Reviews for the Road: Just Cause

When I went looking for this game it was in the hope that it would be a great as it successor  Just Cause 2. After playing through the narrow story and clocking most of my time running around causing chaos over the games 1,025 square kilometers I've been able to assess how well this game stacks up in the market today for those that want to play it.

Off the bat you are dropped outside the island  of San Esperito, the fictitious location of the games top secret activities. Without any warning, you were supposed to open up your parachute and float down to the beach without even been shown controls. Was I supposed to read through the booklet game companies usually drop into the box, maybe. I wasn't given that luxury since my new out of the box copy of the game didn't come with one, just a poorly designed box with an impossible mechanism to keep the disc stationary.

I should have looked through the action mapping in game perhaps, only if the task of navigating menus were possible. This port to PC was horribly done in regards to control customization and navigation. To navigate you must use the archaic method of arrow and enter keys, not the simpler usage of the mouse. For control customization it only allows you to change from different preset schemes and no available option to change sensitivity. When designing it for the PC platform the developers seemed to drop the ball in this regard.

It's not all bad though, the game offers players an interesting story line with multi-faction warfare. You work for the Agency, Cartels and Revolutionaries, each offering you different bonuses based how well they like you. The game can also give you wonderful landscape views if you crank the graphics up. Being an open world game you get to explore a huge amount land with this series, going from boats, planes and cars. The wealth of weapons that you can choose from is also great, but it falls short since you have a pair of pistols with infinite ammo, why would you use other weapons then?

I'd rate this game a 58/100, this is our sites lowest rating given so far which is shocking at first since this game seemed to offer a lot. When opening it up and putting the disc in nobody can be surprised about the outcome though. For a poor port to PC, clunky controls and an unresponsive environment you go hang on the wall of shame. For those that are still surprised about the outcome, discuss it. You may be asking why such a low rating. Well, just cause.

Silver Screen Reviews: Dredd 3D

When I first saw a commercial for this film I felt indifferent. I hadn't heard of the graphic novels or of the 1990s Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider. I just watched the trailer and thought it looked like another generic action film. Luckily for me, my friend convinced me to see it, and I ended up watching it opening night. Here's my thoughts...

Synopsis
Dredd is set in a post apocalyptic Earth, in a desolate city known as Mega City 1. Although mostly just a ruin of the old world, the landscape is dominated by massive futuristic block towers. In this future Earth, there is a high amount of crime, and the only people who strive for order are the Judges, futuristic cops who wear cool helmets and keep the peace. Unlike regular cops Judges act as the Judge, Jury, and executioner. So they find the culprits and carry out the justice. The film itself focuses on Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) an extremely tough Judge who has a real knack for "justice" and Judge Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) a psychic Judge in training who Dredd takes on as his rookie. The film follows there attempt to investigate a triple homicide at a slum block called Peach Trees which escalades into a race to try and take down the Ma Ma clan and its leader Madeline Madrigal, who controls the slum block.

The Good
Because I went into this not expecting much, I was absolutely blown away. I expected it to be generic and boring, but what I got was unique and amazing. The whole dystopian atmosphere was done just right, and was reminiscent of other futuristic dystopian settings like Neo-Tokyo in Akira and Los Angeles in Blade Runner. The world that was created was a cool mix of the old and the new, with futuristic buildings towering over the ruins of present day architecture. The acting was also superb with Karl Urban, who played Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, doing a great job as a gruff mysterious Judge Dredd and Lena Heady, who plays Cerei Lannister in A Game of Thrones, doing a superb job as messed up drug lord Ma Ma. The other actors were fine too, but those two were the best in my opinion, and totally made the film that much better. Another great thing about the film, and something that makes it unique, is that there was virtually no romance whatsoever. None. I thought there was going to be some between Anderson and Dredd, but there wasn't. Although Romance can be a good thing, in a film like Dredd that's supposed to be bad ass to the core, it was better without. Although the focus was on its action, the film also had a surprisingly artistic side. Whether it was people falling 100 stories in extremely slow motion or Dredd cruising along on his motor bike while cool electronic music played in the background, it was obvious that each shot was planned in extreme detail.

The Bad
The only really bad thing about Dredd was that it took place mostly in one building, so they didn't really make use of the whole futuristic setting that they had created and teased in the opening shots. There was also a lot of cheesy one liners like "I am the Law!" and "Choke on this!" (as Dredd proceeds to karate chop a guys throat in).

Bottom Line
Other than the cheesy one liners, which were actually quite funny, and the lack of a diverse setting, Dredd was an action packed thrill ride which does exactly what it sets out to do. Kick Ass. Although, unlike a lot of extremely action oriented films, Dredd manages to kick ass and stay unique. With its amazing cast, incredible artistic direction, and fascinating (albeit under explored) setting.

Apple's New iPhone & iPods, Are They Worth It?

