redtiger02

I have watched several episodes of this show and for the most part, it's an interesting show. I really don't like anything that makes light of people's troubles but that isn't the entertaining part. The entertainment value really comes in when you see the odd situations that people are in when they come to repo a vehicle. There's everything from pizza delivery guys throwing sauce to strange little guys caught in the middle of a bondage session, you never know what you're going to see, but it does show you just how much weirdness there is in the world. If there is any one significant complaint I have about the show it has to be the one lady on the show, Sonia(sp) I believe it is. She is just disturbing. There's nothing really that entertaining about watching a 500lb behemoth talking about how great and how pretty she thinks she is, I mean seriously, there's a limit. It has reached the point where I won't watch the show unless I have it on the DVR and can skip past the segments she's in because I find it really disturbing. If you watched the Drew Carey show back in the day and remember Mimi, a character specifically designed to make fun of the wayyyy too much makeup wearing, self-absorbed, totally unrealistic attitude types, well, Sonia is that to the extreme. It has nothing to do with her weight, it has everything to do with her attitude. It's disturbing and I would never let my daughter watch one of her segments because I wouldn't want her to think that an attitude like that was OK in any way, shape or form. Do we really need to see a 600lb gorilla with numerous indistinguishable tattoos, makeup resembling a good coating of Dutch Boy™ paint, wearing skin tight clothing while constantly berating and insulting other people while preaching her own greatness on TV? It's just disturbing. The other guys on the show seem pretty decent and it's interesting to watch their dynamic develop through the different episodes.

The bottom line is: It's an entertaining show, but you watch it without a DVR at your own risk. If tattooed, obnoxious gorillas with bleach blonde hair that resembles a dust mop that's past its prime, maybe you'll enjoy the parts I can't stand.

When the show started out, it was somewhat refreshing. Even in the late 1980s, TV was still relatively tame and presented mostly unrealistic views on family life in America at the time. This was one of the first shows to show how 90% of the country actually lived. The parents were not Ivy League grads raising their children with all of the latest toys and fashions. It was a family that had to struggle just to make it through the month. The children weren't perfect Stepford kids whose biggest problem was who to take to the big dance on Friday night. They were brats who would have been backhanded in most homes, but that kind of realism doesn't exactly suit situation comedy. But, they had real problems and people could relate to the characters.

But then, things got all kinds of weird. If you watch the show in its various phases you can really tell when Roseanne Barr/Arnold/whatever her last name is this week, started to demand complete control and focus everything on herself instead of on the family as a whole. Slowly but surely, it went from a great show that everyone could relate to and laugh with into a sick joke that everybody began to laugh at instead. Roseanne started out as a streetwise mom who was just trying to do the best she could under tough circumstances and you could tell that sarcasm was one of the only ways a working mom could cope with 3 kids and a string of minimum wage jobs. Moms of all ages and classes could relate to her in some way and it made the show great. Then somehow Roseanne turned into the mom who would probably be banned from school property after one too many temper tantrums because she didn't get her way. If they were to set the show in present times (ca. late 2009) to the tune of the later shows, Roseanne would still be a mother to 3 kids, but she would be going store to store slipping on puddles in order to live settlement to settlement. Dan would still be just a working man trying to do right by his family, whether it was running a bike shop, doing mechanic work out of his driveway, or even picking up a paper route if that's what it took to take care of his family. Realistically, somewhere mid-season Dan and Roseanne would have to divorce after he got sick of her attitude and hired and attorney. But, that's why the show worked for awhile in the late '80's then utterly and completely crapped out in the mid '90's. It just stopped being funny and relateable and started being ridiculous. They may as well have had a Conners go to Hawaii and find a cursed tiki idol 2-parter.

