MunkeeView

Video games to movies to books to TV shows to sports, a Munkee's point of view on the world.

[killermunkees]

World Made By Hand (James Howard Kunstler) Review

World Made By Hand is a novel about a small town in New York after the end of the world as we know it. Kunstler does an incredible job using believable events that could destroy the way we live today. From wars, diseases, depletion of natural resources, and political upheaval, our nation as we know it in 2014 could be unrecognizable in a few short years. This aspect of the story is great and overall very interesting but is a very small part of the overall story.

            Overall, the story is about Robert Earle of Union Grove, NY in the “not so distant future” and the townspeople of Union Grove surviving their new world. While reading through the novel, it is difficult to picture the world that we know as decrepit as Kunstler describes. I found myself picturing Union Grove and its’ people from something out of Little House on the Prairie and living in the 19th century, not in 2000-something. Although I tried my hardest to picture an eroded modern town, I could not but I could picture the struggle of religion that Kunstler keeps at the forefront of the story. Every character in the novel struggles with religion; whether they abandoned religion, maintained their faith, or found their faith in this new world was intriguing and realistic. The different factions that the town is split into also one of the more interesting aspects of the story. From Karptown, a trailer society, to the New Faith newcomers, a similarly Quaker society, to the Bullock plantation, a self-sufficient town on its’ own, to the people of Union Grove, all the different societies that interact and coexist in Washington county is representative of any society, whether a fledgling community or a tried community.

            The story revolves around this small town after the collapse of the country from a Holy Land war, epidemics, running out of oil, and nuclear warfare. All these events are realistic but Kunstler only hints at these events and the story of the bigger picture of the country after these tragic events. The entire story would have been much more intriguing knowing the bigger picture. Throughout the entire 317 pages, I found myself feeling like nothing has really happened in the novel. The townspeople’s feeble attempt at recovering their old way of life is at the center of the story instead of the country attempting to do the same.

            To cap off the misguided story, the mysterious Quaker society of the New Faith people is over the top. By the end of the story, the reader is wondering if the New Faith people are actual humans, or aliens, or God. This strange twist in the story of the New Faith people is truly mind scratching and puts a damper on the relationship between the factions of Washington County.

            My final opinion on this novel is it is an interesting book, especially for a post-apocalyptic junkie as I am. With that being said, this book could also have been much better if the focus was broader and not focused on this one small town. The presence of religion was a vital part of the story but the over exaggeration of it with the mysterious origins of the New Faith people brought the religion aspect overboard.

Final Grade: 6/10

[killermunkees]

Fiend (by: Peter Stenson) Review

            I will start off by saying that zombie apocalypse is something I have little to no interest in; I bought this mistake thinking it was an apocalypse book but failed to realize it was about a zombie apocalypse (my mistake).

            This novel about a meth addict and his hodge-podge group of misfit meth addicts during a zombie apocalypse. The novel surprised me in how it kept my interests and kept my questions about the zombies in the back of my mind. The focus was on the meth addicts the entire time and it just so happened they were attempting to survive a world filled with zombies who wanted to eat them. Stenson did an excellent job with his main character, Chase Daniels, making him confusing to the reader as well as Chase himself. He constantly thinks in contradictions which gives him an interesting depth to him that you wouldn’t think a meth addict has. Most of the characters in the story all have impressive depth to them for being meth addicts and the way they interact with one another is refreshing and keeps you enticed in the book.

            The story I split into two different stories, one of Chase Daniels and his group of friends, acquaintances, and enemies, and one of the zombie apocalypse. The zombie story was frustrating to me just like any of the other zombie movies, books, shows, or games. The lack of explanation by stenson on what caused people to turn into zombies is the exact reason why this type of story does not interest me. With this book in particular, the reason for survivors is truly moronic and something I had to look past. Stenson did a good job of distracting me from the nonsensical zombie story with the story of Chase and his interactions with the other characters in the novel. Chase is a truly confusing character and someone that you can relate to at some point in the book. His bipolar like thoughts leaves you wondering who he really is and what thoughts are the true Chase or just the meth.

            Overall, Fiend was a surprisingly great novel about the impact of drugs on you. The use of a zombie apocalypse to show the effects of drugs and what drugs can do to a person and their relationships is truly fantastic. Stenson did a wonderful job in waiting until the end of the novel to show the ultimate effect of drugs on a person without making the ending very predictable.

