Author: Dominic Cichocki

I like video games. Reviewing them, talking about them, reporting on them, etc. I also like books, movies, and music as well. As an aspiring writer, working with a site like this is very beneficial for me. Trust me, it's more fun than it sounds.

Error! Not Found by Dominic CichockiSep 11, 20122:33 pm

Premium Rush review: New York Has Never Looked Less Fun to Drive In

Joseph Gordon-Levitt will return later this month in the sci-fi film, Looper

Premium Rush is the latest movie to star Joseph Gordon-Levitt in what is perhaps the peak of his career. Having been in about four movies a year since 2008, this peak is incredibly long lasting, and has the potential to mark him as one of the most iconic actors of the decade. Of the four he’ll be in this year, this is the one that seems to stick the most closely to his roots. It’s the cheapest, uses a quirky brand of humor, and has the largest potential to surprise people due to its unique concept.

Uncategorized by Dominic CichockiSep 6, 20127:33 pm

The Campaign review: As Ludicrous as the Current State of Affairs

Pugs, Not Huggs.

I’d love more than anything else to put The Campaign with Knocked Up, The Forty Year-Old Virgin, and other absurd comedies that seek to entertain more than tell a meaningful story. They have heightened perceptions of reality and feature unrealistic situations just for the hell of it – and in many ways this is what The Campaign relies on to get through it’s story. However, because it’s about American politics, it necessarily causes people to think and make comparisons to how elections play out in real life.

Uncategorized by Dominic CichockiAug 11, 20121:54 pm

Total Recall Review: O, Michael Bay, Where Art Thou?

The day to day imagination isn’t so fanciful.

And so we’ve come to another movie remake; one based on a movie that isn’t even twenty-five years old, and also one based on a story by noted sci-fi author Phillip K. Dick (We’ll Remember It For You Wholesale, if you’re curious). So, what one would hopefully expect to see, is a successful combination of the original Total Recall, and the sort of philosophic bent that recent movies based on stories by Dick and other noted sci-fi authors have taken, in addition to the regular summer blockbuster expectations.

Error! Not Found by Dominic CichockiJun 15, 20125:34 pm

Men in Black 3 review: The OTHER Fight With Apollo

Hey, Hey (What Can You Do?)

Ten years or more down the road, when people look back on the Men in Black series with the same nostalgic eye now aimed at the Ghostbusters franchise, I believe that critics will talk very fondly of the first one. After all, it’s kept Will Smith fresh and current to a generation of kids who might only otherwise see him in reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, or in a more serious sci-fi movie like I, Robot. The second Men in Black movie, I feel, will noted for being, as usual, not as good as its predecessor, but not entirely bad. It expands of the fiction and is serviceable in its own right.

But, what about this new sequel?

Error! Not Found by Dominic CichockiJun 15, 20125:32 pm

Chernobyl Diaries review: All Aboard the Idiot Train

Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Radiation

You take your beautiful girlfriend and another friend of yours on a tour of Europe. Mid-trip, you stop in Kiev, Ukraine to visit your brother Paul. You don’t intend to stay long; just enough time to meet up, have a good time, and be on your way to Moscow, where you plan on proposing to your girlfriend. Everything’s set. The ring’s in your coat pocket, and when you show it to Paul he’s genuinely excited for you. The time you spent in Europe could not have been better, and everything seems to be going right for once… But then Paul, being the risk-taking older brother he is, decides to screw everything up the very morning you’re supposed to leave as a way of saying goodbye.

Error! Not Found by Dominic CichockiFeb 13, 20124:58 pm

“The Woman in Black” Film Review

Because, you know, Daniel Radcliffe is the only person in this movie

In his latest film, The Woman in Black, Daniel Radcliffe stars as Arthur Kipps, a widowed father who is hired to settle the estate of a woman who lived on a marsh outside a remote English town. When he arrives there, he finds none of the villagers to be that welcoming. They believe that the woman – and the house – is cursed. People have apparently seen her ghost around, and every time that happens, horrible incidents strike the children of the town. Arthur is repeatedly ostracized for visiting and, as a result, despite warnings not to, starts to spend more and more of his time at the house.

Games by Dominic CichockiDec 12, 20119:33 pm

Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS) review

GOING OUT WITH A WHIMPER INSTEAD OF A HOWL

In the twilight of the DS’ lifespan, you’d think we would only be seeing the best of the best come out. You know, top notch, quality stuff that deserves to be localized and published. As gamers, we should expect nothing less; these games are coming from developers who are trying to convince us to keep on using last generation technology, instead of moving on to brighter and newer things, which is what we collectively tend to do.

Games by Dominic CichockiOct 18, 20114:18 pm

Child of Eden (PS3) review

Sensory and Synaesthesia

More and more do I feel like there are some gamers that can’t appreciate what a game is, just for what it is. Now, games have to meet a set of arbitrary requirements, or they’re automatically crap. They have to have a certain graphical quality, a specific control scheme, a precise balance between story and gameplay, and the right method of distribution to be considered good. If a game fails to meet any or all of this criteria, it’s derided as being ugly, too obtuse, boring, and/or overpriced. It’s faulted for its surface qualities and, despite how much fun a game may be or what experiences it may present while it’s being played, it often can’t get out of the “oh it has too many cutscenes” stigma or the incessant “why can’t it play like Call of Duty?” questioning.

Games by Dominic CichockiAug 29, 20114:24 pm

Retrospective Review: Metroid Fusion (GBA) (Metroid’s 25th Anniversary!)

TRANSGRESSIONS AND REGRESSIONS

In celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the Metroid series this month, I decided now would be a great time to go back and revisit what is still chronologically the latest game in the series. For those that don’t know, Metroid Fusion is Metroid IV; originally following after Super Metroid, and now technically taking place after the events of Metroid: Other M, which explains several events referenced in Fusion that were never touched on in the original trilogy. Most importantly, it introduces Samus’ deeper relationship with the Galaxy Federation and, in particular, with her former CO, Adam Malkovich.

Game Review by Dominic CichockiAug 17, 20114:37 pm

Retrospective Review: Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (PS1)

THE CLASSIC BAIT AND SWITCH Rising Zan is a game where all the fun to be had in it is found in the first level. It starts off with a long introduction, making it look […]