I've just finished this, meaning I've played it as things are getting real regarding the Chinese Virus. I mention that as there are some parallels between COVID and the storyline on offer in 'A Plague Tale: Innocence'. Set in 1348, with the Bubonic plague running rampant, and the 100 Year War in full effect, the protagonist's mother and father are killed, [spoiler](or are they?)[spoiler] and you are left to help her, Amicia, and her younger brother, Hugo, survive. Stealth is the main gameplay element here. Hiding in tall grass, trapping your enemies and attacking just at the right time are key strategies that are not uncommon in the stealth genre. Guns or arrows are never used, but Amicia does have a slingshot and an ability to brew a number of concoctions. These help you to extinguish or start fires, put an enemy to sleep or move rats, to name a few. There are also brief moments of puzzling to move to the next area-think a less complex puzzle akin to something you'd find in Tomb Raider. I was enjoying this and thought the game was playing fairly well until the last few chapters, where the first true moment of anguish occurred when I was put into Hugo's shoes and had to move the rats around. I found the controlling of that to be incredibly cumbersome and frustrating. It was the first time I lost my temper playing this. Towards the end of the game I also thought it started to lose some steam. I had to do the same thing I'd done before, like moving the flames around the castle and walk really slowly. Along the way, the other main issue was that at times I felt like this was a little trial and error. I died a lot, and some of the time I felt like 95% of people playing this would too because there was no warning. The other minor bugbear is that it is so linear when there are opportunities to offer the gamer some choice. This is most notable as you approach someone who is about to be killed and just let it happen. As I was playing I thought that I could have saved them. It doesn't allow you to though. Overall, it's an enjoyable game, driven by its story, settings, characters, and enjoyable gameplay mechanics that regularly add something new to the table so that it doesn't drag on. Whilst playing, I had the thought that I'd be seeing rat tornadoes in my dreams. Thankfully that hasn't happened...yet. Gameplay 3.5/5 Graphics 3.5/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4.5/5 Originality 3.5/5 *Written early 2020.

Too much of the same sounding songs as I've heard before from Mr White to rank this any higher. 'I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To' sounds like something I've heard before, although the track I'm thinking of may have come after this album. Given this is only his forth album, maybe I'd think differently if I listened to his discography in chronological order rather than this being one of my final Barry White albums to listen to. 'What Am I Gonna Do with You' has a big 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe' feel to it as well. The only thing I love here is the 10 min sweeping song that is listed below. Best Track: Let Me Live My Life Lovin' You Babe

I'm not a huge rock/metal fan, nor do I have a massive catalogue of the stuff, but this power metal album is one that I've played and played non stop. There ain't a bad song, most are great in fact, that feature fantastic vocals from Jorn. Best Tracks: Crimson Rider, Back For My Life, Wounds, After This War, Into the Arena, Falling Sparrow

Take yourself back to 1997. Nas was coming off his great 'It Was Written' album. AZ reuniting with him for a whole album after the heralded 'Life's a Bitch' with his solid couple of solo projects as well. One of, if not the most popular female rappers, Foxy Brown, coming off a platinum album the year prior. Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters handling most of the production! And Cormega, I mean Nature as the 4th rapper, who was filling in for Cormega, who was meant to be on the album, but had some creative differences. After listening to the themes on this album, and then listening to most of Cormega's subject matter in his work, it doesn't seem like a perfect fit. Despite the change in MC, I can imagine anticipating this heavily in '97, drooling as the plastic was ripped off the case and slotting the CD in the player only to be left disappointed 53 minutes later. If consumers knew that Nas would hardly be on this before they bought it, I'm sure that would've lowered expectations. After track 10, he doesn't have another verse until track 16 and is missing from earlier songs as well. AZ goes missing as well. Wizard has a short track on track 11. I have no idea who that is. It's fairly consistently decent but given the lineup, you'd expect some brilliant songs, and there is none of that here. 1 Intro We are introduced to the Mafioso theme of the album through one of many interludes. 2 Firm Fiasco ★★★★ One of the strongest tracks even if AZ sounds a bit like he is trying to fit too many syllables into each bar with somewhat of an unnatural flow. 3 Phone Tap (Intro) N/A 4 Phone Tap ★★★☆ A clever concept with the verses sounding like they are coming through a phone. 5 Executive Decision ★★★★ 6 Firm Family ★★★☆ 7 Firm All Stars ★★☆ Sounds like something from Bad Boy. 8 Fuck Somebody Else Intro N/A 9 Fuck Somebody Else ★★☆ 10 Hardcore ★★★ 11 Untouchable ★★★ 12 Five Minutes To Flush Intro N/A 13 Five Minutes To Flush ★★★☆ 14 Desperados Intro N/A 15 Desperados ★★★★ 16 Firm Biz ★★★★ 17 I'm Leaving ★★★☆ 18 Throw Your Guns ★★★☆ Best Tracks:

A really nice enjoyable 35 minutes of soul that Barry White did so well across many albums, but only the first song comes close to really knocking my socks off. One of those between a 3-3.5 / 5 Best Track: I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing, Once Upon a Time (You Were a Friend of Mine), I Can't Leave You Alone