Gears of War 4 game review (Single Player)

Here's what you need to know; in the decades following the destruction of the Locust Horde, Sera has found an unsteady peace as Humanity rebuilds and the COG grows in power. After returning from a botched raid on a COG outpost, JD Fenix and his friends Del and Kait learn that there are much more dangerous things in the world than the COG. Now, with time fast running out, the trio, aided by JD's father Marcus Fenix, must uncover the truth of this new threat, and stop it before it consumes all of Sera.

This game opens in a way I wasn't expecting, with an interesting reintroduction to the Gears story, as the COG commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the war, and you play through a few battles from the Pendulum Wars and the Locust war, aided by a myriad of old heroes like Dom and Kim. While only brief, it's fun to see these old faces and to throw down against a thought to be defeated foe. Then comes an introduction to our new trio of heroes as they fuck up a raid on a COG settlement. JD serves as the game's new main protagonist, replacing Marcus from the first games, and as a protagonist, he gets the job done. His quest to find the truth is motivated more by altruistic than personal reasons, as he strives to save his friends from the Swarm. And with Marcus thrown into the mix, and the strained relationship they have, it's fun to see the pair clash and gradually learn to respect each other more as the game progresses. Del isn't as interesting as JD, he lacks the personal motivation to stop the Swarm that JD and Kait have, and while their families are a significant part of the story, Del doesn't have that. What Del does have is a very well developed sense of history with JD, and a believable friendship with both JD and Kait, and while he's the least interesting character of the 3, he's probably the funniest, as all 3 of them talk shit and throw jokes at each other, both in cutscenes and in casual banter during gameplay. Kait is an interesting character in a different way, her motivation to stop the Swarm is more personal than JD's, as she aims to save her mother from the Swarm, but while her character doesn't really go anywhere over the course of the game, something JD's and Marcus' does very well, by the end of the game she really shines and becomes a much more interesting character. Marcus Fenix is the same battle hardened badass he's been since the first Gears, just older, and more developed, having lost many of the things he's loved in his life, either to the Locust or simply to time, and again, the relationship between him and JD serves as both of their development in this game. The game isn't lacking in returning old heroes as well, with brief appearances by Dom, Hoffman, Cole, Baird, and a few others who are all a pleasure to see. What Gears of War is good at lacking is a compelling villain, and Gears 4 is no different; First Minister Jinn, being the closest thing to a villain this game has, really doesn't do much for the story, in fact usually her appearances are laughably stupid, as the robot with her face projected onto it dies from being hit by a tram, having its neck sliced, being ripped to bits with a Lancer, and quilled to death by the swarm. Gear of War 4 provides a very straight forward story; as the heroes try to solve the mystery of the Swarm, while fighting the Swarm, and the COG with their army of DeeBee robots. But what's interesting to me is seeing how Sera has changed since Gears 3, seeing how people remember the Locust war, what happened in the aftermath of the war, finding out what happened to the Locust, and it's interesting to see the COG grow into a regime, one that keeps all of its citizens behind walls and stomps anyone who defies them with their robot army, it's cool that the good guys from Gears 1 and 2 are now one of the bad guys in Gears 4, and it's something that would be cool to see developed in the next game.

