Guitar Hero: Metallica - ROCK ON!

The next in the Guitar Hero : band installment came out just recently, this one (the second after Guitar Hero : Aerosmith) based around Metallica, and using the new GH:World Tour format. Now, I really really personally disliked World Tour, although I have decided that this can be attributed to the serious lack of decent songs (there were only about three songs worth playing in World Tour, and I could easily five star nearly all of the songs on hard the first go-round). I still don't like the smaller notes buuuuuut hey our TV is tiny so this is likely the reason.

GH: Metallica is full of reaaaaallly good songs, both Metallica and other bands, and has even more songs than previous versions. It does have two "intro" songs that were included in other versions of Guitar Hero, but I'm not complaining. :) I also like the way they really captured the band, their facial expressions and movements seem much more realistic than previous versions.

Also improved from World Tour is the difficulty level of the songs. They are much more challenging on hard, and very difficult on expert. Which is good, because the challenge means I will have something to play while I wait for the next installment of the Guitar Hero Universe! =D

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review - Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair by W. M. Thackery

I started Vanity Fair way back in December, and it took me until today to finish it. It is quite a long novel, and very wordy. The central plot revolves around two young (at least at the beginning of the book) women, Ameila (Emmy) and Rebecca (Becky), who are "friends", but who are as different as night and day. The book basically revolves around their romantic escapades and attempts at finding their places in the society of Vanity Fair.

While the book was amusing and fairly enjoyable, it did tend to ramble off into the author's views on different topics, things that didn't really quite relate to the story. Also, I found I only really liked one character. Emmy was too...pathetic, and Becky, while a strong character, was not really likeable (if this had taken place in modern times, she totally would have been a sorority slut).

Still, would definitely recommend the novel and the older movie - in the newest movie, Becky tries too hard to be "nice" and loses the character of the original Becky.

Now, which book from my classics list shall I move onto next? First, though, I have a captial crimes novel to finish, the latest Redwall novel, and the newest Tamora Pierce book. Yay!

Wakey, wakey! It's day breaky!

Fabel 2 is an RPG-type game. And it is quite amusing. You get to run around as a hero (male or female, your choice, and does not really affect game play), be good or evil (which affects your appearance), defeat the evil guy who killed your sister, and buy stuff (buildings, items, whatever). It has multiple side quests, you can get married (and, yes, you can marry someone of the same sex, multiple people, and even have kids). You can complete the main gameplay at your own pace, and continue playing afterwards to earn more gamer points. And there are quite a few amusing gamer points.

This game is very easy to sit and play for days on end, until you beat the game and collect most of the points and items...I'm not convinced of how re-playable the game is, however.

I'd say that the dog is the best part of the game. I'm not even a pet person, but without your dog by your side the game just seems...weird. Besides, your dog finds all sorts of great items and treasures for you!

While very fun, and a game in which you are never lacking in things to do, even after the main plot is completed, one of the few drawbacks is the sounds. While funny and amusing at first, by the end of the game, the town crier and other noises are just, frankly, annoying.

The hour is...very late.