Game Review-Spider Man:Shattered Dimensions

I recently rented Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions on one of my days off (I was REALLY bored; found my Blockbuster card in my wallet and the light bulb went off).  This game caught my attention when I first heard it was coming out.  I normally don't my games that I don't buy games that I can't get re-plays out of (which pretty much limits my library to sports games and 1st person shooters)...and this game is another example of why.  The campaign was fairly short and not all that difficult.  At times it was a little glitchy, but overall the game was pretty solid.

The story goes a little something like this:  Mysterio was trying to steal the Table of Order and Chaos to...you know, do evil things with it.  Spider-Man, in his attempt to stop him, shattered the tablet.  Pieces of the tablet were scattered throughout 4 dimensions.  Madame Web shows up and helps Spider-Man to find the pieces and reassemble the tablet.  She gets the help of four Spider-Men from the Amazing (the "regular" one), Ultimate (black suit), 2099, and Noir dimensions.  As you go through the game, each Spider-Man uses their own abilities to defeat the enemies of their dimensions to get back a piece of the tablet.  One big plot flaw that I noticed was:  how did each enemy know what the tablet was and what it could do?  Did Mysterio send a bad guy memo out?  Seemed a little convenient that bad guys in every universe found the rock and knew what to do with it.

The game play was pretty decent:  each Spider-Man had his own abilities and played very differently.  The boss battles were epic...many times you had to fight them twice: before and after the used a piece of the tablet (the tablet augmented their abilities).  After a round of studying their attacks they were all pretty easy to defeat.  The in-game achievements made the game fun...these gave you "Spider Essence" points that let you upgrade your character and combat moves.  My biggest beefs were the camera and the glitches.  Spider-Man is such a agile character that its hard for the camera to keep up.  Sometimes I found myself getting dizzy while I was dodging a large group of enemies.  The game seemed to be very glitchy...there were a couple of times where I got "stuck" in the level...both times I had to go back to the last checkpoint.  Very annoying if you're trying to make progress through a difficult part of the level.

I will admit that I'm not a big Spider-Man fan, but seeing the different universes piqued my interest...not afraid to admit that I'm gonna find some digital comics to read.  The Noir universe, set in the 1930s, is the one that I'm most interested in.  Time to hit the internets to see if I can find some comics to read.  The game was ok...a good rent but not anything you would want to shell out $60 for.  If you have some days off and want something to do...I'd recommend you give this one a try.

-Dub

What I'm Listening To: Slow It Down-Little Brother

For those of you all that have been sleeping on Little Brother, please jump off the tallest building right now.  The 3rd verse of this song is gospel...big ups to Phonte (or as Statik says, my doppelganger) for keeping it real.  I know some women might think its selfish...but it's the truth.  Vibe with it...

-Dub

Well...He Might Be On To Something...

I first want to start off by saying this:  I do not condone the treatment of women as if they are objects or in any manner that dehumanizes them.  My thoughts are the truth as I see it...suffice it to say this: don't judge me.

A major firestorm going on in the NFL is about what happened in the NY Jets locker room last week.  TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz was interviewing Mark Sanchez (who is of Mexican heritage) in the locker room when she was apparently harassed by some of the other players in the locker room.  Cat calls, comments...all the things that (realistically) can be expected from a room full of athletes that just got finished with a practice.  Woman's rights groups, female journalists, and the media as whole went into a mini-frenzy about women's rights and how the female reporter-naked male athletes dymanic should be in the locker room.  When Clinton Portis (who is more known for crazy outfits like this and this) was asked about this situation, he gave a real answer:


"I think you put women reporters in the locker room in position to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room. I think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman

And I mean, you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her. You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she's gonna want somebody. I don't know what kind of woman won't, if you get to go and look at 53 men's packages. And you're just sitting here, saying 'Oh, none of this is attractive to me.' I know you're doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I'm gonna cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to, I'm sure they do the same thing."

As a public figure, there's no way you can say that publicly.  It's not a good look for a PR standpoint...and it comes across as ignorant and chauvinistic.  But since I'm not a professional athlete, I can keep it 100:  nothing in that statement is false.  Of course she's not going to be looking for a hot date or a hook up, but you would be naive to think that she didn't have any thoughts the guys in that locker room.  And on the flip side...she's a reporter that has been known to market herself in a sexual manner.  Even to be more simple than that...she's sexy as hell.  I work at a call center...and if she came in and walked around I'm saying something about her.  You can't market yourself as a sex symbol but get mad when people look at you in a sexual manner.  To reiterate:  I do not think that the Jets' players appropriately or Portis' comments should have been made..but he has a point.


-Dub

We Gotta Do Better

This....just...damn....I can't even think of anything to say...

Waka is definitely a cat that you don't expect to learn anything from when you talk to him.  We gotta stop being proud of no knowing...

-Dub

Are You Ready For Some Football??

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the NFL season...football is finally back!!  Of course I was working on the plantation yesterday so I couldn't watch all of the games that I wanted....but any football is better than no football.  For those of you all that did not know...I'm a die hard Falcons fan...if/when they win the Super Bowl I'm doing the Dirty Bird with Jamal Anderson...as soon as I find him.  Since I'm a big Madden-head I also root for the teams that I play with, the Bengals and the Titans.  With the Bengals and Falcons losing in the early games it's safe to say that I was salty going in to work.  Glad to see Mike Vick back to his dazzling ways...and it's always great to see the Cowboys lose (sorry Wise lol).  The Raven-Jets game should be a good one as well...at least I'll catch some of the Chargers/Chiefs when I get off.  For my Super Bowl picks...I have Green Bay beating Cincinnati.  As long as the Packers' offensive line holds up they're the best team in the NFC....and even with the Bengals getting beat yesterday I still think they have one of the best defenses in the league, matched with a potentially explosive offense.  But then again...I HOPE my Falcons take it home this year...it's possible.

Officer Bun? LOL

This is an old clip from a jail documentary (there seem to be a lot of documentaries about jail out there)...this guard is talking about how he keeps it real with the inmates.  Is it just me or does he look a lot like Bun B? LOL

-Dub

LOL-African Pastors Againts Homosexuality *PAUSE*

I can tell these guys REALLY don't like gay people.  It's always tripped me out to see Africans passionately about something...its funny to me lol. Every time they say "poo-poo" I die laughing. Shit's gross man

-Dub

What I'm Listening To: Girl U Know-Scarface

This joint is from Scarface's 2007 album MADE.  You know how a song comes along at the right time that speaks to your situation?  Well this is definitely one for me....I've always like Scarface's way of telling it like it is and the third verse of this song is like relationship gospel (no blasphemy).  Not only did this song come along at the right time in my life, but it also marked the same year that Beneath Tha Beat began to form into what it is today.  I first heard this song chilling with Statik and Lyfe in the studio....he kept in rotation damn near all semester. Shoutout to the rest of the BTB crew...them boys got some big things coming soon so watch out

"Now you hurt all along steady hittin her phone, but a bigger dick and longer bank roll she gone"

-Dub