Space Brothers

Today I review this slice of life anime, Space Brothers.

The latest opening for the anime, my favourite until now.

This anime, as the titles suggests, is about two brothers, Nanba Hibito and Nanba Mutta. This review will start by presenting the two main characters:

 Nanba Mutta - Most of the anime follows the older brother Mutta. Mutta was born October 28th of 1993, during the Agony of Doha, when japan failed to get into the football world cup and all the country sighed, the older brother was born. Himself considers to be very unlucky because of this event. Before starting the journey to become an austronaut, Mutta worked in a car design company. Easily gets lost in his imagination, usually overthinks things over and always expects the worst coming his way. It's a very intelligent individual, usually thinking outside the box. Despite considering himself to be unlucky, he may be the most lucky one in the anime, being saved by luck a ton of times.

Nanba Hibito - The succesfull astrounaut, the younger Nanba Hibito. Nanba Hibito was born September 17th of 1996, Nomo earned a MLB no-hitter shutout, and while the nation yelled in euphory, the younger brother was born. Hard working and straightforward, Hibito quickly rose in Nasa ranks, in part by his extraordinary talent as an astronaut, to become the first japanese in the moon, and on the first team to live in the moon base. He's more serious than Mutta, and sometimes can be very airheaded, but at the same time he's a role model for a lot of people. He's very popular in the USA, receiving the nickname Samurai Boy.

The story starts July 9th of 2006,while the world was fixated int he  football world cup final in Germany, and while Zidane headbutts Matterazi, the two brothers are exploring they're neighborhood while making an audio log. During this trip, they saw an UFO on the sky sparking the dream of being astronauts. The story then jumps to 2025, Hibito is on the crew for the lunar base, a tryout for creating colonies in Mars, and also becoming the first Japanese to go to the moon. Meanwhile Mutta is...being fired from his job as a car designer, for hedbutting his boss for talking trash about Hibito.

Zidane!

Then Mutta starts job hunting, but Hibito makes their mother send his resume in secret to JAXA, the japanese space agency, and he gets selected to the astrounaut tryouts. While crying and smiling at the acceptance paper, his journey to space begins. The story is most of the time about Mutta, and the hurdles he has to pass to become an astrounaut, and when he eventually becomes one, the hurdles to get to space. It's well written and I find myself waiting for more.  During the series Mutta gains more friends that also compete for reaching space, being the 2 most important the following ones:

Makabe Kenji - Kenji meets Mutta on the first day in JAXA and quickly they become best friends. Kenji is the oposite of Mutta, self confident, quick decisions, anything you can name it he aces it. He has great talent when comes to being an astronaut. He always lends help to Mutta when he needs the most, and they have the perfect teamwork.

Itou Serika - Serika also meets Mutta on JAXA in the first day, and quickly Mutta falls for her. She was a doctor before enrolling in the astrounat tryouts, and wants to get into the ISS to develop new medicines, in hope to create a cure to the disease that killed her father. Her favourite thing is food, and frequently has his stomach growling and eats by two, despite that she's thin.

The characters are easy to like, and have always consistent background and lovable personalities. There aren't a so called villain, as the focus solely focus on rivalries, and surpassing one's shortcomings. There isn't a single one with bad intentions, and that's a fresh thing, as it's common to have someone spoiling the main character advancements, but in this case there isn't none. The anime also has a lot of pop culture references, Zidane's headbutt, Ramos shooting the penalty over the bar, the Terminator's "I'll be back" and others.

The soundtrack is the level expected for a show like this. The openings and endings are very good and catchy, and the soundtrack is average. In my mind there's only one that sticked:

Art - 4/5 - the art is different what one's used to, and that's always a good thing.

Plot 4/5 - it's well written, and the exams and space training feel real.

Soundtrack - 3/5 - for the reasons stated before.

Excitement - 4/5 - The series has a medium pace, but when you get caught in it you'll be craving for more. It isn't exciting as a shounen anime, but Mutta's character is easy to relate to, and it's hard not wanting to know what will happen to him next.

Space Brothers gets a 15/20 launch!

Sword Art Online

This is my first review ever about an anime so I will try to introduce it the same way it was introduced to me without spoiling all the fun about it.

In a near future MMORPG's have evolved to be VRMMORPG's. Virtual Reality is now a dominant feature in the genre so that the player could be immersed in fantasy worlds with a sense of reality like never before thanks to the Nerve Gear, a head gear that stimulates the users senses via their brain. And when it comes to games there is one that is more antecipated than any other...Sword Art Online. The world of Sword Art Online is a giant floating castle in the clouds called Aincrad, which has 100 floors and a medievel theme to it. The beta for this game was highly restrictive and very few players were able to test it, and all that have talked about it said that this was the best MMO ever made so, upon release, the expectation was so high that it sold out. People rushed to their homes to play it and that is when we meet the main character of the story...

Kazuto Kirigaya (a.k.a. Kirito) - The main protagonist of our story. A nerdy guy who keeps everything to himself, seems to be a little bit awkward or childish but he can be a total badass when it comes to fighting and a heartbreaker for the girls. He lost his parents and lives with his uncles and his cousin. He played the beta version of Sword Art Online and bought it as soon as it came out.

During day one players get to notice that the logout option is not available so they just kept playing waiting for the problem to be fixed. Soon they are summoned to the Main Square to where they are informed by Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, that they would be not able to log out of the game. The only way to do so was to complete the game, to clear all levels and bosses. If anyone in the real world tried to pull the Nerve Gear off, the player would die, and also, if they die in-game, they would also die in real life. Sword Art Online is the ultimate VRMMORPG.

Soon players began to create guilds but Kirito decides that he would be better all alone. Having the knowledge of playing the beta he uses that to outrun players playing quests and grabbing items before anyone else. Another reason to do so is that some people start dying and the new players start blaming the beta-testers for those deaths, because they had not shared their knowledge about the game. Still, Kirito has to gang up with some other players to clear the first floor boss and this is where he meets the co-star of the story. The story develops to tell the tale of this two players.

Asuna Yuuki - In the real world, Asuna is a girl trying to keep up with her parents expectations, for that, she lives a very stressful life and that is why she played the MMO, to escape to a world she could be free from all of that. In the game she starts also as a lonely player and looking to be somewhat weak which she proves not to be at the boss fight where she teams up with Kirito.

The story takes place for a long time, around two years, so many players start to settle to live the rest of their lives in game. They decide to give up on the goal to beat the game and become what we might call NPC's. They open businesses like weaponsmiths, restaurants, hotels and things like that. Some however take the guilds way too serious and fight for their territory and rule them as if they were countries, imposing their laws, others take on almost suicidal quests in order to beat the game. There is a little bit of everything, from thieves to bounty hunters, honest workers and corrupt ones, good and bad people just like in real life.
 
I will not say more than this about the story because, anyone who hasn't seen it, should be able to be amazed as I was by this anime.

One last remark goes to the soundtrack. If you do have a moment to appreciate it, please, do it. It is not very common to have a soundtrack as rich and fitting as this one. The only flaw I could point to it is that it lacks a strong "single" like many other animes have, something that sticks to your mind for days and months to come.



Art - 4/5 - Even though it is an anime we get that feeling of a JRPG which is the mood and credibility it should have. I would play Sword Art Online without a doubt...well if I didn't die by playing, because I suck a little bit at them.

Plot - 4/5 - If the idea of an ultimate MMORPG is not enough for you I don't know what it could be. I myself cannot think of anything more awesome than this. Still, the plot takes a turn around the middle of the anime that I didn't enjoy that much, but still, it was good.

Soundtrack - 4/5 - I found the two intros pretty good. The soundtrack is also pretty interesting as it is a very good companion for the setting.

Excitement 4/5 -The fast pace of the anime sometimes seemed to be too fast. The action scenes are awesome, it has its plot twists and it gives us the thrill to just see the anime in one sitting.

Sword Art Online is one of the best animes I have seen and, obviously, one of the best in the recent years, it gets a slashing 16/20.

An Adventure in Space and Time

In the awake of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who commemorations, there were many special features (including a special episode, already reviewed at POPinions by Tiago Gonçalves) to celebrate the event. From documentaries (like the Doctor Who Ultimate Guide) to the object of my review today, the biopic An Adventure in Space and Time, I already watched most of what BBC put out in the days around November 23rd. Some better than other, today I will bring you my thoughts about a short movie (about 85 minutes long) about Doctor Who's first steps.

Doctor Who original logo, back in 1963

An Adventure in Space and Time was written and produced by a long time collaborator of the regular Doctor Who show: Mark Gatiss (writer of episodes such as The Unquiet Dead in 2005 or Victory of the Daleks in 2010; readers may also recognize his name as creator and actor in well-known shows like The League of Gentleman-a personal favorite of mine-and Sherlock-also highly recommended). The film narrates the story of how what is now known as the First Doctor was cast and the show was produced and focus on two vital characters for this to happen: William Hartnell and Verity Lambert.

William Hartnell (on the left) and Verity Lambert (on the right);
they were vital, as the first actor to play the role and the producer
of the show to make Doctor Who the long-lasting success it is today.

Hartnell (played by another well known name, David Bradley, that readers may know from the Harry Potter movies as the unfathomable Mr. Finch) is a seasoned actor worried about typecast after his last role. Against all odds, a young, but fierce producer, a impeccable Verity Lambert played by Jessica Raine (of Call the Midwife fame), cast Hartnell to a new show on BBC, an educational science fiction show for everyone at home, from children to elders. The film then depicts how, being a grumpy old and progressively sick man, Hartnell goes from being hated by the original cast, to being loved by them and to being hated by the cast that comes and goes, with him being the only constant in the show. I have to say that it can be a heartbreaking film when you realize that Hartnell, at first suspicious of the show and not sure at all of its ability to be successful, ends up being the only one sincerely caring about it. All of this while he fights against himself, as his health makes it difficult to him to memorize lines and being at all aware of small slips on camera.

David Bradley as William Hartnell; not only they resemble
each other, but Bradley delivers an amazing performance.

All in all, it is my opinion that An Adventure in Space and Time stands by itself in the midst of the paraphernalia being produced for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and it is a good film to watch on a rainy evening: warm, interesting and compelling.

Plot - 4/5
An Adventure in Space and Time is a biopic, but explores really well the story behind the story and it is compelling.

Visual - 4/5
The action takes place in the 60s and the visual is on line with that; on top of that, the usual quality one can find in a BBC production.

Sound - 4/5
The most interesting thing in the sound department is also a plot device: the audience is guided to the process of generation the familiar sounds on Doctor Who (the same happens with the visuals, were we follow the creation of the sets); apart from it, nothing relevant to point out, except that none of the sounds, either music or sound effects, dragged me out of the film.

Performances - 5/5
The high point of the film, specially when David Bradley is on screen.

 
Final Score - 17/20
An Adventure in Space and Time is a good way to celebrate the anniversary of your favorite time traveler and maybe even be a interesting film for someone completely unaware of Doctor Who. We, here at POPinions, definitely recommend you to go watch it.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of The Doctor

"Great man are forged in fire... it's the privilege of lesser man to light the flame...whatever the cost." - The War Doctor.

Today is reviewed the most anticipated episode of this series. Today I have the previlege of reviewing the Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary Special: The Day of The Doctor.

November 23rd 1963, one of the best shows in television history begins: Doctor Who. The most famous police box appears for the first time in the episode titled "An Unearthly Child" with William Hartnell as the very first Doctor. 50 years and 11 Doctors after, we get this special episode, featuring David Tennant as the 10th Doctor, Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor and John Hurt as the War Doctor. David first appeared in the Christmas invasion episode after Eccleston leaving the show, and quickly became a fan favourite, among the best Doctors to travel in the TARDIS. When it was announced that Matt would be his replacement, and that the 10th incarnation would regenerate in the episode "The End of Time", everyone was sceptic as would someone fill the void left by David. After 3 seasons the answer is: yes, and well filled it was, as Matt's performance was brilliant. It's the second appearance for John Hurt as he appeared in Series 7 finale, "The Name of the Doctor" just for a brief moment in the end, so it would be the first time he would be an incarnation of Britain's most famous time traveller. There was a lot of expectations about his role, as he would be the filling gap between Paul Mcgann's 8th Doctor and Eccleston's 9th, but maybe I'm getting ahead myself. Let's talk about the story.

From left to righ: Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt

The plot starts with UNIT taking the TARDIS as they had orders from Queen Elizabeth I for him. They show him a painting of Gallifrey during the time war, a special one that's actually a fragment of time in a frame. Then we switch to Gallifrey during the Time War against the Daleks and the War Doctor appears, and steals the most destructive weapon of the Time Lords. A weapon that the interface is sentient, and can judge even it's user. When the War Doctor activates it, it gains the form of Rose Tyler, aka Bad Wolf, as it finds the most suitable form for presenting herself for the Doctor, and offers to show him what will be his future and opens a time rift, and a fez falls from it.

Billie Piper as the interface

We switch again to the 11th as he reads the letter Elizabeth wrote to him and then a painting of her and the 10th is shown to him. We jump to the past, as 10th is on a stroll with Queen Elizabeth I. Then it's shown that the Zygons want to replace themselves with Elizabeth I, and a time vortex appears on front of the 10th and also a fez falls out from it, and eventually the 11th also jumps to it, and eventually the War Doctor, and the 3 are together and the rest of the story develops, showing the War Doctor how his actions will save millions of innocents in the future, and that his own future is safe. As the War Doctor is about to destroy Gallifrey and Skaro, the other two Doctors appear and will aid him to use the weapon, as this time he doesn't have to be alone to do it.

Then they come to a conclusion: this time there's three of them and they come up with another solution: trapping the entire planet on a pocket universe, like the paintings shown before, and the Daleks would self destoy in the cross-fire. As they go to Gallifrey, all his incarnations show up and they successfully put the planet on pocket space. As Galiffrey is safe the War Doctor tells his future selfs that he feels as he is the Doctor again, even if he will not remember it, as the timelines will sync and he will forget the events. As he goes away in his TARDIS, the War Doctor starts to regenerate into the 9th. The tenth also says his goodbyes, and the 11th is left alone in the museum, to talk to the curator. Then Tom Baker makes his appearence, and we get a very confusing dialogue with the 11th, where we are left wondering if it really is the 4th Doctor, or jut a simple curator. Quoting him: 

"Who knows? Who-nose?"

THE GOOD POINTS:

1.  David and Matt's performance is just brilliant, their Doctors complement each other so well we find ourselves wanting more and more.
2. David wearing a Fez.
3. John Hurt performance is astonishing, as he portrays an old and tired Doctor, that feels lost about the future. He also get so well with Matt's and David's performance and is such an interesting version of the Doctor that I felt sad that he regenerates at the end. He could have stayed a bit more.
4. Matt wearing a fez.
5. Finnaly the unveilling of the time war and it's conclusion, as it has been eluded us since 2005. Like the truth, Gallifrey is out there.
6. The comedy is well made, and as in the series, the Doctor is just the Doctor, independently of wich incarnation it is.
7. It gives a sense of direction for the series, as I found series 7 without an objective in the end.
8. David high-fiving the tardis

THE NOT SO GOOD POINTS:

1. 76 minutes lenght only.
2. Clara was most of the time a stand in.
3. John Hurt didn't wear a fez.
4. Billie Piper as the interface. I can find a the logic behind the interface chosing Rose Tyler as the guide for the lost War Doctor, as she was the one who calmed the anger that the 9th had, and turned him into the more merry 10th incarnation. I liked it, but it felt a bit forced.
5. 76 minutes lenght only
6. The Zygons had more screen time than the Daleks. The time war was between the Time Lords and the Daleks, and the Zygons get more air time than both.
7. The bits of the 9th Doctor were archive footage. It wouldn't hurt to put it him in it even if it was just for 3 seconds.
8. 76 minutes lenght only
9. Capaldi's cameo felt forced too, but I personally liked it.
10. Tom Baker at the end felt more forcefull than Billie and Capaldi put together. The scarf on the scientist girl would suffice.
11. Again, why didn't John Hurt wear a fez? WHY??

The judgement:

Plot - 4/5 - It was a great episode, truly beffiting the 50th anniversary.

Visual - 5/5 - The monster characterization continues excellent, and in this special the effects were a lot better than in the series. It was brilliant.

Soundtrack - 5/5 - the same of the series, so it is the excellent themes we are used to.

Performances 4/5 - The 3 Doctors steal the show completely, and leave few for others to shine. It was expected as it was the 50th but I would had liked more from other characters such as Clara.

Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor gets a Timey-Wimey Wobbly-Bobbly 18/20.

Also this:

Football Manager 2014

Alongside with the FIFA/PES war there is a title which has no rival, Football Manager. Football, because it is played with the feet and a ball instead of the hands and an egg. And it's older than the American cousin too.

