To The Metal

Ok, so the benefits of my Gamefly account are starting to pay off. On the surface, Just Cause looked like a cool game, and to a certain extent – it is. Still, it was $50 at most retailers and I wasn’t ready to take a change when it meant hard earned money – and time – wasted on a game I may not completely like. That said, Just Cause takes the GTA style open-ended mission driven environment and cranks it past 11. Past 20. Past 50. Simply put, there’s too much area and not enough depth to the missions to really keep me hooked.

Content? There’s tons of content… planes, helicopters, cars, motorcycles, guns, etc… See, the problem with a GTA type game in a jungle as opposed to a city is… It’s a damned jungle. Sure, there are small populated areas everywhere, but there are vast expanses of non-navigable terrain (unless you’re flying). On top of that, the moment you land, police are on you. You can’t quite outrun them, and they only pile on more by each moment. Picture starting out in Liberty City with 1 star, and getting an additional star every 5 minutes, and the only way to get back down to 1 star is to complete some baseless cookie-cutter mission that is repeated all over the island.

The graphics are outstanding. One thing I’ll say about this new generation of gaming consoles is that they can make even bad games look great. Honestly though, once you’ve completed a few missions, and gotten tired of grappling on to low-flying helicopters to kick out the pilot and sail through a mission that’d otherwise be frustrating without – all the pretty pictures, weapons, vehicles, and missions just look plain.

The game has potential, but IMHO it’s just too damned big, and not nearly deep enough to keep a gamer like me interested long enough to actually beat it. Maybe I’ll pick it up from the used bin if I go on a tare and beat every game I can get.

I’ve been a fan of Electronic Art’s Need for Speed series since I first encountered the classic Need For Speed: SE. The game was the pinnacle of graphics, audio, and racing physics for its time on a PC. The years since have seen numerous releases under the NFS moniker, and IMHO they just keep getting better.

Their latest release, Carbon, holds true to the die cast by the original Underground while managing to smash all exceptions to pieces. The loose plot involves the driver from Most Wanted, returning to where he started out and not so happily greeted by the smoking hot Emanuelle Vaugier.

Physics are again improved, and once again you’re able to happily vault through a guard-rail to your certain demise. There’s a solid arcade feel to the game, but the physics are tight enough to satisfy even the biggest simulation racer fan (me). Graphics again are outstanding… the current generation of game consoles (the system used here was the Xbox 360) offer near photo-realistic graphics. It’s hard to even claim the line has blurred, I think someone at EA is officially sitting on it. Audio reproduction is again outstanding, the rumble of a Camaro SS V8, a Mazda Rotary, or even the harmonious note of fine European power – all again set the standard by which arcade racing games will follow for years to come.

Enough of the review, when it comes to arcade racing, EA has always put out that extra effort to stay on top and NFS: Carbon takes the cake. Sure there are other arcade racers out there, but none of them combined add up to Carbon. Take it for a spin. Hell, get a Gamefly account like I did and rent or buy it!

Over the past few years I’ve seen a seemingly endless line of films that have a great idea – but the idea is never fully explored. The plot tests the patience of the viewer, and the climax never really brings the satisfaction one would expect. While the idea of a ‘bad guy’ winning is nothing new, it’s safe to say that if you are going to pull an Empire Strikes Back, you better have earned it. “Pulse” did not.

The acting was second to none with Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) and Ian Somerhalder (Lost) turning in solid horror-movie class performances. Bell is torn as her boyfriend has killed himself for no apparent reason, Somerhalder finds out the reason after he buys the dead guy’s computer. Turns out a college project discovered an ‘Ultra Wide Band’ Wi-Fi that opened a doorway to the dead. The dead see you and suck out your will to live rendering you into a depressed pile of ash unless you’ve hermetically sealed yourself into a room with the use of red utility tape.

Yes, that’s right. That’s the plot. That’s the whole. Damned. Thing.

How the heck the movie could have made it to print without an ending is beyond me, the idea looked strong enough – at least to be entertaining, but the story developed far too slow, didn’t have a good enough hook to keep the viewer (me) interested, and when the mystery solution fails – there better be a damned option B that doesn’t involve a near verbatim clone of the ending to a Terminator film crossed with 28 Days Later!

Rent it and give it a view, but if you spend more than $2.95 consider yourself flatlined.

As a long time fan of the Rocky series, I was dismayed at the thought that the pathetic 199x Rocky V was the last in the series. Sure, I can get the ideas behind it, but it just didn’t do the story or the characters justice.

Here we are, 2007 and a 50-something Rocky Balboa is back… Running a restaurant, mourning his wife, trying to have a relationship with his son… until a computer simulation shows a Balboa in his prime leveling the current champ who is about as popular as Mike Tyson with even more rape charges.

Enough of the old cast is back, Creed’s former trainer, Paulie, and even the girl who cursed Rocky for walking her home as a kid. If there was ever a swan song for the Rocky saga, this most certainly was it. I haven’t cheered for a character in a film this muchy since… Rocky leveled the Russian in Rocky IV.

There’s no hiding Stallone / Rocky’s age, at 62 years old he’s still solid and could probably show the veritable Terminator, Arnold Swarzenegger a few things. I sure as hell wouldn’t get into a ring with him.

Check it out, *****.