Spiderman: Far From Home – Review

I went into Spiderman: Far From Home expecting an exciting, enjoyable Spiderman movie like Homecoming, nothing special but something good and enjoyable nonetheless, little did I expect to see such an amazing movie unfold.

The story of Spiderman: Far From Home seemed somewhat confusing to me from the trailers as I didn’t quite understand how they were going to incorporate the “travelling the world” situation and Mysterio being a hero. However, this was all made very clear for the grand scheme of the plot very early on.

The story progresses quickly but has a lot of detail crammed in and with the superb acting and character writing, you are able to understand what each character is about in this movie from the very beginning.

The acting was superb, some of the best I have seen, besides Tom Holland being his usual perfect Spiderman embodiment, I thought Jacob Batalon was one of the stars of this movie this time around with his parts being absolutely hilarious, most notably when he sat next to Betty on the plane and asked her if she played PC games only for them to go on to become that cringey, hilarious relationship within a few hours, they both were hilarious and brilliant throughout.

The overall comedy in the movie was executed perfectly and I truly found myself laughing on many occasions with many characters, such as when Peter “accidentally” called in an orbital drone strike on Brad Davis, the sheer drama of the situation was hilarious. As for Zendaya in this movie was fantastic too, she as an actor needs to get the praise she deserves as her scenes with Tom perfectly encapsulated that awkwardness they both are meant to have as their characters, which if performed wrong can be quite the uncomfortable watch, she was fantastic. Jake Gyllenhaal and Samuel L. Jackson, Samuel was the usual Nick Fury we’d come to expect but Jake definitely lived up to the hype of him being given the role of Mysterio, with his acting being brilliant, thrilling and just all-round fantastic, that coupled with a brilliant plotline for Mysterio made Jake one of the best performers in the movie.

I expected the whole “next Iron Man” schtick to be quite a flop of a plotline but I was surprised to see how perfect Tom Holland and Spiderman is to fill that role of Tony Stark whilst also ensuring that Tony Stark’s legacy doesn’t just be thrown away, the scene that convinced me Peter Parker was the right fit was when Happy was watching Peter proudly assemble his own suit whilst Led Zeppelin played in the background(just like the actual Iron Man movies), and there was just this goosebump moment watching that take place, that Spiderman as a character had finally matured and taken up that heavy role.

As a whole, the film was perfect, with a lot at stake and a lot of character development that also made Spiderman into a more deep and promising character for the future. I would also just like to give a shoutout to the special effects team who worked on the illusion scenes for when Mysterio trapped Spiderman in the illusions, it was similar to the amazing CGI work in Dr.Strange and for me was one of the most exciting and best-made parts of the movie.

My only complaint is not really a complaint, and that is with the final scene, it left me with so much anticipation for the next movie, wondering what negative repercussion will happen as a result of Mysterio leaking Spiderman’s identity internationally whilst also framing him as the bad guy in this entire situation, it left me with a racing heart knowing Marvel are gonna leave me on a cliffhanger like that for at least another year.

Overall, this is the best Spiderman movie to date and has further shown why Tom Holland is the best Spiderman there has been and is the perfect candidate to take over from Robert Downey Jnr. I really cannot see any true flaws.

RATING – 8.5/10

Liverpool 2018-2019 Season Review by Nathan Brennan

Coming into this season the expectation for Jurgen’s side was to challenge for the title or close the gap at the very least on the ever-growing Manchester City who had dominated the league easily the season beforehand, despite signing a goalkeeper and improving the squad in several areas, not many Liverpool fans would have expected us to have genuinely brought Manchester City all the way to the final day of the season. Here, I will be rating how Liverpool performed in all the competitions they took part in and also the members of the squad individually.

Let’s start with the domestic competitions, as Liverpool were knocked out of the Carabao Cup to Chelsea in the 3^rd round of the competition, which admittedly not many Liverpool fans cared about, but to be complete winners I feel taking all competitions more seriously is essential, and despite Hazard’s brilliance to win it in the dying minutes for Chelsea, it was clear that our priorities were never in this competition. Overall, taking this competition with the utmost focus isn’t expected, but it is definitely important to get that first trophy of the season through this competition to show you mean business from February onwards, as City showed when they won it.

In the FA Cup it wasn’t much better in terms of performance or Klopp choosing his main line-up for the competition as Liverpool had relived nightmares in being knocked out in the 3^rd round to Wolves as Ruben Neves gave Wolves the winner with a banger from outside the box. With Liverpool giving the likes of Hoever and Curtis Jones their full debuts for the club in this game, it was clear once again that Klopp’s priorities do not lie in the domestic competitions, which has been the case since he arrived in 2015. It is not a big negative to not prioritise these competitions but they should definitely be treated with a bit more importance.

Now, onto the two main competitions, starting with the Premier League. In the Premier League Liverpool got off to a flying start with a 4-0 home win against West Ham on the opening day who had made several impressive signings and improved on their manager over the Summer, as the months went on, Liverpool continued their momentum and going into the New Years fixture at the Etihad, with the chance to move 10 points clear, and being unbeaten up until then, it did seem that Liverpool had the chance to put one hand on the trophy if they had gotten a result at the Etihad on that day. After the City game, we hit a few stumbling blocks with the team dropping points against both West Ham and Leicester due to pointless mistakes, ultimately we were all banking on City to slip up again by May, but credit to their players that they showed how truly amazing they are in winning every match during this time period, to top Liverpool who had finished second place on 97 points.

97 points and no title, it seemed as though the club was cursed, that was until that night at Anfield as the club faced Barcelona 3-0 down as the team got bodied at the Nou Camp, it seemed all hope was lost returning to Anfield with Keita, Firmino and Salah all missing the game, the chances of going through seemed more or less zero. I could try to describe in words how that night went and how it felt, but I cannot, it just shows that no matter how much this club seems jinxed or cursed, there is always that magic of Anfield that pulls through for us as the lads beat Barcelona 4-0 at home and went on to a second successive Champions League final, this time in Madrid, home of the team who caused us all so much heartbreak in the previous year. The final in Madrid had nerves, and it all seemed to go to plan once we were given that penalty early on, and despite how many chances Spurs got and how terrible we played, it always seemed destined for these lads and our manager to finally bring home the big trophies back to Anfield after more than a decade without it. Once again, we have finished this season on 97 points, one loss in the league and a 6^th Champions League title, and despite still never winning the Premier League, I think all of that listed is “more” than enough to satisfy me, so this season has been a tremendous success and has put Liverpool back amongst the cemented big sides in Europe for a long time. Overall I give this season an A grade.

As for the squad, I am going to rate each player individually now –

Alisson – Alisson coming in the Summer was the true benchmark that showed that Liverpool as a club are done messing around and giving time to players in our team who just are not cutting it, as we brought the goalkeeper in from Roma for between £60-70million, despite heavy interest from Chelsea and Real Madrid. Alisson had a shaky start but despite a few mistakes, confidence in the keeper never seemed to dwindle as he went on to prove he is the best goalkeeper in the world and worth every penny of the fee Liverpool paid for him and becoming a European Champion in his first season at the club. 9/10

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Coming off the back of a season with not much competition for Trent as Clyne and Gomez both struggled with injury in 17/18, and despite that lack of competition maintaining high-level performances and pocketing established players like Sane and Ronaldo in the Champions League, it was clear that coming into 18/19, Trent was going to be Liverpool’s first-choice right-back for years to come despite Clyne and Gomez’s return to fitness. Trent not only went on to have huge success as a Liverpool player, he also staked a claim that he should be the first choice right-back for his country as he became the youngest ever player to reach successive Champions League finals, and on top of that becoming an actual European Champion at such a young age whilst also picking up 15 assists in a single season as a full-back, it became clear this season that Trent was special and destined for nowhere but the very top, as he established himself as the best right-back on the planet. 9/10

Joe Gomez – Gomez started the season as Virgil’s partner and the two seemed unstoppable, with Gomez being lightning quick, brilliant on the ball and incredibly composed, it seemed like him and Virgil were the perfect partnership with no flaws. That was until Gomez picked up a serious injury in November, and despite January being his estimated return to action, he continued to struggle with fitness and picked up more injuries coming into the second half of the season. Despite all this, Gomez just played a blinder for England against Switzerland and has shown at points that he is still worthy of having faith placed upon him in the long-term. 7.5/10

Virgil van Dijk – What words can I honestly use to do this man justice? People laughed when we called Virgil the best defender on the planet a few months ago, they certainly are not laughing now. Virgil played 62 games and did not get dribbled past a SINGLE time despite playing against all of the world’s best players, including Messi. After winning the PFA Player of the Year as a defender and also gaining a man of the match performance in the Champions League final, Virgil has established himself as the bookmakers favourite for the Balon D’or despite admitting himself that Messi deserves it. 10/10

Andrew Robertson – I got Robertson on the home shirt 2 weeks after he signed for Liverpool as I knew from his time at Hull that he would make it at Liverpool despite his slow start, and since then Andy has done the same as his full-back counterpart and shown that he is the best left-back on the planet with him picking up 13 assists this season on that left side. His story has been told a million times, so I won’t do it again, but Andy Robertson showed the world what it means to become the best from nothing, as he won the Champions League as a Scotsman who up until a few years ago was not even playing in the Premier League. 8.5/10

Jordan Henderson – For years Henderson has got stick from even his own fanbase and labelled as a “mid table player” or “average” and indirectly disrespected and mocked by tweets of people saying “my captain” in reference to Virgil, yet not a single fan is doing that now. Henderson has been the most underrated player in the Premier League since the last time Liverpool challenged for a title, and I hope it is now clear for everyone why he has been captain for Klopp and will continue to be captain for Klopp, as he finally achieved what Gerrard was most famous for achieving in leading this amazing club to a Champions League title, and lifting it in front of the world. Nobody deserved that more than Jordan and it showed in his emotion on the night. 7.5/10

Fabinho – Despite unexpectedly not getting much game time up until the half way point in the season, Fabinho has shown he is Liverpool’s best midfielder and one of the signings of last season, and would feel hard done by to not get in the PFA team of the year ahead of Pogba. Fabinho became the most important part of Liverpool’s midfield this season and almost irreplaceable and established himself as world-class and the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League with his Viera like presence and Xabi Alonso-esque ability to pass a ball. 8.5/10

Gini Wijnaldum – Gini has too had his doubters since arriving at the club, and this season, especially in the first half and the game against Barcelona, he showed that he is the most clutch player in the Liverpool squad maybe just behind Origi. How Gini played this season was completely unexpected if I am honest, with him probably deserving of being in the team of the year also, he was easily the best midfield performer in the league up until Christmas and he had his best season of his career so far no doubt. 8.5/10

Mo Salah – One season wonder they said as Mo went 9 games without scoring. It was always clear Mo would struggle to maintain the Messi levels he had in his first season, but to get the golden boot back to back and score in the Champions League final, it doesn’t seem too bad for a one-season wonder. Despite all these positives I have for Mo, it did seem many times this season that his performances were not at the levels expected, despite the goals and assists saying otherwise. 7.5/10

Roberto Firmino – Bobby also had a rather slow start to the season with him struggling to find performances and goals as he kept being moved into deeper positions as Jurgen felt the need to try Salah upfront on multiple occasions, despite this slow start Firmino popped up with big goals against PSG and City, with 16 goals in all competitions and 8 assists. Firmino had a race to be fit for the final and that was clear as he did not seem fit during the game, leading to him being subbed for Origi before the hour mark in Madrid. Despite all of this, Firmino is still pivotal in this Liverpool team and completely irreplaceable. 7/10.

Sadio Mane – A burning start to the season was soon accompanied by a stretch of some of the worst performances I have ever seen from a Liverpool forward, but despite that, come February it was as though a demon had possessed Mane and he just went on an incredible goalscoring run to the end of the season that led to him winning the Golden Boot with Salah on the final day. Sadio has a tendency to have huge dips and increases in form over periods of the season, but after popping up with so many huge goals, it was his best overall season for the Reds to date. 8.5/10

Now that we have the first eleven out of the way, we will move onto the more rotational players throughout last season.

Simon Mignolet – Ideally I would love to be able to keep Mignolet and his professionalism around the club as he has been a credit to himself over the last year with his public support for Alisson, despite this I feel he will be moving on.

Nathaniel Clyne – Clyne played well in the handful of games he was picked for before moving on loan to Bournemouth and it is just unfortunate for him that the rise of Trent and injuries ended what could have been a very successful Liverpool career for the right-back.

Joel Matip – Matip is the story of the season when you ask any Liverpool fan. I always felt Matip was a good player, I just felt he was never reliable due to his injury record. Despite this record, Matip filled in perfectly for Gomez whilst he was injured and even cemented his place once Gomez returned. Matip was flawless in some of the biggest games of the season and showed that he is not deadwood and truly is a valuable asset to the club whilst also managing to remain fit for the season. Matip truly was the most improved player this season by far. 8.5/10

Dejan Lovren – A little harsh but I have nothing to say other than Lovren needs to go unless he is being kept as 4^th choice in his position, he is a liability as a first option defender. 5/10

Alberto Moreno – It was clear from the start that this season was his last for Alberto, as he was not even chosen ahead of Milner for the left-back position when Robertson was suspended, he moved on from the club once his contract expired a few days ago and despite how the transfer never worked out, no one can say he never tried, he just was not good enough defensively over the years.

Naby Keita – A man of the match debut on the opening day lit up the eyes of Liverpool fans, but following that was a series of shy performances and a string of injuries which lead to Naby falling out of the starting lineup. Eventually Naby got back into the starting lineup near the end of the season, but once he finally got going, he picked up yet another injury and missed the Champions League final. Positives signs for sure but definitely a lot of improvement needed for Naby in the coming season. 6.5/10

James Milner – Legend, nobody should ever doubt Milner and what he brings to this team, I cannot speak highly enough of him. It is crucial he is offered a new deal and kept at the club for longer. What a season, what a player. 7.5/10

Oxlade-Chamberlain – A few cameo appearances was good to see from Ox as he it was revealed in pre-season that the chances of him playing last season were very slim, so that is always a positive, hopefully he can get a good pre-season behind him going into the 19/20 season.

Daniel Sturridge – A few clutch goals and performances at the start of the season against PSG and Chelsea left many to wonder whether Sturridge had gotten his mojo back, and despite that, it didn’t seem he did as his performances fell away as the season went on, as did his appearances. Sturridge will forever be a legend for me and will always be a classic “what if” story due to his injuries, I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavours. 5.5/10

Divock Origi – Now, I could be a lifeless dummy here and be realistic, but realism is for the weak, as Divock Origi proved this season, so, get the statue going for this man, name a stand after him and give him a lifetime contract. 10/10.

