Reviews
Posted Yesterday 01:32 PM by Oliver Chen.
While I missed the boat on the original Phantasy Star Online for Dreamcast when it released over a decade ago, I played preposterous amounts of the later three Episodes on the GameCube and PC. The novelty of a "true" action MMORPG and an addicting rare loot system was fair incentive for me to spend hundreds of hours grinding across Ragol with friends both online and offline. Imagine my disappointment a few years later when I played Phantasy Star Universe, the next major Phantasy Star title, and discovered that most of that great PSO gameplay had been almost completely eviscerated. It could have totally passed as completely different series if not for a few trademark IPs present in the game.
Thankfully, Sonic Team realized they had blundered and began incorporating more and more of Phantasy Star Online's gameplay back into the subsequent spinoff titles on the DS and PSP. Some fans even joked that the next game might as well be "Phantasy Star Online 2" if the trend were to continue. Imagine their surprise when, at an event celebrating the tenth anniversary of the series, Sega announced a true sequel to PSO.
I recently had the opportunity to play in the Japanese closed beta for Phantasy Star Online 2 on the PC, and after about a week of playtime I can say that PSO2 more than lives up its predecessor's name. Not only does the game evoke ridiculous amounts of nostalgia for the original PSO, it also cherry-picks the best gameplay enhancements introduced in the Universe games while adding a plethora of features new to the franchise. Could this game end up being the best action MMORPG gaming has to offer when it releases later this year? More than likely, I would say.
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Tags: Sega, vita, PC, phantasy star, phantasy star online, phantasy star online 2
Posted in: Reviews, News, Gaming
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Posted May 4th 2012 by Frankie Aguilar.
Do you remember when you were little and you came out of movies mimicking the hero you just watched? Maybe you play fought your little brother with phantom lightsabers or pretended to fly like Superman. That feeling of elation, that inability to verbalize the awesomeness of what you'd just seen, leading you to act like a fool, is what I felt coming out of The Avengers. I was hyped, stoked, whatever hip adjective for happy you can come up with. I was happy because I felt like everything that led up to this movie wasn't in vain, that my fandom and faith were rewarded. And on top of all that, The Avengers is just great.
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Tags: the avengers, movies, Marvel, Thor, hulk, iron man, Captain America, Comics
Posted in: Entertainment
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Posted April 27th 2012 by Frankie Aguilar.
This past weekend the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta went live. More than a few Ubisoft fans were treated to a chance to preview the latest installment of what can be seen as one of the godfathers of modern online multiplayer. The practice of releasing multiplayer betas has become increasingly in vogue due to the popularity and importance placed on a solid multiplayer presence in any game with a gun. Unfortunately, when you throw the word beta around, there's bound to be technical hiccups, but the hint of what could be was interesting enough.
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Tags: ghost recon, ghost recon: future soldier, multiplayer, Beta, xbox360, ps3, Windows, tom clancy
Posted in: Reviews, Features, Gaming
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Posted April 18th 2012 by J Edison Thomas.
Selling itself as How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More than Some Antics, author John Pollack's labor of love for English's least-favorite form of humor comes out swinging. Pollack makes the case that puns are appreciated by the well-adjusted, that they were largely revered throughout the greater part of human civilization, and that an incidental side-effect of changing fashions in philosophy could be the only reason they are currently in such a low state. But more than anything, his goal is to show readers that puns are necessary.
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Tags: books, the pun also rises, john pollack
Posted in: Reviews, Offline
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Posted April 16th 2012 by Jordan Mammo.
The last thing I expected to do in the Philippines was jump off a cliff. Yet there I was, peering over the wooden plank before me and gazing down 50 feet at the deeply blue ocean below. It took 15 minutes to push myself this close to the edge, and I could hear the gentle but unbearable words of a Canadian man and his Chinese girlfriend telling me it looks worse than it really is. That I should "just do it."
Who the hell are these people? More importantly, how on earth did they convince me to sail out to this distant island and do this?!
We barely knew each other, after all. Conversation was often awkward. The Canadian guy didn't miss an opportunity to mention how much sex he'd had. The Chinese lady would get annoyed at seemingly inoffensive comments and enter periods of stone cold silence. It didn't seem to matter, though. The day before, we met on the sandy white beaches of Boracay, and without even realizing it we had hooked on to one another. Helmet diving. Cliff jumping. Drinking. I spent the better part of three days with these two: always trying to figure them out, always falling a little short, always grateful to have someone to share time with on the island.
The third night was when the Canadian guy told me how refreshing it was to meet people who didn't want to fuck either him or his girlfriend. At this point I started really questioning what it was that drew me to these two. How narcissistic was this guy? Or was he really just that insecure? Little did I know, the time to ask such questions had already passed. We were at a party, and the two started arguing. They went outside to escape the blaring music.
I never saw them again.
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Tags: Playstation Network, Playstation 3, journey
Posted in: Reviews, Gaming
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Posted April 11th 2012 by Adam Grayson.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" It's been 21 years since the last Kid Icarus game came out on the Game Boy and 25 years since the original on the NES. Kid Icarus: Uprising on the Nintendo 3DS is a triumphant return of the classic Nintendo franchise. I suppose "rebirth" would be more appropriate than "return" in this case since the only two things Kid Icarus: Uprising has in common with its predecessors are the characters and the fact that you shoot enemies. Masahiro Sakurai, most recently known for his work on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and his team at Project Sora really created a fantastic game here, folks. The graphics, the music, the gameplay, the sheer amount of content, and the overall quality of the game is truly worthy of admiration.
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Tags: Medusa, shooter, on-rails, 3D, 3ds, Nintendo, Palutena, Pit, Uprising, Kid Icarus, Sakurai
Posted in: Reviews, Entertainment, Gaming
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Posted March 19th 2012 by J Edison Thomas.
As a nerd with Internet access, it's hard not to get caught up in the drumbeats of war over our favorite shows, movies, or games—Mass Effect fans are doing so as we speak over the ending to Mass Effect 3. Fans of The Walking Dead began beating that drum shortly after a decently satisfactory first season, when news hit that showrunner Frank Darabont was unceremoniously dropped from the show. Perhaps because it was announced in tandem with budget cuts, fans were equal parts furious at the change and terrified that the second season would suffer for it. And suffer it did. The interminable campout at Herschel Greene's farm is as cruelly stagnant as one can imagine a show about zombies could be, with any budget. It only picked up in the second half of the season, capping off with last night's finale.
But the first half of the season? When nothing substantial happened for full episodes at a time? That's when Frank Darabont's influence was still guiding the show. Glen Mazzara's takeover didn't fully take effect until the mid-season return this spring. And aside from a major hiccup in Episode 11, it has largely exceeded expectations under his watch. So maybe there's a reason to look forward to a third season that can not only outdo the second, but also make up for it. There is certainly reason to think so after the major dust-up of Episode 13, "Over the Dying Fire."
After a recap, it's time to evaluate the season as a whole and whether it's worth it to keep trudging through zombieland with these people. As always, spoilers ahead.
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Tags: the walking dead, zombies, kirkman, tv
Posted in: Reviews, Entertainment
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Posted March 14th 2012 by Frankie Aguilar.
For anyone unfamiliar with Kevin Smith, hearing him speak or reading anything written by him for the first time can be a jarring experience. Mr. Smith is a curt and unfiltered gentleman, prone to penis metaphors and graphic, if not romantic, depictions of his wife's nether regions. At the end of the day, above all else, the dude is honest. There may not be a more transparent "celebrity" in the realm of public awareness. And that transparency, along with foul-mouthed philosophy, is on display in his latest book, the quasi-advice tome: Tough Sh*t. Equal parts salient memoir, stream of consciousness and nerd success blueprint, the book is quintessential Kevin Smith. Filled to the bindings with anecdotal evidence of his rise from New Jersey–bred obscurity through the ranks of the indie movie zeitgeist, Smith is here to let you know that it wasn't easy: it was tough shit.
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Tags: books, kevin smith, movies, Comics, hit somebody
Posted in: Reviews, Entertainment
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Posted March 12th 2012 by J Edison Thomas.
"Better Angels" opens with the funeral of a fallen comrade and an entreaty to the titular better angels of human nature. In his eulogy, Rick proposes to honor Dale's memory by recommitting to Dale's rational, humanist ideals, and to the group from breaking. Thankfully, this is dramatic irony, and the group only serves to split even further throughout the episode. It would be very funny of the show to actually follow through with the promise to work together better, and then have the season finale just be one long hour of the group enjoying the fruits of their labors. And then I would stop watching the show altogether. Nevertheless, a good portion of the early scenes involve Rick and company doing their very best to make the camp safe, as sure a sign as any television viewer might need to figure out that all hell is about to break loose.
As always, spoilers ahead. Behind, too, if you weren't aware that Dale is dead now.
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Tags: the walking dead, Comics, tv, zombies
Posted in: Entertainment, Reviews
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Posted March 5th 2012 by J Edison Thomas.
The Walking Dead sucks again, officially. For perhaps the first time since the show premiered, churchgoing fans of The Walking Dead can honestly say that the hour spent singing Sunday morning hymns compared favorably in excitement to the hour spent watching Rick and his family decide whether or not to execute a man they spent the previous two episodes saving from death. Episode 11 - "Judge, Jury, Executioner" is a terrible, frustrating entry in the series that kills the momentum generated from the previous three-episode winning streak, setting back the season and even the series as a whole considerably. Spoilers ahead.
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Tags: the walking dead, tv, zombies
Posted in: Entertainment, Reviews
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