Weekly Recommendation - Week #028 - Nasty Noughties

If you remember the noughties (eww what a gross word), congratu-fucking-lations, they weren't that long ago (unless you have blocked out that period of time in which case, I can hardly blame you). While (like any other time) there was a duel carriageway of shit, there was actually a fair bit of good stuff from noughties. But what was the noughties though? Was it a message? Was it a prophecy? Or was it simply another set of years that we had to give a name to because apparently after every 10 years we completely change how we operate (which weirdly enough has kind of been the case). Anyway, here are things we recommend from that time. Not hard, because like I said, it wasn't that fucking long ago. Now I only have to wait five years until I can write about the... tennies? (oh god please don't let that be the name!)

No Country For Old Men - The Coen Brothers (Film) - Author: Chris

Do you know what love? (well at least when watching movies). Being completely stressed the fuck out. Do you know what film does this amazingly? Interestingly enough, you should already know, because I PUT IT AT THE FUCKING START OF THIS okay sorry I got a bit mad. No Country For Old Men is the greatest sweat creating device on the planet. It is directed extremely well, making you feel on edge for the simplest of scenes. How come? Because of the film's villain, and holy shit, what a superb villain he is. He has zero remorse, he seems to just kill people for no fucking reason, and with whatever he can fucking get. I swear down I have nightmares about that human being. So this guy finds the remnants of a gang shoot out in the desert, everyone is dead as hell, allowing him to acquire a bag of cash from the scene. This causes Mr "I'm going to give you nightmares" to stalk him. I don't want to give away to much, but holy shit the ending of this fill is one of the best endings to a film. So yeah, check this one out, unless you already have, in which case NEVER WATCH IT EVER AGAIN BECAUSE I SAID SO THAT'S WHY.

Run With The Hunted - Skyhill (Music) - Author: Darren

If you know us, then you'll know we constantly bang on about NSP and if you read the blog a (can't remember how long ago), then you'll have heard mention of Starbomb. Well, the vocalist from those, Dan Avidan (Game Grumps) is the vocalist for Skyhill.
It's a similar set up to NSP (but 'serious', one guy on vocals, one on music. The guy on music is phenomenal (maybe if better than Brian) and works well with Dan's vocals. The lyrics are ok, they don't detract from the relaxing mood.
As is the case usually, I'll show rather than tell because English coursework fun times hooray. [http://www.skyhillmusic.com/listen.htm]

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Rocksteady Studios (Game) - Author: Chris

If  I was to have a favourite, or at least most memorable, game of the last however long games have been in existence, it would be this game. Fun fact: this was the first game I ever one hundred percented. Not only that, but I own this game on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC! Why is this the case? Because I hands down or to the sky fucking adore this game! While I do love Arkham City, which was Asylum but with more, I just love Asylum that much more. It was the first, so it didn't have as many upgrades or gadgets or as big of a map, but I loved the cramped, claustrophobic feel of the asylum: it's creepy, it's intense, and most importantly, it's a shit ton of fun! The voice acting is top, it looks great, and the combat/stealth mechanics are superb. Oh and the Scarecrow levels are some of my favourite levels in any video game ever. This game will be stupid cheap right now, so you must absolutely get this gem of a video game!

Go away.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #027 - Six Month 'Special' (That Should Have Been Last Week)

Before I commence today's special six month anniversary special, I'd like to say that we are fully aware that week 26 should have been our six month special, but we forgot. Really sorry if this messes up your life. So for this six month special, we are going to test a new format, one that we will either use once every six months or never again if it looks shit. Both Darren and I will recommend one thing (that can be literally anything) that we have enjoyed most over the past six months. Oh, and another thing, neither of us are high, despite what the following content will suggest. Enjoy! Perhaps...

Sound - Nature (One of the Five Senses) - Author: Chris

Okay before you start to question the quality of this blog, hear me out. Over the past few months, I have made the bizarre revelation that everything makes noise, and they are fantastic noises at that. The world is so noisy that our brains tune out a lot of background noise, but if you stop and listen, you will discover just how alive and, well, loud the earth is. Wind blowing, doors creaking, clothing rustling, air breathing, laptops whirring, and so on and so forth. You could stop right now, start listening really hard, and hear tons of fascinating sounds that all sound unique and just down right fabulous. In the past, I would be bored sitting around waiting for things, but now I can occupy my time by closing my eyes, and using my ears to paint a picture of my surroundings in my head. Want another fun way to enjoy sound? Tell people around you to stop what they are doing, and once silence is achieved, do something like open a bottle, or drop a coin, or shuffle your shoe (or literally anything) and you can all laugh at how great a sound that was (or seriously debate how interesting a sound it was, whichever works best.) Of course, how could I talk about the greatness of sound without mentioning music. Music can lighten up the most tedious walk, entertain the most boring car journey, strike fear into the most hard person (whoops, got a bit off track there). My morning walk and return home walk that I do every weekday would be outrageous boring if it wasn't for music. A rainy night can become a tense thriller scene, a sunny day can become a feel good movie, rain can become a dramatic opening to most things (okay I like rain, it's got tons of atmosphere, and music can turn it into so many things.) I'm not sure if I've solidified the opinion enough, but sound is fantastic, and if you take it for granted, I recommend slowing down and listening to the world, to see how amazing sound truly is. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to stand outside for a few minutes and open my ears.

RT We Are Rooster Teeth Shirt - Kal Nguyen [blackout591 - RT Community](T-Shirt) - Author: Darren

Overall, I've got to say this is my favourite t-shirt (that I own). It fits fairly well and is made out of comfortable material. The design on the front, courtesy of Kal Nguyen.[https://roosterteethuk.myshopify.com/collections/t-shirts/products/rt-we-are-rooster-teeth-shirt]
What makes this one stand out though is the fucking struggle. It's always fucking sold out in my size. I got lucky one day and it wasn't. SHUT UP PEOPLE WITH GENUINE PROBLEMS. YOU WEREN'T THERE. YOU DON'T KNOW ME OR MY STRUGGLE.
While it may seem like this is poorly written, my mind is elsewhere. I've set my sight on the Team Nice Dynamite shirt, it's my Moby Dick and I suggest you suck it. I had a hard choice though, the Team Lads Action News Team was up there as well as the Haywood Airlines one (did you know his name's James?). ACTUALLY NO. DON'T BUY IT. IT'LL SAVE US BOTH THE EMBARRASSMENT WHEN WE WEAR IT ON THE SAME DAY!

Before I/We go, a PSA: Don't put your shovel in a zookeeper, they'll be pissed and then Jesus Mohammed will cry semen.

Yeah on second thoughts, from reading what I just put and Darren's interesting little PSA, we should probably do random drug tests, because clearly something has gone wrong. See you next week! Or probably not, because I have a hunch this is the post that is going to kill whatever fanbase we had.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #026 - Actual Humour for Once?

An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman walk into a bar. I'd understand if it was one of them that walked into it, but all three of them? They must be some foolish idiots. Also I DON'T SEE WHY THEIR NATIONALITY OR RACE OR RELIGION MATTERS FUCKING PRESS DICKHEADS. Anyway, comedy. I like to act idiotically, because I am fully aware it makes some people laugh. Are they laughing at me or do they find it funny? I honestly don't care, as long as laughs are made, I have succeeded in my goal. Today, we are going to recommend things that we believe are of a humorous nature. Oh, and humour is different for different people, so if you don't find our choices funny you're wrong and I hate you.

