Managed to finish this game on the PS3 recently. Can't say I was all that impressed. For the record, I don't play them online. But, I do like a good shooter from time to time.
I've been playing them all the way back to Doom, Doom 2, Hexen.. In recent memory my favorites have been Gears of War I and II, Modern Warfare I and II.
So, needless to say I'm looking forward to Gears of War III and maybe whatever Infinity Wards successor intends to call Modern Warfare 3 when they get around to making one.
I found Black Ops to play well, graphics were good enough. It's just that the disjointed story was boring, and bouncing all over the place. And by the end the twist wasn't much of a surprise.
But then the last game they did didn't impress me much either. As this installment was done by Treyarch and I didn't much care for World at War either.. Bit of a pattern here.
So with that I would give it a 2 out of 5. Worth a rental, but barely I enjoyed the demo of Bulletstorm better.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Stargate Universe
The last episodes of SGU are somewhat depressing to watch, having known that the series has already been cancelled.
But, this weeks past episode was a very good one. The end of the arc that was in progress with the Aliens that the ship had encountered at the end of the mid season break.
I found it to be a very entertaining time travel episode, that works well within the SG Mythos with using the gate too close to a star, and having Rush come back from the future with a warning about that endeavor.
The series has been a great, gritty, hard SciFi breath of fresh air compared to the original two shows. Who were mostly TV Action / Adventure with a stab of comedy thrown in. Which was great, I have all the DVDs. But, Universe was also a wonderful show, and taken in a new direction. With a good cast of characters. With no cut and dry good and bad guys.
I just wish they would have had the knowledge so they could have wrapped the series, because apparently from what I have read they didn't know until after the season had finished. And the idea of possibly a TV movie is being tossed about. Of which I won't hold my breath, seeing as we still haven't gotten the rumored third SG movie, SG Atlantis movie either..
But, this weeks past episode was a very good one. The end of the arc that was in progress with the Aliens that the ship had encountered at the end of the mid season break.
I found it to be a very entertaining time travel episode, that works well within the SG Mythos with using the gate too close to a star, and having Rush come back from the future with a warning about that endeavor.
The series has been a great, gritty, hard SciFi breath of fresh air compared to the original two shows. Who were mostly TV Action / Adventure with a stab of comedy thrown in. Which was great, I have all the DVDs. But, Universe was also a wonderful show, and taken in a new direction. With a good cast of characters. With no cut and dry good and bad guys.
I just wish they would have had the knowledge so they could have wrapped the series, because apparently from what I have read they didn't know until after the season had finished. And the idea of possibly a TV movie is being tossed about. Of which I won't hold my breath, seeing as we still haven't gotten the rumored third SG movie, SG Atlantis movie either..
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Battle : Los Angeles
I've seen that some reviews have given this movie an abysmal 0.5 stars.. I'm left wondering exactly what it was that the reviewers expected when they went to see a movie of this type. Same things happen when all the big summer blockbusters and action movies come out. You know, the ones that you never see at the Oscars. And when you do, they never win any of the big respected awards (Inception)
Anyway, I feel that this movie would have worked a lot better if it had of been made into a 10 part HBO mini series produced by Spielberg and Hanks and having one of the largest budgets ever.. Because this was essentially a war movie. But instead of WW2 it was modern era with Bio Mechanical aliens that not much is known about.
Now, I had some problems with some logic of the movie. But, I can chalk most of that up to the fact that it is a movie. And too much realism would and should mean that the humans would lose. And lose badly.. For one, why is that humans are able to get the drop, or sneak on said Aliens. The ones who traveled thousands of light years to another world With starships and bio technology.. But they don't seem to have thermal imaging, better sensors or what have you.. I know, their aliens maybe they don't see things the same way. But, it breaks my suspension of disbelief nonetheless.
And one other is easily explained within the plot, they didn't know what they were up against. Because, as I was watching this I felt like the aliens that were overseas were probably going to have a hell of a lot harder time with places where RPGs and what not are a lot more common. But, as I said the squad the movie was based on didn't know what they were up against. And were not carrying what they would have preferred to use I would imagine. Given so, I would think they would take more grenades, grenade launchers, and stuff of that nature. Which by the end of the movie they had adjusted some and were doing much better.
I liked the idea that the aliens were wiping out the resistance by tracking and destroying wireless radio communications. That seemed to be smart, if the enemy can't coordinate and communicate it's really going to hamper them.
And having the invaders being some kind of Bio - technological force was interesting. I did find it annoying that you never really get to see them. Even in the heavy fighting scenes it's like quick shots and shaky footage. Almost like they didn't want you too see them, because the CGI wasn't finished or something.
They don't waste much time getting started at the beginning. And for my taste I would have preffered to see more at a higher level. What happened to all the A-10s and heavier weapons. We only see a couple tanks, and lots of Helos and infantry but not much else. The aliens have some kind of mobile weapon on legs that walks around. Which seemed odd, right out of WW2 or something. Didn't seem fitting to a species that has interstellar travel to have a weapon that leaves their operators so exposed.
And yes, at one point thay say they came for the water. Because it's liquid here. (Water being one of the most abundant substances in the universe).. They can once again travel the stars, but come who knows how far because with all this technology and resources they can't melt their own ice into water.. Granted they did say something about the composition of out water.. yeah.. At least the water doesn't melt them like it did in Signs. All the people had to do in that movie was spit at the aliens and blow holes in them.. And it was said that were using water as fuel, so maybe they invaded for another reason. And the decision had more to do with an abundant source of fuel they could use to gain it.
But this is a lot of over thinking.. The movie was a good War movie to me. A movie, not a film. I expect different things from Films than Movies. And they are like two different kinds of visual mediums. I just wish we had more information about the invasion at large. And if there are no sequels than we never find out the aftermath. But at least no one was hacking into an Alien mainframe computer with an Apple Macbook computer.. /groan
3.5 stars out of 5
Anyway, I feel that this movie would have worked a lot better if it had of been made into a 10 part HBO mini series produced by Spielberg and Hanks and having one of the largest budgets ever.. Because this was essentially a war movie. But instead of WW2 it was modern era with Bio Mechanical aliens that not much is known about.
Now, I had some problems with some logic of the movie. But, I can chalk most of that up to the fact that it is a movie. And too much realism would and should mean that the humans would lose. And lose badly.. For one, why is that humans are able to get the drop, or sneak on said Aliens. The ones who traveled thousands of light years to another world With starships and bio technology.. But they don't seem to have thermal imaging, better sensors or what have you.. I know, their aliens maybe they don't see things the same way. But, it breaks my suspension of disbelief nonetheless.
And one other is easily explained within the plot, they didn't know what they were up against. Because, as I was watching this I felt like the aliens that were overseas were probably going to have a hell of a lot harder time with places where RPGs and what not are a lot more common. But, as I said the squad the movie was based on didn't know what they were up against. And were not carrying what they would have preferred to use I would imagine. Given so, I would think they would take more grenades, grenade launchers, and stuff of that nature. Which by the end of the movie they had adjusted some and were doing much better.
I liked the idea that the aliens were wiping out the resistance by tracking and destroying wireless radio communications. That seemed to be smart, if the enemy can't coordinate and communicate it's really going to hamper them.
And having the invaders being some kind of Bio - technological force was interesting. I did find it annoying that you never really get to see them. Even in the heavy fighting scenes it's like quick shots and shaky footage. Almost like they didn't want you too see them, because the CGI wasn't finished or something.
They don't waste much time getting started at the beginning. And for my taste I would have preffered to see more at a higher level. What happened to all the A-10s and heavier weapons. We only see a couple tanks, and lots of Helos and infantry but not much else. The aliens have some kind of mobile weapon on legs that walks around. Which seemed odd, right out of WW2 or something. Didn't seem fitting to a species that has interstellar travel to have a weapon that leaves their operators so exposed.
And yes, at one point thay say they came for the water. Because it's liquid here. (Water being one of the most abundant substances in the universe).. They can once again travel the stars, but come who knows how far because with all this technology and resources they can't melt their own ice into water.. Granted they did say something about the composition of out water.. yeah.. At least the water doesn't melt them like it did in Signs. All the people had to do in that movie was spit at the aliens and blow holes in them.. And it was said that were using water as fuel, so maybe they invaded for another reason. And the decision had more to do with an abundant source of fuel they could use to gain it.
But this is a lot of over thinking.. The movie was a good War movie to me. A movie, not a film. I expect different things from Films than Movies. And they are like two different kinds of visual mediums. I just wish we had more information about the invasion at large. And if there are no sequels than we never find out the aftermath. But at least no one was hacking into an Alien mainframe computer with an Apple Macbook computer.. /groan
3.5 stars out of 5
Monday, March 7, 2011
Unknown
If this is the direction that Liam is going to be taking his career than I look forward to his next movie. Between this and Taken, I've seen two great dramas in the last year both by the same actor.
Granted, I pretty much had the movie figured out in the first 10 mins or so. The question seemed to be (Not to give any spoilers for a change) who was the real one. And would it be Liam or not?? Seeing he was the star, I had an idea which way this would go.
Suffice to say, it was a great piece. And I almost didn't go.
