WELCOME: News

New Year, Old Problems

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:51:58 GMT

HAPPY (BE LATED) NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year - whatever you did or wherever you were.

I hit a new high on views before Christmas! 108 views on my blog! Woohoo!

Recently I've had random happens, or thoughts if you will, since my last entry. I've affectionally labeled those thoughts under 'Random Crap!' below, feel free to read if you're interested. If not skip down to my life update, or if you came here for reviews scroll further down!

Random Crap!

FIRST OF THE LIST, I'VE BEEN COOKING: This may not be a big deal to most people but recently I have been getting my hands dirty in the kitchen. My mum has a reputation amoungst my friends, hers, Daniel's and families for being a great cook, it's mainly why my friends love to come over (apart from to see me) if to eat something my mother has made. I've always said that I have a lot to live up for when I leave home, and though I've expressed interest in cooking I've never really completed a whole recipe by myself or particiapted all the way through...until now. Mainly the reasons before if because by the time I get home from work (which is at least an hour before mum and Daniel return home) mum's already got it in the oven! Other reasons include previous times it's gone wrong and since mum is very sensisitive about cooking mistakes we tend to have arguements! But recently she's left me in charge of big meals and they come out as a success! This includes spagetti bolognese, lamb caserole, prok stir fry, sherpard's pie and chocolate cake, all make from scratch! It's improved my confidence quite a lot recently, especially since I've been iffy with food since I was poisened in America and am still suffering the consequences, I hope I continue to learn more and to enjoy it as well.
LASTLY, I NOW CONSIDER SURVIVAL HORROR AS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE GAME GENRES: If you read my Haunting Ground review you'll notice that because of that game I've become intrigued by the genre known as 'Survivial Horror'. I'm not a stranger to 'horror' per sae, my first 'horror' based game was Shivers (a brilliant one at that!) for the PC as well as it's sequel; 'Harvest of Souls'. The only other title I've played that is considered to be 'horror' is 'Eternal Darkness; Sanity's Requiem', which is again, a fantastic title! But to me when someone said 'Survival Horror' the series 'Silent Hill', 'House of the Dead' and 'Resistant Evil' pop into my head, and as far as I was aware were simply shooting zombies, despite my friend Katy stating Silent Hill was more than that. I guess another reason I wasn't so interested was because 'horror movies' were generally of a low quality and weren't scary for me so why would a game be any different? I remember picking up and buying 'Haunting Ground' on a whim a whole year before I picked it up and played it, I also remember my heart pounding as I prayed the stalker wouldn't find out where I was! I like to play RPG games because they drew me into a new world I could imurse myself in and become part of the fantasy and action, the same happened whilst I was playing 'Haunting Ground'. I felt very frightened for Fiona and tried with every bit of my gaming spirit to get her out of that mansion as soon as possible, because hearing what the stalkers did to her body after she was killed sent a chill up my spine! The game also introduced me to another type of 'Survival Horror', other than just ones that shoot zombies constantly. I've bought and played Obscure and Rule of Rose now (reviews for both can be found below), I've also bought 'Silent Hill 2' (second handed) and 'Obscure 2' (new), both which I intend to play at a later date, I've also found a very informative site called "Chris' Surivial Horror", a site created by a game developer who reviews and talks about Survivial Horrors as well as has a database of them. It was thanks to this site that my love for Survival Horror has grown!
So now I'm proud to announce that my top favourite game genres are; RPGs, Beat-em-Ups, Platform and Survival Horror!

Life Update

Unfortunetly due to space I had to cut this section short (DAMN MSN SPACES TEXT LIMITATIONS), which is a shame since I know most of it's boring but I typed up a few interestings things here and there including my thoughts on the new Camden and Greenwich, if you are interested, you can read it on my barely used live journal account here.

Overall January was pretty much same-old same-old on the work front, health wise I've not been at my best and mentally it's been hard as several people I care deeply for have had a rough month as well, so I've been worried about them. Plus several times I've doubted that I'm ever going to recover from my food poisening (no change there!), but hopefully 2008 will improve as the year progresses. Besides, my new 2008 calender opened up on Hiro Nakamura!

What a better way to start the year than a smile from Hiro? Hopefully he is a sign this year will be a good one!

The WahWah Views

Originally I though the name was cute but now "The Wahwah Views" is started to annoy me, but I can't think of anything else! If anyone has any ideas feel free to contribute!

Today's reviews are dominated by computer games (when aren't they?). Including short reviews for my current Wii collection, which consist of 5 games and a long review for another survivial horror! I promise my next long review will not be a survival horror for those who are tired of them yet. As previously stated you can see more of my reviews at amazon.co.uk.

Title: Super Mario Galaxy

Genre: Platform, Adventure

Platform: Wii

Certificate: 3+

Nunchuck Controller Needed?: Yes

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Every 100 years, a comet flies past the planet, dropping star bits as it passes and involves the planet in a white light. On this day, a festival occurs and Mario plans to go to the festival with his special one, Peach. However as he makes his way to Peach’s castle, Bowser decides to ruin this special event and captures Peach, to use her as part of his plans to take over the universe!

Wow! What can I say! I can see why it’s flying off the selves just like the Wii is!

To be honest, I’m not the biggest Mario fan, I’ve been more of a Sonic gal myself; my brother is the one who has 100% completed Super Mario 64 and Luigi’s Mansion, plus he insists on playing Mario Party most of the time. Mario has a huge legacy and even though I’ve not been that interested in him, I was intrigued by this title. It’s currently the most played game in my household at the moment, with both me and my brother playing with mum supporting!

The graphics are literally flawless, the graphics made me wide-eyes on “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games” but this title tops that instantly, you can see all the textures of each surface, such as the shine on wet floors and the rough-ness on a wooden planet – they really are gorgeous! They are loads of fun and varied levels that are also diverse in difficulty to make both newbies and hard core gamers happy; such as finding hidden items, racing various characters, completing a level with only one life and collecting 100 purple coins! There are lots to do and when you think it’s over, there’s even more fun to behold. The music is also brilliantly composed, it captures many elements from previous Mario scores and adds its own spin to them as well.

I think that the ‘cuteness’ of some of the new characters and the story may ‘put off’ some players, but if you can believe that a fat Italian plumber can fight off a gigantic dim-witted dinosaur to save his all-pink and thrills ‘damsel in distress’ girlfriend, why not a cute star baby that can transform into planets? The controls also seem easy and fluid at first, but sometimes when you walk upside down on a planet the control can reverse suddenly, and some of Mario’s power ups (such as the spring and flying Mario) can really prove to be a challenge, more often frustrating!

Originally I gave Mario Galaxy 4.5/5, but after finishing the game and unlocking a new mode I've dropped it to 4, reason being is that the new mode allows you to play as a different character - but apart from being a slightly better jumper and alternating the difficulty of some of the hidden stars, there's no difference between Mario's and the other character's modes! Which is a shame since with the new character they could've done many funny and interesting things with the dialogue, story, everything! Yet they didn't...wasted opportunity.

Overall though, a must have title for any Wii owner.

Title: Mario Party 8

Genre: Party, Board Game

Platform: Wii

Certificate: 3+

Nunchuck Controller Needed?: No

Rating: 3/5

Anyone who follows Mario would know of this series, for those who don’t, the ‘Mario Party’ series is basically a party game that features all the lovable characters from the Mario series onto a computer game version of a board game. The players have to collect coins within each board and purchase stars, the one with the highest amount of stars after certain amount of turns wins the game. Most of the titles in the series have very little different content from each other, so far I’ve played 2, 4 and 5 of the series and the only major difference between them is the selection of mini games and graphics. Is Mario Part 8 any different? No in short. But it has brought forward some nice elements I’d like to see in the future; on the other hand I’d like it to get rid off problems that have existed since the series began!

The graphics are nice enough, shows off the textures of the water and other surfaces nicely enough but compared to my current Wii collection it is one of the weakest, being less detailed and not exactly pushing the console’s boundaries.

There are added boards, though look identical to previous games, the rules have slightly been altered. So instead of purchasing stars you have to find the appropriate character to fork them over or you need to invest in hotels to come out on top - I like this variation of gameplay outside the mini games, instead of just wandering around the board buying stars. I’m also fond of the less screen time the CPU characters get whilst playing, in previous games you had to witness them make decisions on the board, play mini games, etc, though we still witness the mini games the whole ‘board’ playing is reduced – a step in the absolutely RIGHT direction! Hopefully the next title will take it even further.

The selections of mini games are a hit and miss; at a glance they appear very much the same compared to previous selections. Although some of the games make good use of the Wii remote in fun ways, other times they seem to be lifted off the Gamecube capabilities. Going from shaking the Wii remote up and down to pressing down on the d-pad seems quite odd; in addition the controls and rules for some of the games are a bit peculiar as well. For example on a previous 2 player racing game one player controls the speed whilst the other manoeuvres the vehicle, in the racing game on this title, BOTH characters control the direction of the vehicle, which leads to over-doing a turn whilst playing, so it’s quite unbalanced.

If you feel the whole gameplay has been stretched as far as it can go and hope this latest title will prove you wrong, don’t bother forking out the money as it doesn’t. One player action can get tiresome, multiplayer can be fun at times, but with many other party games available on the wii that perform much better than Mario Party 8, this title is only for die-hard fans!

Title: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games

Genre: Sports Party Game

Platform: Wii and DS

Certificate: 3+

Nunchuck Controller Needed?: Yes for Some Events

Rating: 4/5

When I read about this game coming out on Wikipedia, I had to rub my eyes; I thought it was a cruel, mean joke! For years I’ve read in mags such as “Offical Nintendo Magazine” where people have written in saying why Mario is better than Sonic or visa versa, now two major companies plus two of the most famous mascots in gaming history have joined forces to make this very brilliant game! It’s probably one of the best marketing techniques ever, why decide between a Sonic or Mario game when you can play both characters on the same disc? It's fantastic! So why have I not rated it 5/5?

The reasons are quite simple and probably could’ve been avoided if they were picked up before by the developers – but no game is perfect eh?

First of all, although you have a wide range of playable characters from both series, several characters that would’ve been a great addition have been left out. For example I cannot think as to why Blaze the Cat was chosen over Rouge the Bat, when Rouge has proved to be more popular and in more previous Sonic titles. Also, even though you can unlock different events and difficulties of other events, you cannot unlock anymore characters – that was a wasted opportunity! I mean come on I would’ve loved to see Boo race against Shadow! Or Toad against Tails! Such a shame really…

Secondly; in several of the events, if you do not perform a ‘jump’ or ‘throw’ correctly or do so too soon you often see the “Foul” text upon the screen, which is fair enough. However if you perform a triple jump and you get a “good” rating for each jump only to be told at the very end that your first jump was an inch over the ‘jump’ line, it is very annoying! It would’ve been better and nicer if they notify you as you make the foul jump rather than leading you to believe that you’ve broken the world record and actually end up forfeiting your turn altogether!

And last but not least; it’s so bloody tiring! Seriously I played for 2 days and my arms were ready to fall off! And doing the ‘dream race’ made my heart pound harder than I’ve ever heard it before! Its bags full of fun but if you’re ill or if your arms are still hurting from the previous game, you’ll not exactly be in a hurry to play again.

On the whole there’s enough to play by yourself or with friends, plus the brilliant graphics and enjoyable gameplay to keep all Mario and Sonic fans happy! If Wii Sports is not enough for you, try this!!

Title: Sonic and the Secret Rings

Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Platform

Platform: Wii

Certificate: 7+

Nunchuck Controller Needed?: No

Rating: 2.5/5

Synopsis: One day, while looking at a book on Arabian nights, he accidentally frees a genie by the name of Shahra. She tells of an evil being known as Erazor Djinn, who is wiping out the pages of the book in order to make the world of Arabian nights his own! Asking for Sonic’s help, he is sucked into the book and must battle this new foe before it’s too late.

I was very reluctant to give the game a 2.5 out of 5 rating, originally I contemplated a 2 but I eventually settled for 2.5 since it is a Sonic game and I had to give the benefit of the doubt since I haven’t completed it yet.

I have loved and pretty much followed Sonic’s progress from the Sega Mega Drive to now the Wii, I love both the 2D platformers on the 16-bit console and the 3D adventures on the Gamecube, when I heard he had moved to the Wii and also the PS3 – I aimed to make sure that the Sonic titles would be one of the first games I get for each console. At first, this game showed promise but after several attempts it’s proved to be more of a chore rather than an enjoyable game!

I know it’s an early title for the Wii but the control system is awful! Some of the controls (such as back step) don’t work and others need an extreme reaction to make them take effect. For example I had to literally throw the Wii remote at the senor bar to register a homing attack, with most times failing to and resulting in death! And even if you succeed the lock-on doesn’t always work so you end up plunging to your doom anyway! I’m sure that this is the game that caused all the property damage and physical injuries to players when the Wii was first realised because it was the only way to make most of the controls effective! Plus I hate the fact that Sonic is constantly moving, you have to hold a button down to stop him. The speed he walks and not knowing how to stop him at the start of the game is enough to strike fear into any new player’s hearts.

Controls aside the way the whole game is layout is tiresome, instead of the whole ‘learning curve’ at the beginning being all one level, each move has it’s own ‘page’ in the ‘storybook’ (also know as section) of the adventure menu, it’s annoying having to select each mission, do it, come out and have to select the next one when a simple fade away to the next would have been much smoother. The only positive things I can say are the voice acting is ok, the ‘comic panel’ story telling is interesting and the graphics are pleasable.

I think this will be one of the last titles I complete of my current Wii collection; it’s no where near as fun, enjoyable or as easy to play as previous titles from the Sonic collection. Don’t get me wrong, I think that performing Sonic’s moves and attacks using the remote is a great idea, it makes you feel part of the action, but when it only works 10% of the time, THAT’S not a good idea!

