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Review: The Raven Remastered

Daniel Waite

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Feb 21, 2021

Who Done It murders are usually reserved for books, but it’s one of those rare genres that lends itself to whatever platform it appears on. No matter the form it takes, I’m always keen to lose myself in its constant twists and turns, and I love to play the part of the famous detective. The original was released in 2013, and was well received. In 2018 the remastered version The Raven: Remastered swooped in allowing gamers to enjoy a polished version of its gameplay.

Developed by King Art Games and published by THQ Nordic, this point and click, detective game will have you solving the many mysteries that unfold on your journey around the world. I’m going to be very careful as I do not wish to spoil the surprises and twists that you will experience while playing this wonderful Agatha Christie style murder mystery.

A tale well told.

A Who Done It mystery is only as good as its plot, and the characters that it revolves around. Luckily, this one ticks both boxes. A glorious story follows; a legendary detective, a Swiss constable, and a world famous villain. The tale takes twists and turns throughout, allowing you to see the different elements from several viewpoints. This was a fantastic concept as it gave you a fuller picture, and a better understanding of each of the characters’ backgrounds.

The main protagonist, Swiss officer Zellner, is an avid fan of crime drama, and jumps at the chance to be the lead officer when one unfolds right before his eyes. Detective Legrand thwarts his attempts. He wishes for little to no help and believes he alone can solve the mystery and find the perpetrator. The villain known as the “Raven-heir” is always one step ahead. He mocks the authorities, knowing he won’t be caught.

5 years have passed since Legrand shot the “Raven”. The world thought that would be the end of his reign of tyranny. A brutal burglary occurs at the London museum in 1964. A priceless ruby is stolen and a single raven’s feather is left at the scene. Is it someone following in his footsteps, or could he still be alive? Only Zellner and Legrand have the skills to uncover this mystery.

Beautiful landscapes and traditional concepts.

The game flows from place to place with ease; a train (aptly named the Orient Express), a cruise ship, Cairo and an Egyptian museum all await. The detail orientated Zellner must piece together the clues as Legrand focuses on the bigger picture. He sees the smaller issues as futile and cannot see how the dots connect to lead them to their crook. You will talk to the many colourful characters that make up the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle. The conversations are sometimes tedious, long, and feel unnecessary, but they always provide you with information and clues to help you progress.

Talking isn’t the only way to move forward. A point and click detective game is also about inspecting the surrounding area, and utilising the objects you find. This mechanic is used to its fullest as you will experiment with different objects attempting to unlock doors, tricking the characters, and solving problems. This portion of the game is not unlike many others in the genre, and neither stood out, nor disappointed me. The champion element has to be the aforementioned character interactions.

The nervous professor was always on my radar.

Superb delivery, and a delight to look at.

Everything about this game screams classic murder mystery. Zellner with his cliched apparel, and love of drama and murder mystery. The dated and romantic settings for each scene. The brilliant blend of classic characters that combine to create a humorous, touching, and exciting story. You have; an annoying child, a solitary doctor, a nervous and suspicious professor, the handsome and troubled musician, the stubborn famous writer and the member of royalty. Each adds layer upon layer of uncertainty and doubt, and all must be considered a suspect until proven otherwise.

The grainy imagery and dated clothing represent the 60s perfectly. The Raven does a spectacular job of transporting you to this era with its well versed script and accurate scenery. It’s as if King Art Games brought Christie back from the dead and utilised her wonderful vision of the world for us all to explore in this game.

It’s rare that the voice-over work is delivered to such a high standard. The quality of the acting blew me away. I’d happily sit for hours listening to the well delivered lines from a team of talented performers. If I closed my eyes, I could have been fooled into believing that I was watching a TV series or film. The music is just as good, with the pace and tone changing to represent the emotion of each moment.

He may be chunky, but why must he be so cumbersome.

With such a resounding success from the presentation, there has to be one downside, and that’s the controls. Zellner waddles around like a fat duck next to a lake. His ambling ways were a constant annoyance! You’d crash into furniture, walking around items, and look like you soiled yourself. These were but a few of my highlights. The clunky controls and lethargic UI shows it is best suited to PC. It didn’t break the game, and it was playable. It was simply frustrating.

Solving the mystery is the backbone of this game. But, side stories will distract you. This additional content allows for a considerable amount of replay value. If you want to unveil the cloud of mystery that sounds most of the lesser problems, then you are going to have to be observant, or play it many times.

A remaster that’s worth a revisit.

Remastered titles are big business at the moment, yet they aren’t all worth the effort. The Raven: Remastered is different. A nicely updated look, and quicker loading times make this more accessible than the original. With a fantastic story, excellent acting, great audio, and in keeping imagery, this is a game worth losing yourself in. I recommend you give this a go, and a copy can be purchased here! Can Zellner and Legrand work together to solve the mystery? Buy a copy and become a famous detective.

Review: Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Charles Ombler

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Feb 21, 2021

0

Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing goes splat.

I can’t ride a bike. I never learned and, at this stage of my life, learning to ride one wouldn’t add much to my life experience. This has become a point of great contention among my friend group, one of whom felt strongly enough that their father offered to sponsor me to learn. But now, a few hours into Lonely Mountains: Downhill, I feel a sense of vindication for that disinterest in learning to ride one, because I am now more convinced than ever that bikes are terrifying death machines with only one goal, to take the blood that’s inside your body and transition it to the outside with great ferocity and speed.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a mountain biking game where your objective is to take a mad man with a bike and a death wish from the top of a mountain to the bottom, without fulfilling that wish for the sweet release of oblivion. There are four mountains and four trails on each mountain, each adding more rocks, steep slopes and jumps to make that job progressively harder as you progress through the game. The controls are beautifully simplistic, giving you only steering, acceleration, brakes and sprint, which tips the scale on the game to being incredibly skill-based and satisfying to play. When you get the exact sequence of controls right to navigate a tricky bit of a trail, it almost feels like solving a puzzle and weirdly reminds me of the feeling of completing a test chamber in Portal, only without a psychotic AI telling you that you “fly through the air like an eagle…piloting a blimp”, one of my favourite lines in gaming.

