Terraria?

Terraria

This Indie side scroller game is surprisingly popular. I lot of my friends play it and have recommended it to me despite my dislike for all games lame.

My first impression of it was ‘it’s basically a rubbish version of Mine Craft’. I asked one of my friends to tell me a bit about the game and going with my first impression he said it’s “comparable to the original Metroid. It’s kind of a cross between Metroid and Mine Craft.” From what I have seen you go around blowing stuff up in order to collect ores to make armour (seems kind of pointless to me). My friend however was exceedingly enthusiastic about it (each to their own) and so I did what any good blogger would do and decided to ask him some more questions.

First of all I enquired about his favourite aspects of the game and what he would change if he could. His original reply informed me that it is ‘a fun social game’. Which is not much to go on so I inquired further and ‘he-of-little-words’ informed that it was “just going out and trying to out-gear your mates” (If this is what gaming is turning into then things are getting bad).  Still I enquired further but I couldn’t get him to say anything critical about the game, he seemed to generally like it a lot although he does inform me that there is “not much of a story” and that the exciting part was getting “to progress, kill bosses and get rid of corruption” (such an original idea).

I think it is only fair that I give you some more information on the actual game and allow you to form your own opinions:

Terraria...

Aside from killing bosses and building castles what can you do? After you’ve invited your friends to live in your castle what is there to spike your interest? Explored all of the underground caverns? Collected wood, money and metal....make some armour. Build a new house. Destroy some people...get a bit of PVP action in.

When you die you get a message informing you that ‘you were slain’.

Dig deeper (literally) into a world of adventure and building stuff.

There are a lot of different biomes on this game, I suppose they thought it would be nice not to have to stare at exactly the same picture for hours on end, they were right, but there isn’t much you can do with a 2D (not just literally) game like this one. There is: The Hallow, Floating Islands, Meteorites, The Corruption, Dungeon, Underground Hallow, The Underworld and more.

Environments

Forest, Desert, Ocean, Hallowed Desert, Hallowed Ocean, Jungle.

The Hallow – unlocked once you have defeated the Wall of Flesh in the Underworld. Is used to counter the seed of corruption by spreading seeds or throwing holy water. Appears disturbingly cheerful with colourful trees and blue grass and a rainbow and a sun in the background.

Floating Islands – Appear in the sky. Usually made with a building of ore bricks and spawn the same creatures as the forest except for Harpies and Wyverne.

Meteorite – Make random appearances and can only be mined using a Gold pickaxe or better, Dynamite or Bombs. Player is informed when a meteorite crash-lands.

The Corruption – As afore mentioned in ‘The Hallow’. Evil that is formed randomly when a world is created. Corruption appears as purple grass and orange sky. Spawns high-level monsters. Hard to stop from spreading.

Dungeon – Many layers deep, can reach the underworld. Found opposite side of the world to the Jungle. Randomly formed from 1 of 3 dungeon bricks. Contains chest of rare items and decorative items.

Underground Hallow – Naturally forms as Hallow spreads to the underworld. Large amounts of Pearlstone Block. Monsters include: Chaos Elementals, Illuminant Bats, Illuminant Slime and Enchanted Swords, Mimics, Armoured Skeletons, Heavy Skeletons and Skeleton Archers.

The Underworld – Deepest Biome. Found below stone. Background is lava pattern. Contains underworld houses, chests, shadowchests, pots, Hellforges and potions. Stronger enemies – Fire Imps, Bone Serpents, Demons, Hellbats, Lava Slime, Hell Demons, Wall of Flesh (Boss).

Just a bit of information on the selection of areas to visit to intrigue you, I don't want to give away to much. Check it out and tell me what you think. 

Titus Proxima

Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition

(I was going to do a Christmas post today but when I heard this I was way too excited and postponed Christmas, sorry (this isn’t the first time I’ve threatened Christmas))

This is the new Pokémon game we have all been waiting for. A whole new concept, a whole new perspective and a whole new generation.

Forget starting at the beginning as a young boy or girl moving to a new town and beginning a new adventure by saving your local professor, in this game, you are a Japanese Warlord and it is set in a feudal Japan, you are trying to gain territory and become omnipotent.  

