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blink-182 – Quarantine Review

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Clocking in at just over 2 minutes in length; Quarantine is incredibly short, straight to the point, and basically just a very nostalgic offering of 90s inspired skate punk.

Right from the start it instrumentally sounds to me like a cross between The Offspring and Pennywise, and in fact; if you played me the intro and told me that it was a previously unreleased Smash B-side? I probably wouldn’t question it for a second.

It’s pretty catchy, but it’s also very of the moment. Unlike Bring Me The Horizon’s Parasite Eve, which whilst also about the current chaotic times we’re living through, will have plenty of life beyond 2020 in my opinion; Quarantine is a track that I can’t really see most people listening to beyond the pandemic.

Thematically it’s very 2020, stylistically it’s extremely 1990s, and all in all; it’s maybe just a little bit too niche, definitely doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and probably isn’t a track that will have any real huge amount of long-term appeal.

Right now though? Definitely give Quarantine a listen if you’re a big fan of blink-182 or that 90s Epitaph/Fat Wreck sound. Enjoy it for what it is and have fun listening to this 2 minute blast of nostalgic skate punk fun.

Bring Me The Horizon – Parasite Eve Review

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A single that sees the band return slightly to their heavier roots, this move is definitely paying off as Parasite Eve debuts at number 28 in the official UK singles chart, becoming Bring Me The Horizon’s first Top 40 single since 2014.

It’s topical, it’s got an incredibly catchy chorus and it also hits incredibly hard in places. Although it takes a good while to get into its stride; the intro actually works rather well in my opinion, building suspense very nicely before the first chorus drops just before the minute mark.

It’s unpredictable and slightly wild, but that in itself rather encapsulates the spirit of the world we’re living in right now. These are unprecedented and extremely chaotic times, and Parasite Eve’s energy captures this brilliantly. Both structurally and thematically; Parasite Eve makes a lot of sense as a single in 2020.

With its chunky guitar riffs, angry vocals and incredibly punchy chorus, Parasite Eve is a single that I definitely have a lot of time for, and following on from Ludens which was released in late 2019; Bring Me The Horizon’s last two efforts definitely fill me with great hope for what we can expect from the band in the future.

In a move similar to Hayley Williams’ Petals for Armor project earlier this year which saw her release two separate EP’s that together combined made up the Petals for Armor album as a whole; Bring Me The Horizon will be looking to put out a collection of four EP’s throughout the course of the next 12 months, which together will complete their seventh studio album, Post Human.

You can watch the official video for Bring Me The Horizon’s Parasite Eve below:

Juice WRLD – Righteous Review

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Just as Juice WRLD’s Legends lyrics ‘What’s the 27 Club? We ain’t making it past 21‘ feel extremely eerie and hit extremely hard since his untimely passing at the age of 21, the lyrical content of Righteous also makes for an extremely tough listen in this first posthumous single release.

Whilst it’s an emotional listen though and some of the lyrics genuinely hurt to hear with its telling tale of anxiety and self-medication; it’s a bittersweet experience and the track itself is genuinely exceptional. It’s dark, it’s dreamlike, it’s melancholic, and it’s also incredibly infectious.

Juice WRLD’s vocals cut through the sound superbly, sitting very sweetly atop of the tracks sombre trap instrumental. The production is excellent, musically this single has a huge amount to offer, and even though the artist is sadly now gone; it’s great to have his memory live on here through his music and to hear a posthumous single release of such high quality.

Despite his young age, Juice WRLD had a remarkable impact upon the music world, with his music reaching out and touching the hearts of many. Juice WRLD will forever be sorely missed, but we’ll always have his music.

If you haven’t yet heard the single, you can check out the official music video for Juice WRLD’s Righteous below, directed, shot, and edited by Steve Cannon.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Review (Nintendo 3DS)

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Gaming in the 90s, for me there was always one video game series that stood out strongly; the Donkey Kong Country series on the Super Nintendo. I have many happy memories of playing this game with friends when I was younger, and it was also a game that I very much enjoyed playing in my own time, too. One of the things that made this game stand out so strongly was the challenge that each level provided. Whereas with some platformers you could progress through the game without experiencing too many issues on the whole, with Donkey Kong Country there was an accuracy and precision which was required in certain levels that meant that sometimes you could get stuck on a particular level for absolutely ages. Far from making the game frustrating or cast aside, the difficulty required to progress through Donkey Kong Country made the game challenging in a way that made completing certain levels all the more rewarding.

The Mine Cart Carnage level in the original Donkey Kong Country game for the SNES gave myself and my friends a huge amount of trouble back in the day, I’ll never forget the absolute joy and relief when I finally managed to get past the level, however, and I can still remember feeling like an absolute local hero the day I finally beat it. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D takes everything that made the original games so brilliant, combining that with modern aesthetics and stereoscopic 3D graphics which breathes new life into an old video game hero.

Playing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D for the 3DS brings back a lot of childhood memories for me and it’s without doubt my absolute favourite modern platform game. Donkey Kong Country Returns was originally released for the Nintendo Wii back in 2010, fresh for 2013 it has been ported to the Nintendo 3DS, however, and it’s certainly a very impressive handheld title. I never played Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii, with the 3DS version you can either play the game as it was originally intended though with the ‘Original Mode’, or you can play the ‘New Mode’ of the game which provides an easier gaming experience which may be better suited to younger gamers. With its two different difficulty settings, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is a perfect platformer not only for those looking for a blast of nostalgic fun, but also a good introduction to the series for younger gamers that may have missed out on the absolute beauty of the Donkey Kong Country series when the games originally launched back in the 90s for the SNES (or when later released on the Game Boy Colour/Game Boy Advance in the early 2000s). Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D would be an impressive starting point in the Donkey Kong Country series for any modern gamer, it’s definitely never too late to get stuck into Donkey Kong Country, and if you own a Nintendo 3DS/2DS but have yet to ever play a Donkey Kong Country game, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is definitely not a game to be missed.

Playing the game as Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, progressing from level to level in Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is extremely fun, providing a challenge at times as well as a huge amount of gaming entertainment. Regardless of whether or not you’ve ever played a Donkey Kong Country video game in the past there is a lot to enjoy here, it’s a practise in precision that will provide tests and challenges for even the most experienced of gamers. Kids will no doubt love the characters of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong and very much enjoy the gameplay, but there’s also plenty enough provided here to keep adult gamers interested, excited, and challenged by the many fantastic levels that this title has to offer. It’s definitely a game with a huge amount of appeal to kids, but if like me you grew up playing platformers and still have a huge soft spot for them, this game really is the very best that platforming has to offer right now, with levels that feel like they’ve had much time and care spent on them, working them out and providing each level with its own unique and interesting challenges. Side scrolling Mario games can sometimes feel a little halfhearted and dated, but even in the modern era of gaming Donkey Kong Country more than holds its own and still feels current, contemporary, and challenging.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has eight more levels than the original Nintendo Wii title, all added right at the very end after you’ve played through the originals. It’s debatable as to whether or not the game is worth paying out for if you already own the Nintendo Wii original, as someone that missed out on the game when it was released for the Wii, however, I’ve definitely appreciated the game being ported to the 3DS as had it not have been then I may have never got to experience this awesome platform title. I absolutely love handheld platform games, and for me Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is definitely the very best that is out there on the market right now. In the 90s the Donkey Kong Country series always felt as though it was way ahead of the competition because of the difficulty of playing the game and the concentration and precision that was required to complete every level, and this is still something that remains to be true now.

The new mode introduced for the 3DS version of this game means that this version of Donkey Kong Country can be a slightly easier experience if you want it to be, and although many older people that buy this game may not have much interest in playing the game more easily, the fact that this option is available for younger/more inexperienced gamers is definitely a very impressive addition in my book as it means that this game is now more accessible to a far larger audience of gamers, and anyone that did perhaps find some parts of the original Wii title a little too tricky can now play this game with a little more margin for error.

