The WASD Blog

Impressions on Left 4 Dead 2 (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-12-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

Killing zombies is a fun past time and most gamers would leap at the chance for some pure unadulterated zombie murdering. So, unless you live in Australia, Left 4 Dead 2 is probably the game for you. Left 4 Dead 2 manages to keep everything which made the first game a lot of fun and ads even more to that. The biggest and best addition, in my book, being melee weapons. Until now if you wanted to murder a zombie in the Left 4 Dead universe you could shove it or you could shoot it. Both are fun things to do, especially with some awesome limb severing technology which make limb shots just as fun as head shots, but slicing and whacking is even more fun. Of course there are zombie game staples like the always-awesome chainsaw but alongside that are some things which are just awesome and pretty funny.

sadly, you can't do this, best stick to Gears of War

The katana is a fine weapon and when in the right hands can sever heads like, well a katana through somebody’s neck. In Left 4 Dead 2 pretty much anybody’s hands are the right hands, a simple tap of your trigger on the 360 controller or your mouse on the PC will slice some zombie head right off. This is fun to watch and is even more fun when your playing and run into a zombie hoard and just slash madly, the fun just heightens when you slash a boomer, covering yourself with some horrible liquid that zombies just love. When this happens you are pretty dead, so many zombies come to kill just you but you have your trusty katana which may not be that helpful but hell it is damn awesome.

the thing that makes this picture even more awesome, I honestly found it on a website called obamaskatana.com

The katana may be very satisfying but surprisingly the frying pan is even more so. It may not decapitate that much (or at all when I was using it) but it gives a great sound every time you hit a zombie or, if your like me, your team-mates. The saucepan is actually a lot more fun than the katana, there was even a point where I could choose a pan or an axe, I chose a pan. Later I used the axe though, and the axe is awesome too if you like decapitation.

kill it, cook it, eat it. All you need is this!

The last melee weapon I tried was by far the best, the guitar. When you hit it makes awesome guitar sounds and for some awesome reason it decapitates, a magic head severing guitar, it doesn’t get any better than that. Now these added weapons make the game a lot more fun and make Left 4 Dead 2 a worthwhile follow up to the original. However in my opinion some problems remain, the mission structure is still very repetitive and the core gameplay, although really fun, is still pretty shallow. If your looking for an on rails shooter where you can actually control where the person walks you will love this but if your looking for story or any thing else but pure zombie killing action, go elsewhere. Of course though pure zombie killing action is kind of awesome and those crafty special infected spice up the gameplay quite a bit.

ok, I may have gotten a bit carried away with my zombie killing

So if you have a 360 or a PC that can run it and actively enjoy murdering the undead, then check out Left 4 Dead 2 but before you do I have two pro tips for you:

1. Always kill your team-mates!
It makes it much more tense if it’s just you and an actual friend and two dead AI companions if there is no AI then just kill your friends but they may fight back. Killing the AI companions just adds that extra bit of hilarity

2. Always, and I mean always, disturb the witch!
I don’t care how you do it, hitting it with a pan is my preferred way, but nothing annoys your friends more than a ravaging witch on the loose, it makes people mad and it will make you laugh… a lot!

Europe needs to man up! (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-10-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

You may thin that is an odd title, but it is very true. Europe needs to man up! Now this is an odd statement but it is founded in pure liquid fact and of course it is to do with video games. So what does Europe need to man up about, well the main reason is Ratchet and Clank. I consider myself to be a Ratchet and Clank fan, I’ve played the two PS3 games and really enjoyed them and I was considering looking into playing the previous PS2 ones. That was until I realised that I didn’t want the European versions. Ratchet and Clank are famous for their innuendo game titles that cause people like me to giggle with childish glee. These games are really funny games and the titles really capture the silly essence of Ratchet and Clank. In many places the second Ratchet and Clank is called Ratchet and Clank- Going Commando. That is a funny name, in Europe however it is simply called Ratchet and Clank 2. Why? Why change the name, we British invented humour and we are part of Europe why can’t we have humorous game titles? Our comedy is full of innuendo and double entendre yet we can’t have a video game with a slightly smutty title, again why? The sad thing is it gets worse, the third Ratchet and Clank game has one of the best titles in video game history. Ratchet and Clank- Up Your Arsenal. That title is so great it got it’s own dedicated sentence space! But what is this game called in Europe? Why Ratchet and Clank 3 of course. That really sucks, Up Your Arsenal is just too great for us apparently.

However I have good news, Europe has manned up as far as Ratchet goes, we have taken to using the American titles, only problem is the titles aren’t as good. Tools of Destruction, that’s not even a double entendre (if it is, I don’t get it) and Quest for Booty- is that the best you can do? We get the not funny and not so funny names but we don’t get the super cool ones. The fault here is of course with insomniac who should name their PS3 games better. Imaginative game titling hasn’t been their strong suit on the PS3 thus far. Resistance: Fall of Man being the closest they’ve got and that just sounds a bit cheesy, it’s a better title than the imaginatively named Resistance 2 however. Really, just Resistance 2, even the first one had a subheading, how long did it take to think of that one insomniac (the irony here is Resistance 2 is a much better game). The third resistance game was accidentally announced recently. Some clever so and so saw a massive bill board sporting its name. The billboard was on a film set and was apparently part of some clever marketing campaign, which was that when people saw said film they would see the Resistance 3 poster and thus the announcement was made. That is a really awesome idea, but then they made the mistake of putting it next to a road! So what was the game called, yeah-just Resistance 3. Instead of giving the games subtitles they just put landmarks in the A of Resistance, which represent where the game was set. Resistance: Fall of Man had Big Ben in the A; signifying it took place in the UK (so the UK and Europe fall to the ‘aliens’ first, oh man up Europe!). Resistance 2 had Golden Gate Bridge (you can figure that one out yourself) and Resistance 3 has…. The statue of liberty. New York? You’re going to do America twice in a row; I wanted the Sydney Opera house.

So to summarise, insomniac needs to get better names and Europe needs to man up. Luckily they are getting back on form, the new Ratchet game is going to be called ‘A Crack in Time’- pretty funny! Plus Europe get that title- however it is no way near as good as the title they decided was too suggestive, Clock Blockers.

Why we love Valve!

2009-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Valve are pretty damn awesome! The best thing about them is that they obviously care for the community and that they make awesome games, an example of this care just happened. Because Gordon Freeman won GameSpot's greatest video game character competiton by 55.8% Valve have taken 55.8% off the price of all games including Gordon Freeman. These are fantastic games so check them out, we love you Valve and we love the Freeman!

Music video made of 100% pure WIN

2009-10-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plhgyp0KNQQ

Best music video ever.

ps see how many retro games you can spot, ive spotted at least 5

The verdict on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-10-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

It's the moment of truth for Nate, is his game any good?

Uncharted 2, possibly the best PS3 exclusive of the year, is out but is it any good? Hell yes, this is not only the PS3 exclusive of the year but the finest game of the year on any platform. My copy of this game arrived last Wednesday, two days before the official release date, and really the highest praise I can give it is that by late Thursday evening I had finished it. This is not because it is a short game, I got about 9-10 hours out of the sublime single player experience on the normal difficulty but that was just one blast through. The reason why I completed it so quickly was because the gameplay is so addictive; Uncharted 2 is just full of amazing moments that just make you want to keep playing. Every few minutes something so amazing happens or is about to happen and to put the controller down for just a second would just be criminal. The game is not just a cover-based shooter, and an amazing one at that but a fantastic platformer. Nathan Drake’s climbing skills are second only to Altair and Cole McGrath and the platforming sections in Uncharted 2 give it fantastic pacing and keep you playing. It should be noted however that this game is not Assassin’s Creed or inFamous, you play as an acrobatic fellow capable of climbing up walls but it is not every wall. Instead of looking for features on buildings like windows and doors Nathan Drake is happier looking for pointy bricks or obvious footholds. This may not be as deep a climbing mechanic but it fits the game perfectly, this is not an open world game, it is level based and therefore it’s purpose is to keep you moving to the end of the level. So instead of being able to climb up any random building which would make things overly confusing there is usually one main path. The climbing may be simple put planning your ascent is still really fun. You have to look out for ledges and pretty much decide where you’re going before you do it. This makes the climbing a welcome challenge without it becoming to confusing or to linear.

Nathan Drake, midget hater!

Now Uncharted 2 is a cover based shooter but no it is not Gears of War. In Gears of War you play as a fleshy tank in Uncharted you are the agile Nathan Drake and it’s hardly stop and pop because the varied gameplay keeps you moving. You get your usual enemies that you can take out from a distance but then you get enemies that are hard to kill and you need to keep moving to finally fell them. Also the gameplay just keeps changing and keeps getting better. The best example I can think of is the train level. This is one of Uncharted 2’s best moments. You are fighting on a moving train, how cool is that? You jump from carriage to carriage, leap inside, hang off edges to avoid low signs whilst your enemies get some overhanging metal to the face. Also you have to run from helicopters, leap from an exploding carriage shot by the very same helicopter and get in a tank attached to one of the carriages and blow up that damn helicopter alongside some pesky missiles sent your way. That is just one level, and then there’s even more to that level and the ending of that very level is even cooler. That is the essence of Uncharted 2, insane and awesome variety. One minute your gunning down nameless enemies and the next your hanging from a giant statue of a Tibetan ritual dagger, jumping onto massive face sculptures all in order to move some mirrors around in order to get to your next clue to the fabled treasure you seek. Yes it’s another treasure hunt, but come on it’s a treasure hunt that involves jumping from moving truck to moving truck because they keep exploding, that’s one cool treasure hunt. This game really just has so much and everything is just fantastic but really the best bit is the characters. Uncharted 1 had more personality than any game I’ve ever played, the dialogue was superbly executed and every burst of conversation was incredibly natural. This is the same for the second, the characters have some depth to them but mostly they have so much character, which seems obvious but it’s rare in gaming. It is one of the very few games where you watch a cutscene and you think this is actually acting, and damn good acting. The dialogue is snappy and genuinely funny at can get very emotional without ever over doing it.

If you run out of missiles then maybe a hug would tame that damn helicopter!

I mentioned cutscenes second ago so I would like to point out that unlike most games the cutscenes are pretty much just story, all the really cool action you do! You never feel like man that looks so cool but I wish I could do it because you are doing everything, and it looks amazing. The game is just a work of art. It has the finest graphics on the system and the animations are flawless, the hand to hand takedowns are delightfully brutal and every character movement looks spot on. You will constantly find yourself marvelling at the visuals and the best thing is, when Nathan goes swimming he comes out wet, this was in the first game but it’s so awesome it needs mentioning again. Also there is snow in this game and when you roll in it you get snowy, which is so cool.

Trains are awesome!

This game is almost flawless; in fact I only have one complaint. The controls can be unresponsive, apart from that it is perfect in every way. Should you check this out? You need to check this out!

p.s- despite how it looks this game is not just helicopters, infact there may only be two of them. They just look so damn cool and where so awesome, it may sound like I hated them but they were really, really great!

MAINSTREAM'D

2009-10-19T05:13:00.001-07:00

http://uk.video.ign.com/dor/articles/960019/ign-originals/videos/borderlands_spc_realgamer.html

Oh interwebs how I love you

Why Lego Rockband is going to be awesome!

2009-10-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

LEGO David Bowie!

