When I initially watched Comedy Central’s Workaholics, I was unexpectedly amused. The series follows 3 burnout best friends who share a house as well as a cubicle at a telemarketing company. With little ambition, habitual drug and alcohol abuse, and disregard for any moral or societal obligation, these companions live their life day by day, knowing thoroughly how to have a good time. Surround them with eccentric coworkers, friends and civilians, and enjoy the hilarious banter that ensues.
What To Watch:
I recommend watching The Promotion (S01E04) initially. The episode encompasses the hilarious originality and creativity of the main 3, which is the most alluring part of the show. If this doesn’t satisfy your craving for fresh humour, try one more at random. If you still feel nothing, then this show is not for you. There is no in-depth thought or consideration necessary. It is what it is and you either like it or you don’t. The only thing necessary to appreciate the show is to become familiar with the characters, which is easily achieved within a couple of episodes due to their lack of complexity.
Hit or Miss:
Much of the dialogue seems improvisational and the main characters, being the creators of the show, are very natural in their roles and in control of the direction taken. I find the show’s comedy to be either hit or miss. Some jokes are overdone or just a playful attempt, however they do not diminish the experience. What makes this series so appealing are the hits. In many cases, the jokes that land are incredibly hilarious and unforeseen, contributing to the refreshing nature of the show. Although the series may lack consistency, this allows for radically different and amusing comedy that is unlike other shows.
Recommendation:
I recommend this show to anyone who likes burnout-buddy comedies and are not looking for a sophisticated style of humour. Their originality and genuine performance make it easy to get attached to the characters and take part in their experiences. I strongly encourage you to give it a chance. If you are not satisfied after a couple of episodes, don’t bother with a third. You will either love it or hate it.
Score: 3.8 / 5
Let me start off by saying I’ve always been a Call of Duty guy. However, following Black Ops, I was very much tired of the whole franchise and decided to try something new…
I initially purchased Battlefield 3 with high hopes. The cashier at the game store depicted a scenario of flying a fighter jet into a building filled with opponents and ejecting from the aircraft just prior to its collision, destroying the building and all those inside and parachuting down to the ground without a scratch. Although this turned out to be not entirely accurate, it was very appealing.
It took me a while to transition from the face-paced Call of Duty style of multiplayer gameplay to the more tactical and teamwork based style of Battlefield. Once I grasped the concept, I enjoyed the game very much. The large, open maps provide a more realistic setting and the ability to control an array of vehicles was a refreshing and enjoyable experience.
Unfortunately, it was not long before BF3 became a bore and I returned to my original franchise, this time with MW3.
Battlefield 3:
What I Liked:
The levels were very well designed, moreso than anything Call of Duty has produced. Their large size not only made combat less frequent (and therefore less hectic and more realistic), but also solved the frustrating issue with respawns. Their attention to every detail, from the maps to the players and physics was immaculate. Their claim to be the most realistic shooter was nothing short of the truth.
Giving the player the ability to load into an armoured tank or helicopter with all of their buddies and take down enemy troops or vehicles was probably my favourite aspect of the game. With this respect, the game was very much like Halo with a realistic touch. The most fun I had while playing this game was probably piloting a helicopter or fighter jet and then jumping out, plummeting to the earth, deploying my parachute as late as possible, and landing in the middle of an enemy base unnoticed.
What I Disliked:
With some of the maps, their vast size made using a vehicle almost necessary in order to avoid sprinting for about 3 minutes before finding some action. The less frequent battles are a great part of the game, but some particular maps have too much downtime following a spawn.
The reason I swayed away from this game was that it got boring very quickly. There are too few game types and too few maps to go along with them. I found myself playing the same maps over and over again with the same repetitive experience each time.
EA Games is the only company allowed to run their own servers on XBOX Live. All other games must use Microsoft servers. I originally thought that this would be a nice treat and provide a better online experience, however, one thing seemed to have escaped the developers: you cannot exit the game in between rounds! That’s right, the game ends and you are brought back to the lobby for an intermission between rounds. At this stage, most people would want to return to the menu to find a different server or change their soldier. Unfortunately, there is no in-lobby menu at all, preventing you from leaving by any means other than returning to the XBOX dashboard, signing out, or waiting for the next game to begin and quitting from the start menu.
Modern Warfare 3
What I Liked:
There is a wide variety of maps and game modes to ensure that you rarely play the same game twice in an evening. The maps are designed better than the previous games, with more intricacy and complexity in mind, giving the player more options and more common contact areas. Also, I love the inclusion of killstreak rewards, which is a main reason I am drawn to this franchise. Killstreaks provide a more unique experience each time a round is played by providing you with various offensive and defensive abilities and greater challenges when combating rewarded opponents.
What I Disliked:
Respawns, respawns, respawns! I have not seen any improvement in the respawn points since the previous games, despite how terrible they have been. On numerous occasions, the player you kill will spawn very close to where they died, and, knowing the map, will quickly make their way back to where you are and easily get their revenge. There are also many instances when players will spawn within a very short distance of yourself, allowing them to get a quick and unexpected kill.
Overall
Both games are very successful at being what they intend to be, but they are far from flawless. My recommendation would be MW3 because of its play life. With more maps, game modes and killstreak rewards, the game can be played for longer durations and will keep you coming back for more. Not to mention the ability to leave the server in between rounds.