The Walking Dead: Season Two
Greetings, the Walking Dead: Season Two is a point-and-click game from Telltale. It was released in an episodic format during the months of December 2013 to August 2014. Like the first game, Season Two also contains five episodes in total which, when connected, create an overarching storyline with a few surprising plot twists. The story focuses on Clementine’s adventures after the original season and it is effected by the decisions the player made in the first game as well as the 400 days DLC. Even though new characters are central to the storyline, previous characters are mentioned in passing and it is greatly influenced by Lee’s shadow. It still retained some of its notable features such as the limited amount of time allowed to explore the conversation branches and forcing the player to make difficult decisions, especially regarding the last choice.
The plot begins several months after the end of season one and follows the remnants of the survivor group which consists of Clementine, Omid and a pregnant Christa. At the very beginning Omid is killed by a scavenger, leaving only the two to continue to their destination of Wellington. The story skips forward to 16 months and a depressed Christa is the only left person that Clem can trust. Despite this, their relationship has become strained as Clementine’s carelessness had resulted in Omid’s death. Christa, who lost her child, is also removed from the story as they come under attack from a group of scavengers. Her fate is left unknown as Clem manages to escape the area but she falls into a turbulent river, washing her up in a different location.
At this point Clem is alone and hungry. During her travels she meets a dog named Sam. It is a possible reference to Sam of the Sam and Max videogame series that Telltale was behind, considering the other references made to the franchise in the Walking Dead. The relationship is short lived as the dog bites her when she tries to open a can of food, causing her to accidently injure it in her defensive reaction. The player can either chose to either leave the fatally wounded Sam on the pikes or end his suffering quickly. Clem tries to make her way to a safe location until she is found by survivors named Luke and Pete. They are initially wary of her, mistaking the dog bite for a walker’s but decided to bring her back to their cabin. She eventually proves that she wasn’t bitten by the walker and the group from the cabin grow to trust her but the undead aren’t their only concern as Clem learns about Carver.
Like the original, the music was composed by Jared Emerson-Johnson who is also responsible for a number of Telltale soundtracks. There Walking Dead contains many interesting and well written characters with talented voice actors or actresses behind them. The character of Luke is a particular favourite of mine. This ensures that it is harder for the player to make decisions as they have formed emotional connections with the characters. I am not sure how Telltale will make season three as the storyline will be fractured given the choices made throughout the two games and the various endings that can be unlocked. It might revolve around new characters or it could still continue with Clem. Whatever the next instalment will be, I trust Telltale will create a brilliant game and I look forward to what the future will bring.
Plot=10/10
Characters=10/10
Graphics=10/10
Overall=10/10
Quote of the Day
Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.
Mordin Solus
Mass Effect 3
Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Greetings, Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a 2014 film starring Michael Keaton as the main protagonist. Other notable cast members in the movie include Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts and Emma Stone. The dark comedy was directed, co-written and produced by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. Aside from Birdman, I am not familiar with or have not seen the previous works of Inarritu. It is an unusual film as it is mostly filmed in one location, a Broadway theatre called the St. James Theatre in New York. The main aspect that convinced me to watch it is how the film is presented to the audience. The camerawork appeared to be one continuous shot as it follows characters around the set and when they interact with each other, it will break off from the actor to focus on another actor’s scenes.
The plot is rather a simple one. It follows the story of Riggan Thomson, a washed up actor with obvious mental issues that deteriorate throughout the film, as he tries to reinvent his career and rebuild his life. Thomson was known for playing a widely popular superhero known as Birdman a few decades earlier in a blockbuster series. It is a clear parallel with Keaton’s Batman from 1989 and 1992. Riggan occasionally hallucinates in the storyline as he can hear a disembodied voice prompting and tormenting him to return to the Birdman series. He also imagines himself as having supernatural abilities such as telekinesis and the ability to fly. The protagonist ignores the voice as best as he can as he tries to convert Raymond Carver’s ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’ into a stage adaptation. While trying to work Raymond also suffers with his family life as his daughter, Samantha, struggles from a drug addiction.
The talented but excessively unpredictable actor known as Mike Shiner is recruited as a main member of the cast as he would attract an audience to the theatre. While acting out the play on preview night Mike gets drunk on stage and ruins the play in front of a live audience. The event causes a rift in the relationship between Thomson and Shiner that continues to grow into open conflict, putting a strain on the production. Relations between the two are damaged even further when the media pays more attention to Mike than Riggan, which makes Thomson jealous as the project was his way of returning into the spotlight. The plot progresses as viewers watch the protagonist fall further and further into an unstable psychological state as his life falling into tatters.
Birdman has little music in it bar a continuous drumroll and a few scenes were classical music is played in the background. The Unexpected Virtues of ignorance is not a film everybody is going to enjoy as it is rather slow paced with little plot to keep it going. After having seen it I’m not sure what to think about it as it contained some interesting, new ideas but also had aspects that I didn’t enjoy. For instance, I believe it would have been better if some unnecessary scenes have were cut out in the final version. A more varied music selection would also have been preferable to the solo and monotonous sound of the drum kit. Despite this, the main draw that I found intriguing was how it was shot as if it was a continuous scene. Overall, I’m not sure if I would recommend it or see it again but I am glad that I did watch it in the first place.
Plot=7/10
Characters=6/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.
Don Vito Corleone
The Godfather
William Litt: Legends
Greetings, hope you are enjoying your holidays. This is just a short blog update to say that ‘William Litt: Legends’ is up on Write Wise. I first advertised the entry on the 15th February 2015, it was attached to the Sam and Max: Hit the Road review. The story was finally completed a few days ago and it consists of 14 chapters in total. It is my 21st entry on the site and my latest story since ‘The Death and Life of Ellen Smith’, which was released in December. Even though the challenges are no longer running, I still intend to write for the site occasionally with ongoing series or new entries.
The first Litt entry, named Corruption, was posted 4 years ago and it was my fourth entry for Write Wise. The sequel is much longer than the original as ‘Corruption’ was only around 3,500 words long. This story takes place several months after the last plotline ended and occasionally mentions William’s previous adventure. As such, ‘Legends’ revolves around new characters that hadn’t been introduced previously and the story mostly stands on its own. I will be back on the blog soon with more reviews and hope you enjoy my latest story.
Quote of the Day
Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.
Agent K
Men in Black 3
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Greetings, Wolfenstein: The New Order was released in 2014 and the plot follows on from the 2009 version of Wolfenstein. Unlike previous games in which the protagonist is silent, the New Order provides William B.J. Blazkowicz with a voice and offers an insight into his background. With his new voice William is able to have a personality that he had been deprived of in previous instalments. His development can be seen in how interacts with other characters, most notably with his love interest. That being said I did find that some of the characters were a little dull or lacking in originality but the game makes up for it in other areas such as the soundtrack. One of the more memorable parts of New Order is the music and its twist on existing works. Famous songs or bands from the 1960s such as the Beatles are parodied by the game with German vocals.
The plot begins with B.J. on an Allied assault on Deathshead’s compound in 1946. It should be noted that William has been trying to kill General Wilhelm ‘Deathshead’ Strasse since they first meet in the 2001 game titled Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The mission becomes a failure when Blazkowicz and his team members are caught by Strasse. The player is then forced into a choice in which B.J. has to save the life of one of two characters. William can either save the Scottish pilot named Fergus Reid or the young Private called Wyatt. Once the choice has been made Deathshead leaves the protagonists to die in an incinerator but they manage to escape. While evading his attempted execution, B.J. receives a head injury that leaves him in a coma for 14 years.
After over a decade of incapacity, Blazkowicz wakes up in a Polish hospital to find out the Nazis have won the Second World War and taken over the world. He is awakened in 1960 when Nazi troops are shutting down the asylum and killing those who resist the closure. Among those killed are the family who ran the facility, the parents of the head nurse called Anya Oliwa. With little time to understand the situation William kills the Nazi forces and flees the area with Anya. He is then led to her grandparent’s house where he is told of the Allie’s defeat and the spread of Nazism which is enforced by technological advancements. Those technologies include military robots and heavily armed soldiers with futuristic weaponry. Despite the bleak scenario, Blazkowicz doesn’t give up hope but tries to find the resistance movement along with Anya and fight the authoritarian regime.
I believe that this is the best Wolfenstein game I have played so far but I have only experienced the 2001 and 2009 instalments in the series. It brings back characters from the previous game such as Caroline Becker, leader of the resistance movement, and introduces new characters such as the villainess called Frau Engel. It provides the player with a varied selection of enemy AIs to kill in which they can be disposed of stealthily with a knife or in a guns blazing conflict. Overall, I found the game to be enjoyable even if it wasn’t groundbreaking or overly original and would encourage you to play it if you are familiar with the Wolfenstein series.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.
Baymax
Big Hero 6
Big Hero 6
Greetings, Big Hero 6 is an animated Marvel film from 2014. Like other Marvel films it is based off the original comic books but this film is different from the rest of the cinematic universe as it isn’t live action. I am unfamiliar with most of the voice actors as Alan Tudyk is the only actor that I know from the list. Other cast members include Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, James Cromwell and Genesis Rodriguez. I don’t believe that Big Hero 6 is related to the ever growing cinematic Marvel Universe or television shows as it is set in the futuristic and fictional city of San Fransokyo, a combination or fusion of Tokyo and San Francisco. The composer is Henry Jackman who also wrote the soundtrack for X-Men: First Class and Wreck-It Ralph.
