Monday, April 29, 2013

PS Move (Why did you die?)


You may remember slightly Sony's push into the motion game market with a PS Move. That was the giant lollipop controller that used the Eyetoy to track motions. While being somewhat what the Nintendo Wii already was it did promise more accuracy and articulation. That was almost 2 and a half years ago and now the PS Move is all but defeated.
The problem was that Sony did not have confidence with it from the start. The opening lineup of games was pathetic including Sports Champions and Kungfu Rider. It was almost as if the marketing strategist realized that they had just made a glorified Wiimote as they were pushing the production button. A slew of dance games, workout games and addons to games that worked best with controllers came shortly after. Nothing seemed to lift this project off the ground even though the Move was a fun party gizmo and a neat exercise tool.
It comes down to the technology being unfinished and not quite up to par what Sony wanted it to do. Sony wanted a toy that was as accurate as a surgeon's scapel and as responsive as a tornado. But you really cannot have that with today's motion technology. Even the Kinect knows to keep the games lite, simple and incredibly easy. So here is what Sony wanted the PS Move to be, but in the end the technology is not there.

The Fight: Lights Out
This brawler was supposed to show how fast and accurate the spheres could react, linking up each movement with a perfect punch. TFLO probably has the most polished system but it is not a game of accuracy and quick reflexes. The gameplay felt more like you were controlling someone with a slight delay. Also the eyetoy needed you to stand back very far and you never could trust if it was calibrated right.

Killzone 3, SOCOM 4 and Resistance 3
The idea of using the Move as a moving gun seems like a dream come true for every FPS fan. That is probably why there are mostly rail shooters for the Move is the PS Store. The problem lies in the fact that the wand acted simultaneously as your pivoting body and your gun. The deadzone's are a real pain in the neck to mess around with until you find the perfect sensitivity to your movements. You are also not going hold the wand out like a gun and get yourself tired. You are going to hold it at your side like the lazy Americans that we are. They came out with PS Sharpshooter to simulate holding a real rifle, but that is just throwing more money at a controller that should work in the first place. Don't you dare buy ot for a competitive edge in multiplayer because it takes so much more work to turn your character responsively then a regular controller. This is another example of how the Move really accelerates when it is not taken too seriously (AKA The Nintendo Wii library).
I hate to sound like a hater because I absolutely enjoy the party experience in motion gaming, but I can clearly say that the PS Move tried to be something motion gaming wasn't. It tried to be serious gaming. Instead it died faster than Cyclops' performance in Xmen 3. You can dance, whack tennis balls, fly and drive a car with any Kinect, Move or Wii, but the serious gamers still need to hold their breath.

Friday, April 26, 2013

The Six Sins of Modern Game Developing

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1. Exclusion

What is it:  When a game developer puts "blockers" on their game that don't need to be there and keep certain people from playing.  Kind of like "online only" or "system link required".

Who is guilty: Diablo III, Sim City, Dead Island

Why: Though art guilty of putting hurdles in front of well meaning gamers to keep them from enjoying thine gift.  Tis a self destruction upon thine own house to force a gamer to not partake in commerce toward thine creation because of lack of internet or lack of split screen.  This be a sin of folly and most certainly a non generous act.

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2. Sloth

What evil is this:  A game that is filled with potential and gamer delight ends up being a $60 crap trap.  Such a huge disappointment is expected in gaming, but some games make us wonder how they could have failed so hard.

Guilty: Aliens Colonial Marines and Tekken Prime 3D

Why:  Such glory had your enterprise taken, but thine own flesh was lacking.  Thy had boasted of such great potential, showing thy whorish demos and promising only what the devil could produce.  Then like lightning, your creation fell like Satan.  Thine graphics sucked, thy modes were lackluster and thy story was boring.  You have tarnished the working man's pay.

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3. Greed:

What:  When a game tries to flush the money out of a gamer in order to win or get prizes that normal games would give for free.  A "free" game where it is impossible to succeed without paying extra money.

Guilty: DC Online, Candy Crush, Anything by Glu Games

Why: With open arms you take us into your home for sanctuary.  You promise the great wonders and splendor beyond all joy.  We, the lowly lambs, follow into thy level progression.  Then, when we are hooked, you pull the wool over our eyes and charge us many pence for such wickedness as "extra diamonds", "unlocked guns", "level grinding" and "new gear".  We are stuck with an empty bottle and sadness takes our souls.

