is ‘real’ in that if your hardcore character dies it is game over and that character is archived as a ghost – never to walk the world of Diablo as a player again!? It really adds a massive amount of tension to the game, especially when playing with other players via the cool co-op Battlenet system.

Playing through the story again and again is not a chore either as much of the world and side-quests are randomized each time. There is always better loot out there somewhere for you to find or craft… And when in co-op, don’t worry as the loot you find will be held on your version of the world and each player will see different loot!? A lovely idea, which stops people nicking all the best stuff.

There is even an online auction house where you can spend in game gold on rare items sold by other players (or sell your own). Eventually there will be a real money version too along with a player vs player add on, not to mention the potential downloadable additions which are likely to bring new classes and missions.

"choose your hero!"

Diablo III is awesome and takes the Diablo franchise to a new level. Fast to pick up and play, seriously hard to quit - Blizzard should be applauded for bringing fantasy geeks the game that they’ve always wanted!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

5 – Fantasy hack n slash perfection...

"Angel cosplay - inspired by Diablo III"

Friday, June 01, 2012

Resistance: Burning Skies review PS VITA


Resistance: Burning Skies (PS VITA)

Developed by Nihilistic

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

New Jersey fire fighter and National Guardsman Tom Riley, is about to have a bad day… He’ll come face to face with the brutal Chimeran alien invasion force in this blistering shooter built from the ground up for PS VITA (PlayStation Vita System). Bad news for Tom, but great news for fans of shooting aliens in the head!

The latest installment in the acclaimed Resistance franchise focuses on an all-new mission that parallels and complements the existing Resistance storyline, as Tom Riley rises from an everyday hero to a legend of the Resistance.

But does it work on the VITA? In a word ‘yes’… Being the first ever portable first-person shooter with true dual-analog control, Resistance Burning Skies is the closest thing yet to console-quality shooting in the palm of your hand.

The single player is fun and not over complicated but where I was really impressed was the competitive 8-player online multiplayer across 6 unique maps and 3 modes (with probably more on the way via DLC).

Twin analogue sticks are what you need for a ‘real’ shooter experience – and that’s what sets the VITA apart from the any other hand held games machine – there’s no way you could replicate the run and gun mechanics as well on an ipad or even a 3DS (even with the add on extra hub).

"in play - multiplayer"

The Resistance mythos is all well and good here – with new Chimeran forces to blow away and some killer climactic boss fights. First person shooter veterans will probably blast through the single-player campaign anything up to 6 hours, popping trophies as they go.

Multiplayer is super fun though and will keep you playing / leveling up for a long time!!

Graphically this portable Resistance destroys the PSP version but isn’t quite up to the PS3 trilogy but it’s not far off…

Overall, this is a must buy for VITA owns wanting to add another decent shooter to the already available (and lots of fun) UNIT 13.

"make up go aarrrggghhhh"

The future for VITA is bright – bring on Killzone and Call of Duty, the hardware is just waiting for them!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

4 – Kill them all (wherever you are!)


"Early draft Resistance Burning Skies hero..."



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Darkmatters Review: Gravity Rush


Gravity Rush (PS VITA exclusive)

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Every once in a while a game comes along that changes everything…

Gravity Rush is such a game.

Finally Sony have a truly groundbreaking, original title to showcase their wonder hand held VITA – and Gravity Rush delivers big time. This game is a creative work of art – where a girl named Kat finds she has fantastic powers, can influence gravity itself and must use it to save her world.

"sideways is the new up"

Set in an uber cool steampunk city that stretches into the clouds - airships circle, people bustle around trying to ignore the freaky energy portal that looms over the city threatening to bring destruction to all… Kat (and her pet cat) is tasked with saving the day by leaping into the sky, bursting forward onto whatever wall / roof / vehicle she can see. It’s a gaming ‘rush’ that brings a new and glorious way to move around – it is fast to pick up and so satisfying that you can happily spend hours just blasting around the city not even taking on any of the story or side missions.

Kat’s skills can be upgraded by collecting crystals which are all round the city, gravity manipulation is just one of Kat’s powers, she can kick ass in combat and buff her health and other stats too, It’s a nice and very intuitive level up mechanism which gives the game a good RPG feel.

