Rule 32: Enjoy the little things in life.

Lair of the Shadowbroker just came out. And I played it. And I beat it. And I enjoyed it. Consequently, I thought this would be a good time to go through all the DLC that’s come out for Mass Effect 2 and give my thoughts on each, starting with the newest and shiniest.

Lair of the Shadowbroker

Lair of the Shadowbroker finishes the story of Liara T’Soni and the her hunt for the titular Shadowbroker, an enigmatic figure since the beginning of the series. So the pieces are there, but it is good? Yes, yes it is. It is very good. I played through it with my Vanguard after beating the rest of the game, and it was awesome. The dialog is great. “Remember the old days when we used to just slap some omni gel on these locks”, “What kind of guns does this have? It’s a taxi, it has a fare meter”, and “Liara, stop giving tactical advice to the enemy.” are just a few of the great lines of dialog and banter. It also has one of my favorite boss fights in the game, against another Vanguard, one that actually charges. Being a Vanguard myself, it was like an awesome game of cat and mouse. And the rest of the DLC doesn’t disappoint. Long story short, download this. You won’t be disappointed. Beat in just over two hours.BUY

And now for the rest. The first five DLCs are free if you have the Cerberus network, which you get for free if you buy the game new, or download for $15. If you buy it new, no reason not to download the free stuff. The reviews will be presuming you didn’t and want to know whether or not to buy the Network.

Normandy Crash Site

So within the first ten minutes of the game, the Normandy crashes. The Alliance tells you where it landed and wants you to plant a monument and collect some dog tags from fallen crewmates. Probably skip, unless you get it for free. The best part of this one is seeing the Mako stuck on a patch of ice, never to be driven again.
Skippable

Zaeed – The Price of Revenge

Zaeed is a merc NPC that joins you first thing on Omega, and adds his loyalty mission. Zaeed is a pretty powerful soldier, similar to Garrus. Well voiced, and his mission is pretty cool. You don’t need him, but I like him. BUY

Cerberus Weapon and Armor

A suit of armor and a shotgun. The armor’s crap, but more shotguns are always nice. Skippable

Arc Projector

It’s another heavy weapon. Skip

Firewalker Pack

A hovercraft with five missions. A kinda fun distraction, by no means bad like the Mako. I’d rather be shooting than driving Skippable

So really, other than Zaeed there’s no real reason to buy Cerberus Network. But if you buy it new, hey might as well. It’s free. Now for the rest:

Alternate Appearance Pack

Alternate costumes for Jack, Garrus, and Thane. Garrus’ is pretty cool. Other than that, nothing to write home about. Skip

Kasumi – Stolen Memory

Very cool character and mission. An Infiltrator in the most literal sense of the word. A tech-based Thief. And she needs Shepard to help her with a heist. Great dialog and all around cool and useful character, you’ll find Kasumi a welcome and useful addition to the crew. BUY

Equalizer Pack

Couple more armor pieces, very cool pieces though. for $2, you might as well. Skippable

Overlord

A new side mission investigating a rogue AI. Kinda creepy atmosphere, which is a good thing. Starts off like any normal Geth attack, then gets really cool. The end is awesome. I liked this one. A couple hours long, and at the sweet spot of $7. BUY

Aegis Pack

This is the armor you want. Separate pieces, and each giving 3 good bonuses. You will use this one. BUY

Firepower Pack

More guns. Cool, though. Depends on the class you play. Skippable

Well there you have it, all the DLC for the awesomeness that is Mass Effect 2. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the content.

So at long last, the weekend is upon us. Scott Pilgrim is out in theaters, for all to see. But how does it stack up? There has been a bit of hype built up around this movie. Respected source material, well respected director with a unique style and some decent names (Michael Cera, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman). But these can also make things harder, with that much source material, it is possible to make a decent adaptation? Let’s see.

My first experience with Scott Pilgrim was seeing the trailer for the first time on Kotaku. Cited as a video game reference movie, I watched it. Then I watched it again. Then I watched it again. I was enamored, it looked really awesome and quite a bit silly. Then I read down in the comments section that it was basic on some comics. Curiosity piqued, I snatched those right up and read ‘em all in a day, and I really enjoyed them. They do start off a little slow, but once Ramona shows up and the fights began, I was hooked. Each subsequent volume was better, culminating with the recently released volume six, which was my favorite.

So good source material, check. Ok, what’s next? Well, movies need directors, and this directors was no slouch. Famous for being ‘the third guy behind the camera’ with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Edgar Wright did an awesome job conveying his very cool and unique vision for the movie. Having perfected his style with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, he was an excellent choice and he did an awesome job. I really liked his adaptation, he did a great job, he was passionate, and I can’t really say there’s anyone I’d rather have seen direct it.

Director Edgar Wright

Next, the cast. They really did a great job. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous at first with Michael Cera being cast as Scott as the role was a little more cocky than his normal parts, but it appears my fears were unfounded and he did a very fine job. Rest of the cast was great, too. I really enjoyed Schwartzman in movies like Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited, so it was a pleasure to see him as Gideon. Chris Evans, aka the new Captain America, and Brandon Routh, aka Superman and that guy from Chuck, did great jobs as Lucas Lee and Todd respectively, two of Ramona’s evil exes. The rest of the cast were all unknowns to me, but they all did a great job. Mary Elizabeth Winstead did a fantastic job as the aloof and mysterious Ramona, and suddenly has many many fanboy crushes on her. Kieran Culkin (Macaulay’s younger brother) almost stole the show as Wallace, Scott’s gay and hilarious roommate. Alison Pill and Mark Webber did great as Kim Pine and Stephen Stills, the other members of the Sex B-ombs. Anna Kendrick did great as the  sarcastic younger Stacey Pilgrim. Really, the whole cast did great with their roles.

Scott, Ramona, Young Neil, Knives, Kim, Stephen Stills

I have to say I really did enjoy the movie. It was the best adaptation they could have made. No, it was not 100% true to the source, but given the amount of content in six 150-200 page graphic novels, some creative editing was required. The end result was a wildly entertaining and fantastic ride. I was laughing throughout most of the movie, pop culture references galore. From Zelda to the Seinfeld scene, it’s a fast paced thrill ride, full of amusing characters and great action moments. I was very pleased and happy. Was very amusing watching Scott try to hookup with the way-out-of-his-league Ramona.

(Minor spoilers ahead)
I have to say, the end made me nervous at first. It hints at the possibility that Scott ends up with the wrong girl. In both the comics and movie, I never really liked the parts with the particular younger character, nothing against the actress, just didn’t like Scott’s relationship with her, so when movie hints Scott may end up with her instead of the proper girl, I was ready to be upset. But in the end Scott goes with who he’s supposed to. I have no problem that the end’s different from the comics, I understand the ending in the book is too long for film, that’s fine. Just have to have Scott end up with the proper girl in the end.

The 7 evil exes

I heard someone mention that Scott Pilgrim VS the World was the best video game movie made. And I can’t say that I disgree. While not based on a video game, it really has the feel one one. A princess to win, seven bosses, and wild over the top action, all the elements are there. It really is a great movie and you do need to see it. And while I may like the comics more, that’s only because there’s more time to flesh things out and see more of the characters and their interactions. I did feel the ending in the comics was more satisfying, I really enjoyed the movie and came away with a big grin on my face. Please go see it, I’d really like to see this movie do well in the box office.

"Ramona" by Guster is also a great song

–theindiegeek out.

Time for some more great Droid Apps!

Apps:

Launcher Pro – If Task Killer is the first app you install, make this the second. I’ve tried out several home replacement apps, and this is by far the best one. It acts like the basic home Droid comes built in with and makes it more more useable and more customizeable. Truly great app. There is a free and paid version, and while for now paid version just gets a couple extra apps, please buy to support the developer, we want him to keep working on it!

App Aware – useful app for discovering other apps people have been using. Quite handy

DailyStrip – Comics, right on your phone, and a ton to choose from. One of my favorite apps.

DockRunner – Verizon’s overprice dock has a very nice app it runs. Now you can use the app without paying for the dock. Then you can do what I did, and build your own Dock out of K’Nex! Will post pics later.

Ethereal dialpad – Very fun music making touch screen. Kinda hard to describe, but very neat. Well worth a try.

Gigbox – Useful app for finding Music Shows around you and keeping track of artists

Gmote – Turns your Droid into a remote control for your computer’s media files. Totally sweet.

InfoDroid – Great small app for some basic info about your droid.

Layar – The is the app you see on most commercials. Overlays locations over a real time map. Pretty cool. Didn’t work perfectly in downtown valpo, but a very neat app, and hey, it’s free.

Mobile Queue – Manage your Netflix queue from anywhere! Many times I jot myself a note to ‘add to queue later’. Now I can add it on the fly. Very useful.

MusicSleep – not free, but only a dollar. Perfect for those of you like me who like to fall asleep to music. Sets a timer and then stops the music automatically once it runs out, so it’s not going all night. Works with most music programs including Slacker, Pandora, and Music.

Places Directory – Like Layar, but without the fancy camera overlay. Simply shows places around you in a nice organized manner. I like this one.

Scanner Radio – Lets you tune in to different radios in the area, from police to weather to other local stations.

WiFinder – Examines wi-fi networks in area. I’ve used this one many times for troubleshooting routers. Simple, elegant, works. Nice.

Games(cause we all like games, don’t we?):

Alchemy – Start off with four elements, Earth, Wind, Fire and Air, see what you can combie to get. Over 200 combinations.

BlowUp – Strategically place explosives for maximum destruction. Really like this one.

Coloroid – Clear the screen by making all tiles one color. Little tricky to get at first, but quite addictive.

Replica Island – Nice platformer starring everyone’s favorite Droid. Well made game.

Shoot U – Puzzle game where you try to hit the target. Too bad there’s stuff in the way. Good physics in this one.

Sweep – Fun clear-the-board game using poker chips. Tons of puzzles.

Now you tell me, what app have I left off the lists?

Writer’s Block is a pain. Whether you’re a blogger, famous writer, or college student at 4AM, getting stuck on what words to say is never fun. It’s even worse when your name is Alan Wake. Cause then you’ve got hordes of not-quite-human-beings to take care of, the darkness literally wants to suck you under, there’s a evil woman whispering words in your ear, and your wife’s been kidnapped. Some days it’s not worth putting pen to paper.

Alan Wake is a game from the same people who brought forth the magnificent Max Payne 1 & 2. And you can kinda see the influence. Alan looks and moves a bit like Max, though their similarities end there. Where Max is a hardened cop, Alan is an ordinary writer, like Stephen King or Jim Butcher. In fact, the game opens with a quote from King, which sets the tone nicely. The makers to a good job of working hard to make the game play like a Stephen King novel. Alan narrates the story, and the world is definitely at home in a King novel. While I wouldn’t say it’s scary, it’s a bit creepy, which is good. Actually wouldn’t have minded a bit more on the fear side.

The story is the real highlight of the game. A real fantastic tale of Alan basically figuring what the hell’s going on and what he’s to do about it and how he’s going to rescue his wife from the darkness that seems to be consuming all around him. There’s enough clever twists and turns to keep you hooked, especially with the episodic setup. The game is divided into six chapters, each with its own ‘Last Time on Alan Wake…’, and cliffhanger ending. Gives the game a nice feel. Although the chapters are a bit long. They’re just a little too long to do in one sitting. I would rather have more, shorter chapters, but that’s just a minor complaint. The story is quite excellent.

One thing with thrillers, is does the story make sense as a whole? With Alan Wake, the answer is yes and no. You can get a general sense of what’s going on, but they don’t give you everything. If you make conjectures and best guesses, you can figure it out, but that’s open to interpretation, there’s no one unified Alan Wake Theory. But there’s enough explained. Tying the story directly into the gameplay is one of the more unique collectibles I’ve seen in a game. Along the way, you find pages of a novel that Alan’s written, but doesn’t remember when. What’s more is what’s written on the pages comes true. Really quite awesome, and adds a lot to the atmosphere and keeps you looking out for pages.

The gameplay is pretty fun. Most of the game involves Alan running around at night, escaping Taken (the darkness filled people and monsters, not the Liam Neeson movie), and possessed farm equipment and other dark things. To kill the Taken first you need to burn away the darkness with your flashlight, flare, car lights, or any other sources of light (see: Rock Concert). Then you can use your guns to finish it off. It’s a pretty neat mechanic I rather enjoyed. Just don’t run out of batteries. Alan’s also able to cinematically dodge attacks if you time it right. These look pretty awesome and are very useful.

The music is quite excellent, and I was extremely happy to see the return of Poets of the Fall. They wrote the song “Late Goodbye” for Max Payne 2, a very excellent song, and their music is featured twice in the game. At one point, a record with a song of theirs is a clue for what Alan needs to do next. Also, at one point while navigated through some woods, Wake comes across a shack with a radio. Turning it on, starts playing one of their songs. At that moment, Wake is attacked and a battle ensues, all the while the song plays in the background. A truly great moment in the game, I wish there were more like it.

I usually think Collector’s editions are a waste of money. Just give me the damn game. But the Alan Wake Collector’s Edition is very neat actually. The game is packaged to look like a book, and it contains a book about Bright Falls (the town in the game) and more about Wake. Also included are the soundtrack and a Bonus Features disc with more from the game devs about the game. Neat stuff. I recommend it, if you can snag a copy.

Alan Wake is a very neat game, and you really should play it, at least once for the story. It’s not terribly long, about 8-10 hours, depending how long you take exploring, and is worth your time. Take a look, you might like what you find.

Love it or hate it, the Dynasty Warriors series has been around for quite a while, and it probably isn’t going anywhere soon. I find myself in the former category. While I’ll admit the series has its faults (namely the lack of change), there’s something about mindlessly slaughtering hundreds of troops in a few minutes with nothing more than a spear and an over the top moveset. Throw in co-op, and you’ve got a recipe for some good fun. A recipe that hasn’t actually changed much. Ever. But even with just minor changes from game to game, it’s still quite fun.

Believe it or not, Dynasty Warriors actually has a historical setting, and the characters you play as were actual people. Set during the Three Kingdoms Era of Chinese history (roughly 180-290 AD), during which, three kingdoms, Wei, Shu, and Wu were battling for domination of China. Constantly warring. This inspired the great historical epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (similar to Homer’s Illiad). Dynasty Warriors was based directly upon this epic.

Now, recently released on DVD and Blu-ray was a movie by John Woo (famous for Hardboiled and other Hong Kong action movies) entitled Red Cliffm which in Chinese is Chi Bi. Any Dynasty Warriors fan should instantly recognize the name. It was a very important battle and generally the midway point in DW. In the battle, the much smaller armies of Wu and Shu ally to defeat the much greater and powerful Wei through means of tactics, trickery, and having awesome generals. That’s oversimplifying it, but its the gist. The movie starts a bit before (Chang Ban) and shows the developing alliance and ends with the titular battle. Now, that’s all well and good, but does the movie entertain?

In a word, yes. In two words, hell yes. Filled with action as only the master John Woo can do, it’s a great war movie with spectacular battle scenes. As a fan of Dynasty Warriors, it was with great glee seeing some of my favorite characters portrayed. Tony Leung did a fantastic job and Zhou Yu, a favorite character of mine, and the general tactician for the battle at Chi Bi.  Also appearing are Zhuge Liang, Gan Ning, Sun Quan, Xiao Qiao, Sun Shang Xiang ,Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Cao Cao and more. So while it’s not everyone we’d like to see, it’s still a damn fine list. And the characters really do look their part. Quite excellent.

It’s important to note there are two versions of the movie, the Theatrical version and the International version. See, Red Cliff was originally released in two parts, but Woo shortened it for American release and so it could be viewed in a single sitting. My advice? I watched the Theatrical, loved it, and ordered the International Blu-ray. I advise you do the same. Watch the shorter one, see if you like it, then go order the full one.

I started out with Dynasty Warriors 2 on the PS2, and I was blown away. Had so much fun playing it. I then played all from 4 on, all the way through 6 Empires (4, 4 Xtreme Legends, 4 Empires, 5, 5 Xtreme….) including Samurai and Gundam Warriors and Orochi. Granted each are basically the same with a few small to medium differences, but they’re still fun, and the small changes are enough for die hards like myself. I’d like to make special note of the Empires and Orochi games. The Empires games play like a lite version of Risk and have always been quite fun. The Orochi games are crossovers between Dynasty and Samurai games, and instead of controlling a single character, you set up a team of three you can rotate on the fly, and there’s special team attacks, kind of like Marvel VS Capcom. Fun.

The Dynasty Warriors

The Dynasty Warriors games have always been about over the top action, cool characters and hacking and slashing and slashing and hacking. Red Cliff is an excellent war movie depicting one of the most exciting battles from the era. I highly recommend both.

–theindiegeek.

Quick question for you, what would you do if you were in the following scenario: Necromancers are raining down chaos and destruction and other generally bad things down upon Chicago, there’s hordes of zombies filling the streets, the good guys are on the verge of defeat, and there’s a good chance one of the previously mentioned necromancers is liable to attain dark god-hood before the night’s up. Personally, I’d probably scream like a little girl and run away flailing my hands in the air like a twilight fan at a midnight showing. But then again, I’m not Harry Dresden. Though I wish I was.

Harry Dresden

This is the exact scenario Harry Dresden, hero of the Dresden Files find himself in in Book 7, Dead Beat. Necromancers on the rise, hordes of zombies, chances of survival slimming. No problem. Harry finds himself needing to cross Chicago to rendezvous with his allies, but there are hordes of zombies between him and them. Inside of Chicago’s Field Museum, he looks for something he can use, anything that can aid him in the fight at hand. He looks around for a bit, then he sees it. Specifically, he  sees this:

For those of you who don’t recognize this fine piece of ancient history, her name is Sue. She’s the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton found to date. And those are her actual bones, not replicas. She’s on display prominently in the Field Museum. With more than a bit of magic, Harry brings her back to life. Now, something important to note: in Dresden’s world, when bringing things back to life, the older the better. Why, you ask? Because the older something is, the more magic you can put into it, consequently making it more powerful. Now, note that Sue is approximately 65 million years old. Yeah, this is gonna be awesome.

So Harry brings Sue back to life. What happens next is exactly what you think. Angry, magic-filled, ancient, ginormous, T-Rex VS a few paltry zombies. Yes. Zombicide ensues. And it is awesome and glorious. Sheer carnage. One of the most awesome things I’ve read recently.

This is why you should read The Dresden Files.

Went and saw The A-Team last night. Wasn’t sure what to expect. The trailer looked good, but the reviews have been all over the place. The cast looked great, but you really don’t know what to expect. So I went in trying my best to cast expectations aside, which really wasn’t that difficult as I hadn’t seen the original (although it is on netflix instant). The movie got off to a good start with a few good trailers, particularly Inception and Scott Pilgrim, both of which I’m super excited for. Then the movie began…

The reason we go to movies (barring Oscar judging snobs) is to be entertained, correct? Consequently, by that merit The A-Team is a huge success. It was fun, action-packed and absolutely hilarious. Everyone in my group was cracking up the entire time. It’s over the top in the best way. I’m more than willing to sacrifice realism for awesome.

As stated before, I haven’t seen the original A-Team, but I did love the cast. They really made the movie. Liam Neeson performed his usual standard of excellence as team leader Hannibal Smith (great name). Bradly Cooper did a great job as Face, probably my favorite character for his demeanor and his role as the hands on guy (like Elliot in Leverage). Quinton Jackson is no Mr. T, but does the job well. The real surprise was Sharlto Copely as Murdock. Copely’s only other real movie was District 9 , granted he played the main character. He was hilarious. By far the funniest character in the movie. Pretty much everything out of his mouth was a hoot. Great casting for the main characters.

Rest of the cast was pretty average. Not bad but nothing to write home about, Patrick Wilson being a very notable exception.  Wilson, aka Nite Owl II from The Watchmen, did a fantastic job as CIA Agent Lynch. Portrayed an enigmatic and commanding CIA agent quite well. Props to Wilson.

The A-Team is a fun over the top action movie with a great cast. Don’t think about it too hard and just sit back and laugh

One of my favorite games towards the end of the PS2 era was a little game called Gun. A western, it was very well done and very fun. Good story and voice acting, and you really got to do what you’d want to do in a western. You hunted bandits, hunted treasure, acted as deputy, broke out of jail, assaulted a town with Gatling guns and escaped a fort. Good times. Also, the length was just right. Just around 8-10 hours, it was a great weekend game. So when Red Dead Redemption was announced I was stoked. I hadn’t played Red Dead Revolver, but Redemption looked like Gun, only more so I was trilled. Did it deliver? Let’s see.

Redemption follows the story of John Marston, an outlaw gone straight, but blackmailed by the government into hunting his old comrades. And that’s pretty much the story in a nutshell. The story itself isn’t too complicated, but it makes sense and it works. What really works is the character of Marston. One problem I’ve always had with the GTA series is that playing a criminal, you don’t really feel sympathetic for your character. With Marston, it’s different. His actions are up to you, and you don’t have to play pure good or bad. They’re just means to the same ends. And, he’s quite likable anyways. You know where he’s coming from, his motives, he’s cocky but has the skills to back up the attitude. A good hero for the game. The supporting class is also pretty good, some more memorable than others. My favorite NPC would be Landon Ricketts, an ex-gunman you meet in the second act in the game. An older gunslinger, he’s world weary and probably the one person to put Marston in his place and have Marston respect him for it. My second favorite NPC is a fellow called Irish. His name says it all.

John Marston

So good characters, check. Workable story, check. What’s next? Right, gameplay. The game plays like the GTA games, including mini-map in lower left corner of screen. You take on a series of mission for various people, and in between explore the huge sandbox they’ve given you to play in. I’d probably have to say that story missions are probably the weakest part of the game. There are many very cool missions, particularly towards the latter part of the game, but towards the beginning they can get pretty tedious. But stick with it, its really worth it and the 2nd half’s missions are much better.

Now, where the game really excels is the sandbox. Rockstar has always been the best at setting up a fun sandbox to play in, and it does not disappoint here. The world is very expansive, covering three areas: the more wilder border and its towns, Mexico, and lastly the more civilized northern territory. Plenty of variety to suit your taste. Plus, there’s just a ton of stuff to do besides the story. There gambling: poker, blackjack and liar’s dice. Bounty hunting, treasure hunting, animal hunting. Duels. Strangers asking tasks. Sharpshooting challenges. And my favorite: random events. While you’re running around doing whatever, they’ll be stuff that happens, like a stagecoach getting robbed, that you can, if you choose, to take part in. These events can range from saving someone from a lynch mob, to a duel challenger, to saving a barmaid from a disgruntled customer to horse theft. All this is optional, but really adds to the whole feel of the Wild West, and is probably my favorite part of the game.

Red Dead Redemption is a great game, particularly for its portrayal of the Wild West. It’s really a fun sandbox to play in, with a ton to do. I completed the story in about 28 hours with 80% completion. With DLC in the works, it’s a game you’ll be playing for a while. (Also, if anyone needs help with the game, let me know). The story’s good and the end is awesome. Will say, that the game doesn’t end when or how you think it will, but its good. Remember, it’s not over until the credits roll. (and you can keep playing past the credits). Do yourself a favor and at least give it a try. You’ll probably like it.

One last thing to say: Fucking cougars. (Play the game, you’ll see what I mean)

It’s good to know that as different as Japan and the United States are, some things are the same no matter where you go. For instance, squirrels are insane, no matter the continent you’re on. This is another video from my friend John (who you might remember from the table-flipping game).

This is more for my own benefit, but I’d like your thoughts on these games, and any that I might have left out. Thanks!

Red Dead Redemption DLC

Alan Wake DLC

Fallout: New Vegas

Dues Ex 3 (very much so, this one)

Star Wars: Force Unleashed 2

Crackdown 2

Portal 2

Fable 3

Dead Rising 2

Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions