Medal of Honor: game review (ps3/360)

The thing that put me off playing medal of honor when it was first released was the fact that there are already so many first person shooters on the market, that and that this particular one is based on the current conflict in Afghanistan. i didn’t want it to be forcing a particular view on me or indeed to change my own, going in all guns blazing may work well in games but not always in reality and so i waited for a while until i gave it a play through. so given the wait is the game all that? it actually is and then some.

In modern shooters the quality of story telling usually takes a back seat leaving the guts and glory to, well the guts and the glory. medal of honor actually excels here, the story is engaging and quite brilliantly told and played out. the thing i really liked was how it lets you play as part of 3 different teams yet its all linked together seamlessly so you actually feel like you have worked towards accomplishing something epic. normally in shooters especially war or combat simulators the characters are not very likable  however in medal of honor they actually are.

Realism is where the game really comes into its own and there is no shortage of that realism. from gun sounds and dust filling the air after a bomb has been dropped medal of honor has it all. as mentioned the sound is fantastic, each gun sounds 100% as it should and not only that, they behave and look just as they should. superior graphics are something you expect in modern day shooters and medal of honor doesn’t hold back in the least. the landscape of Afghanistan may not be a lot to visualize but its amazingly reproduced, gritty when it needs to be and lush with detail all the way trough.

The single player campaign may be short but in comparison to most recent shooters its not actually that short and it depends on how quick you decide to go. the levels are well thought out and are great fun, each one has something special about it that really propels the story forward and you really feel a part of the story by completing tasks. there appears to be no learning curve as it is of course a shooter but if you do want to play it right then depending on the others in your team is a definite. the actual difficulty level of the game is not much to write home about and playing on hard mode is more like just playing on normal, this doesn’t take away from game play it just makes it a little less challenging the first time around if you don’t know about it – playing on hard is the way to go.

And on to my final conclusion. medal of honor is a good game with an engaging story and equally engaging combat and story telling. the levels are really well put together and they even add a level where you take control of an apache gun ship tasked with the challenge of taking down enemy positions will under fire by rpg and anti air guns. the music/sounds and graphics are all top notch helping to really establish  the situation and to show what's at stake. the combat though light at times is some of the best i have seen in a shooter yet, parts even rival the famed call of duty series. as if all of that is not enough my copy came with an exclusive copy of the older medal of honor frontline game, it may be older with predated graphics but its a great game. so after all that (excluding of course the online mutliplayer which it has – i just didn’t play it) i’m giving the game an 8 out of 10. if they had just made the main campaign a little big longer it would be almost perfect. if you like first person shooters then medal of honor is surely one not to be missed.

I Spit on Your Grave: movie review (2010)

Remakes seem to be common place these days especially when it comes to the genre of horror, cult classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th are just two of the widely known slasher flicks to get the modern treatment. when they were originally released they and many more like them set off a string of controversy leading many films to be banned completely – now it seems the consensus has changed, they are easily found on DVD yet their remakes are even more bloody more violent and more realistic. i have been a horror fan for as long as i can remember so there is a certain level of desensitiziation when it comes to both old and new horror, as much as i love the older cult classics i find myself continuously seeking out and tracking down newer reimagining's of the classics and in todays media driven world there seems to be no shortage.     

The film is a remake of the 1978 cult classic of the same name, branded a video nasty by the film classification board and ultimately condemned by most critics it was to be banned almost world wide with some countries releasing cut versions of the film. over the past few years some countries have re-released the film under various ratings with various cuts of certain scenes, one thing that remains however is the controversy the film sparked in its day and so it comes as no surprise that a remake of the film has been released – again the controversy and again the same response from film critics world wide. i’m by no means easily led when it comes to someone else's feelings of a certain type of media, people are entitled to their own opinions and that’s why i always try to not judge a book by its cover whether it be a movie or a game, and so being an avid horror fan i had to see it for myself.

Jennifer Hills is a writer who seeking seclusion for her next book retreats to a cabin in the woods, little does she know that her arrival attracts so much attention especially from a group of morally deprived local thugs who set out to turn her world upside down. breaking into her cabin things escalate and what follows what can only be described as torture and abuse – both of those things are not uncommon in modern horror especially in films like Hostel and A Serbian Film. again though like its original I Spit on Your Grave takes it a step further with overly gratuitous acts of humiliation and intimidation which though expected were still shocking. like the original before they can kill her and do away with the evidence of their misdeeds she manages to get to a bridge where she lets herself drop into the waters bellow, over the next few days they continue to search the river for any sign of her body finding nothing – until she finds them. now the real theme of the movie takes over, the film is in essence a revenge tale where a great evil is done onto a person so they return that evil in large doses. absolutely hell-bent on revenge Jennifer spends the rest of the movie tracking down and brutally dispatching her tormentors using whatever methods are available to her.