Title: Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Genre: Action, Adventure, Platform

Platform: Playstation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, Windows PC

Certificate: 16+

Nunchuck Controller Needed?: Yes

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Lara Croft has been hired by Jacqueline Natla to find one of the three pieces of an artefact known as the Atlantean Scion. The offer intrigues Lara as both her and her father have been searching for this artefact for a long while. As she travels to the ice land of Peru and journeys deep into the ruins, it seems Natla has something up her sleeve…

I’ve not been an avid follower of Lara Croft; I remember playing the original Tomb Raider on the Playstation that my friend lent me. I got stuck on the dinosaur but had to give back the game to my friend who eventually moved away and I wasn’t that interested to hire it out from my local Blockbuster at the time. Sure I admire the character since she’s hot, British and has a cool career, but I only really purchased this title since I liked the advert on TV and it was the only title on the Woolworths self that looked enjoyable.

The graphics are lifted from the PS2 version (according to a review I’ve read), which look nice and are detailed enough but a little ‘upgrade’ would’ve been nice, to reduce some of the glitches that I’ve noticed. The music score is nice enough to present the atmosphere, and the main theme on the title screen is soothing just like the original version on the PS1. I like the structure of the levels and the thought-required puzzles involved, although sometimes you perform moves that don’t always go according to plan, the game is quite enjoyable throughout. (I’m also very happy that I’ve finally got passed that stupid dinosaur! Yay!)

Like it says on the box, the Wii version does have some exclusive features; such as the ‘rubbing awards’, meaning you uncover ancient tablets in your surroundings and some puzzles have been altered to incorporate the Wii’s special features.

I also like the ‘interactive’ cut scenes, so instead of just watching Lara back flip, grab her guns and shoot the daylights out of the pack of wolves; you get given commands to shake your controls so that you feel part of the action. The other versions of this game do have interactive cut scenes but require button combinations; I think movements are easier and more fun to perform with physical movements than punching in buttons.

The biggest drawback of this title is the controls; first of all it relies too much on the ‘cursor’ of the Wii remote itself. The cursor is used to aim your gun, aim your flashlight, control the camera…so most of Lara’s moves, which is actually a bit tiresome. Plus also, for several parts of the game particular moves do not work unless executed in a certain way. Too many times have I jumped Lara towards a pole, Lara goes through the pole. I jump Lara towards the ledge to grab on; Lara fails to see the platform and falls to her doom. I jump Lara and release the grapple towards a hook, the grapple doesn’t grab and again I hear Lara’s spine snap in half. There are long periods of gameplay where it all works fine but when you reach a section when nothing seems to go your way and you’ve happen to have picked up items in the progress you have to pick them up again when restarting at the check point!

Another area where controllers are against you is during combat. On the PS2 version, all you have to do is hold L1 to lock onto the target, and no matter where your enemy goes your gun is sure to damage them when you fire. However on the Wii version the Z button (on the nunchuck) brings out Lara’s guns and locks onto the wii cursor, meaning that you’ll hit the enemy if the wii cursor is aimed at he enemy. This seems fine at first and somewhat fun but when the enemy moves or you get knocked over or the camera angle changes or all of the above, you have to re-aim with your remote or re position the camera and hope the enemy stands still long enough for you to shoot, it also doesn’t help if you don’t have a sturdy hand! This form of control may make you feel like you’re part of the action but it also gives you an unfair advantage compared to PS2 players. Eventually combat becomes easier to handle but the first boss will put most players into frustration.

Thankfully combat is a small part of the game compared to the rest, and when the controls are on your side, the game is fun to play.

The only other nick-pick thing is the subtitles, they are quite small which is fine if you sit quite close to the television but if you’re sitting at a healthy distance you end up squinting your eyes. Also when characters are talking, instead of saying “Lara: blah bah, Larson: blah, blah”, all the text rolls into one, no names are mentioned, so it looks like only one person is talking. It looks strange if you can’t hear what the characters are saying and have to refer to the text (like I was the other day when the house happened to be quite noisy) and in addition it looks lazy.

I’m quite glad I’ve picked up this title now; despite the controls I’m quite enjoying this title. I also know that once I’ve completed the game I have several things to unlock on my second playthrough – a good reason to come back to this game. Whether Lara Croft is a good friend or a complete stranger to you, there are lots of elements here that will appeal to many gamers. Hire out if you’re unsure but I can guarantee, it’s worth the money!

Title: Rule of Rose

Genre: Survival Horror

Platform: Playstation 2

Certificate: 16+

Rating: 3.5/5

Rule of Rose is a funny old game, it’s one of the few titles that managed to hit the headlines in major game sites and newspapers before it even hit the selves. Not because it was highly anticipated, not because it presented any ground-breaking graphics or gameplay, but because it cause quite a controversy.

Before the game was available for pre-order, the game caused an up roar with its supposedly very violent gameplay involving children, under-age lesbian themes and animal cruelty. It became such a concern that several officials decided to not rest until the game was banned from their country! As a result, it was eventually withdraw from the UK, New Zealand and Australia; however it was released in other parts of Europe as well as America and Japan.

Was the ‘up roar’ over nothing? If anything banning a game just gives the game more publicity and surely a ‘game’ cannot contain such inappropriate themes? I can safely say they are not entirely correct; though there is animal cruelty and children being violent towards each other – it keeps it to the minimum and shields most of it from the audience (but just enough to in plant the fear into the player’s hearts). The underage ‘lesbian’ theme is only present in one small chapter, it’s not sexual, and it’s not part of the main story.

So did the ban make the relevant countries miss out on a great horror title? Or was the ban worth all the hassle?

The story of ‘Rule of Rose’ is set in 1930s England and revolves around Jennifer – a poor, unlucky 19 year old whose parents have passed away in an airship accident. She is sent away to an orphanage where she is tormented by the Aristocrat Club: a group of young girls who must be presented with a gift for each month in order to prevent any further torment. Can Jennifer find her way out of this nightmare?

The story is unlike any other title I’ve come across, unlike some games where the story is spoon fed, this game is quite cryptic. Not all of the major story elements are presented if you just play the game with minimal exploring, many hidden ‘documents’ plus some character interaction helps shred light in many grey areas that the game hides. Unless you invest time and energy into uncovering the whole story you’ll find yourself in the dark and very confused at the end of the game. This is not necessary a bad thing, sometimes being ‘spoon fed’ a plot can leave little to the imagination and patronising, unfortunately this brilliant story line is combined with many horrible game elements that will make many gamers not care enough to advance through.