Every year since 2004, Football Manager has been the king among the football managing simulators. Nothing extraordinary because Sports Interactive was responsible for Championship Manager up untill then. With the brand Championship Manager being explored by someone else and SI keeping the formula that brought them a dedicated fanbase this was the expected result.

 

It's hard to talk about this game without talking about the whole series and in many ways this is an upgraded version of the previous title, so just this time I will individualize the review by each cathegory.

Graphics

Being a simulator that relies on statistics, stat points, informations and news on most of the time it is easy to say that the game does not look pretty. It has a 3D match engine that has been upgraded since it was released but it's far from looking as good as FIFA, which is, in my opinion, the reference when we talk about football and graphics, but nonetheless it does not look bad, it's reasonable.

I also have to say that the windows never tire you, and you can even change the layout due to the skins available in almost every site and forum about the game. You can change the color of the stats, add facepacks and add logopack, it has a great costumization value which is a good feature to compensate for other flaws.

Comparing to the 2013 version the game looks better but still it's not great. I give it 3/5.

Gameplay

Being a game that is launched every year, the question everyone who hasn't played is the same: "Isn't it the same every year? What's new besides new rosters?"

And that is a plausible question that is better answered by playing. Every year there are many new features that make the player feel like they really are in control of their team. Every year something is introduced and refined to the point you just cannot remember how did were you capable to play the game without those features. Each new title looks and feels like the better instalment yet. And "yet" is a very important thing because every Football Manager knows that, somehow, next year this game is going to improve.

I've been playing the Manager series since 2000 and I've never read the manual of the game. It's so intuitive that you just learn how to play it by yourself. You can easily discover how to do anything due to the easy interface that the game offers or you can play the tutorial, and you also have a help system that you can use to ask anything.

If you don't know, the players have stats just like in a RPG and you have to manage the players, tactics, finances, transfers, training and many more things. Football Manager 2014 just might be the most intuitive version ever.

So, as gameplay is concerned, Football Manager is as easy as it is satisfying to do things well done. It's easy to play but it's not easy to be great at it, that balance is crucial to the success of the series. I just cannot imagine it to be any other way. It's only boring for those who have not played it.

I give it 5/5.

Sound

This is where Football Manager falls short to many. The only sound in the game is during the matches. You hear the crowd cheering, the referee and the ball being kicked. Nothing more but it's a managing simulator, in my opinion any more than this would make it repetitive. For me this is enough but they could add real chanting to the supporters in the stadium. Just to make it more like in real life.

I give it 3/5.

Longevity

Dozens of countries, hundreds of divisions and thousands of teams. To be the best you want to win everything. I easily play more than 20 hours in any save I start because it's easy to get addicted on taking your team to the top. On Football Manager 2003 I've spent more than 130 hours at it. There are not many games that are as lasting as this one. It's 5/5.

Final Score

In conclusion, if you not own any Football Manager game, I highly recommend you this title as it is the most  refined version ever. If you do own Football Manager 2013, I still recommend it because the changes made to the game make it a new challenge. Every new instalment made me feel like a noob and this was no exception.
Football Manager 2014 scores 16/20.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Today we slash and dice the most recent entry on the Metal Gear series, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I still haven't finished the game, but I am close to it. So here's my thoughts so far.

Most of you are already familiar with the Metal Gear Saga. Political and warfare conflicts, sneaking and being evasive, with a great narrative from his creator Hideo Kojima. Well, forget about all that, because Metal Gear Rising is completely different from what you are accostumed within the franchise. As in Metal Gear Solid 2, you control Raiden (yes I know what it may sound but bear with me). Here's a little resume from Raiden's history:

Raiden - Real  name Jack, is a Liberian-American Mercenary and former special operations soldier. He was a child soldier, and used by the Patriots for the S3 Plan at the Big Shell. Later he joined the Paradise Lost Army, the anti-Patriots group, but was captured and had his head and spine excised from his body and planted on a cyborg one by the Patriots. He then escaped and aided Solid Snake in the Liquid Ocelot's insurrection on Metal Gear Solid 4 events. After that he joined the PMC (Public Mercenary Company) Maverick and the events of the game start.

The story isn't as deep as in other Metal Gear titles, and it's easier to follow. There are some references from past games but, if you didn't play any of it, you'll still can enjoy the game's story, as it is disconnected to all the conflict and web of schemes from the other series. After the fall of the Patriots, PMCs split up in minor groups, and turned to cyborg technology as a mean to power up their forces. The story starts in a unnamed country in Africa,  Maverick is doing a job of security for the Prime Minister N'mani, a pacifist working for peace in the continent, as a PMC named Desperado Enforcement LLC attacks them and tries to kill N'mani, in a way to keep the countries in Africa fighting and so they can still make profit. Raiden goes to the rescue of N'mani only to be utterly defeated by Samuel "Jet-stream Sam" Rodrigues, a master cyborg swordsman working for Desperado.

Jet-Stream Sam, the most brazilian badass since BlanKa.

In a future mission, Raiden encounters again Desperado and starts investigating it, leading to the events of the game that follow that, and that I won't spoil.

