Laughing Octopus - FTW!

8 + hours into Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and all I can honestly say it has been a great long while since I have played a game with such a consistent level of polish across all maps and features. I just finished the Laughing Octopus fight last night. The sequence leading up to the fight and the fight itself were 3 - 4 hours of pure gaming pleasure. The character models, texturing \ surfacing and animation is easily the best I have ever seen. Characters have so much detail, and it goes beyond just textural detail. The design and actual models are absolutely stunning and would likely remain stunning, untextured! Animation is subtle and expressive, and the camera work during cutscenes is 1st rate.

Other features of note: I-pod (easily one of the most simple but inovative feature I have seen in a game recently) Other games may be able to play music, but they went through the trouble of getting an actual I-pod into the game! Snakes Movement and CQB moves are awesome. Running around with the Operator and the Knife is awesome and lethal. The weapon modification system is deep, and fun. I love tricking out my weapons (I wish the sound supressors would last forever)

Cut-Scenes are, at times both wonderful and long winded. Characters tend to have a flare for dramatic pauses a little to much, extending conversations that could otherwise be brief. Iteractive elements within cinematics (addition of pressing the L1 and X button to reviel alternate angles and images) is a nice tough in an attempt to breath a little bit of interativity into these lengthy sequences.

Bottom Line: at 8+ hours in I would still give this game a 9.0 - 9.5 and say that if you own a PS3 it just seems crazy that you would not buy this game!

DO IT!

Wall - E is slightly Bore - ing

I took the kids to see Disney \ Pixar's latest offering, Wall-E last week. Let me preface what I'm about to say with the following: I am a HUGE Pixar fan. I have loved virtually every movie they have ever made, and I consider them one of the driving forces in 3D technology. They consistently deliver a product that is stunning visually, and solid in terms of story and character. They understand how to tell a compelling children's story. Even Bug's Life, which is my least favorite of the Pixar films was a well told and animated story.



Ok, so now that I have proclaimed my love and admiration of Pixar I can safely say that Wall-E was a mixed back of stunning visuals and lackluster story. I found the characters, while entertaining and at times endearing, were sadly trapped in a bland story filled with boring plot points and poorly established antagonist(s). The movie was also surprisingly thin on humor. Still, even with its flaws this movie was breathtaking visually, and was probably better than 90% of the 3D animated features you'll likely see this year. I tend to hold Pixar to a high standard as far as what I expect out of them, and sadly this years offering failed to deliver on my expectations.



As far as 3D feature films go, this year's champ is currently Kung Fu Panda (IMO). That movie had the perfect balance of humor, action, visuals, and story. Which is what Pixar has become known for, and few other studios ever accomplish.