Author - Ripper71

Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Splice And Dice

2017/10/23

Book Review, Comics News, Geek News, News, Reviews

When I sat down with Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Splice And Dice, I expected something kind of deal where the Predators had dropped a bunch of Aliens in Mega City One and then hunted them down much to the displeasure of Judge Dredd. Sounded simple enough – but, what the story wound up being was much deeper than that.

In Mega City One a cyber messiah named Archbishop Emoji arose promising Armageddon. His followers branded emojis into their foreheads and joined him in a terror through town that included everything from murder to speeding. As Dredd and his backup start to close in on Emoji he shot out into the Wastelands, leaving some of his followers as traps as he went into the Alabama Morass jungles and swamplands where it was rumored you enter alive but you never leave.

Meanwhile, in that wasteland, a bunch of Island of Dr. Moreau type hybrid creatures are hunting down a Predator from a crashed ship. The last thing that this predator does is pop an S.O.S. as he is captured. It isn’t long before we see a strange standoff with stolen DNA from an Alien on the crashed ship, a tech monster, and a human-arachnid hybrid and two of the galaxies best warriors working side by side to take on various versions of the galaxy’s best surviving nasty beast. It really keeps you on your toes how it is going to work out right until the end. Let’s face it when you have a name like Judge Dredd he is going to survive, and if you remember Anderson from the more notable Dredd works you have a pretty good idea about her too but everyone else really is a toss up.

Good Until The Last Egg:

Now that Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Splice And Dice is available in graphic novel with sketch work at the back I highly recommend this read that stays true to it’s know characters and creates some really interesting new ones. You should be able to find it at your local book store, or if you are like me, your mom-in-law.

Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Splice And Dice Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”] (4 out of 5 stars)

Pinball FX 3 And Universal Classics Pinball Review

2017/10/22

Ripper71

News, Reviews, Xbox One News, Xbox One Review

I love pinball and have been playing on machines since my great uncle had a small arcade when I was around six. It was an easy babysitter – load me up with quarters and I could play on them for a good while. So I though I was pretty good. I can’t come even close to affording my own machine so the next best thing is a console. I got Pinball FX upon its release and it was very clear that Zen Studios had done their homework and they completely out shown the competition. The physics of the bumpers and flippers – it all felt like and looked like a real machine. Not to mention the fact that the tables are entertaining in subject and diverse in play speed and length. Some were based on existing boards and others were entirely new creations. When Pinball FX 2 came along, suddenly there were tons of animation and movement on the board that wouldn’t be possible in the real world. Characters jumped around the board, things levitated up above where the glass should be and basically what was a little animation in the first game was completely bringing the table to life. Now, Zen Studios has released Pinball FX 3! What new things will Pinball FX 3 bring to the table and how do the new Universal Classics Pinball tables play? Let’s find out!

Playing A Mean Pinball:

Pinball FX 3 has taken the beautiful physics and graphics of the series to the next level and tried to tie in concepts of community and personal challenges to keep gameplay fresh. Now you can play games that work towards your rating on online leaderboards! Now you are not just playing against the table but your score is up against anyone else who has the game and is playing competitively. There are hundreds of achievements and completing them helps unlock such things as slow motion table so if you think you are going to lose the ball you can slow-mo, nudge, and (hopefully) save your ball. There are passive unlocks too that will make it so you have like a 5X multiplier to your score on the next game or something like that which can boost your score. There is still Hot Seat play which is where you have more than one player in the room and you hand off the controller to the next player. There is even a practice mode that gives you unlimited balls to keep practicing how to hit the ball off the flippers to hit the right bumper, during this mode you don’t get achievements or unlocks but you do get what everyone who wants to get better needs: practice, practice, practice.

