Chronicle Movie Review

Beyondhollywood.com

A few weekends back I went and saw the movie Chronicles. I was very exited to see this movie and had been looking forward to its release sense late last year. From the trailer the movie seemed very appealing. It looked like it had a strong plot that was not to predictable, and I really enjoyed how the movie put special powers into the hands of normal teenagers who had no intention of being super heroes.

Although I went to the movies with high expectations, I was greatly disappointed. The main problem I found with the movie was its use of the “handheld camera” effect. This was done to add the feel of the movie being a real documentation of the events that occurred from the perspective of the main character, and eventual villain “Andrew Detmer”. Although this idea adds an interesting twist to the movie and helps bring a strong sense of realism to the film, in many instances it took away from the actual experience of the film. the final fight scene had to be shot from an array of different camera angles, ranging from police car cameras to news station helicopter cameras and even store security cameras. It was hard to follow the fight and to make out which character was which and this prevented me from enjoying the baddassery of the fight scene.

The ending was a bit of a cop out as well. Although I will not spoil it here, I felt like they built up the movie with a strong plot and then tore it down with a very sloppy ending. I would not necasarilly recomend this movie, but I still did enjoy it. The acting was descent and, until the ending, the plot was strong. the movie had its funny moments and it did a good job of exploring the consequences of putting unlimited power in the hands of a teenager.

Twisted Metal 2 Character Review: My Old Favorite

This is a review on a specific character from the first game I’ve ever played, Twisted Metal 2. To read my review of this game in general go here, https://potassiumpizzaparty.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/twisted-metal-the-only-good-car-destruction-games/.

The person behind the wheel: The only character I used to play as on twisted metal when I was young was Mr. Slam. The driver of Mr. Slam is named Simon Whittlebone, he is a nerdy ginger who’s profession is that of an architect. He enters the contest because his dream of building the tallest building in the world was taken from him. If he wins he will wish to have his chance to finish his masterpiece, but like just about everybody else in the contest he gets screwed over by his wish. Before he is able to finish his building he falls from the very top of his building all the way to the ground.

Needless to say, he kicks the bucket. Just a random side note, I’ve always found that term strange… it refers to when somebody ties a noose around their neck and kicks a (in this case) bucket out from under their feet. But who stands on a bucket while trying to kill themselves? Come on go all out! Kick a stool, or if your really adventurous, a chair.

The Car: He drives a tractor who’s handling is (as the game states) sluggish.

His max speed without turbo is 91 miles per hour, which sounds fast, but I don’t think the programmers realized how fast 91 miles per hour is, so it’s agonizingly slow in-game. The car also turns slow, overall it is difficult at best to handle Mr. Slam, but what else would you expect from a tractor? Each car comes equipped with a special weapon that only that vehicle may use. For his special Mr. Slam makes use of his claws, he picks other vehicles up and slams them about three times, hence the name Mr. Slam. This special weapon does a more than decent amount of damage and it’s recharge rate is fair, but for the attack to connect, your target must be directly in front of you, and can’t move for about 2 seconds. When you Combine this with Mr. Slam’s unresponsive handling, you get a special that takes the accuracy of a surgeon to hit.

The freeze attack aids Mr. Slam’s special greatly, but when I used to play as him all those years ago I could never remember how to use the freeze attack. Nevertheless I still managed to get enemies in the grip of my tractor, I have no idea how. Mr. Slam’s shining feature is his ability to take damage like a boss. He is one of the two most armored characters that do not require a code to play as.

If you have ever played any of the twisted metal games I would love to hear from you, but otherwise I do believe that old games have a certain charm to them that newer games simply don’t have, wether its the old Spyro games, super smash brothers, or old pokemon games. I’ve never really been able to put my finger on it, so I’d also love to hear from you regarding such.

Twisted Metal: The Only Good Car Destruction Games

Tomorrow a game that I have been waiting for a very long time will be released, Twisted Metal. The twisted metal series has been through a lot, and has had many great games, except for twisted metal 3 which was okay and twisted metal 4 which was just awful, and I hardly even consider it to be a part of the series. Twisted metal 2 was the very first video game I ever played, and the story goes like this. when I was about 3 years old, my dad would hand me an unplugged controller while he played twisted metal with his friends so I thought I was playing. One day my dad plugged my controller in and I actually could play the game.

Me and my dad recently started playing twisted metal 2, so that we could get our time in with it before the new one came out. My first thought was, were the graphics always this bad? I mean I knew they would be bad simply because the game is so old, but they were far worse than I remembered or expected. But strangely, as we played more and more I got used to the graphics, and now they don’t seem too bad.

My second thought was, how the hell did I deal with these controls? The controls for the game were awful and unresponsive. But, like the graphics, as I played more I got used to them and discovered that the controls weren’t bad, they were just hard. With a little bit of practice you could get your character to do whatever you wanted them to do.

The controls to the game are hard, but the game itself is even harder. Back in the day me and my dad would easily beat the co-op tournament every time we set out to, but recently it has been a feat we have only accomplished 3 times. Now the first idea would be to lower the difficulty from medium to easy right? Wrong. Because after the first boss on easy, a screen comes up with a big stop sign that reads: “No losers beyond this point, change the difficulty and play the real game.” Yeah, they dont make games like they used to! calling you a loser because you were trying to have some fun.

Now as for the story, it’s pretty simple. There is this guy named Calypso, and he as all these super awesome powers. He can grant anyones wish, so he hosts a contest every year called twisted metal, the winner gets his wish granted. Everyone who wins gets screwed over by their wish either by the way they worded it or by Calypso just being messed up, unless they wish for something incredibly simple.

Now I didn’t do much research on this, but twisted metal has got to be one of, if not the first car destruction game out there. This genre of games is generally terrible and the twisted metal games are the only car destruction games I’ll play. I’m not exactly sure what they do but the game feels so different than other games like it, and its just so entertaining and fun.

The characters drive a variety of cars ranging from dune buggies, tractors, monster trucks, motorcycles, drag racing cars, ice cream trucks and much more. I’ll be doing character reviews of my three favorite characters this week.

Overall old games have a certain charm that newer games simply don’t have, for me twisted metal 1 and 2 have the most of that charm out of all the older games I’ve ever played.

Rise Against and A Day to Remember

picturesdepote.com

I just recently purchased tickets for Rise Against’s spring tour with A Day to Remember and The Title Flight opening for them. They will be playing at Bakersfield’s Robobank theatre on April 16th. This show is a big deal for me because Rise Against is one of my all time favorite bands. My taste in music has taken many sharp turns over the years, but Rise Against has always been at the top of my list. They are not only incredible song writers, but they back up their songs with a positive message and for me that defines a great band.

A Day to Remember is also one of my favorite bands. Although I have only seen them once during Warped Tour 2011, and it was very brief, I am extremely excited to see these bands play. I went to a Rise Against concert last spring and purchased general admission tickets so I have a good idea of what to expect. I will most likely take many of pictures and maybe some of them will end up on here.

Nintendo’s Wii Review

Although the Nintendo Game Boy was my first real gaming device, I have never been overly attracted to Nintendo products. Despite this, I still convinced myself I needed a Wii and I made the purchase two Christmases ago. Overall, the Wii does a good job of doing exactly what it was made to do. It is a very active and kinesthetic gaming console that revolves around direct body control through the motion sensor and Wii Motion Plus. It has revolutionary technology that has changed the face of the gaming industry and has brought games such as Super Smash Bros. to life in a whole new way.

The motion detection and accuracy of the Wii was astounding from the beginning and this has only been improved with the installment of Wii Motion Plus. The Wii also opens the doors to new types of lifestyle games such as exercise/workout games that walk you through workout routines and provide immediate feedback on how to improve your workout methods. Adventure games such as The Legend of Zelda have also been added to the Wii along with the Call of Duty series and many others. These were both major steps for Nintendo because they showed the wide range of games that the console could support and it also aloud diehard fans of such games to experience them in a whole new way. The Wii is also capable of internet browsing and supports applications such as Netflix for instant movie streaming.

Despite these positive features, there are still many major drawbacks to the Wii. I am not a gamer that focuses solely on graphics, but when it comes to the Wii it was an undeniable disappointment. The graphics that the Wii supports is comparable to the original PlayStation Portable. This has made many fans upset and has limited the Wii’s marketability as a mature gaming console. Other major drawbacks include things such as the controller’s short battery life and the lack of a CD/DVD player.

In conclusion, the Wii is a descent console to be used in a relaxed gaming environment such as a family or party setting. It is easy to use and has such a broad range gaming styles that cannot be found on any other console.

P.S. The main reason for this review was a lead up to one of my major game reviews, which I will be posting in the near future. This will be on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which is only available on the Wii. This is the latest major installment in The Legend of Zelda series and is the first to utilize the Wii Motion Plus feature.

The Pros and Cons of Sirius XM

On the drive to and from school it’s nice too listen to the radio, my parents pay for XM radio which is nice, but it has its drawbacks.

The Pros-

1) There are no commercials. need I say more?

2) There is a wide variety of channels, so there is a channel for any taste in music.

3) It’s a satellite radio, so It works anywhere across the country.

4) The channels are focused, so if your on a channel for modern hard rock, you’ll only get modern hard rock.

The Cons-

1) You have to pay for Sirius XM, its about 17$ a month.

2) It may work anywhere in the country, but not if your under a bridge or even thick trees for that matter…

3) They seem to have a limited selection of songs, for I find myself listening to the same song quite a bit, but then again regular radio does that as well.

In the end I think the pros outweigh the cons and satellite radio is a super awesome, and my favorite channel (octane) normally pleases me and meets my expectations.

10 Reasons Why Ezio Auditore of Assassin’s Creed is a Badass

Image from Photobucket.com

10) He has a hidden blade

9) He can jump from any height so long as there is a hay stack at the bottom

8) He rebuilt all of Rome

7) He has a half cape

6) He’s scaled the Colesium

5) He’s homies with Leonardo Da Vinci

4) He’s talked to aliens

3) He was the first man to fly (Take that Wright Brothers!)

2) He got in a fist fight with the Pope

1) He is Italian

My Recently un-dusted PlayStation 3

 

I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember, it’s just something I grew up with. In my more early years of gaming the Xbox certainly took a backseat role. There were much more games for my other systems that appealed to me, and also I did not appreciate the huge awkward controller that belonged to the original Xbox. But when the Xbox 360 came out, it instantaneously became my main gaming system. The controllers were perfect, the graphics were great, and the game selection was wonderful. Out the three main systems, xbox exclusives proved to be my favorite. Only the occasional Wii exclusives (such as super smash bros brawl, or paper mario) would detour me from my Xbox 360. All the while the playstation 3 that my dad bought sat in my living room, virtually untouched.

Even now the only use my Playstation is receiving running an old Playstation 1 game that me and my dad used to play all time. You’ll hear more about that later. My main point is, my Playstation has been there the whole time, and not once has a PS exclusive come out that has compelled me to get it. That is, not until now. A Playstation exclusive is coming out in the very immediate future that I just have to get. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and you’ll hear about it soon enough.

My Personal History of Gaming

Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Sam and I have been an avid gamer since as far back as I can remember. Although gaming is only one of the many activities that I participate in, it is one of the biggest and most time consuming things that I do daily. I am the proud owner of an Xbox 360 along with many other consoles, but my life as a gamer was not always so luxurious.

Let me take you back to when I first got my hands on a gaming device. I was around 6 or so and my family had ventured out to Disneyland for a quick vacation. At this point in my life I was desperate for a Game Boy and I had been bugging my parents endlessly for one. When we got to Disneyland I saw it, a red, Mickey Mouse shaped handheld gaming device. It was much less advanced than Nintendo’s Game Boy, but it incorporated many elements of the Disneyland experience was solely based on Mickey Mouse.

From there I moved on to a real Game Boy. My friend and I would always meet at his house, each with our Game Boys, and trade games back and fourth until we had fully exhausted each other’s collection. Soon enough our Game Boys were not sufficient and my friend got a Gamecube. This led to hours spent on his living room couch attempting to score in quittage, trying to find princes Zelda, killing giant robots in Rocket Power and many other important activities. The Game cube was fun but it did not last. That Christmas my friend got an Xbox original. Along with his Xbox came Halo 1. The idea of an 8 foot tall, steroid-induced super-soldier running around killing obnoxious alien beings bent on destroying our galaxy did not appeal to my parents and so I was forced to play the game in secret.

From the Xbox I moved to the computer. Internet games were the trend in 5^th grade. I played everything from MMORPGs to free flash based games. Websites like Shockwave and AddictingGames became my life. Although Internet games were fun, they only held my interest until I finally convinced my parents to allow me to get an Xbox 360. This has been my main weapon in the gaming world sense 7^th grade and without it I would have way more free time. Although the red ring of death is a pain to deal with and the fact the disks constantly get scratched for no apparent reason is extremely obnoxious, overall my Xbox 360 has done its job of consuming countless hours of my life. Although my Xbox is currently my favorite console, it is hard to tell what the future of gaming will bring. But I know that without a doubt I will be ready to upgrade when the time comes for the release of the next major gaming console.

How I Think the [Prototype] Series Will Be Similar To the Assassin’s Creed Series

Even the most casual of gamers have at least heard of the Assassin’s Creed series, but not everyone knows of it’s more humble beginnings, and my theory is that [Prototype] is the humble beginning of what could be a fairly popular series.

Although the first Assassin’s Creed was a fairly good game I do believe Ubisoft could have done a much better job with it, after all the game did come out in 2007. On the other hand there’s [Prototype], a game that (in my opinion undeservingly) sold enough copies to be considered a platinum hit. I picked this game up about a year or so ago when I was looking for just about anything that wasn’t first person shooter, what I got didn’t impress me.

Plot: Assassin’s Creed has an amazingly original plot, while [Prototype]….. not so much. what makes a plot original for me is whether or not another game could be made with a similar plot. No game could ever make a plot similar to Assassin’s Creed, but a game with a plot similar to [Prototype] is a different story. The plot is basically a sketchy company is preforming biological experiments on unsuspecting civilians, one such civilian escapes and possesses awesome powers and now seeks to find the men who did this to him and make them pay. Come on, that’s so generic it’s almost cliché.

Graphics: I for one am not too picky about graphics in a game, but both of these games were significantly under the norm of graphic quality for their time. Both games have pretty bland and unoriginal graphics. The cut-scene graphics for [Prototype] are also nothing to be proud of, the lip synching is awful, characters show little to no emotion, and their movement is awkward. Assassin’s Creed’s cut-scenes however were very welly animated; it makes me wonder why they didn’t take the time to improve in-game graphics a bit more.

Animation: I might not be picky when it comes to graphics but animation quality is a whole different story. I cannot stand games with awkward animations, it constantly brings me out of the game and downgrades my experience all around. Assassin’s Creed’s animations were pretty awkward, the character didn’t move fluidly at times and interactions with the environment and other characters were awkward. [Prototype]’s animation is smooth, but things don’t behave how you would expect them to. For example, when you are holding someone in the air by their neck, and proceed run around a little bit, their body flails around like a rag doll. Also when you throw a car it seems to glide through the air, it just doesn’t feel like your throwing a car.

Game-play: [Prototype] runs on a generic super-hero game engine, this disappointed me  greatly. I felt like I was playing a spider-man game for god’s sake! On the other hand Assassin’s creed runs on an original game engine, but it didn’t seem to have all the kinks worked out of it. Each game has original game-play aspects which I appreciate. Since Assassin’s Creed runs on such an original game engine just about every aspect of it is original so I won’t bother going into it. [Prototype] includes just about anything you could expect to be in a super-hero like game such as, flight, disguising, wall running, hand to hand combat (obviously), and stealth missions, but it also includes something you wouldn’t expect in a typical super hero game, the ability to pick up weapons and drive vehicles. Also by (for lack of a better word) consuming people the main character gains their memories, this might be more of a plot aspect, but it also serves a purpose in game-play, because you can gain certain abilities by doing so.

Assassin’s Creed had more advantages to begin with than [Prototype] does, so I don’t see [Prototype] becoming anywhere as big as Assassin’s Creed, but [Prototype] definitely has potential. There are enough original aspects to the game-play to make it distinguishable from other similar games, and the plot seems to thicken a bit in [Prototype] 2 when the main character switches to an army official bent on tracking down the main character from the first. Who knows, maybe the two main characters will start recruiting people and giving them powers as well, then the next game could be called [Prototype]: Brotherhood. Then I would be able to say I told you so.

p.s. just for the record I wont normally be this critical of games, this review type thing just called for it!