Mortal Kombat XL: The Lord of Death

MORTAL KOMBAT XL

THE LORD OF DEATH: FRIDAY 2nd JUNE 2017

As Netherrealm invades Earthrealm begins to fall to the forces of darkness.

The Lord of Death, Quan Chi leads the invasion as he fights of Raiden and his resistance forces that protect the Jensei. It will be a race against time to free Shinnok from his prison and unleash hell upon the world under the rule of a new master.

Episode Information

EPISODE: 14 of 
TRANSMISSION: 2nd June 2017
TIME: Anytime after 9am
Week 22: 29th May - 4th June 2017
CHANNEL: Daniel_Bury27 
PUBLISHED: Wednesday 31st May 2017
PRODUCTION CODE: MKXS3014

Injustice 2: Unlocking some cool new gear from Wonder Woman Movie!

So today, I have been playing Injustice 2. I absolutely love the game. The story is epic, the characters are amazing and have their own qualities and fighting techniques which make them unique to play as, I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Something which Netherrealm studios who made the game have released this week is an opportunity to have the chance to earn new gear for a Wonder Woman costume. But not just any Wonder Woman costume, her costume that she wears in the new movie. 

The reason for doing it I think was to celebrate the release of the new Wonder Woman film with special Injustice 2 events! 


Injustice 2: Starting yesterday (29th May), through to Monday 5th June, players can play a series of challenges to earn Wonder Woman's Gear from the feature film in our Mutiverse event "To End All Wars"!  

The way it works having done it today is you start off with five fights and at the end of that you get the legs, after that you progress to eight which earns you the arms, the completion of twelve fights gets you the torso and the head and then in a final challenge you have to face Cheetah and beat her to get the shield and sword. 

So pictured above is basically what you unlock and it's a great exclusive thing for Netherrealm Studios to do, to get people playing the game and also to help promote the new film at the same time. 

It took a long time for me to complete everything, practically all day because if you think about it, I did most of the challenges and unlocked mostly everything by twelve noon having started playing the Wonder Woman stuff at around ten am. It felt like a long time and a lot of effort but so rewarding at the end of it, and I feel having done these challenges I have perfected my skills as Wonder Woman, I've progressed a lot with her today and have taken that character to higher levels. And that's not all because I do plan to do more.

The final task at the end was a real pain though, It took me a few goes to do it. Basically, the final task is a final one versus one fight against Cheetah, only it's kind of like a death match in the sense that she is really hard to beat. And I mean frustratingly hard. It took me a lot of tries before I actually managed to beat her and it does say before you accept a little warning saying how difficult it's going to be, so knowing what you're going to be in for, do you still want to do it and if the answer is yes, be prepared to lose, a lot of times! I didn't think I could do it. I literally did not think I was going to do it, but suddenly on one go, everything just seemed to click and it was so close, but I won. I was so excited I jumped out of my seat shouting "Yes!" which was great! It meant not only had I achieved in completing the task, but I unlocked the last thing I needed to complete my outfit. I'll be honest the sword and shield was the one part I wasn't that bothered about having but it's still nice to have. I really like the costume, and as I say it's a great way to promote the film and play the game as well. 

All in all, good day of game playing today. Feel like I've done a lot with Wonder Woman, and I look forward to seeing the new movie when it's released in the cinemas. 

It's okay to be yourself!

Hi Everyone.

So I've been a quiet for the last couple of weeks, I can't remember the last time I posted a blog about a certain subject, I think it may have been just over a month ago now where I sent out an update on how I was doing.

Well, this is more of a broad and open kind of post which I wanted to do today.

In regards to how I have been doing now, I have been feeling really cool and calm in recent days. I had a very down day in the last week where I felt precarious, very off and deeply sad. It was probably my darkest day in a very long time, but I was lucky enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel and since then I have just been feeling really cool and calm and not letting anything that's happening around me get to me or affect me in a negative way.