Rating: 4.5/5

Malibu Shark Attack – Malibu Shark Attack Review

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Featuring Belfast’s Rocky O’Reilly and Atlanta’s Tribe One, Malibu Shark Attack are an incredibly interesting transatlantic indie-rap duo that receive help throughout this album from numerous other musicians such as MC Lars, Tim Wheeler (Ash) and Kevin Steinhauser (Math The Band). Ciara Donnelly, aka Yellowbridge, also provided vocals on the band’s recent tour of the UK and complimented the Malibu Shark Attack sound strongly, unfortunately she doesn’t appear on this album, however, and for those that are yet to see the band live you’ll just have to wait in order to discover the impressive vocal beauty that she brings to the band’s sound.

Kicking off with ‘Better off as Friends‘, this self-titled studio album gets off to a solid start as Tribe One name checks his other group The Remnant as well as Rocky O’Reilly’s former band Oppenheimer, citing fears of Malibu Shark Attack’s potential critics who may prefer their older work to their new crossover material. One thing that became instantly clear from seeing Malibu Shark Attack live was that Tribe One is a storyteller; he raps about what he knows, his lyrics have depth and there’s also a real level of emotional attachment to the music. Right from the start of the album this notion of Tribe One as a storyteller is instantly recognisable, something that continues throughout the release as he reflects upon a variety of different subjects with his lyrical content.

‘Yo into New York‘ hits hard with a powerful chorus and an impressive rapping style in the verse, ‘Doing it Wrong‘ meanwhile follows up powerfully with a message of staying true to yourself, following your dreams and sticking to your guns even when it may be perceived that you’re doing it wrong. On the surface ‘Doing it Wrong‘ is a fun song about a childhood dream of wanting to be Batman, at its core though it’s far more than that, an incredibly motivational offering of music that stands out strongly as one of the best tracks on the album.

With ‘Back to the Start‘ and ‘Internal Organs‘ Tribe One reflects upon love, loss and friendship, with a helping hand from MC Lars on ‘Back to the Start‘ as the post-punk laptop rapper adds to the track with his own experience of loss as he shows his appreciation for a friend that sadly departed far too soon. Serious or jovial, Tribe One tackles his subject matters impeccably every time, setting the scene strongly and gripping you with his lyrics as well as his impressive rap flow. Instrumentally the album is packed full of swirling synth sounds and impressive indie flavour and Tribe One’s lyrics really grab you as these two components come together and keep you coming back for more.

‘Bdmthrfckr‘ is Malibu Shark Attack’s nod to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, complete with Tribe One’s take on how he would have handled the film. With a fast rapping style in places and plenty of synth styled goodness, ‘Bdmthrfckr‘ is a very fun song that features guitar work from Ash’s Tim Wheeler and additional vocals from Angie McCrisken. It comes at the midway point of the album and provides a fun turning point as the band go from handling several pretty serious tracks to once again providing a little light relief.

‘It Takes Time‘ and ‘Plans for the Weekend‘ follow, the latter of which coming across as a bit of a party anthem from the band that’d no doubt go down well on a night out. There’s a bit of a Black Eyed Peas feel with ‘Plans for the Weekend‘ when Ugly Duckling’s Dizzy Dustin kicks in, and Tribe One once again gets his fast rap flow on. With its 8-bit backdrop this is definitely a very fun track that certainly has a lot to appreciate about it, and with tenth track ‘No More Tears‘ the 8-bit feel is furthered as Belfast based rapper Bee Mick See also joins the party.

The eponymous ‘Malibu Shark Attack‘ is another track from the band that stood out strongly at their live show along with ‘Doing It Wrong‘ and ‘Bdmthrfckr‘, with a chorus that’s simple, effective and also gets you remembering their name. On a live circuit level the track is absolutely perfect as it ensures that you don’t go forgetting about the band, as an album track it is equally excellent though as an impressive piece of music that has fantastic instrumental flavour and a strong vocal style also. The track tells the tale of the duo coming together from separate sides of the globe to make an album together despite never having met until arriving in Leicester to begin a UK tour on May 15th; it’s a strong story of what can be accomplished in the modern age, where two artists from separate sides of the globe can create an album together as impressive as this without ever having met.

