Doctor Who - New series, new species part 43

Yes it's about time to look back at the latest series of Doctor Who and the new aliens that appear in the series - to be fair there are a lot of 'sort-of' species in this post, creatures that technically aren't really new aliens at all but are worth mentioning nonetheless

Time Zombies

 I didn't know quite what to make of these creatures, they added a good deal of menace to what weoul otherwise have been a load of random exploring...but then again I'd have been happy with just random exploring!!

These creatures, roaming the core of the TARDIS, a result of the Doctor and his companions being exposed directly to the eye of Harmony. Thankfully the Doctor was able to change the course of events so that these creatures ceased to exist.

Red Leeches

 A quirky little alien in a nice episode starting with the Companions helping Clara and the Doctor and then taking the fight back to the enemy. I have to say the little leech was a nice mix of cute and evil and a nice take on a species type - don't think we've had a small wormy thing for a while on Who!

An ancient race, known as a menace to the Silurtians when they populated the Earth. They produced a venom which could cause horrific changes and death in conact with most humans but could also have a symbiotic and beneficial relationship with a chosen host body. One surviving member of the race, conspired with a corrupt human, Mrs. Gillyflower to take over the human race.

Cybermites

Another new Cyber-thingy, but I thought these little creatures were effective and better than last series' rebooted Cybermat with it's snappy teeth, these creatures were actually a threat. It was nice to see the actual Cybermen being more powerful and threatening than they have been in the past.

A weapon of the Cybermen, Cybermites were part of their arsenal in their longstanding war agains humanity. Cybermites could latch onto an organic host and begin the process of converting them into a Cyberman. They weren't able to convert a host by themselves but could turn a being into an agent for them and certainly incapacitate foes if they got close enough. They were also able to turn the Doctor into 'Mr Clever' and alter ego with some of the Doctor's personality and knowledge and yet fully serving the Cybermen.

Whisper Men

 







Another vague non-race designed to add some threat, these 'whisper men' were actually manifestations of the Great Intelligence and did not corporeally exist at all, though they could interact with the world, they were used by the Intelligence to threaten the Doctor's friends to make him open up his tomb on Trenzalore.

That's your lot - more after the Anniversary Special!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 42

Oh yes the answer to life, the universe and everything is contained in this post as we have a quick peek at the alien species featured in episodes 1-4 of part 2 of series 7 of the New Doctor Who (they don;t like to make their numbering easy do they?!!)

Well episode 1 'The Bells of St. John' (the title is a reference to the TARDIS) didn't feature any new races, rather a return of the Great Intelligence, a villain featured in the Christmas special and classic Who. The Intelligence inhabits the Wi-Fi, uploading people's consciousness for it's own purposes. In doing so it used some mobile servers, colloqiually known as 'spoonheads' to upload and control people remotely - they're not a species, but they're worth a mention on the blog I think.

Spoonhead

In the next episode 'The Rings of Akhaten' we were treated to a whole host of aliens in a bustling marketplace as well as some principal character races too. The Doctor ran around the marketplace like a giddy child (as would I!!!) and threw out some alien names, which I was too slow to catch - thankfully the community on the TARDIS Core website caught a few of them, which I'll post up here now.

First the races seen at the marketplace

Do'reen

The true species name is unknown, but  a member of this race was a vendor at the marketplace on Akhaten trading vehicles for items of psychometric value.

Pan-Babylonian

Native to the same system as Akhaten this race came to worship at the festival of offerings.

Hooloovoo

Another species native to the Akhaten system

Ultramancer

A metalic species which the Doctor was excited to see due to their rarity, also native to the system

Also named, were Terrabeserkers, Lucanians and Lugaleracush - I'm not sure but they may be one of these two beauties from the official site.

Ok, prime story races now.

Choristers

 










This humanoid race, native to the Akhaten system, were chosen to sing to the 'Grandfather' a deity they believed responsible for the creation of the universe and who they sang to keep asleep. They had psychic powers which enhanced their capabilities to reach out to the god and keep him at bay.

The Vigil

Appointed by the 'Grandfather' to oversee the sacrifice and worship of the singers these individuals hunted the young 'Queen of Years' who ran because she was afraid of her duties. They were able to teleport and use telikenisis against their opponents. When they were no longer needed they were obliterated by their master. 

The Mummy

The name given to this creature by the Doctor and others who encountered it, initially believed to be the old god who the worshippers tried to keep asleep, the being, encased in a transparent prison was in fact a way for the true god to wake up if the system of pacification failed. Like the Vigil it was destroyed by it's master. 

