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Reviews
WALL·E (2008)
WALL-E, Best Pixar Film Ever?
I knew Pixar would pull off something new and original,and I knew it'd be classic Pixar, and thus at least good. What I got I didn't expect. Near perfection. This movie blows you away, with one heck of a dramatic opening. This could very well be one of the best openings you'll ever see, not only in animation, but perhaps in all of movie history. The tone set, and the characterization built encompasses so much in such little time you instantly fall in love with the character. Moving on from the 1st act you move into the 2nd act, where the absolute visuals and stunning emotional buildup slow a bit, following a few absurd moments you move into the even more quirky third act. While the movie moves away from the perfection of the first act, the remaining acts hold up very well, and you eventually settle into a train of thought like "Well you can't really make it all perfect." It's still very entertaining, and still very good. Just a touch slower and less dramatic then the first act. Oddly enough this may not be a great movie for the youngest ones to see. Most of the humor is complex, and I find that adults will get more of the jokes then the kids. While the kids will still have a great time, I think adults will really understand this movie, and will find it to be one of the best Pixar films ever made, kids may prefer the humor of Finding Nemo over the humor of Wall-e. Speaking of Wall-E, and his various companions, you will find yourself questioning some of the voice tactics at first, but they will grow on you, and you'll eventually find yourself saying that there is no better way to do it. The sound of the movie was utterly fantastic, and will keep you hooked just trying to figure out what original way they are going to express the world "hello". You will become attached, quite emotionally, to these characters, and there's even a touch of progression of AI technology as the new robots seem to have far more complex personalities, while Wall-E has a simpler yet more attachable personality. In short, this is a fantastic movie, with great music, and fantastic visuals that will blow you away. Watch it! Go!
I say this can easily be nominated for Academy Awards in: -Best Original Screenplay -Best Art Direction and of course -Best Animated Feature
Dead Rising (2006)
A unique and fun game
The idea is great. Go around kill zombies in massive numbers, and do whatever you want. Sounds like fun? It is, but it could be so much better, and the errors are so glaringly obvious that the game developers could in no way miss them. It makes you wonder, but that's okay it's still a great game.
The problems are numerous, the only thing the game does completely right is with combat and the shear amount of zombies. Everything else is need of fixing. The first problem is the fact that you only get one save file, but that isn't too bad, seeing as you can start the game over and over again with the same file. But the save system is weird at best, and is a tad annoying. Save points are hidden away, and can be hard to find, especially since you'll want to save often, as the game is quite difficult and you can easily find your self playing an hours worth of game play over again. Save often! The main problem with the game is the lack of any originality with missions, their either main missions, called case files, or escort missions, tons of escort missions. But thank god they are skip-able, you don't have to rescue a single person if you don't want to, however if you want to level up fast you may want to check them out. Also the case files must be done before a certain time in the 72 hour period your there, if you miss one it's game over, but you start with all you skills and abilities. The game isn't actually 72 hours, the time is accelerated.
There is also the fact that you have to unlock the mode that I was most looking forward to, complete freedom, you don't get that when you have to do a case file. That annoys me, as sometimes I just want to go around and just have fun. You'll have plenty of time to do it, but you're always worrying about how much time you have left. Also if you decide to do this you miss out on those annoying escort missions.
Weapons are fun and intuitive, they make the sounds they are supposed to make when you hit them, and killing the zombies never seems to wear, although you could theoretically get through the whole game without hitting a single one. The game is hilarious! It's not going to scare you, it's going to make you fun. This is a casual game, I just wish some parts of the game were made to fit the casualness of the rest of game.
The photo part of the game can net you some cool pictures to show to your friends but that's about it. And it feels rather useless. Their are a few other problems that I noticed but nothing major, a few collision problems, and there is a minor amount of repetitiveness. Also the text is freakishly small. But all the problems are out done by how much fun you are going to have. If you are looking for a good fun game, this game is for you, but it will annoy some, make some extremely angry, and give everything others wanted. If the developers are going to make a sequel, they better fix some things, it's the only thing holding it back from greatness.
Metroid Prime: Hunters (2006)
Great Game, but really hard to get into.
I've heard nothing but good things when I went to pick this game up. Unfortunately that changed as I started to get into the game. The graphics are great, but really fuzzy, making some things a little hard to see. Also it's hard to play. The game isn't hard, the controls are hard, so hard that I fear many will be drop this game, and pick up something else, such as Mario Kart. But, the controls are tolerable, and you will get use to them, eventually. It actually feels like you are playing with a key board and mouse with this game. But you'll still feel a twinge of discomfort, as it's a really cramped space between your hands, unlike on the computer.
The game is also very linear, and it loses some of that classic metroid feel. It also seems a tad short, and the repetition early in the game, can be unbearable.
However, despite all these bad things, the game is fun, and worth a rental in the very least.
