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Battleship Review [Movies]

2012-05-25T17:00:14Z

In 1943 the Milton Bradley Corporation launched a pencil and paper game entitled ‘Broadsides, the Game of Naval Strategy’ whose origins would ultimately evolve into the board game known as “Battleship”.

In 2012, Hasbro and Universal decided to release a movie version of Battleship, which seems nothing more than an in-name-only recreation of the classic game that most families have stored in their basements somewhere.

Battleship is nothing more than a loud, long (clocking in at over two hours) and sloppy attempt at a Hollywood summer blockbuster. Almost as if Hasbro just handed the reigns (and a budget of over $200 million) to director Peter Berg – of Friday Night Lights fame—and told him to make something good.

Unfortunately though for Berg, and for audiences, the film delivers little in substance and serves more as a vehicle for army recruitment and strategic product placement, than as a vehicle of entertainment for moviegoers.

Berg enlisted Taylor Kitsch (also of Friday Night Lights) as L.t. Alex Hopper, a twenty something with no direction who joins his older brother Stone (played by Alexander Skarsgard) aboard a Navy ship.

While preparing for a type of military games type of scenario, the humans are attacked by huge alien ships and are forced into an actual life or death scenario.

If pop-star Rhianna was attempting to make a name for herself in movies, this was definitely not the right role for her, playing Petty Officer Cora Raikes, the tomboy esque, Bruce Willis quote spouting soldier. Not a good look.

Rhianna, along with Brooklyn Decker – who played Kitsch’s love interest in the film, are the only female characters in this testosterone-laden stinker.

Liam Neeson also appears in the film, but is completely wasted in what equates to be an insignificant role. Neeson’s range and skill set could have definitely been better utilized had that script been better.

It’s worth nothing that at times Battleship does have a few decent moments, such as the magnitude of the damage done to the world thanks to the invading alien army and the scene where the Navy is battling an alien ship in the same fashion as the original board game – firing missiles at locations located on a sonar grid in hopes that they can hit the ‘invisible’ enemy, but other than that the film is pretty laughable.

While executives made the earnest effort to pay homage to the military (such as by including many real-life Veterans), this comes off as more of a disservice and a joke, and that seemed quite unfortunate.

Making the transition from a board game into a movie will always be a slippery slope, and for every successful release such as Jumanji there will be a flop such as Clue and now Battleship.

Yoshi's Two Cents: Syndicate [Xbox 360]

2012-05-23T17:00:34Z

ED: Yoshi’s 2 Cents is a semi-regular segment on gaming pioneered by FatYoshi. Every once in a while, there’s a game that slipped your playlist or you simply ran out of time to review upon release. This is such a case, and since the game was worthy of mention, you get the shorten version or a late review.

Keeping with the reboot feeling this week, the game we’ve chosen for our Yoshi’s Two Cents is Syndicate. This game is a reboot of the original Syndicate game that was released by Bullfrog Studios in 1993. The original was a tactical shooter and this one has been switched to a first person shooter. Having never played the original I can’t comment on how well they’ve done with the reboot but the gameplay is well done—the story maybe not.

The game takes place in a world where almost everyone has been given a chip and is able to connect to others. The release of the chips means that nations are no longer important and people become members of corporations who have made their individual chips, meaning instead of national wars the world has become all about corporate espionage.

You are an elite agent who has a DART 6 bio-chip installed and your missions are set up for you to either steal information from other corporations or prevent others from taking the information. The world looks amazing and often looks like something out of Blade Runner. It makes for what should be extremely immersive environments but the storyline is relatively weak so it just never feels like you get fully into the game. The main character is basically a machine following orders and that is pretty much what prevents you from getting into the game.

The gameplay is the only reason to play and finish this game. The DART chip gives you the ability to go into DART mode which allows you to see through walls and gives the ability to see all enemies as they come. This mode also slows down all enemies and basically puts the world into an x-ray version of bullet time. The game also gives three “hacks” that you can use to “breach” your opponents chips. “Suicide” which forces your opponent to kill themselves and them they explode, killing or injuring those around them. “Backfire” which hacks into the enemies guns and makes the gun explode, forcing them out of cover. The final power is “Persuade” which causes an enemy for fight on your side until there are no more enemies left; this is when they kill themselves.

