Terminator Genisys: Review

Just saw the movie yesterday night.

It was fine. Average on most accounts. The story seemed interesting enough. Its better than Terminator 3 or Salvation (On an unrelated note, Terminator salvation can go to hell). The movie started off really good. It was fast, energetic and interesting. The entire first act is very well done. The first act ends with a time travel event  to 2017 and this is where the movie slows down. The second act is set up like a marvel movie in that its got this over convoluted plot with a worthless pay off. We get to know what Genisys is in the first act itself. But the movie takes like 10 minutes to explain it all over again. Its not that complicated. Its an OS. And Kyle Reese even says its an OS. Done. No need to spend our time explaining what it is. Matt Smith was a nice addition though.

The second act is the weakest because it barely resembles a movie structurally. Its more like a TV episode and its inclusion is weak. The third act picks up and delivers the climax with good pace. But the damage is already done. This movie shall be average at best. While the third act is good with action, there is a long chase in  helicopters which looked incredibly fake. Like almost an animated movie. Its not bad cgi. But the guy who shot it dosent seem to understand how helicopters move. In this movie, they move like those bikes from Stallone's 'Judge Dredd'. Its jarring to say the least. Had this chase been tense and atleast somewhat realistic, the climax would have been more impactful. But it killed whatever the first act did and set up the climax for failure.

I'll add this. The know-how to shoot action scenes has definitely been more in the past. I cant even understand how a big budget movie could hire someone who dosent know how to shoot action. The director knows how to set up action scenes. But he cant shoot them. There is a bizarre fight scene where the villain robot grabs the terminator and smashes him through railings. Its shot so badly that neither of the actors are visible. And the strange part is, its shown from four different angles. And even their silhouettes are not visible. Only the railing crashing is understood. That too through sound effects. The screen is just sparks. This fucking scene goes on for about 10 seconds. What it accomplished, I have no idea.

There are hints of a better movie through out this. Finally the story had some suspense. Emilia Clarke is a badass and acted well. They did try to soften her up (for teen audiences I guess?), but she is a decent Sarah Connor. The action scenes they wrote in were decent set pieces which would have worked in the hands of someone who knows how to shoot action. While I did not like the idea of Terminator as a literal father figure (while it was implied in Terminator 2, here, the protagonist just calls him pops) Arnold tried his best to lighten the situation with his blending in antics. But scenes like the helicopter chase killed whatever chance this movie had at being good.

If you are a sucker for nostalgia, go for it. Or if you are a fan of Arnold like me, then definitely go for it. Else, wait for it on Blu ray.

Why JURASSIC WORLD is a Modern Classic

I just watched Jurassic World and since there are already a ton of reviews on the internet, I would not go into plot details. I'm writing this primarily because this movie addresses one of my complaint from Godzilla and really any monster movie in recent times (except a few like Pacific Rim).

This film won my love because it SHOWED THE ACTION. As I said in my Godzilla review, I hated that movie because we had to look through smoke, clouds, fog, dust and all kinds of masonry for the monster. Even when the movie's best line ("LET THEM FIGHT") was said, we still weren't shown any of it. Also, for a movie about giant monsters, why the hell is it gritty ? Jurassic World on the other hand is brilliant in this regard. The entire climax is what we needed. DINOSAURS FIGHTING DINOSAURS. It wears it premise on its crown and barrels through the run time. Not caring to make any excuses. It knows what it wants and it delivered perfectly. It had a monster that was setup from the beginning. And it had its monsters from its previous films (Rex and Raptors) and it uses them. You have no idea how glad I felt when I saw where the climax was going. Instead of the hero shooting at a dinosaur, we got a brawl where Jurassic Park takes on a new monster. Needless to say, I was in love with the movie after its over. A note of advise to all blockbusters coming soon - LEARN TO SHOOT ACTION FROM THIS MOVIE. Thats the highest praise I can give a film. It knows what it wants and delivers it with a big smile on its face.

Highly Recommended.

PS. The first one was indeed legit :)

Don Bradman Cricket 14 Review (sort off)

I am from a country that worships cricket as a religion. So a good cricket game is something that I have been waiting since childhood. While some games from EA and Codemasters have fulfilled some requirements in the past, average cricket games are known to be huge messes. Don Bradman Cricket 14 is probably the first game I've played that gave me a satisfied cricket experience in many years. 

However, since you can get many reviews online, I'll just give my overall thoughts briefly (I'm hoping)

Differences with previous Cricket games

Don Bradman Cricket 14 is quite different from other titles in the past. the basic difference is in the experience. While EA and Codemasters went for a sort of arcade approach to batting (I could finish an ODI with atleast 200 sixes... So... ) Don Bradman Cricket 14 is unique and more grounded. The shot connection is not represented anywhere (at least in proper difficulties as far as I know). You have to observe the ball, observe the length of the ball (indicated by colours around the ball) and time it so that it connects at the centre of the bat. This is a game where connecting a reverse sweep is grounds for joyous cries. AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. The batting is what I have been waiting for years. Not too simple. Not too mathematical. Just you, the ball and pure skill. There are no easy shortcuts to bat as far as I have played it. Just observation, instinct and smart decisions. 

The bowling is where the game is somewhat similar to older games. The difference being able to select seam, swing, line, length at the same time. While this may sound like a good thing, the ball release and run up determines the line and length mostly. And its quick time events. I'm sorry to say this, but this is very nerve wrecking. Especially if one has to play a test match and if you choose spinners, you have to use QTEs for spin control as well. I've been bowling for over 20 years in real life. Its definitely not as stressful as this. Added with the fact that the AI generally defends (or straight up ignores) tricky balls means a lot of intense deliveries for nothing. Wickets are far and few in between. The catches system is good though. You have to direct players using right stick and when you miss a straight shot at the bowler, it makes sense that you are not ready.

Accuracy

I debated adding this section since I have no idea if this is even coherent. If you are not a cricket fan, skip this section. 

Visually, the players are very close. The grounds and everything, while not very accurate, are very good looking and any changes made are good (no one wants to see the car park in Lancashire stadium or trash compactors beside Eden gardens). I was asked to download some player made updates and they fixed almost all the names and builds of players. Some minor details like some players batting and bowling hands were inverted but I'm sure they will be fixed by online community. Where the game makes mistakes is inaccuracies in grounds. Cricket grounds everywhere are known to have distinct features. In England, the ball is known to behave according to weather. During humid conditions, the ball is able to swing more. In the dry English weather, only someone like Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann can fully use them. Pitches in India support spin bowling like butter. Even pitches in Australia (where I believe the game was made) support bounce a lot and many bowling legends like Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and my favourite Shane Warne have created history there. The game does a very poor job of bringing these changes to the game. But I can sort of understand this decision. Many casual players might already be lost at the options available and adding pitch conditions may confuse players why a seasoned bowler is performing poorly. I just hope they had an option to turn these on. 

My nitpicks

These are not something that the game necessarily did wrong, but what I thought were silly. The campaign can be played by joining the ECL or Australian league. It was better to include IPL and the South African league as well since most of the good players are there. The menu music is very very boring. I just turned it off after a few hours. The bowling options would have been better to be left on screen. I constantly cant remember during test matches if my all-rounder can swing in or out.  Its minor but it would add to the game it its left out.

Technical 

I played it on the PS3 and i have been playing for about 45-50 hours. The game runs smoothly and I havent encountered any bugs or glitches (save for the catches trophy which is now fixed). The visuals are decent enough. The audio, while good, could use some tweaking. commentary is downright horrible. But its hilarious and charming in its own right. The commentators dont say the names of most players. So more than occasionally, you hear something like "this batsmen is determined to make some score". Its so funny, I cant be mad at it. 

Final words

While the game is not perfect (truly, what game is) it is very well made by people who put a lot of heart into it. I can confidently say, anyone who enjoys cricket can pick up this game. While the learning curve is a bit haphazard, the experience it offers is very satisfying. Good luck to the Big Ant studios team and I hope the game does very well. And if you get to make a franchise, take my advise and dont go for player licenses. Their likeness is not worth spending so much money when the online community can fix everything in mere days after release. 

Trophy/Achievement review

The trophies are easy enough. They are however time taking. Highlights include 500 catches, 800 wickets, 16000 runs and one horrible trophy which I failed 7 times to do (dismiss team with only catches). The game does the cardinal sin of including online trophies. But it seems they can be boosted for now. I would rate it about 2/10 in difficulty. It would take about 30-60 hours I guess depending on skill. 

"Godzilla" 2014 movie review - Snooze Fest

Boring as hell. Makes the 1998 Godzilla look awesome

Holy hell was this bad. Its been long since I wrote a film review and I generally like films if they can entertain me. But this was just boring. This film was made for the fans of old Godzilla movies. If you are one of them, go watch it. Everyone else, skip it.

The movie is about Aaron Taylor-Johnson. its not about Bryan Cranston. Also, Mr. Johnson is playing a 80's action hero. He is there as a child for the first attack. He is an adult during the 'birth' of first monster (MUTO), he is there when Godzillla fights Muto, he escapes from female Muto, he is there when Godzilla fights them both, he destroys their eggs, he arms a bomb, then tries to disarm the same bloody bomb, sacrifices himself to take the same bomb away.. If you can recognize this pattern, congrats, you saw any one of the awesome 80's-90's action movies. This is something Arnold Schwarzenegger was good at doing. And Aaron Taylor-Johnson played it so straight that it might be a documentary for military procedural. And it was painful. I however believe that its probably the director and producers fault for making a movie about monster fights so damn serious.

On the matter of monster fights, there are four in total. And we see two. The first fight was a particular slap to everyone's face. The cinema was dead silent expecting a fight. And we saw the highlights on a news reel.
That is stupid. If you didnt have the budget, dont write huge set pieces.

Also, the movie is dark. Not in theme. But actually bloody dark. Also there's smoke everywhere. Its like the city is in a sauna. I could barely see whats happening in the third fight.

Say what you want about the 1998 Godzilla. It was made by people who knew how to film action. When the audience is squinting through darkness and smoke in the cinema to see the monster from the bloody poster, someone messed up.

Unfortunately, this film has the tripe reviewers blush about. All those satirical bite they want, its there. But its just so boring. And I wouldnt mind a slow movie. But its Godzilla. So expect good reviews from famous critics.But this is boring and best avoidable.

Awesomenauts Assemble! Review

Awesomenauts Assemble! is a platformer in the broadest sense. The game has a ton of modes, a lot of characters and several offline and online matchmaking features. I'll give a brief rundown. Also, there is no major story to talk about. So there wont be a story section.

Gameplay: The game has the players fighting for control over certain maps both online and split-screen. You'll have to face off against opposing players and AI controlled obstacles as well. The various versions of games available are variations of this concept. It can be classified as MOBA. The players can select a character, customize loadout and outfit for perks and bonuses. The gameplay is very good. but its only in small bursts. Dont try to grind it out in one long sitting. You'll hate the game.

Visuals: The game has a cartoony style and its looks pleasant. Even the most intense battles look like small skirmishes and as a result, its hard to know when a team mate is in danger. I found it adequate.

Sound:  The music is ok. Not very memorable, but not irritating or anything. Its just there.

Trophies and Achievements:  The game has a long grind to 100%. There is no platinum. It took me about 30 hours to finish it. the longest one being grind to level 110. Keep that in mind while trying to finish it fully.

Final words:  The game is decent enough. If you have friends to play with, I can recommend buying it. The price is not too high for its content. I got it for £8.49. I thought it was worth the game.

South Park Stick of Truth review for both new players and veterans

Note: If you have already played RPG's skip the first paragraph.

South Park Stick of Truth is my latest Plat and I think I played enough to warrant a review. The game is a turn-based-role-playing-game. It means the combat occurs in turns. You'll have to select your players and direct them to attack the enemies one after the other. After your team is done, the enemies have their turn. This repeats until one team is completely dead.

The game is very simple and short. But its good. It reminded me of Super Mario RPG (During the attacks, there will be button prompts). But for the asking price, the game is not worth it. Wait for a price drop. I'll briefly touch upon the aspects of game below.

Gameplay: Adequate. Its too simplistic for my taste. But for newcomers, this will be perfect. All the bosses and normal enemies follow same patterns. Except a few bosses in the last part of the game in hard mode, the same strategy can be used. Even the bosses I'm talking about are only different in one way. They will resurrect dead enemies. This can be countered with hitting the dead enemies with a multiple attack projectile (Many idiot reviewers were confused by the inclusion of this in game. Guess that's why you have to play in hard before reviewing a game).
Several items are acquired in story progression which opens up the map. They are ok for the most park. The weapons and equipment are standard fare. The weapon patches  require a lot of busy work.

