Video Game: Portal 2

Portal 2 is just one more reason why the game developer's at Valve are master's at what they do. Valve has created some of the best first person shooter games in the past years, including my favorite multiplayer FPS, the Left 4 Dead series. During the Steam summer sale, my friend and I snagged a Portal 2-2 pack which made it even cheaper than what it currently was discounted to. Needless to say, once I started it up, I beat it in almost one sitting. That's not to say it is extremely short or anything, it is definitely longer than its predecessor. However I was hooked from start to finish.

Portal 2 is the sequel to the short but sweet Portal of a few years ago. In it, the protagonist is a human test subject, forced to go through demeaning "tests" while utilizing Aperture Science's Portal gun. It is a unique concept to the series. Basically, by using the Portal gun, one is able to step through walls, fall from ceilings, enter from the ground up and so on in order to solve puzzles that the infernal computer wants to put you through, all in the hopes of reaching the end of this maze. It makes for a lot of fun and is consistent with physics.

Without spoiling anything, Portal 2 starts up where Portal 1 left off. This time, the story is fleshed out a lot more. The game also plays like a sadistic comedy. The dialogue between the AI's is a riot to hear and really engages you in the atmosphere.

I have yet to try the Cooperative mode, which essentially is a whole other campaign in which you and a friend work together as portal toting robots, after finishing the single player game, but I will be doing so in the near future. If you enjoyed the first Portal, you are sure to love this next entry. It expands on the original concept in every way, going above and beyond.

 It is a shame to hear that Valve is considering not really focusing on single player games as much in the future, in lieu of preferring to create multiplayer games, as they certainly have a knack for it.
Give this one a try. It will not disappoint.

Television: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is an intense show.  It is one of my new favorites.  My brother had urged me to give it a watch over a year ago, but I only more recently took the time to do so.  I was hooked from start to finish.

Breaking Bad tells the story of Walt, a brilliant overqualified chemistry teacher, who becomes ill and has trouble paying for medical bills for cancer treatment.  Walt is a very prideful man and does not want to accept monetary support from his friends.  Through a series of coincidental events, Walt decides to put his chemistry background to use, cooking crystal meth and coming up with ways to sell it, in order to pay the bills.  This results in Walt and his partner Jesse, a former flunky student of Walt's, ending up in over their heads as they try and hide their second lives from their loved ones, try to stay out of the dangers that this line of work comes with, all the while trying to maintain a profitable albeit illegal business.

The first three seasons are available on Netflix instant streaming, while the fourth season just finished airing on AMC.  There will be one more major season of 16 episodes that promises to bring satisfying closure to an already stellar series.  Give this show a watch.  From the great acting and writing, engaging believable characters and genuinely intense situations will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Video Game: Ghostbusters: The Video Game

There is no denying that the Ghostbusters movies are classics, filled with poignant comedy in every scene.  They are so legendary that they have become ingrained within American culture.  A third Ghosbusters film has been in the works for years upon years but only recently has started to really take off.  If you are a big Ghosbusters fan, you are no doubt aware that between all of this, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the script for a video game.

The video game actually stars all of the original Ghostbusters, the secretary, as well as many other side character as voice actors.  You play as a recruit who has just joined the Ghostbusters.  In all honesty, it really feels like you're watching an extended Ghosbusters movie.  The game plays like a 3rd person shooter, similar to something like Gears of War or Resident Evil 4/5.  The dialogue is funny, clever and very nostalgic.  It will make you reminisce about and want to re-watch the movies for the 40th time.  To say that they captured the atmosphere of the franchise well is an understatement.  You revisit many settings from the films.  More story fleshes out certain parts from the films as well.  While they gameplay may get a little repetitive, mowing down ghosts with the assortment of Ghostbusting tools that fire with the uncanny rapidity of many modern firearms, and capturing them with the traps is pretty fun.

It is as cheap as $10.00 on Steam, or cheaper if you wait for a deal.  It is also available for the consoles.  If you're a fan of Ghostbusters at all, play through this game.  It is fun and engaging to hear all of the actors work their magic together after all these years, and will definitely make you anticipatory for the film that could come as early as next year.

Movie: Captain America

I went to another summer blockbuster with a friend.  The environment was less than pleasant.  Behind us we had a child who broke almost all movie theater etiquette, kicking my seat, talking and asking questions throughout, performing tap dancing, rattling wrapping paper, chomping popcorn and bursting out laughing at the elderly dying on screen.  It made me reflect on how I may deal with children someday.  On the one hand I really don't think I would want to raise a child to be another drone in society and fit so well into the safety of the norm so as not to break it and be noticed.  On the other hand though, I think I would want to caution my child as to what is expected in certain settings so they don't ignorantly break the rules while being completely oblivious as to them doing anything wrong.  To the side of us there was a couple of twenty somethings, texting away throughout the movie.  This was most prevalent during quiet dark scenes, suddenly from the peripheral, one could notice the shimmering face of this person who was clearly not an actor/actress in the movie, accompanied by ticking sounds of the keypad.

Despite the chronic external noise, I did like Captain America.  The majority of the film is set during World War II.  An unexpected fragile soldier with a big heart becomes a hero in fighting against the evil Nazi's.  It's always been a compelling propaganda story in history, and seemed to adapt to film all right.  It is very obvious that a lot of the film is setting up for "The Avengers" movie due out next summer, with cross overs from Iron Man, as well as the expected Nick Fury appearance.  It also made me realize that if you're strong enough, you can make a heavy frisbee a pretty deadly weapon.  It was entertaining to watch and action packed.  I will agree with what film critic Roger Ebert said, that it does feel like the film is "Going through the motions," but that doesn't necessarily make it bad.  It is more or less what you would expect from this film and nothing more... or less.

If you are a fan of comic book adapted films, you're going to want to see this one.  He is the first Avenger after all, and surely you will want to be prepared for the crossover film next year.  Just do not go in expecting to be surprised and you will most likely enjoy this film.

Video Game: Left 4 Dead Series

Happy Halloween season bloggers and bloggettes.

It is the season where everyone gets in the mood to scare people, or scare themselves via movies, games, trips to theoretical haunted places, etc. Whether it is scares, thrills, gore, or spooky eeriness one seeks, October is the time to hunt for it. There are plenty of options out there for the thrill-seeking, however I figured I would take this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite games.

The word "favorite," is brandished about a lot by people to try and dramatically convey the importance of what they are talking about, which really serves to dilute its meaning. I'll talk a little bit about why I consider this game one of my favorites. I would say I am a team player. I receive gratification in accomplishing things collectively with a group of people. When a goal can be reached by the fusion of a unified effort, one can witness the genuine and blissful feeling of successful cooperation.

In essence, The Left 4 Dead games are the definition of a cooperative game. If you are a PC FPS fan, there is a good likelihood that you have already heard about and played these games. Created by Valve, the company behind Half Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress and Portal, The Left 4 Dead games, like many multiplayer games, focus on teamwork in order to achieve victory. The difference in comparison to the other multiplayer games Valve has made is that, it is near impossible to be successful without teamwork.

In Left 4 Dead, the premise is that a zombie virus has overtaken the majority of the population. You and three other survivors must work together to make it to the safehouse in a desperate attempt to work your way to a rescue point. The games don't really focus strongly on story, and actually play out as if you were watching a zombie themed movie. Even so, it is still incredibly immersive. There are hordes of zombies constantly flying at you, trying to rip you to pieces, as well as special infected with certain powers that can easily incapacitate you. The best strategy is to stick together, because as a team, you can help a fallen survivor. If someone separates from the group, there is a good probability they are done for.

There are the regular campaigns where you work together with three others to beat what the computer throws at you. There is also the incredibly intense multiplayer mode, where the special infected are inhabited by real people, who work together to take your survivor group down before you can reach the end. Other modes that have been introduced over time include a survival mode, where you attempt to hold out at one place as long as you can, before the horde of zombies destroys you, and the multiplayer Scavenge mode, where you work together to collect gas cans around a map to lead to your escape. Each mode is a ton of fun. One could spend days just mastering one of those modes, only to find a fresh game in the next.

Left 4 Dead 2 expanded upon the original. I prefer the original characters from Left 4 Dead 1, but everything else about Left 4 Dead 2 is superior. The introduction of melee weapons, uncommon common infected, new special infected and more help it surpass the already phenomenal original. At this point, the majority of the original Left 4 Dead levels have been added to Left 4 Dead 2, with the included use of melee weapons, new special infected and improved gory graphics.

If you do not already own Left 4 Dead 2, I highly suggest you purchase it. Valve is very giving with its own games. Right now, among other great horror themed games, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 are on sale on Steam for $6.79 each. In my opinion, this is a steal. If you have 3 other friends, you can buy a 4 pack for even cheaper, (20.39). Do yourself a favor and invest in one of the funnest and exhilarating games to grace the multiplayer FPS genre, before Valve removes the deal and you are Left 4 expensive.

Alternatively, if you haven't played it in a while, check out some of the new things, like altered ending maps for the L4D1 levels, mutations of regular game modes, or user made maps. The utility from successfully surviving with your friends for me, still remains unmatched.

Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

After seeing the stellar first part of the adaptation of J.K Rowling's 7th Potter book, it was a downright necessity to see the end.  I had read all of the books throughout life previously, so each time one of these movies came along, I've been quick to notice what I do and don't like about the movies.  For instance, many people didn't like the 5th book, but it stuck out to me as one of my more favored entries.  However, the movie for the 5th left me wanting.  It felt like it was on fast forward most of the time.  I also remember key parts in the book that seemed glaringly ignored in the movie, which made me wonder how they would explain things in the future movies.  I also didn't really like the 3rd movie, because it felt like half the movie summed up 90% of the book, with the other half summing up the conclusion; the end result seeming like an unequal lopsided telling of what was originally a pretty in depth story.
With these points aside, the majority of the movies were really good.  The 4th, 6th and these last two especially stuck out as very good adaptations that really worked well.  Before I talk about the movie itself, I might as well recap the obvious point that when you go to a movie, you are going to become absorbed in the film.  I had many distractions throughout the course of the showing, with a kid next to me continually waving his arms as if to press piano keys that would make the noise "DUN DUN DUN!!!!" each time some pivotal point by the villain would take place.  As well, the speaker above us was constantly making what sounded like someone finishing off their soda, slurping away.  At first I thought it was some weird sound effect for the snake, but unfortunately it was just a rattling speaker.  This caused many turning heads towards it in an effort to give it a dirty eye glance, with no such luck of stopping its persistent interruptions.  I mention these distractions, because although they sucked me out of the films grasp often momentarily, I had ease drifting right back in.

By this point, all of the characters are extremely developed.  You have genuine care and concern for what each of them represent.  Much of the credit of course goes to the author, for writing such a captivating story, but those who adapted it into a film did a really good job.  The only part I felt could have been handled better was the Snape's memory scene.  It really hit home in the book.  I kind of understand why they did it the way they did, but I didn't feel it left the same residual effect in the viewer, that those who read it would have most definitely felt.  Other than that, the movie deserves all the praise it has been getting and more.  It is dark, suspenseful, dramatic and powerful.  Many fans feel they've grown up with these movies, which in fact they literally have as the actors have aged into their roles.  If you are a Harry Potter fan and have read the books/seen the movies, I don't have to tell you that this is a necessary watch.  If you are interested but have never read or seen the others, I'd highly suggest viewing those first or you're going to be completely lost.

By the end of the movie, I felt a door closing.  Finally the film adaptations are complete.  Now for us all to await either another book in the series that J.K Rowling said she wouldn't be making, or a spin off movie that those who worked on the film will never secure the rights to,  or a reboot of all the films when the next jump in technology takes place. 

New BlizzCon Information

The two day Blizzard convention is wrapping up today.  Quite a few things were revealed at the event, such as new information about Starcraft II, Diablo III, a Blizzard DOTA title, and a WoW expansion.

Regarding the highly speculated WoW expansion, Mists of Pandaria, a new race called Pandaren will be playable for both the Alliance and Horde faction.  A new hybrid class, Monk, will also be available, that will play potential roles as tank, damage dealer and healer.  New dungeons, raids, talent system, dungeon challenge mode, pet battling, and level 90 cap are also notable features of the expansion.

One of the more notable reveals at Blizzcon was the WoW annual pass.  If you agree to pay the subscription fee for WoW for a full year, you will receive a full digital version of Diablo III for free.  This is an incredible deal for WoW players that don't see themselves stopping WoW anytime in the future, or Diablo fans that have been interested in returning to WoW.  It is a brilliant marketing scheme by Blizzard.  I am a little surprised that they would give away Diablo III, but it is great incentive to bring back subscriber numbers to WoW and keep interest held in multiple properties of theirs.  Blizzard isn't really in any position where it needs to be worried about making money either, so they can afford to give away their games if it means keeping the masses involved.  Other benefits from agreeing to this annual subscription include a free Diablo themed mount and access to the expansion beta (if that's something that interests you).

While people can and will be skeptical of these changes coming to WoW, as most are resistant to dramatic and perhaps risky adaptation, there is a reason why Blizzard has remained a top player in PC gaming for many years.  The company's persistence on quality products over quantity, as well as their malleability and flexibility to change over time in order to keep things fresh and exciting, has helped Blizzard to remain ever relevant, and most likely will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

You can learn more about what happened at Blizzcon 2011 here.