The Young Ones - BBC (Series) - Author: Chris

If the BBC is known for one thing, it's sexism. WHAMO! It's also produced some top comedy series, such as Miranda. AGAIN JUST KIDDING HOLY SHIT THAT PROGRAM IS BAD! The Young Ones is an excellent series about the Cliff Richard song of the same name. OH MY GOD TRIPLE JOKES WHY AM I SO FUNNY? Seriously though, they talk about Cliff Richard in it all the time. It's actually about four college students living together in a house in Thatcher's Britain. Except it's absolutely insane. Dumb jokes, absurd visual gags, and the house is completely destroyed by the end of every episode. Some of the jokes are even relevant today! (What does that tell you about how much better we are?) They even have a musical guest on every episode, because, well, why not? (so they could get a light entertainment budget instead of a comedy budget actually fun fact.) Every character is a fantastic stereotype that is a thrill to watch: you have Neil the suicidal hippie, Mike the cool dude, Rick (played by the late Rik Mayall) the "I swear I'm an anarchist just listen to my poetry you fascists" guy,  and Vyvyan, the punk who breaks everything. Oh, and the Balowski family, a Russian family who we only see one member at a time who all look exactly like Alexei Sayle. If you thought their was rules and structure to comedy, well friend, watch this and you will see how a program that was written without care about how they would film any of the jokes later proves you so very wrong. Now move on you fascist bastard.

Player Select - Starbomb (Music) - Author: Darren

If you know us, you'll know that we love Ninja Sex Party. Well, they're part of this other band called Starbomb with Egoraptor (Arin Hanson). They do comedy songs about video games. Infact, they're latest album (Player Select) did remarkably well for itself. That doesn't matter though. You want to know why I like it, don't you? Firsly, the songs are all well written and, weirdly enough, funny. Dan's singing is top and so's Arin's rapping. They manage to bring across a wide range of humour and words words words words *joke* words words.
While there are a few songs on there I don't like, they're in the minority. My personal favourites are Robots in Need of Disguise and Inky's Lament. I would say more but shush you're tired now. Sleep. Shoutout to whoever mixed and eq'd the album though, they did a bang up job.

Also, sneaky side note: One of my favourite jokes to tell is "I like my slaves how I like my coffee... Free." because it's great to watch people react and really satisfying to get the timing right on. Also also, Chris is a dirty racist.

Saints Row 4 - Volition (Game) - Author: Chris

Don't believe a word Darren says, I am not a crook. Anyway, Saints Row 4 is a game (no shit Sherlock) about a street gang that somehow gained presidency, got abducted by aliens, got forced into a simulation, and then gained the ability to have super powers. Isn't that a barrel of fish that enjoy fun. If you loved the silly aspects of previous Saints Row games, you'll love this one, in fact, I think this will become your new favourite (unless you are die hard Saints Row 2 like everyone is), considering the writers have dropped the obsession with porn stars and produced one of their strongest pieces of work yet. Obscure references, random cameos (there is a whole thing about Keith David being Keith David in this game, and then a bit happens when Roddy Piper comes to help you fight him and HOLY SHIT THEY LIVE REFERENCE FOR NO REASON YES) and wrestling comments. Because from what I've seen and heard, the writers love wrestling. The customisation is fantastic, and the coop is one of the most fun things in video games, as it always has been with Saints Row. Check this game out, it is funny as shit, and a solid game.

I noticed a lot of jokes were made about race and gender in this post, well, more than normal. If this has slightly offended you in anyway, let us know, so we can try and offend you even more next week. I KID I KID we can do it any day of the week. On a serious note, we hate everyone equally, so don't feel bad about it.*

*Actually do, we hate you.**

**The joke is we hate everyone.***

***Because this entire post was about comedy.

Top Five Games of 2014 (According to Chris)

Greetings to all of you on this Merry 2015! (Unless you are reading this in a year that is not 2015 or, even worse, are one of those people who don't believe in the solar calender. If either are the case, get a hobby seriously.) As we move towards the end of the first week of 2015, we can start to compare 2015 to 2014, admittedly not to an fair or accurate scale, but we can. I started doing this a couple of days ago actually, and upon comparing the two years, it got me thinking: "What did I, personally, like most about 2014?" After a lot of thinking, I have finally figured it out, at least in certain subjects, such as, in the case of this article, my five favourite games of 2014 (but you already knew that because you read the title.) Just as a reminder, this is in no way some super official list, this is my personal favourites that I can remember (so I could potentially missed games out because I forgot about them at the time of writing or I didn't play them). Also, if you click the banners for each of the entries, a new tab should open with a link to an appropriate trailer. Now then, let's get on with the show! ROLL THE LIGHTS OR WHATEVER!

HONOURABLE MENTION: WWE 2K15

WWE 2K15 holds a very special place in the heart of TGOI. While Max Payne 3 saw the creation of the original TGOI, and GTA 5 saw it become active with more than just me as a member, WWE 2K15 is where 2K15 has truly began to shine through. It is definitely not the best game in the world, and I am fully aware that there are a fair few features that got removed in the transition to THE NEXT GENERATION (WOOOOOSH), but with the major graphical improvements and a seriously impressive animation upgrade, this is definitely one impressive wrestling simulation. Oh and most importantly, it's a shit ton of fun. 

While the roster only has a handful of worthy additions, and quite a mediocre list of legends, the real fun in this game is the character creator. If you are someone who buys these games every year, you may notice that the creator is significantly different from previous entries. First of all, the layout actually makes sense, and can be navigated without annoyance, secondly, the new face and body creator, while it does restrict the creation of the previously infamous abominations, actually allows for you to create characters that look like, well, human beings, sometimes to disturbing levels, and finally, the creation suite is a very welcome addition to the game. No longer must you attempt to create shitty logos on the god awful logo maker, now you can import your own PNG files and make some truly unique characters (or you could just cover your guy in pre-existing logos, because you can).  

The game contains your regular wrestling game features: an mode in which you simply select a match type, select your characters and fight, a universe mode, in which you manage all the shows and storylines, as well as two new modes. First up, rivalries mode, which is replaying matches from WWE history but with unique in-match cutscenes to match the game match to the actual match, as well as cutscenes using the original footage to tell the story between matches. The second mode is called My Career, which is a mode where you select a custom character, start in the training centre and work your way through the various shows, until you finally win the WWE Championship and have your retirement match. While the rivalry mode is very fun, the My Career mode does lack, as it can feel extremely grindy at the best of times, with very minimal unique cutscenes featuring your character. 

Overall it's a fun game, for those who enjoy WWE, those who enjoy a solid fighting game, and those who have the imagination to create characters with in-depth back stories. I basically fill all three of those characters so I'm good to go. (Also this is all in reference to the next-gen version, for the love of god don't get 2k15 for PS3 or Xbox 360, it's apparently awful. If you have previous gen, get 2k14 or '13 instead.)

#5: LETHAL LEAGUE

Now let's kick off with the actual top five. Take a look at that typeface for a second. What does that make you think of? If it's an insanely fast fighting/pong hybrid, then you are heading in the right direction. In Lethal League, you select your character, get dropped into an arena, and then you and your opponent must whack a baseball at each other, trying to hit them with it, giving you a point. The catch is, every hit makes the ball go faster, so much so that the ball can go so fast that the entire stage starts to collapse, with each extra hit freezing time and causing the world to erupt. It's thrilling to play, amazing to watch, and nerve-decimating to try and win. If I was only to ever use the word "rad" once in my life (which I hope I only have to use it once), it would perfectly describe this game. 

The art style has a sort of Jet Set Radio look to it (which is gorgeous might I add), with each character having a unique look and way of play, and the music really captures the theme of the entire game. In fact, I will provide a link to the whole soundtrack. My personal favourite is Ordinary Days, seriously I cannot get enough of that song. 

I must confess, the only reason I have played this game is because a friend got it for me as a gift, and I am so thankful that he did, this is for sure one of my favourite games of 2014. It's really easy to pick up, and you can get some insane matches going in no problem. Oh and you will start being a dick to your opponent when you start winning, it's like a guaranteed thing.

#4: JAZZPUNK

If you've been not watching the game trailers up to this point, I'm going to have to stop you right there. There is no way in hell I can fully describe in words what the fuck this game is, so I completely recommend watching the trailer above. It doesn't contain game spoilers, it just sets the premise for what the game is and sets out to do.

