MediaBlog by www.Dee-London.com

Ratchet & Clunk: Tools of Destruction (PS3) review

That’s an absolutely brilliant game! Mind you, it’s neither a platformer nor a “childish” game. It’s definitely an epic space adventure. Sci-Fi lovers will appreciate space travels to 18 different locations like planets, asteroid rings and space stations. RPG fans will love the story and exploration. Shooting fans will get a zillion much upgradeable weapons & gadgets. Arty ones will be impressed by visual designs, attention to details and animations. There is something, hmm, a lot for everyone!

Some critics were complaining about variety of game mechanics. Don’t listen to them! This “recipe” is so balanced and tasty that you won’t be able to stop. Dancing a pirate jiggle, devastating enemies with your tornado (literally!), enjoying bird-winged flying with Sixaxis control, finding hidden golden bolts that let you play with different skins, fighting dinosaurs, solving fun puzzles, space battling through asteroid rings, exploring abandoned space stations, experimenting with dozens of weapons in fighting arenas and impressive boss fights- it’s just 1% of what you will find here. What about converting your enemies into penguins? My favourite- throwing a disco ball into a battlefield so all the enemies start dancing! HINT: all bosses dance too! That’s so damn fun!

P.S. Did I mention Pixar level artwork here? :)

The Condemned (Blu-Ray)

2007, Vinnie Jones, some WWE guys & others :)

Don’t take your girlfriend to this film- that’s a damn dirty one. The plot isn’t original- on an isolated island one should kill all other competitors to be win the freedom. The close comparison would be Battle Royale- and I mean not only the idea but the moral aspect as well. If children killing each other sounds already disturbing enough, so The Condemned manages go even further, because, well, children were doing that in less innovative ways. But take this- 10 the most hardcore and tough criminals (including 2 women) with records of multiple murders, rapes and tortures are collected together and set free to do whatever they want. And so they do- their experience and dirty “creativeness” show off pretty well. And the reason for all this insanity is an internet show organized by an evil-minded and somehow-genius producer (was that auto-irony?).

The film ends up with a happy end (huh, more kills) and some arguable moralising. Otherwise, it’s a very professionally made film. Blu-Ray transfer is top-notch. Lighting/camera work is superb.

BBFC banned Manhunt 2 (video game). How THIS movie managed to slip through their fingers???

I Am Legend (Blu-Ray) review

2007, Will Smith

The good: unforgettably impressive matte painting and 3D art- the vision of New York was so epically depicted, that it’s a must-see for everyone who’s into visual arts. The bad: everything else. Well, maybe not everything- the first half of the film very distantly reminds Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (and that’s a plus). The second half is just an ordinary zombie movie. Meh.

Ok, now-Will Smith. I definitely enjoyed him in some earlier films. Here he acts professionally, but heartlessly. You won’t believe him even for a minute, regardless how many times he cries, pretends to care or tries to show off his craziness.

It’s not like this film is a total stinker, but don’t expect too much from it. In any case, you will find story of Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3 video game) more entertaining and touching.

Quality of Blu-Ray transfer is not impressive at all. Extras include theatrical and alternative endings (by the way, theatrical one is much better). And there are animated comics that I highly recommend not to miss!

Animated comics on youtube.com:
Hong Kong
Isolation
Awakening
Shelter

2007, Timothy Olyphant, Olga Kurylenko

Hitman wasn’t too welcomed by critics, but the film is really entertaining. You can expect some pulp political intrigues mixed with impressive action scenes- it’s something in between of Bourne Ultimatum and Shoot’Em Up. It’s worth mentioning that the film is based on a popular video game by the same title- so you can expect some not-so-logic stuff here as well :)

There is quite a strong focus on Nika (Olga Kurylenko). I guess she could be a model in the real life, though her breast is too big for a professional :P Anyway, her acting is pretty good too and her presence adds lots of fun to the movie (especially when she wears Eve’s dress)

The main (anti)hero Agent 47 is a little too cute for a tough assassin, but he makes a perfect match for Nika :) Besides, his acting isn’t annoying at all. And everything aside, he is quite a charming character.

Blu-Ray transfer is top notch and superbly shows off HDTV possibilities. And the movie itself is good enough to inspire playing the original game (it’s a shame it’s available on PS2 only). Have fun!

2007, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman

After critics bashed this film, I had very low expectations. But, on other hand, I would expect Nicole playing in a slightly “different” movie. And Craig is always awesome and adds intelligence to to any action. So I risked watching it and it was a winner!

I will put it shortly- it’s a Sci-Fi survival horror film. It is a little less spectacular than Silent Hill, but on other hand it has a touch of intelligence & style. Similarity to classical zombie movie is obvious, but it’s more believable- if it’s possible to say so about an alien virus :P And there is a very nice twist- an infected person has a chance as long as he/she doesn’t sleep- it’s when the virus starts transformations. Sweet, huh?

I definitely recommend The Invasion for a Sci-Fi horror fan, just don’t expect blood showers here. Game developers, attention! This plot is perfect for a good game too!

Don’t expect hardcore action & challenge here. Instead you will find an atmospheric and stylish adventure.

I will not write about beautiful graphics, interactivity and animations- these are superb and a-must-to-experience! Instead I will share some thoughts after completing the game:

♣ In the beginning I was annoyed by that infamous “story twist”- it ruined the atmosphere for me (though it made all the presentation more logical). In the end that “twist” was more than justified and I became eager for the sequel.
♣ Well, quests seemed to be a bit repetitive (though I wasn’t playing in one sit), but still very pleasing and enjoyable. It’s a shame that I found some of the features only after completing the game- it would make the whole experience much richer.
♣ The ending wasn’t impressive. So it seemed at the first glance. But you are left with option to explore the laboratory- the emails reveal so much about the story and make a solid foundation for a sequel.

HINTS:
♣ Please take your time and browse all the available emails and all the the acquired items (letters, maps, etc) that you can find as attachments
♣ After completing the game, an additional room is unlocked (the always-locked office room that you can see through the glass). And there is one laptop with just 1 email. Read it!

SUMMARY:
It is an atmospheric and very enjoyable game. I didn’t play it in a stealth way neither I did find any real challenges, but that didn’t make this experience less worth the time. In the end, it felt like a good historical adventure BOOK :)

2007, Walt Disney
Were critics heavily bribed to praise this disaster?

There are always high expectations for Walt Disney movies- they set standards for animation, inspirational music, dynamics and overall quality. But, surprisingly, Enchanted fails almost at every point. And I will not invest my time into a deeper review, but here are some of my thoughts.

- This film blends 2D, 3D and filmed materials- that’s always more than welcome. Though, there were movies where it was done better
- Walt Disney is famous for its superior 2D. That’s not the case with Enchanted- here they even failed to draw Giselle in right proportions (for example, too large head in some scenes). And characters are more of Barbie-Comics level than the original Walt Disney.
- 3D art… Have they seen Ratatouille or Ice Age? They always could ask for some assistance or, at least, some advice from their sister-studio Pixar…
- Acting was dreadful. Yes, I understand the idea of Hallmark-Card-Style behaviour. Well, it seems to be a challenge. And, obviously, it was too challenging for the director as well as for the main heroine. (And I thought no one could act worse than Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four)

Luckily, I only rented this film. But still I wish I avoided this over-sweetened garbage at at all.

Don’t be put off by the graphics, because the game itself is a gem of creativity, atmosphere and brilliant acting!

First of all, that’s a different sort of game- it is not a pure shooter, because of the weapons (Powers of The Darkness plus, well, all the usual stuff like shotguns, pistols and machine guns). It has RPG elements. Voice acting is terrific!- as well as animations.

Let me put it straight- this game is difficult to describe. But one word would round it all- creativeness. Even the side quests are really fun to complete, not talking about the main storyline which kept me glued to the game.

I highly recommend this game for those who like “different shooters”, good story, atmosphere and some unexpected locations (spoiler: like hell or haunted house)

P.S. There’s a comics book “The Darkness Ultimate Collection” that was released after the game. I recommend this one as well :)

[Edited]
There are rumours that The Darkness sequel is in development. Can’t wait for it!