Spec Ops: The Line (2012): Liberate Te Ex Inferis

"If you were a better person, you wouldn't be here"

Spec Ops: The Line (2012) is a third-person shoot video game developed by the studio Yager Development and published by 2K Games. The game is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The title serves as a reboot of the Spec Ops franchise.

The game tells the story of Captain Martin Walker and his Delta Force unit in Dubai during a sandstorm crisis. A lot of civilians were abandoned inside the city by their leaders and Colonel John Konrad and his 33rd Infantry Batallion of the United States Army went to help survivors escape, but failed. He and his men then stablished martial law in an attempt to keep peace inside the city while the storms intensified, but the situation went awry as Konrad's men started committing crimes against the people. Moreover, the CIA sent a black ops team and armed civilians against Konrad and his forces and, as expected, things got even worse, but soon the events led to a ceasefire. After that, Konrad tried to lead survivors out of the city, but ultimately failed and sent a transmission for help. Then, the United States Army decided to send a Delta Force team lead by Captain Martin Walker, accompanied by Lieutenant Adams and Sergeant Lugo, to Dubai in order to rescue the surviving civilians and figure out what's really going on with Konrad and his men.

Our main characters are:

- Captain Martin Walker (voice by Nolan North): He is a member of the United States Army's Delta Force. He is the main character and the person the player controls throughout the game. He has a strong sense of loyalty towards Colonel Konrad and wants to find him no matter what.

- Lieutenant Alphonso Adams (voiced by Christopher Reid): He is another member of Walker's Delta squad. He is the heavy gunner of the team.

- Sergeant John Lugo (voiced by Omid Abtahi): He is the third and last member of Walker's unit. He is a remarkable marksman and the medic of the group. He often discusses with Walker and Adams over decisions made on the battlefield.

- Colonel John Konrad (voiced by Bruce Voxleitner): He is the commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion. He offered to help in the Dubai situation, but everything went south and is viewed as a traitor by the United States for disobeying orders.

In Spec Ops: The Line you control Walker and you have to kill your enemies by using a variety of weapons such as rifles, hand guns, grenades, and so on and so forth, very similar to the Call Of Duty series. You can also guide the other characters, Adams and Lugo, to kill enemies or cure injuries. Moreover, even sand can be used to exterminate your enemies.

The gameplay for me is not that good, and it can be kind of "clunky", but it is "entertaining", and the graphics look a bit outdated, which is weird for a 2012 game, but it was not created by a big company, so it is understandable. The strong points of this shooter are the complex plot and themes it tackles.

The OST composed by Elia Cmíral is amazing and haunting, because for every memorable scene, there is the incredible metal/rock-driven background music accompanying it. I leave at the ending of this review a video with one of the songs.

When you begin playing SO:TL you hope to find a very entertaining shooting game in which you kill bad people and call it a day, but it's not. The more you play, the more you realize that war is indeed hell. SO:TL puts you in morally ambiguous situations in which you have to choose between doing something bad and something horrible. In addition, as the game progresses, your characters start slowly losing their minds and becoming more unstable, specially Captain Walker as he becomes more violent and cruel in his dialogues and killings and hallucinates some pretty messed up stuff. Also, the previously mentioned moral decisions you make lead you to four different endings.

The breaking of the fourth wall is another important topic to talk about, since the player is challenged by the game, and asking us if we enjoy killing. Is a war game supposed to be fun? Why do we find killing entertaining? Games were originally created to pass time and have fun, nowadays, they make us face reality even harder than real life itself and SO:TL is no stranger to this. It comes to my mind the infamous "No Russian" level in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) in which you are an undercover CIA agent working with Russian terrorists and you start a mass shooting inside an American airport , murdering men, women and children. The level was very controversial at the time and still is to this day for having you play as a terrorist in a videogame. SO:TL takes that level to eleven by putting you in very similar situations many times, and those affect your characters' psyche, and even the loading screen addresses you, the player, to make you understand that what you do is evil.

SO:TL is heavily influenced by the book Heart Of Darkness (1899) by Joseph Conrad and the movie Apocalypse Now (1979) by Francis Ford Coppola (which is loosely based on the novel), and both tackle the psychological effects war has on people and the savageries people commit in such times. On a battlefield you can look into the abyss and it looks back at you, you see "The Heart Of Darkness" and the horrible truth about humanity: We are beyond saving. When someone gets to that point, there is no coming back. There is no glory in killing, no heroes in war, no salvation in hell.

