Blogs - WinningMediaHD

Dishonored is one of those games that has a feel that is reminiscent of Victorian London....minus Jack The Ripper. Instead we have a rat plague, a murdered Empress, her kidnapped daughter and our character Corvo Attano, wrongfully accused and awaiting execution!
Within 10 mins of playing the game we have established these fact, and are thrown in
to the gameplay.
Its not a negative however, its a really nice way to begin, and is done in such a fashion that you are excited to gain proper control of your character, and find those who have wronged Corvo and the 2 females in his life.
Overall the story is simple. Its a tale of betrayal, the effects of power and redemption....somewhat Shakespearian wouldn't you say?

The Developers, Bethesda and Arkane Studios, created a fun game with solid characters and fun game mechanics to explore. The look of the game has a very similar feel to Oblivion and Skyrim, even if it is not identical, and uses a 2D type of effect on the animations that give a very artistic feel...almost like
playing within an oil painting.

I loved playing around with the various abilities afforded to Corvo within the game, and it was nice to see that my actions would have a positive or negative response within the game, both on environment and story.

Now lets look at the problems I found. Firstly, there seemed to be a obvious difference between the different version of the game. I was playing on the PS3 Platform, and experienced some problems with one of my main abilities, Blink, which refused to catch on many occasions to ledges and surfaces that were relatively near. When I watched somone playing the PC version of the game, the character control was much much tighter, allowing the player to re-act quicker.

The second problem I had was with the amount of readable material within the game.
Now I love finding things, and looting etc..but this game took it just a little bit too far. Even if they had the same amount of material, but spiced it up a bit with character voices or something?!

Overall Dishonored is great game with an intriguing story, and good characters. I would not go as far as to say characters you love...but they were good all the same!
The gameplay is fun despite its flaws on certain platforms, and certainly worthy of a playthrough.
Its replay value is most certainly high, with two different endings, and a variety of different ways that you can play each level in the game. Including a special achievement at the end of each level for a
Ghost Achievement (Not Detected) or to end each level with No Kills.

So we will give Dishonored a Winning score of 8/10.
Our Giveaway is now running if you are interested in taking part. It ends on the 19th July 2013 @ Noon UK Time. Click This link for our Giveaway video:
Youtube.com

You can also watch part 1 of our playthrough here :
Youtube.com

Thanks again for your time,
All the best,Tal @ WinningMediaHD

How to begin?...How do you begin when it comes to the strongest contender for Game Of The Year thus far, and yes some may debate that with other greats like Bioshock: Infinite and Tomb Raider, but for me I currently stand behind The Last Of Us, at least until I get to play Beyond, lol, if its good of course.

For those thinking of embarking on this journey created for us by Naughty Dog, be prepared for one of the most heart-breaking and intense rides, you will probably experience for some time.
Computer/Video games, (depending on where you live in the world :p) are increasingly creating experiences which arguably, are becoming better and more engrossing, than all other forms of media combined...at this point at least.

The Last Of Us allows us to experience those moments we don't usually see in movies, specifically in this case the moment of a viral outbreak. The fear, confusion and break down in the rule of order...and that's in the first 10 mins of gameplay, the end of which leaves you feeling emotionally broken and frustrated that things could not have gone another way. Talk about being put in the moment!!
Naughty Dog may lay the emotions on thick at the start, but trust me you will love them for it.

From the opening credits, we then follow our first two main characters, Joel and Tess on a journey to find a man who wronged them, which then leads us on a completely separate experience, where we meet the second of our main characters Ellie.
The nice thing about the Last Of Us, is that they chose to give as much credit to all three of those characters. You would be hard pushed to debate the importance of each one against the other. That is something you don't really see much, in games or in movies! So, Kudos to the guys at Naughty Dog.
They gave us characters we fall in love with in a really intense way, a gripping story that develops in an intense yet realistic way, when you take into account the world the game exists in, and the desire to play more..to keep going...to reach the end and hope for some kind of resolution that favours these character we have fallen in love with. You will have to play it though, or watch a playthrough to see if that is the case.

