Minecraft 1.8 Review

Yesterday a preview of Minecrafte 1.8 update was released. This is just an update you may think... Oh how wrong you are... Minecraft 1.8 is the long awaited Adventure update... Well, at least half of it. The full update is to be finished in 1.9. However this isn't just a new update. This is a new game essentially.

Markus Persson, Jebs Bergensten and the rest of the Mojang crew have been hard at work over the last few weeks as they prepared for possibly the biggest Minecraft update to date. Ranging from the small items, gates for fences, to the huge, ravines and abandoned mineshafts.

I've restarted my Minecraft career because a lot of these changes can't take place in areas already explored which was bad for me seeing as I have the habbit of exploring all the areas near my main one so my map looks nice and full. Doesn't bother me too much but it can't be helped. These new changes include, Rivers, Seas, New biomes (Areas such as swamps and mountainous) Ravines, valleys, bayou like forests and more. I'm personally avid over the mountainous biomes. It reminds me of the levels I had back in Alpha version 1.2.12, back when there was no real restrictions and each level was pretty dam nice looking.

One of my new levels, I have an air city behind that cliff now...

There are various tweaks and twists to already implemented features, such as an improved bow which you can charge up before firing. Chest animations, and an entirely new system of combat. Gone are the days where you could just charge into the night with a sword and 8 Cooked pork chops. There is the addition of the hunger bar which changes the way we all will have to fight. When our hunger bar is up high, we have health regeneration but when it's down low, it's just a waste of pixels to you. Food no longer heals you. It boosts up your hunger which in turn heals you over time. I can already hear an outcry of rage from people for Mojang "wrecking" combat in Minecraft. I think it's a great addition and puts more faith into actual strategy in combat making you properly choose your attacks instead of it being a competition of who can click fastest. Another big thing is the addition of NPC villages however the come with the lack of npcs for the time being. I'm not sure if they'll come with the official release date or with 1.9.

An underground cavern I found within a few minutes of starting 1.8

The Mojang team have also improved Speed and stability of the game itself. I have a laptop. It's a fast-ish one. It can run modern-ish games like Borderlands and shit pretty well. It had trouble running Minecraft before in terms of me not being able to enjoy having the graphics on fancy. Now I can run it on full power with no problem. The graphics and light systems have been improved aswell. There's also a creative mode for you guys who insist on using inventory editors in your levels and insist it's for creative purposes. You have infinite supplies and can fly etc.

Pretty sunrise is prettier from my new Skycity.

One of my favourite additions is the New main mob (I say main because of the fact that there's a new cave spider who has the ability to poison) which is the Enderman/Farlander. This new mob is hilariously fun and scary. Odd combination but I have had real fun trying to fuck around with this new long limbed foe and it's truly a good bit of fun. It has the characteristics of the weeping angel from Doctor Who who is frozen in place if you're looking at it and as soon as you look away it can kill you in a matter of seconds. The Enderman is friendly at first HOWEVER as soon as your cross hair lands upon him, he looks at you with a terrifying gaze. The moment your cross hair moves... prepare yourself for a battle with a teleporting paedophile (They just seem like that to me what with their creepy zombie noises and long limbs).

Please prepare your anus for a raping.

I have probably left out a lot of important things mainly due to the fact there is just so much to talk about and for that, i'm sorry.

This trailer shows exactly what the update is like ^

So overall what did I think?

Showing the new bow and other items like food and XP bar.

This isn't an update. This is a new GAME. It's spectacular. It's changed what Minecraft is for the better. It's just brilliant. However it isn't without it's faults. This is only an early release. Places like npc villages and the mineshafts tend to be very buggy in the sense that they don't form properly for a variety of reasons. If you have yet to download it, here is the link from the official Minecraft Forums http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/214-want-to-play-18-early-heres-how/. Or you can wait 'till the 12th. Your call. Either way Mojang have just shot way up in my book.

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Garrys Mod review

Well in terms of reviews i've been pretty dry lately. I haven't been able to do much Blarg wise because of other projects and lack of games I'm willing to review but anyway, I'm back, have a few reviews planned so let's get this show on the road.

Garrys mod is a new game created by PC Powerhouse Valve. How to explain Garrys Mod. Well, it isn't really that easy. Think of it this way. Imagine Bethesda created a game where you could drag random bits of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls universe and put them together to make whatever you want. This is what Garrys mod is apart from instead of Bethesda games they're Valve games. Meaning, you can actually use decent games and a be free from glitches and crashes. So essentially I could drag out a Manhack from Half Life and then blow it up with a Shoop da whoop like laser.

When you get Garrys mod for its low low price, you get the half life kit free and a variety of random content. You also get the "Toybox". It's essentially a folder of items created by your fellow players you can use in your level. These include maps, Guns etc. Today I killed 10 combine soldiers with a 300 Sparta Kick. There are LITERALLY infinite possibilities. Among my other creations are a couch with 100 baloons in an attempt to recreate "UP". I made a Gunship out of the air boat from half life.

So much for brotherly love...

Even when you're "finished" with some of the materials, Garrys mod picks up any Valve content on your computer and adds them in. For example, It picked out my Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2 and now I can use them too.

The Following video is essentially a showcase of what Garrys Mod can do. (It is a bit NSFW)

The multiplayer is DEFINITLY something to shout about. A lot of modded game modes are available, My personal favourite is called "Smash". The object of the game to avoid cannonballs being shot ( Which destroy the Stands you and your team-mates are on) survive and win. I see this game as a more in depth 3D Little Big Planet. If you enjoy open sandbox games like LBP or Minecraft, you'll fall in love with this.

Don't read too much into it...

So what did I like and dislike?

Liked

1. Amazing depth of building inventions
2. Loads content from other games
3. Amazing Multiplayer
4. Endless Possibilities
5. Very Cheap price of 10 euro (For all the stuff you get, it's fecking worth it.)

Disliked

1. Lack of tutorials which made it hard for me to start off.

This game gets a 9/10. It's spectacular and it's no surprise it's made it to the glory it has. Another home run for indie gaming.

My actual reaction to Garrys mod ^

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Old World Blues Review

Well Fallout fans, another New Vegas expansion has touched down, this one entitled Old World Blues. I played and completed it and just thought i'd let you know what I thought

Story:

The story of Old World Blues takes your character to the Big MT (Or big mountain or big Empty whatever you want to call it). You are to rescue a group of scientists from pre war America, who survive as brains in jars, from an ex-member of their group Dr. Mobius. However you have been lobotomized, heartisized and spinisized ( I may have made up the last two terms but to put it simply they took your brain,heart and spine). However you can't get you're brain back because DON DON DOOOOOONNNN they flushed it down the toilet and it's now in Mobiuss hands. The brains enlist your help to stop Mobius and so on and so forth.

While great at science, The think tanks knowledge on various things is...er...lacking...

The story in this? Possibly the most interesting of the New Vegas DLC's and DEFINITLY the most funniest of all Fallout Dlcs. The opening dialogue with the various scientists was pure hilarity, at least if you enjoy the random idiocy humour in Fallout. In the first hour I

• Had my toes and fingers mistaken from crazy irect penises
• Was given an idea about Penis size
• Found a Robo-sexuality easter egg (At least I think it relates to the Robo-sexuality episode of Futurama)
• Had a robot ermm.... sexually relieve itself onto a gun of mine
• Had a robot sexually relieve itself over my characters breathing in and out

While these may sound like crude sex jokes that rival Duke Nukem Forevers humour it's way off. Imagine Portals intelligent humour mixed with idiotic robotic humour (So a sexually confused group of Wheatleys then).

This is the VERY robot who... sexually relieved herself from my breathing. Here's a snippet from the Fallout Wiki : "Dala has a fascination with the human body, and after a Perception speech check she will admit to wanting to watch the Courier breathe. During the initial meeting with her and the other scientist upon entering The Think Tank, she will make a number of obscure to not so obscure sexual references, including several concerning female masturbation."

New Content:

The Big MT is a VERY large area. From the looks of things I'd say it's slightly smaller than what Point Lookout was which is still VERY big. There's various locations and unmarked ones. There's a lot of new weapons and armour included. Mainly this is Energy weapon related ( I assume to combat the regular guns and melee weapons of Honest Hearts). My favourite item is the Stealth Suit Mk. 3. There are various challenges hidden throughout the big MT which will upgrade selected items in your inventory. E.g. When testing the stealth armour it gives you a small sneaking boost and by the end it gives you a colossal sneaking boost. There is also a new house on offer to you in the Big MT which can include private shops, gun mods, doctors, hair dressers and of course storage space.

Nothing to lose your head over....(I chuckled at it...)

On a side note the patch that includes the compatability for the DLC has greatly improved playback. In the whole play through I only froze twice and one of them was back in the wasteland which is a huge boost compared to the horrific crash and full on ps3 data corruption I got from Honest Hearts.

Crazy huge machine gun... Check

So overall what did I think and where did it place in my Fallout DLC list?

This was definitly the best written one, in terms of comedy that is but it does have a good enough story line. The new items were great and can see myself returning here for various slaughtering of the local populace (The bad guys not the good guys)

This gets a 8.5/10 for a dlc.

