Reviews: Books, Games, Movies, etc.

Netflix'd: Knowing

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Knowing that Knowing is a terrible movie could save people a lot of time. Knowing is like sex without an orgasm for either side: the build up is great but when there is no pay off a flaming moose comes running out of the woods and gives everyone a giant middle finger.

I can't give this movie even an OK rating and I am a SciFi fan willing to give even movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still an OK rating! Knowing, not even worth a Netflix delivery.

Netflix'd: Old Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:56:00 +0000

Old Dogs is one of those movies that you watch because the trailer says "From the makers of ". In this case, the same team behind Wild Hogs, is back with more old men urban drama in Old Dogs.

Robin Williams and John Travolta star in a movie that feels about 50% complete. There are some great comedy moments in the movie: the weekend spent camping, child safing the apartment, and the tanning booth. However, these moments are either too short or jaggedly out of place within the larger narrative. The entire movie awkwardly jumps around before arriving at a predictable conclusion.

I liked the movie as a family popcorn comedy, but had this not been a Netflix delivery, I would have felt very cheated for the money I would have spent to see it.

Netflix'd Review: Pandorum

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:58:00 +0000

There is half of a really good Sci-Fi movie in Pandorum. Read on to find out more, but be aware that minor spoilers are ahead.

The premise of the movie is solid: two flight crew members awake from "space sleep" to cover their shift piloting their ship, the Elysium, as it travels to a second earth-like planet. However, when they awake there is no previous crew to greet them. Something is wrong.

The movie title, Pandorum, refers to deep space pilots who suffer a mental breakdown and kill their co-pilots. As one might guess, one of the two flight crew members turns out to be mentally unstable. The details of that, I will let the viewer collect, as its the good half of the movie.

Unfortunately, crew member #2 isn't bat shit crazy, but he does get to travel into the heart of bat shit crazy, hyper-evolved space ship people country. This would be the half of the movie that sucks. There is no build up or suspense to finding out what is haunting Elysium. Within minutes of venturing out of the safe hold, crew member #2 is greeted by snarling, flesh-eating creatures. Then some ninjas come and save him. Long story short, feeding tubes with evolution juiced turned the ship's inhabitants into mutants. I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

My suggestion is to watch this movie as the ending has a good twist, but ignore everything crew member #2 does the entire movie, including the end of the ending.

Netflix'd Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:11:00 +0000

I love Netflix and since we religiously watch and return our Netflix movies two times a week, I figured I would take some time to write a few short reviews of movies I've "Netflix'd".

The Time Traveler's Wife

This movie caught me off guard as I wasn't expecting much more than a sappy love story. However, time travel is always an interesting plot mechanic, even when wrapped in a chick flick.

For a time travel story, there aren't many twists and turns in The Time Traveler's Wife. The entire story was easy to follow and understandable, which works to the benefit of the movie. The art of foreshadowing is masterfully executed; subtle camera tricks ensure the audience is focused on various clues to the future and past.

The movie was more about watching a story about time travel unfold than it was about the mystery of main character's ability to time travel. At its base, its about a woman knowingly marrying into an extraordinary situation. This leads to the age old question of what knowing one's future does to a person.

More importantly though, the movie follows the effect of this knowledge that trickles down to the friends, family, and wife. The cast of characters take the time travel in stride and before the end of the movie it is an accepted occurrence. Yet throughout there is an uneasy tension around the idea and its great to watch it push and pull the characters apart.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I would highly recommend it not only as a great date movie, but as a good movie to watch with friends. While there isn't much on the action forefront, there is enough substance to the story and within the characters to make up for it. This movie was a treat.

Well-seasoned Review: Legend of the Seeker (Season 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:14:00 +0000

Legend of the Seeker is a TV series loosely based on The Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind. I would suggest forgetting that connection if you are a fan of the books. The TV show borrows themes, characters, and locations, but the story is completely different. However, by the end of first season, I found myself enjoying the TV series for what it was: a weekly, fun fantasy television series.

Sam Raimi, also responsible for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, is heading up the project. Legend borrows from the heavy handed action and uncomfortable story telling of both series and does it in a fun way. While some of the dialogue is laughable and poorly delivered, the visuals and action sequences make up for it. Shot in New Zealand, at a reported $1.5 million per episode, this is the best looking fantasy on TV.

NOTE: Slight spoilers ahead.

The story follows three main characters: Richard the one true seeker, Kahlan the confessor, and Zedd a wizard of the first order. The end goal is for Richard to complete the prophecy of killing Darken Raul who is attempting to enslave the world. Each episode moves towards this goal, but also delivers a complete side story within each. Watching one episode

Again, the show feels a lot like both Hercules and Xena. There is never an episode dedicated to pure story telling. There is always an action sequence just around the corner and most of them are well executed. The set designs are well done and convincing.

The largest lacking feature of the shows is the sense of scale. An entire castle siege is reduced to a half dozen soldiers fighting in a throne room. Characters appear in geographically different areas at the drop of a hat, usually by traveling on foot. Disappointing, but understandable given the constraints of hour long episodes and a weekly schedule.

Another annoying aspect of the season was Zedd's constant disappearance. To me, Zedd is one of the best characters in the TV series. It became a running joke to by the end of the season when Zedd would announce to the party "I'll go do this, we'll meet back here in three days". Sure enough, he'd disapear and at the end of the episode he would be back. Fortunately, a couple episodes end up following him on his solo adventures.

