The Hunger Games Review

Harry Potter, Twilight and now The Hunger Games; Young adult novels being turned into lucratively successful film franchises is nothing new, but Hunger Games manages to have headier social commentary than the whimsical Harry Potter films or the female disempowering Twilight series. The Hunger Games is also at times brutally violent with a bleak outlook on a future obsessed with "reality" television, the rich/poor divide, looming fascism, and a highly regulated police state. These aren't new themes, but they are bordering on hard hitting when it comes to the topics usually found in young adult fiction.

The Hunger Games follows Katniss Everdeen a strong resourceful young woman as she is thrust into the 74th Annual Hunger Games. A competition created by the Capitol to remind the 12 Districts that now make up the former United States, now called Panem of their failed rebellion. Each year the children from every District age 12 and up get their names submitted to a lottery where the "winner" is given as tribute to represent their district in the Hunger Games, a "to the death" battle royale where the victor is the last one standing. When Katniss's little sister Primrose is chosen, Katniss offers herself as tribute to go in her place. Katniss along with Peeta Mellwark the male tribute of District 12 are then whiffed off to the Capitol where they are trained in weaponry and survival tactics as well as how to manipulate the media. Manipulating the media is essential to survival since the Hunger Games are broadcasted as entertainment to the citizens of the Capitol and the contestants have to gain support from sponsors if they want supplies they could use to survive.

The Hunger Games is amazing, I've waited two paragraphs to finally get around to the fact that this movie is fantastic. Don't get me wrong the movie has its fair share of issues that I'll delve into pretty soon, but man am I stoked that the new franchise kids seems to be obsessing about is legitimately great. Twilight will disappear into the ether later this year and thank all that is holy. Twilight has been a blight on this world for far too long. Too long have girls obsessed with a series that depicts women as emotionally unstable and single minded. Twilight sees women as items for men to fight over, beings with no ulterior motive other than to find a man, manipulate him into staying with you forever by attempting suicide and then getting pregnant to make sure he will never leave you. Its disgusting and the worst possible message you could send to young girls. Katniss on the other hand lost her father in a coal mining accident, and is now forced to feed her sister and mother by hunting with her mostly self taught archery skills. She single handedly raises her sister and cares for her mother, she fights with all her strength to protect them and she doesn't allow anyone to take advantage of her or treat her or her family poorly. Now that's a strong young woman that girls can aspire to be like and its what make her so easy to root for when she is forced to fight for her life.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss and her strength and determination as well as her complete disgust with the Capitol and its inhabitants is well portrayed. She is such an easy character to root for because she put others before herself and she is steadfast in her ideals and no matter how hard the games try they will not break her resolve. Lawrence is really the only person who could have played this part, she oozes a certain maturity and you utterly believe she can do all the incredible feats of strength and courage Katniss displays. Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta and he isn't as good, he simply lacks any motivation and you never understand why he is doing anything or why Katniss cares about him. For something that elicited audible swoons, the romance angle seemed tacked on, neither appears to have any real feeling for one another. There is a moment that alludes to that fact because the citizens of the Capitol have begun calling them "star-struck lover" and so you get the feeling they are playing up that angle to appease the fans but its still clumsily handled.

The Hunger Games knocks it out of the park, the film is thrilling and incredibly engaging as you watch these poor kids forced to fight each other knowing full well most will not make it out alive. The action is well staged, seen almost entirely from Katniss perspective we begin to react as she would at the sound of a twig snapping or a child screaming. There is a bit too much shaky-cam a style made famous by the Bourne films, but here it actually works for the films benefit, adding to the chaos and confusion. It also allows them to show the gorier deaths with some quick camera work; it can sometimes be disorienting but its bearable. I can't express how glad I am that this is what has taken the reigns from Harry Potter and Twilight, Hunger Games shows kids as incredibly intelligent, self-proficient and able to overcome any obstacle as well as or sometimes better than most adults. Katniss is a strong independent woman you can feel good about rooting for. I am personally thrilled to see this movie become successful, they have completely won me over, books purchased, expectations set, anticipating sequels. Great Job Hunger Games, Harry Potter looks down arms crossed with an overwhelming sense of pride, finally a successor to great young adult fiction.

(4 out of 5)

Journey Review

How can I even begin to "review" Journey the latest game from thatgamecompany and creative genius Jenova Chen. Words are insufficient at expressing the joy, wonder and magic that is on display here, Journey transcends videogames and simply exists on another level. Something that can be appreciated by anyone with even an inclination of human emotion. The key to its ingeniousness is that Journey is intuitive and simple, which helps immerse you in its breathtaking world, as you oftentimes wander aimlessly looking for anything in the vast desert environment sprinkled with hints of mysticism and past civilization. There were times playing Journey where I found myself emotionally invested in a creature I had meet not 15 seconds earlier. But Journey appeals to such basic instincts, burrowing its way into the deepest corners of your heart and bringing soothing and joyful warmth.

The reason this all sounds so hyperbolic is because Journey is very hard to put into simple terms, and while I sit here fearing my words aren't doing it justice I'm also fearful those same words are becoming eye-rollingly sappy. But heed my warning, dismiss this game at your own peril, if you have never played a videogame Journey is a shining beacon of exemplary craft and perfection, and a testament to what videogames can achieve. If you even remotely consider yourself a fan of this medium you owe it to yourself to experience the only must-play title of this entire generation.

Everything this game does is meant to effect something, the lighting sets the mood as its swings from exhaustingly bright and hot to warm and magical orange glows. The visuals shine with specks of sand that sparkle amidst the rolling plains of sand as you gracefully cut through them. The music unsurprisingly soars, helping craft a world with a mix of ethnic sounds ranging from Oriental instruments to African beats, its even timed to your progression as it speeds up when your filled with joy and becomes eerie when you enter new places. Astoundingly this game, for as little as it resembles a traditional videogame includes a co-op mode, which if the first part of this write-up gave you any indication is impeccably well made. There are no servers to join, friends to invite or connection issues. Players seamlessly enter and leave your world, like strangers in the night, courteously helping solve a problem and disappearing the next time you look behind you.

Journey is exactly that, a trek through an unknown world filled with beauty, wonder, fun, and horrifying dark secrets. Your input is minimal, you simply control a cloaked figure with only two abilities: jump and call. Armed with nothing but your sense of wonder, and do not fret those senses will be flooded, you explore a stunningly  gorgeous world. I have never played a game that is so intrinsically emotional to your very core. It illicits deep feelings with such ease you begin to question why everyone else seems to struggle capturing these very emotions. You'll undoubtedly find yourself grinning ear to ear as you surf down sand dunes, perking up in your seat at the sight of an unknown structure peaking out of the sand and fearful as the darker parts of this mysterious place rear their heads. I fear delving too deep into specifics since that sense of mystery is key to the experience, but suffice to say this is a meaningful game, both for its importance in this medium so many of us love but also for its uncanny ability to surface such strong emotions.

(5 out of 5)

Mass Effect 3 Rant - Cause Everyone Else is Doing It

There has been a lot of talk about Mass Effect 3, from its pre-release fears of broad appeal and rushed development, to anger at the prospects of Day One DLC with facts pointing to large portions of said content already on the disc, and finally to the soul-crushingly poor ending that has turned an entire community against a single company and its creative decision. I wanted to write about each of these things, as well as things I loved and hated from the game after playing through the game twice. I'm choosing not to review it because as of right now I am too conflicted to garner any sort of cohesive breakdown on the pros and cons, if I never get around to a review consider the opinions of this article to remain true unless otherwise stated.

1) Pre-Release Negativity 
     When Mass Effect 3 was announced I was deeply concerned, coming off the irredeemable pile of trash that was Dragon Age II, was BioWare on track to destroy another one of its beloved franchises. The quick turnaround in announcement to release was especially frightening since so many cutbacks had been made to DAII that it barely resembled a finished product, with around five environments repurposed again and again to conserve on time and money. As time went on a Multiplayer mode became the only talking point for ME3 and I feared again resources were being wasted on an unnecessary and largely wanted feature. Add to this a new character that rightfully became mocked as the newest member of The Jersey Shore and you had a game that seemed to be moving further away from its original premise. And while some of those fear were quelled some reared their head or so I believe *see Things I Hated*.

