Games: 'Marvel Nemesis'
was decidedly un-super
Continued from page 6
'Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas'
It's a sad state of affairs when the
best game released forthe Xboxthis
year was a game that was released on
the PS2 last year. "Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas" on the Xbox is the best
"GTA" knockoff we're going to see on
this generation of consoles. It is
packed with so much content that it
would take the average gamer months
to fully complete it Although the
game's graphics are weak when com
pared to LucasArts' "Mercenaries,"
another decent title, the game's solid
art direction makes the most of the
game’s aging engine. "GTA: San An
dreas" makes almost every other
free-roam game obsolete.
2005 GAMING DUDS
'Marvel Nemesis'/
'Fantastic 4'
Historically, superhero games have
sucked, which is odd because super
heroes seem to be a perfect fit for
games. The pastfewyears have seen a
few decent comic-inspired releases in
cluding "Spider-Man 2" and "Hulk: Ulti
mate Destruction," butfor every quality
title that hits consoles there is an
equally disappointing release.
"Marvel Nemesis" and "The Fantas
tic 4" are each great examples of li
censing gone awry. "Marvel Nemesis"
is half-baked brawlerthatis nowhere
near as good as its potential. "Fantastic
4," which was released atthe same
time as the movie, is a sub-par brawler
that isn't even a four-player game.
'NARC'
Midway got its name all overthe
news in the '90s when controversy
made "Mortal Kombat" a household
name. "NARC" reeks of a similar mar
keting scheme. This controversial
"GTA" knockoff allows its players to
use street drugs as power-ups. So if
you smoke pot, the world slows down
and if you take LSD you hallucinate.
The gameplay was boring and the drug
gimmick didn't add anything to the
game. "NARC" was only $20 when it
debuted in March, and I have no doubt
Midway was hoping that controversy
would sell their shoddy game. Midway,
if you're going to release a game that
ticks off parents, at least make it one a
kid's going to want to play.
'Castelvania:
Curse of Darkness'
I've always loved "Castelvania"
games. The Game Boy Advance and
Nintendo DS titles have seen the 18
year-old series maturing. The 2D
game's history and style could fit per
fectly in a well-developed 3D world.
Unfortunately, "Castelvania: Curse of
Darkness" sees all the series' potential
squandered on a lukewarm bore. The
combat is monotonous and uninspired.
The same goesforthe game's boring
enemies and lackluster environments.
Tony Hawk's American
Wasteland'/'SSX On Tour'
The "Tony Hawk" series has been
showing signs of age overthe pastfew
years. "American Wasteland" is the
sixth sequel since the series' debut in
1999. The pastfew iterations have been
more about style than they have been
about substantial changes to the
game's core gameplay. "American
Wasteland" nixes load times and adds
a BMXelementtothegame,butthat
can't hide the factthatthis is the same
game we have been playing forthe
past six years.
The animated-middle school note
book menus of "SSX On Tour" were the
most interesting things about the
game. EA is notorious for its sequels
and the gaming giant thrives on its suc
cessful sports titles. I hope that the next
generation of systems will see more
original titles, because the sequel-driv
en game industry is getting a little stale.
The PlayStation Portable
As a gaming device, the PSP is a rip
off. It's been nine months since its half
decent launch and all PSP owners get
is a bunch of stripped down ports. Sure
"GTA: Liberty City Stories" is a good
game, but is it worth $300? As a music
player, it's expensive, bulky and fragile.
And who wants to pay $30 for a copy of
"Sin City" that they can only watch on
their PSP?
amccollum@dailyemerald.com
023845
C O O N
•_l\ I M II I
I INI C,T| O
II iCl ll l
Cities. Crides. Trsccs
GER 355 4 credits CRN 25529 + Discussion section
Prof. Elke Heckner 18:00-19:50 UII
RESTRUCTURED COURSE! This seminar examines representations of eities,
erimes and taboos in German cinema from the late 1920s to the present. We will
discuss how classics of German cinema as well as recent developments in
Turkish-German film responded to social and political issues of their time.
Readings and discussions are in English. All films are subtitled.
m Book review
‘An Idiot Girls Christmas’ is a
jovial lump of coal in the stocking
Laurie Notaro's latest foray in the 'Idiot Girl series
is a hilarious jaunt through the ho ho holiday season
BY AMY LICHTY
PULSE EDITOR
The Christmas season can easily
be the most stressful time of the
year (it doesn’t help that finals are
mixed right in there with the gift
buying and decorating that damn
spiky pine tree), but it can also be
one of the most humorous times of
the year, as illustrated by author
Laurie Notaro in her latest
book, "An Idiot Girl's Christmas:
True Tales from the Top of the
Naughty List."
In true Notaro fashion, "An Idiot
Girl's Christmas" is hilarious and
cringe-inducing atthe same time.
Notaro is not one to censor her
words, saying exactly what's on her
mind, but she manages to do so
without being overly crude or ob
noxious. She puts humor into
everyday situations (like that an
noying neighbor who goes way too
far in decorating his lawn or spend
ing that first Christmas with the in
laws and managing to tag all of the
gifts incorrectly), with wit, sassi
ness and occasional exaggeration.
NOTARO, page 9
the week starting Friday, December 2nd!
"Intriguing and original"
juliette bi'noche
richard gere
Bee Season
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Sat & Sun Mat 3:00
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"A powerful film that's not so
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Phillip Seymour Hoffman
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5:00 & 9:15 Nightly Sat Mat 2:40
STREET FIGHTER WEEKEND!
All shows-11:40 pmFn,The street Fjghter
Sat: Return of The Street Fighter
Sun: Sister of The Street Fighter
Fim Burtons
CHRISTMAS
11:30 pm Fri, Sat & Sun nights Ea
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LUNA open Tuesday through Saturday at 4 pm
30th East Broadway (541) 434-LUNA
WWW.LUNAJAZZ.COM
LUNA Late Night Menu Tuesday to Saturday
Next to Adam’s Place Restaurant
Dinning Room open 5 pm to 9 pm weeknights 10 pm weekends
with THE WHOPNER COUNTY
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