Mysteries of the Underground

The Tube is a wonderful thing, with trains usually arriving every couple of minutes, the longest wait I have had so far, has been maybe ... five minutes at most, six if there is a delay. This is a stark contrast to back on the Wirral where trains come every half an hour (fifteen minutes during rush hour).

This is why it's a complete mystery to me when I see people getting so agitated that they'll have to wait another minute or two for their next train. There was a man I saw, who just missed his train, and started ranting and raving about how the tube system is utter trash and is totally against him, this rant went on for about a minute.

No less than forty seconds into this rant, the next train arrived, to which he stepped into continuing his rant about how long he had had to wait.

Am I the only person that thinks this is madness?

Seddon

Why you don't let your friend use your Xbox account.

A Black Ops story.

My flat and I are pretty into gaming (if you couldn't tell by our weekly Board game night) and as such, we love anything to do with games, playing them, watching them and even just talking about them. Currently, Will and I are the only ones who own Xbox Live accounts, we usually just take turns letting Aaron h and Price play using ours.
However, a certain incident has changed my mind somewhat on this matter. I am by no means the best COD  player ... I'm not even a very good player really, but there is one thing I was proud of. That was my incredibly mediocre 'Kill Death Ratio'. A pride I can no longer have.
In a certain game, with a certain player using my account, he manged to rack up a grand total of 36 deaths, to 8 kills. That beautifully average percentage I had worked ... not all that much on to create fell right before my eyes. 

The worst part?
Was that I was in the room watching, yet did nothing. I know that no amount of apology will make up for the  fact that I left my poor account alone and scared when it needed me the most.

I just hope in time I can redeem myself and gain it's love back.

Seddon

Alliances and Broken Hearts.

Another Risk Story.

The Flat have decided that Tuesday should be our 'Risk Day' as we all finish college at the same time. So you can expect regular stories once a week about the trials and tribulations of our constant battles for 'Middle Earth'. As I type this, Price is attacking Will in what marks the beginning of our 'End Game' strategy to completely wipe him from the map... whether it will work, is totally up to strategy ... and a bit of luck. But rest assured that you will know by the end of this post.

This time, all four of us are playing, as opposed to the three we had last time as Aaron Hayse is now back among us!

I have learned pretty quickly that either the game, or the dice hate me, as so far I've almost only rolled one's, two's or three's, and sadly that is usually not enough to wipe out an attacking army, so as a result I have begun building up my horde in selected areas, namely my two forts (If you read the last edition of my little risk story, I explained what a fort is)

We have good news as well, it's snowing.

Back to the story. Despite it being his first time playing, Aaron H has almost entirely dominated the top regions of the map, while Will has almost completely taken the bottom regions. (save Helms deep which I refuse to let go easily)  One thing is certain, no one is going easily. Evident from the current battle now raging between Price and will, with Price having seven units in defense and will having eighteen in attack. No points for guessing how this little skirmish will turn out.

As Will takes another territory, our hope for victory diminishes one bit more. that's the great thing about the game, no matter what you think, there will always be a little turning point that tips the entire game, for instance, Price had a pretty solid plan that has totally backfired and left him in a pretty bad condition.

I think that at a quick glance, Aaron H has the most units, with Will in second, and Price and I fighting to not be last. A lot of things will need to go right for me to win this.

In a dramatic, but predictable turn, Aaron H has started pushing south, followed in a retreat by Price from the center of the map to the far left where the boats are, only to be attacked by Will's forces bordering on his edge. Price has just lost Moria. Could this be part of some plan?

It seems now that I am the most heavily outnumbered. This thing I am feeling is apparently called 'fun'.

To top it off, it's stopped snowing, this is a bad sign if there ever was one.

The game has been going on for a good ... two or more hours, and it seems like the real action is just starting. 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy soundtrack blaring full blast. This is War!

We are playing a mode where we need three complete regions to win and Aaron H almost has three under his control, with only my fort holding off his victory, and Will almost having Three, but once again, my fort is messing with that beautiful little plan.

After a short ten minute break to restore our sanity, the battle continues.

 The fate of 'Middle Earth' hangs in chance of a few rolls of the die.

My strategy is starting to unfold, by handing Rivendell over to Aaron H, I begin my push into Rohan, with the aim of claiming the whole territory for myself. Through careful diplomacy and a sheer bout of luck, I appear to be making a comeback, it's all about the little turning points.

It really does feel like a reverse of helms deep, as I have Isengard totally surrounded to the south, with a unit mass of twenty four  ready to rain death and destruction against all who stand before my might... well, my little plastic pieces on the cardboard board of 'Middle Earth'

Whether I will ever get to make that move is a totally different matter, as Will is attacking north aiming to claim the final territory he needs to win. Only Aaron H's stuffy die rolling skills are all that stand between Will and total annihilation. 

Will's push north continues strong, but is slowly starting to falter, the giant force he originally contended Aaron H's force with has quickly diminished. All bonds are broken, and all bets are off. We're back at a standstill. Such is life in a game of 'Risk'.

Even as I was writing that last paragraph, Will unleashed a 'power card' giving him three more units, granting him the power to take my small outpost and move onto the rest of Aaron H's land. The music seems to know exactly what is happening, as 'The Hornburg' takes a dramatic turn, Will claims the last territory and the land has once again fallen into darkness.

Hopefully luck will be on my side next time.

Please join us the following week for our next adventures in;

The Battle for Middle Earth.

Seddon

Things Learned in Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution.

A whole lot of blood.

(spoiler alert)

My Flatmate Will recently got a copy of 'Hitman Absolution' for the Xbox 360, and needless to say, I've been playing a fair bit of it. Which has taught me some very harsh lessons about myself, but before I get to that, I suppose I should review the actual game a little bit.

Camera

'Hitman' is made by 'IO-Interactive', which I know in the past (Kane and Lynch Dead Men) has brought certain problems with it, however I can say with a certain degree of confidence that 'Hitman' has solved all the old issues of view. They've thankfully kept in the 'click switch' basically meaning that by clicking the left thumb stick in, you change the camera from being over your left shoulder, to your right shoulder. A very handy thing for shooting round corners. 

Gunplay

Obviously, a large part of 'Hitman' is to do with finding men of a questionable moral disposition and shooting them. (I for one prefer the good old tactic of firing as many bullets in their general direction and hoping I hit) The Aiming system is relatively smooth for the most part, only catching, for instance when you shoot round corners, but as a whole it is an incredibly smooth and enjoyable experience.

Stealth

Now for the Important part. The main focus of 'Hitman' is trying to kill your enemies in fascinatingly quiet ways, be it using a fish to poison more fish, or even poisoning a line of cocaine  The ways you can kill your enemies are endless, I once pulled a man out of a window just after he had learned he did not have Prostate Cancer, I even waited till just after he told his doctor over the phone that "no-one can shit on this day" ... I'm still not sure how I feel about about my actions at that point.
The stealth mechanics in the game are by far some of the best I have seen, alongside such games as 'Splinter Cell', or The 'Assasins Creed' series and many many more. And by rights, they should be as this is the fifth installment to the 'Hitman' saga, so they've well and truly nailed it down.
Disguises are also a major (albeit optional) part of your mission, allowing you to sneak past enemies using you 'instinct ability' to trick them into believing you are among their ranks. When you are in a disguise, ordinary citizens will not look twice at you, even if you are in a 'restricted' or 'hostile' area, enemies and police (yes, these are two different categories, which is a refreshing light in the world of cop killing games) however will take notice of you so it's best to keep your distance.

Story

Without giving too much away, the story follows the infamous 'Agent 47' as he tracks down various targets for his contractors, all while trying to protect another contact from being eliminated. It is quite heart warming in parts where you get to see '47s' human side, and I for one felt a much stronger connection to him than I have in the previous games. The story flows pretty seamlessly from one mission to the next all the while hurtling towards what I can only assume will be a climactic conclusion. 

It really feels like everyone is out to get you.  

Lessons Learned

1. I am a terrible assassin. On a certain mission (which I shall not name) the anit-hero inside me decided that everyone in this area decided to die. So instead of using my usual method of hiding among the shadows and avoiding contact with the enemies as much as possible, I went through the level guns blazing. What made me feel even more bad-ass was the fact that I was dressed as a priest, and the level had some pretty dramatic classical music blaring out to accompany my hail of justice.
2. When possible, I will find the most extravagant way of eliminating my enemies, when given the chance, i will opt for blowing them up with a remote explosive to silently eliminating them when no-one is looking.
3. I myself have a very questionable moral stance. Actually, I learned this is the 'Army of Two games', but given the chance, I would kill a target instead of letting them live, as it means one less person I need to worry about.
4. Finally, when given the option, i will toy with my prey, rather than giving them a clean death. In one of the missions, a character shoots a nun out of frustration, and once given the option to either kill him cleanly, I decided to chase him around an old Hackney carriage with a hatchet in one hand... for about 10 minutes, imagining that '47' was reciting the Verse;

"Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat of it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

Before finally laying him to rest with said hatchet.

I guess that concludes my little review, i would highly advise anyone out there to purchase this gem as you will get many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Leave a comment on your views of the game, and subscribe for more reviews.

Till the next time Internet.

Seddon

LOTR Risk

War is Upon us!

Well, not really, but it sure as hell feels like it.
I think we can already agree that 'Risk' is one brilliant game, the right mix of strategy and action to keep you entertained all through the god knows how many hours you'll be slaving away at this board. 'Lord of the Rings Risk', takes this to a whole new level.

-Forts- These little beauties take your defense up to a whole new level, tired of not being sure where to aim for? Not any more, now you know exactly where to shoot for, because these bitches drop one unit on them every single round!

Unless you're me of course, who forgets that he has a fort.

Playing Risk with my two flatmates has shown me some harsh truths.

1) I'm terrible of keeping track of forts, honestly, I lose those things faster than ... well, faster than I lose at Risk.

2)event cards can go any way. Will pulled a card that gave three units on three separate territories. Turned out I just so happened to own those three territories.

3)Fate hates everything and anything that you do. Attack a single unit with a cave Troll(5 units) Tough shit, looks like you're going to lose all 5 attacks.

4) Each failure may kill me inside ... but yeah, it kills me inside.

The game started fairly simply with us setting our defenses, and preparing our forces to attack. Things took a drastic turn with the first major victory. My taking of the 'Mines of Moria' from Will's Cave Troll by my Nazgul goblin horde... Turns out that would be the last victory I ever saw. What I did see instead was territory after territory fall before the Might of Wills army, whatever feeling of victory I had. Was a very short lived thing.

But the main thing to remember.

There is always a re-match.

Seddon.

Living in London

Life throws a lot of unexpected twists and turns.
For instance, getting a flat in London with 3 guys that I have never met before, was a pretty big move. But that was some 4 months ago, time sure flies.
A lot has changed since my last review that I posted and a lot will continue to change.
I've just ordered some new equipment so I can start creating game play videos. (I know what you're thinking, not another idiot who wants to add to the already overflowing pile ;) )
Living with actors always has it's uses, the moment I mentioned about wanting to re-start this blog and youtube channel, they immediately started throwing ideas around for what we could do.
This next year will be a very interesting one, and I for one hope you enjoy the Journey.

Seddon.

The Long hiatus

Well, it's been a while hasn't it?

This time we're back, and we're working on new content, from game play videos to new posts.

Part of the reason for the total media blackout has been that Luke Seddon Took a job in America for three months which left him without internet, and then took up a Foundation course in Acting.
Not to mention that Adam Dean has been doing a Course in BA film.

However, we're back and working on good things. You can also expect a few new ... well not faces, but names ;)

See you soon.

Sny.