Microsoft’s Gamescom 2017 press conference was a more casual affair than its usual industry events, which makes sense — Gamescom is Europe’s largest gaming convention for fans, after all. But the company still brought seven exclusive trailers to its 90-minute livestream, all of which you can watch below.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
First up was a CGI look at the next Assassin’s Creed game. Origins takes the franchise way back to Ancient Egypt, something which the copious amounts of computer-generated sand wouldn’t let us forget.
Jurassic World was a big deal back in 2015 … but that was 2015, and it’s 2017 now. Still, better late than never to spin the game off for consoles. Jurassic World Evolution is a theme park-sim style game where players can create their own Jurassic World.
Developed by Frontier (Elite: Dangerous), Jurassic World Evolution’s heading to Xbox One — and PlayStation 4 and Windows PC — in summer 2018. That should be just in time for the sequel to Jurassic World. Fitting.
ReCore Definitive Edition
ReCore didn’t light the world on fire when it launched last summer, but Microsoft and developer Comcept are trying again. The Definitive Edition release brings the game back to Xbox One with some additional content.
Although it’s a separate retail release, owners of the standard version of ReCore can download all of the new goods at no extra cost. When Definitive Edition launches on Aug. 29, all ReCore owners can check out a new quest and robot companion frame, plus the remastered graphics.
World of Tanks
An enhanced version of this multiplayer tank warfare game is in the works for Xbox One X. If you’ve ever played a World of Tanks game — including this one, available on Windows PC and Xbox One right now — you know what to expect. But if you’re a huge fan of tank warfare and 4K graphics, this update’s for you.
ID @ Xbox showcase
Microsoft is going all-in on indie games, something that it spoke extensively about during its E3 2017 conference. Here’s yet another showcase reel of some of those games, ranging from the already available (Tacoma) to the upcoming (Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds).
Xbox One S Minecraft limited edition console
The Minecraft aesthetic isn’t for everyone. Count me as a fan, though — I’m really into this special Xbox One S 1 TB bundle, which includes a special green controller and even Minecraft system sounds, too. Pre-orders are up now, if you want the pixelated console color scheme for your collection. (It even has a translucent case.)
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
This game is all about the monsters of Mordor. There are a lot of them — two minutes’ worth of them. Feel free to watch this trailer through your fingers if all of those creatures are a little too scary for you. At least there’s a friendly dragon to ride in Middle-earth: Shadow of War among all the unfriendly monsters. The game is out on Oct. 10.
Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition
Microsoft wants you to know that “this thing is a beast.” But it also wants you to know that it liked the Xbox One X’s original Project Scorpio codename as much as you did. The company is bringing that name back with a special edition of the upcoming high-powered console, which includes special detailing and a vertical stand. The words “Project Scorpio” are inscribed in green on the console and controller, which is a nice throwback touch to the Xbox’s early days.
The console is available for pre-order now and goes on sale Nov. 7.
Death Note suffers from an unsolvable identity crisis.
Director Adam Wingard is caught in a game of tug-of-war, pulled by his obligation to the source material and his desire to not make another simple adaptation. That uncontrollable tugging can be seen in the film’s most bizarre moments where the style of one scene juxtaposes the one before it. Death Note switches back and forth between two different movies without pause, creating a jarring effect that rips you from the film’s world.
Death Note is almost a solid B-movie, but considering that wasn’t Wingard or Netflix’s intention, it makes the entire presentation unfortunate. The cat-and-mouse mystery thriller riddled with enticing dialogue that Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s manga was celebrated for doesn’t exist in Wingard’s work. Almost every decision or clue is dumbed down for the audience, but that’s not its worst offense. The characters are nowhere near as intriguing, likable or compelling as Ohba and Obata’s conceptions. Death Note ignores its characters, choosing to put its emphasis on the physical horrors associated with the notebook-that-kills instead of the psychological drama that develops around it.
Death Note is turned into a run-of-the-mill American horror flick, and not a good one. It would be one thing if Death Note managed to accomplish its goal of taking another idea and morphed that into an interesting, aesthetic-driven horror, but that’s not what Death Note does.
Death Note is a lazy, unambitious, forgettable movie that lacks any imagination, heart or entertaining values.
