This post is full of major spoilers, read at your own risk.
So I just got back from seeing this flick, and I have to admit - it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. It was impressive in many ways, and I thought it really tied everything together well while also providing a bit of fan service to followers of the series like myself. The casting was brilliant, including the likes of Michael Ironside as the resistance commander, and of course the gruff, nearly unintelligible voice of Batman makes an appearance as Christian Bale assumes the role of resistance leader John Connor. I feel like nearly all of the parts were well cast, the only real disappointment in this area was that Common didn't have more screen time.
The action was fast and furious...pardon the pun, but this is one aspect of the film that kind of bugged me. Don't get me wrong, the special effects were downright incredible, but at times I felt like the director was playing to the adolescent male XTREEEEMMME crowd with over the top stunts and ridiculous chase scenes. Some of the terminator motorcycle stuff could have been cut out completely and I think the film would have been better for it, but oh well. For the most part the action scenes were very well done.
As a fan of the Terminator series since the first film in the early 1980's, I think that Salvation did the series justice and most importantly sets the stage for even more Terminator movies in the hopefully near future. Since I'm tired of writing sentences, here are some bullet points of things I liked and disliked about the movie:
Things that were the shit:
Special Effects - possibly some of the best I've seen in film to date
Sound - perfect in every way, guns and explosions sound real and are ear-piercingly loud
Costumes - someone spent a lot of time creating costumes for the characters in this film, and it shows. Excellent.
Casting - as I said above, utterly brilliant.
Story - Fantastic. Lots of tie-ins to the previous two Terminator movies, including gems like showing how John Connor got his scar and the origins of the first cybernetic Terminator.
The appearance of quasi-Arnold in his nude T800 glory.
I think the Guns n Roses song from T2: Judgment Day made a reappearance in Salvation, although I haven't seen T2 in awhile so I can't be sure.
Things that were bullshit:
"Xtreme" stunts that seemed more suited to the next The Fast and The Furious sequel than a Terminator flick.
Forced lines from past movies "Come with me if you want to live" and such that just made me roll my eyes and really ruined the immersion factor.
Some parts of the story seemed awfully obvious...like the fact that Marcus Wright turns out to be a Terminator. They really buried the lead with this one.
The PG-13 rating. This movie should have been R through and through...I wanted to see Terminators ripping bodies apart and smashing heads, not just tossing dudes around into random walls and what not.
That's about it. 5/5 Stars, I will be seeing this in theaters again soon, probably later today.
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I stopped into the Subway on Kearny today for a delicious BMT on wheat for lunch, and I happened to overhear the dude in front of me ordering his sandwich. Jalapeno on sourdough. That's it...no mustard, no other veggies, just jalapenos piled high on a foot long sourdough roll. He paid his $5 and was on his way.
I was dumbfounded. I like me some jalapenos on my sandwiches, but damn. I'm thinking it had to be for a practical joke or something, but you never really know, I guess.
What is the most disgusting sandwich you have ever seen someone eat or order at a restaurant?
Thanks to Atheistium for writing such a great review! We're going to be featuring a different user review every few days or so, but we need your help. If you come across a particularly well-written user review for a game, please send a PM to a moderator and we'll consider it for being featured. We don't even mind if you want to recommend your own work if you think it's worthy of being on the home page. Initially, we would like to feature reviews for current games that Giant Bomb may not have gotten around to, but reviews for any game will be considered.
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For the next few days, Giant Bomb user Temperance will have his excellent review of Legacy of Ys: Books I & II for the Nintendo DS featured on the front page. At any time, just go to the front page of GB and scroll all the way down to the bottom to see the current featured review.
We're going to be featuring a different user review every few days or so, but we need your help. If you come across a particularly well-written user review for a game, please send a PM to a moderator and we'll consider it for being featured. We don't even mind if you want to recommend your own review if you think it's worthy of being on the home page! Initially, we would like to feature reviews for current games that Giant Bomb may not have gotten around to, but reviews for any game will be considered.
Thanks to Temperance for a well-written and informative review! 11 Comments
(you have to say this sentence out loud in a 1940's olde tyme radio announcer voice...ok, read on)
You have all encountered this online, both in ranked matches and player matches - Ken. Lots and lots of people using Ken. Some are more skilled than others, but most are dragon punch-spamming noobs. The intent of this thread is to compile some strategies for new players to use so they can counter the ever-expanding Ken menace. I'll start with a couple of the most basic strategies that can also be applied against the other Shoto characters such as Ryu, Sagat, and Akuma.
1) Bait Ken into a dragon punch.
Most beginning Ken players tend to use a fierce dragon punch over and over, especially as a reversal after getting knocked down. Don't touch the blob!The trick here is to walk towards the downed Ken as if you're going to attack, and then block at the last second as he does a reversal fierce dragon punch. As he sails past you harmlessly and floats through the air, punish his foolish mistake harshly with a devastating combo or preferably, a combo into an Ultra. This will typically work against most Ken players a couple of times before they smarten up, but by then, it's too late.
2) Use cross-ups.
A cross-up is when you jump nearly all of the way over a character and attack their opposite side on the way down, setting yourself up for a combo or a throw. This technique can easily confuse newer players - it's easy to block in the wrong direction. In addition, you can jump over and cross-up Ken players who are standing up and bait them into a dragon punch. If done correctly, they will fly through the air while you land safely on their opposite side. You are now free to execute any number of high-damage combos as Ken floats back down to the ground.
Use these two techniques, and then go on offense as Ken will probably then retreat to the far side of the screen and start tossing fireballs. Watch for Ken trying to dragon punch you out of a jump as you come in over a fireball - again, these are easily avoided if you watch your distance and jump carefully.
These two strategies alone should be enough to easily beat any newer Ken player you run into online at least once. This isn't mean to be a be-all end-all of SFIV strategy, but more as a beginning point for people to post their own ideas and techniques.
Further confirmation of the rumored microtransaction-based fee structure for SWTOR was recently posted on Electronic Arts' careers page. In the listing for the Customer Service Director position at Bioware Austin, one of the key qualifications is to have "online gaming with micro transaction experise." It looks like this is just more proof that the upcoming Star Wars MMO will be at least partially microtransaction-based. It remains to be seen what the fee structure for this highly anticipated game will be and whether it will be fully or just partially microtransaction-based, but as a major Star Wars geek, I still can't wait to play it.
Ryan discussed the possibility of EA's upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic being microtransaction-based in his 1-900-THE-FRCE article posted back in December. Here are the key points from his writeup:
According to EA CEO John Riccitiello, the Old Republic publisher is considering a microtransaction-based model for the upcoming Star Wars MMO, though no further specifics were given. Based on what I've seen of The Old Republic's colorful, somewhat cartoony art style, I've had a sneaking suspicion that they were going more casual than the usual MMO, and an incremental pricing model like this would support such a theory. EA PR has since chalked up these quotes as a “misunderstanding,” though I'm not sure how one misinterprets a quote like this.
Other initiatives we've announced, for example [the] Star Wars online MMO, are mid-session games which are microtransaction-based. You'll be hearing more about those in the February [conference] call.
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