Time for Some Quickies!!

I finished a couple games the past week or so and I just thought I would share my thoughts on them in a couple of quick reviews:

Dead Space

I absolutely loved this game and think everyone should check it out. It's definitely a Resident Evil style game but set in space, but it improves on some of the mainstays from the RE series. More than anything, I really liked that I was able to shoot my gun and walk at the same time. I don't quite get why in RE you stop dead in your tracks (no pun in intended) before trying to kill the zombies. To be quite honest, if I had zombies coming after me, I wouldn't stop running. I might stop and do Thriller, but that's it. I almost wish now that I had started it after Resident Evil 5 so that the lack of moving while shooting wouldn't stick out so much.

This game definitely has some of the best spaceship environments I've seen in a game and it definitely has a very creepy atmosphere that provides for some very tense moments. The creatures/aliens have some pretty cool designs to them too. The suits your character wears do remind me of Bioshock but I love how your health and other stats are displayed on the suit, allowing the game to have HUD that isn't full of displays. The headsup video communications and inventory system look very cool too. Almost like something out of Minority Report.

The weapons in this game are some of the coolest I've ever used in a game. My favourite was the line gun. Since the objective when fighting enemies was to dismember them and not just fire into them as much as possible, the line gun perfect for this purpose.

I'm definitely looking forward to any eventual sequels. I really recommend that everyone check this out as I think it's definitely in the top 5 of games that came out in 2008 for me.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

Just finished this one today after swiping it from my girlfriend on the weekend. I haven't played the first one, so I don't know what kind of game it is, but this one is very much like Lemmings. You have to get your mini-Marios through the exit in each level. The most you have on one level though is usually 4 or 5 (a few have 6 or 7), so it doesn't have quite the numbers that Lemmings does.

I'm a big fan of Lemmings, so I really enjoyed this even though as I said it doesn't have the number of characters and you also don't have the tasks you do in Lemmings, i.e. diggers, builders, etc. You do have to manipulate the playing board though and it's all done very well with the stylus. Controlling the minis with the stylus is pretty easy too although if they're tightly bunched up, it's a little hard to control specific ones.

The levels start off pretty easy and get very tough as you progress through the game. There are 8 floors of 8 levels, plus a minigame and then the boss fight against DK. I'd say I put about 6 hours into this game tops to get it finished.

I haven't played with the level maker yet and the game does have Wi-fi too. I do recommend you check out this game but at a lower price.

I watched the Watchmen

Even though it's been over a week since I saw it, I'm finally going to post my thoughts on the Watchmen movie, without spoilers for those still waiting to see it. First off, I just want to say that I really liked this movie a lot. I think Zach Snyder and co. did the best job they could do taking the source material and turning it into a movie. Even at a run time of about 2 hours and 40 minutes, there is still a lot of material from the original graphic novel that they had to take out. However, I think they did a great job of deciding what to keep in and what to take out.

They also didn't make too many changes to the story itself until the ending. The basic premise of the ending is the same as the book but some of what happens is different. To be honest though, I preferred the ending of the movie to the book. Karli did as well. In fact, she liked the movie a lot more than the book.

As for the casting, it ranged from spot-on to good, but not great. Rorshach was the best casting in the movie and he was exactly as I pictured he would be in terms of his voice, mannerisms, etc. The weakest casting was probably Dr. Manhatten, however, to be fair, it's hard to act I'm sure when you do pretty much the whole movie covered in sensors for the motion capturing.

This movie is definitely not a comic book movie to take the kiddies to. It is violent, has bad language and nudity. Definitely earns it's R-rating.

I give it a very well deserved 4/5 and hope everyone goes to check it out.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

This guy right here. Well not until next Saturday hen the movie opens next weekend. I went to the theatre yesterday and picked up tickets for Karli and I. Yep, she has agreed to go see it with me. She even read the graphic novel. While she wasn't totally impressed with it, she still wants to see the movie. Yeah, she's pretty awesome. :)

I'm really rather excited about going to see Watchmen. I loved the book, even more so on my second read through. I think that, aside from maybe one or two characters, they did a fantastic job in casting the movie. I really liked that they are using actors that are accomplished but not huge celebrities like a Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. Director Zach Snyder has done this with Dawn of the Dead (Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames) and 300 (Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic Cooper). I think it really helps to let the movie itself take centre stage and not just whose name is on the billing. I guess it also helps the studios keep their costs down.

As a huge fan of Snyder's previous two movies, mentioned above, I really think he'll do the source material justice. I'm not expecting it to be an exact adaptation, as that is impossible with most written material, but I'm sure his movie will be as faithful as possible.

Speaking of movies, I just realized that I haven't shared my thoughts on the new Friday the 13th movie. I caught this a couple weeks back with my brother Adam as he's my horror movie buddy, i.e. no one else really wants to go see them with us including our girlfriends. :P

I really liked what they did with this installment in the Friday the 13th series. It's not a complete remake/reimaginging/sequel. Basically what they've done, is they've taken elements of the first three original movies and used them in this one. As everyone who cares probably knows, in the original Friday the 13th, the killer is Pamela Voorhees and not her son Jason. She of course meets an undesirable fate at the end of the movie. Then in the second movie Jason takes over where mom left off. That is how this one starts off. You see what happens to Mommy Dearest over the opening credits and then it's all Jason from there on out.

When you first meet Jason, he doesn't have his signature hockey mask yet. This was the same case in the original 2nd movie. He doesn't get the mask until the third movie. He gets his mask in this one later on in the movie.

This movie does have all the requirements of a slasher movie. Stupid horny youngsters, girls who like to take their clothes off and lots of drinking and drug use. The movie starts with a group of kids in their late teens/early 20s who are in the forest looking for a secret pot stash. They have an unfortunate run-in with a certain masked killer. We then find out that the brother of one of the girls in the group (Jared Padelecki from Supernatural - which is a show everyone needs to watch) is now looking for his sister and he runs into the latest group of younguns who are going to a cottage to party. You can imagine what happens next.

If you like slasher flicks, this is one of the better ones...especially since they didn't wimp out with a PG-13 rating. This is a very R-rated movie with the violence and naked chicks and whatnot. It was also much scarier than pretty much any other movie in the series. Check it out for sure.

While on the subject of horror, I can't say enough how excited I am about Resident Evil 5. Mainly, I'm dying to play the online co-op. While I am trying to rent more games, I'll be buying this one for sure. I'm hoping to finish Dead Space before then but I'm only on level 2. I'm loving the game though. It's like Resident Evil in space with a dash of Bioshock. Just have to make sure all my gaming time doesn't go to Left 4 Dead or Death Tank. :)

I guess I must be improving at this blog thing since it's only been a couple weeks since my last one and not the usual couple months. :)

So Karli and I did go to the Meditteranean restaurant. The food was ok. It was like eating at a Mr. Greek. We didn't go to see Taken as planned as I heard that the version in North American theatres was edited from the version that played in Europe in 2008. I managed to get my hands on a copy of the European version and we watched it this week. We both loved it. Karli was quite impressed with how much ass Liam Neeson was kicking. I admit, I was too. It's not a movie you watch for plot but Luc Besson and his crew sure know how to put together some great action movies. My favourite of theirs is Kiss of the Dragon but I love the Transporter movies too.

Someone I work with has seen both cuts of Taken and he said they did remove some things, I guess so Fox could get the PG-13 rating in North America. To be honest, this movie is no more violent than Casino Royale and that was PG-13 as well. Oh well, the movie is still great either way. I just wish it had a cool car chase or something along those lines as I love European car chases, such as Ronin. That is one fantastic movie. In fact, I think I need to break it out sometime soon as I haven't watched it in a little while.

In gaming news, I've just played through Tomb Raider: Underworld and I really liked it. It definitely has one of the best soundtracks I think I've ever heard in a game. Now I think I'm finally going to work my way through Dead Space.

I also saw the great news yesterday that the new Survival Pack for Left 4 Dead is going to be FREE!! Yes folks, that's right, a game developer that cares about their fans and not just about over charging for things. I really have a lot of respect for Valve for doing that. Same goes to Criterian Games (and EA) for all the goodies they keep putting out for Burnout Paradise.

I hope everyone has a good Valentine's Day weekend, whether you have a special someone or not. Karli and I are going to dinner on Saturday night. Nothing too big but it'll be fun anyways just because. :) And for everyone in Ontario, have a great Family Day weekend. It may be a hoaky holiday but I'll take them when I can get them. I think we should have at least one long weekend a month. It's good for the sanity.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try to stomach another Leafs game. They're losing 4-1 to Tampa Bay after one period. I hope we get a good draft pick after this. Speaking of Leafs games, Karli and I are going to see them play Columbus next Thursday. It'll be Karli's first Leafs game at the ACC, so I'm really excited for her to see it. :)

Until next time, stay frosty!!

Right now, I'm sitting at the computer in my girlfriend's place waiting for her to come back from work so we can go on our date night. We're going to try a new place - well new for us, not new as in just opened. It's a Mediterranean restaurant and we both love greek food so we're excited to check it out. I think I've discovered why I like greek food so much though...tzatziki sauce. That stuff is like crack for me. I'd put it on cereal if it was socially acceptable. I don't think there's anything in the world that it doesn't go with. One thing is I need to try something other than gyros. I love them but I need to branch out.

After dinner, we're going to go check out the movie Taken, the new one with Liam Neeson. I love those European action movies from Luc Besson and his crew. They've brought us the Transporter series, Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed to name a few. Kiss of the Dragon is one of my favourite Jet Li movies. The action is just incredible.

Now I've heard that Taken has been "watered down" for North America but I've talked to a couple people who have seen the European version and they said it wasn't that violent to begin with so I'm guessing they can't have cut out too much. Either way we're both excited to check it out. It was either that or Underworld 3. Thank god she isn't trying to get me to watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I think that one can wait for DVD. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on Taken sometime soon.

As for the rest of the weekend, I'll probably try to catch the UFC tomorrow night with the big fight between GSP and B.J. Penn. As a Canadian, I am obviously rooting for GSP to come out on top. Sunday of course is the Super Bowl. I am rather indifferent to both teams but it would be kind of cool to see the Cardinals pull it off.

Anyways, that's it for me. Hope you all have a great weekend. Next time I'll try to come up with something a little more exciting. lol

One last thing though: GO GSP!!!

Worst.Blogger.Ever!!

Yep, that's me I'm referring to in the title. It's been over 3 months since I last did a post. I really am the worst blogger ever. Lots has happened in that 3 months though, none of them are excuses though. First and most important is I've got myself a new girl in my life, Karli, who I am totally crazy about...but I'll save you from having to read about my gushings here. I also joined a gym and that is taking up 3-4 nights a week. So far, I am down 15 lbs or so. It's a start and I still have a ways to my goal but I'm getting there. Just need to cut out the junk food a little better.

The main thing though is that when I do have some spare time I've been playing all the great games that have been coming out the last few months. Hollywood as the Summer for it's big titles and the gaming industry has the Fall. So far I've been very pleased with most of the games I've played. Gears 2 was incredible as was expected, Left 4 Dead is one of the best co-op experiences every, Mirror's Edge was a great idea and had it's fun moments but could have been better and Prince of Persia was a great surprise too.

Prince of Persia though is the latest one I've played. I finished it on Sunday. I picked it up on Boxing Day (Canada's version of Black Friday only it's the day after Christmas) for a great deal at $29.99. At that price I couldn't resist.

One of the things I loved the most about this game is the new art style. It's a big departure from the last few Prince games. I also really like how it focused more on the wall running action over combat. There are enemy fights and boss fights, but they only happen once or twice a level. The controls are fairly easy to learn, although there are times where you might hit a button more than you need to and you have to start a chain of actions all over again. Don't worry though, if you fall from a far height your companion Elika will be right there to pick you back up and put you at the last piece of solid ground you were on.

That is one of the points that will divide some gamers on this title....you can't die. Whether it's falling from a far height or you miss press a button during a boss battle, Elika will always be there to save you. Granted you do take a bit of a penalty in the boss battles as their health will be replenished a bit. Having her always there to save you does take away some of the difficulty from the title but I was fine with it overall. I just really loved doing the parkour style action that you get to pull off with the Prince.

I also loved the ending. Make sure you stay through the end credits as the game is not over when you think it is. Overall, I highly recommend you either rent this game or buy it at a price like I did. I finished it under 12 hours and I would be hard pressed to recommend someone buy it at $60.00 though.

Next in the queue is Dead Space. I rented it back in December, but didn't get a chance to finish it but I really liked what I've played of it so far...so I picked it up for a really good price used in an after Christmas sale.

Hope everyone else out there has been enjoying the onslaught of new games as well.

So Many Games, So Little $$$$

Well, it's that time of year again. Hollywood has the summer to release all of it's biggest movies and the video game industry has October to Christmas, to release all of the biggest games. Which of course leaves one in the position of deciding which games to buy. After a lot of soul searching, I think I'm going to have lean towards games with multiplayer potential

Games I'll Get on Release or Close to it:

Far Cry 2 - The map editor should be fun, it looks incredible and I think the single player will be more fun than the first one.

Gears of War 2 - No real explanation needed here. Can't wait to try out the new multi-player modes though.

Call of Duty: World at War - WW2 action with the COD4 engine, should be a fun time.

Left 4 Dead - Loves me some Zombie killing action.

Games I'll Get Soon Enough

Dead Space - looks nice and freaky.

Guitar Hero: World Tour - I have Rock Band 2, I can hold off buying this one for a while.

Fallout 3 - This one looks interesting but I haven't totally made my mind up on it yet.

Now it's time for some quick movie reviews. I didn't see any in September, but I've seen a few this month:

Burn After Reading

I really enjoyed this movie. The critics have complained the story doesn't make a lot of sense but that's the whole point. There were a lot of laughs and everyone gave pretty good performances, especially George Clooney.
Appaloosa

Well it's no Unforgiven or even 3:10 to Yuma, but this was still a pretty entertaining enough movie but that's mainly due to Viggo Mortensen's performance. Ed Harris and Jeremy Irons are decent enough but both have been better and I refuse to believe that this many guys would fall for Renee Zellwegger. This is definitely a middle of the road movie overall though where it has some really good stuff, but some really crappy/goofy stuff too, especially the initial "flirting" scenes between Harris and Zellwegger.

Body of Lies

This was a decent movie but nothing special. DiCaprio and Crowe gave good performances though, well Crowe did the best he could talking into a phone for most of his part of the movie. Best part of the movie was Mark Strong's performance as the head of the Jordanian intelligence agency. I didn't even realize it was him until I checked IMDB. He's one of those guys who just blends into his roles, like Stardust and Revolver and even Sunshine.

The story is a bit muddled and it's definitely the acting and action scenes that save this one. I wouldn't recommend anyone run out to see this unless there's nothing else you want to see.