compLexity: Armageddon Review

Warning: this is not a frag movie. People will still complain, but let me repeat: this is not a frag movie. This is a story about a Counter-Strike team.

Every time I would see Team compLexity at an event with Daniel “tfg” Frome in tow, I would always chat with him to see how his projects are going. When we talked about "Armageddon", he had the look in his eyes that said, “I do not have time to make this.” A knee surgery afforded him the time to finish this. Daniel is not really known for his frag movies - in fact, this is his first to feature in-game kills. His documentary on coL at winter CPL, Redemption, was received with rave reviews, and his Machinima films have a huge following. A frag movie is another beast entirely, and I did not expect him to make a typical film of that nature. He did not disappoint me. One thing I like about a good CS movie is a story, whether it be the story of the players or a story of the round. I have seen enough kills; I want to see why those kills are so important. Luckily, Mr. Frome is a masterful storyteller.

It takes three minutes before we get a glimpse of our first in-game footage, so right away I know this film is not going to be run-of-the-mill. The opening in-game scene is filled with everything a Hollywood movie needs: drama, comedy, intensity, and action. Even the movie's soundtrack is paced to set the mood of the story, instead of just filler in the background. Every crescendo brings us to the right highs at the right time. This is not an easy task, and more than I would expect from a CS movie. The picture quality is superb and with a length of twenty minutes the file size is not out of line.

Just because this is not a frag movie does not mean there are not any frags to be found. The featured players - Sunman, Storm, tr1p, Warden and fRoD - talk about their role on the team, and walk us through some of their most memorable frags. Each player has put up so many good rounds this year that each could have his own movie and still not show them all. Armageddon is put together so well, I think I can forgive the dynamic crosshair, HLTV advertisements, and some of the sound quality of the voice tracks. Some would say Daniel Frome has grown as a director, but I think his editing has grown leaps and bounds over his past movies. Smooth cuts and transitions that keep the movie flowing help sell this movie to me.

If you are a fan of eSports, this is a must see movie. This is a great movie to show your relatives and friends to show them what this whole gaming thing is about, and what drives these players and ourselves to play this game like we would any other competitive activity.

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