Infinity Blade

So I got an iPad, and being a gamer I had to try Infinity Blade, I have never before getting the device even looked into gaming on an iPad, but still had heard good things about this game, and for once it wasn't just nice visuals that created the buzz about it. I was a bit sceptical heading into the game, it would be the first Ipad title I've tried since getting the tablet, I don't even like touch screen only phones let alone touch screen only gaming devices (I know the pad is not a gaming device, but bear with me for the purpose of the review... thanks). I find it difficult to build muscle memory when using touch screens for anything, but getting used to the controls here was no a problem after I had found the option to adjust the size of the buttons.

Its clear that the game isn't trying to be too complex, I'd say it's just a little above simple but the stunning visuals, which rival some console titles, make up for this. The aim is to beat several middle earth/fantasy styled enemies in one on one duals using your handheld weapons. Use left, right or central buttons to dodge or block in the prospective directions, and the rest is just poking and slashing at the screen in a fruit ninja fashion to swing your sword about or cast spells. Time and direct your slashes correctly to parry enemy attacks sometimes leaving them open for multiple attacks and stabs. Plenty of weapons, armour and magic upgrades to keep you going, but not so much that it turns into a violent dress up game. I managed to complete main the objective of the game (will explain why I didn't just say finish in just a mo) without even viewing the stats of around 70% of the items, let alone try them all, there are multiple courses through the game also. Plot wise... NOTHING! Your just some guy out to seek revenge for his fathers defeat.... even if your father won.

Now hacking up the last boss isn't the end of the game with Infinity Blade, once you've done this you'll just be back at the start playing as your previous characters son but you keep all your upgrades and stats from the previous game, this also happens if you lose to him, which could be why there is no major sense of completion. The final boss is level 50 and I managed to beat him for the first time on level 15 and it took me about 3 hours including breaks, to   do this.

Its a pretty easy game, once you've seen all of the enemies attacks a couple of times you'll know exactly when and where to dodge, block or parry, strangely though it doesn't get boring. There's a menacing satisfaction in attacking wildly, pulling off the harder hitting attacks, or dodging a full string of attacks perfectly. The climax of the game leaves you wanting more, not because you must know what happens next, but because you just want to keep slashing away, but by now you should want a bit more of a challenge. Luckily Infinity Blade II does not disappoint!

BlackBox M16 review

The first thing you notice is they look very similar to the Goldring NS1000s. I do remember reading somewhere that Blackbox and Goldring headphones are built the same in the same factories, its just the audio technology that differs. This is clear from the very similar designs. As it was the extended headband snapping that lead me to getting these M16s its a bit of a worry to hear they have similar if not exactly the same build quality, but to be honest I have a large head and dreadlocks so I apply a bit more strain to the thin strips of metal and rubber than most would.

I have to wear the M16s fully extended and even then I would prefer just a little bit more extension, but its not enough to take away from the listening experience and is still very comfortable. More, but a lower quality of, padding than the NS's. The switch requires far less accuracy to find but requires a touch more force that I would like. They protrude from your head whilst wearing them a touch more than the NS's and are clearly larger (as pointed out by several people on my first outing with them!), but overheads have never been the smallest types of headphones. Overall they are probably not as comfortable as the NS's but only due to the slightly shorter extension, but they look good and feel quality.

Apart from the basics (freq response and noise reduction) I'm not too sure what the specs for headphones actually mean, I prefer to go on the actual sounds! The NS's cover more frequencies according to the official specs but in my opinion it doesn't matter as the sound quality is greater in the M16's all round, if only by a touch, and the extra range of the GR's isn't really that much of a bonus as the M16's cover 20 to 20k, the average a human can pick up, and the range most music producers tend to work within. All sounds are richer and fuller with the M16s and good job too as all other aspects of the headphones don't warrant the higher price tag. The sound quality increase is not as big as it was when I went from the Sony MDR NC7's to the Goldring NS1000's, but still a clear and confident increase. Each sound is clearer more pronounced and tones come through with more definition. The most important thing for me is always how well phones deal with bass, and these do not disappoint, probably the best headphones in terms of bass I've owned. Its not overwhelming but clearly dominant when it needs to be.

The BlackBox M16s probably are not the best in terms of value at the RRP of £165.00, but considering I picked mine up for under £80 at play.com these headphones are epic!

The Black Panther cartoon series

I'm very much into super hero, action, violent etc... manga, anime, comics and cartoons. Whilst browsing through Netflix I came across 'Black Panther' and decided to give it a watch as it had been recommended to me a few times in the past, I had just not bothered to seek it out.

As soon as it starts you worry about the style of animation, very rigid and minimal animation, almost looks like cut outs flying across backdrops at times. It made me think of the many times I've read a manga and then gone on to watch the anime, something lacks. After the first episode you tend not to notice so much as your imagination picks up the slack, just as when you read comics, so perhaps this was the desired affect?

Theme music has an ethnic cross hip-hop vibe works very well and I actually watched through the full opening each episode which is odd for me, I can only imagine this is due to the chanting African vocals and the almost bouncy kick drums working so well together. Voice overs sound authentic but the African accents have clearly been watered perhaps a little too much down a touch, it could have been a little more authentic and even the most ignorant amongst us would have understood.

The majority is set in Africa, snippets in America, but we are shown characters of various races and origins and I believe they have been depicted very well in the context of the programme. Flashbacks in episodes give us a setting across many years, we even see an inexperienced Captain America get owned in an episode and the most of the series is set I would say not too far in the future based on the technology displayed.

If the tones of the voice actors isn't a give away, then many of the programmes themes make it blatantly obvious Marvel are going with a far more mature vibe on this one. Corrupt governments, racism, fights over natural resources, technology and medicine, what is a pleasant surprise is that you don't realise how strong these themes are until you sit back and think about what you've just watched. The themes are clearly there and hold relevance, unlike most other 'ethically themed' cartoons they are not what the creators want us to concentrate most on. They have achieved the desired effect very well. 

