Video Game Review: Metal Gear Solid - The Twin Snakes

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

Nintendo Gamecube

Before beginning with this review I must note that there are some key differences between this title and the original Metal Gear Solid. Usually when I review games with updated graphics, I will lump the 2 reviews into one. For example - Sly Cooper for the Playstation 2 would be the same thing as Sly Cooper HD that appears on the PS3. No need to do separate reviews when the games are so similar, right? I couldn't agree more. However, this game has so many differences that I must review it as a separate entity from Metal Gear Solid. This will be explained as we go along. So yes, at some point in the future Metal Gear Solid for the PS 1 will get its review. But right now this is all about the Twin Snakes.

The thing that is immediately notable about this game and how it is different from the original MGS is the graphics. Everything looks new and up to date. Gone are the ugly, blocky, pixelated graphics that make the other Metal Gear game look so dated. Environments are detailed, everything looks smooth. The characters have facial expressions. Visually, everything looks good here.

But in the process, the game loses some of the appeal that made the original feel so authentic. Sure everything looks clearer and cleaner here, but is this a good thing? Shadow Moses Island in the original MGS was very dark and mysterious. Whether it was due to the graphical look or not, it was just a very creepy and foreboding place. And I didn't get that same feeling here. Also, this title changes a lot of the music. As opposed to the subtle, haunting themes that play in the background in some areas, you get this weird kind of techno/rock hybrid that feels completely out of place and ruins the mood. This music plays in some cut scenes too. So the whole authenticity level of Twin Snakes takes a big hit. Not only with the cleaner look but with the music too.

This is a title that's meant to be dark and mysterious. The island is supposed to feel remote. The situation you are tossed into is supposed to be tense. The enemies are supposed to be scary. This game makes everything more like a Michael Bay action movie instead of a suspenseful one.

This difference is further accentuated by some of the changes made to the cut scenes. In an effort to add more excitement to the game (at least I can only guess that is what the creators were doing) there are some sequences where Snake goes full-Matrix and flips around in slow motion while things explode and bullets whiz around him. Maybe this would be okay if it only happened once or twice in the game. But it is very overused and starts to become eye rolling how they have to add this whenever there is an action cut scene. Aside from this, some of the fight scenes have been changed to be more extensive and intricate. Why they need to do this, I don't know. You do enough listening and watching in the game that the last thing we need is to watch some more. But it is what it is.

Another thing purists will hate is how they re-recorded the voices of the characters from the original MGS for Twin Snakes. Normally I would be okay with this - and for the most part the game is fine. But there are also parts where things seem a lot more forced. Or they lose some of their emotional impact. Maybe the out of place music in the background has something to do with it. Or maybe the voices aren't as good this time around. But it shows in parts. The Sniper Wolf death scene for example wasn't as good for me. Man tears were shed when I played this part on the PS1 back in the day. Now - no emotional reaction at all.

Comparing this title to Star Wars is a decent comparison. Characters, emotions, the story, everything seemed so authentic in A New Hope. Compare that to The Phantom Menace which is hokey, poorly acted, and too special-effect happy. It is like night and day. That's kind of the thing that happened to this game. It's not nearly as bad as the Phantom Menace, don't get me wrong, but it is the only comparison that comes immediately to mind.

Now that the negatives are out of the way, let's talk positives. There have been some changes to the gameplay. The game plays more like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberties. Everything is easy to control. The first person perspective is a big help when sneaking up on and taking out enemies. The whole game was just very user friendly. In fact, the game seemed almost TOO easy at some points. I remember running into some troubles in the original MGS that I didn't run into here. For the most part I breezed through the game (although I found fighting the tank harder than usual for some reason).

None of the changes affect the fabulous story. The game plays pretty much the game. The areas are all where they should be. The boss fights are still intact. I prefer the rough grittiness of the original game. But if you have never played Metal Gear before, I can totally see newbies who didn't grow up with the original preferring this version.

I expected to rant and rave much longer about this game, but that's really about it. If you're a fan of the older version, you will probably have the same issues with this game that I had. But am I a fanatic who thinks this game is a disgrace that has utterly shamed the name of all that is Metal Gear? No. Like I say, if you haven't played the original you will likely find this game quite good. And then scoff at the original for looking so primitive and... well... old.

I could recap the story. I could explain how Metal Gear works. But that's for another review. Some day I will get around to reviewing the PS1 version of the game. But it will be a while. This game is similar enough to the original that now that I have finished it, I probably won't pick up the other one for a while now.

This is a good game. Is it as iconic as the original? No. I might actually sell off this version of the game since nothing will trump the original in my mind. Its kind of pointless for me to have this when I know there is a superior version out there at my fingertips. But despite all the changes it is still a solid title. If I didn't have the older version - or if I had never played it before, I would probably be raving about the Twin Snakes. But for now it will have to accept that it is just "good" in my mind.

Overall:

B

Video Game Review: Shadows of the Empire

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Nintendo 64

Everyone has a game that they like that everyone else seems to rag on. I have read so many reviews about Shadows of the Empire where people are mercilessly harsh to this game. The graphics suck, the controls are crap, they hate the level design, etc. Oh but the snowspeeder level is cool.

I disagree with all of this. Well, except for the snowspeeder part. That's pretty awesome. It's true that by today's standards the game hasn't aged well. But back in the early days of the Nintendo 64, this game was the shit. Or at least I thought it was. When this game came out, there were not a whole lot of games for the N64. I had just gotten the system and was blown away by Mario 64, Turok, and the other handful of games I had played.

I love Star Wars, so this was a game that I had eagerly anticipated. I didn't actually buy the game - I rented it and beat it in one weekend. But still, I liked it a lot. Of course, it could just have been the new technology. As dated as the game looks now, this was cutting edge in the late 90s. Plus I was just simply a sucker for anything Star Wars. There weren't many (or were there even any at all?) Star Wars games for the Genesis. None for the Saturn. And at this point, all there was for the Playstation was Rebel Assault 2. All the quality Star Wars games were for the SNES or the PC, neither of which I owned. So I was hungry for a Star Wars game.

I don't know a whole lot about the story. There are little scenes to explain what is going on, but basically the plot is crap. I've read the book, but as far as I can see, the two are only very very loosely related. The plot of the game focuses on the Han Solo like smuggler Dash Rendar as he helps out the Alliance. That's all I can tell you. His travels take him from Hoth to Ord Mantell to Prince Xizor's palace on Coruscant. Basically, you shoot things and blow stuff up.

                                     


The opening part of the game takes place on Hoth. The first stage is the snowspeeder stage where you must shoot down Imperial probe droids and AT-ATs. And of course you can use your tow cable to trip up the big Imperial Walkers like in the movie. First impressions mean a lot in games, and this stage definitely made a big one. Hell, even the people that hate this game still like this stage. The music is roaring, vintage Star Wars. The sound effects are pulled right from the movie. Everything looks good, controls good. Good start, right?

The next stage shifts to Echo Base on Hoth. You've got to get to your ship and make an exit, although it is all the way on the other end of the base. The level begins with Dash observing the Millenium Falcon making its escape. This is where people start to have problems with the game. The graphics are incredibly messy and blurry. It is like everything has been coated with a layer of Vaseline. Distant enemies can hit you with sniper like efficiency. You can shoot them with no problem due to the game's auto aim. You can hit them from so far away you can't even see what the fuck they are until you get close to where they were and examine the bodies.

You can control Dash from either a behind the back perspective or from a first person perspective. I don't know who chooses the behind the back viewpoint, because it is fucking terrible. Dash is large and obstructs your view of a lot of the action that is going on. You can't aim with any amount of accuracy, and the controls are very clunky. You almost have to play the game in first person mode. Which is fine by me. I had no problems with the game from this perspective. Everything is easy to control. Simple to pick up and learn quickly. Maybe all the people that hate this game didn't realize you can switch perspectives? Because if I was forced to play the whole game from the behind the back viewpoint I would have hated it. But from the first person view - it's cool.

                                   


The majority of the game takes place on foot. You wander around shooting enemies. Picking up weapon power ups and collectibles. There is a boss at the end of each stage. All pretty standard stuff. Hoth base, as mentioned, is the first area of the game. At the end of it, you face off against an AT-AT on foot. While I had trouble with this as a youngster, it was a breeze now. You just run up behind him and blast away, staying behind him so he can't turn around and shoot you.

You get to your ship soon enough and blast away into space. The space levels I found fun too. All you do is man the guns of your ship and blast away Tie Fighters until you kill enough, clear the asteroid belt, and get away. In the asteroid belt, blasting away at red asteroids gives you bonus points. I read that people didn't like these space levels, and I get it. You don't really move the ship. You just swivel the cursor and fire away at Tie Fighters. It's simple, but hey I liked it.

As mentioned, most of the levels are on foot. One of the levels takes you on a wild train ride where you must jump from car to car blasting away at enemies. Another one takes you to a large canyon where you face off with Boba Fett at the end of the stage. Along the way you acquire a jet pack, which adds some dimension to the game. Instead of just being a corridor shooter, the levels are big and expansive. And the jet pack really allows you to explore everything. There is a freighter level, a sewer level, and then there is also the Xizor's palace level, which is the last on foot stage in the game.

People disliked the on foot levels, but I liked them a lot. Again, maybe I was starved for Star Wars games as a kid. I was also starved for quality first person shooters. Maybe if I had been a little detached from all that I would have hated the game when I was younger. But whatever it is those feelings still carry over to today. I can see the game's flaws, but I do still enjoy it.

The very last level of the game is a space battle. I enjoyed this level too. Instead of being stuck on a track like the previous Tie blasting stages, you have free reign to go wherever you want in this one. Your main goal is to take down Xizor's skyhook, which is accomplished by flying into one of 4 entrances to this big ass thing, and then blasting away at the core in the center of it. Fly through enough times and you blow it up and end the game. Dash fakes his death in the explosion, which I guess explains why he doesn't appear in the Return of the Jedi.

                                     


There is a special reward you get for completing the game and collecting all of those bonus thingies along the way. It escapes me what exactly the reward is. Maybe an extra level? I seem to  recall a space stage where you do battle with a Star Destroyer. I didn't encounter this level on my most recent play through. But I am absolutely NOT playing through the game again and getting all the collectibles to unlock it. When I was a kid I did this. But I am not that dedicated now. Screw dat.

So while I have been discussing everything I like about the game, I guess it's time to talk about what sucks about this. People hate it for a reason right? As mentioned, the graphics have that Vaseline smeared look to them. A lot of the walls and surfaces of things are very plain and undetailed. There is some background draw. But despite all this - the game was amazing to look at in 1996 or 97 or whenever the hell this came out.

People dislike the controls, which I guess I get. Obviously the story isn't amazing. I can see why people are disappointed with the space levels. But to each his own. I like all of it.

One thing I can agree with the critics about is the god awful swoop piloting stage. This stage takes you through Mos Eisley as you ride aboard a swoop (think of the speeder things in the forest of Endor in RoTJ and you get the basic idea) and attempt to knock a bunch of swoop riding gangsters off of their bikes. The thing controls wretchedly. The environments are mucho recycled, and it is just frustrating as hell. I was lucky enough to complete this on one attempt when I played the game the other night, but I recall having struggles with this stage in the past. The controls are just so wretched, and it is so hard to smash people into the walls. The jumps are atrocious and you are constantly smacking into walls and coming to a complete stop everywhere you go. Whoever designed this stage needs to jump off a bridge. Seriously.

I guess that's all I have to say about the game. It's a game that I really like. Screw everyone else's opinion. Maybe if I had played it for the first time in the present day I would have been like omg this sucks. Or maybe if I hadn't been so hard pressed for Star Wars and N64 games back in the 90's I would have thought it was shit.

But I liked it then, and I like it now. I have fun every time I pop this game in. Sure there are flaws, and maybe some of this game's flaws are more glaring than others. But it has a very special place in my heart and I will love it (well, like it) forever.

Overall:

B

Stuff I've been reading

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read. In the early mornings at my job I get a little bit of down time in between telephone calls where I get to read, and I take full advantage of this time. I don't read a whole lot when I am at home (unless I am pooping, which I am sure you are all glad to know).  But I do love to read. My eyes are always open for the next interesting looking book I am going to read next.

I don't know a whole lot of other readers in my life, so I don't really have anyone to talk to about my hobby. So I figured hey I have this handy dandy blog. Why not use it? Maybe someone will read it. Maybe.

I'm not planning to review any books in depth. Just give you some thoughts on things I have been reading lately. I'll probably do this every month or so.

First, there is Under The Dome by Stephen King. I have been a huge King fan my whole life. I've read most of his books multiple times. I read the forewords and the afterwords. I have read his non fiction stuff. His interviews. Articles about him online. I almost feel like I know the man. I LOVE his writing and with the exception of a few books, I have enjoyed everything he has put out.

I have actually read Under the Dome before. It was about 4 or 5 years ago. I have been a reader my whole life, but sometimes I fall out of the habit and go for a few years without picking up a book. I was in the middle of one of these spells when I picked up Under the Dome. I can actually contribute this book to rekindling my interest in reading, as I have not been able to put down books since then.

The concept of the book is easy enough to grasp. An impenetrable, invisible dome descends over a small town, cutting it off from the outside world. No one can come in, no one can leave. While it sounds like a relatively simple concept, there is so much more to the book than that.

The town of Chester's Mill is just so well designed. There is a huge cast of characters, all with complex personalities. Since it is a small town, many of these characters know each other and have history with one another.

The main character is Dale Barbara, a former member of the military. He is not a "native" of the city, and is initially looked upon with suspicious eyes. However, through his strong work ethic and his natural abilities working the grill at the town restaurant, he is slowly accepted by the town.

However, he finds himself on the outs during an unfortunate bar brawl during which he really did nothing but defend himself from a group of punks. But one of the punks happened to be the son of a prominent selectman of the town, Big Jim Rennie. Dale "Barbie" Barbara decides to head out of town when he realizes that this brawl is going to be held against him, and that the people involved have decided to make his life a living hell.

Enter the dome. On his way out of town. Barbie witnesses a plane crash into the invisible barrier at full speed, as well as a car. There are a few other dome related mishaps too. This all happens very quickly at the beginning of the book. There isn't a lot of backstory or boring exposition. King gets right to the heart of the matter very quickly.

One of the things that people like to say about Stephen King is that he is overly detailed in his writing. Or that he is pretentious. That's a word my wife likes to use. But I don't see it. I think he is an amazing writer. He has a skill with his words to really put you into the shoes of his characters. He paints a picture of what is happening without getting too carried away or letting his details effect the pace of his narratives. I don't have a bad thing to say about Stephen King. He is my inspiration as a writer. If I ever decide to get up off my butt and seriously start working on some of these projects I have in my mind, I can only hope to be half the writer he is. I am a HUGE fan.

Now I am off course. OK. Without going into too much detail about the plot of the book, which is not what this blog entry is really about - suffice it to say that shit hits the fan in this small town. Barbie is trapped with the very people he was looking to get away from, and is soon scapegoated into being the town's villain as a ploy by power hungry Big Jim Rennie in his plot to take control of Chester's Mill.

Big Jim is an awesome villain, and I am hard pressed to name a character I have loathed more in a novel than him. Big Jim is a used car salesman, as well as the town's second selectman. He is also a criminal, running a meth lab in the town to line his own pockets. As mentioned, he is a power hungry control freak. The dome coming down is a dream come true for him as it allows him to go on the power trip that he has always dreamed about. He manipulates people. He commits murder. He deputizes all the "bad boys" of the town in an attempt to take over the police force and organize his own personal army to do his bidding and rule the town with an iron fist. All this he does in the name of Jesus as well, which makes you hate him even more.

The whole book is mainly a power stuggle between "Barbie's people" and Big Jim's. Big Jim is the one that takes power first, and paints Barbie's side as villains. They become like rebels, working behind the scenes and trying to figure out ways to take down the man in charge. All while this crap with the dome is going on. King did his research here and made the mechanics of the inside of the dome as realistic as possible. It gets dirty, it makes the town hot, it fills the air with pollution (since it can't get out). It basically makes the town one big pressure packed bomb waiting to blow up.

Which, it does. Figuratively or literally? You will have to read to find out.

I can't encourage you more to read this book if you haven't already. Don't let the so-so TV show influence your decision at all. This book is one of King's best, and puts the show to shame.

Let's move on.

I've seen movie trailers for a film called "The Maze Runner" and I thought the premise looked awesome. Little did I know that it was based on a book (actually a series of books) that I had never heard of before. I love the Hunger Games series. I like Divergent. This kind of looked like it was made of similar stuff. So I decided hey, why not check it out?

And it turns out to be just as good as I had thought. Even better. Like stuff like Lost or Persons Unknown? This will be right up your alley.

In this book, a boy named Thomas wakes up on an elevator with no memory of his past life. When the elevator reaches its destination, he emerges to find himself in a large, giant open area surrounded by towering walls on all 4 sides. There are other kids there - all boys. They have gone through the same ordeal. They just wake up and have no memory of the past. And they are abandonded in this place.

As you learn more about "the Glade" as it is called, you learn that the Glade is surrounded on all sides by a giant maze. The big walls that comprise the Glade's boundary have large doors built in to them that close at night. During the day, some of the kids - the Runners - run through the maze looking for a way out and also mapping its layout mentally.

At night, hideous monsters called Grievers come out. Anyone who has been caught out in the maze after the doors close has never returned.

You learn all of this stuff from the perspective of Thomas. There is so much going on in the Glade, and so much mystery with the maze and the Grievers. Why this is all happening and why these specific individuals. If there is a way out. There is much more to this too, but I will let you read it and discovery the mysteries of the Glade yourself. As I said before, if you are a Lost fan, you should like this. I thought it was pretty good and I am very excited to see if the movie is just as good. I haven't heard anything about it since I saw that trailer, so I am going to assume it sucks.

It's not a full book, but today I finished The Mystery Knight by George RR Martin. This is a prequel to the Song of Ice and Fire series, and the third in a series of "short novels" by the author. It takes place about a hundred years before A Game of Thrones.

These books follow a large hedge knight (meaning he has no allegaince to any particular house, nor a lot of money) named Sir Duncan the Tall, or just Dunk for short, as he travels around Westeros looking for work. He takes on an squire named "Egg" who is really Aegon Targaryen, a young member of the royal family. He shaves his head and pretends he is just a commoner, but really he just wants to get out and see the Seven Kingdoms. He and Dunk have adventures together, and we get to see a little bit of what the Seven Kingdoms were like when the Targaryens were in power.

These books are set in the aftermath of the Blackfyre Rebellion. If you are not too overly familiar with the series, this was a war where the dying king legitamized all his bastards before dying. And this threw the notion of who the rightful king would be into question. People who sided with his eldest bastard were the "black side" of the rebellion. Those who supported the king's trueborn son were red.

The red side won, but it left Westeros in upheaval. People still harbor ill feelings towards those on the other side of the rebellion and tension is everywhere.

In the Mystery Knight, Dunk and Egg head off to take part in a wedding tourney only to get caught up in a secret meeting of the rebellion that people are trying to rekindle. There is a lot more to this story, but I am not going to recap it all.

I thought it was quite good though. In fact - not only this book but the other Dunk and Egg books I have found to be better than expected. It's nice to be able to get a little insight into the history of Westeros. As well as see things unfolding from the persepective of truly "good" characters. Dunk is Ned Stark-like in the way he always does the right and honorable thing. Although he is not as bright as Ned, nor is he highborn. Egg is young and innocent, wanting to see the world from a different perspective. Unlike most highborn people or rulers in this universe, he wants to know and be familiar with the people his family is ruling over.

If you're slightly interested in the Song of Ice and Fire universe, check this series out. They are quick and easy to read. You can finish them in a day or so, depending on how long you sit down to read it. I believe there is a planned 7 entries into this series, although only 3 are out as of now. The first two books, the Hedge Knight and the Sworn Sword have been adapted into graphic novel form as well - so check those out too.

Another book I've recently finished is Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves. I've been reading Star Wars books since I was a kid. Damned if I am going to let anyone pass judgment on me for that though. Many of these books are really good. Really authentic and true to the source material. These aren't poorly written crapfests for people who aren't serious readers (well, some of them are clunkers). They are more like extensions of the movie. Who doesn't want to know what happens with Han and Leia and the like after the movies end? Some of these books also fill in the gaps in between movies.

Which is the case with Honor Among Thieves. In this book, the Rebel feet is still looking for a new home after the battle of Yavin. Han is dispatched to pick up a spy who has critical information regarding the Empire's next move and return her to the fleet. When he goes to pick her up, he finds he doesn't have time to bring her back. The spy, Scarlet Hark, draws him into a race against time to stop a game changing ancient weapon from falling into the Empire's hands. He does so while being chased down by bounty hunters still looking to deliver him to Jabba.

It's a short book, an easy read. Only about 250 pages. I finished it in 2 days. I prefer the books that take place after the movies, just because I like seeing what happens in the post Empire days. But this was good. It wasn't as good as the two books listed above, but I had fun with it. Scarlet Hark is a cool character, and it is nice to see some of the things that happened between movies. The book sets up the Rebel Alliance's discovery of Hoth nicely at the end. It is nothing especially deep or thought provoking, but if you like Star Wars and want to be entertained for a few days, you should read it.

I never read many graphic novels before working at my current job, but the Walking Dead series got me into them. I recently finished the Walking Dead Volume 21: A New Beginning. Most people I know have seen the show but have not read the graphic novels. There are huge differences with small similarities. Some of the characters and settings are the same, but they are basically two separate entities

In the graphic novels, the characters just won a major battle against a group of marauding hooligans (the Saviors) and are finally starting to rebuild civilization. Things are looking good. There are a couple of big towns in existence. Rick is in charge of Alexandria, and recently widowed Maggie is in charge of the Hilltop.

This story is mainly told through the perspective of a new group of survivors, hence the title A New Beginning. This group is taken in to Alexandria and given the tour. All the while they are thinking that it is too good to be true, and that Rick and company must be hiding something. There is a flutter of background activity in this book. Carl wants to leave Alexandria and go take up the weapon making trade at the Hilltop. Negan, the leader of the Saviors is a prisoner in Rick's house and appears to have mellowed out (although you know he is just looking for the perfect opportunity to escape). A member of a scouting party comes back, insisting he has heard zombies talk, which everyone dismisses as nonsense.

But at the end of the book, we discover that there is a new group of asshole survivors out there (this series never seems to run out of them) that disguise themselves as zombies so they can blend in. And then they attack and kill innocent people.

To be continued!

I was thoroughly entertained by this entry in the series. Things flow along seemlessly and the book is just incredibly engaging and easy to read. I didn't want it to end, which unfortunately it did very quickly. The Walking Dead is a great series. I think people underestimate it due to the whole "graphic novel / comic" stigma that people seem to have. This is not dumb. It's not for kids. In many ways it is even better than the show.

Another graphic novel I have recently finished is The Girl Who Played With Fire. I have read the actual novel before, and I thought it was okay. I preferred the first book in the series, and thought the subsequent two were pretty lackluster. However, the graphic novel helped change my opinion a lot.

This version removes everything that is boring about the book, and gets straight to the heart of the matter. And it really is a great story that has so many layers of depth to it. Lisbeth's past is explored and many of the questions that were brought up in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo are answered here.

The artwork is really great. The story moves along at lightning pace. Anyone who was put off by the second novel in the series should just read the graphic novel. I was thoroughly impressed. Hopefully the Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest will be made into a graphic novel, because I'm invested now and I have a hard time remembering how this series ended. And I would much rather read the graphic novel than go back and read the book again.

One more graphic novel and then we are done. I'm a fan of Doug TenNappel who is a great artist with some very off the wall story ideas. None of his graphic novels resemble anything you've seen before. His ideas are so simplistic and unique, that you get sucked in very quickly to his works.

Ghostopolis and Bad Island are two of his more well known graphic novels. On a whim, I decided to check out Cardboard. I had never heard of it before, but I had yet to be let down by anything he's put out there.

And Cardboard is awesome too. Again, a simple story. A single out of work father can't afford to buy his son a birthday present, so he scrapes together some change and gets him... a cardboard box. The neighborhood kids make fun of the boy for getting such a crappy present, but soon become jealous when they discover that anything made out of this cardboard comes to life.

Before running out of cardboard, the father and son use the remaining scraps to make a "cardboard maker" that comes to life and spits out more magic cardboard. So there is an unlimited supply at their hands. The main neighborhood meanie that we saw earlier in the story steals the carboard maker and makes an army of cardboard villains and monsters that soon get out of control.

So it is up to the boy and his dad to head on over and defeat this army once and for all. Again, a simple story that sounds kinda lame, but it just works. It's very easy to read. The artwork is great. And the characters really drive the story. For kind of a kiddish, cartoony graphic novel, there is a lot of heart here and it shines through as is the case with everything that Doug TenNappel puts out.

That's all for now. Usually I would have a lot more books in my recent memory, but its been busy at work, and Under the Dome took me a while to get through. So that's all I can remember at the moment to talk about. I just started The Hobbit for the second time (I first read it a few years ago). I've now seen all three of the movies, and there are many things from the movies that I don't remember being in the book. So I'm going back and reading the book to compare the two. I'll post about it when I am done reading it.

Okay bye.

My Netflix rotation: a weekend in review #1

So basically I have a crap load of TV shows in my rotation on Netflix. As opposed to binge watching one show like some people do, I jump from one series to the next, watching one episode at a time. As a result, it usually takes me a very long time to finish a series.

I have decided that this weekend I was going to try to watch one episode of as many shows in my rotation as possible. And then write up a short little entry about each show I watch. What is is about, how much I like it, etc. I didn't realize how ambitious this exercise was in the beginning. I have a lot of shows that I watch. Way more than I realized.

I am going to be writing this as I go. I'm not trying to blow anyone away with witty writing. I am just going to write the first thing to come to mind and then move on. This is a very low budget production.

Friday morning I started with Darknet. This show is a horror anthology. It is only 6 episodes long. Each episode is about a series of murders or bizarre occurrences that occur, revolving around a creepy website called Darknet.

Some of the murders are linked. For example in one episode you may see someone who is about to get murdered walk past a group of friends. Then that person gets murdered. Then later in the episode, the show comes back to the group of friends and they get murdered too. Some of these episodes are kind of clever in how they are inter-linked. Some just don't seem to make any sense whatsoever.

But I like the show. Each episode is only about a half hour. They are fun. And a few of the episodes actually do contain some genuinely scary moments. Some story arcs are stupid or nonsensical. But for the most part I did enjoy watching.

The episode I just got finished watching was the last episode in the series, entitled simply "Episode 6." The murders in this episode revolve around a furry cat cartoon character, who has become an internet sensation. Think Hello Kitty, but more recent, and American. One character is killed on his way to a furry convention when his GPS leads him astray. Another character (who has the cat tattoo) is stalked in an abandoned laundromat. The creator of the cat himself finds himself in deep water with a disgruntled neighbor who finds the cat to be extremely annoying. There are a few other references to the cat throughout the episode. This is how all the stories are linked.

Another underlying theme of the episode is internet trolling. When the man in the furry outfit is killed, the killer announces that he has been trolled. Another story in this episode is an internet battle between two boys who are hacking and trolling one another online. When they agree to meet in person to settle their dispute, the same killer from before slays both of them, once again announcing they've been trolled.

Since this is the final episode, the show attempts to tie up some stories from past episodes. Some of the killers from past episodes (and the troll killer from this one) receive messages on their computers announcing that a mysterious someone "knows what they did." Then they turn around and look into the camera, frightened. It is clear that someone is in the house with them.

And then the show ends. I would have liked to know what was going to happen to these killers, but we have to assume that it isn't pleasant. That's kind of how the show operates though. A lot of loose ends. A lot of questions dangled out there and then not answered. It annoys me because I like to know what happened, but then again the fact that some of the meanings of these episodes are left up to interpretation is sort of cool.

If you like horror, and you don't want to commit yourself to a long drawn out show, Darknet could be a good quick watch for you.

The next show in my rotation was Black Mirror. This is a British show that is compared to The Twilight Zone. Each episode is 40 something minutes to an hour long. They explore the perils of modern day technology and what might happen in the future if this technology continues along its current path.

These episodes are not connected at all, so I watched them all out of order. The episode I watched today was entitled "Fifteen Million Merits." There are only 6 episodes to this show, so again it is another quick watch for anyone interested. This episode is the last episode of the series for me, so now that I have watched it I can scratch another show off of my rotation. At least until more episodes come up.

Although I have completed watching all the other episodes before watching this episode, it is actually season one, episode two. Hey I told you I watched them out of order. Based on the description this one seemed the least interesting to me, which is why I saved it for last. Plus it is the longest episode.

But I actually ended up liking it a lot. The episode centers around a future society where its inhabitants are forced to ride exercise bikes pretty much nonstop when they are not sleeping or off duty. These bikes power the community somehow - although how or why is never explained. The more they pedal, the more merits they earn. These merits are used towards things like food and entertainment. Each citizen has a "wobble" which is a digitalized avatar of his or herself. Think of a Mii from Nintendo and you've pretty much nailed what a wobble is. Merits can also be used on customizing the appearance of everyone's own wobble.

Citizens of this future society are constantly surrounded by television screens that stream an endless supply of mindless entertainment, from singing shows, to games, to porn. Advertisements constantly are popping up when someone is trying to watch something or do something, and they have to use merits to skip the ads.

Two bike pedalers meet up and slowly start to fall in love. It is the dream of the woman to enter the singing competition and make it big. Thus, sparing her from having to ride the bike everyday. The man has a large sum of merits which he uses to buy her way onto the show.

When she gets on stage, the judges like her voice but think that she would be better suited to adult acting instead. She has a choice - to either enter into the biz or go back to pedaling the rest of her life. So she accepts, leaving her man abandoned and heartbroken.

Since he had used most of his merits to get her on the show, he is now broke. He is forced to watch advertisements for her adult productions on the big screen, and can not skip over them due to insufficient funds. He decides to start riding the bike furiously and saving his money so he can get on the talent show. There, he pulls out a broken shard of glass and threatens to bye bye himself on live TV. He rants about the broken, messed up world they live in, and urges everyone at home to do something about it.

The judges of the show then tell him how they like his passion and offer him a spot on one of their shows. He accepts, and leaves the bike riding portion of his life behind. But he realizes as the credits start to roll, that he has changed nothing and that he has sold out and become a very part of the problem he was trying to solve. And he still is separated from his lost love.

That's about it. A pretty grim, bleak look at the future I would say. But still, very entertaining. In fact, there has yet to be an episode of the show I have disliked. If you're into 1984, A Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 or other dystopian future type stories, you will love Black Mirror.

After a couple of dark TV shows, I decided to watch something light next. Ultimate Spider-Man. Now I am actually not that big of a cartoon watcher, but I like something to watch on Sunday or Saturday mornings while I eat cereal. Something to make me feel like a kid again.

My cartoon used to be X-Men, but Netflix pulled the show right when I was getting to the Phoenix story arc of the show. Coincidentally, this is also when I stopped watching as a kid. I guess I am never going to find out how that show ends.

So I needed a new cartoon. I'm a Spider Man fan, so I gave this a shot. And it's a decent cartoon. Like I said I am not much of a big cartoon watcher anymore, but this show has its moments. This series focuses on Spider-Man being trained by Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and Shield as he discovers his powers and tries to get through high school. I like how it crosses over with other Marvel franchises. Expect to see cameos from people like Thor, Wolverine, Loki, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, even Blade.

The episode I watched today was season 2, episode 14. "The Incredible Spider-Hulk". Speaking of cameos, this one featured you guess it, the Hulk. The Hulk is trying to control his rage, and enlists the help of the villain Mesmero, who is in Shield custody, to fix whatever is wrong with his mind. However, in the process, Spider Man tries to intervene and gets his mind switched with the Hulk's. So the Hulk is in Spider Man's body and Spider Man is in the Hulk's.

All kinds of mishaps ensue. The Hulk tries to go to school as Peter Parker and causes a disturbance. Peter, as the Hulk, finds himself loose in the city after accidentally helping Mesmero escape. Shield believes him to be out of control and sends The Thing (hey another cameo!) after him to bring him in.

Eventually after lots of fighting Mesmero is captured once again and is forced to swap the two minds back where they belong.

It's a fun show. If you like cartoons you should like this. It doesn't take itself too seriously like the X-Men. There is some good comedy interspersed with the action. Some of Peter Parker's inner dialogue scenes are quite clever. And like I said I love all the Marvel cameos.

It is what it is. It's not horribly deep or thought provoking at all. I tend to only watch an episode every few weeks or so. Nothing I would sit down and really get into. But its occasionally a fun diversion.

Now that we've had a little break for something lighthearted, time to get back to something dark again. Next up is House of Cards. I kinda sorta like this show. It goes back and forth between being really interesting and intense to being boring. Hence why it took me so long to finally get around to the third season, which I just started. I do love the theme song though. Best theme song for a show ever? Maybe. This episode is season 3, episode 2. Entitled simply: Chapter 28.

Most episodes are heavy on politics. I mean, it is what the show is all about. But this one was especially so. Nothing really exciting happened. There weren't any big moments. But yet I still enjoyed it. It's nice watching Frank maneuver, you never know exactly what is going on in his head.

In this episode Frank learns that the Democratic Party doesn't want him to run for re-election at the end of his term in 18 months. Also, Claire is attempting to pursue a job as UN ambassador, but runs into trouble when a comment of hers is taken out of context. With both husband and wife feeling down and out, they get down and dirty on Frank's office floor in the White House. And this seems to get their minds moving on how to fix their problems.

Frank pursues his plan with his job initiative, addressing the country that he will not run for re-election but instead do his best to make sure that he does everything he can to fix the nation's economic trouble. You know there is some kind of ulterior motive here. Frank worked so hard to get into the White House, no way is he going to relinquish it that easily. Maybe he is hoping that through his work and his bold plan, America will be convinced he is the right man for the job after all. And then he will be pressed into running again. Maybe he will flip parties? We don't know. And that's a good thing, because it will keep me watching. He also agrees to go out of his way to help Claire, even though his intervention may seem like favoritism because she is his wife.

All in all, a decent episode. Nothing too thrilling, but it sets the wheels in motion for things to come in the future. For a series that regularly bores me with its heavy handed politics, this one was pretty good.

With the exception of Spider Man, most of these shows have been pretty serious or dark. So again, it is time to switch gears in a major way. Enter Glee. Now, you may find it odd that I like this show. I hated high school. I don't like movies or TV shows where characters spontaneously burst into song. Comedies are low on my like list. And I tend to watch things with lots of murder, betrayal, and violence. Or sci fi.

But I do like Glee. The show addresses a lot of concerns prevalent in today's society. It also teaches that it isn't necessarily a bad thing to stand out or to be different. I could have used this show when I was an awkward shy teen in high school who hated myself. And assumed everyone hated me as well. The show is pretty heartfelt, while being fun and fast paced at the same time. And a lot of the music is current stuff that's on the radio. Or classics. I am actually kind of interested in seeing the characters' spins on the songs. So yes, I do like this show.

Enter season 5, episode 11. Entitled City of Angels. The glee club heads off to Los Angeles to compete in nationals, and a chance to take home the title of the best show choir in the US. Finn's mother and stepfather decide to chaperon the club, and everyone reminisces about Finn and how he would have wanted them to give it their all and make each other proud.

At first I thought all the Finn references were stupid and exploitative. Like, we have already said goodbye to Finn. Do we really need to do it again? But as the episode went on, I realized that yes, they did need to say goodbye again. The reason the club was in the position it was in was because of him. He meant a lot to the kids, and to Mr Schue. In a way, this was like his real send off. When the group performed their last song, and all the images of Finn kept flashing across the screen, it really was a powerful moment.

New Directions actually came in second place in the tournament, crushing everyone's hopes and dreams. The club's look of glum dismay as the confetti fell was a poignant moment in the show. And when the club got back to Ohio, they were hit with the news that the glee club was being disbanded for budget reasons. So it was not a good weekend.

It was a good episode. I didn't like their performances as much as the winner's, so I am not surprised they lost. In fact, it wouldn't be realistic to have them win every single year, so I expected them to lose actually. It was a well acted episode, with some strong emotional performances. Even Sue's speech when she told Will the bad news was an emotional moment. And the best part of the show was that there was no Kurt/Rachel/Santana drama (well at least until the final minute of the show when they got the news about the club) which had been getting tiresome the last few episodes.

Where does the show go from here with no glee club? We'll have to wait and see. Well - at least I will have to wait and see since the show has already aired and completed on regular TV.

Next up: Bates Motel. This is a prequel to the movie Psycho, except it is set in modern times. The show dives into Norman Bates' relationship with his mother, and how he got to be the killer in the movies that we have come to know and love. I like the show. It's not something I jump out of my seat over. But its fun. I think the situations and the stories can get a little outlandish at moments, but its always a good time.

Despite the subject matter it isn't as dark as you'd think. I watched season 2, episode 6. Plunge is the title. A new bypass is threatening to go up, and cut off the motel from the main road. Norma Bates is trying to join the city council so she can have a say in the matter. Obviously, the bypass would kill her business. Norman's brother Dylan is recovering from his wounds after a failed attempt by someone to kill his boss in the weed business. He is taken in by his boss's boss, a sexy female that you know from the moment you see her he is going to hook up with. And he does, unsurprisingly.

Meanwhile, Norman and his new gal pal Cody are out at the river playing kissy face when Emma and her pot selling man stumble upon them. They decide to go cliff diving when Emma nearly passes out in the water from too much excitement. Norman flips out on Cody, who had encouraged Emma to jump despite her frail health. Cody continues to worry about Norman. Not only the outburst, but she has witnessed him black out twice. She tells Emma about it, and then in turn Emma tells Norma about it. Norma jumps in right as Norman is about to take his driver's test and tells the instructor that Norman can't get his license because he has been blacking out. Seems malicious on her behalf, and yet another attempt to keep Norman close to her and away from Cody, who she doesn't approve of.

Norman goes to confront Cody about the problem and during the shouting wakes Cody's alcoholic father, who comes out and starts beating on the kids. We just knew the moment would come when Norman would stand up to the guy. And that he does, pushing him down the stairs and seemingly killing him.

A good episode. This show needs a little more crazy Norman, and it has been building towards that. I'm fairly eager to see what happens next, but I have other shows in the rotation I must attend to.

Like the Wonder Years. I have great memories watching this show as a kid. Although he was a few years older than me and although this is set in a different decade, I still felt connected to Kevin like we were growing up together at the same time. I never actually finished the entire show though. So once it came out on Netflix I was like hey now is time to take a trip down memory lane and see what happens at the end of the show.

I'm on season 6 now. Episode 15: Hulk Arnold. This is the second thing I have watched this weekend that has been Hulk related. Coincidence?

Yeah.

In this episode Kevin finds out he is pretty good at wrestling in gym class. He is encouraged to join the wrestling team - and he does, despite his better judgement. There, he finds out he isn't as good as he had actually thought he was. And he clashes with his wrestling coach, who I recognized as the bald guy from Back to the Future who calls everyone a slacker.

Despite sucking in practice, and despite his crappy attitude and bad relationship with the coach, he makes the team. At a wrestling meet, he is thrust into action unexpectedly and loses his match. But he gave it his all and didn't give up without a fight. Learning a little bit of something about himself in the process.

This was an okay episode. Every episode no matter how significant or insignificant gives us a little glimpse into what has turned Kevin into the man he is today. But I like episodes that deal with more "real" emotional matters. When Kevin deals with love, loss, problems in the family. To me that is when the show is at its best. The sports episodes can be fun but I don't enjoy them as much.

Still though, I have yet to really see an episode of the Wonder Years that I have truly disliked. I enjoyed it, although it could have been better or more memorable.

We shall keep it light and watch an episode of the CGI animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This is season 2, episode 18: The Zillo Beast.

I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I love the original 3 movies like no other. But I do have a problem with the prequels, as any self respecting Star Wars fan does. This TV series is set between the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. There is a huge gap in time there to fill in, and this series tells of all the major battles of the Clone Wars.

It's done in the style of the prequels, although it is all animated and there are no live actors. I find that this "new style" Star Wars is much more tolerable in animated form. First of all, the episodes are only about 22 minutes in length, so you only have to deal with them for a shorter amount of time. Second, the voice acting is much better than the real acting in the movies. Third, with it being animated the show can literally do anything that would have been impossible to make its way into the movies. There really aren't any constraints upon the limit of the imagination with this series.

That said, I am still kind of iffy about the show. There are so many battles and fights going on, that after a while my mind starts to lose track of what exactly is happening. A lot of the plots are very simplistic and to the point. Don't expect any big twists or whoah moments. We all know what happens in the movies, so a lot of this just seems like useless filler. For a cartoon version of Star Wars with lots of action the dialogue parts can get boring sometimes. Overall, I could give or take the show. Sometimes I find my mind wandering during an episode and then it snaps back and I'm like wait what was going on again? As a big Star Wars fan I was hoping it would be better but I'm still gonna see it out to the end. There are some standout episodes every once in a while.

The episode I watched today was decent actually. I wasn't bored at all during this one. It's actually a 2-parter, and I'm kind of eager to see how it ends. But I am holding myself to one show per series until I finish this blog entry, so I will hold back for now. Basically, this episode is like a Star Wars version of Godzilla. In a Republic battle with the droid army on some planet (the name of it has already escaped me), a giant creature that had been lying dormant beneath the planet's surface is awakened. It initially is trapped in the crater in which it hatched, but after the Dugs (I do remember that much) try to kill it, it comes out and starts attacking everything in site.

The Jedi realize that this creature is the last of its species, and they wish to save it and keep it safe. However, the Dugs want to kill it with no mercy. This causes a rift between the 2 sides as they are looking to unite against the droid army. And also poses an interesting moral dilemma the likes of which you usually don't see on the Clone Wars. Kill it because it is such a threat, or save it since it is the last of its kind? The Jedi did bring up the point that it didn't attack until it was fired upon.

In the end, the creature is neutralized and shipped off to Coruscant to be studied because of its impenetrable armor. My initial thought was, um, they are going to send a giant Godzilla like alien creature to a planet that is a giant city? How can that possibly go wrong? And sure enough, it is a 2 parter. The next episode deals with the creature escaping and causing all kinds of havoc, I am sure. And I kinda can't wait to watch it.

For a show that usually bores me and has its fair share of give or take episodes, this one was quite good.

Sticking with another animated series, we move on to Archer. Season 5, episode 10. Palace Intrigue: Part I. This may be a controversial statement to some people on my friends list, but I don't really like Archer that much. Sure there are some funny moments. But the humor for the most part is really dumb. Everyone in the cast just acts like a dumbass and/or a dick and fights all the time. I'm not a huge fan of the spy genre, so even though this is a spoof, I still get bored and don't really get into it that much. Most of the time I watch this, I just can't wait for the episode to be over.

So why do I watch it then? Because my wife likes it. And although I am not a huge fan of the show, I can tolerate it. We tend to watch shows at the opposite ends of the Netflix spectrum, so I had to settle on Archer as common ground. Otherwise we would never watch anything together at all.

Season 5 of Archer has the subtitle: Archer Vice. The spy organization ISIS has been disbanded, and the gang is now running around trying to sell cocaine. It's a dramatic shift in the established theme of the series, and I really don't know how I feel about it. Based on the title of the season, Archer Vice, this is clearly some kind of spoof of Miami Vice. I didn't watch the show so I don't know how many of the jokes and situations here relate to that show. But I don't like it much.

This episode finds the former ISIS members flying into, um - some country. To sell some guy some guns. Everyone argues. Everyone does something dumb. Archer has sex. And the episode ends on a cliffhanger. Even though I just got through watching this five minutes ago, I don't remember what the cliffhanger is. When I am not that into a show, my attention wanders. And it wandered here.

I know there are a lot of people out there that love Archer, but I just struggle to get into it. I kinda can't wait for this season to be over so I don't have to think of it for another year when season 6 comes to Netflix.

After an episode of The Wonder Years and a couple animated shows, it is time to get back to something grim and violent and/or gruesome. And Criminal Minds definitely fits that description.

So far I have liked the show, but don't ever feel the need to watch more than one episode every great while. There isn't a real hook that's gotten me wanting to see what happens next yet. But if there are more episodes like this one, I will definitely be watching this faster. The episode I watched is season 1, episode 14. Ride the Lightning.

This was a great episode. The team is sent to death row where they question a couple found guilty of murder. They want to know from the husband how many more bodies are out there undiscovered. And they want to know from the wife - who they suspect is innocent - what exactly happened to their son that they claimed she killed. His body had never been found.

I thought this was a very fun storyline. It was intense and really had me on the edge of my seat. I liked how they kept switching back and forth between the interviews. That was very well done. And also, the resolutions of each story. A particularly tear jerking moment is when Gideon decides to let the mom march on to death row to protect the identity of her son - who is in foster care and is really still alive. She would rather die than let the boy know who her real parents are and ruin his life. It was a very intense episode.

Although to this point I've been taking my sweet time with Criminal Minds, I really liked this episode. This show increased its stock in my rotation by a large amount with this one.

I like having a documentary series or something about the universe in my rotation at all times. I've watched all the Stephen Hawking stuff and a few other universe specials, so now I have moved onto Neil deGrasse Tyson and the show Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Visually the show is just spectacular. All the planets and things look great, especially in HD. The special effects for this show are really top notch. If you just want to look at something pretty, turn this on. And you learn a lot too.

The episode I watched was season 1, episode 11. The Immortals. This episode talked about a lot of things, including the world's oldest recorded signature, and the story it told which was very similar to Noah's Ark. I like the animated scenes in this show. They teach us some history while giving us cool cell shaded animation that looks like the Legend of Zelda Wind Waker.

We learn a lot more about the Earth and how life could be seeded from other planets due to asteroid collisions. And how it could even be possible that asteroids that seeded life on Earth came from Earth itself, knocked free in an earlier catastrophe.

The host also speculates about what it would take to wipe out humanity, and just how long we have on this planet. He's actually very optimistic and says that we will figure out all these things and make so many advances in science that when we do start having to worry about the sun going nova, we will be able to keep it from happening. No way we survive that long, I say. But I do appreciate his optimism,

This show is perfect for nerds like me. I get to look at something cool - and I learn along the way. I am very interested in space and the history of the universe so this is right up my alley. It makes me feel very small to realize just how large the universe is. It's almost overwhelming if you think about it too hard. But I enjoy doing so.

Now that my imagination has been engaged, its time to watch an episode of the Twilight Zone. Season 2, episode 18. Entitled: Odyssey of Flight 33. I've actually read the graphic novel version of this episode, but the show itself is quite different.

The episode focuses mainly on the pilots and crew in the cockpit, and not the passengers. The airplane hits a jet stream on its way to its destination in New York. This increases the speed of the plane to an unheard of level. The plane breaks the sound barrier. The crew loses radio contact with everyone and decides to take a risk and come down blind out of cloud cover to find out their position.

They find out they have gone back in time to the dinosaur age. So they take the plane back up and head back into the slipstream. Now they come back to what they think is the present time, only to discover it is about 20 years too early. So then they have to go back up again... and the episode comes to an end.

Usually I like to see an episode come to a definitive end and not leave it open to interpretation, but I didn't mind here. Especially with how Rod Serling narrates right before the credits roll. He makes it sound like the plane could suddenly appear overheard - anytime, anywhere. Like they are still out there looking for a way home. I thought it was a neat episode.

Some Twilight Zone episodes are crappy, but some are pretty good. And this falls into the good category. It got my brain working a little. Engaged the imagination. I liked it.

Let's head over to an episode of Torchwood. With all the Doctor Who mania spreading across the US the last few years, I decided to give the show a shot starting with the Christopher Eccleston season in case I was majorly missing out. I actually didn't really like the show that much. Its kind of corny and goofy. The special effects are laughable (at least in the early seasons). It's no Battlestar Galactica, which is what I was expecting. A heavy hitting sci fi epic with a great storyline that keeps you coming back for "just one more" episode. It's more Star Wars: The Phantom Menace than anything else.

But still, I do like Torchwood. This is much better than Doctor Who to me. It's more serious in tone and grapples with more mature issues. The storylines are much better and the special effects are not as wretched. And I like the bigger cast too. I'm trying to watch this in concurrence with Doctor Who. Like, I watched seasons 1 and 2 of Doctor Who. Then season 1 of Torchwood. Then season 3 of Doctor Who. Now I am on season 2 of Torchwood. So until I finish this season, Doctor Who is temporarily out of the rotation.

This episode is season 2, episode 10. From Out of the Rain. This episode is about an old traveling freak show that comes back to life by emerging from old cinema reels. Cinema killed these traveling shows back in the day, so they are out to take their revenge. These mysterious figures start stealing people's souls and draining the moisture from their bodies.

So of course it is up to team Torchwood to find them and snuff them out. Jack is familiar with the group from his days in a traveling show. He knows them as night travelers. Torchwood is able to track down and stop this group, but of their victims they can only save one little boy.

I wasn't really blown away by this episode. I have seen much better episodes of Torchwood in the past. It was just okay for me. There were not really any big moments, no character development, and it seems like nothing in this episode will effect much that happens in the series in the future. It did feel a bit like a filler episode. Which is okay - every show has them. But I didn't love the episode.

Well, it is Sunday morning now. Instead of going to church I'm just going to watch The Bible. I'm up to episode 8 of season 1, entitled: Betrayal. Looks like we are heading into the Easter portion of the show. Which is neat, because Easter in real life was just a week ago.

You may be surprised I am watching this show. I'm not a very religious person to say the least. But I did grow up going to church and attending a Lutheran kindergarden through 8th grade school. So I am familar with the Bible and all of its stories. I was curious to see how this show matched up to the real Bible and if it could manage to be entertaining at the same time, so I decided to check it out.

This episode focused on Jesus's betrayal at the hands of Judas. Jesus rides into town on Palm Sunday, and is worshiped by all. He goes to the temple and throws the tables over, and gives his famous "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's" speech. He attends the Last Supper, and then is captured by the Pharisees and sentenced to death. And that's where the episode ends.

This is a decent show. I don't know just how closely it follows the actual Bible, or if any liberties are taken. But it seems like its doing an okay job in that area. At least from what I remember. This episode was all right. But it seems like the show is just going through the motions sometimes. For a show about Jesus, the episode seemed to lack heart and was pretty much just a straight retelling of the story without much emotion put into it. Jesus walks around spouting cliched phrases and sayings that we hear all the time in daily life. Maybe its because they are trying to just burn through everything real quickly, but the characters seem lifeless and without much personality.

Everything just seems kinda rushed with this show. Aside from a few standout episodes, it has been a little boring. This episode was no exception to the rule.

Next show up is Revolution. In this show, electricity and power are mysteriously snuffed out and humanity must rebuild itself without them. It's a cool concept, but the show has not really lived up to my expectations. I keep going back and forth on it. At first I loved it. Then it got boring. Then it picked up again. And now here in season 2, for the most part it has been just okay.

I'm on season 2, episode 12. Captain Trips. Hey, nice Stand reference. If you thought that this episode might be about a viral outbreak, you would be right. Our heroes are helping the Patriots fight off the mysterious outbreak when they discover that the virus was created by the Patriots specifically to weed out undesirables in their population. Of course, our heroes will not stand for this and set out to find a cure which they are certain the Patriots must have hidden away.

It's actually a good storyline for this episode. I was interested. The other story lines involving Neville and his wife, and Aaron and the nanites (still think this is a silly plot twist) I am not as interested in. But the episode does give me hope. I haven't really been that sold on this show, but with only ten episodes left I am very curious to see where all this is going. Hopefully this solid episode is the kickstart of what will be a great series ending run.

When I talked about Archer, I mentioned how I wasn't that big on spy stuff. These feelings definitely carry over to the show Chuck. There is a lot I like about this show. Its characters, its sense of humor, all the great cameos by nerd icons. But it is a spy show, and because of that I haven't really been able to get into it as much as you would think.

I've been watching for well over a year and a half now, and I am only up to season 2, episode 20. Chuck Versus the First Kill. Chuck is searching for his father, who is the only person out there who can remove the Intersect from his mind. To find him, he is forced to enlist the help of his ex-girlfriend Jill. She is a former Fulcrum agent and knows a lot of their secrets, including having an uncle who knows the location of their secret base.

Things don't go as planned at the base. They can't find the dad. Jill escapes, and the government decides that Chuck is more trouble than he is worth. They want to ship him off to be put underground where they can exploit his Intersect abilities and keep him cut off from the outside world. At the end, Sarah decides to save Chuck, and the two once again set off to find his dad, who is hidden in a secret location called Black Rock that Chuck flashed on when Jill told him about it.

Meanwhile at Buy More, Morgan and the guys try to make Buster (I don't even know his name on the show, he will always be Buster to me) look great so that he can get shipped off to run another store. But they do a little too good with their job and instead Buster takes Big Mike's job, who gets demoted.

Although I am not the hugest Chuck fan, I do like the show. It's fun and lighthearted. Like I said, it has a great cast. I love the Buy More crew. This was a solid episode. I don't know if Chuck will ever be more than a "watch one episode every few weeks or so" member of my Netflix rotation, but I can always count on a good time when I watch it. And very strange - the guy who plays Beneke on Breaking Bad was on both this and the last episode of Revolution I watched. Coincidence?

Yeah.

I always think I am going to like the X-Files more than I actually do. Quite simply it bores me a lot of the time and for some reason I always find it hard to pay attention to the show because my mind keeps wandering off. I watched season 3, episode 7: The Walk.

And the same thing happened here. My mind wouldn't stop thinking about other things and I kind of zoned out. The episode is about some guy in a military hospital who is a quadruple amputee who blames other people in his troop and uses psychic powers to bump off their family members. And to torment them by keeping them alive when they want to die. I guess it sounds more interesting than it actually was. Like I said I was quite bored and I am glad when it ended. The X-Files didn't do anything for me with this episode to bump it up in my rotation. It will probably be another month before I watch another episode.

I'm not a big sitcom person, but I do like to keep one in my rotation for when I need a quick laugh. Plus at around 20 minutes the episodes are pretty short. How I Met Your Mother fills that particular spot in my rotation.

