Hey guys, I'm going to try and make an effort to get more regular on here again. Lifes pretty busy, but I miss being on here. haha.

So I'm gonna do a blog of what I used to do, which is basically talk about what I've been watching, reading, etc, etc. A good place to start!

The Games!

I feel this year has been a pretty poor one thus far for games. A massive lack of good games has come out. I hope it picks up. But what I have been playing this month is Silent Hill: HD Collection and The Walking Dead Part 1.

The Walking Dead is a massive suprise for me. I heard of its release literally the same day it was getting release. Being a fan of the comics and an average follower of the show I felt I had to give this part a shot at the very least. To my pleasant suprise this game is great! £3.99 for each episode or save £5 buy buying --and pre-ordering-- the whole lot. It is about 2-21/2 hours of play, which is very reasonable if you ask me for the price. And the gameplay itself is very different to how one would think a zombie game of this type would play.

Playing alot like Heavy Rain or Fahrenheit, using the analogue to move around and waiting for buttons to pop up to prompt an action. It all works very well, and the action scenes can get pretty tense.

But by far the best thing about this is the story. Gripping, with every character and it's a joy to push on to find out what new things you'll learn from them. It goes more toward the comics rather than the show --a good thing in my eyes-- and the cel-shading is also a great touch.

Well worth a look if your a fan of Zombies or the series.

Rating 8/10

Silent Hill HD was something that got paned, and I refused to buy this due to the disrespect the noob developers had when revamping these masterpieces. But after being brought into the series once again with Downpour I fell prey to buying this.

It isn't quite as bad as everyone is saying, but it isn't great either. Taking out iconic moments with sound (the fog horn in the Historic Museum for example), a dire frame-rate, so bad it looks like they jacked into the Matrix and new voice-acting that aren't too great either, you'd have to question my sanity for why I think they are ok?

Well the graphics do look ok, and the trophies can bring a little bit of spice to the table. But I think from a nostalgic standpoint it was just a joy to go through these games again.

Overall I should have just stuck to my guns and not bought it. How can you f**k up a completed PS2 game?!

Rating 6/10

The Films!

The Avengers is my most recent watch. And all I'd heard since it's release is epic talk such as "best film ever"... I for one didn't expect a whole lot from this. It isn't a film that should have worked. Too many A-list actors normally means the film caves in on itself. So my expectations for this were low.

However, after looking at critic reviews all feeling how I felt, I thought I'd better give it a chance at least.

Best film ever? F-in' no chance. What it is is a very entertaining family film. Loki, Thor and Hulk were very good. They got the balance of hero time on screen just right, and the final battle is filmed very well. But I felt the film was too "nice". This is down to marvels child friendly nature and isn't a direct problem, just something that bugged me as a person. New York getting destroyed, buildings, planes crashing down on the ground, did one person get killed in this havok? No.... ok... And there is also alot of really hammy dialogue which I felt ruined the flow of the film

Overall I found this film enjoyable. I'd happily watch it again, but I feel the hype for this film is too large. It was solid and is a great marvel film.

Rating 7/10

The Music and Books!

I've started reading American Psycho, and it is a very well written, cleaver book. Mostly hilarious with the way he goes into detail on what the characters are all wearing, but it picks apart life in the 80's, and basically how disgusting we all are. I love it! haha

Rating 9/10

Silent hill: the Terror Engine is the second book I've read this month, due to my SH obsession I've had from Downpour I bought this independant book taking an indepth look at the SH franchise on how it works the mind with its music, camera direction, graphic style and lighting -just really picking the games apart.

It's a really enjoyable read.The problem I had with the book was there was alot of filler in there. Being nearly 200 pages he had to talk about something, so he puts in alot of quotations from other people. At the start of the book it's interesting, but toward the end it starts to wear thin, and you begin to click on he's just trying to fill the book. His own opinions are really great to read, it's just a shame it wasn't that throughout.

Rating 7.5/10

Black Light Burns is a band I've been meaning to listen to for a while. Founded by --then-- ex-guitarist Wes Borlan, this band sounds like if NIN and Limp Bizkit had a baby. I was really impressed by the debut album. Well worth a listen.

Rating 8/10

Dir En Grey: uroboros [remastered & expanded], might sound pretentious, but in actual fact very much needed if your a nut for high production. Uroboros is what I consider to be "their" album, like AC/DC Back in Black or Pink Floyds DSOTM. And the band relised this after the release of the latest album Dum Spiro. So they went back into the studio to re-record the album with the producer that did Dum Spiro. The album has a couple of extra bits added to songs, a heavy version of a previous song back in the day and everything sounds crystal clear. It's quite a rare cd already from its release in feb and isn't cheap (costing me £27!) but I'd say it's well worth a look at.

Rating 9/10

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey is the latest album I've been listeining too. I've been a big fan of these guys, that always seem to give anything they write a very dark edge. This album in particular is one that got good reviews, so I had high expectations for this album and was very excited to find it for £10 in a record store that I go to that had the rare 500 press extra LP included.

Upon listeining i became very bored. Not alot happens and the vocal and lyrics are very repetitive throughout.

Rating 5/10

A long blog, but one i hope you've enjoyed. I'll be speaking to you guys in the near futute. ;) xxxx