Castlevania: A Retrospective

Wade Manns - The Corsair

 

If you’re an old school gamer like me, you’ve no doubt heard of Castlevania, the storied vampire and monster slaying game series. That’s an odd title, no doubt, but those who have enjoyed video games since the beginning know what it means: solid action, great music and (even since the beginning, to a much lesser degree) a good story.

Story, you ask? In an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) title? Well, yes; but in those early days it was mostly an excuse plot: Dracula’s castle, its ominous form rising from the Romanian countryside, beckons the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan to brave its dangers and slay its dark master: Count Dracula. Its form changes at the whim of its lord, but always has at least an entrance, clock tower, outer walls, galleries and myriad corridors, a chapel (even evil needs religion once in a while), coliseum, and the keep where Dracula himself resides waiting for our heroes are playable in each of the games.

There have been at least 15 entries in the series over as many platforms, from the classic computer MSX, to the first great American console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, on to the Super NES and the Genesis. But it was on Sony’s PlayStation console that the series really hit its stride, in my opinion. Most of the first games on the 8 and 16-bit consoles and handhelds utilized a linear side-scrolling formula; walk to the right or the left, killing various atrocities and a boss at the end of each level. But Symphony of the Night, the PlayStation installment, introduced myriad item-gathering, exploration, backtracking and a massive castle to do it all in. (Previously, Simon’s Quest on the NES had done it too, but less successfully.)

This new formula, called ‘Metroidvania’ after both this series and the other to utilize it successfully, Metroid (starting with Super Metroid on the Super NES), has continues through to the present day, successfully surviving a few transitions to 3D on the more modern consoles starting with PlayStation 2 (Lament of Innocence, which explicates the ‘real’ story of how the series began). The series will continue in a slightly different direction with Lords of Shadow, which is a plot ‘reboot’ and not part of the original story.

However, the most recently released installment pays tribute to both the old school and the new: Harmony of Despair features, for the first time in the series, will be multiplayer; up to six players may be selected from (currently) five characters from previous games; the characters are rendered as they were in their games, with well-animated 2D sprites (flat animated pictures). There are currently six massive levels to battle through with bosses from the previous games at the ends of each one and the players are under a time limit of half an hour with each death subtracting five minutes.

All in all, the series is a great and memorable one; the new installment is a worthy addition, and I look forward to playing future offerings!

Just Cause 2 brings players to new heights

Wade Manns - The Corsair

 

Just Cause 2 by Square ENIX

Genre: third person freeroaming, action-adventure

Rating: Mature for Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence.

If you’ve read my articles for a while, you’ll know that I really like the Grand Theft Auto series. Not for the actions of  crime, or its extreme violence, but rather for the exploration factor. I never know what I’ll find around the next corner, but with this game, as well as its prequel, I am able to rise above and see around all the corners at once.

The amount of  verticality in exploration is quite unprecedented in this game. You can take a plane or helicopter up to a seemingly limitless altitude, jump out, and parachute endlessly to the land below. If you’re on land, you can fire a wrist-mounted grappling hook at any time to latch onto buildings and reel yourself in, climbing to new heights, or you can deploy your  parachute at any time to get even more height. You can even latch on to cars with your grappling hook, and take control of them whenever you  like.

This unique method of parachute and grappling hook mobility enables you to reach any point in the game at any time, as long as you’re willing to work for it. There are even several achievements that you can unlock for getting to various places on the very huge map.

The story, like the first Just Cause, takes place on an island country, this  time in Southeast Asia, Panau (the first one, San Esperito, was more Latin American). As in the first game, you are Rico  Rodriguez, guerrilla revolutionary and globetrotter extraordinaire. Your mentor from the first game, Don Sheldon, has gone rogue and hidden himself somewhere in Panau. Your job is to find him, determine if he is a threat to the agency for  which you work and, if he is, terminate him.

If you remember the first game, you’ll know that the voice acting is really not all that good. In fact, it downright stinks. This holds true to the sequel as well. There are three gang bosses that you work  for in order to take over the various regions of the country for their use as well as yours, and the cut scenes in which the bosses appear, while looking very good, are filled with some of the most atrocious voice acting you’ll hear in video games.  And Sheldon himself, once you get to find him, is found to have had the exact same verbal tic as in the first game, that being enunciating every single word rather stiltedly and not ever placing emphasis on the appropriate syllables. Still, you learn what you need to learn, even  if you have to read the subtitles because you had to mute the sound.

