Does The Devil get all the best trailers?

Devil preview by Matt Adcock

Darkmatters sees five strangers trapped.

One of them is not what they seem.

Devil is a supernatural thriller with M. Night Shyamalan's signature touch.

Check out the trailer below:

Darkmatters Review: Flash Gordon 30th Anniversary

Flash Gordon (PG) – Blu-Ray 30th Anniversary release

Dir: Mike Hodges

Starring: Sam J. Jackson, Melody Anderson, Max Von Sydow, Topol, Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton, Richard O'Brien and Peter Duncan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“FLASH, Arrgghh-arrrr, he’ll save every one of us!”

Yes, let’s hear it for all American Football player / saviour of the world Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) who, along his cute crush Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) might just be earth’s only hope.

Back in the 80’s Italian Academy Award-winning movie producer Dino De Laurentiis brought Flash Gordon to the screen in a bid to cash in on the Star Wars hype train. Backed up with a cast of heavy hitters including Max Von Sydow, Topol, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde and Timothy Dalton – and the best special effects money could buy (ahem)… Then they delivered the ‘killer’ blow of having Queen do the soundtrack and behold the campest, loudest and cheesiest sci-fi we could wish for was born!

So our hero Flash finds himself whisked off to the planet of Mongo by a freak storm – as you do - where cruel tyrant Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow) is planning to destroy Earth. Flash fights evil, unites the warring natives led by Prince Barin (Dalton) and Prince Vultan (Blessed)and gets the girls.

"your punishment for not wearing underware is to be whipped!"

Flash Gordon is a masterpiece of kitsch – packed with memorable scenes such as a young Blue Peter presenter (Duncan) getting to find out the hard way that tree scorpion monsters have a real bad sting… Some great fights such as an aerial battle of hawkmen vs spaceship full of robots, Flash vs Prince with whips on a spiked platform – etc etc. The women of the piece include the iconic Princess Aura (Omella Muti) whose skin tight catsuits and general pulse raising outfits were part of many young men’s formative sexual thoughts… read more about this important topic here: DEN OF GEEK

Everyone on set seems to be having a seriously good time and the joy is infectious as viewers are prepared to put aside disbelief and party on to the riotous overload of bad dialogue and crazy outfits.

"Princess Aura - slips into something even less comfortable than in the film!"

Visual wise, the film has never looked so good, the 1080p transfer handles the primary school coloured worlds well and the image looks a lot cleaner than previous DVD releases. The only downside is that without an expensive CGI make over (a la Star Wars) – the already ropey ‘special’ effects look extra weak in HD.

The 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray release brings all the extras from previous DVD releases and comes in a limited edition 2 disc steel book case and includes the original Queen soundtrack on CD – which is second only to Highlander as the best camp rock soundtrack by the hairy supergroup.

Thanks to Flash, I ain’t sacred o’ no Mongo… All sci-fi fans and anyone who might have somehow managed to live so far without seeing this camp classic, should buy this Blu-Ray version today!! Go Flash!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 awesome sci-fi cheeseburgers out of 10)

"new flash gordon... not as camp (or as good)"

Darkmatters Review: Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Scott Pilgrim vs the World (12a)

Dir. Edgar Wright

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Prepare for an epic epic of epic epicness…

Meet Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) a 22 year old slacker, he’s trying to
get over a major broken heart, find a job, get his fairly sucky band
together and not pay rent to his cool gay roommate (Kieran Culkin). His
precious little life is fairly un-incredible, on the plus side he does
have a 17year old rebound girlfriend - a high school girl named Knives
Chau (Ellen Wong) who thinks he’s the greatest guy ever. But one day
Scott meets the literal girl of his dreams – the foxy Ramona Flowers
(Mary Elizabeth ‘Die Hard 4.0’ Winstead) roller blading through his
head and from then on he’s absolutely smitten.

So far, so much like so many slacker rom-coms but Scott Pilgrim vs The
World is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Adapted from the
cutting edge cool series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley by Edgar
‘Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead’ Wright, probably the greatest working
British director of our time, this is a super powered mixture of romance,
comic book violence and video game cool. You see, in order to date Ramona,
Scott Pilgrim must fight and defeat her seven evil exes in mortal combat
– each of whom packs a unique super power.

Director Wright makes films that bring a pop culture overload to the
masses, what he did for zombie films with Shaun of the Dead and police
action buddy films with Hot Fuzz, he does here for video games and super
heroes. Anyone who has ever played Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter or
Super Mario Bros. will be tripping from the theme tunes, sound and visual
effects seamlessly incorporated into the film, but you don’t have to be
a gaming geek to enjoy the megaton thrill of such a wonderfully produced
homage to super powered thrills.

The arcade game style battles against the seven evil exes are realised in
hyper real fight scenes - think The Matrix 2.0 mixed with animé
influences such as Dragonball Z or Naruto. The exes themselves are
memorable adversaries, Lucas is an action movie star / skateboard dude
(Chris Evans), Todd (Brandon Routh) is a vegan powered telekinetic badass
and final boss fight Gideon (Jason Schwartzman) is a slimy music producer
who wants Ramona back.