Overall, this season has cemented Liverpool as back on top of the world of football and going into next season as European Champions and both a Super Cup and Community Shield to try and win will be a perfect way to start the season.

Overall season grade – A

Detective Pikachu – An All-Round Delightful and Unforgettable Experience for Pokemon Fans – Review

Coming into Detective Pikachu, I suppose being an avid Pokemon fan all my life did not benefit me in the slightest as maybe I had raised my expectations way too high ever since the announcement of the movie. I had not been this excited for a movie in my whole life, barring EndGame maybe, which definitely did not lend Detective Pikachu any favours with a cinematic masterpiece like EndGame being the last movie I had seen before seeing this Pikachu movie, which left Detective Pikachu with an impossible follow-up act to go upon.

The start of the movie with Tim and his random friend catching the Cubone was “cute” I guess, but it definitely had that “cringe anime live-action” vibe to every piece of dialogue that was mentioned and it started to make me fear for the rest of the movie, but I was wrong and despite the next few scenes being very rushed with little detail put into them, it all was forgiven once we got to the main event…seeing Pikachu in that apartment, it lived up to the hype. Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu was everything I had hoped for and his one-liners and all-round persona as Pikachu was something completely new for Pokemon but it worked so so well and made me fall in love with that portrayal of Pikachu.

Following up that point, the plot continues and Tim and Pikachu go to an underground fight arena, where there is a Blastoise fighting a Gengar, which was perfectly portrayed and to be honest, I was expecting to see more Pokemon V Pokemon action like that throughout the film, however, I can only really recall two or three occasions where we got to see actual Pokemon action throughout the movie, which I guess I can forgive as the film is about a certain narrative and not just Pokemon fighting as a whole.

Prior to the fight club, there is a part which we saw in trailers including Mr. Mime and it had me in tears laughing, Mr.Mime was hilarious and the scene was perfect, absolutely perfect, I would almost want to rewatch the movie purely for that scene with Mr. Mime. Another Pokemon that I did not come into this movie with any significant affinity to was Psyduck, but after seeing that movie it made me want to own a Psyduck of my own, which I never expected to be saying, but Psyduck and Pikachu were the life of the movie for many points for me personally.

The CGI was sensational, all the Pokemon looked fantastic, which was a slight concern of mine when the movie was first announced given that video game movies that go live-action have a history of not getting the design right…not hinting at any movie, in particular, *cough cough*. But, the Pokemon looked amazing, and that was perfectly shown when they did a close up on a Bulbasaur’s face and I can honestly not think of any words to do it justice other than the fact I was left in complete and utter awe at how fantastic the Bulbasaur looked in live-action.

However, despite all the praises I have given this movie so far, it is far from perfect. Within the movie, there is a tonne of cringe lines and acting from the human actors whilst the movie did lack a wide variety of Pokemon, which I can forgive for how good of a job they did with the Pokemon that was within the film. A story that wouldn’t blow you away but wouldn’t leave you disappointed also had a lot of plot holes to accompany a poor ending where the Pikachu that we had spent the whole film getting to know and love, ends up returning to its regular Pokemon state, which does not reward the viewer whatsoever when you spend a whole movie getting attached to the first personification of a Pikachu only for it to be returned to its blank state in the end. Also, I love Ryan Reynolds but him being Tim’s dad made zero sense and seemed extremely forced.

Detective Pikachu is the best Pokemon and video game movie ever made and left me leaving with more happiness than disappointment, it is a fantastic movie with a catalogue of brilliant moments that I won’t ever forget as a Pokemon fan.

Overall Rating – 7.5/10

Jordan Henderson – An Under-Appreciated Career by Nathan Brennan

Since joining the club in 2011, Jordan Henderson has been a staple in every edition of Liverpool side we have seen. Under 3 managers, and being seen as good enough to be captain under two of those managers, Henderson has amassed 226 appearances at the club and a total of 300 appearances in the Premier League if you add his Sunderland career into the mix, on paper, it would make you wonder why he is so hated and abused. He made his debut for Liverpool against his boyhood club Sunderland, in what was a depressing 1-1 draw to the lesser club. Henderson scored his first goal for the club not long after with a striker against Bolton Wanderers at Anfield a few weeks later. After a pretty lacklustre season, where he was mostly wasted out on the right-hand side of midfield, notably in the game where he won his first and, as of now, the last trophy for Liverpool, when the club beat Cardiff in the 2012 League Cup final, he came off just before the hour-mark in that game after playing poorly on the right of midfield. He later played the full game against Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley, where Liverpool unfortunately lost. Henderson struggled for consistency, especially being played out of position and despite being young at the time, this is where a majority of fans’ distaste for him comes from.

Henderson’s Liverpool career was almost over as he was told by Brendan Rogers the following season that he was free to join Fulham. Henderson has spoken about this and claimed it was devastated to be told so bluntly that he was not needed. However, he decided he would rather fight for his place at the club rather than move down the league, which he does not get enough credit for doing. It was clear this would be an uphill battle In the 12/13 season for Jordan as he started the first 4 Premier League games on the bench without getting off of it, in those games Liverpool had 0 wins, including a 3-0 pummeling on the opening day to West Brom. Henderson did manage to improve his goalscoring output this season, however, scoring 6 goals, three times the amount he managed in his debut season. He also managed to gain most of his appearances this season in a central role, rather than being wasted out wide.

At this point, you would not be blamed for seeing Henderson as a flop or labelling him as “not good enough for the club”, but 13/14 came and Henderson had become a new man. He started all of the first 13 games in the Premier League, and played the entire 90minutes in all of them, in which Liverpool had only lost three times, a significant improvement on starts to past seasons, and this was no coincidence, with Henderson being deployed in a box-to-box role in a midfield that included Coutinho and Gerrard, where Henderson was the energy and winner of the ball in the tiki-taka movement that Rogers wanted to play. Henderson had done it, he had changed around his Liverpool career and become an immovable force in one of the most exciting teams in the league. The season went on and Henderson only did not play 90minutes ONCE before the famous and emotional win against Manchester City, where he got sent off in the final moments for a challenge on Nasri, little did we know in the heat of the moment just how much of an impact Henderson’s absence would have on the remaining games of the season.

Henderson was suspended for Norwich away, where it went relatively unnoticed of his absence, however, when Chelsea came to town, it was obvious. In a first half where we struggled to maintain any form of energy or press, Liverpool struggled, that was further emphasized when *that* goal happened. Liverpool went on through that game crying out for some energy in the midfield, some initiative, and without Henderson’s box-to-box capabilities, it was futile. Jordan ended the season with 90minutes against Newcastle where we won. This was Henderson’s breakthrough season, he had become a vital cog and the go-to vice-captain in the absence of Steven Gerrard or Daniel Agger.

14/15 came, and without Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and a squad of inconsistent performers, Henderson was one of the few who seemed consistent. Gerrard was not getting the same level of game-time as the previous season and Henderson was the clear choice for captain in his absence since Agger had been moved on in that previous Summer. Henderson played every game of Liverpool’s Champions League barring the 1-0 loss away to Madrid and once again was hugely significant in the league, despite the team’s inconsistencies. Henderson picked up the first injury of his Liverpool career this season and missed Liverpool’s brief Europa League campaign through this. Henderson established himself as the only leader starting consistently in the squad in this season, with many of his starts, especially in the second-half of the season, included him wearing the captain’s armband.

However, 15/16 came and so did Gerrard’s day to leave the club that adored him so highly, Henderson was now the official captain of Liverpool Football Club, and taking over from Gerrard, it was always going to create controversy that a guy who is from Sunderland, who was almost binned a few seasons previous is taking the armband from the club’s greatest ever captain.

This agenda against Henderson was fuelled even more when he picked up an injury 3 games into the season when he injured his heel, he then suffered a fractured metatarsal straight after and missed 11 straight league games where the side had dropped points way too often and were struggling after another Summer of heavy investment. Jurgen Klopp came in for Rogers during Henderson’s injury absence and did not get to play for the German until a win against 1-0 Swansea. Henderson then had seemingly recovered from his horror show of injuries that had tainted his start to the season and he had become a starter and captain for one of the world’s great managers, Jurgen Klopp. However, disaster struck the captain again as he tore his knee ligament leading up to a game against Stoke, this would ensure that Henderson would not play again for the rest of the season until the final game, which was a depressing 1-1 draw against West Brom.

This season was the turning point for Liverpool fans, it had been two years since we’d seen Henderson excelling, and despite there being huge positivity about the team under the new manager, Henderson wasn’t included due to him missing the majority of the season through injury. With him remaining captain through all of this, the fans built up an agenda against Henderson and it was back to him being “not good enough”.

Henderson started the 16/17 season being a starter and captain for Klopp, as the club had a decent start to the season, however, when the team did show it’s frailties again in games such as the 2-0 loss to Burnley or the infamous 4-3 against Bournemouth, Henderson was the clear scapegoat for the fans. This hatred was building, to a boil. It didn’t help when Henderson once again had his season cut short when he injured his foot in February, which ended his season. So, as the team progressed under Klopp, Henderson continued to be left out through injury, building and building upon the hatred that the fans were having for him pointlessly.

Then came 17/18. Henderson was still captain and seemed fit again, the club had an iffy start to the season where we lost 5-0 to City and 4-1 to Spurs, and guess who was the scapegoat whenever the club dropped points again? You guessed it, Henderson(and Lovren admittedly) and when Henderson picked up another injury in December which kept him out until the end of January, it seemed that the fans had finally had enough, saying Henderson is unfit, untrustworthy and mediocre when it came to actual footballing ability. Henderson was hated by almost all of the fanbase, which for a captain to be hated is quite rare.

Despite the club’s run in the Champions League, the midfield was still labelled as a weak point, mainly because of Henderson, despite his leadership and passion throughout that whole campaign in Europe being the best it’s ever been, it was clear that no matter what Henderson did, he was always going to be on the wrong end of the stick in the eyes of the fans, I mean, he leads the team to the Champions League final for the first time in 13 years, and the fans still found a way to complain about him.

Despite a superb season from Henderson, fans were calling for him to be replaced by the incoming Keita and mocking Henderson as “finished” when the news broke of Fabinho’s arrival at the club. Despite these two huge purchases, Henderson has been one of the best performers this season and it is so blatantly obvious how much worse we are when he isn’t in the team, which was clear even earlier in the week against West Ham. He links the team together, stabilises the midfield and squad, he always has.

Henderson is a brilliant footballer and a superb leader who has been the scapegoat of the Liverpool squad ever since he joined the club. It is time we come to our senses and support our captain rather than jumping on fickle bandwagons just because he is not hitting them top bins from 40 yards like Gerrard or spraying it 60 yards across the pitch like Alonso. Henderson is told to play the simple role he plays, so he plays it, he does it well and he always will, because he is a good professional, good guy and most importantly, a good footballer who was treated wrongly due to unfortunate injuries and circumstances throughout his career. And at 28 years of age, there are still many years left in him to perform at the level he does consistently.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 – Review

Prior to release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 received probably the most media attention and hatred of any COD game to date. So, does the game warrant the mass amounts of backlashed it received? In this review I will go over the good and the bad of the game.

The Pass –

The idea of the pass is good in theory, keeping all the player base together without splitting it, but the insanely high price of this season pass is a joke. To pay €60 for a game and then have to pay ANOTHER €50 on top of that at launch for basically just map packs, is a joke. Companies like EA even release their map packs for free, and they are the biggest money scroungers of them all in this gaming industry. Activision needs to sort this season pass bullsh*t out and start releasing the map packs for free.

Campaign Controversy –

Prior to the beginning of Black Ops 4’s life cycle, one of the biggest controversies came when it had been announced that there would be no single-player campaign for the first time in Call of Duty history. This news spelt negativity for Activision and people backfired, however, to be honest, not many people have played or put any significant thought into the campaigns since Ghosts if we were to be perfectly fair and honest, so why did we all suddenly act like we care now about the campaign all of a sudden? In the end, it was made clear that Blackout replacing the campaign was a one-off thing and it will resume as normal in the next game, so it was not that catastrophic.

Multiplayer gameplay –

Here we fall into the best side of Black Ops 4, the multiplayer. It has been years for me personally since I have gone out of my way to play multiplayer on a COD game consistently, but BO4 has made me do that. The gameplay is fun and fresh, the hit detection and weaponry feel amazing(as always with Treyarch), my only negatives would come from within the flashing or some specialists such as the Ajax for example, where you are left with almost 0 chance of winning a gunfight when hit with a 9-bang or when you are spotted by the paralysing seeker. I think it would have been smarter for there to still be a chance of winning the gunfight even when shocked or flashed, like in old CODs.

However, all these huge positives and minor negatives for COD get somewhat withered away when it comes to the cancerous micro-transactions. Activision will use the excuse that the player can just “play the game” without spending any money to keep on top of the tier system, but in reality, they specifically designed it to take so long to travel through the tiers so that their customers would give in to spending their money. 90% of the rewards for going up a tier are laughable, especially when you think that people are spending ACTUAL real-life money on some of these items.

I have no doubt that the developers and people designing the game put so much effort and hard work into the gameplay aspects of this game, only for it to be torn away by the greedy tycoons at the top of the Activision spectrum who just cannot help but to try scrounge every ounce of money from the game’s fan-base as humanly possible.

Blackout Mode –

Probably the most non-surprising surprise in COD history came within the inclusion of Blackout mode, Call of Duty’s take on Battle Royale, I mean, did we really expect Activision to take a pass on this Fortnite hype train? The mode is the best Battle Royale I have seen or played, however, it is Battle Royale, which means it becomes boring and repetitive very quickly. But, I will give credit where credit is due, it is decent with friends and better than Fortnite. My only main huge criticism is that the mode is not free to play from launch, like most Battle Royale games, however, there has been rumours that this could change sometime this year.

Zombies –

I wish I could write one word here and that would be it. That word would be “bad”. I miss the days of Zombies having a slight easter egg-type back story, but the priority being on the simplicity of surviving and having fun. Now, they focus way too much on all these tasks throughout the maps, whereas it should just be a Black Ops 1 or World at War feel, where there are perks, pack-a-punch and surviving, that should be it. I wouldn’t say this game has ruined zombies single-handedly because I think that rot began years ago. Hopefully, they return to their roots in the future…

Conclusion – 

I know this review probably emphasises the bads more than the goods, but that is purely because of how huge the bads are. But, if you ignore the stingy micro-transactions and game-play changes in Zombies mainly, Black Ops 4 is one of the best COD games of all-time and can include hours of competitive or plain fun. To the developers who worked on this game, congratulations, you did amazing. To the Execs at the top of Activision, I hope you someday wake up and realise video games are not just a market for you to take advantage of and that it should be a respected art form.

