Arctic Sunburn - Video Game Reviews, Movie Reviews, Let's Play Series

introduction to who i am.

2010-06-02T02:12:47Z

Hello everyone my first entry is going to be about who i am so everyone( my readers) will know who they are listing to. well first off my name is Kandace i am 20 yrs old from the great state of Texas. I absolutely love video games, everything about them the graphics, story line,characters, weapons,vehicles and etc. I have everything from the original Nintendo to the 360. I have been given the chance to write reviews about games and let my opinion be heard. I am not here to dictate which games y'all should and shouldn't buy. I don't work for any gaming company and and i don't endorse anything and i',m not getting paid for this.just simply a review of video games. and i value everyone's opinion.

gamertag= H3aVyM3tAlCh1Ck

Would you be interested in taking over Arctic Sunburn?

2010-05-19T16:03:07Z

Between pursuing a career in music, doing various website work and running a studio, I don't have much time to put into Arctic Sunburn anymore. This isn't to say that I won't ever update again, but as it stands I have too much on my plate and can't commit to making regular updates. If you think you might be interested in taking over, I would be happy to set up a new blogging account for you. There is no financial reward; only the satisfaction that your voice is being heard by the gaming community and the movie-going public. If you think you might be interested, please contact me directly at: david@arcticsunburn.com.

Facebook Page

2010-03-19T19:34:59Z

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. In case you didn't know, I've set up a Facebook page and I'm posting new stuff there regularly, so make sure to become a fan and join in the discussion!

Arctic Sunburn on Facebook

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Review

2010-03-13T23:34:08Z

The Advent of PlayStation

Ahh yes, the PlayStation. I still remember when the console first came out. We were far too distracted by the graphics (or, at least I was) to correctly judge a game by its true merits. If one were to compare it to its modern day counterparts, the PlayStation was weak, but at the time it felt like a huge leap for humankind (uh, for games, that is).

As I think back, I was still playing Super Famicom (SNES equivalent) in Japan when the PlayStation came out. It totally blew my mind. I didn't really even care about gameplay. I just wanted to get a PlayStation so I could be wowed by the stunning visuals.

Now that the fog has cleared, I think we can say with some accuracy that the PlayStation really wasn't that strong of a console in the end. It had a lot of game titles, but many of them were pretty sad. That isn't to say there weren't a few gems, however. Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, and Tekken 3 were all pretty cool.

Dare I make the argument that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was also a good one?

Introduction

Before I played this game, I wasn't the least bit familiar with skateboarding. When my friend instructed me that the square button was used to "flip", I assumed he meant the actual boarder would flip, not the board itself. It was a totally new world for me. I think I had a vague sense of what it meant to "grab" though, from being around snowboarding enthusiasts.

To tell you the truth, I can't even remember what got me into the Tony Hawk games. It may have been the fact that I was getting owned at a video game by a girl, and I wasn't willing to let that go on.

I have a feeling that I got into Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 before I ever went back and played the original. Pro Skater 2 had a lot more hype surrounding it, with it being released on several different consoles and platforms. It was an awesome game, but that's another story for another time.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was quite basic, but also remarkably well developed for its time. Even when I go back and play it today, it feels truer to real-life skateboarding than other games in the series (not that I'm an expert at skateboarding, but I do enjoy watching the pros). Sure, it still has some pretty unrealistic elements to it, but you can't rack up ridiculous combos without a great deal of creativity, unlike Pro Skater 2 and 3, which allowed you to string together massive combos with the use of manuals and reverts.

No, Pro Skater forced you to think about your lines. You had to figure out ways of grinding from one object to the other, and if possible, snatching a couple of gaps in the middle. Racking up 40,000 points wasn't as easy as it is with modern day Tony Hawk's.

The Soundtrack

Pro Skater only had a 10 track soundtrack, but I thought that the selection was quite ingenious. The quirky strains of Primus' "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" can't help but stick in your head long after you've heard it. The Dead Kennedys' "Police Truck" is the perfect prelude to the game, poised with aggression and quirky guitar riffs. In fact, I can't help but think of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater when I hear the song.

The Ska-influenced "Superman" and "New Girl" were also nice picks, but all in all, the soundtrack was quite heavy and edgy and that's what made it cool. Sadly, I can't say the same for the pop littered sound-scape of modern Tony Hawk games.

The Levels

Sure, the graphics have come a long way since the release of this title. Recent games in the series allow you to bust a wider range of tricks, custom build your own skater, and even come up with your own tricks. However, we haven't seen level design the likes of Pro Skater in any of its sequels.

It seems to me that they spent more time creating good flow as opposed to achieving realism. Sure, photo realistic graphics are impressive, but if recent releases are any indication, they can't carry a game (and I'm not just talking about the Tony Hawk series). Pro Skater 2 still had pretty good flow, and even 3 to some degree, but subsequent releases just weren't as smooth.

Speaking of levels, let's have a look at them individually, shall we?

Warehouse - It's the very first level of the game and it's just perfect. OK, so it may not be anything fancy, but it has good flow, plenty of vert opportunities, and even some decent grinds. Most of the cool lines involved the "Secret Room" gap in some fashion, but there really wasn't a huge learning curve, so you could find good lines in a relatively short amount of time.
School - OK, so I'm not as fond of this level as I am of some of the other levels, but it did have a fair bit of retail space, and even a cool little skate park on the roof areas. It feels a little scattered, but it's got picnic tables, bowls, quarter pipes, rails, and plenty of planters to keep things interesting.
Mall - We rarely see levels like this one in Tony Hawk games nowadays. Granted, the levels have gotten more realistic, and tend to encompass a much larger area. Still, this downhill style level was really cool, and had a lot of great areas where you could string together gaps and combos.
Skate Park - See, this is what I'm talking about! It's so simple but it's really effective. There's a nice big half pipe, a bowl, quarter pipes, and plenty of rails and fun boxes in between. Few levels have this kind of flow to them.
Downtown - This one is a bit of a classic. Yes, we have seen far more realistic levels than this one in modern day Tony Hawk's, but this one left a greater impression on my mind than many others. I will admit that it's not one of my favorites, but it does give you plenty of opportunity for wall riding and big jumps.
Downhill Jam - Another level that adopted the downhill style, and is very much like the Mall in that respect. This was another level that really defined the game, and allowed for some of the biggest jumps in the entire game. Its one weakness is that it takes too much time to go backwards, but the temptation is to cruise all the way down the hill anyway.
Burnside - Another classic level for me. I can't get over this one. I just like everything about it. It is a little harder to get your combos going, but then it kind of makes sense that it would be trickier since it appears later in the game. It's a relatively small level with a lot of possibilities.
Streets - I don't know about this one. Granted, it was one of the more unique levels of the game and we don't see many like it anymore. Its chief weakness is in larger part due to the limitations of the console, because you could only see a certain distance ahead of you. This is an issue throughout the game, but it isn't that big of a problem for the most part.
Roswell - I like it. It's another simple skate park with a few unique elements to it (like the hidden bowl with the aliens). Most of the park is taken up by half pipes and quarter pipes, but there are some OK grinds off to the side. Not as classic as Burnside in my opinion, but still cool.

The Gameplay

Naturally, it doesn't feel quite as smooth as subsequent releases. What I can say is that it established the standard for future installments. The controls were still quite responsive, and it was clearly just a matter of time before they would figure out the rest.

Overall, the gameplay is fun and addicting. I don't think it has as much replay value as Pro Skater 2, but I still like to go back and play it once in awhile.

Conclusion

What else is there to say? Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was an unmistakable triumph in my humble opinion. I still enjoy the series as a whole, but I can't see myself going back to play Pro Skater 4 anymore (mostly because I've beaten it 4 times or more). Whereas the original Tony Hawk still has appeal, as a game that could be picked up and played casually, and could even have some merit for hardcore gamers as well.

Although it may have been overlooked in its time, today it has its fair share of admirers and supporters who enjoyed it thoroughly.

First Ever Tony Hawk-A-Thon

2010-03-09T21:32:33Z

On Saturday, March 6, 2010, I hosted a Tony Hawk marathon at my place between the hours of 10 AM and 10 PM. What ensued was non-stop Tony Hawk action, beginning with the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for PlayStaion, all the way up to Tony Hawk's Underground for the PlayStation 2.

The plan was to play all the way through the original Tony Hawk saga for PlayStation and PlayStation 2. We weren't trying to get 100% in everything, so we would swap games after unlocking the customary bail video or pro video (soft ending). After 12 hours of gameplay, we made it about half way through Tony Hawk's Underground (the part where you come back from Moscow and have to pull together your own team). It would have been awesome if we had made it all the way through to American Wasteland, but I'm not entirely sure that would have been possible in 12 hours, even if we had been fully prepared.

The first place we got stuck was on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. It had been quite awhile since I last played this game, so I didn't remember little details like where the Venice Ledge was.

Then Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 turned out to be a big time sink. Even though we were able to proceed through the goals at a rapid pace, it took a long time to unlock the pro challenges because of the sheer number of goals.

Although it may have been possible to get to the end of Tony Hawk's Underground, I'm not certain it would have been possible to get any further in 12 hours. If you were really prepared, I suppose you could cut off a significant amount of time in completing goals, but Tony Hawk 4 is where you would inevitably end up spending 3 to 5 hours.

I was also hoping to share the controller with more players, but unfortunately those present weren't terribly familiar with any of the games, so I ended up finishing all the goals. We probably could have been more effective with players that still remembered bits from Tony Hawk 2 and 3.

However, it was still a really fun day, and that's what it's all about. I'm not sure that I would do it again, but I enjoyed this wacky experiment.

In closing, I'd like to share some of the thoughts I had regarding these games:

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
This is still a really fun game to play. I do prefer the graphics of the PlayStation 2 games, to be sure, but in other respects I prefer this game to the newer installments.

For one thing, this game was pretty edgy, perhaps edgier than many other Tony Hawk games.

Secondly, the gameplay is more realistic than Tony Hawk games that came out later. It was a lot harder to string together combos, and you had to be creative because you couldn't use manuals or reverts.

Thirdly, the level design is really cool and we haven't really seen anything like it since. I don't think I would enjoy playing levels like the Mall or Downhill Jam all the time, but they were a nice change of pace.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
I don't have much to say about this one except that it's a classic. Manuals made it far easier to string together combos, and getting high scores, at least for me, became a walk in the park. The soundtrack was pretty cool too.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
This game is far smoother than I ever remembered it to be. Maybe it's just me, but landing vert tricks felt way easier than other installments of Tony Hawk. Although the goals still tended to be "collect this" and "do that", there was nevertheless some attempt at creating more variation.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
This is where the game started to change in a big way. Although there were still goals like "land a high score" and "collect the S-K-A-T-E letters", the game introduced many new elements that made it considerably more interesting.

There were still a certain number of goals to be completed in each level, but each goal had to be completed on its own, and would only start if you initiated the people with arrows over their heads.

The soundtrack was a little more mainstream than the others, but picks like "TNT" kept you grinning.

Tony Hawk's Underground
I may have given this game a bad rap before, but I forgot how good it was (I'm probably thinking of Underground 2 - that's the one that kind of sucked). There were fewer goals that involved tedious collection of random items (though there were still some goals like that). Essentially you begin as a no-name in the skating world, and have to work your way up through the ranks, and this concept rang true for a game that broke the numbering system.

This game also incorporated storyline elements, and although it was quite linear, it was worth playing through at least once. Repeated play-throughs would likely have less value.

Tony Hawk-A-Thon

2010-03-02T21:42:24Z

This Saturday, I've decided to host a Tony-Hakw-a-thon at my place. What is a "Tony-Hawk-a-thon" you ask?

We're going to attempt to play through all of the following Tony Hawk games between the hours of 10 AM and 10 PM:

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk's Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

The rules are quite simple. Each player will have the chance to complete a goal or level. They may forfeit their turn if they are having trouble finishing a particular part.

Personally, I think this is going to be a blast, and naturally I will be putting together a write-up at a later date. Stay tuned!

Re: Squall's Dead - Final Fantasy VIII was a Dream - A theory of what really went wrong in development

2010-02-18T22:59:33Z

Squall's Dead seems to be a rather popular topic, so I've decided to add my 2 cents to the discussion.

Theory

Squall's Dead suggests that the events following disc one in Final Fantasy VIII were merely a dream. However, I'd like to suggest that FFVIII as we know it today almost never was.

Development

After the massive success of Final Fantasy VII, Square decided that they wanted to take a break from the series and try something different. Something completely different. After much deliberation, they decided on the high school romance genre. At first they had thought about distancing themselves from the RPG genre, but later determined that would be a bad marketing choice, considering their worldwide reputation for developing epic fantasy RPG's.

So it was decided; they would create a high school romance RPG. The fantastical elements would be kept in to remind players that the game played like an RPG, a format familiar to Square's target audience.

Somehow in the midst of development, talks of Final Fantasy VIII were also commencing. A confused but well-meaning assistant produced a new folder, and labeled it "Final Fantasy VIII". The folder was filled with new files; the initial sketches and blueprints for the new game.

Meanwhile, the game tentatively titled "High School Romance: A Journey of the Heart" was coming along nicely. The game resembled the Final Fantasy world in small ways, but was still different enough that it wouldn't be confused for another Final Fantasy game. Essentially, the game followed the eventual romance of two characters, to be called Yusuke and Miho. At first there seemed to be no hope for this mismatched couple, especially since Miho showed more interest in Yusuke's rival, Kenta. However, this merely a plot device, the romance between Miho and Yusuke grew and blossomed by the end of the epic tale.

Beta Testing

The game was now ready for beta testing. However, positive responses weren't exactly forthcoming. Many testers expressed their distaste for the superfluous tutorials as well as the convoluted and disjointed storyline. Square reasoned that players would require all of the tutorials because of their new "Junction" system, unlike anything seen previously in the Final Fantasy series. However, they did promise improvements to the storyline.

Announcement

And now it was time to announce the upcoming release of "High School Romance: A Journey of the Heart". In the ensuing weeks, the marketing department received a new folder with all of the details concerning the new game. A folder labeled "Final Fantasy VIII" was also submitted for their review, although the game had not entered the development phase yet. One of the files was to be submitted as a press release, and simply stated that Square would begin production of Final Fantasy VIII now that High School Romance was complete.

One early morning, a hapless assistant happened to brush against the files on his way to his cubicle and scattered them across the floor. No one else had arrived at work yet, so he promptly picked up the files and put them back in place. However, the files ended up in the wrong folders!

Although the marketing department had noticed that the High School Romance files were in a folder labeled "Final Fantasy VIII", they rarely questioned the decisions from up high, so they went ahead and released the details of High School Romance, under what they assumed to be its new title: Final Fantasy VIII.

The next day, the creative directors of Square were shocked to find that their new game was being dubbed Final Fantasy VIII. At first they thought that there must be some kind of mistake, but all of their news sources indicated the same. Realizing their error, the whole company went into a flurry of panic, and those responsible for the mistake were promptly fired.

On the up side, the game wasn't released yet, and this gave Square some valuable time to make some corrections. Fortunately, the battle system resembled other Final Fantasy games enough that all they needed to do was rename the characters, the spells, the summon spells, and make some minor adjustments to choice graphics.

Release

The game was of course released as Final Fantasy VIII and although it was not received well by all critics, it still went on to sell incredibly well. Those fired during the clandestine scandal were later offered a generous severance package, the end justifying the means.

Aftermath

The game thus entered into the collective consciousness as Final Fantasy VIII. However, experts questioned its very existence, jokingly citing that most fans were "unable to describe it with any accuracy" and further added that "there were too many inconsistencies between people's testimonials". One sarcastic expert was even quoted as saying "It [Final Fantasy VIII] was probably some kind of fan faction. Sure, I've seen many cosplayers trying to imitate the likeness of Squall, Selphie or Quistis, but that's not proof enough that the game ever existed."

Although mass hallucination is a well documented phenomena, it has been determined that Final Fantasy VIII does indeed exist, and wasn't just a dream, though many of us wish it was.

House of the Flying Daggers: First Impressions

2010-02-16T00:47:27Z

This movie has its fair share of similarities to Hero. For one thing, it's quite colorful. Both the costumes and the scenery are vibrant, though not to the same degree. Secondly, there is an abundance of martial arts/sword fighting scenes.

The plot, on the other hand, is considerably different. If anything, it reminded me of a Shakespearian tragedy. None of the characters are exactly who they seem to be at first, and several of the main characters wind up dead in the end.

I think I'm going to need to watch this movie a couple more times if I am to process it in its entirety. For one thing, the movie is quite long at 119 minutes (though I prefer my movies to be at least that length), and for another thing, it has its fair share of plot twists. Characters are only gradually revealed to be who they really are, and it's only towards the end of the movie that you can begin to connect the dots.

Regardless, I found it to be an enjoyable film. Not as compelling as Hero, but still a good movie.

Equilibrium Review

2010-02-05T00:07:18Z

After the release of The Matrix, there were many movies that tried to capitalize on the popularity of the film. One can't really blame them for trying, but the 360 rotation shots and bullet-time effects became cultural clichés faster than you can say "Neo". Granted, The Matrix is one of my all-time favorite movies and its impact on filmmaking cannot be denied. With that established, Equilibrium is one movie that still begs (and even welcomes) this comparison.

Take the main character John Preston (played by Christian Bale), for example. He is not unlike the stoic Neo of The Matrix. The only difference being that it's actually written into the story of Equilibrium (more on that in a second). Preston doesn't have sidekick characters as memorable as Morpheus though.

So let's get down to the plot. The movie is about a utopian (but Fascist) future in which it is illegal to feel, and a drug, Prozium, is distributed to every living person. Prozium, of course, has the effect of numbing all emotion. All literature, music, and art are prohibited and thereby eliminated, consequently suppressing humanly emotions. As result, the future world is free of war and conflict.

Cleric Preston enforces the law, helping to weed out extraneous items from people's homes. However, in his many encounters with people who resist the law, he becomes curious. What would it be like to live without Prozium? What he finds is rather extraordinary. Suddenly he cares for so-called criminals, those being executed for their treason, and even animals.

The action scenes in Equilibrium are very reminiscent of The Matrix. In spite of the similarities, all told, this movie still does pretty well at the execution stage. It's entertaining, but it's hard to watch it without thinking of The Matrix.

As for the storyline, I found it to be somewhat similar to Gattaca (another decent film). Gattaca certainly did not have the action elements found here, but it did have similar dramatic impact.

All in all, it's a movie worth watching. I don't know if I would equate it to the Matrix in terms of overall impact, but it's entertaining no less.

Extraordinary Measures Review

2010-02-04T23:58:31Z

So I was at the cinema the other week, and we were trying to decide on a movie to see. Neither my friend nor I had actually seen any recent previews, so that left us with the posters to decide. We settled on Extraordinary Measures, because it depicted a dramatic looking Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford.

We knew we were about to see a drama but we didn't know what kind. I half expected a political thriller, and I guess to a degree that's true, but it was really a story centering on Fraser's character, John Crowley, and his children. Two of his children are affected by a rare but fatal genetic disorder, and Crowley scrambles in search of a researcher who might have a cure. This is how he comes across Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Naturally, Crowley encounters a variety of obstacles in his attempts to save his soon-to-be extinguished children.

All in all, I found the movie to be engaging. The acting was quite good, and I didn't feel there were any issues with suspension of disbelief. Granted, dramas aren't for everyone, and this may not be an instant classic, but it's worth seeing once.

Hero Review

2010-02-03T05:06:16Z

Maybe it's just me, but I can't remember ever seeing a good Jet Li movie. Not that I have anything against the guy, but any movies that I've seen starring Mr. Li tended to be long-winded, predictable, and otherwise just boring.