Everything works so well that you’ll be lost in an endorphin buzz of
pure fun, action and self-discovery. Oh, and music, because Scott’s band
‘Sex Bob-omb’ are a wannabe punk outfit (whose tracks are supplied by
Beck) and you don’t need to have played ‘Guitar Hero’ to love their
spiky band contests.

"Scott Pilgrim is a lover and a fighter!"

Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are brilliant in the lead roles
and are ably supported by their cool support cast of friends and rivals.
The special effects are awesome and the central metaphor about the need to
fight for your true love is a universal one that makes Scott Pilgrim vs
The World a text book for dating in the 21st century.

From the moment that an 8-bit version of the Universal logo chugs onto
screen to a MIDI Zelda-esq theme you know that you’re in for a geek’s
paradise of tech enhanced thrills. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is an
un-missable burst of perfect cinematic joy, repeated viewings recommended!

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Scott Pilgrim gets sucked into a PlayStation 3 remake of Final Fantasy VII and has to battle Cloud Strife who has taken a fancy to Ramona! Huge swords at the ready!!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 epic scenes of epicness out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 9 / Style 9 / Babes 8 / Comedy 10 / Horror 5 / Spiritual Enlightenment 13

PlayStation Game Runners – Next level street gaming

PlayStation Game Runners – Next level street gaming

Matt Adcock takes Darkmatters to the streets with PlayStation Game Runners...

This is an experimental project where PlayStation, members of the public and young people from diverse backgrounds come together to create social games. PlayStation believe the best games are played as a group.
The project has been developed by PlayStation and Hide & Seek with a team of 8 initial Game Runners who PlayStation have picked to train as game designers and work to make the games relevant.
There are three games in development: Flags, Blocks & Hoops. The games are in prototype stage and during August there will be a series of playtests to develop the games.

This week I had the chance to run around the streets of London playing HOOPS and it was major fun. Plus we were victorious as the mighty 'Team Green', because although it's fun taking part, there are no points for second place!!

You can get involved in PlayStation Game Runners at http://www.facebook.com/playstationgamerunners, where you can learn about the different games, meet the Game Runners and get involved. Fans are invited to comment on the games and support The Game Runners.
The most popular game – as decided by the fans – will be selected and put forward into development and then put into action at a live event to be announced, where fans can try out the game for real.

Commenting on PlayStation Game Runners Carl Christopher –Ansari SCEUK states ‘ PlayStation has always been about the fun of playing games. These games are inspired by the need to manoeuvre. PlayStation Game Runners is a experimental vehicle to explore getting fans of PlayStation together - online and in real life – to play, share ideas, and help progress the games. ‘

The three games in development are:

Hoops:
Hoops is an urban adventure that takes the backyard past-time of shooting hoops to an intense new level. Played out across a large area, teams of eight must work together to discover hidden stashes of balls, find shooting points, and then get the ball through the hoop.

There are many hoops hidden around the streets, so be on the look-out... Sometimes the player will be able to shoot the hoop in one throw; sometimes, the team will have to work together to pass the ball from the shooting point to the hoop. Many teams play simultaneously, so there are lots of chances for interceptions. This is a game where teamwork, communication and a good throwing arm are key...

Blocks:
Blocks is a three-dimensional game of strategy and precision movement. Two opposing players take it in turns to place the blocks in a 2 x 2 tower. Every face of the block has a PlayStation symbol on it. When a player places a block, the symbols on all touching faces must match. Here’s the tricky bit: all the blocks are a little bit uneven, and so stacking a high tower gets harder and harder. The player who lets the tower topple, or who runs out of time to make a move, loses the game. You’ll need a logical mind and a steady hand to triumph!

Flags:
Flags is Noughts and Crosses transformed into a fun, social team game. Played on a 3 x 3 grid with a flag in the centre of each square, teams of three compete against one another to make a winning row. Players capture a flag by out-numbering their opponents on the square for a full ten-count. If you don’t get to ten, you don’t raise the flag... Flags begins as a fun and chaotic game. but players soon develop complex tactics to dominate squares. You’ll need great communication, quick thinking and fast movement if you want to succeed...

Team Green - winning the HOOPS game

Want to know more about Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 38 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level. Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 146.1 million systems worldwide. Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 62.7 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market. With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 52 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 1 billion items have been downloaded.


More information about PlayStation products can be found at http://www.playstation.com/.

Darkmatters Review: The Expendables

The Expendables (15)

Dir. Sylvester Stallone

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


“We are the shadow, the smoke in your eyes, the ghosts that hide in the night... “

This quote from Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) should go on to say “we are also the ghosts who kick in your door, beat the crap out of your henchmen and take you down with extreme prejudice!?” Yes, in a summer packed with action films – The Expendables stands out because it has assembled possibly the most unique, ball busting, macho drenched cast ever. If you’re an action / violence movie fan and watch only one film this year, you need to choose The Expendables because nowhere else are you going to witness Stallone, Stratham, Li, Austin, Willis and Schwarzenegger all in same film? No where…

The Expendables ups the ante for action movies and will be king of the shoot-and-beat-em-ups for some time! You want tough guys? You got em and these bad boys are the kind who laugh at missions others would deem ‘suicidal’ The Expendables is a full on action movie the like of which we simply have not seen in cinemas for many a year. Born in the 80's, no script can handle such a ‘plot’ infused with pure testosterone, delivered with a rocket launcher to your frontal cortex. There’s action and there’s rubbish, meat head dialogue plus cringe inducing buddy scenes but thankfully the action delivers big time – enough to make The Expendables a ‘must see’.

