Tag Archives: Suit
PC | Strike Suit Infinity Review
If the title Strike Suit Infinity sounds familiar, you might be confusing it with Strike Suit Zero, the space-mech combat game that was released back in January. Its fast-paced battles were beautifully rendered, and a bit unbalanced at times, but Zero offered just the right mix of arcade-inspired action and intergalactic vistas to keep things interesting through to the end. Sadly, for a $ 20 game, there simply wasn’t enough variety in the action or mission structure. For Infinity, developer Born Ready Games stripped the Strike Suit experience down to its core mechanics, offering a stand-alone horde mode for $ 7. It’s a smart move; the most redeeming quality of Zero was its gameplay, after all. While it’s good to see a game embrace its strengths so wholeheartedly, there are a myriad of smaller issues that hold Infinity back from greatness, despite its improved value.
Your task couldn’t be more straightforward: survive and defeat waves of enemy combatants. In your transforming jet mech strike suit, you fly through outer space, whittling away at opposing spacecraft with energy cannons, lock-on missiles, and thousands of rounds of smaller munitions. Collect enough flux by defeating enemies, and you can transform into the strike suit’s bipedal form, which brings increased firepower and defense. Each round is a heady mix of speed, explosions, and tense face-offs, the culmination of which makes Strike Suit Infinity a captivating and challenging experience.
Survival is often difficult, since each round of waves pummels you with denser enemy formations and increasingly more powerful ships, but chasing the top of the online leaderboards is the ultimate challenge in Infinity. Even though it may seem impossible to leave your mark on the overall leaderboard, you can also compete for the per-round leaderboards, challenging previously defeated rounds a la carte.
Before the start of a round, you’re given hints about the types of enemies you’ll face in the waves to come, and what weapons might be most effective, but it takes more than a little advanced knowledge to come out on top. Strike Suit Infinity rewards fast reflexes and experience, and the room for skill development is impressive, with the top ranked players hitting scores 100 times larger than your own in some cases. Reaching that same high level of play seems insurmountable, but every defeat leads to new lessons and a better understanding of what you must do to prevail.
Of course, you must first overcome the strike suit’s complex capabilities. To be able to accelerate, brake, maneuver, transform, fire weapons, avoid enemy fire, and deploy a missile-scrambling EMP burst in a matter of a couple of seconds requires some serious coordination. Thankfully, the controls are comprehensive and responsive, leaving little to be desired in the way of mech management once they sink in. When dialed in during the heat of battle, good players will be able to handle most things thrown their way. The difference between a good and a great player, however, is the ability to earn score multipliers, effectively manage resources, and locate the fleeting and hard-to-locate upgrades, hidden in relatively far off transports and freighters.
Aiding you on your mission are ally squads, purchased with credits earned during the previous rounds. While not so important at the start, it’s critical that you manage your fleet, and thus your pool of credits, during later rounds against frigates, mine layers, and the infamous Black Fleet. Squads are defined by their class, which range from nimble Interceptors to Heavy Fighters and Bombers. Instead of picking up new recruits, you may choose to spend credits to level up your entire team, but it’s entirely unclear what aspects get upgraded in the process. Do your ships gain speed? Does their AI improve? You don’t know, because the game doesn’t tell you. The same goes for the upgrades that you earn for your strike suits; +2 to armor sounds good on paper, but it’s impossible to quantify what that actually means.
Apart from introducing the simple joys of arcade-like skill progression, Strike Suit Infinity also features the Marauder and Raptor strike suits, the latest DLC add-ons for Strike Suit Zero. Their qualities vary in the typical way: the Marauder has increased firepower and shield ratings at the cost of speed, while the opposite is true for the Raptor. They’re interesting diversions that prove to be distinct in practice, providing a simple means of mixing up the dynamics of conflict. What would cost $ 2.99 to add into Strike Suit Zero is available in Infinity from the start, a fact that may mean little to newcomers, but might prove enticing to existing owners of Zero who have yet to purchase the DLC. The differences between the three strike suits may not be tailored for use during specific rounds, but when roadblocked by a difficult round, switching suits is a fast and dirty way of alternating your approach.
There are nagging imperfections in the game’s upgrade system that can be demotivating when budgeting credits, but the omission of specific numbers doesn’t tarnish the joys of combat. Strike Suit Zero cost a comparatively hefty sum for its somewhat brief campaign, but Infinity could take months to master, at a fraction of the cost. It’s unfortunate for strike suit veterans that Infinity isn’t available as an add-on to Zero, but as a stand-alone game, it’s an excellent slice of mech combat presented under the guise of an old-school arcade game; bonus rounds and all.
Federal Suit Claims Police Distort Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors
A lawsuit says that New York City police officers routinely stop black and Latino men without cause and then charge them with low-level misdemeanors when small amounts of marijuana are found.
NYT > Marijuana and Medical Marijuana
Federal Suit Claims Police Distort MJ Searches
One man was walking home with groceries. Another was on a break from his job at a meat market. A third was walking down the street listening to headphones.
That is when the men say police officers confronted them, sometimes violently, searched their clothing and discovered small amounts of marijuana, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit that is expected to be filed on Thursday in United States District Court for the Southern District, in Manhattan.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of five Bronx men, contends that New York City police officers routinely stop black and Latino men without cause and then charge them with low-level misdemeanors when their pockets are emptied and small amounts of marijuana are found.
In each of the cases, the amount of marijuana found on the men would have amounted to little more than noncriminal violations punishable by a fine of up to $ 100 for first-time offenders. But the lawsuit contends that the charging officers falsely claimed the marijuana was in public view, making it a low-level misdemeanor under Section 221.10 of the New York Penal Code, which allows for sentences of up to three months in jail.
Critics of the Police Department say the practice, which they call manufactured misdemeanors, is widespread. The arrests are often the outgrowth of the department’s stop-and-frisk program, which is being challenged in federal court for, among other things, disproportionately targeting black and Hispanic men.
The lawsuit names the city, the department and several officers and supervisors as defendants. It was filed by the Bronx Defenders, which represents low-income defendants, and the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady L.L.P. A similar lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society is pending in state court in Manhattan.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department declined to comment on Wednesday, saying the city had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
The Police Department charged more than 50,000 people with marijuana misdemeanors in 2011. More than 84 percent were black or Hispanic, a disparity that is even more pronounced in the Bronx.
In an effort to limit these arrests, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has made decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in open view one of his top goals this legislative session. The Legislature failed to act on a similar measure last year, despite support from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly.
Though state law calls for misdemeanor cases to be tried within 60 days, the time limits are seldom met, the lawsuit contends. People arrested in the Bronx have it even worse; a recent series of articles in The New York Times revealed a dysfunctional justice system plagued by long delays that often make it all but impossible for people charged with misdemeanors to ever reach trial.
Two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Francisco Zapata and Danilo Melendez, were featured in one of the articles. They endured long delays and made frequent court appearances waiting for trial before the charges against them were finally dropped.
A version of this article appeared in print on May 2, 2013, on page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Federal Suit Claims Police Distorted Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors.
Source: New York Times (NY)
Author: Ray Rivera
Published: May 2, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Cannabis News – Medical Marijuana, Hemp, Marijuana News, Cannabis
PC | Strike Suit Zero Review
Earth’s future hangs by a thread. After decades of expansion and colonization across the universe, man’s disparate factions are fighting for independence from their homeworld. Strike Suit Zero puts you in the role of Adams, a faceless soldier, as you defend the United Nations of Earth from the Colonial onslaught. Though a few nagging issues persist throughout, Strike Suit Zero’s strengths continuously rise to the surface, and whether it’s the dramatic renderings of outer space or the heady mix of grace and aggression during battle, there’s simply a lot to love about its modern twist on the decidedly stale space combat genre
Before acquiring the game’s namesake war machine, you have to complete a few introductory tutorials in a standard fighter jet to get acclimated to the controls. Jets are fast, and your test fighter is no exception. You can engage thrusters for an additional boost of speed to keep up with fleeing enemies, but topping out can also send you slightly off course due to the effects of inertia. Unlike the strike suit you command during much of the campaign, jets have the ability to disable incoming missiles by emitting an electromagnetic pulse. The EMPs get the job done, but the lack of something like a quick barrel-roll feels like a missed opportunity for practical showmanship. The standard fighter is quite simple in that regard. After a few minutes, you’ll have no problem mowing down enemy ships while jetting across the battlefield, and Adams will be cleared for his return to active duty.
Each of the four ships used throughout the campaign are capable of equipping various types of guns and missiles simultaneously. Most scenarios are flexible enough that you can develop your own loadout without jeopardizing your chances of success, since that responsibility ultimately falls onto your ability to strike or flee at key moments. Missiles that lock onto enemy aircraft have a finite supply of ammo, so it’s smarter to utilize standard machine guns or plasma rounds rather than auto-targeting every enemy from the start. Once you deplete your cache of ammo within individual missions, you’re out of luck since there are no items or supplies to be found in the vastness of space.
However, rather than lean on the notion that space is a mostly empty void, each stage is replete with fantastic images of gigantic celestial bodies and gaseous nebulae that make the entire experience a joy to behold. Debris and casualties of war decorate the foreground while jetstreams of red and blue dance across the screen. The balance of scale and visual flourishes make you feel like a part of the action, rather than a mere observer of distant wonders.
The relatively dull jet gameplay at the start leaves a lackluster first impression, but once the game puts you in the seat of the Strike Suit, it spreads its wings and never looks back.
From the handful of ships you’ll pilot during the course of the game, the Strike Suit remains the most enjoyable to use for it’s ability to transform and out maneuver enemy aircraft. Once you’ve gathered the right amount of flux energy from shooting down enemies and space debris, your suit can change into a nimble mech with considerably stronger firepower and the ability to quickly dash out of harms way. Every shot you fire in strike mode depletes your flux meter, so finding the balance between your two states becomes a critical skill for success in later missions. The advantages the mech brings to the table include the ability to auto-lock onto the nearest target and the potential to train missiles on up to five enemies at once, but be careful: you can still get shot down if you neglect to watch your back. Once you get a taste of juggling the nimble jet and the powerful mech, it’s hard to go back to the less exciting alternatives. It’s too bad that you can’t use it in every mission, but thankfully there are only a few where it’s unavailable.
$250 million suit for likeness in GTA: San Andreas fails
All of Grand Theft Auto’s characters are fictional, though some are clearly more based on reality than others. Model and Cypress Hill backup singer Michael “Shagg” Washington was leaning on that fact when he sued Rockstar Games for $ 250 million in 2010, alleging San Andreas protagonist CJ drew heavily from his life’s story and physical appearance without compensation.
The Hollywood Reporter says a California appeals court Wednesday backed up a prior decision that Washington couldn’t prove CJ’s creation was not covered by publisher Take-Two’s transformative use defense. That is, the argument that the First Amendment permits existing materials to be used free and clear if they are altered enough for a new purpose.
Washington was not without ammunition in the case–Rockstar developers did in fact interview him about his history as former gang member in 2003, and he even appeared in San Andreas’ credits as talent. But the appeals court wasn’t having it, according to its unpublished written decision.
“Washington has presented no evidence demonstrating that the plot or characters of GTA: San Andreas have any relevance to his life or his purported fame.”
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