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A Visit from the Goon Squad
7.0
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Jennifer Egan's spellbinding novel circles the lives of Bennie Salazar, an ageing former punk rocker...
A Table for One: A Critical Reading of Singlehood, Gender and Time
Book
"What are you waiting for?" Stop wasting your time" "You will die alone," "You will miss the train...
War of Gods Box Set (War of Gods #1-4)
8.0
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Box set featuring all four novels in the bestselling War of Gods paranormal romance series. ...
Paranormal Romance
Cooked
Book
In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he...
Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love
8.0
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N this star-studded cross-genre anthology, seventeen of the greatest modern authors of fantasy,...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Ion Fury in Video Games
Aug 16, 2019
Back in the 90s before the days of High-Speed Internet, 3D Graphics Cards, and other gaming technologies that we take for granted was Duke Nukem 3D. The game was developed by Voidpoint, in association with 3D Realms and 1C Publishing on the Build Engine and became a big hit in large part to the action, character, and interactive features of the game which were fairly new at the time.
Other games such as Shadow Warrior and Blood followed which were powered by this technology but it soon became a thing of the past as games such as Quake set the new standards for graphics and online play and with the advent of 3D acceleration; pixelated graphics became a thing of the past.
What was once old is now new again as 3D Realms have returned with a new game called Ion Fury. While Duke and Shadow Warrior have spawned sequels and remakes using modern gaming features and graphics Ion Fury takes a step back by giving gamers the look, sound, and feel of a game from the 90s.
Playing as Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison; players must take on the evil Dr. Jadus Heskel and his army of Cyber-Cultists.
While the look of the game may be retro there are many features that were not possible back in the day such as auto saves, improved physics, headshots, and more; the game is a fast-paced and action-packed shooter that more than holds its own with any of the recent entries into the genre.
While I had played the preview mission about a year ago, the full game did take a bit of adjustment as some things simply do not play like a modern game would. There can be some clipping issues, and enemy A.I. can be erratic. But the awesome array of weapons from your Loverboy pistol to Shotguns, Machine Guns, Chain Guns, and Grenade Launchers are more than enough to cut enemies down to size. You will need this and more such as your Seeking Grenades and Mines as the game throws lots of enemies at you and as you progress they become more abundant, varied, and dangerous.
Ion Fury is filled with numerous secret areas and Pop Culture references from the lines your character says to all sorts of locales and situations that arise. There are also some clever call backs to earlier games as I noticed the Bloody Handprint from BLOOD, the Ying/Yang Symbol from Shadow Warrior, and Duke’s Atomic symbol at various times.
The game mixes indoor and outdoor locales well including an Academy, Subway, Mansion, and of course the secret lab filled with all sorts of evil experiments.
The game is also filled with several puzzles as well as a few very annoying times jumps that had me cursing at their difficulty on more than one occasion. There were also plenty of long levels where you had to find alternate ways into rooms to obtain Key Cards to unlock other areas and keep the action moving. There was a decent supply of health and Body Armor along the way and it never was unappreciated as enemies would either swarm or attack from hiding frequently.
As I played the game I moved past the nostalgia and became really focused on the story and the action. I was able to look past the older graphics and gameplay and remember just how fun this type of game was and how we would spend hours online playing games like this.
Sadly this is not an option in Ion Fury at the time as the game is missing a Multiplay segment. We had done an interview for the game over a year ago; and we were of the understanding that this would be a part of the final release but sadly it is not. I had hoped to relive some of classic Deathmatch games of old.
The game is affordable as it is set to sell at $19.99 and considering I have over 14 hours of gameplay to complete the game; it more than delivers and I did not even find all of the secret areas each level offers.
In the end if you are in the mood for some retro action; then Ion Fury is one that you will not want to miss.
4 stars out of 5
http://sknr.net/2019/08/14/ion-fury/
Other games such as Shadow Warrior and Blood followed which were powered by this technology but it soon became a thing of the past as games such as Quake set the new standards for graphics and online play and with the advent of 3D acceleration; pixelated graphics became a thing of the past.
