Hot Heart

Started playing Tomb Raider. Really liking it so far. Definitely feels like Tomb Raider has been given the 'Arkham Asylum treatment'. The cover system is phenomenal; plus, it's funny because I think the last third-person action game I played was Spec Ops (let's compare and contrast!) Just did a bit where I got to let loose with a rifle where things were slow-mo at first. Boy, was that a lot of fun. The QTEs can be a bit annoying (so far I've been crushed and strangled ), but I think it's the 'wait for the prompt' one that always gets me. Though I think I've worked that one out: it's always Y. Always. Oh, also, no one's calling her 'Laura', WalDORK and TWATLer (yeah, you heard me!). There's a Scottish guy who may sound like he's saying that, and an American can't help but sound like they're saying that.

Well, technically, you don't lose. Those are bonus objectives. I actually like that kind of 'optional' difficulty, so you can always challenge yourself further if you want (admittedly, in AC, you want to do it) but you can still beat it otherwise. Though I'm not saying there weren't full-sync objectives that weren't crap and had no logic behind them ("During this momentous bit of history, as a complete one-off, the assassin elected to kill no one but his target. For shits and giggles, maybe.") It's the bits where you must follow the script to the letter that really kill it.

God, that chase scene is just fucking embarrassing. It's not anywhere near as smooth as earlier instances in the game either. There's even one bit that kept tripping me up due to crap design that meant Connor doesn't navigate how he's supposed to the first time, and I checked playthrough videos to see it happens to pretty much everyone. It's why I'd assume Ubisoft doesn't have a QA team.

The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans. Seems like a film written to utilise Nic Cage's talents as he does a great job. For a long time you're left wondering where things are going to end up, and there are some funny, weird little sequences in there, yet it doesn't shock as much as similarly-themed films. I don't think it was as great as the buzz around it had led me to believe (when is it ever? Personally, I think only The Dark Knight succeeded there) but still a very entertaining film.

Haven't listened to this album in so long.

But I got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow!

Lara could dress like Chloe Frazer. She still got a butt.

It's LARA. Why are you doing this?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6nOAkVhlsk

Crazy first-person video.

Phew! Thank you for keeping me abreast of the situation.

It's not what it is underneath, but what it does that defines it. Seriously, though, if you do not like the Citadel DLC, you are dead to me! SERIOUSLY.

But, Dean, you could have Bastion beat in as little as *checks Steam* 7.3 hours! EDIT: Bought Tomb Raider because I definitely wanted to but had been trying to watch my spending but I have no self control because I am a manchild and I still had a 10% off voucher from Zavvi who were selling it for £20 so here we are.

Fair enough, but the last DLC's tone is so incongruous (in the best possible way) with the main game that - assuming you play the last DLC after Priority: Horizon so that everyone shows up - I could see people getting mood whiplash going from one to the other. And I don't entirely hate the endings (with the EC, obviously) but the entire back-end of the game is mostly crap.

Wait, is the cleavage going to be there or not?! This is urgent information! A pre-order hangs in the balance.

By that you mean the end of the last DLC and no further.

Waldorf and Statler are fucking ageist. I thought I'd seen everything. DO HO HO HO

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/03/15/how-not-to-sound-racist-the-most-awkward-cpac-panel-ever/

Oh, yeah. There was a nice bit of subversion with his character, too. A welcome surprise. But it loses it all credit because of the little moment just before that final reveal. Almost as bad as the Dark Knight Rises name reveal.

I saw that thing about assigning numbers to the letters in 'MATH' based on where they appear in the alphabet and it adds up to 42, therefore, Douglas Adams was saying the meaning of life is 'math'. Was really tempted to reply with something like, "Douglas Adams was English. So the word is 'maths', idiots."

Chekov's-biometrically-secured-so-that-it fails-or-backfires-when-a-bad-guy-inevitably-gets-his-hands-on-it-gun. I don't think I could say whether Skyfall or Casino Royale were better. Skyfall did interesting and new things, but then so did Casino Royale, and I found that more entertaining.

That's what you get for buying a steelbook! /foreverbitter

Wreck-It Ralph. Loved it. A real high-calibre film, and rightly so, considering the talent behind it. Maybe it's my screenwriting background showing, but I really appreciated how it introduced its world's 'rules' without slowing down the pace of the film. And, of course, then it went and tied it all together neatly. Also Sarah Silverman didn't get on my nerves; she actually impressed. That is some accomplishment.