Gears of War 4 is the first new game in the series to run on Unreal engine 4, and it should go without saying that this game is gorgeous, it's a joy to behold, the character models look brilliant, as do a majority of the environments, the weather effects are good, and the guns look and sound awesome. There's a point in the game when a character is crying, and it's easily the most convincing crying I've seen in a game, and it shows how such a tiny detail can make so much difference, Gears of War 4 is a very, very pretty game, that is undeniable. What's a bit lacking however is the soundtrack, while some audio cues from the first games are back, a lot of the great music from those games isn't, and what is here is somewhat lacklustre by comparison, the game's main theme is good, but nothing else is really that memorable. What you will remember however is the crunching and splattering of enemies and crackling and banging of guns, which is, as ever, a splendid cacophony with great sound effects. Gameplay wise this is Gears 101, you have 2 primary weapons, 1 side arm, and grenades, shooting is standard 3rd person cover shooting at its best, the Lancer's bayonet is a vicious and deadly as ever, as is the Gnasher shotgun, and grenades still turn enemies into red puddles. One of the game's new enemies; the DeeBees, aren't as fleshy as the Locust or Swarm, but some of the jargon they spew is pretty funny. Their new guns are a mixed bag, the Enforcer is dinky, while the Overkill is death incarnate, and the EMBAR railgun is jolly fun to play with. The DeeBees come in a few shapes and sizes, including a soldier class, a flying class that can pop shields, and really annoying little kamikaze balls. The Swarm on the other hand his a mixed bag in general, the smaller Swarm types function exactly the same as the Locust, with Juvies that fill the slot the Wretch previously filled of fast, weak melee enemy, Scions replace Boomers, and Drones replace, well, Drones. Then there are the new monsters, which I like 2 of, the Pouncers and the Carriers are actually good, heavy enemies that can take a lot of hits and dish out some mean damage. Then there's the Snatchers, which I have a deep rooted fear of, but not for the right reasons. Having taken them on in Horde mode, I can say they're not as big of an annoyance when playing with people, but when you're palling with bots, they are infuriating, armed with a barb attack and a slam attack, both of which can down you in 1 hit, after which it will dart right for you and eat you, before awkwardly walking away, with you inside it, if a team mate shoots its weak stop it spits you out, if they don't, you're screwed, obviously this is more reliable with people than with bots, and it makes every encounter with snatchers really annoying. Gears 4 also adds some new guns, as well as oddly taking a few out. The DeeBee weapons are so-so, and a lot of guns from past Gears return, even the Markza from Gears: Judgement makes a return, it's odd then that guns like the double barrelled shotgun and flamethrower are absent, especially the flame thrower, a weapon that could have been a huge amount of fun given the context, and could have added interesting gameplay options to the already solid formula, really the only new gun that stood out to me, besides the railgun, was a weapon called the Buzzkill, which fires saw blades that bounce around and shred anything they touch, that was a lot of fun.

I had a lot of fun with Gears of War 4, it's inedible to look at, has a lacklustre soundtrack but overall pretty good sound, the characters are serviceable and the story is a straight forward romp with an interesting mystery and some good character development. Gameplay is refined and fun, and the returning guns are still huge fun to shoot, even if some of the new guns and new enemies are a bit poor. It's fun to play from beginning to end, for the most part, ignoring those god forsaken snatchers, and it's all round a good game, definitely worth playing.

Thunderbirds Path of Destruction review

Here's what you need to know; what was at first a successful day for the crew of the building sized Crablogger 1 turns into a nightmare as they lose control of the platform, sending it on a collision course with disaster, a disaster that only International Rescue can prevent, were it not for their lack of Intel on the machine now ploughing towards oblivion.

This is Thunderbirds 101, a big disaster approaches, and there's a small window of time to stop it, but things just find a way to go wrong all the time. This is also an episode I'd enjoy showing to an SJW, for it's not terribly flattering depiction of its setting and the people that reside in it, me not having a stick up my arse, I can just laugh at how stupid it is, and then enjoy the rest of this episode. Not since Pit of Peril has a machine in Thunderbirds been so cool to look at, and while Thunderbirds has its fair share of building sized vehicles, Crablogger 1 is easily one of the coolest. Unlike Pit of Peril however, there is no underground fire, the Crablogger isn't on its side and unable to move, it just can't be stopped, while the situation isn't as interesting, it still has the potential to be fun, and it does have some fun moments. Most scenes with the Crablogger are pretty cool, as it tears through trees and eventually buildings and walls, and as the platform ploughs through a town, levelling everything it touches, it's pretty enjoyably, in that simple way. This episode also has a brilliant, very tense finale as Scott, Virgil and Brains drain the Crablogger's fuel tank while it hangs precariously over a ledge, despite the lack of music during the sequence, the tension only grows as the fuel tank drains and more and more of the mountain starts to fall away underneath them. This episode has a mostly alright side plot of Penelope and Parker on the hunt for the guy who designed the Crablogger. This would have added to the episode in a more meaningful way were it not for 1 thing, and while I can usually at least understand odd little choices like this, I really don't get this one. They get his details by stunning a security guard and stealing the papers, which is good, they then go on to his house and have an absolutely great scene where Penelope gets the information at gun point, but in between these 2 good scenes is one where they help a random person out who's injured on the side of the road. It's not like it adds anything to the characters, and they don't even give the guy a name, so he's irrelevant, in that you have to look at it objectively, making it a waste of time in a very time sensitive situation, which is stupid. Really though it's a strange choice that's a blemish on an admittedly very enjoyable episode of Thunderbirds, the episode as a whole doesn't really add anything to the characters, which is certainly a step down from Atlantic Inferno, but the interesting situation and the riveting finale makes up for that, plus some basic destruction fun and a mostly well handled espionage subplot. I would recommend Path of Destruction, worth watching for sure.

