Looking Ahead

I enjoy movies. Every year, I count down the days to movies coming out in the summer that have me all pumped. See, I follow movies from their announcement to their premier through internet sites, magazines and . . .uh, internet sites. Right now, I am tracking the new Batman movie and the new Superman movie. I loved The Dark Knight so I am fairly excited to see where Christopher Nolan is going with Batman in the third movie. Zack Snyder is retooling Superman and starting a new franchise (much like the previously mention Nolan retooled Batman with Batman Begins). Both of these have me by the short hairs and won't let go. I can't read enough about them and I am exceptionally excited for both of them. Unfortunately, I have to wait until next year to see them as they haven't even started filming yet. But to bide my time until then, I do have this year's movies to look at. Here is what I am anticipating this year.

In May, we get a seriously strong start to the summer with Thor. I have to admit I was not a fan of the comics per say. I thought the character was kind of ho-hum. He is a god of thunder and talks like he is in Shakespeare. Not much to admire. This changed when I read The Ultimates, a comic series that reimagined the Avengers as if they started today. The first two story arcs were awesome and gave me an appreciation of Thor. After that, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes came out on Disney XD. Thor is one of the best characters on that show and him, along with Cap and the Hulk, bring me back time and time again to watch. Thor showed that he is a truly awesome warrior and his take on humanity is often times hilarious due to his being an outsider (he is a god that normally resides in Asgard, the godly realm of Norse mythology). Now being primed by new takes on the character, I was excited to see that a live action movie was being made about him.

I was a bit leery about it, I must admit. I say this because comic movies are often times just huge marketing giants meant to be light on story and heavy on merchandising. Although, several recent submissions of comic films have broken this trend, Nolan's Batman movies, Superman Returns and Iron Man name just a few. While people have conflicting opinions of the quality of the stories in these movies, they were deeper and more character driven than previous comic movies. Which thrilled me to no end because it meant that comic book movies might actually get taken seriously and made with respect instead of hammed up dialogue mixed with over the top art direction and excessively hokey situations meant to be "family friendly."

But my leeriness was put to rest when I saw the first trailer. From the 2 minutes of footage and how the story is shaping up, Thor looks to be a great addition to the marvel cannon of movies that will culminate in next summer's The Avengers, a team up movie of Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Captain America. This movie has me amped up in anticipation to the point of playing with the toy hammer for Thor and yelling things like, 'Thy Odinson is not pleased!" and "Ooooodin!" while pressing the thunder sound effect button. People in Target stare but I know they are jealous of how I wield such power.

Click here to see the Thor Trailer

June brings Green Lantern. Much like Thor, I wasn't always the biggest fan of GL. He was alright with his energy ring that could do anything he imagined but he was no Superman. I have grown to appreciate him more as I have read comics and seen him on various shows like Justice League: The New Frontier and First Flight.

When I heard the movie announced, I wasn't overly thrilled until I found out who was playing Hal Jordan (Green Lantern's secret identity). Ryan Reynolds had been cast as GL and I thought that was great. I like Reynolds a lot. He can do action, drama or comedy and GL will require all three.

The trailer doesn't exactly have me so pumped I could punch my mom, or even your mom. Instead, it seems like a run of the mill superhero movie for summer time. I know I just discussed this earlier but I am still willing to give the movie a chance. I don't think the trailer is doing the movie justice and I want to see what they do with all the characters in the movie. How much have the honored them and how much have they screwed up?  Because of this, I am going to give it a chance and most likely enjoy it.

 Click here for the Green Lantern trailer

July is a double whammy for awesome movies. First up, we have Transformers: The Dark of the Moon, the third and supposed final Transformers film by Michale Bay. At the end of the month we get to see Captain America. Both of these are just about tied for the top of my summer list.

Transformers has had a roller coaster past with its live action movies. The first one was pure awesome. Getting to see Optimus Prime and Megatron fully realized on screen was amazing. The second movie was a bit of a let down. It felt rushed and was overly silly when it should have been taking itself seriously. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it, but it could have been better, stronger and faster. So with that in mind, my nerd glands are producing record amounts of excitosauce in anticipation for this release. Which might cause a release of my own. Especially after hearing Peter Cullen voice Optimus, which is the best part of any of the movies.

No full trailer yet for Tramsformers but here is a tv spot.

Next is Captain America. This is another one that has me so pumped I could uppercut 100 orphans. I can't figure out what movie I want to see more, Thor or Cap. I am still on the fence. Just when I think I have it figured out that I want to see one over the other, I get a new trailer or image from the opposing movie and it sways my vote. Oh, but don't you worry, I will see both.

Cap has been one of my favorite heroes for awhile. Much like Thor, it took reading The Ultimates to really get a good grasp of him though. After that Marvel launched a new line of comics for him and the first arc or two for the story really drew me in. I always imagined Captain America as this boy scout who worried more about honor and doing the right thing over getting the job done when it came to cleaning up a room of bad guys. I mean, he doesn't want to soil his image of being a role model by punching a guy who might not deserve it. Wow was I ever wrong! Yes, Cap is a conservative of the highest flavor but instead of holding him back, this conservatism actually fuels his ass-kickery. He still holds the 1940s ideals in the 2000s, and because he sees things as being wrong, when we accept them, he fights to keep up the standard that he knows. This actually works in his favor and I love reading and watching it unfold. I truly hope in the movie they can keep this ideal in place and have Cap bring all the blunt force trauma I can handle with his shield.

 
Trailer for Captain America



That about wraps up my summer movie nerd fest list. Yes, they are all comic book or superhero movies, but that is the kind of guy that I am. I dive head first into these kinds of movies. I am glad they are starting to mature in their film making and not just made as merchandising cannon fodder any more because they make much better movies when they are taken seriously and I really hate to think of myself as the lowest common denominator when it comes to the movie seeing public.

Here is a list of other movies I am looking forward too this summer. These don't make the list for most anticipated but they do look good and I will try to see as many of them as I can. Click the titles to see trailers and teasers.

May

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
Hangover 2

June
X-Men: First Class
Super 8



July
Harry Potter
Cowboys and Aliens

August
Conan the Barbarian

Finally!

The title to this is apt for 2 reasons, 1) due to illness I have not been able to write an entry and 2) I finally finished Dragon Age: Origins. I spent all last week sick. I lacked all motivation and was constantly tired with an irritating cough. Going almost a full week with out feeling better, I opted to go to the doctor. Once there, the doc was not impressed with how I sounded. I thought I was getting better. My sinuses weren't so full and I wasn't quite so worn down. He didn't think so. After x-rays and chest listenings with the stethoscope, it was determined that I had pneumonia. That explained a lot. So I had to make due with some drugs and instructions to rest. I am finally feeling a bit more chipper and my cough seems to be going away. In my resting, I picked up the PS3 controller and returned to Ferelden.  (SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU DON'T WANT MAJOR PLOT POINTS, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER)

It has been a long journey, but finally, FINALLY, I made it to the end of Dragon Age. I got all my ducks in a row. I got the help of the dwarves and the elves to fight against the blight of darkspawn that was ravaging the countryside like Joel Shumaker ravaging the Batman movie franchise. I saved all that needed saving and had most the favor of political debate in my corner. See, General Loghain had the king killed in battle by leaving him defenseless in a fight with the darkspawn. Loghain took over control of Ferelden. The whole game is up to your character (in my case an elf rouge named Ketron) to take back control and fight the darkspawn. In order to do this, I needed the nobles to agree with your story and side with me against Loghain, which results in his being ousted. This meeting is called the Landsmeet.

I got to the Landsmeet thinking that the game had to be about over, 2 hours or less. I was wrong. After the Landsmeet there were still several things to do, like tidy up older quests and prepare for the final battle. Now, those of you that have played the game know that the night before the final battle you get a deal from Morrigan. In order to stop the darkspawn, a Gray Warden must give his life while defeating the leader of the darkspawn, the Archdemon. Morrigan offers a way out of this.You can sire a child with her and the child will take the brunt of the Archdemon's soul as it escapes when you slay it. That way you won't have to die. I declined the offer. Morrigan is a mage with a very dark personality. I was afraid she would try to use this child to take over the Ferelden later. I couldn't let that come to pass. For my refusal, she left the party and was never seen again for the rest of the game. This really reminded me of KOTOR and the decisions that lead up to seeing Bastila again towards the end of the game.

I had been texting back and forth with a friend about my progress. When I told him that I was at the final battle, he said it was fun and took about an hour. I don't know why he hates me so much to lie directly to my face like that but this took way more than an hour and it started to borderline on the not-fun, maybe even the I'm-not-going-to-finish-this-game line. The final battle took me over 3 hours to finish for the amount of times I died and had to start sections over. Its broken up into six parts. The first is having every surviving team member left in my party fight along side me at the main gates of Denerim, the city that is being sieged by the darkspawn. Wave after wave of darkspawn fell from my blades and my friends blades, magic and awesomeness. Next, I picked 3 fellows to join me and we stormed the town. It was said at the beginning that we had to hunt down the Archdemon's generals. This wasn't so bad until every upper level darkspawn and his neighbors attacked, along with the super strong generals. All at the same time. This wasn't a martial arts movie one-bad-guy-at-a-time type group fight, it was a Mongolian cluster f**k. And I was in the middle of it. After a few deaths of me and my party, I slogged my way through these two areas.

The third area was playing as my unchosen party members, defending the gates again. I don't really think it added much to the game and was kind of pissed  had to play it at all. If anything, it interrupted the pacing of the last battle and made it feel less urgent.

Once the gates were safe, Ketron and his 3 chums made their way into Fort Drakon. This was a two level affair with several rooms and hallways overflowing with darkspawn. I hack, slash, stab, and  blunt force trauma my way through them to get to the final area. The top of Fort Drakon, where the Archdemon awaited the final confrontation. Now, I haven't mentioned this until now, but the Archdemon is not some multi-armed, cloven hoofed, red skinned guy with horns and a huge sword. Instead he is a huge dragon that needs some killin'! And here is where I nearly decided to never finish the game.

I ran out and tried to kill the dragon the same way I had killed another dragon earlier in the game, let my guys go up and do the busting up close while I hang back with a bow and inflict damage from afar. This strategy only worked until the dragon was at half life, then it called hordes of darkspawn out to attack me and my friends. Well at this point, most of my friends are low on life, and even though I directed them to take health poultices to regain hit points, the idiots think that getting hit in the face with a sword is a better idea. In seconds, I am the only surviving member of my party. The horde of darkspawn trapped me in a circle of blades and hammers which, even with regular poultice intake, I can't withstand. I die and start the dragon fight over. This happens 7 more times. One attempt, I had the dragon down to about 13% life. But I was out of health and I couldn't fight the dragon and the horde at the same time by myself. (yes, my teammates took the blade to face route...again). The same friend who had texted me that this only took an hour started texting me while I was in the midst of this one sided battle and asked why I wasn't using the huge ballistaes (huge cross bows) that were mounted around the top of the fort. Once I used them, I had the fight over in a few minutes.

Since I didn't take up Morrigan's offer, Ketron or Alistaire (another warden that ends up becoming the king) have to slay the Archdemon and stop the blight. I encouraged Alistaire to do it. He agreed, thinking it overly kingly to do so. He does. He dies. The day is saved.

Some final animations roll through and some side conversation with my surviving party members finish the game. On to the credits. I let them roll as I await the voice actors credits. I am a nerd for voice talent and like to see who did what voice where. Nolan North being my favorite as Nathan Drake, but that is another tale. While I am waiting, the music is typical fantasy game fair with dramatic orchestrations that matched the tone of the game. After the song ended some craptacular alt rock song about winning the war started. It had nothing to do with anything in the game. The chorus didn't match any themes or nuthin! Are you serious?! Was this just a bid to sell songs or something? I don't know. What I do know is that I didn't like it.

On my second trip to Ferelden, I spent almost 2 1/2 weeks giving it a good once over. Even with this hurried tour through the game, I clocked in at 50 hours and 15 minutes. I know that sounds like a long time, but I have been playing this game on and off for 15 months. I didn't think that was so bad. Now, I have to figure out what game to finish next. . .

The name....is Dalton

After my last post, I fired up Dragon Age: Origins to give it a fair shake and finish it. While messing around in the world of Ferelden with my sweet duelist rouge, Ketron, I realized a lot is said about a player in what they name their character. For Dragon Age, I picked Ketron for my elf rouge because I thought it sounded kind of elvish. Also it is my middle name. While I do lack points for originality, it was a quick decision that got me through character creation a bit faster and into the meat and potatoes of slaying dark spawn.

Picking a proper name can be a bit of a challenge. There are several things to consider. Do you want it to be humorous and giggle worthy? Do you want it to sound all ass-kicky and awesome? Or would you rather it be something humble and normal? All are good choices and ones I have used in the past.

In Morrowind, a player could name their character and their class. After some careful consideration, I decided to go with an homage to one of my favorite web site cartoons. I named my dark elf, Trogdor. His class was then labeled, "The Burninator." While I was questing around, other characters would refer to me as my class just as often as my name. "You Burninators are all the same!" It was enough to get me to laugh for most of my time in the game.

Knights of the Old Republic was a bit different when it came to naming characters. Here, I had to stick within the confines of Star Wars rules. Well, I didn't HAVE too stick to them, but who wants a Jedi running around named Jeff? (Ok, that actually sounds like a good idea for a later name, but that is beside the point.) KOTOR had a random name generator that would give the character a pre-established name. I did not want to go that route. Instead, I thought about it and named my character Jarl Spence. It had a nice alien, Star Wars feel to it. Made me think of Uncle Owen a bit. Jarl went on to be a powerful Jedi and save the galaxy.

