I recently decided to take up the offer of a 1-month trial with Netflix. At the time, I was trying to gain some access to a tv series that wasn't available anywhere else on the internet (except on digital download and dvd orders, but I didn't wanna spend any money.) Once I actually signed up, I discovered that not only was the show I wanted to watch no longer on Netflix, but I was now stuck with a 1-month membership that I didn't really want. What do you do with a free thing you don't want? Start chuffing wanting it!
I've had a poke around their service, and let me say this, it's actually very good. The choices of movies, documentaries and TV shows are all absolutely superb, I find myself constantly going "hey! It's that show!" and "Oh man! I've wanted to see that for ages!!"
Aside from a brilliant library that's going to take up a lot of my time for the next month, I have one more thing to say about Netflix: they are far superior to their main competitor, LoveFilm. The quality of service, and the perfect customer service, and the simple fact that they don't make it hard to leave the service, means that I am now, after having my view of on-demand movie services skewed by LoveFilm, seriously considering becoming a full-time member of Netflix.
The next month should be interesting, and it'll give me plenty of material to review.
One note:
Last time I said to look out for more superhero-movie reviews, they won't be coming right away, but they're in the pipeline. Until those come through, it'll be regular reviews of whatever I find on Netflix.
Sunday 26 February 2012
Saturday 18 February 2012
"Superhero-like, even."
Super (2010).
I've literally just finished watching Super. I've gotta say, it was a bit better than I expected. If you've never heard of it, don't go looking for a trailer. Get on Netflix, or The Pirate Bay, and just get the movie. It was marketed in the wrong direction, so don't go and get mislead about the content of this film -- just get it!
Super is one of many movies we've had recently that ask the question, "what if a normal, average-joe tried to become a superhero?" and for the most part they've all been enjoyable. Now, the first thing you're probably thinking of is Kick-Ass a film with the same basic premise Yes, they do start off with the notion of everyday guy-turned-hero, that is where the similarities fade.
Super tells the tale of Frank, a man who's wife has just left him. He's a depressed, weird little cretin that has visions from God. I know what you're thinking. No, this isn't a Bible-Basher movie. The film never explores whether or not he's having a serious delusion or actually seeing Jesus. Which is a good thing.
A little bit into the movie, after a frankly bizarre scene involving tentacles, the finger of God, and the opening of our Hero's skull, Frank, decides to become a superhero. As you can imagine, this doesn't start off too well. When he first tries to fight crime, he gets a good kicking and is sent running for the hills. So, he gets a weapon (a wrench) and goes back to beat the ever loving shit out of a drug dealer and set the tone for the movie.
At first you might think, "but this is a comedy!" and yeah, it does have a good number of hilarious moments, but this movie is a Drama. It's heavy on violence, emotional suffering, and uncomfortable scenes, and an ending that'll tug on your heartstrings just a little bit too hard. Not that I'm really complaining, it was timed perfectly enough that you won't bother that the film is making you weep.
I have no real criticisms of the film. The acting was spot on. I normally can't stand Ellen Paige because she has no range, she's annoying to look at, and she played Juno. But every once in a while she finds a rule suited for a talentless, flat-chested, potato-faced gimp like her and it works wonderfully. This has been one of those occasions. Paige and Rainn Wilson make a fantastic team. I feel that no other two actors could have pulled this off as well as they did. They stole the show. So much so I almost forgot that Liv Tyler was even in this movie, and they almost -- almost -- upstage Kevin Bacon, a man so cool he could stab your kid in the neck with a pen and you'd still ask for an autograph. Speaking of Bacon, I don't really need to tell you that he was excellent in this movie. His role? A smirkin', snazzy-suit-wearin', criminal boss-type. You already know he nailed it that part.
So, now that I've praised the actors, it's time to complain. Above I said that I had no real criticisms of the film, and yes, this is true, there is one thing that definitely irks me: the movie itself. Super is funny, it's sad, it's violent, brutal, dramatic, and wonderful. This might make it sound good, and on paper it works. But in practice, it feels like the film is just trying to do too much. It seems to me that the writers wanted to do what Kick-Ass did, but make it far more realistic, depicting the harshness of actually going around murdering people and the consequences of taking on armed men equipped with shotguns. At the same time, I'm left feeling that there must have been a writer turning this into a powerful rebuttal to Kick-Ass's comic-book gore who had a producer nudging him every 5 pages going "hey, this is a comedy! Make funnies!" The film can't decide if it's a comedy, action, drama, or all or none of the above, only to the detriment of the final piece. I honestly feel that it would have been much better if they had just cut all the comedy out. That being said, the film would have been just as excellent if they had gone into full-comedy, and left out the strong dramatic tear-inducing aspects of the plot.
All in all, I really enjoyed Super. It has a few flaws here and there, but ultimately it's a pretty good movie.
If I had to give it an arbitrary number to score it, I'd give it a 7.
7/10!
PS. Watch this space. I've recently been informed of another similar movie called Defendor, starring none other than Woody-fucking-Harrelson. Since it's another normal-guy-becomes-hero, it'll mark the second review of a movie in that vein. I'll go the whole hog and review Kick-Ass after that I do Defendor. Consider this review 1 out of 3.
I've literally just finished watching Super. I've gotta say, it was a bit better than I expected. If you've never heard of it, don't go looking for a trailer. Get on Netflix, or The Pirate Bay, and just get the movie. It was marketed in the wrong direction, so don't go and get mislead about the content of this film -- just get it!
Super is one of many movies we've had recently that ask the question, "what if a normal, average-joe tried to become a superhero?" and for the most part they've all been enjoyable. Now, the first thing you're probably thinking of is Kick-Ass a film with the same basic premise Yes, they do start off with the notion of everyday guy-turned-hero, that is where the similarities fade.
Super tells the tale of Frank, a man who's wife has just left him. He's a depressed, weird little cretin that has visions from God. I know what you're thinking. No, this isn't a Bible-Basher movie. The film never explores whether or not he's having a serious delusion or actually seeing Jesus. Which is a good thing.
A little bit into the movie, after a frankly bizarre scene involving tentacles, the finger of God, and the opening of our Hero's skull, Frank, decides to become a superhero. As you can imagine, this doesn't start off too well. When he first tries to fight crime, he gets a good kicking and is sent running for the hills. So, he gets a weapon (a wrench) and goes back to beat the ever loving shit out of a drug dealer and set the tone for the movie.
At first you might think, "but this is a comedy!" and yeah, it does have a good number of hilarious moments, but this movie is a Drama. It's heavy on violence, emotional suffering, and uncomfortable scenes, and an ending that'll tug on your heartstrings just a little bit too hard. Not that I'm really complaining, it was timed perfectly enough that you won't bother that the film is making you weep.
I have no real criticisms of the film. The acting was spot on. I normally can't stand Ellen Paige because she has no range, she's annoying to look at, and she played Juno. But every once in a while she finds a rule suited for a talentless, flat-chested, potato-faced gimp like her and it works wonderfully. This has been one of those occasions. Paige and Rainn Wilson make a fantastic team. I feel that no other two actors could have pulled this off as well as they did. They stole the show. So much so I almost forgot that Liv Tyler was even in this movie, and they almost -- almost -- upstage Kevin Bacon, a man so cool he could stab your kid in the neck with a pen and you'd still ask for an autograph. Speaking of Bacon, I don't really need to tell you that he was excellent in this movie. His role? A smirkin', snazzy-suit-wearin', criminal boss-type. You already know he nailed it that part.
