Author Archive

Review: Alan Wake – 'Cos This is Thriller

Dark shadows have a way of hiding the truth. For a game as moody and dark as Remedy’s Alan Wake, this could be more the case about the game rather than its proposed story. Alan Wake was announced over two years ago and has been long rumored as Microsoft’s big psychological thriller. Many considered the game’s rich [...]

Review: The Black Keys – Brothers

Listen; The Black Keys are thunderous. For years now Auerbach and Carney have been cultivating this blues-rock flow with somewhat predictable but satisfying offerings. At times the Akron band sounded like they were about to teach ol’ Jack White a lesson or two about what it means to be the best rock duo alive. However its not [...]

Review: Final Fantasy XIII – A Bustle in Your Hedgerow

You know how “Stairway to Heaven” builds slowly and then finally ruptures at around 4:20? It’s a great moment and you get swept away with in the ascending momentum of the song. Final Fantasy XIII, like the Zeppelin song, makes you earn your nut. For instance, the game starts you out in the fine tradition [...]

Review: Bioshock 2 – Déjà Vu of a Wet Dream

I think everyone’s a bit skeptical when it comes to sequels now-a-days. We’ve all been fooled so many times by promise and fancy-pants marketing schemes that we are reluctant to believe part II can be any good.  This is the way I saw Bioshock 2 being developed. You want more Bioshock? Let’s cram in an [...]

Review: Mass Effect 2

Here’s the problem; Everyone is talking about how Mass Effect 2 is so great. Like the iPad it’s reputation literally preceded its arrival. Take it from me, Mass Effect 2 is a decent game. It may be introducing a lot of novice role-playing-gamers to the genre and that could be why it’s being so celebrated [...]

Immersed in BioShock 2

One of the most interesting things about the game Bioshock was that it took everyone who played it into a world they’d never seen before. An underwater former utopia built half a century ago and left to rot in the Atlantic Ocean.  On February 9th 2010, BioShock 2 arrives on U.S. shores and I’ve had [...]

Bayonetta Review: Bad-Ass

So about 10 years ago this guy named Hideki Kamiya claims to have reinvented the Castlevania style game of the generation yore with Devil May Cry. He actually did, and along came armies of clones, God of War being the most notable. Now he’s back with Bayonetta. The game is much like Devil May Cry [...]

Rockstar Dates Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar Games has finally nailed a date to the wall for it’s big-time western sequel, Red Dead Redemption.  On April 27th, 2010 we finally get our six-shooters back.  The sequel to 2004′s Red Dead Revolver has been a traveling rumor for years.  It was known that the open-world western would be using the Euphoria engine [...]

Dylan live at the United Palace Theater

Besides the seats being filled with grey domes as far as the eyes could see, the venue looked like a byzantine church. It didn’t matter though. I was going to see Dylan. Strangely, I’d actually grown fond of Dylan’s latest quirky single Must Be Santa. It’s so strange that it’s funny. But O.B.D. would have [...]

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition

GODDAMMIT! Doesn’t anybody give a shit about the rules anymore?! I didn’t watch my buddies die face down in the mud so some fucking digital nobody could just hide in the bushes the whole match and shoot me! Yep, I’ve been playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 all week and I want to tear [...]

Dan Auerbach/ Justin Townes Earle / Jessica Lea Mayfield – Webster Hall Nov. 11th

You know how it feels when the warm murmur of the crowd is broken by the first licks of the bass from the band? It’s like getting off for concert goers. It turns out that last night’s show at Webster Hall was all about the foreplay. The night started with the soothing voice of Jessica [...]

Review: Grand Theft Auto – Episodes from Liberty City

I’m not going to lie. I run several night clubs owned by Anthony Prince. He can be a bit of a pansy but I’ve made many connections and a lot of paper cleaning up after the guy. You should come to one of my clubs. Depending on the night, I might be working the door [...]

Review: Forza Motorsport 3

I don’t usually play a lot of racing simulators. That is, games in the Forza or Gran Turismo series. The gameplay tends to be dry and overly nuanced, you never get to start the game with any of the cars you want, and quite frankly the sheer size of these racing sims can be overwhelming [...]

The Horrors: Music Hall of Williamsburg

I last saw The Horrors when they opened for NIN at Webster Hall and they killed it. So naturally I wanted to see them headline on one of the final nights of their Black Diamond Heavies/Crocodiles tour. As soon as I got to the Music Hall of Williamsburg, I ordered a Jack Daniels and got [...]

Brütal Legend Will Melt Your Face!

Brütal Legend has finally arrived. This is an experience conceived by Tim Schafer and Jack Black as a homage to Heavy Metal mythology and comedy. The Legend survives a storm of controversy over publishing rights and the casting of Metal God cameos.  Jack Black stars as Eddie Riggs, the best roadie that ever lived. One [...]

Ian Brown: My Way

Of all the ex-Stone Roses’ fragments to have spun off in new directions, Ian Brown has been the most prolific. His sixth solo record in the last 10 years proudly titled My Way, marches its way through 12 tracks of Manchester electro-pomp and Spanish horns.  It’s hard to discern if it’s the music or the [...]

Shadow Complex takes you back to Old School

Shadow Complex is a game built by Metroid fans. Metroid was first released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. So can a modern game, using the brawn of Epic’s Unreal Engine really capture the magic of Nintendo’s 2 Dimensional platforming adventure? Will modern audiences accept this homage as such? Or is Shadow Complex just standing in the shadow of the big N?

Review: Halo ODST

This is Halo Noir. Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or what Halo’s developer Bungie has called the next addition to the Halo saga, actually takes place during the events of Halo 2. ODST places you in the helmets of a small squad of elite troopers dropped into a Covenant battle over the African city of New Mombasa in [...]