ArtisticallyChill

• is playing Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. http://ping.fm/qPeNi #
• blogPost: Twittering My Life Away – 2009-05-30 http://tinyurl.com/kn6mzr #
• Watching the season finale of The Tonight Show while doing some work for work. #
• Getting a jump on tomorrow’s workload while Ice Road Truckers Season 2 plays in the background. #
• Done with work. Writing up a blog post or two. #
• blogPost: Amidst The Rage Against The Machines, There’s Salvation http://tinyurl.com/mg8tkl #
• Couldn’t have said it better myself: http://ping.fm/mg7Ss #
• 7 days down, 23 to go. I feel proud for being so committed to my workout. Hopefully I can stay motivated to see this through to the end. #
• If you haven’t been watching Spike’s Deadliest Warrior then you’ve been missing out on a cool show. There’s marathon on now. Watch it! #
• blogPost: 2 Movie Based Games: 2 Direct Opposites http://tinyurl.com/msb46d #

Wolverine: Uncaged Edition is a fun and entertaining to play despite its tie-in to the EPIC FAIL that was the movie. Raven Software did a great job making this a true Wolverine game that’s filled with blood-gushing decapitations, eviscerations and severed limbs. The countering, dodging and quick kill moves add a bit more variety to the gameplay so it feels a bit less like a standard button masher. The upgrading element reminds me a bit of the studio’s previous games: X-Men Legends I and II, as well as Marvel Ultimate Alliance. As you level up you are given points to unlock and upgrade your health and rage meters, your claw damage, as well as special moves. The quick kills and environment kills were nicely done but it would have been nice to see a bit more variety. Maybe adding the use of the directional pad would have made this work by pressing any direction and tapping the quick kill button again during the bullet time you’re in after you initiate a quick kill.

Overall, Wolverine is definitely a good game to pick up and play, especially after having a bad day. This game will surely be a quick fix for your superhero gaming needs as we impatiently wait for Batman: Arkham Asylum to hit the shelves.

Terminator: Salvation is another direct opposite of it’s movie counterpart. The movie I enjoyed. The game, however, was a complete and EPIC FAILURE. The gameplay can frustrate you to the point of breaking the controller on a few levels, mainly all the ones that involve you being on vehicle. The developer, GRIN, wanted the game to feel realistic by making it a pain in the ass to aim a mounted weapons and sometimes the weapons you’re carrying. Another sign of poor development was dividing up the chapters of the game and then having to load each one after reaching the end of one section. This break in the gameplay provides ruins any chance the player has at really getting into the game. GRIN should have paid attention to Gears Of War. EPIC definitely set the standard for 3rd person shooters with immersive gameplay and story. Terminator: Salvation plays quick, a little too quick. I beat the game in 3.5 hours and on the hardest difficulty. For $66, I expect a bit more than 3.5 hours of gameplay regardless of how bad or good the game is.

Overall, Terminator: Salvation is a complete waste of money, even for a rental, an EPIC FAIL. Save you money or catch a matinee of the actual movie.

~ LoneWolf

Despite it’s lackluster reviews, Serena and I found Terminator: Salvation rather entertaining as a typical action/war story flick. Unlike the previous Terminator films, there is no time travel involved. Skynet’s self-realization was inevitable and so this story is set in future when mankind is struggling in their war against the machines. However, the movie does start out in the past as you witness the final moments of deathrow convict Marcus Wright. Though it seems out of place, this scene is rather crucial to the story and puts Sam Worthington, the actor who plays Marcus Wright, in the spotlight because his acting was far better than the rest of the cast. He definitely steals it from Christian Bale who plays the prophesied John Connor, leader of the resistance against Skynet and the machines. Somehow, Christian Bale’s acting was sub-par, rather unemotional and more robotic. It reminds me of how Arnold Schwarzenegger was in T2. Bale certainly didn’t need to bring his Batman voice to the film. Sure, I can understand you’re a war vet and you hate the machines, but a prophesied leader should sound more hopeful and charismatic, and less like garbage disposal.

Though not at all as bad as T3: Rise of the Machines but not as good as T2: Judgement Day, Terminator: Salvation is well-paced and chock full of special effects that typical of any summer action movie worthy being viewed on the big screen. However, it certainly doesn’t stand out as some like Star Trek, nor will it stand out to the rest of the summer action movies yet to come out like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or Public Enemies. One thing’s for certain, Sam Worthington definitely made this movie watchable and is definitely ready for more challenging roles.

~ LoneWolf