For those of you who live across the pond, you’ll need to use a proxy website to download the game, see my guide to the first game: Doctor Who: The Adventure Games – City of the Daleks

Blood of the Cybermen is a reference to a nano-virus carried by robotic rodents, known as Cybermats. The virus infects humans and converts them into Cyberslaves, which are much less sturdy than their cybernetic-masters and lurch forward with a great gaping gait.

When the TARDIS receives a distress call from an Arctic expedition exposed to the virus, Amy asks who would send the TARDIS a distress call to which the Doctor points out, people in distress aren’t generally particular about who rescues them.

The game is full of catty comebacks like this between the Doctor and Amy. The levity is perhaps a result of this game taking place pre-invasion as opposed the dire end of the world scenario seen in City of the Daleks.

Like the Daleks, the Cybermen, Cyberslaves, and Cybermats use sensor sweeps, which you’ll need to avoid by hiding and waiting for them to pass. Hopefully BBC won’t be cheap and continue to use this same robotic AI in all the episodes, even those without robots.

In addition to the complete the circuit puzzles from the previous game there are several new puzzles including re-programing nanobots (picture right). It’s less intimidating than it looks or sounds.

You must meet the conditions in the left corner by rotating the spheres in the the right corner into the path of the the ones below to change their color, while being careful not to touch the red ball.

The trick is to look the the language of the conditions very carefully. It says as many purple as blue, but zero purple is equal to zero blue so just turn all the purple and blue to yellow spheres, which will also fulfill the requirement that you have more yellow than green.

Anomalies

Amy is downright clumsy in this game, often getting stuck in doorways but not to worry when you get too far away from her she magically reappears at your side. While this isn’t a problem while exploring, it makes avoiding patrols troublesome. When you’re hiding in an alcove she’s uncomfortably close and you have to shove her out of the way but when you’re running for your life she takes her sweet time and gets herself killed, and you along with her.

Another glaring problem is the laser alignment puzzle. The control buttons literally don’t work! You have to position your mouse well to the left of the buttons to push them.

Scattered throughout the game are not-so-hidden collectables cards for past & present Doctor Who characters, but bizarrely you can only view them during a game and not from the main menu like you can usually do with extras.

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games – Blood of the Cybermen is a post from: L7 World

In this premiere episode, astronomer Rich Terrile takes intelligent design to a whole new level by suggesting that God is a programmer and we are the program.

Quantum Mechanics, the branch of mathematical physics that deals with atomic and subatomic systems, shows that when you zoom up on our universe, it’s pixelated.

“Look at the way the universe behaves. It’s quantized.” says Terrile. “It’s made of pixels, and it’s made of individual atoms. Space is quantized. Time is quantize. Energy is quantized. Everything is made of individual pixels, which means the universe has a finite number of components, which means it has a finite number of states, which means it’s computable.”

This is illustrated by a famous an experiment in which an electron beam is fired at a piece of graphite. The resulting ricochet is not random, as it would be on a larger scale, rather it forms a pattern that corresponds to the atoms in the graphite. This indicates that the electrons are not dots but are spread out, allowing them to sense their much larger target.

“Matter, even though it behaves when you’re looking at it… when you’re measuring it, as individual particles; when you’re not measuring it, matter is diffused. It spreads out. It doesn’t have a finite form in the universe,” explains Terrile. He likens this apparent contradiction to the way a video game renders frames, “the universe gives you what you’re looking when you’re looking at it. When you’re not looking at it, it’s not necessarily there.”

Given the age of the universe and considering how close we are to creating truly realistic virtual worlds populated with sentient artificial life (think The Sims), Terrile calculates a 1 in 300 million chance that we would be as close as we are to essentially “manufacturing God” and not have already done it. He surmises that “More likely than not… we are a simulation on the other side of that threshold and the deities that exist are our future selves.”

- An encore of “Is There a Creator?” airs Wed June 23rd, 9 PM and Midnight.

Is God a Gamer? is a post from: L7 World

Just like in the show, your Digimon will normally be in its weaker rookie state but during battle you can Digivolve into Champion and Mega levels. But don’t expect your opponent to wait for you. Turns are real-time, based on each character’s attack speed. As a result your greatest opponent will be Lagmon, an affectionate name for game lag that can get you killed.

It is possible to maintain your last Digivolution using items known as auras but these are very rare quest & event items and the only other way to get them is with WeCash, which you buy with real money through WeMade’s website.

