The skinny, if you please?

British satirist and all-round comic legend and his dark yet hilarious take on modern life. He wrote, directed and starred in this.

Sitcom?

Hell no. It’s more of a sketch show than anything else. A lot of those don’t even feature Iannucci, but he sort of holds it together with his awkward daily experiences and interactions.

I need more. 

Iannucci plays a fictionalised version of himself trying his best to navigate social pitfalls, existentialist queries and humdrum aspects of our day-to-day existence. Using extensive monologues and bizarre sketches, each episode follows a rough theme combined with recurring characters and how it all fits into Iannucci’s life. For example, East End Thug pops up occasionally to offer violence as a means of solving problems, and local OAP Hugh often pops by to offer off the wall observations of the past; “We always watched Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush with Chris Evans, till he disappeared up his own arse.”

As one of the men who helped to devise Alan Partridge, it’s not that much of a shock that Iannucci’s work here often leads into exceptionally embarrassing and uncomfortable territory. The comedy can be exceptionally dark, absurd, awkward or just plain ridiculous. Just to give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here, you’re going to see our fearful hero find ridiculous slogans taped under cars so mechanics can bluff their way through repairs, taunt zoo animals with a ten-colour pen exclaiming “You can’t even write. I mastered this when I was three” and attempt to navigate dinner parties where hilarious observations are baked into pies to help their guests appear smart and funny. His style is very deadpan and doesn’t have a hint of irony or realisation for the ridiculousness of the events going on around him, which just makes  it all the more awkwardly enjoyable. If you’re asking me (and we’re going to pretend that you are), best advice would be to not overdo things here. The surrealist element to the show can get dizzying after more than two episodes, so it’s best to watch it slowly. I’m saying that having watched four episodes in a row, and I currently feel like my brain wants to escape from my skull and slap me for putting it through so much mental.

In short:

Crazy, dark, surreal, very funny but best taken in short doses.

Aside from the odd handheld adventure, Rockstar’s been taking an extended break from its flagship Grand Theft Auto seriese to take its influential sandbox approach to gaming to new territories. Last year’s Western-based Red Dead Redemption and Sydney-based Team Bondi’s L.A. Noire (which Rockstar have published) are good examples of the company attempting to break out of their comfort zone, and whilst the latter may still hold some of the conventions that’ve made this gaming powerhouse so successful, it’s a step into a bold new world in many ways.

Players assume the role of Cole Phelps, a returning WW2 ‘hero’ working the beat on the streets of 1940s Los Angeles. He’s the sort of determined, uncompromising character that we’ve seen before; he doesn’t earn many friends but he earns the praise he gets. After impressing his superiors with his investigating and interrogation skills, he gets promoted to a detective, and subsequently plunges deeper into L.A.’s seemingly bottomless cesspit of corruption, murder and greed. It might not be the most original concept in the world, and you can spot Cole’s eventual fall from grace a mile off, but he’s an engaging enough leading man for his trials and tribulations to be an engrossing experience, even if he isn’t the most likeable guy.

(This is actually one of the more cheery crime scenes.)

Whilst there’s been enough coverage focusing on what L.A. Noire does differently, it’s worth noting that it isn’t a million miles away from anything in the GTA series. How can it be? It’s a Rockstar game. The difference here is that you’re on the right side of the law for once. You can’t go around running over pedestrians, smashing into cars and causing mayhem (well, you can, but it won’t do you any favours). There’s still a healthy emphasis on driving and gunplay, which forms the crux of a lot of Rockstar games, but the biggest difference here is that most of your time here will be taken up by investigating. This involves rocking up at a crime scene, searching for clues, questioning witnesses and putting clues together to get your guy (or gal). The real hook behind this game are the interrogations, however. Your clues will give you a basis upon which to grill your suspects, and every time you ask them a question, you’ll be forced to use a combination of intuition, body language and fact to discern whether they’re telling the truth, stretching it or if their arses are aflame. This is only enhanced with the fantastic facial animations on offer. Rockstar have been promoting their MotionScan technology for a while, and finally getting to see it in action is well worth it. This isn’t simple motion capture; each actor involved in the game had their lines recorded by over thirty cameras trained on their faces. It’s stunning to see detail on this level, and it opens the door to judge many more games on the performances of their actors, not their voices. These aspects are something that simply haven’t been seen in gaming before, and it’s an intriguing, rewarding side to L.A. Noire’s presentation that gets more absorbing as the game progresses.

