Your friendly neighborhood 'Spiderman' triumphs over 'Evil'

Ian Hutchinson - Entertainment Beat

As the era of the first Sony Playstation draws to a close, it's nice to see that the system still has some life left in it. Among the recent Playstation releases are "Resident Evil: Survivor" from Capcom, and Activison's "Spiderman."

"Survivor" is the fifth installment of the Resident Evil (RE) series and a nice side story to the present plot of the series.

In the series, the Umbrella Corporation is the corruptive force behind the destruction of a small town known as Raccoon City. Umbrella's hideous scientific experiments resulted in the creation of "T-Virus," which turns people into bio-organic weapons (i.e. flesh-eating zombies.) There were few survivors of the Raccoon City incident, and now another town is in danger of a similar fate.

Ark Thompson is an investigator looking into the Umbrella CorporationÕs involvement in another city. Needless to say, things go awry and after Ark makes his escape, his helicopter crashes. When he awakens, he has not only lost his memory, but he must also figure out how to escape the doomed city.

In "Spiderman," our friendly neighborhood web-slinger has been framed for a bank heist and a manhunt ensues. Spidey must use all his abilities to evade the authorities, fend off enemies and find the real mastermind behind this ordeal.

Sadly, it also turns out that Spidey's entire gallery of rogues are gunning for him, not to mention Peter Parker's boss, J.J. Jameson at the Daily Bugle.

Both games sound promising, right? Well, youÕre half-right. "Survivor" doesn't exactly live up to its Resident Evil predecessors because of many inconsistencies.

The Resident Evil series is known for suspense, great controls and a stong story. Unfortunately, "Survivor" is predictable, the controls are not that great and the story is delivered by some of the worst voice actors ever.

All the characters and enviroments basically look as though they were taken from Resident Evil 2 (RE2), which lends to the predicability of "Survivor" if you played RE2. It's easy to guess what will happen if you recognize the environment from RE2.

Also, there are absolutely no save points in the game, which means you have to beat the game in one sitting. Every time you play, you start from the beginning. Save points have been a vital part of the RE series and not having any in "Survivor" is an annoyance.

Finally, "Survivor" violates the "survival horror" theme of the series by giving Ark Thompson an endless supply of handgun bullets. This is great if you like unlimited ammo, but the challenge of the previous games was conserving ammo and using what you had to defend yourself. In "Survivor," you do need to collect other weapons to beat the game, and having unlimited handgun ammo is an insult to RE veterans.

On the plus side, diaries and memos that Ark reads along the way give new depth to the evildoings of Umbrella and a greater understanding of what the T-Virus actually does to its victims.

You also have a few varied paths you can follow, which causes different story angles to emerge but offers little replay value.

In regards to "Spiderman," there is nothing but a plus side. This is certainly the best superhero game ever made. Everything that Marvel's Spiderman is known to do, this game does: wall crawling, web slinging, impact webbing, spider senses; even Spiderman's razor-sharp wit is included in the game.

What's more, there are a tons of extras to the game: alternate costumes, more villains than you can shake a stick at, entertaining cinema scenes, comic book cover artÑeven Stan Lee himself lends his voice for commentary.

It's comic book heaven. Each stage offers a new game-play angle, rather than a standard platform approach. Since Spidey is the focus of a manhunt, he is placed in several precarious and unpleasant situations.

One situation is a chase that forces Spiderman to swing rooftop to rooftop while a helicopter and a SWAT team tries to blow him to bits. Sometimes Spiderman has to rescue hostages, other times he has to solve puzzles. On top of that, he has to face an endless barrage of evildoers and their flunkies.

The entire bad guy lineup is there: Venom, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, The Scorpion and the list goes on and on. Even if a villain doesn't show up in the game, they still get a shout-out.

The controls are a bit cumbersome at first, but since they help you use Spiderman's abilities to their fullest, it quickly becomes comfortable to the player. In the realm of video games, consistency is a critical factor. In a series such as Resident Evil, "Survivor" isn't really that bad, it's just terribly disappointing.

Diehard fans will appreciate new story angles and the new files on the misdeeds of Umbrella, but shoddy graphics, predictability and difficult control almost make the game unplayable.

Spiderman has had a history of poorly-made games made in his name, but Activision's most recent take on the exploits of the webslinger are by far the most faithful. It's one of those rare games that takes full advantage of what the Playstation has to offer. If video games were on an island, "Spiderman" would vote "Resident Evil: Survivor" off.

B-GLAAD to host semi-annual drag show fundraiser Friday

Ian Hutchinson -Entertainment Beat

Very soon, Legends could be deemed as "fit for a queen." Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians, Allies Associated for Diversity (B-GLAAD) will host its semi-annual drag show at Legends this Friday.

The drag show, which was named the "Most Creative Fundraiser" last year by the Club Council, will showcase up to five performers and a disc jockey. Both student and professional drag queens will be present and all Appalachian State University students are invited to attend.

"This semester, one of our goals is to create a greater sense of visibility and community on campus," said B-GLAAD President Kevin Perkins.

While the drag show gives B-GLAAD more visibility than the group typically gets, the organization hopes to become even more visible in the future and convey a positive message.

B-GLAAD plans to participate in the Homecoming Parade this year, sponsor another "Rave for AIDS" and create a logo for their organization.

B-GLAAD and Multicultural Student Development helped bring speaker Shane Windmeyer to Plemmons Student Union last Monday. Windmeyer's lecture was "Truth and Brotherhood: Being Gay in a College Fraternity."

