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    Beautiful Bubbles

    Beautiful Bubbles

    Entertainment and Games

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    App

    Pop beautiful bubbles with your fingers using multi-touch. Unlike other bubble popping apps, this...

    Roastmaster

    Roastmaster

    Food & Drink and Lifestyle

    6.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    ACHIEVE THE PERFECT CUP – CONSISTENTLY Creative coffee roasting is an art. The key lies in...

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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PC version of Atomic Heart in Video Games

Mar 5, 2023  
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart
2019 | Horror
I first heard of Atomic Heart several years ago and aside from brief and sporadic updates; the progress of the game seemed to be a slow process until a few months before release.

I was eager to try a game that was described as a mix of Fallout and Bioshock as a fan of the two franchises, the new entry seemed like a game that I would enjoy.

The game is set in a fictional future filled with advanced scientific discoveries and playing as an agent assigned to the rollout of a new facility; players will soon find things have gone very wrong when the robots assigned to serve have begun brutally attacking and killing all they encounter.

Players must travel deep into an underground facility to find weapons and materials which they can craft into more powerful weapons as they take on an increasingly difficult series of enemies and puzzles.

Using a special glove that can heal and move objects, players have to at times do a series of timed jumps to navigate the damaged facility and complete necessary tasks.

While all of this sounds good, the game at times throws too many puzzles at you as having to decipher locks repeatedly tends to take away from the action, and dealing with the over-amorous upgrade machines goes from being amusing to tedious quickly.

Another issue I had was a recent patch broke the game for me as I was unable to start the game from the main screen and had to delete and install the game again to resume my play. There is also the matter of why the agent sounds like he should be in an office in California as his tone and mannerisms do not reflect the character.

Atomic Heart does provide entertainment I found the combat and graphics to be dated and that aspects of the game grew old very quickly. The best strategy for me was to play the game in segments and take a break of a few days between sessions which gave me a fresh perspective versus trying to do things in a series of extended sessions.

In the end, the game is enjoyable for those willing to be patient and accept the game for what it is and hopefully, with a few more updates the full potential of the game will be achieved. The game is available on the Microsoft Game Pass and is worth a look.

3 stars out of 5
  
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Otway93 (567 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga in Video Games

Apr 26, 2022  
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
2020 | Action/Adventure
Character Roster (2 more)
Humour
Gameplay
Character Skins (3 more)
Collectibles
Replayability
Crashing
The Force was with them...mostly.
Contains spoilers, click to show
After 2 years of waiting, it's finally here, and for the most part, we are not disappointed! As someone who was there for the release of the original Lego Star Wars in 2005, I can say things have got better, and things have got worse. It balances out pretty well.

The game allows us to play through one of the most important and popular cinematic sagas in history, never missing a moment as far as I've noticed, and not forgetting that hilarious Lego video game humour that we've come to love over the years.

With around 380 characters (kind of, I'll get to that) to unlock and play as, from the most beloved characters to the guy you forgot existed and still don't really remember from the films, you have character choices aplenty, with different skills and upgrades to keep you going for a long time.

So that's the positives, so far so good. But now, alas, some quite big negatives.

Firstly, as I mentioned, you can unlock around 380 characters to play as...kind of. The term "character" here is a bit misleading. There's plenty of characters, yes, more than you could really want, but with some characters they have multiple skins to show off their wardrobe from across the saga. Luke Skywalker for example has 17 different skins all classed as a separate character.

Secondly, the collectibles. In this game, the blue bricks that have featured in the free roam of previous games, have reached a new high in terms of quantity. Over 1,100 to be found, all can be found via a number of repetitive tasks.

Thirdly, crashing seems to be a huge issue on the PS5 version. The game for me has crashed and closed over a dozen times since day one while using the character selection. That plus the lack of a manual save feature makes for some frustrating moments and wasted time.

And finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, replaying levels. The entire game has 45 main story levels, 5 per episode, These levels are really only highlights, just the most memorable parts, you can't go back and enjoy everything from the beginning. Level 1 for example would see you instantly speeding away from the giant fish as you leave the Gungan city, while level 2 puts you straight into the Podracing.

Overall, this is a great game that I would recommend to any Star Wars fan, but it was far from perfect in terms of design.
  
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Kyera (8 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books

Jan 31, 2018  
Ready Player One
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.9 (161 Ratings)
Book Rating
Despite the fact that I didn't experience the 80's, I was surprised by the number of references that I understood. Although this book is likely most enjoyable for people who grew up in that decade or teen boys who love video game/sci-fi/fantasy-elements, I believe that this story is accessible to everyone. It will appeal most to gamers and sci-fi fans. I wouldn't want anyone to decide they don't want to give it a chance because it was a really enjoyable book.

Beyond the incredible amount of 80's references dropping over the course of this novel is <i>the plot</i>. The year is 2044 and the world spends most of its time inside OASIS, a virtual reality world that allows the masses to escape from the horrors of the real world. Upon the death of its creator, a contest is launched that could change someone's life and the entire world becomes obsessed. Players are tasked with testing their knowledge and skills of the creator's favourite era, the 80's - upon completion of all tasks they win the creator's entire fortune.

We are introduced to Wade Watts, a teen boy with a poor home life and lack of interest in school, but an overwhelming obsession with all things 80's. He is our introduction to the world of OASIS and the wonders that it can hold. His life isn't great and he's not happy, but I never felt that he drew the book down with him. He recognized the way the world was and adapted to combat it. I felt that he was very easy to relate to and didn't suffer from being the "Chosen One".

I really enjoyed getting to know his friends in OASIS and felt that they were well developed. Each had their own struggles, flaws, and strengths. The way their relationships developed over the course of the novel felt authentic because they struggled and questioned. They were all competitors and didn't know who to trust, yet at the end of the day, they put the well-being of everyone over their own success.

While sometimes I felt that the worlds being described were using the method of telling, rather than showing - overall I thought that the millions of worlds inside OASIS were detailed. I felt that I received enough information to see a detailed, yet rough structure of the world and then fill in most of the details myself. There were some scenes however that were very vividly described.

Overall, I was completely drawn into this book within a few chapters and didn't want to put it down. I kept picking it up every opportunity that I had and just needed to know what happened next.