The Top 10s of 2007: Video Games

Continuing on with my Top 10 series I am moving on to the other entertainment media that takes up a lot of my time: Video games. It was actually tough to make a top 10 list of video games. Mostly because of limited funds and time, I don't play nearly as many games as I would like to. The rules for consideration are similar as last time: 1) Release date in this current year (sorry Gears of War and Rainbow 6: Vegas), and 2) I have to have played the full game, not a demo (sorry BioShock and Assassin's Creed).

The Top 10 Video Games of 20007

10. Carcassone - This is a board game available over Xbox Live. It clocks in at number 10 because by my count, I only played 10 new games released in 2007. Really not my cup of tea.

9. Stranglehold - A video game sequel to the movie Hard Boiled (dir: John woo, star: Chun Yow Fat). Entertaining at first, but got repetitive. Jumping around, climbing banisters, flying through the air, and sliding on roll carts all while shooting away at bad guys was fun, but only for so long.

8. Crackdown - A sandbox style game where you are a cop killing game members. The true highlight of this game was jumping around and climbing all the buildings. Also, rocket battles with my brother were fun.

7. Medal of Honor: Airborne - A WWII game that starts each level (and respawn) by parachuting into the conflict. Fairly open level design and superb weapon feel made this a really fun game. If only the online play came with a lobby, this would easily have been a top 5 game.

6. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 - A sequel that picks up directly where the original GRAW left off. Excellent levels, great gunfights, and excellent multi-player. This is just a solid game.

5. Halo 3 - The most (over-) hyped game of the year. While fun, it really never got me that excited. I never really played the original Halos, so the story wasn't really that great. The gameplay wasn't anything special. The game shines in multi-player, but it's not even close to the best in that category. Despite the original re-inventing the genre (of FPS), this one just felt like a standard FPS.

4. God of War 2 - A PlayStation 2 game (my final one) really was an enjoyable experience. Amazing graphics for a non-next-gen system, and superb gameplay. Easily as good as the original God of War. If only the ending wasn't a direct sequel set-up.

3. Madden 08 - The most recent version of Madden football is the best I've played. The tweaks to the game were needed and brilliantly executed. Gang-tackling and increase in fumbles make for more realistic football. I've played a lot of games, and plan to play a lot more.

2. Mass Effect - A action role-playing game that was probably the most amazing single player experience for any game. The main quest story is riveting, and the final level (actually about 3 hours worth) is like a great book. You just want to keep playing to find out what happens next.

And the Best Video Game of 2007 is....

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat - A first-person shooter game that takes place in the Middle East and Russia. The single player campaign is non-stop awesome. Even better is the online play. The upgrade, level system just keeps you wanting to play. The online level design is great, the variations are fun, and just playing around with different weapons keeps me coming back for more. Halo can't even hold COD4's extra clips when it comes to online play.

I'm looking forward to getting and playing Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero 3, and probably BioShock down the road. I don't have them yet, so they can't be included. I don't doubt that many people will have a significantly different view, but they probably have more time and a rental service that allows them to play more games than little ole me.

Stay tuned for more Top 10s of 2007.

The Top 10s of 2007: Movies

Ok, if you read this amazing blog on a regular basis, you know that I am a fan of series and lists. With this thinking in mind, I am going to go on a little series of the Top 10s of 2007. This is a favorite past-time of many many places (websites and magazines). At the end of every year, you can generally find Top 10 lists on any number of things. Since one of the focuses of this site is movies, I figured that would be a good place to start.

Rules for consideration: 1) Have a 2007 theatrical release date (Jan-Nov....sorry I Am Legend and National Treasure 2), and 2) Have been viewed by me (DVD or theater...sorry many many movies). After looking up all theatrical releases for 2007 (to date), I have 48 movies to choose from. Here are my Top 10 movies of 2007.

10. TMNT - The CGI story of my favorite childhood cartoon. Amazing graphically and a decent story. Lots of nostalgia allows this to make the list.

9. Shooter - The action movie starring Mark Walhberg as a former sniper. Not the most compelling story, but more plot than expected. Not the best action movie of the year, but still a pretty good one.

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - The most recent HP movie (5th I believe) was a decent flick. It did not quite continue the trend of improving each movie, but it wasn't really a step back. Still entertaining and more streamlined than the other HP films.

7. The Kingdom - Basically this movie makes the list based exclusively on the final 30 minutes. I don't believe there was a more intense 30 minutes in all of movie-dom this year. Plus, it was a solid movie all around.

6. 28 Weeks Later - The sequel to the zombie movie 28 Days Later. Really entertaining zombie movie. This is likely not going to be on any other top 10 movie list, but man, I like zombie movies, and it's a good one.

5. Hot Fuzz - A buddy cop spoof movie by the guys that brought you Shaun of the Dead (a romantic comedy with zombies). This one is even better than their first film, funny, and over the top zaniness at the conclusion.

4. Live Free or Die Hard - The fourth Die Hard movie delivered on all aspects in my book. It was action packed, funny, and unbelievable. Exactly what I was looking for. Yippee-ki-yay....

3. Fracture - A cocky attorney (Ryan Gosling) meets his match to the brilliance of Anthony Hopkins (at his Hannibal-esque best). Probably the best drama that I saw this year.

2. The Bourne Ultimatum - The Jason Bourne Trilogy ends on an excellent note. Great story, and superb action. Kept you wondering how it was going to end. Excellent movie (and trilogy for that matter).

And the number 1 movie of 2007....

1. 300 - Simply awesome. From start to finish, the movie grips you and makes you want to grab your spear and tear into the bad guys. A solid story, and the most aesthetically pleasing movie ever. It is just a great film.

There you have it. I'm sure you noted the complete lack of Chick-flicks, also the underperforming blockbusters (Shrek, Spider-Man, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3), and dramas. You likely noticed the abundance of action movies. Hmmm...what's my movie preference?

Ok...stay tuned for the rest of the Top 10s of 2007.

Now I can watch Butler games....

Most of you out there know that I am a big college basketball fan, especially a Butler basketball fan. As a student there, I was able to attend games at no extra cost (I won't say free...somewhere in the tuition I was paying it was included), and I went to most of their home games. Sadly, Butler doesn't get many nationally televised games, which means I don't get to watch them out here in Denver. I did listen to a couple of their games via online radio, which was ok, but not as good as watching them. I was able to watch the Alaskan Shootout finals against Texas Tech, since it was a ESPN2 nationally televised game earlier this year. Last night, I had intended to listen to their game against Detroit online (as I had before), when I found out that I can now watch Butler games. Apparently the Horizon League (conference of which Butler belongs to) has launched the Horizon League Network. The HLN allows you to watch the games online. The quality of the video wasn't great, but for the ability to watch Butler, I'm willing to deal with it. The broadcast is done by the home team (so therefore I got a lot of Detroit homerisms last night). Again, something I'm willing to deal with.

Well, hopefully, this HLN will allow me to watch many of Butler's games. I really do like watching them play. They really play team basketball, which is fun to watch. Almost better than watching bigger name schools that just let their star freshmen play one-on-one ball. If you ever want to watch some good basketball, check out Butler on the Horizon League Network.

Hitman Movie Review

First off, last week was a 3 post week (M,W,F). I'm so proud of myself. Now, if I can just think of topic ideas that often, it is possible I'll try and make a habit of it. Ok, Ok, I'm only fooling myself, but still, it's not a bad thought.

I realize that it has been some time since I reviewed any movies. I've seen several since then, but most recently I viewed Hitman. Since it is the freshest in my mind, I figured I could go ahead and enlighten my reading audience on all of my thoughts. So without further ado:

Hitman
Starring: Timothy Olyphant (bad guy in Die Hard 4) and other people you've never heard of
Plot: An assassin {Agent 47} gets double crossed and tries to figure out what/why. Based on a video game series.

Opinion: This wasn't a terrible movie, but it was far from great. A decent action movie with some fun action/fight scenes. It was lacking any kind of car chase though. It had a bit of a Bourne-feel to it (trying to figure out what was going), but was not pulled off anywhere near as effectively. I've never played the video games, so I'm not sure how truthful it was to the series. All-in-all an entertaining movie and worth renting if you want a popcorn action movie. My two biggest gripes: 1) Hopped around like crazy, not enough to get you confused or completely ruin believability, but still it was bit annoying; and 2) No light was ever shed on "the organization" and Agent 47s background. I would have loved to know the backstory with the group of hitmen. I'm not dying for a sequel, but a prequel with more insight on to this group could be fun.

Final take: 3 out of 5 stars, if you find it on HBO or just want an action movie, take the time to watch it.