I've also been coming into contact with my mind and getting in touch with my thoughts and feelings. This is something that meditation has been helping me to do, I've picked up some very useful techniques and some of the tips that have been given have also proved to be very helpful. I know I keep saying "Everything's looking up" and "I'm on the mend". I say it because I want to believe it and because I don't want people around me like friends and family to worry. I've  been saying constructive things like that a lot recently and in all honesty that has never proven to be the case, at least not fully, so it's like there's no point in saying it. In actual fact, what it has proven is that some days I have felt what I have said and that I've shown progression in moving forward but then something bad or something not necessarily bad would pop up which would upset me or make me feel sad. Stuff like that pulls me back down again. I see other people being happy and I think "How can I endure other people's happiness if I don't feel happy myself". I've got goods friends and a loving family reaching out to me, offering help and saying comforting words like "We're here for you" and I know that they're here to help and they wouldn't say those things if they didn't mean it but the query that I have is "How can people help me if I can't even help myself?" It became a real struggle that the more I tried to resist certain negative thoughts and feelings, the more tension and stress I brought upon myself which wasn't healthy.

But since I have learnt to let go of all that unwanted stress and tension and process through all the negativity, things have become simpler for me and I can go about my days feeling like a much better person. 

If I was, to sum up how I'm feeling at this point I would say in the words of David Bowie "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring".

So that's where I'm at with that. Today's topic is about yourself and I notice that I've been talking a lot about myself without stopping to think of other people along the way, for instance, I have got some really terrific friends at the moment, probably five of the best people I could ever hope to have in my life right now. And everyone is unique, everyone is different, everyone has quirks and special qualities which make them who they are. In my case it's the fact that I have Aspergers syndrome which means although I have difficulties with making friends and keeping them and I struggle to understand the world a lot of the time, my brain works in the most wonderful and creative ways and people like me for that which is great it means that whatever it is that I'm doing, I need to keep doing and never stop being the person that I am because its certain qualities and certain perks and traits which define whoever. And goes for anyone from all the walks of life. You could be a very shy and nervous person, you could be very loud and outspoken, you could also be gay, lesbian, homophobic, whatever. We all have a sense of identity, we all know who we are and what makes us who we are.

The message here is quite simply "It's okay to be yourself". That's it. Plain and simple. It doesn't matter if your black, white, gay, straight, or just human because we are all part of one superior race and that's the human race. Sure there are some people out there who will fight against you and will resist you and your life choices and you may want to retaliate against them but by doing that you'd only be giving them the reaction that they want from you, they want to prove that they can get to you. And some people are ignorant. Some people have not very nice qualities in their personality but if that makes them who they are then the simple thing would be to stay away from people like that and not to associate yourself with people like them.

I thought it was important to get this message across and do this post now because there really isn't a better time or opportunity to do it than in the now where things like this are becoming more and more apparent and much more relevant. Lots of people tend to struggle with their identities and never truly know who they are and in some cases feel too scared or ashamed to show their true colours because there is so much negativity and bad things happening in the world. I guess it all comes down to how comfortable you feel in yourself and whether you feel truly happy in yourself, never losing side of who you are or the classic quirks and traits which make you, yourself. I personally feel like I am quite a load and energetic personality and that sometimes with some people they might not know how to handle someone of that caliber when they meet me, it all seems to be a bit too much for them to handle all at once, and that's something which I try to work on. I try and tone myself down and only deal myself in small doses so by the time you do get to know me, you would have got used to me and you can be a bit more patient, not place any judgements and not be so quick to assume things about me.

If you are feeling a bit anxious or not sure what to do about feeling comfortable being yourself and showing your true identity there's always people out there who are willing to help you, people who have been where you are, who know what it's like and are willing to reach out with a helping hand and guide you through everything. As well as that there are also others who may not have experienced the same things which you're going through but have an understanding because they know someone who have gone through what you've gone through and are always happy to listen. Britain has become a much more liberal, accepting and understanding country now, our society has changed so much more for the better and we are lucky to be living in a world where difference and change is better understood and accepted.

There's nothing bad or wrong with diversity. If everyone in the world was exactly the same as each other, I think that the world would be a very boring place to live in. I like meeting new people and having conversations with them. You never know who you might meet, you might end up having a lot in common with this person and making a friend out of them, so you never know.

Border line of this is, It's okay to be yourself. You are who are, the qualities that make you who you are define you in some way, it's not something you can change no matter how many people tell you that you can. Just work hard, do the best you can, don't ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say about you.

