Mass Effect 3: The ending

I’ve been watching with interest the ballistic reaction of the fans to the end of this franchise, the scope of it has surprised even me, so I’ve decided to compile some of that reaction into an article that summarises it.

So in just over a week, an extremely well organised movement of quite vocal fans has sprung up surrounding the furore over the ending to this game. You could almost say it has a religious quality to it, hardly surprising given the emotional investment people have in this series of games. So far a facebook group has formed which at the time of writing has around 30,000 members. Cells have also begun to form across the Internet. The main retake site was founded on Tumblr but Youtube videos have also started to go up. A letter writing campaign is being organised. Polls are being written. A charity drive has also so far raised around $40,000 dollars for sick children.

Let’s be clear about this in no uncertain terms – the ending was quite possibly the worst ending of any story in history. It was worse than the Matrix series, worse than Lost, worse than the Sapranos, it was quite simply bafflingly bad. Comments that other fans have made about it below, warning SPOILERS:

Imagine the Original Star Wars trilogy; you just sat through all three films, and you're at the part where Luke is face to face with the Emperor, who's trying to convince him to join the darkside, etc. And instead of how it ends, Luke says "Know what? Screw it. I just WONT BE A JEDI ANYMORE!" Drops his lightsaber and storms out. Fade to black. Roll Credits.

That is the best analogy I can offer about the clusterfuck that was the ME3 ending.

And the death star blows up all the planets in the galaxy, and Han Solo decides to chicken out and fly away from the battle and he crash lands on some random planet while everything else gets destroyed.

And then George Lucas offers you some DLC in a cheesy looking text box.

You have no fucking idea my friend. 3 games, hundreds of hours, hundreds of dollars, 5 years waiting for this game. It was all ruined in 10 minutes. There is no replaying Mass Effect 1, 2, or 3 once you've seen the ending. Honestly, starting a new game would just be sooooo fucking depressing. It's not that the ending is "sad", I don't care about that. It's that it's just so fucking terrible.

Normally I don’t get involved in these sorts of debates, but the endings really were heart wrenching to say the least. Best way to make a video game is to appeal to the fans and they did not at all in my opinion do that in any way with the current endings. I was real disappointed that all my effort led up to such a game changer.

I mean really BioWare, it’s Mass Effect, not an M. Night Shyamalan movie, we don’t need a twist at the end.

Everything about this game was perfect up until the last 10 minutes when it ended. There is no epilogue. Stuff happens, more stuff happens, and then the end. Rather than have some sense of closure, it opens about 20 more questions. It breaks from the story, changes tone and character, ignores current and past facts as well as making leaps of logic.

No wonder GAME wouldn't stock ME3. The collision of two such failed entities would probably cause a massive implosion of the space-time fabric. All we need now is an article about THAT. Someone give Hawking a tweet please!

http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

http://robotgeek.co.uk/2012/03/13/why-the-retake-mass-effect-3-movement-is-making-history/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/15/paragons-of-protest-retake-mass-effect-raises-money-for-kids/

http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/some-mass-effect-3-players-demand-happier-ending-411424

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/15/upset-mass-effect-fans-entitled-gamers-or-responsible-consumers/

http://retakemasseffect.tumblr.com/

http://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3

Hitler’s reaction to the Mass Effect 3 ending

This is about right.

Mass Effect 3 (2012)

So I completed Bioware’s latest epic after playing it more or less non-stop for 48 hours. And it’s left me feeling, well, depressed quite frankly. Put simply it’s one of the most amazing gaming experiences ever; that unfortunately seems to fall spectacularly and completely inexplicably at the last hurdle. This may well be deliberate but I’ll get to that. The game allows you to port your character from Mass Effect 2 and continue their journey, choices and all. And the game seems really well written, the dialogue is excellent, the conclusions to problems that have been brewing since the first all seem well resolved or rather give you the chance to resolve them should you wish. Characters from both of the first two instalments are all seamlessly written into the plot somehow or other. For better or worse I might add since not all of them have happy endings but given the dark tone of this third game, and it is desperately bleak, the writing seemed perfect.

