The Most Irritating Flaws in the GTA series.

The Grand Theft Auto series, published and developed by Rockstar has always been one of the most famous video game series ever. Having played almost all of the games in the series, even I can say that the GTA games are fabulous and can keep you glued to your screen for hours at a stretch. These games have become a cult classic with it's different open world or Sandbox style approach. These games have often also generated controversies for extreme violence , immoral activities you need to carry out in the games, crude references to a particular race ie racism, and also for including sexual content. However, the most astonishing fact was that almost all the games in the series shipped with some major bugs and glitches. Rockstar later fixed many of them in later versions but still, I don't know why the games were not tested well enough. Well some glitches in the games proved to be beneficial to the gamer since the gamer could take advantage of these to get into an area which would usually be unlocked until you complete a certain mission.. For example, in Vice City, you can use your high bike jumps or can use a boat beneath a water bridge ( the entrance to the bridge is blocked because you are not supposed to get to the other side of Vice City before a particular mission) to actually get to the other side of the bridge and thus the other side of the city before the game would allow you to . The developers must not have thought of this. However, bugs and glitches of course have their problems. Sometimes you tend to fail a mission for no fault of your's. In Vice City, when you do the ambulance mission where you have to move about the city to pick up patients and bring them back to the hospital within a limited time period, you normally fail the mission if you don't get the patients to the hospital on time or if you accidently kill a patient by crushing him under the ambulance while stopping near him to pick him up. However, it happened with me TWICE that I stopped near the patient, but another car which seemed to have lost control ran over and killed the patient before it could get to the ambulance. And I failed the mission. That is extremely irritating. Apart from that, there is a glitch in GTA3 during the mission called Uzi Money where in order to fulfill the mission you need to drive around a particular area and shoot and destroy a particular number of Purple Nines ( A particular car model) but sometimes a glitch does not allow any Purple Nines to spawn in that area. You get simply stuck in that mission . Of course there are ways to get around the glitch like loading an old save game or a glitch fix can be got too. Apart from that, in GTA Vice City there is an extremely funny and amusing bug which a close friend of mine encountered while we were playing Vice City together. It happens when you mount a Sanchez and instead of riding the bike, you run while on it, taking the bike with you. See for yourself. You won't get this one if you don't see it.

There are lots of other bugs and glitches throughout the whole series. In most of the GTA games, you often see sights like pedestrians running into a wall to and froth (dashing into the wall, falling back and then again running into the wall again repeatedly). There are bridges and walls through which you can see your bike wheels go through. This happened a lot of times with me. In GTA San Andreas, there is a bridge in the area called Los Flores. The sides of the bridge actually can easily be driven through. Thus the bridge appears not to be solid. Add to all this the unreal ism as in if you commit a crime like running someone over in front of a cop, the cops will be after you but if another car does the same right under the nose of a cop, they don't even look twice.

Let me narrate another extremely irritating experience of mine while playing GTA4. There is this mission (Escuela of the streets) where you are supposed to trail a car without the driver noticing that you are. And you can't even get too close, or else he gets spooked up and you fail the mission. You need a maintain a distance between your car and his car. It so happened that there was some sort of a traffic jam or something, the car I was trailing got blocked by another car which didn't move at all. I waited for more than 20 minutes but nothing budged. I tried to move forward and as soon as I came a little close, I failed the mission. I started from the previous savegame and AGAIN it was the same thing. The car got stuck, I couldn't trail the car anymore and I was stranded. I had to load from a different savegame to get around this problem. These sort of things are in PLENTY in the entire GTA series. I just pointed out the ones I encountered, there are many more you can find if you surf the web. I wonder why Rockstar doesn't test the games well. Perhaps it's because they know that they have already created quite a brand with GTA and their games will sell no matter what. But a game without such flaws would be better all the same.

Movie Review : TRON LEGACY

Ok folks, it's review time again. This would be my first movie review. I had wanted to do this since a long time but there were no movies coming out in recent times for which I'd take the trouble of posting a review. I finally decided to go on with Disney's Tron Legacy which released last month.

They say that as you grow or expand your franchisee, you get better but I seriously doubt whether this concept is applicable when we're talking about a movie franchisee. I say so because I've noticed that most sequels of a great movie turn out to be crap. Of course there are exceptions. Some sequels really surpassed the original ( Terminator 2, Dark Knight and some more) but in most cases sequels lack the charm that an original movie had. And so, it's hardly surprising that Tron: Legacy falls into this category.

Tron: Legacy is the second installation in the Tron series (and hopefully the last), starring Garett Hedlund , Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde and Micheal Sheen among others and directed by first time director Joseph Kosisnsky. I don't know why the sequel was so late (Tron released way back in 1982). This movie, at all if anything, is a visual effects feast. In fact the movie relies only upon superb special effects and CGI. And to be honest, that's all the movie has to offer. The story is all hotch potch and confusing. The ones who have not seen the previous Tron movie will have a hell of a time trying to understand what's going on. And most people didn't even know there was a Tron movie that released in 1982.

And for some strange reason, Tron, the titular character on whom the series is based appears for only about 10 minutes in the film. He is not even a significant character. The plot is somewhat similiar to the original. The protaganist( this time the son of Kevin Flynn, the originl 1982 protagonist) is digitized into a computer mainframe. Yes, he is actually inside the digital world of a computer where computer programs look like humans and then there are battles and fights between humans ( called users in the movie) and programs,between good programs and bad programs and all ultra high sci-fi stuff.. One of those programs is Tron..who appeared in the 1982 version as the hero...turns villain in this one......then turns good again in the climax... and then dies(oops.. sorry.. I mean gets deleted)...and he manages to do all that by appearing only for 10 minutes in the whole movie..how sick is that ..Gosh...The story sure does suck....I wouldn't recommend this movie to people who want an interesting and engaging storyline.

But hey.......doesn't the story ring a bell ? Where have we heard that before ? Yeah.. THE MATRIX SERIES... The concept of getting transported into a computer digital network with programs walking all around you...It was there in the Matrix movies..but the concept had been treated well...But this movie does not come anywhere as close to the matrix series. The well defined storyline....the extreme style and suspense......twists and turns.....everything that made the matrix movies do well, none of them are visible in Tron Legacy. As said, the only thing that the movie can boast of is fantastic special effects. It is like the movie had been made just as an excuse for showing us some real good effects. The effects are without doubt simply awesome and will totally leave you spellbound. Especially the bike racing scene inside the digital world. And it's all the more better if seen in 3D. The digital world that was created is really worth appreciation. But then these scenes without an interesting plot has no meaning.

Another aspect that i didn't like was the wastage of Micheal Sheen's character. I like Micheal Sheen a lot and he is a damn good actor.I felt his character as that of an insane maniacal computer program who also appears for about 15 minutes and then dies( sorry again...I mean gets deleted) was a total waste. He is too dignified for that role and it could have been done by anyone. Actually his character could have been done without as well as it adds nothing to the already rotten storyline.

I would round up and say the first Tron was much better than this one. People say this one is better due to better CGI but then, back in 1982 the CGI shown was much advanced for it's time. People are forgetting the time periods. The effects can't be compared. See Tron: Legacy only if you are simply craving for some dazzling visual effects. If you want anything else, it's better to see any other good Sci-Fi movie.

MY FINAL RATING : 4.5/10

Checkout the movue trailer

There has been a game released alongside the release of the movie, titled Tron Evolution developed by Gamestar and published by Disney Interactive studio. The gameplay is supposed to from a storyline that is occuring between the two movies. Though I didn't like Tron Legacy, the trailer of the game boasts of some great graphics and gameplay. I am sure to lay my hands on this one. And as soon as I finish playing it, I'll be posting a review for it. Just keep waiting guys. Checkout the game trailer.

Games that I have played in 2010

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Well, it's the last day of the year, as well as that of the decade. I'll just go about with a post listing various games that I have played in 2010. Please note this is not going to be an exact detailed review but just a list and maybe a brief thumbs up or a thumbs down. So in no particular order, here's the list:

1) Hitman : Blood Money - 9/10. This one was really good. Best Hitman game till date. A very interesting plot and also the realism and the different ways you can accomplish your goal makes it look more like a movie. So you can play again and again with new methods to kill the target. However the only thing i didn't like about the game is that, as 47 you need to kill a quite a few innocent people in the last mission. This, you never were compelled to do in the previous hitman games.

2)Grand Theft Auto 4 -8.5/10. Ok let's admit this. Vice City was much bigger than Liberty City and San Andreas is larger than Vice and Liberty put together. But when we are exploring Liberty in GTA4, how can it be better than the last 2 installments right ? WRONG !!! Rockstar has outdone itself again. Size of the city does not matter when you have superbly superior graphics, insane moves, a better and longer storyline and everything else, for example having a handheld mobile phone to take missions from rather than scouting the city for a public booth. Also multiple missions can be accepted together since some missions run for days unlike previous installments. And the Graphics is simply awesome. But one thing I noticed was the AI in the game was not that very good and sometimes you could easily defeat an enemy or evade the cops because of their foolishness. The AI could have been better. And there were fewer vehicles than previous installments. Other than that, a really good game. (But Tommy Vercetti of Vice City remains my favorite GTA playable character)

3)Aliens Vs Predator- 6.5/10 This one is the latest installment. Personally I liked only the first two Alien movies and the original Predator movie starring Arnold. I didn't play the original 1999 AvP game and the 2 AvP movies sucked. Ok the first one was still tolerable. So I wasn't really eager to play this one but a friend told me it had a Doom 3 feel in it. I had simply just loved Doom 3 so I picked up this one on his recommendation. And it was not that bad as I expected. But nowhere as close to Doom 3. Doom 3 is one of those games which had scared the living daylights out of me and I'll never forget the Doom 3 experience. It just didn't happen with AvP. It's just a one time play for me. Ok maybe two but not more. Storyline was quite poor and unimpressive though the good gameplay compensates for it. I thoroughly enjoyed controlling the Predator. The Alien and the marine part was not that enjoyable. And there was some unrealism. As a marine you could easily just knock back an Alien with a melee weapon which I found absurd. The multiplayer system was good though. Overall not a great game. But still it manages to be ok. And aah yes..It's a bit high on the blood and gore department.

4)The Saboteur-5.5/10 Yet another of those GTA clones. This one is set in 1940s Paris. Which has been taken over by the Nazis. You need to do stupid jobs like blowing their hideouts or racing in antique cars. This game has great graphics, but I found it very boring. Nothing exclusive or special about this one. And some missions are too hard. But what I loved about the game to rate it 5.5 was the graphics and the overall look. It had a somewhat classy look and a unique setting. But then that was the only good thing in the game. And yes, the AI was horribly disgusting. Avoid this one. Go for any GTA game instead.

5) Desperados 2- 6.5/10 This is a sequel to the Highly acclaimed strategy game Desperados which was set in the typical wild west cowboy country and released way back in 2001, yet boasted of Great graphics and superb gameplay. Now it even includes a Third person view. I remember I had played Desperados when I was 13 and had fallen in love with the game. Desperados 2 released in 2006 but i played it just recently. The game is good, but the story is very poor, and there is not much to do in a mission. I feel the first one was much better and addictive. If you don’t like Cowboys, avoid this one.

6) Ninja Blade-4/10 I installed this one only because I Love Ninjas. And it still disappointed. Frustrating controls, add to that you cannot save in between levels[which take anywhere between 2-3 hours to complete], with 4-5 bosses you need to keep fighting. Story is the same old viral infection type a.l.a Resident evil though playing experience is nowhere as close to RE. series. I only completed the game to actually scrutinize the game top to bottom or I had decided to delete the game midway without completing it . If there is any reason that I rated it 4, it's because of it's cool cinematography (It relies on quick time events which i appreciated) and because I like Ninjas in general. That's it. Just one word. AVOID.

7) Civilization V- 3/10. I cant believe how people find this game to be so good[it got a 9.2 rating on Gamefaqs]. Its horribly lame. Doesn’t even come close to the Age of Empires series which is another favorite series of mine. Its even worse off than Age of Mythology[which was released way back in 2002]. You just choose a hero[Gandhi for India], build a civilization, form pacts, and just sit around trying to figure out inane ways of keeping your population happy. That’s it. Just forget this game.

8)Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction-9.5/10 . Another game that I enjoyed playing. I have enjoyed playing all the Splinter Cell games and this one is no exception. This guy Sam Fisher is fantastic. He never does grow old. He's still as good as he was in the first installment( though he's grown quite grumpy in this game) Earlier I used to like Solid Snake from Metal Gear series more than Sam but with each Splinter Cell game, I'm liking Sam more. While the earlier installments relied more on stealth, this one has an equal dosage of direct action and stealth. I loved the storyline as well. It was like being in some James Bond Spy action movie. Sam's codename used by Third Echelon is "panther," and that's fitting. In past Splinter Cell games, enemies were meant to be avoided; in Conviction, Sam is a hunter. He isn't avoiding enemies, he's stalking them. The AI in this game is extremely strong( which obviously make the missions difficult sometimes) Two things about the game I didn't like. The first one was that it ended pretty soon. It had a very short length in comparison to previous installments. The second one was a continuity issue which I'm surprised nobody complained of. In Double agent, Sam had an option of either shooting Lambert or shooting Washington, a villain. So he may decide not to kill Lambert if he wants to. But Conviction doesn't take this part into account. The game assumes that you shot Lambert dead in the previous installment. ( I had not done that so I hated this part). But other than these two things, a really brilliant game. I'll play it again very soon.

9) Assassins Creed 2 - 8/10. Quite good. Lots of improvement over its predecessor. I enjoyed this game, it's highly addictive and it can indeed give you hours and hours of fun. And it has Leonardo Da Vinci.

10) Caesar IV -7.5/10- This game is one of the most addictive games I've ever played. I was just hooked on to my PC and couldn't stop playing. City building games have always fascinated me and I am also a Rome series fan. Caesar IV is about setting up the interconnected chains that civilization relies upon. You have to handle every detail, including housing, sanitation and health care, food production and distribution, security, religion, and more. Having plenty of workers means nothing if you can't keep them fed, nor does having lots of buildings if you don't have enough engineers to maintain them. The sheer variety of structures that you can build is impressive, and one of the satisfying moments in the game is when you do construct a self-sufficient city that produces such a large variety of goods. Unlike previous installments, now you can even view your city from different angles in 3D. The lighting and weather effects were fabulous. Cheers to Tilted mill Entertainment for giving us a fabulous classic game. Get this one.

11) Batman: Arkham Asylum- 10/10 . Last but not the least, probably one of the best games I have ever played. Batman Arkham Asylum. Well I think I have posted a full on review of this game a few months back so I will not write anthing new here. Just check out the review. All I have to say is that the game developers deserve a standing ovation for this gem.

That's all I played last year. I had started with Red Faction: Guerrilla but didn't get the time to complete it. But will do it soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR..

My favorite Video Game Heroes......

Movies have given us heroes like Rambo and Bond, comics have given us heroes like Batman and Superman, so why should video games be left behind. A particular playable character in a game has often been repeated in sequels of the series and with time has become a cult classic and a brand by itself spawning several other merchandise. These video game heroes are no less a legend and are generally modified and refined with each sequel in a series. I have quite a few favorite heroes myself. I'm going to name the ones that are my absolute favourites. I think I'll cut it short to top 5.

5. Solid Snake

Game series : Metal Gear series

First appearance : Metal Gear (1987)

Last appearance : Metal Gear Solid 4-Guns of the Patriots (2008)

So are you fond of mercenaries ? If you are, there's no way you can hate Solid Snake. He is an outright action hero but somewhere somehow deep within himself he has a very soft part as well. He has been in the battlefield half of his life and is a hardened veteran. He takes orders from his superior Campbell in most of the games. The metal gear games are generally infiltration games where you need to infiltrate a very large enemy base . His attitude and personality actually keep changing throughout the series. While the first games show him to be cold-hearted , from Metal Gear Solid, a more humane side to him is clearly visible. He even flirts with Mei Ling , his technical assistant and shows extreme compassion for other NPCs like Meryl and Octacon. He is the typical rugged hansome tough guy a girl could fall for. He is a loner as well and in Metal Gear solid , it is revealed that he is the result of the Genome project, where the genes of the greatest mercenary of his time, Big Boss were used to create supersoldiers. Solid Snake and his arch-nemesis cum twin brother Liquid Snake were the first ones. He grows old as the series progresses, his thoughts grow philosophical and he aids Raiden the playable cgharacter of MGS2 in his mission. In later installments, an old Solid snake returns as a protagonist and though his skills are not as they were earlier, his willpower is still the same, he still cracks humoros jokes etc. At the end of his life, Snake finds peace and says he will live long enough to see what happens to the world he helped shape. He is basically the "Rambo" of the video game world.

4. Sam Fisher

Game series : Tom Clancy's Splinter cell series

First appearance : Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell ( 2002)

Last appearance : Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (2010)

Sam Fisher is the one who beat Solid Snake in this competition by a narrow margin. They're both close competitors and I had a tough time deciding which one should have a better ranking. Both of them are exceptionally cool and somewhat similar. Ultimately Sam Fisher won because he has some extra cool moves , he's a bit more stylish . However, in case of a hypothetical combat between the two, I think Snake would win. Sam Fisher is a person with a moral fibre. He has a daughter, and is therefore a family person and on the other hand an NSA secret agent sent on dangerous missions around the world. He is perfectly able to balance his personal life and professional life and I loved the way he was calm when he lost contact with his daughter while on a mission in the first game. In the third one (Chaos Theory), when you are sent t0 rescue an operative in your first mission, you see him tortured and electrocuted to death while dangling from a pole. If you try to cut loose the corpse, you boss tells you to stop wasting time and carry on with the mission. The way Sam answers back saying " Just because he's dead doesn't mean I have to leave him hanging in there like a meat loaf" was fantastic. This guy is amazing. In the same game, Sam needs to destroy a crash site where a plane belonging to allies crashed sometime back. When Sam tries to get all the unconscious pilots to safety, before blowing up the site, his commanding officer again discourages him saying " You don't exist Fisher. This won't earn you any medals". To this he calmly says " Medals don't help me sleep at night" referring to his moral conscience . I love this attitude of Sam Fisher. He's extremely acrobatic as well, able to perform split jumps between two walls, he's an expert in stealth. He changes in look in Double Agent and sports a bald style. He works for a terrorist organization and for the NSA as well, being a double agent. Basically, I consider him to be the "James Bond" of the video game world.

3. Max Payne

Game series : May Payne series

First appearance : Max Payne (2001)

Last appearance : Max Payne 2 :The fall of Max Payne (2003)

The character of Max Payne has appeared in just two games so far but that didn't stop me from becoming a die-hard fan of this character. And that's because of the immense X-factor of the character. He does all the matrix inspired action(adrenaline moments), takes revenge on all those who wronged him and even takes out time to romance (and make love to) Mona Sax in between all this. He is one of those badass no-nonsense cops. In the 1st game, a group of junkies high on a drug called Valkyre kill his wife and infant son. He becomes the typical drunk, serious , revengeful , less talkative cop whose only aim is to kill the ones responsible for his family's death. Max Payne looks smart and there's something dignifying about his personality. His romance with Mona Sax, another non playable protagonist (she's briefly playable for some time in Max Payne 2) is also extremely eye-catching. In the first game, you can see the sparks between them. in the 2nd game, well, they even make love. You also can't help feeling sympathy for him. In most part of the two games, his actions make him fall under the wrong side of the law even though he is right. He is framed, his colleagues betray him, he gets shouted at by his superior. He is a tough character, being able to keep all the pain inside him to himself. His wife and son's murder keep haunting him throughout the game. The character of Max Payne is extremely

nicely created, defined and developed during the game. We are given just the right amount back ground information about Max .Everything we learn in the initial part of the game is crucial information that gives us a deeper insight to what will become Max' s dark life. It is the pain and the revenge from his murdered wife and child that fuels his fire and keeps him going where

others might have turned back. He gets drugged, beaten, arrested, left for dead. But there's no stopping our hero. He finds solace momentarily in Mona Sax but even she dies in the 2nd game. Due to the tough cop image of Max, he can be called the John McClane (a role made famous by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series) of the video game world.

2. Lara Croft

Game series : Tomb Raider series.

First appearance :Tomb Raider (1996)

Last appearance : Tomb Raider Underworld (2008)

Lara Croft has got to be the fantasy of every male gamer. Perhaps people may question me why I ranked her second even before the likes of the ones above. Hell, comeon , I'm a guy. And I couldn't resist falling for Lara Croft. No one has been able to make action and adventure so spicy and sexy. And situations she's been in.......her sexiness is not the only factor in ranking her this high. The other heroes I mentioned don't have to fight supernatural forces. But Lara Croft has been doing so throughout the Tomb Raider series. She is an archaeologist and her adventures deal with many ancient myths, ancient artifacts that have long been forgotten. She travels to mythical underworlds where old evil creatures roam and she dares to set foot where the bravest of men wouldn't. I would say she is a lot tougher than many of her male counterparts. Apart from being an expert archaeologist, she is a fantastic shooter, brilliant acrobat, and has immense knowledge about ancient scripts, objects, creatures etc. She is a brave woman . She was forced into a certain personality since she lost both her parents at an early age. She's not a very easy going person though. She always looks like she's mad at everybody. She doesn't talk to any person not concerned with her job. However you know what ? The game developers have seriously allowed the gamers a treat for their eyes. Lara's sexiness has been increasing with each passing game. It's not very uncommon that people have concentrated more on Lara's body rather than what happens in the game world. Basically, she has taken adventure games to a new height altogether. And she can kick ass as well. And her opponents are rarely human. Easily, she is one of the most famous gaming heroes. Lara Croft was played by someone who could only make the character all the more sexier( Angelina

Jolie) in the movie franchisee.

1. Agent 47

Game series :Hitman series

First appearance :Hitman Codename 47 (2000)

Last appearance : Hitman Blood Money(2006)

Agent 47 tops my list of top 5 video game heroes. I am totally spellbound by this character. However he is more of an anti-hero than a total hero. 47 is a mystery. His character, origin and personality will be very difficult to explain if you are not familiar with the Hitman games. He was artificially created by combining the DNA of five men, each of whom were geniuses in their respective fields, most of them expert in combat and weaponry skills and one , a scientist. Therefore, 47 is the most perfectly evolved man in the world now. Engineered from conception to be the perfect killer, 47's strength, speed, and intellect are above the human norm.

His name comes from the last two digits of a bar code on the back of his head – (640509040147). He works for an agency as an assassin or hitman and performs various kills for the agency for a living. He speaks very little, has no friends or accomplices. He does not even exist for the whole world. He is like a phantom for the whole world, something like an urban legend.. Some believe in the feared killer called 47, some don't. He performs his hits very very carefully and no one ever even has a glimpse of him. He leaves the scene after performing the hit as quietly as he entered. He is a master of disguise and takes on a variety of disguises in all the games so that people don't suspect him. In the second game, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, he seems to have softened down as he considers a priest in a church in Sicily to be a friend and cares for him. That was the time he had momentarily left his life of Sin. But circumstances force him to work for the agency again and kill. He realizes that he cannot blend into the society as a normal man and therefore resumes his earlier life. This portrays him as a man who actually feels remorse for his deeds but knows that killing is the only thing he can do because he has been specifically created for that. We can almost feel sympathy for him as a character who wants to run away from what he does but can't do that. And added to that, he has not a single friend and no one except the agency even knows he exists. His only ally may be called a woman named Diana Burnwood, the person through whom he contacts the agency and Agent Smith, another agency man who often keeps popping up in 47's missions. 47 has NEVER smiled till date and is always serious like something is always bugging him from inside. Maybe it is his guilt of living the way he is. The fibre-wire and silent silverballers are his favorite weapons. While on a mission, he is generally shown to be without a conscience and can kill( though you as the player have the option to just knock out ) anyone in his mission, even if he or she is not the main target. He is one tough guy and his superhuman strength, speed and superhuman intellect makes him the best assassin in the word. An assassin the world doesn't even know exists.

REVIEW : Batman-Arkham Asylum

DEVELOPED BY : ROCKSTEADY STUDIOS

PUBLISHED BY : EIDOS INTERACTIVE

WARNER BROTHERS INTERACTIVE

SQUARE ENIX

RELEASED IN : 2009

This time, let me review one of the best games of 2009(if not the best)- Batman :Arkham Asylum. I had been madly waiting to lay my hands on this one as soon as I heard Eidos was developing a Batman game. And I sure did get my hands on it, although it came to me almost a year after it's release. But the wait was worth it. Just read on.

I am quite sure that most of you have heard of Batman(come on, who hasn’t?). The legendary Caped Crusader or the Dark Knight, created by the late Bob Kane in the early part of the 20th century. Since then, the Batman franchise has grown exponentially. Initially from comics, to TV serials, to cartoons, to video games and finally Real movies. And who can forget the performance of Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger, in the last two Batman movies. Personally, ‘The Dark Knight’ has been one of my most favorite superhero movies of all times,(though Micheal Keaton still remains my favorite Batman) and there was no way I was gonna miss a Batman game on the PC. So here is my review on it:


Graphics: 9.5/10

See the screenshots or the trailer that I have included for yourself(if you have not played the game). I don’t have words to describe the Graphics of BAA. Simply stupendous. It literally took my breath away. From the cape fluttering in the breeze, to the Batarangs whooshing past the goons, it’s all simply awesome and so realistic. Is BAA extra special? You bet it is. Am getting a bout of aphasia now. So you better check it out asap. Rocksteady studios has really outdone itself this time.

Storyline: 9/10

The main backbone of any game is its storyline. And BAA does not disappoint. With a fabulous plot, devoid of any complicated implications (save the Joker) BAA will keep all players on the edge of their seat. The Joker has ostensibly taken control of Arkham Asylum and has released most of the prisoners. He has also brought a gang of 100 plus goons to do his dirty bidding. And he unleashes his most abominable plan yet, to vanquish Gotham city. Now controlling the Batman, the player has to put an end to the Joker’s demonic plans. Along the way, you will have to deal with a host of puzzles, riddles(guess who?) and traps. And of course, Supervillains. Major amongst them are the Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy and Bane. We have seen the Dark Knight battle these villains so many a times on screen or in comics. Imagine how great it would feel to be able to fight them yourselves using all of Batman's abilities at your disposal.

Gameplay: 9.5/10

This is yet another factor taken into consideration while rating games. The gameplay is equally superb. You have a host of gadgets at your disposal, ranging from the simple Batarangs, to the Bat-Hook, explosive sprays, Bat-lines, etc. You will need to use the Grapple-hook throughout the game. Plus you can also glide along long distances, which is almost equivalent to flying. The combat system is quite engrossing, with a wide range of combos and high-tech arsenal to choose from. You can start out with simply kicking and punching, and go on to perform special maneuvers like Silent Takedowns, Special Takedowns, Hanging villains upside down from Gargoyles, performing a flying Glide kick, etc. Trust me; you will never get bored of it. It just feels great to beat those baddies to pulp. Plus as you defeat enemies, and solve riddles, you earn experience which can unlock newer items. But quite possibly, the biggest trait of BAA is the Detective Mode. I simply loved this one. In this mode, you can detect secret passages and hidden enemies. You can also follow the trails of different persons just in case you are stuck.( eliminates the need to refer to a walk-through which most of us do when we get stuck). In all, BAA makes a very satisfying playing experience. And you know in every other game since gaming began, you could collect items, find a secret area, collect coins etc to increase experience points. In most games, these collectibles are not related to the plot of the game and can be done without. It sometims gets boring to collect these stuff and you just get on with the main game. But in BAA, this NEVER happens. Throughout the game, you are challenged by the riddler to solve riddles scattered throughout Arkham and these riddles are REAL cool. You can't help but solve them and you gain points from that. This game is one of the few ones in which collecting Riddler trophies and secrets is as fun as the main game itself. Maybe because you feel really good as the riddler gets paranoid and irritated as you solve more of his riddles and you get a satisfaction. However, much of solution of the riddles require you to know about Batman's world so if you are not a batman fan or don't know characters and theories in the superhero's world, I dnt think you will even get a hint as to what some of the riddles may mean.

Music: 8.5/10

The music is also great. Though it may not be anything superbly outstanding, it’s still quite pleasant and mellifluous. It does blend with the mood or the tone of the game. I have played some games where an intense and serious fight sequence with a boss is accompanied by music which usually plays when Tom chases Jerry. Spoiling the mood of the game, that's utterly disgusting. But that never happens with BAA. Ok I don't claim to be some music/sound expert, so I will refrain from further comments on this one. But personally I found the sound and technical affects to be quite good. But still, a tad below Excellent.

Overall: 9/10.

Buy it, rent it, steal it(okay just kidding). Whatever you do, just get this game ASAP. Even if you are not a Batman fan, you will still love this game. (Its better than Prototype, Xmen Origins:Wolverine, and much better than Resident Evil 5- some of the games released in 2009, according to me). This(BAA) is 12-13 hours of pure fun. Blood and gore lovers, sorry to disappoint you, but this game does not contain any heavy violence or adult material (Stick to FEAR 2 if you want such games).
Batman makes a mark, which you can be sure will remain indelible for a long time.

P.S.(SPOILER)- The game is probably gonna have a sequel as well. According to the ending, ie. But then again, maybe not. It all depends on the makers. After all, Max Payne 2 was supposed to have a sequel made. But it never did. I'm still waiting for it. Rather the developers made a mess out of Alan Wake(or some horror crap). Keep your fingers crossed!

GAME TO MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

Game to movie Adaptations. How many of them work and how many don't ? If you do some quick review of all the recent movies that were based on some game or game series, you will see that most of them have failed. I don't know why movies mostly fail to recreate the magic that the game spawned. There may be many reasons. Maybe it is because a movie is not interactive but a game is. You feel you're a part of the virtual world in the game but a movie won't give you the similiar experience. It's ok if you find this reason lame. I somewhat do. However the other more evident reason may be that since we already know (The gamers I mean) what the plot revolves around, we tend to over-expect and thus get disappointed easily than we would have had we not known about the game. However there may be instances where there may be faults within the movie itself.
According to me, the worst movie I have seen based on a game is The House of the Dead . To speak the truth, i never really like the House of the Dead games as well.

House of the dead series consist of rail shooter light gun based arcade games. I am not very fond of such games as they don't give me the adventure and free controlling that I want. And when I saw the movie based on it, I saw it as a totally seperate movie and did not relate it to the game at all since I did not even like the games in the series. And still the movie was horrible. In fact both movies (there was a sequel to the movie as well). Bad acting, bad storyline, stupid zombies. It's better to catch the old black and white George Romero zombie flicks than House of the Living Dead 1 and 2. The movies were panned by both critics and fans of the game.

Doom was a lesser disaster but still a disaster. A movie based on the popular Doom series of games was released a year after Doom 3 released. Even the presence of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could not save the movie. And the movie deserved to drown. I was so disappointed with the movie. Doom 3 is a classic and so are the other doom games. The main factor in Doom series is the concept of a hellish invasion where horror begins when a portal to hell gets opened in an accident. But what on earth did they do with the movie ? They made a viral infection (like resident evil and so many more) the main plot element of the movie.

The movie didn't even contain what set doom apart from other games in the same genre.Not for a moment was I scared while watching the movie. The only good thing was a five minutes long first person scene in the movie, where you see the movie from the protagonist's point of view as he battles the monsters holding the weapon, just like as in an FPS game. That's about the only thing I liked in the movie and other fans did like this too. Well I also liked the BFG gun which they managed to incorporate in the movie as well. It was my favorite weapon in the game. I thought I would post the clip of the FPS mode of the movie in here.

This movie again received negative reviews mainly. Box office collections were not that good and dropped from the 2nd week itself. I was disappointed a lot with this movie. The fans mainly criticized the change in theme as the movie went for an infection rather than a hellish invasion. It contained no supernatural element like the game did. It was more like a zombie apocalypse movie like Resident Evil in Mars. They did manage to include some creatures from the game but what good can you do when you don't have a decent plot. The video below does not mention even for a moment that the filmmakers changed such an important aspect of the game's storyline.

Take a look at the Resident Evil movies. These games have failed critically but have been commercially successful. The heroine of the series Alice, was not present anywhere in the games and the main female characters like Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield were second fiddles to Alice. Don't know what the problem was to keep the protagonists same as the games. my favorite Resident Evil character Leon S. Kennedy hasn't been shown in any of the movies.

