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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Apocalypse in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
As we inch closer and closer to the November release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, fans can get a taste of some more maps for Black Ops 2 through the latest DLC.
Apocalypse is the fourth and final set of map packs and is contains some very clever new and reworked offerings which should delight even the most jaded fans, some of whom complain that the DLC is often more of the same.
Like the previous map collections the players are limited to either Mosh pit or Hardcore Moshpit that puts teams of players in a series of online games where the objective is varied. There is the usual mix, Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, and Demolition modes and the mode as well as your teammates change with each map.
Accessing the new maps is easy as once you start in multiplayer mode; the option to select Apocalypse is shown on your menu. Players who have the previous map packs which are not required to play the new ones, will be able to access them in the game mode of their choice now as they would for the maps that came with the initial release of the game.
As time unfolds the map packs become part of the collection and players will simply select the online game they wish to play and if the server supports the new maps, then they will be included. However for the first few weeks of a DLC release, the option to select it is included.
The first map I played was called POD which is set in Taiwan and is focused on a failed modular community. The map is a tight area set between an ocean, mountains, and an overgrown forest which has sprawled over into the community.
As such the circular and spiral buildings are impressive though snipers will be upset that they cannot scale the buildings to setup kill zones.
The close-quarters will keep your twitch reflex on high alert and enemies can and do appear at a moments notice.
The next map is called “Takeoff” and I had a real blast playing this one, literally. It is set on a Space Shuttle launch site in the Pacific Ocean. The futuristic setting has a great mix of open areas, plenty of cover, and very detailed interiors.
I was tasked to set and diffuse bombs during my early attempts on the map and finding choke points and kill zones early allowed me to not only accomplish my tasks but to setup ambushes and traps along the most likely routes that the enemies would take.
Up next is “Frost” which is set in frozen Amsterdam and challenges players to navigate not only the frozen canals and streets of the city as well as the enemy onslaught. The central bridge of the map is always a point of contention and the ability to use the intersecting canals to get around is also a new dimension to explore.
I took a beating early in playing this map, but by my third time around I was able to rack up some kills by using the canals to get around choke points and lobbing grenades upwards to enemy groups and then emerge guns blazing in the confusion.
The map has many buildings that have a fairly generic look but the focus here is on outdoor combat in the snow rather than battling in building interiors.
The final map is entitled “DIG” and it is a reworking of Courtyard from Call of Duty: World at War: The map is set in a circular manner in an archeological site and contains plenty of open areas and scant cover. Some areas are abundant in walls, debris and other areas ideal to sneak up on an enemy but many others leave you in the open for long moments as you wait for a barrage of gunfire to take you out.
I did well on this one the first time out by locating choke points and using grenades to pin an enemy in and following up with my team as we attacked them in groups of three.
Of course no DLC would be complete without another battle with the Undead and “Origins” delivers in a big way. Set in carnage strewn World War 1 No Man’s Land of trenches, bunkers, and more, the undead are relentless.
Players must work with one another to start up some generators and survive but of course there is more to it than this. For one, the enemies are intense and seeing the zombie masses in spiked helmets and other attire from the era as well as the gigantic robot makes for a very surreal site amongst the trenches.
Origins takes players back to where the first Zombie mode began and is a prequel of a type as it explains where all of the Zombie chaos that has been a fixture of the Treyarch Call of Duty games began.
I loved getting the Zombie Blood Reward which caused the undead to see me as one of their own which was even more rewarding when I opened up amongst them in close quarters.
Even with two of the maps being reworked ones, Apocalypse feels fresher than many of the other DLC maps in that the designers have attempted to give players something new and different. There is only so much that can be down with map packs but the clever mix of locales and features as well as the best Zombie mode to date.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/16/call-of-duty-apocalypse/
Apocalypse is the fourth and final set of map packs and is contains some very clever new and reworked offerings which should delight even the most jaded fans, some of whom complain that the DLC is often more of the same.
Like the previous map collections the players are limited to either Mosh pit or Hardcore Moshpit that puts teams of players in a series of online games where the objective is varied. There is the usual mix, Team Deathmatch, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, and Demolition modes and the mode as well as your teammates change with each map.
