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I was one lucky fox, when I read that Sony have arranged a Playstation VR UK tour, that was coming to my neck of the woods. I quickly booked my slot at Meadow Hall Sheffield for Saturday 8th October at 9:30am. It meant I wouldn’t have to wait as long as the walk-ins, and guaranteed a thirty minute trial. I was early and the lovely chap at the desk asked me what I wanted to play.
When I stated Batman, I saw him inwardly cringe. “Oh yes Batman. EVERYONE wants to just play Batman. At the moment it is a forty minute wait for Batman.”
“Who doesn’t want to be Batman?” I smirked. I explained I didn’t mind waiting, as I was doing coverage for a gaming site.
The young chap (I am sorry, I forgot your name) was really helpful and offered for me to play Farpoint, whilst I waited on Batman. I was given a little card with the Farpoint artwork on, and once it was called, I was lead to the booth.
There was another lovely chap (again so sorry, forgot your name too), who asked if I had tried VR before. I explained I hadn’t, and that I was intrigued by it. He explained how the headset would feel. I asked if it would be uncomfortable with glasses, and he confirmed it wouldn’t be. Which was good, as I am short sighted and need my glasses for gaming. He then picked up the Playstation VR gun, with its glowing ball end (Heheheh). He explained that the gun was an exclusive to the tour, and no one from the public had tried it yet.
There was an analogue stick to control movement, the trigger to shoot, and another button under the glowing end for grenades. He showed me how to move the gun to change weapons, and how to collect new items etc. So the headset came on, and with a button on the back it moved the eyepiece in a comfortable position for me. Oh my fox ! It was comfortable! Even with my glasses on, I couldn’t even tell I was wearing it. It was very light weight and it didn’t move when I moved my head. He then put on the surround sound headphones on. Then the game began.
I was teleported to a desert looking world, devoid of life, but beautiful. I had to keep telling my legs not to move, as it was controlled by the analogue stick. Honestly this was a struggle. I felt I was really there, my brain kept trying to make my legs move. Then I heard the noises, the scuttling of many legs on rocks. I look around not seeing anything, then a screech sound in front of me. I gasped as I saw a huge spider and shot its face off. Foxy the spider slayer! Good job I am not scared of spiders. I carried on exploring this world, shooting more spiders. There were some annoying ones, who spat green acid from their arses. I had to shoot the balls before they hit me. Moving my head around and seeing the game, as I do the real world was an experience. The technology has come so far, since I tried it as a kid. I unlocked a shotgun, which was great fun. Heard the chap laughing at my comment about foxing kneecapping time, I must have come across as crazy. I got quite far before I was swarmed and died. The gun will become over heated and cool down, before you can use it again. I got trigger happy, my own fault. I then respawned and saw two NPC’s walking through a cave, talking about the discovery. Then the screen went to black and I walked up to a large cave opening. A HUGE spider came out, screeching its head off. At this point I must have actually stepped back, because I felt the chap’s hand on my back. That was the end of the session though, and those thirty minutes flew by. He took the headset off (my hair was a mess), and I saw that I nearly walked into the wall behind me. “Yeah you stepped back a lot there, I had to stop you.” *Insert blushing* “You did really well though, best I have seen so far.” Then I noticed the camera filming me….oh great.
At this point I was quite impressed, and couldn’t wait to try Batman. I went back to the chap at the desk and he gave me a card for Batman, and said it was only a ten minute wait. At this point it was getting really busy. I sat and watched the PS4 Pro gameplay of Horizon: Zero Dawn on a huge 4K TV, which looked very impressive. I was disappointed they didn’t have the PS4 Pro set up, so people could play on them whilst they waited for their VR turn. I feel this was a missed opportunity for Sony, personally.
Batman was called out, and off I skipped to try it out. Now I remember this chap’s name, as he was really lovely and enthusiastic. Matt explained that Batman VR was an introduction into VR itself. He was delighted by the fact that my headphones had bat ears on. (Yes, like Batman’s cowl, they had bat ears.)