There is a feature that has gotten some mixed attention and that is forward conversion of tables from Pinball FX 2. The creators said they would be forward compatible but a bunch of them were removed and, for some reason, didn’t make it. I thought I had noticed a couple missing but thought it was “just me”. After checking the community boards, however, I discovered I wasn’t wrong. That being said the most important ones to me were the Star Wars tables and they made it. I’m not sure if the Aliens Vs. Pinball tables are new but I have an eye on them next after The Universal Classic Pinball tables.

Universal Classic Pinball:

If you are a horror and Halloween fan like we are here at GamingShogun, then when you hear “Universal Classic” you immediately add “Monsters” to it. I don’t think we are to blame, the studio was built and flourished on those classic films. As a matter of fact the last section of one of the balconies from the original The Phantom of The Opera (1944) was just torn out a few years ago. I got to see it moments before it was torn down while on the tram. So when I say the Universal Classics boards and an alien, a really big fish, and a time traveling Delorean were on display, I was kind of shocked us as they weren’t so classic as say the Daughter Of Frankenstein, Dracula, etc. Then I got to thinking: The pinball tables are a big “ride surface” for the pinball and how are the rides for E.T., Back to the Future, and Jaws were removed from the West Coast and the rumor mill says it might be in danger on the East Coast due to expansion. Both the Back to the Future ride and the Jaws rides are gone. I guess that can qualify them as classics if you can’t ride them anymore (if you go to Universal Orlando ride E.T. while you can, it still holds up beautifully!).

First table I did was the Back to the Future Trilogy. It is a short board with a moderate speed with tons of animation going on constantly. You have native american warriors going up on a belt like ducks at an old style shooting gallery that you tried to knock down with the ball, the train moves off to the side, and the Delorean lands on the table. When Doctor Brown flips some switches and you get someone really good on it there were animated things happening all over the place – both on the table surface and even into the air above it where the glass should be. Of course, it has a flux capacitor which no Back to the Future game should be the same without, and when things are right you can spin the “OUTOFTIME” personalized plate. You just want to keep playing to see what happens next!

Next was Jaws which I had the highest hopes for because for deeply personal reasons Jaws is very near my heart. The middle field of the table was wide open but displayed bonuses being worked on and such. The plunger is the fishing pole, the left top has Quint on the spear ramp of The Orca, the boardwalk, and beach complete with umbrella are on the top right and in the top middle is the shark cage, which is encircled by an ominous fin. This is one machine that if you aren’t too hot at it you might not have a great time. It is a fairly short table with fast play meaning you have to have your reaction times on point. I would not be surprised if tables like this are the reason the practice section was created. Once you get the ball rolling so to speak this board proves its worth in excitement, I mostly watched my wife play because she got her groove down faster on it. Then it was like watching a short film about a great white shark, an obsessed man, and the silver ball that brought them on a collision course!

The last one I played was E.T. and that was probably for the best. E.T. is a longer table with a decent speed but gets a little nicely slowed by all the beautiful animations and mini-games happening everywhere! You use the Jaws Pez dispenser to bite at the ball to launch it then it goes into so many details from the movie. There are the dead plants that if you look closely have droplets of water coming down the side of them. Elliot leaves a trail of Reese’s Pieces (best marketing placement ever!) for E.T. to follow down to the bottom of the board. They talk while the ball triggers all kinds of events all over the table. I was so proud the first time I got E.T.’s ship to take off then dropped a ball underneath. The multi-ball seemed more forgiving as you were able to lose them both longer before the ball didn’t save. Of all the tables this is the most family friendly, not just in the play but because of the character and the animation, it is probably one of the most fun and cool looking table I have ever played.

Last Ball:

Pinball FX 3 and Universal Classic Pinball are the next evolution in the video pinball gaming world. You can play tables alone or in leagues and online leadership boards, you can unlock passive and active attributes to improve your game by leveling up through scores and achievements. To me the best part will be doing it by making a time machine fly, helping a little fella phone home, all while dealing with the white beast in the dark waters off Amity Island. Just remember when competition gets stressful, Amity means friendship.

