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Arts&entertainment
Vampire Rain
Microsoft X-Box 360
If there is one mythical
group I'm quite tired of
seeing in popular culture,
it is vampires. Barely
inching out zombies as
most overexposed monster
characters of all time,
vampires are certainly
living up to their immortal
name as they never seem
to go away. Whether in
MTV's 2007 Video Music Awards was one show to be remembered
Bj Randace Williams
Staff Writer
kwilli2o@iny.westga.eilu
I laughed. You laughed,
and somewhere Kevin
Federline probably did too.
MTV promoted that the
comeback performance of
Pop Princess. Britney Spears,
at the 2007 Video Music
Awards would be one of
the most talked about. And
it was. but for all the wrong
reasons.
Spears opened the
show with her new single
“Gimme More’’. The former
Pop Princess looked very
unprepared while she walked
through dance moves with
little enthusiasm. She also
appeared to have forgotten
the how to lip-sync. She
stopped moving her mouth
while the background track
still played.
The celebrity audience
UWG Art department welcomes artist Brian Bishop
By Fontez Brooks
Staff Writer
J'ul ritl% I @m\.westga .edit
"Beauty is in the
eyes of the beholder,”
but there is nothing
cliche about West
Georgia’s current
exhibition featuring the
work of Brian Bishop.
A teacher and
a painter, Bishop's
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novels (Bram Stoker’s
Dracula), movies (Blade,
Underworld. The Lost
Boys), comic books (30
Days of Night),ortelevision
shows (Buffy the Vampire
Slayer), no form of media
entertainment is safe. Not
even video games.
While last week’s
BioShock review was an
example of how great an
X-Box 360 game can be.
unfortunately this week's is
about how bad one can be.
And that's not my vampire
biasness talking either.
And there is no
mistake to be made that
Vampire Rain, horrible Sci-
Fi channel movie title and
all, is one of the worst X-
Box 360 games around.
The game takes place
in current day Los Angeles
as a war between vampires,
known as “Nightwalkers",
and an elite taskforce wages
watched Spears in disbelief.
50 Cent appeared to be
confused. Chris Brown
appeared to not to be
impressed. It seemed that
the performance did not hold
Rihanna's attention. And Kid
Rock's and Diddy's face was
expressionless.
Despite the horrible
start, the VMA’s were able
to bounce back. The award
show had many star studded
performances, but majority
of these performances took
place in suite parties. These
parties were hosted by
Kanye West. Fall Out Boy,
the F(x> Fighters, and Justin
Timberlake and Timbaland.
They all held separate parties
that had different themes.
Some of the
performances that tcxik place
in the suites were delivered
to the audience in snippets.
Cee-Lo delivered a rocking
version of Prince's naughty
work is the epitome of
detail. Using nothing
but charcoal pencils.
Bishop captures simple
moments in everyday
life and recreates them
on canvas to such a
degree that they actually
seem real. There is
no line drawn on the
canvas that was not
already predetermined
by Bishop.
for population control.
Players assume the role of
John Lloyd, a lone survivor
of previous Nightwalker
attacks,as he aids his fellow
taskforce members against
the bkxxlthirsty creatures.
On Lloyd’s side,
three generic squad mates
are provided to keep the
laughable conversations
and dull story moving. A
big surprise is that these
members actually have
names, as they could have
easily been lumped into any
sidekick genre for faster
reference. Such genres
include: the silent one, the
spunky one. the one that's
adept at computers and
high-tech gear, and so on.
Once intnxluced to the
other members of the team
that become a constant
source of simple requests
and idiotic ideas throughout
the game, the game really
starts to flounder. By steal i ng
ideas from classics such as
Splinter Cell and Metal
Gear Solid and capitalizing
on none. Vampire Rain has
managed to create its own
horrific world of 3rd person
classic “Darling Nikki"
in the Foo Fighters suite;
Soulja Boy was showing
Kanye West how to "Crank
That (Soulja Boy)” dance
in West's suite. Akon song a
bit of his “Smack That" and
w *-' N ' J
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Photo courtesy of wwwjntv.com
the cameras ziximed in on
performances from Fall Out
Boy (“Thnks Fr Th Muirs”)
and the Foo Fighters (“The
Pretender”) mid-performance
in their suites.
What separates his
work from others is
size. Each drawing is
a staggering five square
feet, which Bishop
says is “too make them
confrontational and also
making them harder to
ignore.”
The scale of the
drawings makes the
on-looker double take
and at least wonder
sneak and attack gameplay.
