Game Review: Portal & Portal 2

Ok I am going to admit something here. As a huge fan of the Portal series since Portal originally hit the shelves back in October 2007 I might have fired up Portal 2 with an already enthusiastic and rose-tinted view. What I found only confirmed my expectations.

Portal 2 is a first person shooter (FPS) puzzle game which carries on from its predecessor Portal. Based on the concept of the manipulation or reality through portals which preserve linear momentum. If that sounds complicated, watch this:

That is the teaser trailer for Portal, as you can imagine the game play is innovative and refreshing from other FPS's which I am not so much a fan of.

The story of Portal 2 revolves around your character from the original game; Chell. After being subject to numerous rounds of testing in the Aperture Science Computerated Enrichment Enviroment, and almost being murdered several times by the psychotic testing mainframe AI known as GLaDOS, Chell eventually finds her way out of the laboratories and to the surface which is where Portal leaves us. Portal 2 Is the continuation of that story, where you find out after losing conciousness from the final fight with GLaDOS in the previous game, you are returned to the Aperture facilities to recuperate (This was later ret-conned in a patch, the ending was added with an ambiguous robotic voice approaching Chell from behind and dragging her back into the Aperture underground-complex before she lost conciousness.)

You are woken from suspended animation by a personality core called Wheatley and emerge from your chamber into the now-destroyed and decaying Aperture facility. Wheatley helps you stumble through the labs in order to escape, but in doing so you inadvertently reactivate GLaDOS, the passive-aggressive and completely insane facility control AI, who appears somewhat bitter about the fact that you killed her...

Without giving away any of the story, what follows is a slightly jilted round of further testing ala: Portal with a which quickly changes in a surprise twist! In Portal 2 the game goes deeper into the story of Aperture Science Laboratories, it's history and it's founder Cave Johnson.

The best feature for me is in the middle of the game where you learn about GLaDOS and where she comes from, and the secrets to why she is so bent on testing. GLaDOS received numerous awards from gaming magazines and websites such as 'Best Character' and 'Best New Character' from GameSpy and X-Play respectively, and Game Informer named her one of the 'Characters who defined a decade' in terms of storytelling. Most are citing her humour which is a form of passive-aggressive speak which actively changes in tone and intensity throughout the series (in both games.)

One of GLaDOS' unique qualities is her voice, which is synthesised from the voice acting of one Ellen McLain (who also has the Half Life series and Team Fortress 2 under her belt) through an auto-tune to give it that robotic and maniacle tone (here is a sample, from wikipedia). GLaDOS is by far the best reason to play Portal 2 besides the game play.

Another quality to Portal and Portal 2 is the complete mind-fuck of gameplay. We have seen this sport of manipulation of the game world in games such as Prey, but never has it been used in such a way as to encourage problem solving on the scale Portal has set. One comment made by GameSpy when awarding GLaDOS 'Best Character' was that the game could have got by without a story, which while in itself is pretty definitive of a lot puzzle games in the industry, Portal sets itself apart from the others such as Myst or the Professor Layton series as being almost exclusively character driven while not taking emphasis away from the mind-bending puzzles of physics and lateral thinking. Not to mention how much of an impact Portal made on internet culture creating such memes as "The cake is a lie" and the emergence of the Companion Cube.

Something which I am yet to experience but I highly anticipate as being another redeeming quality of the game is the incorporation of co-operative mulitplayer. You take one the duties of one of two co-operative testing initiative bots...

Atlas and P-Body are the two robots featured in the video above, which is something I cannot wait to try!

For anyone who is interested in puzzle games, FPS games or simple fancies a good bit of storytelling, seek out Portal 2 but I urge you not to do so until you have played Portal. A criticism which I am quick to offer of both games is that they are too short. I completed both Portal and Portal 2 in the evening of buying them, but their replay value is acceptable for fans of the game, but it may be worth waiting until there is an offer on to purchase both games, and certainly purchase them online through supplies such as gameplay.co.uk or play.com. On the PC, both games are available for purchase and repeated download through Steam which is a service available to PC which binds many PC games to a single account where you can purchase said games and download them over and over again which is handy if you are apt to losing your original disks.

It is my hope that the series continues in some form, though Chell's story recieved a definitive ending in Portal 2 I am certain Valve can come up with a way to continue the franchise which is so highly regarded in the gaming community.

Review: How to Look Good Naked

Like many people, I watch How to Look Good Naked. I think it is a fantastic program existing for all the right reasons. At a glance most people would assume its just another gay fashion show focusing on women's bodies and whats 'hot or not' in the world clothing trends, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

I would urge as many people as possible to watch Naked, it delivers a message to all genders and sexualities about body confidence and how quite often we can be objective and prejudice, and self deprecating for no real reason. The shows host and creator Gok Wan uses his quirky sense of humour and familiarity with both women and style to create a persona that couldn't be warmer, I'm usually not a fan of the camp, sassy over the top gay man but Gok adds such an air of sophistication by simply knowing his work and being able to convey the message of body confidence in a way that is universally relatable. In the current series in particular, Gok is throwing in little tips for men to keep on top of their game, generally helpful advice from someone in the industry and well worth the watch!

Another good thing about this current series, the winner of 'Miss Naked 2008' Shona Collins has teamed up with Gok to try and get body confidence taught on the curriculum with PSHE (Physical, Social and Health Education) class in schools. Having studied the psychology behind the mental health conditions which stem from low body confidence (such as Bulimia Nervosa and Agoraphobia) I believe this is a vitally important and severely over looked field of education. Never would you believe that in school someone would take the time out to reassure people than actually, having a natural body and being confident in their own skin is more important than constantly attaining to that ideal body they see in the media. The fight continues to get body confidence on the curriculum with a petition over at number10.gov.uk, click that link and sign the petition for the idea of a more confident generation of teens to become a reality.

This topic ties into My Declaration of a healthier lifestyle, which doesn't just include regular excercise, but the psychological side of simply loving your body and the things that make you unique. There are a few people close to me, male and female, who are constantly getting down on their looks (in fact, of the people around me I think it is more common in men than women) and I honestly believe watching such things as Naked, which recently featured a second look at a lady who had a mastectomy during her battle with breast cancer. After appearing on the show with Gok, Kelly is now an inspiration to other women in the same boat, learning how to love their bodies and carry on being brave, confident and good looking women.

I am going to continue watching the shows on 4oD (a service I have recommended in the past) and keep suggesting that everyone indulges in a little feel good TV every now and then. I'm normally not a fan of reality TV (which from all accounts in on the way out within the next few years) but Gok's show (and lets not forget Too Fat Too Young, the first thing I saw Gok feature which is also a very hard hitting look at the way our culture percieves the overweight and obese individual.) I never really sit down to watch TV these days, most of the time if I am watching something made for TV I do it using onDemand internet television such as 4oD, but I usually set an evening aside for catching up on Naked while sipping a nice hot coffee and filing my nails... ok, I think I've said too much!

Review: Saturday Night Peter - memoirs by Peter Kay

The next review another comedian, my my I am beginning to see a pattern here!

Peter Kay, for those who do not know, is a stand-up comedian turn author and comedy writer/actor. His popularity was peaked on the release of his first DVD of the sell-out mini-tour, filmed at Blackpool Tower Circus. Since his initial rise to fame he went on to do another staggering sell-out tour titled the 'Mum wants a bungalow' tour, which was filmed at the Bolton Albert Hall and received massive publicity though an amazing show, each night receiving a standing ovation.

One this that I find so appealing about Peter Kay is that he is northern, further still he is from Bolton, just three stops from Wigan on the train. His material is very familiar to me while at the same time being fantastic observational comedy. Not only this but he is safe, you can watch Peter Kay in stand-up with the whole family and have a wonderful time, which only adds to his versatility in my opinion. I was in hysterics watching his recent faux-reality TV show 'Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice' were he plays a lovable character of Geraldine McQueen.

Now onto the book, which is his second book interestingly enough, his first (the Sound of Laughter) being an autobiography about his life before he entered the world of stand-up comedy and this one being his memoirs reflecting his life as a stand-up comedian. There are very few low points in the book that I noticed, it seems from reading that his life after winning what is now called the City Life Comedian of the Year award.He tells us of the gigs he did before and after having a car which again was affected by winning an award at the Edinburgh festival which paid for the car. It was particularly inspiring to me as he even progressed into comedy after leaving the same course or study that I am now on at Salford Uni, but reading the book gives you a feeling of atmosphere: it literally speaks of a time in itself. Those old enough to be mature in the ninties as Peter was could probably attest to that atmosphere, I can guarantee that the world which developed and supported Kay will have changed rapidly as the role of the comedian has been somewhat glamorised over the years.

Peter goes on to tell of his ups and downs with life as a professional stand-up (having done little open spots before winning the City Life award, he was lucky to almost fall straight into paid work as a stand-up) touring the clubs as was done at the time (and to my knowledge still is.) Progressing to such things as warming up for Parkinson and then onto corporate gigs which are good money, better than that of the clubs (and a concious decision to leave 'clubland' behind, giving preference to the higher paid corporate gigs.)

It does seem like a rollercoaster, very few times in the book does he mention times or perticular anxiety over his career which leads me to believe he is either extremely lucky, or lieing. But I like the book, it seems like how perfect it could be if all the pieces fell into place at the right time. It is a story with a happy ending, with very few emotional twists and turns, and almost constantly on the up and up. Perhaps I am jealous, or maybe too cynical in the idea that the course of true comedy never can run smooth, as we are led to believe if Peter is telling the truth, I really do hope it is, and that the british public can be so embracing to genuine talent. I would recommend this book to any fans of Peter Kay (which is the reason I read it) and especially for anyone who needs an example of how life can go from strength to strength, and sometimes dreams can have a fairy tail ending.

Review: Look Back In Hunger - autobiography by Jo Brand

Let me just start by saying I am not a critic, well I suppose in one way I am, in that I am offering an opinion of something I have experienced. But in that sense anyone who ever offers an opinion is a critic (barring the ones who are offering an opinion on something they haven't experienced at all, they are just idiots.)

Let me start by saying I have not seen much of Jo Brand in her stand-up, and therefore can base my opinion of her only on what I have seen on QI, bits and bobs of television, and of course her wonder work for comic relief (I have a high opinion of any of the stars who appear on comic relief, and hope some day I might get the chance to be a part of it.)

If you have ignored that video and carried on reading because you've 'seen it before', stop and watch the damn video, I'll wait for you...

Isn't that fab? anyway anyway anyway, having not experienced much of Jo Brand in stand-up which is what she is most well known for, I had the above and her appearances on QI to go by when reading her book. I hate to sound offensive to people of Jo Brands age but I love to hear stories from 'older people', by that I mean, people who were mature or reaching maturity (and I use the term loosely) in the sixties and seventies, so it was a wonderful read for me to see just how a typical or not so typical person lived before my time. Jo starts the book by telling us of her childhood, uninterrupted despite being moved from place to place. Her childhood sounds almost like a fantasy straight from 'Goodnight Mr Tom' about urban south londoners stealing themselves to the countryside and the ups and downs it can have an the familial relationships. She describes a somewhat typical childhood, leading to a typical adolescence until she moved to a grammar school out of town, where she decided to rebel against her parents' decision to move her from one school to another, which sounds pretty reasonable for a teenage girl to do when you think about it. She goes on to describe a number of incidences since she left home following an argument with her parents which somehow lead to her entering university onto a course of study which would ultimately lead her to a position as a psychiatric nurse. This interested me, as I am both in university, and have studies psychology at university level.

Her charming description of what would be considered ordinary to most people are actually a rather sweet read as she builds to the finale of her entering the world of stand-up comedy, it really does highlight the idea that a comedian (or comedienne in this case) can come from just about anywhere. A theme of the book does seem to be feminism, which is also a theme of most of her material, which is another reminder of the time she grew up in and reached maturity. Throughout the book Jo mentions several incidents were she was both affected and disaffected by men, and it was of a time during the seventies and eighties were women were just about reaching equality in the social world, while still being some time off in the world of work.

Today, the world of comedy, stand-up in particular, is still a male dominated world, which is a such a shame because it makes things more intimidating for a lot of talented female artists who might otherwise be discouraged. Having said that, it is no walk in the park no matter what the gender, Jo really brings it home how difficult it can be starting on the road of the stand-up, right when the scene was developing a market for the alternative.

For anyone interested in the subjects mentioned, I would recommend this book (which I am sure will soon hit paper-back, and therefore be cheaper) Fantastic non-fiction about a much loved personality and articulated author.