He told me to look down, and handed me the move controllers (I still think they are from Ann Summers), and I was transported into the body of Bruce Wayne. Standing in front of a beautiful piano, Alfred walks up to me, tells me off for not sleeping in my bed, and hands me a key to the piano. I looked around and could see the gorgeous Wayne manor and even looked out into the gardens. Using the move controller I unlocked the piano, as though I was using a real key. Then the floor opens up and I am being lowered via lift into the bat cave. It stops and I am prompted to kit out my batsuit…
Now this feature was really impressive to me. I grabbed the cowl, and moving the move controller up to my face, slid the cowl onto my head. Then I was given a grappling hook, which I tested against a target. To unequip this I looked down at my waist, and could see the utility belt. Using the controller I slid the grappling hook into my belt. Looking down again, I could see my batarangs. Grabbing one and throwing it at the targets. I was starting to feel like Batfox! Then this is where the session ended. Unfortunately due to the high demand of the game, it was cut to fifteen minutes. It was out of the two, the most impressive one.
I would have liked to try some more games, as they were happy to let me. But alas mamma fox (who only wanted to go shopping) was getting impatient. I am convinced by VR now, and really happy I was lucky enough to experience it. Perhaps one day, when the price tag lowers I might buy one.
The last DLC for Fallout 4 I reviewed was Automatron, and I gave that a 9/10 for the over 8 hour campaign storyline it gave me. So let’s take a look at Fallout 4’s 6th and Final DLC, NukaWorld!
Construction started on Nuka-World in July 2049, and Nuka-World opened on May 1st, 2050. On opening day, over 40,000 tickets were sold, and plans were made to expand immediately, as it featured only 2 lands at the time: Nuka-Town USA and Kiddie Kingdom. Dry Rock Gulch opened in 2058, followed by Safari Adventure in 2067. The last park area, Galactic Zone, opened in 2072.
In typical Fallout 4 DLC style, the DLc opens up after level 30 with a mission to listen to a radio signal… Unlike Far Harbour though, which needed Nic Valentine and a certain point in the core storyline completed, this is more like Automatron, you can go straight there, although the devs admit at 30, you’re in for one hell of a challenge (although if you don’t all the other DLC already, you’re more than likely more than ready to get started. Especially if, like me, you’re using any mods aswell.
I will admit, I started streaming this one and I enjoyed it SO MUCH, I forgot to NOT play anymore and played stuff I SHOULD have done on stream… oops… But you can see my first NukaWorld stream below:
So, what IS Nukaworld?
As the description says, it’s Disney World, but for Nuka Cola, cos why the hell not?
The map is HUGE too, it’s made up of more than 8 zones, all run by various raider factions and depending how you play the storyline, you can end up running the raiders too. I kinda of wish I had too, as I’ve seen some amusing videos of old companions reactions on how you play it, especially Preston Garvey, who is not AT ALL happy with your choice leading to some relaly amusing videos.
The zone is nicely spaced out aswell, the theme park being in a big dust bowl type area, nice and flat, you can see to the horizon and get some beautiful vistas for screenshots from most angles.
I initially thought the park would have a few typical zones, what I was really surprised to find was there is a TON of areas around the outside fo the park aswell, including trash areas, a junkyard full of bots (which give some cool new parts for your Automatrons aswell), a Zoo full of some of teh CRAZIEST monstrosities so far in this game, inclusing the gruesome Albino Gatorclaw that tried ripping my face off a few time and the terrifying Feral Ghoul Gorillas and even, one of my fave parts of the park, a Haunted House.
The Grandchester Mystery Mansion was a special fave, I honestly spent well over an hour following the route through (stuck in a room until the voice over finishes, typical haunted house style) and working out how to survive the various traps on the way through as I go and I honestly got a fun jump scare from it near the end too, which was a great little touch.
