Game: Grand Theft Auto IV
Format: XBOX 360

This review sits beneath a landslide of amassed praise and
hyperbole surrounding this game. A title has not received such unanimously
vaunting praise since Ocarina of Time on the N64. I could just repeat what everybody
else has said and state that this is a strong contender for game of the year
and virtually flawless, but in all honesty my experience seems to have varied.
In the interests of journalistic integrity I canât just say itâs perfect. Itâs
not and thatâs fine, nothing really is. So if you need validation for your
purchase or a collection of how many incredible new features there are then
look elsewhere. If, however you would like to know what ânot without its flawsâ
means (and it has been said by many) then read on.

Before I start, may I first echo the praise for GTA IVâs
central character Niko Bellic. He is a prime example of depth in a central
protagonist and I never felt frustrated with the way he acted. In fact, his
forthright strength of character actively left me discouraged to go on the
usual killing sprees, unlike the callous Tommy Vercetti from Vice City. Niko is
definitely likable and compelling and many of the characters he meets
(especially at the front end of the game) are multi-dimensional and interesting
and only a little clichÃd. The polish on the format is definitely apparent on
start-up. The weight of the character and the vehicles he drives is apparent.
The impact of hitting someone with a car or shooting them is amped up and the
people behave a little more realistically. You can play for ages and still
notice new things. It was only after about twenty hours that I started to see
repetition, which gave way to cracks and flaws in the gameplay and eventually
full-blown frustration at what eventually became apparent; polish is all that
distinguishes this game from the previous iterations.

This is not to say that GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas
are not superb games, but they were all based around the same engine, pioneered
on the previous generationâs consoles and significantly here not
replaced with a new one. This is GTA as we know and love it, but also (if
applicable) as we hate it. The old problems are still there. The refined
mission system means that if you are (unfairly?) slaughtered on a first attempt
you can reload the current task. What it doesnât counter for are the often
monumentally long and boring drives between the islands that you often have to
take. The Taxi system is a masterstroke, allowing you to skip many of these for
a small fee, but all too often a specific vehicle is needed, necessitating you
sitting for five minutes each attempt, having the same (or at least similar)
conversations with the same characters who quickly reveal their lack of
dimension through the repetition of the odious things they say. Hearing it once
would be fine, twice or six times is unbearable. Maybe I wasnât a sharp enough
player. Maybe I shouldnât have died so often or lost track of my fleeing
quarry, but many missions are so trial and error based that you need several
attempts just to know whatâs around each corner.

In the interests of constructive criticism, rather than
picking at the holes in this (admittedly fantastically presented and well
planned) game, I will suggest what Iâd like to see in the next instalment. For
instance I would genuinely like to see the old engine scrapped. It was great
for the PS2, functional and fun, but for current gen consoles, with responsive
and intuitive characters like Assassinâs Creedâs Altair stalking the
bustling streets, we need a model that knows when not to plummet off a
rooftop because the camera whipped round to an awkward angle at an inopportune
moment. We need a man who knows to lock onto and shoot the thug who is three
feet away and emptying a shotgun into him and not stubbornly keep aiming at the
one three rooms away behind a crate despite numerous frantic button taps. These
are simple things that Rockstar surely will contend with someday. I just wish
it had been for this game.

A save system that would allow you to start at the warehouse
full of goons at the end of a long drive, not before it, would be nice,
along with the ability to get people to be quiet in the car so you can listen
to the music. Speaking of which, the soundtrack needs a mention. Over a dozen
radio stations and only one or two with anything good on: perhaps a little too
much like real life. This is only remarkable because the previous two games
have had two of the most outstanding collections of 80âs and 90âs period music
in any video game ever, and whatâs assembled here seems a little too much like
the eclectic mix that would play in a smoky record shop run by a music elitist
who loathes anything popular. Perhaps Iâve been spoiled by Guitar Hero, but a
handful of rock songs just isnât good enough when swamped by a deluge of
reggae, electro, funk and obscure hip hop. Hell, one station is entirely
dedicated to Bob Marley and the Wailers. This saddens me as I was genuinely
excited about the soundtrack, but the Chatterbox equivalent talk shows always
seemed to be playing the same three segments, which meant that by hour thirty,
I was switching off the radio and listening to the soundtrack to Layer Cake on
my iPod. Next time, Rockstar, donât be afraid to put on more songs that people
know and/or like. Obscure is ok, but nostalgia has more power than novelty.

