Let me start this off by saying that the only consoles that I have owned prior to this Christmas are a PS1, PS2, and Wii.  I was surprised this Christmas with an Xbox 360 and a family Wii U.

This blog is pretty much just to help get me started with the 360.  What games should I play?  Genre doesn't matter, I am just looking for some good games.

This blog is also to ask for friends on the system.  If you have an Xbox 360 and would like to add me, my Gamer Tag is Rook99999

Either just send a request my way on the 360 or request it on here.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

---Nathaniel

It has been a few months since my last mini movie review blog.  I have watched quite a few movies in that time, so it's about time I write another one of these.  Without further ado, on to the reviews!  These are in no particular order.

Goodfellas (1990)

Ever since I saw part of this on TV a couple years ago, I was interested.  I finally got around to watching it, and boy am I glad that I did.  This is a fantastic film!  The acting is top notch, and the story is also pretty good.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys mobster movies.

9/10

Monsters University (2013)

I loved Monsters Inc..  This one is not quite as good as the original, but it still has that Pixar Charm.  The story is nothing amazing, but it is cool to see Mike and Sully's backstory.  If you were a fan of Monsters Inc., you will most likely enjoy this one.

7.5/10

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

I loved Despicable Me.  It had good humor, along with charm.  Despicable Me 2 follows suit.  The story is not as good as the original, but the humor is on par.  This mainly comes from the Minions.  I find them to be hilarious.  If you liked the first one, you will probably like this.

8/10

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)

I was a big fan of the Percy Jackson books.  Being a fan of the books, I really did not like the movie of The Lightning Thief.  It was barely accurate to the book.  I found The Sea of Monsters to be even worse.  Almost nothing was accurate.  I guess that is understandable when it says 'bases on the book', but even on it's own, I didn't find it good.  The acting was bad, and the effects were okay.

4/10

The Wolverine (2013)

I liked X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  I thought it was good, nothing amazing though.  The Wolverine is a better movie.  There are some pretty cool action scenes in this movie, the most standout being a fight on top of a Bullet Train.  This is the Wolverine movie that we have been waiting for.  I would recommend this to any fan of the character.

8/10

Resident Evil (2002)

I have heard that these movies are not very good, but I had to satisfy my curiosity.  The first one is actually not terrible.  It is probably the most solid out of all of them.  It has some cool action and a decent story, but it could have been much better.

6.5/10

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

From the trailer, I thought that this movie looked like it could be a really fun video game movie.  Boy was I wrong.  In my opinion, this was the worst of all of the Resident Evil movies.  There was pretty much no story, and the action wasn't that great.  Not to mention the acting was pretty bad.  I would recommend to skip this one.

4/10

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

Again with this one, the trailer threw me off.  I thought the setting, the Desert looked awesome.  But then the way the story unfolded was bad.  Not to mention, once the Zombie-control serum was injected, they all suddenly looked exactly the same.  Though I do have to admit, the zombie crows were pretty awesome.

6/10

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

This one, I found pretty entertaining.  It was nothing amazing, but I found this one to be a really fun movie.  The story isn't great, but it gives the necessary setup for some fun zombie-killing action.

6.5/10

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

This one was interesting.  There were some cool action scenes, but other than that, there wasn't much that was special.  It was cool putting Barry Burton, Ada Wong, and Leon Kennedy in the movie, but none of them felt like themselves.  They could have been better if they had gotten some better actors.  Overall, like the rest of the Resident Evil movies, this one was just mediocre.

5.5/10

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

I have been hearing about this one for years.  Believe it or not, this is my first Tarantino movie.  I really enjoyed it.  It is a really good crime thriller.  I don't really know how else to explain it.  I just really enjoyed it.

8.5/10

Serenity (2005) I recently watched the full series of Firefly.  Serenity continues (and concludes) the story from the TV show.  It feels like a long episode of the show with better effects.  I was a big fan of both the show and the movie.

8/10

Jackass Number Two (2006)

This is one of those movies that you just watch with a bunch of buds.  It was dumb fun.  It was pretty funny.

7/10

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This movie was bland.  The most bland movie that I have ever seen.  It would have been a lot better if they cut at least a half hour off of it.  The story is bland and just not good.

3/10

Innerspace (1987)

I expected this movie to be terrible.  It actually turned out to be decent.  There are some pretty funny parts.

6.5/10

My Sister's Keeper (2009)

This movie is pretty good, but really depressing.  You want to be depressed for awhile?  Watch this.  Despite that, it was a pretty good story.

7/10

Twister (1996)

This was actually a pretty good movie.  A story following a storm chaser turns out to be a really good set up for a suspenseful movie.  I am already frightened to death of Tornadoes.  Needless to say, this movie didn't help that.

7/10

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgendy (2004)

I finally saw this movie, and it was great.  It is a really good Will Ferrel comedy.  If you like Will Ferrel's comedy, I would recommend this to you.

7.5/10

Public Enemies (2009)

I hadn't heard much about this movie when I got it.  All I knew was Johny Depp and Mobsters.  I was happily surprised with this movie.  It was a good mobster movie.

7.5/10

Kick-Ass 2

I was a big fan of the first Kick-Ass.  It was a new take on the super-hero idea.  It was foul mouthed, violent, and funny.  With all of those things, it would have been easy to fail and end up with a garbage movie, but it succeeded.  Kick-Ass 2 continues that.  It was really good.  The acting was good, though a couple parts didn't feel as tight.  If you enjoyed the first one, this one is equally fun.  I still can't decide if I like it more than the original, but it is at least just as good.

9/10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

--Nathan Taylor

"If all those on Olympus would deny me my vengeance, then all of Olympus will die."

--Kratos

**Mild Spoiler Warning, including spoilers for God of War**

God of War II is the sequel to the PS2 game, God of War.  The original game ended with Kratos killing Ares, the God of War.  Athena then "promotes", so to speak, Kratos to the position of the God of War.  Fast foreward in time to God of War II.  Kratos goes down to fight with the Spartans to make them victorious in battle.  There, Zeus tricks the new God of War into draining all of his godly powers into a blade.  Zeus then kills Kratos with that blade.  While in Hades, Kratos escapes and allies himself with Gaia and the Titans to get revenge on Zeus.  Thus the game begins.  The story is solid.  You make your way to the Sisters of Fate so that you can change the past, stop Zeus from killing you, and get your revenge.  It is an entertaining story all the way through, especially if you are a fan of the stories of Greek Mythology.

The original God of War gameplay consisted of three main parts, platforming, combat, and puzzles.  The format is relatively unchanged in God of War II, though there are slight tweaks in each category that help the game to feel fresh.  The platforming is pretty much unchanged from the previous game.  New to this game is the ability to hang from ceilings, which significantly helps add to the immense scale of some of the locations of the game.  The grappling ability is also expanded in God of War II.  Now included are sequences where the grappling is used in combat, and also swinging in a circular motion.  These help add to the experience, though they can sometimes cause mild frustrations.  Even with these changes, the platforming never feels perfect, and it is very easy to overshoot and jump and die.

The combat, like the first game, is fun, fluid, and brutal.  Ripping monster in half is as fun as ever.  The magic attacks are also changed.  All of the magic attacks from the first game have been changed except for the power to turn people to stone via Medusa head.  The new magic attacks are fun and can get you out of some pretty bad situations.  The first game had only two different weapons for Kratos to use (three if you count the Blades of Athena that you get at the end).  In this game you have more options.  You have three alternate weapons, though only one can be equipped at a time.  These include a large hammer, a double ended spear, and a sword.  All of these weapons are cool and good substitutes for the Blades of Athena/Chaos.  Every weapon is fun to use, especially when fully leveled up.  The combat is fun, but, as in the first game, there are a few places where you get swarmed and it can feel cheap and frustrating.  The bosses were the highlight of the first game, though there were only three or four.  The sequel packs a whopping 15 boss fights (including mini bosses).  Most of these are massive enemies that are many times the size of Kratos.  These are one of the highlights of the sequel.  All of them feel different and are fun to take on.  Not to mention they help to show the massive scale of the game.

The puzzle sections have also received some updates.  In the first game there was only one type of puzzle, block puzzles.  Those return to the second game, but there are also new puzzles that deal with the freezing of time.  These are cool, and do not get old as quickly as the block puzzles did in the first game.  Even the block puzzles have more variety.  You can now have to slide stones, statues, etc. to block lights and such.  It is a minor addition but quite honestly, any slight tweak is an upgrade from the first game's puzzles.  Overall the puzzles feel pretty solid.

