The Payday Problem

Game developers can, occasionally, be dicks. This isn't news to us, many people have learned to regretfully accept it when a season pass is announced, or some free-to-play title has unbalanced purchases. But we normally see these kind of acts from big developers, those who annually whack out another triple-A title; you know, EA, Ubisoft and friends...

We don't normally expect this kind of behavior from a developer who has previously been avidly against it, stating that their game will never utilise such villainous methods to sustain itself. So what's happening with Overkill, and Payday 2?

Payday 2 is a good game, or at the very least, the core concept was. You, and three friends, must successfully execute a bank heist, or robbery, or infrequently, make meth. It has a varied palette of enemies, balanced and customisable weaponry, and some solid gameplay mechanics. Accordingly, over the past two years, Payday 2 has accumulated a fairly large and dedicated fan-base, but for lack of a better term, it now seems that Overkill are taking the piss.

This slippery slope seems to have begun with the plethora of paid weapon content back in 2013 with the Armored Transport DLC, and as of September this year, 26 paid DLC packs have been released for the game. This content consequently divides the Payday community, and the situation has only become worse with the inclusion of some free-to-play elements. You can now gain 'safes' (which serve the same functionality as crates in Team Fortress 2), but they can only be opened with a drill, which cost around £1.90, or around $3.

Oh, okay then... (accurate as of 19/10/15)

Is this acceptable? Well, it's debatable, but it's probably not. Admittedly, with a PvE game, you're not going to have a direct impact on other players, as you're not competing with them. But when it comes to statistics and bragging rights, your slightly better rifle will give you an advantage, an advantage which you gained via putting down actual money.

In order to keep this to a small rant, you're better off having a gander at Jim Sterling's video, which summaries and explains the situation in a much better manner than I have.

Come on, Overkill, sort it out...

Rocket League and the Fantastic Concept of Sports Games

Ages ago, when it seemed slightly relevant, I scribbled down some thoughts on E-Sports, and their growing popularity. I say 'growing' when 'exploding' was probably a more apt term. The resulting piece was essentially a quick look at StarCraft in South Korea, and how it was utterly ingrained in the culture of the country. Apart from your average, relatively popular E-Sports such as LoL, DoTA 2 and the aforementioned StarCraft, there seemed to be few games which could actually maintain a solid competitive community. Even if a game had a thriving E-Sports scene, they had an incredibly high barrier to entry, (understandably, of course).

Even games which were focused on a future of competitive play, like ShootMania Storm have somewhat vanished into thin air, and games focused on groundbreaking accessibility such as Smite are still part of the traditional MOBA genre, and are subsequently avoided by casual players. I've thought for quite a while, that an ideal E-Sports title, one which is easily understandable, fun to both play and watch, would have to be based around something really simple; something like a sports game. Enter Rocket League.

By basing itself on a familiar sport, Rocket League has instantly made itself recognisable and understandable. It's far from an actual sports game, like FIFA or NBA 2K, but it doesn't need to be. Unlike some MOBAs, in which the rules or objectives aren't crystal clear, it takes very little patience or understanding to know that a giant ball should be placed in an opposing goal. Granted, it isn't shaping a unique identity for E-Sports by borrowing from physical variants, but it makes the rules evident, the gameplay familiar, and the matches fun. Gloss over the lack of credibility offered to games by real-world sports, and you can make an experience which everyone and their elderly relatives can enjoy. 

Skilled players are certainly present in Rocket League, just as they are in Heroes of the Storm or Smite. However, the diversity within the player-base of Rocket League is much, much greater. For example, see exhibit A below:

And then note the improvement after a few hours of gameplay:

This self-sufficient cycle of interest is something which traditional MOBAs seem to be lacking: new players get the game due to its simple rules and enjoyable gameplay, play with other new players, and eventually move up the ranks after witnessing some different play-styles and tactics in the game itself. Elements of this are a part of MOBAs, but in a game like Rocket League, it's wonderfully simple to understand, and woefully hard to master. You go from boosting around the pitch, merely attempting to hit the ball, to scoring with beautifully timed mid-air touches.

This kind of familiar gameplay has created an almost immediate interest from the E-Sports community. Take a look at this game between Cosmic Aftershock and Kings of Urban, in the grand final of a MLG tournament, and bare witness to the possibilities of such a relatively simple game. Take football, (not soccer), give it cars, some boost and the ability to defy gravity and drive up walls, and you've got a cracking game, and a cracking E-Sport.

Given that the game, and the competition surrounding it, was still in its infancy, you can surely forgive the presentation, but a look at the core mechanics and the utterly fantastic finish will surely convince you somewhat, that Rocket League may just bring E-Sports to the masses in all of its spontaneous and explosive glory.

With many games focusing on E-Sports as a pre-release strategy, I'm still surprised that they still remain missing from TV. Of course, they have a home, and an immense following online, but will the concept gain true legitimacy until it has made its way onto the screens of family living rooms?

Honestly, no; many, many E-Sports have already gained followings and viewing figures equivalent, or better than, many American TV networks. In a future which seems to be happily hosting the rise of gaming, E-Sports are simply the next logical step, hence why Rocket League has my praise for creating a simple and enjoyable stepping stone to more traditional forms of virtual competition. 

Just as you need a bat and ball to partake in cricket, all you need now to enter the E-Sports scene is a PC or console, and an internet connection. And in 2015, who hasn't?

Call of Duty 4 is One of the Most Significant Shooters of Our Time

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It can make people remember things through a set of rose-tinted glasses. It can warp our perception of what we had, and what we want. Nostalgia changes our current ideas, and associates a previous time with by-gone occasions. What I'm getting at, is that looking back in time can be a dangerous and unreliable thing. If you think that older games such as Haze and Red Faction: Armageddon were good, you're most likely just being all nostalgic about something else, because I can assure you, those games were nothing special.

But one of the games which seems to defy this convention is a granddaddy of the modern FPS game. Sure, Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein all withhold their rightful place as forerunners of the shooter genre, but what about the evolution of the genre? What about shooters which have come far away from their roots, and which have subsequently transformed into something almost completely different?

For me, this change can most notably be marked around 2007. At that time, shooters went from the grey and shelled fields of WW2 battlegrounds, to the bright and refreshing landscapes of the Middle-East. Of course, games have changed their settings before, not every FPS before this time was based in the Pacific or Western fronts, but there is a certain one which has cemented the change, and hence altered the standard for the first-person shooter.

That game would have to be Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, hence the terribly click-bait title, although I feel it is a apt statement.

It is a game which has been copied and reattempted by many, to no such avail, even by games later in the franchise. So what makes this particular installment so special? I'm not too sure, but here's what I remember from my time with the game, around eight long years ago.

One of the most striking things of Modern Warfare to begin with, was the very initial introduction. Very few games have managed to drop you into their setting in such an immersive and apt manner. It's at this point I realise that if you haven't played this title, (for some unbeknownst reason), you should probably stop reading, what with the threat if spoilers and all that.

You know by now how important first impressions are, and despite the importance of leaving a mark on the player, it still puzzles me how so many games fall flat when it comes to making an entrance. Take Skyrim, for example, which utilises an introduction that insists on throwing confusing lexis in your face while tied to a cart and unable to move. It does very little to aid your understanding of the location, or the events which have previously occurred there. For all the player knows, Skyrim is merely another middle-earth adventure with an extensive back-catalogue of lore. Modern Warfare, on the other hand, does this very differently, and rightly so.

You start off as a the president of an unnamed country in the Middle-East, although you have very little choice, apart from turning your head. The similarities between the chained characters here are few and far between, as Modern Warfare gives you a vibrant stream of scripted events to look at, giving you some context on the story while refraining from using a great, big information dump. You can see the chaos happening in this fictional country as you are driven through it, as people are executed by the roadside, and as ultra-nationalist soldiers fire their Kalashnikovs into the air in celebration at your impending demise.

The ending to this section isn't an unlikely escape due to a dragon happening to attack at the perfect time, the ending involves you being handled into a main square, flung against a post, and being executed with a Desert Eagle. The beginning of Modern Warfare is edgy, (for the time), gripping and unexpected. The player is put into the same shoes as the murdered president, a perspective which has been seldom seen in such games. This merciless killing sets the scene perfectly for the upcoming levels of the game, introducing a near-perfect tone and manages to make death feeling significant, in a game all about killing, a feat which has been only rarely replicated.

Do you remember what was happening in the world in 2007? I don't, I was about eleven or twelve. I remember the announcement of the iPhone, and that's about it. But one thing that Modern Warfare encompassed was the tension in the Middle-East and in Western Asia, making the conflict it created seem authentic, despite the fictional setting.

This atmosphere of realism essentially sparked the explosion of a new sub-genre. Before Modern Warfare, a FPS game with a modern setting was a rarity, but after 2007, this was seldom the case. Of course, you had a variety of shooting games, but after Modern Warfare's release, we witnessed our fair share of such similar games; you had some forgettable titles, Soldier of Fortune and Combat Arms, and the following year gave us Counter Strike Online, Army of Two, and one of my personal preferences, the beginning of a new Battlefield series in Bad Company. 

Thankfully, this aftershock of shooters has died down now, or at least the wave of modern military shooters has. The two main franchises in this area, Call of Duty and Battlefield have now moved on to hopefully greener pastures, delving into the future, with the likes of Black Ops 2, and Battlefield have attempted something rather different with Hardline, which was released earlier this year. It does now seem that shooters are now looking ahead, rather than to the present or past.


Admittedly, for all of Modern Warfare's significance, it did do some damage too. The excess of modern military shooters has only recently been quenched, and the following games in the franchise threw away quality gameplay and innovation for a formula which they knew would sell. Although these consequential action should not detract from how important the game was, and still is.

It paved the way for the FPS multiplayer experience, and while a dash of dedicated servers would've been nice, the addictive nature of the matches was something which we hadn't really seen before. Ignore the screaming kids, and you'd have yourself a blast with a fairly simple concept, which had yet to be done properly; run around and kill everyone. This was furthered preached by the growing focus on multiplayer, the almost necessary season passes, and even failed practices such as Call of Duty Elite, but then who remembers that? But despite how captivating the experience was, and how much time, effort and money was sunk into it, competitive online gameplay didn't quite trump the campaign mode, at least for me it didn't.

Picture this: A smooth, 60-frames shooter with competent graphical fidelity. Then take the fluid mechanics, put them into an authentic-feeling world, and utilise a story straight out of Hollywood. You've already then got a new, fresh product which people are almost immediately attracted to. Then get a very good story, with a handful of well-placed, unexpected plot changes, and you've got a campaign which sets the bar unfairly high for future games. I must remind you of my earlier spoiler warning as I quickly indulge into what made the campaign absolutely superb.

The main mission for me, would be 'Shock and Awe', which involves you, along with a large contingent of US forces going for the main palace of the ultra-nationalists. The tone gets serious from the off, as you're told that this is a chance to end the war, today. The sky is engulfed by a tint of red in a bit of foreshadowing which initially goes straight over your head, and as you fire a grenade launcher from a chopper, you do truly feel like part of the most powerful army in the world; what could possibly go wrong?

The mission itself can easily be done in about 10 minutes, and is often done quicker, as the tension and pace of the mission perfectly ramps up. Talk of a nuclear device get you on edge, talk of getting to the minimum safe distance gets you gripping the controller like you're right there, in the game. After reassuring yourself that you can, and you will make it, a supporting chopper is shot down. Being the good soldier that you are, you go and grab the pilot, despite the ominous threat of nuclear annihilation. You run, you grab the pilot within thirty seconds. You've done it. You take off, you've managed to complete the mission.

