GAME REVIEW - inFAMOUS 2 (Spoiler-free)

Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sucker Punch Entertainment
Platforms: PS3
Genre: Open world action-adventure
Age Rating: 16
Release Year: 2011


So inFAMOUS 2, a game where you play as a guy called Cole who absorbs electricity to heal himself and turn into cool superpowers. He is also an expert at climbing walls. The selling point of this game is that you choose whether to play the game as a hero or an evil villain. This makes your powers red or blue! Big woop, but that's not all. Playing to one side specifically you will unlock different powers and different missions and cut scenes. This does give the game replay ability.


This game has a big step up and is better then the original infamous. They have added collapsing balconies when you blow them up. A new pylon style melee weapon, which is really nice and finally you can upgrade all your attacks and there is loads of new ones. The good news is that they have made a slick and easy quick change menu for the powers. However at points near the end I did want a couple of powers equipped at the same time which should have been possible as one was L1 then R2 and the other was just R2. Yet it wasn't possible, slightly aggravating.


The engine for this game let it down a little as climbing was really fake. It would be better if they had made a super power that helps you climb. Another problem was the enemy AI of the guys with rocket launchers was just annoying as they would just point and shoot blowing their prisoners up or themselves. As soon as they saw you, killing you.


The story was aright although sometimes it was a bit to unbalanced of story to the whole good karma bad karma thing. I did prefer the adventures through the sewers to power up the generator in the original to the new shooting electric bolt shooty thing however it is still a really fun part of the game. A really nice idea in this game is the online level editing and creating which seems to be pretty robust and adds endless game play to the game.


I really recommend this game for the price it is now, not the full price when it came out!


5/10


What would your inFAMOUS powers be? Post answers in the comments
Kieron :O

GAME NEWS - 3DS XL and lots of short stuff!

Earlier in the week Nintendo had a direct broadcast and they announced some exiting stuff, the biggest news is here:
3DS XL:

This exists. It will have 90% bigger screens meaning the top screen is now 4.88 inches and the lower 4.18. A longer battery life of between 3.5 and 6.5 hours while playing 3DS games (compared to 3-5 hours for 3DS) and between 6 and 10 hours while playing DS games (compared to 5-8 hours for 3DS). Its battery will take 30 minuets to charge fully. And finally it will have a 4GB SD Card.  However it will have the same screen resolution as the original 3DS. Between £180 to £250, give or take a penny, but UK retailers can choose how much to sell it for!It will go on sale on July 28th (22 days earlier than in the US, woop). In red, blue and ( Europe only ) silver.

Next Smash Bros:
The best people from other game companies are colaborating to make this be epic be able to go up against playstation all stars. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top!

Other Nintendo stuff:
Fire Emblem Awakening is happening.
Professor Lavton and the Miracle Mask is coming with a free new puzzle available every day for a year.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is getting payed DLC.
Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition will have new challenges based on his return to dream land and a historical gallery containg 20 years of concept art and episodes from the cartoon show!


Mass Effect 3 Extended DLC
Was made available yesterday. It wont change the ending but provides additional epilogue scenes and decisions. But it is 1.9 GB!


FarCry 3 has been Delayed
Ubisoft have said that they are delaying the release date of FarCry3 to November 29th ( 6 days before america) as they want to make it better.

COD: MW3 DLC
For anyone that is interested some DLC for MW3 happened. If your interested do your own research ...

The Walkinng Dead Episode 2 
come out today.

Tomb Raider Developers, Crystal Dynamics, are working on a new IP for next Gen Consoles Hopefully! 
Should be good! (new IP means its not part of an existing franchise)

TV REVIEW - Primeval Series 5 Episode 2 (Spoiler-free)

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Created by: Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines
Directed by: Robert Quinn
Written by: Steve Bailie
Starring: Ruth Kearney, Ciaran McMenamin, Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Ben Miller
Genre: Sci-Fi
Air Date: 31st May 2011 (Watch), 23rd June 2012 (ITV)


In this weeks episode of Primeval, the team went on board a nuclear submarine in order to close an anomaly submerged in the North Sea. While trying to complete their mission, the team pass through the anomaly and are faced with an attack from a swarm of Lipleurodon. On top of this, their is also a rogue Theropod on board that passed through the anomaly and was captured by the crew. Can the team cope with both these dangers and also return home?


This episode took on a real disaster movie look. Scenes showing the team running around the submarine with water squirting out of the walls was very reminiscent of films such as Titanic and Poseidon. Visually the episode was cleverly put together to look like one of these traditional styled films (thumbs up to Quinn).


Unfortunately, this is the only real thing that sets this episode apart from the rest of Primeval. And even the idea of recreating a disaster movie within a sci-fi seems to have been taken from Doctor Who's Voyage of the Damned. Primeval has recieved alot of criticism for ITV trying to recreate the success of Who and playing to the same audience, which it has achieved to an extent. But unlike Who, Primeval is grounded on Earth, and is almost entirely based on modern day, so isn't anywhere near as versatile. Having said this, next week's episode will include elements of Victorian England, which I'm looking forward to.