The Expendables themselves don’t even try to act and yet their male bonding banter somehow delivers sufficient onscreen chemistry to even make you care about Mickey Rourke’s Tool (that’s his character’s name) when he delivers a long monologue about his failing love life… So don’t worry about the plot or the script, just be ready because The Expendables brings so much high adrenalin carnage that it's really not a good time to be a bad guy...

Imagine the most explosive, kick ass action movie ever, then add more insane action, brutal fights and feel good heroics the like of which haven't graced the screen since the '80's when Stallone ruled the box office. That's The Expendables and if you've ever loved action movies - missing this would be like punching yourself in the face!


UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Arnie (as a Terminator) and Willis (as John McClane) team up to take down The Expendables and an almighty firefight ensues... Who will survive and what will be left of them??

Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 awesome action scenes out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 8 / Style 6 / Babes 5 / Comedy 5 / Horror 5 / Spiritual Enlightenment 3

Darkmatters vs Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim - is the future!!

To win the girl of his dreams, Scott Pilgrim must defeat her seven evil exes.

Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for totally average garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams...literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass—and now is back in town—to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.

As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past—from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if Matt Adcock, sorry, Scott, hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

PS3 High Stakes: Poker Edition, Add-on 3 years later!

PS3 High Stakes: Poker Edition, Add-on 3 years later!

Was it worth the wait?


For those of you that have been living under a rock for the last 3
years here's a little update regarding Coresofts High
stakes poker on the PS3. Yes it was the first PS3 exclusive poker game
that came out in 2007, available through download on the PS3 Store. No
you can't play poker
online for money using this game, but it's still fun. How did it
play? Well... like real online poker
but without the need for cash. However, back in 2007 the game was
missing some features that have been included in the 3 year-later update.

So what's included in the update?

Straight off the bat they've added 30 trophies to the game, meaning
you can show your friends just how good you are. Also included eight
extra languages for the US edition, this allows the player to select
games by language or region.

New modes include, Double-Flop Hold'em, Deuce to Seven Triple Draw,
Five-Card Triple Draw, and Five-Card Stud, this adds 15 additional
trophies up for grabs.

For fans of poker with a PS3 we could definitely recommend this game
and the add-on.
If you don't have the original and wanna check it out it's only $13
(that's including the add-on). So go on treat yourself or a friend.

Need to touch up you game? Check out this texas holdem poker
page.

Darkmatters Review: The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender (PG)

Dir. M. Night Shyamalan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The much maligned M. Night ‘will I ever make another film as good as
The Sixth Sense?’ Shyamalan tries his hand at a more mainstream
directing gig with this big screen adaptation of the popular Manga books /
animation ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’. Dropping the ‘Avatar’
element of the name due to some other film that you might have heard of,
The Last Airbender tells the tale of a strange world divided into four
kingdoms, each represented by an element. So the realms of Water, Air,
Earth, and Fire exist but all is not well as the Fire Nation want to rule
the whole world and decide that they should be the only nation allowed to
have ‘benders’ – people who can control the forces of the elements
e.g. a fire bender can throw fire as a weapon or heat their hands up when
cold…

This bender discrimination leads to war and the Fire Nation launches an
attack to eradicate all members of the Air Kingdom as they are said to be
the national from which the ‘Avatar’ will arise. The Avatar is a
mystical super bender who can control all four elements but it has been
100 years since he was last seen.

Our heroes are Katara (Nicola Peltz), a young girl who can bend water, and
Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) her brother. These two kids from the Water
Kingdom unwittingly stumble upon The Avatar who turns out to be young monk
named Aang (Noah Ringer). Seems he’s been locked in a block of ice for
the last 100 years and although destined to be the saviour of the world,
he didn’t actually complete his bender training and can only bend air.

"who are you calling a bender?"

So the scene is set for a desperate struggle for Aang to master the other
elements and avert a mass bender massacre. The wildcard in the mix is
shamed Fire Nation Prince Zuko (Dev Patel), on a mission to capture Aang
and restore his honour because he was banished by his father, Fire Lord
Ozai (Cliff Curtis).

The Last Airbender is an averagely enjoyable romp, the mystic plot limps
along and is only really enlivened by some nice bender enhanced fights. It
really didn’t need to be in 3D either and would have worked just as well
without the need to wear the 3D goggles. Also the plot is left on a wide
open cliff-hanger for the next film in the series - we can only hope that
they get better as they go along.

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Aang gives up his quest and takes a job at McDonald's using his air bending powers to flip burgers...

