√Bestamvsofalltime ▪ Keep OUT! AMV

Sorry for the lack of fresh content, but we've been busy with other obligations.  So here's a short little AMV for Durarara, which is a fun series that I'll get to reviewing at some point soon (I hope).  So relax, and enjoy.

Bleach 550: Blazing Bullets

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/550

New week, new Bleach, so let's dive right in.  The battles between Soi Fon and Stern ritter "K," BG9 and Captain Hitsuguya and Stern ritter "H," Bazz-B were looking to be finished, but the fight is only just beginning.  The Quincy King had already anticipated that the Soul Reapers who had their bankai stolen would develop other methods to fight, and it is revealed that Bazz-B used his flames in the last battle to actually counter the flames of Yammamoto's zanpakuto.  This is surprising, since it indicates that even some of the lower ranking stern ritter could actually fight on even terms with someone as powerful as the head captain, at least in shikai state.  Now the Quincy counterattack has begun, will the Soul Reapers be able to withstand this onslaught? And will Ichigo have anything left to save when he finally arrives?  Well, I'm hoping to find that out myself before too long, so let's just tune back in next week to see what happens.

Naruto 648: A Shinobi’s Dream

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Hey everybody, it’s once again that special time of the week where we can enjoy some manga goodness in this week’s chapter of Naruto. This week’s chapter is title “A Shinobi’s Dream” and we delve even deeper into the conflict and of days past in the Naruto universe. Last week’s chapter came filled with more dashed hopes for the allied shinobi alliance as the God’s Tree extract chakra from members of the army, even taking so much that their very lives were being snuffed out. But with renewed resolve from Sasuke (he finally does something), he and Naruto head straight on into the fight with the seemingly invincible Obito. This week’s chapter also delves into the past once more through the eyes of Hashirama and the time where the borders of Nations were being drawn and fought over, bringing up even more on what happened all those years ago. But I won’t give that away, you’ll have to read for yourselves and I hope you all enjoy.  

For the LOLZ

You shall not pass.... on your next job offer.

Get Back AMV \\

Hey guys, Zach here.  Busy playing catch-up on college work and trying to make time to do more writing, so here's an AMV for you guys so you know I still care.

Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai

Zach Goodier

Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai is an add-on DLC to Shogun 2: Total War, and what an expansion it is.  Fall of the Samurai takes place during the Meiji era, when Britain, France, and the U.S. were all actively involved in opening Japan and modernizing it.  While you still have the traditional spear, sword, and bows, you now have the introduction of modern late-19^th century weapons.  These weapons include advanced field cannon, carbine cavalry, ironclad ships, and even Gatling guns.  With these weapons, you must declare loyalty to either the shogun or emperor, and proceed to expand your control over Japan.

This isn't always as one-sided as it looks, guns work better at a range, but once those swords close the gap they are deadly in the hands of experience samurai.

For starters, the mechanics are still the same, yet very different in the overall feel and dynamic.  Where Shogun 2 generally forced you to pick between vast peasant units, or smaller elite units, now there’s another element involved: modern or traditional.  That isn’t to say that shogun supporters HAVE to limit themselves to traditional units, they have modern weapons as well.  However, one of the key elements to using modern units is how your clan develops.  Tokugawa supporters are more geared towards traditional units, and their most efficient military consists of less-advanced units.  Clans that build a lot of military academies to train modern infantry advance their clan development, but this also angers the populace as you change local government and culture to a more Western-style, but it also opens up trade with these nations, and allows you to gain more income through trade, and use their agents to train your troops and advance your technology.

These aren't the little wooden rafts you used to control, and they have cannons.

Diplomacy was… Well almost a joke in the original game, with you barely needing to use it, and the realm divide making you wonder why you ever bothered in the first place.  This has been changed a great deal in Fall of the Samurai.  It is very difficult to get ahead by being a solely military power, and you’ll find enemies nipping at your heels all the while, and they will find ways to agitate you.  Enemies make more effective use of navies, even landing armies behind your borders and tearing up the countryside to damage your economy if they don’t take your territory altogether.  The realm divide has also been changed, with you becoming the “vanguard” of your respective side: shogun or emperor.  By doing this, all the other factions that share your loyalty will rally behind you, further solidifying their allegiance, generally.  However, you also have the option of going it alone, declaring both to be unworthy of ruling, and declaring your intention of conquering Japan for yourself.  While this might sound tempting, you will have all but your most loyal allies turn on you. 

Gatling guns take a while to build up to, and they might not be all that impressive at first, but once you level them up they can be devastating when properly positioned.

Naval battles are another major change, with the new Western-style ships.  You can take control of individual ships, in order to control their weapons manually, and helping you get more involved in the action.  You can also do this with cannons and Gatling guns in land battles, but you’ll find yourself having to leave them to give orders to your units more often than you would in naval battles, which have a much slower pace.  Naval units can also engage in night battles, raiding enemy fleets and ports.  However, the coolest thing is the ability to bombard enemy ground emplacements and cities with your fleets on the coast.  Fleets have a set range which is outlined when you select the unit, and if another clan’s city, port, or building is range, you can try to damage it without engaging in an actual battle.  You can also use them to support armies, being able to use 2 bombardments in per battle to support your army.  This can have a HUGE impact on a battle, allowing you to take of forces much bigger than your own by planning your naval bombardments to maximize enemy casualties and break their morale.  This element makes for some of the most exciting battles I’ve ever had in a strategy game.

Conquest has never been more entertaining.

If you know Shogun 2, then you should have a good idea what you’re in for after reading this review.  If you haven’t played the original game, then now’s as good a time as any to start.  I really loved this expansion in a way that makes it hard to go back to the original game.  The added elements of modern weapons and a more in-depth diplomacy system to make you feel like you have to play not only battlefield, but the political field as well.  If you are interested in the time period, strategy games, or you’re looking for a challenge, then this add-on should do it for you.  However, if you don’t like the genre, or the original game, then this probably won’t do much to impress you.

Good:

-Brilliant portrayal of an important time period in Japanese history.

-Expansive units that contain both traditional swords and bows, to modern muskets and Gatling guns.

-Navies are much more important, and can really make or break your clan.

-Diplomacy much more central to survival, and while you can avoid it you really want, you can benefit greatly from taking the time to use it.

Bad:

-Obviously strategy haters need not apply.

Scully Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Grand Theft Auto 5

By: Robert Murphy

Well I was finally able to pull myself away from the controller long enough to tell you all my thoughts and feelings on the latest entry into the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto 5. Now I am here to say straight out from the get go that I am in love with the game, since the very first opening sequence I have loved everything that the game has to offer. Players are now put into a massive world that is not only beautiful to look at but feels like a living breathing world with everything from animals to hunt, stores to shop in, games to play and just about everything you’re little heart desires. GTA 5 is the culmination of years of Grand Theft Auto games and brings in it all the things we have loved in previous games, brought them together and then added even more along with it. But this is only a fraction of a fraction of the pleasure that comes from the game, we also have an insanely addictive single player story to enjoy, so let’s dig right on in.

From the start of the game, I took immediate notice of the games vastly improved mechanics, player movement is both smooth and easy to handle much like it was in the last GTA game but now it’s been given an overhaul and made even better. Also the cover system and weapon handling has finally been put to a level that you’d want from a massively open world shooter, taking cover behind objects and popping out to take out enemies feels like a breeze. Not only that but moving the auto aim function, which was an absolute horror in GTA 4 at times, can now be described as seamless as it simply moves from enemy to enemy with a flick of your thumb. These mechanic upgrades also transfer over to the vehicles you will have the opportunity to be driving, cars are now not only easier to control and drive but the massive amount of selection and customization is astounding. There have always been fast cars in GTA games but now they look, sound and act like real life cars that you can go out and buy, for example, hearing the roar of the Dodge Charger look alike in the game gave me an evil grin and racing heartbeat. And then I have to make notice of small features that I just love, for example missions in the game start without players having to do a thing except walk up to the indicator and then the dialogue starts right up. Also we have another great improved to missions and story and that is the games checkpoint system, where in the past you could spend five minutes stumbling back through a mission if you screwed up, now checkpoints throughout the missions prevent all that frustration.