So, now that I've praised the actors, it's time to complain. Above I said that I had no real criticisms of the film, and yes, this is true, there is one thing that definitely irks me: the movie itself. Super is funny, it's sad, it's violent, brutal, dramatic, and wonderful. This might make it sound good, and on paper it works. But in practice, it feels like the film is just trying to do too much. It seems to me that the writers wanted to do what Kick-Ass did, but make it far more realistic, depicting the harshness of actually going around murdering people and the consequences of taking on armed men equipped with shotguns. At the same time, I'm left feeling that there must have been a writer turning this into a powerful rebuttal to Kick-Ass's comic-book gore who had a producer nudging him every 5 pages going "hey, this is a comedy! Make funnies!" The film can't decide if it's a comedy, action, drama, or all or none of the above, only to the detriment of the final piece. I honestly feel that it would have been much better if they had just cut all the comedy out. That being said, the film would have been just as excellent if they had gone into full-comedy, and left out the strong dramatic tear-inducing aspects of the plot.
All in all, I really enjoyed Super. It has a few flaws here and there, but ultimately it's a pretty good movie.
If I had to give it an arbitrary number to score it, I'd give it a 7.
7/10!
PS. Watch this space. I've recently been informed of another similar movie called Defendor, starring none other than Woody-fucking-Harrelson. Since it's another normal-guy-becomes-hero, it'll mark the second review of a movie in that vein. I'll go the whole hog and review Kick-Ass after that I do Defendor. Consider this review 1 out of 3.
Friday 17 February 2012
[h+]
Today, after a long period of hush-hush in this blog, I'd like to take the chance to review what has steadily become one of my all-time favourite games:
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Before you read on, bare in mind that I have never played the original two Deus Ex games, so I came into this game completely fresh to the series.
I first heard about Deus Ex a while ago, well before the release of the game, while seeing an article on the game. The article was your run of the mill get-some-pictures-out-get-the-fans-excited type of deal. It wasn't a real article, just there to show the game. Given that I knew nothing about the Deus Ex series prior to this, I initially assumed it was a new game. Looking at the pictures briefly, it looked like a run of the mill FPS set in a sci-fi environment that I wouldn't bother buying. Oh, boy, was I wrong!
Fast forward to when the Deus Ex pre-orders kick in, and there's a flood of information about the game pouring out into the internet. I watched a video on youtube where the developers described the gameplay, namely the pillars of the game (Social, Hacking, Stealth, Combat), and that was when the hook went in. I had to know more.
So, I recently got the game. Yeah, it's been out for some time now, but other things had taken hold of my attention, but I saw a copy of the game sitting in a store for just £10, I had to grab it! I'm damn glad I did...
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an FPS Cyberpunk romp through the world. You play as Adam Jensen, a newly recruited Head Of Security for the mega-corporation Sarif Industries who mass-produce augmentations; the mechanical upgrades and prosthetics you may have already heard of. Early on in the game, while Jensen is doing his own thing (standing around looking tough), Sarif Industries is attacked! Lots of people are killed, Jensen's love interest is slain, and Jensen gets the ever loving shit kicked out of him by a mostly-augmented terrorist. This puts Jensen's life on the line, and rather than let him die, David Sarif (owner of Sarif Ind.), decides to give Jensen a free set of augmentations to save him.
Now, we awake in the game, a semi-robotic Jensen with some really cool shades returns to work 6 months later. This is when the game really begins.
Following his upgrading, Jensen has to deal with one of the biggest themes in the game: the moral issues associated with augmenting human beings. The game doesn't give Jensen the chance to ever explicitly say "I don't like it" or "I do" because you get to pick everything he says. His opinions are your opinions.
Reminiscent of Mass Effect, when you're in participating in speech with other characters, you get a set of various responses to pick from. These choices can ultimately lead you into new areas of the game, or close them off from you, forcing you to find another way in. This brings me back to the topic of the four 'pillars' of gameplay. Stealth, Social, Hacking and Combat. Social is very handy. It's how you talk your way in and out of bad situations, and there's even augmentations to help you examine emotional changes in the person you're talking to to give you better information on how best to actually influence them. Perhaps you're not the James Bond type and don't like talking, well, the game's got you covered. In Deus Ex there are always multiple ways around every obstacle, and if Social interactions aren't your thing, try the other pillars.