Doctor Who Review: The Pyramid at the End of the World

Doctor Who: Series 10 Episode 7 - The Pyramid at the End of the World

In the second instalment of the mid series three parter, Earth is set on a countdown of destruction, an alien race offers a deal to save humanity. But will the Doctor accept their help?

After last week's episode I was left feeling very confused and disconnected to what was going on. I think I could understand bits of it but then the concentration just seemed to fade away and I lost interest in the plot, but essentially this alien race have begun an invasion and they have gained an understanding of earth's defences by copying a version of earth through computer simulation which will enable them to gain the wealth of knowledge which they can therefore use to their advantage.

When this episode starts, it goes back and forth between Bill and what happened last week, and then suddenly the army bursts in and calls Bill away to where the Doctor is, and there is a huge Pyramid which no one knows how it got there or why its there and that's this weeks starting point and I have to say this episode starts off very well. That's one thing that it has to it's merit for me was a strong introduction. 

The Pyramid at the End of the World, probably the longest Doctor Who story title since The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. My only question to that is "What is Moffat's obsession with Pyramids?" does he just like Pryamids or does he have a spiritual connection with them? because there was a Pyramid in the Series Six finale. My guess is Moffat likes to use a Pyramid, just not on Mars.

Peter Harness is back, in collaboration with Steven Moffatt again, together they wrote the Zygon political thriller in Series 9, and now we have another one of those political edge of your seat kind of thing when the world is under threat and it's up to the Doctor to find out what's going so he can bring the world leaders of Earth to an understanding, the only problem is human's can be stubborn and repulsive to reason sometimes, you know the Doctor is right, but they end up going against it anyway as a result of their foolishness, they get killed by the monster. 

I really liked the mode of structure to this episode, it works well from where last week left off and the monks show a sinister and uncomfortable presence to the atmosphere of this story. Essentially the structure of this goes back and forth between what is happening in a science lab and what's happening with the world leaders and the Pyramid, both are inextricably linked and work very part and parcel. Everything is significant, it all makes sense is what I'm trying to say, nothing in this is misconstrued or confusing in anyway. 

I kind of thought again in this that Bill and Nardole didn't really do much, there is a lot of standing around and people talking. Basically the monks make earth an offer and the Doctor is like, no, you don't know what their offer is, you can't trust them and the people in the right of making a decision on behalf of the planet neglect the doctor's warning. In the meantime there is something even bigger going on which the Doctor has yet to discover, but for a lot of this it's just a lot of people standing around a table thinking about what do, very talky, lots of dialogue and the action comes later. 

Just basic things to point out with this one which stood out for me. I thought the Doctor was good in this, I thought the monks were good we got the opportunity to find out more about them this week but crucially, not very much at all. We know they can restore the sight of a Timelord, but still no word on any motive or plan. That’s probably academic – they’ve got us now, I thought all the stuff in the lab at end was good, the cliffhanger was excellent because it left a question mark hanging on the whole thing where you don't know where the story is going to go next week. Which is something that last week's didn't have, I wasn't left wondering what might happen in the next episode, probably because there wasn't much opportunity for my mind to wonder or ask, again this comes back to my lack of understanding of last week's episode. 

This I enjoyed much more. I think it deals with the whole 'counter terror' situation adequately, it's very self deprecating and relevant to what is happening in the world today. Harness is very good at getting those points across and you can see the mixture of both Harness and Moffat's collaboration together in this. 

I think I'll give this 7.5/10. 

Next week: The conclusion to this three part drama. Can't wait to see how it all ends up, hopefully well, because this episode has really raised the standards for next week, I've got high expectations for "The Lie of the Land". 

SJA Reviews: Secrets of the Stars

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: SECRETS OF THE STARS
Written By: Gareth Roberts
Directed By: Michael Kerrigan 

Hello. This week I'm going to be talking about a very different type of story, one of which where the threat does not come from an alien invasion or monsters attacking, but from the secrets of the stars and the mystic forces of a power which has existed before man and the dawn of time.

