Still Life 2 delayed.....again, Fast and Furious, Wheelman, Larry Stinkage

Still Life was a third-person, point and click adventure game, with puzzles. It first arrived on PC, then was ported to Xbox sometime later. Last year I picked it up and played through it. Fun game, with a cliffhanger ending.

From what I've read, the reason behind the cliffhanger ending was that the studio ran out of money and couldn't finish the game properly. The game *does* end abruptly after much buildup, so I'm inclined to go with that theory.

Still Life 2 was originally going to release last last year, but was delayed until April of this year. All was fine until maybe six hours ago. The German version is out, but the English version will not be available until August(June for download, if we're lucky).

WTF.

I think I was one of maybe 12 people in the U.S. to reserve this game at Gamestop.

Oh well, at least I'll save $30 this week.



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Have you seen "Fast and Furious"?

Do you agree with all the negative reviews the film is getting?

I saw it last week and I can't believe it's scoring so low at RottenTomatoes.com.

You go to a Fast and Furious movie for three things.

1. Detailed rides, driven at high speeds.
2. Hot women.
3. Varying levels of action.

At least that's how I see it. The previous films were like that, and I liked them alot(well the first and third more than the second).

If you're looking for Oscar calibur performances and a complex plot, you're setting yourself up for a letdown.

Some of the reviews I've read complain about things like a lack of character development, even though the four "main" characters have technically already been established since the beginning of the series. Most of the people in the theatre would know this is the fourth film.

If you saw Fast and Furious, what did you think of it? How did it stack up to the previous films?

If Hannah Montana hadn't released last week, I seriously think it would have repeated as #1.



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I played through Wheelman on Xbox 360.

The game....ugh...alright....

Grand Theft Auto IV, Niko Bellic.
Wheelman, Milo Burik.

The embarrasing similarites between the names tell you all you need to know, but I shall elaborate.

I shall.

I shall, because I have suffered.

You see my friends, Niko had substance.

When he stepped off the boat, he was backed by great writing, memorable supporting characters, and a city with it's own identity. Obvious lack of content aside(GTA:SA had a wealth of stuff to do compared to GTA IV), you were thrust into a world you could give a damn about.

Milo is a generic undercover cop spouting generic lines during generic cutscenes. His supporting cast is a generic one that you don't care about, even when the generic story tries its damndest to make you care near its generic climax.

He says nothing while on foot, or jacking a car, or shooting an enemy. Only during cutscenes.

The protagonist from GTA III said not a damn thing throughout the story, and managed to be a more memorable character. This most likely has to do with the solid story backing him up(not to mention being the first in a line of highly regarding fully interactive "sandbox" titles), but I digress.

The city of Barcelona does not live up to its exciting name. I felt like I was in the same place no matter where I went. Driving across long distances got boring very quick, so I started using the map and just picking missions that way instead. It cut down on the tedium, but in a way it highlights the generic nature of Barcelona. I'd say that it takes away from the player "getting to know" the city, but like I said before, once you've seen a little of it, you've pretty much seen it all. I really had no desire to drive around and see the sights, and if you actually go and play this game, you'll probably feel the same way.

Now I don't want to *completely* bash this game. It does try to do some new things. Where it fails is in the execution. Vehicle Melee is a cool concept. The problem with mapping it to the right stick is that you lose the ability to move your camera freely. In any 3D game, you need to be able to see where you want to see, when you want to see. This is especially true when you're surrounded by several gang or cop cars, all gunning for you.

Another problem with vehicle combat is shooting while driving. Generally, you lock onto a target and hold down the left bumper to keep firing at it. The reticule starts out fairly large, shrinking and going red as you fire more bullets and do more damage. While this is happening, the camera will fixate on that enemy. Your choices are to either keep shooting or let go and focus fully on driving. Your enemy fires a relentless hail of bullets, so obviously you want to stop that from happening, right? If they're not close enough to slam your car into, you need to keep firing so you won't keep taking damage. Later in the game when enemy seem to take more damage, this gets very annoying.

Alternatively you can use Milo's other moves, which are tied to the Focus Meter that builds as you driving at high speeds and break through things.

The Cyclone is good for enemies behind you. When activated the car spins around to drive in reverse. Slo-Mo kicks in and you can fire at key points of the enemy vehicles to blow them up.

Aimed Shot slows down times and lets you shoot things in front of you.

If you don't use your Focus Meter on these moves, you can use it to boost your speed for a little while.

AirJacking is probably the coolest part of the game. With a well timed button release, you jump forward through the air from your vehicle to one that someone else is driving and kick them out/off of it. It's a fun little feature that I'm sure someone will jack for themselves when they make *their* GTA clone.

The cars look decent, but lack a true sensation of speed. Bikes are much faster. All vehicles handle fairly well, but there is a limited selection so they get repetitive after maybe an hour or two.

The music selection is a complete joke. Wholly forgetable. The only track that sticks out for me is the theme song from the opening menu. The radio stations have no identity at all. They're just as (wait for it) generic as the entire city of Barcelona.

There are side missions to do. Races, package deliveries, auto theft, rampages, taxi missions(racing the clock). Completing them with an A rank or higher builds your stats and unlocks things.

Weapon selection is very basic. Many of the guns feel the same. You can get a headshot from about 50 feet away with an uzi with no problem. The shotgun isn't that exciting.

When I played the demo for this game, I really felt it had promise. After I got my hands on a copy for a few days, I had had enough. The only way I'd pop this back into my Xbox would be to grab the last couple of Achievements I didn't get before. That's it. There are really no other reasons to play this game again.

If you simply must play the full game, I strongly reccommend renting it.



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I'm playing Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust for the Xbox 360.

I'm not even done with it, but I can tell you flat out.....

STAY AWAY.

This is one of those instances where I have a game for a couple of days and I've waded through so much s**t(with a few laughs along the way, I'll admit) that I have to see it through.

This game has so many problems. Horrible screentearing. Walking pedestrians who out of nowhere decide that they're sitting in a car and driving down the sidewalk. On rails sequences where you have to sit and eat hits while you wait to get a clear shot on an enemy who's shooting through an object.

CAMERA PROBLEMS.

This is my own fault. I knew going in that this game wasn't going to be as entertaining as Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. I knew that going in, but I had to try it anyway. Even though it debuted at $20.

Jay Mohr does voicework for the game, among other well known actors. Actually, I will say that the voicework for all the main characters is spot on. Some of the dialogue is hilarious. The rest is riddled with cheap jokes.

At least they put some effort in.

Are you serious, Sony?

Why am I bleeped in my own chatroom?

I could understand the need for this if chatrooms were public spaces. In HOME, being bleeped as a default is annoying, but understandable.

But if it's just me and a friend text chatting, why do you feel the need to bleep the "pis" out of episode?

Come on now.

Text chat isn't the option everyone has been hoping for, but it's a welcome addition and a step in the right direction. It's good just for messing around, but not ideal for anything during game other than "I'll be (here)".

Hopefully, you'll release voice chat soon and just make this the second option it's supposed to be.

What do you think of text chat so far?