Overall the show is fun to watch when expectations are set properly. It is not Lord of the Rings and it doesn't need to be. I'm glad it is NOT a verbatim script from the books, because that would be some terribly boring TV. The mix of action to plot is well done and consistency is held throughout the season. If you can get past the lackluster dialogue, the Legend of the Seeker (Season 1) is fun to watch. And the best part is that Season 1 and half of Season 2 are available in HD via Netflix streaming.

Movie Review: Avatar

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:58:00 +0000

Avatar: I should hate this movie. It depicts a resource-hungry, western-style civilization destroying the native inhabitants of a planet through technological and military might.

The story is predictable and the characters one-sided. The marine kills, the natives are misunderstood savages. Everything fits into the expected cliches of a cultural clash on a clandestine planet.

On top of the stereotypes, the hype should have killed this movie, but it didn't. Avatar is a masterpiece.

Avatar not only lives up to the hype, it smashes expectations. It is not about the story, the characters, or the cynical prognostication of our modern-day world. Its about escapism. Avatar is the first movie that made me feel like I was transported to another time and planet.

There weren't special effects, there was a living and breathing world in the theater unlike anything I've ever experienced. I could blather on about how stunning Avatar was to watch, but words can not do it justice.

My only complaint with the movie is the macguffin of unobtainium. That aside, its a hardly noticeable subtraction from an otherwise perfect movie.

Reposted Movie Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:04:00 +0000

I am a Star Wars fan. I am not a blind Star Wars fan and refuse to blindly love the movies. I watch them, because I love the universe behind them. Any glimpse into that universe will get some of my money, but not always my praise. The Phantom Menace started out good, but fell down in the end. Attack of the Clones was full of action, but not much else. Revenge of the Sith made me smile, but only did the end finally make me feel like the actors were earning their paychecks.

My biggest problem with the prequels was the character of Anakin Skywalker. He was weakly written and horribly acted, which lead to a big gaping whole in all three prequels. When Anakin finally rose up as Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith and screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!", I screamed "YES, Anakins gone." This brings me to my thoughts on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and unfortunately the lackluster Anakin rears his ugly head.

Fortunately, the movie is completely computer animated, so no Hayden Christensen was needed. Unfortunately, the character of Anakin still feels stiff and forced through the entire movie. Good thing there is enough action and comedy to save Clone Wars from a failure. The graphics are cartoony, but believable against vivid backgrounds and settings. The important note here is that the movie is consistent and easily fits into the epic Star Wars movie saga.

Also, the move to complete computer graphics opened the door for much better action sequences. I don't want to spoil the movie, but one scene has our heroes scaling vertically up a cliff face while fighting the never ending droid army. It was believable and did not once feel faked for the sake of a live actor. That single scene absolutely convinced me this was the right move for the Star Wars franchise.

Overall, the movie was fun, albeit aimed at a younger audience. The general aim helped me forgive some plot shortfalls and out of place comedy. The movie was a general mix of the classic Star Wars we all love and the new age Star Wars that is hard to enjoy even as a fan. I highly recommend a viewing for any Star Wars fan, especially those with children.

Game Review: Borderlands (PC)

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 03:03:00 +0000

Borderlands, from Gearbox software, blends FPS with RPG and tickles the loot center in every gamer’s brain. Borderlands is a good game, but misses greatness in every single category. Fortunately, there is a shitload of guns to make up for it.

Borderlands the RPG

Borderlands has all the makings for a great RPG: interesting characters, progression, and a story. Unfortunately, Borderlands is the king of “almost”.

The characters, like Dr Zed, come with great introduction scenes, but are quickly limited to dialogue boxes only. Other NPCs stand still, not moving, and often blend so well into the scenery that players walk by without noticing them. The only characters that stand out are the R2-D2 inspired robots nicknamed "claptraps" and some random chick that appears on screen to provide dribbles of information throughout the player's journey.

The story is fun to think about, but is not a draw for the game. It ends abruptly and does not make use of the characters or game world very well. The world itself will often make a better story than what is being sold by the random chick that pops up on the screen. The pieces are there, but the story is never put together firmly.

Character progression is handled via talent trees where players can specialize their skills in various weapons and skills. It's a well rounded, but average system. Each character recieves their unique class skill at level 5. After that, there were not any milestones that made me feel like I was achieving an important step in my characters life. Weapon skills are raised by using various weapon types

The loot is really the only RPG staple that stands out in Borderlands. It randomizes the look, stats, and effects of each weapon. With any randomized system, there is a lot of junk that is worthless, but getting a rare weapon is a treat. Getting to use that weapon to take down a giant mammoth-like Rakk Hive is icing on the cake.

Borderlands the FPS

The FPS portion of Borderlands is solid and there is no RPG trickery to spoil the action. It delineates from the standard FPS-fare in a few areas. All weapons have a cone of fire, whether looking down the sights or firing from the hip. This creates the illusion of being able to aim with pinpoint accuracy, when in fact there is a set of numbers in the background determining a shot’s accuracy. This is most noticeable on sniper rifles, which often fail to hit what they are aimed at. I gave up on using sniper rifles midway through the game as my non-scope pistols were often more accurate.