So, the story all circles around this one man, Martin Truman who is a philosopher and is into reading people's destiny through their star signs, the only catch is he's a fraud. He takes peoples money and tells them what they want to hear, until one night something falls from the sky and consumes him, suddenly he's everywhere, filling theatres and getting the public attention, everyone wants to know about Martin Truman and his connection with the stars.  And the spooky thing is he knows everything about everyone? how does he do it? This is what raises concern to Sarah Jane who isn't so sure of Truman and his ability to read people through their star signs, and that's why she plans on getting to the bottom of this whole escapade.

As the story goes on Truman's power grows and soon he uses his power to make others join him, in order to stop his plan Sarah Jane needs to work out how such power can be defeated and to get through to Truman's inner physic before he brainwashes everyone on earth into accepting the ancient lights.

So yes, it's the midway point through the second series now and this one is about people's star signs and a possible alien connection with that. A subject on which, I think is very interesting to explore, especially for a children's programme. There maybe some viewers watching who know nothing about the stars, or star signs or the philosophy behind it so what better way to introduce it to people than through a popular television show like The Sarah Jane Adventures.

This task does prove to be a challenge for Sarah Jane, Truman proves to be a sinister menace when he knows everything about Sarah Jane, so much so that he says that she's going to lose a battle. Something which plays on the viewers mind.

The threat in this is an interesting one because it doesn't come from an alien invasion or bug ugly monsters but comes from a power from beyond the dawn of time, one wonders, how do you beat an acclaimed unstoppable force? The answer to that is Luke Smith. There is very little background given into what the ancient lights actually are and where they originate from. Whether it just adds to the mystery of it all, I'm not sure but that much can be said for the credibility behind the idea of this ancient force which has come from out of space, and the whole thing of nothing existing and example of this being when Mr Smith scans Rani's jacket which has a burn mark on it and the results come back as "Nothing burnt the jacket". The cliffhanger is a bit mad and chaotic as well.

Basically, the whole world would be pretty screwed to the ancient lights if it wasn't for Luke. This is another Luke story where this time Luke struggles to understand where he fits into in society and his identity. He worries that because he hasn't got a star sign or a birthday that makes him different from the other people in the world and that that's a bad thing, but it is actually what ends up saving the world and by the end of the story Luke learns a very valuable lesson about who he is, and that's very rewarding to see as a viewer.

Time wise, both episodes cover a lot in the two twenty five minute parts. Part One is all about the build up and investigative strategies and Part Two is all about leading up to the climax at the end.

There's lots of good continuity in this story as well, such as The idea of godlike entities from the universe before our own, deriving their powers from alien laws of physics which no longer apply, is a nod to Virgin Publishing's Doctor Who New Adventures range, for which scriptwriter Gareth Roberts wrote three of those novels. Sarah Jane also says 'I know what it's like to be taken over' referring to the times where she was possessed in "Planet of the Spiders","The Masque of Mandragora" and "The Hand of Fear". 

I did like the idea behind the whole star sign thing and the ancient lights storyline, I think that it adds to the diversity and complexity of stories shown throughout what is essentially a pretty strong series of adventures. Series Two at this point is really really good so far and you can't wait to see what happens next.

7/10

Next Week: Mark of the Berserker.

Doctor Who Review: Extremis

Doctor Who: Series 10 Episode 6 - Extremis

Everyone who has ever read the Vertias has been found dead. In a library at the heart of the Vatican, the pope urges the Doctor to read the ancient text.

I should start off this week's review with an apology, I should have written this review yesterday but unfortunately, I fell very busy, hence why this review has been a few days delayed. 

However, I re-watched the episode on Monday morning and everything is refreshed in my brain. It's probably the only episode so far this series I have actually watched more than once. But the reason for me wanting to watch it again was there were some bits I missed, not everything made sense, the episode was a bit hard to follow and I just wanted to make sense of everything as best I could in order to give the best review.

On first thoughts, it wasn't as good as last week's episode, but it is one of Steven Moffatt's better stories, that has to given merit for being at least that. However, there are still a lot of things which I'm left confused about as to what actually happened in this one, and the crossover between alternate scenes, and going back and forth between different scenes didn't help that. I can sort of understand why it was there in order to raise tension and suspense but to me, it came across as being distracting. 