James Dittiger/Netflix
The story follows teenager Light Turner (Nat Wolff) and his girlfriend Mia Sutton (Margaret Qualley) as they use a magical notebook gifted to Light by a death god named Ryuk (Willem Dafoe) to kill criminals around the world. Their vigilante escapade catches the attention of renowned detective L (Lakeith Stanfield), who travels to Seattle to help the local police department, led by Light’s father, crack the case.
It’s when Light and L are in the same city that Death Note loses its shape. Wingard tries to incorporate part of the cat-and-mouse game, but seems bored by the necessity to do so. Any time the mysterious aspects of their relationship are introduced, the focus is switched over to a more arresting visual.
Still, it’s the dialogue, the strength that made the original manga remarkable, that is Death Note’s weakest link. The actors cant’t sell their lines in any kind of convincing manner and everything seems rushed. The characters don’t get to develop because the conversations that need to exist simply don’t.
Another of Death Note’s most boggling facets is the absurd number of tropes that appear in the movie’s 90-minute runtime. From Light being the weird misfit who falls in love with the unhappy, misunderstood cheerleader and has to deal with an absentee, uncommunicative father, to the brilliant detective who’s just a little bit off, Death Note is a film full of clichés.
Netflix
It crams them into every nook, huffing and puffing to try and ensure none escape. It’s almost impressive just how many clichés Wingard is able to check off the list, all of which culminates with a winter formal dance held in a high school gym, but it’s just another example of the apathy Death Note is soaked in. Stringing together a series of lazy cliches gives the movie some kind of direction to continue moving in, allowing it to approach an untriumhpant and unfulfilling end.
Death Note isn’t just a mediocre movie, but it breaks the cardinal rule of being unentertaining. There are a few, sporadic moments where I found myself laughing, but it was out of second-hand embarrassment more than anything else. Light’s high-pitched scream the first time he encounters Ryuk is a good example. This isn’t a funny scene, but the awkwardness that surrounds Light is difficult to watch without letting a little giggle out.
I wish there was something to love about the movie, but even its best asset, Willem Dafoe’s Ryuk, isn’t used as well as he should be. Ryuk makes a strong appearance, but then is mostly ignored as the movie goes on. Without Ryuk, Light isn’t interesting enough in Wingard’s version of the story to keep everything on track. His relationship with Mia gets tedious and annoying quick, meaning Wingard can’t even rely on their chemistry to turn to if need be.
When Death Note was first announced, I was worried that not being able to watch it in a theater would hinder the experience. Death Note is a big story and, combined with what Wingard was trying to accomplish, seemed like it could have benefited from a big screen and powerful audio system. Instead, what hindered the movie was the film itself and unfortunately nothing can save Death Note from that.
Months after the Xbox One X was officially announced, Microsoft’s new console is finally available to pre-order. Online retailers are now taking reservations for the $499.99 console, which launches this November.
Xbox One X comes with a 1 TB hard drive, a matching Xbox Wireless Controller, HDMI cable, power supply, a one-month free Xbox Game Pass subscription and a 14-day free Xbox Live Gold membership.
Microsoft has long boasted that the Xbox One X will be “the world’s most powerful console.” The console’s GPU boasts 40 Radeon compute units running at 1172 MHz (compared to the PS4 Pro’s 911 MHz and the Xbox One’s 853 MHz). On the CPU side, there are eight custom x86 cores at 2.3 GHz, 31 percent faster than the original Xbox One. The Xbox One X includes 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM — 8 GB of which is available to developers, and 4 GB of which is reserved for the system — with a total memory bandwidth of 326 GB/s.
Here’s a breakdown of the Xbox One X hardware compared to its closest rival, PlayStation 4 Pro, and its predecessors, Xbox One and Xbox One S.
Xbox One X hardware comparision
Hardware
Xbox One X
PlayStation 4 Pro
Xbox One
CPU
Eight custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz
Eight Jaguar cores clocked at 2.1 GHz
Eight custom Jaguar cores clocked at 1.75 GHz
GPU
40 customized compute units at 1172 MHz
36 improved GCN compute units at 911 MHz
12 GCN compute units at 853 MHz (Xbox One S: 914 MHz)
Memory
12 GB GDDR5
8 GB GDDR5
8 GB DDR3/32 MB ESRAM
Memory Bandwidth
326 GB/s
218 GB/s
DDR3: 68 GB/s, ESRAM at max 204 GB/s (Xbox One S: 219 GB/s)
Hard Drive
1 TB 2.5-inch
1 TB 2.5-inch
500 GB/1 TB/2 TB 2.5-inch
Optical Drive
4K UHD Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Xbox One S: 4K UHD)
Xbox One X — the console previously known as Project Scorpio — will be released Nov. 7, 2017.
The Xbox One S is getting a Minecraft-themed bundle, that we already knew, but for those who dig the look but aren't looking for a new console, two Minecraft controllers will also be sold separately. The controllers are available Sept. 5, and the console bundle on Oct. 3.
The controllers come in a green Creeper theme (matching the console) and a pink Pig design. They are $74.99 each, compatible with the Xbox One as well as Windows 10 PCs.
The console, shown off at the Xbox Gamescom keynote, packs a Creeper controller with a 1 TB Xbox One S, a vertical stand, download codes for Minecraft and the Minecraft Redstone pack, and trial passes for Xbox Live and the Xbox Games Pass. That's $399.
The designs are slick but that is a premium over what themed bundles are going for now. The newest Xbox One S 1 TB editions run $349.99, some for less, and a standard Xbox One controller is $59.99.
Microsoft’s biggest news out of Gamescom today was opening up preorders for the $499.99 Xbox One X “Project Scorpio Edition,” so it may seem strange why the console's junior configuration would get a premium-priced bundle, too. However, the $499.99 Xbox One X is best paired with a 4K TV, which some may not have. And a new bundle design sends the message that the more affordable S is still worthwhile.
Microsoft just wrapped up its Gamescom 2017 keynote, announcing that more than 100 games will be enhanced for Xbox One X, alongside nine trailers for games on the console this fall.
It is not often that I’m tempted to give up on a film after less than 15 seconds but for The Dark Tower I was seriously considering making an exception. Would have saved time too.
As the first scene-setting caption spread dismally across the screen, I could feel my spirits plummet. ‘A tower stands at the centre of the universe,’ it portentously explained, ‘protecting us from darkness’. Of course it does. The second was no better. Something about the only thing that could bring down this tower being ‘a child’s mind’.
Cue footage of frightened children being frogmarched into a sinister ziggurat, strapped to chairs and having helmets and electrode-like things attached to their heads. Someone (I’ll wager a baddie) throws a switch, the children writhe and suddenly a beam of powerful light arcs into the sky, presumably heading for the aforementioned dark tower. Kerpow! Direct hit. 1-0 to the baddies.
+7
Even this target audience wil be disappointed with the way an eight-book series by Stephen King can be reduced to 95 minutes of over-acted, effects-dependent, derivative tosh like this
Yes, it’s fantasy time again, although judging by the tender years of the young lad who turns out to be our hero, less of the popular ‘young adult’ variety, more the ‘early teen or pre-teen’ type. But even this target audience will surely be disappointed with the way an eight-book series by the prolific Stephen King can be reduced to 95 minutes of over-acted, effects-dependent, derivative tosh like this.
Clearly struggling with a screenplay written by committee (four writers are credited, including Akiva Goldsman, who directed and co-wrote the similarly disappointing A New York Winter’s Tale) the hitherto well-regarded Danish director Nikolaj Arcel introduces us to a world of portals, house-demons and a strange quality called ‘shine’.
But, despite a modest talent for evoking paranoia and generating tension, his execution is so clumsy that a film that clearly had aspirations to be another Inception ends up making that George Clooney dud, Tomorrowland, look good.
+7
Jake (Tom Taylor) has trouble growing up. He is haunted by nightmares of dark towers, a man dressed in black and someone who looks like an old-fashioned gunslinger out of the Wild West
It begins – structurally, if not strictly chronologically – on Earth, or ‘Keystone Earth’, as it is known in the strange ‘multiverse’ we are being asked to believe in.
It is here, in New York, that Jake (Tom Taylor) is having trouble growing up – hating his stepfather, isolated at school and, most of all, haunted by nightmares of dark towers, a man dressed in black and someone who looks like an old-fashioned gunslinger out of the Wild West.
His mother and stepfather think the drawings he makes of his visions are signs of mental illness but, as they spill into his waking hours too, Jake is not so sure. Then a house he’s drawn from his dreams turns out to be real – in Brooklyn, in fact – and we’re off. Goodness, you don’t think a portal awaits, do you?
