Category: Reviews

Review: Becht Approves “Halo 3: ODST”

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Hey guys, I am back with another review. Did you miss me? Sure you did. Well over the weekend I played this game called Halo 3: ODST. I know you are wondering why this one, why not Halo 3 or Halo 4?

To understand why I chose Halo 3: ODST instead of any other Halo, let me break down the flows.

First off, Halo 1 and 2 had poorly designed graphics.

Then Halo Wars was just horrible because it was in sky view and you didn’t get to play as the main characters.

Halo Universe had a great story but a lot of spikes (which is when the screen freezes or is when the game just turns off).

Halo 3 had everything going good until they made the levels, there were too many levels and when you tried to play multiplayer you would always get lost or it would teleport you to a complete different place, Halo Reach Had great graphics and storyline, except when it came to the multiplayer there was a lot of lag and spikes.

Then Halo 4 just had a bad ending. Now, 343 Industries and Microsoft are making Halo 5.

So that takes me back to ODST, released by Bungie in September of 2009, which brought to the game mode Firefight.

Firefight leaves the player alone with limited ammunition and waves of the Covenant, aliens who are trying to take over the world, and try to survive.

Now let’s get into the money side, Halo 3: ODST sold about 3 million copies worldwide, more than Halo 1 and 2 combined. It was the most sold game in the month it was released. It was declared by Softpedia, Time and Wired to be the number one game of the years of making the franchise of Halo.

In the game the player is an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or an ODST for short, and you are trying to find the rest of the team. It’s not simple though, the player is in the dark, alone and limited on ammo. There are huge battles and little fights.  He flies banshees and can kill a group of Covenant with a single handgun. Other than that it is a great game.

Oh, and there are a lot of hidden things in the game. I’m not going to tell you, you are going to have to find them yourself.

Review by Chaz Becht

Review: Roach Reviews “Beautiful Creatures”

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A supernatural love story set in the South that came out on Valentine’s Day 2013, “Beautiful Creatures” follows Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) and Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), who fall in love when Lena comes to town.

Soon Ethan finds out what she really is. Later Lena’s cousin Ridley Duchannes (Emmy Rossum) and Lena’s mother Sarafine (Emma Thompson) show up and tell Lena she is going to be claimed for the dark like they themselves are. During the reenactment of Honey Hill, mother and daughter fight over Lena’s future. Will she be claimed light or dark? You will have to find out yourself if you still find it worth it after my complaints.

The movie is based on the movie of the same name, written by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. The book has the same plot but a lot more detail like most books do. Published in December of 2009 by Little, Brown and Company, the book is from a series of five books. Since the Warner brothers own the right to all of the books, a second movie isn’t completely out of the question.

The characters do not look how they are portrayed in the book. For example, Lena has curly, crazy black hair and almost glowing green eyes in the book, but in the movie, her hair is a simple curl and it is clearly brown and her eyes are also brown with just a glint of green.

Lena also had a moon shaped birthmark under her eye in the book, that you don’t see in the movie. The least they could have done was make the main character look like she was suppose to.

An upside to the movie was that they kept the locket that brings flashbacks when Lena and Ethan both touch it. They also kept the actual flashback scenes.

I think the director Richard LaGravenese worked hard on this film, and I know the movies are never exactly like the books, but this one was just too different.

On a scale of one to five, I would give this movie a two. I just think that if they had taken out some of the scenes that they made up and stuck with the original scenes from the book, it would have been much better. It, to me, was not worth the three months of begging my mom I did to see it.

Review by Haley Roach

Review: Dawson gives a thumbs up to GTA V

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One of the most anticipated games of this decade was Grand Theft Auto V. It came out September 19, 2013.

GTA V is about a retired killer (Michael) who comes out of retirement to pay off his debt that he owes someone. Michael has to rob for money. After his debt is repaid his old friend finds out that he is still alive.

The games maker Rockstar delivers the perfect storyline and plenty of things to do outside of missions. The designers from Rockstar North have made the graphics look as if you were actually there. For everyone that has played this game will have positive thoughts about it.

This game is one of the best I have ever played. Overall I would say that this game is a lot better than any previous of the GTA games.

This game can be played online with other players. You can also play by yourself if you feel like it.

If you like rampaging through the streets with guns, tanks, or rocket launchers this is the game for you. On the other hand if you dislike bad language, killing, or blood, you should not play it.

If you are under the age of 17 you should not play without a parents’ permission. This game can be played on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Rating = A

Review by Dawson “Surf” Long

Review: Ingle Reviews “A Child Called It”

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One of the worst child abuse cases in Daly City, California came to an end March 5, 1973.

“A Child Called ‘It’” was published by the Omaha Press in 1993. Dave Pelzer’s first book is phenomenal I like this book because it makes you think deeper and think more serious about child abuse.

What I think that could have been better is that the teachers and nurses would of done something the first time than wait for another couple of years. Some details that I think should’ve been included more is how he survived in the garage on the old, dried up army cot. This was a New York Times Bestseller as soon as this life-changing book came out. This book is for mature readers only. According to reviewers on Teenink.com, they gave this book five out of five stars.

The author is the victim, Dave Pelzer. Pelzer has wrote other books including: “The Lost Boy,” “A Man Named Dave,” “Help Yourself,” and “The Privilege of Youth.” The story has Pelzer remembering his time as a young boy who was brutally abused by his insane mother. Pelzer has to try to survive Mother’s unpredictable and life-threatening games. Pelzer is rarely fed and when he does get fed, they are scraps and rations that even dogs won’t eat. In addition to his mother, Pelzer’s father also didn’t try to save him at all. Pelzer would always dream of being loved and saved from the “Madhouse.”

Once you start reading this inspirational and interesting book, you won’t be able to put it down. This amazing book will teach you a lesson to be grateful for life. Rating: A

Review by Jace Ingle

Review: Foughty-Killion Reviews Halo 4

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Halo 4 is a game with guns and aliens and all kinds of alien vehicles with super high tech weapons, if you like that kind of stuff then you will love Halo 4.

The story starts where it left off in Halo 3, and you awake and jump out of your sleeping chamber to have a little chat with Cortana, your computer companion that helps you access all kinds of computers and ships. It turns out that the commander to your home is actually at a truce with the Alien race.

Halo 4 got a rating of 9.8/10 by the 343 Industries, the American videogame developer. Some other stuff you should know if you are going to buy this game, although compared to many other mature games Halo 4 is mild and is probably appropriate for any young teen or old preteen.

The game has some intense violence, but is not too graphic. Also, Cortana somewhat appears nude but she is a computer program hologram and nothing sensitive is shown.

The bottom line is that Halo 4 is brilliant. The 343 Industries have proved that anyone who cares about videogames should pick up a copy of Halo 4.

Overall I would give this game an A rating.

Review by John Foughty-Killion