Pinball FX 3 And Universal Classics Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#1e73be” type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#1e73be” type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#1e73be” type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#1e73be” type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#1e73be” type=”fa”] (5 out of 5 Stars)

Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Review

2017/10/21

Ripper71

News, Peripheral Review, Peripherals News, Reviews, seal of excellence

The first thing that struck me about the Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 was its small size. Most keyboards both gaming and non-gaming have a set of numbers off to the side to interchange with the ones that go across the top of your keyboard. This is known as the numeric keypad and I know people who use those side number keys, but it is very seldom used in video-gaming. That numeric keypad is mostly used when balancing the bills, adding and subtracting what someone owes them, mostly that kind of thing. I know a VERY small group of people who game using up, down, left, and right keys instead of WASD and they then usually use the number pad because it is closer to their arrow keys. This becomes less and less common the higher the player rankings until when you get to the pros or at least tournament players that “numpad” becomes near useless. Programming types might use it but gaming it just becomes extra bulk in the way. This is why the Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 simply got rid of it!

With the Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2, Razer removed the section gamers don’t need, the numbers pad, and placed a wrist pad on it instead to help prolong wrist comfort and tournament longevity. That way you can practice and play longer! Also, because it doesn’t take as wide of a footprint on your desk, you can have more room on the side of your keyboard for things such as a larger profile mouse pad, a well-secured beverage or even a pastrami sandwich with extra pickles!

Another big feature of the Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 is its ergonomic wrist rest. Strangely, over the years these have faded out of connection with the keyboard becoming more of a separate thing mostly associated with the lower section of the mouse mat. As a result instead of both wrists getting rest when you are working on typing or gaming only the wrist that does any of the mouse work gets any of the cushiony comfort. The result is that your wrists will start to become sore over prolonged use. Everyone has heard of carpal tunnel syndrome by now and what was previously known as tennis elbow has become more associated with computer use. People are notorious for not treating an issue until it becomes a problem and damage due to computer use is definitely one of them. That’s where this keyboard is playing smart, it removes keys you don’t need and gives you ergonomic wrist rests that everyone can use.

The Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2’s small size helps in carrying it to events or just on the road for when you need to do a little writing. This keyboard fits into most backpacks, making it terrific for traveling especially since the wrist rest can be removed for travel. In fact, even the USB cable has a quick-detach feature where it connects to the keyboard itself, meaning that it won’t get in the way of things when you are carrying it around in your bag!

Being a Razer Mechanical Switch product means you can count on an 80 million keystroke lifespan – Razer has definitely done their stress testing! Up until 2010 mechanical switches were only used for typing because they seemed to be the only ones who needed to type keys between 60-100 times a minute, then Razer realized that competitive gamers were hitting those speeds and so put mechanical switches in their keyboards. So a type of key switch that was once an obscure workplace tool helped usher in a new renaissance in the world of e-sports. If you have ever watched professional a StarCraft tournament, you will see the insane level of moves made per second that some of those players are capable of.

Also of great usefulness if the ability to program key macros on-the-fly so that you are able to top you speeds by removing repetitive strokes. The keyboard also includes 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting and it purrs along at a 1000 Hz Ultra-polling rate. This key switches are of the clicky variety, so they should add some audible satisfaction to your keyboarding.

Now for one of my parts and least important one the Razer Chroma customizable backlighting with 16.8 million color options. It is rather pointless for the most part but darned if I am not in love with being able to make it “shiny”. I did put black lights in my rig for pretty much the same reason and I doubt I was the only one to buy it off that shelf.

Official Specifications

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Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 80 million keystroke lifespan
Tenkeyless compact layout
Ergonomic wrist rest
Instant Trigger Technology
Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 50g actuation force
Razer Chroma customizable backlighting with 16.8 million color options

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Compact layout
Razer Synapse enabled
10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
Gaming mode option
1000 Hz Ultrapolling
Detachable braided fiber cable with cable strap

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My New Little Love:

The Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 is a beautiful and more compact replacement for full-size gaming keyboards that also manages to take tournament gaming to the next gaming level. When it comes to gaming keyboards, this model’s portability and reliability is hard to beat. The Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 retails for $139.99 and is available now. It also deserves the GamingShogun.com Seal of Approval!

Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#81d742″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#81d742″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#81d742″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#81d742″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#81d742″ type=”fa”] (5 out of 5 Stars)

Inmates Review

2017/10/14

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Inmates starts with you at the bottom of a very high flight of spiraling stairs with no hand rails that look exceptionally creepy. They just keep on spiraling upward while unknown people hang in the center of the structure via chains and cages. During the player’s ascent, you also get treated to game developer credits. Interestingly, the people hanging in those cages aren’t doing anything out of the ordinary, just looking downtrodden and defeated. I got to the top of the stars and found this place is some sort of prison, but there aren’t many prisoners left. You find matches that help illuminate your way in darker parts but need to be used somewhat conservatively, you only get a couple each time you find a box. As you go you find a picture of wife and yourself torn in half, you find blocked off corridors as if during a riot desks and tables had been used as barricades. Periodically, you find notes in a cell and on rarer occasion you’ll encounter someone locked in a cell, just shaking their head ultra-fast like you see in horror movies such as Jacob’s Ladder. It’s a creepy effect, to be sure.

After a while, you find clues to talk to people, warnings to avoid some people, and puzzles to open locks which will further travel you into what you realize is your psyche. Saying anything more about the game’s story would be a spoiler since the game average playtime is only 3 or 4 hours depending how fast you are with puzzles. This time would have been decreased considerably if the player had the ability to run. Not being able to move fast made me feel like I was dragging an iron ball and chain on my ankle, constantly slowing me down. When I discovered the run-time and had experienced the game I decided to check into things, thinking maybe it had funding issues or something but found it was actually the fact that it was written and developed by one solitary person! This really explained a lot and made the game feel more ambitious but also made me wish that he had asked for a hand from a friend to give us a bit more game to enjoy.

Inmates uses the Unreal Engine 4 and when you consider it’s not a high-action game, all that power is getting put into an extremely detailed and claustrophobic environment. The deeper you get, the more things make sense but that depth has to be reached through puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles.

Final Thoughts on The Game’s Final Thoughts:

It’s always interesting when a game creator tries to capture metaphysical concepts in the form of a puzzle game. Inmates captured a dark horror feeling but didn’t seem able to quite keep hold of it. The atmosphere was beautifully rendered and immediately filled the player with dread, maybe the game should have been held back to make sure that feeling could be maintained.

Inmates Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star-o” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”] (3 out of 5 stars)

Michael Myers: Absolute Evil Mockumentary Review

2017/10/11

Ripper71

Film Review, Geek News, Halloween, Movie News, Reviews

Fan films can offer horror fans a welcome break from the stresses of the day. One such fan film is Michael Myers: Absolute Evil, a mockumentary that attempts to address how the town of Haddonfield, Illinois would first try to handle the Michael Myers incident. It looks at how law enforcement would react to his continued slipping through their fingers and how copycats and cultists would no doubt pop up to worship Michael Myers.

The film starts with one of Michael’s first and longest surviving targets, Lindsey Wallace, as she talks about how all small towns have secrets and the one Haddonfield tried to bury was Michael killing his sister. Then it moves on to an author who wrote “The Devil’s Eyes, The Story Of Michael Myers” and nicely picks up speed from there. It would be really easy to fall into the trap of having one or two talking heads be the sole narrators through the mock documentary but it actually keeps a nice pacing. There are interviews with his mother, a documentary filmmaker knowledgeable about child murders (I fact checked and they were true cases going back to the early 1900s), and it even talked about other movies being made about Michael that had wrong facts about his family.

Later on in the mockumentary, they have Lindsey describe what happened on that fateful Halloween night from her point of view, that of a terrified little girl, which was really well done and believable. The next time I watch the first Halloween movie I will be thinking of what happens with her and what was said in Michael Myers: Absolute Evil. It also has a journalist who had been extensively through the case notes and reported on the hospital attacks and describes things from an outsider’s point of view. The last bit I will say without trying to spoil much is the coverage of the cult and copycat were very believable too.

The stylized name plates and photo filters are a bit too heavy handed, making them a little distorted, but it is manageable.

Michael Myers: Absolute Evil isn’t a lovefest mock documentary it is a very well done attempt to imagine what historical documentarians would have tried to piece together about the tragedies created by the serial killer Michael Myers. It is a good watch with just enough historic truth interwoven to make Michael seem that much more believable. It would be a great watch as part of a marathon.

Michael Myers: Absolute Evil Mockumentary Review Score

GameACon Convention Postmortem

2017/09/24

Ripper71

Geek News, News

Some conventions are started by people who have a whole bunch of industry connections that can put out advertising and pay for lots of big appearances. Others have to start small and work their way up by way of grass roots efforts. GameACon in Las Vegas was one of these smaller events. I had heard about it rather last minute and it felt like most people who went did so the same way. It was a nice little event! There was fun tournament play, lots of Jenga sets to topple, a few cosplayers in attendance, and a couple important companies that showed up as anchors such as Microsoft and Alienware. There were also a handful of booths there, one of which I had to be dragged away from because it had Pocky and glow in the dark toys!

We took in an enjoyable panel about the fun and pitfalls of cosplaying, watched a few tournament rounds, and I debated picking up a straight razor from the weapons merch booth (I am “Ripper” after all). We saw people running in and hugging each other, especially among the few cosplayers since they had planned to meet up which was definitely the way to do it.

GameACon has its share of growing pains right now but I really hope that they are able to get stronger and give it another shot next year. Some word of mouth will kick in from this year and they just need to get some print notice out and maybe a few celebs (I hear some will fly out for airfare and room!) which are always a draw. Here’s to hopefully seeing you again next year!

The Houses October Built 2 Review

2017/09/22

Ripper71

Film Review, Halloween, News, Reviews

Over the years, there has developed a more extreme sort of haunted house. One that pops up around Halloween in far smaller quantity than traditional haunted houses. I call them “shock houses”. Those looking for them can find them through word of mouth and other underground channels. There is a huge market for these extreme experience too, and they generally require a reservation and sell out early in the scary season. The fact that the public can’t just walk up and buy a ticket adds to the mystery and, when we talk about how we go to haunted houses, people always want to know if we have been to one of them. These places have you sign waivers for indemnity that aren’t just for theatrics.

A few years ago, The Houses October Built was released. The film was about a group of twenty somethings, four guys and one girl, going around the country trying to find the scariest haunted house for a documentary they’re filming. In discussing what entails the “scariest” haunted house it falls somewhere between a haunt and a shock house. In their search, they end up getting the attention of a legendary underground shock house called the “Blue Skeleton” that sends them a private invitation. The first film is a combination of found footage from the group and found footage from various security cameras.

Now, The Houses October Built 2 is getting ready to be released, and we got the chance to see an advanced screener for review. In the film, which takes place after the events of the original, the crew is back on a quest for intense haunted houses. After the events of the first film, Zack (Zack Andrews) is tight on money and wants to cash in on their 15 minutes of internet fame by going to haunts across the country and rating them as pseudo-celebrities. He gets the four guys together no problem but Brandy (Brandy Schaefer), who is the real draw thanks to The Houses October Built, has had enough trauma in her life. Now known as “coffin girl”, she is reticent to return on the haunted house quest due to the trauma she previously-incurred.

They talk her into coming along with the promise that they will only attend normal haunted houses. Knowing her one friend is severely tight on cash, she agrees. During their travels, they get the attention of an extreme shock house known as “Hellbent”. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!

