Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Natali – The Korean Erotic Film In 3D, And What Could’ve Been

When asked, my replied to Cynthia was, “Too much talking, not enough drama.”  She laughed, in broad daylight, “Not enough sex you mean?”  It was my turn to laugh, “No, no, no.  I really mean not enough drama.”  It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon.  I could have felt much happier, if not for that sad, sad Korean movie.  I am a big fan of Korean movies though.  Natali is Korean’s first in 3D.  I have watched all sorts of movies in 3D, but not in the genre of erotica.  Was I curious?  Of course.

Natali is a sculpture created by a maestro sculptor.  For ten years, Natali remains unsold and as part of the sculptor’s private collection.  One fine day, one of his students turns up at his exhibition and wants to know more about Natali.  Thereafter are a series of flashbacks told from two men who were both in love with Mi-Ran – the girl who modeled for Natali.  Memory, as we know, is inaccurate.  In that sense, this setup does provide interesting opportunities for the story to develop.  This also explains why the second part of the movie is so much more enjoyable to watch.  More drama oriented, which I wish the story writer could have expanded upon.  And less on the dull debate between two men on the topics of realism and fantasy, the role of an art critic, and etc.  Does any of these topics contribute to the central theme of the story – Natali / Mi-Ran?  Unfortunately no.  The film could have focused more on the questions of: Can two people love each other while one of them has another person in his or her heart?  Do people often settle down in marriage with someone they have been passionately in love with?  What is eternal love?  The film touches onto these questions a bit too little, a little too late.

The sex scenes, I must admit, are beautifully made, tastefully filmed.  The music, it draws emotion.  On one hand, the film satisfies my curiosity of how this genre looks like on 3D.  On the other hand, I wish there was a non-3D version instead.  Are these scenes lifelike?  You bet.  However, the color is awful in 3D.  And for this particular movie, there is a heavy ghost shadowing effect on the edges that makes the subjects look blurry.  Take the subtitles as an example.  The words pop out from the screen, yes.  But there is a ghost image behind the subtitles that I seldom see in other 3D movies.  I am not sure what has gone wrong.  The filmmakers may have overdone the 3D effect.  Or there is something not right about those 3D glasses.

While Natali will not stop me from watching another Korean movie, I will likely to think twice before watching another movie in 3D.

Categories
For the Geeks

Upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, neo, and PLAY

Xperia arc

This blogger event could not have come in a better timing.  Cynthia took over my Xperia X8 because she has ‘accidentally’ soaked her old phone that I bought for her with water, inside her gym bag.  X8 is good as an entry level Android phone but we are looking for something with a more executive outlook.  When the folks from Sony Ericsson unveiled the upcoming Xperia arc (together with two other new models), I was instantly in love.

Xperia arc features a pure black screen, noticeably striking when on standby.  It makes the rest of the smartphones that have a dark grey screen looks less appealing and somewhat dated.  Xperia arc is slim.  At its thinnest, the phone measures at  8.7 mm.  The screen size is 4.2 inches, which I believe is one of the largest in the smartphone category.  Xperia arc scores very high on the form factor.  But what about the multimedia offering?

During the video playback demo session, arc was put side-by-side with Sony Ericsson’s current high end model, X10.  Because arc employs Sony’s BRAVIA technology, looking at the same video, arc produces more crystal clear picture and the image looks vibrant and brilliant.  In terms of image and video capturing capability, with an Sony’s Exmor R technology as well as an aperture of 2.4 (quite possibly one of the lowest I have seen), this phone supposes to shine under low light condition.  I have tested the evening shots on top of Esplanade and I am pleased with what I have seen.  Perhaps I can share some live images with you once I get hold of one.  Xperia arc has a 8.1 megapixel camera that comes with HD video recording capability.  Not the highest I have seen.  But not too low either.  I suspect Exmor R technology should be able to boost the image quality.  Sony, after all, makes cameras as well.  This phone has a HDMI output.  I don’t see much use to it.  But if you need it, it is there.

Xperia arc will be launched with the latest Android for smartphone version 2.3.  Although I am not fanatic towards the version of the operating system (I still yet to see that huge different between 1.6 and 2.1 besides that animated screen, it is certainly not like an upgrade from Vista to Win 7), it is good to see that Sony Ericsson has fixed the perception issue.  Now, I am keen to see if they can keep up the platform update for their existing Android models.

Quite honestly, the moment I plugged my personal earphone onto Xperia arc was the moment when I said to myself, “Woah, this is the one”.  I am much impressed by the music playback quality.  It is a class on its own.  You have got to hear it for yourself.

Xperia arc will be available in Singapore in Q1 this year (which is just days away!) in two colors: Midnight Blue and Misty Silver.

Xperia neo

Xperia neo is very much similar to Xperia arc, in terms of technical spec.  Hence, I would not repeat here.  Xperia neo is more compact.  It has a screen size of 3.7 inches instead of arc’s 4.2 inches.  And it also has an unique design, equally ergonomic in a different way compares to arc.  At launch, neo will have two colors – Blue Gradient and Red – and is going to be available in Singapore Q2 this year.  It should be priced below Xperia arc.  By how much?  We have to wait and see.

Xperia PLAY

For the avid gamers, the above image would mean something dear to your heart.  I have heard the rumor of such release a while ago.  I was trying to get a confirmation from the PR company that handled Sony Ericsson’s account.  But you know how marketing team works.  It is all hush hush.

Xperia PLAY combines both PlayStation gaming experience with the latest Android platform.  PLAY is the first PlayStation certified device.  It does not come with the BRAVIA technology (color vibrancy is less of an issue as far as gaming is concerned because video games by default are designed with vibrant colors).  But it has a better graphic processing system.  On paper, it delivers a 60 frames per second gaming experience with minimal power consumption.  I have tried out a racing game on the 4 inches screen.  Pretty good experience.  I was hoping to try out some fantasy role playing games but did not have a chance (not sure if there is one).  At launch, PLAY will be preloaded with: Sim 3,  FIFA 10, Madden NFL 11, Star Battalion, Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior, and Crash Bandicoot.  On top of that, more than 50 game titles will be available – for purchase I suppose.  I have seen the list of games.  It looks diverse.  Surprisingly, I do not see Final Fantasy, or any fighting games that I can recognize.

When will PLAY be out?  Q2 this year, in Singapore.  In black, and in white.

Got a question?  Drop me a comment!

Categories
Everyday News

F1 Australia – An Afterthought

Formula One is a world sport.  An expensive one.  And it does get affected by what is happening in the world today.  The first race of the year supposed to take place in Bahrain.  On March 13.  But that did not happen.  The Bahrain people have a future to fight for.  F1 could well be the last thing in their minds right now.  So, this season, F1 starts in Australia instead.  Cars have stickers saying “We Pray for Japan”.  The Australian crowd together with 100 million viewers observed a minute of silence, in memory of the recent Japanese earthquake.  In front of the TV, I too was silence for a minute, praying for Japan.

Each year, the brains behind F1 introduce something new to the sport.  This year sees the return of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and the new DRS (Drag Reduction System).  KERS works like a power booster and it is powered by a battery that gets charged up during braking.  Drivers are allowed to press that turbo button for up to 6.67 seconds per lap.  That translates to up to a 0.4 seconds boost per lap.  That is not a lot, you may say.  Well, take the Australia race as an example, the time difference between the 3rd place Petrov and 4th place Alonso is 1.04 seconds, over 58 laps.  One stood on the podium.  The other did not.  Every millisecond counts, when it comes to F1.

I loved watching KERS in action 2 seasons ago.  KERS was banned last year.  This year, cars like Ferrari and McLaren that have invested in the KERS technology previously (and suffered from it back then) seem to have made it works.  Red Bull has KERS installed, the batteries were all charged up, but apparently, neither of the two drivers pressed that magic button during the entire race.  Vettel, the ever so mischievous young dude (cocky may be a better word) wanted to keep the press guessing on whether or not he has used that magic button during the Australia race.  Words are out that the 2010 constructor champion Red Bull is still trying to make KERS work.  Or the more diplomatic statement is that right now, without KERS, the car is optimal.  Whatever the case, Vettel’s Red Bull seems to have dominated the race, like last season.  They may have the best F1 engineer today.  And looks like Vettel is a force to reckon with.  A legend in the making?  We shall see.

To the viewers, Vettel’s drive to first position may well be a forgettable race.  He was so far ahead that there was nothing much to report, really.  If not for Hamilton’s car near to falling apart in the final laps, his race to second position would also have been forgettable (except the first lap when he regained the track position from Webber).  Hamilton was in the middle of nowhere.  Not fast enough to touch Vettel.  Not slow enough to be touched by Petrov.  The more exciting part of the race goes to the fight between Button, Alonso, Massa, and Petrov.  When DRS first kicked into action, I was so excited that my heart nearly popped out.  Here is how DRS works.

In a designated section of the circuit, if a car in pursuit is within 1 second to the car in front, the DRS green light on the steering wheel will light up.  The driver will be able to open the flap on the rear wing to reduce the drag and give a little speed boost so as to attack the car in front.  This is to facilitate overtaking.  The F1 stewards by the magic of modern technology decides when DRS can be used for which car.  It is not a sure win battle, otherwise it would have been too trivial.  Some drivers claim that DRS has helped them in some ways.  Perhaps time will tell.

Below is a video narrated by Mark Webber on KERS and DRS.

We could only imagine what a race this could be had Robert Kubica been able to drive for Renault this season.  That serious injury he suffered from the rally race, I doubt if he is returning to F1 any time soon, if at all.  His teammate, the Russian rookie Petrov, has made it to the podium taking the third position.  Renault is looking good this year.  It is refreshing to see a new face at the podium.  The result of this Australia race looks hauntingly similar to the last race of previous season held in Abu Dhabi.  On top of that, it looks as though Petrov is Alonso’s Achilles’s heel.  The same person who denied Alonso the 2010 championship is now denying his podium celebration for the Australia race.  What is going on?  What happens to Ferrari?  And what happens to Mercedes and their drivers Schumacher and Rosberg who both DNF (did not finish)?  One thing for sure.  I am looking forward to watching the next race on TV.  Destination Malaysia.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Eat Pray Love By Elizabeth Gilbert – Not Just Another Chick Lit

So this is my first entry in Wilfrid’s blog.  Hope it is in line with Wilfrid’s overall blog theme and does not offend anybody, hehe …

I am reviewing “Eat Pray Love” because there is high probability that Wilfrid is not going to finish reading the book.  He bought the book to join a read-along and at that time I was reluctant to read the book as I thought it was just another chick lit which honestly I am not interested in (Shopaholic series, anyone?).  Was not interested in the movie, was not interested in the book.  However, one fine day, out of boredom, I picked the book up from the table, casually started reading the first page, and I got hooked!  Even the preface was interesting.  So I went on, surpassing Wilfrid’s bookmark.

The first part of the story – Italy – was interesting because it was the time she found God.  Her “encounter with God” was believable and it touched me deeply.  She found God said this to her during her loneliness and depression, “I’m here.  I love you.  I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. … There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love.  I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you.” I shed a tear reading that paragraph because it reminded me how that love applies to me too.  To anyone of us.  (I do believe in God even though world-renowned-Nobel-winner scientists claimed that there is no space for God in this universe).  That paragraph was the most memorable part for me about Italy.  I am not really a foodie so can’t share much of her enthusiasm about Italian food.

The second part of the story – India – was even more captivating.  She continued her journey to deepen her spirituality, and she managed to tell her story without preaching how a certain religion is the best.  There are some references to yoga which I found entertaining as well, especially since I picked up yoga about a year ago.  I did enjoy reading India part the most, although there were tons of cliches in there.  For example, there was the “Instructions for Freedom”.   And Richard the Texan always sounded too preachy for me.  He sounded like someone who always had the right answer and a bit cocky about it.

However I respected her struggles to further her spiritual journey there – she managed to conquer her limitations in a realistic way, and I could see how she grew to be a more grounded, happier, and calmer person.  One amusing scene was how she hated a morning chanting ritual called Gurugita, tried all sort of ways to avoid it but in the end she was hell-bent to join the ritual and derived benefits out of it.  We could also see how she managed to finally meditate when initially she couldn’t even hold it for 2 minutes (who could?)

India was good for me.

The third part of the story – Indonesia – unfortunately fell flat.  It was an anti-climax after all the discoveries and growth she had made in the previous places.  I didn’t get anything out of this section – it was simply like reading someone’s letters of having a holiday in Bali.  Not to mention the “holiday” was 4 month long so it was a bit of an indulgence in my view.  The author did not really use this section to conclude the previous 2 sections, and on top of that it was not clear to me how she “pursued the balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence”.  I admire her initiative to help the locals, but I expected more from her 4 month stay in Bali.  I stopped reading the book for a while because the book got a bit boring and there was only that many times I’d like to read how someone “had nothing to do in the island of paradise”.

All in all, it is a reasonably good book.  Wilfrid would agree that I am a picky reader (although not a sophisticated one), so it said something that I finished reading the book.  It is certainly not a chick lit (if we exclude the Bali part) and I did enjoy reading Elizabeth’s personal journey to be a happier person.

Footnote by Wilfrid: This entry is written by Cynthia and is published as it is.  This is a read-along and JoV and J have contributed there entries as well.

Categories
Diary Linguistic

Say What? It Is Level Pre-Advanced 1 at Las Lilas School?

Compare to my good Spanish classmate Monster, I am a lot more conservative.  When his colleagues asked him which level he is at after spending close to three years learning the language, he humbly replied, “Intermediate”.  After all these years you are still at intermediate? they would ask.  And he would reply, “Yes, intermediate”.  To be frank, I have no idea how many levels there are, what the next level is going to be.  I feel as though I am still at the elementary level.  Because I am still feeling so very inadequate.

The good news is that Cynthia and I have passed our exam.  My score is not that great, which means I have to study harder.  I treasure wake up calls like this.  We humans are the lazy bunch.  We need a kick every now and then to get us back on track.

Pre-Advanced 1 started with a new teacher Amelia.  Our previous teacher Alejandra is taking a short break and has returned to Spain to deliver a baby.  I think it has something to do with the Spanish culture.  All our teachers so far at Las Lilas School are lively and warm, cheerful and fun loving.  In today’s class, I have put in extra effort trying not to look like a retard (especially when Cynthia was stuck at her week long project management exam preparation course and could not be there to help me answering all the questions).  Otherwise, Amelia would be wondering what Alejandra has been teaching us all these while.

Going up one level has certainly come with added challenges.  Today’s class’s theme was fitness, or vida sana.  No more simple, overused verbs that we have been relying on for close to three years.  We now have to form sentences with more formal verbs.  Such as fruits and vegetables provides vitamins (comer frutas y verduras proporciona vitaminas), enough sleep rests the body (dormir suficientes horas descansa el cuerpo), and drinking too much alcohol damages the liver (beber mucho alchol dañar el hígado).

What else have we learned today?  Grammar, of course.  I was not even shocked by yet another new tense to conjugate, with all its irregularity glory.  It is affirmative imperative (imperativo afirmativo) and negative imperative (imperativo negativo), which is intimately linked to subjunctive (subjuntivo).  In fact, negative imperative takes the form of subjunctive while there are two exceptions for affirmative imperative.  I am still struggling with subjunctive (and the rest of other tenses to be honest).  How in the world do Spanish and Latino people manage to use grammar of such diversity?  Whatever secret they have, I admire their ability to express things around them in such colorful variety.

Some asked: What do you get out of learning Spanish in Singapore?  Unfortunately, I do not have an inspirational answer to that question.  Learning a language works my brain muscle, which I like.  It is a common hobby for Cynthia and I.  Developing a common hobby of any type is good for a couple, mostly.  And I still believe that learning any skill opens up opportunities in the future.

On a more practical note, last night we had non-stop thunderclaps for one good hour followed by heavy rain.  Immediately, I associated the event to one of Prince’s classic “Thunder”.  This morning, I have transfered three of Prince’s albums onto my wireless phone and listened to them in our car.  When the first song from “The Gold Experience” was played, I instantly recognized that the narrator was speaking in Spanish.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Not that I fully understood what “Nuestra presentacion especial comenzara en breve.  Pero antes un mensaje de nuestros auspiciadores” meant.  At least the narration was not that foreign to me, compares to the first time I heard the album in 1995.

Categories
Photography Travel Blog

Corsica Is A Beautiful Island – Our Day 1 Adventure

I must be amongst the laziest people in the world.  It would be embarrassing if I am unable to publish a complete set of journal for our trip to France last year before we head to Spain later this year.  Corsica is a beautiful island.  We saved the best for the last.  Looking back, we would love to spend more time in Corsica and experience the nature and the local dishes.

This entry documents the first day of our visit, to the birthplace of Napoleon.  As I have mentioned before, it is tedious to write a journal.  But it is rewarding to look at the end product.  Because there is only that much a picture can say.  Let’s hope that I will not take too long to publish the final entry, which is going to be one of the meatiest in this collection.

To read more on our adventure to this French island, Corsica, here are the options.

Categories
Diary

One Crazy Week

I listened to the acoustic recording of the quake captured from the deep ocean with goose bumps all over my body.  I suppose I could imagine the terror induced had I come face to face with such force of nature.  The 2011 Japanese earthquake had lasted for 2 minutes.  That has triggered a series of aftershocks, a tsunami, a potential nuclear meltdown, and an impact to the global economy.  For the past one week, I have been glued to the news from the Internet feeling deeply saddened.  That puzzled me a bit because I do not usually feel that attached to the disasters worldwide.  Maybe deep inside, I admire the Japanese people and culture more than I think I do.

This week has been a crazy week.  My mother in Hong Kong was hospitalized for a minor operation and how I wish I was there with her.  One colleague of mine’s grandfather has passed away and I said to her, “Go home and spend time with your family.  Don’t worry about that minute of meeting”.  I suppose falling back into routines helps one to return to normalcy.  And normalcy helps one to momentarily forget the pain.  I did not have the heart to grant her that wish.  There were two major deliverables this week and in the mist of all these chaos, one of my colleagues has lost his sanity – figuratively speaking – because he thinks that he will be asked to leave the company soon.  So I said to him, “Keep your head down and continue to be productive”.  I suppose different people handles stress in a different way.  Constantly having to deal with his momentary lapse of sanity seems to have worn me out a bit.  And hence, summing all up, it has been a shockingly depressing and incredibly busy week.

I have a different approach when it comes to work, compares to some of the colleagues around me.  I believe that knowledge and experience should be shared.  Because together, we can do so much more.  Don’t you worry that one day your job will be taken away from you, some have asked in the past.  I would be in deep trouble if my job is hanging onto what I know today.  In contrary, I would be happy if more and more people can do what I am doing.  That way, I can move onto other things in life and create new knowledge, create new experience.  I think there is enough food to share around (again, figuratively).  Even when the time is bad, deep inside, we are hunters.  We will be able to find something else to eat, somewhere, somehow.

Last Sunday I took Cynthia to the IT Show.  I would imagine that must have been a terrifying experience for her.  The gigantic exhibition hall was filled with people.  Mostly men talking in some geek languages, ogling at products that meant nothing to her.  I am a seasoned IT Show visitor.  IT Show is not a time and place for shopping.  When I visit an IT Show, I know exactly what I want to get.  At the exhibition, I checked where the Creative’s booth was located and under my supreme leadership, we zoomed straight into the location that mattered: Creative’s cashier.  I took a look at the pamphlet.  Yes, the World of Warcraft headset was on sales.  Big discount.  So I ordered three headsets there and then.  The man who manned the cashier was surprised at my efficiency and determination.  I went in as fast as I went out.  Cynthia was shocked.

Today is unlike the previous days, my working day has ended with a sunny blue sky.  Finger crossed, I am hoping for a better week next week.  My world and the world I am living in.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Adjustment Bureau – Who Writes Your Fate?

I suppose I should count myself lucky that whoever Cynthia thinks is pretty is not that pretty to my eyes.  And vice versa.  That way, she would feel happy that I am not looking at all the women whom she think are pretty on the street and she would not notice all the pretty women who I actually am … erm … OK …

Cynthia thinks that Emily Blunt is pretty.  I think the most attractive aspect of Emily is her accent.  TK and Cynthia picked “The Adjustment Bureau”.  I did not mind to tuck along.  Because Matt Damon is my hero.  To be honest, I often confuse Matt Damon with Mark Wahlberg.  Both are my heroes.

“The Adjustment Bureau” is advertised as a mix between sci-fi and romance.  The bits on sci-fi are surprisingly light.  If not for the paperback notebook with pages filled with ever changing circuit diagrams by the second, I would not be able to associate this movie with sci-fi.  Matt Damon plays a promising young politician.  One fine day, a mysterious girl appears that threatens to alter Matt’s destiny.  Hence the intervention by the Adjustment Bureau.  No matter how hard the bureau intervenes, Matt and Emily manages to find ways to defy the system of fate.  Now, looking at the state of the world today, is free will a bad thing?  Do we really have free will?  What if we do not possess free will and our fates have already been written?  If we have to fight for the right to our free will, would that make us treasuring it even more?  These are some of the questions the movie intends to prompt the audiences to ponder upon.

I enjoy watching the on-screen chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.  I wish Emily has more airtime because I like the romance bits in this movie more than the sci-fi bits.  Some bits of the script seem a bit far-fetched.  It is the same old background of God and Angels.  The story is not as profound as Matrix (that questions along the same line), nor as refresh as Inception.  The pace does appear slow.  I went into the theater with the desire to watch Matt Damon’s performance.  It is exactly that and that only this movie has given me.

Categories
For the Geeks

Darkspore – Day 1 Of Beta Testing

PS. This entry is dedicated to my buddy Mark.  Together we have conquered dungeons and overcome challenges only 0.17% of the population today can relate.

For many years, I have identified the web address Darkspore.com with Mark’s personal site.  I vividly remember it was one fine afternoon, when I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green in front of Somerset 313 (which was still under construction), Mark messaged me saying that he has sold his domain name.  Right there and then, I guessed that a new game was in the making, due to a strong association to another game called “Spore“.  I was right.  Darkspore is indeed a new game based on Spore.

EA Game has sent me a beta key to try out the new game.  Of all the beta testing I have participated, this beta testing is surprisingly smooth, with a decent level of features available to play.  What is Darkspore?  It is sci-fi based action role playing game with an option to engage other players online to play with you.  You could – I suppose – solo your way through the leveling and gearing.  But the game rewards better XP (experience point) if you choose to play with others.  I have tried out the campaign mode (or the co-op mode).  I have yet to tried out the PvP mode (player-versus-player).  Subjected to final changes as the game is still under development, you start the game with two heroes, who look like those strange bug life form coming from the Spore universe.  Upon completing the tutorial, you get to pick one more hero to complete your squad of three.  Each hero can fulfill one of the three roles: tank, damage, and heal.  As you level, more heroes are unlocked for you to recruit into your squad.

“This is the arsenal screen.  The three heroes on the left are my current squad.  As for the line of heroes on the right, some are available for my picking.”

For this day one of beta testing, I have picked a squad that has a tank, a damage, and a heal.  To be honest, all the bug-looking characters look the same to me.  Hardly something I can identify with, but I was eager for some good action.  So I have headed to the navigation screen and selected a multi-player option.

“This is the navigation screen.  As you level up, you can pick harder challenges, which come with better reward I suppose.”

Matchmaking is not the only way to form groups.  I have tried out partying with players on my friend-list too.  I am not sure how the multi-player matchmaking algorithm works.  At times we have a group of two.  At times we have a group of four.  Darkspore comes with a chat window as well.  Since I am familiar with other MMO (massively multi-player online), I felt at home with the lobby and party chat.

“This screenshot was taken during the actual game play, with a party of three.  Bottom center is the action bar.  Bottom right is the squad of three.”

The game play involves a lot of mouse-clicking, which is simple enough most of the time.  Left click is to move to a spot and right click is to move and attack.  Each hero comes with a health bar and a power bar.  Abilities that consume power can be accessed through the action bar at the bottom of the screen.  The beauty of this action role playing game – in my opinion – is the option to switch heroes in the mist of the battle.  The tank can charge ahead and take the punishments from the enemies.  The damage class can focus on bringing down the enemies fast, from near or far depending on the hero’s nature.  And the healer can stay at the back making sure that the party is safe and sound.  Loots are rolled automatically as the party members walk over the items on the floor.  The currency of the game is DNA, which is useful from equipping my heroes to buying weapons and upgrading the ship and etc.  At the initial level, the game appears to be generous on the potions that refill the health and power bars.  These potions can be found as enemies or structures are taken down.

“Boss fight can be relatively intense.  But if everyone knows what they are suppose to do, it is quite trivial (thus far).”

Fortunately so far, I have grouped with players who know what they are doing.  We stayed together, switched heroes as the situation called for, and helped each other when one of us was trapped.  Range attack can be avoided, same applies to the enemies who may stand out of the line of fire or area of effect damage.  Each campaign so far involves maps of multiple stages.  Portals to the next stages are open once the obelisks are found.  Once we have completed a campaign, there is an option to collect the reward.  Or, continue to the next campaign and aim for a higher reward if we succeed, lose it all if we fail.  During this beta testing, I was only able to continue two times.  To go beyond, my ship needs to be upgraded.  I noticed that the chances of rolling a rare reward is tied to how well I have performed during the campaign.  As in what the exact formula is, I have no clue at the moment.

“This is the editor screen, whereby you can equip your heroes, or even change the color and shape of this bizarre looking bug.”

At the end of each campaign (or a series of campaigns), you can customize your heroes, from the look to what he or she (or it?) uses.  I realized after spending some time of playing the game that my heroes level up as I equip better items onto them.  How does that reconcile with the overall XP and level of my squad, I do not know.  Items can be equipped to all my active and inactive heroes.  The item stats can be overwhelming, even to the seasoned players.  I have struggled quite a bit on what should be given to which hero.  Fortunately, some items are specific to a single class.  I can imagine as I collect more heroes, managing the inventory could be quite a task.

“This is the inventory screen.  Useless items can be sold for DNA, the currency of Darkspore.  DNA can be used for upgrades.”

In Summary

Darkspore is indeed a fast action game and it seems pretty easy to play.  Those who love online hack-and-slash games would love this one.  Each campaign seems to only last 10 minutes or so (It may get more tedious later, I do not know).  In between campaigns, there are cut scenes too.  Personally I am not that immersed into the storyline, as yet.  The videos remind me of Perimeter’s, with the same monotonous narration of some alien stories.  And I am finding it difficult to relate to the heroes who look so bug-like.  I think Darkspore is one of the games whereby the more time you spend in playing, the better your arsenal of heroes will become.  This game may well be a good stop gap before Diablo III is released.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Red Riding Hood

From the director who brought you “Twilight“, we now have a new saga called “Red Ridding Hood”.  Cynthia and I adore “Twilight”, despite what the critics said.  I was so excited in booking the tickets online so much so that I booked yesterday’s session, instead of today’s.  So, we had an early weekend celebration.

There are striking similarities between “Twilight” and “Red Ridding Hood”.  The narration, the rather helpless leading female actress, and even the fathers of Valerie of “Red Ridding Hood” and Bella of “Twilight” are acted by the same person.  There are werewolves in “Hood”, but there is no vampires (yet?)  In “Twilight”, we see Bella falling in love while in “Hood”, Valerie has already fallen in love since the beginning.  Hence, in a way, “Hood” is more a suspense type of movie than a romance type drawing us to the center of the plot: Who and where is the big bad wolf?  Looking from that perspective, the story is full of twists.  It got me hooked all the way to the end guessing who is what and with what motive.  The two opposing forces appear to be well matched.  At some point, I really had no idea which way the story would go.  Gary Oldman plays the Witchfinder General who takes over the village and volunteers to hunt the big bad wolf.  I love his acting (since the Fifth Element days).  And you may think, how cool if he is a big bad vampire eh?

Amanda Seyfried is beautiful.  She is perfect for this role.  I cannot say much about the two boys who are suppose to romance her.  The chemistry seems missing.  Perhaps since the part on falling in love is not there, there is hardly any opportunity for relationship development.  If there is a sequel (sure hope there is), I bet these boys could be replaced with someone more suitable for Amanda.