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The Silent Age
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Episode Two now available, the final chapter in this award winning adventure. The Silent Age takes...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Batman Begins (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
In the dark of night, a young man’s life is about to be forever changed. Young Bruce Wayne, son of wealthy industrialist Dr. Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache), is about to be orphaned in a random act of street violence.
The act will forever scar the younger Wayne, and will install and fuel a dark fire to stop crime and corruption wherever they may be. Fast forward years later and Bruce (Christian Bale), is interned in and Asian prison as a result of his desire to stop crime and an unfortunate series of events that made him flee Gotham City to find himself. Hope arrives one day in the form of a visitor named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who arranges not only to free Bruce, but to train him for his destiny.
High atop a rocky, snow-covered peak, Bruce undergoes rigorous physical and mental training to hone his body and mind into the ultimate tool to combat crime. As time passes, Bruce eventually is ready to go out into the world. That is until an unexpected situation arises that forces him to decide which path he wishes to select.
The aftermath of this decision has Bruce returning home to Gotham City, where he is again under the care of the trusted family servant Alfred (Michael Caine), who informs him that crime and corruption is rampant in Gotham because the crime leader Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson), has many members of the police force and judicial system under his influence.
While touring his father’s company, Bruce meets Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who makes all manners of high-end experimental military weaponry and armor available to Bruce. Inspired, Bruce begins to craft his alter ego Batman, and takes to the nights to disrupt Falcone and the criminal activities in Gotham.
Unknown to Bruce/Batman, an evil villain known as the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), is plotting to destroy Gotham, and with Batman being wanted by the police as a vigilante his attempts to cleanse the city are hindered as Bruce/Batman must fight a war on different fronts.
For most films this would be more than enough plot to carry a summer action film, but for Batman Begins, it is only the setup as the depth of the story is surpassed only by the depth of the intensity and emotion of the film as this is not Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher’s campy takes on the tale of the Dark Knight.
Director Christopher Nolan takes the gloves off and shows that his triumphant work in “Memento” was not a fluke. He has crafted a complex, dark, and emotional film that is more of a drama than a comic book caper. Bale does a masterful job portraying the angst and anger of his character without ever being hammy or over the top. He portrays Wayne as a very normal, yet disturbed soul, who clearly has a method to his madness and is not a shallow once dimensional character. When Bruce is not out fighting crime, he is not above cracking jokes, squiring the ladies about town, and spending time with long time friend (and the one who got away) Rachael Dawes (Katie Holmes).
The film takes many twists and never gets sappy as far too many comic based films do. In fact, the intensity of the film keeps going up until the town literally explodes into frenzy of violence and chaos. Parents should note that this Batman is a very intense film filled with dark images and as such may be too intense for younger viewers as this is a film that is aimed towards a more mature audience.
As I sat through the films nearly two and a half hour running time, I was captivated as the film holds your attention throughout, and is filled with great performances and action. The chase scene with the new Batmobile is one of the best car chase sequences in recent memory and the action scenes move with a crisp and steady pacing. Bale, as I mentioned, does great work, but so do Neeson, Caine and Gary Oldman in a supporting role as Police Officer Gordon. They take supporting characters and infuse them with a touch of humanity that enables them to come across as real people rather than the thin constructs that are far too often passed on as characters in films of this type.
The only real quibble I had with the film, and it is very minor, would be that Holmes was not given a chance to show more to her character other than the duality of the damsel in distress and the passionate Assistant D.A. Her scenes with Bale seem to lack the spark and chemistry of someone who is supposed to have been a close friend of Bruce since they were children.
That being said, the mature nature and gripping and deep storyline, as well as the standout performances and action, make this film a true classic and rivals “Spider-Man” as the best and most faithful adaptation of a comic book.
The act will forever scar the younger Wayne, and will install and fuel a dark fire to stop crime and corruption wherever they may be. Fast forward years later and Bruce (Christian Bale), is interned in and Asian prison as a result of his desire to stop crime and an unfortunate series of events that made him flee Gotham City to find himself. Hope arrives one day in the form of a visitor named Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who arranges not only to free Bruce, but to train him for his destiny.
High atop a rocky, snow-covered peak, Bruce undergoes rigorous physical and mental training to hone his body and mind into the ultimate tool to combat crime. As time passes, Bruce eventually is ready to go out into the world. That is until an unexpected situation arises that forces him to decide which path he wishes to select.
The aftermath of this decision has Bruce returning home to Gotham City, where he is again under the care of the trusted family servant Alfred (Michael Caine), who informs him that crime and corruption is rampant in Gotham because the crime leader Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson), has many members of the police force and judicial system under his influence.
While touring his father’s company, Bruce meets Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who makes all manners of high-end experimental military weaponry and armor available to Bruce. Inspired, Bruce begins to craft his alter ego Batman, and takes to the nights to disrupt Falcone and the criminal activities in Gotham.
Unknown to Bruce/Batman, an evil villain known as the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), is plotting to destroy Gotham, and with Batman being wanted by the police as a vigilante his attempts to cleanse the city are hindered as Bruce/Batman must fight a war on different fronts.
For most films this would be more than enough plot to carry a summer action film, but for Batman Begins, it is only the setup as the depth of the story is surpassed only by the depth of the intensity and emotion of the film as this is not Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher’s campy takes on the tale of the Dark Knight.
Director Christopher Nolan takes the gloves off and shows that his triumphant work in “Memento” was not a fluke. He has crafted a complex, dark, and emotional film that is more of a drama than a comic book caper. Bale does a masterful job portraying the angst and anger of his character without ever being hammy or over the top. He portrays Wayne as a very normal, yet disturbed soul, who clearly has a method to his madness and is not a shallow once dimensional character. When Bruce is not out fighting crime, he is not above cracking jokes, squiring the ladies about town, and spending time with long time friend (and the one who got away) Rachael Dawes (Katie Holmes).
The film takes many twists and never gets sappy as far too many comic based films do. In fact, the intensity of the film keeps going up until the town literally explodes into frenzy of violence and chaos. Parents should note that this Batman is a very intense film filled with dark images and as such may be too intense for younger viewers as this is a film that is aimed towards a more mature audience.
As I sat through the films nearly two and a half hour running time, I was captivated as the film holds your attention throughout, and is filled with great performances and action. The chase scene with the new Batmobile is one of the best car chase sequences in recent memory and the action scenes move with a crisp and steady pacing. Bale, as I mentioned, does great work, but so do Neeson, Caine and Gary Oldman in a supporting role as Police Officer Gordon. They take supporting characters and infuse them with a touch of humanity that enables them to come across as real people rather than the thin constructs that are far too often passed on as characters in films of this type.
The only real quibble I had with the film, and it is very minor, would be that Holmes was not given a chance to show more to her character other than the duality of the damsel in distress and the passionate Assistant D.A. Her scenes with Bale seem to lack the spark and chemistry of someone who is supposed to have been a close friend of Bruce since they were children.
That being said, the mature nature and gripping and deep storyline, as well as the standout performances and action, make this film a true classic and rivals “Spider-Man” as the best and most faithful adaptation of a comic book.
Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts Self Defense and Basics
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5/5 “Best graphics and as good as Call of Duty.” 5/5 “Fabulous game with breathtakingly...
Lee (2222 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Feb 8, 2019 (Updated Feb 8, 2019)
The Visuals (1 more)
Alita
A lot of big names, overqualified and underutilised (1 more)
Clunky dialogue and pacing issues
All style, not much substance
James Cameron has spent more than a decade trying to bring Alita: Battle Angel to the big screen. Based on a popular cyberpunk manga series by Yukito Kishiro, published between 1990-1995, he has spent that time refining the script and developing the world that Alita inhabits. And that’s pretty much what he now spends most of his time taking care of with the Avatar movies and the world of Pandora. Hence the reason why he eventually decided to step back into producer duties for this movie, letting Robert Rodriguez pick up the directing reins in order to finally get it finished. Rodriguez uses much of the script that Cameron wrote, but brings a little bit of his trademark style to the table too.
It’s 2563, and we’re in Iron City. Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) is scavenging among a huge scrapyard, looking for cyborg spare parts that he can make use of, while fresh metal and rubbish rains down from Zalem – a man-made, floating city sitting in the sky above Iron City. 300 years ago there were many of these floating cities but following a brutal war all of them except for Zalem perished. During that time though, the elevator leading up to Zalem was destroyed, and these days only the ‘pure’ inhabitants of Zalem are permitted there. Nobody from Earth is allowed to visit and if anyone comes down from Zalem, they’re not allowed back. It’s to try and avoid any contamination from entering Zalem. If you’ve seen the Matt Damon movie Elysium… well, then it’s a bit like that really.
