CHINA SQUARE IS THE PLACE TO GO

China Square is the place to go if you have ever wanted to own that fully articulated action figure of your favourite comic book hero or cartoon character. From ground up, it contains shops that are littered with all sorts of rainbow coloured toys, from vintage Star Wars action figures to the latest highly detailed Batman figure from the mega blockbuster comic book movie The Dark Knight, whatever toy you can think of China Square has on sale and more, all at mostly affordable prices. Even the pricey ones deserve the price they command for the detail on some are so realistic it almost feels alive.

Robot fans will delight at the toys based on the Transformers robot characters from the hit TV series that even come with individual descriptions of their character profile, background stories and a nice box to boot. Moreover, fans of Japanese Manga (Japanese graphic novels) and/or Anime (Japanese animation), there are also scores of figures made with loving attention to detail by their respective sculptors.

China Square is a real gem of a place for toy lovers everywhere, with an assortment of toys based on timeless classics to contemporary film, TV and video games. Everyone big and small, young or old will find something they fancy. The young will cheer at the sight of the largest amount of toys ever seen and the old will feel a tinge of nostalgia as they roam from store to store. All in all, a place perfect for family outings. But be sure to visit early, for the stores start closing around 4.30p.m. in the afternoon.

BOHNANZA (CARD GAME REVIEW)

Bohnanza, a trade and negotiation game for the family.

Do not be fooled by its cute depiction of various beans, Bohnanza is a fun and challenging game of trade and negotiation. Created by Uwe Rosenberg, a German board game designer with a penchant for creating games with a twist, Bohnanza is unlike most strictly competitive games. It actually favours the use of a glib tongue, coupled with shrewd deal making tactics over brute force to beat the competition.

In Bohnanza, players take the role of bean farmers, trying to plant and sell as many beans as they can to become the most successful bean farmer. Players are restricted to planting only 2-3 different types of beans which are taken at random, from a centralized deck of cards. During each player’s turn, he/she picks 3 bean cards and must play their cards in the order drawn from the deck. They can choose to plant them or keep them to trade with other players for specific bean cards of their choice. Each type of bean has a different monetary value based on its rarity. Thus, players must also strategize which beans they should specialize in growing and be willing to part with some of their other cards via trade with other players so everyone prospers in a sense. This challenges players to think differently from most traditional games where it is everyone for himself from the get go. Here, players must learn to aid others via trading in order to help further their own bean farming business for everyone draws from the same pool of resources. Of course, an aggressive and competitive play style can still be applied but it may not be as successful in Bohnanza as it is in other games.

Whatever your playing style, one thing is certain; every game of Bohnanza is an opportunity to hone one’s skill in trading and politics. The young might enjoy the novel game mechanics, while the old will appreciate its depth and complexity disguised in a cute little package.

OUTSIDE

My eyes are closed. Am I blind? Am I dead? I can still breath. I can still feel the cool breeze blowing past me, refreshing. I am not dead...

I hear footsteps and the distant voices of people talking, someone giving instructions perhaps? Curiously, I am not afraid. Perhaps it is the cool breeze, not hot, not freezing cold; just nice and cool, relaxing my nerves.

I am about to sit down and rest my tired legs as I hear a vehicle stop behind me. Its squeaking engine, grinding to a halt. Men came out, taking with burly voices. Strangely, I do not fear their intentions. Is is the sound of dripping water that reminds me of home that tampers my paranoia?

Soon, the rumbling engine noise and the voices fade away, leaving me alone again. Or am I? The water continues to drip as the wind continues to blow. Both comforting and relaxing, compelling me to stay.

FILM REVIEW:MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Funny and witty, Midnight in Paris is a light hearted journey of self discovery for aspiring writer Gil Pender (Owen Wilson). However, it is also not entirely a romantic comedy as its title might suggest.

Gil, a successful Hollywood writer who is struggling with his first novel, travels with his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams) to Paris. He is enthralled with the city and has thoughts of staying in Paris after getting married but Inez thinks otherwise. Gil sees Paris as the ideal place to find the inspiration to accomplish his artistic goals; while Inez views it merely as an important touristy location of note. It is this difference that would lead them to very different conclusions about their lives. When Gil decides to leave Inez to party with her friends and goes for a midnight stroll along the streets of Paris, he is picked up by merrymaking folks who will provide him the writing inspiration he needs.

