MAS Newsletter, volume 14, 2005

Editor in Chief - Jessi Silver - jessi@gonein60fps.net

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Table of Contents
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*News
   -Industry News Bites
   -MAS News
*Features
   -Mark's Fall 2004 MAS Review
*Reviews
   -Paper Mario 2
   -Resident Evil 4
*Entertainment
   -Dr. Pandora Episode 1
*Industry
   -DVD release dates

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News
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Industry News Bites

Special offer with new Miyazaki DVD releases

According to the Anime News Network, Disney has begun promotion of their Feb 22 releases of the Miyazaki Classics Nausicaa, The Cat Returns, and Porco Rosso with the offer of a free DVD (Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, or Castle in the Sky) to customers who buy all three new releases.

Find more info here.

Princess Tutu DVD 2 Delayed
Hold tight all you MAS Tutu fans, the second volume of the shoujo show has been inexplicably delayed. Though there have been rumors of the series' cancellation, David Williams from ADV blamed the delay on issues encountered with this particular volume, nothing more.

Story thanks to www.animeondvd.com

Naruto Licensed
ShoPro Entertainment, which will be merging with Viz, has announced its acquisition of the anime series Naruto, according to a press release reprinted on www.animeondvd.com earlier this week. The show will be broadcast on Cartoon Network later this year.

Find more info here.

Mario Kart Coming to Arcades

According to www.ign.com, a partnership between Namco and Nintendo has resulted in the development of an arcade version of the popular Mario Kart series. The game will utilize rewritable cards to save game data for players. The release of the game is expected this fall.

Find more here
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MAS News

The most important things on the horizon for the members of MAS are the upcoming Anime Detour convention taking place from March 11-13, and the Spring Break Anime Marathon or "SBAM" taking place during Spring break on Thursday March 17th. Even though preregistration has closed for Detour, those still interested in attending can pay $50 dollars at the door. Better start saving your money and polishing off those costumes for the masquerade.

Though official suggestions aren't yet being taken, members interested in coming to the SBAM should start thinking of suggestions of anime to show. Also, be sure to brush up on your gaming, since there'll be another video game tournament this year (specific game TBA).

And, as always, the MAS newsletter, run by yours-truly, is always looking for contributions. I want to introduce a new short answer series to the newsletter this year. The question for this indefinite time period is, "What is the most amusing MAS moment that you remember?" If you have an answer to that question, be sure to drop me an email at jessi@gonein60fps.net. Good answers will be published in a future issue.

Oh yeah, and Eric wants me to pimp his new website, as his Resident Evil 4 review which appears here is taken from it. I write for it sometimes, too. It's at www.gonein60fps.net. It's small now, but content gets added frequently and it's totally sweet.

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Features
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Mark's Fall 2004 MAS-in-Review

Sakigake! Cromartie High
Reviewed by Mark McPherson
Length: 26, 10 minute episodes
Year created: 2003
Content: Contains mild violence.

Kamiyama Takashi enrolls at Cromartie High School, a school full of “delinquents”. Now, in order to fit in, Kamiyama studies the way of the delinquent, but this is no ordinary school filled with punks. Not only do the students pretend to be delinquents, but the school is also populated by a gorilla, a Freddy Mercury character and Mechazawa, a robot student who believes he is human. Cromartie is definitely far from ordinary.

Sakigake! Cromartie High definitely has a lot going for it. One of the biggest comedic elements that stuck out was the satire in the character designs and the animation. There are many scenes where you’ll see the voice actors trying to express emotion in their lines, but the character’s facial expression will stay the same. I also like how the director tried to add comedy into scenes where there would be lots of dialogue and little camera movement. Whenever a character gets a close up to deliver his lines, you’ll often see something amusing in the background or the character himself will become distorted. It should also be mentioned that are a few in-jokes in the series to baseball players and Queen. As for the story, there is a bit of continuity, but as a comedy, this isn’t a huge factor. However, what I found most interesting about this series was that it is a parody of the tough-guy shonen genre in general. The series is able to parody the genre in a way that doesn’t insult shonen, but still have fun with it. I found Sakigake! Cromartie High to be a hoot filled with satire, visual in-jokes, bizarre and interesting characters and enough rock music to set the scene.

Pros: Not your average anime comedy; a wide range of satire; excellent, if not bizarre, characters; catchy soundtrack.
Cons: One recap episode.
Grade: A+
Final Word: Freddy Mercury makes for great anime.

Read or Die TV
Reviewed by Mark McPherson
Length: 26 episodes
Year created: 2003
Content: Contains violence and mature situations.

Nenene Sumiregawa, a famous author from Japan, takes a trip to Hong Kong where she is targeted by authors gone terrorists. However, three sisters by the names of Anita, Michelle and Maggie come to her aid as bodyguards. These three girls are apparently “paper users” who are able to use paper to create weapons, animals and other objects. The girls eventually follow her back to Japan to act as full-time bodyguards. Nenene doesn’t take too kindly to the girls since her writing has begun to suffer as she searches for her lost friend, Yomiko Readman. From here, the story takes a few twists and turns to reveal an evil plot involving Joker, as well as some old characters from the original OAV, to create a new world from books no less.

