GTA IV Initial Impressions

I stood in line at the midnight launch for GTA IV, and boy was it ever worth the wait. If you haven’t picked up this game yet you should seriously, seriously do so stat, unless every place is sold out. This is definitely the best game in the series. Much deeper storyline, better character development, more variety in things to do, and the hugest, best looking city yet. One thing I really like is that Niko is not just another thug. He’s got a fresh-off-the-boat innocence about him that “humanizes” him. For example, he’s awkward on his first date. Real people are interested in dating, and are usually awkward on a first date. This game really allows you to feel like you’re living the life of Niko instead of just being a videogame character with the personality of a potted plant strongarming their way through a bunch of fights. Driving is more realistic also. You can’t just floor it all the time, and you have to brake around corners. It feels a lot more like a racing game now. Some people are complaining about this on the forums but I like it. It requires more skill and will feel natural to racing game fans. Shooting and aiming are great in the game too. Aiming is a breeze with the push of the left trigger, so you can get down to the important business of turning the bad guy into swiss cheese instead of messing around with aim. There are a lot of laughs to be had in the game as well. I won’t divulge any of it because I don’t want to be a spoiler, but do watch tv and flip through your radio channels, and listen to people on the street. I haven’t played a lot yet but the game has made an outstanding first impression so far.

I noticed that Game Informer, IGN, and Gamespot all gave this game a perfect “10″. As great as this game is, I just can’t see giving it a “10″. “10″s should only be for perfection, and perfection should be nearly impossible. Giving a game a “10″ is like saying developers can’t do any better, not at all. I don’t believe that. Believe me, I am not saying this game isn’t amazing, and at least so far it’s been a strong 9.50 or 9.75 in my opinion. But I think most game reviewers take the perfect 10 rating too lightly. There has never been a “perfect” game and there may never be. We need to keep reminding developers they can always do better, even when they’re doing “great”. And for the game reviewers (yes, I’ve read this) that say “10″ doesn’t have to mean perfect… what if a “perfect” game does get released? How would they set it apart if they’ve already given “10″s to other games? It may never happen, but there is a reason for the saying “perfect 10″. It means “it doesn’t get ANY better than this”. As great as GTA IV is, it could be even better. It could have co-op local play. It could have even better graphics. Darn close maybe, but not 100% perfect. I do not believe we have ever had a game that left absolutely no room for improvement – 100% perfect.

At any rate, do yourself a favor and pick up this game if you haven’t already. It’s an amazing gaming experience.

The Resident Evil 5 “controversy”

If you aren’t familiar with the Resident Evil 5 “controversy”, it has to do with the fact that Resident Evil 5 takes place in Africa (apparently, according to Adam Sessler, the writers were in part inspired by the Black Hawk Down story), and the zombies shown in the newly released trailer are black.  Some people, in particular N’Gai Croal, a tech editor at Newsweek, are crying foul. They claim the trailer shows that the game may, intentionally or unintentionally, be “racist”. Croal states: “There was stuff like even before the point in the trailer where the crowd turned into zombies. There sort of being, in sort of post-modern parlance, they’re sort of “othered.” They’re hidden in shadows, you can barely see their eyes, and the perspective of the trailer is not even someone who’s coming to help the people. It’s like they’re all dangerous; they all need to be killed.”

All dangerous? All need to be killed? We ARE talking about ZOMBIES here. The ZOMBIE race. As in NOT PEOPLE. As in itchy, hungry, flesh-eating, brain-dead monsters. BUT I will humor Croal here for a minute and consider them “people” of black race. In that context is the game racist?

As far as I’m concerned, in that case an argument could possibly be made (if they were not ZOMBIES, as in NOT EVEN HUMAN). HOWEVER…. and this is a BIG HOWEVER… if this game was “racist” in that case, then every other installment of Resident Evil, heck, every other game that was ever made with zombies that uses zombies of ANY race is racist towards that race. That includes the caucasian zombies in Resident Evil 1. Where was the outcry then??? It’s ok if it’s one race, but not another? If there’s one thing I hate more than political correctness it’s a DOUBLE STANDARD. If black zombies are racist then white zombies are racist against whites and every other race of zombies would be racist also. So to not offend anyone, all zombies from now on would have to be ALIENS from another galaxy… or should we worry about being “racist” towards them, too? I’m sure someone in the world would even complain about that.

Give me a break. I have absolutely no problem with people of other races, religions, or cultures. Which is why I support “EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ZOMBIE-ISM”. I swear, if some of these people weren’t complaining they were in the game they’d be complaining that they weren’t included in the zombie role in any of the games.

One thing that really bugs me is that Adam Sessler spoke of his support for Croal’s position on X-Play last night. I enjoy Sessler’s points of view on games and watch his show often, and I was surprised to hear this coming from him. There is nothing any more racist about the Resident Evil 5 trailer than any other trailer for any other zombie game. I look forward to buying my copy on launch day, and I feel sorry for anyone who misses out on it because their feeling of being offended is completely misguided and misdirected.

Review: Booming Back At You by Junkie XL (album)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Junkie XL’s latest album, “Booming Back At You” was just released in March and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. Much like the direction taken by The Prodigy on “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned” and to a lesser extent Groove Armada on “Soundboy Rock”, this Electronica is dripping with Rock influence, is edgy and chaotic, dark, fresh (as in new and as in naughty), and the heavy beats will get your body moving in short order. In my opinion, this is Junkie XL’s greatest work, and one of the best Electronica albums out there as well as one that could easily generate interest in the genre from Rock and Alternative fans who are not familiar with it. (Personally, I enjoy all three genres.) This is also one of those rare albums I can enjoy all the way through; there is no “filler” here. My favorite tracks are “Booming Right At You”, “Cities In Dust”, “You Make Me Feel So Good,” and “1967 Poem”, but I enjoy them all.

This album is so hard and edgy that I’m sure some Electronica purists who are expecting some mainstream Progressive or House will be in for a surprise, hopefully a pleasant one but it’s probably not for everybody. It is DEFINITELY for me. I feel immersed in a blanket of crazy (in a great way) and powerful music here and I can’t resist cranking the volume and moving to the beat. I especially recommend this album for fans of The Prodigy’s “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”.  It takes a similar fresh and edgy approach to the genre. “Booming Back At You” is available in record stores, online stores, and online music stores now.

MSNBC’S “Top 5 sexiest video game characters”

MSNBC has posted an article, “Top 5 sexiest video game characters”. The article says the choices may surprise you. That’s an understatement, at least as far as my reaction to their choices. Gordon Freeman from Half Life? Agent 47 from Hitman? Jade from Beyond Good & Evil? I don’t know what they were thinking so I wanted to correct the list. Feel free to respond in the comments to your picks.

I am a girl, so I can only guess what guys would find attractive. But on the list would have been Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark Zero, Nariko from Heavenly Sword, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider (who MSNBC did include), and any of the Dead or Alive girls.

My top guys would be:

1. Jansen from Lost Odyssey. This is NO contest. The guy oozes charm. He has a bit of an ego, but at the same time an innocence, so he comes off as sweet and boyishly charming, not arrogant. He has a great sense of humor, is cute, and is a powerful magic caster and what girl could resist that. Hands down, Jansen gets #1.

2. Altair from Assassin’s Creed. His mysterious nature, his intensity, his stealthiness, and his incredible agility and way he moves are enough to give any girl gamer a schoolgirl crush.

3. Nero from Devil May Cry 4. MSNBC picked Dante, but I prefer Nero, his younger, more emo adversary. Strong and powerful and with perfectly chiseled features he’s pure eye candy.

4. Leon from Resident Evil 4. Courageous in the face of fear, rescuer of damsel in distress, and with looks that would be right at home on an Abercrombie & Fitch ad.

5. Kaidan from Mass Effect. With amazing mental abilities, he is strong in body and mind, and not bad looking either.

I did not include any games based on movies or any characters based on real actors on the list because I wanted these to be original characters. But I’ll give an honorable mention to Will Turner on the game Pirates of the Caribbean, played by Orlando Bloom in the movie. He’s perfect, ’nuff said!

Well my lists and MSNBC’s list only had ONE character in common. To each their own, I guess… Here’s the link to the MSNBC article. You can press the back button on your browser to return to this blog when you’re done:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23990546>1=40006?pg=1#games_top5_080406_SexiestCharacters

Sneak Peek Review: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)

I usually wait until my game reviews are posted on the TheGameReviews.com and link to them put I’m putting a sneak peek of it here until the link is available. I really want this out there because the game is so amazing I don’t want any DS owners to miss it. Here is the review:

ADVANCE WARS: DAYS OF RUIN for the DS

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is an exceptional title no DS owner should miss. In this turn based strategy title, meteors have struck the earth, which is now suffering from post apocalyptic chaos. All semblances of order and government have been dissolved, and you encounter a variety of thugs including bandits, crooked politicians, and other trouble makers who think this is as good a time as any for war. Meanwhile, the story also has you aiding and protecting civilians in this time of crisis.

The gameplay and controls are spot-on. You could use the buttons and directional pad on the DS to perform all actions, but with the excellent touch pad support you probably won’t want to. You can do everything on the game with ease using your stylus. You will really feel like the strategy genre is right at home on the DS when you play this game.

The variety of awesome units at your disposal translates into a lot of strategic planning and a lot of fun. Powerful war tanks, bomber planes, battleships, submarines, fighter jets… this game has all the units you would want and many more. The game can be challenging and you will need to use strategy, although sometimes it seems like the optional extra “training” missions can be harder than the storyline missions. I did find myself needing to re-think my strategy and repeat missions, but it never felt tedious because it was enjoyable to “solve the puzzle” of the best way to approach the battle and best units to use against enemy units. Trying different strategies is fun and never got old.