Enter Hero. Obviously, I had to watch any movie claiming to be a "masterpiece". Someone with half a mind even gave it 5 stars! Granted, that's what the critics had to say, so color me skeptical.

Well, I've watched the film, and I'm here to tell you that it's actually pretty good. Really good, in fact. The visuals are stunning, the costumes are colorful, and the action is quite entertaining.

The story surrounds Nameless (I'm not joking, that's really his name), an assassin hell-bent on killing the King of Qin. Naturally, Nameless has unspoken motives, and they are only revealed gradually.

In fact, Nameless gives a false account of events when he first meets the King, though the King gradually pieces it together. The story is basically comprised of three parts (presented in flashbacks): 1) the lie that Nameless wants the king to believe, 2) the way the King sees it, and 3) the truth.

In fact, the King only summoned Nameless because he assumed he was a good-hearted hero for killing three of his enemies. The story tells otherwise.

Ultimately, Nameless chooses not to assassinate the King, and in turn is killed by the King's army. Nameless is crowned as a hero, but that's a part of Eastern philosophy I don't really get. Maybe I'm dense, but even though I'm familiar with similar stories, I don't really understand the reasoning behind it. I don't get why he didn't kill the King, either. Maybe because he knew that he would be killed too?

In any case, I'm not going to spill anymore. You should see this movie for yourself. Highly recommended.

It's done!

2010-01-30T22:38:29Z

Yay! I'm finally done working on this. At least for now...

I'm going to go and record more footage for Let's Play Sandora no Daibouken.

Just a quick note

2010-01-30T03:30:18Z

I'm going to be restructuring the site, so just hang tight if some things don't seem to be working properly. Thanks!

Oh no, not the Great Crystal again

2010-01-26T18:40:30Z

Recently I've been working my way through a bunch of side quests that I missed in Final Fantasy XII. Sadly I could not obtain the Zodiac Spear, but I'm not terribly distressed about that. I just don't understand why they set it up the way they did. If you leave certain treasure chests unopened, you can obtain the spear later in-game. I'm confused. This IS Final Fantasy, right? Finding treasures was half the fun in previous installments. Who would have the mind to leave very specific chests unopened when they come across them?

That aside, yesterday I figured out that I would have to return to the Great Crystal for two reasons: 1) to obtain the Excalibur and 2) to hunt down a rare monster. As you might expect, I'm not terribly excited about this prospect.

I really felt that the Great Crystal was the most annoying and poorly designed area of the game. For one thing, it's really hard to navigate. The game doesn't even give you a map, so you have to go online to find one. Oh, and did I mention that this area is huge? You're not going to have much luck navigating this piece of work unless you've got a map; and even then it's a nightmare.

Secondly - I could be mistaken on this point - there's no easy way in to the Great Crystal. You pretty much have to make your way through Giruvegan all over again. Tell me if I'm wrong on this point, because I'd like to know if there indeed is an easier way in. In other words, you're pretty much hooped if you don't do everything you need to do the first time around. And really, who would think to fight an Esper, find one of the best weapons in the game, battle a rare monster, and then get out (actually, there's probably more to do there). That's a laundry list of problems for such a poorly designed area.

If you enjoyed playing the Great Crystal, tell me your reasons. Maybe it's just that I'm not a masochist, so I don't get much joy out of it.

Hell Wyrm Battle

2010-01-20T18:35:56Z

Yesterday I defeated the Hell Wyrm in Final Fantasy XII. This battle was quite time consuming, but not as intense as I initially though it would be.

I read in an FAQ that if you had the gambits set up just right, you wouldn't even have to touch the controller. I decided to put this to the test, so I went and had a shower while my characters battled the Hell Wyrm. When I got out of the shower, sure enough Vaan, Ashe, and Fran were still at it.

Additionally, I was able to check my email, surf the web, and get myself ready for a drive across town. I didn't actually defeat him until I got home later that night, but I must say that whoever came up with this strategy is quite brilliant.

Hell Wyrm: not half as bad as he sounds.