#1 Rough round the edges... (You Know)

And so a podcast is born. Yes, episode #1 of Your New Favourite Podcast is finally out!

This first one is a little rough round the edges plus it's my first go at editing out all my "umms" etc but I'm just happy to get it out the door - I've been promising it for a long time.

Topics covered include some admin, quick mention to some upcoming reviews and a healthy rant about recruitment agencies and the the interview process, while I play Civilization Revolution - link to my review as mentioned in the podcast/audioblog.

As to the frequency of these, I've yet to make my mind up but expect the next one in a couple a weeks as I'm pretty busy (but not too busy as to play games and record my angry thoughts seemingly...)

For now, enjoy, leave comments, feedback or even topics/questions you want me to throw my two cents at.

Featured Music:
Intro/Outro - Pacific Theatre - Yourcodenameis:milo
When We Were Younger and Better, A Failsafe, Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything, Little Victories - all by 65daysofstatic.

iTunes link

[MP3] Download the show (21:38) (Right click, Save as)

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#0 On The Box!

The team here at Your New Favourite Blog have been busy expanding and we're (read: I'm) proud to offer a new themed post - On The Box.

The whole purpose of the new themed post is to throw out some thoughts regarding TV and Film - praise those faves of mine and berate those poor offerings that I was tricked into watching.

Anyways, stay tuned and expect On The Box to be a fairly regular occurance. I have mentioned in the past that I am a subscriber to the LoveFilm service so get to watch Films on a regular basis. Also there's a number of highly anticipated shows that have started up in recent weeks: 24, Lost, Scrubs, Battlestar Galactica and there's also older shows like the Wire which I need to get back into so it's not like I'll be struggling to find stuff to cover.
I leave you with a link to an old rant about Peter Jackson's King Kong, oh dear... I mean enjoy!

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#14 I need a Civ Rev here!

Apologies, that's a very dubious play on words used for a title. I am referring to the game Civ Rev, or Civilization Revolution to give it its full title. This is the latest iteration of the popular Civilization series and the first to appear on consoles, hence the "Revolution" in the name.

For those not in the know, Civilization is a turn based strategy game where you are the leader of one of 16 famous civilizations (Caesar for the Romans, Cleopatra for the Egyptians, Queen Elizabeth for the British etc), and you are tasked with developing and improving your civilization, befriending other civilizations, eliminating others, and guiding your civilization towards one of the four victory conditions. Those being Economic (Building the World Bank), Democratic (Constructing the United Nations), Space (Building a craft that reaches Alpha Centauri) or Domination (Eliminating all other Civilizations from the World Map). Now Civ Rev is based on Civilization 4 (the most recent PC release), but has been simplified and streamlined to create a simpler and faster version of the game, no doubt to suit the console player that prefers a shorter experience, because of a shorter attention span maybe?...



The game primarily involves adding buildings to cities, creating wonders, even creating new cities and roads to link them up, not to mention units used to defend your own cities and attack others. As to be expected, different buildings offer specific attributes, like the ability to increase production or gold etc - these kind of mechanics have been forged long ago so there are no big surprises but the interface makes it very easy to mange build queues, production priorities.

Always with real-time strategy/turn-based strategy games, the control scheme is very important and especially with the PC pedigree the game has, there is a lot of stake here. Fortunately with the simplified gameplay, the controls work extremely well on the controller – if anything, the fact that the game is turn-based lends itself very well to the consoles.

it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality

Whether it be moving units around the map, browsing buildings to potentially build or switching between cities is all incredibly straightforward, although navigation can get a little laggy towards the end of the game when the map is much more densely populated.

The game could also be considered a "Revolution" in terms of its graphical style. Civ Rev has taken a departure from the realism of the numbered games on the PC and uses a cartoony style, in particular the advisers/toons which appear during the game. They are charming enough but their verbal uttering in a made-up language akin to the Sims really started to grate, and I often reach for the OK button. The actual graphics are pretty average compared with current gen expectations but does fit the cartoony style well.

Battle animations are enjoyable to watch and a strange compulsion comes over wishing the little buggers on - although the cartwheeling planes do look a little daft, especially when facing other planes. Towards the end of the game when the map is full of cities and switching between them zooms out the map (you do get to see the curvature of the world which is quite cool) and this blue fog-of-war appears until it finishes zooms in. There is also some pop in as well which is a disappointment considering the level of graphical quality.


The sign of any great game is how difficult it is to put down. I probably sound like a broken record but the quickened gameplay is completely responsible – it is so very easy and comfortable to drop into the “just one more turn” mentality. Even though the game has been tailored for shorter play sessions, I often found myself completing a game from start to finish in one or two sittings.

