Tuesday 27 June 2017

TV Review No. 62 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Series 4

Strong Points:
Great character development and payoffs of previous seasons
Three excellent arcs/pods which joined together
Great pacing
The Framework allowing for previous characters to return
What If? scenarios - showed how easy it could've gone the other way
Surprising twists and reveals
Aida/Agnes/Ophelia/Madame Hydra
Radcliffe's moral grey area
Humorous
Good references to the MCU films
Ghost Rider got better...
Sharp focus...
Superb emotion and tension
Excellent acting
AI questions but with a twist
Pop culture references
Just more of what makes AoS great

Weak Points:
Some villains were underdeveloped
Arc 1 didn't quite live up to the other two
Difficult to keep track of LMD
Some character traits were thrown in randomly for later e.g. Hope
...After lacking some fire in the early seasons
...In the later episodes
No new Inhumans (or mention of Joey)

Note: as with last season, my rating may seem higher than the individual episode's ratings. This is due to AoS being a show where the sum of all parts is a lot greater than the individual stories given the huge story arcs. Also, I'm going to rate each pod as well as the season as a whole, as Season 4 definitely felt more like a collection of mini-series compared to the previous seasons (which had two major arcs each).

Sunday 25 June 2017

TV Review No. 60 Marvel: Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.: The Return (S4, Ep21)

Strong Points:
Mallory Jensen
Iain de Caestecker
Some good uses of CGI...
Great action sequences
Mack's still being mentioned
A certain character's back
Mix of genres

Weak Points:
...Some slightly funny looking bits of CGI
Some cheesy dialogue
Slightly changed their own logic with the Framework machines
Took a while to remember what everyone actually knows

Thursday 22 June 2017

TV Review No. 59 Doctor Who: The Lie Of The Land (S10, Ep8)

Strong Points:
Continuously throwing subliminal messages at us worked
Great acting all round
Interesting take on totalitarian dictatorship
Missy changing
Missy and The Doctor talking

Weak Points:
Felt cheated after a great build up - twice
The ending was messy at best
Monks have slowly been lowered in power throughout the arc
Missy still feels like an added extra

Tuesday 20 June 2017

TV Review No. 58 Marvel: Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.: Farewell, Cruel World (S4, Ep20)

Strong Points:
Excellent character moments
Tension
The hope of more to come from The Framework
The effects of the framework

Weak Points:
Being thrown back into the real world, to begin with, was a bit disconcerting
Villain's logic when it comes to disposing of someone
We were set up to react in a different way to what might be logical if we knew nothing

Monday 19 June 2017

App Review No. 104 Ballz

Strong Points:
Addictive
Rewards calculation
Minimalist graphics
Colours help to show where you should concentrate your fire

Weak Points:
Difficulty spikes
Sometimes ends up about the RNG gods
Cosmetic changes are just colour changes
Can get repetitive
Slow to begin with


Sunday 18 June 2017

(More) First Impressions: Alien Isolation

My dad played this game in EGX a couple of years ago and we released a first impressions for it. I've finally gotten round to playing it myself and thought I'd do my own first impressions as I wasn't restricted by the impatient line at a gaming convention. So here goes!

Some spoilers ahead:

Saturday 17 June 2017

TV Review No. 57 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: All The Madame's Men (S4, Ep19)

Strong Points:
Matrix style fight scene
Swift use of Daisy's powers
Finally got to see the true nature of Fitz's father
Fitz is really good as a bad guy
Coulson back to being a leader
Bakshi's cameo
Connection to the Ghost Rider storyline

Weak Points:
Fitz is really good as a bad guy
More of a 'setting up' episode
Main bad guys getting the 'special' treatment in fights

Thursday 15 June 2017

Film Review No. 25 Wonder Woman (12+)

Strong Points:
Some jaw-dropping action sequences and stunts
Great villain
Use of slow-mo
Side characters were all good...
Great costumes and make up
Interesting music choices, at ends with the time period

Weak Points:
Could be seen as more than slightly similar to Captain America: The First Avenger
Some plot conveniences
...If not developed enough
Can be difficult to invest in characters when the film is a flashback
Love plot line wasn't particularly needed, especially as this is a flashback

Some spoilers ahead:

Saturday 10 June 2017

TV Review No. 56 Doctor Who: The Pyramid at the End of the World (S10, Ep7)

Strong Points:
Twist ending
Use of a mistake instead of war
Erica and The Doctor
Good CGI
Comparison's to breakages throughout - cause and effect

Weak Points:
The Monks are less scary this episode
Would they allow someone that hungover to work on something that dangerous?

Thursday 8 June 2017

TV Review No. 55 Doctor Who: Extremis (S10, Ep6)

Strong Points:
Use of blindness
Sudden flick between comedy and tragedy was extremely effective
Great acting
Running away from The Monks scene was a great bit of cinematography
Nardole's grown to be a great character
Humour
River's Book is back

Weak Points:
Email, really?
Confusing
Slow to begin
The Doctor and [redacted] scenes seemed slightly out of place

Monday 5 June 2017

TV Review No. 54 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: No Regrets (S4, Ep18)

Strong Points:
Old characters are back
Some great acting ranges
Meaningful deaths
Tension
Radcliffe's reactions

Weak Points:
Simmon's constantly breaking the immersion with 'this isn't real' is starting to get annoying - let me get sucked in!
Fitz's father could've been even worse
Starting to get confusing again

Sunday 4 June 2017

TV Review No. 53 Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Identity and Change (S4, Ep17)

Strong Points:
Coulson as a clueless teacher works!
Madame Hydra
Everyone's gotten into their new characters well
References to past seasons used but twisted
Political commentary

Weak Points:
Tension wasn't quite there all the time
Fitz's actions could be seen as predictable

Friday 2 June 2017

TV Review No. 52 Doctor Who: Oxygen (S10, Ep5)

Strong Points:
Diversity and capitalism quips
Star Trek reference
Interesting concept, tied to the theme
Great CGI
Actual and immediate consequences for the Doctor
Chilling look at the corporate world

Weak Points:
Could be seen as a bit heavy handed when delivering the message
Some bits just have to be seen as 'happening'
The final phrase sounded off

Some spoilers ahead:

Thursday 1 June 2017

Video Game Character of the Month - June 2017 - D.Va - Overwatch

Video Game Character of the Month
June 2017
D.Va
Overwatch

Overview:
Hana Song (AKA D.Va) has had no shortage of success in her 19 years of life. At 16 she became the number 1 StarCraft 2 player in the world and held that title for the following three years. She's starred in a movie, 'Hero of my Storm' and become a world class MEKA pilot with a worldwide, online following, sponsorship and an Overwatch membership. And we would expect no less from someone who's signature quote is 'I play to win'. But I think that the prestigious Video Game Character of the Month award tops them all. Congratulations D.Va and 'GG'.
And now for some information on D.Va: