Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Project Morpheus

Recently I have started to see a lot more development into Project Morpheus which is PlayStation's answer to VR and also provides them with competition towards the Oculus  Rift, from which until recently was a lone contender in the new generation of virtual reality gaming. Over the last few years the Oculus has continued to be in development and it has since seen a lot more games being produced but still hasn't actually launched completely as a piece of hard ware that can be bought for gaming with.

But the Morpheus is definitely a step towards this further and since it is Sony bringing it out they can start developing their own games for it, bringing them as a company ahead of others like Microsoft. Its an interesting idea and move for them as they haven't been big on VR before and the PlayStation Move never really took off as much as the Wii or the Kinect for Xbox did, but it could work out for them. The overall looks a lot more stylish than the Oculus and does look like it could be more comfy, but this could only be determined after trying them both. But the recent footage of the demo 'The Deep', shown below from YouTube, does look incredible in quality, although looks terrifying!

'Revealing this new prototype is an important step in our journey to release Project Morpheus, but there is more to come. We’ll share additional details at E3 and beyond. In particular, we’ll show more VR games at E3 and later events as we get closer to launch.

A new dimension of gaming is almost here, and PlayStation again is at the forefront with Project Morpheus.' (Source)

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Static Games

The last company that I wanted to look at was Static Games as this is a company that I met down at EGX last year and have since been keeping up to date with them following the meet up I had there. They are a very small Indie company based down in Bournemouth and are currently working on their first BIG game Mendel's Farm.

They have previously made what looks to be much smaller game for mobile/tablet in the past and the art style looks like there need to be a lot more improvement but from looking at there old stuff to now this, the art style has definitely been improved a lot and the overall style to the game is actually really appealing to look at and a bit quirky.

As they are a very small company it's difficult to get in contact with them about what they do and how the development of their work is going, but I could definitely see myself working in a company this size closely working with a small group of people that have similar goals for a game like this. When I played the demo at EGX there was a lot of good stuff happening, and obviously a lot that needed work on, but the outline of the game was there in it's very early development and a clear goal could be seen, although it does look like a game that could end up being on App Store and including timed game play and micro=transaction, but I do hope not as there is so much potential for it otherwise.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Old GameBoy Games

Recently I have been really interested in getting out my old GameBoy games and seeing if they still work, unfortunately I had to buy back my GameBoy to get them running but this wasn't too bad as I was able to get it back on the cheap side.

Looking back at my games I managed to dig out The Legend of Zelda games on the advance and got them fired up and it was such a change of pace as to what games are like now. For starters there is no backlight on a GameBoy so firstly good luck seeing whats going on, secondly they run as a much slower pace, especially the RPG's. I'm not usually a big fan of these as sometimes I can find the leveling up process slow and it can get a bit boring but these games where generally fun to play and really got me thinking about how elements of old games can be brought into modern gaming instead of every game being an first person shooter and every other one being a third person shooter.

Its quite sad when looking at your games collection as you realise just how similar a lot of your games actually are and when you play one of these classics it makes you think about how much time you can actually get out of a game that is very simple and less complex to make. Games like Pokemon Emerald for the Advance required a lot less art development and programming that the big games do now and sometimes you can put 100s of hours into one Pokemon game, whereas you can usually only get about 10-20 hours out of a more recent AAA titles. It's strange that we have turned into a world where graphics is sometimes taking a place over game play, and it's nice to occassionally look back at older games from the late 90s early 2000s to see how much has changed as well in hand held gaming.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Digital Tutors

Something that I have always wanted to get involved with is Digital Tutors ever since I started Uni but I have never been able to dedicate enough time to it for it to be worth the amount you have to pay for it. I really wanted to be able to sit down and get stuck in with it, following tutorials to try and gain more knowledge about existing software that I already know about and even new stuff as well, for instance I have recently been wanting to learn how to use 3DS Max and this would be the perfect way to get going with it. I think this will be worth the money even if its only for a month or a few, just to be able to get to grips with the basics, and to be taught properly in the same way I was taught Maya at Uni will be really helpful in the long run.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Nuclear Throne

Recently I have been watching a lot of video by NorthernLion on YouTube and saw that he has started doing a series on Nuclear Throne so I thought I would give it a go as it is something that I have seen floating around for a while now and although it is in early access it does seem to be quite polished already as a game. I really like the whole idea to the game and it is essentially a game about a group of mutants who are fighting for the 'Throne' in a post apocalyptic world. Its a very basic concept and there isn't any character development as it is a roguelike shooter but it is something really special.

The general game play can be as fast or as slow as you want it to be and you have to be quick on your tows if you want to avoid the barrage of enemy bullets flying your way at a very fast pace. The bullets come at you quick and slow meaning that you've got to be a fairly experienced PC gamer to be able to dodge out of the way quick enough to be able to advance to the next level once all of the enemies on each level have been killed.

But a roguelike game wouldn't be complete without a little help along the way and weapons are definitely the way forward with this game. There are a variety of them in the game ranging from melee, to shotguns, rifles, bazookas and lazers all of which have there own amount of damage associated with them and you basically have to work out either which one you like using the best and hope it shows up or spam the one that appears to be doing the most amount of damage and hope you don't run out of ammo. Its a really nice game and there is also an upgrading system after you gain a level after collecting enough radiation canisters. The upgrades come in the form of mutations and they again can range in variety, some can help you regenerate health, some can make you faster. You get 1 out of 4 to pick from each time you level up and it's just luck of the draw as to which one you get.

This is a really brilliant game and there isn't much bad that can be said about it if this is your kind of game as it provides a challenge and isn't easily won, something that I find with a lot of games at the moment with there constant hints and tips every 5 minutes. Nuclear Throne for me only has one drawback at the moment though and that is due to the fact that it is in early access every time the game is updated you loose your progress, meaning that the characters you have unlocked are now locked again. The upside being that they are super, and I mean super, easy to unlock and can be done in one run with any other character again, just can be annoying if you like playing as a certain one. 

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - FTL: Faster than Light

Another more recent game that I have started to play is FTL: Faster than Light which is a fantastic little game if you have a couple of hours spare in the middle of the day, or just want a quick game of something due to the permadeath qualities of it, and not to mention you need to see the beautiful graphics!

'FTL: Faster Than Light is a top-down, real-time strategy video game created by indie developer Subset Games. In the game, the player controls the crew of a single spacecraft, holding critical information to be delivered to an allied fleet eight sectors away, while being pursued by a large rebel fleet. The player must guide the spacecraft over eight sectors, each with planetary systems and events procedurally generated in a roguelike fashion, while facing against rebel and other hostile forces, recruiting new crew, and outfitting and upgrading their ship. Combat takes place in pausable real time, and if the ship is destroyed or the crew lost, the game ends in permadeath, requiring the player to restart.' (Source)

The game has a very retro feel to it, but as the art style is very sharp and crisp it brings it forward into modern gaming very quickly but still has the similar features of being able to pause the real time clock to be able to plan your next move quickly before the enemy ship is able to make their move. Its got really interesting qualities and so far I've only put a bit of time into it but it's definitely something that I want to explore more in the future as from what I've seen it's a challenging little game that features so much to explore, trade and customise and this changes every time due to the fantasticly generated worlds.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Fireproof Games

The next game that I wanted to look at was Fireproof games as I have been really interested in the work that they do ever since I wen to EGX as I got to play there upcoming game The Room 3. After EGX I did a little bit more exploring into their previous games and I really like the look of them.

They have only ever made two games in the past as a company, The Room and The Room 2. They are a very unique company and I really like the style of them as they are really unique and the games are very puzzle based and challenging. They are really unique compared to what is out there at the moment and this is really refreshing for a games company. The Room series is all about getting out of this room that will have a series of puzzles in it and it's all about exploring the environment around you and taking in all the different pieces of the puzzle.

This is what draws me to them as a company so much and I really like the fact that there is so much detail involved in each of the environments, especially in The Room 2 where the environments got slightly bigger and there was that little bit more to explore. In the future I don't think the environments should get too big though as it makes it too difficult to be able to look at everything in detail and you end up with so many objects in the room and your never sure whether you actually need them or not. But Fireproof games, located down in Guildford, look to me to be one of the companies I would love to work for after uni as they are such a small team but are able to produce some really brilliant and beautiful environments that are fully explorable and contain so much detail.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - The Chinese Room

The next company that I wanted to look at was The Chinese Room as over the last few years I have started to see a lot of development in their games and I really like the experimentation that do on first person games. They have a very unique approach to the classic structure of a game and they tend to produce short 1 hour games but of quality detail rather than something that is a few hours long and looses it quality and charm.

The company hasn't made too much in terms of games as the development for each one they produce is a long time. The first time that I had actually heard of them was last year with there newest game Dear Esther. This is by far one of the most interesting games that I have ever played and you get taken on this whirlwind of a ride through the calm coastline of an uninhabited Hebridean island, listening to a series of voiced-over letter fragments to a woman named Esther. The narration only appears every now and again over the soft footstep of the character walking

Its now safe to say that the most current game that they are working on, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is going to be just as good. I believe that they have made the story slightly longer than Dear Esther but there is a whole town to walk across instead of a planned out route in the highlands. Its seems like its going to be a brilliant game and if the same amount of detail and care goes into making this game as it did Dear Esther, I believe that its going to a rich and interesting story and well worth the play.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Cities: Skylines

One of the most recent games that I have played this year is Cities: Skylines a game created by Colossal Order, a Finnish games development company. I'm usually not too big on the city creator as I can sometimes become a little bored with it as it drags on and on, but there's something about this game that got me hooked and I could spend hours perfecting my city to get everything working as well as it possibly can.

As the titles suggests the game is a city builder and your job is to build up the city in anyway you want using any means possible. Its very similar to Sim City, and especially the new one in terms of how it looks, but the mechanics of this seem to be just that little bit more special that it's contender and it definitely looks a lot better too. The problem that I had with the newest Sim City installment is the fact that you could only work on a very small square of land and it was very easy to fill that, once that was full you where kind of at a loss of what to do next. With Cities: Skylines you get a starting plot of land which is roughly 3x the size of that of Sim City, and this can be extended 9 more times! This is a plot of land that will never fully get used but it's so nice to know that you have the room to play around with it.

The graphics included in this game are gorgeous! This is one of the reasons I was also so drawn to this game as I found out it was created in the Unity Engine, it looks to me like a little toy box world all put together by me and it just looks stunning. There are lots of settings to play around with and with the introduction to mods there are lots of different camera controls that people have added to the game, like the wonderful first person mod that can be added in, allowing you to travel around your entire city from the people's perspective. It is truly wonderful and one of my favourite things about the game and I believe that every game on Steam should come with mod support as it allows people to add to it and improve it, thinking of things that the developers didn't which could then be added in during future updates.

This is just a highly recommend game for anyone inside and outside of the city building genre as it is just a brilliant game, there is so much to think about when building up your city and so much planning and trialing to do to get your roads running as smooth as possible without any traffic building up. Finding the right balance in the game between residential, commercial and industry is always going to be a difficult one but with the sheer amount of different features you can really build up a super impressive city!

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - FuturLab

The next company that I looked at was FuturLab as I attended a talk last year about there company and it was really interesting.The company itself probably isn't going to be one I would ever consider working for, but this is due to the fact that they are making 2D games, and I want to go more towards 3D. But they do offer some really brilliant advice on there website about how to make it in the games industry, good hints and tips that work well for getting your CV looked at and some good advice for getting into the industry in general.

On there website they give some really good essential but possibly obvious tips for when sending off a CV to them, but the information could be applied to other companies as well and it gives a very clear message of think about what that company does before you send off your CV. 

'Essential Tips When Sending Your CV
Spell and format our company name correctly
Mention at least one of our games
Mention why you think your skills will help contribute to our games. So many people offer their photo-realistic 3D rendering skills, for which we have absolutely no use as our games are 2D' (Source)

They also offer some really helpful advice on there website about how to get into the games industry and how you should go about it. Its a long process sometimes but there are ways of getting there just by doing certain things and working your way up. It has some really great advice, especially in the portfolio section which is something I am going to be putting together over the next few weeks. This information has been so helpful and it's definitely going to be worth a revisit later on when I thinking of applying to some companies in the future.

'MAKE THE GRADE?
Minimum education qualifications for an artist are generally good GCSE grades in Maths and English (art wouldn’t hurt too). Qualifications demonstrate to employers that you can focus and work hard on a specific task, so having a good set of GCSE’s is important. A-levels and further can only help.

PORTFOLIO
A strong online portfolio and good work ethic will get you further than any qualifications though. When creating a portfolio it’s better to only have a few really outstanding pieces of work in your portfolio rather than swamping it with everything and anything. Employers aren’t going to spend ages sifting through lots of artwork, they will make their minds up in the first few pieces that they see – so make them good!

It’s also imperative that your portfolio is easy to use and navigate through. Split your work into a few simple pages, e.g. 2D Work, 3D Work, Animation. Or if you’re more specialised, for example a 3D artist, then Vehicles, Characters, Props etc. Employers will know what they’re looking for and if you can help them find it easily then you win bonus points! It’s also worth creating a blog where you can explain your approach and technique to each piece.

GET SOME EXPERIENCE
There are a number of events and projects that will help you gain experience. Anything that you can put on your CV which demonstrates a passion for games will really help.

WORK YOUR WAY UP
It’s also worth thinking about getting a job in QA (games tester) if you have trouble finding an art role immediately. It’s really the only position in the industry that doesn’t require any previous experience, and a fantastic place to learn about the production of games.' (Source)

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Ninja Theory

The next games company that I wanted to look at was Ninja Theory who are again another company based in the UK, and again in Cambridge. Ninja Theory is a really nice national company to look as as over the years they have produced some really nice games.

The company is one I don't actually know too much about as its one of those that makes a few games that you've played but sometimes you don't always register that it's them that made it, and when I played Enslaved a while ago, that's what happened. I never knew that it was them that created this but it is a really beautiful game and there are some really interesting aspects to it. They have also worked on a few other games that are popular like the new Devil May Cry game that came out in 2013 and they also did work on Disney Infinity on the Marvel Super Hero's expansion. They seem like they know what there doing although I do not know too much about them, but as it stands they do not have too much online presence, so it's difficult to tell whether I would fit into a company like this.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Introversion Software

The next company that I wanted to look at was Introversion Software as over the last year they have really developed as a company and I feel that they have just started to come into the limelight with the release of Prison Architect. The game is a simulation game based around building a fully functioning and working prison while trying to keep the inmates happy but also by turning over a profit over the years that you play it. Its a really interesting aspect, one that has obviously been done before but not to this high quality detail and not with this much care and attention.

Its quite clear from looking at Prison Architect that the company is a good one to work for as there is so much care and detail that has gone into making this game really special for everyone to play it. The way in which they do this is by including people in the development with the game at all stages. As the game is still in Early Access, albeit one of the most developed early access games I've ever played, the team can still take on board everyones opinions on things that they like and dislike about the game, making it suit the lass audience more than what the developers want.

The ability to do this with the public means that they can produce a more successful game in the end and this is brilliant for the fan base, and the fact that it has Steam workshop support is a huge boost as well meaning that people can mod the game themselves, adding in details that they think would be good. Introversion can then look at this and make there own changes where necessary. Its a brilliant way to produce a game and this is again the beauty of bringing out a game in early access. I have followed Prison Arcitect for over a year now and seen the game go through so many monthly updates that its definitely not the same game as it used to be and it has grown due to the public support that it has, making Introversion deservedly in the top 50 games company to work for.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Far Cry 4

One of the games that I have been excited about since I saw the development and first game play for it at EGX back in September was Far Cry 4. This game was absolutely fantastic and is one of my favourite games this year so far! It has taken all of the best bits from Far Cry 3, which was such a big step up from the original 2 in terms of game play and story and Far Cry 4 just builss off that, taking the story further and continuing to bring the epic game play that everyone loves about the the previous game.

The story of Far Cry 4 for me wasn't quite as good as Far Cry 3, but that is to say its not bad, just wasn't quite up there with the best. While Far Cry 3 was all about going on holiday, getting kidnapped and eventually turning into a rampaging revenge story, Far cry 4 starts off with you going to Kyrat, a fictional place set in the Himalayas where the character Ajay Ghale is going to scatter his mums ashes. This seems to crop up a lot throughout as this is literally the only reason he is there and he ends up going to war with the natives there to bring back the Golden Path and take down the dictator Pagan Min from the troubles he has been causing. It seems a bit far fetched that Ajay would go to war with the Golden Path after being there for a few days, but you get to shoot bigs guns at people so I'm not going to complain.

Despite the weak-ish story this game still had me hooked from the beginning and I played through and 100% the game in about 4 days as there was just so much to do and all of it was so much fun for me personally. One of my favourite things about the game series has to be the hunting aspect to it. You feel that you actually creeping through the forests yourself trying to snag the prey in front of you and doing this with a bow is just so satisfying as you get that one-shot kill. There isn't a game like this for me that lets you feel like your actually in your surroundings and you feel that you have to keep quiet and hold your breath sometimes before letting out a cry of joy when you get the prize.

