Soul Calibur V Review

Soul Calibur V was a game I was highly looking forward too this year. Being a strong fan of the series and fighting games all together, I was overjoyed (Read: Punching people in the face excited) to hear that they would  be adding a new addition to the series. And with V, I was praying the Maker that they would rectify that atrocious Soul Calibur game released on Wii that I had the misfortune of playing. With my fingers firmly crossed and lounge room cleared of any breakable objects that could be thrown in a fit of She-Hulk gaming rage, I delved in.

First and foremost, the graphics in SC are brilliant. Not the best if compared to certain RPGS and FPS released lately, there is no realism in sight, everything is bright, vibrant and over exaggerated. But it works for fighting games and it works for SC. Each level and environment featured on the game is so incredible, filled with depth and many thing's happening in the background while you are fighting.I may or may not have gotten distracted with some levels as I was too busy paying attention to every minor detail. The levels are also interactive, throw your opponent against a wall and if your lucky it could open up, expanding the level and new dangers that could earn you an early death.

The game's menu I had monumental trouble with, and spent a very good amount of time trying to figure what the heck some thing's were and where other things were hiding. Of course, I'm this problem could have been avoided if I read the book, but who has time for that?

If you have played previous Soul Calibur games, you would know Story mode is a fantastic and fun mode where you choose a specific character to fight as, experiencing their story and what brought them to fight for the right to wield (or destroy) the sword known through the land as Soul Edge. Well, get that thought and any story you have in your head made up about certain characters out of your head right now! Soul Calibur V has shockingly taken that feature away and have made story mode a journey where you play as previous SC favourite Sophitia's children on a quest to find one another and find out what the heck is going on.
The story was boring for me, I have yet to fully complete, though pretty close to it. And cant seem to bring myself to even be bothered. Cutscenes are cut up between the normal, cgi cutscenes to cutscenes that are something that would make art fans drool. Music and voice actors shined in the game, with each character brought to life. The music featured in each level was amazing as well, adding to the atmosphere, while character themes really managed to capture each character well. I think I've abused both Tira and Viola's theme songs, they are such a wonderful pleasure for my ears.

Soul Caliburs controls, like most fighting games, can either be simple or hard to figure and adjust too. I had a horrible time trying to remember each characters moves and the fact the moves were shown in letters rather than buttons on the move list was not helping my memory dilemma. Being a mutton masher at heart, there was little that could wrong with a bunch of random button combos., but for the most seasoned fighter, SC offers alot of new delicious moves and even has a gauge allowing you unlock devastating attacks upon the unfortunate enemy.

A place that SC:V truly shines above all else is the new add in 'Character Creation'. I wont lie, I have spent countless hours creating characters that look like other video game characters and just new characters than the actual amount of time I've spent fighting. Being able to have a vast amount of options to choose from is something that most, if not plenty of Character creations tend to fail on, but not Soul Calibur, and it really delivers, adding a whole new mega awesome level with the ability to customize a new character to suit your needs. A thing I liked about it was that you could pick which Fighter you would like your own creation to fall under. In reality you just get their weapon and poses/stance.
Thanks to the CC I now have a character who resembles Harley Quinn, a dream to fight with, obviously!

Online play was something I have ventured into and if I had to describe the experience of how it went it would be like I was at a pond dipping my foot into the water to see if it was too cold and then running away because I didn't like it regardless. I experienced a long waiting time for a fighter to play against and turned away alot of the time because I could not seem to find other players. Maybe people have had positive experiences with their search, but I felt as though I was all alone in the Online world!
 I sob over that fact.

My experience with Soul Calibur V, though fun, fast paced game it lacked a certain charm that Mortal Kombat 2011 gave and shadowed for other fighting games.
If you are  a fan of previous Soul Caliburs you will love V, it has all the old schematics of prior games and smacks in some new shiny and glittery stuff! And if you are not a seasoned fighter or SC fan, have no fear this game offers a great base to satiate a healthy curiosity! 

RATE:

6.5/10

LIMBO review

I had heard rave, incredibly positive reviews about Limbo before hand and had been looking in to it quite a bit, which of course peaked my interests, so it was a natural movie for me to indulge my curiosities and buy it. I dont regret doing it at all and in all honesty I crave more of it to satiate my hunger for such a beautiful masterpiece.

The first and most important thing you will notice  is that it is a silent, black and white video game. There is absolutely no script and minimal noise that only comes  from the environment, movements and certain objects. The dark overall tone is showcased in the colour, or lack of it. It adds a misty, creepy feel to the game that even managed to creep me the hell out.

Limbo stars instantly, there is no cut scenes to show the storyline or what happened prior to the game's events. I'll admit I had no flipping idea that it had started until I button mashed keys. You take control of a young boy, who with the help of the minimalist description given of the game, is looking for his sister. Being offered nothing else in terms of plot, Limbo offers the player to imagination and interpret everything as they see fit. With the absence of colour and script, immersing yourself into the game is such a fluid motion, allowing you to pay full attention to the boy and what lays ahead of you.

A place this game shines in, is the interactions with objects found along the way that helps you get from point A to B. Being a puzzle platform game at it's core while also being a Trial and Error, Limbo will ask you to figure out how to move ahead, whether it be from the use of bear traps, moving boxes or climbing trees, those are only a few of the interactions you will come across and determining on how you act, they can prove helpful or get you killed. The second part of the game features a much more mechanical setting, changing the pace of game while also adding a newer dimension to it.

With the dark ambience of the game you shouldn't be shocked to hear that can indeed kill the boy. Whether it be on purpose (No regrets~) or by accident, because those damn bear traps are hard to see! The game truly shines with it's use of violence and gore, showing different and incredibly delicious grizzly death scenes. But dont worry, if you're not up for it, there is a gore filter. Though why spoil the fun?

A thing that frustrated me most was the face this game ends abruptly. Not being one to be left hanging, the way this game ended left me a little bit disheartened and angry, which of course then led me to Google where I searched like crazy for some answers.  I found none.  I did however find so many brilliant interpretations of what fans believed the game to be about, the boys journey and what really happened. 


I adore Limbo, it's a game that won me over and even managed to make me turn on the lights at night. Sometimes less is really more. A beautiful, wonderful game and something players need to experience

RATE: 

 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline Review

Any kind of racing or car game is a big no no for me. I have horrible steering and tend to over react when I play, causing all my turns to end up head first into something or someone, which then gives me road rage enabling my elegant transformation in the She-Hulk of gaming.
So pushing all that aside, I just had to give Asphalt 6: Adrenaline a try as it had one incredibly rave review from my one and only Mother and as we all know - Mummy knows best!

My first thought for this game was that it was visually stunning. The emphasis to make the cars appear as real as possible along with the vibrant colours and realism of the environment was amazing to look at while cruising along. Try and not get distracted by the gorgeous scenery though, you've got races and cash to win!

Controls are simple; tilt the screen left or right to turn respectively, while tapping on the right side of the screen will activate the nitro, allowing your car to go faster while tapping the left side of the screen will act as the cars brakes.
If you run out of Nitro, never fear because you will be able to pick up Nitro boosts that are located around the track. The different levels of the nitro bar indicate a different speed you will be able to go when they are activated, a full nitro bad will allow you to go a Warp 9 like speed until the whole bar runs out. However when you activate my amazingly awesome named 'Warp 9 Nitro speed' be sure to have your face shoved right up to the screen as it gets incredibly blurry and dark, causing you to crash and burn into obstacles.
Cash is also a collectible, both on the track and earned when you win races.If you feel as though tilting the screen is not your forte, you are able to change the controls. I personally had a lot of fun with the choice where the steering wheel is on the bottom of the screen, allowing you to steer with it and use the pedals, rather than just going forward automatically.

There are different levels and modes that you are able to choose from. Whether you want to complete the career mode that unlocks new countries, levels, and cars; or your more up for the free race option, in which case you are able to choose what kind of race it will be where and where.
Types of races range from the obvious Normal race to drifting, cash collector, etc. Earning stars used to unlock new more faster cars are earned from completed missions and how successful you were in terms of skill. Which in my case, always means 2 stars out of a possible five. Sigh

A big annoying problem that was worse than some horrible looking pimple on a spot you couldn't hide was that this game was FAR too dark in terms of brightness with no available option to change it.  I could hardly see corners, obstacles and even oncoming traffic until it was too late and I had wrecked the shit out of a good car, earning angry swearing and yelling from me. Want to know what I learnt from this game? Don't play it on public transport or in front of impressionable children.

Asphalt 6 also features Multiplayer as well as a thing called 'Garage'. Garage is where you take a lovely little stroll around your rich ass car garage and are able to have a look at the cars you have unlocked. It was something that if executed right could have been an amazing feature, however it was done deliciously wrong. The controls were hard to manoeuvre and just plain dumb; while there was no added interaction with the environment, I would have loved to have been able to interact with the cars other than driving it, or having been able to at least open a damn door.

I sadly cant offer any insight to the Multiplayer as I have yet to venture in to the world of online play. Curse me and my self concious gaming problems!

SUMMARY:

A beautiful, fast pace racing game with fabulous music and luscious environments. 

RATE:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

8/10

Scott Tenorman is back!

And he's got his sights set on revenge!

A new South Park adventure game will be released for XBLA, where you take control of those 4 lovely boys from a little mountain town - Cartman,Kenny, Stan and Kyle and fight against Scott's ginger robots. 

I guess it's a good thing they will release this, I'm dying for Matt and Trey to offer more insight to the yet to be released South Park game!

NEW FemShep 'Take Earth Back' Trailer released!

Can I have a moment to cry over the beauty that is the new FemShep CGI trailer? Give me a moment.
FemShep and Ashley Williams looks amazing and seeing a trailer that has been long overdue with our dear Commander is one of bitter-sweet pleasure.

Enjoy the FemShep trailer! Beware though it will stir your Bioware loving emotions

Fantasy Town Review

I have something to confess – I’m a doll eyed sucker for anything that is about fairies, dragons, elves or any other sort of mythological beings. Judge me all you want, I’m proud! Which is exactly why a little game called ‘Fantasy Town’ caught my eye when I was browsing the game category.