Lots of sleek action, appearances from the mainstream Marvel heroes such as the X men, Storm features as a pivotal character later on, Captain America, Juggamaught who get to realise an apparently long held dream of tackling a rhino!... The Hulk and the Fantastic 4 are mentioned as well. 

The story it self is feasible, allot of action, a bit of family drama and a sprinkling of the lovey dovey gives this all round feel. 

Its a title that will definitely appeal to those who have at least have an interest in Black cultures but also a good casual watch for the super hero and action fan.

Truth in manga!!

Dreadlocks and the crochet hook

Yet again, as with anything I write in regards to dreadlocks (unlike other topics I may write about) everything here is based upon my experience growing and helping other grow dreadlocks (for want of better wording) through all stages of the process.

NOTE THIS IS NOT A GUIDE ON HOW TO USE THE CROCHET HOOK... THERE ARE PLENTY OF HOW TO'S ON IT OUT THERE ALREADY!!!

The crochet hook is probably one of the biggest controversies within the Caucasian dread lock community. Some say it tears hairs from the locks, other swear by it and hail it as the MUST HAVE tool for maintaining neat locks. I myself have been on both sides of the debate but think I have finally found out what about crocheting is causing the 2 different opinions!

There is ALLOT on line regarding maintaining dreadlocks with a crochet hook and a majority of it depicts the hook as doing more good than bad to your dreads. The basics of it from my experiences is its a fantastic tool to use to pull loose hairs into the dread lock, making them look neater and in theory lock faster. I can imagine most, if not all people, that decide to grow locks purely for fashion purposes would spend at least some time researching how to keep their locks looking neat, particularly in the early stages, I know I did. Most of the techniques you come across for this do no harm to your dreads such as, tip rubbing, root rubbing, palm/finger rolling etc... and you are encouraged to get into the habit of doing these things as much as possible. Then you come across the crochet hook and its many wonders, neatening up the body, some of the root, and also the tip of each dread. What is not so clear is that while for the moment you are using and for a short time after, the crochet hook will make your dreads more than likely feel and most definitely look neater but, and especially in the earlier stages, the hook is doing long term damage to your dreads.

I first used the crochet hook in my towards the end of my baby dread stage, would have probably been sooner if I was able to get my hands on one sooner. Feeling the hairs being pulled in as I was using the hook was almost elating, thinking I had found the answer to all my dread worries, but now almost a year later I have a few dreads that are limp, have weak spots , feel and look completely different to the rest of them, all thanks to my misuse of the crochet hook. At first I thought this was due to the fact I had tried a few different techniques to set my dreads and have dreads of various thickness's. But now as I have put down the hook mid session, I realised where I went wrong. I used the bloody thing too early in my dreads life. Back then there wasn't enough mature dread to hold the hair I was pulling in in place, so after a bit of movement and the wind getting to them, the hairs I had worked on had come out again, so I would use the hook again, but each time YOU ARE tearing hairs, if only a few, and losing hairs in the early stages is one of the worse things for dreads. Another problem is ITS ADDICTIVE, if you can feel first hand the hairs pulling into the dread, you know its making them look healthier, and so can be hard to stop. A few sources will tell you to only use the hook after you dreads hit the 'teen' stage if not later, I would say to not use a hook until a year has passed at least, just to be safe. Tearing hairs once your dreads have matured a bit is still something you don't want, but is something the dreads will be able to cope with allot better as some to most of the broken hairs will remain within the dread (if you didn't know you clearly haven't researched enough, but broken hairs WILL occur in dreads, they are part of what makes a dread a dread).

Always remember to gently palm/finger roll as you crochet your dreadlocks to prevent too much hair gathering in one area creating those lumpy looking dreads, unless of course that's what your going for!

Another point, watch out for the moron posting videos to YouTube showing you how to devastate your dreads with a crochet hook but telling you its the correct method, I wont mention this guys username. He is almost using the right technique, but instructing you to pull the crochet in and out of the dread rapidly but this in reality is causing more harm than good, regardless of the age of your dreads. Also don't be ripped of by people/companies selling 'special dread lock maintenance/neatening/tightening tools' most of these are just crochet hooks with fancy names at far higher prices. I pay £1.20 for a standard crochet hook from a local shop that specialises in sewing and knitting supplies, and it does the job perfectly well.

As I haven't clearly stated yet, DON'T use a crochet until your dreads have at least a little more than a little maturity to them.

Utsusemi no jutsu my left nut

...Dont beg it!

....REALLY??

First time ive read anything like this in a manga!!!!

Palm Rolling

Again, as with anything I post regarding dreadlocks, this is based upon my experiences from growing my own and helping several others grow their dreads. Palm rolling is another controversial topic in the dread community. some say its pointless, and the biggest argument from this camp is that you merely press and flatten hairs against the dreads when you palm roll, meaning the affects only last moments before the hairs become visibly messy again. The majority of dread heads swear by it and see palm rolling as an essential part of maintaining dreads. Palm rolling is when you take a single dread between your palms (imagine the usual Christian prayer stance), and roll the dread back and forth, slowly moving from as close to the root as you can get down to the tip and back up, varying the pressure.

