Life of the Party is a cliché ‘college comedy’ which I thought I was going to hate but, surprisingly, didn’t. Our story begins with forty-something, sweater-wearing mum Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) having a divorce sprung upon her. After a brief grieving period, which includes her dad threatening to shoot her soon-to-be-ex-husband (one of my favourite scenes), she sets out to complete what she tried to do decades prior – graduate. If this doesn’t already scream ‘midlife crisis’ at you, wait until I tell you that Deanna chooses the exact same college as her daughter Maddie.
Her first college class presents to us all the clichés we need to know this is going to be a stereotypical ‘college comedy.’ If the cheesy archaeology teacher with his dad jokes wasn’t enough, we are quickly introduced to our resident mean girl who, for me, just wasn’t that mean. Her insults made me cringe more than laugh and overall her character felt redundant. Of course, though, these insults are enough to encourage Maddie to turn her mum from cute as a button to the new and improved ‘Dee Rock’.
The transformation into ‘Dee Rock’ is essentially the pivotal point of the film. Maddie’s friends stop feeling sorry for Deana and instead she becomes ‘one of the girls’ - this is where the predictability really starts to shine through. Like most ‘college comedies’ I’ve seen, the bulk of Life of The Party contains sorority initiations, mid-term breakdowns, boy troubles and well, partying. One of the girls that did add a refreshing touch to this otherwise familiar group was Helen (Gillian Jacobs) who is also known as ‘coma girl’. As the name would suggest, Helen spent eight years in a coma – an unusual backstory that definitely makes her character stand out. Helen takes Deanna under her wing and helps her to rebound in some hilarious ways (that don’t always sit too well with her daughter!)
However, Deanna’s college adventure hits a bump in the road when her divorce settlement doesn’t leave her too financially well off. But, with the help of a surprise celebrity appearance (I won’t say who), everything gets back on track. Whilst a happy ending can be nice, this one annoyed me, a lot. The rest of the film had managed to keep a (semi) realistic feel to it, but this just made it feel farfetched and actually rather sickly.
If it wasn’t for the occasional hilarious one-liners and some cracking twists, this film would definitely blend into the background of its genre. Whilst McCarthy adds a certain charm to the film, I can’t say she’s much different in this to any other character that she’s played. Overall, although I didn’t exactly hate this film, I didn’t love it either. It was very predictable and kinda cheesy, but it did make for an easy watch.
Today at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the company’s second keynote in two months. While their last presentation covered the Apple Watch 4, iPhone XS, XS Max and XR, yesterday’s big reveal brought us even more announcements in what looks like a historic time for the company.
The New iPad
Apple is marketing these following new features as the biggest changes to the iPad since the inception eight years ago. First of all, and most the most immediately apparent change, the new iPad Pro totally eliminates the home button and incorporates the company’s facial recognition technology, Face ID, for a seamless unlock. With a near edge-to-edge display and rounded corners, the device certainly looks slick, and in keeping with the times, no longer features a traditional headphone jack. The benefit of this is that the new model is 5.9mm (15%) thinner than its predecessor. The lack of Lightning and inclusion of USB-C support means the device can connect to external monitors, turning itself into a portable workstation, while also having the rather snazzy ability to act as a power bank with the ability to charge your iPhone. As the device is so favoured by designers, the Apple Pencil (the device’s high-tech stylus) now magnetically attaches to the side of the tablet where it wirelessly charges. Running on A12X bionic chips (more powerful than iPhone XS/XS Max), and boasting up to 1TB of storage, it’s certainly a powerful tool. The device will come in two models; an 11-inch and a 12.9 inch.
The New MacBook Air
Also announced was the new MacBook Air, boasting a 13.3-inch edge-to-edge retina display, as well as Touch ID, unlock capability. This sensor sits in the keyboard and also enables touch-based Apple Pay transactions. The entire keyboard and trackpad have been revamped around this. Many critics will be pleased to hear the Touch Bar is now absent, while the speakers have also been improved for stronger audio playback. The device offers up to 16GB storage, with doubles the memory capacity of its predecessor. Made entirely from recycled aluminium, the device is lighter and has had a weight reduction of 25% at 1.25kg. This use of recycled materials will also help reduce the device’s carbon footprint by 50%.
The New Mac Mini
While the new Mac Mini looks nearly identical to previous models, this first update in four years overhauls the device with a quad-core Intel processor and the option to upgrade further to a six-core. With four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports and HDMI, the device will be five times faster than previously and will come in space grey. Also made entirely from recycled aluminium, the new Mac Mini will come with up to 64GB of memory.
iOS 12.1
And finally, Tim Cook announced that iOS users can now upgrade to iOS 12.1, which will give the user 70 new emojis and the much-anticipated new group FaceTime feature.
