tobtalbotty-40893 Reviews

What If...?: What If... Zombies?! (2021) Season 1, Episode 5

A bit of dumb fun that's worth a watch

[6/10 · 8 September 2021]

I'm happy to say that this episode's plot is a little simpler than the last but the tone is a bit...'wavy'. The whole episode essentially revolves around zombies being in the MCU, specifically on Earth. Most of the Avengers and the planet is entirely infected by the zombie virus, the remaining heroes scramble around trying to survive and create a cure. In the end what we're left with is a bit of a tonally flat, dumb fun watch.

My main gripes with this episode is that it just kind of drags itself along, no one really takes the zombie apocalypse seriously throughout the whole thing, they crack jokes every half second which hurts the impact of seeing some of my favourite characters as walking corpses, the emotional weight is lost when the characters are so god damn chipper. When an emotional moment transpires, the characters just sorta take the approach of "Oh no...anyway" even when you feel like you really should be getting a strong sense of emotion, it always takes the 'meh' approach.

And to clear something up, I have no problem with there being light-hearted zombie media, that goes to marvel as well but when you've got such an up and down tone that this film does, it's hard to place your finger on when you're supposed to feel some raw emotion or just take a cheap laugh, the contrast here is annoyingly jarring.

In addition, the overall plot is just there to be a 'plot', maybe it's just my feeling towards zombie films, shows and games but they're always so samey; zombies, find cure, people die, big sad. Hell, thanks to the constant jokes and light-heartedness we don't even feel any sort of impact for the 'horror' aspect, it's genuinely annoying how not scary this episode truly is.

On a more positive note, it is kinda cool to see the avengers fighting zombies, becoming zombies and just seeing superheroes in a zombie-fied world, it feels very comic book esc and does make you smile on the odd occasion. We also get to see a few more of the side-lined characters when It comes to marvel, wont say any names but we get some decent screen time for most of them and I thought it was a nice touch.

All in all, I don't hate this episode, it's got some problems but I think if you relax a little and try to see 'What If?' as a bit of dumb fun, it can be alright, I understand I've sat here and bashed the episode for 10 minutes but truth be told I still enjoyed it, flaws and all. At the end of the day, It's Avengers with Zombies, it's what it says on the tin.

What If...?: What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands? (2021) Season 1, Episode 4

A real tear jerker

[8/10 · 7 September 2021]

This episode is...tough to talk about without spoiling the whole thing. Every episode before this had it's premise laid out on the table for you before you even watched it so bare with me if my non spoiler section is a little bare bones.

So we all know Doctor Strange, the playboy esc doctor whose life ended when his hands ceased to work after a tragic car accident, the event that set in motion his journey to become the sorcerer supreme and would have that fateful bargaining with Dormamu. This episode essentially asks, 'what if that didn't happen?' and tells strange's journey to become a master of the mystic arts, not as a way to fix himself but to fix something more emotional...(Use your head, I'm practically spelling it out for you).

The whole episode is a real emotional roller coaster, truly gut wrenching at points. Any lover of Doctor Strange will absolutely adore this episode, the score, the story, the action and the outcome is all just on point. Not to mention that all the original cast for Doctor Strange returns in their voice acting capacity (Though admittedly, Benedict Cumberbatch could use a little work at times with a few of his lines but it's nowhere near 'bad').

I'm gonna have to dip into spoiler territory now as there's just too much to talk about so be warned if you still haven't seen it from here on!

SPOILER WARNING AHEAD

Well that was sad. I re-watched this for the second time today and every scene with Strange and Christine was just so god damn sad. There is so much to unpack here it's honestly overwhelming, 2 different Strange's, The Watcher speaks to Strange and 'the good guys' lose, not like a Thanos loss where they're still around to cry about it, the universe just stops existing. Strange's obsession drove him to destroy existence itself and made his character so much more exciting.

This episode really gave so many opportunities for a good guy win but they lost and I am so happy because it allowed them to tell a full story, not a half baked tale about how Strange 'nearly' lost his marbles and then said sorry at the end, the good guys lose, and the world ends. I imagine this ending was quite debated, I wouldn't be surprised if this ending nearly didn't see the light of day but It's so much more sweet like this.

To establish a little continuity between all these, these are different universes, they all happened but just not for 'us'. The only combining factor between them all is 'The Watcher' and he actually spoke to Strange this time, not only does this attribute to the scale of Strange's actual power but to this omnipotent being's place in this series and beyond. I'm not sure if another episode in this series will get so close to him, the scale and outcome here is just too great, unless we get more dimensional timey wimey bollocks, this may be the most we see of him (Him? It? Celestial baby headed godlike being?), either way, he certainly intrigues me and I think we've got a ways to go with him.

Watch Dogs (2014 Video Game)

Not as bad as we remember but far from a masterpiece

[6/10 · 2 March 2021]

Watch Dogs. This one was an interesting case. I was never too interested in the watch dogs series and as time went on and games came and went, I never really looked back at the slammed and forgotten venture that was 'Watch Dogs'.

Watch Dogs came out in 2014, a very busy year for Ubisoft; new Far Cry, The Crew and two Assassins Creed games with tons of indie games to bolster. But this year Ubisoft wanted to kickstart a new franchise, centered around modern day and the ever developing world that is technology. Without going too far in depth with the topics, it's safe to say that 2014 wasn't the best year for Ubisoft. Public opinion started to become wary of them and many were displeased with the games they were outputting. And so, Watch Dogs was born into a pretty rough spot, many would say 'destined to fail', but did it?

When the trailers and demo's were shown years prior, it looked spectacular. Graphics never seen before on any console, the movement was fantastic, the hacking was intriguing and the game looked like a breath of fresh air. And when the game finally came to fruition, folks were unhappy. The game had a serious downgrade in the graphical department, things didn't look amazing, things looked average, standard 360 graphics, nothing more. The graphics weren't the problem, the lie was, and so forth, the internet was flooded with Ubisoft's colossal disappointment. Comparisons between the demo's, trailer's, sneak peaks and all were compared with the game folks had bought, shock horror, people felt betrayed, as if they'd hyped the game up so much to get folks to buy it, they'd forgotten to properly develop the game. Whether you can interpret that as being either dramatic or harsh, doesn't change that they'd lied to people for their own gain, consumers don't like being lied to, and if they have been, they vote with their wallets.

After many had written Watch Dogs off as a cheap, reused con for Ubisoft to hash out to fulfill a profit margin, what was left for those who stuck with it? Well, about what you'd expect.

The gameplay, to start off with, was very rigid in it's gunplay but fairly free in its movement. It adopted a cover system with a basic weapon wheel to match. The guns were fairly generic as you'd expect from a modern day shooter and the shooting was more so akin to the Hitman games (Kinda) it focused more on planning and tactics rather than your own brute force, using your hacking skills to gain an advantage in the fight, or by using stealth to take down your enemies with the hazards in and around the area. You couldn't really rush in a fight, even with your unlocked skills, you were never really a tank (At least never had the health of one) you try to charge a guy head on? You're gonna die pretty quick.

However, speaking on the aforementioned gunplay there is one fairly critical flaw in the game: At around Act 2 or 3 of the campaign, you'll begin fighting the heavy enemies, big guys with big armour and even bigger guns but the problem with that is that once you kill them you can start picking up the LMG, 'The Big Gun'. This gun, so easily picked up after you've fought one or two of these heavies, negates any other combat situation. For the most part, there isn't a need to use another gun other than the U100 ('Da LMG') as it runs off the same ammo as any AR and it melts through hordes of enemies. If you're going through combat situations, try to limit your use of it as it honestly makes gunfights a little too easy.

Besides from that, there is the surprisingly good driving mechanics, it's a bit more realistic in it's speed and physics style. The vehicles you can choose are super boring though, let me put that out there. But anyway, back to driving. Car chases are actually a big highlight in my opinion, cops are actually pretty smart when driving, there isn't a ridiculous amount always coming after you, usually just enough for you to have a competitive getaway from, but are the chases fun? Hell yeah they are. This game has a skill wheel you can add to, in four categories; hacking, combat, driving and crafted items. And my god, the hacking perks are so awesome. There's nothing more satisfying than being in a high speed chase with four cop cars, to then blow a steam pipe to send them all flying, I mean honestly, it's pretty damn cool.

Oh, and just to quickly speak on it. This game's also gotten an online mode that it constantly pushes onto you (It ain't too active nowadays). It's got few modes where you'll hack each other, race, compete for an objective and mess about in free roam and to it's credit, the free roam is up to 8 people which is pretty good for a single player focused game, even though I doubt you'd get a full lobby in its heyday, let alone now, but it's there for a one time play with your mate to mess around in Chicago and cause some havoc but to be honest with you there isn't much to speak about.

Now, the final thing I wanted to mention about the gameplay was the open world aspect. Being an open world game it should have a good open world...right? Well it's average to be honest. There isn't anything to do in it other than the main missions. Sure, you could stop a criminal convoy or take out a gang hideout, maybe even stop a crime until you realise once you've tried this mission once, it's the same every time. Stop a crime? Wait in the area until the guy is about to kill someone, then rush in and beat 'em up. Convoy? Wait until they go over a steam pipe. Hideout? Kill everyone but one guy who you have to beat up. It's just monotonous. And it isn't to say that open world games can't have simple, repetitive side missions to do as a little XP buff or to try out a new gadget or weapon but that's all this game has as side quests. Other than that it has little petty collectibles, fetch quest missions and ctos towers that reveal shops and the occasional hideout. I will say the digital trips are kinda cool but not something you could get more than one or two plays out of. Overall, the open world is very bland and cookie cutter, as if they tried the bare minimum with it.

And then we finally move onto the story. Probably the second of Watch Dogs most critiqued aspects. I'm not gonna go into great depth on the details as there isn't a need to go all out because of it but I will do a quick overview. The story is a classic vigilante, revenge plot, stemming from some sort of traumatic event that haunts the hero whenever he sleeps. That hero being, Aiden Pearce (Watch Dogs...3rd most critiqued aspect) who has been described by many as 'The most boring protagonist in gaming', which is...fair.

Aiden is basically if batman was a hacker...and killed people, like a lot of people. But with Aiden it can be taken multiple ways, he's a fairly generic character with a fairly generic motive, niece got killed, swears revenge on those who killed her, yada yada. He oddly reflects the city he's in, a dull, moody, damp individual (Please don't hate me Chicagoans), he's described as the vigilante and kind of lives up to the name, he can be a bit of an ass and isn't afraid to intimidate and kill to get what he needs. The truth is that he's a pretty wooden character who could be placed in a lot of other revenge plot games, but to be honest, I like him. I appreciate his simplicity and I felt like I could connect with him on a personal level, while not being a good character on a technical level, he's pretty good in my book.

I know that I focused solely on Aiden but that just because there isn't much to talk about in the story, it's okay, the other characters are fine and there are some emotional and tense moments but there really isn't much to talk about. Though, in honesty, the first time I played this game, I did not see Clara's twist coming, that actually blew me away and kind of kicked the story up a notch or two.

Welp, in conclusion I suppose. Was this game really that bad? Was the story awful? Should you never touch this game? Was it all that? Eh, not really. When the game released, it looked average, it felt average, it was just...average. I'm playing this because of Watch Dogs legion, it reminded me that this franchise still existed, it made me want to replay the first couple just to look back with a fresh pair of eyes and a more fair and critical mindset and honestly, I'm not disappointed. For me this was a boredom play, I had some time and a bit of curiosity and I'd recommend you to do the same. This isn't a game I'd rush to save in a fire but If it was there, I'd probably grab it (Disclaimer: If you are in a fire, never, ever, rush to save a video game)

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016 Video Game)

A diamond in the dirt (Campaign only review)

[8/10 · 21 December 2019]

Lets get this out of the way; it's impossible to talk about this game without mentioning the extreme amount of backlash that was spawned from the release trailer. The build-up to the release trailer saw a huge spike in the numbers of individuals who were 'tired of jet pack warfare', essentially, people were sick of the futuristic Call of Duty's and they wanted a more 'Boots on the ground' experience. Fortunately, Activision saw the way the wind was blowing and bundled MW: Remastered with infinite Warfare (Which is probably one of the only reasons IW actually sold many copies).

