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Monday, 24 December 2012

A Whalley's Christmas Message!


The Film Interpreter's Blog
http://filminterpreter.blogspot.co.uk/

Milanous's Youtube channal
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMilanous
and also....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! 
The Whalley.

Sunday, 23 December 2012

The Whalley Reviews: Spyro The Dragon (Video Games New Looks Finale)

Welcome to the final edition of Video Game New Looks series, and this time we're going to be looking at a series that is very special to me. A game that lit the fire in my heart forever, we're going to be looking at...

 Spyro The Dragon.

What can I say? I'm a big fan of the Spyro games ever sense it came out, hell! I'm such a fan I've got a stuffed toy of him. The game tells the story of a little dragon called Spyro, who lives happily with the other dragons. But after an interview, with a the dragons (no joke.) the reporter asked the evil Gnasty Gnorc, the dragons then describe him as 'not a threat' and 'ugly'. Gnasty Gnorc is apparently watching the interview live on television (How? I don't know!) and is outraged. Gnasty Gnorc then attacks the dragon realms by using a magic spell that traps all the dragons in crystal, except for Spyro, who dodges the spell because of his small size. Now it's up to Spyro to travel all over the Dragon Realms and free all the dragons, after saving them the dragons give you hints and tips, battling bosses and collecting different colored gems. After saving the dragons you finally go off to face Gnasty to beat once and for all! And that's the plot. It's a simple one, but a lovable one. I loved playing this game so much when I was younger. Hell! It reminded me of playing the Crash Bandicoot games, and like those games for the Playstation 1 was bloody good! With many worlds and places to explore and remediable characters like...

Spyro himself, and Sparx the Dragonfly, his best friend who acts like the player's health meter and assists in gathering gems. And also helps Spyro to kill sheep who turn into butterflies, and then Sparx eats them.... Sick....











All the dragons you free along the way are also key characters in Spyro's progression through the game. I won't name any of them because.... There's a load of them!!









Gnasty Gnorc, the main villain of the story, who froze all the dragons of the land in crystal. I will admit this isn't the strongest villain I've ever faced but he is memorable and... MY GOD HIS CHEST IS FUCKING HUGE!!! 













What can I say more? The graphics are brilliant for it's time, the story being a silly one was lovable and enjoyable and the characters really helped it. I just wished they thought about the story more to make the game more interesting and also burning every MOTHER FUCKER YOU SEE WAS FUN!!! HAHAHAHA!.... Sorry. So it's a fun game and should be looked at more.







But wait! There were squeals... That made the stories all the more better!! 

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

The story begins a year after the events of the first game. In the distant, fantasy realm of Avalar, local residents...

Elora, 

Hunter, 

and The Professor 

have been working on their latest and largest portal. During a test of it, Hunter enters his birth date as the portal's target coordinates, inadvertently activating it and allowing a small wizard named Ripto into the realm along with two large and dimwitted monsters, Crush and Gulp. Identifying that the land has no dragons, Ripto declares that he is going to "move in" and take it over; however, Elora is able to de-activate the portal by instructing fairies to remove the orbs powering the portal. As Ripto begins to terrorize Avalar, Elora and the Professor plan to 'catch' a dragon in order to drive Ripto off. And who is this dragon you might ask?... Who else? Spyro! In Artisans (I guess the new name for where dragons live?) have been under rainy weather for some time so Spyro decides he need a vacation, locates a portal to the realm of Dragon Shores. However, after traveling through the portal, he finds himself instead landing in the realm of Avalar by means of a smaller portal, built by Avalar's Professor. Ripto enters the scene and destroys the portal, objecting to how the Professor succeeded in bringing a dragon to the world of Avalar. Ripto is, however, forced to retreat when Gulp accidentally swallows Ripto's magical scepter, and Spyro is asked to help save the realm of Avalar by defeating Ripto. Oh...

The little guy is Ripto and with him are his dimwitted monsters Glup (the green triceratops) and Crush. (the grayish blue with the club)

Oh yes, need I remind everyone of this asshole...

Moneybags... 

I'm not going to lie, I really hated this character! But it's a love and hate relationship I have with him. I love to hate him! You can't go forward without having this guy get in your way and take nearly all the gems you've collected!!! 

*sighs*

Thankfully you get to kick his ass after you've beaten the game.

And now the third squeal to the Spyro series on the PS1...

Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon. 

Oh my god! This is good! 

The game opens with a celebration in the land of the dragons, where Spyro and his kin are celebrating the "Year of the Dragon", an event that occurs every twelve years when new dragon eggs are brought to the realm, and I'm not going to lie They're sooooo CUTE!! During the celebration however, a cloaked rabbit girl named Bianca invades the Dragon Realms with an army of creatures called Rhynocs (rhino men) and steals all of the Dragon eggs, bringing them back to the Sorceress, who scatters the eggs throughout several worlds. The worlds are split up into four realms, all of them are named after a time of the day, and types of geography: Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. You can tell they put a lot of thought into making this game. So it's up to Spyro, along with Sparx and Hunter, and they are sent down a hole to find the thieves and recover the dragon eggs. While pursuing the thief, Spyro discovers a world once inhabited by the dragons, but long abandoned and forgotten. This world is ruled by the Sorceress and her Rhynoc army. Only a few creatures stand and fight against the Sorceress' rule. Spyro learns from one such inhabitant named Sheila the Kangaroo that when the dragons left the realm, the magic of the world began to dry up. Spyro travels through each world in the forgotten realm, acquiring aid from the local inhabitants and rescuing the dragon eggs. I will not spoil anymore about the ending or anything else about this game, it is that good and is my favorite out of the whole series. You get to play as not only Spyro but other characters as well! Including Sparx!!! I won't spoil it anymore by telling you the characters because... well I think it's best for you to play and see for for yourselves I may have already told you about Sheila the Kangaroo but let that slid eh? Also....

Dragons riding a skateboard are AWESOME!!!!

*sighs* Right now that I've talked about the three original classics and I'll skip the other three brilliant games after Year of the Dragon. Mainly because... Well they're just as good as the others really. So lets have a look at What they did next...

 The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning.

It doesn't look half bad, I'll admit Spyro needs a little more work done and his voiced by Elijah Wood! But  it does seem like decent looking game. I can't see this bei....

O_O!

...................................................................................................................

WHAT!? ANOTHER FUCKING REBOOT!!!!!!?????



The Whalley.

Sunday, 16 December 2012

The Whalley Reviews: Hellsing Ultimate. Part One

Welcome to my review and personal tribute to a series which has shocked me, entertained me and also... stolen my heart. So, lets not waist anymore time and get down to review and tribute...

Hellsing Ultimate.
"The Bird of the Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame."
Alucard.

Right before I begin, I must address something... This anime is really, really gory, violent and very, very sick! And also a bit of dark humor. So if you want to read this, see the pictures or watch the video clips I wish you luck, but... if your do not like those sort of things... well....
You have been warned!

OK how do I put this.... THIS ANIME IS FUCKING AWESOME!!! I have never seen such a dark, sick and deep anime story in ages!!! My god! Right the plot is very simple, A vampire vs Nazi. THAT'S IT! I'm not joking that is really what the main plot is!! BEST PLOT EVER!!!! Now to the characters! But before I do I'm going to go backwards with them because I think the best ones, should be saved for last...

So let's start of with the main villains of the series... The Millennium (Nazi) members.

Let's start with a character that is very curious indeed, The Captain. This guy is a very interesting character because, one he doesn't talk... At all, and two he's a werewolf. That's it! That's all we know about him, so far. I'm pretty surprised that a character who says nothing in the whole anime/manga and is very popular character. Also like two other characters in the series, he is Millennium's trump card. A werewolf is a Nazi's trump card... huh... nice tough.