The film begins in modern day Paris, with its beautifully designed buildings and museums that display its golden age of artistic expression; before luring us into the 1920s, where its dimly lit, moody streets evoke a rustic, cosy feeling that makes you want to stay a little longer, among the literary/artistic greats of the past, just to know them a little better.

Owen Wilson is aptly cast as protagonist Gil Pender. A veteran of the comedy genre, he exudes an unbiased and unassuming air that allows him to be the nonjudgmental eyes and ears of the audience, while not losing his own character in the process.

Performances are good, although some of the supporting cast’s roles serve merely as character foils to the protagonist; to highlight how different and possibly incompatible he is among their company. What delighted me the most were the many cameos of accomplished actors, aptly taking mentoring roles in their fictional impersonation of the many artistic talents that flocked to Paris circa 1920 .

Woody Allen writes and directs a film that is very watchable, expects nothing from its viewers other than an open mind and a need to escape reality for a brief respite. His script is snappy and witty, subtle and gentle; coaxing and luring us into the magical, alluring past of Paris. Filmed entirely on location, in Paris, Allen also engaged a number of local French actors and actresses (like former model and wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni) to evoke an authentic Parisian feel that is different from, yet similar in some ways to their American counterparts; a juxtaposition of sorts.

Midnight in Paris is no epic melodrama; nor is it entirely a romantic comedy in the traditional sense but it is definitely more than the sum of its parts. The film sublimely delivers Woody Allen’s message to artists of all mediums to seize the present and not mope about the difficulties they face, especially when they are misunderstood by those around them. However, it might offend some people with its shallow, materialistic depictions of antagonistic characters that oppose Gil’s chosen literary path. All in all, with the exception of young children, Midnight in Paris is entertaining, educational and doubly entertaining for art and literature enthusiasts.

Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

Age: Late teens to adults (strong language, violence and some disturbing situations)

Price: ~$59.90 (Prices may vary)

The Call of Duty (COD) franchise started a revolution in first person shooters. It was cinematic, semi-realistic and immersed the player in the second Great War. Melding cinematic, ensemble style storytelling and combat that required cover and flanking to defeat your foes. Though the combat was rudimentary, the resultant game play drew the player into conflicts that were critical and provided a glimpse of the fun and horrors of war. However, COD Modern Warfare 3 is not such a game. In fact it stopped being fun about halfway through. Fortunately, its multiplayer component is still competent.

The single player campaign of MW 3 revolves around the start of a Third World war esque conflict through the manipulations of terrorists. The basic plot serves as an excuse to create audacious set-pieces for the player to shoot through; like the New York Stock exchange, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, Big Ben in Britain and other prominent locations in the Western world. My personal favourite was you having to stop a Russian naval invasion by hi-jacking a Russian missile submarine and unleashing it’s payload on the unsuspecting Russian navy. However, its downhill after that; the plot yoyos between a few of the major characters in the conflict, namely special forces soldiers from America, Britain and Russia. Little characterization is done as the story races to its climax where you hunt down the terrorist responsible, ending the fictional threat that began in MW 1.

MW 1 presented a possible future scenario where control of information and misinformation can ignite global conflict; providing the perfect setting to showcase some of the latest in military hardware (namely, guns, rifles, pinpoint artillery/airborne strikes and a myriad of other accessories). MW 2 expanded of the same philosophy, but pushed the plot to overdrive; generating controversy from the Russian airport massacre by terrorists (reminiscent of the September 11^th attacks on US soil) in order to frame the United States of America and cause a Russian invasion of America that would spill into Europe in MW 3. While MW 1 introduced the masses to the new age of conflict in the 21^st century, and many enjoyed the war on the home front depicted in MW 2; MW 3 has no central theme to pull its loose narrative together. The player is presented with a collage of the previous 2 games with a mere change in locales. Enemies still charge at you en masse and spawn infinitely till you push forward your attack. This might have worked before, but it falls short of my expectations. In a market where hyper realistic and immersive shooters like Crysis 2, Arma and Operation Flashpoint have gained acclaim for cinematic yet believable combat situations that demanded careful planning before initiating an assault; MW 3’s looks and game play feels dated. These games also offer tone downed difficulty modes for more casual gamers while still maintaining a sense of connectivity between its missions and overall story.

MW 3’s single player story mode delivers frenetic action for the trigger happy weekend warrior but fails to deliver a satisfying conclusion to the story it brewed 2 games ago. Fortunately, its multiplayer mode allows for co-op play through certain pre created scenarios aptly named “Spec Ops”, as well as competitive multiplayer team matches similar to the previous titles; with some new features added in. If you prefer immersive war games however, Battlefield 3 might be more to your liking for it allows the use of land, sea and airborne military vehicles to wreak havoc with your friends. In contrast, MW 3’s multiplayer is more squad level based, like an update of the excellent classic, Counter-Strike. Its strong focus on gun play is evident with a leveling structure that rewards players with perks to further boost their weapon choices, armour and many more.

Graphically, MW 3 looks suspiciously similar to MW 2; with only the varied touristy locations like London, Berlin and a New York under siege that barely disguises the ruse of reused textures and artwork. The sound effects are decent but very much like the prequels and the music, while effective; cannot hold a candle to Hans Zimmer's excellent composition that so elegantly suits the scenes of war you are embroiled in MW 2.With its steep price, short single-player campaign (4-5hours in length) and familiar multiplayer options, MW 3 is for the weekend warriors who cannot wait to satisfy their urge to shoot something. The rest of us can wait for it to be placed in the bargain bin.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the future of human evolution

Picture a world in chaos, where corporations wield more power than governments; shadowy organisations begin to initiate the final phase of their plans for subjugating the world. Welcome to the world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. “It is a time of great innovation and technological advancement”, as the protagonist Adam Jensen muses in the game’s trailer, Deus Ex takes place in the not so distant future of 2027; where technology has enabled powerful replacement of limbs for the human body. Like all great science fiction, such rapid advancement usually causes shifts in social norms and cause for great anxiety among all social classes. It is a new arms race to not only replace lost body parts but spur some to willingly discard working parts for enhanced, mechanical parts that elevates human ability to the realm of the Super Human. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Deus Ex:HR) is a sci-fi action, stealth, adventure game set in a noire like dystopian future filled with uncertainty, strife and sinister conspiracies. Uniquely among video games, it boasts a strong story that never strays from being a social commentary on how technological advancements are tools that can enhance our lives or destroy the fabrics of our civilization should we choose to manipulate it for personal gain, at the expense of others.

As a prequel for the sleeper hit Deus Ex, released by Eidos studios in 1999, Deus Ex:HR is a magnificent game that bridges the gap between the tale of fantastic augmented super beings depicted in Deus Ex and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War. The series became famous chiefly because of its then innovative style of game play, providing players with multiple choices to accomplish their tasks. For example, you are given the task to rescue a hostage. Do you charge in guns blazing and kill every in sight? Or do you use stealth with minimal violence to complete your task? You can also use a combination of both, combined with some detective work and negotiation/persuasion to convince or sometimes even join the opposing side if you are convinced by their ideology. Such layered storytelling allows for a deep gaming experience no other “First-Person Shooter” possessed at the time. Deus Ex beautifully intertwined the different role-playing adventure and action genres to synthesize a masterpiece of its time, embodying the vision of its lead designer Warren Spector; who believed that action games should be more than merely running and gunning down foes within a loosely constructed narrative backdrop.

Deus Ex:HR not only looks good, despite some stiff animations and low resolution compressed videos that serve as cut-scenes in certain parts of the game; it succeeds in showing us how the controversial technology of human augmentation is rapidly altering the course of mankind. Personally, I felt that the original Deus Ex, while epic in scope and excellent in the amount of game play choices provided to the player; was a little too futuristic for my taste. Little was explained on how and why the world became the way it is, which left me slightly confused till halfway through the game (around 5-6hours of gaming time). This was probably the reason why many gamers were either put off with the game, or enticed to continue further down the rabbit hole; to uncover the truth behind the web of conspiracy. Deus Ex:HR addresses all of these problems but also adds a few of its own problems in the mix.



