Friday 29 April 2016

The Winter Warmer (Hogs Back Brewery)

The Winter Warmer (Hogs Back Brewery)
Name: The Winter Warmer
Label: "Spiced Dark Beer - Brewed with strong notes of mulled winter spices"
Brewery: Hogs Back Brewery
ABV: 5.5%

Tasting notes: "The Winter Warmer is a spicy and dark number made from four extra special malts, each of which impart a unique flavour on this complex, well-rounded and full bodied dark ale. A very special mulling syrup is added to this rich initial flavour leaving the tastes of the season dancing merrily on your tongue!" It's nearly May but the weather is like winter!

Game: Available now via EA Access, FIFA 16!  Having read none of the marketing or promotional stuff, I can't yet tell what's different between 16 and 15, other than the number has gone up by... hang on... *counts fingers*... one. The graphics do look slightly better actually.  It's about football. It's great. It's still better than PES. Rating: 8/10  

Saturday 16 April 2016

Daring Diver (Badger)

Daring Diver (Badger)
Name: Daring Diver
Label: "New beer in the sett"
Brewery: Badger
ABV: 4.7%

Tasting notes: "Other ducks stick to rivers and ponds, this mischievous mallard bravely ventures to the brewery gates to pinch prized hops blown wayward from the stores. His boldness inspires this amber beer, brewed with Slovenian Celeia hops. Enjoy with chicken pie and creamy pasta dishes."

Game: New game time! And Quantum Break is about time! Great timing, Battlefront is starting to get on my tits!  Quantum Break is utterly brilliant. It's super-slick with TV show quality production values. And there also a TV show with TV show quality production values in between each chapter to flesh out the story.  It's about a bloke who is suddenly really ace with guns but can manipulate time as well. And in the story you go back in time and it turns out you're actually your own mum. It's crazy-good. Rating: 9 out of time.

Saturday 2 April 2016

Wild Wader (Badger)

Wild Wader (Badger)
Name: Wild Wader
Label: "New beer in the Sett"
Brewery: Badger
ABV: 4.2%

Tasting notes: "In the lagoon of Brownsea Island, you can find the Wild Wader striding proudly in the morning haze. This amber brew combines an aromatic collection of British, Slovenian and New World hops for a refreshing easy-drinking beer. Great with fish & chips."

Game: Right, first off, I totally loved Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Old Blood. Bethesda did great, which makes the Doom Beta all the more surprising. It's terrible. Your avatar feels like you're floating around the map rather than running, it looks and plays like a last-gen title and everything seems twice as fast as it should be. At one point I was circling around a bit of scenery shooting at an enemy and it felt like a sped up Benny Hill nightmare in hell, thankfully without the sexism. Weapons have no visual punch and enemies just pop in a shower of disappearing blood and gaudy looking pickups.  If the single-player campaign has the same feel to it then we're Doomed. And not in a good way. Back to Star Wars Battlefront we go... 2/10.