*crosses fingers*
Jan. 9th, 2006 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theotherbaldwinSo, I just submitted an application and review for consideration of a freelance reviewer postion at 1UP.com.
Letter and review after the cut!
Dear Andrew,
Attached is a sample review for your consideration of a freelance review position at 1UP.com.
I have extensive experience in both writing and copy-editing artcles for publishing when I worked as Editor-In-Chief for Devine Media
Enterprises. That position required extensive work with the production team in a high-pressure, deadline driven environment to deliver
well-written copy in a timely manner.
My experience also includes working for a marketing and automotive racing company as a marketing assistant. This position involved
extensive training in written communication, and presentation. It required an organized, diligent person able to multitask regularly while maintaining a high level of professionalism at all times -- whether I was working with coworkers, subordinates or superiors or whether I was working with clients and the general public.
I feel that my skills would be an asset to your company.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to have the opportunity to discuss the opening with you soon. You may contact me
via this email address or at (my number).
Sincerely,
Shawn Struck
and the review...
When I first got a chance to play the demo of War of the Monsters a few months ago with a few friends, we were quite surprised; only two characters and one stage were available, and yet we happily spent two and a half hours beating the snot out of one another (and the surrounding environment). Does the full version live up to my initial expectations? In a word: RRRRAAAARRR (that's giant lizard for "yes")!
The game is positively dripping with B-movie atmosphere: the opening movie seems straight out of a 1950s monster movie trailer, the animated menu has a drive-in theater motif, and each respective stage has a movie-style poster on its loading screen. All the various giant monster archetypes are here: giant lizards, 30-story tall apes, 3 types of giant robots, and big, hulking bricks, to name a few.
The graphics are stunningly detailed, from the expansive 3-D landscapes you will battle across, to the tiniest detail on the monsters. I could find nary a trace of the dread jagged edges that plague some PS2 titles. Buildings crumble to tiny bits of rubble and send up satisfying dust clouds. Masses of people run for their lives as you and your opponent slug it out.
The environments are very interactive; nearly anything can be turned into a weapon: cars, tanks, planes, antennae, steel girders, chunks of the buildings you've destroyed... Certain stages even have special stage-wide triggers that set off tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Of course, all this would be meaningless if the play control was clunky or counter-intuitive. Thankfully, this isn't the case. There's one button for a light (but fast) attack, one button for a stronger (but slower move) move, one to block, and one for a special move. If you ever need to re-center the camera in the melee, a quick tap of a shoulder button does the trick. The controls are simple enough that a beginner can pick up a controller and play within minutes, there is plenty of strategy for those who scratch the surface: you can chain together combos, pick up your opponent and launch 'em into a building, or use one of two types of special attacks (short range or long range). Two player combat is handled very well, switching to split-screen mode if you're far apart, but seamlessly cutting back to full-screen mode when you're close enough.
For all the detail, the gleefully destructive fun of the game itself, and the epic-level brawling of a two-player battle, the one-player adventure mode leaves something to be desired. After a dozen battles or so, combat against the computer seems to get repetitive, even with the occasional boss battle to break things up. The only real motivation to play through the game more than once or twice solo is that each victory awards you "battle tokens" that you can spend unlocking everything from hidden boss characters to alternate costumes and more stages for the real meat of the game: two player battles.
There are also three gimmicky two-player mini-games, and a solo "survival" mode, but they do feel rather tacked on and just weren’t as fun as playing a straight-up brawl with a friend. Wonderful graphics, highly interactive stages, loads of property damage, intuitive controls, lots of un-lockable items, and an intense two-player experience makes this a MUST own for any fan of B-movie monster flicks and at least one friend. If you have no friends, the slightly anemic one player modes are still enjoyable, but nowhere near as fun.
MY SCORE: 8.5
So, here's hoping that goes well.
I also want to apply for the feature freelancer position Jeremy recently posted about... though I now realize with the possible exception of my "Father and Son Bonding Over Video Games" essay, I've never really written anything feature-length on video games. Sure, I've had ideas, and I've done a few video game editorials, but... most of my article writing and features have been on non-video game subjects (sales, advertorial copy for some of the Devine Media properties, editiorials), so it lookslike that puts me out of the running. That's a little disappointing, because I know I am capable of producing good feature article content, and that I could do well... but I have nothing video-game specific to really send. Argh.
Letter and review after the cut!
