Music Thursday - First of the new year

I have been occupied with other matters recently, hence the lack of posts recently. This is the first Music Thursday for a while!

First up is a tribute to the late and great Ronnie James Dio.

Dio - Rainbow in the Dark (live)

This is a tune from the phenomenal album "Holy Diver", and one of the stalwart tunes in Dio's live performances. From the above video you can see why, as I think it sounds even better live.

Second up is another Ronnie James Dio tune, this time from his Black Sabbath days.

Black Sabbath - Turn up the Night.

This track is from 1981's Mob Rules and was released as a single at the time. It is a fast paced tune (for Black Sabbath) features Dio's characteristic powerful vocals and a soaring lead guitar line from the one and only Tommy Iommi.

Last, but not least, is something a bit different, 
  
Doc Watson, Rice, Skaggs, Douglas, Grisman, O'Conner - Riding That Midnight Train

 

This a live version of Doc Watson and Merle Watson's tune from 1986's album of the same name. If you are not moved by this song then you have a heart of stone.

 

Game review – Splinter Cell: Conviction

As I have stated in an earlier game review (Operation Flashpoint: Red River Rising), I am a fan of video games that require patience and thought. Hence, I have been a fan since of the Splinter Cell series since it started in 2003 and, with the exception of Pandora Tomorrow, have played (completed) all the titles in the series. I took a while to get started with this title, the latest one in the series, having started to play it over a year after it was released. 

So onto the meat of the review, this title features Sam Fisher, this time acting as a lone wolf against his previous employers, trying to simultaneously solve the mystery of his daughter’s death and save the world. The story is excellent, well presented and gripping, making the gaming experience engrossing. In fact I would say that the story was the best part of the game. 

The game play however, was somewhat disappointing considering previous titles in the series, with many of the stealth elements taken out. The game is still fun to play, but has been dumbed down so that a lot of the tension has been removed. In addition I found that the controls (for PC) were not well thought out and didn’t make use of much of the keyboard, with an overdependence on one “action” key (the space bar). The stealth indicator (the method of indicating when you are “hidden”) was also clumsy, with the screen turning to a greyscale monochrome, which did not allow the player to well survey the environment, a key part of the gaming experience in the Splinter Cell series. These aspects detracted from could have been an excellent game. 

The above said, the game was still fun to play and contained a reasonably stealthy aspect (similar to Assassins Creed II). The mark and execute feature was interesting, as was the layout of the various missions. In particular the ability to interact with the environment, especially in the interrogation sections, was excellent and impressive. However, for those of you looking for the more hardcore experience of the earlier titles, I would recommend Batman: Arkham City.

Positives – Good story, fun to play, good interaction with the environment 

Negatives – Controls poorly thought out, monochrome, dumbed down

7/10