Firstly, the protagonist Adam Jensen does not wield his potent arm blades in melee combat. Instead, close combat is only initiated with the tap of a key when you are near enemies. A further gripe is that doing so also drains your internal battery life that powers your mechanical prosthesis. Meaning that no battery power equals a defenseless Adam Jensen; who can still wield projectile weapons, open doors, climb ladders and jump real high but he cannot even swing a crowbar or any other melee weapon. Incidentally, the designers omitted any form of close combat weapons that existed in the earlier games and limited close combat to keyboard taps and some cool martial arts animations that drain the protagonist’s energy bar. Said protagonist’s energy bar can only be replenished by consuming nutrients in the form of muesli/protein bars. This not only abruptly disrupts the momentum of the game but also limits players who prefer close combat to either turn to ranged combat or stealth once they run out of energy and oddly enough, muesli bars.

Secondly, as a role-playing game, (where players are awarded points to further enhance their character’s ability) Deus Ex:HR’s skill trees seem to favour the stealth and hacking type of character build over the “Rambo” type. With more unlockable skills like seeing through walls, hacking complex computers to turn off security systems or turning totally invisible than action oriented skills like strength and accuracy upgrades for wielding powerful and cumbersome projectile weapons. In addition, staying out of sight and not causing any alarms to be triggered rewards the player with significant experience points to further augment Adam’s abilities. It would have been nice to see experience awards that award full carnage and mayhem that is in full contrast to the stealth rewards like “Ghost” (not being seen by anyone) and “Smooth Operator” (triggered no alarms during a mission). Perhaps a “Rambo” award for killing everything in sight would have been a nice touch as the irony of achieving many experience points like I did for playing stealthily was that I could build an extremely powerful character, with mastery in almost all the skills available. This allowed me the choice of going stealth, guns blazing or both later in the game when I got tired of sneaking around.


Some critics have also criticised this aspect of the game, where creating too powerful a character, renders many approaches to the game’s challenges, merely a matter of preference rather than necessity. I, however, disagree with this train of thought. Having followed the story, it seems that all the skills depicted in the game are actually supposed to be accessible to Adam Jensen right of the operating table where he had to have much of his body replaced. As the story goes, Adam cannot fully utilise them due to head trauma he experienced prior to his transformation. Thus, he has to familiarise himself by actively gaining experience by using his abilities and completing tasks and/or purchasing software upgrade kits to further enhance his brain’s mental link to his augmentations. Therefore, it should only be plausible that towards the end of the game, he should have near full access to all the abilities provided by his augmentations and be able to use them as he sees fit.



Another misstep in Deus Ex:HR is the inclusion of unavoidable “boss” fights with the major antagonists of the game. Such encounters were rare and usually avoidable via stealth or the right choice of words in previous instalments. Sadly, in Deus Ex:HR, such encounters are entirely forced on the player, dropping you in scripted ambush sites that forces you to kill rather than subdue or maybe even totally avoiding such confrontations. In addition, pacifistic players with non-lethal weapons will find such encounters massively challenging and frustrating as they will have to run around the battleground picking up oddly placed weapons that if I am not mistaken, are strategically placed by the designers, specifically for such players.


Aside from the above mentioned problems, Deus Ex: HR retains the spirit of its predecessors and is superior in terms of storytelling and most game play and graphical features. Its emphasis on stealth over action in most circumstances actually seems more realistic in hindsight for would anyone breaking into a high security building risk fully exposing himself to the onslaught of its security devices and personnel? Despite having given a lengthy description of its few problems, I think it succeeded in virtually all other aspects of creating an immersive; believable game world that draws players in with its compelling atmosphere and storyline. A worthy follow-up to a fast growing industry plagued by simplistic games and a story that would make sci-fi greats like Isaac Asimov and Phillip K Dick proud.


Reference Links:
1) http://deusex.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex_Wiki
2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Spector
3)http://deusex.com/
4)http://www.philipkdick.com/
5)http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001920/ (on Isaac Asimov)