Then your commander comes over the radio. A confirmed nuclear threat at the palace. But you're already on your retreat, you'll be safe. A shock of sound and a piercing glow fill the sky, and the radio cuts out. The nuke has gone off, and worryingly close. The mushroom cloud rises, and along with it, you see the shock-wave advancing, engulfing everything. Choppers behind you are tossed aside, as all you can do now is accept the inevitable. 

The chopper spins helplessly, another passenger flies out of the false safety of the tail-door. You descend, trying to desperately make sense of where you will crash. You meet the ground to a chorus of frantic beeps and building music, and cut to black. 

As you make sense of what has just happened, your worst fears are confirmed. Radio chatter, smoke and fallout fly around the carcass of the chopper as you gasp frantically. You crawl to the outside of the wreckage and witness the destruction around you, as a mushroom cloud still stands prominently in the distance. A building crumbles a few blocks away, as you fall to the floor and perish from the effects of a nuclear warhead detonating. You die. The might of the army seems insignificant now, and it burdens you with new purpose as you continue the story as members of the SAS. But still, the harrowing scene is something which hasn't been replicated to the same effect, nothing else has left such an impression on so many gamers in quite a while. It's a commentary on the US forces, it's a reminder of the atrocities of war, but most significantly, it reminds you, a super-soldier with once regenerating health, that you are woefully mortal. 

Despite the sadness of this scene, Modern Warfare managed to captivate players. It spawned an almost cinematic experience which people were instantly addicted to. Take one of the best FPS stories in recent memory, along with groundbreaking multiplayer, and you rightfully get a plethora of awards. Aggregate scoring systems gave the game at least a 92/100 on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, and the title achieved an array of nine and ten scores, five star ratings and recognition from the Spike VGAs, the Golden Joystick awards and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Rightfully so. 

I'm not one to look at games like this from such a rose-tinted perspective, especially none of the following Call of Duty titles. But I, and many others, do believe that this particular iteration was truly something special, which will be nigh on impossible to recreate, no matter how big the budget, nor the team behind it. 

Let's just keep Modern Warfare as it is, and appreciate it accordingly. 

9 Underrated Games to Procrastinate With

So for me, the second year of uni is coming up fast. And it is being met with equal amounts of anticipation and anxiety, the anticipation of easy socialising, and the anxiety of work, and a step closer to proper adulthood. Oh dear.

With games being one of the best forms of escapism for everyone, if you're after a game which you haven't encountered yet, and will be dirt cheap, then look no further than this conveniently placed list. I mean, granted, you probably wouldn't have paid full price for some of these titles, but as inexpensive and involving time-killers, you can't really go wrong. I could be working, I'd much rather be gaming.

If you don't have a week to sink into Fallout or the effort to uncover all of GTA V's intricacies, or the money to fork out for The Phantom Pain, one of these will do as a saving grace to your boredom. And while I realise that 'underrated' is a completely subjective term, you'll just have to trust me on this one.

And apologies PC users, you may be better off looking at pre-owned console games in this list.

Rage

I have utterly no idea why this game didn't get as much recognition as it deserved. For some reason, I was all over this game from the very beginning; I loved the idea, and the execution. But not many people seem to agree with me in that regard, passing the game off as a mash-up of genres which succeeds in creating a mess, rather than emphasizing it's enticing world and levels. 

It's nothing special, but you can boomerang people to death.
Courtesy of the RAGE Wikia

Granted, the game had a few flaws upon launch, especially for the PC player-base. Graphical inconsistencies were frequent, but once they were patched, you had a good single player game with lovely gun-play which you could spend hours immersing yourself in.

Little touches, like the animation of enemies when shot, or how they traversed the landscape, made this otherwise average title stand out. The cars, and car combat, harked back to Mad Max, and a plethora of mini-games made the otherwise linear, hub-based shooter feel larger and more alive than it actually was, catching an atmosphere somewhere between Fallout and Borderlands.

Brink

Saying that you in any way endorse this game, is essentially equivalent to saying you're a fan of the EDL. With the exception of a very select few, this is one of those titles which has been both critically and commercially shocking.

I beg to differ. Upon release, it did atrociously, so I can't really argue with that. What I will argue with, is that the game is awful; it certainly isn't, we just got off on the wrong foot.

One of few flaws about the game was its original price, it retailed at a full £39.99 on consoles. For that price, the lone mode it had wasn't good enough. A single player mode placed you into matched with bots, progressing through the same multiplayer maps, which didn't warrant the price tag.

But of course, the game doesn't cost that much anymore; it costs about £2 now, so if you can convince them, getting a few friends on board would make for a cracking game or two.

If I was to give my impressions of Brink now, rather than four years ago, I'd have far less complaints. I'd take note of the lack of multiplayer presence, but apart from that, Splash Damage gave us quite a grand multiplayer shooter. It's classes are very well organised, it's remarkably balanced, and it's got some lovely customisation. That being said, I'd probably push you towards Dirty Bomb, purely because people are actually playing it.

Take into account all the other little features, the great level design, or the free-running system, which was done quite a bit before the likes of Titanfall or Dying Light, and surely you can see why I'm not as harsh on this title as many, many others. Right?

Vanquish

I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I originally thought that Vanquish was going to be dreadful. As in, bottom of the bargain bin dreadful, in there with all the PS2 launch titles.

My reasoning was justified, you see. It was a single-player only shooter from a company I hadn't yet heard of. Obviously I was still unaware of Platinum's past games, and it turns out my first impressions were woefully incorrect. Admittedly, the fast-paced action, and the controls did take some getting used to, but once I did, I discovered a great game full of excessive, somewhat stereotypical action. I mean, you fight robots on a space station, and one of your superiors has a giant robot arm which frequently wields a mini-gun.

