Friday, April 26, 2013

Star Trek: The Video Game Review - "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a game designer!"

Spock and Kirk take out the writers for this game. 


When it's all said and done, there really isn't too much to say about "Star Trek: The Video Game." It's not a very good game. But it's not a completely terrible one. It's simply a game that borrows wholesale from superior titles and attempts to put forth a "Mass Effect" clone without the incredible graphics or deep storyline. So really not much of a Mass Effect clone at all.

From a story perspective, and the perspective through which I was most eagerly anticipating this game, the game falls pretty flat. A sort-of sequel to the 2009 reboot, the Vulcans are colonizing a new planet that they've creatively titled New Vulcan that is being terraformed by a creation of theirs called the Helios device. (I'm assuming that the shades of the Genesis device from Wrath of Khan are intentional.) The only problem is that a side effect of this device is the fact that it occasionally causes rips in space, forming wormholes that subsequently end up allowing the race of Gorn to emerge. A race of straight up evil lizard people who intend to use the Helios device to take over the galaxy. Apparently. The backstory is there, but it's not strong.

In the meantime, a Starfleet commodore knew that this was going to happen and is very happy about it since this would allow for intergalactic travel with relative ease, consequences be damned. The antagonists are all played very one note and the story between the random areas of shooting is surprisingly sparse and awkwardly paced. Literally the last scene of the game does a smash cut in what appeared to be the middle of the scene into the credits. I honestly threw my hands up out of confusion. Granted, there is a post credit Captain's Log, but the resolution just sort of happens and then the game ends. And this is to say nothing of the very beginning of the game which attempts to hook you in via an in media res scene that's less intriguing and more bizarre.

The gameplay is built around co-op, and while I didn't have a co-op partner with whom to play, the AI Spock did a slightly below adequate job in assisting me. I've seen much worse AI partners, and would have preferred to play alone, but I feel that he was the least of the concerns I had during the game. The controls pretty much did the job even if they didn't feel as responsive as several other triple A titles that it's clearly taking inspiration from. Especially the way that you're forced to scan everything with your tricorder to get the full story. Not my favorite game mechanic. And of course, the game takes on a 100% difficulty increase during the last level which is completely inconsistent from the rest of the game. To me, that just shows a lack of creativity from a design standpoint.

Where the game does shine though is in the performances of all the characters from the movie. In most movie tie-in games, you can hear in the voices of the actors that they're there to collect a paycheck. They don't really act. But here, it's different. They seem to be giving it their all, especially Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. The banter seems true to the movie, although it does seem overly contemporary. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban really throw themselves into these characters which adds an air of authenticity that is otherwise lacking in the relatively creepy character models, buggy gameplay, and poorly developed story. (Even here, I can't get over how awesome Karl Urban is in recreating DeForest Kelley's Dr. McCoy. He made me laugh quite a few times throughout this game while listening to his audio logs just by being his cantankerous doctor self.)

The music, though, is exemplary. Michael Giacchino wrote a handful of themes for the game and it was recorded with a 100-piece orchestra. As a fan of his music, as well as a fan of large orchestras, this was definitely an exciting addition to the game, even though in certain sections the music could get very repetitive. Much of that seems to be the problem of the designers and the not the music though, as random cues would just cut in at times repeating over and over.

When all is said and done, is this game worth playing? Not really. Maybe when it gets down to the $20 range, but I could not suggest that anyone play this for the $60 price tag that they're requesting.

Aside: One of the things that really bugged me was the treatment of the Gorn. Now, in the original Star Trek series, the Gorn were a territorial, yet violent race of creatures with massive strength and little agility. Granted, you only saw one in the original series, but it set a precident. They seemed to have none of those characteristics here, except for the violence. And they were most certainly agile. If you're trying to stay true to continuity, this just seemed like an unnecessary change. I believe in one area, they attempt to recreate that type of Gorn, but it wasn't very convincing and he was still pretty large. I'm not married to the continuity (at least not the way that several fans are in their complete dismissal of the reboot), but what's the point of using the name of a character if you're going to change everything they were set up as? Anyway, minor gripe in a game that had a lot larger ones to take care of.

GRADE : C-

Monday, April 15, 2013

Ninja Turtles gets newest bizarre cast member


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, say hello to your new Master Splinter. Danny Woodburn, he of "Seinfeld" fame, has been cast as your favorite talking rat. I literally have no thoughts on this choice because I'm just dumbfounded as to what direction they're taking this movie. Sometimes you hear a cast and you think "Wow. That could not be any more perfect." Other times you hear of a cast and think "What in the what?" This is one of the latter times.

The four people they've cast as the turtles are people who are very devoid of personality in the few things I've seen them in. And if one thing you need as a motion capture artist, it's personality. Especially Raphael. Couple that with Megan Fox as April O'Neil and Will Arnett in an unspecified, yet apparently important, role, and I feel like we're headed right down the path of mediocrity.

This just seems to be one bizarre announcement after another with this project and while I'm quite curious to see how it turns out, I wouldn't exactly call myself optimistic.

