App Review No. 51 Plants vs. Zombies

Strong Points:
Lots of content
Lots of levels
Great cartoon graphics
Good sound affects
Varied achievements
Almanac is useful and funny
Lots of plants and zombies
Addictive
There's a zombie on my lawn! (the song)

Weak Points:
Huge difficulty spikes
Levels can sometimes take too long
You can't play the bonus levels until the main game is completed

Live Blog: Eurogamer Rezzed 2014

13:10:

We have just set out on the way to Eurogamer Rezzed (or EGX). Over the course of the day we will be posting what we are doing and what games we are playing as well as anything else that comes about. Over the course of the next week or so we will also be putting up First Impressions posts on the blog about the games we played. 

Goodbye for now, Harry

14:00:

And we are here! We are entering the doors now and will have some updates soon. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer. 

14:25:

We have had at Injustice Gods Among Us (Xbox 360 version) in the Fight Zone. We fought (I was Raven and Satamer was Green Arrow) and the first victory went to me and Raven! The next fight isn't important (Green Arrow and Satamer won). Satamer is now having a go at Cloud Built on the PC. First impressions for these games will be coming later.

Goodbye for now, Harry

14:30:

Just had a go at Cloud Built for PC. Wow this game is cool. With great graphics and nice gameplay including smooth wall running, this game is great fun. First impressions of this game up later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

14:20:

I've just had a go at Final Horizon on the PS4 which is a bit like a frantic tower defence with a superpower at the end. The graphics are good (which due to the console is a given) and the PS4 is amazing. First Impressions on both the console and game later on.

Goodbye for now, Harry

15:00:

Just played inFAMOUS: Second Son on the PS4. With amazing graphics, fluid controls and great powers, this game is cool. First impressions up later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

15:22:

Just tried Helldivers which is an old school four player shoot em up. Suffice to say, I was terrible (however my dad wasn't... Much). First Impressions up later. We have also been reserved for the Pokémon Ultimate Team competition. We'll tell you how it goes.

Goodbye for now, Harry

15:50:

First battle in the Ultimate Team and it's a win for the blog. Next up is Twin V Twin, Harry V Satamer. Stay tuned.

Goodbye for now, Harry

16:40:

Twin V Twin. Harry wins! I am now on my way into the semi finales. Stay tuned.

Goodbye for now, Harry

16:50:

I can't believe it but I won the semi finales! It's only the finals left before I become (or don't become) the Ultimate Champion! Stay tuned.

Goodbye for now, Harry

17:05:

I won!!! And considering that I wasn't even planning to compete (I didn't even know it was on) I would say that was pretty good. And for winning, I get a golden ticket that will take me straight to the London finales! So, until then!

Goodbye for now, Harry

17:15: 

Just played Wasteland 2. Good graphics, good setting, good strategic gameplay, good game. First impressions up later.

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

17:30:

Had a go at Hearthstone against my brother to try and redeem myself. And lost. Good card game overall though. First Impressions up later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

18:10:

Just had a go at War Thunder for PS4. Amazing graphics, massive map, nice planes, not so nice controls (for me at least.) First impressions up later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

18:25

I have just played through two of the more strange games at the expo; Super Exploding Zoo and Steamworld Dig: A Fistful of Dirt. Both had great cartoony graphics and in both I had no clue what I was doing. First Impressions coming soon.

Goodbye for now, Harry

18:30:

Just had a go at OlliOlli, Fez and The Swapper. 

OlliOlli: all right 2D skating game with retro graphics and retro level of difficulty. 

Fez: nice graphics, creative ways to controls landscape, cool game. 

The Swapper: epic graphics, nice atmosphere, cool concept, all right gameplay

First impressions later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

18:43:

We just had yet another competition, this time in Tower Fall Ascension (and for once I didn't win!) First Impressions coming soon.

Goodbye for now, Harry

18:50:

Last game I played was a little game called Titanfall on Xbox One. Brilliant shooter (especially the mechs) and a brilliant ending to a brilliant day of gaming. As always, first impression up later. 

Thanks for reading, Satamer. 

19:00:

What a great day of gaming! I won a Pokémon tournament (which I really wasn't expecting) as well as playing a variety of great games and a new console! Overall, I would say that my favourite game was... actually, I can't choose. I'll have to get them and play through them all again!

Goodbye for now, Harry

19:00:

Great expo and got to see lots of really cool indie games which would've passed right under my nose otherwise as well as the AAA games. Will definetly have to get a few of the games and have a good play on them. If anyone else went to the expo or are going to one in the near future, then please comment.

Thanks for reading, Satamer.

App Review No. 50 Hay Day

Strong points:
Nice graphics and animations
Cool control scheme
Good music
Fishing is fun
Lots of crops, buildings and animals
Trucks and people delivery are fun and quick ways to generate income
Roadside shop is good to sell your stuff
Newspaper is good to get what you need
Wheel of Fortune gives you a new item everyday
Lots of achievements
Events are good
Can get the premium currency quite easily without spending real money
Neighbourhoods add a bit of variety

Weak Points:
Very slow game
Not much point to the game
River Boats are hard to do and take too much time
Some actions like painting your house, only appear once
Newspaper normally only has basic items like eggs or wheat
Slow to get upgrades and expansions without using diamonds
Vouchers are hard to get
Pets serve little purpose

A Tale Of Two Gamers - Before

This is a taster for the new A Tale of Two Gamers Series that I will be starting this September. Enjoy.

