In an ”unexpected” twist of events, George R.R. Martin, the mastermind behind A Song of Ice and Fire – the book series that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones – has failed to meet the deadline for presenting the manuscript for the last book in the series to his publishers. For those not knowing, the date had been set for the 31st of December of 2015, but it has come and passed with nothing to show for from the author. So for now, The Winds of Winter is in the air, given that according to the writer there are hundreds of pages written, but there are still hundreds to go.
George R.R. Martin posted the news on his blog NOT A BLOG. Stating amongst other things…
…Here it is, the first of January. The book is not done, not delivered. No words can change that. I tried, I promise you. I failed. I blew the Halloween deadline, and I’ve now blown the end of the year deadline. And that almost certainly means that no, THE WINDS OF WINTER will not be published before the sixth season of GAME OF THRONES premieres in April (mid April, we are now told, not early April, but those two weeks will not save me). Even as late as my birthday and our big Emmy win, I still thought I could do it… but the days and weeks flew by faster than the pile of pages grew, and (as I often do) I grew unhappy with some of the choices I’d made and began to revise… and suddenly it was October, and then November… and as the suspicion grew that I would not make it after all, a gloom set in, and I found myself struggling even more. The fewer the days, the greater the stress, and the slower the pace of my writing became…
…But I won’t make excuses. There are no excuses. No one else is to blame. Not my editors and publishers, not HBO, not David & Dan. It’s on me. I tried, and I am still trying. I worked on the book a couple of days ago, revising a Theon chapter and adding some new material, and I will writing on it again tomorrow. But no, I can’t tell you when it will be done, or when it will be published. Best guess, based on our previous conversations, is that Bantam (and presumably my British publisher as well) can have the hardcover out within three months of delivery, if their schedules permit. But when delivery will be, I can’t say. I am not going to set another deadline for myself to trip over. The deadlines just stress me out…
Check out in website for the full statement. NOT A BLOG
Greatness takes time, of course, and it also requires a lot more than simply tying up loose ends – and boy are there a lot of those! – but for the fans the news comes as a big disappointment. I am sure in no small amount because now they can’t go to those that solely watch the TV show and boast their superior knowledge. On a more serious note, the disappointment might stem from the fact that these are people that have waited for decades for a resolution to the gargantuan work of R.R. Martin, only to be told it won’t happen yet. Judging by the support George R.R. Martin has received on twitter and livejournal, he might have yet to be met with pitchforks and torches on his front lawn.
The bright side? When it comes out, after the promised re-writes meant to make it better, it might be mind blowing. The down side? It might not. I guess time will tell. I doubt interest in the book will diminish if fans have access to the TV show first, given how the HBO team did stray quite a bit from the books and people tend to hold their loyalties to one or the other, regardless of the existence of another medium for the same story.
Finger crossed for the next deadline to be met and for the book to come out before the end of 2016. If not, I am sure HBO will make sure we get our fix of the characters we’ve come to love and hate.
Fantasy Flight Games brings you the A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Second Edition. Set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire it’s time to battle you opponents by taking command of the well known factions to lay claim to the Iron Throne. Though the first edition of the game gained popularity quickly and spawned many expansions, Fantasy Flights have gone back to the drawing for this 2nd edition, streamlining the play and updating the artwork.
A Game of Thrones: A Card Game is what Fantasy Flight refer to as a Living Card Game which basically means it’s a deck building game, supplemented by chapter packs that allow you to customise your decks. However, the base game has enough cards to allow for a 2-4 player game. After one game we had barely burnt through our 45 card decks meaning a good amount of playability from just the starter pack.
The game includes 8 faction cards featuring the Starks, Lannisters, Baratheon, Greyjoy, Tyrell, Martell, Targaryen and The Night’s Watch, 192 player cards, 28 plot cards, 6 title cards and tokens including gold, those all important power counters, double sided influence tokens and the first player counter. The set has with it two books the Learn to Play book and the very handy index included Rules Reference book. The artwork on the cards is outstanding and interesting, you’ll want to take a minute to explore how the iconic characters and well known locations have been re-imagined for this game.
The set-up for your first two player game (referred to as a Joust) is described in step by step instructions, detailing the cards required to set-up House Stark and House Lannister, however as we had three players, a melee game, we used the ‘out-of-the-box’ decks described under Deck Building, this combines two factions to create the decks ignoring the ‘loyalty rules’ in place for custom built decks.
During our game we played as faction The Old Ways, (Stark/Greyjoy), At the Wall (Night’s Watch/Baratheon) and From East to West (Targaryen/Martell). Each deck has 7 particular Plot Devices assigned, these cards are your strategy, each round you look through and choose the card that decides your plans for the next round. The plot cards also influence initiative, the gold you get to spend and the claim, for that round. Some also have very handy abilities for instance reducing the cost of playing cards, because gold is precious and you generally don’t have that much to spend.
This game does require preparation and a good understanding of the rules before you get started, with seven phases to get your head around, three types of challenges you can make each round and a host of attributes that convey specific rules – the Learn to Play book got a little wordy, it is not a pull out the box and play straight away sort of game. I’ll be honest, I found the rules a little complicated at first so turned to this very handy tutorial video produced by Fantasy Flights. It is 17 minutes long, but if you are a visually learner like myself it will definitely give you a better understanding of the phases of play.