Ash is replaced with the roguishly handsome (not my words) Nobunaga and his Zekrom. You’ll have the Pokémon from our much loved games and series mixed with Nobunaga’s Ambition  (I can’t be bothered to keep writing this so from now on it is NA) gameplay. From this they came up with the imaginative title Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition.

NA is a 28 year old strategy game with several sequels and remakes (available on NES, Gameboy, SNES and WII).

This game will only be available on Nintendo DS but hey most Pokémon lovers are 12 year olds and have DS’ anyway. But for those of you who do not yet have a DS, WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? Pokémon is only available on DS and online and the online version is nowhere near as awesome as the DS game. So get your butts of the sofa, unglue your eyes from your High Resolution laptop screens and get down to your local Game or Gamestation and get yourself a DS.

Here’s a little something for you to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKOn0hjxymM&feature=player_embedded

Just kidding, I’m sure most of you can’t understand Japanese, those of you who can I commend you. In my case, I only understand small amounts of Japanese so translating this was close to impossible and there is nothing yet in English so either spend ages attempting to translate this in google translate or just be patient and wait for the English one.

X-men movie

Hey there ladies and gentlemen (mostly gentlemen).

Tonight me and Valhalla (I think I’m going to start shortening it to Val., despite his many protests, let me know what you think) wanted to do a post on all the fantastic Marvel movies that have been coming out lately as the latest one will be here soon. Who here is excited about ‘The Avengers’? I think me and Val. are both extremely excited. I was upset when ‘Captain America’ came out as Val. had promised to come and watch it with me but every time we planned it he cancelled on me (all his excuses were valid and forgivable….:( but it also means I haven’t been able to see it yet). It came out recently on DVD and as soon as I am able to get to town that will be the first thing I buy.

Tonight, Val. supposedly left me his part of the post in our blog email account drafts box but I’ve been through the whole thing and it’s empty and I left my laptop at college so tonight’s post is a bit late again (you’re probably thinking, ‘so how is he sending us this?’ well, my smart muffins, I managed to convince my reluctant mother that it would be a good idea to let me use her desktop (which incidentally is better than my laptop) for a short period of time, and this is all I have time to supply at this hour as she was adamant that I get to bed as soon as I can for college tomorrow and the rescue of my laptop, she seems to have forgotten that I am, in fact, 18).

I thought that I would be cool to at least do a brief review on my favourite Marvel movie so far.

To date, my favourite has been X-men. Yeah I know, not exactly similar to the comics (they could at least have made the costumes SIMILAR, poor Wolverine, missing out on his yellow and blue and getting instead a plain blue x-men, rubber, one-piece).

Despite it’s dissimilarities to the original I would like to examine the movie as something separate to any comic.

I am a HUGE fan of X-men and regardless of the movies lack of respect I thought it was a pretty amazing movie.

I thought the actors were impressive, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was pretty darn cool, James Marsden as Cyclops (If I was gay James would be my man crush), loved it. I loved Halle Berry as Storm, she was pretty awesome and of course totally hot in her cat-suit, even Professor X was awesome, Patrick Stewart was perfect. Enough about the actors.

I thought the school was well done, the filming, the acting…let’s just say that I have watched that movie more times than I can count on my hands and probably toes together.

I will have to leave you with this brief post tonight as I am falling asleep at my desk and I have a performance tomorrow night so I must be awake.

Slaying my first dragon

I'm way behind other people with Skyrim - they're always asking me if I've done this and that. It's depressing having so little time to play games at the moment. I haven't even been on WoW for the past week. Anyway, I hat a few hours to play Skyrim tonight, which pleased me greatly. I've been looking forward to slaying my first Dragon for the past week or so. When I was at college, I thought about it. At work, I thought about it. Basically. it hasn't stopped. A can of my good friend Dr. P by my side, and a pair of toasty socks on my feet, I started up Steam and continued with my adventure. I may be writing this at two in the morning, but all those hours of Skyrimming were well worth it.