It was around this thirty-hour mark that the weight of the
game began to press down on me. I knew I wasnât far from the end but it just
seemed to be going on forever, with each gruelling mission advancing my
percentage of completion a fraction at a time. The fun began to ebb and a cold
determination to finish rather than enjoy it began to set in. Again, perhaps if
I had taken my time, it would have been better, but the repetitious waltz of
chase/hide/shoot took such a hold that I could barely tell one mission from the
next. Itâs not just that all the missions in this single game follow the same
handful of themes, itâs that this is all GTA has ever done and once
again, to be constructive, perhaps the next should include more variation, even
if this sacrifices the playing time of the core story. There is still plenty to
do once you finish the final mission (indeed, this is the gameâs key strength)
with dozens of Taxi, vigilante and assassination missions, coupled with the
usual treasure hunt. But once again, though they have swapped hidden packages
for pigeons, itâs the same as it always was: drive/find (/shoot if necessary).
The shooting system itself has indeed been refined, but after a time every
single shootout became the same. Hide behind a wall or a box, wait for the
hoods to show their faces, blast, repeat. Iâd have appreciated either variation
or simply less of the same. Five standout set pieces would stay with me longer
than twenty identikit scuffles.

The much vaunted strong point of the game is the story.
True, it starts out great with a thought-provoking series of tangled
relationships, and much in the way of exposing the hypocrisy behind championing
the American dream whilst despising outsiders who wish to join the party. There
is musing on the nature of revenge and starting over and it truly holds your
attention, but again it is only to a point. At some undetermined moment the
clichÃs begin to appear until you find yourself sitting in a car with
foul-mouthed Mafiosi thinking, âI have so done this before.â Rockstar
run out of steam and leave you stranded in a limp reproduction of the Sopranos
all too early. Once again, if they have to shorten the story for the next
instalment in favour of consistent quality and depth then I certainly wonât be
complaining.

The friend system initially is great fun. Spending time with
your buddies shooting pool and the like is entertaining, but eventually you
find yourself with twelve people calling up and badgering you to go to a strip
club with them when itâs (really) three in the morning and all you want to do
is sleep. Eventually you realise that the limp bonuses that keeping everybody
happy offers simply isnât worth the hours of your time and the ignore
button becomes your new best friend.

Finally the real killer of this game for me, beyond the
repetition, beyond the lame back-end characters and forgiving it the engine
which still canât seem to manage to keep the frame rate consistent and a
far-off vehicle visible from moment to moment, no, the real killshot for my
enjoyment of this game was the frustration factor. I lost count of the number
of times I roared at the screen and writhed in my chair as Nikoâs speeding car
clipped a lamp-post and ground to a halt allowing whoever he was pursuing to
escape within five seconds meaning I would have to jump through many hoops
again just to get back to that same place and perhaps catch him. The illusion
of freedom was never so present in a game. You may be able to go anywhere and
do anything (weathering the consequences each time, usually involving a tedious
police chase) but you still have to do a hell of a lot of things to the letter
if you wish to actually play the game. You canât cunningly set a trap for the
dim-witted hoods you know are going to emerge from a certain door, you have to
go in the front way and hit a certain spot. You often canât shoot an enemy off
the back of a motorbike because you must get to a certain place and kill him
there and you certainly canât let any of the core characters die, much less
kill them. This leaves you prey to occasionally retarded A.I. both for allies
and enemies, and performing the same tasks in the same ways to appease the game
mechanic. When the cries of protest at an unfair death outweigh the smiles of
joy at the clever digs at American culture and the occasional original mission
you have to start questioning the validity of those multiple perfect scores. So
this is the tallest order to Rockstar and requires them to go back to the
drawing board. How about an open-world game where you really are free?