Accessing the new maps is easy as once you start in multiplayer mode; the option to select Apocalypse is shown on your menu. Players who have the previous map packs which are not required to play the new ones, will be able to access them in the game mode of their choice now as they would for the maps that came with the initial release of the game.
As time unfolds the map packs become part of the collection and players will simply select the online game they wish to play and if the server supports the new maps, then they will be included. However for the first few weeks of a DLC release, the option to select it is included.
The first map I played was called POD which is set in Taiwan and is focused on a failed modular community. The map is a tight area set between an ocean, mountains, and an overgrown forest which has sprawled over into the community.
As such the circular and spiral buildings are impressive though snipers will be upset that they cannot scale the buildings to setup kill zones.
The close-quarters will keep your twitch reflex on high alert and enemies can and do appear at a moments notice.
The next map is called “Takeoff” and I had a real blast playing this one, literally. It is set on a Space Shuttle launch site in the Pacific Ocean. The futuristic setting has a great mix of open areas, plenty of cover, and very detailed interiors.
I was tasked to set and diffuse bombs during my early attempts on the map and finding choke points and kill zones early allowed me to not only accomplish my tasks but to setup ambushes and traps along the most likely routes that the enemies would take.
Up next is “Frost” which is set in frozen Amsterdam and challenges players to navigate not only the frozen canals and streets of the city as well as the enemy onslaught. The central bridge of the map is always a point of contention and the ability to use the intersecting canals to get around is also a new dimension to explore.
I took a beating early in playing this map, but by my third time around I was able to rack up some kills by using the canals to get around choke points and lobbing grenades upwards to enemy groups and then emerge guns blazing in the confusion.
The map has many buildings that have a fairly generic look but the focus here is on outdoor combat in the snow rather than battling in building interiors.
The final map is entitled “DIG” and it is a reworking of Courtyard from Call of Duty: World at War: The map is set in a circular manner in an archeological site and contains plenty of open areas and scant cover. Some areas are abundant in walls, debris and other areas ideal to sneak up on an enemy but many others leave you in the open for long moments as you wait for a barrage of gunfire to take you out.
I did well on this one the first time out by locating choke points and using grenades to pin an enemy in and following up with my team as we attacked them in groups of three.
Of course no DLC would be complete without another battle with the Undead and “Origins” delivers in a big way. Set in carnage strewn World War 1 No Man’s Land of trenches, bunkers, and more, the undead are relentless.
Players must work with one another to start up some generators and survive but of course there is more to it than this. For one, the enemies are intense and seeing the zombie masses in spiked helmets and other attire from the era as well as the gigantic robot makes for a very surreal site amongst the trenches.
Origins takes players back to where the first Zombie mode began and is a prequel of a type as it explains where all of the Zombie chaos that has been a fixture of the Treyarch Call of Duty games began.
I loved getting the Zombie Blood Reward which caused the undead to see me as one of their own which was even more rewarding when I opened up amongst them in close quarters.
Even with two of the maps being reworked ones, Apocalypse feels fresher than many of the other DLC maps in that the designers have attempted to give players something new and different. There is only so much that can be down with map packs but the clever mix of locales and features as well as the best Zombie mode to date.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/16/call-of-duty-apocalypse/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated World War Z (2013) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Inspired by the book of the same name, “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt has made it to theaters after several delays including seven weeks of additional shooting that was ordered by the studio after principal photography had ended. While the book covers survivor interviews in the wake of the zombie pandemic, the film covers the early days the outbreak and casts Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former U.N. troubleshooter who is left his life in the field for the ability to be a stay-at-home husband and dad to his wife and daughters. When an unexpected outbreak starts to lay waste to several cities, Gerry and his family are evacuated by his old U.N. Allies to a secure location aboard a naval flotilla and he is told that his family will remain in security providing he agrees to spearhead an investigation to determine the source of the outbreak.
With very few options Gerry leads a team to Korea in an attempt to get to the source of the outbreak and find a cure, or at the very least, a course of treatment to battle an outbreak that’s quickly is decimating the world’s population and threatening to destroy life as we know it in a very short time. The dangers are numerous and Gerry soon learns that there is a much larger puzzle to be solved which sets them on a journey around the world in a race against time to save humanity. Along the way he encounters signs of the world gone mad and utter devastation from locales ranging from Jerusalem to Cardiff as it becomes obvious that the infection has spared no region of the globe. With time running out, Gerry must find a way to turn the tide and save humanity before it is too late. With his resources dwindling he embarks on a desperate mission to test a theory and save the world.
The film does have its share of tense moments however the PG-13 rating does severely limit the amount of gore and horror that can be displayed. One key scene implied that a weapon had become imbedded in an infected enemy and that Gerry was struggling to extract it in order to use it to defend himself. Due to the limitations of the rating this had to be implied rather than shown and Pitt came across as more comical than tense and desperate.
The movie also suffers from converted 3-D which does absolutely nothing to enhance the film as there were very few moments that benefited from the 3-D technique. Perhaps if the film had been shot in 3-D the quality it would’ve been better but it was clear that several of the scenes in the film were not set up nor shot with 3-D in mind.
There are some very good effects; especially the ones were hordes of infected throw themselves recklessly like swarming insects upon barricaded survivors which really helped underscore just how hopeless and desperate the situation for the survivors was. No matter how much firepower you have, a wall of infected coming at you in endless waves is eventually going to outlast your supply of ammunition.
There had been some reported tensions on the set between Pitt and Director Marc Forster, but to me the biggest red flag was the seven additional weeks of shooting that were done after principal photography had been completed. While re-shoots are not uncommon, re-shoots of this length are, especially when it led to the film being delayed from its original planned release to the summer.
In the end what you have is an uneven effort. The film has a very good concept, good cast, and potential to be a fantastic series but suffers from a real lack of scares. It’s a sanitized look at a zombie invasion that greatly undermines the subject and the source material. The studio has hopes of doing a trilogy of films and I would definitely like to see future releases in the series provided they improve upon the original, offer films that are more in keeping with the book and are more respectful to zombie genre. As it stands now, Pitt does the best he can with the material but is let down by a script that is big on clichés and offers very little in the way of scares and originality.
http://sknr.net/2013/06/21/world-war-z/
With very few options Gerry leads a team to Korea in an attempt to get to the source of the outbreak and find a cure, or at the very least, a course of treatment to battle an outbreak that’s quickly is decimating the world’s population and threatening to destroy life as we know it in a very short time. The dangers are numerous and Gerry soon learns that there is a much larger puzzle to be solved which sets them on a journey around the world in a race against time to save humanity. Along the way he encounters signs of the world gone mad and utter devastation from locales ranging from Jerusalem to Cardiff as it becomes obvious that the infection has spared no region of the globe. With time running out, Gerry must find a way to turn the tide and save humanity before it is too late. With his resources dwindling he embarks on a desperate mission to test a theory and save the world.
The film does have its share of tense moments however the PG-13 rating does severely limit the amount of gore and horror that can be displayed. One key scene implied that a weapon had become imbedded in an infected enemy and that Gerry was struggling to extract it in order to use it to defend himself. Due to the limitations of the rating this had to be implied rather than shown and Pitt came across as more comical than tense and desperate.
The movie also suffers from converted 3-D which does absolutely nothing to enhance the film as there were very few moments that benefited from the 3-D technique. Perhaps if the film had been shot in 3-D the quality it would’ve been better but it was clear that several of the scenes in the film were not set up nor shot with 3-D in mind.
There are some very good effects; especially the ones were hordes of infected throw themselves recklessly like swarming insects upon barricaded survivors which really helped underscore just how hopeless and desperate the situation for the survivors was. No matter how much firepower you have, a wall of infected coming at you in endless waves is eventually going to outlast your supply of ammunition.
There had been some reported tensions on the set between Pitt and Director Marc Forster, but to me the biggest red flag was the seven additional weeks of shooting that were done after principal photography had been completed. While re-shoots are not uncommon, re-shoots of this length are, especially when it led to the film being delayed from its original planned release to the summer.