Let’s focus on whether it is a good game. We played with the core set and added the Taking the Black chapter pack which introduces new characters, events, attachments and plot cards. With my From East to West deck I made some very poor spending decisions in the first couple of rounds, I had a rubbish hand to choose from and a need to buy big from the word go. Those were my foolish mistakes. About three rounds in and I still only had one character card in play.
My opponents however did much better and were soon enveloped in the secrecy, tricks, plot. It was intriguing to watch them battle each other for power and take full advantage of variety of abilities the cards offer. As it was the first time we had played there was frequent referral to the Rules Reference for clarification, particulary when you have two very competitive people playing.
2 Player Joust rules set-up
Within a few rounds the game play began to flow well through the phases. As a player I wish had spent a little more time becoming familiar with my deck and exploring the relationships between the cards before we started, it will make for a more strategic approach on my part. As we came close to ending the game (first to 15 power tokens) I found I had gained 9 power, not bad considering how I started out. It was a good way of highlighting how quickly this game can change with the right cards and a little more understanding of how it works. I have not doubt I will do much better in the future.
Conclusion
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game 2nd Edition is definitely a game recommended for competitive deck building fans who thrive on strategy and cunning. The future release of more Chapter Packs means big potential for those who enjoy customising their own decks. However, those with an interest in getting started in a Living Card Game can’t go wrong with this core set. It has massive replay value without you wanting to add new chapters straight away. Game play takes a bout 1-2 hours and once you’ve got the hang of it the game moves smoothly through the phases. For players new to the Living Card Game the learning curve is a little steep but as you get everything you need in the starter box well worth the effort for the fun. Game of Thrones fans who enjoy Magic The Gathering need to play this game.
A Game of Thrones: The Card Game 2nd Ed. LCG can be purchased for the RRP of £29.99 and Taking the Black Chapter Pack RRP£11.99.
Hello all you fellow Tabletop gamers out there! Geek Pride has had a cracking year of finding new board games, card games and paper RPGs to keep us playing well into the wee hours. But which games have stood out for us in 2015? Well how about I invite the guys over to talk you through their choices for this awesome year and give you the run down of Geek Pride’s Tabletop games of 2015!
For all of you who are familiar with Fantasy Flight’s dungeon crawler Descent, it’s pretty much that but a Star Wars version and its freaking mint.
I love Descent but being a huge Star Wars fan, having a dungeon crawler that is… well Star Wars was like Fantasy Flight reached into my mind and vigorously probed me for my every gaming desire; what’s that Matt, you like miniature skirmish games as well, isn’t that lucky, you can use, annnnd collect (yeah baby you like that don’t you) the miniatures in the game and have them as a skirmish game too….. TAKE MY MONEY ONCE AGAIN FANTASY FLIGHT… Take my money!
Well, when asked what my top game of 2015 has been, immediately I jumped to Betrayal at House on the Hill by Avalon Hill Games, for 3-6 players.
Betrayal puts the players in a cooperative scenario until there have been enough “Omens” to trigger the “Haunt”. Each Haunt is randomly generated and puts one of the players in the role of the Betrayer and I have never played the same Haunt twice as yet. Needless to say, the Betrayer then has to kill the other players in their randomly generated mansion of tiles.
Overall, this game is incredible and really creates a sense of teamwork, both before and after the Betrayer is decided. If you haven’t played it yet, I highly recommend you find a copy and some people to give this great game a try.
With its 5th Edition, Dungeons & Dragons is back in a big way. Without going into “Edition Wars”, it’s exactly what D&D is supposed to be (at least for me) – a flexible system wherein you can create any character, and roleplay that character exactly how you want; all without contending with either overcomplicated rules-bloat, or bearing with stripped down boardgame-like mechanics. In previous editions, a certain amount of min-maxing was essential for a strong build, but 5E rewards roleplaying as much as hitting hard – the inspiration system, while nothing new, is a stroke of genius.
In short; it’s easy to pick up, but deep enough to keep you hooked. It will never leave my gaming table!
This was a really tricky call for me. I’ve managed to get so many good games to the table this year: Hyperborea, Five Tribes, Codenames. But the one game that consistently hits the table and gets a giggle from everyone is Rhino Hero. With it’s super simple ruleset (effectively Jenga with special cards) I’ve introduced RH to family and ‘non-gamers’ and as a warm-up to start more serious evenings of gaming. It’s also playable at all ages and cheap to buy, meaning you won’t worry about the kids wrecking your copy (well, not too much…).
It’s bright, colourful, engaging and plays in 5 minutes. What more do you want from a filler game for literally everyone!
I was asked to pick my game of 2015 and without surprise it had to be a Fantasy Flight called Netrunner, a collectable card game for 2 players released several years ago but only came onto my radar a few months ago.
Netrunner pitches two players against each other in a cyberpunk future, a Runner attempting to hack into Corporation servers to steal information. They must break through ICE placed in their way using programs and equipment. It’s such a simple game, but one that perfectly puts me in that cyberpunk future. It combines Hackers with Shadowrun, and you can play it straight out of the box. I love playing this game, it never gets boring and never gets old. I just give Fantasy Flight games part of my monthly wage, as the majority of games they produce are dynamite. If you want to be a super-fly hacker, or a stuck up Corp exec, go play this game.
All images contained in this article link to the owning company.
Anyone familiar with Games Workshop’s back catalogue will know that it houses a fair few long-forgotten gaming gems. Titles like Necromunda, Blood Bowl, and Gorkamorka still hold a cherished place in many an aging tabletop enthusiast’s heart but, for me, none hold as dear a place as Warhammer Quest. Released back in 1995, the original miniatures game was a lite version of the company’s successful Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay series, but with a more streamlined system that forewent the need for a Dungeon Master, replacing him or her with randomly generated adventures. Focused on amassing as large a pile of treasure as possible while destroying entire subterranean ecosystems, Warhammer Quest was a huge amount of fun and a great introduction to a fantastic hobby.
At first glance, Warhammer Quest: The Card Game appears to continue the title’s ethos of providing a lighter version of a more complex product, this time the behemoth that is Fantasy Flight Games‘ modern take on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, with which it shares some system elements and the Grimdark™ art style adopted by the current Warhammer games.
WQ: TCG is a cooperative adventure card game for 1 to 4 players in which you progress as one of four characters, performing actions and working together as a group of adventurers to obtain loot, kill nasties and, eventually, defeat the big bad Nemesis. Maybe. If it’s anywhere near as tough as the original you’ll more likely be Skaven food long before that…
WHAT’S INSIDE?
The box comes with everything you need to play, including some nice slim rule books, four character card sets, quest sheets,all the tokens you can eat, some nice custom dice, and more cards for enemies, locations, gear, all the nuts and bolts of your standard dungeon delve. The rules are very clearly presented and refreshingly comprehensive for an FFG game, with a tutorial game thrown in to get you going faster. The artwork is amazing, something that won’t come as a shock to any aficionados of Fantasy Flight’s other card games, and the all the bits and bobs do a great job of establishing the atmosphere of grim fantasy familiar to any Warhammer fans.
The Characters come in Ironbreaker, Waywatcher, Warrior Priest, and Bright Wizard flavours (or warrior, elf, cleric, and mage if you’re nasty) and each has a different play style which will need to be mastered and synergised with the other players if you are to snatch victory from the slobbering jaws of defeat. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll be dealing with:The Ironbreaker is the tank of the team, taking on multiple enemies and able to soak up more damage than his compatriots, Not so great on support and will eventually run out of steam without a healer backing him up.
Handy with a bow, the Waywatcher is the team’s ranged expert and specialises in taking out enemies with less risk to your flimsy elven body. A support character, the elf can’t take much in the way of damage but is great at easing the pressure off the team’s front line.
Ostensibly the healer of the party, the Warrior Priest also makes for a fairly heavy-hitter when it comes to…er…hitting, complementing the Ironbreaker’s ‘come one, come all’ attitude with the ability to do extra damage by calling upon his faith in Sigmar. Tough and healey, the Priest makes for a good all-rounder.
The Bright Wizard is the wild card of the game, a masochistic powder-keg whose jam is taking wounds to beef up her dice rolls, effectively burning herself out to further the mission. This is, of course, in the fine tradition of all the Warhammer world’s magic users, attempting to bend the volatile Winds of Magic to their whim and obtaining great power at a high cost. Fun and unpredictable, the Wizard is the most vulnerable and therefore dependent on her fellows to keep the giant wolves from the door.
GAMEPLAY
The card game uses an activate/exhaust system in which players resolve actions and encounter enemies throughout a series of fast-paced phases as they explore a dungeon and accumulate stuff. The phases are broken down thusly:
In the Hero Phase players activate a card from their play area to either Explore, Attack, Rest or Aid. The number of actions a player can take in a round can vary so it pays to consult your team about who is going to do what. Most of the options are fairly self-explanatory, but the Explore action is the meat of the game, revealing new parts of the dungeon and generating new beasties for the adventurers to face.
The Enemy Phase is where any monsters still breathing get to avenge their fallen comrades or sneak off back into the shadows to strike later. The game comes with a plethora of greenskins and the rat-like Skaven, each with different abilities and levels of challenge which the players will fight using a very straightforward combat system, keeping the action moving at a fair pace.
The part of the dungeon the players are currently in is determined by the Location card, drawn at the beginning of the game. These, as well as providing some atmospheric fluff, tell the players how many enemies they are fighting, how many are skulking in the shadows, and how many turns it will take to explore their surroundings. In Location Phase the players read the card’s special text and resolve its effect which can range from exhausting some of the party’s actions in the Desecrated Shrine to healing enemies in the Villainous Sanctum.
As the adventurers explore the location, they get closer to facing the great evil that lurks within, something that is recorded in the Peril Phase by the Peril Track. As the Peril Token moves further along the track, the quest provides more and greater threats as the adventurers get closer to their goal.
The game comes with six double-sided Quest Sheets which include the five-part campaign “An Uneasy Alliance” and a one-off “Lost in the Dark” delve quest which provides players with a shorter version of the main quest. All the quests come with full details for setup, rewards and penalties depending on whether the group won or lost the quest, and a gripping background story that connects them together across the campaign.
THE VERDICT
While systemically a quite different beast to its progenitor, I really enjoyed Warhammer Quest: The Card Game. Reminiscent of other coop dungeon crawls like the Descent series (in fact one of the creators, Adam Sadler was lead designer on the vaunted Second Edition as well as many of the expansions), WH:TCG provides a fun and enjoyably intense evening of short inter-linked quests that can be played alone or as part of a larger campaign over which players can progress their characters before taking on greater threats. The system is slickly designed for ease of play and the tutorial provides a convenient entry-point for new players while the campaign and advanced rules will challenge even the most experienced adventurer.
