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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Marvel's Spider-Man in Video Games
Jan 15, 2019 (Updated Jan 15, 2019)
The best web swinging has felt in any Spiderman game ever. (3 more)
Good presentation in all of the cutscenes.
Enjoyable orchestral backdrop to swing around Manhattan to.
The parts of Manhattan that are in the game look great.
A lot of Manhattan has been left out or vastly downsized. (2 more)
The other 4 boroughs have been ignored.
Although the presentation is great, the graphics are slightly sub par.
Thwip!
Marvel's Spider-man was one of the biggest games of last year. Developed by Insomniac and following an original story, not tied in to the recent MCU movie, this was the most exciting superhero game since the Arkham series for a lot of people. Thankfully, Insomniac did manage to deliver a brilliant game, but not a perfect one.
The game's opening fantastically sets up the tone and energy of what's to follow and it's probably one of the best video game opening's I have ever played in that respect. Once the rush and momentum of that first mission wears off, you are introduced to the open world that you will be exploring for the next 20 or so hours. Manhattan does look good here, possibly the best it ever has done in a game. Landmarks like the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden are rendered extremely accurately to their real life counterparts.
The stuff that they chose to include in the game's version of Manhattan is great, but the issue is all of the parts that they left out. Battery Park is has halved in size, the One World Trade Centre has changed shape and everything above mid Harlem has vanished, making the district feel stumpy. Hopefully some of this stuff is amended for the sequel, along with the addition of at least a couple of the other boroughs.
Although the environment looks good graphically, as do Spidey's various suits that can be unlocked during the game, the human character models aren't the best and are fairly ugly when compared to character models in other 2018 games such as God of War, Red Dead 2 and Detroit: Become Human. Usually, in cutscenes etc, the game presents these character model well enough that it isn't too noticeable, but there were a good few times during gameplay that I would catch a glimpse of MJ's or Miles' weird faces and scratch my head wondering why they don't look better.
I have heard a few reviews moaning about the orchestral score that plays in the background as you swing around the city, but I personally really enjoyed it and it made me feel even more like a superhero than I already do when swinging through the middle of Times Square. I felt that all of the musical choices were well implemented and matched the story beats aptly to add impact in the right places.
Let's finish on a positive, the web swinging mechanic in this game is extremely satisfying and comes out on top of any other Spider-man game's web swinging system. Again, it's not flawless, there are moments that it will frustrate you and you will web to the opposite side of what you were aiming for. Also, for some reason the wall crawling mechanic is really slow and finicky and can often break the fast paced momentum of the web swinging/zipping/wall running combo that you have going. Most of the time though, it works fantastically and feels extremely fluid and immersive and it is probably one of the most satisfying game mechanics of 2018, along with Kratos' axe in GOW.
Overall, Marvel's Spider-man is great, but not perfect. There is definitely room for improvement, but this could be the start of a potentially incredible series of Marvel superhero games and hopefully the sequel, (that Insomniac is undoubtedly working on,) can improve on some of the flaws present in this game and deliver something incredible.
The game's opening fantastically sets up the tone and energy of what's to follow and it's probably one of the best video game opening's I have ever played in that respect. Once the rush and momentum of that first mission wears off, you are introduced to the open world that you will be exploring for the next 20 or so hours. Manhattan does look good here, possibly the best it ever has done in a game. Landmarks like the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden are rendered extremely accurately to their real life counterparts.
The stuff that they chose to include in the game's version of Manhattan is great, but the issue is all of the parts that they left out. Battery Park is has halved in size, the One World Trade Centre has changed shape and everything above mid Harlem has vanished, making the district feel stumpy. Hopefully some of this stuff is amended for the sequel, along with the addition of at least a couple of the other boroughs.
Although the environment looks good graphically, as do Spidey's various suits that can be unlocked during the game, the human character models aren't the best and are fairly ugly when compared to character models in other 2018 games such as God of War, Red Dead 2 and Detroit: Become Human. Usually, in cutscenes etc, the game presents these character model well enough that it isn't too noticeable, but there were a good few times during gameplay that I would catch a glimpse of MJ's or Miles' weird faces and scratch my head wondering why they don't look better.
I have heard a few reviews moaning about the orchestral score that plays in the background as you swing around the city, but I personally really enjoyed it and it made me feel even more like a superhero than I already do when swinging through the middle of Times Square. I felt that all of the musical choices were well implemented and matched the story beats aptly to add impact in the right places.
