Sealife Centre!

As you all know I've been in England the last few days, so I decided to post up some photo's of my day out to Weymouth!
Now I'm back home I finally have time to play games again and keep up to date with new releases and whatnot, but for now I thought I'd show you all cute pictures of animals from the Weymouth Sealife Centre.
Enjoy! :D
-KirreeH

Baby Crocodile!

Sea Horse

Penguin in a tub

My favourite part of the day - The turtles!

England!

So I been pretty busy here in England! Having a great time seeing friends and family, playing Call of Duty Ghosts and Scrabble mostly.
My dad has always been a big fan of the Call of Duty franchise, his interest being mostly in the Zombies part, but this latest installment is pretty good!
And Scrabble is always a good laugh (when you're winning).
Kind of disappointed currently after hearing EA isn't revealing a Sims 4 release date yet, and I was looking forward to Dying Light this month, but the release date has been pushed back!
Never mind eh! I'll try and get a review out soon for you guys so keep posted and see you soon!
-KirreeH

Rhythm Paradise

Today it’s time for a review of an older DS game I used to play called Rhythm Paradise; also known as Rhythm Heaven outside of Europe or Rhythm Tengoku Gold in Japan. Released in 2009, it is, as you can probably guess from the title, a rhythm game.


The aim of the game is that in each level, there is a different scenario in which you need to make an action happen by tapping the screen in time to the rhythm. Failure to tap, or tapping out of time, affects the score given at the end of each level and can result in failure. After completing 4 levels, you are given a bonus remix level of the previous 4 levels. A bonus of this game is the different end scores you can get:

- Failure
- Just OK, being the lowest passing score
- OK
- Superb

There is also an option every now and then, in which the game will ask if you wish to try for a “perfect” score, where any missed beat is a failure. This will only be asked if you have already achieved “superb” on said level.

Something I found disappointing, however, is that some of the levels seem to be repeated later on in the game. This lends an incomplete feel to the whole thing, as well as making the levels in question feel like place-holders, at least to me. If this had been done with all levels, then it would have made a lot more sense, but the levels are extremely fun for any age group, nontheless. The game also includes a few mini-games, of which a few are reminiscent of the game's main levels, while others are stand alone mini-games named in game as “rhythm toys”.


The graphics in the game are very simplistic, which is great for a game where you need to focus on the rhythm of the music being played. Fancy layouts with lots of detail would completely deter the player from the task at hand, which, for myself, is kind of shown in a later level in the game. The level has, for lack of an actual name, dancers, that animate when tapped in time to the rhythm. During the level, more dancers appear to the point where the screen is filled with hundreds of them, which can be very off-putting as it’s not the purpose of the game. That being said, it’s not bad to look at if you are actually making them move in time correctly with the beat.


The music used in this game is really catchy, nice to listen to and really gets you involved in the game. I have memorised a number of the songs and can still remember them to this day! Again, certainly suitable for all ages, though if you’re not playing yourself, the repetitiveness can get old very quick, as I found out from friends and family.


Overall, as a game, I do feel like there were aspects missing which could have made it seem a bit more complete in my eyes, namely the duplicate levels being replaced with brand new ideas. Nevertheless, I do enjoy the game and will be playing it lots when I find my misplaced cartridge. I would recommend it to anyone of any age who enjoys silly games with simple goals.


So this is my last review for a week or so guys, but I'll try and keep on blogging in England with other stuff :)
Hope you enjoyed today's review, and see you next time!
-KirreeH

My favourite level!

Holiday!

Just a heads up that I will be quiet for the next couple of weeks as I'm back in England on holiday yay! Then back to work once I'm back, booooo.
I will try and keep posting more reviews and gaming news in the meantime, but if I go quiet you know why!
See you guys soon :D
-KirreeH

Final call!

Just in-case you weren't aware, the final beta test for Elder Scrolls Online starts tomorrow at 5pm GMT until Monday.
Myself? I don't think I'll be getting any game time on as you can possibly tell from my review of the game, but I will be looking forward to how other people's experiences went and seeing if any bugs have been fixed since I played.

So for anyone else playing, have fun! Let me know how it goes.
-KirreeH

Elder Scrolls Online

As you know, 28th Feb, I was invited to join The Elder Scrolls Online beta that was taking place for a scale test. Obviously this is still a work in progress, so some aspects I comment on are subject to change upon release. Nevertheless, ZeniMax have encouraged beta testers to share our experiences, so here is my opinion!

The first thing you notice and come across is the character creation screen (as with any other Elder Scrolls game). The layout was nice and clean, very easy to navigate and I got to create my perfect character which of course was a Khajiit was with every other character I’ve ever made. You choose your alliance in this screen, and choose how your character will battle. Whether it be with spells, or with two handed weapon. There are a few options you can choose from which customizes the perks for how you want to play the game with your character.