This overall is a must play game as it is so special and offers so much more than just a shoot em up to the player. The excitement of the story as it plays out and you find out more about the Golden Path and what they actually do, the joyfyllness of sneaking through the forest and trying to get that kill for the rare animal skin that you need to fully upgrade your ammo pouch and the rush of adrenaline as you overtake a base in whatever means necessary, quiet with a bow and arrow or all guns blazing! Its a fantastic game and everyone should get at least one chance to play it!

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Frontier Developments

The next company that I wanted to look at was a nation company that is based in Cambridge in the UK and that is Frontier Developments who over the years have made some really interesting things over the years with a style that I think is really interesting. They are actually a fairly big team that they have working for them and have about 240 employees, but the games that they produce are interesting, especially the newer ones that they have been working on like Elite: Dangerous.

Where I personally know the company from though is when it brought out the first 3D installment of the Roller Coaster Tycoon series, with the third game, and it proved to be really popular and got a lot of good things said about it, despite it being a huge jump from the original two games, the first being created by only 1 guy, Chris Sawyer, but Frontier Developments helped to publish and develop it.

When looking at the required skills you need to be apart of the team, they seem reasonable but you need coding knowledge even when going for a art job with them. This makes sense but usually the code would be JS or C++ as these are what most pieces of software use to ready scripting, but they as a company use Python, something for me that is very difficult to get my head around. This is annoying as the company does produce some great stuff, but apart from this knowledge it does seem to just be the basics that they are after.

'Requirements
-Good\Strong knowledge of Maya.
-Scripting experience with Mel/Python.
-Good\Strong knowledge of other game engines and techniques.
-Good knowledge of shaders and rendering techniques.

Additional Information
-A good art and/or code background is beneficial.
-A positive and inquisitive mindset would be preferred.' (Source)

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - TT Games

The next company that I wanted to look at was TT Games as this is one of my favourite gaming companies of the last couple of years as they are in charge of making the LEGO games, along with other things, in the past. They are a fantastic company that know how to do humour so well and time it spot on during game play. As the LEGO games are mainly targeted towards children and families, although they are fantastic and I would highly recommend them, they are all so brightly coloured and such good fun to play.

The games that they bring out are usually influenced by certain films that have been released or based around stories from LEGO themselves, as more recently The Hobbit game has been made and before that they have worked on things like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars and the Superhero films that have been released respectively. They create some really brilliant games and I would love to work for them as a team due to how brilliant they are and how well they can get together and produce a game of these high quality and with such brilliantly childish humour that never fails to make me laugh.

Looking at the kind of jobs that they are currently advertising its clear that I do have some of the necessary skills to be able to join them as a company with the experience that I have gained from being at university which is very exciting to see so when I am completely finished they will definitely be a company that I will be looking to for a potential job. Below are what they are currently looking for skill-wise for environmental artists, and I do think it could be definitely something I can get stuck into.

'Skills:
Good demonstration of skills through CV/Showreel/Website or Art Tests
Excellent communication and organisation skills
Good working knowledge and proficiency in Maya, Z-brush and Photoshop
Good understanding of in-house tools and software used in development
Practical and methodical approach to both technical and creative problem-solving
Excellent artistic ability
Demonstrates dependability and commitment to projects / tasks
Flexible approach with the ability to adapt with change
Ability to work under pressure and to strict deadlines' (Source)

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Assassins Creed: Unity

Shortly after finishing Rogue I noticed that I still hadn't touched Assassin's Creed: Unity, their latest game in the franchise which was released a couple of days out of sync with Rogue but only for the next gen gaming. This seemed like it was going to be thing, not limiting themselves to the quality of the older-gen, meaning that they could make those textures just that little big nicer and ensure that there was a constant and steady frame rate, and this all looked spot on, but there were a few issues that I did have with the game besides this.

Sometimes there would be a lot of weird glitches in the game, one of the weirdest being Arno's face sometimes disappearing and leaving you with just eyes and the inside of his mouth, kind of freaky and not what you want to see coming from gaming giants Ubisoft. There were a few other moments like corpses rag dolling into weird positions as well, but not as scary as the face one. More can be seen here in this brilliant video (YouTube) Its a shame as the game could have been something incredible but the fact that there were these glitches kind of ruined it for me and also the change to the parkour system did not go down well with me either.

The whole game play mechanics have been changed from the previous games which where all very similar to each other and didn't include this drastic change and when you play it and compare it to the others you can see just how different it actually is, and for me its not for the better. The ability to climb swiftly down a building is a blessing, but the movement just doesn't feel as smooth as before, even though it's meant to be improved, and the general jumping feels laboured and unnatural. Its just a very drastic change and would be better suited as a different game completely and not part of the AC series as it is just shot down by the creative and brilliant story in Black Flag and Rogue and as a game in itself just doesn't feel that special.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Assassins Creed: Rogue

As this was a big year for Assassin's Creed with a new next-gen game coming out, I felt it was only right to play the game that is being released for the older-gen as well, seen as I have still got a PS3 handy, and I thought that Rogue was absolutely brilliant! To me it felt pretty much the same as the previous game Black Flag, but that is what made it so special as that game for me was the best in the series so far.

You play through the game as Shay, an Assassin turned Templar half way through and it's certainly a change of pace to what usually happens in the story, but its definitely worth a play as the exploration in it is as good as it always has been. The general game play though is the exact same as before and most of the objectives are the same, you just have to do it in North America/snowy Canada instead of the tropics of the Caribbean, making it feel a little bit less piratey, but it still does work. The only downside is that I'm pretty sure the future parts to the game are the exact same as Black Flag, using the exact same cut scenes for some of it, if I'm not mistaken.

But nether-the-less it is still a beautiful and utterly brilliant game to play, with a few new aspects to the ship as well like the ability to break through the ice and having to navigate your way through blizzards can be pretty tricky. The story is great, although not as engaging as Black Flag's was, and the character is really likeable and controls perfectly, most of the time. The game runs so smoothly and does have some nice graphics for the older-gen, making it a pleasure to play, but not necessarily one that you feel that you have to.

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief - Rocksteady

The next company that I wanted to look at was Rocksteady, who are based down in London and are another company who I could definitely see myself working at after I finish university. They are a very successful company especially after the release of there first Batman game and this is where I first heard about them, when I played Batman: Arkham Asylum.

They currently have about 180 people working from them and they seem to be a really nice company to work for judging my the interviews with the crew and everyone. The company is very dedicated to creating this perfect superhero game and manage to do it really successfully and as a fan of Batman I personally feel that this would be a fantastic company to work for and be apart of.

I found a job they were advertising on there website, which was for a recruiter, and even though this isn't a job I would go for I had a quick look to see what it was they were looking for in terms of requirements and it seemed that industry experience is necessary to even be considered, which is a shame for myself as a graduate. But the company seems nice and has a lot of benefits if you do work there, the free fruit kind of sold it for me, and will be definitely something to consider in the future if any interesting positions appear.

'Benefits

-Private healthcare scheme
-Contributory pension scheme
-Discretionary performance bonus scheme
-Discretionary royalty package scheme
-Long-service holiday reward
-Brand new custom designed office
-Regular team meals/outings
-Table football
-Free fruit and soft drinks
-Company competitions' (Source)

Personal and Professional Practice 3: 'Research' Studio Brief (Review) - Assassin's Creed: Black Flag

This was actually a game that I played a while ago, but revisited over the Christmas period as it is such a fantastic game that I would really recommend to anyone that is either new to the Assassin's Creed series or old as it is in my opinion the best one yet in the series. The game has some blooming brilliant graphics to go with the exceptional game play and it is definitely one of the best games of last year without a doubt.

Black Flag takes everything that was working from the first couple of games in the series and then redeemed everything that went wrong with Assassins Creed III in so many ways. After the disaster that was that game this was such a fresh change of pace and this was probably due to the pretty awesome pirate ships that could be used. There is not only now the onshore places to explore and visit but also small coves and towns that can be accessed by sailing across the map, which itself is huge, and there are also underwater areas as well, which I do tend to steer away from as underwater is not something I enjoy in a game. It works so well as a game as there are just so many possibilities to go exploring as well as working your way through the story.

The story in the game is almost a prequel to Assassin's Creed III as one of the main characters in that Haytham Kenway, is the son of the lead character in this game, and in my opinion a lot more interesting and exciting! The character Edward Kenway which you play the whole game as isn't actually a trained assassin, which is an interesting twist on the usual story line, and just kills an assassin and takes his name and clothing for a short period of time. The story then follows him, and his crew of which his first mate is a former slave, Adéwalé. This then progresses and we get introduced to even more characters along the way like James Kidd and Blackbeard eventually, showing a story where we see the death of him eventually, accurate the tales as well. I think the story was definitely the best so far out of the games, following the historical plundering of the pirates and giving it a good mix of assassins and exploration at the same time, making this a fantastic game that is definitely worth a play!