It's smooth, snappy gameplay is peppered with boss fights; this was one game which made me resort to looking up tutorials when I encountered one particularly tricky boss. If you're not a fan of highly stylised, cartoony mecha-action, don't be put off, because that's why I was initially hesitant towards Vanquish.

Platinum's frantic third-person shooter is critically acclaimed, and rightly so. If you can withstand an occasionally drab colour palette, (which shouldn't be a complaint, as it makes enemies very easy to see), or the need to bring your reflexes back up to scratch, you'll enjoy it, and kill a lot of time in the process. Also, bid your social life farewell, if you're one who likes to head up scoreboards.

Grid

Is this the best racing game of all time? I don't know, but what I can tell you is that Racedriver: GRID is the best in the series, easily. Yeah, it had some kind of yellow filter over the top of everything, but the graphics, (as of 2008) were great, and the handling was fantastic, thanks to their EGO engine which was brought in from the previous year's Colin McRae: Dirt.

I'd been waiting for a spiritual successor to all those ToCA games from my childhood, and with Grid, I found it, and thankfully, it was everything I expected it to be.

Never before had I felt so emotional over sacking a team-mate who hadn't even appeared as a face, just a silhouette in another touring car. Say whatever you fancy, but managing a race team was tough for a 12 year old me. 

Lime green means business.
Image from the Grid Wikia

To try and give you a sense of how invested I was in this game upon its release, I spent a good few hours just deciding how my cars should look. I was ruthlessly dedicated to ensuring that every sponsor was positioned correctly, and that every colour scheme was noticeable and striking, yet subtle and tasteful; there was no lime green and black combinations in my garage. 

Was this due to my earlier obsession with racing games? Probably, but many fans and awards will also state that Grid is a stellar racing game, and one which was very highly anticipated by myself and innumerable others.

Split/Second

Apologies, I may have oversold Grid, a tad. But the unnecessarily stylised Split/Second was also a good game, honestly.

This made it onto my list for similar nostalgic reasons. It was good, but it also captured an essence for destruction which few other racing games had previously. One of few examples would be the excellent Burnout: Paradise, a game which seldom draws comparisons nowadays. 

Split/Second manages to evade my childhood anxieites of "Oh God, how many people have died in this race?", by passing the experience off as a game show, which given the very shiny production, is entirely possible. It may be excessively shiny in its graphics, and I suppose you could view it as a tad too generic, what with the lack of character the game seems to have, but then again, it's like £3 so stop complaining.

To quickly evaluate, sure, you could have a Subway, but alternative you could have the best racing game inspired by Michael Bay to this day; a prospect which must surely tempt you. 

Sleeping Dogs

With the more recent, and arguably better release of GTA V, I can forgive you for forgetting about this valiant effort from Square Enix and United Front. Although I must also suggest ModNation Racers if you're in dire need of a endlessly customisable MarioKart by United Front. Countless hours have been sunk into that kart-racer, and it's equally as cheap too.

But Sleeping Dogs does have a few key features and quirks that the monolithic GTA does not. In harking back to the likes of the long forgotten True Crime series, and utilising a much different setting than GTA, Sleeping Dogs ends up being a rather different product indeed. 

For example, environmental finishers for the Arkham-esque combat were fantastic. Sure, the level of violence made this version of Hong Kong seem utterly false at times, but the ability to throw people into the boot of their own car, or more gruesomely, to throw them face-first into an air conditioning unit, made this game stand out among the rest of the open-world possibilities which were present in GTA.

If you're after something else to sink your teeth into, there's even karaoke. Or if you need something a bit less tasteful to get you going, you can beat a man with a fish. No pictures required here...

Starhawk

It is entirely possible that all the games on this list simply strike a chord with me, and while I know that's not the case with titles like Vanquish and Grid, both of which received copious amounts of critical acclaim, I do have to wonder whatever is the matter with Starhawk.

The single-player was a tad bland, there were few interesting characters present in the story, but the core gameplay mechanics were pretty grand. Many reviewers proclaimed it to have the best multiplayer of 2012 on the PS3, a entirely reputable title which it certainly deserved.

To give you a quick run-down of what Starhawk actually is, it can best be nailed down to the spiritual successor to 2007's Warhawk. If you didn't play Warhawk, I'll try again. 

Starhawk is essentially a third-person shooter which relies heavily on base-building and vehicular combat. Think of Battlefield, unfortunately, you're nowhere near. Imagine Battlefield, but then in space. And you can just spawn in a tank, or a giant shield, or a massive cannon. Then you're getting somewhere.

Starhawk offers soemthing which I haven't experienced before; incredibly seamless gameplay which manages to intertwine multiple genres in a coherent manner. Like the well-polished driving and shooting of the GTA series, Starhawk did pretty much all of it's components rather well. And critics tend to agree with that sentiment too.

My only issue with this game, should you be inspired to take part in it's organised chaos, you'll have a hard time getting online. To my knowledge, the servers for the game are still alive and well, but as with many games from three years ago, the multiplayer community has dwindled severely.

If you still want to dive on in, I wish you the best of luck trying to find other players on this refreshingly different multiplayer title.

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Here's a rather apt solution to Starhawk's multiplayer woes. With a campaign which lets you tear down buildings and bridges, Red Faction: Guerrilla may seem a bit dated in comparison to Santa Monica Studio's excellent online variant, but it's a lovely little game all in all. 

Never drink and drive, kids.
Image from Tom Francis on Flickr

Unlike Starhawk, which emphasises construction, Guerrilla is quite the opposite, embracing the primordial fun of smashing stuff up. Essentially all buildings are built to perish, and their demise can be achieved through a satisfying variety of good ol' man power or slightly more civilized plastic explosives.

