First appeared on Nerdy But Flirty

Concluding the final series in a trilogy of Dragon Age comic series, Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #3 was just released today. As you know, Dragon Age was one of my favorite video games, and the first Dragon Age series is what launched me back into my love of comics. I’ve been following them ever since, from the awesome Dragon Age: The Silent Grove, followed by Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, with the story arc leading up to this final series.

Click the link to check out my review of Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #2.

As the finale to the arc, this issue packed a punch, but the pacing seemed a little off. Anyone who is familiar with David Gaider’s writing already knew what the conclusion would be, so they went for no surprise twists. Instead, you’re left with an emotional tableau, a small disquiet that leaves you thinking, much like the choices in the actual game.

The artwork was very bloody and vibrant. While I think it matched the graphics of Dragon Age 2, I also feel that the characters were missing a little heart as a result.

Overall, I recommend all three of the series as a great addition to the Dragon Age canon and to add even more mysteries for you to ponder about Fereldan.

Plot

Willing to embrace an evil that once nearly shattered reality, Magister Aurelian Titus must be stopped. King Alistair and his allies have traveled to the realm of nightmares to do so, but if the cost of victory is to sacrifice his father, will Alistair be able to pay the price?

Deets

Writer:

David Gaider, Alexander Freed

Artist:

Chad Hardin

Colorist:

Michael Atiyeh

Cover Artist:

Anthony Palumbo

Buy Dragon Age: Until We Sleep #3 here!

My guide to all Dragon Age comics can be found here.

First appeared on Nerdy But Flirty

As you know, I’m a huge Angel fan. For more information on this series, check out my first Angel & Faith review. Angel & Faith #22 (Steve Morris cover) starts off with a bang and ends with a ferocious cliffhanger. It’s clear that this is leading up to the final battle, and I can’t wait. We also have a lovely new twist that I think will add some zest to the character of Giles, so I’m interested to see how that will play out in this and other series in the Buffyverse.

The art was just gorgeous this time around. Rebekah Isaacs has such a talent for clothes, postures, and negative space. Her ability to convey so much feeling just in body posture is reminiscent of Whedon’s ability to have characters express feelings with made-up words. This was a great read, and if you’re a fan of the series, or Angel in general, you need to hop on this train before the final issue!

Plot

Angel’s plan to resurrect Rupert Giles has come to fruition—just not exactly as everyone had expected. But they’ll have to deal with the fallout from that later. Right now, Angel and Faith need all the help they can get to defeat Whistler, Pearl, Nash, and their plan to overhaul life on earth with a magical virus!

Deets

Writer:

Christos Gage

Artist:

Rebekah Isaacs

Colorist:

Dan Jackson

Cover Artist:

Steve Morris

Buy it here!

First Appeared on The Legend of Lorie

Fire Emblem Awakening is a game that you do not want to miss out on. If you own a Nintendo 3DS, then you need to give this game a chance and if you don’t own a Nintendo 3DS… well, this game is reason enough alone to go out and purchase one. If you are new to the Fire Emblem series, don’t worry, you do not need to play the past Fire Emblem games to be able to jump right into this one. The Fire Emblem series has always centered on being strategy based. Think of this game as chess but the “chess pieces” have fancy abilities and in Fire Emblem: Awakening, can develop relationships with each other. In the beginning of the game, you are able to almost completely customize your character. You are able to change your characters voice, hair, and other features. This is just the first step where Nintendo traps you into feeling almost attached to the characters. As you play the game (with the character you made) you are able to make choices that affect your entire gameplay. Do you want to add your level 3 Mage to the front lines in the off chance that you might be able to level her? There are plenty of things to think about before making a move in this game.

