The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Following the recent craze of adapting archaic short stories, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty follows our eponymous hero as all his daydreams become a reality in a laidback film directed by Ben Stiller. Stiller is no stranger to starring in films that he directs, Zoolander and Tropic Thunder to name a couple, but this time it seems that the strenuous task may have demanded too much from him.

What does differ between previous movies he has acted in and directed is that he did not pen the script. Stephen Conrad (Pursuit Of Happyness) was instead brought in to adapt the 1939 short story, and adapts it well. Certainly not a direct adaptation, but a film based on the same idea of the original that goes off on a different tangent, driven by Walter Mitty’s love life. In the short story, Walter is married but in the film the driving force comes from Walter Mitty’s quest for the love of Cherly Melhoff, whimsically played by Kristin Wiig (Bridesmaids). But the stumbling block for Walter in his quest for love is his own lack of self-confidence. In his dreams he is brave, valiant and heroic, but in real life he is shy, bullied and quiet. So to rectify this, he sets out on a quest to find the elusive photojournalist Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn). On his travels Walter battles sharks, evades volcanoes and gives his life new meaning.

While this sounds inspiring and thrilling, and for the most part it is, it all comes to a bit of an anti-climax. Not to say the ending wasn’t a good one, it just lacked a final message to leave us all desiring what we’ve just seen. It lacks that Sunshine moment, that Into The Wild moment that just makes you appreciate life and want to experience everything it has to offer. While this doesn’t take anything away from the glorious moments throughout the film, it leaves us feeling a bit empty, a bit let down.

When we are inspired however, we are inspired into awe. The settings were brilliantly chosen. Iceland was the main location for Walter’s journey, and what a location. The rolling hills, the long, winding roads and the quaint little towns were all lovely and brought peacefulness to otherwise exciting, action-packed scenes. It was in these moments that Stiller shines directorially. You can tell that every shot is carefully considered. During the longboard scene we see just about every type of shot, and every single one achieves its purpose. The close up of Stiller’s face as he flies around corners, the crane shots as the tiny figure is antlike in front of the green hills behind him and the tracking shots as he coasts to a stop, all of them form my favourite scene in this film.

It’s a shame that Stiller was unable to act to the same quality of his direction. Whilst his directing was full of precision, his acting was lacklustre and hollow. It’s when Walter is being bullied at his workplace that he shines brightest, as it allowed Stiller to withdraw into himself. I find that Stiller is at his best when he is playing an introverted character, but this film required someone who could flourish as an extrovert too. The character of Walter Mitty needed to be strong yet vulnerable, but unfortunately he could only achieve the latter. I can’t help but wonder how much better this film would be if someone like Fassbender or Gordon-Levitt was cast.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is by no means a bad film, in fact it’s a good film, but in terms of realising its potential, it sometimes doesn’t strive enough for it. It’s a beautiful film that would achieve more as an advert for Iceland than it would as an inspirational film. Hopefully Stiller realises that he is more suited to directing than acting.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty gets a 3/5.

[★★★☆☆]

Jonny Naylor

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

CeX Ennis is open now!

Aww yea CeX fans, today is a fantastic day to open our 17th store in Ireland, our brand spanking new CeX Ennis store. Nice!

Come on down to sell and exchange your unwanted phones, games, computers and gadgets, and pick up something new and shiny or just to chat with us about all the techy things you love.

Check us out for all your buy, sell, exchange and geeky needs. Find us at:

38 O'Connell Street, Ennis, Co. Clare

Find your nearest CeX at webuy.com/stores

The Top 5 Godzilla Movies of all Time

Just in case you have been living under a rock, the latest Godzilla film is out. Not only is it a worthy successor to the original Godzilla films, but it's also a fantastic film in its own right. Though a prior knowledge of Godzilla is not needed in order to enjoy the new film, the classic Japanese Godzilla films are great fun and should be enjoyed by all. However, in the almost 30 films produced, a number stand out as truly exceptional. There are others I would have loved to put in this top 5, but they just didn't make the cut. It was tricky only naming 5, but for anyone new to Godzilla, I believe these films offer the best of the best. Enjoy.

5 - Godzilla vs. Biollante

Directed by Kazuki Ōmori and released in 1989, Godzilla vs. Biollante is one of the few examples in a Godzilla film in which the monster Godzilla is fighting is the best part of the film, as opposed to Godzilla himself. Biollante was grown from Godzilla's DNA, and his giant size and countless tentacles make him a force to be reckoned with. Sure, he overshadows the rest of the film, but his awesome encounters with Godzilla easily put this film in the top 5. From the excellent design of Biollante itself to the elaborate sets that both Godzilla and Biollante hurl each other through, Godzilla vs. Biollante is sadly an overlooked entry in the series.

4 - Destroy all Monsters

Directed by Ishiro Honda and released in 1968, Destroy all Monsters always appears on Godzilla fan's top 10 lists. Up until Destroy all Monsters, the Godzilla series, though plentiful with its Kaiju collection, never crammed too many into one film. Destroy all Monsters blasts that notion out of the water, and manages to feature 10 creatures not counting Godzilla! From the awesome Rodan to the cute son of Godzilla, Minilla, to more ferocious foes such as King Ghidorah and the fan favourite, Mothra, Destroy all Monsters delivers by the bucket load. The story to Destroy all Monsters is so over the top it's awesome. It revolves around an alien race, which just happen to be all women, who begin to control the minds of all the monsters on the aptly named “Monster Island”; an island that houses all known monsters. The alien race makes the creatures wig out and attack all the major capitol cities around the world. With more Kaiju than you can shake Godzilla's tail at, Destroy all Monster is a monster mash you just can't miss!

