Poem About Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs come in many shapes and sizes.  Some are small.  Some are big.  Some are in-between.  But, there's one thing they all have in common... they're all dead.

Arrow Review- "Suicide Squad"

Diggle is happy his squad consists of Black Dynamite, Kano, and that "one dude from Firefly."

Warning: The following review contains a quiver full of spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

Seeing the previews for this week's episode of Arrow excited me.  The "Suicide Squad" was going to be formed, and this is another small step forward into merging the Arrow universe with the overall DC comic universe.  So, there's no way the episode could have been bad, right?  Wrong.  What we get is a Diggle episode, with a Diggle flashback, and brief moments of the Squad worked in...not to mention a brief, overly pouty, Oliver Queen story thread.

Diggle gets his team.  Diggle does not really want this team.  Diggle hesitantly accepts the team.  One team member is poorly killed off-screen, showing that they need to continue to take orders from Waller and do their job.  This is interlaced with flashbacks of Diggle in the war, protecting a high-value target, existing only for the sole purpose of letting the audience know who the high-value target is, while strengthening the relationship we have with Diggle and his ex-wife.  There were a few scenes where Ollie is running around, looking and acting like a bratty teenager, wanting to find Slade Wilson before anybody is hurt.  But forget the stuff that even matters for the plot progression of the show, let's go back to Diggle and his ragtag group of felons!

After getting 3/4 of the way through the episode, I realized this is less Arrow, and more "24."  The only standout in the latter portion of this episode is Deadshot, who Diggle has to coerce to leave with him with the whole "you got a kid" play as a predator is rapidly approaching to destroy the house.  Even the reveal at the end of the episode is weak; Waller actually mentions the name "Deathstroke" at the end of the show and the camera pans in, after Waller explains that he's been leaving a trail of death behind him.  Didn't we pretty much already know this, though?  Was this supposed to come as a surprise and serve as a cliffhanger?

All the negativity out of the way, that being said, there were a couple of standout moments in the episode.  First of all, props for the Harley Quinn cameo.  That made me think of endless possibilities in which the story can progress in the near future if she is, indeed, introduced into the universe.  Diggle has a nice line near the end of the episode that shows his morality conflict: "...the guy that killed my brother has more character than the woman who is supposed to be protecting the world."  What is really considered "good" and what is "evil?"  I don't know.  Let's hope Diggle doesn't have an existential crisis.

Overall, it was a very by-the-book generic episode.  It felt wholly out-of-place with the progression of the season, and felt quite risky to pull this during the much anticipated Suicide Squad episode.  While it is nice to get a little bit of background on Diggle, and give some screen time to the supporting cast, I think viewers are much more interested in Ollie vs. Slade at this point in the season.  Sorry Diggle, your time to shine was nothing more than mediocre.

Overall Rating:

6/10

 (6 out of 10)

South Park: The Stick of Truth Review (Xbox 360)

The children are our future.  Well...maybe not these ones.

Warning: The following review has spoilers and some language.  Read at your own risk...m'kay?

  

When dealing with a video game based on a licensed product, such as a movie or a television series, expectations are extremely low due to the overwhelming shitty track record throughout the years.  There have been a few (and I mean....a few) exceptions, including the wonderful Goldeneye on the N64, some of the Lord of the Rings games, and Escape from Butcher Bay starring and voiced by none other than Vin Diesel as Riddick.

South Park has had a handful of games in the past.  The initial game was an FPS on the N64 and while it was fun for a little while, it quickly grew tiresome fighting a seemingly endless amount of turkeys by flinging snowballs, darts, and plungers at them.  From this we move into Chef's Luv Shack...which I don't even want to talk about *cries inside*, and South Park Rally, a pitiful Mario Kart clone.  Jumping years into the future, we were graced with two South Park games via download on the XBLA, South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!...and South Park: Tenorman's Revenge.  The first was actually a decent game, but incredibly short...and of questionable genre for diehard fans of the show, considering casual video game players probably have no idea what a Tower Defense game even is.  Tenorman's Revenge had potential in the beginning, but quickly became monotonous, infuriating, and simply not fun.  I remember me and a group of friends purchasing this simultaneously and screaming at each other over Xbox Live, trying to pin the blame on each other for the suggestion to buy this travesty.

I will admit, I was incredibly worried when I found out South Park was going to have another video game based off of their material.  The games in the past have not quite captured the essence of what makes the show great, and the idea of an RPG with South Park characters made me think it was going to be similar to a flash game you can play for free on the internet.  Well, I can gladly say I was wrong; South Park: The Stick of Truth delivers for fans of the show, including all of the raunchy over-the-top humor the show is known for, while delivering a solid gameplay experience to boot, but has a few issues.

I would like to begin the review portion by stating that the game is clearly for an older demographic, as noted with it's hard M rating.  I say "hard M" because, although this is cartoon-based content being presented in front of us, the game devolves into being downright pornographic at times. Hell, the game was even censored in some areas outside the United States for some of its content.  I was absolutely shocked by what was displayed on the screen, but was laughing the entire time.  No video game has made me laugh this hard in my life.  That being said, I would suggest to stay far away if you are easily offended, or are around the vicinity of younger children.  I'm not kidding.

The plot of the game starts off simple, then becomes overly ridiculous (in a good way), just like an episode of the show.  We are presented with a character customization screen to create our "new kid" and venture out into South Park to simply "make friends" as stated by your in-game father.  The new kid meets Butters, and is brought to Cartman, who is involved in a child-like fantasy game where the members of Kupa Keep are protecting the "stick of truth" from the elves...shortly thereafter, the stick of truth is stolen and a giant conspiracy unravels, questioning who took it...all the while you are learning about this "new kid" you are playing as.  As the game progresses, the way you make friends relies on someone sending you a friend request on Facebook.  Some are obtained over the course of the main campaign, others are obtained through completing the game's hilarious side-quests, and the rest are obtained through simple exploration.

The main campaign in itself is short for that of an RPG, perhaps roughly 8 hours, give or take, not including the side-quests.  You are taken from iconic areas in the show, to a UFO where anal probing is being done, to inside the walls of your house after you are miniaturized, and to many other locations thereafter, including the foreign land of Canada, where the game gives you a world map, essentially turning into a classic 8-bit RPG.  The breaks in the main campaign of trying to get the stick of truth back are absolutely hilarious, while extremely vulgar and raunchy.  It is the first game where I had to fight a gnome while shrunken, under my parents having sex.  The main storyline was a blast, but I let down by the ending of the game, due to it being rather predictable and extremely abrupt.  Others may beg to differ, but I found the pay-off to be entirely weak in its execution.

The side-quests are varied and well worth doing considering they are just as good as the main storyline.  Some of these include helping Al Gore track down ManBearPig, assisting Mr. Hankey and his wife with finding his children, and "finding Jesus."  Most of these side-quests reward you with friend requests, while some reward you with "summons" where you can call in a character of the show to do a large amount of damage to a group of enemies.  I never had the need to use any of the summons in the game (you can't call them in during bosses), but used one or two just to see what would happen, and I advise players do the same because some of the animations are laugh-out-loud funny.

On the game-play front (battles), this game delivers pretty well.  It is very, very similar to the gameplay mechanics of Paper Mario.  Upon attacking or using an ability, you have to press a certain button or do something with the controller to maximize damage.  Same goes with blocking; if blocking at the correct time, it efficiently minimizes damage done to your characters.  The party member system is even ripped straight out of Paper Mario, as you can only have one "buddy" with you at any given time.  Sure, you can swap back and forth between them, but the fights are far less "Final Fantasy" than people will expect going in.  To accompany you in battles, there are many forms of equipment that can be found or purchased, including armor and weapons.  The physical appearance of your character can be changed due to make-up and wigs you can find, as well as by visiting Tom's Rhinoplasty...where if you get the most expensive procedure, your character's head is turned into a real-life photo of David Hasselhoff.  This is hilarious at first, but can prove to be annoying because any hats/wigs you attempt to put on do not appear on the character, so if you opt to revert your face, you lose a significant amount of money and will have to pay the full price to change back to the 'Hoff.

The exploration element of this game is highly enjoyable, as you can walk around the entire area of South Park, and its surrounding elements, and enter (almost) every single door.  While in the field, you will see enemies wandering around (again...like Paper Mario and other games of this nature) and will have the opportunity to hit them to get the first strike in battle, or ignore them entirely.  Your "buddy" will always be following you, and each character has an out-of-combat ability which can help with manipulating elements in the environment, such as Kenny's ability to "show his boobs" to someone to distract them.  Your character gets a handful of abilities to be used outside of combat, including a varied set of farts to do things such as clearing out rats, and lighting things on fire (the farts can also be used in combat, and are considered your "magic" of the game).  You also gain the ability to teleport via a piece of an anal probe broken off in your ass (believe me, I am not making this stuff up), and the ability to shrink yourself down in size to enter small areas.

While there are many hilarious scenarios to take part in over the course of the game, there are also some downfalls.  For starters, I had an issue where in multiple cutscenes, my character was nonexistent.  The cutscenes still played out, but the fact that there was a gap where my character was supposed to be standing was a bummer.  The leveling system caps at 15, which is far too low.  I hit max level not even 3/4 of the way through the game, because I jumped on every side-quest when I had the opportunity.  Somewhat going along with this is the overall length of the game; while scouring South Park for side-quests and collectables certainly lengthens the overall experience, you can still complete everything this game has to offer in around 10-12 hours...which is very short for an RPG.  My biggest complaint, which upset me greatly, is upon completion of the game, you are allowed to wander around.  However, the game environment seems to mirror that of the "first day" you are in South Park, which means that there are not certain enemy types which are presented further into the campaign.  One side mission relies on you going to the police station and accepting a quest in which this enemy type needs to be killed.  It is completely inaccessible if you complete the main story without accepting the side-quest and completely mars your game if you are gunning for 100 percent completion; this is completely inexcusable and requires you go through an entire new game to complete.  While we're on this topic, too, it seems there is absolutely no way to replay story missions to collect missed gear/Chinpokomon collectables, also demanding a restart from the beginning.  I put in additional effort to scour every single story map, and collect every last item I could get my hands on while making friends with everyone in South Park, only to have my game be ruined because I was unaware of a particular side-quest...which, in turn, gives me the last friend request I needed.  Not cool, man.  Not cool.

Overall, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a great game that mirrors the quality one would come to expect from an episode of the show.  The combat system is solid, the storyline is hilarious, and the open-world South Park is a blast to wander around.  Although there are a few glaring flaws with the game, I would still recommend everyone to give it a go that is fan of the series.  But, please make sure you're of age; Curse words, naked body parts, and crude sexual humor is abound.

Overall Rating:

8/10

 (8 out of 10)

Quick Review at a Glance: True Detective Season One

Moments before they kiss.

Warning: The following review has mild spoilers in it if you are a human.  Read at your own risk.

 

  

There comes a time and a place where everybody that watches a decent bit of television sits back and contemplates what the best show they've ever seen is.  Is it The Wire?  Is it Breaking Bad?  Or is it something else?  Whatever the case, there are only a few shows out there that come close to perfection from a technical, and a story-telling standpoint.  While it can be argued that people drastically differ in opinions when it comes to "favorite" television show, there is no refuting that some shows exhibit a quality of excellence that is not found in others.  True Detective is one of these shows.

What makes True Detective so fantastic?  A large majority of it is the acting.  Matthew McConaughey does a superb job as Rust Cohle, a mentally odd, yet genius detective.  The character of Cohle is so complex and multifaceted, I could write an entire post just on him; McConaughey consistently surprised me throughout the entire series. Two major standouts for me were the long-take found at the end of the fourth episode (up there with some of the best I have seen in large budget Hollywood films) and the final minutes of the finale.  Woody Harrelson is great as Detective Hart, a by-the-book cop whose darkness is slowly unraveled throughout the show, including him cheating on his wife with various young girls and highlighting his rampant alcoholism.

From a plot standpoint, the show was very good, and kept viewers interested until the finale.  While I feel the finale lacked the touch it needed to be excellent, it still proved to be rather good.  I walked away on a bit of a sour note, since the show kept building up all of this evidence, only to have it somewhat fall flat in the end.  In retrospect, the entirety of the show was fantastic, so the elements I feel were lacking in the finale to provide a better resolution to the show were trivial.  Many shows hailed as excellent do not have perfect endings, as expectations from fans outweigh what the writers can come up with...not everyone can be satisfied by the same ending.

 

With the news that the second season of True Detective is going to star different characters, I was instantaneously saddened.  Hart and Cohle were great characters established over the few eight episodes we had with them and elements of "why" they are exactly how they are still remain unclear.  I would love to see more of Harrelson and McConaughey reprising their respective roles, without it growing too tiresome.  Perhaps the next season will not feature these characters for exactly this reason...to prevent the show from becoming stale and repetitive.  The next leads are going to have a difficult time surpassing what Harrelson and McConaughey brought to the plate; an excellent crime drama with fantastic acting and a great story.

Overall Rating:

9/10

 (9 out of 10)

The Walking Dead Season Two, Episode Two: "A House Divided" Review (Xbox 360)

Seriously guys, who the hell farted?

Warning: The following review contains an assful of spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

The first episode back to Telltale's wonderful game series threw me for a loop.  Playing as the strong, kind-hearted Lee in the first season was wonderful as it was very emotional, but the second season puts gamers in the shoes of young Clementine, providing a very different experience.  The game is still meant to depress the hell out of you with incredibly tough moral decisions with incredibly harsh consequences, but there is now a new layer of depth to the game mechanic; that of pure helplessness.

Playing through the contextual action-oriented events in Season Two, Episode One was terrifying.  Here we see a young girl, who, if buttons are input incorrectly, dies on-screen.  We, as Clementine, do not possess the strength of Lee. However, while not physically strong, Clem makes up for it with intelligence and fearlessness.  Only Telltale could pull off having a child protagonist, and I came to the realization they succeed remarkably in this upon the completion of the second episode.

Why the second episode though?  While I have always loved the character of Clementine, I was mildly bummed out when I heard that she was going to be the playable character of season two.  After I played the first episode, I was worried that the rest of the season would pale in comparison to the excellent first season; while the first episode was by no means bad, it seemed like the story would be heading in somewhat generic territory.  This all changed in the second episode, since we are presented with great morality decisions, a great villian, a sentimental reunion, and as always, great, yet simultaneously terrifying action scenarios.

Keep in mind it is very difficult to review this game normally.  The Walking Dead is essentially a personalized experience for every player, reading off the save files of the past episodes, delivering an experience solely based on what past decisions you have made.  In this review, I will highlight events that happened in my personal playthrough.

The episode opens up with a bang.  In my playthrough, I began with Nick, stuck inside an area resembling a shed.  I had to help him hold a door closed as walkers were breaking through.  In the heat of the moment, I selected the choice "find something" in which Nick, leaving me there to hold the door, finds an object and places it in front of the door.  Realized they were stuck there, Nick finds some good ol' moonshine and has at it.  Clementine wakes up to the sound of Nick throwing the bottles at the wall, in a drunken state.  Some dialogue takes place, while Nick even offers me some moonshine.  I do not accept.  I talked Nick out of his drunken stupor, who basically wants to stay behind and die.  Clem tells him he has a family out there...and Nick joins Clementine in leaving.  Shortly thereafter, surrounded by walkers, Nick yells at Clementine to run.  I refused and Clementine goes over to Nick.  He then responds with a yell..."I SAID RUN."  Clementine then runs away in a contextual button-input QTE.  Hell of an opener.

From here, we return to the household, and tell the others about Nick being left behind.  They set out, Clem stays with Sarah to keep an eye out for her and along the way, wanting to make her feel at ease, I snap a photo of her.  Here, a man forces himself in, and we are introduced to the big bad villain of this season...his name we do not know yet at this point in time.  There are many dialogue decisions during this segment, I felt he was a threat to our group so I lied to him the entire time, telling him there was nobody else in the house.  He then finds the picture I took of Sarah.  Whoops.  When this happened, I lied, telling him it was "my sister...she's dead."  He then pretty much detects my bullshit and leaves the house, warning me.

To prevent this review from being too long-winded, I will not detail every single step of the game.  In a nutshell, from here on out, the group returns, we leave the household in fear the guy will come back because we learn the group had a previous run-in with him, we save Nick along the way, me and Luke trek across a bridge toward a resort to make sure it is clear for the rest of the group (accompanied by a pretty slick action sequence), a man approaches us with a rifle, ends up being super nice, but then Nick shoots him because he thinks he's a threat to the group...said man dies.  We get to the resort, and Clementine is shocked.  KENNY IS THERE!  I instantly choose to hug him, and I get a small feeling of relief, which is rare for this game series.  A member of Kenny's group does not take too kindly to us after I tell him we killed the man on the bridge...who turned out to be his friend, a red-haired woman shows up asking for some supplies, we give it to her, she returns with the creepy man and his group shortly thereafter.  Uh-oh.  This places us in a bad situation, and I get the decision to give up and go downstairs, or go outside and find Kenny and Luke (who previously left our group to assist with fixing the electricity to the lodge/resort).  I find Kenny out there, I ask where Luke is, he gets mildly offended.  He takes a shot, killing a member of the group, so the main villain, whose name is revealed to be William Carver by members of the group earlier, kills the man whose friend I killed.  Not to risk anymore, I tell Kenny not to take the shot when Carver grabs another member of the group at gunpoint.  This puts us all in a bad situation, all being captured, and the episode comes to a conclusion.  But...what happened to Luke?  Did he die and Kenny did not want to tell me?  Will he save us all?  I find it quite interesting that Luke was shaping up to be a very big player in the season, then suddenly is M.I.A.

So, now that my version of the play-through has been roughly explained for reviewing purposes, let's continue by breaking down the actual review.  The story presents us with an absolutely fantastic scenario, and the writing for this episode is commended, as I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Michael Madsen does a great job as Carver, invoking a new sense of terror into the game, especially considering you are left off with a life-or-death hostage situation through the eyes of a child.  The supporting characters become very likable in this episode, especially Luke.  The only character I'm having a tough time liking is Nick, which is completely understandable, but I can not escape the feeling that he is basically the "Ben" of season two.

As far as graphics, the game is visually appealing as always.  It still has the whole cell-shaded/drawn look that we've grown to accept and love, a nod to the graphic novel that both the game and the television series have spun out of.

From a gameplay perspective, the episode had a perfect balance of action-oriented sequences and dialogue decisions.  There were a few instances in which we were given full control over Clem, including the pre-dinner sequence which gave us a good "calm before the storm" feeling.  Until we we have to choose who to sit with...and an argument ensues.  Oh well, it was at least calming while it lasted.

Overall, this episode was very good.  It is equally parts terrifying and satisfying playing as Clementine; watching her overcome obstacles gives the player a great sense of satisfaction because she struggles quite a bit more than Lee.  The fact that Clem is so young gives the player the incentive to try harder and make the correct choices during the dialogue situations.  The morality decisions during this episode are very difficult and dig deep, emotionally connecting you to the story and the people around it.  As it stands, there are many unanswered questions and we are left with another cliffhanger.  For the sake of the season, I hope Luke is still alive as I enjoy him as a character.  Or maybe it's intentional by Telltale to rip away the character Clem most takes a liking to in order to give us that feeling of desperation and hope yet again so Clem will have to be independent and use everything Lee has taught her to rise to the occasion.  We'll find out soon enough.

Rating:

8.5/10

 (8.5 out of 10)

The Walking Dead Review- "The Grove"

Carol spotted a bear.  Carol doesn't like bears.

