Delve into the Metro

Unfortunately not many people that I know have played the Metro games, or even heard of them which is a huge shame as Metro 2033 and its recent sequel Metro: Last Light are two of the better games available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  Based o the novels written by Dimitry Glukhovsky Metro offers a great mixture of first person shooting, stealth, story and supernatural intrigue.

Metro 2033

 

Metro 2033 follows the story of the young Metro dweller Artyom as he is drawn into a battle to protect his home station, and by further extent the whole of the Metro, from the sinister forces of the Dark Ones.  Forced to travel through the Metro on a mission to save the last of humanity we see Artyom grow from an inexperienced young man into a hardened warrior.

The game is going to have a number of people complaining about it, and to be fair straight from the start the shooting element in the game isn’t really that great.  The weapons can sometimes feel underpowered and enemies can soak up round after round without reacting, but the game isn’t designed to be a hardcore shooter.

Metro isn’t supposed to be played as a running and gunning type of game.  You need to take your time and being stealthy, watching your enemies movements and planning your assault appropriately.  When played this way Metro changes from a mediocre shooter into a well crafted adventure.

Fight for survival against hideous mutants and monsters.

Add to this great stealth and action element monsters and the supernatural the game really stands out from the rest of the crowd.  With sections of the game dedicated to traversing the wasteland on the surface, avoiding traps and mutated nasties and Metro tunnels filled with the tormented spirits of those that have died there. 

In addition to the unique type of game play and story are some really very beautiful visuals and excellent level designs that create a truly unique atmosphere and location.  There are a lot of other games set in a post nuclear apocalypse or in abandoned locations, such as Bioshock and Fallout, but Metro stands above these as a truly believable location.  A lot of this comes from the Metro inhabitants, who go about their day and have their own conversations that you can listen in on that goes a long way to going towards making a believable world.

The Metro becomes a very real place.

Metro 2033 crafts its story amazingly well, letting the events unfold slowly over the course of the game, leading you in a certain direction but all the while giving you just enough intrigue to question the actions of Artyom and his companions.  Following these clues and performing certain specific actions can reveal a hidden second ending referred to as the ‘good ending’.  It takes a lot of time and effort to uncover this ending but is worth the effort as it reveals some unique plot points that gives hints to the direction that the sequel, Metro Last Light, will explore. 

A great game that plays wonderfully well despite its faults and dares to try and give us something other than a generic first person shooter.  8/10

 

Metro Last Light

Set almost a year after the events of 2033, Last Light sees the return of series hero Artyom who is now a Ranger of the Metro.  The game follows Artyom as he attempts to find the last surviving Dark One and repair the damage that he wrought at the end of 2033, whilst also exploring the results of the discovery of the military outpost D6, found in the latter parts of 2033.

A fully self contained military bunker filled with supplies and weapons D6 has become the home of the Metro Rangers, it's become the Metro system's most coveted station city.  This forces Artyom into direct conflict with several human factions within the Metro as each tries to find and conquer the fabled D6.

This allows Last Light to build upon the world established in 2033 and explore how the humans that have survived the nuclear apocalypse govern themselves and interact with each other.  It sheds light on some of the worst parts of human nature and our love of warfare and self destruction, yet doesn’t get preachy or overly melancholy when doing so.

The Metro is home to many monsters, some human.

Last Light manages to continue on the story of 2033 and improve upon the previous game in every way.  We are treated to completely new environments, with the only repeat visit to a past location being the D6 station, and each new place both above and bellow ground is given a unique look and feel.  For a game set within an underground rail system the game designers are able to offer us a vast wealth of spectacle and wonder to explore.

New and interesting enemies prowl these strange new surroundings, as well as classic monsters making a return, and with the savage winter above ground making way to spring the surface world has been transformed from rocks and ice to watery marshlands.

The game also introduces lots of little game play changes that go a long way to making for a much more enjoyable and immersive experience, from customisable weaponry to having to clean your gas mask visor when dirty.  Last Light feels like a completely fresh experience rather than a quick and easy sequel where the developers really have put in a lot of work and effort to make the best experience they could.

The surface takes on a strange beauty as winter passes.

One of the biggest improvements made over the original is the gunplay element.  In the first game entering into a gunfight could very quickly lead to Artyom becoming overwhelmed by the enemy followed by a nasty death. 

This time round the combat is one of the more enjoyable elements of the game, making stealthing an optional way of playing the game rather than a necessity.  The stealth element has also improved greatly, with neat little additions such as being able to unscrew light bulbs and cut power in areas to assist you move unnoticed. 

Explore a unique and engaging story.

