Google Pixel 2 - Review!

Hey guys, here is the Google Pixel 2 review I promised a few weeks ago! (look at me, actually doing what I said I would!!)

Long story short, I did have the iPhone 6S, when iOS 11 came out, it couldn't cope. I traded this phone in and got the Huawei p10 lite. This was just a replacement to get me to the end of my contract in February 2018.
I have been a BIG apple product fan for the last few years. I LOVED my iPhone 6s and was gutted when it packed up on me. I know I personally have never gotten on with Samsung phones. I break things too easily, and Samsung phones seem to have a lot you can do on it, which means there it a lot of things I can break! So February was coming up, and I had no idea what phone I wanted to get. There was NO way I could afford the iPhone 8 or iPhone X on contract! And for the sanity of everyone else around me, Samsung wasn't an option.
My boyfriend thankfully works in a high street phone shop. He got the Google pixel 2 XL and well that's when I realised how GREAT this phone is.

I'm big on phone cameras. This is one of the most important part of the phone for me. The GP (Google pixel for short) has an 8mp front facing camera and a 12mp rear camera. Now you're probably thinking "well so does most phones, what is so special about that?" WELL let the images speak for themselves. Here are the original pictures taken on my GP (no edit on snapseed. straight from Google Photos)

The two cat pictures are both taken with "portrait" mode on. This helps to pick up faces and blur out the background to focus more on that person/object. The picture of the trees is just straight taken, no portrait mode. I just aimed and shot the picture.
The last two are push focused. I taped onto the image I wanted to focus (eg the Nintendo Switch control, or the plant) and it blurs the background! This makes for some interesting photos! Another great thing is, that you can take thousands of photos and it wont interfere with your storage because it all backs up to Google Photos! I've been using Google Photos since roughly 2016, and I have used 0.27GB of 15GB!!! If for some reason you have filled all that up, they do 100GB for I think its £16 a year! That is some great price! Once your pictures are backed up to Google Photos, it then asks if you'd like to free up space on your phone. This is their way of keeping the storage down!

The GP2 runs on android and is currently on android Oreo (8.0) which to this date (March 2018) is the most current operating system.
I've had this phone, coming up a month now and I haven't come across any problems. I've had no apps crash on me, turn off or anything that can sometimes happen.

The battery is amazing. You can do a full day without needing it to charge, and that is without power saving mode on. Although in the advert I saw it says "charge your phone in 15 mins" I haven't personally figured out how to do that, it might just be a GP XL thing, or I'm just being a numpty!
But using the Google Charger that comes with iit does charge pretty quick! I would say roughly an hour n half maybe. (could be less, never really timed it)

The only downfall I have, which is a downfall more on myself than the phone, is that there is no separate headphone jack. It's all done via the USB C port. The phone comes with a USB C to headphone jack cable, but I tend to forget this.
Fun fact, I forgot my headphones one day, went into Poundland, got myself a cheap pair of headphones, went to plug them in and went "oh yeah". COMPLETETLY forgot there was no jack,
This is a simple thing though, either remember the cable OR buy some wireless or Bluetooth headphones.

Something I have learnt the hard way as well is, if you do plan on getting this phone, don't cheap out and get a cheap screen protector from Ebay. I wasn't going to pay £20 for a screen protector. Got a cheap one on Ebay and it didn't even fit the screen! And it turns out a lot of the cheap ones are like this. Because of this, I got the £20 glass protector, and I am happy with it, its a sturdy protector that doesn't effect the screens brightness like some of them do. (Link to the one I got)

Google Assist is pretty cool too. You can set it up so all you have to do is say "ok google" and even if your phone is locked, it will start up the assist. You can even ask google to unlock your phone for you too! The connection between the Google Phone and the Google home is really good. I have the Google home Mini and it connects almost instantly when it comes to broadcasting from the phone to the mini. Although I don't use the mini all too often, it is a great device to stream your music from your phone.

I find this phone 5" of amazing technology and would recommend this phone to anyone who wants a "change" or doesn't know what they're looking for. This phone is a perfect all round phone.

If you have any more questions about this phone, or would like anymore information about it, please feel free to message me in the comments, or contact me on my social media! I will be more than willing to help!

Until next time guys.

x

Call of Duty WW2 Private Beta Review!