Granted, occasionally the physics can be aggravating; buildings can be propped up with a single support, until you decide to slowly waltz underneath the structure of impending doom. But, this looming death is seldom a worry, thanks to the fun of breaking things, or driving cars into things, or smashing people with Mjolnir. Well, it's not Mjolnir, but it's a hammer which instantaneously snaps spines in twain.

Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is a first-person shooter from the folks at Epic Games. It is completely unremarkable, thanks to its average visual fidelity, the lacking multiplayer mode, and the forgettable story. So why is it even mentioned here?

Within the linear levels of Bulletstorm, you will find few things of interest. The one redeeming factor of the game are the rather fun mechanics, which aren't even wholly original. The main distinction here is the 'skillshot' system, awarding you points for particular unique or otherwise interesting kills.

The rest of Bulletstorm has been done before, but the return of such a crude and simple game has been long awaited. What's not to understand when it comes to shooting a bandit in the face with a Quake-esque quad-barrelled shotgun? 

Some of the environmental kills in Bulletstorm are particularly satisfying; take 'Fan-tastic', for example, which entails you drilling an enemy into the ceiling, causing them to spin like a typical ceiling fan. Or, for the more childish of you, ejecting an enemy from an airlock in one of the final missions will reward you with the 'Ejeculated' skillshot. I mean, technically you didn't fire a shot, you merely pulled a lever, but it works.

There's nothing too mentally taxing about Bulletstorm, and there doesn't need to be. Just like many of the games on this list, it offers a much-needed dose of stress relief. Sometimes you don't want to manage virtual empires, or learn the intricacies of an in-game system of currency. Sometimes you just need to shoot someone in the arse, and be rewarded for doing so.

7 Reasons to be Cautiously Optimistic About Deadpool...

Few films have grabbed my attention in my recent memory, with a few exceptions being Mad Max: Fury Road, The Raid 2 and Dredd. Even the mighty revenue-drawing titans from Marvel are beginning to lose their novelty on me, Age of Ultron and Ant-Man barely got more than a cursory glance from myself, and quite a few others. Although I suppose this is what happens when you can reliably know whether a film will be good or not. 

So, in a sea of summer blockbusters, including everything from edgy action films, to high-art showpieces and of course, films in which people repeatedly punch each-other, there's been very little that I've enjoyed. Terminator Genisys had a good attempt at butchering the franchise more than Salvation did the reboot of Fantastic Four failed to revitalise the series, and Jurassic World played on your nostalgia more than Bill Nye guest-starring in Fresh Prince. It has been a summer of mediocrity, when it should have been astounding. 

That's why one of my favourite things to come from this summer's film scene wasn't actually a film, but a trailer. And not even a great one at that. Deadpool's trailer essentially rehashed a lot of the test-footage which had been leaked previously, so way did I get so excited?  

The trailer looks rather promising

I understand that this term has been thrown at many, many motion pictures, and that the trailer is certainly not in anyway representative of the final product. The aforementioned Genisys managed to ruin it's major twist in a trailer, arguably rendering the film pretty unnecessary for a lot of fans, so please don't tell me that trailers are useless, even in this day and age. 

Furthermore, if you've managed to have a gander at the test footage for Deadpool from about a year ago, you'll see that very little has changed when you compare it, and the new red-band trailer side by side. The shots mostly remain the same, only the video as a whole has been notably sharpened up. I would call it lazy, but the test footage worked pretty well, building hype for the film. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

I mean, the fact that both a green-band, and a red-band trailer was made was also great. If you're going to do a Deadpool film, we'll have less of all this kid-friendly business. 

It sticks quite close to the source material

This seems to be one of very few comic-book movies which refrains from the temptation to just butcher various bits of source material into something remotely resembling a film. See the latest rehashing of the Fantastic Four franchise, or any other recent X-Men film. 

All the key tropes of Deadpool are explicitly present in the above trailer: The almost adolescent wackiness, the not-too-subtle fourth wall breaks, and his prowess with katanas and pistols are all evident. Without going through the Deadpool Wiki-page and cross-referencing it with every single page of Tim Miller's script, this incarnation of Deadpool appears to be the most accurate one to date, certainly in a different league to Renold's previous rendition. It would've been very easy for someone to cut out Deadpool's awareness that he's in a film, in order to fit better in an established cinematic universe, but thankfully, that isn't the case. 

And I must say, the very end of the red band trailer bares witness to Deadpool inhaling the smoke from his pistols, and exclaiming directly to the camera, "I'm touching myself tonight," was an excellent finish, bordering on childish, but hitting the nail of the character straight on the head.

We need a silly superhero

You know Guardians of the Galaxy, right? The film which knocked Tom Hiddleston out of the way, making Chris Pratt the new Tumblr sensation, making sales of Parks and Recreation go through the roof? That being said, Hiddleston is still pretty top.

Well, my theory, and that of many others, is that the film was popular as it allowed fans a break from a plethora of serious blockbusters. In a summer of serious films, American Sniper, Godzilla, and even a bunch of other Marvel bits, the story of Peter Quill being thrown into a other-worldly adventure was just what everyone needed. I mean, we all wondered what would happen in a final confrontation between good and evil, and Chris Pratt resolved the matter appropriately through non-violent means; a dance off. 

In a world which has seen a fair few Marvel films alone, each taking themselves more seriously than the last, it's about time we had a silly one. I mean, I know Deadpool is under Fox, but you know what I mean. Anyway, if you're going to do a slightly silly film, Deadpool's arguably the best character for it. 

There's tons of opportunity here

I know this is normally the case with every film loosely based off of a previous IP, but Deadpool is once again the exception. 

Thankfully, the much awaited R-rating has been confirmed for the 2016 release, which was met with many joyous celebrations from fans of the mouthy merc. Can you imagine attempting to portray the character in a friendly PG manner?

If there's any hope of doing the character justice, it's with an array of strong language and violence that is only possible through a rating which makes it tricky for kids to view. I mean, it's a win-win really. Kids don't have their innocence spoilt, and us adults don't have to endure a half-measured version of Deadpool. 

Now that Reynolds and friends have the all-clear to do whatever they fancy, I'd expect one of the most accurate depictions of a comic-book character to date. Take that, Deadpool from that awful Wolverine film. Oh God, the memories...

The movie represents a lot

Of course, it's great that everyone gets to watch a full feature-length film of their childish gore-filled fantasy. I mean, there will inevitably be a few who pan the film regardless of how good it is, but just think what a successful, or even half-decent Deadpool offering would do.

The leaking of test footage at last year's Comic-Con in San Diego subsequently forced Fox to greenlight this film. It was due to the immense pressure from countless fans, that this film even exists.

Many a sequel has gone ignored, as studios believe they can ignore the excessive demand for certain films. A personal favourite of mine, the petition for a sequel to 2012's Dredd, has gained little traction over it's duration for that very reason. That, and the lack of commercial viability, of course.

So while we won't get our Dredd 2, or sequels to numerous other cult-classics, we can pave the way for a louder voice for future fans. Don't sit back idly and watch the latest Transformers butchering, go and tell people what you want to see, and then tell the people who can make it happen. If future film releases are gauged on fans and interest rather than revenue and commercial success, everyone will be a bit better off. At the very least, you'll see less annoying trailers while you're waiting for Deadpool to come on. 

Album Review: Slaves - Are You Satisfied?

Over the past year or so, I've become aware of quite a few good bands who do away with the traditional trio, or quartet of members. Why over-saturate your sound when two people are all you need?

This is truly a testament which has been echoed by the likes of Royal Blood with their freight-train sound supporting the likes of the Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters, or the more niche duo of Death From Above 1979, spearheading a nontraditional and catchy series of tunes. This is all well and good, but these two aforementioned bands do have the odd issue; Royal Blood produces consistently good, heavy songs, but it's all very proper and mainstream. DFA1979 have a wider catalogue of material, but unfortunately they're just lacking something when it comes to live performances.

See, I told you so.

Neither of the two have much in the way of attitude either. None of the two really represent some form of garage-rooted punk rock. So, have a gander at Slaves.

The one thing you'll take on board if you listen to a Slaves tune, is the attitude, and the raw elements which create it. If Royal Blood support the Arctic Monkeys, Slaves would support the Sex Pistols, a comparison which has been frequently made. There's no glossy vocals or sharpened guitar effects, just an array of snarling and power chords which has been woefully underutilised recently.

So, the entire premise of Slaves sounds excellent. And just like Royal Blood over the past few years, they too have had a couple of cracking live sets on the B-stages of Glastonbury, Big Weekend and Latitude. So does it pay off for them?

I'd like to first rid this album of some withstanding criticism. A lot of people say that Slaves' albums are terrible, whereas their live performances are stellar. From what I've heard, and from listening to their earlier stuff, it seems that the duo have aptly addressed this issue. Of course, the album will only give you a glimpse of their intense live experience, but you can't exactly have them playing in the back of your car on the way to work all the time, unless you're incredibly well-off.

Have a listen to them live, and you'll know what I mean. I would try and avoid the comparison to the Sex Pistols again, but such a resemblance is certainly difficult to ignore, and I'm adamant that Slaves are one of very few bands to capture their snarling attitude on their album, a rare feat indeed. If you're after some modern day songs that will take you back to London Calling.

After a lengthy first EP, I'm hopeful that the pair have taken this new opportunity to develop their sound, just like The Vaccines have done with their latest album, or like DFA1979 did after a lengthy hiatus. I didn't really know what to expect from Are You Satisifed?, so I'm a bit torn on my overall opinion of the album. To me, it's what I expected from Jack White when he went solo, only with a tad more attitude, and well, not really like Jack White at all, come to think of it.

It's far from a revival of grunge and punk which fans have longed after. Arguably, the band don't fully represent that aspect of music culture. The music they produce could lead you to believe that their toxic facade runs deep, while in actual fact, it doesn't. Issac and Laurie aren't enraged anarchists, they're more just disappointed. They're two characters on a stage, taking the opportunity to get their message, (their loud and rallying message), out to the world. 

So no, they're not the next punk sensation, but if anything I'd say they're representing a needed change in direction for punk and grime music. They're asking people to take action, and expressing their distaste in people not doing so. What's the point in writing songs to inspire people if they do nothing to build upon it?

So the album has a great message, and really feels like it wants to change, or point out the dull, self-pitying nature of modern yuppies, (see 'Cheer Up London'). Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and do something, a cracking message which is best shown in the aptly named 'Do Something'. Without going into detail, it's a song which has a great changing tune, but is backed with lyrics which I doubt could be better in this context. "No-one's gonna help you've got to do it for yourself," is the appropriate last line of the chorus, hitting the nail squarely on the head. But in some areas, the songs themselves do leave a bit to be desired. Take 'Ninety Nine', a song which is structurally and lyrically sound, I suppose. Unfortunately, the simplicity occasionally wears thin. The very simple riff, combined with the equally bare drum patterns do make such tracks forgettable, which is a shame.

But, in their inevitable upcoming singles, the duo do truly shine. 'Hey' is a cracking tune, which is simple, only with a lovely little riff and copious amounts of aggression. Granted, the anger in the song could be interpreted as cartoon-level violence, but it goes very, very well with the image that the band portrays. And when it's done live, this cartoon aggression passes on to the crowd in an event which is testament to the band's explosive energy.

'The Hunter' is a song about how we selfishly disregard the future of others through our own greed, as long as we're ahead. It's riff, just like 'Hey' remains the same throughout, but it can afford to do so, unlike 'Ninety Nine' or 'She Wants Me Now'. Some other songs are just great for how carefree, or how different they are, like 'Wow!!! 7AM' and the title-track 'Are You Satisifed?' respective.