Irileth was standing in front of me, waiting to tell me what to do next. She was rather abrupt (we never got on very well) and ordered to meet her by the watchtower so that we could take down the dragon that was threatening our lands. Filled with passion and love for Whiterun, I raced on at full speed towards the watchtower, jumping over tall grass and dodging pointy rocks. As I approached the little stone tower, I met up with the guards and Irileth, all of which were relatively pleased to see me. Staying as close to the other soldiers as possible, I surrounded the tower with them, my weapon held firmly in my hands. It was only a matter of seconds before the dragon arrived. Lacking any sense of strategy or thought I raced in there with my mace, hoping to strike the beast in the head with my mighty mace. Yeah, that failed epically. I was cooked like a spit-roasted hog. I decided that the second attempt should be better planned. Best to think before I start getting all heroic and feel like I can destroy anything. I took a moment to think out the second phase, and decided that the best thing to do was to go long range  -which I did. Using my hunting bow I was able to get a good shot and slew the Dragon in a minute or two. Easy stuff, didn't take me long. Despite how simple the battle was, it was absolutely exhilarating, and I cannot wait to kill my next. I am no longer a Dragon slaying virgin. Feels good, I tell you that!

The Dragon was dead, and I was feeling pretty good. Striding over to the corpse of the fallen beast (brimming with confidence, of course), I stood before it ready to loot its body. Suddenly, something strange began to happen. A fiery light surrounded both the Dragon and I, consuming us in a mesmerising, powerful force. The Dragon's flesh began to tear away from its bones and turn into energy, energy that was absorbed by me. I figured this was a pretty weird thing to occur, and judging by the muttering from the guards behind me, I was right. Once I had absorbed the power, I discovered that I had gained the ability to shout like a Dragon - I was pretty pleased by this. The guards were incredibly excited, asking me to shout for them, praising me on my heritage and exclaiming how proud they were to be fighting by my side. I appeased them by shouting at the top of my lungs, with a force so strong that it blew the guards backwards. They were massively impressed by this act and continued to shout my praise.All except that damnable woman, Irileth. She just stood there, unimpressed and telling everyone how she couldn't care less about anything that I was able to do. As long as I could kill Dragons, all was well. Her reaction just irritated me, so I hung out with the guards on my way back to Whiterun. Well, part of the way - they were being far too slow for my liking.

Dragon Slaying makes you thirsty

I made my way back to the Jarl so that I could report my findings to him. On my way, I met some strange looking soldiers, who appeared to be the Skyrim equivalent to a Middle-Eastern soldier, that wanted me to track down a woman from their clan. According to the foreign men she would be going by a different name, and although they refused to tell me why they wanted her, they were offering money for me to return her to them. As they were not welcome in Whiterun, it was up to me to complete the task. However, I'm having a moral problem here, and wonder if it's right for me to hand this woman over. What do you guys think? I also heard a long anti-Elf speech, which I took the time to listen to. Apparently, we Elves are bad creatures and this guy who was preaching happened to be chosen by Talos (who I am sure is made of metal in Greek mythology, the servant of Hephaestus.) which made him divine and wise. I'm not sure I believe any of what he's saying, after all, I'm an Elf and I haven't stolen anything yet; even though I've been incredibly tempted by that horse outside the stables. Ignoring the preacher (who goes on a lot, I have to admit), I continued to the palace at the top of the hill where I approached the Jarl, respectfully and politely of course. He was very pleased that the Dragon was dead, and that Whiterun was safe from harm for a little while longer. Slouching in his chair, he asked me what else happened during the fight, as if he knew about my new found power - the power that the guards had called that of the Dragonborn. Reluctantly, I told him about what had happened, how I absorbed the Dragon's power and what the guards had called me. The Jarl was intrigued by this and asked if I had heard the rumbling noise from before. I had almost forgotten about it. The noise was deafening and the whole ground shook. I nodded, showing that I did indeed remember the event. The Jarl told me that a special group of people (it's early in the morning, I've forgotten their name) were summoning me. He also told me that nothing like this had happened for many, many years. I could tell that everyone was shocked, even sceptical about what was occurring, but I knew that it was something vital to my destiny. Listening intently, I took in everything the Jarl told me to visit High Hrothgar where they would be waiting for me. I accepted. As I was about to leave, he gave me the title of Thane -  a hero of the land. All the citizens of Whiterun would know who I was and would respect me. Feeling pleased with myself, I thanked the Jarl and bid him goodnight.

