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Katelynn Ansari July Cover Model 20 questions with Katelynn
Photography by Andrew Gates Makeup & hair by Bioanca Robinson
14 All Access
The Latest Albums Reviewed Albums Reviewed: Tech N9ne Strangeulation
By Jeremy Weeden
Linkin Park The Hunting Party By Silas Valentino
18 All Access Spotlight Artists/Bands Featured:
Dirty Heads, Muneshine & G-Eazy
22 Coming Up
Models To Keep An Eye On Featured Models: Lauren Boyette Virginia Beach, VA
26 Game On
The Latest Games Reviewed Games Reviewed: Valiant Hearts
By Josh Schilling
By Samuel Wendel
UFC
20 Live & Loud
30 Game On Spotlight
Foxy Shazam
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Alien Isolation & Destiny
On The Cover
This Page
Live Show Reviews Featured Artists/Shows: By Nicolas Bates and Dan Sinclair
Photo by Andrew Gates Make-up & hair by Bioanca Robinson
www.RUKUSmag.com
By Jesse Seilhan
Games Featured:
By Jesse Seilhan
Photo by Andrew Gates Make-up & hair by Bioanca Robinson
July 2014 • RUKUS
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Shoot. The Messenger. A sleek, lightweight, street-smart satchel that hugs your body, moves with you, and doesn’t cramp your style. Carries a DSLR, 3-4 lenses, laptop and accessories. Removable photo insert lets you convert it quickly from a camera bag to a book bag, school bag, briefcase or general-purpose carryall. Available in small and large sizes to hold laptops up to 15 and 17 inches. Pack what you need. Shoot what you want . Tenba
Messenger.
Available at:
S e e i t f o r y o u r s e l f a t Te n b aT V. c o m www.samys.com
|
800.321.4726
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Andrew Gates Live & Loud Editor
Nicolas Bates All Access Editor
Silas Valentino Games Editor
Jesse Seilhan Art Director
Andrew Gates All Access Contributors
Silas Valentino, Jeremy Weeden & Samuel Wendel Live & Loud Contributors
Nicolas Bates & Dan Sinclair Pit Pass Contributor
Andrew Gates Game On Contributors
Jesse Seilhan & Josh Schilling Contributing Photographers
Andrew Gates & Nicolas Bates Contributing Videographers
Nate Olson & Adrien Delstanche Contributing Make-up Artists
Bioanca Robinson & Regina Pacheco Contributing Hair Stylists
Bioanca Robinson & Regina Pacheco Advertising
Andrew Gates
advertise@RUKUSmag.com Mailing Address
RUKUS MAGAZINE 11304 Chandler Blvd. #6131 North Hollywood, CA 91603
Copyright © 2008-2014 RUKUS MAGAZINE & RUKUSmag.com. All Rights Reserved! July 2014 issue, Volume 6, Number 7. ISSN 2161-4369 (print) ISSN 2161-4377 (online) Visit http://www.RUKUSmag.com for more images and content.
Katelynn Ansari Photography by Andrew Gates Make-up & hair by Bioanca Robinson
K
atelynn Ansari was born and raised in Orange County, California. Growing up as a little beach bunny, she always had a love for the outdoors and tan lines. She’s definitely not one to stray away from having a good time, since she enjoys many outdoor activities. When Katelynn was a teen she wasn’t allowed to model and filled the void via beauty pageants. As she won awards, her modeling passion grew deeper. Once Katelynn turned eighteen, she switched gears and pursued a career in modeling, but she wasn’t familiar with the industry so she was faced with a lot of rejection. After four years of dedication, she was finally able to quit her job as a waitress and concentrate on modeling full time. Katelynn is currently modeling at different events around the country as well as being featured in multiple magazines. She recently graduated from Cal State University Fullerton with a degree in Advertising so she’s not just another beautiful face, she has the brains too.