So it's that time of the year again, where another Call of Duty game comes out.
These games are very much like marmite; you either love them, or hate them. And unfortunately the last few games, I have hated them.
My dad has always got every Call of Duty game, since the Xbox 360 days. Because he pre-ordered this new one, he was able to get the private beta for this CoD. I was very sceptical about this game, especially seeing as Battlefield released a WW1 game last year. I was expecting it to be very similar, and I was dreading them bloody exo-suits.

But do you want to know the best part about this game?
NO EXO-SUITS AND DOUBLE JUMPING!!! Yes you've heard me right, Activision has listened, and we have a normal Call of Duty first person shooter again! Just this itself if a relief to a lot of people.
I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the exo-suits to begin with, but after a while and like 200 games later (bit of an exaggeration) it became boring and actually very frustrating at times, when people would jump over you to kill you. - the rage was real!

It's safe to say, for someone who plays a lot of first person shooters, I am still TERRIBLE at them. You can count on me getting killed left, right, centre and defiantly from behind! Normally I cannot play a first person shooter game for longer than an hour without getting full on rage quit and another anger to murder a small village.
This beta I can safely say I spent over an hour playing this morning, with NO RAGE. I mean there was plenty of swearing; but is it a first person shooter if you're not swearing at the TV screen at people you've never met before?

Because it is a beta, you do get a limited amount of guns and maps to play. Although this can be a bad thing, because it gets repetitive. BUT It's a great way of getting used to the new guns, as figuring out which guns you like to use. The guns are obviously all based around WW2, so they are different to past Call of Duty weapons; which if you're not used to from playing old Call of Duty's or Battlefeild 1, it can be a bit hard finding the right gun. So only having one map, and a selection of guns to play with, means you can get used to this.

Obviously you're always going to have that one idiot that shouts abuse down the mic. But thankfully with my time playing I didn't notice much abuse. But if that does annoy you; just mute them.

I may or may not have found a problem though. Now I contacted Activision about this and they say it's my internet connection, but everything else runs smoothly. Every now and then, my own team mates would almost "jolt" forward. So when your team mates are running forward, instead of seeing them run to a spot, occasionally they would just "jolt" to that spot. (A lot like Flash from DC)  I mean this may or may not be an internet thing; but it wasn't every game and wasn't continuous, like how a normal poor connection is.

I won't lie though, I've always preferred Call of Duty to Battlefield, but because of the Exo-Suits, I stopped playing them. But with how this Beta has been, I am very much considering trading my Battlefield 1 in and pre- ordering this Call of Duty.

HOPEFULLY there will be no download content that makes Exo-Suits come into it! And although zombies terrify me, I am looking forward to the possibility of the Zombie levels, especially if it is set in the WW2 times!

If Acitivision make an Open Beta between now and the release date I would very recommend you download it and give it ago yourself. This is the best part of Beta's because the game itself can become very expensive; especially if you're unsure if you will like it or not. So without a doubt, if there is an Open Beta - download it and have a go. If not, wait till the game comes out and watch people play it on YouTube, Twitch etc.

So this is my small review on the small amount I have played on the Private Beta. If they do not change anything from the beta (apart from possible glitches etc) I believe it will be a great war game!

until next time guys x

KODAK PIXPRO AZ401 - Perfect beginners camera.

Guess who got a new camera!!
I've really wanted to get back into photography, so after doing some research, I thought "why not" and purchased it!
This post will be a review on the pixpro as well as why I believe its the perfect beginners camera!

Now I'm no expert in photography. I am still learning a lot of techniques and how to use a camera correctly.
When I signed up to do Alevel photography in my sixth form, I assumed that we would learn how to use the functions of a camera; because although there are different types and makes of camera, I thought they'd teach you how to shoot using manual, and what all the settings mean.
Yeah no. They didn't. All I remember is having certain "theme's" to take pictures on, research on photographers I never heard off and a bit of work in the dark room. (which I did once. Small spaces + dark room + anxiety = a big NOPE)
I cannot remember what camera I had, I have a feeling it was a bridge camera, but I can't be 100%. But because I was never really taught how to use a camera, I just "pointed and clicked" Well that wasn't too brill. I have no physical copy of my photography work; but after searching through my facebook I found a picture I took.

I MEAN LOOK - THE BLACKBERRIES ARE OUT OF FOCUS! I had no idea how to focus onto a certain point. So the berries are out of focus, but the leaves are looking sharp AF!
Looking back now, I have no idea how  I got a C for my course and exam work (the examiner who marked it is my bae, and I would hug them if I knew who it was) But all I ever go told in my lesson was basically my work is shit. (I mean she couldn't physically say shit, but she was thinking it) So once I decided that I hated sixth form and I was leaving, I sold the camera.

