Little Brother

Greetings, Little Brother is a novel written by Cory Doctorow which was inspired by Orwell’s dystopian 1984 with many similar themes occurring in the two books. It is set after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. In this version of the world, the DHS has become overprotective and paranoid with the possible threat of terrorism, having a presence in everyday life.

The story follows teenager Marcus Yallow, a talented hacker who skips school along with his three friends in order to play a game in the city. While out in San Francisco, a terrorist bomb destroys Bay Bridge with the DHS responding swiftly. Marcus and his companions attempt to find safety as instructed by the DHS, in an underground train station, however it is cramped with other civilians fleeing the scene and so the four try to leave the area. However one of Yallow’s comrades, Darryl is fatally injured as a passerby stabs him. They eventually make it to the streets to find some medical attention by standing in front of a moving van. Those inside the vehicle grab them, blind folding them in the process.

The characters are brought to a secret location along with hundreds of others. Once inside the island, they are psychologically tortured through various techniques in order to break their spirit and confess to being involved in the attack. After a while three of them including Marcus are released, with Darryl’s fate unknown. However their freedom came at a price, they were under surveillance and would be recaptured, never to return if they spoke of their imprisonment. Yallow disregarded the threat and decides to use his hacking abilities to lead a revolution against the DHS.

It is a nicely written book read from Marcus’s viewpoint, which explains the technical aspects of the plot including hacking methods used against the DHS. Overall it is a good novel with likeable characters and admirable goals in a dystopian society ruled by an unscrupulous government. I am under the impression there is a sequel coming out which should prove interesting with the way it was finished.

Plot=7/10

Characters=7/10

Writing=8/10

Overall=7/10

Quote of the day

Do you have any...bulletproof edible underwear?

Sam

Sam and Max: Season 2 Beyond Time and Space

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Greetings and welcome to the first blog update of the New Year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the last instalment in the Modern Warfare series and follows the same storyline that the other 2 prequels put into motion. While I believe that it is a perfectly good game, it suffers from repetitiveness as one of its problems.  The majority of it is set in cities such as London and Paris which gets a little tiring as a good portion of number 2 was located inside invaded American cities, which feels much the same.

The plot isn’t that complicated as it has only a few threads to follow. At the end of Modern Warfare 2, America and Russia are in conflict after a CIA operative was framed and murdered for a massacre in a Russian airport. As the Russian army is pushed out of America they decide to invade Europe’s key cities using biological weapons and their armed forces, the other side of the storyline is to hunt down and kill the villain behind the new World War, ultranationalist Makarov who sought revenge for the fall of his country. The campaign last only for a few hours, with the main selling point being the multiplayer aspect.

Few of the main characters return to the story mode from previous games such as Soap MacTavish and Captain John Price, leaving the game with a lack of strong appeal as the characters have very little personality compared to the likes of NPCs in other games. As usual, it is visual pleasing experience with big sweeping landscapes to explore for enemy intelligence. At the end of the day it is a good game that is quite enjoyable in the main storyline but it starts to feel a little repetitive.

Plot=7/10

Characters=7/10

Graphics=8/10

Overall=7/10

Quote of the day

We have positive ID on Batman. He is kicking all kinds of ass down there.

Tyger 4

Batman: Arkham City