 It may seem very simple but it does take a little getting used to before you can do this yourself. I found that once you know how to angle your head so your dreads fall towards the floor but coming away from your head. It is far easier if your dreads are longer than around shoulder length, as they fall away from the head better when leaning to do this. You will notice a warming sensation to your palms when doing this, obviously heat generating from the friction being caused. My dreads vary in length and thickness, for the shorter and thinner ones I find it far easier and more affective to finger roll, take a dread between your thumb and first finger and again roll back and forth moving up and down the dread, but it's harder to mover up the dread when finger rolling. It is common for your scalp to become mildly irritated after a good palm roll sesh, thanks to the pulling and sly tugging at the roots whilst rolling, so don't worry, and palm rolling has caused barley minimal hair breakage if any at all. What I have found from palm rolling is your dreads will be straight and even if you roll often. The pressure and the slow up and down movement helps flatten out any kinks, folds, bumps, etc... I highly recommend allot of palm rolling after crochet hook sessions. The crochet hook can gather quite allot of hair into the same area of a dread giving them those random bulges that are so much more compact and hard to squeeze, palm rolling during and straight after crochet hook maintenance can reduce this. The dreads to the back of my head are harder to get to and have far more kinks and bulges as I don't tend to palm roll these as often as the dredies on the side and top of my head. It really comes down to the look your going for, if any. Some people, myself included, like the look of the odd kink or bend, its almost a personal characteristic for that single dread. Others like the uniform dread look where each individual dread is the same length and thickness and the placement of the dreads is perfect. Some even take action to cause their dreads to form uneven and wobbly looking. The use of and how frequent you palm roll need to be considered if you are aiming for a specific style. As most other dreadlock maintenance revolves around the pulling in, tucking away, generally hiding loose hairs, and palm rolling does not people may think its pointless, but i beg to differ. If nothing else palm rolling, like anything else hands on with your dreads, only strengthens the bond between you and them. Feeling and seeing first hand the affects of what your doing to them, be it good or bad, is something that all proper dread heads can appreciate. My advice.... Get rolling.

Frustrating, no?

Prototype

In honour of the coming Prototype2, I'm here to explain why the first Prototype is one of my favourite games to date. I don't think Prototype is a game you can easily apply a simple out of 10 score to, there is so much on offer from this game but most of it can be, and in allot of cases has been, overlooked or just not used during game play.
You play as Alex Mercer, in a predictable story, which has you awaking at the start finding you have mentally insane uber powers. You obviously don't know why, how, who or when, and set off to find the answers. The game has you slicing clean through enemies, launching them stupidly long distances with so much force they'll splat if they meet a surface on their travels, jumping of buildings with mutated hammer fists first towards the ground utterly obliterating whatever should be within radius of where you land. Going through the list of powers at your disposal is too long winded for someone like me to do, so here is something I scraped of Wikipedia;

Offensive powers include the large and powerful Blade, fast razor-sharp Claws (which can also erupt large spikes from the ground), the telescoping Whipfist, Musclemass that augments his strength, and the slow but powerful Hammerfists. Defensive options consist of a large shield for blocking ballistic attacks that needs to regenerate after excessive damage, and full body armour that exchanges agility and speed for toughness in hand to hand combat; both will allow Alex to plough through most obstacles when active. Vision modes include thermal vision, which allows Alex to see enemies through smoke and other obstacles at the expense of a decreased vision range, and Infected vision, which highlights those infected with the BLACKLIGHT virus as well as military units
And this doesn't include the insane running speed, jumping even the Hulk would be in awe of, gliding, brutal general strength... and so on and so forth.  

Yet another roaming game set in a New York'esq setting, probably because its easiest to design and work on/with this type of setting, but the game could have easily been set in any type of surrounding and terrain and have been a solid title, perhaps the city environment didn't do the title justice? The game looks and slightly feels too much like the early roaming Spiderman titles (I'm assuming it’s the same engine, but cba to research it), which is not a terrible thing, it just doesn't keep you engaged for too long. Hardly any variation in settings either, just heavily congested with pillars of buildings or a bit more open.  
Visually the game is lacking but not by enough to let the whole thing down. Anyway you can’t have a game the moves as swiftly and with as much action as this AND have beautiful visuals... that's just greedy. Personally Id go with better game play over visuals any day. Don't worry there is enough detail in there for you to get the sweet sense of satisfaction after brutally smashing someone/thing to a bloody pulp. Alex Mercer himself... BADASS! Assassins Creed'esq hood, not much expression of emotion, menacing grin, modern clothing... All adds up to fan boy and girl worthiness.

Back to my initial point, the fact this game has so much going on can make it seem desperate and can also can also be quite intimidating if you’re not looking to get chin deep into a game, especially one that on first appearance doesn't look very fulfilling. Plenty of varied civilian and military vehicles and a small range of weapons to use, ample special powers and abilities which are all upgradable BY CHOICE, hand to hand and weapon based combat, story lines that follow each the main character and the company you fight, side missions and challenges with a nice mix of difficulties that varies the game play nicely, exploration that, once you've gotten to grips with the game, is fun for hours a time, tons of collectables (think crackdown)... With so much going on and so much to potentially do, how to best play this game, but once you've mastered the controls, navigation, and combat this game can be picked up and put down however many times is called for, which to me is what makes a great game.



Looking forward to Prototype2, I can see already that the visual side of things has been addressed, far glossier looking and better detailing, but I hope this does not mean the pace of the game will be slower. A new power I'm excited about is the ability to infect enemies and use them as various kinds of weapons. We shall see...

CHAVette hits far east!!

I apologise on behalf of the UK for creating suce beings....

 

Gears of War 3

I've completed all 3 Gears of War campaigns, and played a little online with Gears 2, I'm not a big online player so this only covers the campaigns.
First thing I noticed with GoW3 is the characters are no longer inhumanely large and muscular, now they are just great dirty beasts of men within human realms, and the addition of a couple new characters who are all allot slimmer. 

Maybe this was done to add to the far smoother and swifter feel to the game compared to the previous 2 titles. The environments played in are, as with the previous titles, dark and destruction filled, but there is far less underground action. I think player would have gotten fed up of the underground stuff if it continued with the GoW3. The movement feels far smoother and fluent, which I feel was needed in this game but not too much. GoW1 and 2, I feel, where massively let down by the sluggish movement, I know it pushes you to use the cover system much more, but titles such as Army of Two use a pretty much exactly the same cover system and also have fluent game play out of cover and it works fine. The cover system doesn't feel or act any different from the previous titles, but this is definitely not a bad thing as it’s the best cover system I have used on any game on any console! There is a bit more out of cover game play in 3 than the previous titles, and your AI teammates are often seen gunning it out of cover which is fun to watch at the least, sometimes they can get a little manic! This also allows you to sit back and pick off enemies whilst they take the attention, similar to Army of Two. The AI for your team needs a few minor tweaks, they seem to charge ahead of you sometimes, and don't come back to revive you if they have, resulting in a game over. On occasion they will get in the line of fire blocking your shots to the enemy, and will try to revive you when it would be smarter to clear enemies first. These issues often leave you very frustrated with the game but they are occasional problems. Enemy doesn't seem to have changed too much, just more aggressive, which causes the player to take more desperate actions, for the first time in any GoW game I have HAD to blind fire over cover to prevent enemies from getting too close whilst I recover. There are a few surprising twists in the story, but nothing that you wouldn't have seen coming if you had paid attention in the previous games. With Dom's death and confirmation that Marcus' father is alive there is enough to keep you in the game though. In GoW3 you get a better feel for the political side of things in the Gears universe, it wasn't until 3 I realised that immulsion is almost as oil is today, the most used fuel, controlled by corrupt governments and causing war! With added emphasis on this you feel more empathy for the Gears and the remaining civilians which is always a good thing in a game.
It’s not often you come across a game with game play and cinematic appeal. Gears of War 3 had plenty of both done very well. The ending was very simple, 'all the bad guys are gone so now we live happily ever after', but as you feel like you have been one of the gears from start to finish, you don't feel let down by this, almost relieved it’s over, which is odd for a video game of any type, probably due to the subtle changes in the characters from GoW1, not that the characters were clean cut then, but you can see they have grown and bonded. Such as arguments with Baird are much shorter as the team understand he's just pessimistic and Carmine having far larger balls rushing into action and speaking up when needed. I can’t see it a game I will be revisiting over and over, but can see myself replaying with a friends online. Over all definitely one for the keepsies pile!

Life with my Goldring NS1000s

They are still awesome! But since getting my babies I have come across a reoccurring issue. The detachable audio cable.... At first I thought that detachable cables are something that should be fitted on all headphones, but now I may re consider.
The NS1000s come standard with a chunky, gold plated, anti-oxygen cable manufactured by QED, one of if not the best quality cable manufacturer, but as neither end of the cable has a right angled grip fitting, they are susceptible for the connections becoming loose when used with mp3 players/mobiles due to all the moving about the ends have to go through. 'Just get a replacement' I hear you say, not that simple... The headphones have an about 1 cm deep recess before the jack port starts, meaning the replacement cable needs to have narrow/thin grips otherwise the jack will not even begin to connect, and an exact replacement cables start at around £20 and balls to paying that!
I'm currently waiting for my 3rd cable to arrive and this time I've opted for a right-angled cable.
So when purchasing headphones with a detachable cable remember to consider; the recess it needs to fit not just the jack size!

Bayonetta rip off...

Both this manga issue and Bayonetta were released early 2010... Who's the ripoff!?

CHAV has hit the far east!

Ugly dude, dressed out of the norm, drinking in public, bothering feeble looking smaller people, use of term 'Brap'.

It seems that CHAV has hit the far east!!

Errrrrr.... Why?

Prada phone?? I've seen many things endorsed in Manga, but the Prada phone!!!?....

Washing dreadlocks

I wanted to grow dreadlocks from a very young age. It may have something to do with seeing the father figure in my life growing them since I was a child, it may have something to do with acknowledging my black heritage, could be the fact that it makes bushy hair easy to manage, but is most probably because they look awesome when done correctly!
Anyone with decent dreads will know about the mental preparation required. Growing dreads is not something you will do for a long time or well if your not prepared, mostly because of most peoples ignorant views on dreads, creating false representations, such as not washing them, having to be black or  Rasta, or have a rebellious nature or your against society. Honestly I couldn't care less about what people with that type of mind set think about me, but ignorance to ignorance is still ignorance. Its shocking just how many people out there genuinely believe that you leave your hair and don't wash it to locks up. Some of these people are intelligent and open minded, but due to an almost secret mysterious like air surrounding the topic there isn't allot of information out there about the hair style, and what information is available seems to lack consistency. Please know that all I write here is based 100% on my research into growing, growing my own, and helping others to grow their own dreadlocks.
First thing is first washing. YES you can wash your dreads, its heavily recommended. People who tend to not wash dreads are commonly known not do so for believes/faith or reasons along those lines, or are just lazy. It not essential to wash them but most dread heads do wash them, especially those with Caucasian or mixed type hair. If you don't wash your dreads or don't wash them properly they will smell, they will be nasty, and they may even rot. Those with Afro type hair do not TEND to wash there hair AS MUCH as it is not needed. People with Afro hair scalps do not produce as much grease as with other hair types, and this is what keeps your hair hydrated and healthy. Washing too much would wash what little there is there causing flakes, irritation, and very dry unhealthier hair. Washing dreads properly is no simple process, for starters you don't even want to think about washing them with anything you'll just pick up of a shelf at the supermarket. If you take a look at the label of, and I'm confident to say, ANY hair care product available from your super market you'll see chemical you cannot pronounce after  chemical you cannot pronounce. These chemicals are commonly known as residues. These are what is left in your hair after you have rinsed out the shampoo or conditioner in question, and are what leaves hair smelling nice, feeling soft, and 'looking' healthy. Even commercial specialist dreadlock The problem is you don't want to leave ANYTHING in your dreads, especially if you really don't know what it is! These residues in the most extreme cases can start to mould and cause dread rot, literally when your dreadlocks rot away... not pleasant. I personally use a mixture of baking soda, various essential oils, sea salt, and sometimes lemon, orange and lime juices, to wash may hair. Baking soda is the best thing to use in your hair I found for washing out grease/wax and is not aggressive on the hair itself, essential oils as many people know, carry properties that are good for the skin and hair, such as tea tree oil for keeping away bacteria and is good for the scalp. Sea salt and lemon are used to help your hard dread up nice and tight and also a bit quicker too. Everything but the oils eventfully dry out of the hair if dried properly, this is why only small amount is usually used.
If dreads are not dried out properly the dreaded dread stink WILL happen. Imagine a towel still damp thrown down and not let to dry out evenly or fully, it gets that nasty dampish smell. Well its the same with dreads. Do you honestly think that anyone with dreads would want to walk about with this smell around them constantly?
Now, if I know exactly what it is I'm putting in my hair, surely I would know how clean my hair is better than someone who does not really know what's in their hair, no?
I am often displeased when I receive a compliment regarding the scent from my hair, the way people say 'oh your hair smells nice' or 'what shampoo do you use, it smells nice' or whatever along those lines, it's said with genuine shock. So as I have decided to grow locks you assumed I would have to let my hygiene slip? If anything any one who has dreads that cares for them properly is likely to have more hygienic hair than someone using commercial hair care products, it's just because we are lead to believe that the chemicals in their products are good for the hair and scalp. What needs to be realise is floral smelling, grease like shiny/shimmery hair is not hygienic, its nice, not hygienic. Surely what is natural and what has been used for century's and proven many times to be most effective would be better over man made, (sometimes)aggressive chemicals, that are apparently what you need for your hair, but are changed to be the 'best ever formula' almost monthly.
The fact of the matter is most people who believe dreads are made from having dirty hair will 9 times out of 10 have dirtier hair that people who do clean their dreads properly, and with this entry it will no longer annoy me when people make the assumption I'm not hygienic, now I know the knowledge is out there, it will make me chuckle with pity for their ignorance.
 

Brothers in Arms - Hells Highway

Another FPS for the 360. I know its an old one, but after playing through it (quite some time now) I feel it deserves a mention.
Unlike most other 1st/3rdPS's this is not trying to be as action packed and chaotic as you would expect from a world war shooter. It seems to veer toward story,  I say seems as its not very obvious until your well into the game at least, and by this time I had find myself caring about the characters, which is a first for ANY shooter, even more so than GoW.
The  game play is a little slower, and the rate of play is broken up nicely with a cover system. It takes a little longer than most other shooters to get used to, so there's allot of pad watching and scoped aiming, but once your into it you'll find your self dashing across lines of fire and charging at enemies with confidence. I mentioned this games rate of play is slower, this is mostly caused by the command feature, that has you ordering squads of 2-4 men across maps and in and out of cover. Obv there different squads have different uses and this type of this has been seen many a time, in many different genres of game, this is nothing new or special. Often I found myself screwing as I clearly should have got a head shot in, but the enemy was not even damaged on a couple of occasions then killed me! Overall game play is okay.
Visuals are poor... VERY poor, I would even risk saying PS2 quality. I failed to notice this as much once in game play though. Cut scenes can sometimes drag on, and aren't that exciting most of the time. Weather this was intentional or not to give the game a more serious tone, I don't know but its hard to break eye contact with the characters during scenes probably due to the glossy effect used. This creates respect for the characters in a way I've not experienced before, I dare say this alone may be what made the game so memorable to me. The personal story is easy enough to follow, but like other shooters the action side of the story, is a complete mystery, probably why I was shocked to have completed the game not knowing I was anywhere near the end.
Yes its an older title, yes its slow at points, no its nothing terribly original. But somehow this game is well respected by those who have played it through. I cant say exactly what about this game that makes it so memorable, but I recommend this to not just shooter fans  but all gamers.

 

2012 wishlist so far...

 The list of games I'm going to be looking out for, over 2012.

Syndicate
 Asura's Wrath
 Street Fighter X Tekken
 I am Alive
 Ninja Gaiden 3
 Warriors Orochi 3
 Devil May Cry HD Collection
 Prototype 2
 Max Payne 3
 Far Cry 3
 Assassins Creed 3
 Dante's paradiso
 Final Fantasy XIII Versus (If 360)
 BlazBlue Contunuum shift EXTEND
 Blades of time
 Naruto Shippuden ultimate ninja storm - generations
 Inversion
 Anarchy Reigns
 Lollipop Chainsaw
 
 

SoulCalibur

I’ve been a fan of the soul series since Soul Edge, but its thanks to too many 3 hours plus sessions, and one good opponent on SC4 that it found a permanent place in my faves list. One of the best fighters and arguably the best weapons based fighting games available on console, but remember there is not allot of weapon based fighters so we can’t be giving to much cred for that! Soul Calibur offer something for all types of gamers, speed, power, range, technique, cheap/cheat, defensive, combos, and you're not limited to picking a style with certain characters and sticking to it. Unlike most other, if not all other, fighters that have a type of player they lend themselves too. You can be a casual gamer and still pull of the bad ass stuff; you can be too sick and know each combo and special but still get beat by a newbie! Does this happen with Tekken, Street Fighter or Mortal Combat? Blue moon type stuff. The control system can have you tapping, holding, rolling or sweeping your fingers over the controls at any time. I believe SoulCalibur has the versatility all other fighters I have come across lack.