The story doesn’t suffer at all alongside the immersive world of GTA 5, in fact it’s on par with about everything else the game has to offer, it gives you a crazy, thrilling and often times dark tone but hey it is GTA after all, what do you expect. In the city of Los Santos, the people are stuck up and snobby, they spend their time on the couch, doing yoga, drinking their overpriced coffee and updating their Lifeinvader accounts, which is a jab at Facebook that I just love. The game makes a point to jab at today’s new generation of glamour seeking nobodys and the age of multimedia (good it needs to be taken down a peg) and you are destined for good things in this town. As you play between the three playable characters, you set out to make money, find purpose or just go ape @#$% on everything, as each character has their own reasons for doing what they do. This includes a list of highly integral heists and crimes that are something that you’d expect to see in an Ocean’s 11 style movie, with various elements to plan out, ridiculous maneuvers and of course daring chases. And you yourself get to plan out these heists and preform them in whatever way you see fit, you want to go in loud and heavy or smart and calculated you can, it’s all up to you.

Oh right I should probably introduce our characters, we have Michael a retired con man in his 40s, who is not happy with his new found life of luxury as he lays about his massive home, drinking and laying in the sun all day. Then there’s Franklin who is a young man from downtown Los Santos who gives off the feel of CJ from San Andreas but Franklin doesn’t want the gangster life style that his friends seem to relish in and he is looking for a way out to bigger things. And finally we have Trevor, a volatile criminal who spends his days out in the hills of Los Santos, cooking drugs, killing rednecks and generally causing mass chaos. Players can switch in between the three characters during the game and get a feel for the life of each character and what they’re all about and experiencing the many different elements of Los Santos and the people that live there. This was a great aspect in my opinion because I didn’t have to play as one player that I didn’t necessarily like but I had the option to choose from multiple characters, each with their own unique personality and appeal.

I could literally go on for pages about all the action, activities and fun that can be had in Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar has spared no expense for fans this time around and it is much appreciated from me and I’m sure the Grand Theft Auto community as well. The game has an intelligent storyline and appealing heists, crimes and activities to be had with our three characters, just about anything you can think of doing or want to do is set out before you. The games ability to plan out heists and crimes as you play through the main story is a great aspect that makes you feel in complete control of the action and the crimes you’re performing. The in game mechanics have also been improved in every way imaginable, movement is smooth and no longer clunky, gun play and the auto aiming system have all been given an upgrade and driving cars is not only fun but is massively appealing with how real all the cars feel. Grand Theft Auto 5 is the GTA game that fans have been waiting for and for those of you who haven’t played a GTA game before will quickly fall in love just as fast as hardcore fans will.

Good:

- Incredibly massive and immersive world

- Stimulating storyline

- Amazing and ridiculous heists and crimes

- Dark and witty humor/dialogue

- Never ending list of things to see and do throughout the game

Bad:

- I haven’t had a single bad thing to say about this game

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10 

Bleach 549: The Stormbringer

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/549/

Another week, another Bleach.  The battles are picking up, and now Soi Fong is joining in.  While we don't see all that much, she has apparently perfected her Shunko technique, which was inspired by the loss of her bankai.  However, the battle doesn't look to be over yet, and the Quincy have yet to unveil their full power.  However, I'm sure most of us are anxious to see when Ichigo will show up, and what powers he'll have to use in the battle.  Until next week, we'll just have to wait some more, so stay tuned.

Naruto 647: Regrets

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Hey guys and girls, it looks like another early week for the manga this time around and as promised this week’s chapter of Naruto is a little bit longer and I’m grateful for that since a lot has come from this week’s chapter. The chapter is entitled “Regrets” and it comes filled with many people doing just that, after last week’s chapter, the allied shinobi alliance’s resolve has been hampered by the emergence of the God Tree. As Madara explains it, the God Tree is the final stage of the ten tails and is the origin of all the shinobi world’s chakra and now it wants its chakra back, taking it away from various members of the alliance. But the chapter also comes with renewed resolve at the same time because if you think our favorite knuckle headed ninja will just lie down and take it, you’re dead wrong. So hop on in everyone and get ready for another great chapter of Naruto. 

BLEACH AMV -[Ichigo vs Ginjo]-Rebirthing

Hey guys, Zach here.  Have an AMV for you from Bleach.  This one is to Skillet's "Rebirthing" and is set to the battle between Ichigo and Ginjo from the Fullbring arc that finished up the anime series.  This week we have reviews planned for Sword Art Online, our regular manga updates, and even a couple of video game reviews that I'm currently working on.  Until then, stay tuned, and stay nerdy.

Sword Art Online

By: Robert Murphy

It is 2022 and the world of virtual reality and gaming has finally come to a level that all gamers dream about, players can enter amazing worlds and completely immerse themselves into using various rigs such as Nerve Gear. Players from all across the world are excited for one new game in particular that is being release that is called Sword Art Online which is a massively large MMORPG (Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) much like World of Warcraft, where players create and control their own unique characters and explore the world of Aincrad. But things take a turn for the worse as it is quickly discovered that players cannot leave the game, they are trapped in this virtual world by its creator who will only release all the players once the final stage is cleared on level 100. To make matters worse for the players it is revealed that not only are they trapped but if a players dies in the game, they die for real.

Our story follows along one particular brilliant player by the name of Kirito, who has eagerly await the games release like many others but he truly sets to the task of beating the game and making it out alive. Kirito is dead set on being a solo player from the get go, he is shy and timid in the game much like he is in the real world but as the game and the show progresses we see him break out of his shell and interact with the various players of Sword Art Online. The main person who breaks Kirito out of his isolation is Asuna, a female player who gets introduced early on and a person I immediately fell in love with alongside Kirito. The great thing about the show is that even though the players are trapped in a virtual world, the experiences and feelings that are shared throughout the game are very much real and that is ever clear with the relationship between Kirito and Asuna. The two fall in love during the game and it wasn’t one of those BS love stories either, the two were clear with their feelings for one another and they made it happen and that’s why I love the twos characters. And don’t worry folks, as I’m sure some of you may have thought of “well what if Asuna turns out to be a guy playing a girl” this gets debunked at the beginning of the show and all characters are who they are in real life thanks to the Nerve Gear.

Now outside the touching narrative and social interaction, Sword Art Online, comes with an enjoyable amount of action to it. Outside of the generic enemies you’d find in an MMORPG, there are some stellar boss fights that feature greatly designed fight sequences that completely make you feel like you’re watching real game play. Alongside this there are the absolutely beautifully designed worlds that as a gamer make me jealous that they aren’t real and that I won’t have them for nine years but I can wait for them. The environments both on the front lines of battle and off are breathe taking, between the places the players can live and bosses lairs and more, the world is massive and all around what you’d want a video game world to be like.

Now the show isn’t without its problems, for starters the show moves very fast paced and almost feels a little rushed like there is something being left out and the show is based off of a manga and things often times get cut out, so that very well may be the case. My other problem with the show is the sort of second half of the story which feels like an unfortunate turn for such a great show, the second arc is far less action heavy and less of an adrenaline fueled affair. What makes my spine tingle is how dumbed down Asuna becomes, she becomes less of an all-around butt kicking female character and more of a damsel in distress waiting for Kirito to save her. Even the “bad guy” in the second arc isn’t at all that intimidating of a character, he’s more of the slimy and gutless character who is all around creepy to even look at.

These problems aside, Sword Art Online, gave me a thrill that an anime hasn’t in quite some time and introduces a lead as well as a great group of supporting characters throughout the shows span. Asuna and Kirito are easily one of my new favorite anime couples, they knew they loved one another and went for it and proceeded to collectively kick virtual butt together. The video game worlds featured in the story are incredibly well designed, like something you’d see in a commercial for a game and could only dream that it would like that when you started playing. In the end I just wish the show had more episodes but what can you do, I suppose if I want more action to read up on I can check out the manga and continue to re-enjoy the awesome parts of the show over again which aren’t too hard to find.

