Well, with the end of the world past us, I think it’s time for some lighthearted fun. Despite ending in the late summer this year, the Nostalgia Critic is one of the internet’s top comedic reviewers. Taking a look a some of pop culture’s cinematic abominations, he looks through the entire thing, making jokes & clever insults. When he stopped, the Nostalgia Critic created 250 episodes, some of which are still popular today. I’ve looked through a good chunk of these, and for you, I’ve picked out my top 5 favorite Nostalgia Critic episodes.
5) Starchaster: The Legend of Orin
This was one of those reviews in where the humor wasn’t necessarily focused on the movie (Although there were some great cracks against the film, which was pretty vile in my opinion), but more on the pairing between the Critic and Bennett the Sage. I often felt vibes of Abbot & Costello between the two, with the Critic taking a Abbot-like stance & demeanor, and Bennett the Sage acting like the tormentor that Costello often acted like, only with a more sinister bent to it. The two play off of one another in the entire review, and it works out perfectly!
4) Heavy Metal
This is another review in which the pairing (In this case, the Nostalgia Critic & Diamanda Hagan) works great. Both of these reviewers takes great pleasure in watching the other squirm from the ridiculousness of the movie. I will say that if the movie in question wasn’t Heavy Metal, then I think that the pairing wouldn’t work out as well, especially since Diamanda Hagan specializes in reviewing some rather warped films.
3) The Grinch
What impressed me the most about this review is that the Nostalgia Critic spoke nothing but rhyme the entire time. It looks like he put a damn amount of work into the rhymes, not to mention the fact that he tried to film some of the scenes like they were from the original special. My only complaint is that while he slammed the remake, I happened to like it. Not quite as much as I used to (Especially after watching this review), but I still crack a small smile when I watch this, not to mention the fact that Jim Carrey does a surprisingly good job at portraying the Grinch.
2) Commando
This review is one of my favorites simply for the fact that Commando was one of the most ridiculous films I’ve ever seen. I’m a big fan of Arnold, but even I was slack-jawed when I saw how nuts this movie was. To quote the Nostalgia Critic:
“Everything wonderful about Arnold and Everything about terrible about Arnold is in this movie. Every over the top 80s action cliche makes it’s way into this movie. It’s unbelievable: we’ve got one-liners, we got explosions, we got the bad guys in suits, we got kidnaped children, and of course, we’ve got Arnold!”
1) Ponyo
What’s great about this review is that the critic doesn’t bash the movie. As he said at the beginning of the review, he likes the movie, but has some problems with some of the weirder elements. It’s definitely understandable, especially since Ponyo was created by Hayao Miyazaki, an iconic director & animator well known for putting surreal elements in his films. What I also found great about this review is that I laughed a ton during the review, especially during the “Ham” joke halfway through.
This is my final post of 2012. See you all next year, and until then, stay Otaku!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Top 5 Games of 2012
Well guys, it’s almost the end of the world. If it is to be, then lets go out with a bang! As I’ve done this blog, I’ve felt more rejuvenated and happy about myself than I have been in a while, and I’m glad that I have managed to please so many of you. In these final days, I’ll be posting up a bunch of things to entertain you all before our world gets annihilated, some of which might be controversial, and some might not. To start things off, let me show you all what I think are the top 5 games of 2012. Enjoy!
5) Diablo 3
This is definitely a controversial choice. When it first came out, it was an alright game. However, as the months past by, and the game suffered from broken mechanics, a ruined AH, and a host of other problems, it became apparent that this game was not quite what the players hoped for, nor was it the game that Blizzard promised to deliver. If you remember from my review of the game (Click “***” to read it), I knew of the various problems within D3, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hate the game. I had a lot of fun playing, and although I haven’t gone back in a month, I have every intention to go back and get my Wizard all the way through Inferno once I’ve completed enough Borderlands 2. I feel that I should give the game a little credit, and decided to place it here.
4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Since the release of Modern Warfare 2, The Call of Duty Series doesn’t quite have the reputation as it once had. The actions of Activision, especially that of it’s president Bobby Kotick, have shown that the franchise is now about business only, and any inkling towards making a game for the purpose of fun have been heavily drained. When Black Ops came out, some of that fun came back, and with the release of Modern Warfare 3 last year, more of that fun has come back into the franchise. The single player isn’t so short, and while the multiplayer still has a problem here and there, it is far more stable than it’s 2009 predecessor. Let’s hope that Black Ops 2 brings more life back into the franchise!
3) Angry Birds: Space Edition
I was pleasantly surprised by this game. While being quite challenging in later levels, the original Angry Birds was a rather basic game with not much to it. With the introduction of the space edition, we take the birds to the void above us, and are introduced to a new environment with new hazards to content with. There’s gravitational pull, the vacuum of space that partially reduces speed, semi-new materials to break through, brand new environments, and somewhat new birds to launch at the pigs (there’s an ice bird that transforms walls into brittle ice, and the yellow bird has been transformed into a purple bird that changes direction when you click a different area of the screen), the only thing that hasn’t really changed, besides the gameplay. You’re still trying to rescue eggs, and you’re still trying to make the pigs pay.
2) Torchlight 2
If you remember my review of the game I did a couple months ago (click “***” to read it if you haven’t), I said at the end that Torchlight 2 blew the original game out of the water. I wasn’t kidding when I said that, as I had far more fun playing the new game. It’s not that the first one wasn’t fun, because it was fun. It’s not that Runic Games didn’t put a lot of work into the game, because they did. It just that when you compare Torchlight to Torchlight 2, it just seems like there’s more things to do in Torchlight 2, even if it’s fundamentally the same as the first game. It also helps to have a less cartooney look, and to just have a newer feel to it as well.
1) Borderlands 2
If Torchlight 2 blows Torchlight out of the water, then Borderlands 2 blows the original Borderlands out of the water, and sends it flying out into space (it probably passes Pluto, which I still consider to be a planet). Throwing out what was bad in the original game, and taking everything that was good in the old game and giving it a massive face lift, Borderlands 2 is psychotically good. If there was a game time capsule being made, B2 would be right in front of the line.
See you all this Friday or Saturday, when I'll put up my last post of 2012. Until then, stay Otaku!
5) Diablo 3
This is definitely a controversial choice. When it first came out, it was an alright game. However, as the months past by, and the game suffered from broken mechanics, a ruined AH, and a host of other problems, it became apparent that this game was not quite what the players hoped for, nor was it the game that Blizzard promised to deliver. If you remember from my review of the game (Click “***” to read it), I knew of the various problems within D3, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hate the game. I had a lot of fun playing, and although I haven’t gone back in a month, I have every intention to go back and get my Wizard all the way through Inferno once I’ve completed enough Borderlands 2. I feel that I should give the game a little credit, and decided to place it here.
4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Since the release of Modern Warfare 2, The Call of Duty Series doesn’t quite have the reputation as it once had. The actions of Activision, especially that of it’s president Bobby Kotick, have shown that the franchise is now about business only, and any inkling towards making a game for the purpose of fun have been heavily drained. When Black Ops came out, some of that fun came back, and with the release of Modern Warfare 3 last year, more of that fun has come back into the franchise. The single player isn’t so short, and while the multiplayer still has a problem here and there, it is far more stable than it’s 2009 predecessor. Let’s hope that Black Ops 2 brings more life back into the franchise!
3) Angry Birds: Space Edition
I was pleasantly surprised by this game. While being quite challenging in later levels, the original Angry Birds was a rather basic game with not much to it. With the introduction of the space edition, we take the birds to the void above us, and are introduced to a new environment with new hazards to content with. There’s gravitational pull, the vacuum of space that partially reduces speed, semi-new materials to break through, brand new environments, and somewhat new birds to launch at the pigs (there’s an ice bird that transforms walls into brittle ice, and the yellow bird has been transformed into a purple bird that changes direction when you click a different area of the screen), the only thing that hasn’t really changed, besides the gameplay. You’re still trying to rescue eggs, and you’re still trying to make the pigs pay.
2) Torchlight 2
If you remember my review of the game I did a couple months ago (click “***” to read it if you haven’t), I said at the end that Torchlight 2 blew the original game out of the water. I wasn’t kidding when I said that, as I had far more fun playing the new game. It’s not that the first one wasn’t fun, because it was fun. It’s not that Runic Games didn’t put a lot of work into the game, because they did. It just that when you compare Torchlight to Torchlight 2, it just seems like there’s more things to do in Torchlight 2, even if it’s fundamentally the same as the first game. It also helps to have a less cartooney look, and to just have a newer feel to it as well.
1) Borderlands 2
If Torchlight 2 blows Torchlight out of the water, then Borderlands 2 blows the original Borderlands out of the water, and sends it flying out into space (it probably passes Pluto, which I still consider to be a planet). Throwing out what was bad in the original game, and taking everything that was good in the old game and giving it a massive face lift, Borderlands 2 is psychotically good. If there was a game time capsule being made, B2 would be right in front of the line.
See you all this Friday or Saturday, when I'll put up my last post of 2012. Until then, stay Otaku!
Monday, December 17, 2012
The Top 5 Albums To Listen To Before The End Of The World
Well, ladies & gentlemen, the end of the world is getting closer & closer. With the incoming impending doom to us all, it’s only natural for us to find something to comfort ourselves when the chips are down. For many of us, music is a natural balm that soothes our souls. On some occasions (including this one), bleak & dark music is the right kind of medicine to use. So, for your pleasure, here are five heavy metal albums to listen to before the end of the world.
5) Septic Flesh - Revolution DNA
Of all of the albums on this list, Revolution DNA is perhaps the hardest to find, where as the other four have been reprinted at some point in time. Although it can be found easily online through digital means (Legal on places like Amazon & other sites with music, or illegal through torrents and other sites. I got mine digitally, if you were wondering), physical copies are incredibly difficult to find (That’s not completely true. There was a 2005 reissue with 3 bonus tracks, but I haven’t found any sign of it. There was also a Japanese release that had two extra songs on it (One song was remastered, while the other was a video edit), but I don’t think I’ve seen a physical copy). It’s never been reprinted, and it was released in 1999 (To put it’s age into perspective, this album is almost 15 years old). These two factors making finding a physical copy, whether new or used, a task that rivals destroying the One Ring.
An interesting fact about Revolution DNA is that it has more of an industrial feel. Before this album, they stayed true to their black/death metal roots, but when Septic Flesh put out this album, their roots were pushed to the side. Their black/death metal roots weren’t completely pushed out of the way, as the dark, growling vocals, as well as the more melodic vocals, are still present, as well as their heavy style of working with their instruments. It’s just that it goes in a more industrial direction. Or, to put it a little more simply: Septic Flesh uses keyboards, as well as guitar effects, to create an industrial album that somehow doesn’t sound like stereotypical industrial music, and least not completely.
As for the songs themselves, I gotta say I liked just about everything on the album. I usually detest metal bands that growl & belch out their lyrics (Ironic, considering the number 3 spot on this list, as well as a few others), but there’s an odd beauty in Revolution DNA. This odd beauty is perfectly captured in the album’s 9th track, Last Stop To Nowhere. If you remember my Top 5 Metaphysical Metal Songs (Click “***” to read that post), you’ll know that I placed the song at the number 2 spot, and with good reason. It’s a very slow, haunting, melodic song, dealing with a departed spirit at a spectral train station, waiting to be taken to whatever dimension he’s been destined to go to. If there’s one particular song I hate, it’s definitely the number 11 track, Android. There’s just too much hissing of the lyrics, not to mention the relatively loud keyboard work. To make matters worse, the two mix constantly, and confused me because the two effects were often at the same volume, making it difficult for me to hear the lead singer.
4) Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Much like Revolution DNA, Draconian Times is a ethereal trip through the cosmos. Unlike Revolution DNA, Draconian Times has been re-released a number of times, the latest of which was the Legacy Edition that came out in 2012 (The Legacy Edition includes the original tracks, as well as some demos, live songs, and a bonus DVD with 3 music videos. I’ll be getting a hard copy of this eventually). Because of the various reprints, not to mention the fact that the album somehow sounds like it just came out in recent years, makes it more enduring than Revolution DNA.
The other thing that makes Draconian Times a great album is the sheer range of each of the songs. From the beautiful chords of piano at the beginning of Enchantment, to the punk-ish vibes of Hallowed Land, to the eerie usage of Charlie Mansion’s voice in Forever Failure, there’s an incredible range within the album. As I stated above, Draconian Times has somehow remained incredibly fresh and new, although there are points within certain songs that do sound a little dated (the guitar work at the beginning of I See Your Face is a good example). Other than the occasional age hiccup, I really recommend Draconian Times, whether it’s for the end of the world or not.
3) October Tide - Rain Without End
I have some difficulties with this album. On the one hand, it’s been reprinted like Draconian Times was (It originally came out in 95, and got a 2nd release in 2008), and is filled with great music (I highly recommend track number 5, Losing Tomorrow). On that same hand, October Tide was a side project of Katatonia, a legendary band within the black/doom metal genre, and their quality of work can be clearly felt in this album. On the other hand...
All of the songs in Rain Without End sound too much alike. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the overall vibe of the album, it seems like one long song (To be a little fair, there is some variety with the instruments). Only one song, Losing Tomorrow, is separate from all the others. Despite it being only 2 ½ minutes long, it’s perhaps the most emotionally powerful metal songs I’ve heard in a long time.
One other setback to the re-release of Rain Without End was that there was absolutely no bonuses that came with it. No bonus or reworked tracks, no DVD with bonus features, no nothing. In fact, the only change between the two was the artwork (The original cover looked like a grove of cypress trees damp from the rain against a blue background, while the new cover has a old man near a shack, with an equally dreary atmosphere). That’s really a lazy thing to do to an otherwise impressive album.
2) Metallica - The Black Album
This is perhaps one of the more controversial albums that I’ve mentioned on my blog. To most of the followers of Metallica, this was the album that signaled the band’s decent into mediocrity, as well as showing everyone that they cared more about cash & record deals, rather than music and their fans. I don’t necessarily agree with this: on the one hand, The Black Album does have a more commercial feel, and doesn’t quite have the speed that previous Metallica albums had. On the other hand, I don’t think the band sold out with this album, but I do think that the seeds of selling out were planted with this album. There’s just some underlying feeling of not giving a crap, that it corrupts some of the songs on the album. Speaking of the songs...
They’re pretty damn good. Not just the popular ones (Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, etc), but some of the less popular songs as well (Of Wolf and Man, My Friend of Misery, etc). You can tell that Metallica definitely put a lot of work into the album, but as I said a moment ago, there’s a underlying feeling of not giving a crap in some of the songs. Enter Sandman & The Unforgiven are popular for a simple reason, and that’s putting more power into songs. As least for me, the following songs have the most power in the album:
- Enter Sandman
- Sad But True
- The Unforgiven
- Wherever I May Roam
- Nothing Else Matters
- Of Wolf and Man
Now, this isn’t to say that the songs I didn’t list weren’t bad. In fact, they were all pretty good to listen to. It’s just that they didn’t quite have as much oomph when compared to the one’s I listed above, and perhaps that’s why they aren’t as popular. Regardless, for anyone interested in The Black Album, I recommend given it a listen to.
1) Type-O Negative - World Coming Down
Back in May when I reviewed this album (Click “***” to read that review), I said that World Coming Down was the darkest album Type-O Negative ever produced. Given what happened to Pete Steele during the time (Deaths in the family, drug & alcohol, psychological breakdown), it’s understandable that dark songs would be made. However, I don’t think any fan of the band would expect such a dark, twisted, and downright disturbing album to have ever been produced.
It’s not just the music that has these sinister vibes. The cover of World Coming Down has it’s own sinister vibe, as the band’s usual use of black & green takes a darker turn when compared to the previous 3 albums (4 if you count The Origin of the Feces). Not only does the coloring feel dreary, we got an ethereal-like image of New York City, complete with the Brooklyn Bridge leading into the city, and out towards some unknown destination, but what makes this album cover all the more disturbing is the Twin Towers in the background (It does take a little work to find them, as the top of the city is covered in clouds, but they’re there).
As for the music of World Coming Down, I don’t hate it in the least. In fact, I consider the songs in question to be some of their finest work, and many people who’ve listened to the album also like the music in question. So as not to leave anyone in the lurch, the band decided to add in at least 1 joke track (Skip It) right at the beginning to confuse listeners. However, any laughs the listener might have released disappears once the first official song, White Slavery, begins.
Perhaps the most sinister songs on the album were the three “audio” tracks (Sinus, Liver, Lung). What made these such disturbing tracks was the fact that there was absolutely no singing (Although there was a tiny amount of talking in at least two of them): the emotion & energy were conveyed completely through the sound effects, and left a terrible feeling in the listener.
Even if those three songs weren’t on the album, the rest of World Coming Down’s tracklist is no less dark. White Slavery dealt with the pain of cocaine addiction, to the sorrow of losing loved ones in Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Pete Steele’s sexual fascination of fire within the disturbing yet kinky Pyretta Blaze, every song in this album is filled with death, darkness, and the negative side of life. For my money, World Coming Down represents everything about the end of the world.
Well guys, given how close it is to Christmas, I have 2 end of the year posts for you, and then it’s a break for the rest of the month. I’ll see you all next year, and until then, stay Otaku!
5) Septic Flesh - Revolution DNA
Of all of the albums on this list, Revolution DNA is perhaps the hardest to find, where as the other four have been reprinted at some point in time. Although it can be found easily online through digital means (Legal on places like Amazon & other sites with music, or illegal through torrents and other sites. I got mine digitally, if you were wondering), physical copies are incredibly difficult to find (That’s not completely true. There was a 2005 reissue with 3 bonus tracks, but I haven’t found any sign of it. There was also a Japanese release that had two extra songs on it (One song was remastered, while the other was a video edit), but I don’t think I’ve seen a physical copy). It’s never been reprinted, and it was released in 1999 (To put it’s age into perspective, this album is almost 15 years old). These two factors making finding a physical copy, whether new or used, a task that rivals destroying the One Ring.