After the energy of ‘Malibu Shark Attack‘, things are toned down for penultimate track ‘Moment of Truth‘, providing a sense of the album winding down as it comes to a close. Closing track ‘Monsters Under Your Bed‘ is another slower number from the band, with the album ending on two songs that bring things to a mellow and chilled out conclusion. After the absolute energy and excitement of ‘Malibu Shark Attack‘, the final two songs on the album feel well chosen as closing numbers, with the band demonstrating their ability to hop between sounds and ultimately provide an album with a huge amount of diversity and intrigue.

Tribe One has a real talent for storytelling, seems at ease in front of a crowd as evidenced by the band’s live performance and has a strong talent for rapping about subject matters that you can tell truly mean something to him. Tribe One is not just rapping for the sake of it, every track is heartfelt and sincere and this is what makes him such an impressive front man. Malibu Shark Attack are definitely a band to check out if you haven’t already done so, and with their self-titled album available for streaming on Spotify and to purchase from Bandcamp, there really is no reason whatsoever not to at least give this album a listen. Defining themselves as post-new wave-prog-electronica-indiecore-synthpop rap, Malibu Shark Attack are a band that provide a little bit of everything, so regardless of your tastes in music it really is well worth giving this band a whirl.

Trials Frontier Review

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Having started out as a Java game back in the year 2000, the Trials series has come a long way to end up as the addictive console title that it is today. With the series having built up a strong following on Xbox 360 and PC, Trials Fusion has now been released which also brings the title to Xbox One and PS4, and mobile game Trials Frontier has been designed to run alongside Trials Fusion, with the ability to link the games together for added bonuses.

Trials Frontier is a free-to-play game that utilises microtransactions for those looking to progress in the game more quickly. Much like with most games of this sort then, when you first start playing Trials Frontier everything is incredibly easy to improve and nothing takes too much time. There’s a fuel meter that uses up energy every time you start a race, it refills every time you level up though and at the start you’ll find that you’ll level up long before you ever have to begin worrying about replenishing your energy. As you might expect, as you progress through the game things begin to slow up and you may therefore find yourself thinking about putting real money into the game in order to work around this issue of things no longer being quite so instantaneous. Whilst some people really despise the microtransaction system in games and will criticise RedLynx for their utilisation of this system with Trials Frontier, truthfully there’s far more pressing concerns with Trials Frontier than its attempts to get people to put money into the game.

With the PC/console Trials titles you find that each track has its own quirks and personality, something that makes it a bit different and stand out; with Trials Frontier there’s a distinct lack of individuality with the tracks and for the most part things just seems very plain with nothing major to really differentiate one track from the next. As well as the vast majority of tracks feeling a little too familiar and samey, there’s also none of that excitement that you get with the PC/console title from managing to get past a particularly tricky part of a track. You sometimes make a bit of a mess of things and crash your bike, it’s usually due to user error rather than the track being genuinely difficult though, and if you fall off your bike it’s usually pretty simple to get it right at the second time of asking. Any mobile version of Trials was always likely to be more simple, it’s all a little bit too easy though and this combined with the generic nature of the majority of the tracks means that the game is only really particularly enjoyable in short bursts. Whilst it’s certainly a criticism of the game then that it’s only really at all fun for short periods, it may also be viewed as a blessing in disguise in that the game won’t pester you too often about microtransactions as you generally won’t be playing the game for long enough to run out of the fuel that would therefore lead to a prompt to spend money to keep playing.

A key plus point of the Trials series has always been in its multiplayer aspect. Much like Mario Kart, Trials games can be pretty fun to play by yourself, the real fun of the game comes from playing against friends though and also from comparing your scores to theirs. Whilst you can register with Uplay to compare your scores with friends in Trials Frontier, due to the numerous upgrades that can be made to bikes and the role that microtransactions can play, it’s not necessarily a like for like comparison and you can’t be entirely sure whether you’re better/worse at the game than a friend or if they merely have less/more capable bikes. It’s still fun to beat your friends’ top scores, it’s just not quite the same absolute feeling of triumph though as you’re not sure whether you’ve beaten them on merit or machinery.

