Season of The Witch Review

Riding Nicholas Cage's recent momentum after Kick-Ass, but ironically no one have ever heard of until they went to cinema, or maybe it's just me, comes Season of The Witch. Set in Crusade War, two deserters must escort a witch to be judge in some abbey located in another city. Along the way, many trials await them and so forth. In all honesty, I was hoping for more cerebral or philosophical take on witch hunt, not a semi thriller with barely decent CG.

LoTR much, Mr. Cage...

With the backdrop of the epic era such as the Crusade, one might think this is a dramatic war movie, but it's a bit superfluous since the Crusade part is only just a breeze in the opening part. It does set the tone for moody and drab journey though. The majority of the film takes places in tattered small towns and the open wilderness. Much of them have been plagued with great pestilence, Black Death, allegedly the doing of a certain witch, thus the witch must be judged to stop this plague.

Behmen (Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) play the tired warriors who just had enough of justified man-slaughter a la Dynasty Warriors and have a moral breakdown when they found out that they were massacring innocent people. I understand the tragedy of the church's reason of the genocide is to serve god, but it did take them almost ten years and a river of blood to realize, or even contemplate, that the enemies might be not so bad after all. It's just lazy or plain ignorance on their part.

The Ring much... err, witch...

So they are soon caught by a town's magistrates when stopping for resupply. They will be released if they agree to deliver the witch (Claire Foy) to an abbey far away. Cue the rag tag fellowship of being-killed-one-by-one and the dramatic journey begins. What boggles the mind is how few people were sent for this crucial task, even if the said town is being quarantined because of the plague. I can't help to wonder if these people are the only ones with the will, ability and balls for the task.

Along this perilous journey, the characters reflect on themselves and their motives as it progresses, like any altruistic bunch would do. Granted, there are a few moments that are captivating and interesting. It's good when Behmen is trying to figure out whether the chick is actually a witch or just another victim of misunderstanding, or when the witch acts quiet innocent and the monk is the one who actually seems like conducting domestic abuse.

To be fair, she's kind hot...

Nicholas Cage did his best to look confuse all the time, it's not as colorful or dynamic as his performance in Kick-Ass, but his action movie lead cliche is definitely apparent. He is the main appeal for me watching this, I shamelessly admit. Ron Perlman also did good impression of war hardened grunting warrior, as he always does. It becomes predictable, but these two look comfortable enough in their roles to be decent. Although maybe after performing with cute talented little Hit Girl, it's quiet jarring to act beside big man Hellboy without red skin tone.

The witch, Claire Foy is actually interesting. She is cute in an odd sense of way, audience will mostly be sympathetic for abused little girl and stay suspicious when she goes witchy at the same time. The rest of the cast is good enough to fill their roles, the over-enthusiastic knight wannabe, the noble vanguard, dutiful monk and sly merchant. Each will predictably die a horrible death, aside for some, for your viewing pleasure.

This witch.. is not in the movie

The action sequences are not attractive, mostly plan-less hack and slash rather than well-choreographed fight scenes that I have accustomed to for this sort of fantasy movies. There is a distinct lack of well placed kill scene and gory moments that really decrease the entertainment value of an action movie. I expected decapitation and dismemberment, and found them disappointingly wanting here. There's just sadly not enough gore for a genre filled with violence.

[SPOILER AHEAD! Skip this paragraph if you haven't watch.. or not]

Perhaps the most disappointing part is when the witch turns into a bargain bin Van Helsing rip-off. From the first opening scene, it reeks of scarefest movie, but after some of the better scenes like the bridge crossing, I was hoping for more adult and believable ending. The latter part of the movie just wasn't good enough and there's a striking plot hole too. The demon can actually finish them off and escape from capture easily, by the excruciating visibly plain method of.. Gee, I don't know... FLIGHT!! IT HAS WINGS FOR GOD'S SAKE. Why it didn't do it, aside from adding run time to the movie, is beyond me.

"Guys, do you think we better get rid of the shit heavy carriage and just drag the woman?"

"No, man. Stick to the script"

"Shiiit..."