Warning: The following review contains a shitload of spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

Let's face it...The Walking Dead has been rather weak lately.  While it has been a great way of exploring characters at their most vulnerable points, it has been dragging quite significantly.  While all of the different members being split up provides a very interesting scenario, it feels like this was done simply to "pad out" the rest of the season.  That's not to say that the second half of this season has been bad...it has just lacking that little extra something that usually makes The Walking Dead great.  Until now.

From the opening shot of the eldest sibling playing with a walker outside, the viewer could clearly tell something would be amiss in this episode.  As the episode progressed, some questions were raised...one being who, or what, started the fire in the distance?  Then it dawned on me during the final quarter of the episode that the events unfolding in front of me were some of the most disturbing, yet emotionally powerful moments I've ever seen on a television screen.  And this is coming from a show that's based off of a damn comic book.  Sunday's episode was an emotional punch to the gut that I never saw coming; I was going into the episode thinking it was purely filler, but was absolutely amazed by it.

So, shall I delve into the particular events that unfolded?  Absolutely.  HOLY SHIT.  Excuse me for the language, but that is the most likely the best summary of the collective reaction of viewers throughout their households.  Tyreese and Carol returned and found that the young, sweet sister was downright murdered by crazy girl, in an effort to turn her into a walker.  They arrived just in time to prevent said crazy sister from "turning" baby Judith.  After a brief discussion with Tyreese, when he gathers that the same girl was the one feeding mice to the walkers, Carol claims "She (the girl) can't be around people," takes the girl outside and puts one into her head after she tells her to "look at the flowers."  Damn...and this isn't even the end of the episode.  Carol confesses to burning the bodies, one of which being Tyreese's girlfriend.  This is the ultimate moment of clarification and closure for Tyreese, and the look in his face is absolutely heartbreaking before he breaks down in tears and delivers an "I forgive you..." pulling his hand back away from the gun on the table in front of him, but not before saying that she would have to live with that decision for the rest of her life.

I have been using the words "crazy girl/eldest sibling" and such because the normal viewer probably does not even know the names of the girls.  That's okay, because up until this episode, I really didn't even care what their names were as they seemed quite insignificant to the overall plot structure of the show.  That being said, the performances from both of these little ones was great.  It is difficult for child actors to convey any sense of emotion, but they did a fantastic job with what they had to work with.  Melissa McBride (Carol) was downright fantastic and provided, hands down, one of the best performances on the show thus far.  Chad Coleman (Tyreese) was lack-luster, until the final few moments where he breaks down after hearing the news from Carol.

At a glance, this episode was one of my favorite episodes; similar in "shock factor" to that of the Red Wedding on Game of Thrones.  These are exactly the types of episodes The Walking Dead needs more of.  Episodes have been very dry as of late, and I am hoping this is not the case with the next few considering the season finale is coming up shortly.  This was a breath of fresh air and gives me another reason to eagerly anticipate every Sunday night.  At least for the next couple of weeks.

Rating:

9/10

 (9 out of 10)

Upcoming Reviews (Week of March 16th-22nd)

True Detective- Entire Season One

 

South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360)

 The Walking Dead Season Two, Episode Two: "A House Divided" (Xbox 360)

 

Arrow- "Suicide Squad"

*Premieres March 19 @ 8:00 EST on CW*

The Walking Dead- "The Grove"

 *Premieres March 16 @ 9:00 EST on AMC*

 
 

A Sign of Things to Come...

Previously, on Unbiased Media News....

• There were way more television reviews than other stuff.  Not any more.  Reviews will still include games, movies and television, but they will reviewed in equal fashion.  More opinionated stuff too, if you're into that.  I know I am.  Because it's my own opinion.  I'm giving a thumbs up with a smile right now but you can't see it, but I'm seriously doing it, for real...
• I was reviewing "Almost Human."  No more.  The show consistently upset me due to its mediocreness.*  Sorry, fans.  This one is left in the dust, just like...a thing that gets left behind that, over time, accumulates dust.

 Changes to come...

• TELL ME WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS.  Oh, sorry.  Wrong window opened.
• Little games and factoids about stuff that's cool and rather interesting.
• Pictures of animals performing mundane human tasks, like doing the laundry, or going grocery shopping.  I just realized this is a horrible idea, but instead of deleting it, wrote this elongated sentence to explain how I would not like to include said photos.
• I already mentioned in the first bullet up above (I'll give you a second to gander upward) that there will be more equally distributed reviews and opinion-based articles.  I just reiterated myself, so don't pay attention to that.  Seriously, forget about it.  RIGHT NOW.  You know what they say, repetition is the sincerest form of flattery.  Or...wait, nah, that's "imitation."  Anywho, did I mention that there will be more equally distributed reviews and opinion-based articles?

...AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!  There's an abundance of awesomeness to look forward to in Season Two of Unbiased Media News.  Congratulations for being....you!!!

*Disclaimer:  Some episodes were good.  Every other episode was at best, "ehh..."  That means "iffy" in Spanish.

Guess Who's Back...

Hey guys and gals.  Guess what?  I'm back.  After a very lengthy spiritual journey (not really), I am back and better than ever.  So...what does that mean, you ask?  Well, I'm glad you asked, anonymous person.  That means, quite simply...

MORE REVIEWS.

MORE NEWS.

MORE OPINION PIECES.

MORE...EVERYTHING ELSE YOU EVER DREAMED OF.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY...MORE ME.

 

These are tears of joy.

New Free to Play- Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign

Remember that one time Thor, Iron Man and Spider-Man rearranged jewels to defeat villains?

To start, I would like to say this is not a review.  As a free-to-play game, Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign is pretty fun.  It's major downfall is that, well, it's free to play...requiring micro-transactions and laughably high amounts of money for its DLC content.

If you're not familiar with Puzzle Quest, the concept is rather simple.  Puzzle Quest fuses classic RPG elements, such leveling up and acquiring better skills, with Bejewled-style gameplay, in which 3 or more jewels have to be rearranged on a grid to inflict damage against your enemy.  The Marvel entry changes a few things, including the ability to collect comic book covers to not only unlock characters, but unlock their skills as well.  Many of these are randomly obtained, and some "rarer" items can only be acquired with pure luck; for example I unlocked a level 6 Ms. Marvel moments into the game, making the earlier missions a breeze.

There are minor plot structures in each fight, usually prompting you toward a singular goal of defeating a particular villain, such as Juggernaut or Dr. Doom.  Sometimes during these fights, you are required to use a certain version of a certain character, let's say a level 3 Black Widow for example, because she is already there as part of the plot's structure.  This is both cool yet infuriating at the same time; sometimes, you'll get a high-powered character, other times you'll already have a version of that character which is better in your deck, only to have him/her be replaced with one that is far inferior for the fight.

A large majority of the game revolves around luck.  You can grind to your hearts content on earlier fights to attempt to obtain better gear or money, but this won't help if you stumble upon a fight you're advancing into where you get beaten multiple times in a row.  Death comes with a cost in this game, literally, since every time a character dies, in between fights you will either have to wait for a very long cool down for them to revive, replace them with a different character, or use a med-kit to revive them.  Character health regenerates at a very slow rate, as do the med-kits, mirroring elements of other free-to-play games where there is lengthy cool-down to continue with the game's progression.

The weirdest thing about this game is the leveling up system.  You have to spend a version of the in-game currency to level up your character.  However, before doing so, you need to obtain the characters skills, or higher levels of the skills, by obtaining the covers, which are randomized drops, either as a reward from a fight, or from a purchase.  This does not occur often enough, and you will be stuck with many low level characters, while having a select few who are at the level they should be, which is an odd circumstance to be involved with.

It doesn't hurt to try the game.  It's free on Steam right now, so go ahead and download it.  While it's not revolutionary by any means, and it seems like there's no "end-game" so to speak, its a great time waster, and the excitement of getting a good character emulates the experience of getting a super rare card in a pack of trading cards, a joyous feeling that brings out one's inner-child.  Speaking of children, if you have a kid planning on playing this, make sure there is not a credit card attached to the Steam account; there is currently a DLC floating around on Steam that costs $99.99.  For real.

Batman: Arkham Origins Review (Xbox 360)

Bane and Batman have a nice dance at the winter ball.

Warning: The following review contains mild spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

Batman: Arkham Origins is the third installment in the franchise, following Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.  Arkham Asylum, while a great game, suffered from linearity issues and lacked the extra "oomph" it needed to be an excellent game.  Arkham City upped the ante, delivering a phenominal game, giving the player free reign to explore a large open world by their own, while solving seemingly endless puzzles, challenges, and side-missions.  Arkham Origins, while still a good game in its own right, ultimately fails to surpass the second installment in every way.

So, right off the "bat" (HA!), why is the game called Arkham Origins, you may ask?  At the beginning of the game, the player picks up the controller (or perhaps mouse/keyboard if that's your cup of tea) as Bruce Wayne, two years into being Batman.  While the game does not necessarily show the "origins" promised by the title, it does delve into Batman's introduction with the Joker, shows Harley Quinn before she's...um...Harley Quinn, and shows a young Gordan, who has not quite reached the status of "Commissioner" yet.  Also worth mentioning is the very strong supporting character to be found in Alfred, since his communication with Batman is an integral part of the game.

The main story, while interesting at points, can falter with overly long, repetitive missions, involving Batman using the same couple of gadgets to overcome light environmental puzzles, all while delivering beat downs to groups of thugs.  Occasionally, segments exist where stealth is key, due to enemies carrying around weapons.  During these points, the player needs to think outside the box, picking off enemies one by one silently, all while using Batman's somewhat impressive repertoire of gadgets (I say "somewhat" because besides a few new additions to his arsenal, a majority of the items are the same, or function identically to those found in the previous installments).  These segments can become frustratingly difficult if you are trying to clear out the room without being seen, since it seems like the surrounding enemies always have a tendency of spotting you, no matter how isolated you are.  To me, the stealth mechanics are one of the weakest elements of the game; whether this is due to poor game design, or plainly my stupidity is up for debate.

During the story missions, there will be boss encounters that are initially impressive.  While fights with Deathstroke and Bane are some of the highlights, every single boss fight essentially devolves into repeating the same 2-3 moves over and over again, and countering attacks like mad.  This can be frustrating, because after the "wow" factor wears off, these fights become incredibly repetitive.  Cutscenes pop in from time to time to progress the fights, and it is usually during these boss fight moments when Batman's suit damage is sustained (a neat little visual treat found in the prior games as well; as the game progresses, Batman gets more and more bullet marks on his suit, scratches, and rips in his cape when the storyline is progressed).

The actual "story" itself is simply okay.  Some moments border on greatness, while others leave the player wondering why it was implemented (there is a scene where you play as the Joker briefly, and while cool, it adds nothing noteworthy to the story due to how bizarre it is).  The dynamic between Batman and the various villains is interesting as always, but due to Batman's self-righteous "I don't kill anyone" rule, you're left hanging with some moments that make you question "why did he establish this in the first place?"  There are key points where villains could have been stopped multiple times...and for damn good reasons...but he simply does not want to kill them.  Then they go on to do horrible things, severely endangering the lives of many.  Yet, he can beat on a group of thugs, snap their legs/arms, and leave them in the snow.

Outside the story missions, there is quite a bit to do.  "Most Wanted" missions pop up from time to time, which serve as this games side-missions.  These range from finding a large amount of Riddler collectables, to tracking down villians and having boss encounters with them.  Some of these prove to be very interesting, such as the Mad Hatter's mission, which changes up the feel of the game drastically, accommodating for more of a side-scrolling platformer feel.  Besides these, there are a number of symbols to find, crime scenes to complete, challenges to take part in (which give you medals upon completion for reaching certain goals, such as a score or a particular objective), and a lackluster multiplayer mode that at best, exists as an okay distraction to break up the single player.  Also, after the completion of the story mode, you get a New Game Plus mode, where you can retain all XP, items acquired, and collectables, while making the game harder with more difficult enemy variations and no "counter" notifications.  After completion of New Game Plus is...a mode that is frustratingly difficult, where you have one life and no saves, to complete the entire game.  This one is for the hardcore gamers out there.

The gameplay elements remain largely unchanged from the prior installment, save one thing, which is actually one of my favorite tasks to accomplish in this game: the crime scenes.  When investigating these scenes using Batman's "Detective Mode," footage based on what he has pieced together can be rewound/fast-forwarded to watch the crime unfold in front of you.  This element has to be used to find items such as the murder weapon, a point of impact, or even a splatter of blood.  Batman is always referred to as a "master detective" and we didn't really get a huge feel for that in the prior games, but this new implementation is rather neat because it shows us just how intelligent of a person he is.

Although combat remains unchanged, it is still as fluid and fun as ever.  Late in the game, you acquire "shock gloves" which make combat a breeze.  Up until this point, however, the game ramps up in difficulty more and more, leaving the player to think on their feet about what types of moves they need to go against particular enemy types, such as body-armor enemies, shield-wielding enemies, enemies with knives/swords, and so on.  The only issue I have with combat is sometimes, while Batman is performing a lengthy move (such as a jumping kick to the face), it leaves you entirely vulnerable and unable to counter any attacks, which is frustrating if you are racking up a high combo.