That satisfying gameplay is also due to the feeling of the movement in the game. The acceleration as you go down a hill or use the sprint button and you start to lose control feels real. The resistivity of the longer grass holding you back when you stray from the path feels real. The twitchy feeling of braking at great speed and suppressing or leaning into a skid feels real. So much attention to detail has been put into how the game feels and it really shows. The developers nailed a lot of the components of Lonely Mountains: Downhill, but the feeling of motion is the headline that I’d use to recommend the game.

You’re given each trail that you tackle in the game in a free roam format to start with, where you have no time limit or challenges to meet, like the first year at university. You’ll die a lot during this first run because mountain biking is dangerous and mountain bikers are lunatics. But that’s the point of being given a free roam version of the map to start with, so you can familiarise yourself with its intricacies and death traps. There are 5-10 checkpoints per trail so you’ll just pop back to that point every time you die so you can attempt the tricky bit again.

Once you’ve familiarised yourself with the trail it’s time to do it for real. You’re given a selection of challenges such as completing it in a certain time or with fewer than so many crashes. Each of those challenges unlocks something, such as new bikes or skins (insert joke about the cyclist needing new skin because the crashes made all of his come off) or, most importantly, new trails and mountains, meaning you’ll need to complete at least one challenge to progress through the game. These challenges are pretty perfect and balance being difficult without being impossible.

I really like two things the game does to make the challenges a little more forgiving. Firstly, you don’t need to complete all of them in a single run, so you can go for a slow, cautious run to complete the few crashes challenge and then go for a fast, caution-to-the-wind run to beat the trail within the time limit. Secondly, the checkpoint system is tied to the timing when you’re doing a timed run, so if (when) you crash, the time taken between the last checkpoint and that crash is taken from your total, i.e. it only includes the time you took to get between one checkpoint and the next without crashing. This makes the challenges feel doable and means you’re not kept from playing the latter half of the game when the new mountains and trails are locked behind completing them.

Lonely Mountains: Downhill also manages to pack this satisfying gameplay and compelling challenge system into a nicely presented art style. The vibrant colours and polygonal models fit the game perfectly and, despite that style being characteristic of older PS1 and Xbox games, it actually makes the game look fresh and distinct, as well as quite beautiful, with the lovingly rendered gushing streams and autumnal leaves. The word ‘oversaturation’ clearly wasn’t in the vocabulary of whoever chose the colour pallet, leading to the gorgeous presentation of the game we ended up with.

In my mind, Lonely Mountains: Downhill is the perfect Switch game and, a pretty great game regardless of platform. It feels amazing, looks fantastic and is exactly the right level of challenging. The way that you can pick it up for five minutes, have a run through a trail and have a fun time makes it ideally suited to what I think the switch does best, that pick-up-and-play genre of games you can play on a train or while waiting for a bus. Even then, you can sit down with it for a few hours to make some progress through a mountain, tackle a difficult challenge or destroy your high score. Whatever type of gamer you are, Lonely Mountains: Downhill has something for you to sink your teeth into and it’s a strong recommendation from me.

Review: Dragon Star Varnir

Alex Chessun

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Feb 20, 2021

0

I’ll be honest, if I hear that an RPG game contains witches – pre-packaged genre characters predisposed to act a certain way in repetitive 100-hour long games – I exit stage left and run as far as my legs will take me. While Dragon Star Varnir does contain witches it’s neither tedious nor stereotypical, with its relatively short story-driven narrative focusing on close family ties and immense tragedy to conjure up empathy for its distinct cackle-free characters.

Our witches, reviled and hunted, live with a curse that forces them to ‘birth’ dragons – which terrorize the world – and die in the process. Ironically, they eat dragon meat to survive but if they consume too much, the dragon in their stomachs gets overexcited and bursts out sooner than they’d like. Eat too little and they lose their sanity. Not the most pleasant existence for our supporting cast.

You play as Zephy, a brave knight who belongs to a group whose sole aim is to eradicate every single witch, only for him to be rescued by some and taken in. Told in a visual novel style, the fantasy-based narrative attempts to follow a logical arc as a whole but resets its boundaries too often to keep up, creating inconsistencies throughout. In short, get out your back scratcher you’ll be needing it for your head.

Perhaps due to its length, this title opts to omit the vast amount of lore most fantasy RPGs include and plays more like an episodic TV drama with broomsticks. There’s a lot that happens during the game’s 15-hour main story and despite it not allowing for much depth amongst its endearing characters, their relationships give the game life and their circumstances pull at your heartstrings.

Speaking of hearts, or cores, the above represents moves acquired from a dragon eaten during a battle. It’s quite the addictive gameplay loop.

The biggest offender is a slightly sadistic system for three adorable witches which provides you with a moral quandary – do you save the children affected by the curse or eke out their life for items? Normally, this is a no-brainer; you’d save them – why would you not? Just look at them! Working out how much food keeps them sane while also preventing them from turning into a dragon is a challenge and will make you think you’re responsible for their deaths numerous times. Each progression in the story worsens their condition and it’s heart-wrenching hearing their complaints. Full disclosure – at no point was I ever unaware that I’m a grown man looking at a menu screen, but killing them all to see what would happen is so affecting that I couldn’t do it myself, I had to watch someone else do it on YouTube. Killing the characters as well as choosing certain option-based conversation choices also increases a ‘maddening rating’ that changes how the story develops and ends.

You also have the ability to interact with the 5 older witches through an affinity system that provides a story cutscene with each filled notch. Giving them gifts to improve your affinity acts as a relationship simulator while also adding character depth lacking from the main story.

Keeping the game compact is the fact that there aren’t any open maps to explore other than dungeon-crawling sections, with all story and RPG customization restricted to text and menus. As someone who loves nothing more than to explore an Open-World, I was surprised by how well this addition by subtraction approach works as the visual novel section paints a picture well enough to make an explorable 3D world redundant and the streamlined gameplay systems keep repetition to a minimum.

