All reviews - Movies (27) - TV Shows (4) - DVDs (4) - Books (4) - Music (8) - Games (19)

Pilgrim, The Eastwood Of The Future

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 14 June 2009 07:06 (A review of Just a Pilgrim)

I'm a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre so when I came across Just A Pilgrim in my current comic stint I was very interested since it was created by Garth Ennis, who is very popular in the comic industry for his work on Preacher, and set in a post-apocalyptic future that could actually happen. And I wasn't not disappointed.

Just A Pilgrim is set in a unknown future time when the Sun starts to die and expands and consumes Mercury and Venus and causes the seas to boil and dry up on Earth and makes the planet a barren wasteland. It starts and semi-narrated by a young boy, via journal entries, that comes across a lone man, known only as Pilgrim, that helps out the group of travelers the boy is with to a place to try and start life over again. As they group is traveling they are attacked by a group of pirates that is lead by a blind, dual peg legged, dual hooked captain. Pilgrim thwarts the most of the attack and the rest of the comic series is the group trying to get away from the pirates, figure out the origins of the Pilgrim, and just trying to survive.
The art for the series is great looking that leans toward more realistic look but not trying to be too serious, much like the look in Preacher, and gives the dreary look that should come with being in a post-apocalyptic setting.

I really liked the story, setting, art, and some of the subtle jokes and would recommend to any Garth Ennis or post-apocalyptic fans.

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Tozzer Is A Tosser

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 14 June 2009 06:23 (A review of Tozzer and the Invisible Lap Dancers)

I've been on sort of a comic/graphic novel/trade paperback stint so when I won a comic that I was looking for on eBay, I forgot what I was now, I checked out the sellers other items and found Tozzer and the Invisible Lap Dancers for a couple dollars and said "What the heck?". After reading it, I now wished I hadn't said that.

The story is really stupid trying to be a spoof of Harry Potter but all the jokes are really just toilet humor.
The art is okay with the characters look a little exaggerated and squared but the actors and actresses that are being made fun of are still easy to recognize without indicators. And the art is the only reason that I didn't totally hate it.

I barely cared to finish it and I would only recommend this to people that find the more recent "comedy" movies (Not A Teen Movie, Epic Movie, Meet The Spartans, etc.) as the best comedy movies ever.

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Uncharted No More

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 14 June 2009 04:06 (A review of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune)

At the launch of the PS3 many of the games that came out for the system were either also on the Xbox 360 or not that good. That was until Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was released that the PS3 finally had a must have title.

Uncharted stars Nathan Drake, supposed direct reletive to Sir Francis Drake, who is in search of Sir Francis Drake's lost tresure and prove that he faked his death to keep it a secrect.
The story in Uncharted is very engaging and very well written in that if it were to be made into a real life movie that critics would call it a modern day Indiana Jones with well rounded characters, lush settings and a twist that the end, while some what predictable, is very fulfilling and leaves players wanting more from Nathan and his crew.
Gameplay is a mix of both adventure ruin crawling, which is really fun even if the whole game is very liener and pointed out by lighter colored objects, and cover based 3rd person shooting that is pretty easy to understand after a couple minutes but can be a little furistating sometimes because of too many enemies and some collision detection problems.
Graphically the game is still stunning even after two since its release. Most of the game is set in a tropical island with tropic jungle, Spanish and ancient civilization ruins, and even a secrect underground German submarine base which are all textured to such detail that the game feels alive. Also the water effects are really great that when Nathan gets wet that he looks as if he was really wet, abet for a short time.
Musically the game is on par with every other adventure game but adds elememts of tribial sounds that fit tropical setting.

Overall the game is a wonderful treat to play, a must own game for any PS3 owner, and will leave players wanting more.

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Ride Your Music Spectrum

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 14 June 2009 03:01 (A review of Audiosurf)

My friends pick up Audiosurf before I did and when I first saw the game in action I wasn't so impressed but when I saw it on sale on Steam I decided the pick it up and give it a more in depth look.

The gameplay is pretty simple in that the player picks a song from their music collector on their computers and the game calculates the different parts of the music (metre, tempo, volume, etc.) and creates a roller coster like track that players ride and places colored blocks along the track that players try and pick up. Their are multiple options on how the blocks are laid out; whether having colored and grey blocks, multiple colors that appoint different point values, co-op, and a couple others that make playing the same song different.
Visually the game looks very simple and is basically a big visualizer with mostly neon bright colors and flashing lights, which makes the game very compatible to play on even the oldest or underpowered computer out their.
Of course the music is the most appealing part of the game because it's the player that choices the song to be played; whether it's metal, techno, classical, rock or what ever the game makes the ride enjoyable.

As I said in the introduction I wasn't that impressed with the game but after a extended round of play I've changed a bit that for the price I paid it was worth it.

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Tech Demo, Nothing Else

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 14 June 2009 01:34 (A review of Linger in Shadows)

Since Sony brought out trophies to the PS3 I have been looking at PSN games for both their gameplay and trophies and so when I saw that a couple friends had this "game" and it was only $2.99, I thought what could I lose? While I didn't lose too much, Linger in Shadows isn't totally worth the $2.99 or 16 trophies.

The whole premise to Linger in Shadows is to be a work of interactive art and I would agree as the only real options in Linger in Shadows are Watch, which allows the player watch the whole video sequence with the ability to stop and start and look around for any detail the player wants to see, and Linger mode, which runs through the video and requires the player the figure out how to continue on with video sequence.
Visually and musically the game looks and sounds like a Team Ico game as the the colors are blurred and a tad white washed and the music is filled with over zealous orchestral piece that sounds a bit off for the situation. Also one of the character designs look like one of the giants from Shadow of the Colossus.

Linger in Shadows is really weird and I would only recommended to art afficionado's, trophy whores, Team Ico fans, or people that get it free somehow.

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Bee's, Cheese, and Wit = W&G

Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 11 April 2009 09:59 (A review of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures)

Telltales Games are a bunch of developers formally a part of old school LucasArts studios and went off the restarted the Sam & Max series and have had great success with it bringing a sense of old school adventure games with witty writing. So when I heard that they were making episodic Wallace & Gromit games I jumped on immediately they were available and the first episode did not let me down.

Anyone that has seen a W&G short film will be familiar with the story's outline. Players assume either the klutzy inventor Wallace or his faithful and smarter dog Gromit in a misadventure where Wallace wants to bring fresh honey to everyone in the neighborhood. By misfortune with his cheese finding bot has to fill a very large order and creates a growth formula for the bee's. Well it goes wrong and hilarity ensues like the short films.

Gameplay is simple and easy for pretty much anyone that picks the game up with WASD controling where the character goes and mouse clicks to activates objects.
Graphic are simple but still make the game look close to being animated with clay and feeling like the W&G shorts.
What really shines are the writing and sound as the dialogue is witty and genuinely funny and the sound design is filled with funny filled FX and the voice acting is spot on by being just over the top like the shorts.
The only thing I found bad was the length of the game was a little too short for my tastes but others might find it perfect for when a couple hour are in need of wasting.

I've been fond of the Wallace & Gromit films since I was young and was thrilled to see Telltale Games pick up the license and make some good original stories and now I can't wait for the next episode.

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A cool parkour simulator

Posted : 8 months ago on 23 March 2009 02:23 (A review of Mirror's Edge)

EA for the past couple years have been stale and boring and not releasing anything really great or innovative. But EA has seems to have turned a new leaf with the past couple releases including Mirror's Edge.

The game is about Faith, a runner in a futuristic totalitarian world were everyone is under surveillance and any opposition to the powers at are quelled.
Faith finds herself part of a murder plot and she goes out to finds out the who's and why's.

Mirror's Edge main attraction is the gameplay as all of it is from a first person view and most of the time the player is running around climbing, jumping, sliding, and flying around than shooting. It's a weird experience to play and would advise people that are susceptible to motion sickness to either take precautions or not play the game.
Controls for the game are pretty easy to get used to so most players should be pulling the basic maneuvers pretty fast.
Graphics are kinda mix bag for me as the textures are nice but not great because everything is white washed, even though it fits the primary color's only future.
Music is pretty good and fits to the game well blending into the background making the player feel like Faith is wearing a MP3 player while running. Plus the theme to the game, Still Alive sung by Lisa Miskovsky, really nice sounding.

The only thing I really found annoying is the story is very simple and short and that the combat is very limited and needs work but overall the game is really good and would like to see a sequel sometime is the future.

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No Windbreaker Needed

Posted : 8 months, 2 weeks ago on 8 March 2009 04:20 (A review of Flower)

I liked the original flOw flash game and when I heard that they were going to make a HD version of it for the PS3 I was thrilled to see the company succeed. Now from ThatGameCompany comes Flower which feels a little bit like flOw but still feels like it's own game.

Players take the role of a gust of wind which allows them to flow around picking up flower petals which causes the levels fields to bloom into color.

Controls are very easy to understand. The wind is direction is controlled by the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis motion controller and any button pressed makes the gust go faster.
With uncomplicated levels, Flower is a gorgeous sight to see as flowers and grass are vibrantly colored and wonderfully move life like with the wind.
Another bonus is the games sound design. Kind of like Rez were there is background music and shooting causes beats to accrue Flower has a beautiful background soundtrack and blooming flowers cause single notes to sound off adding to the music.

One of the only downsides to the game is that it is short and can be finished in one sitting, for the price and experience Flower is a great game that I would recommend to anyone wanting to try something new.

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Next Stop: Vegas

Posted : 9 months, 3 weeks ago on 28 January 2009 11:07 (A review of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas)

I've been a fan of the Rainbow Six series since the beginning but after Raven Shield the series headed in a console centric direction. While Vegas has the console feel but still it a great game on the PC.

The play commands Logan Keller the new team leader of Rainbow, a international anti-terrorist organization, sent to a Mexican border town to capture Irena Morales who is a terrorist ringleader. Failing to capture Irena, Keller is ordered to head to Las Vegas to handle a new crisis there. The story is on par with any Tom Clancy book or game so it filled with action and a couple plot twists but overall its not memorable.

Gameplay takes on new features from previous installments. One is the cover system much like Kill.switch and Gears Of War players can take cover against almost anything and either blind fire to give covering fire or pop up and shoot. Another add in is a regenerative health system that is much like any other game that has one. In previous Rainbow Six games before each mission but with the going more console centric that went away and was replaced a simple order giving control scheme which in Vegas was refined and is pretty simple to give your team members orders to breach, grenade, flash, clear, etc.

Sound FX do sound great in the case of the weapon fire and other general FX's and the voice work is good and fit the game well and while the soundtrack is good and fits the game its just the same orchestral work like most games.

Overall the game is a great game to experience for fans of the Rainbow Six series.

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Symphony Of The Night In A Handheld

Posted : 9 months, 3 weeks ago on 27 January 2009 05:09 (A review of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance)

I had played a couple Castlevania games before Symphony Of The Night and wasn't thrilled but that changed after SotN and until Harmony of Dissonance's release, SotN was hard to beat. But along came HoD and boy did it feel like I was playing SotN on the go.

The story is pretty simple at the start, the player plays Juste Belmont and is a friend of Maxim and Lydie. So when Lydie is goes missing in a mysterious castle, both Juste and Maxim split up to search the castle to find Lydie. It gets a bit complicated and boring later on like most Castlevania games.

Really the gameplay is the main attraction and it's a 2D side scroller at its best. Lots of action with both fighting and platforming and having tight usable controls makes whipping, casting, and jumping a breeze.

Circle of the Moon was the previous Castlevania on the GBA and had real flaw of being very dark and made it really hard to see on the GBA. In HoD that problem was solved with colors that simply popped out and showed the capabilities of Nintendo's hardware.

The sound was also top notch for a GBA game with sound FX sounding close to real counter parts and the music being full and rich that gave the game true depth and almost gave SotN's soundtrack a run for its money.

Overall Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is a great game. For fans of Symphony Of The Night it's a must play but for the uninitiated to the Castlevania series it is a great game to start out with.

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Occupation: College Student

Relationship status: Single

Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Bruce Campbell, Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Russell Crowe, Matt Damon, Bruce Willis, Paul Giamatti, Jason Statham, Richard Dean Anderson, Mel Gibson, Jackie Chan, Ron Livingston, Damian Lewis, Mark Wahlberg

Rammstein, Megadeth, Living Sacrifice, Demon Hunter, Project 86, Rage Against the Machine, Killswitch Engage, Audioslave, "Weird Al" Yankovic, The Seatbelts, As I Lay Dying, Iced Earth, Thrice, Dogwood, Evanescence, The Showdown, Opeth, Zao, Relient K, Still Remains, Trivium, subseven, Nodes of Ranvier, Few Left Standing, They Might Be Giants, Five Iron Frenzy, Slick Shoes, Slayer, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jimmy Eat World, NOFX, Switchfoot, Pillar, Megaherz, Roper, The Beach Boys, The Black Mages, Disturbed, Black Sabbath, Black Flag

Tom Clancy, Douglas Adams, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Mick Foley