Tag Archives: Reviews

Let’s Prey

Posted by BlackWidower on

The first person shooter is a classic genre. One that holds a special place in my heart.

The reason for this is simple. They feel more realistic than most other genres. After all, if you’re supposed to be the player-character, why are you constantly looking at yourself in profile, or at the back of your own head? We see things in first person in the real world, we should see things the same way in games.

Okay, some may argue that your field of vision in real life is a lot bigger than it is in the average FPS. But I really don’t give a shit.

This love goes back quite a bit. I remember playing the original Doom when I was a little kid. Only the first episode though because paying for that stuff was not easy. We didn’t have gaming stores back in the day. We had the shareware bin at Zellers, which had dozens of different games for a dollar each, but that was it. They actually should have been free, but you still had to pay for the media and distribution costs. Remember, this was the pre-internet days. Higgs, I’m old!

There was also the small computer stores which did repairs and sold accessories and software. But not a lot of games.

Anyway, back then first person shooters were simple. There really was no up or down, according to the game engine, and the entire game could be controlled through the keyboard using only six or seven buttons. At least until Quake, which introduced the Z-axis and revolutionized gaming. Now we needed the ability to easily look up or down. Enter mouselook, which allowed us to seamlessly aim and shoot with one hand, while controlling movement with the other.

Since then, controls for these games have evolved even further. Now, first-person shooters are ubiquitous on gaming consoles, which required a simplification of controls, and in my mind, has made them unplayable.

Recently, I was at a friend’s house with my fellow local bronies. We watched the (at the time) recently released brony documentary, during which I screamed “FUCK YOU!” at the Fox News cunts. Then we watched a few episodes of our favourite show, before switching on the Playstation 3 to play some PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a game which I found to be incredibly broken.

After most of the gang left, the rest of us played some Call of Duty 9: Black Ops II, and I quickly found that I couldn’t play it. I’m pretty good at first person shooters, but here, I couldn’t aim at all. I don’t just mean, I couldn’t aim accurately, I mean I literally could not control the camera. I just couldn’t. I would overshoot my target way too easily and end up spinning in a circle. I even had some directional confusion. Sometimes I got the target on screen, but then accuracy became the obvious issue and my friends are sadistic. But I love them.

Glad to get that off my chest. So yeah, console controls for FPSes suck. But on the PC, thanks to the mouse, they still work like a clock. Even a touchpad works wonders, which is why I’m sure many people will find great use for the touchpad on the upcoming PS4 controller. Though it’s not exactly ideally positioned.

Anyway, there’s one thing I’ve noticed about a lot of first person shooters. If they are not dealing with an international war, either World War II or something modern, they’re dealing with an alien invasion.

I guess it’s an easy plot-device. You can use it as an excuse to introduce really cool and exotic weapons, and have your player-characters slaughter thousands of bad guys without making them feel guilty afterwards.

But still, it’s overused. Can’t we change it up? What if our player-character had hitherto unknown superpowers that one can use in combat, and for puzzle solving? And what if these superpowers originated from some real-world mythology, and played into the game’s overall backstory!?

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to a grossly underrated game: Prey. Continue reading →

A Character-Development Walk: “Bakers and Fakers” review

Posted by BlackWidower on

The reason I love Littlest Pet Shop is the same reason I love My Little Pony. The episodes are well-written, the plotlines are interesting, the animation is superb, and the characters are not simply caricatures.

Unfortunately, this is less true with Littlest Pet Shop. Zoe is basically your archetypal diva, with very little deviation; Pepper generally fades into the background, which is ridiculously ironic; and Russel is just the generic smart guy of the group, Twilight Sparkle with a stick up her ass.

Then there’s Blythe, whose position as a fashion designer doesn’t really sit well with me. I mean fashion design isn’t any worse than any other career path. But it feels so shockingly generic and cliché. Especially for a female character.

That being said, I do like the characters, and the overall show. But the lack of character development cripples things somewhat.

Which leads me eloquently to this week’s episode, where the potential existed to give two major supporting characters significant development, But that potential was perplexingly and literally beheaded. Allow me to explain. Continue reading →

Littlest Plotlines: “What Did You Say?” review

Posted by BlackWidower on

It can be hard to maintain focus in a story. Especially if you have a creative mind. You can try to focus solely on one simple plot thread. But then, sometimes, a supporting character shows up; and suddenly, you get an idea for that character which you then branch out on.

Other times your simple thread might require a certain event for plot convenience. However that event, you realize, would have far-reaching repercussions outside your simple thread.

Then there are times your simple plot thread is just too short. You can’t come up with enough material within that thread to pad it out without looking stupid. So you tack on another plot thread that is only tangentially connected.

Which brings us to this week’s episode of Littlest Pet Shop, where Vinnie finds himself at the city dump, and Blythe loses her superpowers. And no, these two plot threads are not connected in any significant way. Continue reading →

A Land Without Power

Posted by BlackWidower on

All modern technology is dependant on electricity. Without power, we’d have nothing.

Computers, cell phones, television, radio, all other forms of communication; lights, heating systems, stoves, water heaters, refrigerators, the municipal water service, local sanitation systems, cars, busses, traffic lights, and many more things I forgot to mention.

So much is dependant on the simple concept of electricity. What would happen if it all went away?

I know, it’s a silly question to ask. How could all electrical devices just stop working?

Well, the power could always go out. Ten years ago, that’s exactly what happened to me and millions of others living on the east coast of North America. Due to something as simple as a computer bug in the control room of a Ohioan power company. For many, it took days for the power to come back on. I didn’t mind too much. For starters, I had my laptop. But even after the battery died, I still wasn’t that bothered. I went outside and was able to experience a true rarity: Being able to see the stars late at night.