3 - Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

It's not hard to see why King Ghidorah is considered Godzilla's most terrifying foe, as he is the tallest Kaiju in the Godzilla series, with his size being far bigger than even Godzilla himself. While he has appeared in many other Godzilla films, his ultimate battle with Godzilla takes place in 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Directed by Kazuki Omori, the film is the best and most badass confrontation between these two guys, and includes a pretty trippy story that centres around people from the year 2204 helping modern day Earth destroy Godzilla. How? By sending King Ghidorah, of course! If that wasn't good enough, after King Ghidorah gets his ass handed to him in battle, he's fitted with cybernetic and robotic enhancements, thus turning him into... MECHA-KING GHIDORAH! Awesome, right? This then leads to a balls-to-the-wall confrontation between him and Godzilla, which makes for one of the best fights in the entire series.

2 - Godzilla

I know what you're thinking, “But shouldn't the original film be number 1?” And yes, it technically should, but I think naming it as the best Godzilla film is a little cliché, don't you think? Directed by Ishirō Honda and released in 1954, the original Godzilla didn't have him going head-to-head with another monster, but instead had him terrorizing us! The original film was born out of the end of World War II, with Godzilla himself being a metaphor for nuclear weaponry. Compared to any other Godzilla film, the subtext here is heavy, but the film doesn't beat you over the head with it. It’s more scary than fun, and more informative than awesome, but it still remains possibly the best depiction of Godzilla on screen to date. Considering what year it was made, the special effects here are pretty incredible too, and are a truly terrifying backdrop to the human drama that takes centre stage.

1 - Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

I love this film. Directed by Takao Okawara and released in 1995, the hype surrounding Godzilla vs. Destroyah was that Toho, creator of Godzilla, promised to kill the creature off. Godzilla has “died” before many times over, but always returned at the end of a film. But this wasn't the case with Godzilla vs. Destroyah. To make room for the ill-fated 1998 American Godzilla reboot, Toho were going to kill the creature off... and they did. Spectacularly. The story is superb and focuses on a Godzilla that, much like a failing nuclear reactor, is going into meltdown. His body is lighting up, fiery cracks are appearing on his skin, and as he walks through the ocean he essentially boils all organic life. The humans can't attack him or he'll explode, so they can only just sit back and watch as he carves out a path of destruction.

After being mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer formula (the weapon that killed the original Godzilla in 1954), Precambrian organisms mutate into a creature dubbed Destoroyah; a fearsome foe that quite can quite literally best Godzilla is every way. I won't ruin the ending, but damn, considering it's about a giant monster, it's one of the saddest endings to a film ever. Seriously, if you make your way through every Godzilla film and watch this and don't shed a tear, then you don't love Godzilla, man! Backed up by an incredible soundtrack by Akira Ifukube, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah has it all, and is the perfect send-off for our favourite city stomping Kaiju.

Denis Murphy

Godzilla at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

Kirby: Triple Deluxe

Back in 1992 when most of my days were spent hunched over my Nintendo Gameboy, I had plenty of games to help pass the time. From Pokemon to Tetris and Super Mario Land to the great (and hugely under appreciated!) Mercenary Forces, I sunk hundreds, if not thousands of hours into my Gameboy. However, there's one hugely popular Gameboy game that I avoided, mainly due to its main character. That game was Kirby's Dream Land, while the character was, of course, Kirby, the pink, happy spherical creature. I just didn't like the cut of his jib, but over the past decade I've been slowly making my way through all the past Kirby titles. I'm a believer! Now I have both a love and appreciation for the series. Now available is the latest title in the Kirby series. Is it any good? Read on...

Brought to us by long time Kirby developers HAL laboratory and out now on Nintendo 3DS comes Kirby: Triple Deluxe, the loveable pink orb's first foray onto Nintendo's 3D hand-held. It was only a matter of time until Kirby made his way to the 3DS, but it really couldn't come at a better moment for Nintendo. Amid dismal sales for the Wii U and the fact that they're bleeding money, the ever-impressive gaming arsenal of the 3DS continues to grow. Thankfully, Kirby: Triple Deluxe can be added to that list of must-have 3DS titles. It's awesome!

As expected Kirby is a platformer, and while that may tie down some titles in the way of innovation, HAL laboratory have aimed to squeeze as much potential out of the 3DS' capabilities as they can. The story is rather straightforward yet wonderfully presented. While Kirby is taking a nap, a large beanstalk (known as the Dreamstalk) grows from under Dream Land and, upon waking up, he finds himself in the new land atop the beanstalk called Floralia.  This new land has uprooted various locations and landmarks from across Dream Land, and is under the watchful eyes of Taranza, an evil, multi-armed caterpillar. It's now up to Kirby to defeat Taranza and restore Dream Land to its previous state.

For anyone who has played a Kirby title before, the basics here are the usual fair, namely when it comes to controlling Kirby, floating in the air and using his signature ability of sucking up enemies or items. At its heart it all seems so familiar, but its true genius comes into play when HAL laboratory start flexing their 3D muscle. For instance, all the action doesn't happen on a 2D plane, as Kirby now has the ability to move into the background. Sure, it looks pretty, but the possibilities this adds to the gameplay are truly wonderful. However, Kirby doesn't have it so easy, as this ability also extends to his enemies. From a train that rushes towards the camera with the chance of squashing Kirby up against the 3DS' screen to the fantastic boss battles that make perfect use of 3D, this is one of the few 3DS titles that is 100 times better with the 3D turned on. It's inventive, always surprising and a true testament to the fact that the 3DS is not a gimmick.

The visuals are without a doubt some of the best on the hand-held too, with level design being both fresh and comfortingly familiar. From the truly Mario-tier boss designs that utilize a great sense of 3D depth to the diverse colour pallet seen throughout the game, Triple Deluxe isn't just an hugely fun game to play, but it's also insanely gorgeous. This level of graphical beauty also extends to the new extra modes in Triple Deluxe; Dedede's Drum Dash and Kirby's Fighters, with the former being a rhythm game, while the latter is a truly excellent Super Smash Bros clone.

Overall Kirby: Triple Deluxe is one of the best Nintendo 3DS titles to date. It's fun, inventive and one of the few 3DS titles that actually does an impeccable job with its 3D capabilities.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe is modern Nintendo classic and easily gets a 5/5.

[★★★★★]

Denis Murphy

Kirby: Triple Deluxe at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

CeX opens in the Netherlands!

Go grab some clogs folks, CeX has just opened up in the Netherlands. That’s right, we’ve brought our revolutionary recycling to the land of windmills, tulips and really good… brownies ;)

Check out our brand spanking new CeX Arnhem store located at Jansstraat 9-11, Arnhem, 6811 GH and all the lovely peeps who made it possible.

Beautiful! Or as the locals say “Lekker”! If you’re ever down in Holland pop in and see what Dutch CeX is like.

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12 Years a Slave

Films dealing with slavery are becoming quite abundant nowadays – we had last year’s Django Unchained and we also had Lincoln, both of which dealt with the topic of slavery and it’s steady decline. It’s no surprise then that at the forefront of awards seasons earlier this year happened to be a film depicting slavery – however, this time around, rather than showing an industry on the verge of extinction it shows slavery at a prime and how violent, unforgiving and disgraceful this time was.

12 Years a Slave is set in the early 1800’s when Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a free black man living in New York. He meets two businessmen, who offer Solomon a job working as a musician on a two-week tour, but they drug him and Solomon wakes up in chains, about to be sold into slavery. Once being put into the care of William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), tensions begin to rise between Solomon and farmhand John Tibeats (Paul Dano). Fearing for Solomon’s safety, Ford sends Solomon to another plantation owner, the ruthless Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) who forces the slaves to pick 200 pounds of cotton every day. Epps, however, is attracted to slave Patsy (Lupita Nyong’o) much to the ire of his wife (Sarah Paulson). Solomon must learn to adapt to his new surroundings and not just survive, but live.

12 Years a Slave does not rely on fancy special effects or beautiful locations or anything like that. It relies solely on the strength of its acting. And with such a high-calibre acting ensemble, it can’t possibly go wrong. The leading performance of Ejiofor is truly remarkable and the prolonged shots on his face showing his every expression and thought running through his mind. Ejiofor is so convincing in these sequences that it’s easy to forget he’s an actor, and believe that we’re watching pain and suffering for real. On the other side of the spectrum we have Fassbender, whose turn as the malevolent Epps is nothing short of one of Hollywood’s most recent great cinematic villains. His preying on Patsy only adds to his creepy nature and some of the film’s most brutal and brilliantly acted scenes come from Fassbender. Forget Magneto, Edwin Epps is Fassbender’s greatest villain yet. And let’s not forget Nyong’o who deservedly won an Oscar for her role as the helpless Patsy, whose heartbreaking scenes are the film’s saddest moments. Her ‘intimate’ scenes with Fassbender provoke a nauseating feeling of disgust and the torture sequences are incredibly brutal. And all the while we watch Nyong‘o and her incredibly powerful reactions to what goes on around her. It’s compelling stuff and it’s the proverbial glue that sticks the film together.

Acting aside however, not much else goes on. It’s beautifully shot and directed sure, but the story is a little basic. Seeing as it was adapted from Solomon’s own diary, we would expect nothing less. There are no subplots, no secret twists and that’s actually what we expect from this. The simplicity, if anything, is juxtaposed by the language which obviously is a little dated now. The characters sound like they’re making matters more complicated than what they are but it’s a simple enough reason – the language is poetic and lyrical and gives the film a sliver of joviality, making us listen more carefully and helping us understand how language has evolved since those times. It’s a mixed bag in this department – it’s simple but told just cryptically enough to create its own beauty and sound easy on the ear.

Unlike other films like Django Unchained, Gone with the Wind and Lincoln, this is not a glorification of freedom from slavery, this isn’t a tale of a slave attempting to escape his bonds – this is a tale of humans and individuality and how everyone is free in their own way. Freedom is not a choice, it’s naturally instilled in all of us and McQueen knows this, just as the characters know this. What happens to Solomon is injustice in its greatest form and McQueen makes this the prominent fact throughout the film, but rather than portraying liberation and retribution on the slavers, McQueen paints a very different picture. He shows how to survive and endure rather than fight and injects the problems of slavery into modern times – aren’t we all free? And if not, should we battle it or let it consume us? The situation of Solomon is just an example of this type of crime and his answer was to remain hardy and let life go on. McQueen uses this film akin to an essay, a study of character not of history.

Overall, this film is a triumph. It uses its stars to great effect, particularly the performances of Ejiofor, Fassbender and Nyong’o who create such deep and meaningful characters and truly pass on the message of cruelty in slavery. The language is perfect sounding similar to a lyrical ballad than a diary and it keeps its plot simple enough to allow the message to pass through. And what a message. It’s a film about slavery that doesn’t depict slavery in a normal way. The characters simply wish to live and whatever consequences occur, then they deal with it. Slavery is a crime because we are all free people and this relates to our thoughts and opinions too, especially in today’s society where many argue that there is no more freedom now than there was at the turn of the century. McQueen uses this film as an allegory and it’s probably the finest allegory that any could give us through the medium of film. It’s a modern classic.

12 Years a Slave gets a 5/5.

[★★★★★]

James Smith

12 Years a Slave at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

Drakengard 3

A decade ago I played the original Drakengard. Released on the PlayStation 2, the game was an action RPG that blended gameplay which took place both on-foot and atop a mighty dragon. It didn't impress me much back then, so Drakengard 2 flew below my radar. However, cut to almost a decade after the release of Drakengard on the Playstation 2, and its developer Cavia released a game called Nier. Nier made me believe in Cavia, because Nier was one of the best games I have ever played. Not only did it have a rich story but also boasted gameplay that was varied and thrilling. Sadly though, Nier didn't sell well, and this resulted in Cavia closing its doors. But while a sequel to Nier (which itself was actually a spin-off to Drakengard) may never happen, the Drakengard series lives on! However, after winning me over with the truly outstanding Nier, can writer/designer Taro Yoko make lighting strike twice with Drakengard 3? Read on to find out...