There is a massive variety of terrain to explore in the game, and you’ll see most of it from the air: from seaside shanty villages to heavily  fortified military bases, to air bases and seaports, full-f ledged cities, tropical paradises, high, snowy mountains, arid deserts and a certain island with a somewhat familiar ambience; you’ll know it when you see it. Your goal is to cause enough chaos by destroying property of the Panauan government, almost always clearly marked with a white star. Radio  antennas, radar installations, surface-to-air missile sites, generators, water towers—all of these fall before your guns and rockets, which you may purchase from the black market, given enough money. From the same black market, you can also purchase various vehicles, some with weapons of their own, and you can upgrade both your weapons and vehicles with myriad weapon and vehicle parts that you find strewn throughout the locations that you’ll explore.

There is a whole lot of  stuff to do in Just Cause 2. You can get lost doing (as in, completing the disruption and collection at over 350 locations on  the island) various side-missions, but working for Rico’s agency is what pushes the story along. It doesn’t really stick  round long enough for you to care about it, but it gets the job done. I’ll give this an 8 out of 10. As I said, the voice acting  is not really up to par, and some things that you get to do can be a little repetitive after a while, but I forgive the game. Mostly.

Wake Up! College Life

Award-winning author comes to PJC

Kay Forrest - The Corsair

Rheta Grimsley Johnson has a simple piece of advice to offer aspiring journalists. “Learn to write a short declarative sentence, learn the basics, and all the rest is just gravy,” she said. “You cannot name a great American writer who was not first a newspaper person, with the exception of Faulkner… But he never learned to write the short, declarative sentence,” she added with a laugh.

Johnson is a writer, a “newspaper person” and a true southern girl. She has spent her life residing all over the deep-south: she was born in Colquitt, Ga., grew up mostly in Montgomery, Ala., and currently lives on 100 acres “out in the boonies” in Iuka, Miss. with her three dogs. As a small child, she even spent five years in Pensacola; she has fond memories of this “magical place” and the pink, concrete home her family lived in.

On April 14, Johnson will come back to Pensacola once again as part of the tour for her latest book, “Enchanted Evening Barbie and the Second Coming: A Memoir.” Pensacola is just one of the many southern stops on her anticipated yearlong tour.

“It’s an uneven book, but that’s because life is uneven,” she said. She began the memoir in January 2009 as a light, comedic look at pivotal Christmases throughout her life, because as she said, “A lot of things happen to me around Christmas.” However, her writing came to a standstill when her husband suddenly passed away from heart complications that March. She finally went on to continue the book, but with a sometimes darker, more emotional tone. Her writing was a form of therapy to her. “Work always saves me; writing always helps me,” she said.

Though Johnson is an accomplished book author, with “Enchanted Evening Barbie” being her fourth published book, she is above all a newspaper journalist. She began her journalism career in the 8th grade, writing for her school newspaper in 1960s Alabama. She then went on to obtain a journalism degree from Auburn University in 1977. She has worked as a reporter for many different newspapers over the years, including 14 years at the “Memphis Commercial Appeal” in Tennessee. A compendium of her columns from this publication make up her first published book, “American Faces.”

Johnson has won several awards for her writing, including the National Pacemaker Award in college, and the Headliner Award for commentary two years in a row. She was even inducted into the Scripps Howard Newspaper’s Editorial hall of fame in 1985, and was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1991.

“I wouldn’t trade my profession for anything,” Johnson said. Her favorite thing about her work has been writing about normal, everyday people. “I find it fascinating that everyone has a story. But, they’re usually not ‘splashy’ enough for most people to want to write about,” she said. “I devote my time to ordinary people.”

However, she does admit that one highlight of her career was writing the biography of one “ordinary person” who happened to be famous: Charles Schulz, the creator of the hugely famous comic strip, “Peanuts.” For “Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz” she spent time on and off with Schulz in Santa Rosa, Calif., interviewing him and getting to know the “kind, gracious man” that he was. She said that each character in “Peanuts” represents an aspect of Schulz, but as a whole he truly was Charlie Brown.

Apart from taking time to write her books, Johnson is still a newspaper journalist through and through. She currently works for King Features Syndicate of New York, with her column running in about 50 different newspapers throughout the country. Though she has had bumps in the road, Johnson has always kept writing. Once, when she felt discouraged over a particular article, her friend encouraged her to “just make sure to make it beautiful.” And, with that she heartily agrees, “That’s what our goal [as writers] should be: to make it beautiful.”

Burton delivers a 3-D ‘Alice’

Jeremy Torres - The Corsair

Tim Burton’s new 3-D version of “Alice in Wonderland” is absolutely visually dazzling. This is the sequel to the 1951 Disney film of the same name that featured characters whose purpose was to tease, puzzle, and torment a young girl named Alice.

“What a child’s film,” I thought of the Disney version. However, Burton’s new addition has made me realize that “Alice in Wonderland” has never been a child’s story. Alice’s role, portrayed by Mia Wasikowska, is much more compelling as an adult, which is how Burton presents her. In the new film, Alice must revisit a world that has remained much the same, as most fantasy worlds do.

Unlike the juvenile familiar cartoon images that we all know, Burton does a wonderful job presenting all of the characters as they were meant to be presented. They are grotesque. When we meet Alice again at the beginning of this film, she does not remember much of her original trip to Wonderland. She once again follows the white rabbit in the suit to a small hole, only to slip and fall into that hole.

Once Alice is back in Wonderland, she discovers that the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) is trying to conquer Wonderland and do away with her sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Now Alice must set out on a long adventure to save Wonderland. She runs into numerous familiar characters along the way.

Wonderland is filled with many different species that range from a caffeine addicted hare to a seemingly mentally insane Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter, deftly portrayed by Johnny Depp, delivers a silly shtick, breaking into a jig or brogue at the drop of a hat. However, he also displays an emotional side in this film. The Mad Hatter has a few scenes where he takes on the role of a father-like figure for Alice. In the midst of chaos it’s the Mad Hatter who brings life, joy, and heart into the film.

This film is enchanting. Featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest names, dazzling 3-D effects, and Burton’s trademark quirkiness, it’s a must see for everyone.

Iraq’s first metal band comes to the U.S.

Only the Dead See the End of War

Vice Records, 2010
Rating: 8 out of 10

Connor Lukkar - The Corsair

“Only the Dead See the End of War” is an apt name for Acrassicauda’s debut EP; coming from Baghdad, they know a thing or two about war. Formed in 2001, Acrassicauda (from the Latin taxonomical name for the black scorpion: A. crassicauda) became Iraq’s first and, until recently, only metal band. They avoid being politically charged, but living in a war tattered country has given this four-piece band a unique perspective. Singing about death and massacre is all well and good for suburban white kids, but when it comes from a group that has had to stop shows because nearby bomb blasts caused power outages, the words carry just a little bit more power.

Soon after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2004, Vice magazine heard of this band that had been playing covert shows for the small but dedicated metal scene in Baghdad. Over the next three years Vice’s online video network covered Acrassicauda in the outstanding documentary “Heavy Metal in Baghdad.” The film shows that Acrassicauda may be the most passionate band on Earth. These guys love metal. They played just five shows in six years. In 2006, guitarist Tony Aziz’s computer store, along with its basement practice space, was destroyed by a scud missile. With equipment destroyed and nowhere to practice, the band went on hiatus. In the past few years the group has moved from Baghdad, to Syria, to Turkey, and finally under the sponsorship of Vice Records, they have come to the U.S. to make music.

The music on “Only the Dead See the End of War” could be described as cutting edge and ground breaking, if we were in 1983. They do a good job; the songs are fast, precise, and dark. Any Metallica or Slayer fan would enjoy this EP simply because these tracks sound like they could have been made by Metallica or Slayer. They are good songs, but they fail to introduce a recognizably Acrassicauda sound. This lack of a musical signature really doesn’t detract too much from “Only the Dead See the End of War.” Years of oppression and war have kept Iraq at least a decade behind western musical culture, so it is to be expected that the first-ever Iraqi metal group would not be cutting edge by our standards.

This EP is a must have, even for those who don’t particularly like the music itself, because the term “first Iraqi metal band” is a fantastic conversation starter. This is an extremely interesting and passionate band, which, with time, will surely blossom into great band.

Excess Hours Bill by Randall Williams

‘Final Fantasy’ adds number 13 to its series

Wade Manns - The Corsair

Final Fantasy XIII
By Square Enix
Genre: Role-playing
Rating: Teen for mild language, suggestive themes and violence.
Release: Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The epic (and epically long) “Final Fantasy” series now has 13 games under its belt. All of these games feature a band of disparate adventurers banding together to save the world from an unknown threat, which they think is known at first, but turns out to be more than meets the eye. That’s the superficial; the details are different, but that doesn’t make these games any less original or fun.

This installment follows the adventures of a group of citizens of the world known as Cocoon, a perfectly spherical world located near another, much harsher one, known as Pulse. Pulse and Cocoon were both created in antiquity by creatures known as fal’Cie, extremely long-lived beings possessed of unspeakable power; being like gods, they leave the running of the day-to-day affairs of Cocoon to Sanctum, the governmental body that runs Cocoon. Because of their fear and hatred that many of the citizens have of Pulse, as well as those who have come in contact with it, the Sanctum has instituted a program known as the Purge, which ostensibly relocates citizens who have been exposed to elements of Pulse down there.

However, one beautiful night, a lone fal’Cie from Pulse is discovered within the limits of a Cocoon city, and a Purge is ordered of the city and all of its citizens. It becomes evident then that the Purge is not intended to relocate the citizens, but to exterminate them.

The origin of the fear of things from Pulse begins with the power of the Pulse fal’Cie, to turn those who come in contact with it into l’Cie, slaves to its will, compelled to complete a Focus, or a task, or be turned into a mindless being. That is the fate that awaits our heroes: Lightning, a former soldier from Cocoon; Snow, a freedom fighter whose fiancé is also a l’Cie; Sazh, a mysterious hanger-on, whose motives are unknown; Hope, a little boy who bears a grudge against Snow, for apparently not being strong enough to save his mother’s life; and Vanille, an over-energetic young woman who never feels any remorse or despair, but is always bright and cheerful, who attempts to encourage Hope in his quest to confront Snow.

They tangled with a Pulse fal’Cie and have been branded; now they must complete an unknown Focus, while the full force of Cocoon’s military is bearing down on them. Some of our heroes believe it is their job to save Cocoon, being led to believe that by Snow’s fiancé, who was turned into a crystalline being (as do all l’Cie who complete their focus); others, knowing that Pulse fal’Cie are the sworn enemies of Cocoon, believe it is their calling to somehow sabotage and destroy Cocoon.

Yes, the story is complicated and contains much confusing terminology, but thankfully there is a data log within the menu that allows you to review any of this information at any time, as well as to peruse the history of the game and all the character profiles (as well as enemy intel) of those you meet.

Exploration in the game is fairly linear, but is filled with many amazing and interesting sights to keep you busy for a very long time. Combat is quite hectic at times; even though you only control one character directly, up to three may be in a battle at once. Efficiently switching between the various roles of your characters to provide adequate attack power, healing, and defense is vital to your survival, especially among some of the battles with enemies that have massive amounts of health.

This is a “Final Fantasy” game; it’s one of my favorite series ever. This game is a very welcome addition to my library, and I will gladly give it 10 out of 10 stars.

‘Dante’s Inferno’ falls short

Wade Manns - The Corsair

Dante’s Inferno
by Electronic Arts and Visceral Games
Genre: Third-person action/exploration
Rating: Mature, for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual content and nudity.

Between 1308 and 1321, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote his epic poem, which would come to be known as “The Divine Comedy.” This was a three-part epic, which covered a fictionalized version of himself and his journeys through hell, purgatory, and heaven respectively. This game covers the first part of the epic, and changes a few things around.

Dante served as a crusader in real life, as he does in this game, but he was allegedly given leeway by a bishop who said that God would absolve all of his company’s sins, and so in the course of his duties, he indulged in his basest desires, expecting to be forgiven and was ultimately disappointed.

The ideal woman, Beatrice, whom Dante admired from afar in real life, is now made into Dante’s love interest. Beatrice implored Dante to enter into the service to protect her brother. He promised to do so, swore by God, but ultimately failed at this task. By this time, however, Beatrice had fallen in love with Dante, and made a dark deal with Lucifer, the Prince of Lies, that he would protect Dante from death in exchange for her soul. He was killed, unfortunately, but cheated Death (and stole his scythe, even) and was able to return to life.

At this time, Dante was beginning to feel guilty about the many atrocities he had committed in the name of God, and so began sewing a tapestry of his life right into the flesh of his chest. When he had finished, he returned home to his love, only to find her and his father dead, run through by an assassin’s blade. Beatrice’s soul then appeared before Dante before being quickly taken away by Lucifer. After going to a nearby chapel to retrieve a holy cross, he is allowed to enter the gates of hell and begins his journey to find Beatrice.