Often, when an area does lose power, likely because it was hit by a major disaster, restoring it tends to be the top priority for responders. Seems to me that food and water would be slightly higher than electricity. But what do I know? They bring guys in to fix fallen wires; repair substations and transformers; and sometimes, bring in localized generators that can power a neighbourhood, assuming they’re just cut off from the rest of the grid.

But is it really necessarily? Are we dependant on electricity? Yes. If we lost it, would people start panicking, and looting? Well, no. They didn’t during the last blackout, and I doubt they would if it happened again. Even New York was looter-free!

But let’s up the stakes. What if we didn’t just lose power from the grid? What if all electronic devices stopped working? What if even battery-powered devices failed? Cell Phones, laptops, cars, even flashlights! And what if they would never, ever, turn back on? Would our society collapse into barbarism? Hell no! Such a suggestion is ridiculous. But that’s not the suggestion made by the creators of the relatively new NBC series, Revolution. Continue reading →

Party in the LPS: “What’s in the Batter?” review

Posted by BlackWidower on

Some people are bothered by how materialistic our society is.

I can kinda understand. Being obsessed as some people are with acquiring more items and objects, it seem frivolous. But the way I see it, the things people buy are not simply objects, they’re something more.

Depending on the specific item, they represent joy, safety, security, self-reliance, or intellectualism. For instance, owning tools means you have the ability to fix something at a moment’s notice, on your own. It can help you become independent and reliable.

Toys can have the same impact. For me, my toy collection brings me happiness. Just looking at it, for some reason, can wipe my blues away… sometimes.

Then there are gifts. Which can represent the love one has for another. The more effort the individual puts into acquiring the gift, only to give it to someone else. It shows how much they care. The price tag is just a representation of the amount of labour one must put in to acquire it. It’s not shallow to want someone to spend a lot of money on you (okay, maybe it is a little). It’s representative of the effort they put in.

Then there are the custom-made gifts, which takes more thought and effort than anything one can pull off a shelf. And something nice, and personal, from someone who cares, can mean more to you than anything else in the world.

So what if you lost it. What if you lost something that meant a lot to you? A custom-made gift from someone you loved. How far would you go to get it back?

Well, this week on Littlest Pet Shop, we see just how far Blythe is willing to go for the same thing, when she loses a valuable necklace in some cake batter. Yes, she does work in a pet shop, and I will get to that. Continue reading →

Anti-Socialization: “Helicopter Dad” review

Posted by BlackWidower on

Sometimes, people just want to be alone. Is that so hard to understand?

I know some people are under the impression that a preference for solitude must mean there’s something wrong with you. Bullshit I say! I typically like being alone because it allows me to focus on the task at hand, whether it be writing, or reading, or watching a television program.

You gotta focus, it’s the only way to get things done.

But there are other reasons to crave solitude. For instance, you may find most people irritating. That’s a very good reason. I wish I could relate, but most of the people I know I don’t find irritating. Well, some people I do find irritating, my family for instance. Which is why the latest episode of Littlest Pet Shop hit especially close to home. Continue reading →

Smallest Animal Supply Boutique: “Littlest Pet Shop” (first 16 episodes) review

Posted by BlackWidower on

So, just last week, we saw the season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. A show that has had more ups and downs than a possessed elevator.

The show shocked me to no end when I first saw it. It’s a program about magical technicolour horses, and is directed and marketed toward eight year old girls. Yet, even a grown man as cynical as myself can enjoy it. The well-developed characters and compelling plot lines had me coming back every week.

Of course people can argue why the show has such a following. But in the end it’s very difficult to come up with a singular reason. I just love the show, I can’t really explain why. There are times I love it because of the visual gags that remind me of the classic Looney Tunes I used to watch as a kid. There are times I love it because a character manages to prove exactly how awesome she is, sometimes at the eleventh hour, when it matters the most. There are the intense and dramatic plot lines. There are the compelling characters. There is the clean visual style. To pick just one reason would be next to impossible, and in the end it doesn’t matter. The show’s entertaining, and that’s all there is to it.

I got into the series in spite of my preconceived notions, and I’m glad I did. But of course the question remains: Can I bypass my preconceived notions again? Can I allow myself the opportunity to enjoy another show that I otherwise would not have given the time of day? Can I enjoy another thinly veiled toy-marketing program directed at eight-year-old girls? Or is this something that I’ll only allow from My Little Pony?

Well, the answer to that is, ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’ ‘yes,’ and ‘no.’ I can bypass my preconceived notions, and earlier this week, I did. For you see there’s another Hasbro property that’s been recently rebooted in cartoon form. Not about magical ponies, but a random assortment of animals. Allow me to tell you about the new series of Littlest Pet Shop.

Littlest Pet Shop

Oh, and just a quick preview: It’s good. Continue reading →

Unicorn’s End: “Magical Mystery Cure” review

Posted by BlackWidower on

…I am not happy.

I am not thrilled, or amused in the slightest.

I think the only word I could use to describe my current outlook is: disappointment.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Today was the day the bronies have been waiting for. For something I already commented on a few weeks ago. Today was the third season finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, where Twilight Sparkle evolves into Princess Twilight Sparkle, after her friends use the Harmony Stone on her.

Honestly, I was kinda looking forward to this, because given the summary we were treated to, it seemed interesting. The whole ‘switching cutie mark’ thing felt like it would go in an interesting direction. And… well… It did, but in a way that made me very angry.

This is gonna take a while to explain. Continue reading →