I'm up to season 2, episode 15. Lucky Penny is the episode title. So he's telling his kids about a story, which is a flashback. And then they have flashbacks within the flashbacks. I like how the show jumps around in time like it is nobody's business. It was cleverly done. There is a reference to Hungry Like the Wolf in this episode, which is weird because that song was played in the episode of Chuck I watched earlier. There's also a Subway reference, which there was in Chuck too. Coincidence?

Yeah.

Anyway, in this episode Ted finds a penny which triggers a huge chain of events which causes him to miss out on a job interview. But it turns out to be a good thing because if he hadn't missed the plane he would have moved away and his life would have been totally different.

I thought it was a fun episode, and really creative with all the time jumping. Like I say, I don't really like sitcoms a whole lot but I do like this show. I am not ever going to binge watch multiple episodes in a row, but it is a solid show for my rotation to watch every once in a while.

We come to the final show of the weekend. Amazing Stories. I remember as a kid I would watch this show in my grandma's den. I got really excited with the music in the intro, and the computer graphic flying books and knights and shit. That was epic stuff for a small child. The only episode I actually remember though is the one where the landing gear is broken on a plane, and the guy is trapped in the hatch underneath.

But this wasn't that episode. This is season 2, episode 3: Magic Saturday. A boy switches bodies with his hobbled grandfather so that his grandpa can relive his glory days and play softball out on the diamond once again. I kept thinking, what if the boy dies while in the grandpa's body? And then guess what happens? The boy has a heart attack while in his grandpa! I totally nailed it. Almost - he doesn't die. The grandpa has a great day playing baseball in his grandson's body. And then he comes back and switches bodies again. When they are back in their correct bodies - grandpa dies. :(

Oddly, this is the second show I watched this weekend (Spider-Man was the other) where two people switched bodies with one another. Coincidence?

Yeah.

It was an all right episode. Amazing Stories isn't that great of a show. Mainly I just keep watching because of the fondness I had for this as a kid. It's like reliving a little bit of my childhood, even though I don't remember much of the show. I still have the majority of season 2 to watch, so maybe I will see something that I remember that I never would have thought about again.

THAT'S IT!

1 weekend, 19 shows. There are other shows in the rotation, but I either am awaiting new episodes (Orange is the New Black, Hell on Wheels, Agents of Shield, etc.) or taking a break from them (Continuum, Star Trek, American Horror Story, Doctor Who). I did manage to finish Darknet and Black Mirror. And pretty soon I will be finishing The Wonder Years, Bates Motel, Revolution, and Archer. That will open up room for new shows to crack the rotation. And when I finish Torchwood season 2, I will then switch over to Doctor Who season 4.

So if I do this again in another month or two, this list will probably look quite different.

I'm always on the lookout for a show like Lost, Battlestar, Galactica, or Breaking Bad that I am going to fall in love with and just go crazy with the binge watching. But none of these shows are really doing it for me. I know those are big shoes to fill. Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Hope you enjoyed reading this! I had fun working on it off and on over the weekend. 19 shows is a lot of shows to watch! I need a break after all that.

For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click

>HERE<

Video Game Review: Uncharted 2

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Playstation 3

I had played this game when it first came out, but I hadn't really been that gung-ho about it. I didn't dislike it, but I wasn't jumping out my seat like "Wooo! Uncharted 2!! Best game ever!" But I did enjoy it and considered it a good game. Just not a great one. Kinda forgettable.

I have no idea what I was thinking. Five years after playing this for the first time, I picked it up again to give it another shot. I probably wouldn't have played it again if it weren't for the fact that it came bundled with a PS3 that I got for Christmas a few years ago. It sat on the shelf for quite some time. And then I finally figured - hey let's check it out again and see if my opinion has changed.

And it definitely has changed. While I thought the game was okay back in 2010, I think it is absolutely fabulous now.

For those unfamiliar with Uncharted, this is a series of behind the back shooters where you play as Nate Drake, a descendant of famous explorer Francis Drake. You explore various locales looking for clues and following them to famous mythical treasures. Think Tomb Raider. Think Indiana Jones. This is kinda right in the middle.

Unlike Tomb Raider, this game is mainly action based. You can't really explore too far off the path you are supposed to take. Puzzles are few and far between. Mainly, expect to be shooting things. There are a few stealth areas thrown in for good measure. And there are some hidden treasures to discover.

The storyline for this game is really good. You actually jump into the action right away without any explanation of what is going on. You are hanging from a train dangling over the edge of a cliff, and must climb your way to the top. Mainly this is just to introduce you to the controls and get you accustomed to the way the game operates. When you reach the top, you get to walk around and explore a little. You learn how to use your gun. And then the game flashes back to tell you how you got here.

On vacation, you are approached by a man who wants you to partake in a heist with him. A mysterious employer wants him to break into some museum in Istanbul and steal an artifact. And he is here to enlist your help. Curious, Drake agrees.

The first portion of this heist is mainly stealth. Again, this is to introduce you to the cover mechanics and how you can avoid enemies or sneak up and kill them silently. I was a little bored by this area when I first played the game 5 years ago, but playing through it now I thought it was really well done. It's not drawn out, and it really gives you a feel of how the game works. The storyline is great, like I said, and really gets you interested in what is going to happen next. Without spoiling much, you do find the artifact you are sent in to steal, and you discover that there is a lot more to this heist than meets the eye. The artifact is just one clue in a long string of clues that lead to the mythical kingdom of Shambala.

Of course, there is a large faction of evil doers that are hot on your tail. They want to exploit this land to their own needs. Suffice it to say, there are lots of betrayals and intrigue along the way. People that you think are your friends turn out to be moles feeding info to the enemies, using you for their own personal gain.

The game plays out storywise like Indiana Jones, as I mentioned. Or the Davinci Code. Each clue you find leads to another area of the world where you must find another clue. You travel to locations like rainforests, populated cities engaged in civil war, and snowy mountains looking for the way to Shambala. The aforementioned bad guys seem to have an infinite amount of resources, and are constantly looking to take you out so they can solve the mystery their selves. Expect to battle hordes of enemy soldiers as you proceed on your quest.

The fighting in this game is actually a lot of fun.You would think it would get repetitive since you fight so much, but it doesn't. The locations are so varied, that nothing ever looks the same. The enemies are different. And you have a giant arsenal of weapons at your disposal. Throw in the climbing element, the stealth element, and the great story, and the game is just a blast.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how beautiful this game's graphics were. This game is just stunning. It looks like it is a next generation title. I mean, it just looks awesome. Consider that this was made 5 years ago, and that it looks better than a lot of current titles. That's just very impressive. Levels are very well designed, the backdrops and settings are just jaw dropping and chock with detail. A lot of the effects like snow, rain, and running water look amazing too. The character models are great, and everything is very lifelike. Throw in some top notch voice acting and a great musical score - and this game technically is just fantastic.

As mentioned earlier in the review, I didn't think much of the game when I first played it. Maybe because I just rushed through it. I was drunk a lot back then, so that could be a contributing factor. But playing this game now, I was completely blown away.

Uncharted 2 really is the complete package. It's got a great story. The sound effects and voice acting are top line. The graphics look better than some PS4 games. And of course the thing that trumps all is that it is just flat out fun to play. I am trying to think of something I can say to criticize this game, and I just can't. Maybe it is too short?

If you've never played Uncharted before, I suggest playing them in order. Because that's just how I do things. But you actually don't need to have played the first game to enjoy this one. It is a completely separate story from the original. For example, you don't need to have seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to watch and enjoy Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

If I had reviewed this after originally playing it, I would have likely graded it in the B range. Now, however, I can't think of anything else to give it but an A+. I feel lame giving two games in a row an A+. But there is nothing I can say about this game that is negative. I doubt anyone's even playing it anymore, but I didn't even touch multiplayer. I bet that added another whole element of fun to the title as well.

Uncharted 2 is just a really great game. It combines intense shooter action with the exploration and story telling of Indiana Jones or the Davinci Code. I was blown away. You need to play this game. It is amazing.

Overall:

A+