When KOTOR II came out, I realized the character was a different person, so I had to construct a different name. I had pretty much spent my load on Star Wars sounding names with Jarl. After some deliberation,  I came up with something I thought fit the universe and the character, Narbo Cree. Again, it fits the confines of Star Wars and feels a bit like the name Greedo. Narbo did not save the galaxy as a Jedi nor did he enslave it as a Sith. Instead, his adventure got placed on the shelf, never to be finished. I sold my xbox before I ever got back to finish his adventures.

 I play some Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends. This is a name gold mine. My original character, a  half orc barbarian is named D'Gog. While D'Gog isn't always played the most powerfully, thanks to my ability to roll a critical miss more often than not, I thought the name fit the character and was a powerful name to say the least.

My other character was a human monk (think Jet Li in any of his Chinese historical epics). I had a hard time coming up with a name for this one. A fellow player suggested one that was used immediately, Fisty McBonebreaker. Even with a great name, Fisty didn't fare as well as D'Gog has.  See, in a moment of panic he decided to use his fists against some extraordinarily  powerful angels. Fisty will be missed.

Other characters in our group have names like, The Job, Valen, and Gage, just to name a few.

In my time gaming, I have seen several names come across that have not only grabbed my attention but have stayed with me for years. The first and foremost was playing Halo, when a player showed up with the name, Bloody_mess_hole. I wept for days in laughter at this name, in its pure genius and execution. I haven't run across it since, but if you are reading this, BMH, my hat is off to you.

Character naming is a chore and a blessing. It can stump you and liberate you. It is often one of the first things you encounter in a video game but it is also has permanent ramifications for the rest of the game. If you want a new name, you have to start a  new character, which means starting a new game. I think naming a character is one of the better options gaming has to offer and one I always look forward too. What about you? What are some character names you have used?  Let me know in the comments section or in a comment on Facebook.

Finish What I've Started. . .

As many of my friends know, I have a problem. It has been around for some time and its one I will fully admit too. I never seem to finish a video game once I have started it. Somewhere between the 10 and 20 hour mark the game vanishes from my radar. That is not to say I haven't beat a game that I own, I have finished several of them, but it is a fairly uncommon occurrence.

I don't think I have always been this way. I used to dedicate myself to finishing a game on Nintendo and even Sega Genesis. That was even back in the day when there were no save files. Sure, you might luck out and get a game that has passwords you can use to launch from the beginning of an advanced level, but with a save you can start from the point of your last save, anywhere in the game.  Take for instance, Mortal Kombat. I sat and played 1, 2, and 3 for hours and hours before school, after school on weekends and late into the night. I had to master every character, be able to perform every combo and finishing move with any character in the game. And I got to the point in most of them that I could do that.

I had dedication, perseverance and a no quit attitude. Well, I can't say "no quit attitude" with a complete straight face because in the process of playing a game there were several occasions that a controler got flung across the room while several swear words were rapid fired from my mouth by video game induced rage. The computer would screw me over and I wasn't going to stand there and take it! But that is beside the point.

A great example of my attitude towards game completion is Dragon Age: Origins. I got this for Christmas last year and fired it up with solid intentions of giving it a great eye humping and play through. I am 25 hours in and haven't played it since March, 14th 2010. The game was going well. I enjoyed the story, the game play and everything else, yet I put it down and haven't returned to it for almost a year now. Its not the game's fault. Fault lies with me.

After careful consideration and inward exploration of my self, I discovered a few reasons why I may put a game down to either never return or return at a much later date. The first big one is I get stuck in a level where either a boss is too complicated or the going gets too tough. Frustration leads me to get pissed then walk away from the game. When this happens, I usually end up playing something else, especially if the offending game has done this to me repeatedly. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was horrible to me in this regard.

Another reason I will put a game down is while playing it, another game will grab my attention. While I was liberating the old west in Red Dead Redemption another game on my shelf kept begging me to play it. It would taunt me every time my PS3 was turned on. Assassin's Creed II would whisper to me, "Forget John Marsden and play me. The desert is getting old. You've seen it. How many people can you shoot down and leave dead in the dirt and the sand? Let it rest and give me a workout." After awhile I relented to Assassin's Creed's seductions and finally put it in. But it fell victim to my curse, to this day it remains unfinished.

Are these good reasons for abandoning my quest in any given game? I am not sure. I know that this is a character flaw on my part and one I should address. I have implemented a "no buying new games until you have finished a few of the ones you own" rule. Being self imposed, it is an iron clad rule. I just started Fallout: New Vegas a few weeks ago and have been giving Black Ops multiplayer a fair share of my time for a few months. I will stick with those until I finish New Vegas and maybe a few others on my shelf, like Red Dead Redemption, ACII, and Dragon Age: Origins. Then again, DC Universe Online does look really fun. . .