‘Rule of Rose’ has a decent size cast, all that contribute towards the horror the unlucky girl is forced to endure. The Aristocrat club consist of; Diane, known as the ‘strong willed princess’ and the Duchess of the club, Meg or known by her rank as ‘Baroness’, as well as intelligent but inflexible. Then there’s the ‘cold hearted princess’, Eleanor and Amanda, who was the lowest rank of the Aristocrat Club until Jennifer showed up! The enemies that Jennifer must endure are all children as well, many like zombies – being faceless and big eyes completely black. Others are animals that brutally attack you with weapons or children in paper bags. All of the characters personalities and the enemies play their own little role into weaving the terror into the game, also their need to reject, torment or kill Jennifer makes the player feel for the poor girl and create the surrounding that she is very alone against the darkness.

Welcome to the Aristocrat Club!

The layout of the game is quite interesting and will lure you in long enough to see its flaws, instead of basic narrating or character interaction, the plot is advanced by small ‘storytelling’ blurbs on the screen, whether its before you speak to a character or before an action is taken place. For example when speaking to the character Diane, the blurb comes up and says;

“No matter what the unlucky girl said to her, the strong-willed Princess would only gaze lethargically. Asleep or awake, the girl was alone. What a sad, unlucky girl”.

At first these story telling moments make the game move slowly but it’s very absorbing, it’s put together very well and brings forth an atmosphere not found in any other game. The game also incorporates small ‘fairy tales’ that reflect certain chapters of the plot, the kids handwriting and doodles combined with the disturbing story (often resulting in death) in each book is enough to raise some eyebrows, but it all plays brilliantly into the horror that surrounds ‘Rule of Rose’. Unfortunately due to the strong fantasy element, it’s very hard to actually get ‘scared’ at what you see. Sure, many elements are ‘disturbing’, it hits that barrier many times but never once was I scared or felt my heart ponding, considering its marketed as a ‘Survival Horror’ it’s a shame really.

The graphics…are like a cheap box of chocolates. At first they look nicely presented in a detailed box and the chocolate looks delicious. But after taking your first bite you’re left with a bittersweet after-taste. ‘Rule of Rose’ opens up with a beautiful opening movie, the characters come to life as you begin the game and the surroundings look very detailed, they bring out the 1930s England period well. However as the game progresses it’s not so flawless, including Jennifer’s weapon going through enemies and walls, Jennifer walking through her dog companion, characters moving very awkwardly and becoming less detailed as the game progresses – like as if the game designers got lazy later on in development. This game was released in 2006, the same year as Final Fantasy 12, and 1 year after Haunting Ground, yet ‘Rule of Rose’ fails to surpass any of them on the visual department. If you’re looking for a game to demonstrate the best PS2 graphical capabilities, this is not the game to pick.

The music on the other hand is very well composed, consisting mainly of strings instruments and a piano on several tracks. Yutaka Minobe brings forth the emotion and a ‘human’ element to this title in a very intriguing way, the theme song ‘A Love Suicide’ is a wonderful composition to open up the game. Though some of the tracks can get slightly repetitive, along with the plot is remains one of the highlights of the game. In addition most Survival Horror titles tend to have ‘atmosphere’ tracks rather than actual music like ‘Rule of Rose’ provides, it makes a nice change.

The character voices are a pleasure to hear, all of the British accents are done very well and none of the actors slip out of character at all. However the game didn’t give them much of an opportunity to shine. Though there is dialogue in cut scenes, outside of them it seemed like they couldn’t make up their mind whether they ought to be used or not. For example speaking to one character, she’ll voice everything from the subtitles, speak to another and only the first line will be spoken, speak to someone else and the character will only make sounds to demonstrate the mood they are in (such as giggles, or angry sighs). It’s unbalanced for unnecessary reasons.

The game’s major criticism comes from the game play itself. Who wants to play a game if they can’t actually play it? Even with an intriguing storyline no gamer would want to put themselves through tantrums, annoyance, anguish and frustration to see what’s at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately this game will deliver all of the above, even if you are known for having extreme patience, ‘Rule of Rose’ cannot hide the fact that the gameplay ultimately sucks.

Let’s start with the combat controls, or lack of them shall we say? It seems the developers, taking into account that Jennifer is classified as a ‘timid, poor, unlucky girl’, decided to play the ‘timid’ card too hard. Jennifer can use various objects from throughout the game as a weapon including forks, kitchen knives and pipes, she attacks by locking on using the R1 button and X to attack. At first you may think ‘did I press the X button at all?’ since Jennifer is SO timid that she winces when swinging her weapon and barely lets it leave her side. Even if you do get a decent weapon with a decent range and she manages to swing it, the next obstacle is to actually HIT the target. Too many times the weapon goes through the enemy or fails to hit it at all, or worst Jennifer aims at an enemy on the floor that’s no longer a threat to her, whilst the enemies can attack her from miles away and with a much higher accuracy! Considering that many enemy encounters Jennifer is severally out numbered, this is unacceptable. Sure not all enemy encounters are necessary to advance in the game, and the bosses are few and far between, but it’s the combat that will ultimately tear your hair out and will make you think twice before continuing if you happen to get killed (and believe me, you will!).

To contribute to this, many healing items are hidden, as are the saving points, and bosses tend to have a hefty amount of life points that require a lot of hits from Jennifer to kill. Ultimately it fails to conjure any fun; instead it draws the attention away from the ‘scary’ moments and motivating plot.

Even WITH a weapon, the combat is tiresome.

Other hiccups on the controls become apparent when the camera angle changes, the controls suddenly reverse. One point the camera is in front of Jennifer and pressing ’up’ makes her walk towards the camera; suddenly the camera’s behind her and ‘up’ registers her as walking in the opposite direction she was just going. Irritating if you’re to run away from the enemy and you instead end up colliding with them!

The game is often compared to ‘Haunting Ground’, mainly due to the addition of a dog companion to assist the main character, but that is where similarities end. Your canine companion in ‘Rule of Rose’, Brown, is not used in the same way as Hewie in ‘Haunting Ground’. Hewie was mainly used for combat purposes and the main character had much more control over the dog. However Brown does not participate in combat, though he can distract the enemy in some situations, he mainly serves as a guide to help advance in the game. In order for Jennifer to find gifts for the aristocrat club, she must use items connected to it (in some shape for form) by using Brown to sniff the object and follow the trail to wherever it takes him. While it’s simple to operate and works well most of the time, it can get very repetitive, in fact all you need is for Brown to sniff on the item provided continuously and you can complete the game quite swiftly. However due to a lot of back tracking and very little skill needed, it’s uninspired.

Despite this the game replies heavily on Brown as he is also needed to find hidden items to unlock many extras in the game. Plus additional healing items for both him and Jennifer are hidden yet essential since the main game provides very few visible ones. However when finding hidden items, that’s when Brown’s mechanical flaws come to light, many times Brown has lead Jennifer to doors that are unable to access or unlock in that particular point in the game, or several times Brown has become ‘trapped’ in a loop where he either continuously leads Jennifer between entering one room into another, or he gets stuck in a particular corner of the room.