On the graphics side of things, this game is gorgeous!  It is obvious that the team that created it put a lot of love and care into it.  It is definitely the PS2's Swan Song in terms of graphics.  That is not surprising seeing that it came out a couple years into the PS3's life.  The scale is incredible!  From seeing massive titans in the background moving and interacting with you to simply seeing a massive beautiful island in the background that shifts and acts in accordance to your actions.  It is incredible!  This sense of scale is helped even more by the bosses that I mentioned earlier.  The only slight complaint that I have on the graphics side is that a lot of enemies are just repeats of each other, but that is passable seeing that the game is only a PS2 game.

The sound is very good in the game.  The voice acting is really good, as is the music.  In the first game, the music was repeated very often.  In the sequel, it isn't repeated as much.  The music still has that Lord-of-the-Rings-ish feel, which I personally enjoy.  The sound quality is also very good, except for at a couple parts where the sounds of combat can make it difficult to understand the things said by some main characters such as Zeus and Gaia.

God of War II is a superior game to its predecessor in every way.  Superior graphics, gameplay, scale, and debatably story.  The game is filled with excitement, and I never felt bored.  The slight tweaks that were made since the first game help make the game feel all the more polished.  Despite the occasional frustrating platforming section or difficult combat scenario, the game is difficult to put down.  Just like the first game, it is addicting.  The series' satisfying combat, and the updated puzzles and scale help this game to be one of the PS2's best.

Score:  9.5/10

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

--Rook99999

--Nathaniel

I beat the original God of War a few months ago Here is my review for it.

"That night...I was trying to make you a great warrior!  -Ares

"...You succeeded."  - Kratos

*Mild Spoiler Alert*

God of War is a PS2 game from 2005.  You play as Kratos, a man who has sold his soul to Ares, God of War, in order to save himself in battle.  Through his loyalty, Ares tricks Kratos into killing his family, sending him into a bloody killing spree of revenge.  Thus is the premise for the game.  You go from place to place, obtaining magic from the gods, and eventually going for Pandora's Box, the key to taking down Ares.  The later parts of the game are structured somewhat like dungeons (especially the trials of the gods), with platforming and puzzles breaking up the action every now and then.  Though the game has some notable problems, I found myself unable to put it down.  As the story unfolded and I unlocked more combos for combat, my love for the game grew.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in God of War consists of three main parts: platforming, puzzles, and combat.  The platforming and puzzles are pretty stale in comparison to the combat.  The platforming feels loose, making it very easy to simply walk off an edge to your death.  Not to mention, several platforming sequences near the end of the game feel incredibly cheap.  A couple of them even took me 30+ tries to succeed.  The puzzles are not very original, only consisting of either fetching an object or moving blocks.  The puzzles feel repetitive and tedious.  Luckily, the combat adds the enjoyment that the puzzles and platforming don't bring.

The combat is fluid and brutal.  You start off with the Blades of Chaos, two blades on chains.  These blades are vicious.  They have a fairly long range, and when you level them up all the way, they can dish out some serious damage.  You then go on to obtain four different types of magic.  The magic can be used to mixed effect.  They are fairly basic, a ranged attack, an attack to turn enemies to stone, a zone of effect attack, and an attack that sends souls from Hades to attack enemies.  I only used the latter two regularly.  While the magic is not necessary, it can be very useful for getting out of a tight spot.  At one point, you also unlock a secondary weapon, though there isn't usually any use for it, as the blades of chaos are very powerful on their own.

There are about ten basic enemies that you will fight throughout the game, including undead legionnaires and cyclopes.  Each different enemy has different attacks, which should be taken into account.  Larger enemies, such as the cyclopes, should be taken out from as far away as possible.  If their attacks hit, the damage can be devastating.  The enemy variety helps spice things up and always keep you on your toes.  There are also a few Boss enemies.  These are massive and usually take several steps to defeat.  Unfortunately, these bosses are few and far between, only numbering about three or four.  While they are few, they are fun to play and figure out.

Graphics and Sound

While this is a PS2 game, the graphics still look pretty impressive for the system.  There are some pretty awesome set pieces (i.e. watching Ares smash an army in the background).  The cut scenes especially look pretty good.  The music for the game is pretty decent to.  It reminds me of the Lord of the Rings movies.  Unfortunately, the music is reused a lot, and gets boring pretty quickly.  The voice acting is pretty good.  While there isn't much of it, the dialogue is also pretty good.  I am especially fond of the Narrator.

Overall:

Overall the game was pretty good.  Unfortunately the puzzle structure is reused a lot and the cool large scale fights are few and far between.  The story is fun to play through, especially if you are a fan of Greek Mythology.   Though the game has some notable flaws, I found it enjoyable to play.

Score: 8/10

So I have been watching quite a few movies recently.  I am going to put a short review of some of the ones that I have watched over the past month or two.  They are in no apparent order, Just the order that they came to mind

A Nightmare on Elmstreet (1984)

I have been hearing about this movie for years now.  I finally sat down and watched it because it was on Amazon Prime.  It was a fairly decent movie.  I get that it is a classic and all, but I didn't understand all the hype about it.  Freddy is a cool "Movie Monster", but other than that, I couldn't get into the movie a whole lot.

6.5/10

Sinister (2012)

This movie I really enjoyed.  I knew almost nothing about it except for the premise when I went in to it.  I watched it in the dark at like 1 in the morning on a Stormy night.  Perfect.  It was an idea that I have never seen before in a horror movie.  The performances were good, and I genuinely felt scared while watching it.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good horror movie or anyone just looking for something interesting.

8/10

Your Highness (2011)

I went in to this one not expecting much.  It got fairly low review scores, but I thought I would give it a shot because I usually like Danny McBride stuff.  It was an okay movie.  I didn't think that it was laugh out loud funny, but there were a couple good parts.  The premise and execution were so-so.  It was okay, but nowhere near the best comedy that I have ever seen.

5.5/10

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

I expected to like this one more than I did.  My friend hyped it up and said that he enjoyed it more than Zombieland.  Overall I thought it was an okay movie.  I didn't really like the characters.  Though I did find the ending pretty funny.  I still would prefer to watch Zombieland over this though.

7/10

Looper (2012)

This movie had a lot to prove.  The internet was hyping it up all last year.  I finally rented it and was thoroughly impressed.  It lived up to all the hype.  The performances were good, though I was never quite sold on JGL's make-up.  I really liked the premise here, and the execution was great!

9/10

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

I watched the original Bourne Trilogy a long time ago.  I barely remember anything about them.  I went in to this one expecting cool action scenes and a fairly good plot to back it up.  The action was pretty cool, but I never felt that the story added up to much.  Not to mention the film seems to just randomly end suddenly without wrapping up the story.

6.5/10

Taken 2 (2012)

I expected more out of this movie.  I really liked the first movie.  But after seeing that they were making a sequel, I was one of those people saying how a sequel wouldn't be good.  Boy was I right.  I went in expecting some cool Liam Neeson action, but It didn't even really deliver on that.  The plot seemed bland and the action wasn't very exciting.

6/10

21 Jump Street (2012)

I also didn't know much about this movie going in to it.  But when I started watching it, I automatically loved it.  The Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum combination worked really well.  The humor was pretty solid all the way through.  This may be my favorite comedy ever.

9/10

The Dictator (2012)

I should have known what I was getting in to when I started watching this.  The first half was fairly funny, but the second half devolved in to a jumbled, awkward, mess.  I only rate it as high as I do because of the first half.

4/10

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Again, another movie that I went into knowing very little about, all I knew was the trailer.  I heard lots of hype surrounding this movie when it came out, and in the following months.  I saw it on Amazon Prim and decided to give it a shot.  I am very glad that I did.  This movie is a clever take on the Horror Genre.  While I never found it scary, I found it incredibly entertaining and fun.  I cannot recommend it enough!

9/10

This Is The End (2013)

I have been hyped for this movie ever since they released the first Red Band Trailer.  From those trailers, I had high expectations.  The movie actually lived up to my expectations, which is rare for a comedy.  It is between this and 21 Jump Street for my favorite comedy of all time.

8.5/10

The Host (2006)

I didn't know what to expect from this movie.  I watched it the way that I heard is best, Korean with English Subtitles.  There were a couple hokey parts, but overall, this was a good Monster Movie.  The best that I have seen in awhile.  It may be my favorite movie monster ever.

7/10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

--Rook99999

--Nathaniel