Sunday, November 25, 2007

Heroes of Might and Magic

Out of all the myriad genres of games out there, the turn-based strategy style is probably my favourite (although, admittedly, there are very few of this sort of games nowadays).

Sure, I do love me some RPGs (after all, the Pokemon series, I am slightly embarrassed to say, has always, and still does, rank as one of my most loved of all time), real-time strategy gems like Warcraft and Starcraft are all awesome gaming experiences, and there’s nothing I would like more to do at the end of a tiring day than to whack some balls at my foes in Virtua Tennis or just whack them in general in Street Fighter but there’s just something alluring turn-based strategy games. Or perhaps just that one turn-based strategy game.

Maybe it’s due to the fact that I have plenty of time to think through each turn completely and slowly, maybe it’s due to the fact that the action isn’t as frantic or as adrenaline-pumping (which, unlike the many first-person shooter fanatics that form the bulk of male gamers my age, I am not that fond of), maybe it’s due to the fact that playing the game requires the enhancement of my brainpower or maybe it’s just due to the fact that the game has everything a good fantasy game should have, but the Heroes of Might and Magic series dominated my personal game ranking charts since I was in lower secondary.

The premise of the several games in the series is simple. Playing as a hero (or several heroes) from a certain faction or town, the gamer then proceeds to gathering resources for building and creature construction, forming a large enough army (comprising of fantasy archetypes ranging from vampires to zombies to angels) to invade other factions and towns or to meet certain objectives like finding precious items.

While several cosmetic changes and features have been made throughout the course of the five-game series’ history, the core gameplay has remained largely the same, something which fans of the series would have no other way. Thanks to the large number of options (the later few iterations of the series each offer up almost a hundred different types of creatures and spells to play around with), a well-balanced game system (with different factions and towns having drastically different pros and cons) as well as the ability to churn out custom-made maps or to download player-made maps online, HoMM (as it’s fondly referred to by fans) always ensures that each gaming experience is unique and fresh, which has perhaps contributed significantly to its longevity.

The one thing, though, that drew me to the game like no other was the multiplayer option. While many other games nowadays offer several multiplayer options including online play as well as LAN gameplay, the unique nature of this game, being a turn-based game, offers up a hot seat option. While it might seem a small boon to some, I have several (and I do mean several) fond memories of eight-to-ten-hour marathons in secondary school where a few friends and I would just sit at my computer, taking turns to rest our butts on the “hot seat” and contemplate our move, something which continues to this day (although constraints of time usually means that we have to play the game in short bouts over several weekends as opposed to a single long session).

While the Heroes series has never achieved the international stardom of other fantasy games like Diablo and the above-mentioned Warcraft series, it has amassed a solid cult following and, upon contact with the game for a few hours, it’s not hard to see why. With the latest and final expansion set, Tribes of the East, for the fifth game having just been released a few weeks back and with the release of the complete “golden” edition of the game, now’s as good a time for any fantasy gamers, fans or not, to visit the wonder that is the Heroes series. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. 

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Bee Movie

I’ll just come out and say, as unabashedly as I can, that, despite my ever-increasing age, I was and still am a big kid at heart and I love animations. From Japanese anime like Prince of Tennis and Bleach to American adaptations like Pokemon, I’m a big fan of them all. And, of course, like most other big kids (not to mention the real ones), I’ve also been a huge fan of animated films, with movies like Aladdin, The Lion King, Shrek and Finding Nemo all taking places in my top 10 favourite movies of all time.

So, it was with a reasonable amount of excitement that I approached the latest animation to hit town, Bee Movie. While recent animated efforts have been pretty lackluster, Dreamworks Animation has churned out huge hits in the past (including the afore-mentioned Shrek) so I still bore out hope.

Was it justified? Well, I don’t think Bee Movie will be winning any awards (unless it’s something kids related) but it served up a decently entertaining watch.

Featuring voices from a veritable who’s who list of comedians, Bee Movie is about Barry B. Benson, a bee (as you might have guessed from the title) who has just graduated from bee college and is at the point in his short (one would think, seeing as his entire schooling career a long, nine days) life where he has to choose which part of the honey-making production line (that all bees are working in) he wants to go into.

Of course, while his peers are happy (even excited) to take up jobs in the honey factory, he would much rather have the freedom to head outside the hive and gather pollen and nectar and see the world. I won’t spoil the story here other than to say that, acting on this wish, he unleashes a series of world-changing (and I do mean, world-changing) events.

While the basic plot of the story is predictable (although taking into account the target audience of this movie, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing), the plot devices used are totally ridiculous and out-of-this-world. From being able to talk to humans to having an army of bees flying a powerless plane, the scriptwriters obviously weren’t gunning for any form of realism.

With that said, though, the scripting is pretty good here. The overall pacing for the movie is fantastic (with never a dull moment) and the feel is lighthearted and enjoyable, with jokes (especially satirical spoofs about the famous stereotypes of bees) aplenty.

The voice acting is terrific, if not outstanding. Jerry Seinfeld pulls off a likeable, affable Barry, although there are several moments when one is reminded of the comedian in his titular sitcom instead. Renee Zellweger is adequate as Vanessa, the human florist who strikes up a friendship (and, disturbingly, the hints of a more-than-platonic relationship) with Benson. Oprah Winfrey, Sting and Larry King all guest-voice briefly, with the Larry King sequence one of the most hilarious moments in the show.

Overall, while Bee Movie isn’t the best animation to hit the cinemas ever, it does entertain reasonably and is great for anyone looking for a lighthearted fix.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Brothers

Hong Kong mafia movies are a dime a dozen and, with so few of them rising to critical and box-office acclaim (the Infernal Affairs series is the only recent one that comes to mind), I guess filmmakers are having to turn to more innovative measures to make sure that their gangster movies stand out from the rest. Sometimes, though, that’s not a good thing.

Brothers, featuring a star-studded cast that includes four of the five Tigers of the TVB station in the 80s (with Tony Leung the only absentee), is the latest mafia-related show to reach local shores.

The story is basic, cliché fair: A pair of brothers separated from young due to a divination lot that said they would end up killing each other, reunite after twenty years when their father, a retired triad leader, is stabbed and lands up in hospital. What follows is a dull and utterly predictable story that involves lots of cat-and-mouse with the police, lots of killing and violence as well as the usual rivalry between gangs and, as the title states, some brotherly relationship development. I won’t give any more details or spoilers here because there’s really nothing much to spoil. The ending can be seen a mile away.

The acting, while competent, is nothing to shout about. Michael Miu plays a credible mafia boss who’s trying to teach his brother, played by Eason Chan (although one finds it hard to believe that the two, who look so different in age, could be brothers born within a few years of each other), the tricks of the trade while Andy Lau steals the show with his cheeky and smart-mouthed police inspector.

Perhaps to set the movie apart from others, the creators of the film have taken to using a huge variety of different filming effects, ranging from extreme up-close motion shots to wide panoramic shots with the subject material only at one end of the screen to random sudden scene transitions, to liven up the show. Unfortunately, while some of the shots are pure genius and succeed in lending a slight noir feel to the show, most of them are functionally redundant and end up adding a discordant, schizophrenic air to the movie. The sound effects, too, are a hit-and-miss, jumping from pop rock to creepy horror flick to ballad within seconds, giving a very jarring effect.

Brothers is a movie only for die-hard HK gangster drama freaks or fans of the Tigers, all of whom have aged considerably.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars