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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled in Video Games

Jun 24, 2019

I've spent a couple of afternoons now, playing this very shiny remake of the PS One classic, and I can safely say, I'm once again hooked.

It's another nostalgia fest, following on from the N Sane Trilogy, and it looks amazing, full of colour and impressive textures.
The gameplay itself is pretty identical to the original, and still just as challenging (I swear I used to be better at these games as a kid).

It's not just the original content we get here though, Activision and Beenox have added in content from the CTR sequels that followed in later years, bolstering Nitro-Fueled to a bulkier experience, alongside plenty of unlockable characters, and customisation items for your cart. There's also an in game store where you can buy various items with in game currency, but here's the best part - as it stands, you can only earn in game currency by playing the game! There's is no option to spend real money here, which is refreshing in today's gaming climate.

I'm already gunning for 100% completion on this one, and with an already-announced batch of FREE additional content incoming (including Spyro!), I get the feeling I'll be playing this one for a while.

Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated Longbourn's Unexpected Matchmaker in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Longbourn's Unexpected Matchmaker is a P&P variation - it starts at the same point as the original novel but then diverges from the original plot for a number of reasons. Overall I did enjoy it; it's a frothy feel-good sort of book that kept me smiling. Poetic justic was handed out in spades to the villains of the piece - although I'm not quite sure that her brother, even as a belted Earl, would have been able to manage what actually happens to Lady Catherine, but it's a nice thought!

I suppose on the downside you could say that all potential sources of conflict are resolved rather too quickly and easily. I'm still not entirely convinced about Lizzy sitting and singing in trees either!

It also could have done with some better editing. The typesetting was odd as there were sometimes unecessarily large gaps between words. The bookseller at Meryton was named one thing one minute and something else a few pages on which threw me for a minute. There were also errors and inconsistancies in title usage: Sir William Lucas was referred to both as Sir William (correctly) and Sir Lucas (no-no).

I would have thought higher of Darcy's intelligence though - surely he should have figured out who Mr Bennet was?!

Kudos

JT (287 KP) rated The Upside (2019) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

The Upside (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Drama

6.9

(21 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Neil Burger’s remake of 2011 French original The Intouchables pairs Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston in a heartwarming bromance. Ex-con Dell Scott (Hart) is looking to get back on the straight and narrow after a stint behind bars. Needing to prove to his parole officer that he is actively job hunting, he steps off the tough New York streets and accidentally into the penthouse of Philip Lacasse (Cranston), a quadriplegic in need of round the clock care.

It’s not the type of job that Dell is qualified to interview for. His dry sense of humour, however, strikes a chord with Phillip – but not his frosty assistant Yvonne Pendleton (Nicole Kidman).

Hart leaves the majority of his wise-cracking antics at the door and handles the dramatic role to great effect. One or two jokes slip through the net but they feel delivered at the right times – at least we know how a catheter is put in place.

The pair work out each other’s personalities and over time Dell discovers a love for opera while Phillip enjoys the effects of marijuana and Aretha Franklin. It rarely drifts from the storyline of the original, but it doesn’t need to do anything new to make it enjoyable.

Kudos

David McK (3425 KP) rated Assassin's Creed: Gold in Books

Mar 15, 2020

Assassin's Creed: Gold

Anthony Del Col | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Assassin's Creed.

Primarily a series of Ubisoft-owned video games (of which I've played the majority - not all!), the franchise has also had a rather perplexing, Michael Fassbender starring, movie spin-off and a series of novels (which I just couldn't get into).

To that, we can now also add an Audible original (I think) audio drama.

And, I have to say, it's actually pretty good!

With some big star names adding their talents - I'm looking mainly at you, Antony Head (aka Giles from TVs 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer') - and pretty decent background incidentals, this drama also hews closer to the original Assassin's Creed games than the latter, in that it takes place pretty much equally in both the 'real' world (of the drama, anyway!) and inside the Animus!

The setting for the Animus, by the way, is in 1696 when Isaac Newton - Antony Head - has been tasked with running the Royal Mint, and with stamping out counterfeiting. As this is an audio book, it's also able to do something that I don't think would translate at all well into any other medium: the main Assassin character of Omar Khaled is blind! No idea how that would translate into a game ...