Well EA have released their Multiplayer gameplay footage and man does it look freaking awesome.
Check it out below:
Star Wars Battlefront will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Star Wars BattleFront: Multiplayer gameplay
Advent of the Blobs
For the past two years, climatologists and biologists have been watching in alarm as hundreds of thousands of square miles are being affected by three huge areas of warm water lying at shallow depths just off the shores of Alaska, Canada, and the western United States. Dubbed “The Blobs” by scientists, these large areas of water are having an alarming effect on not only sea life, but also land animals, and even the weather.
Located throughout the Bering Sea, the Sea of Alaska, and the Pacific Coasts of southern Canada, portions of Washington and Oregon, and all of California, these areas are adversely affecting the breeding and feeding grounds of aquatic animals and fish, and is thought to have unnaturally extended the notorious El Nino weather patterns.
The advent of these large warm water blobs have driven cold water species further away, in search of areas in which they can survive. This has caused many warm water species to enter the areas, filling niches formerly occupied by cold water species, gobbling up nutrients, and posing new hazards for the cold water species that still remain.
For the past two years, sea lion pups have been washing ashore by the thousands, emaciated, dehydrated, and many, dead. It is theorized that the adult seals are having to venture further away to seek their food sources, which are normally found in cooler waters. The pups are left to fend for themselves, and are unable to swim far enough to find any nourishment. Sea lion sanctuaries and rescue organizations have been overrun, to the point that they are having to euthanize most newcomers unless they are in relatively good condition.
Of bigger worry, though, are the Pacific salmon. The annual migration of salmon from the sea to fresh water rivers, where they travel longs distances upriver to spawn, is prime fishing season for many, and provides the main source of protein for many subsistence dwellers in Alaskan villages, and others in the Pacific northwest. After the babies hatch, they remain in the rivers, eating and growing, for about a year before venturing downstream to return to the ocean to achieve full maturity. However, their oceanic food sources are cold water organisms, which have mostly migrated elsewhere, and this year, when the first crop of yearlings that have matured since the advent of the blobs, will have nothing to eat. Expected die-off is predicted to be in the millions, and will probably, over time, decimate the Pacific salmon populations.
The loss of salmon will obviously affect commercial salmon fishing, but will also lead to subsistence hunters having to turn to other sources, which are notoriously harder to harvest, will probably drive many villagers to cities, and traditional ways of life will vanish. In addition, over-hunting of various species will ensue. Add this to the fact other animals, bears mostly, rely on salmon for their fat stores that enable them to hibernate and give birth during the winter, and will either starve, or also travel closer to, and into, populated areas, looking for food. These animals are generally euthanized due to the danger they present to human populations.
On land, the migration of warm weather predators into cold weather predator territories is leading to the extinction or near-extinction of the cold weather predators. A perfect example is the Arctic Fox. As Red Foxes, which are larger and more aggressive, invade the Artic Fox territories, the Arctic Fox is being starved off and is now officially endangered.
Today, warm water animals, such as tuna, and predators, such as sharks, have been caught off the coasts of Alaska, an unheard of precedent. But more far-reaching for human populations, it is theorized that these warmer waters have shifted the jet stream to a more eastern and southern route, causing the so-called “Polar Vortex” and producing the vicious cold weather storm cycles affecting the eastern United States and Western Europe. The continuation of the El Nino weather patterns are a direct contributing factor to the severe drought in the southwestern United States, and the record flooding in the southern and eastern United States, as well as in Western Europe.
There is nothing that can be done about the blobs. They are here to stay. The best we can do is attempt to slow the global warming and try to keep these warmer waters from expanding. Climate change is real, and we are starting to see the alarming effects that will be wrought. We will need to not only adapt, but make a very real effort to change our ways of life, leaving a smaller carbon footprint on the Earth and the atmosphere. To ignore this is to put not only us, but our entire planet, in severe peril. Is this the world we want to leave to our children, grandchildren, and further generations, if they even survive?
Dale-Con is Back and Even Bigger
This coming weekend – Saturday, 20th June, my home town is once again hosting Dale-Con: The Return of the Jedi to Rochdale;, our very own con. Relatively new to the convention circuit but growing year on year, 2015’s promises to be bigger than ever, with the venue changing to Spotland Stadium to accommodate. Let me give you a little run down on what to expect.
