iBrianEarley {dot} com
Reviews of Movies, Games, Books, and Things I Enjoy

The time has finally come for me to get the chance to play Red Faction Guerrilla due to a few suggestions from my buddies. I don’t know why, but when I hear of so many people playing and loving a game and telling me I have to get that certain game, I get skeptical and put it off. By the time I actually get around to playing it, the hype is usually gone and I don’t have anybody to join me when I finally get around to it. It has happened to me with every Halo game except ODST, as well as the original Gears of War that I just picked up. When am I going to give in and just buy games right when they come out or at least rent them on release day? I don’t know, but I am determined to not let that happen as often anymore!

Red Faction Guerrilla was the end of the line. No more will I sit idly by waiting until the hype for the game is over to play the game by myself! I should have listened too the masses, and my friends, because this game is excellent! Think of Grand Theft Auto meets the god of war himself, Mars. I was never a big fan of Grand Theft Auto, but getting to run around on Mars as part of a resistance against an oppressive military force is more than fun.

You play as the brother of a key member of the resistance against the Earth Defense Force. His death causes you to become involved and do missions for the resistance and destroy EDF property. You can follow the story line directly or take time in between the story to participate in raids on the EDF or rescue resistance members being held by the EDF.

Throughout the game you get new weapons and upgrades for those weapons by collecting scrap metal. Scrap metal on Mars is a major commodity and can be obtained by destroying buildings, vehicles, EDF propaganda, and mining nodes that can be found randomly around the map. It’s so much fun to run around with a big hammer crushing vehicles and using mines and a detonator to bring down buildings. That’s just the tip of the weaponry you will be using in this game.

I have yet to beat the game, because it seems to be a lot longer than I thought, and this kind of game brings out the perfectionist and the drive to complete the game in me. I’m only renting it right now, but I think it will be worth the money to buy it. Join the Red Faction and get in on the guerrilla tactics ASAP. The demolitionist inside will thank you!

Last night, I decided to let my nerdy side shine. I waited in line to be one of the first people to own a copy of Halo 3: ODST, and even put money down to pre-order Halo: Reach whenever it is supposed to come out. Sadly, I knew next to nothing about the latest title in the Halo universe. I was too skeptical of Halo Wars to even try it out since other real time strategy games I’ve played on console haven’t been up to par with their original versions on PC. Maybe I should have given Halo Wars a try since it didn’t have an original release for PC, but I’m getting sidetracked.

Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) takes place between Halo 2 and Halo 3 when the Covenant was attacking the Earth city of New Mombasa. You play not as Master Chief this time, but as a rookie in a squad of troopers as well as several different troopers in a series of flashbacks. As the rookie, you wake up hours after the drop goes wrong to look for clues that will lead you meet up with the rest of the squad near the end of the game. Each clue triggers an action packed flashback where you play as one of the other members of the squad after the drop, but before you wake up to look for the clues. The story of the game feels more involved and interesting than the previous Halo games with the Master Chief.

All of the Halo 3 weapons you know and love are there to use in ODST with a new feature for your visor that allows you to see in the dark and also outline weapons, teammates, and enemies. One thing that most Halo fans will find interesting and a little more challenging is the fact that you don’t get shields like the Master Chief has. This makes you look around for health packs to survive longer. You also can’t jump as high as the Chief, but the game feels a little more believable which added more to my enjoyment. Most of my enjoyment came from the dialogue of the characters who were voiced by a few from the cast of Firefly and Serenity. I was very excited when they first spoke in the game. “Hey, it’s Mal!” and “Jayne’s in this too!” were a few phrases of delight I exclaimed during the campaign.

Bungie really did a great job with this game, and obviously put a lot of long thought out decisions when thinking of something more than just the typical Halo game. This is a must own for Halo fans and all gamers even if you weren’t a fan of Halo before.

Currently Watching: Braveheart [Blu-ray]

I have come up with a new idea for my site. Until today, I have been posting about movies that are currently in theaters. Most of my reviews are posted several days after the movie’s release date, which poses two problems. First, the obvious problem with that is I am several days behind other reviews of the movie. The big reviews usually happen a few days before the movie actually hits theaters nationwide, so I am already at a disadvantage and feel less inclined to compete with them. Secondly, I would rather promote a movie on DVD than a movie at the theater, because I know I would rather own the movie and be able to watch it whenever I want than spend almost just as much to see it once at the theater. That’s the new plan anyway.

I would also like some feedback from you, my readers as to what you enjoy most on my blog. Your input will help me determine what I should spend the most time talking about. I shall post a poll on the right side to ask what you would like to read more about. You can also leave detailed responses in the comments of this post.

Quentin Tarantino’s latest film takes us to France during World War II to follow a group of Jewish-American soldiers led by Brad Pitt known to the Germans as “The Basterds.” The purpose of this elite band of soldiers is to strike fear into the hearts of the Germans by scalping and brutally murdering any German soldiers they come across. When the British send in one of their operatives to join the Basterds, their mission has a new objective; one that could end the war.

I loved the opening scene and first chapter to this movie. Even though it was a horrific scene about the Germans looking for Jews being hidden by a family in France, it was the pace of the scene that kind of throws you off. The deliberate nature of the dialogue and the slow pace at which the scene goes, puts you on edge wondering when something is going to happen. The end of the scene shows a side of the German SS officer you wouldn’t expect to see during World War II. Perhaps it was an allusion to what happens at the end of the movie, where two of those characters in the opening scene are brought together.

The music that was selected for Inglourious Basterds was brilliantly picked. Opening the movie with Fur Elise by Beethoven was especially a favorite music selection of mine as I, like Alex, the young narrator from A Clockwork Orange, am a fan of Beethoven. Every musical selection just seemed to fit each scene perfectly, as well as the work of the camera angles and movements of the camera.

There may or may not have been a lot of symbolism in this movie. I never know, because English class was always such a bore for me. Who knows if the authors of the novels we read in school actually intended for certain events to specific items were put in there for a certain reason? Anyway, the end of the movie gives us what could have been some symbolism of a woman in red, a certain film clip going up in a fiery blaze, with the woman cackling. I always take notice when there is a woman in red. Thank you to The Matrix.

Inglourious Basterds was definitely in my top five movies of the summer. Quentin Tarantino is a brilliant director and knows how to keep you engaged in the story. If you have never seen a Tarantino film before, I suggest you brace yourself for a little over-the-top violence and brutality in some scenes. Two scenes in particular where it seemed a little unwarranted. That is Tarantino’s style, so you have to expect that.