Last Light has improved upon everything 2033 did wrong and everything it did right to create one of the best action adventure games around.  Though it could be played on its own and still enjoyed for the great game it is it’s definitely worth playing together with 2033 to give the gamer a fantastic experience.  9/10

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'The Name of the Doctor' Review

So far series seven of Doctor Who has been a series of ups and downs, with some of the shakiest episodes since the show returned.  However, the final episode ‘The Name of the Doctor’ comes along and delivers what was one of the most amazing episodes to watch in a very, very long time.  An episode that makes it feel like a celebration of the 50^th Anniversary already and stunningly sets the stage for the 50^th Anniversary Special in November.

‘The Name of the Doctor’, whilst an amazing episode in its own right, is nothing more than set up for the special, but when the quality was that good who cares?  So full of nostalgic look backs on the history of the show giving us clips and sound bites of previous Doctors and references galore it services long term fans in such without alienating the new.

Right back to the beginning.

Okay, the episode wasn’t perfect, their were things that didn’t quite make sense and a couple of Strax lines that ended up feeling forced and detrimental to what was happening but these faults couldn’t take away from those other moments that made this the best episode since the show returned with Christopher Eccleston way back in 2005.

The episode begins with an amazing pre-credits scene that goes a little towards explaining who and what Clara is without revealing all too early and is sure to make the hairs on the back of the neck stand on end.  After that it takes us a while before we see the Doctor, but the slow build to his arrival, the set up of the central mystery and threat and ramping of tension makes this first section jump out of the screen with energy.  It also provides us with what is only the first of many moments of heartbreak as poor Jenny Flint comes to the realisation that she’s been killed during the groups ‘psychic call’.

The Great Intelligence and the creepy Whispermen.

From here on out the heartache doesn’t stop and we get to see some of the absolute best acting that Matt Smith has ever been given during his tenure on the show.  The moment he realises what Trenzalore is and that he has to go there is one of the most frightening, not because of any kind of monster or threat but because we see the Doctor afraid, truly terrified to the point of tears.

River Song is also used wonderfully well throughout the episode, unable to interact with anyone but Clara she’s reduced to a ghost, which is appropriate as this is the River from after her death in ‘Silence in the Library’.  The moment when the Doctor and her say goodbye is so tender and so sad that it will guarantee to make even the hardest of fans cry.  We get to see that despite their strange start the Doctor and River really do love each other, and that her loss has deeply affected the Doctor.  With her final line in the episode ‘Goodbye sweetie’ and this being the latest version of River leads me to think that this is probably the last time that we will be seeing her.  It is a shame if that is true as I love her character, but this feels like the perfect ending to her and the Doctors story.

A goodbye to River?

After all of the spectacle and wonder of the rest of the episode Moffat had a hell of a task giving us the spectacular ending he promised, boy did he deliver.  The slow reveal of Doctor we had not yet seen, the man whose actions mean he does not deserve to use the name Doctor was so stunning and sets up so perfectly for the upcoming special.  

Roll on November!

Despite not revealing the Doctors name (something which I am grateful for) Moffat has set up such an intriguing mystery that the wait to November is going to be one of the toughest six months.  An amazing episode that made up for the fairly lack lustre series so far and left me shocked, stunned and in tears.  10/10.

Amy.

xx

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Iron Man 3 Review

WARNING - This review will contain spoilers - WARNING

Iron Man 3 is the first film in Marvel Studios ‘Phase Two’ following hot on the heels of last years massive hit Avengers.  Unfortunately Iron Man 3 feels like a misstep rather than the run away hit they needed at this stage.  The first film of ‘Phase Two’ will go a long way to shape the style of this second batch of movies, and unfortunately it feels like Thor 2 is going to have to pick up the pieces that Iron Man 3 let slip through its fingers.

The plot focuses on Tony Stark as he deals with the aftermath of the alien invasion in New York whilst combating the threat posed by the international terrorist known as The Mandarin.

Tony is initially on the periphery of the Mandarin and his campaign of terror, but when his friend Happy Hogan is injured in one of the terrorist attacks Tony issues a challenge to the Mandarin, one that is very quickly accepted with dire consequences.

On the run, with failing equipment and a shattered psyche Tony is forced to confront The Mandarin head on, and instead finds a much deeper web of intrigue.

 

Iron Man faces the Extremis enhances soldiers.

Iron Man 3 takes a lot of inspiration from the comic book story line Extremis and takes the ideas from the book in their own direction, pushing the character of Aldrich Killian to the fore as the films main antagonist. 

Taking a page from other Marvel stories the team behind Iron Man 3 also give don Cheadle’s Rhodey a make over, upgrading his armour from the classic War Machine to the much more colourful Iron Patriot.  Despite being a whole other character completely Rhodey’s transformation makes complete sense within the film and gives him a stunning look.

Despite the film feeling like something of a missed opportunity the change of directors from Jon Favreau to Shane Black gives the film a completely new feel and prevents the franchise from becoming stale, especially when Black is able to work some of his Lethal Weapon style magic by having Tony and Rhodey taking on the bad guys out of their armour.

 

War Machine upgrades to the Iron Patroit.

The main fault with the film, however, has to be the portrayal of The Mandarin.  Iron Mans most iconic villain, bringing him to life on screen was bound to be something of a challenge.  Instead of stepping up to the challenge the team behind the film don’t actually deliver The Mandarin, but instead give us a ‘fake’ villain who is simply a front man for the films real puppet master.  For the casual viewers this probably won’t be a problem, but for comic book fans it feels like we were promised one thing and given another.  No matter how good the rest of the film might be having spent several months waiting to see The Mandarin and being given nothing is a major, major let down and has me doubting the future Marvel movies.

An entertaining film with some great action sequences and character moments that the casual viewer will enjoy but the hardcore comic fans will be disappointed with.  6/10.

Amy.

xx

  
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The Daily Mail Does it Again

It completely astounds me that the Daily Mail have once again produced an article that targets transgender people.  With their previous articles receiving many negative responses, and having led to the death of one of the people they wrote about, you’d think that perhaps they would shy away from doing it once again.  Yet here we are, reading yet another article where it appears they have learnt nothing.

Writing about a young trans girl in America whom is undergoing hormone blocking treatment the article is filled with misgendering and sensationalism.  Personally I don’t see where the story is in this article, yes there is a trans girl who’s going through this situation but that’s not very different from hundreds, if not thousands, of trans girls across the planet. 

However, the ‘hook’ that the Daily Mail seems to have latched onto is the fact that Tammy has two mothers.  The article seems to view this not as a loving family, but as two women who are forcing their son to become a girl.  They even mention the fact that her parents are lesbians in the title, for no other apparent reason than pure sensationalism. 

Worse still is the fact that each and every time they talk about Tammy they refer to her as him.  They seem to refuse to acknowledge the fact that she is a girl and that she should be referred to with female pronouns. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043345/The-California-boy-11-undergoing-hormone-blocking-treatment.html 

I’m simply astonished that the Daily Mail has produced another article like this.  It just makes me believe that they have some kind of mission against transgender people, that despite whatever criticism they receive they will continue to write these kinds of negative articles. 

Something worth noting about the article is that the comments section has been disabled, most probably in order to ensure that they do not start another incident like the Burchill article at the Observer.  They know that they are playing with fire here, but rather than stand up and take criticism they simply shut down their comment section, refusing to face up to the fall out of what they have written.

I simply cannot understand the logic behind articles such as this and question exactly what their aims are.  I know that there is not much that can be done about articles such as this, we can complain and protest but the simple fact is that they will keep on writing such tripe.  The best thing we can do is to continue to make others aware of what they are doing and make sure that people know that they are targeting groups in negative ways simply to sell papers.

Amy.

xx

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Doctor Who 'The Rings of Akhaten' Review

On their first proper trip together in the Tardis the Doctor takes Clara to see the Rings of Akhaten, where several planetoids circle an asteroid with a great golden pyramid and a giant star.  The duo visit a large alien market on the planet closest to the pyramid where dozens of species have gathered for a ceremony that only occurs once every thousand years.

Whilst exploring Clara meets a young girl named Merry Gejelh, the Queen of Years who has an important part to play in the ceremony.  Initially afraid of taking part because she might go wrong Clara convinces her to go ahead.

The Doctor and Clara attend the ceremony, where The Doctor explains that since the Rings were settled there has been a constant song sung to keep an angry god asleep. The people fear that the god, which they call Grandfather, will awaken and consume the entire universe if the song is ever interrupted.  Merry begins her song, but during the ceremony the mummy within the pyramid awakens and Merry is pulled into it.

The Doctor and Clara race after her to save her from the mummy and prevent the angry god from awakening. 

The Doctor and Clara see Akhaten for the first time.

‘The Rings of Akhaten’ is an interesting episode filled with marvels and massive scope, unfortunately it suffers from the modern series format.  Crammed into a scant 45 minutes the episode feels incredibly rushed and half told.  The plot would have felt more at home as a classic series serial, with several episodes in which to fully explore the plot and characters. 

As it is the Vigil and the Mummy appear briefly and play very little actual threat and the resolution comes so soon that it feels almost easy.  Yes, there are some great character moments and the episode is filled with visual spectacle but these cannot help to save the episode from its glaring faults. 

The Doctor confronts the 'Angry God'.

A very rushed episode that doesn’t have enough time to fully explore the story or characters.  Could very well have been a great episode, but as it is may be remembered as something of a misstep.  4/10.

Amy.

xx

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