The weapons in the game are all pretty standard for an FPS with the exception of a gun that allows you to lock onto opponents and shoot around corners. There is also a laser gun which allows you to burn your enemies. There are many enemies that you need to use your hacking skills on to eliminate their shields. This is the case in the boss battles which are actually more annoying than fun.

The first boss in the game is definitely the worst of all the bosses to face. It’s incredibly boring as you have to shoot him over and over again for what is definitely far too long. Emptying round after round into the boss, the point was to use the DART system over and over. He didn’t seem to cause any damage at all and it was boring, not a good start to the game. The other bosses were a bit of an improvement but overall the boss battles meant you simply hide, use DART, start shooting the boss and hide again while DART recharges.

This game had so much potential and it just didn’t live up to what it could have. Overall the gameplay was fun but then they included terrible boss battles. The story could have been interesting but they just didn’t create any characters that you wanted to like or even cared about. Gordon Freeman is silent in all the Half Life games but the supporting characters and story make you care. This game could have definitely taken a lesson from them.

Top Five Games That Need to be Remade [Xbox]

2012-05-21T17:01:00Z

Our last installment for this remake section was all of the Nintendo games that needed to be made. It seemed like this week would be a good time for another installment with last week’s release of Max Payne and Diablo 3. This time the focus is on the Xbox games that need to be remade, given sequels or rebooted. Thankfully, the Xbox doesn’t have a million consoles to pull from but there are still plenty of remakes that need to be made.

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge

Crimson Skies was originally a PC game but the Xbox release added more. Based in an alternate history of the 1930’s, this game focuses on the character Nathan Zachary, the leader of a group of sky pirates. The game was a third person flight simulator and felt quite similar to other flight games like Star Fox. You were also able to move into different planes and to attack from fixed gun placements.

Overall this game was extremely well done and could be done even better on the newer gen consoles. There really aren’t many other flight games that quite live up to this with its introduction of open world flying. This basically made it the GTA of flying and you could choose which objective to fly to and when. The weapons went from machine guns to Tesla coils and in general it was just a really cool game.

Jade Empire

This game that allowed you to learn and create new martial arts styles was really well done on the Xbox. It’s one of the nicest looking games on the first Xbox and it almost looks like it should be a 360 game. The ability to build your character and the attacks available through the different martial arts, weapons, and magic really made this a game you could play over and over again.

The game was done by Bioware, so they used all their same ideas that they did with their other hits like Knights of the Old Republic. It allowed you to speak to numerous NPC’s and you could use them to gain more points and experience. This was an early game that had multiple endings which were decided from your multiple different choices, the main choice being to follow the high or low road.

Bioware has never said this game won’t be made and even as of last year the co-founders have said they still like the idea of the game.

Jet Set Radio Future

In-line skating has never been as popular as skateboarding but with Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF) it definitely reached the same level. Done in an amazing cell-shaded style, the purpose of the game was to skate around Tokyo and spread graffiti on everything to fight an oppressive regime. From what I remember the storyline really didn’t matter much.

The game was fast paced and fun, it had great gameplay which was incredibly addictive. The soundtrack was also amazing with appearances by groups involving some superstar artists like Adrock (under the name BS 2000) and Mike D (as a part of the group The Latch Brothers). It had numerous foreign artists as well who contributed to an amazing overall soundtrack.

This game could be amazing in HD with a great reboot. The same style of art and gameplay would make this another incredible game.

XIII

This was an amazing cell-shaded shooter that came out on all the systems at this time but I played it on the Xbox. The story is based on a 1984 comic book series and is basically the same idea as the Bourne series. The main character XIII wakes up with no memory of the past but a lot of people trying to kill him. The game goes through five volumes of the comic which means there are 14 more volumes left to make. This game definitely needs to keep going.

The cell-shading comic book style was done in such a way that the whole game felt like you were playing an interactive comic. When events happened or there were sounds, they showed up on the screen in bubbles. It was an incredibly well done game that really does deserve another shot.

Perfect Dark Zero

This is the only game on the list that comes from the 360. There are many games that deserve remakes on both consoles but the fact that this game has already been successfully rebooted to bring it to the current gen shows that it definitely needs another update.

The game follows bounty hunter Joanna Dark (female bounty hunters seem to make awesome games) and her mission to stop a conspiracy created by mega corporation dataDyne. The game allowed you to use cover and roll before those things were popular in shooter games.

The game looked amazing and the gameplay was really solid. If it can be re-done once than the game can definitely handle another reboot or sequel.