(via)

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Man of Steel viral video highlights Zod's demands




This video was posted on the Man of Steel Facebook page a few moments ago that shows what terrible reception General Zod (the incredible Michael Shannon) gets on Krypton (or wherever he's set up his base of operations). He demands Kal-El turn himself in as garbled video plays showing random Kryptonian symbols and words stating "You are not alone." But seriously, Zod, your planet blew up. Where you guys going to go? I feel like your plan is a little short sighted.

Clearly, the story is starting to come together a bit since we're now only two months away from release. WB will probably be opening the floodgates shortly after months and years of no real information as to what the story is even about. If the earlier trailers and word of mouth are any indication, this is going to be one incredible movie. As long as Zack Snyder has a solid enough script, I don't see why not.

Man of Steel opens on June 14th.

Veronica Mars movie nets $5.7 million from Kickstarter



So, yeah. That just happened. Over 91,000 people donated $5.7 million to the Kickstarter campaign to revitalize Veronica Mars in cinematic form. That's an average of about $62 a person just to see this movie get made, without any guarantee of quality. Of course, given that most tiers had some sort of way to see the movie at no additional cost once it's made, it's almost like people are preordering their tickets at extremely high costs.

As a fan of the show, I couldn't be happier to see this come to fruition, and this Kickstarter publicity will probably help to bump the box office up a bit. Although something tells me that number is going to be relatively low. Many of the people who donated might just end up waiting for their DVDs or digital copies to arrive instead of heading out to the theater. (As a backer, I'm still unsure as to whether I'll buy a ticket knowing I've already secured a Blu-Ray.) Plus, who knows how many theaters will end up showing the movie when it's all said and done. There's still a lot of variables still up in the air to ultimately gauge the long term success of this endeavor. At any rate, this is definitely a fascinating experiment and I look forward to seeing how this all plays out and definitely am interested in seeing how Rob Thomas wraps the whole Mars saga up after the disappointing ending to the third and final season back in 2007.

(via)

Bryan Singer Tweets First Picture of Charles Xavier


So this picture was posted by Bryan Singer on his Twitter account today with the caption "Picture before picture. Tomorrow it begins." I assume this means that tomorrow the filming for Days of Future Past will begin.

The more I think about this movie, the more worried I become. All the ingredients are there to be an epic, incredible movie. But the cast is so massive, and you're looking at two different time periods with a number of stars that I imagine are clamoring for screen time, that hopefully Singer has a singular vision that makes it all come together. Still, there's no way this is any worse than Last Stand.

(And on an additional note, it appears that Professor X won't be stuck in that comatose man's body and ends up looking like himself again. Thinking about X-Men: The Last Stand just makes me sad.)

X-Men: Days of Future Past opens July 14th, 2014. Trailer sooner rather than later, please.

(via)

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Joss Whedon talks Avengers 2 challenges



Joss Whedon recently gave an interview to Total Film magazine and only reaffirmed the fact that Marvel could not have made a better decision keeping him on board. (As if the billion dollars he generated last outing wasn't enough.) Comicbookmovie.com transcribed part of the article where he talks about the pressure of making an Avengers 2.

Via CBM: “The only pressure is the pressure that is there every time I do a new project,” the filmmaker recently admitted to Total Film magazine. “Is it going to be good? It is going to be different? Is there even a reason to make another one? Is there a reason for this to be my next thing? Can I pull it off? I am not going to try and match the box office of the first one because that would be bonkers. Yes, there is a certain level of safety [knowing there's a huge audience] - because now people know about The Avengers and they like the characters so it probably won't completely crash and burn. But you don't want to just get by and do something that is merely OK. If I am going to dedicate three years of my short life to this then I want to do something that I have never done before. So I think of The Avengers 2 as a glorious challenge - it is a sequel, yes, but how can it be different? Of course, the pressure that I don't feel, my body internalises. It happens all the time. I was comfortable making the first Avengers, but I didn't sleep during it.” 


What continues to impress me about Whedon, which you don't always see in tentpole directors, is the fact that he wants to legitimately make the very best movie he can. There's a commitment to quality that's supported by his deep appreciation for the genre as well as understanding of the subject matter. Not to mention the fact that in previous interviews, when people have asked him "How do you make a bigger movie than the Avengers?" And his response was simply, "You don't. You go smaller." I'm paraphrasing of course, since I can't find the actual quote, but he's said a variation of this a number of times. So many directors talk about their sequels being "bigger" and having "more action" and being "more exciting" than the last movie, which to me is a ridiculous endeavor. The number one goal for any movie is to make the best movie you possibly can. Never should the goal be "We have to top the last one!" because that's only going to end up in disappointment. 2015 cannot come fast enough.

Bioshock Infinite Review



This is not going to be a video game review in the traditional sense. I won't be detailing game mechanics or explaining how fantastic the graphics look unless they relate directly to the story. There are thousands of websites out there who do all that and what my focus is when playing most games is the drive to understand the story, completely spoiler free.

