Red Faction Guerrilla (2009)

Title: Red Faction Guerrilla
Year: 2009
Red Faction Guerrilla is the third game in the series which started way back in 2001. Back then the main hype for this game was the Geo-Mod technology where when you can blow up rocks and buildings and it will create a hole as an end result. It was revolutionary back then but only worked at specific parts of the game.
The first two games were first person shooters with some vehicular combat.
This third game however, is designed as open world 3rd person shooter, made popular by the Grand Theft Auto series.

In this game, you play as Alec Mason, a new employee to the mining facility in Mars controlled by the Earth Defense Force (EDF). After his brother was killed, he vows to seek revenge by joining a group of rebels known as the Red Faction.

There will be two bars which you will need to monitor in order to progress. The first one is the EDF presence indicator. This should be lowered down to zero by accomplishing main missions and side missions which include rescuing hostages, destroying EDF property and raiding EDF bases. The second one is the morale of the people in Mars. The higher the bar, more reinforcements will help you to accomplish your mission objectives.

There are very minimal RPG elements involved in this game. Money can be earned by collecting salvage from scrap metal collected from destroyed buildings. As you progress, various weapons and armour will be unlocked for you to purchase and upgrade. Although here are the usual weapons such as Assault rifles and pistols, you will soon grow tired of it after obtaining the unique weapons such as the arc welder which shoots bolts of electricity. This can be useful for stealing vehicles without damaging it by electrocuting the driver inside first. Another unique weapon and is part of the main plot if the game is a gun which disintegrate anything it touches.

Probably the main highlight of this game is the amount of destruction that you can do to buildings and vehicles. The most common weapon that you will use in this game is the sledge hammer as it is powerful enough to destroy any building and it kills enemy soldiers instantly with one blow. Due to the top notch graphics, it will leave a smile on your face whenever you destroy a building and finally seeing it collapse. Another highlight of the game is when you get to control mechs known as walkers which is a big robot that can bring down buildings and destroying vehicles in seconds.

In short, this is one of the better GTA clones out at the moment and one of the best games of 2009. Don't miss it if you are a fan of GTA and/or science fiction.

Rating: 8/10

Pros: Stunning graphics, absorbing gameplay, bonus downloadable content included in the PC version.
Cons: Un-involving storyline, needs a powerful PC to enjoy its beautiful graphics.

Troubleshooting Tips:
1. If you are unable to save your progress even after creating an offline profile for Games for Windows Live, you will need to update Games for Windows Live.

2. To increase performance, run the game, then go to task manager (Ctrl-Alt-Delete) and under red faction set priority to low.

Movie Review: They Live

Title: They Live.
Year: 1988
Written and Directed by John Carpenter

Synopsis: They Live is a non-horror sci-fi movie about a drifter who stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses which reveals that aliens are living amongst us.

Review: While I am a fan of John Carpenter movies (Escape from New York and The Thing are my faves), this movie is not his best. Nothing really happens for the first half hour until the sunglasses were discovered. And after that the story becomes an action movie - killing any aliens he comes across.

Probably the highlight of this movie is the famous one-liner ("I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I am all out of gum") and the long fight scene between the main character and his friend. Obviously this is an excuse to show off the actor's wrestling skills. After convincing his friend, they then join forces with the resistance to destroy the signal that are masking the alien's true identity.

In short, although it is a cool concept, this movie has cult written all over it and therefore, is stricly for fans of the wrestler or John Carpenter.

Other Movies by John Carpenter:

• Pro-Life (2006)
• Cigarette Burns (2005)
• Ghosts of Mars (2001)
• Vampires (1998)
• Escape From L.A. (1996)
• Village of The Damned (1995)
• In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
• Body Bags (1993)
• Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)
• They Live (1988)
• Prince of Darkness (1987)
• Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
• Starman (1984)
• Christine (1983)
• The Thing (1982)
• Halloween II (Additional scenes) (1981)
• Escape from New York (1981)
• The Fog (1980)
• Elvis (1979)
• Someone's Watching Me (1978)
• Halloween (1978)
• Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
• Dark Star (1974)

Similar movies: Men in Black
Men in Black II

The Sci Fi Films of Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven (b.1938) is a dutch director, producer and screenwriter. So far, he has directed seven Hollywood films. Four of which are in the genre of Science Fiction. His films are notorious for excessive violence, gore and sexual content.

He has directed a total of seven films for Hollywood before returning to his homeland. His non sci-fi films include :

Flesh+Blood (1985)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Showgirls (1995)


Robocop (1987) was his first science fiction film and was a major hit when it was released. Set in the not too distant future where crime is prevalent, the film is about a cop who was brutally murdered and was saved by combining his body with a machine.

Lots of action and strong brutal violence throughout.

The 30th Anniversary DVD will be released on August 21 this year.