What was once old is now new again as 3D Realms have returned with a new game called Ion Fury. While Duke and Shadow Warrior have spawned sequels and remakes using modern gaming features and graphics Ion Fury takes a step back by giving gamers the look, sound, and feel of a game from the 90s.
Playing as Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison; players must take on the evil Dr. Jadus Heskel and his army of Cyber-Cultists.
While the look of the game may be retro there are many features that were not possible back in the day such as auto saves, improved physics, headshots, and more; the game is a fast-paced and action-packed shooter that more than holds its own with any of the recent entries into the genre.
While I had played the preview mission about a year ago, the full game did take a bit of adjustment as some things simply do not play like a modern game would. There can be some clipping issues, and enemy A.I. can be erratic. But the awesome array of weapons from your Loverboy pistol to Shotguns, Machine Guns, Chain Guns, and Grenade Launchers are more than enough to cut enemies down to size. You will need this and more such as your Seeking Grenades and Mines as the game throws lots of enemies at you and as you progress they become more abundant, varied, and dangerous.
Ion Fury is filled with numerous secret areas and Pop Culture references from the lines your character says to all sorts of locales and situations that arise. There are also some clever call backs to earlier games as I noticed the Bloody Handprint from BLOOD, the Ying/Yang Symbol from Shadow Warrior, and Duke’s Atomic symbol at various times.
The game mixes indoor and outdoor locales well including an Academy, Subway, Mansion, and of course the secret lab filled with all sorts of evil experiments.
The game is also filled with several puzzles as well as a few very annoying times jumps that had me cursing at their difficulty on more than one occasion. There were also plenty of long levels where you had to find alternate ways into rooms to obtain Key Cards to unlock other areas and keep the action moving. There was a decent supply of health and Body Armor along the way and it never was unappreciated as enemies would either swarm or attack from hiding frequently.
As I played the game I moved past the nostalgia and became really focused on the story and the action. I was able to look past the older graphics and gameplay and remember just how fun this type of game was and how we would spend hours online playing games like this.
Sadly this is not an option in Ion Fury at the time as the game is missing a Multiplay segment. We had done an interview for the game over a year ago; and we were of the understanding that this would be a part of the final release but sadly it is not. I had hoped to relive some of classic Deathmatch games of old.
The game is affordable as it is set to sell at $19.99 and considering I have over 14 hours of gameplay to complete the game; it more than delivers and I did not even find all of the secret areas each level offers.
In the end if you are in the mood for some retro action; then Ion Fury is one that you will not want to miss.
4 stars out of 5
http://sknr.net/2019/08/14/ion-fury/
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) in Movies
Nov 5, 2018 (Updated Nov 5, 2018)
Slight variation on the Alice in Wonderland reboot
I'm guessing Disney want to keep going with their live action Princess films, and thought they'd hit gold with the rights to the Nutcracker for a Christmas release. Similar to the 2010 Alice in Wonderland, the film intends to act as a sequel to the original tale of the Nutcracker, where the world has fallen into disarray. Clara is the daughter of the original story's Marie, who has passed away, and looking to open the intriguing present left by her mother she finds herself following a mouse (not a rabbit!) into a strange world. She is introduced to the world her mother was made queen of, though sadly learns that the "fourth realm" (led by Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger) is at war with the other three (among them are realms led by Keira Knightley and an underused Richard E Grant).
Here Disney have taken some liberties as Clara's brother and sister take the roles and names of her mother's siblings in the original, and for no apparent reason the film based on the Russian ballet that was based on the French adaptation of the German fairy tale, is set in London. I can only assume this was to up the Festive quotient, but seems a very odd choice, despite keeping a number of the German themes.
Keira Knightley is very irritating, doing an ear-piercing impression of Queenie from Blackadder.
Neither of the actors playing Clara or the Nutcracker are very good or likeable and you find yourself bored and starting to root for Mother Ginger just to end it.
The film is too long, and drags in large parts, and all three of my kids were restless for a lot of it. And there was a definite lack of large-scale special effects, some impressive scenes but audiences expect spectacles (not 3D glasses, I mean big scenes!) these days and those were lacking.
The most enjoyable scene was the use of ballet to get Clara up to date with the world she found herself in, being quite respectful to the medium it was adapting (though I can't say how authentic it was!).