Among the usual items, such as robotic hands and eyeballs, Dr Ido discovers Alita, or rather the core of Alita – lying lifeless and broken, with only a battered hairless head and upper torso remaining. He takes her back to his laboratory/home, where he works as a cybernetics expert, repairing and upgrading the inhabitants of Iron City who are either cyborgs or humans with cyborg body parts. Along with his assisting nurse, and using a robotic body that had been previously built for his now deceased daughter (this gets briefly explained later), they rebuild her, giving her the name Alita (also his daughters name). Alita awakens later in a nice comfortable bed, in what was presumably Dr Ido’s daughters room. She has no memory of her previous existence and sets about experiencing all the sights, sensations and tastes that human life and Iron City has to offer, exploring and striking up a friendship with local boy Hugo and his group of friends. But, as the name of the movie implies, this cyborg was built for battle, and it’s not long before Alita begins to remember who exactly she used to be and just how good at kicking ass she is.
A quick word about the visuals, as they are by far the best thing about this movie. Iron City, despite clearly being a futuristic world, is certainly not dark or bleak looking in the way we’re used to with similar movies of this genre. Many of the early scenes take place during daylight hours and the city is a vibrant, bright, bustling home to thousand of humans and cyborgs. We get to go beyond the limits of Iron City – the city walls, out to the badlands beyond, and as you’d expect from Cameron a lot of thought and detail has gone into mapping out and building this world. The cyborgs and the other robots we meet are all pretty standard for a movie of this kind, but it’s Alita that is the most impressive. Much of this is down to the incredible CGI involved in making her look as realistic as she does, but a lot of what makes her so enjoyable and believable is down to Rosa Salazar, whose motion captured performance helps bring her to life. The visuals are obviously at their most impressive during the battle scenes involving Alita – where so many movies with heavy CGI battles end up as just a messy whirlpool of characters and action, that’s certainly not the case here. Slick, inventive and exhilarating choreography allowing you to actually track and follow every single character and action in crisp detail. It’s refreshing and impressive, even more so when watched in 3D and particularly so during the fast paced Motorball scenes featured towards the end of the movie.
Outside of the visuals though, other characters and plot lines don’t seem to stick so well, which is disappointing considering the rich source material available to the film makers. Alita: Battle Angel suffers from inconsistent pacing, dialogue that is clunky and exposition-heavy and there are many times when the accompanying soundtrack just felt distracting to me, out of place with whatever is currently happening. Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali and Jennifer Connolly all seem overqualified and underutilised, and the romance between Alita and Hugo is unnecessary, and at times annoying. It feels like it’s trying to cram too much story into its two hour run time, resulting in plot holes and frustrations later on. And there is even a cliffhanger ending – frustrating in that it feels as though we haven’t even properly concluded this part of the story and we’re now being left to wait should a sequel ever be given the go ahead.
I found much to enjoy with Alita: Battle Angel, and would gladly go see a sequel or two, should they get made. It’s enjoyable at times, and dazzling to look at, but overall it did leave me feeling a little bit frustrated and disappointed.
It’s 2563, and we’re in Iron City. Dr Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) is scavenging among a huge scrapyard, looking for cyborg spare parts that he can make use of, while fresh metal and rubbish rains down from Zalem – a man-made, floating city sitting in the sky above Iron City. 300 years ago there were many of these floating cities but following a brutal war all of them except for Zalem perished. During that time though, the elevator leading up to Zalem was destroyed, and these days only the ‘pure’ inhabitants of Zalem are permitted there. Nobody from Earth is allowed to visit and if anyone comes down from Zalem, they’re not allowed back. It’s to try and avoid any contamination from entering Zalem. If you’ve seen the Matt Damon movie Elysium… well, then it’s a bit like that really.
