Free Choice Blog

Game Reviews


Assassins Creed 1: So for the past few days I have been on an Assassins Creed kick. The game is fun but it’s really slow at times. I love the aspect of playing as an ancient assassin and I love the whole story. Myself being a history buff I love the historical things they throw into the game. The game ends with you killing your master who taught you the art of killing. This was a great ending to the story. Assassins Creed 1 is a great game and I love the history references


Borderlands: I have heard some stories about this game and it got great reviews, but I am going to be completely honest, I just could not get into that game. It seems so pointless and I just don’t see myself sitting down and playing that game for a good chunk of time. Maybe it’s because of the character I picked (hunter) but I could just not get into the game. If you want to play it, you need a tolerance for pointless killing, and no immediate plot line what so ever.


Batman Arkham Asylum: For the past couple years; the Batman saga has been a big hit. Batman Begins was a huge movie for modern day D.C fans, and the groundbreaking Dark Knight was raved about for months, and was one of the few action movies whose sequel was better than the first. Now the new game, Batman Arkham Asylum is out, and all I can say is wow. Even though the game doesn’t follow the new movies in terms of character looks and actions, it is an awesome game. It is original Batman at its finest. The Batman that little kids dreamed about and the Batman that has been the poster child for D.C comics for more than 70 years is back. The game takes place in Arkham Asylum where the criminally insane are held such as Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Scarecrow. Joker has taken over and now all of the inmates are running freely throughout the island, and Batman is the only one that can stop them. On top of the authenticity of the game, the graphics and game-play are top of the line. If you are looking for a modern day game with a touch of classic comic, Batman Arkham Asylum should be your first pick.


NCAA Basketball 2010: Sports games are always fun especially college ones. You have the chance to become your favorite school and lead them to victory. The game is self explanatory in terms of game play, and it has a feel of realism in the game. Before every game it shows who is broadcasting it such as ESPN or NBC and there are different announcers for each station. Even that small thing makes you feel even more into the game. The game also features the hardest places to play. For example, my team (UNC) has the hardest place to play, so if the other team is trying to make a shot or free throw and they are away, then the screen will shake and if it is happening to you, your controller will vibrate like crazy. This makes the game seem more real and for that, I thank the guys over at EA sports that made this game. If you are looking for a good basketball game this year, consider NCAA Basketball 2010.

Writing Stragies Blog

The Superest Super Hero/ Fighter Plane Pilot/Italian Baker
Danny Brumar
Now what exactly is the Superest Super Hero/Fighter Plane Pilot/Italian Baker you may be asking yourself? Well he is the king of all kings; the fighter of all fighters; baker of all bakers. He was Longbranch. Longbranch Pennywhistle. But to those who knew him or knew of his doing, he was Admiral Lightning Bolt.
Our story begins with the good Admiral putting in a fresh batch of Italian bread. His thick side kick Rommel was standing next to him. Rommel resembled a something of a misshapen moose, and if he were a moose, his name would be Mike, or perhaps Montel. Yes-Montel the Moose- that sounds delightful. So as Longbranch was putting the bread in, he heard his phone ringing in the back. He rushed to get the ringing phone. As he did this Rommel sprinted to a batch of freshly baked bread and shoveled it into his oversized mouth, something which angered the Admiral very much. It wasn’t so much that he was eating the food, it was that he got spit all over the table, and I’m not taking like a little bit here and there; I’m talking EVERYWHERE. I’m telling you it was not a pretty sight. It was like aqua man had been riding a whale or something through their, or someone was crying or something like that, my point is there was a LOT of spit. So when Longbranch returned, you would think that he’d be upset or something of that nature; he wasn’t. He had a strange look on his face, like he’d seen a ghost-a big scary ghost that resembled Lady Gaga without makeup just scarier- so Rommel’s whipped sidekick instincts kicked in and he asked
“What’s wrong boss?”
“Well Rommel…” he began, “my mothers in town, and don’t get me wrong, I love my mommy, its just she never approves of the girls I date and you know that girl I’m dating right?”
“Shaniqua?” he answered
“Ya,” he said, “and I really like her. I’m just worried what my mother will say.”
“Hmmmmmmm” Rommel thought quietly to himself, “you’ve certainly got yourself in a pickle. And its not a good pickle like a dill, it’s a yucky one.”
“I know” said the Admiral
“Hey wait just one darn second here,” said Rommel, why don’t you introduce your lady friend to your mom, and if she doesn’t approve you can get your mom into some sticky situation like stuck in a vat of molasses or something like that, and you wont be able to save her, and your girl will just happen to come around a save her.”
“Rommel that’s so crazy it just might work.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Your quite welcome” Longbranch said, “oh and Rommel.”
“Yes sir.” He said back
“Nobody likes a suck up.”
“Yes sir.” He said with disappointment.

A few days later…
“HELP!!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!” shrieked Mrs.
Pennywhistle from a vat of bubbling molasses.
“Ill save you!” came a voice from the shadows. It was Shaniqua, ready to save Mrs. Pennywhistle from the bubbling vat. She reached out and grabbed her hand. The deed was done, Mrs. Pennywhistle was safe, and Shaniqua was a hero. Admiral Lightning Bolt came rushing through the door with his fuchsia, skin tight suit and orange cape.
“Mother!!!!” he yelled, “y-your alive”
“OOOOOOO you best believe it boy, and its not thanks to you. Your lucky this FFFFIIIINNNNEEE gal of yours was here or id be baked into cookies and devoured by overweight adolescents watching there hippety hoppety rap videos and listening to the Jay Digetty and Snoop Puppy Dog and what not. OOOOOO boy I oughta slap you into last week.”

“Sorry mommy…” mumbled the Admiral as his mother dragged him out of the molasses warehouse by his ears going on and on with something about rap and child hood obesity.

The Battle

It was the first day of school, and when I went into my Global Ed class, a kid was sitting behind me named Dan. That was my name. I looked at him, and for some odd reason, I just didn’t like his face. It somewhat angered me. I had to do something about this new found foe, and war was the only option. I quickly rallied up some troops and gave the announcement that there would be a great battle against the one they called Dan. I told them that we take no prisoners, and show no mercy. I pulled out my lance and M16 and shot 3 shots into the air, and gave a vicious war cry, and my troops cried out in response. Suddenly, one of my troops fell dead. “WHAT?!?!?!?!” I cried in astonishment. “They shoot without warning.”
“Actually sir,” one of my troops said “it was those bullets that you shot into the air”
“Oh,” I said “carry on.” So we geared up, and entered the battlefield. The one the call Dan was standing in the middle of the field. I walked up to the giant, and said, “So the rules are clear?”
“Yes” he replied”no kicking, scratching, or hair pulling”
“Super” I said,” let’s do this.” We backed up about 30 yards, and then each of us charged. We met on the battlefield, and the fighting began. I saw the one they call Dan picking people up and eating them. I swung wildly with my lance and pumped some of Dan’s soldier’s full of led. Soon, everyone on the field was dead or injured. The only ones left were me and my foe. I pulled my Desert Eagle out of my pocket, and he pulled out a Glock. We both closed our eyes and started firing blindly. When it was done, neither of us had been hit. We both threw our arms up and put each other in a bear hug. He dragged me to the ground and I started slapping him.
“Wait,” I stopped slapping him,” why are we fighting again.”
“I don’t know” he said.
“Alright” I said, “hey, want to go get some lunch.”
“Sure” he said.
So we got up, hugged, and walked away with leprauchauns dancing around us majesticly

Avatar

Last weekend I went and saw the movie Avatar. It was about former Marine Jake Sully who had lost the use of his legs, went to a far off galaxy to a small moon called Pandora, which America had colonized. He takes the role of his brother’s avatar, which is a body that your mind enters, and the body is very similar to the Na’vi people on Pandora. The people were great warriors and were very strong, and had many connections to almost everything around them. The Na’vi’s home is on a huge deposit of unobtanium, a very rare mineral that sells for 2 million dollars an ounce on Earth.
This movie is very much like South Africa. The Na’vi people’s home land was colonized, much like the Zulu and the Xhosa, and once they found out that there was a fortune to be made (unobtanium in Avatars case, and gold and diamonds in South Africa’s case) they started to push the native people off their land.
I think that this movie, really says something about how much not so much America, but the whole world has pushed peaceful native people off of their land, just because they were short on money. I think Avatar was a great movie, not just because of the special effects and action, but because it should open the eyes of people, because just because that natives can look and act different, they are still people, and they should be treated so.

In the movie, Jake gives information about Hometree (the Na’vi’s home) to Colonel Miles Quaritch, a ruthless military leader who only cares about money, and has no regard for the native people. Jake did it because the Colonel promised him he’d get his legs back if he cooperated so he did. Finally, Jake wakes up and sees that this is wrong, but it’s too late. The Americans attacked home tree and tore it down. It killed almost all the Na’vi and Jake had the people fight back. It worked, and the Americans left, and Jake left his human body forever.

Semester Reflection

This semester, I definitely grew a lot as a writer, reader and I have even gotten better at analyzing things at a more critical level of thinking.


One thing I definitely improved on was my writing, as in establishing a connection between me and the reader, using ETHOS and PATHOS. One thing I did was in the
letter to the U.N, I said that if they didn’t do anything to stop the genocide, they would have had the deaths of thousands of people on their hands. I would never have been able to establish that kind of connection before this year. Also I have gotten better grades in my writing. At the beginning of the year, I got a C+ on a paper that I spent a very long time doing. Ever since then, I had also gotten C+’s, but I knew I could do better, and on the last piece I wrote, I got a B.


This semester, I also grew as a reader. I feel my comprehension has grown greatly, and an example would be the American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was easily of the most difficult pieces of writing I have ever read, and it took me quite a while to grasp it, but I eventually did.


Our debates this year were very interesting, and I feel I learned a lot from them. I especially learned that your own point of view could be wrong if you looked at it from another person’s perspective, especially in the Rwandan Genocide Debate. I saw that in the case of the Belgians, they thought France was at fault, but for the French, it was completely the opposite.


I also learned a lot about researching, and how credible your sources need to be. For example, I found out one thing about the genocide on BBC, but I found something completely different on a different, non credible website. I found out that it is better to use the more credible website.


Lastly, I learned how to analyze things on a different level, like The Man in the Well for example. At first glance, it seemed like a basic piece of writing, but if you stopped to look at it, and try looking at it from a different perspective, there was a lot more to it.


So like I said I learned a ton this semester, and I will carry that with me all the way through high school and throughout the rest of my life.

Im an Aborigine

If I had to choose a country to be a native from, I would be an Aborigine from Australia.
Although the Aborigine culture may have been wiped out, when it comes right down to it, the Aborigines had it the best out of all of them. I would choose this because you wouldn’t have had to been a slave, or you would not have been killed because your ruling country had put you in a random group of people or have been wiped out by small pox.
If you had lived in South Africa, or America, you would have been pushed off your land just for money. The Native Americans were pushed off for farmland and for more of the European people. In South Africa, you would have been pushed off for your gold and diamonds.
If you were in Rwanda, you would have either been treated very well, possibly having your best friends be your slaves only to have them turn on you and hack you to death with machetes, or you would have been treated like dirt for a long period of time, and then hacking people to death in the streets with a machete.
Like I said, the Aborigines did have some tough times, but id rather be one of them then a native from any of those other places

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has easily the best ending to a game. If you don’t know the game, it takes place in America in the future and it takes you through the role of Gary “Roach” Sanderson “Soap” MacTavish, and James Ramirez. As you play, you go through a series of missions, like blowing up a fuel station on the side of a snowy mountain, to trying to retake Washington D.C from the Russians.


My favorite mission is where you attack a boat from underwater, and have to destroy a bomb. It’s really fun, because it takes a lot of stealth, like pulling a guard under the water to keep him from alerting the other guards.


So the game is amazing, but the true best part, was the end. A corrupt General Sheppard has killed Gary “Roach” Sanderson, a precious member of the British S.A.S. So to avenge his death, you play as “Soap” Mactavish (the main character from the first game) led by Captain Price (your commander from the first game, who is presumed dead, but you rescue him in a previous mission) on a suicide mission to avenge Roach’s death by killing General Sheppard. Towards the end of the mission you get into a boat/helicopter chase after Sheppard. You shoot his chopper down, but you drive your boat off the edge of a water fall. When you get out of the water, you have to try and stab Sheppard, but he jumps and stabs you instead. You fall to the ground, and Sheppard explains why he did what he did. He reloads his pistol, points it at your head, and right as he is about to pull the trigger, Captain Price runs up and tackles him to the ground. You watch them fight for a while, and Sheppard is winning for the most part. He knocks out Price, and his going to finish him. Right as this happens, you pull the knife Sheppard stabbed you with out of your stomach, throw it at Sheppard, and kill him. Price comes too and carries you to the safety of a helicopter that just landed. Luckily it is your ally Nikolai, and he says he knows a safe place to take Soap.
This was the best ending to a game ever. It ended unexpectedly, and it left you wondering if there is going to be a new Modern Warfare game after this one.


Comment if you think this is the best ending to a game