Teen Programs

Come to the Clearwater Main Library on 100 N. Osceola Ave. for the T.A.G.: Teen Advisory Group program.  You get to help plan teen library programs.  This fun program will be on January 14^th and on February 25^th at 3:00 p.m.  Make sure to be there and don’t miss out on all of the fun.  If you need more information then don’t hesitate to call at 562-4970, ext. 5244. 

Uncharted Drake’s Fortune

By Sandor Hugert

This is one of the best Playstation 3 games to have come out yet.  The whole game was exciting, but it was really short.  The story line kept you going throughout the whole game.  The game got really repetitive after the first few levels though, as you’re basically doing all of the same things from level to level.  The puzzles were extremely amazing to beat, but the action was usually really cool.  There was a wide selection of weapons you could pick up.  There cover system in the game was awesome, but it was an exact rip-off of Gears of War, which is fine considering that both games used the cover system in great ways.  The graphics on the game have to be mentioned, as they are by far the best graphics seen on any console right now.  It was absolutely amazing as everything was crystal clear and perfect.  The graphics were really the best part of the game, and the story line was also pretty good with some fairly good twists as you were going along in the game.  The voice-overs in the game were basically as good as a movie such as Shrek.  The whole game acted like a movie basically as the cut scenes were amazing and so was the voice-overs, but the main part of the game which is the game play just fell sort of short as you were constantly doing all of the same things.  I would still say that if you own a PS3 then this game is a must have for your system. 

Score:  8 out of 10

The Director’s Chair

 If you’re a high school student in Florida and looking to do something  productive over the Winter Break then this is just the thing for you.  The goal is to promote the Director’s Chair by making a 30-second video about Ask a Librarian and uploading it to YouTube by January 18, 2008.  You even have a chance of winning some amazing prizes if you get into the top three, so make sure to post your video.  Have fun and thanks for promoting the Director’s Chair.  The official link to the Director’s Chair is right here if you need more information 

http://www.tblc.org/tblcnews/2007/12/11/tell-your-teens-about-the-directors-chair/ 

Take an imaginative and creative picture depicting signs of global warming.  The deadline to submit your photo is Jan. 22.  Prizes include a $75 and $50 gift card to the winner and runner-up in two categories (middle school and high school).  Drop by any Clearwater Library or visit www.myclearwater.com/cpl for contest rules and guidelines and an entry form.

Beowulf

By Sandor Hugert

This was one of the weirdest movies I’ve seen in a while.  Beowulf had a very good story line, but that’s basically all it had going for it.  The movie really would have been way better if they didn’t make the whole movie digital.  If they had made it a normal movie such as 300 or Troy then it would have been way more enjoyable.  The whole video game look to the movie just ruined it, although I personally really wish that video games had graphics that looked like the movie.  The action scenes in the movie were cool, but they took some of the parts too far.  They tried to explain everything very well in the first half of the movie which made it really boring, but then when the movie just cuts forward like 20 or 30 years then it just tries to wrap it all up really quick which didn’t make much since.  The movie should have showed more closely how Beowulf really loses everything once he’s a king due to all of the characteristics that he holds, but instead they just wrapped up the movie so quickly in the end.  I was really expecting a better movie than this, but in the end when I look back on the movie it wasn’t too horrible.

Score:  6 out of 10  

Halo 3

By Sandor Hugert

This is the most anticipated game of the year for any console, and the sales are proving that fact very well.  The game continues the story line from that big cliffhanger at the end of Halo 2.  It sums up the story line pretty well in nine chapters in the game, and the ending is very well done.  The levels in the game have some of the best graphics, but the game doesn’t change anything from the other Halo titles.  This is a negative if you like to see new things in a game, which most people do, but at least you know that Bungie didn’t mess up on anything in the game.  The coop in the game is by far the best feature in the game.  It’s really a lot of fun to beat the game with up to three of your friends, but as you play with more of your friends you tend to experience more lag which is really something you don’t expect from possibly one of the most anticipated games in history.  The game overall is pretty short, but it keeps you entertained throughout the whole game, and you might feel that it’s worth going back in the campaign to find all the hidden skulls and collect more achievements.  Most people were most excited about the online portion of the game, which delivers very well.  All the levels online are pretty cool, but they are really small to always keep the game flowing with action.  There are some really cool modes online such as Rocket Race where one person drives a Mongoose and your partner has a rocket launcher, and together you’re trying to collect bases before the other teams reach them.  Microsoft will keep you entertained with the online as they will sell new maps over XBOX Live which you can download.  Overall, the game really shouldn’t have gained so much hype as it’s really not better than most first person shooter games that just came out such as The Orange Box or Bioshock. 