Also unlike ‘Haunting Ground’ you have very little interaction with Brown, with Hewie you could pat, scold and even shake hands, but Jennifer can only use the commands ‘stay’, ‘come’ and ‘find’. The end result is that Brown comes off with little personality and the game could still be playable if Brown wasn’t at the unlucky girl’s side.

If you so happen to enjoy your first play through, there are many elements that call for a second try, including unlocking weapons, costumes, a sound test and a cut scene theatre. As mentioned above most are connected to finding hidden items via Brown within each chapter of the game, though the extra costumes are very different to the run-of-the-mill found in games, only those who were able to stand the gameplay first time round will have the stomach to try again.

Taken as a whole, there is not enough ‘good’ going for it for light gamers to give a try, only hardcore Survival Horror gamers and those who favour a good story over playability factor will find something worth struggling through here. I do have a fondness for this game, and I do not regret purchasing this title on any level. Personally I would recommend this to anyone, however I know this game will not be for everyone.

Song of the Blog

This week we have the luring theme song from the survival horror game "Rule of Rose" entitled 'A Love Suicide'. Due to lack of space, please click here for lyrics! Sorry to jet but, this is me, over and out.

Ho Ho Ho!

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:36:59 GMT

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I hope you are all well, I also hope that all the pretty decorations are up, the stress of Christmas shopping is behind you and you all have nice plans during this lovely time of year.

On the evening of Thursday 20th December, I've just returned from my Christmas lunch with work and it was my last day at the office! I now do not return to work until 2008 (2nd to be precise), so thats about 2 weeks of Xmas cheer, time with friends/family and lie ins! I hope others have booked some time off work as well, and those who are at uni and get time off automatically....good for you!

Is it me or did 2007 go extremely fast? Well it might have been more of the case for me since I have been ill since April, plus 2 months absent from work, but still I feel like a whole year has been wasted and I've hardly evolved since my last entry reflecting back from the previous year. I've not accomplished any of the revolutions I made for myself at the beginning of 2007. Do you remember what goals I set myself? Lets look over them shall we briefly?

Tone up: Far from it, didn't join a gym and was ill from April to present. Can safely say that this has been pushed back to 2008. But I plan to do swimming once a week when I'm fully recovered.

Do a part time course: Well if you count the AVID training I had at work, then yes this can be ticked off. Maybe it wasn't the course I had in mind but my brain was stimulated nether-the-less.

Build My friendships: With my salmonella poisening I have had little time for those closest to me, and even less time for those I am not. However I have made contact with Kinesha, who happens to work round the corner from me (see below for more info), and I think that I've built some relations to my collagues at work, however little it may be. So, its a so-so.

Join a club: Nope. Nah-da. Nothing for this one. 2008!

Get a Job: I wanted to move onto other things, explore new horizans and set myself a new challenge. Part of me still does however I have enjoyed my year at GMTV (well when I was there and healthy!) and I've been put forward for a promotion next year! If I do still plan to leave then it'll be most likely be mid next year and after I've accomplished all I can from my new promotion.

Grow Up: Well...this is a tough call. I think my long term illness has taken a hit to my confidence in myself and things around me, but I think in some aspects I have. I'd be here forever explaining, but I guess somethings have been put into perspective and others still need a bit of work...

So yeah, apart from Salmonella poisening, not really much to brag about this year. Hopefully the end of 2007 will end on a high and 2008 will kick 2007's arse! I really need things to go well for me next year to make up for such a horrible year. Let's move onto my...

Life Update

Now that it's the Xmas holidays, I've had a chance to catch up with those closest to me. Plus some several good events have happened and I got myself a new toy...interested? Read on!

Let's start with the bad, I broke my little toe on my left foot.

Ok tell a lie its not a broken just badly bruised. I thought I just bashed it but when it swelled to 3 times its normal size in 10 minutes I decided to put some ice on it...it turned blue then purple then red. This was the thursday before my last day of work so my last few days at the office were of my hobling around the room. Had to strap it up whenever I went out. So this affected my work and seeing people plus it drew out a horrible cold (probably due to shock), but it's a lot better now and although still not quite the right colour, I can deal.

In my intro I stated that I had an office Xmas Party. The kids department all went to the Sarastro Restaurant in Drury Lane, it used to be a Russian theatre, all of the inside is gold and velvet plus skeletons and opera masks are hanging on the walls. Yeah sure it looks camp in places and gothic in others, but it is a great place! On the top floor, access only by stairs are booths which you can book, in each booth you can draw the certains so that you can get drunk in your own little section of the restaurant! In the toilets, to add a little spice to your normal routine, all of the walls have erotic arts. Most of the are sketchy but they range from orgys to devils sucking on female's breasts. If you're interested in something a little different this restaurant is a good choice! The only things I thought let it down where the graffiti that can be found in some of the booths and in the toilets. Plus the turkey I had for dinner was a bit dry...but everything else was very enjoyable! Look in my albums for pictures of the place if you're interested!

Secret Santa took place again this year, last year I had Billie and my gift to her proved to be popular. I got 'Pretty Woman' DVD as a joke from Becky B last year as well. This year was different for me, I had Anna, the female presenter from Toonattik, I got her some Lush a recommened by her presenter co-worker, Jamie. It was quite perfect really, in Lush they do special boxes which are wrapped up and with bow, one was called 'Secret Santa' and it was £5....which was the limit to spend! Score me thinks!

This year I got a Studio Ghibli film "The Cat Returns" from Linda as she lent it to me a few weeks ago and I said I loved it! So I walked away happy! You can read my review for the DVD below in this blog's edition of 'The Wahwah Views'.

I saw Andy the day after he returned from his first term as a 2nd year, I went round his for the afternoon and then we went to see "The Night Before Christmas", which was held at the Misken theatre (our old 6th form college). It was set several generations after Tim Burton's classic: "The Nightmare Before Christmas", about Zack Jackson, the newly appointed Pumpkin King and Jack Skellington's great-grandson, his world is turned upside down when he falls in love with Sandy Claws' daughter - Holly. It wasn't bad, Andy really enjoyed it and they had good song choices. I wasn't fond of certain re-use of gags and songs which were taken from 'Ponochio' which was the Christmas production 2 years ago (seems lasy to me) and I think some of the characters where annoying rather than funny. But I was happy just to be with Andy, though I still feel fragile its nice we can actually do some things together now than we could duirng the summer when I last saw him. I have really missed him whilst he was in Totnes...

He also came over the day afterwards (sunday) for dinner, alcohol and laughs. On Sunday I had a brief visit from George too! He came by to drop off a Xmas card since he was in town, it's always nice to see him, it's such a shame we don't se each other as much as we would like to. He seems happy at his job and his relationship with Lou is still blossoming; it's nice to know that even great distances can't sether the bond of two hearts.

Landa came up to see me for lunch one friday a few weeks ago; I took her to the Japanese place thats behind Waterloo station, it was the first time she's tried Japanese and we both really enjoyed it. It also gave me chance to give her a large bouquet of flowers, the one that was supposed to have shown up on her doorstep on her actual birthday. She really loved them but dreaded taking them into uni after lunch!