Top 5 - Harry's Favourite Games 2013

For the blogs first birthday, I have decided to do a top five of my favourite games from last year. And due to the sheer amount of great games released last year, it has been very hard. Anyway, enjoy!

1st Birthday

We made it. Today (the 26th of March) is the blog's 1st birthday and boy has it grown from last year. Last year we had one author (me!) who was doing a few short reviews (although they were more like short overviews of reviews) about the games I liked. There was also a console review and a bit of news. Then it changed into just strong points and weak points for quick and easy reviews. Finally, the reviewing system changed into what it is today, strong points and weak points for readers who want to know about the game at a glance and an in-depth review for people who want to know more.

Top 5 - Satamer's Favourite Games 2013

For the blog's first birthday, I have decided to do a top five of my favourite games from last year. So, read on to see my Top 5 Video Games of 2013!

App Review No. 49 Plague Inc.

Strong Points:
Interesting premise
Great simulation
Lots of choices
News stories are funny
Behaves like the real world
Lots of pathogens
Different pathogens offer a variety of gameplay options
In game events change how the game plays out
Genetic traits help tailor the game to your style even more
Lots of symptom, transmission and ability choices
Game lengths are perfect for a bus journey

Weak Points:
All special missions have to be bought with real money (the app already costs money to buy)
The jump from casual to normal difficulty is very high
Pressing the cure bottles doesn't appear to do much
The cure doesn't go down very much (only about 5%) when a genetic reshuffle is used meaning it's very hard to get out of tight scrapes
One country or person can ruin your chances of winning
DNA points are very hard to get towards the end of a game

App Review No. 48 Game Dev Story

Strong Points:
Lots of content
Nice retro-y graphics
Great, catchy soundtrack
Levelling system is good (both employees and genres)
Stats and advertisement systems are good and easy to understand
Great in-game story and feedback of games
The ability to name your own game as well as decide what console it goes on and which direction you take it
Boost system is helpful
Winning an award feels good
Puns of video game consoles, companies and designers are all funny and (mostly) easy to tell who or what they were before the wordplay changes
Addictive

Weak Points:
Gamedex doesn't appear to do much
You can't decide about anything in your game besides the genre and title
The consoles aren't updated and so the game lacks a few
There are only three offices to move to
No updates of more content
Towards the end all in-game challenge is lost
You can't have two projects at the same time

App Review No. 47 Ironpants

Strong Points:
Addictive, Flappy Birds gameplay but with a twist
Nice, polished graphics
Lots of heroes
Lots of modes

Weak Points:
Can be too difficult
No way to get rid of ads unless you want to go onto airplane mode
No medals or rewards to give you a sense of progress (you now unlock characters for doing certain things but it would be nice to have a few more rewards)

App Review No. 46 Splashy Fish

Strong Points:
Addictive Flappy Birds gameplay
A normal mode and an extreme mode
Rewards make the game more in depth

Weak Points:
Graphics aren't very polished
There aren't any ways to get rid of ads
The fish is bigger than Flappy Bird's making it frustratingly harder
It can lag
An obvious Flappy Birds remake

App Review No. 45 Cut the Rope: Time Travel

Strong Points:
Lots of content (although not as much as Cut the Rope)
Nice cartoony graphics
Good soundtrack
Good physics
A variety of levels
Great replay value
All mechanics are explained to you when you get to them
Two characters makes the game different from the past games in the series

Weak Points:
Superpowers are very expensive and are required to 100% the game
Can get frustrating
Only 15 levels per age rather than 25

Review No. 70 Portal - PC (12+)

Strong Points:
Great mechanics
Good (quite dark) humour
Interesting story
Brilliant concept
Nice setting
Good post-game content

Weak Points:
Not that great animations
Dialogue is muffled and hard to hear
Short
More of a tech demo than a game

App Review No. 44 Cut the Rope: Experiments

Strong Points:
Lots of content (although not as much as Cut the Rope)
Nice cartoony graphics
Good soundtrack
Good physics
A variety of levels
Great replay value
All mechanics are explained to you when you get to them

Weak Points:
Superpowers are very expensive and are required to 100% the game
Can get frustrating
Basically, the same as Cut the Rope but with a bigger focus on mechanics

Video Game Character of the Month - March 2014 - Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic the Hedgehog

Video Game Character of the Month

March 2014

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog

Overview:
To be honest I've been meaning to catch up with the Blue Blur for a while but he's just been too fast (I'm so sorry). Anyway, as a rival to Mario and a great gaming character in his own right, I feel that Sonic deserves this award. 
A quick bit of info of Sonic the Hedgehog: