The Following (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy

(Watch out for spoilers)

Now I know I may be a little late to the party on this one but to be fair we here at Scully Nerd Reviews just started to write TV reviews so I’ve started to step up my game on some television shows and I thought a great one would be The Following. The show has seen many raved reviews and love from addicted fans since it first aired and I myself am now one of them. The story follows ex-FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) as he’s called back to help the agency when the last man he put away escapes from prison and needs to be tracked down. Our main baddie in the show is a character type we have seen before, cool, calm, charismatic madman with the pension to inspire worship for with his actions and motives, the characters name Joe Carrol (James Purefoy.) The show is shocking as it is suspenseful with many moments of mass murder and chaos that ensue with Joe masterminding it all and hopefully Ryan has what it takes to stop him.

Now I have deeply missed the performing role of Kevin Bacon throughout the years as it’s been awhile since I’ve seen him do anything and for me his return to the light of day as Ryan Hardy was a brilliant casting choice. Ryan is a depressed man who has suffered immensely in life even before the end of his career and the capture of Joe Carrol some odd years ago. Throughout the show though he will be put through an emotional ride that I wouldn’t ever wish upon anyone, Joe and his follows push a man to the edge who was already pretty close to it to begin with. All the more impressive is the acting done by James Purefoy who evokes the perfect charm and flaunt that Joe Carrol needed to have and his calm/relaxed demeanor felt truly genuine especially in moments where it broke and the monster inside Joe comes out in anger. What also made for added excitement was the author that Joe Carrol most emulated with his followers and his work as well and that was Edgar Allen Poe, his books and themes are constantly a part of this dark tale. Characters in the show all do an incredible job, no matter how minor or how long they last and this comes up quite frequently as Joe moves his followers along like pawns on a chess board and disposes of them just as quick.

An interesting story telling element the show takes on is the use of flashbacks to moments in the characters lives much like when someone in Lost had the spotlight it would flashback to a time in their life. This really leads for some of the more interesting points in the series in such episodes like “The Curse” where Ryan constantly recounts how people in his life are always dying around him. This one is crucial because it goes back to when Ryan’s father dies and what kind of man he has become because of it and all the death he’s surrounded by. It doesn’t work for every character though especially when it came to the love interest of the story Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea) who always seemed to fall for the same dumb things over and over. Moments where the Joe’s followers had something of hers and she turns herself over figuring it’ll all work out really bugged me because she seems so shocked by it, come on they’re serial killers what’d you expect? This could be my biggest complaint with the show is just some of the characters weren’t appealing, its not a big thing to pick at because lots of shows have a poorly done character but are still great and it was just with Claire and one other character Jacob who was a follow of Joe’s that you’ll see.

On a final note I will say that you need to realize the show is about Ryan mainly, he sees through all of Joe’s work and his sneaky little poetic metaphors so when the FBI or the police look weak its not their fault, they’re stuck in the shows formula. Ryan is usually the one to make the find when it comes to a clue long before his FBI friends do and it’s unfortunate when you see them work so hard. Cops and law enforcement always look bad when it comes to a horror or suspenseful show and it’s unfortunate but many of The Followings stronger characters are working with Ryan and prove themselves more often than not. Young FBI agent Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) for instance is often right by Ryan’s side like a star truck puppy but proves his worth especially when he’s beaten to a near inch of his life at one point in the show.

The Following has just finished its second season as other watchers may be aware and I hope to catch myself up on things within the next week or so and I’m very excited to see how things turn out especially with an ending like the one we had in season one. The show was very open and wasn’t afraid to point out the fact that there still was many followers left out there and the beliefs of Joe Carrol can inspire even more carnage to be seen. I myself felt like I went through an emotional ride with the show as I loved Kevin Bacon’s character from the get go, strange since I normally like the bad guy but every time he was brought back down it got me right down with him. The Following really hits its stride as a creepy and suspenseful show where there are so many others out there to choose from, I’d pick this one.