In Fire Emblem Awakening, if one of your party members dies (unless you are not playing classic mode) they are gone for good. You can’t use magical revive spells or “Phoenix Down” like items… they are ultimately gone for the entire game which also means that party member that the character you made who fought next to you in numerous battles who you also became close to and got know is gone for the entire game. For example, I was really fond of the Pegasus Knight, Sumia., however, she was incredibly weak in the beginning of the game. I took my chances though in hopes that I could sneak in a few levels to get her beefy but unfortunately an archer came along and well…. Goodbye Sumia! Losing a party member would not be so bad but developing relationships and friendships in Fire Emblem: Awakening is what makes the game so great. Before my Sumia died, my main character had just gained relationship B with her. I witnessed a heartwarming cut scene involving her and my character. Besides growing slightly attached to Sumia, I had also developed better attack strategies involving her and my character. In Fire Emblem Awakening, when a character gains a relationship rank (C, B, A, or S) it also benefits the characters in battle. When they are next to each other on the battlefield, the chance increases that the character will defend their friend or attack right after.  This battle system in the game is fairly easy to get used to and it also gives the player more incentive to spend time pairing characters in battle to witness fun cut scenes or just get their characters in a quirky romance.

Besides the fun battle system, Fire Emblem Awakening features a neat class system. Almost all of your characters will start out as either a first class or even a secondary class if you obtain a new party member towards the end of the game. Obtaining a certain level like level ten for instance grants you the ability to change your class (if you are still using a primary class) to a secondary or master class. For example, everyone starts out with Chrom who is initially a “Lord” class. When he obtains level ten with the use of a “master seal”, you will be able to change Chrom’s class to a “Great Lord” which not only boosts party member’s stats but in Fire Emblem Awakening, it also adds the ability to use an extra weapon that could not be used as a “Lord” class. Besides being able to change party member’s to their “ultimate class”, with an item called a “secondary seal” players can also change their character’s class to another primary class completely. For instance, Panne is a Taguel that uses a Beaststone. Taguels cannot be promoted to a master class, however, if the player wants to change Panne to a different class then it can be done with a “secondary seal”. Panne can then change from a Taguel to a Mage or an Archer. Weapons in the Fire Emblem Awakening are just as customizable as your party mechanics. With the ability to customize stats on most weapons, your options are endless in this game to play as you want with the party and weapons that you want.

The gameplay in Fire Emblem Awakening was very satisfying. Nintendo continues to pump out very cheap downloadable content maps for the game so even if you finish the main story, you can still play additional maps ranging from $2.50 to $5.00. If you do not want to dish out any extra money then you can challenge yourself after finishing the game by restarting the game on a harder difficulty. The story is touching and focuses a lot of friendship and teamwork as you learn from using the battle system.

Visually this game is absolutely gorgeous and it was completely meant to be played in 3D. I switched back and forth between 3D and no 3D and found myself wanting to experience the game more in 3D. The music was also very catchy. This game is very aesthetically pleasing and it really proves that the 3D on the 3DS is not a gimmick but incorporates the player into the world of Fire Emblem Awakening.

Fire Emblem Awakening is truly a game that you donot want to miss out on. If you are fond of role-playing games, games that involve strategy, or want to play a game that looks perfect in 3D then this is the game for you. With beautiful graphics, music, and fantastic characters that you will fall in love with, this game was a wonderful experience and I can honestly say it is the best Nintendo 3DS game I have played thus far.

First Appeared on The Legend of Lorie

Sandbox games are becoming quite popular these days. Animal Crossing, one of my favorite games, is what made me so interested in sandbox games. If you are not familiar with what a “sandbox” game it, it basically is an entire world in the game that you can modify yourself. Minecraft and Terraria are two examples of sandbox games. Don’t Starve is a game developed and published by Klei Entertainment that takes a new and unique twist on the “sandbox” theme.

Don’t Starve is an open world survival game. Unlike Minecraft or Terraria, you do not have unlimited lives. The objective of the game is to see how long you will survive in the world. In the beginning of the game, you will only have one unlocked character but there are eight characters that you eventually get to play who all have different abilities to help survive in the game. When you start a game, the world is generated randomly. The world map is different every time you start a game with randomly placed items and monsters. To survive, you have to keep your character’s sanity, hunger, and health from reaching zero.

With Tim Burton style artwork, the game has an eerie and spine-chilling feel to it. The world itself is very dark and the creatures are very twisted. This all adds to the effect that your sanity (something that you must maintain to survive) is constantly draining. Whether you are running around in the dark, entering strange wormholes to get around the world quicker, or eating raw meat; your sanity will drain. Once your sanity gets to about 60%, you character will start seeing hallucinations. Eventually when your sanity gets low enough, these hallucinations will start physically harming you. Sustaining your health is important in Don’t Starve as it is in most survival games. Once your health reaches zero, your world is destroyed and you must start over in another randomly generated world. Starving, being attacked by creatures or hallucinations, and eating dangerous or spoiled foods will start depleting your health. Last but not least, don’t starve. Forage and hunt for food so your hunger level does not reach zero or you will die.

Death is inevitable in Don’t Starve and each time you die, you gain experience to unlock more characters. There are so many different ways to die in Don’t Starve and it’s one of the reasons why the game is so enjoyable. The Don’t Starve universe is dark, treacherous, and dangerous but don’t let that steer you away from exploring the map. Exploration is very important in game play as you will have to find more food and more creatures to obtain supplies for crafting. Like most sandbox games, crafting is an essential aspect of Don’t Starve. Build shelters, campfires, a crock pot to make better food, and various machines to unlock more recipes. Building, poking, and learning are important in your survival in Don’t Starve.

Don’t Starve also features an adventure mode if you have survived for awhile and want to challenge yourself, however, adventure mode must be found in sandbox mode. Adventure mode consists of several grueling  stages varying from never-ending darkness, year long winter, and other very difficult scenarios. If you die in adventure mode, you will be ported right back to sandbox mode.

If you are looking for a new and challenging open world game then Don’t Starve is worth the $14.99 on Steam. The game is constantly being updated and lets players know when the next update will take place right on the title screen. The game is engaging, fun and a refreshing change from the typical Minecraft-esque sandbox game.

First appeared on www.NerdyButFlirty.com

Twenty minutes into Star Trek: Into Darkness, and I knew I wanted to watch this movie again.

I almost hesitated to write this review, wondering if I was extremely biased by my love of Star Trek. This couldn’t possibly be one of the best movies I’ve ever seen; I must just be mistaken. And yet…this movie melted off my little nerdy face.

Could this be one of the best sci-fi movies of our time? Quite possibly. If you love the Star Trek franchise, go see this movie. It’s even better than the reboot. IT’S A SEQUEL THAT’S BETTER THAN THE FIRST. But that’s oddly appropriate, given the history of Star Trek movies.

Plot

When the crew of the Enterprise returns from a “routine” mission, they find that all is not well at Starfleet, as they are under attack by someone within their own ranks. Kirk sets off on a manhunt into a war-zone to capture the bad guy…and then everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

The story was interesting and shocking in some ways, yet predictable and campy in others. I didn’t mind the camp of the main villain too much, because, after all, this is a movie based on an old franchise. As someone very prone to nostalgia, having villains who are a throwback to a bygone age in movies isn’t as big of a deal to me, although I know it will bother some people.

Another big issue with the plot is that it is clearly split into different acts, as opposed to feeling like one cohesive whole. On the other hand, this added to my feeling of having made a journey with the crew, of having been through a lot together. In that way, the movie is set up very much like a game, with quests needing to be completed before moving on to other quests. If that sounds boring or tedious to you, then you might not like this movie. For someone like me, who really enjoys the adventure, it was noted, but didn’t take me out of the film.

Rounding out the negatives are the odd moments of character highlights that seem important but are then never seen or heard from again, and the little movie logic decisions (movie sins, I believe the kids call them) that bug nitpickers about every movie.

But all-in-all, I found this plot compelling, exciting, intriguing, and wonderfully nostalgic. This movie was made for Star Trek fans, through and through.