Foregoing the models and scenery of its stablemates, WQ:TCG manages to provide a comparable experience at a fraction of the cost, saving both money and shelf space. A must-buy if Santa left you some spending money or if you’re looking for a dungeon diver that wont take over your entire spare room, Warhammer Quest: The Card Game is a fine addition to anyone’s game collection.
It would make the old man proud.
Pick it up for an RRP of £29.99 use our store locator to find somewhere local.
We are still in the midst of Star Wars fever and the wonderful people over at Bad Lip Reading took full advantage by releasing three hilarious videos offering a chuckle worthy new spin on the original trilogy. As fans of Bad Lip Reading will know, you can expect some groovy tunes, a whole new take on our favourite characters including Vader sexting Leia, R2D2’s stranger danger and Luke criticising Yoda’s singing being just a few highlights. Including the celebrity voices of Jack Black, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph, it’s time to sit back and have a laugh.
I frequently get frustrated with ink cartridges they are ridiculously expensive and generally it’s cheaper just to buy a brand new printer than fork out for the cartridges you need. Alas, this is not environmentally friendly or particularly economical. The Epson EcoTank ET-14000 is something a little different. They have dropped the ink cartridges and now boast a “newly designed integrated ultra-high-capacity ink tank system, which completely does away with the need for ink cartridges” Which sounds over complicated but means instead of buying replacement cartridges you buy bottles of ink and fill up the little ink tanks on the side, a 70ml replacement being a very reasonable £7.99. You have your cyan, magento and yellow but also 2 black ink tanks, all included in purchase price. According to Epson, the ink bottles included are capable of printing up to 7100 pages in black and 5100 pages in colour at A3+ size making it lowest A3 cost per page on the market. But since I can’t spend my time printing that many pages just to see if the claims are true, let’s focus on the other areas.
This is a beast of a printer, at 70.5 cm long it needs a home large enough to fit it. This is not a printer for a uni student in a small bedsit. This is a printer that would cope with the demands of a family as equally as it would the demands of a small business. You need space and an USB A to B cable which is not provided but only cost a couple of pounds off the internet.
Relatively simple to set-up, after you have removed all the protective materials and sticky tape the next job is filling the ink tanks. Though an easy task it did get a little messy. The ink stains and take quite a number of washes to get off the skin and I assume it wouldn’t wash out of clothing, so I recommend doing this bit on newspaper and preferably with latex gloves.
Once this is done it was a simple process of plugging it in and setting the ink pump off, the manual suggests this takes about 22 minutes which is about right. Worth remembering this isn’t a simple plug in and print, there is prep time to be taken into account. After installing the drivers I was ready to go in about about 30 minutes.
In order to get a good overview I selected several images to print and dug out some average printer paper and photo glossy paper. Let’s start with documents. An A4 page of text took mere seconds, wasn’t even worth starting a stop watch. By the time I pressed print and turned around it was done. Excellent, because there is nothing worse when you need to urgently print something, having to wait for the printer to sort itself out. If you have kids, who, like mine, frequently forget to actually print their homework until moments before everyone needs to leave the house, do not panic, this printer has you covered.
Time to test quality. I picked a Adam Hughes Wonder Woman image to start with. It was a colour heavy with a white/black contrast challenge. Here are the side by side results printed on both glossy photo paper and standard printer paper.
As expected the standard paper was quite wet and the colours are faded when compared, but there didn’t appear to be any errors in the print and the image was still clear and certainly good enough for everyday requirement. I’m not sure my photography skills do the glossy print justice, but take my word for it, this a bold professional quality print with no bleeding, the edges between contrasting colours are sharp. You can see the hint of a lines on heavy blocks of colours but only when looked at very closely under a bright light. I have ordered printed photos from ‘professional’ companies and they haven’t come out this impressive, this is going in a frame. Next it was time for a photograph of my son in greyscale, again excellent quality at the A4 size I tried it. I scanned it for a while looking for faults and couldn’t see anything. With a printing resolution of 5,760 x 1,440 DPI, I’m so impressed with the quality that I would recommend this printer to artists looking to print their own work for sale.
Conclusion
The set-up takes a little time and can get messy but it wasn’t arduous or complicated. I was able to share the printer on our home network but wi-fi connectivity would have made this a lot easier, unfortunately this isn’t included. The size of the printer did mean we had to rearrange a little furniture to free a table so it’s better suited for a home or small business office. With bold colours and capability of printing 5,760 x 1,440 DPI artists looking to sell prints would particularly benefit from the high quality image this printer produces. It’s certainly speedy enough for the demands of an office – a 15 page document in about 30 seconds. The Epson EcoTank ET-14000 doesn’t have fancy features like a photocopier or scanner, this machine is built to print, and it does a very good job of it. The purchase price of £499.99 means this is an investment, it’s ideally suited to those with frequent printing requirements.
In a world of prequels/sequels and generally unoriginal and unpromising plots, Independence Day: Resurgence threw its hat into the ring, hoping to deliver what so many before it failed to do: excitement, adventure and…a movie that won’t be blamed for nipping several careers in the bud. At least unlike some sequels, this one is actually warranted.
That aside, I have to admit the trailer does look good, it’s dark, gritty and still manages to convey the idea that humanity will thrive both out of sheer stubbornness and due to its uncanny ability to band together in times of need.
The story is simple, the aliens that had once attacked Earth and were sent packing in the original are returning, except this time humanity (thinks) it’s ready. But if that were the case, we would have no story, so I expect a few twists and turns to keep our blood pumping for around 120 minutes.
