Star Wars : The Force Awakens - First Impressions (SPOILERS)

I'm going to preface this with just a little background. I love Star Wars, I collected the micro machines, I've probably played all the games, some of them a few times over. I am partial to the Jedi Knight series, Knights of the Old Republic games and I loved Empire at War. I currently play X-Wing a Star Wars themed war game competitively.

Star Wars has everything a Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan could want;Space wizardry, light sabres, dashing space cowboys and some of the most fearsome villains in pop culture to date. You can't turn on your TV without hearing some sort of Star Wars pop culture reference. The original Star Wars movie invented the event movie and also revolutionized the way movies were made to this date.

I won't waste my time talking about the prequels too much, but I will state that I didn't think they were very good and didn't feel very much like Star Wars movies. Moving forward to whats important.

 

The Force awakens feels like a Star Wars movie, it focuses on a tight crew of characters who are thrown into the galactic conflict. Like episode IV, TFA is a coming of age movie and a movie that focuses on the heroes journey. Refreshingly our main character is a young woman named Rey a scavenger from the dessert planet of Jakku, she teams up with Finn; a storm trooper who has betrayed his order and just wants to escape.We can draw parallels with Luke here regarding both characters.

About Rey:

A lot of critics are saying that Rey is a Mary-Sue, (Someone that everything comes easy to in short, you can google this for more details if you like) I however do not feel this way, I think the film establishes quite well the reasons why she is good at flying the falcon,is adept at close quarters combat and why she knows her way around imperial architecture. As a scavenger she has grown up almost alone on the harsh planet of Jakku.

She didn't have the sheltered life that Luke had on Tatooine, her life would have been much harder. Shes probably has had to use that staff of hers to defend off thieves and possibly rapists on several occasions. I mean shes a pretty girl living on the galactic equivalent of a truck stop. Its also good to note that she takes BB8 away from that alien with very little resistance, almost as if he is scared of her. She also mentioned she has flown the falcon before just not in outer space. Oh and the most obvious she lives in the carcass of an imperial AT-AT and rummages through Imperial class star destroyers to survive on a daily basis.

Also, its not explained yet but its quite obvious that she is very strong in the force and may be a Skywalker or a Kenobi(She behaves more like Obi-Wan than Luke or Anakin) or she could be a new random force sensitive with no jedi lineage. (who knows). I'd really like it if she was Kenobi's granddaughter but its looking more and more that she probably Luke's daughter due to her what seems to be a natural proficiency with technical stuff(Droids, ships etc) .There is also a large chunk of the fan base who feel strongly she should be Luke's, because Star Wars is the Skywalker story and the only new Skywalker so far is Ben Solo, one of the series main bad guys thus far. Guess we will find out in Episode VIII.

In the Star Wars the force awakens like the originals we don't go into a lot of detail about the politics, the war or anything else that's going on around us this includes a lot of the names of the planets and people we meet on the journey. This makes a lot of sense because like the rest of Star Wars universe we are going to learn about these things from the books, games, toys and other merchandise. That being said casual audience members do not care about any of those things anyway, also there is a lot of story to tell in this first movie of a three part trilogy and we don't have time for this crap. We just want to get to the good bits.

The focus on the characters as the force awakens within them is what really drives the story. You quickly fall in love with Rey, Finn, Poe and the adorable BB8. Speaking of BB8 its really great how they seamlessly established his rapport with C3PO and R2D2 almost as if they were his older siblings.

The re-introduction of Han and Chewbacca is spine tingling as is the re-introduction of the Millennium Falcon when we see it again for the first time. However Carrie Fishers performance as General Leia really falls short from the rest of the cast and is the biggest let down for me.

