Saturday 30 October 2010

Skyline

I remember hearing about this movie what seems like half-a-year ago, and putting it to the back of my mind. It looked good when the first trailer was shown before Scott Pilgrim, and then when I realised it was only a fortnight away, I started to get hopeful. And hope leads to excitement!

Reminds me of Independance Day, which is a good thing, and it stars Milo from 24, and Angel Batista from Dexter, which by itself is a good thing, but when you also have Turk from Scrubs running away from aliens, how can this not be epic!?

Thursday 28 October 2010

Pumpkinception

Click the pictures to embiggen.


Wednesday 27 October 2010

Defending my FIFA score.

Well, it turns out that awarding FIFA 11 a review score of "only" 8.5/10 has caused some controversy.

People ask me how I can call a game "the best football game ever made" and yet only give it an 8.5. To them, my answer is long and rambling. Which makes this the best place for it. But still, I will try to keep it brief. I could go on for days.

You see, review scores are tricky things. People always misunderstand what it is that they mean. Sorry to state the obvious, but they are a quick way of comparing games. People assume that if one game gets 7 and another 8, then the second is automatically better, right? But for a reviewer, who has carefully chosen his words, to tell you the good and the bad with each game, throwing an arbitrary number at the end requires little thought. You are meant to use those words to decide if this game appeals to you. And then, if still in doubt, consult the score, only if unsure.

This is because, in my eyes at least, a review score has always been a mark of, should you buy this. A 10/10 will be loved by everybody and all should purchase immediately, while a 9/10 will be loved by all genre fans. An 8/10 will be loved by some, despite the flaws, and so on and so on until a 1/10, which is all but unplayably broken.

FIFA 11 is a great game, better than last year, with gameplay that flows more naturally then last year. And yet, "it is whether it is £40 better than last year which is the difficult choice. Standing on single-player, where it's effectively the same as last year, it doesn’t quite hold up to the pricetag." I recommend that, for those who are not hardcore FIFA fans, this game may be not worth buying. The gameplay is "from what I hear, far tougher for those not in the hardcore." And for those who enjoy FIFA, but bought the game last year, you may be let down by your £40 investment. Considering the only five month old version is available for only £15, and that is brand new! A quick look on Ebay shows that it can be bought for around £4! This is a game that was brand new five months ago and is very similar in terms of gameplay. It is this, that in my eyes, means that FIFA 10 cannot be given that 9/10 score. And yet, despite that flaw of being too similar to what has come before, it will probably be loved by the vast majority of those who buy it. And rightly so, for it is a great game.

Therefore, 8.5/10

Monday 11 October 2010

I wanna be the very best...



I love it whenever it when I have my ipod on shuffle, and that tune starts up.

Friday 8 October 2010

FIFA 11

So, I now own FIFA 11, and I reviewed it for the news edition of Expose, the Offical Exeter Uni Student Paper.


There are days I look forward to every year. Christmas, Easter, talk like a pirate day, and of course, FIFA day. That annual event when the new version of FIFA is released to the world. The hope is that it will be better than last year. This year does not disappoint.

The game looks nicer. Animations are fresh, stadiums look prettier, and player likenesses are, well, more like real life. But in all honesty, it’s not the visuals that bring me to FIFA. It is the gameplay. To put it simply, crosses are now vitally important, and players can now successfully run with the ball. Dribbling has been completely revamped, and the balance between strength and pace makes for some really interesting battles. It takes a while to get used to the changes, but from what I hear, this is far tougher for those not in the hardcore.

Passing has also been revamped, in a positive way that feels more reliant on skill. This also takes some getting used to, but as long as you always playing the way you’re facing, you can still ping about passes like Barcelona. At the same time, referees have become especially cruel. This frequently slows down matches, but it does have the positive outcome of stopping cynical opponents fouling at every opportunity and escaping punishment, one personal gripe from last year.

Aside from those tweaks it is mostly same as before. There is a career mode, and playing as a single player, and playing with friends, but these all feel very similar to before.

Oh, and one other thing. FIFA 11 needs to be registered online before you can play online, and this locks your game to just one console, and it will cost you £6 to unlock it for another console. This will probably never matter to most people, but it does mean that buying pre-owned will cost you extra to play online. I feel slightly sorry for the innocents who’ll be caught by this, so be on guard.

To put it simply, you already know if you wanted to buy FIFA 11. This is a good game, better than last year, and that is saying something. It is the best football game ever made. But whether it is £40 better than last year, which is the difficult choice. Standing on single-player, which is effectively the same as last year, it doesn’t quite hold up to the pricetag. But to play online or with friends, it definitely is.

8.5/10

Saturday 2 October 2010

Excuses

These next few weeks are going to be busy. So I am just saying, the next update for my great tv watching of 2010 may be slightly late. Soz people.

But just for you, here is a brief update: Terriers is amazing, Nikita is enjoyable, and No Ordinary Family is getting worse every week, and I am losing all hope for it.

New reviews soon as I can.