IMAGINE the plot... man wants to buy him mother a pair of slippers for Christmas.
He can’t find them on the high street and fears his cherished mother’s festive gift wishes will fall by the wayside.
So he goes online.
And there, buried in the listings he finds them... on Amazon.co.uk.
Okay, admittedly it needs some work.
Maybe a few cameo appearances by the great and good of Hollywood, some Spielberg magic and some Lucas special effects.
But hey, it’s got to be worth a shot right?
I mean, a FILM about Facebook?!
“Invite your friends,” could be one tag line; “you have a notification – see THIS film,” could be another; or rather “I’m going to write a status update to make my dreary life sound interesting”.
Ring any bells?!
Well. I just can’t get my head around it. Are we seriously that out of fresh ideas that we need to turn to the fb phenomenon?!
Whatever next?
Ok, some may say it’s worth seeing because of the character behind the website’s creator but come on.
Meanwhile it seems the Call of Duty guys have taken a step closer to basing a film on a game.
By the look of the screenshots of the latest instalment it looks awesome.
And the game’s developers backed down to strip away the feature allowing you to play as a member of the Taliban.
Controversial to say the least. But then again. If they simply invented the idea to generate publicity for the game I think it worked.
Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates recently. No excuse.
Work and life overtake, well blogging.
Fortunately there have been a number of game releases in recent weeks which must have kept you ticking over.
Here’s the best of the best:
Title: Medal Of Honor
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
Medal of Honor, until now, has had its feet firmly in the past with Second World War recreations firing FPS imaginations across the console generations. But now the series has been brought bang up to date as Afghanistan becomes the virtual battleground for shooter fans, and Medal Of Honor sets about establishing itself as a premier FPS experience with Call Of Duty: Black Ops on the horizon. And it succeeds.
A cram-packed eight- to 10-hour single player campaign is perfectly complemented with an engaging multiplayer experience that uses a host of ’career development’ devices to keep you coming back for more, in the shape of medals, ribbons, unlockable character upgrades and three character classes to master.
Visually stunning, the control gripes throughout are minimal, and Medal Of Honor has set a pretty high benchmark on- and offline for Call Of Duty to hurdle.
Let battle commence...
Title: Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 4/5
To be mentioned in the same breath as other 3D action adventures such as Devil May Cry and God Of War is interesting territory for the Castlevania franchise to move into.
To so many hardcore gamers, the series is about side-scrolling 2D action and nothing more. But this move into a three-dimensional world has done the series well, and Lords Of Shadows is a blast to blitz through, offering up a good 20 hours of hacking, slashing, puzzle solving and epic boss battles from the fantasy world.
It’s a gorgeous looking game, enhanced by a sprinkling of Patrick Stewart’s vocal talents and a pretty tasty story to follow, too.
While fans of open-world adventures may feel restricted in what appear to be wide-open environments, falling into the more linear playing style required doesn’t stop Lords Of Shadow from having plenty of surprises up its sleeves.
Action fans should enjoy Gabriel’s whip cracking tour of vampires, werewolves and much more besides...
Title: Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Platform: PS3
Genre: Football
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
Many PES hardcore fans will have done the unthinkable last year – defected to FIFA. For all those licensed bells and whistles and undeniable superiority in game quality, it still felt like moving to the dark side.
Pro Evo has always been considered the "real" football title for "real" football fans, but they were all let down badly in 2010.
Thankfully this year PES is back on form, but in a very different guise, with all in-game assistance turned off. That’s right, you’re on your own from the very beginning, but it’s well worth putting the hours in, because once the control penny drops you’ll be knocking out through balls and clipped passes and 30-yard screamers the likes of which FIFA can only dream of.
It’s a relief, because in many other ways – licences and commentary in particular – Pro Evo still seriously lags behind. But fear not, if you’re the kind of Pro Evo fan that always forgave these eccentricities, then you’ll be in your element with the 2011 version.
Thank goodness... Pro Evo’s back!
Title: Halo: Reach
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Price: £49.99
Hit count: 5/5
It’s been touted as the last hurrah for the Halo series, delicately crafted by Microsoft’s Bungie development team, and pretty much all that fans want to know is whether Halo: Reach proves to be a fitting send-off for the series.
And the answer is a resounding yes.
With a single player campaign packed with more meaty Covenant conflict than you can shake a carefully customised armoured fist at, and a mulitplayer experience that easily rivals the very best online action out there right now, Reach is an instant classic.
Fans of the series will revel in the epic storyline, while newcomers will wonder why they’ve dodged Spartan advances for so long. Refined combat, a host of strategic armoury options, and an Xbox Live community ready to effortlessly rack up millions of online hours of glorious FPS fun and frolics – what are you waiting for, Reach out and touch one of the finest shooters ever created.