Fast forward to last year when  I got back into photography I borrowed my boyfriends Canon EOS. This was my first time ever using a DSLR. And I still to this day have no idea how to use one properly!

Now I wanted to get serious and actually learn, but for that I needed my own camera. To begin with I looked at the Sony a5000. It is an AMAZING DSLR camera. Compact size which would be perfect for what I want. But after talking to family about that it might be a bit too "complicated" to begin with (especially at around 300+ for just the camera) I decided to go look at bridge cameras.
Like I said, I'm no expert, so I could be wrong, but I still bridge cameras as the "middle camera" So for example you get the small click n shoot camera that you can pick up for £40+, then you have the bridge cameras, which start to do more technical side of photography, such as altering the settings, which range from £100+. Then you have DSLR with have changeable lens, different settings etc, which range from £300+

I got the Kodak PixPro AZ401 for £99 on offer (normally £150) which is a bargain, but even full price is a reasonable price to pay for a starter camera.
I believe this is a perfecter starter camera because everything is simple. Everything is laid out so you know what is what. On the dial at the top, everything is clear.
I'm still using "auto" settings at the moment until I get used to it, but from what I've seen and played around with on the shop display version (no way I'm breaking my own) the change the ios and F/s on Manual is a simple use of the arrows on either going left or right to change from ios etc or up and down to change the no on the settings.
What I also like about this camera, is there are a lot of different programmed settings, for example they have settings designed for pets, sunsets, fireworks etc. This is perfect if you do not know yourself the best settings to use on manual and an event is coming up and you don't have time to practice. You can put it on firework mode and should be able to take pictures of fireworks straight away.
Here are a few of the "important" specs
- has 40x optical zoom 160x didgital zoom
- takes from 4GB to a 32GB SD card
- built in flash
-  weatherproof
- does NOT shoot in raw
- runs on x4 AA batteries
- USB & HDMI ports

I've only had my camera a couple of days, but I've be able go out and play about. These photos have been taken either on auto mode, or on "sunset" setting.

This photo of the church is taken on the maximum 40X zoom. I will add a previous picture taken without a zoom, and then the second picture will be on the zoom.

So far I have nothing negative to say about this camera. Apart from you cannot shoot in RAW. Which for me is ok, because I only ever alter colours and sharpness. But if you like to manipulate your pictures, add moons and other stuff, this can be a problem.

Like I said, I've only had it for a couple of days, I don't have much knowledge about shooting on manual to know how well that works, but I've done a little glancing and it looks straight and simple.

I have set up my own photography instagram. I have linked it in the column on the right. or it is @t.may.photography. I will be posting more pictures from using this camera!
i'll keep you all posted!

Until next time!

PNY 4-IN-1 Lens Kit - REVIEW

Hi all!
Hope you're all well!
Today I am doing a review on the PNY 4 in 1 Lens Kit for Smartphone! I will let you guys know all the tech side of things, my personal experience of the lens kit, pros and cons, as well as photos taken using the lens kit!

So what is it? 
The PNY 4 in 1 lens kit is what it says, 4 lenses in 1 kit! In the kit, you get x1 Super Wide lens (0.4x), x1 Fisheye lens (180) , x1 Wide lens (0.67x) and x1 Macro Lens. It also comes with a nice protective carry case and lens covers to protect the glass. It's a very small case and is the ideal size to take around with you. The way this works is that each lens are attached to the mounting plate via magnets. It clicks onto the slot and then you clasp it onto your phone over the camera, whether it is the front facing or rear! It's very simple to do, and easy to take apart. Because the lenses feel so heavy and well made, you don't feel like you're going to break the lenses when taking them off the mounting plate.
I will let you all know though, if you're like me and don't read the instructions. The wide angle lens and the macro lens are screwed together! You use the wide and macro together to get the "normal" wide lens. But you can also screw it apart and the macro will come off to be able to be used on its own! This is actually a very neat way to create less space!

The price....

Now I am very lucky and I found my PNY lens kit on eBay for £8.99 which is a bargain! Having a look through the internet, it looks like this lens kit RRP is £35.99. But have seen it on offer for around £25.00 on places such as Amazon.

