One of the first thing I noticed about this is that Jonah Hex is an asshole. In one scene early in the movie, he has a shootout with a corrupt sheriff. He shoots the crap out of them which is totally understandable. But then for some reason he destroys the sheriff’s office and presumably a few adjacent buildings in the process. Now explosions are nice, but he already killed all the corrupt officials and ‘made’ someone else the new sheriff. Then he blows up his office and ¼ of the town with it. It did not add anything to that scene and my perception of this ‘anti-hero’ was tarnished and didn’t really like him after that.

Megan Fox plays a western prostitute and the “love” interest of Jonah Hex. You already know why she is in this movie but I will tell you the two reasons that this typical hot woman role is included in movies at all. One is because she is hot, and she dresses in outfits to show that off. OK, that is reality, sex sells. And he tough girl acting is pretty good and I have no problem with that. The problem is the second reason. So they can get captured at the end of the movie and fuck everything up for a few minutes and initiate an escape/shoot their way out of jail scene. All the same, it is still entertaining and she does kick some ass in this movie.

Visually this movie is pretty good, the Jonah Hex make-up is pretty good and must have been uncomfortable to wear. The scenes they chose to shoot this movie in are very nice. Some of the daytime scenes just looked very bright and real, and the old fort looked dark and dusty like I imagine it should. There are a few over the top weapons, but that is expected and they are not too crazy. Horse mounted mini-guns and dynamite guns anyone?

All in all, this is might be worth a rent if you haven’t seen it yet and like westerns, or worth buying if you are like me and collect all comic book based movies. I don’t think you will watch it more than once though.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Girfriends Rating: 8 out of 10

The scientist from the movies has his own facebook page where you can learn about the events happening up until the release of the film. You can also check out his lab here.

Lastly, here is a little image gallery of the 9 stitchpunk characters from the movie.

[View with PicLens]

Check out the trailer below for yourself!

So I will continue this review from my bigger TV upstairs

Here are a few screen shots and a trailer for you to check out for now.

[View with PicLens]

It is basically a tower defense game where you have to defend your house from the brain eating zombies. In the story mode each round you play earns you either a new plant to help defend your house, or a new mode of play. You can also earn money to purchase other weapons or upgrade current ones.

I have to say that this game can be addicting. I have turned it on for a few rounds quite a few times and then noticed I just burned two hours without blinking. At the very least, you need to get the demo for this. If you like it at all then I suggest you pick it up. With all the different modes, there is a ton to do, lots to buy.

Plus you get to kill zombies with plants!

[View with PicLens]

I would also like to mention that the entire Chronicles of Riddick – Escape from Butcher Bay has been re-mastered and is included on the disc as well. That’s right, two games in one. I have not had a chance to play it yet, but who cares? It’s like getting a game for free!

One more thing I would like to say before I talk about the game is that the menu screens are really cool. Never seen it done like that before, nice and quick but still very animated.

So like I said, this is not going to win any awards for graphics. Seeing as we don’t play games simply for the graphics, we can easily get past that right? Right? With this game we can for sure.

Some other reviews have stated that the controls don’t feel right, or are ‘swimmy’. I have to say that I like the controls very much. It feels more real than most first person games like this. It’s hard to explain. It is not instant when you push forward. It almost feels like you would really move. Like you need half a second to get moving fully. Very fluid, not like a game at all.

Assault on Dark Athena starts off with Riddick’s ship pulled in by the tractor beam of the huge ship Athena. Captain Revas is the primary bitch, I mean antagonist of this 10+ hour campaign. Her ship is full of mercs and drones, which are former humans who are now more like zombie borg with built in remote controls. Yes, you eventually get to pilot some yourself. Let the bodies hit the floor…

So what about the gameplay? Violent and fun with some very liberal language thrown in. Skulking around in the dark using your ‘eye shine’ to sneak up and kill someone is very fun. There are lots of fantastic death animations depending on how you kill someone and with what weapon.

You will find a lot of Drones all around. I won’t spoil too much for you, but they are sort of mindless guards, kind of like the borg. When you kill one, you can pick it up and use it as a shield and can use it’s weapons on other enemies.

The story line will keep you interested, especially if you are a fan of the Riddick universe. Plus, hearing Vin Diesel doing the voice over is awesome. He does a great job play Riddick in this. Actually, all the characters have very good voice actors and you will enjoy almost all the conversations you have. From enemies to other prisoners waiting to be turned into drones, all the voice acting is great.

So what are my final thoughts? Great violent game where you control an awesome character, mixed in with tons of different things to do and great story and voice acting. Yes, that sums it up nicely. I am not sure if I have ever recommended a game on this site before, but I am giving this game a ‘Buy’ rating. Great game, and great value with Escape from Butcher bay thrown in for free.

I will leave you with some screenshots and a trailer to check out.

