Movies Inspired by the Gaming World (Pt.1)

Since the dawn of the gaming era, many directors attempted to make movie adaptations of video games. The examples are many such as Silent Hill, Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter or even BloodRayne (LOL)!! In this post im gonna kill my time refering to the most noteworthy ones! So pay attention!

Mortal Kombat

Well.... who hasnt even once played Mortal Kombat back in the 90's and not anticipated the next wave of blood-spilling combos to fill the screen or the awesomeness of a Fatality's gory atrocity? NONE! And dont say "me" cos ur a liar! The number of the fighting games is really vast but Mortal Kombat sticked out because of the dark atmosphere and the infinite gore!!! This was enough for Paul W.S. Anderson to direct the Mortal Kombat movie. The movie adaptation of the video game (1995) was a really good attempt if u think that it was a bit less than 2 decades before!!! The movie plot is quite similar to the game. Raiden is trying to gather some fighters to defend the EarthRealm against the Outworld. The main characters are Rayden, Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Sonya, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Kano, Kitana and Goro. The fighting scenes are impressive with a very good combination of martial arts and choreography. Also the cast was really well chosen having  Christopher Lambert  in the main role of Lord Rayden, Robin Shou as Liu Kang and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the main villain. The soundtrack was also based on the classic one (found even on the gameboy's cartridges!!) with a touch of a techno-house (wtf???) remix! In other words this movie had a really good n successful formula: 1. really good scenario 2. strong cast 3. awesome soundtrack 4. and stunning martial arts that afterwards ud say "Get over here" and get dissappointed cos nothing came out of ur palm!

Resident Evil

Another video game of the 90's that sent numerous chills down the spines of the gaming community was Resident Evil (unofficially based on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead). When graphic processors started processing 3D environments or 2D pre-rendered environments with 3D characters, game designers set high standards on the gameplay and the athmospere. And that was what Capcom took advantage of to create one of the most classic horrifying titles. Resident Evil gives u the impression that u are watching a movie rather than playing a game cos its really well directed (i.e. the point of view constantly changes to emphasize on important objects or places). And here comes Paul W.S. Anderson again, in an attempt to direct Resident Evil (2002). The movie had some really good parts and some parts that had absolutely nothing to do with the game! One thing is that there is so much advanced technology in the movie that is not found in the game. When i first heard of Resident Evil the movie i was sooooo excited to watch it but got frustrated when I finally did see it... And who the FUCK is Alice anyway!?!?! And what about all those Matrix-like stunts? All those things automatically played down the importance of the movie! Yes the actors were really good, the plot, though brutally butchered to some parts, was good, the direction was impressive BUT THAT WAS NO RESIDENT EVIL!!! Id say it was more like an Alien-Matrix-Evil Where has the lordly mansion gone? With the victorian-like atmosphere wandering in it? Jill, Wesker or Barry? Summing up is a very good movie if u are not going to relate it with the game version. Im not gonna refer to the sequels though cos they were really indefferent to me.

Tekken

If there is a fighting game that has surpassed Mortal Kombat, then this is Tekken. The anime style fighting games are so many (Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, Rival School etc.) that i could name titles for hours. One of those is Tekken which managed to be the number one in that genre for more than a decade. The successful formula i think was a combination of addictive gameplay, stunning graphics, real martial arts and combos and characters with interesting background. But as far as the movie version, my words wont be so nice! First of all it was completely unfaithful to the game ( yeah i know i get obssesive with this thing but this is a gaming blog after all) and dont even dare to say that it was an alternative aspect of the game, cos if u are using a successful title to be famous n make money out of it u ve got to be respectful! To me it was more like a badly fan-made movie or a well made cosplay!!! I dont really know what the director, Dwight H. Little, had in mind when he changed so many things and neglected even more! When someone attempts to make a movie based on such a legendary title, he/she MUST stick to some principles (which many directors seem to avoid SO successfully) such as sticking to the main plot and using the main characters as the main characters! The main characters of Tekken are Law (Marshall & Forest), Heihachi, Kazuya, Yoshimitsu, King, Jun, Paul, Lei... Not Dragunov, Christie or Steve (who, btw, doesnt fight at all!!!). When i was really laughing and crying at the same time was when Yoshimitsu appeared! Are we to suppose that THING is a flexible cyber-human samurai??? Definitely not! And surely he didnt deserve such a laughable single-punch defeat. Do i even have to mention the role of Heihachi in the movie? I dont think so. Whoever has played the games and seen the movie knows exactly what i mean. Someone has to tell those wanna-be-directors that simply putting ripped bodies, and sexy leather outfits in a movie doesnt make it successful, just trashy! Therea are also 2 more adaptation attamepts. One is Tekken: The Motion Picture made in 1997. This anime version was really good if u think that it had a nice game-based plot and characters. But why fighting competitions in movies have to take place on far away tropical islands (Tekken The Motion Picture, Mortal Kombat, Dead or Alive ???). The last movie based on Tekken was Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011). Finally the game series got what they so long deserved! A fast paced movie with stylish and full of martial arts fighting scenes, well made characters' background, and graphics that remind of the games' cut-scenes! What more is there to ask?!

Amnesia - The Dark Descent Review (PC)

Hello again! I wanted so badly to make a review this afternoon, but i couldnt choοse the game! Then I remembered that a few months back i had finished Amnesia. That game was really thrilling in so many ways. Its actually an FPS - Survival Horror - Adventure game! Well, lets get started

PLOT: 8/10

Amnesia - The Dark Descent takes place in what it seems an abandoned castle. You take control of the main character (Daniel) after regaining consciousness realizing that suffers from amnesia. He doesnt remember almost anything and the place is unknown to him, so you start wondering around the castle to unravel mysteries beyond any fear (which i can promise you, are really and disgustingly terrifying). The plot sounds simple but as u progress it becomes quite fearful and exciting, but enough said. I dont wanna cause any spoilers!

GAMEPLAY: 9/10

What feels really great and natural in this horror title is the gameplay. You can interact with almost everything you come across in ur path like lifting and breaking stuff but also u can toss them away rotate them, take them or use them as distraction tools. Its quite realistic cos in order to advance further in the game u have to look in every nook and cranny to find key items or health drinks. Many are the times during the gameplay that u come across horrifying creatures but because you are just a simple man with no super powers or anything similar u get scared, ur head is pounding, ur panicking and the only way to salvation is to hide or distract the monsters and...RUUUUN!!!!! In my opinion thats another thing that adds to the beauty of the gameplay. So u dont have to worry only about ur physical condition but for ur mental state as well! When Daniel is witnessing disturbing events such as staring at a monster or being chased by one or even standing in the dark his mental condition gradually fades away!

The riddles of Amnesia are like the ones met in similar survival-horror, adventure, games including physics as well. U have to combine stuff , push switches, operate machines etc.

The controls are quite simple, u move around with W,A,S,D, (PC Version), jump with SPACE, run with SHIFT, crouch with CTRL, open inventory with TAB, and menu with ESC. Also the buttons E & Q could really come in handy because when u hide u can take a peek at the enemy while being covered. The only thing that i found inconvenient and somewhat unnecessary is that the only saving option u have, is "Save and exit" which means, that u have to save and exit and then load again the game that u just saved. :P

Amnesia - The Dark Descent, Daniel shakes in fear
as he opposes this unearthly threat

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 10/10

The creators of Penubra once more did a terrific job with the atmosphere in Amnesia. While there is not so much music throughout the game, i can say that many times i jumped in fear by the beautifully disturbing ambient tracks. Though the lack of music is obvious the sound effects that accompany most of the scenes are so heartstopping that u need to pause, take some reaeaeally deep breaths, and then go on freaking out even more. The sound effects are so well made that ud think they were recorded from some sick nightmare!!

GRAPHICS: 8/10

The graphics of Amnesia are really good and i could say vivid and clear. But some details were a bit dissapointing. Such as when Daniel takes out his oil lamp, his hand seems quite shoddy. There's no skin texture or any details i.e. the knuckles. Also the monsters and their movement could have been designed more carefully as they look a bit clumsy when they walk.

OVERALL: 8.75/10

In conclusion i can promise u that Amnesia - The Dark Descent will give hours of disturbing joy n gameplay and so many reasons not to sleep at night!!!! If u are a fan of the genre u simply must NOT miss it!!

Amnesia - The Dark Descent

Where Has Creativity Gone???

Being a gamer for more than a decade now, i can say that i ve seen quite a lot of games. RPGs , FPSs, Adventure games, Platform games n so on. But i have noticed that as the technology keeps advancing  (in the games field), the creativity about the plot of the games, or even the gameplay sometimes, is getting weaker.

The graphics of most of the recent titles such as FF XIII, God of War, Golden Axe Beast Rider etc. are breathtaking and realistic to such a level that a few years back we couldnt have imagined it, but thats all. Graphics and impression. I remember myself playing FF VII, Broken Sword, Wild ARMs, when graphics was not the center of attention but it was the plot, the gameplay even the music that kept u playing. And this is the reason why games like these are popular till nowadays. Why do u think FF Advent Children is based on FF VII, or the 1st of the Resident Evil series is still the no.1? Maybe because the plot was authentic n genious (Broken Sword - The Shadow of The Templars) or the gameplay was really enjoyable (Grandia 1 & 2 or Fahrenheit). These days all u have to do to finish a game is fuck the brains out of the action button,  when u must or prompted (see quick time events) and u ve got the game cleared!

Back then u were so much in to the game that even if u could see pixels or badly made characters u couldnt care more than a few seconds. Thats why i liked Eternal Sonata so much because even though  the graphics were beautiful, Capcom was focused more on the plot n the gameplay. Its kinda ridiculous to spend money on a game that u will play for a few hours n then u will never touch it again simply because it was sooo boring apart from the graphics part!

Maybe this is one of the reasons why manufacturer companies charge so much ... really high manufacturing costs => low buying rate => higher prices to balance the difference ... So.. what do u think?

FF VII vs FF XIII 

Gameboy Advance SP Review

Gameboy Advance SP
 (Tribal Edition, Model No.AGS-001)

Gameboy Advance SP (baclight screen)

Hiya! Recently i got myself a game boy advance sp (tribal verion). I must i was really impressed by it cos it has all the basic features of all the previous gameboy console releases (gameboy, gameboy pocket, gameboy color, gameboy advance etc.) but has also a backlight screen which was such a renovation back then in 2003. Actually u can play all gameboy games in that console with colors n light!!! It also has a rechargable battery which means u dont have to spend extra money every now n then buying expendable AA batteries! Its screen is almost similar to the one found in Nintendo DS (talking about size here) and its flipping feature keeps the console's screen from harming! It can be connected to gamecube like gameboy advance. The Buttons are the same as gameboy advance's plus one morewhich activates or deactivates the light of the screen. The only bad thing about it its that the first model that was released (AGS-001, u can find that on the back side of the console on the black sticker) has a somewhat weaker backlight screen than the later version (AGS-101). Summing up gameboy advance sp is the best choice if u are looking for a portable easy-to-play nintendo console!