Tag Archives: Review

Thoughts on Iron Man 3 (Spoiler Free)


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Iron Man 3 Director Shane Black had a tough act to follow. The hype that surrounded the Avengers and the praise it got after being released was massive. But I’m glad to say that Iron Man 3 was not only a great follow up to not just the Avengers and the Iron Man Series, but it’s just as good as the first Iron Man in my opinion.

Here’s a quick plot setup for the movie (again, spoiler free, don’t worry): Post-’Avengers’ Tony Stark is suffering from panic attacks due to the attack on New York (as seen in the Avengers). As a way to cope, Tony Stark begins to build numerous prototype suits for just about any emergency or situation in order to be sure that he’ll be able to protect his loved ones, especially Pepper Potts. However, a new terrorist threat emerges in the form of the 10 Rings, led by the Mandarin. At the same time, a mysterious person from Tony’s past, Aldrich Killian, surfaces with a vendetta against Stark.

When compared to the previous Iron Man films, this is much more of a character driven story. In fact, for a majority of the film, you’ll be seeing Tony outside of a suit rather than in one. But rest assured, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t as much action. In fact, I feel that the action choreography in IM3 is quite creative. The humor found in this movie is great as well. Tony’s snark/sassiness is set to maximum. As this is Robert Downey Jr’s fifth portrayal of Tony Stark (counting the cameo in The Incredible Hulk), all of his one liners and retorts feel quite natural, as we come to expect this sort of behavior out of him.

The rest of the cast do a stellar job with their respective roles. Major props go to Ben Kingsley’s portrayal of the Mandarin, which surprised me as being a bigger role than I expected (leaving it at that to avoid spoilers).

However, there are certain aspects of the film that I feel that the comic fans in the audience would find controversial, since it’s a different interpretation of the Iron Man lore. But the movie was still good regardless, so the more open minded fans would be able to overlook it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, since in my eyes, it hit just about every mark. It doesn’t try to be  Iron Man 1 again (which was a reason why Iron Man 2 fell flat with audiences), but rather it continues the story that the previous films has set up. That might be something that Marvel Studios has realized. Sequels don’t have to be ‘bigger’ to supersede the previous movies, but now that all of major players of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been set up, they can make continuations and new stories for these heroes to venture.

I’m not going to give a rating on the film, but rather I’m giving this movie a heavily regarded recommendation to everyone. I assure you that you will not leave this movie disappointed.

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Spring Season Anime First Impressions: Devil Survivor 2: The Animation


this-scene-was-retardedWell the Spring Anime season just started and boy is the lineup… well it’s a lineup. To start the season here on NUR and to keep in lieu with all things gaming, I give you Devil Survivor 2: The Animation. So this is the anime adaptation of the 2011 3DS game in the Shin Megami Tensei series. I personally haven’t played the game so I’m going into this show with no expectations. Thankfully enough the first episode was awesome and is now apart of my personal “to watch list.” Anyway, I may have not played this particular game in the series but I have played Persona 3 and the Megaten MMO and all of those games share similar cyber punk and demon summoning themes. The weird thing about the show for me was that I felt like I watching a darker version of Digimon and/or Pokemon. Yeah I know it’s really lame to compare shows just because of certain similarities but the Digimon vibe was strong in this show.

Now those of you who have played the game already know the overall plot, but for those of you not in the know or need a refresher well here’s a few things to note. This time around the protagonist is given a name, Hibiki Kuze. So you have Hibiki, his friend Daichi Shijima and their classmate Io Nitta get into a disaster that pretty much shuts down the whole of Tokyo. Before the event that pretty much trashes Japan, Hibiki is introduced to a website called Nicaea by Daichi. Nicaea is a website that’s popular among teens because of their “death face” videos. Videos that show how either you or your friends die. So it just so happens that Hibiki, Daichi and Io were waiting for a train in the subway then receive an update from Nicaea on their phones showing that they were about to die from a train getting derailed which oddly enough happens and they seemingly die. But they’re given a second chance at life as the Nicaea app on their phones ask them if they want to live. Choosing “yes” they manage to climb out of the rubble of the train crash somewhat unscathed. Just as they were to collect themselves, one of the train crash victim’s phone begins to emit an ominous light which summons a demon. They end up getting saved by  similar demons summoned from Io and Daichi’s phones, turns out that they have a new app installed on their phones for the sole purpose of summoning these “demons.” So that’s the gist of the first episode, I mean there’s more to it so why not check it out for yourself? If you don’t mind waiting a week for a new episode without having to pay for a membership, you could totally check it out on Crunchy Roll.

On a side note:

If you could have an app on your phone that could let you summon anything, what you would summon? I know what I’d summon:

Girls-Generation-10_1920x1200What? A guy can dream.

 

NUReviews Epi. 10: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: Reviewgance!



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You can ignore that now exclamation mark now. No need to be stealthy when you have a sword that can cut almost anything. Get your revengance on with Metal Gear Rising: Revengance!

Far Cry 3: Better Than Expected


2012-12-14_00006I know in a previous podcast I have done I along with the other co-hosts railed the game. However, we failed to realize that we only were seeing snippets of the co-op (which in my opinion is the weakest part of the game). Now before I start I will say that I have this for the computer and have been playing this game with max settings. This game is one of the most beautiful games you can purchase for the PC at this time. The level of immersion I got from the beautiful graphics and the first person animations (such as getting in cars, takedowns, etc.) Are unmatched by anything I have ever played in the past. The characters were believable and well scripted/acted and the storyline was at least somewhat believable in terms of the scenario your character is placed in to start the game. What made this game truly great in the story telling was the fact that every cut scene was in the first person perspective and the level of brutality, harsh language, and mature scenarios that your character experiences in the game made it that much better.

That being said I feel the gameplay was pretty standard. This is not to say it is bad but fps’ in general are all quite similar. The gunplay is what can be expected of an fps but I really enjoyed how ubisoft tries to hint at the player to take enemies in certain ways. When you take down an enemy you gain experience which after you complete enough to advance in “level” you get skill points which goes towards getting tattoos that unlocks special abilities. So what I mean by influencing players to take out enemies a certain way is that players will get x2 exp for taking out an enemy with a headshot but will get x3 exp for sneaking up on them and performing takedowns. Likewise if you had to liberate an outpost. Your score goes up for no alarms sound and even more for doing the whole thing undetected. Little things like this really add to a game which tries to get players to think a bit more of their playing style rather than simply playing in run-and-gun fashion. Another point that I absolutely loved was the sheer size of the islands you are able to play on and the amount of side quests, missions, and things to do on the island which on top of the 18 hour campaign will definitely give players a sense of many well spent.

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While I could probably write more on what I liked I have to get into some of the not so great things. First is ubisofts reusing game concepts in recent games. Throughout the island there are radio towers which you can climb and turn off to help the players cause. However, when you do this you get a huge 360 view of the area around you and a piece of the map is un-camouflaged. Sound familiar assassin’s creed players? Also I found that the enemy types and is were lacking in variety and intelligence. In fact my biggest enemy on the island was the wildlife which have a tendency to sneak up on you and attempt to maul you (damn lions). Also the game really does not have much replay value. Once you finish the campaign you are given and option to return to the island to finish any side quests that are left but this feels very strange since no ending of the game would make sense to you returning. The co-op is utter rubbish, no free roam. Also remember I am talking from the perspective of a PC gamer, this game on a xbox or ps3 looks like poop compared to the presentation on the PC.

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With all this being said I really felt like I had one of  my best gaming experiences of the year. Once again if you have the PC for it I HIGHLY recommend getting it for PC (also cheaper on PC). 8/10 game overall, I wish multiplayer was better and a 7/10 for console because of graphic limitations.

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Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage!? Review


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Adventure Time, for those who have had their heads buried in the sand for the last two years, is a cartoon about a boy and his dog going on adventures.  13 year old Finn is joined by his best friend Jake and a cast of loveable and cooky characters as they have adventures across the Land of Ooo.  It is a show that has enticed the imaginations of children and adults a like, and created a fanbase that just continues to grow.  Now imagine the excitement that fans had when they learned that show creator Pendleton Ward was working closely with Wayforward studious to create an official Adventure Time video game, and that is what brings us to the review of said game, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage!?  But before we kick things off, let’s get in the mood a little bit and listen to my favorite thing to come from the game, the theme song.

I love this song, I could listen to it on repeat, but the important thing is is it shows what this game is good at, which is encapsulating the feel that the show gives off.  Hey Ice King! starts off with Finn having a dream about getting their butts handed to them by the Cosmic Owl, a cosmic entity in the Adventure Time universe that usually shows up when something represents a great omen.  After some basic control training the duo learns that the “infamous” Ice King has stolen all of the hero’s garbage, and is forcing them to challenge the dungeons that he set up to get it back.  The game plays similar to Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link, meaning that you walk across a vast over world with a birds eye view of the area, and all the dungeons and other locations are played as a 2D side-scroller.  All the combat is done in these 2D side-scrolling sections, and is as simple as press an attack button to do damage.  Finn starts off with about three hearts of health, a section of heart taken off every time he takes damage, and can heal himself by eating food he finds, which is found by destroying enemies and then stored in his backpack.  There are also condiments such as ketchup, which you can add to any kind of food to boost it’s healing properties, and other support items taken directly from episodes of Adventure Time, though you’ll more then likely just be using them to clear up inventory space.

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The thing that the game does right 100% of the time is be a good source of fan service.  With Pendleton Ward working closely with the development team, the game feels like it came straight from an episode of Adventure Time.  All the characters act like they would in the TV show, Princess Bubblegum, royal leader of the Candy Kingdom, is normally a sweet person but has quite the bitter side, Marceline the Vampire Queen acts as quite the neutral party, and only does what she does for fun, and Lumpy Space Princess is the drama obsessed gossip queen that fans know and love.  Another thing to note is that one of the sprite animators working on the game is Paul Robertson, who you may know as the guy who did the sprite work for the Scott Pilgrim video game, so the animations in this game are pretty stellar.  However, past the fan service and great animations the game falls flat.  There’s a total of about 4 dungeons, and most of the game time is spent doing a fetch quest or two before you can access the dungeons.  It’s simplistic in gameplay and lacks content, the game can be beaten in one sitting the first time through, and all though it does offer a “more difficult” new game+, I can’t see it extending the gameplay time by any more then an hour or two.  The base run through overs no real challenge past missing a jump in a side scrolling section and falling down a pit, and all the bosses are painfully easy.

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That being said however, I still enjoyed the game.  This might be only because I’m a fan of the cartoon series, in fact I garuntee that’s likely the reason, but even with all it’s fault I enjoyed the time I spent playing it.  I loved the character interactions and how things turned out story wise, and would easily recommend it to any other fan of the show.  That being said however I do insist you wait for a chance to get it cheap, even as a great source of fan service the game is not worth $40 at retail.  If it was a $15 downloadable title, we’d be talking my language, so if you plan on getting it get it cheap, real cheap.  As a gift to the fans, I give the Adventure Time game a 4/6, but as a stand alone title I’d have to give it a 2.5/6.

NUReviews Epi. 10: Rock Band Blitz


I just realized I didn’t play Ballroom Blitz in any of my footage. Please forgive me for this missed opportunity. But to make it up for you, check out this review for Rock Band Blitz, available for the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network!