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+.
HollywoodChicago.com Video Games
Video Game Review: Fast, Furious ‘Wheelman’ With Vin Diesel is Guilty Pleasure
Submitted by BrianTT on April 13, 2009 - 8:34amCHICAGO – Midway’s “Wheelman” is my guilty pleasure game of the season. I know the game has some serious design flaws, but like an action movie you watch over and over again, the flaws are easier to forgive in the name of old-fashioned fun.
Video Game Review: ‘The Godfather II’ Gives Fans Bang For Their Buck
Submitted by BrianTT on April 7, 2009 - 5:17pmVideo Game Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Some games are easy to pick up and put down when you’ve got a small window of time. “The Godfather II” is not one of those games. Like being willing to watch Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Trilogy” in one sitting, the game loosely based on the second film will take not just minutes or hours but days of your life.
Video Game Review: Excellent, Violent ‘MadWorld’ Rare Adults-Only Game For Nintendo Wii
Submitted by BrianTT on April 6, 2009 - 8:22amCHICAGO – The gleefully violent, insanely fun, over-the-top chaos of “MadWorld” could change your impressions of the Wii for all time.
Video Game Review: ‘B’-Movie Style of ‘Eat Lead’ Nearly Saves Pretty Awful Game
Submitted by BrianTT on March 31, 2009 - 2:31pmVideo Game Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard” has so many deep, unacceptable, gameplay flaws that it couldn’t possibly merit a traditional recommendation, but the game nearly succeeds in the same way that an Ed Wood or Uwe Boll movie has fans. Have you heard the phrase “so bad it’s good”? Can it be applied to a video game?
Video Game Review: ‘Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars’ Game of the Year to Date
Submitted by BrianTT on March 27, 2009 - 1:03pmCHICAGO – Rockstar Games has done it again. Like “Grand Theft Auto IV,” they’ve released a game that we all thought would be really good but they’ve somehow found a way to surpass expectations and delievered even more than most fans thought possible. There have been some excellent games in the first quarter of 2009 - “Killzone 2” and “Resident Evil 5” stand out - but “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” gets my vote for game of the year to date.
Release Date Announced For ‘Call of Duty 4’ Sequel ‘Modern Warfare 2’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 2:49pmCHICAGO – Get your calendars out and mark the date for arguably the most anticipated game of the year, “Modern Warfare 2,” Activision’s follow-up to the award-winning “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”.
Video Game Review: Sony’s ‘Resistance: Retribution’ a Rare Must-Buy PSP Title
Submitted by BrianTT on March 26, 2009 - 2:07pmVideo Game Rating: 4.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Sony’s “Resistance: Retribution” is a great game but it can be a frustrating experience. More than once while playing through this excellent handheld companion to two of the PS3’s biggest titles - “Resistance: Fall of Man” and “Resistance 2” - I kept asking myself, “Why aren’t there more PSP game like this one?”
Video Game Review: Step Into Your Favorite Show in ‘Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore 2’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 25, 2009 - 12:40pmVideo Game Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – If you’re like most people who own a television, you’ve probably seen “American Idol” at least once in its near-decade of ratings dominance and thought that you could do better than the pop star wannabe on the stage. Now you can try and achieve “AI” dominance on your own with “Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore 2”. Practice your Mariah Carey note runs.
Video Game Review: RPG Fans Should Take the Time to Decipher ‘Avalon Code’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 24, 2009 - 12:03pmCHICAGO – The development team behind the massively successful “Final Fantasy III” and “Final Fantasy IV” remakes for the Nintendo DS have joined forces with the creative minds behind the “Harvest Moon” and “Rune Factory” series to release one of the more creative handheld RPG titles of the year to date with the clever and fun “Avalon Code,” a game that may be far from perfect but is unique enough to warrant a look for all RPG fans.
Video Game Review: ‘Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop’ Should Be Better
Submitted by BrianTT on March 19, 2009 - 5:34pmCHICAGO – Not every game fits every platform. Every once in a while, a game can make the jump from one next-gen console to another, but it’s just as often that a title misses the mark and crashes to the ground. Such is the case with Capcom’s anticipated “Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop,” a shooter with fun moments interspersed through awful gameplay and horrendous storytelling.