The actual intro of the game I found to be rather irritating. You start off in a room, where you are given some basic controls, as with most games these days, then you set off on a multitude of corridors. I genuinely can’t remember how many of these short corridors there were, but it felt unnecessary and kind of awkward as you don’t really achieve a lot in each corridor. For example, one corridor you collect your gear of choice, then the next corridor you fight a skeleton warrior, and the following corridor you fight a skeleton archer. Just one of each, and these aren’t respawned. I didn’t really see why a separate corridor was needed for a single skeleton, but as it was part of the tutorial, I can see how others could find it handy. But for me it would of been nice to be condensed into say, one corridor for your gear and one for fighting.
Within the tutorial you learn the new levelling up layout which is different to how it worked in Skyrim. Once you have reached the next level, you press ‘C’ to open up the menu in where you choose where you want to upgrade yourself. Same as previous you have the options of mana, stamina and health, and before you’ve dedicated your choice, it shows you how the upgrade will improve your attributes. The next screen allows you a choice of perk which you can use ingame helping you in battle. The perk I chose when used set your foe on fire once struck with a sword. Very handy for taking a huge chunk of their life. During the game, the more you use them, the more they upgrade themselves.
There is one room before the final room, after all the corridors, but not a whole lot goes on in here (and I want to tell you everything that happens, just the important stuff). Once you get to the final room of the intro you are confronted by Molag Bal, the daedric prince of domination and enslavement, you have a quick chat, then you free a blind prophet who takes you to Tamriel. Easy peasy. A nice intro into the game, even if it was a bit long and repetitive for me, but still a good way to start the experience off. You also don’t start seeing other online players until the end of the intro, then once again when you’re exploring Tamriel and starting on your quests.
A bug I noticed straight away in gameplay was that there is no collision with NPC’s. Everytime I tried to battle with something and either I or the enemy walked forward, it would disappear into my character, making any fight very awkward.

One thing you do immediately notice is just how good the game looks graphically. It was, for me especially, something expected after seeing just how amazing Skyrim looks. The new layouts for character customization and for inventory are more simplistic than in Skyrim which I found very appealing. Very easy to navigate and I liked being able to equip armour by dragging it from inventory over to the active armour layout on the left side of the screen. In the same screen you also find the tabs for your map, quests and information on friends added. Being an MMO, it’s nice having these all on the same screen, so you don’t waste time ingame searching through different menu’s.
Regarding the compass at the top of the screen, it looks the same as in previous games with the given bonus that if you look in the right direction, the compass will tell you what marker quest you are looking at, and whether it’s on a level higher or lower than you’re at currently. It’s also done in a way where it’s very subtle, yet effective as you notice it there, it’s just not in your way blocking your view as you do other things.
There was a bug I found however, when looking at say a mudcrab in the distance, it would show the name and health status as a target would when battling up close. This for me was very off putting when trying to follow a quest line, for the game to decide for me the butterfly I was half looking at in the distance should be tracked instead. Not nice.
Unfortunately, due to my lack of interest in pursuing the game further, I did not take any screenshots of my own, sorry! And it's rather hard to find any on the internet, so I have failed you there.


Finally the soundscape in the game, nothing really special to me. Nothing stood out, it was just what I’d expect from an Elder Scrolls game. Same old dialogue and voice acting from Skyrim, and no background music. Nice, as it was kept nice and simple and didn’t distract from the gameplay itself, but I would of liked to have heard something that stood out, letting you know this is a brand new game.

Overall, I wasn’t thoroughly impressed. Thinking back to how much excitement and enthusiasm there was when this was first announced, it really didn’t live up to expectation. There are really good aspects to the game, but for me, it really doesn’t stand out and choosing to release an MMO may not have been the best idea. I would of preferred a new Elder Scrolls single player, with some of these new features shown online and with more effort gone into setting the game apart from previous titles in the series, rather than just the online aspect being the focal point for this title.

For me, I'd say an even 5/10.
Nothing truly special in my eyes, but perhaps upon release there will be more aspects which will make me reconsider and become a huge fan.

So thanks again for reading, and sorry for the huge mountain of text and lack of screenshots, will try and do a separate tl;dr version soon!
Next review will have more visual aids I promise.
Until next time!
-KirreeH

Gaming news

So I'm quite a fan of really terrible reality shows (I'm willing to admit myself they are terrible) and one of which I've taken a real liking to is Mob Wives.
Mob Wives follows the female family members of certain famous mobsters. It's basically full of a lot of swearing, arguing and fighting. Marvelous. So nothing really surprises me when it comes to these women until I read the following: 

"Karen Gravano of Mob Wives suing Rockstar Games over GTA V character".