Will Smith is not in the sequel that takes place some 20 years after the events of the original movie, but the writers and the director, Roland Emmerich promised this will only make sure the focus of the story is equally divided between the members of the cast, which includes: Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Jeff Goldblum – all returning to their roles, as well as newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe and Joey King to name just a few.
The movie has a premier date of June, 2016, barring any delays. Until then, the trailer will have to do. Though for the love of god, can we stop using the same sound effectin every single trailer to create dramatic tension?
For anyone who cant Watch the video, then the written review is below; cause im good like that:
SPOILER ALERT….SPOILER ALERT
Keep reading at your own peril…
Still here?
Ok lets go
SHOTS FIRED, MAN DOWN
Ok first off I’m just going to come out and say it.. Halo 5 is not the game it was implied it would be or the game the reviewers would have you think it is. It is not an 8 or a 9 out of 10, it’s a 7 and it’s a 7 at best because despite some pretty graphics, some nice new multiplayer modes and some increase in scale it failed to deliver on what was implied / promised in all the advertising and teasers and to compound this it took one the greatest assets this game franchise had, 4 way split screen and LAN play, and got rid of it, just so they could increase the FPS….. The latter I found out about before playing the game and it left me feeling slightly annoyed… Halo for me is two things, 1. the campaign ( which I will talk about later) and 2. Getting a bunch of mates around, getting 4 TVs, having a few beers, eating cheesy poofs and running in to the next room and mocking your downed foe. For 14 years now and with nearly every incarnation of the game it’s has been the same, 4 TVs, 4 Xboxes, my house and the coveted halo trophy but not this time… Sure we could play over the Internet but it isn’t the same, nothing compares to having a halo LAN Party, nothing, it truly is an amazing day / night and that was taken from me, quite unceremoniously and I still don’t know how I feel about it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind Halo online with my mates and I do actually like the new multiplayer ( again something I will talk about later) but it’s not the same, I’m not a huge Online Multiplayer FPS sort of guy and when I do play I like to play with friends, not a group of joyless WAACs , smack talking, racist, pubescents or people who’s interest is singular glory and not team play; I’m all about team play. I’m not the worst halo player in the world, that award probably goes to my sister, and I do like a good win, but a good win amongst friends, who can take the humour, enjoy the laugh and who are all of similar level s of play… Taking away split screen and saying it wasn’t going to have a patch adding it was nearly a deal breaker.. If it wasn’t for the fact that I wanted to make it through the campaign and see if the chief saves cortana or not I don’t think I would have bought it… HUNT THE TRUTH….OR PLAY THE LIE.
Halo is in my blood, has been since it first changed the face of First person shouters in 2001 and I have loyally followed, fought and bleed halo for 14 years now, fighting with the Masterchief and cortana the whole way; obviously with stints in between like reach and ODST Having played all of the games from start to finish, and having been through all the ups and downs as if they were my own experiences, I was really looking forward to jumping into the Chiefs boots once more and searching for cortana, his,… our faithful AI, friend, and in a weird super soldier AI way.. Maybe something even more. Th Chief and Cortana have a complex relationship but one that has progressed and evolved over the years, one which culminated in a truly touching final cut scene at the end of halo 4. The Chief and Cortana for all intents and purposes love each other, be it a deep friendship or be it more they have been through and sacrificed so much and from what were being shown by initial trailers, it seemed as if Chief would go through anything, even apparently turning his back on the UNSC and would be hunted down by new halo protagonist, Spartan Locke…. But this was not the case. What the advertising campaign and what all the peripheralpod casts and material promised / implied and what you get are two completely different things…
You are promised a choice, between new, company man, Spartan Locke and the chief. Do you fight forward, disobey orders and look for Cortana or do you follow the party line and bring in the chief. It is implied there will be options, tough choices, things to be discussed… But apart from a small bit of insubordination from the chief when he’s told to go back to the infinity and a small fraka with him and Locke, that’s it? Why is he a traitor like all the adverts and pod casts said, why was he reported dead and why the frack can you only play the chief in a poultry 3 missions?! I understand that they wanted to bring in a new protagonist, with Locke, add some depth to the series. Which in not adverse to, noble team I got behind, felt for but Halo 5s campaign just left me a bit meh. I didn’t care about Locke or his team and I didn’t have enough time to care about the Chiefs team. Also after such a heart wrenching end to halo 4, what I was left with in 5 was confusion and annoyance… Something I could go into for hours but will reframe from as I fear this review is already long enough. In short I didn’t get what I felt I wanted, what I was promised or what I deserved as a faithful halo fan and player. This is all very reminiscent of my views on the destiny campaign and ironically I have a feeling that all the changes that we are seeing and the way the game has panned out, are a reaction to just that, destiny. Bungie after all created halo, and so with one swift thrust from their developers sword could kill it to by superior game play. This obviously spooked 343 and what we were left with was a reactionary title, that seems to have lost its way somewhat. THE SAVING GRACES Ok now I know I be spent a long time now having a bit of a rant about this game, and I feel it is justified, based in all the time and money I have spent on the franchise. Buuuutt, despite the previous, it isn’t a bad game, it’s just annoying it doesn’t give what it promised. Anyway here is what I quite liked about the game, outside of my fan boy rage. The campaign maps are all pretty huge, have lots of enemies and have various ways you can traverse around them to get to your objectives, this is great for flanking enemies and gives your team a chance to space out and not be directed down one small corridor.. This being said if you are playing with AI companions and not real players be ready to be frustrated because, despite a nice option to direct the team around using your D – Pad, they are pretty thick and will die… A lot, especially in the higher difficulties, something that is doubly annoying because you have a revive option now but you need a team mate to do that and half the time they are either not paying attention or will run a direct route to revive you, only to be mown down by a promethium knight. AI in halo has never been great anyway but when you are relying on them to actually help you, it does become somewhat frustrating. Big tip.. No matter how amazing you think you are, don’t drop into the campaign on legendary mode unless you are willing to die all the time, start over a lot and progress through the missions at snails pace; I have a feeling legendary is very much the domain of coop because your AI ran mates will not revive you very much and you will die.. Die again… And die some more. To complete the game, I reduced the difficulty to heroic, which despite only being the next hardness down, is ALOT easier. Completed the game in a day and a half, compared to completing 2 levels in the same time on legendary. Another great thing about the campaign and will hopefully add some replay ability to it, is the reintroduction of Skulls and Intel gathering. This will have you wondering all over the map searching high and low. While you are there you can take in some of the breath taking scenery because it is pretty Epic and does give you s sense of scale. WHATS GONE AND WHAT’S STILL HERE
Well on top of the aforementioned team mates, revivals and commands there are a few extra additions to the game that are worthy of note: First and foremost there is a clamber button…gone are the days that you try and jump to that ledge, miss and fall to your doom. Now, as long as you are close to the ledge and you press the jump button you will clamber up and there are lots of boxes, crates and ledges for you to do this on. On top of this you also have a boost and dodge button, which gives you a blast of your jump pack to either push you slightly further or to dodge out of the way. Melee combat still has its generic and satisfying gun butt to the back of the head and assassinations but it also now has a new thing, a boosted shoulder charge that lets you also crash through some scenery and a ground and pound option which lets you jump into the air and then come down with fists of fury, knocking enemies hither and tither. Weapons are all pretty much standard fare from what you got in halo 4 BUT all weapons have had a boost and your shields and health do not last as long as they used too, especially with battle riffles. Conversely enemies also go down a lot quicker and with there being so many of them, it’s a good thing too. Enemies, as stated are many and again pretty much what you got from halo 4, though there are some additions to the promethean Knights who need to have their armour knocked off first and then shot from behind and the warden bosses are a huge challenge as they are pretty much invulnerable from the front and can only be killed by shooting them from behind. Finally, and a small thing I know, but there doesn’t seem to be any fall damage anymore… Which, for a guy who was always falling off buildings when shooting or running away, is a relief… Note though, if you fall off an area that has no bottom you will die and, apparently cause Spartans can’t swim you can’t go in the sea either. MULTIPLAYER
I won’t go back into the lack of split screen / LAN capability again but multiplayer, is, despite my protestations still pretty good, although, again going back to what I said earlier, you can see the reactionary development in the warzone maps, which are very destiny in ways, replete with NPCs, and world bosses. There are two types of multiplayer modes: Arena and Warzone Arena is petty much what you would expect from a halo multiplayer experience, with small Maps ( some familiar ones) weapons lying around in specific areas to find ( with power weapons appearing from time to time), different game types. Swat, slayer, king of the kill, capture the flag etc. Warzone on the other hand is kind of like big team battle. 12 v 12 but on huge maps with two game types: one with AI NPCs / enemies, a la destiny and one which looks more recognisable from previous halo excursions with an assault defend mechanic. Both are rather addictive to play and both use the new REQ system. REQs
Now experience and levelling up has been in the halo series for a while now, giving you new armour, upgrades and new weapon loadouts. Where the REQ system differs is that you build up REQ points that allow you to buy Rewards… These come in the form of decks of cards that give you permanent additions, like armour, stances, weapon skins and assassinations, and one offs like in game boosts to req points, weapons, vehicles, speed etc. and because 343 are awesome like that, they allow you to buy REQ points, very generous of them. A good point about req points and the game in general on multiplayer is unlike COD and such games where you unlock weapons and keep them when you level up, Halos war zones you have to gain points each game to let you earn the right to use them and you can only use specific things based on the in game level you have earned… This is not the over all level you earned, just the in map one that lets you use REQ cards. To start with I wasn’t overly keen to be honest but I like that, as has always been in halo, everyone is on a power weapon and bonus wise and to gain more it’s down to you earning it in each game.
CONCLUSION
So there you have it. Halo 5.. A game I was excited for, a game I wanted to be a whole lot more and a game that for me dos not deliver. The halo Fan boy in me wanted to give it a big fat 10 but the embittered customer and franchise faithful in me can’t let slide what was a pretty deceptive marketing campaign and the fact that one of the big reasons I love halo so much, is gone. Did the 60fps matter, to me not really.. Cold I have lived with 30fps and split screen… You’re damn right I could! General thoughts: I think They should have either stuck with the traitor or not theme and let you chose a team to fight with or at least made the missions more equal to at least give you the sense of it. With regards to the reaction to destiny, why not have a spin of game, along the same lines, 4 player teams, MMORPG type thing, ‘hunting for the truth’ using Spartan fire teams.. Sure it’s a more brazen copy of destiny but we all kinda know that’s the angle warzone was going for right. Anyway, all in all, and as much as it pains me to do this, I’m going to give halo 5 a slightly above average geek pride 3.5/5
So the first trailer for the upcoming X-Men Apocalypse from director Bryan Singer is here and , well, it’s a bit all over the shop really.