SC5 has been the longest wait for a console since the original Soul Calibur on Dreamcast at 4 years if I'm correct. One thing about this latest release I noticed was the lack of hype. It was back in my school days that SC4 was released and I remember people I know for a fact never was a, will be a, or will ever understand a gamer, raving about it. It was all over gaming media, maybe thanks to the Star Wars fighters, but unless you looked for it you may have completely missed the run up to SC5, well compared to SC4 anyway. What makes me wonder this so much is that, SC5 is better, perhaps much better, than SC4...

I was a hard core SC4 player, and (no exaggeration) saying I’m good is a UBER understatement. You would think I would be displeased at any changes, but in fact even though the 2 major changes I have notice in the hour or so I have played disadvantage me, I'm preferring it! The first thing you notice is the slight slower pace, but this I think is due to you having to be slightly more calculating with your attacks. Imagine the Star Wars movies, the older made ones have slower more rigid looking saber fight scenes, but the attacks are less wasted, in the newer made moves you see the Jedi’s jumping and spinning all over the shop, looking as flashy as possible, SC5 is more like the older Star Wars... MORE like, NOT like. If you prefer to charge in attack crazy, you will still get on with the game, but it seems SC5 is aimed towards experienced gamers if not experienced SC players. The special attacks are far easier to pull off in SC5, and the controls have been changed slightly to make it easier for pad players to pull of those awkward moves, e.g. X+B (Xbox), instead now having to press a single shoulder button. Ring out physics seem more realistic, I'll be honest, I will ring out if needed, and I'm danm good at it too (yes... IT IS A SKILL), I haven’t yet decided if this is better or no. Combos are still there for you to pull off, but you don’t feel as if you’ve consciously input the command as much, maybe this is due to me not having enough game time yet? At times I've found myself stood there wondering what to try next, if the controls are over 95% the same why is this happening? There is nothing new that makes you think wow after 15 minutes of playing, and Ezio could have been a little more badass, that have got his stance just slightly off, but Ezios stand is part of what gives him so much badass...ness? No more handicaps or unlimited times rounds, even in 2 player. It really does seem that Project Soul have tried to please the more experienced players of the series. Ill probably be back to let you know how that goes.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

First KH title I'v played on handheld. If you've played the ps2 titles and haven't tried Birth by Sleep because you think the PSP may take away from the KH universe, you'll be happy to know it doesn't. Its not a major piece of the KH puzzle, but far from a let down. Set years before the events of KH1, the story doesn't answer any major questions posed by previous titles, but rather just expands your KH experience. Character design again by Tetsuya Nomura so gamers that like to feel emotion form the characters will be happy. Players find them selves playing as one of 3 specialised (power, magic, speed) main  characters, plus an extra unlockable character, that is in no way too hard to unlock.
Experienced KH'ers will have no problems playing this one after the first few minutes of real game play, the PSP controls lacking a second analogue (BRING ON THE VITA) is to blame for this, but as all handheld gamers know, this is not too horrid to get used to. The action side of things is not as fluent as one would like, but considering how graphically impressive this title is for the PSP I have no problem looking past this. Once I had the timing for the attacks down the combat became almost second nature. Lots of attack variations, and multiple 'super modes' which activations depend on the latest elemental attack you used which is something I haven't seen before. The RPG side is pretty basic, the more you fight the more your skills improve. you are able to 'meld' your abilities and skills, which is just combining them to create new skills, not too indepth but the alchemy fan in me was pleased.
When you tire of the main story (if you play in 8 hour bursts like me, it will) there are a few mini games which surprisingly work well! Board based, an extreme version of volley ball with fruit (only way I can describe it simply), and racing (think Mario kart 64).
TBH it was hope of new revelations in the KH universe that made me play the game. There wasn't anything too, jaw dropping in that sense, found. Even though I know I will eventually play this to 100%, even if the game was a fail, I feel its a solid game. Nothing new or too exciting happening in a critical context, but masses of that Kingdom Hearts/Disney magic if that's what your after. KH BBS is good.

Goldring NS1000

During this post I will be comparing the Goldrings against the NC7's.

I picked up mine from www.superfi.co.uk, through www.play.com, for £60 delivered. This was a bargain, I searched hard for a couple of days and £60 was the cheapest I could find for a spanking new set. Normally selling around £120 mark at many outlets.
First thing I noticed was the headband design, an unusual shape, not in a bad way, but not in a good way either. Keeps the set on my ears very nicely, I would dare say thanks to this headband you could pull of a gentle jog with these. Oval shaped cups, major difference to the simple circle ones used previously but, preferred straight away, could tell the noise leaking would be at a far lower rate without even turning them on! The feel of the plastic seems to be far nicer, but remember, these are brand new. Sponge padding to the headband, not very dense but very comfortable still. They stretch over my head with dreads out or under a hat, and there is tension when putting them on even, in a hurry. Detachable high quality left side only cable, very handy for swapping to and from your phones to speakers, computer etc... The design will turn a few heads, and I haven't seen another soul in them. Blackbox offer a set with the exact same design and a very similar spec in grey and blue, I prefer this to the safer option of grey, black and silver Goldring went for. The noise cancellation switch, is small and fiddly, especially with gloves on, I feel far less.... slick (for want of better wording) when turning these on as I have to play for a couple of seconds as opposed to a smooth swift swipe from my index finger. My favourite visual feature is how the cover for the battery, I had to look in the manual to find it! The outer of the right cup swivels out exposing the battery! 
If the difference in sound could be visualised as a brick wall, the Goldrings are a very neat well made wall. The NC7's are equally well made, but form older bricks of a slight lower quality (...LOL). The NC7s do cancel noise very well, but the sound coming from them is no way as clear and crisp as the GR's. The GR's are louder, I have the volume constantly 2 notches lower with them. Although I feel bass is more apparent with the NC7's but, is pronounced and clearer with the GR's. You feel as though your in more of a silent environment listening to music with the GR's, the NC7's simply keep out unwanted sound. I cant go into great detail on the difference in the noise cancelling tech between the two as I don't understand it any more that the Goldrings clearly have better cancelling properties.
Really and truly there is no comparison between these two, I feel a little harsh on the NC7's for putting them up against the NS1000s, they are in 2 different leagues. It would not be foolish to pick the NC7's over the NS1000s considering the almost £100 price difference, as the NC7s are a good pair of noise cancelling headphones. If you are passionate about your music, if you NEED to hear every wobble and hit, the go for the NS1000's. TBH I don't imagine I would have purchased them at the full price without trying the NS1000s first, you can get the VERY similar, but apparently slightly lower sound quality Blackbox M10's for £100 without looking very hard. If the NS1000's weren't on offer for such a good price I doubt I would have ever owned a pair.

