No More Shroom in Hell

The Last of Us

The end of the world seems to be as hot as ever this year. Though it will be difficult to find another apocalypse from this year that’s as engaging or captivating as The Last of Us from Naughty Dog. Set in the aftermath of a worldwide infection (based on the real-life fungal parasite Ophiocrodyceps unilateralis), you take control of Joel, a smuggler hired to transport a 14-year old girl, Ellie, to a rebel group known as the Fireflies. A lot is on the line as Ellie may hold the cure to the infection, but not only does that mean traveling outside of the quarantine zone, but facing the infected lifeforms on the outside.

I don’t go out and buy a lot of games these days but there are several things that will always suture me in. One, fluid gameplay, something unobtrusive and easy to remember that doesn’t throw a bunch of new shit at you every few minutes. When I found out that Last of Us was more or less the same engine as Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series I was hooked. Something about the feel of those games was so natural and simple, it helps you enjoy the story and characters. Another thing that always draws me in is atmosphere. I love the idea of games becoming more and more like movies, but not so much that you’re not still playing a game. Last of Us has a superb cinematic quality built up by engaging character interaction, dramatic situations and an eerily beautiful, realistic visual quality. It’s just as much fun to watch as it is to play.

I’ve noticed a lot of perfect and near perfect reviews for Last of Us. As much as I enjoyed this game, I do have a few critiques. One, I don’t agree that the premise is as original or unique as some may suggest. I think the characters are great and I love their interactions, but the whole overarching plot is fairly stock. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it did feel a little overly familiar. The whole “We found someone immune in the face of an epidemic” is a little played out. Off the top of my head 28 Weeks Later has something like that or maybe even The Stand. The country-fried characters definitely remind me of some of the folk on Walking Dead as well. Though there’s certainly nothing wrong with building off of past ideas to make something even better.

Personally, doing combat with the infected was also a bit of a mixed experience. I love slinking through the shadows and shanking Clickers (one of the game’s distinct adversaries) but other times it feels very by the numbers, fighting off waves and waves of enemies until you’ve cleared an area. Though familiar isn’t necessarily bad, I don’t think there was anytime where I wasn’t enjoying myself. Most of all I admire the cinematic quality of this game more than anything else. I rarely enjoy cutscenes but here it’s exciting and even terrifying. You care about the relationship between Joel and Ellie and that’s saying something. Naughty Dog never ceases to amaze me with their ability to craft worlds that overflow with personality and adventure. I can only dream (or have nightmares) about what they’ll do next.

Good Movie/Bad Movie: Dredd

This week we play judge, jury, and executioner for the two Judge Dredd movies that have been made thus far. The first, starring Sylvester Stalone, tries to be the ultimate story for the character, full of massive reveals and incredible consequences for the rest of the franchise. The second, starring Mildly Pleasedman Karl Urban, is a day-in-the-life adventure that thrives on atmosphere and style. Which approach is right? Which approach is wrong? Because one must be good and one must be bad. How will the movies plead? I knew you’d say that.

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Yeezus Walks

Kanye West – Yeezus

At this point, I’m pretty sure every yutz out there on the internet has put in their two cents about the new Kanye West album, but I still got some shit to say about it, so I figure I might as well say it. Plus, I don’t know that these kinds of instantly formed opinions are very well-suited for an album as challenging as Yeezus. I’ve listened to it a few times now, and though I’ve come to a fairly conclusive opinion, I wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up liking it more further down the road. But for now, I’d say Yeezus stands along with 808s And Heartbreak as one of Mr. West’s more uneven – if nonetheless fearless and ultimately fascinating releases.

I’m not terribly unique in the regard that I’ve come to appreciate Kanye West’s ability to mash together all sorts of different soulful sounds in a way that’s sweeping and epic, while his lyrics have often been markedly honest and soul-bearing. Yeezus is pretty much the sound of Kanye taking a giant dump on both of those trademarks, as it musically bears an intensely bare-bones, almost industrial kind of dynamic. As for the lyrics, I’m not sure what to really make of them, though my best guess is that they’re the words of a man trying desperately to exorcise his demons. The lyrical content is almost uncomfortably graphic in its hedonism, but because Kanye is still able to intersperse his dark sense of humor, you kind of get the idea that he’s merely playing the role of provocateur. You could make the case that because of his impending fatherhood, Kanye’s using this lyrical approach almost as a way of venting every dark twisted thought lurking in the back of his mind. But at this point, it’s hard to make any clear sense of whatever the fuck is going through Kanye West’s head.

I hate to be this reductive about such a lightning rod of an album, but for me Yeezus is really just an album that starts out really strong and kind of loses its way towards the middle. With a combination of ass-stomping rhythms and memorably subversive lyrics, “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” almost perfectly distill the kind of abrasiveness he seems to be shooting for here. However, once you get to the kind of pulsating ickiness that you see on a song like “I’m In It”, things start to feel a little muddled for me. However I do appreciate that Kanye threw us a bone with the album’s closer “Bound 2”, which feels like a grandiose throwback to 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, an album that now feels almost light years behind us.

The gaping difference of opinion that’s happened between music critics and the general music-listening public in regard to Yeezus has been kind of fascinating to me. And because I don’t think I quite fall in to either category, I’ve been torn about what kind of star rating to assign to this album in a way that rarely happens to me. But basically my conclusion is that, as an artistic statement, Yeezus is remarkable. As something that I want to listen to, it’s more of a mixed bag.

Favorite Tracks: “Black Skinhead”, “New Slaves”, “Bound 2”