First Impression

First – Dead Label: It Burns Within

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Dead Label

Ireland’s Dead Label was formed back in 2008, and since then has been touted as one of the countries rising Metal acts. I had never heard of the group, but apparently they issued a debut album that I had missed out on back in 2013 titled Sense of Slaughter through Rising Records (though noted in the press release as through Nuerra Records). I’m familiar with Rising Records and some of the groups on it, so when their new single “It Burns Within” hit the inbox earlier, I figured I’d give it a shot and see what their “as yet untitled” 2014 album has in store.

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First – Jaldaboath: The Further Adventures…

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Jaldaboth: The Further Adventures

2010 saw the release of Jaldaboath‘s debut album The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts. While it didn’t make any of my top lists for that year, it was still one I greatly enjoyed on a personal level. I’ve been waiting anxiously for a follow-up from this trio of heraldic crusaders, and after three and a half years, we’re finally getting it. Normally I wait on covering next year promos until that year hits, but since this was released overseas this month, I made an exception…

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First – Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

The other week, Konami sent me a copy of the new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Collection for review. I’ve been taking my time with it since I never finished either game that comes with it before passing judgement of any kind. Today I broke down and went through the demo of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 that comes with it. I was hopeful that it would fix some of the problems the first entry had, and in some ways, it did.

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First – Deadfall Adventures (Xbox 360)

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DeadfallAdventures

Deadfall Adventures is the brainchild of Farm 51, and is being released through Nordic Games, known for the apparent flop that was the recent entry in the Painkiller series. A lot of sites are already reporting that this title follows suit, being a rather mediocre experience. I never got to play any those previous titles, though it is a small series I was interested in for a while, but simply couldn’t afford. Thankfully a review copy of this new First Person Shooter just hit the inbox, and I wanted to see if it was as bland as some are saying, or if people are just jumping on a “Hate Nordic Games” bandwagon…

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First – Castle of Illusion (2013)

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Castle of Illusion

There are plenty of games I spent countless hours of my youth playing, but there are a select few that are absolutely sacred to me. This year, a good number of titles, even franchises were resurrected in one form or another, and one of them is from some of my earliest childhood memories. That game is the classic Sega Genesis title, Castle of Illusion. Now, I’m not the biggest Disney fan, and far from a huge modern Mickey Mouse guy. In fact the last animated Disney movie I enjoyed was Hercules. But, Castle of Illusion was just absolute fun on so many levels that it really felt like the final entry of the Disney I knew and loved. When I heard the news that it was being rebooted, it actually infuriated me. How dare they mess with such a classic! This is a title that doesn’t need to be altered or “reimagined” in any way given how it still stands the test of time. It’s like trying to reboot The Godfather or They Live!

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