That is all in the setup you need, and I’ll avoid spoiling anything else for you. The movie shows some of the very good and well known haunted houses from around the country and has some creepy surprises and twists. It’s nice that they are using actual haunted houses too instead of just setting up fake ones. In The Houses October Built 2, you are shown the haunts and you can look them up if you like!

I’m trying to decide which of the movies I liked better but I think they follow a nice, natural progression. Zack, who was the mastermind behind the search for the shock house in the first one is still hooked on the idea. Brandy, who was jumpy to begin with in the first movie, winds up with the a rough, lingering reaction to the Blue Skeleton and definitely doesn’t want anything to do with them. The Houses October Built 2 attempts to ratchet things up.

One thing I watch for in found-footage films are cameras or angles that aren’t explained in a movie. You would be amazed how often what is supposed to be a three camera shoot suddenly has a completely unexplained shot or uses a camera view that nobody would care enough about to have pointed a static camera at (a chair storage room for example). This movie not only explains how every shot could happen but showed just about every cameraman in one of the shots so you knew they had even more than you probably thought to get all the angles. Technically, it makes sense.

The film moves along nicely with good pacing thanks to director Bobby Roe, who is also one of the writers and actors in the film. Unfortunately, the climax of The Houses October Built 2 is not quite as satisfying as the original’s ending was, but the entire film is a fun ride. The Houses October Built 2 is due out on September 22, and I highly recommend you watch both films back to back. The two of them a great double feature on an October evening with the lights turned down low.

The Houses October Built 2 Review Score

Blood Bowl II Legendary Edition Review

2017/09/11

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

The Warhammer Universe is HUGE and they have been very smart about using the franchise in pretty much every way that can be imagined. The IP’s use in strategy games is one of my favorite of these ways. My favorite Warhammer game I have ever played was Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, with its third person shooting style. I actually want to go back and play it right now but I don’t have it anymore… Oh I feel like I am missing out right now not being able to wield that chainsword, but I digress. In this mix of strategy games is one that disguises itself as a sporting title called Blood Bowl II – Legendary Edition. Blood Bowl is a miniatures board game released by Games Workshop back in 1986 that actually already had two computer games based on it – Blood Bowl in 1995 and Blood Bowl in 2009. Blood Bowl II was initially released in late 2015. The new Legendary Edition features all the DLC and enhancements in one box.

The first place you want to start playing is in the game’s Campaign Mode. This will give players a series of goals to complete that helps show them around the field of ~~battle~~ play. You start off as a human on a “Bad News Bears” sort of football team that dumps its coach and players then hires you to try to fix everything. You make a contract with a company that sells bell polish which is a huge step down from the days of courting “Bloodwiser” and you don’t get near the funds you need to fill your roster. It has you playing against an AI and I played on its standard difficulty setting of “Medium” since I had never played any other Blood Bowl title.

The graphics are well done, the commentators during the game are hilarious, and the video cuts to a cinematic style view when someone gets particularly clobbered – or the other team cheats in some way. These cinematic moments are funny and continue to feel fresh even when they happen over and over again. Set at medium difficulty, the opposing team has certain styles of play and it doesn’t take too long on the first few matches to see their patterns and work around them. The hardest part are the dice rolls. If you do a battling move or if you try to run at the edge of your range it rolls for you. When running if no one is around there is a good chance that you can stop without falling on your face but I did one time run into the end zone where it did a roll and with no one around I fell down and the ball bounced a few squares away. The dice rolls are a way of keeping its RPG roots alive and adding chance to the game.