2) Slightly Less Pre-Release Negativity / Day One DLC
     Day One DLC is nothing new and the entire argument of "I payed for the game why don't I get all the content" is so self-entitled its incredible, you are not important to a businessman you are a number and you are vastly outnumbered by those who differ in opinion. If you are incensed at the idea of paying for more content, THEN DON'T PAY FOR IT, speak with your wallet instead of a completely superfluous online petition, it's the only language businesses understand. There are files that contain content from the DLC on the disc, that is so the DLC is better integrated with your experience instead of it feeling tacked on with no impact. Finally game development is something most people dont understand, people seem to forget that hundreds of people work tirelessly for months and even years to deliver the experience most people so quickly dismiss. In a typical development cycle a game is completed around 2-3 months before the games release in that time the vast majority of the team is sitting on their hands with nothing to do, until the game finished certification, it is in this time when the developer focus on future DLC, and yes future can be Day One since its still 2-3 months of development time before the game is released.

3) Mass Effect 3- The Ending
     So.... WTF was that huh. Aside from the obvious plot holes, cheap patched together ending, or complete disregard of any and all choices made from throughout all three Mass Effect games that ending was piss poor to put it lightly. I would love to have a retrospective on the development of Mass Effect 3, it would be fascinating to see what on Earth motivated them to reach so far up their collective asses and pull out this unmitigated atrocity they somehow gathered the balls to call "a satisfying conclusion". FUCK YOU. The reason the ending angers me is because it was so clearly unthought. There is literally a Nobel Prize winning thesis the length Barack Obama's cock that tells of the completely absurd number of problems with this ending. I will use what little intellect I have to shine a light on just a  few glaring problems.

• If the Reaper are synthetic why would they wipe out all life, why not just organic. If the Catalyst *cunt child* controls the Reapers "Who the fuck is he"? If chaos is inevitable why not wipe out all life bar-none, why allow for the cycle to continue indefinitely? The Reapers don't actually stop chaos, in fact they allow it to continue with a 50,000 year intermission.
• If you spent literally THREE GAMES subsiding the wars between entire species doesn't the Catalyst realize the cycle can be avoided. By the end of my game, the Geth were fighting alongside the Quarians, the Krogan, Turians and Salarians had settled their differences. Cerebrus was destroyed, Synthetic including the Geth and EDI learned to love and became self-thinking. 
• Why develop a game in-which you make galaxy spanning decisions if they never materialize in any fashion. Save the council; well they still hate you/ Save the Rachni Queen; save her again/ Rewrite the Heretics; they still side with the Reapers
• Didn't BioWare realize that every ending dooms the entire galaxy. Every ending destorys the Mass Relays, which in this universe means space flight is impossible, leaving species stranded on other planets, planets they cannot survive on. Turians cannot eat human food, they all die. Quarians can't assimilate to their environment, they all die. In some endings all synthetic life dies, AI's, Geth, anyone with cybernetic implants. 
• Where the hell is the Normandy and why were they flying through a mass relay when shit was going down
• Why spend an entire game collecting war assets if they don't influence the conclusion in any way. Why not run towards the blue beam with nothing but a shaved head and a dick in your hands. 

4) Things I Loved 

It may seem surprising but I did actually like parts of the game. I really enjoyed that the game had so many incredibly kick-ass and oftentimes moving scenes. Seems like everyone with any real importance gets at least one moment to shine before the end. Characters like Jack, Grunt, Legion, Thane are given a sort of last hurrah before the end. Because of the impact these characters have had on each individual player their choices and motivations matter, they are more human and relatable than any videogame character has ever been. Mordin Solus had a dark past that haunted him, he justifies his actions as something that had to be done, but he has never been able to live with himself since. His sacrifice in Mass Effect 3 has meaning because as players we have become friends with him, we understand why he does what he does and feel genuine sympathy for this tortured man who only wants to redeem himself.

But character moments and deaths aren't the only great thing about Mass Effect 3 the game looks absolutely stunning, every environment is lavishly detailed even when BioWare clearly cut some corners with 2D backgrounds. As you visit every homeworld which appropriately echoes the individual species culture and aesthetic the vistas and details are nothing short of breathtaking. The final confrontation between the Qurians and the Geth is especially strong as you fight on the very planet the Qurains have been fighting to get back to for centuries. The fate of these two races is brought to a heated and highly emotional peak as the Geth strive to become sentient and the Qurains try to reclaim their home. No matter the outcome its incredibly powerful and meaningful after three games of build-up.

The game is also a lot more dynamic, better animation and camera cuts between cutscene and action. Less awkward conversations between two characters standing still, instead characters move around and articulate. Even on the ship characters interact with each other with no input on your part, Vega can oftentimes be found cooking "webos fritos" in the dinning hall, it makes the ship and its passengers feel more natural. Characters also move around to meet up with one another or just to get out of someones way it all adds to the camaraderie and realism. 

My main takeaway from Mass Effect 3 of the things that I enjoyed boil down to moments. Poignant, Cheer Inducing, Heart-Breaking, Cathartic, Incredibly Moving moments. Mass Effect 3 excels above all else in these moments, they are perfectly crafted with attention given to cuts, score, lighting, facial expression and countless more seemingly menial things. When these moments are onscreen you will undoubtedly think to yourself "this is the most perfectly crafted videogame in history". These moments are magical, and that's not hyperbole, this universe and the characters that inhabit it are near and dear to our hearts and this final entry in their stories is significant in a more meaningful way than that word could ever convey.

5) Things I Hated 

Everything that isn't those incredible moments I mentioned above. The pacing in this game is totally fucked, the galaxy is supposed to be ending and your running errands on the Citadel, multiple time you are told how long its been since you last Earth -in shambles by the way- and it seems inconceivable any life could have survived the Reapers extensive extermination process. One minute you are saving a species from extinction the next your helping extract civilians from a Cerberus occupied facility, aren't decent soldiers for this kind of stuff. How am I supposed to believe the Reapers are a threat if I can stop and talk to the bartender and dance the night away. Don't get me wrong, all of these things are awesome, and in a lot of cases define the Mass Effect experience, but their at odds with the direness of the story. Either make the Reaper less of a threat so walking around hanging with your bros isn't jarring or more seamlessly integrate those side-missions and "dates" into the ever looming threat of the Reapers.

The N7 missions are bullshit, repurposed multiplayer maps does not a compelling experience make. Side-Missions with very very few exceptions are also .... bullshit, why is Shepard eavesdropping and then conveniently coming across *enter name here* artifact. It's a waste of time and completely devoid of entertainment. What happened to solving investigations, helping a Quarian on his pilgrimage, shaking down a corrupt merchant, or simply helping a quell an argument. All NPC interactions make Shepard seem like Michael Cera, quietly walking up and awkwardly interrupting a conversation to make a single sentence input and then walk away as the poor passerby ask themselves, "who the hell was that". 

Lastly why is there so much less interactive dialogue. I remember coming back from a mission in Mass Effect 2 and having lengthy and involved discussion with each of my crew and squad members based on the previous mission. Now I walk up to Liara, Garrus or Vega and I get a half-assed response to an unspoken question, "That shit on Palaven was messed up, huh" yes, yes it was, now weep into my shoulder and confess your true feelings. There was just a strange disconnect with characters this time around, rooms in the Normandy were never occupied and left it feeling lacking. The game also had a lot of automated dialogue, Shepard seemed to have minutes upon minutes of dialogue between characters with little to no dialogue wheel choice from you. And it oftentimes felt like the dialogue wheel was missing more options with the game predominately only offering the upper right (paragon ) and lower right (renegade) option.

Edit- The dream sequence were pretty terrible too.

Edit 2 - That blue scanning room is annoying.