All in all, Trials Frontier lacks the charm and quality of its PC/console contemporary and is not the kind of game that you can really lose yourself to in quite the same way. It’s an okay mobile game that can be reasonably enjoyable for short periods of time, play the game for any longer though and you definitely soon find yourself getting tired of the repetitive levels and ease of progression. The only thing that ever stops you from progressing through the game as quickly as you might like is when you run out of energy, and rather than wanting to sink money into the game to continue playing you’re usually a bit bored already and it’s easier then to just switch the game off for a while and maybe come back to it later.

Trials Frontier is worth playing for the fact that it’s free, and as a free mobile game there are certainly a lot worse than this out there, certainly don’t expect to have as much fun with the game as you would with any PC/console edition of Trials though and definitely don’t imagine that you’re going to lose anywhere near as many hours to this game as you would to Trials Fusion. Trials Frontier is an okay touch-screen game, a lot of what makes the series so great is lost here though and whilst it may still have the Trials name attached to it this is definitely not the Trials series at its brilliant best.

Rating: 3/5

Nintendo Pocket Football Club (3DS) Review

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Drawing upon the same addictive qualities as the smartphone/tablet game Football Chairman, Nintendo Pocket Football Club is a game that sees you take control of a small time football club and attempt to progress and improve with them as you build them up to the big time. Whereas with some other football management titles having a detailed knowledge of what’s going on in football is pretty much essential to get the most out of the game, with Nintendo Pocket Football Club you’re not playing with real-life footballers and so it’s more of a pick up and play title where in-depth knowledge of real-life football isn’t really beneficial. People that know much about football can definitely enjoy Nintendo Pocket Football Club, it’s not a requirement though and even if you know very little about football you can definitely have fun with this game.

Unlike in Football Manager where you have to watch each match like a hawk, constantly making tactical alterations in an attempt to stay ahead of the opposition, with Nintendo Pocket Football Club you can only make major changes to the team before kick-off and at half-time unless you’re making a substitution, meaning that each match is a lot more hassle free and you can just sit back and enjoy things a little more; you’re more a football fan and less a stressed out statistical analyst. Whilst you may not be able to make changes as freely as you’re able to in Football Manager though, that’s not to say that you can completely ignore what’s going on in each match as you do need to work out where each players’ strengths and weaknesses lie so that you can determine which of their attributes need most work and therefore decide which areas to improve upon in the next training session. It’s not the same level of intensity as with Football Manager as there’s not the same sort of pressure on you to constantly make alterations to remain on the front foot, it’s certainly still a pretty important aspect of the game though and if you’re not really paying attention to what’s going on in each match then you won’t be in as strong a position as you could be when it comes to improving upon your squad.

With each match taking roughly 10 minutes to play through, there’s no option to simulate any part of a match and so each match must be played out in full. Friendly matches can be played in weeks when you have no competitive matches and these also last about 10 minutes, practise matches can also be played though and will only set you back about 5 minutes as they’re half the length of regular matches. With no ability to sim through matchess, if you want to skip past friendly/practise matches then you must therefore lose out on picking up training cards which are absolutely vital for improving your team. Player abilities are improved by applying training routines with cards that are picked up in matches, so whilst skipping practise matches may save you time and get you to your next competitive match more quickly, it won’t benefit you at all in the long run and will in fact set you back in your progress as you’ll miss out on the opportunity to gain hugely important training cards. Training cards can be applied singularly or in multiples, with the possibility to unlock special combos when applying particular training cards together. Getting the most out of your training cards is basically a process of trial and error, and attempting to hit upon special combos is all part of the fun of the game that helps make Nintendo Pocket Football Club such an addictive and enjoyable experience.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club In-Game Match Engine

Although you may not be able to appreciate it from looking at screenshots, Nintendo Pocket Football Club actually has an incredibly impressive match engine and the way that each match ebbs and flows is really gripping to watch. As you’re watching each and every match in its entirety you really get a feel for how your team is improving, and rather than just sitting there and watching the best/worst bits of how your team is playing, you get to see absolutely everything in Nintendo Pocket Football Club and this therefore allows you to know exactly where your team is at as you experience both the highs and the lows of everything that your players go through. It may be a little annoying at times that you have to play each match out in its entirety, by playing them this way you can certainly begin to appreciate how much work must have gone into the game to make each match play out so much like a real life football match though, with all the ugly scrappiness included as well as the free-flowing beauty that can sometimes be found in the sport.