The basis of this game is that you are the creator of a new land after the old Kingdom was left unliveable. These little inhabitants need places to stay, shops to buy things at and a pretty scenery, so your first act as a new found God (Or Goddess *cough*) is to plop down a house. The game will then proceed to give you a tutorial that helps explain how the game’s system works, what to expect from your little people and also how to make sure they are happy campers. Each resident plays a part in your kingdom, whether it is the tiny fairies that harvest and grow your crops, the dwarves who mine the resources, or the humans and elves that own and shop to give you coins. Everyone has a vital role, so be sure to have a fair share of all of them to really let your land grow and thrive. Plus, more moo-lah

Speaking of money, coins are the main currency in your land and are earned through collecting taxes from houses and shops, mining resources and also from the vegetables and flowers that you can grow and harvest. Experience comes in the form of purple stars, allowing you to level up and unlock new items. Rubies, another form of currency, can be earned by levelling up, completing quests given to you by your towns people or brought online from the store. Rubies can be used for speeding up the growing process of your plants, tax collection on houses and shops, or you can use them to buy special items coins can’t buy.

Resources come in the form of mining and farming. Plots of land can be put down; tap on them and select from a variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers to plant. Each item you farm will have a time in which it will be ready by, it can range from 1 minute to 2 days.

Land is expandable, allowing your kingdom to grow far and wide, which of course leaves your imagine to roam with possibilities. The environment it is set in is vibrant and colourful. I was in love with how neat and tidy the graphics were; each of the houses and shops has their own unique look to them which is well designed. The decorations add such a pretty touch while seemingly fitting into whatever you choose to do with your land, and manage to brighten up the place even more.

Zooming in is available allowing you to have a closer look at everything, though it isn’t as sharp as the wide view.

A tiff I had with this game were the small thought bubbles that hover over a townie’s head when they have a quest for you to complete for them, it did get in the way when they were walking past a house or shop that I had tapped on to. You also have magic, which is not the ultra cool lightning bolt magic, but magic that allows you to extract taxes. There is a limited amount available to you, which is frustrating as you have to wait until it is recharged to continue earning coins

SUMMARY:

This game is a fun, time consuming little thing. If you don’t think you will enjoy it, I can say that you magically will!

 RATE:

♥♥♥♥♥♥
6/10

Temple Run Review

I’m never one to venture out of my comfort zone when it comes to downloading games for my Iphone. Lame, I know. But how could I resist the thrall of a little free game called ‘Temple Run’. The rave reviews and near five star ratings were also a factor, of course. So, I gave it a go.

Temple run is quite reminiscent to some of the levels that were in Crash bandicoot.  You, the player, are running for your life from a group of enemies that are out to kill you after you’ve taken an ancient idol from their temple. The escape starts as soon as you press play, with a brief tutorial explaining the basic controls and how to avoid whatever obstacles you will be sure to run into. Swiping up and down causes the character to either jump or slide, while tilting the screen left or right will make the character move to the respective side, allowing access to coins that aren’t straight on. There are many obstacles that you will encounter in game such as tree roots and trunks, fire, gaps in the path and many more. Also, there are different areas that you will come across other than the winding road of the temple, but for me, nothing was as difficult in this game other than timing when to turn the sharp corners right. If you time it too early, you will stumble and the enemies will be right behind you until you lose them again, while timing to late will cause you to run right off the path and plummet to your death.

The pixelated environment is beautiful to look at while on the run and the colours are vibrant enough to pop out at you, yet subtle enough to not take away your attention. The angle of the camera is also nicely placed and adds a little bit of fear to when or if the enemy will be right on your back. As most games, you can upgrade to acquire special abilities that will help you along the way, whether it is to double the amount of coins you collect or to start the game with a fair amount of distance between you and your chasers. A nice feature I like is that you can purchase a brand spanking new character to play as. The speed of how fast each character runs variers from person to person, which adds a good change in gameplay.

SUMMARY

Temple run is a nice, fast paced game that is strangely addictive to play and you won’t be bored with, it also manages to get the heart rate up without having to move a foot! Watching other people run is always such a stress.

RATE:

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
8/10

Lollipop Chainsaw

Amazing! 

The gorgeous and beyond fabulous cosplayer Jessica Nigri has won the 'Search for Juliet' Contest and I'm thrilled for that resuly as I was hoping she would win ever since I stumbled across photos of her Juliet cosplay

She is a wonderful cosplayer who really looked the part of Juliet ♥

Assassins Creed III

I'm hugely interested to see how Ubisosfts Assassins Creed III pans out. The protagonist is said to be named Connor who is of both Native American and English decent. ACIII also takes place during the American Revolution Era, where you can venture around town's and surrounding forests by the look of things. 

So, fingers crossed Assassins Creed III turns out to be one amazing game. It has alot of pressure put on it in my opinion, with the perfection that is previous AC games. 

Mass Effect 3 Launch Trailer

Only a couple more days to go until the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 hits stores and Bioware seem's to want one more way to tease us by releasing this AMAZING Trailer 

Seriously Bioware, your games are able to affect my emotions more than any other!