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20 QUESTIONS 1.What’s your Ethnicity? Well, I was adopted so I’m not quite sure, all I know is that my mixture is delicious. 2.What’s your zodiac sign? I am a Taurus. 3.Where are you from originally? I’m originally from Orange County, CA, but I decided to venture out a little bit and move to Los Angeles. 4.What did you like most about growing up in Orange County, CA? I loved being able to go max out at the beach all day, ride beach cruisers, get greasy Mexican food, and get all salty. 5.What kind of mischief did you get into while growing up? I was actually a really good kid so I didn’t get into too much trouble. I think I was saving up my mischief for now. 6.What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? I went to Panama for a week with my friends. We jumped off rocks, rented a janky van to travel around in, and frolicked in stingray infested water at night…such a wild trip. 7.What’s your favorite hobby and why? I love to work out, it’s a time where I can block out everything and be alone, it’s also super relaxing. 8.What’s your guilty pleasure? Shoes are definitely my guilty pleasure. I literally have an obsession and don’t think I can ever have enough. I have some that I haven’t even worn yet.
all these reality show stars from getting so famous for absolutely nothing…and yes, I’m talking about Kim Kardashian and Honey Boo Boo. 11.What’s one of your personal goals? I want to be so on top of my game in the next 5 years so that I can buy a house if I wanted. 12.What do guys compliment you on the most? I get a lot of compliments on my legs, eyes, and smile. 13.What’s your favorite body part on yourself? I’ve been doing my squats lately, so I have to say my ass. I can definitely see the results. 14.What do you look for in a guy? I look for height…I love a tall man who has great style. 15.What’s the first thing you notice about a guy? The first thing I notice about a guy is how he carries himself. There’s nothing sexier than a man who knows he’s hot, but isn’t boasting about it. 16.What’s your ideal first date? My ideal first date would be something random, out of the ordinary, and spontaneous. Maybe going to hit golf balls, or going to a wine festival. I don’t like the traditional “dinner and a movie,” I think that’s boring. 17.What turns you on? Massages and kisses on the neck. 18.What turns you off? Horrible kissers or bad breath.
9.Who do you admire and why? I really admire Katy Perry. She’s the poster girl for embracing your inner weirdness and it’s really inspiring.
19.What’s your biggest pet peeve? Definitely, overly needy people…I am a super independent woman so if you start bugging me constantly about hanging out, its not romantic, it’s just annoying.
10.If you could change one thing in the world what would it be and why? If I could change one thing, I would stop
20.Who’s your celebrity crush? Is it too cliché to say Ryan Gosling because I would pounce on that in a heartbeat. RM
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I love a tall man who has great style.
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STATS: Birthday:
May 18
Height:
5’8”
Weight:
115lb
Measurements:
34D-25-34
See more of Katelynn at instagram.com/katelynnansari www.RUKUSmag.com
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Indy Legend Photo by Nicolas Bates Written by Jeremy Weeden
Midwest legend Tech N9ne returns with new music in the form of Strangeulation, his fifth collabos album. Strangeulation features all of his Strange Music artists as well as Tyler Lyon, Ryan Bradley, Mackenzie O’Guin, Kendall Morgan, John 5 and Serj Tankian and the majority of the album was produced by Kansas City-producer Seven. The first track, “Strangeulation I” features Tech N9ne’s trademark rapid fire flow and is the first in a four-part series featuring the rest of the Strange Music family in a cypher. The next three “Strangeulation” cypher tracks are dispersed throughout the album. The next song on the album, “Hard (A Monster Made It),” features Strange Music’s newest signee, California rapper Murs. He fits right in with the crew dropping the lines “Kings get assassinated, castles all crumble/Forever lives the legend of a poet who is humble/Words to live by, now I die by a strange code/About to kill this verse, they call me Murs if you ain’t know/I don’t rap fast, I’mma leave that up to Tech and ‘em/Ces, Bernz, Krizz, Rittz, Wrek and the rest of ‘em.” “Over It” features Ryan Bradley singing a pop punk chorus. This song has crossover appeal and if Tech N9ne releases it as a single, has potential to be a hit. “Make Waves” continues the rock-tinged vibe with its hard guitar riffs and gruff chorus. “Nobody Cares” is an excellent song with a beat that slows over the chorus and really highlights Seven’s versatility as a producer. The melancholy chorus goes “Everything in my head, all these words that I said/Nobody cares, nobody cares/And nobody gives a damn what I say, who I am/Nobody cares, nobody cares/These bright lights, show my life nobody cares.” “Great Night” has a very catchy beat and chorus and has great potential to be a club banger. Over a hard sounding classic boom bap beat, Tech N9ne rips it dropping lyrics like “Before the final destination we make a pit stop/To get Keisha then who sits in the