I've also taken Kinesha to the same restaurant several weeks beforehand! She works literally round the corner from me, and we arranged to meet up before I went to American and got sick, but due to such events it was always postponed. But we managed to sneak in a lunch on a friday and we shared a pleansent conversation over a delightful Japanese cuisine. We also planned ot go ice skating however we booked the tickets too late for the date we wanted, then we couldn't agree on an alternative day since we also included our old school friend Emma. I tried to arrange another lunch before the end of 2007 but again, work and timing got in the way. I really hope 2008 brings us closer together and develop the friendship we lost after we left secondary school, time will tell I suppose!

On Saturday 22nd December we had a small Xmas party, it was from 2pm til about 10pm when everyone finally left. Andy and Katy showed up which lighten up my spirits as I haven't seen Katy since her birthday and Andy all week, I gave Katy her presents and we made plans later in the week to really catch up. I invited Landa and George also but they were unable to come. Daniel had several of his friends for about 2 hours and Brian & family made face too.

What made this day a landmark was that I had my FIRST ALCOHOLIC DRINK SINCE I GOT SICK! SO LITERALLY SINCE APRIL! Originally I planned to have my drink at the office Xmas lunch but I decided against it in the end, instead I had a glass of Champagne with pomogranite juice (to make it change colour, which I like!). Mum gave it to me ay 4.15pm (ish) and I finished it at 9pm...I wanted to go slowly since I know I'm most likely to get sick and drunk if I swallowed it whole like I usually do! I felt fragile during and after drinking but I'm proud of myself that I've taken that extra small step to getting back to my old self!

The last major event since my last blog is...I GOT A WII!!!

Yes I finally have a gorgeous Wii in my home, and it's all MINE! Literally I've nicknamed it "MINE!" and I paid for all of it! I've had my eye on the Wii for ages now, originally I wasn't bothered but then the game library grew and I became rather intrigued by it. Games which made me think twice about it include Mario Galaxy, Soul Calibur Legends in 2008, Sonic and the Secret Rings and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Whenever I saw one in the office been given away as a competition prize I would eye it like a gold mine! I postponded purchasing it for sometime still unsure, but then 3 weeks ago my collague, Amy, gave me the Mario and Sonic Olympic game for free! She got a copy from a company but she has no use for it, and since she knew I liked Sonic - she handed it over. I didn't have a Wii at the time but if someone gave you a free game you've desired for ages you cannot not buy a new console now can you?

However when browsing the shops I didn't realise the Wii was the No.1 Christmas present of 2007! I thought the hype was in 2006 but no, out of stock everywhere, I even discovered a site that specialised in notifying people when shops had stock! One Game store clerk said to me that they had stock in the morning and 30 minutes later they were all sold out. Also, Nintendo DS have been sold out quickly also! Nintendo are doing well for themselves aren't they?

Anyways I later decided to wait till after the new year when the need to get one had died down, however on Friday 21st I walked past Woolworths and saw a hand drawn sign saying 'Wii is in Stock'. It was in the afternoon so I expected this to no longer be valid but when I got to the desk and asked for one there it was! I have to buy 2 games worth at least £34.99 with it, in total I spend about £300 if you include the extra controller and nunchuck I got from Game so Daniel could play with me.

So I now have 5 games (including the free game at work, Wii sports that comes free with the Wii and the 3rd game I got at Woolworths 'cos I wanted it).

I'll hopefully do a mini review on all the games I have plus the Wii on another entry for you if you plan to purchase this delightful games console. Watch this space if you're interested!

The WahWah Views

This week's dosage of Wahwah views contains 3 reviews that I planned to include on my previous blog yet there was not enough room on, this is 2 movies based on Marvel comics which have just been released on DVD and a surivial horror game. I've also included 2 Studio Ghibli films that I had the pleasure to see aswell. Don't forget you can also view more of my reviews on amazon! Check out my profile for more.

Film Title: Spiderman 3
Genre: Superhero, action, adventure
Starring: Toby Maguire, Kristen Dunst, James Franco
Certificate: 12A
Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Peter Parker’s life has hit a high; he’s with the woman he loves, Spiderman is now loved by the public and things are looking up for the man who struggled in the past since he got his spidey powers. However his happiness is short lived when his past comes back to haunt him, his old friend Harry is out to kill him and things begin to slide with Mary Jane. To top if off, a mysterious ooze from outer space sets its sights on Peter!

When I read reviews about this movie on the net, most of general public made the movie sound like it’s the worst Marvel comic based movie since Daredevil! But when I watch it, I thought it was far from it! The acting is still top-notch, the special effects are by far the best in the Spiderman series so far, the battle scenes have been beautifully constructed and the story – not without its faults – but is strong enough to carry the Spiderman legacy forward.
The plot could’ve been a winner in all aspects if it was the storyline for the 4^th movie or if it wasn’t so over crowded. There are 3 bad guys in this movie – a big increase from 1 in each of the previous films. The first we’re introduced to is Sandman, who we see form on screen and the special effects used for his ‘rising’ is gob-smackinly wonderful. His back story is linked to Peter’s past which works well, he seems to fit the movie plot most comfortably. The next baddie is “The New Green Goblin”, also known as Harry Osborn; he was hinted at the end of the previous film however his ‘baddie’ streak is very short lived. In battle with Spiderman he ‘conveniently’ looses his memory which paves the way for Sandman/Venom and the grand battle at the end. Here is where I think the plot could’ve been better used as a 4^th movie; the 3^rd movie could’ve been used to develop Mary Jane and Peter relationship as well as portray “The New Green Goblin” as a respectable baddie. Maybe add another enemy in the works to separate it from the 1^st movie, but Harry in Spiderman 3 came off as whiny and no where near the league or was as respectful as his father. The 3^rd enemy is Venom, considering he was the villain most shown in promotional material for Spiderman 3 – he gets very little screen time. Sure the special effects used for him were very impressive and portray the ‘creepy’ factor that was so brilliant about him in the comics and animation series, but the time he takes over Peter Parker is minimal. He shows at the very beginning of the movie, disappears for an hour and THEN inhabits Peter’s body. It would’ve worked much better is Venom inhabited his body early in the movie and the audience slowly see Peter become more selfish and self-involved. It would’ve been more effective, believable and stronger plotline.
Despite the flaws I still hold the Spiderman movie as the best Marvel Comic adaptations of all, sure it may not be as strong of a movie as its processors and my negatives above may have been longer than the positives but they don’t outweigh the good points in this film. If you’re watched the previous instalments don’t hesitate to put this into your DVD player!

Film Title: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Genre: Superhero, action, adventure
Starring: Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, Julian McMahon
Certificate: PG
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: Set 2 years after the first movie, The Silver Surfer comes to Earth and causes dramatic climate changes to the planet Earth. Mr Fantastic/Reed Richards and Invisible Woman/Sue Storm are preparing for their wedding but things don’t go according to plan when a strange phenomenon causes a huge blackout and the Silver Surfer makes contact with the heroes – to warn of the destruction of their planet!