Hacking and Stealth were my personal favourite pillars. In contrast to the Combat option, where you blast your way through every enemy and use brute force to smash your way through the game (a very viable solution), Hacking and Stealth is the Metal-Gear-Solution to getting around. If you can't be bothered butchering 30 guards just to rifle in their pockets and get a keycard when they're dead, then it's hacking time. Using augmentations to improve your hacking abilities, you'll be able to hack into keypads to unlock doors, switch off cameras, and, most importantly, turn enemy Robots and Sentries to your side. There is nothing more satisfying than spending half an hour sneaking around guards, sliding into rooms and finally cracking a difficult keypad to finally take control of sentry, why? XP. When you switch that sentry to your cause, you'll suddenly see a stream of kills at the side of your screen. ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! ENEMY KILLED 10
XP! ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! It's very, very cushty.
Of course, there is another far more fun method to getting kills and XP using your Hacking and Stealth skills.
One of my preferred methods was to sneak around, find a sentry, hack it, and then using my augmented strength, physically carry the sentry to any guards I'd previously been unable to kill. Simply plank it onto the floor and watch it go nuts. Best of all, if no one sees you putting the sentry down, you'll still get your end-of-mission XP bonuses.
As I said, the game works on an XP system. You gain XP in numerous ways. From killing enemys, hacking, finding hidden rooms, taking hidden paths to your objectives, and so on. Another interesting way of getting XP is the bonuses you get at the end of your missions. For example, the Smooth Operator bonus will award you extra XP for not setting off any alarms during your mission. Another is Ghost, awarded for not being seen by enemies.
What's XP actually for, you ask? Praxis points, of course! Every time you level up, you gain a Praxis Point. These are used to purchase various augmentations, such as a strength upgrade or an invisibility cloak. As well as unlocking points, you can find and purchase Praxis Kits in various places. Finding them is a hard task, but definitely worth the scrounging around. Of course, if you don't mind forking out $1,000 you can always buy them from your local clinic.
Money does factor into this game as well. Though, don't worry, if you're short on cash, you're not going to feel like you're missing parts of the game. Money is used purely to buy information (there is a woman you can give money to who will allude to various means of progressing in side-quests, such as telling you about the sewers that lead into the Police Station), ammunition, guns and gun upgrades. Every enemy you kill drops a gun most of the time, so there's always something to sell, and if you use rifles or pistols (that is to say, if you prefer going the Combat method), you will simply take the ammo instead of the gun, provided it's the same type of gun as one you already have.
Above I mentioned Gun Upgrades, a very cool feature of the game. I personally only used a Tranq Rifle, Stun Gun and sometimes a Sniper Rifle, but thankfully I had heavily upgraded both rifles. You can buy or find weapon upgrades all over the game. This ranges from simple things such as a laser sight and silencers, to targeting systems, damage and rate of fire, as well as much more. By the end of the game, my Sniper Rifle was kitted out with a silencer, damage upgrades, ammo capacity upgrades, laser targeting, practically everything I could stuff into it. Sadly, though, my Sniper Rifle did get little use. But when I did use it, it was fantastic. Which brings me to my next point...
Boss Battles. This is something I've been dying to talk (or rather, complain) about. The game has a few Bosses littered around the game. Now, the battles themselves are very challenging, engaging and fun. They remind me of Metal Gear boss battles, and not just in terms of the running-and-gunning method of beating them, but because of one small, itty, bitty, detail that really pissed me off: the game forces you to fight them.
Up until now, the game has been fine with saying "hey, take whatever way you want, it's up to you how you beat this." I was used to spending hours sneaking around, hacking, and most importantly, not collecting weapons! Now, the locations for Boss battles always have weapons and ammo littered around, so that isn't a huge concern. It's the fact that essentially, because I had been playing stealth, I was an expert at stealth, and I was virtually useless in Combat. Now, I did eventually manage to beat the bosses using my cunning (which mostly consisted of running like a scared child, throwing mines and using my sniper rifle to deal massive amounts of damage quickly), and at the end of the day, it doesn't change my perspective of this game. I absolutely love this game. And despite the boss battles, it will remain an all time for favourite for years to come.
A quick note: I am aware that the developers tried to address the issue of being forced into boss battles by introducing one you didn't need to kill in the Missing Link DLC. I don't have the DLC so I can't comment on it.
All in all, Deus Ex is a fresh game in the frankly stagnant FPS genre. It's refreshing, it's innovating, it's engaging, challenging, and most of all, FUN.
If you don't already have it, go to the shops, get it, and spend the next few days playing it. You will not be sorry. In terms of re-playability? I'd put Deus Ex on par with Red Dead Redemption. Endless fun that will never get old!
Buy it!
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Before you read on, bare in mind that I have never played the original two Deus Ex games, so I came into this game completely fresh to the series.
I first heard about Deus Ex a while ago, well before the release of the game, while seeing an article on the game. The article was your run of the mill get-some-pictures-out-get-the-fans-excited type of deal. It wasn't a real article, just there to show the game. Given that I knew nothing about the Deus Ex series prior to this, I initially assumed it was a new game. Looking at the pictures briefly, it looked like a run of the mill FPS set in a sci-fi environment that I wouldn't bother buying. Oh, boy, was I wrong!
Fast forward to when the Deus Ex pre-orders kick in, and there's a flood of information about the game pouring out into the internet. I watched a video on youtube where the developers described the gameplay, namely the pillars of the game (Social, Hacking, Stealth, Combat), and that was when the hook went in. I had to know more.
So, I recently got the game. Yeah, it's been out for some time now, but other things had taken hold of my attention, but I saw a copy of the game sitting in a store for just £10, I had to grab it! I'm damn glad I did...
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an FPS Cyberpunk romp through the world. You play as Adam Jensen, a newly recruited Head Of Security for the mega-corporation Sarif Industries who mass-produce augmentations; the mechanical upgrades and prosthetics you may have already heard of. Early on in the game, while Jensen is doing his own thing (standing around looking tough), Sarif Industries is attacked! Lots of people are killed, Jensen's love interest is slain, and Jensen gets the ever loving shit kicked out of him by a mostly-augmented terrorist. This puts Jensen's life on the line, and rather than let him die, David Sarif (owner of Sarif Ind.), decides to give Jensen a free set of augmentations to save him.
Now, we awake in the game, a semi-robotic Jensen with some really cool shades returns to work 6 months later. This is when the game really begins.
Following his upgrading, Jensen has to deal with one of the biggest themes in the game: the moral issues associated with augmenting human beings. The game doesn't give Jensen the chance to ever explicitly say "I don't like it" or "I do" because you get to pick everything he says. His opinions are your opinions.
Reminiscent of Mass Effect, when you're in participating in speech with other characters, you get a set of various responses to pick from. These choices can ultimately lead you into new areas of the game, or close them off from you, forcing you to find another way in. This brings me back to the topic of the four 'pillars' of gameplay. Stealth, Social, Hacking and Combat. Social is very handy. It's how you talk your way in and out of bad situations, and there's even augmentations to help you examine emotional changes in the person you're talking to to give you better information on how best to actually influence them. Perhaps you're not the James Bond type and don't like talking, well, the game's got you covered. In Deus Ex there are always multiple ways around every obstacle, and if Social interactions aren't your thing, try the other pillars.
Hacking and Stealth were my personal favourite pillars. In contrast to the Combat option, where you blast your way through every enemy and use brute force to smash your way through the game (a very viable solution), Hacking and Stealth is the Metal-Gear-Solution to getting around. If you can't be bothered butchering 30 guards just to rifle in their pockets and get a keycard when they're dead, then it's hacking time. Using augmentations to improve your hacking abilities, you'll be able to hack into keypads to unlock doors, switch off cameras, and, most importantly, turn enemy Robots and Sentries to your side. There is nothing more satisfying than spending half an hour sneaking around guards, sliding into rooms and finally cracking a difficult keypad to finally take control of sentry, why? XP. When you switch that sentry to your cause, you'll suddenly see a stream of kills at the side of your screen. ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! ENEMY KILLED 10
XP! ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! ENEMY KILLED 10 XP! It's very, very cushty.
Of course, there is another far more fun method to getting kills and XP using your Hacking and Stealth skills.
One of my preferred methods was to sneak around, find a sentry, hack it, and then using my augmented strength, physically carry the sentry to any guards I'd previously been unable to kill. Simply plank it onto the floor and watch it go nuts. Best of all, if no one sees you putting the sentry down, you'll still get your end-of-mission XP bonuses.
As I said, the game works on an XP system. You gain XP in numerous ways. From killing enemys, hacking, finding hidden rooms, taking hidden paths to your objectives, and so on. Another interesting way of getting XP is the bonuses you get at the end of your missions. For example, the Smooth Operator bonus will award you extra XP for not setting off any alarms during your mission. Another is Ghost, awarded for not being seen by enemies.
What's XP actually for, you ask? Praxis points, of course! Every time you level up, you gain a Praxis Point. These are used to purchase various augmentations, such as a strength upgrade or an invisibility cloak. As well as unlocking points, you can find and purchase Praxis Kits in various places. Finding them is a hard task, but definitely worth the scrounging around. Of course, if you don't mind forking out $1,000 you can always buy them from your local clinic.
Money does factor into this game as well. Though, don't worry, if you're short on cash, you're not going to feel like you're missing parts of the game. Money is used purely to buy information (there is a woman you can give money to who will allude to various means of progressing in side-quests, such as telling you about the sewers that lead into the Police Station), ammunition, guns and gun upgrades. Every enemy you kill drops a gun most of the time, so there's always something to sell, and if you use rifles or pistols (that is to say, if you prefer going the Combat method), you will simply take the ammo instead of the gun, provided it's the same type of gun as one you already have.
Above I mentioned Gun Upgrades, a very cool feature of the game. I personally only used a Tranq Rifle, Stun Gun and sometimes a Sniper Rifle, but thankfully I had heavily upgraded both rifles. You can buy or find weapon upgrades all over the game. This ranges from simple things such as a laser sight and silencers, to targeting systems, damage and rate of fire, as well as much more. By the end of the game, my Sniper Rifle was kitted out with a silencer, damage upgrades, ammo capacity upgrades, laser targeting, practically everything I could stuff into it. Sadly, though, my Sniper Rifle did get little use. But when I did use it, it was fantastic. Which brings me to my next point...
Boss Battles. This is something I've been dying to talk (or rather, complain) about. The game has a few Bosses littered around the game. Now, the battles themselves are very challenging, engaging and fun. They remind me of Metal Gear boss battles, and not just in terms of the running-and-gunning method of beating them, but because of one small, itty, bitty, detail that really pissed me off: the game forces you to fight them.
Up until now, the game has been fine with saying "hey, take whatever way you want, it's up to you how you beat this." I was used to spending hours sneaking around, hacking, and most importantly, not collecting weapons! Now, the locations for Boss battles always have weapons and ammo littered around, so that isn't a huge concern. It's the fact that essentially, because I had been playing stealth, I was an expert at stealth, and I was virtually useless in Combat. Now, I did eventually manage to beat the bosses using my cunning (which mostly consisted of running like a scared child, throwing mines and using my sniper rifle to deal massive amounts of damage quickly), and at the end of the day, it doesn't change my perspective of this game. I absolutely love this game. And despite the boss battles, it will remain an all time for favourite for years to come.
A quick note: I am aware that the developers tried to address the issue of being forced into boss battles by introducing one you didn't need to kill in the Missing Link DLC. I don't have the DLC so I can't comment on it.
All in all, Deus Ex is a fresh game in the frankly stagnant FPS genre. It's refreshing, it's innovating, it's engaging, challenging, and most of all, FUN.
If you don't already have it, go to the shops, get it, and spend the next few days playing it. You will not be sorry. In terms of re-playability? I'd put Deus Ex on par with Red Dead Redemption. Endless fun that will never get old!
Buy it!
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