10 Surprisingly Tricky Soulsborne Bosses Part 2

 

 

 

 

Right, its now time for Part 2 of my look at 10 surprisingly trick bosses from the Soulsborne games and here I will look at the last 5. Again these are not in any real order of difficulty they are just on here for the sake of well...being there lol.

Anyway, so let's take a look at which bosses made the list...

6. Witch of Hemwick (Bloodborne)

So, at No.6 is a boss that is acutally often called the easiest boss in Bloodborne, the Witch of Hemwick, however I have to say I can't fully agree with that myself as in the past I have actually found this boss be a bit tricky.

The boss itself starts with a single witch that can summon dark creatures known as Mad Ones, that will attack you but the witch can also fire AoE magic attacks at you that can deal out fair damage. The first phase is actually generally quite easy enough, where the fight get's a bit more tricky is in the second phase where a second witch joins in the fray and they can fire off a paralysing attack that holds you in place to allow for the witches to either gouge out your eyes or the Mad Ones to kill you. Not only that but if you fail to kill both witches in time, one will heal the other and the fight goes on. The easiest way to do this fight however would be to actually go in with zero insight and that way the Mad Ones will not appear and it will allow you to take out the witches with greater ease without them lumbering around.

So, I would have to say that yes I have defeated the Witch of Hemwick more times than not with ease but there has definitely been times where they tripped me up and for that they deserve a place on here.

7. Royal Rat Vanguard (Dark Souls II)

So, at No.7 is believe it or not...this boss, Royal Rat Vanguard, which yes I know is again considered very easy as a boss but I have to admit again there have been times in the past this boss has caught me out.

The boss itself is basically just a bunch of rats that come out of their holes keep attacking you with bites that can inflict both poison and petrification (God knows why though rats would be able to petrify you!) and they keep scurrying around until the Royal Rat Vanguard himself decides to join them. The only difference between the RRV and the others is that he has a more spiked hairdo and that's about it. Another tricky thing here is knowing when to spot him as he can blend in with the other rats quite easily most of the time, which can also a bit of difficulty here. 

So, while I do admit this boss is quite easy most of the time, there has been times in the past where I have died to this boss in a few playthroughs and even one time it took me six goes to get past them! The rats themselves are easy enough and the RRV himself is also easy, its just the cramped environment you fight them in is itself a real pest and also provides most of the challenge, plus throw in some poison and petrification damage to and can be a pain to deal with. 

So, yep might be a bit embarrassing to admit lol but yes this boss can actually be deceptively tricky (well for me anyway) and as such takes a place on the list.

8. Demon Firesage (Dark Souls)

At No.8 is this boss from the original Dark Souls, Demon Firesage, who is one of the bosses found in the Demon Ruins area of the game and similar to the other demon bosses in the game but the main differnce here is he is...on fire! 

So, as to why this boss can be tricky, well for me I think its a case of him being alot stronger than the earlier demon bosses (Asylum and Taurus demons) so his attacks do alot more damage. However, what else makes this boss tricky is that he deploys the use of a magic AoE attack that can dish out alot of damage (which can be blocked to an extent by your shield) which knocks you off your feet. Demon Firesage also can perform a pretty devastating plunging strike with his large staff that has the potential for a one-shot kill. Added to this, the Demon Firesage also performs a body slam similar to the other demons, which will also cause alot of damage although this can be easily avoided. 

So, Demon Firesage is definitely is a tricky boss and one that is a step up from the previous demon bosses in the game, who is only matched by the Stray Demon who can be found underneath the Undead Asylum but as you face this guy later, I thought I would Firesage here instead. And I have to say that, yes, this guy did beat me a few times on a few playthroughs as I did find it tricky evading his attacks.  

So, Demon Firesage certainly deserves a spot on the list as one of the more tricky demon bosses in the original game.

9. Old Monk (Demon's Souls)

So, at No.9 is this boss from Demon's Souls, Old Monk, which is essentially a PvP encounter of sorts with the Old Monk themselves being a dark phantom that will be summoned on entering the boss arena. This fight can also be an online player, similar to another boss fight in Dark Souls III (which I might mention in a bit!) where they are the boss themselves, which can make for a more difficult encounter.

However, I have added the Old Monk on here because this guy kicked my ass on my very first playthrough of Demon's Souls with his mix of combo attacks and use of magic. In fact it has to be said that the Old Monk's deadliest attack would be his backstab, which will finish you off for sure if he manages it. Next to that of course, the Old Monk will use homing soul arrows to fire at you too that are quite damaging also. Not only that but the Old Monk is pretty aggressive and relentless when he approaches you, which gives you little time to back up properly and get away from him. 

I have however since managed to defeat the Old Monk with greater ease since my first playthrough but I can still die to him once in a while and I feel you are definitely more vulnerable to him if you are using lighter weapons but a strength build is a good way to take him down. 

So, with that all said, Old Monk can be a tricky old bugger and as such thought I would add him on the list here.

10. Crystal Sage (Dark Souls III)

And last but not least at No.10 is this boss from Dark Souls III, the Crystal Sage, who is of course a villainous mage that deals out some nasty crystal magic attacks. The sage is in fact the boss pictured at the top of the review btw.

So, again this is a boss that has tripped me up in several playthroughs of the game as the Crystal Sage's magic attacks can be pretty damaging as he fires out large crystal orbs at you as well as crystal trails along the ground. But where the sage can also get tricky is in the 2nd phase, where he conjures up some phantom Sages and they fire off soul spheres that deal heavy damage also but they can however be killed with just one hit, so that's something. 

So, yep its safe to say that this guy can be tricky at times and even to this day, there are still a few times that he has killed me at least once when playing the game and its easy to underestimate the sage. And with that said I think that the Crystal Sage certainly deserves a spot on here to conclude the list. 

SIGN OFF 2020!

So, that's it for my final post of 2020 and if you have enjoyed reading these posts this year, it would be great if you could leave a comment on them sometime and thanks for stopping by. 

I would also like to finish off by wishing you all a Happy New Year when it comes around and let's hope 2021 is a better one than we've had this year in 2020 (couldn't be much worse!).

So, till then take care and have a Happy New Year.  

10 Surprisingly Tricky Soulsborne Bosses Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, this will be my last post of the year and it will be in two parts and just for something a little different, I thought I would do a list of bosses from the Dark Souls & Bloodborne games that I find suprisingly tricky. The basis for this of course is that most players might find these bosses not that hard but for myself, they can be a sticky wicket to deal with, so I thought I would put together a wee list of these bosses. And I will include Demon's Souls bosses in this list too given that it is a Souls game in its own right and kicked it all off!

Oh and just to say that these bosses won't be rated in any specific order of difficulty as their challenge can of course vary, so it would be tricky to say, which one is the overall toughest as it can depend on the playthrough RNG (i.e. random numbers generator) that affects elements of gameplay.

So, with that said, let's take a look at the bosses who can trip you up in the Soulsborne world...

1. Bed of Chaos (Dark Souls)

So, first up is the Bed of Chaos from the original Dark Souls, which is often regarded as one of the most hated bosses in the series (and its hard to argue with that!). The Bed of Chaos itself is a basically a giant tree creature that is controlled by three witches that hidden in its cores that you need to kill to defeat it.

Now this boss can be somewhat tricky by the very nature of its unpredictability regarding its random attacks no to mention that the floor can collapse underneath your feet, killing you instantly during the second phase. Also in the third phase you are subjected to random pillars of fire that can also deal big damage and before you know, you might find yourself back at the start again!

So, while this bosses isn't that difficult, it isn't entirely easy either and the random nature of its attacks is what warrants it a place on the list here. 

2. Aldia, the Scholar of the First Sin (Dark Souls II)

Next is the final secret boss of Dark Souls II, Aldia, the Scholar of the First Sin, who you need to defeat King Vendrick before you can actually face him. Aldia appears at several different points in the game leading up to the finale and is of course a big blob of fire and flesh with a posh English accent! 

Aldia again isn't considered a tough boss as such in Dark Souls II but that doesn't mean to say that he can't catch you out now and then with his attacks. And I for one have to say in my most recent playthrough of the game, I actually did struggle with him and took me five goes to actually defeat him! 

And the reason I think he can be tricky is because again his attacks can be pretty random as he fires homing fireballs, launch stone pillars from the ground to trip you up and worst of all is he has a huge fireball attack that can one-shot you (and it got me twice!). What's also annoying here is that your windows for attack are pretty rare as you have to wait until the fire that surrounds Aldia goes out and he turns grey and only then you can properly get damage into him and then the flame will reappear, which can also do some serious damage to you. 

So, while I have to say Aldia is a pretty underwhelming boss overall, he can still be tricky and as such that's why he deserves a spot on here.

3. Iudex Gundyr (Dark Souls III) 

Next is the intro game boss in Dark Souls III, Iudex Gundyr and for an intro boss he can be pretty tough and in a way, he sets the tone for the rest of the game difficulty wise as Souls III is possibly the most challenging of the Souls trilogy.

Now Gundyr's difficulty can depend on your build because if you are a caster, he is much easier to deal with as ranged attacks always work well on him, however if you need to get up close and fight him melee wise, that's where Gundyr will give you some trouble. And I actually found him pretty tough to deal with with certain character classes, especially as a cleric with just your mace, this is where he can really mess you up! Gundyr's attacks are also pretty relentless with a mix of combos, leaping attacks, not to mention when he turns into an abyssal creature in his second phase, you need to watch out for a potential one-shot slam. 

So, Gundyr for me personally would certainly rank as the toughest opening boss of the Souls trilogy and as such he deserves a spot here.

4. Vanguard (Demon's Souls)

Speaking of tricky opening bosses, one that is definitely of special mention here is the intro boss of Demon's Souls, Vanguard, who is basically a big demon with overgrown butt-cheeks! In fact you could almost argue that in a way, he is the ultimate opening boss because I for one, have NEVER beaten him in the opening stage of the game so far! He can be found later in the game however in the Shrine of Storms area where he can be taken down much easier from range, however here, its a different story.

And basically what makes this boss tricky is the simple fact that he is an intro boss and you are not levelled up at all, so you have to rely on dodging to avoid his hefty attacks. However because of this, as I mentioned, I've never actually managed to beat Vanguard in the opening sequence of the game (this of course can be a skipped though as you don't need to fight him at the start if you skip the opening sequence).

So, Vanguard is basically a boss that can be beaten early on, just now that easily but I'm sure if you go into new game plus, then he might be alot easier to take down but not on new game. So, for that alone, I think Vanguard definitely deserves a spot here.

