Pages

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Razer Carcharias


By: Sean Dibble

Ok guys, so I went out a few weeks ago and got a new gaming headset and want to tell you what I think of it. This gaming peripheral is by Razer, personally my favorite gaming gear company. I know that the last gaming headset I purchased from this company the Kraken was subpar and I won't lie getting the Carcharias was a little nerve racking, but my gut was telling me it would be a good decision and my gut was correct. The Carcharias is simply amazing and well worth the 70 dollars I spent on getting them. The sound is beautiful, the mic is flawless, and it feels so comfortable. 


Sound Quality- So if you're getting a gaming headset you want to have amazing sound quality, I mean if you don't want that why bother spending your hard earned cash on getting a headset? Well the Carcharias is well worth the money. It features surround sound speakers quality and each earpiece has its own separate driver that you can calibrate to be flawless for your preference. The headset also comes with a volume control scroll so you don't need to mess with your computers volume, you can just flip the wheel until the sound is perfect for you. 


Microphone- Sometimes you need to chat with other gamers either to tell them where they need to be or to laugh at how bad they are doing. I personally am the one who is being that one guy who is terrible at multiplayer games and getting yelled at though so I need that mic to defend my mom who for some reason always gets brought up in these situations. This is great because some of the mics I've had the privilege of using in the past have made me sound like a chipmunk or would make my voice cut in and out and that doesn't really help you defend your style of play. This mic however is flawless, no chipmunking or cutting in or out and the mic is stylish too so if you're making a webcam video you look that much cooler.


Comfortability/Style- The Carcharias is so comfortable that I often forget that I am wearing a headset at all which is a huge plus when doing long gaming stints. With previous headsets that I have owned (including the Kraken) after about 2 or 3 hours my ears would start to hurt and I would need to stop playing, but not with this headset. I started playing Skyrim at 2 pm and at 6 pm I looked down and was like wait what? And the style is oh so beautifully slick and slim, the black and green design will have any gamer drooling over them. 


All in all, the Carcharias is the headset for a gamer on a budget, it is not at the top end of gaming headsets but its worth more than what you pay for it. The only downfall to this headset is the cord length, I do not know why but this Razer headset has a shorter length wire than the ones I've used in the past and while it something small it takes away from a great overall package.


Good:

- Extremely comfortable for long playthroughs

- The look is sleek and stylish

- Individual drivers in each ear piece to adjust the sound quality to your preference


Bad:

- An unfortunately short cord



Scully Rating 9.5 out of 10

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Bleach 603: What the Hell

Zach Goodier





Juha Bach steps forward, forcing Niyama to pause and question what abilities he is faced with, beyond what he already knows of from the previous battles with Yamamoto.  However, it is quickly revealed that what Juha Bach is doing is not stepping forward to fight, but culling the power of his Sternritter back to him.  This doesn't bode well for the Quincy still battling down in the Soul Society, but it also doesn't bode well for Squad 0, as Juha Bach uses his power to resurrect his fallen guards, seemingly more powerful than ever.  

I was either expecting Juha Bach to roll over Squad 0, or pull some other ace from up his sleeve, otherwise Ichigo wouldn't even be needed in this fight.  It is unclear if Squad 0 will be able to maintain the edge over the Sternlichter, or if Ichigo's friends will have to assist in these battles.  Still, if things continue to bode ill for Squad 0, Ichigo and his friends may be the last hope to stop the Vanden
reich.

Naruto 698: Naruto and Sasuke Part 5


By: Robert Murphy
Link to the manga here

It finally seems like the long journey between Naruto and Sasuke is about to come to an end. Last week we saw Sasuke gear up to take his final blow against Naruto, the two are both on their last legs in terms of chakra and we even had a good old fashioned fist fight come up between the two to show just how exhausted the two have become. It isn't much of a surprise all things considered, they've both thrown out their strongest attacks at one another and it has devastated the ground they stand on. Naruto and Sasuke have had a long and complicated past and we've always heard how Naruto always thought Sasuke was the coolest and how he always wanted to be like him and fight him. Now though we learn what Sasuke felt for all those years as the two joined together on Team 7 and fought beside one another. The end, it's sad to say, is right around the corner and Sasuke and Naruto impart their final words to one another. You will not want to miss this chapter everybody, so click that link and dig right in. 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Fury


