THUNDERSTRUCK...TWICE!

After an eight year hiatus, that little devil in the school boy outfit (that still fits so well at 53 years old) and his old mates have come around once again with their new album, Black Ice. Of course, I am talking about AC/DC.

Along with a new album, is a new tour, and I was fortunate enough to acquire tickets to not one, but TWO concerts in the area. Out of the sky fell a pair of tickets to the November 13th concert at Madison Square Garden and out of my own pocket I acquired a four pack to the November 19th concert at the Izod Center. Since it seems to be a mandatory obligation to comment on concerts for us 1050 Bloggers, I have come here today to sing the praises of one of my all-time favorites.

Since I've been listening to it non-stop for the past three weeks, I'll start with the new album. If you are a fan of AC/DC, this is a must have. Most of the tracks are amazing, although I admit that there were a couple that sounded like the same song, just with different lyrics. The single off the album, "Rock 'n' Roll Train", is an instant classic that will have you singing along in no time. There are so many other great songs on the album, from "Money Made", "Anything Goes," "Big Jack", and my pick for the theme of Iron Man 2, "War Machine", that you should go get this album right now if you haven't already.

In terms of the concerts, all I can say is AMAZING! Even well into their 50s, these guys know how to put on a show and make sure their fans go home happy. As to be expected, they played a few songs from the new album since it is the Black Ice Tour, but they pulled out a lot of their classics and left mine and many others' throats hoarse from screaming and singing along. From Angus pulling off one of the most amazing solos in the history of rock 'n' roll when they break out "Let There Be Rock" to the cannons firing with "For Those About to Rock", this is one of the must see rock experiences of your life if you get the chance.

Even the opening act, a band from Ireland called The Answer, was awesome and got the crowd revved up. I expect good things from those guys in the future, but the night belonged, of course, to AC/DC.

The only disappointing thing was that they played the entirely same set in both concerts. Here was the set list (and yes, supposedly they are mixing it up a little bit in different cities which disappointed me even more):

1. Rock N' Roll Train
2. Hell Ain't a Bad Place To Be
3. Back In Black
4. Big Jack
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
6. Thunderstruck
7. Black Ice
8. The Jack
9. Hells Bells
10. Shoot to Thrill
11. War Machine
12. Anything Goes
13. You Shook Me All Night Long
14. T.N.T.
15. Whole Lotta Rosie
16. Let There Be Rock

Encore:

17. Highway To Hell
18. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

An interesting difference was that I never noticed how good the acoustics were in the Izod compared to Garden, but when you think about it, the Garden was never really built for concerts; it was technically built for the circus. Anyway, the NYC crowd I felt was much stronger than the Jersey crowd and that disappoints me because, well, I'm a Jersey boy. I wanted us to represent a little more. Even with the nice acoustics, we didn't sound nearly as loud as the NYC crowd even though both venues were sold out.

Aside from that though, I can't stress enough how great this new album is and that if you've never seen them live, AC/DC is one of the must sees of your lifetime if you are any degree of a rocker. You won't regret it.

-Ray Carsillo

GRINDING THE GEARS

It helped launch the current generation of systems and prove just how far we had come in terms of shooter games. It also left us on the edge of our seats as we knew by the end cut scene that this epic was not over. Gears of War was revolutionary in terms of how much it stressed firing from behind cover and blind firing without a stress on stealth. Add in that there was nothing more satisfying in online play than sneaking up behind someone and mowing them down with the chainsaw attached to your gun. Graphics, weapon design, enemy A.I., they all took steps forward with the first Gears of War, so how on earth could they top it?

If you loved the first Gears as much as I did, then you were at a Midnight Mayhem Launch at one of the many locations across the tri-state area, waiting anxiously for the clock to strike 12:01 AM on Friday, November 7th. Take a look at the attached video to see a special interview with Rod Fergusson, the Senior Producer for Gears of War 2 from Epic Games and you can get a better sense of what to expect.

After finally procuring my own copy of Gears of War 2, I staved off sleep for as long as it took for me to beat it and I could not have been happier with the product.

The first game set the stage for one of the grandest universes we've been immersed in as gamers in a long while and the second game did its job, which was to flesh out the characters and expound on the background of this amazing universe. You once again take on the role of Marcus Fenix and have to lead Delta Squad against the Locust Hordes who are trying to take over the surface world after living under the earth's crust for no one knows how long.

One of the additions to this game is in Co-op story mode, you aren't a ghost shooter when you tag along with a buddy, but take over as Dominic Santiago, Marcus's closest friend and 2nd in command and follow the story through his eyes as well as Marcus's. A nice addition to mention is that both Marcus's and Dom's back stories have been fleshed out and you learn a lot about their characters and personal motives with some interesting twists and turns along the way.

As well as the fleshed out story, the graphics have been upgraded to push the XBOX 360 to its limits and you can tell. The light effects, the blood, the lush color of vegetation (or not so lush of rotting vegetation), all bring the sense of realism to all new heights. The enemy A.I. has been upgraded and the gameplay is as smooth as can be. I saw no glitches to speak of. And some of the most fun levels I've played in a long time were when you get behind the wheel of several C.O.G. and Locust "vehicles" and just start blowing everything and everyone to kingdom come.

The multiplayer is back as well and has been ramped up. With new multiplayer modes, like King of the Hill, Wingman, and Annex, new maps, and the pure satisfaction of winning a battle of clashing chainsaws and you have one of the best multiplayer experiences out there.

Add in new abilities, like using dying Locust soldiers as shields while under fire, collectibles from every level, and new weapons such as poison gas grenades, burst shot pistols, the ability to turn your grenades into proximity mines (which can be planted right on enemies as well as on walls), flamethrowers, and the return of some of the greatest weapons ever imagined like the Lancer chainsaw rifle and you have all the ingredients for, in my opinion, so far, the best gaming experience of 2008.

Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 9.5: Sharp, clear, crisp. These are words that you use when describing Gears of War 2. The only reason why I deducted points was that when you mow down enemies with the chainsaw, they fall apart into lots of little pieces that would not make sense if you're slicing them right down the middle. Aside from this minor critique, the game is a feast for the eyes.

Audio: 10.0: The voice acting was superb. The gravel and guts in Marcus Fenix's voice made you think of how much fighting this man had seen. The music fit every situation and helped to build tension to let you know when something was coming so that you actually tensed up because you didn't know what would be behind the next corner. Explosions, gunfire, chainsaws grinding, and other SFX were all solidly used as well. Can't deduct from something was perfect.

Plot/Plot Development: 9.0: The first Gears ended in a cliffhanger and the second Gears ends in even a bigger cliffhanger. Questions from the first Gears were answered, but even more questions pop up as you play through the game. I don't want to give anything away by saying what they are, but I already can't wait for Gears 3! Add in the emotion you feel for the characters as their backgrounds are fleshed out and you walk away from this one like you just watched a great movie in the middle of the trilogy. Dare I say, this is The Empire Strike Back of video games?

Gameplay: 10.0: There were no glitches as far as I could tell and everything kept up at a great pace. I didn't even realize how long I had been playing the game for until I finally looked at my clock and said "Damn!" It felt like I was watching a movie it was so smooth. Enemy A.I. was relatively unpredictable and the game was just hard enough to give you a challenge, but with enough checkpoints to keep you from being frustrated. Best game I've played this year, I think.

Replay Value: 9.0: Not a lot to bring you back to the story mode aside from getting the achievements of beating the game on a harder difficulty and trying to find all the collectibles, but the multiplayer is great. Lots of different modes keeps the multiplayer situations constantly in flux and there is still no greater feeling in gaming than sneaking up on someone and hacking them to ribbons with your Lancer Chainsaw Rifle.

Overall (not an average): 9.5: One of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in gaming in a while. From the story mode to the great multiplayer mode, this game is tight as a drum. It's hard to really complain about anything except that I don't think I can wait another two years for Gears 3 to come out. Gears of War 2 is out now exclusively for XBOX 360.

-Ray Carsillo

DOUBLE REVIEW FOR DOUBLE-0-7

With the release of the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, I've decided to review not only the movie, but the video game as well. We'll begin with the movie.

Many people were worried that the series was on its last legs after the egg that Die Another Day laid and the lack of action in Casino Royale , but Quantum of Solace proves that Casino Royale was simply setting the stage for something much bigger and better than we could have hoped for. Quantum of Solace slams you against the back of your seat from the very get-go with its fast-paced, action-packed, sequences and a plot deeper than the Atlantic Ocean.

The movie picks up right where Casino Royale left off with Bond transporting "Mr. White" to a MI-6 safe house for interrogation. This also marks the first time in the series that a Bond movie picks up so closely on the heels of the previous movie, helping with the continuity of the story and insinuating that, if you didn't get the feeling from Casino Royale, this isn't your daddy's James Bond.

Once the interrogation starts, you find out quickly that Mr. White and his unknown organization have people everywhere, as demonstrated by one of MI-6's agents going rouge and freeing Mr. White. Thus begins another action packed chase sequence on the roofs of Siena, Italy.

I won't give away any more of the plot except that Bond will find himself unable to trust anyone as it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe from the reach of this mystery organization and Bond will have to go rogue to get to the bottom of how far this mystery organization's reach is. Along the way, he will question himself as he realizes that many of whom he holds near and dear begin to suffer in the wake of his path of destruction as he travels across oceans to corner solid leads and stop a diabolical plot or two along the way.

Bottom line is that this was an awesome Bond movie and it will rejuvenate the series. With the continuation of the story directly from movie to movie, it's easier to follow the characters and their changes and really get engrossed in the mythos. Everyone gives great performances and Daniel Craig really puts his own touch on Bond by acting so blatantly defiant at times that it's almost funny while still being a bad ass.

The plot and action sequences were really well thought out, played beautifully on the screen, and will keep your attention for the entire 1 hour and 45 minutes to the point you'll be asking for more. Add in classic elements like tons of beautiful women with some...interesting character names like Miss Strawberry Fields and you'll really enjoy the experience.

There were only two things with the movie that bothered me. The first was in some scenes, you could tell that someone wasn't watching the continuity as certain characters were out of place from cut to cut and it didn't make sense. To the untrained eye it could probably get by, but for someone like me, it got under my skin a little.

The other thing was that this movie basically confirms the cutting of "Q Branch", the R&D gurus who outfitted Bond with his many wonderful gadgets. Although there was some cutting edge tech, there was nothing so outlandish like a grenade-pen or tracking beacons in his shoes. The most extensive piece of tech for Bond was his cell phone, which really helps solidify the new, more realistic, direction the Bond movies are going in. I miss John Cleese though. Aside from these minor complaints, never mind one of the better Bond movies, this was one of the straight up better action movies I've seen in a long time.

Quantum of Solace gets a solid 4.5 out of 5.

Moving from the theatre to the home, I picked up the Quantum of Solace video game, looking forward to boat, plane, and car chases across three continents and more chase scenes on foot than I could shake my controller at. Unlike the movie though, the game fails to deliver on many accounts.

Although the levels based on the movie are well thought out and stealth is highly encouraged, there were no vehicle chase scenes to speak of and this really took away from the length of the game. In order to compensate, they flashed back to Casino Royale and had half the game revolve around these flashbacks.

Now, these levels were enjoyable, but the fact that they felt they needed to virtually include both movies in the game to make this worthwhile simply speaks to the fact that there probably wasn't enough here to make a game with to begin with and that disappointed me because from watching the movie there was, which means the developers got lazy.

Now, in fairness, all James Bond games will be compared to the smash hit, Goldeneye, from the N64. One of the things from that game was that the gameplay came straight out of the movie to the point that you had the entire plot without even having to see the movie. This game changed a few things around; some were good, some not so much.

One of the good things was that it explained the situations a lot more thoroughly so that you had a better understanding. Example, the chase scene in Siena, Italy. The scene takes place on the day of the Polio, one of the most famous horse races in the world held in the town square. If you are unfamiliar with Italian traditions though, you might be a little confused watching a horse race in a town square while watching the movie, whereas it is explained in great detail in the game.

Another good thing was that enemy physics system. Enemies falling down when you shot them in the legs, but not necessarily passing away, or falling over a hand rail into boxes below if their momentum was taking them towards the rail were nice touches. This gave the game a solid sense of realism and was one of the bright spots.

One other great thing was hand to hand combat. Sneaking up on enemies and stealthily putting them down by pressing a corresponding button was great stuff. Add in the boss and lock pick mini-games and of having to push the right button at the right time in order to pass and the game does try to keep you on your toes by mixing things up a bit.

One of the bad things is that the game basically changed a great deal of the plot, especially towards the end of the game, to fit where they were going with it more and showed us things from the villain's points of view, which was interesting, but completely unnecessary since the game is supposed to revolve around James Bond.

Add in that the enemy A.I. was poor at best and that it began to feel like you were playing a shooting gallery down at the boardwalk, simply hiding behind cover and waiting to pick off enemies when they popped up to shoot at you, and you have a game barely worthy of a rental. If you are a fan of James Bond and the mythos, then rent the game to get a couple extra plot details you may have missed from the movie, otherwise, there are plenty of better 1st person shooters out there.

Ratings are based on a system of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 9.0: The game looked pretty solid. The fire graphics were alright, and the light effects were well done. Everyone's faces and movements were smooth and everything looked as it should. It was difficult to tell exactly where to go sometimes because sometimes exits blended in a little too well to the darkness, but aside from this, the game looked pretty good.

Audio: 10.0: Voice acting was really well done and having a long list of enemy phrases to choose from prevented the A.I. from ever repeating itself. If Bond was spotted, enemies never called it in the same way twice, which was a nice touch. Explosions and gun fire sounded solid and the music was solid as is always expected from a James Bond game. Just play the opera level to get a sense of how good this game was sound-wise.

Plot/Plot Development: 6.5: The plot was only passable because if you didn't see the movie, not everything made sense to you. And if you didn't see Casino Royale, you were definitely in trouble. If a James Bond game is based on a movie, it should follow the movie as closely as possible, and this didn't do that. Lots of holes in the plot make the movie a must see and the game a rental at best.

Gameplay: 7.5: A lack of levels based on the vehicle chases really took something away from the game. The enemy physics was solid, but their A.I. was subpar and it made it feel like a shooting gallery half the time. Even when they tried to flank you, it was so blatantly obvious that it was no difficulty at all picking them off. All you had to do was hide behind cover and that made it feel like the shootouts were cheap knockoffs from the Gears of War series. I liked the addition of a hand to hand combat system and that many "boss" fights and the lock picking system was basically a mini-game. It kept the feel of the game different and tested your reflexes a bit more. Overall, the gameplay passes, but was nothing special.

Replay Value: 7.0: There isn't a lot to replay the story mode. You could go back to try to find the entire cache of cell phones with extra intel on the mission to unlock things for multi-player, but that's it. The multi-player itself isn't anything special and feels like something that was added because it is expected nowadays. I would rather have had more levels and a better enemy A.I. than an average multi-player mode.

Overall (not an average): 7.0: Although the game looks and sounds great, it is not. The gameplay is lacking and a lack of overall game to actually play is disappointing. Add in an average multi-player that looked slapped together because it is expected to be in every shooter out there and this game is a rental at best, even for the most die-hard of James Bond fans. Quantum of Solace is out now for all systems.

-Ray Carsillo

HISTORY

Normally I steer away from the heavy stuff like politics, religion, and other societal issues, but the event that happened last evening was too tremendous an occasion not to at least comment on.

First off, congratulations to President-Elect Obama and kudos to Senator McCain for a hard fought campaign and for conceding the election in one of the most heartfelt speeches I have ever heard. His grace in the face of defeat was nothing short of miraculous and speaks to the man's character in ways we can barely comprehend.

I, for one, look forward to the radical changes that the President-Elect will bring to a nation crying out for something different. If anything, last night's results showed how sick and tired of the Bush Administration this nation is and, almost as a whole, rose up to support the farthest thing from that, Barack Obama.

There were several things from last night that made me very hopeful for the future for the first time in a good while concerning our government and my generation's impact on this nation. There were also a few things that make me worry for the status of our pop culture, which is not nearly as important, but since my job revolves around it, I want to talk about it. In terms of our government, I do not need to pretend I'm some pundit or someone who remotely knows what they are talking about to know that the change coming in the next couple of years is necessary and am happy to see that, for the most part, the nation is united for the first time in eight years behind one man.

In terms of history, we have finally completely eroded a wall that had been there, but never talked about, about the limits of a man based on the color of his skin. There will always be hate all over the world, but this was a major step in the direction of quelling that hate and kicking it to the shadows permanently. This is monumental for the minority population, those with more impoverished backgrounds, and those without hope. This election was a symbol of progress for our great nation in a spectacular direction towards healing the wounds we've inflicted upon ourselves in the past eight years.

There were several minor things about last night though that really bothered me.

First: Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi all voted for McCain even after they had two hurricanes dropped on their heads that almost turned that part of the south into our country's next great water park and got NOTHING from the current administration until it was too late. This happened to be the same administration that McCain voted with 90% of the time. This is why people from these states are considered some of the stupidest in the nation by those of us above the Mason-Dixon Line since logic would dictate that when bad stuff happens, and the people who are supposed to help in your time of need don't, you should no longer trust them to help you next time.

Second: The Daily Show/Colbert Report one hour live special was the first station to break Virginia going to Obama. That's right. Comedy Central broke one of the biggest political stories of the night to that point. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were also the second to announce Obama as the President-Elect after CNN. Then older folks wonder why my generation turns to Comedy Central for our news before anywhere else. We get our news faster and with a funny twist without having to listen to the same whining from these pundits on the other networks. Kudos to Comedy Central.

Third: Sticking with the Daily Show/Colbert Report, what are these shows going to make fun of now? They have their work cut out for them. I'm sure something will happen though that will keep feeding the fodder for comedy writers everywhere. There's always professional sports. Not just comedians though will be affected in the media, but all the right wingers with radio and TV shows. Will they be muzzled now that the democrats have control over the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House? I'm relatively sure much of the brass in the larger networks has connections to Washington. I wonder if Sean Hannity can say "Would you like fries with that?"

Fourth: The election was summed up in a handful of television shots during McCain's concession speech and Obama's victory speech. When showing the disappointed McCain supporters, you saw nothing but old, white people in the crowd. There was not a single person of color or under the age of 40 there. When you saw the celebrating Obama supporters, you saw the potential of this great land of ours. People of all ages, colors, and creeds dancing and celebrating and jumping up and down with each other. Those few shots summarized the past two years of campaigning in about two minutes and explained the results more eloquently than any speech could.

Fifth: Did anyone else notice before Barack Obama came out to give his victory speech, they were playing Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher"? They were in Chicago and Bill Murray is from Chicago. Bill Murray was also in Ghostbusters 2, which any true geek will remember as that same song being the song that allowed the Ghostbusters to bring the Statue of Liberty to life to give them entry to Vigo's Slime Fortress (previously the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Did Bill Murray help Obama at all in Chicago? Or maybe Obama is just a Ghostbusters fan? No wonder why people love this guy!

Then again I could just be having a geek moment and it will pass.

In conclusion, be optimistic America. Things are going to start turning around.

I hope.

-Ray Carsillo