Here Disney have taken some liberties as Clara's brother and sister take the roles and names of her mother's siblings in the original, and for no apparent reason the film based on the Russian ballet that was based on the French adaptation of the German fairy tale, is set in London. I can only assume this was to up the Festive quotient, but seems a very odd choice, despite keeping a number of the German themes.
Keira Knightley is very irritating, doing an ear-piercing impression of Queenie from Blackadder.
Neither of the actors playing Clara or the Nutcracker are very good or likeable and you find yourself bored and starting to root for Mother Ginger just to end it.
The film is too long, and drags in large parts, and all three of my kids were restless for a lot of it. And there was a definite lack of large-scale special effects, some impressive scenes but audiences expect spectacles (not 3D glasses, I mean big scenes!) these days and those were lacking.
The most enjoyable scene was the use of ballet to get Clara up to date with the world she found herself in, being quite respectful to the medium it was adapting (though I can't say how authentic it was!).
The Awakener
Book
The Dawning of the New Age on Earth, the Seventh Universal Golden Age is upon us. A wonderful new...
ISS Vanguard
9.0
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Tabletop Game
ISS Vanguard is a 1-4 player co-operative, campaign Board Game. It will bring players right into...
Merissa (13194 KP) rated Warrior Hearts Academy: Dragon Lost in Books
May 16, 2025
WARRIOR HEARTS ACADEMY: DRAGON LOST is the first book in the Dragons trilogy, but book 7 in the whole Warrior Hearts Academy series. You'll need to hold onto your hat as this book is BUSY.
This one starts after the Centaur trilogy, which I haven't read, so there were some parts that I didn't fully get. What I do know is that Bree was a centaur who was changed into something else by Isobel and told she was going to save the Realms. Hint - not true! Bree has grown up with her childhood friends and doesn't want to believe anything bad about them. This is to her detriment as they prove, on more than one occasion, that they are quite happy embracing their dark side. Bree has multiple beings inside her. A Gryphon, Caliel, is the most vocal, but there is also an equine and something big and cold. (You don't know for sure yet what it is.) So, that's Bree.
Then you have Razir, the black and purple Dragon, who has his own storyline going on, as well as Tez, who grew up as a human but is also something else. Tez's story also follows his own path, without really connecting with Bree or Razir. It is told from multiple perspectives, with their own stories being told. This meant I had to slow down my reading to make sure I didn't miss anything. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm just saying.
I felt this book was more about setting the groundwork for their story. There is all the backstory for Bree that we absolutely need, as well as Tez, and figuring out how they all fit together with Razir. It is extremely fast-paced with lots of differing stories to keep track of. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all joins together (hopefully) in the next book.
It does end on one helluva cliffhanger, so consider yourself warned.
A great start to the Dragon trilogy and definitely recommended by me.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
May 16, 2025
This one starts after the Centaur trilogy, which I haven't read, so there were some parts that I didn't fully get. What I do know is that Bree was a centaur who was changed into something else by Isobel and told she was going to save the Realms. Hint - not true! Bree has grown up with her childhood friends and doesn't want to believe anything bad about them. This is to her detriment as they prove, on more than one occasion, that they are quite happy embracing their dark side. Bree has multiple beings inside her. A Gryphon, Caliel, is the most vocal, but there is also an equine and something big and cold. (You don't know for sure yet what it is.) So, that's Bree.
Then you have Razir, the black and purple Dragon, who has his own storyline going on, as well as Tez, who grew up as a human but is also something else. Tez's story also follows his own path, without really connecting with Bree or Razir. It is told from multiple perspectives, with their own stories being told. This meant I had to slow down my reading to make sure I didn't miss anything. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm just saying.
I felt this book was more about setting the groundwork for their story. There is all the backstory for Bree that we absolutely need, as well as Tez, and figuring out how they all fit together with Razir. It is extremely fast-paced with lots of differing stories to keep track of. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all joins together (hopefully) in the next book.
It does end on one helluva cliffhanger, so consider yourself warned.
A great start to the Dragon trilogy and definitely recommended by me.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
May 16, 2025