Let's finish on a positive, the web swinging mechanic in this game is extremely satisfying and comes out on top of any other Spider-man game's web swinging system. Again, it's not flawless, there are moments that it will frustrate you and you will web to the opposite side of what you were aiming for. Also, for some reason the wall crawling mechanic is really slow and finicky and can often break the fast paced momentum of the web swinging/zipping/wall running combo that you have going. Most of the time though, it works fantastically and feels extremely fluid and immersive and it is probably one of the most satisfying game mechanics of 2018, along with Kratos' axe in GOW.
Overall, Marvel's Spider-man is great, but not perfect. There is definitely room for improvement, but this could be the start of a potentially incredible series of Marvel superhero games and hopefully the sequel, (that Insomniac is undoubtedly working on,) can improve on some of the flaws present in this game and deliver something incredible.
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Safe Place in Books
May 30, 2020
I'm a sucker for psychological thrillers, so when the opportunity arose to read The Safe Place by Anna Downes, I jumped at the chance! Luckily, I ended up loving this book!
Emily Proudman just can't catch a break. After losing her job as well as her acting agent, things are looking grim. After being late on the rent again, she's also facing eviction from her apartment. However, things start looking up when she runs into Scott Denny. Scott, a successful CEO of the company she's just been fired from, feels like Emily would be perfect working for his wife, Nina, and living on their very remote property in France. Things seem perfect, but they are a little too perfect. When Emily finds out the truth behind Nina's and Scott's ideal life, she puts herself in grave danger and finds out how far some people will go to protect their secrets.
While the idea behind The Safe Place has been done before, Downes does a fantastic job of making it feel like it was her idea and hers alone. To me, The Safe Place felt like it was a slow burn as the action didn't really take place until towards the end. I would say the first 85 percent of the book or so is just the backstory and build up to all the action which happens in the last few chapters. The pacing is a little slow throughout most of the book, but it isn't so slow that I became bored - quite the contrary. While the pacing is fairly slow, I did enjoy what I read thanks to Downes' brilliant way with words. There are a few plot twists although I found them fairly easy to figure out, but I think that's only because I've read so many psychological thrillers before. Some of my guesses were wrong though, I admit. Even though there's an epilogue, I would have liked to have known more about what happened with Denny family. I just need a little more closure when it came to that.
Downes did a fantastic job with all of her characters. It was easy to imagine every single character in The Safe Place as a real person. The main characters all had plenty of backstory (or just enough to keep them mysterious), and the minor characters were all described very well. I liked how Emily seemed to want to please those around her. While she didn't feel like a pushover, it was nice to see her wanting to fit in with her new employer as well as Yves, the sometimes handyman. Nina was definitely an interesting character. I didn't know what to make of her before Emily met her in the book, but once Emily met Nina, and I read more about her, I ended up liking her. (I kept trying to figure out why Scott didn't want to be around her though.) Aurelia, the Denny's daughter, was my favorite character. She seemed like such a sweet little girl who had been through so much. I found myself wishing I could meet Aurelia and give her a hug (only if she'd let me since she took a long time to warm up to people).
Trigger warnings for The Safe Place include profanity, mental illness, alcohol use, prescription pill abuse, self harm, violence, and attempted murder.
Overall, The Safe Place is a highly intriguing book that makes each and every word on the page come alive. With a great set of characters, beautiful descriptions of the scenery, and a highly intriguing plot, this is one book that's sure to become a best seller. I would definitely recommend The Safe Place by Anna Downes to those aged 20+ who enjoy psychological thrillers and/or want to be instantly transported into a fantastic book!
--
(A special thank you to Minotaur Books for sending me a paperback ARC of The Safe Place by Anna Downes. A review was not required but appreciated. This was my honest and unbiased review.)
Emily Proudman just can't catch a break. After losing her job as well as her acting agent, things are looking grim. After being late on the rent again, she's also facing eviction from her apartment. However, things start looking up when she runs into Scott Denny. Scott, a successful CEO of the company she's just been fired from, feels like Emily would be perfect working for his wife, Nina, and living on their very remote property in France. Things seem perfect, but they are a little too perfect. When Emily finds out the truth behind Nina's and Scott's ideal life, she puts herself in grave danger and finds out how far some people will go to protect their secrets.
While the idea behind The Safe Place has been done before, Downes does a fantastic job of making it feel like it was her idea and hers alone. To me, The Safe Place felt like it was a slow burn as the action didn't really take place until towards the end. I would say the first 85 percent of the book or so is just the backstory and build up to all the action which happens in the last few chapters. The pacing is a little slow throughout most of the book, but it isn't so slow that I became bored - quite the contrary. While the pacing is fairly slow, I did enjoy what I read thanks to Downes' brilliant way with words. There are a few plot twists although I found them fairly easy to figure out, but I think that's only because I've read so many psychological thrillers before. Some of my guesses were wrong though, I admit. Even though there's an epilogue, I would have liked to have known more about what happened with Denny family. I just need a little more closure when it came to that.
Downes did a fantastic job with all of her characters. It was easy to imagine every single character in The Safe Place as a real person. The main characters all had plenty of backstory (or just enough to keep them mysterious), and the minor characters were all described very well. I liked how Emily seemed to want to please those around her. While she didn't feel like a pushover, it was nice to see her wanting to fit in with her new employer as well as Yves, the sometimes handyman. Nina was definitely an interesting character. I didn't know what to make of her before Emily met her in the book, but once Emily met Nina, and I read more about her, I ended up liking her. (I kept trying to figure out why Scott didn't want to be around her though.) Aurelia, the Denny's daughter, was my favorite character. She seemed like such a sweet little girl who had been through so much. I found myself wishing I could meet Aurelia and give her a hug (only if she'd let me since she took a long time to warm up to people).
Trigger warnings for The Safe Place include profanity, mental illness, alcohol use, prescription pill abuse, self harm, violence, and attempted murder.
Overall, The Safe Place is a highly intriguing book that makes each and every word on the page come alive. With a great set of characters, beautiful descriptions of the scenery, and a highly intriguing plot, this is one book that's sure to become a best seller. I would definitely recommend The Safe Place by Anna Downes to those aged 20+ who enjoy psychological thrillers and/or want to be instantly transported into a fantastic book!
--
(A special thank you to Minotaur Books for sending me a paperback ARC of The Safe Place by Anna Downes. A review was not required but appreciated. This was my honest and unbiased review.)
Marco Polo Video Walkie Talkie
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Debbiereadsbook (1620 KP) rated Hers, United (Hers, #5) in Books
Sep 16, 2022
So good!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book 5 in the Hers series. It can be read as a stand alone, but personally I recommend you read the other books first.It will give you a better picture of this world and how much it has changed.
Riley is called into work to talk to two hybrids who want to kill each other. Talon has been tasked with bringing dagger back to face his punishment for abandoning his post. But there is more going on with these two than they will admit, at first, but Riley will get to the bottom it, and have them for herself. Assuming of course, she can keep them!
I love this series, I really do. The books change tack every time and twist and turn and pull you along for a very enjoyable ride!
While Dagger is a little more forthcoming with how he feels, it does take Talon a lot longer to finally admit to himself, at least, what he feels for Dagger. It takes Dagger's life being in danger for him to admit to Riley though!
I loved that we got to catch up with Kaitlyn and Roth. They both play a part here, but none of the other characters are mentioned. The previously troublesome Traditionalists are causing problems again, and things are bought to a head.
It's steamy, oh yes! Dagger is a perfect sub, although that title isn't given him, he does call Riley Mistress. It does mean he gets put in his place a time or two!
A thoroughly enjoyable, 4 star read. Not quite as good as book 4, but so close!
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This is book 5 in the Hers series. It can be read as a stand alone, but personally I recommend you read the other books first.It will give you a better picture of this world and how much it has changed.
Riley is called into work to talk to two hybrids who want to kill each other. Talon has been tasked with bringing dagger back to face his punishment for abandoning his post. But there is more going on with these two than they will admit, at first, but Riley will get to the bottom it, and have them for herself. Assuming of course, she can keep them!
I love this series, I really do. The books change tack every time and twist and turn and pull you along for a very enjoyable ride!
While Dagger is a little more forthcoming with how he feels, it does take Talon a lot longer to finally admit to himself, at least, what he feels for Dagger. It takes Dagger's life being in danger for him to admit to Riley though!
I loved that we got to catch up with Kaitlyn and Roth. They both play a part here, but none of the other characters are mentioned. The previously troublesome Traditionalists are causing problems again, and things are bought to a head.
It's steamy, oh yes! Dagger is a perfect sub, although that title isn't given him, he does call Riley Mistress. It does mean he gets put in his place a time or two!
A thoroughly enjoyable, 4 star read. Not quite as good as book 4, but so close!
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Fred (860 KP) rated Avengers: Endgame (2019) in Movies
Apr 25, 2019
Over-hyped? Yes. Good? Meh. Then why a 7? Read on.
So, I'll keep this spoiler-free, although I'm sure everyone and their dog will have seen this within a week of it's release. Let me say here that when I watch a movie, I remember the boring parts, especially when most of the movie is boring. And I also don't fall for it when the ending of a movie is awesome & so I leave the theater thinking the whole movie was awesome, when it just wasn't.
Anyway, the movie starts with a scene that could have been (and should have been) the ending to Infinity War & it would have changed nothing of the "half the world is dead" cliffhanger we were left with. We would have also gotten a shorter final movie, which would be better off. At least we wouldn't have those ridiculous "when to pee" articles on the internet. Please. I've seen all the Lord of the Rings movies in the theater. Nobody talked pee breaks & those movies were far superior to the Marvel movies. So, after this fantastic beginning, we then get a long sequence of scenes where it seems to want to re-introduce the characters we've seen in 20 freaking films already. Let's catch-up, shall we? Yes, let's make a 3 hour movie to show us our heroes eating lunch. Are you kidding me? The film goes on too long here & it's all very unnecessary. We are finally told the heroes are going to do something about the situation & they start to figure out how to do it. So, here's a minor SPOILER here, so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to see it. The heroes decide to get the Infinity stones. And here's where there's a problem for me. See in Infinity War, I felt Thanos got the stones too easily. In a half hour, he got all 6. Well, the heroes get them even quicker in this film. What could have been made into a separate movie, they have the stones in 20 minutes. Playing with time-travel, they could have spread out the nostalgic look back into the older films, like they did in this film, but they could have had a lot more fun or play with it like Back to the Future II did when Marty went back to 1955 again. I felt a missed opportunity.
Okay, no more spoilers. So after the heroes do this, they now have to ability to do what they want & then starts maybe the greatest piece of film I've ever seen. At least in any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. It's incredible & a comic-book fan's sweet dream come true. There are really no surprises as to what is going to happen. You know who's showing up. You know when they're showing up & you know what the endgame is going to be. Again, I will not give anything away, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows someone or someones will not continue on. We know the rumors & you've heard the end will bring you to tears. So, after this scene, we are "treated" to about 15 minutes of a sad sequence. Boo Hoo. We say goodbye, but then something extraordinary. The final scene to the film is perfect. It fixes one of what I considered a great injustice in the MCU & ends the film with a "YES!" moment.
So, final verdict is I am giving the film a 7 out of 10. Don't believe the perfect 10 scores. It's not a 10. In fact, I feel that if I ever watch it again, I will probably watch the beginning, then skip to the end. Most of the film is filler to lead us to that phenomenal scene.
Anyway, the movie starts with a scene that could have been (and should have been) the ending to Infinity War & it would have changed nothing of the "half the world is dead" cliffhanger we were left with. We would have also gotten a shorter final movie, which would be better off. At least we wouldn't have those ridiculous "when to pee" articles on the internet. Please. I've seen all the Lord of the Rings movies in the theater. Nobody talked pee breaks & those movies were far superior to the Marvel movies. So, after this fantastic beginning, we then get a long sequence of scenes where it seems to want to re-introduce the characters we've seen in 20 freaking films already. Let's catch-up, shall we? Yes, let's make a 3 hour movie to show us our heroes eating lunch. Are you kidding me? The film goes on too long here & it's all very unnecessary. We are finally told the heroes are going to do something about the situation & they start to figure out how to do it. So, here's a minor SPOILER here, so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to see it. The heroes decide to get the Infinity stones. And here's where there's a problem for me. See in Infinity War, I felt Thanos got the stones too easily. In a half hour, he got all 6. Well, the heroes get them even quicker in this film. What could have been made into a separate movie, they have the stones in 20 minutes. Playing with time-travel, they could have spread out the nostalgic look back into the older films, like they did in this film, but they could have had a lot more fun or play with it like Back to the Future II did when Marty went back to 1955 again. I felt a missed opportunity.
Okay, no more spoilers. So after the heroes do this, they now have to ability to do what they want & then starts maybe the greatest piece of film I've ever seen. At least in any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. It's incredible & a comic-book fan's sweet dream come true. There are really no surprises as to what is going to happen. You know who's showing up. You know when they're showing up & you know what the endgame is going to be. Again, I will not give anything away, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows someone or someones will not continue on. We know the rumors & you've heard the end will bring you to tears. So, after this scene, we are "treated" to about 15 minutes of a sad sequence. Boo Hoo. We say goodbye, but then something extraordinary. The final scene to the film is perfect. It fixes one of what I considered a great injustice in the MCU & ends the film with a "YES!" moment.
So, final verdict is I am giving the film a 7 out of 10. Don't believe the perfect 10 scores. It's not a 10. In fact, I feel that if I ever watch it again, I will probably watch the beginning, then skip to the end. Most of the film is filler to lead us to that phenomenal scene.
Lonely Planet Pocket Ibiza
Lonely Planet and Iain Stewart
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Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Pocket Ibiza is your...