The weapons offer great variety. There is no single super weapon in the game that dominate all others (unless a save file is hacked). Characters aren't restricted from using any weapon type, even if their class skills don't benefit from a certain type. This allows every character to enjoy the awesome loot they acquire.

Borderlands the Online Game

I’ve avoided discussing the multiplayer aspects of Borderlands up to this point. To be brief, the PC version of Borderlands is impossible to play online. The peer-to-peer technical stability is lackluster. In order for games to be properly hosted, the host needs to have more port forwards than most residential-class routers will allow. Secondly, the game browser is nothing more than a list of player-generated room names that do little to help a player find a game they can participate in. Next, once in a multiplayer match, there is nothing to stop hacked save files from entering your game and ruining the fun. Lastly, for a loot-centered game, there are no controls to stop ninja looters from looting the map clean while the other players are beat down by the end-map bosses. But does this even matter when the game is so easily hacked via the saved game files?

I strongly urge anyone playing Borderlands on the PC to play with friends only.

A couple months after release and one of 2009’s biggest games often has ZERO online games available for the PC.

Borderlands DLC

I have not tried any of the Borderlands DLC and have no plans to. It comes with restrictive DRM and that's a no-buy in my book (especially when I am buying it through the DRM known as Steam).

Borderlands in General

The action is consistent and there is never a lack of something to do. With multiple playthroughs, the game scales the difficulty to keep it fresh. By the 3rd playthrough, some encounters become amazingly tough and beating the game becomes a reward by itself. I would recommend anyone who is interested in an FPS/RPG hybrid to give the game a try, but don't expect great multiplayer on the PC without a little technical wizardry first. Overall, Borderlands is fun to play and is almost a great game.

Reposted Book Review: Elantris

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Title: Elantris
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Fantasy (May 30, 2006)
Quick-Hit Thought: A one volume epic fantasy worth reading.

I have to admit the only reason I picked up Elantris was due to the announcement that Brandon Sanderson would be writing the twelfth, and final, book in the Wheel of Time series. Along with favorable reviews, and the fact that the story begins and ends in a single book, really sold it to me as a book worth reading to get a measure of Sanderson’s abilities.

The main point to understand about Elantris is that it is an epic fantasy tale wrapped up in under a thousand pages. It covers the gambit as far as epic fantasy goes. There is the hero, the villain, the princess, a story, and most of all, the fantastical world.

Elantris, located in the nation of Arelon, is more than the title of the book, it is the name of a magical city that ten years prior stopped being magical. Outside of Elantris is the smaller, non-magical city of Kae, newly revitalized in the wake of the downfall of Elantris and now the center of Arelon’s monarchy.

Elantris serves as a prison, housing those unfortunate enough to be afflicted by the magic that once made the city and the Elantrians great. The book begins as Raoden, the prince of Arelon, becomes afflicted with this magic and is cast into the crumbling city of Elantris. The story excels from that point forwad. Every chapter spent in Elantris is well worth the reader’s time.

Outside of Elantris, two other points of view are followed: Raoden’s widowed-before-the-wedding wife, Sarene, and Hrathen, priest sent to convert the non-believers of Arelon. While Raoden struggles within Elantris, Sarene and Hrathen battle politically in the city of Kae.

I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters involving Raoden and the overall story line of the book. However, the chapters involving Sarene and Hrathen take a while to become enjoyable. Sarene is just too much of a stereotypical feminist, while Hrathen is the obvious conflicted bad guy. I did enjoy Hrathen overall, but the most interesting aspect of Hrathen was his back-story which I would not have minded more of.

Fortunately, towards the end of the book, the three characters become entwined together in the chapters and the pace picks up significantly. The plot spins down quickly and an expected, but well-executed, ending unfolds.

Overall, the book serves its purpose as a one-book epic fantasy tale. More back story on Hrathen would have been nice and the pacing could have been smoother. It was refreshing to read a book without having to worry about the next book in the series. Elantris tells a great story that begins and ends within a thousand pages. Quite a feat in an otherwise bloated fantasy genre, especially for an author tagged with the responsibility to conclude one of the most bloated epic fantasy series out there.

Reposted Book Review: The Name of the Wind

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:52:00 +0000

Title: The Name of the Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: DAW Trade; Reprint edition (April 7, 2009)
Quick-Hit Thought: Quality writing, minus a few WTF moments.

I debated how to write this review. Should I review the book, or should I review the reviews of the book? To me, the more interesting option is to approach the reviews, as they influenced my decision to get the book. The reviews for The Name of the Wind are split; some people love it, some people hate it. For some, Patrick Rothfuss, is the next big name in Fantasy. To others, he is a self-centered arrogant jerk. Personally, I fall in the middle and have no opinion on the Mr. Rothfuss himself.

Looking at the reviews on Amazon, we get the following gem from Robin Hobb (an accomplished author):

It seems to me that every year there are more books I want to read and less time for me to read them. Because my time is limited, I'm guilty of picking up the books by my favorite authors first, and fitting in new authors only when it's convenient.
Due to a stroke of luck, I've had an advance copy of The Name of the Wind by my bedside for over six months, just waiting for me to open it. Unfortunately, deadlines of my own kept getting in the way. But in a way, it's lucky that I didn't crack this book until just a few days ago. If I'd had this tale to distract me, I'd have been even later getting my work done.

I loathe spoilers, so I'm not going to discuss the plot of this book. I will say it has all the things that I demand of a book. The characters are real, the action is convincing and it has a compelling story to tell.

One of the things I like best about this book is that the magic is absolutely rooted in the book's world. Nothing seems contrived; the consistency is excellent.

The characters are very well realized. That means that when the protagonist does something clever, it's believable. And when he does something youthfully dumb, it rings just as authentically true. Because the characters are real and the magic is true to its own world, I closed this book feeling as if I'd been on a journey with an entertaining new friend, rather than sitting alone looking at words on a page.
This one is well worth some of your precious reading time. I'll wager that the books to follow it will also be.

Robin Hobb

From the peanut gallery, we get:

Like so many here I was suckered into this. Before you buy this book, read all the reviews. Read the honest 1 and 2 star reviews, read the others. Do notice how many reviewers gush praise but don't actually discuss the book. Or how many of the reviews all sound alike? Mention of the main characters, three to five sentences, all proclaiming how this is the best thing ever. Are we really supposed to believe this over the top hype? The funniest, and I mean laugh out loud funny, is the recent review that proclaims "next biggest thing since Tolkien". Or how about the laughable "I hope to be witnessing history on par with Herbert, Tolkien, etc."

I'll admit I bought the book based on the above two reviews. One, because Robin Hobb is a trustworthy review source. Two, because I wanted to know why so many felt the book was overrated.

I tend to agree that the book is overrated. If I rated things in little stars, TNotW would be a 3/5. Its enjoyable and well written, but it lacks the consistency of better novels. The core story is great and I enjoyed the main character Kvothe throughout. What I didn't enjoy was senseless meandering to the side. Situations in which some pretty stupid shit happens; *SPOILER* as stupid as dragons getting high on drugs spurring our hero into action. */SPOILER*

The book is about a man telling another man his life's story. The book starts with the hardened adventurer settled down as a tavern owner, adventures almost long gone. A happy-go-lucky scribe stops by and asks for the hero's story. What ensues will take three books to tell, but this first book covers the entire first day of story telling.

This approach leads to an interesting look into the events that make up the main character's life. As anyone who talks too much about themselves, Kvothe tends to embellish his stories a little bit. Unfortunately, it is hard to tell whether Kvothe is intentionally embellishing them or whether Rothfuss just writes that way. Unfortunately, this spills over (as mentioned above in the spoiler) into some pretty WTF moments.

I would have enjoyed the book a lot more and laughed a bit less at the situations had Rothfuss cut about a hundred or so pages of side story and focused on Kvothe's main storyline at the University (and area around it) and chasing information about the Chadrian. I was really intrigued by the way Kvothe interacted with the Masters at the University and was a bit disappointed when he left to chase ghost stories. I didn't mind that he had left the University, but I was very displeased at the reasons Rothfuss chose to keep him away. At one point, I almost put the book down because I couldn't stop laughing at the situation the characters were in. Seriously, read the above spoiler and tell me it doesn't sound stupid.

I tend to rate things on a 0 to 1 scale. 0, no. 1, yes. In this case, TNotW is a 1, because it is worth reading and deciding if the second book is worthwhile to the reader.

Reposted Book Review : Smart Bomb

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:07:00 +0000

Title: Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution
Authors: Heather Chaplin, Aaron Ruby
Genre: Gaming
Publisher: Algonquin Books (October 12, 2006)
Quick-Hit Thought: Great read for those interested.

I'm just a gamer. I don't develop games. I have no grand dreams of magically breaking into the industry. However, there are many developers in the industry who have done just that. This is a review of the book, Smartbomb : The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Video game Revolution. This is a review from the side of a gamer, of a book about the rock star developers that make my world go.

At the heart of Smartbomb is a collection of stories about the rock star developers of the video game industry. The pacing of the book is defined by the first developer we meet, Cliff Blezinski. "CliffyB", as he is known around the offices at Epic Games, is known for his once flashy pimp-like attire, back when he burst onto the scene with the Unreal and Unreal Tournament series.

CliffyB is a recurring character in the book. He is considered to be one of the last home-grown programmers who has truly broken into the industry. In a day where developers arrive with college degrees built upon game development, CliffyB is a throwback to such legends as Will Wright of The Sims fame and John Carmack of Doom fame. Wright and Carmack don't have game design degrees, but they have some of the most influential video games in history under their belts. They developed games, because there was no other outlet for their creative talents.

However, CliffyB has gone from flashy pimp to laid back front man for Epic. There is a tantalizing connection where we see him at the same parties and conferences as Wright and Carmack. While CliffyB catches the audience's eyes with a new dazzling hair color, Will Wright drops a bomb as he displays his latest effort known, Spore. Wright's presentation ends in a standing ovation. Smartbomb shows us where these visionaries came from.

The husband-and-wife team of Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby connect many dots amongst a varied background of gaming history. Reading through the book will have you hitting Google for more information on such subjects as the Tech Model Railroad Club of MIT, and the Stupid Fun Club. Their writing style has a dramatic flare that drives the book, and readers will find themselves wanting to know more about the topics covered.

While there are many eye-opening insights into several facets of the gaming industry, there are also several reproductions of well known gaming history tidbits, such as Nolan Bushnell and the early days of Atari. For the seasoned video game historian, this is all information covered in other books, such as Steven Kent's "The Ultimate History of Video Games'', and Dean Takahashi’s "Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution.''

However, there are enough new connections and flavors amongst the entwined stories that the reiteration of information is not overwhelming. Also, being a relatively newer book in a growing industry, it serves as a great starting point for the new-age video game historian. The driving point, the reader will know more about gaming and where gaming is headed after reading this book.

It is very interesting that most of the gaming scene was covered. At one point, you're in the “gaming room” of an Anarchy Online addict before you are whisked away to the sweltering hotel basement in Dallas, where the latest Cyberathlete Professional League tournament is underway.

Smartbomb drags you into the rock star life of the game development industry and then firmly plants you back with the core of the industry: the gamers themselves.

Update: 7 Nov, 2006 - Reposted from old Heartless Gamer Reviews section and applied labels.

Update: 2 Apr, 2007 - Edited labels and article.

Update: 28 July, 2008 - Added info section.

Update: 15 Dec, 2009 - Reposted to new Heartless_ Gamer Reviews.

Book Review: The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:12:00 +0000

Before I read The Great Hunt I took a short trip down into Stephen King land. The only King book to date that I've read was The Stand and that was back in my early days of high school. I recieved The Eyes of the Dragon as a christmas gift and figured it a good starting point to get back into the heavier reading of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. What I found in The Eyes of the Dragon was a book I couldn't put down for very long.

The Eyes of the Dragon

The Eyes of the Dragon is a quick jump into the world of Delain where stories of dwarves and dragons are used to scare the children. All that changes on a simple hunting trip when King Roland's party comes across a young dragon. This doesn't end well for the dragon who ends up becoming another trophy mounted on Roland's wall.

The story just takes off from there. Stephen King's ability to portray real and fascinating characters is evident. The more you learn about the characters the more you can relate to them.

The reading is good albeit simple in places. However, this doesn't detract from the book at all. It is evident that King is not trying to create an epic masterpiece with a perfect world. He relies on the readers general knowledge of fantasy settings. A mage is someone who uses magic. A dragon has a nine chambered heart. These are all things King didn't need to create for his story and are borrowed from Fantasy 101.

The only disapointment comes from the ending which to me was a two fold monster. On one side it was a great way to end the book. On the other side the events leading up to it kind of left me wanting something else. Certain events are just a bit far stretched (even for fantasy standards) in a book where most of the story is rock solid.

Overall the book was a gem and a great find from a non-epic fantasy writer.

Book Review: The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 07:17:00 +0000

The Great Hunt

I stopped halfway through The Great Hunt and took a break because the reading was getting a bit slow, but now that I've finished I can say that the weighty begining is well worth it in the end. If you want to read fantasy that will make you think about it after the reading is done then the Wheel of Time series is for you and The Great Hunt is a shining example of the series power.

What starts off as a slow chase quickly catches up to itself in a twisty turn of events. In the world of the Wheel of Time things are supposed to happen in a certain way, but what you find out in The Great Hunt is that times are changing. What was and what will be are not changing, but the the journey the characters are embarking upon will not end the way they should have.

This is the magic of Robery Jordan; weaving characters together into a story that is written as concrete as history. The story is laid out as though everything happens for a reason, but characters shift and events occur that change the journey that is being taken. In the end, though, everyone seems to be right where they should be.

The ending of The Great Hunt was one of the best endings that I have ever read. Granted my "Books I've read list" isn't that massive, but this story ranks up right next to Lord of the Rings. The true magic though is that the ending leads to so much more that I am already deep within the next book, The Dragon Reborn.

If you aren't reading the Wheel of Time you should be.

Book Review: New Spring and The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 07:27:00 +0000

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan is one of the premier fantasy sagas available. It is twelve books in length with Knife of Dreams, released October 2005, being the 11th book in the series. New Spring is a shorter novel that serves as a prequel to the series.

I read The Eye of the World on and off again throughout 2005 and finished it in the summer. I then moved on to read the New Spring prequel which I finished early in the fall. Since then I have taken a break from the Wheel of Time series, but find myself back at it and almost finished with book two, The Great Hunt. Here is my combined review of New Spring and The Eye of the World.

New Spring

Serving as a prequel that was launched deep into the series this novel brought a lot to the experience I had in The Eye of the World. Fortunately I am not that far in the series so I was relatively unspoiled during New Spring.

The book begins in a wonderful setting with Lan, my favorite character in the series so far. It covers the story of how Lan and Moiraine meet up for their fateful journey into Edmunds Field. I do not wish to spoil the series for those that have not read it because it is a gripping story that should be enjoyed by all fantasy readers.

Robert Jordan melds words in a way that sings softly as you turn from page to page. It is a gracious style that anyone can easily fall in love with. The book is not nearly as heavy a reading assignment as the rest of the series, but it lends so much to the story that it is a definate plus for those readers just breaking into The Wheel of Time series.

The story is complete for being its own book, but the world discovered only means more when you reach into the series. It serves as a resolution within itself, but lends and hints at something greater. This is what is to be discovered in the series.

The Eye of the World

Much of what I said about New Spring can be carried over to The Eye of the World. The distinction is that The Eye of the World is the begining of the adventure that New Spring brought you to.

If you look at the book as a whole it is great, but if you break it down to individual chapters there is some dead spots where pages are filled with how a dress moves or how the wind shifted oh so slightly. I don't want to call these spots boring, but they lead me to do some skim reading to progress to the meat of the story.

And let me tell you the meat of the story is grand. The best description to fit the book would be that its the begining of what seems to an inevitable car crash. The characters slowly push along towards the instant that they are going to be struck.

Unfortunately that crash is somewhere in a later book. The book catches speed as it progresses. What starts out slow eventually turns into a landslide. What you find yourself at is an ending that was as unexpected as it was believable. Jordan goes the distance to immerse you in the world he has created.

Overall the experience was great, but less than what I may have expected coming from the lands of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is no short order to meet and Jordan gets eerily close that I wonder what the rest of the series will bring.

The Eye of the World for all its plugging around in the early stages grips you and makes you want to know more. You want to follow these characters and you want to see the adventures in which they continue.

The main character, Rand al'Thor, draws other characters to him throughout the book. I sometimes felt as though I was the just another one of them as the wheel weaved me into the pattern.

Movie Review: Chronicles of Narnia

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 05:36:00 +0000

Here is my Chronicles of Narnia review for your viewing pleasure.

Not having read the books I went into this movie with an open mind. I understood the mindset that this was geared towards children and it was obvious from the onset. However, this did not impact the pleasure of watching this movie at all. I think back to some of the greatest fantasy ever. The Hobbit, which later spawned the Lord of the Rings, was written as a children’s book. Even when Tolkien began the LotR saga he was gearing it towards a children’s story.

There is something about the child’s mind that inspires true fantasy. As I watched the movie I immediately understood why the youngest child of the group, Lucy, was the first one into the world of Narnia. Narnia is a place you do not seek out; it happens when you are the least expecting.

Let's get back to the fact that this movie is geared towards children. This leads to some awkward scenes where the young actors fail to really carry the weight their roles required, but overall the movie was excellent. Looking at the roles I will give my thoughts on each.

Lucy - The youngest of the group she quickly sets herself apart in terms of acting. She carries many awkward scenes and that is a lot to say considering her young age. Her first initial interaction with the faun character of Mr. Tummus is by far one of the best of the movie.

Edmund - Really the only character in the movie with any sort of character development he definitely fits the role. He evolves and over the movie I believe he grows indefinitely on the audience.

Susan - The A-typical older sister attitude. The sad part about her role is that she seems to be there mainly to fill in holes in various scenes. There never seems to be a connection built between her and her younger sister which was disappointing.

Peter - As the designated "hero" for the story he is a very lateral character. He fits the role well, but the role leads nowhere. Like Susan, Peter suffers from being a filler character. In the opening scenes of war stricken Britain a connection begins to form with his younger brother Edmund, but by the end of the movie it is relegated to weak and quick scenes of bonding.

However, the movie is a sum of its parts and together they make for one hell of a kick ass ride. Pardon the language if there are young ones around. Outside of the four children the movie is filled with a host of computer generated characters that range from talking beavers to half-man/half-horse centaurs.

On the note of the special effects it is noticeable in some areas that Sony Imageworks is no Weta Workshop or ILM. We are still in the transition period for major motion pictures using large amounts of special effects and if Narnia is any sign its getting better by the movie.

The special effects and complete CG characters never fail the movie. The prominent character of Aslan, a Jesus inspired lion voiced by Liam Nisan, is a joy the entire movie. The comical duo of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are a wonder to behold. I loved the imagination put into the various creatures and it makes me want to learn about each and everyone of them.

Comparisons to the Lord of the Rings trilogy were apparent before Narnia hit theatres. I’m glad to report that Narnia is nowhere near as dark or moody as Peter Jackson’s films. Again this is akin to the fact it was a Disney production developed from stories meant for children. As the scenes lift from winters blight to spring bliss the mood never strays far from the scenery.

The other disagreement point of the movie before release was the religious overtone of C.S. Lewis’s work. This is left up to interpretation during the movie. To some it has overtones into their religion while to others it is simply Narnia. It by far does not disappoint those faithful to the books from what I’ve read.

Overall the movie is like its final battle scene. It starts with a triumphant roar and as it nears its collision point it silences itself into a single heartbeat that explodes into the rage of battle. The dark points of the movie pound to a dramatic turning point, but silence into the light and magic of Narnia. It is then preserved and there is enough magic left for both adults and children alike.

WoW Review - Part IV

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 21:53:00 +0000

Part I
Part II
Part III

Battlegrounds.

The good -

They offer a central themed area for PvP fighting. They bring team based objectives into play which require coordination to achieve. The fighting is constant and the honor gained is good. The sides are capped and usually equal out at the max amount allowed into a BG at a time.

The bad -

You must stand in line before entering a BG. If enough people want to get in; another instance will open. If there isn't enough people you could essentially wait hours on end and never make it into a BG.

Along with standing in line several servers have the problem where there is only enough people to open a BG during prime time for a few hours. The rest of the day the BGs are closed and anyone that doesn't play during prime time is out of luck in ever getting to enjoy a BG.

The honor system is set up to reward only those that farm BGs non-stop. These people get in early and then leave their machines idle to keep their slot in the BG while people that actually want to play stand in line outside. Along with this the majority of gameplay in the BGs revolve around organized teams just bypassing unorganized teams and farming honor.

The "goals" in BGs are often never accomplished aside from the main goal. The quests and so forth are misleading and there is no solid way to really understand how the whole BG works. There is a few key areas that are attacked and then everything else is abandoned. Even in the capture the flag BG there is little strategy used outside of sitting at the graveyards.

The respawn timers are 30 seconds. The fighting is non-stop. The second you feel as though you are begining to win is the second that the entire enemy force resurects on top of you.

Blizzard answered the call of many gamers who were sick of bored level 60's attacking them around the world. Now level 60's are left bored because if you aren't in a BG there is no PvP action to be found anywhere.

Battlegrounds do more harm than good in the end game.

WoW Review - Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 19:25:00 +0000

Part I can be found here.

Part II can be found here.

If leveling from 1-60 in WoW is the adventure... then level 60 is the grind. Level 60 is only a starting point in WoW. When you reach level 60 you are thrown into the world of end game dungeons, epic quests, and PvP Battlegrounds. Each good, bad, and ugly in their own respects.

The end game dungeons are a two fold monster. There is the small 5-15 man dungeons that litter the world at large. The majority of class based gear is found in these dungeons. The items are superior in quality and offer a lot to those who spend the time to get them. The reward is worth the time spent.... the first time through.

However this is where the grind falls in. You have to repeat each of these instances multiple times to get the item you want. It is a poor system that rewards those with more time to play... instead of rewarding those who use their time wisely.

Overall the dungeons are creative enough to make repeating them not to overbearing. WoW raised most people on always having a new area or adventure to take part in, but at 60 the content gets vastly limited.

On the high end are the epic dungeons and quests. 40 people required and 6+ hours if you want to complete them with those 40 people. Blizzard has a good system in place by instancing the dungeons so that there is no spawn camping of the epic monsters. You actually have to raid your way through a dungeon... not just be the next one in line.

This gives access to the content to a lot more people. However the average gamer in WoW will never see these dungeons because the requirements to get in are just not what the average WoW player are looking for. WoW attracted a lot of people on the merit of being a casual game and lets them down at level 60 with the classic "time sink" repetitive content.

WoW is not casual once you hit 60. Level 60 is an entirely new game and casual friendly is not part of its vocabulary.

Part IV will be covering the Battlegrounds.

Battlefield 2 Review - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 20:06:00 +0000

What do I want out of Battlefield 2(BF2)?

I want an FPS with team based objectives. I want a game that rewards working together and combining efforts. Balance between vehicles and ground combat are a must. The gameplay needs to be polished and free of the common bugs found in the Battlefield series. Overall the gameplay, graphics, and fun factor need to be equal.

With my expectations outlined lets get into the basics.

Graphics - What can I say? The game is beautiful. Turn the settings up to max and you are in for a treat. Unfortunately the graphics come at a price on system performance. However, even running the game at the lower settings is a pleasure. The animations, textures, and landscape is all very well done. The detail inside and outside of buildings is astounding to say the least. You definately need to take a second look at any lump, bump, or strange figure you see to ensure it is not an enemy soldier.

The only weak spot is the cut'n'paste approach of a lot of the structures. Most buildings are the same on every map. Creative placement of the buildings keeps it interesting enough to be barely noticeable at best.

Sound - A gun sounds like a gun. An aircraft screaming in for an attack sounds like it should... and knowing how planes sound is part of my real life job. The sound is very well done. Area effects are also well done. If you listen up you can hear enemy soldiers shouting orders and requests. You can hear someone sneaking up on you... even though footsteps are a bit soft.

The music is classic battlefield with a middle eastern swing for the middle east maps and an asian flavor for the Chinese maps. Same tune... different game.

Technical Performance - There is two parts of the game that can be evaluated in this category. While playing the game and while not playing the game.

While playing the game there is little problem when it comes to technical performance. Patch 1.02 has resolved the only major issue regarding a server side memory leak that crashed many servers and brought them to lagging slide shows. The net code seems to be solid so far and there is little room for complaint.

While not playing the game there is severe issues that EA/Dice need to tackle. The first being the rushed out 1.01 patch that caused more problems than it fixed. The poor testing and quality control is an absolute insult to the BF2 community. The 1.02 patch did come out in much better condition.

Also the in game menu's are a horrid interface to launch the game from. The menu's often freeze and crash you to desktop. Even with the 1.02 hotfix the server menu still lags and many features of it still don't work. You can't filter servers. You constantly end up with a blank server list and the only fix is to restart the game. Overall this detracts from the experience. It is a slap in the face for EA/Dice to have put so little effort into the menu and server browser.

Take my advice and get a seperate server browser such as Xfire or All Seeing Eye.

Guild Wars Review - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 00:45:00 +0000

Guild Wars Review – Part I

My thoughts on how to review an MMO.

What do I want out of Guild Wars(GW)?

I want a fast and fun PvP gaming experience with an MMO mentality, but of course free of charge. I want a game based around skill and a wide variety of viable in game skill sets. There needs to be massive competition among all the guilds and the competition needs rewards. The PvE needs to be enjoyable, but overall nothing more than a side adventure compared to the PvP aspect. The game needs balance to a certain point, but overall balance needs to be decided by giving the players the ability to build a wide variety of effective strategies.

The Basics

Graphics – Very well done. The ambient glow the game world has adds a lot to immerse you into the game. The character models are well animated and the monsters are fun to look at. The backgrounds are breath taking in some areas. You will be stopping to look at a water fall, forest, or battlefield in the background.

However there is a major detracting problem with these backgrounds… because that is what they are… backgrounds. You can’t interact with most of the game world. Small hills and other such visual aids often are misleading resulting in an invisible wall. I am sorry, but my character needs to be able to step over a two foot high rock in my path. It is confusing on the eyes when your avatar runs pointlessly into an invisible wall… visual clues such as walls, bushes, etc are needed to indicate an area is unreachable.

For all the awe moments built into the game world there are enough “damn it I can’t go that way” moments to counteract them.

Sound – From clanging swords to sandy footsteps the sound is right on in GW. The sound effects are excellent. However, the voice acting during the in game cut scenes lacks emphasis. The voice actors are drab and uneventful. You will spend more time skipping the cut scenes than enjoying them. The good news is that the sounds you will be hearing the most of, swords and spells, are very well done.

Technical Performance – The game runs nearly flawlessly. Everyone is part of the same game world and major areas are either instanced or broken up into several cloned districts. This results in a net positive effect on performance. The one area of technical performance that is troubling is the collision detection. Like the graphical problem of being unable to traverse the smallest hills there is an equally troubling problem of collision detection warping your avatar around.
You will have several times where you will try to move around an obstacle only to be warped back against it as though you never ran around it. Also when it comes to other players you will sometimes wonder why your character is running a zigzag pattern to someone or something right in front of you.

GW allows you to play the game with little to no lag and only suffers from poor collision detection.

Customer Service – Being a free MMOG there is little need for customer service outside of your routine spammers, scammers, and griefers. Every incident I encountered in game regarding a bad name or a constant spammer was resolved and the person removed or silenced. I actually reported a name of a group mate and before we finished out our current instance his name had been changed. The A.Net CS department seems to be on the top of their game.

WoW Review - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 23:36:00 +0000

Find Part I here.

My thoughts on how to review an MMO.

Part II

WoW does a lot of things right. It has minimized the “grinding” time to reach max level while filling it with actual things to do. The questing system guides you from level 1 to level 60 leading you into new area after new area.

This is both good and bad. You learn the world, but you also lose a sense of belonging because the higher level areas lack significant towns. You go from the main cities and right into run down dumps. In your early levels you experience Blizzard’s grand vision for huge involving cities, but quickly lose it as you spend little to no time in them.

Towns in the higher level areas are no more than a couple buildings or tents with a few NPCs attached to them. The lone exception being the mid-level area of Booty Bay which is quite a site to see.

This does not detract from the overall experience, but is disappointing considering the polish put on the rest of the world.

The crafting system was well implemented by Blizzard after several changes in Beta. You can select two professions and raise all three of your secondary skills. The system is easy to pick up and is nearly completely player supported. You can rely on other players for nearly every major supply that is needed for every craft.

The gathering professions however are not balanced against the crafting professions. You can select two gathering professions and guarantee to sell whatever you gather to other players via the Auction House.

However the crafting professions where you actually make items are sparsely populated with items that are of any use to anyone in the game. Most in game dropped items are better than the equal level crafted items. There is very few end game crafted items worth spending the effort to create.

Due to rare materials being required for most end game items players only invest in the ones that give them the MAX benefit. No player is going to spend the time to get 20 Arcanite Bars to build a weapon that is worse than another weapon that also only requires 20 Arcanite Bars. Weapons are just an example of what plagues all high level crafting professions. There are too few good items to be made for profit for high level crafters.

Every player in WoW can participate in the crafting process, but in the end only the gathering professions profit on a regular basis.

Part III coming soon…

WoW Review - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Heartless Gamer) — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:13:00 +0000

My thoughts on How to Review an MMO.

What do I want out of World of Warcraft(WoW)?

I want a casual, fun, and fast gaming experience. It should be easy to learn, but hard to master. I want an Alliance vs Horde conflict. There needs to be reason behind the conflict and balance in the battle. My actions need to have an effect on the world. Overall the game just needs to be fun and fun is the overriding factor that will keep me in WoW. I do not want another Everquest.

The Basics

Graphics - Excellent. The world has a very hand crafted feel to it that is unique to the Warcraft universe. From start to finish there is definite polish on everything in the world. The animations blend perfectly with the models. The environment is fleshed out with swaying trees, grass, bushes, and everything you expect to see when traveling into a forest, desert, or swamp. The graphics add to the immersion resulting in a very eye pleasing gaming experience.

Sound - The sound in WoW goes hand in hand with the graphics. It completes the immersion with excellent sound effects wherever you travel. The music is fitting to the feel of Warcraft. The sound will always keep you aware of your surroundings and the music will make those slower times feel much more alive.

Technical Performance - The lag has been up and down as much as the servers have been up and down. WoW has performed increasingly well and the server maintenance team seems to have their game faces on. Most problems have been fixed relatively quickly and aside from some known issues (mail box, AH, and big city lag) there is no negative effect from the technical performance. You will be playing WoW more than you will be staring at a log in screen.

Customer Service – Let’s not be shy. WoW has attracted a HUGE player base. The customer service(CS) is going to suffer because of this. However Blizzard has gone a long way to ensuring that your voice is heard when you have a valid complaint. Whether it’s in-game mail or out of game e-mail from the CS department you will get a reply to your request/inquiry. Also they are very public when they go ahead and ban a large group of players for cheating, hacking, or abusing exploits. A definite plus in my book.