I have so far played MORE than 8 hours in the park and I have only done, AT MOST, 2 zones so far and barely scratched the raider storyline. I have loved every minute of my exploring and just talking to all the wierd and whacky people and droids I’ve met in this DLC and it’s honestly given me a crisis of conscience on how I want to go… Do I stay quite stand up with the rail Road and Minute Men, helping rebuild the Commonwealth and society, or do I run the raiders and take over the whole place as the Overboss… decisions… decisions…
Finally Star Trek Online is coming to console! For someone who doesn’t have a gaming PC, this is great news. I have wanted to play this game for years. With how much I love Neverwinter, I am looking forward to Star Trek Online by Cryptic, due Fall of 2016.
The console version will have new features, new missions, controller support and improved graphics. Your story will begin from the faction you choose from, Federation, Romulans or Klingon. But this will include 32 species for customisation, to create your captain. The video below is the official developer walkthrough.
The console version will release with new content. As quoted by Arc’s website, there is exclusive content for console.
‘Players on the Xbox One console version of STO will receive a free Tier 1 Blockade Runner Escort Steamrunner-class Starship. On the PlayStation 4 console version, players will receive a free Tier 1 Andorian Light Escort. Note that these items will be available for free for two weeks after launch!’
This game has currently been running for six years on the PC, and I for one am looking forward to finally being able to play it, on my own or with my friends.
After the re-emergence of the world’s first mutant, world-destroyer Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.
First thought that came to my mind, watching the opening scene of this film. Is this Stargate? But that would be unfair to Stargate, as it isn’t this camp. I am very disappointed with this film, that they haven’t utilised the wonderful source material, for a cohesive story. Such a rich source material filled with a variety of universes and well written characters. Since a fox cub (see what I did there?), I have been a fan the X-Men comics. I understand that in different medians, it is difficult to stick to the source material, but with this particular series, I don’t understand why they couldn’t or wouldn’t. Days Of Future Past was a good film, but was mediocre compared to First Class. I knew then things were taking a downturn with this series. And as a quip was made by a character after coming out from seeing Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi. ‘The third is always the worst.’ That would be funny, if not for the fact, that in this film’s case, it’s just true. I would rather watch The Last Stand again. And also Captain America: Civil War (You can find my review here ~Lone), was a very good film, the best in the series and the third film. So no Jean, they aren’t always the worst. And yes of course, Wolverine makes an appearance. Yawn. I love Wolverine, especially Hugh Jackman’s version, but let’s give the other characters a chance to shine, without him please. Although, well done for getting his Weapon X costume accurate. There were some new characters introduced in this film, but sadly they just go no screen time. One of note was Jubilee. Her costume looked great, the casting was good, but she got pretty much zip all screen time. You don’t even get to see her use her powers.
The plot is a convoluted mess, and doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do. It seems very desperate to repair the damage, the series has done to itself for the time travelling. It opens with Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) going through a ritual to transfer his consciousness to another mutant’s body, so he may stay young and beautiful, and acquire a new power. The humans revolt to kill him, and whilst he is incapacitated, his horsemen die protecting him, shielding him, in some kind of telekinetic energy. He slumbers for centuries, until the mega, bright 80’s. The scenes then travel through what the mutants are doing.
Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is a mutant rescuing Samaritan. She infiltrates a mutant cage fight in East Berlin, and rescues Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Angel (Ben Hardy). Angel flees, after his wing is injured by Nightcrawler in the cage match. Mystique takes Nightcrawler to a mutant trafficker Caliban, who helps her send Nightcrawler to America.
Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is working in a production factory in Poland, with a wife and a daughter (not Scarlet Witch). Where he is trying to live amongst the humans in peace, as Xavier does. Xavier (James McAvoy) and Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) are running the school for mutants, but disguised as a school for gifted children. Alex Summers (Lucas Till) collects his brother Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan), after his powers manifest and brings him to the school, so Xavier can help him. There he meets Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), a powerful telepath and telekinetic whom the other children are afraid of, since her nightmares make the school shake. They develop an attraction immediately. Storm (Alexandra Shipp) looks good, sporting a Mohawk, busy thieving on the streets of Cairo to support her and other street urchins, before she becomes Apocalypse’s new horseman, followed by Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Angel and Magneto. Apocalypse enhances each of their powers. But only Angel and Psylocke were Horsemen for Apocalypse, and they didn’t need their powers enhancing. Angel did have his wings transformed into metal, with technology. Storm has a poster of Mystique and longs to be just like her. As she was recorded saving the President Of The United States in Days Of Future Past. So she is some sort of ‘saviour’ for mutants.
Apocalypse is the first mutant and therefore loves his brothers and sisters. But then wants to destroy the world they live in, as the weaker species (humans) have taken over. I feel these motives are purely ridiculous, especially when taking into context, that if the world is destroyed, then how can they have a world for the mutants? He states he wants to rebuild it, but still he would need people to be alive, to help and rebuild it. Who wants to clean up that mess?
I don’t want to go into too many spoilers, so I will miss some of the plot points out. Xavier wants to find Magneto, and when he does, he learns he is with Apocalypse and then he discovers Xavier. Sensing a powerful telepath who can manipulate people, he decides Xavier is his next vessel. Xavier is kidnapped by Apocalypse and crew, leaving Mystique and the kids to rescue him. Before they can, Mystique and the left over grown ups are kidnapped by William Stryker. Nightcrawler uses his teleportation to get himself, Jean and Scott onto the helicopter, which is headed for a secret facility. As they are rescuing Mystique and crew, they meet Weapon X (Wolverine). Jean uses her telepathy to free him from the mind control and he runs off into the woods. Once they are all free, they then take on Apocalypse and crew.
Now for the cast. I really am not a fan of Sophie Turner. I didn’t like her performance in Game Of Thrones, and I just didn’t feel she was a very good Jean Grey. She just seemed devoid of emotions. Michael Fassbender was on top form as Magneto again, emulating his tortured soul. James McAvoy brings his comedic charm to the role of Xavier again. Jennifer Lawrence shines as Mystique. Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse was a nice surprise, but even he couldn’t save those terrible lines of dialogue. Evan Peters makes a return as Quicksilver, and my favourite version of him. His sarcastic quips are spot on for the character. Olivia Munn looked very much like Psylocke, but she didn’t get enough screen time, I felt. I am hoping they bring her back in the next film, and give her chance. Psylocke is one of my favourite characters. Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, well just another generic teenager. Alexandra Shipp as Storm, is also another one that didn’t get that screen time she needed. I thought she was a very good Storm. Ben Hardy as Angel, well he didn’t make much of an impact. Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler was fantastic. Not only did he look like Kurt Wagner, but also embodied him, with the nervous, but strong hero. Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert again, and I still don’t like Moira as a CIA agent.
As a fan of the comics, I really didn’t enjoy this film. It wasn’t a good superhero film, or a good action film. With Singer at the helm once more, I was expecting more. Sadly I was disappointed.
Seasons After Fall is a 2D puzzle-adventure game that will let you dive into a captivating universe and explore a land governed by magic and nature.
We’ve had a lot of beautiful looking games over the last few years, one of which, Ori and the Blind Forest, was a favourite here at teh station. Seasons After Fall looks like it will be slotting itself nicely into that group in September when it releases on STEAM and later on consoles.
The game is beautifully hand drawn and has lots of puzzles and effects like changing the seasons in teh game to make the terrain change and thats how puzzles work.
It’s going to be fun to watch on stream for sure and we’re all looking forward to trying this one!
Seasons After Fall is out on 2nd September on STEAM and consoles later on.
Check out the trailer and tell us what you think in the comments below…
