Review: Dead Space

Developer: Visceral Games

Publisher: EA

Platform: PS3

Game Completion: ~11hrs

     Here's a game I had been avoiding for some time. To me, everything I had seen about it seemed to scream "GENERIC ACTION/HORROR SPACE SHOOTER" and thusly I treated it with a fair amount of indifference. That is, until a co-worker showed up with it one day, basically thrust it into my hands and said "play this, you won't regret it". For anyone who has played Dead Space, needless to say, he was totally right.  

You tend to listen to video game suggestions when you work in a place like this....

Review: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

     Back in the good old Playstation one days, I remember watching the prerendered cg cut scenes for certain games and thinking "man, wouldn't it be fucking amazing, if one day, games actually looked this good while you were actively playing them, like playing a movie?". Obviously, with the advancement of video game technology, this has been achieved by a fair amount of games at this point. The main difference between those games and Uncharted 2, however, is that many of those games only allow the player to pull of those amazing movie-like action scenes through some sort of trick, where the player, while technically controlling the game, is really only following a pattern of pre-set button prompts that appear on the screen (otherwise known as "quick time events"). Somehow, Uncharted 2 found a way to deliver that same level of blockbuster movie style action almost perfectly, all while allowing the player full control. 

Yeah, see that there, that's actual game play...actual. fucking. game play.

Review: Donkey Kong Country Returns

       It's been a long time coming, but Donkey Kong Country is back and in very fine form. An update of the best selling Super Nintendo games, DKCR is all about old school platforming insanity, and the guys over at Retro Studios clearly have a great appreciation and fondness for the source material. Aside from a curiously absent King K. Rool and his Kremlings (the enemies and main baddie from the originals), this game does a fantastic job of recreating the look and feel of the 1990's titles. The overall aesthetic is pitch perfect; the music is sensational and even the extreme level of difficulty has returned...trust me, this game does not pander to today's somewhat coddled gamers.

Trust me, this monkey does not fuck around...

"M's Watchability Rating"

That is a picture of a cat playing XBox. You're welcome. Now with that out of the way. I'd lake to take a moment to explain a particular rating you'll see appearing in select reviews around here. Occasionally, underneath my standard rating for a game, an extra stat labeled "M's Watchability Rating" will be present. Since my girlfriend Melissa has something wrong in her head that makes her not only patient enough to sit there and watch me play video games, it also causes her to actually REQUEST that I do so (yeah, I know....my girlfriend > your girlfriend). Seeing as how many of the games I'll be reviewing in here I will have actually played through with trusty Melissa by my side, I decided that I might as well have her throw in her 2 cents as well. Essentially, her mini review is that of the spectator; not so much taking into account game mechanics as much as her experience in watching it, as one would a film (speaking of which, make sure to check out her blog HollywoodHeldResponsible also). To all normal girlfriends out there who despise video games, you should think of it as a meter of how much you'll be able to tolerate the next game your significant other makes you suffer through!!  That is all...you may carry on...and much thanks, babe ;)

"We only have enough love for two, Craig!!!"

Review: God of War III

Title: God of War III

Developer: SCEA Santa Monica Studios

Platform: PS3

Throughout the God of War series, players have been tasked with guiding Kratos through his rage fueled tale of vengeance, destroying any of the gods of Greek mythology who stand in his path. In God of War 3, the supposed true "end" to the main series, director Stig Asmussen has upped the ante over the previous games in almost every department. The graphics, brutality, boss battles, gore, fighting mechanics and action have all been raised to near-perfection and really show off what the PS3 is truly capable of.

Never before have throat danglies looked so beautiful in a video game.

Budget Button Pressers: "NORRLAND"

Title: Norrland
Creator: Cactus (Jonatan Söderström)
Platform: PC
Price: Free

"This seems neat, the whole retro thing has been done to death, but this is kinda cool....just exit the house or whatever...what the...wait a minute...what the fuck is going...well okay if I press that and then those I can reload for some reason...okay, he's gotta take a shit, he is out in the forest after all...wait how do I...okay I get it but what's with the blood...okay this is getting a bit too pretentious, but maybe there's something to it..." These are some of the thoughts that ran through my head during the first few minutes of Norrland. It is extremely avant garde in its own right, yet at the same time, appears to be poking fun at avant garde gaming (a genre which, even in my extensive experience, I have rarely encountered). The ColecoVision level graphics are beautifully executed (even when seeping drops of urine onto what I assume were ants), the atmosphere compelling and the silent film style narration brilliant. Though I'm not entirely sure what creator Soderstrom was trying to achieve or what message, if any, he was trying to get across.
The game follows a lone man making his way through the woods with his trusty rifle and a healthy heaping of bizarre (not to mention, hugely NSFW) minigames which are encountered everytime our hero either has a bodily function that needs tending to, or enters a dream state. I won't go into detailing these segments as I believe this is a game best left to be explored by each individual for himself; every person who plays this game will come away feeling something different (with the sole conjecture of at least one "what the fuck?" moment unifying all who play it). Regardless of what Norrland is supposed to exist as, I feel that every gamer (especially any of those interested in the indie scene) owes it to himself to experience this obtuse little piece of pixelated befuddlement.
Generally I would, at this point in my diatribe, attribute the game a solid "yea" or "nay" and go about the tried and true practice of divvying out a "blah" out of "blah" for graphics, replayability, etc. In the case of Norrland, however, I'll end with a simple "take 20 minutes out of your day and PLAY THIS GAME through"...ya might love it, ya might hate it, ya might give up on it and curse me for suggesting it to you. One thing ya will most likely say, though, is that you've never played anything quite like it. Get it HERE.

***HINT***
Though I won't give away the controls (the game itself purposefully provides no instructions) I will tell you that you do NOT need to use the mouse, only the keyboard keys. I won't say which, as part of the experience is just figuring it out for yourself...just don't give up...you'll find the right keys if ya try hard enough....

Press start to continue...

Greetings and welcome to Filtered Pixels!!! Here you will find all the mish-mashed video game musings that I allow to fall from my mind onto my keyboard and finally fill the electronic glow of your computer screen (or screens, if anyone other than my loving girlfriend decides to devote their time to this nonsense). With this blog, I am proud to be the VERY first person on the entirety of the World Wide Web (or Information Superhighway, as the kids call it these days) to provide video game news, reviews, previews and whatever else I deem fit to publish (e.g. pictures of animals I hope one day to possess or consume), all through the discerning eye of Forrest Thompson. "Who is Forrest Thompson, and why do I care?" you may ask yourself and the answer to that question is "NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS!!! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, ASKING A QUESTION LIKE THAT?!?! HE DIDN'T DO NOTHIN' TO NOBODY, JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE ALREADY, CHRIST ALMIGHTY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!!" So...now that we're all acquainted, let's sit back, relax and enjoy my insanely intelligent and well informed blog of all that I hold dear in this world: Video Games (except, of course, the sole reader of this blog: Captain Girlfriend).