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michigandaily.com /arts

ARTS

TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 27, 2001

5


'Metal Gear' lives up to hype

By Jeff Dickerson
Daily TV/New Media Editor
Undoubtedly the most anticipated
garme of the year, Iideo Kojima's
"Metal Gear Solid.2: Sons of Liber-
ty" hit American shores last week.
Debuting for the Playstation 2 just in
time for the holiday season, the ofl-

delayed tactical
Grade: A
Metal Gear
Solid 2
For Playstation 2
Konami

espionage action
game has finally
arrived, with
many fans won-
dering if the
game can possi-
bly live up to the
hype that swelled
over the past
three years.
The popular

Beginning the game with nothing
more than a pack of cigarettes, you
take control of Solid Snake through
the South African jungle in pursuit of
the nuclear weapon of mass destruc-
tion code-named "Metal Gear."
Unlike many action games, players
rely heavily on stealth tactics rather
than the standard "shoot 'em up"
gameplay of similar titles.
Ten years later in the autumn of
1998, Konami returned to the series
with "Metal Gear Solid" on Sony
Playstation. "Solid" followed the foot-
steps of its predecessor and was wide-
ly considered to be the best: game
released on the system. The open-
ended story had gainers asking,
"What's next?"

Playstation 2 has attained the visual
feast that "Metal Gear" provides.
Characters move fluidly within the
environment. from Snake's mullet
styled hair blowing in the wind to the
painstakingly detailed uniforms of
enemy soldiers. The attention to detail
is what separates "Metal Gear 2" from
other PS2 games. Never before have
environments looked so realistic and
characters moved so naturally.
The game is not vithout its flaws.
The dialogue between (he characters
is wooden and noticeably melodra-
natic at times. Some may argue the
game is simply not long enough, as
half the game is spent watching
cutscenes rather than playing. The
plot has many twists and turns, sonic
of which are sure to anger die-hard

By Christine Lasek
Daily Arts Writer

Albee's love story
'Finding' comes to
Arena for weekend

Courtesy of Konami
Metal Gear ... it can't be!
of all time. No game before has

series started its run on the obscure Upon viewing the introduction to fanatics of the games. incorporated so many cinemat
MSX format in 1987, but a year later the game, fans will take a collective Without question, "Metal Gear lents into the garmeplay; "
was released on the king of the video sigh of relief seeing Solid Snake back Solid 2" is the best game of 2001 and Gear" blurs the lines between1
game consoles, the original Nintendo. in action. Graphically, nothing on the arguably one of the finest video games pictures and games.
Videogmes, movies makefonnidable
mix with Gamecube's'Roge Leader

itic e e-
Metal
notion

By Matt Grandstaff
Weekend, Etc. Editor

Over the years, it has been a known fact that
videogarnes and movies do not mix well. In convert-
ing games to films, disaster has always ensued, as seen
from films such as "Super Mario Bros.," "Double
Dragon" and "Street Fighter." Flipping things around,
the same can generally be said about movies being
converted to games. From UN's poor offerings far the
original Nintendo, which included "Jaws," "Back to
the Future" and "Friday the -13th," to games based on
films f-om this past summer such as "Shrek" (Xbox)
and "The Mummy Returns"
(Playstation 2), movie-based
Grade: B+ games have always sucked. But
wait, these recent games are not
Star Wars our last hope ... there is ...
Rogue Leader: another ... "Star Wars" game,
Rogue LucasArts' "Star Wars Rogue
Leader: Rogue Squadron II" for
Squadron I Nintendo's GameCube.
"Rogue Leader," the sequel
For GarneCube to the 1998 Nintendo 64 hit
LucasArts "Rogue Squadron," once again
takes you to a galaxy far, far
away to battle the evil empire
using all your favorite ships from the original "Star
Wars" movies, including X-Wing Fighters and the
Millennium Falcon. But unlike "Rogue Squadron,"
which had you go on various new missions for the
Rebel Alliance, the levels of "Rogue Leader" provide
more nostalgia, as gainers can partake in some classic
moments from the original trilogy. Flying as either
Luke Skywalker or his friend, Wedge Antilles, these
levels include the final trench run from "Star Wars,"
Carol Burnel