Adventuring takes a lot out of you, and I was shattered. I desperately needed sleep, and I could find no where to go. The Drunken Huntsman had no rooms, and whenever I went into an unlocked house someone would scream for the guards. After hours of searching, I arrived at the HQ for the Companions, an elite group with limited membership. I had planned on being a long ranger, but being in need of sleep I decided to do things that no free Elf should ever have to do...I joined the club. I spoke to a guy called Vilkas first, he was a little grouchy, but I thought he was alright. He directed me to his superior, who was next to him. I had a quick chat with him, and in the end I was told to practice fighting with Vilkas outside, which I did. I won that mini battle, no problem there. Vilkas seemed annoyed, but remained respectful and took the defeat like a man. For me to become a full fledged member, I was required to take Vilkas' sword to a blacksmith so that it could be sharpened. So, I began another quest, knowing that I would have a bed by the end of it. It was the thought of warm blankets that kept me going.

After I found the smithy

Warm blankets are a myth, and beds are lost in time. That's what I was thinking as I searched hopelessly for the blacksmith and a bed. I searched so long and hard that night turned to day, and I had gone yet another night without sleep. Exhausted from all my previous battles, I was overjoyed to discover an inn known as the Bannered Mare where I was able to rent a room and take a well deserved rest. By the time I rose from bed, refreshed and full of life, it was dark again, but I no longer cared - I had a blacksmith to look for. I continued around the whole of Whiterun again, but to no avail. It was by luck that I found the smithy, and only because I saw the very corner of the stairs on my way around Companions HQ. I raced up the stairs and chatted to the blacksmith, who was pleased to receive the sword. Once I handed Vilkas' sword over, I was asked to deliver a shield to one of the other Companions, which I did loyally. Once it was done I became a member of the Companions and was given my very own bed (yay!). I was very pleased by this.

I didn't feel like going to my main destination right away, especially as I wanted to buy a house and level up a bit before heading out. So, I accepted a load of side quests that I haven't done yet. I completed two tonight. One was beating up and intimidating a rather vicious woman, and the other required me stealing a book that gave evidence for someone;s kidnap. The others will have to wait.

Beating her up...

Stolen book

Breaking the news to the family

Join me again soon for another Skyrim update. Happy Dragon slaying, readers!

A very tired Valhalla.

Fable 1

Fable I

I’m a huge fantasy fan and I also have a strange adoration for the period that this game was set in despite my hatred of history (for someone who hates history there is a weird amount of time periods which fascinate me).

This game is one of the most anticipated games on the market. Who doesn’t love a bit of sword play, fantasy, heroism and ale drinking?

Fable is a third person action RPG based around 1 main character and his dog which follows him everywhere, the character is called ‘The Hero of Oakvale’. The cool thing is, your character can either be good or evil depending on your actions. The game is set in Albion which is a patchwork collection of towns and cities that used to be called the Old Kingdom (you’d thing that would come later rather than sooner) when it lived in prosperity but as time went on the ruler became corrupt and now the hero lives in a lawless, country that is slowly deteriorating.

The Hero is sent on quests, some further the plot and some are merely for entertainment value and for gain. Some quests allow the player to pick which side they wish to help, good or evil, these choices lead to the characters over all popularity and reputation. If a player accepts a quest then they can boast and can have bets like doing the whole quest naked or without getting hurt they can then increase the money they get from the quest if this challenge is overcome (I think that’s pretty cool, how many games dare you to do a quest naked?).

Renown is the most important thing the hero needs. To get this they can boast about winnings and trophies, they can use gold from quests to buy it but they also need the gold to buy better weapons to make harder quests achievable which also gets them Renown.

Weapons range (see what I did there? I make myself laugh sometimes. Someone has to...laugh that is) from swords and maces to bows and arrows and that even includes magic. To increase magical ability the hero must kill enemies and collect their orbs. Different colours mean different things; there is general, strength, skill and will. General can be used to modify groups of attributes, strength is good for toughness, health etc, Skill, for speed and accuracy and such and Will is for upgrading your spells. Each spell upgrade will tell you how much of which one it needs.

The Fable map is riddled with towns and cities, full of life and activities for the hero. I good way to get gold is to buy houses and rent them out(if you are feeling malevolent you can raise the rent or even, if you are feeling extra vicious, kick our your tenants for new ones). If you want, although if you ask me it’s a bit strange, you can find a woman, or man (you can even be gay) and get married (I should warn you, all the towns folk are really ugly) and have children (unless you are in a gay relationship in which case you can’t have children).