Yes, really! The daughter of famous mob snitch Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano has taken a $40million lawsuit against Rockstar Games over the character Antonia Bottino, claiming the character uses her likeness and story without her given consent.
Unfortunately, Rockstar Games have stated "We do not comment on legal matters". But if you ask me? I think it's a load of rubbish. Sure, they may be some similarities? Possibly? Only time will tell the outcome.

Banished

Banished is an indie city-building strategy game, released earlier this month. It’s currently available on Steam or direct download from the developer’s website. Links are as follows: Shining Rock Software and Steam.
I’ve been playing it quite a lot over the last few days, and I’m really enjoying it. City-builders have always been of interest to me, but the difference between this and other city builders I’ve played, is that this is the first of its kind that I’ve played where you start off in an older era. 

The game itself is very small and very simple. This doesn’t, however, make the game any less interesting or fun, as it still has plenty of features to keep you interested throughout. Sure, there aren’t as many features and options as there may be in say, SimCity, but it also means there’s not a lot you have to worry about in terms of forgetting to build something or running out of a resource.
So it’s the same concept as any other city-builder, you start off with a number of villagers (amount dependant on the difficulty you choose), get them gathering resources and building what needs to be built. Simple as. With food resources, you do need to bear in mind that there are seasons throughout the game, meaning as in real life, you can’t do farming during the winter. You need to either make sure you have enough in your stock to keep you going, or you need to find an alternative, of which there are a few. This was a nice change for me, as I’m used to games such as SimCity and CitiesXL, giving me the option of worrying about what resources I need next and where to get them, rather than whether or not I have enough police stations and shops for my town. Another function I liked was the ability to either control villagers separately, choosing what jobs they have, or you can use the taskbar to assign how many people you want on a job, rather than who.

The overall look of the game is incredible. I mean, for a game of this size, I was expecting it to look a lot like an older version of SimCity, but was very pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it looked, even set on a lower graphic setting. There’s flowing rivers, falling snow and smoke funneling out of the chimneys! In words, I really can’t do the game the justice it deserves, so let me show you:

(A close up with snow effects shown)

(Zoomed out in Summer with some in-game windows shown)

Incredible, right?

The soundscape of the game is very simplistic, yet pleasant. Nice background music and simple, yet effective, sounds. I’m glad it’s not overdone and a racket to the ears, as it would be very off-putting, otherwise to the gameplay.

Yet again, another game I’m very happy and pleased with. I know there are bugs which are currently being worked on, though fortunately I haven’t seen any myself, else I would have commented on them. The only things that bugged me are things I just find very silly and don’t make any sense, such as the fact you can have a child born in Spring year 2, and by Winter year 2 they’re already age 5. But the upside to this is that the quicker the age, the faster you have more adults you can work with, otherwise you’d be waiting a very long time in gameplay for adults to come along. As a result, even the things I did find strange really didn’t affect the gameplay negatively, so I’m still enjoying my game thoroughly.

I hope you enjoyed my latest review! I'm still working on Elder Scrolls Online and Thief so please keep posted!
Thanks for reading, until next time.
-KirreeH

Minipets

Time to do a review on a much smaller game than the previous reviews: Minipets!

I am completely obsessed with this mini game and I’ll tell you why.

Ok I know, it is aimed at a younger audience, but it’s just so addictive! I’ve been playing my game since about September time, and I still check on it 2-3 times a day to collect my virtual earnings, and slowly upgrade my mini-zoo.

The basic aim is that you earn coins and gems from the animals you have at the zoo, or through doing little missions they set you (mostly placing more animals down or decorating your zoo) and gaining experience to level up; meaning more animals and items becoming unlocked in the process. There is also an aspect to the game where you can breed two species to unlock a new species of animal. One example of this is mating a horse and a narwhal to unlock a unicorn. Simple right? That’s why I love it.

Now for the graphics and other aspects. It’s a free-to-play mini game aimed at children, so of course some of the animals and other items don’t look amazing per-se, but it adds to the appeal for a younger generation as it’s very cartoon like, and it keeps that throughout all aspects. 

As for the sounds in the game,they are again very simplistic and cartoony with nice simple, music in the background. I do like the fact that when you tap on an animal, it makes the noise for said animal (apart from ones like rabbits that don’t make a noise), making it more enjoyable for children. This all being said, since I am a 22 year old, I do play on mute as I’m sure it would lose its charm very quickly with me. But I really do appreciate this isn’t a game made for someone of my age, and if I was a lot younger, I’d find it enjoyable. Maybe I should test it out on my neices and nephew...