 

About Kylo Ren

As for the Villains, Kylo Ren is almost perfect, you know straight away that this kid is a Skywalker by the way he throws a tantrum every time things do not go his way( Classic Luke/Anakin behaviour). He also has that constant inner struggle between the light and the dark side of the force also akin to Luke and Anakin. I feel like even though we know this guy has done awful things like his grandfather before him, we can see he is very conflicted about them, there is a part to him that wants to take it all back and go back to Han and Leia, but he knows that he cannot, he has committed himself to something greater than himself. He feels strongly that he must finish what Darth Vader started and is willing to sacrifice everything for it, including his own father, Han Solo. I think this makes the character quite endearing and I can't wait to see what happens next in his story.

There are a lot of theories rolling around that Supreme Leader Snoak is Darth Plaguis, Palpatines master and someone who has mastered the Darkside art of cheating death. This would make a lot of sense seeing as Darth Vader was originally seduced by the dark side because he wanted this power to protect those he loved but could only obtain it through the dark side. This also adds up because Kylo Ren is looking to complete what Darth Vader started? Perhaps he wants to learn these dark side secrets to also learn this but with the costs being so severe what does he want to accomplish? Only Episode VIII will tell.

TFA as a movie in a whole is an awesome addition to the Star Wars saga and is a good base to relaunch the story off of. Its a faced paced action adventure space opera set in our favourite universe. It introduces us to a brand new cast of awesome characters and reintroduces some of the old ones that made us fall in love with the original trilogy in the first place. I can't recommend you see any other film this summer(winter if you live in the northern hemisphere).

That's it from me for now, I'm probably going to watch the Force Awakens another five times! Peace and the force be with you...

PC Game Review : Talisman Digital Edition - First Impressions

What is Talisman?

Talisman is a four player Fantasy RPG style board game where the focal part of the game is to obtain a talisman! But before we get into that lets take a look at the basics. Today we are looking at the Digital Edition for PC which allows you to play the game with computer opponents and online with other players. It doesn't require you to own the board-game to play and is much more convenient for the more casual player.

Similar to games like monopoly and snakes and ladders a simple d6 dice roll is used for movement on each players turn, main difference is players can go both directions navigating the board. Players can also enter two other separate regions in the center of the map, the closer you go to the center the harder the challenges you face and the more dangerous the punishment for failure but also more bountiful the reward.

While the game has many many different characters for the players to try out one can easily split the two main types based on their primary attributes. A physically stronger and more warrior like character will use Strength as their primary attribute whilst Mages and other sneakies use Craft as their main attribute.

There are benefits to having either of the two options, for example monsters, animals, beasts and anything physical use Strength as their main attribute and when you fight these kind of foes you will need to roll your current strength plus any bonuses you have plus 1 six sided die. When you fight creatures such as wraiths, magicians or basically anything spiritual or mystical you will need to do a roll using your Craft instead.

Its also important to note that one requires a certain number of Craft to obtain and use spells. 

As you venture through the land of Talisman you can gather objects, spells and followers to assist you on your quest. You also obtain trophies from foes you have defeated. Once you have obtained seven of these you can trade them in for an increase of your primary stat by one.

From what I've gathered so far the basic strategy of the game is to farm each region for items, followers, spells and stat increases until you feel you are ready to venture into the harder regions. Entering into the other regions themselves doesn't come without its own challenges though, to enter the second region players must either defeat a sentinel guarding the bridge way or find another way round such as building a raft and sailing over or being teleported by a mage or card effect.

Its important to note that there is a PVP component to Talisman which really enriches the experience. If you land on a board space where there is already another player present you may choose to attack them instead of encountering the effects of the board space. Battles between players are resolved the same way they are resolved with other creatures the only difference is at the end of the battle the winning player can choose to take an item from the other players inventory if an item they want is not present or if its more strategically sound at the time they can also choose to do damage to the other players life instead.

This adds an important layer to the game as valuable game winning items can be stolen from you and used against you. In the end there can only be one winner and If you are having relationship problems I do not suggest you play this with your significant other or spouse as it could result in a nasty break up or divorce :-) I jest of course.