Grade: 7.75/10

[killermunkees]

Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) Review

The first game in a successful, hugely popular series is quite a disappointment. I started playing this series because of all the hype that I heard and the announcement of the new Assassin’s creed: unity at E3 2014. I assumed the first game in this amazing series would be outstanding, but I was very wrong (how does the saying go? Assuming makes an ass out of you and me). The first assassins creed took me the longest time to complete (roughly 10 months) because of the monotonous gameplay and story. Every city, every assassination requires the same side missions and objectives. I found myself struggling through the game because I was growing so weary of doing the same thing repeatedly. The story itself is completely predictable and can be figured out from the first few missions. The few characters that the game does have do not have much depth, detail, or history which continues the boring gameplay.

        Starting off the game is a rush because of the movement of altair and how you are able to climb buildings to get practically anywhere you want. The assassination of guards is also an interesting facet of the game that adds to the gameplay experience. Although the gameplay is very fun and refreshing, the flat story and the droning missions quickly make the gameplay just as slow and stale.

Specific facets that frustrated me while playing is the inability to swim, frustrating me only in the final Acre mission. The fighting gameplay is also frustrating and predictable. Catching throws and defending against counters are nearly impossible and the entire fighting play is very easy to control. I found myself fighting everyone the same way with defending and countering which got tedious and the lack of any adaptive fighting skills by the enemies further shows the lifeless nature of the game.

Not all of assassin’s creed is bad though or else it wouldn’t have become such a popular series. Although the story is predictable and simple, the history of the story and the viewpoint Ubisoft took was very interesting and intriguing. They used a massive historical event, put their own twist on it, found a way to put their own growing story to it and was able to make billions of dollars with it. The ending of this first installment is not the greatest though. I would recommend putting a closing scene or something to definitively end this game while still maintaining the story onto the second game; don’t just leave the player standing there wondering what to do.

Grade: 5/10

[killermunkees]

Watch Dogs (Xbox One) Review

If you haven't heard of Watch Dogs you have been living under a rock. Released on May 27th, Watch Dogs is Ubisoft's newest creation. Similar to GTA and Assassins Creed but with its' own twist, Watch Dogs allows you to take control of nearly anything in the city that is electronic including street lights, bridges, steam pipes under the roads, phones, and many more. I have completed the story and nearing the completion of the entire game and I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. I did not plan on purchasing this game until I saw more commercials, more gameplay via Twitch, and heard the critics say amazing things about this game. So here are the Pros and Cons of Watch Dogs.

Pros:

Good blend of gung-ho Rambo type play and stealthy, sneaking play. Depending on the mission, stealth is required because you cannot be detected whereas in other missions stealth is not required and you can choose how you play; shoot and kill everyone or sneak around everyone to reach the objective.

Graphics and detail of the game are impeccable. Graphics are mandatory in this day and age for basically any video game but the small details in Watch Dogs are insane. Every person you see and encounter in the streets each have their own biography including age, occupation, salary, and usually a little interesting fact about them.

Story is straightforward enough but still filled with twists. The story of this game is basic but there are enough plot twists and interesting characters to keep it intriguing. Aiden Pearce, the main character, is a pretty dull character but the supporting characters are a group of crazy, unusual, and alluring misfits that all play their own unique role.

Gameplay isn't overcomplicated. One of my biggest complaints about many games is the developer tries to do too much and ends up overcomplicating the game. Ubisoft did just enough where I quickly got a hold on the controls and I was not left wanting to do more things with the game.

Very realistic story, characters, and gameplay. The story of Watch Dogs is obviously very realistic with smartphones taking over our society. Also, the characters you can picture in any society. Based in Chicago, there is a great mix of different personalities that are all unique and contribute to the story overall. One of my favorite things about this game are the realistic environment around you. People in the streets have phones and take pictures of interesting things they see, they jump out of the way if  you drive at them (not into you), and you can drive through fences, telephone poles (at the right speed).

Cons:

Loading time are missions a little shaky. This is very minor but after you complete a mission there is a slight lag for a second or two and you can tell that the game is loading the next mission.

Story goes off in tangents occasionally. The story is straightforward but I found myself wondering what was going on or why I was doing a mission. There are several people helping Aiden (You) and also several enemies that are connected somehow. Some of the missions involves one enemy while another may involve another one and it can get confusing at times.

Final Opinion

            Overall, Watch Dogs is a great game that I would recommend to anyone, especially if you’re a fan of GTA or assassins creed. A few minor problems but Ubisoft did an amazing job with this game and all the hype and praise is well-deserved.

Spoiler alert: I cannot wait for the sequel

Grade: 9/10

[killermunkees]

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