Obviously there are many brands out there that have their own version of this device, and some are a lot cheaper. But without a doubt, I would pay the £25 I've seen it for on Amazon. This device was recommended to me. So I knew it must be good to have someone I know recommend it. I wont lie, I went on eBay and I saw a lens kit for £3.99! But I very much doubt it will feel as well made, heavy and secure as this lens kit does!

Although the price is higher than some other lens kits. I would still recommend this kit, even if you have to say up for it, 

Photos 

The main reason  I bought this lens kit was for the Macro. I LOVE Macro photos. I currently have an iPhone 6S and macro on that phone is non-existent!

I've mainly used the macro lens, but I have played about with the fisheye and the super wide lens.

All these photos have been taken using my iPhone 6S, with a few touch ups using the Snapseed app. All I ever do to my photos is "tune them" (brightness, contrast, warmth etc) and "detail" them (boosting the structure so it sharpens the image) 

Like I said. I have not physically changed any of the photos, I've just boosted the already there colours and made them sharper so for example you can see the bee's and fly's wings a lot clearer. 

Just like my old posts about my photography.  I don't really know what I'm doing, or much terminology for photography. With not much help in my Alevel's I've pretty much taught myself, with the help of a few friends! 

If you look at these pictures and think "I'll never be able to take pictures like this" You can. I promise you, you can! I chased that bumble bee around my garden for almost 10 mins, I took LOADS of him, but only 2 came out. But because I was patient I got there in the end. 

I hate this saying "practice makes perfect" but it is honestly so true. I'm no professional with fancy dancy camera set up. I have an iPhone on contact, a lens kit I got from ebay and a free photo editing app (snapseed ... 10/10 I would recommend) 

Now for the pro's and cons. 

Cons 

• It can be a bit pricey if you don't have that type of money. 
• You can occasionally get little light blobs on your pictures. This may not be the lens fault, might be a me thing. But if you don't like that type of thing, it can be annoying. 
• Another problem I seem to have found is, that it will work with my iPhone, but not with a family members Samsung Galaxy S6. I do not know if this is just human error. But the camera just doesn't seem to focus with any of the lens on. - So keep this is mind if you do have a Samsung, and maybe do a bit more research, just incase. It does say on the box for iPhone, windows and Android. 

Pros 

• Easily portable. Can fit in any bag or possibly a pocket. 
• Very simple to use. 
• Feels very sturdy and heavy. 

I hope this review will help you. And if you have any other questions about this review, please feel free to leave a comment below, tweet me or message me on Instagram. My links to my social media are on the right of this page! 

Until next time guys! 

x 

Nintendo Switch!

About a month ago; I caved in and got myself a Nintendo Switch!
I've been a fan of Nintendo since the Gameboy Advance days. I've had nearly everyone of their consoles from the Gameboy era, apart from the Wii U.
To begin with, I didn't know much about the Switch, apart from it was Nintendo's new toy being released in March 2017. I hadn't been excited for it, didn't pre order it or even consider wanting one. Not being a big fan of the Wii U; I didn't think I'd like the Switch.
So the Switch came out in March, and I cannot believe the demand for the product! So much so, shops were sold out within days. At one point, there was not one store on the Isle of Wight who had a Switch in stock!

At this time; my boyfriend just got paid and decided to get one. After watching him play a couple of times, I had a go. At first I wasn't really comfortable with the game. Because of my Dyspraxia and social anxiety, I find it hard to play video games in front of people, especially games I haven't played before. So I wasn't getting into the Switch or Zelda, and didn't really see what the hype was about.

Well then I got to borrow my boyfriend's Switch and got to play it in my own time. And well the rest was history. I LOVED it. Not only did I enjoy Zelda, but I enjoyed the console itself! The idea of being able to play on the TV an instantly swap to hand held; it is the perfect device for me! I wont lie, to begin with the size of the console when handheld did throw me a little. I'm used to the size of a 3DS XL, I struggled to find a comfortable position to begin with on how to hold the device and how t sit with it etc. But after a while, that wore off and I can now play it lying down in bed (until the day I drop it on my head; that is going to hurt!)

  I can honestly say, I have never played on a console as much as i have with a switch in the space of a month!  I got my switch on May 13th. It is now June 12th, I have played over 30 hours on Zelda, over 10 hours on Tetris/PuyoPuyo and over 5 hours on Mario Kart.

Now; I'm going to make a confession,

I've never really played a Zelda game before Breath of the Wind. I knew about the games, I knew the difference between Link and Zelda, but I never really played, or attempting to play the games. Once my boyfriend got breath of the wild, I thought I'd give a 3DS Zelda game ago. I can see why the game franchise is so well loved. Although I enjoyed the 3DS games I tried; it wasn't holding me like Breath of the Wild. 

