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Day: 20 April 2018

Photo: The Crystal Maze

Exclusive student night at The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience

Written by Tristan Parsons on . Posted in News.

As fun as it can be to spend another night in that grungy bar filling your boots with Jägerbombs, why not go alcohol free for a night (until the celebrating begins in the Maze bar afterwards) and book a trip for your group of mates to The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience for just £25?

On the 30th of May, the popular Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in Manchester is hosting a ‘student only’ night, exclusive to University students from all over the country.

With the attraction offering a whopping discount of nearly 50 percent off ticket prices, those able to present their valid photo student ID card should book a place in one of the remaining slots between 4:30pm and 9pm.

If you and your mates love a bit of Richard Ayoade and enjoy a challenge, this is the perfect night out for you.

Though, if your ideal night isn’t complete without having a cocktail, celebrate your success at the attraction’s exclusive Maze bar after the show*.

Teams of eight will be led around the maze’s four themed zones: Aztec, Medieval, Industrial, and Futuristic, by a charismatic Maze Master (tip: Befriending them early on is a wise move if you want them to impart their insider knowledge with you).

Inside each zone are different challenges: skill, physical, mental, and mystery. It’s up to your team captain to decide who takes on which challenge with the ultimate goal of winning a crystal. Each crystal won means more time with your mates in the iconic ticket dome, where the aim is to catch enough golden tickets to bag yourself a spot on the coveted leader board!

The whole experience is deliciously daft, and hilariously funny. Expect to be crawling, running and even sliding your way around the maze and to finish.

All visits must be booked in advance by visiting The Crystal Maze’s website.

*Drinking before the Crystal Maze LIVE Experience will prohibit from participation with no refunds available.

 

New BioShock game is reportedly in the works

Written by Danny Jones on . Posted in Games.

Last week, Kotaku wrote an article taking a look at the rapidly declining Hangar 13 — the studio behind 2016’s Mafia III — a piece that might have kept a fairly low-profile had it not been for the raw, juicy gaming rumours that belied its otherwise unassuming title.

Within this very thorough and extensive article, the writer, Jason Schreier, dropped the bombshell that whilst learning the exact nature of Hangar 13’s mutiny, many of those didn’t just jump ship but found a whole new bandwagon to hop on only next door, codename: “Parkside”.

During the period after Mafia III’s release, the studio underwent numerous restructurings and suffered two whole waves of redundancies after the games underwhelming scores. Many dissenters were said to have come out prior to the game’s release in fact, with many anonymous sources revealing that production was flawed and ultimately rushed to release date.

Photo: BagoGames@Flickr
Photo: BagoGames@Flickr

Throughout this period of time, however, many employees had gotten talking to the covert and small group of people working across the way. Little was given away other than the codename Parkside at first — well, that and the fact that it was clear that they were keeping their heads down and grafting hard.

Meanwhile, those still remaining at Hangar 13 after the first bout of layoffs had become increasingly frustrated at the lack of direction: they had already abandoned pre-production on Mafia IV and were now a year into building a new IP called Rhapsody. It was a project with very little clarity in its settings, its mechanics, even its concept.

The contrast between their own aimless studio and what was evidently a very focused group of individuals sparked even more intrigue, and after a while, the prying paid off and the information was leaked internally that the game this mysterious studio was working on was the next BioShock game. As you can imagine, appetites were officially whetted and more chaos ensued.

Many employees already feeling dislodged and threatened by Hangar 13’s volatile climate expressed their desire to make the switch to, clearly, a more driven studio; those within Parkside were resistant and reluctant, but sure enough, six vacancies have opened up at Hangar 13 and a number of those six are said to have pinched a spot among Project Parkside.

Christopher.Michel & BagoGames @Flickr
Christopher.Michel & BagoGames@Flickr

Kotaku deem the inside sources’ information to be accurate and given its correlation to the job openings on Hangar 13’s website, not to mention the fact that Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two who own 2K Games (and, incidentally, one of the big names that attended the recent violent video-games conference), has assured fans that BioShock is “unquestionably a permanent franchise”. It seems fair to say that this story has legs.

The real question is: where exactly will they take us? Back to Rapture? More Columbia? Or somewhere entirely new?

Photo: The Mancunion

Live Review: The Orielles

Written by Ethan Davies on . Posted in Music.

The Orielles have rocketed on to the scene this year, releasing a critically acclaimed album and embarking on a series of shows across five European countries with much anticipation and excitement. The Halifax outfit dropped by for a sold-out Gorilla on Saturday for the final gig of the tour.

Immediately clear was that Gorilla was the perfect venue choice for them; providing a venue intimate enough for the band to demonstrate their DIY-roots, yet large enough to feel like they’ve moved beyond playing small shows to less than a hundred.

Gorilla is also, in my opinion, the perfect music lover’s venue: the staff are friendly and welcoming, it’s easy to get to, and usually is engineered and rigged perfectly to suit the act playing. This might be some of the reason why The Orielles attracted such a varied audience, with everyone from ear-plug adorning 6music dads to Sixth Formers sporting Black Honey t-shirts. It made for a convivial atmosphere, which placed the emphasis of the night on the performance of the band, not the behaviour of the crowd.

Entering the stage to ‘I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)’ by Alicia Bridges, The Orielles began their set steadily with ‘Old Stuff, New Glass’ through to ‘Henry’s Pocket’, with a lo-fi, grunge-esque sound ever-present. It was interesting to observe just how the band took on the challenge of re-creating the ambitious production that defined their album, Silver Dollar Moment.

Their reverting to their unrefined roots was certainly refreshing: it allowed the band to experiment more with the live performance, whilst remaining firmly in the sound of the album. This was best exemplified by the fifth song of the evening, ‘I Only Bought It For The Bottle’. Akin to the famous Saturday Night Live sketch, The Orielles had a fever — and the only prescription was more cowbell. This extended edition of the single was met with rapturous applause from the audience, which re-energised the show.

This re-energisation was a key turning point for the gig: unfortunately, non-singing frontman Henry Carlyle’s microphone was far too quiet to be heard by many in the venue, meaning much of the wit and pleasantries were lost in the process. A similar problem hit lead singer Esmé Dee Hand-Halford, too. However, after shouts from the crowd to “turn it all up”, the engineers responded and everything was back on track. Carlyle deserves a special mention for his frontman skills, using his West Yorkshire tones to encapsulate the audience between songs, culminating in “how early are the set times tonight? It’s like fucking prinks before a heavy fucking session!”.

The newly turned up mics allowed ’48 Percent’ to be performed at its best, with Esmé Dee Hand-Halford vocals shining through as well as they do on the record. The addition of Alex on keyboards also allowed the band to experiment more as the set progressed, with ‘Liminal Spaces’ and ‘Blue Suitcase (Disco Wrist)’ coming over incredibly, and quickly erased memories of the sound issues from the first half of the set.

Having finished the main body of the set, they returned to the stage for the customary encore, and it must have been the shortest gap between set end and encore start seen at Gorilla. The Orielles capped a great night of music off by producing a special eight-minute rendition of fan favourite ‘Sugar Tastes Like Salt’, which can only be described as awe-inspiring, especially alongside the impressive light show that surpassed any I’d seen previously.

On reflection, The Orielles lived up to the hype as one of the hottest new guitar bands in Britain. Confident, charming, and immensely talented, only a mic issue stopped this from being one of my favourite gigs of all time.

7/10

Album Review: DMA’S – For Now

Written by Lucy Stockdale on . Posted in Music.

Following the release of For Now’s first single, ‘Dawning’, DMA’S’ guitarist Johnny Took told The Mancunion that the energetic, guitar-heavy track would not be setting the tone for the rest of the album.

Took wasn’t lying. Fans had better look to second single ‘In The Air’, for a better idea of what For Now has in store.

DMA’S’ second album is a far more matured and mellowed release for the Australian rock trio. Like ‘In The Air’, the majority of For Now presents an overall, more laid-back sound than first album Hills End, released in 2016.

This, however, is no criticism; ‘Health’ is a goosebump-inducing track which includes harmonies that outdo any featured on DMA’S’ older releases. For Now’s relaxed vibe does not mean the album lacks Britpop-like upbeat rhythms and soaring vocals the band are known for — ‘Lazy Love’, ‘Warsaw’ and ‘Time & Money’ are ideal tunes for those sunny summer afternoons. In particular, the simplicity of ‘Tape Deck Sick’, with a non-invasive guitar and drums backing O’Dell’s crisp vocals, shows that DMA’S do not have to rely upon the popular, lairier sounds which more prominently featured on Hills End.

Even with a chill vibe, For Now certainly does not lack magnificence. ‘Do I Need You Now?’ and the album’s stunning closing track, ‘Emily Whyte’, are the album’s most impressive tracks, both presenting a very grand sound. Particularly Emily Whyte’s breathtaking guitar solos.

With more emphasis having seemingly been placed on the album’s production this time around, with the band having drafted in The Presets’ Kim Moyes to assist, it is evident the hard work has paid off. Even tracks which fans will find a more familiar to DMA’S’ celebrated, rowdier material – ‘Break Me’ and third single, ‘For Now’ – manage to show the band’s progression through this more developed production. This is unsurprising, as Took had claimed the band had planned to move forward with their style.

Proving that DMA’S a more than just your average indie rock band that repetitively produce the same sounds, For Now, is a triumph. If those really are bongos I am hearing on ‘The End’, each track truly builds upon the band’s older approaches. In moments beautifully simplistic, whilst in others triumphantly monumental, For Now, is sure to be a hit for fans and new listeners alike.

8/10

For Now is released 27th April, with singles ‘Dawning’, ‘In The Air’ and ‘For Now’ available now. Catch the boys this April and May on their tour, stopping at numerous cities in the UK.