Dear Andrew,
Attached is a sample review for your consideration of a freelance review position at 1UP.com.
I have extensive experience in both writing and copy-editing artcles for publishing when I worked as Editor-In-Chief for Devine Media
Enterprises. That position required extensive work with the production team in a high-pressure, deadline driven environment to deliver
well-written copy in a timely manner.
My experience also includes working for a marketing and automotive racing company as a marketing assistant. This position involved
extensive training in written communication, and presentation. It required an organized, diligent person able to multitask regularly while maintaining a high level of professionalism at all times -- whether I was working with coworkers, subordinates or superiors or whether I was working with clients and the general public.
I feel that my skills would be an asset to your company.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope to have the opportunity to discuss the opening with you soon. You may contact me
via this email address or at (my number).
Sincerely,
Shawn Struck
and the review...
When I first got a chance to play the demo of War of the Monsters a few months ago with a few friends, we were quite surprised; only two characters and one stage were available, and yet we happily spent two and a half hours beating the snot out of one another (and the surrounding environment). Does the full version live up to my initial expectations? In a word: RRRRAAAARRR (that's giant lizard for "yes")!
The game is positively dripping with B-movie atmosphere: the opening movie seems straight out of a 1950s monster movie trailer, the animated menu has a drive-in theater motif, and each respective stage has a movie-style poster on its loading screen. All the various giant monster archetypes are here: giant lizards, 30-story tall apes, 3 types of giant robots, and big, hulking bricks, to name a few.
The graphics are stunningly detailed, from the expansive 3-D landscapes you will battle across, to the tiniest detail on the monsters. I could find nary a trace of the dread jagged edges that plague some PS2 titles. Buildings crumble to tiny bits of rubble and send up satisfying dust clouds. Masses of people run for their lives as you and your opponent slug it out.
The environments are very interactive; nearly anything can be turned into a weapon: cars, tanks, planes, antennae, steel girders, chunks of the buildings you've destroyed... Certain stages even have special stage-wide triggers that set off tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Of course, all this would be meaningless if the play control was clunky or counter-intuitive. Thankfully, this isn't the case. There's one button for a light (but fast) attack, one button for a stronger (but slower move) move, one to block, and one for a special move. If you ever need to re-center the camera in the melee, a quick tap of a shoulder button does the trick. The controls are simple enough that a beginner can pick up a controller and play within minutes, there is plenty of strategy for those who scratch the surface: you can chain together combos, pick up your opponent and launch 'em into a building, or use one of two types of special attacks (short range or long range). Two player combat is handled very well, switching to split-screen mode if you're far apart, but seamlessly cutting back to full-screen mode when you're close enough.
For all the detail, the gleefully destructive fun of the game itself, and the epic-level brawling of a two-player battle, the one-player adventure mode leaves something to be desired. After a dozen battles or so, combat against the computer seems to get repetitive, even with the occasional boss battle to break things up. The only real motivation to play through the game more than once or twice solo is that each victory awards you "battle tokens" that you can spend unlocking everything from hidden boss characters to alternate costumes and more stages for the real meat of the game: two player battles.
There are also three gimmicky two-player mini-games, and a solo "survival" mode, but they do feel rather tacked on and just weren’t as fun as playing a straight-up brawl with a friend. Wonderful graphics, highly interactive stages, loads of property damage, intuitive controls, lots of un-lockable items, and an intense two-player experience makes this a MUST own for any fan of B-movie monster flicks and at least one friend. If you have no friends, the slightly anemic one player modes are still enjoyable, but nowhere near as fun.
MY SCORE: 8.5
So, here's hoping that goes well.
I also want to apply for the feature freelancer position Jeremy recently posted about... though I now realize with the possible exception of my "Father and Son Bonding Over Video Games" essay, I've never really written anything feature-length on video games. Sure, I've had ideas, and I've done a few video game editorials, but... most of my article writing and features have been on non-video game subjects (sales, advertorial copy for some of the Devine Media properties, editiorials), so it lookslike that puts me out of the running. That's a little disappointing, because I know I am capable of producing good feature article content, and that I could do well... but I have nothing video-game specific to really send. Argh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 09:21 pm (UTC)My friends and I were just talking about how much we love Alton Brown this afternoon... : D
Well, then you should...
Date: 2006-01-09 11:38 pm (UTC)And yes, ALton rocks. M and I make it a point to TiVO every episode of Good Eats we can.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 10:08 pm (UTC)