Good:

-Amazing characters

-Asuna and Kirito are an insanely awesome anime couple

-The world you’re watching literally does feel like you’re watching a video game unfold

-Beautifully designed worlds, characters and action

Bad:

-The story gets a little rushed at times

-The second arc of the story isn’t as nerve racking and is where you may lose touch with the show

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

Riddick

Zach Goodier

Vin Diesel returns as Riddick, one of our favorite movie badasses.  We see him start out on a desolate world, fighting to survive on his own.  As the movie progresses, we see his situation explained, and how he fell out with the Necromongers from the previous film.  Taking advantage of his desire to find his lost home world, they lured him to this world and after a brief fight, they leave him for dead.  Riddick only blames himself for his fall from the badass ranks, saying he became “civilized” and didn’t see this betrayal coming.  Now, Riddick must call in the very people that originally wanted his head, bounty hunters.  His only way off this world is by racing against the clock, stealing a ship, and getting off world before the local monsters come for him.

Oh yeah, he kept what he killed.

Riddick takes a strong step backwards, which might sound bad, but this actually turns out to be a good thing.  While the Chronicles of Riddick was a solid film, it often got too caught up with other characters, feeling like the whole film was weighed down by too many distractions.  In this movie, it’s just Riddick, and the guys trying to kill him.  Like Pitch Black, we get to see that the biggest enemy of the film isn’t the guys with all the guns, it’s the savage world full of alien creatures that are out for blood.  If there is any major fault to be had in terms of story, it would be that the film tries TOO hard to be like Pitch Black, to the point where you almost want to call this a remake of sorts.

It needs some training, has a tendency to bite when it gets nervous.

Vin Diesel has always done a good job as Riddick, and I believe it’s because he doesn’t take the character too seriously.  While many people fault action movie characters for their lack of depth, I think Diesel has a good handle on what he’s doing.  This movie isn’t about depth or sophistication, it’s about enjoying some action and humor.  With the new set of bounty hunters, we see the usual disposable jocks who waves guns around and start dropping like flies once Riddick gets his “Furion swagger” going.  A couple of the bounty hunters set themselves apart, namely Santana, Boss Johns, and Dahl.  Most everyone else is just comic relief or cannon fodder. 

Not all mercs are hard to look at.

The creatures are more diverse than in Pitch black, with a few different varieties in the movie.  The worst of the bunch comes out of wet ground, making rain a particularly frightening thing.  These creatures are some sort of scorpion-inspired creature, and while it definitely doesn’t look like something you want to take home, they don’t have the authentic feel that the creatures from Pitch Black offered.  Another breed of animal, a canine-looking creature, is much more interesting, and provides for one of the more interesting elements of the story, even if you end up a little disappointed later on in the film. 

Riddick is still in his prime, and hopefully in future movies we can get to see more of this universe... namely Furia.

The only real shortcoming of this film is that it doesn’t feel like it moves the franchise anywhere.  It was almost too safe with its’ “Pitch Black” approach.  It also brings up the possibility of seeing Furia, the place where legends like Riddick were made.  However, you end up feeling a little disappointed that they whet your appetite, just to drop it to the background in favor of more of the same.  That being said, this is still a fun film that will entertain almost any fan of the other films.  However, don’t go in expecting big changes, because this movie essentially stuck to the tried and true formula that has worked for the previous films.

Good:

-It’s Riddick… so… yeah.

-New sidekick is way cooler than Riddick’s old fan club… whines less too.

-Doesn't get as large in scale as Chronicles, which lets it focus more on the smaller setting.

Bad:

-Not as creative, takes a lot of ideas from Pitch Black.

-Tempts you with offerings it kind of forgets about until the very end.

-Attempts at chemistry between Riddick and Dahl just felt clumsy in the writing department.

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10

The World's End

By: Robert Murphy

It’s finally happened everybody, the next Simon Pegg and Nick Frost joy ride has come to the big screen and as you might expect, it doesn’t disappoint. The story revolves around a group of five former friends who have all banded together to conquer their towns greatest challenge which is the Golden Mile, twelve pubs, one night of epic adventure. Sounds like fun already right? Well it gets even better when things in the fives home town don’t appear to be adding up and it is revealed that their home town has been replaced by robots, well not robots, robot means slaves and they’re not slaves, no not at all. This being part of The World’s End frankly brilliant wit and humor that you receive throughout the film but not only is funny it has a great deal of heart and action (obviously) incorporated into it as well. So without further ado, let’s dig right into it.

Our five friends are all well-known actors and are exactly the perfect people to fill the older, stuffy versions of their younger selves that are shown in the film. We have Oliver or O man (Martin Freeman) who is the fuddy duddy kill joy of the group who has now become a real estate agent since the old days. Then we have Steven (Paddy Considine) who use to be our lead characters “rival” during their younger days as they play guitar and chased down girls across the school yard, one in particular being Oliver’s sister, Sam (Rosamund Pike.) And then there’s Peter (Eddie Marsan) who was the nerdy member of the five that was always bullied and teased throughout school and ultimately protect by his friends and finding his own place in it. Finally, we have Andrew (Nick Frost) who was best mates with Simon Pegg’s character but had a falling out near the end of high school when they all went their separate ways. And that’s everyone…..OH wait how could I forget about The King which is Simon Pegg’s character, Gary King, who will often refer to himself as The King and act as though he is God among men. This might have been the case when he was younger but now things have changed, very drastically but Gary hasn’t and is that one guy who never left high school but takes it to a whole other level. He is the one who manages to get the group back together for this last blowout and to finish what they couldn’t all those years ago.

From here our story of a night to remember begins but this feeling is only shown by Gary who is, as I said, stuck in the past where he was The King, girls loved him, he could drink and smoke his days away with his mates and nothing could ever stop him. But life it seems has stopped him and the first scene that we see Gary in, he is in a drug rehabilitation center, describing the old days as if they were yesterday. This is where we get a sense of soul and heart to the film and even though Gary’s selfish reasons brought the band back together much more comes from it. This and other touching moments from the groups past somehow go along rather seamlessly with the out of this world sci-fi elements of the film. The premise behind the other worldly beings that have taken over our friends home town is rather inventive and ties into the concerns and whoas of our group as well as every human being. They also are a part of the movies brilliantly planned out and choreographed fight scenes, where every hit leads to ricochet of events in the scene and brings the whole environment into the action.  Then they all proceed to have a pint and share more of their history together….sounds ridiculous when I say it but it works, trust me.

Not much else to say about The World’s End except that it is bloody brilliant, I’ve been a big fan of Edgar Wright’s films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, where Simon Pegg and Nick Frost join forces for epic conquest against zombies or a town of homicidal murderers. The World’s End was one of the few movies that I did not feel robbed me of twelve dollars and gave me a never ending amount of laughs along with everybody else in the theatre. The film pulls no punches with its quick wit and intelligent humor (and not so intelligent), it’s not afraid to jab itself or its characters and struts its stuff with a joyous swagger. And it’s not just Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who are the stars of the show, no all the actors and actresses are on top of their game and makes me hope to God that the five actually do meet up for a pint every now and again.

Good:

-A great cast of characters who bring a spot on performance

-A movie with action, laughs and a soul to it as well

-Brilliantly choreographed fight scenes

-Excellently written and a good edition alongside Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead

Bad:

-Hmm I uhh, yeah I’ve got nothing, I loved it all

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10 

Naruto 646: God Tree

By: Robert Murphy

Link to manga here

Hello everyone, it looks like we receiving the gift of manga goodness early this week and Naruto has come to us a day earlier than usual as well as Bleach. This week’s manga chapter is entitled “God Tree” and I have to tell you all, I was excited right away by this title and it certainly didn’t disappoint me. As a recap of last week, we had finally seen some good offensive from Naruto, Minato and the second hokage as Naruto unleashed the full power of both his sage mode and Nine Tails chakra. But when things seemed to be at their best, Obito had something to counter the abilities of Naruto, despite all the energy he and the others put forth. This week we finally get some more action from Hashirama and Madara’s fight together, who have only been appearing on a page or two to break up the action, but now we hear words of just how the Infinite Tsukuyomi works as Obito unleashes its final stage. Things look pretty bleak once more and who knows if Naruto and the shinobi alliance have much more they can do, you’ll have to jump in and find out in this week’s chapter of Naruto. As a side not next week’s chapter is going to be 21 pages long in honor of JSAT which is Jump Super Anime Tour, so get excited everyone, we’re in for a good long chapter it would seem.  

Bleach 548: The Thin Ice

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/548

Another week, another Bleach, albeit not for that much longer, it seems.  However, in the present we have the battle between captain of squad 10, Toshiro Hitsuguya, fighting Sternritter H "The Heat" Bazz-B.  Hitsuguya has to fight without his bankai, since his was stolen in the previous battle.  However, with some help from Rangiku, it appears that he has at least managed to catch Bazz-B off guard with how effective he can still be as an opponent, noting that his zanpakuto has the least difference between his shikai and bankai powers.  However, the larger battle is still beginning, and it is likely that since the Soul Society is ready this time, they won't be going down so easily.  Now that the Quincy have seemingly tipped their hand, it's all bets off.  However, Ichigo still hasn't arrived yet, and Juha Bach and Uryu are still not participating in the battle.  So, it looks like a few of the key players haven't taken the field as of yet, and we'll just have to wait and see what parts they will play in the coming battle.

Total War: Rome II

By: Sean Dibble

Well guys it's been a while since I have done a review for the server, and I think that it is time to change that with the brand new game made by Sega and Creative Assembly. Total War: Rome II. So be prepared to lose what social life you have (if you had on at to begin with) and dive into this game.

Total War: Rome II was released on September 3rd 2013 and if you are like me have not turned off your computer or the game since. The game is addicting the many changes that they have made since Total War: Shogun 2 are amazing, and graphically I am blown away, you should be too. The world actually works no more sending troops through thick and impassable forests and NO MOVING OVER A MOUNTAIN RANGE IN ONE TURN, like you could do in some of the first Total War games. Now you can set up strategic points to protect what's most important to you...your populace (ok well maybe the people are not important but they make you money to fund that HUGE army of yours don't they?). Now I have a great laptop and play the game on extreme graphics, but if you don't have a great computer and need to run on low graphics be prepared even the low graphics look great. Creative Assembly did not cut any corners graphically.

(Gameplay on the campaign map)

Graphics aside there are a few issues with the A.I. minor points if you are like me and not a great battle general so you'll take the glitches (they help you win :)) but for the hardcore gamers out there who want to be a 5-star general be prepared the battles are easy on normal and I don't see them getting much harder when moving up in difficultly. Some of the issues are that in battle when the AI attacks you they run up and get right about to attack and say "UHHH yeah gotcha" and run back doing this over and over again, ruining your well made plans of defending the area from attack and sadly making you the aggressor during their siege (confusing yes sad yes funny a tad.) Another glitch I have found is when you are doing defense of a combined attack (being attacked by land and sea for those of you confused) your troops wont attack a landing party....if one soldier got stuck on the boat and can't get out. The only thing that I can see stopping them is the other soldiers are saying "wait wait Dave's not hear man." With that said those are the only glitches I myself have found and I am sure they will be fixed with a future patch, and in my opinion they don't take much away from the game play itself.

(Providences available to conquer)

Changes and Things They Brought Back:

Military Changes-  First things first building an army is a tad bit different in this game than any of the past ones. Instead of building the army in your city and reinforcing in the field with your generals, you do it all from the general. One difference is EACH army must have a general and pending on your factions fame you can only have so many out at a time. This adds an odd enjoyment to the game, it makes it so you can't get overwhelmed quickly by someone sending out 10+ maxed out armies on turn 5 and demolishing you before you even had a chance to play the game. Now the downside is that means the more territory you own, you have to leave it without a military presence and well that usually leads to a rebellion. So be careful on how big you get, quicker isn't always better in this case.

