Jack@$$: It's like 'Saw' as a comedy

This is going to be by far the most ridiculous sounding review I ever write. Not because I loved Jackass 3D, but the reason I loved it. My enjoyment did not come from the ridiculous stunts and rude humor (though they were hilarious), but for something else. I can't even believe I'm going to say this, but it was deep. This was more than just a series of short pranks and men tempting darwin. This film is comradery personified. It is an up close and intimate look at friendship through the ages.

Let me paint this on a broader canvas. Jackass initially starts as any other entry in the series (albeit in 3D). Each and every gag elicits the same reaction: They vaguely set up what is going to happen (or in some cases jump right into the gag). At this point you figure out what is going to happen before the impact or action, you cringe, gasp, then laugh. The process is almost exhausting, but a movie where you get tired from laughing? I'd call that a success of a comedy.

Throughout the film you will see these men destroy their bodies (and minds) for our entertainment. At face value it's funny, but there is something behind all this. When the movie opened Johnny Knoxville introduced it in the usual fashion. The first thing I noticed was how much older he looked. Granted, I didn't watch the show very often while it was on because I didn't have cable, I still caught it enough. Toward the end of the movie Knoxville makes a comment about doing this for 10 years, and that's when it hit me.

A decade later and these guys are still the best of friends, even though they constantly torture each other. Jackass 3D is a testament to those friendships, perhaps like the ones you had back in high school, or elementary school, or maybe it speaks to you now. That, for the most part, is what I was thinking about as the credits rolled. I thought about my best friend Jake who is now married, living in North Carolina, and working for Uncle Sam. I thought of talks about Metal Gear Solid 2 with 'nextgenps2'. My first date with my wife at Yogurt Land. Hanging out in my friends garage till 4am. All of these things came to mind because of this film, it certainly is an odd power, but Jackass 3D wields it elegantly. The credits roll to early footage of the Jackass gang, some stuff before the series even made it on TV, all to the catchy tune "Memories" by Weezer (I tried to find the version from the film, but the video below is actually the 'official' music video, not the one from the credits).

Yes, Jackass 3D is a raunchy comedy, which I usually don't buy into. Then again, raunchy comedies are almost never this good. From the very beginning you get the feeling that the cast is reuniting after some time apart, and realizing that the best times they had were together (even if they constantly need to protect their *ahem* family jewels around each other). I've never really had a friendship like that in particular (the kind that hurt each other for laughs), personally I avoid pain, but just because I never had a group of friends like that I didn't feel alienated or out of touch with the cast. These guys genuinely care about each other and that's what shines through. That is how this movie succeeds where so many others fumble, the relationships.

So there you have it. In my opinion Jackass 3D will probably be one of the best films of the year, and it seems like a fitting farewell to this cast of characters we grew up with. A decade ago these guys picked up a camera and did something stupid that ended up being funny. They stuck with that formula and it still works to this day. Now 10 years later they are older, and perhaps wiser, but with only a faint wink and nod to the camera, they don't like to show it.

They Prefer the Term "Little People": A Short Review of Munchkin

What's this? Another board game review? Thats right, only this time it's more of a card game, far more light hearted, and a bit more devious. Munchkin is essentially Dungeons and Dragons lite. It takes everything we nerds love (In the realm of swords and sorcery) and lampoons it. The point of the game is to get to Level 10 by selling treasure, fighting monsters and using cards.

The best part of munchkin is its simplicity. Despite being "Kind of like" Dungeons and Dragons, Munchkins is far easier to just pick up and play. When you start you are a Level 1 Human with no class (har har har). The only stat you have to keep track of is your strength, which is your level plus any augmenting cards you have in play. There are races like Dwarf, Human (default), Elf and Halfling (more are added with expansions). To mix things up even further there are class cards such as warrior, wizard, and thief to give new attributes and abilities.

There are two types of cards: Door cards and Treasure cards. Treasure cards have equipment on them to boost your strength, battle modifiers, and instant level ups. The turn phase starts by "Kicking down the door" (drawing a door card). This will be a monster, race, class, or curse. If it is a monster then the battle phase begins. Again, the simplicity here is what makes it great. You just add up your level and any cards you have equipped and if your overall strength is greater than the monsters you win! Of course, the flip side is that it's also very easy for your friends to stab you in the back.

"I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole, good thing I brought this!"

One of the most enjoyable aspects of Munchkin is how it encourages insubordination amongst the players. In the beginning players will cordially help each other defeat monsters for treasure. By the end, however, when everyone is level 9, people won't be quite so helpful. You see, there are only two ways to win the game, you can only level up from 9 to 10 by defeating a monster. You can't use a level up card or sell treasure. The one exception is if you have the card "Devine Intervention" in which case you must be a cleric at level 9 and draw that card to win.

Now then, back to combat. As I mentioned above if the monster is to strong you can ask a friend for help. Usually you'll make an offer, say, they get one treasure. They can accept, decline, or attempt to re-negotiate (only one treasure, but they get first pick). If you win you are able to collect the amount of Treasure cards designated on the Monster. If no one will (or can) help then you must run away, which is just rolling dice. Lose that, and you die, your fellow players will loot your body.

If you knock down the door and there is not a monster then you can either "Look for Trouble " (play a monster from your hand) or "Loot the Room" (draw a Door Card and put it in your hand).

Munchkin starts out pretty slow, but can gain momentum quite fast. It's a light hearted game and is based on strategy and deception. You'll find yourself saving the perfect curse card to stop you friend from reaching level 10. Or in my case the last time I played, the perfect combo to win the game.

As fun as it is though, it's not without its faults. The end of the game is hilariously frantic, with everyone usually reaching level 9 around the same time. Unfortunately this means that the last phase of the game is just like circling the drain. A person tries to beat a monster to reach level 10, someone uses a curse or other card to stop them. The next player will do the same and so on until you reach the point where someone is finally able to beat a monster because everyone has spent all their curses and augmentations.

Despite its flaws Munchkin is still a fantastic game. Every card is humorous and its all a bit tongue and cheek. You can really tell the makers of this game love the old pen and paper RPGs. There is also an enormous library of expansions for this game, its a bit overwhelming actually, but I can't wait to get some new cards. This is a surprisingly fun party game that anyone can pick up and enjoy, as long as they can take a friendly backstabbing every now and then, all in the name of fun of curse.

Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 5

October 31st is going to be awesome. No, not because of Halloween, the awesomeness of the night is going to be thanks to the premier of The Walking Dead TV series on AMC at 10 pm. I cannot wait for this. I've read every single press snippet and watched every clip available. I stood in awe of the extended trailer at Comic Con. Honestly, this is the only reason I would want to have TV right now (which I don't, and won't).

While reading one of the press releases I came across an interesting bit of information. Robert Kirkman was interviewed and was talking about how he loves helping with the TV show because he can write for characters he loved, favorites of his, that have been dead for a long time. He proceeded to name two characters, the first I won't spoil (yet… duh) but the second caught me off guard. The second character he named as a favorite was… The Governor.

To understand my distaste for those words and this character read on. Volume 5 here we come.

Volume 5 opens, as you may recall from my last review, where I felt volume 4 should have ended. Well to be exact we open to Rick and Dale checking out cell block A and chatting about the gas generator they found. It is decided that the gas required to run the generator should come from the cars outside the gates in the prison parking lot. Apparently none of them ever played Left for Dead because they clearly have no idea that turning on the generator will alert the horde.

Glenn pops up with some riot suits and they decide to put them to the test while they run the gauntlet. While getting the gas they see something that either probably never thought they would see again, a helicopter (perfect spot for a cliff hanger if you ask me…). This part always made me think of Reign of Fire. Just that amazement to see something, anything, in the air. The panel is brought down by the ridiculous angle, however, because Adlard can't draw from a low point. The image is set low, looking up at the two characters with their eyes on the sky, it just looks silly.

Rick and Glenn rush back to the prison, get a car and head to the area that the helicopter appeared to go down in. Of course, to add a little tension Rick forgot to tell his wife he was leaving. Just as they're about to leave Michonne shows up and tags along. They make it to the crash site and make the unsettling discovery that someone else had come and claimed the occupants of the whirly bird.

Instead of regrouping back at the prison Rick decides to fight the daylight and head in the direction of the footprints they found around the crash site. This eventually leads them to the "Last little town on earth" Woodbury. The town seems nice enough at first, Rick and his crew get saved from a zombie attack then taken on a nickel tour by "the governor", a self appointed leader who took charge after all heck broke loose with the zombies and all.

The Governor explains why Woodbury is special and how he takes his title as sort of a joke. He then shows our three heroes a gladiator style arena where two men fight while surrounded by zombies, which they call 'biters'. A part that really bothered me was that he said they hadn't had any new people in months, except for the couple in the helicopter. Then just a page later he explains that the zombies in the gladiator arenas used to bite more until they started feeding them, and of course when asked what they feed the biters the governor replies "well stranger, we feed them strangers." Little continuity please? seriously it was a page earlier that he said there hadn't been a stranger for months. Why would he lie and then instantly tell the truth? Did they literally just start feeding them that night, starting with the people from the helicopter?