 Next up is, First Lieutenant Tubalcain Alhamba, also know as 'The Dandy Man'. This guy is sadly only around for one episode in the Ultimate series, but like a lot of characters in the series leaves a very lasting impression. This guy's only weapon are razor-sharp cards, so... yeah never play a game of card game or you'll activate his trap card! HAHA!... Yeah that was silly. He very cool but arrogant, often understanding others powers and overestimating his own.
Now with have one of the Valentine brothers, Luke Valentine. This guy the more calmer and the smarter one of the brothers, Luke also fancies himself as Alucard's demise believing that because of his relatively advanced powers that he was destined to surpass Alucard in every way. He is in fact a very powerful foe with quick reflexes, speed and shape-shifting into other people. He is also very skilled with a dagger blade in combat and is a sharp shooter with his Walther PPK.

Now on to Jan Valentine, and I'm not going to lie... THIS GUY IS KICK ASS AND STEALS THE SHOW! Sadly it's only one episode, but hey... He does it with style. Jan is vulgular, rude and one of the most foul-mouthed characters in the show, constantly spewing profanity at others and making volatile comments about them. He is also perhaps the most obnoxious, given the fact that he's often loud when he speaks and laughs quite often, even in the face of defeat or death. Unlike his brother, Jan appears to not truly be pleased unless he is enjoying himself by causing chaos and destruction. 

Next up, First Lieutenant Zorin Blitz. A tall, massively muscled female vampire, who is part of Millennium's elite Werewolf force. She is the commander of one of Millennium's zeppelin forces, and a formidable fighter, wielding a giant scythe with enough force to cut a man in half. On one side of her body, she is covered with tattoos, which include some designs but are mostly letters; when exercising her power of illusion, they flow from her body onto the walls and ground around her, extending her influence over the area. Also... WHAT THE FUCK UP WITH ONE OF HER EYES!? Jeez!! She also has it out for one the main characters because.... I don't know better figure I guess.

Also on Millennium's elite Werewolf force is First Lieutenant Rip Van Winkle. This girl is... just odd. She uses special bullets from a long-barreled flintlock musket which can track targets of their own accord, and are seemingly armor-piercing. Her "magic bullets" (Yes magic even plays in this anime) are even able to change their trajectories in mid-flight and repeatedly hit a target before disintegrating. Her personalty is that of a merciless and ruthless child, and one you wouldn't want to invite to your birthday party kids.

 Now here a very creative and creepy character, meet Warrant Officer Schrödinger. As you can see he is a cat-boy (Werewolf would be the military unit he serves in), and was created by the character Doc. He has the form of a young boy, with cat ears and a perpetual smirk, dressing in a Hitler Youth uniform. Usually found sitting underneath the Major's seat like a pet, he acts as an envoy for Millennium. Schrodinger is able to appear and reappear and has the ability to regenerate himself if he is somehow killed. He has a fun and childish manner, taking only his destined role in all seriousness. And by god what a destiny he HAS! O_O!

Now we meet Millennium's top scientist, The Doctor. Not Doctor Who thank god! He is a learned man of multiple science fields, his genius resulted in the creation of many of their projects. Perhaps unstable, certainly eccentric, but undeniably brilliant, it was his research that led to the birth of a Nazi vampire army out of 1,000 volunteers in the 'Letztes Battalion'. Doc usually appeared dressed in a perpetually bloodstained white lab coat, an unusual shirt which reveals his lower torso, and glasses with an assortment of adjustable, multilensed spectacles. And believe me I thought his glasses where fucked up! Also he has some funny moments with Schrödinger in the series, look out for them.

And now finally the leader of Millennium, and quite possibly one of the most the most fucked up Nazi character ever!!! Please give a warm welcome to...

The Major.

Oh my god, what a fucked up guy this is! AND HE'S HUMAN!!.... Well sort of. (I won't spoil it for you guys.)  A former SS officer, once in charge of the Nazi experiments with vampires, until the operation was attacked by a young Walter (butler to Hellsing) and Alucard (main anti-hero) in 1944. He led the Letztes Bataillon (Last Battalion in case I've mentioned it and no one got it) in his attempts to wreak unending war. The Major's psychopathic demeanor, ruthlessly seeking a venue for his own maniacal desire for war and a glorious death, was often masked behind a veneer of smiling complacence, behind which he serenely watched as his own grand design continued in its march to oblivion. 