A note on alignment

I mentioned this earlier. Your character has the ability to become good or evil based on actions you choose to take. Well here is a bit more about that.

I think most gamers like the evil looking ones (it might just be me and my weird observation) like me and Valhalla. Some I suppose may like being good, well this game takes them to the extreme. The good ones get halo’s and end up looking a bit like prince charming (retch) and butterfly’s follow them around and it’s all pretty and such and the evil ones grow horns and get red eyes and give of a glowing red aura as a warning to any who approach.

Other things that affect the hero

If you eat too much or drink too much you become irreversibly fat it can also make you throw up.

Clothes can make you appear scary or protect you in battle and they can also affect your alignment. Bright colours will make the townspeople like you and dark colours will make them fear you.

You can change your hair, facial features and even get tattoos. Attributes also affect aesthetics such as your strength increases brawn, skill affects your height, and spells make celestial patterns on your skin.

Plot

As a child the hero’s family is killed, on his sister’s birthday. The hero joins ‘The Hero’s Guild’ and trains to become a champion. The hero begins a journey to find out why his family were killed and eventually a friend tells him that there is a blind seeress in a bandit camp nearby who may be able to help. So the hero travels to find her and discovers that it is his sister and that she was taken by the bandit leader who the hero challenges.  The hero can choose to let him live or kill him which marks the beginning of his choice of alignment.

When the hero is stronger he is invited to a battle arena where he meets Jack of Blades who challenges the hero to fight Whisper, a friend and rival. He then has to decide whether to kill or spare his friend.

The hero discovers that Jack of Blades is the one who killed his family and the whole of Oakvale (the hero’s childhood home). The hero tracks down his mother who has been a prisoner of Jack of Blades since ever since.  The hero is captured and when he escapes and takes his mother the hero once again searches for Jack. The hero’s friend is revealed to be a traitor and kidnaps the hero’s sister when the hero defeats his friend he gets to fight Jack where is mother is killed.

It is discovered that the hero and his sister are the only remaining decedents of the king and so the only ones who can wield the sword. After killing Jack the hero can either keep the sword and kill his sister or cast away the sword (it’s kind of like Achilles’ decision in mythology where he had to decide between living a short and heroic life or a long and boring one).

There are 4 possible endings, you must decide.

There is a special edition where the story continues but I will leave you to discover that.

Have fun.

Btw this is a great game and I give it high ratings GGGGGGGGG (9/10 gamer points) because it is original and has interesting interpretation of storyline.

Titus' Guide to Yu-Gi-Oh

Hey guys, another post from me, Titus. Today I bring you news of great excitement. I have very recently expanded my Yu-Gi-Oh deck.

I’ve had a deck for years and years and years but I had no one to play it with. Within the last year I have taught Valhalla to play and now I play at school in any spare time. Well, last week it was my birthday and my awesome work colleagues, when my cousin came in to the store looking for a present for me, directed her to the Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The exchange went something like this:

“Hi. I’m the cousin of one of your colleagues. It is his Birthday and I need a present for him.” My colleagues all pointed at this tin of Yu-Gi-Oh cards that I have been going on about for weeks. In fact about a month ago my manager put me in charge of the trading card section because he had no idea what it was. Anyway, the point is I now have an even more awe-inspiring deck (Valhalla refuses to fight me because I keep defeating him).

I thought it would be exciting to explain to you how the game works and so you can have some fun with it too.

First of all you need to know the origin of the game. You all remember Pokemon? Digimon? Well this is similar in the sense that the player fights battles using cards which represent monsters he/she controls, sometimes using trap cards and spells cards to aid or revive your monsters, sometimes even to destroy your opponents, sending them to the graveyard.

The Layout is simple (beginners, I suggest using a mat). You are allowed 5 monsters on the field at one time, this includes attack position and defence position and you can have 5 spell or trap cards face down on the field at one time. You have a deck zone, a field zone, for field cards, a graveyard and an extra deck zone.

There are different types of summoning for a monster. Normal summoning is simply placing a card from your hand in attack or defence position. Special summoning is done using a card effect, the card must be placed in face up defence or attack mode unless the card specifies otherwise. Synchro summoning means that you must add the levels of a tuner monster an a non tuner monster to summon one that is the exact same level and finally fusion summoning requires a card that allows it e.g Polymerization.

Monster levels

Levels are represented by the stars under the name on the right hand side of the card.