Darkmatters rating: ööööö (5 bending mystics out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 6 / Style 6 / Babes 5 / Comedy 5 / Horror 5 / Spiritual Enlightenment 4

Check out another review here (The Telegraph)

Medal of Honor brings the Linkin Park to Darkmatters

Medal of Honor / Linkin Park -- "The Catalyst" Trailer

Darkmatters Editor Matt Adcock likes a bit of Linkin Park... And he likes the look of the all-new Medal of Honor for the PS3... So it's not really any surprise that the new gameplay / live action trailer directed by Linkin Park's Joe Hahn has made it onto this site for your viewing pleasure!

The trailer features never-before-seen in-game footage set to the band's first single 'The Catalyst' from their soon to be released album, A Thousand Suns.

For the first time in its 11-year history, Medal of Honor leaves the WWII theatre and enters the modern setting of war-torn Afghanistan. The game is told through the lens of a small band of fictional characters. Medal of Honor introduces players to the Tier 1 Operator, an elite warrior and relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military that operates under the National Command Authority to take on missions no one else can handle.

ENJOY:

Darkmatters hearts PlayStation BetaRooms

PlayStation BetaRooms

Experienced by Matt Adcock

Some friends are just great – you know the ones, say for instance the guy who texts you that he’s bagged tickets to the PlayStation BetaRooms – where you’ll get to play Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5, Motorstorm Apocalypse, Dead Nation, Little Big Planet 2 and try the new MOVE with Heavy Rain, Sports Champion, Kung Fu Rider, The Fight…

So last weekend Alan ‘top mate’ Masters and I went on a PS3 road trip to The Custard Factory in Birmingham – there to experience all that PlayStation BetaRooms had to offer.

Here are my quick reviews of the games played:

Killzone 3 Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 awesome jetpack assisted battles out of 10)

The best looking future warfare simulator available just got better. Killzone 2 is a great game, but for the next in the series everything has been refined, polished and upgraded… We got to play through a Helghast infested complex set in an icy area where jet pack assisted leaping across icebergs is the order of the day. Very very satisfying gameplay (even at this stage and the game doesn’t release until Feb ’11) – experiencing KZ3 has set my level of:
Anticipation to ‘OFF THE SCALE’!!

Dead Nation Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 zombie clown heads out of 10)


From the quality dudes who made Super Stardust HD comes a zombie game that grabs you in its bloody, cold grip and never lets you go… Think Robotron with glorious, gory zombie enemies and some tasty weaponry with which to send them back to hell and you’ll have some idea of what to expect!? The action is fast, the graphics are excellent – loved the darkness that wraps the levels – a spooky funfair which was all ‘Zombieland’ drips with menace and you’re sure what nasty enemy you’ll find in your trusty torchlight next. Anticipation level: ‘WILL BUY ON DAY 1’!

Gran Turismo 5 (3D) Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 perfect driving experiences out of 10)

GT5 has been a long long time coming… So many screenshots, so many news items about additional features – Top Gear track etc… But now the game is a mere 3 months away and having played it in both 3D and 2D , I can confirm that there is nothing even close to Gran Turismo 5 available – this is a benchmark raising work of art that plays like a dream and look better than you can imagine. The 3D depth of field is beautifully realised, but even in humble 2D this is like having a ‘Being John Malkovich’ tunnel straight into the Stig’s head! The cars look, feel and sound amazing, the handling is pitch perfect and the gameplay is wonderfully varied – the rally stage we tried in a Citroen was slippy as hell, the tarmac circuit a grippy tyre screeching workout. Anticipation level: ‘CAN’T WAIT’, might actually preorder the super collectors edition… seriously, this is going to be a long three months till this baby hits and shows the world that there simply is nothing that can touch the PS3 for racing!!

Motorstorm Apocalypse Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 destruction overloads out of 10)

Hang on a minute – GT5 is truly amazing but even though it has damage, it doesn’t have massive sky scrapers collapsing as you drive through their smoking wreckage… Motorstorm blazed a trail for balls-to-the-wall off road racing with crazy crashes, lovely graphics and frantic multiplayer online races / battles. Now it’s back in a Mad Max like near future – and you are the road warrior! We played Motorstorm Apocalypse not just because it is so fun that it makes grown men giggle and whoop like schoolgirls at a Justin Bieber topless concert, no the lovely people at the PlayStation BetaRooms were offering a massive Sony 3D TV to the fastest time set!? One shot – everything to play for! OK, so we placed 6th on the leaderboard (really should have done some practicing before hitting the timed lap console) so no new TV but a great memory of adrenalin rushing racing that upped my anticipation rating for this from ‘will get’ to ‘MUST BUY’.

Little Big Planet 2 Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 joy inducing creations out of 10)

Joy to the world, a saviour is born, but before we get to Christmas – the second coming of Little Big Planet will happen and this is massive step up from the first game. The new animated customs are great, the grapple dynamic allows for some suphero alike swinging from rooftop to ledge. Then there are the many new mini game options – which from what we experienced are so addictive that there might need to be LBP2 rehab clinics set up!? Everything you liked about the first Little Big Planet has been retained and tweaked, pretty much everything you didn’t like has been improved (no more ‘floaty’ jumping etc). In a word ‘excellent’ – Anticipation rating: ‘CREATION MESSIAH I PLEDGE MYSELF TO YOU’

The Fight Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 serious beatings out of 10)

OK so there’s been lots of talk about Sony’s motion sensing MOVE controllers – of which you’ll need one for each hand if you step up for this vicious street fighting, sin city styled fight club! I was a bit dubious as I’m really not a fan of the Wii. But drawn in by the stylish HD graphics I gave The Fight a go… And was impressed! The gameplay is nicely ‘pick up and play’ – your character moves and aims automatically which lets you focus on how best to beat the living daylights out of your opponent. Sure you can duck and weave (the camera tracks you even as the MOVE controllers mimic your punches). It all feels very satisfying and a million miles away from the slap scrappy boxing efforts of Wii that I’ve tried in the past. If you like fighting games, I’d say that MOVE is a much better way to go than even the Kinect – there is something very ‘right’ about holding the ergonomically pleasing controllers than simply ‘acting’ in front of a camera.
Anticipation rating: ‘THE FIRST RULE OF THE FIGHT IS YOU SHOULD TELL EVERYBODY ABOUT THE FIGHT COS IT IS EXCELLENT’!

Sports Champions: Table Tennis Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 HD ping pongs out of 10)
The MOVE’s first of many sport simulator packages is ‘Sports Champions’ and we got to ping some serious pongs with Table Tennis. It looks excellent, is very responsive and allows for serious skills to be employed – be it adding spin through wrist posting, slamming a smash or serving an ace. It’s about as good as a table tennis sim could be – alas I’m not a big table tennis fan so it was all a bit lost on me. I’m much more excited about some of the other Sports Champions games that come as part of the package – Golf, Gladiator Duels and Archery to name just a few.
Anticipation level: ‘PROBABLE BUY BUT NOT FOR THE TABLE TENNIS ALONE’

Kung Fu Rider Darkmatters rating: ööööö (5 HD office chair based crazy rollings out of 10)
Everybody was Kung Fu Riding…erm well this is a PAIN-alike racing game where you control a office chair as it speeds down a course trying to avoid obstacles, random enemies in suits and various challenges by flicking the MOVE controller or tilting it. This version is obviously in a pretty raw state as the controls need work, but they get sorted before launch and if this madcap title is a low price PSN download then I’d probably pick it up.
Anticipation rating ‘DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, YET’


Heavy Rain MOVE Darkmatters rating: ööööööööö (9 hands on dark crimes out of 10)

I loved Heavy Rain when it was simply a ‘press the right button’ interactive movie – and was curious how the MOVE controls would work with it. Now having played it – I can’t wait to go through the whole game again as the MOVE adds to the feeling actually being involved in the story – be it running from and fighting off masked assailants as a babe wearing nothing but her skimpies, or a tough detective trying to squeeze past a garbage container in a gloomy ‘mug me’ ally. The game throws up symbols on screen – you have a certainly amount of time to react and do the correct gesture – it’s immersive and satisfying and the MOVE controls are spot on.
Anticipation rating: ‘MOVE BRINGS THE CRIMESCENE TO LIFE – NEEDS TO BE PLAYED’!


BETAROOMS verdict: Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 gaming experiences out of 10)

Hats off to Sony for bringing some of their big hitting games to the public at stages where feedback can still be incorporated in to the final development. I was seriously impressed with the excellent games coming from Sony in the next 6 months – and these are just the tip of the powerfisted beserker of gaming goodness that will be hitting the PS3 in that timescale. No other games consol has the depth and sheer excitement factor that the PS3 is going to rock this holiday season – the MOVE is a step up from the Wiimote in every way and unless dancing games are all you enjoy – you need a controller with triggers for the more varied stuff like erm, shooting!!

If there are more BetaRooms planned (can you imagine the potential with StarHawk, Last Guardian, Resistance 3, Eight Days, Time Crisis, Agent, Agency etc etc) I can only hope that my mate Alan is on the ball and bags the tickets sharpish!!

Check out these cool write ups of PlayStation BetaRooms:

RobGroove

ps3attitude

Is this man 'The Stig' - or just Alan Masters?

Scott Pilgrim with zombies hits PS3 now, Xbox one day...

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Game preview by Matt Adcock

You want to kick ass with Scott Pilgrim? The game looks to be a superb film spin off - good news if you've got a PS3... If you're an Xbox 360 owner, you'll have to wait as a release date has yet to be announced...

And now - by entering 'Down, Up, Right, Down, Up, Right, Down, Up, Right, Right, Right' you can fight not only evil ex's you can battle ZOMBIES!!



This time next week - Scott Pilgrim hits the PSN!!

More about the film / comic HERE

Darkmatters Review: The A-Team

The A-Team (12A)

Dir. Joe Carnahan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

One year ago, an elite commando unit was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security facility. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers for hire. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, if you can find them, maybe you can hire... the A-Team.

Movie goers of a certain age will undoubtedly bring fond memories of Saturday evenings spent watching Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith and his A-Team helping oppressed people, building tanks out of spare parts and generally righting wrongs like modern day Robin Hoods (packing automatic weaponry).

Now the their are back – reincarnated into leader Hannibal (Liam Neeson), charmer Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Bradley Cooper), bruiser Bosco B.A. Baracus (Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson) and crazy H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Sharlto Copley).