If I was to do this by the stats, I'd say that nine of the thirteen tracks have made it onto a few various playlists of mine. The others may need a while to get into, just as with some tunes from Noel Gallagher's latest album, but for the moment, they're taking a back seat. 

One track that caught me off guard, and is arguably my favourite from the album would be the title-track of the previous EP, 'Sugar Coated Bitter Truth'. It encompasses some secluded and delayed guitar notes before kicking into high gear. 

It's like the characters of the band just went into full conspiracy mode, shouting about indoctrination in a woefully under appreciated track. The grand chorus is followed with a daunting line, "You can't run". I was left wondering where this song came from in an album which had otherwise been good, but nothing too spectacular.

It turns out that the final track was the tipping point for me, Are You Satisfied no longer needed to rely on the strengths of a few songs, it was now a solid album in its own right. But unfortunately, that's all it every escalated to, for me.

 It's good, and the main group of songs, 'The Hunter', 'Cheer Up London', 'Hey' and 'Sockets' are certainly great, and more importantly, catchy by anyone's definition. It has a great message and conveys it well, an attribute which is very much overlooked in most modern albums.

The only problem, is that with the exception of those aforementioned songs, you have to look for, and appreciate what they've done. If you're the kind of lazy, whining individual, (like myself) which this album is targeting, you'll probably thinks it's alright, with hints of goodness laying within. If you're a punk album through and through, you'll be happy, but likely a bit unsatisfied. If you're willing to take these thirteen tracks for what they are, you'll most definitely find something you'll enjoy, even if you're not a fan of grime, punk, or the image that the band portray so well.

Pointers for Freshers (A Nowhere Near Comprehensive Guide)

A few weeks ago, I lost the title of ‘Fresher’. Second years will no longer have the legal standing to exclaim “down it, Fresher!”, during tedious small talk at the bar, and I’ll have to actually think of a reason as to why I chose English sometime within the next two years. Both of these are mindbogglingly colossal changes to my life as a student, something which I’m not sure I’ll be able to cope with.

Despite my predicament, I can now pretend that I too, am a wiser, more knowledgeable student. It will now be acceptable for me to drunkenly dictate to freshers which places are the best and which to avoid, (that pub with the police-tape around it might be in a sticky situation now, but give it two weeks and you too can enjoy the cheapest pint in Lincoln). That being said, some bits of the conveyed student life have been great. Some have been unexpected. Some have been an unfortunate learning experience.

So before I start treating this article as a place to confide in, let me attempt to tell you what to expect, and what may actually happen. Of course, everyone’s experience differs, so this haphazardly constructed guide may be of absolutely zero use to you.

Do your bloody work

It won't be like this, it's all online nowadays...

Just in case you’ve already forgotten, I do English. While all my grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and occasional bit of written dialect may fool you otherwise, my course mostly consists of writing essays and trying to make rants look professional; essentially what I’m doing now, but against my will.

And I don’t mean to sound like an arse, but it was easier than I expected. Before going to uni, everyone was saying how it’s the most difficult thing to do, and that the workload will be huge. That just wasn’t the case for me, and others on the course, because if you managed your work and started researching, you could handle three or four assignments at a time.

Hence, if you post a status complaining about how many hours you’ve spent in the library, and how many cans of Monster you’ve consumed, I’ll have very little sympathy for you. Yeah, the social side of uni is great, it prepares you for the real world more than any course or job can. But, people would kill to be at a university, and it’s kind of the reason for you being there. So just get your work done, then you can proceed to have ravenous banter with the lads, (I would say a cheeky Nandos, but you’re a student and on a budget here).

Broaden your social horizons

If I would’ve remained the same, stubborn person that I was in Sixth Form, uni would’ve been a series of awkward encounters and acts of passive aggression. Granted, I’m still not the most sociable of people, but my first year went better than I imagine it would, and I’d put that down to being slightly tolerant.

In halls, I was with four women and another man, all of who were worlds apart from the personality I believed I had. Granted, two of the ladies were also from the North, but neither cared for the likes of Royal Blood or Biffy Clyro, so that went downhill very quickly. 

I remember one of my initial thoughts when I began meeting everyone at uni for the first time, and I ran down my new flatmates in my head. The other lad was from Essex, a snapback and vest away from being a Southern stereotype. One lass was a fashion student, and care very little for the repercussions her actions had on others. Another was a cheerleader from an unremarkable place in the middle of the country, and one of my fellow northerners was an emotional lady doing something based around childcare and psychology, which was pretty much a prerequisite for a teenage lass in my town. Subsequently, I thought to myself, “This is going to be a year of selfies, vanity and clubbing. And I know I’ll hate every minute of it.”

If you hadn’t already guessed by the earlier statements in this article, I was wrong, thankfully.

And how did I avoid an academic year of misery? I stopped being a dick.

Granted, here I am now writing a passive aggressive article about my flatmates, but it’s all necessary to make a point. Simply put, you deal with people; don’t take too much to heart, get to know these individuals you’ll be living with, and look over the small gripes you’ll develop rather than focusing on them.

Do new stuff

It’s all well and good doing what you’re expected to during your stay at university; good on you for studying, meeting new people and drinking. Granted, these aren’t worthy of singing a song through the uni village at midnight, letting everyone know that you’re socialising (good on you, simmer down mate), but regardless, it’s grand that you’re doing new things.

But, come on. Everyone’s doing that. Sitting in McDonalds in a suit at 4 in the morning? Yeah, that’s a night out pal, congratulations. Nicking a traffic cone and thinking you’re up there with the likes of Bonnie and Clyde? If I had a quid for every time I’ve said “simmer down” to someone…

But given that everyone, at least once at uni, is going to be that person who posts on Snapchat to let everyone know how much of a swell time they’re having, you need to do something else in order to convince yourself that you’re getting the most from the expected university experience.

For example, societies. These are great, and I joined two this year, the Rock Society and the Jamming Society, although the first is boring and the latter is full of less-than-sociable individuals. So, as you can only rely on yourself to be happy, I just did different things instead. And in addition, at least I tried. It’s not my fault that some societies are just a bit crap, there’s only so much rock music you can talk about before meetings devolve into half-arsed sessions of Guitar Hero, with one guy who insists “If you can play a song on expert, you can play it in real life.”

People are horrible

Remember the entire idea of broadening your social horizons? Bettering yourself as a social somebody? Well, I'm sorry to say, but don't go overboard with the concept. 

During my many nights of standing awkwardly in a pub, drink grasped in my hand, I've made a few observations. I've seen fellow students at the height of intoxication, and in the pits of desperation, and regardless of their emotions, (and what you're used to in your hometown), people have the potential to be absolute arses. 

Now, before you fret and ring UCAS, screaming down the phone to cancel your application, this definition varies wildly. An arse can be someone who you meet once in a smoking area, and invites you to a house party without following up on the matter. That makes him an arse. An arse can also be a guy (or lady) who is extraordinarily drunk and is after a scrap. That makes them a massive arse. 

The latter example is often a consequence of people's transformation at uni. What's that? Your still the exact same person that you always were? Alright pal, I'm sorry but everyone changes to some degree. Those who were a bit unsociable, like myself, become a bit more comfortable with meeting people, doing new things, and being an adult. As a general rule of thumb, those who are already good at being a sociable person, they tend to get a bit more confident, a bit too confident, resulting in the kind of big-headed ass-hattery that you thought you'd leave behind in year 11. 

But don't fret. You can often spot these people from a mile away, the type who'll knock your drink over, or the type who'll barge into you, (because he's part of the rugby society and that somehow makes it alright). And for every dick, there's two decent people who become merry when drunk, and just want to be friendly with everyone, simultaneously. 

Watch yourself, but don't let cautiousness get in the way of enjoying a night out.  

Do adult things

I could try and make an independent list solely on what constitutes adult things. As a really vague guideline, it involves fraying away from stuff that your mum might give you a guilt-trip inducing talk over, for example, here are a few things right off the top of my head:

1. Get a shower, and show your face by 3 P.M: 

I mean, you're of legal age to drink, is it really so hard to keep your personal hygiene up to scratch? Those jeans you've worn for two weeks straight don't smell 'fine' by anyone's definition mate. Keep them on for a week, tops, just in case. 

2. Don't blast music out at ungodly hours:

Sorry for nagging, but you managed just fine before coming to uni, didn't you? These paper thin walls aren't much solace for those with an early lecture and/or seminar, and everyone may not be as fond of endless 80's pop as you are.

3. Do your part:

If you leave that solidified pasta-bake out on the counter for over a week, I am going to contemplate binning it. I can only keep the flies at bay for so long, I am just one man, after all. 

Don't be an arse and skip the bins, it is your turn, and if you didn't want it to be this difficult, you should've done it earlier. Plus, if you do all your jobs, you can nag people to do theirs, and subsequently label them as lazy slackers. And nagging people is pretty great. 

4. Budget everything:

I mean everything. Well, as much as possible. Everything would be very tricky, I guess. 

Here's a quick run down of my 'budgeting'. I got from SFE and a part time job, around £65 a week to spend, (after rent had been taken out). Considering I didn't really need any supplies after the wonderful Freshers Fair, said currency was for food, and alcohol, and anything else I may need. 

As an average, this was sorted into the following vague categories:

Food: Around £20 a week (£30 with alcohol)

Toiletries: These were needed around once a month, and went in with the shop, averaging around £30 when included, so see above for the potential price. 

Piss-Ups: Turns out it's cheaper to drink before you go out, so a night out can usually average around a tenner if you do it right. Have two of these a week and you're sorted, splash out if you've saved elsewhere. 

Course Stuff: Mate, scour the internet and use your initiative. After the first half of the year, I didn't pay for any materials. PDFs, printer-credit and the Library are so underrated. At the very worse, I forked out a tenner for some books, a tenner which was saved from the previous week. 

Washing: If you're one of those posh people who insist that Febreze and a really good shower just aren't good enough, you may have to spend some of your potential Jagerbombs on cleaning, (welcome to the real world, mate). If this is the case, I'd put a fiver aside just in case. 

19% go into their overdraft my arse, it's easily higher than that...

So, let me break that down for you. After a big(ish) shop, two cheap nights out, some resourceful scouring of the internet, and a round of washing, I'd often be left with £10. Which would then go towards one of three things: Clothes shopping, (because working in retail has done something to me), Entertainment, (because Steam has great deals and I'm too lazy to work), or a better night out. 

Just don't forget to treat yourself in these tightly-organised times. And preferably leave your bank card at the flat on a night out, otherwise you'll go mental and broke at the same time. 

Yeah, turns out being an adult is quite the task. Who'd a thought it?

If you've made it this far, you probably won't need a summary. But ah well, I'm here now. To ensure your survival as a student, just keep these few things in mind, all the time. Yes, all the time:

1. Do your work, you're not paying a few grand a year for the sake of it.

2. Be sociable, and do things slightly out of your comfort zone. Preferably when intoxicated. 

3. People can sometimes be dicks, so watch yourself.

4. Be an adult. Or at least pretend, you'll have to learn sooner or later. 

So, follow those rough guidelines, and you can do your part in both bettering yourself, and living up to a social stereotype. You can proclaim that you've survived these horrendous conditions as a student, and that you've also simultaneously done some really, really hard work. Really, it's harder than Sixth Form, honestly. 

And if you do make a tit of yourself, just remember that it'll make for a grand story or icebreaker one day.