Tag: Reviews

Mortal Kombat (1995)

Mortal Kombat was one of the many attempts to make a movie off a video game that in theory should have worked much better than it did. Think about it, get a bunch of martial artist, put them in pretty easy to replicate costumes, add in minor special effects and boom you have your movie. The story itself is easy enough to do.

The movie opens with what is still one of the best movie theme songs of all time in my opinion, and it really gives you hope this thing will be great. Its not. The acting it pretty sub par most of the time, the special effects or horrible and the story comes off as corny to the point I am fairly sure it was written by people that knew it was going to sell regardless and not be all that good of a movie.

All the negative points aside tho the actual fighting is well done and I would be lying if I said me as a kid didn’t enjoy the movie. Even as an adult the movie is still entertaining in that the movie is so bad its good sort of way. Don’t go into this thinking it will be good, just fun. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Lost Boys (1987)

the lost boys

The lost boys is one of those movies that came out in the 80’s and is a vampire movie done a bit differently with a twist ending, but both done right. With a family from Arizona moving to California an older brother meets some friends and falls in with a bad crowd. The younger brother meets some comic book nerds obsessed with vampires they claim live in the area and the comics they claim are evidence of this. Turns out that group are those vampires and those nerds are not wrong.

What follows is the classic tale of a quest to escape the clutches of these vampires, their leader that wants to marry their mother, enslave them both and take over the town.

The movie is amazing and has its funny parts but is full of suspense and action with a great sound track, but I will always remember the end when all is said and done. Dead vampires everywhere, a huge hole in the side of the house, and the grandfather that everyone thought was just some old guy saying ” the area would be great if it wasn’t for all the damn vampires” Definitely check this one out if you haven’t already. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Zoo Tycoon (Xbox One)

zoo tycoon

Zoo Tycoon is one of the more odd tycoon games I have played recently. The game looks good, but not great. The campaign is good, but most of the missions have but time limits. They are for the most part reasonable and aren’t all that like, usually no longer than 45 minutes at the most but many as low as 15 minutes.

The animals for the most part just wonder around their enclosures and every attempt I made to toss some deer in with the lions and tigers was met with the game telling me no. This is in every way a game about running a zoo and it won’t let you traumatize your patrons. This is probably for the best actually since the game is clearly meant for educational purposes. There is plenty to read and lots of fun to be had while you are at it.

The game also has plenty of challenges and even has a challenge mode as well as a sandbox mode.  However this is one of those games I would suggest getting on sale or if you have game pass playing on there. The game is fun, but or many it will get old quick. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Far Cry 5 (Xbox One X)

far cry 5

Far Cry is one of those series that is notorious for certain things. For example climbing a ton of towers to reveal the map and find missions. A lot of damn towers, what feels like hundreds of towers. There is never hundreds of it them but it always feels like them. So early in Far Cry 5 I am climbing my first tower thinking ” Here we fucking go” and as I climb something unexpected happens, the game suddenly becomes self-aware and the guy makes a joke about not making me climb towers all over the county. You know what? 12 hours later I hadn’t climbed a single tower.

The story is pretty typical of the series, someone takes over some place, a guy helps free it from a madman using what can only be described as pretty much super human abilities even to he isn’t super human. This time around it’s a crazy cult leader that has taken Hope County in Montana. While it’s never truly said explicitly they seem to be taking a shot here at far right extremist in America. During one fire fight a cultist starts screaming at me about being a “snowflake” for example, and all of them are clearly insane and brainwashed. At another part a guy is using a huge cross to kinda beat a dead body, tho he may have been digging a hole. I was busy shooting him with an arrow to truly know.

Now before anyone thinks this is some sort of shot at Christians or Republicans hold on a minute. These are not Christians or Republicans. They truly are insane cultist. Everyone in the county are pretty much country folk that own guns, love god and America. There is even a priest helping you out and fighting to free Hope county.

I explain all this because I have seen a few people saying they won’t buy the game because they are clearly being political and attacking America or Christians and I have seen a few reviews say it could have been a good game but they clearly are making a political statement. None of this is true. It is simply a game that takes place in an area that would in reality have a lot of guns and religious people and would be a likely place for a cult to pop up.

Graphically the game looks beautiful on the Xbox One X and at no time did I ever experience any slow down or frame rate loss even when a lot was going on and bullets were flying. The sounds are immersive and the music very fitting. There are however  a few in-game glitches that are worth noting. For example I have experienced enemies randomly re-spawning after I kill them to attack me again numerous times. Not in the I leave the area or anything. Just drop them and they stand back up and attack. Enemies have also floated, once I even saw a car do it. Nothing game breaking but it should be noted that these things do happen. The game however is worth playing, and it has my full recommendation. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dante’s Inferno

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Dante’s Inferno, the first of his epic poem Divine Comedy (no not the way we know it like haha funny). The other 2 are called Purgatorio and Paradiso which as you can imagine if the Inferno is Dante traveling thru hell those are Purgatory and Heaven.. But those aren’t important right now.

Inferno is believe it or not a poem of Dante traveling the 9 circles of Hell, being guided by The Roman Poet Virgil. Each circle is dedicated to a different type of sinner. I don’t normally like to quote Wikipedia but if you are interested in the deeper things on how the poem is structured Divine Comedy  isn’t a bad for a general idea.

The actual read while can be interesting is honestly a bit boring at times. This isn’t the kind of book you are likely to sit down and just read in one night for fun. Its good, but it is a dry read so to speak. You read it a bit at a time probably while drinking some coffee or like I did while I was at work. Its worth reading by the way, it just wasn’t a quick read. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

300 (2007)

300

300 is one of those movies that is based on a true story in the sense that Spartans are real, Thermopylae is a real place, the battle is real hell even King Leonidas is a real person. Most of the details tho are pretty much made up for dramatic effect and to sell a movie.

The movie by the way is about 300 Spartans holding the pass of Thermopylae against a massive Persian horde. The action is great and violent, there is the obligatory sex scene, and of course there is the classic scene where arrows block out the sun and they fight in the shade.

All of this are things anyone would know simply from common sense or previews however as solid as the acting is and as action packed as it actually is i have to say, when I first watched the movie I loved it. Watching it again I noticed while I still enjoy it, there isn’t much to the movie. It’s just an action flick with an extremely historically inaccurate story and not much else going on. Even the struggle of the Queen attempting to get reinforcements to the king is just sort of there and in the grand scheme there for the same of being there more than anything else. The movie is fun, but it’s rather empty. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Game Over, Man (2018)

game over, man

Another Netflix movie that on the surface probably shouldn’t have been all that good. Three idiot friends that work in a hotel, one of which has a weird Salvia addiction that he buys from his possibly delusional money obsessed friend get the surprise on a lifetime. A rich internet celebrity is having a huge party at the hotel, and they are going to try to get him to finance their dream. One small issue, some terrorist have a slightly different idea.

The entire plot of this movie is that Terrorist and these 3 guys want money. Tho the 3 friends had a check that their boss took off them and gave back to the manager and they simply wanted it back. The movie is quite hilarious, and ladies if you want to see Adam Devine’s Dick, this is your chance. It is legitimately in the movie.

The story obviously should not be thought about, it has plenty of plot holes and is far from perfect. It is simply a fun and entertaining movies with some bad but passable special effects. Very much worth a watch tho, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

A Way Out

a way out

Here is the concept for  A Way Out, 2 guys in prison must break out, go on a revenge mission. There is a small catch here tho. This game must be played with a friend, and both in-game characters have very different personalities and ways of doing things. Every so often the 2 players that must choose one of the 2 characters will have to pick which idea to take.

Leo is more of the loose cannon hardened criminal type. He meets things more head one.  Vincent on the other hand is more down to earth and thought out. That isn’t to say he isn’t willing to go off the deep end a bit, at one point you end up torturing a guy together.

The game play itself is smooth and the game while not the best looking game is still quite beautiful, I had no complaints in this department, especially at the $30 price point it’s offered at. The game does run a little on the short side, but this is most likely so people can play through multiple times with various people. The game is actually one of the few games I have played that required 2 players that I honestly did not mind the requirement. Also the fact that one person can download the free trial then play the full game with someone who owns the game is fantastic in itself. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sun Tzu: The Art of War

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One of my favorite books of all time even when I was younger is The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. The book is famous for being a military strategy guide discussing topics that range from how to use a spy properly to why capturing enemy supplies are worth far more than your own. However the book is also used by many other people in life. For a time many business people all over the world have read it for guidance.

Looking into the history of the book tho it becomes even more interesting.  Sun Tzu wrote what even today is considered by many the greatest military book ever written. Its thirteen chapters weirdly don’t focus much on actual combat but how to make plans. Born around 545 BCE Sun Tzu was a Taoist that believed combat was at times unavoidable, but was the most dangerous thing the state could undertake and as such should be done only as a last resort and only when plans were meticulously planned.

What is also surprising to many, he may not have existed at all. More on that here. Some believe Sun Tzu was actually a title of a man in the Sun family ( I once read maybe Sun Wu but admittedly can’t remember where or how reliable it even was) and many people over the years have added to the book and left it under the name Sun Tzu.

Regardless of who wrote the book, over 2,500 years later lawyers, military generals, sports coaches and people in business still use it today. It is very much worth reading. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mermaids (1990)

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When I was flipping thru the movies on Netflix and Hulu my girlfriend saw this one and wanted to watch it. Now being an idiot..I mean good boyfriend, I said sure I will watch and review that. I mean I overlooked the fact that Cher was in the movie, plus Winona Ryder and Bob Hoskins are always solid. So this had to be good right?…right?

No, no it didn’t. First Charlotte (Ryder) is a very religious 16-year-old girl in the 1960’s, all good. She is also discovering herself in a sexual manner. Pretty normal. But this has been blown WAY over the top to the point a stereotypical teen boy would be telling her to chill out. And this is legitimately something that happens in the movie, she pursues and sleeps with her much older and adult bus driver.

Mrs. Flax (Cher) is the worlds worst mom, first off she encourages the actions of her daughter,and has more emotional baggage than a large international air port. Seriously she has a great guy in Lou (Hoskins) and she does everything in her power to drive him away. At one point he even turns an entire room in his house to look like the bottom of the ocean so the youngest daughter can know what it feels like to sleep on the bottom of the ocean ( she is a swimmer and loves the water and ocean) and Cher treats him like garbage and even accuses him of attempting to use her kids to get closer to her like what he did was some nefarious scheme.

The movie did however have some funny parts, but all in all just wasn’t very good. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.