City Building Changes- Another change has come to the city building itself, in past Total War games to get a new building slot you needed to upgrade your castle or fort. This is a thing of the past, now with that said there is a limitation to when you can expand a city. What they did in this game is you need a population surplus to expand your cities walls which will then give you a new building slot to build with. Now unlike in previous games if you get a new building slot but do not feel like using it any time soon that is no problem nothing bad will happen, this game leaving a building slot empty has consequences it creates slums which will lead to a unhappy populace which can lead to a rebellion. Another change that I do hope they change is not every city can build each type of building. For example Rome can build training grounds (if its researched) and Sparta can't (even if it is researched) now why this is I am not sure and heck they may even be a way around it that I have not found yet, but if not I hope they fix that soon.

Government Things They Brought Back- Now I'm not sure if this was in Shogun 2, but I do know it was in Empire Total War was inciting a civil war within your own populace. Why would you do this you ask? Simple you do not like the starting type of government you were handed why else? But if you do incite a civil war be sure to win or else the game is over for you. Now, if this is truly what you want to do I will be helpful enough to help you out (because I am just that awesome)

Steps to cause a Civil War (Rome as example)

·         Have a Government type you do not wish to be

·         Raise taxes to High

·         Exempt your territories from taxes except Rome

·         Wait for rebellion

·         Crush rebellion

·         Choose new Government type

Now I have not done this myself in game, but if it is indeed the same as it was in Empire Total war those are the steps you need to take. With that said I do not know if how many choices of Governmental changes you have when you cause a civil war but that is something you guys can ether let me know or figure out yourselves (I cannot tell you everything can I?)

Special Characters/Battle Changes- So as you know if you played a total war game in the past you had spies and diplomats but now you can have Champions and in the case of Sparta you can recruit Leonidas who can do everything a spy/diplomat can do but can also train any army you put him in. Battles though have not changed a lot they added a few more details to them, you can now have combined assaults of both naval and land increasing your odds of winning exponentially, but that's not it instead of after winning a few battles your general increases in rank and gets minor traits to give to his men, the men gain experience points during battle and become better over time. This feature blows my mind and I wish they had it in past games because now it feels like you are a real life general. An example of this is your playing as Sparta and want to take over Rome instead of sending out a bunch of greenhorn troops you can send out that army you have been working on since turn one and now is unstoppable. Naval battles have changed a bit also in the past if you are like me you just auto resolved the naval battles or just did not bother to even create a navy in the first place. Now on the other hand not only can you shoot at other ships you can ram and or board other ships to take them out.

Troop Movement Changes- This is a small change but I think it is worth mentioning YOU NO LONGER NEED TO WASTE TIME CREATING TRANSPORT SHIPS. Now click the army you wish to move across the sea and click the sea and bam transport ship. Now troops need to follow paths on the map they cannot go way off the beaten path and attack from a side you thought was impassable and you can put your troops on a path blocking the way to your city too.

Legacy Addition- Now as armies get stronger and better they gain fame, but that does not mean they cannot get destroyed, but now you have the option to reinstate a legacy. What does this mean? you ask puzzled and confused. In this case say your 3rd Legion is destroyed in battle and you loved that Legion, well go to any city click on the raise force button chose a commander and hit the reinstate legacy button. Now not only will they gain the emblem from your beloved 3rd legion but they will also gain all their hard earned traits.    

(SPARTANS)

Gameplay is fun but a tad bit flawed, but this is really nothing new to total war games sadly and hopefully they fix it soon because I'm starting to get annoyed with it. The flaw I'm talking about is when playing a campaign it's safe to say your armies are not going to be attacked unless they are in a city so get your armies out there your safe. AI only attacks cities and most of the time they do it with large armies yes...but with weak and inefficient units in them so they are easily defeated. But none the less I still find myself playing hours and hours on end because cant and really shouldn't only focus on military and should manage both economy, military and your pubic order of all your cities giving this game a ton of replay just with those aspects but add on the amount of factions you can choose to play as and well say goodbye to your friends and family this winter because you'll be building many new empires from Britannia to Persia and yes Rome, but one I find myself playing as most is Sparta. So sit back, get your generals cap on and get ready to become grand empower of the old world.

Good:

-Game play

-The Changes made by Creative Assembly add more to the game

- Graphics

Bad:

- A few bugs and AI issues but that's it

Scully Rating : 8.9 out of 10 

(but with patches fixing the glitches it will be a 9)