Reviews

Four is the name of an important character in the movie. Apparently, it stands for poor writing, poor directing, poor casting, and poor acting.

Let's start with the poor writing. Obviously this movie would be more enjoyable if one had read the book. Well, I hadn't, and therefore I was confused because the back-up story was non-existent. The movie takes place in an dystopian society. However, nobody tells what really happened to the world. Without adding any spoilers, it is hard to specify why the quality of the writing is constantly so poor, but let's just say that the story is so full of holes it looks like an emmental cheese.

Poor directing. Good directing could have compensated for the ludicrous writing, but in Divergent they seem to form an unholy alliance. The scenes lack credibility - especially the action ones. Because of this, Divergent is a movie for the children at best.

There are three characters that look somewhat the same. It took constant effort to keep on track on who is who. The absurd changing of the scenes didn't help. However, the biggest mistake of the casting crew was hiring Shailene Woodley. Sure, it is cool to see a relatively new face in a big budget movie, but there is a reason why it is so rare - they cannot act.

The previous statement takes me to the final part, which rendered this movie close to unwatchable. The actors consist of young and inexperienced actors mostly. Because of the cheesy writing and directing, their acting seems even more horrible than it already is. Again, without including any spoilers, I won't go any deeper, but just watch the so-called "chemistry" between Tris and Four... Makes you feel awkward, huh?

Finally, I want to clarify that I usually like dystopian films. In this case, I was expecting a rating of 7 or 8, so I'm still quite shocked because the movie fell below my expectations so badly. It just makes me so disappointed that this kind of budget goes to absolute waste because of these flaws I mentioned above. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you are a big fan of the books!

General information:

Serious Sam 3: BFE (Before First Encounter)is an action game and it was developed by Croteam. It was published in 2011 and even though it says "3" in the title, it is actually already a fourth PC installment of the series so far - seriously! It is a very hectic fps-game (first-person shooter) where Sam Stone tries to defend the Earth against a massive alien invasion. BFE takes place, surprise, before the earlier games.

The main idea of the game is to offer ridiculous moments in a form of exaggerated carnage and cheesy one-liners. If you are looking for a nice story or puzzles... Well, keep looking since you won't find them in this game.

Pros:

If you have liked the previous games, then you will seriously love this one, too. BFE is beautiful and the game engine, Serious Engine 3.5, allows nice dynamics. The enemies are various and they are more interesting than before. Also, the game is surprisingly long and one can happily play it again.

The atmosphere is amusing; John J. Dick is still the voice actor of Sam and even the soundtrack is fitting. There are some very ludicrous dialog and cut scenes. However, the biggest pro of this game is, luckily, the shooting. Everything is perfect in it - thanks to Serious Engine 3.5.

Cons:

The plot is corny but I must stress that it's like that on purpose. The series has always been full of bugs and BFE is no exception. Still, the worst fact is that BFE is not as hard as its predecessors. This won't probably be a problem to everyone but the serious fans will cry. The series is widely-known for its sadistic Serious difficulty.

Summary:

A serious package of action! Seriously recommended for anybody who wants to turn their brains off for a while and let the alien scum have it! However, if you want a bigger meaning and an epic story then you should avoid this game like a plague. This kind of humor just isn't for everyone. But if it indeed is for you, then you should also try the DLC (downloadable content) Jewel of The Nile.

General information:

Deadlight is an adventure game made by Tequila Works. The game takes you to Seattle, 1986. The world is devastated by the war against Shadows - the undead. The protagonist is a middle-aged man called Randall Wayne who gets separated from his group at the start of the game. He tries to make it into the safe zone but before that he must find his wife and daughter.

The game consists of exploring, puzzles and combat. However, direct combat against the Shadows is always ill-advised since Randall is extremely vulnerable. Deadlight is a 2.5d game, meaning that the player can only move in 2 dimensions but the surrounding world functions in 3 dimensions.

Pros:

Deadlight is extremely beautiful. The developers have used the 2.5d graphics in a very imaginative way. The biggest single positive factor in Deadlight is, however, the atmosphere. The post-apocalyptic Seattle is depressing. Sky is gray and everything is in ruins. Food is scarce and many of the survivors are even worse than the undead. From time to time, player can find messages and details that unravel the mysteries of this darkened world. On a paper this doesn't really sound like a brand new idea. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is constructed so well that you will be totally absorbed into the game itself. Good narrating and comic- like cutscenes also play a huge role.

Cons:

Deadlight is short. It took me approximately three hours to finish the game. Considering the low price this is acceptable. The combat is somewhat clumsy and Randall keeps dying because of that. One of the biggest goals of the developers was to make it look like the 80s. Honestly, it's quite hard to tell that most of the time. Furthermore, the fact that Deadlight is supposed to be in 80s is usually visible only from the details so most players will miss them completely.

Summary:

Deadlight takes the zombie apocalypse to a completely new level. The beauty of the game is only matched by its perfect atmosphere. Nevertheless, everything good must come to an end, but Deadlight does so prematurely. Even so I can recommend Deadlight to almost everyone even though the combat is quite clumsy.