Level 1-4 monsters require no special summon unless specified.

Level 5-6 monsters require a tribute of one monster from your field.

Level 7 + monsters require a two monster tribute from your field.

Monster types

Blue - Ritual Monster. Summoned by a ritual spell card eg Black Luster Soldier requires Black Luster Ritual

White - Synchro Monster. Kept in the Extra deck and can only be summoned by synchro summoning from deck.

Orange - Effect Monster, specified in description at bottom.

Yellow - Normal Monster. No effect.

Purple - Fusion Monster. Kept in Extra deck and usually can only be summoned through fusion summon, specified on card in description.

Gemini Monster – Once already on the field you use your normal summon turn to re summon them. It will have an effect as long as it is on the field.

Tuner Monster – Allows for synchro summoning.

Spell and Trap Cards

There are many types of spell card. You can play as many as you want per turn.

Normal Spell – placed in spell/trap card zone and can only be played during your turn.

Field Spell – placed in Field card zone can only be played during your turn until destroyed.

Equip Spell – (pretty self explanatory) played from spell/trap card zone, equipped to chosen monster, stays there until monster is destroyed.

Quick Play Spells – Goes in spell/trap card zone or can be used during your turn from your hand. Cannot be used the same turn it is set. Can be used as a trap fro opposition. It stays on field unless specified otherwise.

Ritual Spells – (also pretty self explanatory, also pre-mentioned) specific cards used to summon specific monsters. Can only summon a monster from hand unless specified otherwise. Normally requires tribute.

Continuous Spells – played from spell/trap card zone. Stays on field until specified otherwise.

Normal Trap – Goes to graveyard once used.

Counter Trap – Goes to graveyard once used. Nothing can be chained to it except another trap.

Continuous Trap – Stays on field until destroyed.

Quick Guide to Battle

Phases

Standby – for cards that activate specifically in standby phase.

Draw – Solely for your once per turn mandatory draw.

Main – summon, set, activate cards.

Battle – Any attack position monsters on your side of the field may attack.

Main 2 – Same as ‘Main’.

End – You declare that you end your turn.

Damage

Attacking attack monster

If the attack of your attacking monster is greater than the opponents that is being attacked then the opponent takes the remaining points as Life Point Damage and the monster is usually destroyed.

If the attack of your attacking monster is equal to the opponents that is being attacked then both monsters are destroyed.

Attacking a defence monster

If the attack of your attacking monster is equal to that of the opponents defence then neither monster is destroyed.

If the attack of your attacking monster is greater than that of the opponents defence, the defence monster is destroyed and no damage is taken.

I’ve spent many hours playing this game and I rate I give it GGGGGGGG (8/10 gamer points) because It’s only as good as your imagination (I have a pretty awesome imagination).

GOOD LUCK and have fun!

Your Dungeon My Dragon

Your Dungeon My Dragon by Adam de la Pena

Hi guys, this isn’t a game but technically we do all things geeky and if this isn’t geeky then nothing is.

This is an online animated series about 2 Guilds, one good and one evil, who are constantly at war with each other. It’s funny, geeky, and it has a trouser-less Dwarf in the first episode (All very good reasons to watch it.). So far only the first episode is available to us but there are interactive games for you to enjoy in the mean time (if you have Windows Internet Explorer 9).

I think I will provide you with a character list

First and favourite of mine:

Kill the Brobarian. Kill is part bro(lover of partying, girls and things that make him Hench) and part Barbarian(we all know what a Barbarian is but for those who don’t, they like swords, storming castles and wearing very little, he keeps his sword in his loin cloth). He lives by the Philosophy ‘Strong and Wrong’ which I think tells you all you need to know about him.

Next is Hork. Hork is the trouser-less Dwarf I was telling you about, he spends a lot of time looking for them. He is a professional wanderer (or as we would call him today, hobo). He isn’t terribly bright but he can change in to various animals for short periods of time.

Amy the Enchantress is the most powerful member. Most dudes are scared of her, which is just how she likes it. She has a bit of a thing for Kill despite their constant bickering.

Haro is an Archer Elf with an Afro. He fights with a Golden Bow but he is also a bit of a ladies’ man. He is the brains of the operation and the one who keeps them all alive.

