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Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated the PC version of Call of Duty WWII in Video Games

Jun 19, 2019  
Call of Duty WWII
Call of Duty WWII
2017 | Shooter
The long running and very popular Call of Duty series has gone back to where it all began for the latest entry into the series. Call of Duty: WW2 returns the series to where the early games in the series were set and looks to restore its legacy as the best-selling series on the planet in doing so.

Last year’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare did not sell as well as other in the series had in recent years, and many fans were upset or divided over a futuristic setting that involved spaceships, energy weapons, and futuristic locations and technology.

It should be noted that the series has three developers working on games so developer Sledgehammer likely started work on the game before Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare shipped so the return to WW2 was something long in the planning.

The game opens with D-Day and players play as a young Private who is thrown headfirst into the conflict and learns the horrors of war as well as duty, honor, and sacrifice through his missions and interactions with members of his platoon.

Over the course of the missions, players will battle in highly-detailed maps and locales ranging from forests, bunkers, beaches, and bombed out cities as the Allies advance deeper and deeper into enemy held locales. The various locales for the game are so highly-detailed that they seem right out of a movie and would be a dream come true for location scouts looking for filming locations.

As anyone who has played a call of Duty game knows, they will be faced with waves of enemies to fight off as well as the usual stealth and vehicle missions. This time out there are a couple of driving missions as well as a clever one in a tank and one airborne fighter escort.

The attention to detail is very good as enemy Panzer tanks can take any fire from your tank head on, but have weaker armor in the bank which leads players to have to flank the enemy to survive.

Another new wrinkle is the health system which does not regenerate in the story mode and instead requires players to take cover and use a first aid kit in order to heal. The multiplayer portion does use a regenerative system so players can avoid any major disruptions in battle.

I really liked Josh Duhamel as the rough Sargent with a backstory. He was a very interesting character that kept me guessing as to his motivations and next moves as the story advanced.

Players could also call in ammo, mortar strikes, and health by requesting them from select members of their platoon. This could be tricky as when pinned down, having to move to another character to get needed items added to the challenge.

The weaponry was appropriate for the time and I had to adjust to slower load times, accuracy issues, and such with older tech, but it did give me a much greater level of immersion.

While I did enjoy the solo campaign, it did at times seem very familiar and as if I had seen and played some of it all before. I guess that is the trick with a series that has run as long as Call of Duty has as certain aspects of the gameplay are expected and while locations, weapons, locations, and characters may change, some things are going to be constant throughout the series.

The multiplayer aspects of the game really shine as not only are there numerous multiplayer modes, players can now pick a class such as Airborne, Recon, etc. which each have their own weapons and abilities and allow players to pick a division that best matches their abilities and gameplay style.

This comes in very handy in the new War mode where teams much battle one another to accomplish various objectives. Such as escorting tanks, protecting or stealing gas, and taking or defending key locales. My only issue is that this mode and many maps are camp fests where people with scoped rifles can easily hide in the back part of a map and pick off players as they spawn or enter the map. It seems far more pronounced in this game and leads to some frustrations. There is also the matter of iffy hit detection where players take half a clip from a machine gun point blank and yet can absorb them and one shit kill a player all while you unload on them.

 

There is also a very good Zombie mode where players take on wave after wave of undead soldiers as they attempt to get power restored and activate technology. The speed of the game is intense, the enemies numerous, and the ability to arm, armor up, and accessories your character is key as is having a good team around you.

As one person said that is Call of Duty and you know what you are in for if you have played any of the prior games. As such Call of Duty: World War 2 is not a radical new direction for the series, but rather a return to what made the series and is like slipping into a comfy pair of slippers after a long day., Familiar and comfortable and is in my opinion what the series needed.

http://sknr.net/2017/11/06/call-duty-ww2/
  
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
2019 | Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Good visuals, not much else to recommend it
A few of my loyal readers recommended that I check out ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL in the biggest screen I could find, and in 3D. And...I'm glad I did for this film is a visual feast for the eyes, filled with eye-popping CGI and an interesting futuristic world on which the events of the film take place.

Unfortunately...that is all that there is to this film, for the rest of the movie does not live up to the fantastical elements laid forth visually.

Adapted to the screen from filmmakers James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is a combination of the first 4 of Yukito Kishiro's series of 9 manga books, and (hopefully) the first in a trilogy of films that follows a robot, Alita, who is put back together by the mysterious Dr. Ido. When she awakens, she does not know what her past was, but as events transpire, it soon becomes apparent that Alita is much more than the sweet, young girl robot that her outward appearance would suggest.

Rosa Salazar is winning enough as the completely CGI creation of Alita, but no so charismatic that she can carry the film on her own, she will need help - and that's where this film falls down. Christoph Waltz is mediocre in the underwritten part of Dr. Ido. Instead of being interesting and mysterious, he is bland and boring. I'm beginning to think that Waltz needs the words of Quentin Tarantino to shine (because he does shine in Tarantino films) but is just so-so when speaking someone else's lines. Jennifer Connelly is wasted as Ido's ex-wife, somehow connected to the power elite of the Universe and Marashala Ali (who will soon win his 2nd Oscar) is completely shutdown and "one-note" as the big bad guy. Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley (completely unrecognizable in voice or character as the CGI bad guy Grewishka) and Keean Johnson are all very forgettable as others in this world. Only Jeff Fahey (as a robot-Cowboy bounty hunter) is able to jump off the screen with what is the beginnings of an interesting character.

The battles, races, action and plot twists and turns are all "standard issue", pretty predictable and unsurprising. It is clear that Cameron and Rodriguez were so focused on the CGI and world building that they did not spend enough time on the plot, dialogue or pacing. And that's too bad, for besides the impressive visuals and graphics (and they are impressive), there is not much else to recommend from this film.

Letter Grade: B- (for the visuals)

6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
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Ross (3282 KP) rated Altered Carbon in Books

Jun 28, 2018  
Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon
Richard Morgan | 2002 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
5
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The basic idea behind the world created (0 more)
The execution (0 more)
Hated it
The world in which this story takes place is very intriguing - nobody ever really dies; everyone is put "on stack" when they die, i.e. their digitised brain is stored electronically, and they can have it put back into a new "sleeve", i.e. a body, when their family pay for it. The details of this were pretty scant originally, but emerged over the first 100 pages or so (though sadly piecemeal in glib, throw-away comments where the detail was taken for granted). The ideas filled me with hope - all prisons were digital (people held on stack in created scenarios), travel across large distances was electronic (if you could afford to have a sleeve waiting for you) etc.


Sadly, none of this was explored very well. There was a very clichéd, basic detective story overlaid on to this world. A billionaire claims he was murdered, but the authorities ruled his death as a suicide. This on the surface (someone being a witness for their own murder!) filled me with excitement for what lay ahead. However this quickly ebbed away as the story changed into a detective (Takeshi Kovacs - one of the most bland, one dimensional characters ever created) wandering around Earth, where he has never been, and annoying drug dealers and pimps.


There then follows a great deal of nonsense sex scenes, utterly drivel narrative (Morgan seems to think he has to take a whole page to describe each new location and has some very obscure turns of phrase - I actually speed-read the last 150 pages out of pure frustration with how long and boring the experience was - everything is contained in the dialogue so I recommend just reading that and skimming any action scenes), sci-fi jargon which means nothing to the reader, and very little plot development. In fact, pretty much the whole plot is outlined, by the perpetrator, in one chapter near the end - the "detective" didn't solve the case, he just worked out someone was involved and they filled in the details for him. Utterly clumsy storytelling.


Some people might enjoy taking a long time to read this, the futuristic setting, the overly-described settings, trying to work out what the sci-fi mumbo jumbo means. I am not one of those people. The world-building was there, but was under-used. The plot was basic and only really relevant in the first and last 50 pages. The characters were all forgettable, one-dimensional and clichéd (so much so that I frequently had to search back to find out who the person referred to was and why I should care).


That Takeshi Kovacs survived and went on to star in two follow-up books was a depressing revelation for me.
  
CO
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Eclipse
Shooter
The second of four DLC packs for Call of Duty Black Ops 3 has arrived for PC and Xbox One after making its debut for the PS4. Eclipse offers four new maps and a new Zombie mode for gamers. As with previous DLC for the series, the collection can be purchased by itself or as part of a season pass.

The four maps are as follows…

 

Rift

Set in a futuristic military compound, Rift pushes players forwards and keeps the action moving, The focus is on close quarters fighting and explosives fly when the players become packed in. The

 

Verge

This is reimagined version of the classic Banzai map and one of the more distinctive maps in recent memory. The setting is a post apocalypse world filled with a water source and bridge and plenty of semi-demolished buildings to take cover. I noted that snipers seemed to like it but I actually did fairly well with my run and gun style of play.

 

Spire

Set in high altitude airport terminal of the future, this map is great fun. From balconies, open courtyards, and platforms with nothing but tons of air below you, this is a map that will put all of your skills to the test. I had more than one extended battle in this setting where numerous kill and combat zones could erupt at any time.

 

Knockout

Set in a Shaolin temple, this is a beautiful map that offers a distinct look and plenty of action. I first played it in an Uplink game and picking up the satellite on a martial arts arena and racing past Cherry Blossoms and other captivating setting to reach the goal was great fun. The action was intense due to several bridges and paths that would lead to open areas where the enemy was waiting.