The Girl on the Train movie review

Here's what you need to know; every day Rachel gets on a train, from the train she imagines the lives of the various people she watches in their homes. Until one day, one of the people she watches disappears, in an effort to help and find the truth, Rachel only finds herself going more and more into a downward spiral into madness.
I'll be honest, I saw the trailer for this film, and I didn't find it interesting, I had no intensions of watching this film, even less so when I saw that is was getting so-so reviews, but I went to the cinemas with a friend who I said could decide what film we watched, and we ended up watching this, so here we go.

This film, like a few films I've seen this year that turned out to be not all that good, started out well enough, introducing us to Rachel as she takes the train and fantasises about the people she watches, before introducing us to a particular person she watches, the emotionally troubled Megan, who in addition to being played by the incredibly attractive Haley Bennett, is probably the most interesting character in the film. Let's start with what I like about the film, shall we; it being a thriller, there's a big reveal towards the end of the film which was kind of interesting, and, like I said, Haley Bennett's a looker. And now for what I was not so fond of, because I'll be blunt now, this film was a sloppy, boring, unnecessary mess of a thriller. The film quickly goes and throws whatever interest or intrigue is built early on because the plot just grinds on. While you're interested in Rachel and her fantasies and her past at first, it quickly becomes apparent that she isn't the most likable of people herself, and while people have screwed her over in the past and driven her down the road that she's on in this film, she hasn't helped herself out much. She's an alcoholic, and while that can be played in a way that you can feel for, this film doesn't really do that, frankly for the first half of the film, she's just a drunken, boring, unlikable character. Megan is a much more interesting character, as the film goes on you learn through flashbacks that her perfect life isn't so perfect and that some bad shit has happened in her life too. But like Rachel, the appeal of the emotionally damaged character wears off, as just like Rachel, she's not entirely clean of blame for the situation she's in. The same story applies to Rachel's ex-husband's wife; Anna, but while Rachel and Megan have led troubled lives, Anna can, at least for the first half of the film, arguably be blamed for the shit situation that Rachel found herself in. Those are the 3 characters in this film whose names you have a chance of remembering, Scott, Tom and Kamal are all effectively there to fill the role they play in the plot, while offering nothing particularly interesting or meaningful to it. Rounding up all of these characters is very simple; it's a very character driven film, full of characters that by the end you either don't remember or feel way less sympathy for than you're supposed to. This really isn't helped by the simple fact that literally every single person in this film is having sex with everyone else, and everyone is always talking about how they've had sex with people and how they want to have sex with people, and how everyone thinks that they're having sex with people, there's a lot of people having sex. This in and of itself is not a bad thing in films, if it is used in a way that is constructive and or useful to the context or plot, but here it's not; here you have a bunch of promiscuous little drunks, abusive husbands and damaged people who literally always have to bring up that they've fucked so and so on that table that they also fucked someone else on. Fucked is also a word that is said way to many times, well beyond the point that it sounds like whoever wrote the script was trying too hard. Speaking of script, there's a few times when people do or say something and people in the audience around us starting laughing, I couldn't really stop myself from joining them because it was that stupid.

