End of an era....

Yes people. It is the end of another year and what a wired and wonderful, if not slightly depressing one it has been. We had the Olympics, the New York hurricane Sandy, rail strikes and prices rising....again. I read the price of public travel will keep rising for 10 years and the price of petrol will continue to go up meaning we will resort back to the Middle Ages only travelling by, foot, horse or cart. But on the bright side we are out or a double recession and into just a regular one so swings and roundabouts.

As for me, I lost my lil hammy ham Brett but I know he's in a better place. And I have a new business idea for the new year so I shall keep you posted on that development. Watch this space.

I guess I don't really have much else to say. Just 2012, I give you a Gothic salute.

And to you reading this. Happy New Year. Have a great 2013. Lets not fuck this one up >^^<

My lil Brett

This post is dedicated to the sweetest, cutest, kind natured lil hamster in the history of the world. My lil Chinese Dwarf Hamster Brett fell asleep today for the last time at the age of two years and seven months.

Brettney started life as a birthday present from my dad when I lived in Lancashire. He came home with his brother Murry. At first the two loved each others company but as they got older Murry became hostile and bullied lil Brett. So being the kindest thing to do Murry went to a new home and Brett stayed with me so I could nurse him back to health.
Moving back to London Brett lived in my parents house and eventually in my current house.

 

Brett is the first pet I've owned that was completely mine. I bought his hamster provisions, gave him treats, cleaned him and gave him as much love as a tiny hamster could take. I think this is why I'm finding it hard to stop crying as I write this. I know taking him to the vets to stop his pain was the right thing to do (he was extremely thin and his back legs had stopped working properly due to old age) but seeing how hard he was fighting to stay alive, I couldn't help but feel guilty. Just got to remind myself he's in a better place and not suffering anymore. He's in hammy ham heaven eating all the chocolate drops he can while running in a huge wheel and meeting lady hams.

 

 Bret enjoying the cue

 

When a tragedy with a pet happens, its better to think you gave it the best life it could of possibly had. That animal was loved and cared for. I'm sure I will be sad for a while but I have my photos and I have my memories of a hamster that never bit anyone, but would occasionally brush his teeth against your nose as he liked the rounded edge...I know.....

 

 

So for anyone who has read this, no matter how long after it was posted, do something in honer of Brett. Be a vegetarian for a day, run on a treadmill like it was a giant wheel, stuff your cheeks with food. Whatever it is make it hamsterish, post me about it and pay your respect to this brave, sweet wonderful hamster. My Brett.

 

 

 

Brett, I give you a Gothic salute.....

 

...I'll miss you....x

 



Neko Me...

On the 27th October 2012 I enter the Excel Centre in London to attended the only place you will find Darth Vader and Pikachu in the same room! At the

 If you read my last blog I was preparing my costume for the expo causing a 'minor' injury. I'm fine now btw! Over the years I have collected and been given various anime cat girl costume parts such as my ears from a previous comic con and a tail and paw mittens that my comic con veteran sister had bought for me. I decided because I am as poor as Poorie McGee of the Broke Estate off the coast of Skint Island, I got a white shirt, blue tartan skirt and long white socks which I already owned to combine the two most popular anime characters. Cat girl and school girl. I thought the costume needed a collar so I went to a pound shop, found a gold bell and 'ta da'. Also it was a baby blue colour to match my ears so I decided fate was on my side. Now putting my costume together I decided my dark hair didn't go with the white and blue motif so a wig was in order. I got a great one from Fancy Dress Ball on the old web. Once that arrived I ordered some blue anime contacts from YouKnowIt.com and I have to say I was surprised of the outcome. See what you think?

 

Afraid there is no full length picture just yet. I may add that at a later date. Anyway the expo itself was packed and we were there with the early crowed. We turned up at 8:00am as we knew it would get pretty cosy rather quickly and with buying the slightly more expensive tickets we were in before the BIG rush at 11:00am. And let me tell you that was SUCH a good idea (Thank you Danni). More on that later.

 

As we were one of the first in, nothing was overly packed. You could manoeuvre between stalls easily and see the new games and WiiU displays quite quickly.