5. Undead Giant - Chalice Dungeons Level 1 (Bloodborne)

And to finish off the first part of the list is this boss from Bloodborne, the Undead Giant. Now there are different versions of this boss in the chalice dungeons to be found that can be even tougher but for starters in the first playable dungeon you come to, this guy is the first boss and he can be pretty tricky! 

Now again the reason why I'd say the Undead Giant is tricky here is because, you could be going into the dungeons with your character at a lower stat level and this guy's attacks can be pretty brutal as he has two big blades in place of his hands and he can do slash combos as well as leaping smashes and these both hurt! So, this boss definitely does require some good dodging to avoid get clobbered by him although you can deal big damage to him if you burst a big lump on his leg. But this boss definitely does require good timing to avoid getting hit. 

So, the Undead Giant at the Level 1 Chalice Dungeon is definitely worth putting on this list as he can be pretty challening for your first foray into the dungeons of Bloodborne.

So, that's it for Part 1 and I will be back soon with Part 2.

See you soon! 

The Man With The Golden Gun Review (Revisited) "I sure am, boy!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, 2020 is almost at an end (thank God alot of us will be saying no doubt!) but I've decided to keep the posts going a bit more just before it does and I will continue with this one, which will be a revisit (yes sorry another lol) of an James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun from Roger Moore's days as 007.

So, after 46 years how does this film stand up??? Well, let's take another look and find out...

And here is the usual...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!! 

STORY

OK so a bit about the story as it begins with a golden bullet received by MI6 which has "007" etched on it and it was believed to be sent by a famous and mysterious assassin named Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) as a taunt to James Bond (Roger Moore).  

Bond then decides to go off and locate Scaramanga, without the permission of his superiors and he starts his travels and in a nightclub he spots a dancer, Saida (Carmen du Sautoy) with a golden bullet in her belly button.  Bond goes backstage afterward and allows himself to be seduced by the dancer but is suddenly attacked by thugs just as he kisses the dancer's stomach he swallows the bullet.  Bond then fights off the men and leaves and afterward tracks the manufacturer of the bullet with the help of Q (Desmond Llewellyn) and he goes to Macau.  

Bond then follows Sacaramanga's mistress, Andrea Anders (Maude Adams) who is seen collecting bullets from a casino.  Bond then follows Andrea to Hong Kong and to her hotel where he forces her to tell him about Scaramanga's plans and what he looks like (as he has never been seen) and Andrea tells Bond that his next hit will be at the Bottoms-up club.  

At the club Bond discovers that Scaramanga's next hit is Gibson, a scientist who holds valuable piece of technology called the "solar agitator".  Scaramanga kills Gibson with one shot from his golden gun and his dwarf henchman, Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize) steal the solar agitator.  Bond arrives on the scene but is suddenly arrested by Lt Hip (Soon-Tek Oh) who takes him to meet up with M (Bernard Lee) and Q onboard the wreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth, where they have a secret office.  At their meeting M orders Bond to retrieve the solex device and assassinate Scaramanga and from here Bond starts his dangerous journey to stop megalomaniacal Scaramanga...

THOUGHTS 

Whilst it isn't one of the strongest Bond films in the franchise, The Man with the Golden Gun is still a very entertaining, albeit cheesy Bond film which features plenty of action, cheap laughs, adventure and fun to keep the viewer interested.  Based on the original novel by Ian Fleming it was originally set to be filmed after You Only Live Twice and to use Cambodia as the location for filming, however it was cancelled due to an uprising at that time over there.  

The film's script also mirrored the real life energy oil crisis of 1973 which greatly affected the UK and also the USA, which was covered with the theme of the solex agitator and how Scaramanga wished to steal the device so he could capture  the power of solar energy for his own uses.  The film also poked fun at martial arts films, especially given the success of Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, which we see during the scene where Bond has to fight within a karate dojo.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

Performance wise TMWTGG (quite an abbreviation!) is largely pretty good even if the cast aren't all quite perfect. 

Starting with Roger Moore who does a find job as James Bond and this was only his second film but even by then he had already eased into the part of playing the suave, smooth yet deadly secret agent.  Moore however felt at the time he wasn't entirely happy with the direction of where the character was going as in the film Moore is directed to play Bond a bit more like Sean Connery, as rough and tumble 007 who will slap women around if necessary to get information.  And we see Moore do this in the scene where 007 pressues Andrea to tell him information about Scaramanga, which Moore was not comfortable filming.

Moore however does have quite a few highlights in the film and he get's plenty of a glib one-liners and double entendres.  Some examples include the scene where Bond seduces (or allows himself to be seduced) by the belly dancer, Saida, and he ends up accidentally swallowing her golden bullet just as the thugs attack him.  And after the fight the dancer looks down at her belly button and screams "I've lost my charm!" and Bond says "Not from where I'm standing!" before he leaves and hails a taxi outside and says to the driver "Take me to the nearest pharmacy!".  

Then there is the scene where Bond threatens the bullet manufacturer, Lazar by aiming a rifle at his groin. And in the scene, Lazar tells Bond how he just makes bullets but doesn't kill anyone much to the protest of Bond who accuses him of supplying bullets to killers such as Scaramanga. So, Lazar says to him "Mr Bond, bullets do not kill. Its the trigger that pulls them" and Bond says "Exactly" and he trains the rifle he stands behind at Lazar and says coldly "I am now aiming precisely at your groin. So speak now or forever hold your piece!".  

Another is the scene where Bond pressures Andrea to tell him where Scaramanga is and what he looks like he asks her "How can I recognise him?" and she says "Tall, slim and dark" and Bond quips "So is my aunt! Anything disctinctive about him?". So, Andrea tells him "He's not like other men he has three..." pointing to the area of the chest to indicate three nipples and Bond says "Funny anatomical titbit, but perhaps the most useless piece of information I've ever heard unless the Bottoms-up is a strip club and Scaramanga is performing there!".  

Another scene is where Bond meets with Hai Fat (Richard Loo) a wealthy Thai entrepeneur who is in cahoots with Scaramanga and he takes off his shirt as he prepares to go in for a dip with some girls in a pool within Fat's estate and he sees that Bond has a fake third nipple.  And Bond after the meeting with Fat, leaves and say to Hip "He invited me to dinner.  He must have found me quite titillating!" and he removes the fake nipple and throws it away.  

Then there is the scene where Bond is taken to a dojo in Fat's estate and he is forced to fight some of the dojo's students the first he knocks unconscious with a single kick before fighting the dojo's top student, Chula. And after a tough fight, Bond manages to escape by diving out the dojo and before leaving he bows his head!

This is then followed by the moment where Bond tries to escape Fat's men in a small motored boat but it runs out of steam and stutters, so Bond tries to look for a way to fit and a young boy selling a statue jumps onboard to pitch to him. So, the boy says to him "You are very handsome, Mister. 30 baht. For your 20 baht!" and Bond looks at him and says "Tell you what, sonny, I'll give you 20,000 baht if you can make this thing go any faster!". And the boy suddenly turns a small switch, which powers the boat and it speeds up and the boy grins and says "20,000 baht!" but Bond sees the Fat's men coming on the canal, so he pushes the boy into the water and says "I'm afraid I'll have to owe you!" and the young boy shouts "Bloody tourists!".    

And there is of course the car chase scene between Bond and Scaramanga where Bond just so happens to steal a car from a dealership, which Pepper is sitting in is testing out. So, as Bond get's in the car, Pepper without looking at him and asks "How about a demonstration, boy?" and Bond says to him "Certainly, sir!" and starts up the engine and drives it out through the dealership window. However, as Pepper looks at Bond he says "Now, I KNOW you!" and Bond recognises him and says "Oh, no!" and Pepper says "You're the secret agent! That english secret agent from England!". 

And later on as Bond loses sight of Scaramanga, he soon finds him again but across a river and he eyes an incomplete spiral shaped wooden bridge that would lead other side and Bond suddenly turns the car around levels it up to make the jump. So, in the scene Pepper nervously says "You're not gonna..." and Bond says to him "I sure am, boy!" and he revs up the car and drives toward the incomplete bridge and says "You ever heard of Evel Kinevel?!" and the car makes the looped jump over to the other side. Pepper then shouts in celebration as they make and in amazement he says "I ain't never done THAT before!" and Bond says calmly "No, neither have I actually".  

Then there is the scene where Bond travels to Scaramanga's remote island and has dinner with him and he listens to Scaramanga's waffle. So, Scaramanga concludes by saying to Bond that they are no different from each other and that surely he must enjoy killing as much as he does but Bond says to him "There is an interesting four letter word, and you're full of it! When I kill its on orders of her majesty's government and those I kill are themselves killers!" but Scaramanga says to him "Oh, come come, Mr Bond. You get as much fulfilment out of killing as I do, so why don't you admit it?" and Bond says "I admit killing you would be a pleasure". Scaramanga then tries to taunt Bond by saying "Then you should have done that when you first saw me but the English don't consider it sporting to kill in cold blood, do they?" and Bond irritated says "Don't count on it!" and tries to pull his gun but Scaramanga pulls his first. 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER AHEAD! 

And last of all is the scene where just after Bond kills Scaramanga having disguised himself as S's waxwork of Bond, he finds Goodnight and they make their exit from the island. 

So, in the scene, Goodnight asks Bond "Where is Scaramanga?" and Bond tells her "Flat on his coup de grace! I'll have to take care of the maintenance man" and Goodnight tells him "I already did. I laid him out cold" and Bond looks surprised and says "There's more to you than meets the eye, Goodnight". However, as they enter the plantworks area, Bond notices the warning signs and the helium containers are starting to bubble up violently. So, Bond asks her "Goodnight, I hate to ask a stupid question but where exactly did you knock him out cold?" and Goodnight points and says "He fell into that one other there". So, Bond annoyed says to her "Don't you believe in signs?! We've got 5 minutes before his body temperature raises that helium and then this place will go sky high!". 

And then there is Christopher Lee who steals the film as Scaramanga, the ruthless assassin, who apparently is paid a million dollars a hit as he considered to be that good.  

Lee has some good fun with his character and he has several highlights in the film, such as the opening scene where a man comes to his island, where he challenges him and ends up killing the man and he says to Nick Nack "You'll be the death of me yet, Nick Nack!" and he then turns to a dummy of Bond and shoots its fingers off!  

Then there is the scene where Scaramanga kills Hai-Fat and just before he does, Hai-Fat tells him that he most take the solex and return to the power plant and Scaramanga secretly assembles his gun for the kill.

So, in the scene, Scaramanga teases Hai-Fat about his karate dojo student failing to capture Bond "What do they teach at that school? Ballet dancing?!" and Hai-Fat says to him "I find nothing amusing in Mr. Bond's escape. May I remind you that you work for me. I took you on to be an occasional consultant, nothing more. I now regret having even considered employing your services, but that is beside the point. Bond doesn't know you; he's never seen you. But he knows me. That's the problem". Scaramanga by now having fully assmebled his gun says to Hai-Fat "That's no problem" and he aims his gun and shoots Hai-Fat, who collapses. So, one of Hai-Fat's aides runs in and asks what happened and Scaramanga tells him "Mr Fat has just resigned. I'm the new chairman of the board" and he leaves and says on his way out "Fat always did like that masoleum. Put him in it!". 

And one of Lee's best and most cheesy moments is the scene where Scaramanga finally meets with Bond during a Thai kick-boxing match, as Bond sits next to Andrea (who is now dead at this point).  And in the scene Scaramanga tells Bond a little backstory about himself "When I was a boy I was brought up in a circus.  My only real friend was a huge, magnificent African bull." and he continues to say "You see, Mr Bond, I always thought I loved animals.  Then I discovered that I enjoy killing people even more". Scaramanga then says to Bond before he goes "I will bid you farewell now, Mr Bond. Please don't try to follow us" and Bond says of Nick-Nack who sits behind Bond with a gun "Your peanut gun-toting friend back there wouldn't like it" and Scaramanga smiles and says "No, he wouldn't" and leaves. 

Then there is the scene Scaramanga and Bond taunt each other while Bond is at Scaramanga's island and Scaramanga pulls out his gun and says "I could have shot you down when you arrived, but that would have been ridiculously easy!  You see, Mr Bond, like every great artist I would like to create an indisputable masterpiece once in my lifetime.  The death of 007 mano en meno, will be mine!".

Maude Adams as Scaramanga's mistress, Andrea Anders is also very good and Adams herself would later return in another Bond film, Octopussy as a different girl.

And I will mention just one of Adams's scenes, which is the one where Bond interrogates Andrea at her hotel room. So, In the scene Bond asks her "Do you work for him?" and Andrea awkwardly says to Bond "I don't work for him. I'm his... eh...his..." and Bond susses it out "So, he's a lover too" and Andrea says "Only before he kills" and Bond says "Bullfighters do the same thing. They claim it improves the eye. His eyes are on me. Where can I find him?". Andrea then says "I don't know" and Bond grabs her roughly and slaps her and shouts "I said where?!" and Andrea says "I know he has a date at the Bottoms' up club tonight!". 

Bond then asks her "How will I recognise him?" and Andrea says "Tall, slim and dark" and Bond quips "So is my aunt. Anything distinctive about him?" and Andrea says "He's not like other men he has three..." and indicates the nipple area and Bond says "Fascinating anatomical titbid but probably the most useless piece of information I've ever heard unless Bottom's up is a strip and Scaramanga is performing there!". So, Bond threatens Andrea and says "You'll have to do better!" and Andrea says "He usually wears a white linen suit, black tie, and jewellery all gold" and Bond says "You're improving" and Andrea rolls her wrist and says "I don't want you to twist my arm again!" and Bond says "I don't want to either".

Then there is Britt Eckland as Bond's later love interest, Goodnight, whom is somewhat clumsy and hapless in the film but ends up helping Bond at the end (and yes she does look good in a bikini!).  

And Britt has one of the film's cheesiest but still fun lines, where Bond first meets up with her and he says to her that he has official business (i.e. Andrea, Scaramanga's mistress) and Goodnight having spotted Andrea earlier says "Yes I saw your official business" and Bond says "Goodnight after two years would I do that to you?" and she shouts "Yes you bloody well would!".  

Another good scene from Britt is when Bond and Goodnight share a late night drink together outside and she is wearing a fetching blue dress, which Bond compliments her on as he drinks some sub-par wine. So, Bond drinks the wine and says "I approve" and Goodnight asks "You do?" and Bond says "Oh, not the wine, of your frock. Tight in all the right places, not too many buttons" and Goodnight smiles and says "Its South East Asia standard, the buttons are down the back". So, Bond then flirts with Goodnight a bit more heavily and says "If Hip doesn't come up with a lead, there really isn't much for us to do tonight". However, for once, Bond is given the cold shoulder and Goodnight says well goodnight to him! So, Goodnight says "Oh, darling, I'm tempted. But, killing a few hours as one of your passing fancies, isn't quite my scene" and she walks off. 

And lastly there is the scene near the end where Goodnight knocks out Scaramanga's plant worker and he lands in a container of liquid helium (I think!) and his body temperature raises the plant's temps to an unstable rate much to Bond's horror. So, Bond says to Goodnight "We'll need to take care of the maintenance man" and Goodnight says to him "I already did. I laid him out cold " and Bond looks at her surprised and says "There's more to you than meets the eye, Goodnight!". So, as they enter the plant area, Bond asks her "Goodnight, I hate to ask a stupid question but where did you knock him out cold?" and Goodnight says "I knocked him out in that one over there" and we see the man's body lie in the container. Bond however says to her "Don't you believe in signs?! We've five minutes before his body temperature raises that helium and this whole place will go sky high!" and Goodnight says "I'm sorry, I didn't know!".   

And last of all is Britt's last scene where Bond and Goodnight make out onboard Scaramanga's private junk but unbeknownst to them, Nick-Nack has also smuggled himself onboard. So, just as Bond and Goodnight embrace, Goodnight smiles and says to Bond "I always wanted to take a slow boat from China!" and they kiss but its not long before Nick-Nack appears from above with a knive and Goodnight looks up and screams just before Nick-Nack drops down and he and Bond fight.

Clifton James also reprises his role from Live and Let Die as Sherrif J.W. Pepper who turns up in the film and just happens to be on holiday in Bangkok (with his wife) and testing out a car in a showroom when Bond suddenly races into the car and takes off with Pepper.  Pepper it has to be said is actually one of the more annoying characters in the Bond series and these days its probably harder to find him amusing given his rather blinkered and racist outlook but nevertheless he still provides some amusing moments.  

And in the scene Pepper suddenly realises who Bond is and says "Now I know you!" and Bond looks at him and realises how he is and wearily says "Oh, no!". And Pepper says excitedly to Bond "You're that secret agent, ain't you?!  That English secret agent from England!". Pepper then grins and sees that Bond is chasing after someone and says "You're chasin someone, aren't you?! Who are you after, boy?! Commies?! I'm with you all the way!". 

Then there is of course the scene where Bond is about to make the film's spectacular looped car jump over an incomplete bridge and just before Bond does it, Pepper looks at Bond and says "You're not gonna..." and Bond says in a feeble American accent "I sure am, boy!". So, after Bond makes the jump, Pepper excitedly yells "WAHHHOOOO!" and he gathers himself and sits up and says "I ain't never done that before!" and Bond confesses "No, neither have I actually".

And later on when Bond chases Scaramanga to a hanger and then Pepper is hand-cuffed by one of the local police officers and he protests loudly as you would expect! However, as Pepper protests, the local police officers are too busy looking up at the skies as Scaramanga's car with added wings, flies off. So, Pepper yells at the office who has cuffed him "You can't do this to me! And I want my wallet back. Take these god damn bracelets off! I'm gonna sue you for false arrest. Police brutality! I've got connections, you brown pony heads! I'm gonna get the FBI on you! And the CIA! God Damn it! I'm gonna get Henry Kissenger! Now, look at me when I'm talkin' to you, boy!". And Pepper finally looks up but thinks its just a plane and asks the officer "What's the matter?! Ain't any of you pointy-heads seen a plane before?!".

And last of all is Herve Villechaize as Nick Nack, Scaramanga's dwarf henchman, who has a fine line in some cheeky one liners and generally being more mischievious than anything else.  

Herve has some amusing moments in the film such as the scene at the start where Scaramanga faces a challenger at his island and he manages to kill him. So, Nick Nack, monitors the challenge until Scaramanga has succeeded and after, Nick Nack appears and says "This was the best one yet, n'est-ce pas?" and Scaramanga says "Not bad. But you're going to have to do better if you want to come into my money" and Nick Nack grins and says "I'll get you yet. And I'll enjoy everything you leave me!" and Scaramanga smiles and says "You'll be the death of me yet, Nick Nack!".

Then there is of course the scene where Bond and Scaramanga face off one another on the island and Nick-Nack counts to twenty as they walk 20 paces apart before they are to turn and fire at each other but Scaramanga disappears when Bond turns around and fires. So, as Bond searches the island for Scaramanga he stumbles on Nick Nack who says to him quietly "If you kill him, all this becomes mine!" and Bond threatens him and says "I've never killed a midget before but there's always a first time" and Nick Nack says "Oh, Monsieur!". 

And lastly there is the scecne at the end of the film where Nick Nack confronts Bond onboard Scaramanga's junket and angrily shouts at him "I'll kill you!" and Bond looks at him and says "Why, you...". And as they play a game of cat and mouse (guess which is which?!) Bond captures Nick Nack by putting him in a suitcase and tying him to the boat's mast and Nick Nack is heard yelling "Oww! Let me out, you big bully! I maybe small but I never forget!" and Bond yells "Shut up!". 

DIRECTOR 

As for the director, Guy Hamilton, who was a real veteran of the Bond film's by then, does a very good job here with the film and he knows how to handle the action scenes very well and keeps the film's pace fairly taut and allows for some typical moments of cheesy Bond-esque humour. This in fact would be Hamilton's final film that he worked on in the Bond series and would later go on to direct films such as Force 10 From Navarone and Evil Under the Sun before his retirement. Hamilton later died in 2016.  

The film also features a fine music score by John Barry, which stands out as one of the film's better aspects and there are plenty of good tracks in the film, particularly during the sequence where Bond tries to track Scaramanga's whereabouts on the island during their duel. Unfortunately the film's theme song sung by Lulu is not as good and stands as one of the weakest Bond themes in the series.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

So, flaws??? Yes, The Man With The Golden Gun has some worth of note.  

For starters the film is naturally quite dated looking given its 70s setting and it also has some rather uncomfortable sexist attitudes in it.  Bond is naturally a typical male chauvanist and in the film but he also is potrayed a bit more roughly as seen in the scene where Bond forces Andrea to tell him about Scaramanga and in the scene he slaps her and twists her arm behind her back, which was the sort of thing we saw Sean Connery do in Diamonds are forever when he takes off a girl's bra and nearly strangles her with it.  

The film also displays a rather sexist attitude by showing inept and clumsy female characters such as Goodnight, who get's herself too easily into trouble and in the scene near the end she activates the solar powered dish control button by leaning back on it with her bum and activating it!  And I guess this is something they wanted to try and remedy in The spy who loved me, where Major Amasova is a far more capable, disciplined and well trained agent than Goodnight ever was.  

It also has to be said that the inclusion of Nick Nack as Scaramanga's henchman is also pretty silly as he doesn't actually even kill anyone in the film and instead just serves more as Scaramanga's lackey and dogsbody and as such he is a far comical and gimmicky character than anything else.

The film's dialogue whilst has some good lines it also is pretty cliched and features some ridiculous lines such as the scene where Bond meets with the bullet manufacturer, Lazar who as soon as he meets Bond says "Ah Mr Bond, your reputation proceeds you!" which again re-iterates that James Bond is supposed to be a secret spy but he is hardly secret if everyone knows who he is!  This is also noted in the scene at the start where Scaramanga shoots the fingers off the waxwork dummy of Bond and in that moment its more like Bond is a celebrity figure than a secret agent and unlike Scaramanga everyone knows what he looks like and its a pretty daft moment in the film anyway!  

The film is also guilty of having some rather boring chase scenes in it, which often are the dullest moments of any Bond film although the chase scene with Sherrif JW Pepper next to Bond blaring in his ear does add something a bit different! However, if there is one thing I hate about that car chase scene is the annoying penny whistle that is played when Bond makes the car jump. Its just cheesy as hell and not necessary. 

As for the plot niggle, just how was Andrea planted next to Bond at the kickboxing fight when she was dead? I mean did Scaramanga shoot her before Bond arrived and propped her up in the seat or maybe Nick-Nack shot her??? Who knows? I just could never figure out how she just happened to be sitting there as a corpse at that moment as I can hardly imagine them being able to discreetly drag her corpse into the arena, so I can only guess that Scaramanga might have shot her at point blank range in the seat but again tha'ts just a guess. Bottom line is though, if Andrea was dead before then, it would have been impossible for them to carry her in without someone noticing surely?! Ahh well, its just a film after all.  

And last of all, I have to ask just how the hell did Bond manage to climb down the scaffolding just in time before Scaramanga would find him and get dressed in the Bond waxwork suit??? Not only that but with Nick-Nack keeping an eye on the camera monitors for Bond, surely there would have been one nearby the waxwork area that could have shown Bond changing clothes maybe??? Yeah, its another convenient plot moment that doesn't quite add up.

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Man With The Golden Gun, while its not one of the best Bond films by any stretch, it is still quite an enjoyable one and has enough action set pieces, amusing one-liners and decent performances from its main cast to make it very watchable. In fact, its safe to say that Scaramanga definitely remains as one of the most memorable villains in the series and Christopher Lee definitely steals the show here with his performance. 

However, the film of course isn't perfect and has its share of problems that prevent it from being a classic with some daft plot issues, some blatant sexism and Moore to a certain extent here even being forced to imitate Connery's Bond when it comes to roughing up women, which doesn't feel right for Moore's interpretation of the role. 

Despite this though, I still enjoy the film to this day and always like to revisit it and I will give it a rating of:

7 out of 10 

Right, so that's it for now and I will try and maybe squeeze just one or two more posts before 2020 is over.

So, until then its bye for now!  

Aliens Review (Revisited) "Game over, man! Game over!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, so this most likely will be my last post before Christmas and I figured as I had already done my revamped (actually it was newly written lol) post for the sci-fi horror film, Alien, I would look at its sequel, Aliens. 

Now, I have already reviewed Aliens in the past but I figured it was worth revisiting it to tidy up the sections a bit and add a few bits here and there. Plus I recently just watched it again, so figured it would be worth reviewing again.

So, with that said, let's take another at the epic sequel that is Aliens...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

Right OK so to start off the film begins 57 years after the events of the first film, with Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) who is in stasis sleep, being rescued by a deep space salvage team.  Ripley now, the only survivor of the Nostromo, has to explain her actions to the Weyland Utani company commitee who suspend her flight licence as a consequence of her destroying the Nostromo in order to try and kill the alien.  Ripley herself, still suffering from post traumatic stress, has nightmares from her harrowing ordeal on the Nostromo.  However, the head of the board, Van Luewen (Paul Maxwell) also informs Ripley that on the alien planet, now named LV-426, now has colonies of families living there, which has been made habitable through the implementation of air processing stations.  This leaves Ripley horrified at the prospect of what may happen to the families as a result of being on the alient planet. 

Pretty soon after, one of the company execs, Burke (Paul Reiser) visits Ripley and tells her that they have lost contact with the colony, and that they want her to go with a team of marines, as an advisor to help them know what they are up against.  Ripley eventually agrees reluctantly to go with the marines, accompanied by Burke to the planet.  Some of the crew include, the hardened veteran Sgt Apone (Al Matthews), the down to earth Corporal Hicks (Michael Biehn), the cocky Hudson (Bill Paxton), the seemingly helpful android Bishop (Lance Henriksen) and the gutsy and muscly female Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein).

On arrival at the planet, they find one of the colonies to be deserted, with alot of interior damage and acid burns found on the floor decks, however they do find a young girl, Newt (Carrie Henn) who has been left traumatised, as her family were killed by the aliens.  Hudson eventually manages to track the location of the colonists, at an atmosphere processing station.  

On arriving, the marines to their horror find some of the colonists have been cocooned by the aliens, and pretty soon the aliens themselves emerge and attack and kill most of the marines including Apone and Vasquez's good marine buddy, Drake (Mark Rolston).  Ripley soon drives the reinforced military vehicle to rescue the remaining marines, and from there they decide on their plan of action what to do.  

On trying to hail the APC, their dropship, an alien infiltrates the ship and kills the flight crew, thereby destroying the ship.  Now stranded on LV-426, Ripley and the remaining crew, have to fight for their survival against a hoard of aliens, and find a way to escape the planet. 

THOUGHTS

It has to be said that while it isn't quite the classic Alien is, Aliens is still a very tense and gripping sequel which follows up the original very well even if it doesn't quite scale the same heights.  And this films scores actually pretty well in that it has really well drawn out characters and Ripley in this film turns out to be strongest and bravest character in the whole film as she goes back to the alien planet to face her fears.  

The marine characters also add an element of fun to the film aswell and in a way it allows for a bit of light comic relief just before things go sour later on.  The film also despite having a modest budget of approximately 18 million dollars is also visually very impressive as the special effects for the aliens are excellent as are the effects for the spaceships and environmental effects on LV-426.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances well they are excellent all round with the cast all in top form.

And to look at the cast I will start off with its main star, Sigourney Weaver who is terrific in her role as Ripley and here she slips effortlessly back into the character as she plays Ripley with a mixture of vulnerability and toughness.  Weaver also rightly so earned her first academy award nomination with her performance here and its easy to see why as its easily one of the highlights in her career.

Sigourney also has plenty of great moments in the film such as the scene near the start where Ripley has to justify her actions to a board meeting.  And as the head of the board tries to halt Ripley's explanation of the alien planet by saying "Thank you that will be all!" Ripley angrily stands and shouts "GODDAMNIT THAT'S NOT ALL!!  Cause if one of those things gets down here then that WILL be all! And all this....(she picks up some papers) this bullshit you think is so important..." and she throws them away angrily and finishes "You can just kiss all that goodbye!!".  

Another notable scene is when Burke and Lt Gorman drop by Ripley's apartment to tell her that they have lost contact with the colonists on the alien planet. So, in the scene Ripley makes Burke and Gorman coffee and she says to them "I don't believe this. You guys throw me to the wovles and now you want me to go back out there?? Forget it!" but Burke tries to convince and asks "Let me finish?" and Ripley says "No, there's no way". And as Burke tries to persuade Ripley again and tells her that he has read her psyche evaluation of her nightmares and how she wakes up each night covered in sweat, Ripley shouts at him "I said no and I mean it! Look, I am NOT going back and I wouldn't any good to you if I did!". 

This is then followed by the scene where Ripley after having another nightmare calls Burke to accept his offer to go down to LV-426 and she says to him "Just tell me one thing, Burke. You're going out there to destroy them, right? Not to study. Not to bring back. But to wipe them out".  And as Burke reassures her "That's the plan, you have my word on it" Ripley says to him "Alright I'm in" and terminates their video chat and she turns to her cat, Jonesy (who appears in her nightmares making hissing noises) and says "And you, you little shithead....you're staying here!".

Then comes the scene where after the first alien attack, the surviving marines and Ripley take stock of the situation and Ripley simply suggests "I think we should take off and nuke the entire site from orbit.  Its only the way to be sure" and Hudson, a bit surprised agrees and says "Fuckin A!". However, Burke isn't so keen on the idea and tells Ripley "Woa, this installation has a multi-million dollar value attached to it" and Ripley sarcastically says to him "They can bill me!".  

Another good scene comes when on Ripley and the marines are on LV-426 she discovers that Burke had sent the colonists to the alien planet knowing the aliens were there and he didn't warn them.  And as Burke tries to justify himself, Ripley angrily grabs him and shouts "These people are DEAD, Burke!!  Don't you have any idea what you've done here?!!!  Well, I'm gonna make sure they nail you right to the wall for this! You're not gonna sleaze your way out of this one! Right to the wall!". And just before Ripley leaves, Burke anxiously tells her "Ripley, I expected more from you. I hoped you'd be smarter than this" and Ripley tells him "I'm happy to disappoint you!" and then leaves. 

And later after Burke engineers an attempt on Ripley's life by letting a facehugger into a room where she is with Newt and marines save her, they confront him.  So, in the scene Ripley explains to the others about Burke's plan "He figured that he could get an alien back through quarantine, if one of us was... impregnated... whatever you call it, and then frozen for the trip home. Nobody would know about the embryos we were carrying... me and Newt". Hicks however says "Wait a minute now, we'd all know" and Ripley continues "Yes. The only way he could do it is if he sabotaged certain freezers on the way home... namely, yours. Then he could jettison the bodies and make up any story he wanted". And as Burke tries to deny this, Ripley says to him "You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage!".

