GAME REVIEW: The Silent Age Episode 1

Set in 1972; a crucial point in time, disastrous fashion sense and time changing movements all merged into one free episode, just for you.

Gameplay:

Our protagonist is Joe, a janitor who couldn’t possibly be more average, even if he tried. Average Joe is average weight, average height, has an average job. Average everything!!!

The story kicks off with Joe tending his duties, one morning he is promoted and is graced with more responsibility in his job. He randomly discovers a dying man who offers him a questionable, solar-powered time travelling device.

The old man is supposedly a time traveller from 2012.

Average Joe’s new job is to save mankind through switching between the present and future with the help of the time travelling device.  Eventually Joe tests this debatable device, and finds himself 40 years on in a deserted police station; there is no sign of human life.

What lengths must Joe go to, in order to save humankind?

A very intellectual game based around an interesting and gripping storyline. The genre is a mix of puzzle/mystery/adventure all in one game, an equation that has to add up to something revolutionary.  The episode is split up into 5 separate chapters, successfully breaking the story into small parts leaving the player engrossed, similar to a book in that respect.

The puzzles are relatively easy to figure out without much thought, great in some aspects but not in others. It is typical of a point and click game, each object picked up can only be used once on the intended place, it will disappear after use.

The puzzle has the player switching between present and future in order to develop further within the storyline. Some problems can only be solved in the future and vice versa, for example; some passages may be blocked off in the present, but they may be open in the future.

Graphics and Sound:

The graphics of The Silent age have a hint of classic film noir with the use of black and white aesthetics with a dash of colour. The use of shadow and darkness add to the eerie, mysterious theme of the game. The graphics also combine artistic and cinematic components; it is amazingly stunning to look at and a great tool for drawing the audience in.

The music fits perfectly alongside the graphics depicting a similar eerie and dismal tone. The two work together strengthening the storyline creating an unforgettable experience. The combination of graphics, sound and storyline seem to work in perfect harmony, nothing seems misplaced.

There are a couple of glitches within the game. If you pause the game, you will be taken back to the chapter selection and you will have to start from the beginning of the chapter.

Also it is important to add that the game developers are asking for donations in order to progress the project into further episodes, it is left in the hands of the beholder, which worries me slightly.

 Pros:

 *Strong storyline and protagonist.

 *Gripping gameplay.

 * Free.

Cons:

*A few minor glitches.

*Donations expected.

Conclusion:

Forgetting the few minor hiccups within the game, I am happy to say that this is by far one of the best iOS games I have played this year (including games I’ve paid for). The storyline idea and beautiful graphics make for a brilliant and fascinating puzzle game. On top of that, the first episode is completely free, even though it has the traits of a paid game. I would recommend those who love this game to donate so we can enjoy the upcoming episodes because the first episode does indeed leave you with a cliffhanger.

I for one want to know what happens next, don’t you?

Graphics and sound: 5/5

Storyline: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5

Score: 4 ½

Game developer: House on Fire ApS

Price: free

Last Update: 28 June 2013

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch

GAME REVIEW: Star Wars: Tiny Death Star

Downloading this iOS app really excited me, I didn’t know what to expect. Anything based on Star Wars has to be epic, my hopes were set high with this freemium App, but was I expecting too much from this free Tower Building App?

Jump aboard your own space station and build your own society, your own tiny little death star. The Emperor is building a death star level by level and he is in need of your help. Join Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader on a mission to attract Bitizens to your galactic tower of business, and take over the galaxy!

Each floor in the tower can hold up to 5 Bitizens and each of your businesses can employ 3, so be careful and picky when choosing to evict certain citizens from your Little Death Star, because the more higher-levelled the citizens are, the better impact it will have on your Death Star.

This is a great game for the Star War fanatics out there; the game has add-on quirky features that allow you to collect numerous species of characters that starred in the films, from Ewoks to Wokkies.

Other features include achievements and hilarious scenes involving your Death Star.

Consequentially, alike all freemium games if you want a higher experience and better gameplay then you have to pay for the extra available features, in this case it’s the Imperial Bux and coins.

So what are the pros to this game?

You can unlock and collect up to 30 characters from the Star War films and live out the dream of creating your own Death Star, while watching humorous extended scenes.

Unfortunately I can’t see many other positives to this game.

