OJ's Game Review - Pause Ahead

So like my last game review this is another indie PC game you can play online. It does come with a warning though: "This game may be quite difficult. Play at your own risk!"

  Pause Ahead is a very clever game designed by Tadakuni Amano which uses clever concepts to complete the game. It's a platform game and has many levels including some secret ones you have to find. It also has a story too it, as the description says: 'You’ve woken up in a strange place with the eerie feeling that you’ve been here before. Conquer the treacherous traps by running, jumping and using your power of pausing to get ahead. Just remember: once you pause, there is nothing you can do to change your path. Let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully not directly onto a spike.' The tone of the game is quite creepy and very well done. The graphics are 8bit so you get an old style visual as well. And as for the gameplay, well sometimes it can be surprisingly easy and other times it can frustrate you to death. Along the way you can unlock up to 20 achievements and find some cool stuff. It's been likened to the game Portal a lot and people have even said they'd buy it if it was on Steam. In the end I thought this little game was a 8/10 - I'D PLAY IT AGAIN.

LINK: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/628969

OJ's Movie Review - X-Men: Days of Future Past

Do you realize that since the release of the first X-Men film both Spider-Man and Superman have been rebooted, twice?


First it was a trilogy, then there was a prequel, and then a separate prequel, and then a spin-off from the trilogy and now we have... a reboot? X-Men: Days of Future Past is the 7th movie in the X-Men franchise, a franchise that's been on our screens for fourteen years; it's had some ups, it's had some downs, but it has certainly been a unique series. This year we get to see not only the original cast but also the refreshed younger cast. Of course the film involves time travel but this time it's quite different from mainstream sci-fi time travel, the movie doesn't dwell on it too much, if at all; the main focus is definitely the characters, I noticed two or three times that it showed more character interactions and dialogue than previous X-Men films, I mean of course there are the fight sequences and the big special effect scenes but the story definitely drove it a lot. Talking of the story I heard going in that this movie fixed every continuity error of the past films and was like a huge refresh; now after seeing it I was a bit taken back by how they did it; they do in a sense fix all the problems but in quite a big way, that's all I'll say not going into spoilers. One thing that did fascinate me with the movie was the look and feel, the parts set in the future, although not many, were for me the highlight, they were the most action-packed and the most emotional; the past has those things too but not as strong I don't think, although I did enjoy when they made it look like scenes were filmed on an old 70's camera. Obviously it was great seeing all the cast again and each one did a fantastic role, Hugh Jackman will always own Wolverine and although he took a bit more of a backseat in this one he still is entertaining to watch. In the end, I don't think it is the best X-Men film ever but I'D SEE IT AGAIN.

OJ's Movie Review - Godzilla

Story, visual effects and all-round feel of the movie have improved drastically since the 1998 version, but still fans aren't happy?

When I first heard they were remaking Godzilla I thought to myself that the Roland Emmerich one wasn't too bad and that there were better films to be made. Of course I was using memories from my childhood sitting on the sofa watching a huge dinosaur-thing smashing around New York. Come to 2014 though and through various leaks, posters, announcements etc. I'm starting to get into the Zilla mood, and then one day I saw the teaser trailer. The best trailer I've ever sen in my life. That brought me on board for definite. So after seeing the movie and hearing how divided the fans are I was a tad disappointed, not by the movie, just how many didn't like it. To me this new Godzilla was a very atmospheric movie, the feel of it can sometimes send shivers down your spine, the sounds it creates and the music by far make it what it is. The film also grounds itself into realism too, don't go in expecting Pacific Rim, this is very different regarding execution, it doesn't show Godzilla every five minutes, it focuses a lot on the human story, almost as if the giant destructive forces of nature now appearing were like a back-drop. That I think that is where it lost a lot of its fans; I myself thought it was interesting way to go and didn't mind it. Don't get me wrong you do see full shots of Godzilla and what he does which are some of the best scenes in cinema, the CGI is barley worth mentioning as of course it's going to be fantastic. As a film critic though I do have to share my negative points and that was that one or two times there are instances where unrealistic things happen concerning locating a massive creature (or lack of) which do take you out of the movie. Other than that and what I would say quite an abrupt ending Godzilla 2014 was TIME WELL SPENT.