Blood Bowl II: Legendary Edition is, at its heart, a turn-based strategy game. You get a turn and you decide where your characters move across square spaces on the field within their range of movement. If they encounter an enemy or try to pick up the ball it gives you a percentage of chance that you will complete the task. So, say you have one of your faster runners and he has to pass to a much slower lineman. It might say you have a 68% of accomplishing that then when you do it the computer rolls the dice for you. Now if you are naturally and notoriously bad at rolls in life like me you will fall on your face, get knocked out or possibly killed! It can be pretty funny when you manage to get past all the blockers then trip over you own two feet. And it shows a video replay of you face eating the turf. Every role is done with virtual six-sided dice, some rolls using more or less dice depending on the situation.

The higher you get in the campaign the more interesting skills you can get for your players and upgrades to your stadium that help your team. It’s all the little tips and such from the campaign that will give you an edge if you play other players. You can start friendly games where it looks for a local player which means lower ping to play or you can invite a friend to play. You can also create your own league where you play against AI through a whole season using a team you built yourself. Or, you can play Multiplayer where you search for an existing multiplayer league and join in. It gives you different options and, let’s face it, while an AI can be easier or harder than a human opponent, it seldom thinks the same.

Blood Bowl II: Legendary Edition is the base Blood Bowl II game, Blood Bowl II Expansion, and 8 more race packs all combined! The result is a whole bunch of different races you can mix together in some modes, plenty of stadiums with different upgrades and add-ons, and even a Challenge section where you have to do something crazy like kill a Thrall or make improbable touchdowns. One of the weirdest things I think is a new race that is composed of circus folk and a trained bear… To say this game has no end is completely true since you can even start a single player mode Eternal League where you just ever level and learn across different campaign, leagues, challenges… FOREVER. If you really want a laugh, get a friend who swears they hate turn-based strategy game and wait until they are completely engrossed to point out what they are playing.

Blood Bowl II Legendary Edition is one of the best games in the Warhammer franchise and Warhammer is one of the best gaming franchises in existence. Blood Bowl II Legendary Edition is not only super-addictive, but it is also the best sports game I have ever played. Time to get back to game before the commentators say any more bad things about me or my players….

Blood Bowl II Legendary Edition Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#dd3333″ type=”fa”] (5 out of 5 Stars)

ARK: Survival Evolved Review (PC)

2017/09/07

Ripper71

Geek News, News, Reviews, Windows PC News, Windows PC Review

Before I hit the age when I got a BB gun, I used to have my plastic dinosaurs fight my plastic soldiers all the time. I lost a lot of them in my great grandma’s back yard, never to be seen again. I never lost my fascination with dinosaurs. When I learned that we could not only fight dinosaurs but also ride them – not to mention taming sharks, cage dragons, and more, I knew I had to play ARK: Survival Evolved.

Dinosaurs, Dragons And Sharks, Oh My!

ARK: Survival Evolved gives you a massive online experience that starts with very humble beginnings. You wake up on a beach, pretty much naked, and you have to construct some shelter and defenses. You have to forage for your own resources and protect yourself at the same time. If you have the means, I definitely recommend starting this game with a friend so you can watch out for each other and work towards common goals – in this case, surviving. Another important thing to consider when starting ARK: Survival Evolved is whether you want to start out on a PVP or a PVE server. In case you don’t know the difference, PVP means “Player Vs. Player” where other players can kill you and loot your corpse for your stuff. Most players who play this type of server try to find a big group to join or bring friends along to play together. If you think that it is hard enough, you also have to worry about everything from bugs to dragons wanting you dead! If that isn’t your cup of entertainment, you might want to play on the “Player Vs. Environment” server where players cannot kill each other. If you are a lone wolf player or, like me, a reviewer who finds he likes a game but knows he probably won’t get back to the game in months, then going PVE makes sure no one boots you from their tribe for inactivity!

Once the server is chosen, you’ve landed on your beach, you can start punching trees for wood and work with stones so that you can get to the “Stone Age” of your existence and are not trying to kill bugs and small dinosaurs with your fists. Many of the dinosaurs roam in packs and you will be outmatched without some good old human ingenuity. Since you out in a diaper and hungry, staying warm and getting food are your first necessities.