+7
McConaughey, above, as ‘The Man in Black' who as well as having been given brown hair appears to have had his faced polished to a strange, lineless perfection
The only things awaiting Jake on the other side of the portal are an over-acting Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey – an actor notoriously reluctant to under-sell any part. In both cases, the bass tones of their voices have been turned up almost comically high.
More inadvertent comedy awaits as we discover more about them. For while the former is playing a character who really is known as ‘the gunslinger’ and the latter is a possessor of powerful, god-like ‘magics’ who is known – somewhat unimaginatively – as The Man In Black, their real names turn out to be Roland Deschain and Walter O’Dim. Don’t know about you but I love the fact that the battle between good and evil, indeed the very future of the universe, comes down to Roland v Walter.
Of the two stars, Elba escapes with a little more dignity than McConaughey, who as well as having been given brown hair appears to have had his faced polished to a strange, lineless perfection. But then if you were the possessor of all-powerful ‘magics’ I suppose that might be high on your ‘to do’ list.
+7
In a film in which echoes of The Matrix are never far away, it’s disappointing to discover that the story’s resolution comes down to ‘guns, lots of guns’. But then doesn’t it always?
The boiled-down story they’ve been given to work with is not only conspicuously short of meaningful female characters but so thin that it’s no wonder they struggle. Basically, it comes down to wicked Walter trying to harness Jake’s ‘shine’ to take down the tower, and Jake – and an initially reluctant Roland – trying to stop him.
In a film in which echoes of The Matrix are never far away, it’s disappointing to discover that the story’s resolution comes down to ‘guns, lots of guns’. But then doesn’t it always? It’s also unedifying – particularly in the dangerous world we live in today – to see an 11- or 12-year-old boy being taught how to fire a gun and endlessly rehearse a mantra that ends with the line ‘I kill with my heart’.
I should have given up at the beginning.
SECOND SCREEN
The Hitman's Bodyguard (15)
Rating:
The Odyssey (PG)
Rating:
Everything, Everything (12A)
Rating:
Final Portrait (15)
Rating:
An Inconvenient Truth (PG)
Rating:
Somewhere along the creative line, the decision was apparently taken to turn The Hitman’s Bodyguard (15) from an out-and-out action thriller to a comedy thriller and, boy, doesn’t it show, particularly in the first third of this extraordinarily uneven production.
One minute a ruthless Belorussian despot is calmly executing a mother and child while a small war breaks out on the streets of Manchester, and the next, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson are bantering away and having a high old time debating the meaning of the word ‘plethora’. The result is very odd – like a not altogether happy cross between London Has Fallen and In Bruges.
What saves it is the undoubted screen chemistry between Reynolds and Jackson, the former playing a down-on-his-luck, London-based ‘executive protection specialist’ (i.e. a bodyguard) and the latter a former hitman who has struck a deal to give evidence against said despot (Gary Oldman) at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The only problem is getting him there.
What saves it is the undoubted screen chemistry between Reynolds and Jackson, the former playing a London-based ‘executive protection specialist’ and the latter a former hitman
With echoes of 2 Guns, the 2013 comedy thriller that employed Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg to similar effect, the result is an over-long and excessively violent picture that slightly falls foul of our newly reduced appetite for seeing murderous mayhem on the streets of Europe (both London and Amsterdam feature large). Nevertheless, thanks to Reynolds and Jackson, and a foul-mouthed cameo from Salma Hayek, it does raise a smile or three.
A more reliable pleasure, particularly for anyone who did their growing up in the Seventies, is The Odyssey (PG), a French biopic charting the life and times of the great underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, already parodied by Wes Anderson in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
But this straight version is no punch-pulling hagiography. Along the beautifully shot and very nicely acted way, Cousteau is portrayed as a self-obsessed egotist who regularly cheated on his wife. Even his trademark red woollen hat is exposed as a cynical device to boost television ratings.
But for all these human weaknesses – or perhaps because of them – it is a fascinating and compelling story that serves as a powerful reminder of Cousteau’s infectious enthusiasm for life underwater. Lambert Wilson and Audrey Tautou are both excellent as Cousteau and his spirited but long-suffering wife, Simone. The ageing process is beautifully handled – both of them and their vessel, Calypso – and I guarantee British audiences will come out knowing more about the great but flawed man than they did going in.
