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This is a fairly new addition to my web page - Reviews! Hopefully as time goes on I'll submit more, but until then I hope you enjoy!
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| In the battle of Humans versus primal aliens versus advanced aliens, only one will dominate! |
Starcraft - PC game.
Released on: At least 4 or 5 years ago.
My personal rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed on: January 20th, 2003 at 3:11 a.m.
The universe expands far beyond what the mind is capable of percieving. If the madness soon to ensue is any good reason why ignorance is bliss, then perhaps we're better off not knowing what lies beyond the outer rim. This game takes place in the distant universe. The earth has become unstable and polluted and corrupt, and out of an effort to save itself the goverment rounds up millions of convicts and uses them as experiments - namely packing them aboard ships and sending them far out into the depths of space to find more suitable living space. Come to find out, after many many years their ships finally land on habitable planets and they begin to grow into vast colonies. This all goes great for many more years, until the Terrans begin to encounter strange aliens known as Zerg. These monsters operate in hives and breed for one purpose - to consume and evolve to become the mightiest of species. And there's another problem. The highly advanced alien warrior race known as Protoss see these Zerg as a threat, and they know they're outnumbered against them. Thus, they have only one alternative - destroy both the Terrans and the Zerg by incinerating the planets. The Terrans manage to escape however, and thus this is where you enter the game of Starcraft.
Starcraft comes from the same people who have brought us Warcraft, Warcraft 2, and Warcraft 3. As well as other genre of games like Diablo and Diablo 2. You can choose to be in command of either 3 of the races that are described above. The Terrans are adept at using the land to their advantage, and being that they're nomadic some of their buildings can hover to other places and out of harm's way. The Zerg grow in sheer numbers at the fastest rate of any race, even though they're also the weakest when caught out in the open. Protoss are overwhelmingly strong, and harbor many technologies that are capable of wiping out anything in their way.. but they are costy on resources. Whichever race you play is up to you - all offer advantages and disadvantages.
Not only is there a campaign mode, with many missions to play ranging from search and rescue to search and destroy sorties, you can also play with friends cooperatively or against them in a battle of galactic superiority. And as usual, you can choose whichever race to accomplish that. Either way you play, this game rocks. It's been out for years, and people still play it, including me! I've been playing it for at least a year and have never gotten bored of it once. If you're late in checking into it, please do. You'll have hours of fun smashing aliens and humans alike! :D
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| What are you waiting for? Get it, schnell! |
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - PC game.
Released on: Late last year.
My personal rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed on: January 20th, 2003 at 2:50 a.m.
During the middle of World War 2, devious information has leaked into Allied hands. The Nazi war machine, led by Adolf Hitler, seems to have been tampering with the arts of black magic and have been resurrecting new weapons to aid their maddening conquest of the free world. However, their ultimate goal is still unclear, but waiting for it to become obvious is the last thing you can afford to do. Enter the scene: Agent B.J. Blazkowicz. Your mission is to infiltrate deep within Nazi encampments, archeological digs, and missile silos in order to halt the insanity, and to figure out what they're up to. Along the way, you employ several weapons ranging from pistols, to flamethrowers, up to chain guns and missile launchers and grenades. This game also has top-notch enemy A.I., and they're not dumb! Thinking of reloading that rifle? If they hear you start messing with the empty magazine in the middle of a firefight, they might try and take advantage of that and rush you. They'll hide behind doors, and follow you if they catch sight of you. Eventually, your ultimate goal is to keep them from bringing back to life an ancient evil warrior named Heinrich, or Henry the Fowler. If he is brought back, the Allies will be crushed.
On top of having a brilliant story-driven single player game, the true gem lies in the multiplayer game. It isn't a cooperative team of people going through the single player game, first of all. Rather, it's a battle of Nazis versus Allies. You choose whether to be with the Axis powers, or the Allied nations, and take on the opposing team. It's easy to mistake your teammates for the enemy at first, so paying attention to uniforms is a must. Allies wear tan and green, and Axis wears black trenchcoats. There are objectives a team must complete in order to succeed, and along the way each person can choose to fill a role that will help the other team. They can pick from Soldiers (Who can use every weapon and do most of the fighting), Medics (Who keep the team full of health and can revive teammates who have been shot down.), Engineers (Who carry TNT for blowing up certain objectives or doors, and can fix turrets.) and Lieutenants (Who can drop ammo packs for the team to pick up and use, and can use binoculars and call in huge airstrikes.) A team can have as many people on a side as allowed by the rules, however most people find it more fun to have even teams, unless one team in particular is REALLY good. Most missions involve a team stealing documents or destroying a turret or other objective. One team assualts and the other defends. It's chaos, but you get sucked in so fast and it's real fun!
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| Quite possibly one of the best investments I made on a gaming platform. |
Gameboy Advance.
Released on: Certainly more than a year ago.
My personal rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed on: January 13th, 2003 at 11:16 p.m.