The gameplay is also very different from past titles. In the past there was more of a focus on stealth unlike this one. The stealth is still present, but they give more focus to the battles than avoiding them. As Platinum Games took a more "gore" approach to the game, you can litterally have blood flowing everywhere as you cut through the enemy cyborgs (they say its mecanical fluids and artificial blood, but I like to think otherwise). In the PS3 version you press square for light attacks and triangle for heavy ones, and you can chain both as you please. Pressing X will make Raiden jump and circle for activating a lot of stuff. If you press circle behind an enemy it will be a silent, but not less gory, takedown. R1 gives you the "ninja run" (actual name!), you will run faster and deflect bullets automatically, to parry normally you have to press the light attack button and the direction of the enemy attack. It's hard at the beggining but I found it very interesting. The most interesting is the Blade mode that you enter by pressing L1, time slows down and you can slash at very high speeds, and if the target is damaged enough, you can cut some parts of the body and if you have the skill bar full, you can detect the auto-reparing unit of the cyborg, pull it and smash it to assimilate it and recover yourself. This is called a Zandatsu in game, and Zandatsus are awesome! You get ranks in every chapter and gain Battle Points to enhance Raiden's body and skills. Even Weapons from the bosses. This is a different take in the series. With both Snakes more peacefull approaches were encouraged, in this one it's exactly the opposite. Even the stuff around the level is destroyable, having even happened being needed to cut a bridge to fight a cyborg that was on top of it. Sure the cardboxes are still around, but this game makes you want to slice everything that is around you. And the bosses, oh the bosses, are just epic gameplay.

The visuals, as in every game of the franchise, are simply stunning. From the epic boss battles, to slashing normal enemies everything is so well made it's hard to find flaws. Everything feel futuristic, and the game delivers what you are expecting of a ninja cyborg can do. Even the soundtrack is amazing, being a personal favourite. I haven't heard a soundtrack as good as this in a long time. I have it on my laptop and I can't stop hearing it.

It also has some easter eggs from the previous games, such as the man that hide in cardboxes in every scenario for you to find, to the DLC themes for Raiden. My favourite is the US gamestop pre-order (included in every copy in Europe) Gray Fox skin and his blade. Unfortunatelly as I have the digital copy I don't have it. It's a shame that the only skin in the DLC section for Raiden is the MGS4 look he had. There's also 2 DLCs for playing with Samuel and Blade Wolf, but I'm waiting to complete the game to get them. 

Gray Fox, the original cyborg from the first Metal Gear Solid

This game made me like Raiden, and that's a hard thing to do! (Kojima why didn't you make him like this in MGS2!!??)

Story 3/5 - Not the masterpieces of previous entries but still very good.

Soundtrack 5/5 - Fits perfectly the game and the feeling it gives.

Gameplay 4/5 - It's entertaining, and blade mode is awfully fun to use.

Longevity 4/5 - Despite being a short game, it makes want to clear it in lots of difficulties, and unlock all the good stuff and weapons at Raiden's disposal. There's also a awful lot of trophies to unlock, so it gains a lot of replay value.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance gets a 16/20.

Borderlands

Welcome to Pandora!

This is where Borderlands is set. The world of Pandora (it has nothing to do with Avatar's Pandora) is a mining colony sponsored by the Dahl Corporation where the player is a scavenger in search for an ancient alien vault. Another of this vaults was found in the nearby planet of Prometheus (it has nothing to do with the movie Prometheus) and was filled with alien weapon technology wich allowed the Atlas Corporation (not to be confused with the Dahl Corporation) to overtake their competitors and in the world of Pandora it's all about the weapons.

There is a really good story that you by follow doing the missions in which you get to know more and more about what kind of world this is and it is a really interesting one but it isn't something you really care about. You care about the humor of the game (it's a really funny game) and the loot. Borderlands is mostly known for having a massive amount of different weapons. According to some official information there is a little over 3,5 million different weapons in the game, well...kinda. There are some base weapons which get different stats and different traits like having a scope or elemental damage and that's how they've turned several dozen weapons to 3,5 million, still...it's very impressive.

Visually the game has a bold cartoonish style which most hardcore FPS players do not like but Borderlands is not a game for the hardcore FPS player. The RPG elements that were put into the game made it different from the other titles, and for some it made it different for better. I know a couple of friends who do not like FPS that cleared the game. Still, it's a beautiful game with maps that are a joy to explore.

You have the standard leveling up that doesn't require you to have the trouble of selecting which stats you want to update, that you decide in the beggining when you select one of four characters which have different atrributes, and they are the Berserker, the Siren, the Hunter and the Soldier. What you can do is to equip up to 4 different guns, a class mod, a shield and a grenade mod that suits the better your playing style. I went for the Soldier and prepared myself to take a lot of hits but to shoot even more. I finished the main game and 2 DLC's this weekend and I think that it worked great for me but I'm tempted to return to the game with a different character. Either that or to take on the playthrough 2 mode which is to repeat everything but with the stats you already have, the enemies get tougher to match you and the loot get even better. I'm more of a solo player but you can also have co-op in the game. I've spent more than 25 hours in the game and I feel like I could easily spend another 25 or 50 hours in it.

One problem with the game is the backpack size. Even though you can expand it by completing side-quests or saving items in the Mad Moxxi's DLC, you always feel that it's not big enough. Many times I've found a crate of weapons and had to leave thing behind to take the new items. You will rarely buy weapons but you do have to sell a lot of them to buy ammo and health packs. I understand that the size you have is most likely the better but I'm a hoarder and I could always use a little bit more space.

The music in the game pumps up the adrenaline for the tasks ahead of you. I really enjoyed it. Sometimes it seems like asian and western music met and had a child. The cutscenes are different and for better.  Overall, not being great it's up to the job and flows nicely with the game.
 

To wrap up this review I have to say that I'm definetly going to buy Borderlands 2 and I do not understad why the success of Borderlands was unexpected to the developers because this is something to be proud of. I highly recommend you to buy the Game Of The Year edition of this game and to try it out for yourself. I had a blast killing hordes of enemies in the game and laughing because it is hilarious. You gotta love Claptrap, that's all I have to say.

Graphics - 4/5

Gameplay - 4/5

Sound - 4/5

Longevity - 5/5

Final Score - 17/20

Baccano!

"-This train is cursed. It's going to be terrible.
-Is it your sixth sense again?
-Has it ever been wrong? A lot of people are going to die. The only ones to survive will be those with extraordinary good luck...and probably...those that aren't human"

- Old Couple at Chicago's Station, at the Flying Pussyfoot departure.

My review today is the adaptation of the light novels of the same name: Baccano!

The best I got. It was this or a version filmed with a potato in 244p.

Baccano! is a hard anime to describe. To get the feeling of this show maybe I'll describe how it starts. 

Gustav and Carol

The story starts with a talk between the Daily Days, a journal and information shop, Vice-President Gustav Saint Germain with his assistant Carol. They talk about where did the story start, and imediatly we're thrown in disarray. We get that they're talking about the story about some people that can't die, the immortals, and when they start talking about dates we get even more lost. They also show us some of the characters die, and get ressurected even before they were introduced. In a way this can make even more avid fans of this kind of animation give up immediatly because of the jumping plot in time, as I admit that did it myself the first time, but to those that stick to it and don't get overwhelmed by this introduction, the reward is one of the best animes that have been released.

The plot doesn't get described in a straight way. The only story that is continuous is the one that occurs in the year 1931 aboard the Intercontinental Train Flying Pussyfoot. While the story starts to develop we get flashbacks of the year 1930, and some flashforwards to the year 1932, sometimes without telling wich year it is so the viewer has to piece the pieces of story together, and it only comes to a full understanding at the very last episodes. There are a lot of characters, and I mean a lot, and only in the opening 17 of them are introduced. And yes, there are more. So to get a feeling of the story I'll divide it by groups in the years that the events occur.

1931: The Flying Pussyfoot, the intercontinental train, leaves from Chicago to New York, with a very peculiar set of passangers. This is were most of the action takes place.

The Flying Pussyfoot

Aboard are the following groups:

Miria Harvent and Isaac Dian- A dynamic couple of thieves that are on the train to meet Ennis on New York. They are a straightforward, energetic, happy, simplistic naive airheads. Always take action by impulse, and think their thoughts, most of the time very far from what's really happening, out loud. Despite being thieves they are very nice people, being most of their crimes petty and ridiculous crimes, like stealing candy or stealing an entrance to a museum 'so anyone couldn't enter'.

Chane Laforet, member of The Lemurs

The Lemurs - a terrorist group that plans to take the passangers as hostages, being that a family of a senator is there. By this they plan to negotiate the release of their leader Huey Laforet.

"Don't you think is cool to wear white? That way you can see the blood stains of the people I've killed" - Ladd Russo

The White Suits - Comanded by the assassin of Chicago's Russo family Ladd Russo, they are on the train just to make everyone hostage and kill half of them. The reason Ladd does it? Literally for the lulz. Ladd is a psycothic character, that looks like an excited children when there are killing and blood envolved. He often gets overexcited talking about his plans, and how he likes to kill people that think that are safe. He usually rambles about in a loud voice.

The Hoodlums - a group of young delinquents leaded by the sword-tatooed faced Jacuzzi Splot. They board the train to make an heist and steal all it's cargo. By coincidence they have a grudge against the Russo Family and Jaccuzi has a bounty placed by them. Jaccuzi is always apologizing and crying, even if isn't he that is at fault, but when it's time he pulls through as a leader. The most important partner of his is Nice Hollystone, a bomb maker.

Chezlaw Meyer - A young children that is travelling to New York to meet an acquaintace.

While in the dining car, the thieves duo meets Jacuzzi and Chezlaw, and Isaac tells them about a legend, the Rail Tracer, a monster that appears on trains and make people disappear. The story starts moving when the three major groups try to make their moves exactly at the same time. But after that, people are disappearing mysteriously, and reports of a crimson monster start to spread. Has the Rail Tracer come for them?

1930 - This part of the story is occur in New York, and envolves mostly Mafia Families.

Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent - The dynamic duo is in New York plotting to make their biggest heist yet: steal from the mafia to atone for their past deeds. That eventually leads to meeting the other characters, making them the link between all of the stories.

Berga, keith and Luck

The Gandor Family - one of the most important mafia families in New York. Their leaders are the Gandor Brothers: Berga, Keith and Luck. They are involved in the disapearence of Dallas Genoard. In the year of 1931 they are waiting for their most skillfull assassin to arrive in the Flying Pussyfoot. They have good ties with the Martillo Family.

Firo Prochainezo and Maiza Avaro. 

 The Martillo Family - An ally of the Gandor family because of the close ties of Firo Prochainezo, a just nominated executive, and the Gandor brothers. The more notorioous are Firo and Maiza Avaro, because of their connections with the Gandor family, and because of Firo searching for Ennis after meeting her. Carol also describes Firo as "the most main character like".

Dallas Genoard - A troublemaker delinquent, head of the Genoard Family. Always getting into trouble and being beaten. He disappears mysteriously at the end of the events of this year.

Szliard and Ennis

Szilard Quates along with Ennis, his assistant, are searching for the Cure-All Elixir that grants immortality, being stolen of a servant of his after the laboratory caughts fire. He has a ruthless personality and can be considered the biggest antagonist of the series.

1932 - also taking place in New York

Eve Genoard - The younger sister of Dallas Genoard. After the disappearance of her brother, she gets all of the estate and is searching for him with the help from the Daily Days.

As if this isn't enough, the story doesn't quite start here, but I let that for you to watch in the anime.

After the 13 episodes there are 3 specials that give some closure and background to some characters. And also introduce one of my favourites. This takes place in 1932.