First teased in a X-Men Days of Future Past post credits scene this is the first big screen outing for arguably the X-Men’s biggest nemesis – Apocalypse, played here by Oscar Isaac. The Internet wasn’t too impressed when the first shots of Isaac as Apocalypse appeared and now seeing Isaac’s first footage it’s hard to muster that much enthusiasm. Whilst Apocalypse’s speech definitely fits the despotic and megalomaniac nature of the character fans know from the comics Isaac’s delivery leaves a lot be desired. Imagine Darth Vader without the voice of James Earl Jones. X-Men Apocalypse is set to feature an accomplished ensemble cast with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Evan Peters returning as Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast and Quicksilver and being joined by Sophie Turner as Jean Grey and Olivia Munn as Psylocke amongst others.
All I wanted to be was an action hero, and women just didn’t do that. The only time they did do it, it was a real sexy thing and you had to be half-naked, which wasn’t my idea of true power.
Thus, Patricia Tallman describes why she took on the role of Barbara in the 1990’s remake of Night of the Living Dead and later as the tortured telepath Lyta Alexander in the classic sci-fi series Babylon 5.
Whatever thoughts you may have on remakes, Barbara in the Tom Savini version of the Night of the Living Dead was a vast improvement. Whereas Judith O’Dea whimpered Barbara into the background during the original, she was far more strongly portrayed in the remake, due in no small part to the strong-willed demeanour of Patricia Tallman.
“Whatever I lost, I lost a long time ago and I do not plan on losing anything else. You can talk to me about losing it when you stop screaming at each other like a bunch of two-year-olds.”
Patricia Tallman, Night of the Living Dead.
In addition to being a fantastic actress, Pat is a successful stuntwoman, having worked on multiple iterations of Star Trek, as well as various films such as Jurassic Park and Army of Darkness (namely the possessed witch in the well).
Peter Ray Allison recently caught up with Patricia Tallman whilst she was taking a break from her charity Be A Santa.
Note; some of our more sensitive readers may wish to proceed with caution, as the interview turns somewhat fruity towards the end.
Is it rare for someone to be an actor and a stunt-performer?
To have a successful career, as far as I know, I am the only one [Jackie Chan is an actor who does his own stunts, but he does not perform stunt work for others]. There are terrific actresses and stunt people, but they have not the opportunities that I have had.
I had serious acting chops before I started as a stunt-person. I had studied at Carnegie Mellon University and then I went onto New York where I worked as an actor, which is where I did Knightriders. I was already working as solidly as a real actor when I met some stunt people and started working doing stunts.
Most actors need to have another way of making money, even if you have a few years where you are really well. I had gotten tired of waiting tables and doing retail, so when some stunt people asked me to work with them, I jumped at the opportunity. It was also in my Union, as it covers stunt people and actors, and it was also on a set, so it worked perfectly for what I wanted to do.
Besides, being an action actor is something I have always wanted to do, as I am a very physical person. I still kick-box and work out every day, so I think I am a hybrid of all these qualities.
I kept these worlds separate, because if [directors] know I am stunt person, I know they are not going to take me seriously as an actor. They think that if you are an actor who does stunt work, then you cannot be a very good actor, and vice versa. When I am on a set as a stunt performer I am always doubling another actress; it is not like they would recognise me, as I am wearing a wig and a costume.
Luckily I met stunt people who I apprenticed with and learned the trade, so I kinda had this dual-life going on, even when I was working on Babylon 5 as a series regular, I was still going over to Star Trek and stunt doubling for Nana Visitor, Gates McFadden and Terry Farrell.
What drew you to Babylon 5?
Joe Straczynski had seen me in Night of the Living Dead and had phoned my agent to ask me to audition for the part. I didn’t think I was going to get it, as I thought it was such a good role that it would go to a higher star. As things turned out, there weren’t any other stars in the pilot, there were only accomplished actors.
Were you aware there was going to be a gap between the pilot and returning later on in the series?
When you do a pilot, you never know if you are going to have a series. So you shoot a pilot and hope for the best. We were hoping it would go well and get a lot of eyeballs when it aired, so that we would get a series order.
However, on the Warner Brothers side, there was one guy who didn’t like me because I didn’t want to sleep with him and he made sure that I go kicked off the series.
Joe Straczynski had been out of town for a bit and he was told by the production office that I had asked for an exorbitant amount of money. What they didn’t realise, was that Joe and I were friends, as he was with most of the actors. When he got back to town I gave him a call about how they had kicked me off the show and told him the exact figure what my agent had asked for.
That’s why in the second season, when Andrea Thompson (who played Talia Winters) decided to leave the show, Joe called me up and asked if I would like to come back as he had no hard feelings, and hoped I did not, and it worked out really well.
What defined Babylon 5 for many was that very first scene between you and G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas).
That was the scene Andreas and I auditioned to when we came back to audition for the suits. That was when I realised that guy, the one who wanted me to sleep with him, as he was one of the two suits in change of our show. I got the pilot, and I am not sure why or how Joe pushed that through, but he insisted. It was when we went from the pilot to the series; there was a year gap in which he was able to get me off the show. Shit happens in this business, and they specifically told Joe that they did not think I was sexy enough.
What did you learn from Babylon 5?
