REVIEWS & PREVIEWS TV, DVDs and games to enjoy from the comfort of your sofa STAYING IN
VIDEOGAME ALIEN: ISOLATION (Sega) PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
The world of Alien has been the inspiration for multiple videogames. Most have focused on the all-out action of James Cameron’s Aliens rather than the creeping terror of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror hybrid. After the misfire of 2013’s reviled Aliens: Colonial Marines, Sega are hoping to recover with Alien: Isolation. ‘We’ve taken the series
back to the roots of Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie,’ explains Alistair Hope, creative lead at game studio Creative Assembly. ‘Our alien is a truly terrifying creature, as intelligent as he is hostile, relentless, brutal and unstoppable. This is the Alien game fans of the series have always wanted.’
Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Isolation is a first-person survival horror following Ripley’s daughter Amanda as she finds herself being stalked by a ferocious xenomorph aboard a space station, with the game aiming for fear and suspense rather than bullets and bloodshed. There’s also some unmissable bonus material available for pre-orders including the chance to play through key scenes from Scott’s masterpiece featuring voice acting from Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and Harry Dean Stanton.
‘It was important to us to have the key original cast members reprise their roles in order to perfectly capture the movie’s atmosphere,’ adds Hope. ‘For some of the cast, this is their first appearance in an Alien videogame. Seeing them reprise those roles after 35 years was an unforgettable experience.’ (Henry Northmore) ■ Alien: Isolation is released on Tue 7 Oct.
TV THE DRIVER BBC One, starts Tue 23 Sep, 9pm ●●●●● DVD BOXSET BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Universal Pictures UK) ●●●●●
It also sounds like the opening episode will start with a bang: ‘Well, he’s insane at this point,’ says Reedus of his character. ‘He’s pissed. He’s trapped. You don’t cage a wild animal like that and not get scratched, so he’s ready to kill everybody now.’
The Walking Dead is based on Robert Kirkman’s comic of the same name, and Daryl is a perfect example of how the TV show has diverged from its source material. He doesn’t exist in the original comics but has become a fan favourite and integral to the continuing narrative on television, keeping things fresh and exciting even for viewers who have read every issue.
With Rick and co captured, Beth (Emily Kinney) missing, and Tyreese (Chad L Coleman) and Carol (Melissa McBride) still on the road with baby Judith, there are plenty of questions to be answered as season i ve premieres this October. ‘I think that that’s the beauty of the scripts that we’re getting at the moment,’ says Lincoln. ‘You can push the boundaries of intensity and brutality as long as it’s offset with this humanity.’
The Walking Dead, Fox, Mon 13 Oct.
‘Even if you’re bored and miserable, be happy with your lot’ seems to be the blaring message of this three-parter. David Morrissey plays Vince, a cabbie made to feel worthless at home (by a dismissive wife and sullen daughter) and disrespected at work (if he’s not cleaning up puke, he’s being attacked and robbed). When his former best mate Colin (Ian Hart) is released from a prison stretch, Vince allows himself to get in with a bad bunch and takes on the role of freelance driver. The pay might be handsome but, naturally, things start to spin wildly out of control. The plot developments are signposted well
ahead of time during the opening episode and a half, but when Vince’s estranged son enters the picture at the same moment events lurch towards the horrific and maddeningly complicated for our hero, the drama gets a little more intriguing. Morrissey does a fine line in dour desperation with his introspective demeanour getting greyer than the Manchester clouds which encircle his world. (Brian Donaldson)
Saturday Night Live alumni Andy Samberg has found the perfect vehicle for his goofy humour in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He takes the lead as Detective Jake Peralta, the precinct’s top cop who butts heads with uptight new Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher).
Sitcoms live and die on the relationship
between characters and Brooklyn Nine-Nine features a menagerie of weird and wonderful officers: the inscrutable Holt; over-eager people-pleaser Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero); man mountain Sergeant Jeffords (Terry Crews); the permanently scowling Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) and the bumbling Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio). Only the receptionist Gina (Chelsea Peretti) takes things a step too far and lapses into irritating.
That there’s a crime to solve nearly every episode, from murder to graffiti, gives the show a solid structure. Great gags, a fantastic ensemble cast and a dynamic energy mean Brooklyn Nine-Nine strikes the perfect balance between slapstick humour and tightly scripted character comedy. (Henry Northmore)
18 Sep–16 Oct 2014 THE LIST 33