So those are the Xbox games or series that could use a remake, reboot or something along those lines. There are many more great games that probably belong on this list so please send us messages or comment below which ones you feel should have been included.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Tell me your suggestions in a tweet: @jclemy I think that _______needs a remake @gamerwok #retrogame

The Dictator Review [Movies]

2012-05-18T17:00:12Z

In his third starring role, British improv phenom Sacha Baron Cohen brings his famous over-the-top crudeness and ability to draw laughs from extremely awkward situations with his latest release The Dictator.

Unlike his previous releases Borat and Bruno, this film actually has a script (if you can call it that), which the film stumbles through for the brief 83 or so minutes.

For all of the pre-release publicity and hype—the spilling of Kim Jong Il’s ashes on Ryan Seacrest at the Oscars or the Larry King interview—the movie didn’t quite seem to live up to expectations.

Cohen stars as General Admiral Haffaz Aladeen – a seemingly outlandish dictator of the fictional oil-rich African state of Wadiya—who is summoned to New York by the United Nations to address concerns over civil-rights violations and nuclear threats.

After Aladeen’s scheming uncle (played by Ben Kingsley – one of many supporting actors whose talents are wasted in the film) replaces him with an idiotic body double (also played by Cohen), Aladeen is left to roam the streets of New York as a lowly commoner, a la Eddie Murphy’s 1988 hit Coming to America, just not quite as good.

It is during this period that Aladeen meets Zoey (Anna Farris), a stereotypical hipster feminist (complete with extremely hairy armpits) and the plot of the story has the once absolutely ridiculous character of Aladeen attempting to learn how to love, as if the crazy dictator was oh so mean because he was just lonely. Cute.

It is during this time that the true strengths of Cohen’s comedic stylings are absolutely wasted. Cohen is arguably the king of interacting with ‘real’ people and playing off the shock factor associated with real reactions to his ridiculousness. In The Dictator Cohen is forced to interact with actors and the results feel awkward and extremely forced.

The genuinely funny Farris is wasted, as the character of Zoey seems more of a launch pad to help cement the misogynistic aspects of Aladeen’s character.

Throughout the film, Cohen’s attempt at political satire misses the mark and at times it is hard to sit through. Attempting to satire 9/11 would have to be very well done, and in The Dictator it simply is not.

However, credit is deserved for the speech given by Aladeen during the climax of the film, where the political commentary is well-focused and quite sharp, playing off the recent ‘Occupy’ trends and the oft-debated wars, and showcases Cohen’s ability to be one of the best political satirists around.

It’s just unfortunate that the rest of the movie couldn’t have been as well executed as this.

Max Payne 3 Review [Xbox360]

2012-05-16T17:00:55Z

It’s been almost 10 years since the release of Max Payne 2: The fall of Max Payne and in that time video games have come a long way. The first two games were released on the original Xbox and the PS2 so it’s been a while. That change translates into the game and while time has done the series a lot of favors, it just doesn’t quite feel like a Max Payne game. While the changes are a little tough for classic Max Payne fans, once you get past this you’re in for an amazing game.

If you’re looking for another Max Payne game where he laments the loss of his wife and fights mobsters in a dark New York City you aren’t going to get it here. There is a little bit of New York in the game but the majority of the game takes place on the sunny streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The inner monologue of a drunk New York cop is still there with the noir style of talk and a general pessimistic outlook on life. The words are overlaid on the screen as the characters talk to draw attention to the main points.

There are many little cinematic effects that just don’t feel right at the start of the game and are a bit distracting. It seemed as though they cut back on these as the game went on but I think maybe I just got used to them because it added to the feel of the game.

With all the complaints about how they changed the game out of the way, now it’s time to talk about how awesome this game is. The game has gone from one where you run into a room, turn on bullet time and blow everyone away, into something much more realistic. If there are five enemies in a room you have to take cover and plan how to attack. Bullet time becomes much more strategic and head shots feel so rewarding.

The realism also means you will die…A LOT. The game realizes this and as you retry individual checkpoints it will give you a painkiller bottle after a certain number of attempts. That act of mercy really doesn’t take away from the difficulty and I was only on medium. Thanks are owed to Rockstar for making a fun, challenging game.

