Monday 31 March 2014

Fandom: Legacy of BuddyPoke

So I did a little review the other day of BuddyPoke and shared with you my versions of Kain and Janos from the Legacy of Kain series. Since then I’ve been hard at it – slaving away at this app creating more characters from the LoK series – and I thought I’d share them with you all for a laugh…

So here you go…

Ariel

Janos

Kain

Moebius

Mortanius

Raziel (wraith)

Umah

Vorador

Sunday 30 March 2014

Movies: Rio 2 (U), Apocalypto (DVD – 18), Avatar (DVD – 12)

Rio 2 – what’s it about? Blu and his family find out they are not the only ones in existence – they travel to the Amazon to seek out the others of their kind…and try to save the forest in the process…

If you’ve seen the first one you know what to expect – more dancing and singing birds – and in the same humour as the first one…slapstick stuff. Bright and colourful – ok family orientated story – you know it’s one of those Sunday afternoon leave you brain at the door and just watch it movies…it’s alright for a kids movie and is amusing in parts.

Rating: J J J



Apocalypto – what’s it about? The story of Jaguar Paw, who’s village is ravaged by the Mayan people – they are captured and taken to be sacrificed as offerings to appease the gods…

This is up there – in my best movies ever list – I’ve loved this for years and every time I watch it – it’s epic story of survival – awesomely acted – action based – heart pumping scenes – draw me in deep. If you love movies with action – story – history – and tribal stuff – then you’ll love this…don’t be fooled though it’s not for the faint hearted as in parts it’s pretty icky! Definitely watch this if you’ve never seen it!!!!! Pure win! I should probably say - it has subtitles...

Rating: J J J J J



Avatar – what’s it about? It’s the future and humanity has the ability to travel to other planets and in their greed they extract minerals from an alien planet, its indigenous people try to protect it from the humans, and one ex-marine joins them in their fight.

Dude is pure gold and is way up there and has been for years!! This movie has three of my main most favourite things in it...sc-fi – blue people – and tribal stuff…and of course the blue people have fangs which makes it more awesome. The story is epic and awesome – the acting is amazing – the action scenes are perfect – the graphics are superb – there is not one thing I dislike about this movie – apart from that fact humans really suck and it really echos home the fact you know people would do something like that…and probably will at some point in the future. If you haven’t seen this then go and watch it now!!!!! You will not regret it…

Rating: J J J J J


Thursday 27 March 2014

Game: BuddyPoke (Android)

What is it? It’s basically a chibi-maker – you can create a character – put clothes and accessories on it – give it emotion – make animations – pictures – and movies – and then share them with your friends via text and the internets etc.


OMG this is my latest little app obsession!!!!! It’s so cute and cool – and it’s FREE – available from the Play Store. I’ve made a few and have lost a good couple of hours on this – it’s a fun little thing to play with when you’re bored and only have your phone for company. The characters are so adorable and you can create lots of things for free – you can buy more costumes and accessories for a reasonable price too! I can imagine the shelf life won’t last too long though – and I’ll/you’ll get bored with it after a while as there's only so much you can do. If you’re bored and want to annoy your friends with little animations…then get it and you’ll geekout!

There’s also an extension to this which is the BuddyPoke 3D Papercraft app which is under £2. It allows you to send your chibi’s to your computer – so you can print them – then fold them to make actual paper 3D models of your chibi characters!!!! Pure awesomeness!

Rating: J J J (yeah I'm torn between giving it 3 and 4 as it'll probably get old quickly)

Here are some of my creations…

Me…

Lucinvampire

Kain…

Janos…

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Movies: Starred Up (18), Captain America: The First Avenger (DVD - 12A) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (12A)

Starred Up – what’s it about? A drama about a young offender that is transferred to adult prison where he meets his estranged father – he sets out to make a name for himself and ruffles a few feathers!

I don’t really do drama stuff – usually they’re quite boring – dull – dingy and depressing…ok this was the dingy and depressing part but it was interesting and stuff happened – there was a good story – as well as a bit of fighting/action…but believable stuff…but at the same time it was a little meh…take it or leave it – I wouldn’t rush to see it at the cinema…

Rating: J J J



Captain America: The First Avenger – what's it about? It’s World War 2 and Steve Rogers is trying his very best to get enlisted in the US Army – he is a weakling – and is denied entry. He signs up for a Top Secret project – and is turned into Captain America – a superhero who sets out to protect the world from the Nazis and stands up for all that’s good in the world…

This is not one of the best Marvel movies that has come out…but it’s not the worst…I think it’s the whole war thing and everything that makes it a little ugh – that said though re-watching it made it much better! If you love the Marvel universe then check this one out if you haven’t already…

Rating: J J J J



Captain America: The Winter Soldier – what's it about? It’s present day and Steve Rogers is having some trouble with fitting into society – though with SHIELD under attack and with the Soviet agent on the loose – he doesn’t have much free time with trying to save the world and all…

This one was pretty damn EPIC!!!! Lots of action – fighting – explosions – you know the normal jazz – good superhero story – got to save the day! Yeah I really liked this – really really liked this – definitely see if you love the Marvel. Like the second Thor movie – this one follows suit in that the sequel was way better than the original!...though I can’t wait to see how they tie this into the Agents of SHIELD TV series! Go now – and watch it!!!!

Rating: J J J J J


Tuesday 25 March 2014

Movies: RV: Runaway Vacation (DVD – PG) & Pacific Rim (DVD – 12A)

RV: Runaway Vacation  What’s it about? Bob and his dysfunctional family take a vacation in an RV – it’s not the lifestyle they’re used to and they meet all kinds of weirdos on the way…

What to say about this movie? What to say? It was pretty much predicable – but it made me chuckle in parts – but not all out haha I’m dying here. It’s slap stick comedy – so funny – rather than just crudeness – oh but it does have a lot of toilet humour. I don’t know but I just kinda felt it was lacking…something…but still better than a lot of comedies that are about!

Rating: J J (probably more 2 ½) 




Pacific Rim – what’s it about? Aliens invade earth – but they’re not your normal aliens – the break through from the bottom of the sea – and are kinda more monster than alien…massive monsters. Pilots of massive mech warriors are the only thing that can stop them from destroying life on the planet and claiming it for themselves…

This film – I raved about it when I saw it in the cinema – twice – and I’m going to again! I LOVE this movie – what more do you want than giant mechs vs giant monsters??? Great graphics – amazing actions scenes…lots and lots and lots of action…a bit of story – I would LOVE to know more about this universe – it’s EPIC!!!!! See it now if you haven’t already!!!!!

Rating: J J J J J



Thursday 20 March 2014

Fandom: NOSGOTH Beta Key Competition…


I’m feeling generous today – I’ll shortly have 10* Nosgoth Beta Keys to give away so have decided to spread the love…but don’t worry I won’t make you do anything evil to get them…though you will have to do something…

The competition will run over the next couple weeks – submissions need to be in by midnight (GMT) Sun 6 Apr 14…

What do you have to do I hear you ask?...

Well – the characters in LoK are feeling a little lonely – your job is to help them find love by writing a dating ad for one of them…yep – something 60 words or less (but I won’t set you on fire if you’re a couple of words over). Pick a character and write what they should put in a profile…it can be as funny – serious or as weird as you like. Please give a prefix of the characters name/class…oh and it can be anyone from the LoK universe – it doesn’t have to be Nosgoth related…

Here’s a little example for you…

Tyrant: Undead enraged beast seeks hot female (living or dead – I have no preference!) who is partial to brutes who like smashing stuff up and being an all-round beefcake. Though underneath my hard exterior I’m really a cuddly softie who likes to give hugs…give me a chance and I’ll send a shockwave of love into your heart!

*barf* ok that was pretty bad but you get the picture lol…

Submitting your entry – wing it to me on email at lucinvampire@gmail.com. Please title your email with “Nosgoth Competition” so I’ll see it and won’t think its spamalot! I will need to be able to email you with information/key details if you are successful. Hopefully I’ll be posting the winning entries in a blog post at the end of the competition – so please include what you would like to be referred to as (online name/real name).

If I get enough entries then I’ll pick the winners – if not then you know – you’ll get one for taking part…

Please note if you are the winner of a key – you will receive your key code once they have been released (and once the competition has ended)…they are currently not available…yet! I’m running this early so as soon as they are released I should be able to issue them ASAP.



