Bind.

Hail to the king, baby

King of Dragon Pass has more replay value and depth than most $60 titles

By Marc Thompson

ost iPhone games are known for being simple, albeit incredibly

addictive casual, gaming

experiences. They’re basic games you just pick up and play for five minutes, and those that attempt to do more with the platform tend to miss the mark, usually due to limitations of the system.

That’s why it is so nice to see a game like King of Dragon Pass (KoDP) get an

is a quirky and unique combination of turn based strategy, role-playing, and choose your own adventure.

Like most strategy games, there’s a menu that allows you to perform numerous actions (i.e. adjusting farming, launching raids, exploring Dragon Pass). The unique part of the game comes from the semi- random events that pop up. When they do, you have a variety of responses to choose from, each with their own consequences and costs. For instance, if outsiders appear and you invite them into your market out of hospitality, they might offer you gifts, or they might eat you out of house and home.

“The unique part of the game comes from the semi-random events that pop up. When they do, you have a variety of responses to choose from, each with their own consequences and costs.”

iOS release. KoDP is adapted from the independent PC game of the same name released by A# in 1999. In KoDP, you control the actions of a tribe of ancient people in a fantasy world as they battle for wealth, glory and the favour of the gods. It

In addition, these random instances are rarely self-contained events. Based on your decisions, the events often have significant consequences with branching plots, sometimes years after the initial event. Some of the decisions you make lead

eee : re aes : 1 “F003 "3 to huge, epic plotlines later on. The game is spectacularly written, particularly when you consider it’s an iPhone game.

The storyline and world created for this game is incredible, at times rivalling Bioware games. KoDP has an incredibly rich mythology that you come to understand more and more as the game progresses. Another key element is that you get to decide what kind of clan to play as. By the end of the play through, I was surprised at how invested I felt in the story of my little tribe.

Of course, KoDP is not for everyone. This isn’t another a casual game; heck, it’s

anti-casual. The graphics abuse the GUI with static art pieces and no animation. The game relies heavily on narration, so there is a lot of text to read, and it’s a bad idea to skip through it. Plus it’s difficult; I played through several times before I managed to win a short scenario on the easiest settings. If you want a casual gaming experience, avoid this.

As for me, I’ve already spent 20-30 hours on KoDP. That’s more than I spent on several major titles I paid $50 for. The game’s already paid for itself at only $10, and I will still be playing KODP long after I’ve flung my last Angry Bird.

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Pineapple success

Chronicling the rise of Vancouverite Seth Rogen

By Allie Davison, Staff Writer

his breakout film, Knocked Up (2007).

Although the overly-graphic birthing scene scarred me for life, I found Rogen both hilarious and realistic; he was like a much wittier version of the average “stoner-guy.” Of course, diehard Rogen fans already knew him from his earlier television appearances: as Ken Miller in Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) and as Ron Garner in its successor, Undeclared (2001).

I’ve seen most of Rogen’s films over the past few years, trying to stay a consistent fan through the good and bad. Personally, my favourite Rogen movies are not blockbuster hits like Superbad (2007) or Pineapple Express (2008). I’m more a fan of his roles in the Kevin Smith directed Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), and in the nerd-friendly Star Wars homage Fan Boys (2008), in which Rogen had multiple cameos.

On top of being a hilarious actor though, Rogen has also written and produced a number of movies, including Superbad, Drillbit Taylor (2008) and Pineapple Express. He’s also lent his voice to a number of popular animated movies, my personal favourite being Kung Fu Panda (2008), although I also got a couple laughs out of Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Paul (2011).

[= became aware of Seth Rogen in

However, as with any actor, Rogen has had his share of downfalls. Green Hornet (2011) quickly received the reputation of being one of the worst superhero movies in recent years. The followup to the ninja panda movie, entitled Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), is one I also found atrocious.

Currently, it looks as though Rogen is trying to shy away from the straight- up comedies and shift over to more dramatic films. The 2009 movie Funny People placed Rogen as an up-and- coming comedian whose idol (played by © Adam Sandler) is terminally ill. Rogen’s advantage in these sorts of roles is that he’s able to add the perfect amount of humour to any situation.

The same holds true in his latest film, this year’s 50/50. Rogen plays Kyle, whose best friend Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is diagnosed with cancer. Adam, as the title infers, has a 50/50 chance of surviving. Rogen delivers a spectacular performance as the pot-smoking, sex-craving, back- talking slacker whose bromance with his best friend truly pulls on the old heart strings.

From TV freak to CGI extraterrestrial, Seth Rogen’s career has taken some surprising turns, mostly for the better. However, it won’t be nearly as surprising when his next few movies (My Mother's Curse and Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse — both coming out next year) turn out to be amazing successes.

See these films so green

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

s Earthlings, we’ve come to have A: fair sense of pride in our little

planet. Everyday we continue to find ways to keep this baby healthy and spinning. But no matter how hard we continue pushing the ‘go green’ mentality, there’s always some guy who would rather share his recyclables with the garbage bin, or worse, toss it on the ground. So what better way to get the message across to that person than with the simple task of watching a film?

The first ever New West Doc Fest is a documentary-based film festival celebrating environmentalism, while also focusing on additional important social justice topics and student-made films from Vancouver’s non-profit film school, Pull Focus. Best of all perhaps is that the festival will be hosted by none other than Douglas College’s New Westminster campus.

Through the aid of a number of sponsors, donors, and a recent fundraiser, the NWDF has managed to pull together a full billing of films, many of which will be followed by Q&A’s with their respective filmmakers, representatives and sponsors, including Fin Donnelly.

Some of the film’s major topics include the sudden disappearance of many of the world’s honeybees (Vanishing of the Bees), how big businesses are abusing the limited availability of clean drinking water (Tapped), and one Vancouverite’s struggle with cystic fibrosis (65 Red Roses).

The inaugural festival will be taking place from Friday, October 21 to Saturday, October 22. Festival passes are priced at $20, while individual tickets are $5 for students and seniors ($7 for general admission). Ticket arrangements can be made in advance via email at www. newwestdocfest.ca, or can be purchased at the door day of.