back twist crops/Every move a nigga make in the spot chicks watch/So it’s very little tick tock to get box.” “Fear” is a very personal song about Tech N9ne’s mother’s illness. His pain is felt through the lyrics “Now my mom’s worse and a lot ill/My fear is that this God I’m prayin to for my mother is not real.” “The Calling” is another personal song about Tech’s struggles with alcohol and drinking too much. He illustrates his problems using the lyrics “I feel that pain comin from inside/My people had the same drinkin and then died/Devil in my brain I’m sinkin within pride/Drinkin for lunch and I’m drinkin for dinner/I’m nothin but lush when I’m pushin up in her/I seldom remember the 8th of November/Cause I be goin so hard I’m always on a bender.” Strangeulation is a good album and highlights the talents of the Strange Music Artists. Each song features Tech N9ne so familiarity is there with each song, but the other artists are given ample room to shine. Strangeulation is a nice addition to Tech N9ne’s catalogue and again proves he has created his own lane as well as a path for others. Tech N9ne has struggled for years to get his proper recognition from the industry but now as he seems to be achieving it his feelings can best be summed up by his spoken word outro on “Hard:” “It’s getting to the point where I don’t even wanna work with rappers no more, man/All these years of trying to get ‘em all to see, now I just wanna do what I been doin/Just make music for my Technicians to bang.”
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Missing the Mark
Photo by Brandon Cox Written by Silas Valentino
Linkin Park’s sixth studio album is a departure from their recent two-album stint as an electric-centric rock band. Somewhere hidden in the album title is a metaphor regarding LP banding together to (as stated on their website) “carry the flag that is their own.” It sounds promising but words scrawled on your homepage are cheap. This is the first time since 2003’s Meteroa where the band isn’t working with guru producer Rick Rubin, instead opting for a self-produced record. That’s risky considering the fact you don’t have another pair of trained ears ready to assist you if the train rattles off the rails but Linkin Park isn’t the kind of band to abide by tradition. They made their mark in popular music as the rock band with a rapper. “Keys to the Kingdom” opens the 46-minute dystopian odyssey and during the first ten seconds you’re greeted with vocal-manipulated Chester Bennington howling about “no control, no surprise” and being his own casualty. From there LP shred any doubts that The Hunting Party will continue their preexisting exploration into electronic music and instead have opted for a return to their roots where Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda trade off on the mic while the band trades off between contained verses and explosive choruses. Four unique guests pop up during The Hunting Party bringing along a six-pack of Fresca to help spruce up the ambiance. Page Hamilton of Helmet fame adds vocals on “All for Nothing” and one of the originators of rap—Rakim—spitfires a descent flow during “Guilty All the Same.” The most collaborative effort comes from System of a Down’s secret pistol Daron Malakian who lends his talents on “Rebellion.” But not even the might of the 30th greatest heavy metal guitarist (as voted by Guitar World) can salvage the track from a pitiful chorus stump where the song’s title is sung in a Justin Bieber-like melody. The strongest guest contribution is courtesy of a man whose name is attached to Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Nightwatchman and most recently Springsteen. Tom Morello offers light but technically beautiful guitar work on the instrumental highlight “Drawbar.” Unlike the Morello we commonly know where his guitar mimics a hawk soaring towards a feast, this guitar work is much more reserved and melodic. Bennington replaced Scott Weiland as the Stone Temple Pilots singer back in 2013 and after hearing most of the lyrics featured in The Hunting Party, you get the sense that he’s saving his good stuff for STP. “I thought I kept you safe and sound/I thought I made you strong/But something made me realize/That I was wrong,” he sings on the flat track “Until it’s Gone.” If while listening to a record for the first time you find yourself correctly guessing the upcoming lyrics, you know the singer half-assed the process. Dave Grohl made headlines back in the mid 2000s when he condemned Linkin Park for using technological assistance during their live performances and Bennington has commented before on anti-Linkin Park listeners who appear at their shows with signs blasting the band. Linkin Park are in the perfect spot to truly combat their haters. They have something positive going for them—heck—their 2004 single “Numb/Encore” was the 2000s equivalent to Run DMC/Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way.” This record could have been their opportunity to say something challenging besides boasting about how much of a “5-star general” they are, as heard in “All For Nothing.” But instead of rising to the challenge and crafting truly powerful songs with a message, Linkin Park use The Hunting Party like a YouTube comment section where they fall flat and only talk the talk.