While I did find the whole significance of paper and books a little silly, the series focuses more on character development and the characters are interesting and likable. Even though I found some of the characters pretty stereotypical in their roles, they are still entertaining. The first half of the series is probably the weakest because the first eleven episodes are pretty much filler. I can forgive most of these episodes because they actually do use these episodes for character development, but there were some episodes where the story is entirely focused on the three sisters and Nenene is completely out of the picture. The best was yet to come as the series progressed into the second half that was more exciting and it wasn’t just because there were more “paper fights” (I couldn’t care less about these scenes). There are enough plot twists and revelations in the story and characters to keep anyone interested. My only big concern about this series was that the main characters are so one-sided. The paper users see Joker as the villain and nothing more. Still, I was impressed how ROD TV was able to work with a concept that could have developed into a cute-girl-superhero show and turned it into a serious drama.

Pros: Interesting story; plenty of character development; well-paced plot.
Cons: One-sided character; some characters are neglected at times.
Grade: B+
Final Word: You don’t have to be a paper user to give people paper cuts.

Peacemaker Kurogane
Reviewed by Mark McPherson
Length: 24 episodes
Year created: 2003
Content: Contains violence, brief nudity and adult situations.

15 year old Tetsunosuke Ichimura has high hopes of becoming a member of the Shinsengumi to avenge the death of his parents. Aided by his caring brother, Tatsunosuke, Tetsu makes his way into the group through Souji Okita, one of the most famous swordsmen in the Shinsengumi. Kondo Isami, the leader of the group, allows him a chance to fight, but Hijikata, the second-in-command, disapproves of Tetsu joining. Okita, however, convinces Hijikata to accept him as his page. Although Tetsu would rather be a soldier and complains constantly about becoming one, his mind is not prepared to go into battle. Eventually, he makes friends with Suzu, the page of Yoshida who Tetsu fights later, and Saya, a shy girl in love with him.

I have a lot of hostility towards this show. My biggest gripe is the concept. This is a show that takes the Shinsengumi, an expert group of swordsmen who were endowed with an unflinching propensity to kill, and portrays them as a ragtag group of cute and childish characters. One thing I couldn’t stand about Tetsunosuke was that he is constantly afraid of violence and yet he wants to become a warrior. This kid is 15 years old, but he looks and acts like he is 10. The character designs are nothing new with boys looking like girls and girls looking like boys. Seriously, is it THAT hard for the artist to draw men who look like men? Another problem with the characters was that there were too many to keep track of and some of them barely got any screen time or character development. The story is pretty much filler until the last four episodes which is basically a final showdown between Yoshida and Tetsu. The last four episodes try to be serious and dramatic, but with the odd design of Tetsu and all the humor-driven episodes that came before, I simply could not take the emotion of these characters seriously. I will say that I did enjoy the last four episodes as they seem to be the only episodes where Gonzo actually put some effort into the animation. The fights were pretty entertaining, but a bit hard to believe at times. How much blood do you have to spill in order to kill someone? Another thing that bothered me was the terrible ending in which everyone is happy and joyous except for Suzu who is wallowing in a depression over the death of his master. The ending is just so uncomfortable and fails in tying up the loose ends that I couldn’t stand it. While the opening and closing songs were catchy, having little to do with the actual show, I found Peacemaker to be nothing more than just cute and angsty characters fighting with swords, sans plot and direction.

Pros: Above average TV animation; entertaining sword fights; catchy songs
Cons: Too much filler; poor concept; jumbled plot; unsatisfactory ending; way too many characters to keep track of or care about; the yaoi character designs and undertones are becoming repetitive.
Grade: C-
Final Word: It takes more than violent swordplay and pretty faces to make a great anime.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Reviewed by Mark McPherson
Length: 26 episodes
Year created: 2002
Content: Contains violence, gore, brief nudity and adult situations.

Taking its cue from the title, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex is set in the future where humans have transferred their ghosts (a new term for souls) into “braincases” allowing their minds to be connected to a network. Needless to say, this causes a lot of problems in maintaining a society, thus the creation of a new Public Security. Stand Alone Complex focuses on Section 9, headed by Motoko Kusanagi, an all-cyborg femme fatale, Batou, a muscle-head cop, Togusa, a devoted family man, and Aramaki, the elder chief of Section 9. The main story focuses on Section 9 tracking down the hacker\terrorist known as the Laughing Man who can hack into people’s braincases and use them as puppets for his own deeds. The Laughing Man has never been seen as he hacks into other people’s braincases around him so that they do not see his face and only his cheerful, rotating icon. This hacker targets several politicians and research companies to expose a much a deeper plot.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex is one of the most thought provoking and most interesting series I’ve seen in a long time. Many anime series are based on their manga counterparts and usually just try to transfer the original manga into animation. Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex actually takes elements from the manga and than weaves an original tale based on the characters and the setting. What separates Ghost in the Shell from other sci-fi anime is how much thought has been put into every element. The character designs, the buildings, the locations, the weapons, the cars, everything has so much detail and thought behind it. Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell feature film focused on philosophy and theories of life. While Stand Alone Complex still has these themes, they are much more subtle than how the film presents them. In terms of animation, this has to be some of the best TV animation to ever come out of Production I.G. Every scene of the series looks beautiful. The opening sequence, done entirely in CG, is just so amazing. The only downside of this series is that the show is pretty dialogue heavy with a lot of techno-babble that will confuse some. This, to me, only enhances the show. Instead of wasting time explaining every single detail of what is going on, the series will just put you right in the middle of the current situation and you can keep up with the plot from there. Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex is definitely an interesting series with a lot of replay value and that is something most anime nowadays lack. It is an instant classic in my book.

