STAYING IN
STAYING IN REVIEWS DVDs, TV and videogames to enjoy from the comfort of your sofa
DVD BOXSET UTOPIA (4DVD) ●●●●●
‘What do I have to do to convince you people I’m on your fucking side?’ For anyone who has yet to see the finale of Utopia, it would be unfair to reveal the identity of the person who utters those words, but it does nutshell the last episode’s winding intrigue. It would be negligence bordering on the criminal were there not to be stoppage-time twists and turns in a modern-day conspiracy thriller such as Utopia, but the character revelations only serve to highlight a weaker second half to a drama that kicked off in a blaze of truly icky glory. In melding bits of the hottest US mystery TV dramas of recent times (there’s a hint of 24 in our
inability to fully trust anyone at all while the somewhat arch comic bookness recalls Heroes), writer Dennis Kelly and a directorial team including Marc Munden have delivered something peculiarly British. Its collection of banal demons and sarcastic truth-seekers couldn’t really exist anywhere else as the hunt for meaning within a graphic novel manuscript gets very dirty indeed. Paul Higgins is superb as the constantly conflicted civil servant and James Fox is sinister upper- crustness personified, while Fiona O’Shaughnessy makes for an excellent emotionless assassin. And a big thumbs-up to the design team, who have explored every possible green and yellow in their palette to instil a sense of ill-conceived optimism into the viewer as the action plunges headlong towards its dark and desperate dénouement. (Brian Donaldson)
VIDEOGAME ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES (Sega) PC/PS3/Xbox 360 ●●●●● TV DEXTER (SEASON 7) Fox, Sun 24 Feb, 9pm ●●●●●
Billed as a direct sequel to James Cameron’s seminal 1986 film Aliens, Gearbox’s much anticipated project finally bursts from the chest of development hell after a turbulent gestation period (originally scheduled for release in 2008). You’re one of a squad of marines sent to investigate what went wrong aboard the USS Sulaco, 17 weeks after events in the movie. Much has been made of the game’s attention
to detail, replicating locations from the original film. But this slavish adherence to the source material is scant compensation for the appalling last-generation environment and character work. 2010’s Aliens vs Predator was a crushing disappointment but at least it ran smoothly on a competent game engine. This bug-ridden effort is somehow worse on every level. The endless corridors are repetitive and bland, and – crucially – the aliens aren’t scary at all. Far from the ‘perfect organism’, they don’t even possess the wherewithal to navigate chairs.
The multiplayer is more fun but this is a seriously cack-handed effort with too much focus on homage and not enough effort on gameplay, plot or polish. (Murray Robertson)
Caught very red-handed at the end of series six while plunging a sacrificial blade into the belly of the Doomsday Killer, serial murderer with a heart Dexter Morgan has a fair bit of explaining to do. The fact that the eye witness to this shocking crime is Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), his adopted sister and rising star in the Miami police department, makes that explanation somewhat awkward. Throw in the nugget that she might be repressing some distinctly un-sibling feelings towards this blood spatter pattern analyst and this has all the makings of a very complicated seventh season. Despite his extra problems, Dexter (the
imperious Michael C Hall) barely breaks stride by exacting mortal vengeance on a cop and prostitute-killing member of the Ukraine mafia while the philosophising voiceovers and explanatory flashbacks continue to piece together Deb and Dex’s difficult upbringing. If you’ve stuck with Dexter from the early glory days of the Ice Truck Killer, there’s probably no reason to stop now. Much like our anti-hero himself. (Brian Donaldson)
21 Feb–21 Mar 2013 THE LIST 31
‘They wanted to restart and take Lara in new directions’
level design and the story is put in later. How much later depends on how much narrative is valued in the project. So you are always fighting for space to tell the story and try to utilise everything from the mechanics to the level design to the art to tell that story.’ ‘For example if you look at the animations in Tomb Raider, the way she runs and her posture, she’s clearly nervous and uncertain and that posture changes as she gets more confident throughout the game, so everything can contribute to the narrative.’
Writing for the medium also throws up some distinct challenges. ‘The player is what makes gaming unique, the player is shaping the game world around them,’ points out Pratchett. Writers have to build in a level of flexibility, so individual gamers will still understand the main story whatever their play style. ‘For players who want to rocket through you have one layer of narrative; if you want to explore a little bit you’ve got to be another layer with more bits of the story, more documents and letters to pick up, and if you are one of those completist players who want to go into every corner you have even more narrative rewards to discover.’
Tomb Raider (Square Enix), PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 is released on Tue 5 Mar.