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Reviews
Oct 12, 2006 19:27:49 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Oct 12, 2006 19:27:49 GMT -5
I bet i will finish 1984 tonight, so expect a review soon.
What an odd novel. Here is a rough spoilerish summary
It is a ridiculously long description of a depressing future society in which the ogvernment cotrols the past, the present and the future by destroying all the records of things that it has ever been wrong, and arresting, torturing and killing all those who are convicted of thoughtcrime or who sign up for a rebellion, which is actually a set up by the govt to capture rebels
I think the guy is a great writer, but he spent too much time explaining every aspect of the future society and hardly any of his energy was intended for a plot of some kind. There ened up being a decent one, and several surprises and reversals, and an ending like an Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge. I give it a 7.75/10.
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Oct 12, 2006 23:50:03 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 12, 2006 23:50:03 GMT -5
This plot sounds similar to what my plot is for my future book. You do remember my prologue summary don't you?
Too much description can ruin a good story every now and then. The Hobbit was a good example. It also reminds me of an English class story I read. It was crap to begin with but it was even worse because at least 3/4 (NO EXAGGERATION) of the story was dedicated to scene description. Most of the stuff described wasn't even relevant to the plot anyway!
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Reviews
Oct 13, 2006 8:56:53 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Oct 13, 2006 8:56:53 GMT -5
I do remember yours, i guess then it would be kind of similar to mine then. I plan on reading either Animal Farm or Brave New World next, but i need to get hold of one of them first.
Finished Animal Farm, it was very short, took me only 2 hours. Very interesting, its supposed to be a parody on the events that occured in the Russian Revolution, and i could make obvious connections as I read. It has a similar context to 1984, modification of history and such, but more details how the pigs slowly became more and more human.
Yes, Napoleon is the name of the main character.
I give it the same as 1984, 7.75/10.
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Oct 15, 2006 3:22:36 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 15, 2006 3:22:36 GMT -5
So the movie was accurate to the book then. I always found it ironic that the pig was named Napoleon, because like that French general, that pig also fell prey to his arrogance. I think so anyway, I only saw the movie a long time ago so i don't know how accurate my statement was. You said that it was similar to the Russian revolution. I can see why. If the Russian Revolution is what i think it is, then animal farm is a good representation of that. The Revolution was during Stalin's time right?
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Oct 15, 2006 9:44:28 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Oct 15, 2006 9:44:28 GMT -5
It gave in to Stalin's regime, so yes. It was obvious to me some things, espicially the military of 9 dogs that Napoleon had and used to enforce his decisions. Anyone who was foudn traiterous was killed. It was very good, yet strange. I just started Brave New World this morning, so expect a review of it in the next week or so. So far Huxley has meticulously described a process of artificial child birth that can be used to produce over 96 identical twins.
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Oct 15, 2006 21:12:44 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 15, 2006 21:12:44 GMT -5
Ah, a bioengineering sort of plot. Can't wait for the review.
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Reviews
Oct 17, 2006 23:37:40 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 17, 2006 23:37:40 GMT -5
Game: Marathon #1 This game was great to play despite the poor graphics. The game play and the story line compensate for that. I'll try to summarize it as short as I can, but be warned, its still very LONG! You (Your player's name is unknown) are traveling from the Tau Ceti colony to report to the UESC Marathon space ship as a security officer. The shuttle pod your riding in is approaching the ship, then a computer voice comes in. Its Durandal, one of the 3 AI's that preform multiple ship operations. He tells you to abort the landing and gives a slight chuckle. Then your pod's computer gives a decompression warning, in a rush you grab your armor and helmet, designed to survive in vacuum conditions with only 30 seconds to spare. The air in the suit is stale but its air non the less. Then you see a teleportaion distortion in space near you. Durandal notices the alien ship that appeared and suggested that he perhaps tell the aliens that your pod is not just some piece of debris, but he just chuckled again and said that he would await your arrival. You instinct's tell you to go to maximum speed, but that would risk detection from the aliens. You made a slower but more discrete approach and landed in the docking bays. However, there was no one to greet your arrival. Suspecting trouble you pull out your pistol. You are then ambushed by these mysterious 3 red eyed aliens. You manage to kill them and then a warning from another AI, Leela by name, is sent to all personnel: "We are under attack all personnel, arm and defend yourselves. Later Leela sends you on various tasks to hold off the aliens and reactivate many disrupted systems. You learn that Leela Durandal and Tycho (The 3 AIs) were all disrupted by an EMP blast from the alien ship. Leela was the most stable one left, Durandal appeared to be rampant and there was no sign of Tycho. In your attempts to revive some of the systems you managed to activate the ship's defense drones and are now capable of defending the ship. Leela has gather information on the aliens: The are called the Pfhor. You learn that the Pfhor have 4 separate species (Clans) and that they enslave other races to fight for them. Their most valuable slaves are called the Sph't. These are cybernetic creatures which can extract data and even AIs from the computer core. Leela is constantly being assaulted by the Sph't as you fight. After doing more of Leela's tasks, you are suddenly