Heavy Rain Review

Heavy Rain is the long awaited title brought to us by developer Quantic Dream on the Playstation 3 console. Has the 4 plus year wait been worth it? Well, this past week when it came out we were all able to find out if it was able to live up to the hype. In my eyes, it has delivered on every front that it said it would, and I was extremely pleased with the way it came out.

That being said, what kind of game exactly is Heavy Rain? Well, to quote the game's director David Cage, Heavy Rain can be described as "A very dark film noir thriller with mature themes, and the real message is about how far you're willing to go to save someone you love." That still doesn't describe what type of game it is. There are very few games like this out there. It is a more of a "interactive movie" kind of genre, if one exists. Quantic Dream's previous game Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy) is also in the same category. Many other mainstream games include elements that are used in Heavy Rain, but not solely built around it. It incorporates action, drama, investigation, and many other themes, many of them very adult.

As a matter of fact, I really liked how adult this game was. It is by no means for children, so if you have any make sure they are not home, or in bed when you play this. There is a lot of violence, nudity, drug addiction, & foul language. It's not done in a cheesy sort of way. All of it felt very real, as many of the situations could happen to anybody. (If they were investigating a serial killing case I should add) At no one point did I ever think anything was overdone. It felt like just the right amount of aforementioned topics. I am willing to place money on certain news channels and anti-game enthusiasts will have a field day with this game trying to say that it promotes all these things, but we all know they are just out to make a name for themselves and do not know the product at all.

The story of Heavy Rain is a very good one, and as engrossing as creator David Cage said it would be. The game follows a series of events that unfold surrounding the Origami Killer, a criminal who is wanted for the murder of 8 children. It follows 4 main and playable characters, who are all somehow linked one way or another with the Origami Killer. The 4 characters are all very different, and each one plays out in a different style.

Ethan Mars, an architect, who is married with 2 children. Events suddenly unfold however, and he is soon on his own with his marriage in shambles, and looking to rescue one of his sons who was taken by the killer. Madison Paige is a journalist looking for her next big story, which just happens to be the Origami Killer. She suffers from insomnia and most times when looking to sleep, stays in various motels. Scott Shelby is a retired police officer who is currently a private investigator looking into the Origami Killings by the request of the families involved. Lastly there is Norman Jayden who is a member of the FBI looking into the serial murders. He is also a drug addict. There is also a heavy supporting cast who are all equally as well done as the main characters.

What Heavy Rain sets out to do is craft an engaging story where we care about the decisions that we make, and deal with the consequences of those decisions. I really felt throughout the entirety of Heavy Rain I could probably relate to them if I was in a similar situation. There were times in the game where I was literally sitting in my chair, wondering what choice to make. There really were some tough choices to make for the characters we are controlling. It really succeeds in immersing you in the story. While it is somewhat a short one, it is very powerful. There is one plot hole that I noticed dropped about 3/4's through the game, but it is still a fine story with that one inconsistency.

As far as the voices of the characters go, they are really hit or miss. Some of them are very convincing, while others like almost every child character just sounds unnatural. I really don't know what other way to put it. The kids sounds really weird at times. Other characters at times don't know how to properly pronounce certain words. One that immediately comes to mind is origami. Many characters pronounce it as 'origammy' which sounds terrible. Maybe they did this because different people say things other ways in everyday life. I think it was just looked over though. It could have benefited from a little more voice actor direction. One last thing I noticed is that a lot of the characters have this French-Canadian accent which at times can get annoying for characters that are all supposed to be in the US. With all this nitpicking, it makes it sound like I hated the voice acting, but as a whole I enjoyed it a lot. A lot of the work comes off very convincing and dramatic when it needs to be. The soundtrack is also very well done with a wide variety of music, depending on the given situation. During an intense scene, the music is as equally intense at some points giving you an almost frantic feeling. Other miscellaneous sounds are all good, with nothing sounding too fake or manufactured. The sound as a whole compliments the graphics very nicely.

Let's get this out of the way. Heavy Rain is one beautiful game. Probably one of the best looking that comes to mind in the past few months. All of the characters are very realistic looking with facial animations and body motions that all seem very natural. They seem to put in a good amount of work to the actors making sure there were not jerky movements or anything that looked too out of place. The scenes that the characters are in are equally impressive. A lot of the scenes are almost photo realistic. So much detail was put into everything to make it look as real as possible. Even character animations with items looks very good. Some games just have an item as a static object, whereas this game animates those objects giving the game life.