Great cast, Frank Langella is always good. And even being a WB movie, I like the European look and feel of the movie. Reminds me a lot of Ronin. No glossy, happy pretty lens like all the American films seem to have. I especially liked the character of Jurgen. The German PI that Liam visits, was a good character and I liked the actor as well.
4 out of 5 stars
Granted, I pretty much had the movie figured out in the first 10 mins or so. The question seemed to be (Not to give any spoilers for a change) who was the real one. And would it be Liam or not?? Seeing he was the star, I had an idea which way this would go.
Suffice to say, it was a great piece. And I almost didn't go.
Great cast, Frank Langella is always good. And even being a WB movie, I like the European look and feel of the movie. Reminds me a lot of Ronin. No glossy, happy pretty lens like all the American films seem to have. I especially liked the character of Jurgen. The German PI that Liam visits, was a good character and I liked the actor as well.
4 out of 5 stars
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Dragon Age 2
Downloaded the demo for the PC via Steam and on the PS3.. Would have tried the XBOX 360 but I need a gold account for that, and I don't have nor plan to get one.
Finished it on the PS3. It was pretty good, I like how it played. Similiar to DA1 but seemed to play smoother and better. Maybe it had to do with the frequent cut scenes and story elements thrown into the mix.
On the PC I found it to be clunky to play with mouse and keyboard.. Which I found to be somewhat odd, since I'm like a 12 year MMO veteran.. I should be used to the hotkeys and moving and mousing etc.. I did not finish it on PC.
I plan to rent it next week once it's released. DA1 only took me a couple weeks to run through as a Warrior once I sat down and worked on it. Oddly the same amount of time it took to finish Mass Effect 2 which I vastly preferred and I spent a lot more time in that two weeks on it.
I didn't play the add on for DA1 as by the time I had finished I had my fill of the game. Maybe sometime down the road they will release a DA mega pack with DA 1 & 2 as well as their add ons and DLC packs.
Finished it on the PS3. It was pretty good, I like how it played. Similiar to DA1 but seemed to play smoother and better. Maybe it had to do with the frequent cut scenes and story elements thrown into the mix.
On the PC I found it to be clunky to play with mouse and keyboard.. Which I found to be somewhat odd, since I'm like a 12 year MMO veteran.. I should be used to the hotkeys and moving and mousing etc.. I did not finish it on PC.
I plan to rent it next week once it's released. DA1 only took me a couple weeks to run through as a Warrior once I sat down and worked on it. Oddly the same amount of time it took to finish Mass Effect 2 which I vastly preferred and I spent a lot more time in that two weeks on it.
I didn't play the add on for DA1 as by the time I had finished I had my fill of the game. Maybe sometime down the road they will release a DA mega pack with DA 1 & 2 as well as their add ons and DLC packs.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Hoard
Downloaded the demo for this title from PSN. I had read about it, and it sounded fun. But it's being a multiplayer game was played up so I didn't bother seeing I would mainly be playing against the computer.
Seeing that a demo was available I downloaded it. And it was pretty fun actually. It's setup to resemble a board game. The dragons roost is in the center of the board. Surrounded by villages, a castle, roads, Princess' and farmland.
Your job is collect as much gold as possible. Each game is limited to 10 mins. And you can gain exp points to buy upgrades to your dragon. You have to watch out for enemy archers, knights and whatnot as well as enemy dragons.
And after 10 mins the game is over. Nothing carries over, and the next game starts over fresh. With scores supposed to go to Online leader boards. I've only played once so far. I plan to put some more time into the demo. I don't know if I will buy the full version or not. At $14.99 it seems a little pricey. If it were $10 I'd be an easy sell to me.
Download It
Seeing that a demo was available I downloaded it. And it was pretty fun actually. It's setup to resemble a board game. The dragons roost is in the center of the board. Surrounded by villages, a castle, roads, Princess' and farmland.
Your job is collect as much gold as possible. Each game is limited to 10 mins. And you can gain exp points to buy upgrades to your dragon. You have to watch out for enemy archers, knights and whatnot as well as enemy dragons.
And after 10 mins the game is over. Nothing carries over, and the next game starts over fresh. With scores supposed to go to Online leader boards. I've only played once so far. I plan to put some more time into the demo. I don't know if I will buy the full version or not. At $14.99 it seems a little pricey. If it were $10 I'd be an easy sell to me.
Download It
BulletStorm
Downloaded and played the demo from PSN yesterday on my PS3. I wasn't expecting much, but I was surprised. About as surprised as you can be playing a FPS these days. Since they all follow pretty much the same formula with just different backdrops and effects thrown in. Kinda like how Hollywood makes movies these days.
This time you you have your usual array of destructive weapons and firepower. But now you have this tractor beam bungie cord attached to your arm that you can grab people with and pull them back to you in bullet time so you can shoot their bits off, or whip them into objects. All of this garners you bonus points you can spend throughout the levels.
The demo was pretty short, one level. But did a good job of showing off the game. The game looks good, plays smooth and controls well. And like the Gears franchise (Epic in both counts) I love the mechanic of not using hit points and being able to duck into cover, to regenerate your invisible hit points, because we all know they are tracking damage somehow even if the points don't show on screen.
Definitely going to rent this one so I can run through the whole thing.
Rent It
This time you you have your usual array of destructive weapons and firepower. But now you have this tractor beam bungie cord attached to your arm that you can grab people with and pull them back to you in bullet time so you can shoot their bits off, or whip them into objects. All of this garners you bonus points you can spend throughout the levels.
The demo was pretty short, one level. But did a good job of showing off the game. The game looks good, plays smooth and controls well. And like the Gears franchise (Epic in both counts) I love the mechanic of not using hit points and being able to duck into cover, to regenerate your invisible hit points, because we all know they are tracking damage somehow even if the points don't show on screen.
Definitely going to rent this one so I can run through the whole thing.
Rent It
I am number four
Managed to get to see this one. I would have to say that it wasn't the most original thing I ever saw. And it has a rather strong resemblance to Percy Jackson. But then, the formula for both aren't original so maybe it's just that.
The problem I had, was just that there almost no plot laid out in the movie. We don't learn all that much about much of anything at all. There are enough seeds, that I am interested in seeing how it all plays out. Assuming that this one makes enough money (And all the books come out) to see sequels produced.
I liked the cast, the acting was good enough. And the best part of the cast was the dog. I very much enjoyed the dog. Especially at the end. And the beginning when he was a Chameleon Lizard.
Probably the best movie that had a large component in high school since Band Slam. Since we've been suffering through Twilight this last couple years.
The villains are all pretty bland, and rather pathetic actually compared the ones they hunt now that they are becoming of age. But, again we don't know anything. And not told much of anything. So it's hard to put into context. But by the time I left the theatre if these children of the gard are this powerful and getting stronger. And stronger together. How did these two bit villains ever destroy their planet?? We need more information and it better be forthcoming..
3 stars out of 5
The problem I had, was just that there almost no plot laid out in the movie. We don't learn all that much about much of anything at all. There are enough seeds, that I am interested in seeing how it all plays out. Assuming that this one makes enough money (And all the books come out) to see sequels produced.
I liked the cast, the acting was good enough. And the best part of the cast was the dog. I very much enjoyed the dog. Especially at the end. And the beginning when he was a Chameleon Lizard.
Probably the best movie that had a large component in high school since Band Slam. Since we've been suffering through Twilight this last couple years.
The villains are all pretty bland, and rather pathetic actually compared the ones they hunt now that they are becoming of age. But, again we don't know anything. And not told much of anything. So it's hard to put into context. But by the time I left the theatre if these children of the gard are this powerful and getting stronger. And stronger together. How did these two bit villains ever destroy their planet?? We need more information and it better be forthcoming..
3 stars out of 5
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Cataclysm Crash
Well, it's been what?? About two and a half months since it was released. And I think I'm done.
Everything was going well for awhile, but the old MMO burnout crept in and I didn't feel like leveling anymore. I always wanted a high level Priest to be group friendly and for PvP. I had one on Alliance that was sitting about level 63. Since I don't play Alliance anymore I started my Horde one.
The new revamped low level zones were awesome. They really did put a lot of work into them. Not just some cosmetics either. Not only did most of the zones have changes, but all the quests and everything. It would seem they did go back and totally re-write and update graphically and geographically almost every zone I passed through.
So, when I got out of my newbie zone which was unchanged since it was part of TBC expansion (I made a Blood Elf) it was quite fun from about level 20 to 61.
They have sped up the pace, levels would pass by. I had some trouble keeping my trade skills up to date. For some time now I've been taking dual gathering to rake in the cash. And just buy what I need. It's been working great. But I had some trouble keeping it up to date with leveling too fast, and leaving the zones I needed.
That evened out after awhile, as leveling slowed down. But, once I reached Outlands everything just kind of came to a halt. There has been some changes to quests I'd swear.. Drop rates for quests amped up. Or spawns more common. But other than that, nothing seems to have been changed. And Northrend wasn't supposed to have been either.
And the boredom has been overwhelming. I tried some PvP Battlegrounds. But it would seems at level 66 they aren't much fun, or rewarding. In the past I had leveled my Rogue from about 73 to 80 almost exclusively through the BGs.
So, it would seem I'm done..again. Who knows for how long this time. Since WoW is a pretty cheap time waster. Too much time really, you never get anything else done. But for $15 a month it's pretty cheap.
I'm mulling over opening up my Gamepass again. But that runs about $32 a month. I have a list that's growing of console titles I want to play. And more coming this year. And over all, they are more rewarding. Since you can affect the story, and be the mover and shaker. Not something that is really possible in a MMO (Although Bioware is apparently trying with SW The Old Republic) so In recent memory I have more joyful memories of the games I was playing oddly enough at this time last year.. Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2 than I do the last year of WoW on and off.
Everything was going well for awhile, but the old MMO burnout crept in and I didn't feel like leveling anymore. I always wanted a high level Priest to be group friendly and for PvP. I had one on Alliance that was sitting about level 63. Since I don't play Alliance anymore I started my Horde one.
The new revamped low level zones were awesome. They really did put a lot of work into them. Not just some cosmetics either. Not only did most of the zones have changes, but all the quests and everything. It would seem they did go back and totally re-write and update graphically and geographically almost every zone I passed through.
So, when I got out of my newbie zone which was unchanged since it was part of TBC expansion (I made a Blood Elf) it was quite fun from about level 20 to 61.
They have sped up the pace, levels would pass by. I had some trouble keeping my trade skills up to date. For some time now I've been taking dual gathering to rake in the cash. And just buy what I need. It's been working great. But I had some trouble keeping it up to date with leveling too fast, and leaving the zones I needed.
That evened out after awhile, as leveling slowed down. But, once I reached Outlands everything just kind of came to a halt. There has been some changes to quests I'd swear.. Drop rates for quests amped up. Or spawns more common. But other than that, nothing seems to have been changed. And Northrend wasn't supposed to have been either.
And the boredom has been overwhelming. I tried some PvP Battlegrounds. But it would seems at level 66 they aren't much fun, or rewarding. In the past I had leveled my Rogue from about 73 to 80 almost exclusively through the BGs.
So, it would seem I'm done..again. Who knows for how long this time. Since WoW is a pretty cheap time waster. Too much time really, you never get anything else done. But for $15 a month it's pretty cheap.
I'm mulling over opening up my Gamepass again. But that runs about $32 a month. I have a list that's growing of console titles I want to play. And more coming this year. And over all, they are more rewarding. Since you can affect the story, and be the mover and shaker. Not something that is really possible in a MMO (Although Bioware is apparently trying with SW The Old Republic) so In recent memory I have more joyful memories of the games I was playing oddly enough at this time last year.. Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2 than I do the last year of WoW on and off.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Dirt
Confessions of the worlds most notorious rock band
What a fantastic read this book was. It is basically the biography of Motley Crue. From the beginning to the end.. mostly. Written like a first person tell all journal from the main players of the band. As well as some of their managers and associates.
It has to be read to be believed, or then again maybe not if you grew in the 80s like I did and had some vague familiarity with the Crue (We didn't really pick on them until Dr. Feelgood. And by then they had already been around awhile) I managed to read the book in about a week. Very much like some of the biographical tell all books about their wrestling careers and respective industries (Chris Jericho, Mick Foley and Bret Hart mainly) If you ever wanted to know first hand what it was like to be one of the most decadent and successful Rock Stars of all time. And what it was like on the inside. That this is your window.
The chapters alternate between people, and sometimes overlapping so you get more than one perspective on some situations. And there doesn't seem to be much if anything held back. With a free, open, casual speaking type of writing style I just breezed through the chapters.
Highly Recommended
4.5 stars out of 5
What a fantastic read this book was. It is basically the biography of Motley Crue. From the beginning to the end.. mostly. Written like a first person tell all journal from the main players of the band. As well as some of their managers and associates.
It has to be read to be believed, or then again maybe not if you grew in the 80s like I did and had some vague familiarity with the Crue (We didn't really pick on them until Dr. Feelgood. And by then they had already been around awhile) I managed to read the book in about a week. Very much like some of the biographical tell all books about their wrestling careers and respective industries (Chris Jericho, Mick Foley and Bret Hart mainly) If you ever wanted to know first hand what it was like to be one of the most decadent and successful Rock Stars of all time. And what it was like on the inside. That this is your window.
The chapters alternate between people, and sometimes overlapping so you get more than one perspective on some situations. And there doesn't seem to be much if anything held back. With a free, open, casual speaking type of writing style I just breezed through the chapters.
Highly Recommended
4.5 stars out of 5
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