Really it was all just a set up because then you find out that the friendly exterior of the Governor and his welcoming nature was all a clever ruse! Turns out he's pants on head stupid EVIL. He is absolutely beyond a trace of humanity psycho. The Governor proceeds to grill Rick, Glenn and Michonne about where they are from. Getting no response from Rick he does the civil thing and cuts off his right hand. Let me run that past you again, the main character of this epic, long running zombies series just lost his right hand, and this ain't Star Wars, he's not getting it back. Michonne gets pissed and bites off old Gov's ear and then everybody gets upset.

Rick awakes in a makeshift clinic and we meet a friendly doctor and a friendly nurse. Here we learn that most people in Woodbury aren't naive and that they actually know how crazy the Governor and his evil henchmen (because obviously he has to have evil henchmen) are. Glenn, in the mean time, was keeping busy by passing out at the sight of blood and soiling himself. Michonne really got the short end of the stick though (no pun intended…. honestly that would be horrifying…) because mr. sunshine and smiles himself decides to torture her into talking.

While all this craziness is going on back at the prison people are worried and no one shows this more than Laurie who is once again livid with her husband. Carl, her son, reasons with her and tells her not to worry and Carol just keeps being crazy (if you remember in the last volume she wanted to marry Rick and Laurie).

Meanwhile, back at Woodbury, Rick is told that Glenn was let loose so he would run back to the prison. The Governor boasts that he knows all about the prison and that Glenn will lead them right to it. Obviously nubby McNohand is terrified at the idea that the governor will find his wife, son and friends. The last few pages are of a person in a riot gear suit running toward the tall gates of the prison. The person, as it turns out, is actually Tyreese and not Glenn. Ty had gone looking for them.

The very last panel of the book is a full page in which we see the Gov talking about how soon they will find the prison. Basically if it went on one more page we'd be treated to a long maniacal laugh. It's not a great cliff hanger but it gets the job done. Although after I endured all the stupid that was Woodbury I have to admit the main reason I went after Volume 6 was because I wanted to see the Governor die.

I hate the character of the Governor because he's such a shallow stereotype. Of course the only person to rise to power would be a complete psycho and of course there a gaggle of crazies that will support him no matter what. He keeps severed heads in his apartment, has a zombie daughter he (probably) abused, and cuts off limbs on a whim. Also he's immortal, but I'll get to that in future volumes. I honestly can't believe he was one of Kirkmans favorite characters (and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who really like him). I just can't stand how simple and two dimensional he is. Even though he appears over the course of 5 volumes his character is never expanded on. We just have to buy that he's evil and crazy and take it at face value.

Although brought down by the presence of the Governor volume 5 is relatively good, though I do find it a bit weak. Zombies are not in this book as often as I'd like but that's not really my complaint. This issue tries almost to hard to be edgy. Rick doesn't answer a question, first thing he does is cut off his hand, it's stupid, nonsensical, and not the least bit tactical (which they try later to convince us the Governor is tactically minded). Then to "up the ante" Kirkman throws in Michonne being tortured and raped. It's not edgy or artistic, it's just stupid and makes ol Gov out to be so over the top evil there's no coming back. I mean honestly, they might as well have elected the devil to run the town.

Still, even with the somewhat stagnent Volume 5, brighter days are ahead for The Walking Dead, although not before another heapin helpin of the Governor. So next time we'll devour volume 6 where we find out how stupid the Governor is, how pissed Michonne can get, and that doctors are idiots. Stay Tuned.

Dead or Alive 2 and The Plight of Fighting Games

Dead or alive 2 stands as a testament to my experience with the Dreamcast. I didn't have a lot of games but I can honestly see why the 14 year old me loved this one so much. It's easy to pick up and feel like an expert, the gameplay is fast and frantic, it felt very Japanese (no English V/O), and the character design… well… I was a teenage boy at the time…

DOA 2 to this day is a fun and fluid fighter. The system is a very simple punch/kick/counter which I enjoy greatly. I haven't played a Dead or Alive games since this, which is surprising considering how much I liked it. DOA 2 Hardcore came out on the PS2 and I wouldn't mind picking it up now, but back then I couldn't justify $50 for a game I already had. Then there was the sad story that DOA 3 was an xbox exclusive…

The fighters are all varied and each technique has a slight learning curve. I tend toward the faster, lighter characters like Kasumi. One thing I liked as a kid was that the difficulty is mild for a fighter. I managed to beat the single player "campaign" in about 10 minutes, and that includes the fairly difficult final boss who will block and/or counter every move you throw at him. I believe my fastest run through was somewhere around 5 minutes. It's a 3D fighter so you have full movement and this game relished in that freedom. The counter system is absolutely fantastic and even a noob like me was able to time my blocks to quickly snag an opponents leg and lay down a counter.