So, we get onto the mean part of this post…

The first thing that became apparent was how slow the build up of the game is; building new floors slowly becomes more expensive. Your businesses also take a lot of time generating enough funds to do anything productive within the game. Unfortunately my attention span was shorter than my interest for this game so it quickly became very dull; I didn’t really grasp the point to the game.

Needlessly to say, it didn’t take me long to give up on the gameplay, but I guess the whole point of freemium games it to pay extra for an enhanced experience, but as I have said before I don’t agree with the morals of freemium games.

This game wasn’t particularly for me, but it obviously has an audience out there somewhere. So for you Tiny Tower players, Star Wars fans and those who are curious, go ahead and download it there is no harm in a free game!

Game Review: BASE JUMPER

After downloading an immense amount of Apps in search of a new entry, I found a game called Base Jump but would it be compelling enough to make it into the most outstanding games available on the Apple Store?

If you like the idea of jumping off skyscrapers, or at least the idea of a game that involves this, then you should definitely consider downloading this App. Get your parachutes prepared and dive off a building, each mission involves realistic limitations skydivers face; including the dark and the wind, making it difficult to calculate the correct distance to run before making the leap of faith.

The first apparent and obvious pro of this game is the price, it's completely free, no charges necessary. Can you imagine anything better than a free game? 

I can't!

So.....

...The controls (or control) are extremely simple, making gameplay excessively entertaining, the challenging part is figuring out the distance of the jump and when to deploy your parachute without breaking any limbs or missing the target completely (I did this several times). The only control is tapping the screen, to run, jump and releasing the parachute; the wind does the rest.

Oh, and the most important factor is timing; timing is everything in this game, and it's a trait that I have never had. The first section of levels deceivingly easy, but the game became complex rapidly, adding more obstacles into the mix of things, leading to levels that are nearly impossible to accomplish on the first try, this effect isn't dulling, in fact it adds to the addiction. I found myself incapable of putting this game down, every fail strengthened my addiction to the point where I was actually shouting at the screen.  

The game features a classic, but never tedious marking scheme; each level has a scoring rate out of 3 stars. 

Visually the game is easy on the eye, with remarkably creative, scenic landscapes, teamed up with the amusing sound effects, which add to the positive attributes of the game.

Consequentially, nothing is perfect so I have to be cynical and find something that hinders the game. For me, this was a surpassingly challenging task, I couldn't find much fault in this particular game, but if I had to pick something is would have to be the intricate levels that I can't seem to complete but this can be put down to my hopeless hand-eye coordination; so not really a valid point for most of humankind!

Go and download it, it's free and a great time-murderer!!!!!

I KNOW!!!!!

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Contact me on: lauzalluzzle@gmail.com

The best of iOS Apps: Beyond the Dead

Today I spent my day ransacking the Apple Store in search of a few decent treasures hidden within the iOS App Store.  I discovered 11 free Apps and 1 cheaply priced, that from first glance looked entertaining.

The first App I looked at was, Beyond the Dead, a free App that can be found on the editors picks selection on the App store. I have always struggled with finding exceptionally entertaining apps for my iOS platforms. 

'Nothing in life is free'; if a product is free, there is usually a good reason behind it and that usually involves ulterior motives to get customers to cough up the cash or a huge sacrifice in game quality. I don't find any of these attractive in gameplay, and sadly it seems prevalent within iOS free gaming. This has encouraged me to hunt for a gaming App that defies human nature and ignores all of the above. 

I thought I would attempt to differ you from dropping the Apple Store like a hot potato and help narrow down your search for the best gaming Apps out there.

Beyond the Dead

(Released October 30th 2013, by GREE INC.)

First impressions are always key!

I thought I had found a winner before I even begun; nothing is better than an action/zombie killing game. As soon as I opened up the App, I felt completely let down, but what should I expect from a free app? 

Lets start with the negative!

1) For me, one of the worst characteristics of a game is the typical freemium feature found all too commonly in Apps. 

2)There is no hands-on zombie killing sprees, they pose no real threat to your avatar. 

If I ignore these unattractive components and focus on the stronger attributes of the game it seems more bearable. The main objective of the game is to build up a team of 5 survivors, which you can train and level up through forfeiting other survivors and bonus goodies found across the game. You also have a responsibility to build up your camp with buildings which you can also upgrade, allowing you to gain more coins to aid the levelling up process of your team. 

