Reviews 2010-09-23T16:16:37-04:00 SilverZ http://www.robertzprojects.com/reviews/index.php rziefel@rochester.rr.com tag:reviews,2010:Reviews Pivot Copyright (c) 2010, Authors of Reviews 2010-09-23T16:16:00-04:00 2010-09-23T16:15:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.16

For Xbox 360

I wanted to like this game, I really did. It has zombies! And you can bash them, with a cash register! Or a prop lipstick! Or a... lawnmower? How do I even lift this thing?

But... but... but...

I can't.
Part of the reason is the same reason I gave up playing Majora's Mask. I hate games with a clock.
The larger reason: the save system. Awful.

NO EXCUSES.

If I want to save every thirty seconds, fine, let me. Heck, Braid lets me rewind time as much as I want. I think we've got saving down pretty well here. After all, we've had save systems for games as far back as Final Fantasy. And their stupid "save points", which were at least reasonably spaced, most of the time. Not so in the Dead Rising universe. But wait, what's this? When you die, you can play the same hour of game over again, or go all the way back to the beginning? *sarcasm* SWEET! Of course you keep your current stats, but still. I even did the "couple hug" cheat, and got up to level 9 figuring that would keep me alive a little longer. Nope. Sorry- hour between saves, make one mistake, dead.

So I put it back in the "take this back to Sean" pile in disgust. Maybe Dead Rising 2 will fix the save problem and be a little bit more fun. Because the whole photo thing? Fun! Beating zombies with a paint can? Fun!

Oh, and the gun system sucked too, by the way. FPS it's not.
I don't know how this game got anything close to good reviews, it's crap. Stay away. Give me an unlimited life cheat, (remember those? Good times, good times) and THEN you would have something. Instead of fail. ]]> rjz7584 2010-09-23T16:06:00-04:00 2010-09-23T16:06:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.15

For Xbox360

Overall, more of what made Mass Effect 1 great. Putting the new team together and getting their loyalty works well, though it does seem to function as just a way to stretch the gameplay out. But let's talk about what doesn't work.

Guns.
No Mako.

#1- guns. The weapon system in ME1 was a unique take on the standard "ammo goes here" guns of every other freaking game in existence. I didn't have to worry about reloading, just heat. I didn't have to scrounge around for "bullets" and could focus on shooting that guy in the head. But now, suddenly, the universe has decided that, no, guns don't work that way any more, and we're back to "ammo goes here". This creates several problems. Problem 1: You go to this colony that's been off the grid for TEN FREAKING YEARS. According to the manual, the way guns works now "oh, because the Geth were doing it that way" started just after the end of ME1. Fine. So why does this colony have guns that work not the old way, but rather the new way? Why can't I pick up an old style sniper rifle if I choose to? You're telling me "a wizard did it" and changed all guns in the universe? I THINK NOT. Problem 2: It's just a dumb idea. The purpose of these so called "thermal clips" are to soak up heat from the weapon you're firing. So why, when ejected, do they just evaporate into thin air? They should lay there on the ground as "hot" and when they get "cool" again (i.e. after some time has passed) you could pick them back up. For that matter, why do you need more then three? Pop one out, another pops in. Put hot one into battery operated chiller you have strapped to your leg. Fire. Repeat. OH, OH, Here's an idea! Build the chiller into the GUN, then you don't need silly "thermal clips"... oh wait. Right. We come back to ME1. Problem 3: Now I have to worry about ammo. Call it what you want, but you only give me 10 shots in my preferred weapon, the sniper rifle, and then it's over? That's ammo. If it was a true "thermal clip" I could use the useless ones I'm carting around for the totally inaccurate SMG I'm never going to use. BUT NOOOOOOOO. And why do my companions never seem to run out of "thermal clips" anyway? Maybe they forgot to tell Shepard about the recycling program because he was *spoiler* the last two years and they forgot?

I have to admit though, the third upgrade for that weapon? When that beam just lanced out and cut that Geth or whatever I was shooting at down right through his shields? I knew then I had come home. BOOM!

Mako: I liked driving around the Mako. I hated how it controlled, and having to drive up mountains to get anywhere, but you could fix the Mako rather then just cut it. I know, then you don't have to design all those surface worlds. Oh well.

Apart from the gun frustration, it's a solid game. Well worth me... uh, borrowing it from Sean. Take out the eight million customizations you had for weapons in ME1 and lose the "thermal clips" of ME2 and you'll have a very nice system for ME3.

Talimancer for the win! ]]> rjz7584 2010-07-16T18:17:00-04:00 2010-07-16T18:02:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.14

By James Alan Gardner

The writing, while very good in Expendable, really did get better for Vigilant, so both are an excellent read. (Mom-Faye, sheesh). Having the main character from the first book pop in like that was a real treat, I think it really added to the story in a good way. Vigilant was an interesting mystery wrapped in enough sci-fi to keep my attention, and the language was unique and well thought out.

Also, it's nice to read a book where two girls can get together without all the moaning about "oh, we're both girls" etc. I mean, when you start people having relationships with ALIENS, same sex partnerships look really tame in comparison.

Both very good, highly recommended. ]]> rjz7584 2010-07-07T13:52:00-04:00 2010-07-07T13:52:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.13

http://www.sharknavigator.com/

http://www.sharknavigator.com/I got a book about sharks for christmas one time, but no matter how I looked, I didn't see anything about this product in there. I was expecting some sort of stun gun or a chemical that would keep sharks from attacking me.

Then I realized it was a vacuum cleaner.

Anyway, the Shark Navigator comes to me courtesy of Woot! the "we sell only one thing a day" website. And let me tell you, this vacuum sucks!

I mean that in a good way.

I knew my old one was pretty bad, but I didn't really realize how bad until I ran this guy over things. What a difference! I got about a cat and a half worth of hair up off the floor, the rug actually looks vacuumed now, for a change. I was so impressed (inspired really) I went out and did the breezeway and the basement ones too, and again it performed as it should. The only problem was the little spinny cup has a "fill to this line" sort of deal, and I had to empty the thing about eight times total doing three rugs. I think this speaks more to how dirty they were then the size of the storage unit itself though. I'll need more testing for that.

I am very impressed with this product, now if I could just find a robot maid to push it around for me, I would be set! ]]> rjz7584 2010-07-07T13:35:00-04:00 2010-07-07T13:35:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.12

By Karen Miller

The Innocent Mage is about a fisherman who lives with his 6 brothers and goes off to seek his fortune for a year to help the family. Is the writing profound? No. But at the same time I wanted to come back again and again to "see how he was doing" so to speak. But I couldn't point to any one thing to tell you why.

The writing is solid, the characters believable. I'm not too clear on how the magic works, just that one group of people has it, another does not. Near the end, one character finds a book of "lost magic" but what exactly are these spells? Formulas? Words? He doesn't seem to use either. He draws runes in the air, but only for one spell, so they only need to do that sometimes? But then they start talking about magic as music? I'm confused. And what happened to the "warrior mages who have protected the kingdom for generations" I was promised on the back cover? Never see one of them.

All in all, a very good read, just make sure you read it for the people, not the magic. ]]> rjz7584 2010-06-17T19:17:00-04:00 2010-06-17T19:17:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.11

By Alan Dean Foster

Review: positive

Details: The language is very well done, being both "futuristic-y" by combining spanish and english, but not so much that you can't tell what they're saying (a. la. Jane Eyre). Different social classes speak convincingly, and use terms related to their subculture consistently. The technology is workable, I could see this story happening in fifty years or so. The task set before the main character, believable, and managed in pieces like a good investigation would be.

Of course the novel isn't fantastically great, but it is really good,

Recommended ]]> rjz7584 2010-06-10T23:13:00-04:00 2010-06-10T23:13:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.10

By Jim Butcher

Butcher? That's an odd name by any stretch of the imagination. Oh well.

