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Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore Review

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Dead or Alive is a fighting series that I’ve heard a lot about, but I’ve never gotten to play any of the games. Unfortunately, most of them have lost their original fighting purpose or have become a little too graphic. Luckily, this one fit the bill and the game is definitely a fun one that I would recommend.

Each of the characters get their own mini story mode so I’ll briefly discuss each of them except for Bayman since he never got to appear in Story Mode. All I can say is that he doesn’t seem very impressive from his moveset. Ein is one of the big characters of the game as everyone keeps calling him Hayate. Is that really his name!? Ein is having trouble with his memories so he can’t really be sure. He seems like a pretty good character and one could be tricked into thinking that he was the main character!

Leon is a military person and he’s not one of the better characters. He’s all right I suppose, but a little bland at this point. We don’t really get to learn that much about him and his story wasn’t very interesting. Helena has one of the deeper stories as her mother is defeated by an unknown assassin. Helena goes on a quest to find this person and it’s definitely a lot more epic than most of the other stories. Helena is one of the better characters alongside Hayate.

Leifang reminds me of Xiaoyu from Tekken. They’re both pretty similar and Leifang is a decent character. As with Leon, she doesn’t really get that much development, but at least she’s a tough fighter. Her fighting style is quick and that’s always a good thing. Bass Armstrong is another character and despite the epic name, he’s the worst character! He’s really proud of how epic his daughter has become, but he can get a little too intense and he brings shame to the name. He’s a really slow fighter and the game could have definitely kicked him out!

Ryu Hayabusa is epic as always. He seems to be one of the only professionals in the game and he definitely proves his skills. His fighting style is nice and complex and he’s definitely a cut above the rest. As with Ayane, he’s a skilled ninja. Ayane is possibly more sinister than I had thought as they hint that she is basically a villain in this game. She seems like a good villain, but it’ll be interesting to see whether she is guilty or not.

Kasumi is known as the main character for the series and she’s decently cool. I mostly know her from the Dead Fantasy series, but that’s really enough to tell that she is an excellent fighter. She naturally gets one of the biggest plot twists of the game! We’ve also got an American in the game who calls himself Zack. Zack isn’t that great, but he does have an epic line. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself!” is his catchphrase as he tosses a mirror at his opponent. That was probably the best line in the game and it earns him some epicness points.

Jann Lee probably has the least development from all of the characters. I really have no idea what he’s doing here, but if he’s having fun…then that’s the important thing. He basically represents the average joe and he’s a decent fighter. He’s pretty cool, but I don’t have much to base that off from for now. We’ve also got Tina Armstrong. She has a heavy accent, but there’s not really much else to say about her. She seems like a decent character as well and she gets to enter a fashion show, but her storyline didn’t have much of a plot. Gen Fu is the final big character, but he’s basically the generic old person that’s actually really powerful. We’ve seen guys like him appear in fighting games so many times that it’s scary. His ending is actually one of the darkest and most intense ones.

The ultimate villain in the game is known as Tengu. Everything is apparently his delusion and he makes sure to say this every time you fight him. He seems to have some mind manipulation powers through his dancing. I can’t say that he’s a very good character and he’s pretty full of himself despite his unimpressive abilities. As far as final bosses go, Dead or Alive can definitely do better!

The actual gameplay for Dead or Alive feels pretty unique. It’s very fast paced and the movement makes you feel like you’re back at the arcade. You’ll definitely be trying some button mashing at first, but learning the combos can make all the difference. The critical element in this game’s style is the countering system. It’s pretty critical and it makes you double think all of your attacks. Each of them can easily turn against you. Your health bar can go down very quickly so this is the type of game that makes you want to have a lot of rematches. One thing that I can definitely say for it is that the game definitely has replay value.

The graphics are pretty good and this is definitely one of the better looking PS2 games. You really get to appreciate the animation when you blow up an object. The stages are pretty interactable so you can throw someone off a building and then follow them to the next stage. The stages themselves were really fun and that helped the overall experience. The soundtrack is pretty generic. I can’t really say that there are any exceptional tunes to be heard in this game. Still, the songs aren’t bad…I just don’t remember any of them.

A negative would be the fact that story mode and vs mode are pretty much the only things to do. The game could have earned an 8 if it had just added a few more characters or a longer story mode. Still, this is a fighting game so I wouldn’t expect much more. There are under 15 characters so you really need to hope that you like one of the available ones. That shouldn’t be a problem as they all have pretty different move sets. I became comfortable with most of them, but I’m not a fan of any of the slow characters. It’s unfortunate that this game series became distracted by spinoffs and stopped making good games. Hopefully we could get a nice DOA fighting game for the PS4 at some point.

Overall, this was a pretty fun fighting game despite the empty cover. There may not be a lot of extras and the characters are limited, but it succeeds as a fighting game thanks to the incredible gameplay. That’s the important part and the fact that it has a story mode for everyone is pretty good. It’s deeper than the average Arcade Mode and the stage selection is pretty fun. Dead or Alive can easily hold its own against the big fighting series like Tekken or Street Fighter and it would likely be a household name if all of its games were this good. I definitely recommend this game to all fighting game fans and it won’t disappoint you.

Overall 7/10

Berserk Review

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It makes sense that a film would eventually use this powerful word as its title, but who would have guessed that the plot would involve a circus? I’m pretty sure that everyone was surprised to hear that, but we courageously kept on watching. Is the film intense enough to earn such a title? Well…it tries.

This is an example of a film that I had never heard of until I had seen it. Still, that’s how you find some of the best hidden gems! (The One!) The plot revolves around Monica Rivers, a circus owner, as mysterious happenings start occurring. Her circus performers are being picked off one by one. Coincidentally, they all started happening once a man named Frank appeared. He was very good at the role of the first victim and quickly took his job. Could there be any links between these unrelated accidents? More importantly, will the mass murderer be stopped or will the circus performers continue to be taken down for the count!?

Monica is the main character, but it’s really hard to root for her. I believe that we’re supposed to view her as the villain and then sympathize with her as the film goes on, but that just didn’t work for me. She values profit over people and explains this many times. She also makes sure to keep several of the characters interested in her so that she can have the joy of turning them down each time. Not really main character traits eh? All right, let’s talk about the other suspects characters.

Dorando is a character who owns part of the circus and he feels deeply saddened when the murders start. He’s not the type of guy to stand for something like this, but he also doesn’t dare leave. His only chance is for Monica to buy him out and then he could move away, but the chances of that are slim. Dorando wasn’t very likable either since he kept letting Monica push him around the whole time. Still…what if it’s part of his plan!?

Frank is the obvious suspect, but maybe it’s obvious because he is the villain!!!!!! He shows up right when the murders start happening and he obviously wants to make some money. He starts resorting to black mail and he also wants to be more than friends with Monica. This guy’s a bad apple in every meaning of the word and he even hits a reporter. There is also a dark past involving his last circus act…..hmmmmm. You really hope that he’s the culprit since he’s not likable either.

