PLAY NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON The Saboteur Xbox 360, 58 (also on PS3, 58 and PC, 40) Imagine Grand Theft Auto crossed with a World War II B-movie and an episode of Ballykissangel and youll be pretty close to the fun-packed guilty pleasure of The Saboteur. The game is (very) loosely based on the real-life war exploits of racing driver turned resistance fighter William Grover-Williams, only the hero you play, Sean Devlin, has been turned into an Irish playboy. Uninterested in anything other than beating his German racing rival, Dierker, you get sucked into the war after your best mate and mechanic is executed. You scarper to Paris to seek revenge on nasty Nazi Dierker and get involved in the resistance movement. From then on, you explore a massive open-world Paris, scale buildings and conduct a load of missions. The effect of your actions slowly begins to liberate Paris, turning an incredibly realised monochrome game environment into vibrant chocolate box colour. The visual style is the games truly unique feature, one that draws the gamer right in. Combat, climbing and driving are all well done, too, even if the missions become slightly repetitive. James Camerons Avatar: The Game All formats from 35 If The Saboteur is a guilty pleasure, playing Titanic director James Camerons Avatar will just make you feel guilty. Avatar takes the overblown and ultimately pointless folly of its source material and adds weak gameplay. Interestingly and affording the game some longevity at least you can choose between playing as an oppressed Navi or a genocidal human, and each option offers a unique story. However, youre essentially playing a sub-par third-person action adventure game, but there are some neat environment and mission diversities worth exploring. Unfortunately, the actual nature of what you do (go here, do that, fight, rinse, repeat) isnt diverse at all, and its too easy. The planet of Pandora is gorgeous to look at but even more importantly for a game with cinematic pretensions such as this what happens around you as you play is boring and two-dimensional. Theres some multiplayer too, but it feels rather tacked-on much like the game is to the film. Steven Fox STATE OF PLAY Games reviews Monday, December 14, 2009 metrolife 15 Staying In DVD Reviews DVD Of The Week Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince 12, Warner Home Video, 2- disc DVD, 29 / 3-disc Blu-ray, 34 Christmas now doesnt quite seem like Christmas without the latest instalment of Harry Potter. And with no new fix offered at the cinema, its down to DVD/Blu-Ray to fill the hole. That said, if its festive cheer you seek, look elsewhere theyre certainly not having a merry old time at Hogwarts. With the forces of evil massing dangerously under the Dark Lord, Voldemort, its business as usual in Harrys magic boarding school. Once again theres a suspicious new teacher played by a cracking Brit character actor this time fruity old snob Horace Slughorn played by Jim Broadbent. Expect a trip to Diagon Alley, zippy Quidditch pitch action and a high tension climactic face off. State Of Play director David Yates returns to give the story a sophisticated sprinkle of political subtext. The main difference in this gloomy sixth outing is the notable amounts of snogging going on. With Harry aged about 17, this lengthy, complicated, penultimate episode is definitely unsuitable for little ones wholl be traumatised by the upsetting and unexpectedly bleak ending. They say the darkest hour is just before the dawn. At this rate the final Potter movie will be a totally black screen. Extras: Including extensive behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast interviews, additional scenes and a 50min profile of JK Rowling; the DVD and Blu-Ray bonus features are basically the same, except Blu-Ray includes a Maximum Movie Mode disc. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh Battle Of Who Could Care Less by Ben Folds Five: This reminds me of summer in my first car (a Fiat Punto) and a certain girl. It was the first time I had heard someone rock the keys as hard as the strings. Amazing harmonies, chords and melodies: everything a great song should be. Stars by Nostalgia 77: These guys have a vision of classic jazz that appeals to younger fans. Their sound focuses on the soulful and spiritual side of jazz without dumbing down. This is one of their more introspective tracks that you can listen to while staring into the cool night sky. Knife by Grizzly Bear: This is deeply complex music that rewards your heart, soul and brain all at once. Its the perfect track to throw on if you think Christmas has got too dumb. I Like Myself by Blossom Dearie: Blossom Dearie was a great interpreter of jazz standards who died this year. Her voice and piano playing is full of wit and longing and simplicity. The connoisseurs cabaret artiste. Skeleton Boy by Friendly Fires: I love how Friendly Fires fuse Brazilian percussion and indie dance. This is from a unique album that stands out a mile for me. When I Grow Up by Fever Ray: This sounds like a snow blizzard. This is winter music that should be heard with headphones out in the snow or next to a roaring fire. Jamie Cullum plays the Olympia on May 10. www.jamiecullum.com The Wizard Of Oz Collectors Edition Sing- Along Version U, Warner Home Video, 3-disc Blu-ray, 27 Why bother to buy this 1939 musical classic when its free on terrestrial TV every Christmas? Well, first because this isnt just a film its a whole afternoon of sing-along-a- Dorothy fun! And whilst you can get your basic, follow-the-bouncing-ball single DVD version for 15, this is one of the few titles thats truly enhanced by reissue on to Blu-Ray. Remember that magic moment where 16-year-old Judy Garland opens the door of the old, filmed in black and white, Kansas farm house to reveal the glorious, Technicolor world of Oz? Remastered on to Hi- Definition Blu-ray, its like experiencing that childish thrill afresh the painterly colours glow like fairy lights at nighttime. And with recession making panto trips pricey, when it comes to entertainment, remember: theres no place like home. Extras: four hours of sparkly new bonus material including numerous making-ofs; vintage shorts; deleted scenes; outtakes; Its a Twister! The Tornado Tests. LI-Z Friends 15th Anniversary Collection Warner Home Video, 12, 125 In some ways, Friends has been a victim of its own success: this defining 1990s sitcom has been so repeated on terrestrial and digital channels (and probably will be forever more), that it feels pointless forking out for the whole lot again. However there is at least footage youve never seen before in this 40-disc boxset: four and a half hours of it to be precise, spread across all ten series. Its a good enough excuse to dip back into the world of fash-mag hair- dos, razor-sharp dialogue and endless romantic entanglements among the Central Perk regulars. Some of the Big Star cameos show their age: among them George Clooney and Noah Wyle as sexy ER doctors natch in season one and Jennifer Anistons ex Brad Pitt as a former school acquaintance with a grudge (for which he was bizarrely nominated for an Emmy, despite displaying little in the way of comic timing) in season eight. Still, the human drama retains its warmth, its still smart and funny, plus theres plenty in the way of extras. Extras: Crew and cast commentaries, behind-the-scenes doc, gag reels, trailers, interactive trivia packs, interactive maps of Joey and Chandlers bachelor pad and Central Perk. Sharon Lougher Christmas Time In South Park Paramount Home Entertainment, 15, 17 Over the past 13 years of South Park, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have never let the lines of good taste or political correctness get in the way of a good gag (remember the Saddam and Satan dirty pillow talk?). Religion, especially, has never been sacred, which to the delight of fans, has resulted in some crassly crackin Christmas specials, seven of which are collected here. In typically offensive fashion, the selection sees Stan, Kyle, Eric and the perpetually doomed Kenny discover the true meaning of Christmas (ie getting presents) with a little help from ye olde festive favourite Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo, sing and dance about how its hard to be a Jew over the holidays (because you dont get Christmas presents), and learn about the importance of family from Charles Manson. A highlight is the spectacularly wrong Red Sleigh Down, in which the gang recruit a Rambo-esque Jesus and head to the Middle East to rescue Santa from his Iraqi torturers. Oh, and who needs Christmas carols, when you can belt out a stirring verse of Kyles Mom Is A Big Fat B***h? On My iPod Jamie Cullums six-track mix index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html