It looks like the Assassin’s Creed movie is going to be a really real thing. 20th Century Fox has set a May 22, 2015 release date for the film which has X-Men: First Class star and all-around badass Michael Fassbender starring in and producing with a script from Michael Lesslie.
Let’s hope that Ubisoft can make an Assassin’s Creed game that I will want to finish all the way through before then.
I am going ahead and giving warning that everytime someone dies in this movie I am going to yell in the theater “Fassassinated!!”.
The Playstation Vita’s biggest fall release is getting a change in release date to avoid Grand Theft Auto.
Killzone: Mercenary is moving from September 17th to September 10th wisely avoiding the release of Grand Theft Auto V. The portable shooter had already set its September 17th date before GTA changed from its spring release to its current one. At least Sony is giving the Vita title a chance instead of leaving it buried.
Earlier this week I watched a stop-action short film. It’s a few years old, and so I’m surprised to just now hear about it. A Ride Towards the Sea is a story about a man’s failed journey into the real world, and was reportedly inspired by Pixar’s Finding Nemo.
I’ve always been interested in short films — it’s amazing how such a grand story can be told in only a few minutes. Think of what Pixar has done — their numerous independent short stories — even the heartbreaking introductory scenes to Up.
After seeing last year’s The Girl is Mime, starring Martin Freeman, my interest was renewed substantially, and I’ve been on the lookout for equally inspiring and heartbreaking stories, hence my recent discovery of A Ride Towards the Sea.
I dare you to watch either of these films and then admit that you felt nothing. Short films are truly a forgotten art.
Please share any short films you know and appreciate.
So let me tell you something. I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to go to the midnight premiere of Captain America. I was not interested. I was not amused. And I was very tired.
But let me tell you something else. I sat moping in the audience, sending the occasional glare to Trey, and waiting for the movie to start so that it could finally end. But when that steam dissipated and Chris Evans stepped out of that crazy metal magical muscle maker, my opinion changed drastically.
In case you need a reminder…
Yup. I like this movie.
Mind you, I am not opposed to the rest of the film. I found the story compelling and interesting (and I wanted to slap that bitch who kept eyeing up my man). Keeping in mind that I never read the comics or knew the general concept, I was pleasantly surprised when he survived the crash, and I honestly look forward to next year’s sequel.
Speaking of which…I found out recently that they’ve started filming for The Winter Soldier, and I got excited. I mean, the sooner they film, the sooner we watch, right?
Wrong. Turns out they’re filming in Washington DC. I live really damn close to DC. I could be there in minutes (speed limits are just guidelines, right?). Apparently I’ve been wasting my time working and studying for finals (who needs a degree anyways?) when I could be stalking watching Chris Evans. The filming is going to continue for a few days, so I’ll have to resist that temptation.
But I truly am excited for the movie even though I wasn’t in DC yesterday watching him repeatedly get in and out of a car (which was apparently being driven by Scarlett Johansson for those of you who bat for the other team). The Marvel franchise is only getting stronger, and the movies only seem to get better (there was an Iron Man 2?).
And yeah, I know that Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth are out there smiling and looking sexy…but my allegiance has yet to falter.
I mean…look at this guy! LOOK AT HIS BODY.
For the record, I promise not to have too many muscle-oriented posts. I just couldn’t resist.
2013 is turning out to be a weird year for me theatrically. As much crap as I give Vin Diesel I am more than ready for his two movies this year. Fast & Furious 6 will be out in a few weeks and this September sees the return of my favorite of his characters, Riddick.
Yes, I am an unapologetic Riddick lover. Deal with it.
The new trailer for Riddick really gives the movie a more Pitch Black feel than the slightly bloated The Chronicles of Riddick. There are three simple reasons why I will be seeing this beyond the gratuitous violence:
So Scott usually does news posts; I’m more of a “let’s talk about things that are at least two weeks old” kind of journalist. But Scott’s on vacation! So it’s up to me to type… something.
Metro: Last Light
The seemingly unlikely sequel to one of my favorite games is out today! We once again get to journey with Artyom through post-apoc Moscow, taking in an atmosphere that must be experienced to be believed. Check out my “Five Reasons” article for more details.
Cloud Atlas
Also out today is my single favorite sci-fi film since District 9. An insanely sweeping tale that takes place across a millennium, yet still gives you characters you can connect with, I highly recommend it. Plus, it’s probably the last time anyone will give the Wachowskis more than $5 to make a movie.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
A leaked document from NetherRealm seems to indicate that the next four-pack of DLC characters will consist of Red Hood, Martian Manhunter, Power Girl and Sub-Zero. This will probably draw even more flack from the folks who believe that the Bat-family already has too many characters. I’m hopeful for Manhunter; how he didn’t make the initial cut is beyond me. And I’ve always preferred Sub-Zero to Scorpion.
Agents of SHIELD
I know we already have a post up about the full trailer, but I would just like to take this opportunity to say the following: If J. August Richards isn’t Luke Cage, I will throw a massive nerd tantrum.
That’s really all I’ve got for now, folks. I hope that at least one thing on the list made this worth the quick read. Thanks!
Now that ABC has officially picked up Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (was there any doubt?), we can all begin salivating over the trailer that was just released for it and not so patiently wait for September to exactly figure out how Coulson lives.
Joss Whedon directed the pilot and will consult and produce the rest of the first season.