The reasons being that it still had freezes and occasional lag, something which Obsidian/Bethesda although they say do it and stop freezing and lag, can't actually do but it still was entertaining all around. In terms of where it places in my favourite DLC from Fallout

1. Point Lookout
2. Broken Steel/Old World Blues
3. Broken Steel/ Old World Blues
4. The Pitt
5. Dead Money

So you can see that I enjoyed this A LOT. Until next time ;)

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review

Well, it's been a series i've known for 10 years, A series that has wowed me with it's books and a series whose movies have forced me to leave the cinema, and demand my money back, from sheer rage. Harry Potters final movie has just come out and on Saturday night, Paul, Adam, a few more friends and Myself went to see it in 3D.

Personally I wasn't looking forward to this film. I was so horrified from my experience of the shittest book to movie film that was the Half Blood Prince, my faith in the series was rattled to its core. However I felt I should witness this films last hurrah.

Harry uncovers a surpressed memory he had with Voldemort which relates to what priests are known for doing.

One of the first things that made me want to NOT go see this was the fact that Deathly Hallows Part 1 led up to the last fifth of the book, leaving only the final fight scene. I personally didn't find it to appealling the fact that they would essentially be going to Gringotts and then climactic battle. However, I wasn't dissapointed. For once the films manage to do a decent battle affair and i've heard people associating the final battle scene with that of Helms Deep and Minas Tirith from Lord of The Rings. They weren't too far off it I think (especially seeing as how Jk Rowling stole so much random things from Lord of The Rings (Also I couldn't help but notice an anti jewish reference, Griphook the goblin is small, big nosed, big eared, Tries to back stab everyone, tight with money and wears striped pyjamas) ). The battle scenes were exciting and had the old brand of Harry Potter humour, which had a lot of the cinema chuckling. They changed a large amount of the book around but for once it worked and take it from me, a person who read all the books, It worked and came out even better than the books. The 3 page climactic battle with Harry Vs. Voldemort turns into an amazing 10 minute or so battle sequence.

Not a picture from Soviet Russian occupied state Ukraine but infact one of Neville LongBottom

As I said, We went to see this film in 3D. I had to nearly break Adams arm to force him to see it in 3D using the main point of seeing Emma Watson in 3D. The effects were hard to tell I thought personally. I was expecting spells flying out of the screen, flying debris and such but got little of what I was hoping for which was a bit dissapointing. The special effects however were amazing. One of the highlights for me is when Professor McGonnagal transfigures all the schools statues to fight for the school and we have Stone warriors leaping from the roof to make a last stand on the bridge.

The acting was, as usual, great for it's film apart from one scene where it appears that Daniel Radcliffe can't even jerk one itty bitty little tear. The scene I'm referring to is when he finds out about the death of 3 main characters. He quite literally stands there staring at the bodies and zombies away un-emotionally.

So overall what did I think?

Pros:

1. Great Special Effects
2. Changed book around for the better
3. Great acting from all but Radcliffe. (Hopefully he'll have learned to cry seeing as I can't see anyone else hiring such an over hyped quack)
4. Amazing battle scenes

Cons:

1. Radcliffes acting
2. Dissapointing 3D

Overall this would get 7.5/10 from me.

It was a great ending to an average series (I seriously cannot stress how awful Half Blood Prince was. Worse movie i've ever seen)

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Driven to the Brink of Insanity: Brink Review

Before I begin, I have one thing I have to say............ I'M BACK BABY ! I've finished my last ever school exams and have graduated ! So, with that out of the way, lets get this review started.

When I first heard about Brink I had high expectations for it. I also had a long time to wait before I was able to play it. Got it for my birthday and had to wait till the end of my exams before I could try it. After waiting 23 days to play it, I was expecting to be blown away. Well, lets find out what I thought of it.

Story
The story of this game is of a civilization that lives on the Ark, the last Bastion of Humanity which is a floating city anchored in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.  Once known as an oceanic paradise, civil war has broken out and you must choose a side to play as. You can join the Resistence and revolt against the Security force or join the Security force and stop the Revolution.

Gameplay
To me, this game was looking pretty good but as it sometimes turns out, looks can be deceiving. The campaign did not turn out the way I expected it to. Each mission of the campaign consists of primary and secondary objectives. Now your first primary objective could be to defend a certain position for a set amount of time. If you do this successfully you can complete the mission right away. But if you fail you'll be given another objective to do. Completing secondary objectives can help with your primary mission but throughout my time playing, I never got the chance to complete these objectives.

The movement in the game itself is not as smooth as it could be. While sprinting you will autamatically jump over any obstacles and if you encounter an obstacle that is the same height as your character, you can either crouch under it the old school way or you can sprint towards it, press crouch and slide underneath it. The movement speed itself is perhaps a bit too slow for my liking, kind of annoying, for me at least.

Really Annoying Things
One of the things that really annoyed me was something that I never anticipated. Every mission has a time limit ! If you fail to complete your objectives it's Game Over. There are no checkpoints. Once you run out of time, you must play through that mission from the very beginning ! Now this I found to be my main reason for not liking this game. And the difficulty balancing is a good bit off too.