Among the usual items, such as robotic hands and eyeballs, Dr Ido discovers Alita, or rather the core of Alita – lying lifeless and broken, with only a battered hairless head and upper torso remaining. He takes her back to his laboratory/home, where he works as a cybernetics expert, repairing and upgrading the inhabitants of Iron City who are either cyborgs or humans with cyborg body parts. Along with his assisting nurse, and using a robotic body that had been previously built for his now deceased daughter (this gets briefly explained later), they rebuild her, giving her the name Alita (also his daughters name). Alita awakens later in a nice comfortable bed, in what was presumably Dr Ido’s daughters room. She has no memory of her previous existence and sets about experiencing all the sights, sensations and tastes that human life and Iron City has to offer, exploring and striking up a friendship with local boy Hugo and his group of friends. But, as the name of the movie implies, this cyborg was built for battle, and it’s not long before Alita begins to remember who exactly she used to be and just how good at kicking ass she is.
A quick word about the visuals, as they are by far the best thing about this movie. Iron City, despite clearly being a futuristic world, is certainly not dark or bleak looking in the way we’re used to with similar movies of this genre. Many of the early scenes take place during daylight hours and the city is a vibrant, bright, bustling home to thousand of humans and cyborgs. We get to go beyond the limits of Iron City – the city walls, out to the badlands beyond, and as you’d expect from Cameron a lot of thought and detail has gone into mapping out and building this world. The cyborgs and the other robots we meet are all pretty standard for a movie of this kind, but it’s Alita that is the most impressive. Much of this is down to the incredible CGI involved in making her look as realistic as she does, but a lot of what makes her so enjoyable and believable is down to Rosa Salazar, whose motion captured performance helps bring her to life. The visuals are obviously at their most impressive during the battle scenes involving Alita – where so many movies with heavy CGI battles end up as just a messy whirlpool of characters and action, that’s certainly not the case here. Slick, inventive and exhilarating choreography allowing you to actually track and follow every single character and action in crisp detail. It’s refreshing and impressive, even more so when watched in 3D and particularly so during the fast paced Motorball scenes featured towards the end of the movie.
Outside of the visuals though, other characters and plot lines don’t seem to stick so well, which is disappointing considering the rich source material available to the film makers. Alita: Battle Angel suffers from inconsistent pacing, dialogue that is clunky and exposition-heavy and there are many times when the accompanying soundtrack just felt distracting to me, out of place with whatever is currently happening. Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali and Jennifer Connolly all seem overqualified and underutilised, and the romance between Alita and Hugo is unnecessary, and at times annoying. It feels like it’s trying to cram too much story into its two hour run time, resulting in plot holes and frustrations later on. And there is even a cliffhanger ending – frustrating in that it feels as though we haven’t even properly concluded this part of the story and we’re now being left to wait should a sequel ever be given the go ahead.
I found much to enjoy with Alita: Battle Angel, and would gladly go see a sequel or two, should they get made. It’s enjoyable at times, and dazzling to look at, but overall it did leave me feeling a little bit frustrated and disappointed.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Long Utopia in Books
Nov 20, 2019
The Long Earth series of books presented an intriguing idea, that of being able to 'step' into parallel Earths, each an untouched wilderness and each one slightly different until they became very different planets. How would this affect people on a personal level and how would it affect the social and political stability of the original 'Datum Earth'?
The second book, The Long War explored the political theme further with the superpowers attempting to control the equivalent populations on the other Earths - and mostly meeting resistance to any governance at all. It also introduced the concept of the Next, a super intelligent sub-species of humanity.
The third book, The Long Mars had further incredible iterations of Earth on display and also did the same thing for Mars on a quest to discover a material to use to make a space elevator. The Next also started to organise and to separate themselves from the rest of humanity.
Each of these took the original concept and gave us more interesting worlds and lifeforms. Although the law of diminishing returns was starting to bite - Earth fatigue if you like - the main interest was in seeing what new ideas the authors could wrestle for each new Earth or Mars.
That is where this book fails. It is almost exclusively interested in only one copy of Earth, which comes under direct threat. All the usual suspects - Joshua, Sally, Lobsang and the Next must join forces to prevent a catastrophe threatening the whole Long Earth. There is also a sub-plot involving Joshua's antecedents which although interesting in itself is essentially a Long Earth short story of no relevance to the rest of the plot.
Whereas the previous books had a sense of wonder at each world, this loses that completely. It is in fact a completely standard science fiction story and probably would have been better told as a stand alone story rather than being shoe-horned into the Long Earth concept, which doesn't actually add anything interesting to it. It reads very much like Baxter wanted to write a story about a Dyson motor and as he was contracted to write a Long Earth novel, that's what was used. Unfortunately even this story is not well told with stilted and flaccid dialogue, zero character development and no dramatic tension at all. It was a real struggle to read in places, there is no zip or flow to the story or writing.
Various bits of the plot don't make a great deal of sense and the ending is very lame indeed with the chain of Long Earth worlds being essentially fixed by just thinking about it. The Next decide that Stan Berg, a newly discovered one of their kind, is the only one to 'fix' this despite basically no contact. They are supposed to be super intelligent and think many moves ahead but this just struck me as absurd.
Overall, I would only suggest that Long Earth completists read this. Those who enjoy the Long Earth for its diversity and novel concepts would be better off leaving this one on the shelf.
The second book, The Long War explored the political theme further with the superpowers attempting to control the equivalent populations on the other Earths - and mostly meeting resistance to any governance at all. It also introduced the concept of the Next, a super intelligent sub-species of humanity.
The third book, The Long Mars had further incredible iterations of Earth on display and also did the same thing for Mars on a quest to discover a material to use to make a space elevator. The Next also started to organise and to separate themselves from the rest of humanity.
Each of these took the original concept and gave us more interesting worlds and lifeforms. Although the law of diminishing returns was starting to bite - Earth fatigue if you like - the main interest was in seeing what new ideas the authors could wrestle for each new Earth or Mars.
That is where this book fails. It is almost exclusively interested in only one copy of Earth, which comes under direct threat. All the usual suspects - Joshua, Sally, Lobsang and the Next must join forces to prevent a catastrophe threatening the whole Long Earth. There is also a sub-plot involving Joshua's antecedents which although interesting in itself is essentially a Long Earth short story of no relevance to the rest of the plot.
Whereas the previous books had a sense of wonder at each world, this loses that completely. It is in fact a completely standard science fiction story and probably would have been better told as a stand alone story rather than being shoe-horned into the Long Earth concept, which doesn't actually add anything interesting to it. It reads very much like Baxter wanted to write a story about a Dyson motor and as he was contracted to write a Long Earth novel, that's what was used. Unfortunately even this story is not well told with stilted and flaccid dialogue, zero character development and no dramatic tension at all. It was a real struggle to read in places, there is no zip or flow to the story or writing.
Various bits of the plot don't make a great deal of sense and the ending is very lame indeed with the chain of Long Earth worlds being essentially fixed by just thinking about it. The Next decide that Stan Berg, a newly discovered one of their kind, is the only one to 'fix' this despite basically no contact. They are supposed to be super intelligent and think many moves ahead but this just struck me as absurd.
Overall, I would only suggest that Long Earth completists read this. Those who enjoy the Long Earth for its diversity and novel concepts would be better off leaving this one on the shelf.
Weaphones WW2: Firearms Simulator Free
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Experience the weapons of World War II like never before. Weaphones WW2 Free Edition redefines what...
Weaphones WW2: Firearms Simulator
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Experience the weapons of World War II like never before. Weaphones WW2 Edition redefines what the...
Lee (2222 KP) rated Greyhound (2020) in Movies
Sep 2, 2020
Snore...
Based on a C.S. Forester novel The Good Shepherd, and a screenplay by Mr Tom Hanks himself, Greyhound is the latest movie to feature Hanks in the role of brave Captain, returning once more to World War II territory. Any hopes that this might be a return to the grand heights of Saving Private Ryan though are soon laid to rest.
Set in 1942, Hanks plays Captain Ernest Krause, responsible for one of only a handful of warships as they escort and protect an even larger number of merchant vessels making the journey across the Atlantic Ocean with vital supplies for England. They will be entering what’s known as ‘the black pit’ – a stretch of Ocean too far out at sea for any aerial cover to be provided by the countries on either side. For a few days, they will be on their own, and at the mercy of any German U-boats they may encounter.
Greyhound wastes no time in landing us right in the thick of it all, joining the crew as they enter the black pit, and sticking with them while they attempt to make it to relative safety on the other side. Obviously, it’s not long before a number of U-boats target the fleet of vessels and begin trying to pick them off in a tense game of cat and mouse at sea.
There is a LOT of nautical jargon in Greyhound and twenty minutes in, I was already feeling exhausted just trying to follow it all and gain any kind of enjoyment out of the movie. Despite throwing the occasion title up on screen to tell us which vessel we’re looking at out on the gloomy CGI seas, it’s also not always clear which ship is which, or who’s firing at who either. That attention to detailed dialogue really doesn’t let up one bit either, making what is only a 91 minute movie feel so much longer.
By throwing us straight into the action, we’re also given no time to learn or even care about any of the characters. Krause is only given a couple of brief flashback scenes, showing us with his partner two months earlier, played by Elizabeth Shue. Other than knowing this is his first Atlantic crossing, and that he is fully committed to the job in hand, refusing to eat any of the hot meals regularly brought to him by the ship’s cook, we’re provided very little information about our Captain.
The crew are also there just to fire off updates to their Captain and respond to his commands, providing no character development whatsoever for them either and giving us nothing to feel invested in, other than a desire for them all to make it safely to England.
With the focus of the movie entirely on the crew and setting of the Greyhound, we only hear from other characters via radio – calls for support from the other vessels, or psychological jaunts from the Germans on the U-boat. Again, by not giving us the viewpoint of any other side or vessel, it all makes for a very one dimensional and dull ride. Definitely not one of Tom Hanks finest.
Set in 1942, Hanks plays Captain Ernest Krause, responsible for one of only a handful of warships as they escort and protect an even larger number of merchant vessels making the journey across the Atlantic Ocean with vital supplies for England. They will be entering what’s known as ‘the black pit’ – a stretch of Ocean too far out at sea for any aerial cover to be provided by the countries on either side. For a few days, they will be on their own, and at the mercy of any German U-boats they may encounter.
Greyhound wastes no time in landing us right in the thick of it all, joining the crew as they enter the black pit, and sticking with them while they attempt to make it to relative safety on the other side. Obviously, it’s not long before a number of U-boats target the fleet of vessels and begin trying to pick them off in a tense game of cat and mouse at sea.
There is a LOT of nautical jargon in Greyhound and twenty minutes in, I was already feeling exhausted just trying to follow it all and gain any kind of enjoyment out of the movie. Despite throwing the occasion title up on screen to tell us which vessel we’re looking at out on the gloomy CGI seas, it’s also not always clear which ship is which, or who’s firing at who either. That attention to detailed dialogue really doesn’t let up one bit either, making what is only a 91 minute movie feel so much longer.
By throwing us straight into the action, we’re also given no time to learn or even care about any of the characters. Krause is only given a couple of brief flashback scenes, showing us with his partner two months earlier, played by Elizabeth Shue. Other than knowing this is his first Atlantic crossing, and that he is fully committed to the job in hand, refusing to eat any of the hot meals regularly brought to him by the ship’s cook, we’re provided very little information about our Captain.
The crew are also there just to fire off updates to their Captain and respond to his commands, providing no character development whatsoever for them either and giving us nothing to feel invested in, other than a desire for them all to make it safely to England.
With the focus of the movie entirely on the crew and setting of the Greyhound, we only hear from other characters via radio – calls for support from the other vessels, or psychological jaunts from the Germans on the U-boat. Again, by not giving us the viewpoint of any other side or vessel, it all makes for a very one dimensional and dull ride. Definitely not one of Tom Hanks finest.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Company of Heroes 2 in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
Fans of the real-time strategy World War II epic Company of Heroes were delighted when a full sequel to the game was announced. There was a bit of trepidation when publisher THQ was forced to sell off much of their assets to rival companies due to bankruptcy issues. Thankfully for the fans of the game and developer Relic Sega stepped in and acquire the franchise as well is provided to developers additional time to polish the game beyond its initial scheduled release.
For those that are not familiar with the series, the game task players to take command and construct various military units in an effort to seize key installations and strategic points, destroy enemy troops, and accomplish various strategic tasks. This is easier said than done as the enemy AI is extremely tenacious and adaptable and like battlefield situations, commanders are often forced to improvise and think on the fly one the unexpected happens.
This timeout the game is set in Russia and is told mainly through flashbacks during an interrogation of the disgraced Russian commander. Battles such as Stalingrad and other key elements of operation Barbosa are re-created and the initial battles are focused mainly on slowing the German advance as well as eliminating key resources that might be captured by the enemy.
