I know normally I use this blog to review movies and games. Well this time I figured I'd use it to comment on something I have enjoyed in the past and that's professional wrestling. It started when I was a kid watching the old WWF. I remember guys like The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior. Now of course as a kid I thought that everything I was seeing was totally real and nothing was fake or staged. It was a lot of fun to watch them on TV or to go to a live event and cheer them on and to be able to say I saw my favorite compete.
Now I remember that I eventually fell out of interest with wrestling. The last thing I really remember was a storyline where this guy Papa Shango put a voodoo curse on the Ultimate Warrior and even I as a kid thought this was pretty stupid and I lost interest. It wasn't until I went into college and got a roommate that was into wrestling that I got an interest in it again. Now I came in at time where The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were already established superstars and they had really reached the height of their popularity and success. So off and on through college and even after I continued to watch it but I've found over the years I'm starting to lose interest in it again.
Now I know a lot of you are going to say right off the bat that wrestling is fake. I will say that it is not fake. It takes a lot of skill and training to do what those guys do night after night. Also you look at many of them and you'll see some of them have sustained some pretty serious injuries, including a guy by the name of Droz who is now paralyzed in a wheelchair after an incident in a match where his neck got broken. But what I will say is that wrestling is controlled. Early on matches used to be choreographed down move by move. Then eventually wrestlers didn't want to do this anymore so they adopted a more open style. In this case they already knew ahead of time who was going to win and if there were any big moves or events that were going to happen in the match those were planned out ahead of time. But it's really up to the wrestlers themselves to figure out what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. Then they take their queues from the ref as well as the announcers as to when they need to end the match.
The biggest problem that I have with wrestling right now is how predictable it has become. Most of the time when I'm watching a match it's really easy for me to know when a guy is going to kick out of a certain move or when the ref is going to get knocked out or someone is going to hit someone they don't mean to with a chair or other weapon. It is only on a rare occasion that I am indeed surprised. A few examples I can think of are when Kurt Angle beat Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania by making him submit or when Kurt Angle beat Samoa Joe in TNA, thus ending his pretty long undefeated streak, by making him submit or most recently when Matt Hardy hit his brother Jeff with a chair after he had lost a championship match.
There is a term that some wrestling fans know and that's to mark out. A mark is a person who is a fan of wrestling and thinks that it's all real. So when someone marks out it means that at that particular moment they don't care what's going on and how controlled it may be they are just having fun and I have had a few of those moments and they are really enjoyable.
It's just lately with the rise of guys like John Cena where it's just the same thing over and over again. I like John Cena but it seems like he has to be in every single main event and he wins over and over again. It seems like the championship has been passed between him and Edge so many times I can't even count. Now TNA suffers from a bit of the same thing. Most of their main events include Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe or Sting and there's only so many ways they can book the same matches over and over again without it getting stale.
But the one thing about wrestling that non-fans will talk about is is the story lines. Wrestling is like a soap opera for men. It's got all of those off the wall stories and stupid moments that just make you scratch your head and wonder what you just saw. Anyone who's been a fan of this for the past few years is probably familiar with the Katie Vick story line involving Kane. If you aren't familiar with it just type that name in Google and you'll get some interesting results. So I think that wrestling as a whole really needs to either ditch the stupid stories and go with the approach where it's more about the matches than the talking. I remember when I tried to get back into wrestling during the WCW versus WWF days and I turned on WCW Nitro and for a good 30 minutes it was nothing but talking I just gave up. Now you watch a good 2 and a half our episode of Raw and probably almost half of that is talking. I turned on a wrestling show to watch wrestling not to watch people talk about who they're going to beat up. That's mainly why I just usually watch the Pay-Per-Views after the fact because that way I'm guaranteed to get some good matches and not nearly as much talking.
Lastly I'm going to talk about TNA a bit. If you aren't familiar with it TNA stands for Total Non-Stop Action and it is a wrestling company that was started to compete with the WWF/WWE after they bought WCW. It has some really good talent including some people that used to be in the WWE but got tired of dealing with Vince McMahon and his crap. They use a six sided ring instead of a four sided one and they tend to have a lot more gimmick matches like for example they have a Pay-Per-View called Lockdown where every single match is a cage match. But TNA suffers from the same thing I said earlier with the bad story lines and the repetitive matches. I think they are a good company with a lot of potential but if they are going to compete with the WWE they really need to book better matches.
But I think my biggest problem with TNA are the fans that come to the events. Now I have never been to one of their events myself but it's pretty obvious that the fans are the most easily swayed people in the world. They are very quick to chant things like "holy shit" or "this is awesome" or "this is wrestling" or something like that even when what's going on isn't that great. Most of the time I find them chanting that something is awesome and thinking to myself "no it isn't." There are many times when I wish I could just put a giant mute button on the crowd when I watch one of their Pay-Per-Views. In fact now that I think of it they are a lot like the crowd for American Idol. No matter how much something sucks they will love it and give heat to anyone who doesn't love it as much as they do.
That's all I'm going to say for now but I welcome your comments and feedback. What do you think of wrestling? Do you watch it at all? If so how long have you watched it and what do you enjoy most about it? Or did you used to watch it in the past but you don't anymore. If so when did you last watch and what exactly made you stop? Well I hope you enjoyed my little rant here and I look forward to hearing from you.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Movie review: Michael Jackson's This Is It
After Michael Jackson's tragic death back in June it was revealed that while preparing for a series of 50 concerts at London's O2 arena they had done quite a bit of filming of those preparations. This footage was either going to go into Jackson's personal archive or some of it would be used during the concerts or for something else like a concert DVD.
But after he died it was announced that this footage was going to be compiled together to be shown in theaters. So what we get from that is the documentary This Is It. Basically what we have is footage of from different stages of the rehearsals for the concerts. The movie starts off with dancers auditioning to be in the show. Anyone who has seen a Jackson show before knows that the dancers were a very key part of the show.
Once the dancer's have been chosen we get to what people really came to see and that's the performances. First I have to say that Jackson's voice sounded great. It was about as good as I have ever heard it sound and this is keeping in mind he was holding back at some points to save his voice for the actual shows. I think come time for the actual shows he would have sounded better than he had in years.
Now the dancing is where Jackson's age and physical state really show through. As a lot of people know he wasn't in very good shape and was sick all the time and was one all kinds of medications so that he could go from day to day. If you compare his dancing in this movie to how he was even 10 years ago back then he was a lot more agile and was able to move around a lot more.
The choice of the songs that they put in the movie was done really well. The only real issues I have is they left out Bad and Heal the World. I can forgive Heal the World not being there but Bad is kind of a staple for Jackson. My guess is they had footage of it but it found itself on the cutting room floor and will probably be among the extras on the DVD.
Some of the songs came complete with big production numbers with tons of dancers and set pieces. Also at the top of the stage was a large video wall and they had produced several green screen sequences to go with songs like Smooth Criminal, They Don't Care About Us and Thriller. The one for Thriller was even done in 3D so I believe the plan was to pass out 3D glasses to everyone in the crowd.
But probably the coolest thing is some of the set pieces that weren't done yet. It was planned for the beginning of the show for this figure shaped like a man to come out. It would be covered all over with video screens and would open piece by piece to reveal Jackson at the beginning of the show. Then during the song Earth Song at one point a big bulldozer was supposed to drive up behind Jackson and stop a few feet from him. They had also rigged up a cherry picker into the stage so during the show he could be lifted up above the audience.
I believe from what we see from all the different parts of the concert that this would probably have been one of the best concerts of this decade if not one of the best of the last 20 years or so. It is unfortunate that Jackson died before he ever had a chance to make the dream a reality.
Some people are protesting this movie saying that this movie puts Jackson up on a pedestal and makes him out to be some kind of prophet or God. If you actually watch the movie you'll see that neither of these are true. Most of the movie is either him performing or other people working on different parts of the show all of which is intermixed with interviews with musicians, dancers and several other people. All this movie does show is how much of a showman and how much of a perfectionist Jackson was. He knew this was his comeback to the stage and probably his last chance to perform for the fans so he was going to make the most of it.
They could have used this movie to show glimpses into his life at the time and his past but the director decided it was best to just edit together the concert footage and mix it in with a little bit of older footage. But that footage was only used to back up one of the songs.
One thing I should say is that the movie was shot, for the most part, using high definition cameras. However there are some sections that seemed to be filmed with a lower definition camera that isn't in full HD. So whenever one of these sections comes up the image on the screen shrinks down in size and you get this box in the middle of the screen that's at a lower resolution. Then it will switch back and forth between the HD and the standard and at times it's a bit jarring. This isn't enough to distract you from the movie but I wish something had been done to correct this.
I would really only recommend this movie if you are a fan of Michael Jackson's music or performances. If you aren't a fan of Jackson then you really should avoid this movie at least while it's in theaters. Now it originally was only supposed to run in theaters for 2 weeks but due to how well it did on it's opening weekend they have decided to extend it beyond that.
If you are a fan of Jackson then you have either already seen this movie or plan to see it at some point in the future. But keep in mind what you get is a concert film plain and simple. This isn't a biographical look at his life or his legacy it's just your chance to see how he was preparing for his concerts. So what you see is him doing what he did best, entertaining his fans.
My score: 8.0/10
But after he died it was announced that this footage was going to be compiled together to be shown in theaters. So what we get from that is the documentary This Is It. Basically what we have is footage of from different stages of the rehearsals for the concerts. The movie starts off with dancers auditioning to be in the show. Anyone who has seen a Jackson show before knows that the dancers were a very key part of the show.
Once the dancer's have been chosen we get to what people really came to see and that's the performances. First I have to say that Jackson's voice sounded great. It was about as good as I have ever heard it sound and this is keeping in mind he was holding back at some points to save his voice for the actual shows. I think come time for the actual shows he would have sounded better than he had in years.
Now the dancing is where Jackson's age and physical state really show through. As a lot of people know he wasn't in very good shape and was sick all the time and was one all kinds of medications so that he could go from day to day. If you compare his dancing in this movie to how he was even 10 years ago back then he was a lot more agile and was able to move around a lot more.
The choice of the songs that they put in the movie was done really well. The only real issues I have is they left out Bad and Heal the World. I can forgive Heal the World not being there but Bad is kind of a staple for Jackson. My guess is they had footage of it but it found itself on the cutting room floor and will probably be among the extras on the DVD.
Some of the songs came complete with big production numbers with tons of dancers and set pieces. Also at the top of the stage was a large video wall and they had produced several green screen sequences to go with songs like Smooth Criminal, They Don't Care About Us and Thriller. The one for Thriller was even done in 3D so I believe the plan was to pass out 3D glasses to everyone in the crowd.
But probably the coolest thing is some of the set pieces that weren't done yet. It was planned for the beginning of the show for this figure shaped like a man to come out. It would be covered all over with video screens and would open piece by piece to reveal Jackson at the beginning of the show. Then during the song Earth Song at one point a big bulldozer was supposed to drive up behind Jackson and stop a few feet from him. They had also rigged up a cherry picker into the stage so during the show he could be lifted up above the audience.
I believe from what we see from all the different parts of the concert that this would probably have been one of the best concerts of this decade if not one of the best of the last 20 years or so. It is unfortunate that Jackson died before he ever had a chance to make the dream a reality.
Some people are protesting this movie saying that this movie puts Jackson up on a pedestal and makes him out to be some kind of prophet or God. If you actually watch the movie you'll see that neither of these are true. Most of the movie is either him performing or other people working on different parts of the show all of which is intermixed with interviews with musicians, dancers and several other people. All this movie does show is how much of a showman and how much of a perfectionist Jackson was. He knew this was his comeback to the stage and probably his last chance to perform for the fans so he was going to make the most of it.
They could have used this movie to show glimpses into his life at the time and his past but the director decided it was best to just edit together the concert footage and mix it in with a little bit of older footage. But that footage was only used to back up one of the songs.
One thing I should say is that the movie was shot, for the most part, using high definition cameras. However there are some sections that seemed to be filmed with a lower definition camera that isn't in full HD. So whenever one of these sections comes up the image on the screen shrinks down in size and you get this box in the middle of the screen that's at a lower resolution. Then it will switch back and forth between the HD and the standard and at times it's a bit jarring. This isn't enough to distract you from the movie but I wish something had been done to correct this.
I would really only recommend this movie if you are a fan of Michael Jackson's music or performances. If you aren't a fan of Jackson then you really should avoid this movie at least while it's in theaters. Now it originally was only supposed to run in theaters for 2 weeks but due to how well it did on it's opening weekend they have decided to extend it beyond that.
If you are a fan of Jackson then you have either already seen this movie or plan to see it at some point in the future. But keep in mind what you get is a concert film plain and simple. This isn't a biographical look at his life or his legacy it's just your chance to see how he was preparing for his concerts. So what you see is him doing what he did best, entertaining his fans.
My score: 8.0/10
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Game review: UFC 2009 Undisputed
One of the most popular sports right now is the UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship. If you aren't familiar with this it is mixed martial arts fighting. So it's a combination of boxing, kickboxing and wrestling. Fights take place in an octagon shaped ring and it's pretty much anything goes. If you you watch a real fight it will consist of usually a decent amount of kicks and punches as well as the two men on the ground trying to gain an advantage.
UFC 2009 does a good job of creating this. You can pick from many different current UFC fighters in every weight class. Each of them are going to have different disciplines and so will play a bit differently from one another. Some guys might be pure strikers while others might be more mat wrestlers and submission artists.
Now as you can imagine this kind of fighting can get pretty complex and the controls of this game definitely show that. There are so many button combinations to remember and you will use the face buttons, both triggers and bumpers as well as both analog sticks and the controls change depending on if you are standing up or on the ground.
Now UFC is more strategic than other fighting games. In games like Street Fighter you just pound away at the buttons until your opponent falls down. UFC is similar to a boxing game where you have to pick your shots and make sure you don't get worn out. But at the same time you have to watch what your opponent does because one wrong move and you can be sent to the mat. In a real UFC fight they can change on a dime. One guy could be dominating and then the other guy lands a good hard punch or kick and just like that it's over. This game has the same thing so if you aren't watching your blocking or have taken too much damage or are winded you can find yourself hitting the mat very quickly.
The game does give you the ability to try and pull off submission moves but these are very hard to do. Most fights are only 3 rounds long and trying to wear down your opponent enough to get a submission is really hard. In all my time playing this game I had my character tap out a few times but was never able to get someone else to submit.
But there is one thing about this game that is very frustrating and that's the loading times. I was playing the career mode and found myself losing fights quite often. Not wanting to be stuck in a holding pattern never advancing I decided the best idea was to quit the game when I lost and try again. Well I timed it and from loading up the game to starting your career mode fight is just about 2 and a half minutes. Considering how short some of the fights can be this is really annoying. So much so that at a certain point I just gave up on the career mode after trying nearly an hour to win one fight and not succeeding. But these loads times are all over the place and going into a fight can take quite a while especially if you don't skip all the cutscenes.
I should mention the cutscenes. Before a fight begins you get Bruce Buffer announcing and introducing both fighters which really makes you feel like you are watching a real UFC fight. But thankfully you have the ability to skip over all of that which does speed up the process a bit.
The game does come with announcers that give you commentary during the fight. The commentary is given by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg who do most of the commentary at the UFC events. They both do a really good job and even though they tend to repeat themselves quit a bit it doesn't get old or stale and usually does a good job of going along with what's happening in the ring. It's also cool to hear them both yell in surprise when someone suddenly gets knocked out.
I spoke about the career mode earlier. In the career mode you create your own UFC fighter. The creation tools are really good and give you quite a bit of flexibility to create your fighter to look how you want them to look. Once you have created your fighter you begin your career in the UFC. You start off fighting in undercard events and working your way up in the rankings. Now in between fights is where the career mode falls apart. It is all just a big menu system where you choose if you want to train your fighter, spar or manage other aspects of your fighter. You are shown how many weeks you have left until your fight and you train them and rest them so when you go into the fight you aren't already wiped out. But the menus take a while to navigate and the text is small and can sometimes be hard to read.
But the meat of the game is the fighting. If you are a fan of the UFC then I'm sure you'll enjoy this game. If you aren't familiar with it and like fighting games this one can be a lot of fun. Of course you might be taken aback at first by the fact that you can be knocked out at a moment's notice but eventually you learn to use some strategy. If you are a fan of wrestling games you might want to check this one out but you won't get the big flashy moves like you do in a game like Smackdown vs. Raw. The fights are enjoyable and sometimes you can get some really spectacular knockouts. The best one I had was with my created fighter. My opponent went for a head kick and missed which cause him to spin around. The second he finished spinning around I nailed him in the side of the head with a kick and dropped him.
The graphics in this game are really good. There was a lot of attention to detail put in the fighters. They all look like their real life counterparts complete with all their scars and tattoos. Also throughout the fight their bodies will build up sweat and they can get cuts on their face and have blood drip down onto their arm or their chest. Also throughout the fight the mat in the ring will become stained with blood.
I personally wish that the combination of the loading times and the frustration of having to do some fights over and over had not happened. I really would have enjoyed seeing the career mode to the end and winning a championship. But after nearly an hour of trying to win the same fight over and over and not getting anywhere it's time to hang up the controller and move onto the next game.
I should mention that the game does have support for Xbox Live multiplayer. I have been told that it is usually pretty free of lag but I can't attest for this. I decided to not play it because I knew I would just get my butt handed to me and that's just not that much fun in the long run.
My score: 7.0/10
UFC 2009 does a good job of creating this. You can pick from many different current UFC fighters in every weight class. Each of them are going to have different disciplines and so will play a bit differently from one another. Some guys might be pure strikers while others might be more mat wrestlers and submission artists.
Now as you can imagine this kind of fighting can get pretty complex and the controls of this game definitely show that. There are so many button combinations to remember and you will use the face buttons, both triggers and bumpers as well as both analog sticks and the controls change depending on if you are standing up or on the ground.
Now UFC is more strategic than other fighting games. In games like Street Fighter you just pound away at the buttons until your opponent falls down. UFC is similar to a boxing game where you have to pick your shots and make sure you don't get worn out. But at the same time you have to watch what your opponent does because one wrong move and you can be sent to the mat. In a real UFC fight they can change on a dime. One guy could be dominating and then the other guy lands a good hard punch or kick and just like that it's over. This game has the same thing so if you aren't watching your blocking or have taken too much damage or are winded you can find yourself hitting the mat very quickly.
The game does give you the ability to try and pull off submission moves but these are very hard to do. Most fights are only 3 rounds long and trying to wear down your opponent enough to get a submission is really hard. In all my time playing this game I had my character tap out a few times but was never able to get someone else to submit.
But there is one thing about this game that is very frustrating and that's the loading times. I was playing the career mode and found myself losing fights quite often. Not wanting to be stuck in a holding pattern never advancing I decided the best idea was to quit the game when I lost and try again. Well I timed it and from loading up the game to starting your career mode fight is just about 2 and a half minutes. Considering how short some of the fights can be this is really annoying. So much so that at a certain point I just gave up on the career mode after trying nearly an hour to win one fight and not succeeding. But these loads times are all over the place and going into a fight can take quite a while especially if you don't skip all the cutscenes.
I should mention the cutscenes. Before a fight begins you get Bruce Buffer announcing and introducing both fighters which really makes you feel like you are watching a real UFC fight. But thankfully you have the ability to skip over all of that which does speed up the process a bit.
The game does come with announcers that give you commentary during the fight. The commentary is given by Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg who do most of the commentary at the UFC events. They both do a really good job and even though they tend to repeat themselves quit a bit it doesn't get old or stale and usually does a good job of going along with what's happening in the ring. It's also cool to hear them both yell in surprise when someone suddenly gets knocked out.
I spoke about the career mode earlier. In the career mode you create your own UFC fighter. The creation tools are really good and give you quite a bit of flexibility to create your fighter to look how you want them to look. Once you have created your fighter you begin your career in the UFC. You start off fighting in undercard events and working your way up in the rankings. Now in between fights is where the career mode falls apart. It is all just a big menu system where you choose if you want to train your fighter, spar or manage other aspects of your fighter. You are shown how many weeks you have left until your fight and you train them and rest them so when you go into the fight you aren't already wiped out. But the menus take a while to navigate and the text is small and can sometimes be hard to read.
But the meat of the game is the fighting. If you are a fan of the UFC then I'm sure you'll enjoy this game. If you aren't familiar with it and like fighting games this one can be a lot of fun. Of course you might be taken aback at first by the fact that you can be knocked out at a moment's notice but eventually you learn to use some strategy. If you are a fan of wrestling games you might want to check this one out but you won't get the big flashy moves like you do in a game like Smackdown vs. Raw. The fights are enjoyable and sometimes you can get some really spectacular knockouts. The best one I had was with my created fighter. My opponent went for a head kick and missed which cause him to spin around. The second he finished spinning around I nailed him in the side of the head with a kick and dropped him.
The graphics in this game are really good. There was a lot of attention to detail put in the fighters. They all look like their real life counterparts complete with all their scars and tattoos. Also throughout the fight their bodies will build up sweat and they can get cuts on their face and have blood drip down onto their arm or their chest. Also throughout the fight the mat in the ring will become stained with blood.
I personally wish that the combination of the loading times and the frustration of having to do some fights over and over had not happened. I really would have enjoyed seeing the career mode to the end and winning a championship. But after nearly an hour of trying to win the same fight over and over and not getting anywhere it's time to hang up the controller and move onto the next game.
I should mention that the game does have support for Xbox Live multiplayer. I have been told that it is usually pretty free of lag but I can't attest for this. I decided to not play it because I knew I would just get my butt handed to me and that's just not that much fun in the long run.
My score: 7.0/10
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Movie review: Inglorious Basterds
Even though he’s only directed a handful of movies Quentin Tarantino is one of the most famous directors out there. So far to date his credits include Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and his half of the film Grindhouse titled Death Proof. But in this list of films he has established himself as one of the best directors working in Hollywood right now. So when a new Tarantino movie is getting ready to come out of course there is going to be a lot of buzz about it.
Inglorious Basterds is the latest film to be added to Tarantino’s list. This one is a bit different from his other films because first off it is a World War II movie. The movie follows a group of soldiers called The Inglorious Basterds, lead by Brad Pitt, as they do what they do best and that’s kill Nazis.
Now the trailers for this movie are a bit misleading. They lead you to believe that this is a run and gun action movie. That you get to sit for 2 hours watching Brad Pitt and some other guys cut up Nazis the whole time. This is not the case. A good majority of the movie follows the character of Shoshanna who is a Jewish girl who escaped from almost being killed by the Nazis and winds up running her own movie theater. She meets up with a young German private who has become somewhat of a national hero and has even starred in a movie based on his accomplishments.
So a good chunk of the movie follows her and her plot to kill the Nazis that did her wrong. Also at the same time we follow a German Colonel named Hans. This part is played brilliantly by actor Christoph Waltz. I think that he really steals the show with his performance and I would not be surprised to see a Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor thrown his way. He plays the epitome of a smooth, scummy Nazi slimeball.
Another thing the trailers lead you believe is that this movie is filled with violent scenes. Yes there are some pretty violent scenes in the movie and they do get pretty graphic. But given the fact that the movie is 2 and a half hours long there aren’t many to speak of and they are spaced pretty far between.
A good majority of the movie is filled with dialogue. Now since this is a Tarantino movie the dialogue is very well written and keeps you interested. There is a scene in a bar where some characters talk back and forth for what seems like 20 minutes or more. This scene does drag on a bit but you find yourself interested in every word they have to say.
One thing I should say right off the bat with this movie is be prepared to read subtitles. While the scenes with Brad Pitt and his crew are in English most of the other parts of the movie are in German, French and a small bit in Italian. Thankfully the subtitles aren’t too hard to read and as I said before you find yourself really interested in what the characters have to say.
Tarantino has a pretty unique style to his movies. His camera work will consist of things like point of view shots and long tracking shots following a character overhead from one room to another. These aren’t as prevalent in this movie as they are in some of his other movies but when they are there you notice them and they really help to add to that particular scene.
The action scenes that are in the movie are done really well and while the violence isn’t as over the top as it was in something like Kill Bill it’s still a bit more gruesome than some other war movies and you can really feel the kick of the guns as they are shooting.
I should talk about the acting in this movie. I have already talked about the best performance in the movie but there are some other standouts. First off there is Melanie Laurent who played Shoshanna. She did a really good job and you really believed her when she decided to take revenge on the Germans. She also has to get some special consideration given that this is her first English speaking role and she pulled off those scenes very well. Another good performance comes from Eli Roth. Now Roth is more known as a director having done the two Hostel movies and the movie Cabin Fever. But he really pulled off his character well.
Of course you can’t talk about the acting without talking about Brad Pitt. I personally thing that Brad did a good job but he wasn’t great. His southern accent was a bit much and it almost sounds a little too forced. Now that could have been what Tarantino was going for and he wanted it to be over the top but without knowing that it just seems like an only semi-decent accent.
I guess I should say if you are a fan of Tarantino’s movies then you probably already have plans to see this at some point. If you are a fan of World War II movies this might be up your alley but there aren’t any huge battle scenes and this is mostly a dialogue driven movie so you might find yourself wondering where the war is in all this. If you are looking for a run and gun action movie then that is not what you are going to get here. But if you want a movie with some great characters and some great dialogue and an interesting plot then I would say check this out.
My score: 8.0/10
Inglorious Basterds is the latest film to be added to Tarantino’s list. This one is a bit different from his other films because first off it is a World War II movie. The movie follows a group of soldiers called The Inglorious Basterds, lead by Brad Pitt, as they do what they do best and that’s kill Nazis.
Now the trailers for this movie are a bit misleading. They lead you to believe that this is a run and gun action movie. That you get to sit for 2 hours watching Brad Pitt and some other guys cut up Nazis the whole time. This is not the case. A good majority of the movie follows the character of Shoshanna who is a Jewish girl who escaped from almost being killed by the Nazis and winds up running her own movie theater. She meets up with a young German private who has become somewhat of a national hero and has even starred in a movie based on his accomplishments.
So a good chunk of the movie follows her and her plot to kill the Nazis that did her wrong. Also at the same time we follow a German Colonel named Hans. This part is played brilliantly by actor Christoph Waltz. I think that he really steals the show with his performance and I would not be surprised to see a Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor thrown his way. He plays the epitome of a smooth, scummy Nazi slimeball.
Another thing the trailers lead you believe is that this movie is filled with violent scenes. Yes there are some pretty violent scenes in the movie and they do get pretty graphic. But given the fact that the movie is 2 and a half hours long there aren’t many to speak of and they are spaced pretty far between.
A good majority of the movie is filled with dialogue. Now since this is a Tarantino movie the dialogue is very well written and keeps you interested. There is a scene in a bar where some characters talk back and forth for what seems like 20 minutes or more. This scene does drag on a bit but you find yourself interested in every word they have to say.
One thing I should say right off the bat with this movie is be prepared to read subtitles. While the scenes with Brad Pitt and his crew are in English most of the other parts of the movie are in German, French and a small bit in Italian. Thankfully the subtitles aren’t too hard to read and as I said before you find yourself really interested in what the characters have to say.
Tarantino has a pretty unique style to his movies. His camera work will consist of things like point of view shots and long tracking shots following a character overhead from one room to another. These aren’t as prevalent in this movie as they are in some of his other movies but when they are there you notice them and they really help to add to that particular scene.
The action scenes that are in the movie are done really well and while the violence isn’t as over the top as it was in something like Kill Bill it’s still a bit more gruesome than some other war movies and you can really feel the kick of the guns as they are shooting.
I should talk about the acting in this movie. I have already talked about the best performance in the movie but there are some other standouts. First off there is Melanie Laurent who played Shoshanna. She did a really good job and you really believed her when she decided to take revenge on the Germans. She also has to get some special consideration given that this is her first English speaking role and she pulled off those scenes very well. Another good performance comes from Eli Roth. Now Roth is more known as a director having done the two Hostel movies and the movie Cabin Fever. But he really pulled off his character well.
Of course you can’t talk about the acting without talking about Brad Pitt. I personally thing that Brad did a good job but he wasn’t great. His southern accent was a bit much and it almost sounds a little too forced. Now that could have been what Tarantino was going for and he wanted it to be over the top but without knowing that it just seems like an only semi-decent accent.
I guess I should say if you are a fan of Tarantino’s movies then you probably already have plans to see this at some point. If you are a fan of World War II movies this might be up your alley but there aren’t any huge battle scenes and this is mostly a dialogue driven movie so you might find yourself wondering where the war is in all this. If you are looking for a run and gun action movie then that is not what you are going to get here. But if you want a movie with some great characters and some great dialogue and an interesting plot then I would say check this out.
My score: 8.0/10
Friday, September 11, 2009
My thoughts: Guitar Hero 5
First off I have to say that I have not played this game and it is unlikely that I will play it. From the looks of it they have made some pretty good improvements to the Guitar Hero formula. Like making the menus easier to navigate, getting rid of money, having every song unlocked from the beginning, people being able to play any instrument they want no matter what someone else is playing, being able to jump into a song from the main menu even in the middle and better multiplayer modes.
The thing that really hurts this game is the song list. I have looked at the list and there are some really good songs on there by The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Queen & David Bowie and Nirvana. But what is not good is the number of songs and artists that just don't belong in a Guitar Hero game. I like Coldplay but even as a fan I would say they don't belong in a game like Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero should be about making you feel like you are really shredding away at the guitar and becoming a great lead guitarist. I could get that from Do You Feel Like We Do by Peter Frampton but not from something like Song 2 by Blur.
It's like they tried to do too many things with the song list. They tried to appeal to way too many people but wound up with a song list that would only really appeal to those people that prefer music from the last 10 years or so.
Another thing that is interesting is the avatars that they created of real-life rock stars. There is Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Carlos Santana, Shirley Manson of Garbage, and Matthew Bellamy of Blur. I think that they probably should have put it Bob Dylan and Peter Frampton and left out the last two. Also I don't think putting Cobain in the game is the best choice. If there's one thing he despised it was the over commercialization of music and having his likeness appear in a video game is something he never would have stood for. So to most true fans of Nirvana this is more of a slap in the face than a tribute.
Whether or not you will pick up this game really depends on your personal musical preferences. If you like bands like Blur, Coldplay, Eagles of Death Metal, Scars on Broadway and TV On the Radio then this game is probably for you. My personal tastes are pretty varied but even I'll say that there's a handful of people I've never even heard of or listened to at all. Also there just aren't enough of those great memorable guitar songs to warrant a $60 purchase. You can also pay money to import a good majority of the songs from World Tour but even that song list leaves a bit to be desired.
I would like to say that I agree with one reviewer that I saw when it came to his suggestion on what to do with the music. When you buy the game you should be given something like $50 or $60 in special credit that's only good in the in-game store and then you can pick and choose what music you want in the game. So if you like Coldplay then you can buy their songs. But if you only like classic rock then you can buy nothing but classic rock songs and you can build the song list to fit your own personal tastes. Granted this hurts people without an Xbox Live connection but in that case you just give them a way to import the songs onto their system or order a custom made disc that will be sent to them in the mail. Rock Band has already gotten this formula down. Rock Band and Rock Band 2 have pretty decent song lists but they have tons of songs that you can download and you can add only those songs that fit your musical tastes.
So if there is a Guitar Hero 6 they either need to pick a better song list or start from scratch and redo the system because if they release another game with a list this bad Rock Band will win the war and not even Guitar Hero: Van Halen will be able to bring it back.
The thing that really hurts this game is the song list. I have looked at the list and there are some really good songs on there by The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Queen & David Bowie and Nirvana. But what is not good is the number of songs and artists that just don't belong in a Guitar Hero game. I like Coldplay but even as a fan I would say they don't belong in a game like Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero should be about making you feel like you are really shredding away at the guitar and becoming a great lead guitarist. I could get that from Do You Feel Like We Do by Peter Frampton but not from something like Song 2 by Blur.
It's like they tried to do too many things with the song list. They tried to appeal to way too many people but wound up with a song list that would only really appeal to those people that prefer music from the last 10 years or so.
Another thing that is interesting is the avatars that they created of real-life rock stars. There is Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Carlos Santana, Shirley Manson of Garbage, and Matthew Bellamy of Blur. I think that they probably should have put it Bob Dylan and Peter Frampton and left out the last two. Also I don't think putting Cobain in the game is the best choice. If there's one thing he despised it was the over commercialization of music and having his likeness appear in a video game is something he never would have stood for. So to most true fans of Nirvana this is more of a slap in the face than a tribute.
Whether or not you will pick up this game really depends on your personal musical preferences. If you like bands like Blur, Coldplay, Eagles of Death Metal, Scars on Broadway and TV On the Radio then this game is probably for you. My personal tastes are pretty varied but even I'll say that there's a handful of people I've never even heard of or listened to at all. Also there just aren't enough of those great memorable guitar songs to warrant a $60 purchase. You can also pay money to import a good majority of the songs from World Tour but even that song list leaves a bit to be desired.
I would like to say that I agree with one reviewer that I saw when it came to his suggestion on what to do with the music. When you buy the game you should be given something like $50 or $60 in special credit that's only good in the in-game store and then you can pick and choose what music you want in the game. So if you like Coldplay then you can buy their songs. But if you only like classic rock then you can buy nothing but classic rock songs and you can build the song list to fit your own personal tastes. Granted this hurts people without an Xbox Live connection but in that case you just give them a way to import the songs onto their system or order a custom made disc that will be sent to them in the mail. Rock Band has already gotten this formula down. Rock Band and Rock Band 2 have pretty decent song lists but they have tons of songs that you can download and you can add only those songs that fit your musical tastes.
So if there is a Guitar Hero 6 they either need to pick a better song list or start from scratch and redo the system because if they release another game with a list this bad Rock Band will win the war and not even Guitar Hero: Van Halen will be able to bring it back.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Game Review: Prince of Persia
The Prince of Persia series began in 1989 with the original PC game. It was a hit and sold many many copies. To this day it is considered one of the classic video games of all time. There was a sequel and even a Prince of Persia 3D in 1999, but that game didn't fare too well. But then in 2003 the guys at Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. That game did things for game platforming that hadn't been done before and introduced the ability to manipulate time. You could slow down enemies and even rewind time if you miss a jump and want to try again without dying. That was followed up in 2004 with Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within. This game was a lot darker and wasn't as well received by critics or fans but was still a very good game overall. The third game in that series Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones introduced one or two new game play mechanics but overall didn't stray too far from the Prince of Persia formula.
Now in 2008 Ubisoft has released the newest Prince of Persia game and the first game in the series to appear on current generation consoles (unless you count Prince of Persia: Rival Swords but that was just Two Thrones with some extras added for the Wii).
This game gives us a new Prince and a new side character named Elika. The Prince this time around is a tomb raider who has lost his donkey (oddly enough named Farah, the name of the female lead from Sands of Time). He winds up running into Elika as she is being chased by some soldiers. He is then thrown into the middle of a battle between her and her father in which he releases a dark god from his prison. This causes the land to become corrupted and you and Elika have to go to each part of the land and rid it of corruption.
When you first enter an area that hasn't been cleared it will be dark and there will be enemies and environmental traps. But when an area has been cleared those go away and these things called Light Seeds show up. They are supposed to be what gives Elika her power to perform magic but all they really are is a way for the game to make you explore. For those that like achievements you can collect all 1000 or you can just collect what the game wants you to. This does mean that from time to time you will finish the areas you have open and then find you have to wander around the world collecting 100 or so light seeds to open up the next area. I don't mind this that much but I think the numbers they wanted were a bit high.
Now since you have another character with you it adds a few moves to the Prince's arsenal. The first thing is if you are going for a jump and is just a little too far you can hit the Y button and Elika will grab you and throw you forward. Also during a fight you can use the same button to have Elika do a magic attack on the enemy. One interesting thing about Elika is she can match the Prince stride for stride in his crazy moves and it's cool at times to watch her running across a wall or jumping from one pole to another.
Speaking of combat unlike the previous games all the combat you will do is one on one. You have the ability to pull off combos but usually your best strategy will be to hit the X button over and over to drain their health. Now should you get into a tight spot, like the enemy knocking you against a wall or knocking you down, the game will switch over to a quicktime event where you have to hit a button to dodge the attack. Now in some cases if you miss Elika will save you but the enemy will regain some of its health. But don't worry Elika will always save you and you can't die in combat. You will just need to get good at the quicktime events otherwise some of the later boss battles will stretch on a lot longer than they should.
A lot of people have said that this game is pretty easy. Well they are right and they are wrong. If you should miss a jump or hit one of the environmental hazards Elika will save you and take you back to the last checkpoint. Usually these aren't too far away and is usually on the last piece of solid ground you were standing on. Now later in the game there will be long jumping stretches where one mistake causes you to do the whole thing over again and doing them over and over can get frustrating. But about the only incentive to not die is first so you don't have to repeat jumps and secondly to try to unlock an achievement for having her save you less than 100 times. It would have just have been nice for the Prince to have some sort of life bar during fights so there is at least some excitement. Personally I just wanted to not screw up and have them regain half their health and take another 10 minutes to get to where I was before.
In this game the character of the Prince comes off as a bit annoying. He obviously doesn't want to be in this situation and he shows it. It's one of those cases where the main character in a game just isn't that likable. Elika is an interesting character and you can do a pretty good job of sympathizing for her but most of the time with the Prince you just want to him to be quiet.
I should talk about the dialogue in the game. First off the voice acting is done really well. Even though the Prince isn't the greatest character in the world his lines as well as Elika's lines are delivered very well. Now whenever dialogue is supposed to happen in the game a small icon will appear in the bottom corner of the screen telling you to press the left trigger. This will start a short conversation between Elika and the Prince. But sometimes you will have to hit the button over and over again and lots of times they wind up repeating themselves and you just want to skip it and move onto the rest of the game.
The story itself is pretty standard fare. As I said Elika's father releases a dark god that corrupts the land. This kind of thing has been done before and they don't really throw anything new into the mix. About the only thing that is different is the ending which I won't spoil.
I think the last thing I should talk about is the graphics. This game looks downright beautiful. The art is done is a cell shaded style and it is very pretty to look at. There are also some amazing draw distances. You can stand on a platform and look off in the distance and see one of the other areas of the game. This is one of those games that really has to be appreciated on an HDTV. I don't know what this game would look like in standard definition but in HD it looks amazing. I did notice a few times where the framerate slowed a bit but it was never game breaking or too distracting.
If you are a fan of the Prince of Persia series then you should really check this game out. This is also a game that might appeal to more casual gamers due to its fairly low difficulty and length (you can finish the game easily in under 10-12 hours). Now if you are the kind of person that is looking for a straight action game then this is not what you should be looking for. But if you want a game with some fun platforming and beautiful graphics then I would check this out.
My score: 7.5/10
Now in 2008 Ubisoft has released the newest Prince of Persia game and the first game in the series to appear on current generation consoles (unless you count Prince of Persia: Rival Swords but that was just Two Thrones with some extras added for the Wii).
This game gives us a new Prince and a new side character named Elika. The Prince this time around is a tomb raider who has lost his donkey (oddly enough named Farah, the name of the female lead from Sands of Time). He winds up running into Elika as she is being chased by some soldiers. He is then thrown into the middle of a battle between her and her father in which he releases a dark god from his prison. This causes the land to become corrupted and you and Elika have to go to each part of the land and rid it of corruption.
When you first enter an area that hasn't been cleared it will be dark and there will be enemies and environmental traps. But when an area has been cleared those go away and these things called Light Seeds show up. They are supposed to be what gives Elika her power to perform magic but all they really are is a way for the game to make you explore. For those that like achievements you can collect all 1000 or you can just collect what the game wants you to. This does mean that from time to time you will finish the areas you have open and then find you have to wander around the world collecting 100 or so light seeds to open up the next area. I don't mind this that much but I think the numbers they wanted were a bit high.
Now since you have another character with you it adds a few moves to the Prince's arsenal. The first thing is if you are going for a jump and is just a little too far you can hit the Y button and Elika will grab you and throw you forward. Also during a fight you can use the same button to have Elika do a magic attack on the enemy. One interesting thing about Elika is she can match the Prince stride for stride in his crazy moves and it's cool at times to watch her running across a wall or jumping from one pole to another.
Speaking of combat unlike the previous games all the combat you will do is one on one. You have the ability to pull off combos but usually your best strategy will be to hit the X button over and over to drain their health. Now should you get into a tight spot, like the enemy knocking you against a wall or knocking you down, the game will switch over to a quicktime event where you have to hit a button to dodge the attack. Now in some cases if you miss Elika will save you but the enemy will regain some of its health. But don't worry Elika will always save you and you can't die in combat. You will just need to get good at the quicktime events otherwise some of the later boss battles will stretch on a lot longer than they should.
A lot of people have said that this game is pretty easy. Well they are right and they are wrong. If you should miss a jump or hit one of the environmental hazards Elika will save you and take you back to the last checkpoint. Usually these aren't too far away and is usually on the last piece of solid ground you were standing on. Now later in the game there will be long jumping stretches where one mistake causes you to do the whole thing over again and doing them over and over can get frustrating. But about the only incentive to not die is first so you don't have to repeat jumps and secondly to try to unlock an achievement for having her save you less than 100 times. It would have just have been nice for the Prince to have some sort of life bar during fights so there is at least some excitement. Personally I just wanted to not screw up and have them regain half their health and take another 10 minutes to get to where I was before.
In this game the character of the Prince comes off as a bit annoying. He obviously doesn't want to be in this situation and he shows it. It's one of those cases where the main character in a game just isn't that likable. Elika is an interesting character and you can do a pretty good job of sympathizing for her but most of the time with the Prince you just want to him to be quiet.
I should talk about the dialogue in the game. First off the voice acting is done really well. Even though the Prince isn't the greatest character in the world his lines as well as Elika's lines are delivered very well. Now whenever dialogue is supposed to happen in the game a small icon will appear in the bottom corner of the screen telling you to press the left trigger. This will start a short conversation between Elika and the Prince. But sometimes you will have to hit the button over and over again and lots of times they wind up repeating themselves and you just want to skip it and move onto the rest of the game.
The story itself is pretty standard fare. As I said Elika's father releases a dark god that corrupts the land. This kind of thing has been done before and they don't really throw anything new into the mix. About the only thing that is different is the ending which I won't spoil.
I think the last thing I should talk about is the graphics. This game looks downright beautiful. The art is done is a cell shaded style and it is very pretty to look at. There are also some amazing draw distances. You can stand on a platform and look off in the distance and see one of the other areas of the game. This is one of those games that really has to be appreciated on an HDTV. I don't know what this game would look like in standard definition but in HD it looks amazing. I did notice a few times where the framerate slowed a bit but it was never game breaking or too distracting.
If you are a fan of the Prince of Persia series then you should really check this game out. This is also a game that might appeal to more casual gamers due to its fairly low difficulty and length (you can finish the game easily in under 10-12 hours). Now if you are the kind of person that is looking for a straight action game then this is not what you should be looking for. But if you want a game with some fun platforming and beautiful graphics then I would check this out.
My score: 7.5/10
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Gadget review: iPhone 3G
Normally this is where I'd do a full review of the iPhone 3G that I just got to go with my AT&T plan. But instead of typing forever and explaining all of the features I figured I'd just give a list of the pros and cons of the phone.
Pros:
* Full featured Internet including Safari browser
* Many useful downloadable applications
* Built-in iPod music player
* Ability to access iTunes
* 2 megapixel camera
* Lots of storage space
* Responsive touchscreen
* Very easy to use interface
* Built-in GPS
* Visual voicemail allows you to listen to them in any order
* Organizes text messages in a chat style window
* Access to email clients like AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail and Microsoft Exchange
* Built-in Wi-Fi
* And many many others
Cons:
* Battery life leaves a bit to be desired
* Changing from portrait to landscape can be delayed
* Internet speeds could be a bit faster but are still 1mb on average outside Wi-Fi
* Phone is a thieves dream
* Only works (legitimately) on AT&T's network
* No video camera
* Can't send images or video via text message
* Can't save documents from email attachments
* Can't use most iPod chargers to charge the phone
* $30 a month data plan is required
That's about all I can think of in both categories. All in all this is a very good phone and the pros far outweigh the cons. If you have AT&T and are willing to spend the money it's worth it to have access to everything the phone offers. If all you want is email then you are probably better off with a Blackberry or a Palm. But if you want to use the Internet right now the iPhone is one of your best bets. Lastly I will say if you have the money to spend you should probably go with the 3GS as it has a few more features including a video camera and better battery life. But right now you can probably get a very good deal for an 8gb 3G for $50 or less.
My score: 9.0/10
Pros:
* Full featured Internet including Safari browser
* Many useful downloadable applications
* Built-in iPod music player
* Ability to access iTunes
* 2 megapixel camera
* Lots of storage space
* Responsive touchscreen
* Very easy to use interface
* Built-in GPS
* Visual voicemail allows you to listen to them in any order
* Organizes text messages in a chat style window
* Access to email clients like AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail and Microsoft Exchange
* Built-in Wi-Fi
* And many many others
Cons:
* Battery life leaves a bit to be desired
* Changing from portrait to landscape can be delayed
* Internet speeds could be a bit faster but are still 1mb on average outside Wi-Fi
* Phone is a thieves dream
* Only works (legitimately) on AT&T's network
* No video camera
* Can't send images or video via text message
* Can't save documents from email attachments
* Can't use most iPod chargers to charge the phone
* $30 a month data plan is required
That's about all I can think of in both categories. All in all this is a very good phone and the pros far outweigh the cons. If you have AT&T and are willing to spend the money it's worth it to have access to everything the phone offers. If all you want is email then you are probably better off with a Blackberry or a Palm. But if you want to use the Internet right now the iPhone is one of your best bets. Lastly I will say if you have the money to spend you should probably go with the 3GS as it has a few more features including a video camera and better battery life. But right now you can probably get a very good deal for an 8gb 3G for $50 or less.
My score: 9.0/10
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Game review: 1 Vs. 100
Back in 2006 NBC premier a game show called 1 Vs. 100. The premise of the show is one contestant would be answering questions to move up a money ladder similar to the format of the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Like Millionaire the top prize of the show is $1,000,000. But what separates the show from Millionaire is that there are also 100 other people answering the questions. These people are known as the mob. The only way to win all of the money is to not get any questions wrong and to know out every member of the mob and be the only one left standing.
The show would mix things up by putting people like brain surgeons, rock scientists, nuns, Hooters girls and even Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings in the mob. Now if at any point the person answering the questions gets a question wrong all of the money he or she has won gets split amongst the remaining members of the mob.
Microsoft has decided to bring the show to Xbox Live. A few months ago they premiered the game in an open beta. The game is free to play for anyone with an Xbox Live Gold account.
There are two ways to play. The first being extended play where you and everyone else in the game answer a series of questions to earn points. If you get a question wrong you aren't knocked out but it does hurt your point total. You can also earn bonus points by building up a streak of correct answers. If you answer three questions correct in a row you earn the ability to skip a question. You won't get any points for this question but it doesn't end your streak to use a skip.
The questions are shown in a multiple answer format. The question is show and three answers appear one at a time on the screen and you hit the appropriate button on the controller to lock in your answer within the given time. You can also earn bonus points for how fast you answer and if you do what is called an instant answer where you hit the button immediately after the answer appears on the screen.
Your in-game persona is shown as your Xbox Live Avatar. You get to see the avatars of other players and get to see them dance around when they get an answer right and see them hang their heads and frown when they get an answer wrong. This helps to bring a feeling of community to the game and gives people a chance to see your avatar.
The other format of the game is the live show where prizes are up for grabs. These shows are usually done once or twice a week, usually on a Friday. The prize ranges from free Xbox Live Arcade games to as much as 10,000 Microsoft Points. Now the format of this is a bit different and follows the show more closely. When everyone logs in the game's lobby the game searches for the best player to be the one going up against the mob. This is determined by your overall lifetime score as well as your percentage of correct answers and how quickly you answer questions. The person who is determined to be the best player is chosen. Then the game chooses the next 100 best players to make up the mob. Any other players can play the game as the crowd but you aren't up for any prizes. Now I have to say that I haven't actually played in one of the live shows yet. There is one this coming Friday that I hoping to participate in and I will let you know what happens. Most likely I will wind up in the crowd and I know I won't be the one and it's very unlikely I'll wind up in the mob.
I have watched a video on YouTube of what one of the live shows looks like and it is very similar to the extended play but what is added is the mob members being knocked out and the addition of the person going against the mob. Also as the player gets questions correct you can see a box at the bottom of the screen that shows how high up the prize has gotten. But of course if you are in the mob and get a question wrong you are out and you won't get a cut of the prize should the one miss a question. Also if you are in the mob you can't attempt to play again for a prize until the next live show comes out. This is to prevent people from abusing the system.
The graphics in the game are pretty good for what is essentially an Xbox Live Arcade game. The avatars all look really good and they even got an avatar of the real show's current host and hostess and they both supplied their voices for the game.
But probably the biggest downside of the game is since it is free for the beta and is likely to remain free when the full version of the game comes out it is full of ads. Right now Sprint seems to be the main sponsor so when you enter the game's lobby you are immediately shown a Sprint commercial. Also during the extended play games after every 12 or 13 questions there is a break so you can look at stats but also so that they can show you a few commercials. This is a good time to put your TV on mute or to make a quick run to the bathroom.
Overall I think this game could be pretty good but if enough people play it then the likelihood that most people will get a chance to be the one or be in the mob will get less and less likely as time goes on. Now supposedly the live shows run for 2 hours so there is a chance that you could wind up in the mob but keep in mind there are a lot of people out there that have nothing better to do than to sit and play one game for hours on end to increase their score.
One last thing I should mention is the game can only be played certain times during the day. The game runs on a schedule and it usually starts each night around 7:30pm EST and runs until midnight. For extended play the time is broken up into half hour games. Most of the time it is general trivia but sometimes you'll get subject like In the News, Sports, Movie Quotes, Soccer, Super Hard and even user submitted questions.
As I said before I think this game has the potential to be good and I recommend going into it just looking for a fun trivia game. If you go into it with the soul purpose of trying to win something you might wind up being disappointed. Since this game hasn't fully come out yet and is still in beta I won't give it a score but if you are a 360 with an Xbox Live Gold account you should check it out.
The show would mix things up by putting people like brain surgeons, rock scientists, nuns, Hooters girls and even Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings in the mob. Now if at any point the person answering the questions gets a question wrong all of the money he or she has won gets split amongst the remaining members of the mob.
Microsoft has decided to bring the show to Xbox Live. A few months ago they premiered the game in an open beta. The game is free to play for anyone with an Xbox Live Gold account.
There are two ways to play. The first being extended play where you and everyone else in the game answer a series of questions to earn points. If you get a question wrong you aren't knocked out but it does hurt your point total. You can also earn bonus points by building up a streak of correct answers. If you answer three questions correct in a row you earn the ability to skip a question. You won't get any points for this question but it doesn't end your streak to use a skip.
The questions are shown in a multiple answer format. The question is show and three answers appear one at a time on the screen and you hit the appropriate button on the controller to lock in your answer within the given time. You can also earn bonus points for how fast you answer and if you do what is called an instant answer where you hit the button immediately after the answer appears on the screen.
Your in-game persona is shown as your Xbox Live Avatar. You get to see the avatars of other players and get to see them dance around when they get an answer right and see them hang their heads and frown when they get an answer wrong. This helps to bring a feeling of community to the game and gives people a chance to see your avatar.
The other format of the game is the live show where prizes are up for grabs. These shows are usually done once or twice a week, usually on a Friday. The prize ranges from free Xbox Live Arcade games to as much as 10,000 Microsoft Points. Now the format of this is a bit different and follows the show more closely. When everyone logs in the game's lobby the game searches for the best player to be the one going up against the mob. This is determined by your overall lifetime score as well as your percentage of correct answers and how quickly you answer questions. The person who is determined to be the best player is chosen. Then the game chooses the next 100 best players to make up the mob. Any other players can play the game as the crowd but you aren't up for any prizes. Now I have to say that I haven't actually played in one of the live shows yet. There is one this coming Friday that I hoping to participate in and I will let you know what happens. Most likely I will wind up in the crowd and I know I won't be the one and it's very unlikely I'll wind up in the mob.
I have watched a video on YouTube of what one of the live shows looks like and it is very similar to the extended play but what is added is the mob members being knocked out and the addition of the person going against the mob. Also as the player gets questions correct you can see a box at the bottom of the screen that shows how high up the prize has gotten. But of course if you are in the mob and get a question wrong you are out and you won't get a cut of the prize should the one miss a question. Also if you are in the mob you can't attempt to play again for a prize until the next live show comes out. This is to prevent people from abusing the system.
The graphics in the game are pretty good for what is essentially an Xbox Live Arcade game. The avatars all look really good and they even got an avatar of the real show's current host and hostess and they both supplied their voices for the game.
But probably the biggest downside of the game is since it is free for the beta and is likely to remain free when the full version of the game comes out it is full of ads. Right now Sprint seems to be the main sponsor so when you enter the game's lobby you are immediately shown a Sprint commercial. Also during the extended play games after every 12 or 13 questions there is a break so you can look at stats but also so that they can show you a few commercials. This is a good time to put your TV on mute or to make a quick run to the bathroom.
Overall I think this game could be pretty good but if enough people play it then the likelihood that most people will get a chance to be the one or be in the mob will get less and less likely as time goes on. Now supposedly the live shows run for 2 hours so there is a chance that you could wind up in the mob but keep in mind there are a lot of people out there that have nothing better to do than to sit and play one game for hours on end to increase their score.
One last thing I should mention is the game can only be played certain times during the day. The game runs on a schedule and it usually starts each night around 7:30pm EST and runs until midnight. For extended play the time is broken up into half hour games. Most of the time it is general trivia but sometimes you'll get subject like In the News, Sports, Movie Quotes, Soccer, Super Hard and even user submitted questions.
As I said before I think this game has the potential to be good and I recommend going into it just looking for a fun trivia game. If you go into it with the soul purpose of trying to win something you might wind up being disappointed. Since this game hasn't fully come out yet and is still in beta I won't give it a score but if you are a 360 with an Xbox Live Gold account you should check it out.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Movie review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth movie in the Harry Potter franchise. Based off the extremely popular book series of the same name. If you aren't familiar with the series it follows a young boy named Harry Potter. Back in the first installment he finds out that he's a wizard. Not only is he a wizard but he's also a very special boy. His parents were both killed by a dark wizard named Lord Voldemort. Harry however managed to survive an attack that should have killed anyone else and Voldemort was left a shell of his former self.
The sixth film starts up with the world still reeling from the news that Lord Voldemort has come back to life and his followers (know as Death Eaters) are wreaking havoc throughout the world. Harry is returning to school for his sixth out of seven total years. But things this time around have gotten pretty dark.
The headmaster of the school, Dumbledore, has asked Harry assistance in becoming friends with the new potions professor named Slughorn. I won't go too heavy into the details as I don't want to spoil any key parts of the plot for those of you that haven't read the books.
Now obviously the comparisons are going to be made between the book and the movie. Now the book is over 500 pages long and the movie runs about 2 hours and 20 minutes. So obviously they had to cut a few things out. But thankfully nothing that is cut out is too important. Also the author J.K. Rowling has final say about what goes into the movies so nothing that is left on the cutting room floor will hurt the overall flow of the movie or the rest of the series.
All of the actors from the previous movies have returned to reprise their roles. Now all of the kids are supposed to be around 16 or 17 but the actors are now all in their 20s. This is pretty obvious but it's easy enough to get over that fact and just enjoy the movie for what it is. Because at this stage any recasting of the major characters would have hurt the franchise a great deal. Now I do like the actor that plays Dumbledore but I still wish that Richard Harris hadn't died because I think he played the character very well in the first two movies. But Michael Gambon has shown himself to be a suitable replacement.
Now does this movie rank amongst the other Harry Potter movies? While it isn't the best of the bunch it's not the worst either. But overall it didn't flow as well as previous entries in the series and almost seems to be a placeholder to set the events that are going to happen in the last chapter.
The interesting thing is that it was decided that due to the length of the last book the studio is pulling a Kill Bill and splitting it into two seperate movies. I think this is a really good idea and should make it so they can include everything that needs to be in there to wrap up the series.
All I can say at this point is if you aren't a fan of the series I can't really recommend this movie. You won't know what's going on or who the characters are and would probably feel lost. Now if you are looking to get into the series then obviously you should start with the first movie and work your way up. But if you are a fan of the series I think you'll find this to be a good edition to the franchise.
My score: 7.5/10
The sixth film starts up with the world still reeling from the news that Lord Voldemort has come back to life and his followers (know as Death Eaters) are wreaking havoc throughout the world. Harry is returning to school for his sixth out of seven total years. But things this time around have gotten pretty dark.
The headmaster of the school, Dumbledore, has asked Harry assistance in becoming friends with the new potions professor named Slughorn. I won't go too heavy into the details as I don't want to spoil any key parts of the plot for those of you that haven't read the books.
Now obviously the comparisons are going to be made between the book and the movie. Now the book is over 500 pages long and the movie runs about 2 hours and 20 minutes. So obviously they had to cut a few things out. But thankfully nothing that is cut out is too important. Also the author J.K. Rowling has final say about what goes into the movies so nothing that is left on the cutting room floor will hurt the overall flow of the movie or the rest of the series.
All of the actors from the previous movies have returned to reprise their roles. Now all of the kids are supposed to be around 16 or 17 but the actors are now all in their 20s. This is pretty obvious but it's easy enough to get over that fact and just enjoy the movie for what it is. Because at this stage any recasting of the major characters would have hurt the franchise a great deal. Now I do like the actor that plays Dumbledore but I still wish that Richard Harris hadn't died because I think he played the character very well in the first two movies. But Michael Gambon has shown himself to be a suitable replacement.
Now does this movie rank amongst the other Harry Potter movies? While it isn't the best of the bunch it's not the worst either. But overall it didn't flow as well as previous entries in the series and almost seems to be a placeholder to set the events that are going to happen in the last chapter.
The interesting thing is that it was decided that due to the length of the last book the studio is pulling a Kill Bill and splitting it into two seperate movies. I think this is a really good idea and should make it so they can include everything that needs to be in there to wrap up the series.
All I can say at this point is if you aren't a fan of the series I can't really recommend this movie. You won't know what's going on or who the characters are and would probably feel lost. Now if you are looking to get into the series then obviously you should start with the first movie and work your way up. But if you are a fan of the series I think you'll find this to be a good edition to the franchise.
My score: 7.5/10
Monday, August 3, 2009
Game review: Guitar Hero - Metallica
In 2008 the people at Activision released their first Guitar Hero game themed after one specific artist with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. The game was a moderate success but the fact that it was pretty short and really easy compared to the other games hurt it. Now Activision has released the spiritual successor with the release of Guitar Hero: Metallica.
Now Metallica is one of the biggest bands in the world and with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year and their release of their latest album Death Magnetic have been thrust back into the spotlight. So it makes sense for a game to be released revolving around their music.
So how does this game fare against the other Guitar Hero games? I would say that it fairs really well. Now first off if you are not a fan of Metallica's music or their style of music then this game probably isn't for you. Not all of the songs in the game are by Metallica but the artists that make up the rest of the songs in the game are bands like Motorhead, Corrosion of Conformity, Mastodon, Judas Priest, Alice In Chains, System of a Down and Slayer. There are also two songs by Bob Seger and Queen thrown in but this is only because Metallica has covered both of those respective songs and I guess they thought it would be nice to throw in the originals.
Right off the bat I have to say that this game is hard. While Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was pretty simple and could be blown through in a day Guitar Hero: Metallica is not something you are going to blow through quickly unless you are a pretty experienced Guitar Hero player. As you may know from my previous reviews I'm not exactly a god at these games. I can play a few songs there and there on expert on guitar but I mostly stick to the hard difficulty and that will give me a tough time on some of the more difficult songs. The game does have a decent progression from the easier songs to the ones that are next to impossible but even the middle of the road ones are tougher than some of the songs from previous games in the series. When you get up to songs like Master of Puppets, Fight Fire With Fire and War Ensemble by Slayer you will be straining yourself to get through them.
The game does allow full band support as was first seen with the franchise with Guitar Hero: World Tour. So this means that you can do guitar, bass, vocals or drums. As with World Tour if you don't own their drum set you can use the Rock Band set with just fewer notes on the screen and therefore a lower score overall.
One inclusion they did with this game is the addition of a higher difficulty for the drums called Expert +. It doesn't really add any new drum notes but it increases the number of bass drum notes. So songs like Dyers Eve get a lot harder. What was added in to accommodate this was the ability to use two foot pedals. Thus making you play like Lars. The problem is a lot of people have had issues with the responsiveness of two pedals at once. Now I can only vouch for how well two pedals worked with Rock Band 2 and in that case it was not well at all. So if you don't own the Guitar Hero drum set I can't say if it will work for you at all.
In a game like this graphics aren't the most important thing. But the graphics in this game are very good. All four of the current members of the band have been fully rendered and look just like their real-life counterparts. The members of Metallica also did extensive motion capture sessions so they act just like they do on stage. This really helps bring the band to life and makes you feel like you are taking part in a Metallica show.
When you beat a song in the game you open up some extras for that song. There are lyrics sheets and videos as well as a feature called "Metallifacts." This lets you see facts about the song while watching it play. It's a nice feature but as of right now it's not something I've messed around with.
Overall this is a good entry in the Guitar Hero franchise. If you are a fan of Metallica then you should definitely pick this one up. If you are new to Guitar Hero this probably isn't the best place to start. Due to the game's high difficulty you might find yourself easily frustrated and I'd recommend going to a game like Rock Band or World Tour.
My score: 7.5/10
Now Metallica is one of the biggest bands in the world and with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year and their release of their latest album Death Magnetic have been thrust back into the spotlight. So it makes sense for a game to be released revolving around their music.
So how does this game fare against the other Guitar Hero games? I would say that it fairs really well. Now first off if you are not a fan of Metallica's music or their style of music then this game probably isn't for you. Not all of the songs in the game are by Metallica but the artists that make up the rest of the songs in the game are bands like Motorhead, Corrosion of Conformity, Mastodon, Judas Priest, Alice In Chains, System of a Down and Slayer. There are also two songs by Bob Seger and Queen thrown in but this is only because Metallica has covered both of those respective songs and I guess they thought it would be nice to throw in the originals.
Right off the bat I have to say that this game is hard. While Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was pretty simple and could be blown through in a day Guitar Hero: Metallica is not something you are going to blow through quickly unless you are a pretty experienced Guitar Hero player. As you may know from my previous reviews I'm not exactly a god at these games. I can play a few songs there and there on expert on guitar but I mostly stick to the hard difficulty and that will give me a tough time on some of the more difficult songs. The game does have a decent progression from the easier songs to the ones that are next to impossible but even the middle of the road ones are tougher than some of the songs from previous games in the series. When you get up to songs like Master of Puppets, Fight Fire With Fire and War Ensemble by Slayer you will be straining yourself to get through them.
The game does allow full band support as was first seen with the franchise with Guitar Hero: World Tour. So this means that you can do guitar, bass, vocals or drums. As with World Tour if you don't own their drum set you can use the Rock Band set with just fewer notes on the screen and therefore a lower score overall.
One inclusion they did with this game is the addition of a higher difficulty for the drums called Expert +. It doesn't really add any new drum notes but it increases the number of bass drum notes. So songs like Dyers Eve get a lot harder. What was added in to accommodate this was the ability to use two foot pedals. Thus making you play like Lars. The problem is a lot of people have had issues with the responsiveness of two pedals at once. Now I can only vouch for how well two pedals worked with Rock Band 2 and in that case it was not well at all. So if you don't own the Guitar Hero drum set I can't say if it will work for you at all.
In a game like this graphics aren't the most important thing. But the graphics in this game are very good. All four of the current members of the band have been fully rendered and look just like their real-life counterparts. The members of Metallica also did extensive motion capture sessions so they act just like they do on stage. This really helps bring the band to life and makes you feel like you are taking part in a Metallica show.
When you beat a song in the game you open up some extras for that song. There are lyrics sheets and videos as well as a feature called "Metallifacts." This lets you see facts about the song while watching it play. It's a nice feature but as of right now it's not something I've messed around with.
Overall this is a good entry in the Guitar Hero franchise. If you are a fan of Metallica then you should definitely pick this one up. If you are new to Guitar Hero this probably isn't the best place to start. Due to the game's high difficulty you might find yourself easily frustrated and I'd recommend going to a game like Rock Band or World Tour.
My score: 7.5/10
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