 

I have to admit I did zoom around the whole place at record speed, but as I said before, Poorie McGee raises her ugly head and other then just looking there wasn't much keeping me there. I did love seeing the effort others had gone to making their costumes. Maybe I can get to that standard some day. And please take note of the girl in the homemade Mass Effect get up. She's doing it for the ladies.

 





 

To not let such talent go to waste, there was several photo stalls set up so you could get a professional picture taken to remember the day that you nearly went blind with dry eyes from wearing contacts too long or the dent you now have in the middle of your forehead from a misplaced seam in your wig or having a cold arse form wearing a stupidly short skirt at the start of the winter season....or was that just my experience?

 

Back to the expo and one cool thing you could see was memorabilia from TV and films. There was also people doing signings but the queues were too long for me to see who they were. If you want to know who just go to the expo website I have linked at the start of this blog (click on 'At the').

 

 

One thing people were doing (and if someone could explain this to me as I really don't get it), were walking around with 'Free Hugs' signs. These did not encourage me to hug these people. If anything it made me feel sad for them as they clearly had no way of receiving human contact except to give out hugs for free. Where did it start? Does it really work? And why wont someone stop it. Don't get me wrong, I love a cuddle more then a overly emotional teddy with PMS, but that just seems desperate. Sorry if someone who is reading this has donned the sign but its just not my thing. Good luck with it.I hope you get the attention you so crave.

 

So back to the crowdedness. By the time the normal ticket buyers arrived there was no room to move. I mean none. It was like being on the London Underground at rush hour at Christmas shopping season. That was it for me, I was done and had to leave. You couldn't stop to look at stalls, you were just shepherded along until you reached an exit. And that was my sign to bid fairwell to the nerdy wonerland of joy.



 

Overall it was a great day. I really did love being in a room full of people with the same interests as me but only with the early tickets. Without those I think it wouldn't have been as enjoyable and with the rising numbers of fans turning up to these events who knows what the future holds for Comic Cons in London. Bigger venues? Or smaller fans? You decide. Vote now.....I give this event a Gothic salute >^^<

The First Cut is the Deepest...no wait, it's the second

Ok so this is a review about myself. I just want to share with you what has kept me away from gaming and blogging for the last couple of weeks.

It started when I went to my mothers house to help tidy some of my crap and look for costume to go with my MCM outfit (pictures of that soon). Anyway as I cleaned, Mneko (my cat) wanted to play but hitting a bit of string around.

 

As the kind, sensitive owner I picked up the string and gave her a challenge. Not living with her anymore I had not realised Mneko had picked up a new trick. Instead of going for the string she finds it far more entertaining to go right for your hand making you drop said string. Not only did she go for my hand readers, she managed to get her claw into my thumb, between the skin and nail. This stung like a bitch so I dropped the string, gave her a little 'no' tap on her bottom and ran the cut under the tap. You couldn't see a mark but the blood was pooling under my nail. At this point I thought 'could there be worst pain right now?' Oh I was so so wrong.

Back to my room and I found my furry leg warmers and thought they would work for my costume. However since buying them my calf's have gotten, lets say 'more muscular' and they wouldn't go all the way up. I decide to cut them open, make some holes in them and create a sort of corset cross tying system. I get the scissors, cut them open and start making the holes. I get to a particularly difficult bit where the scissors wouldn't penetrate the fur so I gave it one mighty push. Perfect, straight through the material....and my finger. It was as if it was happening in slow motion but I was powerless to stop it.

Seeing the blood starting to appear I calmly went to my mums new white bathroom (eep) and ran the finger under cold water while keeping the pressure on it. After a while the bleeding wouldn't stop so I thought, 'Ok, call mum at work, she will know what to do'. I somehow manage to get my phone, call and put on speaker phone, still with a calm persona. But then I hear my mums voice and the shock wears off. Hysteria kicks in 'MUMMY, I CUT MY FINGER, IT WONT STOP BLEEDING. I CAN'T JDOEFJ EWOJLEK SMDPO...(Incoherent wailing)'. So my very kind mother says she's coming home to take me to the Doc's.

Fast forward to three hours later....I have a stitch. That's right, they decided the cut was deep enough to warrant a stitch. Don't believe me? Here's a picture.

 



As you can see I couldn't even paint the nail on that finger to match the others it hurt so much.

