Shadow Man 9

District 9
Not knowing too much about this movie going into it was a good thing. It allowed for a feeling of surprise that I have not felt in the theater in sometime. Without digging to far into the plot I will share some of the interesting background bullet points that made this movie stand out to me. Peter Jackson tapped director Neill Blomkamp to first work on a Halo film after seeing his shorts and commercials. The Halo project fell apart when some investors pulled out, so he (Blomkamp) made D9 with Jackson instead. The film was made for $30 million dollars, given its impressive special effects and visual candy the cost is a feat in and of itself. The lead on the film (Sharlto Copley) was the producer on Blomkamp's most successful short and has no other acting credits to his name on IMDB at least.

Hmm, I have dedicated a paragraph to the all the stuff not on the screen. How about a seven word summary to put a nice little bow on this not review review then: Gritty aliens on Earth sans brushed aluminum.

Shadow Complex
As mentioned previously on this here bee-log I was looking forward to 2D shooter like it was 5am on Christmas morning. Well now having played through it once and starting up a second time I can say it was worth the wait. To get it out of the way early the story is straight up terrible. It does just enough to support the amazing game play and not get in the way. What really shines are the graphics, game play and progression. Starting out without weapons or the ability to hang on a ledge and then quickly ramping up to super human solider is pretty cool. The collectibles are meaningful and around every corner and weapon upgrades are doled out at a perfect pace. The combat is rewarding and switching to the Z axis for some attacks feels natural. Overall this game delivers and for the price ($15) there is no reason you shouldn't be playing it.

'Splosion Man
In the lull before Shadow Complex I went hunting for a game to pass the time between raids. What I came across was a 2D game with a fun concept, but little depth. There is one action you can take in S. Man outside of moving left or right, you splode. All the buttons are mapped to it and it essential boost you vertically and is driven by your momentum. That basic mechanic is repeated ad nauseum for the duration of the game to the point that I can not be motivated to finish it. It tries to be funny, but the most I ever do is crack a smile. The puzzles go from "Hmm that was clever" to "I want to pull my finger nails out with pliers". The long and short, skip this game unless you are hard up for summer entertainment or you some how win it on 1 vs 100.