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Book Review: A Dance with Dragons

Posted by Rob on August 20, 2011 – 4:03 pm

Filed under Books
Tagged as a dance with dragons, a feast for crows, a song of ice and fire, big bad bob, bigbadbob, daenerys, dragons, george r. r. martin, jon snow, review, stannis, the winds of winterfell, tyrion, wall

I finished A Feast for Crows almost a year ago (I reviewed the book on August 29, 2010), so I had to wait almost a year to continue the story with book five in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series, A Dance with Dragons. It was definitely worth the wait and I couldn’t wait to get back with the characters missing from A Feast for Crows to see what they have been doing.

It’s kind of hard to review a book that is part of a series. It’s difficult to say “well the second book is way better than the fifth”, and it’s easier to take a solid look at the entire series. A Dance with Dragons does not fail to disappoint, and Martin has devoted the same detail and passion that were present in the other books. This chapter of the saga deals mostly with Daenerys and her dragons (which are finally beginning to grow up) as well as Jon Snow, “King” Stannis, and the other characters who happen to be at The Wall. Tyrion also returns, as well as some other characters who were briefly introduced in other works. As in the other works, there are also new characters introduced and focused on, while old favorites who appeared immortal or untouchable are utterly destroyed, either politically or physically. Read More »

Book Review: How Few Remain

Posted by Rob on July 7, 2011 – 3:55 pm

Filed under Books, History
Tagged as abraham lincoln, ak-47, alternative history, America, american front, big bad bob, bigbadbob, book, civil war, confederacy, confederate, csa, frederick douglas, guns of the south, harry turtledove, History, how few remain, jackson, jeb stuart, point of divergence, review, robert lee, southern victory, stonewall, teddy roosevelt, time travel, union, United States

I recently discovered the wonders of Harry Turtledove’s works. Turtledove is clearly a master of alternative history, which can also be referred to as fictional history. Basically the author takes a key event that happened in history (called the point of divergence) and changes the outcome of that event, which then would have changed the course of history as we know it. While this is not a new theme in literary works, Turtledove’s novel, How Few Remain, definitely pits him as one of the best author’s to embrace the genre. How Few Remain is technically the first book in the “Southern Victory” timeline, though Turtledove never officially titled the series.

How Few Remain takes place in 1881 in a world where the Confederate States of America won the Civil War and maintained their independence from the United States. The point of divergence takes place in 1862; in reality, one of Lee’s officers drops details of the Army of Northern Virginia’s plans. These plans are recovered by Union soldiers, and the United States is able to take advantage of it and severely beat Lee’s army out of the North. In Turtledove’s world, these orders are indeed dropped, but are quickly recovered by another Confederate officer; thus the Union army never receives this information. This allows Lee’s army to continue North through Maryland and Pennsylvania, and eventually capture the city of Philadelphia. This major victory is enough in the eyes of Europe (particularly Britain and France) to recognize the independence of the CSA. With international support for the Confederacy, the United States has no choice but to call a cease fire and end the war, resulting in America being separated into the United States and the Confederate States. Read More »

Playing Catch Up

Posted by Rob on April 1, 2011 – 7:02 pm

Filed under My Personal Life, TV Shows, Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, dead nation, farscape, firefly, force unleashed ii, free realms, gamefly, job, mmo, netflix, north carolina, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, review, RPG, Star Wars, work, wwe allstars

So as you can see, it’s been pretty quiet around here lately. I blame the new job, which has definitely been kicking my butt since I have to get up at 2:45am. I usually don’t get home until after 12, so by that time I’m just so exhausted that I drag myself into the shower and then flop down on the couch. Yet it saddens my heart to see this blog not being updated, so today I started up on a few posts which will be finalized over the coming days.

As far as video games goes, my drought is finally over. For the past two weeks I’ve had nothing really to play, which was pretty sad. But this week has been nuts, and I’ve had a bunch of games thrown at me: Read More »

Book Review: Under the Dome

Posted by Rob on March 22, 2011 – 8:10 am

Filed under Books
Tagged as big bad bob, big jim, bigbadbob, Books, chester's mill, review, stephen king, under the dome, will smith

Imagine that you are suddenly trapped in the small town you grew up in, where not only is it hard to leave it behind, but now it’s downright impossible. That’s what happens to the residents of the town of Chester’s Mill when a dome, with the exact shape of the town’s borders, drops over them. The dome is impenetrable, and no one on the inside or the outside can get through, not even commercial airplanes or U.S. cruise missiles. The town has enough supplies to last quite some time, but things are happening inside that make these resources limited.

“Big Jim” Rennie, the main antagonist of the book, is by far not only my favorite, but also the most developed. He’s not my favorite because I like him, but because one loves to hate him. His small town, friendly exterior only masks the ridiculous greed and insanity that is bottled within, and as he begins to consolidate his power within the town, you can’t help but hate despise him every step of the way. His son, Junior, is possibly even easier to hate due to his issues, but the overall character is not as developed as his father. You will find yourself cheering on the other characters in the book as they realize what is going on and attempt to stop Big Jim’s grab for power while trying to determine how to bring the Dome down. Along the way, many of the characters are killed off, and in the end there are less than thirty survivors by the time the Dome is finally lifted. Read More »

New Site Page: Game Reviews

Posted by Rob on April 12, 2010 – 11:40 pm

Filed under Site Updates, Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, Boom Blox, demo, DS, ds review, first impressions, ghost squad, Mario Strikers, nintendo wii, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, PSN, psn review, quick review, Resistance 2, review, Sacred 2, super smash bros. brawl, video games, Wii, wii review

In an attempt to make my game reviews easier to find, I have put them all in one section. Now if you go to the “Game Reviews” page, you will see an alphabetical listing of all the full reviews, quick reviews, and demo reviews that I have done, broken down by system (PS3, PSN, Wii, and DS). You may see the same game listed twice, but that’s because I wrote a quick review, and later wrote up a full review for the same game, and can’t bring myself to get rid of my older posts.

Also, as a heads up, many of the Wii game reviews really stink. These were mostly done on my old blog (thejournalofronconnery), and I didn’t really have much of a professional feel back then. Thus, many of them will only be a few sentences long and contain no pictures. I also realized that as I went through all my game review posts, some games I never reviewed that I should have (particularly Uncharted 2, Resistance 2, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Sacred 2), and that a lot of my Wii game reviews are way to short, and don’t do some of the great games any good (like Boom Blox, Ghost Squad, and Mario Strikers Charged.)

From now on I will update this page continously as I add new reviews, whether they be for new games or full updates of the games I only skimmed over.

Enjoy!

PS3 Demo Review: Dark Void

Posted by Rob on January 24, 2010 – 1:07 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as aliens, big bad bob, bigbadbob, capcom, dark void, demo, jet pack, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, review, third person shooter

On paper, the premise behind Dark Void sounds awesome. The game features the player donning a rocket pack and guns to defend Earth, and is advertised as being able to fight “anywhere”, from the ground to the air. However, the demo for the game did not do it justice, and I am in no rush to try out the completed version.

The game begins with your character hanging out outside. As he works on a vehicle he chucks his wrench behind him, which hits a jet pack that happens to be just hanging on a nearby wall. Then his friend enters, and this guy looks like the Iron Shiek, being topless and dancing around with a turban and whatnot. Neither character knows what the jet pack is, yet the player’s character pops it on. At the next scene, he has a gun in hand and is ready to fight some bad guys. Oh yeah, and all of a sudden the Iron Shiek is an expert on the jet pack and teaches you how to fly over the radio. And that is how you are introduced to the story behind Dark Void, or the lack of a story, as it seems.

My Top Ten Posts of 2009

Posted by Rob on January 19, 2010 – 12:51 pm

Filed under Board & Card Games, Books, Sacred 2, Site Updates, Video Games
Tagged as arkham asylum, Axis & Allies, batman, big bad bob, bigbadbob, blog, book, character build, combat arts, demo, Gathering Storm, high elf, nhl, PlayStation 3, post, PS3, Resistance, review, Sacred 2, shadow warrior, Whale Wars, Winter Classic, Wolverine

Ive had the site since April, and I was curious to see what my top ten blogs were. So I went into my Google Analytics records and checked it out. I love using Google Analytics, and its so much easier than trying to read the reports from Blue Host. I knew two of the posts would be up there, but others were quite a surprise.

1.Explanation of Combat Arts in Sacred 2

This came as no surprise. I knew from looking at other reports that this was my most popular post. I think I did a search to see why, and there is some combination you could put in about Sacred 2 and combat arts that landed me on page one on google.

2. Whale Wars Sucks

This also was not a big surprise, and was the post that had the most random comments. If you google the term whale wars sucks, I come up at number four, which is awesome. Man, I hate that show…

3. My Shadow Warrior Character Build Guide

Another post I knew was very popular. I had made a build guide for the Shadow Warrior in Sacred 2, who seems to be the most popular character to play as. Thus, this was a pretty big hit on my blog.

4. My Announcement of Future Character Builds in Sacred 2

For some reason, a post about what I intended to do in the future made it to my number four most popular post. It doesnt really do much but say “hey, pretty soon I will start making some character build guides.”

5. Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary Edition

This one was a surprise. I didnt even play the game…I just commented on how cool it looks and how much I would love to play it. Man, I need to get some nerd friends up here to play a game of A&A…

6. Resistance: Gathering Storm Book Review

This one was also a surprise. I dont know how it got on here, but my little review of a fairly unpopular book (as far as I can tell) made it to #6 on my blog. Bravo Resistance. Bravo.

7. My Guess At an NHL Announcement

This post makes me laugh. In July the NHL announced that it would make a major announcement at Fenway Park. Common sense told me that that would be the location of the 2010 Winter Classic, and I indeed was correct in my guess. The best part is that this post did not get popular until December, when the Winter Classic was approaching.

8. Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Review

This only cracks me up because my review of the demo is more popular than my first impressions of the full game… Hmmm, I just realized that I never wrote up a full review of the game…

9. Wolverine Game Review

This came as a complete surprise. I didnt notice that my review of the Wolverine game was this high up on my blog.

10. My High Elf Character Build Guide

I thought this one was going to be more popular. Its my build guide for the High Elf in Sacred 2.

So there you have it, my top 10 most popular posts. Thanks for looking, and I look forward to seeing how it changes in the coming months.

Movie Review: 9

Posted by Rob on January 4, 2010 – 12:57 am

Filed under Movies
Tagged as 9, littlebigplanet, movie, nine, review, sackboy, terminator

9 looked like an interesting movie when I first saw the trailer, but I never got around to seeing it in the theaters. I got it in from Netflix over the weekend, and Shell and I watch it tonight. An hour or so after watching it, and Im still a bit tossed up on it.

9 is about a cloth doll (who closely resembles a “sackboy” from LittleBigPlanet) who awakes in a lab in an apocalyptic wasteland. As he ventures out, he finds a desolate world where other dolls live, as well as machines. As the story progresses, it becomes a similar story to that of Terminator, in that a machine with a superior AI comes online and turns against humans, destroying them all. As the movie progresses, 9 leads the other dolls to revolt destroy the machine.

Movie Review: The Specials

Posted by Rob on December 30, 2009 – 2:59 pm

Filed under Movies
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, enemy, film, google, jamie kennedy, movie, netflix, PlayStation 3, PS3, queue, review, rob lowe, sky high, super hero, the specials, villain

I was going through my Netflix instant queue on the PS3 to find a movie to watch. I had added the movie The Specials, which looked like a spoof on super hero/X-Men movies (since one of the guys looks basically like a broke-ass Nightcrawler). So I gave the movie a go to see how it was. I was pretty disappointed.

So the movie is about a group of super heroes called “The Specials.” As the name implies, they are not the brightest heroes of the bunch, and in a world where there are several super hero teams, they are the last. The movie is not really a direct spoof on any particular heroes or storyline, but on heroes in general. The leader of the group is an arrogant jerk who thinks he is best, but soon finds his team falling apart. Other members include a lady who can talk to demons, a super strong retard, a girl who has “bird powers” (she lays eggs), and more. Eventually the team dissolves due to various conflicts (including an affair between members, selling out to a action figure company, one member leaving to join the more popular team, etc.), and in the end they reunite and learn that they really are heroes, regardless of how lame they are.

PS3 Demo Review- Mini Ninjas

Posted by Rob on August 22, 2009 – 10:36 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as animal, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, demo, hiro, mini ninjas, ninaj, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, review, samurai, spell, two player

Much like it sounds, Mini Ninjas is a game about cutesy little ninjas. The main character must go on a quest to save his friends and the animals of the forest from some evil Samruai forces. I was pretty impressed overall with the demo.

The main character is Hiro, and the game is similar to most adventure games where you walk around a 3D world. Hiro uses a sword for his basic attacks, but he can also learn ninja spells, such as casting fireballs and lightning bolts. Another pretty neat ability he has is to enter the bodies of animals, and thus take control of them. So you can fly a little with a chicken or bash some bad guys with the bear or boar. You must also explore and snag all sorts of collectables, including ingredients to make more spells. Along the way there are side missions you will be able to activate by talking to people in need (for example, I had to find a flower for a giant stork.)

So while Hiro is fun to play with, it doesnt stop there. You also have the ability to switch between Hiro and a bunch of his friends. The demo had two others already unlocked. One was a big guy who swung a hammer, so he was definitely a slow but powerful character. The other was a faster moving ninja girl. The demo reveals that there are other characters, each with different weapons. For example, I saw a girl with a bo staff, an archer, and a guy with Wolverine-like claws on his hands. This ability to switch characters to overcome different obstacles is pretty cool. Im not sure if there is two-player co-op, but there sure is room for it in this game.

So overall, the demo did a great job in displaying the potential this game has. Its an action-adventure game where you run around an adorable environment filled with great characters. Im not sure if I would recommend purchasing it yet. I would have to wait and get some other initial reviews, and determine how much play time is actually in the game. Its just that the demo made it seem that the game is going to be short in length, and if thats the case, I wouldnt recommend it. But if there is two player gameplay in it, it will definitely be worth looking more into.

PS3 Demo Review: Batman Arkham Asylum

Posted by Rob on August 7, 2009 – 7:55 am

Filed under Video Games
Tagged as arkham asylum, batarang, batman, bats, big bad bob, bigbadbob, commissioner gordon, counter, croc, dark knight, demo, detective, gilde, goon, grappling hook, harley quinn, joker, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, review, stealth

The demo came out last night for Batman: Arkham Asylum, and I was pretty excited. The game has been getting a lot of hype, and seemed to be a much more in-depth and realistic Batman game. Ive been looking forward to it, and was glad to see that the demo launched last night. I downloaded then, and woke up and played it this morning. I was not disappointed.

The game pretty much starts off as Batman delivers a captured Joker to Arkham Asylum. For those of you not familiar with Batman, Arkham is a mental institution for the criminally insane, and is where many of Batman’s foes are put away until they eventually escape. So Batman delivers Joker, but it turns out that Harley Quinn and the rest of Joker’s goons have already taken over the asylum, and it was actually all a trap to lure Batman there. Now Joker is holding Gordon and other cops hostage, and Batman must make his way through Arkham to reach Joker and put a stop to his plan.

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