Review: Uncharted: Golden Abyss [Game On]

I confess, my experience with Uncharted: Golden Abyss‘s big brothers has been limited. I’ve played them for a few hours each, and much appreciated the production values that went into them, but for some reason or another had neglected to stick with them. However, it’s one of those gamer itches I’d always meant to scratch at some point in the future so I was delighted to hear that the PS Vita version, Golden Abyss was to be a prequel taking place before the series initial outing, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  So now that I’m starting out from the beginning of the mythos, how does Golden Abyss fare?  Read on. Uncharted: Golden Abyss starts off briskly with Drake arguing with his partner, Dante before flashing back two weeks before the incident.  Drake and Dante along with Dante’s partner, Marisa Chase are exploring a dig site in Panama.  At which, a wealth of Spanish conquistador corpses who were apparently poisoned are discovered, and a long, drawn out mystery begins unraveling itself.  While the story remains mostly entertaining throughout, there are some pretty heavy-handed plot devices and turns you’ll see coming a mile away.  Still though, the voice acting is solid even if some of the dialog’s a little questionable. Graphically, Golden Abyss is a tour de force of the Vita’s capabilities.  Whether Drake is shimmying on the ledge of an ancient ruin, sliding full force down a shallow waterfall, or leaping the distance of a nigh-impossibly large gap to safety with the setting sun in the background it all looks gorgeous.  Animation is fluid and not at all stiff, but the occasional graphical hiccups do manifest in the form of clipping issues. Gameplay in Uncharted remains as solid as its console counterparts.  The only shortcoming that I see would...

The (Not So) Amazing Spiderman [Tall Drink of Nerd]

So you went and saw The Amazing Spider-Man to witness Andrew and Emma fall in love. Sweet. A lot of critics, comic geek bloggers and my FB friends have been praising The Amazing Spider-Man, mostly for the relationship between Gwen and Peter. I whole heartedly disagree with all of you. There were about a gazillion critical story errors and the script was dull as clipping dry toenails. My one sentence review is: “I’m assuming it’s better than Battleship.” Reading positive reviews has me ranting at my computer screen, wanting to respond with all the reasons the film failed, when it occurs to me: I have a bi-weekly online column. I hardly ever post anything controversial or offensive, and I am inspired by this genius Promethius review, so I figured it was about time to express a contrary opinion (sorry to butt into your space On The Contrary). So here are the reasons The Ambianzing Spiderman super disappointed me and the people who saw the movie with me. I do address that relationship thing in my final point below. (yes I know it’s Spider-Man, but out of disrespect I’ve been calling him Spiderman in one quick blurt. Take THAT mysterious corporate movie production overlords!) WARNING: There are spoilers out the wahzoo in this piece. Plot Problems Once Dennis Leary makes Peter Parker realize Spiderman is just a vigilante (by chasing guys who look like his Uncle’s killer) they just DROP the whole “Who killed Uncle Ben?” thing. Did the writer/director think “Ok, well we’ve used that plot point to get us to here. We don’t really need to tie that storyline up do we? Nah…” How did Peter Parker get the “super tensile spider web” vials from Oscorp? Isn’t that stuff worth a ton of...

First Impressions: Max Payne 3 [Game On]

  Well, it’s been nearly 10 years since we last saw Max in action and now we’re finally able to see what’s transpired since we last saw everyone’s favorite hard-boiled action hero palling around with Mona. So how do I feel having waited a decade to see Max back in action? Read on.  1. The Cover Mechanic Makes Sense Let’s forget for a second that Max Payne pioneered bullet time (even before The Matrix) and think about how games have evolved.  Pop-and-stop gameplay is nothing new, but MP3’s (heh) implementation of it is certainly well done.  A part of me cringed a bit seeing one of my old favorites brought up to more modern convention as it does detract a bit from the challenge, but ultimately with as much action as this game throws at you it’s kind of a necessity. 2. Bullet-Time Looks Even Better Slowing down time while you dive through the air, effortlessly dispatching a roomful of enemies before you even hit the ground was always satisfying.  But now?  Continuing the action after you HIT the ground laying even more waste to everyone?! Good LORD! @With the new physics it looks better than ever as Max’s dives are made more realistic thanks to the Euphoria engine.  Shoot-dodging has NEVER looked this good. 3. The Presentation is a Little Different Than You Remember Max may have retired from the NYPD, but I guess a part of me expected to still see the graphic-novel style presentation I was used to, with James McCaffrey’s brooding delivery setting them up.  Maybe it was technical limitations at the time or a purely artistic direction, but I absolutely adored it.  Frankly, I’m sad to see it go, but the interactive cutscenes and the complete elimination of loading screens...

Horror Game Weekend – Silent Hill HD Collection and Dead Island [Game On]...

Alright, a few weeks ago I went to Horrorhound Weekend (video recap of that right here if you’re curious).  After running around a convention centered solely around all things terrifying, it got me thinking that I hadn’t really played a good survival horror game in a while.  After hitting a local game store with my friends, we ended up picking up Dead Island and the Silent Hill HD Collection which includes Silent Hill 2 and 3 with updated graphics. So how did each fare as I dived back into the world of horror? Read on. Dead Island Dead Island was released in September 2011 as a zombie-fest that takes place on a fictional island of Banoi at a resort hotel not too far from Papua New Guinea. It’s an action-RPG with a focus on melee combat rather than firearms, or at least it would seem that way considering that out of the four characters you can choose at the onset only one is devoted to firearms while the other three specialize in blade weapons, blunt weapons, and thrown.  Locked in a safe room with a handful of other survivors, it’s your job to work together and find out what’s going on and stay alive in the process. From a presentation standpoint Dead Island‘s environments are immersive and beautiful.  The island locale is refreshing considering most zombie games put you in dank, derelict locations- but it’s not all sunsets and margaritas either; There are plenty of dark and foreboding locations to explore around the island and I’ll admit, even being a veteran to the genre Dead Island left me with chills in spots. Combat can feel a bit disjointed when using melee weapons, but for the most part the action doesn’t miss a beat.  Throw in a...

You DON’T need a break. [On The Contrary] Sep07

You DON’T need a break. [On The Contrary]

The point of Labor Day weekend has always flummoxed me. Why do we need a holiday weekend at the end of August? Presumably we’ve been taking our vacations sometime over this period, and enjoying those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Yet apparently we need a break after all of that, a break that completely robs the week we now find ourselves in of any momentum. In school, we’d often start classes the week before Labor Day, only to immediately go into a 3-day weekend, completely throwing off class schedules right when they should be getting started. I’m not against holidays, and certainly not against the labor movement that this most recent holiday commemorates (unions helped put food on my table throughout my childhood). But there does seem to be a prevailing notion in our society that encourages us to take breaks more often than we need them. Advertising constantly encourages give ourselves a break, or have a treat. Self-help books and novels encourage us to find ourselves on vacations—to escape from the stress of our busy days. But how busy are our days, really? Certainly there are those out there who work 60 hours and more a week, who struggle through multiple jobs to support family or maintain a decent quality of living. But those people probably aren’t taking breaks—they can’t afford to. For the rest of us who work closer to 40 hours (or less) we probably tend to give ourselves too many breaks. Ok, I give myself too many breaks. I’ve never found it difficult to stop working and take it easy. It’s getting going again that is the real difficulty. There is nothing I have found that is more addictive than complacency—it’s really the root of all continuing bad habits....