The saddest thing for me is that of course they wonât do
this. The engine they polished may be from the last generation but it keeps the
current gen happy. The next instalment will use the same one, the same problems
will be present and of course I will buy it on day one, because Iâm like that.

I donât regret buying this. In fact despite the seeming
negative tone of this review I would urge everybody with the corresponding
console to go out, buy this and play it to death. It is more of an experience
than most other games. I have barely mentioned the incredibly fun multiplayer
setup, the pure joy of just cruising around the city on free mode with your two
best mates in the car seeing what you can jump over and the mysterious
downloadable content weâve been promised for later this year. It is genuinely
worth every penny of its price tag. Itâs not perfect. We should not demand
perfection from our games. But it could be better and to that end Rockstar can
take on board what many people have said, and perhaps next time I can truly say
that this timeâ it was different.

Rating: ****

Iron Man

This episode is entirely focused on the new Iron Man film. Alex, Paul and Tony discuss every riveting detail of the new Marvel blockbuster. Also check out Alex’s written review on the blog.

Coming very soon: GTA IV.

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Synopsis:

Multimillionaire arms dealer Tony Stark is taken hostage by mercenaries while supplying U.S. troops in Afghanistan with new hardware. Mortally wounded and kept alive by a jerry-rigged heart operation, he is threatened into constructing similar weapons for his captors. Instead he fashions a crude suit of armour kitted out with flamethrowers and rockets and makes a daring escape bid.

Back home in L.A. Tony suffers a crisis of conscience and decides to make an improved suit and track down all of the weapons he has supplied in the past and also take out the armies of fanatics and despots lording over many troubled war zones across the world. However a dangerous business rival has other plans.


Review:

Itâs been nearly half a century since Stan Lee and the other creators at Marvel started churning out dozens of highly popular superheroes onto the pages of longstanding comic series, and yet itâs only been the past decade when weâve seen them appear on our cinema screens. Iron Man marks the first of these that Marvel is financing themselves, and it shows. Right from the off, two things are abundantly clear; firstly that the people who put this together know their comic, its characters and scenarios, and secondly that they are all aware of how to translate the values and themes of a 1960s introductory story into a modern-day setting and make it relevant and entertaining. If every one of their previous efforts had been as good as this, then misfires like the clumsy Daredevil would have brought them truly excellent films as well as gateways to new franchises. Not that they havenât been able to push most of their licences into sequel territory, regardless of film quality: Fantastic 4 spawned a silver spin-off and even the lumbering, misunderstood Hulk is getting an imminent pseudo-sequel.

Like the best comic book movies, Iron Man takes for granted that its audience is going to be relatively intelligent and spends little time explaining things in detail. In fact, its whip-quick pacing is one of its deadliest weapons, along with a tight script and confident delivery by all. It doesnât pander to kids or hold back on grim moments, of which there are a surprising number. This is a superhero film set in a more real world than most of its peers. The enemies are by and large tyrannical mercenaries and fanatics in the Middle East, and the film is unflinching in prodding at several touchy issues regarding war and the shameful truth of the arms industry. It shares much with the 2005 film Lord of War in this dispassionate statement of chilling facts, yet like that film never stoops so low as to preach about the evils that are apparent to all who are looking. This is a film for adults and mature kids. The classic rock of the soundtrack makes this clear; if youâre old enough to appreciate AC/DC then youâll get the best out of this film.

It is a movie of two halves, the first an uneasy war piece with the gritty, sun bleached flavour of David OâRussellâs Three Kings. Downeyâs Tony Stark is confronted with the reality of what his weapons do, something he appears to have been ignoring, and the understanding that he has indirectly caused terrible harm. This segueways explosively to the second part where Stark harnesses his techno-genius abilities and channels them into something protective and impossible to ignore. What is interesting is that there is no morality play of right or wrong at work here. Itâs not that his weapons have ended up in the wrong hands; he simply realises that they will be used by the strong to take from the weak and this deeply affects him. He does what any man would when facing the dark night of the soul; he builds a kickass suit of flying armour and goes to make amends with awe-inspiring firepower.

