Some quick thoughts

I just wanted to drop a few thoughts from an interesting week...

Firstly is the new module I released.  'Nightmares to Dreams' which is in NW Vault.  The aim was to have something roughly playable to be released and that is finally out of the way.  Have not received much of any feedback but I'll let that sit for awhile there while I ponder on what to do next.  I plan to reinstall the NWN toolset into Linux.  I don't like working on Windows.

Second thing to get out of the way is the texture map task my brother keeps wrangling me about.  Hopefully by the end of the week, it'll be finally finished.

Third thing is how I have been indulging a bit on Witcher by reading short stories and watching the Polish serial.  It has been quite interesting and I fairly enjoyed the short stories.  The TV series seems to have some pretty laughable effects but I am still remotely interested in watching it.

Fourth thing is how more videos of Tatsunoko vs Capcom are finally going around and this game is looking like a winner.  One game for the holidays that is for sure.

Lastly, I had a good couple of hours with Tomb Raider Underworld on Wii.  In a word, it's a mess.

Anniversary had a very good control system and she was very agile.  The camera, while not perfect, was something I could adjust to.  The Wii exclusives also made Tomb Raider a much more enjoyable experience.  I have used the flashlight for so many times even if I do not particularly need it.  It was very nice additions and added to the immersion.  

Underworld was a straight up port sprinkled with even less Wii additions.  I am boggled why and how Underworld for the Wii got several steps behind Anniversary.  This game has an atrocious camera system, the motion capture moves makes Lara look like a clumsy lady.  The wall scaling system needs improvements and her acrobatic moves are gone.  One thing I liked about Anniversary was that Lara looked perfectly confident with the leaps she makes.  It makes for an exhilirating piece of acrobatics.  Underworld makes her seem ordinary.  That is not what it should be.  Furthermore, the control scheme seems to have been changed for the worse.  I always liked the nunchuck shake as the action for Lara to throw her grapple.  Now it's the 'B' button.  Less Wii immersion.  The swimming part is also incredibly bland and weak.  Also, there have been multitude of bugs in this game.  One puzzle had me scratching and I decided to exploit physics to solve it.  Hey Eidos/Buzz Monkey, did you playtest this game at all?

What did I like about Underworld?  The idea to use more of the Wii remote speakers.  The sound samples they used have not worked out though.  Sounds more like a broken speaker sound.  The graphics are alright even though I think Lara kind of suffered a bit.

Over all, if I were reviewing Anniversary, I would give the game a solid 8.  Underworld deservedly gets a 5 or a 6.  Granted I have only played the first few levels, that might end up being a bit higher to say, 7, if the changes dramatically make this an awesome game.  I doubt it though.  I am not sure if Buzz Monkey did Tomb Raider Anniversary but I am positive they did Tomb Raider Underworld.  If Buzz Monkey had nothing to do with Anniversary, I would suggest Eidos not to hire them again.

Batman Begins and The Dark Knight put together

After the critically acclaimed Batman Begins ran its course to fairly tepid box office returns, I had always looked forward to what a new Batman flick would be with Nolan at the helm. In my opinion, Batman Begins is pretty difficult to top, where every minute is important and every decision made, whether that is cinematography, to effects has some reason behind it. It is refreshing to see a movie that treats you as a person with a brain and that movie engages you very well.

Fast forward to a few months back, The Dark Knight came as Nolan's second entry into his opus, and while it is definitely a hefty follow up, I have always come to think that Batman Begins was a better movie overall. We have seen so many articles that deal with The Dark Knight as a movie and how it has been the best of 2008, but this article is not about that.

Having watched Batman Begins numerous times, (and making it a point to watch it a day before seeing The Dark Knight in the theater), it is interesting how Nolan's vision of making that film every part linked to Batman Begins without really telegraphing it.

The first striking theme is how Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent are similar but due to different circumstances turn out differently. Harvey Dent was driven to madness when he saw how he had lost Rachel and everything else. Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins was also driven by similar circumstances, with the loss of his parents and the hunger for vengeance. It is thereby an interesting quote in Batman Begins that I think echoes very much what Dent lacked.

Henri Ducard tells Bruce during his time in the mountains, "Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it, it will destroy you." Who would have thought that such a line could ever ring so true in The Dark Knight when Harvey Dent feeds into his anger and ultimately let it control his course of downfall. Dent had no social support structure Bruce had during such a pivotal time. If Bruce had not met Ducard and had not been redirected from that path in the prison cells, Bruce would have been truly lost as Ducard said and as Harvey became. Harvey rejected what little help mentally he could have had and found himself directed only by madness, a perverted sense of fairness and the barrel of a gun.

In its definition of villainy, the League of Shadows and the Joker seemingly operate with similar means. The Joker often mentions how man's morality is a joke and that at the end of the day, every man is at heart evil. While the League of Shadows operated under a different rationale, Ras Al Ghul in the final act of Batman Begins mentions "Create enough hunger and everyone becomes a criminal." The League of Shadows had always been in a moral check in society and they have thereby noted how easy it is to fall into criminality. Like the Joker, they intend to create destruction and chaos because of man's evil, although they have different intensions in mind whilst serving that function.

It is also interesting to see Bruce's evolution from the creation of Batman to the man who now has that power and presence in Gotham. In the beginning, Bruce is a troubled soul, guided by his own morals as well as the tutelage of Henri Ducard. As Batman, Bruce channels all that rage and negative energy towards combating and defeating criminality. By the time The Dark Knight unfolds, you sense how Bruce has moved on from the brooding and incredibly hurtful place into one where he now sits more comfortably in his place as an experienced crime fighter. Gone is the psychological pain although he still remembers what drove him to be where he is, and in its place, the yearning to move on from that. The journey from Batman Begins to The Dark Knight that Bruce takes creates that natural progression that Bruce knows why he does it and he also now knows why it has to end at some point for him.

In the final act of The Dark Knight, Bruce realizes the sacrifice he is needed to take to help rid crime in Gotham as the same sacrifice he has done when he embarked on that journey to be Batman. He knows that because of the path he chose, there will not be the path for him to come back to normalcy. That is how Batman Begins ends, and that is, apparently, also how The Dark Knight closes.

Quite a fit for the two movies and I have no doubt that both will create such a strong connection when viewed side-by-side.