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Facebook.com/DirtyHeads
Written by Samuel Wendel
Dirty Heads, Sound of Change
For a band that catapulted to relative alternative rock prominence by riding the wave of the reggae/ska radio hit “Lay Me Down,” which sounded like a Sublime or Slightly Stoopid b-side, Dirty Heads aren’t sticking to their guns with their forth LP entitled Sound of Change. Their newest release finds these Huntington Beach, CA., lads experimenting with different genres ranging from folk, surf-rock, blues, electronica and even Spanish flamenco-sounding guitars. At their core you can still hear the same base elements of the reggae-fusion rock they perfected with their debut album Any Port in a Storm, but on Sound of Change they’ve added extra layers of complexity. The result, while not perfect, is also not a disaster and makes Dirty Heads much more interesting than your average post-Sublime reggae/ska band (including the current version of Sublime) and should please old and news fans alike. Standout tracks include electronic-leaning “Burn Slow” featuring Tech N9 and the more conservative reggae-influenced tracks “Radio” and “Dark Days”—both of which should please old fans with a more classic Dirty Heads sound.
Facebook.com/Muneshine
Muneshine, In Transit
The title of Canadian MC/Producer Muneshine’s fifth solo LP, In Transit, is indeed a fitting one, showing the musician on the track to bigger and better things. Compared to previous albums, like 2012’s There is Only Today, his latest effort is more mature and nuanced, but still experimental. The hooks are smooth and sound fussed over, but still retain a measure of retro-cool despite the slick production value. The standout track is the title track, featuring vocals from Jenn Grant, and is a smooth rollercoaster of a hip-hop song that manages to mix a classic hip-hop beat with a more modern EDM-influenced sound. Overall it’s not a game-changing album for the genre of hip-hop, but it is an example of an MC combining the hooks of classic hip-hop with contemporary electronic-heavy samples to create a record that sounds both familiar and new at the same time. For an artist who is more well known for remixes than original material, and who is more well known abroad (specifically in Japan), In Transit might punch his ticket to gaining a bigger fan base on his home continent.
Facebook.com/G.Eazy
G-Eazy, These Things Happen
It would be easy to label G-Eazy as a cheap Macklemore rip-off, but if you take a moment to look—or listen—deeper, you’ll find that this Bay Area rapper is not trying to piggyback on the coattails of his contemporary from the north. Instead, on his third studio album entitled These Things Happen, you won’t find any surefire radio hits—but you will find a diverse range of sounds that seem more in the vein of hip-hop stars like Kendrick Lamar or Chance the Rapper. While he doesn’t pull it off with the same intensity or creativity as those two, the influences are noticeable in his delivery and the in the production. Overall, These Things Happen is a mature and well-constructed hip-hop album that maintains an even and compelling flow throughout. G-Eazy’s lyrics aren’t canned hip-hop Mad Libs, instead they’re personal and introspective—not just designed to fit nicely around a beat or hook. It might not be a classic but with These Things Happen, G-Eazy is giving us a glimpse of greater things that could happen. Standout tracks are “Opportunity Cost,” “Been On” and “Lotta That” featuring both A$AP Ferg and Danny Seth.
