Game Review: Mass Effect 3 (Extended Cut)

Mass Effect 3 is the epic final chapter of a trilogy I have sunk more time into than any other series. While this review does seem a bit late, with the release of the Extended Cut DLC, the game is now more complete than it was on release. So now seems like a good time to review it.

Mass Effect 3 follows the continuing adventures of Commander Shepard and the crew of the SSV Normandy, as the galaxy erupts into a ferocious war against the organic-decimating machines, the Reapers. Shepard’s task is to build an army the likes of which the galaxy has never seen, and solve the thousands-of-years-old issues that cause tensions between the various alien races.

Allying these races against the Reapers forms the main brunt of the story. Unlike in Mass Effect 2, which saw Shepard attempting to recruit highly skilled individuals for his suicide mission against the Collectors, the stakes are bigger and Shepard needs to convince the entire galaxy to forget the grudges of the past.

While this may seem like it makes for a much less personal story, the ability to import your saves from the previous two games means that there is a much greater connection to your individual Shepard. It is easily the most emotionally-affecting title in the franchise, as we see Shepard struggle to deal with the losses he has encountered (and in most cases, caused) over the years, as we see well-loved characters die, and as we see races teeter on the brink of extinction.

As you assist individual characters, militaries and races, you gain War Assets which add to your Galactic Readiness meter. This essentially determines how well prepared the galaxy is for the inevitable final battle and is integral to the success or failure of the end-game. It’s a system that works well, and it does an excellent job of letting you know how well you are doing.

As an evolution from the original Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 was astounding. Clunky combat and menu systems were streamlined, and the game was pretty much as polished as it could be. So it’s little wonder that, while Mass Effect 3 definitely improves on its predecessor, it’s not as big a leap forward as the previous sequel. But the important thing is that it does improve. Tedious mechanics like planet scanning are minimised to their bare essentials, movement is slicker as Shepard can now roll, make prompted jumps across gabs and climb ladders, and the Galaxy Map is easier to navigate (with an added threat of Reapers chasing your miniaturised Normandy).

But not every change works as well. Side missions are given to you awkwardly, as you overhear conversations on the Citadel (essentially a galactic Hub) and then dispatch yourself to solve these people’s problems. It’s a little like hearing someone in the street say they fancy a sandwich, and then you decide to return in a week with a sandwich for them. It’s awkward, and they feel a little pointless in the grand scheme of things, despite the fact that you gain War Assets for these little detours.

It’s a good job then that the main story missions work so well. Each one feels relevant and worthy of the time of the galaxy’s saviour. The conversation and choice system works the best it ever has, and your choices feel like they have a genuine impact in determining the fates of entire species. Combat is also mildly improved over Mass Effect 2. The cover-based third person shooting feels fast and fluid, with the game’s Powers system bringing an excellent balance and some stunning effects. The addition of a heavy melee (which differs for each class) also brings a different, welcome aspect to fights.

The AI of your squad works well, and they are often useful in fights, only going down if you aren’t paying enough attention to them. The enemy AI also provides a great challenge. They won’t just stick to cover and pop up like Whack-A-Moles, they will throw grenades, attempt to flank, and generally try their best to kill you. There are a variety of different types of enemies and each one requires a different set of tactics, which keeps the gameplay feeling fresh on your umpteenth playthrough.

Now, as this review is being written because of the Extended Cut DLC, I should mention the endings (spoiler-free). I was one of the people unhappy with the game’s original endings. I thought they were full of plot-holes, were very vague, and were just generally unsatisfying for someone who has invested 5 years and between 20-30 combined playthroughs of all three games. But with the addition of this DLC, I no longer feel like I’ve wasted my love on this franchise. Each ending feels satisfying and any previous inaccuracies are explained away well. I sat through my ending with a grin on my face the entire way through. That says a lot when I was previously so disappointed.