The iron suit scenes are all shot with the grace of a concept car show-reel with flawless and seamless CGI effects from ILM, working the impossible so that you forget what youâre watching isnât real â or at least you donât query it until you leave the cinema. It culminates in a mech suit clash of the titans that most have compared favourably with Transformers, but which reaches even greater heights of impact because you know there are two men in there being pummelled with motorbikes.

Despite eye-popping effects and edge-of-the-seat flight sequences it is the script and acting that carry the film the most. All too often, big budget effects movies fall back on what could be knocked together from several rejected drafts and the actors donât seem to engage with the characters, but there is an ease here that is delightfully out of character for a blockbuster. Downey Jr was born to play the role of Stark; his troubled past, drug and alcohol addiction serve him well to characterise this flawed master of technology. Always perfectly timed with a quip or a charming one-liner he is every bit as compelling as Baleâs Batman or Perlmanâs Hellboy. He plays him brash and lonely, more at home with machines than other people, with the exception of the spunky Pepper Potts, played just on the wire of damsel in distress by Ms Paltrow. Terrence Howard also makes a welcome turn as Starkâs friend Jim Rhodes, immediately making him likable and frequently exasperated by Starkâs attitude, so that when he glances at a spare suit of silver armour and War Machine fans grip their seats, thoughts of a sequel flash through everybodyâs minds. Bridgesâ Obadiah Stane starts off as an obvious villain complete with hirsute chin and shiny pate, but eventually surprises in his cold-hearted greed and vicious ability to do anything for an edge in the market. Ending up like Donald Trump meets Megatron, he is a true avatar for iron-hearted corporate greed.

To conclude, as the first of ten planned films funded by Marvel themselves, this is the perfect piece to open the second renaissance of comic-book movies. While not distinctly different in tone from Spider-Man or Batman Begins, this is without doubt a triumph of new attitude. We now know almost all of Marvelâs key characters and they can commence upping the ante with faithful renditions of comic fans favourites and introductions to the uninitiated. The Hulk is set to explode back onto our screens in a few months time and Captain America and Thor are waiting in the wings. However, unlike the past decadeâs worth of Marvel films, where one of the key aspects of their universe was impossible due to different distribution rights; i.e. the crossover characters from one book to the other. The next few films look set to break that trend at long last. Downeyâs Tony Stark may be appearing in The Incredible Hulk, and there is a scene after the credits in (some screenings of) Iron Man featuring Samuel L. Jacksonâs Nick Fury appearing at Tonyâs house with a cryptic message about forming a new super-team. I walked out before I could catch this Easter egg, but itâs quite possible that as a long-time Avengers fan, Iâd have cheered like a maniac. Instead I left the cinema with a massive grin on my face and Black Sabbathâs âIron Man? grinding in my ears. For the end credits, it couldnât really have been anything else.

Rating: *****



Alex Shaw

Retro Games Test/Wii Fit

Following the Mario Kart episode two weeks ago, this weekend we decided to playtest every single iteration from the SNES to the Wii. While we were at it, we went back to many long abandoned games to see if the years had been kind.

Then Tony reveals some surprising perspective on UEFA 2008 and Alex sings the praises of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which he saw recently on Blu-Ray.

We finish on an appraisal of the newest offering from the Nintendo gimmick-machine: Wii Fit. Find out if it’s a total waste of time and money in this, the most physical and nostalgic episode of Digital Cowboys to date.

We released this week’s episode early to make room for hard GTA IV playtime. A thorough review will be here next week.

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Our First Anniversary!

In this extra large episode, we round up some of the games we’ve been playing in the past few months. Paul and Tony review In Bruges, Paul talks about [Rec] and Happy-Go-Lucky and Alex reports on Control and some Disney movies that proved a lot less enthralling than Sleeping Beauty and Enchanted.