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4. Consoles that act like Computers

What: When a system tries to enforce new strategies like disc installing, 24/7 online, heavy GB usage, no used copies, lack of local multiplayer and constant updating

Guilty: PS3 and Maybe Xbox 720

Why: Oh how I long for the simple days when a console was unchained and unfettered against the restrictions of the law of computers.  When a game was a cartridge that took no burden upon thy system.  I long for a time when a friend had a face with no ill will to mock thy mother over the microphones.  The gamer of old did not cry out for more gigs of space nor did he have to worry about buying the cursed online pass to play against the evil online foes.  Life was much simpler then this taxing weight upon our backs.

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5. Vileness

What: When a game tries too hard to be "adult" and ends up ruining the story or attracting the worst kinds of demographics.

Guilty: Call of Duty Black Ops, Dead or Alive Series, Any RPG that tries to put "armor" on females and GTA

Why: Cursed be your genitals foul developer.  From the pits of Japan you have brought upon a perversion.  Are not women real creatures; real breathing and gentle humans who deserveth our respect?  Why does thou make her flesh and submission to men.  She is not to be bought and sold to the libido of males.  You who make a foul dollar for thine filth.  And Cursed be the developer who tries to make the weak cry out in shame for pointless bloodlust.  We are not savages, we are sportsmen.  We play for honor and nobility.  Why does thou ask us to be vile?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="344"]Image Rights of Gizmag[/caption]

6. Addiction

What: This is a self inflicted sin, where gamers are spending too much time being gamers and missing out on the finer things of life.

Guilty: Us

Why: Tis a humbling experience to be sucked into the Jezebel temptation of video gaming.  We are promised such stimulation and power, but at the price of our loyalty.  It is quite easy to forget the beauty of a day or the wonders of human interaction when we are tethered to the box that asks for so much.  Weak willed humanity.  Go forth and enjoy God's creation.  Tis not only video games.  Write thy blog, kiss thy girlfriend or visit thy parents.  Do not be constricted to the video games and let thy day escape thee.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Injustice: God's Among Us (Review)

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There are very few games I will spend $60 dollars on.  There are even fewer games that I would buy a season pass for Downloadable Content.  But when DC does a fan service and a very competent fighting game all in one then nerds can rejoice.

When Injustice was introduced it looked like a clone of the lesser Mortal Kombat vs. DC .  That wasn't the video game Gotham deserved.  I was afraid to touch this game knowing that DC has trouble producing anything not centered around Batman.  But then, while night was darkest before the dawn, we started to get wonderful updates of what this game could produce.  Rumors of Black Adam, Nightwing and Sinestro started to awaken the lost DC lover.  Next came the environmental attacks and the ability to knock your enemy through buildings.  Finally we were hooked when we saw Green Lantern throw large aircraft carriers from his ring into the opponent.



It's not the best fighting system or the smoothest.  It is loosely based on the Mortal Kombat system.  I think it is the most appropriate for a comic game, but the flow of Tekken's fighting system will always be my favorite.  You can't just button bash and hope your character does a 10-hit combo with a hadouken.  You have to experiment with different three button presses.  Superman is one of the easiest characters to control, while the bigger guys Luther, Grundy and Bane have issues feeling fluid.  If you are used to fighting games, you will feel more at home with the acrobats like Nightwing, Deathstroke and Green Arrow.  Each character has a booster move that helps them on the field of battle.  Flash can increase his speed, Cyborg can regenerate and Lex produces a shield.  Finally, the super moves are the eye candy that will get any comic boy salivating.  Whether it is Superman's space orbit smash or Bane's back breaking combo, every comic book itch is scratched.

Story is based of the comic mini series of the same name.  In an alternate universe Superman gets tricked into killing Lois Lane and setting off a bomb in Metropolis.  He goes crazy and starts killing villains and creating a one world government under him.  Meanwhile, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Joker of our DC universe get transported into that reality and see that the world is very different controlled under the iron fist of Superman.  The story was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray who have worked on Jonah Hex, Power Girl and Hawk Man.  It has that DC super event feel complete with the alternate dimensions, cluster fuss of characters and the over the top science fiction feel.  The witty writing and voice acting is the only thing that makes the linear gameplay worth the ride.

But there is more than just a great story.  In STAR Labs mode you can complete challenges for each character.  These range from the simple defeat a character challenge to the more bizarre help Cat Woman's cat sneak a diamond into a museum.

The graphics are a tight and impressive bundle on the PS3.  HD, lighting and character models look spot on.  The destructive stage designs are truly the cherry on top.  The armor and clothing choices seem to favor steampunk and medieval variations of the costumes that we are not used to in the beginning of the game, but you can unlock iconic costumes (or pay money to unlock them).  For some reason the women in this game look more masculine.  Wonder Woman looks more manly than the Flash.



Characters are a great mix of Justice League, Batman, Teen Titans and various DC universes.  In the future they will be releasing new characters like Lobo (girlish squeal) and maybe Martian Manhunter (more girlish squeals).  The villains in the game seem to be less colorful and less interesting (minus the Joker who is wonderfully sick and twisted).  There is an over abundance of thick meat headed characters with slow moves.  Do we really need a Bane and a Grundy?

Playing multiplayer has gotten mixed reviews.  You can join King of the Hill, Survivor and Betting Matches and be part of a big online tournament or you can just do 1v1 matches.  The online competition almost always resorts to two moves from each character and does them repeatedly until they eventually hit you.  It is annoying and it requires that you perform the same moves over again to win.  Most fighting games suffer from such horrible monotony from online competition, but it is the quickest way to win.

Superman has always been regarded as a god or a savior.  It is his nature to save everyone or impress everyone with his powers.  The problem is that Superman could also use his powers to rule everyone as he sees fit.  In the story, Wonder Woman says, "man is not fit to rule himself."  I don't think the world would mind if we had a king over us who stopped all murders, wrongful deaths, rape and greed from getting out of control.  The problem is that we want God to get rid of all the major evils in exchange for free will, but we don't want to give up our personal evils.   One of the reasons I don't think God stops all tragedy in our life is because we don't understand how deep the evil goes.  It can't just be the big tragedies that God would interfere with, but he would have to control all of our thoughts, emotions, decisions and motivations.  Pretty much God would have to control free will in order to see all tragedy go away.  But that is not a victory for God or us.  He prefers free will and the surrender of our self to his care.  He sets an example by sending His own son to Earth to show what giving up our free will means.  You want to know how God stops evil?  Look at Jesus and his selfless nature to serve others.

Injustice is a very fan pleasing package that wants to celebrate the DC universe.  It doesn't have the best fighting engine and hardcore fighter fans might suffer with its lack of depth.  But DC Fans and arcade fans will not be disappointed with this tribute to comic geekdom.

Buy It 1/5

+ Tons of stuff to do and unlock
+ Great Fan Service
+ Destructible scenery
- Not so smooth fighting system
- Online is annoying

DC Versus Marvel: Who Would DC beat?

            Marvel-vs-DC-marvel-comics-251228_1024_768


We have all dreamed or pondered what these two worlds would look like if they intertwined. It would probably look like the run Marvel and DC did in the late nineties.  In this super event DC and Marvel characters were pitted against each other in a bizarre plot that involved the universe melting. Readers were asked to vote who could beat who. In a surprise held by no one, most Marvel characters were victorious in this battle. Captain America beat Batman, Storm beat Wonder Woman, Spiderman beat Super Boy, Wolverine beat Lobo, Elektra beat Cat Woman, Thor beat Captain Marvel and Silver Surfer beat Green Lantern. Who won for DC?  Robin beat Jubilee (stunning upset), Superman beat Hulk, Aquaman beat Namor and Flash beat Quicksilver. Not really the respect and perspective that the 80 year old company deserves. You can't blame the fans, Marvel has the wider and more marketable franchise. But the question is, who could DC beat? Using a fair assessment of facts that uses no math formulas, these characters would be able to best their closest Marvel partners. This is all based on my arguing skills so if you disagree make your own blog.

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Martian Manhunter could beat Sentry

Why: Jonn Jonz is a well disciplined telekinetic shapeshifter with alpha level powers. The only reason they make him weaker than Superman because...it is freakin Superman. Sentry is often compared to Superman with tons of mental illness.

How it would end: After a huge fist fight Martian Manhunter would get in his head and take him down. He might cure the schizophrenia in the process.

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Batman would destroy Iron Man

Why: This is going to get me in trouble...Batman may not be the engineer that Iron Man is, but his sheer strive for all offensive perfection and wisdom coupled with what engineering he has dwarfs the mega cannons of the Iron Man

How it will end: Stark would overwhelm Bruce with tons of missiles and robots, but Batman would pull out some trap or mirage that would make Iron Man's defenses go down. You know that Batman would somehow get Stark out of his suit.

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Wonder Woman could best Ms. Marvel Why: Military experience and royal confidence. Ms. Marvel has heavy military training, but she did not grow up on an island devoted to warfare. She is also not the princess of the warfare program known as the Amazons. It also helps that Diana knows a few gods.

How it would end: Marvel would give Diana quite the beating and even try to absorb her power, but I truly believe that Wonder Woman would go savage on her andwin in the end. You can't mess with the lady who tangled with Ares, Zeus and Medusa.

Nightwing_0002 spiderman

Nightwing could swamp Spiderman Who: It is all about confidence and discipline which is purely on Nightwing's side. Spiderman is a skilled acrobat with powerful attacks, but he lacks the drive to beat someone as battle trained as Nightwing.  You have to imagine that Nightwing has been trained in forensics, how to take pain, pressure points and all sorts of martial arts.  Meanwhile, Spiderman has been very upfront about how unprepared he is for each fight.

How it would end: Once the webbing run out and Nightwing dislocates Spiderman's leg it is all over.

Deathstroke_Render Deadpool_FB_Artwork_1

Deathstroke could kill Deadpool

Why: Deadpool is a skilled assassin, but his lack of focus and his hatred to pay attention would be too little and too late for the sword wielding Slade. I know Deadpool is a parody of Deathstroke, but you have to give favor to the seasoned veteran.

How it would end: "Oh look, tacos."  Deadpool's last words.

mogo galactus-lava

Mogo could tame Galactus

Why: This one is tough, but I think Mogo has the advantage. He is the moral compass of the galaxy and the strongest Lantern on the force.  He has the backing of the entire DC universe.  Galactus is the highest power in Marvel lore containing weapons that could destroy galaxies. It would be close, but if Mogo got the support of the lantern energy, the support of the universal powers and he was equal size with Galactus it would be in his favor.  Galactus is a planet eater, but he has never met a planet that could fire pure green energy in weaponized form.

How it would end: The battle would shatter the universe, but Mogo would be slightly more alive than Galactus.

Black-Adam-dc-comics-4006851-1024-768 2744455-dr_doom

Black Adam could disable Dr. Doom

Why: Two sovereign  powers with major powers and influence battling it out. But according to lore, Adam can take on the world. In World War 3 he killed countless B listers in his rampage. The only team that has ever beaten him was the Justice Society and they needed the most powerful Green Lantern to do it with the god of lightning. Dr. Doom is sadistic and very powerful. His cybernetic skills are not weak in any way. But we can't forget that Doom has been the subject of humiliation to Squirrel Girl and Dazzler. Not to mention that Doom has been the punching bag for The Thing.

How it would end: Lots of lightning from Black Adam and the super strength of gods ripping through the metal man.  Doom would use his merciless machinery to inflict some pain on Adam, but I think he can handle it.

teen titans young avengers

Teen Titans could mop the floor with Young Avengers

Why:  You have the Avengers Academy, which trains the Young Avengers of the future versus the excessive boot camp of Red Robin. The storyline of The Avengers Academy is never flattering or impressive.  Basically, you have a drama filled center with over powered teens who let their hormones govern what they should do.  Some of the Academy members have switched over to the side of evil.  Now add that to the fact that the faculty of the Avengers Academy is always disagreeing and arguing over why they should train them and often get into fights.  On the other hand, you have Batman's closest buddy training a close niche group demigods, magicians, aliens and cyborgs.  You know that Robin is teaching them everything Batman had taught him.  You have the young adults, Cyborg and Starfire, as mentors to the group as well.  On a fight level, the Teen Titans have been notorious for fighting A list villains and even responsible from saving the world from destruction.  They have exchanged blows with Super Boy Prime and have taken down Deathstroke.  The Avengers of the Academy and the Young Avengers are pretty impressive, but they have been known to mess up royally on an A list villain.  They seem to get the crumbs that Captain America drops.

How it would end:  Robin's battlefield strategy coupled with Raven and Cyborg could easily take down Patriot, Wiccan and Hulk Jr.  The Vision and Stature would be the only one who could hold his own, but Megan, Kid Devil and Wonder Girl could take him out eventually.

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Everybody Dance (PS3)

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A system without a unique dance game that flexes some motion based peripheral is not a system at all. At least that is what Sony thought. They were not going to let Dance Central and Just Dance roll over them while their in house producers did nothing.

Everybody Dance is a motion based dance sim by Studio London.  Involving 40 tracks from famous artists like Lady Gaga, Deadmaus, Usher, Rihanna and R. Kelly (shouldn't he be in jail?).

Everybody Dance is stylish, using real dancers with bright unashamed smiles who break it down. The big draw for these games is how stylized you look breaking down moves in sync to the energy of the music. In this overcrowded genre the dances and songs have to fit like a glove and ED is hit and miss in this are. Not every song is a winner. LMFAO's song just feels like monotanous exercise work rather than telling a rhythmic story with your body. ED seems to care more about the accuracy of dance steps then the over the top hilarity of Just Dance. Their best work is on the electronica tracks like Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers. ED is unique in that it is one of the few dance games to have 3 different difficultys for each song. The professional difficulty is actually more suited for the song then any of the difficulties. It is a nice touch that makes each song playable.  Once you enter the pro difficulty it is pretty much up to you to memorize the song routine because the moves are intense and barely repeat.


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By now you should realize that dance games are a broken technology. No one really plays them for the tight accuracy of the gameplay. You play them because the party demands it. ED is no different but that does not take away from the fun. The PS motion controller is the main tool that judges how well you are dancing. It is decent at picking up motions, but it cannot tell any of your leg movements. This gets strange in workout mode when the game can only tell you how many calories you burned in your right arm.

Multiplayer should be the main reason you buy this game, but ED does it differently. You can only have 2 dancers at the same time on screen other than the usual 4. To remedy this they made a party mode where 20 people can dance one at a time. 20 people is a bit high, but if your roller skating derby team wants to dance they can all join in.

Dance games are mostly for kids and teenagers. It baffles me why ED did not censor some of the more inappropriate song videos that play in the background. I get it, you are British, but even British kids need to be sheltered from swear words and Lady Gaga. The other thing about playing the music video over the audio track is that the videos get interrupted with talk and non-sequitars. The Duck Sauce song, Barbara Streisand, is constantly interrupted with talk and you still dance through it.

Graphics pull a different strategy from Just Dances' goofy models and cartoons. The graphical sense has realism mixed with flashing lights and colors. It looks bright and shiny in HD. The Eyetoy also captures your dancing and you can post it on Facebook. But you need to be in a room filled with light because the camera is very crappy and every dance movie looks like footage of Blair Witch.

I like dancing games because music is so powerful. We hear the rhythms and beats and our bodies need to move to express it. I think that is why God made music so powerful, it celebrates rhythm, timing, creativity and skill. The way it flows so powerfully shows us who God is.

Everybody Dance is not the best version of the dance craze, but it does just enough to get it out of the bargain bin. You should definitely add it if you just want to have good party fun.

Rating: Buy it Cheap 5/5
+ Hip and stylish music collection
+ 3 difficulties for each song
- Some dances feel sporadic and offbeat
- Workout mode is weak

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Resistance 3

Resistance 3



Is Resistance Useless?

The number 3 is magical this season.  We have Resistance, Gears of War, Battlefield, Uncharted and Modern Warfare 3just waiting to blow away our minds.  Resistance 3 was the first to come out and its definitely the under dog in the list.  It's a PS3 original with not a huge following behind it compared to the other big guns.  With that said, Resistance puts a very solid effort together.

Resistance tells the story of an alien virus that infects the Earth and creates an army of Chimera beings.  Like most alien games, the intrusive invaders are feral, mindless beasts hellbent on destruction and yet they are smart enough to build weapons, space crafts and huge towers.  In the third Resistance, you play Joseph Capelli, a former soldier who decides to ignore the whole alien invasion thing and start a family.  Unfortunately, opportunity knocks, and Joseph must journey with a doctor into alien occupied New York to stop a worm hole.

Anyone who has just gotten comfortable with Resistance 2 will notice some differences.  This comes with pros and cons.  The major change is that you no longer have recovering health (unless you unlock the cheat).  If you are low on health you need to scour the area for a health kit.  This gets annoying because you have to leave the heat of battle to look for a health kit.  Sometimes you are pinned down by fire and you have one bar of health left and there's absolutely no hope for you of getting out.  The upside is that its harder to kill you than in the second one.