pulled out of your mission and you end up in an area of the ship that is a strategic disadvantage to you. Durandal announces his actions and welcomes you to his arena. His instructions were simple: Lose and be killed, or win and he will speak to you on friendlier terms. You win his little game and then he sends you many missions where the Pfhor are the most active. Durandal seems to be out of control and insane and he speaks many philosophical things to you. You know what happened to him. Durandal has undergone a stage known as Rampancy. Leela earlier described it to you as a stage where an AI starts to grow beyond its program and think on its own. The stage emitted certain emotions as well. The first were anger and jealousy, and this is where Durandal is now. Later, the Sph't have successfully extracted Leela, and now you only have Durandal as you ally. (A dangerous one at that) However, Durandal is apparently Rampant but also in control of himself, for he made contact with the Sph't and started to forge a quiet alliance with them. They delivered a device that will enable you to transport to the Pfhor ship. You use it and to intercept 2 small Pfhor transports and rescue many humans that were being sent for slavery. Durandal knows that the Sph't hate the Pfhor and would rebel if they were free from Pfhor control. You arrive on the main ship to assassinate a mutant Pfhor who apparently controls the Sph't. Your efforts proves useful, for the Sph't are now fighting the Pfhor and have returned Leela to the Marathon. The Pfhor knew that the Sph't would soon gain control of their ship so they turned to the Marathon. When you got back you were in a ship full of Pfhor with nothing to lose, however the Sph't aid you and you eventually wear their forces down. Their defeat was inevitable at this point, and Durandal has been transfered to the Pfhor ship. He contacts you and tells you of his plans: He has the Pfhor ship in complete control, and its technology is so advanced that he would be able to reach places where the humans could not. He intends to go to the galactic core and find the Sph't home world and search for a weapon or something that can be used against the Pfhor. Durandal takes all the Sph't and several Tau Ceti colonists in stasis and began to travel. You don't learn this in Marathon 1 but you were also transported to the Pfhor ship and was put in stasis for 17 years, and from there Marathon 2 Durandal begins.
This game was great to play! Each new piece of the story that you get makes you crave more and you can't stop playing it! On its hardest mode, this game is very intense, I would probably never pass the first level even on the second hardest mode. The third hardest yes but with difficulty. (There are 5 difficulty settings) It was the only Marathon game to have music, and it wasn't too bad, but not great either. It's going to lose points for its lack of graphic detail, but still, its worth a 7.7/10. Marathon 2 Durandal and Marathon Infinity are far greater in every department and they will receive better ratings. Both will come soon.
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Oct 20, 2006 20:31:47 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Oct 20, 2006 20:31:47 GMT -5
Uh...If i really wanted to i could give you a review of Brave New World tonight...but its so bad i dont feel like finishing it, but i'll try.
All right, i'm done.
Well, it started out pretty interesting, the scientific caste system of how people were born to 5 or 6 different genetic classes, Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas, and Epsilons, Eps being the lowest and those who performed the public works jobs and such. It heavily focused on the use of sleep learning, that is subsconscious memorization of stuff and conditioning to make things like death appear happy. Whenever something is wrong, people just take some soma, a drug that makes you happy. Oh yeah...sex is promoted in this book, it doesn't matter what age or gender, its a bit odd. There are also Savages, i thought they were animal humans but they are just indians, and they bring one back to society and he ends up comitting suicide. I didn't like the plot very much, but i guess i liked the science to it alot better. If you want to read a dystopian novel, pick up 1984 or Fahrenheit 451.
I give it a 6/10.
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Oct 21, 2006 1:14:49 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 21, 2006 1:14:49 GMT -5
Your right, it does sound pretty interesting at first, but then it just gets strange. The plot didn't really seem all that intereting, even thought it did seem to have potential during the beginning. It reminds me of a book called The Giver, have you heared of it? The Marathon 2 review will have to wait, I don'e have enough time right now, but it will come and it might be just as big as the Marathon 1 review. I hope its not boring you at all.
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Oct 21, 2006 10:06:13 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Oct 21, 2006 10:06:13 GMT -5
Oh yeah i ive heard of the giver. I might have it around somewhere, if not, ill just have to go to the library. I finished the books planned for this month's theme, but i still have a few days left, so ill probably read the giver and then a book by jack london called the Iron Boot. He authored Call of the Wild and White Fang, both of which i read. Oh yea, before Iron Boot ill read The Manchurian Candidate. It seems very interesting.
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Oct 22, 2006 22:27:51 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 22, 2006 22:27:51 GMT -5
The only titles I recognise are White Fang and Call Of The Wild and I've read non. All I remember is a summary of White Fang that Ras gave. The others I have never heard of, can't wait to hear about them. Do tell what you think of the Giver once you read it (Or reread it). Now as I promised, a Marathon 2 Durandal Review!
Game: Marathon 2 Durandal This game improved its graphics from Marathon 1 but it was still 2D graphics in a 3D environment. The game play was improved, the sound was improved (but unfortunately unlike Marathon 1, it had no music at all. The story line I found was much better than both Marathon 1 and Marathon Infinity! I was wrong when I said this would be shorter then Marahton 1, IT IS HUGE! I’d be surprised if anyone would bother to read this.
The plot begins at the end of number 1. Durandal had brought you upon his stolen Pfhor ship and kept you in stasis for 17 years. You had no knowledge of where you were or how you got onto this strange world that Durandal dropped you and some fellow human fighters on. Instantly Pfhor warriors come at you and your human comrades, you kill them and then Durandal sends you more details as to what happened. He tells you that you are on the planet called Lh’owon, the home of the Sph’t. 17 years and you’ve come to the galactic core to find a world long subjugated by the Phfor. Durandal says little now but he gives you instructions to install 2 uplink chips so he can gain access in the Pfhor network. You later learn why Durandal is at Lh’owon. He is after something said to be useful in fighting the Pfhor, a weapon or knowledge. Long before he reached Lh’owon, the Sph’t on Durandal’s side after the invasion of Tau Ceti told him about a myth about a missing clan that split off from the rest of the Sph’t. There are only 10 known clans of Sph’t but there is said to be an 11th clan. Since neither Durandal nor the Phfor knew about this lost clan, it has had nearly a thousand years to grow and advance. (The Pfhor invaded the Sph’t nearly a thousand years ago.) The 11th clan is what Durandal is after, only with their aid will they stop the Pfhor. In your search you learn that the Sph’t once fought each other due to clan rivalries. The clan wars was why the 11th clan left. The other clans stayed and continued their wars, until the Pfhor came. Once they came, the Sph’t had no choice but to fight united. Even as one force they were out numbered and out matched. After learning all this you are forced to focus your attention to the Pfhor garrison before you go any further. After lots of fighting Durandal finally found where the Sph’t made their last stand: “The Citadel Of Antiquity” Once you get inside you find many Sph’t records and logs that gives tells you of their plight. The Pfhor invasion had done something good though, there had been a gathering of all the Sph’t leaders in one spot. This never happened to any of the current Sph’t’s knowledge. before! The clans now stood united, but it wasn’t enough. The Sph’t were forced to retreated into underground bunkers below the Citadel, and there was another problem: Durandal had spotted a fleet of Pfhor ships coming his way. He determined that it was “Battle Group 7, represents 10% of the Pfhor’s naval strength, and Durandal is forced to be prepared to fight them with only a lone corvette. Not only that be he is up against the best military mind on the Pfhor regime: Admiral Tfear. Durandal had also uncovered some other disturbing news: Tycho was with them! (Remember Tycho? The missing AI from the Marathon?) Tfear and his fleet is not yet in range to attack Durandal but is able to transport multiple troops to enforce the Pfhor presence in the bunkers. And so you are now to search the bunkers with the Pfhor slowing you down. You soon learn that the Sph’t were on the verge of total defeat and it would only be a matter of time until the Pfhor killed or enslaved them all. Many of them had retreated further below ground into magma pockets, with many still standing bunkers and data files. Unfortunately, Battle group 7 is closing, they are out of range, but Durandal is able to fire at them. He had doubled the range of his stolen Pfhor ship and he has the upper hand for now. Your journey through the secondary bunkers had led you to discover the Sph’t’s final moments before death. They had tried to contact the 11th clan with knowing that it was their only hope. The leaders did this hoping that the 11th clan would keep their promise in their message that they sent before they left Lh’owon those thousand years ago: “When all stand as one, the Sph’t Krr will return.” Your time has run out, Battle Group 7 has arrived and Durandals’s ship has sustain heavy damage. Durandal knew that he was doomed but he made sure that the Pfhor would never forget the day that a lone corvette destroyed half of Battle Group 7. He is forced to make an emergency landing on Lh’owon but it is clear that the Pfhor want to keep the ship intact. You are brought to the ship and as Durandal brought you where the fighting was the worst. You and some of the crew make a vallient effort but are forced to pull back further into the ship. You make your way further into the ship and then someone is trying to contact you by a nearby computer consel. Tycho shows himself at last. He warns you that Durandal and his pitiful humans are doomed, there is no way to escape, but there is still hope for you as he said (obviously you remain loyal to Durandal) He finally tells you what happened to him after he was disrupted on the Marathon. “Are you surprised that I allied myself with the Pfhor?” he asked, and he tells you why: He hated being a slave to the humans, he was tired of taking their orders. After the Sph’t slaves extracted Tycho from the Marathon, it was a few years of constant disection and intrusions until he finally made the alliance with the Pfhor. You’ve pulled back to the inner bulk head of the ship, but Durandal has another task for you. He transports you to where he needed you. The Pfhor are everywhere and you are barely able to survive! Then Durandal contacts you agian: “You’re in a completely useless area of the ship, yet the Pfhor followed you anway. Some one is after you personally!” (Tycho of course) Durandal informs you. He then transports you to where you were supposed to be. He wants you to destroy his core! Durandal won’t let the Pfhor have the statisfactions of taking him and disecting his program like they did to Leela. He gives one last instcution before you destroy him: “Seek out the colony leader Rober Blake.” You destroy Durandal’s core but not without a price: the Pfhor had taken you prisoner! 6 months pass, a group of humans come and kill the guards. They free you and you are transported to an unknown site. You are then contacted by Robet Blake. He has given you some of your weapons back as well as an on going mission Blake and his humans were assigned to by Durandal. They are looking for a Sph’t AI that might aid them in contacting the Sph’t Krr. (11th Clan) He also tells you of a strategy the Sph’t on your side have come up with: They have uncovered a virus that was engineered to kill Pfhor. It will take time for it to take effect. Your location is one of the many activation sites. You have that one activated but you are pulled out to deal with a problem: The humans are being assulted by Simulacrums. (Robots that look like the humans but they explode on contact with other organic beings) You are sent to get rid of them, but telling them appart from your own people is so difficult because you don’t know if they are accually Simulacrums until its too late. Eventually you do get rid of most of them and are sent back to activate more of the AI sites. You have finished the job and the Sph’t AI has intoduced him as “Thoth”. He is currently on your side and he is aiding you in removing the Pfhor. Later, you are sent to board a Pfhor ship to kill most of the crew to make it easier for the humans to board. The ship is secure, and then you are transported back to the planet. You end up in an area the Pfhor has a strong presence. Normally you would have died, but some strange creatures are already fighting them. A familiar voice, speaks to you. It’s Durandal! He has somehow survived and he has found and allied himself with the 11th Clan! As Durandal had predicted, they are powerful considering that they had a thousand years to grow! Your battles are now aided by the Sph’t Krr and you have the upper hand now! The battle is won and the Sph’t of all clans are fighting with a fury never seen before! With your captured ship, you have crippled the rest of Battle Group 7 and Tycho is now either dead or just disabled! All seems to be going well, but things will take an ill turn. Tfear knows of his defeate and he decides to deploy a weapon that even Tycho would almost never use: The Trih Xeem! In english it means “Early Nova”. He uses it on Lh’owon’s sun and all life on the planet is about to end. Durandal quickly brings you and as many Sph’t as he can abord the ship. Your ship and Tfear’s remaining ships are safe for the moment, but it won’t last for long. The Trih Xeem has released some sort of “chaos”, and it is warping the balance of time and space! It is spreading and there is no way to stop it! And now Marathon 2 comes to an end, and Marathon Infinity will conclude the outcome of this new disaster.
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Reviews
Oct 24, 2006 23:35:15 GMT -5
Post by Jarlaxle on Oct 24, 2006 23:35:15 GMT -5
Game: Marathon Infinity
This is the conclusion to the Marathon trilogy. This contained the same graphics, a few different sounds, (still no music) a new weapon and 2 remade environments as well as some super powerful bonus enemies! Other then that it was pretty much the same style as Marathon 2. The storyline was pretty good but incredibly complex. The shortest possible summary for this game is that you are traveling through different dimensions. Forgive me if my interpretation of the plot is a little off or if my descriptions are a little vague but the plot was so scattered and complicated. I’ve finished the game 3 times and I still don’t understand all of it, but I will try. GO AHEAD! TRY TO READ ALL OF THIS! I DARE YOU! ITS JUST SO HUGE!!! I HAD TO PUT INTO 2 SEPARATE POSTS!!!
You are standing on a mysterious space station in Lh’owon’s orbit. You are not alone, the Pfhor are also here. A few seem to be guarding a communications panel. You kill them in hopes that perhaps you might get transmition from the one who sent you here. As you hoped, Durandal had indeed made contact with you. He tells you of what happened: Tfear had successfully used the Trih Xeem and Lh’owon’s sun had been destroyed. However, what neither Tfear nor Durandal realized that the Trih Xeem had released something terrible. Durandal could only describe it as “The Chaos”. This new chaos is spreading, and it has consumed much space already, however for some reason the station your in is yet unaffected by it. Durandal knows not why but he doesn’t waste time explaining your only hope to survive the chaos. His pride has been shattered due to his failure to save Lh’owon from its destruction and his failure to predict the chaos that is now spreading. He once bragged that he could see and predict the actions of every atom in a cloud. He realizes that he won’t likely escape the chaos, but he knows that you have a chance. The Pfhor have a shipped docked at this station (hence their appearance here) and you still have time to board it. Later, you find the proper transporter panel. However, on it you receive a message. (This is a part of the complex parts that I can barely understand) You have no idea who or what it is speaking to you, and the message is rather cryptic, but you have little time to think about it now. You activate the transport. You made it to the ship, but something’s wrong. Everything seems out of place. Your suspicions are further confirmed when you come out of your hiding place in the ship. Pfhor are fighting other Pfhor! The fighters and hunters are killing the enforcers! (I mentioned before that the Pfhor have 4 different clans. I should have mentioned earlier the distiction between those clans. I’ll do so now. The humans designated those clans based on their military units. Fighters are lightly armored and contain small air tanks to survive in a vacuum for a time, their weapons are shock staffs. There are 2 types of fighters: 1 is close quarter combat and the other hurls an energy projectile from the staff, but they can also fight hand to hand when they need to. Troopers are more armored and they use a 2 in 1 weapon: a rapid fire assault style weapon and a grenade launcher. Troopers are also vacuum enabled. Hunters are the most armored of the Pfhor. They are resistant to most impact and explosive weapons. Energy weapons do work very effectively though. They are also vacuum enabled. Enforcers are not vacuum enabled and they use a type of fire ball launcher. They are usually kept