[REVIEW] Netflix (PS3)

I might be a little late to the party on this one, seeing as how Netflix has been out for a couple of weeks now, but you'll just have to excuse me, I've been glued to the TV for pretty much 90% of that time. At first, as usual, I was pretty skeptical about Netflix, afterall, LoveFilm has been around for a bit longer, giving us movies on demand to our consoles for under a fiver a month. LoveFilm is also run by Amazon, who I firmly believe are the new Tesco, so I was a little baffled as to why Netflix would even bother coming to the UK. However, we decided to give it a try, as Netflix has various TV series available to stream as well as movies, something that as far as I'm aware, LoveFilm doesn't offer yet.

Now fortunately for me, I live down the road from the telephone exchange, and most of the time experience superb connection speeds. Despite this, I was still convinced that the streams from Netflix would be glitchy, blocky and maybe even (horror of horrors!) standard def. All my fears were dispelled when I actually gave it a go, and we sat down to watch a series of random films on a whim, including Starship Troopers, Spaceballs, Dazed and Confused, Robocop and High Fidelity, none of which we realised we wanted to watch until we saw them pop up in the (incredibly easy to navigate) menus.

Where Netflix really comes into its own however is with the aforementioned TV series that are available. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed South Park, and no longer do we have to stand up to put the next DVD of the Arrested Development boxset in, we can simply do it by remote. Thank god. Netflix even gives recommendations based on the things you've watched recently, so you don't even have to think for yourself anymore! Hallelujah! Looks like we'll be happily forking out the subscription for this, even if all else fails, I can always watch more Jersey Shore!

Basically, I LOVE living in the future. Yay for Netflix! 5/5

[REVIEW] Legend of Zelda extravaganza!

While we sit and patiently twiddle our thumbs waiting for the next installment in the Legend of Zelda saga, Nintendo decided that it would be a superb idea to re-release the old N64 classic, Ocarina of Time, for the 3DS. Originally released at the arse end of 1998, it's been tarted up and given the 3D treatment, but at the same time feels fresh and exciting. Graphically, the game seems superior to the original, in fact, I'm fairly sure that if you go and plug your N64 into your 42 inch high definition telly and expect things to go back to the way they were when you were a teen, then you're very much kidding yourself. (Seriously, I tried it with my SNES, and it's not as pretty as it used to be. Knew I should have kept my old portable TV!)

The controls are nice and responsive, but you can see the metaphorical scars behind the ears where this old dear has had her facelift - the player has bugger all control over the camera, except to be able to centre it behind Link's head while in targeting mode. In these luxurious days of two analog sticks on PS3 and 360, and a kind of second analog in the form of the Wii remote, it's very easy to forget that THAT'S HOW IT USED TO BE DONE. Since the 3DS only has one analog stick, the revolutionary Z-targeting (as it was then) system translates perfectly.

All in all, as a slice of nostalgia, Ocarina of Time is perfect. The spectacles are perfectly rose-tinted, and the game seems to have been polished in all the right places. However, if we were to view this as a new game, (and I'm happy to, as I never finished the original!) I would be quite convinced that this is a good test of the 3DS's capabilities. The game looks beautiful, and is fairly easy to get sucked into. A fairly obvious 5/5 from me!

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The other Zelda game I have had a brief look at this week is Link's Awakening, released on the eShop for the 3DS. First released in 1993, this was probably the second Nintendo game I ever played. (The first being Tetris - I was a late starter, I didn't even get my SNES until about '97!) I was a member of a small nerdy clique at school, (I was the fat ginger one) and we used to enjoy playing on our GameBoys at lunchtime, partially to avoid eye contact with the bullies. My GameBoy was also a handy form of mental self-defence on the bus home as well. Kids can be so cruel.

Anyway, enough of my personal demons, onto the review! Link's Awakening is a little diversion from the usual Hyrulian power struggle between Ganon and the forces of good. Link is washed ashore on Koholint Island, and is told that he cannot leave until he wakes the Wind Fish with a song. To play this song, he needs to retrieve eight instruments, which give rise to eight dungeons in the traditional Zelda manner. The 3DS Virtual Console version is vividly coloured, which took me by surprise, and seems to be every bit as engrossing as I remember it, except without having to pick chewing gum out of my pigtails when I get home this time around. Another 5/5, if only for the memories!