Two particularly weighty bits of news are discussed: one, the systematic destruction of piles of retro games from the UK’s second-largest game retailer; and two, the possibility of more instrument peripherals for the next Guitar Hero game ON TOP of what we’ll have to shell out for Rock Band.

Then we crack on with the focus of the show which is the upcoming Games and Movies we’re most excited about. We choose two each from both categories and explain why we’re champing at the bit to experience them. Rock Band, GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 are not on the list as they’re the obvious ones.

Thanks to all of our listeners for the past year’s loyal service. Why not celebrate by writing us a review on iTunes. We’re aiming to crack our way onto their radar this year.

Next week: the first of many planned special focus episodes.

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The Best of Episodes 1-51

Since we’re a year old this week, we’d like to kick off our celebrations with a look back over the past twelve months.

This is a great one to start with to get a flavour for the show so let everyone you know in on it. We’ll be back very soon with some more mature journalism but for now enjoy some of the funniest, rudest and most heated moments of the past year. Also included are some exclusive snippets you won’t have heard.

Warning: DEFINITELY not one for the kids.

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Name: SingStar
Format: PS3
Developer: London Studio
Release Date: December 5 2007
Reviewer: Alex Shaw

The original SingStar was
released on the PS2 in May 2004 to generally positive reviews. It was praised
for its easy accessibility, versatile track list and multitude of gaming modes,
but also criticised for the very specific nature of its note chart. While it
followed the model of a classic karaoke machine, the double-edged sword of its
points-scoring nature meant that songs had to be sung in a set manner, allowing
you to see exactly how well you were doing but also no real creativity while
singing. This meant that if trailer-park chanteuse Christina Aguilera were to
attempt her own song, Genie in a Bottle, she would have to ensure she
stuck to the exact vocal pattern she created in the original track. This would
mean that achieving the coveted perfect 10000 score would prove difficult, even
impossible for a showboat like her.

Regardless of this, the game
proved a huge success in Europe, spawning many additional song packs including
Party, Pop, Rocks!, 80s, 90s, Anthems, Legends and R&B. Its initially
girl-oriented audience has widened over the years to the point where the new
version has a cool-looking gent on the cover, validating the more self-conscious
guyâs inner desire to grab a mic and make like Blink 182.

In December 2007 SingStar was
finally given its current generation console update. Some things were
different. Some have changed. Gone are the sparse, white menus, replaced with a
welcoming HD front-end offering access to the SingStore and your online
profile. These are the two key facets of SingStar on the PS3 that set it apart
from its earlier instalments. The SingStore itself is at this moment four
months old and boasting an impressive girth of 200 downloadable tracks. At 99p
a go it is unsurprisingly easy to find yourself loading your cart up every time
you pop in, and each time you do an old favourite or something new is brought
into the SingStar format in what has proved to be a very pleasing manner. It is
this feature above all others that set SingStar on the PS3 up as something
different to its predecessors. The initial thirty songs are a fine mix, sure to
contain at least one song that everybody knows, but soon you will find yourself
hankering for more and itâs the expandability that makes this a truly lasting
game; almost a platform in itself.

If you are lucky enough to
acquire a PS3 camera then the other feature opens out before you; namely the
ever-growing online community of SingStar players each able to download
half-minute snippets of themselves performing. You donât need the camera to
view the videos of course, but anybody with a sense of fun would want to get
hold of one anyway after seeing what these people can come up with. Some are
great, some are plain awful and a few are genuinely inventive, their creators
utilising their thirty precious seconds to truly entertain. This reviewer has
seen Chewbacca dancing for joy (presumably over his new Star Wars PSP), singing
fruit, chin-people, cross-dressers and the most ridiculous pair of pyjama
bottoms ever. The interface shares a similar flavour to YouTube and Facebook,
allowing you to make comments, keep friends, rate videos and be rated. It gives
a grander sense of scale to the game and seeing everyone performing the songs
we have in common creates an unusual sense of unity for a console game.