The cases themselves get progressively more detailed and elaborate, but you’ll still find yourself doing the same things; driving from place to place, searching for clues, maybe having a scrap, interrogating and perhaps having a shootout before you’ll finish each mission. Sure, these aspects of gameplay can be somewhat monotonous, but during the Homicide missions, for instance, the thread tying each case together is so brutally engrossing that you’ll truly want to press forward. If you really don’t want to rush through everything, then you can busy yourself with forty street crime side missions, automobile collecting and discovering the landmarks of this massive, realistic slice of L.A.

That’s part of the games problem, however. The setting may be lovingly rendered and bursting with activity, but there’s not nearly enough to do to justify its size. It’s unnecessarily huge for a game that almost fools you into thinking that it has sandbox potential, but in reality, there’s no reason why this city had to be so large when, outside of the main story, what you’re offered has surprisingly little substance.

That places a touch too much emphasis on the game’s story. Not that it doesn’t progress with each rank you earn and every new set of cases that come your way; one of L.A. Noire’s plus points is pairing you up with a new partner each time you’re promoted and letting you see different areas of the city with each new investigation, which definitely helps to keep things fresh. Adding flashbacks to Phelps’ time in the war, his experiences with various soldiers and the way in which those men tie into the story was a good move, but some of the key relationships you’ll come across whilst in control of Phelps, particularly his partners, feel somewhat underdeveloped, detracting from the power of the plot’s biggest moments. Bit of a case of the sum of the whole being greater than the parts, unfortunately.

L.A. Noire is flawed, no doubt. Driving and shootouts have never felt so run of the mill, and they’re certainly scaled back here, but thankfully, there’s enough focus on the game’s plus points that it doesn’t totally hamper your enjoyment. L.A. Noire is something new, something a bit different and it gets that right. Mostly.

From classic to ultra weird?

Yep. A puppeteer down on his luck takes a menial office job on floor 7 1/2 of an office building where everyone’s weird and there’s a portal to jump inside John Malkovich’s head.

…….Muh?

Well, there’s more to it than that. John Cusack plays Craig Schwartz (said puppeteer), a guy helplessly devoted to a craft no one gives two hoots about, and on the advice of his animal-loving wife Lotte (a magnificently unrecognisable Cameron Diaz), he goes in search of a proper job. This leads him to Lester Corp, located on floor 7 and a half in a large New York office building, a secretary who mishears every single thing he says and a harmless yet lecherous boss. Somehow, he lands a filing job and meets Maxine. Instantly, he’s enraptured, whilst she couldn’t care less. Then, he stumbles across a small door whilst trying to recapture a file that’d escaped behind a cabinet. The door leads into John Malkovich’s head, allowing him to see through Malkovich’s eyes and experience his existence, before promptly dumping him on the New Jersey turnpike after fifteen minutes.

I’ll say it again. ……Muh??

It doesn’t get any less weird. Maxine and Craig decide to strike up a business, charging $200 for people to use the Malkovich portal. It doesn’t stop there; Craig and Lotte develop an overpowering lust for Maxine, but she only cares about them when they’re in Malkovich’s head, overpowering him and assuming control. The man himself finally realises something’s up and……well, that’ll do for now. It’s exactly the kind of utterly obtuse concept you’d expect from the writer of Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, but it’s still Charlie Kaufman’s most recognised work despite its craziness. It’s constantly surprising throughout, and never really lets up. Only real problem with that is that you’re essentially bombarded with it’s off-kilter nature, and that can get a little disorientating.

Mostly a winner, though?

Predominantly. Diaz and Cusack do well in their weird, socially bereft roles, but the film belongs to Malkovich. He’s fantastic playing a fictionalized version of himself; brilliantly off centre, hilarious and absorbing. Taking the film at face value isn’t difficult, but keeping up with it can be. Then again, anything Kaufman comes up with always benefits from repeat viewings.