Narutos Boob attack

 

does look like Naruto has pulled on a boobier version of the resangan

1000 years too early

What is is about this line that makes the person saying it sooooo badd ass??

Sony MDR NC7. A good set.

My NC7's are the latest and first well known branded noise cancelling headphones I've owned. I've had them for just over a year now. I have just purchased my self a set of Goldring NS1000's for £60 delivered from play.com and felt an fitting end to my relationship with my NC7's was to write a personal review of them.
 The head band is easily the worst part of these phones, simple plastic with a hinge at the top to allow for folding. Not completely cheap feeling plastic, but you would hope for more from Sony, even in lower end products. The cups are angled nicely to fit your ears, and the set had no problem fitting my massive head, with dreadlocks! It may feel like your stretching the headphones too much when putting them on, but after a week of being too delicate with them you'll see they have very good build quality. The sound from these is surprising when you consider the price. up to 87% noise reduction, using these walking, and during train journeys I had no problems with the quality of the sound. The switch on the side turns the noise cancelling on and off, to this day I still play with it in different environments just to see how much of a difference it makes. Not once have I been upset, even whilst standing outside a building with a sounding burglar alarm I could hear each hit of the dancehall and drum n' bass I regularly listen to. Of course I could hear the alarm also but not enough to make me want to just turn the music off. The cups themselves are a nice size and cover all of my large ears, but can be a little awkward if you have an ear expander/plug. This is the first and last set of phones iv seen with a flat pad, rather than the concave shape you would assume, at first I wasn't keen on them, simply because it was something I felt was un necessarily different, but they work well at keeping sound in and outside noise out. The foam us very comfy and very versatile, I used mine pretty much every day for at least 14 months (no exaggeration) and the padding is still has the same shape and feel as the day I got them. The battery life is quite good, Id need to change the AAA battery once every week and a half to keep the sounds crisp, that's with Duracell's. The headphones do get quite a few necks twisting, I had the black/grey set, but not enough attention to make you feel uncomfortable. They also come in white if you like to make a statement.
I've had 4 sets of noise cancelling headphones over the last 2 - 3 years. These by far were my favourite, and I am confident these would factually be the best also, aaaaannnnnd they lasted me the longest at over a full year. I paid £35 for mine, refurbished. At the time this was a bargain as they where going for around £80 new. You can now find this for around the £30 mark new online easily.
I have seen the interest in headphones increase over the last 6 months dramatically, even amongst the lesser music fans out there. I believe this is due to the marketing of 'Beats by Dre'. Now noise cancelling headphones seem to be taking off, I would suggest the NC7's for both quality and price, I would dare say easily the best set for under £50 out there.

Bleach

Bleach fans fear not!
Since Ichigo cut down Aizen in that epic 'your 1000 years too early, and I'm a complete and utter bad ass' manner, and we've been introduced to Ginjou’s Fullbring crew, and shown some of the secondary characters improved powers, I've felt the manga had become a bit... fillerish. As in like the episodes of the Bleach anime (and many other popular animes) that run in between the gaps of the main story. Until I read the last issue before a 3 week break (I assume after the break its back to the full swing of... zanpakutos, lol).
It has created a few interesting questions, why are some of the vizards now gotei 13  captains? Where are the rest of the vizards? How would the shinigami badge allow the gotei 13 to kill Ichigo? They've tried before when he was puny compared to now and couldn't do it! What's with Ichigo's new look and sword? Now some of the vizards are part of the gotei 13, I'm sure the secrets regarding their and Isshin (Ichigo's father), Kisuke, yoruichi's etc... history with Soul society will soon be explained AT LAST!
The ending to the fullbring saga, if this really is the end, was quite a shocker. No spoilers here but I will say a new age of Ichigo seems to have begun! They seem to have made him grow out of that urgent, rushing to save everyone, youth, and from what has been read thus far, into a calmer more calculating young adult. The secondary character have gotten stronger too, so hopefully no more reading pages explaining why Inoue feels so upset that she cant do much!
I was becoming concerned that bleach would turn into a manga that I would no longer be desperate to read every Weds when its released, but with the end of this story line, I'm happy to state, I am concerned no more!

