Proletaria-tron: Well this episode was decent in my opinion. I didn’t mind the alternate timeline story at all. We got to see what I would expect from Linus. His life sucked, and he was still a scheming little bastard. And this time he didn’t betray Alex. We also found out that that Dharma Initiative still exists in this timeline but somehow the island doesn’t hold the same properties that it did in the normal timeline.

As far as the regular timeline went we got an answer! Richard Alpert was “touched” by Jacob and thats what caused him to stay young forever. Hes immortal, he can’t even kill himself and apparently Jack has some sort protection from the dying by being a “Candidate”. So it seem that Richard came over on the Black Rock and hasn’t aged a day since. So 2 answers really. I don’t really have much else to say about this episode. It was solid but not a hell of a lot happened. Some more political manipulation by the Smoke Monster to what I’m thinking is tricking someone to take his place so he can leave. Also I was less drunk for this one. Not sober but less drink. Arse-bot how’d you feel about it?

Arse-bot: I actually have mixed feelings about this episode… I found it interesting and slightly boring all at the same time and I think that’s because of what Proletaria touched on already: It was a solid episode, but not a lot happened – but a few very profound things did.

The alternate time-line was pretty interesting, but more than the story the little tidbit about Linus still having been to the island, only this time they didn’t stay. So there it is again, the island is still playing a role even in this time-line – even if for now it’s minimal. I have a feeling though that the fact that Linus has been to the island may come into play in this alternate time-line.

The regular time-line was fairly good as well this episode. This Jack and Hurley adventure is probably what has me most interested right now and it seems the more they find out, the closer to the edge Jack gets – it took a lot of balls to just sit there with a lit stick of dynamite tempting fate. As Proletaria pointed out, Alpert is immortal because he has been “touched” by Jacob and somehow Jack’s candidacy appears to be protecting him. My guess is this is why the bomb never went off and how our favorite castaways have escaped certain death continuously since LOST began.

Ben Linus’ main time-line story was definitely interesting. We find out that everything that has happened has had a profound effect on him despite is portrayal of a constantly detached demeanor. His plea to spare his life and how he has given Jacob everything with little in return was a highlight of this episode for me. And now, we have Jack, Hurley and Alpert reuniting with Sun, Ben and the others on the beach – with Widmore in a damn submarine right off the beach.

Sound off in the comments with your thoughts of this week’s episode of LOST!

I’ve been playing Megaman since right before it became cool. In fact I attribute a great deal of its success due to the fact that I gave it the green light— I’m not bragging, it’s just the way it is. I followed the series progression all the way up to Megaman 8. A great game for Playstation, that not only included animated scenes, but also the robot masters were given awesome voices. All the while maintaining the classic Megaman gameplay. This is what I would call, a step in the right direction.

Then Megaman 9 came out… And now Megaman 10…

Yeah!… Finally!… Just what we needed another 8-bit side scroller. Why did I even need to buy a next-gen system? I can have just as much fun playing games that were designed for the NES. A system that came out over twenty years ago. So thanks Capcom for forgetting to add graphics… again— If you couldn’t tell I’m being sarcastic. I mean it’s the year 2010 for Christ sake, give us a gun that makes enemy’s explode into something better than white pixels.

I’m one of the unfortunate robots that accidentally paid for this piece of crap, and I don’t know what I hate the most about it. Was it the stupid robot bosses? Such as Sheep Man, a fluffy ball robot that turns into a storm cloud?

Or maybe what I hated the most was the stupid selection of weapons? For example: Ice Spike. A weapon that ejects a small amount of ooze out of your Megaman arm cannon, and literally drips onto the floor in front of you. The worst part of this stupid weapon is that you can only shoot one at a time, and I estimate it takes 5 seconds to dissolve.

The actual stages leading to the bosses seemed to be put together fine, what was stupid about them was the gimmicks each of them had. For instance, in all the Megaman games they implement platforms with pits in between and if you fall into them, you die. A really basic concept that has worked since Megaman’s inception. But in Megaman 10, (Commando Man’s stage in specific) they felt that wasn’t good enough. They said, let’s add a never ending supply of enemies that jump out of the pits whenever Megaman goes near, but not only that, let’s also add sporadic bursts of a sandstorm that completely block the players field of vision, while moving Megaman willy nilly all over the screen.

At least in Megaman 9 there was some challenge, now in Megaman 10 they added an easy mode for gamers that happen to be pussies. (I only ran through easy mode for review purposes.) And if you don’t believe me about making the game for pussies, in Megaman 10, doctor Wily drives a pirate ship. Literally. Then, rather than having to fight three forms in a row after you beat the first two forms of him, he runs away, you go through a level that doesn’t have enemies, they refill your life, and then you fight the final form that’s weakness is the common Pbuster.

I know I already thanked Capcom, but at this time I feel it would be prudent to thank them again. Thanks Capcom.

Overall Score:

First and foremost, I’ll say this review will have “spoilers”. If you’ve read the comic, you have some surprises in store for you. But, for the most part it is a very loyal rendition of the comic.

I’m going to assume those of you reading this review, are familiar with Kick-Ass. Average teenage kid decided he’d rather not be so average, dawns a wet suit and tries to fight crime. Doesn’t work out so well, but he inspired a few others to rock their own super hero alter egos. Because of this he gets thrown in the middle of a mafia shit-storm.

Enough recap. You’re all here to see how it holds up to the book, some side by side comparison, right? First, I think it’s worth noting how perfect the casting for this movie was. And yes, Nick Cage is awesome and Big Daddy. Similar to Christian Bale growling when he’s Batman, Cage makes a transformation of his own when he’s Big Daddy. Although its a little more Adam West than growly Bale. McLovin’ was an awesome choice for Red Mist. And the rest being no-names worked out in the movies favor.

Kick-Ass the movie had a lot more back story on the Red Mist and his mafia father, as well as Big Daddy and Hit Girl. John Romita Jr. even helped create an animated comic book origin for Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Which, in my opinion, was a great addition. I feel like this will help the general audience not familiar with the comic to really enjoy the film. As a matter of fact, I think all of the changes will help this movie be enjoyed by a wider audience.

Most of the changes from the comic to the film are in the last act of the movie. The confrontation between Big Daddy, Kick-Ass and the mafia. How Big Daddy bites the big one. As well as the climax with mafia boss Frank D’Amico. Certain additions to the final fight I will leave as a surprise for you. They had me literally laughing out loud at the awesomeness on screen.

Some of the other movie patrons scoffed at the “unrealistic” new ending. Because they felt the comic was completely based in reality. I would call bull shit on this criticism. As much as I love the comic, no eleven-year-old girl could be turned into a mercenary like Hit Girl (Who gets an laugh out loud first person shooter sequence. No joke, and it’s totally awesome.).

To wrap this all up, hands down this is one of my favorite super hero movies. It would make the top five with no problem. I also feel that the movie rendition was better than the comic. It had better pacing and I think that my concerns about a wider audience enjoying the film were put to rest. Word of mouth will hopefully make this a box office hit.

Also stay tuned for some exclusive interviews with Mark Millar and John Romita Jr!

Proletaria-tron: So a few things have changed for me from last episode to this one. First, only 3/4 of a bottle of wine consumed and second, I didn’t completely hate the Alternate timeline. This episode was a big focus on the fact that Sayyid murders the hell out of people. Even when Sayyid is trying to be a good guy and protect his family, yes I know he wanted to fuck his sister in law, he murders people. Maybe Dogen’s little Good/Evil test didn’t really work because Sayyid already was evil? And that drove him over the edge to let the Smoke Monster in and murder all the others that wouldn’t stand with him? I’m thinking yes.

Thats about all I got from this episode. Sayyid is dark, he has always been dark. A lot of times we thought he wasn’t but he always was. Even when hes dealing with Martin the Mercenary in the alternate timeline hes dark and kills people. Its always been his function and I still love him for it. He serves a purpose and in this episode it was to drive Smoke Monster into the temple and to start the revolution. Jacobites vs Smoke Monster Followers, the fight is coming. And can we please get some Desmond episodes in between now and then? In fact can we just get an Adventure Of Hurley And Desmond Spin-off? If we get that I dont give 2 shits what happens in the next 10 episodes.