*One long Thunderbirds reference later*

Now that you've (hopefully) watched it, you can (once again, hopefully) see what I'm getting at with this game. It's an absurd comedy adventure game jam packed with bizarre references, completely ludicrous humour, and a really smashing look to it. It was created in the image of 80's films with groan-causing jokes and dumb physical gags, such as Airplane! or The Naked Gun. Hands down, this is the funniest game of the year, possibly even ever. I was laughing out loud the entire way through, and I am desperate for a sequel, or even some kind of DLC. I love how absurd the world of Jazzpunk is, and I want to go back. The only issue is it's so damn short. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS I LOVE YOU!

So if you love absurd humour and idiotic puns, this game is perfect for you. Oh, and see how many references you can spot too, it's got some corkers. I really don't want to spoil much, as the trailer didn't (seriously, the story has nothing to do with that trailer), but at one point you discover a mini game called "Wedding Quake." It is literally a wedding themed Quake. I adore it. I adore this game. WHERE IS MY SEQUEL DAMN IT!?!

#3: METAL GEAR SOLID 5 GROUND ZEROES

For those of you who know me, you will probably be shocked at me. ONLY THIRD CHRIS? BUT YOU ARE A METAL GEAR FANATIC! While yes it is true that I am a Metal Gear fanatic as you put it (well I put it but whatever), and yes I fucking can't get enough of this game, it does have a very minor issues that, while keeping it an amazing game, does mean that there are two games I think are much better than it. Enough about this, lets talk about how amazing this game is.

Before I played this game, I must confess, I had only played about half way through the first Metal Gear Solid, but I a) really liked the look of this one and b) had about two games for my PS4, so I bought it. So I suppose I have this game to thank for getting me into the rest of them. Ground Zeroes is a prequel to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (which, from the looks of things, could very likely be the game of the year next year, but until it's out I won't know), and was basically released to allow new and old players to get used to the new, rather complex controls, but good god is it fun to play.

The game is set after Peace Walker, and is about Snake trying to free two past members of his private militia, who are being held in Camp Omega by a particularly frightening fellow called Skull Face (because he literally looks like he has a skull for a face.) It is not your simple follow the objective kind of game though, oh no. You land on the base with zero clue as to where they are being held. You have to, yourself, gather intel and explore the island. Assuming once you've got them a cutscene happens and you are whisked away? Nope. You have to get out of there your self, either stealthily or being completely shot up. You then have to give your helicopter landing coordinates and wait for it to arrive so you can leave. Admittedly this (and a couple of side missions on the same map) is all there is to do in this game, the amount of re-playability you can get from it is immense. Drop in, find different routes, try different tactics, try no-kill runs, try gun-blazing runs, search for the huge amount of unlockables, and so on and so forth. I constantly go back to this game, and each time I have a ton of fun. 

Not only this, but the the game look absolutely gorgeous. As the dark map is lit up by tower lights and the world pours down with rain, you will feel absolutely immersed in this place. It is definitely one of the prettiest games on the Next Gen systems, not to mention (if you are one of those frame rate obsessed people) the solid 60fps the game gets, which is actually really impressive, considering how every texture and every animation looks top notch

You really don't need to have played any previous games to enjoy this one, you may not understand a couple of references, but there is a handy little recap feature that shows you the events of Peace Walker, so that tends to help. Seriously, if you see this cheap and want to play a really fantastic game, look no further than Ground Zeroes. Or any other of the Metal Gear Solid games seriously it is one of the best franchises out there!

#2: THE WOLF AMONG US

Okay so the trailer did say 2013, but that was only for episode 1. The other 4 episodes came out in 2014, and the game was sold as a whole product in 2014 so I'm counting it, and that's final. Sorry that sounded really bitchy please don't tell my mum.