By: Robert Murphy

There are very few things in this world that can be universally hated by everyone and anyone when brought up or thought about and Nazis are probably somewhere near the top of that list. For the second time we see Brad Pitt (playing Sgt. Don Collier) take on this enemy, this time playing a World War 2 tank operator nicknamed "Wardaddy," he and his crew have fought hard and are one of the fortune few American tank regiments to survive countless battles across Europe and Africa. This is no small feat either as American tanks had a tough time standing up against their German counterparts and not to mention when you see a tank you tend to focus all your efforts to destroy it. What hasn't changed for Pitt this time around though is the killing Nazi business that he so relished and in one of the bloodiest conflicts the world's ever known, we see that business is still booming.


The first scenes of Fury, we meet Wardaddy and his crew trying to go unnoticed after a shitstorm that's left everyone in their regiment dead on the battlefield around them but like countless times before "Fury" still keeps rolling forward. However, one thing has unfortunately changed as one of the team is now sitting beside all of them with parts of his skull splattered over his seat. This unfortunate turn of events leads to the introduction of a new team member, straight laced and shaven Pvt. Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) that was picked right of the writer's pool and put before battle ridden Sgt. Collier and his team. Perhaps the best advice that Collier gives to Ellison is to not get too familiar or close with his team, a cold remark at first glance but after seeing what they all go through, you can understand. The men who have served under Collier all this time are a bit of a mixed bag that you wouldn't expect to go together but do well on screen, Gordo (Michael Pena) is a Mexican-American, Coon-Ass (Jon Bernthal) is a foul mush mouthed man from somewhere in the American South and Bible (surprising to see Shia LaBeouf) serves as the groups conscious. Bible is perhaps my favorite among the group other than Wardaddy, the two have a relationship that is one of the best touches to the movie outside of the action and though Bible is more inclined to resit scripture, he does let the curse words fly when the situation calls for it. 



Outside of the tank, we see all the gruesomeness that this conflict brought forth as you see heads explode from shell fire, limbs get cut off by machine gun fire and bodies burn to a crisp and men scream in agony till they finally collapse. The chaos of battle is all too real and well depicted throughout the story, it's something that I haven't seen captured so well since Band of Brothers. For the rest of the crew though this is all business as usual, war turned the squeamishness of killing and taking a life a far more easier thing to do than it is for Ellison and once he sees his first death he almost can't believe what is happening around him. There's definitely a blurred line that comes out of conflict and the question of whether or not what is being done is ethically right but when Collier tries to teach Ellison that he needs to kill or be killed, the line starts to disappear for him. In fact, by the end of the movie you almost wouldn't have expected Ellison to be someone whose never seen action a day in his life. Collier almost becomes like a teacher and is a fatherly figure to Ellison and most of the crew for that matter, Bible is just about the closest to Collier's level but the rest need a bit of smacking around and he knows it. But even Collier has his moments where he knows that this conflict has effected him in a big way, the whole movie does a terrific job of showing the struggle they all go through and at one scene in particular the dysfunction reaches a severely critical point. The scene where Collier and Ellison discover to German woman in a recently captured town paints the picture of a dysfunctional family moment that goes from calm and peaceful into a nightmare very quickly. 



For the most part Fury does a great job of portraying a realistic war adaptation, that is until the ending of the movie where the team is the last ones standing after a tank skirmish kills their team members and they are stranded by a mine taking out their movements. This leads us to the big finale where the men decide to stay and fight off an advancing SS battalion so they don't flank the Allied forces. The SS are a hot button for Collier as they are separate from the regular German soldiers, they made children fight after killing their parents and hung people for disobeying them. The fight is seems far too ridiculous for these five men to survive as long as they do against the five hundred soldiers armed to the teeth with weaponry that could easily take out an immobilized tank. There's also the long winded speech preformed by the leader of the SS battalion during the fight where his men are getting slaughtered. It's not that the fight is too ridiculous or crazy but it shouldn't have gone so well for Collier and his crew for as long as it did. 



Overall though Fury is a great griping and gritty war movie that takes a good look at what this conflict was like. Shia LaBeouf's Bible and Brad Pitt's Wardaddy were excellent characters and share amazing on screen chemistry that I did not expect to see. The movie does not shy away from telling you how things are going to be in terms of it's characters and all that is going on around them. Jon Bernthal's character probably says it best in apologizing to Ellison as he states that they're not good men, he might be because he hasn't gone through what they have but that might be a good thing. 



