My First Book!

After three years of study at university, I wanted to kick start my practice and celebrate my achievements by publishing my very first book! The book has been two years into the making - the stress and hard work has paid off. Thank you to you all for being patient and understanding my commitments.

The book evolves around the fictional worlds and how past experiences, whether glorious or tragic can better the mind through traditional and modern formats. If you guys would like to buy your own copy of my book, please see the link below! Any purchases made will be greatly appreciated.

http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/6174022-imaginary-worlds-vol-1

Thank you for all of your support! Have a wonderful day!

Assassin's Creed: Unity Review

My game rating: 9 . 3 / 10

NOTE: Storyline spoilers are not included in this review.

UBISOFT'S latest release promised elements of previous Assassin's Creed characteristics to be emerged into a familiar yet different environment. The French Revolution was an extraordinary time in history, a period where the nobility and royalty were forced to acknowledge that their corruptions were answerable to the people. Thus rose, the first stages of democracy. Despite this being such a pivotal moment for the common people, the texts books reveal much horror during the revolution days - murder, mass political quarrels, friends and family turned on one another etc. In many ways, the French Revolution was the perfect time period to host and explore and more importantly, to allow
the players to immerse themselves in.

                                                       http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1365/13658182/2680142-assassins_creed_unity_sp_notredamestealth.jpg

Black Flag showed elements of this atmosphere during naval gameplay but lacked this component on land. Whereas Unity offers this wary, corrupted and rather dark undertone through-out. Atmosphere is a powerful ingredient to any game - if your players don't feel connected to the game's characters or environments then it's not likely they will connect with your concept altogether and won't replay/continue the game.

And let's not forget the platforms we were able to play on: next generation. I understand completely why next generation was the main priority for released formats; stunning graphics, smoother lip sinc and animations etc. However, I can't help but feel disappointed that the older consoles wouldn't feature unity. Yet at the same time, it depends on the personal gaming preferences of the player's themselves.

The graphics were flawless despite my reservations! Surprisingly I spent a considerable amount of time staring at the stained glass in Notre Dame's interior (my god were the interiors through the game beautiful) and the wet cobbled roads in the streets. It sounds odd but is it not worthwhile to admire beauty? My frame of mind has always believed that if a company has made something that makes me stop and admire it for long periods of time, does this not reflect their level of eye and dedication? For Unity; I'd say that the company's passion and their direction has returned. This was indeed a project that they enjoyed participating in - the proof is in the product! But... despite the potential in the next generation platforms, there were occasions were NPC's were floating around Arno, paper and horse carts glitching through the floor. I was surprised by this - until a game is ready, it should not be released! It doesn't matter if your competition is releasing their game on a specific day, if your game doesn't work then, you will lose profit and customers will turn their backs on you. Therefore game testing should occur earlier before release.

let's briefly look at my two leading favourite characters - Arno and Elise du la Sairre. As a duet, they are comical and very cunning despite their obvious differences (she's a templar you see) and yet they show their common goals and meet them in their own unique styles and techniques while sharing mutual respect towards one another. Apart, they are just as deadly and resourceful. You could say that that they both show many qualities that modern young men and women have to this day - a rare factor. Modern minds in a still medieval like world. Their costumes show beautiful uniquenesses and contrasts while keeping to historical accuracy and practicalities.

Combat was a welcomed factor - satisfying yet keeping the player on their toes compared to older titles where you had to wait for the enemy to attack you which could be easily countered, disabled and quickly killed. Whereas, for Unity it breaks the repeatitveness altogether. The side missions were a joy to play, solving murders, killings thugs while offering a varied narrative structures. Scaling buildings was also fun yet there was an occasional glitch annoyance when jumping to get to a certain part of a building and scaling through a window.



The Cafe theatre player home was a stunning building with beautiful rustic touches and earthly environments. Beautifully decorated rooms, wonderful architecture, homely items, music and delicate, intricate paintings situated through-out the building. My only complaint relates to the armoury room situated in the attic - it's disappointing that you can access most of the armours online only. This issue is a concern for the gaming industry as a whole. Discussions and ideas have been raised as to having a way in which the player can access online content offline. How far this process is coming along, I'm not sure. Nevertheless, this issue needs to be addressed. In-depth customisations were a welcomed feature that added more depth and new layers of practicalities when it came to playing missions and sharing your experiences with friends/other players. Each option is specifically designed to get the players to think about what kind of Assassin do they want to be - stealth orientated or showy and aggressive?

Overal, Unity has come along way!

If there are things I have missed out during the review, please feel free to get in touch and I shall update the review.

All the best!

Dragon Age: Inquisition December Review

My game rating - 10 / 10...

 "Bioware has created another masterpiece to the games industry, outstanding performance and attention to detail through-out"

Images from Game-informer.

For those of you who are new to Dragon Age games, allow me to give you the simplified version of events. You are a customisable character situated in Thedas, a country where blights and mage/templar conflicts occur. In the first game, you were a Grey Warden whose purpose was to protect the world and innocent people from the evils in the world while defeating dark spawn and avenging the fallen king of Ferelden. Wardens are unique; when they drink the blood of the dark-spawn, this allows them to see the movements and visions from the dark-spawn, revealing who was responsible for creating the blight while making them immune from becoming something bizarre all together - these Wardens however are instruments of sacrifice and the visions they have, become steadily worse while they are alive. Mages are greatly feared and restricted in their movements (due to their connection to the fade, the place where good and evil spirits and demons roam) as many people believe they were the cause of the first blight. Their corruption led to the loss of many lives and the corruption soon spread, those desperate enough used blood magic - eventually turning themselves into abominations. From then on, Templars were assigned to police the mages behaviour and confined them to "the circle of magi" where they were heavily supervised and could practice their abilities in relative safety.

Dragon Age 2 events occurred in the city of kirkwall; where the situation between the Templars and the Mages become progressively worse and precarious. It is the end of the fifth blight. Instead, the Qunari are the quiet threat to the city, while dealing with conflicts within the Chantry.

The Current game places the player into a situation where they are a prisoner that rises through the ranks. Your objective is to seal the breaches/rifts in the sky that have allowed demons to pass through, attacking the population while uncovering who is responsible for these events. Here is where I shall not speak more about Inquisition's main storyline as I know there are those of you out there who have yet to play it.

One of the areas I wish to address is the graphic content on the consoles. This is game is out currently on: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and Playstation 4. As an experiment, I played the beginning of the game on the Xbox 360 and the PS4: by far the graphics are in favour of the next generation of consoles. It's no surprise considering what affects are used i.e. environments, glacial ice, smoke, snow. Older consoles offer a more... let's say a disappointing basic colour which give next to no overlay. Character appearance is also affected - a more blocky and less well defined of features. As much as it would be expensive, I would highly reccommend that if you love graphics and believe they contribute towards story; buy the game for either the PS4 or the Xbox One.