You have three difficulty settings; Easy, Normal and Hard. Now I'm no stranger to playing games on their hardest difficulty settings, but when you're getting your ass whooped by the AI on the Normal setting, something has to be wrong. Seriously, they have pin point accuracy and are able to knock you down with a melee attack and finish you off before you have time to react. Ridiculous !

Graphics and Music
The graphics are decent enough. It's another game that is following in the graphical steps of Crackdown and Borderlands with the cell shady look.

Where the music is concerned, I never really paid attention to it, which is strange for me. Guess I just got too annoyed with what was going on that the only thing I could hear was my own expletives in complaint of what just happened to me.

Overall:
My final verdict on this game is that I would NOT reccommend it. The amount of customisation is definately something I'd love to see in other games, aswell as the 8 player co-op. It's just the rest of the game that really lets it down.

                                              This game gets a low 4.0/ 10 

A very dissapointing game.

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Infamous 2 review

The version of Infamous 2 (Special Edition) that I was given instead of my STD. from my Local gamestop, Contains free infamous 2 DLC and Uncharted 3 beta

Infamous, the brilliant superhero/villain title that won over our hearts in 2009, is back and better than ever in it's sequel Infamous 2. Infamous 2 takes off after Cole McGrath as he, his buddy Zeke "Jedidiah" Dunbar and a new character, agent Kuo take off for the sleazy paradise New Marais, a rip off of New Orleans. They are fleeing what was described only as the Beast, a huge monstrosity of power which obliterated Empire City in the blink of an eye. As they make their way down the countrys edge, the beast is hot on their tail. Cole meets Dr. Wolfe, a scientist who believes he may have the only thing capable of stopping the beast, the RFI or Ray field Inhibitor. However he needs 7 blast cores. To keep Cole occupied as he gathers, he also must defend himself against a man named Bertrand, a high roller in new Marais with great influence over the hicks and inbreds from the swamp lands. Cole must use his powers to cut Bertrand down and defend the city of New Marais from the oncoming storm that is the beast.

Story: Well Infamous 2 takes place not too long after Infamous 1, the city began to rebuild itself after the damage the first sons and Kessler did to it. Cole, Zeke and Kuo are about to leave the city when, DON DON DONNNNNNNNNNNNN the Beast appears. Cole attempts to protect the city however is easily beaten and is forced to retreat, Cole heads to New Marais, to meet with Dr. Wolfe, a man who is believed to hold the key to beating the Beast. Sucker Punch did not take Coles powers away like nearly every other series does *HACKING COUGH* GOD OF WAR *HACKING COUGH*. However Bertrands men attacks the good Doctors lab and blast shards and cores alike are sent all over the place. Cole is forced to gather these items to grow stronger. During his travels Cole unlocks new powers meets new people and enemies and so on, I don't want to spoil much of the story.

Zeke and Cole overlooking New Marais

If you were to compare the story of Infamous 1 to Infamous 2, Infamous 1 would have the more BIGGER twists, turns and shock moments, however I enjoyed Infamous 2s plot more. The reason being was it went on longer without being stretched too far and being made bland. The game kept you interested with new abilities and monsters. The story also introduces a sort of a love triangle between Kuo who is later revealed to be an Ice conduit and Nix who is a fire conduit and Cole. So there is lots to keep you hooked and thankfully there is no Moya and Trish calling you a bastard despite the fact you can go above and beyond the call of duty. The ending in Infamous 2 lives up to what Infamous 1 had. Prepare tissue boxes for Manly or lady tears... At least if you play it with Good Karma the whole way like me.

Cole being all Cole and Kuo being all... not very sexy really...

Gameplay:

Gameplay in Infamous 2 has been completly revolutionized. We get a better free running engine, New powers depending on your Karma and no I don't mean the two crappy main ones you got in infamous 1, I'm talking about a completly new move set, Fire ( evil) and Ice (Good) that depends on your karma. Melee combat is also WAY better than the original seeing as you could go an entire game in Infamous and not hit anyone because of junkies, homeless people and guys in heavy armour (Who we all know can run very fast (Super sarcasm)). In this game they made melee amazing. Zeke crafts for you a new weapon called the AMP which is basically an oversized tuning fork which has a high voltage running through it. Fences are now climbable and for the first time you take advantage of this, you get a trophy.