The "story" in DOA 2 is laughable at best. Some of this can probably be blamed on bad translations for the subtitles. There are sometimes brief cutscenes before a fight in which the two combatants interact, say something non-sensical, then fight. Relationships are established in just a few sentences without any prerequisites to hilarious results. For instance, a girl is fighting a girl:

Girl A (Player): "Gasp! Girl B!"

Girl B: "you were always better than me"

Girl A: "no!"

Girl B: "Not Anymore!"

Fight Ensues

Or this gem

Girl A (Player): "Boy A!"

Boy A: "Do I know you?"

Girl A: "Aren't you my Brother?"

Boy A: shrugs

Fight Ensues

These scraps of story elements just don't suffice. Granted, this is how fighting games tend to be, I've played some that still manage to squeeze in some story. Even "Evil Zone" had better dialogue then DOA 2… that's just sad. Luckily the gameplay of DOA2 is fun enough to save it and make it a wholly worth while title to invest some time in.

"Profoundly Immoral Zone" would have worked too

Dead or Alive 2 will always have a special place in my because it is one of the few fighters I actually invested some time into. I don't seem to get into fighter games very often and the genre is somewhat foreign to me (*ahem* mostly because I suck). I tend to agree with Yahtzee in his opinion that its pretty mind numbing to know you would have to practice a game day in and day out for years on end learning every characters subtle nuances just to be able to not get beat by a person banging the controller against their forehead.

My friend pointed out that the same four people have consistently been the world champions of games like Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter and so on, so obviously Yahtzee was wrong in his opinion of fighting games. My friend both proves and disproves Yahtzee's point. Yes you can be good enough to beat anyone, but you have to put in such an ungodly amount of time playing as every character learning every move to get that good.

The video above is a prime example of Pwning at a fighting game. The player using Ken, Daigo (also known as the beast) is able to press back at precisely the right time on each impact to perform a perfect block. It's incredible to behold. Needing to obtaining this level of skill isn't a flaw in how fighting games are made, but it is their plight. People just aren't that hardcore (read: Obsessive Compulsive), that's why only 4 people are consistently world champions.

I think it's the idea of the genre that appeals to me. Fighting games are very much like a real fight. It's not just about what you do, but what your opponent does. Unfortunately I've never found the time or patience to invest in a good fighting game and I highly doubt I ever will. Plus, I have been burned by the genre before, I'm looking at you Super Smash Brothers Brawl. That said, I still love fighters and I will keep playing them. I won't ever be as good as Daigo, but I still think it's a fun genre and I only harp on it out of love. I suppose I need to make a Mid Years resolution to just play fighting games more. I plan on getting Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 when that comes out, and BlazBlu: Continuum Shift is on my wishlist. I won't spend hours and hours mastering my technique, but a little friendly competition every now and then is nice, perhaps determining who does the dishes that night.

Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 4

Here we are again, back to the world of the living dead in the 4th installment of Robert Kirkman's Zombie magnum opus. With the cliff hanger ending of volume 3 I couldn't wait to tear into the 4th volume, and I'm sure you're anxious too! So here we go, grab your gun, axe, or blunt object!

As you probably recall volume 3 ended with our main man Rick about to floss with some buck shot. Of course Kirkman being the coy devil he is starts out volume 4 with a character we've never even seen before wandering around with two zombies (sans arms and jaws) chained to her. We eventually learn that this is Michonne, a slightly crazy katana wielding seductress who wholly and completely kicks butt. Now, I say slightly crazy because she is no where near pants on head stupid but… well we'll get to why she's a bit unbalanced.

So Michonne has been walking around looking for a safe place to stay when she stumbles upon Otis, on his way from Hershal's farm to the prison. She saves Otis and they start heading to the prison. Cut to Rick talking to Dexter, he asks him where he got the shotguns and Dexter does a mini monologue about Andrew sneaking into the riot gear room that he didn't tell Rick about in Cell Block A blah blah blah then BAM Zombies. See, cell block A had not been cleared, so Andrew (the druggy) had unwittingly released all heck upon them.

Everyone takes to arms and starts killing the Roamers when Rick notices one is about to go all Solid Snake and stealth kill Dexter. Being the upstanding chap he is Rick shoots the zombie and Dexter says something about how that "doesn't change anything, a smart man would have let it get me". Rick glares at him, then continues killing the mindless hoards. When they are just about finished Rick, being the upstanding chap he is shoots Dexter in the head and blames it on friendly fire "someone must have accidentally hit him"

This little display was not noticed by anyone, save Tyreese who basically just shrugs it off as a necessary evil, which it was. The thing is this came literally moments after the You Kill You Die rule Rick handed down (though this is covered at the end of the volume). Volume 4 really starts beating Rick to the ground mentally, but I'll get to that later. Andrew, not wanting to face any of the people he betrayed simply runs out of the prison and into the wild. Patricia, the role model of responsibility who tried to release Thomas now hangs her head in shame AGAIN because she apparently helped Andrew and Dexter… wow… and they let her stay.

