Muzman on 3/8/2009 at 04:14
Quote Posted by ZymeAddict
Then there is the scene where the helicopter pilot chops up the crowd of infected with the blades of his helicopter. Yeah, it looks cool, but you'd think he would be a bit apprehensive about essentially dumping gallons of highly infectious biohazardous material all over his machine.
And the people he's supposedly trying to save (quick quiz: which way does the air wash from helicopter go when it's flying almost horizontal? Time's up!).
That is probably the bit where I gave up. Up until then I'd forgiven its simplicity and telegraphing its scenes; I couldn't explain why Carlyle was a special infected, or the soldier guy was so willing to shoot his squad mates. But I thought I'd wait and see. But the helicopter bit really sums up exactly what sort of film it really is. As most thoughtless victims of sequelitis go, it's well made enough that you can put up with it. Up to a point. Otherwise its just a montage of scare and gore scenarios with the slenderest of plots holding it together (with a whole roll of convenience tape as well)
Zygoptera on 3/8/2009 at 07:25
Quote:
Because while
System Shock at least makes sense within its own universe,
System Shock 2 goes and chucks logic completely out the window over and over again so it's impossible to suspend disbelief (spoilers, of course).
For example: how the hell does that grove get to Tau Ceti? Baboons at IG don't know anything about physics if they think it's covering light years in decades. And The Many evolving in that length of time? IG fails Biology too. Nanites? Where were they in the first game? Psi? What is this, Baldur's fucking Gate? A ship's AI that is that easy to hack? Weapons that fall apart after two shots? Convenient keys one per section? Getting cybermodules piecemeal, why doesn't Polito just give you the whole lot at once and how do you get something obviously physical mailed to you? Why do people leave codes sitting around in logs? Why does Grassi, supposedly a doctor, call spider monkeys (or maybe howlers) chimpanzees? Why can I buy ammo from unhacked valurep's? What's up with worms, or worm spiders or..
Also, SS2 relies too much on the old survival horror standby of people getting killed suddenly before and or immediately after you meet them. Like that whole retarded sequence where the guy in medsci has been lying dying for days on end but somehow he only dies (and briefly wakes up to give Ominous Warning) when you arrive there while conveniently leaving crucial information on his still warm body. Then, just to reinforce this rampant gallop down cliche ave a couple of monsters spawn in. Seriously, wtf?
Then there me whacking random muties with my wrench. Yeah, it looks cool, but you'd think I'd be a bit apprehensive about essentially splattering gallons of highly infectious biohazardous material all over the place.
And those are just a couple examples of the stupidity evident throughout the game.
fixed, lol rofl
Seriously though, suspension of disbelief criticism is always tricky, as you can nitpick almost anything if you want to, particularly sequels. That's another reason why I like the Alien/ Aliens comparison, there's plenty of logic defying stuff in Aliens too (hey, we're on a planet where lots of people have mysteriously and violently disappeared and I, supposedly a soldier, am on a crucial piece of equipment which allows people including myself to escape the planet. I know, I'll
just pop outside for a smoke, while leaving the door open) but most people just put it aside and enjoy the movie. In any case, the equivalent "er wot?" moment in 28wl is Carlyle sneaking in to see his wife, which ought to be as plausible as the maintenance guy at Gitmo popping into Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's cell for a quick snog. I have to admit that my immediate thought when all the civvies got sent into the basement was that they were sent there to get
gassed, so I didn't see any inconsistency there.
Uh, Muz, per Newton if the helicopter is being pushed relatively up by the rotors, the air (and attendant viscera) is being pushed down and in that case away from the fleeing people. That scene still has lots of potential problems such as potential to damage the main rotor or foul the tail rotor, whether that degree of rotor dip can give enough upthrust at that velocity to be sustainable etc
Muzman on 3/8/2009 at 07:39
Memory had it that he flew over the top of them, since the infected were too close for him to land first. It's possible he turned around before slicendice. I don't recall (I'm sure there's a copy around this flea bag somewhere).
Even if it does hold up, the scene is still gonzo "Return of the Living Dead with a budget" cheese and so long gravitas.
june gloom on 3/8/2009 at 08:51
I admit the chopper bit was bullshit, but it gets back that gravitas right afterwards.
Ulukai on 3/8/2009 at 10:35
Quote Posted by D'Juhn Keep
This seems a strange thing to say - you know both The Omega Man and I Am Legend films are based on the I Am Legend book right?
Yes, but having seen both there are definitely elements in the later film that were inspired from a viewing of the first. Perhaps more correctly then, without The Omega Man, I Am Legend would be a little different.
Rogue Keeper on 3/8/2009 at 10:45
Good job boys, all pieces I would recommend have been mentioned, I'm going back where I came from.
ZymeAddict on 3/8/2009 at 14:28
Quote Posted by Zygoptera
fixed, lol rofl
Seriously though, suspension of disbelief criticism is always tricky, as you can nitpick almost anything if you want to, particularly sequels. That's another reason why I like the Alien/ Aliens comparison, there's plenty of logic defying stuff in Aliens too (hey, we're on a planet where lots of people have mysteriously and violently disappeared and I, supposedly a soldier, am on a crucial piece of equipment which allows people including myself to escape the planet. I know, I'll
just pop outside for a smoke, while leaving the door open) but most people just put it aside and enjoy the movie. In any case, the equivalent "er wot?" moment in 28wl is Carlyle sneaking in to see his wife, which ought to be as plausible as the maintenance guy at Gitmo popping into Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's cell for a quick snog. I have to admit that my immediate thought when all the civvies got sent into the basement was that they were sent there to get
gassed, so I didn't see any inconsistency there.
Zygoptera, the difference between your SS2 analogy and 28 Weeks is while most of the things you listed are pretty nitpicky and small (with the possible exception of how the groves got to Tau Ceti - which I admit still bugs me), especially in a 20 hour+ long game,
28 Weeks Later is just littered with big chunks of stupid throughout its fairly-short hour and forty minute run time.
Same goes for
Aliens. There's a big difference between one soldier going outside to smoke in a potentially dangerous area (they assumed the aliens were confined to the reactor building after all), and an entire group of people being so moronic as to herd the sole remaining survivors of an entire country into a room,
without bothering to check if there was a back door.
And I don't know where you got the idea that the civilians were being forced into that room to be gassed. I'm almost positive you're completely wrong about that (and regardless, that would still be a pretty idiotic plot point in of itself).
zombe on 4/8/2009 at 03:59
Quote Posted by ZymeAddict
And I don't know where you got the idea that the civilians were being forced into that room to be gassed. I'm almost positive you're completely wrong about that (and regardless, that would still be a pretty idiotic plot point in of itself).
Because they were obviously going to die (by script) and no one would do that willfully? Obviously that is not what was supposed to happen there - but the similarity was hard to ignore.