"rival girl - with her crow"

Supposedly inspired by the Xbox 360 game ‘Crackdown’ Gravity Rush manages to trump that game even though it’s a hand held – but this is a new breed of hand held game, one that nothing on the 3DS or PSP has ever come close to achieving. Graphically Gravity Rush hits like a fully fledged anime film – gorgeous, eye-popping and jaw dropping, this is a game that you’ll want to show non VITA owning pals just to see the looks of disbelief on their faces.

Battling spirits, collecting items, beating challenges and working through the main story missions is great on the go. You can tackle them in bite-sized chunks but the whole game delivers c20hours of fun and there is already downloadable content on the way from Japan.

"Fan art inspiration"

The combat is great – especially as you build up Kat’s powers so you can use gravity to attack by throwing boxes, barrels and rocks at opponents. Boss battles are challenging and there are many customization options. I have to admit to being utterly blown away by this game, it’s the only VITA game to get a look in since the highly addictive Disgaea 3 launched.

Take Crackdown, amp up the gravity defying antics to the point where you could be playing Pilotwings – mix in some cool combat from the likes of Infamous and collecting from Mario games… Gravity Rush is an instant classic and a must buy for fans of quality games – this is a game you absolutely need to experience!!

"Steampunk FTW"


Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööööö

5 – The Ultimate hand-held RUSH!!


"Kat plus cat"






PS3 Sorcery Magic: Recreated in Real Life...

OOoohhh and Aaahhhh

Matt Adcock

To celebrate the release of Sorcery™ for PlayStation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and TV scientist Steve Mould have created a series of films investigating 'The Science Behind the Magic', that recreate magical spells from the game through scientific experiments...

Sounds wacky but is actually a lot of fun (as is the game - Darkmatters review soon!) 





Next up - wonder if he can recreate some of the awesome magic from Diablo III (Darkmatters review soon!)




Random link - Rachel Cook - magical in 11:14:


Darkmatters Review: Men In Black 3


Men In Black 3 (PG)

Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“I am getting too old for this. I can only imagine how YOU feel.”

Yep the Men In Black are back, back to save the world from the alien scum who would seek to dominate us and turn humans into their slaves… But their not getting any younger, oh wait, actually one of them – Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is, as here we get two of our favourite surly Agent K’s. The other K – from 1969 - is played by Josh Brolin in a cracking turn where he really channels the voice and characteristics of Jones.

The plot sees a ruthless alien criminal named Boris The Animal (Jemaine Clement) escaping from our maximum-security jail (on the moon) and jumping back in time to kill Agent K in 1969. This alters the timeline, changing the Agency and placing the Earth in danger. Only Agent J (Will Smith) can save us and so he must travel back in time to 1969 to before the murder and work with the young Agent K to save him, the Agency, the Earth.

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since Will Smith graced the screen - he's back on good from here as Agent J, charming and witty as ever. His rapport with both Agent Ks is great and carries the fairly obvious plot. Directly Barry “Wild Wild West’ Sonnenfeld get’s his mojo back after the forgettable Men In Black 2 and delivers a good time with part 3.

"this is a gorgeous scene, that will stay with you"

The alien special effects are suitably incredible and pretty revolting in places – there are some good jump moments too (my youngest son James actually leapt of his seat at one point). Being a Sony film there are several product placements such as Agent J obviously playing his PS3 and a kid enjoying the new Sony Move game ‘Sorcery’ but there is enough good stuff crammed into the running time to make this a fun film to catch on the big screen.

There are some great in-jokes such as Andy Warhol turning out to be an undercover MIB agent and some meaningful moments like a peek into just why the Agent K / Agent J relationship is so strong.

Men In Black 3 puts the franchise back on track after the lackluster part 2, it feels like a good way to end the series (although let’s face it, if they make enough cash there will likely be a part 4 unless they use a neutralizer on the production team).

"MIB in action"

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

ööö - solid alien popping comedy thrills

3 – back, just in time to save our future (and the franchise)

Awesomeness ööö – couple of memorable scenes

Laughs ööö – delivers some laughs!

Horror öö – icky aliens in places / jump shocks

Babes öö – Emma Thompson isn't getting any younger (Alice Eve plays her younger self)

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – save the day, whatever the cost...

"Alice Eve - looks good"