Geek Culture Reviews

Two Blades, One Beautifully Brutal Journey Through Feudal Japan… Assassin’s Creed: Shadow s delivers the long-awaited leap into feudal Japan with style, power, and purpose. By introducing two protagonists—each with distinct abilities and perspectives—Ubisoft has managed to reinvigorate the stealth-action loop that has defined the series since 2007. It’s a beautiful and brutal open-world adventure, even if some old problems still linger in the shadows. Since Odyssey , Ubisoft have allowed us our pick of a duel protagonist. Odyssey featured our pick of either Kassandra or Alexios, while Valhalla gave us our pick of a male or female Eivor. With Shadows , Ubisoft mixes this up with the decision to introduce dual protagonists with gameplay periodically switching between the two. Naoe, the shinobi assassin, is a master of the shadows (pun intended). She’s agile, silent, and terrifyingly efficient. Her missions are classic Assassin’s Creed fare—slip past guards unseen, scale impossibly tall...

In the long shadow of comic book adaptations, Dredd stands as a lean, gritty, and faithful tribute to one of the most iconic antiheroes in comic history: Judge Dredd. Far removed from the neon kitsch and narrative misfires of the 1995 Judge Dredd film starring Sylvester Stallone, Dredd is a stripped-down, brutal, and grounded take on the lawman of Mega-City One. But more than just a hard-edged action flick, Dredd is deeply embedded in the lore and philosophy of the original 2000 AD comic series. Dredd is a film that doesn’t just adapt the character it’s portraying —it understands him. The being that would become synonymous with the faceless reality of justice first appeared within 2000 AD issue #2 back in 1977, and was the brainchild of writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra . Conceived during a time of political unrest and growing authoritarianism, Judge Joseph Dredd was a dark satire of fascism wrapped in the skin of a futuristic law enforcer. Set within Mega-City One, ...

A Mission Through Time… As the penultimate chapter in what has become one of my favorite Marvel outings of recent years, Cable: Love & Chrome #4 isn’t just good—it’s devastatingly great. With David Pepose on writing duties and Mike Henderson delivering hard-hitting visuals, this issue stands as the most character-driven and heart-wrenching entry in the mini-series yet.  So grab them hankies, it’s time to get emotional!  Due to the storyline of this issue I will be attempting to refrain from any major spoilers. Please read with caution as some minor plot points may be spoilt . The fourth issue finds Cable grappling with a personal and tactical crisis. Avery Ryder—the fierce and determined leader of the Resistance and a key ally (and possible romantic interest)—has been infected with the Techno-Organic virus. This development pushes Cable into a desperate, time-bending mission to save her, forcing him to confront the paradoxes and pitfalls of changing fate. But while Cable...

Will you start the fans please?!... Back in the early 90's Channel 4 nailed the teatime television slot with the gameshow, The Crystal Maze. Developed by French game show developer Jacques Antoine, The Crystal Maze tasked a team of contestants to perform a range of challenges in an attempt to build enough time to then crack the final challenge - the Crystal Dome.  Set within a fictional Maze - that was actually a purpose built set within a disused aircraft hanger - the contestants would travel across various locations based upon humanities past and future. Guided by the enigmatic Richard O'brien (later to be replaced by Edward Tudor-Pole, and more recently Richard Ayoade) the contestants would take part in a series of challenges with the hope of collecting a Swarovski crystal (dubbed 'Time Crystal') that granted them 5-seconds within the final challenge. To make things more challenging these tasks were very easy to fail. Either by running out of time, or by ...

A Psychedelic Dive Into Memory, Myth, and Media… In its long and storied history, Doctor Who has rarely shied away from experimentation, but Lux pushes the boundaries of the show’s format in a way that is both dazzling and deeply emotional. Directed by Amanda Brotchie and penned by Russell T Davies, this episode fuses classic animation, drama, and meta-narrative into a surreal episode of quintessential sci-fi. Lux begins with the Doctor ( Ncuti Gatwa ) and Belinda Chandra ( Varada Sethu ), arriving in 1952 Miami. Soon the pair are drawn by the strange energy readings that surround the locked-down Palazzo Cinema. Within moments, the setting turns sinister as the Doctor discovers that the deserted theatre holds a dark secret, fifteen people have vanished without explanation, and the projector seems to run all by itself. Before long, the Doctor and Belinda are pulled—literally—into the film reel, transformed into cartoon versions of themselves and thrust in to the lushly animated landsc...