Halo 5: Guardians

Zach Goodier

Halo 5 is the latest installment in the epic saga by 343 Industries. While the Master Chief is still a major character in the story, he now shares the spotlight with Spartan IV Jameson Locke, a former ONI agent who leads fire team Osiris, while the Chief leads Blue team, a group of Spartans he lead in the days before the first Halo games. They are on a struggle to find the truth behind the awakening of the Forerunner guardians: massive machines that are awakening all over the galaxy, destroying settlements as they awaken.

Osiris is the center of this story, and too little is done with them.

The story is, well, it’s pretty bad. It’s easily the worst of the Halo franchise, which isn’t itself a huge deal, but there is a lot of issues here. For one, the Chief is only around for about 3 of the 15 missions as a character, you spend the rest of the time as Locke. Too much of the story demands you invest in hours of expanded universe content to understand the characters and events taking place, which is a bad idea. To make matters worse, the game’s ending is very disappointing. I won’t spoil things, but the main problem is that there really isn’t an ending, just a massive cliffhanger to lead into the next game.

Some campaign levels are pretty, which is credit to the level design.

This bothers me because, while cliffhangers aren’t that big of deal, they need to at least wrap up a story arc in the game itself. While you could argue that you did finish a chapter by the end, the reality is that you fail to accomplish anything significant by the end of the game, and that any meaningful ending was put off until the next game. You could compare it to Halo 2, but I actually felt this game was even worse with its’ lack of a satisfying conclusion to the campaign.

Locke's hinted past is far more interesting than his tedious and uninspired present.

I came in expecting Reach quality of characters, which isn’t too lofty of a goal to reach, but aside from in-game dialogue, there really isn’t much going on. The only one who stands out is Buck, who many will remember from ODST. He’s with Osiris now, and makes the most of his limited time in the spotlight. Blue team never feels at all relevant as characters. Like Osiris, Blue team just feels like some almost useless extra guns, which are only marginally useful to heal you when you get downed.

Multiplayer is what you will enjoy, with new abilities and fun team combat.

So why would you want this game? Well, for better or worse, the multiplayer is the best ever. New modes, like Warzone, being fun and addictive, with teams competing for points in the middle ground before either assaulting the enemy base itself, or reaching 1,000 points by killing enemies and killing NPC characters that periodically spawn on the map, either Covenant or Promethean. The standard modes are back, but I quickly became addicted to Warzone. Unlocking cosmetic upgrades can be fun, and Warzone requisition packs allow you to spawn with some awesome weapons to suit the situation, but push micro-transactions on you. Overall, the multiplayer alone could be worth buying this game for, if you enjoy Halo’s brand of multiplayer.

Warzone levels are a healthy size for big team combat.

Overall, I’m torn with this game. I fell in love with the story of Halo, and I find this game to be a disgrace on that front. It felt thrown together with little care taken for the characters that we follow, and the destination is far from satisfying. 343 clearly put most of their effort into the multiplayer, which saddens me. However, I can’t argue with the results, since the multiplayer is fast-paced and fun. Still, the campaign is too bad to give this game any glowing recommendation for people like me, who want a good story first, and fun multiplayer a distant second.

Good:

-Awesome return of classic Halo multiplayer.

-Warzone is addictive, and promote good teamwork.

-Return of some of our favorite characters, like Lasky and Buck.

Bad:

-Chief isn’t the star of this show.

-Story is all over the place, and doesn’t end in any satisfying way, instead putting everything off until Halo 6.

-Characters are just thrown in, and little is done with them in the story.

Scully Rating: 6 out of 10

Guardians of the Galaxy

Zach Goodier

Well, it’s the moment so many of us were eagerly waiting for… Guardians of the Galaxy has finally arrived, so does it live up to expectations?  The short answer is: HELL YES! It can be nerve-wracking to eagerly await a major title like this, knowing that there is every opportunity for it to go completely wrong, but Guardians delivers roughly as well as the Avengers, and that’s saying a lot.

Story:

Peter Quill is a young boy whose mother is dying in the hospital.  The year is 1988, and Peter struggles to cope with what’s going on.  When we first see him, he’s sitting in the hallway, trying to lose himself in a mix tape.  However, he soon has to face reality as his mother wants to see him to say goodbye, just before her tragic death.  Frantic, Peter runs outside, only to be blinded by a ray of light from the sky, as a spaceship grabs him and pulls him aboard, quickly taking back off and leaving Earth.

Peter's last moments on Earth.