The overall atmosphere of the game is one of disquieting desperation. The first two games had been building to it, but then all of a sudden here it is – a massive galactic war against a superior species hell bent on the annihilation of all ‘organics’. The opening scenes show the beginning of the battle for Earth, a battle already hopelessly lost in a matter of minutes; this is where you come in. In order to defeat the Reapers you must unite the squabbling, scattered and scared races of the galaxy against their common foe. To this end ME3 plays in many ways like ME2 except instead of recruiting individuals, you’re recruiting entire civilisations to join the fight. However they’re all reluctant to commit forces unless they can resolve varying issues. In this way, the options are open for you to solve the Qurian / Geth situation which has also ignited into a side-war, the Krogan wont join you unless you cure the genophage, the Salarians wont join you if you do, the Turians wont join you unless you can relieve the military pressure against their own homeworld. And so the number of missions you must complete in order to amass an effective military fleet is substantial. There are also a number of side quests and survey missions that all allow you to increase your effective military strength.

The action is excellent, improving slightly on its predecessors and offering a diverse array of new Reaper and Cerberus enemies, some of which are an absolute nightmare to kill. The combat experience is significantly harder than the previous game, I died aplenty in this instalment. Some of the foes you must face down are seemingly impervious to anything but vast amounts of small arms fire. There are also just finely crafted details in the game that add to the overall sense of despair, conversations you overhear, the humour – the pissing contest between Garrus and Vega is just hilarious. But they’re really minor details that could be easily overlooked – such is the craftsmanship of this game. The cutscenes are epic – saving the Krogan homeworld from a Reaper, the Galactic fleet you’ve spent the entire game amassing finally assaulting Earth for the final battle. In the final Battle of London, the game really hits home how badly the galactic alliance is losing the war and so far so good. But then you get to the end…

And I honestly can’t grasp how you manage to fuck up an ending so badly but Bioware somehow managed it. Angry fans are storming the gates across the Internet with around 98% of fans extremely dissatisfied with the ending. This is I think an example of a developer blowing it big time. The non sequitur is so out of place from what came before that I feel deeply unsatisfied, even betrayed by it. It is such a profound departure that some people are now promoting the idea that it was wrong *on purpose* because it was all a hallucination. But then the more I think about it, the more that idea actually has some pull. If that was actually true and Bioware intends to continue the story afterward via DLC then they have probably created one of the most genius allegorical dream sequences in the history of gaming. But it’s also quite likely that they just straight clusterfucked it.

The gripes I had with this game (texture resolution, clunky combat control) were minor compared to the superior story, graphics, music and it is better than the last 2 and I really did enjoy it but the ending just kills the whole trilogy. I honestly couldn’t recommend this series of games to anyone based on the strength of it. So that would be what you call an epic fail.

I just totally love this tune.

Was Darwin wrong?

Great answer to Pascal’s wager

Rage (2011)

After getting bored with Skyrim, I decided to try and find another game that will fill the time between now and the release of Mass Effect 3 (March 9th). After a recommendation for Rage, I thought I'd give it a go. After all it looked like it could potentially be an entertaining game and it is from id Software who aren't known for making crap computer games.

So after getting this game I discovered it required an amazing 25GB of hard drive space for an install which is to say the least probably the largest amount of hard drive space of any game I've ever installed. To put this in perspective, Skyrim required 6GB and that game is vastly more impressive perhaps not necessarily superior graphically but definitely in terms of game play and the open arena, open ended nature of the game. Bethesda put this down to the superior way in which the textures are compressed. I feel that id should probably have applied this to Rage since the game was in no way graphically leaps and bounds above any other game of the current generation. So this monster took me two hours to install and then a further hour getting my graphics drivers up to date so I could play the game. And then how long did it take me to play it through to completion? Just 10 hours. In all honesty though that was enough because the storyline was a little boring and nowhere near as in depth as the last several games I've played.