Good:

- A truly griping war story

- Great performances by all of the cast members

- Pitt and LaBeouf have fantastic on screen chemistry


Bad:

- The ending is a little over the top and shouldn't have gone the way it did for so long

- A few lull moments in the story that I did not understand


Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10 






Monday, October 27, 2014

Gone Girl


By: Robert Murphy

Often times I will look on in ridicule of those Real Housewives TV shows and think about how someone can be so spoiled and self righteous but after watching Gone Girl, I learned what a truly self righteous woman is like. Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) plays the suburban husband and upon watching the first scene I was thinking that things were going to start out sweet until I heard his voice dictate his intent to smash open her head to reveal the secrets behind his wife, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), soft hearted smile. This notion sets the tone for a movie that I knew was meant to be a little of quilter but I had no idea what I was in for once things started to develop. Nick soon learns that a happy wife is not one that is obtained with a nice home and nice things and if you get lazy in your marriage, you're going to pay the price for it. 


As it is with most any love story things start off fairly gooshy and romantic for this couple, the two share experiences that would make anyone want to puke sunshine and rainbows at how sickeningly good together Nick and Amy are and the two knew this. They both enjoyed being the best couple that they knew, they challenged one another, loved one another and it's actually quite a nice story. We jump to present day and the couple are living in Nick's childhood town after his mother had gotten sick and they moved from New York to try and help her get well. Things are no longer sizzling though between the two and after five years of being together divorce seemed to be coming right around the corner, that is until the morning of their fifth anniversary Amy goes missing. The only thing we are left with are the standard anniversary clues that she leaves for Nick to lead him to his anniversary gift and her narration of her and Nick's life together in her diary entries. As things develop and more and more unravels, Nick begins to look like the fall guy for his wife's murder and his actions during the search for her certainly aren't helping his case. When we start having the truth come out, everything gets much worse for Nick and it's hard to see how he will ever find the truth if he ends up locked away for his wife's murder. 


In any relationship I'm sure that either side would love to know what the other was thinking about the other, it is hard to trust someone and Gone Girl won't make your trust issues any easier when you learn what Amy has done to her husband. The odds from the get go are placed in Nick's favor though because the story follows him getting the clues to Amy's scavenger hunt which turn out to reveal a lot more than a gift for her supposedly loving husband. Even though things haven't gone down a nice path for the two, he is still a good guy but he is left hanging with all the evidence piling against him. What his wife forgets though is that he use to be just as committed to their little game of being better than everyone else at a relationship and that's when the table begins to turn on Amy's story. 


The second half of the movie reveals that in fact Nick is the sap of this story and is stuck in a scheme so meticulously thought out that not even Johnnie Cochran could get him out of it, luckily he does have a killer lawyer, Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry), to help out. Amy gets to tell the adventure she's been on since her disappearance and how she is throwing everything to the wind especially her figure as she mows down on Kit Kats, donuts and all manner of goodies. This also reveals all the hard work and preparation that went into her disappearance, so much so that it literally scared the crap out of me and I had to take a minute to contemplate all she has done. Things don't stay all peachy for her though as she runs into some back woods trouble as she hides out and has to fall back on an old wealthy fling by the name of Desi (Neil Patrick Harris). It almost enough to make you laugh when you see how things turn out for her and by the end I almost did laugh when things change pacing from tragedy to insanity. 


Gone Girl does exactly what it sets out to do and that's make an almost detective like movie for the viewer to watch and solve. I don't think it will make you re-examine your own marriages or relationships in any way because even though there are some extremely crazy people out there, not everyone is in a relationship quite like this one. I really enjoyed all aspects of the movie personally especially when the narrative for Amy finally reflects her true feelings. She finally gives up or is free in a manner of speaking after faking her death and she recounts everything she doesn't have to do for Nick anymore like stay a size 2 and no more blowjobs, she doesn't have to be that person anymore. Nick's narrative I also enjoyed once he realizes to give up on the fact that he's been a good husband in recent years and refers to himself as an asshole. Once he starts to play Amy's game too things get more exciting in the story and had me right till the end. Gone Girl does hit the solid points of an American failing marriage and I think people will see that, everything else though may be up for your own interpretation.