Alleged MMO

Digimon Battle actually seems to discourage interaction between players. There’s no need to form parties for protection since enemies don’t initiate battle. You can even summon up to 2 extra Digimon during battle to make you own party, granted it’s more valuable time wasted. The only time you really need a party is for quests against incredibly strong Digimon, which are few and far between.

PVP is even worse. You can’t see the level of the person you’re challenging. On the other hand, the challenged player can see the challenger’s tamer level but only their main Digimon level, which means you could be in for nasty surprise if  they have significantly stronger Digimon as backup. Understandably, most people refuse challenges. That’s probably why game developer WeMade recently set up a section just for PVP.

Digimon Battle is devoid of any story whatsoever, and quests don’t go much further than “we need you to get rid of that dangerous Digimon in the Dungeon!” That just leaves catching and leveling your Digimon, and catching them has a very low rate of success. Fortunately, you can buy a special net to speed up that process. Unfortunately, you need more WeCash.

But without a doubt the most frustrating part of the game is collecting accessories (Crests, Digi-Eggs, Jewelry) to boost your stats even further. Crests have the most effect and therefore are the most difficult to acquire. To make them you have to tediously gather ingredients by hunting specific Digimon. You can combine accessories of the same type and level (+1, +2, +3 etc.) but it only increase it’s power by +1. In other words, to get a +2 item you just have to combine two +1 items (simple) but to get a +3 item you need to combine two +2 items (not so simple). With each level up the disparity becomes more evident, a +4 crest will take eight +1 crests. For +5 crests and greater you’ll also need Item Boosters, which you can win 5 of in a quest but after that you’ll need even more WeCash.

Returning to the Real World.

Digimon Battle isn’t a bad game, if it was I wouldn’t have played as long as I did (level 76 tamer). With enough time and effort you can collect most things for free or trade other players for their WeCash items using (a lot) free game money. Plus WeMade is constantly holding special game events that give out items, increased capture rates, or increase experience points.

But overall this game is best suited for those who enjoy all things Digi.

That’s why I’m quitting Digimon Battle and giving away all the items I’ve collected to one lucky Tamer!

All you have to do is leave a comment explaining why you’re the biggest Digimon fan. The winner will be decided on Sunday June 27th (one entry per ip, and your game character must be on the Antyla Server so I can trade you the items)

GRAND PRIZE:

5 Items Boosters

Crest of Honesty +4 (+4% DEF, Battlelevel + 20%, Max HP + 20%)

Crest of Knowledge +4 (+4% ATT, Battlelevel + 20%, Max VP + 20%)

Crest of Love +4 (MAX HP +20%)

Digi-Egg of Sincerity +4 (CON, INT, DEX)

Digi-Egg of Light +2 (STR, DEX, INT)

Digi-Egg of Love +2 (STR, CON, INT)

Digi-Egg of Miracles +1 (STR, DEX, CON)

Earrings of Light +6 (INT)

Earrings of Victory +6 (DEX)

Charming Earrings +6 (STR)

Ring of Hope +6 (STR)

Baromon’s Ring +6 (CON)

Blue Stone Ring +5 (INT)

Earrings of Love +5 (CON)

Ring of Hope +5 (STR) (upgrade to +6 see below)

Speedy Sneakers Red Stripes (+3 DEX for about 2 weeks)

Dodger’s Cheerleader Shirt (+3 DEX for about 2 weeks)

AND MORE! (I will continue to play and add to my inventory until the winner is declared)

NEW PRIZES:

30 Megaphones

Ring of Hope +6 (STR) (replaces Ring of Hope +5)

IC Necklace +6 (DEX)

Earrings of Love +6 (CON)

Necklace of Light +5 (INT)

Gaia’s Necklace +5 (STR)

Sliver Necklace +5 (CON)

36 Battle Tomahawk (100% attack)

10 Holy Sevens (80% defense)

over 500k Bit (game money)

AND THE WINNER IS…

First of all I just want to say that this was a hard decision to make as you all obviously love Digimon.

But none more so than JC, who explains that Digimon is his last connection to his mom before she was killed in car accident. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to verify this but you’d have to be pretty obsessed with Digimon to make up such a story just to win a contest, which would still make you the biggest Digimon fan, albeit in an evil Digimon Emperor sort of way. So congrats JC you are the biggest Digimon fan! Regardless of whether your story is true or not, I hope you don’t get consumed by collecting Digimon and enjoy it for what it is.

RUNNER-UPS…

Since the winner will most likely not be able to carry all the items (particularly the +3 and+4 jewelery, which weren’t listed as prizes anyway) I will divide the remaining items up between 2 runner-ups: Shinra &  Ben11171. While they enjoy playing Digimon, they also realize it’s about more than just leveling up and collecting items. It’s about making friends (real or digital) and standing by them no matter what!

I’ll email all the winners to set up the trade, and thanks again to everyone who participated.

Digimon Battle – Review & Contest (Updated Prizes) is a post from: L7 World

City of the Daleks is the first of four episodes in Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, available for free (if you live in the UK) @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/theadventuregames/

There are no difficulty settings and the game is very easy. A checklist keeps track of your mission requirements and Amy gives you hints when you talk to her. Most of the game involves avoiding the Daleks’ scans by finding cover and patiently waiting until your in the clear. The entire episode, including finding collectables (cards with info on current and classic Doctor Who characters), takes about an hour.

The hardest part of the game is getting it if you live outside the UK. An international version will be available in July for purchase but considering the quality and length of the game, I can’t see even the most avid Doctor Who fan paying more than a dollar per episode.

According to the BBC Blog they’re “making arrangements for other sites to offer them,” hopefully they’ll be charging the sites that host it and not the end user.

But why wait till July, when you can circumvent BBC’s security right now. You don’t even need a sonic screwdriver!

First, close all internet applications except for a single internet explorer webpage (no tabs).

Use http://www.daveproxy.co.uk/ to download it.

Unfortunately, the installer is better at detecting your location so find a UK proxy with high anonymity @ http://hidemyass.com/proxy-list/search-8

ip address: 91.103.185.182 port: 80 worked for “my friend”

Then select tools in the internet explorer window > internet options > connections > LAN settings. Deselect “automatically detect settings” and enter the ip address and port number. You may have to try more than one ip, if so make sure to use your task manager to completely close out of failed installations.

The ip addresses are usually slow that’s why I recommend using daveproxy first to download it.

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games – City of the Daleks is a post from: L7 World

The Scouts: where a boy becomes a man (child)

This ain’t your daddy’s Boy Scouts. Nowadays, scouts have traded in their compass for a GPS, and values are something you find at the store.

The Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts can now earn Belt Loops & Academics Pins for finding the best deals on video games!

Renee Fairrer, spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts of America, says they just adapting to the times.

“Let’s be serious: the kids are already into video games,” said Fairrer. “You can’t sit on the couch for 13 hours a day and play video games. We want to get them when they’re that Cub Scout age, when they have that strong parental influence, to be able to make those decisions.”

Requirements

Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts may complete requirements in a family, den, pack, school, or community environment. Tiger Cubs must work with their parents or adult partners. Parents and partners do not earn loops or pins.

Belt Loop

Complete these three requirements:

1. Explain why it is important to have a rating system for video games. Check your video games to be sure they are right for your age.
2. With an adult, create a schedule for you to do things that includes your chores, homework, and video gaming. Do your best to follow this schedule.
3. Learn to play a new video game that is approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.

Academics Pin

Earn the Video Games belt loop and complete five of the following requirements:

1. With your parents, create a plan to buy a video game that is right for your age group.
2. Compare two game systems (for example, Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, and so on). Explain some of the differences between the two. List good reasons to purchase or use a game system.
3. Play a video game with family members in a family tournament.
4. Teach an adult or a friend how to play a video game.
5. List at least five tips that would help someone who was learning how to play your favorite video game.
6. Play an appropriate video game with a friend for one hour.
7. Play a video game that will help you practice your math, spelling, or another skill that helps you in your schoolwork.
8. Choose a game you might like to purchase. Compare the price for this game at three different stores. Decide which store has the best deal. In your decision, be sure to consider things like the store return policy and manufacturer’s warranty.
9. With an adult’s supervision, install a gaming system.

Scouts “Earn” Video Game Badge is a post from: L7 World

While South Park is relatively topical as far as TV shows go, animated or otherwise, it was already outdated and unoriginal due to a host of similar games released months ago.

