Gears of War 2 – Review

Having not really being a fan of the first game at all I dont know what made me pick up this game. Maybe its just that I wanted a cheap game to entertain me for a while. Anyway continuing the story from the first game you once again group up with your squad mates in the quest for kill locust. I havent played this game on Multiplayer so I shall be solely talking about the single player mode.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this game although the story line is not really strong and in depth and the characters do seem to be slight caricatures of the whole military thing with big mussels and ultra massculinesness there is something fun about them, when suddenly you see the Cole train rushing in with a massive gun. so there is a sense of familiarness with these characters that does from time to time brings a smile to my face. There is a vast array of weapons for you to choose and specialise in for however you feel you play best, I personally like having the sniper riffle And you are given these options through out the game it never feels like you are forced to use only a shotgun etc.

I did find the game play in this game to be great and like I have said with other games of similar style I much prefer being in a team group enviroment rather than being sent out all by my self. Also I enjoyed the improvements it made from the previous games it seemed to reduce the amount of times you would have to do very poor puzzle aspects such as staying in the lights, Also it felt that there was a reduction in ” boss battles” which I found helped improve the flow of the game.

The few negative points that I would say about this game is that I did find it slightly to easy ( playing on normal mode) and I did get sick and tired of going from one cane into another. I think I would have liked to have seen slightly more variety setting. personally I would have liked more urban or city fighting trying to reclaim the city. Also I did find the game quite easy with the Sniper Riffle just hiding at the back whilst my squad mates fight and sniping away. Also there are some moments when you think the game could be really fun such as ridding in a tank just is quite boring.

In conclusion I would have to say that this is a good fun game to play if you want a cheap game. It defiantly has a lot of good aspects to it and I enjoyed it so much it has made me go and buy the 3rd one which I am currently playing through. i’d give this game 82%

Doctor Who – The Doctor the widow & the Wardrobe

So now the annual Doctor who Christmas special of Doctor who continues after last years average performance yet seemingly having an all star cast of celebreities this year continues the theme in a way of drawing some inspiration from famous works of fiction, in a hybrid between the lion the witch and the wardrobe ( hence the tittle) and stories about Evacuees.

I Found the story to be quite heart warming and fun to watch it felt like a few other similar stephen moffat stories in a way with once again a world war 2 setting and a story about a window in time in which people could pass through however heavily used these ideas are they still felt quite fresh. the story its self just felt christmas in that sort of way.

There was also quite of a lot of emotional moments in this episode with the whole letting the war time evacuees to have one last good christmas did really help you emphasis with the mother and if it helped me emphasis with the mother it just shows you how powerful this thing is. and this has to be a credit to the actress who was playing the mum, and also these episode away from amy and rory however disappointing for me as I love amy & rory do give matt smith a much broader scope to react to other people

I did find the plot to be quite obvious and did predict what was going to happen 20 minutes into the show, for me I dont know why but I sat for an hour watching it but it didnt feel like an hour it felt much shorter ( maybe it was the beer) but part of me is longing for a christmas special again with some big baddie similar to the christmas invasion

The ending to the episode with the doctor coming to see the ponds all be it 2 years late I did find a really good scene to end with, and this allowed matt smith to display a breadth of emotion that is sometimes absent from Doctor who and it did make it Feel that himself Amy & Rory are one extended family ( well i guess the parents in law are) which i guess is very chessey christmas thing but also a nice feeling to have on the day.

of course there are some things that I didnt enjoy in this but nothing so greatly that it felt it hurt the sotryline although the intiaial intro scene with the doctor flying through space without a space suit & also was rescuing the farther seen as an event at altering time  ??? or was it just the mother moving him in time from the near crash event to the future ? And of course I do wish that Bill Bailey had a bigger role in the episode.

So in conclusion a good fun christmas episode a nice thing to watch around the time even if it did feel like nothing major happend some what disappointing that there wasnt a message about when we see series 7 but overall B-

Game of the year awards part 1 = special mentions and awards

ok to start off with I am splitting my game of the year nominations into 2 parts this half is going to be special nominations like best graphics, best downloadable game, best sports game etc and the next part will be my top 5 games ( for this game of the year I will be nominating all games I have played this year for the first time regardless of release date )

Best Graphics – Final Fantasy XIII – PS3

Ok now we all like good graphics in games however the first time I put the disc into the ps3 I was blown away with the graphics and the look of the game, it looked just so beautiful, I would say that it is perhaps the first time this entire generation that I have actually be amazed by the detail that has gone into the graphics, The look of the game often at times would cause me to stop the linear path and just to look around. Its just a shame about the rest of the game.

Best Downloadable game – Super Meat Boy – Xbox 360 

When my 360 was first repaired in August this is one of the first games that I downloaded and Wow I have enjoyed it, the game is essential an old school 2D plat-former yet with the difficulty ramped up to 11, instead of only having 5 lives to survive this game gives you unlimited lives, When you first see the levels they appear very short appropriately30 seconds a level however the amount of times that you have to play a level to beat it can easily cause you to spend 20 mins on one level just to get your timing right, If you have an xbox 360 and are a fan of 2D platformers you have to pick this up.