I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone so if this so far has wet your taste buds I suggest you grab a copy it's easily available via Steam and other digital stores. At around 400megs and with very low system requirement anyone could be adventuring in minutes. I strongly recommend you get 2-3 friends to play this with over some sort of voip conference like skype, mumble, teamspeak or ventrilo as this enhances the experience sufficiently.

You should play Talisman Digital Edition if:
You already like Talisman The Board Game and want to play it all the time!
You like Fantasy RPG like board-games
Are looking for a more convenient board gaming experience
Like going on adventures and rolling dice

Pros:
Convenient board gaming experience for those on the go
Can play with friends who are far away in other countries on a standard adsl internet connection!
Game allows you to rejoin if you get disconnected!
AI players available at any time on demand.

Cons:
There's nothing like rolling real dice or picking up real cards
Games can still be very time consuming

Conclusion:
I think Talisman is a real gem, I love board games but I've never played the board game edition of Talisman however the Digital Edition is a hell lot of fun. If you are looking for a cheap, convenient and fun turn based game to play with friends Talisman is the way to go!

TableTop Review : X-Wing Miniatures - First Impressions

X-Wing Miniatures Review:

Introduction:

I've been playing a X-Wing Miniatures by Fantasy Flight for a few months now and I thought I'd write a piece on it. X-Wing is a Star Wars themed tabletop game, the core set includes 1 X-Wing and 2 Tie fighters the staple fighters of the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire respectively. There are more booster packs including other ships to build a full and proper Rebel, Empire and as of recently Scum fleet. The game focuses on the dog fights between the smaller ships in the star wars universe with an emphasis on manoeuvring, dodging and shooting.

My first game:

It was sometime between the second and third turn of my first game that I knew I was hooked and that I would be spending a lot of money on this game. The magic that is Star Wars was being brought to life in front of me in form of cardboard dials and plastic ships. In my mind lazers were firing, ships had their engines on full blast trying to avoid the barrage of lazer fire, dodging, manuevering, barrel rolling and finally at the end I took my final shot at the enemy tie fighters and they were blown into space dust.I was instantly addicted.

Pros:

Great for Star Wars fans
Easy to learn, harder to master
Flexible rules allows for any number of players
Many different game modes and playstyles
You don't have to own all the ships to play the game
Models are pre-painted, that hasn't stopped the community from re-painting them!

Cons:

Expensive investment if you want to own all the ships
Games can be time consuming



How the game is played:

On the first turn each player puts their ships on the play board lowest pilot skill first ascending we then move to what is called the planning phase.The game is broken down to several phases, in the planning phase pilots use their dials to plan the manoeuvres of their ships, everyone locks in there moves secretly and places the dial face down.

The next phase is called the activation phase, in this phase pilots reveal their dials and move their ships in order from lowest pilot skill to highest. The dials reveal the pre-planned manoeuvres and manoeuvre templates are used to move the ships on the play board. After the ship performs its manoeuvre it normally gets to take an action, actions are special things ships can do either to prepare for combat or to try avoid combat all together, the most common actions are focus, evade and target lock.

While a focus tokens are useful for both attack and defense and give you a bit of freedom of choice in the next phase, evade is used soley for defense and target lock is used for offense.

After all the ships have moved and performed their actions accordingly we move onto the combat phase, this time ships get to fire at each other from highest pilot skill to lowest. First the attacker rolls red attack dice for damage, then the defender rolls green defense dice to try mitigate the damage.

During this phase you can spend an evade token as an extra evade die to cancel out an enemy damage die. You can choose to spend your target lock to re-roll any number of attack dice or you can spend a focus token to change any number of defense or attack dice to evade or damage results. Focus results look like a little eye icon.

After all attacks are done, all damage is applied and all destroyed ships have been removed from the board we go back to the planning phase and repeat.