RATING: 7/10

Spider-Man (PS4) – Review

Here we have another game review from myself, although admittedly I am behind on this masterpiece. Spider-Man PS4 (Don’t forget the hyphen between “Spider” and “Man”) is an illustrious masterpiece and it’s no wonder it is up for Game of the Year at the game awards. Here I’ll be discussing the abundance of pros and some few negatives within the game. So let’s jump right into it!

Game-play –

Spider-man games in the past haven’t exactly been applauded for their use of the swinging technique or the excitement of actually playing as Spider-man(Don’t worry, I won’t be using THAT cliche sentence that every critic uses regarding every super-hero game in existence, you’re safe with me). However, Spider-man PS4 masters this perfectly, which I don’t think was ever in doubt even before the game coming out, you could see the evidently crisp, smooth and downright amazing swinging in action in trailers for the game. But, it’s only once you actually get your hands on the game for yourself that you realise how fun and exciting swinging around New York City as the hero himself is. Smooth and exhilarating swinging has been something every Spider-man game has struggled with, but Insomniac is the first developers to truly master this area of the game, it is perfect.

The fighting in the game is alright, it gives you somewhat something to think about rather than just mindlessly mashing the square button, with the ability to dodge in different fashions or choose what your ability is going to be, however, it is extremely similar to the fighting from the Arkham series of games, all the way down to the noise it makes when you knock a guy out. This isn’t really a negative in the fighting of the game, but rather an observation. The fighting is pretty good but can get repetitive overall, I’d say.

Now, the game-play away from Spider-man himself is painful. To go from swinging through the City at high speeds and beating the living hell out of bad guys to trying to avoid cardboard boxes at half a mile an hour and balancing on steel beams as slow as a snail is downtime to the extreme. The MJ and Miles Morales game-play are some of the worst parts of the game, which is disappointing considering MJ and Miles are some brilliant characters and seeing their story and personalities play out throughout the game is interesting, I just wish I could say the same about playing as them. Boring.

Graphics –

The next gradual step from game-play, has to be the graphics, how the game rivals up visually, and for me, it’s up there with the best. Maybe, it isn’t on the level as God of War and Red Dead Redemption, but it is definitely the third-best game of this year that I’ve seen graphically, from the lighting between the gaps in the buildings to the tiny details in character’s emotions to the visuals in the game’s photo mode, which is especially breathtaking, I really can’t find any faults. It’s as good as one could imagine for a super-hero game. Unbelievable.

The Main Story –

Now to the bread and butter of any top single-player game, the story. The story of Spider-man PS4 is the best reiteration of Spider-man that I have ever come across. The variant of villains gives us as a player so much to focus on, the many different personalities you meet throughout the game such as with MJ, Aunt May or Miles Morales is amazingly done and this version of Peter Parker is the best version I think I have ever witnessed from any form of Spider-man media. Aunt May is one of the main characters for the first time, and I actually care about her in this game, which is how you know this game is good, because I never care about Aunt May in any way, shape or form.

The plot of the story is brilliant because just as you think it’s over, it brings in several other villains and reels you back in for many, many more hours of story to play through. It is enthralling, exciting and the characters are captivating, what more could you ask for in a story.

Post-Game/Collectathon-

Admittedly some of these things aren’t really post-game, you can do them whenever, but after I finished the main story is when I took it upon myself personally to complete all these tasks. The “post-game” is somewhat of a collectathon, which can be viewed as both a good thing, or a bad thing depending on what you like in a game. Me personally, I enjoy collecting things and doing little tasks to build up that game completion percentage, so I rather enjoyed the activities such as collecting the backpacks, finding BlackCat’s dolls or activating the radio towers. The enemy controlled bases were especially fun for me, I don’t think there was enough of them, however. So, the post-game can be somewhat of a collectathon, but as I said, it really is 50/50 depending on what you enjoy in a video game as to whether you’ll enjoy this side of the game, so I wouldn’t put a label on it as to whether it is good or bad.

Customisation and the Skill Tree –

Let me make this clear, I dislike skill trees. I think they are the most overused, tacky excuse of customisation in gaming and feel it’s a shame that it’s become such an overused feature within most games nowadays. However, I enjoy it in Spider-man. I feel something a superhero game has missed for a long time is the ability to make the hero your own. To dress him up, to decide what your abilities are going to be, to decide how YOU want to play as Spider-man. I thought admittedly this was going to be a terrible addition, but upon trying it out, I was proven wrong and I am not afraid to admit that. It was a crucial addition within this game.

Negatives –

This isn’t going to be long because I have had to try hard to find negatives in this game. But, here they are.

I feel the game can be slightly repetitive, especially when it comes to the crime events, collecting things and the fighting, more so when you don’t have main story missions to break these things apart, so there’s that. I also mentioned the missions as MJ and Miles, which were monotonous to say the least in comparison to playing as Spider-man.

The quips at times are painful, such as one of the classics, “What is it, National Rocket Day or something?”. But, sometimes they can be funny, and by funny and I mean smirk worthy, such as some references in it like “I better get this suit repaired before someone can see all of my three chest hairs” only for there to be a call back to that later in the game where it can be seen that Peter Parker does indeed have only three chest hairs, now that’s attention to detail. So yes, I do think these quips and references can be both great and painful.

The lab puzzles. Jesus Christ, why did they add this into the game. They found them so amazing that they even added the option to skip them. They are just more monotonous downtime in between playing as Spider-man himself. Not a great addition but luckily, they are scattered throughout the game and don’t occur TOO often.

Conclusion –

Is this the best Spider-man game? Yes. Is this the best superhero game? Yes. Is this one of the best PS4 releases? Yes. And is this one of the best and most enjoyable games I have ever played? Yes. There isn’t much wrong with the game, It’s fun, long and just simply enjoyable with an enthralling story which a group of deep characters.

RATING – 8.5/10

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee – Review

Hey all, another game review from me, a “slightly” different genre of game this time round in comparison to my first game review, God of War. This time around I’ll be discussing the new Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee games, for the Switch. I am an avid Pokemon fan for those who don’t know and have played Pokemon every year since Diamond and Pearl released over a decade ago. Anyway, I bought the Pikachu version so I can only discuss my opinions from that point of view, but I don’t think there are many differences so let us get straight into it!

The Pokeball Plus Accessory –

If you’re like me and are a sucker for all things Pokemon, regardless of price, then you probably forked out the extra €45 (depending on where you’re from) for the Pokeball Plus with the game. The ball was advertised as revolutionary in the advertisements of the game and Nintendo were going HARD in the hype for this thing. To be honest, it isn’t worth the €45 unless you can afford it. The ball is practically good, it does its job as a controller and is exceptionally better than the joy-cons when trying to actually catch Pokemon in-game. The rewards for walking your Pokemon in person through the ball are good too, as you can receive plenty of rare candies and levels through it.

However, a big fault is the downfall of Pokemon’s cries, unless you have Eevee or Pikachu in the ball, you’ll hear pretty much the same robotic 8-bit cry every time. This really emphasised how badly Pokemon really need to step up their game and include all the actual cries of the Pokemon in-game for future releases. The ball also smudges incredibly easy and dust can build up underneath the analogue pretty consistently too, which is quite annoying considering I suppose it’s supposed to be in your pocket when walking with it? It can be quite upsetting to see the glowing whiteness of the ball slowly turn smudged. However, I would overall say this is a good thing to have if you are a consistent fan of Pokemon, despite the ridiculous price tag.

Cut Scenes in-game –

Pokemon has never exactly been known for its perfect high-quality cut-scene production value, but, in this game they are fantastic, however, there are barely any of them considering how amazing they look and how much they can actually make you love your partner Pokemon. If they had included as many cut-scenes in this game as they did in the Alolan games, then this would have instantly brought the cinematic quality of the game upwards by ten-fold. I am not sure why there were so few cut-scenes considering you’d think Pokemon would want to be showing off the hardware capabilities of the Switch in every capacity. However, I digress that what cut-scenes they do have, they look fantastic, I just wish there was more.

Music –

If there’s one thing Pokemon have never gotten wrong, it’s music. This game features some of the best music in the series, and although it isn’t up there with the battle of Giratina in Platinum or the battle against Cynthia in Generation 4, there are some fantastic recreations of Lavender Town’s traditional music, as well as Cerulean City having some soothing music to play alongside in the background, the battle against the Champion is also pretty exhilarating despite the lacklustre nature of the battle itself (more on that later).

Landscape and Graphics –

The graphics in Let’s Go are obviously the best graphics we as fans have ever witnessed from a Pokemon game, and although it isn’t nothing we haven’t seen, bearing the fact it is basically the graphics of Pokemon Sun and Moon played on the unreal engine, I think it still deserves praise. The cities are visually stunning, as well as the overall atmosphere of everything in the game. The colours of everything are vibrant and bounce off the screen, especially when the Switch is placed in docked mode. However, despite all this praise I have given it, I still will always personally prefer the traditional looks of Gen 4 & 5. But, maybe I just have my nostalgia glasses on too tight.

Your “Friendly Rival” –

I knew from the minute he was introduced as your “friendly rival” I would hate this character. This “friendly rival” trope has been the trend with Pokemon over the last few games. I don’t think the game developers understand that making a rival friendly is just going to make us all not care about the character whatsoever.

The whole idea of a “good rival” stems from rivals such as Blue, a rash, overconfident rival who is so cocky that he decides to try and one up you in every capacity, or N, who yes, I am aware wasn’t your direct rival in the Black and White games, but for me personally, he felt like the true rival in those games over the duo of Bianca and Cheren. This type of rival, one you can hate but also relish the battles against and appreciate their development is what should be a constant in Pokemon games, not these rivals such as the one in Let’s Go or Hau for example. These aren’t rivals, they are lackies who annoyingly follow you around and offer you everything they own in order to gain your acceptance as if they are some sort of slave. This needs to change.

Difficulty –

This has been a large topic over the last few games, since X & Y for me in particular. The difficulty in Let’s Go is just as shameful as the last few games, as you can breeze through the entire game without even losing a single battle(such as I did). I remember when it would take me a month just to purely beat Cynthia in Generation 4 or how it took me several days to beat Lance in Heartgold and Soulsilver. I mean, you can do a direct comparison in this game. Lance in Let’s Go is the equivalent of a deceased frog in comparison to Lance in Heartgold and Soulsilver.

I haven’t gotten around to fighting Red or the Master Trainers yet, at least they provide some sort of a challenge, but when it comes to the main story, it is way too incredibly easy, especially considering ALL your Pokemon level up at all times, which leaves every team you use incredibly over levelled no matter who you come up against. I think it is about time Pokemon included a difficulty option for players as the difficulty in these games is just getting ridiculously childish and easy. And no, I won’t accept the argument that “it’s a child’s game”, that doesn’t mean it should be easy, unless kids today are more incredibly challenged than what I had first thought. Generation 4 and 5 were also “children’s games” by that measure, yet I got through them just fine and still find some challenge within them today. So no, that is no excuse.

Catching Mechanic –

I understand the inclusion for this in the game and don’t particularly think it was a bad change. I think the idea to have all wild Pokemon visible on the screen is absolutely perfect and I hope that remains in every Pokemon game for the rest of my life. I also think the catching mechanic is particularly efficient when shiny hunting, which is always a positive. I just think the legendary battles, in particular, were so incredibly lacklustre compared to how they were in old games. Kids whose first game will be Let’s Go will never understand the adrenaline rush of getting a Rayquaza in Soulsilver down to 1HP, Paralysing it and still struggling to catch it for almost an hour. This game had such amazing cut scenes for the legendaries and then just completely dumped on that. I think the catching mechanic is an okay change, but it really has ruined the special occasion of catching legendaries as a whole.

Story –

If you’ve played Generation 1 then you’ve played Let’s Go. The story is boring at times and once again, easy. The only real excitement was when you face Giovani as the final gym battle, and even at that, it isn’t that exciting. I will forever miss the days of stories such as Platinum and Black and White. With exciting characters with deep backstories.

Post-game –

Pokemon is known for its incredible post-game inclusions, most reputably, Heartgold and Soulsilver’s travel to Kanto, and the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. This game, however, boring. A few legendaries and then that’s it. I think the master trainers are definitely an okay addition for something to do after you’ve completed the main story but overall, there isn’t much going on.

Overall –

Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee are an average Pokemon game, I think people will like it and enjoy it, as have I. I have over 60hours played in total as of now and think it is quite an enjoyable experience, but an enjoyable experience and a thrilling one are two different things. I think the game is okay and will bring in many new Pokemon fans, but it is obviously nowhere on the same scale as some of my favourite Pokemon games such as Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Black and White and Heartgold and Soulsilver. I think there is a need for a huge step up in every department I’ve mentioned for the next game, whether that be Gen 8 or a Sinnoh remake(I would be delighted with either). I am just hoping this game is a filler for the time being and the true Pokemon on Switch experience is coming next year. That’s it, that’s my thoughts on Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee.

Final Rating Rating – 6.5/10

Super Mario Odyssey One Year On – Review

Firstly, I just want to start this piece by getting something off of my chest. Super Mario Odyssey is the greatest Mario game of all-time, with the Mario Galaxy series coming in a close second place. And with the game approaching the one year anniversary of its release this month, I thought it’d be fitting for me to discuss what I found brilliant about the game.

So…what makes Odyssey the greatest Mario game of all-time? Today I will be summarising that in a few central topics(And yes, I am aware it has been quite a while since the game originally released)

The Switch –

The first topic I want to discuss is the console which Odyssey was specifically made for, the Nintendo Switch, and having played the game to completion, I can say easily, that the Switch is probably the biggest reason behind this game’s feel and success. Everything about the game feels perfect and fluid and the graphics of the game are absolutely breathtaking for a Mario game, which of course wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the Switch. For that reason alone, the Switch is just a key component in why this is the greatest Mario game of all-time in my opinion, but obviously, there are other factors of the game that go towards this argument.

Game Diversity –

Now, I know this is a common factor in almost every Mario game, but I feel another huge factor that goes into the appeal of Odyssey is the diversity in gameplay and surroundings. Whether it be starting off in an eerie cap kingdom, riding through a desert on a statue-bull thingy or the absolutely mind-blowing visuals of New Donk City, there is something for everybody to be blown away by, and that constant new experience around every corner keeps the game fresh and immune to going stale or becoming repetitive, which can be a common factor in most games that are released nowadays. But this is something Mario as a franchise has nailed down to perfection in almost every game belonging to the series, the ability to keep the game fun and exciting to play. I think this aspect is another main reason Mario Odyssey is amazing, but this could also be applied to most Mario games.

The Shop & Collectable Purple Coins –

Oh my word, the shop. The shop within the game is the most genius thing Mario as a game has ever conjured up, and I know there have been inklings of exchange within Mario games of the past before but never to this extent. The shop within this game is designed beautifully to stand out perfectly in every diverse setting within the game and the theme song when you enter the shop is perfect and upbeat and takes you away from whatever objective you were trying to take on during the general game. The shop also adds a lot of motivation for players to continue playing once they’ve completed the game, as the post-game consistently adds new and more expensive items(which means more gameplay to try and obtain enough coins for said items).

Along with the golden coins comes probably the second most genius thing ever introduced into a Mario game, and that is the collectable purple coins. The purple coins are fun, well spread throughout the game and have a healthy abundance to give the player something extra to pursue and also gives brilliant opportunities to purchase some extra cool items and collect all the shop items within the game. The only criticism I could have about the coins is maybe they didn’t add enough or add enough items you could purchase with these coins in comparison to the abundance amount of items you can purchase with the gold coins. But overall I think the shop and the purple coins give the player so much extra to do once they have completed the main game and gives a significant amount of extra playtime.

The Story –

The ending and overall storyline of Odyssey is the generic “Bowser captures Peach, Mario tries to save her” schtick, however, the inclusion of the new variant bosses and the ending where you escape with Bowser using Cappy, it brought joy to my heart. The music throughout the game was beautiful, and that is most evident in the final musical performance in New Donk City, and during the end of the main story where you try to escape the desolating world with Peach as Bowser. It ups adrenaline, it makes you feel submerged in the moment and makes you feel like the entire game was worth playing to get to that exact moment. It was truly amazing and beautiful.

Cappy –

Every Mario game has its new additions, whether that be the cloud in Galaxy or the giant and mini mushrooms in New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS. But, I don’t think there has ever been an addition as bold and out-there as Cappy. Cappy made the game feel open, there was no ending to what Mario could have done with this addition, from the T-rex to the onion-guys. It was amazing, it left every avenue open and made you feel like this Mario world had other creatures in it other than Mario. It rejuvenated the Mario franchise for me, after years of lacklustre additions or little to no new ideas at all. It was genius, and whoever came up with the idea for Cappy in this game deserves a huge pay-rise.

The Post-Game –

Lastly, admittedly it may not be the most riveting, surprising thing ever, but the post-game for Mario Odyssey is fantastic and provides an incredible amount of depth that has never been seen before within a Mario game, from the sheer hundreds of moons to collect, to the purple coins or collectable items or clothes, there is so much incentive for the player to return back to the game even after the main story has been finished, and even to this day, the game continues to be updated with new costumes and items to collect.

Overall, as a game, Odyssey is beautiful, creative and most importantly, fun. I can say I will struggle to ever be as enthralled in a Mario game as much as I have with Odyssey. And despite it being a year this month that the game was released, I and many others still continue to find a reason to return. It is a classic already.

Overall Rating – 8.5/10

God of War (PS4) – Review

God Of War, a game that has come out within the last few weeks and the next instalment for the illustrious line of games that the God Of War name has produced throughout the years. But is the game really amazing? Can the game reignite that compelling feeling of emotion and excitement that has been missing from gaming for so many years? I certainly think it can and did and in this review I will look to capture why God of War is my favourite game ever-made, as of now.

Story – 

God of War had the passion and guts behind it to not follow the tradition of the series with the characters. It follows Kratos and his son, Atreus, as they attempt to try and spread their deceased spouse and mother’s ashes atop the highest peak in all the realms whilst avoiding and attempting to survive the malicious threats to their life from the Norse gods along the way.

Although this has been mentioned to death as of now, the moment I knew this game was something special happens within the first hour. Kratos’ home is approached by Baldur, and the single line ‘Leave. My. Home.’ is enough to send chills down someone’s spine before the best and most cinematically intense boss fight breaks out right at the very beginning of the game, setting the bar for the ambition this game has very early-on.

Characters to the World and Their Effect and Relation to the Player –

God of War does an amazing job at making the world seem alive. When you are off doing your adventure, it genuinely feels like you can imagine Freya continuing her daily life within her home, or as you are attempting to traverse through Hel, you can feel Baldur within Hel too trying to find you, even though he is not in plain sight.

God of War does the best job I have seen at making every single character in a video game feel valued and important. There isn’t a single character that provides little opinion or feeling toward the player, everyone’s personality is completely fleshed out and complex.

Kratos’ Character Evolution – 

Although controversial to some players, the development of Kratos from a God-massacring and rage induced lunatic to a calm and educational father-figure is one of the most genius transitions of character in history. Kratos’ character change allows for you to be more relatable to the God, creating a sense of fatherhood for not just himself but also for the player as Kratos seeks to attempt to become closer to his son.

Kratos may be doomed to be haunted by his past and forever be a monster, but his dealing and acceptance of that fact is something which grants him with strength, and although that past may haunt him, he still has the ability to better himself to stop Atreus going down down the same path that he did with his family.

Atreus and Player Bond –

As the game continues on its path, you really do begin to sense a ‘The Last of Us’ feel from it, where you can sense that the developers of the game really did try their hardest to allow for Atreus to naturally grow on us as players and make us feel a connection to the boy on the same level as Kratos does. The anger and brutal nature of Kratos’ past allow the moments where he shows indirect admiration for his son, along with humorous moments, without forgetting his level of standards and discipline that he has for him to hold so much more weight when they do occur. This game is the only occasion in which the bond created for a side-character almost matches that of Ellie in The Last of Us. Atreus’ slides are your slides, his maturation is your maturation, he successes and failures feel as though you had a play in them.

Visuals and Scale – 

Personally, there hasn’t been a game as of now that has matched the detail and sheer feeling of awe that God of War has produced. Moments such as being attacked by an electricity dragon inside of a mountain will forever be etched into my mind.

God of War has always been a game with awe-inducing graphics for the time, with large scale moments such as that of the initial encounter with Jormungandr being something of a common place event in most games. However, this game sets a new level when it comes to the detail and graphical heights that are at play.

Voice Acting and General Acting –

The voice acting and general acting, especially if you have ever witnessed the documentary produced by Sony on the making of this game is unmatched in the gaming world. Performances from Christopher Judge are on another level as Kratos, whilst my personal most admired performance comes from Jeremy Davies as Baldur. However, I praise all those involved with all characters, as they created one of the most efforted and authentic feeling games to-date.

The End Goal – 

The end goal is something that holds the most weight in God of War from the beginning, but by the end, after everything Atreus and Kratos have gone through, it just feels like the cherry on top of what was a bigger and more complex narrative than simply scattering ashes atop the highest peak in the realms. The development and character progression of all involved in the story is something to behold, and there is simply too many iconic and memorable moments throughout the story to even begin to quote.

All I can say is that for the ending when Kratos is revealed amongst the mural and Atreus is revealed as Loki, nothing in gaming has ever sent more chills down my spine than that exact moment. All I can say is that I really cannot wait for the next game to see how all of that plays out.

OG God Of War –
Just when original fans of the series might have thought that the blades would not make a return, finally something significant happens in this field when the boy falls sick, which triggers the story to take a twist, which leads to one of the most iconic cinematic scenes within the game, as you see Kratos travelling down the stormy river, alone, being spectated by Athena and eventually arriving at his home, only for him to uncover and rap the chains of the fire blades around his wrists again, which would signify the idea that no matter how much he tries, Kratos can never live a different life, he will always be bound by the ghost of Sparta and he can never change his vengeful ways. This scene of him reacquiring his old blades puts everything about his personality changing so significantly into perfect context also. This storyline is told perfectly, although happens definitely way too far into the game as I feel many players wouldn’t have the will power to drag themselves through the hours of Dragr fights and mini-boss battles.