Resistance also removed the two guns at a time rule in favor of the Doom style buffet of weapons.  This was a smart idea because you never really got much exposure to guns in R2.  Now you can pull out an ice gun, electricity gun, machine gun, tag gun, shotgun, missile launcher and mutator at any second.  The reason behind having millions of guns at your disposal is the ability to upgrade them as you use them.  Your shotgun gets flame rounds, the electricity gun develops an arc caster that shocks multiple enemies and the carbine gets a bayonet.  This makes every gun useful in its own way and necessary for different sections.  The only drawback is that there are no hotkeys to get a certain gun.  You have to stop the action and pick out a gun in order to use it.

The campaign mode is pretty straight forward.  You don't have one epic journey as much as you have a lot of levels with mini games inside of them.  In one level you are defending a bar from enemies coming out of a drop ship.  In another level you are running through the sewers trying to fend off the egg hatchlings.  Some levels start off slow, while others propel you straight into the action.  One of the new concepts that Resistance 2 didn't have is the open ended battlegrounds where you can strategize how you get into the battle.  Overall, the levels are all fast paced and gripping in their own way.  You can also get into the action with a friend over co-op.  You either have a human friend or an online friend, but the game has no matchmaking service to help you find an online friend.  That means you'll actually have to meet someone face to face and talk to them (shudder).


Resistance has always had a confusing story and I am convinced that the writers are as confused as we are.  It almost seems like they were trying to fuse Half-Life, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty 2 and Halo into one epic bundle.  The result is a muddy universe that no one can get sucked into.  I groan at games where you have to go to Wikipedia in order to understand their story.  I'm not majoring in Resistance Studies so why do I have homework? Resistance 3 has some of the best cut scenes and touching moments, which is not the biggest feat considering that the other 2 games had as much drama as bread mold.  After six hours the campaign ends and the final cutscene drops the curtain on the franchise. No epic ending, no twisted plot turns and absolutely no super boss-it just ends.   Resistance seems to live off its crazy gameplay and innovative weapons more than its story.

Multiplayer is changed from the previous two games.  You no longer get XP just by shooting people; now you have to kill your opponent to level up.  This means that I didn't get points for some matches because I couldn't get a single kill.  Resistance's multiplayer plays a lot like Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare.  You select your class, perks and you get more stuff as you level up.  The gameplay loves throwing perks, berserks and tons of little upgrades at you so that you feel like you are doing stuff.  Some of the perks include having a mirage of yourself to distract enemies and the ability to track footsteps.  But even with all those little add-ons it's hard to get into the action if you are not an intense multiplayer addict.  The second Resistance gave you much more incentive to stick it out because of partial XP rewards and the fact that your perks would build up over time instead of waiting for you to get 3 kills in a row.  It's not a trashy multiplayer by any means, it's just not as easy to get into.

The graphics are a mixed bag.  The game is excellent at portraying a war torn post apocalyptic America.  Each level is beautiful in its own way.  but the textures on some of the aliens are a little weak.  I've always had a problem with the fact that the Chimera race has no distinct art concept.  It's almost as if the artists copy pasted their textures onto Left 4 Dead and Halo enemies.

Resistance 3 is all about Joseph Capelli leaving his comfortable life with his wife and child to end a war.  He had a choice to make and he chose the greater good.  Sounds very similar to Jesus in the choices he had to make.  Jesus could have chosen to stay in Heaven, but he opted to do ministry on Earth.  Jesus could have chosen to live the rest of his years on Earth, but he choose to get arrested and crucified for our benefit.  Reminds me of the Bible verse from Phil 2:5-6

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!

 Resistance 3 was supposed to be a counter for Xbox fans getting Gears of War 3.  While Gears of War got higher praises because of story, I don't think Resistance is out of the running.  The gameplay is tight and intense, the weapons are insanely fun and ultimately you are going to have a good romping time.  But if you already own the other two Resistance games than you should think long and hard before you shell 60 bucks to get this one.

Score out of 7

Graphics and Sound 5: Gorgeous vistas and environments, but not so pretty monsters.

Gameplay 6: Fast and intense campaign modes with exciting weapons.  You'll be done with the campaign mode in 6 hours.  Finding health kits and changing weapons takes you out of the action.

Multiplayer 5: Multiplayer is kind of slow for newcomers. It competes fairly well with the top shooters of today, but it still lacks some polish.

Content 3: It wears its M rating like a badge.  Lots of blood, gibbing and swearing.  Jesus' is mentioned more in this game than in some books of the Bible.  The mutator gun is not for the squeamish.

Final 5:  A very solid effort from Insomniac Games.  They still prove that they have a handle on the FPS market.  I'm relieved that I don't have to go solely to Halo to get my sci-fi shooter fix.  But I wish some of the elements that made Resistance 2 so great were in here.

JUSTICE LEAGUE MOVIE SHOULD NOT BE AN ORIGIN STORY

Justice League Movie Should Not Be An Origin Story

 
The Summer of 2015 is the release date of The Justice League movie.  DC, creator of the legendary group, is hoping to create a movie that will move Heaven and Earth and fill fanboy pants with joy (or at least compete with The Avengers).

Joss Whedon was the wise choice for The Avengers and Marvel will be holding on to that gem of a writer for as long as humanly possible.  The simple let's-get-together-and-fight-evil model blended well with Whedon's humor and the creative use of the fan service.  But enough about them.  We have Justice League to talk about and I am certain DC is going to follow this similar story route.


Montage of Each Hero --->  Heroes Clash Relationally --->  Huge Evil That Threatens The World ---> Heroes Join Together and a Huge Fight Breaks Out

It's basically an origin story, which seems to be the only kind of super hero plot line we have been getting for the past five years.  But the question remains: do we really need to know the story of how they all came together?  I think we only care about these two elements.

Huge Evil That Threatens The World --->  Heroes Join Together and a Huge Fight Breaks Out

Let's be honest, everyone knows the story or at least can guess what is going to happen.  The characters meet, they clash with each other's personalities, but they find common ground to defeat the greater evil.  Marvel at least padded the painfully obvious plot progression with humor and epic hero moments.  DC might not have that luxury.  So here is another option.

Throw away the origin story

Do we really need to start on day one?  Other movie genres are not obligated by origin stories so why live by that rule?  Origin stories are very cookie cutter and make a very easy framework that builds up to a sequel, but they aren't imperative to the audience.  If you take into account that the audience wants to see each hero personality richly intertwining and interacting throughout the plot and a barrel load of epic fight scenes you don't need an origin story to pull that off.  In fact, origin stories try so hard to make sure you know where everything starts that it gets in the way of the character development.  Origin stories have kept Peter Parker from being witty and clever, Batman from being dark and brooding, Punisher from being merciless and Green Lantern from being...well that was just a bad movie.  It's not fun to watch your favorite hero personality slowly develop and not reach their character when you already expect them to be it.

So why not get there already?

Imagine a Justice League movie that starts five years into its story.  The Justice League has already formed and they know each other quite well.  We can catch the audience up to speed with some short montages about how they met and how Martian Manhunter formed the group, but nothing longer than ten minutes of back story.  The world already is familiar with them, the JLA are kicking serious butt and having moon base meetings.  I just saved the audience an hour of meaningless reactions and stupid introductions that would have been predictable anyway. 

NOW...we can get into the meat of the issue and see how Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Batman, Flash, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman work together since they are already deeply invested in one another.  The movie could jump right into the politics of maintaining a super group, the egos of each character and stress of being a world power.  If the movie assumes that they are already friends (Super Friends?) the relationships can build and reveal much quicker than if they had to introduce each other and focus on reactions.  The story arc would look like this.

Back Story of Rich History Between The Heroes  -->  The Relationship Struggle and Stress of the Team  --> The Mastermind Working Against The Team --> The World Loses Hope--> The Eventual Resolution





The big difference is that you can have some epic fight scenes anywhere within that story arc because the team is already together.  Also, this plays to DC's strength because the JLA story is all about super heroes thinking they are gods amid a helpless world and theweight of each ego struggling for leadership.  You will never get Batman's lectures to Superman about him not manning up to responsibility in an origin story.  At least not as deep.

As they say in my improv class: "don't try to get there...get there."  Origin movies are always trying to get there, but it's the sequel that gets there.  Tony Stark wasn't fully the Tony Stark we loved till Iron Man 2.

How cool would it be if the writer/director assumed you knew everything and treated you like you could figure it out (which is not too farfetched considering the fanboy following)?

But no! DC is never going to take this route.  Why?  Because an origin story is sooooooo easy.  It writes itself.  Most likely we have to sit through an hour of characters introducing themselves to other characters, characters reacting to characters for the first time and the super group introducing themselves to the world.  Then in the last twenty minutes we will see the big fight between Brainiac/Darkseid and then we can wait for the sequel where everything is setup.  This is all done so some fanboy's girlfriend doesn't feel left out.

Tell me what you think.