[View with PicLens]

Now finally, they’ve released a followup to their biggest seller, but it feels like more of a special edition than a sequel. The reviews posted on PopCap are shouting praise for Peggle Nights from the highest mountaintops, but based on the actual content of the game, it’s embarrassing that this took so long to make. Even though every Peggle Master has a new alter-ego, none of them have new or even slightly different abilities. 90% of the content of this game is taken verbatim from the first. I’m all for not fixing what ain’t broke, but this is ridiculous.

They added only one new Master, and while the ability is good, it’s also just about the only new feature to speak of. There are all new levels, sure, but for the most part they’re more frustrating without being any more satisfying than the originals. Even with slightly fancier backgrounds, let’s be honest…how hard is it to make a new Peggle level? There’s even a level-expansion pack in the works since apparently there is easy/lazy money to be made here.

The bizairre tounge-in-cheek humor of the first one is fully embraced here, and that’s a good thing, but most of the issues that dogged the original – no netplay for multiplayer and no support for higher resolutions to name a couple – are just as they left ‘em. One of the great things about Peggle (and most PopCap games) is that it’s one of those games that the whole family could play. I literally would end a session of FarCry and try to beat some Peggle challenges. My mom beat the game and my girlfriend got through most of the challenges. So obviously Peggle is casual gaming, but that doesn’t justify a lackadaisical approach to actually making the thing. It’s actually pretty amazing that Peggle sports a colorblind mode, yet not a widescreen mode.

Well enough about low-res puzzle games, check out this cool concept gallery of modern classics if only they were released for Atari…in ultra low-res.

EDIT: No sooner after writing this post did I recieve a update in my inbox telling me that PopCap is in fact gearing up for another release later in the month. Let’s hope this one lives up to its predecessor.

There is so much that was done right in this release that you really have to take your hat off to Capcom. They just get it. They took an old NES favorite, injected it with current-gen graphics, expanded the game content, pumped it full of extras, and were sure to wink and nod to the good ol’ days. It’s mind boggling that more classics haven’t been given this treatment. The only thing similiar that even comes to mind is when they released that special edition of Zelda DX…in color…with no backlighting…(sound of crickets).

Bionic Commando was never my nostalgic favorite, but I understood its place as one of the classics. And I’m just in love with this remake. The mechanic of grappling for survival and to best your foes is as tough to master as it is satisfying. This game is not for sissies. In a day and age where people start whining when the hint arrow isn’t as obvious as it could be, Bionic Commando Rearmed doesn’t make any attempt to cater to “casual gamers” and that’s just the way I like it. It’s a video game, not a word jumble. The whole reason “beating” a game brought about some sense of pride is because they weren’t made like Ikea products. No, they were made to teach young people about what can be accomplished through time and repetition. Sure they took things too far like in the Ninja Turtles game, but whatever, it still made you a man.

The only two shortcomings to speak of are the lack of recorded audio for dialogue and the multiplayer that doesn’t support LAN or internet connections for  co-op. These aren’t so much missteps as they are huge wasted opportunities to make Bionic Commando: Rearmed one of the best games ever made. Instead, it will have to settle for game of the year. PROVE ME WRONG BETHESDA.

Everything else from the hilarious tongue-in-cheek dialogue to the ridiculously satisfying explosions (they must take the record for the most realistic ever to grace a platformer) is off the hook. Yes, pun proudly intended. That’s how good this game is. The database feature is like an interactive game manual that you have to power up and helps emphasize the general slickness of the overall GUI design. The weapons are varied, but awesome. Secret loot and passageways are plentiful. The medal system has cool awards that don’t feel derivative even though this sort of thing is all the rage. And best of all, the dozens of time-trial challenge rooms add whole new layers of strategy and puzzle to an action game. The play time on this game is through the roof. Check it out:

Time well spent!

Now, I love FPS as much as the next guy, but there’s only so much strafing and sniping one can take before your gaming diet starts craving. That’s a nice way of saying that the PC gaming market is glutted with shooters.

And that’s just another reason that Bionic Commando: Rearmed is a welcome change of pace. It’s not just a strong shot in the arm for gamers tired of playing WOW. It’s also a claw in the face for the whole platforming genre…single-handedly pulling the genre to new heights. I’ll put away the puns for now, but only because I need to get back to playing this game.

And not for nothing, but this game was released for PC right alongside of PS3 and XBOX360. If this isn’t proof that we all can’t get along, then nothing is. The PC version wasn’t gimped and it didn’t feel like a half-assed port. This is just more proof that Capcom understands quality. It makes me very optimistic about the new Street Fighter they have in the works, again with a simultaneous PC release. A fighting game! Whoo whoo!

PS. I’ve been playing this game with the Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 and it’s hands down the best controller I’ve used for a computer. It mimics the near-perfect PS2 controllers and has just enough weight to it. Also, the automatic detection has been stellar in Vista. Sorry, Mojave users.