I did like the surprise cliffhanger at the end of last week which lead into this week, it's something which has never been addressed in Doctor Who before and causes a major problem, the Doctor is blind and therefore has to wear the sonic shades in order to give him some aspect of vision, this makes things in the episode all the more difficult for him, and I liked the way the episode started. 

In terms of structure, this episode is not necessarily all over the place, it's just a bit out of sync with the rest of the main plot. The parts with Missy, although they were interesting to see, to go back and forth and have it so part and parcel helpings every now and again didn't do the story any favors. Stories should just be structured simply with a beginning, a middle and an end, but of course, I understand it doesn't necessarily have to be in that order. I think for me, I just found it hard to concentrate on watching it because I didn't know what to be paying attention to. 

This story is not so much in it's simplest forms an easy one to just watch and sit back relax and enjoy. It's very much one of those episodes in which in order to enjoy it, you have to be in the right frame of mind to actually sit down and watch it and concentrate on it. And I was trying to do this and the more I was trying to keep interest, the more I lost interest, and part way through I just lost all interest because the amount of effort that was needed for me to concentrate on this one episode and everything that was happening, just proved a bit too much for me to handle, so I kind of dipped in and out and I got the premise of what was going on. I did enjoy it, and I was very impressed with various ideas that came in the story. For instance, I liked all the stuff with the monks and I think they look very effective, very creepy and mysterious. But will probably end up being another one of Moffatt's one-offs like the Whisper men. 

Suicide and Catholicism, that's an interesting subject for a Doctor Who going out at 7:20pm on a Saturday night. I found it interesting that the Vatican appeals to the Doctor, the most hardline Christian community on the planet appeals to a character who completely disproves religion, it's one of those moments where I look it a bit puzzled and think 'huh, that's interesting'.  

It was good to see Michelle Gomez back as Missy, glad to see Missy back as she's not going to be around after Capaldi leaves as Gomez has confirmed she's leaving when Capaldi leaves, it's been two years since Missy was on screen, the last we saw her was "The Witch's Familiar" so it's been a while. I didn't understand why she was being executed. 

I didn't really like Bill that much in this episode, or Nardole, or indeed the Doctor. I didn't fully understand what the Doctor's purpose was in being in the episode. He can't really do much, being out of action and being blind, what did Bill do in this? and Nardole I can recall making the occasional joke but that's really all there is I can think of. 

All the stuff with the computer and the random numbers, that was a clever idea, very cleverly portrayed and explained and worked into the story. I guess with this being part of a three part story, Moffatt doesn't want to give too much away just yet, I mean, we are half way through the series now and here we are slap bang in the middle of a mid-series three parter, enough has been told but not much kind of thing. 

All I can say is, it'll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. 

I'll give it a 7/10 because it was a good episode, if not a bit of a brain buster. I won't give it any higher than that. I wanted to give it six but thought, no, it was a good episode, best to give it seven and be done with it. 

I don't know what to say about next week's episode, I'll just have to see what that comes of it. 

No Gameplay videos : WEDNESDAY 24th May

Hey everyone.

Just a short notice to say that there will be no gameplay videos on Wednesday. I'm fallen terribly busy and am away on a buisness trip, and I won't be at home to record the videos. But they'll be back to normal from Thursday.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Gameplay videos : INJUSTICE 2 Videos START TOMORROW!

Injustice 2 videos start tomorrow (Monday 22nd May) I have been playing the game all weekend and absolutely adore it! It is one of the best games I have played in all my years of being a gamer. It is so much fun to play and the activities that you can do in the game seem limitless. The abilities that you're able to do in the game have a number of exciting possibilities.

The series will consist of weekday videos as well as additional online battles and multiverse videos.

Hope you enjoy my Injustice 2 videos. I'm looking forward to making them.

SJA Reviews : Day of the Clown

THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES: DAY OF THE CLOWN
Written By: Phil Ford
Directed By: Michael Kerrigan 

The second series of SJA was well in it's full swing and had got off to a good start with an emotional farewell to Maria and Alan Jackson at the end of the first story. The second story saw the arrival of a new family to Bannerman Road, Rani became the new kid on the block ready to join the gang, and Sarah Jane and her friends are confronted by and fight off a very sinister looking clown who is behind the disapperences of young people. 