Good:

- A great mystery slash suspense story

- Affleck and Pike preform both their roles beautifully

- Pike's ill gotten adventures after her disappearance 


Bad:

- The ending may not sit well with people


Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10  

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Black Bullet


By: Robert Murphy

Massive viruses and plagues have always been a go to spot for apocalyptic story telling in movies, TV and more and Black Bullet takes a very interesting route with it's interruption of a world ending plague. In the year 2021, the Gastrea virus breaks out and spreads like wild fire throughout the world, this virus infects and mutates organisms of all forms and turns them into monstrous creatures. However, humanity always seems to find a way to fight back and we fast forward to a post apocalyptic future where the last few remnants of humanity have survived by surrounding there cities with giant Monolith walls for protection. These walls protect the lucky few to survive and start new life after the Gastrea wars but the threat of their attacks are still present and a constant fear. Enter the Civil Security forces, a new band of fighters who fight Gastrea along with young girls known as the Cursed Children who have gained small amounts of Gastrea DNA during the time their mothers were pregnant with them. These incredible girls come with a variety of gifts but the same distinct red eyes and together with their Promoter partners they fight Gastrea wherever they may turn up.


Our story follows one particular Promoter, Rentaro Satomi, a young man who survived the long conflicts of the Gastrea wars and his partner Enju. Now when I was first introduced to the two characters they seemed like they would be people that I wouldn't enjoy watching, Rentaro being a snot nosed teenager and in the first few scenes with Enju she gets sprayed with white webbing that she states was "sticky and warm." Yeah you see where I am going with this but fortunately that type of activity didn't continue and my attitude for the characters didn't stay the same either. Rentaro and Enju have a great relationship throughout the series and are really just like a brother and sister pairing, Rentaro is good hearted and protective of Enju even though she is a Cursed Child and could destroy most of the city if she wasn't a sweet and innocent young girl. Enju is the perfect younger sister as well, except for her urge to tell Rentaro that she wishes to marry him, she is young and full of power but yet she just wants to be with Rentaro and go to school and be somewhat normal despite her and Rentaro's jobs. It's a good dynamic that the two have, even if it is something you might have seen before it will still grab your attention because of how great the characters are especially when they're put together. 


This fact is also generally true for all of the characters in Black Bullet when it comes to enjoyable characters. Rentaro and Enju are not the only coupling out there, there are many many more CivSec workers throughout the Tokyo zone and they're all ranked on their strengths along with their partners. Rankings are bestowed after completing a certain level of job or a certain amount, taking out dangerous Gastrea and so on and are important aspects in the CivSec organization. Not every Cursed Child is the same, most have different Gastrea abilities such as enhanced speed, night vision sight, advanced intellect or better regenerative factors. Also not all Promoters are as tightly knit as Rentaro and Enju though, many Promoters just see their Cursed Child partners as tools that they use to fight Gastrea, some barely feed or talk to their partners and treat them worse than garbage. Many regular people also treat the Cursed Children this way as they think that they're Gastrea themselves and are just like the creatures that killed their families and destroyed humanity. This is a sad fact because these girls are young and don't live very long due to the Gastrea DNA in them, they don't have the same rights as regular people either and live on the outskirts of the Tokyo area. It is a sad and touching part of the story especially as Rentaro meets so many Cursed Children and tries his best to help but there is a lot of hate against them and tragedies often fall all around him, this makes him question his job and what he is doing more than once. 


Now as I said, viruses and plagues are nothing new and in the anime world this is true too but the Gastrea virus was still quite interesting to me especially with the level of detail and information I received about it during the show. Often times a show will put out a disease or an epidemic and I never get any details about where it came from, what it is and how it works but not with Gastrea. Often times Rentaro visits a doctor named Sumire Muroto and through her dialogue I gleamed details about Gastrea such as how the virus mutates regular DNA to allow giant exoskeletons of normal animals even though it'd normally be impossible. It isn't super relevant to the story but for building the rich atmosphere of Black Bullet it was something that made me enjoy things even more. Gastrea themselves were also already an interesting aspect to story to me and just like the Cursed Children, they have their own rankings. Gastrea strengths and evolutionary chain number one through four and at level four they are done evolving but some go even further to a level five Gastrea and these were the ones that led to the world's destruction and not even the Monolith barriers can stop them. Most Gastrea look like bigger versions and minor alterations of regular animals to swell the shows bigger fight scenes but the ones that do get emphasized such as the level 4 and higher are usually something quite unique. 


Black Bullet may not break any molds in terms of the storytelling format it uses but when it comes to the story and it's characters you will find something great. The relationships between some of the Cursed Children and their partners are some of the best pairings I've seen in an anime in a long time especially Rentaro and Enju. There are those inclining moments of fan service when it comes to some of these young girls and their affections for Rentaro but I don't think it was meant to be taken this way and I often felt it was meant to be taken as heart felt moments between the characters. Also if you could not tell from my babbling about Gastrea, the world of Black Bullet is rich in it's storytelling whether it;s with post war technology, the Gastrea creatures or the Cursed Children, it all caught my attention and pulled me into the story and that to me is the makings of a great anime. 



Good:

- Rentaro and Enju share a great brother and sister style partnership that I loved

- Characters were all engaging and interesting 

- There's a rich amount of back story and knowledge to what is going on in the world

- The Cursed Children were a touching part to the story


Bad:

- The format to the storytelling is nothing new

- Some suggestive moments with the Cursed Children's affections for Rentaro


Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10 


Friday, October 24, 2014

Annabelle


By: Robert Murphy

I've said more than once that when it comes right down to things I can be a huge chicken, whether it is a good horror game or horror movie, I generally shy away from those sorts of things until I can safely hide and pause the movie in my own home. But when it comes to Annabelle I just couldn't help but sit down and watch it despite my hatred of creepy dolls. What interested me most about the movie is that the doll named Annabelle has already made a big screen debut in The Conjuring and during her brief glimpses in that movie she peeked my interests. I apparently wasn't the only one as we are now introduced to her very own film and we see just why the doll is now kept behind a glass case and is blessed by a priest twice a month even after the demon was exorcised. 


In the late 1960's Americans were introduced to a new sensation that they had not had to deal with before via the occult and other groups like Charles Manson and his followers. People were getting into all sorts of craziness and going around causing trouble in the picturesque and seemingly peaceful era in American history and one of these groups decides to knock on the door of our main characters Mia (Annabelle Wallis) who is pregnant with the first child of her doctor husband John (Ward Horton). Luckily the two survive their encounter with the two people who come to prove their devotion to Satan by killing innocent people, this is thanks to the unbelievably fast 911 response made a minute before. However, the attack was a success as the two manage to call something forth and it apparently likes to play with dolls. Mia has plenty to spare though so she doesn't mind throwing Annabelle away when weird occurrences started to happen in the couples first home.


Now for a movie about a doll you'd expect to see the darn thing move every once and awhile but Annabelle is a stoic type and the only movement that ever occurs is done by our resident demon ram creature that was summoned. Creepy camera angels and long dramatic stares at the doll are meant to disturb and scare audiences never work out as a bad guy in a movie that doesn't move doesn't lead me to fear it in the slightest. Think about it this way, what if Chucky never moved in his movies, even when he was sitting still and playing possum you knew he'd move and make an evil face or witty remark as soon as he was alone. Even later on when the demon possessing the doll starts to care less and less about playing things safe, all Annabelle ever does is plop to the floor or get some unfortunate blood shot eyes, maybe she went swimming with her eyes open. 


The demon creature in the movie though will lead to a few jump scares for audiences especially in it's first appearance in the creepy basement of Mia and John's apartment building. The demon plays constant tricks later on in the movie to make Mia suffer and give up her soul to him that made me smirk at pure genius of the evil trick than fear it. One scene in particular where Mia smashes a doll that laughs and mocks her turns out to be her baby and she cries emotionally over her baby but then turns out that everything was okay. Again though, Annabelle is meant to scare and you know even a scary demon can't make you jump the way the commercials made you think that you would. 


In conclusion, I may be a chicken at times but Annabelle fails to even scare me out of my seat. The back story with the occult in the beginning of the movie peaked my interest a bit and I certainly did not expect a couple to come in and start murdering people in a populated rural community but then again most people thought the same back then. Annabelle herself fails to keep my interests alive once I realize that she barely ever moves or make an impact in the story. This is just as true for the demonic presence for the movie who has one or two good jump scares that are enjoyed and then forgotten while you wait for the credits to role. In the end I really wish the exorcists from The Conjuring would have made an appearance in movie, they get a mention but they don't show up to save the day like I thought they would, sad face.  


