Review – Angelica Wallingford

New Spider-Man video game impresses

Coming off the massive hits at the box office, the folks at Marvel decided to dust off the controller and team up with Insomniac Games and Sony PlayStation to revisit the world of gaming. What could have been an insufferable, generic superhero gaming experience was made into an immersive, nearly flawless game that’s sure to be the textbook superhero game for years to come.

At face value, “Spider-Man” feels like just another chapter in the epic of Peter Parker’s life. Donning his signature blue and red suit, you weave through the streets of New York stopping villains and saving civilians from harm.

What the player gets is an immersive experience that just doesn’t compete with any one of the myriad of “Spider-Man” games, or even films, that have been released over the past two decades.

Where this games succeeds the most, and what most of the games and films in the series failed to do, was capture the essence of what it is to be Spider-Man. It takes off the proverbial spider mask and shows the iconic superhero for who he truly is: a guy trying to balance his life out and do the right thing. On one hand he’s a tough crime fighter taking down New York’s criminal elite; on the other he’s dealing with things that everyone struggles with: love, family, career and mortality.

The game starts with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, equipped with his signature sassy comebacks and a popular social media account, taking selfies at death-defying heights and mingling with the people of New York, all while keeping the city safe. His day job is working as an assistant for Dr. Otto Octavius, a scientist experiencing a fall from grace due to immense jealousy and guilt from his former friendship with Mayor Norman Osborn.

Other well-known characters from the franchise’s past include Peter’s beloved aunt May, former-Daily-Bugle-editor-turned-conspiracy-theorist-radio-host J. Jonah Jameson and Parker’s love interest Mary Jane Watson, who’s a reporter with a penchant for getting caught in Spider-Man’s web of enemies.

The boss fights are something to behold. They don’t feel like a series of standard ones from past video games. It feels like an actual fight, not a series of code that reacts to a particular attack. While the first major boss fight, featuring an angry and charging Kingpin, was a generic combat tutorial at best, the rest bring an atypical experience, which highlights the game’s fluid combat system.

The momentum doesn’t stop when you move from the fan favorite villains to common street criminals. The way the player moves from villain to villain is an excellent exhibition of flawless fluidity that the game captures so well. This style of combat feels more at home in “Spider-Man” than it did in another stellar superhero gaming classic, “Arkham Knight.” While Batman is just as idolized as Spider-Man, the parkour laced combat moves feel more at home with Spidey than they do with the Dark Knight.

The inclusion of Mr. Negative is a welcome surprise and interesting turn from the usual selection of Spider-Man’s cavalcade of villains. In this incarnation, Mr. Negative, AKA Martin Li, is aiming to take over Kingpin’s territory and using the deadly Devil’s Breath virus to do it. While our web-slinging hero stops him, the effects the virus leaves has consequences felt throughout the rest of the game concluding with an epic rooftop fight against Spider-Man’s mentor-turned-madman Otto Octavius, now known as Doctor Octopus.

Aside from the main missions, sleuthing with MJ and the next incarnation of Spidey, Miles Morales provides a refreshing break from beating up bad guys. Another high point is stripping off the iconic spider suit and playing as Peter Parker, the scientist. The mini games include gene splicing, chemical arrangement and circuit puzzles that range from absurdly easy to so difficult you’re practically close to throwing your controller across the room.

Where the game falls flat, is when it comes to innovating the open-world format. “Spider-Man” utilizes age-old tropes and while they are familiar to anyone who has played any open-world game, they become repetitive fast. The side missions could become monotonous after a while, but they don’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the game.

However, while the open world doesn’t provide any groundbreaking features, it’s the perfect medium to highlight the stellar web-swinging. It’s your main mode of transportation and it’s the best way to navigate from mission to mission around the vast landscape and tall buildings.

Despite its few shortcomings, “Spider-Man” succeeds in providing an in-depth story which immerses the player in every aspect of Peter Parker’s world.. With the fluid combat system, multitude of mission and stellar graphics, this game is well worth picking up the controller for a few hours and swinging through the city.

Originally published in the Daily Aztec in September 2018.

GAMING REVIEW: ‘Sonic Forces’ brings a new twist to an old classic

Following the events of the 16-bit masterpiece “Sonic Mania,” SEGA and Sonic Team have bounced back from a slew of epic 3D failures with “Sonic Forces,” a fun, action packed, multi-console platformer that is one of the best Sonic the Hedgehog games that has been released in recent years.

The plot of “Sonic Forces” sounds like it comes straight from a Sonic fanboy’s fanfiction. After a plethora of attempts the hilariously evil Dr. Eggman has finally taken over the world and it’s up to the resistance, led surprisingly by Knuckles, everyone’s favorite endangered echidna, to stop them and bring peace to the world. Sounds like a somewhat typical “Sonic” game right?

Not necessarily.

The one element “Forces” brings that is unlike other games in the franchise is that Sonic and pals are helped out by a very unusual and unexpected character–you.

The introduction to the player’s custom character, aptly named the Rookie, is rather interesting. After playing through the first level of the game Sonic is captured by Dr. Eggman and his ruthless regime of antagonists from games past, along with new resident bad guy Infinite. Resident tech geek Miles “Tails” Prower tells the rest of the resistance that a new member is joining and that’s when the player is taken to the customization screen.

Adding “you” as the third playable character was a bit of a hit-and-miss. While it’s great that SEGA added this element to the game, at times it feels as if it’s just playing as an off-brand third-world knockoff of Sonic blasting through stages with various accessories. The accessories, called “Wispons,” can make the original character overpowered, which takes the Rookie and turns them into the overpowered MVP of the entire game.

Along with the same ragtag group of fan favorites of games past in the resistance, Classic Sonic comes from his dimension to aid them in their hour of need. For most of the game users play as Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic and the Rookie and face-off against villains that include Zavok from “Sonic Lost World,” masked newcomer Infinite, and perhaps the most unsuccessfully hilarious video game villain of all time, Dr. Eggman.

Then we get to what was one of the biggest teases in the game that sort of delivers: Shadow the Hedgehog. What makes Shadow such a great character, especially in “Forces,” is that players actually get a backstory. The free downloadable content, titled “Episode Shadow,” acts as a prequel for “Forces,” letting the “you” play through three stages of storyline that adds some context to the game.

Ironically, “Episode Shadow” actually provides players with more of a challenge than “Forces” does. Even though the downloadable content is somewhat harder to play than the main game, it’s really fun, especially since this is the first time in several years that the fan favorite has been a playable character in a “Sonic” game.

A highlight of the game is that players get an introduction to “Forces” main antagonist, Infinite, and see what became of Shadow’s closest, albeit reluctant, comrades Rouge the Bat and robot E-123 Omega.

One of the biggest flaws of “Forces” is that there is no epic Shadow vs. Sonic boss fight. Instead players get Shadow defeating a clone of himself that Dr. Eggman created to aid in his world domination. It’s not the worst thing in the world but if SEGA and Sonic Team were going to tease this battle-for-the-ages boss fight then they should have delivered.

The levels are gorgeous to look at. The vibrantly colored Green Hill Zone that was once filled with flora and fauna is now reduced to sand dunes and crumbling structures, which was a nice break from the norm. However, after playing title after title with Green Hill Zone as the first level, it’s time for a shake up from the usual nostalgia and have something a little different to kick off the game.

Most of the stages, including the beautifully designed Metropolis, flow seamlessly from the standard Sonic 2D side scrolling to 3D without making the transition awkward.

Initially, the gameplay is relatively short if players just doing the bare minimum of simply completing the game. However, the addition of SOS missions, daily missions and the thrill of getting trophies, or achievements on XBOX and PC, makes “Forces” prime for long-term replayability, especially after players complete the main storyline.

Completing daily missions is also a great way to get more accessories to deck out one’s custom character to give them more power-ups and generally make them look as cool as possible.

The mechanics of the games are straightforward: complete the stages, 37 total, as fast as one possibly can, pick up rings along the way and defeat the enemies. It’s that simple.

Taking one’s time with stages is fine if the player is new to the series or are obsessively trying to 100 percent the game, but it’s a Sonic the Hedgehog game—the objective is to complete the stage as fast as possible.

His theme song has the lyrics “fastest thing alive” for a reason. An awesome bonus is that depending on how fast one completes a stage, they get ranked with players from all around the world to see how they stack up to other fans playing the game.

Another difference from other titles in the series is that the rings, which are normally used to help players not die during stages, are used as a means to boost one’s score as well as serve the function of not losing a life.

What that means is there is technically no system for how many lives you have with this game and that there is no “game over.” Players can technically can keep playing a stage until they beat it or gather all of the bonuses, although it will affect one’s ending score in a negative light and turn what would have been an S-rank to a C-rank in just a matter of seconds.

Each level has recommended Wispons, items that correspond to various colorful alien power-up from “Sonic Colors,” to use for that particular stage. Its basic function is to help the player find an alternate route, collect rings and other non-essential items. However, even though the Wispons are there for the players use, they are not essential to complete the stage.