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Foxy Shazam Photos by Nicolas Bates Written by Dan Sinclair
July almost came and went without a RUKUS show to cover, when lo and behold, something quite Foxy came ‘round El Rey. Yes, the fabulous Foxy Shazam came shim-shimmying up the Miracle Mile in support of their self-released album Gonzo, and gave a performance that would’ve made both the Muppet and Hunter S. Thompson proud. Want to get to know the boys from Cincinnati? They are namely Loren Daniel Turner on guitar, Daisy Caplan strumming bass, Schuyler Vaughn White on keyboard, Aaron McVeigh banging drums, Alex Nauth blowing horns and, of course, Eric Sean Nally playing the human vocal chords. And straight from the first song “Gonzo,” each and every one of them gives their all, both displaying their mastery on their respective instruments and physically performing a show for the audience. During “Poem Pathetic” and “Brutal Truth,” White splits time between playing behind the keyboards and playing on top of them. Nally kicks his microphone around, never letting it once fall all the way to the floor. Nauth sings the backup, then either plays his horn or tosses it high in the air. And even though it’s his booming, soulful singing voice that’s made him famous, Eric tells the crowd to hold on: “I’m gonna talk in my real voice.” And guess what? His real voice is quite high. He actually sounds like a teenager kid who hasn’t quite hit puberty yet—it’s quite shocking actually. He then twirls the microphone around like it’s a lasso during “Have the Fun” and even does a headstand for “Shoe Box.” Before “Don’t Give In,” Nally tells us that it’s “…a song about time travel. We wrote it next week.” During “In This Life” he tells Nauth to “Suck it in and blow it out, baby,” referring to Alex’s trumpet, of course. Then after “Story Told,” Foxy Shazam leaves the stage to change clothes. When they return, White, Nauth and McVeigh do so topless while Nally dons a vertically striped shirt with horizontally striped pants. Caplan and Turner pretty much look the same. The crowd goes nuts when Nally says, “There sure are a lot of dogs out this evening,” because they know that signals that “Bombs Away” is coming up next. They help Foxy out with a few barks of their own. The writer’s favorite “Oh, Lord” is next, followed by “Holy Touch,” where the band finishes big… over and over. They freeze, then Nally shouts, “1, 2, 3, 4,” and boom, everyone plays the shit out of their instruments, then freeze again. Then it’s “5, 6, 7, 8,” then “9, 10, 11, 12,” then “13, 14, 15, 16.” Fans laugh and cheer while Foxy runs the joke as far into the ground as possible. After “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Nally says, “If it were legal to shoot people, I’d be dead,” to kick-start fan-favorite “Killin’ It.” Then it’s “The Temple” and “The Only Way to My Heart” before Foxy sang about big asses in “I Like It.” Nally placed his head under a cymbal, becoming part of the drum set as McVeigh continued to pound away. The performance was so much, Nally asked the crowd for a cigarette. Someone tosses a whole pack up. After his nicotine fix, the Foxy frontman sings a cover of Green Day’s “Longview.” Then they end the show with “Unstoppable,” because they are. They cannot be defeated. There’s very few live acts that come to mind that can top the energy and pure showmanship that comes with a Foxy Shazam concert—it’s just nonstop fun, pure and simple. If you hate fun, you should avoid them at all costs, but if you happen to be one of those rare human beings that likes to enjoy life and have a good time, go buy some Foxy tickets right now. Oh, and as Nally always says, “Roses are red. Violets are blue. Foxy Shazam. Fuck you.”
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Lauren Boyette Photography by Andrew Gates Make-up & hair by Bioanca Robinson
L
auren Ashlee Boyette originally comes from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She signed with a top New York City modeling agency at age thirteen and began doing runway shows and print work. Her modeling career has taken around the world and back again. Lauren was also a spokesmodel for AIDS awareness and traveled throughout India with the reigning Miss Universe to raise awareness, while educating the young women in the prostitution business. This became a life-changing experience for her, to see how these young women were treated by their own flesh and blood. Boyette was even featured on The Tyra Banks Show for her travels and education in AIDS awareness. Since her modeling career began she has done several runway shows for some of the top named designers in the industry. She has also been featured in multiple magazines, although she took some time off to finish school, Lauren is back to the grind ready to make a name for herself.
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THE STATS Birthday: September 16 Zodiac Sign: Virgo Measurements: 34C-24-34.5 Height: 6’0” Weight: 130lb Ethnicity: Eastern European and French Canadian. Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA Turn Ons: Intellect. I love to be able to hold a conversation with a man who can speak about anything from politics, travel, sports, to war. Education is a major turn on for me. Turn Offs: A know it all, someone cocky, a narcissist. I can not stand a man with a god-complex, and thinks he knows what is good for you, for him, and for the whole world. Ideal first date: Me cooking for him or vice versa with a nice bottle of wine, (Pinot noir only) candles and then a movie. I love staying home and find it much more romantic than going to a highend restaurant. Guilty Pleasure: A bottle of Barolo, my fiancés amazing steak on Sundays, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Thrifty/Rite Aid’s pistachio ice cream. Pet Peeves: Going to a restaurant and only ordering your drink when the waiter first comes over. I love to sit down and deploy my entire order, I hate waiting. Celebrity Pass: Ryan Gosling because he is such a dynamic actor and I love his bad boy attitude in Beyond the Pines and his romantic side in The Notebook. Not to mention he is handsome.
See more of Lauren at
instagram.com/laurenboyette
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War Never Changes
Written by Josh Schilling
The Great War, the “War to End All Wars”, or the name that it is most commonly known as, World War I, is a time in history that has rarely been shown in video games. On the surface, it doesn’t have the same weight as the subsequent World War II. Most people couldn’t name any of the major figures, battles or even the nations involved. World War I isn’t as intriguing with its smaller scale and inferior technology, so the entertainment world has naturally turned to the more exciting alternative. Nazi’s are incredibly easy to vilify, and the weapons, tactics, and vehicles used in World War II are much more tangible and interesting. If you hear names like Churchill, Roosevelt, or Hitler, you have an ingrained notion of who they are and what they stood for. If you hear places like Stalingrad, Normandy, or Pearl Harbor, you already have a sense of the terrible events that occurred there. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a game that digs deep into World War I and manages to slug you in the gut while simultaneously putting a smile on your face. It does what the best examples of great media sometimes do in that it entertains at the same time that it educates, and is steeped in irony just like the oxymoron in the second clause of its title. Valiant Hearts is pretty simple, mechanically speaking. If you want to break it down practically, it’s a twodimensional, fetch-quest puzzler. You find stuff you need to continue the narrative, and you sometimes perform actions like throwing objects or driving a car to break up the monotony. If all you want from games is gameplay, then this might not be the game for you. While the developers of this game do a good job of keeping the gameplay interesting and fun, that is not what this game is about. This is a heartfelt tale of simple people caught in this massive machine and how their lives are strewn about. There are five main characters that you play: four humans and one dog. The overall story brings these characters together, pushes them apart, and immerses you into individual areas of the Western Front where the main armies of Germany, France, and Great Britain have stalled in the mud. Miraculously, the overall object of this game is not about killing. You don’t wander about with a rifle looking for spikey-helmeted enemies to snipe, instead you focus on the survival of your friends and family. You quickly learn that valor is found in battlefields, but it does not need to be measured in kill/death ratios. The cartoony, Castle-Crasher-esque art style of this game might seem weird considering the weighty content you encounter, but like the intentions of a good chef preparing a great meal, this game is both sweet and salty. The contrast of what you see and what you feel is striking, and heightens the overall horror of battle along with the beauty of the characters’ intentions. There is no language spoken in this game except the occasional one-syllable affirmation, instead the story is conveyed with narration, and the characters communicate with Sims-like pictogram word balloons. It’s another in a line of odd artistic choices in this game that works perfectly in contrast to what you would expect in a war saga. This game turns out to be a creative force, and it contains many different aspects that can satisfy even the most hardened gamer. It should leave you with a new appreciation of this war in general, along with a sympathy for those who had to endure it.
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Choked Out!
Written by Jesse Seilhan
The mixed-martial arts rise to fame has been meteoric. From a second-hand circus bloodsport to a professional, regulated, multi-million dollar global enterprise, fans of the sport have seen the good and the bad over the past few decades. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the king of the crop, and have had a few videogames made in their name in order to bring the experience to the home, but after THQ went out of business, they were without a publisher and a developer. Enter Electronic Arts, a company that at one point told the head of UFC, Dana White, that they “wanted nothing to do” with the promotion. But times change, money was exchanged, and EA brought on the old Fight Night team to rework their Ignite engine into a brand new UFC game, dubbed EA Sports UFC. But is it a title contender or is it punching above its weight? First off, you can’t look at this game without being impressed. Visually, it might be the best graphical representation of the human body gaming has ever seen. From the muscles that twitch with each strike to the sweat dripping off of each combatant, no game has ever captured the raw emotion and visceral art that is cage fighting. The animation is nearly as good, as each fighter moves smoothly, for the most part, and has realistic reactions to each punch, kick, and choke. Sometimes the engine gets a little buggy and limbs bend in crazy angles, but that is rare and often pretty hilarious. Also, the game boasts nearly 100 fighters on the roster and the majority of the marquee names look nearly identical to their real-life counterparts, including, for the first time, female fighters like Ronda Rousey. What separates any good fighting game from the trash is how it handles, and that is where UFC has some issues. The striking is fun, fast, and furious, with flash knockouts and brutal shots coming off as painful in the digital space as they are in real life. But when it comes to the ground game, both submissions and transitions, there is a lot of work to do. Triggers need to be held down and the right stick has to be turned in quarter-circle motions to initiate both takedowns and submissions. Once a hold is locked in, a four-way radial screen pops up and the player doing the choking has to tap the stick in any of the four directions. The person being choked has to outsmart the attacker by tapping the stick in a different direction. It’s not intuitive, it doesn’t represent the skill of submission work, and it often leads to stand-ups and missed chances, without much feedback as to how or why it happened. To be fair, not a single MMA game has ever gotten the submission mechanic down, often going between some sort of button-mashing frenzy or nuanced stick work. The career mode is where most gamers will spend their time, but what they find there might not keep them around for long. You can create a fighter, improve particular aspects of your game via the training minigames, have a couple fights, then rinse and repeat until you’re done. That’s it, and the only thing separating these moments are video messages from Dana White, random trainers, and other UFC personalities encouraging you to “keep it up,” even if you’re one fight away from beating them for the belt. Experience points can be earned during training and fights, which is then used to improve particular aspects of your fighter, such as your striking or stamina. What should have been a technical marvel ends up being a bit shallow. While attention was certainly paid to how the game looks and feels, the mechanics and art of some of the fighting wasn’t given as much love. The campaign mode leaves a ton to be desired, but if you just want to sit on a couch with your buddy and beat each other up, it’s great. Just don’t go looking for more than that.
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Written by Jesse Seilhan
Alien Isolation
This game scared the crap out of us at E3 so it has to be on this list. While not a direct adaption of the movie (seeing as how that didn’t turn out well last time), you play as Ripley’s daughter in a survival horror setting. Trying to get off of the ship is only second in priority to not being killed by a gigantic, stalking Xenomorph that would love to have you for dinner. Although you have a few weapons to scare it off, once it sees you, you are pretty much a goner. A special treat for fans comes in the form of some pre-order bonus DLC (which will be available later on for those that miss out) that recreates the original game across a few missions, featuring the original cast doing voice-over work. Players will get a chance to play in Ripley’s boots before jumping into the main game, which makes this an Aliens instant classic. This is a must-play when it comes out this October, especially with the lights off and the sound cranked up high.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
It has been a while since the world that J. R. R. Tolkien built has come to the gaming world in any sort of mature manner. Most Lord of the Rings games of the past few years have been of the Lego variety, but a real third-person action RPG is coming for fans of the franchise in the form of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. This game doesn’t follow any established lore, so you will get to pave your own way with a brand new character named Tallon, who combines the best aspects of being a Ranger and a Wraith. The new Nemesis System is the real draw here, as enemies that kill you in battle go on to rank up in their army and become more fearsome as the game progresses. Shadow of Mordor features an all-star cast doing a bunch of voices, and some of the best visuals on this newest generation of consoles. It plays a lot like the Batman games and is the perfect filler until Arkham Knight comes out next year, although the unique gameplay mechanics and Assassin’s Creed-style traversal might make for something completely its own.
Destiny
While Xbox fans might be a bit miffed that the creators of Halo, Bungie, are bringing their next space epic to Sony’s consoles as well, everyone will benefit from this excellent-looking new shared-world shooter. While it is built more like an MMO than an FPS, it will have enough gunfire and intense battles to please the Call of Duty crowd as well as those that dig a co-operative experience. There will be community experiences that tie in the whole world to one giant battle, providing plenty of content beyond just the basic mission structure. Competitive multiplayer still exists, pitting up to 12 people against each other or in teams of two, controlling points on the battlefield or just straight-up deathmatch. Players can level up both their personal abilities and individual weapons, creating personal warriors that will be completely different than your friends. The Alpha and Beta periods have already shown what the game has in store, but with a full launch coming this Fall and over a year’s worth of expansion content planned including the first DLC launching in December, this will be the game to beat in 2014 and beyond.
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RUKUS • July 2014
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