Long Time No See

It has been quite a while since I last posted anything…. Approximately 4 and a half months actually.  I would say my absence came from a mixture of both school and just plain laziness.  Whatever the case may be, I am back…. BACK WITH A VENGEANCE.

Okay, maybe not that intense.
Looking to the future in gaming, UFC Undisputed looks to be the next hyped game coming out tomorrow.  I have mixed feeling about it, but am hoping for the best.  I would love it if this game sets the bar for fighting games because I have been waiting for the UFC to make a video game, and this is a great opportunity to attract more fans to their company.  If everything goes well, I will get this tomorrow and HOPEFULLY post a review soon thereafter.

In terms of TV, my beloved Prison Break is over for good.  As sad as I am to see this, I think it was a good thing for the series.  It seemed that the crew was running out of ideas in my opinion.  Prison Break is one of the shows that I will never forget.  From the amazingly elaborate escape from Fox River in the first season, to the ultimate takedown of the Company, I will truly miss watching Michael, Lincoln, T-Bag, Sucre, etc. etc.  They did an amazing job and I thank them for all the thrills they have provided.

As well as my EXPECTED UFC review, I also hope to blog a little on how the video game industry has been shaping out so far through these hard times in this country.  I have been fascinated with the level of intricacy that the industry has been going through.  Also, I will help set a little timeline so to speak of the most anticipated games of 2009.  It should be an exciting year for video games.

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, a new hint has come from Konami.  Konami, as some of you may know, is the company in charge of the Metal Gear Solid series.  Head on over to             http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/next/?ref=koji_pro_e         to get an indication on what is to come.  An MGS5 possibly???? We shall see.  Until then, we must wait in anticipation.

Well, that’s all folks.  I hope to get back to you soon.

Prison Break: Quiet Riot

Prison Break brought with this episode some more of that nail biting anticipation that only Prison Break can bring.  Knowing that they were going to finally break into the Company’s building and retrieve Scylla, I couldn’t wait for the episode to unfold.  And it delivered.

The makers really showed that they were really coming back with this one because at the very beginning it showed Sucre and Mahone starting the break in.  They drilled a very small hole and stuck a camera in to help them with their later insurgence.

Also, Michael at the start agreed to get the operation needed from the doctor.  The first half of the episode you could really feel that Michael didn’t really want to.  So it ultimately led him to just go with the break in and risk the death.

Gretchen, on the other hand, was trying to suck up to the General to get the 6th and final card.  In the process, the General knew what she was trying to do.  He spared her life, but told her he never wanted to see her again.

T Bag was being his own self, or rather his “own” self.  His speech from last week helped GATE, the company he is working for, a lot of money.  In return, he was offered a cruise for the week and lots of money as well.  He was forced to not accept because of the plan.  Feng also reappeared, trying to help Gretchen get Scylla.  Feng waited for the desk lady at GATE and Self, the two working together, to arrive at the trap that T Bag constructed.  They were obtained, and considered not a problem.

All of that led to the break in of Scylla.  They couldn’t make much noise, couldn’t give off to much body heat, and couldn’t hit the lasers that separated them from the huge glass box Scylla was in.  In the end, they were able to get through, along with a few close calls, and the episode ends with Michael touching Scylla.  When this happened, the General was alerted by his cell phone and saw Michael and ordered everyone to head down.

“Quiet Riot” really brought back that intensity that I loved in the old Prison Break episodes.  They gave you incentive to watch through the whole episode while anticipating the next.  Next week’s episode will be a big make or break one that will determine the rest of the season.  I have faith that it will be great, but stay tuned.

SCORE: 9.1

Prison Break: The Legend

This week’s episode kicks off with the crew and Don Self arguing what is going to happen with Bellick’s body.  All of them, especially Sucre, agree that the body should go to his mother’s.  Throughout the whole episode there are little flashbacks from people’s perspectives of Bellick.  It was a nice touch, even more so when Sucre spilled the beans that Bellick had helped him get out of Sona prison.  That detail helped a little considering the last season ended so abruptly because of the writer’s strike.

From there, Gretchen stays true to her word and gives the rest of the blueprints to Scofield.  She also tells him that the Company is moving Scylla tomorrow.  They deceifer some letters on the map to make the name David Blaker.  At the same time, the company is trying to get to Blaker to help them move Scylla to Pennsylvania.

Mahone goes to find Blaker and figure out what the map symbols mean, but Blaker isn’t ready to just give him the information.  After much questioning, Mahone tries to relate to Blaker with how the Company used him too.  When they are concluding their conversation, the Company arrives and Mahone narrowly escapes.  Blaker’s wife meets him on the road and gives him the blueprints and takes off.

During all of this, Sucre and Lincoln go down to the basement to figure out the next step.  They get to a solid wall and Sucre steps on a tripmine.  The whole time he is just standing there waiting for help which is a little realistic but it wasn’t too bad.  Mahone saves the day by getting there just in time to show them the switch to turn it off.  This interested me though because the box was right in front of them and they didn’t see it.  Make you wonder….  But they do figure out that Scylla is behind that wall, but it has sensors all over.

T Bag keeps up his alternate persona while making a speech for the guy investigating the murder from last episode.  This was cool because it was based on Bellick and showed T Bag’s nicer side.  And T Bag finds out that the front desk girl is working with Don Self.  This doesn’t make much sense, but I’m guessing they will elaborate next week.

Also, Michael and Sara went to the doctor with their fake ID’s to check out Michael’s malignant tumor.  They find out that he needs to get surgery the next day or have the risk of death.

Finishing this episode off, Self brings Bellick’s body for them to say goodbye.  They put Bellick’s old badge in the coffin and the episode concludes.

