The War Across The Stars - Alex Pennington book review

A WILD BOOK REVIEW APPEARS!

IT USED "SCI-FI ACTION!"

IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE!

that's right, it's my first book review. The War Across The Stars was written by my good friend Alex Pennington over a course of five years. although Alex is a friend of mine, that doesn't mean that my review of his book will be biased in any way.

that being said, his first book is an excellent one. the characters are relatable, i had no trouble understanding the plot as i usually do with sci-fi novels, and most of all, a plot that draws the reader in until the very end. the ending is a satisfying one, but i can't help but wonder if there will ever be a sequel of any kind.

the book is only available through Amazon (at the time of this writing), in Kindle or paperback format. the Kindle edition costs $3.99 and paperbacks run $12.99 + shipping. BUY HERE

***RATING***- 4/5

Dark Roots of Earth - Testament review

Testament is, in my opinion, one of the greatest thrash metal bands to walk this Earth. they should probably replace Metallica in the Big 4; but that's just me. i listened to their last album, The Formation of Damnation, so many times on the way to classes and back that the lyrics were stuck in my head...and some still are.

so you can imagine my excitement when i first heard Testament was planning to release a new album toward this Christmas. then, my excitement when the release date was brought up to July 31 in the US. not as exciting was the European release date of July 27, so i could hear it ever so much earlier. two singles were released from Dark Roots Of Earth - "Native Blood" and "True American Hate". both songs have since gotten high play counts since their download.

so, what about the rest of the album? simply put, it's an amazing piece of thrash metal. my personal favorite part is their cover of "Powerslave" by Iron Maiden, available on the Limited Edition along with the rest of the covers ("Dragon Attack" by Queen and "Animal Magnetism" by Scorpions.) as far as Testament's songs go, it's hard to pick favorites but "Cold Embrace" is definitely among them.

to end the review, i'm borrowing the words of my friend Clayton: "Goddamn Testament, y u so gewd?"

***RATING***- 5/5

OS X Mountain Lion review

in what is quite possibly the earliest time i've adopted anything new technology-wise, last night i took a chance and upgraded my MacBook to the newest version of Mac OS X - Mountain Lion. Apple certainly does like naming things after cats....somewhat like Atari did back in the day.

OS X Mountain Lion is full of new features, such as Airplay Mirroring which allows those with a compatible Mac and Apple TV to stream content from their computer to their Apple TV. another useful new feature is Twitter integration to allow sharing of content from supported apps. Facebook integration will be arriving at a later date as a beta. speaking of Twitter, Mountain Lion borrows the Notification Center from iOS 5 and it seems to be working pretty well. notifications for new emails, Twitter activity (including the ability to Tweet right from the notification center), future Facebook activity, Messages (another thing borrowed from iOS), and so forth show up there (the gray panel on the right side of my desktop).

when my Macbook booted into Mountain Lion after the install, i noticed the overall appearance didn't change much from OS X Lion. one very noticeable difference is the new dock. another is the fact that you can't have your menu bar display the time left on your battery charge; either the percent remaining or just the icon. personally, i think the new dock is a much better look than Lion's was. Mountain Lion is a nice update as far as looks go.

Apple had said when they first announced Mountain Lion they were wanting to use it to tie iOS devices and your Mac computer even closer than before, and they certainly have. the new Reminders and Notes apps sync with your iOS device through iCloud, just like Messages does. Messages replaced iChat in OS X but you can still use all the other accounts that you could in the past. in fact, those who have used an iOS device should have seen the download progress bars that show up when a file is being downloaded. OS X Mountain Lion uses these as well, as pictured here:

this is the download bar that shows up under my Downloads folder on my dock. also, if you transfer a file to your desktop, for example, you get a download bar there as well as an "X" icon in the top left corner just like iOS has. clicking the X will cancel the transfer if you change your mind.

don't get me wrong, the Twitter integration and all the tie-ins to iOS are really nice to have, but my favorite part of Mountain Lion is the fact that Safari has gotten a major overhaul. you can search from the address bar just like you would if you were using Google Chrome. additionally, Safari 6.0 seems to have lost its hunger for your system's resources because i've noticed a far faster browsing experience in this version than in past versions. if Safari keeps this up, i might have to switch back from Chrome. the search engine can be customized, if for whatever reason you don't like using Google.

Apple has started taking a bigger interest in system security with Mountain Lion, adding a new feature called Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper can be customized to allow app installations from only the Mac App Store, the App Store and "established developers", or from anywhere at all. if you have common sense with the apps you download and install you shouldn't have to worry so much about turning Gatekeeper off.

and, for what it's worth, i've noticed that my MacBook runs A LOT faster and smoother than it did when i had Lion on it. that's just my system though, it may not be quite so fast for everyone's.

there are supposedly over 200 new features in OS X Mountain Lion, and there's no way i've seen them all so that's why this review might be considered lacking a bit. if you're a heavy user of an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch that can use the iCloud syncing features, or someone who wants to stream a movie or something from their Mac to their Apple TV, Mountain Lion is really aimed toward you. however, as someone who doesn't use those features, it's not a bad upgrade for a pretty reasonable price  -- $19.99 on the Mac App Store. the installer is roughly 4GB in size so you'll need a good internet connection to download it. downloading it is your only way to get it - Apple won't be selling it on a USB drive like they did Lion.

my honest opinion on OS X 10.8? i say go for it. the few features i've messed with so far have been pretty useful, and i really enjoy the new and improved Safari. even my iTunes is faster now.

***RATING***- 5/5

At The Gate Of Sethu - Nile review

Nile is a band that likes two things: Egyptian mythology and long song titles. their seventh, and newest, album At The Gates Of Sethu keeps both those trends going. for quite a while, the longest title in my iTunes library was "I Tamper With The Evidence At The Murder Site of Odin" by Dethklok, from The Dethalbum II. since i got my hands on Nile's newest, that award has gone to "The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu". the band also has the distinction of being the first death metal band that i can clearly understand the lyrics from.

considering all of Nile's previous works that i've heard came from their last album, Those Whom The Gods Detest, i'm not too sure what to say about At The Gate Of Sethu compared to their older albums. it is, however, the only time i've been able to bang my head while something about Osiris or Ra or what-have-you is playing. 

***RATING***- 3.5/5

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition review

yesterday, i bought Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and pretty quickly found out how addicting this game really can be once you know what you're doing. i tried it before on my laptop, and just couldn't get into it. i think it was the fact that unless you have a guid or something pulled up when you're crafting things, or are playing with a friend who knows what things go into what spots on the crafting window, nothing really happens too quickly.

the part of the game that really drew me in was the 360-exclusive tutorial level. you spawn into a world with quite a few things already prepared for you, one thing included is a partial shelter for the first night that you have to finish building. it tells you how to pull up and use the inventory window (pictured above)  and so much more. once you survive the first night, you are free to wander the rest of the tutorial world. there's a small village just a short walk away from your first shelter that can be used. i personally didn't keep going in the tutorial world, i jumped right into multiplayer with some friends and started doing things with them.

the crafting in the Xbox 360 edition is different than the computer version. for one, you don't have to drag the individual pieces into the crafting window; instead you simply pick from the list of things to make and if you have all the items, you press A and then it appears in your inventory.

the Xbox 360 edition is my first real Minecraft experience, and as far into it as i am i really enjoy it. not only is it a pretty fun game, it's also a good booster for your gamerscore. the achievements are simple to get and pretty much revolve around crafting/cooking items. there are a few avatar awards to unlock as well. if you have 1600 MSP to spend, spend it on this.

***RATING***- 7/5

(by the way, my gamertag is kbyyru.)

Burger King video game reviews

after cleaning out my game collection recently, i found that i still had my copies of these gems. Burger King put out 3 Xbox/Xbox 360 games in November 2006 as marketing tools. at the time, they cost $3.99 each with the purchase of a combo meal. i got all 3 from Amazon for around $6-$7 plus shipping.

first up is Sneak King. Sneak King is what happens when you crossbreed the Burger King and Solid Snake. it's a stealth game much like Metal Gear Solid or Manhunt, minus the weapons and violence in general. the point of the game is to sneak around the level handing food to the hungry people. this is where the stealth really comes into play: if anybody at all sees you, hungry or not, you lose any multiplier you've gotten (some missions will fail you if you are seen at all, or if your multiplier goes below a certain point). you can find hiding spots throughout the level, which actually give you a higher score per delivery if you give someone food while hiding in them. the people wandering around hungry don't just stay that way either; they get hungrier and hungrier until they simply pass out right where they are.

Sneak King is not like many other stealth games. beside the fact your goal is to feed the hungry people, you can wander the level and actually choose which missions you do in what order. you can even skip half the missions so long as you complete the other half. if you complete all 80 missions throughout all the levels, you unlock a stealth suit. i haven't actually gotten this far in the game yet, so i can't say what the suit looks like or if it has any bonuses to it.

***RATING***- 3.5/5

next is Big Bumpin'. this is almost exactly what it looks like: bumper cars driven by Burger King characters. there's different game modes such as hockey that can be played. on certain modes, traps appear in the arena, such as pits that you fall in and power saws that damage your car. naturally, bumping your opponents' cars damages them too. once your car takes enough damage, you're out of the game. i actually haven't played this one very much at all because the AI is some of the worst i've ever seen and is practically unplayable solo. i'd suggest getting at least one other person to go through a game or two with you so it's not so bad.

***RATING***- 2/5

last up is Pocketbike Racer. this is a throwback to the old school kart racing games such as Mario Kart. you have the same Burger King characters to choose from, as well as a few different bikes. there's 5 courses to race on, one being the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant (who'd have thought it?) powerups can be collected to use against your opponents; these vary from bottle rockets (homing and non-homing) to a disruptor that reverses the controls of the opponent that it hits. the gates on the track unlock better weapons as players go through them.

***RATING***- 2.5/5

out of all 3 games, Sneak King is probably my favorite. the other 2 are full of glitches and like to freeze a lot. also, Xbox Live players are all but nonexistent. the ones who do play i seriously think have hacked their games because the Pocketbike Racer leaders always have lap times of 0:00. if you really want any of these games, go to your local Gamestop and dig through the bargain bin. they're about $.99 a piece last i saw them.

Born Villain - Marilyn Manson review

Born Villain, Marilyn Manson's first release in almost three years, was intended by Manson to be his comeback album. this was welcome news after expecting another High End of Low-type album. when the first single, No Reflection, was released online i snapped it up (well, having a bit of Amazon credit helped) hoping for the best. what i got was something similar to the days of Holy Wood were upon us again.

as Born Villain goes on, it turns into something like a punk version of Holy Wood. it honestly sounds like Manson has found a new sound for himself that doesn't stray from the norm. this album is definitely his comeback, but i think he was a bit off when he described it as "suicide death metal". i'm not sure what his definition of death metal is, but this really isn't it. also, the bonus track at the end (You're So Vain) includes Johnny Depp on guitar and drums. i was originally thinking he was going to be a guest vocalist or something.

***RATING***- 4/5