Anyway, enough with the marketing and business motives, lets move onto the game: Right, so I'm going to be perfectly honest; I came into this game with pretty much zero expectations, baring mind that this game came straight off the bat from BO3 that had a campaign that I just really could not get behind. However, with infinite Warfare I was blown away by the campaign, it tackles themes of responsibility and hardship that mixes together to make an emotional experience, (I'm doing my best to avoid spoilers) and I think it's partly so effective because of the fact that it's Call of Duty, a franchise not particularly known for its hard-hitting themes and truly emotional storylines (At least in recent years).

Nevertheless, I believe we should move onto the bread and butter of Call of Duty; the gameplay. First off, the general movement and gunplay complement each other as many of the weapons feel smooth and fairly light in their weight and power, (Not saying the weapons are underpowered, simply suggesting that they don't have that 'heavy, uncontrollable killing machine' vibe) however, this feeling can make some of the guns feel too light and oddly generic when in comparison with each other. Also, when talking about the weapons and overall gameplay, I feel that It would be a crime to not talk about the class customisation; it offers you a wide variety of equipment and weapons and while it's not as expansive as something like BO2 or BO3's campaign, it offers enough to satisfy and leave you with some contentment with your class.

I believe we should also talk about the space combat and how utterly amazing it is. This feature is so fun and gives you a decent amount of freedom (Which it should since you spend most of your playtime in the cockpit) but I must bring to your attention, If you do NOT like space/fighter combat, you'll find it hard press to enjoy this game but I'd still recommend picking it up and at least trying it.

Anyhow, I'd say this review is just about done, it's getting a little too long and I think I've what needs to be said. In summary:

Go get this game. If you look past the hate and stigma behind this overlooked gem you might get an experience that you haven't felt in a while from Call of Duty.

Keep being awesome, peace out.

Joker (I) (2019)

A Psycologicaly thrilling look on society and the tale of a broken man

[10/10 · 13 October 2019]

There have been many Joker's, Mark Hammil, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Jack Nicholson and many more who have all thrown their hat in the ring and tried their hand at portraying the greatest villain in comic history, many were good but none come close to Joaquin Phoenix performance of the classic villain. However, before I get too far ahead of myself I should address the fact there may be a couple spoilers in this review so be warned (I'll do my best to keep them to a minimum).

First of all, going back to what I previously stated, Phoenix's portrayal of the Joker is nothing but perfection. He truly personifies a villain created by society's greatest failures and shortcomings. However, where his depiction truly shines is the stark contrast between this Joker and almost every other Joker. None have ever come close to this level of pure emotion in the character, even seemingly small things like his physical appearance; the rugged hair, the protruding spine, the inhumanly white skin, all this adds to the effect of pure psychological terror.

Slightly straying away from Phoenix, I'd like to focus on the character of Joker in this movie (To reiterate-possible spoilers ahead). As I previously subjected, this Joker is extremely different to any other Joker we've seen before, mainly down to the raw emotions we see from him, of which we've never really seen the likes of. This movie delves deep into his relationship with the waynes, his mother and the rest of Gotham as a whole, he was a man trying to be normal who was utterly betrayed by society.

Further continuing my point about Gotham, I'd like to commend the production team for making sure every set was as accurate to what Gotham would look like as they could make it, it really drives home how awful Gotham truly is. From the start we see how much of a wreck Gotham is and how dysfunctional of a society it is. There have been very few pieces of media that relates to this level of 'awfulness', from the top of my head, i'd probably name the Arkham games or maybe the telltale series but neither came close to showing how bad of a situation that Gotham was in, riots on the streets, litter spewed everywhere and poverty run amuck. Prime conditions for festering hatred and birthing psychopaths.

There are so few flaws with this film, you could count them with a single hand. However I feel like many may be disappointed by the ending, it's a little anticlimactic but still leaves an interesting possibility to be theorised.

But now I think I'll stop myself anymore said and the film would be well and truly spoiled for you, so in conclusion: Go watch this film! It deserves all the praise it gets and more and I hope this is an outlet for us to see more films where we look from the 'bad guy' perspective and delve into their inner thoughts and feelings.

Keep being awesome, peace out.