Zombie lovers will enjoy Zetsubou No Shima which is set on a Pacific Island where the four characters must work with one another to battle never ending waves of undead. As with previous chapters players must gather items and assemble things to help their chances for survival. I liked the use of radiated water to power generators and grow plants that would yield useful items and weapons once harvested.

The other nice feature of this map was the inclusion of spider waves and other special creatures that would show up to menace players.

In all Eclipse is a solid pack that offers new value and gameplay options for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. While it is not anything radically different or groundbreaking, it does offer what you would expect in a DLC in the serious, more maps, more options, more fun, and more action.

http://sknr.net/2016/05/28/call-duty-black-ops-3-eclipse-dlc/
  
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
2019 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The battle for the future is about to unfold and if you think that “Terminator: Dark Fate” is dancing around to a familiar tune; you would be right to a certain point. Once again a killer cyborg from the future is dispatched to our timeline in order to destroy someone who will play a part in the downfall of an A.I. system in the future.
As before; a protector is sent back and this time around it is a woman named Grace (Mackenzie Davis); who will need every bit of her augmented abilities to stop a deadly new Terminator (Diego Luna), from killing a young girl named Dani (Natalia Reyes).

Grace is soon joined by Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who has been waging a war on Terminators for most of her life and now has an even bigger reason to hate them. Sarah clashes with Grace as she tells her that she was Dani at one point and knows all too well what is going on even though Grace’s future does not include the exploits of Sarah and her son.

The crew eventually join forces with an older Terminator model (Arnold Schwarzenegger); to try to stop the new threat and what follows are some amazing action sequences along with some light comedic moments.

While the film opens with epic battles and chases which bring back memories of the earlier films it is the breakneck intensity that sets this film apart. While audiences are not in awe with a liquid metal Terminator as they were in the second film, it is done in a new and creative way to keep you guessing.

The film also cleverly throws some unexpected twists which helps explain the divergence from the futuristic timeline that was displayed in the prior films.
However this time around we get a fresh new wrinkle with a new A.I., new Terminator, new characters, but the same intense action sequences that have been missing from the series.

Creator James Cameron has returned to the franchise as a Producer and story contributor, and Director Tim Miller using the earlier Cameron films to set a tone that makes this film stand out from the recent sequels.

The return of Hamilton is great and she shows off a gritty and tough Sarah that has been missing greatly from the series. Luna plays his role with an icy efficiency but also has some good lines in the process showing how his model is an even more skilled and deadly infiltration unit.

While it will not be in the same class as the first two films in the series; it is much more enjoyable and much better than the subsequent films as Cameron and Miller have created an intense and relentless action spectacle.
4 stars out of 5
  
E(
Elemental (Elemental, #1)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first book in the <i>Elemental</i> trilogy is set in a futuristic United States colony where people called Guardians have powers over the elements: water, wind, earth, and fire. For years, sixteen-year-old Thomas believed that he doesn't have powers like everyone else in the colony, until pirates kidnap the Guardians and the remaining colonists fight for a survival on an abandoned town.

<b><i>Elemental</i> has its good elements that worked out well in favor, but it had some elements that just didn't work out too well</b> – it just had more elements that didn't work out really well.

The book is <b>primarily a survival book, but there's a mysterious aura surrounding the book that kept it somewhat interesting. However, the mysterious aspect? Antony John overdid it.</b> You're immediately thrown into action when the book starts and it doesn't actually stop. A huge chunk of the beginning is dedicated to surviving from the pirates who kidnapped the guardians and Thomas and his friends trying to survive on this mysterious Skeleton Town.

<b>There's not much about this Plague the Guardians keep talking about or how their elements work – what, precisely, is an echo?</b> It's obviously a side effect, and it seems to leave a negative remnant on the person, but what is it <i>exactly?</i>. <b>I'm confused on how this Plague works or how it started, even with that newspaper-esque clip</b> – it sounds like an experiment gone absolutely awry and blew up not only in the experimenters' faces, but the entire world. No one appreciates an experiment gone awry inside and outside the lab, but the dead can't complain.

<b>There's this "solution" the pirates are looking for, but Antony jumps between Griffin and Thomas intermittently</b> – I'm still not too sure who the "solution" is. <b>I'm not sure about this whole Guardians thing</b> – sounds like an experiment similar to the one done to Captain America in a different style – even with Thomas and his companions coming across things in Skeleton Town that make them question the origins of the Guardians.

<i>Elemental</i> is also <b>heading into highly awkward love triangle – it's in absolute danger zone</b> and I'm not sure I want to stick around for two girls pining for Thomas' attention. It's not noticeable yet – <b>it's very subtle and certainly doesn't disturb anything going on in the story or the overall plot.</b>

By the end, <b>Antony John leaves you with curiosity and perhaps a need to continue the series, but he leaves more questions and confusion with loose ends than a solid answer or two.</b>

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-elemental-by-antony-john/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>