And I almost forgot, Dogen Vs Sayyid was fucking awesome

I am an unadulterated Tim Burton fan.  I’ve enjoyed most of his movies with a few glaring exceptions (Planet of the Apes, Willy Wonka, etc.) and when I heard he was tackling Alice in Wonderland, I was incredibly excited.  I’ve always loved the Alice mythos.  I loved the books as a kid, I loved reading the books to my kids, and the animated Disney version is like crack to me.  I can’t begin to impress upon you how much I still love the animated Alice in Wonderland, I still quote it often, particularly every time someone mentions mustard.  ”Mustard?!  Let’s not be silly, but lemon, that’s something else…”

And by the way, this will have a couple of potential spoilers in it.  You’ve been warned.

And marrying one of my favorite mythos with one of my favorite filmmakers was a no-brainer.  The movie began and I was transfixed.  Sure, I thought the overt use of symbolism from Wonderland was a bit overt, but I swallowed it down wanting to love the movie and it worked.  And when Alice fell down the rabbit hole, I had the chills.

I was incredibly concerned about what would happen once we got into Tim Burton’s Wonderland.  Wonderland has always been an incredibly silly place and I was worried that when it was married to Tim Burton’s style it would be a little too much, but it never was.  He restrained as much of himself as was necessary and provided an excellent live action take on Wonderland.  But from the get go, we can tell that something is different in this Wonderland.  Since Alice’ last visit (which she has no recollection of) the Red Queen (played to hilarious effect by Helena Bonham Carter) has taken over Wonderland by force of the Jabberwocky and her awkardly animated knave Stayne (played by Crispin Glover.)  The land is covered in darkness and ash and a secret brotherhood of Wonderland denizens want to do something about it and their scroll foretold that they needed Alice to come back to slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal Blade.

Now, here is a minor complaint about the film…  They tell you right then and there what’s going to happen.  Alice is going to slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal blade.  And when it happens it isn’t exactly a surprise.  It’s tremendous to watch, but pretty expected.  But this wasn’t a concern I had while watching the movie.  I was through the looking glass as I watched, it wasn’t until afterwards that this point jumped out at me as a bit sloppy.

As the film built toward that end, with Alice going through echoes of her paces from her first adventure in Wonderland, but this time on the run from the Red Queen, I was buying more and more into the drama and the world to the point where I was getting the chills every so often.  When the Mad Hatter (played with a ridiculous and overbearing smattering of different accents by Johnny Depp) recited the poem about the Jabberwocky, I about lost it in a good way.

The first two thirds of the film worked magic for me.

And then Alice performs her deed and then something so unconscionable happened.  A film I was ready to pronounce a 10 out of 10 suddenly turned into a 6.  I was dragged kicking and screaming out of the film by a ridiculous dance number with a bit of hip-hop music and Johnny Depp’s head spinning that looked even more fake than when Beetlejuice pulled that kind of stuff.  It betrayed the tone of the film and I felt like I was exiled out into the cold.  I had bought so completely into this epic story that was very much like Alice in Wonderland meets Lord of the Rings and during the denouement I was kicked in the gut with something killed all momentum in the film.  It brought it to a terrifying and screeching halt.  And it couldn’t get me back.

Suddenly what came after didn’t seem to matter.

So, I’m all for the first two thirds of the film, I thought they were tremendous and I enjoyed them immensly, but when you get to the dance number, you may as well leave since it throws you out of the movie anyway.

Maybe you won’t feel that way now that you’ve had some forewarning.  If I can do that little bit to help you enjoy the movie more, then I will have done my job.

So, Tim Burton, congratulations in making your best movie in a long time.  And I’m sorry you had to stain it with that moment.

Proletaria-tron: So this episode was pretty interesting actually. I love me some Hurley and if this season is missing anything its Hurley and Desmond. Those 2 characters have probably kept me watching more than anyone else. And this episode was just like Hurley said, him and Jack wandering through the jungle heading on a mission they don’t really understand. We also finally saw some more of Claire and what she’s become. Which is basically a new Rousseau, and at least as crazy as that French nutcase. Jin and Claire have a nice little time as Jin tries to figure out what the hell her deal is and we see that not only has she gone nuts but shes being influenced by the “Locke-Smoke-Monster” and that’s not going to be good for anyone.

So does any of this actually answer questions and advance the story? Kind of. We see whats happened to Claire in the past few years, and that may be giving us a clue as to whats going to happen to Sayyid. Jack and Hurley find a magic lighthouse that let Jacob spy on people somehow, which instantly gives me a lot of questions (like who is at 108 degrees) and before they can answer anyway Jack loses his shit and shatters mirrors. Thanks Jack, super mature of you.

So yeah I didn’t hate this episode but nothing jumped out at me. Oh and the alternate timeline? Meh. Jacks a shitty dad and his kid has issues. Like every male character on Lost, all the best cowboys have daddy issues. I will say 2 positives about the Alternate Story, Hurley finally gets the life he deserves and Jack still drives his super clean Bronco. I approve.

Arse-bot: Many of you may disagree with me out there, but I thought this was the best episode of LOST so far this season. As Proletaria mentioned, we got the opportunity to see “Old School” Hurley and Jack wandering through the mysterious island on a mission they know nothing about. We even got to see their old cave-home with the two mysterious dead bodies and Dr. Shephard’s busted up coffin – which we find out later that Jack has a tendency to smash things when frustrated. I really enjoyed the interaction between Hurley and Jack in this episode and it was nice to see the series get back to it’s roots. Just like with anything LOST thought, it created more questions than answers, I want to know what the purpose of that lighthouse was and who is at 108 degrees – will we ever find out? Or was it just a vehicle to give Jack a “nudge” in the right direction of coming to the realization of this very important thing he has to do.

The Claire/Jin story was good as well – but the weaker point in this episode. Jin is trapped in a situation alone – something he’s not used to. He’s the guy now in this predicament and we find him just as capable of lying and scheming to stay alive as much as Sawyer, Sayyid and Jack. Claire has obviously gone off the deep end with her creepy skull baby, still trying to find her son, and being BFF to “Locke”. I’m very interested to see where this story line goes in the coming weeks and if Jin and Sun are ever going to find their way back to each other – I have the feeling that if anyone gets a happy ending in LOST it’s going to be Jin and Sun.

This is where I am going to completely disagree with Proletaria-Tron. For the first time all season, I actually cared about the alternate time line. Sure, we have seen enough “mopey Jack” over the years to do us for a life time, but what I liked about this is he was emotional for a more legitimate and basic reason. He’s detached from his son, David – whom he gets to see once a month – and realizes there are parallels between his and his father’s relationship and his and David’s. I have not been the biggest fan of the alternate time line this season, and having one good instance of it hasn’t 100% won me over, but for the first time this season I actually cared about what was going on in both time lines. I’m sure we will eventually find out who David’s mother is, but again, no answers without more questions.

This whole episode just “worked” for me and as usual, can’t wait for next week!

Be sure to check out the latest BSR! exclusive “Previously on LOST” web comic!

As usual, sound off in the comments on what you thought of this week’s LOST!

Every once in a while a game comes along that redefines how we feel about a genre, system, or an art style. It’s rare that a game comes along that changes the way we feel about gaming. Heavy Rain is what I believe to be that game.

Playing as Ethan, a father who blames himself for the death of his son. You begin combatting rigorous trials set up by the Origami killer, who has kidnapped your sole surviving son. While Ethan struggles on 3 other characters are placed into play: a private detective, a high-end fashion photographer Madison, and an FBI agent with a bad habit Jayden. The game play progresses by moving you from character to character playing out their chunks of the story one piece at a time. Every decision you make, and every button press you mess up or miss directly change the outcome, and possibly that characters fate. If you happen to get a character killed the game doesn’t end, it simply continues without that characters presence.

Never before have I felt concern for my characters as seriously as I do in Heavy Rain, and the developers do an incredible job of putting you in the moment. There are scenes in the game where I felt emotionally strained or frustrated because I couldn’t find the person I was chasing, or get through the crowd as fast as I wanted to while trying to escape. Blending that with a compelling story, and characters who at times feel alive made this game something I could not put down. Every moment of tracking the Origami Killer was a heart wrenching experience, and to make it better, there are multiple endings. Once finishing the game you see how each decision you made will change the outcome and what you could have done better. I’ve heard the developer recommends only 1 play through but how could you?! The game is so exciting and compelling that multiple play throughs would be easy.  Every thing you do with Ethan in his Saw style massicistic adventure leads to multiple avenues, rooms simply suggest, “How will i perform this?” “with what device?” Without giving away story points or well grotesque horror that can be caused, one trial literally had 4-5 different methods you could utilize to perform the task, and you still have the choice to not do it!  You simply wouldn’t gain more information about your sons location.

Heavy Rain is a must have for Playstation Owners, leaving this game out of your library would be a huge mistake. Quantic Dream has shown us what high end technology and video games are capable of. After finishing my first play through of this game I immediately started again, and will definitely be purchasing every piece of episodic content released, starting with the Taxidermist which should be available immediately. Order from Amazon Here

Liked:

• Strong character design with gorgeous graphics, complete freedom to play the game how you would. Treat people how you would and once again feel guilty for your choices.
• Innovative contro scheme that made me feel involved in the action, more than just shooting and fighting, the controls actually made me feel the strain of gameplay during tough scenes.
• Beautifully mixed surround sound audio that makes you feel like you are in the game, rain falling from all speakers and voices coming from good screen placement, and a gorgeously composed soundtrack.
• Everything this game had to offer

Disliked:

• The thought that people won’t play this

Score:

• Graphics – 10
• Audio – 10
• Gameplay – 10
• Replay – 10
• Story -10

Overall : 10

Don’t miss this release

I’ll be the first to admit that I was really wary of this title. I’m not usually a television viewer, but Joseph Fiennes was Shakespeare in one of my favorite movies and it pushed my interest over the edge. I’ve watched the first five episodes of this show so far, and pretty ravenously. Though it can be cheesy at times, it’s very well put together and explores an interesting dilemma and, like Lost, raises a lot more questions that it answers. The show starts with a global event that most confuse for terrorism and the world essentially blacks out. Everyone has a dream that places them approximately six months in the future. This causes a problem for some people who see nothing, and it’s widely believed if they didn’t see a vision, it’s because they’ll be dead in six months.

The main character grappling with that is played by John Cho (who played Hikaru Sulu in the latest Star Trek picture), who’s a Federal Agent on the team trying to figure out what exactly happened and why the flashbacks happened.

All signs lead them to believe someone is responsible.

But as interesting as that whole part of the story is, it’s not as interesting as the dramatic interplay between characters. You see, Joseph Fiennes’ wife sees herself cheating on her husband with another man, someone whom she’s never even met…whom she meets in the next episode…

Though this show hasn’t grabbed me like Lost did by the time I was five episodes in, it seems really, really promising. And I’m glad to keep watching because it’s good. How they can keep it up, I don’t know, but at this point, I’m along for the ride.

Flash Forward: Season One: Part One comes out on DVD today.

I recently finished reading the third book in the Fate of the Jedi series, Abyss, written by Troy Denning.

This book looks a lot like the other two in this series from a structural standpoint.  More Jedi on Coruscant go crazy and seem to think everyone is their enemy, Admiral Daala takes more control of the government because of it, Luke and Ben get into a sticky situation with archaic force-users of some type in an effort to learn about Jacen Solo’s fall to the dark side, and the Sith are around, but for who knows what.

I’m going to be completely honest here:  This book took me more than a month to slog through.  From the time I started this book to the time I finally finished it, I’d read at least a dozen books besides.  This was quite possibly one of the most boring Star Wars novels I have ever read.  It took me so long to get through it because nothing was happening and I really didn’t care about what little there was.

It was a mirror of the last book and it really did feel like it went next to nowhere.