Overall, this episode was pretty well done.  I really liked how the episode could still do good, even without Michael at the center of everything.  Next week’s episode is shaping up to be very good.  How will they get through the wall?  When they do, how will they avoid the sensors?  Hopefully they answer all of this and more next week.

SCORE: 8.8/10

Prison Break: Greatness Achieved

The new episode of Prison Break had a lot to live up to, especially after the last one.  But overall, I did not think that this one delivered, and the title “greatness achieved”is definitely not applicable here.

This episode starts off with Lincoln beating up Wyatt, trying to get him to call the General and tell him that the brothers were dead.  Of course since Wyatt is with the Company, he is used to all of this abuse and he doesn’t make the call.  They then send Sarah in to interrogate him which doesn’t make much sense at the time, but it does when the plot progresses.

In the meantime, Michael, Lincoln, Bellick, and Sucre all go into the tunnel and search for Scylla, whatever that is.  This is probably the least satisfying part of the episode.  All of their journey is to get through the water pipe to get to the other side.  This, of course, take a long time and in the process Michael gets one of his nose bleeds, indicating he is getting the malignant tumor like his mother.  None of this really drove home with me, and the fact that Sucre got shot last episode and he was still doing all of the work was quite unrealistic.

T Bag helped save this episode, as much as you could that is.  The police came, investigating the disappearance of his co-worker.  T Bag does some pretty smooth talking and ends up framing him with the paperwork that was his initially.  All in all, T Bag places his fake persona’s suspicious paperwork on the co-worker and gets away once again.  Oh T Bag.

Gretchen also meets up with the General, acting like she wants to stay loyal to him, but her true motives are not clear yet.

Also, Mahone gets the revenge that he was looking for.  He tortures Wyatt with a needle, which is another kind of unrealistic in my opinion, but then again I’m not one to question torture tactics.  He make Wyatt apologize to Mahone’s wife, and then he drowns Wyatt in the ocean.  This is one of my major complaints.  I really thought that Wyatt was going to be a big part down the line, but that is ruined now.

Going back to the pipe work, Bellick kills himself to keep the pipe in place.  R.I.P. Bellick, you were a great character throughout all of Prison Break, and you will be sorely missed.

So this episode, in my opinion, let me down.  It seemed that there would be a lot of answers, but Wyatt died, who could have been a good character, Bellick died, and Sucre doing all that work with a gunshot wound, yeah right.   The only things that saved it was T Bag’s acting and Mahone’s revenge. I really hope that next weeks episode comes back with a bang, and solves some questions.

Score: 7.8/10

Long Absence

I apologize for my long absence of late.  I am back now and in about an hour will bring you a full review of the brand new Prison Break.  In addition, if all goes well, the Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2 reviews will be posted by at least saturday.  Just to let you know, with one person reviewing all of these games it gets quite difficult, but I will do my best.

I also would like to post something on my thoughts of the new Halo 3 ranking system and how it is working out.  I have a lot of experience with the new system, so I will give you an in depth look later on.

Prison Break: The Price

I will be assuming that all of you who are reading this have seen the previous episodes and seasons of Prison Break and I will start with this episode.

Starting this one off, Michael and the crew are trying to figure out a plan to copy the final card, which ultimately leads to taking down the company which has haunted them for so long.  They fail at their attempt because one of their own, Roland.  He tells the antagonist crazy guy who is hunting for the brothers at any cost, Wyatt.  Wyatt just misses them but shoots Sucre in the side in the process.

After they all get back to the warehouse, Sara treats Sucre’s wound, and later meets up with Gretchen to “settle things.”  Before she meets her though, Gretchen is given the opportunity to help Feng.  Feng offers her 125 million dollars for Scylla, which Gretchen reveals isn’t just a little black book.  When she meets with Sara, Sara has the opportunity to inflict punishment for what happened to her, but only makes Gretchen suffer minor injuries.

In the end, and the biggest part of the whole episode, Wyatt is seen talking with the General who says that Wyatt’s life depends on finding the brothers.  Wyatt seeks help from Roland and kills him in the process.  But all the rest of the gang jump Wyatt and the episode ends with Michael talking with Roland in his final moments.

Overall, this episode was quite intense but also gave more questions.  What is the full extent to Scylla, how are T-Bag and Gretchen going to coexist with the main group, and what is going to happen to Wyatt now that he is captured?  I think this was a great episode and is now making you feel a little more for Wyatt as a character. Prison Break is getting back into the loop and is really impressing me lately.

Score: 9.4/10

P.S. The next episode won’t be airing until November, I believe, because of the World Series taking place.

Confirmation

It is confirmed now that I will be attending MLG Las Vegas, the National Championship.  It should be a great event and I will post on each days games.  Triggers Down, who won the Dallas Playoffs, is looking to maintain their dominance, while Str8 Rippin will try to keep their number 1 spot.  Str8 is still in first place even though they lost last event, but Triggers Down is close behind them with 2nd overall.  No one should count out teams like Instinct, Final Boss, and Classic though.  They are still in the running and nothing would be more satisfying for a team to win Nationals and that $100,000.

That’s all for now, but stay tuned because tonight there will be the first official review of the new  Prison Break.

Announcements

For all of you out there who are fans of Bioshock, me included, Bioshock 2 is in the making.  If you purchase the PS3 version and beat it on any difficulty, you will get a special trailer to the sequel Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams.

On a lighter note, Little Big Planet has been pushed back about a month for its release.  This is a disappointment in my opinion, but I can wait.

Also, tomorrow a new Prison Break episode will be airing at 8pm pacific on Fox and i will post a review of each episode from here on out.  I was never a fan of the show Heroes, but I found a blog with a pretty funny review of the new season. Go check it out here: http://scifidad.wordpress.com/

That’s all for now, but I will be back tomorrow with an in depth review of the new Prison Break.