Hands On: The Darkness II

On the 29th October, I was one of the writers who covered the Mcm Expo for MCM BUZZ. Thankfully, a large amount of the writing focused on the video games section, and I gained several opportunities to attend panels, play some demos, etc.

The Darkness II's demo was available to play during the weekend, and so I got myself a chance to give it a spin.


Please click the link below to read my hands on review over on the 'Buzz!

Hands On: The Darkness II

Ninja Gaiden 3 Demo and Q&A

On the 29th October, I was one of the writers who covered the Mcm Expo for MCM BUZZ. Thankfully, a large amount of the writing focused on the video games section, and I gained several opportunities to attend panels, play some demos, etc.

I sat in on the Ninja Gaiden 3 demo and Q&A in the morning of the expo, to find out more about the latest game in the Ninja Gaiden series.

Please click the link below to go through to MCM BUZZ and read up on the demo/Q&A!

Ninja Gaiden 3 Demo and Q&A

Hands On: Zelda-Skyward Sword

I helped to cover the Mcm Expo for MCM Buzz on the 29th October. Thankfully, most of this responsibility sat in the video games section of the convention, and I was pleased to play a few of the games that were demoing during the weekend.


One game that I was anticipating greatly (and queued up for a good deal of time for) was The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.


Please go through to this link to check out my review of my time on the demo!

Hands on: The Legend of Zelda-Skyward Sword

Soul Calibur V Demo and Q&A

On the 29th October, I was one of the writers that covered the Mcm Expo for MCM BUZZ. Of course, this meant a lot of gaming related things to attend and write about.

I saw in on a Soul Calibur V demo and Q&A session that was being held on the Gamespot stage. The demo demonstrated Ezio's guest character slot in action, and we were also treated to the Ezio (from the Assassins Creed series) announcement trailer, a fan tournament, and a Q&A session.

You can read my complete post right here: Soul Calibur V Demo and Q&A

Hands On: Luigi's Mansion

On the 29th October, I covered the video games and comics section of London's Mcm Expo for MCM BUZZ. It turns out that Luigi's Mansion 2 had already been covered, I've put it up here, on 8-Bit Girl, for you all to read. Enjoy!

The Nintendo booth was host to a variety of impressive games throughout the MCM Expo weekend, and Luigi's Mansion 2 was one of the games on offer.

Following on from Gamecube launch title Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion 2 focuses on Luigi, who is sent by Professor E. Gadd through teleportation,  to capture and eradicate ghosts from a number of haunted mansions. I'm a huge fan of the original Luigi's Mansion, so I greatly anticipated giving the demo of it's sequel a go at the MCM Expo this weekend. Was it worth it? Definitely!

Fans of the original should have nothing to worry about. Luigi's Mansion 2 appears to be an improved, polished and engaging sequel. The demo allows players to navigate Luigi through a haunted mansion, complete with his trusty ghost-catching device, the Poltergust 5000. Luigi wanders through a variety of dimly-lit rooms (the lights flicker on and off when thunder strikes), as he sucks up gold coins, notes of money and, of course, ghosts. Just like its predecessor, Luigi is a nervous wreck once again, and the laughs come in seeing Luigi activate his scared little run, shake and breathe out streams of cold air.

What made the demo of Luigi's Mansion 2 so engaging was by far the ghost catching elements, which made the original game so endearing. Luigi can suck up ghosts by using the analog stick to aim in the direction of the ghost, and the right trigger to activate the sucking. Like the first game, Luigi once again has to battle with the ghost for a while by steering the Poltergust 5000 until the ghost finally admits defeat and sinks into the machine. What can be better than playingGhostbusters with one of Nintendo's best-loved characters?
Straight away, it becomes apparent how brilliant this game looks. The 3D adds in a high level of depth and really brings to life the crisp, detailed layers of each room in the mansion. Whilst a lot of the fun comes in the ghost bustin' elements of the game, a large amount of enjoyment comes in merely exploring the variety of rooms in the mansion. Luigi's torch can be shone at different places in the room, where secrets, items, or ghosts can be discovered.

Overall, the demo did not offer a lot to do, but it did briefly offer up some ghost catching gameplay, and a significant amount of exploration before it ended. It's a beautiful looking game, which looks perfect on the Nintendo 3DS, and, from the looks of things, a worthy sequel to the excellent Luigi's Mansion. Fans should enjoy this.

Hands On: Dark Souls

Armed with my press pass, I covered London's MCM Expo for the Expo's magazine site, MCM Buzz. I managed to get a few artist interviews, play some hands-on demos and sit through some panels. It was great! One of the other writers had already covered Dark Souls, so here is my hands-on experience with the game.


Namco Bandai's Dark Souls was available for gamers to play throughout this weekends MCM Expo in London., which I managed to grab a go at on the Saturday.


The demo opens on the character customisation screen, where I quickly set up the characters stats and look. The game then begins in a moss-covered castle, full of winding staircases and plenty of enemies. Straight away I am confronted with a couple of rats, which I rather foolishly thought would be easy to defeat. But this is Dark Souls, of course this isn't the case. Thankfully though, they're much easier than the greater enemies you will confront as the game progresses.


If you haven't heard it already, Dark Souls is hard. Punishingly hard at times, and my demo play definitely proved this. It's hard to drop into a game like Dark Souls somewhere past the beginning, as there is a bit of a learning curve involved with the gameplay. Gameplay at times feels a little clunky, but for the most part, the controls were easy to pick up.
The games tagline "Prepare to Die" is an appropriate one, as you will die. Repeatedly, in fact. Due to this, the intensity of the game was increased significantly, and I was left feeling like I was always in danger, no matter if I was fighting merely a rat, or one of the larger, zombie-like enemies that I encountered in my time on Dark Souls.


I was highly impressed with the atmosphere conveyed. Dark Souls is not only incredibly creepy at times, but this demo play through also conveyed the tranquillity and beauty that can be found through exploration. The graphics are also rather impressive, and the crisp, vibrant look benefited greatly in full HD.


Whilst dying a lot may not seem that enjoyable, for some reason, I was left wanting more when my time on Dark Soulswas up. The sound and graphics add a creepy, almost survival horror-esque atmosphere which really heighten the intensity, and horror, of repeated deaths. Whilst my play-through on Dark Souls had been brief, it is definitely a game which has the potential to be an engaging, if somewhat frustrating, experience. Prepare yourself for a rough, but enjoyable ride-this is what's waiting for you on Dark Souls.

A Collection of Posts

Hello all,


Once again, I've been busy writing elsewhere on the web as well as my personal gaming blog, which you are currently reading from right now.

Retro Kingdom
First of all, I've recently started writing for Retro Kingdom, a collaborative retro blog by myself and Lewis Terry from App Kingdom.


Here are my most recent posts:
Donkey Kong Country
Dragon Warrior Monsters
Mario Paint
Aladdin

MCM Buzz
I'm pleased to announce that I've bagged myself a press pass to cover the London MCM Expo in October for MCM Buzz! I shall be doing a few interviews, writing up coverage for all the events, browsing the stalls, etc. 


Do not be shy! If you see me, by all means come and say hello. I shall be handing out some 8-Bit Girl flyers (I hope) during the convention as well!


Here are latest articles:
Dragon Quest X Goes Online for the Wii and Wii U
Red Dead Redemption "Myths and Mavericks" DLC Revealed
An Interview with Christaan Gough (The Sci-Fi Guys)

Gamers Daily News
I was appointed as a guest contributor for Gamers Daily News this month. This means that I shall be posting up any of my game musings whenever I feel I have something worthy enough to share.


My first (and hopefully not my last!) article for the site:
My Favourite Game: Link's Awakening


I know many of my readers like to read my other posts around the internet, and so I shall be doing regular update posts like this from now on to let you all know what else I have been writing.


I hope you continue to enjoy my writing on and off of 8-Bit Girl, and please do not hesitate to get in touch via my email address!


Kayleigh Powis

Borderlands 2 Announced & New Smash Bros News!

As many of you know, I am one of the writers for the Game section of MCM Buzz. Each time I have written an article over on that site, I shall post a link to each one of them on 8-BIT Girl. I know a lot of my readers may appreciate checking these out at some point.

Borderlands 2?
The first concerns the official announcement of Borderlands 2! It's predecessor shifted over 2 million copies in the first two months of release, so a sequel was inevitable. 


You may read more about what we are to expect in Borderlands 2 and other information by clicking right here. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Super Smash Bros. Wii U Details
Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind the hugely successful Smash Bros. series, as well as the upcoming Kid Icarus game has finally announced a few details about the latest Smash Bros. outing. 


This new Smash Bros. will be released on the Wii U as well as the Nintendo 3DS, and Sakurai promises that this version will be a huge improvement over it's predecessors.


So, what are we to expect from the new Smash Bros.? Hopefully a few questions will be answered over at my article. 

Zelda News & Leaked Resident Evil 6 Logo

This is a short blog to link you to two articles that I, 8-BIT Girl, has written for MCM BUZZ. I am one of the video-games and film writers for MCM BUZZ, so expect many more updates like this once I am more active on there. 8-BIT Girl will be continuing though, so have no fear!

More Zelda details emerge!
The first contains more news about The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony that will be occurring from October 2011. 


You can read more about this by clicking here!

Resident Evil 6 logo supposedly leaked
The second contains information on the supposedly leaked Resident Evil 6 logo and date at a private Capcom meeting.


Read more about this by clicking here!


I will hopefully be writing quite regularly for MCM BUZZ, and will post up the links to my articles here whenever there are any new ones. I am sure at least some of my readers will be interested in checking them out.


Thank you!
Kayleigh Powis