The new A-Team aren’t Nam vets, these are guys are straight out of Iraq where they were framed for a crime and promptly banged up. Six months later Hannibal breaks them out and vows revenge on whoever set them up who include a nefarious black ops crew led by boo hiss bad guy Pike (Brian Bloom). The CIA is also after the A-Team and could prove to be an even greater threat thanks to Lynch (Patrick Wilson) who wants to see them go down for their supposed crimes. Jessica Biel is on hand to be the hard nosed military Lieutenant also tasked with finding and bringing in them in but she has a history with Face whose good looks and swagger might just be enough to sway her emotions.

Director Joe ‘Smokin Aces’ Carnahan delivers lots of bang for your buck with some truly audacious action set pieces that include planes, tanks and a stunning cargo transporter ship climax. Sure the plot is fairly feeble but there are more than enough fights, chases, stunts, wise cracks and laugh out loud moments to make up for it.

My two sons proclaimed The A-Team to be the “coolest film of the year so far” so there may soon be a new generation of fans won over. Older watchers should be sure to check out the after credits scene where original series actors Dirk Benedict (Face) and Dwight Schultz (Murdock) make fun cameos.

The A-Team might be stupid and completely over the top but in the end you just have to go with it and say "I love it when a plan comes together".

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

The A-Team are challenged to go up against The Losers and The Expendables (seeing it this week)... utter carnage ensues but the A-Team walk away triumphant - because let's face it - they never get shot!!

Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 pity the fools out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide:
Action 8
Style 7
Babes 6
Comedy 7
Horror 4
Spiritual Enlightenment 4

Darkmatters Review: DeathSpank

DeathSpank PS3 (download from PSN)

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Hothead Games

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

For uncounted years gamers have waited for the one known as ‘the wanderer’ - the Dispenser of Justice, the Vanquisher of Evil, and all round Hero to the Downtrodden.

Now he has arrived and his name is, erm, ‘DeathSpank’!?

DeathSpank is an action adventure game like no other, for a start you can grab it for under a tenner and download it in about 10 mins. Once installed on your hard drive DeathSpank has the power to take over your life and suck you in to a quest for a powerful artifact called... ‘The Artifact’. This item was forged by unknown hands for unknown purposes at some unknown time in the past, but be that as it may, The Artifact is now potentially within DeathSpank’s reach, but just what is The Artifact? And who is that shady tyrant who also seeks it?

So far, so generic for a role playing game plot but DeathSpank is blessed with killer sharp writing from the mind of Ron ‘Monkey Island’ Gilbert coupled with a madcap script that kicks all kind of butt.
Basically DeathSpank is a brutal blast of hack-n-slash fun from start to finish. Cute, crisp cartoon graphics depict the bloodshed that Itchy and Scratchy would be proud of. Multiple weapons (each mapped to one of the controller’s buttons) that range from swords, axes, bats, crossbows and giant punching gloves – most of which come with their own flavour filled twists e.g. spinning swords that can take on multiple enemies, hammers that can stun foes etc…

The game is designed with pick up and play in mind, you can co-op with a friend which is very satisfying – and lends a nice element of strategy and tactics. The combat is brilliant – just as good as the recent Demon’s Souls which itself raised the bar, except DeathSpank does it without the hair-tearingly imposing difficulty level.

"I am DeathSpank... wearer of the purple thong of justice!"

Everything about DeathSpank is well crafted. Levelling up sees you pick a ‘skill card’ from a deck that offers increased speed, higher damage – melee or ranged, better cash hauls from fallen foes… The choice is yours and it feels great. The gameplay just keeps on giving, be it getting ‘felt’ by a merchant or shooting hundreds of chickens (to eat their drumsticks as a health perk and get the ‘Slayer of Chickens’ Trophy). If you’ve ever enjoyed adventuring on any level. you’ll laugh, you’ll whoop and you’ll realise that DeathSpank was a great investment.

DeathSpank is a super addictive game that stand tall in the shadow of the masterful Diablo – hacking evil in all sorts of shapes and sizes to death, levelling up and looting treasure hasn’t been this much fun for a long time! Highly recommended!!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 satisfying PS3 spanks out of 10)

Darkmatters hearts Let Me In - Trailer

Choose to 'Let The Right One In'... if you dare!?

Darkmatters loves Let The Right One In

But will the US remake 'Let Me In' do justice to the classic original?

Today a new trailer hit along with the rather cool posters above and below.

Have a look and see what you think...

"Beware young vampire girl (Chloe Moretz)"

"She has form for blood letting after all - did you see Kick Ass!?"

Matt Adcock 

Darkmatters Review: Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 (U)

Dir. Lee Unkrich

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Prepare to go to infinity and beyond – one more time… And I’m delighted to report that the genius’s at Disney / Pixar have saved the best trip till last.

Yee-haw… the toys are here, Woody (Tom Hanks) - the friendliest cowboy buddy you’ll ever need, Jessie (Joan Cusack) - the roughest, toughest cowgirl in the whole west and Bullseye their loyal steed. There’s also Rex (Wallace Shawn), the most terrifying dinosaur who ever lived, Potato Heads both Mr (Don Rickles) and Mrs Estelle Harris) varieties, Slinky Dog (Blake Clark) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger) the pig AKA Evil Dr Porkchop! But my personal favourite is Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), the coolest toy ever! He can fly, oh, and shoot lasers!

