Sine Mora: Make Your PS3 and Vita Happy With This High End Shmup

 

Like classic arcade shmups? Got ten bucks and a PS3 or PlayStation Vita handy? Well, go grab a copy of Sine Mora off PSN and prepare for takeoff. This Grasshopper Manufacture/Digital Reality team-up is really great stuff, inspired by Squaresoft’s classic PSOne game Einhander as well as bullet hell shooters from companies such as Cave and Psikyo. There’s a unique time-based mechanic where taking enemy ships and creatures down adds to your timer while getting hit decreases it, so you’ll always be on your toes. Sine Mora looks really gorgeous as well, with cinematic sequences flowing right into gameplay, keeping you immersed in the action.All that and if you speak Hungarian, you’ll actually be able to understand the dialog without subtitles (yes, Japanese game developers do some odd things like that).

There are some long load times and seeing some of the tiny shots on screen in certain areas is tough, adding more challenge to some map, but overall, it’s a total blast and well worth every penny. Oh yeah, it’s also got more content than the versions thanks to Whilhelmine from another spectacular arcade and console shooter Under Defeat (which just got a limited retail release on the PS3 after its PSN debut not too long ago). Anyway, go make your PS3 or Vita (and you) smile with a nice, inexpensive present you’ll play again and again.

(Not So) Random Film of the Week: Melancholia

melancholiaQuite possibly the best end of the world movie to date (provided you aren’t expecting something along the lines of an Irwin Allen-style Hollywood blockbuster packed to the gills with overpaid celebrities), Lars von Trier’s Melancholia is also a surprisingly beautiful film despite the fact that everyone dies at the end. Er… Surprise!

Actually, the film spells its not so big secret out in the stunning opening montage and its two acts play out in operatic fashion as things unwind in the lives of two sisters and how they deal with the impending disaster. Even though you know what’s going to happen, von Trier’s focus on the pair and the more intimate events in their small part of the world makes for compelling viewing that keeps you watching until the very end. Even if you don’t like some of the director’s previous films, this is one of those essentials that’s not as depressing as you’d think thanks to some excellent performances all around and some truly gorgeous cinematography.

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