Another Man of Steel commercial. Someone save me from myself because I have watched them all multiple times so this must be my self-induced punishment from all the commercial skipping with my DVR.
If you haven’t had the chance to play Blood Dragon yet, or if you have but missed the live-action launch trailer, I am going to ask that you take the time to view the trailer posted below. Just trust me on this. Thanks.
It’s brutal honesty time: If that trailer stirred nothing within you, this game is not your thing. I say that now because the review below might make you think otherwise, so don’t come crying to me if you decide to pick it up and are then disappointed. I warned you.
For those of you who did “feel those feels” so to speak, Blood Dragon may be the best $15 you spend this year. It is everything that trailer would lead you to expect on the surface, and surprisingly more underneath.
The game stars Rex “Power” Colt, a Mark IV cyber-soldier who has been sent with his partner Spider to investigate a mysterious island base. Of course, things go horribly wrong, and Rex is forced to work with the beautiful (but mysterious) Dr. Darling to try and stop Sloan, his former CO and mentor who has gone off the reservation.
The story is told via animated scenes straight out of something like Contra or Double Dragon; the characters are just static drawings that slide back and forth or change position suddenly whenever they are supposed to be “moving.” Did I mention these scenes are intentionally scaled to only take up about 1/6 of your screen, and use 16-bit color?
Gameplay, on the other hand, is rendered using the full Far Cry 3 engine, albeit a tweaked version of it that makes everything look like a mix between Tron, LV-426, and the Terminator future. The lasting effect is a mixed bag of drab environments that lack the stunning immersion of FC3, versus objects that pop nicely against this backdrop so that every enemy, animal, vehicle and item really stands out for the player. The game world is admittedly rather dark, and my first play session left me with a headache as my eyes adjusted.
One of the surprises the game had for me was just how much time I would spending with it, because after the initial mission and a brief tutorial on base-capturing, the island opens up to you just like in FC3. There aren’t any radio towers, but there are a dozen bases for you to capture, two types of side-quests, animals to hunt, and three types of collectibles to search for. I was genuinely pleased that this wasn’t a straight action game, and roaming the land is every bit as much fun as it was in FC3.
The base capturing works a little differently, mainly due to the presence of the titular blood dragons: Creatures of unknown origin, these dinosaur-sized, neon glowing mini-Godzillas roam the island at will. They will make a bee-line for you if you don’t move quietly around them, but their roaming can be controlled by luring them around with cyber-hearts taken from your enemies. They are immensely hostile, and can attack with tooth, claw, and lasers from their eyes.
Each enemy base has shields around it that keep dragons out, but you can lure them close enough to use their lasers, and keep enemies distracted long enough to sneak in and turn off the shields. Once that happens, it’s just a matter of watching the dragons kick ass until the base is clear, at which point you need to either kill them or lure them back outside of the shields to take the base. I usually opted to lure them out, mainly because I saw them as allies, but also because they’re hard as shit to kill until you get a few of the late-game weapons.
For the side missions, Path of the Predator makes a return; go here, get a certain kind of weapon, kill specific enemy / enemies with that weapon. The other type is a hostage rescue, where you have to kill all of the enemies in a certain area without being detected, otherwise they off the hostage. The collectibles are appropriately themed: there are VHS tapes with spoof descriptions of 80s classics; TV sets that are tuned to a strange, static-filled signal; and research notes about the crazy things Sloan’s lead scientist is trying.
One of the complaints with FC3 was that there were simply too many random tasks that didn’t really contribute anything to the experience. Blood Dragon corrects this issue by having all of your weapon attachment unlocks tied to the side missions and collectibles. Think running around finding TV sets is boring? Find enough of them and you unlock a double-barrel, and then a quad-barrel attachment for your shotgun. The system isn’t perfect; for instance, all four upgradable weapons have three capacity upgrades, which is a bit much. I would suggest taking the time to find everything before completing the game; otherwise some of the cool attachments you get will never see any real use.
Adventuring around the island will also earn you cyber-points, known in other games as “experience.” Blood Dragon retains a lot of them same perks and skills as FC3; instead of branching skill trees, each level-up simply unlocks a new ability, bumps your max health, etc. So though Rex doesn’t feel quite as hand-crafted a killer as Jason Brody, the end result is that you slowly become more and more bad-ass without having to fret with menus.
When you finally do get around to the story missions, you will be treated to five of the most action-packed, sharply-written action movie parodies imaginable. I thought deeply about how much to talk about the one-liners, references and twists that pop up as you progress, and decided that it’s all just too good to spoil. I will say that the second-to-last mission is the hardest part of the game, but it opens up and ability that makes the last mission pure joy. You know how action movie heroes get their ass kicked in the second act, but then after a montage spend the entire third act killing 10x the number of enemies that previously whooped them? It’s that, and then some, and about halfway through that last mission… Well, no spoilers, but I was literally laughing while wiping away tears of joy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH4UwdS5sPE
There are not a whole lot of reasons to stick around after the credits roll, other than to grab a few missed collectibles, or maybe tackled the task of killing 25 dragons, but I was still supremely satisfied. It seems that more and more companies are using downloadable titles as a way to let dev teams do cool, off-the-wall ideas, and Blood Dragon is the epitome of the trend so far. If you have $15 and a free weekend, then you have what it takes to do it “Mark IV style, mother(@#^er!”
I played Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon on the Xbox 360. It is also available for download on PC and Playstation 3.