Good:

- A truly gut wrenching ride of emotions all the way through

- Strong performances from many of the shows main cast

- Fairly intense and creative killing

Bad:

- Characters can be dumb and make the classic horror movie “bad move” decisions, mainly Claire Matthews

- Ryan Hardy is the hero and everyone else is meant to die around him and it can make everyone else look bad when you get down to it

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10 

Community (Season 5)

By: Robert Murphy

(Possible spoilers)

Now like many of you out there you may have rolled your eyes at the fact that Community took on another season after the group finished their two years at Greendale Community College but even so I was glad to see it back on the air anyways. Dan Harmon once again returns as well to direct the show after he was fired before Season 4 and I believe he brings with it just what the first episode is all about, a repilot. The study group had gone their separate ways with their degrees to set out in their future careers but things haven’t gone as well as they’d hoped and they all return to their school and start again.

The show returns on a very high note as the first couple of episodes make a solid stride towards the classic Community feel that I have enjoyed watching since the beginning of the show. Jeff (Joe McHale) sits in a slumped state as his new law career isn’t going so well, turns out helping people isn’t as profitable as being an evil snake of a lawyer like he use to be. Enter the man who got Jeff fired in the first place, he has a case for him that gets him back to Greendale and once the study group hears about this they all come running back, seems as things weren’t going well for them either. After this first episode the study group is reformed in a new way and the group returns to the halls for various reasons but unfortunately Pierce (Chevy Chase) doesn’t make an appearance anymore. We also say goodbye to another cast member Troy (Donald Glover) who’s only a part of the first five episodes of this final season but the show does a magnificent job of writing him out in true Community fashion.

Community’s first few episodes continued the great style of the show picking up pop culture references and making their own versions of it such as the episode entitled “App Development and Condiments” which pokes fun at The Hunger Games. I was a little disappointed to not see a paintball episode for the shows final season but the writers did manage to pull another episode “Geothermal Escapism” which completely destroyed the school with a game of hot lava which was new and a great change up for the paintball episode. But the best new addition by far to the show had to of been Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks) who takes on the role of Greendale’s Criminology professor and by far made for my favorite moments this season. The Breaking Bad star plays the gruff former cop who is stuck in the vortex of despair that is Greendale College and he joins the group and adds something that I just loved.

The show for me though did start to soar near the end, season 5 came to an early close at only 13 episodes and the shows final send off just didn’t do it justice. The finale is broken up into two parts and the group is left trying to save Greendale from being sold off. We get a little back story into Greendale’s past and find out that it use to be a computer college at the founder left money hidden on the grounds, a little cliché, but whats worse is they pulled the whole he’s still alive bit. There is a touching moment with Jeff however that will leave you with some hardcore feels but everything else just felt a little lack luster. Then we had the extremely strange G.I. Joe style episode as well, normally Abed (Danny Pudi) will go crazy and inspire a cartoony moment for the show but this time it just wasn’t as charming or as good. These being the last three episodes is what left me with a bad taste in my mouth but it wouldn’t make me hate the season as a whole.

Community’s final season did just what it set out to do in my mind and that is give itself an entire reboot back to its roots and what it was all about to start with. It was a great little throw back to have Jeff be a little evil once again in the first episode. It was a disappointment to see Donald Glover leave after the first few episodes but the gap was filled in quite nicely by Jonathan Banks and it also gave Danny Pudi room to grow a little as a character too. I do wish that the show had more time to keep hitting its high notes especially with Dan Harmon on board once again and taking control of what he started some years ago. We’ll see if time will tell on another season for the show but I do believe we’ve seen the last of Greendale for awhile.

Good:

- The show really gets back to its roots and the comedy I loved

- Harmon being back on board made me feel much safer about it all

- Jonathan Banks was such a magnificent addition to the cast

Bad:

- Unfortunately short

- The last few episodes left a bad taste in my mouth and weren’t great to leave the show to end with

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

Trials Fusion

By: Robert Murphy

Grab your helmets everybody as we set out to perform more stunts, tricks and go through insanely difficult new courses in Trials Fusion. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the game, Trials is a game where players take control of a dirt bike rider and must complete various tracks as fast as you can and with as you few faults as humanly possible. This time around we see a new futuristic world full of quadcopters, AI programs and highly classified locations that you probably shouldn’t be riding a bike through but oh well.

