Although maybe not meaning much given the number of poor games, but this is one of the better Simpsons games to be made as it recreates Springfield fairly well, has the real cast providing voices, lets you use a variety of characters, rolls the plot along nicely and plenty of references to episodes. The main complaints though are that it suffers largely from gameplay problems like some vehicle handling issues, frustrating missions (although they are always able to be restarted easily), the camera sometimes not going where you want it to go and the other main thing is that the missions are repetitive - follow the car and pick up what it drops, smash the car, lose the car and that's about it. For what it is though it's a fun and playable game for fans of The Simpsons. I've played it on PS2 also and apart from a small decrease in graphics it is the same game. Gameplay 3.5/5 Graphics 3/5 Sound 3.5/5 Difficulty 4/5 Originality 3.5/5

Another Simpsons game that could be better than it is but has too many annoying flaws. I've played this on the PS2 and the Wii. They are much the same minus the utilisation of the Wii motion controls at various time. Levels are generally completed with two characters, and as the characters have different abilities, you'll need to switch over, ala in the well known Lego games. This isn't implemented brilliantly. Neither is the camera, which is its largest flaw and then lack of knowledge at times on where to go is another. The Simpsons humour does the job but it's a fairly frustrating game. Gameplay 2.5/5 Graphics 3/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 3.5/5 Originality 3/5

The classic 'Still Tippin'' popped up on Spotify which reminded me to check this album out. I listened to his 2009 album, 'The Voice', when it dropped and found nothing redeemable about it which is no doubt why I never bothered listening to this in the past 11 years. It starts off fairly well. Mike raps well on 'Back Then', 'Flossin'' is weaker but decent. I've mentioned 'Still Tippin'' already, it's far and away the best thing here. 'Got It Sewed Up' is a higher tempo tune with a catchy hook. '5 Years From Now' gets more conscious where Mike asks questions about where he will be in half a decade and he gets more sentimental with the final track, 'Grandma'. 'Know What I'm Sayin'' and 'Type of Nigga U Need' aside, that both become boring, it's a consistently solid album. 'Still Tippin'' is probably the only reason you'll have to revisit this though. 3-2.5 / 5 Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Back Then, Still Tippin', Got It Sewed Up, Scandalous Hoes, 5 Years From Now, Grandma.

Despite the hate by many gamers, I enjoyed Watch_Dogs (WD) (80/100 on Metacritic for its PS4 version btw) as I think it added some unique features to the open-world genre. After finishing the first WD, I was looking forward to its sequel. It looks to build on what came before it and in many ways it does. The game runs better, it adds extra features such as apps, improved radio/playlist, extra hacking tools such as hacking vehicles, the world feels more diverse, the character (Marcus) is more agile, the world is more interactive and jumping into waterways during a pursuit isn't a sanctuary like it was in WD. In saying that though, it didn't grab me as much. Obviously being a sequel things are not as unique as to what came before it, but also some of the things I enjoyed about WD was the story and the darker environment it created, and a more 'Batman' like, isolated protagonist, whereas this story doesn't have the emotive background of the first and it's set in sunny, bright, San Francisco. It's like the grim, dark peak DC films to Marvel. There is more humour in this that doesn't always come off either. I enjoyed some of the parodies of companies, like Google and Ubisoft featuring themselves in the game, but not all of the humour works, and there is a lot more in this than WD. Another thing I preferred about WD was the encouragement to do good and not harm innocents, that feature isn't in this. Most of the main missions aren't dissimilar to WD. They involve the player driving to a location, and killing a certain person/people, finding an item/disabling an alarm, downloading data, etc, and then leaving the area by evading enemies or the police. The waterway issue aside, that I mentioned earlier, the police are probably less of a challenge here than they are in the first WD. The missions vary enough for the most part but do start to get repetitive towards the end of the game, and like with WD you generally have the choice of using stealth or brute force to accomplish the goal. Some of the missions do get you thinking and after trying a few times to complete them, you do at times notice something obvious, such as an alternate entrance or whatnot that would have made it much easier. Speaking of thinking, some missions involve solving a puzzle which is basically like 'direct the flow' from BioShock or the Pipe Mania games. These were in the first WD but here they are larger and viewed from the player's third-person perspective making them more frustrating. As I mentioned in another recent review, the lack of fast travel to the next mission is an annoyance. While the world isn't huge, there isn't anything to earn on the way and I don't see why this feature isn't found more frequently in open-world games. Luckily, there are often shops or other locations that do have fast travel nearby. Another minor bugbear is that sometimes you don't know you need certain equipment, such as the quadcopter to complete a mission until you have already spent time driving to the mission. Also, the feeling of immersion you want playing a video game is slightly ruined when you are made to use a piece of equipment for something your character could do. An example is having to use an RC to get through gaps that a person of Marcus' size could crawl through. Aside from the main story, there is lots to do, including side missions, co-op and PVP modes, racing (e-kart, sailboat, drone, motocross) etc. There are interesting gadgets to use and the AI often aren't stupid making for many challenging moments. As I said, I enjoyed the theme of the first WD more, and that feeling of innovation you don't often get with a sequel but this is a more than decent open-world game. Gameplay 3.5/5 Graphics 4.5/5 Sound 4/5 Difficulty 4.5/5 Originality 3.5/5

For all the hype of this PS4 exclusive title it offers little new. The cover system including the stealth mechanics are far from the best out there. There are also few opportunities to choose what strategy to take. The game either makes you use stealth or shoot your way through. It's too linear. The story and characters never grabbed me minus the interesting opening. The voice acting is top but I can't say any of the music was memorable. The cut-scenes can also not be skipped. While they are not extremely long like an MGS game, and it may not be too bad on the first play, it definitely is a negative when it comes to replay value. The most annoying aspect of the game is the inability to run at times and the slow pace the character walks at. Some nice detailed graphics, interesting weapons and maybe there is something to build on here, but even the steampunk-ish like 19th century world doesn't seem as creative as it could be. Gameplay 3/5 Graphics 4.5/5 Sound 3/5 Difficulty 4.5/5 Originality 2.5/5