An interesting fact about Revolution DNA is that it has more of an industrial feel. Before this album, they stayed true to their black/death metal roots, but when Septic Flesh put out this album, their roots were pushed to the side. Their black/death metal roots weren’t completely pushed out of the way, as the dark, growling vocals, as well as the more melodic vocals, are still present, as well as their heavy style of working with their instruments. It’s just that it goes in a more industrial direction. Or, to put it a little more simply: Septic Flesh uses keyboards, as well as guitar effects, to create an industrial album that somehow doesn’t sound like stereotypical industrial music, and least not completely.
As for the songs themselves, I gotta say I liked just about everything on the album. I usually detest metal bands that growl & belch out their lyrics (Ironic, considering the number 3 spot on this list, as well as a few others), but there’s an odd beauty in Revolution DNA. This odd beauty is perfectly captured in the album’s 9th track, Last Stop To Nowhere. If you remember my Top 5 Metaphysical Metal Songs (Click “***” to read that post), you’ll know that I placed the song at the number 2 spot, and with good reason. It’s a very slow, haunting, melodic song, dealing with a departed spirit at a spectral train station, waiting to be taken to whatever dimension he’s been destined to go to. If there’s one particular song I hate, it’s definitely the number 11 track, Android. There’s just too much hissing of the lyrics, not to mention the relatively loud keyboard work. To make matters worse, the two mix constantly, and confused me because the two effects were often at the same volume, making it difficult for me to hear the lead singer.
4) Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Much like Revolution DNA, Draconian Times is a ethereal trip through the cosmos. Unlike Revolution DNA, Draconian Times has been re-released a number of times, the latest of which was the Legacy Edition that came out in 2012 (The Legacy Edition includes the original tracks, as well as some demos, live songs, and a bonus DVD with 3 music videos. I’ll be getting a hard copy of this eventually). Because of the various reprints, not to mention the fact that the album somehow sounds like it just came out in recent years, makes it more enduring than Revolution DNA.
The other thing that makes Draconian Times a great album is the sheer range of each of the songs. From the beautiful chords of piano at the beginning of Enchantment, to the punk-ish vibes of Hallowed Land, to the eerie usage of Charlie Mansion’s voice in Forever Failure, there’s an incredible range within the album. As I stated above, Draconian Times has somehow remained incredibly fresh and new, although there are points within certain songs that do sound a little dated (the guitar work at the beginning of I See Your Face is a good example). Other than the occasional age hiccup, I really recommend Draconian Times, whether it’s for the end of the world or not.
3) October Tide - Rain Without End
I have some difficulties with this album. On the one hand, it’s been reprinted like Draconian Times was (It originally came out in 95, and got a 2nd release in 2008), and is filled with great music (I highly recommend track number 5, Losing Tomorrow). On that same hand, October Tide was a side project of Katatonia, a legendary band within the black/doom metal genre, and their quality of work can be clearly felt in this album. On the other hand...
All of the songs in Rain Without End sound too much alike. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the overall vibe of the album, it seems like one long song (To be a little fair, there is some variety with the instruments). Only one song, Losing Tomorrow, is separate from all the others. Despite it being only 2 ½ minutes long, it’s perhaps the most emotionally powerful metal songs I’ve heard in a long time.
One other setback to the re-release of Rain Without End was that there was absolutely no bonuses that came with it. No bonus or reworked tracks, no DVD with bonus features, no nothing. In fact, the only change between the two was the artwork (The original cover looked like a grove of cypress trees damp from the rain against a blue background, while the new cover has a old man near a shack, with an equally dreary atmosphere). That’s really a lazy thing to do to an otherwise impressive album.
2) Metallica - The Black Album
This is perhaps one of the more controversial albums that I’ve mentioned on my blog. To most of the followers of Metallica, this was the album that signaled the band’s decent into mediocrity, as well as showing everyone that they cared more about cash & record deals, rather than music and their fans. I don’t necessarily agree with this: on the one hand, The Black Album does have a more commercial feel, and doesn’t quite have the speed that previous Metallica albums had. On the other hand, I don’t think the band sold out with this album, but I do think that the seeds of selling out were planted with this album. There’s just some underlying feeling of not giving a crap, that it corrupts some of the songs on the album. Speaking of the songs...
They’re pretty damn good. Not just the popular ones (Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, etc), but some of the less popular songs as well (Of Wolf and Man, My Friend of Misery, etc). You can tell that Metallica definitely put a lot of work into the album, but as I said a moment ago, there’s a underlying feeling of not giving a crap in some of the songs. Enter Sandman & The Unforgiven are popular for a simple reason, and that’s putting more power into songs. As least for me, the following songs have the most power in the album:
- Enter Sandman
- Sad But True
- The Unforgiven
- Wherever I May Roam
- Nothing Else Matters
- Of Wolf and Man
Now, this isn’t to say that the songs I didn’t list weren’t bad. In fact, they were all pretty good to listen to. It’s just that they didn’t quite have as much oomph when compared to the one’s I listed above, and perhaps that’s why they aren’t as popular. Regardless, for anyone interested in The Black Album, I recommend given it a listen to.
1) Type-O Negative - World Coming Down
Back in May when I reviewed this album (Click “***” to read that review), I said that World Coming Down was the darkest album Type-O Negative ever produced. Given what happened to Pete Steele during the time (Deaths in the family, drug & alcohol, psychological breakdown), it’s understandable that dark songs would be made. However, I don’t think any fan of the band would expect such a dark, twisted, and downright disturbing album to have ever been produced.
It’s not just the music that has these sinister vibes. The cover of World Coming Down has it’s own sinister vibe, as the band’s usual use of black & green takes a darker turn when compared to the previous 3 albums (4 if you count The Origin of the Feces). Not only does the coloring feel dreary, we got an ethereal-like image of New York City, complete with the Brooklyn Bridge leading into the city, and out towards some unknown destination, but what makes this album cover all the more disturbing is the Twin Towers in the background (It does take a little work to find them, as the top of the city is covered in clouds, but they’re there).
As for the music of World Coming Down, I don’t hate it in the least. In fact, I consider the songs in question to be some of their finest work, and many people who’ve listened to the album also like the music in question. So as not to leave anyone in the lurch, the band decided to add in at least 1 joke track (Skip It) right at the beginning to confuse listeners. However, any laughs the listener might have released disappears once the first official song, White Slavery, begins.
Perhaps the most sinister songs on the album were the three “audio” tracks (Sinus, Liver, Lung). What made these such disturbing tracks was the fact that there was absolutely no singing (Although there was a tiny amount of talking in at least two of them): the emotion & energy were conveyed completely through the sound effects, and left a terrible feeling in the listener.
Even if those three songs weren’t on the album, the rest of World Coming Down’s tracklist is no less dark. White Slavery dealt with the pain of cocaine addiction, to the sorrow of losing loved ones in Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Pete Steele’s sexual fascination of fire within the disturbing yet kinky Pyretta Blaze, every song in this album is filled with death, darkness, and the negative side of life. For my money, World Coming Down represents everything about the end of the world.
Well guys, given how close it is to Christmas, I have 2 end of the year posts for you, and then it’s a break for the rest of the month. I’ll see you all next year, and until then, stay Otaku!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Duke: Nuclear Winter Review
With December underway, it’s time to look into the world of video games that celebrate the holidays. A lot of games that have the Christmas theme tend to be 3rd rate games that don’t have much to them, but one game from 1997 seems to have more to it than other holiday games before it & after. Too bad it’s got a lot of things wrong with it! With that said, here’s a review for Duke: Nuclear Winter.
Story
If the story for Duke Nukem 3d was ridiculous, then the story for this pack goes beyond them. As he’s enjoying Christmas in L.A., he gets a telegram (Who uses telegrams in the 90s?) From a rather familiar elf:
“Duke, you must hurry to the North Pole. The aliens you defeated last season have returned and are being supported by a splinter group known as the Feminist Elven Militia. They have brainwashed Santa and are going to use him to try and take over the world. COME QUICK!”
“Dr. Herbie Elfnic, dds”
Yeah, my first reaction when I saw this was “WHAT!?”
Setting
Just like the original game (Minus the second episode), Nuclear Winter takes place entirely on Earth. The first two levels took place in the original first two levels of DN3d, and the others...wait, I should talk about this for a second.
In perhaps one of the laziest moves ever, the developers have taken the original two levels of DN3d (Hollywood Holocaust & Red Light District) and basically made them so you go through them backwards. They’ve become a little more Christmasey, as snow & decorated trees are seen all over the place. What shows of the laziness the most is the fact that the levels have largely been untouched, and the secrets have stayed in place for the most part. I will admit that it was funny in the Hollywood Holocaust redux to see the movie that was playing changed.
After going through the reversed levels, things take on more of a Christmas vibe. Tragically, not all of the levels do this well: the 3rd level is meh (It partially parodies Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, but there’s an odd cameo from Mario. Just as odd is the portion of the level that is modeled after a portion of the first level in the original Doom), while the 4th, 6th, and 7th level really does the Christmas thing well. The worse culprit of the bunch is the fifth level: it’s basically a sewer system/factory that has does next to nothing as far as Christmas is concerned, apart from an occasional tree or two. It is also the most boring of the 7 levels, as there’s nothing that really stands out, apart from 2 odd underwater battles with Octobrains (The only times you see them, btw).
Characters
Taken from my Duke Nukem 3d review:
“Unlike DNF, Duke is pretty much the only character to speak of in this game. There are absolutely no other characters for Duke to interact with, and that's okay, cause Duke Nukem 3d is a one-man show. Just like with Duke Nukem Forever, Jon St. John provides the bravado and machoness for his signature character, and gives a great performance like he always does.”
Same applies here.
Gameplay
Just like DN3d, the gameplay in Nuclear Winter is exactly the same. Run & gun, find ammo & health, find keys, exit level. In this pack though, things have changed a little.
For starters, the enemies in this game have been given Christmas clothing. The Pig Cops look like miniature Santas, the Troopers are wearing snow hats, and the Enforcers are wearing antlers. This is very reminiscent of the enemies in Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach, where the enemies had new skins, but that’s for another review.
We also have some new enemies. These include stationary Snowmen, Snowmen that float around & act like the Assault Commander, Snowmen that drive around plows like the Pig Cops in their tanks, and female elves from the militia (One dressed in blue with a shotgun, and another dressed in camo with a chaingun). The elves are interesting in the fact that when they die, they sometimes drop a present. When the player walks over it, they’ll receive either ammo, weapons, health, or armor. A fun way to keep up with the Christmas theme, if you ask me.
Curiously, we barely see either the Octobrains, or the Protozoid Slimers. As I said above, there’s the two underwater battles in the fifth level with the Octobrains, and a section of the first level is the only place to encounter the Slimers. More curiously is the fact that they don’t have any Christmas skins on (It would be cool to see the Octobrains wearing snow hats, and the Slimers look more like piles of snow rather that green goop).
Finally, we have Santa Claus (Spelled Santa Claws in the game) as the final boss. Despite not being rather smart, he’s surprisingly tough. He has four weapons on him at all times (Shotgun, Chaingun, RPG, Devastator), has access to the jetpack, and moves around rather quickly. I died at least 2 to 3 times before I managed to kill him successfully, making him one of the toughest bosses I’ve ever encountered.
Although the gameplay remains the same, elements have been screwed around that might make playing the old episodes difficult. Here are just two examples, taken from the Duke Nukem Wiki:
“Unlike the Enforcer's and Troopers new sprites that replace their original counterparts, the Christmas Pig Cop sprites in this don't replace the original Pig Cops since for unknown reasons the original Pig Cop's sprites are replaced by Santa Claws and the Christmas Pig Cop sprites replace other sprites. ”
“The Episodes that come with the original Duke Nukem 3D are rendered almost unplayable while Nuclear Winter is active due to sprites being replaced. (The Battlelord, The Overlord and The Cycloid Emperor are inactive etc.). A particularly notable change is all the original Pig Cops encountered in the Normal Episodes will be replaced by Santa Claws since he overrides their sprites; so if there was five pig cops in one area normally the player would have to face five Santa Claws' instead and if the player killed one it would automatically end the episode and the players chances of survival against more than one Santa Claws would be quite low in any case. ”
One other screw-up involves one of the elf enemies. Specifically, the elves wearing the camouflage can occasionally fire a steady stream of shrink rays instead of their standard chaingun attacks. Curiously, I only notice this about halfway, three-fourths through the pack, and I don’t actually know if it’s a glitch or not. I just found it to be weird, that’s all.
There’s another screw-up that I’ll talk about, but it’s relatively minor compared to the two mention above. In the 6th level (Christmas Village) of the pack, after you acquire your first red keycard and go through the buildings, there’s a 2nd red keycard on Santa’s desk. This is really weird, since there isn’t another door in the level that needs a red keycard. Whether it’s around due to the laziness of the developers, or a strange program bug, that’s never been confirmed.
Perhaps the biggest screw-up comes from the pack’s multiplayer. Unless I’m missing something, this is the first Duke game in which there are bots available for the player to fight against. Sadly, the bots are incredibly stupid. They constantly wander around the map, often bumping into things and getting stuck. On top of that, they only fight with their pistols, and only change to other weapons when they walk over them.
If I can be perfectly honest, Nuclear Winter is the easiest of the 3 Duke packs, even on the 3rd difficulty setting (I dare not try it on the 4th difficulty, strangely though). It just seems like you can breeze through the whole thing in about a single hour. There really aren’t any obstacles that pose much of a threat, and even if there is any, it can be easily passed around. In fact, since I discovered the pack back in 2009, I’ve made a Christmas tradition for myself to play the whole thing on Christmas Eve before I go to bed.
Graphics & Sound
Although the Build engine looked great when it first came out, by 1997, it wasn’t looking so good. Quake had beaten Duke Nukem 3d in the graphics department, making it look so much more dated. It still holds true today: the Build engine looks incredibly primitive, the textures are meh, and the 2d enemies really stand out, but not in a good way. Although the new textures breath some life back into the engine, it’s doesn’t breath enough for it to come back to life.
To quote myself from my Duke Nukem 3d review about the sounds:
“The sounds also haven't aged well, as the aliens and weapons don't sound as fierce as they used to be. with only two exceptions. The first is Duke's voice, as it still sounds...well, kickass! The second exception is a little more surprising. Despite sounding incredibly basic, the music in the game still sounds great, as in conjures up images of a more nostalgic time, where games weren't as complex as many of them are now.”
I will say that instead of the standard songs used in the original game, we have Christmas tunes to listen to as we’re blasting aliens. Only one track repeats (It was first used in the 2nd level, and reused in the 6th level), but the songs really add to the Holiday tone of the pack (Which is ironic, cause there’s two carolers in the 2nd level you can kill).
Overall & Rating
It’s understandable why this pack is considered to be the worst of the Duke Nukem 3d packs. The graphics are beginning to look dated, the coding is screwed up in places, the beginning two levels of the original game were rehashed, and the rest of the levels were relatively uninspiring. Despite those problems, I had fun playing this pack! It’s interesting to see a Christmas vibe applied to one of video games’s most iconic badasses, and despite the first two levels being rehashes, it’s cool to go through them backwards, and there’s kind of a happy holiday vibe throughout the whole thing.
Duke: Nuclear Winter gets a 5.5 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll get a little apocalyptic. Until then, stay Otaku!
* The developers of this pack have become something of a legend among the Duke Nukem community, and the gaming community at large. The link below is perhaps contains some of the best information about them, despite there being little info:
http://dukenukem.wikia.com/wiki/Simply_Silly_Software
Story
If the story for Duke Nukem 3d was ridiculous, then the story for this pack goes beyond them. As he’s enjoying Christmas in L.A., he gets a telegram (Who uses telegrams in the 90s?) From a rather familiar elf:
“Duke, you must hurry to the North Pole. The aliens you defeated last season have returned and are being supported by a splinter group known as the Feminist Elven Militia. They have brainwashed Santa and are going to use him to try and take over the world. COME QUICK!”
“Dr. Herbie Elfnic, dds”
Yeah, my first reaction when I saw this was “WHAT!?”
Setting
Just like the original game (Minus the second episode), Nuclear Winter takes place entirely on Earth. The first two levels took place in the original first two levels of DN3d, and the others...wait, I should talk about this for a second.
In perhaps one of the laziest moves ever, the developers have taken the original two levels of DN3d (Hollywood Holocaust & Red Light District) and basically made them so you go through them backwards. They’ve become a little more Christmasey, as snow & decorated trees are seen all over the place. What shows of the laziness the most is the fact that the levels have largely been untouched, and the secrets have stayed in place for the most part. I will admit that it was funny in the Hollywood Holocaust redux to see the movie that was playing changed.
After going through the reversed levels, things take on more of a Christmas vibe. Tragically, not all of the levels do this well: the 3rd level is meh (It partially parodies Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, but there’s an odd cameo from Mario. Just as odd is the portion of the level that is modeled after a portion of the first level in the original Doom), while the 4th, 6th, and 7th level really does the Christmas thing well. The worse culprit of the bunch is the fifth level: it’s basically a sewer system/factory that has does next to nothing as far as Christmas is concerned, apart from an occasional tree or two. It is also the most boring of the 7 levels, as there’s nothing that really stands out, apart from 2 odd underwater battles with Octobrains (The only times you see them, btw).
Characters
Taken from my Duke Nukem 3d review:
“Unlike DNF, Duke is pretty much the only character to speak of in this game. There are absolutely no other characters for Duke to interact with, and that's okay, cause Duke Nukem 3d is a one-man show. Just like with Duke Nukem Forever, Jon St. John provides the bravado and machoness for his signature character, and gives a great performance like he always does.”
Same applies here.
Gameplay
Just like DN3d, the gameplay in Nuclear Winter is exactly the same. Run & gun, find ammo & health, find keys, exit level. In this pack though, things have changed a little.
For starters, the enemies in this game have been given Christmas clothing. The Pig Cops look like miniature Santas, the Troopers are wearing snow hats, and the Enforcers are wearing antlers. This is very reminiscent of the enemies in Duke Caribbean: Life’s a Beach, where the enemies had new skins, but that’s for another review.
We also have some new enemies. These include stationary Snowmen, Snowmen that float around & act like the Assault Commander, Snowmen that drive around plows like the Pig Cops in their tanks, and female elves from the militia (One dressed in blue with a shotgun, and another dressed in camo with a chaingun). The elves are interesting in the fact that when they die, they sometimes drop a present. When the player walks over it, they’ll receive either ammo, weapons, health, or armor. A fun way to keep up with the Christmas theme, if you ask me.
Curiously, we barely see either the Octobrains, or the Protozoid Slimers. As I said above, there’s the two underwater battles in the fifth level with the Octobrains, and a section of the first level is the only place to encounter the Slimers. More curiously is the fact that they don’t have any Christmas skins on (It would be cool to see the Octobrains wearing snow hats, and the Slimers look more like piles of snow rather that green goop).
Finally, we have Santa Claus (Spelled Santa Claws in the game) as the final boss. Despite not being rather smart, he’s surprisingly tough. He has four weapons on him at all times (Shotgun, Chaingun, RPG, Devastator), has access to the jetpack, and moves around rather quickly. I died at least 2 to 3 times before I managed to kill him successfully, making him one of the toughest bosses I’ve ever encountered.
Although the gameplay remains the same, elements have been screwed around that might make playing the old episodes difficult. Here are just two examples, taken from the Duke Nukem Wiki:
“Unlike the Enforcer's and Troopers new sprites that replace their original counterparts, the Christmas Pig Cop sprites in this don't replace the original Pig Cops since for unknown reasons the original Pig Cop's sprites are replaced by Santa Claws and the Christmas Pig Cop sprites replace other sprites. ”
“The Episodes that come with the original Duke Nukem 3D are rendered almost unplayable while Nuclear Winter is active due to sprites being replaced. (The Battlelord, The Overlord and The Cycloid Emperor are inactive etc.). A particularly notable change is all the original Pig Cops encountered in the Normal Episodes will be replaced by Santa Claws since he overrides their sprites; so if there was five pig cops in one area normally the player would have to face five Santa Claws' instead and if the player killed one it would automatically end the episode and the players chances of survival against more than one Santa Claws would be quite low in any case. ”
One other screw-up involves one of the elf enemies. Specifically, the elves wearing the camouflage can occasionally fire a steady stream of shrink rays instead of their standard chaingun attacks. Curiously, I only notice this about halfway, three-fourths through the pack, and I don’t actually know if it’s a glitch or not. I just found it to be weird, that’s all.
There’s another screw-up that I’ll talk about, but it’s relatively minor compared to the two mention above. In the 6th level (Christmas Village) of the pack, after you acquire your first red keycard and go through the buildings, there’s a 2nd red keycard on Santa’s desk. This is really weird, since there isn’t another door in the level that needs a red keycard. Whether it’s around due to the laziness of the developers, or a strange program bug, that’s never been confirmed.
Perhaps the biggest screw-up comes from the pack’s multiplayer. Unless I’m missing something, this is the first Duke game in which there are bots available for the player to fight against. Sadly, the bots are incredibly stupid. They constantly wander around the map, often bumping into things and getting stuck. On top of that, they only fight with their pistols, and only change to other weapons when they walk over them.
If I can be perfectly honest, Nuclear Winter is the easiest of the 3 Duke packs, even on the 3rd difficulty setting (I dare not try it on the 4th difficulty, strangely though). It just seems like you can breeze through the whole thing in about a single hour. There really aren’t any obstacles that pose much of a threat, and even if there is any, it can be easily passed around. In fact, since I discovered the pack back in 2009, I’ve made a Christmas tradition for myself to play the whole thing on Christmas Eve before I go to bed.
Graphics & Sound
Although the Build engine looked great when it first came out, by 1997, it wasn’t looking so good. Quake had beaten Duke Nukem 3d in the graphics department, making it look so much more dated. It still holds true today: the Build engine looks incredibly primitive, the textures are meh, and the 2d enemies really stand out, but not in a good way. Although the new textures breath some life back into the engine, it’s doesn’t breath enough for it to come back to life.
To quote myself from my Duke Nukem 3d review about the sounds:
“The sounds also haven't aged well, as the aliens and weapons don't sound as fierce as they used to be. with only two exceptions. The first is Duke's voice, as it still sounds...well, kickass! The second exception is a little more surprising. Despite sounding incredibly basic, the music in the game still sounds great, as in conjures up images of a more nostalgic time, where games weren't as complex as many of them are now.”
I will say that instead of the standard songs used in the original game, we have Christmas tunes to listen to as we’re blasting aliens. Only one track repeats (It was first used in the 2nd level, and reused in the 6th level), but the songs really add to the Holiday tone of the pack (Which is ironic, cause there’s two carolers in the 2nd level you can kill).
Overall & Rating
It’s understandable why this pack is considered to be the worst of the Duke Nukem 3d packs. The graphics are beginning to look dated, the coding is screwed up in places, the beginning two levels of the original game were rehashed, and the rest of the levels were relatively uninspiring. Despite those problems, I had fun playing this pack! It’s interesting to see a Christmas vibe applied to one of video games’s most iconic badasses, and despite the first two levels being rehashes, it’s cool to go through them backwards, and there’s kind of a happy holiday vibe throughout the whole thing.
Duke: Nuclear Winter gets a 5.5 out of 10.
See you all next week, when we’ll get a little apocalyptic. Until then, stay Otaku!
* The developers of this pack have become something of a legend among the Duke Nukem community, and the gaming community at large. The link below is perhaps contains some of the best information about them, despite there being little info:
http://dukenukem.wikia.com/wiki/Simply_Silly_Software
Love Hina Christmas Special Review
Hi everybody. I didn’t realize this, but it’s been all over a year since I looked at Love Hina. I still stand by my opinions in that review, and I’ve recently began watching it again. I still get a laugh out of a lot of the jokes, and I still like the cast. Well, to celebrate that review’s belated birthday, and to celebrate the holidays some more, here’s a review for the Love Hina Christmas Special, also known as Silent Eve.
Originally aired on December 25, 2000, the special takes place after the events of the tv series. It’s Christmas time, and for three familiar individuals at the Hinata Apartments, it’s study time. Still working on their entrance tests for Tokyo U, there’s a happy holiday feeling in the place, but Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi are in full-on work mode. It’s eventually discovered by Koalla & Sara that Naru has bought a Christmas present for someone very special. Is it Keitaro, or is it some other man that the rest of the girls don’t know about? It’s from this question that propels the characters into a funny, wild, and heartwarming chase that closes up the Love Hina Story.
The first positive of the special is the story. If you’re a Love Hina fan, you’ll appreciate the familiar setting & characters, not to mention the fact of what’s going on in front of the viewer, and what’s going on in the background. It’s really great to watch a special from a familiar universe, and not have to worry about any massive changes.
The second positive to the special is that the original cast of voice actors have returned. Like the story, it’s great to have something familiar come back and not be changed so drastically. There’s still a great amount of fun & effort put into the voices of the characters, despite the flaws of two characters, but I’ll get to than in a bit.
The 3rd positive of the special is the increased emotions. Despite being a 45-minute special, there’s more at stake in this than in some of the show’s episodes. You really feel for Keitaro & Naru, and you really want them to truly confess their love for each other. You even manage to feel for the other characters more so than normal, especially Shinobu, but I’ll leave that up to you as to why.
The special’s 4th & final positive is the visuals. Usually I would say something about the visuals, but a reviewer over on Animetric (Rowena Lim Lei) captures this aspect perfectly:
“Love Hina Christmas Special sports the clean and cute style of the TV series in terms of visuals, but I somehow got the impression that the overall effect was softer compared to all the other Love Hina episodes I've seen.”
Sadly, there also a couple things that put this special in a bad light. Some are minor, but the rest have some more weight to them. Chief among them is the special’s predictability. Now what I mean is that you know that there’s going to be a problem, everybody gets involved somehow, all kinds of wackiness ensues, and in the end, everything gets fixed, and the viewer is treated to a bit of fanservice at the end. The opponents of Love Hina will almost always use these points when arguing with someone who enjoys the show, and they’re sometimes right in these arguments. As for me, I take both sides in the Love Hina argument.
Secondly, I’m not necessarily sure that this should have be a special. That’s not to say that things work within the allotted timeframe, because things do work. It’s just that perhaps it should have been spread out over the course of two episodes: the events leading up to Naru giving away the present, and Naru giving the present, would be episode 1, and the effects of giving the gift would make up episode 2. This isn’t quite as major as the predictability, but it is something that fans & haters might talk about.
For the third negative, let’s talk about the voices for Koalla & Kitsune. While I didn’t talk about this in my review of the show last year, it’s clear that these two characters have voices that might be grating on the mind for some. Koalla is the big culprit in this regard, as her voice is very high-pitched, even when she’s normally talking, which is strange because she’s not a normal character. I don’t complain about Kitsune as much, as the territory in Japan that she comes from (Kansai, I believe) has an accent like hers. My only complaint is that her accept is perhaps a little stereotypical, and sounds more Southern United Stated than Kansai.
Finally, this special is somewhat difficult to find. Despite Funimation re-releasing the Love Hina series back in 2009, nobody (including Funimation) did a re-release of the Christmas special, as well as the Spring special and the 3-episode OVA (I’ll get to these at a later date). I was able to find my copy on Amazon (used, by the way). There aren’t many new copies available to buy, but luckily there are a fair amount of used copies, and the pricing on both aren’t that terrible either (New copies start at around 29 dollars, while used copies start at 4-something dollars).
The Love Hina Christmas Special gets a 7 to 8 out of 10.
See you towards the end of the week, when our winter will get a little more nuclear. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
Oh, I forgot to mention this back in the original Love Hina review, but the original manga creator Ken Akamatsu makes some cameos in some of the episodes. He also manages to get at least one cameo in the special as well, add more to the special’s humor.
**
I was originally gonna post this on Wednesday, but I accidentally forgot, and instead decided to post this up today, along with the review that was meant for today. My bad!
Originally aired on December 25, 2000, the special takes place after the events of the tv series. It’s Christmas time, and for three familiar individuals at the Hinata Apartments, it’s study time. Still working on their entrance tests for Tokyo U, there’s a happy holiday feeling in the place, but Keitaro, Naru, and Mutsumi are in full-on work mode. It’s eventually discovered by Koalla & Sara that Naru has bought a Christmas present for someone very special. Is it Keitaro, or is it some other man that the rest of the girls don’t know about? It’s from this question that propels the characters into a funny, wild, and heartwarming chase that closes up the Love Hina Story.
The first positive of the special is the story. If you’re a Love Hina fan, you’ll appreciate the familiar setting & characters, not to mention the fact of what’s going on in front of the viewer, and what’s going on in the background. It’s really great to watch a special from a familiar universe, and not have to worry about any massive changes.
The second positive to the special is that the original cast of voice actors have returned. Like the story, it’s great to have something familiar come back and not be changed so drastically. There’s still a great amount of fun & effort put into the voices of the characters, despite the flaws of two characters, but I’ll get to than in a bit.
The 3rd positive of the special is the increased emotions. Despite being a 45-minute special, there’s more at stake in this than in some of the show’s episodes. You really feel for Keitaro & Naru, and you really want them to truly confess their love for each other. You even manage to feel for the other characters more so than normal, especially Shinobu, but I’ll leave that up to you as to why.
The special’s 4th & final positive is the visuals. Usually I would say something about the visuals, but a reviewer over on Animetric (Rowena Lim Lei) captures this aspect perfectly:
“Love Hina Christmas Special sports the clean and cute style of the TV series in terms of visuals, but I somehow got the impression that the overall effect was softer compared to all the other Love Hina episodes I've seen.”
Sadly, there also a couple things that put this special in a bad light. Some are minor, but the rest have some more weight to them. Chief among them is the special’s predictability. Now what I mean is that you know that there’s going to be a problem, everybody gets involved somehow, all kinds of wackiness ensues, and in the end, everything gets fixed, and the viewer is treated to a bit of fanservice at the end. The opponents of Love Hina will almost always use these points when arguing with someone who enjoys the show, and they’re sometimes right in these arguments. As for me, I take both sides in the Love Hina argument.
Secondly, I’m not necessarily sure that this should have be a special. That’s not to say that things work within the allotted timeframe, because things do work. It’s just that perhaps it should have been spread out over the course of two episodes: the events leading up to Naru giving away the present, and Naru giving the present, would be episode 1, and the effects of giving the gift would make up episode 2. This isn’t quite as major as the predictability, but it is something that fans & haters might talk about.
For the third negative, let’s talk about the voices for Koalla & Kitsune. While I didn’t talk about this in my review of the show last year, it’s clear that these two characters have voices that might be grating on the mind for some. Koalla is the big culprit in this regard, as her voice is very high-pitched, even when she’s normally talking, which is strange because she’s not a normal character. I don’t complain about Kitsune as much, as the territory in Japan that she comes from (Kansai, I believe) has an accent like hers. My only complaint is that her accept is perhaps a little stereotypical, and sounds more Southern United Stated than Kansai.
Finally, this special is somewhat difficult to find. Despite Funimation re-releasing the Love Hina series back in 2009, nobody (including Funimation) did a re-release of the Christmas special, as well as the Spring special and the 3-episode OVA (I’ll get to these at a later date). I was able to find my copy on Amazon (used, by the way). There aren’t many new copies available to buy, but luckily there are a fair amount of used copies, and the pricing on both aren’t that terrible either (New copies start at around 29 dollars, while used copies start at 4-something dollars).
The Love Hina Christmas Special gets a 7 to 8 out of 10.
See you towards the end of the week, when our winter will get a little more nuclear. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
Oh, I forgot to mention this back in the original Love Hina review, but the original manga creator Ken Akamatsu makes some cameos in some of the episodes. He also manages to get at least one cameo in the special as well, add more to the special’s humor.
**
I was originally gonna post this on Wednesday, but I accidentally forgot, and instead decided to post this up today, along with the review that was meant for today. My bad!
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Top 5 Christmas Parody Songs
Hi everybody! Well, we’re into the holiday season now. There’s snow on the ground, lights are strung up all over the place, and seasonal songs blare on the radio & TV. I like all kinds of Christmas songs, my preferred favorite being comedy/parody songs. I’ve listened to a lot of Christmas parody songs over the years, and some of them have become my all-time favorites. So, for you listening pleasure, here are my Top 5 Christmas Parody Songs.
5) Type-O Negative - Red Water (Christmas Mourning)
We start off this list with a song that doesn’t quite necessarily fit in the parody song category. Don’t get me wrong: Type-O Negative has been known for their dark/occasionally goofy humor, and in the process creating some really memorable songs (My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend most often comes to my mind when I think of their humor). With this song, however, I’m not quite sure. There’s definitely some sarcasm in Red Water, but overall it’s a very dark tune, full of melancholy & loss. It’s perhaps because of the melancholy that I put Red Water on this list, but on the lower part of the list because, again, I’m confused on this one.
4) Gunther & The Sunshine Girls - Christmas Song
Even if you’ve never heard of this tune, most music fans have heard of Gunther & The Sunshine Girls through the reputation of the Ding Dong Song. It’s tragic that most people know about Gunther because of the Ding Dong Song, because I think he’s a surprisingly good singer, and I usually don’t like Eurodance music. Now what does this have to do with Christmas?
Well, it just so happens that Gunther created a Christmas tune some years back, and it carries with it his mantra of “Sex, Glamour, Champaign, & Respect”. It’s kind of a sensual song, full of beautiful women, and some sexual innuendo (It’s not extremely sexual, but I was put off slightly when I listened to it for the first time). Despite the sexual tones, Christmas Song is a fun & happy tune, and I got a couple smiles from it. It also helps by having a somewhat goofy/over-the-top video, complete with 2 Christmas midgets.
3) Bob Rivers Comedy Corps - 12 Pains of Christmas
Now here’s a parody song that I know you’ve listened to!
12 Pains of Christmas has become a standard for the holidays, mainly due to the Bob Rivers Comedy Corps being an established comedy group. What makes this song so great is that a lot of us (Especially some of us that are a bit older) have definitely gone through at least one of the things that is being joked about. Whether it’s finding a Christmas tree, or setting up the lights, or mailing out the annual Christmas cards. Christmas has brought joy to an ungodly amount of people, but it’s also raised hell for perhaps an equal amount of people.
(Lego Version: ***)
2) Weird Al Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Santa Claus went off his rocker, then this song is for you!
Taking a pop song (In this case, Soul Asylum’s song Black Gold) and twisting it on it’s head has become Weird Al’s routine, and it shows a lot in this song. Coincidentally, this parody and the original song were placed on top of one another as “Black Gold Made Santa Go Crazy” as a way to compare the two. The problem is it’s not on Youtube, but it can be found in the internet as a mp3 download. I’ll grab it sooner or later, since I’m actually kinda curious about it.
1) Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful
Some of you who are looking at this spot are gonna call bullshit on this, and to a certain extent, you’re right. Oh Come All Ye Faithful is a classic song of the holidays, and it’s practically timeless. Numerous artists over the decades have sung it in various styles, from church choirs, to pop, to country I think. However, the one group that has taken on this song, and lifted it to incredibly hilarious, yet strangely tasteful heights, is Twisted Sister.
For starters, the beginning is pulled straight from We’re Not Gonna Take It, a classic 80s metal song from Twisted Sister’s library of music. In fact, the general instrumentation & singing style of that song is used in this one. What actually makes this song funny is the accompanying video, which also happens to have a beginning that parallels We’re Not Gonna Take It’s video. Take a innocent couple, place them in a stereotypical Christmas living room, and....well, just watch the video.
Runner Up) Rootwater - Hava Nagila
Well, I had to include the Festival of Lights in this list somehow!
For starters, I didn’t even find this on purpose. I stumbled upon it in my “suggested videos” section in my youtube page a couple months back. Secondly, I know that this is a traditional Jewish song. However, it’s covered by a metal band! Whereas the original version sounds (Most of the time) very traditional, this version sounds very over the top, almost to the point of comical. Despite that, it’s a rather interesting remix, if you could believe it.
See you later this week, when I’ll be visiting the Hinata Apartments once again. Until then, stay Otaku!
5) Type-O Negative - Red Water (Christmas Mourning)
We start off this list with a song that doesn’t quite necessarily fit in the parody song category. Don’t get me wrong: Type-O Negative has been known for their dark/occasionally goofy humor, and in the process creating some really memorable songs (My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend most often comes to my mind when I think of their humor). With this song, however, I’m not quite sure. There’s definitely some sarcasm in Red Water, but overall it’s a very dark tune, full of melancholy & loss. It’s perhaps because of the melancholy that I put Red Water on this list, but on the lower part of the list because, again, I’m confused on this one.
4) Gunther & The Sunshine Girls - Christmas Song
Even if you’ve never heard of this tune, most music fans have heard of Gunther & The Sunshine Girls through the reputation of the Ding Dong Song. It’s tragic that most people know about Gunther because of the Ding Dong Song, because I think he’s a surprisingly good singer, and I usually don’t like Eurodance music. Now what does this have to do with Christmas?
Well, it just so happens that Gunther created a Christmas tune some years back, and it carries with it his mantra of “Sex, Glamour, Champaign, & Respect”. It’s kind of a sensual song, full of beautiful women, and some sexual innuendo (It’s not extremely sexual, but I was put off slightly when I listened to it for the first time). Despite the sexual tones, Christmas Song is a fun & happy tune, and I got a couple smiles from it. It also helps by having a somewhat goofy/over-the-top video, complete with 2 Christmas midgets.
3) Bob Rivers Comedy Corps - 12 Pains of Christmas
Now here’s a parody song that I know you’ve listened to!
12 Pains of Christmas has become a standard for the holidays, mainly due to the Bob Rivers Comedy Corps being an established comedy group. What makes this song so great is that a lot of us (Especially some of us that are a bit older) have definitely gone through at least one of the things that is being joked about. Whether it’s finding a Christmas tree, or setting up the lights, or mailing out the annual Christmas cards. Christmas has brought joy to an ungodly amount of people, but it’s also raised hell for perhaps an equal amount of people.
(Lego Version: ***)
2) Weird Al Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Santa Claus went off his rocker, then this song is for you!
Taking a pop song (In this case, Soul Asylum’s song Black Gold) and twisting it on it’s head has become Weird Al’s routine, and it shows a lot in this song. Coincidentally, this parody and the original song were placed on top of one another as “Black Gold Made Santa Go Crazy” as a way to compare the two. The problem is it’s not on Youtube, but it can be found in the internet as a mp3 download. I’ll grab it sooner or later, since I’m actually kinda curious about it.
1) Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful
Some of you who are looking at this spot are gonna call bullshit on this, and to a certain extent, you’re right. Oh Come All Ye Faithful is a classic song of the holidays, and it’s practically timeless. Numerous artists over the decades have sung it in various styles, from church choirs, to pop, to country I think. However, the one group that has taken on this song, and lifted it to incredibly hilarious, yet strangely tasteful heights, is Twisted Sister.
For starters, the beginning is pulled straight from We’re Not Gonna Take It, a classic 80s metal song from Twisted Sister’s library of music. In fact, the general instrumentation & singing style of that song is used in this one. What actually makes this song funny is the accompanying video, which also happens to have a beginning that parallels We’re Not Gonna Take It’s video. Take a innocent couple, place them in a stereotypical Christmas living room, and....well, just watch the video.
Runner Up) Rootwater - Hava Nagila
Well, I had to include the Festival of Lights in this list somehow!
For starters, I didn’t even find this on purpose. I stumbled upon it in my “suggested videos” section in my youtube page a couple months back. Secondly, I know that this is a traditional Jewish song. However, it’s covered by a metal band! Whereas the original version sounds (Most of the time) very traditional, this version sounds very over the top, almost to the point of comical. Despite that, it’s a rather interesting remix, if you could believe it.
See you later this week, when I’ll be visiting the Hinata Apartments once again. Until then, stay Otaku!
Friday, December 7, 2012
The Star Wars Holiday Special Review
Ladies & Gentlemen, I’ve seen some bad movies in my time. Drop Dead Fred, the Tim Burton remake of Willy Wonka, and SiN the Movie are just a few of the films that have scorched my brain cells. However, I’ve discovered a film so bad, so heinous, that it’s practically a living nightmare! A movie so bad, that even the actors that were in it, are still ashamed about it to this day! A movie so bad, it’s become a dark legend among sci-fi nerds. Ladies & Gentlemen, in the spirit of the holidays, I’ve decided to review this ungodly awful movie for you. So, without any further delays (unfortunately), he’s a review for the infamous Star Wars Holiday special.
Before I go on with the review, a little bit of background is needed. Considered to be one of the first official spinoffs, the Star Wars Holiday Special was directed by Steve Binder, who was also famous for directing a variety of decent television shows, specifically music programs with diverse groups of people. What’s most interesting is that the special was also composed of variety segments & cartoons (The cartoons were created by a Canadian company), and that George Lucas had little to do with the special. One it was aired, there was such a negative response, it was never aired again, and Mr. Lucas has gone out of his way to remove any trace of it. Because of his campaign, the special has gone underground, and became something of a legend among Star Wars fans. Since it’s airing, the special has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings made from its original telecast by fans, and was later adapted to content-sharing websites. I should conclude that it was somewhat difficult to find, but I found some a few links (The movie was split into 6 parts, due to it being about 2 hours long), and managed to acquire this abomination.
Ironically enough, the story is surprisingly good, if you cut out all the bullshit. Basically, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day, which is an important day among the Wookies. Along the way they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire, who are searching for members of the Rebel Alliance on Kashyyyk. During this special, we also meet Chewbacca’s family, consisting of his father Attichitcuk, his wife Mallatobuck, and his son Lumpawaroo (Coincidentally, their original names were Itchy, Malla, and Lumpy respectively). Eventually, the other cast members join it, and things live happily ever after. However, this is where we get knees deep into the shit that makes up the majority of this special.
Shit Component No. 1: Acting
Dear god the acting in this sucked! Just about all of the actors in her look like they would rather be doing something else (The Empire Strikes Back, perhaps). To compound this fact is that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are some damn good actors! It’s not that they aren’t putting work in this special, but it just feels like they’re half-assing it most of the time.
I should point out that, in addition to the original cast, we’ve also got Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Havery Korman as guest stars. Just like the others, these people are some damn good actors, and I don’t think they want to be here! Even worse is the fact that their performances (with the possible exception of Bea Arthur’s performance about halfway/3/4ths through the feature) feel far more lazy than the original actors.
Shit Component No. 2: Film Quality
Though not quite as bad as the acting, the quality of the film is horrible. When it was first aired, it probably looked & sounded okay, but now it’s incredibly grainy, and the colors seemed washed out somewhat. The sound quality has become muffled overtime, but things are still relatively easy to hear. The sound isn’t necessarily pleasant to listen to, but it won’t completely eviscerate your brain.
Shit Component No. 3: Story
Even with an alright story, it’s just so incredibly hamfisted, it’s not funny. Despite having a basic background, there’s horde upon horde of cheesy components added in, perhaps as an attempt to gear this special (and to an extent, the Star Wars franchise) towards younger people. Everything feels more simplified, and isn’t quite as intense as the original Star Wars was. It’s far more comedic than the original film, and the special’s emotions feel so much more artificial (The original film, at least in my opinion, really did have some real emotional scenes). It’s not helped by the fact that the variety moments & cartoon bits really take a crap over everything. Speaking of moments & bits...
Shit Component No. 4: Variety Moments & Cartoons Bits
If there weren’t any variety show moments, and pieces of cartoon footage, then this would be an okay special, and not be quite so hated. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and I firmly believe that it was these two things that brought this special down to it’s knees, and chopped it’s head off.
There is practically next to nothing redeemable about this special. It’s filled with so many kinds of shit, you can’t find anything that shines through the stink & muck. However, there are two things within this sewage of cinema that can actually be barely redeemable, and that’s Bea Arthur’s portion of the special, and the cartoon. Playing a cantina owner, news comes saying that the bar is getting shut down by the Empire, and a somewhat touching musical number stars. It’s nice...until the next part of the special plays!!!!!!
Then there’s the cartoon, and despite being pointless, it’s actually not that bad. Known as The Faithful Wookiee, this was considered to be the high point of the special, as it was the first time fans actually saw Boba Fett. It’s also interesting to note that the cartoon was the only portion of the special ever released to the public, as it was used on the 2011 Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set as a Easter Egg.
The Star Wars Holiday Special gets a 1.5 out of 10, and that’s being kind!
See you all next week, when we’ll look at some comedic holiday songs. Until then, stay Otaku!
* Should you find that you want to slash your wrists because you wish to enjoy the pain, I posted the link below to download this “film”:
http://www.filecrop.com/19593178/index.html
** With Lucasarts being owned by Disney now, what do you think the chances are that they’ll bring the special back, or create a new one entirely?
*** (Update: 5/25/2013 | East Coast Time: 8:27 PM)
The filecrop link is dead, so instead here's a video link:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xn5gsj_the-star-wars-holiday-special_shortfilms#.UaFWtZx6_RY
Before I go on with the review, a little bit of background is needed. Considered to be one of the first official spinoffs, the Star Wars Holiday Special was directed by Steve Binder, who was also famous for directing a variety of decent television shows, specifically music programs with diverse groups of people. What’s most interesting is that the special was also composed of variety segments & cartoons (The cartoons were created by a Canadian company), and that George Lucas had little to do with the special. One it was aired, there was such a negative response, it was never aired again, and Mr. Lucas has gone out of his way to remove any trace of it. Because of his campaign, the special has gone underground, and became something of a legend among Star Wars fans. Since it’s airing, the special has been viewed and distributed in off-air recordings made from its original telecast by fans, and was later adapted to content-sharing websites. I should conclude that it was somewhat difficult to find, but I found some a few links (The movie was split into 6 parts, due to it being about 2 hours long), and managed to acquire this abomination.
Ironically enough, the story is surprisingly good, if you cut out all the bullshit. Basically, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day, which is an important day among the Wookies. Along the way they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire, who are searching for members of the Rebel Alliance on Kashyyyk. During this special, we also meet Chewbacca’s family, consisting of his father Attichitcuk, his wife Mallatobuck, and his son Lumpawaroo (Coincidentally, their original names were Itchy, Malla, and Lumpy respectively). Eventually, the other cast members join it, and things live happily ever after. However, this is where we get knees deep into the shit that makes up the majority of this special.
Shit Component No. 1: Acting
Dear god the acting in this sucked! Just about all of the actors in her look like they would rather be doing something else (The Empire Strikes Back, perhaps). To compound this fact is that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are some damn good actors! It’s not that they aren’t putting work in this special, but it just feels like they’re half-assing it most of the time.
I should point out that, in addition to the original cast, we’ve also got Bea Arthur, Art Carney, and Havery Korman as guest stars. Just like the others, these people are some damn good actors, and I don’t think they want to be here! Even worse is the fact that their performances (with the possible exception of Bea Arthur’s performance about halfway/3/4ths through the feature) feel far more lazy than the original actors.
Shit Component No. 2: Film Quality
Though not quite as bad as the acting, the quality of the film is horrible. When it was first aired, it probably looked & sounded okay, but now it’s incredibly grainy, and the colors seemed washed out somewhat. The sound quality has become muffled overtime, but things are still relatively easy to hear. The sound isn’t necessarily pleasant to listen to, but it won’t completely eviscerate your brain.
Shit Component No. 3: Story
Even with an alright story, it’s just so incredibly hamfisted, it’s not funny. Despite having a basic background, there’s horde upon horde of cheesy components added in, perhaps as an attempt to gear this special (and to an extent, the Star Wars franchise) towards younger people. Everything feels more simplified, and isn’t quite as intense as the original Star Wars was. It’s far more comedic than the original film, and the special’s emotions feel so much more artificial (The original film, at least in my opinion, really did have some real emotional scenes). It’s not helped by the fact that the variety moments & cartoon bits really take a crap over everything. Speaking of moments & bits...
Shit Component No. 4: Variety Moments & Cartoons Bits
If there weren’t any variety show moments, and pieces of cartoon footage, then this would be an okay special, and not be quite so hated. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and I firmly believe that it was these two things that brought this special down to it’s knees, and chopped it’s head off.
There is practically next to nothing redeemable about this special. It’s filled with so many kinds of shit, you can’t find anything that shines through the stink & muck. However, there are two things within this sewage of cinema that can actually be barely redeemable, and that’s Bea Arthur’s portion of the special, and the cartoon. Playing a cantina owner, news comes saying that the bar is getting shut down by the Empire, and a somewhat touching musical number stars. It’s nice...until the next part of the special plays!!!!!!
Then there’s the cartoon, and despite being pointless, it’s actually not that bad. Known as The Faithful Wookiee, this was considered to be the high point of the special, as it was the first time fans actually saw Boba Fett. It’s also interesting to note that the cartoon was the only portion of the special ever released to the public, as it was used on the 2011 Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set as a Easter Egg.
The Star Wars Holiday Special gets a 1.5 out of 10, and that’s being kind!
See you all next week, when we’ll look at some comedic holiday songs. Until then, stay Otaku!
* Should you find that you want to slash your wrists because you wish to enjoy the pain, I posted the link below to download this “film”:
http://www.filecrop.com/19593178/index.html
** With Lucasarts being owned by Disney now, what do you think the chances are that they’ll bring the special back, or create a new one entirely?
*** (Update: 5/25/2013 | East Coast Time: 8:27 PM)
The filecrop link is dead, so instead here's a video link:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xn5gsj_the-star-wars-holiday-special_shortfilms#.UaFWtZx6_RY
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Borderlands 2 Review
Hey everybody! Well, I’ve played enough Borderlands 2 to get the right amount of info needed for the review. Without further adieu....here’s, well...the review!
Story
Taking place just 5 years after the original game, the planet of Pandora has seen better days. Handsome Jack, the new president of the Hyperion Corporation, has been traversing all over the place, taking it over for the simple purpose of gaining more power. With the original Vault Hunters taking their fight to Jack, the player steps into the shoes of one of 5 new Vault Hunters (4 main & 1 DLC), who’ve been lured to Pandora by the vault, and Handsome Jack’s hollow promises of wealth & fame. Along their journey, the player uncovers more of Jack’s plot, and affect the lives of many individuals on Pandora.
The story has now become one of the game’s strengths. Whereas the story in the original game set out a basic guideline, Borderlands 2's story is much more fleshed out, and you know what’s going on right (At least what you’re given) from the beginning. I really cannot reveal anything from this game’s story, as there are many twists & turns the player will come across, many of which will completely surprise you.
Settings
The world of Pandora has been greatly fleshed out in Borderlands 2. Gone is the constant theme of barren wastelands (Although there’s still areas like this, just nowhere near as many), and instead we’re given new places to explore! There’s icy coastlines & tundras, lush highlands, and a stylized city modeled after the Hyperion ideas of order, conformity, and cleanliness. These are just a tiny pinch of the many places you travel to, and they’re in a sense characters as well. The graphics have also brought more realism into the areas, but I’ll save that for later.
One important area in Borderlands 2 is Sanctuary. The last stronghold of the resistance (More on this in the “characters” section of this review), the town acts as a Hub for the player to go to gain missions & complete them, restock on health & ammo, etc. The town, despite the hope that the resistance & player brings, has a constant aura of dread & despair coming from the numerous NPCs. Physically, things aren’t that much better, as Sanctuary bears the scars from previous attacks by Hyperion. Things take a turn for the worst about 1/4 to ½ way through the game, but I can’t spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, it completely change the way the town looks.
Characters
Characterization has been greatly improved from the original Borderlands. Although most of the NPCs still aren’t given much, we have characters from the previous game, along with individuals introduced in this game, that are full of character.
For starters, we have the returning cast from B1. There’s Marcus (Who seems to have become more greedy than last time) Scooter (Who’s still a car & engine nut, as well as a perv lacking some brain cells), Mad Moxxi (She’s cleaned up her act somewhat...emphasis on somewhat), Dr Zed (He’s still bonkers), Patricia Tannis (Who’s become more bonkers, if you can believe it), Angel (She has a bigger stake in the story, and to reveal any more would be a crime), and Claptrap (He’s the only robot of his kind left, due to Handsome Jack eliminating the rest, and has become considerably crazy). It’s great to see this cast comeback, as they had some impact on the original story, and they also bring in some familiar elements from the previous game.
In addition to the NPCs that have come back, the original classes you played in Borderlands 1 have returned as NPCs in their own right. Brick still acts like the musclebound brute that likes blowing stuff up, Lilith is the femme fatale, Roland is the no-nonsense leader, and Mordecai still has the loner/killer vibe to him. However, with what’s happened between the two games, they’ve changed. Brick became a bandit king (SMALL SPOILER!!), Lilith dated Roland for some time, and took on a alias to fight the bandits, Roland has become more no-nonsense, enough to the point that it’s startling, and Mordecai has stayed relatively the same, save for the fact that he’s more prone to anger this time around. They’re still familiar to those that player the first game, yet they’ve changed enough so they feel a little different when you encounter them.
Now we turn our attention to the new characters. For starters, there’s Scooter’s sister Ellie. She’s a rather massive girl (She describes herself as a 300-pound girl with a kick ass rack), and like her brother, knows how to work on vehicles & unleash beatdowns. Encountered about 3/4ths into the game, The Sheriff is a woman that nobody messes with, especially since she has total control over the town she lives in, and has ties to Handsome Jack (I’ll leave that up to you). There are also a host of other characters, and while they might not last long, it feels like they have more weight in the game. However, there’s two particular characters that I like very much, and deserve spaces of their own.