Conclusion –

I haven’t felt like this for a long time, probably since The Last Of Us, where once the game ends, I feel like part of my life has been taken away from me. I hope they do not leave us waiting for the next God Of War game, as I feel I would probably die from withdrawal. This was a fantastic game and has some of the best storytelling and visual effects I have ever witnessed in gaming. I suggest that everybody plays God Of War and experiences this as it is truly jaw-dropping and something to behold that can genuinely enlighten your life.

Final Rating – 9.5/10

Who Should Liverpool Sign To Become Genuine Title Contenders? By Nathan Brennan

It has been over 25 years now since Liverpool last won a title, and coming into Klopp’s third full season, Liverpool should be starting to push on, especially considering when he first joined he gave the cocky comment of us having won “one Premier League title in this time” in reference to his first four years in charge. So, for Klopp to achieve this, where should he improve his side?

Between The Sticks – Liverpool for years now, ever since the tail end of Reina’s Liverpool career, have been struggling to find a long-term goalkeeping option to stand between the sticks on a consistent basis. Throughout this time, we have had Simon Mignolet as the most recognisable number one keeper, with Loris Karius being the only genuine threat to the Belgian’s Liverpool career.

For years Liverpool would ignore Mignolet’s errors and inconsistencies in goal, as we strengthened in other areas of our squad, despite it being plainly obvious that goalkeeper is a clear area in which Liverpool needed to massively invest in.

Liverpool brought in Loris Karius in the Summer of 2016, and despite his shaky start to his Liverpool career, he has now dumped Mignolet out of the number one starting position and looks to be improving more and more as the games go by.

So do Liverpool need a world-class goalkeeper A.S.A.P this Summer? I do not think so, as long as Karius continues to prove his doubters wrong. However, if Mignolet does leave, I think it would be obvious that a second-choice keeper would have to come in to give Karius the competition he needs. Some options for this second option in goal would be :

Alban Lafont – The young 19-year-old keeper has broken through into the Toulouse first-team in recent seasons, having made 30 appearances this season for the French side, and although he would most likely not be ready to be a guaranteed starter at a club as big as Liverpool, I feel a young, talented back-up option in Alban Lafont would be a fantastic investment.

Kevin Trapp – A German keeper who joined PSG with great expectations, having failed to get the game time at the French side, making only 10 competitive appearances this season, I’m sure coming into the prime of his career at 27 years of age, he would be open to getting a second chance at a big team like Liverpool.

In The Centre Of Defence

Another area of Liverpool’s woes in recent history has been their options at centre-back, and despite bringing in Klopp’s number one target, van Dijk for £75million from Southampton in the January window, I don’t think the Reds should be done there when it comes to options at centre-back. I think Lovren needs to be moved on, proving time and time again that he clearly doesn’t have what it takes to be a consistently good defender. Which would leave us with Matip and van Dijk as the only real clear options to start at the back on a consistent basis. This would mean Liverpool would most definitely have to bring in one, if not two other options in central defence.

– Toby Alderweireld
– Jamaal Lascelles
– Maxime Le Marchand

Toby Alderweireld does seem like a bit of an extreme stretch but with just a year left on his contract at Spurs going into the next season, and rumours circulating that he won’t be tempted into renewing his deal at the London club, it wouldn’t be a complete fantasy for several Premier League clubs to come sniffing for the Belgian centre-half.

Jamaal Lascelles has been solid at the back this season for Newcastle, and despite him being more of a back-up option if he were to come to Liverpool in the Summer, I think he’d be a decent option to have. A shining diamond in a poor Newcastle side, Lascelles still has his best years to come and is captaining a huge club like Newcastle already in his career despite only being there for a few seasons. I mean, if Rafa Benitez instantly appoints you to captain then you know you’re doing something right, surely?

Maxime Le Marchand, a name I’m sure not many would have thrown into a hat full of names that could be coming into Liverpool this Summer, but Le Marchand has been solid at the back for Nice, not so much this season, as Nice’s standards have dropped. But, last season, Le Marchand was a key figure in a solid Nice backline as he helped the club qualify for the play-off stages of the Champions League, a huge achievement for a club of Nice’s stature. Le Marchand is by no means young, turning 29 within the next year, so he isn’t the long-term solution but as a backup option, he could be good for Liverpool to have within their ranks.

Defensive Midfield –For years Liverpool has lacked a ball-winning midfielder or a straight-up defensive midfielder, someone who is natural to that role at the least. The last of these ilks were Xabi Alonso and Lucas Leiva, Alonso who left to join Real Madrid and Lucas who was sold to Lazio last Summer, where he is now flourishing, although Lucas had several restrictions about his play. Liverpool needs a more smooth, silky footballer who is also capable of doing the dirty work, especially if Emre Can is to leave on a free transfer this Summer, which is looking more and more the case.

– Jorginho
– Wylan Cyprien
– Wilfred Ndidi

Liverpool have been linked with several defensive midfield options in recent weeks, Jorginho and Ndidi being the most popular of the bunch, Jorginho, who plays his football for Napoli and has not yet committed to either of his eligible countries, Italy or Brazil, is a very capable footballer, who is very well suited to a high pressing play and can calmly dictate the tempo of midfield, however, he would be incredibly expensive, especially if he were to commit to Brazil for this Summers World Cup and play well within the tournament.

Wylan Cyprien, a name Liverpool haven’t been linked with as of yet, and not an option that many people discuss when talking about potential incomings at Anfield especially when it comes to dynamic midfielders in Nice *cough* Seri *cough*. However, he has been hindered with injuries at a young age, having returned from a knee injury which kept him out of action for Nice for 10 months, where he scored a magnificent free-kick upon his return. But, before his injury, he had scored 8 goals in 29 games for Nice as they were(at the time) in contention for the Ligue 1 title. Wylan can play in an 8, in the 10 roles and has even featured in wide positions on rare occasions for Nice in the past, and at just 23 years of age, his best years are certainly ahead of him.

Wilfred Ndidi, another African is just what Liverpool fans would love right about now given how much of a success the last African brought into the club has been. Ndidi has not been a world-beater at Leicester, but he has all the components needed to become one of the best box to box or defensive midfielders in the world if utilised and played within a team that can help him reach his full potential. Within an average Leicester team, Ndidi has still managed to look a star. However, given that Leicester will most likely lose Riyad Mahrez this Summer, it will be very difficult to pry another of their top talents away from them in the same transfer window, especially if Ndidi were to put his name on the map for Nigeria at Russia 2018.

Overall – I don’t think Liverpool need to improve in many areas, especially upfront if we can manage to keep Salah, Mane and Firmino fit for next season, all three could rotate in
and out of each other’s positions, so I don’t necessarily think it is urgent for Liverpool to sign attacking reinforcements this Summer, although I can also understand why some of our fans would think we do. I think Liverpool’s main focus should be on their back five and pumping some proper quality into our lacklustre midfield.

If these steps are taken and Liverpool get the men who can push this side onwards, along with the addition of Naby Keita from Leipzig, then I genuinely think we could contend for the title next season, and maybe win it within the near future if we can
somehow manage to build something special and stop our best players from wanting to leave.