There’s little story to be had in this film as you might expect. However it seems very similar to Rambo 4 (Stallone goes back to rescue a damsel in distress) but he goes about in a very violent and bloody experience. Not sure I cna give much words to it – it needs to be seen to be believe at how good/bad the film is.
The action is fast and intense. The gore is a bit comical (possibly not the second time you see the film as you’ll know when it occurs) but due to the surprise of it happening, it seems more comical than it is. The lack of one liners was somewhat disappointing but the references to Rambo were noted and the audience did give a good laugh when Arnie walked out the room (won’t spoil the joke).
Overall a mediocre action film that was reasonable to brain out to during a Wednesday afternoon.
Since I started airsoft, I’ve looked at shotguns and always thought they looked nice but were novelty items and as such, £130 to pay for them was a little steep. However, having now played for quite a while, it’s nice to see the increase in pistol and shotgun games being run around the country where players can play with the “novelty” items.
However, one shotgun that has tempted me time and time again is the Spas 12. Iconic in it’s own (some might say ugly) special way, I’ve always toyed with getting one and since the release of the cheap Chinese shotguns over the past 2 or 3 years, I’ve held out for a Chinese Spas 12 clone. Eventually my patience has paid off!
I stumbled upon a Chinese replica on Airsoft World this week and ordered it. however, it will require some work as it’s a two tone see through plastic one which isn’t ideal! However, for the princely sum of £25, I could get it and then spray paint it black and not be out of pocket to much if it turned out to be rubbish! (NOTE – I can spray it black to mkae it look like a RIF because I am UKARA registered – If you aren’t, do so is breaking the law! Please follow the rules laid down in the VCR act to keep our sport safe!)
It arrived today and I eagerly got it out the box and I wasn’t disappointed.
Alright, the colour scheme and see through plastic was a bit pants. but then I knew it when I ordered it. Possible the fact the box shows a black one means that a black one is imminent but after a few years waiting, I wasn’t going to let a see through shotgun put me off! Not when Krylon or other spray paint will solve that issue!
Impressions
For £25 this shotgun feels pretty solid. It’s a mag fed gun, unlike the TM Spas 12 which takes shells. Also this only fires 1 BB at a time, compared to the triple barrelled TM Spas 12 but when this is £100 cheaper than the TM, you don’t expect as much!
The cocking action feels fine but isn’t to tough like some of the other shotguns I’ve tried (my mates TM M3 is a real pig to cock – I think it’s because my arms are to short to sit on the slide and aim nicely). The magazine is a little fiddly to load, it took a few minutes to acquaint myself with it. The magazine is actually the gas parts – you unscrew the gas parts and remove them. You then twist the retaining cap on the base back to it’s original place, pull the BB follower down and lock it in place (by clicking the cap back round again. Fill the mag then place back in gun (at an angle so the BB’s don’t roll into the gun!) and then screw the cap back and then press the plunger in. Phew. Not something you’ll want to do under fire but the mag apparently can take up to 60 shots so you shouldn’t have to do it that often.
To load and fire is standard fair – cock it and off you go!
Power seems fine but obviously it need to be chronoed at a site. As far as I can see, like other shotguns, it doesn’t have a hop unit. However, this shouldn’t be to much of an issue. There doesn’t seem to be any sling points on the gun (except the tiny slot on the hand grip of the gun) so carrying it might be an issue.
However, overall this seems like a very nice fancy toy that will make an appearance every now and then. One of the reason’s I bought it is because it’ll top of my Half Life 2 rebel loadout nicely!
I’ve been quiet over the last few months due to an operation. Anyhow, I’m back on my feet again and everything seems to be working as it should.
Over the past few months whilst I’ve been recovering, I’ve not airsofted and haven’t really done anything in regards to my kit. I have however, ordered some new kit. Firstly I’ve ordered myself a new gearbox. For some reason my Kalash AK74S has stopped working. No idea why, just died on me whilst I was at a site. I ordered myself a nice new Cyma gearbox. Unfortunately, I’ll have to learn how to solder as the gearbox is wired up for a normal AK74/47 with a full stock (and thus stock mounted battery). I was after a TM gearbox as I like quality and reliability of the TM gearbox but the prices in the UK for a full gearbox are extortion! I could almost purchase a new gun for the cost of a replacement gearbox! Something I almost considered!
My second purchase was a new face mask. I’ll be doing a review of this soon but it will have to wait until I get a proper use out of it. As you can see, it’s a chinese replica of the STALKER mask I posted about here. Hopefully it will provide protection for my teeth in woodland games where I really don’t want to wear a full face mask.
Other Hobbies
My other new hobby has also occupied my time and funds. I’ve recently started cycling again (though I’ve had to stop during the operation recovery period) as I bought a bike to commute to work. Thankfully, I think it was the best purchase I’ve made in the last 12 months! I bought a Carrera Hybrid bike from Halfords. However, I’ve not just stopped at commuting. I always liked cycling as a kid and used to cycle to college. This all stopped when I moved to Leeds for uni. However, it finally became a complete pain to spend 30/40 minutes walking to work everyday when I can do it on a bike in 10 minutes! So after the purchase I started cycling recreationally again, especially in the nice weather we’ve had.
Anyhow, one thing has led to another and now I’m a fully lycra clad cycling fan and have clocked up over 1000Km since I bought the bike (on Easter Sunday) and that’s not including my daily 6Km commutes! However bike gear isn’t cheap so it’s been eating into my airsofting funds!
I’m also moving house (in to a shared house with a mate) which has also taken up funds as obviously a deposit needs to be paid and first months rent overlaps with current house etc etc.
Unfortunately all of this has led to some unwanted kit and I’ve parted with my M23 Pioneer chest rig. Since I’ve had the SMERSH it’s not seen any use and for lightweight games, I’ve been using my sci-fi themed kit (which I have re-bought!). I also want to part with my Flora, however no one seems interested.
Computer Games
After my favourable of APB, I’ve only played it once since then and wasn’t as impressed with it. However I think this was because my team mate I ended up playing with seem more intent with letting his baby play and mess with the controls whilst he was playing (the kid kept coming over the VOIP channel and then he was told off by the parent for interfering).
I’ve picked up Battlefield Bad Company 2 again and been thoroughly enjoying it again. I see that BIG-Ranger has collected all of his award pins (congrats!) and I’m lacking seriously behind in terms of everything lol. I’ve been enjoying using the M136 rocket launcher as a kind of javelin – Firing it up into the air before having it land on a hapless victim.
So yeah, I’m still about, just struggling to post on here currently!
Well this is a game that seems to have crept under a lot of people’s radars. I’ve not really seen many discussions on it on the forums I’m on online and it seems a shame. I like the idea of the game as soon as I saw it previewed. So i took the plunge when the game was released and installed and started playing.
This trailer gives a pretty good indication of the gameplay and the level of customisation.
Initial Impressions
To start with, the game decided I didn’t have the required 2 GB of memory but it installed anyhow (which is good because the PC DOES have 2 GB of memory – it was showing as 1.996 GB in the system requirement checker for some reason but that’s not to much of a concern – I’ve just ordered another 2 GB to max the motherboard out). Install took a while but I guess that’s a given these days.
Starting the game, I had to create an account and link my serial code for the game to this account. At this point, I should point out that the game is a MMO (massively multi player online) game and does require a subscription. However purchasing the game does give you 50 hours free and 100 RTW points (which can be used to subsidise further game time purchases or buy stuff in game – RTW points can also be purchased for real world cash) which is plenty of time for some fun – I got my copy at Game for £16 (after a trade in and Game reward points) so a complete bargain!
On start up I was allowed to create a character – I ended up with my first character as being a member of law and order, rather than a criminal. The level of detailing on the character is fantastic! I was actually able to create a character that actually looks quite similar to me!
I know some people might want to create totally outlandish characters but I blame my current reading list for making me want to create a realistic persona (Snow Crash and Neuromancer). After selecting all I could about my character, I jumped in and played the tutorial.
The tutorial isn’t fantastic. It does explain the basics but there’s not really any help with keys and the like – I recommend reading the manual or the control settings whilst in game!
Gameplay
The game play is third person view, very much like GTA. However this suits it quite nicely and means you get to see your chacter in all it’s glory. And considering the amount of time you can spend customising your characters clothes and body art etc, this makes perfect sense!
Gameplay is split into two districts – the action or social district. The social is where you can purchase and customise cars, clothes, kill music and pretty much anything to do with your character. This doesn’t use any of your APB time so that’s good news for those that might spend ages here. Your APB time is only spent whilst in the action districts.
The action districts consist mainly (of what I can tell so far) of running contracts for contacts. You’re encouraged to join a group and run missions together but otherwise, you cant really interact with other players (well you can happily talk to the and interact but you cant shoot them). The shooting people bit comes from the mission running. Whilst on a mission or driving around the town, you may get an “all points bulletin” telling you that someone is doing a mission nearby and try and it’s your job to try and stop them completing that mission.
In this screenshot, you can see the people with green names above they’re head – they are your group. If the name is red, this means you are free to shoot them. Other players have gray names to show they are neutral to you. And yes, you can shoot out the side of the car whilst someone else drives!
The game play is quite fluid and goes on very nicely. However I wish the missions offers could be displayed for a little longer – they’re only available for 15 seconds which is sometimes a bit quick to see what you’re letting yourself in for!
The amount of guns is quite large but you have to unlock these, along with clothing so it may take a while to get everything unlocked and going. The customisations look like they’ll take a lot of time and effort (if you so wish), otherwise you can buy default gear or buy what someone else has made and is selling in the auction house.
However, the driving (I find) is quite difficult and every car I’ve tried so far seems to under and over steer completely randomly. Game play can be slowed down when trying to view a new item (however this generally occurs when you’re not being shot at so that’s not to bad!) as the program trys to get the image from the servers.
I’ve not really played enough yet to give it a more in depth view but so far, the game is showing a lot of promise.
The UKAPU are an organisation set up to represent the UK Airsoft Players.
We already have UKARA but UKARA is a retailers association and we don’t really have a group to represent the players so this is where the UKAPU come in. The group is run by airsofters, for airsofters.
I signed myself up (£5 for a year) as I think a group to represent us players is something that we need in the UK. If we eve have to defend our sport from something like the VCR bill again, having a solid player base and union to represent us can only be a good thing. It will cement the fact that we are a sport or at least show people in power how many people do airsoft.
Anyhow, I urge you to check out the website and make your own mind up. Click the banner above to go there or use the address – http://www.ukapu.org.uk/
A Roadside Picnic is written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and is the basis of the Russian film, Stalker which also provides the basis for the STALKER games.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while, waiting to read, but I’ve been sidetracked by reading other books (such as the Warhammer 40K series of books – check out the Black Library for the massive range!) However I got to it the other day and I read it in two days, the book was that good (mind it is also quite small!)
STALKER fans might be disappointed…
I’ve been meaning to read it as I said, mainly due to it providing the background (in a lose way it turns out) for the STALKER game series. The book does indeed focus on the “zone” and Stalkers but unlike the game, the zone here is in Canada/Alaska area and it’s not from scientists experimenting at the Chernobyl power station but due to alien interaction on Earth.
It is however, a work of genius. The book is one of the few that has made me shiver and it’s quite a vivid account of the life of a stalker, a man who goes into the zone to collect alien artefacts and bring them out. Just like in the game, the zone is full of dangers and these can prove fatal to anyone without the experience in the zone.
Great Read
The book itself is quite short but it’s doesn’t drag and keeps the reader informed and hanging onto the story.
Throughout the story, it constantly reminds the reader about how little we know of the universe and this comes across really well. In fact, it was one of the few books I’ve ever read to give me goosebumps about how utterly alien everything was. I can read about aliens all day (see Warhammer 40K) but this felt real, like it could happen tomorrow. The atmosphere is more dark and depressing than that of the game and I think that this book has a far better atmosphere than the game does – though I can see why the game put in more monsters etc as this is all about tension and suspense at times and snorks would take that away from the book (though some enemies from the game are still in the book… read it and see!)
Overall it’s well worth a read. If your a fan of sci fi, it’s a good book - it’s probably up there in one of my greatest sci fi novels I’ve ever read. If your a STALKER fan, once you get over the fact it’s aliens and set elsewhere, you’ll settle right in and see the similarities between the book and the games, right down to some of the anomalies in the game.
Well Fearful Silence and me don’t seem to get on… I’m beginning to think I’m a little bit cursed when it comes to this site! The first time I tried to go, it snowed. Second time, this happened. Anyhow, yesterday I came up to Leeds to meet a mate and today we were supposed to goto Fearful Silence.
Anyhow, we arrive on site and pay our green fees and then I put the battery in my AK74S and pull the trigger.Dead, nothing, nada, zip. Nothing from my gun. Something has gone wrong with the internals, the electrics I imagine as nothing worked. Was a pain. Very annoyingly I’d not brought my spare AK so game over and unfortunately all hire guns were out and I was forced to go home. Luckily (and to the eternal credit of the site), I was allowed my money back and headed home.
So another day at Fearful Silence scuppered!
This is my Kalash and I’m now beginning to think that these Chinese guns aren’t worth the money. It’s somewhat annoying and I now have to find someone to fix the gun (unless I try and fix it myself). I’ve been toying with getting a Sig 552 and I might grab myself a TM Sig.