I didn’t particularly like the first film, sure it was ok to waste a couple of hours with, but it’s not exactly something I would want to watch again. I was hesitant to see this film but, same situation, mum had hired the film and I had time to kill. I’m pleased to say that it has improved from the first film, however it still has a long way to go to reach the calibre of other Marvel films.
The script is much better than the previous; there are quite a few funny lines as well as humorous situations, plus the characters do act like 2 years have gone by since the previous film by showing that they have evolved as characters and the chemistry between them is stronger. The special effects department succeed to show a flawless Silver Surfer and better portrayal of powers by the Fantastic Four. The film is made for a more family-friendly viewing so most of it is simple with no major plot complications and the enemies are not too dark to handle – but the way it’s been writing makes the story predictable, and the movie is also quite short. For example, I hold Julian McMahon, the actor who plays Doctor Doom, quite highly as I have seem him in Nip/tuck and Charmed and seen his good acting skills. Though he did perform well in the first film, the 2^nd treats him as a kids cartoon baddie – laughable and unrealistic. You know way in advance that he’s going to betray the Fantastic Four when he agrees to join forces with them, even a child could see the plot twist in advance! There are also many elements in the film that don’t seem to be there for any particular reason, such as the Human Torch trying to help the Silver Surfer in the final battle but he gets hit and doesn’t help at all in the end. Sure you may say “it’s the thought that counts”, but if the gesture doesn’t even last a thought what’s the point?
Whether you liked or hated the first film, this movie is worth a look since it does prove that bad movies can get better if they are given the screen time. The film is good for family audiences too.

Film Title: The Cat Returns
Genre: Anime, Fantasy
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Tim Curry, Elliot Gould and Cary Elwes
Certificate: U
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Haru seems to be having a string of bad luck in life; she's late for school, gets laughed at for being late and the boy she likes is going out with someone else. However when she rescues a cat from being run over by a truck, the cat speaks to her and promises to pay her back. That night the King of Cats arrives at her doorstep to invite her to his kingdom and marry his son - Prince Lune - the cat she saved!

The animation is slightly different to the typical Studio Ghibli style, the eyes are slightly bigger and are a bit brighter but the magic is still there! I really enjoyed this film, it was light hearted and had a Disney feel to it - that it took you into this other magical world but wasn't filled with love stories and over the top meaningful messages. There are some wonderful and funny characters in this film, and as you can see above some brillant voice acting! My only complaint is Anne Hathaway who sometimes did the typical American slang (like 'whateva') when voicing the main character but she was great any other time. The only other thing I didn't like was that it was quite short compared to other Studio Ghibli films, I think a particular relationship was rushed at the end and could've been better if the film was slightly longer, but still, I loved it! I would recommend you see 'Whispers of the Heart' before watching this film, simply because this film was made because the main character in 'Whispers of the Heart' wrote a fantasy story and it was so popular in Japan that Studio Ghibli made it into a film! I also recommend this film to parents and teachers who wish to occupy their kids for about an hour and I'm sure they won't take their eyes off the TV!

Film Title: Grave of the Fireflies
Genre: Anime, drama, war
Starring: Rhoda Chrosite, J. Robert Jones, Amy Jones
Certificate: 12
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Based upon a semi-autobiography of the same name; set in Japan during World War II, Setsuko and Seita are brother and sister trying to survive in the countryside with their relatives with little food, little shelter, air raid bombings and both parents deseased. Seita tries to live in his father's shadow by struggling to keep him and his little sister alive, often resorting to his life savings and even stealing...will the war ever end?

I heard much things about this movie before my collague lent me the DVD, I heard it has made many people cry after watching it and that it's one of the best war films of all time. Well it takes a lot to make me to cry and I'm not the biggest fan of war movies; but I still was intrigued. No I didn't cry but the characters were very well protrayed and developed perfectly. There were some very heart felt moments and the animation compliment them too.
One minor thing I was curious about was that the film look dated, other Studio Ghibli films have been remastered and put onto DVD in great quality, even the older ones, but Grave of the Fireflies looked and sound like it hadn't. It's quite obvious when the sound effects (presumably from the original Japanese soundtrack) sound tinny while the English voiceovers are crystal clear. However it's a 2-disk special with plenty of features to make up for it.
Obviously being a certificate 12 its not for kids, but if you love Studio Ghibli or want to see a darker side to Anime films, or love war films in general - make sure you pick this up!

Game Title: ObsCure
Genre: Survival Horror
Platform: PS2, PC and Xbox
Certificate: 12+
Rating: 3.5/5

After completely finishing off Haunting Ground, I decided to search the net for something similar in the Survival Horror catalogue. After much browsing I came across a game known as “Obscure”, though gameplay and story wise it was completely unrelated to Haunting Ground – it also wasn’t like Resident Evil or Silent Hill. Plus it was published by a European country, after reading a review on “Chris’ Survivor Horror Quest” site; I knew I had to find it. About 1 month later, in a small “pre-owned” games shop I manage to find it, after about 10 hours I completed my first run of the game. Was it that good I wanted to see it to the end as fast as my fingers could press the buttons, or was it really that short and terrible?

One evening, in Leafmore High School, Kenny Matthews is in the changing rooms when his belongings are swiped. Following his thief, he is lead into an underground laboratory underneath the school, where students are being experimented on and horrible creatures lurk in the darkness! The next morning, Kenny is nowhere to be found, so his younger sister and his girlfriend decide to stay after school to look for him. Little do they realise what terror is out on the loose within their school grounds…

The game allows you to control 5 teenagers, who all have their own special abilities to use on the field and have personal view on the games events. So when they examine items or when they enter a cut scene they add their own spin and dialogue into the situation. The player controls one teenager and can have another occupy them whilst exploring the haunted school, who is control by the computer’s AI. The AI controlled characters reacts well to all the enemies and surroundings (so reliable in combat) however you must supply them with weapons and heal them as they cannot heal themselves or you. Sometimes they get in the way when you’re trying to explore certain areas, especially small ones, but it’s forgivable since they tend to cover your back and strike the enemy before you’ve even seen it!

The characters “special abilities” are very realistic, as in they don’t have ‘magic powers’ or anything that maybe out of the ordinary, so it keeps in tone with the whole “high school” theme. For instance we have Stanley Jones, a slacker and stoner who can pick locks on certain doors, Shannon Matthews who’s the bright spark of her school & can offer clues on what to do next, and Josh Carter, a reporter for the school paper who can tell if there are any hidden items left in a particular room. Although only 2 of the 5 teenagers are needed to actually complete the game, the rest are mainly to help in combat or provide variety to the gameplay but they are interesting to play around with and are portrayed very well.
The characters “health bars” are shown in the pause menu in the “school reports” section; if a particular photo of a student is clean, they have relativity high in health, if the photo is covered in blood; they have little chance of living the next enemy attack. The pause menu can also show maps of the area and where to head to next.