Life seems to start settling down a bit and eventually they decide its time to search a bit more of the prison, and since cell block A was just recently flushed, they figure that's a good place to start. Alan, who we have hardly heard from AT ALL randomly appears and is eager to help. Several characters add some exposition saying that he's been doing much better lately (if you can't recall, his wife died and he couldn't take care of his own two kids he was so grief stricken) that he's been much happier and lively, and is only one day away from retirement… ohwaitohnooooo!

Yes, just like Kirkman did with Alans wife he tried to make the character likable and human just moments before a zombie munches his ankle. Again this was another silly attack. Alan gets spooked by a zombie and has to take a breather right outside a dark open door way. While standing there in this abandoned cell block he can't manage to hear the sound of a zombie not walking, but pulling itself out of the room because it has no legs. So yes, he gets bitten.

Alan is rushed out of Cell Block A and is starting to panic. In his panic he says that he can feel himself becoming one of them. Rick says that's not how it works and then he realizes that it really isn't. The bite only kills you, it doesn't turn you. So Rick decides the best thing to do is cut off his leg under the knee. Everyone begs him not to do it but he does anyway.

The rest of this volume is just a bunch of drama and arguments. Basically Tyreese cheats on Carol with Michonne and Carol sees it happen so she breaks up with him then slits her wrists in front of her daughter. Rick goes to tell Tyreese about it and walks in on him just as Michonne throws down a surprise kiss. At this point the main attraction starts.

In one corner you have Rick, who is seriously starting to lose it, and in the other corner you have Tyreese, who is also about to lose it. Rick starts yelling at him about how it's his fault if Carol dies. He continues with this winner, that Ty actually likes all the death. Yeah, wow, he brings up how he killed Julia's boyfriend and now his girlfriend. Tyreese responds in kind by telling Rick that he has lost it and that HE is the one who likes killing, and that's why he shot Dexter and "mutilated" Alan.

The war of words turns into fisticuffs and Rick passes out and falls a full story onto his back (but says Ty pushed him). He wakes up after more than a day of being unconscious to find Carol who thanks him for defending her by kissing him right on the lips! Rick tells her to cool, then Dale comes in to lay down the facts.

Basically the screaming fit that Rick put on showed everyone that maybe he wasn't so suited to be the leader, so they formed a comity of four (Rick, Dale, Tyreese, and Hershal) to make the decisions. No women you say? Thats the way the women folk wanted it, Dale explains (pardon my lol). Ol' Rick takes it like a champ, goes out to the field to apologize to everyone and then… yells some more... yeah... He spews a bunch of stuff about how everyone is crazy because that's the requirement of the world they live in and that things will never be the same. At this point the statement about "you kill you die" was retracted and supplemented with "you kill you live". The issue ends with Rick echoing the words "We are the walking dead…"

So that's Volume 4, honestly I both like and dislike this issue. It shakes up the normal formula and gives us something (relatively) new. All the drama now is internal, this is all from the permanent cast, though honestly as you'll find out the word permanent means little to Kirkman. The drama was nice but at times goes a bit over the top. Rick seems to go completely insane by the end, he goes from reasonable to lunatic in a few pages. Also there's the fact that this was certainly not a cliffhanger. I didn't feel the urge to run out and pick up volume 5 because of 4's resolution. I knew Kirkman would keep things interesting but the end just didn't have that Lost factor when the credits roll and you're left saying what!? In my mind all I could think of was the next issue being about whether or not anyone would really ever trust Rick again. Lame.

Personally I think the best way to end this issue would have been with *spoiler incoming* a helicopter haphazardly flying over the prison or in the distance. That would have been an awesome dramatic conclusion and make Rick rethink what he just said about nothing ever being the same… oh that and it happens within the first half of the next book. Speaking of which, I'll get on to Volume 5 next time, and the introduction of one of my least favorite characters. So till next time Govn'a.

And Now Time For Something Completely Different: Board Games

As an excuse to grow our nerd powers Jeremy and I have recently taken to having (read: attempting) a weekly board game night. Powers beyond and perhaps a bit of nostalgia have made us do it, so lets get to it. As a prelude I just want to let you know that I am not usually an avid board game player. As a young lad I would play Mouse Trap and Clue and so on, but I never got into D&D (which I honestly don't know why). I've done a handfull of card games (no pun intended), even made a Warhammer rip-off called Paper Craft (which was awesome, holla at me Jake), but for pen and paper RPGs and other types I am severely new. So don't expect any technical terms or critical thought patterns, this is based on sheer fun factor.

The first game we played was Zombies!!! Yes, that's Zombies!!! with three exclamation marks. Why? because… Science!!! and marketing. This is a 2-6 (possibly more) player game in which you make the board. Every turn phase begins with the player drawing a map tile. These map tiles have 9 squares, most of which your character can move to. Some map tiles have buildings on them, these buildings contain a specific number of life tokens, ammo tokens, and zombies(!!!).

This round of Zombies!!! included myself, Jeremy, and my wife Leeanne. We played two rounds, the first a short one, and the second full length. The mechanics of the game are fairly simple: You draw a map tile, roll the movement dice, find a zombie, land on the same square and enter combat. As far as combat goes you roll the dice in an attempt to hit a number above 3. You roll a 4,5,6 you win. If you roll a 1,2, or 3 you have two choices: You can use bullet tokens to make up the difference, or you can use a life token for a re-roll. Basically your life tokens are your… life. If you run out of those you're done.

The goal of the game is to either collect 25 zombies (by killing them) or survive until someone draws the helipad tile. This tile, when drawn, is placed anywhere by the player with the fewest zombies. Survivors race to the center of this tile to make it out alive.

To augment the game there are cards with certain conditions and attributes. Some help you in a pinch, others are just there to screw the other players over. Of the two games we played (one being a short round…(ha)) we didn't use the cards all that much, save for some devious zombie planting by me. I could tell though that this wasn't because they were ancillary, we were just finding our feet with the game, after all, it was the first time any of us had played it.

The game starts off pretty casual and really only gains steam once there are several tiles and tons of zombies. It gets downright hectic when the helipad tile gets played, because then it's essentially a mad dash. Zombies!!! has had many, many expansions and I plan on getting a few. It's one of those games that gets better the more people you have playing it. With just the first kit there is a limit to how big your city can get, but with the expansions it can get absolutely huge.

While I agree with Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame that a Video Game must be able to stand on single player alone, I believe it is the opposite with board games. Honestly in this medium it is all about who you play with. I had good friends with me so I had a great time. Zombies!!! is a fairly simple board/card game hybrid, it's easy to pick up and play. You'll get a lot of laughs and a lot of friendly punches after you pull a mean move to block a friend from reaching the helipad. It's staying up on my game shelf, and I suggest you add it to yours.

Running Review of The Walking Dead: Volume 3

Well, I'm finally back at it with TWD. So buckle in, it's time to drive through the zombie rampant pages of Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars. Or as I like to call it Volume 3: Send in the clowns.

Of course we start here with our rag tag group heading into the prison yard to start the clean up. They make quick work of the lurkers and set up a perimeter. The next day they get into the prison to wipe out some more of the undead when a wrench is thrown in their day, a door that is handcuffed shut. Rick and Tyrese exchange some campy dialouge to sell kirkmans clever ruse "oh what do you think we'll find behind this door Tyrese" "You trollin? More zombies duhzerz" They fling wide the mess hall doors to find four perfectly alive men sitting there nonchalantly eating and digesting.

I know it may sound like I'm being a bit harsh on this scene but honestly I love it. This is what TWD is all about, these situations that build to tension and drama. The men are all very polite and offer food to the new visitors, but there is a bit of a mix up. The men think Rick and his crew are a rescue team, and Rick being the ignorant small town bumpkin he is thinks the guys are prison guards… In prisoner jump suits (granted, there would be any number of reasons to want to change clothes). When the truth comes out the prisoners are disappointed and the regular cast is terrified.

This sets up a great scenario: what do you do? There is this prison that is a terrific spot to start a new more permanent life, but there were some other guys there first, namely; a drug addict (now clean), a thief (armed robbery), a tax evader (right…), and a murderer. They all seem like sane normal fellows, but this is a zombie-apocalypse, and you are never very far away from someone who is pants on head stupid.

We get our first glimpse of this with Tyrese's daughter Julie and her boyfriend whats-his-face. I touched on this in my last TWD review, this part is like nails on a chalkboard for me. While earlier in this very issue the teenage wunderkin (the boyfriend) had expressed an angsty anger and want to be a more crucial part of the team he and Julie decide the best way to achieve this is by mutual support, hard work and suicide. Yes, they bump uglies then shoot each other, well, he shoots her. They were supposed to pull the trigger at the same time but he was a bit… premature.

Tyrese is the first to arrive on the scene followed by Rick then… no one, curiously. After hearing a single gun shot in the middle of the first night in the prison with hardened criminals inside and zombies outside no one else thought to get out of bed!? Just the wind? Tyrese holds his daughters body then kills stupid McTardo boyfriend. The interesting realization they have after this encounter is that despite not being bitten Julie still turns into a zombie.

This is actually where the title of the series comes from. Rick realizes that the zombie bite only kills you, that no matter what, they're all infected. They are all the walking dead. It manages to feel heavy even though the cynic in me said "well duh" you can really feel how hard this hits Rick.

This shocker sends Rick on an epic journey to take care of some "unfinished business" and while he was gone nothing bad happened… oh wait…

So after they had found the prison Rick decided to go back and collect Hershal and his farming family fun factory. Hershal and his crew move to the prison and he is still recovering from his loss of children, when he finds out his little twin girls have been decapitated. Of course the big black prisoner who earlier confessed to being in prison for murder is shoved in a cell and locked up, and nothing else bad happens while Rick is gone… oh wait.

So Rick finally reaches his destination, the outskirts of Atlanta, where he digs up, talks to, then shoots Shane (who was a zombie, duh). Then proceeds to walk away in bad@$$ fashion saying he's "Not going to bury you again you s.o.b.". Totally awesome, keep the change ya filthy animal moment. While this is going on the surprisingly not disturbed after the death of his daughter and his own subsequent murdering of her boyfriend, Tyrese suggests they clear out the gym. Basically they get overwhelmed and Ty is left for dead. Cool beans.

So this is what Rick comes back to: the two youngest girls of the guy he just brought here swearing up and down that is was safe, were killed by someone, and Tyrese, his trusty number 2 was thought dead. Well as I'm sure you figured out Tyrese was not dead, just chillin in the gym with all the zombies he killed. The twins that were decapitated, however, were dead.

That night Andrea has a discussion with the fuzzy old man Dale, her lover… yeah… and there is a bit more foreshadowing. Dale mentions to her how the prison might not be so safe and so worth the effort. That there might be a group of crazy survivors that want it more. Food for thought, to be sure.

Cut to the next day, Andrea is taking care of laundry when in walks Thomas, he was the inmate convicted of tax evasion. Turns out he was also in there for being a little lier because he pulls out a knife and proceeds to try to fillet the poor girl while shouting things like "die b*tch" and "you disgusting wh*re". Their fight stumbles out into the court ward where Rick realizes who the real killer is then proceeds to BEAT HIS FACE TILL HE BREAKS HIS HAND. I'm not exaggerating, I cannot believe how messed up his hand was after this, bones splintering out and everything.

Rick lets him live (for now) and declares that if you kill, you die (see, he won't be alive for long). Most everyone agrees except Rick's wife Laurie, who is militantly opposed to everything he does at this point. Patricia, one of Hershal's bunch decides that Thomas was a cool guy and sets him loose, of course he instantly goes into rage mode and tries to strangle her spouting the same wh*re and b*tch stuff. Unfortunately for Darwinism Patricia survives as she is saved by Maggie (Hershal's daughter that Glenn is… ahem… with) who washes out Thomas' dirty mouth with a judicial application of hot led.

Everything starts to settle down at this point, and it looks like smooth sailing and no cliff hanger… but then! Dexter, the man they wrongfully imprisoned, accused of murder, and released without so much as a "my bad" had his druggy buddy sneak to the riot room and stock up on some guns and body armor. So the Volume ends with Rick at the business end of a shotgun and Dexter telling them they have to leave. Now.

All in all I liked this volume, it had some really great characterization for Rick, you see him reach this breaking point, and honestly you think he's hit rock bottom. Laurie just got annoying, even saying at one point she hates her husband (talk about projecting your guilt lady). True, there are several pants on head stupid moments, but at least they lead to some hard and heavy conclusions (they're all infected, you kill you die).

My only major gripes were with the teenage suicide (so they could be together forever... ugh) and the way that Thomas was written. He attacks any woman who comes within earshot, but doesn't seemed bothered by them at first? He controls his clearly uncontrollable rage? He would have sooner gone to an asylum for the criminally deranged then a prison. Honestly he was just a poorly written character and luckily only has to be put up with for a handful of panels. This issue follows the traditional format of pay-off, build tension, then end on a cliff hanger. It works well and the story continues to engross. Lets see how our survivors fare in Volume 4.

Blog Update!

Just a little update on what projects I have going:

1. I have all my comics unpacked so that means back to my running review of The Walking Dead. I'm about half way through Volume 3 so I should finish that tonight and get a review in ASAP.

2. The amount of time I have for gaming is sparse and split between playing Borderlands, watching my wife play Dragon Age, and playing those random games I just get the urge to pick up. That said, I have chosen the first Dreamcast game I will review: Dead or Alive 2. I picked it mostly because it is short, and I have little time to spare. I'm kind of taking my time with it because I want to grab another Dreamcast controller for some 2 player action.