Self explanatory really

2009-10-16T14:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.maxim.com/humor/stupid-fun/84573/9-reasons-why-google-search-suggest-is-better-than-yahoo.html

Top 5 Superior Sequels (Faith Westlake)

2009-10-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

A special thanks to Jo Clarkson and Stephen Gillespie who filled the multiple gaps in my knowledge. Enjoy.

5. Kill Bill Vol. 2

Quentin Tarentino ranks pretty high when it comes to my favourite directors and the first Tarentino film I saw was Kill Bill Vol.2. One of the criticisms of the Kill Bill films is that Kill Bill Vol.1 seems to be based almost completely on action and violence and then pretty much all the story is crammed into Vol. 2. It’s for this reason that I generally try to watch them both together but with a combined running time of over 4 hours this can be very inconvenient. The films were given a cinematic release a year apart to break up the length and maximise revenue with both feature films averaging about 2 hours each. It’s easy to say that my favourite fight scenes are in Vol. 1 but the best dialogue, build up and character development is in Vol. 2. Speaking of suspense I don’t actually think we see Bill’s face until Vol.2… This would probably have ranked a lot higher on this list if I didn’t advocate seeing the two as one long feature. Also how could I not love a tribute to B-Movies, spaghetti westerns and classic martial arts movies?

4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Last Crusade is probably my favourite of the Indiana Jones series. This film gives us as insight into Indy’s youth, as played by River Phoenix, and introduces us to his fath

er Henry Sr. (brilliant played by Sean Connery). The dialogue between Henry and Indy is some of the best in the series and their interactions are a delight to watch. As with any great sequel the characters and story are better developed and the inclusion of Nazi’s as villains sets up the film’s context and sticks closer to the foundations of the Raiders of the Lost Arc. Also if you’ve watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull you’ll definitely appreciate how great of a sequel this is.

3. Terminator 2: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 2: Rise of the Machines is widely regarded as one of the greatest movie sequels and is the only one of the Terminator sequels to be directed by the original director James Cameron. There’s a shift in focus here and as this films focus a lot more on John Connor himself. This film has a lot of character development here such as Sarah Connor’s moving from a damsel in distress to a strong and independent fighter (despite being semi-psychotic…) The villain of the first film becomes the hero here in an interesting and inspired move. One of the biggest changes has to be the terminator upgrade which leaves us with the liquid metal T-100 shows great special effects and innovation. Some of the effects in this film are better than some of the stuff we see today despite it being 18 years old. A great piece of modern sci-fi.

2. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back is arguable the best of all the Star Wars films. The story is improved and has a lot more depth. The tone of this film is much darker than that of its predecessor and has less cliché moments which has helped the Star Wars films to become cult movie classics and essential viewing. The dialogue is great and memorable. Character development is also a great part of this film with the characters beginning somewhere and finishing somewhere different, they all change in some way. The cult favourite Boba Fett is giving a much larger role in this film and the relationship between Leia and Han blossoms. Also it contains one the greatest twists of all time. The film ends on a pretty bleak note which was a gutsy move for Lucas for a summer blockbuster but we couldn’t imagine it any other way.

1. X-Men 2

I have to admit I have a soft spot for the X-Men…

X-Men 2 doesn’t aim to fit in as many mutants as possibly to appease fan boys (X-Men Origins Wolverine…) but instead really only focuses on one new mutant, Nightcrawler who is well acted and developed. Despites the X-Men being a large team each character gets a fair bit of screen time to move them forward but really the main focus is, as always, on Wolverine. Although he is a really interesting character and the insights and clues into his past really make you want to keep watching to find out the truth. Director Bryan Singer set up the basic story and characters in X-Men so here he has a bit more license to focus on deeper stories and themes such as the conflict between mutants and humans, the prejudice in their world and the corrupt branch of government that Stryker leads. X-Men 2 probably has some of the most memorable scenes of the series; mutant storms the Whitehouse, Magneto’s escape from the plastic prison and the fight between Wolverine and Deathstrike. It’s well written, well acted and well directed and, along with Sin City, is probably one of my favourite comic book movies.

EDIT: When getting the pictures for this I remembered how great the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film posters are... Nice one Drew Struzan

Thanks for the read, Faith Westlake

wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk

A tale of three RPG’s. Part two.

2009-10-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

In the kingdom of video games, there was another publisher by the name of Bioware, who also decided – “hey, wouldn’t it be great to make a Space RPG with lots of moral choices, great dialogue and an epic story? Its certainly like nothing we’ve ever done before…”
Mass effect is a game which blew me away from the very moments I loaded up the menu screen. The game radiates with deep narratives and excellently conceived video-game lore. Even from the first menu that you enter, it is clear that Bioware has focused on totally immersing the player into their rich tapestry of fiction. This is unsurprising taking into account the reputation Bioware has for video-game fiction (KOTOR <3). However, the game is not without its faults either.

I will first expand on Mass effects good qualities. The main quality that really stands out in Mass effect is how deep the game is. By this, I do not mean in a philosophical sense (although it is in some ways), I mean that the amount of content is quite literally overwhelming. The game takes place across the Milky Way. At least 10 clusters are accessible to the player. Each cluster has 2 or three solar systems. Each solar system has around 5 planets, most of which are playable. You get my point. To illustrate Mass effect’s scale I will mention my side quests panel. At around half way through the game it was swarmed with entries, most of them uncompleted, as almost every character you meet gives you a side quest. One of the great features of Mass effect is that these side quests are actually good. Unlike a few unnamed *cough* Assassins creed *cough* … RPG’s Ive played recently. The side quests in Mass effect range from bounty hunting across the galaxy, to simply interacting in the social world (you even get to meet a fan), and this is why they are so great – they are varied and complex. In essence, they’re not linear.
The feeling of depth is not without an immersive and excellent narrative. The voice acting and dialogue system are excellent, the character progression and social interaction is fantastic, and the characters motivation is also well presented. However, one minor drawback was that despite being able to start primary missions at any time, I found myself racing through the storyline because of my curiosity to reveal the next instalment of the story. Before I knew it, I had completed the game – which meant I had missed out on a ton of side quests. Granted, this adds to replayability, but it would have been nice to be able to enter side quests after the main missions were completed.

So, now on to the combat. Oh no. Mass effect is clearly not geared towards a genre which it tries to imitate – that genre is FPS. Unfortunately, the main missions are strictly linear and very repetitive, often leaving the player to platformer type gameplay. The enemies are not varied, neither are the levels. However, there are some saving graces to the combat. The special abilities are fun, and the ability to customise weapons and also buy/find upgrades keeps a sense of achievement present. Another negative point to add would be your squad mates. Why Bioware, why? Often, I would find myself using these guys as cannon fodder and completing the mission by myself because of how un-intuitive these guys are. They don’t look for cover, run into combat alone, and are considerably weaker; sometimes they even get in your line of sight!
Despite the combat, this game is a game of quality, often surprising you with what it offers, so don’t necessarily be put off by it because of one issue - and take it as an RPG which dares to cross genres. For better and for worse.

That will be all in this week’s instalment of Albert Bezman’s WASD blog. And remember, if you see me. You’re probably in, the twilight zone.

Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta impressions (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Uncharted 2 demo is over and tears have filled the eyes of Playstation users everywhere, where will we get our super polished free online shooting action now? So the question is was it any good, well let’s look at the statistics first. In the short period when the beta was working over twenty-seven years were spent in it worldwide. That is twenty-seven human years, that is over a quarter of a century spent playing one beta, that’s pretty impressive for the sequel to one of the most under appreciated games ever. Now I loved Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, I think it is the second best game to grace this console (and computer) generation (second to Metal Gear Solid 4). What made it so good was the platforming and the cover based shooting which flowed so seamlessly. This made one great single player experience but when they announced that the second Uncharted was going to have multiplayer and not campaign co-op I was sceptical to say the least. It is a system that works so well in the campaign but is it really suited to multiplayer, can you pull off that balance without it feeling like gimmicky tacked on multi-player? Now I didn’t think it was going to work but I was definitely interested so as soon as I saw the beta up I nabbed it.

I have already pre-ordered the special edition of Uncharted 2 (that is how excited about this game I am) and was so excited about the single player and was hoping that the trophies were not multiplayer focused because I couldn’t imagine myself playing much online. Man was I wrong, I have already sunk lots of hours into the online. I have already tried to level myself up as much as I can and investing heavily in the addictive perk system. So what is it that makes Uncharted 2 online so special. Well let me start by saying I’m not a big online gamer. I used to play a lot of a certain MMO I have recently recovered from (it wasn’t WoW, I can’t afford monthly fees) but I only really online game if something really grips me. I love resistance 2 online and I played a lot of world at war Wii online but apart from that I am very picky about my online shooters. I just couldn’t get into Metal Gear Online and Resistance 1 online is just dead, only the elite ten people remain in maps made for about forty. So when I like an online shooter that is really high praise, and if I start sinking hours into it you know it is something special. In fact I am so impressed with uncharted 2 that I feel no need to get the latest Call of Duty when it comes out.

One thing which sets Uncharted apart is that it is just so different, for starters it is third person which cancels out all CoD parallels and leaves you with the next best in class: Gears of War. However this is once again a poor comparison, Gears of War is slow and heavy, you get in cover and you stay there. Uncharted 2 plays out at an insane pace, you are always moving and the movement is so fast. It is cover based but you can’t just sit in cover like you can in Gears of War and just have overly long stop and pop gunfights. In Uncharted you have to constantly think about verticality, I mentioned earlier about the sublime platforming in the original game and this is in the online. If you just stay in cover then somebody will climb up a building behind you and BAM! Either take you out from behind with a brilliantly animated brutal stealth kill with his bare hands (a personal highlight) or simply shoot you. This makes sure you keep moving and this makes for some intense gameplay. So the core gameplay is really solid, team death match is stupidly fun and the mix of platforming and crazy weapons around everywhere means pure awesomeness. So the core gameplay is just superb, but what about variety?

The variety in Uncharted’s multiplayer is actually its strongest suit, and this is only the beta. You have deathmatches; objective based gameplay and co-op modes. The deathmatches are all team based but the weapon set is always mixed up. When you are through with matchmaking and are all teamed up and ready it is time for the usual map voting. Now this is a multiplayer standard but the interesting bit here is the other options it gives you. You can have a match with just pistols and grenades which is another favourite, because pistols were possibly the best weapons in the original game- headshots aplenty- and grenades plus multiplayer equals ten gallons of pure win. You can also have a match of sniper rifles and over powered pistols (one shot kill fest also equal a whole lot of win) and the most fun mode which is just RPGs, nothing else. This mode is insane and if you’re like me you will laugh your whole way through the whole game until you accidentally kill a team-mate and they send you a personal message with the subject name PRICK but no actual message, which seemed a tad harsh. These modes add variety to the simple deathmatch and all of them are fun, you will get normal usually and all modes are voted for so you won'’ get things forced upon you.

The objective based gameplay is really awesome, unfortunately I didn’t get to play chain reaction and I have no idea what it is. I did play plunder though, which is capture the flag, with treasure! The treasure is heavy but it can be thrown and you can shoot with a pistol while holding it. This mode encourages co-operation, which doesn’t always happen and is really hard but really fun. It is so tense when you are limping along with the treasure and you realise the whole other team is aiming at you. Scary stuff but amazing stuff. The last part of the package is the co-op; I only tried one co-op mode, which was plunder against waves of enemies getting harder every time. Co-operation is needed, so hard but oh so fun! I played this with a mate and there was a lot of death but a lot of fun and ‘OH SNAP’ moments. A particular highlight being my friend running around snapping necks whilst I went on a sniper rifle rampage of perfect headshots.