You, as Dante, will travel through all nine circles of Hell: first through the gates themselves, then the shores of Acheron, then upon the back of the great boat Charon as you do battle while floating down the river. The first circle of Hell proper is Limbo, where the un-baptized (including very angry children with blades for arms) and virtuous who died without taking sides, come after you. You’ll then pass into Lust, where undeniably sexual, yet grotesque and disfigured visions await you, including a gigantic Queen Cleopatra; you must also fight her love (who is about your size), Marc Antony. Next, in gluttony, you face bloated, disgusting demons, and also battle the great worm Cerberus, basically a three-headed worm. In the circle of Greed, we discover that Dante’s father, Alighiero, a wealthy landowner in life, received an offer from Lucifer of a great reward and money for killing his own son, despite the fact the money really has no use in the afterlife. Alighiero definitely tried, but failed, and was absolved by Dante.

Actually, I had to stop playing before I got to Alighiero. Though it is a really good game, with wonderful graphics, sound, and a disturbing atmosphere, which really fits the theme of hell, it is extremely frustrating and unforgiving. I said before that twitch action games, if done well, can be very rewarding. This was not as good as “Bayonetta,” which I reviewed a few issues ago. One wrong move, a failed strategy or lack of one, can result in disaster. You’ll be surrounded by enemies and hacked to death before you can recover.

In case you’re wondering, the remaining circles of Hell you go through are Anger, Heresy, Violence (including the Forest of Suicides), Fraud (including the Malebolge, or Evil Pockets), and Treachery.

I really hate to give this game a low score, but I owe you the truth: 6 out of 10. It hurts me to give that score, as the game could’ve been so much better, but it wasn’t, at least in my view. If it were up to the graphics, the sound and the atmosphere, I would give this game a 9 out of 10. But the controls hurt the game very much. Would I recommend this to someone? If you’re extremely patient and have a lot of good coordination, yes, I would. Apparently, I have neither.

‘Star Trek’ joins the online gaming world

by Wade Manns - The Corsair

Star Trek Online
By Cryptic Studios
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
rating: Teen (fantasy violence, mild suggestive themes)

I was recently given the opportunity to try out a 10-day free trial of “Star Trek Online,” the new massively multiplayer online RPG set in the Star Trek universe. As first MMO’s go, it’s not bad at all. I’m not a massive fan of the genre, but this definitely has enough to keep me interested.

The storyline follows the original timeline established in the original “Star Trek,” “The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Voyager,” and “Enterprise,” but directly follows the events that lead into the reboot movie, which was recently released.

Shortly after Spock used the red matter to create a black hole to try to save the two home worlds of the Romulan Star Empire from a supernova (an attempt which failed, resulting in the destruction of Romulus and Remus), the condition of the Federation and its relations with various other inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy quickly deteriorated: the Klingon Empire declared war once again, the Borg again found a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant, and the Romulans schemed by clandestine means to regain their prominence.

As a newly christened Captain of either the Federation or the Klingons (eventually), you’ll command your starship and travel among the various clusters, systems and planets of the Federation and beyond, trying to save the galaxy from utter annihilation. In space, as you would expect when commanding a starship, its movement speed in close quarters is extremely slow, especially while turning. You have impulse and warp drive to help you out, but this does not do any good in ship-to-ship battle. Also, you must sweep through the arcs of your weapons; meaning you must turn your ship so that all your weapons can be brought to bear in a broadside. Your ship has forward and aft weapons, each with limited firing arcs, and you must position your craft relative to the enemy in order to ensure maximum coverage of your weapons.

On the ground, the action takes the form of a third-person shooter, though many non-combat actions can also be performed such as equipping your characters for maximum power, protection, and efficiency; communicating with those whom you meet in order to trade or get missions; and communicating with Starfleet in real time to get more information about your mission. Each weapon you can have has three modes of attack: a normal attack, which uses little energy, but does relatively little damage; a secondary attack, which may cause an Expose, or a temporary lowering of an enemy’s stats; and a melee attack, to be used when the enemy is at extremely close range to knock them back, setting them up for other attacks.

In both space and on the ground, you may be joined by myriad other players on the same mission, and in the same instance (any MMO’s name for an actual game session being played in a certain area of the game world). They may help you, or hinder you, and if you happen to be on their team, then you will share experience and loot from defeated enemies.

Graphics in the game are actually pretty good; I do notice a bit of texture pop-in when they’re first being displayed (a much lower quality texture is displayed followed by filling in of a higher quality one), but it turns out not to be too distracting.

The controls seem to be quite confusing at times, with my fingers straying all over the keyboard at some point just to keep my starship from exploding at the hands of the latest Orion Pirates. Bu,t I’m eventually able to destroy them all (that is, if I’m joined by someone and if my enemy is a level sufficiently lower than mine).

If I were a fan of this genre, I would give this game five out of five stars. As it is, well, what can I say? I’m enamored of this game; five out of five stars anyway!

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