I think I have to be grateful that there was still Hollywood movies to be had here. It's not bad, but I certainly had hoped for more mature theme than a horror movie dressed as historic drama. I was also hoping for Cage's performance like in Kick-Ass, but certainly prefer this than Pocong vs Kuntilanak. Serviceable but not great. Rate 6/10

What We Put In Our Mouth

What is it that determine what we eat? We might think that everything we eat is normal, after all we've been doing it for decades. But there are a few things that constitute what we call foods or drinks; our environment, ideology and health. It's basically simple, but food is more than that, it can also be a way to be accepted and find our place in a society. Often three things above will dictate our view for food and become part of our identity.

Wow been a few weeks since I did this.. Her boobs are actually smaller.. Seriously her original art is gigantic.. O.O
http://vividobscura.deviantart.com/#/d3axyvd

Now you'll be surprise what you will find grotesque or edible if your were to born in the other side of the globe. What we look as palatable might be disgusting to them and what they eat might be appalling to us. There are a few foods and beverages that really stand out for their bizarreness, but they are regarded as exotic sometimes. Some even eat it to prove superiority, for exclusivity and bragging right that they have ate food others don't dare to. All this are from Discovery, Natgeo etc, I searched the video link but it seems restricted by copyrights, words will have to do.

Blood + Milk

In some African tribe, their source of meal is their cattle. But considering how expensive or precious a cow or goat is, shouldn't they maximize the potential? Aside from squeezing the milk out of them, they also drink the blood. They use a sharp wooden straw and stab the stomach of the cattle, and they will bleed from there. Combine it with the fresh milk, stir it a bit, and then drink it for a nice full course of meal. They say it's high in nutrition and to stop the bleeding they simply pull out the straw and pinch the wound a few minutes.

Will you drink it?

How about now?

Fugu Fish

How can a poisonous fish became a delicacy in Japan is beyond me. It doesn't taste good, according to some documentary. It needs some unique spices to make it palatable and a highly trained chef to prepare it. There are parts that venomous, especially the liver and selling them without permit even consider illegal. This is so dangerous they even made law for it, but ironically the price for it is expensive. Hopefully it's worth your bravery test. This spells instant death to me.

Living Squid

In South Korea, they eat the squid raw, as in still breathing and living. I can't even comprehend why one eat something that can choke them from inside out. Now each tentacle of the squid has many round suction thingy that.. suck. Imagine dozens of them latched on your throat, insanity I tell you. They say wrap it around properly and it won't happen. Yeah, right, choke to death isn't on my to-do list today. Pass.

As bad as this...

Snake

What part of snake, you say? Well, almost all of it. Snake is usually taken live in Thailand or Vietnam, drained from its blood and then made into wine. No, seriously, and to top it of, the chef peel the still beating hard and add it to the cocktail. It is said to have aphrodisiac effect on male consumer. The carcass can also cooked for the delicious flavor of snake meat, again this can allegedly improve vigor and stamina. Hey it worked on MGS3, so I guess it's possible.

Pet Meat

There are several animals that are considered close to human, cat, dog and horse. Dogs and cats are even considered as family member, while horse are famous as noble animal. It's not acceptable in some culture to eat the ones so close to us, but in Africa, they actually eat dogs as part of rite of ascension. And there is a shop in London that sells horse meat, they say it tastes good, but not so much after they know it's horse. Others like it better after each bite. It proves that mind contributes to flavor, not just tongue and lips.

Does bunny count?

Rotten Cheese and Durian

There is an irony for both of these. Western people often think durian is disgusting due to its aroma and texture, they also say that it's a bit intoxicating. While they might not be wrong, but to us, especially Indonesian, do we look at durian this way? We are more tolerable to it, because many eat it, our family and friends perhaps. But in the opposite, Italian eats rotten cheese. Rotten might be a bit misleading since cheese by many considered to gain more flavor as time goes, but there are some that even have worms in it, and they still eat it. This is the perfect example of geography plays a certain role in our culinary.

