Yearly Archives: 2011
A Little Taste of Batman Brilliance
A 12-minute preview of Batman: Arkham City hit the Interwebs today, and it’s utterly brilliant. The game looks familiar from Arkham Asylum, but the city and larger play zone looks phenomenal! The grappler movement looks like it’s going to be a ton of fun. Not to mention the delightful voice acting. The preview gives us Batman, Catwoman, Two-Face and a small taste of the Joker! Watch and drool, Bat-fans!
Life is Hard Out There for a Shrubber
The Internet has once again blessed us with a bit of hilarity. What was comedy like before the Internet?
Let’s All Go a Witchering 2!
After several weeks and hours, I have finally beaten Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for the PC, and it is one of the finest RPGs I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing – though it has a few faults here and there. The overall adventure is a blast, with an incredible fighting system that requires actual skill and balance, as well as a bounty of fun quests, side quests and fully-voiced characters. And not enough can be said about the gorgeous graphics.
The grim and the grimmer
Witcher 2 is the continuing adventures of Geralt of Rivia, monster slayer-for-hire. I never played Witcher 1, so I assume part of the story picks up from there, it’s never made particularly clear. Witcher 2 is a mix of the overall saga and a storyline just for this game, with a lot left over for Witcher 3 to pick up. I can’t wait.
A mysterious assassin is killing kings and Geralt has been framed. He and his companions must travel across the land to clear his name and get to the bottom of an even larger conspiracy that has plunged the world into war. Those kings who are still alive want more power, while those nations who have lost their heads of state have to find a way to maintain. Meanwhile, in each city he visits, Geralt can pick up monster-slaying jobs, help out the local townsfolk and get into fight clubs or arm-wrestling tournaments. So there’s plenty of fun things to do as the story moves along.
And it’s a fun story, though confusing at times. The game does not hold your hand and expects you to use their Journal system to read up on the different countries, kings and characters. You’re thrown right into a lengthy prologue and introduced to a myriad of characters right off the bat, all of whom remain important throughout the game. Even the naked chick. Then Witcher 2 is broken into three acts and an epilogue, and each act gets its own city and surrounding area for you to explore. And it’s simply beautiful to explore! The luscious forests and squalid towns create a rich atmosphere of medieval monster-killing and bottom-dwelling!
Pretty Forest
And the best part is that at the end of Act 1, you have to pick a side and stick with that side through the rest of the game. Which means once you beat the game, you can start a new game and have actual new content waiting for you by picking the other side! I know I can’t wait to start my next play through.
There are a lot of big decisions in this game, from that major game-altering decision to more nuanced choices that effect the story. Some of these choices pay off by the end of the game, and some, I assume, will pay off in Witcher 3. Several times you’re given the option of letting someone live or die, but both options have their pros and cons. One big distinction between this game and other RPGs is that the choices in this game aren’t necessarily good vs. evil, nice guy vs. jerk. Geralt and everyone around him seem to live in a perpetual shade of gray. I only wish some of these decisions had a more immediate impact. I let one guy live in the prologue, and then he shows up in Act 3 for a brief, pointless chat. And when everything is gray, the dialogue options aren’t very dramatic.
Especially when Geralt’s voice actor sounds lethargic and only semi-interested in anything he says. Talk about a droning monotone voice. But then it feels like they planned it that way to make Geralt more badass. Oh well. He’s a good protagonist, the strong and willful type. And you can play him as either altruistic or more concerned with getting paid. At least your friends and enemies are fun and exciting. Most of your allies are a delight to hang out with. In the storyline I picked, me and one of my allies became a sort of buddy-cop team kicking ass and taking names.
But you probably want to know more about that naked chick, right? She’s there in the beginning, and there are plenty more like her throughout the rest of the game. This is an adult RPG, with sex, swearing, drinking and epic violence. It’s low down and dirty, and I’m glad for that. It may be silly to giggle at naked chicks in a video game, but it adds an extra level of seriousness that I like. The sleaze and the raunch means anything can happen, and there were some truly disgusting and heart-rending twists. If the game makers are willing to show sex in their game, then they’re also willing to do a whole lot worse.
But they're definitely willing to show sex!
But you don’t care about the sex! You want to know about the gameplay, right? Right? Of course you do. The gameplay is great! It’s a keyboard and mouse control, of which I’m a fan. Sword-swinging is tied to the mouse, and spells get one button to cast. You just have to go into the spell selection screen (which slows down gameplay) to switch spells. It doesn’t ruin the pace of fights at all and is very easy to pull off. However, as much fun as the fighting can be, this is also one of the game’s biggest faults.
Witcher 2 is not your typical hack and slash. Yes, your main form of attack is the sword, but if you don’t add a variety of spells, potions and grenades/traps to the fight, you’re going to lose. You need to throw up a shield spell one second, then a stun spell the next, all while blocking, rolling and waiting for an opening to slice. The enemies will gang up on you to an annoying degree, and you’ve got to juggle them effectively if you hope to win. It can be frustrating at first (especially since the game just throws you straight into massive fights in the prologue), but once you get the hang of it, it can be fun and strategic.
It's on like Donkey Kong
So it’s a fun RPG with a nice story, great characters and a cool combat system, but it’s not without its flaws. Along with the ridiculously difficult (at times) combat, you also don’t get to heal during a fight. No drinking potions with the push of a button. What you have to do is predict when you may get into a fight and go through an elaborate inventory system to drink several potions in advance. But a lot of the time you don’t know when a fight is coming, or the cut scenes eat up the brief window that the potions last. And sometimes it seems that the potions are critical to surviving a fight.
Spells are difficult at first. There are only five and they all have weird names. For example, your stun spell is called Aard and your shield spell is called Quen. Who know why they need those complicated names, but once you figure them out and memorize their placement on the spell selection screen, it won’t be a problem anymore.
I also had a problem with a slow mouse at times, but I don’t know if that was design or a problem on my end. Not only during the heavy graphics scenes, but also in the simple menus and dialogue options. The mouse was just sluggish, which was annoying. My computer was able to handle the graphics for the most part, but slowed down in the epic army scenes or boss fights. Yet I managed.
The minor gripes do not ruin Witcher 2 by a long shot. It’s a great adventure with a challenging and fun combat system. I can’t say that you’ll fall in love with any of the characters, and the story is pretty thick at times, but you should be able to enjoy it nonetheless.
Now it’s time for my second playthrough! I hear you get to shag a cute elf chick in the other storyline!
Robin Revealed in Arkham City!
Best Buy revealed the first look for Robin in Arkham City today, and I gotta say that I am impressed and very happy. He looked very badass! Even though most of the other characters fit their classic looks (with the exception of Harley Quinn), Robin has been given a complete makeover. His hair is shaved down and his costume is all armored – and I love it! He looks great!
New suit - I love it!
Here is what Best Buy had to say about the pre-order bonus:
“While supplies last, pre-order the game for an exclusive downloadable Robin character. Robin is a fully playable character in the new and improved challenge mode in Batman: Arkham City. The Tim Drake Robin pack is available exclusively to fans who pre-order the game from Best Buy on Xbox 360, PC and PS3. Robin comes complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack: Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.”
So now I just need to figure out how to pre-order a game from Best Buy. Do I have to order it online or can I just go to the store?
6 Things I Want in a Green Lantern Sequel
First of all, there’s no guarantee that the Green Lantern movie that opened this weekend is even going to have a sequel. Word has it that it’s only going to make something in the $50 million range for the weekend, and is going to tank next weekend when it goes up against Pixar’s Cars 2. Still, I think it’s pretty clear that the filmmakers were really hoping for a sequel, and that they planned on making Sinestro the villain, possibly with the entire Sinestro Corps behind him. That’s obviously a really popular storyline (and the one that got me into Green Lantern comics), but the mythos is full different characters and concepts that fans would love to see on the big screen.
So if the Sinestro Corps is a given, here are 6 other things I would want to see in the sequel.
6. More of the Corps!
Like the Star Wars Cantina - but Green!
If you read my review of the movie, then you’ll know that my No. 1 complaint was that the Green Lantern Corps was given such a minor role. Had the filmmakers embraced the Corps throughout the film instead of focusing on just Hal whining about getting a Power Ring, the movie would have been a huge success. That’s right, I said it. The concept of an entire intergalactic police force of Green Lanterns is unique among all superheroes, both DC and Marvel! It’s so good that Marvel stole the idea and made the Nova Corps.
A sequel shouldn’t abandon Earth and Carol Ferris completely (see #2), but the majority of the film should be about Hal in space interacting with the Corps. As you can see from the picture above, there’s an actual Green Lantern cafeteria on Oa. This would be the perfect place for a scene like the famous cantina scene from Star Wars. Put some actors in super makeup to be different aliens, or just go ahead and CGI a bunch of them. Anything to show that Hal is part of a huge team who break each others chops, chitchat about the space weather and complain about the grub.
5. Mention the rest of the DC Universe – but only through Tomar Re and Krypton
You failed them all, fish-face!
Ask yourself this very geeky question: If the Green Lantern Corps are supposed to protect the universe, why didn’t they save Krypton – Superman’s home planet – from exploding? The answer is: they tried. Or at least Tomar Re did. Krypton is in Space Sector 2813, which Tomar Re mentioned in the movie as his sector. It’s right next door to Earth’s sector, 2814. And in the comics, Tomar Re was going to try and use some space minerals to siphon off some of the explosiveness that was going to destroy Krypton. He got blinded and delayed by a solar flare along the way and didn’t make it in time. Win some, lose some.
I have no idea whether or not a Justice League movie will ever get made, or if DC/Warner Bros. will do what Marvel is doing and unite all their solo hero movies into one flick. The Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern may not be the Green Lantern that appears in the Justice League movie. But minor cameos and references in the sequel would be fun. However, rather than having Superman fly by to say ‘hi’, they should be creative about it and tell the story of Tomar Re and Krypton. They could do it while eating in the cafeteria.
4. Hal should never again doubt himself
Don't let it go, fool!
They say that the second film in a trilogy has to be the darkest chapter. It worked in Empire Strikes Back. I have nothing wrong with this idea. The way they’ve done it in superhero movies is that the hero loses his powers, friends and/or faith in himself. It happened to both Peter Parker and Tony Stark. However, it should not happen to Hal Jordan. There was enough whining and wussing out in the first movie, Hal should stay confident in himself and his abilities throughout the sequel.
That’s not to say he shouldn’t lose his Power Ring. I could forsee a moment when Sinestro and his forces attack Oa and destroy the Central Power Battery. It reminds me of Matrix Revolutions when Morpheus watches the Nebuchadnezzar blow up. Hal and the Corps could lose their powers, then have to band together as ordinary people to get them back. Or maybe they’ll be stuck with what little charge remains on their rings. Either way, losing his powers should not involve losing his confidence and courage.
3. Mention the Emotional Light Spectrum
- Collect them all!
But only mention them. There are 9 different colored Lanterns in the comic. Green is willpower. Yellow is fear. Pink is love. Purple is compassion. Blue is hope. Orange is greed. Red is rage. Black is death. White is life. That’s all well and good, but having too many of these Lanterns in the movie would make it too crowded and possibly confusing. They introduced will and fear in the first one, so they should introduce the others in the sequel. Let Hal and the audience know that all of these colors exist, but don’t show anyone actually using the Lanterns or the Power Rings (with one exception). Save all of that for the third movie.
2. Carol becomes Star Sapphire
Maybe with a costume change
This is that one exception.
Sinestro as the villain with his yellow, fear-based ring is a given in the sequel. They teased it during the credits. And I would say that Sinestro and his Sinestro Corps would be villain enough. However, as a subplot, Carol Ferris should be given the pink, love-based ring of the Star Sapphire. She’s probably Hal’s second most popular villain, so much so that they teased it during the opening dogfight scene. Her call sign was ‘Sapphire’ and she had the star-symbol on her flight helmet.
This would give Carol something to do in the sequel besides just being the girlfriend stuck on Earth. If a sequel focuses on the Green Lantern Corps vs. the Sinestro Corps, Carol could be a wild card. Which side will she take? Will she be evil, like in the comics, or will her love for Hal win out and she lends a hand? Perhaps one and then the other If we go with my idea of the GLC losing their powers, the Star Sapphire might be crucial in helping get those powers back. Carol and the Star Sapphire would make a great B-story.
1. Mogo!
The coolest Green Lantern of them all!
Mogo is, hands down, the coolest, most exciting Green Lantern of them all. Mogo is a sentient planet. He can think, speak, fly through space and change the shape of his continents. And he was recruited into the Green Lantern Corps! We saw all those different and weird-looking aliens in the group scene in the movie, so we know that the corps is diverse. But no member is more diverse and wild than Mogo. He will blow the minds of all those non-comic fans who go to see the Green Lantern movies and have no idea what they’re in for.
Out of everything on this list, Mogo is the one that absolutely has to happen in the sequel. The movie could start on Mogo, maybe show Hal hanging out in a lush, tropical environment. Then when he flies away from the planet, they reveal the big Green Lantern symbol and hear Mogo ‘talk’. Perhaps he could even show up to lend a hand in the finale. What better cavalry to call on than an entire planet with super powers? Mogo is an absolute must for the Green Lantern sequel!
If there is a sequel…
Honorable mention: Guy Gardner! I don’t want to see any of the other human Green Lanterns in the movies. But if they insist on expanding the cast like that in order to appease the fans, Guy Gardner should be the one and only extra Lantern they use.
The Crazy One!
In the comics, there are four human Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan was the first, and he’s eventually joined by Jon Stewart, Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner. Each one has their own personality and origin as to how they got the ring, as well as how they use it. Each one also has their own group of fans, diehards who would love to see them on the big screen. I, however, do not want to see any of them on the big screen. I’m a HUGE proponent of the K.I.S.S. method of superhero movies: Keep It Simple Stupid.
The first Green Lantern movie messed this up. They dumped info and background and characters and concepts all over the audience. Bad idea. The filmmakers will be tempted to throw in at least one of these other human Lanterns because they are such a big deal in the comic book, and it will make some fans happy. But all it will do is take focus away from Hal Jordan and the rest of the alien members of the Corps. So I don’t think they should do it.
But if they insist, I vote for Guy Gardner.
Guy is a huge jackass. He’s insulting, insubordinate and cockier than Hal Jordan – but he’s got more heart than any of the others. Guy may be an asshole, but he’s also a serious white knight who will go to any length and make any sacrifice in the name of the good guys. You could trust Guy Gardner with your life, you’d just have to put up with his attitude (and sexual harassment, if you’re a woman).
On the screen, he’d push all of Hal Jordan’s buttons. He’d take to the ring far faster than Hal did, and prove to be a natural in a way that embarrasses Hal. He’d flirt with Carol, buddy it up with Kilowog and prove to be a real badass. Plus he’d be funny. Hal was funny in a charming way, Guy could be funny in a laugh-out-loud sort of way. And in the end, his head strong behavior and cockiness would be his undoing as he tried to take on the Sinestro Corps single-handedly. So Guy would need to turn to Hal and the rest of the Corps for help.
And with Hal and Guy as the two human Lanterns, never ever bring in Jon Stewart or Kyle Rayner! Two many Lanterns just dilutes their importance, and there’s nothing film-worthy about Jon or Kyle.
Young and Black, that is all
Henchman-4-Hire 