The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 18, 2005, Page 6, Image 6
Video games will keep
players' glued to screen
By BILLY O’KEEFE
KRT CAMPUS
“ODDWORLD: STRANGER'S
WRATH”
For: Xbox
From: EA Games/Oddworld
Inhabitants
The “Oddworld” series wasn’t
exactly in need of a drastic change of
scenery. Even after several episodes
spanning nearly a decade, it remained
sort of a genre unto itself —r a weird
little mix of platforming and strategy
elements featuring some of the most
cleverly designed characters in
gamedom.
But alas, we got one anyway. And
while “Stranger’s Wrath” loses a few
identity points here and there, it’s hard
to argue with such a slick result.
Hybrid first- and third-person games
are usually watered-down versions of
two genres instead of one, but that’s
not the case here. And most of the
good things about “Oddworld” games
— brilliant art direction, stunning
CGI sequences, a great story with
terrifically original characters — are
back in full force. A spaghetti western
set in the Oddworld universe? How
can we say no, especially with
Oddworld Inhabitants delivering on all
cylinders?
“Wrath” puts you in the boots of
Stranger, a bounty hunter with the
style sense of a Clint Eastwood and the
gravelly voice of Vin Diesel. Your goal,
as is the goal of any bounty hunter, is
to bring in the bad guys, save the
innocents and collect* a cash reward.
Bringing them in alive is naturally
better than bringing them in dead,
and this is where things get
interesting.
The ability to flip perspectives on
the fly implies that “Wrath” is rather
open-ended in its play structure, and
those assumptions are correct. But it’s
Stranger’s crossbow — available in
first-person mode — that really mixes
things up in unique ways. The
crossbow holds two different types of
ammo at once, and you’re free to mix
and match different types of ammo to
match your attack strategy. There’s
something for every style, whether you
prefer to lure your prey into a trap or
go in with ... critters blazing?
Yes, critters blazing: The ammo in
“Wrath” is literally alive, and you
have to capture it to acquire it. (Insert
“live ammo” joke here.) It even talks
to you. If you’ve ever wanted to play
a first-person shooter in which your
ammunition asks you how you re
doing before you fire it at some
crony, then thank Oddworld
Inhabitants for granting your wish in
spectacular fashion. It’s one of many
things done perfectly right in
“Wrath.” Hopefully the series’
puzzler side isn’t dead, since both
brands of “Oddworld” games are very
sequel-worthy, but that’s a worry for
another time. Enjoy.
“WARIOWARE TOUCHED!”
For: Nintendo DS
From: Nintendo
For those keeping track,
“WarioWare Touched!” is the third
“WarioWare” game to drop in as many
years, with the fourth one not very for
behind. So the concept — more than
100 bizarre microgames, lasting five
seconds or less each, mashed together
in outrageous fashion — isn’t quite the
mind-bending innovation it was two
years ago.
But guess what? Doesn’t matter.
“Touched!” is as sickeningly addictive
as previous “WW” games, and the
reliance on the DS’ touch screen and
microphone — the buttons are
almost never used — is change
enough. This is gaming in its purest,
most primal form, and it’s a good
reminder why we play games in the
first place.
For those unfamiliar,
“WarioWare” is essentially a
' hodgepodge of single-function games
— in this case, about 180 — cobbled
together to form a larger game. The
joy lies in the unpredictability of it all:
You don’t know what game is going
to pop up next, and you have only a
few seconds to figure out its secret and
process and execute said secret before
the game scuttles away in favor of
another.
Maybe you’ll have to chop flying
fruit, or perhaps you’ll have to guide a
slalom skier to the finish line by
drawing his path. Or properly tune a
radio station, or spell a given word by
plucking flying letters out of the sky.
You just don’t know. The games are
extremely varied, and share only a
bizarre sense of humor and style in
common.
Touched!” uses the DS’ unique
features to good effect — arguably
better than any other game up to this
point. Most of the games employ the
stylus, while a handful use the
microphone in surprisingly different
ways (you will inflate a blow-up doll
and make it do a sit-up before it’s all
over). Outside of a two-player table
tennis game (one of many, many,
many unlockable treats to be
uncovered, along with a virtual pet
parrot and a grandma simulator),
buttons are almost never employed.
Throw in a bizarre “story,” secrets
galore and endless amounts of
replayability (two-second games
don’t get old very fast, believe it or
not), and you have pure portable
gaming bliss. “WarioWare” can’t
possibly drop as many jaws the third
time around as it did two years ago,
but “Touched!” is every bit as fun and
unpredictable as any title in the
series. At this point, it’s the game to
get if you have a DS.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
David Krumholtz plays the geeky brother of a Los Angeles FBI agent in CBS' new action series, “Numb3rs.”
■ NUMB3RS
Continued from page 5
sibling filmmakers Tony and Ridley
Scott.
“I knew we were on to something
unique — the marriage of math and
action,” Morrow said. “And with Ridley
and Tony on board, I knew it would
look interesting.”
Audiences seem to share his
enthusiasm. “Numb3rs” grabbed more
than 25 million viewers when it
premiered after the Patriots-Steelers
playoff game Jan. 23. In its regular time
slot, it’s been one of Friday night’s most
watched shows, with 11.5 million
viewers tuning in Feb. 4, CBS says.
The idea of solving crimes with
calculus would seem to be a hard sell,
but CBS jumped on the math wagon
right from the start.
“The network bought it halfway
through our pitch,” Heuton said. “I
think 'CSI’ paved the way, got them
thinking about the possibilities of the
technical, science side.”
But is this a premise they can carry
off week after week?
“The pitch was designed to answer
that,” Heuton said. “We talked about
the universality of math, how it applies
across all sciences. I told them I have 26
episode ideas and the makings for 53
more.”
Falacci said, “We also explained that
it’s not going to be an 'equation of the
week.’ At the core, you’re looking at a
logician. It’s like a modern-day Sherlock
Holmes with a slide rule.”
“Numb3rs” isn’t just Charlie
feverishly notching formulas on a
chalkboard. The most poignant scenes
revolve around the dynamic between the
brothers and their father, played by Judd
Hirsch (“Taxi”).
“I like to shake it up,” Morrow said.
“Change it up from take to take. And
Judd is right there, subtly sending it
back with topspin. And Krumholtz is a
younger version of that. It’s a great little
dance we get to do in those scenes.”
On and off camera, Morrow and
Krumholtz have developed a believable
fraternal vibe, right down to the
roughhousing.
“We were doing a scene by a koi
pond one day,” Heuton said, “and
David slipped and fell in. Rob
immediately turned to the camera,
threw up his hands and said, T didn’t
touch him.’”
“He pushed me in,” Krumholtz said.
“He says he didn’t, but it’s on film.”
The influence of the Scotts can be
seen in the show’s adrenalized action
scenes. (Tony directed “Enemy of the
State,” “The Last Boy Scout” and other
thrillers. Ridley is famous for “Black
Hawk Down” and “Gladiator.”)
To his surprise, Morrow finds
himself enthralled with these gun
battles. “I’m not a gun guy, but I’m
really into this,” he said. “We get some
cool weapons. I love the action scenes. I
distinctly remember playing cops and
robbers when I was 11, and it’s that kind
of fun.”
Morrow was only a little past the age
of making gun noises in the backyard
when he setded on his life course. After
his parents divorced when he was 9, the
native of New Rochelle, N.Y., moved to
southern Florida with his father,
Murray, an industrial-lighting
manufacturer.
Coming out of a movie theater after
seeing John Travolta in “Grease,”
Morrow recalled, “I said to the guy I was
with, 'You know, I’m going to be an
actor,’ as if I had been planning it all my
life. I’d never even thought about it
before. He said, 'I didn’t know that.’ I
was like, 'Oh, yeah.’ Ever since then I’ve
been myopic.”
After struggling in the Manhattan
theater world for the better part of a
decade, Morrow landed a supporting1
role on the brief-lived series “Tattingers”
with Stephen Collins and Blythe
Danner.
Then he hit it big in the apocryphal
Cicely, Ala., as Dr. Joel Fleischman in
“Northern Exposure.” The endearing,
Saroyanesque comedy, which began as a
summer replacement series in 1990, ran
for five years on CBS. Morrow left after
four to pursue other projects, including
the 1994 film “Quiz Show.”
The actor is happy to be back on a
network with a show that’s getting
attention.
“My last series was on Showtime,” he
said. “I would run into people and
they’d say, 'What are you doing?’ and
I’d say, 'I’m doing a series, 'Street
Time.” And they’d say, 'Really? Haven’t
heard of it. When’s it start?’ And I’d say,
'It’s on the air. It’s been on for a year.’”
Because CBS hasn’t had success in
this Friday time period since “Nash
Bridges,” “Numb3rs” is likely to go for a
second season even if its ratings dip. “I
don’t think the bar is that high in terms
of numbers, no pun intended,” the actor
says.
And this is a man who is intentional
about his puns. It’s become a family
tradition. His wife of seven years is
named Debbon. Her maiden name is
Ayer. They’ve named their 4-year-old
daughter Tu. (Get it? Debbon Ayer. Tu
Morrow.)