Balut

Balut is half newborn ducks still in their eggs. Let that sinks it. It already has a shape of a duck, the beak , the feathers and some shit. Give enough time and it will eventually hatch, but no Philippine people decided to eat it. That's sick! They take pride in the only nation to have the stomach to swallow the damn thing. I don't really know whether it's an accomplishment or not, it just shows that they eat nasty thing. And furthermore it is rumored to boost sexual prowess. Philippine whores even eat it before they work.

Hhaha you thought there was some pictures of Philippine whore, did you?
I ran out of witty ideas, anyway this is cosplay of Kaine, the character is hermaphrodite...
...
You must wonder if the cosplayer is one too, do you?

Ohh I'll note about this next time :D

So there are some of the weird foods, there are many more, some are even downright obnoxious, but I don't want to post it on fb. There are also some video and gross images, but really... do you want to see them or some guy puke.? Well that's it, It killed quiet some time.

Young And Talented

It just occurred to me that there are tons of reality / talent show. Some of the contestants are seriously young and real contender, not just someone they put it to rake up rating for younger audience. Well, that too probably, but it doesn't change the fact that these young ones can inspired the ones who are older than them (read us). Note their age was at the time they were at their respective show, which were 2009-2010.

This is Jukebox Juniors from Got To Dance UK, second place.

6. Melinda Ademi - American Idol - Age 17

With age restriction down to 15, many younger people auditioned for American Idol. I just picked her because her background story. She is war refugee from Kosova, and cute. Got sent off in Hollywood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQs4y_Qkpdk

5. Matthew Koon - Got To Dance UK - Age 15

From the usual "school-then-work" Asian family, Matthew has the incentive to chase his dream instead, dance. Watch and learn, parents. Fourth place on the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFZ2Z5lvIY

4. Isabella - Australian Junior Masterchef - Age 12

From a show that focused on young participants, you bet I put it on the list. What? It's not cheating, more over it's actually a good way to discover new talents and teach them as they grow up. Isabella is the winner, makes you think Indonesia should do well following in their footsteps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYNQbu8xUMs

3. Kendall Glovers - Live To Dance US - Age 11

It's a bit unbelievable that 11 years old could dance like that. Gorgeous and athletic, I don't know dance technical stuff, but you really don't have to know to enjoy the show. Kendall made it to second place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHwpnMVoMM&feature=related

2. D'Angelo and Amanda - Live to Dance US - Age 9 & 10

The only ones who beat Kendall were D'Angelo and Amanda. It's like watching miniature of a professional contemporary dancer. They are also "in a relationship" lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz042RRnjhk

1. Akai Osei - Got To Dance UK - Age 10

Another winner, from Got to Dance, Akai was only 10 years old, facing multitude of much more experienced acts. Doing MJ impersonation and street dance. Crazy good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4plHMOekjc

So what does this leave us? If Indo do this type of show, make sure put someone young in there, people tends to vote for kids. I will, maybe. But that doesn't mean parents should toss their children regardless. And just because we're older, that doesn't mean we should underrated the ones younger than us. Sometimes wisdom also comes from acknowledging the talents of others.

Vanquish Review

Tired of the same third person shooter with steroid consuming mass of muscle? How about stuck a bunch of rockets to the hero's behind and blast him like experimental science subject? This is the base of Vanquish, basically make third person shooter faster, more bullets with 80' macho one-liners. Surprisingly it works, much like Bayonetta to action games, the over-the-top campy guilty pleasure will make you smile for brief hours this game lasts.

The story is very simple with just a minor twist; you play as Sam, there's the bad guys, they are the ones shooting at you with those hundreds missiles, you shoot them back until one of you die. Easy and simple. While the story won't win any awards for depth or writing, but the overall vibe is quiet epic, it somehow reminds me of old PSX game, Silent Bomber. They even play alike when you obtain one of the weapon called Lock-On Laser. Safely say that this is a new approach of TPS, like the other end of spectrum from Gears of War. It even has contrasting pristine and glossy look compared to the other TPS.

You'll be doing this a lot.. I hope Winning Eleven had this move.

From Platinum Games which brought crazy witch last year, it'll be everything but normal. The basic TPS's mechanics are still present here. The cover system, peek-and-shoot, evading roll etc work well and smooth. But the main attraction is the rocket sliding, in which you boost yourself with aforementioned rockets on your behind to flank, approach or escape enemies. The speed at which you do this is ridiculously fast and the essence of your survival. It give you the ability to slide, on you knees sometimes, a la futuristic suster ngesot.. That sounds wrong, like Angelina Jolie's knee sliding at Wanted, that's better.

In case you haven't notice, the flashy suit has distinct gimmicks than the usual grunt, the AR mode. It is simply a stylish bullet time that you can activate in various conditions whether it's automatic use when near death or manually triggered. You can jump out of cover with it, slow down time and shoot while sliding, flip-evade from any position, practically dodging bullets like heroes always do post-Matrix. The AR mode also triggers when you are wounded by strong projectiles, but bear in mind that these plethora of actions use the same gauge, even melee uses it.

Although the gauge will constantly replenish itself quiet fast, it will overheat if you used up all, rendering it unusable for a limited time period. This takes away precious seconds and important defensive measure, mostly will result in death when facing harder foes, so perform acrobatic stunts sparingly and effectively. The weapons are consisted of the basic ones, like assault rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher and more unique ones, such as disk launcher or Lock-On Laser which can be upgrade respectively. Upgrades are dropped randomly or when you pick up the same type of weapon repeatedly, they are already fixed so you won't have freedom on what aspect of gun you want to improve. The number of guns and upgrades are somewhat lacking.

Is this even legal? There is only one of me!!

Visually the game is remarkable. So many details span over such large battlefield including several dozens bullets and missiles from allies and enemies the same without even frame drop is quiet a feat. The animation is fluid and flowing realistically for everyone present. Character models are well crafted, while it does has distinct Asian vibe, it also implemented rugged look from western TPS. The facial outlook is quiet amazing, you can see freckles in Elena's face or facial hair in Sam in scrutinizing details.

While the setting has certain atmosphere throughout the game, it managed to differentiate the areas from one to another. They are vast and span a long distance, albeit you can only travel linearly, they do make an interesting backdrop. When AR mode comes into play, the view comes to almost a halt, making players appreciate the beautiful graph in every explosion, missiles launch, wind trails of the bullets and gruesome slow-mo deaths.

Take cover, you dumb old man.. you know what.. never mind..

Unfortunately the dialogues on the game are still as cheesy and corny as ever. This is not like Bayonetta' s quips which sometimes can be witty, but more like something Ahnold would say. Every line is delivered this way, the writing is just plain flat and pretentious. The dub itself is quiet good, everyone holds their respective cliche role well, although some lyp-synch inconsistency makes it harder to take the story seriously. I have to give credit for doing multiple language, the cast is not many so it's not that hard, but the thought is always welcomed.

Japanese dub has better flow, but lip-synch suffers greatly. Ultimately just take it as comedy take of TPS. Sound effect is good, the noises are spot-on, they can even help time dodge an attack. Bullets pass when AR mode is activated sound subtly hissing, muffled explosion and speech are also well done. Soundtracks of the game fit the heart pumping fast pace appropriately, but you probably too engaged in combat to notice.

Just be thankful that the voice in your head is that of a sultry woman, not a grunting marine.. That would suck..

The game keeps track of your points from your kills, deaths, allies saves etc, so it gives a bit motivation on clearing the stages as well as possible. For all the epicness, this game is short. Seriously short, I finished Hard on 5 hours, give and take some deaths and it's still less than six hours. There are God Hard mode, Mission select and Challenge, but they don't really give much incentive of playing it again. If you are looking for short burst of exictement, Vanquish is one of the best so far.

Graph : Beautifully made characters and backgrounds. 9/10

Sound : Good and suited for the fast pace despite the corny dialogues. 8/10

Gameplay : Loud, fast and engaging with plenty of WTF moments. 9/10

Presentation : The set pieces are epic, but the story is cheesy and too short. 7.5/10

Overall : 8.4/10

The Concept of Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of beholder, says an old catch phrase. But how true does it ring? Nowadays beauty is what the other one million people think they know and impose on you. Media is partially responsible for this, what dictates as beautiful can be different significantly from time and place. So is there any idea of beauty that can be universally accepted throughout ages in all corners of the globe?

Oh well

Oh, my drawing. Hmm, could be better. The scan was poor and the colors faded. I can imagine it, but somehow I can’t get the color I wanted. It would be much simple if I could do it digitally, but I suck at tablet and photoshop. I sure hope some artistic guru can teach me how. That’s enough rant.

How can one be describe as beautiful? Believe it or not, there is actually a ratio to measure one’s face and even body. It’s a complex series of 1:1.6 lines (the ratio of say, lips to jaw, pupils and eyes etc) that create triangular shapes and eventually those shapes form a mold for a face. If the ratio matches, then they are considerate beautiful. Oddly enough, there are researches that back this up, but that’s not to say the rest are not beautiful.

Something like this, but there is more complex version.

In old days, even up to the turn of previous century, and in some countries now, beauty is how plump people are. The bigger one is the more wealth does he or she possesses. This concept began from the idea that bigger people meant more food to be had, thus meant they were considerate as having more and at the upper class of society. Some of African countries are still thinking like that, in tribal settlement mothers usually force feed their young, especially daughters so they grow fat. Without modern supplements, this can be tough, so they resort in lots of maize and milk, sometimes even up to the point where the daughters throw up.

It’s mostly agreeable that beauty has to be attained, even for the ones born with more generous build then others. People need to maintain or simple achieve the state of beauty. From simple things like what one eat, how many times one exercise until the more extreme counterparts like using a corset, a tiny Chinese shoes or plastic surgery. That is actually the easy part, the harder part is how to be beautiful on inside, inner beauty, as they say.

Vintage image from 1960

Like many pageant events, people can be judged from how they react and respond to several problems. This is not certain, but it gives us a viewpoint on how one on the inside. People with more vibrant personality, modesty, humbleness, confident, honesty, generosity etc is viewed or referred as more beautiful. I agree to this, but not everyone at every time is given the opportunity to prove themselves on these occasions. Mostly we look at someone only at skin deep, “Wow, nice boobs!”, or “Kyaa, so cute…” that’s already a plus point regardless if the people are jerks.

Commonly, the usual concept of beauty is young, good skin complexion and body proportion. This is probably the most basic idea, and rightfully so. But there are so many interpretation that born from this. I don't mean in extreme cases like fetishes, but in more subtle ways. For instance, more comedical Japan's elf or furry like character. Basically put a girl in bunny costume, ehm Playboy inspired. It's mildly amusing and just for entertainment sake.

Ah Final Fantasy chars.. Never fail to emphasis on fantasy part

How about the more real ones, like skinny models. It is thought that skinny is better nowadays from much media exposure of lean people on magazine or news. Models do tend to have light frame, bordering on insanely thin. It can look good for the most part if the dresses are right or the poses are well adjusted, but too skinny can mean eating disorder. Some of them just don't look healthy and even come across as anorexic.

There are much skinnier ones than this.

Then the other end of spectrum, the more muscular one. Some fitness females model are known to have massive muscles in their repertoire. Some even achieved the bodybuilding standard and looks too over-muscled, albeit this happens more often in Western society. I rare see any women with more athletic build in daily life.

I think this is just right. There are others who look they eat steroid for breakfast.

Turns out guys can be described as beautiful too, but the meaning has shifted from more masculine look to over feminine persona. I blame K-pop and J-pop. Some of the guys actually look like maho, for lack of better words. There is a reality show in Animax "Pretty boys and girls" in which all contestants must perform ridiculous humiliating cheesy act of "cuteness". I vomited a bit when I saw a guy wearing make-up, lipstick, act like a girl, dance like a girl even wink like a girl and still have the nerve to say that they are boys, even trying to act bad-ass and cool sometimes. Just plain bloody atrocity. An abomination towards nature. Abnormalities at its finest.

Korean boybands make Justin Bieber look as macho as Ahnold Swashnegger. I downloaded SM*ho vid out of curiosity, half way through, I coughed, deleted the vid just so I wouldn't get infected by their mahoness.

I want to post some SM*ho image or something, but I decided it's not worth defiling my note.

I have more respect for crossdresser. Yeah, at least they have the balls to say that this is female's outfit or it's female char. There are even Kabuki, old Victorian play or ancient Chinese performance where the girls were played by the males. That doesn't means they were maho, some of them can be artistic even, rather then pretentious girl wannabes that still have "guy only in KTP"

This is not a girl..

.. it's a guy.. http://www.kaskus.us/showthread.php?t=6739021

So does that means guys can't be beautiful with neat clothes or long hair? Not necessarily so. There are tons of guys who look okay even if they dress slightly different.

There's Jack Sparrow

.. and Batman..

.. and Kato..

So guys can be beautiful without being maho.. that leaves the question, why choose the maho part?

Let me end with a quote from Jack Black's old movie, Shallow Hal.

Hal: Okay, who do you think is the most beautiful woman in the world?

Mauricio: Wonder Woman.

Hal: Okay... let's say everyone else in the world thought Wonder Woman was ugly.

Mauricio: It wouldn't matter. Because I know they'd be wrong.

Dead Space 2 Review

I always like survival horror genre from Resident Evil and Silent Hill last gen era. However the genre has been declining in this gen, with Resident Evil 5 lacking horror element, Silent Hill : Homecoming is just not up to par with its legacy and Fatal Frame 4 doesn't get official English release, but fear not (pun intended) Dead Space 2 has came to rescue the dying genre.

Oh, my drawing is not finished yet. Man, I have to stop procrastinating.

I like Dead Space so much, I even replayed the first one before I played the second, and I can attest Dead Space 2 is a bigger, scarier and better game in every aspect possible. Even if you haven't played the first one, there is a "previously on" segment that will keep you up to speed. One thing that is apparent from the very start, Dead Space 2 is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal, beautifully disturbing and practically the scariest shit since Fatal Frame 2.

Why the hostility, man?

Dead Space 2 follows the story of Isaac Clarke from the first game. He managed to survived the ordeal and now is an inhabitant of a medical facility. Everything is not what it seems at the first place, and Isaac quickly thrust into another survival on Titan. The main difference about Isaac is that he now speaks. It was odd seeing him just stood there silently in the first game, but now he is voiced and able to act like a normal guy, depending on what normal constituted. He may looks okay. albeit will still be startled if some abomination appear in front of him, but inside he is actually a delusional schizophrenia.

It is intriguing to see that he tries to behave like ordinary person, but the ghost of his loved one lingers on his mind persistently. There are a few events that just show that Isaac is deeply hurt mentally while he denies and rejects the visions every step of the way. The other cast members are not exactly sane either, after the hellish outbreak, almost everyone Isaac meet have some sort of abnormality. It somehow gives the story more vibrant take and will keep you guessing for awhile.

Doc, I have a headache.. Can I have aspiri.. Oh hey, dead girlfriend, What are you doing.. Eww why you have no eyeballs?

The visual in the game is simple stunning. From the metropolis, futuristic shops, old fashioned church, old space ship, mining cave, the solar panels, there are well crafted and convincing, just as immersible as Aliens movie. I have to give credit for the great use of lightning and the contrasting shadows, they make silhouettes of ordinary ruin more menacing. The enemies' design is downright gross, disgusting and repulsive. I saw blocky shadows on the first game, but the second is just superior, better and has more fluid movement, giving it a slick moody atmosphere. It's everything you can hope for in a horror game.

Details of the environment are done so well that none of it feels out of place. Some scenes look like aftermath of a slaughter with blood scattered all over the place and mutilated corpses fill the alleyway. There are so much death here, that when you see no corpse, there is something missing. Glistering ornaments are pretty enough and make the scenery of an enclosed space more claustrophobic, but the real view is when you step into the light just barely leeching on the surface trying to hold on to the gravity while the extraterrestrial scenery unfolds in epic proportion. While it does has backtrack section now and then, but that doesn't feel old.

What makes it a truly cinematic game is the lack of HUD, similar to the first game. You basically play without any HUD whatsoever. The health display is at the back of the suit, ammo count will appear if you aim, and inventory will be presented as hologram in real time in-game. Even the communication, text and audio logs will be displayed as you travel. This is a good concept, makes me wish all game has the same presentation.