First off I must point out the impressive new look that Trials Fusion has in comparison to the last trials game, the last Trials featured a much more darker contrast and in this new addition we see a much more stylish array of color. It’s almost like when you looked at GTA 4 and the grey and bleak colors and then you play GTA 4: Ballad of Gay Tony and everything is bright and colorful. The futuristic world you’ll be playing through features somewhat of a story mode as you move through the various tracks that increase in difficulty as you go along. Things come across as you being a test subject for some faceless organization and are directed by two AI programs that tell you what to do and give a sense of direction to the game. This is nice because rather than just playing through track after track endlessly you now feel a sense of place as you try your hardest not to fail and win that gold medal at the end of the track.

Now when you take your first look at the game you may think that it is a little cartoony and that means it will give way to ridiculous game physics and an unrealistic play style but this isn’t the case. Both Trials games feature an exceedingly well balanced mechanic for all the bikes players will have to choose from and you must always be cautious about taking that final spin on a flip or you’ll find yourself face planting the track. All the bikes and even your player’s character can be customized as you earn cash along with the medals of each track, bikes can be upgraded with new wheels and body stocks along with a wide array of color selections. As for your character, you can get down right ridiculous with some of the selections the game offers up such as the squirrel and clown masks and much more, all of which feature the same color selection option as your bikes.  

Some great new additions to this Trials include the new ATV vehicle that players can drive as well as the numerous dirt bikes. We also are introduced to a brand new FMX feature which allows players to perform stunts and tricks as they fly through the air of certain stages where before you were only able to front and back flips. This also adds a new skill game type that will come up during the story mode and you must perform the require stunt which can be a challenge if you don’t get the right angle on the analog stick, stupid hero stands are a pain. But this does add a much needed degree of fun when you’re playing with your friends and during the easier first levels which provide massive jumps at times so you can feel free to show off your moves.

Trials Fusion is a hopeless addiction of mine I must admit and by that I mean that it becomes almost impossible for myself to stop playing a track till I hit every obstacle just right and get that gold medal when I cross the finish line and it probably will be the same for you all too. One issue with the game I found was that it felt very short to start off with, the 40 some odd tracks went by really quick but I feel this will be fixed with DLC like the last Trials. The levels you do have though are insanely fun as you jump and rev your way from level to level and press the restart button once you learn how to get over a tricky obstacle and get that perfect run.

Good:

- Campaign now has more of a direction to it

- Great physics and realistic control of your bikes/ATV

- New FMX mode adds even more fun to the madness

Bad:

- Felt a little short even with the later hard levels

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10 

Naruto 674: Sasuke's rinnegan...!!

By: Robert Murphy

Link to the manga here

Hey everybody, sorry for the semi late entry but I'm here now so let's do this with another week of Naruto for all of you to enjoy. This week's chapter is entitled "Sasuke's rinnegan" and as the title may imply to some of you all Sasuke gets more of role in this upcoming battle with Madara instead of Naruto for a change. As we saw last week both of them have been endowed with incredible new power as they inherited the Sage of Sixth Paths son's legendary power, Sasuke with new ocular abilities and Naruto with what looks like an enhanced Kurama form that also bears a resemblance to the sage's form too. Naruto also has finally fulfilled the prophecy that has been brought up a few times about him where he will take control of all the Tailed beast without force and they will willingly lend him their power. With this all be enough though as Madara has taken the God Tree as a part of himself after Might Gai thrashed him into it, only one way to find out so hop on into this week's chapter of Naruto.

Bleach 578: The Undead 5

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/578

Another short chapter this week, but we finally see some resolution to our fight between Kenpachi and Gremmy.  However, we still don't see that much of Nozarashi's abilities, aside from Kenpachi saying that there is nothing it can't cut through.  While that isn't an ability to belittle, it seems a little underwhelming for how long it's taken to reveal.  I'm hoping we'll explore his abilities more down the road, but for now it appears the fight is over.  I liked how Gremmy's final fate was tied to the weakness of his own seemingly unstoppable power.  Revealing the weakness of an ability to manifest any thought into reality really worked in this fight, and helped show how surprisingly feeble Gremmy could be when he faced a stronger opponent.  I still have reservations about his power, but it was a fairly satisfying conclusion.  We'll have to see who's going to be fighting next, so tune back in next week for the new chapter of Bleach. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

By: Sean Dibble

So this show created by Joss Whedon was my first step into the world of the occult and things that go bump in the night. Buffy is a “slayer” which is a hunter of creatures and one girl in every generation becomes one and what they do is kill vampires and other evil entities that pose a threat to humanity. During the day though Buffy is a normal teenage girl going to class and dealing with the average teenager melodrama and the last thing she wants is to be the slayer, well until her newly formed friend Willow is taken by one. The show uses the lore of demons and vamps that we should all love, sunshine and wooden spikes and all the standard Van Hellsing hunting tools apply (no glowing in the sun here for these vampires, these ones BURN!!!)