So the plot? In truth there isn't one, or at least one that is interesting. Basically the game starts out with a massive asteroid hitting Earth and during this time you are put into cryogenic sleep to wait it out whilst the surface once again becomes inhabitable. When you do eventually reawaken 106 years later, you awaken to find a post-apocalyptic planet where gangs and mutants have taken over the world in a style not dissimilar to Fallout. But this is really where the similarities end. The game is impressive graphically but it feels a little clunky and unrefined and the characters are very one-dimensional. You must fight the hoards of bad-guys to accomplish what are mostly simple linear fetch quests and find yourself up against the main antagonists of the game - the authority whom it is never made clear or at least wasn't during my play through exactly what makes them the bad guys. They are supposedly responsible for the mutant threat but even this doesn't seem to be confirmed during the game.

It had some perks such as the ability to partake in races in dune buggies and trucks and race across the wasteland in style but somehow it just lacked the immense enjoyableness of other Bethesda games. I really feel that if this game had been more of an open-world RPG it could have been much much better. The game uses the idTech 5 engine which does make for stunning visuals and does allow you to customise just about every aspect of your inventory including the ability to build items such as sentry bots and remote control toy cars which explode. The enemies you face also utilise a degree of intelligence such as ducking behind walls and objects to prevent giving you a direct line of sight, usually meaning that you'll have to employ cunning tactics to defeat them. At its core though, this game is really just a standard FPS, nothing more, nothing less.

Overall, it's worth a dabble but it's nothing special.

The media gets it right again…

German air traffic control

The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206.
Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway."
Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven."
The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.
Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"
Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now."
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?"
Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, -- And I didn't land."

Sheffield Riots

Sometimes I think people just get too violent around here. View discretion advised.

Asinine Christian Arguments against atheism

Interesting…

This would be a world beater if politicians could ever be convinced to fund it.

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/skylon.html

Climate change denialists

You personally may believe that no evidence exists for it but just about every serious climatologist on the planet disagrees with you,

somehow you seem to think that taking a good proportion of the carbon that has been locked up in the earth's crust over the course of millions of years of geological time as coal, oil and natural gas

and then releasing it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide over the space of a couple of centuries

whilst at the same time deforesting vast areas of the planet which soak up this carbon dioxide locking up the carbon and releasing the oxygen back into the atmosphere,

will have absolutely no effect whatsoever?

I lolled.

Dare to Know–Dawkins & Hitchens

Beware Marxists!

Just a random randomness

I’m not doing enough with this blog…. time for that to change me thinks.

There’s just too many bat shit crazy people out there for me not to set the record straight. Like the one I was arguing with earlier who deleted the thread because he lost. And the complaint by creationists is that evolutionists don’t debate?! In my experience it’s creationists that run like the devil’s chasing them when faced with evolutionists. Or perhaps it’s just because I present them with a new level of pwnage to which they are most unaccustomed.

Maybe it’s time to become a true evangelical atheist as well. Worth thinking about that one. Spread the good news, there is no God. Sorry about that dear readers.

Plus I also need to learn Flash because my Actionscript sucks donkey balls big time.

Top 10 Most Ethereal Movie Scenes

This is an article I’ve been thinking about writing for a while but wasn’t sure how to categorise it. It concerns points I've noticed in movies where a particular scene just transcends everything else in the film and cinema as well. The visuals, music and dialogue can occasionally combine perfectly to give a scene that's just out of this world. Although it usually happens near the end of films, it does occasionally take place during the film and in some films it just continues weaving in and out throughout the narrative usually culminating in a film I’d consider to be excellent.

If movie-making is an art then these are my guiding principles as to what I would like to accomplish were I ever to undertake the same feat. Sometimes I find that if a film has one of these moments in, it usually has several - a sort of dreamy theme weaved into the film that gives it depth. All of the films on this list definitely make it into my top 100, even if it is just on the strength of one scene which I consider to be cinematic perfection.

10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – this film is definitely dreamy throughout – most of the film takes place purely in Jim Carey’s mind so you’d kind of expect that. The visual effects are subtle and yet if you think about it, quite complicated at the same time. This film is definitely one that bends reality and has an ethereal quality throughout.
9. Memento – Another mind bending film from Christopher Nolan, told entirely from the perspective of the damaged protagonist. The score and constant scene shifting of this film makes it a little confusing to really follow what’s going on but as the pieces start fitting together, the films dreamy setting begins to take on a new twist. An excellent film and one that also has an ethereal quality throughout.
8. The Butterfly Effect – This one only really has a dreamy sequence near the end where Evan finally manages to find a way to fix everything that he broke. The score and tragic way he does this always work a sort of magic I find. Even though the directors cut ending is harsher and probably makes for a better film, I always preferred the happy theatrical ending.
7. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome – I liked all the Mad Max movies to be fair and even though I consider this to be the weakest instalment in the trilogy, I find that moments in this film have a quality that is superior to the other two. Some of the scenes from crack in the earth are tragic but the ending is where it hits home most.
6. The Adjustment Bureau – the most recent release on this list but it instantly become one of my favourites for a number of reasons. The dialogue and chemistry between the characters is strong as is the general plot of the film that personifies fate as a force that physically interferes with the lives of the characters. The haunting musical score also works strongly to the films advantage.
5. The Jacket  - It’s difficult to sum this film up but the cold, bleak and disconnected feel of the film has a beauty unto itself. It’s also pretty haunting and has an ethereal quality throughout. Included is the scene where the protagonist stands over his own grave as he struggles to find out how he died, all set with the haunting Sidottu soundtrack that plays throughout the film.
4. Sunshine – My least favourite film on this list but the ending sure is haunting. Firstly the main character stares face to face with a nuclear explosion (which is slowed down for dramatic effect) and then it cuts to earth where we see that the Earth’s climate has been suffering – evidenced by the snow on the ground around Sydney, Australia. All of this takes place with Underworld’s To Heal playing in the background. Perfectly executed.
3. Meet Joe Black – this film is generally weird throughout but the ending sure is touching. I’m not sure whether you’d have to watch the rest of the film or not to get the context. I imagine you probably would but the final scene really brings home what the film has been building up to.
2. Vanilla Sky – everyone I know hates this film and I really think it’s unjustified. Sure 90% of the film is kind of slow and doesn’t make much sense but then the film just thunders to quite a climatic and really existentially crazy finale which suddenly brings into context why the rest of the film doesn’t make sense. I always find the journey of awakening that this film presents at the end to be one of the best scenes in cinematic history. Everything about it works including the brilliant Nothing song by Icelandic artist Sigor Ros and subsequent life review that the character undergoes. A very clever piece of cinema.
1. Blade Runner – Had to do it but this film isn’t my all time favourite for no reason. The film is brilliantly atmospheric and haunting throughout, all the while offering a lot of philosophy and existentialism and a dark dystopian vision of the future. There were a few scenes from this film I could have presented such as Rutger Hauer’s Tears in Rain speech at the end but in the end I settled for Morning at the Bradbury which highlights Roy’s sense of despair and loneliness, all the while with the amazing Vangelis score playing in the background.

The IMDB Top 250 Challenge Part III

Just watched 2 more films on this list – Seven Samurai and City of God. And meh, wasn’t blown away by either. Still hoping there’s going to be something better to come. There are 4 more films in the next 10 I haven’t seen.

No	Film	Seen?
11	Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)	Y
12	Inception (2010)	Y
13	Fight Club (1999)	Y
14	Seven Samurai (1954)	Y
15	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	Y
16	Goodfellas (1990)	Y
17	Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope	Y
18	City of God (2002)	Y
19	Casablanca (1942)	Y
20	The Matrix (1999)	Y
21	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)	N
22	Rear Window (1954)	N
23	Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)	N
24	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	Y
25	The Usual Suspects (1995)	Y
26	Se7en (1995)	Y
27	Psycho (1960)	N
28	Forrest Gump (1994)	Y
29	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)	Y
30	It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)	Y

So I have Rear Window, Once Upon a Time in the West, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Psycho to watch. I’ve seen bits of Psycho and Raiders of the Lost Ark but never watched either one all the way through – in fact I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen any of the Indie movies all the way through so I’m going to include them on this list.

Addendum: Just realised that stupid Live Writer deleted Part II of this list where I watched The Godfather: Part II and The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Although I wasn’t blow away by either film I’d have to say that both are slow burners and well worth watching. Both are also quite layered with complexity and throw up some interesting dilemmas for the characters especially The Good, The Bad and the Ugly where two characters which hate each other both hold half of a secret they need for riches.

Twin Films: The Definitive List Part #7

This is the final instalment of the twin films project, a list I now regard as the most complete in existence. Because what qualifies as a twin film becomes more ambiguous the further down the list I go, some of the connections between these final films are more tenuous than some of the films previously mentioned. I’ll also include some worthy mentions at the end that could potentially have qualified for this list.

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky (2009) Vs Coco before Chanel (2009)

Two biopics about Coco Chanel released in the same year charting her rise to fame and fortune and her various relationships along the way. Twin films, of course. Both films are in French and English and both films are French made. I can’t offer more analysis as I haven’t seen either but I am reliably informed that they are twin films.

 

 

 

IMDB Rating: Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky 6.2, Coco Before Chanel 6.5
Verdict: Both films are about even. Coco Before Chanel would probably edge it for me because of Audrey Tautou but not by much. Similarity Rating 8/10

Bedtime Stories (2008) Vs Inkheart (2008)

Two films released in the same year about characters who have the ability to make fictional characters jump out of their stories and magically come to life. Weird how similar the ideas that float out of Hollywood at the same time can be. Both films have pretty stellar casts as well. Bedtime Stories stars Adam Sandler, Guy Pierce, Russell Brand, Lucy Lawless, Courtney Cox and Jonathan Price whilst Inkheart stars Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany and Helen Mirren. Neither film is particularly superior to the other in any way and both are enjoyable family adventure films.

IMDB Rating: Bedtime Stories 6.1, Inkheart 6.0
Verdict: Tie, both are enjoyable yarns. Similarity Rating 8/10

Black Dahlia (2006) Vs Hollywoodland (2006)

I’m a little dubious about these two being twinned but they’re both period pieces set in the 40’s and 50’s respectively and both revolve around a murder investigation in Los Angeles / Hollywood. Both are film noir type efforts because of the period in which they’re set. The Black Dahlia is based on the gruesome murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short in 1947 whilst Hollywoodland revolves around the mysterious death of the original Superman actor George Reeves. Both have a pretty good cast. Black Dahlia stars Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank whilst Hollywoodland stars Adrien Brody, Bob Hoskins and Ben Affleck.

IMDB Rating: Black Dahlia 5.6, Hollywoodland 6.6
Verdict: Hollywoodland edges it. Similarity Rating 5/10

The Killing of John Lennon (2006) Vs Chapter 27 (2007)

Two films here released within a year of each other that chronicle the life of Mark David Chapman and his subsequent assassination of John Lennon in 1980. Neither is particularly well known and both were spectacular flops at the cinema. But they are like the biopics of Coco Chanel and Steve Prefontaine near identical biopics released within a year of each other.

