Battlefield 3: day one on the frontline

This is not a review for Bf3 so don’t expect my usual high polished professionalism and attention to detail (really don’t), there will of course be a review soon enough – this is simply a brief description of what I experienced on my first day playing one of the most anticipated games of all time. Firstly I heard a lot of negative remarks about the single player campaign so I honestly didn’t expect a lot right there ..wrong. the campaign is actually very good and does tend to draw you in very quickly. The first few missions were kind of mediocre but after about an hour into the campaign it got very fast paced and very involved. The visuals in the campaign were absolutely stunning, the lighting and smoke effects were jaw dropping.

A perfect example was one of the levels set at night where I could see enemy flashlights ahead piercing through the smoke and darkness, it was hard to snap to action when the visuals demanded so much attention. The friendly AI is for the most part pretty good and they don’t seem to hog the spotlight too much leaving you with nothing to shoot. the enemy AI can be quite brutal at times but I find many shooters to be brutal until you learn the basics. The missions did seem a little linear with a lot of scripted events but it was never enough to make me complain. In short the single player campaign is not half as bad as some reviewers have previously stated, linear or not its a whole lot of fun packed full of heart pounding moments and fire fights.

Ok onto the multiplayer, the reason why many people will get the game in the first place. Guns and lots of guns! there is no shortage of weaponry in BF3, anything I used from rifles to handguns all looked and sounded very authentic with a lot of upgrades to unlock. The first time I tried the online I got blown to bits after about one minute, I quickly respawned and jumped back in to see what would happen next. Looking around the main staging area I was treated to having the option of jumping into a jet / tank and even a little jeep, naturally my curiosity got the best of me so I climbed right into the pilot seat of the first thing I saw with wings. Staying in the air was not an easy task, I stayed airborne for a minute or two but inevitably lost control and crashed into the ground. The controls for aircraft are straightforward enough but keeping them in the air is a whole other story, this was to be expected and I’m glad they didn’t simplify it for the sake of reaching a bigger audience – if you do screw up you can always parachute to safety.

Anything on wheels was easy to drive and I found tanks especially were fast and strong enough to push forward without too much flack. The maps for the game were absolutely brilliant with so many buildings and areas that the possibilities for strategic combat were pretty much limitless. I found the first few times I played with random people it was much harder to gain any ground or get kills, when I joined a match with some friends that all changed. Given the maps are so large you can of course go and do your own thing lone wolf style but if you want to last longer sticking to your squad and working as a team is the way to go. Like I said this is just a brief  summary of my first play and though brief I’d already recommend it as the best shooter I have ever played – full review coming soon.

Dark Souls: game review (ps3/360)

Demon’s Souls was on its arrival quickly tagged as an insanely difficult game, for that reason it both drew players to it but also kept many away. Now a few years later comes the following title in the series, but this time regardless of the high difficulty level gamers are finding it nearly impossible to stay away. Dark Souls is not just more of the same unforgivably hard dungeon crawling it’s a refreshing breath of innovative strategy and brutally punishing death that will satisfy even the most hardcore Demon’s Souls fan for a long time to come. For those of us who stuck with Demon’s Souls to the bitter end there was a tremendous sense of achievement that no other game could replicate. Dark Souls is no exception, it’s equally rewarding and equally hard. If you are up to the challenge and ready for the fight of your life then read ahead.. and prepare to die.

You start the game by building your own custom character, much like Demon’s Souls you are given a choice of classes such as knight / cleric / wanderer / thief / bandit and pyromancer. Each class determines your ability and overall power at using particular weapons and magic spells, as well as your various strengths and weaknesses. It’s a good idea to read through the stats first and judge the character you want but even if it doesn’t go right the first time there is always the opportunity to customize your abilities by levelling up. Oddly enough there is a new class in Dark Souls known only as deprived, you start off without armour and proper weapons instead you have a plank and must build yourself up with any equipment you happen to find – it’s a perfect example of the games unique styling when it comes to putting together a real challenge.

As for the story itself initially it’s rather bare, all you know is you have awoken in an old decrypted asylum and things are about to get a hell of a lot worse. Though you won’t be following a story as such there are tips scrawled into the floor and a very short but to the point tutorial that teaches you the basics of combat and survival. If you take the time to read the tips and master everything from blocking to parrying you will survive a lot longer in your quest, longer but not forever. Dark Souls is all about learning from past mistakes to conquer the next pitfall, that pitfall could be anything from a squad of heavily armed undead knights to a gargantuan demon hell-bent on pummelling you into the ground. Thankfully the combat in the game works exceptionally well so each player is given a fighting chance, constantly pressing the attack button won’t get you far ..if anything it will get you killed even faster. Combat in the game whether it be with mindless foot soldiers of hulking bosses depends on you knowing how to fight, learning to block effectively and with the right shield is paramount to defeating your foe. If you fail to learn an enemies attack patterns or they are strong enough to break through your defences while your stamina is low the result will most definitely be messy. The good thing is most of the enemies are easy to read so getting fatal blows in can easily be dished out in an even flow, not only that but the enemies always respawn in the same locations making it even easier to plan and execute your attacks more precisely.

To help you dispatch the many legions of demons there are all manner of weapons and magic spells available, if that’s not enough armour too can be found all over the game world making it that little bit harder for the forces of darkness to annihilate you. Wandering through Dark Souls you won’t just find swords spears and bows, you will find many magically enhanced weapons that when coupled with the right skills and stats will provide you with invaluable killing tools. Demon’s Souls had so many weapons and sets of armour that in order to use them all you would have to play through the game numerous times, many people did and again in Dark Souls the tradition continues. Since dying is common place and you will die over and over again many people start the game all over again with a different class, I originally started as the thief class then switched to the knight it’s all part of the learning process.

Dark Souls never lets up or apologizes for its unrelenting abuse of the senses, but there are ways to even the odds. When you kill an enemy in the game you are rewarded souls, it can start off low and you have to take out area bosses to gain enough to make a substantial amount but by farming locations you will soon be on your way to going up a level. The catch of course is if you die while carrying your unused souls you will lose them all, they can be gained back if you find the place where you died and touch your bloodstain ..die on the way and they are lost forever. You can also find the slightly more rewarding souls of knights/heroes and warriors on some bodies but its rare so you have to keep your eyes peeled when you are exploring a new area or you could miss them. Souls can also be used as currency to buy weapons/upgrades/spells/armour and so on, just like the weapons and other items in the game there is no shortage of vendors willing to trade their wares for your precious souls. Vendors can be found all across the gaming world and there does seem to be a lot more of them than in the previous game, depending on your current status the items and materials they sell can come in very useful. You could always decide to just concentrate on getting all of your weapons and items off corpses on the battlefield but it’s always worth checking a vendors wares because you never know what they might be selling. Weapons and armour can be upgraded by visiting one of the many blacksmiths you will find, initially they will only make light improvements but once you start finding the right stones and materials more powerful weapons with magic properties can be made.

This time around instead of visiting the nexus and finding herbs to regenerate health you visit bonfires that when lit serve as resting points, while rested you can fill up your health flask and upgrade your skills by spending souls. Be warned that once you rest at a bonfire all of the non boss enemies in the game will automatically respawn, this might sound unfair but it’s a plus because you can keep killing the same enemies over and over again to collect up even more souls. Eventually by progressing through the game and buying certain items from blacksmiths you will be able to do all manner of things from bonfires such as upgrade your weapons and store everything in a bottomless box, given that you pick up so many weapons and armour sets while playing the box soon becomes invaluable.

It’s not always a lonely road in Dark Souls, just like before there is a complex co-op mode that allows players to drop in and out of your game. In most games co-op comprises of a friend helping you out in those tricky moments where the odds really are stacked up against you and though that’s true about Dark Souls it also allows for more sinister opportunities. Playing the game online means you can and will interact with others playing the game, some will leave messages on the ground offering strategy on what’s around the next corner / some will leave summoning signs for you to activate thus drawing them into your world to help you slay the next demon / and some more deviant will use the opportunity to invade your world and kill you so they can steal your souls. The same system was paramount to Demon’s Souls online experience only this time the emphasis is on helping others rather than terrorizing them, by implementing a system where you can report the invading player the game actually punishes wrong doers and makes for a more interesting gaming experience.

Making your way through the gaming world is much more fluid than I expected, from the very start you are given the option to just start exploring not only at your own pace but also in the direction you choose. One thing I really liked was opening connecting areas by unlocking sealed doors or gates that I previously hadn’t got the keys for, the world of Dark Souls can be vast and dangerous so opening doors and activating elevators is something that really shouldn’t be avoided. As for the levels themselves quite a few do remind me of their counterparts in Demon’s Souls, Blighttown for instance is a lot like The Valley of Defilement but its different enough to feel fresh and unseen. The levels are expertly constructed and contain lots of secret rooms and pitfalls that will test you at every turn. Each part of the world has its own specific look and feel, Blighttown is dark and toxic, Undead Burg is a lot like the first area in Demon’s Souls surrounded by high castle walls and crumbling battlements, the Darkrook Gardens are lush and green but contain deadly secrets all of their own, there really are so many painstakingly detailed areas to explore that I can’t possibly talk about them all.

The detail and graphics really are highlighted in every step of the way, each area has a certain glimmer of authenticity that integrates itself seamlessly into the vast environments you can and will explore. There is a seriously accurate atmosphere to Dark Souls, the threat of defeat and pulverizing death around each corner really radiates from your surroundings and makes you feel that little bit more on edge. The sound effects are nicely done and really don’t seem too different than they were in Demon’s Souls, but then why fix something if it’s not broken. The music does play a bigger part this time and the score is exceptionally well written fitting the game perfectly, though at times it will seem as if there is no score present it manages to sneak up on you right as your combat situation escalates.

The enemies in the game are the second star of the show and command a serious presence around every corner. At first you will tackle mindless undead who are for the most part a pushover, as the game progresses the legions of demons and undead escalate in difficulty to the point where you are up against a serious challenge. Just as the first game had a whole host of infernal demon’s guarding the passages to the next area so too does Dark Souls, and they won’t let you pass without a fight. For the most part it did feel like the bosses were a little easier than those of Demon’s Souls, because not only could I summon up help online I could also summon up the help of offline characters I met by joining special covenants. That said even with the extra help some bosses can be quite the handful and can do more than their fair share or damage to your character. There is a catch in summoning help, since your character is undead you must find and use humanity sprites to restore your human self and interact with other players willing to help you slay an undefeated boss or minor demon.

Humanity is an interesting enough concept that seems to work, it also restores your health so it can be used as an alternative method to staying alive a little bit longer when your flask has run empty. The undead and demons in the game don’t just do physical damage with slashes of swords and spears, some have the ability to curse you which can be devastating if you don’t have the proper tools to reverse it. When cursed you lose a substantial amount of your health and stamina bar and you won’t get them back until you find and take the cure, the first time this happened to me I felt cheated but it helped harden my skills for survival and there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment when I finally had the curse lifted. It’s these little moments of fear and progression that really propel Dark Souls above and beyond the realms of all other games, they are all victories in their own right as everything you work towards is for a reason and it all serves to toughen you up for even more hell raising encounters.

To really grasp the Dark Souls experience you have to play the game with the proper skill and respect it deserves, if you come to it expecting a simple hack and slash romp then the chances are you won’t last very long. Each enemy requires you to learn an attack pattern so you can dispatch them with enough skill that they can’t in turn drain your health or kill you, this takes time effort and above all else strategy. If you go about playing the game properly you will find progression comes much quicker and death comes more sparingly, you can’t escape death because it’s a core element of the learning process and needs to be experienced to toughen you up. The controls for the game are solid and extremely responsive, fans of the previous game will be happy to know what your character has a few new moves such as jumping and plunge attacks that give the combat a more balanced approach.

All that aside there were a few times where I felt the game was tipping the scales too high against me, one particular time involved two armoured archers on either side who had direct line of sight and were able to hit me every time making me plummet to the ground below. It didn’t matter what my skill level was nor what my characters class was the only way across was to not get hit and then take out one of the archers, there was no room to really navigate and the ledge was about a foot wide – it took over 10 tries to finally roll forward across the ledge dodging incoming fire and then dealing with an archer. I knew to expect a serious fight when I started the game because I had played Demon’s Souls long before Dark Souls was announced, but the archer section was a case of the game using a cheap trick to push the difficulty level up another notch and though examples like that are few and far between a lot of players will find those moments unacceptable.

In certain areas of the game you may find the camera can get you killed as you manoeuvre your way through the darkness only to find you are now on your way either off a cliff or into an enemies ambush, though it’s rare that this will happen when it does it can be very frustrating especially if you were carrying a lot of unused souls. Ironically enough the same area where the camera can be tricky is the only area I ever noticed any substantial drop in frame rate and it all was over so quickly it didn’t impact my fun. Those are the only negative points I ever noticed about the game and they are minor in comparison to the epic scale of what Dark Souls has to offer, every little detail is perfectly suited and expertly executed. This is not the kind of game that overloads you in story and lore, instead it distances you from other characters keeping you on a constant battle of survival and strategy.

The difficulty level is continuously adjusting itself so as soon as you beat one enemy you start to encounter more that force you to fight even harder and with more skill, to make things even harder if you die in an area the enemies fight even harder and are more brutal than ever – unfair? That’s just how the game plays out. Its clear Dark Souls aims itself at a specific type of gamer and if you don’t fit the bill you might not last very long, it’s immersive and deeply overpowering with enough lifespan to satisfy even the most hardcore gamer. Demon’s Souls was and still is only available as an exclusive to the ps3 so many 360 gamers could only rely on their expectations and not have the raw power of the original to compare it to, having played both I can say that all of my expectations were more than met in every possible way. It’s not rocket science what the game does but it manages to effortlessly exhaust and drain your senses without skipping a beat, in short it’s a serious dose of psychological warfare that is more than worth the ticket price. I loved every minute of Dark Souls, it rarely frustrated yet managed to keep me motivated enough every time to keep pressing on even when I was getting annihilated by creatures three times taller than me.

It’s rare I give a game serious top marks because realistically they all have some flaws here and there, Dark Souls is quite the opposite it doesn’t apologize for the extreme difficulty but it does reward you for persisting even when the odds are stacked against you. I’m giving the game a well deserved 10 out of 10, the minor issues that I experienced were minimal enough to not result in any hampering of game play. If you liked Demon’s Souls then you will lose your mind when you play its brutal predecessor, if on the other hand you haven’t and are up for a serious challenge then Dark Souls just might be the game for you.

Prepared to Die: a first play of Dark Souls

Though I review lots of games there are very few I blog about before actually reviewing them, Demon’s Souls was the exception and now Dark Souls follows in those footsteps. I will be writing up a full detailed review of Dark Souls in the near future, until then here is a brief rundown on my first few days of gameplay.

Bonfires serve as checkpoints and a place to rest.

Having had to wait a few extra days for the European release I was really excited to play, and it sure did meet all my expectations and more. After waking up in an old gothic asylum I quickly got to my feet and started exploring, with a broken sword in hand (that’s all they gave me) I carefully ventured through the place but soon met some demons. As you would imagine they were low level demons that were easy to slay, going further still I soon encountered my first boss.

Earlier bosses can put up one hell of a fight

Compared to the first boss in Demon’s Souls it was rather easy to kill and soon I found myself being carried off by a giant bird to an even more expansive world. Straight away the game started to really show that there were many different routes to take so I took the opportunity to explore as many places as possible, naturally the different areas have different enemies with low to high health power so attacking some early on was suicide.

The undead army are worthy foe

The key to really staying alive and pushing through to the next area is to scavenge the best weapons and armour you can find but in Dark Souls that was easier said than done so I spent a lot of time just farming until I’d reach a good enough level to take on the next big task or foe. Unlike Demon’s Souls there was no nexus instead I had to find and light bonfire, when lit they save your progress and give you flasks of health. The online worked well and when I got stuck I easily summoned up another player to help me vanquish a really tough demon, thankfully I wasn’t invaded by a black phantom.

Building an efficient character through upgrades is essential

So almost 3 days in and I have to say I love the game, it’s VERY unforgiving and it makes no excuses about its insistence to punish you for not being strong enough to survive. So far I have defeated quite a few demon bosses and put together a good strong knight character equipped with some very damaging weapons but I still have a ways to go so a full review won’t be posted for another while.

FROM SOFTWARE in join development with SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT JAPAN STUDIO (SCE Japan Studio).
directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FROM SOFTWARE and Produced by Takeshi Kaji from SCE Japan Studio. Music composed by Shunsuke Kida.

The Dark Sacrament: book review

As an avid reader and collector of occult and paranormal books I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read this powerful book that is based very close to home. Demonic possession is something that shot to light when the movie The Exorcist stunned and shocked audiences all over the world, what followed was a spate of reported cases involving people supposedly possessed or influenced by invisible forces and demons. Regardless of what your view may be when it comes to the existence of these powerful forces and entities The Dark Sacrament will both educate and terrify. Essentially many of the cases in the book lead back to the oppression and possessions coming into being because of the intervention of stronger spiritual forces, the Ouija board in particular is no stranger to the spotlight.

While many of the accounts painstakingly presented in the book can be quite similar the real similarity they feature is the ability to shake your very foundations as to the existence of evil. Each account is expertly researched and transfers to paper perfectly in a way that will keep you coming back for more. While I read vast collections of similar styled books this is the first and only book that has ever actually made me question my own beliefs, the authors really did their homework and it shows at every turn of the page. Truly this is a book aimed at adults only because it deals with some very deep and important issues, while other books have attempted to do the same none have come this close.

The stories themselves are all recounts of the actual individuals who went through their trials and tribulations in the island of Ireland, it’s indeed a unique look into an otherwise unseen world. Though Ireland in the past was known to be in the firm grip of the Catholic Church The Dark Sacrament points to the cases where ordinary everyday people regardless of their belief systems were instead gripped by demonic power. Perhaps one of the most frightening factors detailed was that children too can be just as susceptible to the forces of darkness, and that they don’t always welcome the idea of ridding their demonic oppressors. One of the most memorable stories involved a young boy finding an Ouija board on his way home from school, treated to a magic trick like no other the boys life is soon turned upside down. The demon whom he contacts influences the boys life to the point where he becomes possessed under complete control of the entity, at a loose end his parents contact the local parish priest who in turn recommends an exorcist.

This is where the book really shines, not only are the stories recounted by the individuals themselves but also by the priests and exorcists who had to deal with the darkness they faced. I was very impressed by unravelling process of information held between the pages, though I’m very educated in the ritual of exorcism and the history behind it the authors offer up notes in the final pages that really shine light on everything you ever wanted to know about the subject. While the individuals themselves have had their details changed in order to hide their identities I was amazed to see that one particular person did not, Canon Wm. Lendrum. It was a testament to the man himself that he did not mind being publically identified as one of the main figures people turn to when they are faced with a demonic force. It’s the people like Wm. Lendrum that really make the book special, while you would expect the book to be preachy it does not put any emphasis on what you the reader should believe instead it gives you the facts and lets you make your own mind up. What I really liked was how the authors don’t just tell the stories they actually explain the possibly reasons behind the occurrences and in doing that help others prevent such happenings tainting their own lives.

After studying the occult and paranormal for many years I have come to the conclusion that many people don’t see the dangers in such things as Ouija boards and other means of spirit communication, while it can be done safely it can take a lot of time do it right. What many of the cases in The Dark Sacrament had in common was the obvious lack of education when it comes to such devices, though alcohol abuse and other forms of self abuse can open doors for demonic forces and negative energy the book itself may indeed serve as a way to prevent further escalation of cases.

Exorcism has always been a touchy subject in many countries but none such so as in modern Ireland, thankfully The Dark Sacrament tackles the subject perfectly without ever offending or pushing your own beliefs aside and every page turn is an edge of your seat experience. I recommend the book as a must read, whether you do or don’t believe in the existence of evil you will absolutely love the book – the only problem I found was it was nigh on impossible to put down! – The Dark Sacrament is available from all good bookstores such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Author David M. Keily was interviewed by Jim Harold on the Paranormal Podcast some time back, for fans of the book it to is not to be missed and offers a rather insightful and personal look into the both the creation and research that went into The Dark Sacrament.

Review Score: 10-10

Naughty Bear: game review (ps3/360)

If you go down to the woods today, prepare to be disappointed. What could have been a great game has unfortunately turned out to be rather poor and lacking real fun. Meet naughty bear, he really isn’t happy with his fellow bears and so decides to go on a kill crazy rampage. He has his reasons though, unlike all the other bears he does not receive an invite to daddle’s birthday party. Poor naughty bear even goes to the trouble of crafting a special gift for daddle’s, however on the way over two other bears mock naughty bear and his gift.. naughty bear then skulks off back home to plot revenge on the inhabitants of the island. And that’s really how it goes, what follows is a lot of carnage ..stuffing will fly but sadly that’s about all.

The first thing that I noticed about the game was the overly dated look, though I was playing it on the playstation 3 it looked like a playstation 2 game. Games in general don’t have to look good for me to enjoy them but a more polished look does inspire me to play longer, Naughty Bear made me do the opposite. The main character of the bear does have a certain charm, he doesn’t talk instead an unseen narrator spins the yarn in the style of a slightly morbid children’s television show. Another issue I found to really hamper the pace of the game was the camera, normally a slightly turbulent camera is not a deal breaker in a game but the camera here will hang behind walls and doors causing you to have to keep centring it again and if you are lucky an enemy bear won’t attack.

The cartoon violence was for the most part quite funny at times but once I got about an hour into the game it really started to feel really repetitive to the point of me putting the controller down and turning the game off. The naughty points system is quite good and it lets you upgrade your bear to use different looks and weapons but again it’s something that only adds a little more lifespan to the game that in the end makes very little difference. Each level in the game world plays the same, find the bears and dispatch them ..maybe scare them first but inevitably the bears must die. Like I said the weapons do add a little spice and naughty bear has many weapons at his disposal including knives and guns.

Unfortunately the cartoon look just hasn’t been met to the standard you would expect from a nextgen console, I expected the developers would easily put together some great lush environments that were both clever and humorous instead they are drab and flat. The controls like the camera are at times very clunky and really drag the flow of the game down to a snail’s pace. For such a game with a lack of gloss to it the frame rate has issues especially when switching between areas of the map. Some are so bad it can result in an actual game freeze and since there is no real checkpoint system in place you will get very frustrated from having to start over again and that in itself might well be enough to make you either turn the game off or toss your controller at the television.

It may seem like all I’m pointing at are the negative aspects of the game but there really are very few redeeming features I can mention. At times there can be what feels like a burst of creativity but it’s so short lived that it will quickly be forgotten. When I have to point out the main menu screen as a positive part of the games design then it’s clear that said game has serious issues. The initial story of Naughty Bear is quite clever and promises a whole lot of laughs and adventure coated in a twisted little murder romp, but none of those promises are met ..apart for the murder of course. Originally I was very excited about the game but upon playing I have to do something I have never done before, and that’s to seriously recommend people not to buy Naughty Bear. As a rental the game might work, its short lived and it’s different but that’s really all.

Like any game there is always someone out there who will enjoy it no matter how bad others think it is and normally I always see something positive in an otherwise mediocre game so maybe it will appeal to someone. In a nutshell Naughty Bear is built in the style of games like Manhunt and Hitman but with bears and cartoon violence, if you like the idea of running around scaring and knocking the stuffing out of your fellow bears then this “might” be the game for you. Otherwise Naughty Bear really doesn’t deliver as a retail released console game, the graphics and sloppy game mechanics are the main choking point but there are too many other problems that stop it from ever becoming a game I would recommend. And so for my final score, I tried to enjoy Naughty Bear and I gave it a few chances to impress but any time I felt like I was having fun something else cropped up to ultimately frustrate and annoy until I eventually quit – Naughty Bear is getting a 4 out of 10. I did enjoy the narration and it was funny at times but even with the added DLC it’s just not enough to keep you going back for more.

The Paranormal Podcast

It’s no secret that I'm a big fan of almost everything paranormal, from practising tarot and other means of divination to actually studying parapsychology and the occult. And so I'm absolutely delighted to say I finally found a podcast that addresses all these subjects and much more. So what’s it called? Quite simply it’s called “The Paranormal Podcast“ and it’s as the name suggests a podcast that deals with the paranormal and all things spooky. In the past I have listened to a few podcasts and radio shows of a paranormal nature which attempted to explain and educate but they always fell short. There were a few reasons such as hosts not letting their guests get a word in edge ways/poor equipment set-ups which resulted in badly transmitted audio from both the guests and the hosts.. the list goes on and on.

Again The Paranormal Podcast soars above the rest, not only is the audio quality exceptional the host Jim Harold is both sincere and inquisitive, he is not afraid to admit he doesn’t have all the answers and gives his guests ample time to provide a deeper insight into what those answers might be. After listening to my first show I like many listeners was hooked and quickly went about downloading every single episode available, but didn’t that cost a lot? Not at all. Subscribing to The Paranormal Podcast is 100% free which is mind-blowing when you see the wealth of entertainment and education that show delivers over and over again. Jim Harold tackles so many paranormal subjects with an open mind and a professional manner that both draws you in and sends chills through your spine, what subjects exactly?

After listening to every episode i could find I have seen the show feature ghosts and spirits/tarot/ufo’s & aliens/cryptozoology/near death experiences & after death communication/ghosthunting & psychic's/magik & astrology ..and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The Paranormal Podcast has something for everyone. Other shows too featured guests but for the most part they were unknown and not very professional, instead here we have popular figures such as the legendary author Brad Steiger, Annette Martin, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Dr Bruce Goldberg and even my favourite Irish author David M. Kiely all make an appearance over the vast archive of shows. If you are obsessed or just curious about the paranormal and the unexplained then make The Paranormal Podcast your first stop for all your spooky needs, and if that’s not enough Jim Harold graciously offers yet even more podcasts.

We all love sitting around campfires sharing ghost stories but its not really something we can do on a regular basis, however through the magic of the internet now it’s possible. Jim Harold’s Campfire is a virtual feast of great stories that come from the actual listeners themselves. The stories range from downright scary to humorous and heart-warming, its a rare unseen yet interesting look into the paranormal events that occur around ordinary people every day. Just like the previously mentioned podcast this exciting mix of storytelling and real life happenings is truly not to be missed. If you are a believer or a sceptic or simply just not sure these campfire stories will give you hours of listening for absolutely no cost at all. I as a general rule don’t mention other sites or even podcasts but i genuinely recommend you check out what’s going on over at JimHarold.com and give his podcasts a listen, I know many of you who read my blog on MySpace (over 50,000 subscribers thanks guys!) are into the paranormal too. So give it a try you won’t be disappointed, with Halloween right around the corner it’s the perfect time to tune in.