I learned about sustaining a character and being part of ensemble on television series, which is a long-term family-thing, and it was a lovely to have that. I have done a lot of theatre, as that is my home and you are always an ensemble in theatre, and since that was my training I really loved that on Babylon 5.
Going back and forth between from the Star Trek to the Babylon 5 sets, it was nice that the Babylon 5 was small and kinda autonomous. Warner Brothers never really understood what they had in Babylon 5. Paramount had Star Trek, which was a massive franchise and when they had Star Trek: The Next Generation, they were planning on it being something special, so there were a lot of fingers in that pie where they oversaw everything. I loved working over there, but it was a different corporate feeling, whereas Babylon 5 was more of a family-owned business.
People look to Babylon 5 as the start of serialised storytelling in television, don’t they?
Joe really brought the five-year arc to the world and he has said that Blake’s 7 was hugely influential for him. He really did know exactly where he wanted to go, and yet he was able to change things as necessary. He had a plan for my character, but when I wasn’t able to come back to the series, he was able to change for Talia [Winters], and when Talia left he had a plan, so he could be flexible and work with whatever came up.
He really felt strongly that when the five years was up that was it for Babylon 5. He had a very clear vision of what he wanted.
You keep in touch with the cast of Babylon 5, don’t you?
One of the best things I took away from the series was my friends. They are really great people, and it has been fun to watch us all evolve as we get into middle-age and so on. We still talk to each other, see our kids growing up, careers taking off or stalling for a while and talking care of each other.
You have an interesting social media presence, including being banned for three days from Facebook.
I used to post a lot more sexy stuff, but what happens is that anybody can complain – randomly – and that Facebook doesn’t look into it, they just shut you down. There is no Facebook court where I can say it was just a cleavage shot and I wasn’t breaking any laws and there wasn’t any nudity.
If I could, I would post really crazy stuff, as I am a big advocate for sex and for more openness about sex. To be able to ask questions, and have discussions, about sex is important. It is a human need and a big part of who we are. We have now got into a weird place with it, where it is either shut down and you have to be politically correct, or it is hugely in your face and is too much. The pendulum swings from one to the other, but we, as human beings, should have more of a chance to be in the middle.
We need to express ourselves without being judged about it, so I think that is a responsibility for people who have a social platform like I do to stand up for something reasonable. We should reasonably be able to talk about sex.
You even post about spanking!
Yeah, spanking is fun! It is amazing that we do not talk about things like that. Fifty Shades of Grey was a bit stupid, but what was great about it was that it started a conversation around the more straight-laced people and gave them permission to talk about what is a bit more alternative.
I really wish more people had the ability to express themselves. I have friends who were brought up in the mid-west and they have never had the chance to ask “What about spanking?”, “What about getting tied up?” or “What about anal sex?” We do not get a chance to talk about any of that stuff and so have to go online. Maybe I need to form a community about that!
Can you tell me about your book?
Pleasure Thresholds is a book about the five years I was on Babylon 5 and as I was also going back-and-forth doing a lot of stunt work over at Star Trek and then doing Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump, as well as having a baby.
Right now it is out of print, as I am working on my charity, but I am then going to be talking to the woman who helped me publish the first [edition], as we have enough material for another run of three hundred books. However, I need to raise the money to do that, so I am looking at seeing if I can pre-sell enough to allow me to print them.
This book has two signature pages in it, one that Joe signs and another that I sign. I sat with Joe in his theatre for two days signing the first run. It also comes with a DVD and a souvenir post-card, so it is more of a special package.
What do you have planned for the future?
I have a new company called Quest Retreats, where I do adventure retreats for nerds like me. [Last time], after we had gone to Hawaii Con, we did loads of fun stuff, like zip-lining, helicopter ride over lava and scuba-diving with manta rays. We had an science fiction celebrity along with us and I will be doing that again [next year].
I am coming to the UK in November 2016, but would love to come sooner. I have got tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, so I am going to take ten people to the play, and then we do some other stuff, like a Jack the Ripper tour and some Sherlock stuff, as well as going to Stonehenge and Bath.
What I want to do now is to help people realise their dreams and this is what these adventure retreats are about: getting people a little bit out of their comfort zones.
The people who went to Hawaii still keep in touch with each other. I want to form communities that make friends and support each other as we make changes in our lives, sometimes in subtle ways and other times in not to subtle ways.
Change is scary, but you’ve got to make changes. Like when we were just about talking about sex and how do you make that happen? If we can talk about it and help each other through that, then through supporting each other we can try to make some positive change in our lives.
Be A Santa is another example of positive change, isn’t it?
I’ve been volunteering at Penny Lane since the late eighties and I started the Be A Santa programme in 1996, because the kids didn’t really get a holiday. These kids all live in group homes, there is a main facility with fifty beds and there are also ten satellite houses, each with six kids in a house. The kids are aged twelve to eighteen years old and cannot be placed into foster care because they are so damaged, either emotionally, physically or sexually. So they need a lot of supervision.
My idea was that, if you had a community out there, which is saying “we are here for you and want you to have a nice Christmas” and the whole community was my friends and family doing this.
I think it is remarkable that a hundred people can take these 120 kids and give them a special Christmas holiday package of books (Kevin Anderson donated 120 X-Files books that he wrote) and a gift card allowing them to go shopping, have a dinner party, put trees up in their house and get to feel like someone gives a shit. I love that this is coming from the science fiction community.
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