Review - The Annotated AvP: The Story, part 14

Holy crap, guys. What you’re about to read is the penultimate entry in the now over yearlong critique of my preteen Aliens versus Predator 2 fanfic. I have actually devoted over twelve months of my life to compiling this, which is possibly longer than I spent writing the damn thing back in grade school.

With the morally appalling Predator Swift-Death having accomplished what he set out to do, much to the chagrin of General Rykov and pretty much anyone forced to read this, we track jackass Marine Andrew “Frosty” Harrison and talkative Alien Jimrakh as they attempt to rescue the Empress.

(from AvP: The Story, chapter XVI – To End it All)

Right about the time when the rest of the Marines entered the POC, Harrison, Jimrakh and the accompanying were making their way down the dark, cavernous tunnels. For the past hour, Harrison’s motion tracker had remained silent. Still, Jimrakh was at his ready.

Not at the same time, mind you. Just right about. Little me seemingly could only give enough of a damn at this point to ballpark it.

Interview - Radioactive Bishop

While he's occasionally been featured on this site for his twisted sense of humour, Riley Byrne is probably best known around Ottawa as ambient-electronic musician Radioactive Bishop. I recently had the chance to interview him (i.e. I sent him a texting saying "interview?" and he replied with "coo"). So here we go.

Spotlight - Paul McCartney

Forgive me if this seems out of the blue, but I'm starting to come around on Paul McCartney.

I've been a Beatles fan since my dad gave me the White Album for my 13th birthday. My love for the band has fluctuated in its intensity in the intervening years, but it peaked concurrent with the 2009 remastering and reissue of their discography and has remained at a healthy plateau since. Just the other night I listened to Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road--their three best records in ascending order--in one sitting.

Where I haven't been so consistent is in my appreciation for the individual members of the group. If there is one constant, it's George Harrison, who has been my favourite Beatle since I first listened to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and Martin Scorsese's Living in the Material World documentary only augmented my professional and personal respect for the man. And I suppose I've always liked Ringo, because I like underdogs and "Octopus's Garden" is a genuinely great song that I want to play over the end credits of a Call of Cthulhu movie. But my admiration for John Lennon and Paul McCartney has been like a see-saw over the last decade.

Obituary - Roger Ebert, 1942-2013

Roger Ebert died this week. For close to half a century, the man’s name and image were synonymous with the very idea of film criticism, far and away the most recognizable person in his field and, in many ways, the most accessible. An active presence on social media networks for the last few years of his life, he arguably connected with his readers more than most critics half his age. And perhaps most importantly, his work showcased humility and unguarded humanity, even in the last week of his life.

Review - BioShock Infinite

“Booker, are you afraid of God?” “No. I’m afraid of you.”

Irrational Games’ BioShock was the first game I ever bought for the current generation of consoles—purchased, in fact, a good three months before I even had an Xbox. Luckily, my floor in residence had no less than three 360s available for my use. The game still sits on my shelf, and let it be known that I’ve played through the entire thing no less than four times in the last five years. Just to make it clear how much I enjoyed BioShock, the only game I’ve replayed more than it is the GameCube remake of Resident Evil, which has been one of my all-time favourites going on a decade.

So understand me when I say the newest installment in Irrational’s franchise, BioShock Infinite, showed me just how broken, or at least seriously flawed, the first BioShock was in both design and storytelling. Infinite is not only a far better game, but an excellent one in and of itself, making up for any quibbles I might have with its gameplay with well-drawn characters and the sheer audacity of its story.