Tiger Woods flash games:

• Tiger Hunting
  (break.com)
• Tiger Parking Slam (addictinggames.com)
• Tiger’s Transgressions (atom.com)
• Tiger’s Transgressions – The Back 9 (atom.com)

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is a post from: L7 World

The game is part of National Geographic’s initiative to turn every man gay! But just in case that doesn’t work, they’re super-sizing it with a special titled “Sizing up Sperm” which uses real people to represent 250 million sperm on their marathon quest to be first to reach a single egg. Watch as these poor (wannabe) bastards embark on a journey that makes the Bataan Death March look like a walk in the park. Sizing up Sperm premieres Sunday March 14th @ 9PM (preview below).

Up close white blood cells look like Leatherface!

Vagina Flash is a post from: L7 World

When he doesn’t get invited to a party, Naughty Bear decides to hunt down his fellow Teddy Bears and knock the stuffing out of them. 505 Games calls it “a unique blend of comic mischief and syrupy cuteness juxtaposed with over-the-top cartoon violence.” Over-the-top is an understatement. Naughty uses more than just hammers & anvils on his victims. He shoots, dismembers, and even cooks them alive!

If you think you can bear it, watch the long trailer below.

Release Date: 6-15-10
Pre-order @ Amazon.com
Official website @ naughtybearthegame.com

Naughty Bear is a post from: L7 World

Watch each girl’s non-nude video entry and vote for your favorite @ Playboy.com/Bayonetta

Bayonetta Poses for Playboy is a post from: L7 World

Surprisingly there’s not a lot of tension between them, at least not the kind you’d expect. He follows Bayonetta around more like a love sick puppy than an investigative journalist. Although he does get pretty hot under collar when she inexplicably calls him Cheshire.

The story is surprisingly good but between Bayonetta’s salaciousness and Cheshire’s… I mean Luka’s own antics it never gets too serious, even when a little girl shows up claiming Bayonetta’s her… mummy!?

At one point Bayonetta claims that she sacrifices angels to stay out of hell, which is an intriguing premise. Unfortunately this is never followed up on, and collecting halos winds up just being a form of currency for you to purchase item, equipment, and new techniques at the aptly named “Gates of Hell.”

With the exception of the occasional throwback looking cutsence that shows the characters virtually motionless and framed in a cheesy film strip border, most of the cutscenes look great or maybe that’s just Bayonetta. You can make the cutscenes even better by changing into different costumes such as nun, cheerleader, even sluttier witch. Hell, I can’t even think of another game where equipment or costume changes were rendered during cutscenes.

More sexy moves than you can shake a stick at (thumbstick or otherwise).

What else would expect from a girl with handguns for heels! And like any girl, Bayonetta has lots of footwear: guns, rocket launchers, electric & fire claws (okay maybe not like any girl). Switching between them is aided by a hotkey for an alternate set of equipment. Even Bayonetta’s hair is weapon. It forms huge demons by spinning together with her clothes, leaving Bayonetta in her birthday suit.

In fact, there may be too many moves. Some are so similar that they’re practically tripping over one another. For example the technique Umbra Portal Kick is preformed by pressing b while holding RT but Breakdance is also performed by holding RT so the timing must be perfect because while Breakdance may look cool it’s extremely dangerous. Sure if starts off good, Bayonetta on her back with her legs up in the air but then she starts posing for the camera and it leaves her wide open for a pounding (and not in a good way). And that’s why I love that you can try techniques before buying them. First and foremost, it gives you a chance to see if you’re even capable of executing them before wasting your money but it also shows just how (im)practical they are.

This is one game where you’ll actually appreciate loading screens as you can practice moves, which are conveniently listed for you. An you can press the back button to enter Practice Mode indefinitely.

Pushing your buttons

I don’t know about the PS3 version but half the time you’ll think your XBOX 360 controller is broken. It’s not just the anally precised timing required for trigger events & Witch Time, sometimes the buttons just don’t work! Once enemies initiate an attack you are prevented from pausing to access the items menu so I suggest you always have your hotkeys ready to go.

Cheats are next to impossible. They’re done by counterintuitively standing nearing but NOT picking up telephones then inputting the codes with the D-pad, which can take many tries due to accidental double taps.

And who can even tell if Lock-on is working? At times the red target is barely visible, worse the camera doesn’t follow the enemy you’ve supposedly locked-on to.

The default camera speed is painfully slow, however that can be changed. What can’t be changed is view of the back of Bayonetta’s head during the motorcycle & missile riding stages. Luckily the occasional rear-ending won’t kill you. These stages are fairly easy and are more for fun than presenting any serious challenge.

A game for gamers

You might be misled into thinking such a sexualized game wouldn’t offer much of a challenge to serious gamers, particularly when it starts off with only 3 difficulties Normal, Easy (automatic) & Very Easy (automatic)! But even Normal is pretty hard and will take about 10-15 hours the first time around. Completing it unlocks Hard followed by Non-stop Climax mode (be afraid).

Most of the game involves relearning your abilities, none more so than Witch Time, which momentarily slows time. Witch Time is activated by dodging the instant before you’re attacked. Sounds easy right? WRONG! It’s not the instant the enemy begins his attack but the instant before you’re about to get hit by it, and when I say the instant I mean the “instant” (I’ll stop saying instant now). Mastering Witch Time isn’t just crucial for defeating certain enemies like Jeanne, who has all your powers by the way, it’s required for completing challenges called Alfheims, hidden throughout the game. Just finding them is a challenge though, some don’t appear until you’re halfway through a chapter and then you half to go back to find them! How anyone is supposed to find these without a cheat guide is beyond me.

Successful attacks & taunts will fill your Magic Gauge and allow you to perform what are known as Torture Attacks, which summon unique torture devices based on the enemy. My personal favorite being a BDSM wooden horse Bayonetta uses on Joy (video right). But getting the chance to do them can be a challenge. If you get hit your Magic Gauge drastically drops and 2 hits depletes it altogether.

But don’t worry there are plenty of accommodations for casual gamers. You can buy (or gather) lolly pops that will give you health & magic, even momentary invincibility. However using items reduces halo bonuses and awards, and if you want to unlock Jeanne as a playable character you need platinum on every stage (normal or above). Thankfully you can replay stages to improve these without having to start over.

Perhaps the biggest help for people who are struggling is the accessory Immortal Marionette, which allows you to perform complex attacks by simply mashing buttons. You can purchase it after beating the game on either Easy or Very Easy but using it on any level above Normal cuts your combos in half. It’s the games way of saying play me night & day until you don’t need items and accessories, and it’s very persuasive.

If you like your gaming hard but your women easy, Bayonetta will bewitch you.

HINT RANT:

12th Alfheim is insanely hard. Not only do you have to defeat a 4 waves of enemies within the time limit, you also have to perform 5 torture attacks. Oh yeah, AND just 3 hits and you’re dead. So what’s my advice? GIVE UP! Even if you do beat it (and the other Alfheims) it just unlocks the “Lost Chapter” which is more of the same except you fight 50 consecutive Alfheim battles WITHOUT the use of items between battles to replenish your health. And if you eventually beat that it will unlock the not-so-sexy demon Zero. So my suggestion is that unless you have mastered your skills or are prepared to spend hours learning to master them, skip the Alfheims altogether and just cheat and spend the 5 million halos to unlock Zero.

But if I still haven’t dissuaded you yet, here’s how I beat the 12th Alfheim! (gasps) First and most importantly, Torture Attacks only count IF they finish the enemy off (gamefaqs doesn’t mention this important fact), that’s not a problem for the weaker enemies early on but if you don’t get those 5 torture attacks off the first 2 waves of enemies, you’ll need to make sure you sufficiently weaken the remaining enemies before performing the torture attack. To get as many torture attacks as you can on the first 2 waves I suggest you use the whip as you don’t want to finish them off so quick that you can’t fill your magic gauge. If you perform a torture attack on the 2nd wave (Harmony) you’ll get the Chainsaw as a weapon and as awesome as a chainsaw sounds it actually sucks, especially against the fast enemies (Grace & Glory) you’ll face in the next wave. If you don’t hit your them they can hit you while you’re chainsawing air. Even if you hit them they recover faster than you so you better off dropping the chainsaw (push LS). Instead use your sword preferably during Witch Time. Try to have a full Magic gauge for the 4th wave (Fairness & Fearless) and either prepare a charge attack as they materialize or just swinging furiously at the warp in point from behind (they always appear facing the entrance). Then perform a Torture attack on Fairness (on left) before it has chance to turn around that way you don’t have to worry about get immobilized by his roar. If you’re short on time (and you probably will be) keep swing like a madman while tapping LS toward it for invincibility, assuming you have the Moon of Mahaa-Kalaa accessory (oh yeah and you should probably buy the Moon of Mahaa-Kalaa accessory).

BONUS HINT:

If you you’re like me and you like “bad endings” then you might be tempted to crash the giant final boss into the Earth rather than the Sun like you’re supposed to, don’t bother. Nothing special happens, just the regular death screen.

Bayonetta – Review is a post from: L7 World