Grid - Game Review

Just released over the past weeks is my now favorite console racing game, if not my favorite all time racing game, Grid. The guys over at Codemasters aren't new to the racing scene with past titles like TOCA Touring Car Series and last years DiRT (graphics engine used for Grid), but this new title just blows away their previous games. With different events (Pro Tune, Touring, Le Mans, Drifting,..), fantastic courses in North America, Europe, and Japan, and the most beautiful cars to grace the streets, Grid leaves you with the satisfaction of great arcade street racing with just a touch of simulation. You never feel like you have to slow down to 40 mph just to make a turn without going off the course and even if you did the game doesn't take away it's satisfying feel of speed. Little add-on's like the style of the instant replay and the damage that can be caused to your car, all bring out the life of Grid.

After giving your driver a bit of information (such as the nickname he'll be called whenever you start the game), you're thrown right into the drivers seat of a Dodge Viper and off to a few start up races. No tutorial whatsoever, and thank god for that. Do you really need to be told how to drive? I'm glad to see Codemasters is actually evolving the styles of games. If it's something as simple as driving I doubt you really need that much of a crash course (they left that for the demolition courses :D.) You start off with driver offers to help you start your team and get great choices in cars such as the Nissan 350z for one of your many rivals Team Orange. After giving your team a name, you're off to win a few matches until the Le Mans Challenge comes around noting the end of the season. (If this map lags for you by the 18:00 mark you need to update DirectX, or if you have stuttering issues.) The categories for the races are placed under countries and their licenses. The more respect you have in a certain country the more licenses you can get and when you win all the courses for a license you get to challenge the top team Ravenwest in a one-on-one challenge. (Very VERY fun. First one I did was a Pro Touge at night. <33) Of course this is just the main career mode and you can always play a quick race if you're like me and you feel like putting off the Le Mans Challenge for just a bit. You never really feel like Grid is pushing you for the positions but rather by how much money and respect you feel like earning. The game does make it easier for you with their instant replays acting like a Prince of Persia rewind, allowing you to start a time before the crash (but you do have to make sure you don't make the same mistake, or that you might be a little too late to find a point before the crash..x.x; )

Though it wouldn't be life if this masterpiece didn't have at least a few problems. Your allowed to give your driver a nickname that your female manager, spotter, and teammate (hire after a few races in career mode) can call you by. While this is an awesome addition, the actual AI voices often become an annoyance. I don't always feel like being reminded to add sponsers for my team after the 11th season. Also your main spotter will often give you good information about where you are leading, which helps in the Le Mans at the early stages, but when it comes time to call out crashes ahead of you (and often enough they only happen infront of you) the spotter is late with the call and you're already going for the instant replay. The car selection is good, but at times feels really limited. Why is it their are no Mitsubshi cars in this title and yet in DiRT it was one of the first choices? Why can't I tune any of the cars? Why do I get limited choices on how the car should look while my oppenents can have their names branded on their cars? Great track courses again, but you normally feel like you've raced it way too often. Not enough variety between the courses and the actual race type. But that's not saying what is here is bad whatsoever. Race Driver Grid is the first racing game besides the first Burnout that I felt like the game really just wanted me to get on the track and burn rubber and that's exactly what I do. From drifting to touge to touring cars, they're all just great events. I really hope their is a Grid 2 in production with a few of these fixes.

Rating: 5/5
Pros: Racing game that actually wants you to race, stylish instant replay and menus, great looking graphics, good selection of cars and tracks, great gameplay overall.
Cons: LIMITED! Limited tracks, cars and voices. Please somehow update this game and make it perfect. <3

I made a video with a few of my favorite cars and tracks. The first Respawn Point Blog video. Enjoy. (For High Res please go to youtube.com via the video.)

Burn Notice - First Impression

Since Sidd talked about his new favorite show I thought I would talk about a favorite show of mine called Burn Notice.

Enter Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), a covert operative who finds out during a mission in Nigeria that he has just been "burned." After fleeing Nigeria he ends up blacking out on the plane and awakening in his hometown of Miami, Florida with his ex-girlfriend Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar)watching over him.

A spy who gets a burn notice isn't exactly fired. You can't make them forget what they've learned to do their jobs, but you can take away the tools they use to do it. Or at least that is the way Michael Westen explains it in one of the many monologues he has during each episode. These are often high points as he presents simple ways of solving problems with the criminals or people he needs to influence. Such as the first episode where he creates a fake pipe bomb to get in touch with an old co-worker.

Left with no money to his name and under continuous surveillance, Michael is left doing odd jobs for the underdogs (an immigrant who was falsely accused or an old woman who was conned) and is usually working for free to show the lite side of the main character. Teaming up with the few people he can still trust like his ex-girlfriend, his old friend Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell) and his mother Madeline Westen (Sharon Gless), who he tries not to stay in contact with. All for the purpose of finding out why he's been burned.

All and all I really think this show has some style, good action, and at times is just amazingly funny. I recommend any of the original shows from USA like their new show "In Plain Sight."

Burn Notice season 1 is already out on DVD and season 2 will start on July 10th on USA, so don't miss it.

LOST Season 1 – First Impression

So it’s a normal day, got places to run, people to meet, time is money, the dull society we live in today. Oh how will we survive in the world with all the chaos. Here we are in the airplane, listening to music, eating peanuts, somehow sleeping on board, or hell going to the bathroom. Suddenly…BAM! Airplane turbulence, fasten your seat belts quickly; we may die! Black out to wake up on an island, confused on how survival was a possibility. Aimlessly moving through the wreckage of a plane crash on the island beach. This is where it all begins, the story of LOST.

Basically, if you ever seen any survival movies about being trapped on an island like Cast Away, you will notice the basic and most obvious things happen. Organize, gather food, create shelter, survive until rescued. However, in the series LOST, we are taken on an unknown island filled with many surprises as the story unfolds. I would tell you those twists, but that will just spoil the show.

First few episodes seems to be about the island and the people struggling to get into living matter. Then it goes in depth and focuses on one main character per episode, as well as see the progress of survival on the island. Personally I think the series had a good start on getting the attention out with all the cliffhangers and twists. And finally, seeing the end result in every episode makes me want to watch the next one immediately.

Good series to watch, Sidd approves. :D

Watch it now at http://abc.go.com/player/ in high definition video quality.

TF2 Update - June 19th

TF2 players got a treat this past Thursday with the new achievement based update for everyone's favorite crazed mute the Pyro. Unlike the last update that gave the medic more playability, the Pyro's achievements seem much easier to achieve, but it comes with a slight price. You only have to unlock 20 of the achievements but the weapons you get don't seem as benifical as the medic's new equipment. My dislike mostly surrounds The Flare Gun which acts like a long distance weapon for the Pyro...or at least it would if it wasn't just a flimsy pea shooter. It is fun to use against a sniper or scout on the run, but you just can't replace the power you get with the shotgun. Also The Axtinguisher is only really effective against burning oppenents (I just see this as a problem because I would rather take them down with a shotgun. ) On the other hand though, The Backburner, is an awesome weapon. Hunting down an enemy from behind with this flamethrower will cause instant critical hits as well as a bonus 50 hp. Not to say though you should replace your old trusty flamethrower, since the new update has added the compression deflect which allows you to launch projectiles back at your oppenents (D: take that soldier/demoman!) And if that wasn't enough to get you to play as the Pyro, then how about the haduken taunt actually causing damage? :D

Along with the Pyro Update was the addition of ctf_turbine and cp_fastlane as default maps. These once custom created maps (as well as one of my favorite maps [ctf_turbine]) have been hand picked by Valve out of the many other great maps and really brings to life the map creater
sdk for everyone. Who knows what map will be added next (cp_wolf please <3!) The maps cp_well and ctf_well have also had big modifications. The total size of the map has been reduced with the removal of the middle building and instead replaced with a few open trailers (trains still remaint though.) It doesn't make the map less fun, just really unfamiliar, and a much harder job for snipers to pick off people. =/

If you want to see other updates or just read up on what's going on in other games then hit up the following link: http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=posts

Thanks Valve for the continuing love for your players. <3
Happy Fragging!

Meet the Sniper:

You Don't Mess with a Zohan - Movie Review

Well, this is yet another movie created by Happy Madison Production with your director Dennis Dugan. The writers are Adam Sandler, which also is the lead actor in the film, Robert Smigel, and Judd Apatow. This film is definitely not for kids and those that are offended by racial jokes. The target is mainly the mature audience that can take a joke without getting offended; at least that’s my opinion.

The story is about an Israeli counter terrorist, Zohan, who is the best of the best, the superman of Israeli (but he can’t fly, yet he can…yea I’ll not spoil that.) He is well known in his country and has everything he can possibly want, however what he didn’t have was his passion to style hair. During a mission with his arch enemy, The Phantom, he purposely faked his death and escaped to New York City to become a hair stylist.

Throughout the movie, he builds his character, meets new friend as well as old villains, tries to make his dream come true to be the best hairstylist, and finds true love in his life as well as in the community where the fighting between Israeli and Palestine continue where he works at. We all heard about the stories and wars between the two countries, creating a comedy film based on peace between two angered nations wouldn’t obviously be the solution, but at least a start to all the madness.

This movie was far out the funniest I’ve seen in Adam Sandler films, I really never laughed so hard. Most scenes in the movie are ultimately unexpected, especially with the old ladies! Let’s just say Zohan takes GILF or rather G-GILF hunting to the next level. (GILF – grandmother | GG – great grandma xD).

The music used in this movie are disco music and old school music we all used to listen to when our mom drove the car, which were pretty great when you think about it. I think I’m going to go through my old audio cassettes later on.

When I was watching it, I was laughing at all the jokes towards the Palestine and Israeli. Everybody was laughing at those jokes; however what Jeff noticed is when the jokes about the rednecks came, the only people laughing were at least 10% of the audience. I was too busy enjoying the film laughing my ass off to even notice that occurrence, but it’s pretty interesting on how the audience reacts isn’t it.

Overall, I give this movie a 5 out of 5 actually, I don’t care what others say, this is a must see movie. Great Job on making this film Happy Madison Production.

jb's input: o-o Seriously we were the only ones laughing at that joke. I'd buy the soundtrack but not the dvd, one time with that movie is enough for me.