First off is Handsome Jack, the president of Hyperion. He me just say that he’s the ultimate asshole: he’s killed men, women, children, exploited Pandora’s resources, and has done ungodly things. Hell, in the opening to the game, he blows up the train you’re on, and continues to taunt you after you’ve survived & attacked his property all over the place. Yeah, this guy is a asshole to the 10th degree, and you want to beat the shit out of him the moment you find out some of the things he’s done! However, in some warped, sick, twisted way, he’s likeable & hilarious. All throughout the game, he taunts you in one manner or another. A lot of the time they’ll make you cringe, but other times they’ll make you laugh. Example:
“Just bought a pony made of diamond, because I’m rich/I’m rackin’ my brain trying to think of a name for that diamond pony I bought. I was gonna call it “Piss-For-Brains” in honor of you, but that just feels immature. Maybe...“Butt Stallion”? Nah, that’s even worse. Tell you what, I’ll give it some more thought.”
The other character I really like, is Tiny Tina. Tiny Tina is...well...Iiiiiii...Uh....just look at the link below to see why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeqYf70fC2E
Gameplay
Just like the first game, Borderlands 2 is a straight up action game that parallels B1. We’ve still got the run & gun, the guns themselves, the driving with vehicles, and the light RPG elements. However, there have been an incredible amount of changes.
For starters are new the classes. Despite sharing similar themes with the previous classes, these new one have been given more depth & abilities. They are the:
Salvador the Gunzerker (Heavy Ranged Offense)
Maya the Siren (“Spellcasting” & Control)
Axton the Commando (Offense & Defense)
Zer0 the Assassin (Melee & Ranged Offense/Stealth)
Gaige the Mechromancer (Summoning & Ranged Offense/Limited Melee) (DLC Character)
These classes also have new abilities. Salvador can gunzerk, brandishing two guns (Any two guns, by the way), Maya can phaselock a single target, taking that target out of the fight, Axton can deploy a turret the shoots 360 degrees, and gets upgraded over time, Zero can enter a cloaked mode, gaining increased damage & stealth, while Gaige can summon Deathtrap, a giant floating robot that takes out enemies. The characters also have increased skill options: whereas the original classes had 7 skills in 3 trees, the new classes have 11 skills in 3 trees. Because of the expanded skill options, this allows for more variability & flexibility when it comes to play-styles.
If I can make a complaint about the classes, it would be towards Zer0. Style wise, he’s a badass. Dressed in a black ninja-like outfit, he wears a helmet that completely conceals his face, and speaks almost completely in haiku. Mechanically, he’s still a badass. He can become a master sniper, or a silent melee warrior, shifting in & out of visibility. The problem with Zer0 is twofold: he really can’t do ranged & melee at the same time well (You really have to stick with either or), and he feels very out of place (Much like the Witch Doctor from Diablo 3. Probably should have talked about that in the review). I’m about halfway through Zer0, and I should have him through his first run-through in a few days.
The guns in Borderlands 2 have also received a bit of a makeover, both physically & mechanically. For example, here’s a look at a Vladov machinegun from the original game:
Now here’s a Vladov machinegun from this game:
As I stated in my Borderlands review, you really couldn’t tell the difference between the manufactures as far as physical looks are concerned. Within this game, the physical looks have been redesigned for each company, given the guns more character & flavor. The mechanics of each manufacturer (Some of them, at least) have also been redesigned as well, adding yet more character. These changes include:
Jakobs: Fires as fast as you pull the trigger (Still keeps the high damage theme from B1)
Tediore: Instead of reloading, the gun is thrown away & explodes like a grenade (Still keeps the fast reload speeds from B1)
Vladof: High Fire Rates
Torgue: Fires Explosive Rounds
Dahl: Burst Fire While Zoomed In (Still keeps the Recoil Reduction them from B1)
Hyperion: Increased Accuracy while the trigger is held down
Maliwan: All Guns have Elemental Properties (Fire, Acid, Electricity, Slag)
Bandit: High Magazine Capacity
As you can tell, there’s 3 companies missing (S&S Munitions, Atlas, Eiridian). Atlas is gone because of the previous Vault Hunters in the original game, S&S Munitions have been replaced by the Bandit “Company”, and the Eiridian weapons have been replaced by E-Tech guns (Spread across most of the companies, E-Tech weapons have varied abilities at the cost of increased ammo consumption. Unlike the original Eiridian guns, E-Tech weapons don’t have infinite/regenerating ammo).
There’s also been a new damage type added, and that’s Slag. Slag works a little different from the other damage types: when an enemy is affected by Slag, they take double damage from non-Slag weapons. This damage type can be found across the weapon companies (Save for Torgue & Jakobs), and adds a new strategic element to combat.
The only thing that really hasn’t changed much is the driving. Although there are some more driving-oriented side quests, the vehicles haven’t been fleshed out. If I have one other complaint about the vehicles is that they seem to bounce off certain physical objects more so than in the original game.
A major addition to the gameplay is Badass Rank. Acting as a reward system, Badass Rank allows the player to gain rewards by completing challenges scattered all over the land. By increasing your Badass Rank, you gain Badass Tokens that let you put them into stats that increase over time (Gun Damage, Increased Accuracy, etc). These bonuses affect all your characters, and are infinite, allowing you to gain bonuses over & over. So as not to be overpowering, the bonuses you get from the Badass Tokens decrease overtime.
Another addition to Borderlands 2 is the Quick Change system. Acting like a improved version of the New-U Stations in the original Borderlands, the Quick Change machines allow you to reset your skill points, change your name, and stylize your character. Stylizing your character has been overhauled: instead of just picking colors, you now have multiple heads to choose from, as well as skin colors that affect the entire character. Some of these heads & skins are found as loot, but other you acquire through challenges, and special ones can be obtained if you have a saved file from the original game. I haven’t used the Quick Change system much, but it’s definitely welcome.
We’re also introduced to a new currency; Eridium. Although it’s rare, Eridium allows you to increase how much ammo you hold, how big you stash is (Quick note: your maximum inventory space is 27 slots instead of the maximum inventory in B1, making it harder to bring along a big arsenal), and how big your bank is (A storage container that lets you hold space weapons, shields, etc). Despite being rare, Eridium isn’t so rare that you hardly find it, and you can increase things slowly over time. Eridium is also needed to gain access to rare, after game bosses, when you find their lairs. Unfortunately, if you die, you need to use Eridium again to get back inside. If you’re low on Eridium before you go in, you’re making a mistake.
Perhaps one of the most important additions is Claptrap’s Secret Stash (It’s not all that secret, but I’ll leave that one up to you). This addition allows you to store items, and let’s your other characters grab said items from the stash to use. The only downside to the stash is that there’s exactly four slots, and makes deciding what items go into the stash somewhat challenging.
Graphics & Sounds
Running off of the Unreal 3 engine, Borderlands 2 looks fundamentally similar to B1. It still has the original game’s color scheme, but it doesn’t have as much of the previous game’s cel-shaded look, and appears a little more streamlined & smooth. Because of this, the various environments feel more believe in addition to looking more believable (Even the city of Opportunity, despite being over the top, looks like something that might exist in our world).
The sound system hasn’t been advanced much when compare to the original game, but that’s not necessarily bad. It sound very much like B1, but it includes new music, new sound effects for the enemies & guns, and even brings back some familiar voices actors to reprise their originals roles in the first game.
Overall & Rating
Borderlands 2 blows the original game out of the water, and sends it hurtling into space. Despite having the driving still underdeveloped & a little wonky sometimes, everything positive about the first game has been ramped up past 11, and the bad things have been thrown into the garbage. There’s a better story & characters, expanded world, improved gameplay, and it maintains the same graphics & sound system that gave the original Borderlands it’s iconic look & feel. Kudos to Gearbox for pumping out a damn good game!
Borderlands 2 gets a 9.5 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a look at one of the unholiest Christmas specials ever to be made. Until then, stay Otaku!
Story
Taking place just 5 years after the original game, the planet of Pandora has seen better days. Handsome Jack, the new president of the Hyperion Corporation, has been traversing all over the place, taking it over for the simple purpose of gaining more power. With the original Vault Hunters taking their fight to Jack, the player steps into the shoes of one of 5 new Vault Hunters (4 main & 1 DLC), who’ve been lured to Pandora by the vault, and Handsome Jack’s hollow promises of wealth & fame. Along their journey, the player uncovers more of Jack’s plot, and affect the lives of many individuals on Pandora.
The story has now become one of the game’s strengths. Whereas the story in the original game set out a basic guideline, Borderlands 2's story is much more fleshed out, and you know what’s going on right (At least what you’re given) from the beginning. I really cannot reveal anything from this game’s story, as there are many twists & turns the player will come across, many of which will completely surprise you.
Settings
The world of Pandora has been greatly fleshed out in Borderlands 2. Gone is the constant theme of barren wastelands (Although there’s still areas like this, just nowhere near as many), and instead we’re given new places to explore! There’s icy coastlines & tundras, lush highlands, and a stylized city modeled after the Hyperion ideas of order, conformity, and cleanliness. These are just a tiny pinch of the many places you travel to, and they’re in a sense characters as well. The graphics have also brought more realism into the areas, but I’ll save that for later.
One important area in Borderlands 2 is Sanctuary. The last stronghold of the resistance (More on this in the “characters” section of this review), the town acts as a Hub for the player to go to gain missions & complete them, restock on health & ammo, etc. The town, despite the hope that the resistance & player brings, has a constant aura of dread & despair coming from the numerous NPCs. Physically, things aren’t that much better, as Sanctuary bears the scars from previous attacks by Hyperion. Things take a turn for the worst about 1/4 to ½ way through the game, but I can’t spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, it completely change the way the town looks.
Characters
Characterization has been greatly improved from the original Borderlands. Although most of the NPCs still aren’t given much, we have characters from the previous game, along with individuals introduced in this game, that are full of character.
For starters, we have the returning cast from B1. There’s Marcus (Who seems to have become more greedy than last time) Scooter (Who’s still a car & engine nut, as well as a perv lacking some brain cells), Mad Moxxi (She’s cleaned up her act somewhat...emphasis on somewhat), Dr Zed (He’s still bonkers), Patricia Tannis (Who’s become more bonkers, if you can believe it), Angel (She has a bigger stake in the story, and to reveal any more would be a crime), and Claptrap (He’s the only robot of his kind left, due to Handsome Jack eliminating the rest, and has become considerably crazy). It’s great to see this cast comeback, as they had some impact on the original story, and they also bring in some familiar elements from the previous game.
In addition to the NPCs that have come back, the original classes you played in Borderlands 1 have returned as NPCs in their own right. Brick still acts like the musclebound brute that likes blowing stuff up, Lilith is the femme fatale, Roland is the no-nonsense leader, and Mordecai still has the loner/killer vibe to him. However, with what’s happened between the two games, they’ve changed. Brick became a bandit king (SMALL SPOILER!!), Lilith dated Roland for some time, and took on a alias to fight the bandits, Roland has become more no-nonsense, enough to the point that it’s startling, and Mordecai has stayed relatively the same, save for the fact that he’s more prone to anger this time around. They’re still familiar to those that player the first game, yet they’ve changed enough so they feel a little different when you encounter them.
Now we turn our attention to the new characters. For starters, there’s Scooter’s sister Ellie. She’s a rather massive girl (She describes herself as a 300-pound girl with a kick ass rack), and like her brother, knows how to work on vehicles & unleash beatdowns. Encountered about 3/4ths into the game, The Sheriff is a woman that nobody messes with, especially since she has total control over the town she lives in, and has ties to Handsome Jack (I’ll leave that up to you). There are also a host of other characters, and while they might not last long, it feels like they have more weight in the game. However, there’s two particular characters that I like very much, and deserve spaces of their own.
First off is Handsome Jack, the president of Hyperion. He me just say that he’s the ultimate asshole: he’s killed men, women, children, exploited Pandora’s resources, and has done ungodly things. Hell, in the opening to the game, he blows up the train you’re on, and continues to taunt you after you’ve survived & attacked his property all over the place. Yeah, this guy is a asshole to the 10th degree, and you want to beat the shit out of him the moment you find out some of the things he’s done! However, in some warped, sick, twisted way, he’s likeable & hilarious. All throughout the game, he taunts you in one manner or another. A lot of the time they’ll make you cringe, but other times they’ll make you laugh. Example:
“Just bought a pony made of diamond, because I’m rich/I’m rackin’ my brain trying to think of a name for that diamond pony I bought. I was gonna call it “Piss-For-Brains” in honor of you, but that just feels immature. Maybe...“Butt Stallion”? Nah, that’s even worse. Tell you what, I’ll give it some more thought.”
The other character I really like, is Tiny Tina. Tiny Tina is...well...Iiiiiii...Uh....just look at the link below to see why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeqYf70fC2E
Gameplay
Just like the first game, Borderlands 2 is a straight up action game that parallels B1. We’ve still got the run & gun, the guns themselves, the driving with vehicles, and the light RPG elements. However, there have been an incredible amount of changes.
For starters are new the classes. Despite sharing similar themes with the previous classes, these new one have been given more depth & abilities. They are the:
Salvador the Gunzerker (Heavy Ranged Offense)
Maya the Siren (“Spellcasting” & Control)
Axton the Commando (Offense & Defense)
Zer0 the Assassin (Melee & Ranged Offense/Stealth)
Gaige the Mechromancer (Summoning & Ranged Offense/Limited Melee) (DLC Character)
These classes also have new abilities. Salvador can gunzerk, brandishing two guns (Any two guns, by the way), Maya can phaselock a single target, taking that target out of the fight, Axton can deploy a turret the shoots 360 degrees, and gets upgraded over time, Zero can enter a cloaked mode, gaining increased damage & stealth, while Gaige can summon Deathtrap, a giant floating robot that takes out enemies. The characters also have increased skill options: whereas the original classes had 7 skills in 3 trees, the new classes have 11 skills in 3 trees. Because of the expanded skill options, this allows for more variability & flexibility when it comes to play-styles.
If I can make a complaint about the classes, it would be towards Zer0. Style wise, he’s a badass. Dressed in a black ninja-like outfit, he wears a helmet that completely conceals his face, and speaks almost completely in haiku. Mechanically, he’s still a badass. He can become a master sniper, or a silent melee warrior, shifting in & out of visibility. The problem with Zer0 is twofold: he really can’t do ranged & melee at the same time well (You really have to stick with either or), and he feels very out of place (Much like the Witch Doctor from Diablo 3. Probably should have talked about that in the review). I’m about halfway through Zer0, and I should have him through his first run-through in a few days.
The guns in Borderlands 2 have also received a bit of a makeover, both physically & mechanically. For example, here’s a look at a Vladov machinegun from the original game:
Now here’s a Vladov machinegun from this game:
As I stated in my Borderlands review, you really couldn’t tell the difference between the manufactures as far as physical looks are concerned. Within this game, the physical looks have been redesigned for each company, given the guns more character & flavor. The mechanics of each manufacturer (Some of them, at least) have also been redesigned as well, adding yet more character. These changes include:
Jakobs: Fires as fast as you pull the trigger (Still keeps the high damage theme from B1)
Tediore: Instead of reloading, the gun is thrown away & explodes like a grenade (Still keeps the fast reload speeds from B1)
Vladof: High Fire Rates
Torgue: Fires Explosive Rounds
Dahl: Burst Fire While Zoomed In (Still keeps the Recoil Reduction them from B1)
Hyperion: Increased Accuracy while the trigger is held down
Maliwan: All Guns have Elemental Properties (Fire, Acid, Electricity, Slag)
Bandit: High Magazine Capacity
As you can tell, there’s 3 companies missing (S&S Munitions, Atlas, Eiridian). Atlas is gone because of the previous Vault Hunters in the original game, S&S Munitions have been replaced by the Bandit “Company”, and the Eiridian weapons have been replaced by E-Tech guns (Spread across most of the companies, E-Tech weapons have varied abilities at the cost of increased ammo consumption. Unlike the original Eiridian guns, E-Tech weapons don’t have infinite/regenerating ammo).
There’s also been a new damage type added, and that’s Slag. Slag works a little different from the other damage types: when an enemy is affected by Slag, they take double damage from non-Slag weapons. This damage type can be found across the weapon companies (Save for Torgue & Jakobs), and adds a new strategic element to combat.
The only thing that really hasn’t changed much is the driving. Although there are some more driving-oriented side quests, the vehicles haven’t been fleshed out. If I have one other complaint about the vehicles is that they seem to bounce off certain physical objects more so than in the original game.
A major addition to the gameplay is Badass Rank. Acting as a reward system, Badass Rank allows the player to gain rewards by completing challenges scattered all over the land. By increasing your Badass Rank, you gain Badass Tokens that let you put them into stats that increase over time (Gun Damage, Increased Accuracy, etc). These bonuses affect all your characters, and are infinite, allowing you to gain bonuses over & over. So as not to be overpowering, the bonuses you get from the Badass Tokens decrease overtime.
Another addition to Borderlands 2 is the Quick Change system. Acting like a improved version of the New-U Stations in the original Borderlands, the Quick Change machines allow you to reset your skill points, change your name, and stylize your character. Stylizing your character has been overhauled: instead of just picking colors, you now have multiple heads to choose from, as well as skin colors that affect the entire character. Some of these heads & skins are found as loot, but other you acquire through challenges, and special ones can be obtained if you have a saved file from the original game. I haven’t used the Quick Change system much, but it’s definitely welcome.
We’re also introduced to a new currency; Eridium. Although it’s rare, Eridium allows you to increase how much ammo you hold, how big you stash is (Quick note: your maximum inventory space is 27 slots instead of the maximum inventory in B1, making it harder to bring along a big arsenal), and how big your bank is (A storage container that lets you hold space weapons, shields, etc). Despite being rare, Eridium isn’t so rare that you hardly find it, and you can increase things slowly over time. Eridium is also needed to gain access to rare, after game bosses, when you find their lairs. Unfortunately, if you die, you need to use Eridium again to get back inside. If you’re low on Eridium before you go in, you’re making a mistake.
Perhaps one of the most important additions is Claptrap’s Secret Stash (It’s not all that secret, but I’ll leave that one up to you). This addition allows you to store items, and let’s your other characters grab said items from the stash to use. The only downside to the stash is that there’s exactly four slots, and makes deciding what items go into the stash somewhat challenging.
Graphics & Sounds
Running off of the Unreal 3 engine, Borderlands 2 looks fundamentally similar to B1. It still has the original game’s color scheme, but it doesn’t have as much of the previous game’s cel-shaded look, and appears a little more streamlined & smooth. Because of this, the various environments feel more believe in addition to looking more believable (Even the city of Opportunity, despite being over the top, looks like something that might exist in our world).
The sound system hasn’t been advanced much when compare to the original game, but that’s not necessarily bad. It sound very much like B1, but it includes new music, new sound effects for the enemies & guns, and even brings back some familiar voices actors to reprise their originals roles in the first game.
Overall & Rating
Borderlands 2 blows the original game out of the water, and sends it hurtling into space. Despite having the driving still underdeveloped & a little wonky sometimes, everything positive about the first game has been ramped up past 11, and the bad things have been thrown into the garbage. There’s a better story & characters, expanded world, improved gameplay, and it maintains the same graphics & sound system that gave the original Borderlands it’s iconic look & feel. Kudos to Gearbox for pumping out a damn good game!
Borderlands 2 gets a 9.5 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a look at one of the unholiest Christmas specials ever to be made. Until then, stay Otaku!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Katatonia - Dance of December Souls Review
Hi everybody! As time marches on, we sometimes forget those who’ve paved the way for us. Not just in the realms of music, but in movies & tv shows, anime & manga, comic books, and many other pop culture fixtures. Sometimes we forget things because they were horrible, or we forget because they haven’t necessarily kept up with the times. Well, in today’s case, it’s the latter. Without further ado, and to celebrate the coming of December, here’s a review for Katatonia’s first album, Dance of December Souls.
Although this album was reprinted a couple times, and has been given new material, for the purpose of this review I’ll be sticking with the original lineup of songs, so as not to confuse anyone who hasn’t listened to the album yet.
Background
There have been many bands in the late 80s to early 90s who’ve dabbled in the realms of death, doom, and gothic metal, but none have been as iconic as Katatonia. First formed 1991, the lineup consisted of Jonas Renkse (drums, percussion, vocals), Anders Nyström (guitars), Guillaume Le Huche (bass guitar), and Dan Swanö (A guest at the time, who worked on the keyboard). In the early 90s, bands such as My Dying Bride, Anathema, and Paradise Lost were also producing death/doom metal, and with some success, but it was Katatonia that came to produce some truly unique sounds.
Before Dance of December Souls, the band released Jhva Elohim Meth (Translated: God is Dead) on July of 1992, a very limited demo album (Only 500 copies were made: 300 were blue-cased, 100 were transparent-cased, and another 100 were red-cased. In an even more limited quantity, the first 30 copies had photos & lyrics) that showed off their work, right before the album. After the success of the demo, Katatonia began to work on their first album.
I should note that Dance of December Souls has actually been re-released a couple times. The first edition came out on December 14, 1993, and it was later released in the US in 1999 without alterations, but it also got a reissue in 2004 with all-new artwork (The band stated on their website that they didn’t like this copy for personal reasons), another re-release in 2007 with a blue version of the cover (The original cover was red) & all five songs from their demo album, and a final re-release on double vinyl in 2010.
Songs
Seven Dreaming Souls (Intro): Despite being 46 seconds long, Seven Dreaming Souls is a great way to start out. Although there’s no singing in this song, there’s definitely a lot of screams & moans that create a very sinister vibe, not to mention some equally dark usage of the keyboard. Again, great song to start the album off.
Gateways of Bereavement: This is a song that’s very much in flux. All throughout the song, we get singing, instrumentation, singing, etc. I actually don’t like the singing in this, as I can’t understand most of the lyrics, apart from a few words. The real strength of this song is it’s usage of instrumentation: we’ve got heavy & haunting guitars, we’ve got powerful drumming, and there’s even a little bit of elegant keyboarding. If there weren’t any lyrics, this would have been an amazing song. Such as it is, it’s just a nice song.
In Silence Enshrined: This song is a little bit different that Gates of Bereavement. The vocals are a little easier to understand (Though not by much), and the instrumentation this time around seems to be focused more on the guitars and drums, and the keyboard is used a little more sparingly (It shows up about halfway through the song, and is used on & off from there). Strangely, In Silence Enshrined seems to move along at a slightly faster pace than the previous track (Especially at the 3/4th point in the song), yet for some reason still manages to have a steady sound.
Without God: I can say, without a shadow of doubt, that this song has the easiest lyrics to hear. Sure, Jonas Renkse still screams a lot of the time, but in this song he seems to be doing it a lot more clearly. I can also say that this is a highly heretical song, as Renkse’s singing about a world without god. Strangely, there’s very little keyboard in this, apart from some being used in the middle & 3/4th points of the song. Instead, this song is focused solely on the guitars & drums, both of which put in a lot of overtime.
Elohim Meth: Another audio track, but this one is a bit different when you compare it to Seven Dreaming Souls. Unlike that song, this one is longer (1 minute & 42 second), and doesn’t focus on the keyboard as much. Instead, we’re given a mix between guitar & keyboard, both of which are played very sorrowfully. At around the halfway point, the sound of gentle rain & light thunder add a rather melancholic feel to the sorrow, creating a surprisingly emotional song.
Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl): Holy crap, this song is long! Clocking in at almost 14 minutes, this is one of the longest songs on the album (Tomb of Insomnia is the 2nd biggest song, but I’ll get to that in a bit). Because of it’s length, there’s a lot more going on in it when you compare it to the songs before it. Tragically, the vocal quality also sinks back a bit, and almost sounds like what was sung on In Silence Enshrined. However, Velvet Thorns shares Gateways of Bereavement’s strength in it’s instrumentation, and everybody’s on deck. We got the guitars, as well as the drums playing fast & slow, and we also have the keyboard that provides us with some lovely sounds. Again, like Gateways of Bereavement, this would have been amazing if there weren’t any lyrics.
Tomb of Insomnia: Like I said in the previous song, Tomb of Insomnia is the second biggest track on the album, measuring in at 13 minutes & 10 seconds. Tomb of Insomnia also happens to be one of the strangest songs on Dance of December Souls, as a majority of it sounds like a metal song from the late 80s. This is really evident in the instrumentation, as it focuses heavily on guitars, with a good supplement of drums, and a little bit of keyboard to add some variety to it. Yet again, the vocals ruin what is an otherwise perfect song, as I can barely understand them.
Dancing December: We began this album with an audio song, found another one about halfway through the album, and now we end it on a audio song. Unlike the beginning track, Dancing December is a much longer track (2 minutes & 20 seconds). Also unlike the first track, there’s no-where near as much in the way of dark vibes, instead going for a more ethereal/elemental feeling. The beginning starts off with a slow & melancholy guitar riff, accompanied by some equally melancholic piano playing, and some drum work. Then about halfway through, the pace accelerates, and some beautiful keyboard sounds come through. The rest of this song is relatively fast paced, yet it somehow doesn’t manage to lose the beauty it creates during the first half.
Overall Impression & Rating
It’s definitely understandable why Dance of December Souls has fallen off the radar for many metal fans. Unlike a lot of albums produced in the early 90s by other death/doom/gothic metal bands (Particularly, depending on who you ask, Paradise Lost’s classic album, Draconian Times), it hasn’t necessarily aged well. In particular are the cliched lyrics, and the instrumentation, which sounds good, but also sounds a little dated. Despite those two problems, Katatonia’s first album is fun to listen to, and I consider it a primer album for anyone who wants to get into the world of metal.
Dance of December Souls gets 5 to 7 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a trip back to Pandora. Until then, stay Otaku!
Although this album was reprinted a couple times, and has been given new material, for the purpose of this review I’ll be sticking with the original lineup of songs, so as not to confuse anyone who hasn’t listened to the album yet.
Background
 |
| (Original Cover) |
 |
| (2004 Re-Release) |
 |
| (2007 Re-Release) |
Before Dance of December Souls, the band released Jhva Elohim Meth (Translated: God is Dead) on July of 1992, a very limited demo album (Only 500 copies were made: 300 were blue-cased, 100 were transparent-cased, and another 100 were red-cased. In an even more limited quantity, the first 30 copies had photos & lyrics) that showed off their work, right before the album. After the success of the demo, Katatonia began to work on their first album.
I should note that Dance of December Souls has actually been re-released a couple times. The first edition came out on December 14, 1993, and it was later released in the US in 1999 without alterations, but it also got a reissue in 2004 with all-new artwork (The band stated on their website that they didn’t like this copy for personal reasons), another re-release in 2007 with a blue version of the cover (The original cover was red) & all five songs from their demo album, and a final re-release on double vinyl in 2010.
Songs
Seven Dreaming Souls (Intro): Despite being 46 seconds long, Seven Dreaming Souls is a great way to start out. Although there’s no singing in this song, there’s definitely a lot of screams & moans that create a very sinister vibe, not to mention some equally dark usage of the keyboard. Again, great song to start the album off.
Gateways of Bereavement: This is a song that’s very much in flux. All throughout the song, we get singing, instrumentation, singing, etc. I actually don’t like the singing in this, as I can’t understand most of the lyrics, apart from a few words. The real strength of this song is it’s usage of instrumentation: we’ve got heavy & haunting guitars, we’ve got powerful drumming, and there’s even a little bit of elegant keyboarding. If there weren’t any lyrics, this would have been an amazing song. Such as it is, it’s just a nice song.
In Silence Enshrined: This song is a little bit different that Gates of Bereavement. The vocals are a little easier to understand (Though not by much), and the instrumentation this time around seems to be focused more on the guitars and drums, and the keyboard is used a little more sparingly (It shows up about halfway through the song, and is used on & off from there). Strangely, In Silence Enshrined seems to move along at a slightly faster pace than the previous track (Especially at the 3/4th point in the song), yet for some reason still manages to have a steady sound.
Without God: I can say, without a shadow of doubt, that this song has the easiest lyrics to hear. Sure, Jonas Renkse still screams a lot of the time, but in this song he seems to be doing it a lot more clearly. I can also say that this is a highly heretical song, as Renkse’s singing about a world without god. Strangely, there’s very little keyboard in this, apart from some being used in the middle & 3/4th points of the song. Instead, this song is focused solely on the guitars & drums, both of which put in a lot of overtime.
Elohim Meth: Another audio track, but this one is a bit different when you compare it to Seven Dreaming Souls. Unlike that song, this one is longer (1 minute & 42 second), and doesn’t focus on the keyboard as much. Instead, we’re given a mix between guitar & keyboard, both of which are played very sorrowfully. At around the halfway point, the sound of gentle rain & light thunder add a rather melancholic feel to the sorrow, creating a surprisingly emotional song.
Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl): Holy crap, this song is long! Clocking in at almost 14 minutes, this is one of the longest songs on the album (Tomb of Insomnia is the 2nd biggest song, but I’ll get to that in a bit). Because of it’s length, there’s a lot more going on in it when you compare it to the songs before it. Tragically, the vocal quality also sinks back a bit, and almost sounds like what was sung on In Silence Enshrined. However, Velvet Thorns shares Gateways of Bereavement’s strength in it’s instrumentation, and everybody’s on deck. We got the guitars, as well as the drums playing fast & slow, and we also have the keyboard that provides us with some lovely sounds. Again, like Gateways of Bereavement, this would have been amazing if there weren’t any lyrics.
Tomb of Insomnia: Like I said in the previous song, Tomb of Insomnia is the second biggest track on the album, measuring in at 13 minutes & 10 seconds. Tomb of Insomnia also happens to be one of the strangest songs on Dance of December Souls, as a majority of it sounds like a metal song from the late 80s. This is really evident in the instrumentation, as it focuses heavily on guitars, with a good supplement of drums, and a little bit of keyboard to add some variety to it. Yet again, the vocals ruin what is an otherwise perfect song, as I can barely understand them.
Dancing December: We began this album with an audio song, found another one about halfway through the album, and now we end it on a audio song. Unlike the beginning track, Dancing December is a much longer track (2 minutes & 20 seconds). Also unlike the first track, there’s no-where near as much in the way of dark vibes, instead going for a more ethereal/elemental feeling. The beginning starts off with a slow & melancholy guitar riff, accompanied by some equally melancholic piano playing, and some drum work. Then about halfway through, the pace accelerates, and some beautiful keyboard sounds come through. The rest of this song is relatively fast paced, yet it somehow doesn’t manage to lose the beauty it creates during the first half.
Overall Impression & Rating
It’s definitely understandable why Dance of December Souls has fallen off the radar for many metal fans. Unlike a lot of albums produced in the early 90s by other death/doom/gothic metal bands (Particularly, depending on who you ask, Paradise Lost’s classic album, Draconian Times), it hasn’t necessarily aged well. In particular are the cliched lyrics, and the instrumentation, which sounds good, but also sounds a little dated. Despite those two problems, Katatonia’s first album is fun to listen to, and I consider it a primer album for anyone who wants to get into the world of metal.
Dance of December Souls gets 5 to 7 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when we’ll take a trip back to Pandora. Until then, stay Otaku!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Burn Up Scramble Review
Well guys, I knew it was going to come to this. After watching Burn Up, Burn Up W, and Burn Up Excess, it was only a matter of time before I came to the last series. A series that, for whatever reason, has given me mixed signals. On one hand, I find it to me an entertaining shows that still manages to be funny, dramatic, and serious. On the other hand, the amount of changes made are baffling. It’s because of these changes that I’ve decided to approach this review in a more free-flowing manner, and mix the positives with the negatives. Whether I apply this style to later reviews, I’m not so sure. But for now, here’s a review for Burn Up Scramble.
We start off with the show’s story. Essentially an all-new background, Scramble still centers itself around Rio Kinezono, a blonde & buxom cop, and her life in the police force. Along with her comrades Maya & Lilica, they go around doing various jobs, like protecting a princess, and general duties for the public. That’s really the only original aspects that were carried over from W & Excess, as the story in Scramble is much more loose in terms of episode structure (only the last 4 episodes are supposed to be watched in a precise order), and it doesn’t seem quite as intense. There isn’t as much of a threat from the villains this time around, and there aren’t as many intense moments as there was in past Burn Up series.
The characters have also been heavily changed. The only one that hasn’t been tampered with (At least not on a massive level) is Rio. She’s still a physically attractive fighter (this time around she can dodge bullets), and she still has a temper, but she doesn’t get as crazy during social interactions. A somewhat big change is why she look for a man: in Burn Up W & Excess, Rio desired a man so she can get easy money and leave her job, in Scramble she wants a man just for the sake of falling in love. Because of this desire, she has far more belief in horoscopes and lucky colors, but in the end this still doesn’t help.
Maya & Lilica have been changed much more than Rio, often in ways that might baffle long time Burn Up fans. Maya herself is still a gun nut, but she’s shorter and doesn’t quite have as large a chest as Rio, and she also has grey-black hair (The original Maya had green hair). Because of these physical changes, she more closely resembles a young girl, rather than a young woman. Her personality has changed much as well: she doesn’t have the sexual attraction towards firearms that her W & Excess counterparts had, has the bad habit of pointing out Rio’s shortcomings, and has the strange habits of collecting toy bears & automatic pistols (She names her pistols in her collection, by the way).
Lilica has received the most changes in terms of core characters. In Burn Up W & Excess, she was a cheerfully energetic computer and tech expert who almost always had a smile on her face. In Scramble, Lilica has become a shy, insecure, and slightly clumsy psychic. On top of that, she becomes more uninhibited and somewhat daffy when she’s had a drink or two. Her shyness & insecurity are the personalities most often seen by the viewer, but there are times where she rolls up her sleeves, and gets as tough as the others.
Even the side characters have been changed. The commander of the Warrior Team has been reduced to a background character, and doesn’t have much screen time, save for some episodes towards the end. Yuji, while physically similar to his previous counterparts, has gone from a perverted low-level policeman, to a surprisingly successful ladies man & head chief of the police. Luckily, he still provides the comic relief of the show, mainly consisting of his attempts to seduce Rio.
Voice acting has also changed for Burn Up Scramble. Unlike the previous Burn Ups, Scramble was done by Geneon, not the typical ADV Films (R.I.P.). Because of this change, none of the original voice actors can be heard in this show. Despite that fact, the voice acting manages to remain consistent across the board. This time around there’s a lot of good voice actors, and only a handful of okay & bad voice actors.
The animation quality has also been changed drastically. The previous 3 Burn Up shows were all hand-drawn & supplemented by computers, but Scramble seems to lean more towards computer work, with hand-drawn elements to smooth out some edges. Because of the computer work, the show doesn’t quite has as much of a crude look & feel, although there are times where things don’t completely look as they should. These moments are minor, and take a little bit of work to find.
One thing that really hasn’t changed from the previous Burn Up series (Burn Up Excess, to be specific) is the amount of episodes, and how long they last. We’ve got 12 episodes available, and they last about 22 to 24 minutes each. Unlike Mouse, which had the same amount of episodes but lasted only 3 hours, the length of time in each episodes makes watching them consecutively a longer affair.
The last thing about Burn Up Scramble I’ll talk about is how hard it is to find. Despite coming out a little later than Burn Up Excess, finding copies on Amazon can be some work. There’s definitely copies of volume 1 (New copies start at $2, and used copies start at $1.50), volumes 2 & 3 aren’t as numerous. Perhaps the most difficult thing to find is all 3 volumes together in one package. At the time of this writing, there are only two complete collections available for purchase, both of which are new. The first costs $149.99, and the second is $220.48.The show is worth money, but it’s not worth hundreds.
Burn Up Scramble gets 7 to 7.5 out of 10.
See you all next week, when I’ll put on some wintery clothes, and dive into a December filled with goodies & surprises. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
I know I said that I went back to my old schedule, but since it’s the holiday season, I’ve decided to shower you all with reviews & other holiday goodies.
We start off with the show’s story. Essentially an all-new background, Scramble still centers itself around Rio Kinezono, a blonde & buxom cop, and her life in the police force. Along with her comrades Maya & Lilica, they go around doing various jobs, like protecting a princess, and general duties for the public. That’s really the only original aspects that were carried over from W & Excess, as the story in Scramble is much more loose in terms of episode structure (only the last 4 episodes are supposed to be watched in a precise order), and it doesn’t seem quite as intense. There isn’t as much of a threat from the villains this time around, and there aren’t as many intense moments as there was in past Burn Up series.
The characters have also been heavily changed. The only one that hasn’t been tampered with (At least not on a massive level) is Rio. She’s still a physically attractive fighter (this time around she can dodge bullets), and she still has a temper, but she doesn’t get as crazy during social interactions. A somewhat big change is why she look for a man: in Burn Up W & Excess, Rio desired a man so she can get easy money and leave her job, in Scramble she wants a man just for the sake of falling in love. Because of this desire, she has far more belief in horoscopes and lucky colors, but in the end this still doesn’t help.
Maya & Lilica have been changed much more than Rio, often in ways that might baffle long time Burn Up fans. Maya herself is still a gun nut, but she’s shorter and doesn’t quite have as large a chest as Rio, and she also has grey-black hair (The original Maya had green hair). Because of these physical changes, she more closely resembles a young girl, rather than a young woman. Her personality has changed much as well: she doesn’t have the sexual attraction towards firearms that her W & Excess counterparts had, has the bad habit of pointing out Rio’s shortcomings, and has the strange habits of collecting toy bears & automatic pistols (She names her pistols in her collection, by the way).
Lilica has received the most changes in terms of core characters. In Burn Up W & Excess, she was a cheerfully energetic computer and tech expert who almost always had a smile on her face. In Scramble, Lilica has become a shy, insecure, and slightly clumsy psychic. On top of that, she becomes more uninhibited and somewhat daffy when she’s had a drink or two. Her shyness & insecurity are the personalities most often seen by the viewer, but there are times where she rolls up her sleeves, and gets as tough as the others.
Even the side characters have been changed. The commander of the Warrior Team has been reduced to a background character, and doesn’t have much screen time, save for some episodes towards the end. Yuji, while physically similar to his previous counterparts, has gone from a perverted low-level policeman, to a surprisingly successful ladies man & head chief of the police. Luckily, he still provides the comic relief of the show, mainly consisting of his attempts to seduce Rio.
Voice acting has also changed for Burn Up Scramble. Unlike the previous Burn Ups, Scramble was done by Geneon, not the typical ADV Films (R.I.P.). Because of this change, none of the original voice actors can be heard in this show. Despite that fact, the voice acting manages to remain consistent across the board. This time around there’s a lot of good voice actors, and only a handful of okay & bad voice actors.
The animation quality has also been changed drastically. The previous 3 Burn Up shows were all hand-drawn & supplemented by computers, but Scramble seems to lean more towards computer work, with hand-drawn elements to smooth out some edges. Because of the computer work, the show doesn’t quite has as much of a crude look & feel, although there are times where things don’t completely look as they should. These moments are minor, and take a little bit of work to find.
One thing that really hasn’t changed from the previous Burn Up series (Burn Up Excess, to be specific) is the amount of episodes, and how long they last. We’ve got 12 episodes available, and they last about 22 to 24 minutes each. Unlike Mouse, which had the same amount of episodes but lasted only 3 hours, the length of time in each episodes makes watching them consecutively a longer affair.
The last thing about Burn Up Scramble I’ll talk about is how hard it is to find. Despite coming out a little later than Burn Up Excess, finding copies on Amazon can be some work. There’s definitely copies of volume 1 (New copies start at $2, and used copies start at $1.50), volumes 2 & 3 aren’t as numerous. Perhaps the most difficult thing to find is all 3 volumes together in one package. At the time of this writing, there are only two complete collections available for purchase, both of which are new. The first costs $149.99, and the second is $220.48.The show is worth money, but it’s not worth hundreds.
Burn Up Scramble gets 7 to 7.5 out of 10.
See you all next week, when I’ll put on some wintery clothes, and dive into a December filled with goodies & surprises. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
I know I said that I went back to my old schedule, but since it’s the holiday season, I’ve decided to shower you all with reviews & other holiday goodies.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mad Bull 34 Review
Well everybody, it happened again. I’ve watched another bad anime, and I’m posting up the review for it. If you remember back in March, I reviewed the SiN OVA (Click “***” to read it), which I promptly slammed. Today’s however, is a little bit older, but so many more degrees of screwed up. Plus, you can tell an anime is bad when it doesn’t get a DVD re-release. Well, it’s time to share a little more misery with you, so here’s a review for the infamous Mad Bull 34.
I guess I’ll begin with the story. I don’t really want to explain it, but luckily, Wikipedia has:
“Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban, a Japanese-American, joins the New York City's toughest precinct, the thirty fourth. On his first day he is partnered up with John Estes, nicknamed "Sleepy" by his friends and "Mad Bull" by his enemies, a cop who stops crime with his own violent brand of justice. Mad Bull makes no qualms about executing common thieves with shotgun blasts, even if they pose a minor threat. He often steals from prostitutes and does incredible amounts of property damage while fighting crime. Mad Bull's unpoliceman-like behavior often puts him in hot water with his partner Daizaburo and the 34th precinct. However, despite how reckless or illegal these acts are, a good cause is always revealed (for example, Sleepy uses the money he steals from the prostitutes to fund a venereal disease clinic and a home for battered and raped women). Perrine Valley, a police lieutenant, joins Daizaburo and Sleepy later on to help them tackle more difficult cases involving the mafia and drug-running.”
Now, you might think that with a story like this, it would make some kind of sense...but it doesn’t. Within each episode, the story becomes a jumbled, chaotic, and psychotic mess. There might be something that makes sense one moment, then something else will come along later and destroy any sense the previous scene made.
If the story bounces all over the walls, then the voice acting bounces on those same walls, and breaks through them. Some voices sound okay, but just about everybody else sounds like the bottom of the voice actor barrel was scrapped. It also doesn’t help the fact that many of the voices sound racially stereotypical (New Yorkers, Asians, & African Americans are just a few that are stereotyped), and even with the accents they don’t sound good. There are only a pinchful of characters that sound alright, but even then their voices sounds like nails against a chalkboard.
Next up on the chopping block is the animation quality. Let’s me say that this show is ugly, plain & simple. It doesn’t look like a lot of work was put in, and this is especially noticeable when the misuse of the English language is plainly in front of the watcher’s eyes (I forgot, but I swore I saw Engrish words at least 5 times). The most ugliest of the episodes is the third one, as everything has a yellowish tint to it. There’s a piss joke in there somewhere, but I can’t find it for some reason.
As we can already tell, the structure of Mad Bull 34 is rotten like a cesspool, but I’ve got more pain in suffering for you! In addition to the story, voice acting & animation quality, Mad Bull 34 has the distinction of being one of the most sexist shows on the planet. There is really only one female character (The cop) that isn’t fully treated like crap, but all the other females are put through hell. Case in point: in the first few minutes, we see a girl about to get raped by two men, and a girl soon after getting accosted by two robbers (To tell you what happens afterwards would cause you to have spasms). One odd factor about the women that get in danger is that they have blonde hair. There’s a Nazi joke in there somewhere, but I can’t find it for some reason.
Mad Bull 34 is not only one of the most sexist anime, but it’s also one of the most racist. We’ve got a black gun with a stereo-typically low/deep voice, and is prone to having his way with women (He kills a girl about halfway through episode 1). We’ve also got New Yorkers with partially stereotyped accents, and Asians with fu-manchu accents round out this crap Sundae.
Now we come to the difficult part, and that’s finding anything redeemable about this show. With SiN, there was at the very least some glimmer of goodness swimming in that sea of shit. Finding something redeemable about Mad Bull 34 is like trying to find a honest Republican, but somehow, I was able to find a little bit that wasn’t stained by everything else. There wasn’t that many things, but I did find something.
For starters, Mad Bull 34 is a high-octane action show. There are very few moments where things are slow: just about every other scene is some form of action, whether it’s Mad Bull getting it on with a random woman (This happens a few times, by the way), or when he’s taking out the bad guys. Speaking of taking out the bad guys...
Mad Bull 34 is also one of the most violent shows out there. Back during my SiN review, I said that it was a gory show, and this one is no different. In the first few minutes, we see a black guy have his head decapitated by gunfire (He was one of the two rapists that I mention a moment ago. The other one was a white guy, if you’re curious), and another guy have his head taken off piece by piece with shotgun blasts. There’s plenty of violent scenes in the other episodes, so if you’re a fan of bloodshed & carnage, you’ll enjoy this.
For those who’ve seen this show and hate it, you’ll enjoy these two things. Since the show hasn’t been released on DVD, finding the tapes for Mad Bull 34 is incredibly difficult. I’ve only seen a tiny few over on Amazon, and prices fluctuate all over the place. As for the episodes themselves, there’s only four, with one on each of the tapes. The episodes themselves last about 45 minutes each, and would make for part of a great (bad) anime marathon.
Mad Bull 34 gets a 2.9 out of 10. The story is god-awful, the voice acting is equally bad, the animation quality looks like Michael Jackson’s face, it’s incredibly sexist & racist, it’s hard to find, but the action is intense, the violence is over the top, and there’s only 4 episodes!
See you next time, when I’ll take a final trip to the Burn Up universe, and a scrambled one at that. Until then, stay Otaku!
* If you are even the slightest bit curious about this abomination, take a look below:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfmmf_mad-bull-34-1-scandal-dub-en_shortfilms?search_algo=1
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfn64_mad-bull-34-2-the-manhattan-connection-dub-en_shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfnox_mad-bull-34-3-city-of-vice-dub-en_shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfous_mad-bull-34-4-cop-killer-dub-en_shortfilms
**
I somewhat lied about Mad Bull 34 not getting released on DVD. There is a plan for all four episodes to get released together in a DVD bundle, which will be sometime in 2013.
I guess I’ll begin with the story. I don’t really want to explain it, but luckily, Wikipedia has:
“Daizaburo "Eddie" Ban, a Japanese-American, joins the New York City's toughest precinct, the thirty fourth. On his first day he is partnered up with John Estes, nicknamed "Sleepy" by his friends and "Mad Bull" by his enemies, a cop who stops crime with his own violent brand of justice. Mad Bull makes no qualms about executing common thieves with shotgun blasts, even if they pose a minor threat. He often steals from prostitutes and does incredible amounts of property damage while fighting crime. Mad Bull's unpoliceman-like behavior often puts him in hot water with his partner Daizaburo and the 34th precinct. However, despite how reckless or illegal these acts are, a good cause is always revealed (for example, Sleepy uses the money he steals from the prostitutes to fund a venereal disease clinic and a home for battered and raped women). Perrine Valley, a police lieutenant, joins Daizaburo and Sleepy later on to help them tackle more difficult cases involving the mafia and drug-running.”
Now, you might think that with a story like this, it would make some kind of sense...but it doesn’t. Within each episode, the story becomes a jumbled, chaotic, and psychotic mess. There might be something that makes sense one moment, then something else will come along later and destroy any sense the previous scene made.
If the story bounces all over the walls, then the voice acting bounces on those same walls, and breaks through them. Some voices sound okay, but just about everybody else sounds like the bottom of the voice actor barrel was scrapped. It also doesn’t help the fact that many of the voices sound racially stereotypical (New Yorkers, Asians, & African Americans are just a few that are stereotyped), and even with the accents they don’t sound good. There are only a pinchful of characters that sound alright, but even then their voices sounds like nails against a chalkboard.
Next up on the chopping block is the animation quality. Let’s me say that this show is ugly, plain & simple. It doesn’t look like a lot of work was put in, and this is especially noticeable when the misuse of the English language is plainly in front of the watcher’s eyes (I forgot, but I swore I saw Engrish words at least 5 times). The most ugliest of the episodes is the third one, as everything has a yellowish tint to it. There’s a piss joke in there somewhere, but I can’t find it for some reason.
As we can already tell, the structure of Mad Bull 34 is rotten like a cesspool, but I’ve got more pain in suffering for you! In addition to the story, voice acting & animation quality, Mad Bull 34 has the distinction of being one of the most sexist shows on the planet. There is really only one female character (The cop) that isn’t fully treated like crap, but all the other females are put through hell. Case in point: in the first few minutes, we see a girl about to get raped by two men, and a girl soon after getting accosted by two robbers (To tell you what happens afterwards would cause you to have spasms). One odd factor about the women that get in danger is that they have blonde hair. There’s a Nazi joke in there somewhere, but I can’t find it for some reason.
Mad Bull 34 is not only one of the most sexist anime, but it’s also one of the most racist. We’ve got a black gun with a stereo-typically low/deep voice, and is prone to having his way with women (He kills a girl about halfway through episode 1). We’ve also got New Yorkers with partially stereotyped accents, and Asians with fu-manchu accents round out this crap Sundae.
Now we come to the difficult part, and that’s finding anything redeemable about this show. With SiN, there was at the very least some glimmer of goodness swimming in that sea of shit. Finding something redeemable about Mad Bull 34 is like trying to find a honest Republican, but somehow, I was able to find a little bit that wasn’t stained by everything else. There wasn’t that many things, but I did find something.
For starters, Mad Bull 34 is a high-octane action show. There are very few moments where things are slow: just about every other scene is some form of action, whether it’s Mad Bull getting it on with a random woman (This happens a few times, by the way), or when he’s taking out the bad guys. Speaking of taking out the bad guys...
Mad Bull 34 is also one of the most violent shows out there. Back during my SiN review, I said that it was a gory show, and this one is no different. In the first few minutes, we see a black guy have his head decapitated by gunfire (He was one of the two rapists that I mention a moment ago. The other one was a white guy, if you’re curious), and another guy have his head taken off piece by piece with shotgun blasts. There’s plenty of violent scenes in the other episodes, so if you’re a fan of bloodshed & carnage, you’ll enjoy this.
For those who’ve seen this show and hate it, you’ll enjoy these two things. Since the show hasn’t been released on DVD, finding the tapes for Mad Bull 34 is incredibly difficult. I’ve only seen a tiny few over on Amazon, and prices fluctuate all over the place. As for the episodes themselves, there’s only four, with one on each of the tapes. The episodes themselves last about 45 minutes each, and would make for part of a great (bad) anime marathon.
Mad Bull 34 gets a 2.9 out of 10. The story is god-awful, the voice acting is equally bad, the animation quality looks like Michael Jackson’s face, it’s incredibly sexist & racist, it’s hard to find, but the action is intense, the violence is over the top, and there’s only 4 episodes!
See you next time, when I’ll take a final trip to the Burn Up universe, and a scrambled one at that. Until then, stay Otaku!
* If you are even the slightest bit curious about this abomination, take a look below:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfmmf_mad-bull-34-1-scandal-dub-en_shortfilms?search_algo=1
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfn64_mad-bull-34-2-the-manhattan-connection-dub-en_shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfnox_mad-bull-34-3-city-of-vice-dub-en_shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqfous_mad-bull-34-4-cop-killer-dub-en_shortfilms
**
I somewhat lied about Mad Bull 34 not getting released on DVD. There is a plan for all four episodes to get released together in a DVD bundle, which will be sometime in 2013.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Leetstreet Boys - Legends (Mini) Review
Hi there! I know I said that I’d only do 1 post a week, but recently I’ve read an interesting proposition from the Leetstreet Boys website. Not a business proposition, but a opportunity to their latest album, L3g3nds (Yes, that’s how they spell it. Grammar Nazis...shoot yourself!). Seeing this as a challenge, I’ve decided to take it upon myself to review it. Problem is, I don’t have the album. I recently bought Christmas presents for people, and suffice it to say, I need to lay off the debit card. However I don’t want to disappoint you guys & LB, so I figured screw it, and decided to do a mini review of the songs that have made it to youtube, and without further adieu, here it is.
Songs
Sakura: I was quite surprised when I listened to this for the first time. Despite sounding a little cheesy, the lyrics are surprisingly mature, and while the instrumentation sounds a lot like many of their previous songs, there seems to be a little more depth to them. As youtube user supersaiyan8thgate said:
“I could see this being an opening to an anime”
The Song Of Time: Holy shit, has a Leetstreet Boys song cause me to well up a tear or two? Well, this one has! If Sakura was a song that have some maturity & depth to it, The Song of Time has far more of these two things.
Where as Sakura relied a lot on drums, guitar, and keyboard, The Song Of Time takes on a more happy-sad vibe with it’s use of piano, drums, snipbits of guitar, and some impressive flute playing (Props to whoever played the flute). What’s more interesting is the lyrics, as they’re basically singing about the life of Link (The main hero of the Zelda series, for those who didn’t know), and how he still has dreams. Now, that might sound silly to some of you, but there’s a surprising amount of care & respect into what was chosen.
My Life Is A RPG: We go from two mature songs, to a tune that feels a lot more like a typical Leetstreet Boys ditty. The lyrics are incredibly cheesy, but fun to listen to, and the instrumentation feels very standard, yet there’s a lot of love and care put into them (This is coming from the guy that loves Heavy Metal, a music style not necessarily known for loving & caring). The only other thing I have to say is that if you’re a fan of RPGs, this song is for you!
Imaginary Boys: Much like My Life Is A RPG, Imaginary Boys feels very standard. The song relies heavily on keyboards, supplemented with some nice drums, and some slightly heavy guitar work (That surprised me). The lyrics made me laugh: the song essentially is about a girl going gaga over some male anime characters (To be more specific, the popular male characters), while the singer wishes he could be one of them. Again, this made me laugh, and I managed to crack a smile or two.
If I could use one word for L3g3nds, it would be this: experimentation.
Even though I obviously haven’t gone through all the songs, there seems to be a Devin Townsend vibe in this album. There’s still some familiar sounds, yet at the same time it seems like they’re partially going in a different direction, and trying to be a little more refined & mature, perhaps to get in some older listeners. If this is the case, then they’re doing a damn good job! Look forward to a full & proper review sometime down the road.
See you all next week, when I’ll review one of the most heinous anime ever made. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
If you liked the songs, here’s a link to buy the album:
http://www.leetstreetboys.com/store/album3/
**
If you don’t understand why I compared the Leetstreet Boys to Devin Townsend in this, then click on the links below in the precise order:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-NQvRmo3I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQd8_MHPRXw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmIByrcwAQ
Songs
Sakura: I was quite surprised when I listened to this for the first time. Despite sounding a little cheesy, the lyrics are surprisingly mature, and while the instrumentation sounds a lot like many of their previous songs, there seems to be a little more depth to them. As youtube user supersaiyan8thgate said:
“I could see this being an opening to an anime”
The Song Of Time: Holy shit, has a Leetstreet Boys song cause me to well up a tear or two? Well, this one has! If Sakura was a song that have some maturity & depth to it, The Song of Time has far more of these two things.