The Girl on the Train does at least do a good job of conveying how lost and confused Rachel is, since she doesn't have the evidence, the problem is that she isn't the only one confused about what's going on. Whether deliberate or not, the inability to tell what's really happening and what isn't really isn't done well, or useful in telling an interesting or cohesive story, which this film doesn't. The Girl on the Train relies heavily on flashbacks to fill in the backstory of its characters, the film does, at several points, jump back and forth by a period of several months, showing Megan in therapy getting needlessly sexual with her shrink, and the events that led to Rachel's divorce, both from her husband and from reality it seems. Flashbacks, like sex, and alcoholism, is something that can be used effectively, but yet again, here it is not; the film jumps back, telling you that this is 2 months ago or 6 months ago, but then the film will jump forward again and not tell you, and you'll have to pick up on that little detail yourself, multiple times, it's just confusing. Another confusing choice is how the film sometimes drops to a lower frame rate in certain scenes, this is definitely intentional, and it's something I would be able to understand if it was used more conservatively, which it's not, it's used constantly, even in times where it simply isn't needed. This may be considered a spoiler, so if you actually don't want this film's plot spoiled, skip to the end, but at the end of the film you learn that one of the characters is actually a really bad person, in fact, it turns out that most the shit that has happened in everyone in this film's lives is because of them to some degree, and of course, they are the reason Megan disappears. My question is, if there's a police investigation into Megan's disappearance, wouldn't this person be a suspect in the investigation because they would, or at least should, already have a criminal record for the shit they have done, and for this character's particularly strong tendency of shagging every single person they meet, also considering how shag happy the disappeared woman is. There are multiple times in the film where you expect something to be the case, and it's not, but this isn't the result of a clever curveball, this is the result of a sloppy screenplay.

I didn't even know what to make of this film when I left the cinema, but a lot of the people I watched it with came out saying they loved it and it was really good, I'm glad they got something out of this film that I didn't, but I struggle to believe they watched the same film as me, because this film is not good. It's a messy, sloppy, boring, confusing collection of kind of interesting ideas that were used really poorly, kind of interesting characters that the film seemingly goes out of its way to make you dislike, and a structure that was completely wonky, with pacing that was all over the place, and sex that was literally all over the place, in every bed, on every table, in every shower and on every tree. There's one scene in this film I actually really liked, and I won't say what it is, other than it involved Megan's past, it was a very emotionally effective scene, and it really makes you feel for her character, it also makes me like the rest of the film even less, because if there was the potential for a good film in here, I struggle to work out where on earth it went. I would definitely not recommend The Girl on the Train.

Bioshock spoiler review (Xbox One)

In my Bioshock game review, I tried to keep my going on about the story and philosophy of this game as in check as I could, not wanting to end up with another nearly unreadable wall of text about this game's story and philosophy. But with the gameplay tackled in a spoiler free review, and the word spoiler in the title of this review, I think it's time to look at this game in depth, to go deep below the surface and uncover its murky secrets, definitively no pun intended.
That is a warning, Spoilers ahead for a game you really don't want spoiled, unless you have played it or already know the spoilers because this game is 9 years old.