Best sports game of the year – NCAA 12 PS3

I found this years sports titles most mediocre FIFA 12 has caused me so much rage and anger with the new changes, Madden 12 has just felt stale yet enjoyable, where as NCAA feels the most fresh of the games ( yet the slow menus do erk me ) however the game modes and depths that you can go with this game do make it my favourite there is a decent superstar mode, good management mode and the integration with ESPN meaning that ESPN radio gets streamed to the games really puts a lot of other sports games to shame

Worst game of the year – Duke Nukem Forever

This was a very tight race for me between Duke Nukem Forver and Doctor who Return to Earth, However Duke Nukem gets the award as it had so much of a bigger budget and so much more anticipation about it where as I knew the Doctor who Wii game would be rubbish. I did know this game would not live up to the hype but i did hope it would be mindless fun.

Ok so why is it that Duke Nukem gets this award well;

1) The load times are awful from when you die to when you can replay seems like it Takes an Eternity

2) The Childishness of it ok I knew this game wasn’t going to be some high work, but the game to me makes 50 cent blood in the sand look like Chekov ( no not the bloke from star trek) it is seems like a bunch of teenagers had written the entire game.

3) For a game that has been in production for 15 years there is nothing new or innovative or even fun about it where as the route they could have done is make it slightly ott in terms of game play give you 500 guns that cause mayhem, yet in this you seem only limited to 2 guns of which I felt i was constantly looking for ammo.

 

So an end coming soon for the Ponds ?

as according to something Steven Moffat posted on twitter he said

“The final days of the Ponds are coming during the next series. Then the Doctor will meet a new friend”

Well it looks like the end is nigh in the up and coming series for the ponds but will this include River in the pond arc ? and who will be the new companion will it be similar to the rumours for the celtic companion that i was reading about in the run up to season 5 starting or will it be Jason Statham who knows

The Year in Lego

we as Lego can say it better, this can be found on the Guardians website here http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/dec/13/2011-lego-year-news-pictures#/?picture=383194304&index=0

FIFA 12 Rant again

seriously this needs sorting out it is annoying me to much

1) with the fact that obstructions count for nothing

2) off the ball incidents never are counted

3) Idiots who only use the skill stick

they just make this game so so so very irritating and annoying for me I just want to throw this game into the face of the sun if it wasn’t so addictive

Game of thrones season 2 ( a clash of kings trailer)

Bring it on, I know what happends as I have red the second book so im even more hyped for this come on you baratheons

ooo new Doctor who Video game

Yes I will get this yes i remember the sheer awfulness of the wii game something that still gives me nightmares but by jobe its a doctor who game and i will be buying it

 

Halo Reach Review

Never really being much of a fan of the Halo series up to date ( halo 3 greatly letting me   down due to me not understanding the story ) I went into this game expecting another quick and FAST FPS to entertain me for a few hours before being relegated to the back of my mind. I had always wanted to get into this franchise of games as the universe always interested me but I never managed to However seeing it for £10 I couldn’t resist.

I have only so far played through the single player of the campaign so this is the only thing I can really judge the game on, however I loved the campaign mode in this, from what I thought would be another generic shooter campaign turned into a story that I was interested in and wanted to complete. There are various different types of levels so it is not just all run and gun there are levels where you are in space controlling a spaceship for example. The Level designs are varied so you never feel oh god here we go another jungle again, Also in this game teamwork feels like a lot more vital part which I do enjoy, as I have said in the past I do not like being the private at the back who is sent on all these suicide missions

Perhaps one of the points I like this game is the story, not the whole over arching point of it, but the idea that you are in a group of soldiers reacting constantly to this invasion and therefore it feels authentic to this sort of situation, also there is some character development but it feels rather limited.

The Graphics I find in this game are quite good there are sometime scene were you really feel that you are preparing for war. And going into battle, as well as this there are some beautiful backdrops that really make you stop when you are playing and just bask in this world that they have created.

Also as you are playing as a different character in this game you are given the chance to customise your character, which you can use online and in your single player mode, whilst earning credits in a variety of modes you can use this to then put towards upgrades to alter your appearance and voice and also to change your characters abilities. There is something quite nice in seeing your character grow and develop through out the campaign and with the knowledge of the last episode it does give you a sense of completion and remorse. This makes it feel a lot better than short haired male private that normal FPS games have

Another point I have to make is how wonderful the music is in the game it just makes the game feel so much better and is such expertly done by the composer, so much so that after beating the game I went on Amazon to buy it.

In Conclusion Halo Reach is easily the best FPS I have played in a very Long time everything in this game feels right the gameplay the balance the friendliness to start the game off, with quite a fun a frantic game with a varied single player to constantly keep me entertained. 9/10

 

Fifa 12 Rant

I think I have ranted about this before but I am doing it again because oh god its is annoying me, having recently managed to get my xbox lives nat settings more open so that I can play more games online, more things just seem to be pissing me off

1) the collision engine the amount of time I am fouled or brutally assaulted in the box  and nothing happens is ridiculous it s needs to be sorted out

2) Online there needs to be a limit on how many times you can play as team X as what you are getting are people just practising over and over again as one team and it means there is no variety

3) the skill stick it is still unrealistic you get some people who will use nothing but it, this is nothing like how real football is not even Ronaldo will run the entire length of the pitch with nothing but step overs

4) kick offs need to be sorted it is just to easy to score from them they seem to be the most dangerous moment of the game.

5) ultimate team is awful – i tried playing it for the first time today I have a fairly good team I think ( all gold) yeat all I get coming up against me is a team of players who all do nothing but step over is is just so unrealistic