Yearly Archives: 2013
Review: Deadpool, the Game
Holy Chimichangas, they made a Deadpool video game! They haven’t even gotten around to making that Deadpool movie they’re always talking about, and there isn’t anything else coming out to make this game a cash grab tie-in. Marvel and developer High Moon Studios just up and made a Deadpool video game for the sheer hell of it. How cool is that!? We all know how this works. Whenever a superhero movie or cartoon show comes out, some video game developer is hired to make a crummy tie-in game just to make some money. Then the best case scenario is that sometimes those games are mediocre. More often than not, they’re unplayable.
But every so often, once in half a dozen blue moons, a superhero video game is made to stand on its own, and we get a glorious gem like Batman: Arkham City!
And sometimes we get Deadpool, the game.
Who said that?
Game Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.
I have good news for Deadpool fans: this game is an absolute perfect adaptation of the character. Comic writer Daniel Way also penned the game, so the same style and humor he brought to the character in the comics is also on the screen. Deadpool is wacky, he’s crude, he breaks the Fourth Wall, he hallucinates and he never stops talking. He’s the Merc with the Mouth, so if you’ve been a fan of the character over the past few years, this game should be fantastic.
But we hate Daniel Way’s Deadpool.
I’ll get to that in a minute. Anyway, even though all of the Deadpoolness in the game is great, the game itself is achingly mediocre. High Moon Studios apparently spent all of their time perfecting the Deadpoolery, then just stapled it to a bare bones hack’n’slasher. The enemies are repetitive and unoriginal, the plot is non-existent, the levels are boring, and the few moments that actually break out of the mold are too short to actually make an impact. That’s not to say any of these things are bad, per se, they’re just bland and uninspired. The game itself is entirely average, but at a short 6 to 7 hours, maybe that’s all you need to enjoy such impressive amounts of Deadpoolocity.
So basically Deadpool, the game, is all about Deadpool. I think they get it.
Either way, join me after the jump for my full review!
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/6/13
Alright, guys and gals, this is the last time I change up my rating system. I know I changed it just a few months ago, but now that I’ve been trying it out for awhile, I realize just how confusing it might be. I started out with a scale of just 0-5. Then I added decimals, because that seemed like the thing to do, and I wanted my reviews to be a little more nuanced. Now I’ve decided that the decimals just add a lot of unnecessary clutter. But rather than do away with them, I’ve decided to take my 0-5 system and upgrade it to a 0-10 instead. I think, in the long run, this will just be easier.
Let’s do a quick run down:
0 – Abomination; 1 – Terrible; 2 – Very Bad; 3 – Bad; 4 – Pretty Bad; 5 – Alright; 6 – Pretty Good; 7 – Good; 8 – Very Good; 9 – Great; 10 – Fantastic!
Now that the housekeeping is out of the way, on with the reviews!
Short week, this week, with only a handful of comics coming out on my buy pile. Avengers continues their big storyline, Batman Incorporated draws ever close to the finish, and the new writer on Green Lantern settles into his new role of storyteller. All quality comics, and I enjoyed each and every one. But the real standout this week is The Superior Foes of Spider-Man! I’ve been eagerly anticipating this comic since it was announced, and it did not disappoint (though the name could stand to be a little less complex). Superior Foes is about a handful of Spider-Man’s B and C-list foes banding together into a new Sinister Six (which would have been a fine title). The comic takes the down-to-Earth, personal appeal of a book like Hawkeye and adds a dash of villainy. The characters here aren’t out to rule the world. They’re just out to make a living, and costumed crime is the path they’ve chosen. This is exactly my kind of book, and The Superior Foes of Spider-Man easily wins Comic Book of the Week.
It’s the little stuff that matters. Like Shocker and Speed Demon arguing over the keys.
Comic Reviews: Avengers #15, Batman Incorporated #12, Green Lantern #22, The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1.
Norway Jumps Into the Superhero Movie Biz with Antboy
Possibly to whet my appetite for the upcoming Ant-Man movie, Norway (the country) has come up with a trailer for their own movie called Antboy. It’s in Norwegian, and there are no subtitles, but it’s a neat little trailer anyway.
Oddly though, they trade shrinking for acid piss. Norwegians are weird.
Review: Scarlet Spider #18
Who knew Kaine could be so funny? I know he’s a clone of Peter Parker and everything, but he’s usually a sourpuss straight man. I guess with Aracely mostly sitting this issue out, somebody’s got to keep up the chuckles. Because what would a book like Scarlet Spider be without some humor? And Wolverine isn’t about to deliver. That guy is as sourpuss as they come. But I’m not going to complain when Scarlet Spider gets some attention from the rest of the Marvel Universe.
Scarlet Spider #18
The continuing Scarlet Spider/Wolverine team-up is as entertaining as it was last issue, albeit for different reasons. Writer Chris Yost is doing a team-up right.
Comic Rating: 4/5 – Good.
Somehow, seemingly against all reason, Scarlet Spider is still chugging along 18 issues later. I’ve never seen it mentioned as a comic due for cancellation. Does it have an audience? Is it actually selling? Because that would be fantastic. Maybe this Wolverine cameo will help punch up sales for a little bit. It was a classic maneuver back in the day for new comics to guest star Wolverine or Spider-Man as quickly as possible. What better way to sell a new hero to audiences than by giving him or her some team-up time with the big shots? That’s kind of what happens here. Maybe this is even an homage. Scarlet Spider and Wolverine team up to take on some colorful bad guys. It’s as classic as comic books get.
The art by Carlo Barberi and Ale Garza is, likewise, top notch. It’s clear, detailed and full of action. I was unhappy for the longest time with Scarlet Spider‘s artist, but now the series has got that taken care of. So at this point, Scarlet Spider needs to take the comic to the next level. It’s got solid storytelling, solid characters and solid art. It’s entertaining and fun to read. But it could stand to be…something more. One can’t exactly say what it could use, or what exactly could be done. Deeper stories. More meaningful character development. Maybe a hot romantic relationship? Who knows! But when you’ve got a good, quality comic, you can’t just rest on your laurels. Kick things up a notch, Chris Yost! Take Scarlet Spider to the next level!
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Gob Bluth stars in Now You See Me
Oh Internet, I love you.
That’s Gob Bluth, from Arrested Development, cleverly inserted into the trailer for the movie Now You Seem Me. The movie is about magicians who turn to crime. Gob is a magician who is simply pretty terrible. The two go together surprisingly well. And for that, I love the Internet, and mix-master James Harrop.
Henchman-4-Hire 