Kuo being all sexy with ice and Cole just being Cole

A really important inclusion was that of the mission create mode where you can, well, create your own missions. I was personally blown back when I heard of this. Never before has a super hero game ever had something like this. I've given a few of them ago and just had a quick flick through with the options and I have to say it came out brilliantly in terms of layout and being able to have things to do. Karma doesn't have as much of an impact, besides being able to choose your own powers, as it did in Infamous 1. In infamous 1 people put up posters and everything about you but in this game however it's rare to see people applauding you as you run down the street. However a lot of mini challenges have been added to help people change karma quicker e.g . halting a mugging or kidnapping or for the sadists in us, beating people up for shards or killing people protesting about you. Destructible terrain has also been added allowing new ways for you to kill Bertrands minions and the corrupted. The map too has been improved as it's no longer the recycled crap mass of concrete that there was in Infamous 1 and the sectors can REALLY be told apart. There's even a whole new Orleans flood section (Well the game is meant to be set there). The one flaw I had with the game is the camera. It was the only thing that didn't get an improvement from Infamous 1.

Continue to glide with your static thrusters like a BAUS

Graphics and Music:

The graphics have greatly improved in this game. People no longer run as if they have a desperate need to use the toilet, building are textured better, lighting is much better. general animations for people are better. It really looks like they put a huge amount of effort into this game. Really small details do make a huge improvement, whether it's paint peeling off the walls or water splashing as people fall in. As with Infamous 1, music isn't THAT big in the game. From what there was though, it was an amazing original score, which only made it worse that it wasn't around all the time.

Nix, The fire conduit who is just generally evil.

Overall:

Overall I absoultely ADORED this game. It fixed all the flaws it had besides the camera.

The story was spiced up, I loved the characters both old and new. Loved the graphics, loved the mission create . This game is possibly the best PS exclusive out there in my opinion. It beats Little Big Planet 2 anyway.

This game is getting a well deserved 9.5

The only main flaw I found was the dodgy camera. It is possibly my GOTY so far. Narrowly beating Portal 2, LBP2 and Heavy Rain. We shall see at Christmas if it has been beaten

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Driver Parallel Lines: Review

Driver, the driving game series that I have spent the majority of my virtual street racing life playing. The game normally puts you under control of Tanner, an under-cover cop. However this game decided to break with the trend and bring out a new driver ,T.K. Set in 1970's and 2000's New York you better fasten your seatbelts.

Story:

If you're a fan of Driver, you should already know that story is a minimal feature in the games and that VERY little is placed on it and in fact what draws a lot of people to the game itself is it's LEGENDARY take a ride mode where you travel around cities you like. The story in Driver Parallel lines is...well... possibly the worst story i've ever encountered in my life. It makes no sense about making no sense (See it's rubbed off on me as well). The game opens pleasently enough with T.K doing a mission in '70's "New York" with some Blondie music blaring in the background. Then it does mini mission after mini mission and then suddenly i'm in New York 30 years later. I personally don't get it. I was playing through the game normally enough went away and the games yellow hud has changed to an ugly blue and my character is in his 60s. Maybe the PC version was missing missions but I personally don't understand how I could miss such a HUGE leap in the story.

Gameplay:

Driver has always been known for it's amazing driving engine, although not known well, it was nearly always better than the driving in GTA. The whole car system has been completly revolutionized with changing tires, suspension and such allowing for experiments to get the car that's perfect for you easily... as long as you have the cash. Any car you pick up and store in a garage can later be used, repaired, cleared of felony or customized. However I strongly disliked the whole custom body kits, which gave some bitching bodies to cars but covered them with hideous paint job. The cars as usual have excellent precision and driving capabilities with the engine being even more accurate it can allow even a new player to quickly master the controls and being timing jumps right and making use of the hand brake to avoid the police, who have greatly evolved since the cops of Driv3r who made me see what it would be like if a mentally deranged squirell were behind the wheel. Also cop chases are now more expansive in terms of more frequent road blocks, more cars in a chase and helicopters in the sky. The Felony system has had it's sensitivity reduced, now when you crash a car into a wall the police won't go red alert on your ass.

Violence has nearly always been kept to a minimum in Driver. In the early drivers you just couldn't hit peds with your car. In driver 3 they drought in guns which were awful all around, however it was their first time so it was passable in terms of that. Driver PL changes the weapons set around and introduced auto targeting to the mix. However they share the same buttons no matter what so it makes it impossible to do my favourite move to police ( Do a 180 turn and shoot out their wheels while reversing). It always locks onto the enemies themselves and if you're unlucky they can wreck themselves into a nice impenetrable package. Jumping was removed as well for no reason that I can see. It wasn't that good in Driv3r but it was handy. There have been so many times that my character has been bested by a tiny 2 foot wall. It's my Runescape days all over again....

Swimming, another key point of Driv3r was stolen as well and if you have played Driv3r i'm pretty sure that you can work out your self that means NO boats. While the boats weren't something I used often and WERE something that was horrifically bugged such as the lack of police boats ever appearing on my PS2 and PC versions it still would've been nice to take a poat out around the Hudson Bay.

Take a ride has been removed and so have driving games and have been rolled together with the campaign for one big super open world.

Graphics and Music:

The graphics in this game have taken a huge leap up from what was in Driv3r. New textures were brought in, windows didn't keep the same animation when smashed, more detail but into simple things. These new graphics did make a good change and made the slo-mo car jumps over roads, ditches or rivers all the more enjoyable. The music was barely passable. For once Driver got with the times and put in a radio station instead of crappy OST in each game. The music in the 70's was alright with a few songs getting my nerve. The music in the 2000's made me want to cut myself. Seriously when did driving music become trance and dance music? There was only one song I liked which is the alternate rock song, Oh My God by the Kaiser Chiefs. If I recall, people use Powered Rock Ballads from bands like Motley Crue, AC/DC and White Snake. Sure it is meant to be the 2000's so those wouldn't be really fitting seeing as AC/DC are the only ones still writing new tunes but their new stuff would be suitable, Bands like Motorhead, Disturbed, Foo Fighters, Kiss and so on would've been so much better. I've found myself muting the music in the game and turning on either the Brutal Legend soundtrack or some general rock songs to keep my sanity.

So in conclusion

What I liked:

Improved Graphics

Setting of 1970s New York

Better car customization and driving engine.

Open world with missions

Better police

What I disliked

Seeming irregular story,

Music

Guns

Boats missing

Jumping Missing

Glitches

So what did I think overall? This game gets a

4.5 /10

This game is barely even worth pirating, which i'm glad I did first because it definitly isn't worth any price north of €5,00. A lot of the good features of it were removed making it generally un-enjoyable or just plain irritating.

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Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Metal Gear Solid. The Tactical Espionage game that has sucked in fans around the world and has never let go. This may be out 3 years nearly but I recently picked it up again and thought i'd review it. Metal Gear Solid 4 was released 10 years after MGS1 and 20 years after the original Metal Gear which started the franchise. This game is the final in the main franchise and boy did Kojima deliver in giving Solid Snake a heroic send off. Set in the year 2014, Solid Snake has been brought in to assassinate his brother Liquid Snake. Liquid has taken control of the worlds military powers and has sent the world into near 24 hour war. Well here's my review.

Story:

Well the first thing that people should know is, Snake isn't a young man anymore and it isn't just because the game secretly advanced decades between the 5 years that MGS2 and MGS4 were separated. This is later explained to be his cells deteriorating seeing as he is just a clone of Big Boss. The game isn't just set in one big area which is just replayed over and over again like the Big Shell in MGS2 and Shadow Moses in MGS1. MGS4 is set in 5 unique areas, The Middle East, Papua New Guinea, Eastern Europe (Based on Czech Republic according to credits), Shadow Moses and Arsenal Gear.

The world has been plunged into eternal war, mainly thanks to Liquid Snake controlling a large amount of the worlds PMC groups and his want to stomp out all resistance. Snake is charged with killing Liquid and heads to the Middle East to kill him however as the game progresses and more and more twists undo, we learn that after years of killing Weapons of Mass Destruction, Snake is turning into one. The Fox Die virus that Naomi Hunter inserted into him in MGS1s receptors are breaking down as he ages, in simple terms, when the receptors go, The virus kills anyone regardless of genetic code. I don't want to say much more about this story but it is truly fantastic. Many characters return for one last pow-wow, Meryl Silverburgh, Johnny Sassaki (The guy who has made some form of appearance in each game and then preceeds to shit himself Johnny), Otacon and Colnel Campbell of course are back. Various boss's return in some form and more. The story truly is gripping and if you've been a fan of the MGS series for a while it's nearly impossible not to crack a tear at the end.

GAME-PLAY: With each installment of the Metal Gear franchise, more and more elements were brought in which revolutionised our tactical espionage experience. In Metal Gear 2, they introduced FPS and area damage (e.g. Radios breaking when shot, kneepcaps being shot, Hold ups). Metal Gear 3 they introduced camouflage and stamina and CQC (Close Quarter Combat) and in Metal Gear 4? They revolutionized what revolutionized means...

All these features return with so much more it's surprising they could even fit it on one Blu Ray with everything else.

One new addition is the "Drebin Shop". Drebin is a gun launderer you meet in the opening minutes of the game who agrees to unlock weapons which have ID locks on them and sell you ammo and buy extra guns back off you. Weapon customization has been all out renovated with about 80% of weapons being able to have customizations such as scopes, laser sites, grenade launchers, lights, masterkeys, grips, silencers and more. Camouflage returns in the 'guise of the Octocamo, a sneaking suit which mimics the terrain around you to make you get the most out of your camouflage. There's so much variation in terrain that I find it nearly impossible how they could've ever done it, it also gives you the opportunity to play as other characters by turning on the face camo and playing as young snake, Raiden, the bosses and more and it's possible to use codes and using your ability to scan levels to unlock extra outfits such as militia outfits, tuxedo and Altairs traditional garb from Assassins Creed 1. There is even more though, if you find some unique camo you can store it for easy access. There are other features like the Solid Eye, which acts as you're radar, NVG and Thermal goggles for this game.

Weapons have more than octupled in this game so you're never stuck for choice whether you want to go primitive with a sawed-off shotgun or high-tech with a rail-gun you can find the gun that's right for you. The Metal Gear brand of Comedy returns and there's a lot of it. For instance when you're in Shadow Moses and arrive at the location where in the middle of MGS1 you had to change discs Otacon calls you up and an amusing conversation starts up (see below)

There is so much more that you can do but i'll let you guys find that for yourselves.

Graphics and Music: It's obvious that the PS3 has better hardware but the Xbox has far better online (Only highlighted by the recent psn outage), but because this is exclusive, Konami was able to pump as much as they can into this Blu-Ray disc and it was mind-blowing. Transition from CGI to normal isn't even noticeable and the textures on things like grass and guns really do look amazing. MGS returns with another OST but this time with an "Ipod" feature where you can play songs from the Classic games, Whether it's MG1 or MGS1 you'll be satisfied with the wide array of songs. The originals though are as always brilliant and done really well for what ever the mood may be.

Other: In the extended edition of Metal Gear Solid 3, Snake Eater (Subsistence) there was a multiplayer option, this has been introduced to MGS4. I don't like it. Metal Gear I think, isn't really a game you CAN make an online with. You may be able to down the line but this part is just a waste of space on my Ps3s hard drive. There are many flaws with it such as making a friendly game with friends being impossible. The community too is a big reason why I hate it, even though it's not necessarily Konamis fault it's just that a lot of people like to report people for abuse if they do better than them, Not all players do this, but a lot of them do. There is one advantage to having this game get an online feature. By typing in passwords in the online menu you can get yourself new shit for single player, such as a free scoped Desert Eagle, a Patriot (The smg with infinite ammo from MGS3) and various camo and weapons with special abilities

Verdict: Well this was the last of the main Metal Gear games and they have given Snake a truly heroic send-off. This isn't just a game to me, it's in fact one of the best games I've ever played and even makes my top 3. It was one of the reasons I chose a ps3 when I was looking to advance in hardware and it was worth it. It was also worth the 12 play-throughs on my main save file.

It truly is amazing and I whole heartedly recommend it. Well done Snake, You've earned your rest :')

Liked:

• Amazing Story
• Amazing Game-play
• Amazing Graphics and Music
• Retention of original Metal Gear games
• Easter Eggs and character Comebacks.

Disliked:

• MGO

If this game came with a decent online, it could have done SO much better. But I just can't give this game the 10 it deserves for it's offline play because of it so It' gets a

9.25/10

If you have a PS3 and DON'T buy this then it's safe to assume you're going to hell :P. Until next time,

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Thor Movie Review

Well last night I went to see Thor with a friend of mine. I never really cared much for Thor but being a general fan of Marvel I did know of him. This is the first of the big super hero movies released this summer and here's my review of it.

A pic of the Ice Giants

Thor is the about the Norse God of Thunder from the land of Asgard. Thor grew up alongside his brother Loki while being thought the methods of being a good king from his father Odin (or his All father I should say... yes it was a very bad pun). I'm a huge fan of Mythology from Egyptian to Greek and of course the Norse so this did seem interesting in terms of a film. When it comes to Thors ascension day to become the new All Father, an unexpected attack from the Ice Giants happens as they try and steal the Cradle the source of their power. However Odin saves the day with the flick of a wrist and this doesn't go down well with Thor that his big day was ruined. So with the help of his friends and his brother Loki he invaded the Ice Giant stronghold of Jotenheim. Thor moves to attack them, throwing his hammer, Mjolnir, into the face of anyone who came near but was soon pushed back to the edges of a cliff. However at the last second Odin saves him but for starting a new war with the Ice Giants Thor is exiled to Earth and had Mjolnir removed until it found him worthy. Well that's enough spoilers.

Loki who is played by Tom Hiddleston

This movie really set up the Avengers movie for next year. Agent Coulson from the Iron Man movies returns along with Nick Fury and more. The cast personally for me, I had heard of barely any of them before but they did deliver. The 3D in this movie was spectacular, nothing is cooler than seeing an Ice Giants head explode in slo-mo as a big-ass hammer flies through it's head towards you. I loved all the Norse references e.g. Folstag (Who funnily enough was an Ice Giant himself in traditional mythology), The Einerjhar was awesome too and the special effects that was done for him. The realm of Asgard too was a mind fuck. Sailing through an epic golden city in 3D was even better than the Hallelujiah mountains in Avatar, no joke.

A pic of Odins throne in Asgard

The script was brilliant. The writers managed to deliver an amazing action script with a comedic twist which couldn't have been done without the amazing actors performances especially by Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Anthony Hopkins (Odin). I loved all the little Viking references e.g. The scene in the coffee shop. There was also an amazing original sound track. This is one that i'm definitely going to buy.

Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Natalie Portman (Jane)

But the question is, how does it stand against the original Marvel movies? Hulk movie (well who could call that a movie) Fantastic 4, Spiderman, Iron Man, X-Men and such. I think it's up at the top with the big boys. It's all a matter of opinion as to what it could be equal to, greater or less than but for me it's possibly the best or it could be tied with Iron Man, i'm still not sure. It'd definitly been the best movie I've seen so far this year and i've seen a few e.g Tron, Jackass 3D, Rango. What did I like/Dislike about this;

I liked ;

1. The great witty script
2. All the actors performances
3. Nordic references (especially Eihnerjar)
4. The music
5. The 3D and Special Effects

What I disliked :

1. Nothing, nothing at all...

This movie was near epic and has got me seriously excited about the Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avenger movie, One big ass super sequel of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America etc.

This gets 5 stars, 10/10, two thumbs up, 100%.

I just can't find any flaws and have been looking for them but I enjoyed every second. If I didn't convince you to see this, check out this trailer:

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Portal 2 review

The past few weeks, a friend of mine was going mental over a new game that was meant to be coming out. This was Portal 2. I never heard of Portal before he became excited by it. It wasn't just him. A large amount of gamer friends on Facebook were all going mental over it. So I decided to download the first one. Portal 1 was great and I was really enjoying my play through of it... that was until I got to level 18 and found out that was the second last level. For a game I spent about an hour and a half on, it'd seem maddening that anyone would want to pay more than €20 on it. I left the Portal fanbase and deleted 1 from my Laptop. I didn't want 2 gigs of space being taken up by it. Then came the Portal 2 release date. More Portal spam for me then. Everyone was going game of the year, game of the year. I didn't get how a game could have improved so much. IGN was giving it high scores as was the community. Then after an hour of being bombarded with a friend telling me to play it, I downloaded it. This is my verdict...

Portal is about a woman named "Chelle", who has to participate in scientific testing in the "Arperture" science labs using portal technology. The technology in question is a gun, which allows you to fire portals to create new pathways for yourself and or objects. You must traverse through various test chambers with the sometimes questionable help of Wheatley, an Enclave Eye bot like robot ball. However all dosen't go to plan as Glados, the villain controlling Arperture in the first game is resurrected making escape from the facility by Chelle and Wheatley much more difficult. There isn't too much of an "Epic" story, It's no Red Dead, Final Fantasy or Bioshock but it is well written. There are a few twists but that isn't where it's quality comes from. The script is a comedy based one with very good jokes thrown in, even the blue screen of death makes an appearance at one point. I suppose this came down to having Stephen Merchant (Wheatley, also known for the Office (English Version)) play a part in it as he is a writer himself. J.K Simmons is also in it who is known better as the editor of the Daily Bugle in the Spiderman movies, J. Jonah Jameson.

The music is really well done. It's a unusual twist as to what soundtracks usually are. It's filled with Techno music. Not such a high pitched loola who's idea of music is chipmunks singing. It's techno in term of high tech computer noises which really add to the futuristic feel of the game. The music also changes depending on the situation. It gets more fast paced if you're detected by enemy robots or hurtling through the sky which I really liked.

Now as I said, the idea of Portal is that it's a puzzle game where you use a portal gun to open path ways previously un-reachable. It was simple in the first game seeing as there was only you and the occasional cube that passed through it. However in this game there is force fields, magnetic fields, repulsion fields, Blue bouncy goo, Orange speedy glue and white portal amplification goo which only makes puzzle results more varied and the puzzles themselves more difficult. Earlier on I mentioned how I rejected Portal one for the insanely short length of it. Portal 2 has fixed that tremendously. The length has gone from 1 and a half hours to 9 times the length of the original. So that aspect of the game-play was fixed. There is one thing I didn't like about the game that I didn't like in Portal 1. The camera. The camera in this game is the worst i've seen in a long time. People are probably confused as to how a first person game can have a bad camera. When jumping through Portals I found it flew around uncontrollably and really just made it awkward to play.

So in conclusion, what did I like/ dislike about this game see below...

What I liked

1. Comedic Script
2. Ingenious yet simple idea
3. After 9 hours keeps you interested
4. Good story with plenty twists

What I disliked8

1. Camera is still messed up (IMO)

This game was truly great and has completly changed my opinion about the Portal franchise after the bad taste Portal 1 left in my mouth. The game lured me in with it's hilarious script that was lurking around in the portal 1 script. This is a great game and I will be buying it for my ps3 ASAP

This game is getting a

9/10

I don't want to jump on the band wagon but everyone is giving this game close to 8 to 9 out of 10 and I agree. It's B-R-illiant.

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