This is a brief summary of the rules and doesn't really go into the intricacies, you will find a lot of cards in the game can modify the basic order of things.However the basic rules are pretty easy to understand and after one or two games you will get the hang of it!

You should invest in this if:

You love Star Wars
You ever had a Star Wars figurine or micro-machine collection
You have the time to sit down for an hour or more and play this game with friends.
You love collecting Star Wars stuff
You like playing good table top games

Conclusion:

X-Wing miniatures is a great tabletop/war game! I recommend it for any Star Wars fans looking for a table top adventure which will throw them into dog fights with their favourite Star Wars ships, pilots and crew. The game-play feels authentic and the mechanics paint a very clear picture of what a Star Wars space battle would be in a turn based form. Almost as if time was slowing down for your pilot to make split second decisions. This game is very addictive and can cost thousands if you aren't careful, however you are not required to spend this much if you just want to play casually. If you can find a club that is already playing this you might be better off borrowing cards that are missing from your ideal build so you don't have to spend too much.

PC Game Review : Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery

Anno1404 DoD is a Sim/RTS game I fondly refer to as just Anno. Ive wanted to write a review on it for sometime. Its not a new game at all however the graphics are nothing short of stunning. Anno is a PC game. I want you to take a deep breath and really let that soak in. "Its a PC Game". In every way or form Anno has all the grace of PC Games of yester years. In Game industry that is constantly being flogged and violated by dumbed down console rubbish, Anno is a shinning star.

Its complicated, deep, engaging and addictive. It wasn't just programmed, published and slapped on the shelves. Its a crafted masterpiece. Someone or a few someones on the dev team of this game put their heart and soul into this game. Now that I'm done praising it I will tell you why I feel Anno is so great.

Anno1404 is set in the age 1404 when the Oxident (The West) and the Orient (The East) start to establish trading routes. In this historical and quite romantic setting your mission is to establish trade routes with the Orient and learn the ways of the east. You will come up against both rivals from your homeland of England and Oriental Corsairs. But combat is not where Anno shines. In fact Anno is a resource management game. Your building colonies and making sure the needs of your colony are being met. Much like a Sims game your people have needs and wants that will help them advance as a civilization.

Unlike other RTS games, Anno has a gazzilion resources not just 1 or 2. Getting the goods you need made is not straight forward at all. You can't just hog one type of resource and trade it for others. You have to expand and colonize different islands to get your hands on multiple different resources.. Its not a case of Credits, Tiberium, Minerals or Vespene gas.

Keeping your economy a float isn't always easy finding the perfect balance between taxes, production costs, upkeep, production bottlenecks, trading routes and just overall managing an entire civilization by yourself can be a daunting task. But Anno is a rewarding experience once you start to get the hang of whats going on after about oh 20 hours of gameplay you will get that feeling of control and power games of this genre are supposed to provide. You may even learn a bit about history or how certain products were made.

You will find that as you colonize and grow in Anno you will also get the opportunity to build an Oriental settlement you will then be managing 2 different peoples with unique needs and wants. You will find that both civilizations will desire commodities and luxury items from each other and really get a good picture of how the establishment of trade routes effected the world and how we see it today.

Whilst I haven't really gone into depth on the game mechanics of Anno. I leave you with this final note. If you enjoy management Sims or history or both this game is for you. Its deep and rich and alive and it comes highly recommended.

If you enjoyed the following old school titles you will love Anno.

Dungeon Keeper 1+2
Theme Hospital
Populous
Sid Meier's Civilizations Series

Ive decided to not give the game a Star or numerical rating as I find the whole concept destroys the point of reading reviews. People don't read reviews to make their own decisions anymore. They simply look at a numerical number and go with the flow. Many of the good titles get overlooked because they get assigned a numerical value of 7 or 8 for not being mainstream enough, whilst games with very little depth that are basically carbon copies of other games, get 9.5 ratings. Yes I am talking about Call of Duty: Modern Failfair 2 and Black Oops.