 

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The apparent success of these two games makes me wonder, what else could work on the 3DS? Will we see other titles in the Legend of Zelda series become available? I'd certainly love to see A Link To The Past, as well as some of the other titles in the series that I haven't had a chance to play. While we're at it, what else would you like to see, either on the 3DS Virtual Console or reimagined and re-released on a cartridge? (Donkey Kong Country series plz!) Let me know in the comments!

[REVIEW] Portal 2 (Valve, 360)

Just a brief chat about Portal 2 today, I'm supposed to be revising for one of my exams at the moment so this is all procrastination, but I may as well take a few moments to write a few words about the game which is keeping my head out of my books this week.

Portal is one of those genre-busting games that defy definition. The main focus is on it's puzzles, (somewhat fiendishly difficult at times) crossed with some kind of first person shooter. Originally bundled in with the Orange Box compilation with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, Portal tells a story of science, testing and madness at the hands of a sadistic AI known as GLaDOS. To cut a long story short, there are buttons that need to be pressed, high ledges that need to be accessed and turrets that need to be removed, all using a device known as the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which can fire two linked (you've guessed it) portals which allow the player to pass through and instantly arrive at where the exit portal was fired. Phew, that was harder to explain in laymans terms than expected.

Portal 2 expands on the foundations laid down by the first game by having you attempt to escape from the testing facility after being in suspended animation for some unspecified time. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as that, and before long, you find yourself back in the old testing chambers, having to solve puzzle after puzzle before you can continue. The puzzles are challenging, but not impossible - fifteen minutes of sheer frustration is often followed by a 30 second solution and shouting "oh I see!" at the TV once the necessary bit of flat space for your portal has been found. New aspects such as the bouncy Repulsion Gel add new interest to the game, which I am about half way through. My partner, who annoyingly seems to have a natural aptitude for testing has completed the single player campaign, and assures me that the ending is nothing short of spectacular.

Speaking of my other half, where this game really shines is in the co-operative mode. There are not many games out there which allow for split-screen two player, and even fewer that are actually any good. (If you have any recommendations, please give me a shout!) Two player Portal 2 is a great experience, not only is there the satisfaction of working together on the puzzle, the fact that there are two players, (represented by the absolute cutest robots I've seen since the Claptraps) means that there are now four portals at your disposal for even more variation in the puzzles. For those playing online there is also a signalling and gesture system, so you can tell your partner where to put his portals without having to physically shout and point.

In summary, I cannot recommend this game highly enough, and that's before I've mentioned such other treats as the vocal talents of Stephen Merchant and the dark, dark humour that is ingrained in every test chamber. Now, I've got an exam to cram for, so seriously, go buy this game now! 5/5

REVIEW: Pokemon Black (DS) - Part One



Oshawott. My starter Pokemon. Cute!



Firstly, a disclaimer. I am only seven hours into Pokemon Black. For some games, this might provide a full spectrum of everything the game has to offer (Bulletstorm being one of the most recent offenders, so I've heard) but just to put things into perspective, my Pokemon Pearl cartridge has clocked up around 350 hours, my Platinum about 100, my Diamond never really got past 20, but I did play it through twice to harvest the Legendaries and my SoulSilver clocked up around 40 hours but in my defence, I had started my chemistry degree by this point and that 40 hours might possibly have been better spent reading the last book in my second year course, Mechanism and Synthesis. Vital stuff. Still on my to-do list. One of my dear friends managed to put over a THOUSAND hours into one cart, with a few other Poke-freaks not far behind. (You know who you are!)

However, it's not all academic doom and gloom. Anyone who claims that Pokemon is a kids game is a) sorely mistaken, b) unable to grasp the complex statistics that underlie the gameplay, c) a chav, or d) all of the above. Yes, kids, Pokemon is at heart a MATHS game. Even at the most basic level of understanding, more powerful pokemon (with the bigger numbers) have a tendancy to be stronger than weaker pokemon (with the smaller numbers) before factoring in the multipliers for effectiveness. If I were so inclined to have children, I would INSIST that they play Pokemon. Me and Dad would be the harshest gym leaders they'd ever encountered. And by god they'd LEARN.

All of this makes me sound a little psychotic, so let's get to the nitty gritty. 150ish new pokemon, and this time, none of the old ones seem to be available in the first half of the game! This is a good thing, as everything is NEW and EXCITING. The starter Pokemon consist of a fire pig, a water otter and some kind of grass snake, who looks sort of like a smug weasel at the same time. So far, all my friends seem to have chosen Tepig, the fire pig. I'm not sure what this says about my friends, or the fact that I chose Oshawott, the water otter. Gameplay seems fairly quick to get into, the story is laid out quickly and easily, and it's then up to you to get into that long grass and seeking out Pokemon. After the first gym, multiplayer is opened up, although I haven't experiemented much with that yet.

So far, a worthy sequel. This review is entitled Part One for a reason - I'll get back to you in a hundred hours or so!

Scoring: 5/5 - Not even Fallout is this addictive. I may actually require medication at some point. If you're talking to me, and I've got my face buried in my DS, please don't think I'm being rude. I need help. Please help me.

REVIEW: Little Big Planet 2 (PS3)

Little Big Planet 2 was one of my most anticipated games of 2010 despite the fact that I never really played the previous incarnation. It was on my "To Do" list along with other such explosions of cute as Viva Pinata. Vaguely aware of the premise behind the game, a platformer with elements of collecting stuff and customising oneself, I gave up on trying to get around to the first game, and instead put my energy into waiting for the second.

I was not disappointed. The game begins with a short introduction by a certain Mr Stephen Fry, which sets the tone for the rest of the game. This game is Made In Britain, by British People, for British People and Those Who Love Them. Forget your Lara Crofts, your Professor Laytons (and that little gobshite Luke), the characters in LBP2 could beat them all hands down in a tea-sipping contest. The whole tone of the game is incredibly quaint and quirky, without being overly twee or irritating. Expect lots of cakes, steam trains, castles, pigeons and other such icons of Britishness.

Our hero, throughout all this is the wonderful Sack Boy - or as when the player is referred to in the game, Sack Thing. That's the wonderful thing about Sack Boy, he is a blank genderless canvas, and can be dressed up however you like. Costumes and component parts of costumes are collected as you progress through the story mode, and mixing it up a bit is actively encouraged by a prominent "randomise" button. If you want to wear the bellydancer dress with your big clompy boots, a full moustache and a combover, then that is your business. There are a number of preset costumes as well, naturally, although so far I've found them mostly useful for just throwing on when I can't find anything else to wear.

Gameplay-wise, I have to admit I find most platform games infuriating. This is no exception. At times the controls can be a little fiddly - partly down to my own ineptitude and partly to do with the controls being a touch sensitive - the grappling hook is a fine example of where is all goes wrong. Up and down control the length of the grapple, and left and right control the swing, but because it's all controlled with the analog stick, things can get a bit hairy, particularly if you're swinging over electrified doom or lava death. Other than that, there have only been a few honest-to-god screaming fits, both at points in the game which are relatively easy, I have been assured by my colleagues, which kind of implies that it was my own fault.

Speaking of my colleagues, besides the story, the other main focus of this game is the online multiplayer. LBP2 includes some fairly powerful-looking level design tools, including a sequencer to create your own music. While I've not had the time to have a go at designing myself yet, I've had a brief look at a few other peoples, and seen a massive variety - from Fallout 3 inspired levels to crazy science adventures to a game where the aim is to see how long you can run away from a shark across bits of wood floating in the water before he eats you. There is an excellent Daft Punk/Tron level (one of many, I suspect) that shows off the full potential of the sequencer by recreating one of the scores from the Tron Legacy movie almost perfectly. And then there's the Lady Gaga level.

Despite its flaws in the control of your Sack Thing, I could ramble for hours about  how much I adore this game. Instead, I shall just leave you with a mental image of my Sack Thing. Currently in game I am wearing red boxer shorts, a birthday cake for a top, blue eyeshadow and a long black wig. Oh, and I have flippers on my feet.

Is it wrong that I hope to unlock a Predator costume later in the game?

Scoring: 5/5 - a gorgeous game. So gorgeous I'll even forgive it for the shoddy controls sending me to my firey death on a regular basis.