On the subject of performing we
come to the great divide that is an undeniable part of the SingStar experience.
There seems to be two very distinct ways of playing, depending on which of two
ends you want to achieve. Firstly there is performing a song; actually getting
up on your makeshift stage and belting out Life on Mars in a manner that
would make Ziggy proud. This makes it a fun experience for you and everyone
else involved, and can leave you with a score that is mostly admirable. The
other way is the calculated discipline of getting your voice to follow the
sliding pitch bar without missing a single note. Unfortunately this is where
the game falls down for the average person. Trained singers will likely be able
to control their voice so that it sounds effectively like the original track,
whether they channel the original artist or not, and still hit the notes, but
the other 98% of the population will come off sounding more like what Alan
Partridge would refer to as a trapped boy. A horrible, monotonous whine will
escape your lips, interrupted only by the occasional swiftly stolen breath and
instrumental pauses, and everybody in the vicinity will feel their flesh crawl
and desperation to leave the room. It is a weighty choice when deciding whether
to play for points or for the general fun of the SingStar experience, which
when done right can make for a truly memorable party, often captured forever in
a grin-inducing scrapbook of pictures and videos thanks to your camera. Those
who can genuinely sing need not worry, but if you have that much vocal control,
you should be doing it for a living anyway.

It is significant that Harmonixâs
Rock Band has a far less stringent requirement from its vocalists on the Easy
setting. Since the front man is the mouthpiece of the band, a player
desperately playing for points and singing technically correctly but droning
abominably would swiftly destroy the rhythm and morale of the rest of the
group. However, Rock Bandâs note charts have a forgiving flow to them allowing
for that all-important performance to shine through. On Expert itâs a different
story, though, and many a slapdash vocalist will have to be rescued by their
teammates repeatedly should they attempt it. I myself save the high score
attempts for times when nobody else is around to feel the pain.

SingStar PS3 is a significant
step forward in the series, broadening its horizons extensively. Now when you have
your family over you can let them browse through the store until they find
something they are prepared to sing and then video them while theyâre at it and
keep the clip for all time. As far as future instalments go, Vol. 2 is due in
June and promises harmonising on duets (singing different lines over each other
on tracks like California Dreaminâ) and PSP interactivity with the
SingStore. Hundreds of tracks will no doubt be released in various European
languages (fingers crossed for Cochise by Audioslave, already on a song
pack in the USA) but perhaps some editing tools would be a wise element of
future DLC, to ensure that the submitted videos remain fresh from those who
enjoy channelling their inner star. If youâve never played before, own a PS3
and this appeals to you then now is the time to take up the mic, but if youâve
been annoyed by the playing system in the past then little has changed to make
it easier to get a high score and still sound human. This reviewerâs advice:
let the points go and just sing your heart out.

Rating: ****

Dark Sector/Mario Kart Wii and DS.

This week Tony reviews dark, gritty glaiver Dark Sector and discusses whether it’s really worth playing in a world where Gears of War exists.

Then Mario Kart in all its forms is discussed. The recent release on the Wii, packaged with a super-duper new wheel accessory that has proved to thousands of die-hard Nintendo fans as useful – if not less so – than that camera for the Game Boy Pocket, is the main focus of conversation.

Alex just saw Enchanted on Blu Ray and followed up with the Disney classic, Sleeping Beauty. Long-time listeners will be able to predict fairly accurately what he’ll say about the current glut of animated movies when held in comparison with fairy-tales of this caliber.

We finish on a fairly crucial new career choice for one of the Cowboys.

Next week: a double helping of DC. Firstly, a collection of the best moments from the past year; and secondly, a super-sized anniversary episode as we turn one year old.

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Son of Rambow

We start with good and bad news about the European release of Rock Band.

After that, Paul reviews Never Back Down and Meet The Spartans, Tony talks about Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Sega Superstar Tennis and Alex discusses the film Junebug and new XBLA game Ikiruga.

Finally, we round off with a full review of one of the most fun, inventive and charming films about – but not necessarily for – kids in ages: Son of Rambow.

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Well, it’s sure been fun bringing these clips to you over the last few days. We have one more left to show you and here it is.