Lush Russian horror-thriller imagines alien coming to Earth
The DNA of “Alien” is all over Egor Abramenko’s directorial debut, the Russian Soviet-era horror/sci-fi film “Sputnik.”
Fortunately, this offspring of Ridley Scott’s classic is very much its own slick, engaging psychological horrorthriller, anchored by a strong lead performance by Oksana Akinshina.
Based on Abramenko’s short film “The Passenger,” the film imagines what happens after most sci-fi films end. In the “Alien” franchise, Ripley spends most of her energy making sure aliens don’t make their way to Earth. But what happens if one does? How would the Soviet superpower embroiled in a space race handle the situation if it sent two into space and came back with three?
This mystery unfolds from the perspective of Tatiana (Akinshina), a brilliant doctor interested in the field of neuropsychiatry, who has been disciplined for her extreme methods to produce results in her patients.
This catches the attention of Semiradov (Fedor Bondarchuk), a mysterious military man who needs her help with a recently returned amnesiac cosmonaut, Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), being held at a research facility in Kazakhstan. What Tatiana finds when she arrives at the facility is a charming cosmonaut, irritated at being held for tests, whose gory secret, buried under layers of bureaucracy, only comes out at night.
With her steely exterior and empathetic superpowers, Tatiana falls into the canon of sci-fi heroines such as Ripley, of course, but also Lindsey
one is left standing.
Developed by U.K. studio Mediatonic and published by Devolver, this game-show inspired action game ($19.99 on Steam, free on Playstation Plus, rated for all ages) pits up to 60 online competitors in a series of obstacle courses reminiscent of “American Ninja Warrior.” You command your customizable jelly bean-shaped character — they look a bit like the Weebles toys of the 1970s.
You parachute into the competition a la Fortnite, but when you land, it’s not all guns, it’s games such as avoiding giant rolling balls — a nod to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” — or avoiding giant whirligigs and navigating massive seesaws. Do better than the opposition and you move to the next round. It’s fun and addictive — and the easiest multiplayer game you will ever join.
‘Paper Mario: The Origami King’
There is really no such thing as a bad Mario game, and this latest Switch adventure ($59.99, all ages) featuring Nintendo’s signature icon in two-dimensional form is as charming as ever. As Mario, players must rescue Princess
Peach (yes, again) and restore her kingdom from an army of origami enemies.
“Paper Mario” features a ring-based combat system where you battle “Folded Soldiers” in an arena, using a combination of weapons like hammers to win. Players also use confetti scattered around the world to find hidden secrets and snag precious coins.
‘Ghost of Tsushima’
This epic Playstation 4 adventure ($59.99-up, ages 17 and up) from studio Sucker Punch Productions takes place in the 13th century, as you follow the story of samurai Jin Sakai as he fights to rescue his uncle from the hands of Mongol forces.
Tsushima lets players explore Jin’s island home, recruiting allies and sharpening his sword skills to liberate the island and its inhabitants from Mongols. Fighting requires patience and strategy, delivering incredible results as you master the game’s various methods of attack. Players also can choose to experience the story in various visual styles, including the blackand-white filtered “Kurosawa Mode” in honor of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
‘Grounded’
Yes, that is a spider coming along beside you in the video game “Grounded.”
This vibrant but challenging survival game for the Xbox One — also coming to the Xbox Series X — has drawn a crowd, too. One million players explored “Grounded” in the first 48 hours of its recent release.
Developer Obsidian Entertainment has put out an early access version of the game on Xbox Game Pass (free with subscription; for players 13 and up) and Steam Early Access ($29.99) to get feedback from players as a way to help work out the bugs ahead of the final version. But that’s not really going to happen because bugs are a big part of the game.
Your character wakes up having been shrunk to Antman-size in its own backyard and must explore an intricately imagined jungle-like landscape to figure out what has happened. Ants, spiders and even mites are formidable opponents for your shrunken alter ego. You can explore the game individually or with up to four players.