Like I said, this is definitely a worthy investment that anyone should check into. Not only is it handheld and easy to carry around, but it's got full backup compatibility and any regular Gameboy or Gameboy Color game will work on it. And if it IS regular Gameboy, Gameboy advance brings out a few of its colors and acts like a Gameboy Color in itself. So basically, you've got an unlimited library of games at your disposal. Now that's all great, but I think the part that shines is the versatility and the amount of games coming out specifically for the Gameboy Advance platform. There are games like, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Mario Kart... And the fact that with some of these games you can link up with other people and play with each other is unbelievable! The Gameboy comes with the standard A and B buttons, with L and R buttons on the top for special options. Start and Select are also present, and that's pretty much it. However, that's all you really need! I hear mixed reviews about games like Street Fighter (Which are notorious for owning a button to accomidate all the moves.) But some people says it works, so regardless of who you listen to, I urge you to check into them. The good thing about this is that, with the amount of games coming out each month, the price for the Gameboy unit will continue to drop, and become more conveniant for everyone. So if you're dying for games you wanna take on the road, or something that'll get you away from hooking everything into your TV, this'll work for both problems and much more!
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| It's probably redundant, but - "Two Towers gets TWO thumbs up!" |
Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers
Released: Winter of 2002
My personal rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed on: 12/21/02 at 11:55 p.m.
I think this movie is one of the most awesome... Wait no, it IS the most awesome movie of the year. Indeed, I've been a fan of LoTR for quite some time, ever since Interplay released the Lord of the Rings RPG for PC... and my interest for it grew until I went out and read both The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the ring. I regret to say that I never made it far into The Two Towers novel, but I fully understood (for the most part) of what was going on in this movie. I think that demonstrates that even a casual fan can see it, and appreciate it (even if there's potential for a better appreciation by knowing the novel)
Anyways, for those who have been living under a hole, this movie is the 2nd part in the motion picture trilogy. Us LoTR nuts will have to wait a full year before we get the next installment in the series, but TTT will keep us satisfied for MANY months to come. In this film, it picks up where the first movie left off, even going as far as to bring us up to date on what happened to Gandalf in the mines of Moria. The particular opening scene picks things up at a rapid pace, as Gandalf lets go of the ledge and he and the Balrog engage each other in an epic fight as they plunge towards certain doom. Oh my gosh, my eyes watered and I felt so much joy just from seeing such a thrilling scene!
All the characters are also here: Merry and Pippin (Seperated from the rest of the group by the Uruk Hai.), Frodo and Sam (Still on their way to Mordor, with their captured 'guide', Gollum.) and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (Assisting the world of men by warning of the impending danger of utter and total destruction by marching Orc armies of Saruman, from Isengard.) The quest becomes more like 3 seperate stories, quite literally. This adds to the depth of the movie.
Many instances, especially in the climatic battle scene at Helms Deep, you'll find yourself swooning with terror, suspense, and utter joy many different times. I found it so hard not to burst into tears, for this was one of the most beautiful parts in the whole movie. I discourage a certain number of you from downloading bootlegs onto your PC - not only is it shamefully sad, but a spectacle this remarkable would only satisfy you fully in a big-screen theater.
Good points: The movie is FULL of them! Special effects are awesome, the acting is wonderful, and it feels like you're in middle earth... This is truely a whole other world, and the environments help to convince us all of this much. The sound track is very Celtic-ish, and it suits the themes of the middle earth realm perfectly.
Bad points: Even though this is a spectacular movie, only a nitpicker such as myself could find at least 1 or 2 faults with it. One, it's not entirely accurate with the novel, and a few parts have been taken out or edited. This will certainly raise hell with only the patronizing fans of the novels, but I look at it this way - here's proof if you have a real fan of LoTR or not. A true fan would KNOW the difference between what's written in the book and what's in the movie. From what I could tell though, it didn't rob from the storyline noticeably.
A few parting words: This is great, and when I mean great, I mean, "This is something you'd have to be foolish to miss out on." Bring the kids, and the Grandparents too! Heck, a little slaughtering of Orcs never scarred anyone before. You can tell Frodo is becoming more warped by the Ring every passing moment, and the ending leaves you hyped up and ready for more. I was hoping against hope that the movie would never end... as I was with the Fellowship of the Ring. If you're not up to date with all this yet, you should really consider picking up The Fellowship of the Ring on DVD or VHS... You will certainly want to know a little of what's going on before tackling TTT. Heh, that sounds like a wrestler's name doesn't it? TTT. *chuckles*
Ahem, anyways in summary, I say this: Some things you have to see to believe, and you won't believe this until you see it.
Also, one last thing: To all you ninnies out there who claim this movie was a waste of your time - I pity you, that God has not blessed you with a less-ignorant mind.... Oh, and if you want MY honest-to-God opinion: The Uruk Hai could ace you in an Intelligence Quotient test, anyday. Just consider yourself fortunate that you're not as unnattractive or smelly as they are. :D - Mike O.
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