Author: Bonzai

Unreal Tournament 3 Beta Demo

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The UT3 beta demo is something of a mixed bag. It gives you everything you would expect from the old UT games with the closed in environments and a few larger ones. The game play feels more like UT 1 than the yearly update versions with its quick pace but the demo does feel like its cut in two. The larger maps feel like they have had parts of the HUD taken from other games, messed about with and then ruined. The smaller non vehicle game areas are much better and faster paced giving exactly what you would expect.

The beta demo has a usual file size for this kind of game but the interesting thing is when trying to connect to servers there are a lot of phantom ones listed. This means most likely you will end up playing against the AI and its one of those cases where the AI seems to know exactly where everything is and has a single purpose of targeting just you and ignoring your team mates on the vehicle map.

Is the beta demo worth trying? Yes. If you like the quick Quake style multiplayer then the demo will keep you busy. If you approach your FPS’ more like a strategy player, slow and calculated then this will not be too your liking.

Remember, this should not be considered a review of the full game just an opinion on the PC beta demo.

Call of Duty 4 Demo

Call of Duty 4 Demo 

Call of Duty 4 is something of an odd game. While it has the gloss a modern game the mechanics are the same as they were in the very first title. As the demo goes it can be narrowed down to a few very simple conclusions.

 The main issue is an infinite amount of enemy spawns. A constant line of more and more keep on coming until you decide to push through and that’s when suddenly you have taken them all out. Its a serious flaw and ruins the enjoyment. The other matter is the demo length. It does allow you about 10-15 minutes of play but unless you have a good amount of bandwidth its not really worth downloading the large file and there is very little replay value.

 Is the demo worth trying? In short, yes. If you are looking for a first person shooter giving the usual WWII shooter style but against a modern backdrop its for you. If on the other side you are after something new its not what you are looking for.

Remember, this should not be considered a review of the full game just an opinion on the PC demo.

Trailers for consideration

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With the summer blockbuster season over the studios have now started releasing trailers quietly for their next releases. Even though November is just around the corner some films are just having the trailer release now

While we cannot know if the films will be great or just plain rubbish until they come out below are some of the big and small movies and ones to watch until March 08. Since everyone and his dog should have seen the great Iron Man trailer that has been left out this time.

We have every trailer except for Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead in The Pipeline below.Click here to watch Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’s trailer.

Jumper – Aliens vs. Predator:2 – Be Kind Rewind – I am Legend – Southland Tales

Add The Pipeline: Entertainment Within a Box to your page

Simon Pegg is Scotty in Star Trek XI

Simon Pegg

It is now official. After months of speculation about who would play the role of the Scotsman it has been announced that comedian Simon Pegg is to take the role.

Pegg is famous for his projects in the United Kingdom including the movies Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. He is also known for the Channel 4 comedy series Spaced. Casting Pegg in Star Trek is a courageous move by J.J. Abrams as the fan favorite for the role was Stargate Atlantis’ own fake Scottish accent actor Paul McGillion who played Dr. Carson Beckett in the show.

The worrying aspect about this particular bit of casting comes from two fronts.

1) Could they be casting actors now who are more bankable due to negative remarks about the previously cast unknown actors?

2) Could J.J. Abrams decision to cast Simon Pegg not be based on his fitting the role but due to the Director/Producer’s own personal emotions on Pegg?

The reason the second question has come up is because of his previous decisions to cast actors he has worked with before instead of new faces. A few examples are below.

Mentioned he had wanted to work with Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg publicly due to liking their comedy. Simon Pegg was then brought in to play a role in Mission Impossible 3 after Gervais dropped out and now he is in Star Trek. J.J. Abrams also used actors from Alias in Lost such as the airplane’s pilot in the Lost pilot episode.

It could be he has a good eye for talent or there could be another reason. Speculation aside it is safe to say that he knows more about Simon Pegg’s abilities than us as he has seen Pegg’s Scotty casting audition and we have not.

Let’s hope it all goes well and a good movie is made for the fans of the original series.

Eric Bana joins Star Trek XI

Eric Bana

As the search continues to find the cast for Star Trek XI the newest casting announcement is that Eric Bana (The Hulk, Munich) is set to play the villain Nero.

Set for a November start date the studio still needs to cast a young James T. Kirk and Scotty for the J.J. Abrams (Lost) directed project.

While adding the first bankable big name actor to the roster will work in Paramount’s favor as far as box office numbers are concerned we will have to wait until the films release on Christmas Day 2008 to see if Bana is a right fit for the Star Trek universe.

Bana joins the already announced cast members Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) and Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek: TOS).