Guests, every con needs guests. Dale-Con are offering up a larger mix than the last couple. Darth Vadar himself, David Prowse will be making an appearance with the opportunities for signings and photos. Carrying on the Red Dwarf theme of previous years, Hattie Hayridge is set to appear, beloved for her portrayal of Holly in series 3-5. Also keep an eye out for Josephine Gillan (Game of Thrones), Julian Seager (Poldark, Fortitude, Guardians of the Galaxy, Atlantis, Thor) Pam Rose (Star Wars, Superman, Space 1999) and more.
There are plenty of attractions to see at Dale-Con including the wonderful 99th Garrison, an intimidating number of Klingons, a bunch of zombies, Ecto-1, the Delorean and other props from Back to the Future, Bumble Bee and the Iron Throne. You can also book the kids in for a Jedi lesson, completely free of charge. Wow that is a lot to see and I haven’t even mentioned the variety of vendors with a wealth of geeky goodness on sale. You can check out the full line up on the Dale-Con website.
THERE’S MORE! Geek Pride are proud to announce we are bringing tabletop gaming to Dale-Con. Come find us and play games. We will be there to introduce you to a whole host games, guide you with rules and ensure you have a super fun time, Come say hi.
Interested? Of course you are so I encourage you to visit their Eventbrite ticket purchasing to book tickets, both early bird and general admissions, as well as booking your voucher for the kids free Jedi lesson. HERE
E3 – Dark Souls 3 Confirmed!
It’s that time of year again, where the giants of the gaming world come together to pump our hype levels beyond our mortal ken: E3. This year, it’s kicked off with an impressive bang, and Bandai Namco and From Software were not to be left behind.
Those of us who love ‘Soulsbourne’ style games will be delighted to learn that Dark Souls 3 has now officially been confirmed. There were leaks of screenshots and promotional material before the main event – something that’s now becoming par for the course for large publishers – but the game’s trailer was officially shown during the Xbox One event today.
Check out the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sMc2bnRc0o
So, no actual gameplay, but the cinematics look impressive. We have the usual misshapen things FromSoft love to throw at us, and a preposterously huge boss shown to tease us. I’m sure as hell looking forward to killing whatever that was.
Fans of the series, particularly Dark Souls 2, will note the similarities between the games, with a focus on crowns and the design of the Giant Lord being repeated for the enormous beast at the end. It looks like Miyazaki always had a plan to round this off as a trio of games, and we are about to fight in a world with little to nothing left.
Only embers remain indeed…
Sheffield Film and Comic Con
I missed Sheffield Comic Con last year. This was not from lack of interest, but more to do with family birthdays.
With Michael Biehn (Corporal Hicks in Aliens and Kyle Reese in Terminator to name but two) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian from Star Wars) set to appear this year’s Comic Con, I do not care whose birthday it is this time, I am going!
If Hicks and Lando are not a big enough draw for you, Robert Englund (Freddy Kreuger) and Chris Judge (Teal’c from Stargate SG-1) are also set to appear alongside a frenzy of other stars from across science fiction.
Alongside this, in the comic zone, there will be a slew of comic talent, including Judge Dredd creator John Wager, who has been described by Warren Ellis as “the single most influential writer in British comics”.
With a ton of comics, manga, anime (yes, the two are different), gaming and cosplay, the Sheffield Film and Comic Con is going to be an awesome weekend.
Kickstarter Review – Monstrous
The Greeks are losing faith, and the gods of Mt. Olympus are mad. To show their displeasure they’ve decided to visit the ancient world with a menagerie of mythical meanies in the form of manticores, hydras and even cyclopseseses(?), all in the hope of re-instilling faith in the unwashed masses.
That’s the pitch, but how does it work? Well, each player is given a monster card deck of mythic creatures with which they can attack five larger Location cards set up on the table. Players literally throw a card during their turn, with a ‘hit’ occurring if their monster card comes to rest on top of or beneath a Location card or a previously thrown monster card (once thrown, monster cards remain on the table from round to round unless removed by an effect). Players then score Faith points based on which locations they hit, plus through the unique special powers each monster possesses. The player with the most Faith at the end of the game wins, after losing Faith points for every monster card remaining in their deck, hand and underworld (graveyard).
What makes the game really interesting is the powers on the monster and location cards. For the monsters, each card has a generic ‘Gain Faith when hitting Monsters and/or Locations’ side and a unique power based on the other. For example, the Hydra monster card puts all monsters it hits back onto their owner’s deck, whilst the Harpy takes 2 Faith from one monster’s owner that it hits. There’s even cheeky Trap powers that activate when the monster is already on the table and is hit by another monster card. Locations work in a similar way, activating when hit and granting bonuses like extra Faith or drawing additional cards.
With 12 different locations and 12 different monster cards, the variety of play is excellent as no two games will be alike. Gameplay progression is also fantastic; as more monster cards litter the table, the playing area evolves and fluctuates, forcing players to change tactics from turn to turn. The clever decision to give each monster card a generic ability side also means every card is useful (unless you throw terribly and flip your card….not that I’d know…), and having the same monster cards in every player’s deck means the game is well balanced.
Playtime is short and the ruleset is simple, making this an ideal game for younger gamers or as a filler to wind down an evening. It is a dexterity game, so practice is definitely required. I have to admit, dex games are not my thing and I tend to steer clear; this wasn’t helped by my first playthrough where all my cards were skimming off the table or landing in the no-man’s land between the Location cards, effectively gaining me nothing. But by the end of the second I started to get the knack and by the fourth I was willing people to go another round. If the fact it’s a dex game puts you off, I implore you to play it at least twice; once you get the hang of it, the fun factor really starts to shine through! Monstrous also doesn’t outstay its welcome, wrapping up in under half an hour after a brief rules read.
We haven’t received the final version, but if the prototype is anything to go by it’s going to be amazing! The artwork is top-notch; well drawn, vivid colouring and beautifully realised on the cards themselves. The way some of the monsters look like they’re popping out of their card frames looks cracking and the linen finish means these cards will take the beating a dex game will put them through. The Faith tokens too are thick chipboard with intense yet simple graphics. If this quality is maintained in the final version, this will be one of the best produced games I’ve ever reviewed.
I’ve really struggled to find anything about Monstrous that I disliked, other than the aforementioned aversion to dex games. If you put a gun to my head, it would be that the game prototype was supplied with a demonstration leaflet instead of a full rulebook. This led us to have to visit the creator’s website during certain events (for instance, what happens when your card goes off the table) which slowed down those first couple of playthroughs.
The short version: A gorgeously produced dexterity game with plenty of variety and a straightforward ruleset, perfect as a gateway game or for more casual players. Back it. Back it now!
Kickstarter Link: www.monstrousgame.com (it redirects to KS)
Jurassic World
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! SPOILER ALERT! SPOOOOIIILLLLEEERRRRS
ok… still want to read? good good, carry on.
Oh, Jurassic World, you’re lucky you had dinosaurs. Now, before you bite my head off, hear me out. Jurassic World was fun. I mean, it had dinosaurs, it had crazy man-made hybrids that should’ve never graced the world, it had awesome scenery and action packed scenes that actually had me on the edge of my seat! Not so much as the woman next to me, though. She actually managed to toss her popcorn into the air at some stage and yelped like a frightened puppy. But let’s not delve into that and focus on the movie instead.
Beware, spoilers ahead!
Jurassic World picks up some two decades after the original, in a world where dinosaurs are about as interesting and exciting to the general public as a petting Zoo, and where the clueless corporation-heads always ask for more teeth, bigger fangs, bigger anything and everything to impress a public that no longer feels excitement when up close and personal with say a velociraptor. I am not sure I believe that, I mean come on! Dinosaurs! But for the sake of the (somewhat poorly written) plot, let’s go with it.
As in most cases, tampering with the genetic make-up of an already dangerous predator is a bad idea. Even a small, unsupervised child, that has watched scary movies way too young, knows that. Apparently the scientist team behind Indominus Rex has never seen say: Deep Blue Sea or Sharktopus. But we can expect everyone to watch bad movies, after all.
Long story short: Indominus Rex, a big, bad dinosaur as the world has never seen before is cooked up in a laboratory, kept secluded from everyone and everything and turns into a homicidal maniac of the animal sort. He kills for fun, he destroys for what comes across as his own amusement and ultimately ends up hoisted by his own petard. Classic villain death and all. But, much like Frozen, Jurassic World felt that a dinosaur wasn’t antagonistic enough (even as it left a bloody trail in its wake) and they added Vincent D’Onofrio who seems to be typecast as nothing but lunatics on power-trips lately. (Actually it’s been going on for a while, it’s just more apparent lately). He becomes the Hans of this story, talking about his villainous plans as one would discuss the weather over a bowl of cereals. With conviction. He meets a fitting end though, so the balance is restored and the focus can return to our heroes.
And speaking of heroes, while Chris Pratt was pitched as the protagonist, the focus falls onto the youngest members of the cast: Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson who play Gray and Zach, respectively. The two manage to steal the show, portraying perfectly the disgruntled teen and the overly-eager kid brother that’s more or less a know-it-all. Somehow Ty Simpkins manages to make his character endearing, despite his tendency to ramble facts that his brother and most of those around him seem to find annoying. 
