reading week, system shock 2 and moon

So I'm on reading week, and have returned home to seemingly endless boredom. I did actually come back to see a couple of mates and family, but as they are at work all the time, to stop myself from doing anything remotely productive I have downloaded System Shock 2 and it's a fucking stunning game. I first heard of SS2 when Bioshock came out, being its "spiritual successor" but never had any inclination to download it as I rarely play games on my computer, Football Manager aside. Having spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet over the weekend which did nothing but make me fear for the future of the human race, I bit the bullet and thought I would get a game to distract me from the many angry ginger kids who inhabit youtube. Anyway I managed to download and install SS2, pretty easily, got a couple of graphics mods to tune up the textures and character models and hey presto, one of the best games I have played for a long time. Obviously, judging objectively Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 are a lot better but considering this was made 11 years ago you have to let some of the graphical and gameplay issues go. The story so far seems like it is play for play the one told in Bioshock, with elements of Bioshock 2 and a bit of Dead Space thrown in, with obvious differences allowing for the different settings. The voice-acting is incredible, and the soundtrack is really atmospheric and really helps immerse you in a brilliantly nuanced world. The incorporation of RPG elements is also interesting with player customisation being a real important element and is necessary to progress. The game is better in terms of balance than Bioshock, with the emphasis being on survival and ammo conservation, and you will often find yourself wielding the wrench because of a brutal weapon degredation mechanic which is a pretty ham-fisted way of making the player feel vulnerable. This is a nice difference from its "successor" in that by halfway through Bioshock you were up to your eyeballs in plasmids and became a ridiculously overpowered killing machine. SHODAN also has to be one of the greatest video game characters ever created. Anyway, great game, download it, play it, enjoy. Also, it's free!

In other news I finally got around to watching Moon. I enjoyed it but couldn't help feel slightly underwhelmed by a bizarrely corny ending in what otherwise was a well-executed and melancholy film. I could understand if it was a Hollywood studio picture but considering it was made on the preposterously small budget of $5 million by a first time director for a small independent film company the ending was a little jarring. Sam Rockwell was brilliant (but not as good as in The Assassination of Jesse James) and played his (several) roles with a certain genuine melancholy pathos. Also Kevin Spacey was great as GERTY. It is hard to create a science-fiction computer/AI without looking like you are shamelessly ripping off HAL from 2001 but this little machine managed to pull it off by subverting our expectations, appearing emotionless and menacing only to become a genuinely funny and touching character. Of which, I might add, there are none in Kubrick's films. Except maybe Full Metal Jacket... nah fuck it I didn't care when that Viatnamese she-bitch died at the end. Stan didn't like humans. On another note Clint Mansell's excellent score of this film is definitely worth a listen.