Video Game Review: Double Dragon

Double Dragon

Nintendo Entertainment System

Double Dragon was one of the very first games I ever owned for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I can trace some of my earliest memories back to playing this game. I was not only a master of the single player mode (I could almost beat this game in my sleep), but I was pretty good playing with a friend as well. I was unbeatable in the head to head game modes.

I played this game with my friends, my brother, my uncles, everyone. Heck I even remember playing the arcade version of this game a few times as well. Unfortunately I traded this game in when I got a Sega Genesis and haven't played it since.

Let's see, so I got my Sega Genesis the same year that Sonic 2 came out. That was 1992. I was 10 years old. Assuming I even played this game in 1992 (and it wasn't festering in a pile of games I didn't play anymore) that means it has been at least 24 years since I have played the game.

I actually found this copy of Double Dragon in 2015 at a used game store, but didn't play it until 2016. I don't know what took me so long to finally fire this game up, but when I did I was very happy to be playing.

I used to know this game inside and out, and it was funny being reintroduced to things 24 years later. So many memories came crashing back almost immediately. Every enemy I encountered, every environment I came across was instantly familiar to me. This game is filled with so many moments I had completely forgotten about until now. The nostalgia factor alone was enough to make the purchase and play through worth it for me.

Nostalgia aside though, the game is still a lot of fun. There isn't much of a story line to speak of. The bad guys have kidnapped your girlfriend, and you embark on a quest to save her. Super uncomplicated, right?

Gameplay consists of simple beat em up tactics. You start on the left side of the screen and move to the right, taking out any enemies you come across. Mainly I found myself kicking and jump kicking, as the punch move is pretty limited in its range. You can move up and down, you can pick up weapons to fight your enemies. Each stage usually ends in a boss battle. The more experience you earn while fighting the more moves you learn, which definitely comes in handy as the game progresses.

If you've played other titles of the genre like Final Fight, TMNT, or Streets of Rage, you should know what to expect here. But Double Dragon isn't just a mindless clone of those games. I am pretty sure it was the first, or one of the first of its kind. Just like games such as Wolfenstein and Doom were pioneers of the first person shooter genre, Double Dragon was a pioneer of the arcade style beat em up.

The graphics aren't much to look at by today's standards, but by no means are they ugly. In fact, I find them to be quite charming. What really stands out to me in this game is the level design. Considering this game's age and the fact that it is one of the first titles of its kind, you might expect things to look repetitive or dull. But no. This game's stages are all super colorful and vastly different looking in both appearance and theme.

The first stage is a simple street level. The second level is an abandoned construction site. The third level takes you through an ancient forest into a complex cave system (the caves are probably my favorite part of the game, by the way). And the fourth and final stage takes you to the enemy's lair. The design of these stages are brilliant. Nothing ever feels or looks the same.

While beat em up games like this are often repetitive button mashers, each stage has its own variations that add an extra lair of strategy to them. For example, in the caves there is a certain way you must go or you end up looping back to the beginning of the stage and having to start over again. There are platforming elements in some of the levels as well. Certain traps you have to avoid. Each stage has its own level-specific enemies. Like I said, nothing ever feels the same here.

The game is just a blast to play. I did encounter some frustration at the end of the game, when I kept repeatedly dying while fighting against that boss character with the machine gun. When you run out of lives, you have to start the game over again from the beginning. That was a little irritating. I don't ever remember struggling as much to beat the game when I was a kid. But at least the game is fun to replay. If it wasn't, I would have been really pissed. And the game is short too. Each play through took me about 20 minutes to complete.

Whenever I review a classic title from an old console, I always wonder if the nostalgia factor influences my final score. Like, would I have enjoyed this game as much if I didn't grow up playing it as a kid? Maybe. Probably not. But at least I own up to the fact that my nostalgic feelings play a major role here.

I consider Double Dragon to be the definitive beat em up side scroller for me. Several games have come close to matching this game's brilliance, but nothing has surpassed it. Could be I am allowing my sentimental feelings to cloud my judgment. Could be that this is just an amazing game. I like to think it is a combination of the two.

Overall:

A

Special Guest Video Game Review: Earthbound

EarthBound

Super Nintendo

Alright everyone, Almighty Wisk is here again to give your brain boner some sweet satisfaction. Dan the Man with a plan lets me review games on occasion and today is no different. This review is special though. I'm gonna need you strap on your red ball cap, grab your baseball bat and hop in the phase distorter to travel back in time with me. The year is 1994. The Lion King destroyed box offices, the number 1 best selling game was Donkey Kong Country, and OJ Simpson was still considered guilty. Buried deep in the wonders of media, there existed a tiny game that got so much marketing, but just couldn't measure up in sales. Buried deep beneath Donkey Kong Country, Mega Man X, Final Fantasy VI, and Super Metroid there was a gem of a game struggling to breath. This game was Earthbound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. I have no stories of Earthbound besides I went to Blockbuster Video, saw the box art and just had to try it. This was 22 years ago. I remember playing through this game and getting so frustrated that I eventually quit. Little did I know, I gave up one of best games ever created.

Some backstory. Earthbound is not the original title or even the first game in the franchise. The series is called Mother and the first game was released in 1989 for the NES. It was a huge success. No one really comprehended an RPG taking place during contemporary times and they loved it when it was shown to them. The issue was it was supposed to get a release in North America, and although the game was translated and ready to go, the Super Nintendo was announced and it was feared that the game would be overshadowed by the SNES. So they decided to work on Mother 2 or as we all know it: Earthbound. Without further ado, lets get into the review shall we? The game from start to end is unconventional. You fire up that new game and all of a sudden you're asked to name each character (Let's call him Ness for the sake of that being his real name). Not only that but you name your dog, your favorite food, and your favorite thing to do. The game takes place in the year 199X, and you're a normal 10 year old kid sleeping in bed. You are awoken in the middle of the night and forced to answer the door even though your mother is right there. Bursting through the door is this chubby little bastard Pokey. A loud boom is heard on top of the hill you live on and you gotta check it out. Pokey decides to join your party and (optional) you can take your dog. It's time to get dressed, eat some (favorite food) and play the game.