The biggest source of yawns for me?  The Sith.  I really could care less about the Sith roaming about the galaxy in packs chasing after a ship of some kind.  And I was incredibly bored by the explanation of the dynamic between the Sith masters and apprentices and the whole “living on the edge of a razor because someone might betray me at any moment”-thing just bored me to tears.  When all of these Sith guys start betraying each other, I just don’t care, because they’ve all spent so much time worrying about how they’re going to betray each other and when.  And because none of the Sith characters are interesting or mean anything, the fact that they’re on some random side mission to retrieve the Ship that Jacen and Ben found in the Legacy of the Force series just felt like chapters I wanted to skip.

And in retrospect, I could have and would not have suffered any ill consequences, because their story meant next to nothing.

I know I said that Omen looked as though it was a little boring, but it was setting up for something, but it turns out that it wasn’t.  This book was a whole yawning ball of nothing.

Let’s hope Aaron Allston can pull this series’ fat out of the fryer with the next installment, otherwise I don’t think I’ll continue reading any further.  And it’s sad, because I’ve been really invested in the Star Wars books since I’ve had the opportunity to start reviewing them, and those I’ve read, before these last two, have been top notch.  I want to like them, I really do.  I mean, really, you guys all know how much I LOVE Star Wars…  But this book was just a bridge too far.

If you feel like you need to, you can order this book on Amazon.

Other reviews in the Fate of the Jedi series:
Outcast

Omen

Reviews of the Legacy of the Force series:

Betrayal

Bloodlines
Tempest
Exile
Sacrifice
Inferno
Fury

Invincible

Star Ocean is an action RPG. It plays similarly to the Tales of Destiny games in that the level and battle systems are closely related. What I like about both of these series is that the high-action battles keep you involved in the game the entire time while giving you all the basic RPG elements. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth game in the series and is announced to also be the last. But don’t let that stop you from picking it up, because this is a prequel to the entire series and the story and world are easy to follow along with.

The other thing I like about this series is the science fiction elements.  You’re basically cruising through the Galaxy looking for new planets to colonize post World War III when the Earth was decimated. This is also where the game gets its title, The Last Hope. The main character ‘Edge’ becomes the captain of a SEED ship, and the rest of your party consists of the crew. You go from planet to planet, recruiting members, and saving the inhabitants of those worlds.

I thought the battle systems were done really well. You get four members at a time, and you choose any one of them to control yourself while the other three are controlled by an A.I. . They use an active battle system, that isn’t turn based at all. (You get to use special ability’s and attacks as often as you like provided you have the MP.) While this sounds really simple, there is still a lot of strategy required. (Especially on boss battles.)

Each of the characters has their own abilities and fights in their own unique way. For example, the main character is really good at close combat, whereas his second in command (A girl named Reimi) is an Archer and is better at fighting at a distance. The variations on how to use your party are virtually endless.

The first thing I noticed about this game is that it is incredibly vast. But with the active battle system, and going from world to world, it hardly ever gets boring, and it’s always a delight to look at. The models are some of the best I’ve seen, for both the characters and the enemies. I’ve mentioned in a review of Avatar recently that video games seem to be much more adept at populating new worlds with interesting creatures and environments. This video game was successful in filling many worlds with life and story, that I consider to be a much greater accomplishment.

The international version offers the ability to play in either Japanese or English, which as a Japanese language student I find to be be a really good feature. Also as a North American it’s refreshing to actually see the release of an International version in general because it is so rarely done. (I’ve been waiting for a FF7 international version since 1997.)

The voice acting was done better than some of the games I’ve played recently, and was completely acceptable. Which is saying a lot, because unfortunately now a days, bad voice acting can kill a game. Although I do have to say some of the characters mannerisms were slightly annoying, I am certainly willing to give it a pass. (Especially because the games sound-track was really good.)

Overall, this is a really good looking game that’s fun to play for many hours with a definitive ending point, and a cool story. I highly recommend it. It makes me want to pick up the other games in the series as well.
You can buy your copy from Amazon through this link!

Score:

• Graphics : 9
• Controls: 8
• Audio : 8
• Replay: 7
• Story: 9
• Overall: 8.2