Now lets talk about the in game mechanics. Rarely would you have a setup that you would consider to be perfect in a game, but The Last Of Us was designed with speed and ease in mind, and pulls it off better than almost every other game I have played!
Whether it is changing weapons, reading written material or creating combat items, you can zip in and out as quickly as you need, whilst allowing you to keep an eye on your environment or indulge in dialogue with other characters, the latter being an automatic response when you reach certain areas.
The movement of the characters is smooth and precise, and the combat feels so real you almost feel the impact of each hit. Apart from that, it is just fun to take part in melee combat, and experience the extreme close ups that accompany it.

The graphics and the level designs are beautiful, and they tried to vary the look and feel for each area, despite the fact that at the point the game takes place all areas have become overtaken by foilage, and the inner city streets have returned to nature.
If anyone asks "why should I play this game?", the correct response would be "why would you NOT, play this game?"
Across the board this game would and should be enjoyed by all.
Were going to give it a winning score of 9.5/10
Now some may say "hold on what about that MAJOR GLITCH the game had on its release!!"
Yes the game was released with a glitch which unfortunately had many people losing their saves.
That is a horrendous problem to have on day 1 of its release, however, it was patched relatively quickly, and personally I never experienced the problem myself. Plus that is why we removed the half point, or it would have been a 10/10.

So go out and try The Last Of Us, if you are looking for a sure win...then this is the one!
Our Giveaway is running and will end July 11th 2013@Noon UK Time
Click this link to take part:
Youtube.com

Click here for Part 1 of our Walkthrough:
Youtube.com

All the best guys, and thanks again for your time,
Tal@WMHD

First, let me apologise for the length of time it has taken, for this Review to be written.
The Playthrough of Deadly Premonition was such a lengthy affair, that we also had to put all our other games on hold. However, after completing the game, I realised that I was going to have to take even more time, to gather my thoughts about the game.
The story of Deadly Premonition is so dense, and by that I certainly do not mean stupid, that it was necessary to give myself time to digest what I had just witnessed and experienced. I also had to make a decision on whether to to a spoiler review or not. I decided, ultimately, that I would not spoil it for anyone reading and instead just give an outline of my experience playing the game, and what I personally felt about the story. So do not fear, if you have not played it yet, and do not want anything spoiled, you can certainly read on with confidence, knowing that will not happen in this review.

Deadly Premonition is a strange murder/mystery detective story, set in a small town called Greenvale. We play the character, for the majority of the game, of the charismatic detective York Morgan, who has been tracking a series of strange murders around the country, that all have one thing in common...red seeds at the crime scenes, or on the bodies of the victims.
We are then introduced to a vast array of characters, who all have their own quirky habits and personalities.
Spying on their daily routines, we end up traversing the length and breadth of the town, chasing the clues left behind by the killer. But who is the killer?
As much as I want to delve into the story some more (a lot more), I promised a spoiler free review, and that is what I will do.
The story at a foundational level seems fairly simple, and not too exciting, but as you delve into the world and history of Greenvale, you begin to be sucked into a story that gets stranger and stranger with every passing revelation. You finally find yourself playing continuously to find out what on earth is going on.
Its a complex story, with a complex ending...so get your thinking caps on if you intend to embark on this journey.

Story aside, the gaming mechanics were really not good at all, I would even go so far as to say down right awful, and the driving and use of the map can be very frustrating to start with, but once you get the hang of how to control your character and vehicle, the game becomes a lot simpler. There are some mechanics they could have removed, like the lock on targeting system, because it really did not work at all and actually make combat a lot harder.

The graphics were also a point of annoyance for many people who played the game. to be honest I personally liked the graphics because it took me back to what it was like to play many PS2 games that I enjoyed. Games like Fahrenheit and Clock Tower 3, so for the sense of nostalgia, I actually gave them a thumbs up for that choice. The script was somewhat quirky and silly, but again you could forgive these elements because of the story. The story is really what saves this game, despite the graphics and bad mechanics.

It is actually a shame that the game did not do well. The 2010 XBox 360 release was a flop in Japan, and also did not do too well in America, but it does however have a small cult following both in the US and in the UK. The newer release on the PS3, which was the Directors Cut, seems to be doing slightly better and is certainly much easier to find if you are looking for the game.

Overall, we gave Deadly Premonition an 8/10, basically for giving us a story that blows so many other big releases out the water. You become so involved in the tale, that you truly can forgive its shortcomings elsewhere! We recommend everyone play it at least once, even if you get it second hand, and intend to sell it on.

We will do a video at some point going over all the story elements in the game, and that will most certainly be a spoiler video. We are working on many different titles right now, and plan to add more to the list, so it may be a while before we get around to it.

Anyway, thanks again for your time guys!
All the best,
Winning Media HD

Hello readers, and welcome back to Winning Media HD's Review Blog.
Today we are going to review the Puzzle Platform App Game, NightSky.

NightSky was Developed by Nicalis, Inc , and takes the gamer on a platform inspired journey through a beautifully coloured and diverse world, where we are expected to control a strange sphere, and succeed in getting it, in Layman's terms, from one side of the screen to the other.

As simple as this sounds, the game actually becomes increasingly difficult as it begins to fool around with concepts such as gravity, which in turn hinders the players ability to control the sphere, in an ordinary way. The developer very cleverly uses a variety of concepts, from the use of friction, to reverse gravity, speed and the integration of external items, to challenge the player throughout.

Each area is essentially broken into roughly around 3 screens, and the puzzles within these areas use rocks, cannons and wheels, to essentially encourage the player to examine their environment, and puzzle out exactly how these object will enhance, or hinder, their ability to complete the puzzle before them. The further you progress the harder these puzzles become, and eventually begin to combine many of the elements we mentioned before.

NightSky reminds us somewhat of games like Journey, which use beautiful environments and original ideas to allow the player to experience something different, within a concept which is somewhat becoming tired and old.
Platform/Puzzle games are certainly not anything new in and of themselves, given that platform is probably one of the oldest game genres around, but what Nicalis has done with NightSky, is create something unique within a genre which has been done to death.

The ideas and concept within this game were certainly ambitious, considering that it has been developed for iOS devices, which use touchscreen control. There are moments within this game, which become very frustrating, essentially because the ideas developed to progress sometimes just do not work. One section in particular stands our for me, which forces the player to use speed to propel the sphere into the air, and then in turn quickly swipe in the opposite direction once airborne, which is supposed to make the sphere counter balance and float in the desired direction.
For example the effect you would get if you threw a light ball into oncoming wind.
This idea is interesting, and would have been a great way to overcome many obstacles in the game....if it worked!
Instead you find yourself frantically swiping away at the screen, and just as you are about to finally do what was intended....the game resets the level?!?!?! Why, you ask...well the developers decided to take advantage of the quick reset touchscreen ability...but to do that you basically have to double tap the screen with two fingers, so when you are frantically swiping at the sphere to get it to do what is necessary to progress, the game thinks you are double tapping to reset the level!
Although this is an awful problem, most of the time it doesn't actually happen. But it certainly is not nice when it does!

All in all, NightSky is actually a really good game. Its challenging and beautiful in its design, and for anyone who enjoys puzzle games, it is certainly a must.
We have given NightSky a Winning Score of: 7/10 , with a 3 point drop for, as per usual , its control and development issues.

Here is the Link for our Walkthrough of NightSky Part 1 of 3: (Next 2 part coming soon!)
Youtube.com

We hope to do a reviews for Deadly Premonition - The Directors Cut and Dead Island: Riptide as soon as possible. We will be waiting until we have completed the games this time, however, to give an accurate account of our experience of the games and their stories. So look out for those :-)