So the gameplay is just phenomenal and the presentation is just awesome. The graphics are just so good; the naughty dog engine 2.0 really shines. This is one pretty looking game! So the gameplay is varied but how much customisability is there? Quite a lot, you can chose different player skins from the two sides, heroes and villains, and then battle it out. I chose Sully to start with for comedy value but now use newcomer Tanzin because he has one sweet hat. You can buy new skins with experience gained. Because Uncharted is all treasure hunting stuff you don’t gain experience you get money, which is super cool. You can chose to buy the perks you want when you unlock them at the correct level and you can buy co-op weapon upgrades and of course more skins. This just adds another addicting layer to the already overly addictive online. This is one online experience that PS3 gamers should not miss! If you have a PS3 and you like games get Uncharted 2 because the campaign will be superb and the online is about as good as online gets. This multiplayer comes with a gleaming WASD recommendation. Now Uncharted 2 is coming out this week, so look out for more impressions here, on WASD!

Thanks,
Stephen Gillespie
Email us at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk

The last word...

2009-10-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Not so long ago some crazy Russian started an arguement about the state of the PC, now him and that Stephen fellow both voiced their opinions but we promised to leave the last word to the readers so here it is.

This time it is the view of Ashley Dorsett who emailed us on the subject:

'Had a whole essay's worth about this but couldn't copy and paste it over...

Basically I don't understand why people say PC is dead and console is king. There are several reasons I know why they say it buts its useless. I agree with what you said, and a big thing about the PC is it has the flexablity and creativity in which the consoles don't have. They tried but in my eyes failed with little big planet. If you compare this game to other simular games on the PC E.g. Garry's Mod, it just doesn't compare. Ok in little big planet you get set items to make set things and play in side scroller. Where as with garry's mod you can put other source based games into it then do anything you want with the characters, then you can download other things like cars etc and make your own tracks like from need for speed (Quite fun doing that actually). Seeing as that game is only £5, came out years ago and was orginally a free mod, and yet it still beats current games.

FPS, well you are correct again, analog is not as good as mouse and keyboard, its fluant and easy to move around. also when you are aiming you don't zoom past the enemy 7 times before hitting them once with a bullet. I don't get how some console players say the amount of buttons put PC at a disadvantage, its easier.
But this one might just be me because I have been playing Doom & Quake since I was like 5 on the PC.

Theres are some style games that PC doesn't win at but they don't release a lot of them, these being adventure/action games such as "Batman: Arkham Asylum" and sidescroller games. These types of games normally come out as download only off steam.

Finally the cost aspect. Xbox players normally bring this up most because there whole £150 cheaply made console. This is true that it is the cheapest beating the PC by far, having to spend around £500 for a good one but you can get one for around £300 which is ok.They also bring up the fact that PC needs to be updated every 1 to 3 years and rant about that. But even though this is true it does not mean its still more expensive. What they care to forget about is the fact that PC gets its updates 100% free and do not have to pay for xbox live. One years worth of saving via this way means you can easily buy that needed graphics card. But then finally the games themself are £10 cheaper. You can now buy Bioshock, Elderscroll, Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2 episode 1, Portal, Mirrors Edge, Prince of Persia and Fallout 3 for under £60 on PC if you look in the right places. Where as it would cost around £100 for xbox's cheap ways. Theres no need to mention PS3 because we know it is more expensive than Xbox. So through all these little costs that Xbox requires it actually costs more to run.

PC can only do 1 thing as a mistake and this is to make the games so advance that the general public cant play the games. This was seen with crysis, if you wanna spend a lot of money on your computer theres nothing stopping you but not everyone does. Those types of games are for people who want to "Flex their computers muscles". So they need to target major audiences like Activision have with Call of Duty and Like Maxis did with The Sims 3.

PC is seen as the dying grandad but it truely isn't. I'd say its the young farther who knows best and all. It would also be very naive and gets confused at some things but everyone does. This being action adventures and sidescrollers. But I also see consoles as the teenager who thinks he knows best and all. Much like its fanboys (Mainly xbox ones).
PC still has more to show and will be king of the game for a long time with releases like CoD4:MW2, L4D2 being released. (Can't wait... they look so good...). It is the way it is and always was and will be for a long time. Online wise, faster, easier, cheaper, better, more updates and with Microsoft's greedy ways they will get money out of you in anyway possiable.

P.s. Well I guess it turned into an Essay @.@ Sorry about that. Plus I'm too lazy to read through it all for errors, so I might have gone off track and missed the point in the way I was writing, just wrote what came to mind.
P.s.s. Also what Steam games you play, other than counter strike.

Ashley D.'

Is imagination dead? (Faith Westlake)

2009-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

After trips to the cinema recently and a blog about book to film adaptations I stopped to take a think about original ideas in Hollywood. Here's a list of the current film releases (08.10.09)

(500) Days of Summer (Original Screenplay…grr)

Aliens in the Attic (Original Screenplay)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Based on a book)

Creation (Based on the biography of Darwin written by Randal Keynes)

District 9 (Original Screenplay)

Dorian Gray (Based on a book)

Driving Aphrodite (Original Screenplay)

Fame (Remake)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Based on a book)

The Invention of Lying (Original Screenplay)

Julie & Julia (Based on a book)

Pandorum (Original Screenplay)

The Soloist (Based on a true story)

Surrogates (Based on a comic)

Zombieland (Original Screenplay)

Using my GCSE grade maths skills I’ve managed to work out that 46% (PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong) of the films listed above are based on original screenplays. Honestly that’s a lot more than I thought as it seems that whenever I go to the cinema seems to be dominated by remakes and adaptations with the only original ideas being rom-coms and horrors and it’s debatable over how original those really are …

It is understandable that, as we are in a recession, larger studios are more focused on bringing the money in than investing in new ideas and greater quality. Sadly it is much easier and safer to bank in on an already successful franchise and make a film where you are almost certain you will make a profit. Although, amid the mass-produced nonsense we’ve endured this year, some films have managed to break this mould namely the best film of the year so far Moon. Moon is based on an original idea by the film’s director Duncan Jones and the screenplay was written by Nathan Parker and is an independent film. Independent films act as a glow of light over the commercial trash which plagues our cinemas every year. Independent films, most of the time, seems to be based on an idea that the director/writer is very passionate about and as it can be difficult to get people to share your enthusiasm and get these films made. Although sometimes films based on original screenplay can still be lame (see (500) Days of Summer whose writer’s wrote the screenplay for the stellar Pink Panther 2…) Moon is based on intelligent sci-fi classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Soylent Green and easily deserves a place in their ranks (Steve’s Review: http://wasd-blog.blogspot.com/2009/08/film-review-moon-stephen-gillespie.html)

As you can most gather from my last post there are some films that aren’t based on original ideas that are still fantastic. There’s nothing wrong with adaptations but they can be extremely annoying if it’s just another go at milking the cash cow.

A much shorter post today (trying to cut down) but on an ending note…. My favourite film, American Beauty, is an Original Screenplay. So I’m asking what’s your favourite film and is it an original idea or an adaptation?

Great RPG's (Albert Bezman)

2009-10-07T16:08:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: Ok, before I start, I just want to expand upon the title a little. As much as I would love to, I haven’t played every single (good) RPG ever made, so just bear with me a little.

A tale of three RPG’s. Part One.

There once was a publisher named Ubisoft Montreal, who one day decided – “hey, wouldn’t it be a great idea if we made a GTA/holy land/Ninja assassin crossover game?”. And so, the next day, after a lot of smoking and garlic-eating, Assassin’s Creed was born.

A little while later came along a young man by the name of Albert ‘PC OWNS CONSOLES ALL THE WAY’ Bezman, and he saw this GTA/holy land/ninja assassin crossover game and said

“Wow, this GTA/holy land/ninja assassin crossover game looks fun”.

And so he played as Altair, and these are his thoughts.

Assassin’s creed is a truly narrative driven game. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be: different. This is because it removes many of the archetypal elements of RPG’s and replaces them with a focus on narrative. For example, the only way Altair can obtain new equipment is by advancing the story, and even then, there is no system to manually upgrade your gear, and you can’t pick up equipment either. This essentially has two influences on game play. One is that you aren’t going to be grinding the same old NPC’s looking around for gear to sell to a merchant NPC which will enable you to obtain that level 80 adamantium armour. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing, as lack of an item tree definitely makes this game feel shallow, and certainly impacts playing time and replayability. On the other hand, it keeps the focus on the action, and ensures that you are never bored. This is particularly relevant to big open RPG’s like Oblivion and Fallout, as often, scouring the land for bounty is somewhat a menial task. Another way lack of items alters gameplay is the gamer’s perception of the hero. A big selling point of RPG’s has always been customization. The fact that the player can make so many decisions has often emulated a kind of matrix for the player to interact with. Essentially, because the player is in charge of the characters actions, it feels like they are conducting them instead of a distant protagonist. And because Assassin’s creed has very little choice when it comes to gameplay, it feels like playing a movie, where every scene is narrated by an outsider, instead of letting the player call the shots.

Saying this, some parts that Ubisoft Montreal do are absolutely fantastic. One example is free-running. Without a doubt, after playing this game with so much freedom, I found other games limiting because I could not scale everything in sight. Before I had played the game, I thought that this was just a gimmick, but after experiencing it for myself I have to say that it is truly amazing and is as revolutionary to game-play movement as GTA 3 was.

Another awesome part of Assassins creed is the narrative itself. The story is fantastic, and the way it is executed is great too. The pace is well kept, with revelations and twists awaiting you at every turn. This makes this game a ‘one play through’ kind of game. However, I can guarantee you that this one play through will be fantastic!

One last thing that I will mention is the graphics. I played it on a mid-range DX10 PC with the graphics turned all the way up, and there was little lag with stunning visuals. Well done Ubisoft!

Stay tuned for next week’s article which will bring us into the mysterious (and freaking awesome) world of Mass effect.

That’s all for this week, B man signin out.

Playstation Network Demo impressions 2 (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-10-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today we have to interesting games, both movie based (well Clone Wars is more TV based but it's based off a movie franchise), both based on CGI products and both very different from yesterday's demos-they were really good.

Now in order to start this off its important to point out that I am a massive Star Wars fan. The Empire Strikes back is, factually speaking, the greatest cinematic achievement of all time and if anything has Star Wars in the title I am automatically interested. So, obviously, when I see a demo for the latest Star Wars game on the PlayStation Network I think, 'AWESOME!' This was a huge mistake, this game is an insult to Star Wars. Let me start with the good however... the series it is based on is fantastic. The bad is pretty much everything, you get the choice of a Jedi level or a Clone level so to start with I chose clone (the infantry battles in star wars games are usually the most fun, Battlefront 2 anyone?). Soon my television screen was assaulted by bad graphics and what is pretty much a top down shooter, but not quite, with an absolutely terrible control scheme. Moving around was confusing because your a darn clone and you all look the same, and when the camera is not focused on you you could be any of them. Also the demo seemed to randomly make me swap characters, maybe it was me doing it but it was bloody confusing. The controls make moving feel awkward and are just really unresponsive, clones are supposed to be tactical soldiers but all that happens is that you run around in circles whilst being gunned to death by droids who just stand there. You can try and shoot them but the aiming is just so bad that you will get hit way more than you hit them. The cover system is really odd also, you crouch behind a random obstacle and you are pretty much exposed from the waist up. You can shoot over the cover without moving yet the enemies can't shoot you, really quite odd. So the camera, graphics, controls and general game play is just so terrible. Also the attempts at story, now I know it is a demo but at the end of the level it tries to do an emotional scene which is yawn inducing, predictable and falls flat on its face. Avoid this at all costs.