The storyline is also phenomenal. You follow the story of Max who is now an ex-cop doing private security for the rich in bright, sunny Brazil. Sounds pretty great for most people but when you’re Max Payne nothing goes quite as planned. Drowning in the bottle, Payne is constantly drunk but apparently nothing is as sobering as numerous automatic weapons being fired at you. Going from the high life in clubs blasting techno to the lowest of slums, this game takes you all over Brazil with the added bonus of being shot at constantly. As you go through the game you actually begin to care about what happens to Max and feel like you’re following him down as his life takes a sharp nosedive and just keep getting worse. The story is done in the same narrative style as previous games but the comic book cutscenes have been replaced with beautifully rendered ones.

The graphics in the game are amazing. If it takes nine years to get a game to this quality then it’s definitely worth the wait. It’s easy to tell which faction enemies are from even when facing them from across a long distance. The faces are relatively similar but they took the time to dress the enemies in a way that gives them their own identity. The bullet time that Max Payne is famous for is also done quite well with the introduction of the ability to control the speed at which you see the bullet. Holding A allows you to slow down the shot so you can see the bullet or buckshot as it flies into the head (or other body part) of your target.

The levels are relatively linear but open enough that each time you face new enemies it’s a little different with new options that might not get you killed like the last strategy did (like I said, you’ll die a lot). The level that really shows this off takes place in a soccer stadium in the stands. From sniping guys in a light tower to dodging bullets between the seats they really utilize the levels to make the game even better.

There were numerous times that I felt like I was playing a darker and grittier version of Uncharted. This is a good thing. If Drake ever decides to become a New York cop after Chloe gets murdered, this is what would happen. Unfortunately, becoming an alcoholic ruins all the agility and bullet time will have to do.

After nine years this is a welcome release in the Max Payne series. This is a game that deserved to be on both the Playstation and Xbox lists of games that needed a remake. Thankfully Rockstar agreed and did a great job updating the title.

The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Review [XBOX 360]

2012-05-14T17:00:47Z

After its initial release for PC, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has arrived on the XBOX 360, much to the delight of console gamers everywhere. The PC release had critics and fans alike comparing to 2011’s game of the year, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Are these comparisons worthy or would The Witcher 2 fall short of the hype?

In The Witcher 2, like its predecessor, you control Geralt of Rivia, one of the last remaining witchers. Witchers are humans that were genetically modified at a young age and give special skills in order to defeat monsters. Depending on what you do with Geralt, there are multiple endings possible and the decisions you make in the game follow you for the remainder of it.

The first thing you notice when you begin playing The Witcher 2 is the clunky controls. It definitely takes a while to get used to the default buttons given to you in the game. It’s not a big knock on the game, but it’s definitely not the norm as far as jumping straight into a game and feeling comfortable with the buttons. The Witcher 2 also employs a combat quick-menu very similar to the one found in the Assassin’s Creed series. Another minor slight on the interface of the game is the inventory menu. Equipping your armor, weapons and items is very clunky and awkward rather than seamless and easy.

One thing that bothers me in role-playing games in terms of questing is that it feels a lot of the time that you’re an errand boy for some insignificant person in the game. It’s strange in most RPGs that somehow the hero of the story is being sent around the land by miniscule characters to carry out tasks for them. The Witcher 2 is the exception to this supposed rule. Each time Geralt sets out on a mission in Temeria (or elsewhere), it feels important and meaningful, and it relates to the story, which is nice. Another aspect of The Witcher 2 I really enjoy is the sidequests and extracurricular activities you can indulge Geralt into. Want a good old fashioned fist fight? Just head on down to the local pub and you’ll find a willing combatant. Want to test your strength against another man? Engage in an arm-wrestling match. Feel like gambling away your gold? The seductive game of dice poker will steal your coin quickly.

Another positive aspect of The Witcher 2 is the breathtaking cinematic scenes, especially the opening one of the game. The look and feel of the cinematics throughout the game is aesthetically pleasing and they add a nice touch to the experience. However, the overall gameplay graphics are a bit shoddy. The actual gameplay graphics just look plain outdated. I thought excellent graphics in video games were the norm nowadays, but it seems that’s not the case, which is disappointing.

All in all, The Witcher 2 is a good RPG, but its flaws hold it back from becoming great. That being said, The Witcher 2 is definitely worth a play at least once, and with all the extra time-killing activities this game has to offer, you’ll be kept busy.

Gamerwok Unplugged: Dominion [Board Games]

2012-05-11T17:00:12Z

ED: Gamerwok Unplugged is a segment on GamerWok where we embrace the fact that every once in a while you just need to unplug the devices and try something new. This is where Gamerwok Unplugged comes in and shows off some amazing unpowered games.

Dominion

Publisher: Rio Grande Games

Designer: Donald X. Vaccarino

Players: 2-4

Age: 13+

Estimated Play Time: 30 mins

Description:

Dominion is a fast-paced, deck-building game brought out by Rio Grande Games. It is incredibly popular and has spawned a vast number of expansions that allow players to customize the gameplay to achieve unique scenarios each time they play.

The base game is made up of Treasure Cards, Victory Cards, and Action Cards. The Treasure Cards are used to buy all other cards in the game. There are 3 Treasures you can buy: copper, silver, and gold. The copper cards are worth one coin each, the silver is worth two and gold is worth three. As the game progresses, Treasure Cards, especially copper, become less and less useful, and can begin to weigh down your deck.

Victory Cards are the cards that will win you the game. Again, they are split into three: estates, duchies, and provinces. The estates are worth one victory point, the duchies are worth five victory points, and provinces are worth 6 victory points. While these are the cards that will win you the game, they also serve no other purpose in the game, so they can act as a filler and make your hands less effective if you buy too many too early.

The last set of cards in the base game is the Action Cards. One of the features of this game is that you do not play with all the available action cards. You choose ten of the action cards from the box, either by random choice, a randomizer app on your phone, or by playing one of the pre-made scenarios that comes with the game. There are a variety of actions that these cards perform, from giving extra actions, extra buys, or extra coins to attacking other players and defending against those attacks.

Each player starts with a ten-card starter deck that consists of 3 estates, and 7 copper. The player always has 5 cards in hand, unless the effect of another card reduces or increases the number. The player must discard each hand after every turn, and draw 5 new cards. The player turns are split into three phases: the action phase, the buy phase, and the discard/redraw phase. Each player is allowed only one action and one buy unless otherwise specified on an action card in play. The discard/redraw phase is where the player discards all unused cards in his/her hand and then draws five new cards.

The game ends when all the provinces have been bought, or any three of the other piles are depleted. At this point, all players count up their victory points. The player with the most points wins the game.

Review:

Dominion is one of the most fun deck-building games out there. It is fast-paced and addictive, and quite quick to pick up and play. The turns are (usually) quick, and the games very rarely take over 30 minutes to play. The first few games as you get used to the rules might take 45 minutes to an hour, but the game time decreases significantly, making it an awesome game for repeat matches against friends.

Having some kind of randomizer app, or using the randomizer cards, is a great way to make sure that the game doesn’t get stale. Each combination of action cards creates new strategies and new ways to screw over your opponents. It is easy to find a strategy that works for you, but harder to make that same strategy work in every game you play.

The numerous expansions also add a new element to the game each time, and work in combination with the base game to create a new experience for players. They can be played singly with the base game, or in combination with the base game and any number of the others.

My only complaint with the game is that some of the cards can be ambiguous or unclear. You also have to be careful when using randomizers to make sure that the deck is somewhat balanced. If you forget to add defense cards into a deck with attack cards, it can become very easy to make the game incredibly unbalanced. But then again, it can also make the game more aggressive, so it depends on what kind of game you are looking for.

The best part of this game is the highly customizable gameplay. Especially with the addition of one or two of the expansions, this game offers near limitless gameplay options. It is fun to experiment and try new game scenarios to find the game style that you and your friends like best.

This game is a must try for game lovers (if you haven’t tried it already).

The Avengers Review [Movies]

2012-05-09T17:00:31Z

Immediately upon viewing Marvel’s The Avengers, it is easy to see why Joss Whedon was the only person for the job of directing this behemoth of a Hollywood blockbuster. After all, Whedon is revered in all sci-fi/comic/pop culture circles as a man who knows the subject matter and delivers in a product, and The Avengers is no different.

While fans may have gotten tired of the teasers and may have grown to feel as if every other Marvel superhero picture (i.e. Iron Man 1 & 2, Thor, Captain America) were just build up projects for this mega-blockbuster, now that the finished product is out, it is easy to see how this movie could very well be one of the best comic-book adaptation movies of all time.

With a running time of approximately two and a half hours, nit-pickers may say that the movie is a bit long, but the length of the movie gives the calculating Whedon a perfect amount of time to develop each character, and provide them with enough depth and camera time throughout the film to truly give it that ‘Avengers Assemble!’ feeling. As opposed to banking on the popularity of the Iron Man franchise and having Tony Stark or even Chris Evans and his Captain America be the focal point of the movie, each character has their place and most definitely serves their purpose in this film.

Joss Whedon on setPerhaps the strongest evidence of Whedon’s influence on the film was in the dialogue, which seemed to be closer to the original characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby way back when.

Whedon’s characters in The Avengers were genuinely funny at times, instead of the comic parts being forced by the notoriously smug Tony Stark character (once again portrayed fabulously by Robert Downey Jr.)

But it is perhaps the fact that Whedon did such a masterful job as presenting these heroes, these gods among men, as complex and often deeply troubled individuals.

Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston) returns as the main villain in The Avengers, who comes to earth in search of a powerful, cosmic cube of unknown power called the Tesseract which holds the power to create portals to other dimensions. With this power, Loki opens a portal and welcomes an alien army onto earth in an attempt to conquer earth and relieve the people of earth of their delusions of freedoms because, as Loki believes, man was born to be subservient.

Enter the Avengers as S.H.I.E.L.D boss Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) sends out a call to the super team in order to meet this serious threat, and meet the threat they do. And in quite glorious fashion indeed.

Unlike the other hero movies of late, which seem to center around the development of the character and end with a climatic battle, The Avengers is quite fast paced with quite a bit of action throughout the entire film.

Whether it’s the opening sequence of the movie, where Loki destroys S.H.I.E.L.D’s remote underground facility, the scene where Thor and Iron Man duke it out to decide who gets to administer justice to Loki, or the mega-battle in the heart of Manhattan as Loki’s alien horde floods out of a portal in the sky, the action is constant and extremely well done.

Once again the acting in this Marvel feature is simply amazing. Executives did a great job in casting Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, as he embodies that billionaire playboy to a tee, and Chris Hemsworth is a great Thor, as he has the physical look and accent that one would associate with an Asgardian God. Chris Evans was a surprise choice as Captain America, and may seem a bit less bulky and athletic in this film, but he does a great job again as Cap and has grown into the role as the idealistic super-soldier who sacrifices all for the greater good.

But it was Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/ The Hulk who really impressed in The Avengers. Previously portrayed by Eric Bana and Edward Norton, the previous Hulk movies never quite lived up to expectations (and that’s being kind, the Ang Lee Hulk movie was downright terrible) but Ruffalo makes the character his own and at times seems to steal the show.

His awkward mannerisms as the reserved and anxious Dr. Banner add an element that has been missing to the character, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Marvel once again rebooting the Hulk franchise with Ruffalo in the lead.

There are little things throughout the film that the casual fan or movie-goer may miss, but Whedon has included little things for comic-book nerds everywhere, and this is none more evident than the appearance of a certain super-villain during the post-credit scene.

The Avengers has all the makings to be one of the summer’s best blockbusters and will leave all who see the movie craving more from this franchise. Whedon has done a masterful job in creating a movie with a certain style and energy that will have people talking for quite a while.

Remembering Adam Yauch [Music]

2012-05-07T17:01:03Z

Sad news on Friday, May 4^th when it was announced that after fighting cancer since 2009, Beastie Boys co-founder Adam Yauch (MCA) had died. Yauch had been diagnosed with a cancerous parotid gland and lymph node and began treatment in 2009. The arts community as a whole has lost a great person and he will be missed. Gamerwok is dedicating this post today to the memory of MCA.

The Beastie Boys began in 1979 as a hardcore punk band but switched to hip hop in 1984. Touring with Madonna in 1985 the band released their first debut album, License to Ill. This album has been called a hip hop masterpiece and was the first ever rap album to hit number one on the billboard charts. This album was produced by now superstar producer Rick Rubin. The album has some of my favorite Beastie Boys tracks like No Sleep Till Brooklyn and Brass Monkey.

After a tour with numerous issues, the Beastie boys returned to the studio to produce what is considered their strongest album. Paul’s Boutique has been called the “Pet sounds/Dark side of the moon of hip hop” thanks to its heavy sampling and new sound that was created by the Beasties. The lead single Hey Ladies has an impressive mash of sampling that is continued throughout the rest of the album.

