School
I am in favor of returning to school, partly because hindsight is wonderful. The hovering Chem test and Trig quiz resulted as a 99 and 50/50, respectively. SCHOOOOOLAGE!!!! Anyway, that aside, nothing interesting occurred academically. Chem has been notes, studying, and B-ritter toolage. Jerry gave us another reading quiz on Huck Finn, a totally riveting, exciting, and utterly pointless and boring novel. Surprisingly, I pulled off the elusive 7/10. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the essay I had a month ago. French remains a worthless period, sucking completely. On the horizon, however, I foresee some sort of useful grammar skills. All is not lost, at least momentarily.

On less unpleasant notes, History is the party it's always been, now with twice the ugliness of room. Indeed, the dwelling downstairs sucks; it appears that its designer had either spent too much time living underground or had envisioned some sort of torture room while laying out his plans. Which isn't at all unlikely, come to think about it. Phys Ed is also becoming better, in the form of Eileen being absent more often. Trig is amazing, the class it always is - midyear exam approaching soon, a rather important exam from what I hear. Unfortunately, AE Bio still exists, with no apparent changes. I'm stomaching it like a man. You haven't experienced life without the non-adrenaline rush of doing AE Bio homework after seventh period while your comrades have conveniently deserted you three minutes earlier.

Also, despite the controversy, we indeed had a snow day. A WTF flag anyone? Six inches of snow = cancellation when we have school for 8- to 10-inch storms? It's not like I don't think a snow day is a good idea - hell, it's extremely refreshing, for a change - but I disapprove greatly of its timing. Week that we get back from vacation is not a good time for an unexpected break. Also, totally unintentionally, Mr. Weather Maester decided to make it snow the day before the school dance. Now if that's not piss-poor natural selection, then I don't know what is. Not that I'm complaining. Not that I'm bitter. Not that I... Who am I kidding. I just wish it could've snowed massively on the coming Monday...

Games, Ranting
For Christmas, I got Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. I promise not to degenerate into ranting about it again, but to reiterate, it is amazing. The stealthy, well-paced gameplay is punctuated and rewarded by excellently choreographed cinematics. It makes me question wherefore came the ill feeling toward long cinematics, though obviously Final Fantasy X had a hand in that. It was a beautiful experience. After playing two hours a day for the first three days, I was stuck a bit for a couple of days, advancing a combined one hour. Throughout the rest of vacation, I logged on a substantial quantity of gameplay. I finally beat it just today.

Storyline-wise, it is an excellent tribute to historical fiction. There is an underlying theme throughout the game of the evil of politics. The leading characters are beautifully fleshed out. Even after the gameplay has ended, there are significant plot twists, regarding all of the lead characters, besides Snake himself. The year is 1964. The Cold War is in full swing after the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of beloved John F. Kennedy. Stealth Soldier Naked Snake, also known as "John" or "Jack", is sent by the CIA on "Virtuous Mission" to rescue American weapons scientist Sokolov from a Soviet weapon research facility. His mission fails when Soviet soliders apprehend them as they are captured. Snake is then sent on a second mission to re-rescue Sokolov, to destroy Sokolov's weapon, and to assassinate his own former mentor, "The Boss", who has defected mysteriously to the Soviet Union. Mission "Snake Eater".

The graphics are the cream of the crop this generation. Despite having the technologically inferior PS2 as its platform, Snake Eater is a visual beauty, with topnotch character models and intricate background settings. Grass blows with the winds; footprints retain heat, giving a palpable aura of realism. The framerate suffers as a result - there is no slowdown, but the game as a whole doesn't run at the blazing 60FPS of most games these days. Cutscenes are near-perfect. Irritated as I am that I must resort to using it, the perfect word for these action scenes is "cool". Massive explosions are smoothly animated; Ocelot does the insanest of revolver-spinning; Colonel Volgin looks shockingly good. (ZING!) Voices don't line up with the mouths due to its origins in Japan, but the facial expressions are very convincing. No details are left untouched.

Audio is lovable and epic. Notably, the voice-acting is incredibly well-done - totally exceeding my admittedly low expectations. Snake sounds exactly like the badass impression he creates in general. Volgin sounds evil and twisted. The Boss sounds cold and distant. Soldiers will talk amongst themselves with similar quality, though they aren't as personified or defined. Gunshots are violent and accurate. Grunts of pain are distinguishable, and footsteps and shuffling along the ground create suspicious noises. Snake will make metallic noises when slitting necks, and there is a snap at the break of an enemy's neck. MGS3's music is epic. The mood of the music changes depending upon the status of the enemy. During normal status gameplay, there is a quiet, haunting melody that infiltrates the mind. However, an alert status music comes on when enemies realize that you are nearby. While being chased, and in certain scenes, music of James Bond vintage plays in the background. It always suits the situation, and it is always among the best music of all.

The gameplay itself is the meat of any game, and MGS3 does not disappoint. As a spy, most of the gameplay is stealth and sneaking. Snake is loaded with features and abilities. Endowed with weapons and Close-Quarter-Combat fighting skills, he can hold his own in any one-on-one battle, but typically it's advantageous to avoid it, because the noise could easily draw more enemies. With the new setting of the jungle, Snake uses camouflage as well as natural sneaking ability to pass unnoticed and undisturbed. The camera gives and overhead view, and while it may seem awkward at times, it is extremely stylish, giving the game a very movie-esque feel overall. The enemies are surprisingly human-like. They will notice interesting small things in Snake's presence, and due to their deductive skills, should they discover signs of proximity, Snake must silence them by sniping or CQC. Every area is intense and strongly coordinated, giving excellent atmosphere and overall superduperkickbutt fun.

If you have a PS2, get this game. =)

Anything else?
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