All the best and thanks once again for your time,
Tal @ Winning Media HD

Winning Media HD's Bioshock Infinite Giveaway will end tomorrow, Friday 26th April.
We advise anyone who is still looking to take part in this giveaway, which allows you to choose an additional title to win alongside Bioshock Infinite, out of Tomb Raider A Survivor Is Born and The Walking Dead Survival Instinct, to take part as soon as possible.
We will close this giveaway tomorrow at noon (BST or British Summer Time), and the winner will be revealed by video, tomorrow at 9pm BST.
We wish everyone the very best of luck, and we want to thank everyone who has supported our channel by watching our content, liking our videos, commenting and taking part in the giveaways....it means more to us than you probably know :-D
Here is the link to out giveaway video:
Youtube.com

Thank you all again for you time,
Winning Media HD

French Developers BulkyPix, brought us Hysteria Project 2 in 2010, and a series of updates following it's release to iron out any issues that arose, the last of which was in Dec 2011. That being the case however, the iPad version of the game, which we did our walkthrough on, was not really as ironed out as it should have been at this point, considering we are now into 2013.

The concept for this game was certainly not a new one, but still a fun idea of an experiment gone wrong, which has resulted in it's subject becoming a psychotic killer with paranormal abilities. The way this game has been designed, is basically to test your reaction times. There are also some elements of puzzle based segments within, but the general idea is to test the players reactions to the environment and situations they are in. Considering that this is where the Developers decided to focus their attention, you would think that they would have put a lot more time into ensuring that the games ability to pick up on the players actions, was fully able. I found myself repeating moments over and over, not because I failed to react, but because the game failed to pick up on my reaction, or similarly made me go in the wrong direction from where my finger told the player to go...yes I mean that frustrating laser section!

The games mechanics aside, this game was actually not too bad. Given that, I personally, am a HUGH horror fan, I usually enjoy anything that is horror based. If the mechanics of this game had been better designed, however, I would have really enjoyed playing this title a lot more than I did.

The story itself begins with our main character waking in a lab. Tied to a bed, with an attractive scientist hanging over us. We quickly realise that she is afraid of some hooded killer with an axe, who comes for us if we do not react quick enough to our environments. This stranger then flees, leaving us alone to face our stalker. As we creep though the halls, trying to avoid this madman, she begins to help us progress, by talking to us over the intercom and later an earpiece that we find on a corpse.
We will not spoil anything in this blog, but to be honest we are not given enough information in this segment of the game, which would enable us to spoil anything anyway!

Given that this game was released so long ago, we are unsure as to BulkyPix intentions to release the next installment. It would be nice if they are still currently working on it, but whether that is the case or not...we do not know.
We have given Hysteria Project 2 a rather limited 5/10
They simply had to improve those reaction issues, and it would have been a much more enjoyable experience.

We thank you all for your time once more,
All the best,
Tal @ Winning Media HD

Here is the link to our Hysteria Project 2 Walkthrough:
Youtube.com

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is probably the most disappointing game I have ever played.
That may seem like an extreme statement, given what I wrote in my First Look Review Blog, but I really wish I could go back, and never have written that blog at all.
I made some statements in that blog that I really wish I hadn't, and made some comparisons that, NOW looking at the game having completed it, make me feel rather silly, to put it mildly!

The Developers of this game were doing nothing more, than trying to make a quick buck off The Walking Dead name. When I wrote my First Look Blog I had played the Intro and the 1st Town, and I can only say in my defence, that I really felt that the game had potential. However, nothing, absolutely zip was done with that potential!
The game mechanics were awful, like I did state before. The story despite the potential it could have had, went nowhere, infact ending abruptly leaving us wondering what in the hell was the point of playing the game at all?!
If only they had left us with Telltale Games version of The Walking Dead!
Why oh why did they bother to even make this 2nd version? Given that they put no effort or thought into it at all??!!

It was one of the most repetitive games I have played in a looooong time. The side quests were very much the same in almost every respect, even the streets were the same in many instances. The undead were tedious opponents, and even switching from item to item was a tedious process. Having to go into your inventory screen just to switch back to your weapon. When they could easily have used the D-Pad in a much better and precise manner.
The people you meet on your journey were boring, with the exception of the old lady at the drive-thru, and to be honest, I just ran through the missions eventually, to just try and get the game over with as quickly as possible.

Given how much was wrong with this game, I almost can even be bothered to give it any kind of score...however we have given The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct a losing score of 1/10....yes...it's that bad!!!

For those who still want to play this game, despite how awful it is. We are doing a double giveaway this time. This is actually for the AMAZING Bioshock: Infinite Giveaway, but we decided to let you guys and gals win two games instead of one. you can choose to add the wonderful Tomb Raider: A Survivor Is Born to your win..or The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct....if you are so inclined!

Thank you once again for your time,
We hope to see you soon.
All the best
~~Winning Media HD~~

Oh and if you really want to see the walkthough? Here it is:
Youtube.com

The Bioshock Infinite International Giveaway On Any Platform Is Now Running!!!!
We have decided to make this Giveaway a special one, and have given all participants the opportunity to win one other game along with Bioshock: Infinite.
The two games we have decided to let you guys and gals choose from is:
Tomb Raider: A Survivor Is Born (since the game is so sought after) and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, and whichever you choose will be put in alongside your Bioshock Infinite title.
We think that's a pretty cool offer :-D

Again this Giveaway is an International one, and you can win on any platform, including Steam.
These games are certified 18, however, so you must be old enough to take part, and the games must be legal in your country.
Anyone who would like to participate in this giveaway please pop along to our YouTube Channel and watch the giveaway video for the rules.
Click This Link For The Giveaway Video:
Youtube.com

This Giveaway will run for two weeks ending on the 26th April at Noon (BST) , and the winner will be disclosed in another video, on the 26th April at 9pm (BST).
We would like to thank everyone who has been taking part in our giveaways, and watching our walkthroughs, and also reading our blogs...we really appreciate your time, so thank you!

All the best,
~~Winning Media HD~~

I feel like I am constantly having to readdress the issue of our iOS Game Walkthroughs.
Last weekend, I had fully intended to do two titles, yet sadly only got as far as editing the first.
We all know that trying to record footage from the iPad was initially quite a difficult process, when the device was first released. Now though, it has been made simple with devices like the Elgato, for example, striping it down to simply an HDMI cable and a simple converter.
Why oh why then, have we been having so much trouble!!
Candidly it is not the visuals that we have experienced trouble with, but the damn audio, looping itself over and over again, when trying to process the initial raw file. I have been reserved to sitting like a statue when recording, so not to pull on any of the cables and sometimes even holding my breath, lol.
Seriously though, it's becoming a pain in the arse!
We will persevere however, but if anyone out there has any ideas of the perfect set-up for recording iOS Devices, then please...for the love of games...let us know!

That aside, we have also been debating whether or not to look into other forms of media.
It's is certainly a long term goal, but in the meantime we are interested in the possibility of doing Game Soundtrack Giveaways on our channel.
Soundtracks have become a hugely popular medium, since companies of games and movies, realised that many of us would go on the hunt for that tune we liked so much from that film, lol. Watching through the credits for the correct possible title....oh, was that just me then?!
Jokes aside, the internet has certainly made these types of media accessible and easy to find, for everyone..which is great for those of us who live out in the sticks.

Now games receive just as much funding and time as film, and create some of the most emotive titles that exist. The crossover between film and games has been evident for some time now, with titles like Silent Hill, Hitman and Max Payne.
Now we have actors playing the characters in games, like the soon to come Beyond: Two Souls, starring Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe. More and more of us are buying these game soundtracks.
So, we are considering doing these game soundtrack giveaways, and we are really interested in what our viewers have to say about it. Should we look into it? Would you guys and gals be interested in it?
Let us know. We are interested to hear your response!

Click below for our Game Soundtrack Video, thanks for your time, and all the best!
Tal @ WMHD
Youtube.com

Well, well....Bioshock: Infinite, what an impressive game.
We have all been very blessed with the games we either have, or will get to enjoy this year, and Bioshock is certainly going to come up at the top of many lists, as one of the best games to grace our game store shelves in 2013.
Anyone hoping to get this game, and has not yet watched a playthrough of it...don't!!
Please do not spoil it for yourself! So, in the hopes that you understand we will not be holding back in this blog, there will certainly be spoilers galore, make your choice now...either read on, or retain the pleasure of experiencing it for yourself, when you do get around to buying it!

Irrational Games, are very rational when it comes to creating impressive, intelligent content for gamers worldwide. We have finally been recognised as intelligent human beings, capable of rationalising for ourselves, lol.
Bioshock Infinite certainly allows us to do just that, and in the process takes us on a wonderland/nightmare of a journey.
Enter our main character 'Booker', the hero/villain of our story, playing out one of many realities, brought about by the genious Lutece twins...the delicious question is when...they did this ofcourse(lol), to understand and save the wonderful 'Elizabeth' from her fate at the hands of her father 'Comstock', a relentlessly power hungry religious fanatic. The game certainly does answer almost all of the questions that are raised, but it is done in such a way, that in turn, can raise more questions. You are left to your own judgements as a whole as to what is truley going on.

So, that said here is our take on the game: ***MAJOR SPOILERS***
I remember writing in my First Look blog, that the opening scene addressed the issue, of what the game was about overall, but I have to retract that statement, I was getting way ahead of myself with that one.
Now, I feel slightly more thrown by that opening scene, given what I currently believe.
Booker, having experienced the horror of war, is looking for some resolve from his emotional turmoil, and ends up turning to Religion for some solace. This is the crucial point in the story, which leads Booker down one of many paths, where he becomes a religious nut, eventually becoming our villain Comstock.
We discover Comstock, along with the Lutece twins, dabbles in pseudo-science which successfully creates rifts, or tears in the fabric of reality, allowing access to other dimensions, where other life choices has created other situations.
Comstock's penance for messing with time in this manner, is that he becomes sterile. Preventing him from creating an heir, for his religious floating throne. However, Comstock finds a version of himself, through one of these tears, that did not go through with the baptism on that fateful day, and therefore did not become the religious nut we know him to be...that someone is Booker Dewitt!
Booker walked away from the baptism, and goes on to have a family, or at least a daughter, as his wife we discover, dies in childbirth. That daughter is the one and only Elizabeth, but in not going through with the baptism......and this is where the story gets tricky.....we believe that Booker has become a drifter of sorts, someone drowning in alcohol and depression (given the state of his home that we see during some death sequences), never able to move past the horrors of what he did in war.
Believing he is a horrible father and person, forever drowning in sin, he accepts an offer given to him by a religious man. Yes that infamous line "Give us the girl, and wipe away the debt".
Booker must give this man his daughter, and all his sins will be wiped clean..a fresh start...a new beginning. That religious man is Comstock, who is Booker in another dimension of time and reality, who desperately wants a child to be his heir, and who better than his own daughter form another version of himself. We see how Elizabeth lost her finger, as she was taken through the tear as a baby, and this cross in dimension is probably what is responsible for Elizabeth's ability to create tears at will.
The Lutece twins somewhat racked with guilt, over what they have done to both Booker, and the world; in certain futures, returns to Booker and guide him in their somewhat humorous way, along his journey. They are the couple we see at the beginning, who have the conversation in the boat, that threw us here at winningmediahd, initially. Now it seems the argument they have, is more over the probability of even being able to change the future for the better, rather than what we initially thought.
Initially we assumed the game was going to be nothing more than a figment of Bookers imagination.
An experiment designed by someone or other...we were wrong!

The amount of psychology, and grasp of physics that went in to creating this game, is certainly impressive. If nothing else this game is a work of dramatic genius. The game play is fine, apart for your ability to run in a controlled manner. The graphics are great, and make you feel like you are playing some kind of Disney movie with adult themes. All in all we LOVED Bioshock Infinite!
Therefore we are giving it a Winning Score of 9.5/10, dropping that half point for those control issues.

We are really interested on other peoples take on this game. If your take on the story differs from ours then please, let us know. Leave a comment here, or on one of our walkthrough videos, and we can hash it out, lol.

Thanks again for your time,
~~Tal @ Winning Media HD~~
Here is the link to our Bioshock Infinite Walkthrough:
Youtube.com