This rag tag gang of toys have come into Andy’s possession over the first two films and have braved some truly excellent adventures. Now the fateful time has come with Andy being 17 and off to college the future looks bleak for these old school toys in the age of videogames, iPods and online distractions…

Woody gets picked to accompany Andy to college for nostalgia value but for the others it’s a one way trip to the attic. Things don’t quite work out that way though and before you can say ‘is this the end for our beloved heroes?’ the group are trapped in a community nursery where they have ‘a playdate with destiny’. Sunnyside Daycare you see is run by an evil strawberry-scented bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty) who puts the new arrivals into the early years room where they get badly mistreated.

Who will survive and what will be left of them? It’s an absolute blast finding out, especially with stand out scenes involving Buzz getting switching into ‘Spanish Mode’, Ken (from the Barbie toy line) doing a fashion show and a nail-biting frantic battle to escape being incinerated.

By the emotional end of Toy Story 3, my youngest son was in tears and everyone in the cinema seemed stunned by what they had witnessed. The CGI is an artistic masterpiece – here seamlessly blended into 3D which adds depth but doesn’t distract as it does in lesser films. There are few truly ‘all age’ films out there which can appeal and engage to anyone from 3 to 103 but Toy Story sets a fantastic new benchmark for entertainment excellence. See it, love it, see it again!!

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

The toys get zapped into an alternate reality by evil emperor Zurg... And find themselves in Shrek's swamp - where they have to battle the ogre in order to see which will be the biggest grossing animated film series of all time!

Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 quality emotional payloads out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 8 / Style 9 / Babes 6 / Comedy 8 / Horror 4 / Spiritual Enlightenment 8

Check out a review of the Toy Story 3 game here (Telegraph)

Darkmatters hearts Scott Pilgrim... It brings the 'awesome'

Scott Pilgrim - Matt Adcock's film of 2010?

Check out this new epic clip of epic epicness:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

"read em - the graphic novels are EPIC too!"

Darkmatters Review: Chloe

Chloe (15)

Dir. Atom Egoyan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Atom Egoyan makes classy, cool films and with Chloe he turns his talent towards remaking Anna Fontaine’s 2003 thriller ‘Nathalie’ – a tale of seduction, betrayal, lust and danger.
Chloe ditches the action from France and sets this sordid adultery-em-up in Toronto (Canada is big in 2010 with Scott Pilgrim hitting soon too). Anyway, here we have Chloe (Amanda ‘Mamma Mia’ Seyfried) – she’s an escort well versed in the art of pleasuring men for a price.

Julianne Moore plays Catherine Stewart, a middle age woman who thinks her tutor husband David (Liam Neeson) might be giving his pretty young students a bit more personal tuition than necessary… Her suspicions are heightened when he fails to make a surprise birthday party due to missing his plane home and the fact that we always clicks off the IM conversation he has with his female students whenever she enters his room. Is he slipping it to his students or is Catherine being mentally jealous and imagining things?

The only way to know for sure seems to be to pay the hot n sexy Chloe to try and seduce David – so before you can say ‘it will end in tears’ – that is exactly what Catherine does. Needless to say that things don’t work out exactly as planned and it isn’t long before a lust fuelled love triangle has been created – Chloe you see is happy to please women as well as guys.

"Hot but deadly??"

Director Egoyan who made the excellent ‘Exotica’ which explored the schoolgirl / stripper dynamic through the gorgeous Mia Kirshner, here works a similar trick with the high class prostitute theme using Seyfried. Some people might think she looks like the bastard daughter of ET and Marilyn Monroe – wide / bug eyed coupled with long neck and awesome bod but she sure knows how to work it. The sight of a naked Seyfried going at it hammer and tongs with Julianne Moore is quite something, if you like that idea then the chances are you’ll like Chloe!?

Of course there’s more than girl on girl action to be found here – and once things go south we get the increasingly unhinged Chloe start going for seducing Catherine’s teenage son (Max Thieriot – who looks like he can’t believe his luck when Seyfried takes him to bed). Yes in the end there are moral and life lessons hammered home but overall it’s a erotic bit of fluff thriller that’s easy on the eye.

Chloe is worth watching if you’re a fan of erotic thrillers, older women / young women getting to know each other in special ways or just Amanda Seyfried who’s frankly never looked better.

Darkmatters rating: öööööööö (8 disturbed foxy call girls out of 10)

Darkmatters Review: Trucker

Trucker (15)

Dir. James Mottern

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Trucking onto DVD is hard boiled Diane Ford (Michelle ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ Monaghan), a sexy, no nonsense and successful independent truck driver, whose life is the open road. This is a powerful insight into the world of long-haul trucking, one night stands and all-night drinking that is the existence of those who drive through the night so we can buy the stuff we want from the stores nationwide…
Diane has thing going with ‘Runner’ (Nathan ‘Serenity’ Fillion) and all is fine and dandy until the evening her estranged 11-year-old son, Peter (Jimmy ‘young James Kirk in Star Trek’ Bennett) unexpectedly shows up.

Young Peter hasn't had any contact with his mother since birth and isn’t thrilled about having to fit into her life now but has no choice with his father Len (Benjamin Bratt) in hospital. Can Diane give up her life of sex, freedom and trucking and be the mother that Peter needs? "Bitch" is his term of reference for his newly reacquainted mother… He plays hard to impress – making her life hard by running off, making unreasonable demands etc but eventually there comes to be an understanding between the two.

 

"What do truckers wear when on long hauls??"

Monaghan is excellent and delivers a powerhouse performance, she makes you feel her battle for independence and the confused hurt inside. Trucker isn’t an easy film to watch but it is a good one.


Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 empowered female road-eaters out of 10)

Darkmatters Review: Inception

Inception (12)

Dir. Christopher Nolan

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

“What's the most resilient parasite?

…An Idea.

A single idea from the human mind can build cities.

An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.“

Prepare yourself for Inception, potentially the most exciting, brain frying, pleasure-inducing film you’ll see this year. Here’s my review:

Inception is EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT! I could go on but hopefully you get the idea…

Christopher ‘Dark Knight’ Nolan is probably the greatest Director working at the moment – his films have been a string of superbly dark, boundary pushing adventures. Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and of course Dark Knight… and now Inception which for my money is right up there with his very best.

"someone is going to DIE..."

Imagine The Matrix version 2.0 – a super spy story that takes place inside the mind. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best of ‘dream thief’ – a guy who can enter people’s dreams and extract their thoughts. But after a double cross situation gets out of control, Cobb is hired to do something that many deem impossible: rather then steal a thought, he has to insert an idea into someone’s mind – a procedure called ‘Inception’.

Caution – in for maximum enjoyment you’ll really need to engage your brain - as this is no thoughtless popcorn movie, Inception is a high brow, endorphin pumping rush of pure imagination.
The worlds of Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy)’s subconscious where Cobb and his crack team must venture are fantastic creations. Each level changes from the grim rainy cityscape which sees one of the best shoot-outs of modern cinema through to an arctic military station that houses the vault of the mind. The cinematography is stunning, whilst the special effects are utterly epic and will literally leave you reeling from the overpowering creativity wrought on screen.

Cobb’s team include his right hand man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levit), the lovely Ariadne (a never better Ellen Page), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) – all of whom get moments to shine. Also on hand are powerful business mogul Saito (Ken Watanabe) and there is sterling support from Michael Caine and Tom Berenger. Marion Cotillard plays Cobbs wife ‘Mal’ – a dangerously unstable figure who haunts his dreams and threatens to wreck his mission.

"The girl of your dreams... literally"

Everything about Inception is fantastic – very cool, kick-ass action, deep mind twisting plot, awesome special effects. You owe it to yourself to see this film!!

UNSEEN DELETED SCENE:

Neo from The Matrix turns up in one of the mindscapes and challenges Cobb to a zero gravity duel... It gets all kinds of awesome!?

Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 awesome mind trips out of 10)

Darkmatters quick reference guide: Action 9 / Style 9 / Babes 8 / Comedy 6 / Horror 7 / Spiritual Enlightenment 5

Darkmatters Review: Cargo

Cargo (12)

Dir. Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

Fancy a trip to the year 2267? Things have gone a bit downhill over the next 250 odd years…You may not be completely surprised to learn that earth has been rendered uninhabitable thanks to our global warming efforts. As a result we now have to live on space ships (in cryo sleep) or huge space stations which serve as staging posts in the many light year journey to Rhea, a utopian paradise / new earth where life is good.

Getting to Rhea isn’t cheap though and for Dr Laura Portman (Anna Katharina ‘might have seen her in German cop show Tatort’ Schwabroh), her dream of getting a ticket depends on her taking a mission aboard the intergalactic cargo ship ‘Kassandra’. But in space, no one can hear you scream “haven’t I seen this before?” which is just as well as Cargo treads a well worn path in the vein of Alien or Sunshine. At least the filmmakers are copying from the best! Whilst we’re talking about ‘borrowed’ ideas – it won’t take you long to Rhea-lise that the central premise about Rhea is ripped right out of The Matrix (again – not necessarily a bad thing).

So we get some very nice special effects, a brooding big spaceship which holds dark secrets and possible threats, escalating crew tensions and violence – basically exactly what good science fiction fans demand. And although it is suitably harsh and gripping for the first hour, the pace and plot somewhat disappear into a black hole of mediocrity towards the end, which is a shame because if I’d written up this review half way through I’d be hailing Cargo as the Swiss new ‘Moon’.

Directors Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter are definitely ones to watch and sci-fi nuts will find much to enjoy here – not least the exceptional visuals which put to shame many bigger budgeted films.

Providing you’re a fan of sub-titled films, Cargo is a film to savour and should be applauded for adding a decent entry into the more ‘serious’ sci-fi cannon.

Cargo’s brilliance might burn out before the standard jeopardy ending but it’s good to see an ambitious new space mystery burst onto the scene and put a marker down for Swiss films!


Darkmatters rating: ööööööö (7 frosty space voids out of 10)