Brutal Legend [PS3] - It Kinda Rocked And Kinda Didn't

Decapitatiooooooooooon! Sorry, I just had to say that. For the past year and a half, Tim Shafer appeared to be promoted from game enthusiast's favorite idol to publicly awkward gaming icon. We want to root for people like Shafer and the creative minds at Double-Fine Studios. Brutal Legend was Shafer's baby -- and it shows. His game had the makings of a dark horse hit. On the surface, this was a game that is rife with witty one-liners from Jack Black and friends, metal infused and inspired ... everything, but with an unexpected real-time strategy underbelly. On the PS3, Brutal Legend has issues graphically, the online-multiplayer is -- at times -- has more than what the mode is worth. Unfortunately, there are a couple of key ingredients that keep Brutal Legend from being a full-fledged enjoyable experience.

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Avatar: So Big, So Beautiful, So ... Cliche

Well its here, James Cameron's Avatar has landed and I was one of many that was excited. Then I seen the trailer, and was immediately turned off. Then I seen the technological advancements necessary to make one frame of this movie possible and was 'semi-on board' for Cameron's two hour and 40 minute opus. So taking in my thoughts as well as the idiotic vacuum that is the internet, let us discuss what Avatar accomplished and what the movie failed miserably at executing. Here's two for starters: Effective emotive computer generated scenes requiring no dialog between characters, yes. One too many, Braveheart bad-ass speech-ery moments, also yes.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox Is An Adorable Bore

How can anyone say anything negative about Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox? The movie has such a powerful shield of 'adorable-ness' speaking critically could be the equivalent to walking inside a lions den with Wes Anderson fans after saying The Life Aquatic sucked. No one would dare comment on the length of this seemingly endless stop-motion epic. The familiar "Anderson plot" is haphazardly translated from the classic Roald Dahl book into a semi-cohesive story. Coming from someone who may not fit into the demographic for Fantastic Mr. Fox, the movie isn't terrible. Fantastic Mr. Fox is good, but the disclaimer that should follow would be, "if you are a Wes Anderson fan." Sorry, Anderson-followers, but if anything good can be said about this long slog of a movie is that it is easily recommendable to you people and children who just don't know any better.

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Need For Speed Shift [PS3] Review: Personality vs. Precision

 

As a reluctant Gran Turismo fan, getting into another hardcore racing simulator comes with a fair share of baggage. There is even a longer road to hoe if your hardcore racing sim has Need For Speed in a stylish font splashed upon your box. The Need For Speed series has suffered from what has left Tony Hawk and other annualized game franchises completely stagnant. The games are either too by-the-numbers, like ProStreet and Underground, or they are a failed experiment, like Undercover. If this is the age of the first-person shooter, pulling up a distant second place finish would be racing games. Within the past two years we have seen entries such as GRID, Forza Motorsport 3 and of course Burnout: Paradise. With the exception of Paradise, the aforementioned racers have staked their claim critically, proving that hardcore racing sims still have relevance in the gaming community. What about Need For Speed: Shift? 

 

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King Of Fighters XII [PS3] Review - A Post-Mortem Post-Patch

In the past couple years, the fighting game community has been fortunate to revel in the genre's return to glory. Capcom was able to produce Street Fighter IV, Tatsunoku vs. Capcom and Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix within two years time. If there needed to be evidence of the fighting game community's squeals of a breath of fresh air, the variety of fighting games released within the past two years would be a resounding "We hear, you!" The problem with this call and response is what is actually being delivered. The troubling genre that is fighting games struggled in the past ten years because it could not continue giving fans what they wanted while experimenting with new technology and fighting mechanics. This could not be more apparent than with SNK Playmore's King Of Fighters XII.

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New Moon: The Best Shirtless Teenage Angst

Although I have seen both of the 'Twilight movies' this is the first movie I have seen in the theater. By the time you read this, you will realize that New Moon has had one of the best opening weekends in movie history. Eclipsed by the highly praised Dark Knight and the forgettable, Spiderman 3. What New Moon has over the aforementioned blockbusters is a fan base so truly dedicated to this series, that they are willing to tolerate some of the worst acting and character chemistry seen since Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox. New Moon has everything in a movie a logical thinking person should hate. The story is tedious, the world has all the trappings of a trashy novel aimed at teens and abandoned housewives. The stars could be replaced by shirt-less mannequins. And the movie is kind of offensive to Native Americans. Thank you New Moon, I will remember the laughs forever.

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BlazBlue [PS3]: Solid Fighting Game, Furry & Cosplay Fodder

There is something to be said about a 2-D, hand-drawn sprite fighting game. Even more can be said if it is well made with accepted oddness to boot. In this age of first-person shooters and 3-dimensional sandbox games, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger holds true to the core values of what makes a great fighting game. Unfortunately, it holds on to a lot of the weird elements that turned fighting game fans off ten years ago.

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Critter Crunch Review: Another Reason To Support Indie Games

Thanks from a couple nudges from my fellow game journalists, I downloaded Cabybara's Critter Crunch off of the Playstation Network. It is almost a month later since downloading, and a significant month for gaming as well. For time capsule purposes I'll state the obvious. Infinity Ward's, Modern Warfare 2 is currently setting the world ablaze with yet another quality shooter. Electronic Arts has released some of the best reviewed games of the year these past couple of months [Dragon Age: Origins, FIFA 10, and Brutal Legend]. Even Gearbox's Borderlands and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 have been rocking the world of gaming. With all these elements in mind, it is not surprising that very few people have not heard of this puzzle-adventure game that is only available on the Playstation Network.

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Chris Rock's "Good Hair"

There is a much classier way to start a review of Chris Rock's comedic documentary, Good Hair. However, I will cut straight to the point [no pun intended]. If you want to know how black men and women's hair 'do that thing' it does. Or if you've ever asked your African-American co-workers, "So what do you put in your hair for it to do that?" Chris Rock answers the multi-billion dollar question in Good Hair.

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"Dynomite, Dynomite!" A Review Of Black Dynamite

Black Dynamite is currently playing in select theaters. If you are one of the  fortunate few who can watch this masterpiece in your city I support this decision and I implore you to bring friends as well as family. Sure Black Dynamite carries an R-rating. There is a message for all underneath the homage and parody of Blaxploitation cinema. The message is simple, "This is for you, if you did not get it, then it was never for you."

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