Devious Most Evilest (My favourite villain). Devious is half Dracula and half Warlock, how is that possible you ask? Well his father is Count Dracula and is mother is supposedly of one of the very rare female warlocks. He supplies his Coven of Evil with Mission Statements and such that help him keep control. But don’t all villains secretly have a dream? Devious does. He wants to start a Hip-hop/rock fusion band. Really he just wants to have fun.

This is ‘I’m just a Skeleton’. Skeleton wants to raise his status but is often getting into trouble. He has nothing especially interesting about him, other than being able to drive a car.

Krog is made of Brimstone and bad ideas. He does what he is told as he is the muscle of the group. He wants a girlfriend (Amy if possible) but he isn’t very good with the ladies (and Amy never returns his calls).

There is also Zonkie. Can you guess what he is? Yes, a Zombie/Donkey.

Here is the link because I know how much you guys want it.

http://ydmd.msn.com/BehindTheScenes/1

I wish I could give you more information but sadly none is availiable at the moment.

Games Based on Movies

Okay, hear me out guys.

So there are these two totally awesome dudes, the so very strong and very just Valhalla and the amazingly wise Titus Proxima. Together they embark on a journey of discovery and trial. 3 times weekly they must provide their loyal followers with witty, banter filled adventures that they have and/or plan to embark on! On this particular day the wise Titus had this totally awesome idea to tell them the story of tasks they were set that they felt had been done before and so were disappointed in, and this is how that story went...(I’m not sure what this is but go with the flow)

Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend

Yeah I know, don’t judge. I was a cool kid, ok? Plus... you can’t tell me she isn’t a little bit hot. Right?

So, I don’t know if you saw the movie (only like a zillion times) but the game is NOTHING like it (when is it ever).

The game starts with a bang (literally) as a plane with Lara and her mum are in crashes and they are the only two survivors. They find themselves in a tomb with a sword which Lara’s mum pulls out of a stone and she disappears (kind of like a weird take on Excalibur).

Bolivia: Back in real time Lara travels to Bolivia where there is a stone dais that her friend Anaya mentioned. Along the way she encounters mercenaries and wild animals that try to kill her. Upon reaching the dais she meets Rutland who holds a strange piece of sword, mentions a dead friend and then sets his mercenaries on her, but she’s Lara croft so no problem.

So from here Lara goes through a series of countries including Peru, Japan, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Great Britain and Nepal (she gets around a lot), finds out some awful truths, spares some lives and ends with a plan for the future.

So yeah it’s like pretty much every other movie game out there (I really want to use some big words here like infantile and menial that will impress but I think that that ruins the whole colloquial thing we have going on).

As much as I want to say ‘yeah, totally loved it 10/10’ I really can’t. Honestly there are few perks except a little Angelina Jolie and some nice gun action it’s really quite poor, even the graphics are weak. So GGGG(4/10) is the best I can give.

Bleach: The shattered blade

On Wii! Yes, I play this game on the Wii. Should I be ashamed? Some say so, but I would disagree. The Wii is generally seen as a family console, and whilst this is mostly true, it doesn’t mean you can’t play anything other than family based games on it. Anyway, I play Bleach: The shattered blade on Wii and I’m going to tell you a little bit about it.

The game is based shortly after (anime series spoiler) Ichigo rescues Rukia from her execution at Sōkyoku Hill. Now an accepted soul reaper (shinigami), he is able to help defend soul society from their newly formed enemy – the Espada/arrancar. The power that Ichigo used at Sōkyoku Hill was so great that it broke the seal that imprisoned an arrancar named Arturo Plateado. He is a highly dangerous, self-made arrancar that attempted to destroy the whole of soul society, but was captured and then sealed beneath the city. Now that he had been released, it is his goal to seek revenge. He is able to take on the form of any member of soul society, whether it is squad captains, vice captains or other team members. It is your goal to stop and defeat Arturo before it’s too late.

You can play as loads of different characters in this game, and I’ve completed it on nearly every single one. It’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Each character begins the game with different reasoning, but they all end the same way – confronting Arturo. As every character has different skills and varying forms and powers with their zanpaktou the game becomes more interesting. I wish they had been able to include Hisagi’s bankai. It rocks. It really does.

Multiplayer is pretty repetitive. You and a friend can battle characters (either the same character or different ones) in different ‘arenas’ and through that determine a winner. It’s simple and there isn’t much to it. Just a bit of mindless fun you might say.

