December 2011

There were 16 posts published in December 2011 (this is page 3 of 3).

The Vault: Manhunt

Manhunt (2003)

This week, I decided to revisit a game that always intrigued me but I never gave much of chance back in the day. The game is Rockstar’s Manhunt and it’s an odd one. I have memories of being so excited for this game to come out and then when it did my brother and I pooled our money together and convinced one of my parents to buy it, not that they were ever restrictive of what we played. To

To us, it looked like Grand Theft Auto (I guess there was only three back then) if it was a murderous horror movie and for some reason that got me excited, but not in a creepy way. When I finally did play it I had very mixed feelings. Here I was expecting something like a scary, action-packed sandbox game and what I got was a difficult slow paced stealth game built around levels. I probably played it for no more than a few days before giving up on it entirely and never even beat the first level, but times have changed.

I started playing this again around Halloween and was quickly reminded of why I originally gave this up. This game does try your patience early on and it’s still my opinion that the beginning section is one of the game’s most difficult hurdles. All you want to do is leap out and hack people apart, but that’s not what it’s all about. Manhunt is all about strategy, how you are going to accomplish your kill and how you’re going to avoid being noticed. It’s tough to get into if you’re an impatient person like myself, but if you can you’ll be able to work into a rhythm and appreciate the appeal of a good stealth game.

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Goodbye Happiness

Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness

I was a little hesitant to listen to Hello Sadness, the fourth/third album from Los Campesinos. I am someone who really enjoyed Hold on Now, Youngster… and We are Beautiful, We are Doomed, but found Romance is Boring to be disappointing. If this album was another disappointment, it would be hard for me to be optimistic about Los Campesinos’ future. But, on the other hand, it’s been a while since I listened to something by these folks. It turns out I missed them. And Hello Sadness, ironically, is enough to give me hope.

If the title didn’t tip you off, it’s probably safe to say that this collection of songs wasn’t inspired by good times. No, the imagery here is dark, the themes miserable – but with that signature Campesinos sardonic wit. It’s all a far cry from the jittery excitement of the first couple albums, but it’s exactly the direction the band had to go in; you can’t sustain something like that. As members have come and gone, the band has pushed lead singer Gareth more into the foreground, and this album is more personal and confident for it. The guy’s pretty good at this.

The rest of the band is still great, of course. There’s plenty to love here for fans of guitars, female backup vocals and more guitars. Yeah, the band’s a little less expansive then it used to be, and you can hear it on this record. However, this is still unmistakably Los Campesinos; the songs still build to amazing highs from humble lows. They’re still a delight to listen to. Or maybe I should say, they’re a delight to listen to again.

Favorite Tracks: “By Your Hand,” “Every Defeat is a Divorce (Three Lions),” “The Black Bird, The Dark Slope”