PHAT CONTROLLER
Need For Speed: Shift By Antony Parnell
The last NFS game I played seriously was Underground 2. I found it quite entertaining, roaming about the city in my dope ass ride, neons and hydraulics oozing out while I rose to fame in the street racing scene. It made for excellent multiplayer, with intense races through oncoming traffic, the winner usually decided by an errant bollard or taxi taking out the opposition. I have always associated the NFS
The British guy spoke with an authoritative tone, as if to say “Step aside boy racers; the real men are here, and they want to race on Laguna Seca”. The premise of the career mode is pretty typical; the idea is to work your way through lower level races until you can compete in the Need for Speed World Championship. As per usual, you start with a lower tier car and work your way up
series with this simplistic arcade style of racing, but with NFS: Shift it seems EA has traded in their Vin Diesel for some Greg Murphy. One of the first things I noticed was that the drivers were wearing helmets. I could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure the first rule of being a badass street racer with no regard for the road rules is to NOT wear a helmet. This was the first indicator that Shift was not going to be in the same vein as previous NFS titles. The second was the voiceover from some British man. Gone was the saucy commentary of Brooke Burke.
through the ranks, unlocking new tiers of races and cars along the way. To unlock new tiers, you need to earn stars in the various races. This is done through winning races, and scoring extra points through “Precise” and “Aggressive” driving techniques. This allows for flexibility in how you race, as there in no punishment for spinning out opponents if that’s your game, but serious racers will be rewarded for taking correct lines and mastering corners. NFS: Shift strikes me as EA’s attempt to muscle in on Forza 3 and Gran Turismo’s audience
while they are off twiddling their thumbs. They have made a solid effort to do so, delivering a racer that can definitely cater to gamers looking a realistic racing experience. Whether or not it’s truly a competitive racing sim against the big boys remains to be seen, and I feel it lacks the depth a typical Gran Turismo game brings. That being said there is a lot of enjoyment to be had from this game, especially if you have been hanging out for a solid next-gen racing experience.
why other people are laughing when certain characters are on screen. Fanboys is a road trip film, crossed with a fan-film, crossed with a Kevin Smith film. There are more cameos then a season of Extras and more Star Wars jokes then a Star Trek fan site. It has a side quest undertaken to get to a town in Iowa which, according to Star Trek lore is the future birth place of Captain James T. Kirk. They succeed in destroying a statue of Kirk fighting Khan and earn the wrath of an array of Star Trek nerds. There are just the right amount of drug references and comedic fight scenes to perhaps make this film palatable for those who aren’t the extreme Star Wars fans me and fellow viewers were. The scene where Seth Rogan fights himself as two separate characters is instant comedy gold. Danny Trejo drumming away while Ewoks sexually molest the lead
characters, who are all tripping balls on peyote, is also a moment which stuck in my mind as being particularly hilarious. The end of the film is definitely informed by the fans disdain for Episode 1 and its overuse of child friendly, completely animated characters who spoke with extremely stupid Jamaican accents. I give this movie 2/5, because unless you’re a hard Star Wars fan, you’re going to miss out on a lot of jokes.
DVD: Fanboys
Directed by Kyle Newman
I saw Fanboys recently, on a DVD sent from America. It apparently will never be released to New Zealand stores for sale, but that won’t stop any of you going ‘online’ and ‘purchasing it’ from a ‘reputable online DVD store’. With that said, I have seen it and I have enjoyed it, as have Bogan Dave and News Jerk Grant. This movie is first and foremost a nerd movie. The premise is that a bunch of guys in 1998 want to sneak their terminally ill friend into the Skywalker Ranch so he can see Episode 1 before he dies. With some help from William Shatner, they gain the secret plans to George Lucas’ home and proceed to infiltrate it. Along the way they run into Carrie Fisher, Ray Park and Billy Dee Williams. If you know what I just said and could recognize two of those three people in a crowd, then this movie is made precisely for you. Otherwise you will spend the whole film asking why jokes are funny and
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