Angela doesn’t appear until we’re pretty late into the film, but she’s Monica’s daughter. She was kicked out of school for being a trouble maker and now she wants to be in the circus. Monica tries to shield her from the rumors that she is bumping everyone off, but Angela quickly finds out. Then again…what if she already knew and she was actually the murderer!? Things get interesting when she joins the knife throwing act….

I could keep on mentioning suspects for ages and ages! Still, I want to give you three more before I move on. We have Matilda, who is really interested in stirring up trouble. She suspects that Monica is guilty and she decides to prove it. Is this just a diversion so that nobody will suspect her!? Gustavo is a knife thrower and he realizes that things are getting a little dicey. The people aren’t really thrilled with Matilda and that doesn’t translate well for him. When he adds Angela into his act…he may have made a fatal enemy. That is…unless he is the enemy! Finally, we have Bruno! He’s the most loyal companion of them all and he’s the only one that Matilda can trust. Sounds a little too good to be true eh? There are definitely a lot of suspects in this one!

I’m always up for a good murder mystery, but this one just didn’t work. First of all….it’s a very long time between deaths and plot progression. We get to see a lot of Circus Shows and even the Cops get involved. I did like the Detective, but the shows could drag on. I liked the puppies, but who doesn’t like a good puppy right? The film wasn’t two hours, but it definitely felt like it was!

The violence is also surprisingly intense. It’s not always bloody, but the deaths themselves are what makes it intense. You have peaceful deaths like Superman blowing up random aliens…and you have Jason Todd deaths. This film had most of the latter. Seriously, some of the deaths will probably make you wince a little inside. The final one was ironically the most tame. This definitely felt like it was one of the original slasher films.

Finally, I’ve gotta take a shot at the soundtrack. The reason being….that it was not existent! When you don’t have any likable characters and a story that drags on for a while….you need the music! It’s just something that you can’t really get around. The film just wasn’t very thrilling and the final twist didn’t work.

Yes….the twist! Well, the murderer is revealed at the end and I didn’t agree with it. This person must be extremely talented at deception and possess a good deal of money to pull this off. It just doesn’t make sense unless there was an accomplice to the crime or some of the other characters felt like murdering someone. It definitely takes away from a murder mystery when the murderer doesn’t make any sense.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this was one of the better slasher/mystery films. The final plot twist about the murderer really did not make sense and I find it a little hard to believe. It really feels like there must have been a second murderer involved, but maybe I’m overthinking things. Still, if you want to enjoy a classic murder mystery or a case of epic proportions, check out Rope or Dial M for Murder. This film can stay in obscurity for now and we can wait for a reboot to fix things.

Overall 3/10

Xmen Destiny Review

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It’s a decent time to review the new Xmen game since the film is coming out soon. I’ve had my eye on the game for a long time, but it always got stepped on by the other big titles. (Shattered Dimensions, Iron Man 2) Still, I finally managed to buy it and I can safely say that it does manage to look unimpressive, but it’s a decent game anyway.

I have to say that I barely got the game. The first time I bought it for my Birthday…it did not work. Shaken and confused, but not out for the count; I went to Gamestop and exchanged it for another copy. The game worked this time……for a while. Luckily, it worked long enough for me to complete it. Upon my second playthrough, it started to freeze a little more and the sound got a little sketchy. You may wonder why I decided to complete Story Mode twice right? Well, I was aiming for the Platinum and I actually succeeded this time! Number 8 for me and I won’t be forgetting it. Anyway, that’s enough of a prelude…time for the actual game commentary.

You choose which character to play as during the very beginning of the game. They’re all made up, but I quickly went for the guy who had a sinister past. His father was against mutants and he’s not very fond of them either. Will this guy manage to change his ways or will he succumb to the darkness? Admittedly, I also chose him because he’s a long range fighter. I really like close combat, but you don’t get quite as many opportunities to go long range so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

The game has 8 levels, but to spice things up, we’ve also been given some choices. Throughout the game, you can decide to be a hero or a villain depending on the choices that you make. It’s an interesting idea in theory, but the sad truth is that it doesn’t make a difference. No matter what you do, you’ll be doing the exact same things. There may be a minor difference here and there, but it’s extremely minor. It’s made very clear once you’ve played the game both times. Ah well….maybe there wasn’t enough budget to make extra levels.

Back to the plot! A group of anti mutant guys have begun attacking mutants and the actual mutants are being framed by persons unknown. We also have Mr. Hodge, a man who wants to help the mutants out. Cyclops wants to find the villains and put an end to the madness while Magneto wants the same thing…but he will use permanent means. The hero is forced to make the tough choices as things get intense!

The graphics are admittedly sub par, but the cover probably gave you some advanced warning on that. Seriously, since when does a company not even bother to make the cover look good? The in game graphics are basically PS2 level and they aren’t impressive at all. Unfortunately, the game also can’t handle too much action at once so there is a high chance that you can start counting the pixels once you use your ultimate attack. Anytime there are too many fighters onscreen, you can count on some lag in the gameplay. I’m pretty sure that is also why the game has a tendency to freeze. It can’t be coincidence that both of my copies ultimately started to freeze.

The actual gameplay is decent. It’s as generic as third person action games get, but it’s a formula that definitely works. The gameplay is basically the same as a Spider Man installment, but with less variety. You’ll likely spend the game spamming the same attack over and over and over at least 1000 times. The gameplay is extremely repetitious and if I were not such a fan, I probably would have needed to turn the game off a few times. Each character gets 4 different superpowers to use, but odds are that you will only use two of them. The giant laser came in handy and the final smash was great, but I completely ignored the other two super attacks. The super attacks are also incredibly overpowered and they are capable of taking down almost any boss in a single blow. The developers likely noticed this in the final stages of development so you can notice a quick fix. The bosses get a quick moment of invincibility when their health drops below a certain point. This just prolongs everything, but it had to be done right?

This review is turning out to be pretty negative right? No worries, I’m getting to the positives…but first let’s look at some more negatives! I didn’t fully appreciate this until my second playthrough…but you cannot skip cutscenes. That’s terrible! If you lose a fight, you’ll have to keep watching the cutscenes over and over again. I haven’t seen a game do this in a long time. Skipping cutscenes should really be mandatory at this point. This is why I’m glad that I ended up playing the game twice as I almost didn’t realize this the first time. (I don’t skip cutscenes on the first playthrough and I only lost once, but there was no cutscene at that point)

Let’s talk about the character portrayals for a second. Cyclops is the heroic leader….but he’s shown to be very weak. Magneto easily defeats him twice in the span of one level. It’s also a little fishy seeing Cyclops let this new recruit (who can’t be trusted) do all of the missions on his own while the Xmen evacuate civilians. The Xmen help at times…but not very often. Wolverine and Northstar look terrible because they fall under the mind control very easily. Gambit is actually a villain in this game, which was unexpected,

Don’t worry, the heroes aren’t the only ones who look bad! Quicksilver is consistently humiliated throughout the game. He talks tough, but then he gets captured by the anti mutant group…twice. He also gets one shotted by one of the bosses. Magneto also seems to be a little gullible as he actually believes that Cyclops shot down one of the helicopters, which resulted in a mutant perishing. (I do have to say that I was surprised at that scene. One of the big Xmen characters actually dies!) It wouldn’t have been completely unreasonable to think that if Magneto had not been framed a few levels earlier…

Still, aside from those issues, the characters looked decently accurate. Colossus trying to shred the forcefields with his teeth seemed a little out of character, but it happens. Either way you’ll likely forget what the characters are saying as soon as you walk away from them. You’re just waiting to beat up on the hundreds of look alike minions.

The soundtrack is decent. I actually remember a few of the tunes, which is an improvement from the average superhero game. It’s definitely not a 5 Star soundtrack, but I would give it a 3 for effort. The themes are catchy and the best one is the Sentinel boss theme. Another positive is the trophies that you can get for the PS3. None of them are outragous or essentially impossible and they add to the replay value.

Replay Value is one of the few positives for the game. It’s not nearly as extensive as Bleach Soul Resurreccion, but you can play this game for a while. There are 15 challenges to complete and a lot of X-Genes to find. I almost beat the game with 100% during a normal playthrough, but I imagine that the final objects will be tough to find. Also, any game that has trophies automatically has replay value…as long as the trophies are fun. The 8 levels will likely take you around 4-6 hours overall. Then you just need to endure the long credits!

I believe that I’ve basically covered all of the bases. Overall, this game barely manages to stay in the good category thanks to the gameplay, soundtrack, and replay value. The main reason why it did not reach a 7 was due to the short length of the game, the animation, and the fact that you cannot skip cutscenes. This is a good game to rent, but I can’t say that I’d highly recommend buying it. For 10-15 dollars I would recommend picking it up, but if it’s any higher then you should wait a while. Go and pick up Spiderman Shattered Dimensions instead!

Overall 6/10

Batman Strange Days Review

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So, it’s already been 75 years for Batman eh? Time definitely flies by! It’s good to see Bruce Timm bring back the classic Batman design from the 90’s and it’s still the best one. I miss Justice League and Batman TAS along with many fans. It’s a great homage and there’s even a plot that is fit into this short. Solomon Grundy has kidnapped a lady and he is working with Hugo Strange. After learning of this development, Batman decides to take them down.

Batman may just be a human, but he’s Batman! Solomon Grundy definitely doesn’t scare him and Batman came prepared. It’s rare to see him use Nerve Gas, but Batman did get prep time and that makes all the difference. I highly recommend checking this short out. It’s only a few minutes, but it manages to be 100x better than the current animations that are being done by DC’s rival. The animation really holds up and obviously the character designs are spot on. It amazes me how most current animations forget the basics. This is an excellent way to get started in the Batman mythology and longtime fans can also appreciate it.

Overall 8/10

Captain America The Winter Soldier Review

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This was definitely one of the most anticipated films of the year. If not for a certain other film that was arriving in a month, it definitely would have taken the title for me. I’m not going to deny that Spiderman has a slight shot at taking Captain America down….but it’s very unlikely! The Winter Soldier is definitely one of MCU’s best entries and it won’t be forgotten anytime soon! Spoilers approach depending on how you look at it…but I’d probably count them as spoilers.

The plot starts off with Steve Rogers as he humiliates the Falcon in a friendly jog. He’s called onto a mission and he takes on the mighty Batroc. Things get dicey from there as Captain America is told that SHIELD cannot be trusted. They’ve been infiltrated and now our Avenger must find a way to stop the world from falling into chaos. Good thing he’s got Black Widow and the Falcon to back him up! Another thorn in Cap’s side is the fact that an assassin known as the Winter Soldier is out to stop him.

The plot is definitely solid since conspiracy stories always have potential to be interesting. Still, we’re going to need a solid cast and some good fight scenes to make this work. Luckily, Captain America makes for a good main character. He may not be as charismatic as Iron Man or as epic as Superman, but Cap is a solid character. He’s finished adjusting to the new world in this film and he’s used to taking on missions. Has Captain America become the next GI Joe? Surprisingly, Captain America doesn’t seem to be the type to take prisoners quite as much as he used too.

It is loosely up for debate though since we can’t tell how badly he is harming his opponents. Captain America does hit a few humans with his shield in a powerful swing and I can’t see how they would be okay after that. He also throws his dagger into someone’s hand to stop him from pulling the alarm, which seemed to be added to make the film “gritty.” So, how much I like Cap really depends on how he handled the foot soldiers. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he just knocked them all out, which saves his character. I can’t say that I care for his Steve Rogers “form” but it may be that he just doesn’t have an opportunity to get any really good scenes. We only get to see him panic when Widow steals his flash drive (Serious panic as he quickly attacked her) and then let the Winter Soldier humiliate him. Rogers definitely overreacts when the going gets tough.

Black Widow is one of the main supporting characters and this time she has her electronic stingers. I’ve never been a fan of the Black Widow and there have only been a few exceptions. She was all right in the Iron Man anime and she was tolerable in both of the Avenger TV shows. It was really the movies that made sure I was not a fan. She didn’t seem to have a reason to be in Iron Man 2 and her scenes in Avengers made me root against her. (Banner had finally found his safe haven!) I will say that she looks better here than in the other two films, but she’s definitely not going to be one of my favorite MCU characters. She’s the hardened SHIELD agent so she makes sure to hit villains once they’re already down. Amidst all of this, at least she got a decent role to herself unlike the next character…..

The Falcon! I’ve never really minded the character and he’s actually enjoyable in the comics…usually. The problem with his role in the film is the fact that it was completely filler. They did not need him to be in the film and things would have worked out. Just about anyone could have put on a pair of tech wings and then proceeded to save the day. In his climatic fight, he couldn’t even take the quick win. Strength isn’t everything, but there weren’t many other scenes for the Falcon to prove his toughness. The Falcon wasn’t a bad character…he was just out of place. I’m sure that he could be a decent assist character in a future MCU film.

Nick Fury is around and he gets the usual hype, but this is not his most commanding appearance. He gets into a fight with the Winter Soldier and he gets into a disagreement with Captain America which is pretty impressive, but also a dangerous way to play the game. If you’ve been watching the Agents of SHIELD, then you know that Fury can be a little…dicey. His decision to have Black Widow nearly compromise the opening mission was also shady. His ending is pretty tragic and sudden, but maybe it was the right thing to do. Fury is a decent character, but he made some pretty rookie mistakes towards the end.

Maria Hill gets a brief role towards the end. She doesn’t get to appear for very long, but she does play a critical role in the film. She takes out her opponents pretty easily and coordinates the plan at the end. I dare say that she looked a lot more impressive than Agent Sitwell.