“I gave her a beautiful middle name,
Simone,” he said. “If she hates Tu, she
can always be Simone.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu
■ WORLD
Continued from page 5
First-year pharmacy student
Yasmine Shalabi will perform in the
“miscellaneous” fashion show
encapsulating American, Scottish,
Palestinian, Saudi, Filipino and
Japanese style. Shalabi will be wearing
a thob, a traditional dress marked by
its detailed needlework. She said the
event isn’t something that’s thrown
together a week beforehand.
“It’s a lot of work,” she said of the
student-run project.
There are about 1,000 international
students representing more than 100
countries at USC, and World Night is
just “a sample of what we’ve got,”
faculty adviser Yvonne Viscioni said.
She said students don’t even need to
leave the city to find a world of
diversity.
“It’s important for the USC
community and Columbia as a whole
to appreciate the diversity that’s right
here.”
A cappella group Higher Harmony
will also perform.
Second-year international business
student Raghav Mehra, ISA secretary,
said this is the biggest international
event on campus all year.
“We tty to get as many students as
possible,” he said. “Every year we try to
make it bigger and bigger."
World Night is sponsored by
Student Government and
International Programs for Students.
ISA adviser Christina Kerns, a
graduate student in higher education,
said USC students should take
advantage of the chance to broaden
their horizons.
“I think that far too often we don’t
take the opportunity to expose
ourselves to new experiences and
culture, and this is a great opportunity
to do so,” she said.
Experiencing different cultures is
the best way to learn about them,
Shalabi said. “Not everybody wants to
keep reading from a book. You want to
see and hear and taste.”
Comments on this story? E-mail
. gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
AMECOCK
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For the weekend of
February 18
_Dutch Square Mall /
Movies Times
Pooh’s Huffalump Movie 1:15 3:00 7:30 9:15
Are We There Yet? 1:40 4:20 7:05 9:20
Assault on Precinct 13 1:50 7:10
Boogeyman 2;0Q 4.-50 7:00 9:0
Coach Carter 1:00 3:50 6:50 9:40
Hide and Seek 1:30 4:20 7:10 9:40
In Good Company 4:30 10:00
Hitch 4:00 7:20 9:30 10:00
Meet the Fockers 1230 4:10 7:25 9:55
Million Dollar Baby 1:00 4:00 7:00 9:50
Phantom of the Opera 1:20 4.-15 7:40
Racing Stripes 1:10 4:10
Sideways 1:40 4:30 7:20 10:00
The Aviator 7:50
The Wedding Date 1:50 4:40 7:30 9:45
Columb iana Grande Cinema /
Movies Times
Being Julia 2:00 4:40 7:20 10:15
Boogeyman 2:45 4:55 7:15 9:25 '
Coach Carter 12:50 4:05 6:55 10:00
Constantine 7:00 7:40 9:50 10:30
Finding Neverland 1:45 4:20 6:55 9:30
Hide and Seek 3:05 5:25 7:50 10:10
Hotel Rwanda 1:55 4:35 7:35 10:20
National Treasure 12:55 3:55 6:50 9:35
Phantom of the Opera 1:15 4:30 8:00
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie 1:20 3:15 7:10 9:00
Ray 12:30 3:45 7:45
Sideways 1:10 4:10 7:05 10:05
The Wedding Date 2:50 5:05 7:40 9:55
_Carmike Wvnnsonr 10 ___
/ Movies Times
Assault on Precinct 13 hoo 4=00 7m
Boogeyman -Jgfo 8:00 9:50 10:10
Coach Carter 4 i;oo 4:00 7:10 10:00
Finding Neverland 1:10 4:15 7:15 10:00
Hide and Seek 1:45 4-15 7:10 9:30
National Treasure 1:05 4.-05 7:05 10:00
Phantom of the Opera 1:15 4.15 7:15 10:10
Sideways 1:10 4:10 7:20 10:10
The Wedding Date 1:00 3:10 5:20 9:40
Carmike 14___
Movies Times
Are We There Yet? 1:30 4.15 7:15 9:40
Assault on Precinct 13 1:00 4:00 7:00 9:45
Elektra 1:45 4:45 7:45 10:00
Fat Albert 1:10 4:35 7:35 9:55
Hitch 5:00 7:00 8:00 9:40
In Good Company 1:15 4:10 7:20 9:55
The Incredibles 1:20 4:15 7:00 9:35
Lemony Snickets 1:15 4:15 7:15 9:50
Meet the Fockers 1:00 4:30 7:20 10:00
Million Dollar Baby 1:00 4:00 7:00 9:55
Ocean’s Twelve 1:10 4:10 7:10 9:50
Racing Stripes 1:10 4:20 ?:2o 9:40
The Aviator 1:00 5:00 9:00
"■■■ ' “ ““““— ---—