Wreck-It Ralph Review!

Wreck-It Ralph has proven to be one of the greatest animated films of 2012, (2013 in the UK). Wreck-It Ralph took the task of creating a film around gaming culture, as you can tell from my blog I'm a huge gamer myself! So coming from somebody that this film is aimed at, I can say it has completed the task with great success. I found myself chuckling at so many inside jokes which my friends did not understand, they really did work hard to include some references that gamers would find special.  From Sonic to Street Fighter and even the unexpected Metal Gear Solid, Wreck-It Ralph is bursting  with these gaming references!

Wreck-It Ralph is set inside the world of a video game arcade, a bright and stunning world where game characters can hang out together, it was rather funny to see some odd characters hanging out together. The story revolves around Ralph, a bad guy who wants to win a medal so he can be treated like the hero of his game. He sets out on an adventure to finally get that medal and become the good guy , the only way possible is by leaving his game and going elsewhere.

The world of Hero's Duty was my favourite location in the film, inspired by modern FPS games such as Halo or Call of Duty. The use of Skrillex, even though I usually hate him, actually worked rather well, it fitted in with the scenery and the action on the screen. The world of Sugar Rush I thought was not as impressive as Hero's Duty, it kind of lost its game feel, although it did give a feeling of Mario Kart. Gaming references also seemed to have stopped at this point and the film kind of lost its uniqueness to an extent, the film was still enjoyable though with the rather funny Oreo guard scene!

 The film's supporting cast are rather strong also, Fix-It Felix, Jr is the hero of the game Ralph inhabits, he is certainly a character inspired from the likes of Mario. Sergeant Calhoun, is the stereotypical FPS character, coming from Hero's Duty. A bad-ass soldier, who is usually paired with Felix as a love interest in the film.

King Candy is also a rather strong villain for the film and the 'end boss' you could say. His happy characteristics hide his true evil intentions and serves for a brilliant plot twist and fits in well with the rest of the story, leading to huge pay-off.

Vanellope is probably the weakest character in the film, she does provide some nice moments but her humour brings her down. Her jokes at times did seem a little childish and clearly made for the child audience to enjoy, they made a genius film at times look rather idiotic. Shame on you for whoever thought they were funny.

Wreck-It Ralph is a bold and risky move that certainly paid off for Disney, it's a brilliant and well-crafted film filled with gamer goodness. With originality comes success. - 8.5/10

Dead Space 3 Review

Dead Space 3 was met with some mixed feelings back when it was first shown at E3. Have these worries been adressed in the game? Does it live up to the high standards of the original 2 games? The game has certainly taken a turn from fright factors, it instead heads towards breathless entertainment. The campaign's story will grab you and involve you straight up to the final credits.

We are yet again put into the shoes of Isaac Clarke, this time to destroy the Necromorph origin, a Marker, on an icy planet called Tau Volantis.  Before you start, the game makes a decent attempt of filling in the back story through the use of a short cutscene which talks about the events of the previous 2 games for new players to the series.

Dead Space 3 still sounds brilliant, with gruesome noises such as the snapping of bones been clearly heard. It adds to the horror of the game as you hear silence being broken as a Necromorph smashes through a vent. With headphones it certainly provides a sense of horror and panic for the player, so if possible experience Dead Space 3 with a set of headphones.

Dead Space still keeps the focus on well-thought out shooting mechanics and strategic dismemberment of your Necremorph foes.  Once you reach the frozen planet, the game does seem much more open than previous titles. This shifts foxus away from constant suspense and more towards a more action-based experience. This is not bad though, we still get them moments of horror, but this time it feels like a blockbuster experience.  With a large portion of the game set in on an open planet rather than claustrophobic corridors, Dead Space 3 still manages to capture a wonderful sense of atmosphere. 

With constant strong blizzards you never really know what is ahead, even in an open world, an enemy can be a couple feet in front and you won't know till it's too late.  Scenery is stunning with huge variations in every chapter, each giving their own sense of danger.

But perhaps the most blatant statement of  an intent to focus on action comes is with the new co-op mode. The second player takes the role of John Carver, a hardened soldier. Co-op is certainly fun and probably the most amazing thing is the changes in the story with co-op, it will make you want to play a second time to see the changes.

Dead Space 3 has taken in some new features to help with the action style, rolling is one. Isaac can now roll out of the way of attacks, but it feels very clunky and unreliable at times and proves hard to roll out of the way of incoming attacks. The cover system, although it works, does seem a little underwhelming and could do with improvement to help combat feel more epic against the marines.

Probably the best new feature is weapon crafting, a much bigger improvement from the former simple weapon upgrades. You can now mix and match weapons together to create the ultimate killing machine, the pieces are available throughout the campaign or crafted with resources. This certainly adds more replayability to the game as players will want to collect and build the ultimate Isaac.

For anyone who was worried about Dead Space 3, you really are worrying over nothing. Dead Space 3 still lives up to the high standards set by the first 2 games and delivers on every level, the move away from horror was not as obvious as I thought, I still found myself getting scared by a surprise Necromorph attack. If you look past the very minor problems of the cover system and rolling, you’ll be rewarded with one of the best sci-fi shooters of all time and a game of the year contender. Dead Space 3 gets a solid 9.5/10, a must buy for any gamer.