MORE SERIOUS THAN SWINE FLU

Normally literature doesn't fall into my realm of reviews, but when the director of the Oscar winning film Pan's Labyrinth and the comic book movies Hellboy 1 and 2 says he's written a vampire novel, you reconsider. Guillermo del Toro, the premiere modern guru of visual effects, teamed with accomplished fiction writer Chuck Hogan, and they have released the first in a trilogy of thriller novels.

The first book in The Strain Trilogy, aptly titled The Strain, sets the stage by playing on the fears of the modern age mixed with classic figures from horror's lengthy mythology.

A plane suddenly dies on the runway after a perfect flight overseas and landing at JFK airport. After the plane is pried open since it was locked from the inside, and almost all of the passengers are found dead, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is called in and the head of their early response "Canary" team, Dr. Eph Goodweather, is baffled by the strange findings in the plane. After examining the situation, he is left with a feeling of dread that chills him to the bone as he tries to implement his scientific methods to a situation that clearly does not follow the rules of modern science.

Meanwhile, on the Upper East Side, a pawnbroker from the old world realizes that there is an even older evil at work and it is a race against time to contain this ancient force before it spreads outside the city limits.

As events unfold to bring these unusual allies together to contain this viral invasion of immense implications, other forces behind the scenes begin to work against them in the hopes of seeing a grander plot come to fruition.

The Strain is a tremendous, thrilling read. I had to keep putting the book down after every few pages because I was so creeped out by the amazingly descriptive passages. If you can work up the courage to finish the book, you'll be clamoring for the second and third installment of this trilogy in no time.

This story will redefine how you look at vampires; del Toro mixes science and mythology like some mad chemist. Bela Lugosi doesn't hold a candle to the vampires depicted in this book. There are a few clichés thrown in as well which probably comes from del Toro's previous vampire works (he directed Blade II) like a "day walker" or "chosen one" they refer to as "Sun Hunter", but aside from these necessary stereotypes for the vampire novel, this is an experience unto itself.

This will especially appeal to anyone from or familiar with New York City. The story carries you from JFK Airport to the Bronx and Queens to Vesey St. down in Tribeca or the very heart of Times Square. The thought of vampires emerging in these familiar settings, ready to prey on unsuspecting tourists (although I wouldn't mind a few less tourists in the area) as the lights of Broadway flash over their pale, almost transparent flesh is a terrific mental image. Even if you are a stranger to New York City, del Toro and Hogan paint such a vibrant picture with their words that it shouldn't take away from this phenomenal read.

With the culture flooded with media that aggrandizes these classic horror figures Twilight and True Blood just to name a couple), it was refreshing to see someone represent vampires in the way they were meant to: scaring us into leaving a light on at night. If you like a good thrill and aren't apt to nightmares (and even if you are), The Strain is a must read for any horror fan.

The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, will be on bookshelves this coming Tuesday, June 2nd. If you want a little bit more information on the book, be sure to check out The Strain's website by CLICKING HERE.

-Ray Carsillo

SEARCHING FOR SALVATION

Continuing the trend of movies geared towards the geeky genre this summer, we look at the second movie and game combination of the summer blockbuster season with Terminator: Salvation. After X-Men Origins: Wolverine fell flat on its face in the theatre, but delivered a strong performance on the home gaming consoles, you were wondering if T4 would be this summer's best hope for salvation; would it rise up and be able to provide that rare combination of great movie and game that we haven't really seen since Spider-Man 2?

Terminator: Salvation takes place in the year 2018. John Connor (Christian Bale) has always had his fate intertwined with the fate of the world and is now one of the top heads of the resistance against the machines in California as Skynet's global network has overridden the entire world and established itself as the dominate form of "life". Now he searches for Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the man Connor will send back in time (the original Terminator movie) to protect his mother and end up becoming his father before the machines can find him and wipe Connor from the timeline of existence by killing Reese.

Along the way, Connor also discovers that the machines have begun making the necessary advancements in order to upgrade the common, but still very deadly T-600 model (the famous skeleton-looking foot soldiers that comprise the bulk of the machines' army), to the T-800 infiltrator unit that could mimic a human's appearance with living flesh and tissue covering the silver skeleton of the Terminator units (made famous by Arnold), just as he had always known they would.

Meanwhile, a "too good to be true" fault in the machines' programming is found and Connor must weigh the decision to go after Reese or lead an assault that could possibly end the war with one massive offensive.

While Connor searches for Reese, Reese stumbles across Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convict given the death penalty back in 2003, but signed waivers to donate his body to science upon his demise. An un-aged and amnesiac Wright was released from a human holding pen that was supposed to be used in the T-800 experiments after an attack on a Skynet base by the resistance and was sent stumbling through the California desert before being found by Reese.

Reese saves Wright from a "Skin Job", a T-600 covered in rags and rotted rubber skin to appear more human from afar and lure resistance members close before mowing them down with their mounted mini-guns. Reese proceeds to catch Wright up on everything he has missed over the past 15 years and they set off to look for John Connor in the hopes of meeting up with the resistance, all the while Reese not realizing his fate is pre-ordained should he be able to survive the machines for a little while longer.

As Wright and Reese head out on a grueling mission to find John Connor, Connor struggles with his decisions on what orders to carry out, his superiors' or fates'. The two groups don't realize though they are headed for an explosive collision course that will change the fate of the resistance forever as Wright is not exactly what he appears to be on the surface...

This was a spectacular action movie from start to finish. Everyone involved gave great acting performances from Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Wright to smaller characters like Common as Connor's left hand man Barnes, his wife Kate played by the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard, or sympathetic Blair Williams played by the lovely Moon Bloodgood.

The special effects and settings were unbelievably real and you couldn't tell what was CGI'd or not. The robots moved and acted with a realism that you just don't see and the post-apocalyptic California countryside was amazing to behold.

The story was well-written and kept well with the continuity of the first three movies, making sure to keep the set-up of the story of Kyle Reese having to go back in time and the resistance getting their hands on a T-800 model to send back in time later in tact.

Watching this already established story unfold and be expanded upon was easily the most wonderful part of the movie though. From robots that lurked in rivers and attacked humans looking for a drink to giant Hunter Killer aerial units patrolling barren patches of desert to smaller motorcycle units racing down highways void of any and all traffic, the thought that Skynet ruled the world was not a stretch to believe from the picture portrayed in Terminator: Salvation.

The only problems I had with the movie was that there were a lot of nukes going off in relatively close vicinity to humans and usually if you can see the mushroom cloud coming, you're not going to survive, and from the looks of a "Skin Job", I don't see how anyone could get fooled into thinking this thing was human.

Aside from these minor complaints and add-in a special CGI'd Arnold cameo and this movie gave you everything you could ask for in the 4th in the series. Terminator Salvation has at the very least saved the Terminator series as we look forward to a 5th film to continue the futuristic adventures of mankind's last hope in John Connor after watching this fun, action packed gem.

Terminator Salvation gets 4.5 out of 5.

After such a wonderful viewing experience from the movie, my hopes were raised that the game would deliver at least a par experience, but it would be all too soon before my hopes were markedly dashed.

The Terminator: Salvation video game, out for XBOX360, PS3, and PC, is set two years before the events of the movie, which immediately had me groaning knowing that it would not follow any of the events of the movie that I enjoyed so much.

The plot follows John Connor, of course, but as a low-level member of the resistance instead of one of the higher-ups as we've always known. He receives a distress signal from fellow resistance member David Weston that he is trapped behind enemy lines with his unit. John sets off alone to try to rescue his comrades since "every life is sacred" and so against all odds, he is joined by his good friend Blair Williams as the two of them set off against the machines and work their way deep into Skynet territory.

What I liked about the game is it finds a way to introduce all the main resistance characters from the movie and show how they joined up with John, but aside from this point, the game is a complete waste of time. Even on Hard mode, I beat the entire game and got every achievement in less than eight hours, nowhere near worth the $60 price tag this baby carries.

The graphics are easily subpar for any current generation console. It looks similar to Fallout 3's unpolished graphics, but at least that had the excuse of cramming a massive world, 30+ hour plot, and an open-ended decision based path onto one disc while this is a small, linear world with no room to explore and only nine short, simple levels. It was supposed to look like a post-apocalyptic world, not like it had been made in one.

The audio is one of the few bright spots for the game since it takes the music straight from the movies and the constant din of gunfire and explosions work. Unfortunately, Christian Bale refused to do the voice-over work for the game or have his likeness used and his replacement had some big shoes to fill and fill them he did not. Although getting Rose McGowan to serve as another resistance fighter, Angie, and getting Common and Moon Bloodgood to reprise their movie roles was nice, the voice acting overall was still subpar.

The gameplay was full of glitches and frustrating as both you and the enemy would occasionally find holes in the cover that you could both shoot through. Last time I checked though, grenades could not be lobbed straight through steel girders.

The game does feature a co-op mode where a friend could take on the role of Barnes or Blair, but this makes the game an even more simple experience as flanking the robots is about as easy as turning the game on to begin with. Even when Blair or Barnes is computer controlled, they understand how simple it is to flank the robots since most of the time your computer controlled partner will do it on their own. I don't know if it is good A.I. for your partners or bad A.I. for the robots, but this is part of the reason why the game is a breeze as enemies refuse to use or find cover and can only target one character at a time allowing one of you to just fire away with the enemy's back turned. Add in that there is always an abundance of ammo lying around when you are about to get into a firefight helps eliminate any element of surprise for the enemy and allows you to camp out in good positions to pick them off one by one as they haunter by.

Combine these poor experiences with no unlockables, no collectibles to search for, and no vs. mode and the replay value on this game has been nuked like Skynet dropping bombs on Judgment Day. Terminator: Salvation is easily one of the worst gaming experiences you can have on a modern console and probably isn't even worth a rental for the die-hard Terminator fans.

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

Graphics: 4.0: No current console game should look this bad. For such a big budget movie that ended up so good, you think they could've thrown the game developers a few dollars to get some designers that knew what they were doing.

Audio: 7.5: The audio is passable as the game takes the soundtrack straight from the movie and the firefights sound great. The voice acting was awful though considering the talent and I think part of that falls on the poor writing for this movie prequel storyline.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: John Connor sets off on another suicide mission, but survives because it is what he does as humanity's last hope against the machines. Simple, to the point, and not nearly fleshed out enough to get any kind of a decent score. It was nice to see how Blair and Barnes join John and the resistance and how John begins to get some real recognition in the ranks, but even adding in those minor points, the plot is still a stinker.

Gameplay: 3.0: A bevy of glitches with a beyond simple enemy A.I. makes this game a quick and simple once playthrough, even on Hard mode, and I still unlocked every achievement.

Replay Value: 1.0: No unlockables, no collectibles, no vs. mode, and a co-op mode that makes the already simple story mode even more of a cake walk means you should start getting ready to trade this one in before the disc even gets to speed.

Overall: 2.5 (not an average): Even the most die-hard of Terminator fans should steer clear of this game unless you have a free rental coming your way and you want to see some poorly animated T-600s on your home console or are looking to bolster your achievements score with a ridiculously easy 100% completion. The game is lacking in every way imaginable and is just another victim added to the list of horrible games to follow great movies.

-Ray Carsillo

LITTLE MAC COMES UP BIG FOR THE WII

It started as an arcade game all the way back in 1984. It then invaded homes in 1987 riding some star power with Mike Tyson for the Nintendo Entertainment System. A sequel five years later for the Super Nintendo continued the game's popularity even after distancing itself from Mr. Tyson and his legal problems. And then...we waited.

Now, after a 15-year hiatus, after throngs of fans screamed for a sequel, and after Nintendo came out with the perfect system for boxing video games, Punch-Out!! has finally returned to our home consoles.

Donning the green gloves of everyone's favorite video game underdog pugilist with the big heart, Little Mac, and taking the odd words of advice from his trainer Doc in stride, ("There are many ways to eat chocolate, but only one way to eat a chocolate bar,"...thanks Doc.), you return to the ring once more to attempt to become the WVGA's (World Video Game Association?) greatest boxer.

The control system is solid and with three ways to play, it gives you plenty of options. You can use the Wii Balance Board to duck and dodge while swinging the controls to punch if you want more of a workout. If you are a little less coordinated (like yours truly), you might want to just swing your arms and use the control stick on the Nunchuck to duck and dodge. And for others who might not feel like swinging their arms around for three rounds at a time, you can turn the Wiimote around and use the classic controls from the NES. These controller options, along with minimal lag in the control sensors and the over-the-top nostalgia factor, and the gameplay is even more fun than it was 15 years ago.

The graphics are superb. The cel-shaded visuals and the new cut scenes introducing each opponent and giving some depth to all the characters and plot are a great touch. The revamped original soundtrack along with original and brand new SFX will have you flashing back to 1987 in no time.

The best part of the game though is all the extras that have been added to the game to flesh it out because a straight remake would not be worth $50, no matter how strong the nostalgia factor is. Along with being almost as difficult as the original (curse you Piston Honda and Bald Bull!), there is a new title defense mode after you beat the game the first time. You have to attempt to defeat each boxer all over again as they have been training long and hard after you pummeled them on your way to the top. Even Glass Joe isn't a pushover anymore due to some interesting new headgear on the second time around.

Add in challenges to help motivate you to try exhibition mode, a practice mode if you don't want to tarnish your record as you attempt to figure out each boxer's patterns, and a VS. mode for the first time in the franchise's history and you have enough here to easily keep you coming back for more since the initial playthrough shouldn't take you more than five hours for even the worst of gamers.

With many of the old favorite foes from the first two home editions being brought back, along with one new boxer added to round out a nice baker's dozen for the stable of competition, a revamped edition of the original soundtrack, and the classic controls being implemented in brand new ways, and all the pieces are in play to make Punch-Out!! for the Wii a knockout.

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

Graphics: 8.0: Since cartoony, cel-shaded graphics seem to be the Wii's staple now, it's no surprise to see this game chock full of them. On that note, they look beautiful and I think they work perfectly for Punch-Out!! If you want realism, Fight Night Round 4 will be out in a month.

Audio: 9.0: The original soundtrack has been completely revamped and sounds great. Mix that in with some of the original NES SFX when throwing your punches and the game does not disappoint in terms of sound, even if it does get a little repetitive after a while.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: It's the same plot as in every boxing game: no-name underdog fights his way up the ranks to glory. The only difference with this game that gives it a passing grade is there are short cut scenes that flesh out the history and nuances of the boxers you go against which no other boxing game does. It's a nice change to see a game, even a cartoony one, give some depth to not only your boxer, but the boxers you have to fight as well.

Gameplay: 9.0: A minimum of glitches, considering the amount of motion control this game relies on, gives this a great score. Add that to difficulty reminiscent of a NES original and you have a great experience on your hands.

Replay Value: 7.5: I don't see devoting more than 10 hours to this on the first couple of playthroughs, but that nostalgia factor coupled with a VS. mode will probably keep you coming back to it somewhere down the line just to relive the one hit KOs of Glass Joe and realize how far we've come.

Overall: 8.5 (not an average): When it comes down to it, this game is fun for all ages. The cartoony graphics appeal to younger audiences while the gameplay and characters strike a cord of nostalgia with us older gamers that you just can't replicate. Why it took this long to come out with a sequel is beyond me, but now that it is here, it will stay warm in my system for a long time.

Punch-Out!! is available now exclusively for the Wii.

-Ray Carsillo

SMOOTH AS VELVET

I admit that I have never been a fan of World War II or other historically based games. I felt that it limited the imagination of the player and the developers because at the end of the day, no matter what happens in the game, we know the outcome of the war. Sure, these specific era based shooters are great and the gameplay and graphics usually try to make up for the lack of originality, but I usually can walk away from the game without finishing it and not really care because in my mind, I still know the ending.

That leads us into today's review. In Velvet Assassin you play as a female British secret agent during World War II with the gameplay revolving around your lurking in the shadows and undermining the Nazi regime in 1943-1944 Western Europe. I had heard rumors about this game in the later part of 2008 and then saw a demo at NY ComicCon and my interest was immediately piqued: A semi-original storyline (it's based off a real-life WWII British agent) that didn't revolve around troop movements and taking out tanks with bazooka launchers. It dealt with the grittier, darker side of war; sneaking cyanide capsules to captured double agents, infiltrating enemy strongholds and single-handedly sabotaging their oil lines or railways, and assassinating high-ranking officials in the middle of the night.

The great thing about this game is that it emphasizes stealth more than anything and it is rare to a see a game do this nowadays. Yes, the Metal Gear series has stealth elements as a strong part of the game, but then again you could hide in a crappy cardboard box and had a wealth of weapons and devices at any moment to help dispatch your enemies. At no time during this game do you have more than three weapons, one of which is your ever-present knife, to remind you that the best kill is the one that doesn't make a sound (aside from the satisfying noise of your defeated foe gurgling on his own blood). The gameplay was a nice changeup from the run-and-gun style of most of today's games.

While the game makes you think and work to succeed in ways that most games don't anymore, the story engrosses you in the character with what has always been a limited subject matter for originality. Firstly, the female lead, Violette Summer (almost sounds like violent summer, any irony there?), is an attention grabber just due to the lack of female leads in games. Add in that she is one of the main weapons for the British on the frontlines doing the unthinkable and you've already got me hooked. But that wasn't enough for SouthPeak Games. To add on top of it, the entire game is her memories of the war while she is in a coma from injuries that are explained as you progress. This also ties into one of the more interesting aspects of the gameplay. You can collect morphine over the course of most levels that represent an increase of her real-life dosage to help slow things down for her and make her dreams less strenuous (and less difficult for you).

Along with the great gameplay and plot, the game is graphically beautiful. From lurking in the shadows of ancient European cathedrals to trudging through the sewers of French ghettos, the visuals are superb. And the shadows are so critical to the entire game as you cross in front of floodlights and watch your silhouette raise the attention of the dozing off guards, or knock the lights out to bathe a room in obsidian safety.

Include a haunting soundtrack and you can actually feel your blood begin to race from the tension, as if you were in the shoes of the heroine, as you know that the wrong move could alert the enemy to your position and almost assuredly forfeit your life. The atmosphere that was created with so little and the clandestine nature of the game leaves you breathless like when you stare directly into the vapid eyes of the gasmask of a flame-trooper while he patrols right by you.

Time-accurate weaponry and locales, stunning graphics, and powerful atmospheric elements that stay with you well after you turn your XBOX360 off, makes this game a great stealth experience. If you're tired of the usual run-and-gun and looking for a little more strategy from your shooters, this is a must have. Velvet Assassin is out now for XBOX360 and the PC.

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

Graphics: 8.5: Although beautiful, the game is mostly spent in the dark so I can't give it a perfect score. The lighting effects are top of the line though. Along with some very smooth NPCs (Non-playable characters), this game is not going to disappoint you visually.

Audio: 10.0: There purposely isn't a lot of music to help immerse you in the experience of being this character and to stress the stealth aspects of the game. The music that is there is moving and sets the mood beautifully. Along with great voice acting by all involved (even if most of it is in a foreign language with subtitles, you could still feel the emotions of the characters) and Melinda Cohen who plays Violette (and doubles as the physical basis for Violette very nicely as well) does a brilliant job.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: It is another game based off of real-life events so you still know the historical outcome, but it is a story that hasn't been told in a WWII game before and super-spies always play better to me than Saving Private Ryan rip-offs. This is more along the lines of Splinter Cell or No One Lives Forever, minus the fictional megalomaniac villains and replacing it with one of the original, real-life megalomaniac villains. This is one of the best stories for a game that you know the ending to that has come out in a long time.

Gameplay: 9.0: Difficult (at least on the hard difficulty I played on) but addictive, this game will keep you entertained for a solid 10-15 hours (I beat it in 11), and for this, that is the perfect length of time. The game is so engrossing that any longer and you would probably start speaking German and lurking in the shadows on your way to work in the morning.

Replay Value: 3.0: There are some interesting WWII inspired collectibles throughout the levels, but aside from that there just isn't enough to bring you back for a second playthrough once you beat this. Great game, but definitely a one and done.

Overall: 8.0 (not an average): I thoroughly enjoyed Velvet Assassin as it was a nice alternative to all the run-and-gun shooters that usually permeate the market. Although it didn't have enough to bring me back for more, and the last level was frustrating because it deviated from the stealth theme of the rest of the game, the game as a whole is engrossing and deserves a look from any shooter fan.

Also, I just want to include a special shout-out to Jino Song of Video Game World at 58 Broad St. in Bloomfield, NJ, 07003. Jino was kind enough, for a nominal fee, to fix my XBOX360 after I burned the lens out (it's what I get for playing games for 10-12 hours a day) in just 24 hours. No hassle, no six week wait for Microsoft to replace my system, just a single day. Without Jino's help, this review, and any game reviews coming in the next couple of months, would not be. If you have an XBOX360 that is giving you problems or are tired of the lack of personality you usually get from the big chain stores like Best Buy or GameStop, check out Jino's shop and tell him that Ray Carsillo sent you.

-Ray Carsillo

A NEW FIRST FOR THE FINAL FRONTIER

Capitalizing on the great space race between the USA and the USSR of the 1960s, Star Trek dared to go where no other TV show had gone before with the promise of exploring fantastic new worlds and providing unique challenges for the men and women aboard the USS Enterprise...or something along those lines.

Now, more than 40 years, several TV spinoffs, and 10 full-length feature films later, Director/Producer J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III, TV's Lost, Fringe, and Alias) has taken it upon himself to reinvent and retool that original concept and serve it piping hot for a brand new generation of would-be trekkies.
Star Trek looks back at how the crew of the USS Enterprise came to congeal into a legendary unit back at the space academy. With most of the original cast being in their 70s, an entirely new cast, headed by Zachary Quinto (TV's Heroes) as Spock, was called into action and everyone delivers spot on performances of the characters that the diehards have to come to know and love and that the newcomers will easily learn to.

Karl Urban (Lord of the Rings 2 and 3, Bourne Supremacy) as "Bones" McCoy and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) as Scotty were both beyond brilliant in their roles. John Cho (Harold and Kumar 1 and 2) worked well as a very green-behind-the-ears Mr. Sulu with the only real question coming from Chris Pine (Princess Diaries 2) who plays Captain Kirk. Many have criticized his performance, but I thought he had done a great job, taking beating after beating, just like William Shatner did, but always finding a way to come through in the end for himself and his crew. Also, the way Kirk's promiscuousness was played up was perfect. The only real question about his performance is did anyone really expect him...to...talk...like this? Cut the kid some slack.

With the cast in place, the biggest question next fell towards the plot about how to re-launch a series that has had such success over the years simply building on top of everything that had come before it. When working with a mind like J.J. Abrams, why am I not surprised that he found an interesting loophole when dealing with a re-launch. Stealing a plot line from many of Marvel Comics' most famous story arcs, he decided to create an alternate universe.

I know, your initial kneejerk reaction is this is a horrible idea, but the way it was explained as a major plot point to the story, with a time and space travelling Leonard Nimoy as "Spock Prime", was actually quite brilliant because it gives them the freedom for future movies to make whatever changes they want and not have to worry about die-hard fanboys crucifying each movie in online forums because it doesn't affect the original Star Trek whatsoever. If they can get past the whole parallel universe aspect, of course, which they should because in essence it fits in with the entire idea of Star Trek: Unknown worlds and dimensions and things beyond human comprehension until you actually come face to face with it.

With this being a different universe, the origins for everyone are slightly tweaked. Kirk's father dies in space when he is just an infant, the planet Vulcan is destroyed a la Death Star style from another famous space opera series, an interesting on-going relationship between Spock and Nyota Uhura, played by Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean), and the enemy, a Romulan simply referred to as Captain Nero, (played surprisingly well by Eric Bana; probably because you don't realize who it is until the end credits because of all his make-up) comes from a different future, just like "Spock Prime".

If you take a look at these differences though and embrace them instead of being steadfastly entrenched in the old ways, then it boils down to the same basics of what made Star Trek great to begin with. Amazing visual effects, awesome weapons, strong sci-fi action with a bit of humor mixed in with a few far-fetched plot points that are made to work under the guise of some expanded branch of new science, and characters that pull you into the story from the very beginning, and you've got a perfect modern variation on what Star Trek should be. With the differences being explained with a major plot point of the movie, there is no way you can walk away from this not being happy with the way it turned out. If anything, it can't be called a re-launch because it serves as a completely new adventure, tying in the old with the new, and allows for the new series to take off with only slight variations on the same great characters and leaves the memories of the old ones perfectly intact.

Star Trek will continue to live long and is definitely prospering ($76.5 million in the opening weekend) and gets 4 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

ADAMANTIUM ABOUND

This year's summer blockbuster movie season is geared more towards geeks than any other in recent memory: G.I. JOE in August, Transformers 2 in June, and Terminator: Salvation and Star Trek later in May. Of course, most have corresponding video games as well so our first double review, to kick off the summer blockbuster season with a feral roar, is X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Geeks have been salivating for years since this movie was announced as Wolverine is the most popular comic character in history (as per Wizard magazine last year). Would the movie live up to the unparalleled hype? What changes would be made to the story to fit the original trilogy?

Well, after seeing the movie, I can decree that this was easily the biggest disappointment to start the movie season in a long time. Classic characters like Deadpool and the Blob were destroyed and the unnecessary need to tie every character in with each other was annoying and inaccurate to the original stories. And if there was one more shot of Wolverine screaming at the sky a la Shatner from the original Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry would have crawled out of his grave and sued for copyright infringement. The basics of the original plot were there, but the discrepancies were abundant.

Young James Howlett was a sickly Canadian from a well-to-do family who saw his father slaughtered and his mutant power emerged from the trauma. In this movie, it also wielded the first change in the story as a young Victor Creed was revealed as Howlett's half brother. Immediately I knew bad things were coming for this movie.

After an entertaining montage of Howlett and Creed over the years through war after war and how their mutant abilities served them over and over again in bloody combat, the mutants were imprisoned in Vietnam after failing to obey orders.

Freed by Col. William Stryker after James and Victor's healing factors allowed them to survive a firing squad, they were offered them a deal they couldn't refuse and the events were set in motion that would change mutant history.

James and Victor join Team X along with fellow mutants Wade Wilson (later Deadpool), Fred Dukes (known in the comics as Blob), John Wraith, Bradley (known in the comics as Bolt), and Agent Zero (better known as Maverick), a group of military trained mutants that handle missions that only their special talents could pull off. After some misgivings on an African mission, James, now called Wolverine, leaves Team X, much to the dismay of Victor, now Sabertooth.

Team X also had the second obvious inaccuracy as Bradley is never given his codename and Maverick was depicted as Agent Zero and an Asian dude. In the comics, he was only Agent Zero after being brainwashed and he was as German as a blitzkrieg. Christoph Nord doesn't sound very Asian to me. I'll let that slide and remain more furious over the Agent Zero codename.

After leaving Team X, Wolverine goes off to marry a Native American woman named Silver Fox and become a lumberjack. Sabertooth kills Silver Fox in cold blood to, supposedly, try to force Wolverine to embrace his feral side. This is a self-explanatory sequence and was relatively accurate to the comics.

The next big disappointment in the movie though came with the ENTIRE Weapon X sequence. Wolverine doesn't have his memories erased here like in the comics, he doesn't kill anyone when he escapes, (him going "berserk" in the comics is an understatement and one of comics' most classic moments) and the entire sequence seems as a weak plot tool to give him the adamantium and give a gratuitous butt shot to Hugh Jackman instead of the major character changing moment it was in the comics. This lack of respect to the character and the blasphemy of changing a major portion of his history turned my stomach.

Then the story begins to really get ridiculous (even more so for a comics movie). He kills Agent Zero, which is a major no-no if it wasn't done in the comics (and it wasn't) and then tracks down Wraith for help. In order to get the info he is looking for, Wraith tells Wolverine he will have to beat it out of Fred Dukes. Only after a misunderstanding is Dukes even referred to as Blob, which in and of itself made me just shake my head in disbelief, but then they explained this as an eating disorder. In the comics, Blob was always a big guy who was proud of his bulk and had a secondary mutation to make him even more massive. This cheesy write off of his appearance made me feel like they were trying to be politically correct or trying to say "Come on fat people! You can fight back just like Fred Dukes!" This turn of events was beyond depressing because what would have been an epic battle in the comics was anti-climatic in the movie as it was in a boxing ring in the hopes of helping Dukes shed a few pounds. Gym trainers everywhere rejoiced.

The lead that Blob gives to Wolverine an hour and fifteen minutes into the movie was that a mutant named Gambit knows where to find Sabertooth. FINALLY. Aside from Deadpool and Blob, Gambit was a mutant that fans were clamoring to see on the big screen and this was one of the few times it did not disappoint in terms of the character. However, the way he was used in the plot, again this movie falls short. Instead of a major battle or drawn out exposition, he is simply another tool used to further a mediocre script.

Gambit leads Wolverine to "The Island", the secret facility where Sabertooth is, before conveniently disappearing during the climax of the movie. At "The Island", we find Stryker, Sabertooth, and Silver Fox (who faked her death) are all working together to round up mutants to allow Stryker to do tests for his most insane experiment yet, Deadpool. After stealing the opening scenes, you hoped to see Ryan Reynolds as the disfigured "Merc with a Mouth" in the red suit. Instead, his mouth is removed by Stryker so he could be the perfect weapon and the worst depiction over the character's 20-year history. Deadpool is given several mutants' powers, including Cyclops', which again, was nothing more than a flashy special effect and simply another way to tie everyone in the entire X-Men universe together, and ultimately is the undoing of Stryker.

Before he gets away though, Stryker shoots an adamantium bullet through Wolverine's skull to destroy his memory. (Since when has Wolverine been a vampire or werewolf?) With his memory destroyed, he only knows his name due to his dog tags that say "Logan" on one side and "Wolverine" on the other.

The action sequences were great. I'm not taking away from the pure action that the movie had and the acting from all involved was amazing. Liev Schriebrer did the character of Sabertooth credit and Hugh Jackman was great as Wolverine as usual. Everyone involved did really well considering it looks like the script writer was fired after the first 30 minutes of the movie and a kindergartener was hired in his place.

Professor Xavier, Cyclops, and Emma Frost all making cameos was beyond ridiculous and having Silver Fox conspire against Wolverine and work willingly with Stryker because Emma is supposed to be Silver Fox's sister doesn't make any sense and is beyond comic continuity comprehension.

The movie did mostly keep with the continuity of the original trilogy, but this is right on X-Men 3's level of competency in terms of justice to the comics. It gave people a lot of what they wanted to see, but in the entirely wrong context and it destroyed the spirit of the characters from the original comics.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine kicks off the summer movie season to a disappointing 2 out of 5.

When a movie is as bad as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you don't expect much from the game, but the corresponding video game was actually good, borderline great.

The same basic storyline from the movie serves as the plot here except the entire game is told in flashback as if from Wolverine's memories. The only problem with this is that if he lost his memories at the end of the flashback, then how can he remember the story to tell it?

Aside from this obvious flaw, the video game is chock full of action and goes far more in-depth with the Weapon X program than the movie. Along with this, a few continuity surprises along the way make this game a far superior product to the movie.

The game is graphically beautiful. Wolverine takes real-time damage and heals as he runs around. You can see straight down to his skeleton and Activision even took the time to make sure that in the flashbacks to Africa he doesn't have adamantium claws. At least they follow that part of the continuity and wait till he actually receives the adamantium at Alkali Lake.

The stellar graphics and bountiful amount of enemies for Wolverine to rip to shreds does cause some lag in the gameplay though, but aside from this and the overly linear levels, the game is as technically sound as it can be. With hundreds of ways to tear your enemies apart, you truly feel like your character is a living weapon.

The music is taken straight from the movie and having Hugh Jackman, Liev Schrieber, and Will I Am reprise their movie roles for the game was superb and anything less would never have worked. No Ryan Reynolds though meant not having any Deadpool until the final confrontation and this was a bit disappointing because I was really looking forward to his original wit, but I blame this more on the movie script writing (or lack there of).

The addition of the right characters from Wolverine's past into the game that weren't in the movie and some of the best battles in recent gaming history, including a battle with Wolverine taking on a full-sized 50ft. Sentinel (yes, Sentinels were worked into the video game story and it made more sense than anything from the movie), and you have one of the best action gaming experiences out there if you can look past the sub-par movie plot at its heart.

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

Graphics: 9.0: Aside from a few glitches, this game is beautiful. From the lush jungles of Africa to the frozen shores of Alkali Lake, to Wolverine's real-time battle damage and tearing enemies to shreds, this game is gorgeous.

Audio: 8.5: There is nothing too special in terms of sound. Great voice acting from all those involved, especially the three big stars from the film and proper sound effects whenever necessary. Just hearing the SNIKT! of Wolverine's claws though in a video game is enough to bump up the score.

Plot/Plot Development: 5.0: I expressed my displeasure with the plot in the movie review and do not need to compound my frustration by repeating myself here. The game does slightly better than the movie because of additions made by Activision in order to flesh the game out some.

Gameplay: 8.0: Glitchy at times due to the amount of enemies and detailed surroundings on screen at one time, but everything else came out solid. The fighting mechanics and physics were effective and I enjoyed the fact that the game had friendly fire so that some enemies could take each other out if they missed you. A little more open-endedness would have been appreciated, but I can't fault Activision too much for making it as linear as they did.

Replay Value: 5.0: The game really falters here because after you beat it once, there just isn't enough to bring you back for more. You could try to find extra collectibles to unlock classic costumes or max out Wolverine's stats, but after that, the game is over and this will end up probably sitting on your shelf until the next movie comes out and you need a refresher.

Overall: 8.5 (not an average): Epic boss battles, great gameplay, and classic comic characters brought to life is enough to warrant a buy from this game more than a ticket to see the movie. A lack of replay value and the proper comic plot knocks some points off, but at the end of the day you still feel like Wolverine and it feels good to be the best there is at what you do, even if it isn't very nice.

-Ray Carsillo

TURTLE POWER!

Twenty-five years ago, as a spoof, two comic book guys got together and changed the fate of the comic medium for all time. With elements of Ronin, Daredevil, and the X-Men, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created four teenaged mutant turtles that just so happened to have an affinity for pizza and ninjitsu.

If you haven't figured it out yet, then welcome to reality and how comfortable was the rock you've been living under? I speak of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, one of the most successful character franchises EVER.

The Turtles have since transcended from their modest beginnings to TV, movies, action figures, video games, music, and every other popular form of media you can think of. After 25 years of dominating every one of those mediums at one point or another, we were given a chance to look back and celebrate everything these four lean, green, fighting machines have given to us.

On April 23, 2009, in New York City, it was officially the Heroes in a Half-Shell's day and we had a chance to follow them across the city as they spread the word about their turning 25.

It began at the Empire State Building with the Turtles' flipping the switch to light the building green and ended in Tribeca with a special screening of their original live-action blockbuster movie from 1990.

Along the way, we caught up with some special guests and got some amazing news, that you can see below, as we documented a TMNT major announcement at their press conference at the Empire State Building. We then followed up with Mirage Studios' CEO Gary Richardson and the director of the original TMNT live-action feature film, Steve Barron, to get their thoughts on the announcement and the day's events.



After the amazing news at the Empire State Building, we needed a pizza break before we headed over to Tribeca where we got to explore the conversion of the party van into a mobile museum including trailers of TMNT Smash-Up, the new Turtles fighting game coming out this year, and the original cartoon's Seasons 7 and 8 that are coming to DVD later this year as well.

We then had a chance to talk about the newly announced movie and the scope of TMNT25 with some of the fans, Ernie Reyes Jr. (Keno in TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze),TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, and the producers of TMNT V (tentative title), due out 2011, Galen Walker and Scott Mednick.



CLICK HERE to check out my YouTube page to check out the entire interviews with Gary Richardson, Steve Barron, Kevin Eastman, Ernie Reyes Jr., Galen Walker, and Scott Mednick. The full interviews include EXCLUSIVE details about the new TMNT video game coming out later this year, TMNT Smash-Up, and TMNT V's plot.

It was an amazing day for TMNT fans, old and new alike, as the news of a new movie clearly stirred great emotion from all the fans as it spread like wildfire through the crowd. The anticipation now begins to mount as the 25th Anniversary Shell-ebration of TMNT is only just starting.

With two new DVDs of the classic cartoon coming out, a revamped version of the classic TMNT IV: Turtles in Time video game coming to XBOX Live in June, a completely brand-new game, TMNT Smash-Up, coming out later this year for Wii (later to be ported to other systems), and a new live-action feature film due out in 2011, it is clear that the Turtles are only just getting started.

Here is to TMNT's next 25 years being as glorious as the 25 they have already given us as we celebrated not only the past on this day in New York, but the future of this ground-breaking franchise as well. GO NINJA, GO NINJA, GO!

(I made a funny! Hahaha)

-Ray Carsillo

IT'LL BE THE COLDEST SUMMER IN GEARS

We're getting close to the summer push for video games when blockbuster after blockbuster will be dropping for the next two months. With the tough economy, not everyone is going to have the chance to drop all that money on the plethora of hits coming out in the next 60 days, though. So you'll see people maybe get a game or two, but they'll need more. Well, for those penny-pinchers out there I have been given a solution.

More maps from Gears of War 2!

Now, everyone knows I play a lot of games (I've beaten 70 over the past 8 months) over many different genres (fighting, first- or third-person shooters, RTS, RPG, adventure, racing, etc., etc.), but I keep coming back to Gears of War 2 because it is rare nowadays that a game will have the lasting power and deliver the multiplayer mayhem most of us crave like this game.

On top of this, the brilliant minds at Epic Games like to keep things fresh for all its die-hard and casual fans alike and at an affordable price. For only 800 Microsoft points (roughly eight to ten American dollars) you can purchase four brand new multiplayer maps that bring the pain like no others have so far. Included with the download of the four new maps are nine brand new achievements you can unlock, worth 250 Gamerscore points, as well.This map pack will have you washing off that Lancer Chainsaw Rifle with Locust blood in no time. I just don't recommend you eat the red snow...

That reminds me of a critical detail. It's called the Snowblind Map Pack. That's right. Soon it may be warm enough to cook eggs on the city sidewalks outside, but inside it'll be nice and frosty as the new map pack has a wintery theme to help keep you Gearheads cooled off.

The first map included in the new map pack is Fuel Depot. Gear veterans will know that Fuel Depot was an original map in Gears 1, but this time it is blanketed in freshly fallen snow to give the all-time classic a revamped look. Add in Gears 2's Guardian mode and heavy weapons and suddenly this familiar map gets an entirely new twist as you re-familiarize yourself with its open and unforgiving sections to the lovely sound of Gatling gun bullets whizzing by your frostbitten face.

The first brand new map we'll look at is Courtyard. What once was a hustling and bustling metropolis' civic center is now an arid kill zone with clear lines of sight for whatever team can maintain the elevated sniper's nest. There is a boiler room though that you can take refuge in and regroup with some grenades/proximity mines should your team lose or fail to grab control of the nest in the onset of the battle. It's a great map for every mode of play; I found Courtyard to be a particular favorite of mine for Annex or Submission matches.

The next new map is Grindyard. Once used to recycle scrap metal during the more industrial days of Sera's history, Grindyard has a gutted main office that could act as a guard tower if your team can fortify it first. Some of my best Execution battles have been won and lost in the walkway leading to the top of the tower where there is usually a heavy weapon waiting for you to dole out punishment from high above. If you can't get the tower, you can try to snipe off opposing team members from two corner offices that are well fortified from enemy fire, but watch your back! There are two ways in and out of the lower offices, unlike the tower office, making it much easier for a less organized team to be picked off from behind. This map is a spectacular arena for Guardian or Warzone game modes.

It's hard to pick favorites, but this last map would probably be the one I choose out of the new map pack. Under Hill is a scene that many people who have to drive into New York City everyday would appreciate. Snowbound tunnels and tollbooths set the scene here as wrecked cars provide cover as you attempt to reach the top of the paved helix for some prime weaponry. Often higher ground gives you a tactical advantage, but that's not always so here. The top of the helix is wide open and accessible from two lanes whereas you could always fortify yourself near the bottom inside a garage with an impenetrable steel door and wait to mow down enemies foolish enough to stumble through the narrow rear walkway. Also easily fortifiable are the two far corridors on either side of the garage that always have grenades/proximity mines ready to help you defend it from enemies. While wider than the garage and with much more cover, with the help of some well placed mines, the corridors could easily be a deathtrap for anyone brave enough to wander in by himself. Under Hill is a great map for King of the Hill and Annex matches.

This map pack is a must have download for any Gearhead. If you're a more casual gamer and you're looking for some fresh gameplay and are a little strapped for cash in the coming months, a new map pack might be just the thing you need to keep yourself satiated until that tax return check arrives. Gears of War 2's Snowblind Map Pack is downloadable now on XBOX Live.

-Ray Carsillo