Nolan North made a name for himself as Nathan Drake in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on the PS3.
He has a brilliant pulp-action movie quality to his voice, allowing him equal believability as everyman and dashing rogue. He's the voice-over equivalent of Firefly's Nathan Fillion.
Mr. North put forth a masterful, emotional, funny performance in Uncharted, and left me excited to experience more of his work...
I'm good now, Nolan.
Here we are, two and some change years later, and he plays just about everyone. Here's a list of the places I've picked up his voice.
I've done no research, these are just the roles I have personally experienced.
Uncharted/Uncharted 2 - Nathan Drake
Prince of Persia - The Prince
Assassin's Creed/Assassin's Creed 2 - Desmond
Shadow Complex - Jason Flemming
Halo 3:ODST - Romeo
Army of Two: the 40th Day: Salem
Dark Void: Will
Bayonetta - Bayonetta
Okay, I made that last one up.
The problem is that in all of these roles, he sounds the same. Maybe a gruff undertone here or the higher pitched illusion of youth there, but the result is a lack of individual identity to differetiate the characters.
It's like when people talk about Schwarzenegger movies from the 80s. We don't describe the characters by their names, we call them all Arnold. Shit, I honestly don't remember the characters' names from most of his movies. I remember Schaefer. And Quaid. It's getting that way with Nolan North to me.
He's the new bloom lighting.
Okay, I just looked him up and discovered that he also played Sigmund in Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. I had no idea! You CAN do other voices, Nolan!
Mr. North has become a gaming icon, and good for him! But for god's sake, casting directors, let the man go home and get some sleep.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Star Trek: Online Beta Impressions
Today, I will explore strange new worlds, and boldly go wh... Nevermind. Servers don't work.
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Review
WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN
Written By Mark Millar
Pencils by Steve McNiven
The creative team behind Civil War have brought us a new Wolverine story. Set in a "what if?"style future setting, Old Man Logan assumes that the villians of the Marvel universe got organized enough to take down its heroes. Sending the world (or at least the US) into a Mad Max/Fallout/Borderlands style post-apocalypse, new -wild-west type setting. Logan has been living a simple life as a farmer with his wife and kids and, for reasons not explained for a while, is now a pacifist. The country has been divided into 5 or 6 sectors governed over by a villian. Logan's behind on his rent and is visit by his landlords, The inbred, redneck offspring of the Incredible Hulk (yes you read that correctly), who are none to happy about the lack of rent monies. Shortly thereafter, Logan is visited by a blind, old Hawkeye (who somehow is now channeling Tommy Chong), and offered a chance to make that money and then some. Go with him on a cross country trip to drop off a package. Adventure, hilarity, and badassery ensues.
The thing I liked the best about this book is how absurd it can be at times, like the aforementioned redneck hulklings. Millar definately has no qualms about playing around with his characters. The venom symbiote fuses with a goddamn T-REX at one point, which could be the coolest thing ever! The book is full of these little WTF moments, and I can't really talk about all of them without totally blowing the story. The casting of Logan as basically Clint Eastwood's character from Unforgiven is genius. It begs the question "what could happen to make the worlds baddest-ass badass become a farmer who hasn't popped his claws in 50 years?", and the when that question is answered, wow, all I can say is be prepared. This feels a little closer to Kick-Ass or Wanted than Millar's Marvel work, and I'd say that was the right decision. He's really written something special here, and it certainly doesn't hurt that McNiven's in top form. The art in Old Man Logan is a fine progression from his already stellar work in Civil War. I will say this: as carefully as I can tread around spoiler territory, it needs to be said that the book is excessively violent at times, so if that's a problem for you, stay away, but if it is, you're probably not a Wolverine fan anyway.
Bottom line, read it. Whether you like comics or not.
This is NOT art.
It's that time again, and America's favorite indicator of everything wrong with the soulless-ass music industry is back. That's right, it's time for a new season of utter prepackaged CRAP passing for art on American Idol. The show and it's immense popularity disgusts me on so many levels there's not enough space on the internet to list all of them. As someone who appreciates music as art, and to whom playing music is a very important part of their life, the existence of Idol is borderline insulting.
"Hey kid, now that you have a tween demographic and soccer mom approved look and image, just bordering on barely edgy in some cases, here's a list of focus tested, market researched, formulaic pop songs for you to do karaoke to on an album. Now go make us rich."
You can't really be too mad at the contestants. Really all their doing is putting up with some bullshit to try and get a record deal, which is what any artist would do, to a certain extent. And I think the successful few have kind of disassociated themselves with it after the fact. My vitriol for Idol is for the people who think this is music or art, whether they be fans, or people involved with the show. American Idol is NOT art, it is NOT interesting and it is CERTAINLY not representative of real music, and it's shameful that it passes for all three. So without further ado, here's a list of ten highly unpleasant things I'd rather do than have anything to do with American Idol, in no particular order:
1. Watch old people get it on.
2. Get stung in the balls by a wasp.
3. Go to the DMV
4. Hang out with any socical class I generally feel is inferior to my own (hillbillies, ghetto, bro's.)for an hour
5. Get punched in the face.
6. Watch a romantic comedy (as long as it doesn't feature Cameron Diaz or Ashton Kutcher)
7. Give Sean Combs (I refuse to use any of his stupid nicknames) the time of day.
8. Listen to Kanye West speak for one minute.
9. Try to explain Watchmen to a redneck.
10. Cover myself in meat-stink and run through a crowd of emaciated coyotes.
"Hey kid, now that you have a tween demographic and soccer mom approved look and image, just bordering on barely edgy in some cases, here's a list of focus tested, market researched, formulaic pop songs for you to do karaoke to on an album. Now go make us rich."
You can't really be too mad at the contestants. Really all their doing is putting up with some bullshit to try and get a record deal, which is what any artist would do, to a certain extent. And I think the successful few have kind of disassociated themselves with it after the fact. My vitriol for Idol is for the people who think this is music or art, whether they be fans, or people involved with the show. American Idol is NOT art, it is NOT interesting and it is CERTAINLY not representative of real music, and it's shameful that it passes for all three. So without further ado, here's a list of ten highly unpleasant things I'd rather do than have anything to do with American Idol, in no particular order:
1. Watch old people get it on.
2. Get stung in the balls by a wasp.
3. Go to the DMV
4. Hang out with any socical class I generally feel is inferior to my own (hillbillies, ghetto, bro's.)for an hour
5. Get punched in the face.
6. Watch a romantic comedy (as long as it doesn't feature Cameron Diaz or Ashton Kutcher)
7. Give Sean Combs (I refuse to use any of his stupid nicknames) the time of day.
8. Listen to Kanye West speak for one minute.
9. Try to explain Watchmen to a redneck.
10. Cover myself in meat-stink and run through a crowd of emaciated coyotes.
Monday, January 11, 2010
ZiG's Darksiders Review
Clif hates Joe Madureira, so I get the Darksiders review.
You'll have to ask Clif why this is so, because to hear him tell it is, as always, enthralling.
Darksiders is the first release from new developer Vigil Games, published by THQ. It is the story of War, first Horseman of the Apocalypse and patsy for the early end of creation. Blamed for kick-starting Armageddon before its time, War is given a single chance at redemption. He can go to Earth (after a century long time-out) and find exactly who is responsible and bring them to justice.
Derivation? Homage?
Both, sure. It doesn't matter how you say it, it's right. Darksiders borrows (steals, fine) from many that have come before it.
The overworld/dungeon structure is lifted straight from The Legend of Zelda. New weapons/tools are acquired mid-dungeon, then become the tool needed to conquer the dungeon's boss. Upon returning to the overworld, the new tool becomes the key to open the next dungeon, as well as collect the many chests and treasures hidden in the world.
Combat is strangely simple and complex at the same time. Sword combinations are handled exclusively with the X button (or Square), with modifications made by variations of timing, lock-on, or changes in direction. The complication lies in the lock-on and dodge buttons. Numerous times in combat, you'll find yourself holding the left trigger to lock on to the largest threat in the room (who's usually both sufficiently large and threatening), while also hovering extremely close to the right bumper to dodge frequently, all the while mixing it up with dash attacks and uppercut slashes and mixing it up with your scythe on the Y button. There are a lot of buttons used at the same time in this game. It's one of those things where, as long as you're engrossed in combat, it's second nature; but the second you stop to think about it, you're going to screw it up.
So here's what I loved:
I'm a voiceover fiend. Nothing gets me into a game more than a great voice track. This game nails it. War himself is voiced by Liam O'Brien, who is apparently well known from every anime ever. He does a great job conveying the anger and weariness of War. He sounds threatening and powerful, and some lines he delivers gave me chills (especially the game's last line of spoken dialogue).
Mark Hamill plays the ever-present Watcher, a spectre chained to War's soul and ready to break him at the slightest disobedience. This is a great character, and Mark plays him perfectly. The vocalization is very reminiscent of The Joker, but in a good way. The character really needed that sadistic, almost seductive lilt of that voice.
All the other performances are great, with standouts in the Demon Samael and a supporting character named Ulthaine. The voice acting is top notch and stands up to some of the biggest budget triple A titles available.
This game has color!
Post-apocalyptic games are grey and brown, right? Wrong. Darksiders features wildly differing locales ranging from destroyed cityscapes, vibrant forests, and wind-swept deserts. The coloring for these environments is vibrant and alive. Enemies pop against the backgrounds and distinguish themselves in the battles. The game is beautiful, and I'm pretty sure the character model for War has more colors than Fallout's entire palette.
