Tag Archives: Review

Torchwood Spoiler-free Preview – Miracle Day 4, ‘Escape to LA’

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Caleb Woodbridge previews ‘Escape to LA’, the fourth episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day. The Torchwood team arrive in Los Angeles, but there’s no time for sun and surf…

Torchwood: Miracle Day continues to build steadily in ‘Escape to LA’, as the world tries come to terms with what to do with the undying sick and injured. Gwen’s not the only member of the Torchwood team attempting to protect their family, and in each case, it brings unhappy consequences.

Arriving in Los Angeles, the Torchwood team take the fight to PhiCorp, but a trap is closing around them. Meanwhile, Tea Party politician Ellis Hartley Monroe is stirring up the masses with the slogan “Dead is Dead”, and stealing Oswald Dane’s limelight while she’s at it…

Oswald Dane’s self-preserving self-promotion reaches new heights, or depths. Although he’s one of the most interesting characters, I find the role he takes on at the end of episode 3 as unofficial spokesman for PhiCorp to be rather unbelievable. Even if he was able to win some measure of sympathy on Twitter, a convicted child rapist and murderer who’s escaped justice would still be a massively hated and controversial figure. His trajectory in this episode is no more credible, though his interplay with Jilly Kitzinger in this episode is entertaining.

Dr Vera faces the medical emergency and ethical questions. “The Western world has always hidden its unwanted”, one character observes with the clunkety-clunk of unsubtle social commentary in one scene. It’s good to see some of the larger patterns and theme of the series beginning to emerge more clearly.

There’s also a building sense of foreboding as the extent of PhiCorp’s plans begins to be revealed. A generous dash of action and humour go a long way once more to keeping the whole show watchable amid its many improbabilities. Watch out for Gwen’s attempt at an American accent!

So far Miracle Day has never been less than entertaining, but has yet to fully deliver on the promise of its premise. Four episodes in, the show really needs to be hitting its stride, but it still feels stuck in third gear. It continues to dangle the promise of greater things to come in front of the viewer. I’m intrigued by the Miracle Day concept, and the irreverence of the show keeps me watching, but it has yet to wow me.

Video Games Review – ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’

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Ready for a blast from the past? As SEGA’s champion celebrates his 20th birthday, video games industry insider Christopher Bell looks back to the game that started it all and wonders if Sonic can ever regain his winning streak. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

June 23rd, 1991.  After an in-house contest to design a new mascot, SEGA finally had something that could give Mario a run (pun intended) for his money.  Poor old Alex Kidd was given his marching orders and replaced by an impatient, sapphire speed demon by the name of Sonic.  Although SEGA eventually lost the console war against Nintendo’s SNES, the once chasm-sized difference in market share narrowed to a spine’s breadth.  At one point, he was as popular as Mickey Mouse, with a huge range of merchandise (books, ring binders, plush dolls and even ketchup!), a Macy’s Day balloon and a gene (one that controls the development of your digits and organisation of your brain) to his name.

Now, 20 years later and on the verge of a Star Trek-esque anniversary reboot; Sonic the Hedgehog, this is your life…

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Torchwood Review – Miracle Day 2, ‘Rendition’

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James Willetts wonders why the latest episode of Torchwood wasn’t as much fun as Iron Man or dinosaurs.
If you missed our commentary for ‘Rendition‘, find it here! 

There are two huge problems with the second episode of Miracle Day which derail an engaging and enjoyable story.

Unfortunately there are two parts of the episode which ring so false that all sense of logic, excitement and larger storyline are utterly lost. The first is the softening of the public’s attitude towards Oswald Danes, and the second is the creation of an anti-toxin to cure arsenic poisoning from the everyday contents of an aeroplane.

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Game of Thrones Review – 1.06: ‘A Golden Crown’

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HBO’s headline fantasy series is gathering pace and our reviewer, Kieran Mathers, is enjoying the ride… As always, some mild spoilers lie ahead. If you’re new to the world of Westeros, be sure to check out our primer.

Gosh. When you don’t think it can get any better, this show manages to up the bar once more. There is so much good to talk about in this episode that I’m going to get the bad out of the way first so we can enjoy what was yet another spectacular episode.

I probably should have mentioned this last week, but I hate what they’ve done with the Eyrie. It is the first major visual misstep (barring plaster) that the show has made. In the books, the Eyrie sits atop a mountain spur, higher almost than the clouds, an impregnable fortress with an incredibly treacherous path leading up to it. It could have looked absolutely amazing, with stunning views from the top – a smaller Minas Tirith of the mountains.

What we get instead is something that looks more like the Dome of the Rock – a temple rather than a castle. For some reason it also appeared to have taken over a small hilltop instead of a high mountain crag.

I think I can understand why the show’s designers decided to do it that way, thinking perhaps that each area has to be visually distinct. But to fall into the trap of thinking that the Eyrie should not have stone walls and battlements because the other castles we have seen also possess those is akin to saying a dog is a cat as both have fur.

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Video Games Review – ‘Dungeon Siege 3’

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Our video games coverage continues as Olivia Cottrell assesses the newly rebooted RPG series. If you missed it, be sure to check out her podcast discussion with Caleb on sci-fi and fantasy in video games!

Coming to legacy games late is always something of a tricky proposition. You don’t get the in-jokes, the lore can be boring without a vested interest, and without a strong dose of nostalgia to temper the game’s flaws, the experience can often leave you wondering what exactly got the game’s fans so excited in the first place. So it is with Dungeon Siege 3, the latest offering from Obsidian Entertainment.

Promoted as a reboot of the Dungeon Siege franchise, Dungeon Siege 3 is set many years after the ending of the second game (released in 2006). The land of Ehb is in peril again and the player, taking on the role of one of four descendants of the Tenth Legion (a kind of medieval Torchwood), has to stop it. Along the way they have to deal with the usual waves of bandits, ghosts and witches alongside some less conventional foes. My particular favourites were the four-armed giant blue naked women who peeped over the edge of the scenery before they clambered up to fight you. This kind of interesting enemy design and variation allowed for some fun tactical gameplay and encouraged me to experiment with the different skills of my character, complementing the solid combat system.

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Torchwood Review – Miracle Day 1, ‘The New World’

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James Willetts aims his bazooka of truth at the low flying helicopter that is Torchwood: Miracle Day. 

Ever since RTD launched Torchwood as a spin off for Captain Jack in an attempt to make a more adult science fiction show, the programme has struggled to find a format that works. ‘Miracle Day’ is the latest attempt to keep Torchwood relevant, coming after two largely ignored seasons of varying quality, and a miniseries that was a critical success.

Following the idea of ‘Children of Earth’, a single storyline over a shorter amount of time, T:MD is a chance to prove that the achievements of the previous itineration have not been lost. More crucially, it’s a chance to prove that serious science fiction (or at least adult science fiction) can work. Since the last Torchwood there have been few attempts to launch big budget science fiction series other than the execrable Outcasts, and there seems to be no sign that the success of the last miniseries has sparked a surge in the desire for further science fiction output. Even as Doctor Who continues to hold strong (or lose ground, or plummet towards inevitable disaster, depending on who you listen to) other franchises have found it difficult to gain a foothold.

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