That's when I thought "stuff it" I want one. And oh am I glad I did! 

Before I purchased mine, I heard a lot of problems with the joycons becoming wobbly and the back of the Switch expanding because of the heat form the fans. I've been checking mine pretty much every day and I haven't had any problem yet. 

I personally cannot tell a difference in graphics or display time when it comes to being on or off the dock, Mine can sometimes take away for it to pick up its in the dock, but that's my TV not the switch. I have had no problems with lag from being in dock and out of dock. I also haven't hand much problem with the battery life of the Switch and Joycons. in this last month, I've only had one message come up telling me the joy cons are low on battery and that is because I was playing too much with the Switch in dock, so there was no charge going to the joy cons. 

I don't have a pro controller, because personally I don't feel I need one. But my boyfriend has, and oh it is sexy to hold. I think that switch pro controller can win the battle of "Which controller is better to hold" plus the battery life is epic! so much so, I don't think my boyfriend has had to charge his since the day he got it, which is well over a month ago! 

The one advice I would give, which will probably be the same with anybody else who has a switch and that is PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put a screen protector on your Switch. The docking station is just plastic, you do not want to spend £280 on this beautiful device and accidentally scratch the screen by inserting and removing the Switch from the dock! A lot of accessory packs come with a screen protector, but I know you can get some from £7.99 at Game, or probably even Ebay! Just please, put one on. I've seen so many clips on YouTube and Instagram of there screens scratched because they didn't think they needed a protector! 

So if you're considering getting a Nintendo Switch, here are my pro's and cons. 

Pro's 

• Easily portable. Can take it on holiday, shopping trips or just around a friends house. 
• Online membership is currently FREE until 2018; and a years membership will be around £20
• Has parent control. 
• Reasonable price for a console 
• Easy for two players to play + lots of two player games available. 
• Simple to set up. 
• Not very heavy 

Con's 

• Currently no cloud back up. All save data saves onto the device, so if the device breaks you lose your data. 
• WiFi strength isn't fantastic. 
• Not many games out - at the moment. 
• Although not very heavy, can be hard to carry around, unless you have a bag big enough. 
• The dock can scratch the screen unless protected with a screen protector. 

If you have any questions about the Switch, or would like to know a little more about it! Please feel free to contact me in the comments below, or via Twitter and Instagram @touee! (link to your left)

Take care! 

x 

FitBit Alta - Review

(All pictures taken from Fitbit Website)

Hey guys; hope you're all well!
I am what you would call a couch potato. Although I walk to my local town (approx 15/20mins) nearly every day, I don't really do that much exercise. As I've not been working this last year; my activity level has dropped and my eating bad food level has risen. Because of this, I have gained a few, if not many unwanted and unwelcome pounds.

My boyfriend lent/gave/let me borrow/ let me keep his Fitbit Flex, because he didn't use it much and I was interested in the devise. I'd say this was roughly a year ago, maybe longer, maybe not. I have on and off used the Fitbit Flex going through stages of wearing it everyday, to stages where I forgot I even owned one.
But because I've put so much weight on and have noticed it the last couple of months, I wiped the dust off the Fitbit Flex and started using it properly.

Around the same time, I was looking into getting a smart watch. I didn't have a spare £300 for an Apple Watch, so was looking around at other brand. This is when the Fitbit website came up.

As you can see from this picture; there was a few to choose from! Thankfully on the Fitbit website you can do comparisons. I picked the three that I thought would suit me the most which were the Fitbit Alta, Fitbit HR and Fitbit Blaze. After comparing the device and my budget; the Alta won.

I have had my Fitbit Alta now for 3 days and I love it.
It is heavier than I expected; but once I put it on my wrist; I couldn't feel the weight. I ordered mine in small, and there is plenty of room for my wrist size to adjust.

When setting up my fitbit it took roughly about 30 mins to fully set up. This was mainly so that the Fitbit could update to be used. Once all synced to my phone via the app, I was up and ready to go to customise how I wanted the Alta. You can change the clock face from Horizontal to Vertical, add notifcations for you to move, receive  a message when you get texts, calls and calendar reminders.

