Tag Archives: Playstation

Weekly Entertainment Wrap #13

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The summer rages on with another week of fresh theater releases as well as a few games on the near horizon. Here’s a look at whats in store.

THEATERS

Opening this week are: The Hangover, Land of the Lost, and Away We Go.  The Hangover is a new comedy directed by Old School director Todd Phillips. While the majority of the cast is relative unknowns, the movie looks pretty hilarious. Its basically a buddy comedy about the morning after a bachelor party that’s gone horribly wrong. I really enjoy Phillips’ comic direction and this movie looks like another one to have people busting up in the aisles.  If that doesn’t motivate you to see it, the film also features an awesome karaoke performance from Mike Tyson. That alone is almost worth the admission.

Land of the Lost is the film version of the classic low budget TV show from the 70s. It is re-imagined as a comedy and stars Will Ferrell and Danny McBride. The films features classic Ferrell stupidity. While its the same act he’s been giving for years, for some reason it still manages to be quite funny and this film looks no different. While I originally thought this film was mainly for kids, the reviews I’ve read so far mention enough crude adult references that grown ups will probably enjoy this film just as much.

Away We Go is a film directed by Sam Mendes about a couple who is expecting their first child and they travel to find the ideal place to give birth and raise their family. From the trailers, this film looks like an indie film or at least one that is trying really hard to look like an indie film. The film didn’t look too interesting from the trailers and I suspect it will get lost somewhere in the hustle and bustle of the summer movie season. With that in mind, I doubt it will get such a mainstream opening, but those looking forward to this can probably find it playing somewhere if you really look.

DVD

New DVDs this week are: He’s Just Not that Into You, Defiance, and Revolutionary Road.  HJNTITY is a collage of intertwined stories about different couples in various stages of relationships. The movie has an all star cast with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johannson, and Justin Long.  The movie has some decent laughs, but for the most part focuses on the drama of all the relationships it presents.

Defiance is the story about three Jewish brothers in Nazi Germany who flee to the woods with dozens of other Jewish refugees and fight against the German oppressors.  The movie stars Daniel Craig, Liev ‘Sabretooth’ Schreiber, and Jamie Bell as the three brothers. The movie tends to drag in spots, but the action scenes between the brothers and the Germans are downright ruthless. Its cool to see Nazis finally getting what they deserve, and this film does a great job of showing that.

Revolutionary Road is a drama set in the 50s starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as an unhappily married couple. The film chronicles their lives together and the things they go through in their marriage. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this film is that it features the reunion of the two Titanic stars, but other than that the movie looks a bit bland. At least it can’t end any worse than a shivering Dicaprio floating in ice water clutching a two by four while professing his love for Winslet as he sinks to the ocean depths.

GAMING

Out earlier this week for the PS3 was inFamous, a sandbox type game in which the hero has powers of electricity.  This is a great game and I have a review for it that should be up soon, so check it for more details.  Due out a little later is a similar type game called Prototype, which is also a free roaming super hero type game. the difference being that Prototype is supposed to be a bit more violent and the hero’s powers involve shape shifting as opposed to electricity control.  This game also looks to be really good and it will be available on multiple platforms this week.

Perhaps the biggest gaming news comes from the E3 conference.  They announced Metal Gear: Rising, a new Metal Gear game for both the 360 and the PS3 due out next year. There are also new updates on much anticipated sequels, including: Call Of Duty: Modern warfare 2, Assassins Creed 2, Mass effect 2, and a new Rock Band featuring The Beatles. This is all great news and since most of these titles are projected to drop some time in November, it looks like this holiday gaming season will be another busy one!

MMA

No MMA events this week, but there was one pretty big announcement. Affliction productions announced that on Aug.1, the much anticipated match up between Fedor Emelianeko and Josh Barnett will finally take place. While there has been a bit of a shortage of worthy opponents for Fedor outside of the UFC, Barnett is perhaps the most legitimate non-UFC contender.  Despite their highly publicized friendship, the two definitely look to put that aside come August and come out banging. This is probably the most exciting Fedor matchup that I can think of, other than Fedor vs. Lesnar, which is unlikely to happen any time soon. All things considered, the leather will definitely fly on August 1.

Thats the week in entertainment, and that’s a wrap!

inFAMOUS (PS3)

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I didn’t know much about Infamous leading up to the game’s release, but once I saw a few gameplay videos and read a little about it, I was hooked.  The game is a mix between Crackdown, GTA, and Assassin’s Creed, combining the best elements of all three.  You play as Cole, a bike messenger who is in the process of delivering a package when the package detonates and levels the entire city.  For some reason, you remain unharmed and eventually develop powers of electricity.  How you decide to use your powers determines how the game will play out, with moral decisions presented to you regularly to determine if you are good or evil.

GRAPHICS 8/10

The graphics are solid. The city looks like it should after being wrecked by such an enormous blast. The character models are decent, but I wouldn’t have minded at least an alternate costume for Cole, as his look is a bit generic. The only problem with the graphics is that they tend to break up a bit when there is a lot of action onscreen at once.  There is also noticeable pop up  with buildings and other objects as you travel around the city. Overall though, the graphics are good and they do a great job of bringing this wounded city to life.

STORY 8/10

The game actually has a pretty decent story as you progress.  At the end, you’ll be stuck with some unanswered questions, but the story itself is pretty satisfying.  The premise is a bit of the generic “regular guy gets caught in explosion and winds up with powers” variety, but it seems to work sell within the confines of the game and it sets up the events that unfold nicely.  there is also a pretty good twist at the end of the game that makes the stroyline all the more rewarding.  What is also cool is that the events in the storyline play out differently depending on whether you are good or evil.

GAMEPLAY 9/10

The gameplay has all the mechanics of your standard 3rd person shooter. You can shoot, throw grenades, and even snipe. The trick is that these actions are all performed using your powers. When you snipe, you basically zoom in for a closer view and can pinpoint your lightning right between an enemy’s eyes. Grenades are charged balls of electric energy that you can throw which detonate seconds later. While all of the mechanics are similar, Infamous is unique in how they are all presented through your powers. Additionally, both good and evil characters have completely different sets of powers at their disposal.

Infamous takes full advantage of these power variations, as most missions require multiple tasks to complete. For instance, you may need to call a lightning storm to break down a shield, then use your snipe ability to take out a patrolling UAV plane, after which you will need to lob grenades to blow up a machine. With infamous, no mission is ever really clean cut and some improvisation is usually required to be successful. Things start to really heat up as cole gets more powerful and you seem to have more abilities than you can remember.

REPLAYABILITY 8/10

The game allows you to play through as both good and evil with each side having different outcomes. There are also numerous side quests found throughout the city that offer upgrades and experience points. While the single player experience is fairly deep, especially with the whole good and evil angle, there is no multiplayer in the game at all. I’m a bit ADHD when it comes to single player campaigns.  Once I complete it, usually the only thing that keeps me around is a solid multiplayer offerring.  Sadly, Infamous has nothing.  While it is a great game definitely worthy of at least 2 complete playthroughs, I don’t see it getting much more time after that point.

OVERALL 8/10

Infamous is a great game that you can easily become immersed in.  It combines different genres (sandbox, shooter, plat former) to give a unique gaming experience. The only major knock I have against the game is the lack of a solid multiplayer. However, for single player fans, there is more than enough to do in the campaign portion to keep you busy for a while. The PS3 was about due for an exclusive solid offering, and it seems to have one in Infamous.

Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox360)

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I was first introduced to the Resident Evil series with RE2.  Up until then all I heard about was how great the first game was.  Resident Evil 2 lived up to all of the hype and more. At this time the survival horror genre was brand spanking new, with the RE series blazing the way. The fixed camera angles that prevented you from seeing what was coming next combined with the uncertainty of whether or not you would even have enough ammo to deal with an inevitable attack created a tense video game experience like no other. After a few more sequels and spin offs, the tried and true formula was starting to show its age.  By the fourth official sequel, Resident Evil 4, the formula had been somewhat revamped, allowing for a less claustrophobic camera and a greater selection of weapons. The fifth installment seeks to build on the changes from the fourth game while adding some tweaks of its own.  So here we are with RE5. Did it live up to the hype like some of the previous games????

GRAPHICS 10/10

The first thing you will notice about this game is how amazing the graphics are. The level of detail in everything from textures to character models is just straight up impressive.  A lot of games look great but have graphical hiccups here and there or the occasional glitch. Not this game though. The graphics look unbelievable from the beginning to the end. To be honest, the in game graphics always look as good, if not better, than the cut scenes. Capcom games have always been highly polished in the graphics department, and this game is no exception. Resident Evil 5 is arguably THE best looking game on any console right now.

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