The plot is simply amazing and you will find yourself binge watching on the show until your eyes bleed, thank the lord there are is more than 2 seasons (poor Joss rarely has a show last longer than that Dollhouse and Firefly to name a few.) The vampires of Buffy are a recurring character set in the show and they do a great job in their transformations where one minute they look like normal human beings and the next moment they are about to feed, faces warp and the teeth come out sharp and ready to haunt your dreams. Other demons and creatures look equally amazing and get awesome background information about their lore to make you think that "hey these could be real" making you think twice about walking around at night alone.

The cast is another great aspect to the show, Buffy is played by Sarah Michelle Geller and plays the role perfectly as the teenaged girl who is both pretty and smart on the surface but can turn around and kick butt the next. Then we have Allyson Hannagin who plays Willow, the nerdy friend who helps with research to inform Buffy of her upcoming battles so she knows just what she’s up against. Then we have David Boreanez who plays Angel, a vampire with a soul who is trying to help Buffy in her endeavors, now David has a recurring part in the show but he also plays a very important part in the film as well which I highly recommend.

All in all, Buffy is a great show and if you want to get someone you know into the world of vampires and demons this is the show for you. Now the show got a tad stale near the end but that is common place in TV shows that last for over five seasons but you may lose touch with it at that point. With that said though I loved the show and recommend giving it a try if you enjoy the type of shows that delve into demon and ancient creature lore with spunky butt kicker to fight them.  

Good:

- Great plot and storyline

-Enters and interesting world of creature and demon lore

- The show features great actors early on in their careers 

Bad:

-Gets stale toward the end

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Guilty Crown

By: Robert Murphy

In the not too distant year of 2039, Tokyo is under the control of the organization known as GHQ, which was the only company able to develop a cure for a disease that struck Japan known as the Apocalypse virus. Since then, GHQ has been much like a warden of the land; protecting its people from the possibility of future outbreak, but this is not as keen as it may seem. The story follows Shu Ouma, an average seventeen year old boy, who encounters a mysterious young girl, Inori Yuzuriha, which changes his life forever. Shu is bestowed with the King’s Power which allows him to pull “Voids” out of people in the form of various weapons or tools which he uses to aid the terrorist organization Funeral Parlor which he is now wrapped up in.

First off, I must say that from the animation stand point the show is extremely sleek and stellar, I haven’t enjoyed animation like it since I watched Sword Art Online. This is especially notable when you take a look at some of the action scenes that take place, mainly the battles Shu is apart off. When Shu pulls out a Void from someones body is quite a sight to see; especially once you see what he can do with it, and you truly understand why the power he’s obtained is called the King’s Power. The weapons he uses can range from a giant sword to a shield, and he can jump on spell like pedestals that form underneath him much like you’d see Dante do in a Devil May Cry game. Not only is the animation exceptional in the battles but its also impressive in regular shots, characters are well put together and just look great.

This, however, was the only main draw of the show, as I watched the story progress further and further I began to notice many similarities to one of my favorite animes, Code Geass. In fact, the only difference is that they take away Geass and replace it with the unique Void ability, oh, and how sub par it is in comparison to Code Geass, too. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, Japan is taken over by an outside power and their cruelty and oppression of the Japanese people inspires a young student to fight out against them with a power he’s gained from a mysterious girl. The similarities don’t stop there though; the ace pilot for the terrorists is a young girl, in a red jumpsuit that pilots a mech robot known as an Endlave. But the icing on the cake of similarties comes from a quote that the leader of Funeral Parlor receives from an elderly Japanese opposer to GHQ about the pure white snow of Japan being tarnished by the GHQ people, the concept of snow was a bit of controversy in Code Geass and the fact that it came up in Guilty Crown was a final red light to me.