I know your looking at this thinking 'it's only a stitch, I had twelve stitches when I fell off that horse blah, blah, blah...' but as I say, this is my first one. Just the one. Anyway that was a week ago and I'm all (kinda) healed now.

 

 

 

But my pain doesn't end there. At the doctors after I got the stitch taken out I had with me my contact lenses I was going to wear for the MSM and as they needed to be soaked in solution for 2 hours before wearing I thought I would prepare them in the loo so I could try them when I got home. So, stood over the sink I start opening the jars they come in and if you have had novelty contacts you would know they have a have silver foil protecting them. This I slice my thumb on and bleed everywhere...hadn't even left the doctors. Well they say things happen in three's....I hope.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Question; is it worth wasting an hour of your short precious life, waiting in a queue for 15-30 seconds of pure joy, exhilaration and 'it's so scary it will stain your pants' excitement?

Let's find out with my out of the ordinary review on.....

I recently went here with the family and we couldn't have picked a better day for this experiment. It was the middle of the summer holidays and the weather was at boiling point. I will admit, we cheated with the first queue for tickets, as my clever mother (who had kindly treated us) had gotten Tesco's reward tickets. With these we threw back our heads and waved our way past the hot and bothered ticket buyers, into the turnstiles of joy, over the bridge of whimsy and into the park of promised fun.

I advise anyone, if you are planning on ANY day out, be it Theme Parks, London attractions....the zoo...it is a MUST to book on line. So much quicker, a lot less hassle.

Anyway, our first ride, after much umming and erring and looking at the DAMN MAP was,

Predicted queue time: 50 minuets

 

So, something this countries theme parks are slowly coming to realise is waiting to get onto the ride is the most eyeball drying, back aching, brain numbingly boring things to do. It ruins the day. When they made 'Nemesis Inferno' they obviously hadn't taken this into consideration, or they didn't care, because the best you get to look at is rocks. Rocks and occasionally people on the ride with their "I don't want to die" screams.
Eventually you see why the queue was much longer then you had once thought. They went and put a shop in the middle....WHAT? This is a good idea as you can get quite thirsty, but FOOD! More to the point why are people BUYING the food? If I had known this at the start it would have made the queueing process a lot more frightening, especially the times you are directly under the ride. But the point I'm trying to make is the queue time goes up about 30% as everyone is too polite and 'British' to go ahead of the consumers. Ridiculous. If you are one of these people who stop to buy, FOR SHAME! But after we past that line, it was pretty quick to the end.

The ride itself was just a typical roller coaster, nothing to make it stand out. The only thing I wise is that it hadn't been our first ride of the day. I forgot what loop-de-loops did to the brain and came off feeling dizzy and ill. And then, just to top off the whole experience, they put steps leading from the ride to the exit for you to roll down to collect your photo. Overall, not the best to start with but we were just getting warmed up.

 

Queue desighn: 3/10

Ride: 6/10

Predicted queue time: 70 minuets

 

There was a clue as to how long this line was going to be when the smiley line attendant handed us a pair of headphones at the start so we were able to listen to the 'retro' sounds of the t-iddy-orp park DJ's (FYI that's not what they were called). At first this seemed like a good idea, listening and dancing along to the awesome beats of Kriss Kross with 'Jump'. But after the first song, things started to grate. As you walk around, you see where people had abandoned their ear suffocators. Why do I call them that? The heat. Oh LORD the heat. This line seemed even longer for the sheer fact you were leaving parts of yourself behind as they melted into the concrete. And to make matters worse, as we turned the corner thinking the hellish ordeal was over, we curved away from the end only to go back the way we came. AHHHH! For a ride that only lasts 30 seconds, this line took the cheese, and the bored it was served on.

 

After all that, Stealth...totally worth it. Being propelled from 0-80mph in 2 seconds into a vertical climb only to come crashing down into a equally vertical plunge, is a breath taking experience, and you jump off feeling the adrenalin pumping through you, its one of the best feelings. It was my reward for almost spontaneously combusting and not throwing my earphones at those DJ's for not playing 'Let's Get Ready to Rumble'. Just wish the ride was a little longer or we got to go round twice. But then I suppose the queue time would be doubled. Best experience, worst wait.

 

Queue design: 2/10

Ride: 8/10

Predicted queue time: 50 minuets

 

I swear this wasn't as long as they said it would be. I remember when Colossus was first built and it was the biggest ride Thorpe Park had. The queue took absolutely ages. Now, because of the arrival of Saw, Nemesis Inferno, Stealth and The Swarm, no one is really interested anymore. So I would say the wait was closer to 30 minuets. Like Nemesis Inferno, there wasn't much to entertain you but there was a lot of shaded areas, so you weren't likely to get sun stroke.

 

If you must try this ride, I would suggest starting your day with it. After the new rides, this one is old and obsolete. My head banged against the headset, I was constantly pushed forward in my seat and you can feel every join in the tracks. OK, so it has its famous 10 loops. That was impressive when it first came out but now the whole experience is just a huge body ache. Boo.





Queue design: 5/10

Ride: 5/10

 

Predicted queue time: 50 minuets

 

Now this was a ride I was excited about, The Swarm. Never mind the fact that in testing the dummies came back with missing limbs, that only added to the build up. When first arriving in the area it was a crash site. There was over turned lorries, buildings blown up, even a ambulance that had been upturned and slammed into the concrete. All adding to the suspense and atmosphere of The Swarm, a roller coaster based on an alien invasion. Not only did you have lots to look at, whilst in the queue there are TV screens with news flashes, warning the thrill seekers of a crises that has hit Thorpe Park. This is what I was talking about with making a line interesting. We were so distracted, it felt as if we were at the front in no time. The look of the ride is amazing. Its as if the seats are the aliens that have swooped down and carried you on this fantastically, breath taking experience. I was worried about one bit whilst watching the other riders and that was the slow turn, upside down at the top of the slow journey to the peek of the roller coaster before you come crashing down again. All I could think was "Its going to be very embarrassing if the ride shuts down and I start crying for my mummy". It didn't make matters any better when just before queueing there was an announcement that the ride was 'working again'. Shit scared or not, I knew if I didn't do this I would regret it so after what seemed like only 10 minuets we were on...and bricking it.

 

After me and my boyfriend said 'I love you' several times out of fear, we had reached the top and on our way. Well, I have to say this ride was fantastically, amazingly, awesomely wow. I couldn't believe how smooth it was. After Colossus I was worried of a repeat performance but really this ride was graceful with the right amount of upside down, twisty bits so you didn't get too dizzy and the close encounters with the crashed plane and fire truck made it a lot more risky to put your hands in the air. I'm not one for screaming on rides but I admit I did let out a little 'woop' at the faster turns. I know you want to hear how scary this ride was but I can't do it. I wasn't scared. I was delighted and actually came off quite relaxed.

One thing that was a little disappointing was we saw there was a camera in front of our seats. When we asked if we could get a DVD of our ride, they said it was random and not everyone got one. Well they just lost themselves a sale, but I couldn't let that ruin my experience. I love this ride. A great way to end a fantastic day.

 

Queue design: 8/10

Ride: 10/10



It's My Life...

Check me out

Mansion in the suburbs, wardrobe to die for, job as a famous movie star and a hobbie as a tattoo artist. Choices to vacate to Paris, China or Egypt. I have my collection of ancient relics from distant lands. I am a professional artist, writer, sculptor and inventor. I'm young, rich, thin, and have my own...unicorn???? Damn. Knew it was too good to be true.
Now that my computer self is more attractive, successful and talented then me I wallow in self pity, count my losses, review my wasted time and retreat into bed with a tub of Ben and Jerry's looking into a mirror shouting 'you suck'....We'll we've all been there after a game of...

Yes, that's right. The Sims had to come up in my reviews somewhere. This game is the bane of my life. Many an hour I have spent in front of my screen working out the easiest way to give my Sim the best life she could possibly have when ironically I should have been doing that in my actual life. Instead I make minimum wage, living in shared accommodation while my avatar self is living in a three story house as evil ruler of the world. Nice.

Now what makes Sims 3 stand out from its pre-assessor's is the sheer vastness of free will you have. No more load screens just to walk to the shops or dodgy taxi cut scenes. Now you just walk out the door and into town without so much as a 'screen loading' cog. You have a lot more choice in personality, style, jobs, which makes our Sims scarily realistic. OK I'm getting a head so let me start back at the Sim making process.

When making a Sim in the previous games you could modify the face and weight but only to a certain limit. Now you have a lot more subtle changes and the body also has muscle definition and boob size...FREAKING BOOB SIZE. At last the bumpy, big bum and boob combo I've been waiting for.

There is a large collection of clothes and accessories but I always seem to go for the 'Egyptian Pirate' look. I know, so much choice and I always pick the same thing. True to life I'd say.

There I am. I know, sickening how much better she looks. Oh well. My choice I guess. I could have made her a poor, overweight narcissist.

The Sims personality's have also gotten more complex. I have to say, even though I'm not the tidiest of people I always make my Sim 'neat' so when you click on her, it will come up with 'clean house' and she will do everything that needs to be done. Sorted. I also always feel guilty if I make her perfect because let's face it, I'm really not, so I give her my biggest downfall. Clumsiness. (I'm sure people who know me are now nodding their heads). Giving the Sim a fault or two just makes them more human and more interesting for the player. Maybe next time I'll go further and make her shy, or lonely or a loser (*wipes a truth telling tear)

I have also installed Sims 3 Pets and though I haven't played it long I can tell you I absolutely freaking love my cats. Compared to the Sims 2 Pets they have a lot more personality and they have a bigger free will to hunt, play and be a cutey wooty smeegy smoogy woochy woo.............i love cats......

I have yet to own any other pet as I have had to reinstall this bastard several times but if the cats are anything to go by, the rest will be just as rewarding.

Something the creators caught onto was the amount of Sim deaths that were encountered. They must have because in Sims you couldn't get out of the pool unless you had stairs resulting in inevitable drowning and now our Sims are jumping out of the pool like bloody athletes. It's OK. Just means we have to work harder with our plotting.

Over the years EA have wowed fans with the ever changing, expanding and improving of the game, but I have to admit the more realistic it gets, the harder it is too keep up with everything. There is so much to do and I don't want to miss out on anything but after a while you forget what you need to do and ultimately get bored of the game. It goes into a dark cupboard or on a dusty shelf for a couple of months and then you say 'I feel to play the Sims'. You have to get every box you  own, reinstall them, download anything you bought from the on line store and then start the whole thing again until the Sims 4 comes out and the Sims 3 goes away with the Sims and The Sims 2 taking up more of your much needed storage. Its a great game.

Overall, I do like this game. Its fun and lets your imagination run free. But be sure to have a spare few hours for it. It's taken me a whole day just to build the house I so desired. Goth glam (with a hint of lavender)

I could write so so SO much more but I would end up spending my whole night writing about it, then dreaming about it and ultimately killing myself. Happy days.

I give this game a Gothic Salute. Now go children. Your oh so much better future awaits...or you could just trap them in a room and let them starve to death. Players choice >^^<

Oi! Teacher....

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun

What the hell am I talking about. You will only know, get annoyed by, then come to love this melodic theme music if you have played

I played this game a long time ago and when browsing through my x-box market, this caught my eye and all could remember was how much I enjoyed this game.

The first thing I have to praise about it is value for money. I'm finding a lot of story based games now are finishing really quickly with an unsatisfactory ending leaving you to collect missing items and finish side missions. Bully on the other hand is five chapters of nothing but missions. Its like a school version of GTA. What I like about this sort of mission based game is every mission adds something to the story and you can't move on with the story until all the current missions are complete.

The story is based around a boy called Jimmy Hopkins. Jimmy has been kicked out of every school he's ever attended so his mother drops him off at Bullworth Academy, a school known for it's troubled students, to set him right.

Whilst there Jimmy gets to know the place and the various 'clicks' that attend there. There are the bullies, the preps, the nerds, the jocks and the greasers. Each group doesn't associate with the others and all fight to be on top making the school a battle ground of popularity.

 Amongst it all Jimmy finds Gary, a loner who spends his days plotting and torturing his only 'friend' Pete.

The first chapter of the game is a huge tutorial, with Gary asking you to help him with tasks and pranks to play on unsuspecting students and teachers. By the end of the chapter you realise it was all so Gary could give you a bad reputation throughout the school and make everyone hate you. The aim of the game...get Gary. The method...get the students of Bullworth on your side again.

Each group is very defined from the clothes they wear to the way they speak. Within each group every person is defined too. There isn't just one or two main characters then the rest are clone copies of each other with slight differences like some games. You get to know every character and help them out in some way. Even the kids not in a group have there own personalities.

I have to say out of them all I love the preps. With their inter-breeding and webbed toes these boxing loving dimwits are very entertaining.

In between missions, like real school you have to take classes which become a real test of knowledge for the player. Seriously, when I had to put the correct flags around Asia and Europe I questioned my entire Geography education, but to be fair I haven't taken that class in...twelve years. Also as someone who is numerically dyslexic I was extremely proud to pass the math classes. Pat on back for me. Needless to say, with each test passed you receive a reward such as new weapons or social upgrades.

Once out of the school you can visit the entire town which leads to shops, meeting the group of townies and going to my favourite place, the carnival. You can go on rides, play games and see the politically incorrect 'freak' show. Trust me, boxing midgets and fat bearded ladies. PC supporters of the world UNITE!

One thing unavoidable in this game is the sexual tension...let me finish. Any girl you meet eventually falls in love with you and will make out with you at the drop of  a thong. Also this game is not prudish and knows how times have moved on so each click comes with its own homosexual member that you can make out with to gain back health. Well school was a time of finding out who you are, why not here too.

There are little touches in this game that makes it really fun to watch. For example as your playing the last Prep mission it starts to snow and when chapter three begins its winter and the whole map on the start screen goes from green to white. Its not just a straight switch from sunny to WINTER. There is a natural transaction.

Also the music is fantastic. With every action you do, if its riding your bike or being chased by a gang the music changes to complement the mood.

I like the message this game brings across as well. Jimmy may seem just a bad kid but all he wants to do is get by in life and he wont hurt anyone unless he feels they deserve it. OK not the best message to send out to the next leaders of our country but its nice to play a character whose not beating up people just for the hell of it.

There is so much more I can write but you'll get more out of it if you play it. The main problem I have with this game is it reminds me too much of MY school. There was never a week without some sort of emergency services visiting. Ah childhood traumas. Where would we be today without them?

So as always this game deserves a Gothic salute and remember... these are the best years of your life...yeah right. >^^<

Pimp my Bitch Up

So you're waking down the street in the sickening new clothes you've just bought and now you need a car to steal. Suddenly a smart car pulls up and two guys dressed in mascot costumes jump out. They start shooting at you forcing you to leg it round a corner. Next thing you know a rival gangs car skids in front of you and as well as them firing at you, some huge dude with a flame thrower jumps out and chases you at ridiculous speeds. As your running away a cop copter flies over head and fires missiles at you making you dodge and sprint for your life like never before. At last you find a gun shop you own and as soon as your in the door it all goes away and nothing but the faint sound of sirens are in the air. Smug you step out ready for your next mission, only to be slapped in the face with a giant purple dildo.
You must be playing...

You might be thinking that intro is slightly exaggerated for affect but that just means you don't know this game. I must admit I have not played the first game of its series but I played 'Saints Row 2' and knew I had to buy the third.

The Thirds game-play is a lot like the seconds with same controls, near enough same weapons, cars and fighting style but the plot is hugely different. At first I preferred the seconds as I felt it was more sinister and interesting but as the third went on I was very much mistaken. Zombies, toilet avatar, huge naked Russian guy. I don't want to spoil it but these words alone will make you think 'ok, I'll try it'.

This game continues from the second. The Saint's now own the city. They are celebrity's in there own rights and own everything from a drink brand to clothing. But as with all good gang based games someone else wants what they can't have and start f**king it up with unethical means. As well as same setting a lot of the same characters are back such as Pierce and Shaundi with a few new ones that can be called upon as backup and a few surprise characters too. Check out who is the Mayor of the city. Legend.

I love the menu screen for this game. It's basically a smart phone so you are able to call for back up, check your GPS for locations and control your income from the shops and buildings you own. Its easy to use and very well thought out.

Also the character builder was far more superior to the other game. Without meaning to I created a grey skinned vampire bitch (like I say, it was an accident but a happy one). I was very happy to hear for the male voices they still have the cockney Londoner which was my favourite and my next play through I will definitely be using.

When it came to customising the character I was disappointed with the small range of tattoos available. You would hope there was something new in each 'Rusty Needle' and please let me know if I'm wrong but from what I could see they were all the same. Boo. Also I am aware that to help with your rep score its good to change your clothes for a fresh look but once I got my long coat, corset, hot pants, fishnets and leather boots, I couldn't find anything that came close to a 'my kind of  style' look. My favourite part of the outfit however was the anime kitty backpack. It was funny to see this cold hearted bitch gunning people down with a cat waving its arms behind her. Give it a go, it will make you smile.

The mini games were much easier in this game, I feel, compared to the last game. I love the new addition of Professor Genki. There's still a couple of the old favourites like escort and trail blazing but they now have interesting twists, just one example, now as well as escorting friends you have to see how long you last escorting a tiger...yes a tiger. I love it.

Another difference from the last game is you get several chances to pick which way the game goes so it can be played more then once which I think is good value for money.

The cars in this game are pretty much like the old game with new names and looks but the best vehicles by far are the ones you get after the 'http://deckers.die' mission which is the Wraith (car) and the X-2 Phantom (bike). They are Tron style transport that not only look and sound good but handle so well. I'm not the bast at driving in games but you can really feel the difference in these two and could happily just drive around town all day.

If this game leave you wanting more, fear not as there has been announced a DLC coming soon called 'Enter the Dominatrix' and if you have a read of whats to come, the prospect of 'super powers' is very tempting along with more clothes.

Apart form a few glitches that prevented me from completing certain missions, having me start that mission again, this was an entertaining game and will bring out your ghetto side...if you have one. If not, like me, then the side that enjoys shooting guys in the balls when they try to take away your kick ass bike. I give this game a Gothic salute. >^^<

Bigger...but Better?

"Only you can make this world seem right / Only you can make the darkness bright / Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do / and fill my heart with love for only you..." - The Joker

After the success of 'Batman, Arkham Asylum' Rocksteady Studios create another fantastic dark and Gothic story about our favourite DC Comics hero including a whole new plot, selection of active characters and more gadgets to don on the good old utility belt. This my friends is...

This game is set six months after the first game. The basic plot is Joker and the other villains have once again escaped the asylum and are creating chaos all over Arkham City. The Joker still has Titen inside his system and its slowly killing him. Knowing you have no reason to help him, Joker gives Batman a deadly injection of Titen and now you are condemned to the same fate, unless you find a cure...

In the last game you got to read a lot of character bios but never get to interact with many of the villains. This time you get to battle Mr Freeze, be challenged by the Riddler via video link and confront a host of other memorable characters with great cut scenes which are accompanied by engaging dialogue.

For me the best part of this game is you can play as Catwoman who has her own separate story from Batman, involving Two-Face (Harvey Dent). With the game play Catwoman is no where near as resilient as Batman but her speed and agility are very high and when running across the huge city, she can scale tall buildings and jump at an impressive distance. This however doesn't compare to Batmans soring ability's.

Combat, like the last game is easy and makes you look like a fighting wizard but they have put in some special moves which on some enemies is the only way to stop them from blocking or to disarm them and when you have ten of the buggers on top of you who has time to press B-A-A-X whilst getting the right direction AND trying not to knock out the green guy with the Riddler's secrets (Play the game and you'll know what I mean).

My criticism for this game, I have to say in comparison to 'Arkham Asylum',the story was too short. I understand that the point of this game wasn't so much the plot but more the shire vastness of your area to play in and completing side quests but in this instance I enjoy doing those things within the main objective to keep everything neat. Now the story is finished and I don't know where I am. I also haven't found all the character's bios which you get by interacting with the person but without the main story as a guide I have no clue where to go.But then maybe that's me being a lazy gamer.

Also the Riddler's trophies and riddles. In the first game these were my favourite things to look for and figure out. They were clever and made you want to look for them all. Now they, mainly the trophies, have taken over the whole bloody city. I love the fact the Riddler has more to do in this game but my map is covered in question marks and its coming to the point where I can't be bothered to figure out how to retrieve the trophies and just look on a walk through.

Despite these minor downfalls I really enjoyed this game and hope there is a third. (Don't worry, no spoilers) With how this game finished I REALLY want another game. It can't end like that.

As I say not as good as the first but still another addition to make Batman fans proud. I give this game a Gothic salute.>^^<

Down the rabbit hole...

Ok, time for another game.

For my next review I decided to choose 'Alice, Madness Returns'. I am a huge Alice fan reading the books (Looking Glass Wars by Frank Baddor is an excellent take on the tale), watching the films, listening to the songs (Hypnogaja - Looking Glass) and playing the games. For months I had been trying to find the PC game 'Alice' as it looked exactly like the kind of game I would love.
Amazing then that when the new game came out last year it would also have the bonus content of the first game. I nearly wet myself. But didn't. Because I got the game as a birthday present and that wouldn't have been good for my rep...not that I have one..SO...Alice...ooooo.

Don't let the concept of a children's story fool you. This is one dark and twisted tale of a girl in a very dire situation.
In the first game Alice is woken from her sleep by a voice in her head (The Mad Hatter) telling her to wake up. She does to find her home on fire. With the help of her cat Dinah, she jumps out the window, escaping death. Unlike her family. Now Alice is thrown into her own world of madness, filled with guilt, thinking her family's fate was her doing. This has a chain reaction on Wonderland, turning friends to foes and calm into chaos. With the help of the Cheshire Cat and (while he's around) the White Rabbit, Alice must find the cause of her madness to once again be at peace.

Fast forward a year. This is where the second game starts. Alice is talking to Dr Angus Bumby where he keeps repeating for her to forget but all she can see is her Wonderland worst off then ever and once again succumbs to its chaos. The goal of this game is to get Alice's memories back and find the truth behind the night of the fire and thus restoring Wonderland.

Ok, so I'm coming to the conclusion that I enjoy games based on the human mind because like Psychonauts this game is imaginative with American McGee's interpretation of what Alice's mind would do to Wonderland and how she sees the world.

The characters of this game are all interesting and engaging and each one is important to helping Alice, no matter how big their role is. Alice herself gives this game a very creepy edge. Although a likeable heroine who has speed and agility on her side, she has a calm air about her no matter what she's faced with as if she is used to these sorts of events, not to give anything away but as an example when she sees Hatter for the first time or behind the theatre in the 'Deluded Depths'. Not reacting in the way a 'normal' person would, gives her that insane personality that is needed to complete the game.
In my eyes, the best character is the Cheshire Cat. Roger. L Jackson provides the voice and has the wonderfully wise yet sarcastic and slightly patronising tone that the cat needs to get Alice to do what is needed. I love his look and the fact he can pop up at any time makes him a much anticipated character.

The combat controls are really easy to use tho at times in the heat of an epic battle, you can forget which button controls what and you try to hurt blood thirsty dolls with an umbrella or deflecting fire balls with a tea pot, but once you get the hang of it you have a awesome inventory of death object.

The shrink state is very cool by helping to see things in a level that you couldn't see in full size such as platforms and hints. I do however at times forget that in this state you can only run. You can't fight or jump so this meant I fell a lot because I was too busy looking for my next platform or too intrigued buy the clue drawings. Also because I like to collect and explore everything in a game I spent a lot of time being small and this does knacker your left index finger.

The worlds are visually stunning and the script is witty and cryptic, keeping you interested and curious to know the games secrets. I didn't fully understand the stories meaning so I went to Alice Wiki which is a fantastic site to read up on the plot, character backgrounds and things you may have missed the first time round.

Also I would recommend getting the DLC for the game. On Xbox it is only 160 points but you get 6 new costumes and four new skins for your weapons. I think you can all guess which is the one I'm currently using >^^< . All costumes have a benefit such as staying smaller for longer and taking less damage. Its not necessary to have but it can help and its always good to have a larger choice in wardrobe. Right girls?

 

I'll now wrap this up by saying this. Don't judge this game by its cover. It's dark, it's twisted and the story lasts a lot longer then some other game that are out right now. You will defo get your money's worth and with the way it ended I really hope they will bring out a sequel soon. This game receives a gothic salute. Now give in to madness.... >^^<