as far as trumping over the original in terms of actual cinematic power it has, the acting especially on Sarah Butlers part is a big improvement as is the cinematography giving the film a gritty yet almost surreal feel. the horror itself is by no means tame nor is the gore, the second part of the film feels like what an older version of Hard Candy would be capable of if she were really pushed and this is why the film would have male audience members squirming just as much as their female counterparts. at the time of the original films release the charge was that the film shows deplorable violence to women (and it does) however some people said the main female role was a sort of ultra feminist in that she carried out such acts on her terrorizers – whatever the case two wrongs don’t make a right and the film was buried.

did i like the movie? it had its moments, like i said i like to follow up on horror remakes but would i recommend it to non horror/gore fans? not in a million years. it is extremely shocking and unforgivingly brutal in all aspects but at the end of the day it is only a movie, much like other remakes of similar video nasty's before it. in short if you don’t like horror and gore, if you deplored Hostel and the SAW franchise then you will hate this movie.

Demon’s Souls Sequel Announced: “Dark Souls”

There were a few things that propelled the game demon’s souls to the status of a cult classic among gamers, some may argue it was the insane difficulty level while others will say it was the no nonsense in your face action – some may even say it was the innovative way multiplayer was designed and implemented into the game. whatever the reason was it comes as no surprise that another game is already in the works with a release date of 2011.

The following are a number of leaked details floating around the gaming community:

There is no DLC planned for the game, nor a demo.

The lifespan of the game is said to have over 60hrs of play.

The difficulty has been increased greatly over Demon's Souls.

Dark Souls shares the same themes as Demon's Souls: learning from mistakes and the joy of discovery.

There's no connection with Demon's Souls in terms of story or world.

As with Demon's Souls, the basic gameplay is based off classic RPGs -- things like character creation, obtaining weapons and items, leveling up, etc.

The biggest change, according to Hidetaka, is in the area of exploration. The action battle component is an important element, but on top of this, exploration of a large, seamlessly connected field is an important element. You walk to areas that you can see far off in the distance.

All the maps are connected, rather than having you move to each area from a shrine. This time, you head off on a journey from a large base of operations, and find smaller bases along the way as you progress further and deeper into your adventure.

There are far more areas with complex land formations of varying height.

The goal in character development is to get rid of elements that may hinder freedom of play style. This is why there's no job concept during initial character creation.

Weapons have a great variety of motions and special capabilities, and there are a great number of magic and item types. This will allow players to play in their own style.

Regarding network play, Hidetaka said that he can't share too many details, but the game will have cooperative and competitive multiplayer elements. You'll be able to call upon people to help you out when you're stuck.

The game will also have indirect online elements like the original -- seeing the images of other players, messages from the dead, and so-forth.

The game will not have its own servers this time, though, so elements like Soul Tendency from the original will not be here.

Dark Souls is set for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in fall 2011. Outside of Japan Both the PS3 and 360 release will be done by Namco Bandai

Dark Souls will be released in Japan in 2011. The game's overseas release on PS3 and 360 is being done by Namco Bandai leaving Japan with only a published ps3 version of the game.

Demon’s Souls: game review (ps3 exclusive)

It seems that any time i play a recent release i’m nearly always so impressed by the graphics that i concentrate a huge chunk of a review on them or on some other quirky feature,  Demon’s Souls however is different. the game is by far the hardest game i have ever played, through years of games nothing has even come close and its because of this that i wouldn’t recommend it to  casual gamers wanting a quick run around – unless you like getting killed over and over again.

Unlike most rpgs on the market demon’s souls doesn’t actually have a lot in the way of story, which i found to be better because i don’t like getting bogged down in mind numbing conversations with characters when their are worlds to explore and demons to vanquish. the story though simple was intriguing enough for me to want to follow it to the point where i’d reach the very end and see what the final conclusion with the characters would be.

The world you play in is consumed by dark forces causing demons to awaken and tear up the very fabric of existence, by this i mean their main aim is to completely wipe out humankind. between the realities of life and death exists a place known as the nexus where the souls of those who are slain pass through on their way to the the next world. beneath the nexus lies an ancient being known as the old one, this being offers riches and power to those who give themselves up to its will. in an attempt to bring more wealth and prosperity to his kingdom the king of boletaria gave himself over to the ancient power but instead of the riches he dreamed of his realm was blanketed by a thick fog which brought with it hoards nightmarish demons that killed those who crossed them and drove the rest of the living insane. as time goes by many brave warriors attempt to heroically slay the demons and rid the land of evil but they are never heard of again, soon you too are to answer this calling where you enter the fog as humankinds last hope.

Like i said before and in previous blog postings the gameplay is unforgiving and brutally hard, its because of this that i wanted to play it, unfortunately i only recently managed to track down a copy of the game so i eagerly jumped right in. there are many original points about the game that make it a fun though tough gaming experience but the main one is this, when you die the game gets harder so if you continuously get killed the game will scale itself against you. now this might sound unfair and indeed it can be but it teaches you to be more aware and to fight better, the temporary release from this unfairness is the fact that the enemies always spawn in the same area so you will soon learn their patterns and know what to expect. the first time i played i was getting severely thrashed by the enemy AI which caused me to delete my chosen character and build a better one, the second time around it worked much better. similar to most rpgs once you start the game lets you build and fully customize your chosen character class but as you progress through the story it offers an in depth stats modifier letting tweak and perfect their skills at the cost of collected souls so you have a better chance of surviving the mayhem.

Apart from the ability to level up your characters skills and stats there is a wealth of weapons scattered throughout the worlds that can be used to fight with, almost all of these weapons can be modified or upgraded using stones or souls. pretty much every medieval style weapon is on offer such as swords/spears/bows/shields/daggers and various types of armour but you really need to upgrade your tools to stand a chance. magic too is on offer and it worlds really well on some of the many bosses you encounter on your journey, spells such as fireballs and clouds of poison really help to even the odds. the main key to progressing is really learning how to use your arsenal correctly, if you don’t quickly learn to use a shield you are not going to last long at all and if you don’t learn to strike when their guard is down again you probably won’t last long.

The enemies are wide and varied going from small mindless corpses to towering level bosses that guard the gates to the next area of the map. one of the things that really impressed me about the game was the amount of and quality of the bosses, modern games seem to not incorporate the idea as much as past games did but demon’s souls makes up for this in droves. right into the first level of the  game you meet the first boss which can be taken down easily enough but is only a sample of what’s to come. as you get deeper into the world you encounter huge beasts that can decimate your character with a few hits but its refreshing to see the work that’s put into them, even if its only for a few seconds before they crush you where you stand. besides the bosses each world has a number of different kind of enemies laying in wait, some can be dispatched with the usual slash of a sword but others require the help of magic or a specific type of weapon.

The environment is really a mixture of everything you would ever need from an rpg, there are huge stone castles teaming with armour clad knights, pitch black tunnels crawling with life, dreary swamps infested with rotting jackal like creatures and a whole host of other clever and well drawn out places and predicaments. graphically the game is impressive, the lighting is done really well giving the game a realistic yet slightly other worldly feel to some of the worlds. levels like the tower of latria feel and look like something straight out of a lovecraft novel and their clever level design keeps you on your toes for evil lurking in the shadows or even traps. the sound is pretty much what you would expect from an rpg and though the soundtrack fits the game really well complimenting the story nicely its not quite as epic as it could be. other sounds like the clang of a sword against armour or the whish of an arrow are for the most part fitting of that weapon.

Apart from everything mentioned there is also a rather unique online mode which shows you ghost images of other players traversing the same world, but they are ghost images for a reason because what you are witnessing is their demise. why would anyone want this feature? its simple really this alerts you to hidden dangers even traps. another way to warn users is the message box you use to leave predetermined messages on the games landscape, if used correctly it can be a great asset to other players. if you don’t feel like helping other players you can always invade their world and kill them for their souls, be warned though just as you can invade theirs so too can they invade yours.

Demon’s Souls has been and still is one of the best yet hardest games i have had the good fortune to play, due to the games high difficulty level the games developers never really aimed it at a wider market and so many gamers have trouble tracking it down which is a real shame because its such a unique experience. i can’t really say anything negative about a game that openly admits to being such a difficult play, complaining about the various and many times i was killed repeatedly would be stupid because i knew to expect it all. the story like i said is minor so it forces you to just get on with the action and exploration side of it rather than slowing down for explanations. every little element of the game seems perfectly tuned to fit the world you inhabit which is what you want from a game but rarely is it ever delivered and in such scale too. 

I can’t begin to calculate how many hours of gameplay you will get from the game because there is so much to do and it all takes time and effort but i recently finished the main story and that took at least two weeks. on finishing the story i was awarded with a fresh play through using all my stats/weapons/etc but with one major difference, not only had the game world opened some new areas it had gotten even harder. that’s right when you complete the story you are given the chance to replay it on a harder difficulty to pick up new items or missed achievements but unless you have perfected your skills and stats its going to be a brutal experience all over again. during the middle of my completing the game it was announced that another game is to be released, this time much bigger and much harder. for the time being i’m giving this one a 9 out of 10 and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next in the series “Dark Souls”.