Basically, if you want to watch this show, you only want to watch probably the first 3-4 seasons. Anything beyond that and you will be left scratching your head and wondering why they just kept making shows long after it stopped being even mildly amusing. Then factor in all that we now know about the actual Roseanne, the destruction of our National Anthem, Tom Arnold, her notoriously self-righteous attitude, and you will really start to understand why it got as truly horrible as it did. If you notice, we haven't heard anything from her since the merciful cancellation of the show, save for the odd publicity stunt just to let us know she's still alive and painful to watch. Hopefully, the powers-that-be of network and cable television will be kind enough to us to never give this annoying disaster of a person another show or HBO special. I'm afraid I would be forced to destroy my TV by any means necessary if I was to even see a preview saying something to the effect of "catch Roseanne in a brand new show for the fall season." What will it be this time? Let me guess, Roseanne was able to get past her 8th grade education and make it into the space program after NASA officials were overcome by her sassy wit. Then she's going to be the first 'domestic goddess' (her words, not my opinion) on Mars and she has to get all those wacky martians in line. Yeah, it's about as appealing of an idea as it sounds and it would probably lead to throngs of people flinging themselves off of cliffs like lemmings.

I originally played this game when it first came out, and my opinion now that I have seen hundreds more games come and go is quite different, though both opinions are positive. I recently had the urge to play this game and was able to find a PS2™ version, which I play on my Playstation 3™, at my local Gamestop™. Originally, I played through the Xbox™ version. All I can say is that this game is great! They make excellent use of the different Predator™ weapons and gadgets, and some of the levels require you to play with intelligence rather than just running around killing everything in sight. The controls take some getting used to, but after awhile they have a very natural feel to them and you really start to get the feeling that everybody in the city is a just a pawn for you. If you are going into this game with the perspective of comparing it to games on the Xbox 360™ or Playstation 3™, you will be sorely disappointed. The graphics were outstanding for their time and still hold up well. The animations are very smooth and the transitions are seamless. You can go from sniping with a spear gun to scanning enemy brains to pick out targets with minimal effort, something which comes in handy in later levels.

The story is interesting, maybe not the best thing going for the game, but it's unique enough to make you want to finish the game. So many games these days focus less on having a plot than providing button mashing opportunities for the 12 year-old crowd. The game has great replay value if only for trying to get all the secrets and unlockable weapons. This was made in the days before achievements, where we all played for the love of the game and it's a better game for it. One thing that I didn't realize I missed until playing this game is that it used to take a really long time to beat a game. Nowadays, I usually clear an Xbox 360™ or PS3™ game in a matter of hours. New games are designed to get you achievements/trophies for the sole purpose of bragging rights and as a result, you get much less of a game. The achievements are there to keep you interested just long enough to get them so the programmers no longer have to make games like this where they rely on the game play and story to keep the gamer into the game.

This game understandably gets mixed reviews. The controls could put some people off at first, as they take some getting used to, but simply doing the training levels will get you plenty of experience in working with the Predator™. By the end of the first level you will be jumping around the city like a psychotic, plasmacaster™ wielding monkey on steroids, just stalking your prey at will. And there is blood, lots and lots and lots of blood. There's an odd satisfaction in sneaking up behind a guard and ripping him in half while his buddies are unaware of your presence. They also did a good job of mixing up the variety of enemies. Simply put, your gadgets won't get you very far if you aren't playing smart. Some enemies are just brainless drones, par for the course, which you just slaughter mercilessly. Others, however, have the technology to see right through your cloaking and will actively hunt the hunter. Knowing the right tool for the current job is a big factor in this game. Unlike the movies, you don't just go around annihilating everything with the Plasmacaster™. You can, I suppose, but you will get far less game that way.

Overall, if you are looking for a solid Predator™ game to get you by until Alien vs. Predator™ launches in 2010, then this is definitely the game for you. It's not a game for kids by any means. I would classify it as one of those games you play in the dark to enhance the overall feel of being a super-hunter preying on a city gone bad. You should be able to pick it up relatively cheap used at pretty much any game store, as it was very popular when it launched.

In Summary: It's long, it's brutal, it's bloody, it's got an excellent portrayal of the Predator™ and all his gadgets, it's addictive and it's just a lot of fun. Enjoy the game!