Legos + Superheroes Combine for Hopefully Awesome Video Game
I didn’t play much of Lego Batman the game, despite getting it for Christmas. Whereas I loved the Lego Star Wars games, Batman never hit for me. Well now I can make up for that mistake with the sequel, coming out June 22. Not only will it still star Batman and Robin, but a ton of other DC heroes are getting added to the mix. Plus it has fully open world Gotham City for you to explore, either in the Batmobile, Batwing or hopefully with a flying Superman.
Not even the Arkham games have given us a fully open Gotham City yet!
A Robin Retcon Done Right
The other day, I was grousing about a comic retcon where it’s going to be revealed that Wolverine put together a team of mutants long before Charles Xavier even cared. That Wolverine formed the ‘First X-Men’. I called this a “stupid retcon”, and my opinion has not changed. It is very stupid, and the worst sort of comic book tampering that’s done to history and continuity.
But this is not to say that all retcons are bad. In fact, I’d like to share with you a retcon that DC Comics is right in the middle of that is actually kind of cool. And it’s a retcon involving one of my absolute favorite characters of all time: Robin!
Well, Nightwing, but same difference
You know I’d be extra pissed if they messed up Robin. In actuality, however, this Court of Owls retcon is kind of badass, and adds to Robin’s history, rather than detracts. Join me after the jump to learn what they’ve changed, and why this is a much better retcon than First X-Men.
New Anchorman is Coming!
I don’t know if you’ve heard yet or not, but the Anchorman sequel is definitely on the way. And not only is it a slow news day, but it’s also my day off from work, so I have been incredibly lazy today. Feels good. But I want to share something, so here is a pair of teaser trailers for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. The whole main cast is back, at least the guys for sure, so hopefully the comedy will be as good as the first.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the first movie, but I’m a pretty big Will Ferrell fan. Stranger Than Fiction is probably my favorite movie. I do worry about sequelitis, and the kind of freedom that they probably had with this movie. There’s a danger of simply repeating what worked before. But who cares! Enjoy a pair of teaser trailers!
And the other.
Anybody else get the feeling that the four guys improvised a ton of stuff, and they were able to make two separate trailers out of just cobbling bits and pieces of it together?
Robin Kicking Ass in Sweet New ‘Harley’s Revenge’ Trailer
I need to hurry up and beat Diablo 3 soon, because the new DLC for Batman: Arkham City is right around the corner. Everything has been confirmed. It’s a full story-style mission, tying up the loose ends of Arkham City. And it’s going to feature Robin in game mode, sneaking through levels and taking down bad guys. How awesome is that? Rocksteady are clearly proud of their badass Robin redesign. And they should be. This is the coolest Robin has been in ages.
Sadly though, Robin won’t be able to go out and explore the rest of Arkahm City, which is just stupid. Would it really be that difficult to program Robin into the rest of the game world? Probably…what do I know about video game programming?
Anyway, enjoy the trailer!
Djibouti is Making Friends
So I’m kind of going to treat this like an ongoing review of Diabo 3, and then I’ll probably write a full review once I beat the game. I’m still having a ton of fun, and have even started some side characters. But my main man, Djibouti the Witch Doctor, is still kicking ass. Last night I beat Act 1, and we’ve moved on from Tristram to a new desert level…just like in Diablo 2. Does Blizzard really like desert levels?
Plus Diablo has a friend! Eurydice the Monk! She’s played by my girlfriend and frequent co-op partner, 1wombat4u.
Us and our pet zombie dogs
That’s us in the new desert city Caldeum. We haven’t gone in yet, but no doubt it will be even more exciting than Act 1 in New Tristram!
I’m still definitely enjoying the game. It plays exactly like the earlier Diablos, and they were great as well. It’s one of the most pure RPGs out there. You fight monsters, you explore dungeons, you arm and armor yourself with the loot that drop sand you keep going. I love those kinds of games. And with a friend, it’s even better. Though it’s a shame that most of the loot you find is only good for selling, and even then most of it is only worth 2 or 3 gold a piece. Djibouti has had the same stinking dagger for 5 levels now. Finding one with a higher damage rating just doesn’t happen very often.
And I’ve decided not to bother with the Auction House. It would just take too much effort.
And here we are in the torture chamber of the Black King Leoric
One thing I’m loving about this game is that they’ve done away with the traditional melee attack. I was wary at first, because melee is an old standard. It’s how Diablo 2 used to work. You clicked on a monster to attack them with your weapon, and that was it. Spells and special attacks were controlled separately. Melee is still in Diablo 3 if you want it, but they have done so much more! Each class has a special attack that replaces your basic melee. Instead of costing you Mana or whatever your character uses to cast spells and special attacks, this new basic special doesn’t cost a thing. Sometimes it even adds to your pool.
For example, ‘Bash’ is a fairly simple attack for the Barbarian class. You could Bash in Diablo 2. It was basically just hitting the monsters harder with your equipped weapon than a basic attack, but it still cost Mana.
Not anymore. Now Bash adds to your Mana pool, and costs you nothing to simply use Bash as your primary attack. So every single hit I make against a monster is a Bash. Which means combat is just that much more badass.
Djibouti has a Poison Dart attack like this. I could stand people with my dagger, if I want, but the Poison Dart attack takes my weapon damage and increases it! This concept may be difficult to explain without actually experiencing it, but I’m kind of expecting a lot of my readers to also be playing Diablo 3. So I’m sure you understand. It’s just awesome and makes fighting much more intense than basic melee combat. I love it.
Two badass demon slayers!
Djibouti is getting up in level, and soon I’ll have access to all the awesome powers that come with being a Witch Doctor. Like Rain of Frogs, Zombie Wall or Locust Swarm! I can’t wait to show you those!
