STATE OF PLAY Games reviews by Steven Fox Monday, October 5, 2009 metrolife 13 Dead Space Extraction Wii, 46 Last years most refreshing console release, Dead Space, was a work of genius that nailed the basics of third-person action and created an atmosphere dripping in horror. The tale of ordinary people battling humans-turned-horrid-mutants is not an obvious choice for the Wii treatment. However, the formula makes a glorious transition to the white box and instantaneously becomes the best adult-rated game available for the console. This time, the action changes to first-person perspective and is set a few weeks before the original game starts. While a lot of the action is fixed- camera, there is a surprising amount of freedom and multiple paths to explore. The Wii remote works well with the array of weapons, with alternate fire engaged with a simple twist of the controller; shake it and you get a glow-stick effect. Co-op play allows you to jump in at any point in a mission. Extraction loses none of the depth, originality and terror of its bigger brother. Halo ODST X360, 46 While Extraction extends and innovates on a theme, Halo ODST doesnt do a great deal to build upon the rich Halo universe. In fact, its notably less ambitious in almost every way. ODST was never really meant to be anything more than an appetite-whetter in advance of the next full Halo game, despite the fact its a very competent first-person shooter in its own right. As an orbital drop-ship trooper, you possess none of the super abilities of a spartan, such as Master Chief, the genetically enhanced hero of the Halo series. By its very nature, then, you are rather ordinary in comparison. As you fight your way through New Mombasa, after the Covenant alien invasion of Earth, you will encounter many familiar enemies and fire many familiar weapons. While it feels polished and clean, its an ugly game. Its also incredibly short: youll finish it in three hours without much difficulty. Multiplayer more than makes up for this, though, and firefight mode is the best of the bunch. For Your Lover Give Some Time by Richard Hawley I love the title lyric of this track. Its a classic, beautiful- sounding song and a really interesting love song: humorous and really grown-up. Hawleys got a beautiful sounding vocal as well I think the vocal of the year for me. Stoned Autopilot by Martin Buttrich This is a producer Ive worked with and hes very talented. I heard this a while ago its a class minimalist techno tune that just makes me really happy. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack This is off the first LP an all-time classic. The searing strings just never seem to cease and the whole track never fails to make me really emotional and all soft and squidgy. The reformed Skunk Anansie release greatest hits album Smashes And Trashes (One Little Indian) on Nov 2. Staying In DVD Reviews CHARACTER STUDY Nick McDonells favourite fictional figure Awaydays Optimum Home Entertainment, 18, 20 Control meets The Football Factory in Kevin Sampsons arty take on the hooligan genre. Liverpool, 1979. After his ma dies, pasty, suburbanite art-school drop out and Joy Division fan, Carty (Nicky Bell) gets a case of the Common Peoples by donning an anorak and running with The Pack, a violent gang of Stanley- knife-wielding local football thugs. Cartys entry into their world comes via a working-class lad called Elvis (Liam Boyle) who he meets at an Echo And The Bunnymen gig. The two lads form an intense friendship, but trouble soon comes because Elvis is (a) a smack-head and (b) has a crush on Carty cue much tortured staring into the middle distance, scored to The Cure. The presence of This Is Englands Stephen Graham, as the older gang leader, reminds you that Shane Meadows does this coming-of-age male group identity stuff much better, but theres no arguing with the cracking, post-punk soundtrack. Extras: on location featurette; director and cast interviews; auditions. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh Tormented Dist, 15 A BBC co- produced teen slasher film doesnt inspire much confidence, neither does the fact Tormented first resembles a pilot for a wacky BBC3 teens-go-off-the-rails caper. However, this offering never takes itself too seriously and makes up for its lack of scares with the occasional decent joke and low-budget charm. The neat premise is that bullied overweight teen Darren Mullet has committed suicide and comes back from the dead to exact revenge on his classmates. His reign of terror kicks off in suitably juvenile fashion, with a series of texts calling his tormentors slags or gay, then escalates to tried-and-tested teen slasher fare of swimming-pool drownings and graveyard bloodbaths. Comedy relief is provided by a gang of sadly under- used emo kids and a brilliant joke about a condom earns this an extra star all on its own. The pacing is a bit slow but Tormented manages to make some excellent points about the pure evil adolescents can inflict on each other, and how modern technology makes that easier and more pernicious, while the blood- drenched finale is an enjoyably tongue-in-cheek affair. Extras: commentary, special-effects featurette. Andrew Williams Observe And Report Warner Brothers, 15, 18 Seth Rogans past form as loveable teddy bear cf Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Superbad, Zack And Miri Make A Porno actually works against him in this new comedy. Hes miscast as Ronnie Barnhardt, Forest Ridge Malls bipolar head of security, whose prejudices, insecurities, delusions and iron fist make him a jarringly unlikeable lead character. When a flasher starts terrorising his shoppers, he monologues Daredevil- style about his crime-fighting responsibilities, only to be taken down a peg or two by competitive local tough-nut cop DI Harrison (Ray Liotta), whos determined to get to the pervy culprit first. Slutty cosmetics girl Brandi (Anna Faris) also brings Barnhardt down to Earth with a bump, only acquiescing to his determined advances when popping pills and booze. Rogan and Liottas turf war could have been a gloriously silly conceit, but writer/director Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way) has firmly set this as the anti Mall Cop, keeping the humour and tone harsh (Barnhardt and Harrisons final mall face-off gets particularly violent). And as effective as Liotta is, the best bits here usually involve the underused Faris, who again proves that if you cast her as a dumb blonde, she can turn a scene into gold dust. Extras: extra footage, gag reel. Sharon Lougher Pitch: Awayday is a tale of intense friendship with a kicking soundtrack One of my favourite characters from fiction is John Kaltenbrunner, the anti- hero of Tristan Egolfs Lord Of The Barnyard. He is a prodigy in three fields: agriculture, bad luck and vengeance, and this combination of skills, if you can call them so, is deeply satisfying. All he wants is to raise sheep and grow vegetables. His mother and the competing farmers and hillbilly townsfolk cant stomach a 13-year-old agricultural genius, so they destroy his farm. But when he returns from grim exile, he manages to bury them all under a pile of garbage and criminal mayhem by unionising the beaten down sanitation workers. He also chain-smokes, seduces older women, and is the worst student in the history of his school. If you have ever tried to just go about your business but were thwarted by the bad juju and malicious foolishness of your neighbours, then Kaltenbrunner is your hero. Nick McDonells An Expensive Education is published by Atlantic Books, priced 13 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html