Mixing the action shooter elements from Call Of Duty and the psychological horror from Silent Hill, Spec Ops: The Line offers a statement about war games and war in general, in which you are not a hero, but a broken man haunted with the horrible actions you commit in the name of patriotism and glory and an engaging story full of twists that will keep you playing, even if it means sacrificing your character's sanity to reach an ending.

The Irishman (2019): Gods At Dawn

"I heard you paint houses"

The Irishman (2019) is a crime drama film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Gangs Of New York) and written by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List, American Gangster, Moneyball). Based on the book called I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, the film chronicles the life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a truck driver turned hitman and his ties to the Bufalino mafia and his friendship with Jimmy Hoffa.

First of all, I must say that I have watched eleven (twelve if we include this one) movies directed by Scorsese and not once have I hated or disliked one of his films. Some were better than others, but all of them have been enjoyable at the very least, and The Irishman is a new addition to the collection. Martin Scorsese is not my favorite director, but I like his style a lot, however, I prefer his more drama-driven films than the gangster-inspired ones, but this is just a matter of opinion.

The Irishman, as said before, chronicles the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and how he became a hitman working for the gangster Russell Buffalino (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). The movie has three timelines that interconnect:

1. Sheeran starting his life of crime.

2. Sheeran traveling to an unknown place with Russell Buffalino and their respective wives.

3. Sheeran in a retirement home talking about his early life to an unseen person.

The characters are really complex and the film shows how complicated their lives are by being involved in the crime underworld:

Frank Sheeran is a World War II veteran who loves his family, but does awful shit to others. Most of his life he was a bad person and it really shows. He loves his daughter Peggy (Lucy Gallina as Young Peggy and Anna Paquin as adult Peggy), but she knows who he really is and loathes him for it. Sheeran is not a good man, never was, and never will be. The Irishman does not try to redeem this character, because there is no way he is going to be anything else than the monster he truly is. De Niro is amazing as usual, so I have no complaints.

Jimmy Hoffa is a powerful teamster who believes himself to be above others, and in a way, he is. Hoffa has all the power and he is a really, really dangerous man. He shows a caring and kind side to the people, and the other side that plots assassinations and frauds is hidden. It is no secret that the real Hoffa was never found, so this movie shows an interesting take of his persona. Al Pacino as Hoffa is excellent and working with De Niro, Pesci and Scorsese, his acting delivers even more than usual.

Russell Buffalino is Frank's friend and the one who guides him into the crime world. Buffalino is relentless, cruel, and does whatever it takes for power. On the outside he tries to look like a normal guy, but Peggy knows who he is as well. Pesci, after being retired for years, still has some juice left. 

Peggy Sheeran is Frank's daughter and she barely speaks in the movie. This has been a very controversial topic, and I do understand where the critics are coming from, because you have Anna Paquin being silent, but I believe acting requires more than saying words. I think Frank is not deserving of Peggy's words.

I think that this movie is an epic crime drama, and its length (209 minutes (almost 3 hours and a half)) can scare anybody away, and there's no way in hell I could have watched this film on a cinema. Some believe that it may have been better for this to be released as a mini-series, and I agree, but Scorsese is running for the Oscars, so he needed the story to be a full-length film. I think that the best way to watch this is to divide it, because not everybody can be sat for 3 hours and a half watching something. If you can, hats off to you.

The photography was very good, and there are many interesting themes the movie tackles, including the usual topics of masculinity that pervade Scorsese's filmography, grey morality, redemption, among others, but also the heavy political background involving presidents Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Another interesting thing was the introductions for each character, which shows when and how every gangster died, meaning we know they die in horrible ways.

Moreover, despite being a mob movie, the violence is not very explicit compared to other movies of the same genre, and it is a slow-driven crime drama, so the lack of gore and the slow pace can be a turn off for a lot of people (not for me though). In addition, the CGI used to make the actors look young is not the best sometimes, but it does not distract you from the story. I also think there were some editing issues, which is not usual in Scorsese's films.

To sum up, The Irishman is an epic mob drama about the life of a criminal and the consequences of his actions. In addition, The Irishman can be seen as a tribute to the gansgter genre and perhaps a swan song to Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci, because it feels like the end of an era, however, if they still make more movies like this I would be glad to watch them, even if I pause them every 30 minutes.