There are only 10 matches in each league campaign, with a cup to play in as well though in addition to all the practise/friendly matches, a season can take quite a while to play through and this is therefore an area in which the game distances itself from mobile gaming and firmly presents itself as a more traditional football management title. Nintendo Pocket Football Club can perhaps be seen to situate itself in an awkward territory then as it has the addictive qualities and simplicities that would make for a fantastic speedy handheld game, yet pairs these qualities up with a fairly slow paced structure that requires many hours of gameplay and dedication in order to properly progress. It bridges the gap between mobile game and fully fledged management title and it’s hard to tell who the game is specifically aimed at as it’s probably too time consuming for the mobile crowd and maybe a little too casual for most Football Manager fanatics. There’s no denying that Nintendo Pocket Football Club is an incredibly fun game to play and it’s certainly an extremely addictive title, it definitely sits itself firmly between two markets though and this therefore means that many people are likely to miss out on the game thinking that it’s not really for them when truly they’d really quite enjoy it.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club doesn’t have the same depth or options that you get with Football Manager, Football Manager Classic’s introduction in 2012 demonstrated that there’s certainly a call for a less involved version of the game though, and Nintendo Pocket Football Club strips things back even further to provide a football management sim all the more suited to the casual gamer. There’s still enough tactical awareness required to make the game a fun management title, it’s certainly not as involved as Sports Interactive’s annual series though and although this may be quite off-putting for some, plenty are likely to be pleasantly surprised with Nintendo Pocket Football Club and happily invest a fair few hours in the game.

Nintendo Pocket Football Club is stripped back and in many ways rather basic, its simplicity is key to its charm though and its fantastic match engine is also at the very heart of the game’s success.

Football Manager Classic 2014 (PS Vita) Review

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Football Manager Classic Mode only even launched for the PC with Football Manager 2013, it has now found its way to Sony’s handheld system though and it’s now easier than ever to take your Football Manager experience out on the road and live out the life of a football manager wherever you may be.

If you’ve played Football Manager Classic on PC then this version of the game for the Vita should be very familiar. The controls can be a little on the fiddly side and you will from time to time find that you make selection errors due to the small size of the on-screen buttons, ultimately this is a PC game that has been fitted into a 5-inch touch-screen though and this was therefore always likely to be an issue; fingers and thumbs are a little on the fat side compared with pinpoint mouse precision. Load times are also likely to be slower than you’re used to, although exactly how much slower the game runs on the Vita will depend on how many leagues you have running and of course the specifications of the computer that you’re comparing it to. If you’ve played the game on PC for any significant period of time then holding down the left shoulder button in order to drag and drop is probably the only awkward control that you’re likely to come across, although even that becomes pretty instinctive once you’ve sunk a bit of time into the game. For those that are new to the series though then Football Manager Classic 2014 is probably going to seem incredibly daunting as it really isn’t a game aimed at the uninitiated. The PC version comes with five tutorials to help ease new players into the game, there are no such tutorials to speak of with this PS Vita version though and it certainly seems that the game has been marketed towards those that already have a fairly in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of the Football Manager system.

Football Manager Classic 2014 Team Selection Screen

With the ability to run leagues from up to three nations from around the world at a time, Football Manager Classic 2014 provides a decent database of players and the scope to improve yourself as a manager and move on to bigger and better things. You can take on a management job from as low down the pyramid as the Conference North/South if it’s the English league system that you’re interested in, and there are a lot of nations to choose from as you select the ones that you wish to have active. You may only intend to manage in one particular league system, adding one or two more will increase the player pool in those nations though and you may feel that the increased load times are worth it in order to feature a larger talent pool from some of your favourite footballing nations.

If you’ve played the game on PC then you’ll be impressed with how well the 3D match engine translates to the PS Vita, providing a match day experience that is equally as immersive as ever. Football Manager has always been an incredibly addictive video game and this is certainly no different with Football Manager Classic 2014, a game that drags you right in as you’re pulled through the ups and downs of managing a football club. This game may not stop you from playing Football Manager on your home computer if you do so already, the gameplay is certainly extremely impressive though and provides a powerful alternative to loading the game up on PC every time you’re craving your next Football Manager fix.

When you’re getting stuck into a match and things aren’t quite going your way, there are a variety of instructions that you can issue to your team to change the way that they’re approaching the match, and your assistant manager will also give you their advice throughout the game about where they think you can sharpen things up and improve your team’s performance. You don’t have to listen to your assistant if you don’t want to, sometimes they do come up with some fairly useful advice though and you can then quickly and easily make changes to your tactics. For most games you’ll probably find that you’re playing with pretty similar tactics and achieving success, for certain games you really do have to change things up though, taking advantage of any possible weaknesses in your opponents’ team in order to stand any chance of producing a positive result. Sometimes your changes won’t work and you’ll end up losing a game you were expected to dominate, that’s just how football goes though sometimes.

Football Manager Classic 2014 In-Game Instructions

Just as with the PC game there are two modes of management; career mode and challenge mode. In career mode you take on management of a football club in a quest to take them as far as possible, whilst in challenge mode there are seven different situations that you can take control of, such as guiding a stranded team to safety, managing a team to success with a core of young talent, or attempting to save a club in financial peril by significantly reducing their expenditures whilst still remaining competitive. For most the main fun of the game will be in the career mode, sometimes you just want to do something a little different though and for those times the challenge mode options can provide a fun test of your Football Manager capabilities.

Although Football Manager Classic 2014 for the PS Vita is for all intents and purposes the same game as its PC counterpart, with the player history tab on the Vita you will find that the career achievements and injury history tabs have been removed. Career stats remain, but you won’t find details of individual awards and team successes that each player has achieved, and you also won’t be able to check for indications that a player may be injury prone as you’ll not be able to see what injuries players have suffered in the past and how frequently they have occurred/reoccurred. If you’re only playing the game on the Vita then it’s a small difference that you can live with and one that probably won’t have too much bearing on how you play the game, if taking advantage of the cross-save feature though then it’s worth noting that once you’ve played the game on your Vita and taken the game back over to your PC, the career achievements and injury history data for each player will have been wiped and this information will no longer be viewable even when playing your save on PC. Some people might not particularly check either of these tabs anyway and this will therefore be of no real significance, for others though this may well be an area of concern.

Football Manager Classic 2014 Post-Match

When Football Manager Classic 2014 was first announced and months went by without an official release date being set, I wasn’t entirely sure this game was ever going to see the light of day. It seemed inconceivable that such a resource-intensive title could possibly run on a handheld device, Football Manager Classic 2014 has now seen its release on the PS Vita though and it was indeed possible to fit this game within a 5 inch touch-screen. Some of the controls may seem a little clunky and the game may not be perfect, Football Manager Classic 2014 is definitely an impressive specimen though and Sports Interactive have really done themselves proud in making this game possible.

Hopefully this won’t be the last that we see of Football Manager Classic for the PS Vita, and if there are further games in the series in the future then hopefully both games will be released simultaneously and there can be some sort of bundle deal incentive for those that wish to play the game on both PC and PS Vita.

Rating: 4/5

You Me at Six – Cold Night

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Having formed a strong identity as a powerful UK pop-punk band with their first three albums, You Me at Six now seem to be turning in a more arena rock direction, softening their sound and seeking to gain a wider appeal in the process. ‘Cold Night‘ is the latest single from the band, and with an intro not too dissimilar to that of ‘Pretty Little Girl‘ from blink-182’s ‘Dogs Eating Dogs‘ EP, ‘Cold Night‘ could potentially have grown into something more, built up to a huge chorus that we’ve come to associate You Me At Six over the years, unfortunately though this just never happens.