But of course there are Jedi levels, are they any better? No, apparently Jedi can take control of droids if they double jump on their heads. No they cannot, they have a freaking light saber. Also they can block blaster bolts but not reflect them, that is half the fun! Also once again the camera, controls and level design are so bad that you may find yourself falling off when trying to execute a precise jump. The camera is put at a really weird place which makes even simple platforming a nuisance.

Honestly, this game is pretty much pure awfulness. Avoid at all costs! Lucas Arts have betrayed me for the last time [initiate force choke!].

Worth a download? Not even if they payed you! This game will offender any gamer but being a fan of the franchise makes it even more heart breaking.

PS3 graphics? Really?

Up is quite hard to write about because the problem with it is, it is just so unremarkable. Nothing stands out, the gameplay is repeitive and overly simple, you will solve the same stupidly simple puzzle many times and just generally stroll around a boring looking environment in a bored fashion. The game is just very bland and will provide no challenge for anyone. This may be a good thing because it is obviously a very co-op focused game, good for you to play with the kids. But admit it, you don't have kids! You're reading a gaming blog! Even if you do though your kid will even get bored, the game got repitative in the demo and I looked up a review of the full 360 version which said pretty much the same thing about the whole game. More rushed out bland movie games, it will sell alot and it really shouldn't, not worth a look.

Worth a download? No- boring, easy and plain. Exact opposites of what a good platformer should be.

The characters faces sum it up, even being stalked by a giant water snake is boring in this game

Playstation Network Demo impressions (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-10-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog of a new feature, hands on impressions of all the latest demos on the playstation network. I will start with a blast form the very recent past

The Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 demo is awesome. Definately check it out if you like Ninjas and dismemberment. The dismemberment may not be as bloody as its 360 counterpart Ninja Gaiden 2 but Sigma 2 has an improved graphics engine, three more playable characters (all top heavy lady folk) and multiplayer. The game play is really great and really fun but not as insanely hard as the original. The difficulty may have been slightly toned down and more difficulty choices are available but the main difference is the game has been made less cheap, you will no longer die thinking the game cheated. Instead you will die because your just not darn ninja enough and you should stop all that going outdoors you do and just sit and play more darned video game- do you get me!!

Worth a download? If you're ninja enough!

Ryu and his new possy (minus the new leather clad one)
Warning, the sixaxis is used to make the... ahem... bosoms jiggle
Plus or minus? You decide.

Brutal Legend is the latest game from gaming legend Tim Schafer (and if you don't know who he is, why are you on a gaming blog? Well I suppose you could read Faith's articles because they are very good but seriously you don't know of Tim Schafer, you cannot read on until you hath visited the mighty wikipedia!). The concept of Brutal Legend is of course insane, it's a Tim Schafer game after all. You are a roadie who when he bleeds on his belt he accidently makes a crazy motorhead style giant demon bull thing come to life on stage and decapitate the tweeny pop metal band playing. This of course makes Eddie (the roadie) get sent to a nightmarish hellscape that could have been ripped from the front cover of any classic heavy metal album. The game is really funny and the gameplay is super fun. You soon get an axe for decapitations, which are gratifyingly bloody, and a guitar that sends down lightning on your foes. Soon you are slicing up foes left right and centre mixed up with crazy lightning and lots of blood, sure it gives you the option to turn off gore and profanities but who would want to? This was the most fun demo I've played for a long time, it included slicing up metal priests, fighting monstrous nuns and driving a hot rod through both. To top off the demo you get to fight a boss, which is a giant worm with a massive mouth that tries to tongue you, the game even makes the french kissing joke for me. This looks like it is going to be a definite purchase on ROCKTOBER 16th!

Worth a downlaod? Hell yes!

So that's two down, come back next time for the low down 'Star Wars the Clone Wars- Republic Heroes' and 'Disney Pixar's Up'.

Thanks for readin,
Stephen Gillespie

Films Vs. Books (Faith Westlake)

2009-10-01T15:02:00.001-07:00

I was hoping to get this posted last week but wanted to post my box office review while it was still current. Consider this article a homage to Stephen’s “Can Games Surpass films?” (Worth reading by the way) So I pose the question Can film adaptations surpass the books their based on?

One of the few things that equal my love of films is my love of books. 99.9% of the time when I decide to watch film adaptations of my favourite books I’m one of those annoying people who comes out of the cinema with a whole list of things they’ve done wrong but when making criticism it has to be remembered that literature and film are two extremely different art forms. A scene that is subtle but vital in a novel can be lost in a film adaption as it doesn’t have the same cinematic qualities needed for a big screen adaption. Film makers have been drawing inspiration from books for decades. In fact Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” is regarded as the first real blockbuster when it was shown in 1939. I love films, I love books but when the two mediums collide is it just a recipe for disaster?
Let’s start with a good adaption….

Anybody who has spoken to me for more than five minutes should know how much I love Stephen King. God only knows how awful some on Stephen King’s adaptations can be (Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror anyone?) but two of the novellas from the “Different Seasons” collection, dare I say it, are better films that books. I would go with Rob Reiner’s “Stand by Me” as adapted from the novella “The Body” but that adaption is so faithful with most of the dialogue kept exactly the same that they are too similar really to point out the differences which improve that film so I’m going for one of the best films ever made: The Shawshank Redemption.

Frank Darabount knows his Stephen King. His first major break was his adaption of King’s short story “The Woman in the Room” into a short film. Stephen King has always supported aspiring young film makers and famously sold Darabount the rights to his “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” novella for just $1. Darabount has gone on to direct such other King based classics as “The Green Mile” and the more recent “The Mist”. Although I touched upon the differences in the presentation of the wardens in my “Top 5 Movie Villains”, a change for the better by the way, there are other essential changes that were made from page to screen.

If I had to pick the quintessential scene in this film it just has to be the record scene. A beautifully scripted, acted and directed scene which really sets the tone for the movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se8TM696HRY) but yet this classic piece of modern cinema was never included in the book but on screen it is perfection. If you were to read about Andy defying the warden with classic opera it just wouldn’t have the same effect as hearing the song and seeing the defiant look in his eyes as he turns up the record player.

In the novel the character of Red is a red-haired Irishman but Darabount was sure from the start that he wanted Morgan Freeman for the role. If I’m honest I can’t understand how he could have read the novella and thought Morgan Freeman should play this guy but the choice was truly inspired and now there’s no other Red in my mind. *SPOILERS* Another change is that in the film Tommy (the man who knows the truth about Andy) is ordered to be shot by the Warden but in the film he is just transferred. Although the shooting shows those who are watching the film that Andy’s false conviction is absolute and also reinforces how evil the warden really is. Great change, great scene, great movie. The Shawshank Redemption still rates #1 on IMDB’s Top 250 and rightly so. If you haven’t seen this film then DO as it’s great. If you haven’t read the novella…well maybe if you’re a Stephen King fan but other than that no worries. I could talk about this film for ages but really if you’ve seen it and if you haven’t then get busy.

Now a bad adaptation…

In February 2002 after great critical and financial success with Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema decided “Hmm what book trilogy can we slaughter, gut and market as good ole family fun” and they stumbled upon Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy. The Dark Materials is one of the more interesting and intelligent children’s series written in modern times and has a massive fan base. The film adaptation resulted in the truly awful “Golden Compass”. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this film is “Academy Award Winning” as it’s for the Best Special Effects which really should have gone to Transformers…

So why do I hate this film so much, well number one is drains all the good elements of the books and leaves a naked, soulless film and number two I am a gigantic film snob. So who is there to blame for this monstrosity? Northern Lights is primarily a philosophical novel and the Magisterium is a representation of organised religion, regarded to be the equivalent to the Catholic Church that has strayed far from its roots. So in order to increase revenue from America’s religious communities the whole debate between philosophy and religion is glanced over at best but really what was the point? The Catholic League called for a boycott of the film anyway and said it doesn’t matter that the film has been cut as it will encourage children to read the books?!? Oh well that’s cool, I mean reading a child’s series of books will obviously cause me to renounce God, better send round the book burning mobile. Let’s watch the Chronicles of Narnia instead… Obviously this doesn’t represent the view of all Catholics and I’m sure there weren’t objections for the everyday believer although some religious groups have a tendency to complain about films they haven’t even seem *ahem* Angels and Demons *ahem*. Also the revenue from the USA was disappointing anyway so these changes just seem completely ill-advised.

The acting in this film is perfectly fine. It doesn’t lower the film in any way although Jason Isaacs as Lord Ariel would have been very fun… So acting isn’t a problem. Well what about direction? Well Chris Weitz (soon to be of New Moon fame) directed About a Boy and that’s a good film and this film is well shot. So direction seems all good… Ok so screenplay. I have already mentioned that I think diluting the themes from the book is just ridiculous this film was made purely for a quick buck which is all well and good but couldn’t you have settled for a nice commercial action thriller New Line rather that pillaging this series? Although despite the screenplay the thing that really gets me going has to be the editing. The book has a perfect cliff hanger ending *SPOILERS* Lord Asriel cuts the bond between Roger and his dæmon creating a portal to other worlds. The novel ends with Lyra walks through not knowing what awaits her on the other side. Dramatic huh? Oh well not according to New Line who end the thing with Lyra and Roger in a hot air balloon bigging up Lord Asriel. Oh well that be great at the start of the next film when he kills you in the first 10 minutes eh Roger? Chris Weitz says that some areas of development had been “an awful experience” due to the editing that the studio insisted on and in fact Weitz did shot the original ending but the scenes will be used at the beginning of The Subtle Knife (if it ever gets made) despite that making no sense.

I mean its all well and good “alluding” to certain aspects of the novel but these books only get deeper as they go on so good luck there. At the moment there are no plans set in stone to adapt the rest of the series although rumours all flying around. I'm sure some people enjoyed this movie and it didn't do badly at the world box office, maybe my views are jaded because of the love I have for the books but it can not be desputed that "The Golden Compass", whatever you think of the film, isn't a good adaptation of the book.

So on an ending note, in my opinion film adaptions struggle to be better than the books but there are some fine example of film out there which rival or beat the novel they're based on (Bladerunner, American Pyscho, Fight Club)

I think I’ll end this there before it turns into any more of a rant but if you’d like to defend or recommend any film or just post general feedback I’d love to hear from you at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk. Just whack “Faith” in the subject. Enjoy.

Sony epic fail

2009-10-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys (and probably only guys *sigh*), I know its not my day, but these sony ad's just have to be shown....

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/29/chilean-ps3-ads-show-gamer-giving-blood-tranfusion-to-a-nazi/

And it's not your first time either is it Sony?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/06/sony-under-fire-for-racist-advertising/

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/warning-psp-ads-can-kill-you/

WTF?

Console's aren't so great now are they eh?

PC FTW!

Albie

Status report: PC (Albert 'the racist dragon' Bezman)

2009-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hello people of the internets, first off: The Old Republic beta anyone? (http://www.swtor.com/user/register). Unsurprisingly, the site for sign ups has crashed due to the number of applicants, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it is full by the time you read this. Shame.
Secondly, we have a somewhat controversial piece of news (http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/102/1028810p1.html), and that is of a new counter-strike, which is not made by Valve, but made by some crazy Korean who claims he created counter-strike. Yea right, we all know Koreans don’t play video-games. For me personally, this looks like another way to cash in on the counter-strike franchise by adding minor improvements. The game lacks a new engine, better graphics, and stable publisher support (Counter-strike without Valve is like portal without cake). However, I’m sure you all have your own views on this, which I’m looking forward to reading after last week’s rather ... interesting ‘debate’.
Thirdly, we have this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD0AdV6-rAY , which frankly, is hilarious. Bitch. Oh and I also love Mass Effect and everyone should play it.
Lastly, I’m going to close off this week for the PC with this: http://kotaku.com/5367526/this-alienware-pc-has-motorized-racing-vents. Yes, that PC just transformed, and I just had a nerdgasm.
That’s it from the B man for this week, but with any luck, I should have an epic article on great PC RPG’s next week.

Comments?

Weekly Discussion Point- Neill Blomkamp and the Halo movie

2009-09-27T08:07:00.001-07:00

So Faith’s review of District 9 is up, and I would just like to clarify the views of Faith represent the views of WASD as a whole. When it comes to reviews of films we usually see the film together and talk over it before agreeing on the score as a group. If we get round to reviewing any games the same thing will be done. Anyway, District 9, this is an interesting film for us movie goers and gamers and it raises an interesting discussion point I really want you guys feedback on.

Neill Blomkamp after producing three short Halo films to promote Halo 3 was supposed to direct the full feature film, sadly the films funding collapsed and he lost the chance. In the wake of District 9 I want to know what you think the Halo film would have been like, would it have been good, do you wish it had happened or are you glad Blomkamp didn’t get the chance to possibly ruin the franchise? Please go into detail when writing your response to this weeks discussion point and email us at:
wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk, we’d love to hear from you!

At The Box office: An Estrogen-fuelled review of… District 9 (Faith Westlake)

2009-09-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Number 2 at the UK Box Office (knocked down one by Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and having grossed £6,380,720 in the Uk alone District 9 is the feature-length directorial debut of Neill Blomkamp adapted from his critically acclaimed short film “Alive in Joburg”. Despite a relatively unknown director and cast this film is far from not having big names associated to it as Peter Jackson takes the role of producer. When I came out of this film I couldn’t decide whether it was god or bad but I knew one thing; that is was powerful. The basic plotline is that an alien craft is stranded above Johannesburg with its inhabitants having no way to return home. This results in a ghetto being created for them to live in “District 9” where they live off waste and are treated like animals despite displaying obvious intelligence. Writing off District 9 as just sci-fi would be foolish as at the heart of the film is a human story. It’s a film about prejudice, politics and the human condition.

The film is shot in an interesting way. Before the films pivots (if you’ve seen it you know where I mean) it is shot like a documentary which gives the viewer an impartial takes on events and manages to fill in gaps in our knowledge with “guest speakers”. The film then changes to more of a drama and this is where character is explored in more depth and we are introduced to the darker side of this whole affair.

Some of the scenes that we are presented with are difficult watching but this is part of the films impact. It’s not just bloody violence which is difficult to watch but talk about controversial issues such as abortion and the violation of our human rights.

The film strives to make its characters seen real. Our protagonist isn’t perfect yet neither is he totally immoral but this aspect of the film makes Wikus generally unlikable. We sympathise with him and his plight but it can be difficult to connect with him and we are almost pleased when he becomes the very thing that he has bullied and ridiculed. The film has a deep sense of irony and can be likened to many power struggles throughout history when the aggressor becomes a victim of their own regime. I also feel that the final battle at the end is drawn out but granted I’ve never had much patience for extended action scenes. Also while on a low note some of the characters just seem overplayed and ridiculous (such as the Nigerian crime lord).

District 9 takes a strong political and social stand point. The aliens (a.k.a: Prawns) are going to be forced from their home of nearly three decades to a camp built specially for them which is described by Wikus as basically a “concentration camp”. When this sort of film comes out we can not help but consider the human condition. Are we orientated toward prejudice and fear of what we do not understand? Really this film is pretty deep and can be understood in many different ways by many different people. In Layman's terms this film is definitely worth seeing at the cinema and although I agreed with the message it was trying to put across I probably wouldn’t buy it on DVD.

Reading through this review again I really feel I should have rated District 9 higher but really I am quite stingy with my stars. Although I can enjoy action sci-fi they rarely get high scores for me but the deep political themes boosts District 9 up giving it a respectable 7.5/10

Enjoy the trailer :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PDlMggROA
Any views or comments? Feel free to email at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk

Faith Westlake

Why Albert is wrong! (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-09-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have learnt many things in this life, some of them more important than others, but when it comes down to the facts of life that everybody needs to know there is really only one rule that we all should live by. Never trust a self professed crazy Russian, this is a fact which mostly goes without saying but occasionally you need more proof, today’s proof is Albert’s previous Blog about PC gaming. Now the statement that PC gaming is great is not wrong, PC gaming is great! Well actually the correct statement is PC gaming can be great. When done right PC gaming is fantastic but sadly it so rarely is. The main problem with the PC is that the darn machine is so relative. When you’re developing a game for a console then you know that there is a possibility that the entire install base could buy your game if you make a really good game because it is playable on every console sold. With a PC however everybody’s PC is different, there is no standard for computers as far as gaming goes, a bad computer will not play the latest good games because it usually won’t have the power. This makes PC developing a minefield! You either cater for all (and get complaints from people like Albert about why the graphics aren’t super good when a PC could handle so much better) or just cater for the top PCs and make Crysis, a great game which few can play due to silly graphical needs. Now I’m all for great graphics and if you’re lucky enough to have a PC that can handle them then PC gaming is superb. The problem is not the games themselves but the fact that making these games is usually such a bad business choice that they’re never made. Due to this PC users don’t get the great games they deserve but rubbish ports of console games. This is rather tragic and is something you cannot solve. PC games can be great, they can be superb but they can be terrible.

Now the PC has other faults, another big one being its dirty content. Crazy rating laws means that consoles are more respectable than PCs, on a console game I can decapitate numerous foes with blood gushing everywhere and you can do the same on the PC. However you can get worse on the PC, enter the infamous dating sims and the sex games. These games can be released on the PC because if you make a game with graphic nudity in it is rated AO (adults only) in America and Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft do not let AO games on there consoles. So where do you go? You don’t want to sacrifice the American market by just not releasing the game; you put it on the PC because nobody cares about that. This is a shame because it reflects terribly on the PC as a games machine. Yes you liken it to graphical marvels but you also liken it to graphic nudity, umm, marvels? Perhaps not marvels but you get the point. Perhaps Albert’s Blog should have been entitled, ‘the PC can be great for games but it’s always great for Porn!’

This sends me in to my next point rather nicely, the Internet. My PS3 has an Internet browser, it’s rubbish but I can check WASD on it so what else do you need. Now the PC has great Internet capabilities but does this really help with gaming? Online console gaming is just as good as online PC gaming (mods aside) the only improvement you get with the PC is web browsing while playing games. So here is where I admit that I do play a lot of PC games, I am a recovering Guild Wars addict and the PC is where I can play very badly at strategy games (the PC will always be the best for strategy games, that’s just a fact). However whilst playing these games I can never resist the allure of facebook or MSN or even WASD being at my fingertips. I can check them and play at the same time, how great is that? Not so much, I am very easily distracted, when I sit down to play a game I sit down to do that. When I am at my PS3, or even my Wii, everything else takes a back seat because there are none of these in-game distractions. I can just play a game. Now this is more of a fault with me than the PC but it’s harder to just play a game because a PC does so any other things.

So to summarise, the PC can be great and Albert is wrong. There are more points I could make but I am trying to avoid rambling so I will finish with a counterpoint to Albert’s claim of Crysis being an advantage of the PC. Metal Gear Solid 4, enough said!

Thanks for reading,
Stephen!

If you want to join in the debate drop us an email at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk and we will publish your argument here, on WASD!

Why PC gaming is great! (Albert 'the crazy russian' Bezman)

2009-09-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

If you’re a PC gamer, you’ve no doubt heard the infamous phrase – “PC gaming is dead”. Most of the time it will come from console fanboys who just assume that all the PC is good for is World of Warcraft and getting a virtual date on The Sims 2. And then occasionally this happens: http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/101/1015622p1.html, which is much like a kick in the face from publishers who are too preoccupied with consulting Hans Zimmer (http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/101/1019620p1.html) where to place the stick into their rear ends to notice unworthy platforms like the PC (love you really IW).

But seriously now, the amount of ignorant console owners I have met makes me want to break their little Halo 3 headsets before declaring that Master chief is a 360-only douche who deserves to be spat on by Gordon Freeman (we had him first damn it). PC gaming is great, and here’s why:

Shooters:

- No, a controller thumb-stick is NOT more realistic than a mouse and keyboard. Take your finger and point it from side to side vigorously. Yes, do it now. Now spin around in one motion quickly. Unless you are mentally retarded, you will realise that both those motions take less than a second to complete. A thumb-stick takes longer than one second to complete this, whilst a mouse and keyboard are almost instantaneous. Let me put it this way. A piece of hardware should act alongside the speed of the reaction-time of the human body, because lets face it, when you have arms like Chris Redfields, you don’t need five seconds to turn your pistol 180 degrees.

Flexibility:

- The PC is by far the most flexible platform. Not only has it spawned mods which have forever been engraved into gaming’s hall of fame (Counter-strike, yeay), but it also has a more direct user input flexibility in the form of controls. The PC has far more buttons and inputs than a controller, which means you can do far more actions, assign hotkeys, switch between tasks (and chat to your clan mates *nerd snort*), and even look up Pr0n whilst still managing to play ~~Barbie dress up~~ ahem, Dawn of War 2.

The Interwebs:

- If you havent’s noticed, Steam (Valve’s online game distribution platform), is pretty big. It is the archetype of all the modern services like Xbox live and PSN. And guess what, we had it way before the original Xbox was even around!

Hardware:

- Lets see, PS3 current gen hardware: 160GB hard-drive, 256mb ram, 256 of GDDR3 video memory and a single core processor. A good PC today will have: at least 500GB of hard drive space, 2GB of RAM, at least 512mb of DX10 video memory, and a dual core processor. Do I need to explain this point further? The only downside is the cost… ahem

Real-time strategy:

- Fortunately, developers have not gone completely insane and have realised that RTS’s belong on a computer – with great exclusives such as the Total War series and Relic’s Dawn of War series giving the PC an edge when you want to tell a bunch of guys exactly who to shoot (because shooting people yourself is immoral).

Crysis:

- Enough said.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games:

- Because of the controls used on a PC (as discussed earlier), MMO’s naturally belong on a PC. This one is not so great if you’re planning to have a savings account. Or send your children to a real university (World of Warcraft school does not count!).