Then there is the scene where Ripley goes back down to the lower levels to the heart of the alien lair to rescue Newt and she says to Bishop who is about to protest "I don't want to hear it, Bishop!  She's alive! There's still time!".  And just before Ripley leaves, she says to Hicks "Hicks, don't let him leave!" and Hicks, sitting with his face bandaged says "We ain't goin anywhere". And the moment where Ripley takes the elevator down to the lower levels and loads up the grenade launcher and get's herself ready for a fight and the elevator doors open and Ripley tensely moves out to find Newt is one of the best and most suspensful scenes in the whole film. 

And lastly of course is the great moment where Ripley confronts the alien queen onboard the Sulaco as she straps herself into a powerloader and moves toward the alien and warns her saying "Get away from her, you BITCH!!!!" as the two of them begin to do battle.  

Michael Biehn also does very well in his role as Corporal Hicks, the cool headed marine, who is second in command of the operation to go to LV-426.  Biehn plays the part largely understated but that's what makes his character work pretty well.

And Biehn has some good moments himself in the film that include the scene where during the first alien attack, the marines desparately try to fall back to the RV. So, in the scene, Hicks helps a wounded marine along and shouts out to Drake, who is blazing away "DRAKE! WE ARE LEAVING!!". However, after Vasquez shoots an alien near Drake and its acid blood sprays on his face, Vasquez shouts out "NO!!!" and Hicks restrains her from helping him and he says "He's gone!" and Vasquez shouts "No, he's not!" but Hicks drops his smart gun and grabs and shouts "Forget him! He's gone!". 

So, Hicks then tries to close the RV door but then an alien appears at the door and grips the handles and Hicks shouts to the others "Close goddamn door!" and Hudson grabs the door and Hicks takes out his shotgun and sticks it in the alien's mouth and shouts "EAT THIS!" and shoots the alien but its blood sprays out and hits Hudson's arm, who screams painfully but they close the door and Hicks shouts "RIPLEY! GO! GO! GO!" who speeds the RV off. Ripley eventually crashes through the exit gate at the complex and rides the RV roughshed over the barren land and Hicks come up to calm her down and says "Ripley, you've blown the tans-axel! You're just grinding metal! Come on, ease down! Ease down! Ease down!" and Ripley slows down the RV to a halt and she calms herself.

Ripley suggests they "nuke the entire site from orbit" and points out that Hicks is now in charge since Apone has been killed.  And as Burke says Hicks doesn't have the authority to make the decision and calls him "just a grunt!" then corrects himself by saying "No offence" and Hicks says "None taken" and he tells the APC pilot to get ready for take off and he tells Ripley "I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit" and he looks at Ripley, repeating her words "Its the only way to be sure" and Ripley smiles and Hicks says "Let's do it" and they get ready to leave.

Another good scene and amusing moment is when Hicks gives Ripley a wrist strap containing a locator so Hicks can keep an eye on her location in the complex on LV-426.  And Hicks says to her "Here, I want you to wear this. Its a locator. Just so I can find you anywhere within the complex" and Ripley takes it and looks at him and Hicks says "Its just a precaution" and Ripley smiles and says "Thanks" and Hicks jokes "Doesn't mean we're engaged or anything!" and Ripley laughs.  

Then comes the scene where Hicks shows Ripley how to use a pulse rifle "I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher".  And Hicks holds out the gun to Ripley and says to her "Feel the weight" and she takes the rifle and smiles saying "OK, what do I do?".  And later as Ripley asks about the grenade launcher, Hicks says "I don't think you wanna mess that" and Ripley says "You started this!  C'mon show me everything.  I can take care of myself" and Hicks smiles and says "Yeah, I noticed!".

Then comes the scene where the alien queen takes Newt before Ripley and Hicks can save her and Ripley screams out "SHE'S ALIVE!! SHE'S ALIVE!!".  And Hicks grabs her and yells "OK!  I BELIEVE YOU!!  SHE'S ALIVE!  BUT WE'VE GOTTA GO!!!  NOW!!" and they make their way to an elevator, which opens slowly and they get inside and as the door is slow to close an alien suddenly appears and Hicks shoots it but its acid bleeds onto his chest armour and Ripley takes it off but it leaves Hicks wounded.  

And last of all there is the moment where Hicks and Ripley share each other's first names just before Ripley goes to rescue Newt. So Ripley says to him "See you, Hicks" and he says "Dwayne. Its Dwayne" and Ripley says "Ellen" and he says to her "Don't be gone long, Ellen!".

Paul Reiser who was a stand-up comedian and appeared in comedy films before this such as Beverly Hills Cops, is excellent as Burke, the sleazy company exec who is sent with Ripley and the marines to investigate the alien planet.

Reiser also has some really good moments in the film such as his opening scene where he meets with Ripley (in her nightmare) where he tells her "I'm Burke, Carter Burke.  I work with the company, but don't let that fool you I'm really an OK guy!".  And when Ripley asks how long she had been floating out in space Burke says "57 years.  You were out there for 57 years.  You had drifted through the core systems and it was just blind luck that a deep salvage team found you when they did".  

Another good scene from Reiser is when Burke and Lt Gorman pay Ripley a visit as he tells her that they have lost contact with the colonists on the planet. So, Burke in the scene says to Ripley as she opens the door, "Hi, Ripley. This is Lt Gorman of the colonial marine corp..." and she shuts the door on them and Burke shouts through the door "Ripley, we have to talk! We lost contact with the colony on the LV426!" and Ripley opens the door again, with a worried look.

So, as the scene proceeds, Burke tries to persuade Ripley to go with himself and Gorman and a squad of marines to find out what is going on at LV426. So, Burke says to Ripley "Look, these marines are very tough hombres. They pack state of the art firepower, there is nothing they can't handle!" and he looks to Gorman and asks "Lt, am I right?" and Gorman says "Its true, we've been trained to handle these situations". Ripley however says "Well, you don't need me. I'm not a soldier!" and Burke says "Yeah, it could be just a down transmitter but if its not, I would like you there as an advisor and that's all". 

Burke then hits her with an offer and says "Look, what would you say if I could get you re-instated as a flight officer? The company has already agreed to pick up your contract" and Ripley admittedly interested asks "IF I go?" and Burke says "Yeah, if you go". Burke then tries to persuade her "Come on, that's a second chance, kiddo! And personally I think this would be good for you to get back out there, get back on the horse..." and Ripley sharply tells him "Spare me, I've already had my psyche evaluation this month!". And Burke says to her "Yeah, I know. I've read it. You wake up every night and your sheets are soaking with sweat..." and Ripley suddenly shouts "I said NO and I mean it! Look, I am NOT going back and I wouldn't be any good to you if I did!". Burke then calmly says to her, "OK, but would you do me a favour? Just think about it" and he leaves his card with her.  

Then there is the scene when the marines arrive at the cooling tower plant on LV-426 and Ripley expresses her concerns that if the marines fire their weapons then they will rupture the cooling system.  And Burke says "Whoa, whoa she's absolutely right!" and as the commanding officer, Lt Gorman says irately "So? So, what?!".  And Burke explains "Look, this whole station is basically a big fusion reactor..." and Gorman gives a look of horror and Burke continues "So, you're talkin' about a thermonuclear explosion and "Adiós, muchachos".

Then after the first alien attack as the marines and Ripley take stock and suggest nuking the planet from orbit, Burke protests.  And Burke says of Hicks "Yeah... look, Ripley, this is a multi-million dollar installation. He can't make that kind of decision. He's just a grunt!" and looks to Hicks saying "No offense".  

And one of Reiser's best moments comes when Ripley confronts Burke over his decision to place the colonists on the planet without telling them about the aliens.  And Burke awkwardly explains "Okay, look. What if that ship didn't even exist, huh? Did you ever think about that? I didn't know! So now, if I went in and made a major security issue out of it, everybody steps in. Administration steps in, and there are no exclusive rights for anybody; nobody wins. So I made a decision and it was... wrong. It was a bad call, Ripley, it was a bad call".  And Ripley grabs him and shouts at him telling him she will nail him "right to the wall" and before she leaves, Burke nervously says "Ripley...! You know, I... I expected more from you. I thought you'd be smarter than this". 

Bill Paxton also is great as the cocky wisecracking marine, Hudson, who is all tough and macho at first but then becomes terrified after the first alien attack.  Paxton being a good friend of Cameron's (and appeared as the punk leader in The Terminator) must have been an obvious choice for the role and you can see Paxton is having a ball here with his part and he get's most of the best dialogue in the film.

And as a few examples I'll start with his first scene onboard the Sulaco after the marines and Ripley awaken from hypersleep.  And as Vasquez asks who Ripley is one of the marine crew, Ferro (Colette Hiller) says "She is supposed to be some sort of a consultant.  Apparently she say an alien once" and Hudson says "Whoopee fuckin doo!".  And later during the marines debrief over their mission, Vasquez says of the aliens "Look man all I need to know is one thing, where they are!" and her friend, Drake says "Go, Vasquez! Kick ass" and she shakes his hands and says "Anytime, anywhere, man!". So, Hudson jokes "Right, right. Somebody said "aliens" she thought they said "illegal aliens" and signed up!".  And Vasquez gives Hudson the finger "Fuck you, man!" and Hudson quips "Anytime, anywhere!".

Then there is the scene where the marines land on the LV426 and search the facility but find nothing, so they report back to it Gorman, who says the area is secured and they will go in. So, in the scene, Hudson sarcastically says to Vasquez "He's comin in. I feel safer already!" and Vasquez annoyed says to him "Pendejo! Jerk off!".  

Another good scene from Paxton is when the marines discuss their options after the first alien attack but Hudson notices in the RV on the monitors that Apone and Dietrich still have life signs. So, Hudson says to the others "Hey, Apone and Dietrich aren't dead. They're life signs are real low but they ain't dead" and Vasquez says "Then we go back in there and get them" but Hudson, scared says "Fuck that!" and Vasquez protests "We can't leave our people behind!" and Hudson shouts "I'm not going back in there! You can't make me!". Ripley then shouts over them "You can't help them! You can't! Right now they're being cocooned just like the others" and Hudson dispairs "Dear Lord Jesus, this ain't happening, man! This ain't happening! This can't be happening!".  And when Burke protests over their option to wipe out the aliens, Hudson angrily says "Maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!".  

Then of course we have the classic bit of dialogue where after the drop ship is destroyed when an alien boards the ship and kills Ferro and the brilliantly named co-pilot, Spunkmeyer (Daniel Kash).  And after the crash Hudson says "That's great, this is really fuckin' great, man. Now, what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some pretty shit now, man!" followed by "That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over! What the fuck are we supposed to now, huh, what are we gonna do?!!".

After this there is the scene when Ripley, Hicks and the others go back to the command centre and Ripley asks how long is it before they are declared overdue for a rescue and Hicks says "17 days".  And Hudson nervously says "17 days?!  Hey man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last 17 hours!!  Those things are gonna come in here just like they did before. And they're gonna come in here......and they're gonna come in here AND THEY'RE GONNA GET US!!".

Then after Burke engineers an attempt on Ripley's life by releasing a facehugger into a room where Ripley and Newt and the marines rescue them both, Burke is taken back to the others and Hudson  points his pulse rifle close at him saying "I say we grease this rat-fuck son of a bitch right now!".  And as Ripley explains Burke possible plan to potentially sabotage the marines hypersleep chambers and jettison their bodies afterward, leaving Hudson disgusted "Fuck!  He's dead!  You're dog-meat, pal!".  

And last of all is Paxton's last scene in the film (SPOILER!!!) during the second alien attack Hudson rediscovers his courage and shoots as many aliens as he can and he yells during fire "Come and get it, baby! Come on! I don't got all day! Come on! Come on! Come on you bastard! Come on, you too! Oh, you want some of this? FUCK YOU!" before being grabbed by an alien and pulled under the floorboards to his fate.

Carrie Henn who had never appeared in a film before also does pretty well in her role as the orphaned Newt who Ripley takes care of after they find her alone at the colony complex.  Henn herself decided not take take up a career in acting after the film and instead became a teacher.  

Henn has some good moments aswell that include the scene where Ripley tries to get Newt to talk but she's still in shock from the situaton but Newt finally starts to talk to her. So, Ripley says to Newt "I don't how you stayed alive, but you are one brave kid, Rebecca" and Newt quietly says "Newt" and Ripley asks "What?" and Newt tells her softly "My name is Newt. Nobody calls me Rebecca except my brother" and Ripley smiles and says "Newt? I like that. I'm Ripley". So, Ripley then asks Newt where her family are "Newt, look at me, where are they?" and Newt angrily tells her "They're dead!  Can I go now?!" and Ripley says softly "I'm sorry, Newt. But don't you think you'd be safer here with us. These people are soldiers, they're here to protect you" and Newt says "It won't make any difference".

Then there is of course Henn's most famous scene in the film just after the drop ship is destroyed and Newt says to Ripley "I guess we won't be leaving now".  And Ripley says "I'm sorry, Newt" and Newt says "Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault" and then she says her most famous line of all (which I still can't quite fathom why!) "We'd better get back cos it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night. Mostly". 

Another scene of note is where Ripley tries to get Newt to get some sleep and Newt says to her "I don't sleep. I have bad dreams" and Ripley says to Newt of her doll "Well, I bet Casey doesn't have any bad dreams" and Ripley takes the doll and looks at her and says "Nope. Nothing bad in there!". Newt then says to Ripley "Ripley, she doesn't have any bad dreams because she's made of plastic" and Ripley smiles and says "Right, I'm sorry, Newt". Newt then says to Ripley "My mommy always said that there never any monsters, no real monsters but there are." and Ripley quietly says "Yes, there are, aren't there?". And as Ripley is about to go, Newt begs her not to go "Don't go please!" and Ripley says "Newt, I'm just going to be in the next room. I'm not gonna leave you, Newt" and Newt asks "You promise?" and Ripley sincerely says "I cross my heart" and Newt asks "And hope to die?" and Ripley says "And hope to die" and they both hug. 

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

Last of all is the final and somewhat charming scene of the film where after Ripley has defeated the alien queen and made her way back to the Sulaco along with a badly injured Hicks and damaged Bishop, she prepares herself and Newt for hypersleep. 

So, in the scene Ripley get's Newt to lie down in a stasis capsule and Newt asks her "Are we going to sleep all the way home?" and Ripley smiles and says "All the way home" and Newt asks "Can I dream?" and Ripley smiles and says "Yes, honey. I think we both can". So, Ripley then plays the same flip your nose trick on Newt that Newt played on her earlier and Newt smiles and lays down and Ripley says to her "Sleep tight" and Newt says "Affirmative".

Lance Henriksen is also excellent as the android, Bishop, who Ripley is wary of at first due to her encounter with Ash (played by Ian Holm) from Alien, but he eventually gains her trust.  

Henriksen has some good moments also that include the scene where he does that "thing with the knife" as Hudson puts it.  And this is followed by the revelation that he is an android as he cut his finger during the knife scene, which anxiously causes Ripley ask "You never said anything about an android being onboard. Why not?!" and Burke says "I didn't think about it, its common practice, we always have a synthetic onboard" and Bishop says to him "I prefer the term "artificial person" myself". 

So, Bishop looks to Ripley and asks "Is there a problem?" and Burke tells him "I'm sorry, I didn't know why I even didn't... Ripley's last trip out, the synth...artificial person malfunctioned" and Ripley says incredulously "Malfunctioned?!" and Burke continues "There were some problems and a few deaths were involved". Bishop then says "I'm shocked. Was it an older model?" and Burke tells him "Yeah, the hyperdyne systems were 120-A2" and Bishops says "Well, that explains it then. The A2s always were a bit twitchy. That could never happen now with our behavioural inhibitors. It is impossible for me to harm or by omission of action, allow to be harmed, a human being". So, Bishop offers some corn bred to Ripley "You sure you don't want some?" and Ripley angrily knocks it out his hand and tells him firmly "Just stay away from me, Bishop, you got that straight?!" and Bishop leaves. 

Then later there is the scene where Bishop dissects one of the dead facehuggers looking through a microscope at its internal organs and one of the marine crew asks if he needs anything else and Bishop spookily looks up at him and says "No".  And as the crewman says "That's a nice pet you've got there, Bishop" Bishop says "Its magnificent, isn't it?".  Another good moment for Henriksen is during the scene Ripley and the others discuss their options and how to get the other drop ship on the Sulaco and remote pilot it to the planet.  And as no one is ready to volunteer to do it, Bishop says "I'll go.  I'll go. I mean, I'm the only one qualified to remote-pilot the ship anyway." and Hudson says relieved "Good idea!" and Bishop says "Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid. Believe me, I'd prefer not to. I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid!".   

After this another good scene is when Ripley stocks on guns and ammo to rescue Newt and Bishop warns her that the cooling system will soon explode and he says "In nineteen minutes, this area's gonna be a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska".  

And later on after (SPOILER!!!) Ripley rescues Newt and Bishop get's them safely off the planet they fly back to the Sulaco where they have Ripley has the confrontation with the alien queen.  And just before that, Bishop apologises for not being there with the ship when she came back up in the elevator "I'm sorry if I scared but that platform was just too unstable. I had to circle around to make sure it was safe to take you off". However, Bishop by now has finally gained Ripley's trust and she tells him "Bishop, you did ok" and Bishop surprised asks "I did?" and she smiles and says "Oh, yeah" but then we suddenly see acid drip on the floor of the ship and a big sharp tail puncture through Bishop's chest as he is hoisted up in the air by the alien queen and literally torn in two.

Jeanette Goldstein next up is really good also as the muscly tough female marine, Vasquez and as a funny story, Goldstein actually turned up for her audition wearing high heels and a dress as she thought that the film was about illegal "alien" immigrants and not alien monsters!  

And Goldstein has a few highlights too that include her first scene where Vasquez works out onboard the Sulaco and Hudson says to her "Have you ever been mistaken for a man?" and Vasquez says "No, have you?".  

Then there is the moment during Ripley's brief to the crew when Ripley becomes agitated trying to explain Kane's death, Vasquez cuts her short saying "Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are!". And Drake smiles and shakes her hand and says "Go, Vasquez, kick ass!" and Vasquez grins and says "Anytime, anywhere, man!". Hudson however then mocks her and says "Yeah, yeah, when they said "aliens" she though they said "illegal" aliens and signed up" and Vasquez gives Hudson the finger and says "Fuck you, man!" and Hudson quips back "Anytime, anywhere!". 

And later of course there is that moment just as the aliens first attack, with most of the marines handing in their ammo clips to Apone to avoid shooting the coolant systems, apart of course from Vasquez and Drake, who sneakily hold onto a spare for their smart guns. And of course as the aliens attack, Vasquez let's rip with her smart gun shouting the memorable line "LET'S ROCK!!!!" just before she does it.

Later on another good scene from Goldstein is when Vasquez says to the others after the first alien attack "Okay. We have several canisters of CM-20. I say we go back in there and nerve gas the whole fuckin' nest!".  And after Burke says "This is clearly an important species we're dealing with and I don't think that you or I, or anybody, has the right to arbitrarily exterminate them!" and Ripley says "Wrong!" and Vasquez says coldly "Yeah, watch us!".

And lastly during the second alien attack as Vasquez and the others trying to escape from the aliens from the ventaliation tunnels she soon runs out of ammo in her rifle and shoots an alien at point blank range with her hand gun, but acid spills onto her leg, injuring her and she yells "OH NO!!!!".  At this point Gorman goes back for her but they are soon surrounded by aliens and Vasquez takes out a grenade and says her last line "You always were an asshole, Gorman!" just before it goes off.

Third last is Mark Rolston as Drake, the macho marine who is Vasquez's good buddy and he does a fine job. 

Rolston's good moments include when he first wakes up for hypersleep and he says wearily "They ain't paying enough for us, man!" and Dietrich says to him "Not enough to wake up to your face, Drake!" and he says "What?! Is that a joke?" and she says "I wish it were". And, Drake then looks to Hicks who has just got up "Hey Hicks, you look just like how I feel!".  

Later on there is also the moment where Bishop does the thing with the "knife" and Drake holds Hudson and places his hand ontop of Bishop's and Drake encourages Bishop "Do it, Bishop!". And Bishop does his knife trick on a terrified Hudson and after Bishop finishes, Drake hands back Hudson's meal to him and says "Enjoy your meal!".  

And lastly there is Drake's last moment where he fights off the aliens and he yells back at Vasquez "Go, Vasquez!  Run for it!!" as he blasts his smart gun at the hoards. However, Drake soon runs out of ammo and shouts "Shit!" and he drops his smart gun and switches over to the flamethrower, however he fails to notice an alien pop up near to his side, which Vasquez shoots but its acid sprays onto Drake's face, who screams in pain and collapses. 

Second last is William Hope who is pretty good as Lt Gorman, the inexperienced commanding officer of the marine op.  

And Hope's good moments include when at the end of the debrief when he says to the marines "Now listen up.  I want this thing to go smooth and by the numbers. I want D.C.S. and tactical database assimulation by 0830. Ordinance loading, weapons strip, and drop ship prep details will have seven hours.  NOW MOVE IT PEOPLE!".  

Then we have the moment when just after the drop ship leaves the Sulaco, Ripley asks Gorman "How many is this for your, Lieutenant?" and Gorman replies "38. Simulated" and Vasquez asks "How many combat drops?" and Gorman awkwardly says "Two. Including this one!". And the marines look at each other in surprise and Hudson says "Shit! Aww man!". 

Then there is the scene where Ripley voices her concerns about the marines firing their weapons at the cooling station. So, in the scene Ripley asks "Lt, what do those pulse rifles fire?" and Gorman says "10 milimeter explosive tip caseless. Standard light armour piercing rounds. Why?" and Ripley tells him "Well, look where your team are, they're right under the primary heat exchangers" and Gorman says "So?" and Ripley says "Well, if they fire their weapons in there won't they rupture the cooling system?". Burke then realises what Ripley is saying and joins in and says "Ho, ho, ho. She's absolutely right" but Gorman is annoyed and asks "So?! So what?!" and Burke explains "Look, this station is basically one big fusion reactor" and Gorman looks horrified and Burke says "So, we're talking about a thermonuclear explosion and adios muchachos!" and Gorman angrily says "Great! Wonderful! Shit!". 

So, Gorman anxiously informs Apone and the others "Look, Apone. We can't have any firing in there. I want you to collect magazines from everybody" and this prompts disbelief from the marines with Hudson asking "Is he fucking crazy?!". Gorman then says to Apone "I want all rifles slung. Flame units only" and as Apone is about to protest "But, sir I..." Gorman interrupts and says "Just do it, Sergeant and no grenades!".

And as the alien assault begins, Gorman panics not knowing what to do and he looks anxiously at the pandemonium he sees on the marine's camera screens and he says to himself "I told them to fall back...I told them to fall back!". Ripley then shouts at Gorman "They've been cut off!" and she grabs him and shouts "DO SOMETHING!" but Gorman is helpless and Ripley storm off and takes control of the situation and drives the RV to get the marines, prompting Gorman to yell "Ripley, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???!!!!".  

And lastly there is the moment after Gorman awakens from having sustained a concussion, we see him wearing a big bandage on his head. So, Ripley asks Gorman "How do you feel?" and Gorman says "Alright, I guess. One hell of a hangover" and he begins to apologise "Look, Ripley I just want to say..." and Ripley interrupts and says "Forget it" and says to Burke sharply "Excuse me" walks past them both.       
       
And last of ALL is Al Matthews who is great as the tough veteran marine, Sgt Apone.  Matthews himself was a Vietnam veteran and he used his experience to help train the actors in the film.  

Matthews has some good moments aswell such as his first scene where he addresses the marines after they have woken from hypersleep "All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed?! Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!". And Hudson complains as he stands barefoot "This floor is freezing!" and Apone says "What do you want? Me to search for your slippers for you?" and Hudson says sarcastically "Jee, sir! I would love that!" and Apone pulls down his eyelid and says "Look into my eye!".

And in the next scene as the marines sit down for their dinner, Hudson asks "Hey top, what's the op?" and Apone says "Its a rescue mission, you'll love it!  There are some juicy colonist daughters we have to rescue from their virginity!" and they crew all laugh, much to the disapproval of Ripley who looks on at them from afar.  

And later on there is the marines debrief where near the end, Gorman asks the marines "Any questions?" and Hudson puts his hand up and asks "How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?" and Apone firmly tells him "You secure that shit, Hudson!". And after the brief is over, Apone says to his crew "Alright sweethearts, you heard the man and you know the drill. Assholes and elbows!" and to an impertinent Hudson he angrily points to him and says "Hudson, come here! Come HERE!!".  

Then there is the moment where Ripley helps out the marines with their prep for the drop to the planet and she asks if there is anything she can do and Apone says "I don't know, is there anything you can do?".  And Ripley says she can operate a loader and Apone says "Be my guest" and as Ripley straps herself and expertly operates the loader and picks up a crate she says "Where do you want it?" and Apone simply laughs and says "Bay twelve, please!".  

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director, James Cameron does a superb job here especially given the daunting task he had in following up the classic original.  Cameron not only handles the film's tense action scenes very well he also brilliantly builds up the tension toward the first alien attack and after that you are left with an unnvering sense of dread before the next one.  Cameron's screenplay for the film is also very well written and is filled with witty dialogue (as extensively already mentioned above!).

Cameron also being Canadian and somewhat inexperienced as a film maker, had a hard time working with the British production crew during filming (as it was filmed at Pinewood studios and the cooling station scenes were filmed at the disused Acton power station in London) and production was also slowed down at times due to the British working hours.  Cameron also had an altercation with the film's original choice of cinemaphotographer, Dick Bush, whom he fired and replaced with Adrian Biddle (who's photography is excellent here).  However I think its safe to say that Cameron managed to rise above all that here with the outcome of his work.

As for the music, the film features an excellent score by James Horner and it is easily one of his very best scores as it very suspenseful and atmospheric and the title theme is also quite memorable and it sets the tone for the film perfectly during the tense opening credits.  Horner however during post production of the film felt that there wasn't enough time for him to create the score he wanted for the film and he too had a tough time with Cameron and afterward said he would never work with him again, although they would eventually work again together on Titanic and later, Avatar.  Horner however did receive an Academy Award nomination for the score and rightly so as it really is very memorable and over the years has been used for alot of other film trailers, which shows its popularity and durability over time.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

OK, so while Aliens is an excellent film it has to be asked: does it have any flaws???  Well yeah it still has one or two.

And for starters I would have to say that while the theatrical cut is just about the perfect length, the director's cut is just a bit too long and I felt it includes some scenes that felt a bit unecessary.

And as an example of this are scenes such as Hudson and Vasquez checking the empty rooms of the colonists quarters detecting a life sign, which turns out to be just a rat.  Then there are the scenes where Hicks sets up the armed sentry droids to shoot any aliens that might approach, which does have a suspenseful moment near the end but it still does feel a bit superflous.  

Not to mention the scene where Newt's family discover the alien ship which features some pretty cheesy acting from the actors playing Newt's parents, particularly the father.  And in the scene when they find the ship the father says "Folks we have scored big this time!".  Its more like a line that deserves to be in M Night Shyamalan movie!  The scene itself however still has a good payoff as we see the father has a facehugger on his face as the mother makes it back with him and Newt screams as she sees him. 

You could also argue that while it is a well written film it still does have some cheesy bits of dialogue that feature either in the director's cut or theatrical one.  And as an example there is the moment where Ripley tries to reassure Newt who is afraid to sleep, that her doll, Casey doesn't have bad dreams and Newt says "Ripley, she doesn't have bad dreams because she's just a piece of plastic".  Yeahhh OK!  Then there is of course the one where Hudson in the director's cut tries to reassure Ripley during the drop ship flight that "Me and my squad of badasses will protect you!".  Agghhh shut up, Hudson!   

Then there is the important question of just why on Earth (or LV-426 more like!) would anyone want to live on a barren shit heap such as LV-426 in the first place???!  I mean its hardly the prettiest of planets is it???!!  Brutal winds, lovely atmosphere, scenic barren wastelands, yep, families surely want to live there alright!!  You could argue that its all about pioneering and branching out by living on other worlds, but they could at least find somewhere better to live than that!!  Perhaps there were already colonists living on other worlds and this lot got the short end of the stick!  Either way it just seems daft that anyone would want to live there anyway whether they were aware of the aliens or not!

Another issue in the plot for me is also of course to do with the film's climax (SPOILER COMING UP!!!) where Ripley has her confrontation with the alien queen and as their fight leads into the alien queen grabbing the powerloader Ripley is in and bringing it crashing down into the airlock.  And in the scene Ripley opens the airlock to the brutal gusting winds of the vaccum of space where the alien soon loses her grip on Ripley's foot and flies into space, yet during this Ripley is able to hold onto the rung of the airlock ladder locking her arm around it and to top that off climb her way back up into the ship!!  Now that has to be utter bullshit as surely there is now way she would be able to withstand the forces of the hard vaccum of space (again the Youtube comedy channel, How it should have ended parodied this scene where Ripley's arm breaks off and she falls into space along with Newt and Bishop).

Although this one is debatable given that the real effects of the vaccum of space are hard to predict given that there are solar winds in space that would presumably cause powerful winds, other than that would space have no wind at all??  If so then opening the airlock wouldn't cause anything at all if it were calm in space but its not something I know much about so I couldn't give an answer either way really.  But let's not get too carried away with that one as it is just a film after all. 

So that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Aliens is still an excellent sequel to the classic original film, Alien, even if it doesn't quite meet the same heights, its not that far off as the film's tight direction, excellent performances, great special effects, intense action and atmosphere all add up to something that is well worth rewatching. 

And with that said, I will give Aliens a rating of:

9 out of 10.

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post soon but for now I will wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have a good one!

Till then, Merry Christmas! 

Video Game Review: Control

 

 

 

 

Right, well its time for a new post with new content for a change rather than another revisitation and this time it will be on a video game I have recently completed, which is the action adventure game, Control, which sees its main female protagonist, Jesse Faden taken on a paranormal enemy called the Hiss.

Control itself has received some great reviews and was often praised as one of the best games of 2019 but what do I think? Well, let's take a look...

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD 

STORY

So, I will quote a bit of the plot from Wikipedia (just to save time).

"Jesse Faden arrives at the Oldest House under the telepathic guidance of Polaris, finding the building seemingly devoid of people. She bumps into a Finnish janitor, Ahti, who directs her to an elevator for her "job interview". Through the elevator, Jesse discovers that the Federal Bureau of Control's Director, Zachariah Trench, has seemingly committed suicide with his own sidearm. Picking it up, Jesse learns that it is an Object of Power known as the Service Weapon, and is transported to the Astral Plane, where she completes a ritual and is selected as the new Director by the Board. Jesse emerges from Trench's office and finds that the Oldest House has been invaded by a hostile force she dubs "the Hiss", which has possessed most of the Bureau's agents and corrupted the building's shifting topography. Jesse uses an Object of Power known as the Hotline to listen to the lingering presence of Trench, who relays that his former management team knows the secrets of the Bureau, and Jesse hopes they may be able to tell her the whereabouts of her brother, Dylan, who was kidnapped by the FBC years prior...".

THOUGHTS

Well, Control as I mentioned got plenty of great reviews on its release last year as it was praised for its visual design, action, gameplay and its easy to see why as I think it is also a very creative and imaginative action game, which is cross between Bioshock, Inception and even Dark Souls (more on that in a bit!). The story itself is somewhat confusing to follow at times but it is intriguing nonetheless as we learn bit by bit about Jesse and also what happened to her brother, Dylan as she progresses through the game. 

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay wise, the game is a sort of hybrid in some ways as its a third person shooter with some puzzle elements also thrown into the mix as well and even to a certain extent some platforming too. But to get into more details of the gameplay, I've split it into sections below.

MOVEMENT AND ABILITIES

Starting with the game's movement and abilities, as mentioned, your playable character, Jesse can do alot of the regular moves in game such as walk, run, jump and climb platforms but due to the paranormal nature of the game, Jesse's abilities go well beyond that. 

As the game progresses, Jesse will gain some telekenetic abilities by obtaining objects of power that are collectable throughout the game in specific missions. These abilities include the power to move objects and throw them as projectile weapons or simply move them out the way. Jesse can also gain the power of levitation as she can float in the air to traverse areas in the game making it easier for her to reach higher up platforms. Jesse can also even use her powers to pick up debris and use it as a protective shield against enemy gunfire or melee attacks. Further to this, Jesse can use her powers to allow to perform a charged sprint, which will allow her to quickly cover ground and reach platforms as well. And lastly, Jesse can also gain a unique ability that can temporarily allow her to control the minds of her enemies and turn them into allies that will fight for her.

COMBAT AND WEAPONS

As for the combat, Jesse will primarily use a service weapon that can take on different forms as she progresses in the game, the different forms can be a machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle and even a grenade launcher. Her weapon can also be upgraded for aspects such as stronger damage and faster reloading as well as particular upgrades as stronger headshots and better damage against armoured enemies. 

Jesse can also as mention used melee combat to hit enemies in close proximity but aside her weapon, she will also primarily use her telekenetic abilities to take down her foes by throwing objects at them. This can be particuarly of use against enemies that have shields, as Jesse can fire an item at them that will break the shield, so she can then take them down. Jesse can also even use her abilities to throw back explosive items such as rockets and grenades at her enemies and later even grab enemies themselves and launch them at other baddies! Now, that is quite a cool move of itself!

ENEMIES AND BOSSES

As for the game's enemies they are generally a mix of soldiers and staff that have become infected by the Hiss and they range in levels of difficulty that are noted by a number placed over their heads, which can range typically from 1 to 6 and they higher the number, the stronger they are. Most enemies typically have firearms such as machine guns, shotguns and most annoyingly of all, rocket launchers! Certain enemies will also have shields that protect their health, which Jesse will need to destroy before she can kill them. 

As for the game's bosses they vary in form but some of them are basically infected humans who have larger health bars and can also perform telekentic attacks and even shield themselves. Some of the bosses taken on different forms and there are certain tactics you need to use to finish them off and at one point there is even an evil version of Jesse you need to fight as well! So, yeah there is plenty of variety in terms of enemies and the challenge from them can be pretty daunting.   

CHECKPOINTS AND FAST TRAVEL

The game as I mentioned does to a small extent borrow elements from Dark Souls and that comes in the form of its checkpoint system as Jesse after she has cleared an area of hiss infected enemies, she will cleanse it and will create a checkpoint that she can travel to and from other areas. Also similar to Dark Souls, when Jesse rests at a checkpoint she can repelenish her health if she has taken damage during combat although unlike the Souls games, this will not re-spawn enemies. However it is worth noting that enemies can still reappear in areas where Jesse has cleansed the Hiss. 

ENERGY AND HEALTH UPGRADES

Throughout the game, you can also upgrade your health bar, which of course will you to take more damage against enemies and this again done through ability points that you score from completing missions. There are also upgrades that are often dropped by fallen enemies, which Jesse can store although she can only store up to 24 at one time and she will need to remove specific ones if she wants to make room for new upgrades. The same also applies to your energy, which affects the amount of telekenetic power you can use at one time and it will drain as you continue to use it but this can also be countered by using upgrades to speed up the recovery time. 

SIDE MISSIONS

As part of the game, Jesse can also take on side missions that will allow her to gain more ability points to upgrade her health, energy and weapons. These missions however can also be accessed during main game missions or even started from the game's main hub, the executive suit where certain NPC's are found. 

GRAPHICS

Moving onto the game's graphics, they are excellent as the game's visuals are pretty striking and distinctive and they do have an Inception-esque look to them, especially in the moments where Jesse cleanses certain areas and it shifts the structure of the room in doing so. The building the game takes place in, the "old building" of the Federal Bureau of Control, is massive, so its has plenty of different areas that offer variety to the game's environments. 

Its also worth noting that this game was one of the first to use the advanced graphics technique known as ray tracing, which can allow to create more dynamic and realistic looking lighting in games. However, in order to get this feature, at present you would need a high end Nvidia graphics card such as the Geforce RTX 3080 or even an AMD Radeon 6800 XT and it is a pretty demanding feature all on its own. However future support for the ray tracing feature will be added for the game next year to the new next-gen consoles, the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Unfortunately as we all know, getting your hands on one of these consoles just now is next to impossible, so you may have a wait on your hands if you want to play the ray tracing version of the game on those consoles!

Also character model wise, Control also looks pretty good with Jesse the main looking quite cute with her red hairdo and cool jacket and jeans but she can also access other outfits later in the game. The other characters also look pretty good too although some of the facial animations do at times look a bit unnatural but that aside things are still quite impressive in this department. 

So, overall Control is a very good looking game, which currently looks its best on the PC but with future ray tracing support to be added to the next-gen consoles, it should look just as good on them too. 

VOICE ACTING (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the game's voice acting, the cast all do an excellent job.

Starting with Courtney Hope, who is excellent in the main role as Jesse Faden, the new director of the Federal Bureau of Control but she has her own reasons to being there as she wants to find her brother, Dylan, who as it later transpires has been taken over by the Hiss. Courtney's character model, while it isn't quite realistic, its still pretty good all the same and it compliments her vocal performance very well. Courtney herself actually does briefly appear in some live action cutscenes in the game also.

James McCaffrey is also very good in his role as the former FBC director, Trench, who Jesse finds apparently murdered at the start of the game. McCaffrey also previously appeared in several other video games and most notably in the voice acting role of Max Payne (also made by the developers of this game, Remedy) and later games such as Alan Wake (also by Remedy).

Matthew Poretta also does an excellent job in his role as Dr Casper Darling, one of the key researchers at the FBC and Poretta often appears in live video footage throughout the game. Poretta also has done voice acting with with Remedy as he voiced the titular role of Alan Wake in the game and also featured in Quantum Break. 

And last of all is Martti Suosalo also provides a pretty good performance as the game's most engimatic character, Ahti, the janitor, who has a rather bizarre accent, which I can't quite place in the film and can't decide whether he is supposed to be South American or even South African! Regardless of that though, Suosalo provides a fine performance and his obscure character keeps the audience guessing as to who he is. 

MUSIC

Music wise, the score overall is pretty good and very ambient, with a mix of electronica and even later on Heavy Metal tracks! In fact parts of the score reminded me of Elliot Goldenthal's score for Heat, particularly in the scene of that film where they perform a robbery and a similar sounding track appears in this game during combat scenes. The main score was composed by Martin Stig Andersen and Petri Alanko and it is quite distinctive sounding overall, so while its not a classic is definitely fits the game.

FLAWS

As for flaws...yes Control has some.

For starters, I felt the game becomes frustratingly difficult as you progress and while the earlier stages were tricky, toward the middle of the game it has a big difficulty spike that can make things more annoying to deal with. This is especially frustrating as the game enjoys throwing a ton of enemies at you that you need to defeat before you can cleanse an area and even after that, you can reload that area and the enemies reappear again! 

In fact to my shame, I have to admit that game got so difficult for me that I felt compelled to activate its assisted mode, which allows you to customise the game's difficulty level aswell as allow you to perform one-hit kills and even has an invincibility mode, so I enable the invinicibility mode just to get through the rest of the game! Because I honestly think I wouldn't have gotten through the game if it wasn't for the assisted mode it has to be said! 

Another issue is to do with the story as overall it is pretty confusing and alot of things don't make sense and there are even loose ends by the end of it all too, which may have been cleaned in side missions or even maybe the game's DLC content. So, I have to say I was left a bit baffled by the end although there is always Wikipedia to help you understand the convoluted plot.

I also felt that most of the characters in the game weren't interesting and felt a bit faceless and lacking personality with the exception of the janitor, Ahti. Also, Jesse's inner monologue could be confusing at times, as it made me wonder just when was she actually talking to a character and not just to herself!

I was also frustrated by the obscurity of some of the game's mission objectives as there are times where you need to locate certain items but the game really sets you on a wild goose chase in order to find them as they are SO hidden! In fact I often had to look at Youtube videos in order to complete some of these objectives as I was pretty lost trying to go through them. So, a bit more clarity really wouldn't have gone a miss in the game when it comes to its missions. 

And lastly another issue that bugged me was to do with the layout of the game's map for different areas as this also can be quite confusing at times and this particularly happens when you enter a new area and the name of that area remains blanked out until walk through it. So, yeah the maps for the game are definitely not perfect and there is certainly room for improvement there. 

SUM UP

So to sum up, Control is an excellent and gripping action adventure game with some pretty nifty combat in the form of melee, gunplay and most unique of all, its telekenetic action. The game's visuals are also quite distinctive and stylish and if you have the PC system for it, you can even enjoy them for their enhanced ray tracing effects, which should also be brought to the PS5 and Xbox Series X next year. I however played the game on the PS4 Pro, so the frame rate appeared to be only at 30fps and the visuals not quite so impressive and it did crash a few times but that aside it still worked well for the most part. 

And yes there are some issues with the game's high difficulty level, which thankfully can be customised to make it easier not to mention its confusing story and obscure mission objectives and unclear map systems. But if you forgive all that, then Control is still a really good game that is worth checking out.

So, I will give Control a rating of:

8.5 out of 10

Right, that's it for now and as I am on a bit of a run this month posts wise, I will be back soon with hopefully another couple before Christmas. 

So, till then its bye the now!