Nevertheless, I still continue to enjoy this game on a daily basis, and it’s still the first thing I check when I wake up (I’m saving up to get a baby lion and they’re very expensive). I’m sure in a few months time I’ll still be playing, most likely making my zoo look pretty rather than just plonking down animals here, there and everywhere, just to complete the missions as I am right now (I never said I was a pro here). Or, I’ll hit a standstill, not be able to do anything more, and I’ll start a new game!

Thanks again for reading, I do have upcoming reviews on Thief, Banished and Elder Scrolls Online coming out soon, so stay tuned!

Until next time

-KirreeH

(Image taken from Google)

The Sims 4

So if there was any series of game I had to play for the rest of my life it would quite possibly be the Sims. I love the Sims, I've grown up with it so needless to say I'm looking forward to EA giving us the release date at GDC 2014.

For more information read here: http://www.gamerheadlines.com/2014/02/the-sims-4-release-date-to-steal-the-spotlight-at-gdc-2014/

L.A. Noire

So again, here’s another game that’s a couple of years old (released 2011), but it’s something I’m currently playing, so it makes sense to write my thoughts down!

When the game first came out it did grab my attention, but unfortunately the system I was using wasn’t capable of running the game. But since I got my new PC set up, I was ready to go and give it a shot!

  L.A. Noire is set in the late 40’s, post WWII amongst the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, and you control a patrolman named Cole Phelps (and later an ex-marine named Jack Kelso). The main objective of this game is that you do thorough inspections of crime scenes and places of interest; interviewing witnesses and suspects, eventually solving the crime given to you. Instead of levels, you are set with different cases, and you eventually work your way through various different department bureaus, giving you more variety with the crimes you investigate. The game is very linear with its storyline, the only openness coming from your choice of where to go next if you have a few places to visit for your investigation.

The two main focal objectives of this game are:

a) making sure you find all clues and evidence amongst crime scenes and places of interest,

b) correctly deducing in conversations if you believe a person is telling the truth, lying, or you doubt them. 

The difference between the doubt and lying accusation, is that accusations of lying must be given with proof or evidence found earlier. If you do end up missing evidence or misunderstanding a person’s alibi, it affects your overall score given at the end of the mission meaning an unhappy boss, or you can thoroughly annoy an innocent person you’ve wrongly accused for the crime.

  The gameplay is relatively simple. Simple WASD for movement, and Cole jumps over objects or across gaps automatically. Most other actions are controlled by the mouse, except when you are fighting, where you have the option to use Q to grapple or R to finish the fight. So this makes for very easy combat, as you simply click on the opponent to hit them (or fire your gun), and chasing someone is as simple as holding down W to follow them. Easy peasy. Simple enough for a child, although I wouldn’t recommend you let a child play, as there is some bad language and plenty of racial slurs used in the game.

When choosing your next location to travel to, it is once again very simple. Simply pull your notebook out, set your destination, then a marker appears on your mini-map to guide you there (or hold E down to make your partner drive as I always do). The notebook is also used to hold evidence notes, as well as choosing what question you wish to ask someone next during an interrogation. So again, all relatively simple to get the hang of.

  The graphics in this game I really do enjoy. Even now, 3 years after its release, it still looks amazing compared to other games being currently released. Every building, and the town itself is set out perfectly, making you feel like you are immersed in this post war era. And as for the characters? Phenomenal. All characters are very lifelike in appearance thanks to the MotionScan used on real life people. It’s a great feeling that when interviewing these people, they do actually look from side to side when nervous, or remain composed when telling the truth. The only complaint I have about this though, is that I have noticed that nearly every woman in the game looks exactly the same. Sometimes the only way to tell them apart is the clothing, which is a bit disappointing as there are so many different male characters with distinctive looks setting them apart.

  I am also impressed with L.A. Noire’s soundscape. Again, each character has their own voice (not always found in a lot of games), making them unique in that sense. The music is true to the 40’s era in which the game is set, and other sound effects such as knocking, doors opening, et cetera, are all true to life. An added bonus given is that when you are in a crime scene or place of interest, there is some distinct music playing in the background. When you have found everything of interest, the music changes so you know there’s no more searching to be done. Another element is that there is a jingle when you walk near an object you can observe. At first, it mostly jingles when there is actually an item of relevance, but as the game goes on, it plays when you’re next to anything you can pick up. This forces you to become better at deciding whether or not something is actually relevant to an investigation, rather than simply relying on the game telling you, like I did at first.

  Overall, another game I completely adore for all aspects and will play again and again (leaving enough time in between plays to make sure I forget correct accusations).

If you want a game that’s pretty linear in storyline, but also gets your mind working as what to do next, this is for you. It’s just superb and beautiful to look at as well.

  So once again, thankyou for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Any suggestions for new reviews are more than welcome, so let me know if you have any!

Until next time

-KirreeH