I would still say that of all the movies that have been based on games, at least according to me, the Resident Evil movies are the best. They had the maximum connection to the games. If you forget the fact that Alice did not exist in the game world, the movies are not that bad. There are a lot of scenes that have references to the video games.

Hitman and Max Payne were two of the most pathetic video game based movies again.

I had been eagerly waiting for both of them right after seeing the promo and saying I was disappointed with both of them would be an understatement. I had atleast expected these movies to be good.

I had always thought that there should have been a Hitman movie made long before the movie came out and had imagined it my way. The mysterious past of Agent 47, his distinct style, the heart-stopping missions, and the way 47 switched from one costume to another, absolutely NOTHING was present in the movie. Timothy Olyphant was a bad choice. Not that he didn't act well. He gave his best shot. But Timothy is just too cute to be 47. He doesn't look that tough. He is not that convincing. Somehow I just can't imagine him as the 47 I have guided through so many missions. The plot was totally confusing, and it ended up being like any crime-action movie. not a HITMAN movie. 47 didn't even perform hits and like he did in the game. This movie did not fare too well at the box office and was a total critical failure too.

Max Payne was no better. Mark Wahlberg lost the capacity to act in this movie. The dullest of expressions he kept on delivering all throughout the whole movie. Major differences form the game was that it is in the middle of the movie that we know that Max is avenging his wife and kid unlike the game. The movie even confused the viewers with the valkyre monsters that were included. Even I was confused as to whether the creatures were reaaly there or were imagination. They totally overdid with the valkyre creature thing and the movie looked more like a supernatural one. It was in all, a very dull one. They just added a bullet time shoot sequence to get you the Max Payne feel just like Doom incorporated a FPS scene.

This movie also got severe negative reviews and was critically panned. But still it managed to gross well at the Box Office.

Well now let's talk about a movie where the actor actually looked 100% convincing as the game's titular character. Tomb Raider is what I am talking about. The movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider had Angelina Jolie playing Lara and I can't think of anyone who could have done it better, Tough, sexy, Kick-ass attitude , she had it all. But still the movie sucked ? Why ? Because of a lack of plot. Because it lacked the exotic and mysterious locations that have been Tomb Raider's USP. There was no emotional impact. Only the action sequences were good to watch. And of course Angelina Jolie. But these alone hardly make a movie worth watching.

Ok now after all this, let me mention the only video game based movie that I really liked quite a lot.. And that award goes to....

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Ok.......Now I know many of you may think I'm insane for liking this movie. But to each his own I guess. I agree that the story of the movie had absolutely nothing to do with the stories of any of the Alien vs Predator games except for just the fact that it showed a clash between the two species, but then I liked the original story of the movie. I don't know why this movie received negative reviews. The only grudge that I have against this movie was that the fight scenes between the two creatures were quite less in number. But the movie managed to keep me glued to the seat, and the tension building in each scene could be sensed. Most of the AvP games take place in a facility in a distant planet or in a spaceship . The storyline of the movie takes place on earth itself. A team of archaeologists venture out to examine a suddenly discovered heat bloom on an island completely desolate and uninhabited, a thousand miles from Antarctica. They reach the place and discover a thousands of years old ancient pyramid structure 2000 feet below the ice. What they don't know is that this very place was a battle arena between Aliens and Predators years and years ago. The predators returned every hundred years to earth with Alien eggs and used the humans living in that pyramid to breed the alien creatures and then would engage in a battle with them to hunt them as game. And to the explorer's horror, that is what is going to happen now after years and years. Soon it becomes a fight for survival as the humans find themselves caught between a thousand year old battle between Aliens and Predators. It's our world. It's their war. I really liked the story as well as the way it was presented. The scene where the Predator and the Alien first face each other was epic. The awesome background score added to the mood. However the sequel to the movie seriously sucked. I just hated AvP 2.. Anyways, the first movie, in spite of the criticisms, still grossed a lot at the box office and was commercially successful

So basically what we see is that movies based on games generally do well at the box office even if it is trash. Critical failure does not necessarily mean commercial failure. Well that would be because fans of the game all over would definitely be dying to checkout the movie, and it's because of them that the movie may recover it's expenses or even earn more than that in the 1st week itself, even if collection start dropping drastically from the 2nd week due to everyone disliking it. That's about all I wanted to say.

REVIEW : TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD

Ok this time I'm going into a full on game review. I had promised in my previous post that I'd post a review for Tomb Raider : Underworld. So here it goes. The 8th installment in the famous and legendary Tomb Raider series which started way back in 1997 and introduced us to the legendary famous (and if I may add, immensely sexy) Lara Croft.

DEVELOPED BY : CRYSTAL DYNAMICS

NIXES SOFTWARE

SANTA CRUZ GAMES

PUBLISHED BY : EIDOS INTERACTIVE

DISTRIBUTED BY : WARNER BROTHERS

GAMES TIME WARNER

RELEASED IN : 2008

I know I played this game a bit late. I played it almost a year after it had released. I had some other important work in between so even though I had already got myself a copy of the game, I had not found the time to play it. This was really difficult because I know the game had taken off from where the last installation of the series Tomb Raider Legend ended and the curiousity as to what happens next was killing me. The last one had ended with Lara Croft's nemesis Amanda telling her that her mother ( who was believed dead) was alive and in a Norse mythical and mysterious underworld called Avalon. Tom Raider Underworld now continues the story and shows Lara's quest to find the place called Avalon. In order to do that she has to travel to other Norse Underworlds to collect some ancient magical artifacts without which she can't gain entry to Avalon. The artifacts are two ancients gauntlets used by the ancient god Thor, a belt worn by Thor, and a hammer ,also used by Thor which together with the belt and gauntlets can open the gateway to Avalon and let Lara discover the truth behind her mother. Now before anything else, let's discuss the aspects of the game worth mentioning.

