Gaming...

To me games are much more than a visual story, or time fillers. I believe being good at gaming is much more than quick reactions and a sharp mind for strategy and problem solving. Just as with most other 'creative arts' I believe gaming can be used to express, inspire, and captivate, but I believe most of all this is not appreciated by most people playing games today.

There was a time when if you had any skill with video games you would have been considered a 'nerd' (before it became popular to be one) and be shunned from most social circles. Since the early days of the next gen consoles being a gamer has turned into something almost completely opposite. These days having stand out skills at any game earns you respect from your peers and in some cases fame and even fortune. I refuse to believe its due to more than more accessible on-line gaming that being a gamer now has such different connotations to just 3 or 4 years ago.

I've played games since I was 3 years old, throughout my life the people I've considered my best friends have always shared my love for video games, growing up finding peers with the same passion for games was difficult, but I probably wouldn't have realised just how difficult if not for the release of the original Modern Warfare. Since its release Modern Warfare has been the introduction to not just multi player gaming, but gaming as a whole to allot of people who now consider themselves gaming.





Just as in the music and film industry, a healthy portion of true gamers (those who have been gaming way before Xbox Live and the Playstation network) find themselves frustrated thanks to the wave of 'commercial' gamers that now shape what video game creators are doing, to ensure they meet there targets and stay in their jobs, rather than trying to create unique and memorable games. Thus creating games that some see as of a lower quality to appeal to the masses. At the same time without the recent increase in interest in gaming, us 'old skool' guys would still be considered undesirable and throw ourselves into our gaming even more, supporting the stereotype so many of us struggled with, in particular during school years.

This is a topic that has no obvious opinion, if any at all. Not many people I try to discuss this with have a strong opinion, which I find quite unnerving, especially when I'm looking for the views from people I know have been gaming hard the majority of their lives. Id hate to see gaming turn into something like film or music, that it can only be dominated by a handful of creators, regardless of the quality of what they output. Perhaps the climb in social status of gamers has blinded many to how gaming is changing?

Prototype 2

I finally got my grubby mitts on a copy of Prototype 2! As a self proclaimed biggest fan of Prototype I was expecting big things from the sequel. You play as James Heller a bad ass sergeant with serious rage issues and a potty mouth, kudos the voice actor Cornell Womack. Again as the prequel the story line is nothing ground breaking and hardly grips you. Your wife and daughter have apparently been killed by Alex Mercer... revenge... blah blah blah! The game world is slightly bigger than the first games, 3 island, the largest of which is the map from the first game, this time with more dilapidated buildings obviously.

Graphically the game is pleasing, vast improvement on the prequel, if you actually spend time walking around the citizen safe zones you will appreciate the attention to detail on the slightly rusted corrugated iron used as roofs, and the almost patchwork looking scraps of wood used to build the shelters. Its nothing outstanding but when pretty much all of the game is spent zooming from place to place or your eyes are too busy keeping up with mental paced combat, nice aesthetics is all cherry. I was worried when seeing the first game play shots of the game by how good it looked, I was certain some of the pace of the game would be sacrificed to make it prettier, for once I am happy to say I was wrong!

Game play is near enough the same. This time you can equip 2 powers at once and use them in a single combo creating the opportunity to use a bit more strategy, counter attacks with your shields, my favourite new ability is pack leader, allowing you to summon brawlers and set them on targets of your choice, watching one pounce straight through a chopper from the roof of a near by building is highly rewarding! Some moves have been taken out, such as the cannon ball. My favourite thing about the prototypes is the movement/free roaming/exploring, I had all the collectables found by my second sittings of the game, something that most other open world/free roaming games lack in is the ability to keep me entertained between missions, Prototype 2 doesn't offer many side quests and I completed the game 100% achievements and all, but still went back for another blast within a couple days of putting it down! On the downside, you no longer charge your jump as with the prequel, now you jump instantly and the longer you hold jump the higher you will go, even after getting used to this, which is not as easy as you may have thought, I still prefer having to hold then releasing actually perform the jump, it was easier to get around smoothly I feel, I understand why this was done though, timing your jumps has been taken out of the equation giving the player less to think about. Heller is less acrobatic than Mercer too, not in a way that would disadvantage him in a race, but in a stylish way, Heller doesn't flip and twirl in the air like Mercer did. Honestly I think if Heller did move like Mercer it just wouldn't seem right with Heller having more of a brutal personality but style is part of what made the original game so good.



There a massive sense of 'am I missing something here' when playing the game, Mercer's character has changed so much, you didn't get too strong of a hero or villain vibe from him in the first, but by the second game he's a classic antagonist, no transition or explanation. I have since completing the game found out there are comics/graphic novels that go deeper into the story of Prototype.

Overall the game is not too difficult, but does offer at least a couple of challenges. The trick is to keep moving as much as possible. This is the first game I've 1000g'd, and I was only 4 shy of all of them when I had realised how many I had gotten so easy picked for all the gamer score whores out there. I cant decide which of the 2 games I prefer, which is good as sequels of great games usually let me down, especially when they are made prettier, probably due to my high expectations.