This pretty much sums it all.

The sound is brilliantly captivating, conveying the mood more fiercely. Tiny subtle ambient noises go a long way to invoke paranoia in you. Cranks in the floor, leaking water, hissing enemies from behind the wall and below the floor, even Isaac's own voice when he is breathing heavily when in low health are just arresting and frightening. The use of these simple noises is amazing, when a screaming exploding enemy comes near you or a baby-like bomb roll in your feet, they are screeching and heart-breaking.

While it doesn't has vast array of characters, but the ones who grace your scene are believably mentally challenged from the great dub. Isaac's voice is sometimes calm when in conversations with other, but he breaks down gradually from the haunting of his specter and his speech fits perfectly. The others are also right in the tone of sociopath and panicking survivors, their banters along with the scattered audio logs are pleasantly apprehensive.

Friendly tips, headshot might not work.

I play the game in Zealot Mode, very hard if you will. This mode makes Hard in first Dead Space looks like a picnic. Ammo gain is half what it should be, health is also scarce, this makes the game a real survival experience. For example, an enemy drops 3 plasma energy when defeated, but it takes exactly 3 pinpoint shots to defeat said enemy. Every items you scour are essential to keep you alive, not to mention you will need extra effort to upgrade your weapons and armor.

In Zealot, it's better to utilize every tactic in the playbook, or what I call "poor man's tactic". You see a broom or iron bar, grab and befriend with it. Use it to impale any approaching enemies, preferably in the legs, when they are down, stomp the living hell out of them, use stasis and melee as much as possible to conserve ammo. An exploding red canister is a gift from god, break the glass windows to decompress the room to suck all hostiles to cold dark oblivion and use the claws and body parts from dead enemies as projectiles. Every single ammo counts, if do you shoot, for heaven's sake, don't fucking miss.

There might me something inside it.. you know, just guessing..

Of course, the necormorphs will not stand around getting killed. They are brutal bunch and want nothing other than your sweet bloody limbs. In Zealot, they will take chunks of your health. Dead Space probably have the most diverse enemies I've seen in awhile. You have your normal necromorphs, its black stronger counterpart and the Pregnant, while it might looks more chubby and slow, it has a surprise in its stomach. There is Jumper which have no legs, but annoyingly fast and just want to cuddle you like golden retrievers from hell. The Children and the Limbs will come in packs, literally numbering more than a dozen sometimes.

Then there are ranged ones, the Puker, which is fast to spit on you and has slow attribute or the Lurker, small three tailed beast, which is slower, but harder to aim due its size and guess what, shoots three projectiles. Then comes the heavy hitter, exploding Baby Bomb and the Crawler that will.. um explode, stay away from them. The charging Stalker, looks cowardice and sprints to you like there's no tomorrow or Brute, the one who looks like deformed rhino will probably kill you in one hit.

Main line is if you don't have maxed out suit with strong armor in full health, just assume anything that screams and running your way can kill you. And they will not appear one by one either, there are times when I had to fought 4-5 enemy types in a single hallway, or worse, open space. They come in "sekampung" package, I know the basic bottleneck funneling strategy like in 300 "Their numbers count for shit", but sometimes it's not easy when they ambush you, I think they watched the movie too. I wailed at the screen sometimes, "This is not fair!"

We are perfectly fine.. just peachy.

The gameplay is addictive, with a multitudeof weapons to choose from there are a bunch of strategies to be had here. And after you dismember the first necromorph, you'll want more. It might be a bit linear, but certainly more lively and the quest for your life is felt throughout the game, a step forward from the first's stall mission structure. The few zero G sequences are a nice break from the usual combat and there is a skill tree like development for your weapons and armor. There are a few minor glitches like the ammo count won't show sometimes or the enemies floated to obscurity once when I used stasis, but nothing that derail the overall experience. This game will last about 10-12 hours. The outstanding presentation, great graph and truly ominous sound make Dead Space 2 a true survival gem of this gen.

Graph : Smooth, fluid breathtaking design. 9.5/10

Sound : Brilliant use of sound, very captivating and grim. 9.5/10

Gameplay : Addictive and gory pleasure. The action will keep you going. 9/10

Presentation : When everything comes into places, Dead Space 2 is one of the best action title this gen. 10/10

Overall: 9.5/10

PS: Here's some scenes from others' opinions. Lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jri8LFci4xQ&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPA8D6BCA0A537750D

Apocalypse now?? No, man... Relax..

Is it just me or the number of "Nubuat nabi / mahzab Tuhan / anak kambing berkaki enam / Kiamat telah dekat" spams have been rising since the riot in Egypt? They are annoying, disturbing and unnecessary. If you see one, DON'T pass it around like a chain message or encourage it. That will not do any good, other than stir discomfort in whoever is reading it and dumb enough to believe it.

Quick advertisement.. My drawing

People have already predicted the end of the world ever since the topic is equivalent to 15 minutes of fame, even the famous (hoax) Nostradamus did it. Now a simple question: how many of those so-called prophets with their so-called visions / revelations / predictions actually succeed in predicting the end of the world? Maybe five.. or three of them? Hard question indeed.. Quick hint: we are still here.

Here's some quick funny read on apocalypse seers' predictions

http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/a-list-of-failed-predictions-of-the-end-of-the-world/

Why are people so fixated on the end of the world? Is it because the idea is so global and universal? Because finally the human race is united in one titanic event? Screw those psychological craps. The world is not finish f*cking with us yet. You want a fast ticket out of here, but too pussy to commit suicide and hoping that the world will end. Sorry mate, not that easy.

Norde's idea of apocalypse.. Better than most, no?

I know end of the world is described in many large religions, The Book of Revelation for Christianity, the acceptance of end of time for Muslim, even the Kalachakra tantra in Budhist somehow point out to a massive change in the world as we know. I understand and highly respect the religions value, but keep in mind that religion is a private matter. It's not a reason to trigger mass paranoia. The world will end someday, even science predicts that sun will go out eventually, but it's still a long way. I highly doubt that it will happen in our lifetime.

Say that it really does happens, the Four Horsemen really descend and hell (and also some other nasty stuffs) follow them, so what? It will happen regardless we make a fuss about it or just apathetic about it. If it's truly inevitable what's the point in screaming and kicking? Might as well enjoy the view before a meteor, a flood, Y3K, some other dark cold oblivion happen. Hey, if your place got hit first make sure to record it and post it on Youtube before you pass. It will beat Justin Bieber's video for sure. :P

Would you prefer this...

Or this....

or maybe this?

Have you heard of Jim Jones? He was a charismatic leader of People Temple, a cult or a church founded originally to provide clairvoyance for people and such. He stated up okay, like providing soup kitchen for the poor, community services and many other social businesses. The he steadily gained more money from his flock and decided to move the entire church to Guyana, South America and created Jonestown, a utopia. At this point, he was already greedy and aimed solely for money and what not, he's a bit.. odd, to say the least. He charged the flock their social security number, saving etc.

Then in November 18th, 1978. He decided that the world was not pure any more and came up with a brilliant plan, off with every ones' head. Then he initiated perhaps the worst mass suicide on America's history. He encouraged his flock to first poison their children with cyanide and then proceed to kill themselves. Strangely, the flock was already so enticed by him that they actually did just that. 918 people relinquished their lives on a single day.

Outstanding human's stupidity

There is a lesson to be had here. We need to digest the information we received intelligently, rationally and slowly determined the validity of it. I've seen inet messages that said "This message has been going from 1943 and you will get a fortune if you send it to 15 people, don't let it break or you die" or "Don't see this message, if you do, you have to send it to 10 people, put your hand up your ass, if not, you die the next Friday". If you believe this type of thing, from now on, say Bullshit to whoever sent those to you.

There is practically no human wise enough to determine the future of other, let alone a group of people or even predict the end of the world. Be wise, keep your cool and slowly interpret information that come your way. If the world is really ending, hold your head high proudly and face it with a smile. You won't be lonely, six billion other people will accompany you to the other side.