Whilst You Me At Six have explored mellower territory before and been hugely successful with it in the past, ‘Cold Night‘ is a track that feels distinctly flat and lacking in personality. There’s little to really grab on to with ‘Cold Night‘, instrumentally there’s some pretty interesting stuff going on, the vocals lack punch though and this is what really holds the single back overall. With You Me At Six’s biggest sounding singles Josh Franceschi’s vocals are always at the very heart of the track, driving through the music and hitting hard with a huge dose of passion and charisma; ‘Cold Night‘ lacks the vocal power to really hold the single together, it feels feeble and lacks the passion and personality that has always surrounded the band’s music.

‘Cold Night‘ is still recognisably You Me At Six, the heart has been cut out of the band’s sound though and what we are therefore left with is an empty shell of what the band once was. ‘Cold Night‘ feels familiar, but just doesn’t seem quite right.

Mercenary Kings (PS4) Review

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If you grew up playing video games such as Mega Man, Contra, and Metal Slug, Mercenary Kings is a game that’s probably going to knock you back a few decades with its nods and references to other titles. It’s got those clunky controls that definitely make you feel like you’re playing a retro title, an unforgiving system where everything has to be timed just right and judged to perfection, and the graphics and music also give the game an air of retro authenticity.

A side-scrolling action game, Mercenary Kings is slow to start with a reliance upon crafting in order to become equipped with better armour and weaponry. The crafting system takes some time to get used to as does building up your weaponry/armour, so if you’re looking for a game that is quick and easy to get into, Mercenary Kings is probably not a game for you.

With a controls system that can at times feel incredibly unintuitive, playing Mercenary Kings can sometimes feel like an extremely frustrating experience, as though the developers have deliberately made the game as difficult to get into as possible. A criticism often levelled against modern video games is that they’re too easy, that the developers hold your hand throughout the whole experience and that this has therefore led to the dumbing down of certain video games; Mercenary Kings seems like it’s trying to directly address this criticism by being deliberately awkward and clunky to control, forcing you to get used to a system that feels unnecessarily fiddly to navigate. Also fairly irritating whilst playing the game is how quickly the enemies respawn after you have defeated them, sometimes resulting in having to defeat the same enemies multiple times over when you’re seeking to explore a particular area. The game can feel quite repetitive at times, all the more so when you’re forced to keep beating the same enemies.

Although Mercenary Kings certainly has a lot that’s frustrating about it, the game can definitely be quite fun and the requirement to collect items and craft better weaponry to progress adds something more to the title than just being a straight up shoot ’em up. The controls could be less fiddly, the system is a rewarding one though as you work your way up to building better guns, giving you something more to focus on than just creating utter carnage and destruction. The game can be quite repetitive and it’s certainly not without its flaws, the fact that you have to put time into the game to progress onto weaponry and armour that’s better than useless though definitely helps increase the longevity of the title, and without its crafting aspect the game would surely be a whole lot less appealing to most.

There have been some questions raised about the £15.39 price tag of Mercenary Kings on the PS4, with the game priced at a similar amount on Steam this is certainly not another Angry Birds situation, however, and both Steam and the Playstation Store tend to offer some pretty generous savings from time to time so it’s worth keeping an eye out for this as in all probability the game will drop quite significantly in price at some point. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the game is currently free to download for PS Plus subscribers during the month of April, so if you’re already subscribed to PS Plus then don’t forget to give this game a download as you may just enjoy it.

Due to the nature of this title there is unlikely to be much middle game here and Mercenary Kings is a game that you’ll probably either really enjoy or find incredibly disappointing. If you enjoy playing 2D shooting titles then you’ll appreciate the nods to the likes of Mega Man and Contra, if those kinds of games aren’t really for you though then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find much joy in Mercenary Kings. It’s repetitive, clunky, and at times a downright pain in the arse, the game will certainly still click with some people though and given its current free to play status for PS Plus subscribers, it’d be pretty silly really not to at least give this game a try.

Rating: 3/5