But, you know this probably wouldn’t be such a big deal to me maybe if it weren’t for the fact the show is thoroughly awful. Guilty Crown’s story enters the world of ridiculous and over-dramatic for the sake of being over-dramatic and it just ruins any hope of it being saved. For starters, Shu is a hopeless Shonen character who constantly goes back and forth on his loyalties to Funeral Parlor where one minute he pledges allegiance, and the next he’s questioning every little thing they do. Then, there is our C.C. carbon copy Inori, who is a robot type character but one who doesn’t have the personality to pull it off and still be engaging like C.C. was. Moving on to the realm of ridiculous, at one point the horrible virus that ravage Tokyo not to long ago is reignited at one point and to stop it Inori literally sings and it stops the infection, really?!, singing to stop a virus plague killing everyone. Sure we’re in a world where someone can pull weapons out of people’s chest, but this was just ridiculous and I’m afraid it gets even worse from that episode on which is about half way through the show.

Guilty Crown did nothing but piggyback many of its ideas from Code Geass, and where this may have worked if it had an engaging cast or interesting new take, it just didn’t. Many of the new ideas the show tries to bring to the table are in the world of ridiculous and just down right dumb, especially when Ino sang to stop the outbreak of the Apocalypse virus. The show also tries its hand and fan service to make people watch a little more with characters like Tsugumi, a fourteen year old hacker in a skin tight suit who has her controls just out of reach so she jumps up and down or has buttons behind her she activates with her butt. So, in all honesty, Guilty Crown is just a mess, it’s like they copied one show and tried to throw ideas to replace things here and there, which I bet was disappointing for a lot of people who saw all the hype about this show.

Good:

- Animation is very sleek and solid

- Fights were entertaining in the midst of a bad show

Bad:

- Characters are all exceedingly poor

- The whole show reeks of copied ideas from Code Geass

- The show comes out with all the clichés and enters new ideas that were just ridiculous

Scully Rating: 3.0 out of 10 

Game Dev Tycoon

Sean Dibble

Greenheart Games has hit the mark with this indie title. Game Dev Tycoon puts you in the chair of game developer and lets you see what these people go into when choosing what goes into development. Now, of course, it is a dumbed down and extremely simplified from what development would be but still fun to play. Throughout game play you will go from choosing a title, genre, and what system to make your game for. After that development phases start and from there you move sliders, and add features or take away features. Like I said in my games to buy on a budget this game is cheap and oddly addictive and worth a look.

Design your game and run the studio 

Game play- the very first thing you will do is name your new game company and start in the early 80's with the Commodore 64 (G64 in game) and PC and limited graphic and sound potential. You will also start with 4 topics to choose from and be careful how you pair them with the game genres it will help your score if for example you put Zombies with Action instead of Vocabulary with RPG. Be smart and take your time and think about how much you want to put into your sliders. At the end of the three development cycles you will then get ratings from four gaming magazines. These determine how well your game will sell. Lastly during the development phases you will gain research points which can be used to get new topics, train new staff (come after you move out of the garage and you hire them) or get new things for a new game engine.

Work on developing your staff and designs to help form your final game.

Graphics- Graphics are not that great they are very basic 2d, but they are not meant to blow your mind. The game doesn't focus on graphics because it doesn't need to instead of wowing you with how your guy looks they want you to actually work on building a great game.

There are many areas that a game can be made or broken in, and your team is always learning and improving.

Little Additions- A nice little addition to the game that they added was being forced to deal with things game development companies actually deal with. Piracy, stealing of engines, sabotage, and transferring of ideas all come into play and how you handle each one will determine how the public sees and likes you. Another thing is G3 (games version of E3) and setting up your own conventions and marketing campaigns these will help sell games that you recently made. Lastly the game engines don't forget to research new things and create new engines or else well you will fall behind and never make a good game no one wants an old engine I mean those graphics were SO LAST YEAR.

Your games will be reviewed by some fake review companies.

Few things- Just a few things bug me about the game the long game play is 42 years, and yes, you can continue even after you play that long; but really, it doesn't help your final score to do so. The game can be beaten within maybe 4 hours of straight gaming. And after you beat it once it's hard to say "let's go back and make a brand new company." Minor things and maybe they will fix this in future updates but it is worth noting.

Good:

-Addicting game play

-Cheap

-Nice little additions to see what actual gaming companies go through

Bad:

-Graphics are not mind blowing

-Seems short

-really no replay value after you beat it once

Scully Rating: 7 out of 10

Elder Scrolls Online

By: Robert Murphy

Once again we return to the lands of Tamriel in a rocky and turbulent time of war and conflict, where three factions dual it out for the right to rule the land and we get to join in on the action in Elder Scrolls Online. I myself saw my very first hint at an Elder Scrolls game about 2 years ago and immediately fell in love with the idea of it so needless to say I had the game the very first day it was available. The game waists no time in placing yourself right into the action as you awaken in the Daedric world of Coldharbour and must find a way to release your soul and escape. After you share your first encounter with your capture Molag Bal you escape with The Prophet who explains to your unique destiny in this tale as the Vestige, the Chosen One to put an end to the curse on the land set forth years ago. You’ll be joined by many others on your journey including your friends in the open world set before you so strap in for another adventure.

Characters in the game can belong to one of three different factions that live in areas of Tamriel and make their own claims in the right to control the land. The factions include The Ebonheart Pact, The Aldmeri Dominion and The Daggerfall Covenant, each with their own land to be explored once you choose one and start the game. While each area you encounter for your respected faction is quite large and expansive much of it gives of similar looks and feels to them. Many of the buildings and landscape appear to be the same throughout the game and feel a little copied and pasted and landmark towns and cities often feel this way as well. I felt like I was just walking around each area instead of fully experiencing the environment that I was surrounded in. This also does expand to some of the NPC characters you will meet in the game as well, while getting a quest as I traveled about I found myself having sensations of déjà vu when I talked to a character that looked about the same as the last one. This isn’t to say the quest themselves aren’t enjoyable though.

Quests and missions boil down to about the same categories that we’ve come to know from big games like this which are the killing quests where you go after a random target, object finding where you find a random item and then fetch quest where you have to go various distances to find or do something for an NPC. Wherever you go though you are bound to enter combat no matter what, Elder Scrolls Online litters dungeons and pathways with enemies for you to kill and in large numbers if you find the right spot. This brings us to what the combat is all about, players can choose from the number of styles such as dual wielding, one handed, two handed, etc. and then you have the various spells and abilities your class comes with as well. Players can place five abilities of their choosing into the 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots with the “R” key being your ultimate ability, there is a number of abilities your character can unlock during leveling with skill points and hot key them to make the character fit your play style. Players can also add skill trees to spend their points on by joining the various guilds such as the Fighter or Mage guilds, each granting you a quest to perform with them.

Now when I first started to play ESO, I found a problem with the games various quests that other players may also have encountered as well, when playing with such a large number of online players quests can get bogged with so many people playing the same quest as you. Other players and yourself can sometimes be put into competition with one another over completing a quest, a situation I experienced with one quest was a friend I had been playing with finished the quest before me and then as I followed a few minutes behind him the quest had auto completed and wasn’t able to fight the rest of the quest. Other minor issues occur like this every so often when players will kill a main NPC at the end of a quest right as you arrive and you must wait until the NPC respawns allowing you to move on and complete the quest yourself. Early on this came up for me in a dungeon quest around level 8 where other players were jumping about in the final room waiting for the final boss to respawn so they could kill it but the irritating fact is some were just farming XP so it was a bit of a hassle.

Finally, we have the player vs player system in the game which is unlocked once your character reaches level 10 and this becomes one of the ESO’s redeeming factors. Players can choose a PVP campaign and battle the other factions players have chosen to control various forts, camps and castles. The reason why this is such a great aspect to the game is it not only allows you to fight other online players but it really gives depth to the whole choosing a faction aspect of the game. Also the ESO system the game has is wonderful for rendering the massive amounts of player vs player characters onto one screen, its chaos and I loved it all.

Now as I said I have been waiting for Elder Scrolls Online to come out for a very long time and it might have been the over hyping in my mind that made me feel a little let down but then again I stayed away from most information before hand to avoid being spoiled, whose to say. I felt like the overall presentation of the game just wasn’t that impressive, nothing really wowed me about the world like my last Elder Scrolls experience in Skyrim when I looked in awe at the Throat of the World. It isn’t a bad game by any means, in fact it’s a very capable game but there’s nothing new about it, nothing to wow you with. So what can you take away from this review? Basically the game is “okay,” ESO is a functional game and is a serviceable MMO to play through but it is nothing new.