Developed by Access Games and out now on PlayStation 3 comes Drakengard 3, the third entry in the Drakengard series, but a prequel to the first game. Compared to the previous Drakengard games, in terms of gameplay, presentation and narrative, Drakengard 3 seems to have learnt quite a bit from Nier. You play the role of Zero, a mysterious girl who, with help of a dragon called Mikhail, sets out on a quest to kill her five sisters. Her five sisters rule different regions of this world, but though her mission may seem simple at first, over the course of the game the player will find out the real reasons behind Zero's murderous intentions.

As mentioned before, Drakengard 3 continues the series' dual forms of combat. Firstly, on-foot combat is wonderfully achieved, and feels more like Nier than any previous Drakengard game. As Zero, players will find themselves going up against instances of both one-on-one battles as well as bigger, more involved battles against armies. Both types of on-foot battling are great fun, and the skill of utilising a healthy combination of ranged attacks, sweeping moves and upward strikes is key. Weapons get stronger as Zero herself levels up, and with Zero's advancement comes more in-depth and stronger moves to use. In fact, the attacks and moves Zero can use are even further expanded on, as different weapons produce different move-sets. This all comes together to create a satisfying and deep fighting system, and that's even before you take to skies on your dragon! Also, much like Neir, one stand out aspect of Drakengard 3 is the boss battles, which sometimes come in the form of Zero taking on large, and I mean huge, enemies.

Combat while atop your dragon, Mikhail, is far more linear, but just as fun as on-foot combat. From the air Mikhail can rain fire down upon his foes, but they don't only come in the form of infantry soldiers, but also structures and vehicles such as ships. Swooping down and spilling fire across the battlefield is exceptionally thrilling, especially when, in a matter of seconds and without a loading screen in sight, you can jump off Mikhail and get into some on-foot battling. While it has always been the series' strongest element, this multi-layered combat system is absolutely fantastic, and will please just about any gamers play-style.

Drakengard 3 looks lovely, and its presentation comes across like a visual merging of both the worlds of Drakengard and Nier. From the large armies you'll go up against while sitting on Mikhail's back, to the smaller, more up-close-and-personal battles you'll fight as Zero, the game is visually stunning. This visual excellence also extends to the wonderful world Access Games have created here. Though I would have loved an even balance of both role-playing and battling. Sadly the game is 80% battling, and while it works perfectly well, the idea of exploring the many towns and cities across the world is painfully tantalising.

Overall Drakengard 3 is a fantastic entry into the series. It has clearly learned quite a lot from the master-class that Cavia brought to the table with Nier, yet still stays true to its Drakengard origins. A must-buy for any RPG fans out there. Oh and hell, you might as well pick up Nier while you're at it. Trust me, you won't regret it!

Drakengard 3 swoops down and nabs a 5/5.

[★★★★★]

Denis Murphy

Drakengard 3 at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

CeX @ MCM London Comic Con 2014

That's right folks, we’re here at MCM London Comic Con 2014 with an all new pop-up store that's more mind-blowing than ever. You can drop by to say “Hi!”, check out our treasure trove of goodies, and of course buy, sell & exchange to your heart's content. Watch our live video stream below or check out our photo feed of cosplay aficionados who've visited our store, vote for your favourites on the CeX Facebook page by liking and the top 3 will win a £250, £150 or £50 voucher! You can also see what's happening via our new Instagram feed and Twitter.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Post by CeX.

Held at ExCel centre, MCM London Comic Con is the UK's biggest festival of popular culture and all things delightfully nerdy. It's the perfect place to indulge your inner geek!

CeX Tralee is open now!

That'a right folks! Allow us to introduce our brand spanking new CeX Tralee store, our 14th store in the beautiful emerald isles. Nice!

As always head on down to sell and exchange your unwanted phones, games, computers and gadgets, and pick up something new and shiny or chat with us about all the geeky tech you love.

Check us out for all your buy, sell, and exchange needs. Find us at:

13 The Mall, Tralee, Co. Kerry.

Find your nearest CeX at webuy.com/stores

Watch Dogs

During E3 2012 there were two words on our lips: “Watch” and “Dogs”. It came out of the blue and completely blew our socks off. In the wake of its unveiling it completely dominated the E3 competition, which included titles such as Assassin's Creed 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, Halo 4 and The Last of Us. They were a distant memory in the presence of Watch Dogs, the hacking centric open-world Ubisoft title. So, with around 5 years of development behind it, Watch Dogs is finally on the horizon. Are you ready? You better be.

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released on the 27th of May for Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4 and PC (with the Wii U version slated to be released later in the year) comes Watch Dogs, the best, most exciting and original new franchise of the year. The story is simple and is one of revenge. You take the role of Aiden Pierce, a former thug and hacker that, after the death of his niece, vows to take revenge on the culprits responsible. However, this isn't Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, your weapon at hand isn't the trusty assassin's hidden blade, as Aiden your weapon of choice is turning the city against itself. Watch Dogs is set Chicago, yet this is Chicago that is a little different from our own. After the creation of a supercomputer known as Central Operating System (CtOS), every person in the city is under constant surveillance, while every piece of technology is linked to CtOS. From smartphones to traffic lights, the people of Chicago are within the grip of this technological web. Hacking into this system and bending it to his will is Aiden's weapon. Well, that and many, many guns too...

The main story took me around 25-30 hours to complete. Sadly though, the story doesn't feel as interesting or as innovative as the gameplay concept that surrounds it, and ends up being quite boring at times. Don't get me wrong, it isn't awful by any stretch of the imagination, but from a game that brings so many fresh ideas to the table, I expected more narratively. The main missions that Aiden must take part in are pretty fun, and once finished allow the player to upgrade their hacking, crafted, combat and driving skills trees. Using Aiden's smartphone, the player can control the various electronic devices throughout the city, which comes in handy early in the game, allowing you to even steal funds right out of a person’s bank account. Or have fun randomly switching the traffic lights from red to green. There's nothing like sitting back and watching the mayhem ensue. Hell, you can even cause a citywide blackout! Needless to say, while the story is bland, the hacking gameplay mechanic is fresh, fun and an absolute joy to dick around with. Whether it's small or large scale hacking, Aiden's smartphone is vital. However, keep in mind that the media and citizens of Chicago form an opinion of you, and depending on your actions, they'll see you as a either a mere criminal or noble vigilante. This reputation system has repercussions throughout your game experience, so be mindful of what kind of hacker you'd like to seen as.

The open-world Chicago in Watch Dogs is absolutely awesome. Both from a visual and design standpoint, it feels real, alive and, much like it should, under the watchful eye of CtOS. The city is cut up into various districts, with each one having a different design and approach. The central city is breath taking to behold and it's where most of the action will take place, but out in Pawnee, which is essentially the rural area of the map, is a wonderful far cry from anything I was expecting to see in Watch Dogs. Getting around the city is mostly done via driving, but compared to the many, many other open-world games that populate the market; you'll find that simply walking around in Watch Dogs may give the best rewards. This comes in the form of the various side missions located around the city. While these often range from more action packed missions such as stopping crimes, they can also cover more interesting ground such as the “digital trips”; various drug-like hacks that transform Chicago into a number of different and bizarre locations. The most memorable digital trip I played was called Madness, and placed Aiden behind the wheel in a mini-game that looked quite a bit like Carmageddon, but with added demons to squash!

Multiplayer mode is a bit of a let-down, because if you're expecting features akin to, say, Grand Theft Auto V, you'll be sorely disappointed. But while Watch Dogs may lack Grand Theft Auto V's mission based structure to its multiplayer, it does try and seamlessly merge both its single player experience and multiplayer on the fly. For instance, much like being invaded in Dark Souls 2, it's possible for players to hack into your game. This can play out in a number of ways, but using CCTV cameras to try and spot the hacker and the chase that inevitably happens afterwards, can be utterly thrilling. There's also an 8-player free roam mode in place here, while some of the modes cover the three keystones of gameplay- racing, hacking and shooting. You may not be able to go on long, in-depth 8-player hacking missions with your friends, but it delivers a great, if potential squandering multiplayer experience.

Overall Watch Dogs is a fantastic start to an exciting franchise. From it's beautifully designed city that is a true joy to simply stroll around, to the epic hacking gameplay mechanic put in place, Watch Dogs has delivered on the promises it made during E3 2012. While the game isn't earth shattering, it's something that you'll end up pouring hours upon hours into. Whether it's reading the profiles of the countless inhabitants of Chicago, stopping crimes before they happen, jerking around with traffic lights, stealing money right from someone’s bank account, or cruising through the many city districts on offer, Watch Dogs is your home for the next few months. 

Watch Dogs delivers on high expectations and gets a 5/5. 

[★★★★★]

Alex Hunter

Watch Dogs at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

Get some CeX on Instagram

You can now follow us on Instagram!

That's right, check out the official CeX Instagram here for CeX banter and japes. We'll be posting live pics from London Comic-Con from the 23rd to 25th May and other awesome future events, new store photos, silly stuff and having good ol' fun times.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street, another fabulous film from Martin Scorsese and another near miss for Oscarless Leonardo Dicaprio, showered with praise and money but lacking in the little gold man.  It’s okay, I’m sure he doesn’t give a shit.  The film follows the professional rise and fall of Jordan Belfort (Dicaprio) from Wall Street underling to drug-fuelled over lord of debauchery and decadence.

Jordan Belfort is a trainee stockbroker and he gets off to a fantastic start with a fantastic company, this leads to him getting a taste of what it means to be successful in this business, unfortunately Black Monday happens causing him to lose his job with his now bankrupt company.  Young, innocent and in love he ends up getting a job in a run down crappy ‘boiler room’ which is basically a room full of people selling the stock exchange equivalent of snake oil.  It’s at this point Jordan befriends Donnie Azoff who is basically the loud mouth, ugly, horrible person that you knew from school that kept getting dates with beautiful women outside of the rules and regulations of biology and social convention. They bond quite quickly and they start their own tiny business selling large amounts of ‘penny stocks’ for a massive commission to people with lots of money who have been gulliblised… did you know Gulliblised isn’t in the dictionary? It’s roughly around this time he gets called the Wolf of Wall Street in a newspaper causing every financier in the business to get dollar signs in their eyes at the thought of working with this man who seems to be ejaculating money.

In less time than it takes to blow cocaine into a hooker’s anus the FBI start investigating Jordan. It doesn’t help that the money has gone to his head and the government doesn’t trust people who make money very easily (that aren’t them/their friends that is), especially when it involves defrauding people and inhaling bowls of cocaine and Quaaludes like some intense limited edition box of Lucky Charms. 

Realising he owns all of the worlds money he decides to go stick it in a Swiss Bank Account under his mother in laws name, hiding it all away in a safe place.  Why he sets it up under the name of the oldest person he knows, who’s rushing towards her impending death, is quite odd, and just asking for difficulty down the line. The rest of the film is a drug fuelled FBI chase flick and it’s slightly better than they normally are. 

Personally I loved this film to bits, I’m a wee bit impatient with Scorsese sometimes, and I always feel he could trim the fat a little, but not so much with Wolf of Wall Street.  It was long, but it was an all you can watch buffet of intrigue, fraud, debauchery and irresponsibility.  I defy anyone to watch this film and not immediately defraud at least one government, or at least try to screw the population of some country out of millions.  He’s twenty-six years old, basically a child with infinite money, and he behaves the way a child would and I spent the whole film a little bit jealous.

 Dicaprio and Hill work together brilliantly this time, and there were incredible performances from both men, however Leo’s character is very much one of those dickheads that gives being a successful businessman a bad name, so much that he is not really a protagonist at all. He is very antagonising, and there is a certain amount of pleasure to be taken from watching his life fall to bits eventually.

Ultimately though I really enjoyed Wolf of Wall Street, it gets a 4/5, [★★★★☆]

Dave Roberts

The Wolf of Wall Street at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 really is a swing and a miss game (it’s a terrible pun, I know), although swinging around NYC is insanely enjoyable, it is well and truly cancelled out due to boring combat, dull Peter Parker segments and glitches that rear their head from time to time. It’s more than likely down to the game being rushed so it could be released as close as possible to the release of the film.

Swinging in a Spider-Man game has never been more fun; opposed to your web hitting an invisible point in the sky, you now need to be near a building or structure to actually swing. You also have to use the left and right triggers to swing – if the nearest building is on your right hand side, you press the right trigger and vice versa. Obviously since you’re encouraged to swing near buildings, there’s traffic. Narrowly missing a vehicle results in drivers beeping at Spidey, who’d have thought? He’s only saved NYC from danger time and time again. However, being able to recreate the film-esque CGI dives that appear in every Spider-Man film is a great feeling.

Another cool thing within the game are the costumes you unlock by completing challenges. There are 13 in total for you to unlock, and if you pre-ordered this game from GameStop, you will have a code to redeem another four, with a fifth costume being a PSN exclusive.  They look great on Peter Parker, and it adds a little extra purpose to completing challenges. Who wouldn’t want to swing around NYC as Spider-Man 2099?

Unfortunately, you don’t swing around from start to finish and you’re forced into SOME pretty boring combat that’ll leave you with a feeling of déjà vu. This is due in most to the combat system’s similarity to the one found in the Batman: Arkham series of games. All you have to do is button mash and dodge/counter when your Spidey Sense is tingling. As well as a dissatisfying combat experience, enemies can glitch out as well, and in one situation, a boss glitched out to the point where it became invincible requiring a restart. Very, very inconvenient.

It took me around six hours to finish the game, approximately the same amount of time for the previous Spider-Man title, but unfortunately this time about half of that was pretty boring. The build up to boss fights didn’t get me in the ass-kicking mood and often consisted of button mashing my way through a rather large room of enemies till I’d be up against a super villain. This wouldn’t be so bad of they were actually challenging but bosses were just time consuming due to their high health bar. What fun is there in landing a combo, evading, then doing it over and over again? Unless you’re playing Dark Souls that is.

Another weak point was the plot. In the films, there is some form of narrative and a story to follow; however in the game, it feels like villains are just chucked into the mix. You can unlock a bit more of the backstory by completing side missions, which only slightly adds to the overall plot but the game does a bad job of incentivising this. The only ones that drew me in were the Russian Hideout side missions. Though that was mainly for the cool costume unlocks.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS and Wii U, with last-gen consoles seeming able to keep up with current-gen consoles. The version I played on the PS4 didn’t sport any major differences bar sharper textures, vibrant colours and more traffic. 

Overall, I would say The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a prime example of what happens when a game is rushed, especially in an attempt to be released as close to a movie release as possible. If they either A) worked on this earlier, or B) delayed it until it was perfected, I’m more than certain it would have been a great game. They’ve perfected swinging around NYC, and the whole smooth motion of it makes it the best part of the game, but it’s a shame that boring combat and a non-existant plot let the game down big time.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets a 3/5.

[★★★☆☆]

Sam Terry

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Who can believe it’s been nearly ten years since Anchorman came out? The 2004 movie – a pastiche of 1970s culture and cheesy, American local news – was an unexpected hit and has become one of the most quotable and best-loved comedy films of all time. It was a revelation: I remember watching it on three consecutive nights in student halls, all with the same people, and we never once failed to laugh at its zany humour and surprising twists. Sure, we were probably drunk, and had our DVD budget been bigger we might have broadened our horizons a bit. But my point still stands: it takes a pretty special film to hold up to such obsessive repeat viewing.

So, can last year’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues ever hope to inspire the same feeling of “I must watch this again!” – or is it a cheap cash-in on a comedy classic?

Anchorman 2 is set seven years after the original, continuing the story of loveably incompetent newsman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his wife and evening news co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). Ron and Veronica have settled down and had a son since the last movie (six-year-old Walter, played by Judah Nelson) but they haven’t given up their dream of hitting the big time – so when their network’s nightly news anchor Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford) suddenly announces his retirement, the pair jump at the chance to meet with him.

Tannen gives Veronica the promotion she’s always dreamed of, making her the new nightly news host, but Ron ends up being fired as a result of his constant on-air goofs. As you might expect, this drives a wedge between Ron and Veronica: the couple splits, Veronica finds herself a new psychiatrist boyfriend (Greg Kinnear), and Ron is forced to host demonstrations at Sea World to make ends meet. Things look pretty bad for Ron, until a news producer from “GNN”, the world’s first 24-hour news network, approaches him and offers him a second chance.

Ron assembles his beloved news team – comprised of Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ Kind (David Koechner), and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) – and winds up taking over GNN’s 2am graveyard slot. This leads to a bitter rivalry between Ron and hotshot primetime reporter Jack Lime (James Marsden) and, in the heat of an argument, Ron throws down a wager over ratings. What follows is an intelligent and surprisingly cutting take-off of 24-hour “rolling” news channels, as Burgundy resorts to showing live car chases and animal stories to try to keep people glued to GNN through the night.

Of course, this is Anchorman, not The Newsroom, so the film’s predictable, by-the-numbers storyline is peppered with irreverent humour and bizarre twists and turns. And yes, there’s plenty more cartoonish silliness from simpleminded, loveable weatherman Brick – who finds a love interest in fellow simpleton and GNN office worker Chani, played by the fantastic Kristen Wiig.

Fans of the original Anchorman will be pleased to hear its sequel is every bit as funny as the original. That said, it never quite manages to recapture the magic of its predecessor. The writers have sprinkled Anchorman 2’s two hours with just the right number of call backs to the first film, never falling into the trap of shoving tired jokes and catchphrases in our faces every few seconds. And yet, much of the smart plotting that made Anchorman work so well has been lost. This is a film that flits aimlessly between gags, only occasionally remembering it’s supposed to be a movie and throwing in some random exposition. For the most part, it just holds up different things and says, “Look! This thing is funny!” And usually it is… it just comes off looking more like a 70s-themed sketch show than a cohesive story.

To put it bluntly: No, this film isn’t as good as the original. Will I watch it again one day? Probably. Would it stand up to being watched three times in a row? Probably not. It’s a solid comedy film built on pretty shaky foundations, and while long-time fans will be happy just to get their hands on some new jokes, it’s a little hard to recommend it to anyone else.

Anchorman 2 hangs up its mic and leaves with a respectable 3/5.

[★★★☆☆]

Mike Lee

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

47 Ronin

Oh Keanu... I know you try and try and try, but it just ain't working out for you, mate. Look, we all loved the Matrix films, well, not all of them, but the first one is a near perfect film. The second two? Well, lets just say that while they ain't awful, they're the kind of the sequels that didn't really happen in my mind. Anyway, you had a good run, but I think now it's time to possibly rethink your career. Don't get me wrong Keanu; I'm not saying you were awful in 47 Ronin. I'm saying you're too good to be in film, it doesn't deserve you!

That's what I'd say to Keanu Reeves, most likely through his two bodyguards and a mouth full of broken teeth...

Directed by Carl Rinsch and out now on Blu-Ray, 3D Blu-Ray and DVD comes 47 Ronin, a film that, while enjoyable to a certain point, is far, far too overblown for its own good. 47 Ronin is a retelling of a classic and true Japanese tale of 47 Samurai who sought revenge for the death of their master. The Samurai, completely devoted to the bushidō code, were loyal to the end. 47 Ronin is both an accurate and inaccurate take on the tale. It's accurate because, well, it's about 47 Ronin who seek revenge for their murdered master, while its inaccuracies come in the form of a Feudal Japan that is more fantasy than reality. And that's fine of course, but 47 Ronin layers the fantasy elements on so thick that the historical reality of the tale is largely lost. Keanu Reeves plays Kai, a half-Japanese half-English character that was created for the film, who comes to the aid of Oishi to form a plan of revenge the 47 Ronin deserve.

The best aspect of 47 Ronin is also its biggest weakest, the visuals. The problem is that while 47 Ronin is a beautiful and over-the-top visual feast, the characters on screen can often get lost in its CGI focused story. That said, there are some stunning creations here, both of and not of this world. From a large troll-like creature that Kai must go up against to the very real one-on-one fight against the huge, silver Lovecraftian Samurai, 47 Ronin doesn't displease in the visuals department. While there are some moments of pretty crappy CGI, the open fantasy vistas and general rich, detailed and wholly stunning look of the film makes up for it.

While the characters of Kai and Oishi are pretty interesting and often have some excellent banter between each other, everyone else in the film is just, well, boring. The cast kind of gets lost in the meandering plot, overuse of CGI and overall mismanagement of screen time. This isn't the fault of the actors to be honest, but rather the director. It all kind of reminds me of how John Carter turned out in 2012. Sure, it was a pretty fun film, but its massively overblown budget bogged it down quite a bit.

That said about its shortcomings, the action in 47 Ronin is mostly great. The fights that involve real people and not CGI sock puppets are pretty fantastic, which is most evident with the Lovecraftian Samurai. But when 47 Ronin hits its stride after the slow first 45 minutes, it does entertain. Just be prepared to sit through an opening act that could have been condensed into some kind of a prologue.

Overall, 47 Ronin is a hugely mixed bag. While you'll enjoy the main two characters, the setting, music and overall visual aesthetic to the film, the drowning out of secondary characters, the overuse of CGI and the fact that the film drags on a bit too long might cause a headache. It ain't perfect, but once you go into it with low expectations you'll have some fun.

Blu-Ray Extras:

Deleted scenes - Four deleted scenes that while don't really add anything to the movie, are interesting for the completist minded viewer.

Re-Forging the Legend - A look at the original tale of the 47 Ronin that sought revenge for the death of their master. It contains spoilers so don't watch it first!

Steel Fury: The Fights of '47 Ronin' - A great breakdown of the stunts and coordination that went into creating the films action and fighting scenes.

Keanu & Kai - This small feature lets Reeves, the director and stunt team talk about both Keanu himself and his character, Kai. 

Myths, Magic & Monsters - From Pre-Viz to finished scene, this feature shows the viewer how the fantastical setting and creatures were design for 47 Ronin.

47 Ronin needs to sharpen its sword, but claims revenge nonetheless and gets a 3/5.

[★★★☆☆]

Denis Murphy

47 Ronin at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

Bound By Flame

In the gaming industry today, it's hard to find a relatively small developer that’s tackling the next-gen consoles and hasn't been manhandled by a large publisher. One of those developers is Spiders, a company originating from France who have created past titles such as Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper, Of Orcs and Men and the awesome Mars: War Logs. Made up of less than 50 employees, Spiders is one of those developers I love to root for. However, while some of their past games vary from great to awful, I was quite looking forward to Bound by Flame. Watching the previews videos it came across like a mash-up of The Witcher, Fable and a number of classic PC era RPG titles of yesteryear. I was intrigued, but because some of Spiders previous games were a little disappointing, I cautiously embarked on my journey into the world of Bound by Flame. Did it live up to expectations? Read on...

The story in Bound by Flame is simple, and is set within a bleak and desolate world in which an undead army has wiped out most of the population. You play as mercenary with the codename Vulcan, and are tasked with protecting a group of Mages as they try and save the world from the Ice Lords. They're the bad dudes of the game, and have turned the world into a not so friendly winter wonderland. However, after a summoning ritual goes awry, Vulcan is possessed by a flame demon. Now, with the world being held captive by the Ice Lords and the hero now magically able to utilize fire at will, he's the last line of defence between the Ice Lords and global annihilation. It's a very, almost painfully straightforward story, and one that comes across as generic and tired. In fact, it's attempts to be edgy at every turn work against it, which usually come in the form of bad language. It's like Spiders watched a few episodes of Game of Thrones, said “let's do that!”, but forgot to also add in what truly makes Game of Thrones good; complexity, interesting characters and, you know, a good story! Bound by Flame has none of that, and in terms of characters and narrative, comes across like it was written by an “edgy “15 year old.

Bound by Flame is a third person action role-playing game, and at its outset it lets the player create their character. There's a good deal of customization here, but what's more interesting is that Bound by Flame also contains a good/bad alignment aspect to it, much like Mass Effect and Fable. Through your good or bad deeds you'll physically change, and at times the game can end up being considerably varied. These options, that come through the various dialogue trees, in Bound by Flame are its most alluring aspect. Though it's not exactly Deus Ex, Bound by Flame makes a good attempt at giving the player choice.

However, the heart of Bound by Flame is in its combat, which is sadly also its worst element. Though at first the combat feels thrilling, and its array of weapon stances and in-depth skill tree options seems promising, it all goes downhill very quickly. The action is muddled, confusing and is hampered by a high number of fighting areas that are cramped and tiny. This grinds action to a standstill, which is only further harmed by how awful the player’s team members are in battle. During my time playing Bound by Flame my team members either perished within 5-10 seconds, or just got in the way completely. Needless to say, the A.I is just dreadful so combat is often infuriating to slog through. Bound by Flame's woes also extend to its horrific camera, unreliable enemy lock-on mechanic and the fact that team members can't be revived during battles. Ugh.

I had high hopes for Bound by Flame, but while it does contain an interesting alignment mechanic, at its foundation it's a mess of a game. From its generic characters and story, to its truly terrible combat, Bound by Flame is a failure on so many levels. 

Bound by Flame doesn't light up the competition and gets a 2/5.

[★★☆☆☆]

Denis Murphy

Bound By Flame at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA

CeX R-Mall Thane open now!

Aww yea today is a fantastic day, we've just opened our 19th store in the beautiful land of India. Allow us to introduce our brand spanking new CeX R-Mall Thane store. Brilliant!

Come on down to sell and exchange your unwanted phones, games, computers and gadgets, and pick up something new and shiny or just to chat with us about all the techy things you love.

Check us out for all your buy, sell, exchange and geeky needs. Find us at:

Unit G1, Ground Floor, R Mall, Ghodbandar Road, Thane, Maharashtra, 400607.

Find your nearest CeX at webuy.com/stores

Parkland

On November 22nd 1963 one of the most important moments of the 20th Century occurred. At 12.30pm, as President John F. Kennedy's motorcade slowly made its way through Dealey Plaza, Texas, two shots rang out from a bolt-action rifle. The first entered into the back of his neck, through the front and into his wrist. The second, and ultimately fatal shot, hit the side of his head. The impact was devastating. Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended and charged for the Presidents assassination, who was then himself murdered by Jack Ruby only two days later. The events surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy has been the focus on countless books, documentaries and films. From excellent books such as The Kennedy Half Century that explores the lone gunman theory, to more conspiracy centric films like Oliver Stone's J.F.K, we have been fascinated by the events of November 22nd 1963. However, there is one story that is seldom told, the story of the human struggle that immediately followed the injuries Kennedy sustained.

Directed by Peter Landesman and starring Zac Efron, Paul Giamatti and Colin Hanks and out now on Blu-Ray and DVD is Parkland, one of the more interesting J.F.K films out there. Unlike almost every other film on the subject, Parkland follows the events after J.F.K's assassination, and the last efforts to save his life. The film takes place in Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. After knowing the President is on his way in, a nurse in the hospital jokingly says, “he's probably got the flu”, completely oblivious as to what just happened in Dealey Plaza. Then the situation becomes shockingly clear. Merely in his second year as a surgical resident, Dr. Charles James Carrico is thrown into the deep end when his job is to save the life of the President of the United States of America. Though the film focuses on Carrico's efforts to save J.F.K's life and the aftermath of his eventual death, Parkland also focuses on various other characters, namely Abraham Zapruder, the man who filmed the assassination on his home-movie camera.

Parkland is above all a tale of human struggle in the midst of utter chaos, and it achieves that mood perfectly. Leading the cast here is Zac Efron of High School Musical fame, but since his days of singing his way from Math class Gym he's been choosing roles a little wiser. Though I never thought I'd say it, Efron delivers a solid and moving performance as Carrico, a young man hurled into a tremendously difficult situation and the same goes for the rest of the cast too, especially the always great Paul Giamatti. I must say, I never knew anything about Abraham Zapruder outside of the "Zapruder film", so I thoroughly enjoyed how Parkland put a spotlight on the man behind the infamous footage. These performances all come under the strict and tight direction of Landesman, who effectively weaves together multiple characters and story lines into a complex, if a little overstuffed film.

The film looks and feels utterly authentic. From the set and costume designs to the soft and touching score by James Newton Howard, Parkland is a huge success. This even extends to the accuracy of the film, and while I'm no historian on the subject, Parkland is apparently close to what actually happened on that faithful day. There's no over-the-top Hollywood embellishing here, no action scenes thrown in for good measure; Parkland is a film worthy of tackling its subject matter, a subject matter that still hurts for many Americans. 

Parkland was produced by Playtone, Tom Hanks' production company who brought us such great TV series as Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Parkland features so many characters within its short running time that many of them are incredibly underused and wasted. For instance, Jackie Earle Haley and Marcia Gay Harden play a priest and nurse respectively, but are only given brief scenes in which to chew up the scenery. It doesn't work. Much like Playtone's TV series, Parkland would have worked wonderfully as an 8 episode mini-series, with each episode focusing on certain characters within Parkland Memorial Hospital. Instead the film tries to juggle all of these great actors and characters within the space of 94 minutes.

Though Parkland should have been a mini-series rather than a film, it's still an interesting, insightful and enjoyable film in its own right. Not only will it shed light on the events at Parkland Memorial Hospital that you most likely never knew about, but you'll also come away from it with a new found respect for Zac Efron. And yes, I never knew I'd say those words either.

Parkland tells the J.F.K story you never knew and gets a 4/5.

[★★★★☆]

Denis Murphy

Parkland at CeX

Australia India Ireland UK USA