IMDB Rating: The Killing of John Lennon 6.2, Chapter 27 5.6
Verdict: Both pretty average. Similarity Rating 9/10

 

Garden State (2004) Vs Elizabethtown (2005)

I’ve seen these two twinned on a number of lists but I’m really not that sure about their similarity to one another since I haven’t seen either one. Both seem to involve a funeral or memorial and then an unexpected romance. At least that is what I can determine from the synopses. Chic Geek might know better as he tends to watch more of these mushy type films, Twilight anyone? Elizabethtown has some big names in it such as Orlando Bloom, Susan Sarandon, Bruce McGill, Alec Baldwin, Kirsten Dunst and Jessica Biel. Wait Kirsten Dunst and Jessica Biel in the same film? Might have to give it a watch then. Garden State stars Zach Braff and absolutely no one else I’ve ever heard of which would seem to indicate that Elizabethtown be the better film.

IMDB Rating: Garden State 7.8, Elizabethtown 6.3
Verdict: IMDB voters think differently though. Similarity Rating 7/10

Elizabeth (1998) Vs Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Another two films that are a little tenuous in their similarity. Granted both take place during the reign of Elizabeth I and both involve the virgin queen to varying degrees. But Shakespeare in love isn’t about Queen Elizabeth, it’s about Shakespeare so that is where the similarities end really. It seems a little suspicious though that two films were released in the same year, both set in Elizabethan era England which is why they’ve been twinned. That and they also appear on a number of twin film lists. Both are pretty decent films and both were pretty successful at the box office.

IMDB Rating: Elizabeth 7.6, Shakespeare in Love 7.3
Verdict: Pretty similar in quality as well, tie. Similarity Rating 5/10

Heist (2001) Vs The Score (2001)

Two heist films released in the same year. In the Score, an aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist whilst Heist has a slightly more complicated plot which involves a web of deceit. Heist stars Gene Hackman, Danny Devito and Sam Rockwell whilst The Score stars Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton. Both are entertaining yarns, not spectacular but both watchable.

 

IMDB Rating: Heist 6.5, The Score 6.8
Verdict: Both enjoyable in their own right. Similarity Rating 7/10

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) Vs Requiem (2006)

These two are very similar and both are to varying degrees based around an exorcism and more specifically the real life exorcism of Anneliese Michel. The exorcism of Emily Rose concentrates on the legal case the priest who performs the exorcism faces after she dies whilst Requiem focuses more directly on the exorcism itself. Like Sliding Doors and Lola Reent, these films are in English and German respectively. The Exorcism of Emily Rose stars Laura Linney in a leading role.

 

IMDB Rating: The Exorcism of Emily Rose 6.7, Requiem 6.9
Verdict: I haven’t seen either but IMDB voters rank them about the same. Similarity Rating 6/10

The Assignment (1997) Vs The Jackal (1997)

Two fictional accounts here that are loosely based around the life of the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal. The Assignment is allegedly a very underrated movie starring Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley though I haven’t seen it. The Jackal I didn’t like all that much, the film had a bitter aftertaste. It starred Bruce Willis and Richard Gere who swore never to work with each other ever again. Their filming schedules were also so different that when they did cross paths during the filming of  movie, they’d ask each other how their movie was coming along.

IMDB Rating: The Assignment 6.8, The Jackal 6.1
Verdict: The Jackal was enjoyable but I suspect The Assignment is better. Similarity Rating 6/10

Other Possible Twin Films

Turistas (2006) and Hostel (2006) In both films, unsuspecting tourists are lured into remote locations by locals with malicious intent.

Hoodwinked (2006) and Happily N'Ever After (2007) are both computer-animated films that send up fairy tales. Both also happen to feature Patrick Warburton and Andy Dick.

Knight and Day (2010) and Killers (2010) Both films are about a spy in a romantic action comedy.

The Piano Teacher (2001) and Secretary (2002) are two controversial films revolving around a female protagonist involved in sado-masochism and self-mutilation, with dysfunctional relationships both to her mother and to the male protagonist, who attempts to rescue her. While The Piano Teacher was a serious drama that ended unresolved, Secretary was a black comedy with a happy ending.

