Thursday 17 May 2018

First Impressions: Trackmania Turbo

Vroom. Start your engines. Ready, set, go! Reverse bay park. Nitros activate. 6 point observation. Big jump ahead! Make sure your wing mirror is adjusted properly. 20th gear. Always wear a seatbelt.

These are all car terms, some more fantastical than others, showing the two ways a racing game can go - realism or arcade. Trackmania Turbo is firmly in the latter, and it loves it.

Monday 14 May 2018

Review No. 141 Bloodborne - PS4 (16+)

Strong Points:
Makes you keep going back for more
Satisfaction of winning
Intricate level design with plenty of shortcuts
Enemy design
No hand-holding encourages experimentation
Tight controls
More aggressive than Souls series
Great world building...

Weak Points:
Voice acting at ends with the polished game
Can be overwhelming without help
No hand-holding can quickly remove options from the game
Some bosses are plain cruel
...Doesn't constitute a great story



Thursday 10 May 2018

Review No. 140 Red Dead Redemption - PS3 (18+)

Strong Points:
Great atmosphere and world building
Likeable hero
Varied cast
The language of the Wild West
Horse riding
Shooting gameplay...
Funny
Lots to do
Great voice acting
Classic Rockstar realism and graphics

Weak Points:
Pacing issues
A lot of the same story trends
...Even if it turns into a bit of an auto-lock sometimes
The amount of people you kill is at ends with the story
Run too fast and you can miss story elements



Friday 4 May 2018

Film Review No. 39 Avengers: Infinity War (12+)

Strong Points:
One of the best Marvel scripts
Balances humour and drama
Great acting from all
Humanising Thanos
The ending
Slick battle sequences
Great cinematography
Superb CGI
Successfully balances cast of characters
New interactions between well-known characters
Doesn't get bogged down
Risk-taking

Weak Points:
Some sound issues - missing one-liners etc.
Some romantic pairings suffered from pacing issues
Other villains don't have the impact - should have been introduced before hand
Mark Ruffalo in the Hulk Buster Armour had some visual effects tearing

Spoilers ahead:

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Video Game Character of the Month - May 2018 - The Wandering Madness - Bloodborne

Video Game Character of the Month
May 2018
The Wandering Madness
Bloodborne
Overview:
The Wandering Madness is one of the smartest enemies in Bloodborne. Not because it will kill you, actually, it's one of the only ones which won't. Instead it runs away as soon as you spot it, disappearing if you can't catch it. This is smart, as if like me, you were frustrated when playing Bloodborne, you won't stop until everything is clear from a room. This means all enemies need to die or disappear. Even if it takes an hour, and multiple tries, most rooms will be cleared at least once. This makes The Wandering Madness clever, as it respects that the player sometimes needs a helping hand, disappearing so as to avoid giving us any more griefs. Take note Great Ones. They get the Video Game Character of the Month Award over any boss in Bloodborne, simply as they didn't raise my anger levels any more than they were already. 
Now for some more information on The Wandering Madness: