Posted by Notcot on Feb 28, 2011 in
Steampunk
Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new enemy has emerged. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organisation devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced. To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxy’s most elite team and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, they say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong.
- Mankind’s Future is At Stake
- From the makers of ‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’, ‘Dragon Age: Origin’s, and ‘Mass Effect’ comes the dark second instalment in the thrilling Mass Effect Trilogy!
- Command a unique team of amazing characters on a perilous mission in the most dangerous regions of space.
- Players of the first Mass Effect can import save games to continue the story of their own Commander Shepard. New players will find a thrilling standalone adventure awaits them, a polished and action packed journey that surpasses the first game in nearly every possible way.
- Intense Third Person Combat
- Take cover, command an elite squad with ease, utilise 19 weapon classes including heavy weapons, and unleash deadly powers against your foes with an all-new and improved combat system.
- Increased intensity with precision shooter controls to let you control the action and overcome insurmountable odds.
- Featuring a new location based damage system: target key weak points, and blast off limbs, ignite enemies, or cripple and disable enemy troops.
- An Entire Galaxy to Explore
- Travel the distant and deadly reaches of space to assemble your team for the mission at hand. A cast of amazing characters aThe sci-fi role-playing epic continues, as the Mass Effect story delves into darker territory and the fate of Commander Shepard, his crew and the entire galaxy.
The saga continues with even more action and intrigue |
Enemies will keep on coming even with missing limbs |
Mass Effect 2 will see the return of many familiar faces |
Equip and upgrade many new weapon types and biotics |
A streamlined combat system makes the game even more action-packed than before, with a new regenerating health system that means you spend less time fiddling with menus and more time shooting enemies. You can also direct teammates individually with a simple press of a button, giving you greater tactical control over every encounter.
The number of planets you can explore, and the complexity of the sub quests you find on them, has been greatly expanded from the first game – giving you a whole galaxy to explore at will. The original game was the most cohesive mix yet of action game and role-player and this sequel goes even further in combing both genres into one giant space opera.
Key Features
- Episode Two: Commander Shepard returns as the award-winning action role-player offers up even more intense storytelling and a whole new threat to humanity.
- All action: All-new combat options make the game even more action-packed, with more versatile controls, more weapons and better management of allies.
- Age of discovery: Even more exploration options than before, with more detailed side quests and many more developed planets to visit.
- Good talker: Revamped conversation system is more dynamic than ever, with faster, more realistic dialogue and a new cinematic camera.
- Ongoing story: If you have a save file from the first Mass Effect then the decisions you made will have an effect on the new game and old characters will remember you.
About the Developer: BioWare Corp.
This Canadian developer has become one of the most renowned makers of Western style role-playing games, with titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect. Star Wars: The Old Republic will be their first massively multiplayer online game.
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Tags: Adventure, âge, Cerberus, command, destruction, dragon age, elite squad, elite team, enemy troops, human colonies, human survival, insurmountable odds, knights of the old republic, mankind, mass effect, organic life, Origin, perilous mission, precision shooter, ship, space, standalone, star wars knights, star wars knights of the old republic, story, target, Threat, time, way, Xbox
Posted by Notcot on Feb 27, 2011 in
Noir
Fast-paced, highly advanced and furiously violent, Max Payne returns with the most sophisticated, stylized shooting action, and a dark and deeply immersive story following one of the most iconic characters in videogames.
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Tags: action, Fast-paced, Max Payne, max payne 3, shooting, story, Xbox, xbox 360
Posted by Notcot on Feb 26, 2011 in
Gothic
In the 1790s, Britain was struck by a reading revolution, a taste for terror fiction that seemed to know no bounds. How is it that the age of Enlightenment gave rise to the genre of the literary ghost story? ‘Gothic Documents’ seeks to answer this and other questions.
- New
- Mint Condition
- Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
- Guaranteed packaging
- No quibbles returns
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Tags: 1790s, age of enlightenment, âge, enlightenment, Genre, Ghost, ghost story, Gothic, NewMint, Order, packagingNo, quibbles, reading, revolution, Rise, Sourcebook, story, taste, Terror
Posted by Notcot on Feb 25, 2011 in
Steampunk
There aren’t many games which list a critique of objectivism as one of its selling points, but then Bioshock isn’t like other games. Indeed the only titles it can easily be compared to are System Shock and its sequel, to which this is a spiritual successor. Instead of being set in a derelict space ship though the game’s story involves you exploring a mysterious underwater city after a plane crash. The city had been created as an art deco paradise for the intellectual elite but is now in ruins and populated only by grotesque mutants – both physically and mentally.
Although at first sight the game appears to be a first person shoot ‘em-up it is not primarily an action game. Your goal is survival, not extermination, with ammunition limited and many enemies far more powerful than yourself. You are able to upgrade your abilities though, both physical and psychic, by collecting Adam – the mutagen which was the cause of the disaster in the first place. Even so the best way to defend yourself is to play the creatures and environments against themselves, tricking one group into fighting against another or taking control of security robots and devices.
The game gives you full freedom to play the game exactly as you want, while at the same time creating a living world which carries on with or without you – with many creatures not even bothering to acknowledge you unless you attack them. With stunning graphics, especially the water effects, and an extremely disturbing atmosphere this could well be the most intelligently macabre video game ever made.
HARRISON DENT
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Tags: action game, aren, Bioshock, case pc, Cause, City, edition tin, freedom, full freedom, intellectual elite, mutagen, objectivism, person, plane crash, security, ship, sight, space, space ship, spiritual, spiritual successor, story, stunning graphics, successor, system shock, time, underwater city, water effects, way
Posted by Notcot on Feb 15, 2011 in
Gothic
Tags: book, community, delivery, Edition, English, english baron, format, Gothic, gothic story, Kindle, OLD, purchase, story, volunteers, Web, web purchase, wireless delivery
Posted by Notcot on Feb 5, 2011 in
Cult Film
Wolverine, fan favourite of the X-Men universe in both comic books and film, gets his own movie vehicle with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a tale that reaches way, way back into the hairy mutant’s story. Somewhere in the wilds of northwest Canada in the early 1800s, two boys grow up amid violence: half-brothers with very special powers. Eventually they will become the near-indestructible warriors (and victims of a super-secret government program) known as Wolverine and Sabretooth, played respectively by Hugh Jackman (returning to his role) and Liev Schreiber (new to the scene). It helps enormously to have Schreiber, an actor of brawny skills, as the showiest villain; the guy can put genuine menace into a vocal inflection or a shift of the eyes. Danny Huston is the sinister government operative whose experiments keep pulling Wolverine back in, Lynn Collins is the woman who shares a peaceful Canadian co-existence with our hero when he tries to drop out of the program, and Ryan Reynolds adds needed humour, at least for a while.
The fast-paced early reels give an entertaining kick-off to the Wolverine saga, only to slow down when a proper plot must be put together–but isn’t that perpetually the problem with origin stories? And despite a cool setting, the grand finale is a little hemmed in by certain plot essentials that must be in place for the sequels, which may be why characters do nonsensical things. So, this one is fun while it lasts, if you’re not looking for a masterpiece, or an explanation for Wolverine’s facial grooming.
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Tags: Actor, canadian co, danny huston, early 1800s, finale, grand finale, half brothers, hugh jackman, humour, liev schreiber, lynn collins, northwest canada, plot, ryan reynolds, Sabretooth, saga, secret government program, showiest, story, tale, vehicle, villain, vocal inflection, way, while, Wolverine, wolverine fan, woman, X-Men
Posted by Notcot on Jan 11, 2011 in
Noir
There’s a satisfying sense of closure to the definitive noir kick achieved in The Big Heat: its director, Fritz Lang, had forged early links from German expressionism to the emergence of film noir, so it’s entirely logical that the expatriate director would help codify the genre with this brutal 1953 film. Visually, his scenes exemplify the bold contrasts, deep shadows, and heightened compositions that define the look of noir, and he matches that success with the darkly pessimistic themes of this revenge melodrama.
The story coheres around the suicide of a crooked cop, and the subsequent struggle of an honest detective, Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), to navigate between a corrupt city government and a ruthless mobster to uncover the truth. Initially, the violence here seems almost timid by comparison to the more explicit carnage now commonplace in films, yet the story accelerates as its plot arcs toward Bannion’s showdown with kingpin Lagana (Alexander Scourby) and his psychotic henchman, the sadistic Vince Stone, given an indelible nastiness by Lee Marvin. When Bannion’s wife is killed by a car bomb intended for the detective, both the hero and the story go ballistic: suspended from the force, he embarks on a crusade of revenge that suggests a template for Charles Bronson’s Death Wish films, each step pushing Lagana and Stone toward a showdown. Bodies drop, dominoes tumbled by the escalating war between the obsessed Bannion and his increasingly vicious adversaries.
Lang’s disciplined visual design and the performances (especially those of Ford, Marvin, Jeanette Nolan as the dead cop’s scheming widow, and Gloria Grahame as Marvin’s girlfriend) enable the film to transcend formula, as do several memorable action scenes–when an enraged Marvin hurls scalding coffee at the feisty Debby (Grahame), we’re both shattered by the violence of his attack, and aware that he’s shifted the balance of power. –Sam Sutherland
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Tags: alexander scourby, CAR, car bomb, carnage, charles bronson, City, codify, Cop, corrupt city, crooked cop, dead cop, deep shadows, detective dave, director fritz, expatriate, fritz lang, Genre, german expressionism, glenn ford, gloria grahame, henchman, jeanette nolan, Lagana, lee marvin, Noir, plot, revenge, showdown, story, truth
Posted by Notcot on Jan 1, 2011 in
Noir
Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain’s hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck: kill Dietrichson’s husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film’s credit, this doesn’t diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today’s standards, and the dialogue is snappy (“I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You’re not smarter, just a little taller”), filled with lots of “dame”s and “baby”s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. –Jenny Brown
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Tags: barbara stanwyck, course, dialogue, director billy wilder, Dog, double indemnity, double indemnity dvd, edward g robinson, Fatale, Femme, fred macmurray, husband, insurance, insurance investigator, insurance man, insurance money, investigator, james m cain, jenny brown, Noir, Raymond Chandler, Series, shaggy dog, softy, Sons, story, sunset boulevard, today, Type, walter neff
Posted by Notcot on Dec 12, 2010 in
Cult Film
Wolverine, fan favourite of the X-Men universe in both comic books and film, gets his own movie vehicle with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a tale that reaches way, way back into the hairy mutant’s story. Somewhere in the wilds of northwest Canada in the early 1800s, two boys grow up amid violence: half-brothers with very special powers. Eventually they will become the near-indestructible warriors (and victims of a super-secret government program) known as Wolverine and Sabretooth, played respectively by Hugh Jackman (returning to his role) and Liev Schreiber (new to the scene). It helps enormously to have Schreiber, an actor of brawny skills, as the showiest villain; the guy can put genuine menace into a vocal inflection or a shift of the eyes. Danny Huston is the sinister government operative whose experiments keep pulling Wolverine back in, Lynn Collins is the woman who shares a peaceful Canadian co-existence with our hero when he tries to drop out of the program, and Ryan Reynolds adds needed humour, at least for a while.