Pros: Excellent story and plot; extreme attention to detail; many theories and philosophies; high quality TV animation.
Cons: Can be a little dialogue heavy.
Grade: A
Final Word: Screw homeland security, we need braincase security.

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Reviews
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Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door

Published By: Nintendo
Developed By: Intelligent Systems
Released: October 11, 2004
Review By: Jessi Silver, previously published at www.gonein60fps.net

Paper Mario 2, the sequel to the original Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64, retains many of its predecessor’s charms, and also some of its flaws. However, in spite of any unaddressed issues the game is still very fun and one of the more creative RPGs I’ve had the pleasure to play.

Paper Mario 2 begins as Mario travels to the remote Rogueport Island to join Princess Peach for a treasure hunt – the island is reputed to house something spectacular in its underground catacombs. However, once Mario arrives it’s business as usual – Peach is kidnapped and Mario is charged with saving her while, in the meantime, unraveling the mystery of Rogueport’s treasure. The story takes place over seven chapters, each with its own unique locale and goals for completion, though the main goal of each is to obtain one of the seven Crystal Stars. Once all these stars are collected, they can be used to unlock the Thousand Year Door underneath the city, allowing the one responsible to claim the spoils.

The controls and battle system of Paper Mario 2 are relatively easy to learn and retain the spirit of other games in the Mario universe. While walking around the different worlds, Mario has the ability to jump and to hit things with his hammer. As the game progresses, he obtains new skills and moves, including the ability to fold into a paper airplane or a paper boat, and to turn sideways and slip between metal bars. These new moves allow him to complete necessary tasks and also to reach bonus items and secret areas.

The battle system goes beyond the simplistic turn-based RPG standard by including many interactive mini-games which accompany each move. Mario begins with just a basic jump move and hammer move, but via the use of badges collected throughout the game, gains many additional moves which use up Flower Points to perform. Once could play the game by simply choosing attacks and letting them play out without additional intervention, but the fun of the battles comes from their interactivity – by hitting a combination of buttons in sequence or by precisely timing a button’s release, attacks can be made more powerful and more visually-exciting. This also has an added bonus – each battle is played-out on a stage in front of an audience. By performing attacks perfectly and by using special moves, the audience gets excited and does things to help out Mario and his team. Conversely, if the battle is unexciting, the audience will boo, help the enemy, and sometimes even get up and leave.

Mario also gains the companionship of different characters throughout the game, each with her or his own special ability. Goombella, the first character who joins you, has the ability to “tattle”, which gives you vital information about your surroundings and, in battle, gives information on different enemies you meet. Koops the Koopa can use his shell to shoot across gaps and grab items or hit switches. There are seven partners in all and they all have their own strengths, weaknesses, and amusing personality traits.

The graphics in the game are certainly not the normal Gamecube fare. While the backgrounds and environments are rendered in full 3D, all of the characters and some items are notably 2D. This gives the game a very “pop-up book” feel which is both whimsical and fairly original. This pop-up book analogy is taken even further at times; as Mario hits a switch to create a bridge, each progression in the bridge’s construction is illustrated with a turn of the “book’s” pages. When Mario enters a pipe, his surroundings also convert into a piece of paper and follow him down. Many of these effects are very entertaining and add to the game’s charm.

The music is fairly average, though the game does do a good job of using bits and pieces from previous Mario titles (the battle victory music is a rehash of the music which plays when completing a level in the SNES classic Super Mario World, and the original Mario theme itself makes appearances in multiple forms). Each of the game’s areas has its own distinctive musical style and theme, each of which is upbeat or otherwise somewhat simplistic, but all are appropriate to their environment. My favorite is the up-tempo techno song which plays in the moon laboratory.

There are numerous “pros” to Paper Mario 2. In addition to its aforementioned strengths, the game also does a good job of presenting variety in each of its seven chapters. Each chapter has its own unique goals to accomplish, and many are formatted in creative ways. One level takes place in the confined space of a floating city, but keeps the action and interest moving by requiring Mario to enter in and win a fighting tournament, all while solving the mystery of disappearing contenders. Another takes place almost entirely on a luxury train and involves solving a mystery involving many of the patrons onboard. This variety really keeps the game moving and keeps interest up in a game which could very easily have descended into repetition.

