One of the slickest hack-and-slash franchises returns, illustrating why few others in the genre can compete when it comes to raw combat and seat-of- the-pants gameplay. The plot is perplexing and wholly irrelevant. Playing most of the game as hero Ryu Hayabusa, you will encounter a dizzying array of enemies and learn to wield an even more dizzying array of weapons and their numerous abilities. As with most games of this type, youll be able to button-bash your way through proceedings but there comes an almost imperceptible moment when you have no choice but to diversify and really understand how to maximise the potential of your weapons. Bosses are mostly satisfying to challenge and few feel too much like a repetitive grind so often the Achilles heel of this genre. Graphically, it doesnt quite compete with Devil May Cry but the violent genius of the many kill-moves more than compensates. You can also take your unlocks, harvested through single-player action, online and in a very accomplished co-op mode. Fifa 10 X360, 57 (also available on all other formats from 34) Hollywood Blood lust: Kang Ho Song and Ok Bin Kim in a scene from Thirst STATE OF PLAY Games Reviews By Steven Fox The American south has a sturdy pedigree for straightforward classic rock, with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band and The Black Crowes playing a potent blend of grit and grooves. Making explicit use of this heritage are Black Stone Cherry, a quartet from Kentucky whose most recent album, Folklore And Superstition, is a solid slab of down-to-earth classic rocknroll. The band currently find a home on Roadrunner Records, the label that launched the careers of the uncompromising likes of Machine Head and Slipknot, but is also home to meat-and-potatoes rockers Nickelback. Its this latter, often derided, furrow that Black Stone Cherry plough. Tracks such as Blind Man and Peace Is Free rely shamelessly on the sort of choruses that can induce bursts of unself-conscious fist-pumping, and wind machines can easily be imagined teasing the flowing locks of the band into heroic abandon. Hard rock never goes out of fashion, as the recent success of the new AC/DC album attests, which suggests that if you arent going to do anything different, then do something old and do it well. Mock Black Stone Cherrys overblown nature if you will, but when bands of this type ascend to big-venue status they pay little heed to naysaying as they pass by. Rob Haynes Tonight, The Academy, 57 Middle Abbey Street D1, 8pm, 19.50. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.blackstonecherry.com The beautiful game has never been more beautiful. Its all too easy to dismiss football games as being the same every year but Fifa 10 proves that, with the right tweaks, a great game can be made sublime. Fifa 09 was an extremely good footie game, triumphing over its rival PES 2009 by some distance and almost hitting the heady heights of football classics such as Pro Evo 4 and International Superstar Soccer. Fifa 10, however, is probably the best football game ever made. Improved goalkeeper AI, 360-degree dribbling, better off- the-ball awareness, sharper response and about a million subtle changes make it fun to play, easy to pick up and challenging to master. All the official licences are there, the Be A Pro mode has been expanded to allow you to create a fictional player (you can upload your own photo to make him look like you too) and online play is seamless. Live Season, where real-life football data is downloaded into your game, is also revamped. But Fifa 10 really triumphs in its ability to convey the emotion and drama of the worlds favourite sport. GIG Black Stone Cherry nudity, Thirst is also the first Korean film to be made with US studio investment and distribution a cunning case of Park having his Hollywood cake and eating it. My films arent guaranteed to do well at the box office because they explore such controversial subjects with a high level of intensity, Park explains though all his recent features have been domestic smashes. So having Universal back the film was a safe choice, plus Korean audiences get a kick out of seeing the Universal logo on the front of a Korean film. I also admire the films distributed by Focus Features, such as those by Pedro Almodvar or Ang Lee. It is critically regarded film- makers such as these whom Park rightly considers his peers. Perhaps that is why he has largely steered clear of the remake of Oldboy, the twisted, incestuous story of a businessman mysteriously held captive for 15 years who, on escape, finds himself framed for his familys murder and then sets out for bloody revenge. The Hollywood version is slated to be directed by Steven Spielberg with Will Smith to star. You what? At first I found it very difficult to believe that Spielberg was going to direct it, admits Park, but then Spielberg is actually brilliant at directing violent scenes. Think of Saving Private Ryan. He smiles with diplomacy. Im really, really looking forward to seeing what kind of film he makes. Thirst (18) is in cinemas from Friday Try to imagine Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind taken to the power of 20 and youll have something that nears the dazzling complexity of Charlie Kaufmans latest pigeon-hole-defining masterpiece. Its once more a gloriously immersive tumble inside another mans brain. This time its hypochondriac theatre director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is awarded a grant to produce an artistic work of great truth that becomes an ever-expanding study of himself. Meanwhile Cadens more successful wife (eternally cool Catherine Keener) takes their daughter and leaves to pursue her own artistic career in Berlin as an oil-painter. That the obscure title is pronounced Sih-NECK-doh-kee, is the one firm handle I can offer on this dream-like exploration of mortality, infidelity and the relation of art to reality. A bewilderingly brilliant intellectual rollercoaster, its a strong contender for film of the year. Extras: include director interview and Charlie Kaufmans animations. LI-Z Ken Loach is a director who wont warm your heart without giving it a right good kicking first. Yet hes in distinctly more playful mode with this upbeat crowd-pleaser that gets the miserable bit over before the credits. Late middle-aged, twice- divorced postman Eric (Steve Evets) has a nervous breakdown over his ex-wife, driving the wrong way around a roundabout until he crashes. Out of hospital his fellow posties try to rally him but nothing brings the Man U fan out of his funk until one night he lights a spliff and starts chatting to his hero, and new imaginary friend, Eric Cantona (playing himself). Cantona gamely provides most of the comedy, self-parodying his pretentious trawler/ sardines pronouncements. However, its the sentiment that really hits the back of the net and its guaranteed to jerk a tear even from football loathers. Think The Full Monty with football. Extras: this 2-disc edition includes a Q&A with director and cast; deleted scenes; music video; the documentary United We Stand. LI-Z Staying In DVD Reviews Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 PS3, 51 Synecdoche, New York 15, Revolver Entertainment, 22 Looking For Eric 15, Icon Home Entertainment, 22 Henry Selick applies his stop- motion talents to Neil Gaimans hit childrens novel for a wicked fairy tale that delights and spooks in equal measure. Think Alice In Wonderland meets Pans Labyrinth and youll have some idea of the surreal adventure that awaits Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) when she discovers a parallel world populated by alternate, more fabulous, versions of everyone she knows albeit with big black buttons instead of eyes. But our plucky heroine soon discovers that these friendly others have sinister intentions. Selicks enchanting film, the first stop-motion animated feature in 3D, combines exquisite visuals with kooky characters to deliver a movie that has something to capture the interest of all ages. The tales darker side might test the bravery of the youngest members of its PG target audience, giving adults a valid reason to stick around not that theyll need it. Extras: making of, deleted scenes, commentary with Selick and composer Bruno Coulais. The limited edition two- disc set has the 3D and 2D versions. Damian Tully-Pointon Coraline (PG) PG, Universal, 22 Monday, October 12, 2009 metrolife 13 30 SECOND RAVE Armchair Adrenaline Junkie Fix Quest TV, a new channel launched last week, is karmic payback for soppy Sarahs who inflicted whining clothes horse Carrie Bradshaw on their menfolk 24/7. Offering armchair adrenaline junkies virtual thrills billed dangerous and quite daft, its programmes are what Mr Big really wants to settle down to with a KFC bucket and six-pack. Try prising the remote off him when theres croc wrestling, yee-hah rodeo, blowing up buildings and similar Action Man action on offer. Stuff ballroom dancing with the stars of yesteryear! Hes strictly into Jesse James Is A Dead Man! Time for you and the girls to hit the wine bar, petal. Keith Barker-Main www.questtv.co.uk index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html