So, all in all, a pretty busy keynote from Apple – and some very much needed updates to a group of products that are long overdue for a change. All new products will be available from November 7th.
Set in a retro-futuristic 1960’s England, We Happy Few is an open world tale that relies heavily on strategy to get you where you need to be. With strange characters to encounter and Joy to be taken, it really is a game of ups and downs.
You begin the game as Arthur, a journalist. Whilst on the surface everything may seem perfect in Wellington Wells when your Joy wears off you will soon see this post-war town for what it really is. A resurfaced memory of a long, lost brother sparks Arthur’s need to escape Wellington Wells and uncover the truth and from there, your story begins. Although Arthur is undoubtedly the main character in this game, you also get the opportunity to play as Sally, an old acquaintance of Arthur’s and also Ollie, an old neighbour. Having Arthur as the starter character allows you to get to grips with the game quite easily. He is crafty, fairly stealthy and has an unusual skill where he can sit with a newspaper and suddenly become invisible to the world (if only that was the case in real life ay?). The introduction of two additional characters that both have different skills and needs means the game is kept interesting and that you never get too comfortable, which I personally enjoyed.
One of the main issues that I discovered quite quickly whilst playing the game was how glitchy it is, especially during combat whilst being attacked by more than one character. The game often wouldn’t respond as quickly as I’d like which, to be honest, really riled me and kind of left me wanting to turn the game off. Whilst this will probably get fixed at some point, at the time of writing this review, it was a definite problem for me.
As the game continues, the open world style of gameplay means there’s a lot of chance to get distracted from the main quests and get stuck into the strange world that this game has to offer. From crafting torn suits to concocting ‘sick-up tea’, We Happy Few really goes into depth with its features and theme. Not only that, but there is also a chance to focus more on the character’s health and wellbeing. Whether it be tiredness or hunger, you’ve got to keep an eye on how your character is holding up otherwise they will indeed die. Whilst this got frustrating at times, overall it was a nice touch to the game that meant it required a little bit more thought than usual.
The game offers a variety of difficulty settings, meaning its suitable for basically everyone (over 18 of course). Soon, the game will be getting an additional sandbox mode that means the game will become a whole lot more customisable, which, considering the game already has a lot to offer, sounds pretty great.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and thought it was super fun to play. Admittedly, it does need some work. But, the dystopian setting, freaky characters and the chance to explore meant it was definitely a winner for me. Maybe if you take your Joy, you even won’t notice the glitching at all…
I can ask most of my friends what they were doing “the day the snow turned to rain”, and usually get a similar reference in return. As one of the most requested re-releases for the past 15 years, from fans the world over, it's by no coincidence that we get it now with the release of Shenmue 3 lingering ever so slightly nearer thanks to its Kickstarter campaign, four years ago. (I've waited sixteen years. One more should be okay).
Shenmue was released, for the Dreamcast, back on November 6th y2k. (Dec 1999, in Japan) keep in mind that GTA 2 had dropped only a month before it and was still in its camera looking down days. It was a game so massively ambitious and ahead of the time that it's production nearly killed Sega. Costing somewhere in the budget of $45 million (originally falsely claimed to be $70m) - a figure that is dwarfed by today's games like GTA, Mass Effect and Destiny - Shenmue would have needed to sell at least two copies of the game to every Dreamcast owner, just to break even. So it never really had a chance to succeed. This is why it's never made sense to me that Sega never ported the game, to every machine possible, in an attempt to try and recoup some of their losses back. But then, Sega isn't really known for their smart decisions, communication or planning. This is why they refused to acknowledge that Sonic makes for awful 3D games but tries over and over, anyway.
For me, Shenmue is a large nostalgia trip, instantly taking me back to my teenage bedroom (covered in game, band and movie posters) so take everything I say as slightly rose-tinted, but I'll also try to be as unbiased as possible. For the most part, the two games feel mostly the same when compared to their Dreamcast counterparts. Aside from a few little tweaks to certain areas of the game. Some new checkpoints have been added, to relieve some frustration of retries and I'm quite sure the fight with Master Baihu used to be a lot harder. I'm sure this will go down as pandering to a modern audience, us old people love to blame younger gamers, but overall these changes didn't discourage my enjoyment of replaying two of my favourite games. I'm very curious what the younger generation will think of the game and how many are willing to try it out. I'm interested to see how they will take to its slow-paced gameplay, which largely consists of wonder around and asking every NPC the same vague questions until one of them gives you the next clue and triggers the next sequence of events. A lot of the gameplay mechanics are quite tedious, by today's standards, but the pacing really gives you the time to wander around the areas of the game, get involved in other people's daily routines, just chill at the arcade for a few games of Space Harrier, or to take in all the attention to detail that AM2 had originally put into their pièce de résistance.