Visuals: The game looks like South Park. It has its charm. But I wont blame you if you expect more from a full-priced game. I liked it.

Audio: The game has decent audio. The fight music may seem repetitive. But it switches up constantly with story progression. So its ok.

Story: Its South Park. What do you expect ?

Special notes: The game has a bunch of glitches. Having Cartman as party member crashed the game for me 4 times during loading screens. The first update I downloaded corrupted my game data. Compared to other Obsidian games, its ok. But it still needs work.

Trophies and Achievements:  All trophies and achievements are comparatively easy. But this is one of those games that require you to have a trophy guide by side. One of the the collectibles trophy (More popular than John Lennon) is missable in the first few minutes, You'll have to start over again if you dont have a guide. There are also a few chapter specific missables and events. Overall, easy enough without any grinding(thankfully).

Final words: The game is fun, but in my opinion, not worth full price. Wait for price drop. Also, if you cant stomach crude humour, this game is not for you.

My 5 Favourite PS4 Games Till Date

So, its over 6 months since PlayStation 4's release and I thought I could safely pick at least 5 games for it that I loved. Even though this is not an extensive analysis of these games, i'll try to add a few  words to describe them. Also, they are not console exclusives. So bear that in mind.

5. Don't Starve

This game would have been higher on this list except for one of my pet peeves. Its perma-death. I applaud the makers to finally give a game where death has consequences. But I guess I'm too old to try again with renewed energy. Except that one bit, the entire game is perfect. The story, visuals, sound design, art work, level design and the game play are just pitch perfect. I loved it. Special mention goes to the death sequences. Its dark and charming at the same time. Well done team-Klei.

4. Mercenary Kings

Mercenary Kings hit me in the sweet nostalgic spot between Metal-slug and Contra. Granted I got it for free from PS Plus. But its a great game nonetheless. Except for a few convoluted menus, the game is perfect. Its paced greatly, has sweet music and awesome power ups. I have only been playing it for 2 days but I already played through it twice. And it has guns that sound like guns. Not the realistic bangs from many games with similar design. I loved that. It encouraged me to try every power up and extension just for sheer curiosity and it never failed to deliver.

3. Outlast

This is another game I got from PS Plus and I'm glad I found it. I generally suck at horror games because they always have weird puzzles that I cant figure out (Go to hell Silent Hill 3). But this game is sweet. It had all the right things at the right places. Its one of those rare cases when jump scares work. And its adrenaline-pumped romp from beginning to end. There is never a dull moment and the insane mode is awesome. Granted I did not beat the game in insane mode yet (you get only one life).But the atmosphere and sound design is superb and the asylum is scary. Thats a  great win in my book.

2. Resogun

I cannot completely explain why I loved this game so much. And I dont expect everyone to like it. Its fun. Its action packed. Its simple. Its beautiful. Its bright and colourful. It has good replay value. But its not for everyone. I loved it. If you have spare credit, give it a try.

Honourable Mentions

Strider

I have recently finished Strider and the game is pretty fun. Some old school elements and some some modern tropes bring out the best of this game.

Doki-Doki Universe

Another game that I cant completely explain why I loved. The game has personality. Thats all I can say. I was a bit skeptical going into this that it would be a bit too artsy. But the game is fun and relaxing as well as challenging. The game also made me smile a lot.

Finally, my No. 1 game to get on the PS4 till date is..

1. Infamous: Second Son

Lets face it. That next gen gaming system needs a game that can pull off beautiful textures and effects. And while Killzone; Shadowfall delivered the graphics, I'm not a big fan of the FPS genre. I think third person games can better show off the environment and character traits. Also, Second son has something that Shadowfall did not have: COLOURS. Its finally great to see colours being used for things other than explosions. While Killzone had various levels like Jungle, broken complexes, etc., Second son has a living, breathing city which is spectacular. The game plays well. Looks good. Music is great. Has a decent length. Gameplay is easy to get into. The only gripe I have is with the limited mission variety. In fact, I clearly remembered playing the same mission types in the first Infamous. Apart from that, the game is perfect. If they add more mission variety through DLC (even a horde mode is appreciated), the game will be this generation's console seller. This is the best game I played on the PS4 till date.

I hope there are more good things to come from the Playstation studios. Great job till now and Good Luck.