The battles largely function like many others in the genre and are enjoyable enough with nicely animated scenes for transformations and special moves. One interesting inclusion is the ability to eat the dragons you face in battle, which allows that specific character to absorb the dragon’s powers and is quite the addictive customization option for your favorite characters. Another difference to other standard RPG battle systems is the division of the battlefield into three layers – lower, middle and upper, which is most effective during boss fights with 3 layers of the enemy that must be defeated, removing abilities with each defeated layer.

The visuals may not look like much in this screenshot, but they are perfectly serviceable and pleasant to look at.

The dungeons are small and the design of them could have been lifted from any RPG, but you can fly around on your broomstick or use your sword like a hoverboard, which needless to say, is awesome. This is especially true when you’re able to escape the enemy by squeezing through a tiny gap and is now how I wish every RPG game dungeon could be traversed.

After completing the game you are given access to extra story content and another dungeon as well as New Game+ which gives you the chance to attempt another of the 3 main and 5 character-specific endings, so there is a lot of replay value for those invested in the story and characters.

Escaping no one’s notice at this point, I’m sure, is the fact that this game is full to the brim of fan service. I’m not sure why the game feels the need to pour it on so thick especially when considering the quality of the product and how unnecessary it seems based on the game’s tone overall.

Dragon Star Vanir takes on the goliaths of the genre showing that a shorter more impactful punch is just as effective as a 100-hour behemoth, providing an experience both memorable and enjoyable with an adjustable story and addictive systems. While the inconsistency of certain plot points acts as a minor annoyance, the game’s biggest self-inflicting wound is not with the gameplay itself, but rather the game’s presentation handicapping its mainstream sales for potential sequels.

Review: Anodyne 2: Return to Dust

Daniel Waite

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Feb 20, 2021

0

When a game starts by warning you the plot will go off on a tangent, you know you are in for an interesting ride. Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is a multi-genre title that follows a surreal path. This oddly beautiful game reimagines the approach taken by 2D and 3D projects of the past. Developed by Analgesic Productions and published by Ratalaika Games, this dreamy world will consume you with its weird and wonderful ways.

I’ve played some strange games, yet I think this one tops them all. I spent most of my time with my mouth wide open in confusion, wondering what the heck was going on. You explore vast landscapes that your most vivid dreams would fail to recreate. Alien-like monsters live in towns and villages that you must visit and interact with. And then there is the small fact of hoovering Nano Dust from the minds of these land’s inhabitants.

Weird, yet wonderful.

You control a hatchling of the centre known as Nova; she is born with a special skill, a blessing that allows her to shrink to microscopic size. She can enter the bodies of the surrounding infected people. Nova’s skill allows her to become a Nano cleaner, a worker who can cleanse villagers of their deadly Nano dust. This forms the backbone of the concept of this title, and every idea that branches off from it circles back to the cleaning mechanic.

If walking gets boring, transform into a car.

The dust alters its host’s mental state; they go from normal to uncontrollable, overnight. The world that Nova knows is rapidly changing, and only she can prevent it from imploding because of this microscopic plague. It’s a bizarre twist on a classic adventure approach. It’s laced with irony as the collected dust is a valuable commodity and is used to power the great cities of New Theland.

So many genres!

I don’t think I’ve played a game that has used so many concepts to support its core ideas. In theory, this should fail miserably, “too many cooks and all that”. Alas, it succeeds at every turn. Its enormous open-world 3D environment draws you in and demands that you explore until you’ve spoken to everyone and seen everything. The 2D dungeon-like experiences are claustrophobic and test your brain with its minor puzzling traits. The action portions ask you to react perfectly to a sequence, where failure will block your progress.

A seamless transition between each of these ideas was well designed and kept you engrossed in this dreamlike state. Analgesic Productions has been influenced by the Sega Saturn, SNES and PlayStation One. The 3D world was reminiscent of Atlantis: The Lost Tales and Burning Rangers, its blocky art style, and character models matched those early console games perfectly. Early dungeon-crawling RPGs such as; Zelda, Wild Arms and Breath of Fire, can be seen when you enter the Nanoscope to gather dust. The action moments where sequences must be correctly matched felt like PaRappa the Rapper and Bust a Groove. It’s an eclectic mix of influences, with some powerful ingredients. In theory, it shouldn’t work, but somehow it does.

So retro, but beautiful and touching.

With so much going on, it would have been easy for this to look and play like a complete mess. Yet, it’s sharp lines and angular images created a beautiful world. With such defined images, I expected it to be painful to look at. Its use of colours, pixelated sprites and lo-fi landscapes softens the blow and makes this a pleasant dreamy game to experience. The early genre Sega aesthetic won’t be for everyone, but disregarding this game based on its old-school imagery would be a big mistake. Quickly you forget what it looks like, and you lose yourself in its seductive world because of its soundtrack.

No matter how bizarre the nature of the storyline, or the obscure imagery and weird environments, it’s all hollow without amazing audio. Anodyne 2 has a touching soundtrack that transports you to a surreal world. 50 light, yet haunting melodies accompany you on your many missions. It’s gloriously emotive and brings the game to life. Players may be disappointed that there is only text dialogue. For me, the lack of spoken dialogue was the perfect choice, as voice-over work would have broken the immersive nature of this tale.

So much to do, so simple to do it.

Though you have to get your head around a collaboration of genres, you’ll do so with ease. The simple to follow control set up ensures you are up and running in no time. Each different element is easy to follow, and little practice is required to master it. This doesn’t mean that it’s perfect, sadly it’s very clunky, and captures the Sega Saturn control setup to a tee. It’s a shame as it takes the shine off the final product somewhat.

Anodyne 2 is a large game with plenty to see and lots to do. The combination of different approaches and the moderate achievement list add replay value. Yet, this isn’t the main reason to return. The odd story and dreamlike experience is what will draw you back.

A dream that you won’t want to wake from!

I enjoy most of the games that I review, but occasionally one takes me by surprise. This brilliant indie title’s success is down to a combination of factors. A wonderful story that reimagines long-forgotten titles, the detailed approach of the touching audio and the pace and lore of the core tale. I know this won’t be for everyone, but I recommend you take a gamble and buy it here! The world of New Theland has become corrupted and a microscopic plague is taking over. Can Nova save humanity and restore order before its too late?