Since the release of Prototype 2 it has been announced that Radical Entertainment will no longer be producing original games and will be a support team for Activision. You only realise how heart breaking this is once you look at their back catalogue. I for one will miss their great work!

Waste Man

.... the real definition of a waste man?

Kung Fu warrior iPad-

Kung fu warrior is available from the app store on iPad (poss iphone too.... I didn't check). Simple with only 6 control button in total left, right, jump, heavy and light attacks then the special move. Beautiful with vibrant colours and a cartoony style, you play as a Bruce look a like on a map that's about 1.5x the size of the screen so there's some scrolling and nice 'just off screen' action from enemies from time to time, which is great at creating excitement as u tap away hoping you making hits and not allowing the enemy time to strike you! You'll be right at home here if you, like me, is a fan of games such as Castle Crashers.

I only downloaded this as the title had Kung fu in its name, fortunately it hasn't put me off the theme. Even though the game is repetitive with not many different enemies, moves and un-lockables few and far between compared to most other small iPad games, you don't find your self getting as board as you may have thought when playing through the VERY quick tutorial. Its very smooth and very responsive (not sure if that's thanks to the iPad it self or the creators of the game) so there is not much to get frustrated with. The animations are charming and brought a grin to my face as the character pops his Bruce Lee style pose at the end of a combo.
From the load screen you can tell this is not something that you'll have trouble putting down, but once you start time will fly by without you noticing. Nothing new, unique or intuitive, but plenty of fun.
6/10

Planet hulk

As we know I'm a Marvel boy, and so the lure of a Hulk animated movie is all too much to resist. Part of me wishes I had though.
We start with the Hulk being blasted into space by man kind (led by iron man apparently) as he is too dangerous on earth, he ends up on a plant where he is forced to become a gladiator (as in Russell crow stylee) by an evil emperor/king.... Yepp the rest is the usual super hero stuff, the Hulk reluctantly gets involved and saves the day.
Its not very Hulkish, he's being civil to certain characters by 20 minutes in, he's able to speak pretty well, no mention of Dr Banner, he's not even as muscular as you normally would see him. Other than the fact he's green, angry and the few mega punches there's not much Hulk action here. There's a couple of swordplay moments, I feel the Hulk has no business using any weapon. By the end the planets inhabitants that at first shunned the Hulk hail him as a leader... obviously. The one positive I can find in this is the various character styles, obviously being set on another planet we don't need to be seeing too many humans, one of the characters is a clear rip of The thing from the fantastic 4, which I felt is very cheap!
Big let down, felt I had wasted some of my time watching it, if I hadn't decided to write a review for this I wouldn't have bothered finishing it to be honest. Luckily its not enough to put you off the Hulk, it doesn't seem that allot of effort was put into this animation so the fact its a bit of a let down isn't too shocking.

Mirrors Edge iPad

BIG fan of mirrors edge on console, it was a game I waited months on for release and loved the game more than I ever thought I would. People who know me will all agree if you have a chick pulling ninjaish moves or slicing up enemies with katanas I'm there, Mirrors edge obviously feeding the first of my fetishes.

Mirrors edge is a game based around free running, with a political edge to the story. Mostly set on roof tops of a typical metropolitan city, high rise buildings and such. No first person view, no gun play, not much combat, not much like the original at all! If I wasn't being biased due to my love of the original I'd describe the iPad version as a glorified building runner game, but is that a bad thing anyway? Building runner games have you trying and trying again for extended periods of time... no? 2d game play in a 3d setting, a winning combination. Visually its a slight let down, I expected more after seeing EAs stamp all over it but it's nothing that puts you off. The story.... I couldn't tell you much about the story, I restarted the game to play through paying attention to the story side of things, but found myself dropping that aspect of the game very early on, the story is put to you at the loading sections only and has you reading quite a bit of star wars scrolling affect text which just isn't appealing. Most importantly as the game requires quick reflexes the controls are smooth and simple. Stroke up to jump, down to slide, left and right to move in that direction and tap to stop, simple. There are a few tweaks that have you double stroking up to wall run and such, nothing the game requires you to pull off could ever be described as difficult really. Combat has only three options, slide to take out, stroke towards to disarm and jump and stroke towards to fly kick, as the game is even less about combat than the original the opportunities for combat seem a little bit of fun, rather than something that's lacking. Your aim is to get from one side of a map to the other avoiding the obstacles and enemies bullets, multiple routes to each level and collectables that are not that too challenging to reach, just as the original you'll sometimes need to just stop and think your moves through to reach where it is you want to be, but nothing that made me want to throw my tablet across the room. It took me about 2 hours to get through the main game and that's with a little exploration for those collectables.

My favourite things about this game is the same as the original, sleek, stylish, quick paced its simple. There's a slight proud elation to launching the character through the air and jumping into and then back out of a wall runs to reach a slightly more hard to reach path. As there's not allot to the game I don't think Its something I'd revisit any time soon, but definitely something I'd recommend to anyone that owns a device it plays on.

BAD MAN

In case you didn't know why Kenpachi is the badest of men 

(or shinigami)

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!