That being said however, there are some obvious shortcuts with certain things. Character interaction with clothing is still "hidden" in a clever way. I guess there is no real easy way to have a character put clothing on or taking it off without it looking too unnatural. It doesn't hinder the game in any way, just something I noticed. Another glaring problem with the graphics is the constant anti-aliasing. It is very noticeable on HDTV's, while it didn't make me enjoy the game any less, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if things didn't look like the were cut in half whenever the angle suddenly changed. If you're not looking for it, you probably won't notice it. I happen to be a bit of an audio/videophile so I tend to notice these things more than other people might. I know a lot of people that just ignore it completely. How lucky for them. Overall though it is easily one of the best looking games on the market and proves yet again we do not need another game system for many years with graphics like these.

Gameplay is where Heavy Rain becomes hard to describe. As I said earlier, it really is not similar to anything else on the market. You navigate your characters around the scene, and find clues that lead you to the next scene. It doesn't sound interesting on paper (or on a web page?) but it does work for the game. You move your characters using the R2 button and navigate them with the left analog stick. It's a bit awkward at first, but you get used to it very fast. Other actions are handled with a combination of movements on the right analog stick as well as the 4 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons. At many times you must combine these movements and buttons making for some awkward finger placements, but it compliments with how tense the scene is.

Heavy Rain is really a game full of nothing but Quicktime Events or QTE's that Shenmue made famous, and seemingly every game since then has incorporated. Heavy Rain's QTE's are so well done though, it never feels gimmicky. I guess it would be in a lot of trouble if it did, as that is really the only thing you're doing the whole game. It may not be every body's cup of tea, and some people might get outright bored with it. Every scene in the game to me was fun. From playing with your children as Ethan in the beginning of the game, to having gunfights or escaping a burning car, pressing a series of buttons never felt as important to me in a game before Heavy Rain. At numerous times your characters lives literally hang in the balance depending on what buttons you push, which brings me to my next topic.

I think this is the first game I've seen where a main character can die, and the story can flow completely like nothing ever happened. Sure you might miss out on some scenes and information as that character who died, but you still get the feeling of a complete story even if you don't experience it. You can always go back and play through again trying out different options and ways through a scene to get a different ending. I believe Heavy Rain has 6 endings in all, some of them very different from others. Actually, I believe all of the main characters can die, and you'll still get a conclusion to the story. This is the kind of game that benefits without reloading though. Just play it out as if you couldn't stop it. Much like you can't change a movie's script. Just let it play out, and once you finish it go back again and try it a different way.

All in all, I would call Heavy Rain a big success in what it tried to accomplish. While the game is a bit on the short side (8-10 hours) it was well worth the money spent, and you'll certainly not have played anything like it yet. I'm sure if this game does well enough we'll see a string of clones as the market tends to follow with whatever sells, but Quantic Dream certainly has their format down pat. I hope we get another equally riveting game from them and we won't have to wait another 4 years to play it. They could easily take the engine they built, modify it and make a completely different game. We'll see I suppose.

Out of 10, I would give Heavy Rain a 9.5

This Week in Games...

...We have only have one big release. That release is Heavy Rain for Playstation 3. Due out tomorrow, 2/23, I hope it proves all it was hyped to be. I have a feeling it will deliver. You can find extensive Heavy Rain demo impressions here.

Secondly due out tomorrow, we have the 3rd DLC pack for Borderlands. Entitled The Secret Army of General Knoxx, this expansion will add almost double the playtime of the first DLC pack, Dr. Ned's Zombie Island. The story takes place after the close of the single player game and continues the adventure. This expansion also raises the level cap to 60 and adds even more weapons and enemies, and various other changes.

I should be picking up both of these releases tomorrow, even though I'm still occupied with Ace Attorney Investigations at the moment. I will make sure to find room for all 3.

Updated impressions on all of them later in the week, I hope.

Shutter Island Review

Shutter Island is the newest near masterpiece film brought to us by Martin Scorsese, following up the 2006 release of The Departed. This psychological/thriller film is based off the 2003 novel of the same title. Originally due out in the fall of 2009, it was delayed into the new year for "economic" reasons. How do you follow up with such a great movie as the Departed? By crafting something equally good, I suppose. Scorsese proves himself again with this movie showing why he really is one of the best directors of all time.

I needed a full day to fully digest this movie. The plot of Shutter Island is pretty big, and it is pretty hard to openly discuss without ruining anything in the movie. Taking place in the mid 1950's, U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio, his best role since The Departed, more on that later) is joined by his newly assigned partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to discover the whereabouts of a recently escaped mental patient. When they arrive at Shutter Island however, they find out that in this prison/hospital for the mentally unstable, there are quite a few secrets to be uncovered. The staff does not cooperate with the investigation at all perpetuated by Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kinglsey) and they must rely upon the patients to get information they can use. Teddy thinks if he can uncover all the secrets of this island, this will be his big break and a big chance for him. The plot that is uncovered is psychologically distressing to both Marshal Daniels and yourself as the viewer, as it is an excellently well crafted piece.

Other than the above, I really can't go into the plot as it would go into spoiler territory. There are far too many interesting plot points to ruin for anyone. Unfortunately for myself, I knew the big "game-changing" moment of the movie before going in to see it. The Internet nowadays is not a safe place folks. Rumors and spoilers are all over the place just waiting for the next unsuspecting person. That being said, I tried to look at the movie from a different angle going in, which can be fun as well. This film is so well done however, I could not put my finger on anything until the very end, when everything is laid out on the table for us. At the end, I was very satisfied with the overall story, only having very minor complaints that are not even worth mentioning.

The acting in this movie is stellar. At any given time, you really feel like you're right there with them. This film really does a good job at sucking you in, and I believe part of the reason is because of the superb abilities of DiCaprio and company. Over the years, DiCaprio has slowly become one of my favorite actors. Back when I saw Titanic, I really though he was going to be one of those fad actors, only popular for a few years because of his handsome boyish look. Was I ever wrong. He proves himself movie after movie. The film that really showcased his talent for me was The Departed. After seeing that movie, I've made it a point to see some of his other films that I missed because I didn't think much of him. This movie is no exception. At many of Marshal Daniels points in this movie, you can feel like you can relate to him if such a thing were to ever happen to you. It really goes to show you when you put in so much effort it pays off, as you are really engrossed in the movie and care for it's characters.

The rest of the acting is right up there along with DiCaprio's. Mark Ruffalo plays the sidekick kind of role, and he pretty much nails it. Not knowing too much while you suspectingly have your own questions about his motive. Michelle Williams also stars in this movie as Officer Marshal's wife. I have to honestly say, I have not seen Michelle Williams in all too many films, and know her pretty much because of Dawson's Creek, but she did a very fine job. We don't know the reason for her appearances on the island, but when we find everything out, just wow is all I can say. I give her an A+ to be able to play such a convincing "housewife". Ben Kingsley does a great job as always, I can't really say too much about his role other than questioning him the whole time, which is the point I suppose. Lastly, Jackie Earl Haley (known for playing Rorschach in Watchmen most recently) is also in the film. He plays his usual psychotic role that he is used to playing now. I really hope he doesn't get typecast in future movies, as he is a very good actor, but he plays such a great sociopath/nutjob that I really don't mind. Overall the acting in this movie is one of the many high points of the film.

The filming and locations in Shutter Island are done in such a way to further make you feel like you're locked in a prison. There are many closeups, and behind the back views. Walks down long corridors, and climbing down cliffs are shot at just the right angles, to give you a sense of dread at times. There are a couple of scenes that do drag on a bit, such as aforementioned walks down long corridors, but overall a fine job for a Scorsese movie. The soundtrack to me was not too memorable, but the score had a very creepy feeling emanating from it. There is one main "theme" that is repeated in the movie at particularly intense scenes, and you are always expecting something big to happen at that moment. Other pieces of the film remind me of the earlier Silent Hill game series. Not exactly music, but sometimes just noise. It does it's job. For a good portion of this movie I was very tense, partly because of the music.

There are not too many things I can complain about in Shutter Island. The movie has a near perfect pace, not giving you too much information at one time. One small thing is some scenes could have been a bit shorter, and even though I knew the big plot points of the movie, most people can probably figure things out if they've got half a brain. Like I said earlier though, don't fully expect to know what's going on until the very end. You're hit like a train then. In a good way. The last 15-20 minutes of the film were some of the best scenes I've seen in film for many years. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance especially.

I recommend seeing this 100% if you're looking for a good psychological movie that will keep you guessing throughout it's entirety, or if you are tired of the same boring plots. Compared from the The Wolfman last week, Shutter Island is a breath of fresh air after escaping from a mental institution.

Out of 5 stars, I give it a 4. Definitely give it a shot!

New podcast up!

Another week, another podcast!

This week we cover:

- Movie news recap
- Wolfman review
- This week's Lost review including: Scary Locke Man Boobs
- Smallville recap for the week
- Some gaming news from X 10
- Ace Attorney Miles Edgeworth Investigations semi-review.
- Our official email address

and more! Check it out on the left of the webpage or:

This week's podcast!

We also have an official email address for this site and the podcast. Please send us your feedback to: Official Email!

I guess 4 month old Super Street Fighter 4 Rumors ARE True!

As the heading says, this surfaced near the end of September with sources very closely affiliated to the game and leaked most of the changes to SSF4. A lot of people dismissed them, but others like myself believed in the rumors. When the supposed leaked characters began to show up in trailers, people's minds were changing. This whole thing was probably one of the worst industry kept secrets, though nowhere near as bad as the Knights of the Old Republic Online rumor circulating for years.

Now almost 4 months later, everything on the leaked list has been confirmed true. Each character has a 3rd costume, everyone has a 2nd Ultra, other modifications to balance characters, etc. Oh, and the fact that 3 fighters from the under appreciated Street Fighter 3: Third Strike were being added. Ibuki, Dudley, & Makoto are the latest 3 additions. Yesterday those "rumors" were confirmed true by the popular weekly magazine Famitsu. Some magazine scans were released, and showed all 3 in action. Today, knowing their "secret" was blown, Capcom released another trailer for the game, including the previously mentioned characters.

I have to say, Capcom knows how to put out a good trailer. Every one of these I have seen gets me more and more amped for the release in late April. With these characters, plus more to be revealed, this is shaping up to be one great fighting game. The orginal Street Fighter 4 was amazing enough, this will be even better. Check for the new trailer below!

The Substitute...

...Is the name of the 4th Episode in the 6th and final season of Lost, and it looks like another great episode.

Official description from ABC is as follows:

Locke seeks help to support his cause.

With another very short episode description, we'll just have to wait for it to air tonight to see what is really going on. Will the new Locke seek out help from Sawyer and Sayid to join his side? Will we get to see what happens to John in the parallel universe after he lands safely on Oceanic 815? Only one way to find out! Tune in tonight!

We should also be discussing the episode on this week's podcast.

Objection!

Today, the latest entry in the Ace Attorney series is due out. Brought to us by Capcom, this is the 5th game in the long running series entitled Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Released in Japan May of last year, we are getting this quicker than some of the others in the Ace Attorney product line. Fans of this series (including myself) have been waiting a long time for a new game in this fun and quirky series.

This time around as the title implies you play as Phoenix Wright's rival, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth whom is one of everybody's favorite character in the series. He was absent from games 3-5, so it is very nice to see him return and get his own full game. This is also the first time the game will step away from the courtroom and try something different. We will get to see what it is like behind the scene's as a prosecutor finding evidence and witnesses to bring the criminals to justice.

The game takes place before and after Trials & Tribulations, hopefully clearing up the gap of what Edgeworth was doing the entire time. It features some of the same characters we've come to know and love through the series, and introduce new ones as well. This entry also introduces new elements to the gameplay using "logic mode" to piece together the evidence and make a case. This is also the first time the Ace Attorney series has been specifically designed for the DS. It is supposedly around 15 hours long, which is the average length of these games.

I got to pick this up today, am cannot wait to rip into it. All of the Ace Attorney games are extremely fun and have well written stories. Shockingly so sometimes. I remember being surprised multiple times throughout the course of the series. This one should be no exception. I should hopefull have a review out in a week or so, as soon as I finish up with my Bioshock 2 writeup. In the meantime, here is a small trailer for the game.

The Wolfman (2010) Review

Before this review gets started, I must start with this. This movie does not deserve all the negative attention it is getting. It is a pretty good horror/thriller that delivers on most points, and only failing in a couple.

That being said, The Wolfman is the latest classic Universal monster to have a remake of the original film. With The Mummy already done, and The Creature From the Black Lagoon in the works, Universal Pictures has sure been busy with trying to recreate some of the the magic given to us by the original movies.

The Wolfman stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, who is a famous Shakespearean actor living in New York after excommunicating himself with his family in Great Britain. After finding out about his brother's disappearance through a letter sent from Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt), Lawrence returns to his home in Blackmoor to get to the bottom of what is really going on. Upon arriving, he is greeted by his long estranged father John Talbot. (Anthony Hopkins) He learns however, he is already too late, and his brother has already died a very grizzly death by something extremely ferocious. Now on the hunt for vengeance, Larry is determined to find the truth. He goes to find the Gypsy camp that he believes is somehow tied with his brother. The camp is suddenly attacked, and Larry bitten by a mysterious creature that almost kills him, he is now cursed on the full moons to hunt as a werewolf. A Scottish inspector named Aberdine (Hugo Weaving) shows up to finally get to the bottom of all the attacks.

Going into this movie, I really didn't know what to expect. There have been many complaints that these Universal Monster movies should be left alone. I am partial to them. They are so legendary, they don't need remakes. However as ideas run out, sequels and remakes are made. For the most part it is getting trashed, so I didn't really think it would be too good of a movie. Possibly all the director/writer/staff changes were true. What I discovered though, was a highly enjoyable, very dark and moody film that as a whole pleased me.

From the beginning, the most enjoyable thing for me in this movie was the atmosphere. I think they really nailed the dark and industrial look of Britain in the late 1800's. This movie just oozes a brooding art direction. The visuals of the Wolfman transformation were also very impressive and convincing. It looked as it should have, very painful. In particular, the scene at the sanitarium was extremely cool to watch, one of the coolest in the movie. From looks of it, they combined CG as well as makeup to make the transformations as realistic as possible. They also seem to pay homage to the original Wolfman movie by keeping a similar style as far as the look of the beast goes. The makeup also shows just enough of the actor's characteristics to make them recognizable. I give Rick Baker (famous makeup artist in Hollywood) a lot of credit for the job he did here.

Another thing of note in this movie was the gore factor. I'm not sure whether to mark this off as good or bad. The original Wolfman didn't have too many deaths from what I remember. I guess they wanted to change that this time around, being a different generation and all. The gore was very well done, if not overdone. I think it was a bit too much at some points, mostly during the action scenes where The Wolfman is on a rampage. I guess they just wanted to get the point across of how visceral and feral of a creature it was supposed to be.

As far as the actors themselves, most do a fairly good job. I doubt any of them will win any awards for the acting, but they do a convincing enough job for the roles they play. At certain points, you can really feel for Del Toro, as he is a very emotionally scarred man. Again, scenes in the sanitarium with him were very convincing. Anthony Hopkins played his usual eccentric type of role that he handles so very well now. You're really unsure what to think of him, other than you know he's hiding something big. Emily Blunt was fairly uncharismatic and didn't add too much to the movie, other than a love interest. At some points during the movie however, some of the actors seem to be bored during their scenes, as if they were just reciting them with no real feeling. Hugo Weaving as Inspector Aberline was probably the worst of all. As much as I like him as V in V for Vendetta, Elrond in Lord of the Rings, and Agent Smith in the Matrix series, he seems to play almost the same role in every movie. He really shows no emotion or sense of regard for anything. It seems some actors more than others gelled with each other.

There were another couple of gripes I had that I do not wish to spoil, but were completely unnecessary, one moment almost should not have been included in the movie, it was fine without it. The moment is near the end in the Talbot mansion if you're looking out for it.

Aside from those gripes though, it was a very solid movie going experience. With great special effects, and such good atmosphere I really cannot complain too much. I would definitely recommend seeing the movie for yourself before making a decision. People can be overly critical, and this is no exception. It is a fun time, just don't bring any young ones along. It might be too much for them to handle. Out of 5 stars, I would give it a 3.5.

New Podcast Up!

There is a new episode of the podcast up, reachable at the left side of the web page, or via this link.

Some of the things we go over this week are:

Movie reviews of Zombieland & Edge of Darkness

TV shows: Smallville's Absolute Justice, Heroes season finale, and the second episode of Lost for the 6th and final season entitled "What Kate Does"

Games segment includes: Discussion of Heavy Rain demo, Bioshock 2 & Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Please excuse any audio troubles, we had some technical difficulties this week.

As always, feedback is welcome. Thanks!

A whole bunch of Microsoft X 10 news

Today in San Fransisco (going on right now as a matter of fact) Microsoft is holding their annual event showcasing some of the hottest new games and technology. There have already been a large number of some pretty big games, all of it good so far.

Some highlights:

First, some release dates have been cleared up.

On April 13, we will finally get our next installment of the Splinter Cell series, entitled: Splinter Cell: Conviction. As many of you know, the last new Splinter Cell game, Double Agent was released almost 4 years ago. Conviction has been delayed numerous times, and also been completely redesigned. It will be featured on Xbox 360 & PC.

With a full single player campaign & also an entire co-op campaign with added multiplayer, I don't think this will be one to miss. The Splinter Cell series have always delivered in terms of strong gameplay and single player experience. I doubt this one will be any exception.



Next up on May 18, we will have 2 very big titles. Lost Planet 2 & Alan Wake. Both of these games are very anticipated, Alan Wake especially so.

The original Lost Planet released 3 years ago was a very solid title for Xbox 360 and later for Playstation 3. Lost Planet 2 is being developed & produced by most of the same team members that did the original game. The very able Jun Takeuchi is taking lead as Producer for this game, and promises it will deliver everything we loved about the first game and more. There looks to be much more variety this time around, which is good, considering most of the first game was only in the snow and indoor environments.

There is a very large focus on multiplayer in Lost Planet 2. You can play by yourself, or with have up to three player controlled or bots. Personally, I cannot wait to jump into this game with 2 or 3 friends and tear some huge monsters apart. If the game is as good as the demo was, we are in for a big treat. As long as there isn't a lame final boss like in the original. There will also be a multiplayer mode available with up to 16 players in various versus matches.



The second game to come out on May 18th is another huge game, Alan Wake. This game has been in development seemingly forever. Remedy Entertainment, the developer of the game has not released anything since the 2003 game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. We've seen tidbits of this game here and there, but least year it was finally unveiled in a playable format. Again, this will be on Xbox 360 and PC exclusively.

It is receiving a lot of good hype, and will hopefully live up to all of its expectations. The developers have a lot riding on this game. Not too much else is known about this game. The developers are keeping it under pretty tight wraps. I think they need to in order to build the game up some more. This will be another game that should not disappoint. Below is the developer explaining some of the game mechanics.



Last but certainly not least we have another Capcom game, Dead Rising 2. This is another highly anticipated sequel. The original game came out near 4 years ago. There have been many rumbling of a sequel, and last year there was a viral video that "leaked" and confirmed the game. The only thing that has me worried about this game is that it is being developed by a 3rd party publisher. Capcom is said to be working very closely with with Blue Castle Games (developer of the sequel) but it still may cause a little concern amongst gamers.

From all the videos we have seen however, this game looks to be just as over the top as the original game was. Double sided chainsaws, motorcycle riding, hundreds of zombies on screen, with some other craziness yet to be unveiled. There is confirmed multiplayer, but we don't yet know what it will entail of.



The last fairly large piece of news that we have is Fable 3 will be released sometime this fall/holiday season. We will see what kind of changes this game will bring around, but I'm pretty excited for all of the news in this article.

More Rapture + Some Divine Comedy = Love?

Big release day today for games. Two highly anticipated games, Bioshock 2 (PC,PS3,X360) & Dante's Inferno (PS3,X360) are out today. We've only just enetered the new year, and already we've got a ton of great games. If this is any indication of what the rest of the year is going to be like, consider me stoked!

First off we have Bioshock 2. Set approximately 10 years after the events of the first game, you take control of the very first Big Daddy. You get to dual wield in a sense in this game, with one hand holding your gun/drill/tools, and your other hand using different plasmids. It also features an in-depth Multiplayer mode. I had the opportunity to pick this up today and hope to have a full review on this game a little later in the week, possibly tomorrow depending on the weather.





Next up, we have Dante's Inferno. Developed by Visceral Games and published by EA, is a straight action/adventure game. It is loosely (and that may be pushing it) based around the Inferno part of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. It seems like a pretty straight forward game, going off the demo we got a couple of months back. This is as close as you can get to copying God of War without calling it so.

The game is very atmospheric, and the music is pretty heavy at times. Combat is also very smooth, but the style is literally a clone of the God of War series. It's definitely a fun title as far as action games go, but God of War III will be out in about a month, and at that time we'll all have the real game we were waiting for instead of quenching our thirst with a copy. I really hate to mention another game so much, but the two are so similar, it is hard not to compare.

Maybe this is better considered a homage to God of War, and them using so much from it just means they respect everything Santa Monica Studios (developer of God of War) has done with their franchise. Hopefully if there is a sequel, it will try to branch out a little more. It looks okay enough, but I'm sure sure it warrants a "new" purchase at $60. Maybe a few months down the line when it's going for $30 used, I'll check it out then.



Both of these games + Heavy Rain will be featured on this week's podcast, hopefully available Thursday morning.

*Lost intro noise*

This week's Lost is titled: "What Kate Does"

The ABC press release says this about the episode:

"Kate finds herself on the run, while Jack is tasked with something that could endanger a friend's life."

And...wow, that is really not much to work with. Based on the season premiere, we'll be seeing both the current timeline, and also the parallel world. Based on the title, I am assuming we will be seeing what Kate does after escaping from the airport in the parallel world.

I guess we will know more when we see the episode tomorrow.

Edge of Darkness

Got to check out Edge of Darkness today with my co-host from the Games, Movies & More podcast.

Mel Gibson finally makes his return to the silver screen in this movie after an almost 6 years of absence. Most people remember his last movie being the awful Signs, but afterward he produced and starred in the somewhat lackluster Paparazzi. Mel Gibson plays Detective Thomas Craven, a member of the Boston Police Force. A fairly straightforward man, everything is normal until he picks up his 24 year old daugher Emma, from the train station.

Later in the evening, she is shot and killed, dying in his arms. The police first believe he is the target as he has been on the police force many years. He begins to think otherwise when trying to find out the truth of who killed his daughter. Opposite Gibson is Ray Winstone playing a clean up agent named Darius Jedburgh. He is supposed to stop Craven from finding out the truth. The two have a mutual respect for each other, and Jedburgh decides to leave Craven to his business. What follows is deception, government cover ups, and some decent story telling.

For Mel Gibson's first movie back, this was a good choice. Not an over the top action movie, a slower movie with sometimes (almost times too much so) sluggish pacing with Gibson playing his typical revenge role. Overall, the story was very good, once it all played out. There were however, certain parts of the movie where I felt like falling asleep. You really do feel for Craven while he is trying to find out the truth behind his daughters death. You feel the all of the hurt and anger built up in him. Even with taking off all these years, Gibson has not lost his ability to act. I was a bit worried at first, but that quickly diminished after seeing him in this role.

I only have one other gripe with this movie aside from the pacing, and that is some of the dialogue. I don't know why Hollywood decides to make a story take place in Boston they insist on making all of the actors speak in a terribly overdone Boston accent. I've been to Massachusetts before, and never was the accent as bad as it is in these movies. They severly need to tone this down. At times, the dialogue was almost incomprehensible. It was like playing fill in the blanks, and make up your own story. Please Hollywood, calm down a little bit with this in the future.

Overall it was a pretty decent movie. I'd give it 3 stars out of 5. I hope Mel Gibson continues to work after this film, as it was a good return for him.

Heavy Rain Demo, How You Can Get It, And Some Impressions

The hotly anticpated Playstation 3 Game, Heavy Rain produced by Quantic Dream, is not available until February 23rd, but you have your chance to play it now. Earlier yesterday, Sony published a new viral website over at Precinct 52. You need to register first over here, but once you are done, you can head on over to Precinct 52 and click a certain 4 objects to get your promotional code you can use to download the Heavy Rain demo on the PSN Store.

Once you're in the Precinct 52 main site, click the following four objects:

- Coffee Shop C (towards the bottom, also says "Diner")
- Cigarette Butt B (click the cigarette, then click the short one)
- Oragami Bird
- Tyre Tracks (click the "tyre" tracks, then click 117h tracks)

Once you select the four of those items, you are prompted automatically to present them. Do as such, and you should be presented with a redeemable code for use on the PSN Store for the download of the demo. Enjoy!

All that being said, I had the opportunity to download and play the demo a little earlier. There was a lot of website traffic, and the site was extremely slow, but things are back to normal now it seems. I've been waiting for a trail of this game for quite some time, and it does not disappoint.

The demo gives you the opportunity to play as two separate characters. You first get control of Scott Shelby. The first thing you will notice while playing this game aside from the absolutely gorgeous graphics, is the unconvential controls. You do not use the d-pad or analog sticks to move. Instead you use R2 to move forward, and the analog stick to change direction. The face buttons, right analog stick, as well as the shoulder buttons are used to control characters actions. It is quite strange to get used to the different control scheme, but once you get it down, it is pretty easy.

Scott Shelby is an older, retired heavyset private investigator who is searching for any clues regarding the Oragami Killer. He seemingly suffers from chronic asthma, which factors into the gameplay. You need to occasionally to use your inhaler to keep him under control. After walking through a rainy alleyway, you go into a cheap motel and proceed to question a prostitute. She's not too helpful, but you can approach situations in different ways, and the characters will react differently. After leaving, another of her callers goes to her door, and it is up to you to save her. You engage in a particularly intense battle. Shelby is obviously no brawler, and it shows. The fight is very hectic with the control scheme setup as it is. It is very fun and creative and that is all that matters.

The second character you control is Norman Jayden. He is a FBI agent and seemingly a drug addict. He arrives to a recent murder site and is very shaken up. Jayden has this really nifty pair of glasses and a crazy futuristic glove that both allow him to identify potential evidence on the scene of a crime. Even though the game is set a year from now, the technology is really cool. This part of the demo requires you find evidence and check out the surrounding area. There is not much to it, but it really shows you how different the 2 characters are.

Overall I was very pleased with this small taste of the game. The graphics are extremely good, and it definitely shows they've taken care over the past 3.5 years developing this. Some of the characters seem to suffer a little bit from "dead eye syndrome" which is common in a lot of CG/movies today. It's not too bad, and hopefully will clear up with the remaning time. It is only a demo after all. The voice work is also very well done, and I was left very impressed. Personally I cannot wait until the full game comes out later this month. Expect a full review when it does hit.

In case you haven't seen the game in action, below is a trailer for the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Officially Announced!

I'm really excited by this piece of news.

Sega today officially unveiled Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode 1. This was a long rumored project for many months, under the codename Project Needlemouse. As this is labeled Episode 1, it is assumed it will be an episodic game released over the course of time.

From what we know so far, the Sonic 4 will take place after Sonic & Knuckles, with Sonic being the only playable character. Sonic will be returning to the old school gameplay we all came to know and love growing up. Collecting rings, speed shoes, and invincibility!

I grew up on Sonic the Hedgehog, and over the years was more and more disappointed with the lackluster Sonic games comic out. This looks to be the true return of everybodies favorite hedgehog. Episode 1 will be available some time this summer on Xbox Live Marketplace, PSN & Wii Store.

Here's the trailer to get everyone psyched!

Greetings!

Greetings everyone! Please excuse the dust as this is a work in progress and there will be many changes over the next few weeks.

Welcome to my blog. This will also serve as a gateway for my best friends website, Games, Movies, & More.

We have an official podcast that comes out every week, usually on Thursday. It's usually myself and my best friend Brian just recapping some of the weeks events in games, movies and tech stuff. This past weeks podcast was my first one, and I hope we can get some more followers soon. We hope to have a live show soon as soon as we get more comfortable with the whole thing so we can intereact with you guys out there.

Games, Movies, and More Podcast

Here's the podcast link for those of you that are interested. Please leave us a message, or even one here. Also feel free to email me at jirenicus84@gmail.com with any questions/comments or feedback! If we get enough, we'll have a segment on the air for the feedback.



I'll skip the whole intro thing, as my profile will be updated soon with that stuff if you really want to know about me.

I hope to post as often as I can, and keep the news fairly updated. Hopefully I will get the chance to get a decent following and interact with some of you soon!