B-GLAAD will also be co-sponsoring the "Queer Film Series" with WomenÕs Studies. The films will be shown in the McRae Peak Room of the student union at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, 16, 23 and 30.

This weekendÕs drag show at Legends will be open to all students and admission will be $5. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and there will be a drawing for door prizes. The show will have a BYOB six-pack limit with a valid ID.

Kara Hodge - Entertainment

The faculty of Broyhill School of Music of Appalachian State University will present two concerts. The first, "An Evening of Harmonia Baroque," will be held tonight at 8 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. The second, a recital featuring hornist Karen Robertson Smith, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m., also in Rosen Concert Hall.

"An Evening of Harmonia Baroque" celebrates the music of the Baroque period, the early 1600s through 1750. The goal of the recital is to play the music with the instruments of the period and to play the original sound that the composer intended for the piece. The recital will consist of eight faculty members and seven different pieces.

Nancy Bargerstock, the only violin professor in the department, said, "This recital is not just modern players on modern instruments. We are playing a piece with the instruments of the period with an intent to create the sound as the composer originally heard it."

Bargerstock will accompany Alicia Chapman on oboe, Kenneth Lurie on cello, Nancy Shneeloch on flute, vocalist Randall Outland, vocalist Priscilla Peebles, Karen Robertson Smith on horn and Brian Bailey on harpsichord.

Bailey is part of the four core-faculty in the recital along with Chapman, Schneeloch, and Lurie, who all played together last year in a recital. Chapman played a solo recital last season and invited the other seven musicians to play with her. This year they planned to do it as part of the school of music's Faculty Recital Series.

Karen Robertson Smith has her own recital featuring her talents on the French horn. Smith has been on staff since 1995 at Appalachian State University. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, her master's degree from the University of Cincinnati and her doctorate of musical arts from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Smith has played the horn since age 12. Her father was a band director and started her on the clarinet. "I was terrible at it," said Smith. "Then he gave me a horn and I've been playing it now for 28 years."

Smith's program includes four pieces that celebrate the horn. The first, composed by Joseph Rheinberger, is a romantic sonata that was specifically written for the horn.

The second piece, "Villanelle," was composed by Paul Dukas and is this year's District Band Competition piece for high school students. When asked why she chose "Villanelle," Smith said, "I wanted the students locally to hear how this piece should sound."

The third piece is called "Ballade for the Natural Horn," composed by Vitali Buyanovski. A natural horn is a French horn without valves, which is the way it was built until 1850. Smith will be using the natural horn in "An Evening of Harmonia Baroque" also.

The last piece was chosen so Smith could play with flutist Nancy Shneeloch. It is entitled "Lille Trio" and was composed by Knud Jeppesen.

Both recitals are intended to showcase the faculty and its talents to the students of the university and the public. For more information, call the department of music at 262-3020.

Kara Hodge Entertainment Beat

Appalachian Young People's Theatre (AYPT) will present "How Things Happen in Three!" It is a musical for children ages four to 12 written by playwright Tom Behm, with music by Rose Marie Cooper.

The production includes several popular children's stories, all of which feature three characters.

"How Things Happen in Three!" consists of seven stories, including "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," "The Three Pigs," "The Three Wishes," "The Fisherman and His Wife" and "The Evergreen Tree Who Wishes for Leaves."

The audience will get a chance to participate in "What Fun We Had at the Fair," which is interrupted by the arrival of the Big Bad Wolf. Kelly Noice, a senior theater-education major, serves as the play's director.

This is her second season with AYPT and she has been involved in the theater department since her freshman year serving as stage manager, costume designer and director. When asked why she loves AYPT, Noice said, "It's such a cool process.

It's so important to incorporate all the arts into one night and it's exciting to see the actors have so much fun. Plus the excitement in the childrenÕs faces is worth all the effort." The musical director of the play is Matt Maines. Kara Norton is the stage manager. Sarah Byerly, the oldest actress of AYPT, is a senior theater-education major.

She is currently directing one of the plays in One Acts Two, titled "The Love Course." This is her second year with AYPT and she has had the privilege of directing two children's plays when she studied abroad last spring. Also a theater-education major, Shelby Jennings is in her first year with the group. She is directing a scene in this yearÕs Freshman Showcase, "University."

Freshman Showcase is an annual production that is only open to actors who are freshmen. Jennings works with the musical scenes program in the music department. She also performs at Tweetsie Railroad.

Daryl Walker is also involved in the musical scenes program and "University." Walker said that his best work in the two years he has been at Appalachian State University was in last yearÕs "The JuiceMan Commeth" and Freshman Showcase.

Marie Anderson, also a sophomore, worked this summer at the Tennessee Repertoire Theatre in Nashville, T.N. Although she is a theater-education major, Anderson wants to pursue acting as a career.

You can see her in one of the seasonÕs mainstage plays, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," as one of the prostitutes, Tintinbula. Jason Denton is no amateur in the theater department. He was the director of "Bachelor Holiday" in One Acts One a few weeks ago and has been involved in many different productions.

Although the youngest of the group, freshman Mike Holmes doesn't lack experience. He was a member of the Watauga High School acting troupe, PlayMakers. "This play is two firsts for me: my first college play and my first children's play,Ó said Holmes. ÒAnd I feel like there is a lot to learn from the second."

"How Things Happen in Three!" will be performed at Appalachian State in Greer Arena Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 7-8 at 2 p.m. Tickets are on sale through the Valborg Box Office Monday through Friday 2-5 p.m. They are $3 for children and $5 for adults. For tickets call Valborg Theatre at 262-3063. For more information about AYPT, call the department of theatre and dance at 262-3020.