OK, we know it’s only February, but we’re already predicting that Dante’s Inferno is going to be one of the games of 2010. This uber-violent hack ‘n’ slash epic is one of the most addictive titles we’ve set thumbs on in months, and after Assassin’s Creed 2, Dragon Age Origins and Modern Warfare 2, that’s…

If, like State, you grew up on a diet of boys’ comics like Warlord, Victor and Commando, then The Saboteur is the game for you. EA’s latest free-roaming action adventure combines two of State’s favourite things: shooting Nazis and driving real fast. Seriously, set in WWII-era Paris, this game looks incredible, has some fairly impressive…

It’s impossible to review Fionn Regan’s second long-player without reference to the not-so-benevolent godfather of folk rock: the spectre of Bob Dylan looms so large over The Shadow Of An Empire¸ he should be given a co-production credit. This is not the Dylan who crooned metaphysical about life’s big questions blowin’ in the wind, however:…

On first listen, Erland And The Carnival exude the kind of quintessentially English folksiness that could have a sizable bunch of listeners reaching for the off switch. Certainly, the first few bars of album opener ‘Love Is A Killing Thing’ suggest pastoral idylls and village fairs, but it soon becomes far more Wicker Man than…

Army Of Two’s main protagonists look like they could be the genetically modified steroid-pumped clones of Sly Stallone and Arnie Schwarzenegger, until they put on their specially created masks (more of which later). Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem, veterans of the passable first Army Of Two title, are on a mission in Shanghai when the…

Ivan St John’s Xmas Party takes place Upstairs at Whelans on Monday, December 21, and everyone who attends will receive a bright, shiny copy of Ivan’s debut single, ‘There You Stand’.
“It’s going to radio in the new year so unless you work in that field, this is your only chance to get one of…

Dublin act Elves Of Heaven have had a Christmas track included on Filter Magazine’s Winter 2010 Landmark Music compilation download. See here. Elves Of Heaven, the brainchild of Dublin musician/producer Martin Clancy, are in illustrious company on the sampler, joining acts like Florence And The Machine, Air, Tom Waits and Noah And The Whale.
The…

The galaxy’s most unusual superheroes are back in another frantic adventure, traversing solar systems in a bid to thwart the maniacal Dr Nefarious from gaining control of time itself, which is controlled by the Great Clock, located in the dead centre of the universe, give or take 50 feet.
Anyone who has spent even a…

This debut album from Kildare’s Band On An Island has been many years in the making. Championed by our own Niall Byrne as far back as 2006, the Newbridge-based six-piece have been ploughing what must have seemed a lonely furrow for so long. The fact remains that their kind of poetic rock was probably more…

The bad news for anyone who completed last year’s original Assassin’s Creed title is that the brooding hero of that game, Altair, is not the star of the sequel. The good news, however, is that even if you loved the original, which State did, the follow-up improves on it in practically every way.
While we…

Taking its cue from the likes of Guitar Hero and the obviously named Rock Band, Lego Rock Band does pretty much what you’d expect: puts you behind the mic, drums, bass or guitar in a brand spanking new, plastic (oh no) band and lets you warble, strum, wallop and bang your way to virtual superstardom.…

Let It Beep is an interesting title for Tennessee quintet Royal Bangs’ sophomore effort, but it only tells part of the story. A much more explanatory moniker would’ve been Let It Beep, Bang, Crash, Bounce…. and Rock. Coming across like a younger, more focused Flaming Lips (particularly on the evidence of this year’s Embryonic), they…

Courting controversy seems par for the course with Call Of Duty’s Modern Warfare franchise, such is the realism of the violence on display, but the developers at Activision and Infinity Ward have outdone themselves this time, with this game making headlines all over the globe, including spots on most of our country’s top talk-shows, reigniting…

Like a throwback to the early days of Hawkwind, Jethro Tull and other quintessentially British musical absurdists (even mythical speed metallers Sabbat), The Witch And The Robot deal in decidedly weird folk/prog fare (or should that be fayre), with enough quasi-mystical lyrics to embarrass a sci-fi convention. That said, it seems this particular bunch of…