Another cool thing is I know as I am going in I will start with sticks and stone axes but eventually I will have sweet guns and have the ability to tame creatures in order to use them as mounts. Also some of the animals you can’t ride, but you can use as pack mules! This is really cool as you will have a second dinosaur following you around with all your stuff. Speaking of stuff, you get recipes to make most of your items, although loot drops do exist as well. The important thing is you need to know this game definitely has a grind and a pretty long one at that, during which time you have to be willing to dedicate yourself to to get to the end content.

If you find you need a break from that grind, you can play the ARK: Survival of the Fittest multiplayer arena game which is included with ARK: Survival Evolved. This game mode could could have been called ARK: Hunger Games with Dinosaurs in terms of its design. The biggest departure there is that you work in tribes, not by yourself. In this mode, you and your tribe are in a dome and you have to run around and try to kill off all the other tribes. When someone gets killed, their face gets projected up on the dome along with who killed them – last tribe surviving wins.

Surviving The Evolution

ARK: Survival Evolved is a huge multiplayer game that, while featuring a grind, has some really great content to explore as well as cool end game capabilities. The only limitations in the game are your imagination and with how well your latency holds up on a 70 player server. In addition, the game recently got a map expansion and a bigger game expansion is due out in October.

ARK: Survival Evolved Review Score

[mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#66d617″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#66d617″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#66d617″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#66d617″ type=”fa”][mks_icon icon=”fa-star” color=”#66d617″ type=”fa”] (5 out of 5 Stars)

The Atoning Review

2017/09/04

Ripper71

Film Review, Halloween, Movie News, News, Reviews

I love this time of year because of all the horror and supernatural movie screeners start being distributed to the press. I don’t care if the budget of the movie is tiny or huge, all that matters is that it does whatever it supposed to. Thrillers building tension, horror spreading fear, etc. Some movies like The Blair Witch Project managed to reach fame on a micro-budget, while others have millions and completely fail to illicit any response except disappointment. But, I will give them all a fair shake, especially if they give good poster art or a nice trailer like Michael Williams (OzLand) directed The Atoning did!

The poster art with a pale skinned Vera (well-played by Virginia Newcomb) contrasted by a demonic black hand covering her mouth made me want to see the trailer, and the trailer showing off the demon creatures were made from practical special effects – not CGI – pulled me in even more. CGI effects can save a movie money and if done right can be down right creepy but, if done poorly, they can ruin an otherwise good film. A great example of this is American Werewolf in London which had some of the best practical effects in horror history, meaning they really created the hand stretching, spine popping, and muzzle growing. It’s sequel American Werewolf in Paris however used computer effects when showing the werewolf running around and it looked silly and ruined the movie (ed. note: I still love Julie Delpy in it).

So I was excited going into the movie and now comes the hard part of trying review it without giving too much away. First off the camera work is excellent, the lighting is spot on, and everything is set up well to immerse you in the film’s setting. The movie has a few twists and is designed to have them be solved throughout the movie at an almost even pacing. The filmmakers want to give you a chance at solving them early so they give a hint at the beginning which unfortunately if you get actually makes the movie drag on a bit. At a certain point in the movie the average person has probably figured out what is going on and the demonic things from the poster and the trailer are in full effect, but in kind of a confusing way. Why hadn’t these demons shown up 20 minutes into the show, they would have saved the characters (and the viewers) some unnecessary time lost.

That is what it really came down to. The Atoning had great cinematography, a good story with twists & turns, solid acting, and well-done practical effects. The problem was it could have been a much shorter film. If the repetitive nature of the story (which, admittedly, serves a purpose to some extent) were trimmed down a bit this movie would have been excellent but, as a result of deciding to edit to a full length feature, it feels padded and as a result is decent. It should be noted that the film did win the Magnolia Independent Film Festival’s “Best Home Grown” award in 2017!

The Atoning is available now on digital HD and DVD.