Jack Attack Tuesday -The Insider, CS:GO, Divinity Original Sin and Wasteland 2
Jack Attack Tuesday – 9/30/14
The Insider, CS:GO, Divinity Original Sin and Wasteland 2
I think most of us here can agree, there is absolutely nothing better than revisiting a great film you’d completely forgotten about. Such was the case with The Insider, a flick that a buddy of mine has sworn by for years. Simply put, The Insider is a film that I think gets glossed-over/overlooked by many because of the shadow cast by Heat. Michael Mann is one of the most technically proficient film directors of all time, and The Insider might be (stress the word MIGHT) his overall best film. While the story of Dr. Wigand, played by Russell Crowe, is a fascinating one, especially when looked at through the lens of Pacino’s 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman, in the hands of another filmmaker a story like this could have been endlessly dull. Without question, The Insider is a tight, tense thriller about free speech and tort reform. Anyone who saw the Hot Coffee documentary would be interested to see The Insider if only to get a better idea of the damage tort cases can have on regular citizen’s freedom. Pacino is at a career-best level here, with Crowe doing a serviceable job as the doctor at the center of the story. If you haven’t seen this yet, get on it soon because it is easily as good as Mann’s best films, including the sacred Heat.
Steam…God damn you Steam. While singlehandedly being the absolute best and overall cheapest resource for video gamers, you have now successfully occupied a decent percentage of my week, hunting down deals and sinking hours into games that I am falling in love with. God damn you… This week, I was introduced to three great games that are now in my weekly rotation. Believe it or not, outside of Half-Life and Portal, I’ve never played any of the flagship Valve titles. Steam had the entire Valve Pack on sale for $24.99, and I had to do it. Now, I’ve got more versions of Counter-Strike than I know what to do with, but CS:GO is a TON of fun. While I’ve played my share of Call of Duty, CS:GO is just an overall better experience. By starting everyone on a level playing field and not adding match bonuses like supply drops or kill-streak bonuses, the game is based more on raw player skill, making a more enjoyable game and, easily, a more attainable level of proficiency in the game. Then, between Divinity: Original Sin and Wasteland 2, I’m guaranteeing, at a minimum, an easy hundred hours of game time between the two. I’m actually enjoying the gameplay from both simultaneously, with similar conventions across both titles. In each game, you control a group of four companions and rely on a lot of reading and decision making in between the shooty-shooty/fighty-fighty parts. I can’t recommend either one more than the other, so I suggest both are solid RPG games that deserve your time, if you love the genre. While Divinity is, arguably, a lot more difficult than Wasteland 2 is, the latter is a funnier, somewhat more meaningful story. Buy em both, don’t give me no sass.
Next week I WILL have my Gone Girl review up in time for the Jack Attack, and hopefully I’ll have my thoughts on a certain upcoming release slightly early. Visit back for our Boardwalk/Strain/Sons commentaries, as well as our daily blogs, enjoy the glorious jibberish below, and, as always, Binge On!