stuff

• 5Dec 09

  Decapitatioooooon!!!

  Lets see. So today on Halo Waypoint the fancy guys at 343 posted up another episode of Halo: Legends. Or actually, just part of an episode. The episode titled "The Package" See a team of Spartans including our dear Master Chief looking through some Covenant ships for some important "package". What this package is isn't at all explained although I'm sure it'll be some cheap plot twist, like it actually being a character rather than an item. Anime loves pulling that kinda crap.

  It's kinda hard to review part of an episode since it's only part, but I can't say I like it too much so far. The part we're given is only about the first seven minutes and it all moves really fast. It suffers the same issue of the last couple episodes but to a greater degree in that you just don't know enough about these characters to really care for them. I couldn't give you the name of any of the characters to save my life aside from series mainstays, Master Chief and Kelly. According to the Halo wiki Frederick was there, but I didn't even notice. And the two newly introduced Spartans are such cannon fodder material that they make the marines in the game look like friggin' war gods.

  But yeah, they're flying around kicking ass in space on these flying machines called booster frames. They sorta look like a cross between a motorcycle, a rocket and a small plane. Don't ask me how they manage to remain firmly seated on these things in 0 g. I guess the seats have magnets on them or something.

  The episodes ends in the mother of all cliff hangers. The Spartans land in a ship and are ready to fight a big ass covenant armada and right as we're about to get to the first bit of real combat Waypoint is all like "LOL! Come back next week for the rest!!". Jerks. I don't really understand why they did this. They didn't do this to the previous two episodes. And from what I understand this episode isn't supposed to be any longer than the last two... soooooo...

  Lets see, what else. A good portion of the dialogue is cheesy, but i guess this comes with the territory for anime... But still, the Baby sitter had a better script. And I think the artistic design is needlessly complicated, especially the covenant ships. Their stuff is all about sleak and simple design. Not so much here. And I thought the animation for the elite's mandibles didn't look natural. Over all considering this is completely cg it's not as good looking as it probably should have been. Halo Wars' cut scenes were far more impressive, may they should have got those guys to do it.

  This piece is obviously set before the fall of Reach, yet it appears that the Master Chief is using a variant of the MJONIR Mark VI armor... but he should be wearing Mark IV. You could call it artistic interpretation or what ever and that you should only take the events to heart and just enjoy it. But you know what I think? I think it's bull **** and Casio should have put more thought into it.

  Speaking of continuity, why was the Master Chief not voice acted by Steve Downes? I'll let it slide and just say the Master Chief sounded different when he was younger... But if they don't get Jen Taylor to voice act Cortana for the Origins Episode I probably wont buy Halo: Legends.

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  I rented a few games since last blog(not counting that games I beat one). There was Brutal Legend. Alright game. The story is definitely the most appealing part of the game, although toward the end you get the feeling that concessions were made. Gameplay wise it's, again, alright. Nothing that really struck a cord with me but nothing I really hated. The RTS gameplay was interesting but you generally could just stick with one stategy through out the entire game and it honestly felt sort of out of place in an action adventure game. And I found the bus escort missions to be a little annoying. I may write up a review. May not.

  Rented Assassin's Creed 2. Plays a lot like the original minus the repetitive mission structure. Not much else to be said, really.

  And I rented Left 4 Dead 2. Originally didn't intend to but on my trip to blockbust I couldn't find Dragon Ball Raging Blast and I didn't wanna go emty handed.... Soooo. It's like the original but with a respectable amount of content this time around. Again, not much more needs to be said.

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  Other random stuff:

  -Tried some gamer fuel for the first time since 2007. Tasted just as good as I remember... But teh mastur chef is missed

  -Made my Christmas wishlist... shortest one I've ever made

  -Just a week away from the world premiere of Halo: Reach on Spike tv! Can't wait(unless it shows absolutely nothing about the game like most early game trailers these days

  -I'll probably be making a list of my top ten favorite games of all time... for the of of it.

  -Some what recently got mai huge HD tv in the mail that I won from Machinima

  -My gamerscore has now gone over thirty thousand! About equel to Vegeta's power level during the early part of the Frieza saga!!!

  • Posted Dec 5, 2009 1:47 pm PT
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• 2Dec 09

  The name of the game is I WIN!

  Just because I felt like it and it's something I always wanted to do, I'm going to list every game I ever beat that I can remember. When I say beat I mean completed the main quest. Basically, making it to the credits. Run away now if you aren't interested, this wont be short!

  • Aegis Wing
  • Ape Escape 3
  • Army of Two
  • Assassin's Creed
  • Assassin's Creed 2
  • Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum
  • Beautiful Katamari
  • Brutal Legend
  • Call of Duty
  • Call of Duty 2
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
  • Call of Duty: World at War
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  • Crackdown
  • Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
  • Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram
  • Dash of Destruction
  • Digimon: Battle Spirit
  • Digimon: Rumble Arena
  • Dragon Ball: Advance Adventure
  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai(Gamecube and PS2)
  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi
  • Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2(Wii and PS2)
  • Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
  • Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
  • Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II
  • Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai
  • Fable II
  • Final Fantasy VII
  • Final Fantasy X
  • Gears of War
  • Gears of War 2
  • Ghostbusters: The Vidoegame
  • Grand Theft Auto IV
  • Guitar Hero 2
  • Guitar Hero 3
  • Half-Life 2
  • Half-Life 2: Episode 1
  • Half-Life 2: Episode 2
  • Halo: Combat Evolved(xbox and PC)
  • Halo 2
  • Halo 3
  • Halo 3 ODST
  • Halo Wars
  • Indigo Prophecy
  • Katamari Damacy
  • Kingdom Hearts
  • Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
  • Kingdom Hearts II
  • Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
  • Kirby: Canvas Curse
  • Left 4 Dead
  • Lost Odyssey
  • Mass Effect
  • Metal Slug 3
  • Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
  • Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
  • Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
  • Me and My Katamari
  • Mirror's Edge
  • No More Heroes
  • Okami
  • Pokemon Red
  • Pokemon Blue
  • Pokemon Yellow
  • Pokemon Silver
  • Pokemon Gold
  • Pokemon Crystal
  • Pokemon Ruby
  • Pokemon Sapphire
  • Pokemon Diamond
  • Pokemon Snap
  • Portal
  • Prince of Persia(2008 )
  • Rez HD
  • Rockband
  • Rogue Galaxy
  • Shadow of the Colossus
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3
  • Sonic & Knuckles
  • Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
  • Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
  • Spider-man: Web of Shadows
  • Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
  • Super Paper Mario
  • Super Smash Brothers
  • Super Smash Brothers Melee
  • Super Smash Brothers Brawl
  • Super Mario 64
  • Super Mario 64 DS
  • Super Mario Sunshine
  • Super Mario Galaxy
  • Tales of Symphonia
  • The Bourne Conspiracy
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Pricess
  • The Simpsons' Game
  • The Simpsons' Roadrage
  • Tomb Raider: Legend
  • Undertow
  • Unreal Tournament 3
  • Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner

  Hmmmm... Thats a total of one hundred and nine. Thats a little disapointed. It felt like way more than that.

  It's still a big number I guess. It'll be one hundred and ten soon since i'll soon be beating Left 4 Dead 2.

  • Posted Dec 2, 2009 10:01 am PT
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• 22Nov 09

  Walking with Elites

  On Halo Waypoint yesterday an episode of Halo Legends dubbed "The Duel" was up free to view. It was interesting to say the least. The episode deals with an early part of Covenant history long before they started the war with humanity. about an Arbiter who's against the covenant. We learn why the Arbiter is a title of shame which is pretty. Sounds great but the execution could have been farbetter.

  Right of the bat I just wanna say, female elites, WTF? The Duel introduces female Elites through the Arbiter's wife and it's just weird. It appears female Elites are smaller, more delicate, have like dreads or something and have ****ing boobs... Wut de hell? This is about like when I watched Walking with Dinosaurs on Discovery Channel and getting to the part where they showed the mating habits of dinosaurs. Come on, no one watches Walking with Dinosaurs for hot Dino sex, they watch it to see the t-rex ****ing eat other dinosaurs. And Halo fans watched The Duel to see all the cool stuff Elites like to do when they aren't picking on humans, not to look at Elite boobs.

  I always figured female Elites look like Male Elites. I mean they kinda look like reptiles. Can you tell the difference between a male and female alligator? Or most any animal, really? It should have been like that. And I figured female Elites would be tough. Elites are a warrior race. They don't even have many scientist. In Elite culture your a failure if you don't even know basic combat.

  But I know exactly why they did it and it brings me to a new point. They tried too hard to make Elites relatable. What the guys at I.G. seem to not know is people don't want to relate to Elites. Trying to make Elite relatable is like trying to make Godzilla or Ninjas relatable. People like them because they kick ass not because they can identify with them. Regardless I.G. was so driven to make these character more human that they made the mandibles on them hardly noticable when out of armor using graphical tricks and all and they didn't sound as alien or monsterous as they did in the games.

  Speaking of graphics honestly they really weren't up to standard. Most of the time the animation was very robotic and stiff. I'd be willing to bet the character models weren't very detailed either although you honestly can't see it to well thanks to a filter that makes it all look like a water painting. Most of the budget seems to have went to making the Elite faces look convincingly human and making a few nice looking battle scenes.

  I.G. Tries to make to relate Elite Society to fuedal Japan but I think they took it too far. Elites that aren't in armor are wearing kimonos. The antagonist wears ninja esque armor and actually uses a more traditional metal sword rather than an actual energy sword like every other Elite in the episode uses including the Arbiter. Theres too much that seems too close to human culture than I'm comfortable with, really.

  As for the plot, it's actually alright, but theres just not as much stuff explained as I'd like. You never learn why the Arbiter doesn't believe in the Great Journey. The episode is short and so you don't learn much about any of the characters so their deaths really don't carry much weight on the viewer.

  The ending. I hated it. Right as you come from watching this spectacular battle scene the Arbiter has with a huge covenant armada(Theres Jackals, Grunts, Elites and even a Wraith and a few really cool giants hunter) he faces off against the main antogonist. Some cool elite guy with the fancy Samurai armor and impossibly huge metal sword. They stand in front of each other for something like two whole minutes not doing a single thing. Then they lunge toward each other and kill each other with their first attacks. The end. Litterally. The episode is over.

  No closure at all. They could have followed it up with some scene on how his death may have effected the other Elites or something or maybe the rest the covenant. Heck though, I'd have been happier if there was an actually fight that took place before they killed each other. The fight reminded of that bs series Sumarai Jack. People liked it and thought it was so cool since nothing ever happened and no one hardly talked in some episodes. I say thats bs and it was terrible just like the final battle in this episode. You can sit around and do nothing all day but it's not tense or exciting if you ask me.

  In the end this episode kinda feels like someone was taking Halo and trying to make it into a cheesy samurai movie. But I don't see Halo fans or cheesy samurai movie/anime fans like this in the end. Samurai/anime fans are probably going to find the presence of monster aliens in the place of actual human beings jarring. The episode itself provides nothing the genre hasn't already seen. And Halo fans... Well you've already seen what a Halo fan thinks of it. It strays a bit too far from the spirit of Halo for my liking. Which is why you never heard me talk about the episode from a few weeks ago called "The Baby Sitter". It got Halo right and it didn't really shake it up too much like this episode did. I'd be more forgiving though if the characters and their motives were more fleshed out.

  At best it's an interesting take on the Halo universe. But it's a take I never want to see again. Not the same way it was presented again. At worst though this just feels like a dirty cash grab from Production I.G. I expected more from Mamoru Oshii.

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  I was thinking about it a few days ago and I think I've figured out why I just don't like Call of Duty like I use to. I get why now. In the early Call of Duties the the battles were of a larger scale and thats because it dealt with World War II, a much bigger conflict. It was louder(I liked that. I swould to always turn up the volume playing Call of Duty 1 and 2. It got me more into it). You'd have all the guns going and turrets roaring drowning out everything but the yells of your comrades. Like the tag line for the first game "You never fight alone". You clearly were good guy. You were fighting the ****ing Nazis.

  With the Modern Warfare games fights are generally of a much smaller scale, naturally it's not near as loud. You generally have alot less allies helping you out, theres even a mission in Modern Warfare 2 where your fighting by yourself. And things are a bit more shady wait with the betrayal, the first mission in the series where the objective is to kill innocent civilians and teaming up with communists in the last level of Modern Warfare 2.

  On top of that theres alot more of those moments in Modern Warfare where the game tries to impress you with all these over the top scripted sequences. The earlier Call of Duties just felt alot more believable. And I've never been a huge supporter of the reward system, perks and killstreaks. I'd be more fine with it if there were playlist that took all of these out, but there isn't.

  I'm not saying these qualities make the new Call of Duty games bad, I'm just saying that these are qualities I don't much care for.

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  Other random stuff:

  -Renting Assassin's Creed 2. So far I like it alot. Is it just me though or do the graphics seem a little below the original's par? I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with there being five different selectable voice tracks. Something has to give.

  -Been playing some of the new season of 1 vs 100. I like how they have an rpg leveling up system now.

  • Posted Nov 22, 2009 5:20 am PT
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