Although the game is really fun, it can be heavily automated and repetitive at times. At its core “Sonic Forces” is just like any other “Sonic” game.

Players finish stages, beat down bad guys, collect rings and, spoiler alert, defeat the “A for effort” antagonist Dr. Eggman and Infinite to save what remains of the world from complete destruction. There is also the issue of the stages being really short. There are certain stages where players can really get sucked in, only for it to end a few short moments later.

The boss fights are also hit and miss. With the exception of Zavok and Infinite boss fights the rest of them, particularly the ones with Dr. Eggman, feel somewhat repetitive and like players are rehashing a boss fight from a previous game rather than providing the gamers with a new experience. Then there’s also the issue of not fighting fan favorite villains like Chaos from “Sonic Adventure” or Shadow, which was heavily teased before the game’s release.

Despite “Forces” being just another “Sonic” game, it’s a really entertaining and enjoyable experience that both hardcore Sonic fans and non-Sonic fans would appreciate.

Is it perfect? No, far from it, but it does give players hours upon hours of mind numbing enjoyment that Sonic Team has been lacking with previous titles.

The story, gameplay, soundtrack and characters provide gamers with a visually dynamic and amusing experience that can extend way beyond the main storyline and provide gamers with endless hours of fun.

Originally published in The Daily Aztec in November 2017.

Square Enix drops a game-changer with ‘Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix’

Oh, nostalgia. So long are the days where controllers had wires extending to the console and games weren’t running in high definition. Sometimes gamers yearn for a little nostalgia every now and then. “Kingdom Heart 2.5 HD Remix” is the perfect remedy for any gamer wanting that feeling without having to dust off the old Playstation 2 and all while taking advantage of the glorious HD consoles we have today.

Square Enix’s final mix of the fan favorite series is the perfect blend of the dark undertones of the “Final Fantasy” universe and the colorful world of Disney — all in pristine high definition with added cut scenes, redone musical scores and brand new boss fights that keep players on their toes.

“Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMix” is broken up into two games — “Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix” and “Birth by Sleep Final Mix” and exclusive high definition cut scenes from the Nintendo DS game “Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.” The final mix versions of both “Kingdom Hearts 2” and “Birth by Sleep” were never released outside of Japan — until now — and it was the best decision that game director Tetsuya Nomura and the folks at Square Enix ever made.

“Kingdom Hearts 2” has always been a really good roleplaying game (RPG) that has always stood the test of time. “Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix” doesn’t fall short to its predecessor and when played on HD consoles like the PS3 or PS4 enhances the experience.

Taking place one year of years after the events of the first “Kingdom Hearts” game, “Kingdom Hearts 2” sees main characters Sora, Donald and Goofy reunited after Sora awakens from basically a coma. This time around the trio are on a mission to find King Mickey and Sora’s best friend Riku, who, after the events of the first game, are both wandering in the Realm of Darkness.

The twists and turns start right as the player begins the game. Instead of playing as the fan favorite and main character Sora, the player starts out playing as a new character named Roxas. There’s more than meets the eye with Roxas, as everything and everyone is not what they seem. The connection between Roxas and Sora runs deeper than just being able to wield the keyblade, which makes playing through the introduction a very interesting — albeit long — experience.

Traveling from one Disney-themed world to another on Chip n’ Dale’s Gummi Ship, Sora and company reunite with characters such as Beast from “Beauty and the Beast” and a grown-up Simba from “The Lion King” from Disney and Leon and Yuffie from the “Final Fantasy” universe.

The mixture of characters may not look good on paper but the roles each one takes on in their respective worlds give Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy an advantage when fighting off enemies and leveling the characters up.

Fighting off enemies such as the Maleficent-controlled Heartless from the first “Kingdom Hearts” game and the newly introduced Nobodies is child’s play compared to the games main antagonists — the infamous Organization XIII. Made up of 13 incredibly powerful Nobodies, the organization members serve as the boss fights for the different worlds in the game.

During specific boss fights if the player’s health gets down to zero then the player has the chance to play as King Mickey and wield the Kingdom Key D, the keyblade of the Realm of Darkness. This moment is one of the few times that dying in a game can actually give you an advantage.

The reason why “Kingdom Hearts 2” is such a timeless play through is that there is a ton of replay ability opportunities including going and collecting items, leveling up to 99 and challenging optional bosses like the ever menacing sephiroth. The “Final Mix” takes that to the next level, especially with the newly added critical mode, which can test even the most veteran of players.

A really cool bonus for fans of the longtime series is two exclusive HD cut scenes from the highly anticipated “Kingdom Hearts 3,” rumored to be released next year.

With the count down to “Kingdom Hearts 3” already in full force, gamers can get both their nostalgic and “Kingdom Hearts” fix by turning on the Playstation and playing through “Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix.” After all, a little nostalgia every now and then never hurt anybody.

Originally published in City Times, December 2014.

‘Great Gatsby’ soundtrack brings a modern twist to the 1920’s

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year then you should know about Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel “The Great Gatsby.” The film has been out in theaters for about two weeks and has been getting mixed reviews. The soundtrack, however? I guarantee it’s one of the best film soundtracks you will hear this year.

Development for “The Great Gatsby” had been going on for years. The idea of turning it into a Broadway play had even been tossed around, and in 2008 it was confirmed that Baz Luhrmann would be taking over as director. However, when it came to the soundtrack Luhrmann turned to his go-to composer Craig Armstrong and executive music supervisor Anton Monsted. Jay Z signed on as the co-executive producer and spent two years working with Luhrmann and his team to put out one of the best soundtracks that has been used in a Baz Luhrmann film.

The soundtrack as a whole is amazing. The producers managed to address the themes of decadence, love and excess that are in the story. Musically, the album is all over the place. It’s the music of the roaring 20’s with a modern twist. Elements of hip-hop, rock, electronic dance music; jazz and swing are blended together in a way that doesn’t make it sound cheesy or forced together.

One standout track on the album is “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey. Her vocals are haunting and emotional. The music has a somber sound to it that matches certain scenes in the film perfectly. Another thing that I liked about this song was that the instrumentation was simple and how the instruments were layered in the song. Overall, this song was a perfect fit for the film and one of the best songs on the soundtrack.

I’ll admit “Young and Beautiful” surprised me because I’m not a big Lana Del Rey fan. I thought that her last two releases were boring and frankly, her whole “daddy, hold me, pale, moonlight, Pepsi cola” thing didn’t really reel me in. However, if her next release is anything like “Young and Beautiful” then she will definitely have a place in my iTunes library.

Another standout track is “Over the Love” by Florence + the Machine. This song was written from the perspective of Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby’s longtime crush. There are also mentions of certain things in the novel like the green light that appears on a dock outside of Daisy’s house and the yellow dress she wears. Musically, this song is a baroque pop ballad with hints of soul, which matches Florence Welch’s voice perfectly. The vocals on this song are powerful and emotional. The lyrics were beautifully written and really capture Daisy’s struggle between Gatsby and her husband, Tom. This song was a hit overall and one of the best songs on the soundtrack.

But of course, with the good always come the bad and this soundtrack only really had one thing that was wrong with it. That thing is the Andre 3000 and Beyoncé cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” This cover is just wrong on almost all levels. It is hands down the worst song on the album and the worst song that Beyoncé has ever been a part of.

“Back to Black” doesn’t need a down tempo EDM wobble, chopped and screwed beats, and weird vocal arrangements. I understand that they wanted this song to be emotional and reimagine it in a unique way but it just did not work in their favor. Instead, they turned one of Amy Winehouse’s best songs into a pile of emotionless EDM crap.

All the producers would have needed to do was slow down the tempo, slightly rearrange the music and let Beyoncé do her thing without Andre 3000. I can almost guarantee that if the producers did that they would have had one of the best songs on the soundtrack and not have the travesty that is on millions of iPods across the country.

All that being said, this was an excellent soundtrack. Baz Luhrmann has an awesome gift of picking out songs that perfectly fit his movies. Just like the songs from his “Romeo + Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge!” soundtracks, the songs on “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack perfectly enhances the story rather than take away from it. If you were to get any soundtrack from the summer movie season, then I highly recommend this one. You won’t be disappointed.

For even more tracks, check out the deluxe version of the soundtrack which includes an orchestral version of “Young and Beautiful,” a remix of “Over the Love” by SBTRKT and dialogue from the film; including one of Tobey Maguire reciting his lines over a brilliant instrumental.

“The Great Gatsby” is in theaters everywhere and the standard and deluxe versions of the soundtrack are available on iTunes.

Originally published in City Times, May 2013.

‘Kawaii’ metal goes viral

When most people think of typical Japanese pop music they think of cute outfits and sugary sweet pop songs. At first glance, BABYMETAL fits that description perfectly. Then you put on their debut, self-titled album and boy, are you in for a surprise. The group’s sound is unlike anything you’ve ever heard, in the best possible way.

Not only has BABYMETAL been gaining worldwide recognition through their music videos on YouTube but they have even been featured on the Internet clip show “RightThis Minute” on CNN’s sister network HLN. They are also the youngest group to grace the stage at the world famous Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo.