Telltale games are well known for their heavily story driven games, and really starting making a name for themselves with the Walking Dead interactive game (but quite honestly, their Sam & Max games are where it's at) which I absolutely adore, apart from one thing. It's zombies. Why does it always have to be zombies? I then found out their next game was set in a world full of adult themed fairy tale characters. Now that's a world I've not heard before. It's an amazing world, I loved every minute I was in Fabletown, and I'd want to live there if it wasn't for, you know, all the murder and shit.

The game plays like the other Telltale games play: you control a protagonist, in this case, Bigby Wolf, the town sheriff and former big bad wolf, by choosing what they say in conversation, making time restricted decisions and picking where to investigate, as you try and solve the big mystery of the game, which I won't spoil. It's a fantastic game, with a really cool art style and amazing characters that you will love and/or hate, because seriously, some of them are dicks. The only big tragedy is the episodic aspect of the game, as now that all episodes are out, the time period in which you have to wait and analyse what happened and what will happen next episode has gone. But hey, no one is stopping you from waiting a month between episodes, but the game is just too damn good to stop playing.

If you love really bizarre worlds with really unique characters, you will love this game, and probably most of Telltale's other games. Oh, and don't forget that everyone remembers decisions you make through out the game, and the story is adjusted based on those decisions, which is pretty damn awesome. I bet no one will forget Telltale's decision to make a Jurassic Park game, because hey, that game was a bit shit.  

#1: WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER

Do you know that feeling you get when you play a game or watch a film and it's like, "Hey, that world felt extremely fleshed out and carefully crafted, I want to explore it further"? Wolfenstein: The New Order (woah look at that, the top two games had Wolf in the title what are the odds? Well pretty high considering they are both fantastic games) is one of those products. They could have just made another run around murdering Nazis game, but oh, MachineGames decided, "You know who could be a great influence for our Nazi-bopping game? Quentin Tarantino." 

I'm not just talking about the violence (because the violence in the game would make Tarantino himself shed a tear of joy), but I'm talking about the universe side of things too. This game has one of the craziest and fleshed out worlds in a modern video game to date. In this alternate history, the Nazis beat the allies to the bomb and won World War II, leading to the world being overrun. It is not a simple take over though, oh no, they take our culture too. This world is so detailed that MachineGames commissioned original songs, in German, themed off of actual 1960's music, as well as a couple of covers. Not only are the songs really good, but they even have their own backstories (seriously, and the songs only appear in the background of some levels, because the guards might be listening to them or something.) If that isn't detailed I don't know what is. "But Chris" you ask, like you always do for some reason (I'm getting the sense that this is just because of my writing style, same with the constant brackets), "why the 1960s?" Admittedly, the Nazi's do win around the same time, but our protagonist, BJ Blazkowicz, wakes up from a coma in the 1960s to discover this world, fully developed. We then take over him and follow him on his quest to find the resistance and take down the Nazi leader, Deathshead (but he doesn't like that name, he's a happy person.) It is not told in a traditional story way, it is filled with bizarre characters and plot points, much like a film by Tarantino, as well as being interlaced with the previously mentioned music (again, like Tarantino.) It even has this neat story feature where you make a game decision, not at the end so it only affects the final cutscene, but at the beginning, so you have to live with the consequences of that choice through out the whole game. Now that is how it's done.

On a mechanics level, the game is absolutely solid. Every weapon feels super meaty, enemies react to every single bullet, and blood and gore flies around like it's going out of fashion. It has a traditional health and armour meter system, just like any old school shooter, as well as a neat cover mechanic, in which you hold a button and can raise, lower or move the gun around corners, but you can do this from any position, even in the middle of the open (which is a bit pointless, but it's neat that it's there) to get a feeling of a soldier actually trying to hit an opponent without getting shot himself.

This game, described as accurately as possible, feels like playing a Tarantino movie (as I have mentioned about thirty times), and I loved every second I was in this universe. I want to just keep playing this game over and over, and I can with the various modes and the early game choice that changes the story. In fact, I love the game so much that I bought the original soundtrack on vinyl. And yes, I have been listening to it as I write this, it's that damn good. In fact, here it is right now, for your pleasure. Enjoy the sounds of Neumond Recordings! It's worth 25 minutes of anyone's time.