Akhaten

While visually impressive Akhaten wasn't really anything new and I was surprised at the Doctor stating it was the biggest thing he had faced when he had battled against a sentient star (as the tenth Doctor) and another sentient planet 'House' in this series. That aside the puzzle solving of finding the true villain and the corny-but-believable manner of defeat made it a convincing villain.

A malevolent gas giant that had become sentient and aquired great power it fed off the fear and worship of sentient beings who offered up their stories and songs to it, which fed it's hunger. Essentially a parasite it controlled and possessed other beings to bring it the food it desired and when the suystem finally stopped after centuries it attacked, threatening to consume the entire solar system. It had little self-control, however and consumed the overwhelming psychic power of Clara's leaf, which held potential stories as well as past history, until it destroyed itself, finally freeing the system from its tyrrany. 

The next episode 'Cold War' featured a classic Who race the Ice Warriors. It was nice to see this race, in their cumbersome looking armour as a credible threat and seeing Skaldak out of his armour was (to my knowledge) a first visual appearance in the series and it didn't disappoint. We also got a glimpse of an Ice Warrior spaceship.

The Crooked Man

I quite like this race visually, the story of a ghost having some sort of scientific explanation was standard DW fare, but the added menace/uncertainty of another creature in the equasion added to the mix. What I really liked was the creatures appearance - after the whacky but all humanoid creatures of the previous episodes it was good to have a truly weird looking alien!!

This unusual species was a rare kind. some of which hid among the shadows on Earth, one individual was trapped in a pocked universe and was trying to get home. The Doctor, tracking down a ghost that turned out to be a time traveller trapped in a pocket universe encountered this creature which was also stranded there. Initially fearful the Doctor returned to rescue the creature to his mate which was occupying the haunted house.

Phew! Don't think there'll be quite as many next time!!! I'll post about the second half of the series soon!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 41

Well the Christmas special has come and gone so time to discuss the aliens seen on our TVs Christmas day.

The Great Intelligence

OK this is technically breaking my rule as the Great Intelligence has appeared before in classic Doctor Who episodes and has battled the Doctor on previous occasions. I really enjoyed the creepy pop up snowmen in the lighthearted but moving Christmas day romp. I found the defeating the monster with love to be a little dull as it has been done so many times and so many wayds on Doctor Who but it was an exciting ride and I'm intriogued to find out more about the new companion who keeps popping up through time.

The Great Intelligence is a disembodied mind that has battled the Doctor many times taking different forms. In the Victorian era it took the form of snow, reaching out through the mind of a lonely child to build it's intelligence and attempted to become more human so that it could through subtlety replace and control the human race.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 40

A bit of a break from Mass Effect ass we look at the new alien species revealed in the new series of Doctor Who. As always for more in depth comments do check out the Impossible Podcasts website - well worth a listen!

Shakri

A somewhat dull ending to the on the whole intriguing episode 'the power of three'. Strange cubes appear that initially do nothing then perform a wide variety of functions to assess the human race. Then it turns out, in a plot line stolen directly from The Ultimates (but executed with a dull anti-climax instead of the epic battle fought against the Chitauri in the Marvel comic) they are the pest-controllers of the Universe who've decided to wipe out the human race and are incredibly easily defeated in such a purpose - presumably this is a set up for them to come again, but I don't care - try bringing in an interesting villain like the Trickster if you want to do some cool manipulation stuff.

The Shakri are a race believed to be mythical even by the Time Lords themselves. They see themselves as the caretakers of the universe and use incredibly advanced technology to manipulate and exterminate species they see as troublesome to the progress of the universe. 

The following episode returned us to the Weeping Angels, who managed to be creepy again like in Blink but their backstory got even more ridiculour with them 'taking over' other statues in the area including the Statue of Liberty, which somehow moved without anyone noticing - I'm giving up on the angels, hopefully christmas will give us something fresh!!

See ya!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 39

So the Doctor is back on our screens and there are a few new exciting life forms for us to discover on his travels. As ever if you want more detailed discussion of the episodes themselves as well as Who in general I'll leave you in the expert hands of the Impossible Podcast team, who you can link to by clicking the sidebar.

Dalek Puppets

I'm not 100% sure about the term, but the Tardis wiki people use it and as I'm stealing this image from them I guess it'll work fine!! I liked this twist of the Daleks converting people into sleeper agents against their will and I even thought the Dalek probes coming out of their heads was a good idea. The only thing I didn't quite like was that the agent had too much personality when in Dalek mode, casually laughing about how they used her memories jarred a little and would have been better delivered devoid of emotion - the Alaska  crewers did a better job, starting confused and turning into scary Dalek mode.

And as for Oswin that was just tragic!

In the second episode we got a load of dinosaurs and a vaguely humanish guy plus a Silurian or two but nothing that could really classify as a new species - I did like the premise though, it remided me of Planetary stories - plus we did get a cool spaceship out of it!!

Silurian Ark Ship

Kahler

In this Western style episode the production team went down the Star Trek alien route featuring the 'basically human with a strange marking on the face' species type that so often encountered the Enterprise. This species seem to all feature distinctive green markings on their face, but on outward appearance are all basically human. However I suppose it did make sense for him to be more easily accepted by the townsfolk if he did basically look human.

The Kahler were a very technologically advanced race capable of building incredible forms of technology. At some point in their history they became embroiled in a catastrophic war that lead to the creation of cyborgs, mutilated beings that served to overpower their enemies. However, the cyborgs then turned on their masters and hunted down the men that made them into monsters.

More soon, probably Mass Effect

Video Game Diary - 8/3/12

OK, this should be the last Gears post for a bit and I can try and catch up with Assassin's Creed, yes don't expect any new stuff for quite a while as I will be behind on Mass Effect 3 anyway as that comes out tomorrow in the UK, anyway, nothing new for this blog though!

Diary

Haven't been gaming that much really, I've played a bit of Assassin's Creed: Revelations but I'm at the stage where playing the economy side of things slows your overall progress but it's great fun to be part of the world of Constantinople. I'm enjoying the Desmond segments, though I would have preferred straightforward memory sequences to moving blocks around a weird physics space. Multiplayer is good too, I like that there is more of a story to it and you can unlock Abstergo files as you progress.

New Enemies

This is the interesting one, in the first act several new lambent types crop up in both phases of the game to attack our Gears, though it seems there has been some peace from the lambent as they are generally surprised to see them pop up.

Lambent Stalk










These stalks are generally how the lambent reach the surface with these enormous mutated plants bursting from the ground or sea, carrying the lambent soldiers in pods that burst open explosively.

Polyps










The most common of the new lambent forces, these small spider-like creatures attack in swarms to overwhelm enemy forces. Like most lambent creatures they have a tendency to explode when shot at or fought hand to hand.

Lambent Drudges














Drudges are the powerhorse of the lambent forces in the first act, initially they attack much like locust drones only they are capable of mutating into a range of forms, from a brute with two massive arms to rooting themselves in the ground and forming a tree-like structure that spews imulsion at you.

Lambent Leviathan











This is the set-piece of the first Act, an enormous sea-creature mutated by the imulsion attacks the Sovereign where Marcus is based, they defeat it with the help of Cole's team who come up with a very creative solution...dropping a mass of captured tickers onto it!!

Gunker










A very nasty creature - the result of a Boomer meeting the imulsion, results in a very powerful and very explosive creature.


And that's it, except for the Locust group that Cole and his team meet up with which have gone rogue because they are stranded from the main group and hounded by the lambent so they have become savages. They are originally thought to be a vicious group of Stranded who won't let anyone near them.

And that's your lot for now - I'll be playing Act 2 soon so there might be more content before long, you never know...

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 38

OK so it's February - about time to discuss the Doctor Who Christmas Special eh!!

One more species turned up in the special, which unless you've been living in a cave for, well all your life you will know is heavily based on The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. As ever a new species turned up in the special, so let's talk about it.

Androzani Trees












I thought these trees were quite cool and the concept was fun, the Doctor wants to take the kids to a planet with naturally occuring Christmas trees. Only the trees are a live and trying to escape before being burned alive for conversion into fuel. The whole 'life force' thing has always been a vague get-out not only in Doctor Who but in other sci-Fi too (would it hurt to say soul?!!) and the concept of the life force escaping into Madge and then...something wasn't the best, but the human trees were cool and the episode was good fun.

Androzani trees are a sentient species that are harvested for fuel by the Harvest Rangers from Androzani major. On one instance the trees made an escape plan, seperating their life force into the body of Madge Arwell and then dispersing into the time vortex to live free while their 'bodies' were burned. They were able to create humanoid trees to interact with humans and birth them from strange silver 'baubles' that hung from their branches.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 37

Well the Christmas special has just aired on Christmas day in the UK, but as usual I'm playing catch-up, so here are the new aliens we encountered as we bid farewell to The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Fleshkind/Metalkind










I quite liked this idea, even though I found the names 'fleshkind and 'metalkind' a little simplistic even for a kids show. But the concept of two races developing differently yet similarly and the tale of how how they drifted into endless war with each other was very well told and it was a good introduction for Sky, the fleshkind weapon who becomes another of Sarah Jane's adopted children.

Felshkind and Metalkind are two related species that diverged significantly in their development, one side (fleshkind) becoming carbon based lifeforms similar in appearance to humans, the other becoming boron based lifefoprms named 'metalkind'. Both species were able to emit powerful energy blasts and signals from their bodies, though whether this is natural or technological is unclear. The child 'Sky' was engineered to contain enough energy to wipe out the metalking in a single blast. While the crisis was averted by Sky's choice to join humanity the war still continues.

Hetocumtek









I thought this was possibly the rubbishest alien enemy in the series, which is a pity since it was in by far the best episode. Clyde's rejection by his family and friends led to an insightful and engaging portrayal of homelessness that was presented well for it's young audience, being neither overly hopeful nor direly pessimistic but showing the fight for survival that many have on the street. To bad it was ruined by a strange totem pole thing that was defeated by Clyde shouting his name at it with no explanation as to why that destroyed the monster.

Hetocumtek is the Native American name for an alien being that descended to Earth and was capable of wreaking great havokusing psychic abilities that were interpreted as 'curses' by the humans it encountered. The Indians found a way to imprison the being in one of thheir totem poles where it was imprisoned until it touched Clyde Langer. He cursed Clyde, making anyone who heard his name hate him, but Clyde retaliated with the help of his friends and broke the curse, defeating the monster.

Skullions










I really liked these little guys, at first seeming to be the villains. The story of them being slaves was cool and I absolutely loved their steampunk operating system for the hologram they operated and used to hypnotise people for their master. I really liked the reveal that there is an underground black market in captured aliens as slaves, it would have been a great plot line to follow, and I'm really hoping that some of the cool elements like the Trickster, the Captain and this trade can maybe migrate into the main show and continue.

Skullions are a technologically superior race that have fast space travel capabilities and are able to produce and control detailed holograms. One group came under the control of Serf Industries when their ship crashlanded in Asia and they were picked up and enslaved by a secret organisation that sells captured aliens and their technology to the highest bidder. They were rescued by Sarah Jane and returned to their home planet safely.

And that's it - I'll post the Christmas special soon!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 36

Right! I'm going to attempt to cover the latter half of Doctor Who in one fell swoop - there weren't too many new aliens present so it should be too much of a job.

Tenza










Night Terrors was quite a decent episode, and it did feature Daniel Mays, who's a great actor in some of the best stuff around. The alien capable of projecting weird telepathic thingies is quite a common thing in Who and in some parts of the Universe 'perception filters' seem to be as common as eyeballs. Nonetheless it was an entertaining monster and while the ending was cheesy it was a nice touch to have the father accept his unconventinally adopted son.

Tenza are a species of mimics, capable of infiltrating other races and growing up as part of that species before moving on. Tenza also had powerful psychic powers, able to seamlessly intergrate into a new situations and also project powerful hallucinations when distressed.

Mentioned but not featured are the Apalucians a two-hearted species who built a facility to contain plague victims and inadvertantly trapped Amy Pond in their facility. They had the technology to alter time streams and built a state of the art facility on their homeworld.

Minotaur










Another myth transformed into an alien being - only this one was quite interesting. It was more than just a monster as it fed on faith not just flesh, using fear to force his victims to face their fears so they called on their faith and he replaced it with faith in himself, which he fed on. More interesting was that this minotaur was sick of it's existence and wanted to die but was brought victims to devour by it's holographic prison ship.

The Minotaur is a powerful alien capable of feeding on the faith of other races. They often set themselves up as gods on worlds they visited, devouring the faith of the primitives they conquered. One individual was captured and fed captives aboard a prison ship.

Tivolians (?)










No proper species name for them, despite the fact that we've got a planet. Anyway, I really liked this race of cowardly rodents, portrayed by David Walliams. The cowardice seemed quite cartoonish at first, but the Doctor slowly revealed an aggressive edge to their cowardice as a well honed survival trait.

The natives of Tivoli are a race of Rodent-like humanoids with a reputation of beingf conquered more than any other race. They plan to be as accomodating as possible to any visitng war ships. They fear only species such as the Weeping Angels who mdevour, rather than invade.

And that's it - apart from whatever species this guy is...










Thanks for reading - SJA next!!