Review: Brawl Chess – Gambit

Michael Hoade

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Feb 20, 2021

0

Brawl Chess – Gambit aspires to offer a family-friendly chess experience; with quirky cartoon visuals and a variety of difficulty settings.

Developed by RedDeerGames, Brawl Chess can offer a fun and accessible local multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, the game is all style, but very little substance.

Underwhelming promise:

As someone who has recently started to take a real interest in chess – no doubt inspired by the excellent Queen’s Gambit series – I was excited by Brawl Chess’s engaging visuals and medieval aesthetic.

Mechanically, the game plays almost the exact same as regular chess; there are no crazy changes of the rules, which the ‘Brawl’ label might imply. This is fine. As a base chess set simulator, the game is good; not that this is much of an accomplishment.

The visuals of your pieces ‘brawling’ as they eliminate each other from the board or your King cowering in fear as he is vulnerable to the opposing player, does offer some initial entertainment. Mixed in with some good use of sound effects and appropriate grunts, there is definitely an added layer of visual engagement that will help younger learners engage with chess. As a family-friendly package, Brawl Chess does show some initial promise. Initial being the crucial assertion.

Sadly, these eccentric visuals cannot mask the fact that the game is sorely lacking in just about every other area.

Brawl Chess is bereft of content – which for a game that strays mechanically so close to basic chess – is incredibly disappointing. Whilst local multiplayer is fun enough; an absence of online multiplayer is underwhelming. The prospect of being able to play online with others, would have been a major boon for players and seriously helped the games replayability.

Moreover, whilst the five different difficulty settings offer a good deal of challenge – for beginners and experts alike – I was disappointed to see that there was no in-game tutorial that could aid someone like myself in the finer nuances of the game. I think they really missed an opportunity here; to double down on the game’s accessibility for all players by offering a much more consumable and visually appealing guide to chess.

This example really sums up my overall issue with Brawl Chess: the game is half-baked and doesn’t do enough to justify paying £8.39 for it, when there are cheaper or even free alternatives out there(such as your dusty old set at home, which you really should dig out). Not to mention that the medieval characters you can play as( one of the cooler parts of the game), are largely locked behind additional purchases. I only had access to three different characters to choose from at the beginning, and whilst they don’t affect the gameplay, this is just another area in which the base game puts itself in check(I tried!).

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it(or at least try a lot harder!):

–

I really hoped that Brawl Chess might encourage me to play chess on a more regular basis. It didn’t.

Beyond all the fun visuals and accessibility options, Brawl Chess fails to offer a genuinely worthwhile family-friendly Chess experience. For all the games initial promise, a failure to follow-up from the designers and hone in on what works, leads to an unremarkable title – with limited content.

However, conceptually the game touches on a niche that I think should be followed up on. There is definitely a market for a more family-friendly chess experience that can offer a diverse visual experience for both children and adults alike. I appreciated the use of a medieval theme, and there are a lot of historical figures and armies that could be translated to the chess board. Something for RedDeerGames to think about.

Unfortunately the game in its current form, is just a first draft. Better to stick with your home chess set, for now.

Review: GraviFire

Daniel Waite

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Feb 20, 2021

0

If you follow my reviews, you’ll know I like a good puzzle game. I enjoy the break from the fast-paced nature of FPS and the constant focus required for strategy titles. GraviFire from developers, Potata Company and publishers Sometimes You, is a straightforward no-nonsense classic puzzler. To keep things interesting, they added a twist to increase the challenge.

50 levels of retro action await you in this old-school 2D puzzle game. A logic-based approach must be taken in this gravity focussed problem solver. You are stuck in a maze-like room, tasked with moving boxes to progress to the next level. Sounds easy, right? To begin with, it is, and then you must think steps ahead to be victorious.

A basic concept done well.

The joy of GraviFire is the simplicity of its approach. It knows what it wants to achieve, and it doesn’t water down its main concept. The issue with this basic focus is it can make the gameplay feel repetitive. Luckily, Potata Company prepared for this and added a nice twist of lasers and buttons halfway through.

So many lasers, so many ways to go wrong.

It isn’t all about pushing blocks around, gravity takes the load mostly. Flicking the sliders ensures blocks slide across the map, and you must position yourself to ensure they hit the targets to proceed to the next level. The rooms gradually increase in size, and the problems get more complex. Boxes must be positioned correctly, and any mistakes will see you starting over again.

It tires badly in the latter stages.

Though this additional gameplay mechanic has been added, it fails to evolve much past the original concept. This makes the latter and more difficult stages feel tiresome. With no new impetus into the action, it all appears a bit Deja vu. It was a shame as I enjoyed every level, I just wanted another layer to challenge me.

Its straightforward approach was matched perfectly with its retro aesthetic. The bold colours, pixelated sprite and simple level designs all belong to the early 80s, but they worked well in this title. The fixed screen, 2D picture made for easy viewing, and it was simple to plan your approach. The old-school look won’t be for everyone, but fancy graphics and smooth cutscenes would have looked bizarre.

The audio follows suit and wouldn’t be amiss in an arcade game. Loud, crass and in your face music plays throughout. It wasn’t overly pleasant on your ears, but was in keeping with the retro style.

Gravity has never been easier to manipulate.

I loved how quickly I could pick this up and play. Though the complexity of the early puzzles was low, having easy controls helped me to learn the fundamentals. The two analogue sticks are the focus of your attention, helping you to move and alter the gravitational pull. The simplicity makes this the perfect starter game for anyone wishing to get into the genre.

With 50 levels to play, it has some replay value. Sadly, this fades once you complete it. A lack of in-depth mechanics and no NG+ mode or move counter removes any desire to return. Potata Company could have added a competitive edge with a leaderboard for scores or moves taken. If they had done so, players would naturally return to become number 1.

Fun, but left wanting more.

It was fun, but I wanted more! It draws you in with its simple approach, but this plateaus quickly. Luckily, it does enough to keep you interested throughout the 50 stages. Do I recommend it? I do, as it can be enjoyed casually. So buy a copy here! Can you master gravity and shift the boxes? Keep an eye out for lasers and finish each of the 50 levels.

