Heist! In! Space!
What in the name of all that's been cancelled by dullards is this?
Why, it appears to be a quite frankly awesome television series in the making. Yes, I can tell that already. Because there's a mouthy freakin' GUN with its own opinions on the user's state of mind. And this sort of clever bastardry simply doesn't happen in your average family-entertainment-that-happens-to-be-set-in-space. No sir.
Edit:
Writer's blog
Production company
Edit:
Writer's blog
Production company
Occasionally
... this is what my life feels like. But with less amphetamine.
Dragon Age: I can't stop
... watching this, that is.
Being a stand-alone promo for BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, which arrives in a matter of weeks. Rather action-y, in a Lord of the Rings kind of way. (Except the Fellowship sadly lacks Claudia Black kicking arse, making explodo and popping eyeballs.)
Now, unlike some people who've apparently never seen a game trailer before ("omg overpowered party / wstfgl Xenacrobatics / lol Sten > 20 orks"), I certainly don't expect the combat to be exactly like that.
And yet - while it doesn't quite approach Valve's use of cinematics-as-gameplay-instructions (see: L4D intro and - to a lesser degree - Meet The Team) - I can't help but think this is a sneaky awesome way of Teaching The Basics.
It's a party-based tactical combat RPG. Not "The Hero & His Amazingly Redundant Tag-Alongs". Right, so we cast the PC - who (unlike Shepard) isn't voiced in the actual game - as the blank-slate "squad leader". Then watch him deal with things.
Swiftly incoming horde? Summon Immovable Object! (The big guy tossing everyone over the edge is Sten. Aptly named, as us northern barbarians won't stop informing you. He likes cookies, is kind to animals and - according to a possibly somewhat biased source - holds the title "most badass follower".)
Dangerous fireball-tosser way over in the back? Go go, precision elimination specialist girl! (And does it ever make me grin; apparently all mentally unstable snipers* need to mumble scripture before the Sacrament of the Headshot is performed. Also, Legolas? I'm sorry, you're fired. We have a crazed French redhead.)
Really big flying lizard, who squashes previously shown Boss Critter without even trying? Yeah, this might take some teamwork. Hero is on... bait duty! ("The Captain needs to do this himself." / "No. No I don't!")
Morrigan - being the witch with the voice of Officer Sun - doesn't get any specific assignment. The obvious joke would be, the teaching point is "not ordering her around will save on tongue-lashings and accidental froghood".
Ah, I dunno. She's kind of an education all by herself. After a bazillion frail grey-beards and dainty little sorceresses staying well in the back... it's refreshing to see a black magic woman who isn't afraid to be in the thick of things. While sporting just a bit of the Creepy.
(If you insist on doing character analysis based on a stand-alone cinematic, I find her lack of ironic self-awareness somewhat endearing. As in, "I'm certainly not complaining about your choice of clothes, but don't they rather void your objecting-to-the-weather privileges?")
Anyways. Do I have some kind of point here? Maybe not. This is mainly appreciative rambling.
Wait, I've got one.
"If you think Big, Loud and Flashy precludes Subtle and Clever, maybe you just need better reading skills."
So there.
* Quite possibly a tautology.
Being a stand-alone promo for BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, which arrives in a matter of weeks. Rather action-y, in a Lord of the Rings kind of way. (Except the Fellowship sadly lacks Claudia Black kicking arse, making explodo and popping eyeballs.)
Now, unlike some people who've apparently never seen a game trailer before ("omg overpowered party / wstfgl Xenacrobatics / lol Sten > 20 orks"), I certainly don't expect the combat to be exactly like that.
And yet - while it doesn't quite approach Valve's use of cinematics-as-gameplay-instructions (see: L4D intro and - to a lesser degree - Meet The Team) - I can't help but think this is a sneaky awesome way of Teaching The Basics.
It's a party-based tactical combat RPG. Not "The Hero & His Amazingly Redundant Tag-Alongs". Right, so we cast the PC - who (unlike Shepard) isn't voiced in the actual game - as the blank-slate "squad leader". Then watch him deal with things.
Swiftly incoming horde? Summon Immovable Object! (The big guy tossing everyone over the edge is Sten. Aptly named, as us northern barbarians won't stop informing you. He likes cookies, is kind to animals and - according to a possibly somewhat biased source - holds the title "most badass follower".)
Dangerous fireball-tosser way over in the back? Go go, precision elimination specialist girl! (And does it ever make me grin; apparently all mentally unstable snipers* need to mumble scripture before the Sacrament of the Headshot is performed. Also, Legolas? I'm sorry, you're fired. We have a crazed French redhead.)
Really big flying lizard, who squashes previously shown Boss Critter without even trying? Yeah, this might take some teamwork. Hero is on... bait duty! ("The Captain needs to do this himself." / "No. No I don't!")
Morrigan - being the witch with the voice of Officer Sun - doesn't get any specific assignment. The obvious joke would be, the teaching point is "not ordering her around will save on tongue-lashings and accidental froghood".
Ah, I dunno. She's kind of an education all by herself. After a bazillion frail grey-beards and dainty little sorceresses staying well in the back... it's refreshing to see a black magic woman who isn't afraid to be in the thick of things. While sporting just a bit of the Creepy.
(If you insist on doing character analysis based on a stand-alone cinematic, I find her lack of ironic self-awareness somewhat endearing. As in, "I'm certainly not complaining about your choice of clothes, but don't they rather void your objecting-to-the-weather privileges?")
Anyways. Do I have some kind of point here? Maybe not. This is mainly appreciative rambling.
Wait, I've got one.
"If you think Big, Loud and Flashy precludes Subtle and Clever, maybe you just need better reading skills."
So there.
* Quite possibly a tautology.
Buggeration: Report
I'm done. Playing forum, that is.
It's fun for a bit, arguing with people. But the signal-to-noise ratio gets to me. The way the medium of forum by itself swallows any attempt at communication. (Or maybe I'm just obtuse and snide and too easily amused by my own words.)
Most of the specific ranting I got involved in, was about the most recently revealed crew member NPC in Mass Effect 2. Subject Zero. There's an introduction trailer, which is rather high on the explodo factor.
She's... well, she's River Tam except personality-wise, she snapped in the other direction. Subject Zero is nuts. Loud, cocky and - ohmigosh! - prone to swearingz.
It's fun for a bit, arguing with people. But the signal-to-noise ratio gets to me. The way the medium of forum by itself swallows any attempt at communication. (Or maybe I'm just obtuse and snide and too easily amused by my own words.)
Most of the specific ranting I got involved in, was about the most recently revealed crew member NPC in Mass Effect 2. Subject Zero. There's an introduction trailer, which is rather high on the explodo factor.
She's... well, she's River Tam except personality-wise, she snapped in the other direction. Subject Zero is nuts. Loud, cocky and - ohmigosh! - prone to swearingz.
Now, I'll be the first to admit my own personal fondness for a certain amount of Colourful Crazy in fictional characters. And there's no according for taste, etcetera. Still, the sheer outrage of a lot of the responses... baffled, amused and to an increasing degree, disgusted me.
Some settled for simple comments amounting to, "Ah, I don't like her. I'll be hanging out with the other NPCs instead." Which is fine and dandy.
Then, there's the astounding hate crowd. Which I shall be paraphrasing. But not by very much. And responding to in ways that would get me moderator-spanked on the actual forum. (See, this is why we have blogs.)
"Oh my god, sex and gore and F-bombs. How immature."
Orrrr we could take the position that the fear of the depiction of those things is what's immature. And that a culture that needs such a painfully melodramatic euphemism as 'f-bomb' has serious mental health issues. As for the violence, did you play the first game? Or, well, any game? Those pixels might not have bled much and I'm sure there were good reasons for your wholesale slaughter. Just, please stop being a hypocrite. Your bodycount is already in the thousands.
"It's just trying to be different, 'dark and edgy and gritty'. That stuff isn't necessary."
Of course it isn't, yet... you appear to be missing something. Oh yes, the point. Sci-fi has an occasionally well-deserved reputation for being sterile, bland and devoid of real humanity. It's all shiny on the IKEA-furnished USS Enterprise, where death-rays don't maim, nobody gets laid (barring the occasional alien possession) and everyone is insufferably polite and proper. I don't mind that kind of story. But what you're saying is "any deviation from my personal norm is redundant". This means you suck.
"She's just a poser. Real badasses don't need to proclaim their badassitude. She comes across as a scared little girl. Oh, and I really, really hate punks, goths and commies."
Well, everybody admires the competent stoic. Everybody wants to be that guy. But the flawed, barely succeeding (or not), all the while cracking wise and/or gibbering in terror type of character? A whooole lot more interesting. The Stoic is rather boring, until he or she breaks in some way.
As for "poser", wouldn't that imply she can't walk the walk? Or toss big huge meka-thingies into orbit? Well, it looks like she can. Also, it's beginning to scare me how your gratuitous psychoanalyzation says more about you than about your subject.
"Seems they're pandering to the 13-year-olds. Rah rah dumbed down mainstream consolization EA moneygrubbing jerks rah rah."
First of all, I'm not 13. Nor are the others who disagree with you. This would seem to imply your theory is at the very least flawed. Second of all... congratulations, you have mastered Speculative Media Deconstruction For Dummies.
"She doesn't fit in the established setting. She breaks my IMMERSION!"
Your mom breaks your immersion. Allow me to translate what you just said: "I'd rather play my narrowly defined ideal game than the actual one, made by the establishers of the setting in question. Oh, and I have a sense of entitlement the size of a planet."
"She looks like she would give you STDs."
Have some balls. Just call her a slut. You know you want to.
"I'd say the same about a man attired in that way."
Excellent, you're an equal opportunity bigot.
And, lastly, my favourite - from the guy with the notion of "real badass" above:
"Don't embarrass yourself trying to match my intellect, I'm a philosophy major!"
Would someone who's secure about their smarts need to proclaim "fear me, I'm a badass philosophy maj-"
... oh screw it, I give up.
The end. For now.
Oh, Buggeration...
... I appear to be back at playing Forum. Expect whimsical less-than-coherent random snipings.
I've got a bit of a problem, see. I hate most stuff written on the Internet. Yet, simultaneously, I believe it is human expression. And, in some ways, more true expression than what you "normally" get. This leads to certain depressing conclusions.
In the absence of an edifying, uplifting point of my own, I will simply refer you to the Chronicler. Who has wisdom to impart on science.
I've got a bit of a problem, see. I hate most stuff written on the Internet. Yet, simultaneously, I believe it is human expression. And, in some ways, more true expression than what you "normally" get. This leads to certain depressing conclusions.
In the absence of an edifying, uplifting point of my own, I will simply refer you to the Chronicler. Who has wisdom to impart on science.
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