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Summer blockbusters make for disappointing games
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BrniMß
By Erik Waters
Editor-in-Chief
eribvaters@bellsoutluiet
Summer is always
a busy time for theaters
and movie patrons. As
one multimillion dollar
blockbuster fades from
the public’s interest,
another relentlessly hyped
film comes swooping in to
keep audiences planted in
theater seats with wallets
open.
With blockbuster
sequels galore, this
summer alone saw one
of the biggest box office
pulls in recent years.
Unfortunately, with
popular movie licenses
comes commercial tie
ins and merchandising,
including the inevitably
mediocre movie-to-video
game adaptations that
flood store shelves such is
the case with the following
games:
"Savage Harvest 2" to rip into DVD
By Lary L. Peel
News Editor
Ipeel I @my.westga .edit
With the edgy lcx>k of
Tobe Hooper, the imaginative
writing style of Clive Barker,
and the in-your-face intensity
of the young George A.
Romero, emerging director
Jason Christ seems poised
to make his mark in the
horror genre as well as the
industry as a whole. His
feature length directorial
debut tor Wicked Pixel
Cinema. Savage Harvest
2: October Bkxxi teases
with a deeply intelligent
plot, plenty of gore, and
a nightmarish twist on
the Hollywood formula.
Savage Harvest 2: October
Blood rips through the
screen to grab the beating
heart of the audience and
rip it out.
The well-written
storyline follows Tyge
Murdock (Benjamin Gaa),
who had garnered success
as a low-budget horror film
director as he returns home
following the death of an
actor on the set of his most
recent production. In typical
genre fashion however, the
nightmares simply follow him
to his hometown. The town
still reels from a vicious mass
murder 10 years prior. The
sole survivor of the carnage
was Mikki Lomack (Lisa A.
Morrison), the older sister of
Tyge’s high school sweetheart
Ashley (Emily Haack). Ashley
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Spider-Man 3
Microsoft X-Box 360
Much like the movie
franchise, the Spider-
Man video game series
is becoming rather stale
with the lack of ideas and
execution. Swinging to and
fro via New York skyscrapers
and fighting villains with
webbing are still the main
aspects of the game, but
therein lays the game's
biggest problem; having
absolutely nothing new for
players to experience.
Despite being on a
next-generation console and
having a solid foundation
with previous games, Spider-
Man 3 feels exactly like
the first time players took a
swing around the Big Apple
in previous installments. The
missions are still dull, bad
guys are still dim-witted,
and overall the game could
use another month or two's
worth of polishing and
debugging.
But the game isn’t a
and Tyge meet back up while
he is in town, Ashley receives
a strange tape featuring her
sister, and soon the couple
and their friends are trap|)ed
in a gore-splattered night of
demonic awakenings as they
struggle to solve the mystery
of the tape and numerous
inscribed runes before it’s tix>
SsuvxCtaftii I
111
Photo Courtesy ofgoogle.com
late.
Jason Christ pays
homage to all the greats
that came before him in
the screenplay - which he
penned - the directing, and
the cinematography. His keen
visual style makes up for the
sadly lackluster performances
given by his cast. The sole
exception is Emily Haack,
whose portrayal of Ashley
was not only believable, but
conveyed the true intensity of
the scenes she was assigned.
Gaa and Morrison seemed to
be struggling along and trying
complete lost cause. Some
of the plotlines in the story,
especially the Lizard’s and
the Scorpion’s, actually
work quite well and might
could be adapted for possible
Spider-Man 4 screenplays.
Not only that, but the game
actually handles a lot of the
Spider-Man 3 movie aspects
with an infinite amount more
common sense and style,
including how Venom is
handled.
Yet overall, the game
feels utterly rushed with
a lack of real mission and
extras variety. Unlockable
characters and costumes are
always a nice tough after
beating the game, but how
about some side quests that
don’t involve Spider-Man
cleaning up small time thefts
and crimes. What’s next,
retrieving cats from trees?
Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World’s End
Sony Play Station 2
After the horrific
attempt of Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Legend
of Jack Sparrow, it is
no surprise that the new
Pirate’s game also turns out
to flounder on land as well
First off, calling this
too hand to work the scenes.