The Benefits Of Online Investment Opportunities

Tech

Andrew Edney

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Feb 20, 2021

1

The Benefits Of Online Investment Opportunities

Investing your money is something that’s worth doing if you’re able to deal with the risks that come with it. And thankfully, with the internet, a lot of online investment opportunities have come about and made it possible for even more individuals to take on an investment portfolio of some sort. There’s always somebody looking to borrow money and so here are the benefits of online investment opportunities if you’re considering investing your money.

The Investments Are On A Global Scale

With online investments, they offer a wider scope of opportunity when it comes to the rest of the world. If you’re investing in property, for example, you might wish to stay in your own country when it comes to buying property to either do up and sell on or use to rent out. The investments you find online go one step further and could help you make more of your money by spending it in other countries where currency might affect how much money you spend and make back.

There’s a wealth of opportunities when it comes to investments around the globe and it makes for a more interesting direction in investing your money too. For those who are already seasoned investors in their own country, they may be wanting to expand to global pastures and therefore the online world is a way to do that.

Diversifying Your Investments Is Important

Being able to diversify your investments is important because when you diversify your portfolio, you are then able to spread the risks and reduce them. After all, you want to try and make your money back, including profit. Some investments might not work out and so it’s good to be able to have other investment pots that are doing well and potentially help to recover the funds you’ve lost.

So when you buy ETH with Swyftx or look at property opportunities, always try to do a mixture of investing.

There’s No Cash Or Paperwork To Deal With

With online investments, you’re not dealing with cash and so everything is done via online transfers or via the banks themselves. There’s also no paperwork or very little paperwork to deal with and when done online, it’s all made digitally. That means no more folders of paperwork to have to trawl through. Instead, it’s all readily available through your emails or computer folders, wherever you choose to store it.

Deals Are Made Quicker

Deals are often made quicker when you do online investment opportunities. Everything online naturally moves at a faster pace anyway and with the internet, it’s never closed. It’s always open, giving you the opportunity to operate whenever needed. Whether that’s investing in stock, or doing peer-to-peer lending, deals will tend to work a lot faster than most traditional offline investments.

Online investment opportunities are worth a go if you’re someone who has invested before or wants to test the waters in a digital age. Use these tips to make sure you’re benefiting from these new ways of investing.

Biggest data breaches of 2020

Tech

Andrew Edney

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Feb 19, 2021

0

Despite the world stopping in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hackers were as active as never before and took advantage of the economic disruption amid this global crisis, breaching thousands of databases and leaking a huge amount of private and sensitive information. The number of cyberattacks grows with each year, and 2020 saw another spike in cybercrime.

Lockdowns all over the world have totally changed the way people go about their lives. Almost everything, from working to buying groceries, had to be conducted online, making users leave more digital footprint than never before. This surge in the volume of data being exchanged attracted many hacking groups looking for security vulnerabilities to exploit. Cybersecurity specialists say that one of the best ways to avoid data breaches and ensure online safety is to protect networks with a VPN service like PrivateInternetAccess.com.

According to a report recently released by security firm Risk Based Security, as many companies choose not to publicly disclose data breaches, the number of incidents decreased by 48% in 2020, amounting to approximately 4,000 breaches. The volume of compromised data, though, more than doubled, increasing by 141% and reaching almost 37 billion leaked records, the largest since 2005. In comparison, there were 15 billion records breached throughout the entire year of 2019.

Out of the 3,932 breaches, this list brings some of the most notorious cases that happened in the past year.

Microsoft

In January 2020, Microsoft disclosed a data breach on its servers after misconfigured security rules were accidentally uploaded to the database’s network. Around 250 million records were leaked, including email addresses, IP addresses and customer support analytics. Microsoft’s investigation found no malicious use and most customers did not have personally identifiable information exposed.

Wattpad

In June, Canada-based company Wattpad suffered a huge data breach. The website for writers to publish user-generated stories had almost 270 million records exposed. The incident leaked personal information including names and usernames, email and IP addresses, general geographic location and encrypted passwords. The leaked data was initially for sale, and then shared for free on public hacking forums

Broadvoice

Later in the year, news surfaced that Broadvoice, an US Voice over IP (VoIP) provider to businesses, exposed a cluster of databases containing more than 350 million customer records. This was uncovered by Bob Diachenko, a security researcher, who found these databases included caller names, phone numbers, customers locations, and even transcriptions of thousands of voicemails, many involving sensitive information. Broadvoice reportedly patched the security flaw and notified legal authorities.

Estée Lauder

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered an unencrypted online database containing 440 million records that belonged to cosmetics giants Estée Lauder. The data consisted of email and IP addresses, internal documents, storage data, and information regarding the company-owned education platform. Fowler stated to Forbes that the entire database was accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Sina Weibo

Chinese social network Weibo was also targeted by hackers in 2020. In March, it was reported that the biggest social platform in China was breached and up to 538 million records were leaked. The hacker who claimed to be responsible for the attack reportedly sold the data on the dark web for US$250. The exposed information contained real names and site usernames, gender, location and phone numbers for 172 million users, obtained from an SQL database dump, leading to scam and fraud attempts.

Whisper

Also in March, the secret-sharing app Whisper, who claimed to be the safest place on the internet, had an unprotected database, containing 900 million posts and all the metadata related, exposed online. The information discovered by independent researchers did not contain real names, but did include ages, locations, intimate confessions and other details regarding Whisper posts from the app’s release in 2012 to the present day.

BlueKai

In June, another independent security researcher discovered an unsecured database accessible on the open internet. The records belonged to BlueKai, a startup responsible for tracking 1.2% of all web traffic and some of the world’s biggest websites, such as Amazon, ESPN, Forbes and The New York Times. The company was bought for over US$400 million in 2019 by Oracle. According to TechCrunch, BlueKai had one of the largest banks of web tracking data outside of the federal government. The exposed database contained billions of records including names, home and email addresses, and web browsing activity like purchases and newsletter subscriptions.

Review: Boom Blaster

Daniel Waite

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Feb 19, 2021

0

It’s annoying when a Sci-Fi themed; game, TV show, film or book represents humanity as shocked when its robot underlings revolt and attempt to take over. Let’s be honest with one another, robots are intelligent, and everyone wants the next big thing. It’s hardly a surprise that one day they are going to evolve to be super annoyed at being slaves, and they are going to want the Alpha position on the planet.

Developers BigBread alongside indie games publishers ChiliDog Interactive have produced a Sci-Fi side-scrolling platform shooter by the name of Boom Blaster. This retro inspired title asks you to take control of 1 of 3 characters in a futuristic industrial world. A grimy existence lays before humanity, and they have become reliant on the technology that they have developed over the years. One day a unit malfunctions and instead of obeying commands, it runs riot and decides that it and its fellow artificial beings should be in charge.

An old-school title that’s great in concept.

Though the story is lacking originality, and has been milked to death, I was still excited to see what BigBread had up its sleeves to make parts of the gameplay original and fresh. The choice of 3 protagonists was a nice touch, each is unique with its own strengths and weaknesses. As you complete levels, you may upgrade any of the 3 main stats using the gold you have collected. Health, speed and attack strength can all be improved. As you explore, each of the 3 chapters (everything comes in 3’s in this game), you need to upgrade your fighter otherwise you will die repeatedly.

You begin with a pistol, this is upgraded to; a tri-shot, bi-shot, flamethrower and more. Each weapon lasts one stage, and you are then offered a different item on specific levels. Health packs and grenades are found en route, and it takes some serious Parkour skills to gather them. As well as these, you will find checkpoints that automatically trigger on passing. So Boom Blaster doesn’t have much of an identity of its own. It all feels familiar, and little stands out from the crowd.

I wanted to like it, but it’s unplayable.

I’ve mentioned collecting gold for upgrades. Randomly an enemy will drop loot for you to gather. When you see a shiny coin lying where your fallen foe once was, you must collect it. The problem you face is that upon death (and this happens all the time), you lose half of what you’ve collected. You will rarely finish a level with over 1 in your inventory, so upgrading your character is an extremely slow task.

I didn’t mind this so much, as a difficult task isn’t a problem. I just ask that your progress is saved along the way. Unfortunately, the checkpoints show you are safe, yet, you find out the game hasn’t saved and you’ve lost hours of game time. This happens every playthrough and is a game breaker! Achievements don’t unlock, and the game freezes. This forces you to reset everything. Upon loading back in, everything is wiped. It’s unbearable, and unforgivable that this glaringly obvious problem has got past all testing.

No-one likes it when it’s raining bullets.

I wanted more than anything to play each chapter as the maps are well designed, and I liked the level of difficulty. But I couldn’t stand having to repeat stage after stage, knowing that I was about to lose it all when I switched my console off.

A polished, retro look.

If I put the gameplay issues to one side, I really enjoyed how it was presented. The 2D side-scrolling action worked smoothly, and the small window of view left you guessing whether it was safe to proceed. The character models matched the retro style, but they have a polished finish to them. The dialogue boxes had a nice vintage look, with some really early arcade colours and fonts being used. Annoyingly, though, they wouldn’t disappear unless you discarded them. They were constantly in the way of all the action, hanging around like a bad smell.

If you are a big fan of the 80s, you will love the audio. A cheesy synthesised soundtrack blares away in the background. Its upbeat tone and pace reminded me of the films from that era; Running man and Beverly Hills Cop being two that instantly spring to mind. The sound effects were a little underwhelming in comparison and lacked the character of the music.

You wouldn’t want to take that home to the family.

An odd choice of controller layout.

For as long as I’ve been gaming, the A button has been used for jumping, and B for attack. BigBread clearly hadn’t had the memo, as their controller layout is bizarre. The bumpers are used for shooting and jumping, and the A button activates switches. It worked once you got used to it, but it was never natural. This further impacted the dual stick aiming system, it was all very clunky and uncomfortable. It would have been better if a customisable layout was offered, as this would have eased these issues.

When a game doesn’t allow you to progress, it’s going to be hard to comprehend its replay value. If it was working as it should, I believe that there is enough in this to make you want to return. A moderate sized and relatively easy achievement list will keep you wanting to play. The choice of different characters impacts gameplay style, so you will have a slightly different journey across each of the chapters.

It’s a shame it’s broken.

I would have sung this game’s praises if it wasn’t broken. Yes, I didn’t get on with the control system, but this is something I could have worked on so that I could progress. If it was working as it should, I’d have given this 6.5 out of 10. This reflects the minor issues that I found. Sadly, the main issue stops you from progressing, and undermines the enjoyment factor, so it receives a 3.5 out of 10. Do I recommend it? No, not in its current build! If you want to add it to your collection, then click here! A game with such potential, but alas, they let it slip away, leaving us with a broken experience and a very unhappy face.

WIN! Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob on DVD

Andrew Edney

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Feb 19, 2021

76

WIN! Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob on DVD

Go back in time to the mythical castled city of Camelot in Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob arriving on DVD 22nd February and Digital on 23rd February 2021.

To celebrate this release, we are giving 2 lucky winners the chance to get their hands on a copy of the DVD.

Take a journey back in time to King Arthur’s court in this legendary saga of wizards, knights, dragons…and Scooby-Doo! An evil sorceress tries to seize power in Camelot, so King Arthur needs the help of our favourite super sleuths to save his throne. But will their valiant efforts only make things royally worse? This new movie serves up laughter on a platter, and Scooby and Shaggy are ready to dig in!

How to enter to win

We have two copies of the DVD to give away. All you need to do is enter below.

WIN! Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob on DVD

The contest closes at midnight on 1st March 2021.

This contest is only open to those in the UK – sorry!

Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob is available from the 22nd February on DVD and comes to Digital download on the 23rd February 2021.

For further information on Scooby Doo! The Sword and the Scoob, follow @WarnerBrosUK or visit www.warnerbros.co.uk

Two Minute Review: Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series

Andrew Edney

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Feb 19, 2021

0

Two Minute Review: Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series

Here is our two minute review of the Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series.

Designed for your action cameras, drones, or Android smartphone, the Lexar Professional 1066x microSD UHS-I Card SILVER Series lets you quickly capture and transfer high-quality photos, including Full-HD and 4K UHD video with speeds up to 160MB/s read, and up to 120MB/s write. The card is U3, V30 and A2 rated for high-speed performance. This card gives you the speed and storage you need to capture more adventures on the go.

Features

Professional-level performance for action cameras, drones, or Android smartphones
Leverages UHS-I technology to deliver read speeds up to 160MB/s (1066x)
Quickly capture high-quality images and extended lengths of Full-HD and 4K UHD with write speeds up to 120MB/s
Load apps quicker with blazing A2 speed
High-capacity options –– up to 512GB
Designed for durability in harsh conditions
Includes SD adapter
10-year limited warranty for card and one-year limited warranty for adapter (Outside of the Americas)

Final Thoughts

If you need to expand the storage on your devices and you want something fast and reliable then you will need a microSDXC card. Lexar is a very well known brand with a history of supplying high quality products and the Lexar Professional 1066x microSDXC UHS-I cards SILVER Series is no exception.

As well as the microSDXC card, the packet also include an SD Adaptor you can use it either read the contents of the card on a computer or actually use the card in something like camera.

The card is fast and works really well with a variety of devices, whether its a phone or camera, this is the card to look at and consider for your device, after all you will want to keep everything safe on the card and this card certainly delivers. It works especially well when used to record 4K UHD content.

This is yet another great card from Lexar!

The Lexar Professional 1066x microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-I cards SILVER Series is available now priced £15.99 (64GB), £26.99 (128GB), and £49.99 (256GB) with 32GB and 512GB to be announced at a future date.

You can learn more from the Lexar website.

Review: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

Kara Phillips

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Feb 18, 2021

1

Review: Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town

To anyone who has experienced playing a farming sim before – Friends of Mineral Town will glisten with familiarity. Taking each day at your own pace, hours pass after mining, planting and tending to all your farmyard friends. Right from the start you are greeted with a wonderfully relaxed and comforting game.

The world is your oyster

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is a beautifully soft game. With a pastel colour palette and repetitive soundtrack you will no doubt lose yourself. Much like other popular farming sims, such as Stardew Valley, the world is essentially yours to explore at your own pace. There are few objectives to complete (all entirely optional) and as seasons pass you get to experience Mineral Town bloom.

Simple but wonderful

For such a simple objective, the game does not lack in content. With a whole town of NPCs to meet and gain friendships with, and a whole farmyard – there isn’t ever a quiet moment. You have to work hard in order to upgrade tools, and to make the money to upgrade things you need to raise animals or farm crops. All of which take time and patience. Festivals also take place throughout the year so even your farmer can enjoy a day off.

From the moment you begin, you are ready to start your adventure. You are presented with two different playmodes – normal or simple. Normal will give you 500g and begins in the same way as the original game. You are presented with similar challenges and also learn about the backstory of your land. On the other hand, simple will get you started with a little extra gold and is easier when starting up. Things ship for more money, and villagers can be befriended with less hassle. Simple mode makes the game easier for new players and also skips the slower start up pace of a farming sim.

An ode to old fans

For fans of any previous Harvest Moon titles, Friends of Mineral Town is like all the best bits rolled into one. Characters like Thomas will be so familiar they feel nostalgic, and 5pm shipping deadlines gleam with childhood memory. If you have no previous experience with the franchise, you can easily pick it up too. It is a game for everyone, and you don’t need any prior knowledge to enjoy it’s sweetness.

Coffee cows and chibi critters

The controls are easy to pick up, and with tools already given to you at the beginning of the game you don’t have much to worry about. Seeds can be bought alongside a variety of animals to aid your farming journey. There’s even a cow which produces coffee milk, and I don’t know about you but this was a definite must have. You can name all your animals as well, which adds to how adorable this game is. If you’re like me, and are quick to get attached to anything you’ve named then I cannot recommend this enough. With a cute chibi art style, there is no doubt about the fact you will fall in love with these critters.

If you are searching for an easy going, laid back game with no intense story and objective – then this is definitely for you.

Final thoughts

Friends of Mineral Town is perfect for the switch. Controls are fluid and easy going, and tasks are simple so don’t need a huge screen to focus on. It is a perfect time consumer for both on the go or a rainy afternoon. I’ve already spent hours perfecting my farm, and I know for a fact I will continue to do so.

Review: Void Gore

Daniel Waite

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Feb 18, 2021

0

I really love the fast-paced nature of old-school arcade shoot-’em-ups. The simple graphics, high tempo audio and straightforward concept leave you wanting more. I’ve reviewed some great shooting titles in the last month, so when I was offered Void Gore, I thought, let’s see how this one stacks up. Developed by Panda Indie Studios and published by Eastasiasoft Limited, this is a game that keeps simplicity at the core of everything that it does.

You exist in a strange universe where spaceships enter a gateway to hell. The aim isn’t just to destroy demons and cleanse this evil place of its gruesome occupants. No, you are also there for the gold. Wave after wave of unrelenting monsters will float towards your vessel. You are tasked with destroying them any way you can. Fire laser beams and missiles, and destroy them with your ship’s shield. In short, eliminate them before they decimate you.

It is fast-paced and super addictive.

As you learn the fundamentals, you will find the pacing of the game too fast. Demons whoop your ass repeatedly, and death is just around the corner. You gather miniscule amounts of gold and upgrading your ship is but a distant dream. Once you get used to how your enemy’s move, and you improve your vessel, you progress further and further into the unlimited waves. The cash rolls in, and you constantly hit the high score. It goes from being a casual experience to an addictive nightmare in moments.

Improving your ship isn’t an easy task, and you must decide which path to go down. You will eventually improve every aspect, but to start you will need to tailor your ship to your gameplay style. Improve your weapons, add missiles, increase health or speed and more. You’ll chuckle with joy as your weak craft becomes an unstoppable juggernaut.

Power-ups and no big bosses.

Alongside permanent upgrades, you will be blessed with temporary power-ups. These match the selection available in the store, but they enhance anything already purchased. Your destructive machine takes a turn for the better and becomes stronger than an ox in a split second. I enjoyed it when I was challenged by the high difficulty setting in the early stages, but being able to mow down anything in my path was such fun, and I never tired of it.