There are no buttons to press on the fitbit, it is all done by tapping. You double tap to bring up the watch, then single tap to slide through to your distance, calories, active mins and battery power etc.
My only struggle with this is sometimes I find it hard figuring out where to tap to get the screen to light up. I worry about pressing too hard in case I break it.
The LED screen is very bright and can be seen in direct sunlight. But it isn't too bright that when you're in the dark it hurts your eyes to look at it.

Fitbit classifies the Alta as an everyday wear. Which it is. It doesn't do some of the more fancier things that other fitbits do, such as heart rate or have GPS. If you're after something like that, then I'd recommend looking under the Active section of fitbit.
Because like I said I'm a couch potato, I got the fitbit that tracks the amount of everyday movement I do, to try and motivate myself to get up of my bum a bit more.
And it's doing its job. Seeing how many steps I do in a day really helps make me want to do more either on the same day or the next.

One of my favourite features is the auto sleep. This fascinates me. It knows when you're asleep! With my old fitbit flex I would have to repeatedly tap it under it would blink, to show it that I'm going to bed now. With the Alta, I just get in to bed and go to sleep and it tracts it. At first I didn't believe it, but comparing the time it said I fell asleep, and the time I sent my last text message it is about spot on.

Battery life. I have had the fitbit Alta on since Wednesday around 8pm/9pm. It is now Saturday at 7.30pm and I still have 3/4 of my battery remaining. By now my old fitbit flex would have died and needed a charge.

Personally I feel that the £99 price is a bit too much. I am a cheap person, The amount of times my boyfriend suggests a nice expensive restaurant for a date night and I reply with "can't we just have a 99P cheeseburger"? So in my eyes for what the fitbit does and the price, I don't think its worth it, £60/£70 then yeah, I'd not be second guessing my decision on spending this much money on it.
But if you're looking for a fitbit that tracks your everyday movements, receive notifications when you get messages and have a spare £99 then yeah, Alta is your guy.

Pros - Long battery life. Great LED screen. Auto Sleep.
Cons - Bit pricey, (in my eyes)

So I hope this helped anyone if they're thinking about getting a fitbit.

If there is anything you guys want me to review whether its technology, games, books etc, then feel free to leave a comment below, Tweet me or comment on Instagram.

Until next time guys! x

Ratchet and Clank - The Review!

Hey Guys!
So today I completed the story mode of Ratchet and Clank! As promised here is a proper review on the game!

PLEASE NOTE, THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. 

So like I said before; I played an old Ratchet and Clank game on the PS2 when I was a child. I do not remember anything about the game; I just know I owned it. 

With this game I went in open minded, like I have a never played a Ratchet & Crank game before. 

The first thing I must say is that the graphics and attention to detail is spot on! The art on this game is just amazing! The way they have set the backdrops of the planets make it look almost realistic Ratchet himself looks amazing. His fur stands out and he just looks adorable. 

Look at that face!!

The game play itself is kind of easy. Not so much that the game is boring and a walk through the park; but it is straight forward on what you have to do. For me this is perfect; I am an easy confused person and it doesn't take much for me to give up with games.

Even though the game is straight forward; some parts of the game can throw you off. You say to yourself "it can't be that hard!" and you're right; it isn't. You just need to take a step back, maybe have a cuppa tea and come back to the game; and hey presto your brains knows exactly what to do. I had to do this on numeral parts of the game.

Overall there are 11 different planets that you visit. Within these plants there are different amount of quests that you have to do. On some of the planets there are also optional quests that you can do that might help you get some extra equipment etc. This helps to spread out the length of the game. But if you don't want to do the optional quest right away; you can travel to and from the different planets throughout the game.

Planet Map

With the optional quests there are also Holocards and Raritanium to collect. Holocards are a collector part of the game; but also helps with your weapons, giving them extra boosts or abilities. Raritanium is what is used to upgrade the weapons. Holocards are got from finding special areas of the game or from killing robots. You can get duplicates of the cards; but ever 5 duplicates you can trade them in to get a card you havent got. This makes it less stressful trying to find them all .

Another big collector is the gold bolts! There are 28 gold bolts to collect throughout the game. And there are a varied amount on different planets. Gold bolts can be used to unlock extras in the game such as cheats, special images and different appearances for Ratchet. Once again just like the optional quests; you can go back to any planet at any time and work your way through to get the bolts and holocards. 

Holocard Section. 