Each of these areas also has a distinctive look to it. I must say that I was rather awestruck at both the color composition and stylization of the Puni Forest stage. With its stark contrasts between black and white with splashes of purples and blues thrown in, it was quite striking. The Twilight Village is also something to be seen – even the locals are portrayed as being half in shadow, which is both somewhat creepy and strangely cute all at once. The game certainly doesn’t lack for visual variety.

The game also has its share of side quests and bonus games. In Rogueport, Mario can go to a special bulletin board where residents have posted problems which need solving. These end up turning into short and sometimes amusing sub missions which take Mario all over the game world. This is a good way to earn extra money and also become more familiar with the large amount of NPCs in the game. There is also a casino in town where Mario can play games of chance and earn points which in turn allow him to purchase special rare items.

In addition, the localization of the game is top-notch; the humor elements are especially well-done with a lot of in-jokes and jabs at the expense of other characters are very amusing. The game is very self-aware, and it parodies other Mario games with a mixture of both wit and reverence beneath the surface. In between stages we visit the exploits of other characters, including Bowser. Some of Bowser’s stages are replicas of levels from the original Mario Brothers and I was torn between feeling nostalgia and laughing my ass off as Bowser tore through the stages, burning and crushing everything in sight.

There are, sadly, a few cons to this game. Firstly, and the same could be said about the original Paper Mario, the battles don’t have enough “oomph” to them. The battles are all very small-scale, with each of your attacks only doing a couple hit points of damage at a time. While this wouldn’t be such a big deal if your attack power rose steadily, Mario’s attacks only gain more power when he receives new weapons, which happens infrequently. So, while the enemies steadily gain in power and defense, sometimes Mario and his pals are fairly weak in comparison. In turn, this makes battles at certain stages very tedious and time-consuming, not to mention detrimental to both his hit points and flower points. Additionally, Mario only has room in his inventory for a mere ten items, which ends up being not enough when he has to heal himself and replenish his flower points in order to avoid untimely defeat.

I have to admit that there are some sections in the game which are just too dialogue-heavy. While the dialogue is humorous most of the time, there were still times when I felt the urge to just scroll through without reading. In a game like Paper Mario 2 which has a very child-like aesthetic and thus most likely has a fan-base made up of a lot of children, it doesn’t seem logical to put a lot of dialogue back-to-back like that.

One last thing is that I would think with the advancements in technology over the N64, Paper Mario 2 would be more visually-interesting than it turned out to be. While the worlds are colorful and some sections even attempt to infuse themselves with a “hand-drawn” look, I would have liked to see backdrops made up of different paper textures, like corrugated cardboard or hand-made paper. I’m sure the Gamecube could handle something like that, and yet the game contains almost no interesting texture effects. With a game which is otherwise rather innovative, such an omission really stands out.

Overall, though, Paper Mario 2 is a very fun game. I spent around 50 hours both playing the main storyline and also participating in side-quests and only found myself frustrated in a couple areas. I think that this game would be most fun for Nintendo enthusiasts and fans of previous Mario games, but I’m sure almost anyone who likes RPGs and isn’t put-off by the cutesy aesthetic would enjoy it. Heck, my sister, who isn’t a gamer by any measure, played through the entire first Paper Mario game and even beat this Nintendo fan girl to the finish line. I really enjoyed it, and think that it belongs as one of the best Gamecube titles to date.

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Resident Evil 4
Reviewed By Eric Frederiksen of www.gonein60fps.net

In the last six months, two popular survival horror games received their fourth installments. One of them sucks, the other one doesn't. I speak, of course, of Silent Hill 4 and Resident Evil 4. You can read our review of Silent Hill 4 here. Both games change a lot of the formulaic aspects that fans have come to expect, but to very different results. Silent Hill 4 fixes a lot of things that just weren't broken, ultimately hurting the series. Resident Evil 4, however, is just the opposite. Every change the developers made in the creation of Resident Evil 4 is an improvement, resulting in a beautiful, fun, and nearly flawless showing from Capcom and director Shinji Mikami.

The first thing you'll notice when you play Resident Evil 4 for the first time is the graphics. It's gorgeous. While past Resident Evil games featured pre-rendered backgrounds and cut-scenes, everything in Resident Evil 4 is rendered in real time. You might think that as beautiful as the earlier Resident Evil remake was, that the game might suffer some from the change to real-time rendering. It's just the opposite, however. I feel condfident in saying that not only is Resident Evil 4 the best looking game on the GameCube, but that it's one of the best looking games on any of the current generation of consoles.

The environments present the player with plenty of variety, ranging from the rural village and an absolutely massive castle, to mineshafts and military installments. Military installments for crazed villagers. The mansion of Resident Evil often became a bit boring and certainly repetitive, but Resident Evil 4 gives more than enough variation to keep you on your toes.

The enemy designs, models, and animations are great as well. The basic human, which can cover crazed villagers, crazed miners, crazed guards, and more, actually looks human. In a crazed plaguey way. The monks, I have to say, are cool as hell. These guys roam the castle-grounds in black robes, chanting spooky phrases. They sport menacing face-paint, ram-like masks, scythes, maces, and other fun accessories. I don't want to spoil all the fun enemies, but let's just say there are some really mean creatures in this game that you don't want to meet even if you have a full clip. The bosses are all beautifully realized as well. One boss is a Lord of the Rings reject called El Gigante. You'll know what I mean when you see him. These huge ogre-like creatures are skillfully modeled from head to toe - not that you'll have time to notice while you're running for your life. The true beauty of the characters of Resident Evil 4 shows when they talk. Facial animations are convincing and very human without venturing into the eerie - unless that's the intention in the first place.

The gore, it should be noted, rules. Now, I have to admit I hate it when I'm running from an enemy, move too slowly, and find myself suddenly headless. But damn, does it look sweet! The blood effects in Resident Evil 4 are great. In fact, all of the particle effects are great. The rain lands and splashes convincingly and the flames look more real than I think I've ever seen in a game.

The cut-scenes, which are for the most part quite well directed, are also beautifully choreographed. The action definitely takes a page from movies like The Matrix with the characters' over the top (and totally sweet) moves. Like Metal Gear Solid 3, the cutscenes of Resident Evil 4 aren't something you can set the control down and just enjoy. During cutscenes and some in-game battles, you are notified, quite suddenly, that you should press either L+R or A then B very quickly. If you don't press the buttons in time, the result is often death or at least some serious damage. These aren't entirely unlike the Quicktimer events in Shenmue, though unlike in Shenmue, you don't get to redo it.

Because the cut-scenes occur within the game engine, gameplay and plot flow together almost seamlessly. Additionally, the game plays entirely in a widescreen format. Fitting the game into a smaller frame allows it to run at a smooth and more importantly consistent 30 frames per second. It also adds a layer of presentation that makes the whole game look like a movie. The only problem this introduces is one that probably won't affect the vast majority of GameCube owners. I'm told that some high-end sets automatically force progressive-scan images into a 16x9 format, which means you get a squishy Resident Evil. I'm also told that if you have a widescreen television with a zoom function that the game will fill up your screen and still look gorgeous. You might just have to choose between squishy RE and going without progressive scan. Again, due in part to Nintendo's mistreatment of the audio and videophile 'cube owners (difficult to find cables, removing the prog-scan port from the newer 'cube model), I doubt this is going to be something that affects more than a small portion of players.

The sound is once again excellent. For the Resident Evil veterans: yes, I'm including the voice acting. The voice acting in Resident Evil 4 is easily the best to date - all of the voices sound great and the writing is very good for the most part - even a few great jokes in there. Due to my lacking setup, I can't play the game in DPLII (someday, someday), but everything about the game sounds great in stereo from the guns go the monsters and all of the ambient sounds. I suppose that the one complaint I have about the sound is that the enemy dialogue can become a bit repetitive. The crazed villagers will come at you muttering "mierda" and "cabrón" over and over again. While I do enjoy those words and the way they sound in Spanish, hearing 'bastard' over and over again just starts to get old.

The best and most heavily altered part of Resident Evil 4 is in the gameplay. This definitely isn't your granddaddy's Resident Evil. Gone are the bizarre camera angles and aiming at off-screen enemies. Also missing in action are those fun hours of running into walls and screaming at the screen as the angle changes mid-run, disorienting you and sending your character careening into one of those Hunters so you can get your head chopped clean off. It's not that you can't get your head chopped off though - you can! It just doesn't seem as cheap.

Resident Evil 4 has adopted a new behind-the-back camera that follows Leon through the game, with Leon slightly to the left, allowing the center of the screen to stay in view. When the aim button is pressed, the camera shifts closer, putting Leon in the left corner of the screen, allowing fully analog aiming. Remember how you could aim for the head or the chest in other Resident Evil games? Well, you might find yourself singing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" while you play this one, along with hands, chests, and wherever else you might want to shoot. Where you shoot becomes an important part of the gameplay. While headshots will serve you well for the first section of the game, you'll find later in that the headshots will only cause you trouble. At this point, using your pistol to disarm a villager and firing a shotgun shell into the legs of a mob of villagers to knock them down become more appropriate strategies. Many of the puzzles in the game also involve sharp-shooting - not to mention the shooting-range minigame that I'm terrible at.

Another very cool addition is the "Action" button. Not only does this fire your weapon when you press it while holding the Aim button, but it has a number of context-sensitive actions that you'll use throughout the game, such as climbing and knocking down ladders, leapong out windows, and even kicking a stunned villager in the face. The moves here are once again well animated and add a lot of variety to the game.

The controls themselves remain largely unchanged, though this isn't the problem it once was with the new and massively improved camera. The main difference is that your knife is linked to the L trigger, ensuring that Leon is never without a weapon. The only real problem with the controls is that, probably due to the fewer buttons of the Cube controller, there is no dodge or strafe button. So if you're shooting, your feet are planted. The same goes for reloading, which can't be done in the item menu anymore, turning it into a gameplay element - count your bullets carefully so that you don't end up reloading right as a mob of villagers is lunging at you.

I don't know if you'd heard anything about Resident Evil 4, but there aren't any zombies in this one.

I know, it sounds really scary at first, but really it's not as bad as you think. Because the crazed villagers still retain some mental capacity, battles are much more interesting and frantic. While you load one villagers knee full of pistol rounds, the other will move off to your left and stumble at you with his pitchfork, trying to catch you unawares. Enemies will take other paths, kick down doors, and climb ladders - anything to get to you. Not to say that the enemies are smart or anything - just smarter and more malicious. This newfound intelligence on the part of the enemies actually justifies the survival horror label more than any past incarnation of the series. It's survival horror because you're under constant attack from multiple enemies wielding everything from dynamite to crossbows to pitchforks, not because the controls are so poor that you can't figure out what the hell you're doing.

So how do you get all these hot weapons to shoot the villagers? For the most part, you buy them. A blue-clad merchant follows you throughout the game, selling and upgrading weapons for you. The money to buy these weapons and the ammunition to load them with come both as item pickups littered throughout the game and also as drops from the enemies you kill. Resident Evil 4 isn't about conserving ammo nearly as much as in past incarnations, but more about using the ammo intelligently, as you'll find plenty of ammo all over. Storing all these items is a bit different from past RE games. Instead of having an even-numbered amount of squares that will hold eight rifles or eight keys, you have a attaché case that you can upgrade to larger sizes throughout the game. Treasure and game items (puzzle pieces, keys, etc.) don't take up any space either, but instead have their own menu. The attaché case is only for weapons, ammo, and the classic herbs and other healing items.

One thing that reminds me a bit of Silent Hill 2 is the character you're sent in to rescue, Ashley Graham. Like Maria in SH2, Ashley follows you around for the parts of the game that she isn't locked in a cell for and even has a small segment in which she is the main character. For a defenseless character that follows you around, Ashley is remarkably not that annoying. She ducks when you aim near her, making it hard to shoot her by accident, though if she is carried out of the room by one of the minions, it's all over. Ashley is never really much of a hassle though, and the interaction between her and Leon is very entertaining.

Until Resident Evil 4, there isn't a single Resident Evil game I'd played more than once. As I write this however, I've worked through RE4 two and a half times. In addition to the game just being that fun, there are a number of unlockables, ranging from the familiar (and more fun than ever) Mercenaries minigame and another minigame that I won't spoil to a number of fun weapons and some alternate costumes for the main characters.

Conclusion:

Resident Evil 4 is the best Resident Evil game yet. With Resident Evil 0, I began to worry that the series was on its last legs - a sad, dead relic of the days of the PSone. Resident Evil 4 has proven me completely wrong. Undergoing more changes in one sequel than most games do in an entire series, RE4 has come out much stronger and better, taking full advantage of the GameCube's hardware and giving an incredibly entertaining and almost flawless experience that will last you around 20 hours your first time through. If you like Resident Evil games, you'll like this one. If you don't like Resident Evil games, I can finally say that you'll still probably like Resident Evil 4. A must-buy.

Visit Eric at www.gonein60fps.net

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Entertainment
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Doctor Pandora
By Mark McPherson

Episode 1: Memorandum

Doctor Pandora walked through the graveyard to a funeral. He placed some flowers on the open casket of a skinny, pale man. Pandora stepped back and watched the casket lower into the hole. The tombstone read “Gregory Lang”.

“We are not aware of where we proceed after death. We are uncertain. There is no way to plan for what lies after this world. At any rate, when a human dies, what is the one thing they wish for before they croak? They want to be remembered. When we depart this world, we’d like to think our existence in this realm had some purpose and that generations to come would recognize our importance. However, what do we really have to show for it? A tombstone is erected in our honor, but what does that really say about a human? Our name, the day we arrived, the day we departed and perhaps a quote to sum up our accomplishments. A graveyard could be compared to an old library. So many books, yet very few ever read them. If you were to die, is this how you would like to be remembered? As one more book on the shelf? A tombstone is so very primitive.”

That night, Doctor Pandora led one of his co-workers, Doctor Sakti, to his lab.
“Still, Doctor Pandora, humans receive memorials such as statues, buildings, even cities”, said Doctor Sakti, setting down her paper work on a table.

“A building is just a building and a city is just a city. What do those buildings and cities actually have to say about the individual who they were named after? My invention, the Mentorial, will set a new standard,” said Doctor Pandora as he sat down turning on a large computer.

“This is your invention? A computer is going to revolutionize the way we people remember the dead?” asked Sakti.
Doctor Pandora pricked his finger with a needle and a drop of blood fell onto a microscope slide. Pandora inserted the slide into the computer.

“The Mentorial isn’t the computer itself, but the satellite I am sending information to through the computer. The satellite is able to manipulate the part of the brain that stores our memories. The computer scans in all of our information through a blood or hair sample. That information gets sent to the satellite and if that person dies, the satellite will pick up on anyone who remembers that particular person and keeps that data stored within their memories. Thus, no one will ever forget those they met long after they depart from this world.”

Doctor Sakti chuckled. “What if people want to forget those they met? Like a criminal or a rapist or a…”

“Murderer? It is a quandary. At the very least, I guess you could say it forces humans to understand one another.” Doctor Pandora stood up and faced Sakti. “I only wish that I could have finished this project earlier before you found out about it. Or at least before you decided to kill my former assistant, Gregory”, said Doctor Pandora with a light smile.

“But, how did you…?”

“You’re quite the sensitive one. You’ve killed off every student who didn’t agree with your theories. Not to mention stealing other student’s theories that rivaled your own.”

Sakti drew a gun from her lab coat. “Sorry, Pandora, but I don’t want to have a bunch of students haunting my brain.”

“As always, Sakti, you have to focus on the negative. Did you even consider the positive effects of this project? Maybe children as young as two could remember their deceased parents,” Pandora stated, walking slowly towards Sakti.

“Stay back”, Sakti said, aiming the gun at Pandora.

“Maybe humans could remember the little people who made their lives better like the postman or a clerk,” Pandora said in a strict voice as he walked closer to Sakti.

“Just shut up.” Sakti’s hand began to shake.

“Empathy for others is what humans lax. Only through this invention can humanity evolve.”

Sakti shot Pandora three times through his torso and three times at the computer. Pandora fell back on to the computer as his blood pooled into the wiring.

“Humanity will just have to wait a few more years, Doctor Pandora.” Sakti suddenly felt a massive headache in her cranium and passed out from the pain.


Sakti awoke in a university hospital bed. The room was empty with the exception of a radiator and another bed. She looked out the window to discover it was already morning. “Did I really kill Doctor Pandora? Was it just a dream?”

“I’m afraid it was no dream,” said Doctor Pandora as he entered the room.

Sakti almost jumped out of the bed. “Are you here to kill me?”

“Even if I could kill you, it wouldn’t make any difference since I am already dead.”

“Are you…a ghost?”

“I am a copy of Doctor Pandora existing inside your mind. Somehow the Mentorial malfunctioned and instead of saving all the memories you and all my acquaintances have of my being, I have been recreated as an illusion of the mind.”

“Wait. You mean everyone else who knows you is seeing a copy as well?”

“I know the entire staff here, Doctor Sakti, and I’ve taught plenty of students at this university. Everyone knows you killed me.”

The door knob on the door to the room began to turn. Doctor Sakti began to sweat. The door opened.

“Sakti? Are you awake?”

“Karen! Thank goodness,” said Sakti, feeling relieved.

“What happened? I heard you were knocked out by a murderer.”

“I’ll explain later. Can you give me a ride out of here?”


Karen helped Doctor Sakti leave the building. The halls of the university were empty.
“Pandora, how long ago do you think copies of you entered everyone else’s minds,” Sakti asked quietly.

“I don’t see how that matters now,” Pandora answered, walking by Sakti.

Suddenly, one of the teachers and a security guard came rushing around the corner behind them. “There she is! That’s the one who murdered Doctor Pandora,” screamed the teacher. Karen looked at Sakti as she stood still, shaking.

“This is the part where you run,” said Pandora, staring at Sakti.

Sakti grabbed Karen’s arm and made a break for the parking lot, dodging shots from the security guard. When they made it to Karen’s car, Sakti noticed Karen was scared and nervous from what she just heard. Sakti grabbed Karen’s keys from her purse, through her to the passenger side and started up the car. She blew right through the exit.

“I must say you work well under pressure,” said Pandora from the back seat.


Sakti and Karen rushed into Karen’s apartment and locked the door behind them. Sakti quickly closed the drapes on all the windows. Karen stood by the door breathing heavily and sweating.

“Sakti, did you murder Doctor Pandora?”

“Karen…he was going to hurt me. He was going to hurt us all,” Sakti said, walking back towards Karen.

“Then why did you run?”

“Karen, I…”

“Don’t come near me,” Karen shouted, shoving Sakti away. Karen proceeded to the kitchen where she grabbed a cutting knife.

“Karen, you’re my friend. I would never hurt you.”

“Then why did you kill your students?”

Sakti was surprised and looked at Pandora sitting on the couch. “Did you know Karen”, Sakti asked Pandora quietly.

“Single women make for great casual sex.”

Sakti looked at Pandora with disgust and turned back to Karen. “Karen, what ever Doctor Pandora told you, it isn’t true.”

“Then you see him, too? I must be as crazy as you now,” Karen said as she began to smile.

“Put down the knife, Karen.”

“Go to hell, Sakti! I don’t want to go to prison for aiding a criminal and I certainly don’t want to go to therapy for seeing ghosts!” Karen began to walk slowly towards Sakti.