The fast-paced early reels give an entertaining kick-off to the Wolverine saga, only to slow down when a proper plot must be put together–but isn’t that perpetually the problem with origin stories? And despite a cool setting, the grand finale is a little hemmed in by certain plot essentials that must be in place for the sequels, which may be why characters do nonsensical things. So, this one is fun while it lasts, if you’re not looking for a masterpiece, or an explanation for Wolverine’s facial grooming. –Robert Horton, Amazon.com
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Tags: Actor, amazon, canadian co, copy, danny huston, early 1800s, finale, grand finale, hugh jackman, humour, image x, liev schreiber, lynn collins, northwest canada, plot, Robert Horton, ryan reynolds, Sabretooth, saga, secret government program, showiest, story, tale, vehicle, villain, vocal inflection, way, while, Wolverine, woman
Posted by Notcot on Nov 27, 2010 in
Portable Sound & Vision
Reviews:
225 of 229 people found the following review helpful:
A few niggles, but otherwise a more than worthy upgrade, 4 Oct 2010
If anyone who already owns or has owned an iPod touch will know what an amazing piece of tech this is. But there a couple of warnings about the new design to consider.
The Good
Never have I owned something quite like this. The interface is so slick, so intuitive it has always been a pleasure to use. And it’s so much more zippier than my 2nd gen thanks to the better cpu and double the ram.
The screen is noticeably much better (not than past generations were bad!) beautifully sharp and text is a dream to read. Ok, some will wonder why it has no in-plane switching bearing in mind that the iPhone 4 does. IPS for those who don’t know means you can view the screen at at extreme angles. But why would you on this device? I can still view it at extreme angles if I wish to. The colour may shift to a blue hue, but I only notice that when looking at the screen from the home button end and tilted at a ridiculous angle. The iPod Touch is too small for this to be ever dreamt as concern and IPS only benefits the iPad in my opinion.
The volume buttons are now separated as opposed to a rocker and are pleasant to use. The power button has moved to the right and have no issues with its new place as I thought I might have. And the speaker is an improvement but not really loud enough in a fairly noisy environment.
Face time works well and I love the ability to flip from the front camera to the back while in a conversation.
The .7 megapixel camera may seem a disappointment at first, but given that apple has packed in HD video recording all is forgiven. The camera is good enough for emailing and uploading to social net works, but for printing your images the quality is pretty poor. I managed a 5×4 print with fair results taken in good light. A bit jaggerdy in places, but then again, for a .7 mp camera it’s not a bad effort. But I most definitely would want to use a dedicated camera to capture those all important moments.
But for me having a HD video recorder is far more rewarding feature to have than a 5 mp camera for my needs. It’s not quite as good as some of the flip range, as a comparison, but this crammed in with what seems as a never ending list of functions I take my hat off to apple. How do they do it! The video I have recorded I am more than satisfied with in daylight, but it is grainy and a bit noisy in low light due to not having an in-built light/flash. But for its sheer portability i doubt i will use my camcorder again. Just make sure you purchase a 32GB or 64GB model as it will gobble up your storage. A short 2.44 minute movie equated into a 208mb file!
Wifi is still simple to set up with a solid connection. And with blue tooth, you are finaly able to control the volume of blue tooth speakers that have no volume control. Somthing my Sony Ericsson W705 has done for nearly a couple of years!
The Not So Good
Firstly, if like me you’re using a speaker dock (mines a Bose sound dock original with scosche passport converter) or some other kind of dock, you may want to check first if this 4th gen model will fit.
Apple never supplied a dock convertor like they have on previous models which seems to my thinking they knew there would be compatibility issues with consumers existing docks.
The 4th gen iPod Touch has a slightly narrower connector than previous models. When I first hooked up the iPod with its factory made sync/power lead I noticed it was very tight when connecting. Then I tried my sound dock and after a little bit of wiggling around found that it just wouldn’t fit. Unfortunately by doing that I found a thin piece of plastic had blocked the iPods connector and rested on the pins. I managed to move this back with a thin tool and was then able to insert it into the sound dock.
But after a days in and out of the dock it finally would no longer dock due to the thin piece of plastic getting in the way and the sync lead just became too tight to insert. So I took it back.
To give apple their due in six days I had a replacement. This one was better and I could dock it with my sound dock, although still a bit tight, but after one week I have had no problems.
I would like to say this is a one off, but looking on the internet I’m not the only one.