As the game goes on, the weather becomes an new challenge as the fears Russian winter that proved to be so detrimental to the German forces is an element that must be contended with at all times. Players will not be able to send units on foot to capture very strategic elements or mission objectives without having them freeze to death. The solution to this problem is to have engineering units take a break from constructing buildings in order to create campfires. Players that are left out in the cold too long have a limited amount of time to reach the safety of a campfire or vehicle before they will freeze to death. Needing to ensure that the path to an objective is either stocked with appropriate amounts of fires or save for a vehicle to use is a key element to the strategic points of the game.
Being able to call in airstrikes as well as do more elaborate flanking maneuvers is definitely a high point of the game which adds to the strategy. You want to be very careful about massing your units in one place because to do so would invite an aerial or artillery barrage upon them. As in the previous games, players can take sanctuary in buildings which provides them ample opportunity to snipe at opposing targets. This is not without its limitations though as well-placed assaults including attacks with flamethrowers can soon turn the advantage into a disadvantage as troops may find themselves in a building collapsing around them.
Unlike other games of this type which are heavy on resource gathering to provide necessary funds for additional units, the game towards players points for capturing, holding, and destroying various strategic objectives. The better one does then the more units that will be made available to them. I really enjoy the heavy machine guns, mortar teams, and the cannon fodder conscripts squads, but what really makes the game shine is the ability to call in airstrikes and your armored units. As mentioned earlier about the difficulties in combat in the snow conditions. The game takes weather into account even to the point of providing hit points to the ice. An enemy that is attempting to bring across units supported by armor could be in for real surprise by strategically placed mine or a well-placed shell. Once at the ice becomes weak, then players can use this to their drainage to quickly dispatch units who fall through damage ice with a little bit of urging from their weapons.
Graphically the game shines and I really enjoy being able to use the mouse wheel to zoom into units and get an up close and personal look at them in action. Seeing them diligently go about their tasks be at construction or loading shells into their weaponry is not only beautiful to behold but adds to the sense of immersion. The sites of the game as well as the audio are spot on as key historical elements have obviously been paid attention to in the creation of this game. For example players talk about not seeing sugar in ages or how there are not enough weapons to go around and are instructed to simply head to the enemy and salvage what they can on the battlefield. There is also the element of brutality were troops are told that should you retreat from the enemy you’ll be shot and killed by your own commanders and that objectives must be completed regardless of the cost.
The game offers significant challenge to players of all levels and as such a skill level setting is in place which will allow you to try to find a happy medium for your style of play. There are also ample online opportunities for the game as not only can you play with your friends, you can create custom matches or to randomly assign matches which can pick you and other flesh and blood players up against the computer controlled opponents.
I especially like the ability to directly stream my gameplay to twitch TV as this is an element that we’re definitely looking to take advantage of in the future especially since live streaming is a key element of the upcoming gaming consoles as well .
The path finding in the game is very solid and although there are times when units can become a bit bogged down it is extremely minor especially for games of this type. The success or failure of missions relies solely upon your abilities as a commander. Sure there are times when brute force and overwhelming strength will ensure victory, but resources are at a premium on the Eastern front and players as mentioned earlier, often have to scrounge for resources from fallen soldiers on the battlefield. More than once I thought I was making short work of an enemy with a two-pronged attack only to have an extremely effective counterattack forced me into retreat and regroup mode. I learned during these times that having one unit feint toward an enemy locale wall flanking with two or more other units often worked out well. The enemy would be drawn to the one unit allowing me to get my other units behind them engaging enemy objectives for multiple sides.
This strategy works really well until you come across a machine gun nest and heavy armor which again forces you to improvise on the fly. Mortar and grenade units can do a good job at taking out a machine gun nest it positioned properly but I always found bathing area inflamed to be highly effective.
Regardless of what strategy you employ, Company of Heroes 2 is an extremely impressive and enjoyable game that not only provides plenty of enjoyment and excitement but shows that the series keeps getting better with each new installment.
http://sknr.net/2013/07/29/company-of-heroes-2/
For those that are not familiar with the series, the game task players to take command and construct various military units in an effort to seize key installations and strategic points, destroy enemy troops, and accomplish various strategic tasks. This is easier said than done as the enemy AI is extremely tenacious and adaptable and like battlefield situations, commanders are often forced to improvise and think on the fly one the unexpected happens.
This timeout the game is set in Russia and is told mainly through flashbacks during an interrogation of the disgraced Russian commander. Battles such as Stalingrad and other key elements of operation Barbosa are re-created and the initial battles are focused mainly on slowing the German advance as well as eliminating key resources that might be captured by the enemy.
As the game goes on, the weather becomes an new challenge as the fears Russian winter that proved to be so detrimental to the German forces is an element that must be contended with at all times. Players will not be able to send units on foot to capture very strategic elements or mission objectives without having them freeze to death. The solution to this problem is to have engineering units take a break from constructing buildings in order to create campfires. Players that are left out in the cold too long have a limited amount of time to reach the safety of a campfire or vehicle before they will freeze to death. Needing to ensure that the path to an objective is either stocked with appropriate amounts of fires or save for a vehicle to use is a key element to the strategic points of the game.
Being able to call in airstrikes as well as do more elaborate flanking maneuvers is definitely a high point of the game which adds to the strategy. You want to be very careful about massing your units in one place because to do so would invite an aerial or artillery barrage upon them. As in the previous games, players can take sanctuary in buildings which provides them ample opportunity to snipe at opposing targets. This is not without its limitations though as well-placed assaults including attacks with flamethrowers can soon turn the advantage into a disadvantage as troops may find themselves in a building collapsing around them.
Unlike other games of this type which are heavy on resource gathering to provide necessary funds for additional units, the game towards players points for capturing, holding, and destroying various strategic objectives. The better one does then the more units that will be made available to them. I really enjoy the heavy machine guns, mortar teams, and the cannon fodder conscripts squads, but what really makes the game shine is the ability to call in airstrikes and your armored units. As mentioned earlier about the difficulties in combat in the snow conditions. The game takes weather into account even to the point of providing hit points to the ice. An enemy that is attempting to bring across units supported by armor could be in for real surprise by strategically placed mine or a well-placed shell. Once at the ice becomes weak, then players can use this to their drainage to quickly dispatch units who fall through damage ice with a little bit of urging from their weapons.
Graphically the game shines and I really enjoy being able to use the mouse wheel to zoom into units and get an up close and personal look at them in action. Seeing them diligently go about their tasks be at construction or loading shells into their weaponry is not only beautiful to behold but adds to the sense of immersion. The sites of the game as well as the audio are spot on as key historical elements have obviously been paid attention to in the creation of this game. For example players talk about not seeing sugar in ages or how there are not enough weapons to go around and are instructed to simply head to the enemy and salvage what they can on the battlefield. There is also the element of brutality were troops are told that should you retreat from the enemy you’ll be shot and killed by your own commanders and that objectives must be completed regardless of the cost.
The game offers significant challenge to players of all levels and as such a skill level setting is in place which will allow you to try to find a happy medium for your style of play. There are also ample online opportunities for the game as not only can you play with your friends, you can create custom matches or to randomly assign matches which can pick you and other flesh and blood players up against the computer controlled opponents.
I especially like the ability to directly stream my gameplay to twitch TV as this is an element that we’re definitely looking to take advantage of in the future especially since live streaming is a key element of the upcoming gaming consoles as well .
The path finding in the game is very solid and although there are times when units can become a bit bogged down it is extremely minor especially for games of this type. The success or failure of missions relies solely upon your abilities as a commander. Sure there are times when brute force and overwhelming strength will ensure victory, but resources are at a premium on the Eastern front and players as mentioned earlier, often have to scrounge for resources from fallen soldiers on the battlefield. More than once I thought I was making short work of an enemy with a two-pronged attack only to have an extremely effective counterattack forced me into retreat and regroup mode. I learned during these times that having one unit feint toward an enemy locale wall flanking with two or more other units often worked out well. The enemy would be drawn to the one unit allowing me to get my other units behind them engaging enemy objectives for multiple sides.
This strategy works really well until you come across a machine gun nest and heavy armor which again forces you to improvise on the fly. Mortar and grenade units can do a good job at taking out a machine gun nest it positioned properly but I always found bathing area inflamed to be highly effective.
Regardless of what strategy you employ, Company of Heroes 2 is an extremely impressive and enjoyable game that not only provides plenty of enjoyment and excitement but shows that the series keeps getting better with each new installment.
http://sknr.net/2013/07/29/company-of-heroes-2/