Reviews

The truth is, when I first started playing this game - I hated it. I hated it for at least the first couple of days. It wasn't until I got the hang of things (something that wouldn't have taken so long if I'd played GTA III) and warmed up to the game that I saw the game for what it was - a damn fine achievement. If you're new to the series (let's face it, if you're reading a review... you might be) prepare not to love the game at first.

After spending so much time with my GameCube, a system that pumps out better graphics than the PS2, Vice City appeared less than impressive at first. It reminded me of an original PlayStation game running in much higher resolution - there was no doubting this was a PlayStation product. That's hardly a bad thing, but while the graphics are good for the PS2 - Xbox and GameCube owners are used to a little more flare. There are moments of shear ugliness... until you get a hold of a helicopter. Flying over the city, the game becomes a pure work of art. Cars move about the streets independently, pedestrians walk about - seemingly living their lives, traffic lights go from red to green - you'll pass other aircraft, watch speed boats cruise around town - get low enough and you might catch a cop chasing after a criminal. It was at that moment that I felt as though I was part of city - a fully living and breathing city.

Despite fairly basic graphics the game has a realism I am not sure I have seen before. If you shoot a helicopter off the top of a building with a rocket launcher in most games that helicopter would fall into a void and be lost forever. In Vice City that helicopter actually falls off that building and falls to the ground in a smoking heap - it'll be there waiting for you when you exit the building - it'll be there waiting for you after you'd stolen a car and spun around the block a few times. If you shoot something off screen, it still explodes. The fact that this game doesn't fall prey to the often-true video game rule of, `if you didn't see it, it didn't happen' is a great touch.

No game could ever be as good as the hype for Vice City promised - and it isn't as good... but it does come pretty damn close at times. The voice acting is definitely sharp - every actor and actress plays their role to perfection and assures that you are never taken out of the game due to over or under acting. The story itself, is, unfortunately relatively short - if you remove the imposed blocks to stretch it out a bit you'll realize it only feels like a long time. Had I not been bothered with getting 100% I'd have finished the game in a matter of days. But... over half the fun of the game is getting 100% You see, IMO, the storyline almost takes a backseat in this game - to hours upon hours of, often ridiculous, tasks. To achieve 100% in the game you'll have to locate 100 hidden packages scattered around the city, compete in "Rampages" - short timed events that require you to do certain things within a certain time frame, i.e. run over 35 gang members in a vehicle. You'll have to find a dozens of ramps in the game and stunt jump them - rob stores, purchase stores - you'll even have to drive a taxi and deliver pizzas on a scooter.

Once you get into the whole 100% thing... you realize the enormous scope of this game. This will have the average player glued to their TV for... 70 or 80 hours... at least. While I am winding down in my obsession of the game - I still, imagine, for quite some time will clock up at least 5 hours a week for this game. There is something about cruising around town in a Lamborghini clone, or speeding through the water in a super fast boat - or screaming over sand dunes on a dirt bike - even RC vehicles are playable.

Did I mention this game takes place in a 1986 Miami clone? Well it does and does a great job of it - the references to the cultures and fashions of the 80s and captured perfectly - from the radio commercials about taking your hair higher than the sky and chest wigs to the action movie EXPLODER about a man who has lost his whole family to the jungles of Cambodia and is out for vengeance. for his new wife - America (you remember that plotline, right?) On top of hilarious talk radio stations Vice City offers up dozens upon dozens of real 80s hits - from Michael Jackson to Flock of Seagulls - just about every genre is covered, rap, rock, pop - you name it. One of the best sound tracks in a video game ever - even if I muted the music in the game long ago. If I hear 99 Luftballoons once more this lifetime *shakes fist at the sky*

To sum it all up, Vice City may not be the do all and end all of video games. It may have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the world of video games - it may be laced with drug references. hell, more than just references - you may have to kill people over and over, but under the hype and despite it's faults it offers something few games do and shouldn't be passed on or judged too quickly.