(Dailymotion.com - image reference)

Through-out the game, you are given the choice to select either: Viviene (first enchanter and a member of the imperial court), Dorian (A mage seeking to right the mistakes of his people,) Solas (a knowledgable elven mage with experiences that dwell into the fade and spirits,) Iron Bull (a Qunari leader of a mercenary group and spy,) Cole (a spirit who wishes to help people,) Sera (a cheeky elven girl who embodies the values of Robin Hood) previous favourite Varric, Blackwall (a Grey Warden, haunted by the past,) and Cassandra (a brash warrior and member of the seekers.) Each one of these companions has their own area of expertise and skills. The approval system has also been improved to offer much better feedback to the player. The voice-acting provided extra feel, atmosphere, performance and story to the game swell - so much so that it feels ... real to some degree. Interaction among NPC'S and your character flow beautifully.

Players are also given the opportunity to pursue romances (mine was Cullen: advisor and leader of the Inquisition forces XD) You can romance all of your companions with the exception of Varric, Cole, Viviene, Morrigan and Leliana. Each romance has it's own special diversity and requirements. For example, take Cassandra: who is a traditional romantic - poetry, flowers, books and spontaneousness. Whereas; Iron Bull is attracted by braveness in combat and Blackwall... well - he's too modest!

Another important aspect of the game was the weather systems and size of the maps - to see my character's armour covered in rain and blowing in the wind in deserts was breath taking. It may seem simple, but these simple factors offer story to story as well as feel, reality and demonstrate to us; the customers that small details such as these should have prominent place in the world. It's actions speak louder than words. The environments themselves were breathtaking! Sound effects complimented visuals very well, adding need overlay and an extra layer of intrigue and storytelling through seeing and sound.

Selecting a certain style of throne and judging prisoners of war was also a special feature where the player can exert their power and make use out of the prisoners. There were certain number of rooms that in appearance didn't seem to serve much use i.e. the old library near the kitchens, a gallery - I felt that these rooms could have had more practical use; such as housing the heads of defeated dragons, collecting certain objects/ books and displaying them in cases as well as works of art, offering information and cinematics to impressed lovers, visitors or companions. It would also have been nice if the player could have chosen the use of each room - particularly the Inquisitor's quarters i.e. you could convert the gallery into a private ballroom, dining room, display gallery and update the library so that people are seen to be using it and the player can gather continuous information, manage a diary of sorts and write letters or an area of reflection. So much potential for such a vast space!

Combat has been given a much needed make over; DA2's combat was criticised for being too hack and slash whereas in Origins's; combat was more strategic yet the animations were more slower and didn't meet the statures of genders. Alternatively; current combat is a lot more smoother, flowing, with the appropriate animations and body language to match. Inventory systems are much more easier to use - allowing the player to create special armours and weapons either for themselves or companions. Customisations have also played a huge enjoyable part in Inquisition - there are a few occasions where the player can customise the base (choosing either an infirmary or practise area or choosing from a templar tower to building your own circle of magi). For future improvements; I would love to see more customisable building features as well as quest options after the player chooses a specific upgrade. For example, if the player chooses to build a mage tower at Skyhold, the player could receive the opportunity to manage the guild itself while completing quests to rebuild the reputation of that specific group etc.

As I have adored the accomplishments of Dragon Age: Inquisition; there was very little if not, none that they could have been done to improve. My only criticism is that I wanted to learn and see more!

Architecture, lighting and composition firmly co-exists with many elements in Inquisition. It takes true master's of their craft to understand this and apply it to another format such as this. What we see is a work of art on our screens - with Inquisition features new areas of potential, and I hope Bioware continue to show their love and skill in future DragonAge games. Please get in touch if I have missed any areas in my review, or would simply like to share your opinions about the game, I would love to hear it!


All the best and Happy new year to you all!

Loot Crate "FEAR" Review

Loot crate "FEAR" Rating: 9.0 / 10

Hello all! I hope that you all enjoyed the Halloween festivities. As part of a new edition to my game review blog, I thought it would be interesting if I reviewed Loot Crate boxes every month. For those guys who aren't sure what Loot Crate is: it's a monthly subscription where the buyer will receive 8 items in relation to a randomly chosen theme within games and such! In my opinion, the service is value for money, items are of high quality and well thought of. I highly recommend this service to everyone, it's brilliant! And if your struggling what to get someone for a gift, this is perfect!

There are two types of boxes; one that is narrow but wider at the width means that you will mostly likely get a t-shirt and a graphic novel. The other type of box is thicker, so most likely, you will get a couple of rare figurines etc. This month's Loot Carte box is Narrow and wide. The inside of every box is custom according to the theme every month.

The box itself is durable, distinct, simple and surprising. The first item in the box is a black shirt with a collection of kittens that form a skull. I have to admit, the shirt gave me the giggles, good fun! The second item is a limited lithograph featuring a scene from the Walking Dead (Spoiler Alert!) Underneath the lithograph is a book called "How to Survive a Sharknado: And other natural Disasters" By Andrew Shaffer. The book is full of interesting tips, nice illustrations and on the whole a well made book of fun. On the right side of the box, is a Loot Crate exclusive: a DeadRising 3 limited edition pen. Well packaged- high quality, good colour and generally awesome. My only complaint, is that for my pen, it's abit tricky to separate the pen from the saw cover. Next we have the classic magazine with 3D glasses. If you put them on, the book becomes 3D and the box art comes to life!

Next we have bite stickers, one toxic waste sweet, the custom badge and lastly, possibly one of my favourite items: A Walking dead Comic book. Number: 132 Happiness. Pretty cool front cover with the Loot Crate sign on the zombie's T-shirt.

All in all my favourite item(s) were: the Cat/skull T-shirt, the survival book, the Walking Dead lithograph and the Walking Dead Comic book. They are stunning items, each has a distinct humour about them. It's a shame that the DeadRising 3 pen didn't work so well with me. If I could change or add anything to this month's Loot Crate, it would be to either a spooky lolly pop instead of Toxic Waste or maybe a spooky accessory or necklace.

Having said that, this is one of my favourite Loot Crates, the Crate has given us very well considered items, that invoke imaginativeness, laughter and spookiness what with Halloween and that. Please let me know what you think of this month's Crate! I hope you guys enjoyed this review, if you have any questions or if I have missed something out please let me know!

                         

                    I have subscribed to Loot Crate for 3/4 months now, and I don't regret it!

Infamous: Second Son Review

                                                    My game rating: 9 . 2 out of 10 ...


                                   

WARNING: Review may contain spoilers.

Sucker Punches previous game titles: Infamous and Infamous 2 proved so successful from not only experience, to combat and the colourful characters amount surroundings. Within these previous game titles, you played as the fan favourite, Cole McGrath. In the first game, the story was heavily focused upon the discovery and development of your powers and the consequential decisions you have to make along your journey within the heavily populated and apocoliptical city. Infamous 2 differed greatly from it's predesessor: for the first time in the Infamous franchise, players had to opportunity to  traverse swamps, small forests, converse with much more colourful and constrasting characters, use new elemental abilities and a much more colourful and less concrete city to play in, New Orleans. The second game title heavily influenced the player to focus on their decision making and gaining power. Character types and voice acting, new enemy types and collapsable building were amoung the much needed new features and visual effects.

From there, Second Son brought together what made the previous games so enjoyable to play. Without further ado, let's get into the review for Infamous: Second Son!

Set in the tribal village, you play as Delsin Rowe, a care free young man with an eye for art and holds the attitude of a typical teenage boy. After obtaining the smoke power from an escaped convict, Delsin learns that he is one of the 'freaks' now and begins his long journey. His attitude may come from the difficult relationship he has with his brother, who is a police officer and firmly believes that conduits are the ills of the world and therefore deserve everything they get coming to them. Upon discovering his powers, Delsin shows his excitement towards his brother, telling him of the things he could achieve .... The ending to which only provokes his brothers dis-approval and anguish.

After the sibling disagreements, Delsin realises in order to save his tribe, he must leave home and venture into the heart of the DUP forces and to the area of Austustine's headquarters.

For the player, Second Son proves to be a welcome edition from Sucker Punch studios. Instead of the lore and characters being set in a typical superhero comic book or movie, Second Son has been given a much needed face life, an upgraded, fresh look - stepping foot into the modern world.

Much of the good points surrounding Second Son relate to character performance, game graphics, lip sinc via actor and their character, sound, light affects, weather affects, graffiti side missions, secondary character profiles, storyline, combat, enemy types, facial animations and lastly the choice system. My favourite mission sequence was identifying the murderer - full of surprises along with great attention to detail and displays a welcome change of creativity.

The only areas I feel should have occurred more often, were the choice options and more interaction with Fetch and other friends to Delsin. The option to either corrupt or aid an alley was an enjoyable feature, one that could have played more of a role.

If you guys have any questions, or noticed anything I missed, please get let me know and I shall try to answer. I hope you enjoyed the review.

Murdered Soul Suspect Review

My Game Rating… 6.5 / 10 
The concept was there, but missed out critical areas that made similar games, such as La Noire a masterpiece.

Murdered Soul Suspect marks a very similar resemblance to that of La Noire where facial animations and crucial detective evidence gathering was the main objective to be had. Set in a dark, gothic small settlement, you play as detective Ronan: a man whose past was clouded by years of law breaking who ends up being over powered and shot several times in the chest by a immensely strong male known as the "Bell Killer."

After failing to apprehend the Bell Killer, the transformation began from living to dying. Ronan is horrified upon seeing his own body being brutally attacked with the killer walking away, scott free. Eventually, you get acquainted with a ghost girl (named, Abigail Williams) whose been wandering the streets as a ghost for a very long time making Ronan believe she knows "the way things work around here."

The overall concept of the game was pretty well thought of, if not too short in game duration. I say this because you can't interact with weapons or use a gun whereas most games nowadays seems to copy the same old objective. So instead on relying on weaponry, you use your head and skills as a former detective to find out who murdered you. Refereeing to the conversation you have with Abigail William previously; she states that the talents you have had in life, become powers in death. Graphics were a stunning feature, especially the ghost drawings featured on walls scattered across the city and the transparency of the main character. Yet there was the occasional glitch on the Xbox 360 (I wanted to compare next generation graphics to an older console to which the next generation console won in this experiment.)

Combat was a fresh air but lacked that spark that could have made it a pleasure to play. As previously

  mentioned earlier in the review, the player cannot touch or pick up objects. Instead you can inspect and search for clues. Guns aren't a playable feature, so combat mainly consists of hiding in ghost memory spots, avoiding demon sight lines and eventually creeping up behind demons, destroying them in the process. By adding more creative ways of killing demons, I believe most uncertainties 

about MSS would be solved. The historical and mythological research that went into the game was a brilliant experience, the theories of the killer were quite philosophical yet haunting to read and take in. And Let's not forget the cinematics! Character facial expressions and body language really added to the haunting atmosphere practically when you solve a murder. One of the features I found very enjoyable was the chance to solve other ghosts deaths, sending them to heaven after success. To improve the game, I would like to have had more interaction with ghosts, solving more aspects of their troubled lives and generally comforting them. 

As a ghost, you can possess, peek, influence, read minds, walk through walls and teleport short distances etc. While I believe these abilities gave you the upper hand in detective situations, there wasn't much of a fun factor. I believe that making objects move or smash, adopting the characteristics of a poltergeist character would have added more pleasurable game experience and would have created a more in depth sense of power to the main character.

From the list of character's which featured, I particually enjoy Joy's character. A reluctant medium who commits petty crimes in search of her mother, both of which are targeted by the killer and have been hiding separately to avoid detection. As a medium, joy can hear and see other entities and is able to decode her mother's cryptic journal. Her transformation from solely wanting to work alone and answer back to Ronan becomes more of an intelligent thinker and team player. 

Should a sequal be in mind, as a player, I would like the game which allows us to get to know the character's individually as well as adding more puzzles to solve, more items to collect, a game which has a pro longed storyline, larger explorable areas, and more interesting and unconventional ways to complete objectives. 

If I have at any point missed areas during the review, this is because I do not wish to spoil what happens for those players who have yet to play the game. 

AVATAR: The Game Review

… My game rating: 7 / 10 ...

First of all, It's awesome to get into game reviews once again where occasional illnesses and university won't bother me for five months! So to get back in the swing of things; I would like to start things off by reviewing a game that's one of my favourites yet has great room for future improvements.

The game was released around the same time as the movie. This review is a means of which we can make find out if game's based off a movie are good or are they a way for companies to gain more profit via other forms of media. Here you play as Ryder: a signal specialist who works for the RDA corp on Pandora. As a soldier; you execute orders to the letter… mending gates, interacting with your fellow soldiers, defending base camps, intercepting a mole. Eventually, you learn that what you have done at the beginning of the game brought devastation onto the Na'vai people. As you progress, you will face the ultimate choice: will you join the Na'vai or remain with the NDA and kill the mole?

Naturally, if you choose the Na'vai you will come across some stunning environments, ride the dangerous creatures on Pandora while revolting against the RDA, killing it's leaders on the battlefield, ambushing few soldiers and being knee deep in Na,via culture. Meanwhile, if you choose the RDA… let's face it, it's the evil badass choice to make so gameplay will be extermination on larger scales, while taking on their leaders single hand-idly. This being an evil path to take, means you get several opportunities to redeem yourself and change sides. However; you cannot change your human form. This will make combat with your now enemy, RDA a tad more challenging.

Combat on both sides are very over balanced. Naturally the Na'vai are not soldiers, these are hunters who know the way of their lands like the back of their hands. The Na'vai are mostly up close and attack  and yet their bows match greatly out weighs the RDA ranged weaponry. While RDA, are mostly orientated on range, making them weak up close but they have armour whereas the other side has bone and ceremonial armour. Overall, combat is on the RDA's advantage especially if they attack in groups.

Let's take a look at the environments… Let's face it, the use of colour and light as well as texture and depth real adds to the general atmosphere of being in this very surreal and potentially hostile environment. The environments at night are jaw dropping to say the least and the ability to right banshees; is also a brilliant idea yet at  times fiddly to control. As a Na'vai, these lands are sacred whereas the RDA see them as gold mines to benefit themselves. Character animations are also a highlight: the way the tail moves, the bags attached to your waist while running, and general character behaviour when your character action remains motionless. The weapons are also a well done feature: each has it's own uniqueness, especially the AVATAR weaponry where curves are prominent and colour gives a more ceremonial appearance. The use of lighting has been very impressive, especially the lighting to which surrounds hometree and night time surroundings. Another enjoyable factor, was seeing sprits floating in the air as the player walks past, this make the environment appear more in-depth and pure.

There is a deep and a beautiful sense of culture as well as history which surrounds Pandora and it's people which is part of the reason why I am so absorbed and in love with it! And while the game offers a breath of fresh air in terms of atmospheric environments, moral choices, the chance to revive yourself and collect samples, colourful weaponry, the ability to ride banshees, dire horses and thanators and strong NPC character's... Unfortunately; this wasn't enough in my opinion to rank it higher out of ten.

As this is an eccentric and dangerous world, I would have liked to have seen more effort placed on creating alot more side missions that link with the main storyline. For example, as a Na'vai you will come across a few AVATAR NPC's who insult and threaten to kill you, claiming that you will never be one of the people and as you level up you will gain new armours, powers and skills, there is a very brief description and story of each item. I feel as though this process was meaningless: considering that you betrayed your human, race you should have to win the people's trust by proving you are their friend. I believe side quests would have been really useful here, it would have offered the player a greater reward and appreciation towards the Na'vai customs.

Another aspect I felt needed changing was certain parts of populated environments. There are huts and buildings which sit there and offer no sense of purpose or interaction with the surroundings, player and NPC's in mind. These parts you will
need to pay attention to noticing. However; I can present an example as to the huts I am referring to. In the first Na'vai settlement you are positioned in after you choose the Na'vai side, you will be surrounded by climbable structures that offer little to no reward for climbing them in the first place. In the corners of these settlements, is often where you will take note of the structures I speak of. There was even a cave full of water and crystals located nearby but was offered no intel or background information as to what's it's purposes was.

Player voices were quite tiresome at times. I would have hope voice overs and the scripts were softer in accent plus I wanted to player to properly interact with the natives instead of the occasional typical and unnecessary remarks.

To summarise, my game rating would have been much higher had there have been more interactive and rewarding environments, better voice acting, larger maps,  a larger and in-depth encyclopaedia, ceremonies after reaching levelling up instead of the items magically appearing out of no where, improved conversation scripts, a great deal of side missions that offer you the chance to get to know your new allies, train to hunt, ambush the RDA patrols, create arty objects for home-tree, create your own weapons, learn the basic of the language, interact with families, craft and build your own lands and houses that steadily come to life with Na'vai and plant life the more you prove yourself and become a member etc. There was a great deal of potential here, and I feel there have been large parts that have been missed out, much to our mis-benefit.

Having said that; this is a good time. And if the changes I have enlisted are applied to the next game title in the AVATAR franchise, I think we will have a great game. This would offer players a deeper and rewarding sense of a different world that has different rules and cultures and more importantly… how we learn and fit into these places to find our own identities and make and break fate.

THIEF Review

My game rating 8 out of 10 …

http://dominus.ttlg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/t4w3.jpg

THIEF's  release has been long awaited for the past year or so. Looking from the trailers, we were promised a aesthetically pleasing, dark genre fun stealth packed game available to the current consoles and next generation. Fortunately to say, we were not disappointed.

Lets get the bad stuff out of the way! The biggest killer for me was the jagged colour glitches which occurred everywhere across the screen. As I have been working on this review, readers and friends from my blog and university have admitted that they suffered the same problem. These glitches got so bad that they had to stop playing immediately. Another issue was the audio overlapping other NPC's while in conversation with Garett.  During cutscenes, Garett's lines cut every know and again, leaving only his lip sinc to stare at.

 http://www.primagames.com/games/thief/guides/thief-eguide/introduction - Character Profiles

The brash but deadly Erin, a nice change in character where an equally strong character leads her self astray and a return of the anti hero becoming one. Costume design has really taken shape here. Erin here (pictured above) comes across between a biker chick, assassin and thief. Her use of jewellery and the rustic manner of which she wears her clothing is quite unique. 

While these issues may have been arduous at times, that's not to say that THIEF wasn't a success. For those who aren't familiar with previous games and such: you currently play as master thief Garett, whose a rather anti-social character, preferring his own company compared with everyone else. He is intelligent and cat like in stature, climbing and combat. In this game title, you have an apprentice named Erin who is rather similar in character to Garett but she is alot more careless ad over confident. After losing your protege during a failed heist, you have no recollection as to what happened you and Erin. After spending one year away from the city, you return to find it in the rather corrupt hands of the Baron who believes industrial progress is the number one priority above anything else. Upon your arrival thanks to some discreet allies, you find yourself in the middle of the city where sickness, anger and riots plague the streets while the rich live comfortably in their homes while the poor struggle and starve in poverty. This is where the gameplay begins … Will you be a stealthy cat or an aggressor? Your call.

file://localhost/Users/sophiestelfox/Desktop/Thief-4-Game-Wallpaper.jpg

Favourite levels? Well mine would be the Madam Xao Xao's brothel and the mental asylum. Between the two levels, you will see and experience warm and exotic environments to cold, tenuous, potentially heart wrenching ones. For artists and game developers to go from one style and feel of environment to another is greatly admirable and I believe it truly adds more worth and depth to any game. Sound track takes less of a priority but maintains the overall theme and feeling of each scene. There are elements of rustic, classical and mixed elements which if you consider refer to similar patterns to Tomb Raider: Reboot and Bioshock: Infinite.

As for combat, it was enjoyable but not perfect. Dodging is a little fiddly and the only way to gain a real advantage in fighting a group of enemies is to invest in focus points. Despite this, the bow is an incredibly useful and powerful tool to use. And the variety of arrows made it all the better! Pickpocketing is an awkward and also a fun little thing to do that is further improved by focusing your points on this skills set. Another loveable factor is the abstract story… I like it because situations like this are not mean't to understand quickly. I tire of how most games spoon feed their gamers with a simple, unimaginative stories to which I find insulting. The gamers are not stupid, we crave for intelligent plots that give us inspiration and encourage us to ask questions.

http://www.therpf.com/attachments/f9/thief-4-costume-wip-first-post-theif-arrows.jpg-180593d1367812518

The side mission were very enjoyable. In some way it made feels as though I was getting to know someone through their house … plus their valuables of course! Exploring houses and solving their owners traps while listening to the cracks and spitting fires reflects the attention the developers displayed towards the project. Earlier I discussed the negatives of the game, I believe the game could be further improved if the player had more secret areas to explore, more interaction with the clock tower hideout, more collectables, and increased length of story or game hours. Also, I was troubled by how little the Queen of the Beggars had in the game. I believe there should have been some exploration and further interaction with this character alot more.

Overall, THIEF offers great voice acting, stunning graphical environments, a great array of character personalities, good combat and so on. I just wish that the game was longer so that the issues listed can be addressed and the character's throughly explored via side missions or extended main levels. Having said that however; after what I have seen and played so far, I can tell that this studio deeply cared about this project. That and fine artists have been a great source of help and visionary here. If only other studios could follow their example and standard of art produced.

http://titanbooks.com/the-art-of-thief-limited-edition-7594/

Before I conclude this review, I would like to recommend the art book for THIEF 4. There is a great amount of stunning conceptual images. If you are interested in modelling, they have pages in there too! If your a fine artist such as myself, then the book will be a valuable asset to any book reference collection. In the conceptual studies, you can see how the artists added animal characteristics i.e. how Garett looked cat like in combat and stature. You can buy this book from Ebay, amazon and Waterstones.

Thief 4 Trailer Review

Hello all! I hope your new year is going well. I thought it would be best to start of this years game reviews by looking at some trailers from Thief 4. Thief 4 will be released on new generation consoles, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in Europe by 28th February. No collectors edition has been announced. However; I do hear that if you pre- order the game now, you will receive extra missions. Should I hear anything else, I will post the news on my Thief 4 game review later in the month.

                                                      My Trailer Rating - 9 . 9 out of 10 …

For me; this is one of the best trailers I have seen this year so far. Garrett's narration is very warm yet sharp through out the trailer. This is deeply complimented by the hair raising music and crisp sound effects. Music ranges from electric guitar to choir, drums and other orchestral elements. The atmosphere is further enhanced through the acting skills and narration of the rebel leader. The animation shown is … incredible. If we look closer to the man's features of his face, they interoperate the anger incredibly well. Indeed, there is much passion to his facial expression. Mist or fog plays a huge factor here swell. This is to emphasise to the upcoming player that the darkness is your alley and the sickness that roams the streets has gravelly spread. All of what I have seen so far has given me great expectations to the game's release. the studios have certainly paid close attention to making it's reboot a much needed make over that compliments new technologies, art styles and such. Further strengths grants players to interact with highly standard voice actors. The character that will feature appear to convey actual unique personalities e.g. Erin and Garett's contact. Should all of these factors come together successfully and compliment one another with ease, then I believe this might just kick start another series, following in the footsteps of Garret once again.
                                         

Animations I made from University (1st December 2013 - 23rd January 2014)

Hello all! Apologise once again! From the date mentioned above; I have completed two animation for my university assignments. The animation shown above is about a Celtic warrior who hands down an item of great importance to a descendant in the future; present day. I hope you guys enjoy the video! During this time I am working on the reviews for the upcoming titles: Thief 4, dying light and Elder Scrolls online. In the mean while; my reviewing efforts are being focused on RAGE from Bethesda. 

Let me know what you guys think of the animation. I understand if there are areas that are incomplete, this is due to the in depth-ness of the assignment given. But I'm determined to perfect my craft further. This is the first animation I have produced… using Flash software.

Bradford Animation and Game Art festival



http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/BradfordAnimationFestival/WhatsOn

I know you guys enjoyed my last year's post on the festival. But as this is a very busy second year at university, I have opted to just attend the game art festival which was approximately 2 days. As usual I went with my class at university. Despite the hype not being as intense as it was last year, there were some great talks and speakers. This post is about the highlights - which speakers/ topics I enjoyed the most etc. My favourite speakers were: Viktor Antonov and Dave Mckean. It was a very busy but an enjoyable two days. It was very welcoming to have these speakers from the gaming industry as they thrive in fine art media to create beautiful examples of concept imagery for game ideas. This gives me a strength sense of hope for the future generation of game artists. We should never forget our skills in drawing as they are the foundation to our inner selves and can be used to feed our imaginations.

Tales from Dunwall: An artist animation talk (1 Hour)

(Viktor Antonov from Zenimax studios)

"Think of the environments as characters. Dishonored's character is one of tragedy, harshness, a hell hole but lives alongside beauty. A broken character. Space is gameplay."

For me, I believe these words were wisely spoken. If we treat our environments as characters then we can build vast levels of mystery and design upon it, enabling us to create a script for the environment. It's all well and good having these great characters who hold supernatural abilities and tools with a complimentary storyline etc... but can the character truly feel themselves in an environment that doesn't reflect their attributes? Or strengthen the feeling of the story? These are questions that I believe all artists should consider in their work: people are the primary characters of-course but we should never neglect the other elements, especially ones such as this which relate to our practice. After-all, environments and objects are characters within their own right: each has a story to tell, each has a mystic and historic element that can add to the players experience through gameplay.

Antonov's career in games started in 1996. Throughout his career, Antonov has worked as a concept artist, illustrator and creative director while recognising the importance of fine art techniques and first hand sketches of pre production. Some of his early studies for the game consisted of charcoal and rubber. These pre-production sketches had to reflect realistic, contemporary Victorian architecture though these sketches were in black and white and were drawn roughly. Antonov believes that rough sketches show more storytelling an feeling rather than a piece that's fully rendered. The style of work created is largely inspired from gothic themes .i.e. churches, buildings, textures etc. With any game, the first few weeks is mainly dedicated to drawing and gathering inspiration.



 Creating a new world

The inspiration for Dishonored derived from the works of Charles Dickens, Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. These were the main metaphors for the concept of Dishonored. It was crucial to capture oppression, death, rustic, feels of the 19th century. Remember the trams/ railways carriages in the game? These were originally 19th century horse carriages. Antonov discussed what type of pre production sketches are more valuable to game concepts. Concept art should be high in contrast, no essential detail, varieties, rough colour and few areas of the piece that show refining skills. Lighting plays a huge parts to any artist's work, no matter what technique or media. With oppressed types of atmospheres, you can introduce magic. Think about what defines a city. Consider viewpoints and perspective. 



Dave Mckean Masterclass - Pictureville -

"You can't hate the years forever…" 

Mckean is known for being a modern day version of the "renaissance" man. His love for art derives from his father, who was a frustrated artist who never drew professionally. From then onwards; Mckean drew constantly. At a time where Mckean was very sick, his mother would always buy him a comic book which brought him great comfort. Once he recovered; his love for graphic novel increased dramatically. Further relief was felt when Mckean expressed his interests of working with a wider variety of media while jokingly adding "if I used the same media everyday, I would go mad." During questions, a question was raised concerning advise for upcoming artists, the answer was suggested to the audience members that they should engage in travelling and talking to an array of people with different mind sets. Everything around him including sight, smell, sound and scandinavian music inspires his work. Another question was raised concerning the artists choice of materials to which he answered that he preferred working with odd papers of various textures but they had to be of good quality. 

"I can't think on the computer. I have to think on paper. Stories should be about real life, how their brains work, how we interoperate them. That's my idea of fantasy."

My thoughts exactly!

ARD501 The sustainable lie lecture at the Nickwhitehead (15th October 2013)

In the first quarter an hour of the lecture, we had alot of global warming shoved down our throats. And pretty soon; unsurprisingly us the designers/ artists were being blamed for 80% of the damage caused by global warming. While there are elements of this statement may be true, I feel quite annoyed that we are being blamed where this issue involves everyone therefore the responsibilty should be shared. I am not one of those eco warriors but nor do I wish the consequences of the inevitable to occur sooner than it should. your probably thinking why I want to prevent the inevitable? As humans, we are very selfish, prone to great levels of arrogance and lack of wisdom and lack of care for our own futures. Our idea of survival seems to be mainly focused on one thing: we are determined to colonise other planets for the sake of our own. Are artists really the cause for most of the damage?

Here are some random scribbles I wrote during the lecture.

• 80% of the damage is derived from the development stage in design.
• Last year, a new product was launched every three minutes. 
• The US budget last year for deign was $400 billion.
• 2% - 4% of carbon dioxide contributes toward emissions. (Depends on what figures you have.)
• 5% - 7% of global warming is caused by cement industries.
• Starbucks dispose 2.3 million cups within a year.
• The biggest contribution of carbon emissions is: Exxon Mobil. (146m tonnes of carbon dioxide.)
• 50% - 75% of humans lack the basic requirements of everyday life. 

Many designs/ products today are classes as inefficient use of energy, water and natural resources.

However; a few good ones manage to squeeze it's way through i.e.  a toaster that has side compartments to keep the toast warm and crisp. As designers, we must consider the materials and techniques. 

Paper bags VS Plastic bags. 

If plastic and paper bags are bad, then fabric bags make more sense.

The role of the designers

Designers have an incredibly important role, they hold a special position between the producer and the consumer i.e. you! This aparatently therefore makes the artists/ designers the first ones to blame. (Remember, 80% damage because of the design.) Future designs should consider:

• How things are solved.
• How materials are used.
• Construction process.
• How efficient will they be?
• Design a product theory action.
• Design with, not for.
• Design systems not stuff.
• Document, share and measure.
• Always cross examine.
• Better lives, less stuff.

The characteristics of the following materials.

• Paper - Can be recycled by requires some kind of bleach process to remove the ink i.e. dioxides. Every person in the UK uses the equivalent of 2 trees a year.
• Glass - Can recycle, but requires much energy to do so.
• Plastic - This is the most recyclable but must be sorted, which can be very costly. Currently, the UK sells half of their plastic bottles that are being recycled to China for £50.00 a tonne. 
• Metal - Can Recycle but some metals are non recyclable. Only half of our food and pet cans are currently being recycle. 

Take for example: the packaging for McDonalds food in the 1990s. Today we use a thin cardboard alternative, but shockingly, the plastic ones proved to be far more beneficial. They require 30% less energy to make, 46% less atmospheric emissions and 42% less water borne waste. Another example is Quorn. It's a mince substitute, reduced packaging, cheaper looking ... result? less sales. where is "less is more?" The consumer looks through their stomachs or how pretty it looks. They believe that because something looks a cheaper quality than it won't taste good, therefore they won't buy it. 

Thief 4 preview gameplay

 

Trailer Rating: 10 / 10

Hello everyone! And welcome to yet another preview of some the most potential games for PS consoles. I'm really looking forward to Thief's release (yet to be confirmed.) There has been no mention of collectors editions as of yet. However; I will let you guys knows if any news arises.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the video footage. The first minute of gameplay we hear Garrett weighing all the options for entering the Baron's compound. Audio and voice acting sound very distinct and clear, perfectly matching the character's personality and likeness. The next thing we see is "swoop dash" mechanic used by Garrett in previous titles. I believe this is a very useful tool and it mystifies as to how no others games have this sort of mechanic. This action is very human... when I say this I mean, there are many animators and game developers that are constantly trying to make character actions apply to what we would do in their situation in real life. This is difficult, yet if you succeed, your work will be remembered not only by your colleges but also the fans of the game. Also, I found the use/appearance of the character arms and hands interacting with its surroundings, pleasing to watch. Selecting your weapons and tools have been made a lot more easier to access via wheel.

After several minutes, we discover that the game's atmosphere it dark, misty yet scenic at the same time. The views of the moon behind the manor and clouds was indeed an impressive sight to see. As the character moved, I was pleased to see these small wet patches of water on the cobbled walkways. This may sound strange to you folks, but these are the small touches that contribute to the whole atmosphere and feel to the upcoming game. Lip-sinc is excellent as well as the NPC animations and body language. And like Dishonoured, there are many ways to reach your objectives. There is the light everything on fire and create havoc option, and there's the sneak, knockout and shoot people in the head silently option. So good variety there! As a thief, you will have some very handy tools to accompany with you on missions. Take for example: your mechanical eye. By using this, you will be able to see oil spills, see the movements of enemy movements via foot sounds, see wallets, pickpocketing opportunities, climbable areas and other tools. To balance gameplay, the developers have also provided empty bottles to create distractions, potions to refill your focus meter. The missions seemed to vary quite abit. I adore the look of Garrett's bow, and arrows. They look impressively jagged to add a more rouge feel rather than the super polished weapons you see in other games.

The stealth system is a lot more clear and clever. When you are in complete darkness, the edges of your screen will turn and twist and if you approach more lighted area, this effect will fade dramatically. So even if you are standing in front of guard in the dark, he will not see you as the darkness cloaks your appearance.  The rope arrows are back1 Giving you access to secret and un-climbable areas.

Judging from what I have seen so far, I cannot wait to get hold of this game. Once more gameplay has been released, I shall review them in the future. It is my greatest hope that we get to see more footage and a collectors edition of some sort. If they did decide to create a collectors edition. what would you like to see?

Please feel free to answer in the comments box below! Many thanks!

ARD407 Ideas and Concepts - ARD409 Creative media Production ( Storyboard for a Game Trailer Evaluation)

Work on this assignment began from 1st May - 16th August 2013. Upon receiving the brief, my first task was selecting the preffered type of games, these were: Trenchdog (First World War) , Mario Spacehog, Freedom Force, Warbosses, Penalty, LadyKills, LEGO Lunacy, and Eyepet Lizard. The Ladykiller category did interest me however I was more taken away with the Warbosses theme. First thoughts were Warhammer4000 so I thought it would be interesting to link the two in some way. The requirements for the category included butch characters and over sized weapons. This explains my link between Warbosses and Warhammer4000. After selecting the category, I decided to conduct some concept sketches. Earlier in the year from a past assignment, I developed a story/game concept that was related to the Warhammer/ fantasy/sci-fi themes. After gaining permission to develop this concept, this enabled me to add much more detail than with the previous attempt and make the appropriate changes.

(Sadly, there have been technical issues while uploading the images for this post. I shall attempt again at a later date.)

Part of my assignment involved market research. I looked at trailers and posters to strengthen my concept further. I am all too aware how crucial marketing is to the gaming industry as this is were you attract potential customers and players. Thus trailers must be appealing to the customer. I looked at Skyrim, Dead Island and Thief 4 trailers and posters. These reviews are located within my sketchbook and are on my blog. For me, I really enjoyed the market research as this enabled me to get a better understanding of my industry and it's promotional material. For the storyboard, I was  aiming to show my growing knowledge in film language and experimenting more with colour and mixed media. Storyboards are vital as they are a means of communicating your ideas to your client or your team. Therefore, it is of great importance that they understand what your attempting to convey. All in all I created three drafts for my storyboard but I realised that the sequence doesn't have to be complicated so I opted for a more abstract and simple look. From looking at trailers, I acknowledged that the viewer doesn't really see much due to voice overs, black screens and flashing imagery. In my opinion, I believe my storyboard has vastly improved from previous assignments, there is a lot more contrast, composition and colour which adds reality to the storyboard.

The other part of this assignment required a poster illustrating out game concept. As I had Glandula fever earlier in the year, my tutors kindly asked for a poster created using traditional media rather than digital. The following media was used: coffee, tipex, black ink pens, biro, watercolour paints, acrylic paints, masking tape and graphite. Techniques: stencils, flicking, stribbing, For me, mixed media and composition took first priority. I have really enjoyed using unconventional forms of media to create a piece that interests my tutors. For another assignment, character sheets were required, these could be any character I wished, any time period etc. So I thought it would be beneficial to include these within the game trailer assignment.

This last paragraph will discuss my concept designs of the characters, weapons, mark making sheets and colour choices. I conducted a colour mark making sheet based on acrylic paint samples. A script has also been provided. From selecting various colours, this is what I use to create my traditional game poster. These mark making sheets consisted of tipex, coffee, graphite, charcoal, hairspray, fine liners, permanent marker pens, black biros, black ink pens, water, acrylic, stamping, stencils, oil pastels etc. Again I must apologise for the lack of photos, I will try and rectify this problem. Instead, I shall give a brief description as to what the character look like, personality etc. On the concept sheets feature the following:

Wisdom - Lead Female
Age: 21
Description: Green eyes, navy blue tattoos on the right side of her face, mid back length red hair (white when in combat,) long dark purple armour, straps of black fabric on her arms, shoulders, a black collar that comes just under her ear, plated white gold armour for the ankles, legs, knees and upper legs. Plated dragon horned footware, long black undershirt and a dark soft leather belt with stamped solid silver clasps and decorated metal plating. Wears the accessory that holds the key to unlocking their memories on a thick solid silver chain.
Personality: Strong minded, wise, athletic, trustworthy, tomboy, kind hearted.
Skills: Has power over all elements, can decode the DNA of anything weather dead or alive and use it to her advantage, archery and tree climbing.
Main Weapon: A curved elemental bow that alters it's shape and colour as the character progresses through-out the game.

Mercy - Lead Male
Age: 22
Description: Wears an identical necklace with a thick gold chain, short black hair with long fringe, dark brown leather trousers, waistcoat with white laced collar, white gold plated knees, leg and ankle guard, ivory hood, black undershirt, leather foot bandaged foot-wraps with scraps of fabric laced across his right arm along side intricate tattoos, a navy blue sash with blue trimmings all through-out his armour and bandaged wrist-guards.
Personality: Humorous, kind hearted, ferocious, physically strong and first aider.
Skills: Dual wields curved gem-stoned one and a half swords. Enchanter, survivalist, tracking, hand to hand combat, acrobatic.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this assignment. This has enabled me to experiment further in my discipline and developed my skills in film language, composition, colour, contrast, formal elements etc. I hope to receive a similar brief in the future where I am able to use fine art techniques and media.

Assassin's Creed II Review

 

"Magnificent!" my game rating- 9.9 / 10 ...

Ubisoft's release sequal of Assassin's Creed brought the gaming world to it's knees in 2009. The art department of AC knew that they must recreate environments that players would feel as though they were actually there. This also applied to it's NPC'S animations and combat. Despite the game being released for over 4 years, it still fascinates players and communities worldwide to this day. This review is designed to evaluate the game once more. Is the game truly great? Have the fans demands been met? Is the standard of a high quality? And what is it about this game that captures the positive response from fans and critics alike? In an earlier post, I asked you guys your opinions as to which Assassin's Creed game you liked the most and why. Your responses will be included in the review. So here we go!

 

 You are Ezio Auditore, a young Italian noble who lives with his sister (Claudia), Mother (Maria), oldest brother, younger brother and father (Giovanni) in Florence. In the first hour of gameplay, you and your friends are in the middle of a fist fight with the Pazzi and their friends. During the conflict, Ezio sustains a lip injury and heads to the doctor with his older brother. Once healed, he races to the church roof against his brother exclaiming "it's a good life we lead brother." Moments later, Ezio climbs up to the window of a young noble lady named Christina Vespucci and spends the night the her. Upon returning home, your family give you errands. After completing these ping pong missions, you discover that Giovanni and the rest of Ezio's brothers have been arrested. Thankfully the maid, mother and sister are safe within the Palazzo's office. After several events and escaping the city, you meet your uncle Mario who gives you a nice looking villa and extra training. The villa he gives you is part of the upgrading system for the town, shops you renovate will also grant you 5-15% discount as well as increasing your revenue. Within the villa, you also have a spacious gallery where the paintings you buy appear here, a nice looking armory, office, and a sanctuary where you are given the opportunity to recover the assassin seals to retrieve the armour of Altair.

 

So far, there is a lot to take in. Your understanding of the Assassin and Templar organisations are more complicated than first realised. The Templars firmly believe in order and stability whereas the Assassin's believe in man's freewill and wisdom. Indeed there are huge similarities between them. Some of you may ask: If they are so similar then why don't they work together? Well, you soon learn that this was tried and failed as each organisation have different way of approaching situations. Are the Assassin's really the good guys? These men and women are trained to kill their target whatever the means needed, no matter who they are. However; as Rebbeca Crane pointed out: "Sometimes all it takes is one death to improve the lives of others" Does this mean therefore that the Assassin's have a strong moral compass? That they only target men and women of evil minds? It would seem so.

If any of you ask which side I would want to be with, it would be the assassin's. I believe in freewill, not matter what religion or sex you are etc. Their history is rich, full of detail as well as mystery. Did an actual war exist between these two groups? Sadly, this isn't clear. However; we know the rise and fall of the Templars and their deeds during conflicts in cities such as Acre etc.



What I liked about the game

Their choice of theme and time for the game to take place. I believe the Renaissance was a hugely important period for man at this time. This was known as the "rebirth" of learning, from history to classics, inventing, mathematics, science, English, art and astrology studies. The amount of research is evident towards every aspect of the game, weather that may be environments, to attitudes, clothing, shops and even real life characters such as Leonardo Da Vinci. To me, the amount and the attention to detail is staggering. The storyline, is very good. Of-course it would have been nice to rescue or spend some more time with your other siblings. However; I think that if the father and brothers didn't die, then there would be no storyline or no where near as affective. There are some nice looking textures, not just in the fabric of the cities but also in the clothing and waters surrounding these magnificent fortresses. Combat has dramatically improve since the first game, the animations also compliment this area. Other likeable areas are, the atmosphere, the history, the violence of combat, the upgrading system, the behaviour of guards and other NPC's, the variety of maps and environments, the Assassin tombs, shops, paintings, weapons, armour, overall size of maps, the ability to free run and explore at your pace when you choose,  side missions, over hanging gardens, voice acting, sound effects etc.



And the negatives?

Don't worry, these are very minor negatives. Take for instance the set camera modes while your completing a climbing challenge against the clock, sometimes, these can make me feel disorientated. I was disappointed to realise that there was no official art-book, except those that come with the collectors edition. Surly, for such a release they would have considered an official art-book?  The other issue evolves around distant buildings and overall feel. Sometimes buildings look very blurred and usually when I walk through Forli, close ups are quite blurred yet I understand that this is to create the overall feel and perspective for the game. My last concern relates to how to collect your money instead of venturing all the way to Claudia. Could we have a headquarters in every district as a means of communicating through letter to Claudia, enabling us to collect income and provide her with instructions.

Your Feedback!

Gabe Zune

 

If you haven't guessed, mine is AC2. I felt it did exactlty what good sequels are supposed to do, improve all aspect such as visuals, gameplay, and further the story. It had the most improvements and additions since its predecessors and can be described as the renaissance of the series (see what I did there? xD. Literally everything was improved! The fighting, the atmosphere, the climbing, the visuals, and even the character had more personality than the previous piece of cardboard. All other games have just provided small improvements such as ACR's great music and AC3's good graphics. But in the end, everyone will remember the start of Ezio's journey xD

Carl Johnson

 

I recently started playing the whole series out in the living room, as my dad watches. Suffice to say, he finds the story fascinating.

Thank you to all the people that got involved! I shall be continuing the Assassin's Creed Reviewing process so if guys have any questions or suggestions, please let me know! :)

The Last of Us Ellie Edition Review

10 / 10

"Naughty dog have created another master piece!"

Let's start with the edition first!

Since the release of the Uncharted Series, there was much debate as to what Naughty Dog had in store for their next series of games. The studio firmly expressed the need for more adult games. When we say adult games, we don't mean typical sex and and violence as such but more to the point of placing the player in more human and mature situations, that may require empathy or otherwise. Early concepts of the game, indicated that this would most certainly fit the bill for zombie/horror genre. But what will make this one different? How can the developers create a new concept for a popular theme for a game? The answer evolves around upgrading every stereotypical view of a zombie game, from enemies, story to environments and concepts etc. I admit, it has taken me awhile to start this review because I want to make sure that what I write is honest and in-depth. Not only this but I wanted to give you guys a chance to play and understand the game rather than me giving away spoilers, therefore ruining your experience.

So let's get started with the Ellie edition!

9.9 / 10 Edition Rating...

When you take first looks at the edition, you may think it's a tad small in terms of what I paid for
it. But don't be disappointed... It's a great illusion, but as the image shows (above) it has all been carefully packaged and designed through-out. Upon removing the packaging, you will feel a rough canvas type of fabric, after more examination; the stitching is of a good quality which keeps up the theme of this being a "Survival pack." Depending on which of the two editions you pre-ordered, your favourite character appears on the front of the canvas cover. Judging by how this has been printed I would say that the studio have used either Silk Screen techniques or digital printing. Looking through the pockets, you will find: a screen print effect poster, The Last of us mini comic book, art-book, Ellie dual shock wireless controller skin, the blue ray game disc, little planet avatar of Ellie, sights and sounds pack, game soundtrack, two PSN avatars and the survival pack containing: customisable multiplayer items, in game currency, bonus XP, melee attack booster and bonus Joel and Ellie character skins.

 

The paper for the poster is smooth to the touch and seems sturdy. However; I would like to see more of Ellie's face rather than taking away her facial features. Also, it would have been great for the developers to hand sign the poster, yet I understand that time requires them to be elsewhere. The mini comic book is small, but the colour and paper are a smooth, great quality. After reading it, I am beginning to understand why Ellie is so independent and not very trusting towards Joel and other people. On-top of the comic book, you will find a Naughty Dog sticker which has been beautifully designed and protected. The dual shock controller sticker has some very nice tones and features, beautifully illustrating Ellie's face. It would have been nice if the controller cover was in colour but I understand if this would increase cost in production. Last but not least comes the art-book. The cover is stunning, hardback with 72 glossy pages. To achieve the glossy pages, the printers would apply china clay to the mixture which gives the impressive appearance and touch of a high standard artbook. Inside, you will find images illustrating enemies, Ellie's bow, character designs and environmental paintings. In my opinion, this edition is worth your investment! Let's move on to the game ...

The enemies have had a make over, showing a more natural yet devastating form of decay/ evolvement. To me, this adds beauty to a shocking image. 

The first few scenes feature you playing as Joel's daughter, Sarah. A canny teenager with a good heart and abit of attitude. On what seemed to be a normal evening for father and daughter, she wakes up only to realise that she heard something strange outside, with Joel was no where to be seen. After several events including an attempt to escape town, they are both stopped by a lone soldier. Realising the immediate danger, Joel attempts to dodge the soldiers fire while placing himself in harms way to protect his daughter. Moments pass, and we soon realise that she was shot. The voice acting and interaction between the two characters was very touching yet heart-breaking. Therefore I believe this is one of the best examples of emotion for a long while. As the years passed... we see a more tortured and angry Joel. Experienced gamers will notice that Joel still keeps his watch that Sarah gave him the night before she died.

Soon you meet a strong, defensive and highly independent girl named Ellie who is seeking the Fireflies (a rebel faction who are trying to find the cure to the outbreak.) Earlier, gameplay with Ellie and Joel show the mistrust and suspicion between the two individuals. When Joel discovers that Ellie is infected, his mistrust of her increases dramatically and almost loses his temper. There were a few occasions where Ellie attempts to console Joel and his past, only to have Joel aggressively reject her. While losing his temper, he makes it very clear to Ellie that she will never be a daughter to him and that she is nothing more than a package. Towards the end of the game, we see the pair form a father and daughter bond, with Joel intending on them returning "home" together and becoming very protected over her safety. The pair have come along way, especially Ellie. Take for example the scene where she was being "assaulted" by David. The anger and desperation she showed while confronting him, show courage and empathy. Personally, I admire Ellie's character, showing so much strength while realising that she is only 15 years old and took many adult responsibilities such as caring for Joel while he was critically injured etc.
.

My favourite areas of the game are as follows: the giraffe scene where Ellie strokes a giraffe's neck under the guidance of Joel situated in a area of paradise, relations between characters, the rich, vastly detailed and varied environments, the interaction and voice acting, playing and hunting as Ellie was a special edition to gameplay and story, storyline, the variety of enemies, the crafting system and inventory system where you can see all around you and know where enemies are. In-fact, I have no complaints.... every area was astounding and speechless to observe.