The games won't hold your hand. You're encouraged to explore and talk to people, to progress through the story, with your only clues being the notes in Ryo’s notebook. Supposedly there's an updated control system. Personally I found it not too different to the original and Ryo still feels a bit like a tank. I just stuck with the original, -used the D-pad- and swapped Look and Run. This method controlled just as I'd expect and felt pretty close to using the Dreamcast. A new additions allows you to control the camera with the Right Analogue Stick, which is good… I guess. Although, in Shenmue 1, at least, you'll become aware of how broken skybox is; as it appears to be attached to the direction the camera faces. Loading times are now extremely fast, making entering new buildings, areas and exploring a far less tedious task. Which is good because Shenmue 2 was somehow more ambitious, than the first game, with even more and much larger environments. Shenmue boasts hundreds of individually voiced NPC's, each with their own daily routines. You can just stalk these people for hours, minding their own business. Something I've only ever seen since, on a much smaller scale but more integral to the overall game, in Zelda: Majora's Mask. Shenmue set a presidential standard of modern AAA games, interactivity and open world environments near twenty years ago. Most games still don't let you pick up each individual item within the world for absolutely no reason at all.
This is basically a straight port and not a Remaster. Textures haven't been improved, they just appear clearer, so it can't technically be called an HD edition, either. That's not to say the game hasn't been visually improved somewhat. Both games now run at 30 frames at 1080p, with the option to use with 16:9 or the original 4:3 of our old prehistoric televisions. All cutscenes are still locked to a 4:3 ratio. Slowdown and character pop-up are still fairly common, as you walk through a busy street. The clean up has also makes it easier to spot the edges and the seams of geometry. Anti-aliasing helps smooth out the old jagged edges and eliminates the shimmering of things like power lines and fences and a new optional bloom has been implemented. The Pc has some extra options, with higher resolution options, res scaling, supersampling and some extra fxaa. The voice overs are still the same compressed originals, straight from the Dreamcast. Presumably, the original audio files no longer exist. These don’t sound too great these days. A nice extra feature is the choice of the English or Japanese dubs. Which is the first time Shenmue 1 has been playable, outside of Japan, in Japanese.
Shenmue I + II does well as a preservation piece. A more reasonably affordable way of getting a piece of gaming history into new hands as well as longtime fans. Hopefully, the majority of the new bugs and glitches will get fixed, over time. By the time you read this, most of the ones I encountered during my playthrough should be fixed. Fuku-San is the Milhouse of the Shenmue-niverse.
It's funny I should be writing this a week after the release of the Shenmue port, as the Yakuza series is widely considered a spiritual successor, of sorts. I get where the comparisons are coming from, but they're very different games. They just both happen to take place in Japan, have a lot of adventure elements and street fights. While Yakuza's not always the most fast-paced of games, it doesn't have you talking to every NPC that inhabits the world's populous. Yakuza Kiwami 2, (Ryū ga Gotoku Kiwami 2 - Like a Dragon Extreme 2) is a dramatically named ground-up remake of the second game, of the series, using the new Dragon Engine from Yakuza 6. Making the game that came out ten years ago, on PlayStation 2, - twelve years, in Japan - look ridiculously nice. From the neon streets of Tokyo's red light district, fictionally renamed Kamurocho, to the reflections off of the beautifully rendered water in Osaka's river, that divides the district of Sotenbori.
Due to the new Dragon Engine combat is also now even more of a fluid transition from a street encounter going straight into a fight, with the brutality of any given Miike Yakuza movie, right on the spot; with plenty of environmental hazards to use to your advantage. Throwing a man from a bridge or body-slamming them with a bike is a hard thing to get bored of.
Yakuza's story is ridiculously convoluted and has become more so as the series has gone on. Like trying to watch the entire Yakuza Papers collection, (Battle without honour and humanity), with it’s large cast of characters, it's easy to lose track of who's whom and what their relevance is, to the criminal underworld. Kiwami 2 starts with an optional recap of the first game to conveniently help fill you in or remind you of what went down. Other than Kiryu, Majima is possibly the most memorable and recognisable, with his eye patch and extravagant dress sense now getting a story gap filling mission of how he went from a Yakuza, in the first game, to a construction worker. Kiwami 2 also has a few other new scenes to try and fill in some previously missing and confusing plot points and to make it fit more closely with the later sequels. For most of the game you play as Kazuma Kiryu, the 4th Chairman of the Tojo Clan, a high ranked Yakuza. Yakuza 2 is basically, just when Kiryu thought he was out, they pull him back in. He's just trying to live his peaceful life but people won't let him.
I'll be honest, I was struggling to find a way of explaining the gameplay of Yakuza. Until one night, while playing, my parents turned up unannounced and were watching me play through a side mission. In which Kiryu is asked to help with a photo shoot, by a man wearing only his underpants. Said man then asks Kiryu to strike several suggestive poses, as he enthusiastically rolls around on the floor taking photos. I gave no explanation of what I was playing and let them just watch, slightly confused, as they drank their cups of tea. Yakuza seldom takes itself too seriously, other than most of the main story; and even then it'll often go off on tangents. Throw in silly side missions. Has you run a hostess bar, buying new pants for a guy in a child's park toilet, Spend time in an arcade playing some Sega classics, like Virtua Fighter 2 or Virtual-On. Set you back into the serious main story of serious serious, betrayal, fighty fighty... And then have a urinal peeing minigame. The Yakuza series is pure genius and one of Sega's very few decent remaining ip's.
‘Immortal: Unchained’ is yet another Soulslike game in a long list of productions that are directly inspired by the critically acclaimed series created by FromSoftware. Many games that have been created in the same vein as the ’Dark Souls’ series have been very hit and miss – for instance ‘Salt & Sanctuary’, a 2D Soulslike Metroidvania, was one that was very well received but games like ‘Lords of the Fallen’ have fallen short of the quality that you’ll get with ‘Dark Souls’.
Usually, these games have mechanics that are different than the ‘Dark Souls’ series, and ‘Immortal Unchained’ tries to be unique with its combat style which in this game is primarily guns. You’ll, of course, be dodging and rolling around enemies and so on, but your main weapon will be guns such as sniper rifles and rocket launchers. I would say this works fairly well and the combat is satisfying enough but, because you can only really use ranged weapons effectively, it can feel quite limiting in what you can do. Unlike ‘Dark Souls,’ which has a wide array of weapons, there isn’t that option to approach combat in different ways.
The other main draw of these sorts of games is the exploration. The level design in ‘Immortal: Unchained’ is pretty good and has lots of interconnected paths and shortcuts, but I feel that the levels were way too long and the time in between bosses also seemed to take a long time. There also wasn’t a lot of variety regarding enemies meaning you end up travelling through these very similar environments for hours, fighting equally similar enemies over and over again. Each enemy has a weak spot that is glowing a certain colour (somewhat too simple given the target audience, I felt) and so every combat experience will come down to circle strafing around the enemy to hit their weak spot with various weapons.
The drawn-out level exploration would not be such a criticism if the graphics and art direction made up for it. However, each world is fairly bland and quite blocky in texture and, although it is pretty unfair to compare it to games like ‘Dark Souls 3’ due to the budget difference, I couldn’t help but feel that what I was getting wasn’t quite worth the price.
Of course, at its core, it is an RPG and has fairly complicated systems in place where you will be upgrading stats such as strength as well as your weapons while you progress through the story. As I was upgrading my stats I felt like I had seen this all before. I think my main issue with the game, like many of the other Soulslike games, is that they don’t innovate enough with the systems already in place and at times it feels like I’m playing a knock-off copy.
‘Immortal: Unchained’ is an interesting take on the Soulslike formula by introducing fairly unique mechanics but it falls short in many areas – particularly the art direction and the boss and enemy designs. With both a bigger budget and team many of the issues could have been addressed, as it’s just not hitting its potential. I feel like I can only recommend ‘Immortal: Unchained’ if you are heavily into Soulslike games and are feeling the urge to play one whilst in the void left by ‘Dark Souls’; otherwise stick to the classics and wait for ‘Sekiro’ to come out instead.
With Forza Horizon 4 out, this same week, I chose to play V-rally 4, for some reason, instead. Mostly because I have a lot of fond memories playing the original back on the OG Playstation. V-Rally 4 is the first game, from the series, in 16 years. This time, made by new license holders Kylotonn and not Eden Games. Kylotonn are no strangers to the rally or driving genre, though, as they're generally known for releasing the yearly update of World Rally Championship (WRC), but have taken a year sabbatical to see if the same game can sell better under a different title.
The majority of the game feels heavily inspired by the newer DiRT games, but I guess when you're making a rally game there's not much variation you can really do. Both game's test locations are open area abandoned Canadian airfields, though. A bit suspicious. If V-Rally had come out first, I'd possibly just be accusing the opposite. Dirt definitely has the better handling of the two.
V-Rally mode is what would be Career mode. This plays out as a week by week calendar of micromanagement; as you are part recruitment agent, part accountant and sometimes even a race driver. Certain races use up more days than others, so you need to decide which races are worth the time and will benefit you the most. At the end of each week, you need to pay the staff you hire, from another visual data sheet of info. To be granted entry within certain races and events, first, you will need to own a vehicle of that category. The first few hours of the game are ridiculously easy. The opponent AI seems to not even be trying, even with the difficulty setting up. I think this is just to get you started and settled in, though, as this did change around the time I started getting to the three-star races and coming in second. So you will have no issues raising some money for a half decent set of cars.
There are a few car dealers to choose from, but a rally game without Subaru is slightly odd. Aside from just Rally, there is also V-Rally Cross (racing against other cars), Hillclimbs, Buggy Racing and Extreme-Khana. The latter of which was the more enjoyable, with crazy courses going through train yards, drifting around narrow ledges of a mountain cliffs and steep turns and doughnuts around embankments. Vehicle and course damage is something I have always had a soft spot for (and water physics) and V-rally has some satisfying car crumpleage.
I'm not sure where the budget of this game went to, but it clearly wasn't spent on the soundtrack. I heard the same four songs, by Mahogany Beatz, over and over. I'd never heard of the dude, until this game, and now I wish that I hadn't. Judging his popularity via his Twitter account, he only has about 1000 followers. I have non-celebrity friends with more than double that - and he never even made a mention that he was in the game, so he's clearly proud of it. The only other music in the game is the option to have instrumental versions, of the same songs, play in the menus.
If I had to recommend a rally game I'd say "get DiRT 4". V-rally is a good second choice rally game, while you wait for DiRT Rally 2.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” - H.P. Lovecraft
I don’t like that quote. Not because of the sentiment itself, but because of how it’s misused. Fear of the unknown is often misunderstood as though merely not seeing anything at all is inherently scary. In truth, that would suggest that there is nothing to be afraid of. Something must be implied so that we have something to fear. And what we don’t know about that implication is what we are afraid of. The fear of the unknown is a fear of what we don’t understand.
Why the need to clarify this? Well, during my time playing Home Sweet Home I was experiencing similar emotions to my first viewing of Japanese horror films. I was at once afraid yet curious, confused and repelled... yet intrigued. This was a result of the mix between effective horror, and a cultural disconnect; I knew very little about Japanese cultural beliefs at the time, which made the horrific entities more horrific. They both scared and confused me.
As I learned more about the culture surrounding J-horror films, however, that experience was diminished. Home Sweet Home is an indie horror game from Thailand, a place with a culture that I know very little of. You can see where this is going...
Similar to any other first-person horror from recent years, you will be hiding in lockers from monsters. The difference here is that Home Sweet Home is a lot more linear, even rigid at times. This is both a positive and a negative as you will (occasionally, I might add) die as a result of not running to the right hiding spot. It feels restrictive and stops any momentum of rising tension.
When it works, however, these sequences are exciting; well-crafted and structured. Given the limited scope, it proves positive overall, with the minor setback of occasional frustration.
The core gameplay mechanics of Home Sweet Home are unremarkable; they have been done many times before and arguably better. The horror is anything but unremarkable (I stress that this is because of a lack of knowledge about Thai culture). This makes Home Sweet Home a superbly disconcerting experience that will leave you strangely disturbed above all else.
‘Dragon Quest’ is a series of old-school JRPGs that has been around for over 20 years and, unlike a lot of newer JRPGs, has stayed very close to its roots in the way of its mechanics and style (for better or for worse). ‘Dragon Quest XI’ is the first mainline series console game since ‘Dragon Quest VIII’ which was released in November 2004, whereas the games in between were either handheld or only released in Japan. The Japanese version was released last year and there have been several changes to the Western release which I believe has improved the quality of the game tenfold.
Firstly there is the voice acting, which wasn’t included at all in the Japanese release. Although some characters are quite annoying in a childish way the voice acting does improve the overall experience of the game. One of the biggest changes is the inclusion of Draconian mode, which is very much needed if you are looking for a challenging experience - it allows you to make several changes to the core mechanics of the game such as making the monsters much harder to defeat and not allowing you to equip armour or weapons. Playing without this the game is quite easy so I would suggest to try it out if you need something a bit more difficult.
A single playthrough of ‘Dragon Quest 11’ will probably span across 100 hours or more so it wouldn’t be very good if the mechanics were not enjoyable. Luckily the tried and tested turn-based combat system, which has been in the game since the first ever game ‘Dragon Warrior’, is still fun to play. This combat is very tactical as you need to expose enemies’ weaknesses, and each party member (who you gradually gain over the course of the game) has different skills and weapons they can use to do this. Your party members can also link together by using a new mechanic called Pep Powers which is where, at a certain time during battles such as after an onslaught of attacks against you, your characters will become pepped up which allows you to release bigger, flashier attacks that can devastate your opponent. This is a very important mechanic when in Draconian Mode to assist with the more challenging nature of the battles.
When you are not battling you will be exploring a massive open world, completing quests and working out puzzles as you progress through what is a rather clichéd JRPG storyline. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and does have a few surprises, but I wasn’t blown away by anything related to the plot. The one thing that has always been excellent in ‘Dragon Quest’ is the enemy and world design, as you would expect from characters designed by Akira Toriyama, of Dragonball Z fame (noticeable immediately by the eyes on some of the characters). The character designs and animations fit in perfectly with the rest of the world and at times you feel like you are playing through a Saturday morning anime. Even with how beautiful the game is I had no performance issues on PS4 Pro and did not experience any crashes or soft locks.
