In their continuing quest to show that the PlayStation Vita is a viable system for first-person shooters, Sony proudly presents Killzone: Mercenary, a sci-fi shooter from Guerrilla Cambridge (the studio formerly known as SCE Cambridge). But while fans of this long-running series will think this portable edition feels just like the home games, that same feeling will be an issue for those who’ve had problems with this series in the past.
A sonic architect in the true sense of the word, nine inch nails mastermind Trent Reznor has always done what he can to push his music and the tools he uses to make it. Which he proves once again with hesitation marks, his first album as nine inch nails since 2008’s the slip. But the problem with being a mad musical scientist is that not all of your experiments work as well as the others.
Much like the movies and TV shows of David Lynch, the music of Primus frontman/solo artist Les Claypool, and the writings of Mark Leyner, the video games made by Suda-51 are esoteric, never generic, and always unique. And his latest, Killer Is Dead, is no exception. But while this means his detractors will hate it and his acolytes will love it, what about the rest of us? What indeed.
For big fans of the show, deciding whether to buy The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season is a no-brainer (no pun intended; or was it?). But if you haven’t seen it, and you’re not much for macho bravado influencing people’s decisions, well…
Available on DVD, Blu-ray, and in a special version of the Blu-ray that comes with a fish tank full of zombie heads, The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season augments its sixteen episodes with deleted scenes, commentaries on select episodes, and making-of featurettes.
For avid viewers of this zombie drama, the eight behind-the-scenes minidocs show how they make the show, while the five commentaries provide some insightful tidbits. But the extras that really puts the “special” in “special feature” are the half-dozen deleted scenes. Granted, they don’t change anything greatly, and in some cases you’ll probably be glad they were cut, but it’s kind of like getting a little more of that fix.
If you haven’t seen the episodes, however, this season might be problematic. Or right up your alley. Either way, though, it was never boring.
At the beginning of the season, our heroes take us residence in a prison, which provides them with security from the zombie horde. Unfortunately, it’s also right near a walled-in town that’s run by a man called The Governor. As a result, much of the season is spent with these two outposts dealing with each other.
And therein lies the problem. Without spoiling too much, suffice it to say that much of the drama this season comes about because certain people on both sides don’t act reasonably or responsibly and instead let ego, especially macho bravado, dictate their decisions.
Some of which doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Now, I can’t cite one without ruining things, but imagine if you lived in that world and came across a truck full of food but, instead of taking it, you destroyed it because bringing it home would make someone else in your group look good. Again, that’s not something that happened, but something along those lines did, and, watching it unfold, it was hard not to let such stupidity slide.
The irony, of course, is that if everyone acted reasonably and rationally, the season would’ve only been one episode long, and it would’ve been a dull one. But as someone who prides himself on trying (and often failing) to be practical and without macho ego, it did make this season kind of frustrating to watch.
What did help redeem things was the introduction of Michonne, a favorite from the comics who’s played perfectly by Danai Gurira. Granted, you probably wouldn’t want to be stuck in a prison or walled-in town with her, but watching her slice up zombies, while also dealing with the other stuff in a calm and intelligent though sometimes skeptical manner, more than made up for any frustration born of stupid people making stupid decisions.
SCORE: 8.0
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When 2K Games originally announced that the strategy series XCOM would be getting a shooter-oriented spin-off — now called The Bureau: XCOM Declassified — longtime fans of the series didn’t care. But what about those who prefer shooters over strategy (like me)?
Since its release in 2010, the real-world superhero movie Kick-Ass has garnered a much-deserved cult following for its dark humor and darker action. And now its sequel picks up that mantle, in every conceivable way.
The first two Saints Row games were little more than low-rent Grand Theft Auto rip-offs. But while making 2011’s Saints Row The Third, the developers clearly said “fuck it” and went so completely off-the-rails and over-the-top and politically incorrect that it ended up being a total blast. Now we have Saints Row IV,which is just as ridiculous and ridiculously fun.
Lilo & Stitch is, arguably, one of the best animated movies Disney ever made. So why then is this new Blu-ray edition such a botch job?
It would be easy to dismiss Somewhere (CD, digital) as just another live album by the jazz trio of pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Because, quite frankly, that’s what it is.
But that kind of misses the point. Instead, Somewhere is really yet another great live album by the best jazz trio around, and arguably the strongest album this threesome has produced.