Pacific Rim (2013)

Do you remember being a kid and playing with your toys with your brother or sister, or in my case, your cousins? Did you ever have a blast coming up with all sorts of scenarios for your toys to interact in and then pretend like it was a movie? Did you give the toys dialogue and make them do crazy badass shit you saw in other movies? Well I sure as hell did. I can remember tons of instances where I would bring some of my toys over to my cousin's house and we would sit there and create these "toy-movies". They were lengthy too, each one taking up at least an hour. I remember being a kid and wishing that in some way all these terribly made imaginative adventures we created for our toys could be real. Now why the hell am I telling you all this? -insert clever segue- Because Pacific Rim reminded me of all that!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It was full of action, the plot made sense, and the characters, while in some instances were a tad stock and cliche, fit in perfectly with the overall story. At no point was I sitting in my air-conditioned seat bored out of my mind, or wishing for something to come out and blow my mind. I found it to be highly entertaining. To delve in further, this is a film that does not need to be overly complicated. In fact, I can tell you what it's about in 5 words: Giant Robots versus Giant Monsters. That's it. No, really, THAT'S IT.

Now I don't mean to call the plot simplistic or unimportant in this case. I just want to express that in a film like this, the plot usually takes a back seat to the action. Though I suppose I should give at least a brief summation of it. So in the pacific ocean, there exists a portal to another dimension from which giant fish monsters (the Kaiju) come out and start terrorizing various cities. The countries of the world decide to unify and make Jaegers (Giant robots of awesomeness) to combat them. The problem is that the Jaegers need to be controlled by two people who have to have very good compatibility because the technology fuses their minds together in order for the Jaeger to work. So the film explains it as one person controlling one side of the Jaeger's brain. So the pilots need to work together efficiently to be a great pilot. The film actually details, briefly, the science behind the technology, which basically works like the Mobile Trace System from G Gundam in essence, but let's be honest here, science isn't the reason you should see this film.

What I appreciated about the movie though was the amount of care the director, Guillermo del Toro, placed in Pacific Rim. I could tell that with each scene, he thoroughly enjoyed working on the movie and it shows with every single fight scene. I could tell that he has so much respect for the Giant Monster movie genre and wanted to do it some actual justice. Make a Giant Monster movie the right way. You see, nowadays can you think of an action movie that does NOT take full advantage of CG and make every scene look unnaturally explosive? Well I sure as hell can't, but guess what? Although Pacific Rim uses plenty of CGI, it works in conjunction with the actors, well, acting. You see them in the Jaegers. You see them piloting it, and they sometimes look a little stupid, but that's ok. You know why? Because if you had to pilot a giant robot by wearing a bulky suit that kinda sorta makes you look like Sam Gideon from Vanquish (look it up and tell me I'm wrong), you would look a little stupid. But all that aside, each and every single fight hyped me up to such an extent I was practically screaming in the theater like a little kid. Watching these scenes made me feel like I was 9 years old and watching Dragonball Z again. I loved that feeling. Hell, in the middle of it, I was thinking about making a toy movie with my cousins again. A film that can make me feel all that means that it's definitely worth watching in the theaters at least once. Pacific Rim is a titular summer blockbuster movie and it is unfortunate that it won't get as much recognition and popularity as it deserves. So please watch this amazing movie and support the eventual home release. So yeah, if you'll excuse me, now I have to go hunt down some Pacific Rim toys and play the shit out of them!

Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoooft....

So today I stumbled upon this article on yahoo:

Yahoo Finance: Someone Claiming To Be A Microsoft Engineer Posted A Long Rant About Xbox One On 4Chan Last Week

It struck me as an interesting read. I mean, I already bashed the hell out of the Xbox One and I assumed this was Microsoft's way of saving face and not admitting that they made a huge mistake, but hooo boy was I wrong on this. Basically, some dude who may or may not be a Microsoft engineer came out and posted this in what can be described as either a fed up attitude or an incredibly snide one (bordering douche levels of assholetry - work with me here, I know them words is stupid lol). I will say this, though: if REVOLUTIONIZING the whole gaming industry business model to benefit consumers was Microsoft's goal all along, then why in the flipping HELL would you lead your console's introduction with "LOOK LOOK WE CAN SEAMLESSLY TRANSITION BETWEEN A GAME AND YOUR TV HOLY SHIT!!!!!", instead of breaking down and leveling with your die hard fans about your vision? Why the hell would you decide that rather than calling your new product something synonymous with change or a revolution, you call it the "one"? Hell Xbox 360 sounds fucking badass. Playstation 4 makes me think of Megaman. Why? I'm not sure. I guess it has something to do with my childhood, and something about keeping a numeric value just gives the impression of an evolution of a previous iteration of your product. Xbox One sounds like an obvious step back.

What bothered me also was Microsoft's supposed vision for the One. If they want to make DRM more accessible and less douchey, then why restrict us on any other option? As a gamer, I feel I deserve the option of owning my games physically as well as digitally. If you create a product that is too far ahead in any direction, then a lot of progress can be made for your company. Example, when the Playstation 3 came out how many of us honestly had any Blu-Rays to play? Not many of us, so it took YEARS for the technology to catch on, and that attributed to the mistakes and hardships Sony experienced with the Playstion 3. Xbox One just seems to take its fan base for granted and more than that, it seems to take GAMERS for granted with a device that possesses features we do NOT want. Now there was a part in there where the dude said "We want to own your living room"....WHY? This is where they CLEARLY went wrong. When developing a console I believe that you should always have the gamer's best interests at heart. This is where Sony delivered to us in spades. They came out and not only did they learn from their mistakes, but went the extra mile to ensure that they did not alienate developers. How can this be seen as a negative?? It isn't, it's a strong positive. It also shows people that gamers want a gaming device, everything else comes extra. Within the article, they mentioned Steam and compared their DRM stance to Steam. As a Steam user, I can say this: Steam is awesome. Part of what makes it awesome is that it enhances my PC experience. I have access to tons of great games. But the key difference here is that the computer was designed to be online. For as long as it's turned on, it is constantly connected. This, I believe, is what makes Steam such a success. There is no real negative and us, as gamers, have no risk or inconvenience. When it comes to a game console making internet mandatory, however, things get a little shady due to the question of WHAT a game console should be. Should it be more like a computer, or its own standalone device? It's a question that, presently, I do not possess the answer to. However I try to keep an open mind to things that sound intriguing, not intrusive or restrictive.

Now I know I sound like I'm praising Sony to the highest point of existence, and I will admit that I do possess a nostalgic bias and brand loyalty to them. A lot of my childhood gaming memories happened with the Playstation brand right next to Nintendo. Xbox is new to me, it's strange and I see it as Microsoft extending their reach to line their pockets with more money. I never felt that Microsoft gave a shit about gamers, and yet here I stand, owning a 360 and loving it. What I wish to do here is stress 2 things.

1) MICROSOFT HAS THEIR HEADS SO FAR UP THEIR OWN ASSES THAT THEY CANNOT SEE STRAIGHT ANYMORE

Looking beyond the Xbox brand, let's take a look at Microsoft as a whole. Everywhere you look it seems there are reports about how much the company is in trouble. Now I doubt that they will go under or close down or anything like that, but it seems like their newest OS, Windows 8, is fairly despised by people. They don't like it. It's as clean and simple as that. I tried it out on a friend of mine's laptop. He was having trouble with it and I figured that I'm decent at computers and I know Windows pretty well.....I could not do a god damn thing on it. It was baffling. Although Windows 8 is probably not as terrible as the internet would have you believe, I'm sure it still stands that there is a negative connotation associated with it.

2) Microsofts interests have taken the same twists that Nintendo's has.

Remember the Wii? Wasn't it kind of weird to have a gaming device with gimmicky yet simple motion controls? Wasn't it somewhat interesting to see how many non-gamers were buying the device for various reasons? Despite how terrible of a GAME console the wii turned out to be, Nintendo took the fucking living room by storm. It was an insane phenomena that I cannot understand. Yet it worked. Temporarily. Nowadays, Nintendo is paying for that hubris and have finally dedicated the Wii-U to being a game platform, if their E3 Nintendo Direct was any indication. Bravo, Nintendo, I am proud that you too have leanred from your mistakes. Xbox seems to want to do what Nintendo has done and target the non-gamer. Welp, all I can say is that the same trick probably won't work twice. I say this because your competition's console's are 100+ dollars cheaper than your new supposed revolutionary device. You fucked yourself hard. See, when Nintendo released the Wii, it was $250. Pretty cheap for a revolutionary game console, dont you think?

Well I don't know what will happen with Microsoft and Xbox. I can only hope that with time they realize their mistake and create experiences for the often taken for granted gamer. Now after that loooooong rant, I am going to drink a beer and play some games OH YEAH!!

E3 Thoughs So Far

Well about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I finished my second to last semester of college. As a result, I have gone into what I can only describe as "Decompression", which pretty much means I have become rather lethargic and am being completely lazy about everything. You wanna know something though, hearing about E3 and being very interested in it allowed me to get out of this total lazy streak of mine and now I believe I have something of substance to write here.

This E3 I found to be quite important for all 3 major companies. Can Sony really deliver on the hype and positive hopes for their Playstation 4? Can Microsoft make their Xbox One seem less.....how should I say, umm...Stupid and evil? Can Nintendo gain some respect in the industry as opposed to constantly being called a failing company that is on its way out? Well I have good news, great news, and a rant. I want to make one thing clear though: I openly admit that I have unbridled love for both Nintendo and Sony. I grew up with them and they gave me my childhood and teenage years. I am less partial to Microsoft. Though I will admit that in this current generation, the Xbox 360 is without a doubt the best console. The controller is great and the online interface is amazing. Hell, I enjoy playing games on it. Let me reiterate that I enjoy playing GAMES on it.

Alright allow me to begin -ahem-

Sony

I watched their conference last night (6-10-13) and for the first hour and 20 minutes, I was pretty damn bored. I was uninterested in a lot of what they were saying because it was not about GAMES. They talked about the Vita a little bit, mentioned the Playstation 3, showed off a couple of trailers here and there, but overall, I was bored out of my damn mind. I wanted to know about the Playstation 4, I NEEDED to know more about it and then it happened. They finally showed the friggen thing and I was so impressed. For one, I love how sleek and thin it is. I hated how in this generation, Sony and Microsoft made these morbidly obese consoles that were bulky and cumbersome. They were way too big in my opinion and I'm glad to see that Sony decided to make their console much smaller.

They showed off a few trailers that got me hyped. Final Fantasy XV seems to be promising though I won't put too much hope into it since XIII is, well, terrible in my opinion. But regardless, the game looks great and I'm glad to see that Square-Enix hasn't abandoned the ideas they had with Final Fantasy Versus XIII and chose to evolve into the next installment in their long running series. Kingdom Hearts 3 was shown, FINALLY!!! That one I'm excited for since the damn storyline has to conclude. It's getting way too ridiculous in my opinion. I enjoy the games but they are getting more and more convoluted. I was really impressed with 2 games in particular, Infamous Second Son and Destiny. The demonstrations that were shown impressed me with how great those games look to be. Not to mention that at the very end of their presentation, they announced a $399 price tag, the console has no restrictions on used games, and it does not need a constant internet connection YEAAAAH EVERYONE GOT HYPE IN THE AUDIENCE..FUCK YEAH SONY!!!

So with Sony, I am incredibly hopeful. They clearly made a gaming device that caters directly to us, the individual gamer. They are not trying to restrict us in any way or give us features that we do not want. Sony has made a next generation console that emphasizes the game and the developer. Things can only get better for Sony in my opinion. I know I'm definitly getting a Playstation 4....probably a few months after it's released....damn me for being broke

Nintendo

As a Wii-U owner myself, I have to say I am pretty dissappointed with the lack of available titles on the console. Sure, it has a robust selection of classics via the E-shop and Netflix is pretty damn awesome on it, but there really isn't much to play. Welp, ALL of that changed with their Nintendo Direct earlier today. A HUUUGE plethora of trailers were shown, all of which can be found on youtube and other sites. I am particularly keen on Bayonetta 2. I have not reviewed Bayonetta 1 yet and I do plan to do so, but until that day comes know this: I FUCKING LOVE BAYONETTA. I love the super fast and slick combat, the sexy protagonist, the humor, the levels, utilizing witch time in order to cripple your foes and the epic-ass boss fights. I LOVE THIS GAME and being able to see a sequel got me so hype that I could not stop screaming about it for like an hour. Of course another game by Monolith Soft is in development and as far as I can tell, it doesn't have a name, so I guess it's to be known as X for the time being. That game looks pretty good too, but I wanna see more before I can pass judgment. Monolith you have my interest, I know damn well you can deliver, so take your time with this baby, ok?

Naturally, since this was a Nintendo press conference, first party Nintendo games were the main focus. I won't go into all of them but I will highlight things that got me super excited. Mega Man in the next Smash Bros game, 'nuff said. Another Donkey Kong Country game (I hope this game has much better controls because I hated the ones in the first game) with Dixie back in it, and Super Mario 3D World. I am somewhat on the fence with this one. While the game looks to be a lot of fun and beautiful, it borrows heavily from the 3DS title, Super Mario 3D Land, a game that I did not enjoy very much due to its laughably easy difficulty. Though I will say that the ideas and levels within the game were some of the coolest I have seen in a Mario game. So hopefully Nintendo makes this one more challenging.

Nintendo definitely brought their A-game and pretty much said "Hey we messed up with the Wii-U launch and we have been real slow to deliver on the great games, but all that will change now" and for that I am happy with Nintendo. Honestly I am probably gonna be flat broke with the release of all the games they are releasing within the next year. I'm gonna need a job....or sell blood or something.

Microsoft

Well ever since they announced the Xbox One, I have been so disgusted at Microsoft. Yeah at their conference, they announced Halo 5 and Forza, and whatever other exclusives out there, but to be honest, I don't care about the games. The console that they spent all this time promoting has been such an insult to gamers. How can you as a company make the greatest gaming machine of this generation and make something so blatantly asinine that essentially boils down to a slap in the face to the gamers that love the Xbox 360? Granted, they have some pretty interesting ideas. A seamless transition from gaming to television is cool but you should NOT make that your console's main strength. What happened to catering to the gamers, you know, the people who MADE YOU A SUCCESS THIS GENERATION?! Why would you build a device that needs a fucking camera hooked up at all times, that needs a constant internet connection (albeit for a check in that is required at least once every 24 hours) and make this fucking shit cost 500 dollars?! (and don't even get me started on the used games bullshit!!) I don't know what Microsoft is thinking. But I do know that their die-hard fans will buy their console but THAT'S IT. Most gamers are gonna shit to the Playstation 4 and be happy. So Microsoft, I hope you enjoy being in last place next generation because your Xbox One just does not have anything remotley interesting to me. In fact as a gamer, it insults me. -Whew- I need a drink after all that.

So yeah those are my thoughts on E3. I know this is a bit long but hey, I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Regardless though, this year we're seeing a lot of great games announced, so no matter what we gamers will be the real winners of this so called Console War right?

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Last week I finished Metal Gear Rising. Upon finishing the game, my hype level (yes this is a real thing) was so high that it has taken me roughly a week to calm down from the high of this awesome game. This game made me feel like such a total badass. It was challenging, cool, just about everything that I would have come to expect from a game by Platinum Games. This review I'm gonna do something different. I'm gonna try to streamline my review while simultaneously describing the hype-ness that I experienced while playing it. So without further ado here we go.

First Impressions

I almost peed myself when I saw this. So much hype

From the moment I bought the game I knew this was gonna be a total badass experience I mean look at the front cover. How fuckin cool is that?! It makes me wanna pop it in and play it already. Not to mention look at the disc! It's so cool! Raiden standing there with a dog thing! It's so epic that you need to know what happened to Raiden that he 1) Gets this new body and 2) Gets a dog robot thing. This is how I felt when I first got the game. So after a mandatory install (thank you Sony. Seriously what is up with that shit) I was able to go to the title screen and holy shit. I almost shit my pants in pure excitement and anticipation. I pressed start, picked my difficulty, and began playing...

Story

I won't spoil any important plot details, so I'll just give a very brief summary of the plot and what the ultimate goal of the game is. In Metal Gear Rising you take control of Raiden (obviously, I  mean, come on), four years after the events of MGS4, who now works for a private military company running protection detail for important politicians and the like. You begin the game in Africa and your client gets kidnapped and you have to go after him. So you get your ass handed to you early on and Raiden's body (which is very reminiscent to how he looked in MGS4, albeit with a few aesthetic changes) gets pretty badly injured. He also loses his left eye. Reference to his roots to Solidus much? So Raiden gets equipped with a new body that is stronger, faster, and better than his previous body in order to go after the people who killed his client. Since "Metal Gear" is in the title you can expect that not everything is as simple as getting Revengeance (yeah used it as a word) on your enemies. Expect the plot to take a few twisted turns before ultimately revealing itself. It's not anything too complicated but for a game that is dropping the stealth mechanic of its predecessors and going for a more action-oriented experience, it works really well.

Graphics

Yeah Metal Gear Rising, much like all the Metal Gear games, has amazing graphics. Everything looks so clear and real. The game predominantly takes place in a war torn area and yet it looks so beautiful. If there weren't cyborgs and unmanned UG's (remember those from MGS4?)  trying to kill me, I would have just stared in awe of how beautifully detailed everything looks. What I find interesting is that in today's world, for something to look good, it should be in 1080p. Yet this game's resolution is 720p and it looks a HELL of a lot better than most of the games that have come out recently. I would go so far as to say that it looks just as great as Metal Gear Solid 4 and that game was came out so long ago yet few games ever reached its level of detail and graphical power. Hell the Assassin's Creed games look terrible in front of Rising. If graphics mean a lot to you, this game has you covered.

Gameplay

Alright so if you have been following this game for as long as I have then you know that it was advertised that as well as letting you control cyborg Raiden, as the true badass that he was in MGS4, there was also going to be some sort of Cut mechanic within the game. "CUT WHAT YOU WILL" is what it says on the back of this box. What this means is that throughout the game, you will be able to go into "blade mode" and cut the shit out of your enemies. It's so satisfying and violent but it never stops being cool. Now remember what I said earlier about Raiden's new body? Well in order to maintain it, he needs to absorb electrolytes from his foes. The most effective way to do this is to perform what the game calls a "Zandatsu". Now you must be asking yourself well what the hell does that mean?! Well often times while you are in Blade Mode, Raiden's body will scan the enemy you are cutting to show you where the electrolytes are hidden. If you slice this area you will have a button prompt and Raiden will step forward and take the electrolytes. The stipulations are that 1) You can destroy the electrolytes if you cut too much and 2) You can also lose the opportunity to absorb them if your foe collapses while in Blade Mode. Thankfully, since time slows while you are in Blade Mode, you have a bit of leeway in how to cut.

This game can be described as a hack and slash and as such, you will be doing a lot of cutting. So you will be stringing combos along your enemies by pressing the square and triangle buttons to attack. This seems obvious, yeah, but you must be mindful of a few things. 1) Raiden does not lock on to enemies automatically. I did not mind this much since in previous games by Platinum, such as Bayonetta or Vanquish, you pretty much were left on your own in terms of taking out your enemies. Thankfully locking on wasn't too mandatory in those games. This cannot be said for Rising. In Rising, locking on is ESSENTIAL. You can get away with not locking on for maybe the first few fights, but after that, expect to get your ass kicked repeatedly once enemies start to grow in numbers and gang up on you. This brings me to 2) Learning to Parry is mandatory. If you skip the tutorial (like I did since I played the demo) you probably will assume that there is not a blocking mechanic within the game. Well guess what there is, and it just isn't a traditional block. It's a parry. Basically if you see an enemy about to attack, you move the left stick in the direction of the attack and hit the light attack button. Raiden will block the attack and you can continue slicing up enemies. If you do not learn to properly parry, you will not beat this game. It's as simple as that.

The game is also very challenging which is a good thing. It isn't the cheap kind of difficulty. It's fair and once you learn to lock on and parry, you can really have fun even when the game is kicking your ass. Which it will. Unless you have the reflexes of a god. Or are in a fact a cyborg yourself. Bosses are also challenging and without a doubt, they are what makes this game excel. Every boss you encounter is accompanied by an epic song that hypes you up and puts you in the mood to kick some ass. Personally my favorite boss fight is the rematch with Jetstream Sam. It's hard as hell but its the ambiance that does it for me. Also, once you beat a boss you gain their weapon to purchase and use.

Ahh purchasing. Yeah I almost forgot to talk about the upgrade system in Metal Gear Rising. OK remember Drebin in MGS4? Well he isn't in the game but do you remember having collect points and then buying weapons from him? Well in Rising you do earn points based on what and how you kill and with these points, you can purchase upgrades. You can do this at anytime throughout the game but there is 1 problem. When you do go to the customization screen mid-level the game sets you back to your most recent checkpoint. It isn't game breaking and it's just a bit of a nuisance, so if you wanna upgrade within a level either 1) wait for a checkpoint or 2) wait till the end of a level.

And again, the soundtrack is also pretty damn good. Nuff said.

Conclusion

If you're like me and you love the Metal Gear series, then following this game has been a bit of a rush. When it was first announced years ago, I worried about it straying too far from the source material and that it would ultimately fall flat of the success that the series is associated with. Thankfully since Kojima Productions collaborated with Platinum Games and let them develop it, the game came out amazing. I know there are some people who see that the game is 5 hours long. This time only takes into account the length it takes you to beat the fighting portions of the game. So think of it this way. The game ranks and grades you in battle based on: Your time, how many "Zandatsu" performed, combos, and damage. All in all the game takes the fastest times and gives you a final time when you finished. This time DOES NOT take into account cutscenes, or farting around with the codec (I like calling people in my Metal Gear games), or the number of times you die and retry a fight. With that said though the game isn't like 20 hours long, the action is so good and the gameplay is so rewarding that you ultimately do not feel ripped off. Plus there is a lot to do and collect after you finish the game so replay value is high. It's a well designed game and if you haven't bought it then I strongly urge you to do so!

Have a great day and GO BUY THIS GAME!!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go replay this game and regain my hype (again).

Dishonored (2012)

I took this picture in my kitchen. Please excuse this amateur photography. I'm a broke college student.

A while back in December (that feels like a looong time ago now doesn't it?), I bought myself Dishonored for the Xbox 360. Truth be told, I bought it because Amazon was having a sale where it was like 30 bucks and a friend of mine kept pestering me to buy it. Well like I said I bought it and I finished it roughly a month ago. Now you may be asking yourself why I picked NOW to review this game. Simply put, after I finished it I didn't really know how I felt about it until further reflection. I won't say I hated it. But there was a lot about it that bothered me.

Dishonored was made by Arkane Studios (a developer I am not familiar with at all) and published by Bethesda (Fallout, Elder Scrolls, you know pretty much any RPG where you can possibly kill everything that moves) which to me, means that it's a first person perspective. Now I personally am tired of the overuse of first person perspective in today's gaming. I don't really like it all that much especially since nine times outta ten, I also have a gun in my hand and I have to take orders from people. But thankfully, Dishonored does not play like a traditional first person game.

Dishonored's setting is a steampunk industrial city called Dunwall where The Plague has ravaged its inhabitants. There is a hierarchy in place and the people love their queen. You play as Corvo, a dude who's job it was to protect the queen and her daughter. Then these assassins appear, or warp in, and kill her right in front of you and then you get blamed for it by the new corrupt regime that takes over after the queen (he's been DISHONORED get it?? GET IT??). So after you break out of confinement and meet these rebels of the new regime, you have to now assassinate everyone responsible for the death of your lovely queen.

The gameplay, as I said, is in a first person perspective and although you have a pistol (the only gun you actually have), you have a plethora of other items and weapons to help you towards your goal of bloody vengeance. This includes crossbows (with different bolts like sleep dart and incendiary bolts), your blade (which is a pretty badass lookin sword), grenades (which exist for some reason in this world), and a trip wire to set to kill foes. Now along with the weapons, you have these unique magic spells. These spells allow you to slow down time, turn dead bodies to ash, be able to see where your enemies are, turn into a rat (I'm not sure why there is a rat obsession in this game), summon rats (again why the hell are there so many rats in this game? I hate rats in real life), and a whirlwind spell, just to name a few. The most useful skill in my opinion is called Blink. This spell lets you warp/teleport to a given target. Think of it this way: when activated, there will be an orb-like energy floating. You move it to where you wanna appear and then BAM you're there. It's pretty awesome and the game definitly makes you use it quite often. It's especially important if you wanna play the game stealthily. Ahh the stealth aspect. Let's talk about that for a bit.

Dishonored is labeled as a stealth game. Now to me, this means that the goal of the game is to proceed through it without being seen by your enemies. If you are, then more enemies should converge onto your position, thus making your mission extremely difficult carry out. Now for a game that gives you stealth as an option of play, I feel it does not encourage it. Look at the weapons and spells I listed. Do you really feel like you should play the game stealthily? Given the game's setting, I feel that no, it isn't encouraged. If anything, it's discouraged. Now as a fan of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, and Assassin's Creed (I know the game barely counts as stealth but you do have some missions where it's required) I feel like I have some general experience when it comes to being stealthy. You see, in those games when you were being stealthy, it was awesome and badass. You felt smarter than your enemy and you felt like a pretty cool strategist for not even being seen. Dishonored is a bit of a drag to play stealthily. It's boring and you constantly have to wait around for guards to move. Now sure, you can knock them out or kill them unnoticed, but the second blood is spilled, two things happen 1) an achievement/trophy is missed out on for not killing and 2) some character  may say something to make you feel like a dick for killing.

This is where Dishonored gets a little more interesting. It's described as a stealth game, yet you can choose how you want to play it, stealthy or not. I honestly feel that after finishing it that Dishonored does not encourage you to not kill or to be stealthy. I say this because 1) The game is not built to support nonlethal combat and 2) The game is such a drag without its combat. Allow me to explain -ahem- Take Metal Gear Solid, Snake has the ability to use CQC (or punch people in the older games) which allowed him to keep his cover and eliminate a guard without killing them. If Corvo gets caught or spotted by a guard he instinctively draws his blade and you have no choice but to kill them, unless you blink away and then wait for the guards to leave, which they will not do without taking forever to investigate. Of course you could save every 3 seconds and then reload your save file every time you get caught. BUT THAT ISN'T FUN. It's tedious and it doesn't make you feel badass so much as it makes you feel like you're being cheated out of playing stealthy or not wanting to kill. The key difference here is that stealth and not killing are being intertwined since Corvo doesn't wanna flip his blade to beat people instead of murdering them. This is what makes the game so frustrating in my eyes.

To be honest if you throw stealth out the window and embrace the combat, Dishonored is a very fun game. It's entertaining but its also short. So I guess the game wants you to learn it so that in future playthroughs, you can perform stealth tactics more easily. But in my opinion, if you're gonna be a stealth game, then reward stealth. Otherwise you're a first person adventure game with shooter and fantasy elements. Give it a shot if you're into that sort of thing. Otherwise if you're curious, rent it or borrow it from a friend. Well I hope this helped you in deciding on Dishonored. Thanks for reading!

The Reverse box art is pretty damn good. It looks epic as hell. Wait he has his blade drawn...THE ART WORK OF THE GAME WANTS YOU TO KILL see what I mean? Again please excuse this amateur photography. I wish I could record footage and make screenshots but I don't have the means to do so. Hey wait a sec I just realized the game takes place in a world where the plague runs rampant. So why the hell does Corvo not have gloves on? What kind of shit is that. It's like he's asking to be infected. I dunno maybe I'm nitpicking but if I were an assassin I'd at least have some gloves on. Especially if the world were infected with DISEASE.

Django Unchained (2012)

Well there's a big surprise right? There were NO hints or suggestions that this would be the next thing that I'd review. Nope, none whatsoever. I'm so cool. Anyway, you know what sucks? Having the flu around New Year's when you make a decision that you post on the internet about doing something with your life. Yeah I've had the flu. It's a pretty bad flu but hey, I survived. But anyway, you know what's worse than the flu?? Come on think about it. It's pretty damn bad.

Ok, you give up?? SLAVERY. Yeah what an excellent segue. Anyway Django Unchained!!

This movie is AWESOME!!! I want a scarf Like Django there.

I have to admit that when I first heard about this film, I was a bit nervous. I figured that Tarantino would get a lot of flak for making a movie dealing with slavery and that people would be throwing fits on the internet and calling it racist or something. Personally, I figured that since Quentin Tarantino was directing this that the movie would undoubtedly be entertaining and that there would be some bloody satisfaction. Fortunately, I was right. As a Tarantino fan, I'm blown away, and as a media junkie, I cannot wait to see it again!

So you must be wondering just what makes this movie so good. Well first off it isn't good, it's DAMN good. Quentin Tarantino has an excellent track record of being able to create insanely eclectic characters in a truly disturbed setting. Take a look at Inglorious Bastards, in particular Brad Pitt's character and you'll know what I mean. Getting back to my point, as a Tarantino fan I knew right off the bat what to expect. Although the film itself is named after Django, I found the character of King Schultz to be the most interesting character. When you watch it, you'll see why, so without spoiling too much let me just say that he has a carriage with a tooth on it, used to be a dentist (so he has the title of doctor), believes in equality and the enlightenment that all men are equal (therefore hates slavery which makes him awesome), and is a badass bounty hunter who can shoot ridiculously well. I also find his accent to quite charming and his beard is pretty badass to me, so yeah.

As for Django himself, I feel that the movie poster says it all. I'll give you like 3 seconds to scroll back up and look at it.....Ok you done? Good! Anyway The way Django is positioned tells you that the film more or less centers around him and while it does do that, I found that it was not so much his character that gets developed so much as his own skills. He goes from being a slave to a truly badass bounty hunter with some of the best lines in the film. He also does not really say much which is a slight shame since Jamie Foxx did such a great job of being Django. Now to be honest I don't really see this as a flaw so much as I see it as a form of assistance. It helps Django to be the badass that he deserves to be. Simply put you can fuck around a bit with Schultz but God help you if you fuck with Django. (*GASP* Phil said -er- TYPED a baaad word!)

I feel that I should mention Leonardo DiCaprio too. You know how in Kill Bill (which you all know I love) the antagonist Bill was in my opinion the best character. Now you have heard me gush about Schultz and describe how cool he is, but DiCaprio plays a real bastard  in this movie. You really grow to hate him and his acting just blew me away. Especially since he says some really racist and messed up things (Eskimo Joe anyone??). He plays a perfect antagonist and fits the setting perfectly. He just seems like one of those truly disgusting people who loved slavery and thrived on racism. Calvin Candy. What a douche and yet he is played by a great actor so kudos to you DiCaprio! Though he plays a real evil despicable person there is one person that I feel is even WORSE than Mr. Candy.

Ohhhh yeah. His character pissed me off. I liked his cane though. It was a cool cane

Yeah Samuel L Jackson is in this too. He plays a character who deeply disturbed me especially given the time. Simply put he's a kiss-ass slave named Stephen. He possesses no desire to be freed and actually suppresses all the other slaves and keeps them in line. Although in a slightly ironic sense he has no problem running his mouth to Calvin Candy about how he wants things to go. Without spoiling too much, let me just say that umm...he fucks shit up for Django and Schultz. You really have to see it to believe it. It's been about 3 weeks since I saw the film and I still get disturbed by his character. It's almost like he pierced his way into my soul and deeply disturbed me...hmm. Well since he affected me so much I have to say that Samuel L Jackson did a really good job with his acting for this role. It worked out perfectly and I really cannot imagine anyone else playing his role.

As for what you can expect from the film's style: well it's a western fused with a lot comedic elements. Now I'm not talking gag or slapstick or stand-up. No no. I'm talking about whole scenes dedicated to jackasses arguing about their white hoods or Django telling a hillbilly the proper way to say his name or a plantation owner figuring out how to tell a slave woman how he wants her to treat Django as his guest. The comedy does not come from anything that can be described as funny, so much as it stems from disrupting the flow of a movie and making fun of a truly messed up time in our country. Anyway the absolute best part of the film I would have to say is the last 45 minutes or so where Django really steps up and shows us how strong his resolve is. He displays such amazing acts of gun play and watching him attain his vengeance is what makes this film work. In many ways it reminds me of Kill Bill Volume 2 and for those same reasons, the film succeeds. So maybe now I got you curious or maybe you have already seen it and agree with me somewhat. Maybe you hated it and think I'm out of my mind. Regardless I urge you to watch this film. I can guarantee that it's a hell of a lot better than what's been released in recent weeks.

If you don't he will haunt you. He will look inside your souuuuuul

So it's New Year's Eve.....yeaaah

It's been a long time since i wrote anything. Too long if you ask me. I haven't given up on this here blog, I just haven't been in the right mindset to really sit down and write. 2012 to be honest has been a real shitty year for me. This past semester has been one of the most difficult I have ever had to force myself to push through. Simply put I'm worn out from all the bullshit of class, papers, exams and such. I guess I should explain just why this semester was so bad, even just a little.

Well the first reason is that early in this semester I lost someone that I loved, my Father to be exact. He passed away in October. I won't delve into all that but it's been really difficult having to go to class with this on your mind. Try taking tests or doing readings for a class....It's not easy. I found myself not caring. I was still trying to process just what the hell happened. I learned one thing though, though your world may be shaken and stop the real world that YOU are a PART of does not stop. Oh nooo that bastard keeps moving at it's pace and you can either give up on keeping pace or try even harder to keep up. Essentially it's sink or swim. Thankfully I was able to swim, albeit slowwwwwly and lazily. What I went through is something that everyone will suffer through in one way or another so take comfort in this. Where there is loss there most certainly will be gain. I'm glad to say that in my loss I gained a lot back. I got old friends, people that I stupidly cut out of my life, back. Things may be sorta weird with us but I'm glad I at least can talk to them. So yeah though the times may be dark, there inevitably will be a light. Just gotta keep walking till you find it. It can get pretty dark though but never give up. Play Earthbound and you'll know exactly what I'm saying.

Anyway tragedies aside, The next reason for my lack of posting is the amount of stress I had with my classes. I only took 4 this particular semester but Goddamn did I have a lot of reading and writing to do. While i wasn't doing that I was dreading about future readings and exams and stuff. Simply put after having to read and write for so long the last thing I would wanna do is sit here and write some more. Maybe that's lazy? I dunno. But I definitely was in no mood to write. Ironically though taking classes that specialized in television and film styles sort of re-awakened this feeling in me to wanna write about different medias. In fact I wanna do more than just write, but well let me not stick my foot in my mouth with that because knowing me it'll be like 17648579 years before I get started on any of that.

As for what I have been doing in my spare time, I played some games, obviously! Watched a couple of movies (literally a couple i have only seen 2 Dredd 3D and Django Unchained- which was so damn good). I have listened to new music as well. Blink-182's Dogs Eating Dogs is like the most beautiful and orgasmic thing my ears have heard all damn semester. Of course a very special person bought me A Lot Like Bird's CD Conversation Piece, which if you like post hardcore I strongly recommend because this shit is blowing my mind with the beautiful noise (yeah I just called screaming beautiful noise...hmm note to self, If I ever make an Album call it Screaming Beautiful Noise). Oh and then Nintendo Power ceased publication which makes me feel old and that a huge part of my childhood just disappeared. But uhh at least it went out with a bang!!! (and I helped with that!!!!!!!! More on that later) I also watched The Sopranos which has been a huge means of relaxation to me as well as a fantastic piece of television. Damn I really miss watching Tony beating someone up....

still got it baby!!! I think this is from the episode where he has food poisoning

Anyway It's New Year's Eve and as such people tend to have resolutions. Now usually in the 21 years of my living I never had a good one. Well I have 2. The first is this. The blog I mean. i wanna do more with it. I wanna be more active with it and dammit I'm gonna make sure I am. I'm gonna do some more things than just reviews, I'm gonna give it more of a personality. Something. You'll see....all the like 5 people who check this lol. The other resolution I'll keep to myself. But anyway please keep checking back on this stupid little blog of mine. I got some grand ideas and unless some more tragedy or laziness strikes me, it wont be too long before you see. Anyways take care, thanks for reading, and above all spend your holidays with your loved ones. Friend and Family alike. Till we meet again!!

Phil

-Django Unchained was an amazing movie....go watch it..NOW seriously go NOW NOW NOW. HURRRRRY ok ok I'm done...bye

seriously go watch it