CK's Monthly Highlights: Raid My Tombs

 

Lara Croft is one of a dying breed of video game icons from the mid 90s. She was once seen as a pin-up for PlayStation and helped convince thousands (if not millions) of gamers that they needed to ditch their 16-bit consoles in favour of a shinier, more powerful 32-bit monster. Needless to say, the rest is history, with Tomb Raider now standing as one of the most popular video game series ever created. After the critically mauled Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, developer Crystal Dynamics took the reigns and has returned Lara to her glory days. With Underworld being the most ambitious title in the series to date, is it three for three for Lara's saviours?

 

Underworld centres on Lara's quest for Thor's hammer, the Norse god's hugely powerful weapon. After discovering proof of the Norse underworld at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea, Lara starts an adventure that takes her all over the world and into her own family history. It's a truly epic journey, with the game offering the kind of adventuring Tomb Raider made its name from and some solid combat thrown in for good measure.

 

 

That's quite the view.

 

Tomb Raider: Underworld is a visually stunning, epic adventure that continues Crystal Dynamics' excellent run. It's the best completely original Tomb Raider (Anniversary was, of course, a remake) I've played in years, and is only let down by the odd control quirk and camera issue. If you're looking for a game heavy on exploration instead of gun-play and don't mind looking at a finely toned arse for 12 or more hours, Underworld comes highly recommended.

 

 

 

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story doesn't put on airs about itself. Up until now, the series has been a collection of chuckle-filled titles, with light action and RPG elements designed to make the game accessible to just about everyone -- and this latest game is no different. It's plain and direct in what it wants to be, but it's set apart from its predecessors in a deepening of the core aspects of the series.

 

AlphaDream's writing and humor in these games have always felt almost timeless and the humor here, while definitely G-rated, is something that should work with gamers of all ages. And for those of you looking forward to the return of staple characters, know that Fawful is as endearing as he's always been (well, as endearing as a bad guy can be, anyway) and clumsy Luigi still gets no respect.

 

 

Expect to be overloaded with charming visuals.

 

As hilarious as the game's story and characters are, though, they don't have to carry the experience alone. The combat, puzzles and witty dialog all come together to make a charming game that is AlphaDream at its consistent best. The series is still fun after all these years, and the new addition of Bowser really goes a long way towards freshening up the formula. Bowser's Inside Story is easily recommended to those of you who've played the previous games and is the best in the series so far.

 

 

 

I have to admit, I really didn't see this one coming. Sure, I knew BioWare was making a new fantasy RPG, but as someone whose experience with that genre goes back to the early days of personal computers, I didn't really think a tale of dragons, demons, magic and mighty armies could still manage to grab me the way Oblivion did. Not even two hours into Dragon Age, I realized my life was now its to do with what it pleased. I was hooked. From its earliest moments, BioWare managed to have me caring about my character, the NPCs, the world and what was going to happen next.

 

 

Like me, you might not have Dragon Age: Origins on your list of definite must-buys and potential game of the year candidates, but I'm here to tell you that you should. It's a glowing example of the RPG genre done very right -- and an experience you'll still be finding surprising, memorable moments in for months to come.

 

 

 

Genre: Action/Comedy

 

The horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

 

 

 

Genre: Horror/Thriller

 

After finding out a guy cheated on their sister, sorority house Theta Pi play a simple prank on him. They trick him into thinking that he has killed his girlfriend, then take him into the middle of nowhere to 'dismember" the body, only then revealing it was a prank. However, the prank goes horribly wrong and all involved swear never to speak of it again. A year later at graduation though, they are all reminded of the past..

 

 

 

With stolen top-secret technology, terrorists have created a next-generation Universal Soldier - an elite fighter genetically altered into a programmable killing machine. With this "UniSol" (Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski) leading the way, they seize the crippled Chernobyl nuclear reactor, threatening to unleash a lethal radioactive cloud. The only one who can stop them is Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a UniSol who's been decommissioned for years.

 

Reactivated and retrained, Deveraux must make a full-out assault on the heavily armed fortress. But inside, he'll discover not one but two of these virtually indestructible warriors. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren), Deveraux's vicious UniSol enemy from the original Universal Soldier, has been secretly reanimated and upgraded. Now, these elite fighters are locked, loaded and programmed to kill; and the fate of millions hinges on this high-action showdown.

 

 

Lamb Cutlet

 

 

The use of the cutlet is quite widespread in Italian cuisine in many different variations. The most famous variant is the Milanese cutlet (cotoletta alla milanese), a veal cutlet covered in bread crumbs and fried in butter. It should not be mistaken for the Wienerschnitzel (which should be referred as a scaloppina alla viennese, or as fettina impanata in Italian), because it's a different cut of meat; the Milanese cutlet cut includethe bone, whereas the Wienerschnitzel doesn't. It is disputed whether the cotoletta alla milanese originated the Wienerschnitzel, or vice-versa.

 

 

Lasagne alla Bolognese uses only Parmigiano Reggiano, Bolognese sauce and nutmeg flavored bechamel sauce (besciamella). c!assic Bologna lasagne should be made with Lasagne verdi (green lasagne) which is egg pasta with added spinach, although in other towns of Emilia-Romagna, the lasagne need not be green. As with the term 'lasagne', the verdi variety can refer to the dish or the pasta. A vegetarian version of the traditional Bologna lasagne or "Lasagne alla bolognese" is sometimes found in adjacent in Tuscany– not traditionally a pasta region– and other regions. It substitutes a simple tomato and basil sauce for the Bolognese sauce, arranged with layers of noodles, nutmeg flavored béchamel sauce and Parmigiano - Reggiano cheese.

 

 

A banana split is an ice-cream-based dessert. In its c!assic form it is served in a long dish called a "boat". A banana is cut in two lengthwise (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Variations abound, but the c!assic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice-cream served in a row between the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned over the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.

That's it for now, thanks for reading. :P