'Nemesis' advances 'Evil' with elegant zombie story The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 10, 1999 - 9 Mindless 'Roswell' worsens teen genre esident Evil 3: mesas Capdom Playstation The "Resident Evil" series is something of a juggernaut. "Nemesis" is its third complete installment, with a fourth due early next year for the Dreamcast, and new versions of old games due on the Gameboy and Nintendo 64 forthwith. 'Nemesis" is an advancement in the series' sto- r*ling. For the first time, the characterization atid voice acting seem like they were made by peo- plevho have more training than your average pub- lic access cable producer. This is especially evi- def because you play as Jill Valentine, one of the characters from the first Resident Evil where lines on the order of "Here is a lockpick Jill, because you are the master of unlocking" came standard. In their stead are mostly good bits of dialog, and the game mocks itself when it presents a bad line. Wen a character says "All the hot ladies love my a nt," he is responded to like the idiot he obvi- ously is being. The game's plot is cohesive independent of the other games, but a certain familiarity with the oth- ers might be good for exposition. Because your character knows what's going on, a newcomer rk1 ".tvn ren d imn rn t hint n intc like The hulking "Nemesis" of the title is well explained by the end of the game, and even from early on it's explained why he's constantly saying "S.TA.R.S." as incessantly as if it meant an evil malicious Pokemon that shoots rockets at you. There is a balance, but that entails some material on the bad side. To complicate matters, the story begins before the events in "Resident Evil 2" and ends after them. You even visit shme of the sets from "Resident Evil 2," leaving a comrade to make a secret appearance in the previous game. This does avoid the problem of explaining the second game, because those events are going on simultaneously and so require no knowledge by a player for understanding. Atthe same time, knowing what is going on parallel will add to the story line for "Resident Evil" veterans. Between internal coherence and cross game inte- gration, "Nemesis" is as elegant as a zombie story can be. The game's engine is now strong enough to pro- vide background voices that add to the story. You can hear the voices of your enemies staying one step ahead of you and the screams of the people you can't save from the undead wandering the streets of Raccoon City. Special effects like water spurting out of broken pipes and gnats buzzing around lights also add to the experience. But "Resident Evil" seems to have reached an impasse as far as the Playstation goes. "Nemesis" contin- ues to take mace only in shadow; it is easier to light. The Playstation just can't process well enough to make zombies look good in light. Or at least Capcom's team can't make it do so. Last year Konami's "Silent Hill" was creepy yet had plenty of light flooding through it. "Nemesis" also suffers from the pre-assigned camera angles that have plagued the standard bearer of survival horror since its inception. Its value as a cinematic device is becoming increas- ingly outweighed by the irritation involved in being unable to see what you are firing on or if you walk one step forward if something will nib- ble on your throat. Hopefully these problems will be resolved as the technology progresses; the com- ing Dreamcast game "Resident Evil Code Veronica" will tell the world if Capcom is willing to keep their stories together and fix some ingrained problems. Until then, "Nemesis" will do fine. By Anika Kohon Daily ArtsWriter "Roswell, 285 South" airs this Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on the WB. This show is yet another of the WB teen dramas, the bastard love-child of "Scooby Doo" and "The X-Files" It is perhaps the worst display of inane tele- vision to assault the free world in-quite a long time. With bad self-reflexive cliches and thin plot lines, there is hardly any reason to justify its exis- RosWell tence. There are little green aliens No Stars popping up all over the place, The pm. and there is even Wedesayat pm. a diner called C rash d own with a spaceship sign. "Wiggle your nose, blink your eyes. Do the Samantha- Jeannie alien thing," Maria tells Michael. The allusions to "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" only insult these far superior programs by trying to align the "Roswell" premise with theirs. It is conceivable the show is trying to be clever by appealing to she uni- versal teenage sense of "alienation" from their parents and others, but it does not work. Maria and Michael bond because they are both looking for something better than Roswell. But seriously, how could anyone identify with a group of one-dimensional, uno- riginal characters? Maybe for those who need YM surveys to discover their personalities, ("Are you a gossip'?") this showe offers some entertainment. Certainly, anyone above the age of i0 would have to be smoking something pretty strong to bessurprised by any of mtght not understan important pot points, 1K ctVWUpia, ai l iavr LL ,0 what exactly is the evil bio-corporation Umbrella. program something spooky in darkness than in -Ted Mas vest of late-night Sandler appears on DVD By~atthew Barrett '90s. Fans of the Sand-man can four different Opera Man skits, a "Lunchlady Land." Along with the Daily Arts Writer recapture his late-night glory in the turn as an Gap employee and a song, we get a live reenactment of its "I am the smartest man alive!" newly released DVD "Saturday wicked riff on Bruce Springsteen's story (revolution in the lunchroom) Well not quite, but Adam Sandler has Night Live: The Best of Adam "Dancing In The Dark afeaturingthe late Chris Farley as the carved out a nice little niche for him- Sand.er." Sand.er also performs a few of his Lunhlady and a bevy of dancing satf in the world of movies with his The DVD contains 20 different more popular songs including "Red foods. unique brand of goosball comedy. sketches involving Sandler from his Fooded Sweatshirt" and "Chanukah So throsv on your favorite sweat- Before he blew up on the big screen years on "SNL, and the material, Song." tiles, grab a plate of slop, sloppy in."The Waterboy" and "Big Daddy' like much of his work in movies, But all these moments pale in joes and check out some of Sandler's ler was a staple on "Saturday ranges from very lame to very funny. comparison to she highlight of the best work. The Sand-man shall not t Live" for much of the early Some of the better moments include disc, a rousing rendition of leave you disappointed. Jason Behr and Shirt Appleby star In "Roswell," another Inane teen drama. she plot twists. In "285 South" the three aliens go out in search of a dome from Michael's visions with their two human compan- ions. Michael kidnaps Maria, steals her car, throws her cell phone out the win- dow, and predictably, she comes to his aid when they are pulled over. Of course, the car breaks down right next to a motel, adding to the sexual tension, surprising no one. If you're not nau- seous yet, this motel happens to be right near the broken-down semi blocking the road so that Liz, Max and Isabel can walk when Maria is on top of Michael. (And all of this on a school night!) Adding to the dramatic tension, Liz's possessive ex-boyfriend and a police officer are in pursuit. The dome turns out to be a hippie- commune-looking structure with a "isecret passage:' and Michael needs Maria's belief and support to locate the secret passage. One will not be sur- prised wher, these two hate each other again next week, though. It is this kind of predictable, formulaic plot structure that makes this show just another failed attempt to attract an audience. s., 1. Oh, nothing. 0,,r h( 1 was just about to listen to my new...er...brahma CO. You? 7. f rizons ~pr I: DowIG Aecjje ~II *kdw 1uI display advertisng department would like to thank ZANZIBA R for their donation. UEGGER'S BAGELS Bruegger's Bagels has earned the reputation for making the hottest, freshest and best bagels in the business. We currently seek enthusiastic, energetic and professional individuals to fill the following positions: * Assistant Managers * Shift Supervisors " Cashiers/Servers " All Crew Positions How can anyone pass this up?? -No greasy fryers or grills " No late nights or drive thrus " Hours of operations that are 'Family Friendly" (home in the evening-study time) +5 DAY WORK WEEK " Medical, Dental & 401 K " No Holiday Mall Madness " Bonus Program - Managers apply at the location nearest you: *Woodland Plaza* 2260 S. Main St. Ph: 734-213-2560 *Campus/N. University 709 N. University Ave. Ph: 734-747-8561 Or send/fax your resume to: Btuegger's Bagels, H.R. Dept., 29900 Southfield Road Southfield, MI 48076 Fax: 248-557-5380. EOE Just a little redecorating. Music, stickers and \ mind-boggling excitement. music Cassettes available on select tle. FREESTYLERS SASHA ALEX GOPHER EARTUDANCE LUKE SLATER CHEVELLE JOHN DIOWEED DAVE RALPH We Rock Hard Xpander You My Baby & i Various Artists Wireless Point #1 Bedrock Tranceport, Vol. 2 1 99 EA 1399 A99EA 249 EA MUSIC SOFTWARE MOVIES e BOOKS Visit our Jam Central Department. Guitars, amps, drumsets, plus sheet music For the Entertainment Superstore nearest you, call toll-free 1-888-60-MEDIA. and more. Now online www.MediaPlay.com Sale ends November 20, 1999. Product availability and pricing may vary online. 8in88vi.is