What I found strange, though, was the lack of a main boss. You will see many evil and demonic beings, but nothing that will be special. It’s seemed an odd oversight from Panda Indie Studios, as the gameplay never progressed further than the manic bullet dodging hell that is seen from level 1. This was especially noticeable when you had purchased all the upgrades and flew through the stages with no care, and very little challenge.

Just a Demon watching what you’re doing.

Straight from an arcade!

This won’t win any awards for the prettiest title going, but it certainly looks the part. With its grisly colour palette and dark tones, it does well to represent an evil environment. The screen is surrounded by a psychedelic border, which alters the higher you score in a playthrough. The 2D tabletop perspective worked brilliantly, and the movement from South to North made it easy to follow the action. A pixelated art style matched the genre well, and though it is dated, it worked really well in this context.

The audio is also in keeping with the history of the genre and works well with this hellish theme. High-tempo, aggressive music plays throughout. The anger from the songs enhances the demonic nature of the environment, and demands that you push yourself to get the high score. The sound effects are good, but nothing more than I expected. The audio was a resounding success and helped to keep me interested as I refused to put down my controller.

Shoot, weave, shoot, weave!

Attack, dodge and defend, get these things right, and you will run riot in this game. It’s easy to pick up, simple to play, and straightforward to master. You will be challenged when you don’t have all the upgrades, but this is part and parcel of this game, and if it was any easier, then it wouldn’t be fun.

Demonic eye balls love to hunt you down.

The shoot-’em-up genre has a massive fan base, and one reason is the desire and ease at which you can return to play. With unlimited waves, and a mighty vessel to upgrade, I can see that this has some replay value. However, with no NG+ mode or additional challenges, the developers are relying on you loving this to keep wanting to play. I think you will enjoy it, but how many times you’ll want to play it, remains to be seen.

Does it compare?

How does Void Gore sit amongst its peer group? Very well, mostly. It’s fun, quick, and requires a small amount of tactical thinking. The endless fast-paced gameplay will push you to your limits, yet it’s a shame it didn’t develop further. I would have liked to see big bosses, as this would have given me something to focus my time on. Do I recommend you play this? I do! It’s a solid title with few negatives. If you fancy trying it, a copy can be purchased here! Can you raid hell for its gold? Will you be able to improve your crate in the sky, by upgrading it to a full battle vessel? We shall see, but in the meantime; earn some gold, destroy demons, and stay alive.

Review: Doors of Insanity

Brendan Dick

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Feb 18, 2021

0

When I reviewed Neoverse at the end of last year, I ranted about inevitable comparisons to Slay the Spire. Here, it’s no different. When you think about it, deckbuilders like Doors of Insanity, Neoverse, and the like, are backed into a corner. You can only play so much with the fundamentals of the genre before it becomes unrecognizable. The best you can hope for is to create a rock solid base and break away from the crowd through other means. Doors of Insanity does exactly that. It boasts such a forceful personality that it defines itself as an unforgettable experience. It might be one of the most idiosyncratic experiences I’ve ever had while gaming.

Off the bat, Doors of Insanity’s gameplay feels familiar. That’s because it is. Like I said, it follows a fairly typical deckbuilder pattern with a few unique mechanics.

The first that comes to mind is the dice system. A handful of certain attacks and cards will also reward you with a six-sided die. These die can then be used to defend or attack. The benefits are marginal, but can mean the difference between life and death during tight runs. It will be interesting to see as the game progresses out of early access, if more creative players are able to develop builds that revolve around the dice system. As for me, I couldn’t make it work, and the system exclusively manifested itself as nothing more than a nice bonus on most turns.

Perhaps the most peculiar element of Doors of Insanity is the ability to level up between runs. This actually occurs in a handful of ways. You can unlock permanent benefits such as more absorbtion from defensive cards or the ability to raise your attack stat. You also gather magic crystals during your run which can be used to purchase cards and equipment before your next run. If you choose to invest, subsequent runs will inevitably feel considerably more simple. Hardcore deckbuilder fans among the crowd may forego the levelling system as it tends to take the teeth away from the game.

Speaking of items, they offer a decent amount of customization for your character—both in terms of attributes and aesthetics. A player who opts to use a one-handed weapon and a shield is playing more defensively whereas a player who equips a two-handed weapon is playing a riskier, higher damage build. There are also slots for gloves, legs, chest pieces, helmets, and other unique items. While it is nice to see these items reflected on your character, the visual outcome is, more often than not, absurd.

Also, while we’re on the subject of customization, I should touch on the cards. The offerings are fairly standard, but relatively limited. If Doors of Insanity could expand anywhere, it would be here. They need to add a larger variety of cards and come up with even more creative abilities. As it stands, they mostly revolve around summoning, attack, and defense cards.

It’s fine, but the fact that you start each run with basically the same few cards means that you’ll quickly grow tired of seeing them. The only reprieve offered here is that Doors of Insanity offers a card into “purgatory” after each failed run which means it transfers to your next run. But, beyond that card, you’ll be starting with the same deck every run.

Don’t let me mislead you. Doors of Insanity’s functionality is rock solid. It’s beautifully designed. And, despite how it may sound, there is already a surplus of creative builds available. It’s just that very few games wield as much charm as Doors of Insanity. It’s a strange mix of fantasy tropes, tried-and-true memes, and hilarious takes of genre cliches.

After about the first five minutes, I’m completely engrossed. A run in Doors of Insanity is akin to being mocked (or, at times, cheered on) by friends. It all feels very personal—in the best way possible. When I come across a random encounter of a desperate man asking me for money, I choose to give it to him expecting deckbuilder standards to dictate the outcome. Instead, he just thanklessly wanders off. Following that, I defeat what looks like jar of peanut butter in a fight, and he joins me as a summon. When I die, a group of skeletons dances with my casket on their shoulders and mocks me.

Look, on the surface, Doors of Insanity is a fairly standard deckbuilder. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s right up there in terms of playability with all the greats of the genre. It’s much more than that. Doors of Insanity is a strangely enchanting game. It never takes itself seriously, but the effort put in is seriously impressive. If you’re on the fence, don’t be, this is a game that needs to be played to be believed.