Unlike JRPGs like the ‘Final Fantasy’ series, has had so many new mechanics added with each new game, ‘Dragon Quest XI’ stays very close to its roots. Despite this, it does it so well that even at 100 hours in the game is still great to play and you can easily get lost within such a vibrant and fun world. With the inclusions in the Western release, this is a must-have for any JRPG fan.
‘Destiny 2: Forsaken’ is the first major expansion to ‘Destiny 2’, which has had a lukewarm response by its fan base for its first year of content, including the main game and two DLCs. A lot of players saw this as Bungie’s chance to bring players back into the game and fix many of the issues that were wrong with ‘Destiny 2’ at launch. Included in the expansion is a whole new storyline, locations to explore, and a host of new end-game activities for players to acquire their much-needed loot.
Let’s take a look at the storyline first. For the first time in a while Bungie has made some brave decisions about where the story goes, and for the span of 7-10 hours (roughly what it takes to complete the main story) I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next and what surprises were around each corner. Something that was missing from ‘Destiny 2’ and the subsequent DLCs, which is ever-present this time around, is the pacing within the story. I won’t spoil what happens, but there is a very satisfactory end to the story arc.
Gameplay wise, there is not much change from the initial mechanics within the original game. ‘Destiny 2’ is still one of the best controlling FPSs on the market, which is what you would expect from the creators of ‘Halo’. There are a few additional mechanics that are introduced in the expansion which change things up a bit and keep it interesting, but if you’ve played either of the ‘Destiny’ games before then you should already know what to expect when it comes to the gameplay loop.
The visuals are breath-taking in motion, as well as during cutscenes. The places you explore feel alive and there are so many secrets to find hidden in the world, which is a testament to Bungie’s level design. There aren’t any noticeable frame drops during gameplay, but obviously, you’ll be getting much better performance on PC over console, with the PC equivalent boasting 60FPS.
There is a lot more to look forward to with Bungie having a roadmap of end-game activities for players to participate in to get the best rewards and most powerful gear, which will span over the next coming months until they release more content for the game. For the first time in a while, it feels like there is so much for the players to do in ‘Destiny 2’. My only criticism is that it took a year for ‘Destiny 2’ to feel like a complete package, which is a shame as it may well have lost some of its fan base because of this.
If you are waiting for a good time to jump back into ‘Destiny 2’ then there has never been a better moment to do it, as there is so much new content to complete from the original game, the DLCs, and this latest expansion. I hope that Bungie has learnt from its mistakes in the initial game release and will continue to create amazing content for the players during ‘Forsaken’ and after.
Ever since Lara Croft's first outing the Tomb Raider series has always been a technical showpiece (choosing to ignore Angel of Darkness), starting with the Sega Saturn/ Playstation Original and her infamous angular form. It's legacy inspiring an entire action-adventure genre. Years later the Uncharted series would reinvent things, with the addition of cover shooting, a story that wasn't completely made up on the spot and elaborated, movie like, set pieces. The 2013 Tomb Raider reboot would take inspiration from these games, hire Rhianna Pratchett to write the story and use just about every trick that Uncharted was using, taking us full circle. Two games on and one less Rhianna Pratchett, Lara Croft is on a hunt for some mystical hidden treasure (again) before her rivals, known as the militia cult “Trinity”, can get to it. For an explorer, intruding on Dora's territory, Lara seems quite happy to go in and commit mass genocide of near-extinct rare wildlife and that of an uncontacted, Descent-like, tribe to find what she's after; but still dwells on a near cataclysmic turn of events that were pure coincidental but believes she may have caused.
If you've played the last two games in the series then you know fully what to expect. The core gameplay mechanics haven't really changed all the much, since the 2013 reboot. For the most part, it's still hub areas that lead off into other parts of an island, that Lara has managed to crash into once again. Good thing the people, deep in the jungles of Peru, can speak perfect English. Shadow of the Tomb Raider has a little more focus on the exploration aspects, that the series was originally famous for, with more hidden tombs, trials and problem-solving challenges to be found. Solving these will give Lara new equipment and abilities to help aid her adventure. Coincidentally the temples are all very conveniently laid out to accommodate the equipment Lara currently possesses.
They all seem like a massive waste of time though, as most other characters in the game seem to be able to find alternative routes through and get to the ends of most areas, well before Lara can get there. All the cave and tomb-like areas, that Lara likes to excavate her way through, have an overly large amount of dead bodies, skeletons and skulls. I think the interior decorator would of had to import all of these, as it definitely outnumbers the populous of the region. Even if they had been collecting for a few hundred years.