With all these powerful units you would hope to have a lot of convincing explosions and great sound, and this game delivers. That little DS speaker is capable of more satisfying explosions than I would have imagined. When you engage in a battle, the strategic grid will disappear and the units in battle will appear on the top and bottom screens of the DS so that you may view and hear the attack and countermeasure.

As for the graphics, they are perfect for the DS and look amazing. The cell shaded characters, units, and dialogue bubbles look straight out of a great comic book. The artwork is exceptional and a real pleasure to view. The game takes full advantage of all the DS’s strengths and highlights none of the weaknesses.

If the game has one flaw it’s the fact that the dialogue and voice acting can be a little too over the top to be consistent with the dark tone of the story, and some of the music is overly melodramatic. The upside of this is that the absurdity of these elements can be funny and add some comic relief, even though they seem out of place.

This game is a big improvement over other titles in the series. The “CO Powers”, “CO Swap”, and split screens are thankfully gone, there are a lot more units, and graphics and sound are all grown up.

The game offers local multiplayer as well as online play with voice chat for up to 4 players. There is a lot of content already in the game that you can use with multiplayer, or you can use the excellent map editor to create your own content and share with your friends.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is a deeply satisfying experience in so many ways. This is truly one of the best titles that has ever been available on the DS.

New Amsterdam

I had a real reaction to the latest episode of New Amsterdam on Fox as well as the trailer highlighting next week’s “season finale”.  If you’re not familiar with the show, it is a new show that launched this season starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who you may remember from Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, and a variety of other films. He’s a fantastic actor from Denmark and I was excited to see him cast in this lead role. He plays John Amsterdam, a man who is immortal until he finds his true love thanks to a spell cast on him by a Native American woman whom he helped many years before. He is also a homicide detective and the show is about both his life and memories and about the cases he is working on as a detective. This plotline might sound far-fetched, and with the wrong writers or actors could have been really cheesy, but it WORKS. The writing and acting are great and the show is intriguing.

If you’ve been watching, you know that John thinks he found this true love he’s been searching decades for, the one that will make him mortal, and her name is Sara. He has developed a relationship with her. I always thought this plotline of him and her was too “easy.” She was married (separated) when he met her, but an episode later got a divorce for him. She dumped him because she didn’t believe his story, but then took him back, again, in one episode’s time. John’s tireless quest to find the woman he is searching for, I always felt, was paramount to his story, and finding “her” so quickly cheapened the show, I felt… BUT now he has died and revived, and based on a teaser of next week’s show his son Omar is telling John that Sara cannot be the one, because he is still immortal. If I was writing this show – here’s how I’d have it go down. He’d keep searching, and find some different women who might be it, but they wouldn’t be…. and all this time “the one” would be the woman who’s been right under his nose all along who he never considered: his detective partner. Just the fact that she never occurs to him is exactly why she’s perfect for it. In fact, he views her strictly professionally and brushes her off quite a lot. The fact that Sara’s not it is a good start to showing that chemical attraction and crushes do not necessarily translate into a soul mate. I am really rooting for Eva, John’s partner. I don’t know how the story will ultimately turn out, but Sara being the one is just way too much of a copout, so I am glad to see the new twist.

I was really surprised to hear that next week’s show is the season finale. It will only be the 8th or 9th episode. Most seasons last twice that long. Sometimes they take a break for several weeks, but the last show before the break is never called the “season finale”. And I really, really hope this is not an indication that the show will not continue. It’s an excellent show I would really miss. I don’t watch many TV shows and this is one of the rare few I think is worth watching.

One more thing I wanted to touch on… Another one of my favorite new shows (which is on CBS and is on break until April 25) is Moonlight. This show stars Alex O’Loughlin, who you may remember from The Shield, as another kind of immortal: a vampire. Again, in the hands of the wrong writers or actors this type of story could be really cheesy, but not in this case. It’s a deep, convincing, serious show. This is one of the best shows to come out in a long time. But the reason I bring it up now is a comparison it has with New Amsterdam in that in both cases the immortal feels as though their immortality is a curse, and they long to be mortal. This completely goes against everything instinctive about people and it’s really hard to digest, no matter how many explanations they give (and they do give them). Is it just me, or is there nothing worse than getting old and dying??? Almost makes you resent them for having this gift and not even wanting it. But I realize this is used to provoke exactly this kind of emotional response in the viewer and get a rise out of them. It gives the viewer a greater emotional investment in the show. And because the characters’ lines are so well written and the actors are so great, you care about these characters, so you feel sorry for them even though their despair seems misplaced.

If you haven’t had a chance to catch these two shows I highly, highly recommend you do so. If you can’t catch them on TV they are both available from the iTunes store.

Review: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox360)

My review for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for the Xbox360 is now available at TheGameReviews.com. This game is worthy of high praise, and I highly recommend it as an absolute must-play for anyone even remotely interested in shooters. This is the best squad-based shooter ever, and one of the best shooters in general ever, in my opinion. Click the link below to read my review, and then use the back button on your browser to return to the blog.

http://xbox360.thegamereviews.com/article-492-Rainbow-Six-Vegas-2-Review.html