“Karen, what are you doing?”

“I can’t trust you. You could kill anyone at anytime for any reason! You’re a sadistic bitch!”

“Karen, put down the knife.”

“No! Don’t tell me what to do!”

“Karen, put down the knife…and I’ll turn myself in.”

Karen wiped a few tears from her face. “No more killing?”

“No killing ever again.”
Karen walked up to Sakti, dropped the knife and hugged her. “Sakti, I knew you were a good person.”

“Karen, you are so very kind to me…,” Sakti quickly picked up the knife and stabbed Karen in the throat, “Which is why it pains me to do this.”

Karen staggered back, bleeding from her neck, staring at Sakti. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she collapsed against the wall.

Sakti clutched her head as she felt a massive head ache.

“You really can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” said Pandora as he got up off the couch.

“What just happened?”

“One more death to always remember. The more you kill, the more painful it will become until eventually...”

“Eventually what…?”

“You become a brain dead meat puppet living your life as a hospital vegetable.”

There was a pounding on the door of the apartment. “Ms. Karen, open the door. This is the police.”

“Then again, there is always option B,” Pandora said with a light smile.

Sakti broke the window on the opposite side of the room with a chair and jumped down one floor to the ground. She then got into Karen’s car and proceeded to the highway. On the highway, two police cars began tailing her. Looking over her shoulder too long, Sakti crashed into an exit sign.


Doctor Sakti awoke for a moment in an ambulance. She could hear the voices of the paramedics before everything went black again.
“Looks like just a few bruises and a scar to the head.”


Sakti briefly remembered being questioned and going to court before she awoke in a prison cell bed. Her clothes had been replaced with a blue prison uniform. She examined her prison cell. She was the only one in the cell thankfully. Sakti clutched her head still feeling the scar from the car crash.

“Karen…I’m sorry.”


Of course, Doctor Sakti attempted to escape by breaking into the office. She was unable to steal the pass-key as she was knocked out by the guards before she reached it, but was able to get a handful of paper clips before being dragged back to her cell.


While she was in the prison shower, Doctor Pandora appeared next to Sakti.

“Are you still here,” grunted Sakti.

“I always thought you were a B cup. Somehow, I think you could escape from here.”

“It wouldn’t make a difference. My life is over.”

“The irony is quite delicious.”

“What about my body?”

“Well, you’re not fat.”

“I meant what effects the Mentorial will have on my body.”

“That’s hard to say. The satellite has begun to broadcast more distorted signals. All I can tell you is that it gave one of my fellow teachers from the university a coma.”

“So what will happen to me?”

“I wouldn’t rule out death. At the very least, you’ll spend the rest of your days talking through a computer. I’m looking forward to see how it turns out.”

“Don’t you think I’ve suffered enough?”

“Listen, I can’t just leave your head. That satellite is still broadcasting my distorted data.”

Doctor Sakti suddenly perked up as she had an idea. She grabbed a towel and ran off.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t work, Sakti!”


Sakti, covering herself with a towel, seduced one of the guards into the office. She then stabbed him in the throat with a bunch of straightened paper clips, covering his mouth to prevent the other guards from hearing. Her head began to feel worse as she had killed another. She put on the guard uniform and snuck out of the prison just before the guards noticed her. Taking one of the police cars, she drove off.


Sakti parked the car in the parking lot of the university. She proceeded to Doctor Pandora’s laboratory. Doctor Pandora appeared beside her.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to program that satellite to erase all your data from everyone’s mind.”

“You don’t get it. The Mentorial can’t erase specific memory in the brain.”

“Then I’ll just erase all memory.”

“Have you lost your mind? That satellite broadcasts data on every human brain. If you program the Mentorial to erase all memory, you’ll be giving the entire human race amnesia.”

“Well, so be it.” Sakti programmed the satellite to erase all memory on Earth in 5 minutes.

“All this killing really has gone to your head. Congratulations, Sakti. You’ve gone insane.”

Just then, the police banged on the door. Sakti took another exit out of the lab to the stairs. As she climbed the stairs, she took the gun from her uniform drag and shot one of the cops from below. Doctor Sakti let out a scream as her headache became worse. She continued to climb all the way to the rooftop where the cops had cornered her to the ledge. Sakti looked at the street below and then turned to Pandora, staring at her from afar.

“Doctor Pandora, I know you are only a copy, but do you think you are in a better place?”

“I don’t believe in a heaven or hell…but I do believe we go somewhere when we die.”

Doctor Sakti smiled as she let herself fall off the roof of the university. Before she took a face first plunge into the hard cement, a tear rolled from her smiling cheek. Just then, the satellite began to scan the entire earth, wiping everyone’s memory clean.

“What did we leave behind? Wisdom? Knowledge? Philosophy? Everyone wants to leave their mark to state that they existed in this world and that their existence made a difference. Yet, our existence after death lies in the hands of others. Documents can be thrown away, tombstones can be destroyed, buildings can be demolished and memories can be wiped clean.”

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