In the end what you have is an uneven effort. The film has a very good concept, good cast, and potential to be a fantastic series but suffers from a real lack of scares. It’s a sanitized look at a zombie invasion that greatly undermines the subject and the source material. The studio has hopes of doing a trilogy of films and I would definitely like to see future releases in the series provided they improve upon the original, offer films that are more in keeping with the book and are more respectful to zombie genre. As it stands now, Pitt does the best he can with the material but is let down by a script that is big on clichés and offers very little in the way of scares and originality.
http://sknr.net/2013/06/21/world-war-z/
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies
Nov 24, 2017 (Updated Nov 24, 2017)
Story is harrowing and essential but film could have been made better
As a massive fan of biopics, The Zookeeper's Wife is an incredibly important tale of a the real life Polish couple who sheltered Jews in their zoo during the Second World War, helping 300 people to escape from Warsaw.
Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.
Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.
Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.
Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Beasts of No Nation (2015) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Jul 9, 2020)
As I may have mentioned, a lot of my film viewing over the last wee while has been part of a project that hopes to be called 21st Century Cinema: 200 Essential films of the new millennium – which utilises the Decinemal system you will see at the bottom of each of my reviews. It aims to judge each film objectively with a score out of 10 over 10 categories, to give an overall rating out of 100.
Cary Joyi Fukunaga’s personal opus Beasts of no Nation, made for Netflix but good enough for a cinema release, falls into the category of films that have garnered enough critical acclaim to demand consideration for the top 200. It is the kind of film that you would always recommend, but may choose to overlook in search of a more basically entertaining watch.
Fukunaga has a fine pedigree already in his career, with credits on True Detective and the under-rated Sin Nombre from 2009. He has also been tasked with directing duties on the delayed Bond No Time To Die, which we hope to see before the new year now. He is a hands on, no messing about kind of guy, seemingly, taking on writing and cinematography duties also for this sad tale of child exploitation in an unnamed African war.
At times, it borders on documentary style, with an eye for strong visual images and extended silences, favoured over extraneous exposition and needless dialogue. A technique that makes the subject matter all the more uncomfortable to watch. Idris Elba adds big name weight in a fine supporting role, but the lion’s share of acting responsibility falls to young Abraham Attah, who is nothing short of astonishing in the most harrowing moments of this stark and sincere story.
I have to confess, this was another pre-lockdown watch for me, and as much as I can recall the feel and impact of it as a whole, I would struggle to talk about it in any detail after one viewing three months ago. And that is partly the reason it won’t quite make the lower benchmark of a strong 73 Decinemal score; for all its power it just isn’t quite memorable enough on every level, in the way something like City Of God, or even Beasts of the Southern Wild most definitely are.
Perhaps those are unfair comparisons, but it strives for the impact of the former without the flair, and has an independant feel without the charm of the latter. Not that flair or charm are priorities here. It simply wants to show you an issue you may not have been overly aware of, and demands that you empathise both with the complexity of the problem and with the tragic journey of Agu – a child robbed of all innocence by a terrible world.
The photography sits with the strong performances as a notable highlight; giving contrast to the devastation, depredation and desperation under the skin, and showing an angry beauty that dances beside it, showing brief moments of hope when we need them most, and therefore avoiding the trap of being too brutal to enjoy on any level. Which is a mistake similar films can fall prey too.
Violence and war are not light subjects. When the focus is also the lost soul of a child, the tightrope of melodrama and sentimentality is very fine. All involved here walk that line expertly, never once resorting to having to buy your care with familiar Hollywood tricks. In fact it couldn’t be further from Hollywood if it tried. And the drama is all the better for that.
A solid, fine movie, that is narrowly short of being truly great. But you should most definitely see it at some point if you haven’t already.
Cary Joyi Fukunaga’s personal opus Beasts of no Nation, made for Netflix but good enough for a cinema release, falls into the category of films that have garnered enough critical acclaim to demand consideration for the top 200. It is the kind of film that you would always recommend, but may choose to overlook in search of a more basically entertaining watch.