Despite being a story-and-character-driven game, Bioware decided to include a multiplayer component to Mass Effect 3. It could very easily have gone wrong, but thankfully it works amazingly well. Each match gives you Galactic Readiness to use in your single-player game and being able to play as each of the galaxy’s races is a treat. You haven’t played Mass Effect 3 until you have head-butted a Brute to death as a Krogan. Combine the excellent gameplay with Bioware’s continued free updates, and this becomes a multiplayer mode I will gladly sink many more hours into.

Fans of the series play Mass Effect for the story, for the characters, and for the fascinating universe that Bioware has created. Mass Effect 3 does not disappoint. It’s a thrill to play and is a world I will continue to engross myself in for many years to come. If you haven’t given this excellent franchise a shot yet, do yourself a favour and pick it up.

Developer: Bioware

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed), Windows, Wii U

Genre: Action RPG/FPS

Release Date: 15 June 2012

Price: £39.99/$69.99

By Paul Brown

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Game Review: Super Pokemon Rumble

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Ambrella

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Action RPG

Players: 1

Release Date- October 2011 (USA), December 2011 (Europe)

Price- £19.99+/$29.99+

As a fan of the "main series" of Pokemon games, I tend to stay away from spin-offs. This is not because I believe they will be terrible games however I know they wont follow the same structure as the series that I know and love. Despite this thought process, I decided to delve into Super Pokemon Rumble, a sequel to the Wii ware title released in 2009.

In Super Pokemon Rumble the player controls clockwork Pokémon toys (brought to life by a magical key), battling through various different levels in a top down dungeon crawler-esque fashion. The game adopts a simplistic approach with each of the players Pokémon exploiting one or two attacks against waves of opposing Pokémon. Every toy in the game has a power level which relates the their strength in combat as well as having up to two moves they can use. The opposing Pokemon have a chance of remaining on the battlefield after being defeated for the player to collect. Doing so will grant the player use of that particular Pokémon complete with a randomly assigned move set which more often than not renders them useless.

Unlike the "main series", the Pokémon collected cannot be levelled up or evolved meaning that the player must continuously obtain new, more powerful toys. Players will find themselves constantly switching Pokémon due to the power level of the toys increasing at a fairly steady pace. This sadly renders the less powerful, previously collected Pokémon fairly useless.

This feels like a broken mechanic. If I grew an attachment to a specific Pokémon whilst playing there would be no point using them after a couple of levels as they wouldn't be able to compete with the more powerful toys.

There is also an option to purchase moves for your Pokémon using in-game currency however doing so feels pointless as the player will find a stronger Pokémon on the very next level and will have practically wasted the coins.


On the contrary when you pick up a new Pokémon there is no guarantee that they will be of any use due to the large pool of useless moves. It feels like a kick in the teeth when you finally obtain a high power toy only to find that the moves the game has randomly assigned happen to be terrible.

The main issue that I had with this game, so much so that I almost didn't finish it, is the mind-numbing repetitiveness of the gameplay.

Each level consists of around 4-6 dungeons where the player battles through around 5 stages before entering a boss battle where you battle a big version of a Pokémon.

After these dungeons are complete the player must play a "Battle Royale" where they come up against an arena of Pokémon in a brawl like scenario.
Upon completion the player will start a new level where they must do the same thing with a slight variation on the Pokémon you battle.

This is the structure for every level in the game and it wears thin very quickly.

The only variation in terms of battles are two other game modes.
The first is "Team Battle" where the player selects two CPU-controlled Pokémon (from their own collection) to battle alongside them. It's the same formula as before however you now have two CPUs doing most of the work for you. In the later stages of the game you will gain the ability to combine 3 Pokémon together for a brief period of time to make them very slightly more powerful as a whole.

The second and in my eyes most pointless variation is a "Charge Battle". In this type of battle the player must mash a single button and rotate the nub stick to make their collection of Pokémon charge towards a group of onrushing enemy Pokémon. How well you are doing is indicated my an arrow at the top of the screen which gets longer depending on how hard you try to destroy your console. If the bar reaches over half way then your team will knock the opposing squad out of the way. This process is repeated three (or more) times before the player is faced with the boss of the "charge battle" but instead of having a more difficult task, the player is swiftly prompted to press a single button to win. It is literally a "Press A to win" scenario.

The story of the game revolves around life replenishing "glowdrops" which are being stolen from the fountains of various towns across this toy world however it is about as deep and predictable as you'd expect from a game as simplistic as this. Having said that Pokémon isn't know for it's story telling approach (not up until Black and White at least) so this isn't a huge issue in the game.

The game utilises the streetpass functionality by obtaining a trainer card and that specific players collection allowing you to battle them whenever you desire. There are also unlocks attached to the number of people who you have passed on the street, for example acquiring ten street passes unlocks a legendary on a particular stage.

A niggling issue I have with the street-pass interface is that the options/buttons appear on the touch screen. They're nice and big and look like they can be pressed but the developers seem to have forgotten to add touch screen functionality. It's a small thing but it's very annoying considering it feels like they've simply forgotten to put it in.

As far as I'm aware, after the game is completed the player can up the difficulty level for all the previous stages already played and a new part of the game with a much greater difficulty margin opens up. This does give the game a form of replay value after the game is complete however I found after the first two chapters of the game everything felt like a replay anyway.


Having played a demo of the Wii ware prequel (and enjoying it thoroughly ) I knew exactly the type of gameplay to expect on the 3DS version, however I hoped there would be a bit more to the game overall.

To me the main flaw with Super Pokemon Rumble is the repetitiveness. It goes for a very simplistic approach but ends up being too simple with not enough variety to keep the player engaged given the length of the game.

By no means would I say this is a terrible game, I'm happy that they've included all 5 generations of Pokémon but it leaves a lot to be desired. Though hardcore fans may find a soft spot for the game, personally I would advise people to play the Wii demo on repeat. It practically offers the same experience.


- Tom Seed

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Game Preview: Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

Game Preview: Mass Effect 3 Demo Hands-On

Saving the Galaxy: Try before you buy!

The highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 demo was released on the 14th of February and included the fantastically fun Multiplayer beta, so let's take a look at it shall we? The Mass Effect series up till now has been entirely a single player experience, for obvious reasons. The game is set in a hugely immersive galaxy teeming with life, and it's really something you can only experience fully on your own rather than dragging teammates around with you. This originally made the idea of multiplayer in ME a rather strange prospect and a little worrying for those who are diligent fans of the series. But now that it's 
been put out for us to see I can wholeheartedly say that it's brilliant.

As I'm not going to touch upon the single player aspect of the demo, I'll just quickly mention some of the newest aspects in Mass Effect 3. The graphics are excellent, and have definitely been polished up since the previous games. The visuals have always looked delicious, but I look at them now and wonder how they could possibly get any better. The controls also feel as though they have been tightened up to compliment the combat and action. I never realised until recently playing back on the first Mass Effect game just what a huge improvement there has been. One thing that was a really pleasant surprise was the hit marker that comes up when you successfully get a shot on someone, like in Call of Duty. The tiny X pops up on your reticule and you get a little vibration in the pad... It might sound a little weird, but if you've played the COD games, you'll probably understand what I mean.

Multiplayer Trailer

The basic premise of the multiplayer is styled around a horde mode, like Gears of War; but in my opinion a more refined and fun experience (not to mention with a lot less drab colours...) You and up to three other players can pick from six uniquely different classes to team up and try to complete the mission. All the classes are in the single player game already, so there's no unfamiliar powers or abilities that you'll have to get used to. Customisation is available as you choose from the different species: Humans, Asaris, Krogans, Turians, all the wonderfully absurd alien types that populate the galaxy. Along with choosing the armour colours and arranging the perfect loadout of powers and weapons for your mission; there's a nice amount of things to get done for your character/s. You'll have individual characters for each class you pick, so you can have two Infiltrators with different abilities, or two soldiers with different weapon kits. Once you get everything organised and start upgrading and levelling up all the different characters; you'll have a small squad of troops ready for almost any situation.

So, now we move onto the actual gameplay: You'll be given the task of defending against ten waves of increasingly difficult enemies, whilst completing small objectives along the way. Objectives such as: hacking a data bank, or taking out specific targets amidst the hordes. It certainly spices up the action and when the objective is thrown at you at the start of a wave, you'll have a specific time limit to get it done, or the mission will be aborted. You'll have to cut a path through the many groups of assault troopers: the powerful rifle wielding Nemesis; the shield-toting Guardians; the agile ninja-like Phantoms; and the huge mechanical Atlas if you want to reach the end of the mission and get all the sweet experience points and credits. There is a nice level of variation between all of the enemies that really do require some strategy in taking them all out efficiently, all depending on how your four man squad is built. To best take out the Phantoms, you'll need a class that can cut through biotic barriers or you'll end up grating away slowly at them with bullets, which I can tell you is no easy task. A sniper rifle would be best suited to the typical Assault troopers for taking them out easily, as well as the Guardians who only offer a small area to breach in their shields. It all requires good teamwork and some variation between each player rather than simply hoping to clean it all up with bullets, which was my original plan of action. Suffice to say, upon chopping and changing, you begin to find some really good tactics that work best in every different situation.

The two levels offered in the beta are a good idea of what's to come: one having tight areas for you to try and not become trapped in and the other with larger gaps to navigate and move around in. There are also three varying levels of difficulty: Bronze, Silver and Gold. If you want to move further up and get a bigger challenge, you'll need to upgrade your characters and unlock better weapons using your earned credits or you won't last two minutes on Silver, let alone Gold. Regarding the actual multiplayer experience overall; it's certainly a lot of fun and the beta hasn't become boring yet, with so many different character abilities and styles to level up and try. With a lot of online games recently, I found my matched partners quiet and longing for a lone wolf gig instead of truly following the idea of the game mode. Playing with friends has been the most enjoyable course of action, but you could say that about most games. A few things need to be fixed of course, but it is only a beta after all. You can't expect perfection from it, but it actually does work very well in most areas. The only major complaint is that in the pre-game menus, everything feels a little clunky. And in regards to matchmaking, there should be some better options for getting you and your friends into a room to make a full game.


I look forward to playing the full Mass Effect 3 multiplayer experience when it comes this March. The multiplayer modes actually help your single player campaign, by helping your 'Galactic Readiness' that will appear as you begin the fight for the galaxy. All the credits you earn in multiplayer supposedly will be sent over to single player too, which is a great bonus. If you haven't played the beta yet, download it and give it a shot. If you haven't played any of the Mass Effect games yet, then go out and buy them too! It's never too late to start the galactic RPG series.


- Andy Robison 

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Game Preview: Kingdom Hearts 3D

Preview: Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance 

Square Enix has revealed that Kingdom Hearts 3D, for the Nintendo 3DS, will feature a set of flashbacks of past Kingdom Hearts games for newbies of the series. There’s a feature in the game called ‘Recollections’ which allows players to catch up or study with what happened in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Kingdom Hearts, 358/2 Days and the rest of the past Kingdom Hearts games before it. 


Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the Kingdom Hearts series directed by Tetsuya Nomura. Revolving around a fourteen-year old boy named Sora, it details his adventures after his home world is destroyed by sinister creatures known as the Heartless, and his attempts to restore his world and reunite with his friends. In the process, he meets many characters from classic Disney films and a handful from the Final Fantasy video game series.

Kingdom Hearts 3D is set to release next month in Japan, and is due sometime later this year in the rest of the world. Kingdom Hearts 3D will be a canon story, not a side story, and it's said that the story will have an impact on Kingdom Hearts 3's story. North American Fans will be pleased to hear that KH3D is already under localisation but no date has been confirmed. 


The game will feature heroes from both Kingdom Hearts and the World Ends With You. Gamers will play as Sora and Riku, so far seven worlds have been confirmed, some worlds are from classics like Prankster's Paradise, Country of the Musketeers, Symphony of Sorcery and brand new to the Disney collection is The Grid from Tron Legacy. 

Instead of having the likes of Donald and Goofy at your side you have these creatures called Dream Eaters, these cute little demons will be your aid in the game. They are Wonder Meow, Bat Bat. Riku's is Bat Bat, Kuma Panda. The game will have limits on both Sora and riku not much info is been said about this. A gauge called the drop gauge will deplete after a certain amount of time time causing you to switch from Sora to Riku. For example: when Sora is in one world and the gauge gives out, the player will be forced to then play as Riku in a another world. Sounds confusing right? It should be simple enough in practise, it's certainly an interesting gameplay partner system to use.


- Jake Huston

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Weekly Gaming News - 24/02/2012

Welcome to the weekly gaming news. There's been quiet a lot of news this week, a fair number of small news (Release dates announced, Sale Stats etc etc) One of the biggest things this week is the official launch of Sony's brand spanking new handheld gaming system the Playstation Vita. I personally haven't bought one yet but I have gotten to play one and it looks like a great piece of hardware.
Check out our PS Vita Launch article


I hope you enjoy reading the rest of this weeks news. Also if you have any ideas on things you'd like to see added to the weekly gaming news please feel free to: email me


Bite Size News
Jet Set Radio coming to XBLA and PSN/SEN
TMNT game will be developed after all but by Activision
Fallout 3 and Oblivion double pack coming to Xbox 360 and PC April 3rd 
Double Fine Adventure reaches $2 million 
Rumour: EA making Crysis 3?
Witcher 2 sells 1.1 million copies in 2011
Hideo Kojima reveals New Metal Gear Solid game over twitter.
Borderlands 2 releasing September 21st
Game UK not stocking Ubisoft launch titles
Game UK cancels all The Last Story pre-orders hours before release
PS Vita outsold by PSP again
 Guild Wars 2 Beta Sign up begins
Fill out a survey to have a chance to get into the Counter Strike: GO beta
South African retailer allowing pre-orders for God of War 4

Feature Story

Huge Nintendo News

 Nintendo America have released a video announcing some upcoming games and there release dates. The first announcement was that a downloadable game called Dillon's Rolling Western, a tower defence game developed by Vanpool. It has just been released and is now available at the Nintendo 3DS eShop right now.

We also got some Kid Icarus Uprising news and some mention about the multiplayer modes. They also went into weapon fusing which looks very interesting which can be found here.

Mario Tennis Open got a release date of May 20th for the 3DS. We also have gotten some video footage of some gameplay. This is being developed by the guys who made Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64, which is a fan favourite, so it's shaping up to be a solid arcade tennis game.

Nintendo's Xenoblade Chronicles Cover art poll has finished and Nintendo have announced which cover art they will be using for the Wii release. (Pictured below) Also the North American release date is set for April 6th. Xenoblade Chronicles is already out in Europe/Australia. Originally Nintendo had no plans to release the title in North America but they changed there minds after heavy opposition from Wii owners.

The  biggest news coming out of the video was that The Last Story, for the Nintendo Wii, will be released in America some time this year. The Last Story is a JRPG which is being developed by Mistwalker, the had of Mistwalker was, until recently, the executive producer for the Final Fantasy series. This game was just recently released for Europe and Australia as well.

No Plans For PS2/PS3 Games Coming To PS Vita

Sony's handheld packs a punch and has the potential to run any game of the PS2 library on the go. However it looks like Sony haven't gotten any plans to start porting over the PS2 and PS3 library to the vita.

Sony answered the question over at the Playstation Blog:

Q: Is the PS Vita compatible with other PlayStation platform games such as PS3, PS2, or PSP? Do you have any plan to support other PlayStation platforms in the future?

A: PlayStation does not have plans to make PS Vita compatible with PS3 or PS2 titles at this point.

Hopefully we see Sony changing there mind in the near future to support these older titles, backwards compatibility/libraries are a huge selling point to many gamers. 

3DS Is Fastest Selling Console Ever In Japan

According to Nintendo the Nintendo 3DS is now the fastest selling video game console ever in Japan. (Also in Australia as well) The 3DS sold a whooping five million units in the first year of launching. The initial launch of the 3DS did not go as Nintendo were expecting, especially after the highly successful Nintendo DS, with poor sale numbers due to a lackluster launch lineup and high retail price (£229.99/$249.99) Nintendo panicked and quickly set to try and save the 3DS with a price drop and released some solid first party titles. Helped by the big releases such as Super Mario 3D Land in November and Mario Kart 7 in early December the 3DS sales skyrocketed during the holiday period.

For such a flaky start it's impressive Nintendo managed to reach the five million units sold milestone quicker than any other console did.

WEEKLY GAME RELEASES 

UK Weekly releases
Date:	Game Title:	Platforms:
February 22nd 2012	Playstation Vita	Vita
February 22nd 2012	Alan Wake's American Nightmare	XBLA
February 24th 2012	Binary Domain	PS3/360
February 24th 2012	Jak and Daxter Collection	PS3/360/PC
February 24th 2012	The Last Story	Wii
February 24th 2012	Syndicate	PS3/360/PC

AUS Weekly Releases
Date:	Game Title:	Platforms:
February 22nd 2012	Alan Wake's American Nightmare	XBLA
February 22nd 2012	Asura's Wrath	PS3/360
February 23rd 2012	Playstation Vita	Vita
February 23rd 2012	Asura's Wrath	PS3/360
February 23rd 2012	Binary Domain	PS3/360
February 23rd 2012	Catherine	PS3/360
February 23rd 2012	The Last Story	Wii
February 23rd 2012	TEKKEN	3DS

Sources: Inside Gaming Blog - Joystiq - Games On.Net 

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Game Feature: A Retro Flashback of Gaming Greats

Do you remember...

Final Fantasy VII?

This game holds a very special place in my heart. As a kid, I can remember playing this on the PS1, not quite understanding it as well as I do now, and maybe not playing as well as I could now, but dammit, I had fun. If you ever played this game, maybe your experiences differed slightly, but however you played the game, Final Fantasy VII is hailed as one of the greatest games in the universe ever. Maybe. It's definitely highly acclaimed, but whether the previous title is true or not remains to be confirmed officially by the boys down at the lab.


The Final Fantasy games have always been pretty damn awesome, and are definitely a stand out series in the RPG genre of video games. The very first game was made as a last ditch effort of saving the studio from dying out, the 'final' fantasy game for them to make. Luckily for them it worked, and from there on we've had a nice load of newer games from the series. They aren't sequels as such, though the games all share similar ideas in their gameplay and story premise. In each game, you're gradually introduced to your characters, your world, its setting and basic story plot to begin with. But soon, things will take a turn for the worst, and the antagonists will be revealed. The stories in the Final Fantasy games are usually always an incredible journey throughout the respective worlds, and tell a beautiful, enchanting tale with plenty of twists and turns.

Final Fantasy VII's story is one that has always been my favourite of them all. The premise to begin with quickly throws you in the boots of Cloud Strife, a spikey haired mercenary hired by the 'terrorist organisation' A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E., who are planning to blow up one of the mako reactors, the stations that give electricity and power to the city of Midgar and the rest of the planet, a technological/medieval setting that the game is based around. A kind of early steampunk style, but not quite full blown. Seconds in from riding in on the train to the reactor, you're quickly thrown into your first battle of the game, two soldiers of the S.H.I.N.R.A. army, and organisation that runs the production of the plants and is essentially the rather shady government of the world. As you make your way through the groups of enemies you encounter, which include the soldiers, guard robots and flying parrots on patrol, you'll break into the reactor and head deep inside to plant a bomb and make your escape, with the presence of a descending timer nudging you towards the door threatening that dreadful 'Game Over' screen with every ticking second.


Soon after your escape from the exploding reactor, the leader of A.V.A.L.A.N.C.H.E., Barret, a hot headed, strong-willed fighter with a gun for one arm explains the situation they're in, and what they're trying to do. To sum it up, the Mako reactors are hurting the planet, and Barret fears that if they don't stop the energy being sucked from the Lifestream, the planet will die and everyone else on it will follow just as quickly. So that's your set up. If you haven't played this game before, I'm not going to throw out any spoilers here, because it's bloody fantastic, and it's a story you really have to experience.

Gameplay and graphics for the time were pretty cool. Obviously, this being a PS1 game, there isn't exactly HD graphics. FF7 was the first leap into using 3D styles in a Final Fantasy game, all the predecessors being in 2D, and it's not too shabby. Though the areas are pre-rendered, with the 3D character models etc layered on top, the art style is captivating and great to look at, each location brilliantly detailed. The graphics are a lot better in the fights however, a lot more detail put into both your heroes and the enemies they come across. The huge monsters you encounter can be rather scary when you first see them towering over your characters! The fighting system is brilliant, and in my opinion the best style used in the Final Fantasy games with the inclusion of the Materia system, which allows you to completely customise your characters abilities, magic powers and give boosts to their HP or MP. Certainly an innovation in the genre in my opinion, and I'm rather disappointed that it hasn't shown up in any of the newer titles.  Even when you begin to reach the ultimate climax to the story upon reaching the third disc, a whole new slew of things to do are unlocked and available to do. The Ruby and Emerald Weapons being a prime example of something that will haunt your dreams every night until you successful manage to smash the behemoths to pieces, a feat that isn't exactly easy.


Something I almost forgot to mention, which is absolutely mad of me, is the sensational soundtrack created by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. This is definitely one of the best bunch of songs for a game I've ever heard. I actually have the whole 4 CDs or so of songs on my computer to listen to whenever I want. And I find myself sticking them on pretty regularly to be honest. It's a true testament to composition when I can hear the same melodies or themes when I'm stuck in a dungeon and never get sick of it, and I've been playing this game for a Long, long time. Each score fits the scene perfectly, and Uematsu does an excellent job of stirring up the atmosphere at the most intense of moments.


I could go on about this game for hours. The amount of hours I played it as a kid, when it was tragically taken away (or lost, I can't exactly remember...) I spent the years after always reminiscing about the story, the characters, everything I could remember. But as my memories faded of it, it became just that, a memory to me. Until I managed to pick up a copy of the game again around summer last year. Happy doesn't quite describe how I felt having a copy i my hands again. I'd started to worry on the way home that perhaps I'd just hyped it up in my head, having a happy childhood memory and building it up to be something it wasn't. And as well as that, technology has moved on a fair bit since the original Playstation. I had half expected to be a little disappointed with it, or for it to feel rather outdated in my hands and make me lose interest.

I can very firmly say that neither of those things happened. When I finally got my rickety old PS2 out from its retirement, playing through the opening scenes of the game got me so excited as everything slowly flooded back to me. And picking up the story again, and essentially learning it from scratch again, understanding the plot and sub plots better than I had as a younger child was simply awesome. I'm personally a little disappointed with the latest titles from Square Enix, and kind of wonder where it wrong, for me anyway, but at least I can always have this golden treasure in gaming to keep me knowing that video games really can be an excellent source of entertainment. Or something.


To round up, Final Fantasy VII is a game from my past that I freaking love. And I'm definitely not the only one. In my opinion, it's the best in the series, with the most satisfying story arc, most fascinating characters and a really immersive world. If you haven't played this game already, or at least heard of it, you're either too young to be on the Internet, or quite simply a fool. A fool I say! Go snap this up on eBay and play through a fantastic game that captured the hearts of millions.




- Andy Robison

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Gaming feature: Hands on with Skyrim

I used to critique games until I took an arrow to the knee...

After the excruciatingly long wait, finally, the nine divines have blessed us with the gift of the fifth installment into the Elder Scrolls Series. Oh Talos, we thank ye for Skyrim and its amazing gameplay, huge, HUGE beautifully decorated open world and the captivating stories we learn about on our journey. Okay, so perhaps some would say I'm overreacting here, and whether you think I am or not, I don't care. If you played the predecessors to the highly anticipated 2011 release 'Skyrim' and you thought they were good, then I suggest you take a seat and... No, forget that, just go buy it. Don't even bother reading this!

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Gaming Feature: Freshly Ground Pokémon

Grinding - A tedious tale of repetitive leveling

Around the internet forums I usually frequent, there’s a specific season that goes around, every time a new entry in the series is released, the forums will have a tendency to become more interconnected than usual; I don't mean people taking a slight interest back in the game, it gets pretty hardcore there. Soon after, I guess I get swept in all the fun as well. Two important things were realized after restarting my journey to become the top trainer: the game is addicting, and there is grinding galore. The two main questions that would come to mind with novices would be, what is grinding in Pokémon, and what significance does grinding play in the overall scheme of the game? First of all, Pokémon, to those who may not know what it is, is an RPG where you catch, train, and even trade creatures in order to have them battle later. The answer to the second question is that the definition of grinding can only be called so under the following conditions:

• It's an incredibly repetitive action within the game

• The action itself is not the goal

• The action is incredibly cumbersome to perform

The grinding within Pokémon is viewed at two different levels. The first level of grinding is common in most RPGs, random battles. Battles constitute the backbone of Pokémon; random battles with wild Pokémon is a means to achieve your goal of winning the next battle by gaining the upper hand knocking out wild Pokémon. The second level of this is ironically, more socially based than the other, it involves the exploitation of the game's mechanics, which are Effort Values (EV's) and Individual Values (IVs).

To make Pokémon battle to the best of their ability, it is required to keep an eye on these factors at all times. Unfortunately, they're not available for display within the game and it's required to go on the internet and search how to best utilize these mechanics. In most cases this would be easy, but the fact that Pokémon is a very complex game in this sense, actually to the point where it seems a bit random, it takes a bit of luck to get what you want and incredible determination to achieve your goal. Of course there is a plethora of other things to keep track of, but for the sake of keeping things concise, I'll go into the most popular mechanics of the affair. There is no way to avoid this, unless the Pokémon end up failures in battle. This is the trade-off for such a time consuming task. On average, I used to take about 8-12 hours each day raising one or a throng of Pokémon, only to gain 20, maybe 30 levels on a good day.

From what was described, the game sounds shallow and incredibly boring, doing nothing but grinding for the sake of a battle, although, these games can be fun if you enjoy mathematics and manipulating numbers. But in conclusion, playing Pokémon is a great experience if you grind hard for your goal of a real battle; it seems weird, but thoroughly enjoyable for those of us who have time on their hands and a Nintendo DS in their pocket.

- Kevin Morrison

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Game of the Day: Terraria

Terraria - Minecraft in one less dimension

Most gamers don't need an introduction to Minecraft, it's one of the most popular sandbox/building games on PC. Terraria is a similar game that plays in two dimensions instead of three. Though it does differ in some key areas.

The graphics are a throwback to the 16 Bit generation with games like Mario, Sonic and Bomberman.

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