Good:

- PVP system is a great experience to take part in

- Combat is solid and very easy to pick up

- The various skill trees and abilities make gameplay fun and different for everyone

Bad:

- The game is a little stale for a new generation MMO

- Environments often appeared the same and very lack luster

- Fighting over quests can be a bit of a bother and a doddle when waiting for an NPC enemy to respawn to complete a quest

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10 

Bleach 577: Sword

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/577

This week's chapter is a little short, but we finally get a glimpse of Kenpachi's zanpakuto, Nozarashi.  Gremmy's meteor looks to be closing in, and even the Quincy panic in the face of the destruction it promises to bring as it descends on the Seretei.  Is Kenpachi's new power enough to stop this impending destruction? 

I can understand why Gremmy was considered an unstable asset for the Quincy to use, but I wish we had a little more exposition on just what drove the Quincy to use him.  I mean, did they honestly feel backed into a corner? Because, they really haven't acted like that, on the contrary, they've killed their own people who have lost, so apparently they aren't suffering from any serious shortage of manpower.  The question is nagging at me, and I haven't really thought of any solid answer, as of yet.  Perhaps they simply wanted to step up their game, and throw their worst at the Soul Society, but then Hashwald is still sitting on the sidelines, but I suppose he's serving as Juha Bach's bodyguard.  Overall, the lack of explanation is a bit of a plot-hole, at the moment.  Perhaps they'll fill in some of the blanks later, but I doubt it at this point.  

Next week, we'll have to come back and see if Kenpachi has what it takes to finish Gremmy once and for all.

Naruto 673: We will…!!

By: Robert Murphy

Link to the manga here

Hey everyone, it’s Wednesday and you all know what that means it’s time for another week of Naruto and boy is it getting good. This week’s chapter is entitled “We will…!!” and picks up after Naruto and Sasuke meet the Sage of Six Paths and imbues them with new power that will hopefully turned the tide of the battle for good. But in the mean time we returned to Might Gai releasing the final gate and burning his youth with the Night Moth technique and it almost works, Gai deals an incredible blow against Madara and nearly kills him. Gai’s left in a burnt and horrible state but we see Naruto come to his aide at the last minute, it looks like another battle is on the rise and Sasuke is sure to be right by Naruto’s side. So you all better check this week’s chapter out and watch just what unfolds in what looks to be the final battle of the 4^th Great Shinobi War.  

Games to look into on Steam

Sean Dibble

Are you a PC gamer on a budget? Well Steam is great for you then, they constantly have sales on almost everything they have. Since last year I have moved from console gaming to virtually only being a PC gamer and I have a list of games in my steam library. Here are a few games that I have played, enjoyed and saved a few dollars on due to sales.

Game Dev Tycoon- This is a indie game where you create a company and simply develop games by mixing ratios like game play and sound or graphics and dialog among others. You start out in your garage and work your way by making hit games to move into new offices until you get a office with both a research lab and hardware development. Now the key to the game is to stay on trends and keep making hit games or else you will go bankrupt and you only have 35 years to become the top tier of gaming. This game is amazing and simple, better yet only 10 dollars on steam

Orcs Must Die 2- Personally one of my favorite co-op games I have ever played, the creator of the site Scully and I have logged 17 hours into the co-op and I continue to play the single player its fun and simple. Game play is easy to comprehend kill Orcs earn some cash in game buy traps place them and kill more orcs can it get any better. The bread and butter of the game is Endless mode where every level you complete gets harder and harder Scully and I have only made it to level 30. If killing orcs is something you want to look into it is 15 dollars

Kerbal Space Station- You can see the trend here is indie games and this one is great. Basis of the game build a rocket get to space do some research and build more and more rockets with funny looking green men from Kerban. Simple fun and did I mention you get to build rockets YOU ARE NASA well technically you would be KSA (Kerbal Space Administration) but you get my point. You can pick up this simple little game for 27 dollars

Banished- So you love SimCity but don't want to pay 60 bucks and play on the origin servers? Banished is the game for you it is pretty much SimCity but BETTER. How could this be you ask? Better Graphics, Harder, and Very resource dependant, that's how. The game is hard but fun you will find yourself saying just one more year 4 hours later your on year 20 and wondering why are all my people dying what did I do wrong? Head over to steam for this game will only eat 20 of your hard earned cash

PS: If you are hesitant on getting any of these games hold off and wait for our reviews of each they will be coming very soon!