When Sean lent me this I couldn't help thinking I knew the character somehow. Took a visit to the library to recall, oh yeah, I read a "dresden files" comic! Ah!

So we come to Storm Front. Short. Much too short. And the magic system is a little weird. Is it words? Will? What makes him a wizard and not anyone else? Apart from that, the book is pretty good. A couple of threads that weave together to the conclusion, though they don't seem to be doing so at first, as is right and correct. Still, being a magic user, you would have to suspect, gee, I haven't had a lot of jobs. Oh, now I have two on the same day. Suuuure.

The writing is good, very clear, dialog is balanced, characters seem true to life. I'd read more of them. ]]> rjz7584 2010-06-01T20:57:00-04:00 2010-06-01T20:57:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.9

Dead Space

Finally getting around to this one. In a word: hated

Not sure why Mizzy liked this one so much. Let's go down the list of negatives:

No auto reload. When I run out of bullets, I want to start reloading bullets. Not realize I've run out of bullets, and have to hit another key. I know, I know, realism. HA! VIDEO GAME.

Save Points. What is this, a DS remake of Final Fantasy 2? They're called checkpoints now, and they happen automatically.

Crummy Weapons: Don't buy any other weapon but the initial one. Really.

Ammo: Never enough. If I'm facing certain death, you can bet I'm ripping open every locker, crate, bag and box to look for ammo, not calmly buying more from a vending machine.

Unclear Objectives: The arrow points this way, but really you have to go over here first, jump through fire six times, THEN go over here. No.

Flashing Lights Down Every Dang Corridor: We know the power isn't working right. We know. We Get It. Inducing seizures is not the way to express this concept.

So called "air". You couldn't come up with something better then that? Air? Really?

Can't Run and ready your weapon at the same time. Oh, and the whole slothful pace you walk at in the first place.

Map is crappy. Thank you for providing one, it's thoughtful, but next time make it work.

I do like the references to Scientology though, very subtle.

In the end, it seems like the game went out of its way to try and kill me, again and again, often without warning as to how or why. I'd just be strolling down a passageway and *squick* I'm dead. No reason. No warning, just jibs. And then you win though, *SPOILER* and the game kills you in a cinema scene. Oh, thank you so much. "Congrats, you won though. OH WAIT WHAT'S THAT BEHIND YOU? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA DEAD!"

No thank you.

The only positive point was I didn't pay money for this crappy experience and got to return it to Mizzy.

All in all, wouldn't play again. ]]> rjz7584 2010-06-01T22:03:00-04:00 2010-06-01T20:34:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.8

Stardust

A very nice little story all told. It's the story a boy who grows up believing himself to be one thing, but really he's something else. When he goes to retrieve the object the girl of his dreams wants, he gets a little more then he bargained for. Because the thing she desires, others desire as well, all for different reasons. Of course the thing he finds has ideas of its own!

Kind of short, I read fast but I read the bulk of it in an evening. Fast paced, believable world of magic, and the way the fairy escapes is really genius. ]]> rjz7584 2010-06-10T23:15:00-04:00 2010-03-30T12:27:00-04:00 tag:reviews,2010:Reviews.7

Precious Little Life By Bryan Lee O'Malley

By Bryan Lee O'Malley

What would seem at the start to be a comic about a normal guy with his normal, tiny, Chinese high school girl friend, takes a turn when a delivery girl runs through his dreams. Turns out the local subspace highway runs through his head, which is just the thing the only amazon.ca delivery girl in the area needs to know to make deliveries more quickly. Luckily, he finds her, and the comic makes a sudden jump into Dragon Ball Z land, which as any true aficionado knows, makes everything better, when he learns that to date her, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Good thing he just happens to be the best fighter in the province and has his friends to back him up with that energy barrier. But what will happen to his relationship with the Chinese girl? Will the seven ex-boyfriends play fair and fight him honorably, in single combat, or jump him all at once?

You and I will have to read on to FIND OUT!

(Oh, if it wasn't obvious, I really liked this one) ]]> rjz7584