Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 29th, 2009
The Fate of Fallujah, Square Enix takes too long and How do those rules for Xbox 360 achievements go again? - Welcome to the column that can make sense of anything except achievements and New Kids on the Block reunion tours known as Dare to Play the Game.
At this point of the column, you are probably wondering if I kept playing Leisure Suit Larry after my review (just go with it okay). The answer is about enough time to finish another couple of quests (including a stupid timed one where I climb on top of buildings and find 11 different clues) and collect some more Larry awards. Then I calmly put it down and went back to a combination of WSOP 2008, Rockband and Rocketbowl.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 27th, 2009
At a point in time, women’s fighting was nothing more than usually a side show attraction. As the years went by, the concept of women fighting each other became more and more accepted. There is a women’s boxing league and there are serious women all over the wrestling circuit (and not just t&a shows). There are even rumblings of MMA females (that might be a bit too far though). So, a good plot line for movies would be to interject the female into a man’s fighting world and see how they do. Take underground boxing and the movie: Fight Night, this could be a great marriage.
Michael Dublin (played by Chad Ortis) is a con-man in the hard cold world of underground boxing. As an unfortunate result of his mis-dealings, he is constantly on the run going from city to city and trying to make a buck. He gets in the habit of making too many enemies and finds his life in danger after a con goes bad. However, from out of the shadows appears a female figure who floors Dublin’s would be enemies with vicious punches. Her name is Katherine Parker (played by Rebecca Neuenswander).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 27th, 2009
The title of Spectacular Spider-Man was once used to refer to a second-rate line of comics about the web-crawler. The Amazing Spiderman always led the way in sales but the Spectacular production always had its line of fans too. As well as the critics. The critics were often on the books because they had a more casual tone and sometimes didn’t even go along with the original book in terms of plot development. The comic eventually died off and in 2008, the Kids WB decided to use the name for their new animated show. Two seasons and 26 episodes later, this show has done quite well. Volume Four is now released and includes episodes 10-13.
Episode Ten starts out with Dr. Conners and his crew being allowed to study an alien symbiote. However, that symbiote is lost when the Black Cat & Spiderman have an altercation in the lab when Black Cat was trying to steal the life-form. It is soon found that the symbiote has actually affixed itself to the Spider-Man costume thus changing his powers and his personality.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 27th, 2009
Sometimes I feel like a broken record. Once upon a time, I adored the likes of Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme. I would spend many hours watching Above the Law or Bloodsport until I had nothing else better to do. When I matured, I left many of those movies behind. However, the spirit of those movies was still within the type of movies I would typically watch. The problem is that both of these starts pretty much went from feature film to direct to DVD. But Jean-Claude has tried to change his image by taking on more serious roles. His newest, JCVD; he takes on the role of himself the actor.
Jean-Claude Van Damme (playing himself) is an aging 47 year-old action movie star. His agent can not find him anything decent. JCVD has no money and worst of all, he is fighting a losing battle in the custody of his daughter with his ex-wife. He decides to return to Brussels, his childhood home. Here, he is still considered a national icon and with that comes some sense of worth and peace.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 22nd, 2009
The Mystery of the E74, A Brand New Fallout, and Anti-Smoking Games for Soldiers? - Welcome to the column that smokes them if they got them and then sponges off of you for more known as Dare to Play the Game.
I finally did it. I played Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust for the Xbox 360 this weekend. I’m sorry I did. The game can summed up in one phrase: Lazy programming. The base was there, but they simply didn’t come through in the execution. Feel free to read the review and you’ll understand more of what I am talking about. I did get 110 achievement points which isn’t bad…but I won’t play it anymore than to finish the game, if that. Don’t expect me to run around looking for all 100 Larry awards (I have a measly 12 right now cause I’m just not trying to find them).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 20th, 2009
Writing or directing a fighting movie is kinda like booking a wrestling card. In theory, you need to create a strong but flawed babyface who is fighting for a cause or fallen friend. The antagonist or main heel is usually completely evil and has the face of being completely untouchable. But in order to build up this reputation, he must also go through some minor good guys to get over his image. In addition, the babyface must go over minor bad guys to do the same exact thing. In the end, you create a hero who comes in to save the day and vanquishes the victim. Street Warrior is one of those movies that follows this script by the book and makes for some decent excitement while the movie is at it.
The Gauntlet has claimed another victim. Joey Campbell (played by Brandon Quinn) has fallen at the hands of Isaiah Griffin (played by Sidney S. Liufau) and is now in a coma at the local hospital. His brother, Jack (played by Max Martini) has been discharged from the army for beating the crap out of a superior officer (no reason is given). He comes home and breaks up a robbery of a local convenience store where his friend Maggie (played by Valerie Cruz) works. However, once he gets to his brother’s house and is treated to his sister-in-law Sarah’s (played by Erin Cottrell) tearful embrace, he realizes something is very wrong.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 20th, 2009
Puberty for me was an odd thing like many teenage boys. My dad threw a medical book into my lap when I turned thirteen and said if I had any questions to let him know. This was followed by more literature being thrown into my lap such as Playboy when I wasn’t any older than fifteen or sixteen years old. In addition to magazine publications, I was also allowed to buy some objectionable games and music. One of these games was the Leisure Suit Larry series. The original PC games had great (and dirty) humor, fun puzzles and some of the best basic game play you could fit into several floppy discs. Times change and the racy appeal of Leisure Suit Larry has made the Xbox 360 console. *sigh* I’m so sorry it did.
One of the appeals to the Leisure Suit Larry series is usually the graphics. Most of the games (especially once they got to VGA graphics) featured women that were pretty easy on the eyes. They weren’t real of course, but sometimes we hoped they were. In Box Office Bust, something isn’t right. The characters look reasonably drawn, especially when it comes to the males. But the females feel all wrong.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 15th, 2009
Gamestop reviewing Sales Policy, Capcom swears RE5 Versus code is not on Disc, and Third Party Wii Development Not Justified? - Welcome to the column that swears that the content for this week is 100% new (except for the 20 year old one-liners) and unopened (well until you click the link anyway) known as Dare to Play the Game.
Remember when I was supposed to start that Leisure Suit Larry game? Heck, I was going to have a review for you folks. So did I open some other game? Nooooo. What did I play: you guessed it, a lot of poker (World Series of Poker 2008) and a lot of Rockband 2. I started at my copy of Leisure Suit Larry quite endlessly most nights while watching tv and contemplating switching on my Xbox instead. This week, I make a vow…I will play LSL and I will sit down and at least start my review.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 13th, 2009
Bradford May, oh Bradford May. I have a good history of watching movies directed by Mr. May from a couple of Darkman sequels to the more recent Ring of Death. His style is pure popcorn and an attitude of leave your brain cells by the door. It is only fitting that I was interested in seeing another flick with his name on it. This one was called Mask of the Ninja. Right away, it sounded like a classic Bradford May movie. However, after watching it, I realized that Bradford had broken some laws in his production. He had broken the sacred five rules of portraying a ninja.
Danny (played by Dominic Rains ) is a cop impersonating a typical street punk who pushes illegal drugs. He gets caught wearing a wire when an undercover cop playing the guitar for the local band makes the save. His name is Detective Jack Barrett (played by Casper Van Dien). In the middle of the arrest, Danny gets a call from his girlfriend: Miko (played by Kristy Wu) who sounds like she is in dire trouble. Jack takes the call instead and decides to investigate what exactly is going on.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on April 8th, 2009
Take-Two Shareholder Lawsuits, More Fable II DLC, & Nintendo weakening? - Welcome to the column that can predict to absolute certainty that the sun will set tonight (as long as they don’t have to prove it) known as Dare to Play the Game.
I would describe the last week as preparation for something better. I really didn’t play any games. Sure I did the usual World Series of Poker 2k8, Rock Band and even some Rocket Bowl but I didn’t really start anything. I decided to purchase a couple of budget games last week. The first one was actually a new release and goes by the name of Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust. I know what you are thinking. Why would I play such a crap game? It’s been panned by critics and it is just for teenagers who need to see boobies. Probably for the same reasons I picked up Rumble Roses for the 360 (to see boobies?). Besides that! Truth is I grew up with Leisure Suit Larry (yes, I was playing LSL games when I was a teenager) and part of me wants to see a good LSL game which I haven’t seen since they started making console games. So for $20, I’ll give it a whirl and hope at least the achievements are fairly easy.