Courtesyof4 LucasArts
Stay on target! Stay on target!
the Battle of Iloth from "Umpire Strikes Back" and
the attack on the new Death Star from "Return of the
Jedi." Fach of these levels, along with original levels
that fit perfectly into the storyline of the movie trilogy,
reproduce the "Star Wars" experience perfectily.
The authenticity of "Rogue Leader" can be attrib-
uted mostly to the unbelievable graphics and sound
the game boasts. Taking full advantage of Niritendo's
new system, the game's combat scenes often look as
good, if not better than the original movies. In fact, the
power of GaneCube allowed LucasArts to integrate
actual clips fi-om the films into the movie. including
the special edition explosion of the Death Star.
As fbr the game's sound. "Rogue Leader" is highl-
lighted by CD-quality reproductions off John
Williams' soundtrack for the three novies. Addition-
ally the game gets an extra boost by having actual
sound bites from the movie. including farmous quotes
by llarrison Ford (Ilan Solo), Mark llamill (Luke
Skywalker) and Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar).

Slightly hampering the experience that is "Rogue
Leader" is the game's inconsistent play control. While-
the control is very responsive and the GameCube con-
troller feels as if it was made for this game, there are a
few frustrating aspects to the gameplay. First. the
game features no lock on targeting. While it might
appear that you are about to make a one and a million
shot, your blaster fire consistently misses enemy Tie-
Fighters.
Another annoying aspect of "Rogue Leader" is the
difficulty it takes to keep up with enemy aircraft.
Because of unpolished turning, oncomring enemies are
usually lost after a fly by. Thankfully, you will not
always have to rely on thle force to track down ene-
mies, as the game features the same targeting comput-
er Luke, Wedge and Porkins use at the end of "Star
Wars." This targeting device highlights enemies you
need to take out.
While the overall experience of "Rogue Leader" is
amazing, the game is on the short side. The game has
just 10 missions, and in niany instances you will beat
a stage without really doing anything. The game does
have good replay, however, as it includes a medal sys-
tem, in which ganers are awarded bonus levels and
ships for achieving goals.
Finally, LucasArts latest "Star Wars" game is not
very original. Many of the levels, such as the Death
Star battles and the Battle of I loth have been seen on
other Star Wars games, such as the "Super Star Wars"
series on Super Nintendo, "Shadows of the lEmpire"
on Nintendo 64 and also in the bonus stages of the
original "Rogue Squadron." But like watching the
movies over and over, playing the games never gets
old. And for those whoown a GameCube, "Rogue
Leader" is the must-have game to show off your new
system.

Basement Arts will be bringing
Edward Albee's play, "Finding the
Sun," to the Arena Theatre stage
this Thursday through Saturday.
"Finding the
Sun" is a one-
act play depict-
ing the story of
Finding two couples
the Sun who decide to
vacation togeth-
er at the beach.
Thursday through The situation
Saturday breeds trouble,
h o w e v e r,
because the two
husbands were
~' -K former lovers
and are finable
to let go of
their romantic past and embrace
their married lives.
Director- Raquelle Stiefler says
she was drawn to this particular
play because of its message of "liv-
ing life to its fullest." By coupling
dark humor and tragic situations,
Albee attempts to illustrate how a
willingness to settle for a less than
desirable life can lead to fear, lone-
liness and dissatisfaction. The hus-
bands of the show stay rooted in
their seemingly perfect marriages
when they would much rather be
with one another.
"I want to jolt people," Stiefler
says. She explains how she hopes to
scare people with what can happen
if they make decisions for the
wrong reasons. "The play is also
about people who are never happy
with their situation in life and what
they have. I want people to realize
how important it is to live life as
fully as possible," she said. Con-
cerning the play, Albee wrote: "Iam
very concerned with the fact that so
many people turn off because it is
easier; that they don't stay fully
aware during the course of their
lives. I find that anything less than

absolutely full, dangerous participa-
tion is an absolute waste of some
rather valuable tirne." In essence,
this is what Stiefler is hoping audi-
ences will be able to realize
throughout the course of the play.
Because "Finding the Sun" is a
one-act play, the entire show will
take place on a single beach setting.
The set is very important to
Stiefler's concept for the show.
Through the set, Stiefler hopes to
create a sense of imprisonnent or
entrapment, which runs analogous
to the situations the characters find
themselves in. The play takes place
during an unspecified tine period,
although some of the language
dates it back approximately 30
years. Stiefler explains that the cos-
tunming might seem a little dated as
well, but she is not attempting to
purposefully portray any time peri-
od.
Stiefler is well versed in Edward
Albee's plays, and she is drawn to
his ability of setting humor to diffi-
cult situations. His dialogue is sharp
and musical, without any wasted
words. "Finding the Sun" is no dif-
ferent from his other shows in this
aspect, as there is humorous dia-
logue sprinkled throughout the seri-
ous content. "It really is a fun show,
despite its heavy messages," Stiefler
said; "And all the actors are in their
bathing suits!"

curtesyoftuce

Playwright Edward Albee.


tt cast reunites, reminisces

By Melissa Gollob
Daily Arts Wri ter
For 11 years, Carol Burnett and
Co. entertained viewers with their
wacky antics and outrageous come-
dy on "The Carol Burnett Show."
Last night the cast returned to remi-

a-
The Carol
Burnett
Show
CBS;
November 26, 2001

nisce and share
old stories with
out-takes and
favorite skits
fron the show.
"The Carol
Burnett Show"
Featured Burg
nett alone with
co-stars Vicki
Lawrence
("Mama's Farni-
ly"), Tien Con-
way and Harvey
Korman. The
four comple-

These questions seemed a bit
removed from the point of the spe-
cial, but they did help introduce
Carol Burnett to the younger, less
knowledgeable viewer. The ques-
tions continued throughout the hour
and they surprisingly became better
as Burnett's three co-stars joined her
on stage. One audience mernber
asked Tim Conway if he ever strayed
from the script in order to make his
co-stars laugh. Conway and Harvey
Korman both emphatically answered
"yes" to the man's question and fol-
lowed it up with a clip demonstrat-
ing his devilish ways.
The special also contains numer-
ous bloopers that are probably fun-
nier than the show itself. The effort
to keep a straight face through any
clip will be wasted. In one out-take,
Burnett walks by a painting of
which Conway is the subject. She
stops in front of the painting and
proceeds to undo the robe she is
wearing to reveal a prosthetic set of
breasts attached to her body. The
dumbfounded look on Conway's
face will have you laughing out
loud.
Those prosthetic breasts were the
creation of famous designer Bob
Mackie. He also designed the entire
wardrobe of the cast during the
show's run. Mackie appears for a

moment in the special, but the last-
ing impression goes to Burnett and
Lawrence who pay tribute to their
friend and designer with a song and
darnce titled, "Mackie Rag." The
song is over the top, but the senti-
ment shines through - they could
never have been that funny without
well-designed clothes and temporary
body parts.
Those Mackie clothes rnade the
characters, and one distinctly stood
out from the rest. The housecoat
with the rolled down stockings made
Mama (Vicki Lawrence) and her
family so popular that it became the
spin-off hit, "Mama's Family." The
beginnings of the show can be seen
in the bloopers and early skits.
The special ended as it began, and
how every "Carol Burnett Show"
ended with a smile fiorn the star

and the legendary tug at her ear.
With that she said good-bye again,
but the laughs linger. In a few years
the quartet can all return once more
for a trip down memory lane.

Plane era:
La Bouch
By Rob Brode
Daily Arts Writer
Melanie Thornton, former La
Bouche lead singer, died in a plane
crash near Zurich on Saturday.
Thornton will be best, remembered
for the hits "Be My Lover" and
"Sweet Dreams."
She was traveling as part.of a tour
to promote her new solo album
Ready to Fly featuring the song
"Wonderful Dream," which will be
used for an upcoming Coke com-
mercial.
The plane was carrying 33 passen-
gers, nine survived the crash. An
Atlanta resident, Thornton 34, is sur-
vived by her l4usband.
Her career jumpstarted in 1992 in
Germany by Franc Farian, the man

S
i4

e singer
behind Milli Vanilli.
Thornton left La Bouche in 2000
after their second album failed to
make -a mark. Although she is gone,
her work lives on.

t tour tosy or vni 1

courtesy of CBS
Carol aQd Vicky up to their usual antics.

i

mented each other's comedic style
and niade performing in front of live
audiences a hilarious experience for
both the stars and the fans. The
show highlighted each actor's talent
with several different skits compara-
tive today- to some "Saturday Night
Live" sketches.
The special began with Carol Bur-
nett answering questions about the
show from audience members.

new frontiers
tuesday.
november 27, 2001
at 4:10 PinE.
pendelton room
michigan union

in
-a
CD,
.-r

You've excelled at Michigan...
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