What Is Techno Again?

Konami Just Won’t Break the Ice

Our appointment with the psychiatric Silent Hill remake, Shattered Memories, has been moved … again. The game that was supposed to debut in late October was then pushed back to early November, and now Amazon and other sources have the title listed for even later dates. Currently, the Wii version is expected to hit shelves in early December, but for PlayStation 2 and PSP owners, Konami will be keeping the game on ice even longer. The inexpensive alternatives won’t be ready until late January.

That’s just cold.

On the other hand, a prolonged release usually means a better game.

Would you rather have the game now or later? What console will you buy the game for?

Tags: Climax Studios, Konami, PlayStation 2, PSP, Shattered Memories, Silent Hill, Wii
Posted in Video Games | 2 Comments »

Marvel Meltdown: November ’09

Today I bring you another Marvel Meltdown, complete with Moon Knight and villainous pals, a Spider-Man and Deadpool titan clash, and some wannabe X-Men. Good ol’ Osborn. He just wants to fit in … and make people forget about his Green Goblin phase. It’s just not gonna happen, Gobby.

Below are some teasers, but you can check out the whole article over at Impulse Creations.

“… The comic itself wraps up as riveting and dripping with sinister atmosphere. The gang of villains are colorful and radiate a delightfully old school feel …” - Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3

“You can buy the comic for the dry laugh track of jokes, but don’t expect much more than a quick skit.” - Amazing Spider-Man #611

“Cornell’s writing on the comic reads as mundane and uninteresting as the attention-deficit team … This oddball assortment of baddies isn’t intimidating anyone into submission.” - Dark X-Men #1

Tags: Amazing Spider-Man #611, Dark X-Men #1, Marvel Meltdown, Vengeance of the Moon Knight #3
Posted in Comics/Manga, Impulse Creations, Reviews, Writing | No Comments »

Bat-Reviews: Batman #691-2

Double the Batman, double the fun … right? Two-Face would say so, especially with that dual-colored Bat-suit he’s donning on the cover and first few pages of Batman #691. Harvey must have been having a field day—October dished up not one, but two Batman comics—and they even gave him his very own costume. It’s a little early for Mardi Gras (and I’m sure he would have fit right in), but he was just in time for Halloween. And yes, the costume is a trick. Now where’s the treat?

Batman #691

Well, Judd Winick doesn’t really give us one in “Two Knights, Two Faces” (Batman #691). Mark Bagley does take us on a psycho head trip with his art, which I’m rather fond of, actually. Unfortunately, the issue doesn’t follow suit (all right, I’m done with the puns, I swear). Two-Face manages to infiltrate the Batcave via magical hocus-pocus which you can find in your average spellbook between “bull” and “shit,” but let’s just go with it. Dent actually deduces that he’s not the only one in Gotham wearing a false face—the mannerisms and style of the suddenly not photo-shy Dark Knight tipped him off to the obvious, but considering the rest of Gotham has been shrugging their shoulders lately, it’s a bit refreshing that one of the city’s most classic villains hasn’t lost priority.

However, the comic might as well have been dunked in acid, because the story’s conclusion is in dire need of some hard justice. (Okay, so I lied about the jokes.) Batman (aka Dick Grayson) fools the notorious Two-Face with a little help from his trusty butler, and the bewildered ex-lawman can’t possibly believe he ever doubted the capable and ever-vigilant Batman. If you’re about as bored and annoyed with that prior sentence as I am, then we’re on the same sparkly page. Two-Face’s scheme could have actually led to an intriguing plot, but instead the issue ends in deus-ex-machina-esque cliches. What’s worse, Dent practically rolls over when Black Mask comes strolling by with an ultimatum. Eh, what the hell. Let’s get out of this crappy comic together, Harvey. At least Bagley reminds us that under all those scars, Harvey Dent was once a man with charming good looks … I’m not sure why that’s relevant.

So what saves it from a one-star rating? Winick throws us a young Dick Grayson-shaped bone, all wrapped in circus-themed paper and intrigue.

Recommendation: I bet Winick flipped a coin and landed on an Alfred masquerade.

Batman #692

Thankfully, Judd Winick finally went to hunt down a cup of coffee and Tony Daniel stole his seat to pen the follow-up October issue, “Life after Death Part 1: The Awakening.” The amazing Sandu Florea took over for Bagley, as well, making for an issue with a very different tone and style than the previous work—and that’s a good thing.