Bit of a change of pace. What’s going on here?

Classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense picture. James Stewart is laid up in his apartment and has nothing to do but observe his neighbours from his studio apartment, and gets a whole lot more than he bargained for whilst doing so.

Ahh, healthy voyeurism for all…

Well, what would you do if you were stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg during the summer? Listen to the birds? Photographer L.B. Jeffries breaks his leg on location, and we find him restless, confined to his apartment and getting very bored. Thankfully for him, the view from his huge rear window allows him to observe the comings and goings of some of his neighbours. There’s a beautiful dancer, a newly wed couple, a lonely middle-aged woman and several couples. What starts out as mostly innocent surveilance start to go awry when Jeffries notices one of the husband’s of these couples cleaning a large knife, with his bed-ridden wife nowhere to be seen, and slowly, his nurse (Thelma Ritter), girlfriend (Grace Kelly) and an old friend in the Police (Wendell Corey) are all sucked into Jeffries determination to prove that something awful is afoot.

1950s + Hitchcock + James Stewart = awesome?

It might not be the most evocatively titled movie of all time, but it’s a classic for a reason. Hitchcock nailed the art of the  suspense thriller during his career, and Rear Window is probably the best example of it you’ll find. Stewart spends almost the entire film sat in his wheelchair, yet he slowly drags those around him into the drama unfolding from outside of his studio apartment. What’s even more impressive is that the film manages to hold your attention despite its exceptionally limited setting; we only ever see the main room of Jeffries’ apartment, the courtyard it looks out on and the rooms of those he spends his time watching.

(Kelly and Stewart’s performances are in truly awesome territory for the entire film)

It’s a treat to watch Jeffries become more and more involved in what’s going on outside his window, almost to the detriment of everything around him. At first, his relationship with Lisa (Kelly, being exceptionally enchanting) seems to be on the verge of ending because of their differences, but sure enough, she gets as engrossed in the drama as he does. When the tension hits its highest point towards the film’s conclusion, it’s absorbing and genuinely involving. Yet, Jeffries’ focus doesn’t linger on the potential murder, taking in the beautiful dancer’s long line of suitors in the evening and the lonely lady’s attempts at finding love amongst the other residents’ activities. Keeping Jeffries’ focus wide was a masterstroke, and it’s great to be kept up to speed with all of these engaging characters even though you’ll rarely get to hear them talk.

In short?

A movie that could’ve been poor in the wrong hands that instead deserves its classic status, thanks to Hitchcock, a great turn by Stewart and amazing, slow-burning tension.

What’s it about? As if we didn’t already know.

Yeah, well some of us missed the boat on a lot of 80s classics as we were too busy watching Power Rangers.

What, for 12 years?

Shut up. Anyway, a deceased young couple spend the early stages of their afterlives attempting to scare an obnoxious family out of the recently vacated country home with the help of the titular ‘bio-exorcist’.

Feel a bit late to the party?

Definitely. Beetlejuice feels like the sort of movie anyone could enjoy. The story, haphazardly and quickly told, is very much a product of the decade it was made in; it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s so much fun that you don’t really care. The tale of a young couple, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) dying in a tragic car accident, being bound to their house in spirit form and having to suffer the indignity of seeing a new family move into the home they’d slaved over only to see it turned into a ridiculous vision of modern art (plastic everything and large shapes a-go-go) by the family’s suffering artist might initially seem quite bleak. Of course, when you factor in that neither Adam or Barbara can leave the confines of the house after their death lest they get sucked into a shadow dimension populated by giant sandworms, taking the film seriously would be a mistake.

Adam and Barbara inhabit an absorbing and fantastical world where they get assigned to a careworker who advises them on how best to scare the new tenants out of their house. Unfortunately, their attempts backfire spectacularly, accidentally making the new family warm to them, and they soon enlist the help of freelance bio-exorcist ghost, Beetlejuice to get rid of them properly. Michael Keaton is fantastic in the title role, combining off-kilter comments, cartoon mayhem and just enough menace to steal every scene he’s in. Of course, it helps that director Tim Burton is in full-on fantasy mode. This might not be a story he’s written but the special effects, settings and characters are all so well realised that it may aswell be. It’s imaginative, random and damn funny.

Final thoughts?

Enjoyable offbeat story, wonderfully unique special effects and animation, and Michael Keaton is freakin’ awesome.

What is it?

Japanese animation film about a schoolgirl who develops the power to travel through time.

Time travel and teenagers, eh?

Yeah, surely a dangerous combination. Makoto’s an energetic, boisterous young girl who, after encountering a mysterious object, discovers she has the ability to freeze and manipulate time. As you can imagine, she uses it to her advantage and gives herself more time to sleep-in each morning, get better scores on her tests and improve her life tenfold. Of course, this isn’t without repercussions, and the film deals with Makoto dealing with the knock-on effects of her time travelling whilst her two best friends, Kōsuke and Chiaki, are kept utterly bamboozled. How can she be so good at catching a baseball every time they play catch? Everything’s just a bit too perfect, and it’s only a matter of time before things start to go awry.

Is it any good?

In other hands, a film delving into deep science fiction conventions with a sharp focus on high school romance could be a bit of a mess. Thankfully, very little gets lost in translation from its original Japanese script and you never really feel out of the loop. The film looks fantastic and is superbly drawn, which helps the predominantly care-free summertime setting feel all the more engaging. It often feels very bright, welcoming and absorbing. Makoto’s means of inducing time travel often involve running, jumping and rolling, which normally ends in her speeding head first in a heap into various pieces of furniture and doors. It’s a good indication of the film’s lighthearted and slightly comic edge, which is wonderfully offset by its darker moments. I won’t spoil anything, but the film pulls out some genuinely intense scenes with Makoto racing against time (ironic, no?) to prevent tragedy.

Any problems?

There aren’t any massive issues that hinder the film too much, but some might find the overly dramatic teenage romance aspect a little bit off-putting. Then again, these are teenagers. Remember hormones? Don’t be fooled, because the film doesn’t get anywhere near the histrionics and cartoony vibe that you’ll find in most anime.This is, for the most part, much more measured, mature and sophisticated.

Final Thoughts:

Great characters, effective if overly long ending, good story that only occasionally baffles and a great setting. Well worth watching.

In all honesty, I love a good project. I really enjoy getting stuck into to something for the long term and watching it grow. This is what makes me so excited to kick this off today. It’s all based on a love I have for writing and reviewing, and it’s developed from writing movie/album/game reviews on this blog back in late 2009 to interviewing some of my favourite bands and musicians for www.subba-cultcha.com for the last eighteen months. Writing for Subba has been fantastic, and I’ve gotten to meet some amazing people aswell as having some fantastic times. Unfortunately, Small World (the blog you’re visiting – cheers for that, by the way), which still feels like my baby, has taken a bit of a back seat. Well, not so much now. Today, Small World is particularly chuffed to present The Chewie Project. How did it begin, you ask? What does it involve? Why the hell have I misspelled chewie? Read on, dude. Read the flip on.

It all started with an innocuous looking package that arrived in the post yesterday morning. I knew my girlfriend had gotten me something for my birthday that was going to arrive pretty soon, and it duly turned up whilst she was visiting. It was a LoveFilm package, addressed to me, with two blu-rays inside. After opening said package, I found The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (an anime movie, screenshot below) and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice tucked away inside.

I was then instructed to open and read SECRET BIRTHDAY FILE 1, a super-secret word document she’d written for me to accompany the blu-rays. Intriguing, cool and a nice surprise, I thought. The birthday file was great; laced with her trademark command of language and randomness, and she’d easily guessed that I would be thinking over which films and shows I could rent out, but, to quote the file, “IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE.” So, after watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (which will be the opening subject of the whole shebang……wait….heh, heh……shebang), I was pointed in the direction of SECRET BIRTHDAY FILE 2. It handily informed me that for the next three months, I’d be receiving movies chosen for me, by my girlfriend. Pretty sweet, awesomely thoughtful, but it got even better. Knowing about this ol’ blog, she challenged me to write a review for every single release that comes my way over the next twelve weeks. “Oooh, a challenge! Eff yes, I’m up for that”, thought I. But hold up there,  young ‘un. It got better. Again.

I now have my very own website. How freakin’ sweet is that?!

Yep, www.smallworldreviews.co.uk is mine. She secured the domain name herself and in a few days, you’ll have a nice, easy, professional-looking link to catch up with all the stuff I’m going to be watching and doing. I have no idea what’s coming in the post, so it’s a voyage of discovery where the compass is buggered, but we know we’re going in the general direction of awesome. I also have absolutely no idea where this will lead, but I am stupidly excited to get started and to keep going.

Oh, and the name? Well, two years ago, when I met the lady who provided this quite fantastic present, she made a noise akin to that of the famous Chewbacca (if you don’t know who that is, for shame), so I started calling her Chewie. Not that I still do; we’ve moved on from that, even if our sense of humour hasn’t matured dramatically. But it seemed like an appropriate title for something that is all down to her and her quite fantastic imagination. In my, admittedly, pretty limited experience of people, someone who goes to lengths such as these to encourage you to succeed at doing something you have a passion for isn’t a dime a dozen. She’s pretty damn special, y’see.

So, over the next few months, all I ask is this; keep an eye on www.smallworldreviews.co.uk (bookmark it, newsfeed, whatever your preference) and if you like what you read, come back. If you know of one of the movies up for review, then comment. Tell me if you feel that I’ve perfectly hit your feelings on said movie on the head with a large, metaphorical hammer. Tell me if you think I’m talking out of my backside and my ramblings are a blight on your existence. If you like what you read, check out the films and let’s delve into them. I’m going to have a blast with this, and I hope you will too.

Either way, let’s get going.

Iwan x

Final Fantasy XIII took a damn long time to come out. Hardly on the epic does-it-even-exist level of Duke Nukem Forever, but the game was first shown off at E3 back in 2006, for God’s sake. Over the course of the next four odd years, we were literally drip fed small tidbits of information with a pace akin to that of a stoned snail. Naturally, when the game did arrive, expectations were ridiculously high simply because of the length of the production cycle. Couple that with the fact that Final Fantasy is one of the few franchises out there that’s really worth getting massively, geekily excited about, then a small storm was already brewing. So when the game finally arrived in March of last year, it predictably shifted a lot of units, but opinion seemed exceptionally divided between Japanese and Western reviewers. Case in point, legendary Japanese magazine Famitsu gave the game 39/40, whilst IGN UK gave it an 8.3. With that in mind, let’s dig out the game and have another look to see if anyone actually got it right.

Firstly, everyone seems to agree that FFXIII is a technological triumph. Having played the PS3 version in full HD, it’s the best looking game the console has ever been graced with by some distance. The environments, character designs, even the bloody menus look amazing. Each setting is lavishly rendered, detailed and often stretches out for miles with barely any stuffy tunnels to speak of. Much of the credit for this has to go to the game’s primary setting, Cocoon. It’s a vast, lush, varied and fantastically realised world that is all the more impressive when you consider that you visit a frozen lake, industrial wasteland, lush forest and hi-tech city in the space of a single playthrough. But even these can’t compare to just how stunning this game’s FMVs (full motion videos) look. Seriously, there are times where your jaw will become one with the floor due to the sheer majesty of the visuals.  Square often out-do themselves graphically wth each new FF, and just like each new FF game on a new console, they’ve really pushed the PS3 to its limits. Helping this quite awesome presentation is Masashi Hamauzu’s stirring orchestral-based score, which is simply the best the series has ever been graced with. Even without series soundtrack guru Nobuo Uematsu, Hamauzu has created a grand, epic and sophisticated score that deserves some special attention even after you put down your controller.