Fukunaga has a fine pedigree already in his career, with credits on True Detective and the under-rated Sin Nombre from 2009. He has also been tasked with directing duties on the delayed Bond No Time To Die, which we hope to see before the new year now. He is a hands on, no messing about kind of guy, seemingly, taking on writing and cinematography duties also for this sad tale of child exploitation in an unnamed African war.
At times, it borders on documentary style, with an eye for strong visual images and extended silences, favoured over extraneous exposition and needless dialogue. A technique that makes the subject matter all the more uncomfortable to watch. Idris Elba adds big name weight in a fine supporting role, but the lion’s share of acting responsibility falls to young Abraham Attah, who is nothing short of astonishing in the most harrowing moments of this stark and sincere story.
I have to confess, this was another pre-lockdown watch for me, and as much as I can recall the feel and impact of it as a whole, I would struggle to talk about it in any detail after one viewing three months ago. And that is partly the reason it won’t quite make the lower benchmark of a strong 73 Decinemal score; for all its power it just isn’t quite memorable enough on every level, in the way something like City Of God, or even Beasts of the Southern Wild most definitely are.
Perhaps those are unfair comparisons, but it strives for the impact of the former without the flair, and has an independant feel without the charm of the latter. Not that flair or charm are priorities here. It simply wants to show you an issue you may not have been overly aware of, and demands that you empathise both with the complexity of the problem and with the tragic journey of Agu – a child robbed of all innocence by a terrible world.
The photography sits with the strong performances as a notable highlight; giving contrast to the devastation, depredation and desperation under the skin, and showing an angry beauty that dances beside it, showing brief moments of hope when we need them most, and therefore avoiding the trap of being too brutal to enjoy on any level. Which is a mistake similar films can fall prey too.
Violence and war are not light subjects. When the focus is also the lost soul of a child, the tightrope of melodrama and sentimentality is very fine. All involved here walk that line expertly, never once resorting to having to buy your care with familiar Hollywood tricks. In fact it couldn’t be further from Hollywood if it tried. And the drama is all the better for that.
A solid, fine movie, that is narrowly short of being truly great. But you should most definitely see it at some point if you haven’t already.
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Ninth Rain in Books
Aug 27, 2018
The Ninth Rain takes place in a world with two main dominant races: humans and eborans. The latter used to derive strength from the sap of Ygserin, the life-giving god-tree. This tree also used to dispatch war-beasts when needed, following invasion from the "worm-people", an alien race who seem determined to destroy the land and its people. The story follows the adventures of Vintage and Tormalin (a human and her Eboran companion) as they try to research the worm people's motives and weaknesses, and Noon, a Fell-witch who can take someone's life force and turn it into a weapon of fire.
The plot is very well planned out and interwoven, with the history of the land and its people, and the main characters, being revealed over the course of the book as needed to fit in with the current timeline.
The characters are well crafted and develop in different ways over the course of the book.
For me, the middle third dragged a little as a fairly humdrum adventure across country unfolded and numerous incidents and conflicts occurred. There just didn't seem to be a great deal of direction and it was more that "things that need to happen will happen here" but it didn't really serve much purpose. The story before and after that was very strong, but this section was a chore.
I am always nervous when a character suddenly has a voice in their head telling them what to do, afraid of irritating deus ex machina. Here however that was not the case as the voice was a very important, and (eventually) well-grounded plot point.
Overall a very good story, set up nicely for the follow-up in the series.
The plot is very well planned out and interwoven, with the history of the land and its people, and the main characters, being revealed over the course of the book as needed to fit in with the current timeline.
The characters are well crafted and develop in different ways over the course of the book.
For me, the middle third dragged a little as a fairly humdrum adventure across country unfolded and numerous incidents and conflicts occurred. There just didn't seem to be a great deal of direction and it was more that "things that need to happen will happen here" but it didn't really serve much purpose. The story before and after that was very strong, but this section was a chore.
I am always nervous when a character suddenly has a voice in their head telling them what to do, afraid of irritating deus ex machina. Here however that was not the case as the voice was a very important, and (eventually) well-grounded plot point.
Overall a very good story, set up nicely for the follow-up in the series.
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