Lost Girl Season 3 Review

Well season 3 of Lost Girl has come and gone and we have to wait until 2014 for more episodes. Season 3 continues the story of the Succubus Bo (played by Anna Silk) and her friends in the aftermath of the big battle that ended Season 2.

This season, the focus is on character development for everyone and the lasting effects of what they did (or had done to them) in the last season. We are also introduced to new characters in the form of a Dark Fae who joins the police force, Tamsin (played by Rachel Skarsten), and a part-time recurring character of interest to Trick. While this season is about character development we do still see a lot of violence, petty fighting between the Fae and the occaisional case for Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) and Bo. We also get to see if there is a new Ash (that job is like the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position at Hogwarts - someone new every year).

Bo and Tamsin

What I like about Lost Girl is that it keeps peeling back the onion on the Fae world without feeling like the show runners are just making things up as they go along. As a viewer you feel that you are learning things just like Bo and that is nice. One of the best things about the show has been its ability to wrap up the season in a nice bow while leaving you with nice hooks into what might happen in the next season. Season 3 deviates from this as it does end on a little bit of a cliffhanger (though there is enough foreshadowing along the way for you to guess where things are likely going at the start of Season 4).

Probably my biggest beef with the Season isn't with the show at all. You see those of us in the United States had to wait an extra week for Syfy to air the finale rather than airing the episode the day after it premiered in Canada (all the other episodes were next day air in the US). This was annoying to say the least. I would rather wait until the season has aired and mainline this show rather than have to wait to get the next episode. If history is any indication, you should be able to get Season 3 on demand through Netflix later this year or do what we did and purchase the episodes so you can see them now without commercial (and as I am demonstrating here you can take a screenshot to liven up a post).

Give credit to Showcase in Canada. They are airing some of the best Science Fiction shows out right now in Lost Girl and Continuum. I hope they keep throwing more and more shows down south to us. Lost Girl season 3 gets 4 Mick Happies. Hope you turn in to learn about the Fae.

Dyson doesn't look like he wants to wait for Season 4 either

 

Path of Exile Open Beta Review

Path of Exile (PoE) from Grinding Gear Games is one of the latest action RPG games available to gamers. The catch here is that PoE, when officially released, will be free to play on Windows-based PCs. To monetize the game they are selling different graphical effects or pets for your characters, nothing required to play the game. Even better, PoE is playable right now through an Open Beta.

Having completed and reviewed Diablo 3 previously here, I have a pretty good sense of what the current generation of action RPGs is like. PoE has a set of six characters to choose from to explore the world of Wraeclast.  You can choose from the Templar, Witch, Duelist, Ranger, Marauder and Shadow. Each of the characters share a common skill tree but start in their own special area of the skill tree so each is distinct in their specialties early in the game and aligned with one of the three main stats of Strength, Dexterity or Intelligence. More on the skill tree below. The story starts with you winding up stranded on Wraeclast, a “forsaken” land where exiled prisoners are dropped as punishment for their transgressions.

The world of Wraeclast being a land of outcasts has developed an economy based on items rather than money. Identify scrolls (Scrolls of Wisdom) are the coin of the realm in the start town along with a few other novel items. This means that trading items found (even the non-magical items that can be found most anywhere) is beneficial to you in the early game. When in town you will find other players as well as NPCs (non-player characters) you can trade with and quests to try.

At its heart, PoE is about exploring the world, killing monsters and getting loot. The graphics are well done and the attack, skill and spell effects look great. I am playing on an old Windows XP laptop running an AMD Athlon dual-core 2.1 GHz processor with 3GB of RAM and while I do experience hiccups and lag at times, the game is certainly playable. Unlike other games where each class may have specific spells or skills, PoE uses a common skill tree of passive abilities that modify your stats and capabilities with items and skill gems. These gems can be added to socketed items worn/used by your character to that provide your character with additional skills like lightning or fire traps. Items also can be modified using special orbs to add extra magical abilities or make a common item magical.

All of the usual aspects of an action RPG are here good visuals, quests, lots of item variety (normal, magic, rare, etc.). Some of the more novel bits are quite nice like the orbs and lack of a gold currency. Note that the game is still in beta despite all of the polish and hopefully will only get better. One thing that I have found annoying is the lack of being able to right click on an item in the inventory to move it to a vendor to sell it. If that is all I have to complain about in a game in beta, they must be doing something right. Since it’s free, go sign up for the Open Beta of Path of Exile now – it’s rated Four Mick Happies.

Here's an example of the Templar in action

Football Manager Handheld 2013

I have been a fan of the Football Manager games for many many years. Back before it was Football Manager even. One thing Sports Interactive has done well is get me to buy their game over and over again from Championship Manager (can't recall which one), Football Manager 2007 on the Xbox to Football Manager 2009 and Football Manager 2011 on PC and Football Manager Handheld 2013 on iOS. This review is for the handheld version, which I have found easier to sit down with and get into than finding time to crank up the Mac at home and fire up the full blown Football Manager game.

Football Manager Handheld 2013 is a football management simulation game and by football I mean soccer to those of us in the United States. You take control as manager of a team in one of the many leagues provided in the game and try to lead your team to glory. As manager you will be able to buy and sell players, set the starting lineup and tactical decisions for your team. What you won't be doing is playing an arcade style soccer game.

Football Manager in general is about picking the right team, putting them in the right formation, setting the right strategy to beat your opponent. You will have years (in game or out) to perfect your team unless the board of your club decides to fire you for not meeting their expectations as you simulate season after season. You may even be asked to take over management of an international team to try for World Cup success.

One of the hallmarks of the Football Manager set of games is its ability to often mimic real life in its simulation of the top leagues in the world. In my game the following two events happened (only about a year off the real events of this past season at Chelsea:

Only about a year late

And again 

It's always a pleasant surprise when things like this happen and help to add to the "realism" of the game. Football Manager Handheld 2013 is also a streamlined version of its big brother in that you have all the key elements of a Football Manager game - multiple leagues, lots of players to pick from, challenges to pit your skill against - but not the same depth you get with the PC version of the game. Here you don't have to deal with the media much or set pre-game and half-time talks, player interactions are limited as is the depth of the training system and in match graphics are 2D only - very old school flavor. The only thing I found myself missing was some of the player and media interaction as I found my players getting discouraged with little I could do to pull them out of their funk. That didn't stop me from being in my third season coaching Sutton United.

If you like management simulations and want something with depth that you can play in bite-sized pieces, I recommend you get a copy of Football Manager Handheld 2013. It is available for iOS, Android and PSP. FMH2013 gets four Mick Happies with a warning that it is a bit pricey at $9.99. Now if only this would happen when Sir Alex retires (or maybe Ole will take the job):

As Man U fans dream... 

P.S. For those who think that Lionel Messi never produces for his country, my game of FMH2013 only has this to say to you:

Messi has no problems scoring for country in the future