This character scares me, more then the main character does. This guy just wants to bring death and an unending war to the world. I could talk about him for ages because... my god! I am fucking terrified of this character! God help us if their is a man or woman like him out there... O_O! We'd be fucked!

So that's the first part of my review and personal tribute to Hellsing Ultimate. But don't think this is over, oh no! We are far for over!! Join me next time when we take a look at the heroes (or anti-heroes) of this series.

"My friends, it has often been said that I like war. My friends, I like war... No, friends, I love war! I love holocausts. I love blitzkriegs. I love defensive lines. I love sieges, charges, I love mop-up operations, and retreats."
The Major.
(The speech/monologue he has is too long! Full speech below)

The Whalley.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

The Whalley Reviews: Castlevania Lords of Shadow. (Video Games New Looks!)

Here it is the final of my Castlevania reviews apart of (Video Games New Looks) series, but now that we've had a brief history lesson on the Castlevania games but don't worry, I will get round to the other Castlevania games one day but for now, it's time. So let's get our whips rea....

Oh.... ummmm.... *looks around the room* The fuck is this? 


Combat Cross.

A Combat Cross?...

OK... Is it some kind of sword?...

O_O!
Oh you've got to be kidding me! That's a whip!? Holy Shit!

*clears throat*

OK, At least we can play the game with no other worries right?...

Right?....

So anyway... Let's get right done to the next of many squeals...

What?... 

 .....

It's.... a .... reboot...?

IT'S A FUCKING REBOOT!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

..............................................................................................................

OK... OK, *takes a deep breath* I can't believe they've done this. Not that rebooting your series isn't a good idea at times, but... WHY CASTLEVANIA!?!? I mean sure, we've a lot of weird and bad games with the series but why reboot it? Did you need to be rebooted? OK could somebody tell me, please! TELL ME!!!! *tries to calm down* Right... Moving on! Let's get down and review...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows.

Right to start off the game looks and feels promising, the graphics are brilliant, both sound and music are really good and the game-play is really, really appealing. You really feel like your in control with your character and his.... whip. It also in some way makes you feel like your playing Super Castlevania 4! So that's saying something! Now we meet our main character, thankfully he is a Belmont.
Gabriel Belmont
voiced by
Robert Carlyle.

I've got to say as well, religion never looked more badass! he's been sent on a mission by the Brotherhood of Light to the Lake of Oblivion. (cor! what a mouth full!) Where his deceased wife, Marie, tells him that the spirits who founded the Brotherhood has the power of the Lords of Shadow will save the world. As he travels a fellow member of the Brotherhood Zobek, who is surprisingly voiced by Sir Patrick Stewart. Anyway Zobek helps Gabriel on his quest in a hope to not only bring his wife back, but to end the madness once and for all. Now before I continue I will say something first, I haven't played this game all the way through mainly because from what I've been told, it's a very long game and therefore it'll take a long time for me to talk about it. So I'm going to be cheating a little bit and also...

Spoiler Warning!

When you see that, you can 1)stay and read, 2) go and read another review or one of mine or 3) put a pot on your head until the nasty man stops talking... wait.... You can't hear me.... yet..... Just ignore the third and carry on reading if you dare. You have been warned.

Right he's been told to go and defeat the Lords of Shadow, and get a mask called the Gold Mask. -_-' Very original... Sadly the mask is in three pieces (or two.. not sure) so he must beat three Lords of Shadow. I've maybe got that wrong and all.

HA!

Now then, the game is as I've said before very fluent and for the second time in a Castlevania game I really do feel in control of my character's jump, whip and movement. I was shocked by the artwork for the game, and the attention to detail in brilliant, and really gives you the feel that your in the dark ages.




The overall world is huge! I really feel like I'm on a journey to destroy the evils of the world, and again the details in the game is just fantastic. 







Now I know I've kind of dissed Gabriel's whip but the fight in this game are very good, but at times I found myself being a little annoyed by the button pushing system and nearly all the fights have this so... Yeah I kept shouting at the screen a few times, but thankfully not that much.





The boss battles are very good, and when they are tough, they ARE tough to beat. I really did feel challenged and frustrated when I failed, but you don't feel frustrated enough to make you stop playing.





