CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Xbox 360
Video Game Review: Agent 47 is Aging in ‘Hitman HD Trilogy’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 19, 2013 - 3:58pmCHICAGO – Is there anything sadder than an aging assassin? In this case, no. Agent 47 has been upgraded to HD when he should have been upgraded in other ways. Unless you’re a total virgin to the series, you are likely to wonder what the heck you’re paying for. Even if you are a virgin you’ll probably walk away wondering why anyone would bother rendering these been-there-done-that titles in HD. The games have just plain aged that badly.
Video Game Review: Trivia Goes Mobile with ‘You Don’t Know Jack’
Submitted by BrianTT on February 11, 2013 - 4:51pmCHICAGO – In this world, there are very few places for the creatively minded B-type personality to massage their fragile egos. Sure, you can write a 13,000 word diatribe defending the “Star Wars” Prequels, get a PHD, get a writing gig, kick-start that graphic novel you’ve been kicking around, etc., but the ability to have an honest-to-goodness pissing contest is sadly privilege of the proverbially macho. We can’t arm wrestle, we might as well have mittens for hands when it comes to catching any sort of ball, and we want people to like us. So we play trivia.
Video Game Review: ‘Borderlands 2: Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt’ is Old Dog with New Tricks
Submitted by BrianTT on January 15, 2013 - 11:13amCHICAGO – The odds are if you own a “Borderlands 2” Season Pass, or are a member of its “Premiere Club” you’re very likely very pleased at the constant stream of high quality content being delivered to your Xbox 360.
Video Game Review: New Hollywood Connection of ‘Retro City Rampage’
Submitted by BrianTT on January 11, 2013 - 5:55pmCHICAGO – I’ve been gaming for two and a half decades. If I think about it, I haven’t even been potty trained that long. I played games before I rode a bike, kissed my first girl, danced my first jig, or wrote my first word. A controller is as familiar to my hands as a rifle to a rifleman.
Video Game Review: Return to ‘Skyrim’ with ‘Dragonborn’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 18, 2012 - 4:00pmCHICAGO – During my younger and gainfully underemployed days, I would troll abandonware sites for free games, downloading obscure gems ad nauseum to the point where my under-powered Acer Aspire desktop PC’s four-gigabyte hard drive was brimming with some real classics (and a few stinkers).
Video Game Review: Easy to Kinect with ‘Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth’
Submitted by BrianTT on December 3, 2012 - 2:24pmCHICAGO – Good but not great, “Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth” falls cleanly in the kiddie category of superhero video games, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Set in a solidly interactive array of environments, twenty different characters from the Marvel Universe duke it out in a variety of play styles including co-op, arcade, and vs., and the end result is dynamic, hi-energy, ham-fisted fun.
Video Game Review: ‘Need For Speed: Most Wanted’ Plays Like J.J. Abrams Film
Submitted by BrianTT on November 27, 2012 - 10:59amCHICAGO – I am not (by any means) what you’d call a gear-head. I’m the guy who skips through the car reviews on “Top Gear” to get to the challenges, I’ve changed oil twice in my life, and my current sick ride is a 2001 Chevy Lumina with a bum tail light.
Video Game Review: ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’ Brings Changes But Keeps Strengths
Submitted by BrianTT on November 26, 2012 - 10:26amCHICAGO – Entering a freshly crowded field of first-person shooters, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” had a lot of buzz behind it. The good news is that the game virtually matches the hype. This is absolutely on the upper end of the get-it-while-it’s-new list. Those who have criticized Activision for turning “COD” into an annual cash cow simply have little to complain about here. Almost everything has been given the once over and improved upon.
Video Game Review: ‘Forza Horizon’ Takes Series Down New Roads
Submitted by BrianTT on November 1, 2012 - 8:03pmCHICAGO – I’ve spent hours driving around the varied landscapes of “Forza Horizon” and I’m still not 100% sure what to make of it. It’s undeniably accomplished in terms of what matters most to driving game fans — the mechanics behind the wheel — and shouldn’t that be all that really matters?
Video Game Review: ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2013’ a Scrappy Sports Game
Submitted by BrianTT on October 30, 2012 - 10:38amCHICAGO – 2012 marks the first time in three years I haven’t played the new “FIFA” game with my annoying wannabe-European roommate. Like clockwork, each year he’d bound into our apartment with the world’s premier soccer title, unwrap it, pack the hookah (making me guess the flavor even though I could never tell the difference - and told him this every time) and we’d proceed to play until I beat him, at which point he’d lose interest in playing me, and instead move to his bedroom to play on the easiest mode with the best team and I presume drink creme de menthe and listen to The Smiths.