Here's what I didn't love as much:
Get to it, already!
The first two thirds of the game are peppered sparsely with hints of story, most of it in snippets between clearing the dungeons of their bosses. But the final third pours the lion's share of the story on you all at once. I feel like the pacing could have been handled better; the conspiracy twists mean much more if they don't all happen within a half hour of each other. Also, for a game with as much powerful backstory as Darksiders has (hopefully explored in sequels and parallel media), you would expect to see more of it. I feel like there's so much still unsaid at the end. Things that should have been said.
Awesome Powerups! Nothing to use them on!
There's a lot of stuff to find in this game. There are numerous weapon enhancements to be found, including four "Legendary" enhancements. These four are well hidden, and will take a lot of exploration to find. Problem is, your first real chance to hunt them all down comes right before endgame. The most awesome of the powerups is split among ten chests hidden throughout the world (and beyond), and is really something to see. But by the time you get it, the ONLY thing left to do is fight the final boss and watch the credits. I don't really know how they would have done this any different, but there's no real incentive to comb through the world to find everything if there's nothing to use it on. I don't know how a new game + would have worked on Darksiders, but I bet it would've been fun.
If you like Zelda, if you like God of War, if you like Devil May Cry or Soul Reaver or even Rygar, you should take a crack at Darksiders. It's a good story wrapped in a great game. The game is charming and immersive and challenging and rewarding. For the first offering of the new year, I was not disappointed.
Darksiders was developed by Vigil Games and Published by THQ.
Played the Xbox360 version to completion and stuck around to polish off most collections. Aside from some screen tearing issues on Xbox, no significant differences between Xbox360 and PS3 versions.
You'll have to ask Clif why this is so, because to hear him tell it is, as always, enthralling.
Darksiders is the first release from new developer Vigil Games, published by THQ. It is the story of War, first Horseman of the Apocalypse and patsy for the early end of creation. Blamed for kick-starting Armageddon before its time, War is given a single chance at redemption. He can go to Earth (after a century long time-out) and find exactly who is responsible and bring them to justice.
Derivation? Homage?
Both, sure. It doesn't matter how you say it, it's right. Darksiders borrows (steals, fine) from many that have come before it.
The overworld/dungeon structure is lifted straight from The Legend of Zelda. New weapons/tools are acquired mid-dungeon, then become the tool needed to conquer the dungeon's boss. Upon returning to the overworld, the new tool becomes the key to open the next dungeon, as well as collect the many chests and treasures hidden in the world.
Combat is strangely simple and complex at the same time. Sword combinations are handled exclusively with the X button (or Square), with modifications made by variations of timing, lock-on, or changes in direction. The complication lies in the lock-on and dodge buttons. Numerous times in combat, you'll find yourself holding the left trigger to lock on to the largest threat in the room (who's usually both sufficiently large and threatening), while also hovering extremely close to the right bumper to dodge frequently, all the while mixing it up with dash attacks and uppercut slashes and mixing it up with your scythe on the Y button. There are a lot of buttons used at the same time in this game. It's one of those things where, as long as you're engrossed in combat, it's second nature; but the second you stop to think about it, you're going to screw it up.
So here's what I loved:
I'm a voiceover fiend. Nothing gets me into a game more than a great voice track. This game nails it. War himself is voiced by Liam O'Brien, who is apparently well known from every anime ever. He does a great job conveying the anger and weariness of War. He sounds threatening and powerful, and some lines he delivers gave me chills (especially the game's last line of spoken dialogue).
Mark Hamill plays the ever-present Watcher, a spectre chained to War's soul and ready to break him at the slightest disobedience. This is a great character, and Mark plays him perfectly. The vocalization is very reminiscent of The Joker, but in a good way. The character really needed that sadistic, almost seductive lilt of that voice.
All the other performances are great, with standouts in the Demon Samael and a supporting character named Ulthaine. The voice acting is top notch and stands up to some of the biggest budget triple A titles available.
This game has color!
Post-apocalyptic games are grey and brown, right? Wrong. Darksiders features wildly differing locales ranging from destroyed cityscapes, vibrant forests, and wind-swept deserts. The coloring for these environments is vibrant and alive. Enemies pop against the backgrounds and distinguish themselves in the battles. The game is beautiful, and I'm pretty sure the character model for War has more colors than Fallout's entire palette.
Here's what I didn't love as much:
Get to it, already!
The first two thirds of the game are peppered sparsely with hints of story, most of it in snippets between clearing the dungeons of their bosses. But the final third pours the lion's share of the story on you all at once. I feel like the pacing could have been handled better; the conspiracy twists mean much more if they don't all happen within a half hour of each other. Also, for a game with as much powerful backstory as Darksiders has (hopefully explored in sequels and parallel media), you would expect to see more of it. I feel like there's so much still unsaid at the end. Things that should have been said.
Awesome Powerups! Nothing to use them on!
There's a lot of stuff to find in this game. There are numerous weapon enhancements to be found, including four "Legendary" enhancements. These four are well hidden, and will take a lot of exploration to find. Problem is, your first real chance to hunt them all down comes right before endgame. The most awesome of the powerups is split among ten chests hidden throughout the world (and beyond), and is really something to see. But by the time you get it, the ONLY thing left to do is fight the final boss and watch the credits. I don't really know how they would have done this any different, but there's no real incentive to comb through the world to find everything if there's nothing to use it on. I don't know how a new game + would have worked on Darksiders, but I bet it would've been fun.
If you like Zelda, if you like God of War, if you like Devil May Cry or Soul Reaver or even Rygar, you should take a crack at Darksiders. It's a good story wrapped in a great game. The game is charming and immersive and challenging and rewarding. For the first offering of the new year, I was not disappointed.
Darksiders was developed by Vigil Games and Published by THQ.
Played the Xbox360 version to completion and stuck around to polish off most collections. Aside from some screen tearing issues on Xbox, no significant differences between Xbox360 and PS3 versions.
Greetings from a guest contributor.
Clif gave me a set of keys to the blog for some contribution of either things he doesn't care about or things he doesn't get time to cover.
Look for some impressions of Bayonetta and Darksiders soon, as well as some tv and DVD coverage. Also lots and lots of ranting.
ZiG
Look for some impressions of Bayonetta and Darksiders soon, as well as some tv and DVD coverage. Also lots and lots of ranting.
ZiG
Friday, January 1, 2010
COBRASHARK's Best of 2009
- With 2009; the year of death officially closed, it's time to think back on all the prolific and influential artists that were taken from us this year. But more importantly, it's time for COBRASHARK's Top 5 of 2009. So let's do that now. Discuss.
5. Assassin' Creed II
For me, this basically came out of nowhere, since I didn't really have a lot of love for the first Assassin's Creed. I did recognize that it was a very unique concept, but felt it really needed a lot of polish and direction. Thankfully, it got exactly what it needed. With it's one of kind, high concept, story driven gameplay and very detailed world, Assassin's Creed II is good enough for the 5th spot. Excellent game.
4: Borderlands
4: BorderlandsBorderlands came out of left field and surprised both shooter fans and RPG fans, which I am both of so it's a pretty sweet deal. With a unique art style and personality it stands out from the pack in both categories it serves and the DLC support has so far been excellent. Buy it.
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2 is one of those rare games that does everything it sets out to do exactly right. It's basically a playable Indiana Jones movie, and come to think of it, is way better than the last Indiana Jones movie anyway. The story is well written and even better acted thanks in no small part to some excellent voice and performance capture work. Nolan North (Nathan Drake) and Emily Rosen (Elena Fisher) were robbed at the fake ass VGAs. There's not a blemish to be found on the gameplay, either. Uncharted also sports what may be the best graphics in any console game yet. Games are supposed to be fun and Uncharted 2 was one of the most fun games all year. A must have for any PS3 owner.
2. Street Fighter IVOf all five games on this list that made it over Modern Warfare 2 I think this one will bring the most controversy. But it's my list, so suck it. Street Fighter's gameplay was damn near perfect anyway, and IV just brought it that much closer. Basically you take the game that created the entire fighting game genre (Street Fighter II for you heathens) and make it better in every way. This is the way to revisit a classic. Take note, other studios who've tried this. Yoshinori Ono and Seth Killian & Co. just showed you what's up. Here's the perfect example of SFIV's brilliance. I have a friend I've known since junior high. We used to have some epic SFII sessions back in the SNES days, sometimes Ryu vs Guile matches over and over again all damn day. We haven't seen each other in 12 years and we both recently moved back to our home town, and started hanging out again Immediately. He hasn't really been into games at all since we parted ways, but we fired up IV and it was just like the old days. Those same epic matches all day again, but with a whole new set of mechanics laid on top. And we're hooked all over again.
1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Read my full review here. Basically, Batman gets everything right, too. Combat's awesome, exploration is awesome, Story, graphics, mood, and atmosphere are all awesome. You guessed it everything about the game is awesome. Arkham features the best translation of a super hero to a game ever done. Rocksteady really did their homework about what makes Batman cool and managed to get ALL of it into the game. The amount of fan service crammed into this game on top of all it's kickass gameplay is astounding as well. Tons of nods to various characters that aren't even in the game, even sort of a playable "origin of Batman" moment that will blow you away. The scarecrow bits are some of the best design in gaming ever in the way that they're presented. Batman fans and gamers can both rejoice in the fact that this game was made. This was my favorite game of 2009 hands down. Well played, Rocksteady.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)