Hold up there, young ‘un; a wise old sage once said that visuals aint nothing without a decent story (although I might’ve made that up). XIII just about delivers in that department, offering us a nice, varied cast of characters with some compelling backstories. Snow, a heroic, somewhat moronic hulking beast of a man probably stands out as the pick of the bunch, simply because he’s so clearly flawed that when his moments of clarity arrive, they feel genuine. This is in contrast to the quite one-dimensional Lightning (she of box-art fame) who spends almost the entire game being grumpy and doesn’t often venture beyond it. The story itself is one of the most elaborate in series’ history, centered around the party’s attempt to escape Cocoon’s domineering, dogmatic government after they are branded enemies of the world by a God-like figure from the wild, dangerous world below; Pulse. All in all, it’s perhaps not the most focused story we’ve seen from an FF game, and it loses its way more than once before thankfully picking itself up towards the end of the game, but the real emphasis is on the characters and their own problems here. XIII gives us some of the most emotionally-charged sequences the series has ever seen, with two particularly dark sequences that’ll stick long in the memory.

Of course, it’s not all good, and one thing that almost everyone outside of Japan can agree on is that XIII is a dumb-foundingly linear game. Square responded by saying that Western reviewers were expecting a more Western influence with side quests and NPC’s to chat to, but Square has to take that criticism on the chin, because there’s nothing to do in the first 10 chapters except push your way through each environment and progress through the story. Now, most FF’s have always had a ton of stuff to do outside of the main quest, so the criticism is certainly grounded, but everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten about Final Fantasy X. Cast your minds back and you might recall a game so linear that the only thing for you to do for the first 30 hours or so outside of the story was blitzball.  Yes, it did open up towards the end thanks to acquiring an airship (isn’t that always the way? What do FF characters have against public transport?), but it still took a damn long time to get there. With that in mind, it’s not like Square dropped a particularly large bomb in terms of giving us a massively linear game in XIII, and as FFX proved, an amazing story can make up for a dramatically linear approach during field gameplay. Your beef with XIII’s linearity will depend on just how invested you were in the Cocoon’s mythos and characters. In all honesty, it really shouldn’t have garnered the criticism it’s received, at least in this respect.

Like it or not (and some FF7 fanboys certainly do not), Final Fantasy is a series that never tries to do the same thing twice. Each of the numbered entries has featured a new setting, new story, new themes and new gameplay. Perhaps the biggest problem people have had with this latest entry in the series is its somewhat stripped-down approach. Normally, fans have been able to distract themselves from problems with plots or characters by getting their teeth into the gameplay or side questing themselves into oblivion, but that’s really not an option here. The battle system may develop from a simple set-up into a detailed and complex joy, but other than that, if you’re not fighting, you’re just going to be walking to your next scrap. Perhaps this puts a bit too much emphasis on the characters, which is fine for 4 of the members of your party, but for Fang and Lightning, who stay mired in monotonous stand-offishness and never really develop, it really doesn’t help.

Here’s to FFXIII, then; something of a flawed spectacle. If you can stop yourself getting lost in the visuals and get stuck into the story, you’ll be rewarded but don’t expect there to be much to distract you from getting from to the game’s conclusion.

8.7/10

It’s very, very easy to fall for Regina Spektor. She’s easily one of the most charming and likeable singer/songwriter you’ll find and has more than enough eccentricity and individuality to strip every nation’s charts of whiny tripe within seconds. Couple that with a smile so fantastically sweet that you’ll find yourself hard pressed not to blush, she makes for a particularly enticing prospect both live and on record. Live In London acts as most CD+DVD packages do, offering a stop-gap between albums, a career retrospective, a fan’s dream setlist and an option for the uninitiated to jump on board. Sure, it’s a bit sparse on the special features but thanks to a 20 song + setlist, you’ll hardly feel like you’ve been short changed.

It’s immediately worth pointing out that Regina works best when backed up by a string quartet and a drummer, not by a bunch of dudes playing with her like a traditional band, so thank holy hell that she’s accompanied by the former because their involvement helps no end. Not that Regina isn’t comfortable sitting by herself with just her piano, but her music has developed to the extent that it requires this sort of backing to truly work. And work, it does. The evening’s more upbeat numbers (The Calculation, Folding Chair) feel that more vibrant as a result, and in the case of material culled from the somewhat weak Begin To Hope, actually helps to breathe new life into songs like Fidelity that never sat quite right before.

As a whole, the concert looks great; simplified musical joy at it’s best. No frills, just performers and songs. Regina keeps stage-chat to a minimum, save for occasional, heartfelt thank yous to a particularly loving crowd. It might not seem like much, but she seems unable to stop beaming inbetween each song and with each burst of applause. It’s great to see her enjoying herself, but the real highlights are the more tender moments. Eet, Ode To Divorce and Us sound more beautiful and moving than they ever have, with the former benefitting marvelously from the string quartet. Sure, it’s left to Us to steal the show, but it’s the best song she’ll ever write, so why try and fight it’s haunting jauntiness?

Regina Spektor learnt how to write great songs a long time ago, and it feels like any air of scepticism about her as a live performer is finally disappearing. This little package will help no end, and gives us another excuse to do a bit of swooning over one of today’s most engaging singer/songwriters.

One of the strangest things about Black Ops is that even though it’s beaten Modern Warfare 2 and become the most successful entertainment product of all time, the buzz surrounding it has died down tremendously. A year ago, Activision were releasing regular statements to harp on about how MW2 had sold a gazillion units, but this time, they’ve remained quite tight lipped about the success of this year’s COD installment. After the very public war of words with the now-former heads of Infinity Ward (MW’s creators), Activision’s credibility has taken a bit of a bump, so perhaps it’s a wise move to let their COD-centric studio Treyarch get on with wowing the world for them. Their latest baby, Black Ops has already sold a buttload of copies, but is it worth all the fuss?

Off the bat, the campaign is one of the most personal you’ll find in the COD series. You take control of SOG operative Alex Mason in 1968 as he’s strapped to an interrogation chair reliving memories from the past decade in an attempt to stop a nuclear threat on the States. You’ll shift between different perspectives and shoot the hell out of various locations including Cuba and Vietnam, but perhaps the biggest difference is that your character actually talks and responds during battle as opposed to being mute. Little things like seeing Mason in cutscenes and hearing his voice during fighting makes you more connected to the story, and it makes you wonder why the hell this hasn’t been done in any of the other recent games in the series.

Without delving too deeply into the plot, it’s worth noting one rather large fault with the campaign; well, there’s an explosion, then another one, someone dies, a lot of bad stuff happens, then another explosion……are you seeing a pattern here? COD has prided itself on dramatic set pieces for years, and there are certainly some pretty spectacular moments on offer, but there’s barely any pacing to speak of. Sure, the campaign is involving and intense, but it seems to be afraid of losing your attention so it bombards you with action every two seconds. A bit of pacing never did anyone any harm, Treyarch. It’s also worth noting that Blops features some of the most violent scenes the series has ever seen, and when you take Modern Warfare 2 into account, that’s saying something. The violence is linked in well to the desperate tone of the plot, but it does go a little overboard at times.

There’s little point in mentioning changes with the gameplay, largely because there aren’t any. COD found an effective, exciting formula for first person shooters a long time ago, and to be honest, it isn’t really getting old. The biggest changes come from the multi player with the introduction of a points system that rewards your achievements in battle with currency to buy new guns/equipment etc. You can also complete contracts such as getting a certain amount of kills in a game to further your character, which is another nice touch. Largely, this is the same multiplayer experience that players have been blitzing since Modern Warfare, but again, it didn’t necessarily need a massive overhaul, so a few tweaks are welcome. Nazi Zombies also make a return, along with a quite fantastic arcade zombie shoot-em-up entitled Dead Ops, which is stupidly good fun. In short, there’s enough to get your teeth into here once the campaign is over.

All in all, Black Ops represents what the COD series has turned into; a familiar yet refined experience. Nothing about the way this game plays will surprise you, so it’s left to the campaign’s plot and its setting to keep you interested, which it just about manages despite that poor pacing. Multiplayer’s still great fun, but you’re left to wonder where the hell the series can go from here. It’s in something of a comfortable rut at the minute and you can’t help but think if this’ll be the same case with the next installment in the series.

7.5/10