The biggest complaint I have with this game boils down to its technical difficulties.  Over the course of gameplay (I invested at least 30 hours into the game), my game froze on three separate occassions.  While this isn't a huge deal, it is incredibly frustrating, especially if on the way to an objective in the distance.  There was an instance where I was climbing a ladder and a cutscene was supposed to initiate, but instead, Batman got stuck in the ceiling and I could not do anything, forcing me to restart from the last checkpoint and play the past 10 minutes all over again.  There was a moment when a prisoner I needed for a Most Wanted mission did not appear for a very long time, and when he finally did, it was out of nowhere, right in front of my face, like he magically warped into existence.  Finally, when gliding off of a rooftop, I landed atop a car; when this happened, Batman hung suspended in the air, in a gliding pose, unmovable, forcing me yet again, to restart from the prior checkpoint.  While these are not game-breaking moments, they are very frustrating, especially when you are having an otherwise good time in the open world environment.  This game lacks the amount of polish found in the last games, and I do not know whether or not this is due to the absence of Rocksteady's involvement with this particular installment.

Ultimately, this is not a bad game by any means.  Some lackluster, repetitive missions and boss fights lack the variety that made the other games so special.  The story, while decent, had too many weak moments that sort of pull one out of the experience entirely.  The Most Wanted missions are fun to complete, the crime scenes are a blast, and its still incredibly satisfying to glide around as Batman in an open world interpretation of Gotham, aside from the numerous technical difficulties I encountered during this experience, which hampered my gameplay slightly.  Combat is still satisfying, although the gadgets are not improved that much at all.  Stealth sections seem to lack the "tightness" that they had in the previous installment, but that boils down to my own opinion, because I was not necessarily a huge fan of them to start off with.  Multiplayer feels tacked on, and really did not even need to be included into the package.  Arkham Origins is definitely worth a shot if you're a Batman fan, just don't go in expecting this to surpass Arkham City in any way, shape or form.

Rating:

7/10

 (7 out of 10)

Almost Human Review- "The Bends"

I let him know the rating I was about to give in advance.  This was his reaction.

Warning: The following review does not contain any spoilers whatsoever because I don't want to waste my breath.  Just kidding.  It has some spoilers.

What the hell did I just watch?  Did you ever not care about an episode of a television show so much, your brain wanders and you feel comatose?  Well, that's exactly what happened when I watched this new entry of Almost Human, I felt like I wanted to inflict a serious amount of pain to the people responsible for coming up with this shoddy excuse of an episode.  Was it that bad?  Yes it was.  There, I just answered my own question.

Alright, I'll tone it down a bit.  Phew.  Here we go.  Dorian and Kennex send in Rudy Lom to demonstrate his "cooking" abilities to some criminals and gather intel via a wire, in which he conceals by ingesting a substance that makes him...pass gas...a few times in the episode.  That's mighty funny, except for the fact that it's not at all.  In the slightest.

The whole episode was just dull.  Even the action sequences near the end between Dorian and the other android faltered due to its incredible cheesiness.  While I commend them for trying to save the episode with a well-needed injection of action, this was a lame attempt at that.

I'm all for new ideas, and haven't given up on the show just yet, but this episode just seemed like a stereotypical episode of a cable-based cop show.  There was nothing interesting.  There was nothing innovative.  There was nothing that I took away from the episode.  Even the dynamic between Kennex and Dorian that thrived so much in the past episodes was seemingly non-existent here.  That's a big no-no, considering I have said multiple times that they are the saving grace of the show and more than likely the sole reason viewers keep tuning in.

In retrospect, I would like to forget this episode entirely.  I really have nothing much more to say.  I could pick apart every piece of this episode, but that would just be a ridiculous rant.   The last episode of the show was rather good, in fact, it was my favorite episode of the show thus far.  I said the following at the end of last week's episode:

"Now that we are away from the first couple of episodes, the real question is whether or not the writers can provide consistently entertaining material and varied situations.  If the show continues on in the same fashion as tonight's episode, I think it's in good hands."


Well, it didn't.  And it's a damn shame.  A couple more episodes like this, and I'll be sad.  Sad by the fact that an abundance of potential was wasted on what could have been a great show.

  Rating:

3/10

 (3 out of 10)

The Walking Dead Review- "Too Far Gone"

Rick showing the Governor how his wedding band and gun match.

Warning: The following review definitely contains spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

If there is one word to describe this episode, it's "wow."  Within the latter half of the episode, so many things happen, it's almost like sensory overload.  The showdown between Rick and his group and the Governor, who dragged along his newly formed wolf pack, did not disappoint one bit.

The first half of the episode set up everything.  The Governor gave a fancy speech about who he intended to go after and why.  The people, somewhat unwillingly, joined him in his plan to "take over" the prison.  From here, we witness Megan being bit (sad, shocking, and a vital part to this episode), Rick giving an amazing speech to try and talk the Governor down,  Hershel being decapitated by Michonne's sword at the hand of the Governor, and an extended chaotic battle sequence between the two sides.

Without delving too deep into the plot of the episode (the shootout is awesome to watch, but very difficult to describe detail by detail), I will mention a couple of things.  First of all, the way in which the Governor was killed was pretty damn awesome.  After Rick gets his face beaten in repeatedly, the audience sees a shot of Michonne's sword going through the chest of the Governor.  While she doesn't finish him off, Lilly comes in and puts a bullet in his head, symbolically stepping over the chess piece, which is hinting at the game of chess her daughter Megan and the Governor played.  This was executed so brilliantly, I give massive credit to the writers of the show for pulling this off.

Next, I'll look into some of the individual characters.  Rick gets his ass handed to him, stumbling back to the group shouting for Carl, before being (somewhat) saved by him.  Earlier on, Carl has a nice moment of dialogue with Daryl where he says he could take the shot and "end this right now."  The dynamic between Rick and Carl at the end of the episode is absolutely heartbreaking when they see Judith missing from her seat.  Is she dead?  If not, who has her?  I will delve into my theory further down.

To no surprise whatsoever, Daryl was amazing this episode.  He kills a few people, uses a zombie as a meat shield, and blows up the friggin' tank.  I can see many fans rooting for him while they watched the episode; I completely understand people who say they are going to be "pissed" and "stop watching" if Daryl is killed off, since he is a massive fan favorite due to moments like this.

Michonne has little to do this episode, but was responsible for stopping the Governor and saving Rick, which was a huge moment for her.  Glenn...got put on a bus against his will by Maggie.  Maggie went to look for Beth, who in turn, went to look for baby Judith.  The bus takes off, rather ominously, so we are left to wonder as to if anyone else got on board.  Tyreese's sister, Sasha, and Bob didn't do too much either, other than the fact Bob got shot.  But, to be honest, I don't think anyone really cares; he's such a poor character.