The Winter Soldier was the hyped villain for this film. They make sure to throw loads of hints that he’s Bucky from early on. Of course, you may have suspected that from the trailers and TV spots. Nonetheless, I’m sure that it was a shock for some moviegoers. I can’t say that I would have been very shocked because I probably wouldn’t have remembered Bucky from the first film. He wasn’t very memorable and he wasn’t my kind of character. Why has Bucky turned to the dark side? You’ll need to see the film to learn that!

Captain America fights the Winter Soldier a few times and they’re pretty evenly matched. I’m more than a little skeptical at the Winter Soldier’s rifle knocking Cap away from his shield, but I can let that go for now. Winter Soldier holds his own in his fights against Cap, but that’s usually because of his metal arm. Still, the Winter Soldier is a pretty epic villain and he’s much better than some of the other MCU threats.

Director Coulson doesn’t get to appear, but I thought that he deserved a mention…carry on!

The Winter Soldier isn’t the true mastermind behind everything. The real leader is not quite as cool and he can’t really fight….but he can talk a really good game. The more “heroic” he started to sound, the more that I knew that he couldn’t be trusted. I can’t forget to mention the fact that Stan (The Man) Lee makes his triumphant return. Someone actually steals something while he’s on duty, but that’s probably bad news for the miscreant!

I would talk about Agent 13, but she doesn’t really do much in this film. She gets a few scenes, but she’ll likely get a bigger role in the next film. The writers will need to make sure that she is not too similar to Black Widow since that can be a quick mistake. As long as she doesn’t bring Rogers into the dark side, she should be a decent character. I can’t say that her final showing was very impressive in this film though.

I’ve heard that this was known to be a lot more violent than the other MCU films. I can’t say that I noticed while watching the film, but I suppose that it was more violent than previous installments like Thor and Iron Man 2. That being said, there were no scenes that really made me cringe like in the Avengers. I wouldn’t say that the violence was over the top and the worst scene in terms of violence would probably be Bucky’s flashback or Cap’s dagger throwing scene. The gunshots weren’t too bad since they’re just basic wounds that disappear quickly.

Admittedly, I completely do not remember the film having a soundtrack. I was probably too caught up in all of the scenes and intense battles. Winter Soldier’s theme is the only one that I remember, but it was pretty good. That’s enough to give the film a thumbs up in the music category.

The film did a good job in not increasing the outlandish Captain America feats. In Avengers we saw Cap block Thor’s hammer and also jump from an enormous height without a parachute. In this film, Cap looks tough, but it’s definitely more realistic. Jumping from the glass building may cause some concern, but it’s definitely a lot more believable. Cap had a lot of trouble with Batroc, but that’s just the way that the ball bounced I suppose. It does hint that Batroc is at around Winter Soldier level. The hand to hand fight scenes in the film were definitely fun and are some of the best in the MCU. Getting some more fights like this in the next Cap film would be fun and maybe he can try these tricks on Ultron in Avengers 2.

Naturally, you’ll want to stay after the credits! There are two scenes this time. The first one shows two fighters who have been captured and they’re basically at the end of their ropes. Who are they and what do they want with us!? I wasn’t really a fan of that scene, but the second one is pretty intense. We get foreshadowing that will come in handy if you missed part of the ending. It’s basically an alternate way to end the film.

The film goes pretty smoothly and there is only one slow part. Things drag on a little when Black Widow and Cap go to search for the truth. We get some hijinx at the mall and then we get an “epic” confrontation with an old foe. I’m not going to say that they should have cut out those scenes, but I wouldn’t have minded if they took up a little less time. They had a really unnecessary scene where Black Widow and Cap have to pretend that they’re dating and their conversations were pretty awful for a while. This is not what I want to see in my superhero films!

Overall, this was a very good film. There isn’t much in the way of negatives for me. I addressed the part of the film that was a little slow and Cap’s portrayal may be a little dicey. For once, I think it’s okay that the other Avengers didn’t appear since the threat was pretty minimal. (It was a big threat, but they wouldn’t have known the full scope of it) The fight scenes definitely gave the film an extra boost and it didn’t really fall into any major holes. Superhero films should aspire to be like this one and now Winter Soldier can join the elites! (Avengers, Ghost Rider, Spider Man 3) I can safely say that it is the best MCU stand alone film. If you’ve liked any of the previous ones, then I highly recommend it.

Overall 8/10

Dragonball Z Battle of Z Review

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DBZ is pretty huge and it is easily one of the greatest  franchises out there.  The anime was revolutionary, the manga was excellent, and the movies were intense. Despite those successes, DBZ is especially known to have incredible fighting games. I dare say that the games surpass the anime in epicness. This game got a lot of hype as the next Budokai Tenkaichi or Raging Blast. That’s a lot of hype to have on it’s back, but if anyone can do it…it is DBZ.

Well, I will start out with the biggest factor that was hyped for this game. 4 player fighting action! The battle scenes can get really chaotic and that’s in a good way. You have 4 fighters on each side which makes for a fun environment. Now, its time to get into the negative side of this. The game put so much emphasis into this that it destroyed the game’s chances of reaching Raging Blast or Budokai Tenkaichi level. The best part of DBZ is playing with friends and really testing your limits. Unfortunately, Battle of Z only has two real modes. Story Mode and Online Battle Mode. That is the crushing negative which keeps on coming. Not having any extra modes like Survival, Local Vs Mode, and Time Attack Mode is basically unheard of. Unfortunately, local multiplayer is starting to get rare as more and more games head to the world of online gaming. I love playing online, but its no excuse eliminate the local aspect.

One consequence of this is the fact that the game doesn’t have much in the way of replay value. Once you beat the game, that’s basically it! The online battle system is a little like Brawl’s. There’s not as much stakes or depth as in War For Cybertron or Tron. It’s fun, but not something that you’ll be playing a whole lot. You’re essentially done with the game at that point and it’s time to go and play the old ones. Hmmmm…

As far as the graphics are concerned, the game is decent. They had to limit them to an extent because of how much action is on the screen. I’d say that it’s harsh to compare them to PS2 games because the graphics are still good. It may not be the best PS3 game in this area, but it’s definitely good enough to be considered solid. The energy attacks can definitely be fun to see from afar as it strikes an opponent.

The soundtrack is a little on the repetitious side. There aren’t a large variety of tunes, but the ones that we do get are pretty good. The themes are typically suitable for this game and you’ll hear them unless a lot of action is currently happening on the field.

The actual gameplay can be a little hit or miss. There are a lot less combos and attacks in this one than the usual installments. Each character really has one finishing string of attacks, but you can change it up by using a power attack or an energy blast. The fighting can get a little repetitive as you’ll find yourself using the same combo a few hundred times through the course of the game. That’s the miss part that may deter many.

I’m pretty fine with it because I’m a repetitious player. I’m the type of guy that will use the same combos in advanced games like Tekken and Marvel Vs Capcom. Once I find a combo that I like, I make sure to keep on using it. I may have to disguise it by starting off with other combos and chain attacks, but I’ll make sure to get back to it. I mainly stuck to playing as Goku and Sage Mode Goku. Sage Mode Goku has a really good power attack that I would spam over and over again. I did a lot of KOing in wifi battles.

Ultimate attacks aren’t really a factor as you’ll never be able to use it in a real fight. It takes about 3-5 minutes to charge up the attack and you’re completely vulnerable to attack. The Ultimate technique instantly destroys all enemies on the field and the battle is over, but it’s not worth it. The move is riskier than Exodia and the chances aren’t very good for your success. Only a handful of characters have an Ultimate Attack anyway so you may not come across it. (Aside from a mandatory Story Mode battle)

Beyond that, you’ll typically have enough energy to throw in a Kamehameha or two. So, the battles are pretty fun. The gameplay may not be the greatest out there, but it’s still DBZ and that’s enough to make anyone want to play. We’ve got a good amount of characters to use and they can also be customized. Increased attack, defense, etc.

PS3 trophies can’t really be a negative since they’re optional, but I can’t say that I’m a fan of some of them. A few trophies require that online strangers agree to help you as you form a specific group. Without boosting, it’s very hard to get this. You can ask them through the microphone and hope for success…but you still have to win the round. Those kind of trophies should not be in the game! Still, this doesn’t affect the overall score.

The story mode now covers the complete DBZ saga while also including many of the movies. This includes the new Battle of Gods film that came out recently. It’s a pretty difficult mission since you have to defeat those two fighters after defeating a few movie villains and Hirudegarn. Unfortunately, story mode covers a lot…and yet it doesn’t do it very clearly. You will know what is happening from the manga, anime, and other video games, but you may get lost from this one. You’ll understand the basic plot, but they skip a whole lot and include scenes that don’t really make sense. You just know that the villains are evil and that they will do anything to realize their ambitions.

A positive for the game can be the fact that it can get pretty difficult towards the end. Unless you’ve customized well, you’ll find that defeating the Bills level is nearly impossible. Tough DBZ games can be nearly impossible traditionally, but this battle style helps to make that a reality through team deaths.

Ally deaths is a feature that I skimmed over so I’ll go into it now. Instead of dying when your health bar fades, you just have a number of lives like a Mario game. How many lives your team gets depends on who your partners are. For example, Broly may have one retry while Krillin would get three. To make up for this, Krillin is a lot weaker than Broly, but it’s effectively 4 fighters against two. In this case, Krillin may be the way to go. So, during a battle you’ll want to protect your allies as you fight. There will be a timer that will give you a few seconds to save your partner before your team loses a life.

I may not have listed a lot of positives, but the game still gets a solid 8/10. You may wonder why the game would get such a high rating. Well, in part it’s because of the franchise. The fact that the game is about DBZ and that we get to relive the storylines is always fun. The gameplay may not be 5 star material, but it’s pretty great. When looking at it without comparisons; I can definitely say that it’s a good way to play. The game may have its holes, but it doesn’t take away from the good aspects of it. If I’d never played the other DBZ games, then who knows…maybe this could have gotten a 9. It’s one of those hypotheticals that is interesting to think about.

Overall, DBZ definitely experimented with the formula a lot in this game. Like Ultimate Tenkaichi, this game would be a disappointment if one thought of it as the next BT game. The new style of gameplay and lack of replay value were not good ideas. Story Mode was watered down and I’m not a huge fan of the online gameplay. I do like the idea of a 4 player battle royale, but without a console like the Gamecube where we had 4 slots right off the bat, it’s tough to really make use of this feature. Still, the first game is usually the trial version so I’m sure that a sequel would work out many of these issues. This is still DBZ and I recommend it if you like a good action game. Maybe not at the standard retail price. Wait until the price goes down and then snap it up! You won’t regret getting the next big DBZ title! I don’t have the platinum for it yet, but I got most of the trophies and in a way, that helps to fix the lack or replay value.

Overall 8/10

Star Wars Racer Revenge Review

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Star Wars is a pretty big franchise and just about everyone has heard of it. As a result, we’ve gotten many video games for just about every console. Most of them are action games, but this one decided to take a sharp turn and ended up being about racing. It’s a bold move and it’s time to see if it worked out!

The game has a plot, which involves a racer’s….revenge! The title suddenly becomes clear eh? Sebulba never forgave Anakin for humiliating him in their original race so he has decided to race him once again! I’ll admit that the thought of racing someone like Sebulba may scare many gamers, but I wasn’t one of them! In fact, many of you may not have a chance to feel that fear because you’ll have no idea that there is a plot unless you looked it up. The game has an opening and ending cutscene, but that’s it as far as the in game story goes.

The two main modes are tournament mode and free play. Free play is always fun and tournament mode is basically a must have for any racing game. There are around 15 races in tournament mode and it will definitely test your abilities as a racer and as a Jedi! In all seriousness, the tournament mode was pretty fun. A little short, but the final levels are decently challenging. You should be able to clear them all within 5 tries per race and maybe with fewer. One thing that makes the races easier is the upgrades that you earn. Once you’ve maxed out your speed and power, you’re pretty much set to go. You won’t be able to max out everything in one playthrough, but you’ll be at around 80%. A few more stages would be enough to finish things off once and for all.

This game has a decent amount of replay value through unlocking characters and maxing them out. It takes a little over a playthrough to max out one character and you can try doing that for the 20+ racers. I decided not to do this…..but it’s a fun way to pass the time. Unlocking characters can be difficult as you have to break the records on each stage. There are three records per stage so that’s a lot of record smashing on the menu! You’ll likely get some of them broken during the normal playthrough, but the car smashing is usually something that you will need to aim for.

It barely even needs to be said that free play will give you a lot of replay value as well. Call someone up and then race them on the dangerous tracks! This may have been before the age of wifi, but you’ll probably find some people who still enjoy the game. It’s easy to pick up and the learning curve isn’t too high. It’s classic racing fun at its finest in perfect retro style!

That being said, the game can’t really compete with the big racing titles like Need for Speed and Mario Kart. (I would mention how it stacks up against M&M Racing, but I haven’t gotten around to playing that one yet!) The problem is that you can move at incredible speeds, but it just isn’t as engaging as the other racing titles. The stages are big, but they don’t feel very inspired. You may find yourself trapped a few times as you scramble for the goal.

The soundtrack is not bad, but it can be a little repetitious. You won’t be singing the tunes as you head back to sleep, but you won’t be cringing either. The animation is decent. It may not be the next Kingdom Hearts, but the graphics could be worse. They remind me of the N64 days since the characters are a little blocky, but you don’t typically see them anyway. The cars is what we’re after and they definitely perform well.

Overall, this is a decent Star Wars game. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it is their weakest home console release, but I need to check out the other racing title they came out with first! After that, I can make a better comparison. After all, can you really compare the thrills and chills of fighting with a light saber to floating in a car? I didn’t think so! The graphics and soundtrack are good enough to satisfy me and there is enough replay value to validate the purchase. I think that the game could have benefited from more of a story, but we can’t have it all right? I recommend this game to serious racing fans and lightly to Star Wars fans. That being said, you may just want to wait for the legendary Mario Kart 8 to grace us with its arrival.

Overall 6/10

Resident Evil Afterlife Review

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*Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version of the film so that it is TV-14. The uncut version would likely get a lower score*

It’s time to review the final Resident Evil film that I’ve seen. I’ll likely get around to the 5th at some point, but this one works as a final film…if not for the big cliffhanger. Still, it’s a staple for this series and I’m expecting the next one to have a similarly epic conclusion. The ending from the last film hinted at the ultimate showdown between Alice and Wesker, but we don’t really get to see that.

The film starts off with Alice’s assault on Wesker’s base. Humanity may not have been entirely eradicated in the Extinction film, but now she can reduce the numbers a little more. Her clones take out Wesker’s men pretty easily, but Wesker is a different story. He takes out a few of the clones and escapes in his getaway vehicle. The real Alice had been waiting for him there, but she forgot the last few years of zombie fighting experience and Wesker stabs her with the cure. Alice is happy to be human again and then the ship explodes and both of them “die.”

After dying for the 3rd or 4th time in the series, Alice wakes up. She’s relatively unharmed and she goes off to regroup with the members that she had separated from last time. They’re in a cold place, which is supposed to be safe from zombies. Unfortunately, Alice is attacked by her mind controlled ally. Alice is still human, but she is able to fend her off and learns that it’s Claire. They head off and meet up with a group of new characters. These guys look like expendables and I will say that they probably are. I won’t confirm it for spoiler reasons of course.

Now, their only hope is to escape the prison complex that they are staying in (To keep the zombies out!) and head for the true Arcadia. Arcadia is not a super village, but a normal boat. The plan is reasonably simple and the heroes must go under water into the weapons vault and also use a giant tank to escape. Things get complicated when a man known as Chris Redfield is released from his jail cell. Can he really be trusted!?

There you have it….the plot is pretty underwhelming. It’s better than Extinction, but I can’t really say much else for it. The film had such potential, but it was wasted. I’ll go into that in detail soon, but first we should get the characters out of the way.

Alice has lost some of the coolness that she had in the second and third films. She is seen as a professional fighter in this one and her powers were at her peak. So, how could she let Wesker cure her in one hit like that? It was pretty sloppy to give him that opportunity when she had the element of surprise and prep time at her disposal. I suppose that the writers really wanted to get rid of her powers, but there must have been a better way. Alice does well for a human, but it’s still disappointing to see her powers go. She’s definitely the best hero in the film, but Chris and Claire aren’t too far behind.

Chris is a solid character to add to the group. He may not be as cool as Carlos was in his debut, but Chris has the makings of a solid character. He’s a professional as well and his gun skills are solid. He may have been out of his league in his battle against Wesker, but he gave it his all. Hopefully he can stay cool through his next movie appearance.

Claire has amnesia for part of the film, but she seems to be regaining her memories by the end. She’s a pretty decent fighter and helps out in the battles against the Axeman and Wesker. It’s good to have more supporting characters from the video games to aid Alice and Claire should have a decent role in the next film.

Wesker is the big villain in this film and one could make the argument that he’s even stronger than the live action Avengers! His speed is impressive, but even more so is his raw power. Unfortunately, his abilities do lead the film into a hole, but I’ll go into that at greater length in the upcoming paragraphs. Wesker is a pretty cool villain and it’s easy to root for the guy. We know that he’s evil, but you can barely tell aside from the ending and the scenes where he shoots or blows people up. He does everything in a pretty cool way and the sunglasses definitely add to that effect. He’s definitely one of the reasons why the beginning of this film was so cool and he also gives us the best end fight scene.

The Axeman is the middle boss of the film so he’s not as intense as Wesker. He gets a lot of silent hype as we see him in the background from time to time. Things don’t really get moving until he infiltrates the base of the heroes and starts his attack. Claire takes him on for a while before Alice steps in. Alice is depowered so the fight could be tougher than expected. Still, Axeman is only as durable as a normal zombie and he’s not really a threat except for his huge axe. He doesn’t really have any character so it’s hard to like him.

There are some supporting characters that I did not mention, but that’s because they’re all expendables.(?) We’ve got the ace swimmer who decides that she can definitely outswim a bunch of zombies…..if only she had kept moving! We had the famous actor who decides that he can take out a group of zombies as long as he has a shotgun. We have an apprentice to a director, but he decides to freeze up as a slashing zombie approaches from behind. Rinse and repeat for every side character in the franchise. If you’re lucky, then you’ll turn into a Chris or a Claire, but usually you’ll just be part of the background by the end.

One character that gets a big role is the actual director. I would look for his real name, but it’s not too important. All you need to know is that he believes in the Hollywood principles of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, he takes it too far and joins up with the zombies. I wonder how a group of zombies will take to a human being around them? You may not have to think on that one too much, but things definitely get dicey. He does make things difficult for the heroes as he murders(And here I thought only zombies could destroy side characters!) one of them and also hijacks a plane. Too bad LJ wasn’t here this time. He’s definitely not one of the more likable characters and you’ll likely wince whenever he appears. He only gets one good line in the whole film in which he manages to insult the entire cast with his demanding tone.

The best part of the film was easily the opening, but it also hurt the rest of the film. It would be like having the big Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker fight be at the beginning of the film and then watching the rest of the earlier events. Time goes on as usual in Resident Evil, but we don’t get any scenes with the same level of stakes as the intro. This is because the intro was expected due to the finale of the last film and everyone was likely hyped for it.

The fight scenes did not disappoint and the beginning was very good. There was definitely a Matrix feeling to those scenes and it was fun to see the clones pull off a lot of superhero feats. It may be a little sad to see a clone get taken down by a few guys with guns, but she had a lot of reinforcements. Alice found dozens of clones so they are basically everywhere. Wesker’s base is huge, but they still make sure to do a number on it.

Unfortunately, this is where things get dicey. Wesker blew up all of the clones along with the facility thanks to his big self destruct button. The real one was with him in the copter, but they still “died” with the explosion. It’s all right for Wesker to live since he’s super human, but it’s a little dicey for Alice. It’s not a huge thing since I’ll just assume that the cure wasn’t 100% effective on her, but it’s still a little iffy.

I wish that the opening could have lasted for the entire film because then it would have been incredibly epic. Instead we got to see Alice lose her powers and we went back to the old status quo. Earth is still doomed and there’s basically no way that we can stop it. At least we got to briefly see what Resident Evil could have been like!