The script was sh;irp and
vibrant, with enough subtle
references and visual artistry
to carry the film, but tire core
group of actors - apparently
jxirt of a standing troupe for
the production team - simply
need more experience. Some
had no previous experience
and a large gnxip has less
than half-a-dozen credits to
their names.
Christ himself has nearly
a dozen producer credits, as
wellasseveraldocumentary
helmings and scriptings.
His early work for “'Hie
Severed Head Network”
in 2(XX), garnered him a
Student Emmy and a Telle
for the short "Curveball:
Pile of Junk”. By utilizing
the techniques and styles
of the masters of horror
that have gone before him,
Christ looks to become
not only a major play er in
the B-movie horror class.
but perhaps could eventually
shake the underbelly of the
beast with future projects.
Savage Harvest 2:
October Blcxxl is a fun filled
scream-fest with enough
gory story to keep even the
most skeptical fan locked in.
Watch for the references to
classics such as Night of the
Living Dead,Texas Chaiasaw
Massacre, and others. Watch
for Emily Haack to be the
first to follow Christ out of the
Indie film and find her niche
in the mainstream, but give
the others time to learn.
game At World's End as if
to imply that the game is
solely based on the new
film is incorrect. Players
will start actually near the
middle of Dead Mans C best
and slowly work their way
into the events of At World's
End. It’s not necessarily a
bad thing to bridge the gap
between the two movies,
but it feels cheap that a lot
of cool events from the 3rd
movie felt cut or shortened
due to so much from the
unsatisfactory second
movie being placed in it.
Other downfalls of the
game include an incredibly
simplified combat system
and an embarrassingly
short length of playtime.
But unlike the majority
of other film-to-game
adaptations, it feels a bit
more polished. Even the
swashbuckling duels look
and play pretty well for the
rest of the combat to be so
generic.
Despite the good and
bad ot At World's End.
when the game is finished,
there is absolutely no reason
to return for a second play
through. Standard movie
extras are there to get
players hyped for the film,
but the game simply isn’t
Dave Chappelle
The Tabernacle
Thu, 08/23/07
07:00 PM
Blues Traveler
Frederick Brown , Jr. Amphitheater
Fri, 08/24/07
08:00 PM
Def Leppard with Styx and Foreigner
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
Sat, 08/25/07
07:30 PM
Screamfest 07
Philips Arena
Sun, 08/26/07
06:00 PM
Incubus
HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
Tue, 08/28/07
07:00 PM
worth the full price asked.
Harry Potter and the
()rder of the Phoenix
Nintendo Wii
Harry Potter mania is
once again reaching critical
mass with the release of the
7th and final txx>k in the
series and the sth movie in
theaters, and what better
to do to celebrate when the
final page is reached and the
credits begin to roll than to
run out and snatch up the
new video game, right? Not
exactly.
Unlike the stellar new'
movie, Harrs Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix, the
video game adaptation feels
awkwardly soulless. While
the visual style of the film
has been recreated accurately
with levels consisting of
sweeping corridors of
Hogwarts Schix >1 and English
countryside, it is sadly the
gameplay that really drags
this game down.
Instead of Harry
and company using their
magical abilities to complete
interesting tasks and puzzles,
the majority of spells used
are for simple housework
and repairing projects that
seem more like chores than
fun. Even with the unique
*
use of the Nintendo Wii’s
motion controls, the available
spells (eel wasted as gamers
realize that they are using it to
repair a stack of broken plates.
Even in w'izanl duels where
the game should prove most
lun. the duel is an absolute
snooze-fest with a lack of
any interesting gameplay
abilities.
However, Order of
the Phoenix does manage
to impress more than it
disappoints with its ability
to allow players to freely
roam the land and progress
the story rather than being
ushered through linear levels
orevents. Along with the free •
roaming ability, the inclusion
of mini-games and hidden
bonuses really help increase
the game's play life.
With more mission
variety and imagination
when programming, the
Harry Potter video game
series could very well shed its
cheap film cash-in image anil
be on its way to becoming a
much more respected video
game franchise.
Waters’ Rating:
Save your money for
the films.