Bloodborne (2015): Waiting For The Sun

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”

- H.P. Lovecraft

Bloodborne is an action role-playing/horror game released in 2015. It was developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 4. Bloodborne tells the story of a hunter who travels to the city of Yharnam to cure his unknown illness, but inside this gothic/victorian-esque city, he finds people who have been infected with a blood-borne disease (hence the name), turning them into horrific creatures. The more you advance into killing the beasts, the more you unravel the misteries surrounding Yharnam.

Played from a third-person perspective, the player controls a customizable main character with a gameplay focused on an aggressive weapon-based combat and exploration. While you explore Yharnam and its surroundings you encounter a wide arrange of enemies, including lots of bosses. Throughout the story the player can use a variety of weapons such as swords, axes, pistols, etc., and level up in order to improve their skills. In addition, you have to use items to cure wounds and poisons and explore the different locations available while interacting with NPCs.

The plot is pretty cryptic and you get to know more about it by reading descriptions of objects and items, talking to NPCs, and the few cinematic scenes the game has. A brief summary of the story is as it follows: A traveler (you, the player) arrives into the city of Yharnam in order to cure an unknown disease your character has. In there, the traveler discovers that the cure is turning the people of Yharnam into despicable blood-thirsty creatures and has to survive the night by hunting them while uncovering the truth about the city.

Bloodborne is my first "Soulsborne" videogame, since I haven't played any of the other videogames created by Hidetaka Miyazaki (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2 and 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice), and I have had both good and frustating time, since I absolutely adore the videogame, but its high difficulty can make anyone get mad. You have to be aggressive, brutal, relentless in order to survive the night, and even the easiest enemies, if not playing properly can absolutely destroy you. Bloodborne is a really challenging game that forces you to improve or die trying (git gud). Moreover, the lack of maps makes you use all the resources available, since if you die in a specific area, you start from the last "checkpoint" which are magical lamps that lead you to the Hunter's Dream. The Hunter's Dream is the area in which you can level up, modify weapons, store goods, etc. and the only place in which no one can harm you, so, if you wish to take a break from the fight, you have to find a lamp and reach this area. As a reminder, I also have to mention that there is no pause in the game, so if you leave your character in a dangerous area, the probability of dying is high. In addition, if you die, and reach a previously explored area, enemies are alive and well again, so try not to die (much).

The game as a whole can be seen as a homage to the horror genre in general, since you begin fighting werewolves and crazy villagers, and then the more you advance we encounter aliens, vampires, chimeras, giants, zombies, gods and other indescribable horrors. We start with a gothic setting in the vein of Bram Stoker, and, at the same time, it reminded me of the beginning of Resident Evil 4, in which we are also a stranger who ends up in a disturbing place with insane and violent characters, but the tone shifts and we end up in a Lovecraftian nightmare in which we try to fight some eldritch horrors beyond human comprehension. The shift between the different branch of horrors doesn't feel inorganic though, it flows really well within the context and the narrative of the Bloodborne world. Despite the fact that it is mainly classified as an action role-playing game, the videogame gives many scares, and I felt really tense and anxious when I encountered certain beings. There is some really messed up stuff happening in Yharnam, and you are in the eye of the storm.

Thematically speaking (at least for me), Bloodborne is a game about depression. Some people might disagree, but I don't care really. I see the journey of this lone hunter fighting monsters in a nightmarish landscape as a person facing his demons in an uncaring world. The more you advance the uglier Yharnam gets, and nothing seems to change for the better, but our main character is still standing, being brought back from death over and over again, fighting and killing these beasts in order to finally conquer or at least survive the horrors they witness. Life is ugly, but as the hunter we can still stand against the creatures that dwell inside of us.

Moreover, the obvious references to the American horror author H.P. Lovecraft and cosmicism are really interesting to say the least. The Great Ones from Bloodborne (some examples being Ebrietas, the Daughter of the Cosmos or The Moon Presence) are direct reference to the Old Ones and the Cthulhu Mythos. Who are we, as humans, to the eyes of outer-wordly alien gods and eldritch horrors? We are merely ants, toys to be played with, puppets in the great scheme of things. In Lovecraft's stories, his characters, upon encountering some indescribable horror, either go insane or kill themselves, and in Bloodborne there is some similar theme going on. In the game, many characters mess with forces they do not fully understand, and are turned to monsters or go insane, because their minds cannot grasp what these so called forces may offer, which makes me ask again: What are we in the eyes of gods?

In Bloodborne, reality and dreams are interconnected and sometimes it is really difficult to discern which one is each. The hunter is in a living hell and there is -apparently- no escape. The player can only fight these horrors and gain knowledge, which the more you gain, the more this sense of dread and vulnerability is expanded.

The game has many characters such as:

- The Hunter: Our silent customizable character. We can choose a backstory and look for them, so, the only thing that we know for sure is that we are looking for a cure of an unkown disease.

- Gehrman, the First Hunter: A retired hunter who lives in the Hunter's Dream, and guides and helps hunters.

- The Plain Doll: A living doll. She is very kind and genuinely cares about the hunter. She is the one who helps us to level up.

The game has three different endings, so read a guide before you decide to unlock a specific one, because there are some rules to follow.

Regarding the bosses, they are horrifying. They are taken straight out of the most messed up and creative minds in the field. Most of them are really hard to beat, which makes the hunting even more of a challenge. The fights require the process of trial and error, which means finding weaknesses until you slay the boss.

The graphics are impressive, the landscapes and characters are very detailed, and the whole aesthetic of the scenarios are a beautiful and horrifying sight. There are some minor glitches though: The enemies are sometimes transparent or get stuck in areas that are not supposed to get stuck in. I remember one time I got attacked so hard that my character broke the ground and fell for a full minute until he reached the ground. I found it funny, but it happened once, so these issues do not ruin the gaming experience.

The music is also one of the strong points of Bloodborne, however music is only present in boss fights and some selected areas, but the score is amazing: Powerful orchestras to inspire you in an epic battle against the worst of the worst. Most of the time there is ambient sound, and it can really mess you up, since you hear the beasts growl, howl, screech, scream, babies crying, people laughing like crazy, and so on and so forth. Sounds created to play with your mind and make you feel tense in order to lose.

Another important point are the chalice dungeons, which are special areas. Chalice dungeons are randomly generated labyrinths in which you can level up and fight some previously seen bosses and  new ones. They are optional, but I highly recommend them in order to become stronger.

All in all, Bloodborne is a great game, with amazing and challenging enemies, an interesting story, epic soundtrack, and an ever-growing lore that pays tribute to the best of the horror genre through the eyes of a human that has to face the abyss and live to tell the tale.

P.S.: I have not played the DLC, but when/if I get my hands on it, I will review it as well.

NieR: Automata (2017): Vanish My Sorrow, Dear Machine

"It Always Ends Like This"

NieR: Automata (2017) is an action role-playing/hack and slash video game developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. NieR: Automata is a sequel of the video game NieR (2010) (specifically, the fourth ending of the game), a spin-off sequel to the Drakengard series created by Yoko Taro. 

Released on PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows and Xbox One, NieR: Automata is set in the year 11,945 AD, and the story revolves around a war between human-made androids against machines from another world in order to take back control of planet Earth. 

Our main characters are:

- 2B (voiced by Yui Ishikawa (JP)/Kira Buckland (EN)): A female android part of the YoRHa units created on the moon by the humans who escaped the invasion. 2B is a beautiful character. Her style, design and clothes are marvelous and I fell in love with her (like many people on the internet). She is a strong-willed, obedient and very professional woman. She accomplishes her tasks impeccably and does what's required from her. At first, she is very short-tempered and serious, but as the story progresses we get to know her more. 

- 9S (voiced by Natsuki Hanae (JP)/Kyle McCarley (EN)): A male android, and 2B's companion in her missions. He is a very skilled hacker and a very kind individual. He has strong feelings towards 2B and as the story progresses we get to see another side of him that will not make everyone happy.

- A2 (voiced Ayaka Suwa (JP)/Cherami Leigh (EN): A prototype model who is a quiet and a very skilled fighter, resembling 2B. She is surrounded by mystery, but the more we get to see of her, the more we understand her actions.

The game is divided in three routes:

- Route A in which you play as 2B.
- Route B in which you play as 9S.
- Route C in which you play as A2.