I Am Alive

I remember first coming across this game around 2 years ago, a trailer showing the aftermath of an earthquake I believe it was. It stood out, and I made a conscious note to keep an eye out. Originally by Darkworks (GRAW), news on this game was sparse until last year when development moved to Ubisoft Shanghai, who seem to have pretty much started from scratch on most of the game but the concept.
Set in the not too far future after a major calamity, the game sees you play as one of the remaining survivors. So a set up we see more frequently in movies. The backdrops I have seen in screenshots and videos/trailers looks amazing. A devastated new york'ish looking city (Original plan was for the game to be set in Chicago, now a fictional city  the lighting has been done well making outdoor settings seem vast and welcomley mysterious, as your explore for essentials such as water, fuel, cigarettes etc. Whereas the darker and indoor settings have a tense serious feel. I can easily see me playing through these parts cautiously and slowly as if constantly on your final life.
I have seen game play that makes you think assassins creed; climbing around the tall remains of the crumbled city, every now and then another part would break keeping you on your toes. Here is where we see the stamina feature. You wont be able to just launch yourself at a structure with a climbable surface and figure your way up as you go, as you would with creed (probably). Even as you hang there looking around, your stamina will still slowly deplete, and then at a faster rate when climbing, you can sacrifice a larger amount of stamina to throw the player for increased reach, or to get across a gap. This I imagine would have player planning out the routes, so we know this is not supposed to be a constantly fast paced game. The rest of the game play seen makes me think of Elder Scrolls or Fallout. I am not the biggest fan of either franchise, as I feel the game play is simply too slow paced and rigid. There is something added to this that I have not seen done in such depth before. Approaching other survivors in the game you have the option of using different tactics to pass them, if needed. you can use stealth to kill from the shadows with a bow, or sneak up for a one hit machete kill, you can bluff and surrender, and wait until the perfect time to strike your enemies if more than one corners you, you can even brandish you gun to intimidate them, but if your ammo is less than theirs they might not hesitate to take you out! Keeping you on your toes. This could be the twist RPGs have been needing to break up the game play, yes RPGs have done this, but none to this extent.
developers explain they don't want this title to feel RPGish, having your scroll through endless menus and memorising endless quick keys/shortcuts, but still have the depth.
The biggest concern is its reported to be an XBL and PSN title, NO HARD COPYS!?
What I remember most about the screen shots and videos I have seen is the emotion. You almost feel the desperation of the player. If this is also felt whilst playing the game we could be in for a winner. Might be the moody colours used, or the lighting styles. or the feasible setting for the game, but from the looks of things this is one of those titles that will have you immersed in its world.
Will definitely be looking out for this.

Religion

  It can cause war, break up relationships and even families, it segregates, and can restrict how fully you live your life. At the same time it can build relationships, for those who do follow its the biggest source of hope, it can make people actively turn their lives around. It is one of those topics that could be discussed to no end as everyone's view can be completely different and yet still relevant.
What is interesting is most people that are not religious will state so and then automatically go into why they choose not to follow any religion, as if the reason was part of the question. Maybe this is due to society making us feel we need to have a specific religious belief, that we are not a proper piece of what makes up 'society' until we have made a religious selection. But as with, couples getting married, completing some form of further education before working, even the clothes we wear, if it does not benefit whatever 'society' really is, it is deemed less worthy. But is this fair? Especially when we are all forced to be part of this society.
Some people would not be able to cope without knowing there is a greater being, and/or an afterlife of some sort. If you wish to believe this, fair enough, and there's no point in telling you to not force it upon other people as if its the norm, as it is very few who do this these days. Imagine a world where those of us who are very religious were, miserable and depressed, because they could not get over the thought of leading your life for nothing. This would be ALLOT of people, there would no doubt be a massive suicide rates, high rates of drug abuse, theft, murder... The types of crimes that shock us are usually the ones our religions' charge us not to commit. It is not very often (not saying it doesn't happen) we see someone that does follow religion committing horrendous crimes. Coincidence? What we need to understand that most religious peoples faith is who they are and what makes them able to face each day. They are able to get through harder times because they believe it is something they deserve, or that it is all part of some greater plan. Trying to take this away from them can be fatal.
At the same time it could be seen as brainwashing, and a way of controlling the masses, or making money. The amount of money made in the country alone from the sales of religious books, jewellery, clothes, donations etc is shocking, and it seems that religious communities, sects, business' are as bad as charities with their money, as they never have enough, no matter how many millions of pounds they make. Many or most religions are tied to governments around the world, this also makes the whole idea of becoming a follower unappealing. We sat through many history lessons and learnt of so called 'religious wars' or 'wars in the name of [insert name of chosen entity here]'. But how can killing, which is normally the big no no in most religions, be done in the name of something that opposes it? The government do nothing but lie and cheat, then make the people pay for the fuck ups anyway, who would want to be part of anything associated with that!? In allot of religions there are allot of things that contradict themselves, whether this be the writings in books, or the practises that must be followed. But no one is able to answer why.
I grew up in mostly church of England schools, and my first 2 senior years where spent at a private Christian school, where drawing a ying-yang on your textbooks could land you a detention and anything other than Christian music was frowned upon. My R.E lessons where an hour of learning what little more there was for me to know about the Christian faith, and we were often told to not believe we were being taught in Science lessons, we were not to touch anyone of the opposite sex whilst on school grounds, yet homosexuality would get you a one way to Hell. How is a child supposed to make sense of such contradictions?
I myself have shown interest and researched may different cultures and religion tends to be a big piece of some cultures. What I found was that most of them (pretty much all, apart from those freaky deaky ones i.e Scientology) all have you leading similar lives and end up at similar places after. Live a good life, don't hurt others, be honest, don't be greedy, and you'll be rewarded. Harm others, cheat, lie and rob, and you'll be punished.
Even after my upbringing, I do not consider myself a true Christian, I do believe there is something, a god or an energy, that ensures I lead a good life with good opportunities, as long as I am honest and good. I am not saying this isn't the God I was told about at church, for all I know it may even be one of the many Hindu gods. But pondering on this minute detail is what causes the rifts which lead to hate and bloodshed if left to escalate.

If you are headstrong enough to be able to cope without relying a religion of some sort, my advice would be to keep on with what your doing, you made it this far okay, right? It can be a minefield of dos and don'ts, and looking over your shoulder for the divine punishment your due for smoking that spliff the other night, or that bacon sandwich yesterday morning, if your unable to stick to the strict rules.
If you choose to follow, part of me envies you, waking up happy each morning because your God has allowed you another day, you'll be around similar people who share your faith, and although you are not certain what happens at the end your faith makes you know its a paradise.