Graham Specter - He comes to New York to meet Ladd Russo, his boss, and gets involved with Chane and Jacuzzi. As Ladd, Graham is also a psycopathic person, but bipolar. He always is ranting out loud, getting very philosophical about life, and get depressed and excited in extreme ways. He's dressed with a blue mechanic suit and is always with a giant monkey wrench. Voiced by the great Sugita Tomokazu (Gintama's Gintoki) that really suits his erratic train of thought.

This anime gets good because of all the characters and stories, despite being all disconnected, get all tied in mysterious and sometimes fun and unexpected ways. It's not an easy anime to see, as you have always to be putting together what happens and when, but in the end is a rewarding experience. It has one of the most interesting stories I've seen and how its presented it's impossible to stop watching.

The soundtrack is also beautiful. Most of them are Jazz beats, which fit perfectly the setting of the mafia world, and the feeling the anime gives. The opening is one of the best I heard so far, and it's also hard to forget, even if you don't watch the anime for years.

The soundtrack just for you. You're welcome.

Art - 4/5 - The art is very good, but when they get zoomed out very far, is usually used only the outlines of the characters. The animation of the immortals being regenerated is also very well done, and the backgrounds are excellent.

Plot - 5/5 - This is what this anime is for. I say again that putting it together is one of the most rewarding things I have seen on anime. The characters are good and lovable (I can't get enough of the dynamic duo, Ladd and Graham) and it never gets dull.

Soundtrack 4/5 - As I said before the Jazz theme is the perfect choice for this anime. Any other genre would have spoiled it.

Excitement 5/5 - It's impossible to stop, as every episode ends with a cliffhanger, and there's questions from the beggning to the end of the show.

It's an anime that easily gets put aside, but if you give it a chance, it's one of the most beatiful works of art in this genre.

Baccano! gets back to life with a 18/20.

Remember Me

Today I review a game that I've completed a while back on PS3. Capcom's Remember Me.

The year is 2084, and the location is the city of Neo-Paris. The game starts with an ad for Sensen, a device that stores your memories and let's you share them with other people. The people of the ad talk about their experiences with sensen and how it changed their lives. It looks wonderful, if we didn't know what we're about to play.

At the beginning of the game we find our heroine, Nillin, in a facility being held up, and beaten up. We find that allmost all her memories have been wiped from her sensen, thus from her brain also, keeping only her name and only little things. As she is being lead to the final phase of the treatment, someone calls into her sensen and helps her escape the facility. Bit by bit Nillin remembers how to fight and a bit of her past is revealed. She is in the Errorists, a revolucionary faction in Neo-Paris against the creators of sensen, that uses memory hunters, like Nillin, to get info and alter memories.

The world is very good looking. We get a feeling of the futuristic vibe that Capcom tried to show to the player. Lot's of screens, lots of augmented reality stuff lying around, the tone of light gives the game a great look, and is always clear when it needs to get, the city area  is very bright, in contrast to the slums were I find myself lately hoping to find a light. The slums is one of my favourite areas, and is the first we get contact with. As we reach the slums we are greeted with the enemies for that area, the Leapers.

And you thought that meth was bad.

Leapers are addicted to memories, it's like a drug to them, and because of that they are very mentally instable and agressive. It's never revealed how the sensen abuse makes them become disfigured. The other enemies that you will find are the S.A.B.R.E soldiers, that work for Memorize, the company that created sensen and rule the world.

"I'll kick your ass if you don't follow our dystopian world rules" kind of guy.

The game takes a heavy look on how fragile memories are if shared like an app on Facebook. They can be copied, shared even modified and stolen (one of the missions in the game is to steal security codes for a dam). One of the defining gameplay features is the unique ability that Nillim has to 'Remix memories', to get into the memories of an individual and change them. It envolves seeing the memory in it's entirity and then search for moments you can alter, eventually modifying to the Remix goal (the first one is to make the target think her husband is dead), but not every change gives you the desired ending.

Other good point on the gameplay is the Combo Lab, you are given a series of numbered hit combos (3 hit combos, 5 hit combos etc), and you personalize them. Each combo is consisted in pressens, and there are a range of them: increased damage dealing ones, HP regen ones, ones that reduce the cooldown of special abilites, etc. It's a good way to give the fight the style you want, from a defensive one to using lots of special abilities by reducing cooldown. The only fault I put on it is that sometimes I find myself starting the combo with the wrong button, the first one can't be changed, and some are very complicated to do, the property of the combos can be changed but the keys for it can't. It's hard to grasp and it requires some practice, and it doesn't help that the game treats you like a begginer, even if you're in the end of the game, giving you the same advice when you break combos. It gets a bit annoying.

The rest of the gameplay is Nillin moving around the city, climbing buildings a lot, and when I say a lot is really a lot, running from S.A.B.R.E force or fighting Leapers. It could be good all the climbing and escaping if it wasn't such a linear world and the encounter zones fixed. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike linear games and sometimes even give up on some for being too open world (Far Cry 3 I'm looking at you), but as it takes place in a city that they try to make big, this linearity and lack of free choice makes it feel really small. And the camera doesn't help much, as it get's in the way too much. It's even hard to keep zones in your memory, as so similar they are. other thing that bothered me in the game was the empty apartments or rooms. I never found another person inside them and always found robots, that I can't understand why, ignore me and just let me go as I please. It seems that security isn't the future's priority, eh?

Even the music that goes with the game,  it's nice to the ear but I find myself so concentrated in the combos I don't even listen to it and when I listen to it is like...meh. It's there to make noise.

I even find hard to sympathize with the main character, as I find hard how a person without memories follows orders from a stranger without even having a little doubt or denying moment, and when that moment comes, is so late in the game and is so short that it was like someone remembered that point when the story has advanced so far.

Graphics - 4/5 - Despite all zones seem the same, the world is very well made, and feels futuristic. Where it should appear bad is bad, and good where it is meant to be good. It just delivers, and don't make you stop to watch the scenery but still it meshes well.

Gameplay - 3/5 - Most of the time climbing, and the camera getting in the way. The combos are fun to edit, but require practice. The memory remixes are very good and are the best feature of the game.

Sound - 2/5 - It's just...meh.

Longevity - 2/5 - It's a game to clear once. The story is average, with one or two good revelations. The bonus hunting items that reveal background of the city don't reward as much as thought, I can't find myself wanting to know more about that world, but maybe for some, they will feel compelled to.

Remember Me had an interesting pitch but I feel that Capcom fell a little bit short on this one. The story is average, and it's an entretaining game, but it's not something to revisit a lot of times.

Remember Me gets a 11/20, but it will be hard to remember it.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

This is my wallpaper now...

From the distant future year of 2007 has come one of the greatest Stand-Alone Expansion of all times, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which in itself it's not that hard to accomplish.

This is a retro-futuristic FPS where you take on an island as the eye-patched cyber-commando Sergeant Rex Power Colt. The island is under control of Colonel Ike Sloan who as gone rogue, controls the Omega Force, which is an army of cyborg soldiers, and wishes to create an armageddon on a post-apocalyptic world and it's up to the player to stop it or as Ubisoft said "get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the world". In essence, this is not a game to be taken seriously because it is a parody to the 80's action movies. And a very-well done parody if I might add.

So what does it have to do with Far Cry 3 after all? Well...the title, the map was borrowed and adapted, the graphic engine and not much else that I can remember.

As in Far Cry 3, the graphics are really good looking. In this entry the developers decided for a 80's-cyber look so the game is a little dark and the pallete of colors reminded me of TRON which I liked a lot, it was the perfect choice. The Blood Dragons are the most awesome-looking thing in the game and as for the Omega Force concerns all the different troops look almost the same, in my opinion maybe they could have done a little better here.

As you start the game you are presented with one of the best cutscenes of all times. The decision to stick to a 16-bit look was a correct one. It gave the game the true sense that it was made in that era and that 2007 was a future where anything could happen. They even exploit that in the punchlines that Rex Power Colt delivers throught all the game (e.g. "Doors that open by themselves? I love 2007").

As for the gameplay, all the traits, leveling up and crafting from Far Cry 3 was scrapped. It is much simpler, as you level up you automatically gain new abilities and a bigger life bar. In everything else it is like Far Cry 3. The health does not work like in Call of Duty or other FPS games, you have bars which regenerate if they're not empty and to regenerate completely you have to use medpacks or "repair" yourself just like in previous Far Cry games which is a thing I really like.

There are only 8 weapons (plus the grenades and explosives) in the game but they just might be more than enough. You have a pistol, a machine-gun, a bow, a shotgun, shurikens, a heavy machine-gun, a sniper riffle (all of them have different names) and the Deathstar which is probably the only weapon you need. You only get it near the end and you have to earn it but this weapon is devastating, it damages your health but it is worth it! Many weapons have some attachments that can be bought once they are unblocked in-game which makes better but nothing compares to DEATHSTAR.

On the worst side of the game I have to say that there is not much to do in the game. You free garrisons, do the side-quests that freeing the garrisons enables (which is always either hunting something or freeing some scientists) and gain new attachments to the weapons which is repetitive to say the least even though you can use the hearts that you rip off your enemies to lure the Blood Dragons to do the dirty work of killing the Omega Forces in the garrisons for you. It is a treat that you soon get bored of. This game-mechanics is getting traditional to the Far Cry series since the second installment and I'm not really a fan of that.

Another problem with the game is the Blood Dragons death. You kill them, you see an explosion of purple goo and they simply disappear in a weird way. It almost looks like the developers forgot to do something.

The music to the game was composed by the Australian duo Power Glove, they've uploaded the music game's music to SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/powerglove) even before it was announced that the game was being released and it is...awesome. Again, it reminds me of Tron, specially the Daft Punk's OST to the latest movie which I consider to be one of the best OST's ever. Not because it has the best tracks ever but because it is perfect for the movie and that is what happens in Blood Dragon.

I'm addicted to this theme.

The voice actor is Michael Biehn which is known for his roles on some games in the past and in many movies like Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss just to name a few. So they've chose a 80's action movie star to take on the role of a 80's-action-hero and, as expected, it worked out. Biehn has the perfect voice to deliver punchline after punchline and make credible and awesome.




The sound effects are standard. Laser guns and things like that sound like they should. People screaming and dying...the usual. The music is so good that nothing else stands out in this category.

The Achilles' heel of the game is due to one of its main virtues. There aren't many dull moments in the main plot if you stick to it but that makes it a small game. In less than 6 hours I completed the main story, the only thing that kept me going and complete the side quests and collect all there is to collect was the Deathstar, I really cannot get enough of it, and even so I only spent 2 more hours into it. Still it has high replay value and it is only a fraction of the price of a full-sized game which in many cases are not even close to be as good as Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

In conclusion, I have to say that I've enjoyed a lot more this expansion than the original game. When it was released, I've played the demo and put it on my Steam wishlist. Now that I've played it, I feel that probably I should have not waited for a sale to buy it because I really enjoyed it. It is not an average FPS, it just might be everything we hoped for Duke Nukem Forever and we didn't get which is a recurring opinion about this game throughout the internet. Despite the final score not being very high, I highly recommend everyone to buy this game.

Graphics - 4/5

Gameplay - 3/5

Sound - 4/5

Longevity - 3/5

Final Score - 14/20