Developed by a different team, following the path laid down by its precursor with almost religious care it may well have been a doomed endevour from the get go. Under different circumstances might have been received better, unfortunately it follows a predecessor which literally redefined how I – and likely many others – have come to think of the medium. It’s a good game to be sure, with a plethora of mechanical improvements and obvious care poured into its development. I walked into D9 with modest expectations and was completely blown away, but with Blomkamp since praised as an established talent, big-names attached and ‘From the director of-‘ plastered on posters everywhere did Elysium ever really have a chance of meeting my expectations?Īh, Bioshock 2… How I wanted to love you…īioshock 2 – a far more direct videogame sequel – suffered similarly for me.
Only how could it? District 9 came from nowhere, a movie with almost no recognisable names attached, set in an offbeat location on the eve of a certain other far more heavily hyped sci-fi movie. The problem is that the movie’s aesthetics and tone follow on so closely from its directorial predecessor that I think deep down I wanted it to provoke the same shock and awe the latter did. I liked it a lot, wanted to love it and I probably would have. Take the recent Neill Blomkamp film Elysium, I enjoyed it a lot it had some spectacular effects work, brilliant little world details, a level of grittiness which I feel is becoming rarity in modern SF movies and a satisfying story.
In such a media and communication intensive world it’s virtually impossible for any book, film, artwork, piece of music or game to be viewed in a cultural vacuum, expectations will always shape our impression of things, sometimes for the better, often for the worse.
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