The plot centres on Hiro Hamada, a young prodigy with a future in robotics, and his brother named Tadashi. Tadashi is also a gifted engineer who is working on a personal healthcare unit called Baymax. Hiro’s interest in working alongside his brother at his university is peeked when he meets Tadashi’s co-workers and the experiments they are working on. He decides to enrol for the prestigious university but he needs to impress Professor Robert Callaghan, head of the robotics apartment before he can be accepted. He attempts to do this by attending a science expo in which he presents his work to an audience. Hiro had created micro bots that can be linked together to form various shapes via mind control. The presentation was a success and catches the attention of both Callaghan and an entrepreneur called Alistair Krei. Hiro is offered a place in the university by Callaghan and is offered money by Krei but Alistair’s offer was refused.
Later that day a fire breaks out at the expo. Tadashi, realizing that Robert was still inside the burning building, runs inside to save him. It turns out that he was killed during his rescue attempt which forces Hiro into social isolation. One day Hamada accidentally awakens Baymax who wishes to heal Hiro of his pain. The plot picks up when one of the micro bots is reacting to a command and leads the two to a warehouse. It was previously believed that the machines had been engulfed in the fire and destroyed. Hiro and Baymax discover that the robots are being mass produced by a masked villain who spots the two protagonists, attacking them with the micro bots. They two manage to escape the facility and in order to find out the truth Hiro programmes Baymax to fight using martial arts. Hiro also recruits the help of Tadashi’s co-workers who use their scientific knowledge to become superheroes.
Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable movie but it couldn’t be compared to the other Marvel films as they are targeted at different audiences. Big Hero 6 is clearly focused on children when the likes of the Avengers or Iron Man has a much wider demographic. The humour was whimsical and well executed, fitting in nicely with the serious scenes. The plot while not overly complex or original was entertaining nonetheless although a few of the characters were rather forgettable. Due to the success of the original there are talks for a potential sequel which will most likely be made.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=8/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
Kira is childish and he hates losing... I am also childish and I hate to lose. That's how I know.
L
Death Note
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Greetings, today’s blog update is a review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, a South Korean film and the first installation in the Vengeance trilogy. Last month I had reviewed Old Boy which is the second movie in the series but is unrelated in terms of plot and doesn’t share characters across the two works. It was released one year earlier than Old Boy in 2002 and was directed by Park Chan-wook. It stars Song Kang-ho and Shin Ha-Kyun as the two opposing protagonists and Bae Doona as a central character to the plot. Unlike other traditional storylines or films as there doesn’t appear to be a clear heroic figure. Both the leading characters are motivated by vengeance and both could be described sympathetic villains or anti-heroes due to their morality and aggressive actions.
The plot begins with Ryu, a deaf-mute manual labourer who works at factory to financially support his ill sister called Im Ji-eun. His sister urgently requires a kidney but Ryu doesn’t have the money to afford the operation. His situation is made worse when he was laid off by his employers and so he reaches out to black market organ donors. He offers them his own kidney and money in exchange for one that will suit his sister’s needs. The operation goes ahead but Ryu is left, abandoned by the thieves and when he wakes up he realizes he didn’t receive his end of the deal. In need of money Ryu’s girlfriend, an anarchist by the name of Cha Yeong-mi, comes up with a plan. She suggests a radical scheme to kidnap the daughter of Park Don-Jin for ransom and when the money has been paid it can put towards the operation. Don-Jin is an executive at the plant and friend of Ryu’s ex-boss. He was chosen as their victim as to not raise suspicion but also to as he could afford the hostage takers demands.
The two succeed in taking the child known as Yu-sun, much to the desperation and grief of Park. Things take a turn for the worse when Ryu’s sister finds out about the plan and kills herself when she realizes that it was done in her name. After learning about her death, a distraught Ryu takes her to be buried near a river where they used to play alongside when they were children. The hostage is also taken along as well to the site and Yu-sun manages to drown while the deaf protagonist is burying his deceased sister. When Yi-Sun’s body is found, her father seeks revenge and begins to track down the murderer with the intention of killing him as well as those involved in the plot. On the other side of the story Ryu and his girlfriend Cha attempt to track the organ donor criminals that conned him near the beginning of the film. They have the same sinister intent and ambitions as Park has for them.
I enjoyed the movie even though it has some particularly disturbing scenes in it that are off putting for some individuals. Despite the entertainment it provided I felt that Old Boy was an improvement on it as well as a being better film in general. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance isn’t going to be a movie for everyone to appreciate due to its ultra-violence or torture scenes and I’m not sure that all members of this blogging community would enjoy it either. As I have already seen the first two in the trilogy I would like to finish it off with by watching the third instalment and am eager to see if it holds up to the standard of the previous works. Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to see and review Sympathy for Lady Vengeance at some stage in the near future.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effect=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
As you know, I have made a vow never to give you information that could potentially alter your destiny. Your path is yours to walk, and yours alone. That being said, Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless, and he will not hesitate to kill every single one of you.
Spock
Star Trek: Into Darkness