So there you have it, after a lot of hours, it's finally done. Now that I write this final paragraph, I feel quite sad. I mean, I won't be doing another one of these for a whole year (unless I do my five favourite films of 2014, but only if you're good). Well it's been a fantastic 2014 for TGOI, and whilst it wasn't the best year for games, we did get some corkers, as proven above. Now 2015 does look like it's got some great games, so here's to that! Hope you had a great week, and look forward to seeing you on Sunday. Happy 2015 dickbags!

Weekly Recommendation - Week #025 - Change the Industry!

You know people who say new year, new me? Don't trust those people, they fill their own heads with lies and then within weeks ultimately fail their so called "achievable goal." "Why am I talking about these people" you may ask? Well because it's still relevant! Also because we are going to recommend some of those pieces of media that completely changed how people create media, for the better. Unlike those "New Year, Same Old Lies" type people, these changes were actually successful and very beneficial for the various industries today. So happy new year to those people! Unless they are dicks in which case we appreciate your contributions to the industry but don't appreciate you. Cheers!

The Godfather: Part II - Francis Ford Coppola (Film) - Author: Chris

Okay let's be honest here, if you haven't seen this film you are a sinner. This is one of the most fantastic films in existence, hands down, no contest, cliché after cliché. But why is now the time to mention it? What is so important about this film? Apart from how fantastic this film is, it was actually the first numbered sequel. Before this there was a few instances of films with different names that were part of the same lore, but this was the first to literally state that is was a second part. So all your Lords of the Rings and you War Stars have this film to thank. The music is superb, Al Pacino gives a top performance, as does Robert de Niro, and it is the perfect continuation from an already perfect first film. If you haven't seen this or the first one, you are, as previously stated, a sinner  and you must cleanse yourself by watching them. The only issue I have with this is that the creation of awful sequels made to cash in on franchises became a popular way of film making, ironically enough, the third Godfather fits into this category perfectly. Seriously, you don't need to watch the third one.

Gorillaz - Gorillaz (Music) - Author: Chris

The idea of a virtual band has been around since about the 1960s, with that damn Alvin and those fucking Chipmunks, but the actual idea of a virtual band did not become a popular until the year 2000, with the unveiling of Gorillaz: a completely animated band that actually produced some fantastic music. Because of this, I'm recommending their first album, entitled "Gorillaz", because originality! But seriously, this is a corker of an album, with each song sounding very different to each other. It feels like at this point they were trying to find their song, and crazily enough, every song is superb. If you are like me, it will take more than one listening to truly start to love this album. This is not an excuse for it maybe being a bit shit, it's just all so different, you really need the time to appreciate each song at a time. I had my favourites, and now the whole album is favourites, not just the singles. Now go my Padawan! Go listen to the album! Wait actually read Darren's bit first! Also I know this isn't Star Wars but I mentioned Star Wars before so I'm going to do it again!

The Secret of Monkey Island - Lucasarts (Game) - Author: Darren

So, I know what you're thinking. It's an odd choice considering it's not their first game. I agree but let me tell you why (or don't). The reason behind it is simple, it revolutionised a lot of their finer systems and mechanics. This is aside from their more forward thinking approach to player friendliness than rivals Seirra.
Onto the actual telling you why it's good bit. The story's tight, the atmosphere is great, the characters are unique and interesting plus the humour and charm set an excellent standard that more games should follow. The HD remake goes above and beyond by adding voice acting, new sounds and a new interface. Essentially, a full remake that incorporates hot-swapping between 'modern' and 'classic' modes. I won't lie, I much prefer the classic interface despite the quality of the visuals and voice acting of the remake. The higher quality does obscure some key items however and the new interface can make some puzzles tremendously difficult. It still receives a recommendation though because of the sheer quality. If you're looking for it, it's The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

First one of the year is out the way, next week is something special. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Excitement. Yeah.