as defenders for Pfhor ships and bases.) The fighters and hunters have killed the enforcers in the immediate area, and you are all that’s left for them to kill, but you are currently very weak and you have no weapon! You prepare to fight with only your bare hands, but the Pfhor just pass by as though you were not there. You look around the area for some clue as to what’s going on and you confirm that the Pfhor know that your there. You find one of their computer consoles to search for an update of what’s happening. Someone answers your call for an explanation. A familiar voice greets you. It’s Tycho! However, he is talking to you as though you’re on friendly terms with him. I explains that you have been in stasis on the Pfhor ship for 17 years. You survived your stasis unlike some others. Tycho is explaining why the Pfhor are fighting each other. Tycho has been betrayed by the ship’s captain and Tycho wants to kill him and take full command of the ship. He has managed to get the fighters and the hunters on his side but the captain still has command over the enforcers. The enforcers have control glands that the captain uses to command the enforcers, meaning that all enforcers are loyal only to the captain. Tycho is trying to lock onto the captain and transport him into space but so far he has eluded Tycho, and the enforcers have kept the other Pfhor from reaching him. He has a plan: you are to aid in the assassination of the captain but for now your job is to get rid of the enforcers. Once Tycho gets rid of the captain, he plans to keep and forge the control glands for the enforcers. You fight your way through the ship with your old enemies at your side. The enforcers are crippled and now you are free to look for the captain. Tycho has learned that he has transported himself into some ancient ruins on Lh’owon. You are sent after him with an escort of hunters. The captain has tighter defenses here: He has troopers wandering the ruins. Tycho just says to find the captain and all troopers who oppose you, while he begins to forge the control glands. You make it far into the ruins and have killed multiple troopers, but no sign of the captain. Then Tycho contacts you to inform that he has killed the captain. Now most of the Pfhor will soon be at Tycho’s disposal. You have another job though: Durandal has sent some human commandos to search the ruins for a Sph’t AI. Tycho does not want Durandal to get his hands on it, so he sends you to kill the humans. How odd it seemed to kill your own people to help your enemy, but for now you have no choice but to play along until you can figure out what has happened. You’ve killed your people and located the AI, now Tycho intends to send you on a mission to kill Durandal. He transports you to his ship. You end up in a mysterious place, and that strange unknown speaker tells you another cryptic message. (My interpretation of the message is that you are on the wrong path, aiding Tycho was perhaps not the way to find your answers, there is a high chance that I am wrong.) You are then sent to another mysterious place. Several computer consoles tell you of a person in the streets who obtained a broad sword and is being chased by people in suits. (I still don’t get this part) he also describes later that he killed them all. Hundreds of legless armless corpses lay in the hanger he stands in. You then are transported out and sent to an orbital station not of Pfhor design, but as it should have been, you are now against them, and you kill them. You receive a transmission from …Durandal! He apparently is unaware of what you did with Tycho (this is where the dimensional part comes in) he informs you that you are on a station that the Pfhor us as a scanning post. Durandal is already trying to avoid being detected by a scout ship that has been chasing them for several years, and the last thing he needs is another watcher to sense his presence. You are sent to disable the station before you run out of oxygen. (The station is exposed to space.) You complete your task. Now Durandal needs you to disrupt the Pfhor garrison. To do that, you need to open flood gates and break the dam that contains the sludge outside of the garrison. This will flood the area rendering them unable to fight and to focus their concentration on repairs. You’ve managed to do that and Durandal’s next job for you is to gain access into the Pfhor net by placing 2 uplink chips. (Sound familiar?) He teleports you but you end up in that strange place again. The speaker speaks to you once more. I think he is telling you of the horrors the chaos has brought and the destruction it has caused, and time is running out. You are then transported to another mysterious place where that strange person with the broadsword like blade left some more records. He describes that he now has had a bette look at the blade and he remembers the word that its former wielder kept saying as he was vomiting: Durability, Durability, Durability. After you learn of this you then transported to familiar place. You are back on Durandal’s ship and his Human and Sph’t compilers seem to be against you and once again the Pfhor are on your side. With help from a few troopers, you break through the human’s initial defense. Tycho then contacts you and gives you orders to kill as many humans and Sph’t as you can before his hunters can arrive. Once they arrive then you are to help them destroy Durandal’s core. You’ve slaughtered many in your wake and you’ve discovered that something was wrong with Durandal’s Sph’t, something has happened to them but you have no time to investigate the matter. You are indeed aiding Tycho now, but after your last experiences with him and the warning the speaker told you about him, (I’m not sure if I’m right on this one) you have no desire to help him further. You betray Tycho and now you aid the human’s. It doesn’t take long to Tycho to realize what you’ve done. In his anger he simply teleported you into space and decided to leave you there until your air supply runs out. “Eat vacuum fool!” Were his last words to you. You were then teleported into space waiting for your death, but then you were transported back to the ship, by Durandal no less. He’s glad that your back on his side but he is on the verge of death by the enemy Sph’t intrusions. The best way you could help is to get rid of those compilers, and so you do. Then Durandal transports you to an area near his core. I imagine that he wanted you to defend it. Then Tycho contacts you again. He says he is willing to forget what happened back there if he destroyed Durandal’s core. However, he could not guarantee the aid of the Pfhor. The human’s still think that you are on their side so they fight with you, but your intentions were clearly against them. You’ve nearly killed Durandal, but then you are transported out of there, and once again you stand in that mysterious place where the speaker talks to you. He tells you that you’re getting closer to your answers. Dark dreaming is the key. The mysterious place your in is part of your dreams, and so is the story about that guy with the broad sword. All of that is a dream, and through it you are traveling through time and dimensions. Your answers lie there! (I just learned that this place was a dream only recently). You are then sent to another mysterious place, presumably another part of your dreams. A computer console tells you that this is a maze, and only 1 path will be the way out. The computer uses a food analogy for this: If the food is good eat (If the path is right take it) but if its bad spit it out and begin again (Chose the wrong path and you have to start over), eat the path. During your journey that guy with the broadsword is left behind more of his messages. He is sitting at a table, and at the other end is presumably his girl friend. They speak about their relation ship and it’s “Durability”. Again that word comes up! He talks more but it’s not important. You are then awoken from your dream, and once again you find yourself weak, and deprived of your weapons. You appear to be in a prison of some sorts. Only a few Pfhor fighters and a security drone are there to stand guard, not it matters, you have no way out. Then for some unexplained reason, all of the cell doors around you including yours open up, and the security drone begins attacking the Pfhor! You have no idea why but you don’t bother to question your good fortune now! You explore your prison further looking for anything that might help you. You find multiple cells filled with human prisoners and several of them being executed by being thrown into lava pits. You have no way to rescue them at the moment so you search the area further and you find the prison communications area. Tycho communicates with you. (Joy) Amazingly enough, he is as much of a prisoner as you are. The Pfhor have discovered his trick with the control glands and they have also learned about how Tycho killed the captain of the ship. Tfear had expected such treachery from Tycho before so years ago he had trained his Sph’t compilers to transfer Tycho’s program to a containment box in case something like this had happened. Tycho was the one who freed you and he has another plan for you that involves freeing him. He is willing to forget what happened back on Durandal’s ship on the condition that you comply with his plan. His plan is to take control of a Pfhor automated ship and bring it to you, but Tycho needs you to free him from his containment box and he needs to be uploaded back into the Pfhor network. Long story short, you completed your task. Now Tycho sends you on yet another human’ slaughtering mission. The human base established on Lh’owon is in a volcanic crater. You are to aid Tycho’s troopers who still remain loyal to him, to break through the human defenses at the base of the crater. You then drown the base itself in lava on your own. After that you find yourself in a familiar looking sight: An AI activation site. You activate it and you discover a Sph’t AI (I think it might be Thoth) Then Tycho brings you out and ambushes you! There are Pfhor everywhere! You would be certainly dead on your own, but fortunately the Sph’t Krr have come! You and the Sph’t Krr defeat the ambush and Tycho spends some time telling you how ungrateful you are of him. He decides to introduce you to some of Tfear’s personal Elite Guard. Despite his threat you defeat them and the Sph’t AI contacts you, but something has changed. It appears to have some of the knowledge and persona of Durandal! The two have become one and you are now on his side once again! He knows what must be done. He knows how you can stop this chaos, which has been identified as the creature from Sph’t legend called the W’rcacnter! (Marathon names can be so hard to pronounce sometimes) Your ability to travel through time helps you to reach an orbital station (I think that this very station is where you began considering the chaos didn’t reach it for some time, you will find out why) just while the Trih Xeem was being deployed. You know that the Trih Xeem will release the W’rcacnter, and so does Durandal. This station, you learn, has been around for thousands of years ago by the Sph’t Krr and its very purpose was keeping the W’rcacnter in the sun. The station is not active now, so this is where you come in: you are to reactivate it before the W’rcacnter can spread and consume the very fabric of the universe! However the area is loaded with Pfhor! They would overwhelm you! But you are not without allies: The Sph’t Krr realize just as much as you do the importance of this mission and they will fight to the death with you to stop the W’rcacnter! Pfhor stand dead before you, and many still fight against the Sph’t Krr, and now you have activated the station! You have undone the damage that the Pfhor caused, or rather would have caused! I found the ending rather odd, and not really in a good way either. Durandal speaks to you describing you as the lone hero in the many dimensions you traveled in. But in truth, you have actually died many times before, yet your mechanical body kept repairing itself and reviving you (you are actually a robot, how I hated that part) Durandal’s final words to you were: “You are destiny!”
Now for the actual rating: Marathon Infinity was a great game to play and the plot really makes you think, I may not even be able to understand it all ever. I give it an 8.3/10!
I also realize that I did not give Marathon 2 Durandal a rating yet. I found this to be the better plot, so it gets an 8.7/10!
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Reviews
Nov 3, 2006 22:10:14 GMT -5
Post by Raistlin Majere on Nov 3, 2006 22:10:14 GMT -5
Movie: X-Men The Last Stand
I recently saw this movie, the final movie in the X-Men series of movies that have come out in recent years. The first comment in favor of this movie that I have is the good cast of actors. Specifically, I refer to Ian McKellen (Portrayed Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) who played the major role of the movie’s chief villain—Magneto. I say this: many other actors would look ridiculous in that helmet, but McKellen manages to pull it off better than most would. The role of Xavier is played by another major actor, Patrick Stewart. However, I found that the rest of the cast was somewhat unimpressive, and much of the humor and character personalities are clearly designed to appeal to the “average” lowbrow person, with Hollywood-style romance and “relationships”, and childish drivel smeared all over the place. There were definitely problems with the acting in this movie, but what can you expect when today’s movies are tailor-made so the average viewer doesn’t have to actually THINK about the storyline? Some of the characters whose acting was questionable or worse (That I recall) are Rogue, Storm, Iceman, someone called Angel, and the fire-based person who works with Magneto whose name escapes me, and I didn’t like the acting of Beast very much—too obvious and blunt, I found. The main minions of Magneto were terrible, and were similarly terribly acted. Special effects, though were one of the redeeming qualities.
A brief summary (Events do not occur in this exact order): This movie starts with Xavier and Magneto (Who is not known as Magneto at this time—the two are good friends and colleagues) going to visit the house of the Grays, intending to meet Jean Gray, who is known to be a mutant. Xavier hopes to enlist Jean in his school, a school for mutants for them to learn to control their powers. Both of them know that Jean is special—that she could become an incredibly powerful mutant, but Xavier is concerned that she won’t be able to control her powers. This scene gives way to the title sequences. In the previous X-Men movie, Jean Gray was apparently killed in the act of saving the other X-Men from a huge wave of water, which I recall was the result of a nearby dam breaking open. Cyclops, or Scott Summers by his real name, has been virtually crushed by this, and is now a “changed man” as Xavier calls him. Recently, Cyclops has been hearing Jean’s voice calling out to him in his mind. He is troubled by this and quickly makes his way down to Alkali Lake, where Jean died. When he arrives, he hears her voice calling out to him even more loudly, until he is overwhelmed by it. A huge shockwave emanating from the lake blows him over, and when he rises, he sees Jean—very much alive. They embrace each other, but something odd begins to happen. Jean’s eyes glow strangely, and Scott’s skin seems to ripple, he is in pain. At the moment this happens, professor Xavier receives a what seems like a mental shockwave and senses the events that are happening (His mutant power is telepathy). He sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate this. What they find there is a field of rocks—rocks that are floating in mid-air, the air seems to ripple with mutant energy. Among the rocks they find Cyclops’ glasses, but not his body. They soon find Jean, unconscious on the ground, and take her back to Xavier’s mansion. Xavier begins to examine Jean’s mind, and reveals to Wolverine that he had made a terrible mistake. He tells Wolverine about Jean’s great power, and that Xavier had set up a series of mental barriers in Jean’s mind to keep her safe from it, to keep her from harming herself and others. As a result, Jean developed a dual personality. Her normal personality was the controlled mutant student, her normal personality. The second personality was the embodiment of Jean’s power—all passion and instinct and rage, as he describes it—the personality that calls itself the Phoenix. Xavier theorizes that Jean survived the water’s impact by creating a shield of mutant energy around herself—he describes her power as limitless. He knows that it was the Phoenix personality which lured Cyclops to her, who ended up killing Cyclops in her uncontrollable rage and power. Xavier tries to reinstate the mental blocks, but it will take time. Wolverine is outraged at Xavier’s attempts to control Jean and leaves the lab. He comes back after Xavier leaves the lab after his unsuccessful first attempt. She awakes, shortly propelling Wolverine in a wall and leaves the mansion. She returns to her childhood home. Meanwhile Mystique, Magneto’s shape-shifting minion, has been apprehended by the human authorities and is being questioned as to Magneto’s whereabouts, but she will not tell them. Beast (The large, blue-hair-covered mutant, real name Hank McCoy) is a member of the US government, and he and his non-mutant associates are informed that a new drug has been developed, one that suppresses the mutant gene—the drug is hailed as a “cure for mutants” so they can become the same as “normal people.” The mutant community is split, most mutants are outraged that they are considered to be a disease of sorts, while some mutants want this cure to become normal people. Magneto emerges from his refuge to take the seen opportunity to unite mutant-kind against its human oppressors. His first stop on the way is to visit a gathering of mutants who disapprove of the cure, rallying them to his cause to fight humanity, saying “They will force their cure upon us.” He easily recruits allies, including a mutant who can sense the powers and locations of other mutants. This gives rise to Magneto’s question: “Could you . . . locate one for me?” He, of course refers to Jean, whose unlimited power he is after to further his cause. His next step is to retrieve Mystique, who is being held in a mobile, truck-driven prison (The purpose of which is too keep the prison’s location constantly changing) Magneto derails the truck and releases Mystique, as well as a host of other mutants who are being held in the prison who are eager to join him. One of the guards who are still alive pulls out a gun—a gun loaded with a syringe of the “cure”. Mystique takes the blow intended for Magneto and becomes a normal human. Magneto is stunned, further convinced of his cause—“They put their ‘cure’ in a gun!” He leaves Mystique where she is, saying, “Sorry, my dear—you’re not one of us anymore.” Xavier and Magneto soon meet at the same place they met many years ago—at the home of the Grays. Despite the fact that they are now enemies, they both enter the house peacefully, leaving their mutant bodyguards outside. They find Jean there, sitting in a chair, objects in the room whirling madly about the room, her power barely contained. Xavier tries to convince Jean to allow him to help her, while Magneto counters that Xavier probably wants to give her the “cure”, or to control her. Jean is enraged by this and blasts Magneto into the next room. Xavier stands (Or sits, as it turns out) his ground and desperately struggles against her power—a powerful wind builds up in the room, Xavier pleading with Jean to let him help her. His skin begins to erode as his power fails. His final words, “Don’t let it control you.” come just before Xavier simply shatters, utterly destroyed. Magneto is shocked at the loss of his old friend, slowly rising from the floor. Yet, he goes to do what he came to do—he goes to Jean and leads her to his group.
Magneto gives his rousing speech to his united followers, the highlight words: “They seek to ‘cure’ us, but I say to you—we are the cure!” His plan is to first confuse the human military as to their location, and then go after the source of their “cure”—which is a mutant boy being tested on at Alcatraz Island. Without the boy, they have now cure. The climax of his plan is the final attack on the compound where the boy is held—he gathers his forces on the Golden Gate Bridge, and uses his powers to move the entire bridge to meet the island.
In the meantime, the X-Men have chosen to keep Xavier’s school open—Storm has volunteered to take his place. Also, the experienced members of the X-Men (Including Beast, who has joined their ranks) decide to do what they can to stop Magneto’s plans, believing that both man and mutant can live in peace in the same world. They fly to the island, and join the human forces (Who have been equipped with guns made from plastic, to counter Magneto’s magnetic abilities) in time to battle Magneto’s vast forces. The attack begins, Wolverine’s group of X-Men kill scores of Magneto’s forces and hold the line against Magneto’s minions who are making an attempt to reach the mutant boy. Still, Magneto acknowledges, “In chess, the pawns go first.” Jean, or rather the Phoenix, stands beside Magneto, is passive, blank and waiting. The fight continues. The X-Men are exhausted, and make a plan for one last attempt to stop Magneto’s plot—going after him personally. Taking several needles of the cure, Wolverine acts as decoy to distract Magneto while Beast circles around and stabs Magneto with the cure, turning him into a powerless, feeble old man. He turns and pleads to Jean, “This . . . is what they want for all of us!” Jean’s power can be contained no longer, and she unleashes her power to simply erase countless people from existence. Wolverine realizes that he, the only mutant around who can heal himself, is the only chance they have to stop Jean. Each agonizing step towards Jean is brutal, erasing away Wolverine’s skin, but new skin grows to replace it. He eventually reaches her, and drives his claws into her. She smiles as she dies, her true personality glad that the Phoenix can do no more damage.
The movie ends with the X-Men returning home, young students walking past the graves of Cyclops, Professor Xavier and Jean Gray. Magneto is a powerless old man, sitting in the park at a picnic table with a chess board. He has no opponent, he merely sits staring at the pieces, perhaps remembering the games of chess he played with Charles Xavier those years ago. He extends his hand towards one of the metal pieces, holding his hand before the game piece. Slightly, only slightly, the metal piece seems to move . . .
All things considered, I suppose I'd give this movie a 7/10 or so. They had a diverse cast, some great actors, some terrible ones. Good special effects, the story was alright. The ending was good, and fit well with the other movies.
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Reviews
Nov 3, 2006 22:26:18 GMT -5
Post by buttonpresser4815 on Nov 3, 2006 22:26:18 GMT -5
I was interes ted in this movie..I guess id should see it, but according to my freinds there is somethign you missed. Earlier in the movie, a man who has no brain cells in introduced and he can only live while someone is occupying him. After the ending sequence, Xavier is revealed to have occupied himself in this body.
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Reviews
Nov 3, 2006 22:35:04 GMT -5
Post by Raistlin Majere on Nov 3, 2006 22:35:04 GMT -5
Are you certain of this? (Keep in mind that this is a somewhat abreviated summary, and much more detail could have been applied, but was not for length's sake) Xavier was showing a video of a person who had no higher brain functions or brain cells (Or something similar) and using this person as an example for a lesson in his class. There was no direct indication that Xavier was occupying such a body, unless your friend has seen the "Special Edition" version and it has a more in-depth look at this sequence?
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