Is it just me or is there something about Mars that inspires stories about underground resistances against an oppressive authority? The 1990 film Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger used this theme and it was a recurrent subplot on J.M. Straczynski’s Babylon 5 television series. Even in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy, the story about the establishment of an utopian colony on Mars quickly turned into one about a protracted guerrilla war against Earth.
In any case, Volition’s Red Faction series draws from the same wellspring. Its latest offering, Red Faction: Guerrilla is technically the third in the series. However as the first two were only middling successes I gave them a pass. Red Faction: Guerrilla has become quite a hit, especially in the eyes of game critics, plus it’s now an open world game for the first time, which makes it irresistible to me.
Continue reading Life of a Martian terrorist →
I pretty much had to drag my wife to the cinema for this one after reading rave reviews of it on QT3. Peter Jackson’s involvement in the film, after what he gave us in the King Kong remake, was not a glowing endorsement to us. Luckily for me, both of us enjoyed it thoroughly and I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys action films that don’t try to treat their audience as if they were 5 year-olds. The rest of this post will be chockful of spoilers so if you haven’t watched it yet, please go away and come back later.
District 9 opens using a mockumentary format that combined with its South African setting, draws us into a realistic depiction of a world in which a gigantic alien ship has mysteriously appeared overnight. However, the aliens the ship disgorges turn out to be neither enlightened beings here to lead humanity to a brighter future nor nefarious conquerors bent on world domination. Instead they are nothing more than starving and desperate refugees. Not since Alien Nation has a major film treated the issue of first contact with extraterrestrials in as mature and serious a manner.
Continue reading District 9: sci-fi action at its best →
I have a confession to make. Until now, I’ve generally detested Japanese games.
I suppose it doesn’t help their case that the Japanese games that are most likely to appeal to me, such as Dead Rising, Shadow of the Colossus or Demon’s Souls, never get ported to the PC which is my preferred platform. Still, the fact remains that many aspects of Japanese games turn me off: cutesy anime art, ridiculous hair styles, emo characters, overwrought and melodramatic plots, grindy gameplay. What’s more, the big name Japanese titles, such as Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid, tend to be the worst offenders. That they’re widely held up as the most famous icons of gaming culture constantly infuriates me to no end.
Continue reading Monster Hunter is awesome →
The unexamined life is a life not worth living