If you don't have WiFi, or friends to play with, this game gets a 5/10. However, the multiplayer is where this game shines. And boy does it shine. 20+ levels, WiFi, several characters, different weapons, different modes, and bots, makes this game easily the best multiplayer in the Metroid Series, and rivals that of Mario Kart. You could probably even go and pick up this game just for the multiplayer! Overall, if your in just for the main story, then you may want to pass this up if you never played a Metroid game before. Metroid fans will want to play this, but only once or twice tops. But if you have a lot of friends, and time on your hands, then the multiplayer in this game could easily make this game one of the best on the DS.
Deal or No Deal (2005)
Horrible
I hate this show. Simple as that. It's horrible. The show takes an annoying host, and throws endless amounts of commercials at times where it seems suspenseful, but is just annoying, and is clearly just trying to scrounge out a few more dollars.
Not only that, this game is easy to get money at, you just have to walk away at the right time. No one does this. The producers of the show choose idiots to go up to the podium and play.
So what if they have beautiful models, that's just a cheap gimmick, good TV is not achieved through beautiful models, and large amounts of money, coupled with false suspense.
Just stay away, it's not worth. Lucky for them, I've seen much worse traverse our poor Televisions.
3/10
Super Mario 64 DS (2004)
Great remake, Controls not so great
This game is great! And a great way to go back to the glory days when you only cared about was Nintendo. This game was a launch title for the 64, and was arguably the best game for the system. Now you have the chance to pick it up for you DS. With improved graphics, and new stars to get. Since it's been years since you've last played this game, it's worth getting, as there are 4 playable characters now, and each have their own unique stars to get. Also there are some pretty pointless mini games that'll hold you attention for a little bit. However the game does provide a slight distraction in order to unlock them.
This game rarely uses the touch screen if you decide to take the easier controls in my opinion. While the manual says it's better to use the touch screen to control you characters, I find it just easier to use the d-pad, and buttons to control the characters. Using the touch screen makes it fairly uncomfortable to play, and over sensitive.
There is now a way to center the camera directly behind the character, and you can move the camera with the touch-pad. This is a huge improvement.
Overall, this is still a great game, and I advise you to pick it up, or at least rent it. Other games can easily overpower this game in pure greatness now, but this classic can still hold up, and is a great purchase for someone who owns a DS. You'll still have fun with it, and if you haven't played this game in some form yet, shame on you, get this title, and get it now.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006)
Best Game out on the 360
***Contains vague spoilers*** This game is pure awesome, from the first step you take in your dingy little dungeon cell, to the last step you take in an epic final battle.
The graphics in the game are good, but are not going to blow you away, you could do a little better on a 360, for example the face models are not as good as Fight Night, or other sports titles. But that's not where this game takes advantage of the 360's power. It's the view distance, and the shear amount of stuff the game renders. The view distance when you first step into the world will blow you away. I double taked at my first view of that game world on the outside. It's beautiful.
The battle system has been amped up, you now have several different types of attacks, and it all looks great with Havok built in. Havok means that everything has real life physics. Not just the creatures, but the cups, and the fruit, and the plates, and the swords can all be moved around with ease. It's hilarious to see a wolf fall down a mountain too, flipping and just doing what something does when it falls down a mountain.
My only problem with the game is the leveling system. Not only will you die, you'll die often, even at higher levels, because things level with you. And you are introduced to new creatures when you reach certain levels. Plus the game is just as difficult for a player at level 1, as a player at level 21. However this isn't the problem with the leveling system. Up until level 20 you get nothing good, a lot of things are expensive, and an inexperienced player will have troubles raising gold. But when you reach level 20, you are set. Every single person has incredibly rare armor. Ebony and Deadric armor is everywhere. Morrowind players will know how rare this should be. But it isn't.
Another flaw with the game is the fact that it's very hard to kill someone, and take out whole villages like you could in Morrowind. And pickpocketing is harder then ever, you're almost guaranteed to get caught.
THe lockpicking system, and the persuasion mini games are fun, but a tad tedious, but it's still better then the old way where you just hope you can raise their deposition.
Despite these minor problems this game will take you in and not let you go until you have done everything in the game. 80 hours in and I still have lots to do. You will lose any hope of a life with this game. I will now quote Morgan Webb from X-play "You're girlfriend will hate this game". It's that awesome. Buy it. Buy it now. It may even be worth the 500 dollars to buy this game on the x-box 360, since it'll look better on it. Or the cost to upgrade your computer.
The Producers (2005)
Funniest Movie I've seen in a long time
I admit when my friend told me about this movie, I was a little spectacle at first. A musical!? I don't like musicals. This movie changed my mind completely. Maybe those old Musicals that I watched bored me to death, but this one was different. It was meant to be funny, and pulled it off well. From the opening scene to the end I was laughing out loud, to quirky jokes. Many unfortunately are a tad clichéd, but it's hard not to be clichéd when everything has been done before.
I love how every character has their own little quirks and random little differences from your average person. Stereotypes are exaggerated, and the Nazis all act like complete morons, adding to this movie greatly. And the music is great.
However it gets a tad slow in the middle, but you can easily get through it, and you may find that the ending goes on, and that a few things in the end are a tad stupid.
Simply put, go out and watch this movie, even if you don't like musicals, you may be surprised by how much the music adds to the movie overall.