And finally, when you’ve got Valve’s big daddy - Gabe Newell - saying "PC gaming is thriving", I think it’s safe to assume that we can slowly accumulate radiation from our monitors for a few more years. Now where is that number ‘3’ key? I feel like knifing someone…

Tell us what you think, is PC gaming better or worse than console gaming? Sign up and comment on this blog, or send us an email at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk

Can Games Surpass Films? (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-09-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Many people look upon games as the past time of pubescent teenagers in dark rooms scoring numerous headshots followed by even more numerous tea baggings. In many cases this is correct; Halo 3 has sold approximately 5.2 million copies, so can we take gaming as a medium seriously or will it forever be an adolescent hobby?

The direct comparison is of course film, film is a highly respected medium and some consider it an art form, but is it possible for games to gain the prestige of movies, or even surpass them? In many ways I would argue that games have already surpassed movies. You do get games like Halo 3 may be the big fish in the pond, the mindless action game that for many non-gamers causes them to look upon video gaming as a childish hobby, but is this any different from movies? People seem to forget when making this comparison that, like games, not all movies are superb pieces of art. The best selling films are always the mindless action blockbusters, turn your brain off for an hour or two and just ride the roller coaster. The highest grossing films of all time are mostly special effect big budget bonanzas. We see this every year, the summer blockbusters- the highest grossing films of the year- are usually mindless action films. This year we had the perfect example of Transformers 2, which was like a thrill ride which kept painfully crashing. This is the same thing we see every year, the biggest films are the action films just as the big games are the action games.

People don’t seem to realise that like films there is more to games than just the mainstream. Games like movies are just a way of telling a story, and the interactive nature of gaming can make it a more compelling way of doing so. My examples for the games versus movies debate are as follows:
 Metal Gear Solid IV
 Half-Life 2
 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
These are all looked upon as great games, just in the way that the movies with superbly told stories are looked upon as the great films. The thing which makes these four games special, (and many others) is that they are comparable to films yet manage to surpass them.

Let’s start with Metal Gear Solid IV, the reason for this games inclusion is written right on the back cover, ‘Hollywood-like visuals block buster effects, incredible surround sound and a musical score that push the limits of interactive entertainment.’ This sounds just like the mindless action films of earlier yet this game is held in extremely high regard, gaining perfect scores form prestigious game reviewers. Could this mean that games are just mindless action and this one is the most mindless of all? Of course not, what makes this game superb is the way it tells its story. This game has an unbelievably convoluted story, which twists and turns all over the place. The story itself may sound bad on paper but when you see the way it is told it becomes phenomenal. This is a story which wouldn’t work in a movie, for one it is too long, the average movie is just over an hour and half long, Metal Gear Solid 4 can take about twenty hours. That is a whole lot more, now in long films the story gets lost and you get bored and just wonder why the film is so darn long. In long games you don’t, if they are done well. The advantage games have above movies is obvious, gameplay, interactivity- it always keeps you involved. When watching a movie you see the hero go through all the challenges from afar and at some points you may feel emotionally involved- feel sorrow, empathy, etc- but you are never as involved as you are when playing the hero. When playing the hero every moment you share, this is highlighted in Metal Gear Solid by one moment in particular. There are many great moments in the game but one stands out, as far as interactivity goes and it is the microwave tunnel. It is a scene towards the end of the game, the second to last bit of gameplay, where the ‘hero’ drags his dying body through a tunnel full of radiation. If you see this in a film it can be drawn out and just become too much, you don’t feel connected you just want him to hurry up and get on with it. However when it is you playing this section you feel totally immersed in the character, you want him to get through you are determined, you have spent so long getting this character there that you are not letting him die now. The fact that you have to work towards goals in video games makes them so much more worthwhile when you get there. In a movie the action plays itself, in a game you have to work for it and victory becomes so much sweeter.

Now Metal Gear Solid 4 may sound like it’s full of lots of action, and it is, but there is more to it than just action. You get the great special effects and the cool fighting scenes because you are playing them but you also get the really deep compelling story and neither of these are sacrificed because when you have something with the same scale as a game you do not need too. You couldn’t fit all of this into a film but in a game there is enough room, you can have the greatest special effects and longest most epic battle scenes without sacrificing story or having a film which is way too long, sadly this isn’t achieved very often in film. Metal Gear Solid 4 surpasses films because of the immersive experience, the great story, and the variety but mostly because of the characters. The game is really about the relationships between people and this is done so well, when you feel you are the character it makes emotional scenes between characters even more emotional. The end result is something superb in any aspect that would not work in any other medium.

So what about Half-Life 2? Once more we have more immersion than a film. This is a game that just feels like a film. It’s fast paced and hectic with crazy stuff happening all around you. You’re always on the run and being shot at, that’s cool to watch in films but actually playing it is so much more exciting. The hero of a film will usually always get through, you won’t, and how the next action sequence turns out is all down to you, something you just can’t get in movies. Half-Life 2 basically has many of the same qualities of Metal Gear Solid 4 as far as surpassing movies goes and this is an older game. It may not look as impressive as current games but the effects and facial animation still look amazing. This game may not have the story of MGS4 in my opinion but it is every bit as cinematic. But what makes it really better than a film is the main character. For one he is a scientist, easy to relate with, not some trained mercenary but an everyday man more like you or me (unless you are a mercenary). This helps you to become one with the character, something rarely achieved in films, also the fact you are playing as him from his viewpoint makes it even easier to get lost in his world. So then surely any FPS game would have done as an example, well no; the special thing about Gordon Freeman from Half-Life is he doesn’t talk. At no point do you feel like you are the character until he says something you would never say, it helps maintain the illusion this is you and once more you couldn’t achieve this in a film.

Now Uncharted: Drake’s fortune, it has a good story like the rest (perhaps not quite as good as most) but what makes it really awesome are the characters. This game actually has good acting (something Metal Gear Solid 4 has as well), the characters feel so real but most of all there is a genuine wit found in few other games. This game therefore manages to be funny without sacrificing gameplay, because the gameplay is fantastic. It’s your usual treasure hunting yarn, which is becoming a tired stereotype in movies because it’s always the same thing. They have the treasure, they haven’t- clue, clue, clue, shootout and then they get the treasure. In a film this can become boring and predictable, but in a game like this where everything is action, action and a test of your skill you have to really try to fulfil the stereotype. This makes it less predictable in a certain way and therefore more enjoyable; you get great gameplay and a good fun story, which never becomes boring because the interjecting gameplay is so fun. The kind of gameplay in this just wouldn’t work in a film. Cover based shooting on the grand scale of Uncharted would get boring, but in a game it’s really tense. Uncharted is an example of something you wouldn’t go out of your way for in a film but something that becomes phenomenal in a game.

The last example is perhaps the most convincing one because it is based on a film franchise and manages to further it considerably. I will make it no secret that the Star Wars films are my favourite films but Knights of the Old Republic just one-ups them. You get the great star wars story you expect, it’s playable which makes it more fun, it’s longer which means you get more Star Wars but best of all you get to make moral choices. This is something you could never get in a film, the hero (or villain) does something and you cannot change that. In this game you can personalise your experience, you can do what you would actually do in that situation or act like somebody else. It’s like if in Star Wars Episode IV you were given the choice as Han Solo to go back and help the rebels blow up the death star or not and you were allowed to just go, ‘nah’. This freedom of choice is astonishing, this wouldn’t work in a film because they are not an interactive, but video games are. These game shows once more how games as a whole can surpass films just by letting you interact.

So in my opinion games can surpass films but there is still a long way to go. There are many genres in which games could never surpass films because of the fixation with games being fun, Schindler’s List can be made as a film because it is an experience and is regarded as a work of art. You put this in a game and then you have something horrific and offensive, it’s like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, watching it makes you feel like you would never want to go to war, you then don’t feel like ‘oh man lets play that!’ Yes a game would give you a greater experience and show war even more realistically if done right, but who would want to play that. I don’t want to be in a war, it’s one thing watching it because your detached and you can see from a distance the horrors. Being interactive can lift the medium of games above films but sometimes it can bring it straight back down again. But gaming should not be discounted and something childish and it should be as respected as film (certainly some films anyway) because it is surpassing it already and when it matures and gets out of the teenagers bedroom it could maybe get even better.

By Stephen Gillespie
Email wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk with your feedback

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2009-09-16T13:37:00.001-07:00

For the few of you who check this site you may have noticed that little has been going on, well that is about to change. Get ready for lots of blogging and lots of good gaming and film news. This has started by Faith's top villains blog which I thought was good but factually in-accurate (ahem Palpatine number 1!) It was a good list though but I think Patrick Bateman's best scene is the axe scene, if you have seen the film you know the one (but read the book it is better).

So things are changing and things are happening and you will see alot. But before I leave you to the change here is a big announcement:

THE COMMENT SYSTEM SUCKS SO IF YOU WANT TO POST SOME FEEDBACK OR GET INVOLVED IN ANY TOPICS THEN EMAIL wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk

A WEEKLY COMPETITION WILL BE HELD WHERE YOU USERS CAN PICK A GAME OR A FILM FOR US TO REVIEW OR GENERALLY WRITE ABOUT OR EMAIL US A TOPIC FOR A BLOG.

Top 5 Movie Villains (Faith)

2009-09-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, my first blog. An insight into the some of the most twisted minds in the world of film. This blog most certainly DOES contain SPOILERS, if you haven't seen any of these films then do so because they are all super awesome. This list was severly cut down (orignally top 10) so please comment with any thoughts or extra info. I'd love to hear. Should be reviewing a box office film next week so look out for that but for now enjoy my "Top 5 Movie Villains"

"Father. I would have butchered the whole world... if you would only love me!” (then proceeds to kill his dad in this scene…)”
5. Commodus (Gladiator, 2000)

What can I say about this guy? Well… He murdered his own father, THEN tries to have Maximus killed, THEN has Maximus’ entire family slaughtered oh and THEN tries to get his sister into bed. Killing your father in the first half hour of the film really sets Commodus apart and the sister complex….Deep family issues. Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is an envious, power mad, amoral demon but lets take into account he’s not just evil he’s INSANE. I think that pretty much sums this character up…

Most influential scene: For me has to be when Commodus gives the thumbs down. Maximus refuses to kill his opponent, the crowd cheers and Commodus frustration at not being able to have Maximus murdered more intense

“I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here you'll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank.”

4. Warden Norton (The Shawshank Redemption, 1994)

The Shawshank Redemption proves to be one of the strongest feature film directorial debuts ever known. Frank Darabount secured the rights from Stephen King for a dollar of his bestselling novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”. One of the rare examples where the film is better than the book. Darabont made numerous changes from the novella in the film’s screenplay most noticeably building on the character of Warden Norton. The novella had numerous wardens through Andy’s stay at Shawshank but reducing it to one adds greatly to character development. Norton is a sadistic, corrupt, overly religious monster who we just love to hate.

Most Influential Scene: The death of Tommy Williams. After Norton orders the brutal murder of Andy’s get out of jail free card we know this is one guy you wouldn’t want to mess with.

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti”

3. Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs,1991)

Manipulative and brilliant Hannibal Lecter, played my Anthony Hopkins, may just be the most intelligent villain in film history. Hopkins Oscar-winning portrayal of Lecter is based on a trilogy of books written by Thomas Harris. It’s amazing to see how after only a few brief meetings Lecter manages to draw in the headstrong Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster, and convinces her to divulge memories of her painful past only strengthening his grip. Also, before I forget, he murders and eats people hence earning the nickname “Hannibal the Cannibal”. Lecter sees past the false promises offered in exchange for his help and despite knowing about Buffalo Bill he withholds the information and plays a sick game of cat and mouse. A world- renowned psychiatrist he knows how to get into your head. He’s dignified, cultured and criminally insane.