Good:

- A few briefly enjoyable jump scares

- The occult story thrown in gets you interested but ends shortly after it began


Bad:

- Annabelle isn't the creepy doll you're led to believe

- The demon controlling Annabelle is just as unimpressive when you get down to it

- The appeal you gleamed from The Conjuring doesn't transfer over into Annabelle 


Scully Rating: 3.0 out of 10 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Bleach 602: Bane Licking Good

Zach Goodier




Sternlichter "D," Askin rises up to challenge the seemingly unstoppable Nimaiya, he reveals the nature of his power (always a bad move), and claims that he has already defeated Nimaiya by making his own blood toxic to him.  It doesn't take long for Nimaiya to find a solution, calling on his teammate Kirinji to use his "Blood Hell" spring water to replace his blood, which works in curing his sudden ailment.  He then proceeds to strike down Askin (again), with a much stronger strike, and then turns to challenge Juha Bach.  Does he have what it takes? Or will Ichigo have to arrive to finish the job?

I'm still fuzzy on a lot of the details of Askin's power, such as how he is able to alter the "lethal dose" of anything, let alone make blood toxic to particular people in the first place.  Furthermore, it seemed as though Askin cannot die at all, yet a second sword strike was able to put him down for good?  A lot of details on how these characters have and control their powers seems to go unexplained, and it makes the story as a whole feel somewhat sloppy or unrefined.  A lot of these concepts are neat, but when they go without explanation, it begs the question of how they're doing it in the first place.  Maybe, assuming Askin isn't truly dead, we might see an explanation later, but for now it raises a lot of unnecessary questions.

Naruto 697: Naruto and Sasuke Part 4


By: Robert Murphy
Link to the manga here

Hey everybody, the battle continues on in this week's chapter of Naruto. All the cards have finally been laid on the table between Naruto and Sasuke, no more talks or discussions will stop this inevitable fight and even Naruto realizes this. The two have also just unleashed their new most powerful attacks against one another and if you haven't realized it before their powers have reached godly levels of their own just like the statues of their predecessors that stand in the background. Unlike the last time though this attack will prove to devastate not only the land around them but also send tremors outward for miles that even Kakashi and Sakura can feel. This battle just keeps getting better and better as it goes and you won't want to miss what's coming next so dig right on in everyone and I'll see you next time. 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Alien: Isolation

Zach Goodier



After Colonial Marines, most of us Alien fans had a bad taste in our mouths, and feared that the long awaited train wreck would mark the end of the Alien franchise in video games.  When news came down that Isolation was being produced, the mix of anticipation and dread was palpable.  So does this title live up to our expectations, and is it truly the game that Alien fans have long awaited?

In short, the answer is a resounding yes.


Servastapol: the place where nightmares go to die at the hands of even worse things.


We begin with Amanda Ripley, Ellen’s daughter, who has been working in the region where the Nostromo went missing in an effort to find some sort of closure for her missing mother.  Opportunity comes along when a representative of Weyland-Yutani corporation comes along saying that the Nostromo’s flight recorder has been found, and that a ship has been hired to take a small group to Servastapol Station to recover it.  Since Servastapol is owned by a rival company, Seegson, the company is anxious to recover the recorder ASAP. 

Scenes like this really sell this as a faithful emulation of the original work(s)


Upon arrival, attempts to hail the station are met with static, unrecognizable responses, leading the crew to assume the transmitter is down and dispatch Amanda with Samuels and Taylor, a legal representative for Weyland, to board the station via airlock.  After being separated, Amanda quickly finds the station, which is in the process of being decommissioned, has gone eerily dark, with few signs of life aboard.   It doesn’t take very long for Amanda to discover why: a Xenomorph is loose on the station, and the few survivors that are left have gone underground to avoid drawing its attention.  What ensues is a quest to survive the Xenomorph’s relentless hunt, and find a way to get off the station.

This scene is eerie, but at the same time really fits the role of Servastapol as a former hub of commerce.


Story wise, this game does a great job of mixing up the elements that made both the first and second movies great.  The Xenomorph is a hunter, akin to the first movie, while mixing the elements of mistrust and conspiracy that worked in the background of both movies so well.  As you go through the game, survivors, androids, and even some of your friends turn on you, keeping you on your toes, and always having to be ready with an exit plan. 

"Working Joe's" are cheap androids manufactured by Seegson... They rate fairly high on the "creepy" scale, but their static nature tends to make them far less of a threat than the xenomorph.


Now, the major draw to this game has been the Alien itself, using sophisticated “AI” to track down the player and offer unique and stressful challenges each and every time you play, even the 3rd or 4th time through.  Now, there really is no such thing as a true “AI” in video games, but this Alien is as close as anyone has really gotten in a video game.

If this is what you see, then you're already dead.  Just accept it.


The Alien seems to randomly select directions, as well as when to double back down a hallway.  Since you have no direct way of killing the Alien, your only viable option is stealth.  But that is difficult when the Alien is running on a random path that prevents you from being able to learn patterns or anticipate where it will go.  This makes for some very stressful moments throughout the game, as the Alien challenges both your instincts on when and where to go and hide, as well as your intellect in finding ways to move it out of the way, or towards a group of hostiles to clear the way to an objective.  You always feel like the Alien has intelligence, and it’s movements look and feel very natural, adding a very creepy vibe to match the tense music that accompanies the Alien being in close proximity.  You can outsmart it for a time, giving you the feeling of brilliance, but it always adapts to your tactics, learning your methods and adapting its' searches to limit your options, making the game feel harder as you expend your options, making your best option the one where the alien never even suspects you were there.

The motion tracker is here, and with it comes waves of tensity with each and every ping.


Between the atmosphere, which is taken directly from the first movie, even working in a few set recreate meticulously from the original film, as well as mixing in some elements from the second movie, like the motion tracker.  Items like the flamethrower and improvised devices like flashbangs and smoke bombs can be crafted with materials you find throughout the station, and give you the feeling that Amanda is truly a Ripley, with engineering prowess to match the good survival instincts.

These are always a welcome sight, but they don't keep the Alien away, be careful of your surroundings before saving.


The only faults this game has is that most of its big twists and turns are also inspired by the original 2 movies.  This makes them rather predictable, which takes away from the impact.  There are still a couple of surprises, even for Alien fans, but if you’re a true fan of the original movies, then you will probably feel ahead of the story for much of the game. Also, the difficulty can make the Alien feel almost deaf/blind on easy, and exceedingly sensitive on hard, so normal is recommended, but it can still be tough at times, as this game requires as much patience as it does nerves of steel.   It has been said that this game is too slow due to the death rate and slow pace, but I argue that this is meant to feel more like the classic movies, with more attention to atmosphere and set pieces, which really works in this game.  This isn’t a modern shooter, and you will be punished for even thinking that as you play.  You can’t just walk out and kill the xenomorph, don’t even try.  So for those who like to let their guns and explosives do the talking, just don’t bother picking up this game, the Xenomorph is too adaptable and naturally resistant to simply drop it with a couple of shots from the civilian-grade weapons you have on-hand.

With access to weapons like the flamethrower later on, you have effective defenses against the alien.  However, they are only deterrents, and won't keep it away for long, especially with how it eats up fuel.


Overall, this is one of my favorite games this year.  While the story is a little too derivative at times, it really does a good job of introducing a strong female character that feels at least in the same league as Ellen Ripley.  The Alien is the major draw, though, with natural, yet erratic behavior that makes for a constant tension that gives this game replay value.  I’m hoping this is the start of a new era in Alien games, with better attention paid to getting the xenomorph(s) right, leaning towards experiences that make you truly feel like the prey, rather than turning the most dangerous life-form in the cosmos into a target in a shooting gallery.  This game could be a turning point for the franchise in gaming, lending more focus to the quality of the alien and the levels, rather than making it feel like just a generic shooter with  Alien texture packs.

Good:

-Amanda is a worthy successor to her mother, Ellen Ripley.

-Servastapol has its’ own stories and lore to explore, which adds a lot to the Alien universe.

-The Xenomorph is one of the best in-game enemies I have ever seen, hands down.

-Crafting system makes survival feel like something you can better prepare for, which makes the game more exciting.

Bad:

-Story can be derivative of the original 2 films, making most of the twists rather obvious.

-Difficulty can be a bit of a drag, with the Alien sometimes seeming too easy on easy mode, failing to notice me in a relatively open situation, so mid-to-high difficulty is recommended for a true “Alien” experience, but you will likely die quite a bit. 





Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple


By: Robert Murphy

Martial arts and fighting clubs have always been something that is featured predominately in many school house anime, everyone belongs to a club in some way or another and I really wish that it was more present when I went to school but these activities are usually used as a back story element. In Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple though we are introduced to the mild mannered Kenichi who dreams of being a stellar fighter one day and protect innocent people with his skills. This however seems like a dream that would never come true as his skills as a fighter are far below anything spectacular, that is until one day he meets a young girl named Miu, a spunky blonde with phenomenal martial arts talent, even if she is pretty much walking fan service in a tight purple unitard though. In hopes of improving his own skills he asks her where she trains and she in turn directs him to the Ryozanpaku dojo, a decision he will come to regret but it is one that will change him from that point on. 


Kenichi is somewhat of a character I expected a main protagonist to be when I first start watching The Mightiest Disciple but I quickly change my perception of him once I see him stand up for himself and others during the series. He proves to be a character with extreme heart and determination as I followed along with his struggles trying to learn from the master fighters at Ryozanpaku. His skills from the get go are lack luster as I mentioned and while it is part of the comedy of the show to see him be put through grueling training time and time again, he still proves to have a great amount of gumption in the face of adversity. The master of Ryozanpaku see this and even though they admit that his training may be fruitless at first, they continue to train him and see him succeed.


The masters themselves are among my favorite anime characters in any series, even Apacha who is a kick boxing master that is only able to repeat his name repeatedly like a Pokemon. Every single one of the masters at the dojo are professionals of their own respected fighting styles and Kenichi learns from each one of them, gaining a combination of all their skills and knowledge along the way. The dojo's Elder, Hayato is a towering mass of muscle and even though he doesn't look it, he is the grandfather to Miu and has taught her since she was a child, which proves a challenge for Kenichi's romantic fantasies. By far my favorite master is Akisami, a jujitsu master who also serves as the philosopher style character and he plays it very well. There is also Sakaki, a karate master with a booze problem and looks like something right out of Street Fighter, Kensei Ma is a Chinese martial arts master with a habit for spying on woman which proves to be an issue when you have Miu and Shigure around who is a weapons master and isn't afraid to use them on people.


This all proves to be a hardy amount of content to follow but outside of the training, while Kenichi and Miu head off to school, things slow down a little bit. Kenichi will often get put into fights that he is ill equip to take part in and often times he wins through some skill he learns and you know he is the protagonist so I can except that and the fights are not a dull affair. However, in moments of no action and conversation with characters the pacing with the story can prove to be a slow. A good fight is never too far around the corner but the dialogue and pacing could have used some work here and there to improve my attention to what was going on. 


I do love the fights in The Mightiest Disciple and as it turns out the kids at Kenichi's school like fighting more than most schools you've seen and there is even a feared group of skilled fighters present as well who prove to be Kenichi's rivals for the show. The group is known as Ragnorak and for those of you who don't know that name means bad news in Norse mythology and references like this come up in a few other shows too. Most, if not all the members of the group take on the names of big name Gods and figures such as Hermit, Loki and Valkeryie and prove to have incredible skills to live up to the titles. Hermit is perhaps one of my favorites among the group as he gets more of a backstory compared to other members and is a constant rival for Kenichi. The leader of this group also is a former rival of Kenichi's though going all the way back to childhood and where one has proved to be a unimaginable fighter and lived up to their former pact, Kenichi has had to come along way in a short time by comparison. The final fight between the two is almost like something out of Dragonball Z and watching them trade blows is one of the best fights for the series.


Overall, I enjoyed Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, it is an anime that doesn't go ridiculous with it's fight scenes and for the most part stays firmly grounded in reality. There were some pacing and dialogue issues for me with the story early on, mainly because the stellar characters hadn't come along yet but once they did things picked up. All the masters at Ryozanpaku are great character and while their training methods may seem to be like adventures in torture for Kenichi, they work and make him into a great fighter. I will however stick with a regular work out, one that does not involve pulling boulders, sharp objects being thrown at me and being kicked into the atmosphere by a mild mannered kick boxing master. 


Good:

- Kenichi proves to be a great character with a surprising amount of charisma and later becomes a stellar fighter 

- The masters of the dojo are all hilarious and fantastic characters

- Fights are very enjoyable and get progressively more appealing as they go


Bad:

- Some pacing and dialogue issues

- Fan service with Miu and other female characters


Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10