Wednesday 12 March 2014

The Last of Us - Left Behind DLC


What is the measure of good DLC? As an extra chapter to my favourite game of last year, it's an incredible addition that fleshes out Ellie's past and her character. But as an individual purchase, it is incredibly short and expensively priced with little new to offer in terms of the game's mechanics.

That there is the bad half of it. Stopping to smell the roses and enjoy the scenery, this DLC takes little over two hours to finish. Note that the scenery itself is wonderful to look at, gorgeously rendered and artfully created, but it doesn't offer all that much which is new to the post-apocalyptic world. It's another ruined building which our heroes progress through, the likes of which was seen all through TLOU. The combat works in much the same way as it did before, with Infected and Hunters searching for Ellie and needing to be avoided and distracted with thrown bricks.

That would be damning if this were as sequel, but for DLC I have no complaints. I was given another excuse to explore a post-apocalyptic environment and maneuver the dangers therein, so I quickly fell back into familiar old habits and was thrilled to do so. It was a reminder of how much I loved using the bow, getting the run around on my foes, and setting traps. The muscle memory flowed back, and the old tricks still worked. It's the perfect excuse to dive back in the world of TLOU.

The real draw here, in more ways than one, is the narrative. The game cuts between two days in Ellie's life. The last day of her childhood, when she and her best friend Riley were bitten, and the first day she had to survive without Joel, immediately after his injury in TLOU. Young Ellie is unprepared for combat, so the sections of the game which take place in winter (while Ellie looks for a first aid kit to fix up Joel) feature most of the peril and danger. This winter-half is great, and serves as a top quality addition to a missing chapter from the original game. It features the combat I was just talking about.

The majority of the game features Riley (Ellie's best friend, who we know died before TLOU started) and Ellie having one last day together in a ruined shopping mall. This is really what Left Behind is all about - the friendship of the pair and what Ellie lost when she was bitten. It is great to behold, and you can really get drawn in to the emotion of it all. They truly feel like the best of friends, and knowing how doomed they are makes it all so bittersweet. The narrative here is wonderful, and is masterfully crafted in terms of tone and acting, in a manner I would have thought beyond the reach of mere video-games.

It really is the relationship between the two which drives the game. Knowing what Ellie lost when Riley died, and how that later makes her react to Joel in TLOU, expands on her character in a meaningful way and is an emotional to experience. The way the two friends treat each other and experience the world together is astoundingly well acted and feels deserved, like honest emotions tied with heartfelt actions. Even more, since the game ends with the bite, and we never get to see the last hours on earth the two spend together, it still feels like unfinished business. The game ends before giving these two close friends the time to react. Maybe that was deliberate. Maybe that is why it is... Left Behind.

Still, when all is said and done, it is inescapable that £12 for two hours is too high a price. Except I was quick to pay it, and would do so again in a heartbeat. I love TLOU. I adore it's setting and story and combat and all. Make of that what you will.

Monday 10 March 2014

Royal Flash


Harry Flashman is a damnable rouge. He's a drunk, and a cheat, and a coward, and a liar, and he's one of the most fun characters I can think of. These books are historical fiction, set in the 19th century, which is a brilliant time for adventurers like Flashy to get into trouble.

Flashman's (fictional) memouirs take him all over the world. From Victorian London, to his service in the British Army, to his adventures in the United States, to Africa and beyond.

The first book told of how Flashy was forced, by circumstances of his own creation, to join the British Army and be sent to Afganistan. While there he did his best to run away from danger, avoid any real hard work, and sleep with as many beautiful women as he could.

Flashman is basically the Sterling Archer of the British Empire, but with more running away from danger.

That first book, simply titled Flashman, is one of my favourites, and so I was greatly looking forwards to his second adventure, Royal Flash. Sadly, Royal Flash is much the disappointment. It hinges on one joke: what if the famous adventure novel The Prisoner of Zenda was actually based on a misadventure of Flashman's? A tale of royalty, lookalike imposters, plots, counter-plots and doomed love affairs, Flashman is forced against his will into heroic circumstances against great peril, and in doing so the story loses almost all of the fun.

Flashman has no agency over his own actions in this book. He is forced, by Otto Von Bismark no less, to do everything he does. And while Flashy complains bitterly about it all, he mostly just goes along with things, as a pawn in someone else's story. There is little opportunity for him to get up to any fun, and the adventure plays out much the same as it would with anyone else in his shoes.

The whole joke relies on the reader being familiar with The Prisoner of Zenda, but since that tale has fallen into relative obscurity, the value there was lost on me completely. It's a thin joke, and not enough to sustain the novel.

There are still some excellent passages. Flashy's unfriendly rivalry with Bismark, in steeple-chasing and in a short boxing match, make for two great sections. But the main plot of the thing is a plodding affair, which has little meaning on the story of Flashman's life.

If I were setting out to read the series afresh, I would give this book a miss. It is not essential to the larger tale of Flashy's life, and there's better stories to read first. As a series however, I love Flashman, and loudly recommend it to everyone.

Monday 3 March 2014

Fantasy Football - February 2013/14

GW24, and Ross buys RVP! Back from injury, he plays 77mins and scores a goal against Stoke. I win the weekend with 61pts. Lallana, Mirallas and Adam Johnson all score important goals. Annoyingly, I had John Terry on the bench and started Jonny Evans. That's a mistake which cost me 6pts. Everyone captained Suarez again.

In transfers, Andrew let Giroud go for Negredo and Jon swaps Clyne for Shaw.

GW25, and Jon wins with 71pts. Andrew made 68pts, as Skrtel and Hazard earned 38pts between them! At the same time, I only made 27pts. I had Sterling on the bench, worth 14pts, and in total I lose 41pts on Andrew. A crushing loss.

I quickly transfer out Adam Johnson, who's fixtures turn awful, and bring in Tom Ince. I also get Skrtel, he who'd just earned Andrew so many points. Ross and Andrew both bring in Adrian as a back-up GK, while Jon lets Janujaz go for Mirallas.

Midweek GW26, and a February storm postponed Everton v Palace and Man City v Sunderland.  Jon Hackett wins the week with 73pts; his is the only team with 11 players. Two goals for Adebayor were good news for Andrew and Jon, while Suarez had his first dissapointing match since Boxing Day. I only made 41pts, losing 17pts on Andrew and falling over 100pts off his lead, with 13 weeks left in the season.

Transfers, and there is only one. Jon swaps out Henderson for Sterling. Everyone else keeps the same squad.

The month ends with GW27, and James wins the week with 61pts. I come second, Giroud was my star player. He scored twice, assisted and earned 3bpts. Suarez fails to score again; he has only one goal for the last six weeks. Meanwhile, Sturridge has scored 9 goals in 7 games since returing from injury - a lucky thing no-one has him in their team!

In end of the month transfer news, Andrew drops Negredo for Rodriguez (SOU) and brings in Petr Cech, while Ross makes three transfers, the biggest of which is dropping RVP for Adebayor. RVP scored 3 goals in 4 games, so he's been doing well for Ross, but he is very expensive. I let Eriksen go out for Snodgrass in.

Febuary over, and I've had a poor month. I lost 40pts on Andrew, which all boils down to GW25. He remains in 1st place, and that could be the end of the title race unless something dramatic happens. Jon won the month with 254pts, but remains 4th overall behind Mike, for now.