IN CONCLUSION 

Mass Effect 3 is an incredible game and a game everyone who has played the previous entry's should play. You simply cannot miss the opportunity to wrap up longtime plots and see off some of the greatest characters in all of videogame history. Mass Effect 3 struggles to recover from the ambition of its predecessor, there was simply no way to accommodate for every conceivable permutation somebody could have by the end of that game and so favorite characters are short shrifted. The games pace is nullified by an assumed intergalactic threat that seem to patiently wait for you to find NPC #13's Heat Stabilizer. But man when Mass Effect 3 goes for intense emotional drama, they fucking nail it. BioWare crafted characters the likes of which will likely not be seen for quite some time, these characters existed beyond their roles in the game, they had lives with regrets and accomplishments they had lived and loved and they meant something, to the bitter end. BioWare also irrefutably bring closure to some of the most compelling stories in a videogame with the Geth/Quarian War, the cure of the Genophage, the Alliance of every species in the galaxy to fight a single foe. It's a shame most of these things are squandered by the ending, but its the journey that counts. A bad ending does not make for a bad game, and there are plenty of things to look back on with immense satisfaction in each entry in the series.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss Review

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the flagship launch game for the Playstation Vita, and as the next entry in the popular Uncharted franchise it has a lot to live up to. Thankfully Golden Abyss serves as a good introduction to the Vita hardware, utilizing all of its feature sometimes to breathtaking results and other times to infuriatingly dull and repetitive effect. Bend Studios is the developer and they go to painstaking lengths to recreate the look and feel and even the general formula Naughty Dog ended up tuning to perfection across their three main-series entries. But there is a lot missing from Golden Abyss as well; the globe-trotting is absent, replaced with two separate yet oddly familiar jungle environments and while they may look stunning it is the same basic look for the games roughly 7 hour campaign. The game also lacks a lot of the little things Naughty Dog always excelled at that raised the Uncharted series from your standard action game, the writing in both story and dialogue is noticeably sub-par and the dynamic feel of the action is gone leaving a series of meandering set-pieces that never feel as grandiose as its console brethren.

It's hard to pinpoint where the problems stem from, it could be that the developer admirably as they tried couldn't put together a worthwhile Uncharted game. Maybe the problem is a rushed development to get the game released in time for the launch of the Vita hardware. It could even have been the limitations of the hardware itself though, I find this last possibility harder to believe since the console will undoubtedly be exploited to better ends in the future. Either way Golden Abyss is still a stellar launch title, and the only one in the batch I would recommend. The game maintains the Uncharted mix of third-person shooting and environment traversal and both are finely tuned and incredibly fun when everything is working. But everything doesn't always work, cover is shoddy at best, and the shooting mechanics are floaty, forgoing any sense of precision with just blind luck. Traversal has been streamlined thanks to the Vita touchscreen, as you can trace your path on the various handholds and Nathan Drake will follow sometimes more efficiently than you could have. I actually used the touchscreen to climb around a lot as it negated me having to constantly press X or O to ascend or descend, instead a quick and precise finger swipe had Drake gracefully moving along as I laid back and enjoyed the fluid animation.

But not all the added Vita specific features work. As a Sony owned IP as well as a marquee launch title Golden Abyss is saddled with every Vita feature they could cram in and for the most part their poorly implemented and annoyingly frequent. The back-touch is used to climb up ropes which is awkward and over complicated, the motion-controls are used to balance on "slippery" planks and a perceptive Drake utters "aww shit" every time this happens and I couldn't agree more. The Motion controls are also (optionally) used to finesse your aiming buts its unnecessary and largely ineffective. There are some onscreen touch screen prompts as well, sometimes it just to inform you of a nearby collectible or a wonderful vista you can take a picture of, once again using the motion controls. But the onscreen swipe-prompts also take the place of button-prompts forcing you to quickly recreate the motion with your finger to save Drake from plummeting to his death or punching a dude in the face. Again all of these features feel excessive and only serve to hurt the experience by adding layers to what was initially a simple mechanic.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss manages to be an impressive showcase for what the Vita can do and its a faithful recreation of the Uncharted series. Unfortunately it also disappoints on both fronts cramming in too many features that could have been more elegantly implemented and generally failing to recreate the enormous scope and fun adventurous feeling of the mainline Uncharted games. Golden Abyss is a good game but some unfortunate design choices meant to show off the Vita hardware only hurt the overall experience. Golden Abyss is most comparable to the first Uncharted, both bolt on clumsy hardware features for the sake of bullet-points on the back of the box, both feature a single environment stretched to its creative ends, and both show great promise of future sequels. As a launch game for the Vita you can do no better but don't expect it to rival the impeccable feats the later entry Uncharted games seemed to pull of with ease.

(3 out of 5)