SF at the Movies - August 2013

Wow! July just came and went, but with the arrival of the summer holidays normal service has been suspended, though I hope to resume more regular posting over the next few weeks if the return to work allows time for it!!

Anyway, at the very last minute but here's what is up on silver screens this month

Kick-Ass 2 (not strictly SF, but superhero comic-book adaptations qualify I think!)

Elysium

And that's your lot! Sorry again for missing July out!!

Halo 4: Requiem + Forerunner

OK so finally continuing with my progress in Halo 4, I have now completed all Spartan Ops chapters so have 'fully' completed the game. I've been meaning to continue posting for a while, but what with E3 the blog has been somewhat saturated with Halo content recently so I thought I'd give this post a bit of breathing room.

As in the title this post covers the second and third playable missions of the game.

Requiem

After the planet opens following the mysterious scan the wreckage of Forward Unto Dawn is sucked into the void along with several of the Storm Covenant fleet unlucky enough to be in it's gravitational field. John fails to reach an escape pod in time and falls through the portal into the planet's interior. Requiem is a Dyson Sphere with an hollow core and a planetary surface on the inside of the crust.

New Enemies

Sangheili Zealot

OK so not a new type at all, but the redesign of the Zealot, especially with the 'eyes' on top of the helmet is pretty darn cool!!

New Weapons

SAW

 







AKA M739 Light Machine Gun this is a nifty new addition to the UNSC's arsenal a drum-magazine fe machine gun with a rapid fire-rate and a huge ammo reserve capable of taking down powerful enemies with sustained fire.

Shade Turret

The Typew-55 Anti-Infantry Stationary Gun is the lastest incarnation of the Covenant turrets seen throughout the Halo series.

Story

After recovering from their fall Chief and Cortana battle their way through the wreckage of several ships to try and find a Cartographer to explain where they are and if there is another way off the planet. Cortana tells Chief that she is nearing Rampancy, having been in service far longer than the expected 7 years of an AI. Chief plans to steal a ship and get back to Dr. Halsey who may be able to help Cortana. As they explore the Forerunner structures they find a reference to 'reclaimers' following the information they deduce that UNSC 'Infinity' has also found Requiem. Thye try to track down it's signal but are suddenly attacked by strange beings.

Forerunner

Chief jumps into a portal opened by Cortana and resumes his search for Infinity and a way off the planet.

New Enemies

Promethean Knight

 










Seemingly powerful Forerunner AI constructs similar to Sentinels, they have a far darker history to be revealed. They carry powerful weapons and have the ability to teleport at will and deploy Watchers from their backs for defense and support. They are dangerous alone and deadly in a group.

Promethan Crawler

Dog-like Forerunner AIs these foes carry Forerunner weaponry in their 'mouths' and are capable of scaling walls and leaping to great heights to swarm a foe from all sides. They always deploy in packs using different tactics to wear down an enemy.

Promethean Watcher

Flying Forerunner AIs these enemies can swarm an opponent but typically they are deployed to support Knights, with Knights able to carry them within their armour. As support they are most deadly, able to project hard light shields over Knights, catch and return thrown grenades and even resurrect fallen Knights.

New Weapons

Pulse Grenade

 






I wasn't overly impressed with these weapons, sticky grenades and even frags are more effective weapons, while the pulse it emits is deadly it isn't too hard to avoid, even when launched from Promethean weapons. The grenade emits a powerful area of effect which weakens enemies and then detonates, sometimes incinerating it's victims.

Boltshot

This weapon is typically carried by Watchers and sometimes by Crawlers, in human hands it can function as a rapid-fire pistol, shooting bolts of hard-light (the standard Promethean amunition) at an enemy. It is a multifunction weapon and can also fire a spread of bolts in one, creating a shotgun effect.

Suppressor

This weapon is typically carried by Crawlers and sometimes by Knights. It is essentially an Assault Rifle with a large clip and a rapid rate of fire. It's pretty cool how Forerunner weapons assemble themselves out of components in your hand as you pick them up.

Lightrifle

A long range weapon carried by Knights, able to fire bolts in a three shot spread or, when focused, a single more powerful bolt of hard light, functioning as a mix of the UNSC's DMR and Battle Rifle.

There were other Forerunner weapons in this level, but I'll save them for a later post.

Story

Master Chief  and Cortana venture deeper into the planet Requiem, making brief contact with the UNSC Infinity. All along they are forced to battle the Promethean forces that have designated them a threat and Storm forces that have followed them through. Cortana directs the Chief to a set of pylons which appear to be able to establish firm contact with the UNSC vessel, which they need to do urgently as the vessel risks being puled into the portal they fell through. Chief makes it to the terminal in time - but it is not what he expected...

More Halo  soon!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 43

Yes it's about time to look back at the latest series of Doctor Who and the new aliens that appear in the series - to be fair there are a lot of 'sort-of' species in this post, creatures that technically aren't really new aliens at all but are worth mentioning nonetheless

Time Zombies

 I didn't know quite what to make of these creatures, they added a good deal of menace to what weoul otherwise have been a load of random exploring...but then again I'd have been happy with just random exploring!!

These creatures, roaming the core of the TARDIS, a result of the Doctor and his companions being exposed directly to the eye of Harmony. Thankfully the Doctor was able to change the course of events so that these creatures ceased to exist.

Red Leeches

 A quirky little alien in a nice episode starting with the Companions helping Clara and the Doctor and then taking the fight back to the enemy. I have to say the little leech was a nice mix of cute and evil and a nice take on a species type - don't think we've had a small wormy thing for a while on Who!

An ancient race, known as a menace to the Silurtians when they populated the Earth. They produced a venom which could cause horrific changes and death in conact with most humans but could also have a symbiotic and beneficial relationship with a chosen host body. One surviving member of the race, conspired with a corrupt human, Mrs. Gillyflower to take over the human race.

Cybermites

Another new Cyber-thingy, but I thought these little creatures were effective and better than last series' rebooted Cybermat with it's snappy teeth, these creatures were actually a threat. It was nice to see the actual Cybermen being more powerful and threatening than they have been in the past.

A weapon of the Cybermen, Cybermites were part of their arsenal in their longstanding war agains humanity. Cybermites could latch onto an organic host and begin the process of converting them into a Cyberman. They weren't able to convert a host by themselves but could turn a being into an agent for them and certainly incapacitate foes if they got close enough. They were also able to turn the Doctor into 'Mr Clever' and alter ego with some of the Doctor's personality and knowledge and yet fully serving the Cybermen.

Whisper Men

 







Another vague non-race designed to add some threat, these 'whisper men' were actually manifestations of the Great Intelligence and did not corporeally exist at all, though they could interact with the world, they were used by the Intelligence to threaten the Doctor's friends to make him open up his tomb on Trenzalore.

That's your lot - more after the Anniversary Special!!

SF at the Movies - June '13

Back to normal - thios one's late, but only just - here;s what went up on the silver screen in June.

After Earth

Man of Steel

World War Z

Despicable Me 2

More than the usual handful!!

Next Up: Doctor Who!!

Halo: Spartan Assault

Yes, this is the one game I missed out - technically it was released before E3 so doesn't come under their umbrella and thus was worth mentioning on it's own.

The story takes place between Halo 3 and Halo 4 and features Sarah Palmer (a minor player in 4's campaign, but a major player in 'Spartan Ops') as well as a mysterious 'Spartan Davis' as playable characters.

The game is a top down shooter for Windows phones tablets and devices running Windows 8. I still run Windows 7 so unless there's a port for iOS sometime in the future you won't be hearing much about it from me for a while. Nonetheless it's exciting to see 343 branch out to more media, also announced is a new comic series 'Initiation' featuring characters from this game.

That's about it - I'll leave you with the trailer which features gameplay and samples of cinematics, done in the same style as Halo 4's terminals.

Next Up: Movies

E3 2013: Game Updates

More E3, this time looking at updated information, new trailers and excitement for games that we already knew about before the Expo. I'll post links to the trailers and other videos of the games I found most interesting.


Destiny

Bungie's new shooter is top of my list of things to see, with a cool new Sci-Fi setting and a host of new alien races, weapons and vehicles it is sure to be popping up on this blog soon after release, as I'm going to plum for the 360 version rather than wait for the Xbox One edition, assuming the multiplayer elements are consistent on both platforms . Here's the latest trailer

Destiny is an open world shooter that incorporates elements of multiplayer matchmaking and MMO style games to pair you with friends to play missions or with members of the community. Rather than MMO where you can see everyone else you will be linked up with a Fireteam of other players to complete your mission, maybe linking up with a larger group. This interview and demo, highlights some of these features in action.

Batman: Arkham Origins

We've already had an announcement for this new game in the series (controversially not made by Rocksteady, creators of the original Arkham games) detailing the life of an early years Batman, facing down a bunch of killers competing for the price on his head on Christmas Eve. Being released for the 360 this is definitely on my wish list! This interview delves further into the gameplay and story of the game.

Quantum Break

We had the announcement for this time-shifting game back at the Xbox One reveal and it's been designed for the new generation, this new trailer looks at a moment in the game and it's high-res glory, but little information about how you play in a time-frozen event has been revealed as of yet.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Another 360 game on my wish list - well all Assassin's Creed titles ultimately are always going to be on my list as they have yet to disappoint. I'm currently dipping my toe into ACIII so I'm looking forward to the next title when it comes out. Multiplayer details have been revealed as well as this a new CG trailer.

Deadpool

Not sure if this is on my list but the quirky Marvel hero deserves a mention here in his own game with new details revealed at E3.

Lost Planet 3

A franchise I haven't really followed, but it's new and Sci-Fi and deserves a mention here.

and lastly...

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare

Don't know if it's strictly SF, but who doesn't love Plants vs Zombies and to see them head direct to consoles with a new 3D game as well as a sequel on PC and mobile devices is great news!!

Those are the games that caught my eye and that's a wrap for this year's E3 - I wonder what they'll be announcing next year. One thing I'd hoped for was to see what's next for Mass Effect or if there's a new SF franchise from Bioware - but with them busy announcing Dragon Age 3 I guess it's understandable that they're not.

Next Up: One more game that I missed out...

E3 2013: New Titles

Well E3 has come and gone and as usual I'm playing catchup, but I had a monster of a comic book post to do and wanted to finish that first and hey, a week later isn't too bad anyway!!

I'm going to split my coverage of E3 into two parts, this first post will look at debut announcements made at the conference, while the next post will look at the new information given for already announced games. With the new consoles out of the bag there were plenty of new games - here are some of the Sci-Fi ones that caught my eye.

First up this one that I saw as I sat down to watch the live feed, it quickly got me out of my seat with excitement!!

I hadn't seen this coming - I knew a Halo announcement was possible, but I'd expected it for the Xbox One announcement event and it hadn't arrived so I figured we maybe had another year to wait. The trailer caught me by surprise looking like a completely new IP. Looks like John is having to cope on his own while going up against a pretty monstrous Forerunner (Precursor?) enemy. It's due in 2014 but of course requires shelling out for the new Xbox One so it may be a while before you read about it on this blog - but nothing new there!

Titanfall

At first it looks like a standard mech-warrior game, but Titanfall does seem to have some depth and variety to it. One interesting comment made was that testsers spent most of their time playing as pilots, not as mechs. The technology allowing for boosts, double jumps and smoothe wallrunning looks like it'll make the game more dynamic than others that have gone before, and let's face it mechs are always fun right?!!

Mirror's Edge 2

While Halo usually steals the show for my excitement, this came a pretty close second!! A lot of us thought the franchise was dead and there had been no word on a sequel to the ground-breaking game for some time so I'd given up hope. But (presumably on the new consoles) Faith is back to her free-running, rifle stealing self! With other games (including Titanfall) including free-running elements in their gameplay it'll be interesting to see if this franchise can still hold it's ground - I , for one, am hopeful.

Star Wars: Battlefront

Oh yeah! a tiny teaser for the first Star Wars game since the closure of Lucasarts. Not owning a PlayStation I've never played the franchise so far, but it's one fans have been calling for and it was good news to see that Star Wars still has a future in gaming. Obviously the teaser is set on Hoth, recreating the battle in Empire but hopefully we'll see some new storyline in there too.

Mad Max 

Another entry for the new consoles, not much revealed on this one, set in the world of the classic post-apocalyptic films.


OK, that's all I can think of - I'm sure I've missed one or two - post a comment to let me know!!