Graphics : 8/10

The graphics of this game is quite spectacular and the lush, flora and fauna featured in major part of the game is a treat for the eyes. The environments were great and realism was felt. However sometimes the camera angles were a bit irritating. Especially when you are hanging from a ledge or climbing walls. If you want to shoot an enemy while hanging from a ledge ( this technique was introduced in this installment itself) you can't be sure you can be aiming right. Because the camera angle may not show you the enemy. But otherwise the graphics is great. You will be spellbound seeing the natural beauty of the coastal islands and the underwater part.

Story : 8/10

This game has the best story-line in the entire series, second only to the original Tomb Raider game story. And also Tomb Raider Anniversary since it's a remake of the original and has the exact same plot. There was not a moment that I got bored of the story. The mystery behind what Avalon really is, what actually happened to Lara Croft's mother and indications of some monstrous entity in Avalon which could destroy the world if unleashed has been presented in an extremely brilliant manner. Moroever, the developers had to research on mythological concepts of a lot of cultures. You get to know quite a few things too while playing this game. The story was linear and will keep you excited to know what happens next. I could feel the glee myself when I found the two gauntlets and couldn' wait to get the belt next. Similarly when I found Thor's belt, I couldn't wait to lay my hands on the hammer. The story totally involves you into the game. You keep wanting to know ? What next.

Now I come to a point I mentioned in my previous post. The base of the story does have a slight similarity to Shade: Wrath of Angels mentioned in the previous post. Well in both the games you look for someone who vanished and he supposedly trapped in another world. Your mother in this case and your brother in Shade. Also you need to travel to different worlds unknown to humanity and collect artifacts in order to gain entry to where the one you are looking for is in both the games. The gauntlets, belt and hammer in this game and the four angel's hearts in Shade. And finally, in both the games you are actually aided by an ancient entity on your quest and in both cases you realize in the end that you were actually being used and the one helping you becomes the main antagonist. Natla in this case and the Angel of faith in Shade. This concept of being deceived in the end by someone for whom you were executing the mission is not unknown in games.Most of he games in the Meta Gear series are examples.

Anyways, if the story was so good, why didn't a give it a 10/10 and deduct two point you ask ? Well because I didn't like something. You don't get to battle Natla at all even though she is the primary antagonist. When I got hold of Thor's hammer, I was very excited about the upcoming battle I was so sure would be coming between me and Natla because this hammer was the only thing that could finish off an immortal god like Natla. To my utter dismay, the developers didn't give me, or rather anyone a chance to do that. It all happens in the last cutscene. Lara just throws the hammer into Natla and she crashes below into a deadly liquid and is assumed dead. So basically YOU , as the player, can't take the credit.

Gameplay : 7.5/10

If u're a gymnast/acrobat etc, you're going to fall in love with the gameplay. And that's because most of the gameplay is about gymnastics and awesome daredevil stunts. Most of gameplay includes climbing walls , jumping from a wall to a ledge, or from a ledge to a wall. I don't know whether to call this a shortcoming but if u're looking for some big action, you won't find it in Tomb Raider Underworld. Enemies are really very few. The main challenge in the game is to rely on Lara's superb acrobatic abilities to cross a dangerous terrain or some deep pit . You will really have to observe your surroundings very carefully and find some rock, some wall, or anything that Lara can climb or hold onto. There were times when I thought that crossing a particular area was impossible, a particular jump was impossible,there was no way etc but then there has to be a way isn't it ? Just examine your surroundings very carefully. In two missions, you will be needing your bike to make certain jumps and also to solve a puzzle. There are interesting puzzles as well you need to solve to get into a particular area. You can now shoot at enemies while hanging from ledges although a liitle problem with camera angles have made this added feature a little difficult. You can also split your guns and fire at two targets at the same time. You now have a bomb that sticks to walls as well as enemies and detonates after a few seconds. So once a bomb is tuck onto a enemy, there is no escape for the enemy. To make the game more realistic, if you exploring a wet area or if it's raining or if your hands are wet, you may slip from a ledge. But the most notable feature added to this installation was the "adrenaline moments" when time slows down and you can use that to your advantage to jump out of harm's way. The previous one had interactive cutscenes like RE4 when you did not have complete control over the character and had to press buttons as prompted. I tend to like these adrenalin moments more. Reminds me of the game that introduced this concept, which is Max Payne.

However I had expected more enemies. Frankly a few jaguars, a few tigers and some poachers are the enemies you encounter apart from a different supernatural enemy called thralls. Thralls are undead creatures , very much like zombies. They have been created by a deadly ancient liquid called eitr. Whoever comes in contact with this liquid dies, but the body remains active protecting some artifact and killing anyone whom they come in contact with. Their flesh is gone and all that remain are a walking pile of bones and look terrifying. You encounter some thralls. But even then, they're very less in number except for the last level. And two particular levels on two ships have some action with you battling Amanda's goons. And I don't count the underwater sharks as real threats. And this lack of enemies made me reduce points for the gameplay. Other than that ,it's splendidly realistic and good.

Overall :7.8/10

That's quite a good score. You can actually have hours of playing with this game without getting bored. It's extremely adventurous. You may not like it as much as I did but I bet you can never hate this one. Checkout the trailer here.