The Haunting (1999) and House on Haunted Hill (1999), two films with a similar premise and both remakes of older films.

The Vindicator (1986) and RoboCop (1987): both movies are about an innocent man who is left mutilated and near-dead by villains, is reconstructed into a cyborg by a special-weapons company, and seeks revenge on the people responsible for his fate.

Back to the Future (1985) and Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) both feature protagonists who go back in time and meet high school versions of their family members, played by the same actors.

Still waiting for it

Above and Beyond

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

So I finally completed this epic high fantasy adventure yarn after playing it for several months. Or when I say completed, I mean I completed the main narrative of the game rather than every single quest line I ultimately undertook which could easily have taken me another 100 hours. Now I’m not even a fan of the fantasy genre as a rule but the reviews of Skyrim were good enough that I suspected it would be worth a crack of the proverbial whip. Indeed even though this game is the fifth instalment in the Elder Scrolls saga, it is the first one that I actually managed to get into. I had previously considered playing Morrowind and decided against it, and later I tried getting into Oblivion but it just didn’t grip me at all. So this really is where Skyrim shines, it’s a significant improvement over it’s predecessors in terms of general storytelling and despite being quite a complex RPG to get to grips with, there are no major impediments and the learning curve is never too sharp as to make it seem insurmountable.

I can’t really compare it to previous games in the saga which are all vast in scope. But from all counts Skyrim is allegedly unto its own in comparison. Although the game arena is on a par with Oblivion, the rugged mountainous alpine terrain of the Skyrim territory makes the game feel much larger. The cities and towns within the territory are all designed to make them feel unique as are the dungeons, caves and just about anywhere else you might explore. Each town and village has its own distinctive and unique feel along with innumerable quests and missions you could conceivably undertake, most of which have nothing if anything at all to do with the main quest line of the game. Initially during the game, you have the feeling that the land of Skyrim is vast just for the sake of it but as you progress through the game, this turns out not to be the case. Each part of the map appears to have a story to tell and in this way the land of Skyrim seemingly comes alive before your eyes. It is truly a remarkable feat of storytelling and RPG gaming, an epic to which few other games can compare. Bethesda seems to have come into their element in recent years with a string of candidates and winners of the game of the year award including Oblivion (2006) and Fallout 3 (2008).

The land of Skyrim lies to the north of Tamriel, a cold and mountainous area to explore and the more of Skyrim you explore, the colder it gets beginning with the rugged alpine valleys of the south to the freezing tundra of the north. You begin the game against the backdrop of a bitter civil war being fought between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. I tried to determine who was the best side to join in this civil war but ultimately it’s a vague moral choice at best. You can sympathise with both sides to an extent and disagree with both sides on many issues so it isn’t a very clear cut civil war between good an evil at all. Being led to your execution, a dragon attacks just in time and turns out to be your saving grace and also the antagonist of this instalment. You later find out that you are the Dovahkiin, a mortal born with the soul of a dragon as foretold in the Elder Scrolls and that using the power of the dragon shouts, a magic available only to you, you are to defeat Alduin, an ancient dragon who was once banished by the power of the Elder Scrolls but has returned just as was foretold and not unsurprisingly heralds the end of the world. That is unless you stop him.