Don't let the chest throw you off, she's one of the strongest characters in battle!

An interesting element to the gameplay is the 2 player incorporation that can be activated anytime in the game; a 2^nd player can easily plug in, pick up the control and control the 1^st player’s partner, controlling all of its actions! It’s easy to stay together since whenever a player moves into another room that requires a screen change, the other player automatically joins the first player.

The graphics are ok considering it was released in 2004; the backgrounds are nicely detailed and the creatures themselves – although most of the time surrounded in darkness so are not clear to see – are detailed enough but still come off as “generic gruesome creatures” seen in most horror games and movies. The characters themselves are good but look a little stiff and in some of the cut scenes the graphics aren’t as smooth and polished as they could be.
The music seems to grab elements from several other horror game soundtracks and slam them all onto one disc, it’s a mixture of “atmospheric music” (random screaming, breathing and monster like sounds) mixed with up-tempo battle music (where appropriate) and Gregorian songs. All work well with the surrounds but the fading into one song from the next can seem a bit off.

The controls are quite different to normal games that require combat, as they use the L and R buttons to access you inventory rather than through the pauses menu. Since you can combine weapons, holding both the L and R buttons down plus using the D pad can seem a little tricky at first but becomes easier as you go along. Using this system makes it seem more ‘life like’, since you’re wide open to attack whilst fishing out a weapon, and it’s also quite compact and sleek since both inventories are shown on bottom corners of the screens therefore not distracting you from your surroundings.
The combat has a small learning curve; it takes a tried & tested method and mixes it with something new. The enemies are protected by a ‘dark aura’ which makes the creatures nearly invincible to all forms of attack, to remove the ‘dark aura’ you need to combat it with light! This means breaking windows to let light in (always fun to do) as well as making use of flashlights, which you can strap to your guns (using tape found commonly in the school) and shine at the aura long enough to blast away at the creatures! This makes it more challenging than your normal ‘shoot everything in sight’ method of eliminating enemies so those who are fan of Silent Hill and Resident Evil should embrace this method of combat.
Weapons range from school based items such as bats to the reliable gun (which disturbingly can be found in the janitor’s closet and in classrooms!), healing items include fizzy drinks and first aid kits. Your save point are CDs that are scattered throughout the game, there are few and far between so you need to use them carefully and when appropriate.

Let there be Light!!

Though the controls are explained certain other elements are not, or several game mechanics are explained too late to be taken into effect, therefore giving the player an unfair playing field. For example, when one of the teenagers dies, that’s it. You can’t bring them back, but you can continue without them. Though it becomes apparent that you can continue the game without all the teenagers, the game doesn’t say if they can be revived or you must restart again if you get into the situation where you need a particular character who has already died. And since healing items are few and far between as well as saving points, characters dying will not be a stranger to anyone playing this game.
In addition, in the early stages of the game, there are several situations when you are attacked by the enemy but you don’t have a torch to make the creatures venerable or your partner doesn’t have a weapon to back you up! You must run past them and search the rooms for the required items, something that obviously first time players will not know about.

The game requires to explore the school and solve some puzzles in order to advance in the game; the puzzles range from finding appropriate items to open a particular door and others simply require exploring; such as finding alternative means to enter a room when the door is blocked. None of the ‘puzzles’ are hard enough to put off anyone from replaying but are too simple to but considered puzzles in the first place!

The unlockables are actually quite varied from stuff you can use in-game, to material you can sit back and watch. ‘In game’ extras include new weapons and new costumes, whilst ‘out game’ include music videos from SUM 41 and SPAN, a “making of” video, galleries (character and background artwork) and a “Special mode”. Some are only accessible after completing hard mode, but this again like normal mode will not take you long.

The major faults for this game range from big to small; the biggest being the actual length of the game, which you can tell from my finish time above that it’s rather small for your average game. Despite very few saving points, few healing items, several small puzzles, limited ammo and loads of monsters to tackle – this game doesn’t have what it takes to keep a player going for more than a few play-throughs (and that’s if you really want to play all the various difficulty modes and really desire to unlock everything).
The game itself also provides most of the plot in the first 10 minutes of the game, and there’s little development afterwards. The story itself is predictable and plot twists are portrayed whilst playing the game rather than given a cut scenes to truly appreciate it, the story could’ve easily been an hour long episode of “Buffy” or of a similar series. Though the game tries to add more depth with the papers and documents sprawled across the game that add information on the creatures and history of the students/school, these aren’t required to complete the game and some are too long to read, if you’re in a “kill all demons!” mood you not going to want to sit back and read a 5 page document on your TV screen!
One other small fault is shown depending on which character you use to activate certain scenes, if you use a particular teenager to activate a cut scene involving a conversation, the character used can actually overlap the other voices, and since the subtitles change quickly you end up missing some of the dialogue. If you’ve played “Sonic Adventure 2” you’ll get exactly what I mean. Though this can be avoided, it’s a shame for a game that obviously has lots of recorded dialogue get wasted like that.

All in all I did enjoy this game; it may have been predictable, small and only somewhat original, the game originally costs £20 brand new – you can’t really complain! If you’re a horror fan and want something to waste away a few hours, give this game a go. This game is also fun if you have a mate around to play with since it’s relatively short. If you’re hoping for something groundbreaking, this isn’t the place to look. This game was interesting enough to make me want to put the sequel, Obscure 2 (now available in selected stores) on my Christmas list! So if you see a copy in your local second hand shop, it’s worth a few quid! Plus with the names Stan, Kenny and Mr Garrison in the game – who can say no?

Song of the Blog

Christmas is upon us, so you want some Christmas jingles?
Well look else where 'cos you're not going to find it here!
Last year I played 'Christmas is All Around Us' from the Love Actually Soundtrack, since it was the only cheery Christmas song I like and know the lyrics too. So I thought I'd try something different this year. I was originally planning to put the Sugababes "New Year" up but I can't find the song on the net. So I decided to pu up the next best thing, "Mad World" by Gary Jules and from the Donnie Darko Movie Soundtrack. Now you may argue; "That's not a Xmas Song!", but it was actually released during december in 2003 and became the Christmas No.1 that year in the UK. Plus it was originally written and performed by Tears for Fears, who happen to be a geat band (I love "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). So here it is, enjoy the beautiful piano playing!

Song Title: Mad World
Artist: Gary Jules and Micheal Andrews
Album: Donnie Darko Soundtrack
Download: http://web.mala.bc.ca/smolashn/songs.htm

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Mad World
Enlarging your world
Mad World.

Before I go, I reached a new high of viewers on Thursday 20th as well - I had 23 views of my page on that day! WOOHOO! Thank you for all those who stop by, leave a comment and tell me what you think or if you want me to add something new to my blog entries!
I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and very happy new year. Hopefully I get to say happy new year properly to you all before the end of 2007!
This is me, over and out!