February 2009 Archives

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland was a pretty cool game. In those days, Neversoft was producing Tony Hawk games at a rather astonishing rate, and they were criticized for it. While I will readily admit that there were lesser games in the series (I'm looking at you, Tony Hawk's Underground), there wasn't a single game that I didn't enjoy at least a little bit.

Having played through this game about 3 times, I have to acknowledge that it's not that hard, especially if you've played through other games in the series. It takes maybe 4 - 6 hours to finish, and while Sick mode is a little harder, it's clearly not impossible.

The storyline is relatively interesting, with a love interest (Mindy) thrown in the mix. It basically involves being accepted in the "Skate Ranch", an awesome skate park, and collecting new pieces for it. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story without a little conflict thrown in there, and things become tense between you and Mindy at one point.

At first I thought it was rather interesting that they incorporated bike riding, but having played through the game again recently, I felt that it was a bit of a nuisance. You have to learn new controls and pull off tricks that may not have been explained that well. Not to mention, most goals don't involve using the bike.

I rather liked Classic mode, and this is usually where I start when I play the game. It's funny saying this, but it's just as much fun as - if not more than - the story mode. "Collecting things" isn't exactly my specialty, and I usually skip over those goals until I absolutely have to do them, but getting high scores and pulling tricks is exactly what I enjoy doing.

One of the main features of this game is the ability to skate L.A. as "one massive streaming world". It seemed pretty cool at first, and a rather fantastic notion, but it doesn't feel like skating L.A. as much as it does skating boring cities, with a few interesting hotspots in between (like the skate park or the casino). Still, it's pretty cool that all the areas are connected and you can freely skate between them.

I wouldn't rate this game as high as I would have when I originally played it, and I doubt that I will ever play it again, but I give it a 7.5/10.

I don't actually own an Xbox 360, but I finally had the chance to play Tony Hawk's Proving Ground at a friend's place. For those who know me well, know that I own every single Tony Hawk game released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. It sucks to have so many new games in the series and not be able to play them.

But I digress. The graphics in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground are absolutely stunning. I was thoroughly impressed with the improvements in this area. There have been others who have commented on this, but many of the pro's faces - especially Tony Hawk - look really washed out. I mean they look like shriveled tanned leather! I know that a lot of the older pros haven't stopped aging, but this is a little ridiculous no?

The gameplay is far more complex than previous incarnations of the game (that is, games in the Tony Hawk series up to and including American Wasteland). There are new tricks, new combos, and new skills that are essential to your success. I was wondering how much more complicated it could get, but obviously it can get a lot more complicated. I was able to figure out most of the new techniques, but it wasn't immediate. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that I was using an Xbox controller, and not a PlayStation controller.

I also found the goals to be more challenging. Many of the goals involving clearing a gap and pulling a trick usually entail quite intricate button combinations. This gives the game some sense of realism that it didn't have in the prequels. Typically I've been able to rise to the challenge, so all in all I think it's a good thing.

Proving Ground also has a sense of humor. One of the goals I played involved tackling gang members into the river, and I thought that was rather hilarious. The whole gang member storyline is rather enjoyable, if a bit juvenile.

When I have the chance to actually sit down and play this game through, I will update you with my thoughts.

Rock Band 2 is a really fun game. I must say, however, that it shouldn't be played alone. It's too addicting, and it really is something that should be enjoyed in a community. It's fun to hear your friends try to sing your favorite songs, and it's even more fun when people are watching.

I was a little skeptical of the track list, but it's actually really good. Some of my favorite picks are "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas, "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains, "That's What You Get" by Paramore, and "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World. Some of the songs aren't what you'd expect from a Guitar Hero perspective, but then this is Rock Band, and not Guitar Hero.

The guitar, bass and drums are all a lot of fun, but I didn't find the vocals to be quite as enjoyable, mostly because I'm not that familiar with a lot of the songs. Sure, they have the lyrics at the top of the screen, but they can be pretty hard to follow, especially if you don't know the song. You don't really need to be a proficient vocalist either, you just need to go higher and lower in pitch at the right moments to get a good score. Not to say that there's anything wrong with that.

This game is a must-buy if you like to play video games with your friends. At the end of the day, it's just a game and it's as much fun as you make it.

It's hard to pick just one, but I thought that this was a pretty awesome quote:

"Edward Perryman Cole died in May. It was a Sunday in the afternoon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He was 81 years old. Even now, I can't claim to understand the measure of a life, but I can tell you this: I know that when he died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open, and I'm pretty sure he was happy with his final resting place because he was buried on the mountain, and that was against the law." - Carter Chambers

The Bucket List is about two old men, Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman), who are both dying of cancer, and wind up in the same hospital room. They are both told that they have 6 months to a year to live. Chambers begins making a list of things he would like to accomplish before dying. When Edward discovers this list, he convinces Carter to go on a worldwide expedition.

Carter leaves his family and goes with Edward. The two of them travel the world, drive Shelby Mustangs, and go skydiving. After some time Carter decides to return home to his family, leaving Edward in limbo, the list incomplete.

Carter undergoes surgery, but doesn't pull through. Edward reconciles with his estranged daughter, and is able to cross off a few more items off the list. Edward 'kicks the bucket' shortly thereafter. The final item on the list, "witness something majestic" is accomplished vicariously through Thomas, Edward's personal assistant, who climbs the Himalayas and places Carter and Edward's remains in the same monument.

Even though this movie is about "two old guys", I enjoyed it a lot. I think we can all learn from the example of making a list of things we would like to accomplish before we die. Not to mention, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are fantastic in this film.

Mystic River refers to the 2003 film directed by Clint Eastwood based on a novel by Dennis Lehane. The movie is about three boys, Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) who grow apart after a kidnapping incident in their childhood. Their lives intersect again when Jimmy's daughter is killed.

At first it isn't clear who killed her, but Dave's erratic behavior causes people to think that it was him. Jimmy, the angry head of a mob, kills Dave in cold blood. The big reveal is that it wasn't Jimmy after all, but a couple of unsuspecting kids. Everybody carries on with their life, as if nothing ever happened.

I could see this being a pretty decent movie if a) it wasn't so long, and b) if something actually happened. 137 minutes is too much time for a movie I can sum up in two paragraphs. I could even see it working as a novel, but not so much as a movie. What do you think?

For some reason I couldn't get into this one as much as the sequel (FlatOut 2). I know a lot of critics that rather liked the gritty, incomplete nature of this game, but I preferred the polished, over-the-top sequel.

This isn't to say that the multiplayer modes and the mini games weren't fun, but if I had the choice, I would go with FlatOut 2. Maybe that's because they are two very different games. The responsiveness of the controls, the graphics, the music, everything just seems better in 2.

I haven't actually played this game in awhile, and I don't really have any plans to. I thought I would try to finish it, but the racing modes are substantially more difficult in this one.

It's time to get back to a little classic gaming. ;)

Team Fortress 2 was everything I was expecting and more. The graphics are really stunning, and I love the cartoon style character classes. All the guns and weapons look really amazing, and it makes for a fun gameplay environment.

The classes are pretty well-balanced, and I even found it enjoyable playing as a Medic. There are some maps I've played where it seemed most advantageous to play as Engineer or Heavy Weapons Guy, and I racked up a lot (maybe too many) kills that way. It really depends on the map. With that said, most of the official map releases are well-balanced.

There are a couple of classes that I could never seem to figure out, like the Spy, the Pyro, or the Sniper. Maybe it just takes a different type of player. And as much as I enjoyed playing as a Scout, I rarely found much success. Some of my best results were as a Heavy Weapons Guy, Engineer, or Demoman.

TF2 is really a game about balance. Too many of one class in your team and you're sure to fail (although there are times when it's most advantageous to have an all-Scout team). If you can fill a niche that isn't being tapped into, you're more likely to succeed (most often that means playing as a Medic).

The game was actually fairly accommodating of my Rambo-style approach to FPS's (aka rushing). When you're playing against human players, the element of surprise can actually be quite effective.

It's been awhile since I've played this game, but I would definitely play it again if I could connect with some more people. Speaking of which, look me up on Steam if you're so inclined: My tag is Dr. L337Sp0on.

I'm not sure if it's possible for Valve to release anything awful, but I must say I was rather stoked for the release of the Orange Box. The main reason I was so excited about it was Team Fortress 2. I enjoy multiplayer FPS's more so than single player adventures, and TF2 certainly seemed to fit that genre (seeing as how there is no single player mode).

I was also rather curious about Portal. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but watching the teaser trailer got me excited about this game as well. I wondered how well they would be able to pull it off.

As it turns out, they did a really good job. It probably helps that it was based on another game, Narbacular Drop, which served as the prototype to Portal. I was instantly hooked on this game until I got trapped in chamber 17. Eventually I was able to beat it, but I left the game sitting for awhile.

Then one night, we had a couple of friends over who had never heard of Portal. I decided to show them a little bit, and since I had already played through all the chambers, I was breezing my way through the initial stages. Somehow I ended up playing all the way through, and beating GLaDOS.

Little did I know that Portal can actually be completed in roughly 3 to 6 hours of gameplay. Having listened to some of the commentary, it's rather apparent that they spent a lot of time making the game accessible to all players. They took the time to introduce you to the idea of portals, and how they can be used to overcome "insurmountable obstacles" so you wouldn't get stuck later on in the game.

All in all, it was a really enjoyable experience and I'm excited for future developments. Do you think they might bring portals over to the Half-Life world? I can't help but think they have something up their sleeve.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I first saw Final Fantasy XII. It almost seemed like a mix between Lord of the Rings and Star Wars when I first watched the opening sequence. One of the things that struck me immediately was the new combat system. Obviously there are major differences from one Final Fantasy to the next, but they finally did away with turn-based combat in this installment of Final Fantasy.

As it turns out, I rather like it. There are some obvious flaws, because you can set things up in such a way that you don't really have to touch any buttons, but I liked the idea of having all the monsters visible on the map instead of random encounters at various intervals.

I found the storyline impossibly difficult to follow, but maybe that's just me. The world is huge, and I thought that was pretty cool. In some ways it can be tedious and confusing trying to figure out where you need to go and what you need to do next, but obviously they put some thought into the design, because there are certain 'shortcuts', even when you're getting around the various cities.

This isn't really an official review, since I haven't actually finished the game yet. I've put in about 30 - 40 hours of gameplay, and even though I was still enjoying it, I stopped playing it altogether for some reason. I don't know why I do this sometimes, but I don't always have the endurance or determination to finish a game all the way through. It's actually been a long time since I've played it, but who knows? I might pick it up again.

Having watched all 6 Rocky films, this is my favorite quote of them all (and there are definitely a lot of quote worthy moments):

"I'd hold you up to say to your mother, "this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew." And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilige. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that! I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain't gonna have a life. Don't forget to visit your mother." - Rocky Balboa

I never thought I would catch myself saying this, but I kind of want a Wii now. I've heard good things about Tales of Symphonia, which sounds like a game that was tailor made for me.

I haven't heard much about Mega Man 9 besides what James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) has said, but I'm a classic Mega Man fan, so I'm definitely interested in that.

Besides those two titles, I'm rather intrigued by the selection of virtual console titles. If you haven't figured it out already, I'm a classic gamer so it's really hard to pass up.

With all that said, I don't have the money to buy a Wii right now. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling it may not be long before the launch of a new line of next-gen consoles. I'm also rather interested in a PS3 and an Xbox 360 so it's a little hard to gauge what I should do right now.

This isn't an "official review", but recently I had the chance to play this game again and thought that it was a lot of fun. In actuality, I've only played this game twice, and for short periods of time, but I've enjoyed what little I've played.

I'm not usually in to the party game genre (with a few exceptions), but I was pleasantly surprised by the number and variety of mini games contained in Rayman. I can't see it being much fun alone, but among friends it was a blast. A lot of the mini games are pretty ridiculous and off the wall, which is a plus in my books. Some of the games are like a less violent version of FlatOut, now that I think of it.

I thought that Rabbids was quite funny, but if you played the game too much for too long it would probably become quite irritating. A good game if you've got a few friends kicking around and you've got nothing better to do.

I realize that this isn't a 80s movie, but I felt compelled to review it anyway. If you haven't seen it yet, then you may want to skip on this review for now, because there are spoilers ahead.

One of the things I loved about this movie is that it wasn't just a movie, it was also an experience. I was a little bit skeptical about the 3D thing, but they managed to pull it off with a lot more grace than say, Terminator at Universal Studios. The 3D glasses weren't the old-school red and blue glasses, they actually looked like relatively stylish sunglasses. There were several Disney previews that required the use of said glasses, and this was also a nice touch. For once, somebody actually thought things through.

I watched the trailer to this film, but I didn't have any expectations going in. By the time the movie was over, I was rather blown away.

The movie is basically about a quirky girl named Coraline. She just moved into a new home with her parents, and is dissatisfied with her life. She discovers a little door in her house that leads to an alternate reality. At first this parallel universe seems like a better place. Everybody seems nicer, the food is better, and her friends are more tolerable. However, Coraline soon finds out that her "Other Mother" is up to no good, and wants to keep her trapped in this alternate reality. Coraline manages to escape, but her real parents are captured by the Other Mother who lays a trap for her. Coraline must free all the children whose souls were captured by the Other Mother and also find her parents.

I liked this movie because it was quirky, different, and quite inventive. They didn't try to gloss anything over or sugarcoat it; it's all there on display. In many ways, I feel like the CG animated genre has been far more inventive than most other genres in the last few years. I'm definitely interested in seeing what they come up with next.

By the way, this movie is not recommended for younger children. Do not be fooled by the G rating (Canada). There are a lot of moments that are quite creepy, even for grown adults. The PG rating in most other countries makes a lot more sense. Bring your 12 year old, but not your 8 year old.

Even if you have high expectations for this movie, you may still be surprised by the quality of character development, storyline, and CG 3D animation.

Yesterday I finally finished all my reviews of the Rocky films. It was a lot of fun, and I hope you'll look them over and leave a comment or two.

Rocky Review
Rocky II Review
Rocky III Review
Rocky IV Review
Rocky V Review
Rocky Balboa Review

I feel like I'm approaching a new season in life. I've had a lot fun working on Arctic Sunburn and DavidAndrewWiebe.com, but I feel called to something different, something that will be an encouragement and inspiration to people everywhere. I'm still thinking about how I'm going to do it, or what it will look like, but rest assured I will let you know when I've got the details sorted out.

This doesn't mean I will never update this site again, but if I don't make a lot of new posts, I hope you'll understand.

After a long and illustrious career, Rocky is retired from the boxing world and managing a restaurant called Adrian's, named after his deceased wife. Rocky's relationship with his son is strained, because Robert Jr. feels he is always living in the shadow of his father's accomplishments.

Meanwhile, the current undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Mason Dixon, is enjoying a successful boxing career, with no losses to his name.

A computer simulation match between Rocky and Dixon is televised, and Dixon is depicted losing to Rocky. After some struggle, Rocky gets his boxing license back and Dixon is urged by his promoters to get in the ring with Rocky.

Rocky runs into "Little Marie" from his old stomping grounds and an awkward love-interest relationship results. It is revealed that Marie had a son of her own, and Rocky invites them to stop by the restaurant some time.

Rocky decides to go up against Dixon in a highly publicized event. Robert, Rocky's son, confronts him about the risks involved in getting back in the ring. Robert is struggling with his own identity, unable to deal with all the attention his father is getting. Rocky gives a motivational speech, and Robert decides to help Rocky in his training.

The training begins, and Rocky, realizing his limitations, goes to work on building a more powerful punch instead of going to work on his footwork. Robert Jr., Marie's son, and Paulie are all there to support him.

As the exhibition match begins, it is apparent that Rocky doesn't have the speed or footwork that he used to. Still, he endures round after round, and the match ends in a split decision. Rocky admits that the champ has heart, and proves that he can still Rock... um, box.

I thought that this was actually a really good movie, and thought it was more enjoyable than Rocky IV or V. It was even grittier than the previous films.

What did you think about it?

Last night I had a dream that I was in a room with two boxing rings, a bar, and several restaurant table sets. Rocky was training in one ring, while Paulie was trying to convince him to divorce Adrian and move to Jamaica. Clubber Lang was also there, saying to Rocky, "C'mon man, let's get out of here". What a strange dream.

Rocky is shaken up after his bout with Drago, and can't stop his hands from trembling. After his examination, it is revealed that he has suffered brain damage from too many blows to the head. The doctors advise against him ever fighting again.

Then bad turns to worse. Paulie loses the Balboa's money after taking a chance on some investments, and the Balboa's are forced to move back to their old stomping grounds.

Rocky is approached to commit to another fight, but he won't give in. Rocky reopens the old training gym, and begins working there. He is approached by a young fighter - Tommy Gunn - to train him. At first Rocky is reluctant, but ultimately concedes.

Rocky puts his all into training Gunn, but Rocky Balboa Jr. is not impressed. He feels abandoned and neglected, so he turns to smoking and questionable conduct (you know, hanging out with his friends at night outside of a quickie mart).

Meanwhile, Gunn is gaining momentum and is winning every fight. He is approached by some higher-ups, and makes a deal with them. It becomes apparent that Gunn is only in it for the money and women, and he abandons Rocky.

Rocky must reconcile with his son, who is desperate for attention from his father. Adrian convinces Rocky that he needs to invest in his son rather than in Gunn.

Gunn becomes the heavyweight champion, but is dissatisfied because the press is all over him. They are convinced that he never fought any fighters worth their salt, and that he hadn't paid his dues.

Gunn challenges Rocky to a fight, but Rocky won't bite. Eventually it turns into an all-out street fight between Rocky and Tommy. Rocky emerges victorious in this quarrel, and the movie ends.

Rocky V (1990) is perhaps the oddest of the bunch, and while it is still relatively entertaining, Rocky never fights in the ring. He is betrayed by the only fighter he trains. He loses his home, and everything in it. Rocky V is a story about the ups and downs of life, and in that respect quite gritty.