I must say I've always prefered this one over 'The Last Sontaran'. I just get more out of this episode and there's much more development in this, the storytelling ties in well with introducing Rani and her family as well as presenting the danger at hand with the clown. 'The Last Sontaran' just seemed to be this confrontation against a ruthless enemy leading up to the big farewell at the end which was set up at the beginning of the story. I think this story has much more finer mix of blending in both the introduction to Rani and facing the alien danger / monster. 

Bradley Walsh makes a guest appearence, and that is always great. You know you're in for a good time if Bradley Walsh is involved in something, and he really is a hoot. He plays a rather mysterious figure in the form of a circus ring leader called Elijah Spellman who is not all that he seems from first impressions. Sarah Jane gets tied up into this when young children have been going missing inexpicably and the only thing connected to the disapperances is this clown which pops up every now and again, the clown is linked to a magnificent imporium museum called "Spellman's magical museum of the circus" and that's what get Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde interested. Luke and Clyde are a bit down, they're missing Maria and finding it difficult to cope without her being with them, but Rani comes along and gets interested in the disapperence story too, so much so she herself ends up getting involved with Sarah Jane. And at the start Sarah Jane says to Luke and Clyde not to get her involved because of the dangers she and her family could face. But with Rani being such an iquisitive character, it was highly unlikly that that was every going to happen.

The main threat or villian in this is Odd Bob the clown. Now Clowns type into many peoples physic as being something scary. They're really frightening and I think a lot of people are scared of clowns. And the fear of clowns is something which is mentioned in this and almost offers an explination as to why that is the case with some people, the painted smile of a face of clown can leave you feeling quite traumatised, and there are a few creepy robot clowns in this which come to life, which made me jump first time I watched it, they worked very effectivly and they were a bit creepy. Odd Bob himself looks very creepy. The make up on him is done so well, and the overtly colourful costume and the baloon adds to overall look of Odd Bob and appeals to the meticulous nature of the design. 

This story also adds a little bit more to Sarah Jane's background which we never knew before and taps into her actually confronting one of her greatest and darkest fears, fears of which she never even told the doctor about, so that was interesting to see. 

There's lots of moments of great tension, suspence and thrill in this story. We learn a lot about fear and the energy of fear of what make people scared of things, we get to tap into character's fears such as Sarah Jane's and the some audience members watching can hopefully use this story to tap into and relate to their fear of clowns. 

I think the storytelling in this is very effective and works to good effect, it's quite compelling how the message is put across into over coming your worst nightmares, and your worst nightmares becoming a reality. The music and soundtrack added much great background to the over suspence of the story and in mu opinion is what makes it so thrilling. 

This story is one which belongs I think to both Sarah Jane and Rani. Rani because she's the new kid going into a new school, her dad's the head teacher, she's finding it hard to fit in and all of a sudden this mystery happens and she makes two new friends in Luke and Clyde and gets caught up in a whole world of adventure with Sarah Jane. This is very much Sarah Jane's story too because she overcomes some of her greatest and darkest fears. 

Overall, really good story. One of my favourites. 

8/10

Next Week: Secrets of the Stars!

Mortal Kombat XL: Dark Forces - Kitana

MORTAL KOMBAT XL

DARK FORCES - KITANA

WEDNESDAY 17TH MAY 2017

Kitana found herself walking the streets of a magnificent shining city, this was Edenia, a realm free from Outworld and Kitana was its beautiful queen. 

This was the timeline unaltered by Raiden, Earthrealm had been destroyed by Shao Khan but Kitana has survived armageddon and united the other realms to destroy him. Long lasting peace was the result. 

Kitana awoke from this vision to find herself in the Netherrealm. She was not the queen of Edenia, but a revenant of hell and she hated Raiden for it. 

Dark forces loom over Earthrealm as Kitana exacts her anger and revenge on those who deceived her. 

Episode Information

EPISODE: 3 of 
TRANSMISSION: 17th May 2017
TIME: Anytime after 9am
Week 20: 15th - 21st May 2017
CHANNEL: Daniel_Bury27
PUBLISHED: Tuesday 16th May 2017
PRODUCTION CODE: MKXS3003