8/10

It's hard to believe this... but I never played the first Grand Theft Auto game, GTA III, to hit the PS2. I played the original Grand Theft Auto that hit the PC way back and took a couple of the PlayStation versions for a spin - I even own the rare Dreamcast version of Grand Theft Auto 2 - but I never played III. The Grand Theft Auto games were always a bit of fun, IMO, but never anything worth investing major bucks or time... that was, however, until I played Vice City.

From my subject line, you'd be forgiven for thinking I absolutely hated this game. The truth is, when I first started playing this game - I did hate it. I hated it for at least the first couple of days. It wasn't until I got the hang of things (something that wouldn't have taken so long if I'd played GTA III) and warmed up to the game that I saw the game for what it was - a damn fine achievement. If you're new to the series (let's face it, if you're reading a review... you might be) prepare not to love the game at first.

After spending so much time with my GameCube, a system that pumps out better graphics than the PS2, Vice City appeared less than impressive at first. It reminded me of an original PlayStation game running in much higher resolution - there was no doubting this was a PlayStation product. That's hardly a bad thing, but while the graphics are good for the PS2 - Xbox and GameCube owners are used to a little more flare. There are moments of shear ugliness... until you get a hold of a helicopter. Flying over the city, the game becomes a pure work of art. Cars move about the streets independently, pedestrians walk about - seemingly living their lives, traffic lights go from red to green - you'll pass other aircraft, watch speed boats cruise around town - get low enough and you might catch a cop chasing after a criminal. It was at that moment that I felt as though I was part of city - a fully living and breathing city.

Despite fairly basic graphics the game has a realism I am not sure I have seen before. If you shoot a helicopter off the top of a building with a rocket launcher in most games that helicopter would fall into a void and be lost forever. In Vice City that helicopter actually falls off that building, even though you might not see it happen, and falls to the ground in a smoking heap - it'll be there waiting for you when you exit the building - it'll be there waiting for you after you'd stolen a car and spun around the block. If you shoot something off screen, it still explodes. The fact that this game doesn't fall prey to the often-true video game rule of, `if you didn't see it, it didn't happen' is testament to it's realism.

No game could ever be as good as the hype for Vice City promised - and it isn't *as* good... but it does come pretty damn close at times. The voice acting is definitely sharp - every actor and actress plays their role to perfection and assures that you are never taken out of the game due to over or under acting. The story itself, is, unfortunately relatively short - if you remove the imposed blocks to stretch it out a bit you'll realize it only feels like a long time. Had I not been bothered with getting 100% I'd have finished the game in a matter of days. But... over half the fun of the game is getting 100% You see, IMO, the storyline almost takes a backseat in this game - to hours upon hours of, often pointless, tasks. To achieve 100% in the game you'll have to locate 100 hidden packages scattered around the city, compete in "Rampages" - short timed events that require you to do certain things within a certain time frame, i.e. run over 35 gang members. You'll have to find a dozens of ramps in the game and stunt jump them - rob stores, purchase stores - carry out submissions even deliver pizzas.

Once you get into the whole 100% thing... you realize the enormous scope of this game. This will have the average player glued to their TV for... 70 or 80 hours... at least. While I am winding down in my obsession of the game - I still, imagine, for quite some time will clock up at least 5 hours a week for this game. There is something about cruising around town in a Lamborghini clone, or speeding through the water in a super fast boat - or screaming over sand dunes on a dirt bike - even RC vehicles are playable - it's timeless.

Did I mention this game takes place in a 1986 Miami clone? Well it does and does a great job of it - the references to the cultures and fashions of the 80s and captured perfectly - from the radio commercials for the action movie EXPLODER about a man who has lost his whole family to some jungle country and is out for vengeance. for America or whatever (you remember that plotline, right?) to the radio commercials for the video game DEGENITRON `where you guide your green square deep inside the core of the red square.' (Something along those lines) On top of hilarious talk radio stations Vice City offers up dozens upon dozens of real 80s hits - from Michael Jackson to Flock of Seagulls - just about every genre is covered, rap, rock, pop - you name it. One of the best sound tracks in a video game ever - even if I muted the music in the game long ago. (If I hear "99 Luftballoons" one more time in this lifetime I won't be happy)

To sum it all up, Vice City may not be the do all and end all of video games. It may have attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the world of video games - it may be laced with drug references. hell, more than just references - you may have to kill people over and over, but under the hype and despite it's faults (and it has 'em) it offers something few games do and shouldn't be passed on or judged too quickly.

~EIGHT OUT OF TEN~

I was really looking forward to this movie! I'm a huge fan of Mike Myers' I think he's one of the funniest people around at the moment and I always enjoy his work. I've also enjoyed the other actors/actresses previous work - Murphy, Diaz and Lithgow. I was prepared to really love this film. I'm really upset that I didn't...

From the moment the opening credits blasted up, with Smash Mouths "All Star" screaming over the top of the animation I knew there was something wrong. The rest of the audience was in hysterics - one guy laughing distracting loud. But I just didn't think an ogre washing himself with mud was *that* funny. The rest of the humour was unfortunately the same. I don't mind the kind of humour in Shrek when used in small doses - but I need some subtle humour as well. Everything was so in your face LAUGH, LAUGH, LAUGH we *really* want you to laugh. Look, we're doing a parody of Robin Hood and now we're copying that scene from The Matrix. Well, ha-de-ha ha! Haven't we seen the effects used in The Matrix spoofed in enough films for one lifetime? Obviously not 85% of the audience laughed their heads of - I didn't.

It's obvious from the other reviews that I'm not in the majority as far as opinions on this film go. I'm prepared to say chances are if you're reading this you'll enjoy the film. But I didn't and others didn't - as with all movies sometimes the *charm* is just lost on some of us. Don't let the overly positive reviews here have you entering the theatre thinking nothing can possibly go wrong. Loving this movie is not by any means a certainty - don't expect to fall in love with the movie - I did and was bitterly disappointed.

Do you like humour so obvious it leaps out of the screen and slaps you in the face? I'm sure half of the cinema laughed because they felt they had to. Some of the laughter sounded really phony.

So do I have anything good to say about this movie? Well, yes I do. The animation was excellent - the animators did a great job. The actors' who were cast were perfect for their roles! The storyline was good and I enjoyed following it - it just wasn't funny! I smirked at a few things but as I said I didn't laugh out loud once.

4/10 for effects and casting!

I'd never even heard of Senseless, but it was recommended to me with high praise - so I gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised, well, I'm not saying it was fantastic - but I did laugh enough to make watching worth my while.

It may help being a fan of one of the actors. I'm not a huge Wayans fan, any of the, how many of them are there? Anyway, nor am I a huge fan of Spade, although he has his moments. I am a huge Matthew Lillard fan, though (no, I'm not a 16 year old girl!) and I found his performance typically Lillard-esque - which is entertaining no matter what the role is - or how under-written his part is. Any fan of Matt will at least get something out of this movie. Keeping in mind I am not a huge Wayans or Spade fan, both gave good performances. Wayans had some great moments.

Directed by Penelope Spheeris, (Wayne's World) - Senseless is overall a pretty good movie with a warm ending, which, being as it *is* a comedy, is a *lot* better than a cold ending!

6.5/10

I know it's rather unfair to comment on a movie without seeing the complete piece - but I am going to anyway! I waited for a laugh, I tried to give it time. I think 20 minutes is long enough to wait in a comedy for a laugh. My laugh never came, so I gave up.

It's stupid humour, not so stupid that you have to laugh, though. It isn't anywhere near that high grade. Let me correct that, it's just *stupid* - not stupid humour. They may have intended for certain scenes to be funny, but they weren't. I suppose, if you were really bored you could somehow blend the movie with a hallucination and end up with a mildly entertaining experience.

A very pathetic effort.