*Currently standing at 10 keys – unless SE changes the entitlement number for the pack…so this maybe subject to change…

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Movies: Need For Speed (12A) and The Fourth Kind (DVD – 15)

Need For Speed – What’s it about? Based on the computer games – street racer Tobey is framed and sent to prison…upon his release – he plans to enter the biggest race going – and set out to prove what really happened!

Its cars…racing…bit of a story…some annoying people…really long for what it was…but still not the worst movie I’ve seen! It was pretty enjoyable – leave your brain at the door type thing…depending what you like – will depend how much you’ll get out of this one. Afterwards I wanted to go drive a car really really really fast...

Rating: J J J



The Fourth Kind – What’s it about? Alls not well in Alaska…for the past 40 years people have been experiencing strange things and going missing…this is unsolved story of Abbey and her ordeal…

Note to self…never move to Alaska – beware of owls – be afraid of alien abduction! That said this one wasn’t as spooky as I thought it was going to be. It’s been one I’ve been dying to see but I was left a little meh…it was interesting – and enjoyable – just you know not as compelling as I’d hoped!

Rating: J J J


Wednesday 12 March 2014

Fandom: Nosgoth – just for boredoms sake…

So I was a little bored and looked through some of my bug screenshots of Nosgoth – a few amused me and well you know how that goes…‘cause everyone knows how much I like to caption things…

The no pants Tyrant brigade…yes apparently trousers and underwear are optional for this class…





Seriously they should add some optional glow sticks – it would make the raving stuck characters awesome…

 

Just here for no reason – after death or just ‘cause they feel like it…





Reaver is a pest…need I say more…he really does look that pesty…



And now presenting my signature move – the one thing I’ve become soooooo skilled at that no one can match me……getting stuck on trees!




Even though there are a few bugs – the game is majority bug free – but yes some things amuse my little mind and that is all this is…don't flame me...lol.

Tuesday 11 March 2014

Movies: 300 (DVD – 15), 300: Rise of an Empire (15), and Escape from Planet Earth (U)

300 – The Persians attack Greece and King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans stand ready to stop them from conquering the land.

Bloody, graphic and brutal – this film is EPIC – swords, spears and shields clash as this awesome violent tale unfolds…there is a hint of mysticism thrown in for good measure – oh and of course not forgetting men in tiny little pants! The movies a fresh approach – shot beautifully…it’s just damn all round NIIIICCCCEEEEEEEE!!

Rating: J J J J J



300: Rise of an Empire – Themistokles leads his forces against the oncoming onslaught of the Persian empire…

If you liked the first one – you’ll probably like this one too! – saw these as a double bill so it was pretty damn epic!! A lot of people say this one isn’t as good…but I thought it’s only by a fraction. The first was a whole new experience – so you know how would they live up to it? Doesn’t let the side down again for beauty – violence – blood and epicnessnessnessness!

Rating: J J J J



Escape from Planet Earth – Scorch – an alien astronaut responds to an SOS from a dangerous planet – and goes to save the day…

Come on even for a kids movie you know it isn’t going to go that smoothly…’cause alls not what it seems. This had blue aliens – come on blue aliens – that’s just cool…space-ships and general sci-finess…what’s not there to love? Yarp it’s another cartoon – but it was really cool…gave a lot of laughs as well as general alieness…the plot was good – even if the end kind made me want to barf…

Rating: J J J


Wednesday 5 March 2014

Game: Nosgoth (PC) - Pre-Release Review (Second Review)

Well back in September 2013 I wrote about my first experience of Nosgoth – fast-forward several months on and we now reach uh well now…

I’ve been one of the privileged to be able to play in the Alpha and Beta and now the NDA has been lifted I can finally open my gob again about this beauty…huzzah! ...and now you know why there have been no game reviews on my blog over the last few months…because I’ve been too busy playing this sexy beast!