Along the beautifully shot and very nicely acted way, Cousteau is portrayed as a self-obsessed egotist who regularly cheated on his wife
Everything, Everything (12A) is the latest instalment in the popular genre that can only be described as ‘the dying teenager’. This one is about Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) who suffers from ‘severe combined immunodeficiency’ that leaves her vulnerable to infection. It’s why she’s spent her entire 18 years behind an airlock in her doctor mother’s architect-designed house.
And then handsome Olly – he of the floppy hair and lazy smile – moves in next door, and her life changes forever.
The film is sentimental and, given their ages, strangely chaste, but it does serve up one or two genuinely sweet moments before being undone by a melodramatic late twist that borders on the absurd.
Maddy (Amandla Stenberg, above left,) stars in the latest instalment in the popular genre that can only be described as ‘the dying teenager’
Final Portrait (15) is the latest directorial foray of that fine actor turned occasional-film-maker Stanley Tucci. As you’d expect, he draws top-notch performances from his cast, particularly Geoffrey Rush who is a shuffling, grunting, explosively foul-mouthed joy as the artist and sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
But he’s let down by his own thin and repetitive screenplay, which begins in Paris in 1964 with a preppy young American writer (Armie Hammer) sitting for what would be the Swiss artist’s final portrait. Rather like the sittings, the film just goes on and on and on.
Eleven years ago the former Presidential candidate Al Gore caused a stir with his climate change polemic, An Inconvenient Truth. He’ll struggle to make anything like the same impact with An Inconvenient Sequel (PG), which suffers from a surfeit of Gore, a lack of objectivity and a notable tardiness in making it to the big screen
Ever since the glory days of the Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360, indie games have become a staple of any respectable game library. Independent games are made by smaller teams than the bigger AAA developers behind the Halo, Uncharted, or Call of Duty games. We've felt lasting impressions by these big indie-games but which ones are our favorites? Read on to see our top 3 independent games.
Minecraft
Arguably the most important indie game of all time.
Of course, we had to mention Minecraft. This game is not just a big title for indie games but a giant gaming phenomenon regardless of where it came from. First released to the public on May 17, 2009, Minecraft was in a public beta of the game that let players try out an early build for free. After years of adding onto the title for free, the game had itself an official release on PC during November 18, 2011, and really began its mainstream ascent during May of 2012 when it was released on the Xbox 360.
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Launch Trailer
The simplistic graphics, engrossing gameplay, and accessibility of Xbox 360 made Minecraft the success it is. With over 122 million sales, it's one of the most successful pieces of entertainment ever even including media outside of video games. Every piece of content created will strive to be as important as the blocky world of Minecraft but few games, if any, will ever have as wide an impact.
Journey
Journey is a beautiful game with an academy award nominated soundtrack.
A truly beautiful game about connectivity with minimal communication. Journey gives players the seemingly simple objective of crossing a desert to climb the top of a mountain. When playing the game online, which is the best way to experience the title, other players will join you along the way. Climbing a mountain is just a standard video game objective when you're doing it by yourself but when you trudge through a snowstorm with a friend you're not simply doing it to get through it but you're sticking it out to be there for your ally.
Journey Launch Trailer
Journey's one of the first games to truly leave an impression on me as a piece of art. The themes, visuals, and music of this game set a bar for video games as an art. Whenever people argue about the merit of gaming as an art form Journey will always be a tent pole piece of the argument.
Inside
Inside is one of the best games to release on the PS4/Xbox One generation, just like Limbo was in the previous generation.
Playdead popularized the indie game on consoles with Limbo for the XBLA but they perfected the genre of puzzle platformer with their follow-up game Inside. One of the eeriest titles I've ever played, Inside plays just as beautifully as it looks. A short and sweet game that presents a narrative uniquely told throughout gaming's medium. Here's what we had to say when the game first released.
Inside Review
“Inside is my favorite exclusive on the Xbox One and potentially the best game I've played this year. Its dark and brooding world is finished up in an expertly paced 3 hours. Inside doesn't often overstay its welcome and consistently impressed me with its setting. If you have an Xbox One–and you're of the appropriate age to play this game–you have to pick this up. You won't find many games that are such a great use of your time. Play Inside.”
Have Your Say!
Which indie games stand out most to you? Do you have a favorite downloadable game? Share your comments below!
Arguably the most important indie game of all time.
Journey is a beautiful game with an academy award nominated soundtrack.
Inside is one of the best games to release on the PS4/Xbox One generation, just like Limbo was in the previous generation.