I'm fairly certain Lara's the strongest person alive and possibly an off-duty superhero. She has the finger grip of Spider-Man and the upper body strength of She-Hulk, combined with the healing abilities of Wolverine. Lara will go from severely injured, in one scene, to forgetting about it two minutes later and then jump an inhuman long distance into a cliff face. As a kid she seems capable of falling from the roof of her Manor, hitting and clinging to metal drain pipes as she slams her way to the ground... and doesn't even graze a knee. She's survived so many plane, boat and helicopter crashes that I think Lara could be Bruce Willis, in Unbreakable. I'm also fairly convinced that Lara can't die and embodies the abilities of Kenny McCormick. She seems to enjoy jumping to her death, as the moistened bint doesn't seem to like interpreting what inputs (I think) I'm doing. On the plus side, of this, death animations are still funny and dramatically overdone and made me wanna drown things.
Water, which also looks very pretty, has made a return and used far more often than the last two games. Yay, swimming sections. In certain areas, you can find pools of mud that Lara can cover herself in. Marketing would like you to think this new camo mechanic plays more of a role than it actually does. All this really does is allow Lara to hide up against a few extra surfaces, for stealth reasons. The density of the foliage is very impressive and has increased dramatically from the previous games so Lara can hide from enemies in an unsuspecting bush, up trees or up against some muddy hillside and use the jungle to her advantage. Stallone would be proud of her new stealthy Rambo knife kill animations. Lara is so stealth, that the enemy standing next to the person Lara is stabbing through the face has no idea that she's even there or that their friend is now missing. In a slightly odd justification, you gain experience points (XP) for killing humans and rare wildlife. A few of the common birds are worth 20 XP each, which soon adds up, so don't save the animals. Once you've gained enough XP you get a skill point to put into new skills. Much of the game and Skill system seem to be designed more for playing on the higher difficulties (One with the Jungle and Deadly Obsession) as most of the perks don't really give Lara much of an advantage, more just things to make playing less tedious. Like automatically looting dead enemies or being able to see traps with her Bat-Vision.
If you're a fan of the previous games, this is more of the same so you're likely to enjoy Lara's new outing. If you've not played one; I'd recommend picking up the Remaster of the 2013 Tomb Raider, it can be found really cheap now and is still a really good game and I'd personally rather play it over this one.
There’s no denying that The Big Bang Theory has become one of the most-watched shows in a while, so it was really no surprise when the spin-off Young Sheldon was announced.
The show follows TV’s favourite Sheldon Cooper, the unusually gifted child, and his family in Texas. Set in the 80’s, the show certainly has a nostalgic feel to it which, although isn’t anything original, does make it an easy and familiar watch.
The first few episodes of the series feel as though the show is still trying to figure out what exactly it wants to be, which frankly makes it quite awkward to watch. When I first started watching, there were a lot of moments that I really wanted to just turn it off and give up. It all felt a little bit forced and at times, very cringy. But, I persisted and well, it didn’t really get that much better.
The show doesn’t have an on-going plot, but instead just followed the characters through day-to-day life. This meant that there was nothing really compelling me to carry on watching. The characters don’t really develop throughout the series and, to be quite honest, Sheldon was easily the most annoying character in the show. Whilst his quirks and individuality are humorous in The Big Bang Theory, in Young Sheldon they just come across as weird and almost patronising. If he was my kid, I’d definitely consider putting him up for adoption. Considering he is our main man in this show, he’s nothing compared to his elder Jim Parsons. That being said, I don’t think this is a case of bad acting, more like bad writing.
One thing that will be enjoyable for fans of The Big Bang Theory is the hints and exploration of what made Sheldon Cooper the character that we have come to know and love (or hate). The show subtly nods back to its sister-show in a way that makes it accessible to a new audience, but also slightly more enjoyable for the experienced Big Bang Theory fan. Overall, I’d say this is probably one of the only things the show did well.
So, it’s safe to say that Young Sheldon certainly doesn’t have anything on The Big Bang Theory. Whilst the familiar, nostalgic feel had potential, the annoying characters and empty plot lines made this show unbearable. All I’ll say is, it’s a good job the episodes were so short.
I won’t be drawing any sort of comparison to the prior Ocean’s films. Ocean’s 8 does directly address the series, though I don’t feel that it’s necessary as it works as its own film, despite missteps. The titular eight characters are introduced rather - what I would unflatteringly describe as - efficiently. Establish current employment, show that they are unhappy in said employment, demonstrate their specific skills and how they yearn for one particular dream, enter Sandra Bullock.
Like I said, it’s efficient - quickly establishing who everyone is, and how they will be used - but clunky. Yet I’m not about to fault it for that, because we have eight people and a short amount of time to learn who they are and why they’re participating. Which brings to light the most important elements for this type of shared narrative: casting and chemistry. Excelling in these areas can, I’d argue, support a weak narrative, and certainly did for me here.