The two boys, nephews of the ice-cold Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) end up visiting their aunt right before a massive crisis sends the whole Jurassic project up in flames. Lost on the same path that Indominus Rex takes towards the biggest hunting ground he could’ve hoped for and they use their wit and level-headedness to survive. Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire go off to the rescue, after both deciding they work with idiots and clearly the two of them alone against Indominus Rex stand a better chance. They get better as time goes by, especially Claire who actually comes across as an idiotic bitch for the better part of the movie. Maybe Mad Max: Fury Road gave me too high hopes about the way female characters should be written, because this was deplorable.
It was a paint-by-numbers cliche fest over there. She was a control freak, a horrible bitch who couldn’t understand that dinosaurs are creatures, not just statistical fangs that placed cash in her pockets, had no idea how old her nephews were and abandoned them five minutes after a seven year hiatus in their relationship to a virtual stranger. Well, she knew Morgana, but still. I mean Zara (Katie McGrath), of course. Talk about a completely wasted character. She only existed to feed the Mozozaurus, after all. And you know what? That’s not even the worst part. Sure, why know when your nephews were born? Why not focus on your career? But why for the love of all that’s holy would you spend your entire day and night running around in high heels when there’s a murderous dinosaur breathing down your neck?! Fine, that last one might not be a legitimate complaint (unless you’ve ever worn high-heels and you know how perilous they are when running!), but I still stand by everything else I said. Bryce Dallas Howard deserved better writing, better than something that turned her into something close enough to damsel in distress, but with enough added bitchiness to make her look unsympathetic.
Owen was another story. He was built up like the hero, but not an absolute one. While he too was a cliche, he was given enough sympathetic traits to make viewers forget that he was basically Indiana Jones. I mean he was the Alpha of a pack of velociraptors, can it get more cliched? I mean, there’s no way, unless they somehow made him the love interest of the Ice-Queen that he manages to defrost with witty one-liners, so much so that she suddenly wants babies? The power of the boner compels you! Wait…is that sexual tension I am sensing in the air?!
The one saving grace of this movie (yes, yes, I did say I liked it) was the fact that ultimately the day wasn’t saved by the dashing hero. Well, he had a hand in it, after all it was his powers as a velociraptor Alpha that convinced the little raptors to turn against the biggest, most terrifying dinosaur ever. But the day was saved by a T-Rex, that suddenly joined forces with a raptor and delivered the final blow that killed the monster that the humans were unable to put down. Much like Godzilla, he took out a threat that humans unleashed, then went his merry way. Well, I’m going to assume he snacked on everyone he found on his way back home, because, you know, it’s a badass dinosaur.
As the curtain is ready to fall over our movie, we are reminded that some Indominus Rex eggs are still viable, saved by a somewhat crazy scientist (and I use somewhat loosely), who thinks that he can be the one to hone this killing machine and turn it into the perfect soldier. Sure, yet another crazy man, looking for the perfect weapon. It’s not like this movie had any cliches or anything. Nope, nothing of the sort. But hey, it’s the perfect setup for a sequel, so we can keep ourselves happy with that.
All in all, it was a good movie that really could’ve been better. If all the flaws that I am sure many will point out will be considered and fixed, at least partially for the next instalment (I’ve got a feeling we’ll be getting one), it will make for a much more entertaining movie. Don’t miss out on it, it’s fun, especially if you don’t think too much about it. Just grab your popcorn and try not to spill it when you get scared.
FALLOUT 4…..Things I DON’T want
Let’s get straight to it, we all know what Fallout 4 is and most of us are pumped as hell for release. We all have expanding lists of things we want to see but I’m not going to do that… so here is a list of things I… wait for it…. DON’T want to see in the game, that’s right you heard me.
Vehicles
Wandering the wastes in fallout 3 and New Vegas was amazing and really gave a sense of scale to the surprisingly small maps. As limited as they were in size (as surprising as that may sound to some of you) there was always something right around the corner to give you a handy little surprise. like when you go through a pair of jeans and find a crumpled up fiver (that means £5 for our non UK readers).
I say this because I don’t want a vehicle to be added to the game for the simple reason that vehicles get you from point A to point B in a short amount of time, leaving less time and space for exploring. Locations being so tightly packed made you feel spoiled for choice when you saw those little hollow triangles, I do not want to lose that. Vertibirds are in the trailer and I hope for the love of god they are just to be murdered to death.
Voice acting
Another thing that caused me a bit of discomfort in the trailer was the wanderer’s voice. A talking bad ass is cool as fuck, don’t get me wrong I’m all for witty one liners and convincing voice acting, however, Fallout Effect sounds like an awful idea. Being able to imagine your characters voice was an underrated blessing in my opinion, you could have him sounding like crusty the slaver clown if you really wanted and this added depth as well as hilarity depending on who you were role playing. I don’t want to be tied to some unlikable douche choice actor. Scripts can make or break a game and Fallout has no room for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4
Skill dependency
Choosing Melee weapons in the newer fallout titles is pretty much you unbuckling your belt and biting a pillow for your many enemies. You will always have to choose some kind of ranged weapon but a wider variety of paths to take would be greatly appreciated. One can only pray that we won’t have to depend on the obvious skills as per usual.
Censorship
The world has come a long way since the release of New Vegas, sure we had some steps backwards too but I think it’s finally time for us to have the gore and gearing up we deserve as “responsible” adults. Drugs, violence and possibly sex are pretty much key in a post apocalypse, I was genuinely surprised when smoking had to be modded in to the other games when the animations were already there for NPCs.I can completely understand that Bethesda don’t want to make too much of a splash and obviously child murder is a touchy subject but we need to remember that the wasteland is a cruel and inhospitable place. I’m looking at you Australia!
Who knows what will be in the final release? Well, I mean of course some people do, that was a bit of a stupid question. What I’m trying to say is Bethesda could add any of these things but from my point of view they would most likely be a hindrance. All we can do is put out faith in them as we move ever closer to release.
War. Hopefully war won’t change too much.
INTERVIEW WITH LANCE HENRIKSEN AT MANCHESTER FILM AND COMIC CON
While at Manchester Film and Comic Con we managed to get a hold of the one and only Lance Henriksen while on a break… he has an interesting conversation with Paddy about smoking, the new aliens film, bladerunner 2 and his book.
Check it out!
The Tumultuous Times of John Constantine
It’s been a strange few years for occult magus and “nasty piece of work” John Constantine.
The characters former home of some twenty years the critically acclaimed mature readers title Hellblazer ended with issue 300 for the 
launch of DC’s New 52 which prompted reactions from various artists and writers working within the comics industry. The character soon found himself a new home though, more than one even, after he was reinserted into the DCU.
Constantine, the characters new home was aimed at a younger readership meaning the many character traits, profanity, sex, brutal violence, adult themes, disturbing horror and more besides that people familiar with the character had grown accustomed to weren’t allowed and this John Constantine wasn’t loitering in the shadows of London ,his unofficial home of sorts, but rather in America and more than that was meeting up with superheroes the kind of thing that just seemed, well, wrong. I was particularly underwhelmed with the “new” neutered John Constantine it was poorly executed and clearly stumbling looking for a readership.
23 issues later Constantine was cancelled and really I’m surprised it lasted that long.
His other home was Justice League Dark, a team book which featured a host of the various darker characters from the DCU, whilst this was a pretty good if flawed concept given most of the characters were known for being loners it became bogged down with numerous crossover events, a disease which plagues mainstream superhero comics. The title also served as a home for characters left in limbo after their own title got cancelled, (a fate which seems to inevitably 
befall any mainstream DC title not featuring big names like Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman regardless of critical acclaim) Frankenstein being an example.
43 issues later Justice League Dark was cancelled.
Meanwhile away from comics John Constantine made his way onto the small screen with Matt Ryan playing the cantankerous magus to impressive effect in NBC’s Constantine developed by David Goyer and Daniel Ceyrone. Whilst the show struggled somewhat with network limitations and distancing itself from episodes which were very similar to the popular Supernatural there were plenty of good things too though. Unfortunately though the fates were not on the side of the show, first its debut season was cut short jettisoning a lot of the character development planned and then the fate of the show was in limbo after the first season ended.
Despite building up a vocal fanbase on social media including William Shatner amongst others NBC opted to not renew the show. There was still hope though as there was talk of the show finding another home but Ceyrone recently broke the news that it was all for naught with Constantine joining Firefly, Almost Human and many more in the file marked “Season 1 and gone” with Matt Ryan thanking all the fans for their vocal 
support.
Now John Constantine is starring in a new title called Constantine The Hellblazer co-written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV with art, for the few issues at least,from Riley Rossmo. This time around pretty much everything that was omitted from the woefully ill conceived Constantine is back as DC once again aim at an older readership with a title that seems very much like Hellblazer Version 2.0. Blood, demon sex and John Constantine’s bisexual nature all feature prominently in the first issue which features a new take on John Constantine with his long trenchcoat now a relic of the past.
There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Are you picking up Constantine The Hellblazer?