The controls are simple to use and get the hang of. It requires the Wii remote and the nun chuck to play. The individual buttons on each remote release special moves such as the bankai form or various spells.

Compared to the anime/manga...

So, this is Arturo. You look...familiar.

Here’s the thing that really bugs me. This new arrancar, Arturo, looks almost exactly like Grimmjow with the slightly longer hair/bone remains on his face. I wonder why they couldn’t just design a different arrancar that didn’t bear such a heavy resemblance to one that already exists. It’s so irritating when the character seems to lack any form of creativity and the creators feel as though they have re-use a former character template.

Of course, it’s not part of the anime

All the characters are pretty good at remaining in the same mind set as they would if they were in the anime series and so I can say that everything in this game was pretty well done when comparing it to the original series.

In conclusion...

The storyline is lacking, and it gets a bit samey after a while. The clear lack of creativity when it comes to the actual main antagonist is rather appalling if not disappointing. If you’re looking for a mindless game that requires little skill and concentration then I would highly recommend this one to you. If you want something action packed and filled with variety and twists in the plot then this really, really is not the game you’re looking for.

Kids will love it, so will those who just don’t feel like thinking for a night (we’ve all been there). However, for its poor development, gameplay and lack of creativity I reward it a mere 5/10. Sorry, Bleach , you disappointed me

As a side note, readers, please don't forget that tomorrow the winner of a copy of Skyrim will be announced! Watch this space, it's coming quickly. 

Runescape

Yes, yes, it is true. Pokemon Pots is over. But don't worry. Tonight we have my favourite game to share with you.

Runescape

I, Titus Proxima, have been playing Runescape since I was old enough to understand the concept of RPG. For 8 years I’ve enjoyed endless hours of free time in this imaginative, ever-growing, world. I began as a curious 10 year old, seeking something to do in the 1 hour a day I was allowed on the family computer. My brothers and I were addicted to this game. It is what originally got me into gaming.

Since then the game has changed dramatically. I began again a few weeks ago so as to compare it to what it was before. In the original game you could pick your gender and your appearance and your outfit and then you went through the starter world were you were directed to each point at which you would learn something new about the game. When you reached the end of the training you were sent to the mainland with a few start possessions and told to make your way to the top.

You began in a castle called Lumbridge Castle were there was a bank and around it a few activities that you could get started on. There were also low level goblins and spiders to slay to begin growing your levels and also masters who you could talk to, to learn more about each career route. You could change careers on a whim and not lose levels or anything. Once you had grown a small amount you could begin to venture out one path led to Falador and a small fishing port and the other let to Varrock the capital city of Runescape. Here there is the main trading facility and the higher level soldiers and enemies for attacking. As you grew levels you could venture further and find stronger enemies and gain more property including better armour and weaponry or tools such as Mithril Pick axe’s or Adamant long swords.

There were quests for all levels for those who prefer structure and to further one’s avatar in the game. For members there were better quests, better weaponry and even places where you could build your own residence.

Discovering new places also meant unlocking new music tracks and learning more about the game as a whole (I was level 56 when my first account got hacked).

Personally I think some of the updates are unnecessary and inconvenient (especially for people like me who hate making decisions). At the beginning now there you must make a decision as to what class you want to be and then there is no training world but you are immediately cast into the mainland to stumble along on your own in a new world. If it wasn’t for my previous understanding of the game I would have been totally lost. As it was people were asking me questions about what they were supposed to do because I clearly knew despite being such a low level.

One thing they have kept which pleases me greatly is their holiday events such as Halloween parties which you had specific Halloween quests to complete and prizes at the end, normally an outfit that indicated your participation and a prize box. They also every now and then drag you into a spontaneous quest where you have to help something out of a situation and then at the end you are sent back to where you were with a mystery gift box and an item.]

The graphics have mostly stayed the same but there is less lag which I used to get all the time. The controls are simple and easy and I recommend this to anyone who wants a simple enjoyable game to pass a few hours in the evening. I recently managed to get Valhalla to have a go. He was sceptical at first but he definately got into it.

I have to give this game a good rating because I TOTALLY LOVE this game. So here goes.

GGGGGGG (7/10 Gamer rating) I'd give it more but I think it's let itself go a bit.