Score:  7 out of 10

Knocked Up

By Sandor Hugert

This movie was sort of disappointing as I had pretty high expectations for it.  I’ve heard from lots of sources that this was the best comedy of the summer, but it really wasn’t that great.  There were some really funny parts in the movie, but there were many times when the comedy just didn’t work that well.  I was expecting the movie to be a lot funnier than it really was.  The actors fit their roles fairly well, and they were all pretty funny.  The movie overall was really dumb and the storyline was just very linear.  There were many other movies in the summer that were funnier than this one.  Overall, if you’re really bored then you should rent this movie, but I don’t advise you to buy it.

Score:  5 out of 10

The Orange Box

By Sandor Hugert

This is one of the best games of the year.  It’s also one of the best deals of the year as it includes five games for a price of just one game, which is $60.  The five games are Half Life 2, Half Life 2 Episode 1, Half Life 2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal.  Now on the XBOX 360, you tend to experience lots of lag on Team Fortress 2, but when there isn’t any lag then the game is a lot of fun.  Team Fortress 2 is really not the best online death match game that you should be playing right now though as Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 both have better online modes and more maps to play at.  Half Life 2 as everybody knows is one of the best games ever made just like the first Half Life.  Half Life 2 has just about everything a person looks for in a first person shooter:  good story, great guns, lots of enemies, lots of interesting puzzles, and even vehicles to drive.  The only thing that doesn’t work well in the game is that your character, Gordon Freeman, never talks in the game even though the characters around you are having conversations with you.  The graphics also seem a little outdated, but you can’t blame them as Half Life 2 came out three years ago on the PC.  The game overall though really doesn’t have bad graphics, as it seems like they have updated the graphics for the consoles to make it look more clean and crisp.  The two episodes after Half Life 2 are also very fun, but they are pretty short.  Portal is a great puzzle game, but nothing more than that as it only takes like an hour or two to beat it.   For a price of $60, you still must pick this game up as it is one of the best deals in gaming history just like it says on the back of the box.  Make sure to go and buy this game in your local video game store.

Score:  8 out of 10

New Avenged Sevenfold Album

By Sandor Hugert

This new self-titled Avenged Sevenfold album that came out this week is pretty good.  I’m not sure if it’s good as City of Evil, but it’s not too bad.  Some of the best songs on the album are “Critical Acclaim”, “Almost Easy”, “A Little Piece of Heaven”, and “Afterlife”.  If you liked the other Avenged Sevenfold albums then you will definitely enjoy this one.  Some of the songs are a little softer than usual Avenged Sevenfold songs, but they are still good.  The album only has ten new songs on it, which is a little disappointing since fans have been waiting for this album for two years.  The guitarist and the drummer are still very good on the album though and so is the vocalist.  Overall, I’d say that this album is pretty good, but it could have been better.  Make sure to pick it up in your local music store or just buy it on Itunes.

Score:  7 out of 10

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

By Sandor Hugert

This game looks absolutely amazing.  It looks like it will be way    better than Call of Duty 2 and 3.  The single player looks really good and it seems like the story line will actually be pretty interesting.  The guns in the game look really cool and modern just like what the title of the game infers.  I’m mostly excited about the online part of the game, as it seems like it will be lots of fun.  The game has a good amount of online death match modes, and the maps seem really cool.  I used to love playing online on Socom for PS2, and this Call of Duty 4 online looks a lot like it just possibly better.  The graphics of the game definitely look next gen.  This time around it seems like they paid good attention on the single player part of the game and the online portion of the game, which doesn’t happen much, as most companies will just mainly just focus on one of those things.  I’m very excited about playing this game on single player as well as on XBOX Live with other people.

Release Date:  November 5, 2007