Take IGN On In A Real-Life Medal Of Honor Warfighter Firefight

This is probably the most ridiculously awesome community event we're ever likely to host here at IGN in the UK, so hold tight soldier whilst we give you the sit-rep.

On October 17th, we're hosting a day-long Medal Of Honor Warfighter event with EA and our partner site AskMen and we need a fireteam of four IGN readers to take part. If you're selected, we'll be taking you and three of your mates deep into the British countryside to take part in a four-way Airsoft firefight against a team of AskMen readers, a team of IGN and AskMen editors and a team of former special forces soldiers! You can read about Airsoft here.

You'll be given special training to give you the fighting edge before heading back to Central London to carry on the battle in Medal of Honor Warfighter multiplayer. After all that shooty shooty bang bang action we'll then take you down to the pub to battle it out once more for ultimate glory in a special Medal of Honor pub quiz, with some cool Warfighter prizes up for grabs.

HOW TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

To be in with a chance of getting involved in this crazy event you (and your three friends) need to be available from 8am on October 17 until around 10:30pm that night. You need to be able to get yourself to a Central London location (TBC) by 8am on the day and you need to be up for the physical challenge as we expect the day to be quite active. Please ensure you read the terms and conditions on the next page which lay out the health and safety restrictions for the day.

To be in with a chance of taking part simply email UKcomps@IGN.com and tell us your fire-team's code name and why your team should be taken in 25 words or less.

Send your full name, contact number and date of birth with the subject line Warfighter IGN before 1pm on Wednesday October 10 when we'll pick our favourite entry to come along.

This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only with full terms and conditions on the next page.

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Afghan inside attack kills 2 Americans, 2 Afghans, marking 2,000 US troop deaths

An Afghan soldier turned his gun on American troops at a checkpoint in the country's east, killing two Americans and at least two fellow members of Afghanistan's army in a shooting that marked both the continuance of a disturbing trend of insider attacks and the 2,000th U.S. troop death in the long-running war, officials said Sunday.

The string of insider attacks is one of the greatest threats to NATO's mission in the country, endangering a partnership key to training up Afghan security forces and withdrawing international troops.

Saturday's shooting took place at an Afghan army checkpoint just outside a joint U.S.-Afghan base in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman.

"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Shahid said. He said investigators had been sent to the site to try to figure out what happened.

An Afghan official speaking on condition of anonymity said three Afghan soldiers were killed in the clash. It was not clear if the assailant was among the dead.

The attack happened about 5 p.m. in Sayd Abad district, Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said in an emailed statement. He did not provide further details, saying he would wait for a report from investigators.

NATO forces announced the assault early Sunday morning, saying only that it was "suspected insider attack" and that a NATO service member and civilian contractor were killed.

One U.S. official confirmed that the service member killed was American, while another confirmed that the civilian was also American. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the nationality of the dead had not yet been formally announced.

Afghan soldiers and policemen -- or militants in their uniforms -- have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners. An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.

The attacks are taking a toll on the partnership between international and Afghan forces, prompting the U.S. military to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.

The close contact -- with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers -- is a key part of the U.S. strategy for preparing the Afghans to take the lead in security operations as the U.S. and other nations prepare to pull out their last combat troops at the end of 2014, just 27 months away.

The number of American military dead reflects an Associated Press count of those members of the armed services killed inside Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2001.

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The Revenant DVD Review

The Revenant opens with a young soldier, Bart Gregory (David Anders, Once Upon a Time), getting killed in the line of duty. One month later, shortly after being buried, he awakens as a mysterious vampire/zombie hybrid. It's not long before Bart realizes that, in order to stay alive, he must drink human blood. With the help of his old friend, Joey (Chris Wylde, Joe Dirt), Bart becomes a sort of nighttime vigilante, offing thugs and other bad guys in order to quench his undying thirst.

Despite being built around a few worn out genre cliches, The Revenant actually manages to offer quite a bit of slick originality and character. The film moves at a somewhat lax pace, allowing audiences to get to know our two leads, who often walk the line between being completely morally corrupt and often goofy and likable. And the picture injects just enough offbeat humor to keep things light and amusing, even when the film is treading dark territory. There's also a brooding undercurrent of tragic drama that perfectly complements the film's moody tone.

Much of this is thanks to writer/director Kerry Prior's sharp script which keeps you on your toes, dodging the more obvious story routes and rarely taking the easy way out. That said, the film does get a little too dark toward the finale. It also drags just a bit, especially after one particular twist involving Joey.

The film's principal leads (Anders and Wylde) also inject quite a bit of lively humor, emotion and realism into the characters. Their chemistry together drives the picture, often playing a lot like a warped variation of Bonnie & Clyde, by way of The Boondock Saints, An American Werewolf in London and Return of the Living Dead Part III (the one where the guy resurrects his dead girlfriend).

The film also adds a sly dash of social commentary, a bit of playfully nasty gore, plenty of brutal mayhem and surprisingly decent effects. While some might not have a taste for the twists and turns The Revenant makes, the ride is quite fascinating, fun, a little tragic and almost always refreshing.

The Revenant finally comes to DVD in the U.S. courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, mixed in 5.1 Dolby Digital. Sadly, Lionsgate opted against a Blu-ray release.

To say that the transfer is awful really doesn't put into words how genuinely shoddy it is. Right off the bat the image shows signs of heavy ghosting on text, snow and noise during low light scenes and a genuinely distracting amount of artifacting. And it doesn't get better from there. Depth is virtually nonexistent, as are textures and details. And color is a mess of flat, ugly browns and muted yellows. In fact, the transfer is so bad that it very nearly ruins the impact of the whole movie! It almost looks like a bootleg.

I'd point the finger at the low-budget production, but The Revenant was shot on Red One cameras, a traditionally very reliable shooting medium. Unfortunately, despite a few other regions getting a Blu-ray, The Revenant isn't getting a U.S. Blu-ray release anytime soon. Perhaps the HD streaming release is the way to go with this one, because the DVD transfer is certainly not praise-worthy in the slightest.

Audio, thankfully, is quite a bit better. Surrounds are fairly aggressive, giving life to virtually every scene. Dialogue sounds good, with no crackles or distortions, though there is quite a bit of hiss at times and also some echo in certain scenes. Bass is also a little subdued, but does chime in to punctuate a few key moments. The transfer might be nearly unwatchable, but at least the film sounds decent.

Extras consist of two commentary tracks (one from director Kerry Prior, the other from the cast), a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, a photo gallery and trailers. The commentaries are quite fun and informative. If you like party tracks, stick with the cast track. But the more rounded of the two is easily the director track. The candid 13-minute featurette is also well made and interesting and the 13 minutes of deleted scenes are well worth watching.

The Verdict

The Revenant is a clever, refreshing and fun horror-comedy destined for cult status. If only the transfer weren't one of the worst of the year. Seek this one out, but try to track down a high-def copy.

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Winter Soldier #11 Review

Some how, each issue of Winter Soldier gets better and better. This is consistently one of Marvel's best books. No contest. It showcases everything that made Ed Brubaker's run with the Captain America universe so fantastic. The only problem with this series is that every month, we get a little bit closer to its end and a little bit closer to Brubaker's departure from the world of Marvel. That's actually more than a problem, that's downright depressing.

In this issue, Bucky joins forces with Hawkeye (and his ridiculous sunglasses) to hunt down the brainwashed Black Widow. There's some detective work, a few twists and turns, and a brief throw down with AIM. The dialogue is great; the story is dark and compelling. The mystery just keeps growing. It's typical Brubaker and typical Brubaker is a very, very good thing.

Butch Guice does his usual magic with his pencil work. There's a dark, muddy quality to the book, like this is corner of the Marvel Universe where few superheroes would dare to tread. The killer look of this issue is enhance by the awesome talent of Bettie Breitweiser. Her color art is seriously mind blowing. The reds and oranges look like fire, burning up the darkness on every page. And yet, the book still feels dark, like it's drenched in shadows. Everything about the Winter Soldier is brilliant. This series is so freaking good, it'll make you weep.

Benjamin Bailey is an anagram for Awesome McStudly. Seriously, if you squint, it works. Maybe not. What's an anagram?  Follow Benjamin on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

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Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning Trailer Debut

Yesterday, IGN revealed the official poster for John Hyams' Universal Soldier sequel, Day of Reckoning. Today the film's trailer has officially dropped, promising plenty of ass kicking, this time with Scott Adkins (Undisputed III and The Expendables 2) added to the fray.

Here's a synopsis of the fourth official entry in the franchise (sixth, if you count the terrible Showtime TV movies), "Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski and Dolph Lundgren star in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, which ups the ante in the Universal Soldier series, giving you more hard-hitting, bloody, no-holds-barred fighting action.

John (Adkins, The Expendables 2) wakes up from a coma to discover his wife and daughter were slaughtered in a brutal home invasion. Haunted by images of the attack, he vows to kill the man responsible, Luc Deveraux (Van Damme). While John tries to piece his reality back together, things get more complicated when he is pursued by a relentless UniSol (Arlovski). As John gets closer to Deveraux and the rouge army of genetically enhanced warriors led by back-from-the-dead leader Andrew Scott (Lundgren), John discovers more about himself and begins to call into question everything he believed to be true."

Looks like Dolph Lundgren is back to ham things up and add a dose of awesome. It also looks like Adkins is the primary star, with Jean-Claude Van Damme taking a smaller supporting role. As always, we'll see.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is being released by Magnolia Pictures, and will hit theaters November 30, 2012. It will also debut on On Demand and on iTunes October 30.

"Professor of archeology, expert on the occult, and how does one say it? Obtainer of rare antiquities." Become a friend of R.L. Shaffer on Twitter, Facebook or MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and more!

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Chris Evans on Captain America 2 Start Date

Actor Chris Evans was asked about the status of Captain America: The Winter Soldier while doing press at this week's Toronto International Film Festival.

Collider's Steve Weintraub tweets that Evans informed him that the Cap sequel starts filming March 2013.

The Russo brothers are directing Cap 2 from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. In addition to Evans reprising his role as Steve Rogers, the cast includes Sebastian Stan back as Bucky, aka the titular Winter Soldier, and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, aka Falcon.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens April 4, 2014.

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