To give a basic summary that does very little to truly outline the complexity of the narrative, in the year 1912, a private eye named Booker DeWitt is hired by mysterious individuals to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth from a floating city called Columbia. Columbia is ruled with a bit of an iron fist by a man named Zachary Comstock. A man who has crafted a city so enamored with the idea of American Exceptionalism that people literally pray to Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. Memorabilia throughout the city exalts our Founding Fathers as gods with Comstock as their high prophet, through whom all decisions on morality are dictated.

Unfortunately, Comstock's values are a little close-minded as he is open about his feelings on white superiority and everyone who doesn't share this same background is treated quite literally as a second class citizen. Throughout the game, special bathrooms exist for the "blacks and Irish" and are absolutely disgusting in comparison to the "white" bathrooms. And in the very first turning point, Booker is witness to a potential public "stoning" of an interracial couple where people gather and throw baseballs at the unfortunate "offenders". It's there where things really kick into gear as Booker is spoken of as the "false shepherd" that the citizens of Columbia have apparently been preparing for.

From there, Booker meets several people who push him along on his journey to take Elizabeth from the confines of Columbia. But as in all stories like these, there's much more to Elizabeth than is shown at first glance. And as a result, the story goes into many thought provoking and unexpected places that elevate it beyond almost anything I've seen before.

What's fascinating about Bioshock: Infinite is the way that it tackles a number of incredibly heavy concepts throughout its approximately 10-12 hour journey and for the most part treats them with respect and thoughtfulness. Infinite follows a similar pattern as the original Bioshock did back in 2007, but does it in a fresh and exciting way. The ending of Infinite even provided me with a personal sense of understanding as to why sequences unfold as they do. Although that's not to say others would result with the same idea. While the end does certainly provide for definite, if slightly confusing, closure, there are still elements of ambiguity that are open for interpretation.

The biggest downside of the game is how it never really follows through on a lot of these thought provoking plot lines, as the story becomes more focused on the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth towards the end and much of the analytical is dropped for a plot that goes all-in with the metaphysical. I certainly would have enjoyed to see more depth in regards to the racial plot line as well as more exploration into the actual effect that praying to America's Founding Fathers had on the population, but I suppose given that the purpose of the story is to explore these characters it can be overlooked somewhat.

Another downside is the fact that in order to get 100% of the story, you need to search for it. Throughout the game there are 80 audio files and 37 video displays scattered throughout the city which give insight and background to a lot of characters who otherwise wouldn't have received it. At the end of the game, I had only found 60 audio files and 24 video displays so I missed out on 25% of this background information simply because I couldn't find it. I understand that the primary purpose of a video game is not to deliver a story but an interactive experience, but it still grinds the narrative to a dead halt when I'm running in circles trying to find a dumb audio file to help explain what's going on and the main narrative is calling for me to continue forward. It's certainly a jarring experience when in a normal series of events, the main character would look at the "Important Thing" in the distance instead of wandering around looking for money in trash cans or an audio file hidden in a remote corner. Who knows? Maybe the resolution I was looking for in some of those plot threads were contained in the things I could not find.

But the most compelling reason for viewing this story in such high regard is the treatment of the character of Elizabeth. Ken Levine and Irrational Games have shown that a female character in a game can be as complex as in any other media without having to resort to typical low brow tactics. When you first meet her, locked away in her tower, she's a self-taught, strong yet naive woman who just wants to see the world. After escaping the tower into another part of the city, she hears music for the first time and begins to dance in a large group. This whole sequence is done in such a way that you are really able to empathize with her experience and you feel legitimately happy that this character is able to participate when you witness the joy she exudes in that moment. But as the game goes on, this innocence slowly deteriorates as she is continually surrounded by violence. (This is a first person shooter, after all.) The arc from innocent bystander to understanding participant is one that makes perfect sense in the context of the story and never feels forced as the result of some sort of required gameplay mechanic. And not only that, but she is a companion in the true sense of the word. Never do you have to concern yourself with her safety before yours, she takes care of herself, and involves herself in your battles when she can.

That's not to say Booker is a slouch character. Despite very rarely seeing his face, his motivations are consistent and interesting which keeps you consistently involved in what happens to him next. I absolutely hate the silent protagonist in games such as these, so it was a welcome change from the original Bioshock to be controlling someone who actually resembled a fleshed out character, even though he's not quite as rich a character as Elizabeth. (As an aside: I thought the silent protagonist in the original Bioshock was very well done as the twist explained the reason for this quite well.)

The other characters in this game all have interesting perspectives on religion, economics, social classes, and government in their own individual ways, but most are simply serving the story of Booker and Elizabeth and don't have much opportunity to shine. But the fact that this kind of attention to these background characters is present despite the little amount of screen time that they have (if any at all) just further illustrates the brilliance of this game.

I truly wish that more game developers would attempt such thought provoking games because that's the only way to elevate the medium when an attempt is made to put the story front and center.

The scope is incredible and since I've completed it, there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I haven't wanted to jump back into the world of Columbia and experience it all over again.

Grade: A