Fast forward many years later, and Peter Quill has become a member of the Ravagers, a group of outlaws that are always looking for a quick buck.  However, Quill has ambitions of his own, and flies down to an abandoned planet to snatch a very valuable orb that his boss made a deal to sell for a hefty profit.  However, Quill soon finds himself faced with others who want the orb, like a green-skinned assassin named Gomora, as well as a talking raccoon named Rocket, and his personal “houseplant/muscle,” Groot.  The 4 get into a fight over the orb (and Quill’s bounty), and soon find themselves all arrested and hauled off to jail.  There, they meet Drax, “The Destroyer,” and soon find themselves on a quest to stop a zealot named Ronan, who wants the orb for much more sinister reasons.

Thanos doesn't really get any major screentime, but like in The Avengers, he's the nefarious mastermind behind most of the galaxy's carnage.

Along the way, this unlikely group of misfits starts to form a very believable bond of camaraderie, and eventually friendship.  It all feels incredibly natural, and progresses throughout the story.  This really sells this story, making all of the characters feel genuine for both being reluctant to trust each other, and for eventually opening up as their struggles force them to lean on each other to survive.

Characters:                               

                               

Our motley crew of heroes.

Peter Quill carries us through most of the story, sporting his old tape player and acting as the closest thing to a leader this group has.  But, don’t let that make it seem like Quill is really in control, as he works alongside some very strong-willed allies.  Gomora is a very interesting character, she starts out as a Daughter of Thanos (the guy from the post-credits scene of The Avengers), and eventually reveals her true goal of betraying the master who slaughtered her family and took her as a prisoner.  She brings some intelligence to the crew, but also brings a cold front that makes her difficult to approach, but hides a person who longs to do the right thing, but has never really learned how.

Love the ship designs, they look both pleasing and practical.

Rocket and Groot are a pair to beat a full house, with Rocket’s dry wit and sarcasm really adding a lot of humor to the crew (especially being voiced by Bradely Cooper), but Rocket has always had to fend for himself, and really has no experience working with anyone besides Groot, who is so simple-minded it is hard to call him a partner sometimes.  However, Groot does provide a positive influence over Rocket, urging him at times to be more of a team-player in his small but significant way. 

Drax is crazy.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was Drax.  He doesn’t come across as a character of any interest, beyond his muscular look and ability to fight like a madman.  However, Drax has a few very noteworthy moments in the movie, where his literal nature results in some very comical moments, and his need for vengeance against Ronan for slaughtering his family gives a drive that seems contagious as it inspires the other Guardians to follow suit.  Drax does have a dumb moments where he calls Ronan to come fight him, naively thinking that he could somehow take on a whole army single-handedly, but his predictable loss does help push Drax to become a part of                                                                               the team, rather than trying to remain a lone wolf.

                          Visuals:

Brilliant visuals make even the downtime feel relevant.

This movie has phenomenal special effects, up to par with The Avengers, but with more originality, since this takes place outside of Earth.  The ships are all neat looking, while looking like practical designs that you can envision being actually made.  The costumes for all the characters feel appropriate, and the set designs are also out of this world (pun intended).  Side characters all felt just human enough to be relatable, but just alien enough not to make it feel like Star Trek, where miraculously 95% of all alien life in the universe looks exactly like we do.

Conclusions:

Guardians of the Galaxy is a phenomenal film that really places itself alongside The Avengers in terms of overall quality, and the feeling of bringing together and unlikely group of brilliantly dysfunctional heroes.  While Ronan definitely lacks the same type of charisma and depth that Loki brought, you really don’t mind, since the story isn’t really about him.  Ronan could have used a little more depth, or at least an explanation as to why he is on this relentless pursuit of genocide, but he’s just there to give the Guardians something to rally against. 

Ronan is the only real flaw in the film, lacking any real complexity, and simply providing an inherently greater evil to force our group of unlikely heroes to discover their inner heroism to overcome him. 

In short, don’t go expecting a compelling villain.  Just go simply to enjoy the brilliant special effects, epic battles, and a well-cast group of protagonists that play a very believable and compelling group of criminals coming together to save the galaxy from another of Thanos’ minions.

Good:

-Compelling cast of heroes, all of which have their standout moments.

-Awesome special effects

-Mixture of comedy and action keeps the pacing really solid throughout, with little “downtime” for this movie to feel stale.

Bad:

-Lacking a Loki-quality antagonist, meaning the villain doesn’t have the same complexity and charisma as Loki had in The Avengers.

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10

World Premiere of First Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

Zach Goodier

Hey guys, Zach here, I'm going to try to get a full article up later tonight, but for now, I have a trailer for you guys: Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, I have very little experience with the franchise, so I probably can't give it the review that comics fans will appreciate.  However, as a general nerd/fan of all things that are awesome, this has a my seal of approval so far.  The action, humor, and quality are all far above par for what I deem to be worthy of interest, so I will definitely be looking to give this a watch when it comes out.  So relax, and enjoy this trailer for the upcoming movie, Guardians of the Galaxy.