Most Influential Scene: It’s hard to choose between his first meeting with Starling of his ingenious escape from prison. I think I’ll call it a tie. The meeting with Starling in intense and dramatic whereas the escape scene is gruesome, action fuelled, well thought out and overall brilliant.

“What do you do?” “I'm into... well murders and executions mostly.”

2. Patrick Bateman (American Psycho, 2000)

I LOVE Bateman. The unique character of Patrick Bateman was created by Brett Easton Ellis and is the main player in his bestseller “American Psycho”. Many campaigned to have this book banned for its graphic descriptions of sex, drug use and violence which (unsurprisingly) increased its sales dramatically and in turn a film was made. I couldn’t think of a better actor than Christian Bale to play Bateman; the charm, the finesse, the attitude and the hint of something darker underneath. Bale studied the character of Bateman intensely and even mimicked his lifestyle with days at the tanning salon and intense physical workouts and this devotion to the role shows. Bateman symbolises what was wrong with the 1980’s, although we are against what he does we can’t help but feel empathetic for the sordid world he lives in as a stereotypical yuppie. Intelligent, classy and a murderous psychopath. What isn’t there to love?

Most influential scene: The business card scene, Bateman’s expression after being constantly trumped by his “friends”. Priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU6SQ_e6VCo

"Are you gonna back all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?"

1. Mr Blonde (Reservoir Dogs, 1992)

There was no doubt in my mind over who would be my number one, from the day I watched this film he’s stuck with me ever since. It’s the number one man, Mr. Blonde. Mr Blonde, played by Michael Madsen, is another villain who’s pleading insanity. This was Madsen’s first team up with Quentin Tarantino but he returned to play one of the Bride’s numerous adversaries, Budd, in Kill Bill Vol.2. A total sadist Mr. Blonde seems to be the only member of the team who really enjoys inflicting pain on others. So lets see what earned him the top spot on this list; unnecessarily killing civilians, taking a police officer hostage, torturing him because its “amusing” and then there’s the whole ear thing... Every time he’s on screen Mr Blonde sends shivers down my spine with his complete nonchalance despite his horrendous acts of violence and his willingness to get back onto the crime scene after being out of prison for a few days. Although he’s seriously twisted we can’t deny that in this movie he just epitomizes cool. The gelled hair, the sunglasses, the great taste in music… Although the ear scene in the most disturbing for me the part following is the most intense. Mr. Blonde has doused the police officer in petrol and he’s made the trail. It’s all so slow and we’re just waiting for that horrific moment…but instead he gets shot by the rat, and at this stage, much to my relief. Stuck in the middle with you will never be the same…

Most Influential scene: Need I say it? The ear scene. We all know Mr. Blonde is bad news; we worked that out as soon as Mr. White gives him an earful (no pun intended) for killing those civilians but as soon as he turns on that radio and whips out the razor blade his villainy becomes immortalised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CdW-4TRcDQ

Also an honourable mention to everyone's favourite Lord of the Sith, Palpatine :)

Guitar Hero 5 track list impressions (Stephen)

2009-08-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

So Activision released the track list for Guitar Hero 5 and here it is with my bracketed opinions on every track!

· 3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"(yeah I'm not quite sure what this song is)
· Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"(Arctic Monkeys would be fun to sing, Northern accents :D)
· Blink-182 - "The Rock Show" (it's on my iTunes, yeah it looks like a fun one)
· Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing" (of course it's on my iTunes, why hasn't this been on guitar hero before. This song is great and has one of the greatest guitar parts ever, will be super fun to play to and singing like Knopfler will be great)
· Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American" (ummm what now?)
· Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire" (I want to sing this one, NOW!)
· Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets" (YES!!! This song is great, yes it's on my iTunes, this will be the most fun song to sing ever, will be the first one I play... hello me meet the real me)
· Mötley Crüe - "Looks That Kill" (yeah Motley crew not that bothered)
· Muse - "Plug In Baby" (on my iTunes, I love muse, this song is amazing- can't wait)
· Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (iTunes, this one is not very exciting, it's very expected)
· Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure" (iTunes, best Queen song, David Bowie is my favourite solo artist and this song is great. I am really looking forward to dueting on this if I can, not so sure about the guitar part though- is there one to speak of really?)
· Stevie Wonder - "Superstition" (Albert likes this guy)
· The Killers - "All The Pretty Faces" (I don't like the Killers!!!!)
· The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes" (I know the song, from n E4 advert or something similar, I'm not bothered either way with this one)
· TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me" (what is this?)
· A Perfect Circle - "Judith" (what is this one?)
· AFI - "Medicate" (what are these songs?)
· Attack! Attack! UK - "You And Me" (seriously what is this?)
· Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands" (Once more, what?)
· Beastie Boys - "Gratitude" (Will be a hell of fun to sing)
· Beck - "Gamma Ray" (He was in Futurama, and therefore must be good although I have never heard him)
· Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself" (another song which will be super fun to sing)
· Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night" (huh?)
· Blur - "Song 2" (not suprisedm will be popular but is a true meh for me, yes it's on iTunes)
· Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower" (yes! iTunes of course, great song)
· Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name" (not really a fan but it is on iTunes, would be a fun one all round though)
· Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)" (huh?)
· The Bronx - "Six Days A Week" (is this a cut down version of the Beatles- budum chish!)
· Bush - "Comedown" (this better be George Bush, otherwise... who?)
· Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"(hehehe Children of Bodom, this will be interesting)
· Coldplay - "In My Place" (I don't like Coldplay and I don't like this song)
· Darker My Love - "Blue Day" (who?)
· Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)" (who?)
· David Bowie - "Fame" (iTunes, I love Bowie and I love this song- it will be great)
· Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)" (don't know of this song but I like Deep Purple alot and there stuff really suits Guitar Hero play, every part will be great)
· The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"(WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?)
· The Duke Spirit - "Send A Little Love Token"(That is not a band!)
· Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf" (hehehe Duran Duran)
· Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe In L.A."(I have heard of this band!)
· Elliott Smith - "L.A." (Activision made this band up)
· Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" (iTunes, I love Elton John, and love singing along- will be great, but where is the Piano peripheral I want more Elton! This one has a good guitar part though)
· Face To Face - "Disconnected" (not a band)
· Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"(made up)
· Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc." (I know this song, yeah will be a fun singing one, not so sure about other instruments, might be an easy one)
· Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman" (again, not a band)
· Grand Funk Railroad - "We're An American Band" (you're not an American Band because you are not real!)
· Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life (Live)" (I know of him)
· Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight" (iTunes, my faovurite band ever, I've seen this song live and it is amazing. Guitar and drums will of course be fantastic. Also Steve Harris is the best bassist ever and his bass lines are insane, that wil be great. I will be singing this one definately!)
· Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain (Live)" (I know of him)
· John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"(not real)
· Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat" (I'm not a fan but I will sing it for comedy value, the other parts will be a bit dull)
· King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man" (my Dad will love this and it is probably on my iTunes)
· Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire" (utter rubbish but I will so sing it just to mock the whiney voices of the Kings of Leon)
· Kiss - "Shout It Out Loud" (they're a fun band for a game like this)
· Love and Rockets - "Mirror People" (there's a futurama episode called Love & Rocket)
· My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday" (who?)
· Nirvana - "Lithium (Live)" (the studio version is on iTunes, yeah Nirvana.. not that bothered)
· No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend" (there is absolutely no doubt that I don't care about this... see what I did there)
· Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)" (iTunes, and of course it's the live version. I think every house has 'Frampton Comes Alive' in it somewhere. This will be great and will be great, singing will be AWESOME and guitar will be also)
· The Police - "So Lonely"(Sting impressions, yeaaaah!)
· Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20XX" (I like Zakk Wylde)
· Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make It Wit Chu"(I know of them)
· Rammstein – "Du Hast" (GERMAN!!! I'm in)
· The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil" (iTunes, will be a great singer and a great guitar, I'm excited about this one)
· Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out" (huh?)
· Rush - "The Spirit Of Radio (Live)" (iTunes, yeah it's ok)
· Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)" (maybe on iTunes and yeah Santana will be great on guitar)
· Scars On Broadway - "They Say" (not real)
· Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You" (totally false)
· Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" (I know of them)
· Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"(I know of them)
· Spacehog - "In The Meantime" (Who? At least Spacehog is a cool name)
· Sublime - "What I Got" (iTunes, yeah I love me some Sublime, cannot wait)
· Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven" (huh?)
· T. Rex - "20th Century Boy" (iTunes, will be super great)
· The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"(?)
· Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak" (iTunes, will be super super great)
· Thrice - "Deadbolt" (?)
· Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down A Dream" (I know of him)
· Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl" (this is the song I know by him, yeah I am going to sing this one!)
· Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk" (???)
· Weezer - "Why Bother?" (I know of them)
· The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid" (NOOOO! I hate the White Stripes)
· Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music" (is this the white boy one, if so... can't wait)
· Wolfmother - "Back Round" (I know them, I like WOMAN!!!!)

So that's the setlist... my personalised setlist in no order would be:

Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"

Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"

Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"

Muse - "Plug In Baby"

Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"

Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"

David Bowie - "Fame"

Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight"

Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do?

Rammstein – "Du Hast" (because it will be funny!)

The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"

Sublime - "What I Got"

Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"

Film Review- Moon (Stephen Gillespie)

2009-08-08T13:01:00.000-07:00

The sci-fi genre has changed alot over the years, it's changed from the deep thought provoking sci-fi of the older generation to the CGI explosion fests that mostly grace the silver screen today. The modern sci-fi usually consits of robots punching each other which is of course very intelectually stimulating. Moon is not like this at all and is just simply amazing. It is a iflm which gets just about everything spot on, it may be a film with the feel of the past but it's the kind of film you want to see more of in the future.

The concept of moon is deceptivly simple, it is the future and man kind depends on the moon's resources for their energy needs. This new found energy keeps Earth in a prosperous state but there is a cost, for one man at least. Sam Bell (brilliantly played by Sam Rockwell) is on a three year contract on the moon where he keeps check on all the machinary and apparatus that keeps the energy coming from the moon. The catch here is that Sam Bell is all by himself, alone on the moon for three years. Well not quite alone, he is accompanied by a computer with the voice of Kevin Spacey called GERTY, a computer programmed to service all of Sam's needs. Although sam has GERTY for company he definately suffers deep problems brought about by extreme isolation. His contact with Earth is next to nothing, he cannot establish a signal in order to have a live conversation with Earth but he can send off messages and recieve them back but this is of course limited.

The film relies soley on Sam Rockwell's performance for he plays the only real part in the film, luckily he plays it brilliantly. Every moment of despair, every character flaw and every glimmer of hope is conveyed masterfully making Sam Bell one of the most believable characters in cinema full stop. The film just has a human feel to it which makes this sci-fi moon based film ironically feel very down to Earth. Although Sam's descent into seemingly insane isolation is a delight to watch it is suprising that this happens due to the brilliance of GERTY. Kevin Spacey's voice work manages to set a mood in every scene, the character of GERTY will keep you guessing. At the start there is a definate underlying menace to his lines but you are never quite sure of GERTY's intentions. This makes a computer yet another compelling character, the interplay between the two superb performances of Spacey's voice and Rockwell's acting makes this film compelling throughout. It is a film which is very action light, it focuses more on the old sci-fi idea of a film of ideas not action, yet suspense is kept throughout by an intriguing and brilliant plot which is complimented by a sublime score.