BABYMETAL is made up of vocalists Su-metal, Moaetal, Yuimetal – real names Suzuka Nakamoto, Moa Kikuchi and Yui Mizuno respectively — and their supporting band Full Metal Band. The group started off a sub unit of the popular idol group Sakura Gakuin but quickly rose up as one of Japan’s best new artists.

The album is a mixture of varying genres including pop, rock, heavy metal, electronic dance music, industrial and symphonic death metal. On paper there is no way that these genres can work together and have it sound good. BABYMETAL mixes these genres to create a unique genre of their own, called “kawaii metal” or cute metal.

“Megitsune” (translation: female fox or vixen) is undoubtedly the best song on the album. It perfectly captures the aesthetic that is BABYMETAL, a killer mix of high-energy idol pop music and melodic power metal. Lyrically, it’s an analogy between the Japanese folklore that surround women in society today.

“The song relates women and foxes. People think that foxes deceive or disguise. People also think that women wear makeup to disguise themselves and people think ill of foxes as they disguise themselves,” said lead singer Su Metal in an interview on the Japanese TV show “Hot Wave.”

The vocals are another major focal point. It’s not everyday that you find a young vocalist like Su-metal with a strong vocal range. Her vocals combined with Moametal and Yuimetal’s idol vocal style and the growls and screams from the backing band make for an interesting listening experience.

The flow from track to track is seamless. Each song has its own unique sound, changing from genre to genre in an instant giving the listener a whole new experience with each passing song.

Highlights on the album include the cute hip-hop influenced “Ii ne!!,” the dark and heavy intro to the album “BABYMETAL DEATH,” the upbeat synth pop driven “Doki Doki Morning,” the high energy power pop influenced “Headbanger” and the melodic album closer “Ijime, Dame, Zettai.”

BABYMETAL’s self-titled debut is a testament of just how far you take music and experiment with it. Metal is versatile; it isn’t just brutal, hard in-your-face rhythms and melodic guitar riffs. It can be cute, fun and youthful too.

Originally published in City Times, March 2014.

‘How do you define American?’

The fourteenth annual San Diego Asian Film Festival concluded with the sold out screening of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, filmmaker and Define American founder Jose Antonio Vargas’ powerful emotionally charged documentary “Documented.”

The film tells Vargas’ journey from being brought to America from the Philippines at age 12, finding out he didn’t have the proper documentation during a DMV visit at age 16 and his struggle to reconnect with his mother who he hasn’t seen in 20 years.

The film also documents the moment that he decided to reveal is status as an undocumented American in June 2011 in an essay for the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

“I’m done running.” Vargas wrote. “I’m exhausted. I don’t want that life anymore. So I’ve decided to come forward, own up to what I’ve done, and tell my story to the best of my recollection.”

Vargas’ reconnection with his mother is also a poignant point throughout the film. He tells stories about his life with his mother before he came to the states and shares how he felt when he realized that their lives were vastly different from each other.

“I remember calling mama and saying I won the spelling bee and mama didn’t really know what that was. I think at that point I kind of realized we were living in two different worlds.” Vargas said in the trailer for the film. “So when I found out that I didn’t have the right papers, that I was actually here in America illegally, I had to create a different system of reality in which she was never a factor. I mean we haven’t seen each other in almost 20 years.”

Bsides the gripping and emotional reconnection with his family in the Philippines, one of the major issues that the film discusses is immigration stereotypes In the beginning of the film Vargas talks to students at his old high school and asks them what they think of when think of an immigrant. The immediate response was a Latino labor or field worker.

“People think that this [immigration] is a Latino and brown issue and we need to broaden that.” Said Vargas at a Q&A; for the film. “We need to preach beyond the choir.”

According to statistics from the Pew Research Center there are 11.7 million undocumented persons residing in the Unites States. Out of those 11.7 million undocumented persons only 52 percent of them came from Mexico. The other 48 percent come from places all over the world.

“Documented” succeeds in giving a new face for the immigration reform fight. It’s no longer just the Latino field and labor worker stereotypes that have been embedded into the mind of Americans. No, it’s much bigger then that. It’s students, doctors, lawyers, service workers, journalists, entrepreneurs and many more from places all across the globe.

This documentary is the perfect example of how film can transcend politics, breakdown stereotypes and tell the stories of real people. “Documented” is going to make you laugh and cry at times. It’s also guaranteed to make you think. As the curtains close and the credits roll the film begs the question: how do you define American?

Originally published in City Times, December 2013.