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ENTERTAINMENTpage 23 Technique • Friday, January 24, 2003 • 23 Darkness fails Taking to the skies The newest horror movie fails to Tech’s newly organized skydiving team ENTERTAINMENT provide thrills with a twisted tooth placed third in the collegiate Nationals fairy tale. Page 24 this year. Page 40 Technique • Friday, January 24, 2003 Technology improves features of games on GameCube Resident Evil Zero allows for more flexibility with two characters By Aman Solomon Rebecca Chamber, who will be fa- Contributing Writer miliar to fans of the first game, and ex-Navy soldier Billy Coen. Billy’s Game: Resident Evil Zero character is a vast departure for the Company: Capcom series. An escaped prisoner accused System: Nintendo GameCube of the murder of 23 fellow soldiers, Rating: Mature the character plays with a dangling Score: 8.5 out of 10 handcuff and makes for a more in- teresting lead than previous titles. For many gamers, a defining Each of the two characters has moment for the video game genre different capabilities, and often in was the introduction of the original the game you will be required to use Resident Evil on the Playstation. them both to achieve your goals. Released in 1996, not only was the This is one of the evolutionary chang- game enjoyable, es that separate but it also had the this from the capability to other games in scare the crap out Each of the two the series. of you. Many a characters has You gamer screamed have the ability out loud while different capabilities, to switch be- battling through and often in the game tween the two the zombie-filled main characters mansion that was you will be required throughout the the setting of the to use them both to game. Though original game. this could have In the six achieve your goals. been a gimmick, years since the the game creates release of that devious puzzles classic, Capcom that make hav- has been putting out a steady stream ing the two characters not only nec- of titles in the series that culminates essary but also challenging. © 2002 Capcom Co. with the latest iteration: Resident The game also benefits from the S.T.A.R.S. agent Rebecca Chamber and ex-Navy solider Billy Coen are the main characters in Resident Evil Zero. Acting as a prequel to the fact that it is incredibly varied in Evil Zero, a prequel to the other games in the series. Players can switch between characters while playing. entire series, it is exclusive to the terms of setting. The plot moves GameCube console. The fact that it quickly from the train to atmospheric amazing graphics. The game uses a GameCube hardware allowed the The backgrounds are fully animat- is being released only on this system laboratories and treatment facilities. mix of rendered models made up of developers to stretch their imagina- ed as well. For example, on the mov- shows that Nintendo is trying to The story progresses deftly along, millions of polygons and pre-ren- tions to the limit. ing train, objects shift and rattle appeal to an older audience. never leaving one in a single loca- dered, full-motion backgrounds that The characters show a stagger- and rain drips and sprays through The game begins on a train in- tion long enough to become bored. stream off the disc. This same con- ing level of detail down to the stub- open windows. One shining exam- fested with evil zombies. The main One overarching aspect of the cept has been used since the original ble on Billy’s face and individual characters are S.T.A.R.S. agent game that cannot be ignored is the game, but the power of the strands of hair in Rebecca’s head. See Evil, page 25 Metroid Prime’s graphics provide a new perspective on an old game By Joshua Cuneo loving species as dark evildoers. The Unfortunately, I didn’t get far enough Staff Writer games tell the continuing saga of in the game to find out. Samus Aran, a lone space fighter Nevertheless, a number of key Game: Metroid Prime with a bone to pick with the evil elements remained consistent Company: Capcom Space Pirates. They are interstellar throughout the first three games, System: Nintendo GameCube nomads who are technologically ad- and the programmers at Nintendo Rating: Mature vanced in both weaponry and space have wisely kept them in this new Score: 9 out of 10 travel and have little regard for alien incarnation, rendering them in a life, especially where it interferes in spectacular three-dimensional en- First, a disclaimer: this is being their quest for even greater power. vironment . written by someone who’s only Samus was orphaned as a young Samus’ most famous ability is worked his way through 15 percent girl when the Pirates ransacked her her ball morph, enabling her to trans- or so of the entire game. Given the home planet, K-2L, many years ago. form into a perfect sphere roughly length and complexity of Ninten- Now, heavily trained and armored one meter in diameter that allows do GameCube’s Metroid Prime, that by the super-intelligent, human- her to navigate tight spaces. Acces- adds up to a good eight hours or so friendly Chozo (huge bird-like crea- sories to this include the Ball Jump of game time, but it still may not be tures with the uncanny ability to and the Spider Ball, which allow sufficient to give a fully accurate travel through space at will), she’s her to jump and stick to walls in ball account of the game. set off after the Pirates to extermi- morph, respectively. She also has Nevertheless, I may have a dis- nate the entire civilization. In the her usual arsenal of energy beam, tinct advantage in that I’ve been a process, she becomes entangled with charge beam, and missiles, plus spe- die-hard fan of the Metroid games the Pirates’ occupation of SR388, a cial accessories such as the ice beam, since the eight-bit Metroid II: Re- planet home to the bloodthirsty which will freeze certain enemies turn of Samus for Game Boy was Metroids, a species whom the Pi- for a short time. considered state-of-the-art technol- rates have plundered for their mas- But what should make this game ogy. I know the story, the protago- sive military and energy resource particularly exciting and unique to nist, and the nemeses well enough potential. Metroid fans is seeing these features that I have a little insight into the In this latest incarnation, Samus rendered in a three-dimensional latest incarnation. In fact, the story has tracked a group of Space Pirates environment for the first time. The is quite interesting, especially since to Tallon IV, a former colony of the previous incarnations had been side- it sounds like something from a low- Chozo that now houses a crashed scrolling in traditional Super Mario budget 1950’s science fiction film. meteor releasing a cancerous element Bros. fashion, so seeing Samus and The Metroid games are set in the called Phazon, which the Space Pi- her universe operate with complete © 2002 Capcom Co. distant future after humanity has rates are mining for its military and freedom of movement is a real treat. Samus Aran is the protagonist in the game Metroid Prime, the most recent been assimilated into a wider galac- energy resource potential. So where installment in the series. This time Samus battles Space Pirates on Tallon IV. tic culture filled with as many peace- do the Metroids fit in this time? See Metroid, page 27 24 • Friday, January 24, 2003 • Technique ENTERTAINMENT Darkness Falls lacks thrills and chills Mann’s voice makes the album children. The fairy tale states that if you peek when she comes to get By Sara Cames It is indeed the lyrics that make your last baby tooth, she will kill Opinions Editor Lost in Space worth buying. “This you. The trick is that she can only Is How It Goes” explores the attack in the dark. Artist: Aimee Mann psychological effects of addiction Klye Walsh (Chaney Kley) saw Title: Lost in Space in terms of the ending of a rela- the Tooth Fairy as a boy, and now Label: SuperEgo tionship. With the lines, “So I’ll lives armed with at least twenty flash- try to hold on, while you try to lights at all times. He returns home Aimee Mann’s new CD Lost let go,” Mann describes the pull to help his middle school sweet- in Space explores a new side of of addiction on one woman’s life. heart Caitlin (Emma Caulfield) with her art that unfortunately is not She also describes the life of a her brother, who is suffering from as compelling as most of her ear- perpetually passed over person the same affliction as Klye. lier works. The music on the CD in her song “Guys Like Me” by After his return, the story be- is where the songs fall especially singing, “Guys like me, we look came rather predictable. The film flat. Mann is an excellent guitar good at the gate, but you’ll agree, did not offer any special plot twists player, but her talent in this area with the odds on the slate, and to keep the audience interested. Be- does not come through as clearly put all your money on a bona sides, the plot of a demon Tooth as it did on her other CDs, most fide heavyweight.” Fairy struck me as slightly odd to notably Bachelor No.

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