I’m not sure whose bright idea it was to move the action out of the “real” Wild West and into a more “modern” vision of the trope, but it wasn’t their best move. I went into Call of Juarez: The Cartel fairly uninformed, assuming it was but a mere continuation of the previous games and the serviceable Western adventure Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. It’s been a ritual of mine to stay completely in the dark about upcoming releases except those I know I’ll purchase no matter what, and since I rather enjoyed the fast-paced violence of Bound in Blood, I thought surely it would follow that The Cartel would be just as entertaining. Simply put, I was wrong.
Archive for July, 2011
Review: Captain America: Super Soldier
On July 23, 2011
In PlayStation 3, Review
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Who knew being a super soldier could be so boring? In Captain America: Super Soldier, this is a lesson easily learned within the first few (extremely short) missions of the game. Cap is also pretty useless without his shield, and apparently excels at acrobatics. I have nothing against comic book video game adaptations, as long as they’re decent, and playable. Further still, a comic book video game adaptation based on a movie is an even more iffy endeavor. However, taking a few pages from one of the most tidy superhero games to date, Batman: Arkham Asylum, was a great design choice on Sega’s part. Unfortunately, in execution it didn’t pan out so well. Is that because Captain America isn’t as strong of a “brawler” character as Batman, or because too much time was spent on recreating the memorable pieces of Arkham Asylum instead of crafting a ground-up Captain America adventure? In short, I’d say it’s just because of pure laziness.
Feature: Dreaming of Catherine
I’m in a monogamous relationship, but marriage just isn’t high on my priority list. That doesn’t mean I’m not in love, and it certainly doesn’t mean I’m some kind of non-committal flake looking for a good time. What it does mean is that I do not think that a legal union makes sense at this stage in my life. The two of us are in our early twenties, just beginning to live our lives the way we want. I’m not even able to completely understand myself, let alone him. And I staunchly believe that marriage is not a magic cure-all. I’m not going to love my boyfriend any more than I currently do simply because a little piece of paper has our names on it. “Holy” matrimony? Religion plays virtually no role in my grand scheme, and neither does the government or the “benefits” of marriage. But that’s just me. Whether right or not, I don’t think I need a state-sanctioned symbol of the bond I share with the man I love.
Review: Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
On July 18, 2011
In Review, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade
With Comments Off on Review: Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
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The Warhammer 40K universe is home to plenty of tangling spiderwebs of plot, though to look at Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, you wouldn’t know it. In fact, from the look of things to an outsider sitting in on a playthrough it would seem as though you’re a space marine sent to clear out an enormous spaceship teeming with Orks by any means necessary. This is peace through superior firepower, and how. With the holiday season carrying in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine on a wave of other new releases, it’s obvious that Kill Team was tossed together in an effort to hype up the main breadwinner. Obvious how? It channels the isometric Alien Breed: Evolution series and all of the other arcade releases basking in its glow to provide a hollow dual-stick shooter that’s satisfying, but only in short bursts…like machine gun fire.
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Review: Wipeout: In the Zone
On July 15, 2011
In Kinect, Review, Xbox 360
With Comments Off on Review: Wipeout: In the Zone
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I’m not usually a big fan of network TV. I’ll stick to series on DVD and Netflix, thank you very much. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t channel surf. Occasionally I come across a blatant rip-off of the English-dubbed Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MxC), a hilarious take on the Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle. It’s brilliantly rewritten with crude jokes and entertaining commentators, and I can usually count on it for a few laughs. Unfortunately, America decided it needed to create its own similarly-themed equivalent, Wipeout. Only rather than running contestants through different challenges, all if not most of the competitors on Wipeout compete in water-based obstacle courses complete with pithy commentary to accompany their pitfalls and failings.