Resident Evil 6 Demo

I just finished playing the Resident Evil 6 demo and I have mixed feelings. There were some things I loved about it and some things I was not crazy about.

The first thing you should know is that it is multiplayer, so you can invite your friends to play with you. I was happy about that because I wasn't sure if it would be included in the demo and I wanted to play with James.

Leon's scenario is a return to the more traditional survival horror that fans of the older games loved so much. It is not exactly the same, but it definitely gives off a more claustrophobic feeling and it is nice to see zombies make a comeback because we have not seen them in the most recent games. That being said, these zombies aren't pushovers like they used to be. I saw more than one wielding a weapon, though I don't know if they are just carrying them or if they can actually hit you if you get too close. They are also able to hop fences, which means that they can get to you even if you think you are safe. (I wonder if they can open doors?) This was the only campaign I really enjoyed playing. I did not think it was scary, but I was playing with James so that could have something to do with it. Multiplayer takes away some of that fear (which is unfortunate).

Chris' scenario felt like more of the same, almost an extension of Resident Evil 5. It was not interesting, it was not scary. I found myself wondering when it would be over. On this mission, not only do you have two playable characters, but there are also other people who work with you running around. There were times when I thought enemies were my teammates and I ended up being shot because of it. They did not do a good job of distinguishing between them. El Gigante 3.0 makes an appearance and I have to say, I was neither impressed nor happy to see him. That is one of my least favorite enemies in the entire series and I wish Capcom would just let it die. This part didn't feel like Resident Evil, it felt like a war game.

Lastly, there is Jake's scenario (featuring Sherry from Resident Evil 2). I did not care for this one either. It was action oriented, like Chris'. I have no idea how to even describe the enemies. Some of them looked (and sounded) like dinosaurs. Others would freeze after being killed, and it looked like they turned to stone. I even jumped over one of them. It was very strange. At the end, it sounded like there was another chainsaw enemy, but it was difficult to see clearly and that is where the demo ended.

Aside from all of that, here is what I liked. You are now able to walk and aim at the same time. FINALLY. Thank you, Capcom. When this series turned into a shooter, that should have been the first thing they updated. You are able to roll and duck. Environmental kills! I smashed a zombie's head into the corner of a table and it died. I was really excited to see that happen. All of the new locations look amazing. Ammo/herb/point drops are now given to you AND your partner. You no longer have to fight over who will pick what up. You are also able to switch shoulders which is really nice, especially when you are hiding behind something, you won't have a wall blocking your view.

There really is not much to complain about, other than the fact that I did not particularly enjoy Chris and Jake's campaigns. I was not able to take cover throughout the entire demo. James said that you are able to, but I could not get it to work regardless of how many times I tried. Button prompts still exist, for reasons I cannot understand. The camera isn't perfect. You are able to completely move it around, which is not something you could do in RE4 or RE5, but something about it still does not feel right and I am not quite sure what it is. My last complaint is that you will now trip over things that are lying on the floor. Like zombies who are playing dead. It gets really annoying after the second time. You cannot tell me these people are so blind that they trip over every single body.

Overall, I was happy with the demo and I am excited for Resident Evil 6. It really seems like Capcom listened to everyone and tried to create a game that all their fans, both new and old, could enjoy.

Resident Evil: Retribution

This review contains some spoilers for Resident Evil: Retribution.

What I am about to say will make it seem like I am tearing Resident Evil: Retribution apart. So before I start, I would like to make it clear that this is not the most awful movie ever made. (House of the Dead still has that "honor.")

Retribution started off really well. It appears as if Alice wakes up in a world devoid of zombies. She is married to Carlos, has a daughter. It's. All. Very. Normal. And you know what that means. This is not what it seems. These people are not really Alice or Carlos. They are more clones being tested by Umbrella and things are about to get very bad for them.

Umbrella has simulation rooms set up all over their headquarters, designed to look like New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Raccoon City, featuring many different enemies. The entire movie focuses on Alice (the real one) attempting to escape with the help of Ada Wong and, of all people, Albert Wesker. Wesker tells Alice that the Red Queen is on a mission to destroy humanity and he is basically her only hope of making it out alive. Where do I even start...

AI is scary. I am sure we have all seen enough movies and played enough video games to know that you can never really trust it. Even so, I cannot understand why the Red Queen's goal now is to kill everyone on the planet when her initial goal in the first film was to prevent the spread of infection. How does she even exist when her circuits were fried? I suppose there could be another Red Queen, but giving her the same name is misleading and they probably should have considered this while making the movie.

As for Wesker, he does not suffer from Nemesis syndrome, as other people have claimed he does. While it is true that he does appear to help Alice escape from Umbrella HQ, his reasons are purely selfish. I do not believe his game counterpart would ever have enlisted help from any of his enemies, regardless of how desperately he needed it, but I think we all realize by now that when it comes to these movies, all bets are off.

Someone on IMDB called Retribution "Resident Evil All Stars." That is accurate. And not in a good way.

Ada, Leon and Barry were all unnecessary to the plot. If they had been cut out, it would have been the same film, just with less characters running around for no real reason. I am a fan of the games first, but these characters served almost no purpose in the movie. They are fan service. I would rather see them excluded than wasted. I think the inclusion of Barry was the worst, since he has no ties to Leon in any of the games (unless you really want to include Gaiden) and that is who he is working with.

Chris and Claire are nowhere to be found this time around, which is a good thing because Jill, Leon, Barry and Ada were poorly written (or barely even utilized at all). At least they escaped this film.

 I do not mind a unique take on the series involving new characters, but when you bring in established characters and make them barely recognizable, it is a problem. There is no point to it.

Many enemies are included in Resident Evil: Retribution, most of which we have seen in the previous films. There are incredibly fast zombies in the Raccoon City simulation, but after that, they disappear in favor of the Plagas (who do not translate well to film, they look ridiculous). If you have played Resident Evil 5, you already know that Plagas are smarter than zombies. They drive cars, ride motorcycles and they will shoot you with whatever they can get their hands on, whether it is an SMG or an RPG. Also included from RE5 is the Executioner (who I mistakenly thought was the Bogeyman from Silent Hill Downpour, I forgot what I was watching for a moment) and the Chainsaw Ganado from RE4/RE5. The "big bad" is a giant super-licker, bigger than any enemy I remember seeing in the films before. And of course, there are also the clones of Carlos, One and Rain, led by a mind-controlled Jill Valentine.

There are a lot of references to the games that could leave people lost if they have never played them (where did the new enemies come from?) and a lot of additions from the games that will leave people who HAVE played them wondering why they bothered to include them. Everything happens too fast, the movie feels rushed and it suffers because of it.

Look at where the first film started and where we are now. The plot is so convoluted I do not even know what is going on anymore. The first movie had its flaws, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Now I feel like things are being made up as they go along just for the sake of dragging out the series and making more money. It could have been planned better.

Overall, Retribution was entertaining enough. I was not bored watching it. Maybe I am used to how bad the movies are, maybe my  expectations are lower. Maybe I am just beyond caring at this point. It was not the worst movie I have seen in this series, but it is still far from good.

I spent Thursday in the city

This trip didn't include many pictures. We started off the day at the 9/11 memorial, moved on to the Jekyll and Hyde Club in Greenwich Village for dinner, went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park and then walked around Times Square before ending up at Ellen's Stardust Diner for ice cream. After that, I went back to my hotel room and watched Project Runway. It was an early night and I was fine with that.

9/11 Memorial

I really tried to be as detached as possible while at the 9/11 memorial. Not out of disrespect, but because I never want to relive that day. I remember everything that happened (I even posted about it here last year) and it is painful. The events of that day were something that I really struggled to deal with for a long time. It was one of my worst nightmares come true (our country being attacked), I did not know what was going to happen next. I had just spent several days at the Marriott at the World Trade Center one month prior to the attack, everyone working there...I cannot even think about what happened to some of them. I could not watch the news. I did not watch the towers fall. Even now, if I see video or pictures of it, I turn my head away.

Being at the memorial felt surreal. I was there and I knew why I was there, but it did not seem real. And if I had allowed my mind to wander, I knew I would break down.

I have been to both Jekyll and Hyde Clubs (it has been at least ten years since I have been back though) and I preferred the one in Greenwich Village. There are animatronics on the wall that "come to life" at different intervals.

This gargoyle will take you on a plane ride to Hell.

These skeletons were hanging upside down from the ceiling.

My experience this time was pretty miserable. There is a man who works there and will come over and "talk"  (more like grunt) to you after you are seated. This did not happen the first time I went there. At first, I accepted it as part of what happens when you eat there, but the more I think about it, the more disgusted I am.

I played along because this is part of what they do there and I felt that it would have been worse if I didn’t, but…

I feel like this is one of those things that crosses a line. You know how if you go to a haunted house, the people working there can get as close to you as they want and harass you for as long as they want, but they are NOT allowed to touch you? There are boundaries. And Jekyll and Hyde should learn what they are because it was not just that this guy was touching me (and everyone else that I was with), he was literally ALL OVER us. He had his arms wrapped around me. Wrapped around my head, wrapped around my shoulders, he was hanging all over me. And not for one second. He lingered there for at least thirty seconds each time he did it.

And now, I will never go back there again. I love it there, it is really fun, but. It is not worth it. I thought once our food was served, he would go away. But even while we were eating, he was still all over us. It stopped being entertaining and got really annoying/uncomfortable. I do not know this man. I have no idea what he is thinking. He could be nice, but maybe he is not. I am uncomfortable when people I know touch me like that, so having a complete stranger do it made me cringe.

Strawberry Fields, Central Park

It was already dark by the time we got to Central Park, but I really wanted to walk through it because I have only been there once and I wanted to see the John Lennon memorial. It was really nice and there were a lot of people jogging, biking and walking in every area. It felt completely safe. However, after I went back to my hotel room and turned on the news when Project Runway was over, I found out that a woman was just attacked there recently. Had I known that prior, I probably would have been a bit apprehensive about going at night.

Inglot billboard

The city is ready for Halloween! I was so excited.

A new view of Ellen's.

It was not the worst day I have ever spent in the city, but it was very somber to start off with and Jekyll and Hyde pushed me over the edge. Hopefully next time will be better.

New York City

This was originally posted on my other blog on October 18, 2010. And I'm just now getting around to moving it here.

These are from the first night when we were on Park Avenue...Before we got lost.

We went to Serendipity for dinner and Frrrozen Hot Chocolate...I was so disappointed. Everything was horrible. It did not live up to the hype.

So after we got lost, we saw this little guy on the street. (We saw several of his older brothers and sisters as well...This was the first time I EVER saw rats in the city.)

The Majestic. Phantom of the Opera was incredible. I was overwhelmed by it. And I know they're two completely different musicals, but I actually loved it more than Legally Blonde. (If you don't know about my obsession with Legally Blonde, then that probably doesn't mean much.)

Walking around Times Square.

The Palace Theater, where Legally Blonde used to be. 

The George M. Cohan statue.

Conan billboard.

Ellen's Stardust Diner.

The Palace again, where the Legally Blonde sign used to be.

Toys R Us!

Chinatown and Little Italy

Times Square, before we left.