First Impressions - Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Release Date: October 19, 2010

Date of Play: October 19, 2010

When I first heard that Bethesda was making a sequel to Fallout 3 set in their take on Las Vegas, I was immensely excited. When I read that it was being developed by Obsidian, which happens to include some members of the team that made Fallout 1 and 2, I was even more excited. Fallout 3 was a tremendous game, surely one of my all-time favorites. I spent easily 100 hours in that world, and I was certain that a sequel could convince me to spend 100 more.

The more I read about the game, however, the mroe worried I became. It seemed as if Obsidian wasn’t bothering to raise the bar. It seemed as if New Vegas lacked ideas of its own, as if it were simply recreating Fallout 3 as-is in a new setting. This was not discouraging enough to prevent a purchase, and even if true I’m sure I’ll still squeeze plenty of fun out of it, but going in I have to hope that there’s something more to this experience. As good as Fallout 3 was, it wasn’t perfect and two years have now passed since its release. I want something more than just Fallout 3 again.

Can New Vegas deliver or am I in for a serious sense of deja vu and a lot of the same problems back to haunt me.

Click to read more ...

The Painful Truth Behind the Veil of Sonic Nostalgia

It is time that we, as a unified gaming community, tell Sonic to go the hell away. It is time we realized the madness and false assumptions and clouds of delicious nostalgia that have been screwing with our judgement for far too long. It’s time we came to our damn senses and admitted the truth.

The Sonic formula kind of sucks.

I know. It’s hard. But you have to let go. You know this to be the truth.

So many of us have deeply cherished memories of the Sonic games on the Genesis. So many of us have been clamoring for a return to those golden days ever since the blue hedgehog went 3D and multiplatform and started hanging out with that colorful group of annoying animal friends that just wouldn’t leave us alone no matter how many times we insulted their stupid spiky gloves or told them no one wanted to fish in a goddamned Sonic game you stupid fucking purple cat.

Look, before you go throwing things at the screen in blind rage, I’m not saying the Sonic games weren’t good… for their time. That’s the key isn’t it? What was once brilliant simply no longer works in a modern context.

The Sonic franchise represents a bygone era of design concepts that have become annoying, passe, outdated, and generally shunned by game developers with even the slightest bit of sense. It would be one thing if the Sonic games just made us deal with a few outdated concepts here and there. I think we could probably forgive that in the name of nostalgia and a good time. It’s not that simple, sadly. 

See, the Sonic formula is made up almost entirely of game design ideas that have no place on a modern console. The entire design process of these games is pretty much a bunch of developers sitting in a room coming up with as many ways to be complete fucking dicks as they possibly can.

Click to read more ...

Review - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Gyllenhaal edition)

The pool of movies which take their source material from video games is one that is stagnant, tepid, and largely disgusting. Perhaps you could better visualize the general effectiveness of these types of films by picturing said pool green with unknown fungus, smelling of decay and dead things, and perhaps bubbling revoltingly with that little “glop” noise you always hear in movies set in swamps. Throw in a few dead squirrels floating on the surface for good measure if you feel like it.

Video game movies aren’t good, is what I’m trying to say. 

By smashing together two entertainment worlds so different, and so much at odds, films such as these shoot for box office glory but inevitably end up with a mess that ends up pleasing neither movie fans nor game lovers. Whether it’s slavish devotion to the source material, abandonment of the source material, a misguided quest to bring the lowly medium of video games into the “respectable” and clearly superior realm of film, or plain old bad storytelling, these movies are destined to please no one.

And rightfully so. I can’t think of one video game movie that I would call legitimately enjoyable. The only entertainment films like these bring is the kind that comes with a couple of adult beverages and a group of friends to make fun of how terrible they are. A worthy sort of entertainment, sure, but not, I’m guessing, what the writers were hoping for.

Well, except for Dead or Alive, maybe, but that’s a different article.

Against all odds, after much waiting, countless hours of suffering in stuffy movie theaters with sticky floors, and innumerable weekly allowances blown on films that do nothing but tarnish the source material’s good name, one movie might finally have broken the mold. Using a delicate balancing act that weaves conceptual source material with originality, a script that fuses nods to its gaming roots with plenty of accessible Hollywood traditions, and a budget high enough to give the crazy idea a shot at actually working, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time might just be the best adaptation of a video game into a movie yet.

Not that the bar has been set stunningly high, mind you.

Click to read more ...

Rob Zombie: Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Special Edition CD/DVD Review

Longing for the past seems to be a common pastime among Rob Zombie fans. There’s a great deal of debate as to whether his recent work is actually any good. Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, you’ll find something to like in this reissue of Hellbilly Deluxe 2. With the addition of a few new tracks, the tweaking of one that was a bit self-indulgent, and even a little video content, Rob Zombie has moved this a solid step closer to being deserving of its title as a sequel to his most fondly remembered solo album.

“Devil’s Hole Girls and the Big Revolution” begins the festivities, becoming the album’s new opener. It has been a long time indeed since Zombie has sounded more like his old self than on this stunningly aggressive track. It almost sounds out of place on the album as a whole, lacking almost any of the catchy pop influences that have been so prominent in his work of late, but its two newcomer brethren make the fit more comfy. Longtime fans are sure to have a smile on their face with this one.

“Everything is Boring” is sandwiched in the middle of the disc. It sounds right at home next to former Hellbilly Deluxe 2 singles such as “What?” and “Burn”, but has a more abrasive edge that its predecessors lack. The quiet verses make a nice contrast to the relentless energy of the chorus and give the song a comfortable pace. The song brings a pleasing blend of old and new Zombie influences which should hopefully give each camp something to enjoy.

Click to read more ...

Tales from Reach: Death from Above

Whilst exploring the vast expanses of the planet Reach, my cute little Spartan caught the daredevil bug and decided it would be fun to jump off of a cliff. At first I just thought she was nuts. Maybe the beautiful view had overloaded her brain with too much pretty and she just couldn’t take it any more?

It was certainly a nice view all right. Well, except for the looming inevitable doom represented by the Covenant ships hanging in the background. But besides that very pretty.

It didn’t take me long to figure out what she was after, however. At the bottom of the cliff could be spotted the orange outline of an Elite, minding his own business, probably being bored because he hadn’t killed anything in quite long enough. 

She wanted to assassinate the bastard. From the top of the cliff.

Click to read more ...