*Update 23/11/10: It does seem now that the above is due to a faulty device rather than compatibility issues with docks and power/sync leads. My replacement iPod to date has been working fine if still a little tight connecting.*
Also I do feel there is too much to sacrifice(better quality stills camera?) for a new thin design as the last model was very thin and I don’t really notice the difference enough to warrant it.
And if only apple would ditch the scratch magnet chrome back and save as a small fortune in buying cases to protect it…
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57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
Thoughts from an Ipod newbie, 22 Oct 2010
The Ipod hype train has passed me by again and again and again without making me take notice of Apples latest mp3 masterpiece so this one certainly went straight over my head. The media and consumer voice have made a lot of my decisions about Apple, that they are money hungry and sell products that break within days. Then there was the fiasco about the Iphone 4’s signal and that story certainly didnt impress me.
But after ignoring the temptation of an Ipod too long I succumbed, because I was in need of something to replace my trusty Zen Stone, which is now resting in pieces thanks to my son :(. I went big on the purchase with one of these; I thought that if I wanted to experience an Iphone without paying the ridiculous monthly tarriffs this was the best choice. I didnt prepare myself for love but thats what happened.
Too hold it in your hands is idescribable, it feels beautiful, slim but satisfyingly heavy. Set up was done in moments on my windows pc and itunes. I started to explore the phones features. So I tried the web browser, which is the best I’ve used on any mobile device. Then I set up all my emails so they would come straight to my phone. How about the apps? I must hold the world record for apps downloaded within an hour…. there are news feed, mobile banking… AND ebay! Christ, I love ebay, and its a damnsight better than the ebay I get on my blackberry.
Lets not forget the games and the graphics on this kit… PWOAR is all I have to say. The graphics are incredible; I’ve heard that the pixels are closer together than the 3rd generation but I’ve never used one of those. Its just PHWOAR.
Now the touch interface was something i was worried about because I have fingers like german sausages. No need to fear, its accurate like a sniper on stimulants. I suggest you buy a screen protector because you’ll want to touch it all the time and fingerprints are not attractive.
By the time I had fiddled with apps and games… I’d forgotten all about the music! So I stuck a load of tracks on there and what do you know, it’s a great mp3 player; what a good idea Apple.
And now for criticisms: not many, buy yourself a new pair of headphones because the ones supplied are diabiolical. Also Facetime… I’ve looked it and cant really be bothered to use it: its more something you would use on a phone anyway. Also, I didnt buy it for taking photos, but the quality is pretty poor. But i’m not complaining, if you want great pictures buy a camera.
Bottom line: Yes I’m an Apple covert, its really quite easy to change when they make technology as beautiful as this.
Thanks for listening to my first time using an Ipod. Best bit of advice to you is to buy one, and if you got more dosh buy an Iphone which is all of above and the ability to phone and text so I’ve heard.
NOTE: You obviously need wifi to use internet, receive mail and log on to app store etc.
UPDATE: 04/11/2010
Having used the Ipod for well over two weeks now there is another negative that has become apparent. Battery life. When using apps it degrades rapidly, and when the apps are that addictive your going to be doing a lot of Ipod charging! However, the battery is great when playing music, it hardly consumes it at all.
Aside from that my love hasn’t faltered. I sometimes find myself grabbing for the ipod when I have a bit of net surfing to do instead of my cumbersome laptop.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Good, 13 Oct 2010
This review is from: New Apple iPod touch 8GB (4th Generation) (Electronics)
I’ve been using a new 8GB model for the past two weeks and it has been great. I have not observed any defects in workmanship and performance is great except for taking photographs with the back camera (which is usable but not a substitute for a real camera). Video with the back camera has good sound, fast frame rate and rich color saturation. Recommended!
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Tags: 4th generation, aaron c, Apple, Apple iPod, Apples, braund, compression formats, consumer, consumer voice, didnt, ebay, fiasco, generation, generation electronics, graphi, heavy set, iphone, iphone 4, iPod, love, memory cards, mobile banking, newbie, phone, signal, story, tarriffs, tek, Thoughts, time, touch, Type, voice