This leads me to the last person I want to talk about.  Tyreese.  Come on, man.  My favorite character from the comics was absolutely useless in this entire episode, and after taking cover, is saved by two children.  Tyreese, I expected better from you.  He had potential after seeing the swarm of walkers surrounding him as he popped away at them one by one with his trusty hammer earlier this season, but ultimately, he is yet another character who fell flat.  Hopefully the second half of the season we will see him shine.  Since I just said that, I probably jinxed it and he'll die a horrible death.

The final thing I have to say about this episode regards dear baby Judith.  What happened to her?  I do not think she is dead.  I believe somebody took her.  I have two theories as to who did so.  My first is that Glenn grabbed her and took her on the bus with him.  The look of dismay on his face that he expressed to Maggie as he was put on the bus, and his eagerness to help even though he is sick, leads me to believe that he performed an act of heroism.  Or, maybe not.  My second theory is that Michonne scooped her up.  The way that Michonne held Judith earlier in the season, while rocking with her and crying, shows that she treasures Judith for what she is worth.  Plus, there was blood on the seat, possibly indicating that someone with blood on them took her.  The only logical people that could of had blood on them are Rick (we know it's not him), and Michonne (from stabbing the Governor).  Perhaps there were others, but the second half of the episode went so quick, I was completely invested into it.

At the end of the episode, I was in awe.  The series of events that unfolded in the episode were breath-taking to say the least.  Aside from an episode or two of Game of Thrones, I have not seen a television episode this fantastic in a very, very long time.  That's saying a lot, because I can tend to be very critical of things I watch and play, over analyzing them after the fact.  That's why I started reviewing them.  To share my thoughts, opinions, and nitpicky-worthy moments with all of you.  And that's why I am happy to say that this is the very first ten I will be giving out on this blog.  Congratulations "Too Far Gone," your ten is well-deserved for providing a flawless hour of television to a bunch of us fans.  Now then, off to watch it again.

Rating:

10/10

 (10 out of 10)

 

Upcoming Reviews

As a result of an increasingly busy workload due to the Holidays, coupled with some well-needed Vacation time, I have been unable to contribute to this blog recently.  However, I am back and the following are my upcoming reviews in progress, which will be up by the end of this week.

The Walking Dead-"Too Far Gone"

 

Almost Human-"The Bends"

 

Batman: Arkham Origins (Xbox 360)*

 

*Batman: Arkham Origins marks my first video game review.  These will be written slightly different than television reviews.

Almost Human Review: Are You Receiving?

If he was still playing Bones, this scene would have gone much smoother.

Warning: The following review definitely contains spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

 

Finally.  After a rather lackluster first couple of episodes, Almost Human seems to break itself out of its "familiar" territory.  While almost the entire first half hour is Kennex and Dorian climbing a staircase, this builds tension leading to a great ending sequence where we see both leads display some worthy gunplay.  Although hostage situations have been done multiple times in television shows and films, the one presented in tonight's episode provided enough entertainment, keeping viewers interested in how it was all going to play out in the end.

 

There's not too much to say about plot, because, quite frankly, there's not a lot of it.  Like I already mentioned, Kennex and Dorian are climbing a staircase almost the entire episode, trying to get closer to a hostage situation, while Kennex is staying on the line with a hostage who is speaking to him on her cell phone.  During the Kennex/Dorian scenes, we start seeing that Kennex, underneath his tough exterior, is actually a really good guy.  He tries calming the woman by telling her a story, while finding out more and more about the hostages/armed assailants and  eventually a robbery at a separate building.  There is also a side-story happening with a "decoy" being built to give to the men as per their demands but it was really just there for plot progression.

 

A very interesting moment occurs after a shootout, when Dorian is shot in the head.  Initially not phased by it, he slowly loses functionality and lets Kennex know that "in 5 minutes" he wouldn't be able to walk.  Kennex tries his best to repair this wound by using a nail clipper and a dirty cotton swab, but fails at doing so.  As a last resort, he pulls a piece of gum out of the garbage can, and after chewing it briefly, sticks it in the wound, bringing Dorian back.  While comedic, not only because of the tools he was using (but because in his last role under the guidance of Abrams, he was Bones), I also found this scene touching because he was really trying the hardest he could to bring Dorian back with what little he had to work with.

 

During the ending sequence, Dorian really stands out, going in guns blazing to help save the hostages. In his moment of defeat, we realize that one of the guards standing by is actually Kennex in disguise, who quickly dispatches the final two armed men.  The car ride back at the end, Dorian and Kennex have a touching talk about "death" before Dorian rocks out to some Elton John (watch the episode to get the joke).

 

This episode, in my opinion, was significantly better than the first two.  The first episode, while not "bad" by any means, was rather weak for a pilot.  The second episode was utterly ridiculous and, as I stated in that review, felt like a mid-season filler episode.  This episode was unique and much more entertaining than the initial two-night premiere, as it actually inserted the characters in a situation the viewers cared about.  We see Kennex's ability to have a tough exterior, but a heart deep down.  We see that Dorian, while very intelligent, posses the ability to be efficient in combat situations, and more importantly, feel human emotion.  While these were outlined in the first couple of episodes, this episode did the best job of displaying these sides of the characters.

 

Although the episode provided nothing more than a simple hostage situation, it really fell on Urban and Ealy's performances during the lengthy stair climbing sequence.  I have said it before, and I will say it again, the highlight of the show is, and will always be, the performances by the two leads.  Whether there's an attempt at humor, an action sequence, or something as lackluster as stair climbing, these guys are able to pull it off effortlessly.  Now that we are away from the first couple of episodes, the real question is whether or not the writers can provide consistently entertaining material and varied situations.  If the show continues on in the same fashion as tonight's episode, I think it's in good hands.

 

Rating:

8.5/10

 (8.5 out of 10)

 

Next Gen? Not Now.

I want to play with them, but I have to wait for the right moment.

The Ps4 or the Xbox One?  Which one?  To be honest, neither right now.  It is simply not worth it.

Where to start?  The hardware problems, the unavailability, or the lack of good games to give us an incentive to buy the system?  I guess we'll take a look at the problems plaguing both systems.

So, apparently the Ps4's release was immediately followed by two problems, one where the HDMI port was pretty much unusable, and one where consoles were bricking by providing a constant blue light.  The Xbox One, on the other hand, has a problem with the disc reader, where it will emit a "grinding" noise and not read any game disc.  That's great.  As with any other launch, it doesn't surprise me that there are problems being found with the systems so soon.

Everywhere, and I mean everywhere, is sold out of both systems.  Since it is so close to the Holiday season, this was inevitable.  Retail stores and online shops both suffer from a lack of consoles.  If you can find one, and really want one at this point in time, go ahead, scoop it up.

My biggest problem is the lack of good games and exclusives for the systems.  Now, this is a point of contention, so I will elaborate.  Battlefield 4, Call of Duty:Ghosts, Assassins Creed 4, NBA 2K, FIFA, etc. are all available for both systems.  Not only are they available for these systems, but they are all available for prior systems.  Granted, features such as increased number of players online, and stunning graphics may be enough for someone to warrant the purchase, but if I already played through the new Call of Duty on the Ps3, what reason will I have for justifying another purchase for the new systems?  Although, if you have a new system, and haven't played these titles prior to their release on said systems, you're better off going with the new systems versions, as they are mildly superior in every way.  Except for Battlefield 4 on the Ps4.  Stay far away from that until it is fixed.  For those of you who do not know, Battlefield 4 is unplayable right now; the game keeps crashing in multiplayer, and corrupts saves for the campaign.  It's not pretty.

Exclusives at launch were boiled down to Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack for the Ps4 and Dead Rising 3/Ryse/Crimson Dragon/Forza 5 for the Xbox One.  I am leaving out downloadable titles, Kinect-Centric titles, and titles that did not garner enough attention to even warrant being talked about (and those I simply forgot about, since this is just being done off the top of my head).  Killzone was praised for its fantastic graphics and solid multiplayer, but suffers from a very lackluster campaign.  Dead Rising 3 is getting hate for its sub-par visuals and excessive loading times.  In Knack, there is an overly repetitive, linear experience to be found.  In Ryse, the same can be said, with the game borrowing heavily from similar games of the same style, such as God of War.  Forza 5 is just...another car game, which I guess is okay if that's your thing (certainly not mine).  Finally, Crimson Dragon's simply looks very unappealing and, dare I say again, repetitive.

For those who want the big titles for both systems, you'll have to wait, and while waiting, be stuck with these same games. Games such as Infamous: Second Son, The Order: 1886, Metal Gear Solid 5, Kingdom Hearts 3, Final Fantasy 15, Halo 5, Titanfall are releasing in the future (some far earlier than others) and are the reasons I want the consoles.  Not for the games they have currently.

Some of the games mentioned in the prior paragraph are, to my surprise, being released for both systems (Kingdom Hearts 3, Metal Gear Solid 5...I believe that Final Fantasy 15 initially was but is no longer...).  So this brings up the question:  Should I get both systems?  If you really love Halo, but you also really love Uncharted, maybe.  But if you're perfectly content with one system's exclusives over the other, there is no point in purchasing both other than setting your finances back.

I don't blame people for purchasing the new consoles.  I am not throwing them under the bus.  I know that the new systems do have some decent games at launch.  Remember, this is all my opinion.  For me, personally, I just do not like the lineup.  If the Ps4 launched with Uncharted 4, I would instantly get it.  If the Xbox One launched with Halo 5, I would instantly get it.  If they both launched with both the games I just mentioned, and I only could get one system, the decision I would have to make would be a moral conundrum that would endanger my well-being.  I'd go all "The Shining" trying to compare the pros and cons of both game series.

The above was based purely on the "gaming" aspect of the consoles.  For the overall media experience, i.e, if you want a blu-ray player because you haven't had one, or one of many other things, you are much more inclined to get one than I am.  I am perfectly happy with using my Media Laptop for all music, blu-ray playing, and Netflix watching that I desire.  And I desire much of these things.

As an excessive gamer, I feel like I am going against everything I know and love by feeling this way.  But, the truth is, there is no reason to be overly excited about these consoles at this moment.  Why not hold off on getting these, and enjoy your Holiday season, by not dropping hundreds of dollars one of two consoles that have not reached their potential yet?  Oh, you're buying it for your kid?  Never mind then, if you don't get them it, they'll hate you.  Disregard everything I've said.

The Walking Dead Review: Dead Weight

The Governor's got some balls.  No, seriously.  Look in his hands.

Warning: The following review definitely contains spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

 

This week, we see a slow return to the classic Governor.  While not necessarily a poor episode (certainly better than last week's episode), a lack of characters we care about ultimately makes this week's episode falter.  What revives it, however, is its ability to make the Governor a villain all over again, and that's pretty damn neat.

 

Picking up right after last week's episode, we start the episode with the Governor and Megan in the pit.  Martinez, finding them, helps them out, and brings the Governor and the family he is with back to their "camp."  What ensues slowly turns into a horror movie, with the Governor playing the part of the man to be feared.

 

The Governor doesn't like the answer he receives from Martinez as to whether or not he could provide necessary protection for the group, so Martinez gets a club to the head, followed by a kick off the trailer, followed by a dragging to the walker pit where he is subsequently mauled head first, all while drunkenly playing golf on the roof of an RV.  Precious.  Later on, another dude is shived brutally by the Governor, because he was "good" in the sense he did not want to rob a small group found in the woods of their supplies.  This man is thrown to the bottom of a body of water, and there is a nice scene where the Governor is looking at the newly-turned zombie struggling to get back up.

 

The ending to the episode sees the Governor outside the prison gates, first spotting Rick and Carl, then seeing Michonne speaking with Hershel.  He raises his gun and points it at Michonne, then it cuts to black.  A fantastic cliffhanger, leading into what seems to be a fantastic mid-season finale.

 

The Governor is a complex character.  Last week, we saw many of the Governor's good aspects.  Megan, reminding him of his daughter, brought about a change in him that made him much more sympathetic.  This episode took the concept of the Governor possibly changing, and tore it to shreds.  This isn't a bad thing at all, considering viewers are looking forward to the next confrontation between Rick's group and the Governor's.

 

While on the topic of the Governor's group, with the exception of Megan, they seem very dull.  There is a lesbian relationship that is explored in a relatively odd manner, seemingly popping out of nowhere after a couple of comments exchanged between two people.  I do not think that this was unnecessary by any means, it was just approached in a lazy fashion, feeling very rushed.  The other members of the new group of people...are pretty much just bodies to be killed off when the shit hits the fan.  We, as viewers, really don't care about any of them.  Although a rather harsh statement, if all of them die I really don't care, and neither will the viewers.  Except for little Megan.  We don't even know their names, save a select few.

The two-episode Governor centric story-arc, while an interesting distraction from Rick's group, falls short as a whole.  This episode did a great job of making the Governor someone to be feared again, but the other members of the group provide absolutely nothing noteworthy.  The death of Martinez was a great scene, powerfully conveying the animal that the Governor can become.  Besides the Governor's villainous intentions, everything else was uninteresting.  I do like that the arc brought us from the end of Season 3 right up to the present from the Governor's point of view, with a fantastic performance from Morrissey, but I feel that two entire episodes dedicated to this "character study" of sorts seems to be a bit too much.  Hopefully, it will all pay off and pave way to a great mid-season finale.

 

Rating:

7/10

 (7 out of 10)