Cast

The highlight of the movie for me is, of course, the greatest bromance of all time: Spock and Kirk. The interactions between them and the other cast members was just brilliant, especially the relationship between Uhura and Spock, the roles of everyone on the ship, and the wonderful Urban’s spot-on interpretation of Bones.

The only actor I did not really enjoy played the main villain, Benedict Cumberbatch. I found his lines over-delivered and far too Shakesperean compared to the rest of the movie. Sometimes the camera would zoom in on his face and I would laugh, it was that bad.

Chris Pine as Kirk

Zachary Quinto as Spock

Zoe Saldana as Uhura

Karl Urban as Bones

Simon Pegg as Scotty

John Cho as Sulu

Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison

Special Effects

The art direction and special effects were gorgeous, fluid, and epic. Everything was beautiful, and even the 3D was used in a way that made sense. No complaints here!

Music and Audio

Perfectly complimenting the visuals was the sound. Booming and precise, with hints of nostalgia. I enjoyed both the music and the sound direction.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the actors were great and the chemistry between characters was spot on. I loved all the little callbacks to the original series and movies, including little facial expressions, actual quotes, and even tableaus. Star Trek: Into Darkness perfectly captured the excitement I felt when watching the original series, and I can’t wait to watch this crew’s next adventure. I’ve been seeing that some mainstream news sources are saying the movie is disappointing… I’m wondering if they were too busy looking for flaws instead of enjoying the adventure.

First appeared on www.NerdyButFlirty.com

Star Wars: Legacy is the second iteration by that name. The first dealt with Cade Skywalker, the bounty hunter. This new series deals with Ania Solo, a descendent of Han and Leia.

A female Han Solo? Yes please.

The art in this issue is great and feels very reminiscent of Star Wars in general. However, this definitely feels like a “middle” issue, with not a lot going on. #3 is clearly meant to set up circumstances for the next issue, rather than sharing any surprises or intriguing battles.

However, don’t let this stop you from giving the series a try! You can buy the digital copies here.

Plot

Ania Solo and her friends have been chased, blockaded, and shot at, and now they’re stuck on a world of molten sulfur, all because an Imperial Knight wants them dead. Just when things seem bleakest, another Imperial Knight shows up! Is he here to help them, or help destroy them?

Writer:

Corinna Bechko, Gabriel Hardman

Artist:

Gabriel Hardman

Colorist:

Rachelle Rosenberg

Cover Artist:

Dave Wilkins

Poker Night at the Inventory 2 is TellTale’s latest Xbox Live Arcade, Steam and Playstation Network game and is, as the title suggests, a Poker game at it’s core. More than that, this downloadable title is an example of how great personalities and some clever writing can make a functional but not particularly exciting card game into an engaging and fun experience for the player.

After a short and cameo filled introduction the player, aptly named and referenced to as “Player”, is introduced to their adversaries for the night’s game; Brock from “The Venture Bros.”, Claptrap from “Borderlands”, Ash from “Army of Darkness” and Sam of “Sam and Max”. Other characters from these titles and other telltale titles drift in and out during the course of tournaments.

The Cast of Poker Night at the Inventory 2

The writing in this game is superb, drawing from popular culture, developer-in jokes and character backstories, always keeping the player engaged and chuckling throughout. TellTale has made the focus of the game the characters and their interactions whilst playing, not the poker itself. This works well in this game as the mix of nostalgia and humour, brought to life by the characters and Glad0s, allow the player get wrapped up in the experience not the base gameplay, often hanging out for the cast’s quips and comments more than counting the chips on the table and watching for tells.

The poker in game feels a little drab itself, and without the writing would probably be just another basic poker game. The choice of Glad0s as dealer helps to liven up the gameplay as she regularly drops from the ceiling to provide ‘helpful’ comments to the player. The game also features character animations to give away when they are bluffing, but they are not common or very well executed. The Player may also buy drinks for the cast from the bartender Mad Moxxi of the  Borderlands games. They make the ‘tells’ from others more obvious, but they still didn’t play much of a role in the results of the tournaments. When you get to playing you get a choice between “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “Omaha”, both games play well and the tournaments serve as opportunities for bragging rights, and more importantly, unlocks. After completing challenges you are offered the chance to win a special item from each character’s title, such as Ash’s Necronomicon and Claptrap’s Video Game Award, each awarding the player with unlocks outside of the game.

Borderlands 2 Unlocks

The game’s brilliant writing is added to by the ability to get heads and skins for Borderlands 2 on all platforms, and then platform specific unlocks including avatar items, Team Fortress 2 hats and exclusive themes. These unlocks keep the game playable well after the dialogue starts to repeat, but once you complete these there is little to keep you playing after the occasional game for nostalgia’s sake. There are also felt, deck and chip variants for each title to unlock, purchasable with ‘unlock tokens’ won in tournaments. These re-skin the bar and game aspects, but don’t affect gameplay.

Overall this game is quite fun and well worth the price tag, quite cheap on all platforms. The jokes, dialogue and unlocks make the game quite addictive and entertaining, but the replay value drops once the dialogue starts to loop and the unlocks are all collected. Some extra modes, multiplayer and more dialogue would help with the replay value, but the game is still great. For some laughs, free items and a good bit of poker fun this is well worth the download. A solid 8/10!

First appeared on NerdyButFlirty.com

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a game built on the engine of nostalgia. The Ubisoft team created a love letter to their childhood heroes, and they’ve done it with the incredibly solid and addicting gameplay of Far Cry 3. This game isn’t just a one-trick pony: though it runs the risk of being too over-the-top, FC3: BD is refreshingly self-aware enough to avoid the pitfalls of a (too) repetitive joke.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a game for gamers. What I mean by that is, this is a game that breaks the fourth wall and invites you in on the jokes and tropes of both old-school action movies and the action game genre itself. Helpful loading screen advice includes: “Enemies in range can be shot” and “Use cover to stay behind things” while a tracking symbol and static roll across your screen. This is the first indication that this game might be…a little different.

Whereas Far Cry 3 claimed to be a satire, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an actual epitome of satire and a delight to play. I mean, the hardest part of writing this review is not quoting almost every line of text and dialogue. It’s that hilarious. They also had a whole section about how violent games don’t cause violence…it was breathtaking. Oh, and you throw dice instead of rocks and the scientists say adorably geeky things and your computer calls you a nerd–

Okay, I’m going to stop making out with the game long enough to tell you all about it.

Plot

You play Rex Power Colt (voiced by the super-legit Michael Biehn), one of the last Mark IV Super Cyber Commandos on the planet. With your buddy Spider and the sultry Dr. Elizabeth Veronica Darling, you have to take down the crazy Colonel Ike Sloan and unravel the mystery of the Blood Dragons. Or something like that. The in-game manual has a completely different plot listed. Have fun with that.

The plot is straight out of an 80s action flick, with over-the-top dialogue, lots of stereotypes (the black sidekick with a potty mouth, the female scientist with the ridiculous name that all the men want, etc.), and implausible situations involving sharks and infiltration.

I had very minor problems with the story, but all were based on issues that existed in movies in the 80s, so I couldn’t actually be mad. The game was just being true to slightly racist and sexist source material. I mean, you can’t fault a game with a training montage: it’s just against the rules of fair play. Even if there is a sassy black best friend yelling “WE NEED TO RECALIBRATE YO ASS!”

Graphics

Chrome, lasers, cyborgs, neon, and smoke: that’s the aesthetic of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The graphics are technically just as beautiful as Far Cry 3, but the smoke and dark color scheme make it a lot harder to see enemies (hence why they glow red) and harder to appreciate the beauty of the island. On the other hand, it looks pretty cool, and the nice touches like the city-at-war in the background add an interesting layer to the horizon.

Music

The music in this game is fantastic. They capture the rocking spirit of 80s and 90s action movies and also manage to incorporate some sounds from Far Cry 3 as well. The music kept the energy high in enemy encounters and made you feel like a badass during stealthy infiltration missions.

Gameplay

There are a lot of the same elements in FC3: BD as there were in FC3, as is only to be expected in a derivative game. On the other hand, there are plenty of little differences that give the game a spirit of its own.

Your camera has been turned into your Cyber Eye, a device that makes a lot of sense for a cyber commander to have. Your hand is now a cyber hand and you have lovely cyber powers, including the ability to breathe underwater (thanks to your cyber lungs), survive falls from any height,and run really fast.

There are seemingly fewer animals than were present in Far Cry 3, and the animals that make it into this game are a little…different. A little more cyber. Please do yourself a favor and read EVERYTHING in the Research Data section of your Data Console. The writers in this game had a ball.

Missions and Adventures

There are seven missions, each pretty difficult unless you spend a lot of time leveling up. They are all multi-tiered and ultimately insanely rewarding. You’ll get that sentence when you finish a few of them.

Besides the actual missions, your character can also explore the island and complete quests for weapon upgrades. Quest types include hunting/wanted quests, liberating garrisons, and finding collectibles. One of the new mission types involves rescuing hostages before they’re shot to pieces, which was quite fun.

In Far Cry 3, liberating garrisons could involve enlisting a tiger or a group of komodos; now you can lure a giant, insanely over-powered dragon into their midst instead…after knocking down their anti-dragon shields. I loved the new range of choices the generators opened up.

Blood Dragons

Speaking of which, let’s talk about how awesome blood dragons are. You remember that slight bit of fear that struck your heart the first few times you unexpectedly ran into a tiger or bear in Far Cry 3? Remember how they were a little difficult to kill and you had that second of panic before getting into gear and working to dispatch it?

Well now imagine that tiger/bear is waaay bigger, much stronger, and a lot more damage resistant. Imagine that it shakes the ground when it runs towards you, that you can practically feel its eye lasers grazing the back of your neck as you jump down the cliff in an effort to escape.

So much is done right with the blood dragons. Not only do they manage to create a real feeling of danger, but they also add an interesting layer to the strategy of taking down a garrison or group of soldiers. They have three stages: dormant, watchful, and attack mode, as indicated by the colors of a stoplight. You can lure a blood dragon with a cyber heart, something you rip out of the chest of cyber soldiers you after you murder them.

As I sped away from one dragon when I ran out of bullets, I tossed a cyber heart to the left to distract it and snagged a hang glider, narrowly missing eye lasers as I glided to safety…and I remember thinking: this is why you play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

Combat

Combat is the same as in Far Cry 3, except you start off with a lot of the skills you had to build up in that game. You also no longer have a skill tree: you are simply given certain skills as you level up. You have a shuriken now too, which adds a nice little link to your chained takedowns.

Your favorite weapons are all there, with delightful attachments that might make you crow for joy. The missions can seem punishingly hard at first, until you realize you should head out into the open world and complete some quests to mod out your favorite sniper rifle. Then you become *serious 80s voice* The Punisher.

Negatives

I have very little to complain about, gameplay wise, but there is one complaint, and it is something that annoyed me in the first game as well. Some of the action buttons are a little finicky You have to hold certain buttons for certain actions, such as pilfering and buying things. Sometimes, that prompt just won’t appear. Or sometimes the command to run just won’t work. Or you’ll turn on your Cyber Eye instead of throwing a cyber heart. At least with the 360 controller, this is a game that will have you literally mashing buttons at times to get them to input correctly. It is a very minor problem, but I’m pretty annoyed that I’m still having it in the new game. After the fifth time you move over someone’s body trying to get the prompt to appear, you’ll see what I mean.

Another small negative is the prevalence of escort missions. There are quite a few of them. I just despise escort missions in every game I’ve ever played.

But, in general, it was very hard to find things to dislike in this game. Remember how you hate Jason for constantly saying “disgusting” after his fiftieth animal skinning? Well Rex also says disgusting…just in a completely different way. A way you will love him for. Were we talking about negatives? I can’t remember.

Final Verdict

Have you ever played a game that parodied another game so hard it floated into the sky on a burst of rainbows and laser beams? This game is pure greatness.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon doesn’t waste your time explaining how to play the game. It cuts out all the fat, adds a ton of bullsh*t, and takes you on a nostalgia trip riding on solid gameplay and addictive action.

There are so many amazing moments that I want to share with you, but I won’t because I want you to have that jaw-dropping moment of “no they did not actually put this into the game” that I was able to experience.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available for $14.99. Go get it.

In the words of Rex: “Sayonara Sushi!”

“We nuked the planet. Weren’t we lucky this single object that reminds me of you survived?”

Just when the latest trailers made Oblivion a somewhat promising early summer entry, its 125 minutes of derivative, dead-end narrative unfold into a visually slick, but intellectually dissatisfying attempt at high-concept sci-fi. Pulling (willy-nilly) from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Moon, The Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Independence Day, and even Wall-E, the film (adapted from writer/director Joseph Kosinski’s unpublished graphic novel) apparently wants to pay tribute the science fiction catalog without contributing any memorable voice or message of its own.

Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are left behind workers on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Their duty, as repeated multiple times in a relatively redundant script, is “drone maintenance and repair.” The first 15 minutes of the film consist of an expository Cruise voice-over that sets up the premise, but even that, and subsequent exchanges between characters, can’t manage to clarify the muddled premise. Without a clear sense of parameters and motivations, we’re left with low stakes and a miniscule level of relation to the characters, all of which exponentially degenerates through to the cliché climax.

I’ll try to recount the plot based only on memory and my understanding of it. In 2077, the planet has been ravaged by a war with an alien race referred to as “the Scavs.” They destroyed our moon and invaded our planet. Jack repeatedly insists that “we won the war, but lost the planet.” If we lost our moon and home planet, I’m not sure what meaning the victory holds. Jack and Victoria have two weeks left on Earth to fulfill their requirements of monitoring and repairing the armed flying drones that protect giant water-collecting tanks that float over the ocean. There are still some remaining Scavs on the planet (or are there?) that intermittently try to take out the tanks. There’s a giant space station called the Tet that orbits the Earth and houses some human technicians. The rest of the human race is living on the Saturn moon of Titan.

Morgan Freeman, Zoe Bell, and Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau hoping the title of the film isn’t the future destination of their reputations

From this point on, things spiral into confusing spoiler territory that’s populated by the aforementioned sci-fi rip-offs. Morgan Freeman pops in and out for about 15 total minutes of screen time as an underground leader named Beech (may as well be Morpheus); a woman (Olga Kurylenko) who has been appearing in Jack’s dreams (even though his memory has been wiped) shows up in a crash-landed space craft, inspiring a thin and fruitless love triangle; and a conspiracy plot starts to unfold as Jack begins to uncover mysterious goings-on.

What the filmmakers seem to forget is that twists and surprises carry no weight if the audience doesn’t understand or care about what is being twisted. On its surface, Oblivion is a sleek feast for the eyes, but much like its 2012 cousin, Prometheus, the merit of its stylish exoskeleton begins to disintegrate around the inner swelling of its faulty narrative machinations. The final outcome is a minor, forgettable misfire that could have been something great had it been formulated with proper ambition, scope, and substance.

Hurricon is one of those conventions that are only feasible due to the tremendous dedication and love of otakus who want to bring joy to other otakus. I attended Hurricon in its first year, and I can confidently say I’ll keep going for as long as I stay in Florida, but it is a young event that still has much to learn. Going this year as a panelist has made me more aware of what Hurricon needs to be better and I’m going to list what’s wrong here. I am not saying Hurricon is not worth attending I had loads of fun and for what it’s worth (free entry for everyone) you shouldn’t miss out.

Unused rooms and time gaps

What do I mean by this? Many rooms went unused during the little time the con was active. When I looked at the schedule I felt my stomach drop because both my panels were scheduled during the costume contest and its prejudging, which would wipe out a good part of my potential audience. Many rooms were unused prior to the time, and I don’t mind presenting early. My turnout was smaller than it is in other cons, but the audience was wonderful and I’m glad they dropped by. As a panelist however, the bigger the crowd the better, and the schedule wasn’t working in my favor.

Panel rooms are split in two

Basically the center of operations is a big building I believe serves as a two story student lounge. All the vendors and the cafe is outside, the first floor hosted one vendor, an exhibitor, and the karaoke setup, and the second floor hosted all the ballrooms and the video game room. But the schedule has some panels held in “The Learning Center” which is a long tiring walk all the way to an orange building. I’m alright with it, but because of that 10 minutes between events is probably not enough for people to bother going to see those faraway panels, especially since most congoers are used to having everything in one place (convention centers spoil us).

Almost no vendors

I was disappointed in the selection provided this year despite that there were more sellers than last year. Out of the many people who got a spot to sell stuff only three merchandise vendors showed up, the rest were artisans and artists. I support the latter, but I much prefer an import figure than a piece of jewelry (although I occasionally bite). This is the first convention I didn’t want to buy anything from. The first year I did want to buy but this year nothing really stood out to me. Of course the convention is not responsible for what their sellers sell, but I hope a wider variety of vendors come next year because that revelation was quite shocking. Good news is no one was selling fake merchandise, yay!

Your refreshing honest vendor, sadly nothing he sold interested me.

Some artist tables. The lovely Reimu cosplayer is Zipper Tan, an artist and talented cosplayer.

Video game room uninviting

Let me begin by saying the video game room was all male, which is odd because other conventions have females in their game room. I could see a few problems. The biggest blunder was all the consoles and television were set up too close to each other, making a small square in between and leaving little space to roam and see what could be played and comfortably watch others. This is important, in fact so important that is why most successful arcades have plenty of free space. Also there was too little light, which somehow makes the small space worse. The room had plenty of space, but it seemed instead of moving around the seats in the lounge  to create an ample gaming space they just decided to make a small circle of doom surrounded by them. As for the gamers themselves? It seemed many of them have been camping there since the con started, it made me feel too uncomfortable to ask if I could play a round. I could play the same game at home anyway.

But enough with everything wrong, what was good?

The location is beautiful

UM should pride itself in its campus because I can say with confidence it has the most beautiful one in Florida. The location difference from your typical convention center is refreshing. You’re surrounded by trees and sculptures done by students, the walkway to the learning center passed a peaceful fountain, and the student lounge has an appealing modern design and awesome murals. To the delight of many, the first floor had plenty of plugs and phone charging stations with all types of cell phone charger cables.

Many talented cosplayers

I am not kidding when I say Hurricon brings the best of cosplayers out. Maybe it’s the fact the hobby can be expensive and the entrance is free that makes the magic happen. Theories aside they’re everywhere, and friendly so you can take pictures of them without hassle. This also probably makes it harder to win the costume contest.

Engaged panel attendees 

Despite being left with a smaller audience than I would have desired the ones that stuck around were great. There are two types of good panel attendees, the ones that are so excited they often shout insightful comments and funny remarks or quiet, attentive, and engaged attendees. I got the latter which is a refresher from the usual excited fans and they also gave feedback, asking questions and answering some question I asked. Other panels varied, but the typical audience was made up of good people. I can say with confidence you will feel comfortable at one of their many panels.

Everyone is friendly

Like the cosplayers this rule also applies to everyone. You can talk to anyone like you’ve known them for a long time and they’re open to almost anything. This is a convention were there is not as many groups as in your larger con, and it opens opportunities to make new friends and have a good time.

Summed up it is undeniable the con did have its flaws but they’re not bad to the point I would recommend staying away. I had fun and I really want it to become a UM tradition. Everything that isn’t wrong is so good fixing what was wrong would create the perfect convention.

If you live in South Florida attend the next Hurricon in 2014, it’s a great otaku treat.