If Alice had kept her powers, then the film would have saved itself from the hole that I’m about to mention. Wesker was way too powerful for the heroes. That’s the sad truth and he’s completely destroying them in the ending. They only win through a great amount of plot hax and events that you may see, but not believe. There is no way that these humans could take him down and he’s far too fast to be hit. His healing factor is also very advanced so they can’t keep him down. I dare say that the plot hax was worse than Naruto’s battle against a pirate in the Shippuden boat filler episode!

The ending is pretty solid and it upholds the tradition for Resident Evil. They always know just how to end the film on a high note. The heroes appear to be completely doomed, but they’ll probably make it out alive…somehow. It’ll be interesting to see how they pull this off since they’re so outnumbered.

Time for the usual violence issue. This is Resident Evil so people blow up, get slashed….and die! They try to keep the deaths unique so we can get different visuals, but they ultimately look the same in the end. We also get the animal violence as per usual, but it’s arguably worse than the norm. The zombie dogs grow more and more deformed with each film and they’re barely recognizable in their new forms. This is definitely not the way to win brownie points with me on how to make a good film! This film isn’t for the faint of heart, but the disclaimer should have given that away!

For once, I don’t remember any fan service. There was a scene that likely worried people in the audience, but that tragedy was averted. Unless I’m forgetting something, that’s pretty nice of the film to fix that issue. The soundtrack is still good, but it’s not as memorable as the first films. It was good, but I’d have a tough time trying to recall any specific themes. Still, it beats the average film and that’s always worth some points.

Overall, as far as Resident Evil films go, this one wasn’t bad. Apocalypse was better, but this one beat Extinction. It’s a little tricky when you compare this one to the first film, but I think that Afterlife has the edge thanks to the intense action scenes and Wesker. The slow motion in the beginning dragged out a lot, but I do like the effect overall. If used correctly, then it helps the scene. This is the second best film in the series so far and that’s pretty good. The action was fun and the series went more into the superhero realm. Although, Animal Violence and regular violence along with the zombies help to keep the series firmly planted in its score. So, I’d sooner recommend that you check out the original Final Fantasy film if you want to see something scary!

Overall 2/10

Resident Evil Extinction Review

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Resident Evil may not be the greatest film series out there, but I will admit that the posters for this installment were pretty good. It was a tough call between this one and “Project Alice-Activate,” but I believe that I made the right call. Can the film possibly match up to its usage of one of the greatest titles of all time? I don’t think so!

All right folks, you’ve heard it all before. Zombies are among us and the heroes are powerless to stop them. Well, things are a little more dire than they had been because Humanity is essentially extinct. There are still humans around, but instead of a few billion, we’ve probably got around 1000. That’s a number that I constructed out of thin air since they don’t really tell us, but if the water has evaporated in many oceans…how will the humans stay alive? Most of the world is just one giant desert at this point.

There are two main plots that merge by the end. Alice is on her own and she must continue to travel while remaining undetected by the government that is trying to track her with a satellite. Meanwhile, Carlos, Claire Redfield, and LJ are still around. It’s unknown what happened to Jill, but I’m sure that she’s busy defeating zombies. The three “heroes” are trying to survive in a desert along with many expendables and one shot characters. They are attacked by a large number of zombie crows, which quickly reduce their numbers. Alice saves them with her new abilities and decides to join their ranks. Unfortunately, this brings along the Umbrella group and all of the zombies.

I won’t say which characters survive this assault, but it’s definitely not a large amount. Their only glimmer of hope is a book that someone left behind. It circles a lot of locations and the heroes immediately realize that the meaning is obvious. There is an area of land that the zombies have not found yet! The group prepares to head out, but they will have to deal with a monster!

Alice is still the main protagonist, but she doesn’t look as good as she did in the last film. Sure, she is vastly stronger than she was, but power doesn’t always equal greatness. It’s impressive that she can destroy someone with a kick, but it doesn’t change the fact that she was knocked out by mere mortals. She handles herself pretty well for the most part, although she should have won with less effort. All of that said, she’s still the best character in this film by a long shot.

Next, we’ve got LJ. He’s definitely a shadow of his former self and I can’t even say that he’s a likable character anymore. He was funny in the last film, but not in this one. He looks pretty weak as he’s overpowered in a surprise attack from one of the zombies. That’s one character who couldn’t stay cool.

We’ve also got Carlos, but he has the same problem as LJ. It’s to a lesser extent, but Carlos isn’t as cool either. He’s not the seasoned veteran that we remember from the good ole days and he doesn’t know when it’s time to take the win. He takes down a lot of zombies, but it’s not very spectacular. Still, he wasn’t a bad character and that’s what counts.

We also get some new characters, but they’re not extremely important to the plot so we can essentially skip them. Wesker appears, but it’s in a very small role so he barely needs to be mentioned. I will say that he’s pretty cool in this film and definitely the best villain. He keeps the other villains in line from his hologram for a while. Any scene with Wesker was typically epic and we also got some great tunes during that moment.

Isaacs is the main villain of this film, but he’s not very exciting to watch. He also doesn’t make for a great villain because he’s weak and generically evil. He gets a power up towards the end of the film, but it doesn’t help him become a better villain. Power doesn’t save the day, only will power and determination can truly stop the zombies.

Now it’s time to get into the multitude of negatives for the film. First off is the obligatory fanservice scene. This time it takes place in the very beginning of the film as a clone of Alice goes through the same events from the first film until she dies against the defenses. It’s one of those moments where you can’t help but sigh in disbelief. Having this scene for three films in a row is definitely a bit much.

Next up, would be the violence. The first two films were already extreme, but this installment brings it to a whole other level. It’s what I would expect from something like The Walking Dead. Also, it contradicts the fact that their blood should be frozen or more solid like in the first two films. Nope, in this one we get large spurts when they are destroyed. Additionally, Alice uses swords a lot more in this film so that gives the film an excuse for the added violence.

The crow scene is also tough to watch because it mixes the overwhelming violence with animal violence. That’s definitely a losing combo in any form of media and it definitely did not help the film. We also get more dog violence to destroy the film even further. Basically, we had every kind of violence that you would expect from a zombie film and too a high level. That’s reason enough to back away from this film.

One negative that is introduced in this film is a very boring background. The second film had the city as a backdrop which was awesome and the first one was in a cool lab. This film largely takes place in the desert and that’s one of the worst areas that you can ever be in. It means that every scene will lose some interest points and that every area looks the same.

Well, at least the soundtrack is still good. The techno theme that occurs when the villain base appears is very good and it’s a highlight. It’s really the only memorable theme from this film so it has fallen, but it’s still good. One great piece of music can save an entire soundtrack if it is performed accurately. The ending is also pretty intense. Resident Evil typically has great endings so that was to be expected. The ending definitely implies that the next film will easily be the greatest in the franchise. Is that what happens? Well, we’ll be finding out very soon!

Overall, this was the worst Resident Evil film so far. The cast of characters, soundtrack, and amount of negatives were all worse than the first two films. This one didn’t have any great fight scenes (Although the last one was a good display of super powers) and Jill disappeared for no discernible reason. It has been years since the last film, but they could have at least made a reference. I definitely would not recommend this film due to the animal violence and large amount of negatives. If you want to watch a film that promises danger and excitement, then check out the original Transformers G1 movie!

Overall 2/10

Resident Evil Apocalypse Review

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*Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version of the film so that it is TV-14. The uncut version would likely get a lower score*
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It looks like it’s time for the sequel to be reviewed! Well, after the first installment in the movie franchise, we can expect that the soundtrack will still be excellent. Will the rest of the film manage to surpass the original or is it doomed since it’s a sequel? Looks like it’s time to find out!

The film takes place immediately after the first one and we even get an early scene to show us what happened before the ending. Scientists quickly head into the facility that Alice and friends were in, but they’re overpowered and the zombies escape into the cities. We jump into the near future and see Alice grab her shotgun and get ready for some action. Meanwhile, the zombies take over the city and the Umbrella corporation shuts off the area. There are a few different plots at first, but eventually they all merge together.

Jill is one of the top notch officers of the city and she takes out a few zombies with ease as she heads to the outer perimeters of the city. Unfortunately, Umbrella quickly locks it down and they have their men shoot at anyone who gets too close. Meanwhile, Carlos and his team of trained professionals try to take down as many zombies as they can. Unfortunately, they realize that Umbrella has abandoned them and now they must try to live through this. Finally, LJ is just trying to live through this. He didn’t start this fight….but he may just survive it!

The plots are all completely separate at first. After all, this is a pretty big city and having a few different subplots makes sense. Eventually, Alice, Carlos, and Jill meet up with LJ and they prepare to leave the city. The only way out is through a helicopter, which is there to take away a few government officials and Nemesis. A scientist will tell them where the helicopter is once they rescue his daughter. His daughter is currently hiding out at a school, but that area may not be safe for long!

Alice is pretty intense in this film because she finally has her memories back. That’s a pretty good boost by itself, but Alice has also gotten superhuman abilities thanks to the experiments that were done. She’s essentially the strongest character in the series now right? Well, she does get a super enemy of her own to fight. Alice is a seasoned pro in this film and it’s always good to see that. It may be hard to call her a hero, but it’s definitely good to be her ally.

Nemesis is the final boss of this film and his abilities are definitely comparable to hers. He may be physically stronger than Alice, but they are nearly equal in that area. Alice’s big edge is definitely her speed and she’ll need it since Nemesis comes equipped with a handy rocket launcher/missile launcher. There is a big twist about Nemesis, but you’ll already know it if you saw the original film.

Including Jill in this film was pretty cool since she’s essentially the only Resident Evil character that I knew aside from Wesker and Chris. Unfortunately, while she does look great in her first appearance, she’s quickly out shined by Alice. Jill is only a human so it’s not inaccurate that Alice would outperform her, but Jill could have looked better. She was essentially a non factor during the second half of the film. She could have learned a few things from Chris.

Carlos was another one of the main characters and he’s also human. The big difference is that he still looks really good. He’s not at Alice level, but he takes out around 100 zombies and many of the guards who protect the helicopter. He was the best human character in the film and he was how I picture Chris Redfield to be. I thought that he was Chris for a while there. He held out against the zombies for a while and that’s no small feat for a man with a gun.

LJ is the surprise hit of the film. This guy definitely plays for keeps and he gets some of the best scenes in the film. At one point, it’s LJ vs Nemesis. All I’ll say is that LJ is confirmed to be in the sequel; can Nemesis say the same? LJ has a pair of golden guns and he’s prepared the whole time. He adds some comedy that the film really needed and it’s actually decent comedy. Not something that you typically see in any action film, much less a zombie film. He also owns a Cadillac, which is easily the greatest car company of all time. He confirms this towards the end of the film, right before he completely pulls one over the entire cast. That’s what I like to see from new characters that want to prove themselves in an established franchise. Let’s not achieve a Giant Condor performance folks.

That’s basically all of the major characters. I could mention the main villain, but he’s as generic as they come. Let’s head into the holes, which unfortunately…always overpower the positives in this franchise. First would be the excessive violence issue. It’s to be expected since this is a zombie film and all of the characters use guns. That being said, it makes The Lord of the Rings look tame! You’ll be seeing zombies get destroyed in every way possible and a lot of humans are also taken out. Every scene is sure to come with a pile of violence.

The film actually goes a step further than the last one since we get significant animal violence. At one point, a few zombie dogs attack and you can probably guess what happens to them. I own a really cool, amazing, super dog myself so I find it inexcusable when dogs, or any other animal, get hurt in a film. As a famous man once said, “It’s disruptive, it’s undisciplined….” I completely took the quote out of context, but it works perfectly for this film. It’s unnecessary and completely destroys whatever score the film was going to get. Some series manage to survive through that like One Piece, but it has over 600 episodes to try and get away from that. This film only has around 90 minutes to make me forget…and I did not forget! One of the characters even insults the dogs and he’s quickly eaten. Why must the humans be as unlikable as the villains!? I can’t even……

Anyway, another unnecessary addition was the Alice fanservice scene. Why do we get one of these scenes in Every single film? I’m pretty sure that there is one of these scenes per film, but I can’t verify until I see the 5th film. The first 4 had them and that’s already sad. The excuse this time is that she was knocked out/died and taken to a research facility which pulled a Wolverine origin on us. After the scene is over and Alice has her outfit from the end of the first film, she quickly murders or gravely injures the staff that was there. It’s “hardcore” and all, but the first part could have been cut out. Why couldn’t she already be in full uniform instead of in stasis?

Are there any other negatives? Well, the rest is the more minor things, routinely expected to be in these films. These include: Zombies, Language, Unlikable characters, etc. That being said, the cast of characters was better than your average horror/slasher film so that’s some progress.

Let’s get back into the positives! The soundtrack was great as expected and this series continues to impress in that area. We get some perfect battle themes and a lot of cool sci-fi as well. The soundtrack is 5 stars and while Avatar may have gotten a Grammy for its soundtrack; it can’t hold a candle to this film.

Another positive is the fact that this film plays out more like a superhero film. That will continue for parts of the next film and the beginning of the 4th as well. Since Alice is stronger than the MCU Avengers is superhuman, she can do a lot of things that she couldn’t before. This includes her super speed and a large array of athletics. There’s even a pretty good one on one fist fight at the end with Nemesis. The fact that the whole film takes place in the city instead of in a facility is another major positive.

Overall, it’s better than the first film in some areas like the action and setting, but it also has some downfalls like the animal violence and fanservice. The franchise has potential to be a winner, but it’s probably going to take a reboot to generate a higher score. That, or just changing up most of the staff that is working on these films. I want something that’s more of a summer blockbuster with laughs and aliens. Make it happen guys!

Overall 2/10