3. I decided to step into some brave new territory and review some of the board games my friends and I have been playing. Namely Zombies!!! and Acquire. Those should be up soon as well.

4. I'm taking my time on the article about used games and market saturation because it's extremely opinion heavy. This is because my view on market saturation comes from my unique outlook at gaming. This is related to number 5.

5. My Half.com wish list is almost 10 pages. That is almost 200 games across almost all systems, movies, comics, and manga. Basically: This blog has cannon fodder for years.

6. I just realized I am reviewing Comics, Movies, Video Games, Board Games, and doing Industry Commentary. I'm like Spoony, Extra Credits, and 3/4 of the folks on That Guy With the Glasses all rolled up in to one. Sometimes it's hard to be this awesome.

7. This blog might just turn into a vlog, fully produced videos with my good friend Jeremy and perhaps some guest stars. Stay tuned!

8. One last thing, thank you to all my faithful readers! I know there is only a handful of you right now, but when I become internet famous you will all have the privilege to be condescending to the n()()b fans because "you were here first" ;D Here's to many more intellectual discussions and senseless ramblings!

Only Slightly Delayed: Force Unleashed Review

Sometime during this week I found something quite unexpected: Free time. Of course most of the free time was spent unpacking boxes and cleaning the apartment but in the end I was left with a little bit of free free time. I used this to my nerdy advantage, sat down, and finally finished the Force Unleashed. So as a break from all the heavy articles I've been throwing down (get ready for one about Used Games and Market Saturation!) here comes another Mediocre Game review.

The Force Unleashed was released in 2008 to dwindling fan-fare and many average reviews. The game takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope in the grand scheme of things. The story revolves around Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Mareck, but known as Starkiller (Don't make fun of the nickname, its a reference that you should have gotten) and his quest to wipe out the remaining Jedi and be Vader's best buddy. Just a heads up, I'll be talking a bit about the story and I will, at a point, spoil the heck out of it. I will warn you, but this is a warning… for the warning.

The gameplay is action with a bit of RPG-Lite thrown in. Basically you run around hacking at countless hordes and blasting them with your force skills. This in turn gives you experience to level up, at which point you get to round out your character. Combat boils down to button mashing and some Quick Time Events. For me this was fun, but I'm sure there are those of you who's eyes might start to glaze over, Devil May Cry this is not. So all in all the combat works well enough, though the controls seem a bit slippery at times. It's the type of game where if you fall it seems like you are almost instantly on the ground, as though you were being pushed down. This can make for some slightly frustrating platforming sections, but they are few and far between.

Graphically the game gets the job done. I was playing this on the PS3 so I didn't have to deal with the smudgy textures of the Wii/PS2 versions (though they have extra levels apparently). The different worlds look unique, and there is the occasional (though rare) sweeping vista. In the end it looks and feels like the Star Wars universe, so that's good enough for me. I'm certainly not one to harp on graphics.

The real gem of this game is the story. No, it's not going to win any awards (though ironically it did, WGA for Best Writing), but it's pretty darn good (if a bit predictable). There are so many terrific Expanded Universe tales, I hope more can eventually make it to movie or game form. Starkiller's saga starts with him being taken as a child after Vader ices his old man. This is where you mentally insert a sweet Sith training montage because in the next scene he's all grown up and ready to kick butt. In the next paragraph I'm going to touch on some spoilers.

Warning, brace for spoiler. The thing I really liked about the story, as cheesy as this will sound, was its stance on love. In Attack of the Clones (and basically the entire prequel trilogy) we have it shoved down our throats that Jedi cannot fall in love. Then we are given an example of what happens when they do with Anikan. Basically all hell breaks loose because he fell in love and the moral of Revenge of the Sith was Love = Bad. Well I like Jedi's, I think they're righteous dudes, but I also like love. In Force Unleashed at the end we find out that it was actually Starkillers love for his pilot, Juno Eclipse, that redeemed him. He then goes on to start, then kind of betray, then save the Alliance, this was awesome. I just liked the contrast of the two stories. In Revenge of the Sith Annie violently lashes out because of love. In Force Unleashed, Starkiller is redeemed because of love.

/spoilers

So there you have it. Force Unleashed was delayed during development and you can feel it with its technical issues and wonky camera, but it is no where near unplayable. The story makes up for its short comings and is one of my personal favorites in the Expanded Universe. For only $10 - $15 it's not to much of a stretch to pick this one up. The sequel was announced a while back and looks like a good time. Plus they just announced that you can unlock a Guybrush Threepwood costume! I am so in. Just imagine if they re-recorded the voice track too! You fight like a scruffy looking nerve herder, you cad!

This is not fake or Shopped! I cannot wait!