Where as Sakura relied a lot on drums, guitar, and keyboard, The Song Of Time takes on a more happy-sad vibe with it’s use of piano, drums, snipbits of guitar, and some impressive flute playing (Props to whoever played the flute). What’s more interesting is the lyrics, as they’re basically singing about the life of Link (The main hero of the Zelda series, for those who didn’t know), and how he still has dreams. Now, that might sound silly to some of you, but there’s a surprising amount of care & respect into what was chosen.
My Life Is A RPG: We go from two mature songs, to a tune that feels a lot more like a typical Leetstreet Boys ditty. The lyrics are incredibly cheesy, but fun to listen to, and the instrumentation feels very standard, yet there’s a lot of love and care put into them (This is coming from the guy that loves Heavy Metal, a music style not necessarily known for loving & caring). The only other thing I have to say is that if you’re a fan of RPGs, this song is for you!
Imaginary Boys: Much like My Life Is A RPG, Imaginary Boys feels very standard. The song relies heavily on keyboards, supplemented with some nice drums, and some slightly heavy guitar work (That surprised me). The lyrics made me laugh: the song essentially is about a girl going gaga over some male anime characters (To be more specific, the popular male characters), while the singer wishes he could be one of them. Again, this made me laugh, and I managed to crack a smile or two.
If I could use one word for L3g3nds, it would be this: experimentation.
Even though I obviously haven’t gone through all the songs, there seems to be a Devin Townsend vibe in this album. There’s still some familiar sounds, yet at the same time it seems like they’re partially going in a different direction, and trying to be a little more refined & mature, perhaps to get in some older listeners. If this is the case, then they’re doing a damn good job! Look forward to a full & proper review sometime down the road.
See you all next week, when I’ll review one of the most heinous anime ever made. Until then, stay Otaku!
*
If you liked the songs, here’s a link to buy the album:
http://www.leetstreetboys.com/store/album3/
**
If you don’t understand why I compared the Leetstreet Boys to Devin Townsend in this, then click on the links below in the precise order:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-NQvRmo3I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQd8_MHPRXw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvmIByrcwAQ
Monday, November 12, 2012
Modern Warfare 3 Review
Hi everyone. With Black Ops 2 coming out tomorrow, I figured it would be fitting to take a look back at the previous Call of Duty game, and see if it’s still good (and to perhaps quell some anger), just before the new game eclipses the old. So, here’s my review for Modern Warfare 3.
Story
Taking place just hours after Modern Warfare 2, the conflict between the US & Russia has escalated, with fighting in the states still going on, but has since spread to Europe after some surprise attacks by Makarov, who has since returned to continue his terrorist attacks against the west. As the United States continues to fight their Russian foe, Soap & Price are still waging their guerilla war against Makarov and his allies, all the while trying to stay out of the US Military’s radar until the time is right.
Despite still coming up short in an area or two, when compared to MW2, the story in this game seems to be more fleshed out, and has some twists or turns in it that harken back to the original Modern Warfare. It doesn’t feel as cheap as Modern Warfare 2's story was, nor does it feel as rushed or have as many plot holes. I won’t reveal what happens at the end of Modern Warfare 3, but I can say that just about everything that didn’t get solved/fixed in the previous MW, gets solved in this one.
Setting
With Modern Warfare 2 (And Black Ops, for that matter), we were given numerous places all over the world to traverse and kills the bad guys, and Modern Warfare 3 is no exception. If MW2 was a sign of things to come, then MW3 is hell on Earth. From the moment you enter the game, you first step foot onto the ruined streets of New York City, it’s grandeur having been reduced to a shadow of itself.
After a quick romp through the city’s harbor, it’s off to Africa & Europe. Perhaps stereotypically, the various points where you go look ruined & neglected, although when you make it to a coastal town, things look a lot better than the previous level you went through, but there’s still a vibe of neglect. Europe itself hasn’t faired well either, as the war has now spread to Britain, France, and Germany. Their majesty getting crushed by the heel of the Russian Army, and turned into broken shells of their former selves. One prime example of a nation getting it’s face mutilated is in the final mission in France: after capturing one of Makarov’s men, you and your squad are driving through the streets, and eventually end up at the bridge, with a horde of Russian soldiers in front. With the reds keep pouring in, the ultimate (and dramatic) choice is to target the Eiffel Tower, and having it’s debris take out the Russians.
Even the Middle East isn’t immune to the conflict between the US & Russia, as the player makes one final trip into the sandy domain. I won’t completely reveal where you go & what happens while you’re there, but I will say that it’s a homage to the various fancy buildings that they construct.
Characters
One thing that is a weakness in the Call of Duty franchise (at least in my opinion, and not just in the Modern Warfare series) is characterization. It’s not that there aren’t any good characters, cause there is, but the fact that they either die immediately, die off-screen, or disappear from the story that won’t let the player interact with them. Given the FPS nature, this is understandable, but there’s been plenty of examples of first person shooters with great characters (Bioshock & Borderlands 2 come to mind), and given what’s going on, you’d think that there would be some great characters. This is not the case.
Actually, that’s a partial fib. There’s definitely some characters that do stand out, regardless of which side you play. Over in the Delta Force missions, there’s Sandman, a no-nonsense soldier that has a cool mind, and a itchy trigger finger. Following him are equally stable soldiers Grinch & Truck, who often banter with one another outside of combat. When you’re playing one of the Task Force 141 missions, you return to the familiar faces of Soap & Price. When we first see Price way back in Modern Warfare, we see a gruff individual that’s been through a lot of shit. In this game, he’s been through more shit, but we see him to be a more caring individual, especially when he’s with Soap (Not in that way...perverts!). They’ve been through a lot together, enough so that we partially see a different side of him. Same goes with Soap.
There’s a few other characters, but they aren’t worth many words. Just these ones.
Gameplay
If there’s any chief complaint about the Call of Duty series (This really started when MW2 came out, although there were some rumblings during World at War’s runtime), it’s the fact that the gameplay has remained the same since MW1, and hasn’t changed much. Essentially, the gameplay comes down to this:
1) Appear at the mission area
2) Move through the area & kill people
3) Do small tasks
4) At the end of the game, kill the main badguy while he’s distracted (Don’t ask)
Now, some might say that I’ll deny this, but I actually agree with this, if albeit reluctantly. It is very repetitive, and it can get boring quickly, but if you can get past those two things, you’ll find a relatively good action game. It’s a shame that not much has changed.
However, there were some new additions. Coming in from Modern Warfare 2 is the new Spec Ops mode. Basically, Spec Ops takes pieces of levels from the singleplayer game, and creates mini-missions around those pieces, like a stealth mission through the snow. These mini-missions are great, and become especially challenging at higher difficulty levels. There’s even two Spec Ops levels that require a second player to come in the game (Ironically, MW2 had two Spec Ops levels that required a second player).
A rather new addition to the Modern Warfare series is Survival Mode. Similar to the Zombie mode found in Treyarch’s CoD games, you (and maybe 1 other player) survive wave after wave of armed soldiers that increase in difficulty overtime. What separates Survival Mode from the Zombie mode is that you have far more tools at your disposal, and even at higher levels you can survive, as long as you know what you’re doing.
Now it’s time for the elephant in the room: the multiplayer. Getting mutilated on the PC for MW2 (there were no dedicated servers), and getting a horrible bandage in Black Ops (there were dedicated servers, but people had to pay for them), most PC gamers didn’t necessarily have hope for when MW3 came to PC. However, not all was lost.
With MW3, we still have the Peer-to-Peer system, and it’s still irritating, but it seems to be more stable than MW2's P2P system (lag problems were rampant in MW2), and there aren’t as many hackers (they seem to get caught more quickly than before). Fortunately, they added dedicated servers again, and you don’t have to pay this time around.
The last multiplayer component I’ll take about is the prestige system for the guns, which are brand new to MW3. Unlike in previous CoD games, the guns have prestige levels. To level them up, you simply use a specific gun in matches. As you rack up kills, your gun levels with you, and gets you the standard attachments, but now you get weapon camouflage with headshots, and weapon perks (Think of the weapon perks like player perks for guns).
Graphics & Sound
Although Black Ops 2 trumps this game (Watch a video or two on youtube. Trust me on this!), Modern Warfare 3 still looks incredibly impressive. Using the MW3 engine, which was modified from Modern Warfare 2's engine (A nice looking engine in it’s own right), the game looks very believable, and the many levels look like places that were taken from our own world, and put into the game. If there’s one thing that damages the impressive visuals, it’s some of the textures. This has been a problem for a lot of the CoD games, so it’s still surprising to see it in a modern game like this. Basically, despite most of the textures looking good, there’s a few textures (especially some that have been taken from previous games) that look dated & grainy.
If the graphics have that tiny problem, then the sound effects have no problems. Everything sounds crisp, clean, and pristine. The guns sound realistic, the voice acting is great, and the music score is nice to listen to. We’ve got dramatic orchestras for the epic fights scenes, sorrowful dirges for the serious/death scenes, and action packed/fast paced movements during the faster scenes. There’s always some sort of lead into each of the pieces, which also act as a sort of scene change. Pretty clever, if you ask me.
Overall & Rating
It’s understandable why a lot of gamers have nowhere near as much respect for the Call of Duty franchise. Bobby Kotick has come out, time & time again in recent years, and said that business is now the focus of what they publish, not fun. They’ve taken further blows with WoW (Some gamers say the newer packs keep watering down the core system) and Diablo 3 (Despite selling 10 million copies, it didn’t reach as many expectations of gamers as ActiBliz thought), and the lack of response from some of the employees continues to reinforce this feeling. However, there’s still a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel: the original Black Ops brought back a little life into the Call of Duty franchise, and Modern Warfare 3 really brought more life back (BO2 has gotten a lot of people excited about the franchise, but only time will tell as to how it actually performs). I can only hope that this trend continues, until FPS gamers all over the world fully believe in the Call of Duty franchise once again.
Modern Warfare 3 gets a 8.5 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when I’ll review happy music for once. Until then, stay Otaku!
* Best SMG in the game, hands down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-tZ1FjWvE
Story
Taking place just hours after Modern Warfare 2, the conflict between the US & Russia has escalated, with fighting in the states still going on, but has since spread to Europe after some surprise attacks by Makarov, who has since returned to continue his terrorist attacks against the west. As the United States continues to fight their Russian foe, Soap & Price are still waging their guerilla war against Makarov and his allies, all the while trying to stay out of the US Military’s radar until the time is right.
Despite still coming up short in an area or two, when compared to MW2, the story in this game seems to be more fleshed out, and has some twists or turns in it that harken back to the original Modern Warfare. It doesn’t feel as cheap as Modern Warfare 2's story was, nor does it feel as rushed or have as many plot holes. I won’t reveal what happens at the end of Modern Warfare 3, but I can say that just about everything that didn’t get solved/fixed in the previous MW, gets solved in this one.
Setting
With Modern Warfare 2 (And Black Ops, for that matter), we were given numerous places all over the world to traverse and kills the bad guys, and Modern Warfare 3 is no exception. If MW2 was a sign of things to come, then MW3 is hell on Earth. From the moment you enter the game, you first step foot onto the ruined streets of New York City, it’s grandeur having been reduced to a shadow of itself.
After a quick romp through the city’s harbor, it’s off to Africa & Europe. Perhaps stereotypically, the various points where you go look ruined & neglected, although when you make it to a coastal town, things look a lot better than the previous level you went through, but there’s still a vibe of neglect. Europe itself hasn’t faired well either, as the war has now spread to Britain, France, and Germany. Their majesty getting crushed by the heel of the Russian Army, and turned into broken shells of their former selves. One prime example of a nation getting it’s face mutilated is in the final mission in France: after capturing one of Makarov’s men, you and your squad are driving through the streets, and eventually end up at the bridge, with a horde of Russian soldiers in front. With the reds keep pouring in, the ultimate (and dramatic) choice is to target the Eiffel Tower, and having it’s debris take out the Russians.
Even the Middle East isn’t immune to the conflict between the US & Russia, as the player makes one final trip into the sandy domain. I won’t completely reveal where you go & what happens while you’re there, but I will say that it’s a homage to the various fancy buildings that they construct.
Characters
One thing that is a weakness in the Call of Duty franchise (at least in my opinion, and not just in the Modern Warfare series) is characterization. It’s not that there aren’t any good characters, cause there is, but the fact that they either die immediately, die off-screen, or disappear from the story that won’t let the player interact with them. Given the FPS nature, this is understandable, but there’s been plenty of examples of first person shooters with great characters (Bioshock & Borderlands 2 come to mind), and given what’s going on, you’d think that there would be some great characters. This is not the case.
Actually, that’s a partial fib. There’s definitely some characters that do stand out, regardless of which side you play. Over in the Delta Force missions, there’s Sandman, a no-nonsense soldier that has a cool mind, and a itchy trigger finger. Following him are equally stable soldiers Grinch & Truck, who often banter with one another outside of combat. When you’re playing one of the Task Force 141 missions, you return to the familiar faces of Soap & Price. When we first see Price way back in Modern Warfare, we see a gruff individual that’s been through a lot of shit. In this game, he’s been through more shit, but we see him to be a more caring individual, especially when he’s with Soap (Not in that way...perverts!). They’ve been through a lot together, enough so that we partially see a different side of him. Same goes with Soap.
There’s a few other characters, but they aren’t worth many words. Just these ones.
Gameplay
If there’s any chief complaint about the Call of Duty series (This really started when MW2 came out, although there were some rumblings during World at War’s runtime), it’s the fact that the gameplay has remained the same since MW1, and hasn’t changed much. Essentially, the gameplay comes down to this:
1) Appear at the mission area
2) Move through the area & kill people
3) Do small tasks
4) At the end of the game, kill the main badguy while he’s distracted (Don’t ask)
Now, some might say that I’ll deny this, but I actually agree with this, if albeit reluctantly. It is very repetitive, and it can get boring quickly, but if you can get past those two things, you’ll find a relatively good action game. It’s a shame that not much has changed.
However, there were some new additions. Coming in from Modern Warfare 2 is the new Spec Ops mode. Basically, Spec Ops takes pieces of levels from the singleplayer game, and creates mini-missions around those pieces, like a stealth mission through the snow. These mini-missions are great, and become especially challenging at higher difficulty levels. There’s even two Spec Ops levels that require a second player to come in the game (Ironically, MW2 had two Spec Ops levels that required a second player).
A rather new addition to the Modern Warfare series is Survival Mode. Similar to the Zombie mode found in Treyarch’s CoD games, you (and maybe 1 other player) survive wave after wave of armed soldiers that increase in difficulty overtime. What separates Survival Mode from the Zombie mode is that you have far more tools at your disposal, and even at higher levels you can survive, as long as you know what you’re doing.
Now it’s time for the elephant in the room: the multiplayer. Getting mutilated on the PC for MW2 (there were no dedicated servers), and getting a horrible bandage in Black Ops (there were dedicated servers, but people had to pay for them), most PC gamers didn’t necessarily have hope for when MW3 came to PC. However, not all was lost.
With MW3, we still have the Peer-to-Peer system, and it’s still irritating, but it seems to be more stable than MW2's P2P system (lag problems were rampant in MW2), and there aren’t as many hackers (they seem to get caught more quickly than before). Fortunately, they added dedicated servers again, and you don’t have to pay this time around.
The last multiplayer component I’ll take about is the prestige system for the guns, which are brand new to MW3. Unlike in previous CoD games, the guns have prestige levels. To level them up, you simply use a specific gun in matches. As you rack up kills, your gun levels with you, and gets you the standard attachments, but now you get weapon camouflage with headshots, and weapon perks (Think of the weapon perks like player perks for guns).
Graphics & Sound
Although Black Ops 2 trumps this game (Watch a video or two on youtube. Trust me on this!), Modern Warfare 3 still looks incredibly impressive. Using the MW3 engine, which was modified from Modern Warfare 2's engine (A nice looking engine in it’s own right), the game looks very believable, and the many levels look like places that were taken from our own world, and put into the game. If there’s one thing that damages the impressive visuals, it’s some of the textures. This has been a problem for a lot of the CoD games, so it’s still surprising to see it in a modern game like this. Basically, despite most of the textures looking good, there’s a few textures (especially some that have been taken from previous games) that look dated & grainy.
If the graphics have that tiny problem, then the sound effects have no problems. Everything sounds crisp, clean, and pristine. The guns sound realistic, the voice acting is great, and the music score is nice to listen to. We’ve got dramatic orchestras for the epic fights scenes, sorrowful dirges for the serious/death scenes, and action packed/fast paced movements during the faster scenes. There’s always some sort of lead into each of the pieces, which also act as a sort of scene change. Pretty clever, if you ask me.
Overall & Rating
It’s understandable why a lot of gamers have nowhere near as much respect for the Call of Duty franchise. Bobby Kotick has come out, time & time again in recent years, and said that business is now the focus of what they publish, not fun. They’ve taken further blows with WoW (Some gamers say the newer packs keep watering down the core system) and Diablo 3 (Despite selling 10 million copies, it didn’t reach as many expectations of gamers as ActiBliz thought), and the lack of response from some of the employees continues to reinforce this feeling. However, there’s still a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel: the original Black Ops brought back a little life into the Call of Duty franchise, and Modern Warfare 3 really brought more life back (BO2 has gotten a lot of people excited about the franchise, but only time will tell as to how it actually performs). I can only hope that this trend continues, until FPS gamers all over the world fully believe in the Call of Duty franchise once again.
Modern Warfare 3 gets a 8.5 out of 10.
See you all later this week, when I’ll review happy music for once. Until then, stay Otaku!
* Best SMG in the game, hands down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf-tZ1FjWvE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)