While basic controls
for stealthily moving and
hiding throughout levels
are surprisingly responsive,
other basic ideas that
previous games have
implemented with great
success, such as shcxrting
around comers and taking
potshots, are strangely
absent. Regardless of
the obvious omissions,
controls are unfortunately
the last decent thing gamers
w ill experience in Vampire
Rain.
I'he biggest problem
with the game is its
unforgiving difficulty.
Even on normal difficulty,
the game tosses players to
the wolves, i.e. vampires,
right out of the gate where
they will be mercilessly
slaughtered countless times
in frustration. One would
think that an elite taskforce
with specialized weapons
for fighting vampires
would fare better, but once
a vampire has spotted
players, it is pretty much
game over in two swings.
And vampires will
Timberlake and
Timbaland’s , Southern
Hospitality Part) looked
like the most exciting. T. 1..
surrounded by pole dancers,
performed “Big Things
Poppin’” and 50 Cent
stopped by to perform "Ayo
Technology” withTimberlake
and Timbal and.
Kanye West’s suite
didn't lcxik too bad either.
He performed, "The Good
why this seemingly
mundane moment in
life is blown up to this
degree. When standing
directly in front of these
pieces, they take up the
admirer’s entire line
of vision, giving each
drawing nothing but
attention, which Bishop
says is very important
to him.
What is also of
spot players...over and over.
When players least suspect
it, possibly hiding behind
a dumpster and feeling
mighty secured, a pair of
horribly cheesy eyes will
flash on the screen to let the
player know that they’ve
been spotted and death
will surely ensue. Don’t
even think about running
or hiding elsewhere, as the
simplistic AI of the vampire
will not allow the enemy
to rest until he or she has
utterly dismantled John
Lloyd.
The ironic part of
the vampires’ omnipotent
clairvoyance is when a
character alludes to the
constant rain that takes
place in the game as having
a dampening effect on
vampires’ five senses. This
apparently makes it harder
for the squad to be noticed
by enemies, but b- ng
spotted 1(X) yards v
hiding behind a telej
pole isn’t my idea ol a
hindered sense of sight.
While the game tries
to do some things right,
like using the superior
Life.” with T-Pain on one of
the Palms’ (Casino Resort's)
balcony suites.
R&B star Chris Brown
performed on the main
stage. Brown gave one of the
evening's most memorable
performances. He performed
a melody of songs with
Rihanna later joining him to
do this summer's smash hit
“Umbrella”.
Alicia Keys also
performed her new single
on the main stage. But
during her performance, and
not shown to the television
audience, a fight between
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee
broke out. Diddy spoke on
camera about the scuffle, "It’s
not just the hip hop artist w ho
sometimes have problems.”
Attention soon turned
from the fight and back
to the show, when Justin
Timberlake, Nelly Furtado,
and Timbaland closed
great importance to him
is that whoever has the
pleasure of looking at
his masterpieces not
only looks, but thinks.
By titling every piece
“Untitled,” he hopes to
leave the grounds open
for interpretation.
“1 only want to offer
a hint, a clue ... and
leave the rest for the on
looker to make up his or
Itt
over the shoulder aiming
scheme, the game just can’t
execute on its own strengths
enough. Even with the
addition of a somewhat in
depth multiplayer mode,
the chances of actually
finding anyone who owns
or is playing the game are
slim to none.
Overall, Vampire
Rain is a complete and
utter failure at entertaining
players and once again
proves that adding vampires
into any form of media is
just asking for a mediocre
product to result from it. I
would say the game sucks,
but 1 think that joke is a bit
too obvious w ith the subject
matter and all. And the last
thing vampires need is more
publicity.
Watt*is l{;ttin<*
(out of 10)
the show with a melody,
including Furtado’s new
single “Do It”, Timbaland’s
single “The Way I Are". JT’s
“Love Stoned”, and all three
coming together to perform a
part of “Give it to Me”.
The night wasn't
just about drama and
performances, awards
were also given out. Justin
Timberlake wits the night’s
big winner, with four trophies,
including Male Artist of the
Year and Quadruple Threat
of the Year.
Rihanna also won big
awards that night. “Umbrella”
won her the covenant Video
of the Year Award as well as
Monster Single of the Year.
Other winners included
Fergie for Female of the Year
Award, Fall Out Boy for
Best Group, and Gym Class
Heroes for Best New Artist.
For a complete list of winners
goto wwwjntv.com.
her own minds,” Bishop
said.
This is why he
decided to title the
showing, “Reflection,”
giving every spectator
a chance to reflect as he
or she browses through
an array of drawings.
Bishop’s work is up for
display in the humanities
building until Oct. 5 in
the main gallery.