Overall, the episode maintains it's usual standard of tense moments and light humour, and the dinosaurs as always look great for a TV show, but the show is getting too samey now. Admittedly this episode was paced better than last weeks, but these changes are just mild fluctuations. Maybe we should just let a sleeping Lipleurodon lie?


5/10


You can watch this episode of Primeval on ITV Player here.


What did you make of this weeks episode of Primeval? Let us know in the comments.
Tom :)

TV REVIEW - Primeval Series 5 Episode 1 (Spoiler-free)

Previous Episode     Next Episode

If you don't know what Primeval is, here is trailer for this series. This trailer is from watch but we are watching it on ITV, but hey!

Ok, so Primeval is about a group of people who work for the government and their job is to find anomalies, which are basically time travel portals. Many creatures end up coming through these portals. The team's mission is to close the anomalies, and not die. Got it? Good!








Lets get started. Episode 1:
Created by: Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines
Director: Mark Everest
Writer: Chris Lang
Staring: Ben Masfield, Ruth Kearney, Ciaran McMenamin, Hannah Spearritt, Andrew-Lee Potts, Ben Miller
Genre: Sci-Fi
Air date: 24th May 2011 (Watch), 16th June 2012 (ITV)

In this episode the team must protect the public from some giant burrowing bugs that have somehow been around for ages and noone has noticed them, even though they make giant holes and eat people. Humm, someone hasn't thought this through.

Ignoring this, the episode is written alright. It has some nice plot lines and especially series plot lines. However at times the team seem to do pointless things like going down a hole just to get scared and run out of the hole. Also it was unlikely that a lawnmower would cause vibrations to summon the bug as there is bound to be bigger vibrations near by and really would a well evolved creature would go bad to where it just came from.

Suspense is built well in the episode and is effective in making it more engaging.

The CGI is really good. Sometimes the creatures in Primeval are unimaginative however these seem to be relatively unique.

Sometimes there was shakey camera work, which was horrible. With those silly, shoddy zooms and stuff.

Overall I think it is worth watching and a good series but they should get a better director and more imagination.

4/10

What creature would you like to see in Primeval? Post answers in the comments.
Kieron :O

TV NEWS - Doctor Who News...and Not Much Else

Doctor Who Returning Character and Episode Title
According to the Evening Standard, Madame Vastra (who first appeared  in the Who episode A Good Man Goes To War) will be returning for the latter half of the upcoming series. It is also reported that Vastra, who is Silurian and lesbian, will fall for the new companion. For more on this, click here.

Also in the Whoniverse, the first episode has finally got it's title. The episode, which will feature every type of Dalek ever (apparently) will be called Asylum of the Daleks. As much as this news does excite us, it still tells us absolutely nothing! For more on this story, click here. For our updated episode guide of the upcoming series, click here.



And One More Thing...
And since there's such a lack of news, I thought I'd share this picture I found on Facebook. Made me giggle.

There's this weeks TV news. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, especially on the return of Madame Vastra.

Tom :)

MUSIC OLYMPIC TRACK LIST

A Leaked tracklist of the opening ceremony has revealed the 86 tracks that will feature during the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The 50 minute pre-show ceremony will feature the doctor who theme along with other gubbins like the EastEnders theme, The Beatles, Rizzle Kicks and Coldplay. 


The Full track list is here:


Captain Algernon Drummond/William Johnson Cory - 'Eton Boating Song'
Elgar/AC Benson - 'Land of Hope and Glory'
The Jam - 'Going Underground'
Muse - 'Map of the Problematique'
Big Ben Chimes
Sex Pistols - 'God Save the Queen'
The Clash - 'London Calling'
Simon May - EastEnders Theme
The Shipping Forecast
Sir Hubert Parry/William Blake - 'Jerusalem'
Elgar - 'Nimrod'
Handel - 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
Eric Coates - 'Dambusters March'
Handel - 'Music for the Royal Fireworks'
Monty Norman - James Bond Theme
Mike Oldfield - 'Tubular Bells'
Mike Oldfield - 'In Dulci Jubilo'
Vangelis - 'Chariots of Fire'
BBC News 1954
Arthur Wood - The Archers Theme
Winifred Atwell - 'Black and White Rag'
Sugababes - 'Push the Button'
OMD - 'Enola Gay'
David Rose - 'The Stripper'
Lionel Bart - 'Food Glorious Food'
Irwin Kostal, Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman - 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'
Rizzle Kicks - 'When I Was a Youngster'
Eric Clapton - 'Wonderful Tonight'
Colin Tully - Gregory's Girl Theme
William Pitt - 'City Lights'
The Who - 'My Generation'
The Rolling Stones - 'Satisfaction'
Millie Small - 'My Boy Lollipop'
The Kinks - 'All Day and All of the Night'
The Beatles - 'She Loves You'
Mud - 'Tiger Feet'
Led Zeppelin - 'Trampled Under Foot'
The Specials - 'A Message to You Rudy'
David Bowie - 'Starman'
Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Sex Pistols - 'Pretty Vacant'
Duran Duran - 'The Reflex'
New Order - 'Blue Monday'
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - 'Relax'
Soul II Soul - 'Back To Life'
Happy Mondays - 'Step On'
Eurythmics - 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
The Verve - 'Bittersweet Symphony'
Prodigy - 'Firestarter'
Underworld - 'Born Slippy'
Jaan Kenbrovin, John William Kellette - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles'
Blur - 'Song 2'
Dizzee Rascal - 'Bonkers'
Tigerstyle - 'Nacnha Onda Nei'
Arctic Monkeys - 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'
Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - 'Valerie'
Radiohead - 'Creep'
Muse - 'Uprising'
Kano & Mikey J - 'Random Antics'
Tinie Tempah - 'Pass Out'
MIA - 'Paper Planes'
Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida'
The Chemical Brothers - 'Galvanize'
Franz Ferdinand - 'Take Me Out'
Kaiser Chiefs - 'I Predict a Riot'
Roll Deep - 'Shake a Leg'
Adele - 'Rolling in the Deep'
Oasis - 'The Hindu Times'
Oasis - 'Wonderwall'
Emeli Sande - 'Heaven'
William Monk/Henry Francis - 'Abide With Me'
Pink Floyd - 'Eclipse'
The Beatles - 'The End'
The Beatles - 'Hey Jude'
David Bowie - 'Heroes'
Eric Spear - Coronation Street Theme
Ron Grainer - Doctor Who Theme
John Philip Sousa - Monty Python Theme/'The Liberty Bell' 
David Bowie - 'Absolute Beginners


Now there is a reason I don't do music but I think this is looking to be a pretty good tracklist with lots of big names :D


Kieron :O

MUSIC REVIEW - Who You Are

Artist: Jessie J
Genre: R'n'B/Pop
Release Year: 2011
Label: Lava/Universal Records/Island

As a general rule, I don't like contempary music. I didn't really like Jessie J until very recently. But my opinion was changed by two performances, one on Radio 1's Live Lounge and one on Jools Holland's Hootenany. Live Lounge showed off her very impressive vocal range and skill, and Hootenany showed off her stage presence and her ability as a performer. Since then, I've been a huge fan.

So, in a huge leap out of my jazz-and-rock-obsessed character, I bought her album, and got a very funny look from the bloke at the cashier.

The album itself has been six years in the making. Like most albums of the genre, it includes a few very good songs, with alot of padding in between. It also varies loads in style. Songs like Abracadabra and Casualty of Love  have a definite 80s feel, while others like Do It Like A Dude and Rainbow feel very modern.

The album opens with the renowned number 1 single Price Tag. And it's not hard to see why it's been so successful. It's laid back with a very catchy chorus. I love the funky guitar in the background, and the overall simplicity of the track makes it very easy listening. However, I do think it's really let down by the pointless rap in the middle by B.o.B. It fits as well as a clown at a funeral.

Another highlight of the album is Big White Room. J said that she wrote the song when she was 10 years old after a little boy in the same hospital ward as her died in an operation. It is the only acoustic track on the album (with the only accompaniment being from an acoustic guitar), and because of this is the only track that allows J to really show off her full vocal potential.

The best track though for me is Mamma Knows Best. Imagine getting a bit Benny Goodman, a bit of Plan B, and then sticking it all in a blender with the zest of Duffy. I can't think of a better way of describing it. It's jazzy, enticing and, above all, very VERY fun. Even if you don't buy the album, make sure you download this track.

So those are three of the best tracks on the album, but what about the rest? There's a few other decent tracks, but songs such as Rainbow feel very unimaginative, as if they were written to fill the gaps. Unfortunately, this time-filler disease is all too common on modern albums.

One of the main things that stands out about this album is that here we have a mainstream musician who has written an album where not every track is a soppy love ballad. Yes some tracks are based around the theme, but these then stand out because, on this CD, they aren't the norm. And when J does write a song on the topic, she does so in a new and inventive way. For example, I haven't heard a song as brutally honest as L.O.V.E, and it works because of it.

Overall, this is a good debut from Jessie J. It's very interesting, and some of the songs are brilliantly crafted. However, there is a fair bit of padding and samey murk that we have heard before. Despite this though, J certainly shows alot of potential, and I would definately buy another album.

7/10


You can buy Jessie J's "Who You Are" from amazon.co.uk.

What do you think of the album? Let us know in the comments.
Tom :)