It was around this time that Yauch began moving into other pursuits as well as the music. The Beasties released their album Check Your Head in which they began actually playing instruments and performing along with their rhymes. This heavier rock sound combined with hip hop was a new sound in the world of music. At this time Yauch adopted the name “Nathanial Hornblower” and began directing music videos. This was a character he actually took the time to create a fictional biography for on the website for his Oscilloscope production company.

Here are some examples of some of the amazing music videos produced by Yauch in his Hornblower persona

Intergalactic

Body Movin’

Sabotage

The Beasties continued to become one of the biggest hip hop acts in the world and this fame gave them a platform to present their causes. Yauch became a Buddhist and was heavily involved in the fight for the rights of Tibetans. This lead to the Beastie Boys organizing numerous Tibetan Freedom Concerts which drew in big name acts like De La Soul, Smashing Pumpkins and Beck. This concert is thought to have spurred on the creation of the Students for a Free Tibet movement.

Yauch was generally looked at as an overall great human being who simply wanted the best for everyone. Instead of using stardom to stay wild and crazy, Yauch and the Beastie Boys used their fame and money to improve the world they lived in, something that can be hard to find in a group that starts so young and rich. The Beastie Boys bridged the gap between the skater kids and the gangster mentality of hip hop. Three white boys from New York created music that gave a connection for those looking for a place to fit. They broke the mold and put DJ’s and hip hop into rock music while creating amazing visuals to go along with it.

Since his death, Adam Yauch has been compared to a lot of other influential musicians but I think the most fitting is the comparison by the Onion’s AV club to George Harrison. The two both pushed to create new art and put new things into popular culture. The loss of Yauch is a loss to culture in general and he will be missed.

The Walking Dead Game Review [PC]

2012-05-04T17:00:33Z

Telltale Games has become the go-to publisher for great episodic games based on popular franchises. Their newest series is a part of the Walking Dead universe created in comic book form by Robert Kirkman. I’ve had the opportunity to play quite a few Telltale series and this is probably my favorite of all their releases.

The Walking Dead is a comic about people who live in a world with zombies. The people and the drama they face is the most important part of the story and the game stays true to this. While you will face zombies, it’s the interaction between the characters that is the most important part of this series. The TV show has had to add in more zombie interaction to keep people interested but the game strays away from that. By staying true to the feel of the comic, this game will likely lose some audience but those who stay will be rewarded.

The story takes place as the zombie outbreak is beginning and you play as a new character named Lee. There really isn’t much that can be said about him as it would spoil the story that you get right from the start. This is because they use the opening of the game to introduce the new Telltale decision making system which gives you the opportunity to choose how to interact.

In previous Telltale games you had the choice of what you would like to say but it really didn’t make a difference to the overall feel of the story or change what happened. In this series you get a chance to choose your own zombie adventure and decide what path you would like to take. This takes the game from a one-time episodic play through to a multi-play game. What happens if you choose to save different people? How will that affect the future? Obviously no one knows yet what will happen but I know I’ll definitely be going back to see the different consequences.

As I said before a lot of the game isn’t about zombie attacks or even interaction with zombies. At just over an hour of gameplay, it feels more like a TV show where the characters are developed and there are occasional starts where you quickly mash buttons or aim a weapon to kill a zombie. This character development really gives you the chance to care about the others you are surviving with. You save a little girl named Clementine and you actually want to make sure she’s ok.

This style that makes it feel more like a show you are watching means the puzzles (if you can call them that) are not really difficult and there aren’t many of them. This may make some people upset as Telltale has typically done an amazing job with their puzzle development on previous games. I would also have to say that this really doesn’t matter at all for this game because anyone who is a fan of the franchise or zombies in general will enjoy the strong storytelling.

The visuals of this game are amazing as well. They take advantage of the fact that the game is based on a comic book and use a cell shaded, comic book style of art. It looks amazing and actually pulls you into the story more than realistic, human-like characters would. A human with makeup on to make their face look like it’s falling off is pretty amazing but a cell shaded zombie that is actually missing half its face (obviously not the brain) just has the right amount of creepy.

This is not a typical Telltale game and that’s a good thing. While Telltale has released some amazing titles in the past, this new title puts episodic gaming at a new level. I personally enjoy this game more than the TV show because it really takes the ideas and feeling that Kirkman created in his comic and puts you in the driver’s seat. This story puts you in the place of a zombie survivor and allows you to feel scared, concerned and conflicted (sometimes all of them at the same time). For fans of the Walking Dead series this is a must have. Telltale aims for the head on this one and they hit the bull’s-eye.