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- First reviewOctober 23, 2008
- Last reviewJuly 7, 2009
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FrustratedSnake's Reviews
Posted by: FrustratedSnake
from TX
This movie is an embarrassment to fans of Watchmen and rightfully avoided by Alan Moore.
The beauty of the source material, was that though you had to suspend disbelief of a giant blue man and an evil plot from a very unsuspecting villain, the characters and the themes were grounded and very relatable. You were pulled in by their emotional journeys and sat at the edge of your seat to find out what happened next. It was simply a story of 'what would happen if we lived in a world of masked vigilantes'. Think of it as the Batman Begins of the 80's.
The problem with this film is that those elements that are front and center stage in the novel take a step back and are distracted by over the top fight scenes and very unnecessary graphic and cheesy intercourse scene which served absolutely no purpose to the plot. In the comic, that event took place across a very few panels and left the two characters alone as they reached out to one another. In this movie, it's sole purpose is to get your teenage kid a reason to get excited.
the fight scenes are an abomination. A character in the book, who's in his 60s/70s, dies early on by being tossed out a window. For some reason, the director felt the need to go into showing this characters head being smashed through granite counter tops and being thrown into walls only to have him get back up and fight as if nothing happen! Pointless. In fact, this Matrix-y style is forced into every action scene in the movie. A scene where two characters get jumped in an alley is just too pointless and choreographed to be true and grounded. A final battle shows more characters being thrown into marble pillers only to get back up, fix their scarfs and walk as if nothing happened. Any truth or grounded relation to the events in the book is demolished.
I went with a couple of friends and my dad who were not familiar with the source material and they called early on who the villain was thanks to a horribly horribly miscast member in the movie.
On the PLUS side, the movie is beautiful to look at, the soundtrack is fabulous, but that's honestly the only prop I can give it. The ending was altered for some reason and I am neutral on that issue, myself.
Please, do not support this awful awful abomination of what is a great story on print. I ask you to ignore the arguments that what works for print does not translate on film because it is irrelevant to the irrelevant material thrown into this movie which did nothing to heighten your curiosity of the murder that takes central stage in the book.
I will never watch another Zack Snyder movie ever again.
What's great about it: Based on one of the best stories in the comic book medium
What's not so great: Miscast actors, overthetop fight and an extended intercourse scene that were not present in original source
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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-30points
4of 38voted this as helpful.
Learn more about Killzone 2 - PlayStation 3. (Flash demo) The foundation for war has been created on the harsh planet Helghan. The ISA is set on capturing the Helghast leader in an attempt to bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. As Sev, a special forces soldier, it's up to you and your squad to put an end to the ISA and secure Pyrrhus, the capital city. As the time for battle creeps closer, your crew realizes that the planet itself is as big of an enemy as the ISA. Are you strong enough to overcome the planet's obstacles and take out the ISA?Killzone 2 follows up its predecessor with even more futuristic war intensity. Realistic graphics create highly atmospheric environments that are fully responsive to the violent conditions on Helghan. Players must adapt their battle strategies as the devastating effects of Helghan's climate have a huge impact on war tactics. Learn to harness the power of the environment and use it to your advantage against the ISA.
Posted by: FrustratedSnake
from TX
I do my best to stay away from all the talk and hype surrounding a game. A good thing, too. While at the end of the day this is a fun game to play, it all boils down to imitation of many other (and better) First Person shooters out there while dropping some mind boggling problems to the genre as well.
The controls are absolutely horrid. In a short, you'll need to move your right joystick 1/2 way across to either side of the center before the aiming cursor even begins to move! The result is a feeling of 'dragging' and 'delay' to aim. Many have argued that this was done to simulate all the weight your character is holding and I can tell you, this is not the case. Simply put, whether you're holding a pistol or a rocket launcher, the weapon of choice in your hand does not change the feeling of 'dragging' that I just described above. I would imagine my arm could move around more freely and easily with a pistol in my hand rather a grenade launcher. As for the weight of the armor and weapons you carry, well that would affect your running in real life combat, but has nothing to do from getting your arm to point where you want it as soon as signals are sent from your brain to your hand.
Next is A.I and "difficulty". This is a dismal failure. I am almost done completing this game on veteran (beat the game the first time on normal). In essence, what A.I does exist is nothing but a facade to simulate intensity but in reality, you can judge how poor the A.I is by looking no further than your allies who have no problem running in front of you while your gun is spraying bullets nor standing dead center in front of you in the middle of a hall making it near impossible to get around you.
Also, when in the center of a battle where your forces are fighting an enemy, all things being equal, the A.I does nothing to advance either side amidst a battle. Your allies offer no value to your combat whatsoever! When the two opposing forces go at it, there's not a chance that your allies will ever give you an advantage to battle. For example, if you poke your head around a corner and start shooting enemies, every enemy on the battlefield then targets you! You would think this would be an ample opportunity for your allies to gun down a few soldiers, won't happen. Sure there's no pattern to the war going on, but random "A.I" does not make for good A.I. In conclusion, the A.I is about as useless as the COD games are (which this game steals a lot from)
This ties into difficulty. There's a difference between a game that tests your Skills vs. a game that tests your luck and this game falls into the latter. The difficulty is so frustrating, that it could likely leave you wanting to break a controller. As mentioned before, enemy A.I has a tendency to focus their attacks on you rather than allies (you know, because common sense tells us a main character who sports a Mohawk is the best warrior on the battle field). Some times, in order to advance, you have to 'force' yourself ahead in the battle to win. This is important: it does not come down to you or the allies awesome "A.I." to gun down your enemies, but it comes down to you not getting shot and seeking cover a few steps ahead of you! This is awful. Otherwise, if you sit there and simply shoot your enemies, they respawn. Being better in combat does not help you progress!
Ok, enough complaining. The graphics (which everyone, unnecessarily, has been talking about for years) are beautiful. Sure. However, I wish they had spent more time on the game play. The artistic direction is masterful. the game, with it's faults that I mention above, is fun to play. The controls do become tolerable, but that doesn't mean you will like them. In a day where co-op play is expected out of the box, it is unforgivable to see I can not play campaign mode with my friends.
My best recommendation is for you to rent this, play the online MP, fiddle with the controls, and find out for yourself if the challenges this game bares is worth your hard earned $60. If a friend of mine asked me, I would say no on the basis that what's done here isn't anything we haven't seen before and the fact that it's been done better
What's great about it: Graphics. At the end of the day, fun to play.
What's not so great: Worst controls in a FPS. A.I is a facade. Difficulty is absurd. Storyline. Annoying supporting characters.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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-3points
0of 3voted this as helpful.
Learn more about LittleBigPlanet - PlayStation 3. (Flash demo) SynopsisEnter a game where the only limits are your own imagination. In LittleBigPlanet, the world is yours to create and to share. From the uniquely styled and customizable SackBoy to awe-inspiring tools that give you the power to build your own one-of-a-kind levels, LittleBigPlanet invites you to draw on your own imagination to design amazing creations that thrill, inspire and challenge.In LittleBigPlanet, next-generation gaming ascends to a new level with a game that not only engages you with a variety of thrilling and challenging levels, but also inspires you to create your own. Customize your SackBoy character to reflect your personality, then play your way through 50 awesome levels riddled with developer challenges. Along the way, you'll be able to collect more than 500 objects that you can use to create your own dazzling and imaginative worlds. Build and customize levels quickly with the intuitive "POP-it" and go online to share your levels with others so they can experience the joys of playing through a world of your creation.
Posted by: FrustratedSnake
from TX
I do not know where to begin here.
From the get-go, the graphics will grab you and when you run through the opening video about dreams and begin the credits and tutorial, you know you have just started something very special.
The customization in this game makes it yours. From customizing your own Sackboy (watch out for the toys to start raking in $$$ soon), to your own levels, this game truly immerses you in it's world. The create mode (The moon) requires some time to learn the basics of putting things together and triggerring events but once you get the hang of it (plenty of tutorials to help btw), it becomes magical.
These stages can be uploaded to the gaming community for others who do not care to take the time to create to play something fresh and new. This really takes the pressure off the developers to expand this game to keep the replayability going because it all falls on the gamers and it's brilliant, imo. You unlock tools for "The Moon" by playing through story mode and collecting trophies and parts giving a whole new meaning to the terms "treasure hunting" that have plagued platform gaming in the past with no real incentive!
Story mode is great and if you're a young gamer or parent, this is THE game that will get the whole family in the living room moreso than any Nintendo Wii game can hope to imagine, imo.
I spoke about culture in my description for good reason. The music in this game is absolutely brilliant and introduces sounds and tracks from musicians from all over the world. I am convinced the tuens are strong enought o capture the attention of gamers everywhere and make them explore other musics from different parts of the world. Ironically, the track that stirred a controversy of having the game delayed is one of the more ebautiful songs I have heard in a game. Hopefully the revised disks coming out later have the two controversial verses deleted rather than the whole track.
I have nothing else to say att he moment. This game is magical, a new "Pokemon" for a generation of gamers that can bring non gamers alike in front of the tele. This is the real deal and Media Molecule have created something that will be discussed and played for years to come.
Sony owes these guys a lot moving forward. Buy this game.
What's great about it: Simplistic gameplay, very very fun, updates old school platforming, cultural, sharing custom made levels,
What's not so great: Create a mode a little too comprehensive but offset by the fact that you can play others creations
I would recommend this to a friend!
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