Followed by 2 sequels and a TV series



His next film was an even bigger success. Total Recall (1990) starred action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger and was based on a story by veteren sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick (who also wrote Blade Runner, Paycheck, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly)

It had everything: action, violence and humour. Highly recommended viewing for fans of Sci-Fi.





After the success of Starship Troopers, another attempt was made to make a movie from another famous sci-fi author.
Starship Troopers (1997) is based on a book by Robert A. Heinlein. The movie focuses on a group of close friends who sign up in the army to fight the insect aliens that have threatened earth.

Followed by a Straight to Video sequel.

Part 3 is in the works.




The 4th and final sci-fi film marks his last Hollywood entry before leaving for his homeland. Although there have been many movies about the invisible man (John Carpenter's Memoirs of an Invisible Man springs to mind, this movie is about an invisible man that became evil.

Some nice effects of the process of how he became invisible, and the ways of detecting the presence of the invisible man.

Other than that, it was an average sci-fi flick. Not one of Verhoeven's best.

StarCraft II Coming Soon

StarCraft II - The most highly anticipated real-time strategy game of all time is finally announced by Blizzard Entertainment - The only game company that has not produced a flop.

I've viewed some of the videos that were available on the Internet and they look absolutely amazing ! All three factions are here with some minor changes and some new units.

From what I can recall, the protoss seem to be as powerful as ever. They not only have shields but also gigantic units that look like they were inspired from War of the Worlds (1953, 2005) and Independence Day (1996). Terrain is no longer a barrier as the marines now are equipped with a jetpack. Lastly, the infamous Zerg rush still can be used here and to great effect.

Granted, the graphics cannot be compared with the likes of Supreme Commander (2007). But then again, Blizzard Entertainment has always been known for not pushing the boundaries of current PC hardware and that is the reason why most of its releases are popular. Judging from the graphics and level of detail, expect the system requirements to be slightly higher if not almost similar to WarCraft III (2003).

Browsing through the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) revealed something interesting:

Will there be a console version of StarCraft II?

StarCraft II is being developed for the PC. We have no current plans to bring the game to any console platform.

And you still wonder why I do not (and will not) own any gaming console(s) ?

Take That, XBox, Playstation and Wii !

Star Trek Movies

Last week, I've watched the first six movies of Star Trek on cable. I could not believe that I have not watched all of them before. How could I miss this amazing series of movies ? Most people would say that they prefer Star Wars over Star Trek but in my opinion, both films are totally different and hence cannot be compared with one another.
You've heard of the Superman curse before. But do you know there is a Star Trek curse as well? Most die-hard fans would tell you that any star trek movie that has an alternate number at the end of its title is doomed to fail whereas the ones with the even number are the most successful.
Let's take a look at why this is the case:
Star Trek - The Motion Picture (1979)
Plot: An approaching space cloud threatens earth and is up to the crew of Starship Enterprise to save the day.
Review: Here's the movie that started it all ! It has been more than 10 years since the original series ended. Some of the cast has aged quite significantly. Although it did quite well at the box-office, many felt disappointed. This movie is the longest Star Trek movie to date due to the long shots of some scenes until some die hard fans even dubbed it as Star Trek - The Slow Motion Picture. The storyline was not that interesting as well.
Trivia: Directed by Robert Wise (The Sound of Music)
Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Plot:
Review: A revenge movie set in space. Star Trek II is not only one of the best star trek movie, but also one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. The first in the trilogy.
Trivia: Directed by Mr.Spock himself, actor Leonard Nimoy.
The first movie was so bad that they initially named this movie as Star Trek : The
Star Trek III - The Search for Spock (1984)
Plot: Admiral Kirk is informed by Spock's father that Spock is still alive and must retrieve his body back in order to save him.
Review: The second in the trilogy
Trivia: Directed by Mr.Spock himself, actor Leonard Nimoy
Actor Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) plays the evil Klingon.
Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986)
Plot: An alien probe threatens earth and is up to the crew of the Starship Enterprise to save the day.
Review: You might think that the storyline about rescuing earth by picking up whales from the past sounds ridiculous, but it was and still is the most successful Star Trek movie to date. There are many reasons why this one was successful. It combines elements of time travel (which is my most favourite sci-fi theme) and for the first time, a bit of comedy was added to it. Also unique in this film is that there is no villain ! The third in the trilogy.
Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (1989)
Plot:
Review: This movie started off interestingly and then falters towards the end due to the similarity to the first movie. Have they not learned their lesson not to touch on spirituality or religion ?
Trivia: Directed by Captain Kirk himself, actor William Shatner.
Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Plot:
Review:
Trivia: Actor Christopher Plummer(The Sound of Music) plays the Klingon.
Creator Gene Roddenberry died within 48 hours after watching it.