2 month update

Its been two months since I updated. This is mostly due to the undeniable fact that I became quite busy. I make no excuses for November. Its when all the best books, movies, and video games are released. And believe me, those can--and usually do--take up the majority of my free time. So let's see what have I been doing. Warning: This will be an exceptionally large update.

How about bowl season? Seems a good a place as any.
- Championship game - Texas vs. Alabama. I would have rather seen TCU in the championship game because I think they have the potential to beat both teams, but there's nothing I can do about it at this point. Alabama did beat Florida, so they made a believer out of me. I think they will beat Texas with their defense.
- Fiesta Bowl - Boise St vs. TCU. Why did it have to be two of my three favorite teams? Ugh. I still want Boise St to win, but I also want TCU to win. Either way it will be a bittersweet victory. I think TCU will be the victor.
- Rose Bowl - Oregon vs. Ohio St. Good luck, Buckeyes. You're gonna need it cause you don't stand a chance.
- Orange Bowl - Iowa vs Georgia Tech. Iowa squeaked by too many games for me to have faith in them. Georgia Tech will this one.
- Sugar Bowl - Florida vs. Cincinnati. Both are great teams, but Florida lost their momentum at the end of the year. Still, I will go with the flow and pick Florida, but I fully believe Cincy is capable of winning.

Okay, now onto the book I was looking forward to for three years. The Gathering Storm. Ever since the passing away of James Oliver Rigney on Sept. 16th, 2007, Wheel of Time fans have been in limbo about the beloved fantasy series. Even though Harriet, Rigney's widow, chose Brandon Sanderson to pen the final volumes of the series, many had doubts as to whether the series would remain true to the world Jordan had established.

On October 27th, 2009 I became a part of history and went to the the release party in Provo, Utah. I originally intended to provide photos of the event, but I inadvertently forgot to bring my phone. (I don't have a digital camera for reasons I shall explain at a later date.) So unfortunately, I cannot provide any pictures. Still, it was quite chilly outside the BYU Bookstore, but the ushers did provide some fun material to keep our minds occupied while we waited for the stroke of midnight.

But is the book any good? If you enjoy reading the Wheel of Time series, the book is nothing less than awesome. So many side plots are being resolved, and you can see how all the lines are slowly merging together. But that's not what makes it awesome. It how they are coming together. Its done in a personality-driven fashion that is so realistic, I feel like the characters are my friends I know them so well. The epic story is finally picking up speed and its amazing how its all coming together so well.

Thank you, Brandon Sanderson on a job well done. You have preserved the look and feel of the Wheel of Time without making it artificial. Its not often I go back and read a book a second or third time just because I want to relive the intensity.

Brandon Sanderson's Eulogy of Jordan.

Moving on, its time for some video game reviews.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Its probably one of the most anticipated games in recent memory. I had many complaints about the first one. Amongst other things, the maps were too small and too unrealistic, the martyrdom and multi-frag perks were annoying, sniping was absolutely broken, knifing was ridiculously overpowered, there wasn't enough ammo without the bandolier perk, there was too much sway on the ACOG scope, and the camera always jumped when you were being hit. I think the sniping complain warrants further explanation. First of all, the Barret .50 caliber M82 rifle was NOT A ONE-HIT KILL. Seriously, even if a .50 cal bullet hits a non-vital part of the body like an arm or leg, it would BLOW IT OFF THE BODY thus leading to swift death. The sway on sniper scopes, though realistic, was sadly busted by the fact that it takes about 2-3 seconds for the sway to stop once you took a breath. That doesn't seem like a lot of time, but in the game its forever. By the time your sway stops, your target is halfway across the map, no longer in a line of sight. Even if you were able to pull the trigger and hit the target, they would know exactly where you're sniping from because of the killcam. This alone negates any advantage the sniper had in the first place, and his position will be compromised after one shot. Its stupid. Often, the sniper will shoot at targets quite a distance away, and even though they are running, as long as the sniper puts the crosshairs on their head and pulls the trigger, its a hit regardless of distance. That's dumb. Bullets are fast, but they are never instantaneous.

Okay, so did they fix the issues in the new game?
- Maps too small - Same.
- Maps too restrictive - Same.
- Martyrdom - Not gone completely, but reduced enough for it to not be so annoying.
- Multi-frag - Blessedly fixed. Thank God.
- Knife overpowered - WORSE. They added Commando perk, essentially making the knife an instant kill gun.
- Limited ammo - Same. You'll run out fast.
- Sway on ACOG sight - Same. Its as hard as hell to use. In fact, the ACOG barely zooms at all and takes up too much of your vision to be useful.
- Camera jump while being hit - Sadly, not fixed. This is death for snipers. If you get hit first, its over.
- Unrealistic Barrett - Same crap. If you don't want an instant kill sniper rifle in the game, take this gun out. Seriously.
- Killcam for snipers - Same crap. They always know where you're sniping from.
- No leading shots - Not fixed.

Do I like the game? Nope. They fixed 2 of 11 issues I had.
Do I play the game? Yes. Because its challenging and I like the rewards, titles, and leveling system.

Overall, thumbs down. The game was already run&gun, but now its run&knife. Its not realistic or fun, its inane and tedious. I want my money back.

Left 4 Dead 2
It was also highly anticipated because of the success of the first game, which was great, I might add. So was the second one better? You better believe it. They tripled the amount of guns available to use, added 11 melee weapons, 3 new special infected, 2 new game modes, 5 new campaign levels (which coincidentally form one long storyline), and new items to carry such as adrenaline, boomer bile, and a defibrillator. That's enough new content to satisfy any fan of the series.

Did they break the story? Nope, its still good.
Did they break the difficulty? Nope, if anything its actually harder, which in my opinion was a good move.

Despite it being more difficult, the game is as fun as hell and never really gets old. Thumbs up here, great game, worth the wait, and well worth the money.

I think I'll leave off with a review of the movie I saw tonight, The Princess and the Frog. I have four words that sum it up. Thank you, John Lasseter. The quality of EVERYTHING in the movie has increased exponentially over previous Disney debacles, and you can tell its because Lasseter had a finger in it the whole way. Worth the price of a ticket? Definitely. And that's saying a lot coming from me.