The music sets the scene for the movie perfectly, it is simple yet powerful. The main tune is a shifting motif which changes slightly throughout certain scenes. It can create an atmosphere of despair, hope, joy or deep sadness at any point and is one more perfect layer to this fantastic film. The atmosphere is one of the best bits, it somehow manages to be an American film with the feel of the quaint British film. It mixes powerful emotional scenes with a dash of humour which add to the human feel of the film and of course to the realism.

To summarise this a a must watch. The fact that this film didn't get a full release is a crime to cinema. I cannot remember a better film that I have seen in the cinema and is a refreshing change to mindless sci-fi. This is the debut film for director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) and looks like the start of a great career. Everything about Moon is just simply amazing, the feel, the acting, the ideas behind it, the script- even the length. At just over one hour and thirty five minutes this film doesn't drag at all and makes the powerful ending scenes even more effective. This is a film which needs to be experienced in the cinema so go out and see it! It's a refreshing change to see an 'old fashioned' sci-fi film outshine anything else that has come out recently in the genre. This low budget masterpiece is proof that the Michael Bay treatment is not how to make fantastic sci-fi, this may have a retro industrial look but it is totally fitting and makes for one impressive looking movie. Infact I only have on small complaint with this film, swearing, at some points the ammount of F-Bombs chucked around towards the end seems a bit pointless. It saps the brillaint subtletly from the film slightly but that is the only probel. Every other director needs to take a leaf from Duncan Jones because this homage to Sci-fi's past would make the perfect future.

Rating: 5/5- a truly astonishing piece of cinema, truly deserving of every academy award

Stephen- A short dabble with Killzone 2

2009-08-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

Once more I am very late to the party, last night was my first real play on Killzone 2. This was a game I was very excited about playing and I can tell you now that I will consider it as a purchase in the future. I really enjoyed the time I spent with it, there were a few problems I found with it to me as a player but still I soldiered on through it because it was just so darn fun! My first problem was that it was really hard, this hardness was brought about by several other factors but for some reason i just found it really difficult. I think the main reason was it took me a while to get a hold of the cover system, the first level is instant death if you stray from cover. Now I quite like this in games, I never used to be a fan but since I was converted to the pop up gameplay of Gears of War I've really enjoyed strategic cover systems. I actually think Killzone's cover system is an improvement on Gears of War because it feels more fluid, the cover system is hidden in the gameplay and doesn't stand out as much as gears. The constant on screen prompts of the Gear's cover system really distance it from the actual game, it's great, and you can do alot more in that than you can in Killzone's but still I prefer Killzone's. It's the suprising simplicity that makes the Killzone system so great, simply duck behind suitable cover and you get to sort out your aim on enemies whilst you are hidden, then fire and you will pop out and hopefully kill them. Really simple and really fun, it has few button presses and just works. The fact you can lean out the side of cover is great also. It's hard to explain really how well this works, you have to experience for yourself. But of course it does have on issue that Gear's doesn't, in Gear's you are guided towards cover in Killzone I found it difficult occasionally to work out what would make suitable cover, without on screen prompts it's harder. However I would argue this makes it more realistic and more immersive.

So back to the difficulty, it's hard. Lots of enemies on the screen at once all shooting at just you, but it never feels like it's the game being cheap. I died alot but always I would ready to go back into the area, the checkpoint system is very forgiving, and try out new ways of taking down enemies. It was always my skill level letting me down never the game being too hard, yes it's hard but it's a welcome challenge. However I had it on the easiest difficulty so you expect it to be easy, towards the end of my play though I felt it getting easier as I was getting used to the game. Once you have got a handle of the controls and the cover the game is just fun and not too hard. The controls were a major problem for me at first, they were very stiff. The controls have a very heavy feel to them and if your used to call of duty, like me, it will take a while to get used to them. But they do give you the feel of a big armoured soldier, who annoyingly has the most pathetic jump ever. So this is a problem that you get used to but the actual controls are quite wierd. This is because they are once more differently set out to Call of Duty, the look down the gun button was not left trigger or something logical like that, it was right thumbstick pressed down. This is where the difficutly came from for me. To be honest I did find the game a bit hard, but that was mostly because I kept pressing the wrong buttons.

Finally the layout was a bit annoying to me. The game felt really linear yet with a huge lack of direction. The linear gameplay was fine and made it a really enjoyable shooter but, this was hampered by confusing commands and a general lack of direction. At many points I was unsure where to or what to do because a troop would shout something and I was not sure what they meant. After a while this became easier because the game is so contrived. Blow that bridge down, how? Well look a random RPG right next to you, the person carrying it luckily died. Kill all the enemies on that building, that will be hard! Well right next to you a turret, awesome. This made the game fun but it all felt a bit too convenient. No real complaint, but still at some points there was a suprising lack of direction. The level layout seems quite odd every now and then, really illogical and that makes it hard to carry out orders.

But overall I really enjoyed this game, it's hard but I reckon if you used to all he different factors it wouldn't be that hard at all and on recruit difficulty it could turn out to be quite easy. So I would really recommend this game so go out and buy it! Keep gaming,

Stephen!

Twitter update #1

2009-08-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

We are putting in some good old mouse clicking work to get you guys a pick of great gaming news, so here is a list of people we are currently following on Twitter:

PandemicStudios- creators of one of Stephen's favourite games ever Star Wars Battlefront 2, expecy many Saboteur updates because we are excited for this game.
Sony PlayStation- In Stephen's opinion creator of the greatest gaming system ever, the PS3 which just beats the N64
OnLive Games- Albert is interested in how OnLive is going seeing as it could revolutionise PC gaming, something he is fond of. Imagine how much easier it would be if you could play great games without worrying about hardware configurations- if this works we could see this. (Stephen- Albert obviously hasn't heard of consoles, they've been rocking the you don't need to buy new hardware for every game thing for ages, check one out :P)
Valve- Albert loves CounterStrike and we both agree that Valve are awesome!
NPDgroup- It's good to check what games are selling in America!
Tim Schafer- A gaming legend, this site will keep us amused and we can bring you Brutal Legend news alongside some Monkey Island stuff hopefully
Insomniac games- A strange developer, they are totally 3rd party but only make Playstation games, odd but awesome seeing as Stephen is a PS gamer. We have insomniac to thank for greats such as the Spyro, Ratchet and Clank and Resistance Franchises
Peter Molyneux- This guy iso ne of the great inovative minds of gaming, we can get some good Lionhead news and listen to some crazy ideas
Bioware- The Old Republic! Need I say more, well I need. These people made Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and the upcoming Dragon Age
Bethesda Blog- All your news regarding the stupid ammount of Fallout 3 DLC and maybe we might get some Elder Scrolls news... eventually, here's hoping!
Rockstar Games- GTA news, always needed.
Tecmo Games- Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alice, Rygar and Fatal Frame- not to mention sports games. A good one to check out every now and then!
Codemasters- Great racing games, Colin McRae Rally, TOCA and Race Driver. Also check for Brian Lara Cricket, Lord of the Rings Online, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint
EA- It's EA, they're pretty big you know!
Capcom- Street Figher, Resident Evil, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Monster hunter, Lost Planet and even more... they are massive!
Ubisoft- Too many games to list, games we are watching out for especially- Assassin's Creed (anything) and Splinter Cell Conviction
Naughty Dog- Famous Crash Bandicoot developer who are now working on the Uncharted series, we will keep you posted on that!
Rare- Stephen loves Rare! Come back to Nintendo Rare, make some good Wii games... PLEASE!
Gamespot and staff- to get some news
IGN- News
Wittertainment- Film news and because Stephen loves Mark Kermode
Stephen Fry- Isn't it Twitter law to follow him?
Waist High View- A friend of Albert
thestephenage- Stephen's Twitter that he has never used
Qi stuff- who doesn't love Qi?

2009-07-31T14:50:00.001-07:00

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WASDBLOG

Stephen Update- What am I playing?

2009-07-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

As you might have guessed, me and Albert both play alot of games. Also we play a large variety of games so it's always a good idea to keep you guys posted on what we are playing. I have a few games on the go at the moment but only a few are going seriously. I'm still fiddling about with Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, at this point however it's just me shooting my guests across whole parks using high powered slides- so much fun!

Other than that on the PC I am occasionally dabbling with the sequel to one of my favourite games of all time, KotOR II. I don't know why I am not playing much of this because when I play it I really love it, I love the decision making and the gameplay really works for me. I think the problem is that I don't have the time for it, it's just one game too many and I started playing it after other just as in depth games. The kind of games I am playing on the PC at the moment are just fun blasts, something to amuse me for an hour or so when there's nobody to talk too and I just want some simple fun. For this reason some games I really love are losing out.

However the gaming irony is, the only serious gaming I am doing is on my Wii. Yes I know! Gaming oxymoron, serious gaming on the Wii. Don't worry, it's not as shocking as it sounds, I am actually playing Ocarina of Time on the Wii so that's not really a Wii game at all, it's an N64 game (techincally it's a gamecube game because im playing the Windwaker bundle gamecube version). Anyway, I am loving that game. I know I am very late to the party here but it is rather fantastic, however I do not think it is the flawless masterpiece it is made out to be. My complaints are very trivial but annoy me alot, the save system. Why doesn't the game let me turn on the game and play from where I was when I turned it off, or at least at the beginning of that area or room, why do I have to travel half the way across Hyrule every time? It's very annoying, also I don't like how the game deals with death- you get a game over continue and you're left with 3 lives. When you just die at the hands of a boss this is very annoying, I know it's a bit cheeky but can death please replenish me fully. This would make the game easier and in many ways that is a bad thing but would help me and that is all that matters.

So my most played game at the moment is Ocarina, I just beat Phantom Ganon- finally! It took me so many tries, the guess work with the paintings and the fact he just reflects so many attacks is hell. I used that shield button so much that an indent of the letter R from my controller may be permenantly stenciled into my finger! I was covering so much that it looked like I was playing gears of war with N64 graphics. Duck into cover whilst the phantom zaps you from far away, when he gets close reflect his attack because he doesn't reflect them back when he's close to you, run in whilst he's stunned and hack him then repeat. Slow, deliberate and tense- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of War. This game was not that fun and I would't recommend the idea of a Gears and Zelda cross to any developers considering the prosepect. So that's Ocarina out the way, and for the record I am loving it- great puzzles, mostly great bosses which makes just a great game.

On the Wii I am also playing gamecube Windwaker, which I am enjoying but am not playing much. It's pretty and fun. I am playing starfox adventures but haven't for a while because a certain part of a fiery dungeon is just annoying and I got about 12 hours into Twilight Princess. Quite the Zelda fest. This game I am not really liking but we will save that for the next update so, keep gaming!

Stephen

2009-07-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys and Galls (although, statistically, I should only be addressing Guys and very butch Galls...), welcome to our Blog, we'll be working on some material in the near future - such as reviews for current games like Empire: Total War, recent moving pictures, and other such black magic. Also, stay tuned for our Facebook group, myspace and twitter!

5t4y l337

4lbert

Welcome to WASD!

2009-07-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

WASD is a brand spanking new blog created by the deranged minds of Stephen Gillespie and Albert Bezman. Its aim is to keep you informed in the world of gaming and to dabble with a few films on the way- watch this space!