Ocean’s 8 is full of contrivances. In fact, the more I think about the logistics of the heist, the closer I get to a migraine. Whether or not the script could have been improved to a point where the heist could be outright believable, I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that I was along for the ride regardless. Where logic failed and dialogue grated, the charisma and chemistry between the characters made those flaws far less of a problem. It was when the heist was about to begin that I noticed my heartbeat; fast, very fast. Ocean’s 8 had won me over entirely. It successfully lined up the dominos, and as we moved into act three the first domino fell, and I fell with it.
Ocean’s 8 is far from flawless; the necessary elements to put the plan into motion are absurdly convenient, potential setbacks are contrived, and the dialogue fluctuates between naturalistic to robotic. And frankly, I didn’t care. As an ensemble piece, it accomplishes an energetic and inviting group dynamic that cannot be achieved through the script alone. The heist itself isn’t the selling point, and thank god for that because without the performances Ocean’s 8 would be a disaster.
A good Spider-Man game is about as common as a decent arch of the comics. They keep happening but only a few are worth the time. Neversoft had a good run back in the days of PSone and Treyarch managed to trump those, with their two Sam Raimi movie tie-in games and Ultimate, during the PS2 era. The earlier and following generation... not so much. Even the PS4 has already had a couple of bad Spider-Man games, by Beenox. With the reins now passed to Insomniac Games, (a company that seems to have gotten away with using A Perfect Circle's logo), best known for their excellent Rachet and Clank series, as well as Spyro the Dragon and Sunset Overdrive. Not wanting to tell another origin story, Treyarch approached Spider-Man from their own perspective, free from the restraints of the movies. Giving them the freedom to construct the story any way they wished. This is just as much a story of Peter Parker as it is of Spider-Man. You spend a surmountable time juggling his life between Spider-Man, Mary Jane, Aunt May and other. Peter has been Spider-Man for about eight years, so is quite experienced by this point. Mr Negative has taken issue with Norman Osborne, for reasons, so has resorted to people smuggling and mind control to exact his revenge. The story is surprisingly darker than I had expected, seeing as this is still Spider-Man and not The Punisher.
All the gameplay mechanics are Pick 'n' Mixed straight from other games. That's not necessarily a bad thing, when you're just stealing all the best parts and putting them together and adding Spiderman it seems unlikely that you could go wrong. If you've played any Ubisoft game, within the last ten years, then you already know how the map works. Spider-man's enemies, that seem to have enough income to abandon some big screen tv's and camera equipment all over the city, have left him a generous amount of side things to do scattered all over the place. The fighting is straight up lifted from the Batman Arkham combat model, that's basically used in every action game these days. Saying it's not quite as refined doesn't feel fair, as it's still very competent, it just doesn't feel quite as fluid as Batman. When Spidey gets hit, there are no "iframes" (invincibility frames) something most games use, without you realising it, to stop you getting your arse handed to you. So it's quite common for Spiderman to get out-numbered and beaten to death by a lame ass thug because you got caught off guard and have no time for recovery. They can just keep hitting him until he's down and out. And that doesn't really take too much. Another aspect you'll be fighting with is the camera. It'll often lock into a perspective leaving you with a disadvantage of not knowing where the enemies actually are. Use of QTE's, (quick time events) made famous in games such as Shenmue and God of War, seem a bit mundane when you can't really fail them. You can just mash the button until the prompt has lined up with its cue, as there's no penalty for pressing it repeatedly or too early. And sneaking missions just are never fun.
With the small amount of negativity out the way, all I have left is praise for Spider-Man. You know you're getting to the end of a console generation's lifespan when games start looking this good. The city is densely populated with cars and pedestrians. Obviously, they don't play any pivotal role, like a GTA, so AI is toned way back but it perfectly gives the illusion of a crowded city and people going about their lives. The amount of subtle detail in the world is also staggering, from Street level to the tops of buildings and spread over the size of Manhattan Island. Parkouring and swinging around the city is immensely fun to the point of ignoring the Story Missions in favour of doing all the other activities and exploring. The reflections, of the city around you, in the windows, as you pass by add to the illusion of the cities depth.
Something I always like is subtleties in character animation, and Spider-Man has a ton of them. From putting his hands out to touch walls to just making silly hand jesters at passers-by. There's also a button just purely for this. Do superheroes have to make a conscious effort to keep making hero poses? I'm a sucker for game water physics and Spidey's interaction with water surfaces is very satisfying, for something that isn't really needed in a Spider-Man game, the surface reacts to all his running and flipping about. Parker always talks to himself, like a crazy person, especially exposition. When he's communicating with others, via whatever headset his mask provides, there's a slight difference in his voice depending on if he's stationary or in the middle of a bit fight. I'm not sure what trick Treyarch have used to pull this off, but I'm interested to find out.
I'm slightly disappointed Insomniac didn't fit Bruce Campbell in there somewhere.
