Come join me there!

This fall Albion needs a new hero. That hero is you. Fable 3 is set 50 years after its predecessor. You are the child of the past hero, and Prince of Albion. The land is unstable. Your brother, a tyrant, is facing threats from rebels. You are the only one who can stop his reign and bring joy back to Albion. The question is, is this quest as good as the last?

First, lets look at the story. It’s pretty good. The link between the last game and this is done well, and I found whilst playing the game I always wanted to know the next part of my adventure. It takes you to new lands that were previously unseen on past games. It introduces you to new and old characters, and I found myself really wanting to be a part of their stories as well. This really is helped by the fantastic quality of voice acting on display. It is nothing short of brilliant. With the likes of Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, John Cleese, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Zoë Wannamaker, how could it not be? It really adds to the characters, and the experience as a whole. Many a laugh I have had listening to their quotes. With the story comes a mass amount of side quests and collectables as well. They could keep a die-hard perfectionist going for hours.

The combat in Fable 3 is very similar to that from the previous games in the series. Melee, guns and Will all make a return. One thing though, it is very easy. I went through the whole game without dying once. One of the biggest changes is with magic. Instead of having a load of spells you can chose from, you can chose 2 spells to combine at once. I see this as an improvement. In Fable 2, I felt like there were too many spells, some I never used. In Fable 3, there is just the right amount so that for whatever your playstyle, there is a combination to suit you.

The progression system has also been changed. You now gain ‘Guild Points’ from combat or quests which you can spend to open chests in the ‘Road to Rule’. The chests contain damage increases in melee, ranged and spells, as well as new expression packs and new spells.  It only allows you to unlock certain chests when you have got to certain points in the game. Another added feature is the weapon upgrading. The more you use a weapon, the more damage it does. This also effects its look. All of these additions fit in great.

One disappointment about the game was the zones. Though some look graphically brilliant and something new to what we have seen in the Fable series, they were very linear. The same enemies spawn in the same places every time you go to the zone. There was no wondering, no patrolling, and no randomness in the spawns which I really would have liked to have seen. The enemies in the game are all similar to those in the last game. To be honest, bar one or two exceptions, they are identical. It would have been nice to see a lot more new foes. That’s not to say the current ones are bad, but it might just seem a bit ‘same-old same-old’.

Another issue I had was with your dog. Yes your trusty companion is back! It acts in exactly the same way as Fable 2. It finds treasure and dig spots for you… as well as tearing at your enemies as they lie helpless on the floor. This is all great (well actually the dogs attacks are pretty useless) except I actually felt like the AI had gone a step back. I believe that it is worse than in the previous game. My dog would bark, telling me there is a dig spot nearby, yet when I tried to find it with him, I would just find him walking into a wall. Many a time I would see him run off  to find treasure and lose sight of him. It’s a shame that no new functionality was added to the dog because it feels like a feature that was just added because it was in the last game.

The co-op in the game has been vastly improved! Each player has their own individual character imported. Each has their own camera angle too. Simple things I know, but features that were stupidly ignored in Fable 2. New activities can be done between the characters as well. You can now marry you companion, as well as buy a house together and make a business partnership. Beware, you may lose half your money!

There is a new start menu. Instead of it just being a pause screen, there is a fully interactive area. It is pretty much your HQ. In it you can adjust your weapons, clothes, and looks, as well as all the usual start menu attributes. The world map is also found here, and it adds an easy way to fast travel between zones. It’s a fantastic idea that really works and removes a lot of stress that is sometimes gained from RPG games. All the old features of the game remain, such as buying properties and businesses, expressions, families and your personality. Not a lot has changed here.

Overall, I would have loved to see a lot more change in Fable 3 from its predecessor. New enemies, improved graphics and better zone design and randomness would have been great to see. That said, the combat is good fun and the story is compelling enough, and there is no doubt it is better than Fable 2. One things for sure, I look forward to future DLC to extend my Fable III experience.

Verdict

What I like:

• Mass amount of side quests and tasks
• Addictive combat and progression system
• Hundreds of collectables and upgrades to keep a perfectionist entertained for a while
• Improved co-op

What I don’t like:

• The linear zones
• Disappointing ending
• Not a huge graphical step up from Fable II

Final Score – 8/10

The main change to the game is the addition of destructible lanterns and pumpkins in the environment. Other than that, everything is as it was. One thing to note about this edition is that it shows no mercy. The step-up in difficulty from the original is gone. In fact, Halloween is a pretty hard game. I found myself retrying 20-30 times on some levels. Maybe it’s the difficulty, maybe its just because I’m bad? But some people may find this annoying and get bored.

One thing I would have liked from the game was new birds, or more new Halloween-themed destructible objects. That’s not to criticise what is in the game, I just want more of it!

I recommend this game to all iPhone owners, and to Angry Birds fans its an essential. 59p is a bargain for the app, I just hope they bring out more in the future.

Final Score – 5/5

Read my Angry Birds review here.

Download Angry Birds Halloween here.

Firstly lets talk about the engine. It’s been improved… quite a bit. The game seems to fun faster and smoother, and it looks nicer. The 3D matches have been vastly worked on. There are a lot more player actions now, and a  nice feature allowing goal highlights from different angles during gameplay has been introduced. In the manager hub, news and updates have now become one. Gone are the days where you had an ever-growning news inbox because you couldn’t be bothered reading news that didn’t concern you (or was that just me?).  The new updates work so much better, and seem a lot more streamlined to give you news that is actually of value to you.

One of the most important additions to the game is with the contract negotiations system. If you are looking to sign a player, you do not just send your contract offer and hope for an acceptance message a few days later in your inbox. Now you actually hold a real-time meeting with the players agent where you try to accept each others demands by reducing or increasing different contractual features. Whether you sign a player or not could be determined by the member of staff you have in the room. Some are better at negotiations that others. If you can’t meet the demands of the agent, you can simply walk away. Or if you keep on trying for a contract that the agent simply will not accept, they will walk away and you will be unable to negotiate with that player for a while.  It’s a brilliant new element to the game. Another new addition to the game is the Twitter and YouTube integration. I personally couldn’t find how to use these within the demo, but in the main game you will be able to upload video highlights and updates to these social networks.  It’s a neat feature I think, especially for someone like me who is an avid Twitter user. It adds a socialising element to a franchise that was otherwise viewed as quite a lonely game to play by many people.

One thing I am disappointed with in the game is the lack of team logos and kits, as well as player pictures. I understand the copyrights behind it all, and I know there are plenty of addons out there to install these things manually, but  it would be nice if they were already on there. As for everything else in the game, not much has changed. Some improved graphics here and there, but tactics, searches, player attributes and the like all seem pretty much as they were. I would have also have liked to test the networked gameplay, but was unable to. Hopefully some connection issues might have been fixed from the last instalment.

Verdict

What I like:

• Appears to run faster and smoother
• More detailed contract negotiations
• Improved 3D engine
• Streamlined inbox news and updates

What I don’t like:

• Lack of official team logos/kits and player pictures
• I have to wait until 5th November to get my hands on it!

Football Manager 2011 is released on 5th November 2011 in stores, and online from Steam.

There are 3 ways to enter, each giving you unique entries.

1) Post below with your Twitter username and/or email.

2) Retweet the following:

#Win a FEMALE PSICOM Huntress Uniform from @Josh_UK for your Xbox Avatar! RT and comment on the following post:- bit.ly/JoshUKFF13 #JUKFF13

Only one retweet will be counted per person.

3) Telling friends about the competition. Simply get them to put your twitter username/email on a comment at the bottom of this post. The more friends you tell, the more entries you get.

The winner will be announced on Friday 22nd October.
Good Luck!

Competition Over! – Congratulations Helen Hodson for winning!

Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 follows on from the first Iron Man film. It’s a good, fun watch. The action scenes are great, but the film could do with a few more of them.
Final Score – 7/10

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
If you go into this film expecting it to be anything like the game you will be disappointed. The action scenes are much more toned down, and the story is completely different. A problem with the film I found was that some scenes were just too fast to watch and were a blur to me. Final Score – 5/10

Get Him to the Greek
This film is a fantastic comedy that had me laughing throughout. Russell Brand and Jonah Hill are fantastic in it, and pair together well.
Final Score – 8/10

Kick-Ass
A fantastic action-comedy film which never loses your attention at any moment. The story is great, it is action packed, and it provides laughs on the way too. What more could you want from a film? Final Score – 10/10

Toy Story 3
Great 3rd instalment from the fantastic Pixar and Disney franchise. This film is much better than the 2nd. Adult or child, it is a must watch. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry.
Final Score – 9/10

Grown Ups
Funny, but not one of Sandler’s best. It will not be in his classic collection. That said, it’s fun for all ages, has a great cast and good storyline, and is worth watching.
Final Score – 6/10

Dinner For Schmucks
Steve Carell is amazing and by far makes this movie. A great laugh throughout and definatly one of the best comedy movies of the summer.
Final Score – 8/10

Salt
CIA Spy-Thriller which provides an unending collection of twists. Action scenes are entertaining, and story isn’t bad, though predictable in places.
Final Score – 6/10

The Other Guys
Classic Ferrell moments. That’s how I best describe this film. Some scenes are just hilarious. Though the story is a bit bland, it’s worth seeing just for Ferrell’s reactions and lines. It’s no Anchorman though.
Final Score – 7/10

Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Gamers will love this film. With it’s Zelda, Mario, Guitar Hero and other game cameos, it can provide some laughs if you know what the jokes are about. The action and CGI are good. Well worth a watch.
Final Score – 8/10

Inception
Easily the best film of the summer. It leaves you on the edge of your seat throughout. Though the start may seem a little slow, it soon builds into an amazing event and this film simply cannot be missed. Leo and the cast are fantastic, the CGI is amazing, and when the closing credits appear, you will be sat in awe.
Final Score – 10/10

The movie is filmed in a fairly 90′s way. You can tell it is trying to be like the original film. The music, shots and effects show this. One thing to note from this movie is that the CGI really isn’t great, I really couldn’t decide whether this was on purpose though. A few times the CGI was great, but at one part it was awful. I won’t say which, I’ll just say it was during an explosion. I couldn’t quite understand what they were trying to do with the special effects. It needed to be a lot more consistent. Another disappointment was the way that classic scenes from the original were taken and wrecked. The best example of this I can use is the mud scene where Arnie covers himself in it to hide his heat from the Predator. It is redone in this film but in a terrible way. It just didn’t have the same effect.

Another problem with the film is that some of the character acting/casting didn’t work (with the exception of Lawrence Fishburne who played his character great). Adrien Brody just didn’t fit as a mercenary! As for the other character, I didn’t feel the emotions that they would feel in the situations they were in. The fact this film is classified as a horror is actually a bit of a joke. Not once did I jump or even flinch, which you usually find me doing during horrors. The tension just didn’t exist.

With the negatives out the way, the film had plenty of action. Though a bit slow at the beginning it soon builds up to become pretty much action packed. Another positive is that the story isn’t too bad. It’s original. I enjoyed it. The new creatures are well designed, as is the environment. If you are a fan of gore as well there is a little bit, but not a great deal. Though I have slated a lot of the visuals above, there was one moment where I went ‘Wow’. I can’t say what it is, but you will know it when you see it.

This film is at best average. If you are a fan of the first two films then this one might interest you. It’s not that it’s a bad film, it just isn’t as good as the originals.

Final Score – 5/10

For those of you who have been playing the BioShock 2 multiplayer but feel like you want more from the game, I am giving away 1 BioShock 2 Rapture Metro Map Pack DLC code for Xbox 360!

The DLC includes 6 new maps, an increased level cap (up to level 50 for those who did not purchase the Sinclair Solutions DLC), 2 new masks, a new “rebirth” gene tonic, and a new “Kill ‘Em Kindly” game mode. This DLC also adds 3 more achievements for the Xbox 360.

All you have to do to win one of the codes is simply retweet the following on Twitter:

I just entered to win a BioShock 2 Rapture Metro Map Pack Code! Follow @Josh_UK  and RT to enter! Details here: http://bit.ly/JoshBS2

For an extra entry leave a comment below telling which is your favourite BioShock 2 multiplayer mode.
Winners will be chosen at 9pm Friday 16th July (GMT).

If you don’t own BioShock 2 but are interested, you can find it here for just £12.99!

Good Luck!

UPDATE: Competition now closed! Congratulations JohnnyricoMC on winning!

Firstly, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is a different game to FIFA10. There are 199 officially licensed international teams, and you can play any of them right from the beginning of the World Cup qualifications to the final. All 10 stadiums are playable too. A nice new feature is the “Captain your Country” mode. This is like “Be A Pro” in FIFA10 (in fact, you can import your Virtual Pro from FIFA10) in that you fight to break into the squad, get into the first team, and eventually become Captain. But in World Cup it seems to have been done so much better. You can see in real time how well your closest threats to your squad spot are doing in matches. Another great feature is the “Scenario” mode in which classic moments from previous World Cup’s can be relived and changed by you. Updates will be included which offer actual moments from the 2010 World Cup.

There have been some noticeable changes.  Andy Townsend has stepped into the box offering some nice new commentary. The gameplay is fantastic. An improvement on FIFA10. There is great attention to detail, like if you are playing in a stadium of higher altitude, player fatigue will be greater. It’s more realistic in the movements of the players and the ball. Players can also get injured outside of matches during training sessions. The visuals are good. The soundtrack is amazing and I find myself constantly singing along to the songs with out realising.

One thing I would have liked to see in the game is during multiplayer matches, when they end in a draw, extra time or penalties to have been playable. It’s only a small issue but it would sort out some disputes between friends!

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is one of my favourite and most played games so far this year. If this is a sneak peak at FIFA11 then I can’t wait for it. If you are a football fan, even after the World Cup has finished, I recommend this game as in my opinion it is the best football game created yet.

Final Score – 9/10