Ultimately the game is a lot of fun but can get repetitive after a while. For each civilization, there are unique bonuses to be had when you progress through the different eras, but these usually become a formality when you reach the modern era. The Xbox 360 version was the one I tried and, predictably, there is an achievement for winning with each civilization, so if you care for them then they're an incentive to continue playing. The difficulty can be increased and this only serves to increase the aggressiveness of the AI opponents.


Speaking of the AI opponents, they lean heavily towards the aggressive and hostile end of the spectrum – Often alliances formed a mere handful of turns ago become threats of annihilation. With the randomly generated maps, your game can sometimes be doomed if your starting position is a little too close to another civilization. Also, a small peeve, but I found it terribly annoying that the AI could effectively hold me to ransom by offering X turns of peace in exchange for an important technology that I had spent a long time researching, but it seems not possible for me to do the same back – not fair!

Like a high percentage of this generation's games, the online play ensures its longevity. Playing online is exactly the same as playing a standard game against the AI. Players will compete on a random map with Barbarian villages, lost artifacts etc and the unpredictability of playing with other real life people can be very interesting and introduce a level of strategy that has perhaps been removed from the game, provided of course that the players stay in the game. Yes, Civ Rev games are now shorter but they can still easily stretch to a couple of hours, especially when waiting for the other human players to finish their turns.

I was immediately gripped by the demo when it was released and was very keen to play the full version ever since. After finally getting the game, I am very happy to sink a few hours into this - I've found it's very useful to play while I listen to one of the longer podcasts I subscribe to as there are no crucial story cutscenes to pay attention to, or online friends/players to chat to as I go. Whilst each civilization receives a unique bonus at the turn of each era, the playstyle is predominantly the same for every civ.


With Civ Rev, whilst the game is a lot of fun, the meat of the game is apparent from the get go - there are no plot twists, there are no climactic events, it's all very samey, which while enjoyable in brief playthroughs, has had to give away to other games thanks to the depth in quality of releases recently.

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#5 Bring a civilization to its knees...

Or drive someone to insanity. These are two of the explanations of where the band 65daysofstatic draw their name from. The two explanations being that locking someone up for 65 days with nothing but radio static being played will turn them insane, or if a civilization is cut off from any outside communication, it will drive itself to anarchy. Whatever the reason is, these guys (also British :D) and the music pieces they make are simply awesome, other-worldly at their best.

65daysofstatic are an instrumental outfit, I guess you could label them as post-rock if you wanted to play that game. All I know after checking out a fair few instrumental bands, there is a satisfying urgency to their sound, as opposed to very quiet, subtle wandering pieces which groups like Mogwai are all too guilty of. No, what we have here is intricately layered guitars, keys, bass and drums - there are no vocals here and I feel that the songs are better without them. It's incredibly pretentious but I believe that having listened to the majority of their songs, favourites being "Hole", "Retreat! Retreat!", "While We Were Younger and Better", "Little Victories", the list goes on, that lyrics could not be found to fit these songs which now circle in my head. 65days are masters of the quiet/loud dynamic and expertly utilise the build-up to crescendo and then beyond. Some could argue that it all becomes a bit too formulaic, but they do enough to keep it fresh, and I'm happy for the adventure that I'm taken on...

You get the feeling that every little bit of feedback is completely purposeful, every tiny amount of leftover buzz from quick slides and chord changes are all there to provide something, to add to the whole.

That being said, it's not all dreamscapes and audio wet dreams, some of the material does miss the mark, and especially their remixes including famous pop songs like Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" I could happily do without. I have to qualify this that not all their work is perfect, but their highs more than make up for their lows. In particular the song "Hole" is a 4 and a half minutes roller coaster for the ear. Each of the elements working together but each doing their own thing, keys being delicate and enchanting, guitars that dance a melody and swell to meet the drums and bass - they are loud and distortion laden when they need to be, and only when they need to be. You get the feeling that every little bit of feedback is completely purposeful, every tiny amount of leftover buzz from quick slides and chord changes are all there to provide something, to add to the whole. The whole song ebbs and flows together - the drums and bass forever keeping the pace and explode at the "choruses" but never take over. In fact, while some songs do suggest that drum machines, pre-recorded drum loops may have been used, I think the drumming featured is some of the best I've heard, World class. Every listen is slightly different I find, focusing on a particular element whether it be the drums, the keys - each element on their own is quite simple but as mentioned above, it's the layering which ties it all together. They might be considered a headphones band for this reason, I'd love to throw down the challenge and find someone that could not find something in their songs that they really appreciate.

Since starting to listen to 65daysofstatic, they have shot up my last.fm charts, Hole in particular is now my 2nd most listened to song if statistics are to be believed. All I can say is go check these guys out, at their peak, they really are something else, a combination of challenging your expectations the first listen through, and then the anticipation of the song going Boom! on subsequent listens.

For those already converted, a high five awaits you...

P.S. Excellent jogging/running music.

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Blog Update Dec '08

It's been over a month since I last blogged so a quick update just in case the Internets think I'm dead.

There is only a finite time available every day, and while we're making do with the 7 day week (gave a thought to turning it into 6, could it be done!?) it means that something has to give, and the last month, it has been the blog.
Recently I've made a renewed effort to improve my attendance down at the gym, which I've had some degree of success. Add to that the fact that this last quarter has given us so many high quality games and even with the extra time devoted to this vice, there's still a fair number I need to try. Expect some Insert Coins about them all soon (probably in the next year :s) but I will add now that Left 4 Dead, a co-op first person shooter set in the wake of a zombie apocalypse is probably the greatest gaming experience this year, plus thanks to Gamestation's Christmas offers, I am soon picking up Fallout 3, so looking forward to that as well.

Also, I'm falling more and more behind with the podcast reviews as well, so will make a bigger effort to catch up. Plus (I may have used the word too many times!?) I'm thinking of setting up a new themed set of posts covering Film and TV, inspired a great deal by Billy of geekytalk.wordpress.com. Plus (the last time I promise...), I may finally get my very own Podcast/audioblog off the ground, and throw in some personal musings, rants, whatever I feel like etc

Hope to post soon, but if not, happy holidays! :D

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#13 The Dark Side

So I finally caved and got myself a PS3, woah! The last time I had two consoles was the Gamecube and the Xbox, and well I quickly stopped using my Gamecube oh dear! That outcome is unlikely to happen in this case, Xbox 360 has the better first party (and exclusive) titles, and any multiplatform releases I would get for the 360, considering the superior online experience, and how in a lot of cases (not so much now) the PS3 version has just been a port of the 360 version.

That being said, the PS3 does have some pluses. For one, the dashboard is slick as fuck - not to mention supremely easy and quick to navigate, it makes the 360 dash look old and clunky in comparison. That will of course all change when the New Xbox Experience drops in November, but until then the PS3 comes out on top.
Also a big motivation for getting one is of course Blu-Ray playback - I haven't watched one yet, but I've already converted my LoveFilm queue ready (EDIT: I watched Gotham Knight, the collection of animated Batman shorts akin to the Animatrix, in brief, some stories very cool, some not so much). DVDs look great thanks to the upscaling, plus the PS3 can handle a wider range of media files, so I have to convert video podcasts, TV shows etc a lot less. It has wireless connectivity built in by default, and even some large files (a HD version of a very recent Heroes ep for example) played absolutely fine. Plus if streaming is getting a little choppy, the dash offers the option to copy the file onto the PS3 HDD, problem solved.

That being said, I have had some problems with syncing the controller to the console. I've experienced whole days where upon pressing the "PS" button on the controller (their equivalent of the 360's guide button), and literally nothing happened - no flashing lights, nothing. It's possible that the battery had ran out of charge, but it seemed incredibly problematic charging up the damn thing. As it's a USB cable, it can be charged off the PS3, or indeed any computer (even some cable boxes I read), but I was not getting the slow flash to indicate charging. Late one day, I pressed the PS button just to see what would happen, and it switched on the console - it took me completely by surprise, I had to run and connect up the cable like it was the only chance I was going to get.
Thoughts on the controller itself, it's light, much lighter than the 360 controller (no chunky battery) although I'm not a fan of the triggers - they don't feel at all comfortable. I haven't had a chance to utilise the sixaxis motion controls; The Force Unleashed didn't have any mechanics within which utilised it, and that brings me smoothly onto some thoughts of my first PS3 title eva!!!11one1.

Now, the Force Unleashed's premise is where you play the super badass, secret apprentice of Darth Vader, Starkiller (wasn't that the original name for Skywalker, or did I read a bad trivia fact?!), set between Episodes III and IV, and will hopefully fill in the gaps between the two trilogies, but more about of the story later.

The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom.

I've heard murmurs that this has been the most expensive game ever developed (I don't believe that's the case...), and it's an absolute must have for die-hard Star Wars fans. To be honest they're the main driving reason why the franchise is still knocking about, and whilst I really like the original trilogy (not so much the recent films), my nostalgia gland tingles on familiar locales in the game, not to mention the rousing fanfares that ebb and flow throughout the game. Unfortunately once you look past all of that, an average hack 'n' slash game is all that is found.

All the force powers you'd expect are included, force grip, push and lightning are at your disposal, and can be leveled up via three simplistic categories. The categories also allow you to purchase new lightsaber combos, and also buff your character with increased health, improved force regeneration etc. That being said, this RPG mechanic didn't leave the impression that I was developing a unique spin on Starkiller. The first level of the game sees you play a pimped out Darth Vader, sporting all the force powers at their maximum levels, it was a lot of fun tearing through the Wookie habitat - following that level, you begin the adventure with a nerfed Starkiller and you have to work your way back up to that level; what a tease.

The mechanics are very button mashy - there's not much strategy required here. A lot of the times, I run up to a group, work some force push/lightning and finish up with some lightsaber. Lightning is pretty much the standard point of attack, stunning pretty much every enemy in the game. That invites you to take the time to go to town with the lightsaber, or fling the smaller troops far with the force grip for instant kills. In fact, all this power becomes destabilising after a while. I actually never "properly" died in my playthrough. The only time I would die would be due to the annoying knock back onto bottomless pits, where Starkiller would animate getting to his feet, before realising where he was and in trademark Wile E. Coyote fashion, fall to his doom. Perhaps I was playing on too easy a difficulty and coupled with the health boosts you acquire through leveling, low health was never a problem. It was very consistent that my attack animations could be interrupted and that the enemies' animations couldn't - especially the 10 foot tall elite troopers later on (I've never seen those in a Star Wars film...)

Of course, the force allows you to double-jump, but it feels horrible and difficult to control. I was constantly caught out on the later levels which add a verticality to proceedings. Also walking off platforms meant that Starkiller falls directly down rather than retaining some forward motion as real physics dictates should happen, which for a game that boasts great physics, doesn't actually have any groundbreaking innovations. I never saw evidence of stormtroopers held in a force grip trying to grab their surroundings - as the game progresses, the difficulty ramps up by throwing more enemies your way so there wasn't much chance to observe.



The story of the game is probably the best thing about this game, but the story only exists in the cutscenes that separate the levels. I won't spoilt it here, but I did experience a disconnect with the dialogue early on in the game, but the story cleared that up in a rather predictable fashion. I'm annoyed at the love story that was shoehorned in - again completely needless and very clunky considering the storytelling experience the Lucas camp have. The levels themselves are exact copies of each other, the environment the only thing changes. Get ready to button-mash your way through waves and waves of enemies, the odd sub-boss mixing it up, before you reach the end encounter versus a master Jedi of some kind.

Be warned; when it comes to the boss fights, get used to coming up against good ol' quick time events. With the sub-boss/elite units you encounter throughout the level, an optional quick event sequence will be offered for a quick takedown when their health is low. Unfortunately, with the boss battles, these QTEs are mandatory. I wouldn't mind that much for two reasons: The first being that, the button presses you have to match are the same every time, so even if you're slow with the reactions, you'll soon commit them to memory. Also, once you've initiated the QTE, you're not getting out of it, so if you slip up, it resets back to the beginning, along with the accompanying FMV - "hey didn't you throw the junkrock at me, just a moment ago?!"

Speaking of QTEs and the buildup of this game, saw a trailer where Starkiller pulls a Star Destroyer out of the sky and crashing down to the Sith's feet. That was very cool. Sadly, the set-piece in the game does not approach anywhere near the level of coolness that it should have been. Some tedious analogue stick action separated by waves of tie fighters to interrupt the flow. It was only very frustrating as the tie fighters proved very hard to destroy, that is until I discovered that the only some can be destroyed on the left by using force grip, whilst others could only be zapped by force lightning on the right, very annoying, anyone else get this?

Overall, not a great experience, and nothing in it that made me want to repeat at harder difficulties. The story is the only redeeming feature of the game, although the fanboys will check this out through rose-tinted glasses. So my first PS3 game was not a keeper - in that time I did order Metal Gear Solid 4 which I will play through once I've gone through the current crop of Xbox 360 games that are begging me to play. I traded The Force Unleashed in for £18 and then paid the difference to get Civilization Revolution, a game of which I literally can't put down now, despite Fable 2's main quest screaming out for attention; a review will be on the way. The bundle deal I got The Force Unleashed meant that the game worked out as £10, so if only financially, I believe I've broken even, maybe even come out a little on top.

Also post #100, woah! Here's to another 100.

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