And it has 17 chapters and 26 endings. The gameplay requires you to fight enemies by using different types of weapons (swords, blades, guns, etc.) in the vein of games like the Devil May Cry series. Moreover, if you play as 9S you can hack enemies and play a mini-game in order to do so. Also, if you fight in the air, you have to shoot enemies in a bullet hell-inspired gameplay, very similar to the Touhou video game series. In addition, the boss battles are simply epic, and most bosses have a very tragic and interesting background explaining their actions, adding more layers to the big story the video game is trying to tell and the topics it tackles.

As said before, the game is set in a future in which humanity is on the brink of extinction and the few who remain on Earth fight the machine invaders, while the rest of the surviving humans have a base on the moon in which they create androids to take the planet back. N:A is one of the many games created by Japanese director Yoko Taro and follows a really extended timeline of events that originate from Drakengard, followed by NieR and this sequel. How does it all fit? I tried to make sense of the plot without playing the aforementioned games and watching YouTube videos, but I think I gave myself a brain injury. The story seems very convoluted and really confusing (which reminds me of all the twists and turns the Metal Gear series has) and I think that the only person who can make it all fit is Yoko Taro.

The philosophical themes in N:A are one of the strong points, since the video game puts you in morally questionable situations by making you choose between the unimaginable and the impossible, showing the nihilistic approach it has. This is mainly the creator's "fault", since Yoko Taro has a very dark view about life and humanity. His misanthropic ideas are powerful and devastating and makes us face what people are through the eyes of a mechanic being who feels more human than the ones we are supposed to protect and serve.

How do we live without god? Can we find meaning in a meaningless world? Are the machines really evil? Are androids the heroes? Who are Adam and Eve? There are many characters, including human survivors and pacifists robots on the planet. If machines (or robots) are violent and wicked, why are there groups that decided to stop fighting? Which side are we on in this war? Is this war even necessary? Will it lead to something good? Does it even matter? Many questions arise when playing N:A, and perhaps some questions will be answered, while others will need more time and discussion.

Visually speaking, the game has really good graphics and the locations are amazing. Beautifully designed levels and characters, in which the astonishing soundtrack composed by Keiichi Okabe and MONOCA trully shines. The voice acting is great, however I can just say that about the Japanese dub, because I played it in that language.

Yoko Taro is a really curious individual, since he usually uses an Emil-themed helmet (Emil is another N:A character) and I'm not even sure a lot of people know what he looks like without it. He likes to drink and cute girls (which explain why 2B is so beautiful) and joking about the meaninglessness of existence. A remarkable and strange auteur similar to Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear series, P.T., Death Stranding), Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus, The Last Guardian) or Hidetaka Miyazaki (Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice).

Another thing to talk about is the role of women inside the game. The opinion regarding the treatment of women has been controversial. There is a side who believe that the beauty and sexiness of the characters, especially 2B, is something to caught the attention of male audiences and nothing else, while another side is quite comfortable with how sexy and cute the characters are. I understand where these ideas are coming from, since Japan is notable for degrading women in the media (anime, manga, TV, etc.), and I do understand that the exploitation of women to attract more people is kind of a cheap stunt, but I have mixed feelings regarding those issues inside the game. 2B is cute and has a beautiful dress and a big butt, and that makes people love her a lot, but she also has a strong personality and kind in nature, despite being a machine. What's wrong with having cute characters? There is not a single character in N:A that can be considered ugly according to my tastes. Adam and Eve, two "male" antagonists look like supermodels, rock stars or Final Fantasy characters and nobody seems to have any issue with them being shirtless most of the time, so why complain about the looks when there's so much more surrounding this beautiful game? Unrealistic body expectations? Maybe, but they are not human at all; there's nothing wrong in having muscular and sexy characters in a fictional world where there are aliens and robots. However, heels are a no-go, we can all agree on that.

All in all, NieR: Automata is a great game that, despite some flaws, offers an incredible journey of  self-discovery, dealing with free will, the nature of mankind, suicide, madness, despair, nihilism, misanthropy, etc., in which we try to find meaning and beauty in a world full of killing machines, mysteries, androids, great gameplay, amazing landscapes, incredible soundtrack, despair and hopelessness. There is no light at the end of the tunnel and no god to listen to our prayers, but that doesn't mean that our characters can't keep moving forward.

 

PS: This video made by ValkyrieAurora is the closest thing I got to a summary of the Drakengard/Nier/NieR: Automata lore. So, watch it if you have got the time!