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The Crimson Field (2014)
Very disappointing.
With the centenary of the start of World War One approaching, it was perhaps inevitable that Great War dramas would be heading to our screens. After decades of the usual mud, blood and poppycock that became the prevalent view of the Great War in the sixties it was refreshing to hear of a drama that would move away from the trenches and look at the lives and the massive social changes happening away from the sound of the guns. Sadly, the Crimson Field isn't that drama. It falls back on the same old stereotypes, the same old clichés, the same old tropes....
What a real waste of potential.
Outcasts (2010)
A Lot of Wasted Potential
I'm not a die hard sci-fi fan but have no objections to watching a good sci-fi drama if it's handled well. I think most audiences feel the same way. So I was disappointed in Outcasts' seeming inability to decide if it was a true sci-fi or not, almost as though it was afraid to make its own mark or that the produces would only consent to "proven" ie already used in successful main-stream sci-fi like Lost of Battlestar Galactica, sci-fi elements.
The result is a drama with a very similar feel to those, spoiled by some gaping plot holes - it's reached episode 7 as I write this and it's still unclear if earth is destroyed or has sunk into dystopic chaos or if this is simply a ESA/NASA backed colonial project.
The worst part is the scripts which seem to interpret "mystery" as leaving the audience so in the dark you can't follow the plot. Throw in an massive excess of overwrought melodrama and you have a show that has so much potential and a solid cast being wasted by some inconsistent writing. Where's Steven Moffat when you need him? I'll stick with it to the end of the series and see if it finds its feet. Certainly its beginning showing some signs of improvement over the vapid and confusing pilot. Maybe in the last episode we'll finally get a decent and consistent drama truly worth watching.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
A poignant and compelling film.
I sat down to see this expecting something similar to FMJ or Born on the Fourth of July. What I got was a compelling and truthful portrait of the opening stages of the US involvement in the Vietnam War.
The film was a tour de force of what families go through while their men are away and what those men themselves experience during war. Something as an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, I can all too readily relate to.
Perhaps it skirted, if not cliché, then sentimentalism at times and lacked the blacker than black humour that most soldiers possess. However the film remains an excellent portrayal at a keypoint in modern US history and a fitting testament to those who, if they weren't motivated by the patriotism Hollywood would have us believe, were certainly motivated to be there for their friends.
If there is one major disappointment in the film, it's the total lack of mention of then Lt. Rick Rescorla, a legend in the 7th Cav, a hero who sadly gave his life on 9/11 and the soldier made famous by the Life magazine photo that adorns the cover of most published versions of We Were Soldiers Once and Young.
He was, of course, one among many whose stories were not told, but it seems a shame that so iconic a figure from the battle of Ia Drang is totally absent and leaves Gibson and Wallace open once again to accusations of Anglophobia.
Neverwinter Nights 2 (2006)
Greatly improved single player experience and tool-set. (Single player review)
Neverwinter Nights 2 builds on the hard lessons leaned by Obsidian in the development of Knights of the Old Republic 2 - and does so excellently - after the disappointing, unfinished state of the latter.
It's a return to Forgotten Realms RPG roots this time around, following Bioware's first Neverwinter Nights game, which placed it's focus squarely on the Aurora Toolset. While the Toolset also returns in a greatly improved form, the game's emphasis is back on a central, single player story arc that really delivers... right up until an anti-climatic finale. Which I won't spoiler here.
The plot itself does little to break sci-fi/fantasy clichés, (Small town youngster rises to become a hero) but NWN2 gets away with it through an involving and impressive attention to detail and some truly interesting and fully developed companion characters, such as; the bitingly sarcastic 'Sand', the brooding and amoral 'Bishop' and the whiny but likable 'Neeshka'.
Sadly, they are balanced by other characters that remind you at times how clichéd this game is. The dwarven character, 'Khelgar' is a prime example, who, despite being ably brought to life by Adam Sietz's voice acting, is all too reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings' Gimli. Casavir, the paladin suffering a crisis of faith and Black Garius, an evil mage plotting the downfall of Neverwinter, are not particularly original either.
Luckily, the game doesn't let the player dwell on it's clichés but keeps the story and action moving ably, throwing something new your way just as either the plot or the tasks set you, begin to become repetitive. This sustains you through all three acts and keeps boredom at bay but splits the meta-plot into separate but converging threads, which can leave you waiting for loose ends to be resolved for a long time.
While the game relies heavily on the Forgotten Realms setting, just as Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale did before it, it isn't afraid to change things. This can be both good and bad, as it offers surprises for people familiar with the original material, but also some all too blatant contradictions. These will hardly bother the casual player or one who has little interest in the Forgotten Realms but for fans, they can be irritably distracting. The three most glaring changes are:
* The absence of the town of Leilon from the southern edge of the Mere.
* The placing of Neverwinter as a coastal port - it lies several miles in land, (though this is an error repeated from the first game.)
* And most of all, the use of the ancient elven kingdom of Illefarn in place of Phalorm, the realm created by humans, elves and dwarfs, which fell not long after the empire of Netheril.
......
Fan gripes aside, NWN2 is a excellent game and a must-buy for anyone who enjoys both the social interaction of a MMORPG but longs for the story driven play of a more traditional RPG.