Unfortunately this game is a fremium, town builder so everything is free to some extent, with the persuasion of cheap add-ons to improve your gameplay, but this can quickly become pricey! 

On top of levelling up your survivors to compete with others and building your camp, there are also missions set across destinations within the game. The missions usually involve the killings of the different types of zombies (doctors, civilians, clowns, mascots etc.) Consequentially, as I mentioned above none of the deaths are hands-on, all you do is tap once or twice to kill a zombie for the completion of missions to gain coins and goodies, which hastily became a bit dull. 

One of the attractive and addictive qualities of this game is the building of your team, there is a never-ending selection of survivors you can use to frame a solid party. Specific goodies (mystery boxes) rewarded through the completion of missions offer a random selection of common, uncommon, rare and epic collectable personas. This allows every customer to have his or her own experience dissimilar to everyone else's, which is something alien and unique in the AppWorld. 

Unfortunately its major pitfall is its only strength; as the characters level up, it becomes more difficult to progress further into the game with the limited energy offered within the game, (which I guess is probably the whole point) the game producers need to find money somewhere. As I am not a fan of the money-grabbing morals of fremium games, this was majorly off-putting and unfortunately this lead to a very repetitive and lifeless game (for me anyway). 

So, what's the result?

Freakishly similar to the Village People!

Beyond the Dead was a great time killer, I spent hours creating an interesting and comedic team, scarily with a similar look to the Y.M.C.A, which amused me to no end, it was a welcoming feature and I got a good giggle out of it too. Unfortunately similar to all freemium games, the fun was short lived and it became tedious surprisingly fast. 

Still, it offered a lot more gameplay than other free games; so for that I would score it an easy 8/10, within the free game scale.

As a game in general it was doomed from the beginning, unless you are willing to pay the cash. It was a bit of a disappointment, which is the reasoning behind why I score it a mere 4/10 within the overall scale of games. 

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My Top Ten Horror Movies

I'm one of those people who can't seem to get enough of horror films, I own such an extensive amount that it's become borderline obsessive.

I just can't turn down a good adrenaline filled horror flick. 

I did some research into some of the reasons for why people love the horror genre so much, the results were mixed. People love horror films for many reasons, some people use them as an excuse to get close and personal with someone while others love the blood and gore, but for me it's the adrenaline rush.   

According to Margarita Tartakovsky gender plays a huge role in the reasons for why people watch horror films. "In one study males liked a horror movie more when they saw it with a female who was scared, and females liked the movie more when they saw it with a male who wasn’t scared." 

So why do I always find the wimps?!?


Halloween has come and gone but you don't need a time of year to watch a horror! So I thought I would offer my top 10 movies to my readers.

So lets get to it, I thought I'd let you all in on my top 10 favourite horror movies of all time:
Prepare for ultimate epicness!

10: Carrie (1976 version)
I'll kick this countdown off with a true classic film that will never have an expiry date, Carrie is by far one of the best horror films I have had the pleasure of watching. It is based upon the life of a young, timid 17-year-old girl who discovers that she has telekinesis, she later uses her advantageous powers against those who have abused her.

If you are looking for a tense thriller that puts you on edge, then this is the horror flick for you.

9: Cloverfield
I loved this style of film! Something about watching a monster destroy a city from the point of view of a hand-held camera strikes me as immensely entertaining and appealing. The audience follow the protagonist; an innocent bystander who gets caught up in the catastrophic events in New York city.  

8: Alien vs Predator
Not typically valued as the best film out of the alien and Predator series, but if you enjoy watching two alien species fight until the death (like me) then there is no shame in watching it. I admit this is one of my guilty pleasures that I keep to myself, until now so don't judge me.

7: 30 days of night
An alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month, deadly incidents start to unravel as the film progresses. The small town is attacked by a gang of relentless and bloodthirsty vampires, a horror film of true gore. In my opinion this the mix of aggressive vampires and gore add up to an amazing film, what more could I ask for in a horror genre?

6: The descent
A film that petrifies me, my worst fear is being trapped, definitely aimed at those adrenaline junkies out there. A caving expeditions goes horribly wrong, the explorers being trapped and slowly get stalked and picked off by a new species of predator, in the complete darkness of the cave.

5: Quarantine
A television reporter and her cameraman end up quarantined within an apartment building after an outbreak of a mysterious disease. This flick is definitely not for film snobs out there, it's a great horror for those who are simply looking for an average, easy to watch terror.

4: The Amityville Horror
A family become terrorised by demonic forces after moving in to a home that had become witness to a mass murder. This film is definitely for the ladies, especially if you are looking for a film where Ryan Reynolds is constantly on frame with his torso on show.

3: No country for Old Men
A true masterpiece of a film! A hunter stumbles across a drug deal gone wrong, two million dollars are at stake. If you are like me in thinking that the bad guy in Skyfall was one of the best of all time, then you should seriously consider this film.

2: The grudge 
A nurse in Tokyo is exposed to a supernatural curse, one that causes the person to experience powerful rage before claiming their own life and spreading to the next unlucky victim. This film is the reason for why I still religiously check whether my wardrobe is closed at night, this film creeped me out and it still haunts me to this day.

1: Donnie Darko
A troubled teenager is cursed with visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him causing him to commit several crimes. The ultimate physiological horror that fucks with your head, you need a degree in order to understand its intellectual complexity.

I hope you enjoyed my top 10 horror films!
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Device 6: One of the best games iOS has to offer.... at the moment

Are you looking for an interactive puzzle game with a hint of creepiness? If yes, then Device 6 is the game for you.

After recently giving up hope on the iOS gaming world, I was pleasantly surprised to find a game that oozes originality and style. 


Device 6 was developed by Simogo and released on October 17th, it had a similar feel to their previous release, Year Walk.

I stumbled across this slice of brilliance by accident, through a YouTube video. I was shocked that it hadn't made it into the popular apps, and how little recognition it had received. 

Anna wakes up in a castle with no recollection of how she got there, the main aim is to escape. Device 6 intellectually combines literature with the conventions of modern gaming; the words are your map and key to completing the puzzle. 

Device 6 had me at first glance, it was completely immersive and intelligent I couldn't bring myself to put the game down until I had finished it. I sat in a dark, silent room aimlessly twisting and turning my iPad until the early morning hours.

The game is split up into six sections all with different puzzles to work out, hints are hidden throughout the interactive book, you have to read behind the lines to find the correct answers to progress further into the plot.

The game was released on two different gaming platforms, the iPhone and the iPad, but 
in my opinion, I don't think the iPhone would have given the game justice, it is a game better saved for the iPad.  

It is an ingenious app that successfully demonstrates exactly what the iPad has to offer. It’s a story, but one that takes advantage of sound and visuals all together on a touchscreen device, creating a perfect blend of sensory magic. 

Unfortunately, similar to everything that exists, there are pitfalls and for me the story just didn't seem strong enough. However, the developers definitely gain brownie points for presentation, style and originality. 

So go ahead and download the game, it is worth the £2.49 ($3.99) price stamp, even if it is only for three hours of gameplay.

I give the game a 9/10, just remember it's the quality that matters, not the quantity. 

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Post-university Blues

University is one of the most remarkable parts of many people's lives, a truly memorable journey that many young people partake in every year. 

However, nobody prepares you for the anti-climax that is post-university blues.

University always seemed like the next logical step for me after finishing school, in my mind it gave me three extra years to decide the ideal career path for me.

Unfortunately I became more confused as the years progressed, leading to me graduating with a degree I didn’t even want to follow up on. Don't get me wrong I don't regret going to university, I embraced the whole experience with open arms.

The transition of moving back from university was the most difficult thing I have had to deal with, it felt like i was taking one step forward and two steps back. I was now dependent on my parents once again, only this time I was also unemployed and struggling to find a job.

Nobody really prepared me for this stage of my life, so after some research I felt the need to spread my word and help others cope with the similar problems I've had

After becoming completely miserable living with my parents, I finally decided that I should be doing something that I want to do rather than doing nothing. I have always had a passion for travel, so I decided to look into studying event management in Canada.

Fingers crossed it works out!

So what would be my advice to future graduates?

The answer is simpler than you think!

If you want to take a gap year travelling then you should, there shouldn't be anything stopping you.
Just do what you want to do, don't just do what you think is expected of you because it seems logical. You are only young once, if anything now is the perfect time to make mistakes, so make all the mistakes you can and have fun doing so.

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