The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone was shown off last week: the new iPhone 5. As an incremental upgrade to the current iPhone 4S the design of this new phone was almost completely leaked before release and there are very little surprises. It finally has LTE wireless, is slightly faster, and of course has the rumored 4'' screen. The iPhone 5 will be on sale September 21st for the same suggested price of $199 on contract. The 4S will now be sold for $99 and the iPhone 4 for Free on contract.

On a more exciting note, Apple announced hardware updates to two lines of their iPods: the iPod Touch and the Nano. I was very excited for the new iPod Touch until I heard the price, but I will get to that later. The new iPod Touch is beautiful, and in my opinion much more so than the iPhone with its 6 different colors. As the first update to the iPod Touch in two years it now has the same display as the iPhone 5 yet uses the previous A5 processor instead of the iPhone 5's new A6. The new iPod Touch has a bit of a less terrible camera and therefore is now being marketed as a point-and-shoot. The killer new feature for the iPod Touch is the included wrist strap (Loop) that matches the color of the device - well at least you didn't have to buy it separately.

The new iPod Touch is said to be available in October and starts at the too-high price of $299 for the 32GB model and $349 for the 64GB model. If we put this into perspective, Apple will continue to sell the same outdated model of the 4th Generaton iPod Touch at $199 for 16GB or $249 for 32GB. There is no 8GB option to be found for the iPod Touch 4G and has been replaced with 16GB for the same price. The iPod Touch 5G has no 8 or 16GB model and therefore starts at $300. Many are saying that this conflicts with the price an iPad Mini should be offered at later this year. Someone who is not too much of an Apple-Lover may notice that it is $100 more than the 7-inch Nexus Tablet. Yea, it's pretty, but it's not the best deal in town.

Also in October a new iPod Nano is coming too. The tiniest iPod ever, the iPod Nano is just 5.4mm thin. The new iPod Nano looks like a mini ripoff of an iPod Touch with a 2.5 multi-touch display. It also uses a strange iOS-like operating system with rounded icons. The Nano also comes with built in Bluetooth 4.0 and an FM radio. At $149 for 16GB and the all new design, the new Nano really impresses as a device for listening to music, podcasts, running, or whatever you may do with a small screen.

What else do you have to be excited about? Well, all the new iPhones and iPods from now on will be using the smaller 8-pin connector. Also, Apple has released a new line of headphones called EarPods that are said to rival high-end third-party headphones. I have always liked the Apple headphones, but other people's ear blisters may confirm they are not the best. The iPod shuffle will soon be available in all the colors of the Nano while a new version of iTunes is also coming in October, iTunes 11 - and Windows users are hoping that this may be the update to make it more usable on our platform. We'll see about that when it happens.

Did this Apple event leave you excited, or were you wanting more? Are you an Apple lover or hater? Let us know in the comments below!

Nintendo Direct Wrap Up: September 13th

On Thursday, Nintendo had their latest Nintendo Direct that was headlined by new Wii U information. If you missed it here is the video so you can watch it for yourself. From games to prices this Nintendo Direct delivered so much. Here is a recap that will not only save you an hour of your life, but may even give you a better understanding of everything that was shown.

Starting the presentation Nintendo told the fans that they would release two versions of the Wii U on November 18th, 2012. The two versions are supposed to make picking a console much easier for both your budget and how you will use your Wii U. The basic Wii U package comes with the console itself, 8GB of internal storage, a GamePad, HDMI and AC adapter cables, and a Wii U sensor bar. The deluxe package comes out with everything that you get in the basic version, a black finish, 32GB worth of memory, a copy of Nintendo Land, stands and charger for the GamePad as well as their premium Nintendo Network where you get 10% off digital purchases. The basic version will sell for $299.99 and the deluxe will come in at $349.99.

Something new that was shown off by Nintendo was Nintendo TVii. It is a service that they offer in the form of an application on the console that syncs up with your Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, DVR, and even your TV provider to have all your shows and movies in one place. It has a nice clean UI that make it easy to use. When watching a show or film the game pad shows interesting screenshots and other information so you can share the highlights while watching. They also said that it would cost you nothing to have this feature or any other feature on the Nintendo Network, as they strive to provide consumers with the whole package.

They also showed off some cool games during the presentation. They announced that Bayonetta 2 will now be a Wii U exclusive, right now it is controversial since they never had it before and 360/PS3 users now do not get to enjoy the sequel on their existing console. Monster Hunter 3 will be coming for Wii U and 3DS in march. Activision is now showing strong support for the console just like Ubisoft did at E3 with titles like Skylanders Giants, 007 Legends, and the CoD Black Ops 2. They showed some gameplay of Nintendo Land, and the Metroid multiplayer Co-op + free for all modes look great, almost as if they could be full games. New Super Mario Bros U, now a confirmed launch title was shown off with Boost Rush where as you collect coins the screen scroll speeds up. Nintendo said that in their launch window (November to March) will have at least 50 games.

Are you going to adopt this console early at launch or wait for a price drop? Are you even going to purchase it or do you think that the console will crash and burn? Tell us all in the comments!