The Toad's Burrow

       I absolutely adored the first Bioshock game, as seen in my review I fawned over its atmosphere, storyline and just overall polish as a first person shooter game. However, I am sad to report that Bioshock 2 is proof that lightning does not strike twice, and even if it does its difficult to capture the same magic that made the first game so wonderful.     One of my major complaints about the game is that it is too derivative, which works against it, despite it copying an all time great game. The reason for this is that much of Bioshocks charm and wonder came from the mystery as the player attempted to unravel what happened behind the fall of Rapture, which is completely gone in the sequel. By having the second game take place in the same universe, it ends up losing the sense of danger that players once felt.      No longer do you fear flickering lights while desperately looting washrooms for any sort of advantage , as now the player alre...

      I think I have just played one of the most wonderful games I have ever encountered in quite some time. Despite being released in 2007, Bioshock 1 has aged incredibly well, and should be a case study to any future developers on how to properly craft atmosphere when creating a game.     What really makes the environment in this world come to life are the sound effects. Whoever the music director was on this game was needs a raise, because even from the very start players are constantly unsettled. From the way the entire game takes place underwater to the dark lighting with creepy splicers strewn about one does never feel safe playing this game. For example, the save sound even is loud and imposing, which juxtaposes perfectly with the quieter disconcerting background noise all to create this environment that is devoid of any peace.     In addition, this atmosphere blends in wonderfully with a story that leaves players constantly gnawing at the ...

     I actually enjoyed Moon Knight and consider it one of my favourite TV shows from the new Disney+ Era, but I still felt that it was ultimately constrained by the same barriers that stopped all other Marvel TV shows from being good. Although, to be fair one of the qualities I immediately try and look for in a Marvel production is how formulaic/generic it ends up ultimately being. While I did enjoy the struggle between Stephen Grant and Marc Spector, the reality is that I will die on the hill that more could have been done.     Perhaps I'm just giving this show way too much of a hard time, I'm not even that much of a comics fan anymore, but I still felt like all of these shows that have been shown on Disney+ could have been expanded on. While they do serve well as these cutesy little origin stories or tasters into what could be, they ultimately end up too short and there have been many instances where I felt the show could have been improved if it was extende...

         I'll admit I'm somewhat of a huge Star Wars fan. I get excited for every film release, watch every TV show, keep up with all the big games. Despite all of that, nothing prepared me for how deep and amazing this game is. It absolutely oozes with passion and when I say it is by a decent margin the best star wars game released in a while I really do mean that.     What makes this game so excellent is the fact that it remains compelling while also feeling realistic, especially in terms of power levels. Rather than making this game feel as if it had no consequence, or having it be shoved in between one of the movies, this game focuses on an entirely new cast that the player bonds with over time. Not only does this ensure the game doesn't have to do any sort of janky timeline fudging to ensure that continuity is maintained, but it basically gives the developers an entirely new slate to work with, which they did.     The way the game ...

         I'll preface this by saying I've actually read this entire series before. In fact, I originally read the first 3? compendiums as a child and was simply reading along with the monthly releases up until the end. Yet despite starting in 2003, the year I was born, this series has aged remarkably well, and I have yet to find many other zombie related media that stands up to this absolute juggernaut of a series.     For the uninitiated, The Walking Dead follows police officer Rick Grimes as he wakes up to the zombie apocalypse. To make it short and sweet, he finds his family and eventually goes on a journey looking for a place where his family can feel safe from both other humans and zombies. Despite having a very basic premise, this comic book series is able to pull it off masterfully, with fleshed out characters and a crushing feeling of hopelessness that is felt throughout much of the series.     Personal favourite characters of mine h...

         I'll preface this by saying I've never actually watched the original Doctor Strange movie funnily enough, all that I did was read what had happened to it, while following the entire MCU. I did watch all of the Doctor Strange adjacent movies and basically every Marvel Project for the past couple years, so I still felt knowledgeable enough to watch the film.     Overall, I've been seeing that everyone has these sort of mixed opinions on the movie, some hyped it up really hard, some thought it was mediocre, while some thought it was one of the greatest Marvel movies in a while. Personally, I thought it was a very solid movie throughout, but while watching it I couldn't help but feel that I was watching a gap movie, a movie meant for exposition, to sort of almost lead the MCU into its next phase.      One of the reasons I thought it was like this, was that it didn't have as much Doctor Strange as I actually expected. While it d...

 I'm not sure how I feel about this game frankly. While the gameplay was frantic and fun, the campaign, which I focused on, was so painfully mundane. I don't even have an intro for this review because I don't have that much to say about this game . Perhaps I didn't give it a fair trial, after all I didn't even attempt to try to focus on multiplayer aspects, where the gameplay could shine even further. Either way, this game was fine, but nothing breathtaking to write home on.     Specifically, when it came to the story, I felt that it was oddly short, it felt like there were about 8 total missions despite there technically being "two" different storylines. Moreover, the dialogue just feels uninspiring, nothing ever really feels impactful emotionally, and I played this entire game with a stone face. As a Star Wars fan, its nice to see the game sort of fill in the gaps of what happened between the original trilogy and the sequels, but the reality is, the sto...

         This game took me longer to complete than your average Walking Dead season, despite being 3 episodes rather than the typical 4 or 5 that you'd come to expect from Telltale. In fact, I even struggled making a review for this game, it just felt so uninspired? As someone who was a fan of both the comics and Telltale I thought this game would be average at best, but I come out feeling as if its less of a 7 and more of a 5 or 6 at best.     What was the point of this game? Who was its target audience? Was it comic book fans who knew a total two characters out of the many in this game? Was it for telltale fans who were missing so much context to truly understand or appreciate many of the characters, especially Michonne? While I write this review I struggle with these questions myself, despite knowing everything I do.     Throughout the three episodes, characters are faced with Michonne as she struggles to go through her trauma with her kid...

       As someone who has been playing all the Walking Dead games in consecutive order I've been graced with some absolutely masterful storytelling these past couple days, and I was still not prepared for how much I loved this new season. I can say with confidence this season was a return to grace after a very controversial third season that left many players worried about whether or not Telltale would be able to end the series well, especially with their planned closure.     However, despite all these hurdles the game has managed to recapture what made it so great in the first place, while adding simple and basic systems to make sure fans of the series don't get tired of the same old formula this time around. As previously mentioned, this story continues the story of Clementine, as she finally finds her ward AJ as they find a new home among a school of troubled children.      Despite never straying too far from school grounds, never once doe...