The games come on leaps and bounds – get it?? – Reaver – leaps…heh…since the first glimpse – more cool – uh stuff – yeah stuff has been added and the gameplay has come on ten-fold. Of course it’s been a rocky road with the development team getting the balancing right and all kinds of weirdness happening but that’s the whole point of testing it – right? If we don’t get stuck in trees now so many more people would later on! I’m getting ahead of myself – anyway yeah lets get on with this shall we…I’ll now touch on a few different aspects of the game…



Display & Navigation

The first thing you’re greeted with is the title screen and then the navigation screen which shows News, Profile, Armoury, Inventory, Settings, Store and getting in the game. It’s pretty damn nice looking, stylish and modern yet dark and sinister at the same time – dark-grey detail and lighter writing. The place is easy to navigate and the icons are easy to see…though occasionally it can become a bit like ad-vil heh.

I think I have to admit to liking the old Lobby screen and bits more from the Alpha though…I think it’s a bit too modern now for my liking…but I’m sure it’ll grow on me.



Music

The first thing that hit me after the fire and ice crackle Nosgoth title was the music – the game wasn’t online the first time I loaded it and I just poked around a while. I fell in love with the EPIC music instantly – so much so I whacked up the volume on the TV, squealed like a girl and run around the house and let it repeat several times. Every time I load in – I’m still like ummmmm *drool* …but I do feel sorry for my neighbours.

The other thing that gets me is the count down drums…omg…it gets my heart going every time – it sends me into a whirlwind of panic as the game begins – and into a  manic state of destruction as the match comes to a close.

The music in game is a similar epic style to the music in the user interface screens but it’s kind of lost sometimes in the midst of battle – that said you can turn the music up – yay – man it’s so awesome!



Store

Who doesn’t like shopping? This girl loves it – and what better than the nice shiny click of a button purchase shop screen! You can get yourself some nice equipment – everyone needs a flamethrower as an accessory right? Some cool clothes – omg – clothes shopping – some gorgeous get ups for looking stylish in a war zone! Perks and Boosts – to give yourself that extra pick up when you’re feeling a bit down. One things for sure get your wallets at the ready…you’ll find it hard to resist the urge to buy stuff – but don’t worry if you’re brassic you can still save up in game money to buy stuff too!



Gameplay

It’s finally found or a nearly nice balance between Humans and Vampires – it may have yo-yoed quite a lot Vampires stronger…Humans stronger…etc but now alls good. Not much has changed in the basics since I first played as in that its still melee vs range. The aim, abilities and melee are a nice and rounded now – work well and function – they do what they’re supposed to cause a niiiiccceeeeeee amount of damage.

The gameplay itself if very fast paced if you’re not used to playing this type of game it’ll be pretty brutal and will take a while to get used to – you will die a helluva lot! Yep I spend most of my time dying – but it’s pretty amusing in itself when your chosen character goes rag-doll on the screen and plops off of a building as you’ve been sniped to death by a Scout heh.



Graphics

The graphics have always been pretty sexy looking – its got better throughout the Alpha – BUT since Beta *shocked face* since they’ve added different textures etc – the classes look so much more detailed and realistic…it really adds something more to the game. Not forgetting the scenery and levels – this has been detailed up and looks a lot more solid now – compared to what it was…the game just looks so HOT! HOT I tell you – so so sexy.



Abilities & Attacks

We didn’t get to see or play with all of these at the community day back in September and since having more time with Nosgoth I’ve come to play with quite a few of them…I’ve definitely found my favourites. There are some great ones and some not so great ones – but it’s all down to personal tastes and the way you play – what I like you may not.

Some of the abilities and attacks take a while to get to grips with – in that even after a while you can still fail or end up flailing about. My first experience with Tyrant Jump was I jumped straight into the sea in Freeport…it kinda put me off it for a while but it was a highly amusing experience…the same with Sentinel Dive Bomb – yep you guessed it he did a nice pencil dive into the sea too! That said don’t be afraid to try out new things because you never know what you’re missing!

They have some great effects and there’s an epic variety that give some awesome kills…every time you change something out and swap it for a different ability it gives the game a fresh feel and changes the way you need to play – which is pretty damn fun!



Classes

I’ve had chance to play as all six classes (yarp…3 vamps – Reaver, Sentinel and Tyrant, and 3 humans – Alchemist, Hunter and Scout), some are harder than others *cough* Sentinel *cough* and some are more interesting. I find swapping between them does help depending on how the other team is playing, your situation etc. There is a good variety of skills and you will find one class in each race you’ll definitely fall in love with…or despise with a passion.

Here’s a brief low-down on them…

Vampires:
Dumahim: Reaver – Fast-paced assassin – hit and run man
Razielim: Sentinel – Aerial combatant – fly by attacks and snatch and grab
Turelium: Tyrant – tank man – get angry and smash it up

Humans:
The Ironguard: Hunter – multi-attack man – get in the fight head first
Red Sisters of Anacrothe: Alchemist – AOE dealer – lets blow stuff up
Watchers of Dark Eden: Scout – precision sniper – the patient hand of death

This is probably the only real shooting game I’ve played properly…so I pretty much have no aim what-so-ever but the game caters for this too and of course you have the melee vamps to play to make up for it! I’ve had a few discussions with other players about our class loves and hates…some of which we agree and others not so much – the choices of classes and loadouts vary to give you a nice place you can find comfortable.

The classes are all fun in their own quirky ways…can’t wait for there to be more!



Maps

The maps are dreamy – there have been changes made to them over time and things have been added that weren’t there before – buildings appearing, moving – whole parts of the maps being uh re-mapped!?! There have been awesome additions added too – like dead people – lots of them – impaled, half ripped apart – blood splattered everywhere – crows eating the remains – you name it…which makes the place more like the hellish battleground it’s supposed to be. Textures have been improved to give the place a solid feel, and the scenery is lush and beautiful, it is a truly detailed spectacle! I even discovered moths the other night…yes really – moths…serious detail going on there! I like the additions muchly!

The maps are all stunning – especially when you have chance to stop and look around, the views are really really beautiful – some of which have link-backs to previous games and designs you can see where the ideas have evolved from.

There are four maps so far…Valeholm – central location, Provance – mountain town, Freeport – shanty sea-side town and Sommerdamm – it’s a fort!

There’s a nice variety of maps which cater for different types of gameplay, you have to change things up a little depending on where you are, it takes a while to learn what’s where and what works and doesn’t on a map…and how to make it work to your teams advantage. The variety in looks as well as layouts gives the game freshness every match you play!



Sounds & Voicing

There are some great sounds and noises which add to the whole awesome experience, I’m sure more have been added over time. The speech for the characters is high quality – though some of the lines they say do make me laugh…come on you have to laugh when Sentinel Abducts a human and says “lets be friends”.

Of course the language isn’t as dramatic as the previous LoK titles but it is a war zone and the characters are just the day to day bods of Nosgoth…they aren’t as intelligent as Kain and his chums. BUT they’ve all got good voices – and lines that fit in well with the game – they’re not a burden to listen to…and in time you’ll find yourself quoting them in real life…



My Favourites

Humans…Alchemist – I really really really didn’t want to be the girl who plays the girl – just because it’s so lame – and well I have to admit I’ve fallen in love with her – easy and fun to play – not much aim required (I suck) and some cool ass clothing!

Vampires…Tyrant – Hulk smash! I love this guy – no brains and all brawn – just jumping in and sending those humans flying…yeah he may look a bit like an orc but we can forgive him for that because he’s an awesome whirlwind of destruction.

Sommerdamm – this is by far my favourite place to visit…I want to live there – ok maybe not. I love the reach-backs to previous games – like the Malek statue and the Blood Omen 2 inspiration of this one – gorgeous! I really like that it’s night-time as well – gives the place a more darker feel rather than the brightness and light of the other maps…but don’t get me wrong the other maps are still sweeeeeeeeeeeet!



Nosgoth Support Services

Well I’ve become a bit – ok that’s probably the biggest understatement in the universe – addicted to this game. When I’m not in game I kind of end up going into cold-turkey wondering when I’ll get my next fix and not being able to focus on anything other than the game. Yep this game definitely needs its own “Nosgoth anonymous support group” to help out those gamers that can’t live without it whilst they sadly have to function in the real world!



Final Thoughts

It’s still EPIC and FUN…I don’t think I need to say anymore than that – ok well maybe this…what are you still doing here reading this? – GO PLAY IT – OR SIGN UP FOR THE BETA (why haven’t you already?) – DO IT – DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!