STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic 2

For those of you that have read my review of Jedi Knight Academy you will be aware of the deep love I hold for the Star Wars universe and so it was with delight that I spent the better part of a week playing Knights of the Old Republic 2 over and over again. I had been given it as a birthday present some years ago but had never actually got round to playing it until recently. I had tried to play it previously after getting to a stage which I thought was quite far into the game (it wasn't) and having my save file corrupt I lost all interest in continuing it. I had other more pressing things to do...okay I was sulking but this brings up a very valid concern with KOTOR2; it is bug-tacular.

Of many of the bugs, and we shall be going into them, the most annoying by far is one that forces you stop moving after you have made an attack, the only fix for which is to save and reload the game. The odd thing is that this bug only seems to occur after an hour or so's worth of playing. Maybe this was the developer's way of saying “I think that's enough, you still haven't fed your cat.” Well screw you Tiddles I have sith to defeat but I can't tell you how many times I've died whilst trying to lure away enemies from the main group so I can fight them individually only to find that my character must have equipped her fast-setting-concrete-soled boots again. One particularly annoying bug, which happened to me whilst doing the Nar Shadda quests, was that I sank through the ground. It was as if I had the noclip feature on but this was easily rectified by a reload of the game. On that subject you often get useful in game hints during the loading screens. Imagine how my alarm sirens went off this time round when I read “You should save often and in different files” or words to that effect. I, in my naivety thought that this was just due to the game being difficult. Nope. In order to safeguard against possible file corruptions I found that I had to have a rotating five save file system. So the question becomes why, when Obsidian knew this game was so buggy, did they decide to release it. The answer is simple, the story.

*Part II will be coming up*

Predators (2010) [4/5]

Movie Details

• Suitable for age 15+
• Release July 2010 (UK)
• Length: 107 minutes
• Action, Adventure, Sci-fi
• 20th Century Fox Production
• Available in English, Spanish and Russian
• Producer: Robert Rodriguez
• Director Nimrod Antal

Characters/Cast

• Adrien Brody - 'Royce' 
• Alice Braga - 'Isabelle'
• Topher Grace - 'Edwin'
• Laurence Fishburne - 'Noland'
• Walton Goggins - 'Stans'
• Oleg Taktarov - 'Nikolai'
• Louis Ozawa Changchien - 'Hanzo'
• Mahershalalhashbaz Ali - 'Mombasa'

Plot

A group of 7 hardened criminals, soldiers, mercenaries and one doctor awaken mid-air with a parachute to find that they are being dropped into a jungle. One by one they land and initially try and kill each other, however they soon realize that they are not on Earth anymore and are being hunted by an unseen enemy.

The group is led by the mercenary Royce and he soon discovers that they are being hunted by the Predators for sport. Royce quickly turns that around and the Predators become the hunted as it is the group's only means of survival. 

It soon becomes clear that the Predators adapt very quickly to the human's strategies so it almost becomes a guessing game as to who will die next and who will be alive at the end. There are plenty of plot twists though to keep you guessing and entertained. As the plot unravels we soon discover what each character is capable of in their struggle for survival, especially when they meet Noland who is a crazed man who has so far escaped the Predator's grasp for many seasons.

One by one the characters are picked off and it soon becomes apparent that the doctor, Edwin, is actually a sociopath who feels at home with the 'other monsters'. An epic final battle between 2 Predators, Royce and Isabelle occurs in the middle of the night with dawn bringing victory to the humans. However, that was only for this season as in the background more crates are dropped in.

Summary

Although I cannot compare this to the Arnold Schwarzenegger predecessor I found this to be a very entertaining movies just based on its own merits. The plot was easy to follow yet full on intricate twists and turns so that it doesn't become too predictable. The fight scenes have a great build up on tension which is augmented by the epic special effects! The camouflage on the Predator's armor and the Predator's view through their helmets was brilliant. 

I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it. It compliments and pays homage the other movies in the sequel yet provides us with new entertainment - go watch it and try not to jump too much.

Predators [DVD]