Update on The Pitt

Bethesda got the fixed version ready for download yesterday so they really responded to the situation well. I played for about 3 hours last night. I was disappointed to see that my character wasn't advancing any levels. I thought for sure that was going to be in the DLC. I was confused though; advancement will be available available in the next DLC, Broken Steel. Bummer, as I was really looking forward to building my character up some more.

So far The Pitt is quite good. I'll add my final thoughts when I finish it up.

The Pitt = bugfest

So I downloaded the demo early this morning and I was able to play around with it for about 45 minutes, which was hardly time to get anything accomplished. But it was plenty enough for me to see that Bethesda put this DLC out with some nasty glitches. During one part of the game, I was treated to the sight of huge red diamonds, some floating in the sky, some clipping into the ground, all adorned with exclamation points. Nice. I ignored that and went on to the slave camp (where most of The Pitt take place) and my 360 locked up. By then it was time to get ready for work. Now I read that Bethesda has taken The Pitt off of Xbox Live and are in the midst of repairing it. The Pitt was already pushed back a month from the initial released date, so this is quite disappointing to an awful lot of people.

The latest update from Bethesda reads as follows:

"Okay here’s the latest. Our team is doing some final checks late tonight and if everything looks okay, we are hopeful it will be back up and available tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your patience"

If this is true, it is very good news and I will give Bethesda some serious props for taking care of this so promptly. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

More Fallout 3

I finished Operation: Anchorage last night, just in time for the release of The Pitt, which is downloading as I type. Operation: Anchorage was fun in it's own right, but I am looking forward to getting back to the role playing elements in The Pitt. I am also looking very forward to leveling up my character some more. I will post impressions once I get some time to play it for a while.

Fallout 3 - Operation: Anchorage

I finally got around to playing this add-on the other night. While it is very light on the RPG side of things, I still found myself enjoying it quite a bit. I am about halfway through and though it is a bit short, it was worth a purchase for me. It has certainly breathed new life into what was my Game Of The Year for 2008.

"Operation: Anchorage" is basically just a lot of combat with some new weapons. While I don't think these new weapons are any great shakes, just jumping back into combat mode was quite satisfying. This week sees more DLC for Fallout 3 in "The Pitt." It will be more like the main game in that it will have quests and allow the character to keep leveling up. This is good because I have been at the top level forever. Hopefully there is enough of a game to let me get my level up to 30, which is the new top. So far the previews for "The Pitt" look promising. I'll be sure to ge my impressions up as soon as I get some time with it.

A couple of movie recommendations

Both foreign movies...

My wife and I watched Let The Right One In a couple of days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nothing earth shattering, just a unique take on vampires told in a quiet, understated way. The two young leads are fantastic. After watching the movie I went to IMDB and checked out some different theories on what all happened. Folks there who read the book shed lots of light on things that were a bit confusing. Really good stuff.

I also finally watched The Twilight Samurai, which I have had on DVD for ages. Just a fantastic movie. There's not a lot of action but plenty of drama in this one. It's about a widowed, low-ranking samurai that know what's important: he takes care of his 2 young daughters and goes about his business. When his childhood crush returns to his village after divorcing an abusive, higher-ranking samurai, he fights against his own code of loyalty, duty and decency. It's a terrific love story about a fundamentally good human being. This film set a record by winning 12 Japanese Academy Awards and was nominated for the Best Foriegn Film Oscar. Highly recommended.

Watchmen - the movie

I finally got around to seeing Watchmen last night. I read the book a while back and loved it. It was only the 2nd graphic novel I have ever read, so I am not heavily into superheroes or anything. Overall I enjoyed the movie. It stayed very true to the book. I would think that reading the book beforehand would give one a much better understanding of what was going on and would allow you to enjoy the film despite it's excesses. I can definitely see how someone that goes in cold would see it as a flat and bloated movie. This is because the of the way it's built; instead of telling a linear story, there are constant flashbacks. While this is also how the book was, it sort of deadens any sense of momentum that the movie should really be building. At 2 hours and 40 minutes it is quite long and without that momentum, it seems like some moderate trimming would help. I thought there was one false ending too many, for example. Some of the big denouements in the book came off a little flat and lifeless in the movie. But the ending, while not quite the same as the book, delivered fully. I should note that my brother, who has not read the book, said he thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Jackie Earle Haley makes a great Rorschach. I also really liked Jeffery Dean Morgan as The Comedian and thought that Patrick Wilson gave a fine, reserved performance as Night Owl II. Matthew Goode, who played Ozymandias, seemed awfully slight for that role; he needed some freaking muscles. The film was beautifully shot; I saw it on a new digital screen and it was most impressive. If I was handing out grades, I'd give Watchmen a B-/C+. I'll be checking it out again on DVD when it is released.

Movie illustrations by Justin Reed

I stumbled upon these illustrations while browsing IMDB. Mr. Reed did some fantastic work showcasing some of the iconic movies of our time. Of course, I decided to display my personal favorite here, but all are well done and definitely worth checking out. You can find them here.