Killzone Shadow Fall (PlayStation 4) is a beautiful and accomplished dystopian sci-fi first-person shooter that really shows off what the new PlayStation 4 can do.
But it also, sadly, has a number of issues, including some obvious and easily avoided mistakes, as well as a problem that’s so prevalent lately that I really fear it will be a hallmark of this new generation.
To those with unadventurous ears, Keith Jarrett’s No End (CD, digital) might seem like apt title for this new (though not newly-recorded) album. Driven by Santana-esque guitars and rhythms, and employing rather loose structures, the tracks on this instrumental collection harkens back to the work Jarrett did with Miles Davis on such epic jazz-rock fusion albums as 1971’s A Tribute To Jack Johnson, 1970’s Miles Davis At Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore East, and 1971’s Live-Evil. But for those of us who appreciate loosely-structured, atmospheric instrumental soundscapes, calling this No End couldn’t be a less appropriate.
With Ratchet And Clank: Into The Nexus — which Sony is releasing for the PlayStation 3 both on disc and through the PSN store — Insomniac Games bring to a close to the Future set of Ratchet And Clank games. But while this hopefully isn’t the last we’ll see of Mssrs. Ratchet y Clank, at least this chapter of the series is going out with a bang.
In J.W. Rinzler’s The Making Of Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi (hardcover, Kindle), we learn, in great detail, how the titular sci-fi movie was made, complete with behind-the-scenes photos, numerous new interviews, original concept drawings, script pages, and other bits of movie minutiae. But if you think this makes the book just for film students or people who have to know every single trivial detail about this film, you couldn’t be more wrong.
As the saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Clearly, it’s one that, DICE, the makers of the Battlefield games, have taken to heart because after failing repeatedly to make a single-player mode that’s as compelling as their online multiplayer ones, they’ve finally pulled it off with Battlefield 4.
Oh, and the multiplayer is still good, too.
In Batman: Arkham Origins, the role of The Dark Knight is played by actor Roger Craig Smith, who previously voiced Ezio in Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. But while Smith’s take on The Caped Crusader is largely cribbed from Kevin Conroy, who masterfully voiced Batman in 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum and 2011’s Batman: Arkham City (with a little Christian Bale thrown in for good measure), at the very least, Smith’s imitation of Conroy’s Batman is still pretty spot on.
As someone who loves Star Wars, pinball, and video games, but is not a big fan of playing games on systems with tiny screens, the idea of playing Star Wars Pinball for the 3DS is…well, let’s just say even C-3PO could feel the conflict within me. And he can’t feel anything.
But while Star Wars Pinball for the 3DS has its issues — most of which, admittedly, have more to do with the 3DS than the game itself — it’s still fairly addictive.
Skylanders SWAP Force (Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, WiiU, Wii, 3DS) is the third installment in what is easily the most popular new series since the first Call Of Duty came out in 2003. But what if, like me, you’ve never played a Skylanders game before, or only played one of the others ones briefly, and are intrigued by all the positive press?
As it turns out, you shouldn’t believe the hype. Well, okay, maybe a little.
Like their previous pinball tables, Star Wars or otherwise, the ones included in Zen Studio’s new Star Wars Pinball: Balance Of The Force collection strike a great balance between realism and unrealistic expectations. Which is why, like their previous pinball tables, the ones included in Star Wars Pinball: Balance Of The Force are as addictive and fun, well, Zen’s other pinball tables, Star Wars or otherwise.