3 posts tagged “reviews”
I keep a busy life, so TV time is something I choose not to squander. If I watch something, it's going to be good. And if what I'm watching starts to suck, it gets bumped. The fourth season of Lost fell victim to that philosophy. So did the 4400, which I was hooked on enough to actually buy a season.
Battlestar Galactica and Heroes are my current fixations. That is if you don't count Naruto and Bleach, two shows I routinely download in their uncut, subtitled Japanese formats. Now I'm adding Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles to my list. I've only watched the first two episodes online but it looks to be an amazing series. The writing, acting and presentation are all great. Plus, it's nice to see a non-Arnoldesque terminator. Summer Glau, of Firefly fame, plays Cameron. While still emotionless, Glau's terminator seems more adaptable than previous models. She's not so awkward in social situations and can learn without having to be taught. One thing I found funny is how the Cameron character takes particular offense at being called "tinman" by Sarah Connor, played by Lena Headey (King Leonidas' warrior bride in 300).
And speaking of Sarah Connor, Headey does a good job of continuing the hard-ass-mom role started by Linda Hamilton in 1984. When future John Connor, the savior for all mankind (sorry J.C.), says you're the toughest fighter he knows I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. Because of that, future John Connor has sent Cameron, Sarah Connor and little John Connor (his teenage self from the past played by Heroes actor Thomas Dekker) to 2007 in an attempt to destroy Skynet. This 3-man cell's got one hell of a job to do.
It's easy to tell good TV from bad TV. If you watch a show and it leaves you thinking long after it's over, that's good TV. If you finish watching and find your mind needs to "adjust" back to normal life, that's good TV. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles does a great job of doing both. It pulls you into the story. Sure, there's a lot of terminator-on-terminator fighting, pretty gals and massive explosions, but this show's more dynamic than that. The emotion you see between the characters is believable. It's that same human connection that makes a sci-fi show like Battlestar Galactica feel real, despite the fact it's a post-apocalyptic space fight for human survival.
What I'm trying to say is watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and don't watch other, crappier shows with poor writing and no story. Lets give the writers their reward, excellent ratings.
[GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE FULL REVIEW]
World War II FPS games have become cliché over the last five years. That means if you’re going to make a WWII FPS, it better be spectacular in order to stand out. And that’s the definition of Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (MOHH2) for the PSP – spectacular. I can’t get enough Nazi-killin’ action in this latest installment of EA’s popular franchise. As waves of Axis evil march on Europe, I take ‘em down like target practice at a carnival. Not to say combat is easy. The A.I. isn’t dumb, but you’re not fighting against Halo 3 Legendary Brutes or Houdini Splicers from BioShock. Most of MOHH2’s resistance comes in numbers. Enemies fire from cover and lob grenades, but careful players should be able to get through MOHH2’s normal campaign without dying too often. But that doesn’t mean single-player is dull. Levels, though linear, are diverse and have limited repetition. So be prepared to engage Nazis all over Europe across beaches, sewers, villages, factories and more.
My biggest surprise with MOHH2
is how EA handles the controls. I didn’t know what to expect with a
portable FPS. Some great control conversions have been implemented to
make up for the PSP’s lack of a second analog stick (Me and My Katamari) but I’ve also seen bad ones (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops).
Thankfully, EA choose a customizable scheme. Default controls are left
analog for forward and back, strafe left strafe right movement. The
triangle, circle, X, square buttons look up, down, left and right.
Directional pad buttons map to crouch, reload, switch weapons and use
for in-game objects. It did take me about 10 or 15 minutes to learn the
controls, but after that I was back to Nazi bashing with ease in the
immersive single-player campaign. [READ FULL REVIEW HERE]
[GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE FULL REVIEW]
I’ve never played Empire Earth I or II, but it doesn’t take prior knowledge to know Empire Earth III is an unfinished game. The concept is great, a historical-based RTS with three unique civilizations, but the implementation stinks. Glitches and overall poor design make playing Empire Earth III a chore. Like a B movie, it entertains, but the end result is a feeling that you’ve wasted precious hours of your life.
Traditional
historical-based RTS games allow players to choose from multiple
civilizations. Some get bonuses in speed, others build faster or have
cheaper units. However, each of these civilizations plays similarly to
the next. Age of Empires and Rise of Nations are examples of games that
use this design. Mad Doc sought to break the mold with Empire Earth III.
Instead of creating multiple civilizations, they narrowed it to three
regions of the earth: the West, Middle East and Far East. Unlike other
history-based RTS games, each civilization has its own play style. The
West is your typical, balanced civilization. Units are strong and cost
a fair amount of resources. Builders create all necessary structures
and houses raise the population cap. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern units
are mobile. Their fast cavalry is better suited to raiding, and
buildings can collapse into a cart and redeploy somewhere else. Also,
all Middle Eastern buildings are produced at the City Center (your seat
of government in a province). Builders are not necessary with this race
and the population cap is raised through building fortresses. Finally,
the Far East dominates through numbers. Units are cheap to build but
weak, so large numbers are needed to make an effective fighting force.
All infantry units are capable of erecting buildings, which means labor
is never lacking. Every building constructed will contribute to the Far
East population cap. I liked this approach to the historical RTS, as
the idea of three unique civilizations is refreshing, but this feature
alone isn’t enough to redeem Empire Earth III’s inadequacies...[READ FULL REVIEW HERE]
