Weekend Box Office Wrap: April 1st 2012

The problems with Valor 's pilot stem largely from how many threads it attempts to weave into the series' tapestry, and how amorphous the show ultimately feels as a result. The opens with the story of a secret mission in Somalia flown by an elite U.S. Army group known as the Shadow Raiders that ends disastrously and leaves only Warrant Officer Nora Madani (Ochoa) and Captain Leland Gallo (Matt Barr) alive. The two leave behind one of their team members, Jimmy Kam (W. Tre' Davis), who falls into the hands of a group of terrorists. Following a time jump, the pilot moves back to the States, where Nora is recovering from her injuries – both physically and psychologically – while also dealing with the secret she and Gallo have been keeping about the truth surrounding their failed miss


CW president Mike Pedowitz has been working to get a military drama on the network for several years now, and the choice to make Valor , a drama about U.S. Army helicopter pilots who find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy following a mission that went completely awry, the network's first foray into the subgenre an interesting one. For one thing, Valor is late to the party; NBC already launched The Brave and CBS SEAL Team , meaning The CW is entering into a marketplace that may already be saturated with military dramas. And Valor is airing the same night as The Brave , which even with the lead-in of Supergirl might not be a match for NBC's The Voice in terms of bringing in viewers. There's a good chance those who are looking forward to seeing the Girl of Steel return for season 3 will stick around for the premiere of Valor , after all, it also features a strong female lead with Christina Ochoa, who was most recently seen in SYFY's one-and-done grindhouse series Blood Drive . But it seems questionable whether or not that audience will stick around after the somewhat disappointing and muddled pilot epis


There's definitely an immediacy and immersive feel to the Act of Valor footage shown so far, what with the heavy amounts of handheld camerawork, first person POV shots, and the up-close-and-personal structure of the film in general. McCoy and Waugh are highly-experienced stunt coordinators whose skills in that area have clearly served them well with their directorial debut, allowing for some gritty explosive set pieces and terse battle sequences alike. Fortunately, it doesn't look like they've gone too overboard with the "shaky cam" or excessive editing as well - though, we won't know for certain until the actual movie is relea


According to PC Gamer , Valorant's developers have done a fantastic job of prioritizing hardware and software optimization. Riot stated Valorant is playable to at least 30 frames per second, " on most-min spec computers (even dating back to a decade). " To better understand the minimum requirements, Riot has outlined the baseline for each performance t


For that reason, those who're interested in watching a down n' dirty thriller about what life is like on the violent streets of America - for the officers who put their lives on the line fighting crime - might be better served by a film like David Ayer's End of Watch (yes, that drama/thriller deals with regular cops and not SWAT team members). As for those who're searching for a promising new movie about Navy SEALs, director Peter Berg's true-story project Lone Survivor is just a few months awa


It's clear that Valor intends there to be high stakes all around, as that's one of the appeals of military dramas. But in fashioning the series to fit in with The CW's more teen-friendly content, something gets lost in translation. The addition of Nora and Gallo's comrade-in-arms affair complicates matters for both characters, but as is so often the case with television dramas, complication doesn't necessarily result in complexity. To make matters worse, though they are both well suited to the show's soapier aspects – particularly the scene where Nora and Gallo seek catharsis by smashing some drywall with a sledgehammer – Ochoa and Barr aren't quite as convincing as a pair of elite U.S. Army helicopter pil


There's a twist to the classic tactical shooter experience: players will be able to choose from a set of agents all with their own unique skills and abilities - not unlike League of Legends - that hail from real-world locations and cultures. The abilities will not only change the way of shooting as the most basic principle; they will also provide strategic advantages, as well as tactical support. The game will be based on an attackers vs defenders style, set on a near-future Earth, with unique tactical opportunities enabled by each character's skill


Valorant maps|https://valorantfocus.com/ piqued the interest of FPS enthusiasts around the world after its' initial announcement during League of Legend's 10th Anniversary Livestream. The game is a 5v5 class-based first-person shooter taking influence from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's strategy-based warfare , coupled with Overwatch 's class-based abilities. Today's official gameplay trailer for Valorant depicted flashy ability animations, high-end textures, and fine visual quality. The trailer has players excited to dive in, but whether a new game is playable for all computers is always a conc