How I Met Your Mother (Season 9)

By: Robert Murphy

(May contain some spoilers, you have been warned)

Like many of you out there, I tuned in each week for many fall shows but none excited me more than the final season to the show How I Met Your Mother and Barney and Robin prepare to tie the knot and get married. On top of this we finally get to meet the long speculated and hinted at mother and the future Mrs. Mosby that Ted’s been looking for since the first season. All of it comes together in a series of misadventures in Farhampton during Barney and Robin’s wedding weekend with many family dramas, shocking reveals and glass shattering so let’s dig right in.

For starters I loved the show through all it’s seasons and for the most part this final one as well but looking at it as a whole it has many issues to it for me that came together once I watched the shows final episode that I’ll talk about later. The whole season takes place as I said in Farhampton over a very long weekend, episodes sort of take place at different parts of each day leading up to the wedding. Now while this is a bit of stretch, it is exceedingly well done with the classic How I Met Your Mother humor we have seen before. Perhaps one of my favorite characters of this season had to be Lilly (Alyson Hannigan) who has always been a fiery character but even more so this season with her new affinity for breaking glasses with her bare hands when she is angry. Then there was our newest character, the mother, Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti) was a great addition to the show and performed amazingly. Initially when she was first introduced last season I wasn’t a fan but as she started to appear in various episodes throughout the show I fell in love with her as a character, funny, spunky and weird just like her future husband.

The mother in fact appears in many of my favorite episodes of the final season especially when they involved going back to her past and moments where Ted came into her life. Some of these moments include when her roommate Cindy told her all about Ted Mosby after her date with him and finding out all his quirks and then finding out she’s just as quirky. Another moment similar to this happens when Tracy is on the train to Farhampton and helps Lilly out when she’s freaking out about not seeing baby Marvin in weeks. This gives us more insight about her and how much her and Ted are alike, specifically when Lilly recounts how she hates Ted’s driving gloves and finding out she has her own pair of driving gloves just like them. The mother perhaps makes up many of my favorite moments throughout this final season and saves most of it for me.

Now many of you who have seen the concluding episode to the show may be wondering what I have to say about it and I fall under the category of not agreeing with the decision the writers made. Many people have there opinions on it and I just couldn’t go for it mainly because it debunks the whole final season of the show and this is where I find all my fault with it as a whole. Needless to say that the main focus of the last season was all about the wedding of Robin and Barney but the last episode completely contradicts that in a matter of seconds and makes all the build up not worth it. What I mean by this is that everybody has their happy endings one minute and its thrown upside down the next, the new happy couple is married and starts their lives, Ted has his new wife and will have kids on its way and then Lily and Marshall are well still the same which is happily together but then a monkey wrench is thrown in and it all changes. I look forward to buying the DVD version of the series and seeing the alternate ending that the writers have said will be on there and hopefully being satisfied with the other way the show could of went.

In conclusion, if things had ended differently I could of really loved this last season of How I Met Your Mother but it didn’t, now I tried my hardest to explain myself without spoiling it and hopefully you’ll see what I mean when you watch it for yourself. It was the fact the I felt 90% of what the last season was all about had gotten thrown away once we find out what happens in the end and you know what I don’t like what happens with Ted either who gives a final voice over in the end to conclude everything with his kids (bet they need to go to the bathroom after sitting there so long.) What I did like about the show though was the mother and finally getting her story in all of this, getting to know her and how she ticks all leading till the moment she meets Ted.

Good:

- Still have your solid laughs we’ve always had in the show

- Tracy McConnell beat my expectations to a pulp with her great performance as the mother

Bad:

- The final episode was ultimately a disappointment for me as it undoes everything that the final season was about in my eyes

- The finale was already written before the rest of the season so I feel that everything was  plopped in so you can just get to the end

Scully Rating: 6.0 out of 10