If you like fighting baddies and having a lot of different weapon choices this is your game! There are 15 weapons for you to collect and also upgrade to 100% This means a lot of Raritanium is needed. Thankfully it respawns a lot and can get it on all the planets. With all this weapon choice it is hard to decicde what to use in the first place. But once you have found certain weapons you like you can set them to the arrows so they're the ones you use the most in the fights. I found myself sticking to upgrading the weapons I use the most to try and get them too 100% rather than spreading it out equally. 

Upgrade section

Not only are there the weapons but there are also 15 gadgets that you collect throughout the story mode which help you through the game.

I am an easily frustrated person. And there is no denying that this game got me frustrated me numerous times; and I did have to put the controller down and walk away at some points. But this was only at the fighting stages. When loads of robots came at once, sometimes it was so easy to die, that it became annoying; but also challenging. You start to learn if you move in a different way the robot doesn't see you or you get a better hit at the robot etc. 

For me it was the little boses  that annoyed me the most. Sometimes I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. But it just took time and a different weapon and move in a different way and I'd kill them and wonder "what was the problem?!" 

The map in the game helped me out a lot. The map is two different shades of blue. The light blue is where you are/have been and the darker blue is the areas you haven't been. This helps you locate areas that you might have missed. 

There is also key gram to show you what the little bits are on the map etc. so an arrow showing where you are; a ship showing where the ship is; a G to show where to upgrade weapons etc. 

Map on last level

Now I have completed the story mode; I have the chance of keeping all my weapons and gadgets; doing it all again but in challenging mode.

As I have completed the story mode; I plan on going back through doing all the optional quests and collecting the things I have missed. (this maybe with the help of an IGN walkthrough) 

Once that has been done I'll be attempting challenge mode. 

Overall for £30 I highly recommend this game. It's fun, addictive, beautiful; sometimes frustrating (for me) but still kept me hooked and entertained.
It's great for all ages; kids would defiantly love it. 

If you want a game that has lots of baddies, is pretty and simple and cheap to buy this is your game! 

That is about it for this game. I hope you enjoyed my review. Any questions or suggestions on what to play next; please feel free to message me on social media, here is my Twitter, my Instagram or comment below! 

Thanks guys; and happy gaming! 

Tam x 

Ratchet and Clank!

Ratchet and Clank came out last Friday! (22nd April 2016)

I can remember owning a Ratchet and Clank game on the PS2 when I was a child. So when I got told it's coming out on PS4 and as a movie. I had to get it! 

Now it's only been 2 days since I got the game. I'm not that fantastic of a gamer that I have completed it already. But I felt the need that I had to express how much I am enjoying the game! 

I don't remember much about the game I had on PS2 so I was coming in open minded about it. The first thing I noticed was how amazing the graphics are. Ratchet's fur stands out so well! (Pictures will be below) 

I don't want to spoil any of the gameplay for anyone. From the bits I have done so far the gameplay is almost A to B. It's quite simple and easy to understand what you have to do. (Which for me is perfect) 

The side quest also make the game fun. I planned on just going through getting the main story completed so I can do a full blog review, but the side quests are distracting me! 

There are many different weapons you can use, and sometimes it's hard to decide what you want to use to kill what monsters. You can also upgrade your weapons, this is also another part of the game that's keeping me gripped. The more coins you get the more you can buy. You level up with XP which increases your health level. You also level up your weapons which increase damage or the amount of bullets you can hold etc. You constantly want to try and level up your different guns; but once you've found your favourite gun it's hard to part from it to use something else. I notice that I constantly focus on upgraded a gun one by one; and try to 100% complete the upgrade on one gun rather than spreading the upgrading. 

If you're looking for a fun, simple, cheap game just to pass the time, I would recommend this game! £29.99/£30.00 is a bargain of a price. 

A full review will come once I've completed the story mode. (Eventually) 

LEGO AVENGERS

Lego Avengers came out on 29th January yay!
If you haven't already guessed, I am a little bit obsessed with the Lego Games.
So I have been playing Lego Avengers for the last week or so and thought I would do a little review for the game! Once again there will be no spoilers because if it is one thing that annoys me, its spoilers!

First of all, I got my copy of Lego Avengers from GAME and I got it on Playstation. Because of this I got exclusive content from the films Captain America; Civil War and Ant Man. (I also got a little Iron Man figure, but gave that to my nephew. He loves Lego)

So in this game you have both the Avenger films to play through, plus Iron Man 3, Thor; Dark World and Captain America; Civil War. The main two modes are both the Avenger films. You don't need to have watched the films to know what is going on, as you get to see the story line through the Characters. But of course as it is Lego they add little extras into the story line which makes some parts light hearted and funny.

They have taken the voices from the film, so the volume and the sound isn't perfect. Sometimes the music over powers the characters voices and you don't know what they're saying without the subtitles. But I feel that is just part of the Lego games.

It is also another open world Lego game, which I LOVE. You can go around Manhattan which is laid out either exactly like or similar to Lego Marvel Superheros. The open world is once again full of little missions to get your gold bricks and your characters etc. 

Now, as much as I love the game. I cannot ignore the many glitches I keep getting. The amount of times you run around and see characters running in the middle of the air. Or you're running about, go to collect some studs in a corner and get stuck.

The main thing that makes me a little bit angry is that when you're falling from a high distance using a flying character, instead of just landing on the floor, the character gets close to the floor then flies back up halfway into the sky; then fall back down!! It can become annoying when you're trying to attack bad guys. I don't know if this is a glitch, or something Lego have put in.

But this has to be my funniest gltich. I jumped off the helipad to go do some open world stuff and well, Manhattan disappared and I was flying in the black pit of sky for several minuets!

 Overall minus the glitch situation it is a really good game! It's full of game play and has plenty to keep you going!
If they make an update that helps the glitches not be too bad; then it would be one of my favorite Games. 

If you have any questions about the Lego Avengers game, or have any games you'd like me to review, please contact me by leaving a comment below, or contact me on my social media! :) 

Ps have a last picture of me playing Avengers, with my kittykat Tinker having a wash! x 

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

DISCLAIMER: Before I get started, I want you all to know that everything I write will be my opinion on the game, my feelings and point of view of the game. All of this is what I thought about the game. Also I have made sure that there are NO SPOILERS. Just descriptions on certain part of the games; nothing to ruin the game for anybody!  

Now, I've heard about this game for the last couple of months. I knew absolutely nothing about it apart from it was a downloadable game for Playstation.
When I saw it on Playstation store with a psn plus discount making it under £10, I couldn't argue and finally gave in and downloaded it.

Like I said, when I was going into this game, I had no idea what the game was about or anything what so ever to do with it. So I went in with an open mind.
The download didn't actually take to long, especially for the awful download speed I have!

I can honestly say that this is the most beautiful game I have ever played. I am not really one to know much about graphics, and I have been known not to be able to tell the difference between old gen and next gen games; but the graphics on this game blew my mind! I mean just LOOK:

What else I also love is that it looks like a proper British village! You have all the lovely countryside (that does look like this when its not raining!) and a proper British pub! I mean look at it! It just sums up England! (Also inside there is ale for 50P, 50P!!!)

So from what I picked up from the game, is that you follow this little glowing lights/orbs around the villages;

You follow them around and they help lead you towards the story. They also turn into light shape of people from the village and its like you're in the air listening to their conversations. All the conversation taken place with the villagers all link up to the story and because its a smallish community you quickly pick up who the people are.
There are also other objects of the game that the light doesn't always direct you too, and that is to locate radios and telephones. This also gives more communication about what is going on in the game!

Without giving too much away, there is about 5 different sections of the game, where you travel from different parts of the village. And when you're in the phase of walking to another part of the village it turns into night time. And my golly, the detail in the sky!

I mean c'mon IT'S THE MILKY WAY. THEY TOOK THE TIME OUT TO MAKE THE MILKY WAY!!

Now, the only downside to this game is that it is a very slow moving first person game. It can become vary tedious when you're walking about and all you want to do is run so you can get to places quicker! Although it helps that you get distracted by beautiful scenery, it can become annoying and you do want to run.
Now, without Youtube, I would not have known this. If you hold down R2 for about 7/10 seconds, you will move a little bit faster, but it doesn't make much of a difference, you just get an achy finger.
Apart from this, I have no other downsides to the game!

Now, It could only be me, being slow and very easily confused, but I am still pretty much known the wiser about what is happening/goes on in the game than I am when I began....
This could be because I missed a few items, or I'm just a very slow confused person!
But even though I had know idea what was going on, I didn't care because LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS:

This is one of them games, that I would recommend, and I would in fact go through and play it again and make sure I collect everything. (I am guilty to the fact that the closer I got to the end, the more I was focused on following the light/orb rather than finding radios) it would also be one of the games that I would try and platinum because of how good of a game it is!

So if you're thinking about getting this game; then I would say, yeah go for it! It's worth the money, and I am very happy I finally downloaded it!