Author: Andrew Denman

Andrew Denman is currently based out of London. When not playing video games, Andrew is interested in a range of different topics, be it Doctor Who, vinyl records, reading, or playing instruments.

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Entertainment Reviews

Song Review – Gorillaz (feat. Thundercat) – Cracker Island

It’s no secret that Gorillaz has been one of my favourite bands since I got into them around 2005, and they continue to astound me to this day, with this song being no exception.

After the pot-pourri mix of genres and themes that was Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (including features with Beck, Elton John, St. Vincent, Robert Smith of The Cure, amongst many others – one of my favourites being a mix of Chai and JPEGMafia), many a person was interested in what would come next for the virtual band helmed by Damon Albarn, with Jamie Hewlett’s excellent art. The answer to that is the introduction of the mysterious The Last Cult…

Gorillaz are currently performing a series of tours all over the world and in recent times, there have been two new songs that have been added to the setlist – one being called Silent Running, and one that had an official studio release last week (and the subject of this article), Cracker Island.

Kicking off with a foreboding synth melody and unsettling sing-talking from 2-D (the singer in the virtual band), it doesn’t take long for this song to become a groove-bomb, … Read More

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Entertainment Pop Culture

Andrew’s Angles – Bo Burnham’s Inside & Inside Outtakes – Song Rankings

Note: This article covers a special that covers a wide range of current-day social and mental health issues. While mostly in a comedic sense, please be aware that these topics will be covered in this article. If you need help, please use the contact details on the following website: https://www.oml.world/needhelpnow

 

One of the most unique projects that I feel has come out in the past couple of years is Bo Burnham’s Inside – a 2021 Netflix special entirely made by the multi-instrumentalist comedian Bo Burnham. The special is a rollercoaster – taking you through a wide range of emotions and topics, and takes place in a single room for the full runtime. Despite being a result of the pandemic, it is never at all mentioned once by name throughout the special – instead, the viewer is taken on an often comedic and morbid journey through all of the trends and ills of the world, packed with 20 songs. On 31st May 2022, he released outtakes to Inside on his YouTube channel – coming in at an additional hour, an extra 24 songs were released! As a recent big fan of the special and outtakes, I felt it would be … Read More

Categories
Gaming Reviews

The Unboxing of Isaac (May 2022 – Dogma) – What’s In It?

Warning: This article covers a franchise that is fairly morbid and grotesque. If you find that sort of content is upsetting, this article may not be for you.

The Binding of Isaac, the notoriously difficult roguelike game, has gone through many changes and updates over the years. Starting as a Flash game in 2011, it has since gone to Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS, and even the more family-friendly Switch and 3DS platforms. It has also received multiple sizeable updates:

  • Wrath of the Lamb;
  • Rebirth;
  • Afterbirth;
  • Afterbirth+;
  • Repentance

There has also been a physical card game released called The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, with a new expansion, Requiem, being made. Not satisfied with this large list of accolades, Edmund McMillen and the staff at Maestro Media have announced a limited run of The Unboxing of Isaac – a monthly Isaac-themed subscription box. As a huge fan of the franchise, I immediately signed up for it and felt it would be useful to show others what each box comes with. The first month’s theme is Dogma, and here is what it came with!

Greeting Letter

A suitably morbid greeting card is at the top of the box, making … Read More

Categories
Entertainment Gaming

Limited Run Games Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game K.O. Edition – What’s In It?

Hi all – this time, I’m bringing you something different from my Andrew’s Angles articles – in this case, it’s a breakdown of the K.O Edition of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World from Limited Run Games (LRG)!

As ashamed as I am to say it, while I did have the game back on Xbox 360, I did not play that much of it, and then, sadly Ubisoft pulled the release from digital stores (the only way that the game could be obtained originally). However, my fiancé (who has helpfully taken the pictures for this article – thank you, Dan!) is a massive fan of Scott Pilgrim – the books, the movie, the game, anything you can think of. So, when LRG announced that they would be releasing the game, it did not take much convincing for the order to be placed for the K.O. Edition – one of the most jam-packed versions available.

The collection itself comes in a large musician case and a slip cover, both adorned with the Sex Bob-Omb logo.

For the musicians out there, this edition also comes with not just one pair of well-made drumsticks, but 3 guitar picks, also unmistakeably part of the Scott … Read More

Categories
Gaming

Andrew’s Angles – Demo Days

Sadly, this piece will not be about the album made by one of my favourite bands (one day, perhaps I will put something Gorillaz-related together!), but there is something similar between it and my topic of conversation today – they last came out in 2005 (or, near enough). The topic in question? Game demos.

Now that we’re in full swing into the period of gaming with patches, updates, live services, etc., it seems that the average consumer needs to take a gamble with more and more games based on reviews, previews, live streams, opinion pieces, and so on, without actually getting to try before they buy. With standard editions of games generally running from £50-£70 each, that’s quite a gamble, especially with how hectic launch windows can be. Should you pick up Cyberpunk 2077 or Assassins Creed Valhalla? Kirby and the Forgotten Land or Elden Ring? With the size and price of games nowadays, that can be tricky to answer.

So, when I heard about Sony is mandating that some of the game developers for the games on their platforms include demos/timed trial periods for subscribers to PS+ (the paid subscription that allows for users to play … Read More

Categories
Gaming

Andrew’s Angles – LEGO Star Wars – May The Force (To Achieve 100%) Be With You

So, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has come out! Let me preface this piece with a couple of key points:

  1. I am not huge on Star Wars – to date, I have only seen Episodes V and VII.
  2. I am also not huge on LEGO – the only major kit that I’ve got is the Super Mario Question Block which I built last year.

However, despite this, I feel that the LEGO Star Wars franchise was instrumental in my collector/completionist mindset. For those of you not in the know, LEGO Star Wars was the first in the Traveller’s Tales series of LEGO combined with other popular franchises and since then, there have been many entries in the franchise:

  • LEGO Star Wars (2005), which covered Episodes I-III
  • LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006), which covered Episodes IV-VI
  • LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007), which combined the first two games and added in some extra features
  • LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (2011), which is based on the Clone Wars franchise
  • LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016), which covered Episode VII
  • LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (2022), which covered Episodes I-IX

Now, it’s all well … Read More

Categories
Gaming

Andrew’s Angles – Are Games Becoming Too Bloated? – A Completionist’s Perspective

I believe it was around Christmas 2020 that I had my first experience of feeling that perhaps some games are becoming behemoths of content – the culprit? Putting 135 hours into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and deciding that enough was enough after a particular challenging standing stones side activity.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I am a fan of games with lengthy campaigns and enjoyable side content, but in recent times, I have noticed more and more titles where I’ve thrown in the towel after completing the main narrative. My issue with this – it’s at odds with my completionist nature. I’m not going to pretend that I’m some sort of person who needs to get a Platinum in every game I play before I’m ready to move on to the next one – you’re not going to see me get all relics in the Crash Bandicoot series. You’re not going to see me get everything unlocked in online games. I’m not going to play every game on the hardest difficulty. But I am one of those people that does get a sense of satisfaction of getting all boxes ticked, checklists completed, all collectables, well…collected.

I know that this … Read More