How to suffer infinite deaths. A review of Dark Souls.

*No Spoilers*

Now first off, i didn't play the spiritual predecessor Demon Souls, so i can make no comparison between the 2 games.

Blind it, or it ends you. 

Now Dark Souls is a game that doesn't hold your hand what so ever, if you're the sort who struggled with the Fable series or would rather play motion capture games on Kinect, it certainly isn't for you. In a way it is a throwback to all the old dungeon crawling games of old, a game which needs plenty of grinding, lots of perseverance yet is ultimately satisfying. There is no difficulty slider or levels, there is just the one difficulty which is insanely difficult even at the early stages. A breath of fresh air to the gaming world if you like, while other series are dumbing controls down and making games simpler, Dark Souls challenges the hardcore gamer.

There is no real story to the game, there's a cracking cinematic sequence at the start that sort of sets the main plot of darkness taking over the world, but beyond that there's very little storytelling. The game really is a case of make your own story up as your character goes through the game. There are NPC's scattered around this open world game but there are little to no dialogue choices when engaging with them.

The game begins with a very good choice of character builds such as warriors, wizards and thieves, all with their own unique perks and abilities. I personally went for the thief, as i like to play the character that sneaks through and goes for the stealthy kills. You can also edit your persona, although the options are rather limited when compared with games such as Oblivion and the upcoming Skyrim where character customisation is practically limitless.

On starting the game there is a sort of tutorial, just explaining how to control your character with a few motionless enemies to focus your attacks on. The controls do give your character plenty of options, with quick attacks, more powerful attacks, duel wielding, blocking, shield bashing, forward rolls, sidestepping, practically any move you could think of. is available to all characters. Once you go through the tutorial, the real fun begins.

Beware, there be unseen enemies afoot. 

If you make a mistake you'll more than likely die. For example, a misplaced attack will be blocked, you'll be stabbed through the stomach and you die. An enemy attacks and you don't block, you die. Fail to see an arrow flying through the air towards your head, you die. A very punishing game, but the beauty of it is it makes progress all the more satisfying. As you go through the game and kill enemies you get "souls" which can be used to boost up various equipment such as swords and armour, or gain enough you can level up and boost some of your stats. As a thief things like agility are important to boost early, but despite this i found playing as the thief pointless. He does have his perks, as a master key he starts the game with can open a lot of the weaker doors in the game, but if you fancy sneaking around and stealth killing enemies, think again. In some areas there are so many undead skeletons and archers you have absolutely no possibility of stealthy play, merely hold up your shield and hope is the best you can do. Later on I unlocked a spell called "soul arrows" which you can fire at enemies, but timing those so you don't get hit with an enemy arrow or by a sword wielding skeleton involves precision timing.

One of many surprises lurking in dungeons throughout.

The basic enemies can be easy to take down, but punishing if you go charging in. It's a completely different matter for the bosses is this game. My very first boss encounter was a huge 60ft demon wielding a giant hammer in the Asylum, i ran around for a good 20 minutes trying to dodge the hammer blows and get an attack in of my own. After many deaths i discovered there was an exit from the courtyard where you were fighting the demon, turns out i didn't have to kill him yet. Later on in the Asylum after leveling up and getting better equipment, you fight him again and need to kill the demon to progress. Slightly easier, but i still died several times before defeating him. Worst thing is, after every death, you go back to the last bonfire which are like checkpoints in the game. So if there was 7 ghouls or skeletons between you and the boss, you have to kill them again and again.

Dark Souls has been described as a dungeon crawler, which i think needs to be taken quite literally. RB enables your character to sprint, which in this game is the most pointless thing you can do, you HAVE to crawl round all corners of every dungeon throughout the game or you'll be killed, simple. I recall a bit in the game as i was playing as my thief character, i ran up some steps into an open area, in front of me was a stone bridge. I continued to run towards it, when a dragon swooped down from nowhere and took the bridge out along with me. Lesson learned. Also just for the record I haven't completed this game. After spending around 6 hours trying to kill the innocently named "Moonlight Butterfly" I then met some gargoyles who have pounded me time and time again since.

But Dark Souls is that kind of game, the satisfaction being in beating the parts of the game that are punishingly difficult. It can be a disheartening, frustrating experience if you lack gaming experience and is one of those games you'd rather not pick up and play, but sometimes you just can't help yourself because at its core it's a stunning game. It's worst enemy is the members of the media calling this game an RPG, where the RPG elements are weak and lacking in many areas. The game should have simply remained in the genre of "dungeon crawler" where it is no doubt a masterpiece.

8/10

Long Eaton Feature

 A chance to become one of Derbyshire’s first Academies seemed a big ask for Long Eaton School when the conversion was first proposed, but a few months on Headmaster Neil Calvert is extremely proud of what he has achieved and is still looking for ways they can improve further.

Neil Calvert has strived to improve the school since becoming headmaster in early 2008. In 2006 the school moved to a new site costing 15 million pounds as part of a Private Finance Initiative, which has only helped to improve the school's standards. In 2006 and 2009, Ofsted judged the school as “outstanding” due to its above average GCSE scores and standard of teaching, especially in the English department. Mr Calvert explained, “I am proud of the high Ofsted scores we achieved and Academy status will not change what we stand for, it will enable us to deliver more effective education to our students.”

Academy status means that a school will be funded directly from central Government and is independent of local Government control. To become legible, they must meet National Curriculum core subject requirements subject to an Ofsted exam.

Back when the proposition was made in October 2010, many schools seemed to be unsure of what benefits Academy status would bring for the students and the staff. A few miles down the road at Sinfin Community School, staff have decided to strike because they feel a move to Academy status could threaten their current jobs. Students have missed vital lesson time in the lead up to exams because on the striking action, however Long Eaton Headmaster Neil Calvert felt the move to Academy status would always be beneficial. “We obviously felt secure with the move to Academy status or we wouldn't have gone through with it, the feedback from parents to the board of Governors was always positive and the staff were kept informed during the whole process so we didn't have a similar situation happening here that happened at Sinfin.”

After being asked his thoughts on what the main benefit will be to Long Eaton School becoming an academy, Mr Calvert said, “Our new Academy status will enable us to develop a better curriculum for our students, one that meets their needs as the status allows us greater freedom than what we had before.” Mr Calvert's views appeared strong and he was sure that Academy status would bring benefits to Long Eaton School in the long run, although at recent Derbyshire Council meetings the difference  Academy status makes has been questioned. Councillor Bayliss has questioned what benefits Academies bring, stating “it just takes more schools out of local Council control, with there being no noticeable improvements in grades from the schools that have been Academies for a long period of time. I see no point in more schools being handed over to Government intervention as it can only be seen as wasting money.” Many opposed Councillor Bayliss' views, but there were some in support of what he said. Recent results do show Academies producing strong exam grades, when a few years ago they were not. It appears time is needed for Academies to start performing at a high level.

There is no shortage of criticism for Academies, but Education Secretary Michael Grove is still fully behind them, saying that pressing for more Academies will allow schools more freedom. The amount of Academies created under Labour was around 200, under the new Conservative regime they are aiming to reach almost double that amount by the end of 2011. Despite criticisms Academies continue to get results that are well above average, with 71% of students at Academies hitting the average five A*-C grades , when compared to 2006 in which only 26% of students at an Academy were reaching the student average. Back in 2006 was when the Academy moves put the Labour regime under scrutiny, as the move damaged exam results instead of improving them. But recent improvements in exam results under the Tory Government seem to gradually be bringing people round.

Back in October when the proposition for Long Eaton to become an Academy was put into place, Headmaster Neil Calvert said he tried to ensure that the academy move would be beneficial in every way to the school and put his case to the Board of Governors. After pushing the school to improve standards his influence and know how ensured Long Eaton School achieved the “outstanding” Ofsted grade that enabled them to become legible for Academy status. Neil said “ Schools should always be about the students, as headteacher I want them to achieve the very best grades they can and any help we can provide we will. I have recently joined Derby University's Governing Council in order to extend my knowledge of what students need so that they can achieve all the way from GCSE to the end of their University careers. Many sixth formers we have at Long Eaton School are not put off by University, they just want to know what experience they are getting as consumers and how it will help them in later life. I will look to pass on the knowledge to our sixth formers looking to progress.” Speaking of what else being on the University's Governing Council would do to help Long Eaton School, Neil said “ it helps bring vital links for the school, I have strong links with Derbyshire and I feel it is important to help the University as a local organisation, which I believe already has a strong reputation across the country. I want to push on after achieving Academy status, not rest on it.” Neil also said that he believes the Governing Council has a lot of power and influence, which he hopes can benefit his own institution.

Long Eaton is Neil Calvert's second head teaching post. After starting as a teacher at George Spencer School he spent ten years there before he moved to King Edward VI High School in Staffordshire as Deputy Head. After spending four years there he moved back to the East Midlands, taking his current post as Long Eaton Headmaster. After being asked why teaching attracted him, Neil said, “I just want to make a difference and education seemed a way of doing that. I have always taken pride in raising people's aspirations and teaching seemed an ideal career choice. I was born and raised in Staffordshire so I enjoyed being Deputy Head at the local school there, also with my family being from Derbyshire it was nice to come to one of the schools here as Headmaster for personal reasons as well as a career choice.”

Academy status has also delighted the Board of Governors, including Chair Tim Gallimore who said, “This is an important step for Long Eaton School, Academy status will allow us to continue to give a good standard of education to the students. Offering a balanced education we believe is a strength of ours and we'd like to continue ensuring our students achieve the very best grade in all the core subjects that open doors to the pupils future. But most importantly, it increases the schools responsibility in providing all students in our community an equal opportunity to achieve as well as they can. This is what we have always stood for.” Neil Calvert said that he worked closely with the Governors to make sure the move was right for Long Eaton School.

One would hope the misconception that Academies are bad is put to rest as more schools make the move and benefit from it. As the Government aim to have around 400 schools as Academies by the end of 2011 the whole country could see benefits first hand as their children take their first steps on to the secondary school ladder.

And what of the future? Neil said, “After getting Long Eaton School to Academy status, all we can do is push on and make Long Eaton School the very best it can be. Continuing to get our students achieving the 5 A*-C's and helping students pass their A levels remain our highest priorities, as of course the school is all about the students, without them we wouldn't be where we are now.”

Human Rights - Has the World Gone Mad?

Hooray, Gaddafi's regime has finally ended. The general consensus is one of relief as thousands of lives have been saved by ending his tenure as Libyan leader, most would agree he needed to be dealt with.. But then later on reading the news, i see the headline "Call for Inquiry into Gaddafi death," wait, what?

It would appear that Amnesty International, a human rights campaign group, want the full facts of Gaddafi's death published. The National Transitional Council are being pressured to publish everything they know  and want a "full, independent and impartial inquiry to establish the circumstances of Colonel Al-Gaddafi's death as his treatment could be a severe breach of human rights." I'm all for human rights, but this is pathetic.

A man who killed thousands of innocents for me isn't deserving of the basic human rights. The pictures taken before Gaddafi was killed were of him bloodied and weak, which is what has Amnesty up in arms as it is a possible violation of the human right for freedom of torture. Just pathetic, why should this despicable human beings death be investigated when millions of others around the globe are tortured and have no complete freedom of speech, yet no thorough investigations are evident nor do Amnesty comment. Yet this tyrannical mans circumstantial death gets a full inquiry.

If you violate other peoples human rights, for me you deserve to have none. It's as simple as that, common sense needs to be used sometimes when it comes to investigating a man's death who is responsible for mass killings. The world really has gone mad.

Would no promotion and relegation be a bad thing?

Today foreign owners of Premiership teams were found to be discussing whether to vote for the scrapping of relegation and promotion, possibly in favour of a franchise system similar to what they have over in the States. Now the immediate reaction to this from football fans is one of horror and how disastrous it would be for our proud Football League. However, i see it another way.

Eventually the Premiership is going to break off, as much as you may not want it to or think it won't. There's been mumblings for years now, ever since BSkyB were trying to promote the idea of a super league involving all of Europe's elite sides. Further down the line there seemed to be a big media push in Scotland for Celtic and Rangers to get a place in the Premiership, which sparked a fierce backlash from the majority of people associated with English football. More recently there was the suggestion from Bolton chairman Phil Gartside that there should only be one relegation and one promotion per season. Then only a few years ago there was a push for the Premiership to host a 39th game abroad. Anyone would think the Premiership wanted to be put on an even larger money making scale.

So it would appear that it is inevitable that the Premiership will break off from the rest of the Football League eventually, but i feel that would improve the general footing that our football stands on. The Premiership is being held afloat by money from Sky, without that the Premiership would completely collapse. If they were to disband leaving the other 72 English clubs in their current format, why wouldn't most parties profit from this? The Premiership could host their 39th game or whatever, the majority are foreign owners now so it would surely please the powers above at all clubs. Then from the Championship downwards, we would have a league system not completely built on money and a far more exciting one. We all know how exciting the Championship is as a division if you follow football, at the start of a season literally any one from around 14 teams could win the title. The Premiership is too money driven, with it being very rare any team that gets promoted stays up for more than a few seasons. Stoke are a very rare case of a team going up in recent history and cementing a place is the Premiership, others struggle every season such as Wolves and Wigan, whilst most come straight back down.

Now compare this to the Championship, where it is very rare that the 3 teams that come up go straight back down. Currently 2 of the promoted teams this season are stood at the top of the league and 5th respectively, while the final promoted team is stood at a solid 11th position. This is what fans love to see, an unpredictable division where all teams have a chance at some sort of glory, not seeing the Man Utd's and the Chelsea's in the top 4 every year without fail.

So if run properly, a league system without the Premiership i believe could be fantastic. With the new Fifa financial fair play ruling coming in it is already a step in the right direction in terms of securing football teams financially. Get the debt ridden Premiership out of the way and we'll see a fair football league where anyone can finish anywhere, I'd love to see a league that isn't about spending massive lump sums on players, but one that involves modest sums and more importantly the promotion of youth players into first team squads. The FA keep going on about the lack of English talent coming through, well here's a way to get more youth players playing first team football too. I know i said no more about England, but it just seemed a nice way to wrap this up.

Joey Barton and why i finally agree with him on something.

Most people know my views on Joey Barton. He's an idiotic footballer who should be behind bars for varying stupidity, from fighting in clubs to sticking cigarettes in youth footballers faces. He's a talented player who without his past (despite saying he's "changed," HA) would probably be part of the England squad by now. Recently he called in to a football phone in show with Ian Wright to discuss QPR's draw with Blackburn, when the subject of playing for England came up.


"I mean, my massive issue with England, or Team England as it's now known, is it is now an elitist, southern-based team.

"I mean, it's neat to have Wembley, you know, but why should England specifically play there? How can you be passionate about England if you live in Newcastle and you've got to travel over 200 miles, or if you live in Carlisle. I mean, they've become an elitist, southern-based club, and for me I think your average Englishman really doesn't care about England any more."

For all the garbage he spouts on Twitter and through the national press, for once i think he's spot on here. For the build up to the World Cup in 2006 when Wembley was under development, England played all over the country and gave many fans the chance to see them without travelling the length of the country. Why do England feel the need to have Wembley? The Spanish use Camp Nou and the Bernabeu, 2 of the finest stadiums in the world. Why couldn't England settle for the likes of Old Trafford, the Emirates or Old Wembley? Financially the FA have doomed English football for the future, with a debt that will keep rising as the interest on the loan is more than they can afford to pay off.

But back to Joey Barton, do be people care about England as much as they used to? I never have the same excitement when a big tournament is coming up, so i guess i agree with him saying "Team England" are nothing more than an elitist southern based team.

Euro 2012 and why the hype is again unjustified.

17  minutes left with a 2-1 lead, only a point needed against Montenegro to go through  to the Euro finals, so what could possess a professional footballer to kick out at an opposition defender leaving his side a man down? Ask Mr Rooney.

Despite the betting allegations surrounding his Dad right now, surely Rooney should have far more sense than this? Yes England went through, but the mind boggles as to why he'd put England in jeopardy in the first place, think of the repercussions had England lost after he'd been sent off. If his head wasn't right I'd expect Capello to be experienced enough to just not play him, but with Rooney being our only stand out player these days (but not in an England shirt) i guess he's an automatic choice. "Automatic choice," being a phrase used often by pundits where England is concerned, so why have we not won anything with so many players good enough to be automatic choices?

Firstly off field antics that the England players get up to are ridiculous. Do your hear of players such as David Villa shooting Spanish youth players with an air rifle? How about Xavi sleeping with Puyol's girlfriend? Of course not, they're World champions, so why does John Terry and Ashley Cole find themselves in the papers for reasons such as these? Absolute joke that one of them is representing this country as our Captain.

After the shocking performance in South Africa 99% of that squad should have been binned and never picked again, the Terrys, Lampards and Gerrards have all had their chances and have failed miserably. As much as i hate Gary Neville, i had to agree with him when he compared the spine of our team to that of Spain's and Germany, we're so weak in comparison yet we're expected to win things. Last year was the time those performing in the U-21's should have had their chance straight off. Bring in the likes of Phil Jones, Smalling, Cleverley, Wellbeck, Rodwell and Sturridge, give them their chance for these Euro's so they can get proper preparation for the next World Cup instead of sticking with the "Golden Generation" as the England squad of 2006 somehow became known.

However it appears that Terry, Lampard, Gerrard and the rest of the England long timers are going to get another undeserved shot at international glory and in my opinion fall at the first "big" team we come up against. I mean Montenegro seemed like a struggle in the group stages, we'll see how far off winning anything we are when we get destroyed by Spain in the upcoming friendly. I don't hold much hope for England's future either, while the players may be coming through the manager to lead us certainly isn't, as Harry Redknapp has used the media to talk his way into the job and he'll inevitably get it. What has he ever done apart from put teams in the financial mire?

Certainly a rebuild from top to bottom is needed for the England seniors in a similar way that Pearce has for the Under 21's. He's my shout for the next England boss.