It's also a platforming game with many puzzles to solve in it, I feel that the developers where paying tribute the original games, I will say this for the game for all the good things for it, there are the bad. Like the puzzle, now I know the puzzles in the game ain't all that difficult, but they're not all that challenging or difficult. I never felt challenged with the puzzles at all. At times too because the control is very fluent, it at times I felt I was playing it on easy. But so, for from that I haven't found anything els....

     O_O!

Your... kidding......right?.....

They've ripped of....

Shadow of the Colossus!!!

......................................................

Well.....

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow....

F*** you!!!!!!!!

...............................................

*Sighs*

Well... I will say in it's defense... after that game came out, a lot of other games where using the same idea. So in true I really can't be mad at this Castlevania game, but they could of done better by making it like Gabriel was on a platform or something and nearer it's head. But when fighting the giant it not only felt it, but the game-play is the SAME as Shadow of the Colossus!!!! *sighs frustrated* Anyway...

Overall the game isn't terrible and is a very good addiction to the Castlevania series, I'm a little confused as to why it's a reboot. But the game makes up for it with, good graphics, game-play, fluent control, great story as far as I've got and the music and artwork is excessive. Also the voice casting is brilliant with Sir Patrick Stewart, Robert Carlyle and Jason Isaacs!

What a cast eh?!

So that's my review of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and I hope you've enjoyed it. Next week is my final addition to Video Games New Looks series, and this time... it's personal!!!

Join me next week as we take a look at...

Spyro The Dragon series.

The Whalley.    

Saturday, 8 December 2012

The Whalley Reviews: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger! (Super Hero Time!)

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger!

Welcome to my personal tribute to possibly one of the greatest shows and series of all time. Now before I begin I must address this first. Yes to any of you who live in Europe or America who have never heard of this series, this is Power Rangers but it's called Super Sentai in Japan, and this series is celebrating Super Sentai's 35th anniversary! The plot is after the previous Super Sentai teams defeated an evil space empire called Zangyack, by sacrificing their powers to defeat the invading fleet. Sadly their victory was short lived, Zangyack sent another invading force lead by the emperor's son...

Commander Warz Gills.

Accompanying Warz Gills are three commanders, first the elite soldier

Chief of Staff Damarasu or Damaras,

second the scientist
Development Technical Officer Insarn (by the way Insarn is female),

and and finally the mysterious 
Special Duty Officer Barizorg.

 Just when they were about to invade the Earth once more, they are interrupted by the space pirates...

Gokaiger! 

And yes that is their ship, and it's their zord too. Lead by probably the coolest Red Ranger leader ever! Goki Red...

   Captain Marvelous.
played by
Ryota Ozawa.
And I'm not joking, THAT'S his name! Marvelous! He's brash and very cocky but has a very soft heart. And he really does give the saying...
I rest my case.

Accompanying him, are his trusty crew his second in command (first mate) the Goki Blue...
 Joe Gibken
played by
Yuki Yamada.
Calm and very loyal to his crew, and at times you wonder if he does care for his crew mates. But he's willing to fight to the bitter end to help his crew. Also to note on Joe, he's a very good swordsmen, so good he can wield five swords at the same time! Holy shit this guy good! Now let's get down to the hot stuff..... I MEAN! .... the next Ranger.... hehe.... Goki Yellow....
Luka Millfy
played by
Mao Ichimichi.
A tomboyish girl and also the ships lookout. She also loves treasure, money, shiny expensive things, etc. You get it, and she'll do anything to get what she wants... I mean... anything.....
   O_O
........
Oh my....
O_O!!!
*nose bleeds*
I love episode 6....
*blushes* ..........Moving on..... time for Goki Green....
Don "Doc" Dogoier
played by
Kazuki Shimizu.
The ships often timid mechanic and cook. This guy is weird... I mean it Don is weird, but funny weird. In my opinion I think he doesn't know how to fight, so he takes the Jackie Chan way by using things around him to his advantage. He even uses a branch! Come on! If that's not Jackie Chan style of fighting I don't know what is! (even tho I do.) On to the pretty face of the crew and we are dealing with a real princess here... Goki Pink.
Ahim de Famille
played by
Yui Koike.
A princess from another world, but was destroyed by the Zangyack army, and is new to pirating. Out of all the Gokaiger's she is well-mannered and polite, she is also gentle and more kind hearted then her other crew mates, she is also there to make peace in case the others get into a fight. At first when she join, she was pretty much useless, but after training for a good while she was able to hold her own against any enemy. Oh and don't let that cute face fool you, she is very deadly when she wants to end a fight. I mean she also tricks the enemy with....
Cosplaying... 
 A schoolgirl, nurse, policewoman, newly wedded wife and... Abare Pink? WHAT THE HELL! She's hot! But don't let those get to you because... well, you'll die. No joke. So finally we come to our final Gokaiger, GOOOOKI Silver!

Gai Ikari
played by
Junya Ikeda.
OK I love this guy (no pun intended), he's just so fucking crazy! He's the only Earthling in the crew and a big Super Sentai fan-boy so he has a vast knowledge about the previous teams. He got his powers, after being injured by a truck while saving a little girl from being hit. While he was recovering he has a dream where he meets three of the Sixth Rangers who have died during battle, Mikoto Nakadai (Abare Killer), Time Ranger (Naoto Takizawa) and Dragon Ranger (Burai). They give him the power to become Goki Silver and fight against the Zangyack, but at first Marvelous doesn't let him join. After proving himself in a fight without his powers, Gai joins the Gokaigers and joins their fight to find the greatest treasure in the universe. He also has a strange power to use his imagination to not only fuse Ranger Keys but also fuse all sixth heroes together for him to become Goki Silver Gold Mode. Oh he also like a lot of Sixth Rangers has his own personal Zord too. 


Along their adventures they meet some of the previous Super Sentai teams who at first test them, and after meeting their approval gain they Ranger powers. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, they can transform into all the 34 previous Super Sentai teams and use their powers. 
   All 34 Super Sentai's Powers!

So... yep you've guessed it...

They can even transform into the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, or to give their Japanese name Kyouryuu Sentai ZyuRanger.
And yes your eyes are not deceiving you, for the first time, the Yellow Ranger got a skirt on. I think it was a little hidden message to the creators of Power Rangers saying, "You could of done this, but NOPE! We have to do it ourselves!" So yeah.... Anyway, This series is really, really good! And for Sentai fans or Ranger fans this will make your day because no matter what episode you're granted to see at least your favorite Rangers or Sentai in this. Oh yeah I forgot to mention another character and you'll just love to hate him.
Basco Ta Jolokia 
He is a privateer sent to Earth by the Zangyack Empire, who travels with his space monkey Sally. He is known to be an old rival of Captain Marvelous, who affectionately calls him "Mabe-chan" And this guy IS just as badass as Marvelous! I'm not joking, you'll have to watch it to believe me. 
Oh by the way...
  This is Sally.
CUTE!
Basco also has a set of Ranger Keys which he uses in a trumpet-like device to summon past Sentai heroes, particularly the sixth members of the previous Sentai groups. But along the way the Gokaiger's get them back. Oh I also forgot that last picture of him up there (Not Sally the guy with the hat!) That isn't his true form...
THIS IS HIS TRUE FORM!!
And oh my god, he is ridiculously powerful! He even able to walk through all the Gokaigers with one move! Jeez!... this guy is good. He is also after the greatest treasure in the universe too, and now we get the point of "what is the greatest treasure in the universe?" Well.... (Spoiler Warning!!!)
It's the Triforce of Power!

(Insert Legend of Zelda joke here)

And that concludes my personal tribute to Super Sentai's Gokaiger. A brilliant series full of fan services, guest stars and all around nostalgia. A series I really do recommend to anyone who is a fan to both Sentai and Power Ranger fans alike, because believe me... You'll love it! 

Join me next time on Super Hero Time when we take a look at...

Kamen Rider W.

So... 

"Let's make it showy!" 
Captain Marvelous.

The Whalley.