The game leads you to a meteor that crashed and then eases you into the battle system. Turns out Ness is the chosen child to stop the evil Giygas from destroying the world. He must travel the world to find the 3 other chosen children to battle with him: Paula, Jeff and, Poo. Defeating Giygas also involves going to eight locations and recording the sounds on the sound stone given to you by another character automatically in the beginning of the game. Earthbound doesn't make it that easy, there's something to do in each town to get to the special locations. In the first town for example, you have to stop a street gang called the Sharks who are causing trouble in the city because the mayor refuses to get involved. Your first real boss battle is Frankie, the leader of the Sharks, and he is tough. This is where level grinding is important - the bosses in this game are on a whole different level. When you think you finally have the hang of it you get creamed. Once you manage to defeat Frankie you get a key to go to the area where you record the sound, which is protected by a guardian. Once you whip the guardian you get the first "My Sanctuary" location and record the sound. This is how the game works.

The battle system is like that of Dragon Quest - you don't see your characters. Just the name, HP, and PP, with options to either Hit, use PSI, Goods, or Run Away. The enemies are right in front of you and start off simple: stray dog, snake, crows. The battle system honestly speaks for itself. Hit is for physical attacks, PSI is for your Psychic abilities (the game's equivalent of Magic), Goods are items. Overworld monsters are abundant and there are no random encounters, but dodging fights is the illusion of choice honestly, you need those fights to level and grind. The unique part is the HP rolling meter which is a bit hard to explain so let me give you a solid example. Let's say you have 100 HP and you fight a monster that deals 101 damage. You don't instantly die. Instead, the meter rolls down and if you can manage to use an item or cast a spell within that roll down period you will live and recover your HP. As for the difficulty, this game starts hard and ends harder. While not the most difficult game on earth, this game is a true challenge. You are level 1 with 30HP and 0PP. You grind to get those levels up, but even in the beginning the monsters don't give enough experience. You have to have the patience to power through the first few levels, you will (and I repeat, WILL) get your ass handed to you for the first hour.

Luckily you are right outside your house and your mother heals you by giving you your favorite food and sending you up to bed. Over time the redeeming grace of this game is instant win battles. When you become strong enough you run into enemies you don't battle - you run into them and it just says victory. Now what do you do when you're finally tough enough to make a difference in battles? You save. There is a phone in your house and you call your dad, who records your state, gives you experience to next level, and gives you money. Money is earned through battling but you don't get it - your father deposits money in a bank account for you depending on how much you grind. Earthbound pokes fun at western culture from an eastern stand point, and it's hilarious to watch without too much offense. This game does not leave you wanting, from beginning to end. From meeting aliens, to insane cultists, fighting crime bosses at a flea market, there are many unique characters you will meet along the way. Conventional is not in this game's dictionary, there's always something that mocks the traditional JRPG system. Instead of potions you eat food, instead of swords your main weapon is a bat.

Earthbound's music is incredible, bottom line. Every boss and area is unique and amazing. Each town has a new theme, each boss has an appropriate battle theme for the visual. The music is such a huge part of the game that it takes up 8MB of cartridge space, OUT OF 24MB, that means 33.3% of the game's space is it's music. The music provides the atmosphere for the game. Without the unusual music the game wouldn't be what it is. This game has a few downsides. The game is full, all space is used and at times the enemies on the overworld map cause a stutter on the screen and the game slows down to a crawl. This is easily remedied, though. Just walk and despawn the enemies and you're good. This game is HARD when you start and progressively gets easier when you have all of your party members, up until you get to the last portions of the game where the difficulty goes from a steady incline to a mountain.

I was in the 80's when I made it to end, and was still struggling to beat enemies. Once more it is time to level grind, that's almost all the game is is level grinding. You get your main character and Paula and you get them in the 20's, or in my case 30's, then you meet your next party member across the world and have to travel as him alone, and catch him up in levels to yourself. When this happens, you're about 6 or 7 hours in the game, and used to having 2 party members. The same happens with the 4th character around 15-20 hours in the game with the exception that after he completes his in game training he gets a huge boost in levels but not enough to catch up to your party, which at my point was in the 50's. What's funny though is that even though it's a pain, the game itself does an amazing job easing your annoyance when this happens. The game will always leave you smiling or just plain cracking up with the goofy humor and enemies you fight. Earthbound is truly a classic that needs to be appreciated and it was a shame that it didn't get the praise it deserved when it was launched. If you haven't played it, then you truly are missing out.

My Overall Score?

A+++

2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: November

The year is coming to a close. Just one more month after this and I can finally begin ranking my top 50 favorite movies watched in 2016. But first - the small matter of which movies are going to make the top 50 to begin with. Let's begin breaking down everything I watched in November. There were 10 movies in all. Only 5 will make the cut!

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I recently ran across a list online of the most disturbing movies released in the past ten years or so. Funny Games topped the list. Being the sick, twisted individual that I am - what I read about the movie interested me greatly. So I decided to check it out.

Without spoiling too much, the movie focuses on two unhinged individuals who go around terrorizing people. Things start out innocently enough. One of these two fellows shows up at the door of the main character, played by Naomi Watts. He just wants to borrow some eggs. Everything goes south quickly as the creep refuses to leave, and is soon joined by what appears to be his brother. These two hold the family captive and terrorize them. And the way they do it is unsettling because they are unfailingly polite almost the entire time.

The film focuses less on shock value and violence and more on the threat of implied violence. Not to say that violence doesn't occur, but it isn't the focus of the movie. I did find the movie to be very disturbing and psychologically unsettling. It isn't necessarily the most original concept ever, but I enjoyed the movie a lot. It should make my top 5 for the month, barring a major upset (I write these as I go, so I still haven't decided what is going to move on and what is not).

This was another film on the disturbing movies list that I decided to check out. Unlike Funny Games, however, I thought this movie was terrible.

I can only vaguely tell you what it was about, because I mentally checked out of the film halfway through it. It focuses on a small city populated by inbred looking rednecks. Apparently the city had been decimated by a major storm several years ago, and they were now trying to put the pieces together. The movie is comprised of several different story lines all going on at the same time. Most of them focusing on different disgusting, trashy people and what they are up to. There is no real plot to the movie. Gummo is like a behind the scenes look into poor white hillbilly trash and what they do to keep themselves entertained.

I hated it and was bored to tears.

I have seen this movie before, but I had the random urge to pick it up and watch it again, so that is what I did.

I am not a huge Tom Cruise fan but I do really like this movie. In it, he plays a soldier in the middle of a war with aliens who finds himself repeating the same day over and over again. Each time he dies, he starts the day over again. Eventually he discovers that he holds the key to defeating the aliens, and uses his power to relive the same day and keep trying until he gets it right.

Great movie, really keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you're a sci fi fan you are doing yourself a disservice by not watching this. The only thing working against it is the fact that I just watched it last year, so the "wow this is really good!" factor has warn off for me. It's a toss up as to whether it will make my top 5 for the month or not.

I never thought that a documentary could actually scare me, but this one did the trick. The movie is all about night terrors and sleep paralysis. A group of people are interviewed and share their stories.

Each story brought chills to my spine. And I don't scare easily. There is just something about hearing these normal people relay their nightmares to the viewer. I never took sleep paralysis or night terrors seriously before watching this movie, but now I am forced to look at them from a new perspective. It really seems like something dark and malevolent is behind them.

I'd definitely recommend this for anyone interested in the subject, or even anyone just out looking for a good scare.

I thought that the movie Foxcatcher was boring, but it was recommended to me that I would find the documentaries more entertaining than the actual movie. And this proved to be true.

This movie is all about John Dupont and his eccentric behavior, as told through the eyes of several people that were around him during the whole Team USA wrestling debacle. I didn't like Foxcatcher because it depicted Dupont as some kind of serial killer-esque psycopath. But this film shows that he had some kind of clear mental illness and paranoid scizophrenic tendencies. It was interesting watching his slow decent into madness, and equally interesting hearing what the people around him thought of his odd behavior.

Definitely worth a watch. If you are interested in the whole Foxcatcher thing, I would recommend watching this (Team Foxcatcher) rather than the Hollywood movie that is based around these events.

People like to knock this movie, but I have always really enjoyed it. Yes it is kind of silly, but I find it to be silly in a good way. Charming, even.

This is just a fun, good time movie and that is all there is to it. If you come into it expecting a serious, dark, and intense thriller, you will be disappointed. Judge Dredd is all about big action scenes, fun characters, and an over the top plot infused with humor. I never understood the hate it received. OK, the acting isn't perfect, but it fits the fast paced and fun tone of the film perfectly.

I have always liked this movie. It is just flat out fun. Relax, people! Sit back and enjoy this for what it is and lighten up a little bit.

I keep going back and forth as to whether I actually like this movie or not. When I first saw it, I was extremely disappointed in it. I was a huge fan of the original Indy trilogy, and I absolutely couldn't stand what they did to the franchise with this film. It is so completely different in tone from the original movies.

Over the years I have relaxed my stance a little bit, though. When I watched it in November, I just tried to kick back and enjoy the film for what it was. Campy, sure. Not up to the standards set by the original films, sure. But still a relatively fun time.

I think my opinion will be forever influenced by my thoughts on the original movies, but I have to admit that I kind of liked the movie this time around. It's not the best film out there, but it was entertaining.

I think I might be burnt out on Gremlins. I watched this movie dozens of times as a kid. As an adult, I usually pop it in around the holidays every couple of years or so. It has been a few years since I have watched this movie, so I figured I was due this year.

But I just couldn't get into it. I think this is a case of "I've seen this movie way too many times and now I can't enjoy it anymore". It happens. I feel the same way with Jurassic Park and a few others. Great movies, yes. But hard to get into because I have seen them so many times.

I love Gremlins, but it may be hard for the movie to crack my top 5 for the month. I do still love the scene where the mom fights the Gremlins in the kitchen, though. That is probably my favorite part of the whole film.

I've enjoyed watching this movie every couple of years or so for the past 15 years. The first time I saw this movie, I remember being really freaked out at how over the top and repulsive it was. Admittedly, the movie has lost a bit of that shock value for me.

Watching it this year, I was more annoyed than anything. Good lord, some of the members of that psycho family are annoying. The old guy who yells at everyone, the dude with the metal plate in his head.... like, shut the hell up already! There was simply too much yelling and stupid chatter going on for me to really enjoy the movie.

And I didn't think it was as disturbing as I found it in years past. The only part to really repulse me was when Leatherface put the mask of human skin onto that girl's face. Ew. But for the most part I actually found this movie to be kind of stupid.

I had never heard of this movie until just a few months ago, and when I did hear about it, the concept intrigued me. I finally got around to watching it this November, and I can say that I really liked the movie.

Blake Lively plays a woman who has recently lost her mother. She sets out to find the beach where her mom used to come to unwind. When she does find it, she heads out to surf the waves and enjoy the beauty of the landscape. Maybe reflect a little bit on old memories.

When out on the water, she encounters a giant floating whale carcass. Before she realizes that this probably isn't a good sign, she is attacked by a shark. She loses her board, and the whole movie becomes one big fight for survival. She has to do whatever it takes to survive. And one of those steps involves climbing up on the massive, rotting whale carcass. Ew.

I am a fan of man vs nature movies.... or in this case, woman vs nature. I thought this was really good. I was riveted the whole way through. Very intense, very well done. This film should be a lock to make my top 5.

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All right, that wraps up my thoughts on all 10 movies I watched this month. which 5 will make the cut? Let's get to it. Moving on this month are:

The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Edge of Tomorrow
Judge Dredd

It was a close call as to whether Team Foxcatcher would make it or not. Excellent documentary, yes. But in terms of excitement and entertainment it comes up just short of the 5 that did make it.

11 months down, 55 movies have moved on to my year end ranking. At the end of December, 60 will stand. I will immediately cut that number down to 50 - and then begin ranking my 50 favorite movies watched in 2016. Are you excited? I am. Here are the 55 movies, with November's offerings included:


Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part II
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
The Martian
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
Crimson Peak
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Krampus
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Zombieland

Coming to America

American History X

Ghostbusters (2016)

Darkman

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

ARQ

Quills

The Visit

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather
The Shallows
Funny Games
The Nightmare
Edge of Tomorrow
Judge Dredd

Video Game Review: Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

PlayStation 3

This review is probably going to be a bit shorter than usual. I just reviewed Lego Jurassic World a month or so ago. In this review, I broke down how the average Lego video game worked, what my thoughts were on the history of the series. So on and so forth. And in the month since then nothing really has changed.

This game still plays and controls like your average Lego game. Everything still looks the same. The only difference between this game and Lego games in the past is that it follows the story line of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The game actually expands upon the story of the movie a little bit, though. You begin playing during the battle of Endor. I am not sure why they decided to rehash old territory since this battle was already covered in the original Lego Star Wars series, but I did not mind the extra content. I understand that it is probably hard trying to base an entire Lego game around one two-hour movie, so I appreciate that they expanded things a little.

After the Endor prologue, the game moves on to the content of the Force Awakens. There are ten chapters in all, each one representing a different section of the movie. If you have seen the film, you should know the basic direction things are going to go. You start out on Jakku playing as Poe Dameron. Stormtroopers land and start shooting the place up, so you fight back - eventually releasing BB8 into the desert. And then it's awn.

The game takes you through each area of the movie. Above the planet, you fight as Finn to release Poe from the clutches of the Order. You fight as Rey on the surface of the planet to get BB8 and Finn to safety. You fly aboard the Falcon and destroy your pursuers. You are picked up on your way out, unite with Han Solo, fight through smugglers and rathtar on your way to escape.... so on and so forth. I'm not going to break the entire game down. If you've seen the movie you should know which way this game is going.

As far as actual game play innovations, not much has changed from previous titles in the Lego series. There are some vehicle related stages where you fly things like X-Wings and the Millenium Falcon. These kind of play out like Star Fox stages, except much, MUCH easier.

The only other difference I could find between this game and other versions of Lego games is in how you build objects out of Lego bricks. Normally, you just run over to a pile of bricks and hold the circle button. Your character will build whatever it is that needs building. In this game, things are changed a little bit. There are still regular piles of Legos that you build in the same manner, but there are also special piles in the game.

These special piles can be built in many different ways. You begin building by using the circle button, as normal. But depending on which direction you hold the control stick, you can build different things out of the same bricks. Hold right while building and you could build a bridge across a chasm. Hold up while building and maybe its a ladder to a new area. Hold left and maybe it is a vehicle you are building.

Many times you will have to use all variations of the items you are building to advance in the level. Use one item to solve part of a puzzle, and then destroy the item and use the bricks to build something else. It is a small little game play touch, and some of these combinations require a little bit of annoying trial and error. But I appreciate that they tried to do something different, even if its only in a small way. It makes you use your noggin a little bit more in comparison with previous games.

The game also contains a large number of hidden side missions. These side missions can be unlocked by collecting a certain number of gold bricks from each level. Collecting, say, 20 unlocks one side mission. Collect another 20 and it unlocks another one, etc etc. These side missions help to fill in the blanks of the story line of the Force Awakens. How Lor San Tekka got the map to Luke's location. How Threepio got his red arm. Stuff like that. There's even a flashback mission with Poe Dameron on old adventure.

These side missions are a nice touch. As I mentioned before, it is probably hard to make an entire game based around one movie, so it is nice that they expanded the content a little bit.

If you have played a Lego game before, nothing that the Force Awakens does will surprise you. Yeah, there are a few little game play tweaks, like with the way you can build different items with some of the piles of Lego bricks you find. But nothing is done here that is too earth shattering.

Expect a lot of laughs, some fun levels, a few puzzles that make you stop and think every once in a while. Expect to be collecting a lot of things. Expect to replay old levels in free play, scouring each area for items you missed or couldn't access the first time around.

But most of all, expect the story mode of the game to be pretty short. You can probably run right through the story mode in a day or two. Some people are okay with this, and they find the enjoyment of the game to be found in collecting all the hidden items. Some people play the games just to beat them. I am more of the latter. I mean, I will come back to old levels and collect stuff that I missed, but I have yet to beat a Lego game 100%. I am just not that dedicated.

I had a lot of fun with this. But my fun with the title was limited. Its a good game, but it is very short. I'd rather play something new than go back and play old stages again. But that's just me. I liked the game, but I am okay with just renting it. And in all likelihood I will never play it again. But if you can't get enough of the Lego games, you'll probably love the heck out of this.

Overall:

B-

Video Game Review: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

PlayStation 2

Metal Gear Solid 2 holds the distinction of being the first game for the PlayStation 2 that I ever owned. Well, technically it is tied with Silent Hill 2 since I got them both at the same time, but we'll just look the other way on that point.

I was a huge fan of the first Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation. I couldn't wait for the second one to come out. To say I was excited would be an understatement. The fact that I could only play it on the PlayStation 2 was, to me, a huge selling point for the system. I always wait a few years to buy a new console when it comes out. But when Metal Gear Solid 2 hit the shelves, I was like: "damnit I'm getting a PS2 and I'm getting one now!"

I have fond memories of the game. Struggling through the tanker section. Being confused as hell when the old Raiden switcheroo went down. The boss battles, the explosive traps. Emma's tragic fate. Mostly I remember being overwhelmed by all the twists and turns that the plot took, but excited to see where the series would go in the future.

I never did enjoy this game as much as its predecessor, however. And playing it now in 2016 - I find that my opinion on this matter has not changed at all.

Everyone familiar with the Metal Gear Solid series should know to expect a crazy, borderline incomprehensible story line. Not that the basic story line is too hard to understand, they just throw at you so many twists/turns/double crosses/fake outs that you never really know what is the truth and what is not. This game is no exception to that rule.

The game starts out simple enough. Since the end of the first game, Solid Snake has been traveling the globe taking down any and all Metal Gear prototypes before they can become fully functional and put the world at risk. He infiltrates a military tanker off the coast of Manhattan to check things out, when the tanker is attacked by a mysterious third party.

Gameplay remains pretty similar to the first Metal Gear game. The main exception being that when you fire you gun, you can enter into first person mode and stick up your enemies. There are lots of other tweaks and changes too. You will find that the world is a lot more interactive than the first game. Graphically, the game is obviously better since it was released on (at its time) a next generation system.

Snake photographs the military's version of Metal Gear that they are developing and sends the pics off to his partner in crime Otacon. It is at this point that the aforementioned mysterious third party makes their presence known, killing the military's soliders, stealing Metal Gear, and blowing up the tanker.

Snake is presumed dead in the explosion. Years pass, and we find out that a massive structure known as the Big Shell has been built over the site of the tanker explosion in order to clean up the disastrous oil spill. Terrorists have kidnapped the president, hijacked the Big Shell, and are making their usual unreasonable terrorist demands. Similar to the Shadow Moses incident from the first game, Snake is sent in to resolve the situation.

Only, wasn't Snake supposed to have been killed in the tanker explosion several years back? Just when we are starting to get confused as hell, the game reveals that this is not Solid Snake being sent in - it is a newbie named Raiden. And that is the big twist of the game. You think you are going to play as Snake the whole way through, and instead you switch characters to Raiden. Lots of fans hate Raiden and like to mock him - and I can see why he is unpopular. but I never really had a problem with him.

Raiden infiltrates the Shell, and it is like a brand new game. The tanker chapter with Solid Snake was simply the opening act. Everything still controls the same with Raiden as it does with Snake, so don't expect any earth shattering changes to take place. It is still kind of a shock though to find out you are controlling a whole new character.

Although you don't play as Snake, that doesn't mean he is not part of the story. He is sent in as a part of a separate operation. Eventually he and Raiden meet up, and it is explained that he did survive the tanker explosion after all. Well, duh.

The majority of the game plays out in a similar manner to the original Metal Gear Solid. You sneak around. You avoid cameras. You watch a lot of long and sometimes boring cut scenes and Codec conversations. You fight a lot of fantastic bosses. Really, as far as game play goes - the boss battles are pretty much the most fun thing about the game.

I did have some major problems with the game though. First of all, I found it extremely difficult to shake alert status after being spotted. If you move to a new area, the enemies follow you and the alert stays alive, unlike in the last game. If you try to fight your way out, enemies spawn infinitely and WILL kill you. Hiding is basically useless. I found it actually more advantageous to just let myself be killed rather than run around and waste all of my health items trying to shake pursuit. And that to me is a major design flaw. There is no reward whatsoever in staying alive and doing things the hard way.

As I mentioned, the story lines in these games can get a little messy. This game is 100% more convoluted than its predecessor. I hate constantly comparing it to the original Metal Gear Solid, but when you have a direct sequel like this it is hard not to. In the first game I had a basic grasp on everything going on, despite all the plot twists. With this game, I have beaten it multiple times and I still have no idea what the hell was really going on.

So ultimately I found this game to be not as epic as the original MGS. There are a lot of improvements, especially with the graphics, the controls, and a few other fun tweaks thrown in here and there. But the whole alert system in the game had me more frustrated than anything else. And, really, the bread and butter of the Metal Gear Solid series is its story line, and I just wasn't as entertained this time around.

The story had its shining moments. I loved the tanker incident. I loved Emma Emmerich's role in the plot. All the Dead Cell (this game's version of Foxhound) character's had nice background stories. I didn't care much for Raiden and Rose's relationship though. I was intrigued by the idea of the Patriots, but their role in this confused me. Same thing with Ocelot and Solidus. Who was playing who and who was really the mastermind? I have no idea. This game leaves the player with far too many unanswered questions for my taste.

On the whole, though, this game still holds a favorable impression in my mind. Yeah the story is convoluted. Yeah, the alert system is rubbish. Yeah, the game's locations are bland and repetitive. But I still had fun playing it.

The beauty of Metal Gear is that you never know what is going to come next. What bombshell the game is going to drop on you. Even though I have played this multiple times over the years, I still find things surprising me. I notice things I had never noticed before. And the game is fun, too. Yes, I hated the alert system. But if you throw that out the window, I have no problems with anything else as far as gameplay is concerned. I enjoy first person view. I enjoy holding up enemy soldiers for their dog tags and items. The boss battles are epic. I liked attempting to follow what was going on.

I liked the game. Was I crazy about it? No. This game will, for obvious reasons, always have the shadow of its predecessor hanging over it. Compared to the original, it is an okay game. On its own, it is likely better than just okay. But being so biased I don't know where exactly to draw the line. I think this grade sums up my feelings on the game perfectly.

Overall:

B

Video Game Review: Resident Evil Revelations

Resident Evil Revelations

PlayStation 3

Like most hardcore fans of the franchise, I was extremely let down by both Resident Evils 5 and 6. RE4 was such an amazing game. Not only the best Resident Evil game out there, but perhaps one of the greatest games ever made, period. It was the beginning of a new direction for the classic franchise. I think everyone expected its follow ups to be awesome.... but they were not.

Not scary enough, convoluted story lines, too much action, cheap partner gimmicks - the series took a big step backward just as it looked it had nowhere to go but forward. While we await a seventh entry to the series to arrive and correct its predecessors' sins, there is a game that disappointed fans can check out in the meantime: Resident Evil Revelations.

This game was originally released as a 3DS title a few years ago. Not owning a 3DS, I never got the chance to play it. I thought it looked pretty decent though. Lo and behold I find out a few months ago that the game had been brought to the PlayStation 3 without my knowledge. It took me a while to get my hands on a copy of the game, but thanks to my awesome Gamefly subscription, I was finally able to play this game that I've been interested in for several years now.

Resident Evil Revelations doesn't completely make up for the Resident Evil 5 and 6 fiascos, but it does a decent enough job. I thoroughly enjoyed this game much more than either of those two games.

This title makes an attempt to go back and recreate what made RE4 so great. It's a slower paced game. I like the location. It mainly takes place on a creepy abandoned cruise ship in the middle of the sea. There is a lot of walking through dark corridors with flashlights - waiting for the jump scare. The game is infinitely more scary than RE 5 or 6. There is action, but it is nothing like those other games where all you do is simply blow stuff away all the time.

That said, I still found that this was nowhere near as cool as RE4. It is like the game tried to find a balance between horror and action, but came up a little short in both areas. Yes, the atmosphere of the game is creepy (for full effect, play this in the dark with headphones on), but after an hour or two of playing it becomes clear that you don't really have a lot to be afraid of. There is a lot of backtracking and revisiting empty areas you have already been to before. The enemies you do encounter just to me aren't that menacing. And that makes a huge difference. I mean, I like that they TRIED to make this game scary, but something seemed to be missing for me the whole time I played this.

The action is decent. if you've played any of the last several Resident Evil games, you should be familiar with the control scheme and the inventory system. But again there seems to be something missing for me. It doesn't seem to matter where you shoot your enemy or what tactics you employ. Every fight seems to be the same thing: just unload as much ammo as you can into your enemy and hope he dies. Part of the what made RE4 so cool for me is that it mattered where you shot your enemy. Shoot him in the leg, he goes down on one knee. Shoot him in the hand, he drops his weapon. Shoot him in the head - your chances for an automatic kill go way up.

But here, all you fight are formless gray humanoid objects and the occasional raging out of control virus beast with lots of claws and teeth. You only tactic is to just simply unload on them. And that to me made combat a little boring.

The game's music and sound effects are top notch. The voice acting still isn't the series' strongest point, but it is not offensively terrible either. Graphically, the game looks really, really good. Even more impressive is the fact that this was designed as a 3DS game - what? Four years ago? The characters, the lighting effects, the sway of the ship, the room designs. Everything looks pretty good to me.

The story line was much better than the one in either Resident Evil 5 or 6. It focuses on an floating city that was destroyed several years ago by bio terrorists. Signs of the terrorists have begun to surface again, and clues lead your characters to this abandoned cruise ship to check things out. It starts out easy to follow but becomes kind of a convoluted mess as the game goes along. Why can't they just keep the story lines to these games nice and simple, like the good old days? I found myself caring less and less about what was going on the deeper I got into the game. I was playing this for the game play.

Despite the fact that the game wasn't that scary, despite the fact that I had some problems with the combat system, despite the fact that I didn't really care much for the game's story - I still had a good time. I enjoyed exploring the abandoned ship. I enjoyed the occasional side mission where you'd get to control other characters. Most of these side missions are action based, but they are pretty straightforward and a nice change of pace from your usual exploring. The pace of the game is pretty fast, and the way the game's chapter system is set up makes you want to keep coming back to play longer.

Plus there are a few little wrinkles thrown in every once in a while to make things interesting. It is not all simply walking around, looking for keys, and shooting stuff. There are some "on rails" shooting segments. A few areas in the game where you can swim. And of course, this is a Resident Evil game so expect some big, over the top boss battles to pop up from time to time.

The game is not flawless by any stretch of the imagination. Nor is it the worthy follow up that Resident Evil 4 demanded. But it is a start. I found this title to be much better than both Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6. If Capcom can build upon what this game did right - and take into account what made RE4 such an epic game to begin with - it will be back on the right track with the franchise again.

This is a fun game. I probably will never play it again, so it wasn't THAT amazing. Maybe I only enjoyed it because I was so starved for a good RE game, but the point is that I still enjoyed it.

So if you are looking for something fast and fun to play and you love the RE series, you should definitely check this out. I know that there is a Resident Evil Revelations 2 out there, so I am eager to see if that is any good as well. You know if I play it, a review will be coming.

Overall:

B-

2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: October

Another month down, just two more left in the year. I watched twelve movies in October, but only five will move on to my ultimate year end ranking. What will those five be? Let's find out.

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I came into this movie having absolutely no idea what to expect. And I think that was the right way to go about things. There are a lot of mysteries to this movie and I think that if I had been spoiled beforehand I definitely wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did.

10 Cloverfield Lane focuses on a young woman who wakes up from a car crash locked away in a bunker. Her first thought is that she has been kidnapped by a serial killer of some sort, but she is in for a big surprise.

Her captor (played wonderfully by John Goodman) tells her that aliens have attacked the Earth and poisoned the air outside. He forces her to live an uncomfortable, on edge life down in this bunker with himself and another captor. The whole movie we question whether he is telling the truth or is just a crazy bastard. But maybe the answer is both?

I won't spoil the movie but I thought this was really, really good. I was in no rush to watch the movie because while I liked the original Cloverfield, I didn't think it was the world's greatest movie or anything. But I like this much, much more. Some people seem put off by the film's slow pace, but I didn't mind it one bit. The whole movie keeps you guessing and if you like mysteries you should enjoy this. I thought it was fantastic.

With the exception of Quantum of Solace I have been a big fan of the Daniel Craig Bond movies. So I came into this movie fully expecting to love it. However, I did not.

I don't know what it was about this movie that put me off so much. The special effects are great, the action is high flying. The music is on point. Technically it is a well done movie. But as far as the story line goes I found myself bored throughout the entire film. A lot of old characters kept getting introduced that we were supposed to remember from past films (I did not). Too many big leaps were made in the plot that didn't make sense one bit to me. Admittedly I wasn't as focused on the movie as I should have been because I was doing other things, but a lot of the movie didn't make sense to me.

As much as I wanted to love the movie, I did not. Maybe if someday I watch all the Daniel Craig Bond movies again I will pay closer attention and I will like it. But in 2016, I didn't enjoy it much at all.

I'm a fan of the Ratchet and Clank video game series, but the parts that I hate most about the games are the cutscenes. I couldn't care less about the storyline of these titles. They are silly and childish and for the most part really boring to me.

But even though I feel this way about the games I was still willing to give the movie a shot. And it turns out I actually did like the movie. Which is strange because it is basically the same thing as watching the games' cutscenes.

Perhaps because it is when I am playing the game, I have an itchy trigger finger and I am ready to go blast some shit. But watching this as a movie, I know I am not going to get to play so I allow myself to sit back and enjoy the show. Anyway, this isn't an incredibly deep movie. It is very silly and goofy. Really tailor-made for kids. The story is fun but nothing too groundbreaking. It is ultimately forgettable in the long run.

But still, I had a decent time watching this. Although I liked it, it is still going to be hard pressed to make my top five for the month though. Kid movies really aren't my thing, no matter how well done this film happens to be.

This movie was a pleasant surprise. Just like with 10 Cloverfield Lane, I came in to the movie with absolutely no idea what to expect and I ended up having a really great time.

This movie is about a crappy little rock band that is on tour, taking gigs for basically whatever money they can get. They agree to play at an out of the way club that is infamous for its dangerous white supremacist clientele. The whole time they are there playing, you can feel this mounting sense of dread in the air like things aren't going to go well. They actually make it through their show unscathed, but on their way out they see a murder take place in the green room.

The club's management is desperate to cover up the murder, so they hold the band hostage while they attempt to sort things out. Eventually things spiral out of control and the whole movie becomes a game of cat and mouse between the band members and the white supremacists. The movie is shockingly brutal and very horrifying and intense. I loved it. This film is basically a lock to make my top five for the month.

My only complaint is that Patrick Stewart is such a great actor, I feel he was a bit subdued in the movie and could have been utilized in a much better way. But still, I loved the film.

Juno has been out for a long time now and I have always wanted to see it. But for some reason, I had never gotten around to it. Well I had just finished the game Beyond Two Souls and I was curious to see more of Ellen Page's work, so I finally jumped on the opportunity to check this movie out.

This is a very simple movie that focused on a teenager named Juno who gets knocked up the first time she ever "does the deed" so to speak. Initially she wants to abort the baby, but has a change of heart and decided to do something good and give it up for adoption to a loving couple that can't have a baby of their own. The movie mainly focuses on Juno's relationship with her family, the baby's daddy, and the couple she is going to give her child to. Juno herself makes the movie work with her spunk and sassy personality.

It is a very simple movie, very straightforward. There are a lot of funny parts in the movie and some sad ones as well. I will admit that man tears were shed towards the end of the film. Ultimately though I feel that the movie might have perhaps been TOO simple for its own good? I liked the movie but it just doesn't do quite enough to stand out for me. There are 3 films this month that are locks to make the top five (Green Room, 100 Cloverfield Lane, and SPOILER ALERT: Captain America Civil War). Juno could potentially fill out one of the last two spots, it just all depends on how I feel about all the "in between" movies coming up. And Juno definitely counts as an in between movie for me.

I thought this sounded pretty intriguing - a documentary focusing on the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kurt Cobain's apparent suicide. As it turns out, this wasn't nearly as interesting as I had hoped.

Sure, this film brought some light to inconsistencies surrounding the suicide. Inconsistencies in several of Courtney Love's actions and statements. But it brings nothing concrete to the table. Just a bunch of hearsay that doesn't really amount to anything. In the end after watching the movie I felt I knew just as much about the suicide as I did before: which was really nothing.

There were a few interesting moments in the film, but for the most part I just kind of sat around waiting for a bombshell to drop that never happened. I found this to be pretty boring and unsatisfying. Would not recommend.

While I really don't care much for Superman, I am a huge Batman fan. I have been wanting to see this movie since it came out, despite the mostly poor reviews it received. But I was willing to be patient and wait for it to show up at my library so I could watch it for free, which it finally did in October.

The poor reviews were pretty accurate for the most part. I don't necessarily think that the movie was quite as bad as people were making it out to be, but I didn't like it too much. There are some strong points to the movie. Mostly revolving around Batman and his character. I actually didn't mind Ben Affleck too much in the role, although Bruce did come across as a dick more often than in other Batman films. But perhaps that could be because we know that Superman has good intentions, while Bruce questions his character.

The special effects are great, I love the action scenes. I love Wonder Woman's appearance and the nod to other DC characters who will be receiving their own movies soon. I did enjoy the dark and ominous tone of the movie.

The plot was a little bit of a mess in points. Some leaps in deduction were hard to follow. I couldn't tell what the characters were thinking half the time. Some parts of the movie bored me greatly. I think that the length of the movie (2 and a half hours) played a factor in this. If it could have been cut down and condensed into even just 2 hours, I think this film could have worked a lot better. But maybe not. Captain America Civil War was the same length as this movie and I thought it was fantastic.

I really wanted to like the movie. And there are parts I did enjoy. I am thinking I will have to come back to this in a year or two with a more open mind and I think I will like it a lot more. But for now I can't see this cracking my top five for the month. Sorry!

I am a fan of the 5th Wave book series. I know that most movies based on books are never as good as the source material - and I expected that coming in. And it is true, I didn't like this as much as the first book.

I couldn't quite put my finger on why I wasn't a huge fan of this, because for the most part it is a pretty faithful retelling of the story. Maybe it is the acting? Maybe it is the tone of the film? I don't know. I mean, it is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. I did mildly enjoy it for the most part. Maybe it is too faithful in its retelling? I knew every plot twist, every action before it happened. That kind of makes it harder to enjoy something when you can see what is coming a mile away. But at the same time, I had read the Hunger Games books before seeing the movies - and I enjoyed those.

I don't know. All I can say is that I found this to be enjoyable but mediocre. Not good enough to crack my top five for the month.

I had never heard of this movie until seeing it appear as a Netflix suggestion. I added it to my queue a few months ago, but then completely forgot about it. Surfing through my list late at night looking for a short movie to watch a few weeks ago, I came across this again. And I decided to give it a go.

This movie was a pleasant surprise. It focuses on a group of fifty people who are standing in a circle in a mysterious, dark room. They are each on a little red pad, and if they move off of the pad, they die. Every two minutes, one of the fifty is randomly killed. Eventually the survivors find out that they can actually vote for who is next to die based on the way they move their hands. Everyone starts talking, trying to figure out a way to make it through this.

Survivor fans should like the movie. Voting blocs are formed, strategies take place. Spoilers! Eventually the group decides to let a pregnant woman and a small child be the final two so that one of them can survive. But a man manipulates his way into the final 3 and the finds a way to dispatch the two of them so that he survives. When the game ends, he finds his way back in the "real world", only to see that aliens have apparently taken over the planet. And then the movie ends. I would have liked a little more explanation but it is what it is.

Overall I found this to be pretty enjoyable. This movie has an outside chance of making the top five. It just all depends how I feel about some of the movies to come.

Similar to my experience with Circle. this is a movie that has been lingering on my Netflix queue for months now. I decided to give it a shot late at night because I was looking for a short movie and this looked interesting.

Also as with Circle, I really enjoyed this movie too. This film focuses on a group of people that are offered an opportunity to play a game that if they win, will help them out in life with things like outstanding medical expenses and whatnot. But they don't know what the game is going to be. They arrive at a mansion for an elaborate dinner, and at the end the host (a fabulously creepy Jeffrey Combs) explains the game. The contestants must make grisly decisions on things they would rather do. If they refuse, they are out of the game. But out of the game here means that they are killed. So it is play or die, essentially.

Decisions involve things like: would you rather electrocute yourself or someone at the table? But eventually they escalate. Stab someone or whip someone? Hold your breath underwater for two minutes or pull a mystery card? Hint: don't pull the mystery card. They are all awful.

It is a very disturbing and somewhat gruesome movie. I loved every second of it. Not the deepest movie or anything I will probably remember in two years. But I had a really good time watching it.

I've been slowly watching all the Friday the 13th movies for about a year now. I had stopped after six because I didn't like the direction the movies had been taking - more of a funny, comical kind of route. But I was pleased to see that with the seventh installment of the film, the series had taken more of a turn back to its serious horror roots.

In this movie, a girl accidentally frees Jason from his watery prison using her psychic powers (yeah really) and he returns to terrorize the people out in the woods celebrating a birthday party. The psychic power twist seemed lame at first, but it grew on me as it gave Jason a worthy adversary for once and leveled the playing field a little bit. This move wasn't as good as the first two in the series, which I thought were classics. But it was definitely one of the best since. I enjoyed it. But will it be good enough to make my top five?

I have been itching to see this movie since it first came out, but somehow I never got around to seeing it in the theater. I finally got my grubby hands on it in October, and I must say that I really, really, REALLY loved this movie. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that this is the best Marvel universe movie to date.

The world is growing concerned about all the catastrophic events taking place over the world in the last several years since super powered people started "coming out". There has been too much destruction and too many innocent people losing their lives as collateral damage in these giant battles around the glove. They want to regulate all the superheroes so that they can't act on their own, they need permission from the government to go out and fight the bad guys.

Captain America and several other heroes are opposed to this. When a peace treaty is bombed by an assassin that looks like Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier), this puts both sides of the issue at conflict with one another. The two groups (pro sanction and anti sanction) grow in numbers and start to fight each other. I love all the Marvel characters that are brought into the equation. Black Panther, the new Spider-Man, Antman, Hawkeye, and many others. This is much more than just a Captain America movie. It is almost a third Avengers film in its own right.

The action is high flying. The fight scenes are intense. But what really makes the movie go is its plot, which is fantastic. I haven't had this much fun with a Marvel movie in a while now. I really thought this was great. Not only is it a lock to make the top five for the month, it may make my top five for the entire year!

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My decision has been made. Moving on from October are:

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather

It was a close call, but Juno and Friday the 13th Part 7 don't make the cut. Maybe next year? Well, probably not.

So ten months are now over and done with. Five movies from each month brings us to a grand total of fifty movies now. At the end of the year, sixty will stand, and I will begin ranking the best films I watched in 2016. For now, here are all the films to make the cut:


Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven
Big Driver
The Martian
Pixels
JFK: The Smoking Gun
Crimson Peak
It
Creed
The Revenant
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
No Good Deed
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Krampus
The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition
The Night of the Living Dead
Mad Max: Fury Road
Forrest Gump
The Little Rascals
Deliverance
The Two Towers
Zombieland

Coming to America

American History X

Ghostbusters

Darkman

Return of the King

ARQ

Quills

The Visit

Platoon

Saving Private Ryan

Green Room
Captain America: Civil War
10 Cloverfield Lane
Circle
Would You Rather