The grandeur of Skyrim is due in no small part to its graphical presentation which is nothing less than stunning. While not exactly a quantum leap ahead of its rivals, it is certainly a step toward the uncanny valley and undoubtedly gives this game cutting edge graphics. The world of Skyrim is majestically beautiful from the finely crafted forests to the snow, rain and fog that will batter you on your long journey through it to the breath-taking night time auroras you will witness. People who think that video games don’t count as art really need to play this game because it proves them categorically wrong. Bethesda ditched the Gamebryo engine in this instalment favouring instead their own engine developed in house – the creation engine which I believe is just a massively tweaked version of the Gamebryo engine but which does offer significant improvements over its elder, the draw distance of foliage being something important to mention. And on a decent PC – say a moderate machine with a 1GB graphics card, it should stop things annoyingly popping into existence short of the horizon. I played this on a Samsung RF511 which whilst was unable to render the graphics on the top settings, did a fair job in high resolution and things popping into existence was rarely something that bugged me. I think that current gen consoles will struggle a little with this game because game houses seem to be wanting to push into the next era but are restricted a little by the hardware configuration of the PS3 and XBOX 360, somewhere the PC is unrestricted so can shine. The graphical prowess of this game nevertheless still shines no matter what the platform.

The level of thought and detail that has gone into this game is astounding. Every area of the map has been designed from the top down so the individual cities, towns, dungeons, you name it have all been crafted purposely and all feel unique and distinct from each other.  On the map itself there are at least 640 unique locations, including 5 major cities, 9 towns, numerous villages / smaller settlements and around 130 dungeons. Even the 7000 steps to High Hrothgar and the Throat of the World feels like an epic trek, sort of like climbing Mount Everest or something the first time you do it. And yes there really are 7000 steps to the top – watch out for ice trolls and wolves on the way up.

Composer Jeremy Soule’s haunting score adds a deep, sometimes saddening, ethereal and ultimately perfect atmospheric soundtrack which helps to define the overall feel of the game. It seems to be a rare occasion when a game soundtrack doesn’t work to enhance to the game but that certainly isn’t the case here and Soule’s work definitely enhances the nuances and subtleties of the game’s storyline.

The game’s storyline ultimately revolves around the singular quest for the Dovahkiin to realise their destiny and slay the game’s antagonist. But spinning off from the main quest line (of which there are 3 acts divided into a number of quests in each act), there are also side quest lines for the Companions, College of Winterhold, Thieves’ Guild, Dark Brotherhood, Civil War, Daedric quests and a theoretically infinite number of miscellaneous quest lines thanks to Bethesda’s radiant AI which randomly generates quests based on a certain set of parameters. Add to this all the weird stuff that happens in-between times such the option to become a vampire or werewolf and the playable options increase still. Besides the vast amount of quest lines, also don’t forget that this an RPG which gives you the option to truly play according to your style. If you wish you can play as a knight or a mage, master magic or master combat. It’s your choice and you can update your various skill trees to reflect this.

There are also plenty of interesting characters and creatures to interact with. To this end there are some 60,000 lines of dialogue voiced by over 70 voice actors throughout the game including Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow and Joan Allen.

I did have one or two gripes with the game. As with any RPG this vast, there are bound to be one or two bugs although I didn’t really notice anything major. When riding a horse across rugged terrain, the movement often seemed to be less than refined but this was only a minor gripe really. By far the most major annoyance I encountered and it was one that I ultimately didn’t solve was the occasional complete crash to desktop without any reason or warning. This happened a few times but it wasn’t long before I was back in the game at my previous location again. If it had annoyed me that much, I would have solved it as I suspect there was a solution out there for it. My only real qualms with the game stemmed from that fact that it wasn’t absolutely perfect, the NPCs in the game typically lacked depth and could maybe have done with a few more dialogue options. I think that would have added a new layer of depth to the game and maybe prevented me from getting a little bored which I was starting to before I pushed on to complete the game. My getting bored with the game stemmed more from it being of the fantasy genre that anything that was really wrong with the game. The fact it managed to hold my interest for as long as it did was impressive.

Overall though this game is a worthy masterpiece of engineering and shows RPGs of the next generation the way forward with this type of game. Bethesda pretty much nailed it.

Hitchens dead at 62

Probably the greatest of all the new atheists.

Global Warming is a Hoax!

Just thought I’d repost this image as a climate change sceptic blog I regularly read posted it earlier today with the disclaimer conveniently unreadable. Oh if only dishonesty were a virtue.