"I believe in no God, no invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction. The chain is too powerful and too mysterious for any government to guide. Any man who tells you different either has his hand in your pocket, or a pistol to your neck." - Andrew Ryan.
Ayn Rand is a name you'll hear a lot about when looking into Andrew Ryan's ideology when building Rapture, as his philosophy was built heavily on Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Her philosophy was one that believed that reality was irrefutable; there is no mystical or divine power, and, where things start moving in Rapture, that people should pursue their own success and happiness over the success and happiness of others. Ryan believes that the world on the surface is loaded with parasites; coercive and corrupt big governments that strangle individual freedoms and the markets, and people who want to steal and take what they haven't earned from people who have earned it. To get away from these 'parasites', Ryan built his underwater utopia, a place where he and people who shared his ideals could run a society characterised by unregulated laissez-faire capitalism, small government whose purpose is to protect the rights of the individual, and rational self interest. This can be seen in Ryan's audio tapes:
"On the surface, the Parasite expects the doctor to heal them for free, the farmer to feed them out of charity. How little they differ from the pervert who prowls the streets, looking for a victim he can ravish for his grotesque amusement."
"What is the difference between a Man and a Parasite? A Man builds. A Parasite asks, "where is my share?" A Man creates. A Parasite says, "What will the neighbours think?" A Man invents. A Parasite says, "Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of god..."
His utopia was one that did not allow the freeloading he had witnessed on the surface, and people were entitled to what they had earned and what they had built for themselves. On paper this is a very utopian idea, but things went wrong, obviously, and the city ended up falling into civil war. Among the contributing factors is undoubtedly Ryan's refusal to regulate Plasmids; despite the clear dangers and side effects of splicing, believing that an unregulated market provided the consumer with the best options and that regulation was the tool of the parasitic big government. Adam is habit forming; this led to a population of psychotic splicer addicts that created unrest in the city, the same splicers that walk the streets of Rapture in the game. Concepts of morality were abandoned in the quest for scientific advancement, leading to the creation of the little sisters, children implanted with the sea slug that produces Adam. And most importantly, Ryan abandoned his own principals in his quest for power, restricting trade with the outside world, leading to the rise of a dangerous smuggling ring in Rapture, headed by Frank Fontaine, as things got tough, in addition to violating the people's right to free trade, he began cracking down on political opposition, violating their liberties. In an effort to uphold his ideals, Ryan ended up succumbing to power and taking on elements of the parasite, while Fontaine built an empire through charity and Ryan's unregulated plasmid markets. This is what makes the world of Rapture so engrossing, it's why it sticks with you, because there's so much stuff in that world, and with how much of it is built on politics and philosophy, one person's interpretation of these events may differ wildly from mine, or yours. I admire Ryan's philosophy of Objectivism, but Ryan's paranoia of the dreaded parasite and refusal to entertain any ideas beyond his own ultimately led to the Great Chain pulling away from him, and in his efforts to pull it back, he became the big government he fled from on the surface.

Then there's the other baddie of this game, Frank Fontaine, now this is where I go into the twist, just one last warning, spoilers. As you progress in the game, you are 'helped' by your 'friend' Atlas, who is very polite when he says "would you kindly." The truth comes out shortly after Ryan forces you to kill him, which is still nasty, even after seeing it a few times, and those final words are firmly drilled into your brain, "A man chooses, a Slave obeys," turns out jack is a slave, turns out he's not even a person, just a lab experiment funded by the real villain the whole time, Atlas, a mere alias of Frank Fontaine. let's get right into how geniusly meta this is, it's a commentary on player agency in video games, one that's very easy to work out; in video games there is no real free will, you can sometimes choose one of several paths, but those paths are always set, created for you by a developer, just as Jack's path was ultimately set by Fontaine, with the objective, the end goal of killing his enemy, Andrew Ryan. This is something reflected both in Ryan's final monologue and in the events of the game both before and after his death. The game opens with a plane crash, and what we get of Jack's past pretty much comes in flashes of a few grainy photos, this certainly added to the surprise, since with no real personality to go on, and Bioshock's talent of being immersive, Atlas' reveal becomes a more personal betrayal. But just like Jack, the player blindly goes with whatever Atlas tells them, thinking him a friend, the player, IE you and me, are just as much a slave to Fontaine as Jack is, which is another reason this game is a masterpiece of storytelling. It's a twist that gets in your head, makes you a bit paranoid, it's a testament to the power of coercion and subliminal messaging, becoming a dog for someone else's whims at the mention of a simple phrase. It's also a testament to just how villainous people can be, Fontaine played the long game, keeping up the Atlas persona, playing Jack like a puppet the entire time. And his last words to Jack, before being stabbed to death by little sisters, "I had you built! I sent you topside! I called you back, showed you what you was, what you was capable of! Even that life you thought you had, that was something I dreamed up and had tattooed inside your head. Now, if you don't call that family, I don't know what is!" just displays his lack of regard for Jack; Jack is not a person, he's literally just a tool, a piece of property, meanwhile Jack has become aware of what he really is, he's no longer Atlas' slave, he's a man.

This is all subjective, it's what I take away from Bioshock, someone else might take away something different, but if they treasure their time with Bioshock as much as I do, I'm glad they have that same brilliant experience, regardless of what they take away from it. Bioshock is masterpiece in the ways it needs to be, what issues I have with the gameplay are overshadowed by the beautiful setting, rich history and stellar story, and like I said previously, it's undeniably a piece of Art, and I love it.

Bioshock game review (Xbox One)

Here's what you need to know; after surviving a plane crash in the middle of the ocean, Jack comes across a mysterious lighthouse, inside is a bathysphere that takes him to an unimaginable place, the underwater city of Rapture. Upon entering the city however, he finds that things have gone terribly wrong, and with the help of one of its residents; Atlas, he sets out into the city beyond the sea.
A few years ago I found myself falling in love with this series of games, and since it's recently been rereleased on the Xbox One and PS4, and technically PC too, I figured it's about time I played and reviewed these games. However, this is my second draft of this review, because by the end of the first paragraph of draft one, this review had devolved into gushing about the storytelling and philosophy in this game, so I'll try to keep that in check here, which will probably make this review a bit on the short side, and I'll follow up with a better structured version of gushing afterward, that said, let's go.

From the get go, Bioshock has one of the best opening in any game, hands down, the introduction to Rapture is in a similar league of awe inspiring to leaving the escape pod in Halo Combat Evolved, the mere sight the city on the bottom of the sea is enough to give you goosebumps, especially when accompanied with the beautifully haunting soundtrack, beautiful is not an exaggeration, it's powerful stuff. It doesn't take long though for you to realise that something very bad is going on in Rapture, luckily you have a friend in Atlas, who assists you in your quest through the city, and shows you the ropes in some of the game's more crucial mechanics. Rapture is a marvel in this game, the city oozes with personality and history thanks to a ridiculous attention to detail in the level design; the streets and corridors of the city are dark and decayed, water leaks in through ceilings and walls, and the city is alive with the mutterings of its insane splicer inhabitants, and the growls of some of the bigger baddies lurking around. All of this comes together to create a world that gets under your skin very well, but that's not all Rapture can do. The visual story telling on offer here paints a very bleak picture of a city gone to hell; corpses scatter the streets, often clutching various items ranging from guns to cash resisters to bottles of pills and so on, piles of junk and debris form makeshift barricades. All of these elements come together to make a place that feels lived in, like a real place that has seen some really ugly shit, it's as fascinating as it is scary. And scattered around are many, many audio tapes that give you backstory on certain events and characters you see in the game, for obvious reasons these are collectables you'll really want to find, because a lot of the time they are every bit as interesting to follow as the game's main story, which I won't go into any kind of detail on here, aside from a few need to knows. The game's story is really good, it sucks you into the mysteries of Rapture and has some really strong moments, whether they be powerful, or epic, or both. You'll run into a host of characters along your travels, some of them kind of sane, others have gone completely coo-coo, and some are just nightmare fuel splicer maniacs, there isn't really one in here though that isn't interesting, all of the characters are strong and compelling in their own way, and even when they're enough to make you lose sleep, you'll probably find yourself liking them a fair bit by the end. And then there's of course the twist, if you don't know the big twist of this game, it is reason enough to play this game, it's a masterfully executed twist that has implications far beyond the story of this game, perhaps even outside gaming itself. So, from a story and character point of view, Bioshock is a masterpiece, undeniably, this game is a piece of art. But it's also a game, with gameplay, so how does that work.

Gameplay is, in my opinion, where this masterpiece of storytelling starts to falter. Let's just start with what I really don't like, the hacking; in Bioshock there are numerous turrets, vending machines, and safes you can hack, which nets you rewards like cash, or perks like lower prices. The issue I have is how you hack; the game pauses and puts in a water pipe mini game, challenging you to channel the flow of water around a grid to complete the hack. I don't know what this hacking mini game said to my mother that pissed me off so much, but I fucking hate it, I stuck to auto hack tools and buying out whatever I was hacking because I simply can't stand it, for some, probably deeply personal, reason.  On the surface, no pun intended, Bioshock is a first person shooter, and as a first person shooter, you'd expect a bit of shooting. This game has that in abundance, as well of a fair amount of weapons to shoot with, starting small with a melee wrench, a revolver pistol, and giving you access to heavier weapons like a machine gun, a shotgun, and eventually some crazier weapons like a crossbow and a flamethrower as the game progresses. This is all well and good, but my biggest issue with the shooting in this game is probably more down to the times than the game itself, as Bioshock is a few years old now; it's a game that, in all fairness, doesn't feel like a new game. I didn't call this issue a negative in my Halo CE review, but it is something worth noting, compared to the fast, refined shooting of a game like Call of Duty, or even the shooting of subsequent Bioshock games, this game feels a bit clumsy. As the game progresses you also notice that as you get tougher and stronger, the splicers do to, a normal splicer killable with a few whacks with a wrench at first, will become a complete bullet sponge towards the end of the game, while the Big Daddies, the supposedly tougher enemies, become pushovers, it's just weird. What makes the shooting in Bioshock much more interesting, thankfully, is Plasmids, which are basically magic, plasmids give you the ability to shoot lightning from your hand, or fire, or ice, or bees, some of them get a bit strange. These are nice little party tricks at the start of the game, as you can stun enemies with lighting before killing them with a melee, or zap a puddle to kill a group of enemies, but as you unlock new plasmids and upgrade ones you already have, they start becoming much more formidable weapons, perhaps even more useful than conventional guns in some situations. What plasmid or plasmids you gravitate to will depend more on your play style, though some plasmids are definitely more useful than others,  I enjoyed sticking to Incinerate, because I'm a pyromaniac I guess. Plasmids can also be used to exploit the environment, you can, as mentioned previously, zap a group of enemies in a puddle of water to kill them quick, you can also light puddles of oil on fire, trick Rapture's security systems to target the Splicers, and even hypnotise a Big Daddy to fight on your side, they're fun to play with. It does feel kind of clumsy that you can't use a plasmid and a gun at the same time, but it's not an enormous hindrance. The guns can be upgraded at stations around the city, ammo and supplies can be bought or crafted from vended machines, and you can buy and upgrade Plasmids and tonics, which are your passive abilities, at Gatherer's Garden machines. Here's where things get really interesting, to use the Gatherer's Garden, you must have Adam, a substance that can only be acquired from little sisters, but to get to the little sisters, you first have to go through their protectors; the Big Daddies. Big Daddies are big, hard hitting titans in diving suits that make for formidable opponents, taking one on is effectively a mini boss fight, one that gives you a decent amount of rewards afterwards, most notably, Adam. How much Adam you get depends on whether you save the little sisters, which gives you a bit of Adam and lets the girls live, or harvest them, which gets you more Adam and kills the girls in the process, it's odd that this would be called a moral choice, for obvious reasons, especially given that the long term rewards for saving them prove to be much more beneficial, plus you're not a child murderer if you save them.

Bioshock is, first and foremost, a masterpiece of Storytelling, its world is deep, no pun intended, and rich in history, its atmosphere is thick and unnerving, and its story is gripping and packing a brilliant twist. But while the Plasmids are admittedly huge fun to play with and to explore the possibilities of, the game suffers from some clumsy shooting, and while not as necessary as the shooting or plasmids, a terrible hacking mechanic. I guess this wasn't a short review after all, but while Bioshock's gameplay is undoubtedly its weakest element, it's still really interesting, and it's story is something you can write a philosophy essay about, it's great to have a story and a world that was thought about this in depth, no pun intended, it's the reason I like story driven games, and it's the reason I love Bioshock, it's why I'm saying it's an absolute must play.

Off to the Blackpools

Among the 15000 (ballpark numbers) photos I've taken since my departure, are about 900 from the lovely little seaside town of Blackpool. I'll be honest, I don't see why so many people like Blackpool; the beach is vile, or at least it was when I went, the water was brown, and the famous illuminations are just meh. Not to mention to fantastically British weather we had on the day, it was cloudy and windy for most of the day, luckily the rain didn't start until it went dark. Point made about Blackpool I think, the overall lack of buzz didn't stop me from spending a probably unhealthy amount of my wages, buying a selfie stick of all things, which made me feel like a right mug when I gave it a try, enough Top Gear DVDs to keep me going for weeks, good Top Gear though, pre Chris Evans, and of course, because taking photos is what I do when I'm not eating, sleeping, working or playing Xbox, I took photos, 900 of them. Here's a little selection of said photos, enjoy.

It was a dull morning, I was on a dull beach, and I figured I'd take a dull photo. This photo has been edited, cropped and de saturated, and might be my personal favourite from the day. 

A gull coming in for the attack, one of a cluster of about 300 photos, all of which of Seagulls, because I'm so damn interesting. This photo has had the usual touchup, slight tweaks to the colour and contrast.

As has this photo, only a minor edit, a photo of the admittedly impressive Blackpool tower, looming over a building that looks like it was stolen from the Empire of Japan.

Whereas this photo has not been edited, no need to modify the colour or contrast, it's already deep enough, my new favourite camera trick of shutter drag, deployed on a tram.

Usual minor touchups on one of the last photos I took that day, of the lacklustre illuminations, still, could be worse.

Thunderbirds Atlantic Inferno review

Here's what you need to know; after some persuading, Penelope is able to get Jeff away from Tracy Island and away from International Rescue, leaving Scott to oversee the operation. On the other side of the world however, the Navy has got the crew of an Atlantic drilling rig into some serious trouble, now an underground fire threatens the rig, and International Rescue have to save the day, and take care of themselves.
This episode of Thunderbirds aired on the 2nd of October 1966, and while I've been out of the game for a while, which is entirely my fault, there's still episodes of Thunderbirds that need to be watched, plus the new series of Thunderbirds Are Go coming soon, plus season 3 of The Strain, plus a few thousand photographs. I think I've earned the title of idiot at last, it's such a privilege, and with all the stuff I've missed, I think the word idiot is an exceptionally applicable word. Enough sorry attempts at apologia though, Atlantic Inferno, let's go.

This episode's introduction doesn't strike me as terribly relevant, with Penelope opening a new construction operation in some mountains, I suppose it gives her and therefore Jeff a reason to be down under, but as far as the whole sea rig disaster thing goes, it seems somewhat irrelevant. Ignoring the issues I have with the very concept of a world anything, let alone a world military power for a minute, the set up of the situation on Seascape is handled fairly well, with the navy doing tests in the area and having a malfunction with one of their new toys. Meanwhile Jeff is off on vacation in Australia, leaving Scott and the rest of International Rescue to look after things themselves, I think this is a very interesting and fun idea for the series to go up against, throwing its characters into a situation that's entirely alien to them, Jeff in particular, who spends a lot of his time in this episode worrying about his sons and the operation, much to Penelope's annoyance. While he's losing sleep down under, it's equally interesting to see Scott losing sleep, not used to the new position and the responsibility that is required. When I think about Scott's character in the new Thunderbirds series on ITV, I think about this episode, where Scott's almost pathological desire to save literally everyone really shows itself in a way it hasn't before. In that sense this is an episode where you can pick sides, as Scott's morals and ambitions for International Rescue clash with Jeff's morals and ambitions for International Rescue, it's an interesting thing to consider, as Seascape goes up in flames. Pun aside; this episode's situation is a very well paced burn, providing a very calm and collected approach to a situation, that doesn't work, leading to a less calm and more frantic approach to the situation. This episode has some sweet tension, and a great sense of urgency certainly helped greatly by the sheer amount of explosions in here, the episode opens with an explosion in fact, which actually gives the irrelevant intro a bit of relevance. Really I can't think of any glaring issue this episode has, the biggest issue I have with it, personally is the whole World Navy thing, which is completely throwaway anyway. All in all, this is an episode of Thunderbirds to remember, this episode has a very fun family element with Jeff on vacation, and the rescue on offer has some fantastic tension and urgency, Atlantic Inferno is a top notch episode of Thunderbirds, and I'd very highly recommend it.