When Grayson discovers a trail of actual False Faces and two strange clues to accompany their corpses, the detective work begins between the Bat and Gordon. Their lead? An elementary school teacher named Trish Gumbracker, more recently known as the cause of a bloodbath courtesy of Black Mask’s brainwashing. The smartest brains at Arkham haven’t been able to crack Black Mask’s code, and with every second that ticks by the villain continues to keep the most vicious and dangerous of Gotham at his beck and call—and he’s not done building his army just yet. The issue brings several other evildoers into the fold, and while it almost feels like we have another Black Glove fiasco on our hands, Daniel does impress with rather solid character interaction and the reintroduction of sorts for Doctor Death.

Meanwhile, Dick and none other than Selina Kyle reluctantly join forces to bring down Black Mask’s house of cards, but in a very Catwoman-like twist, the place she leads him to isn’t exactly what he had in mind. The arrival of a gangster raises some interesting questions about the future of Gotham’s crime line-up, but Daniel adds yet another catty player into the mix who just might topple the deck before he’s ready for it to fall—if he means it to at all. It’s strange how the criminal order of Gotham has been changing; between all the Batman books, there seems to be no actual pattern to all the chaos and disaster striking the city. Are all of these organizations even aware that there are others moving onto the scene, or do we just have sloppy planning on our hands?

The issue might be juggling a lot, but the writing and art are both refreshingly well-executed and enjoyable.

Recommendation: It’s good to see Doctor Death make an ominous return in a new generation of crime, but Death might get trampled out of the gate by an unexplained stampede of villains.

Curious how the Bat-books stack up here on the blog? Look here.

Tags: Bat-Reviews, Batman #691, Batman #692, DC, Judd Winick, Mark Bagley, Sandu Florea, Tony Daniel
Posted in Comics/Manga, Reviews | No Comments »

Off to Never Neverland with Joe Brusha

Zenescope Entertainment regularly turns classic fairy tales and fiction into the stuff of nightmares. Alice in Wonderland and Grimm Fairy Tales have both fallen under its shadow, and now Peter Pan is up on deck. Joe Brusha, president of Zenescope and creator/writer of the upcoming Neverland books, sat down to answer my questions about the comic.

You can read the full interview over at the Girls Entertainment Network, but here’s a preview to get you started:

Joe Brusha is a busy man in comics these days. When his hands aren’t full of comics from managing Zenescope Entertainment as president, his pen and ideas are hitting paper. His latest contribution? Brusha has been putting his creative mind to work with the all-new, upcoming Neverland twist. The writer/company president agreed to take the time from his daily routine to give GEN the scoop on Peter and his boyhood pals … and foes.

Girls Entertainment Network: With notable stories like Wonderland and Grimm Fairy Tales in the Zenescope collection, it was perhaps only a matter of time before Peter Pan was given his turn in the spotlight. Why now, and has Zenescope ever done a Peter Pan comic before?

Joe Brusha: Neverland was actually one of the first stories I thought about doing for the Grimm universe, so it’s kind of been sitting around for the past few years. Pan has appeared briefly and been hinted at in a couple of Grimm issues, but this is really the first time he’ll been in a book.

Tags: Joe Brusha, Neverland, Zenescope Entertainment
Posted in Comics/Manga, Exclusives, Girls Entertainment Network, Writing | No Comments »

Bleepin’ Blips: When Games Change Developers

We all know it happens. Sometimes a games series changes developers, and our hopes and dreams come crashing down as a result. Crash Bandicoot 2 was my first game on the PlayStation; although I had a NES before that, on which I played my sisters’ games by the binful and added a few of my own to the collection, it’s quite possible that Crash was my first true step toward my passion as a gamer.

Spyro the Dragon followed soon after that. Both series have gone down the drain, and I’ve been mourning them ever since. In a way, my article on this problem was inevitable. Head over to RadNerd to read the full scoop, but here’s a preview.

Do you suffer from uncontrollable, bleepin’ rage at something in the gaming industry? Have you smashed TVs by flinging controllers, or made your thumbs bleed with all that unrewarded determination and mad skillz you’ve been dishing out? Here at RadNerd, we feel your pain. Literally. This new ongoing feature will channel our anger in a healthy way … we hope.

There’s something eating away at the gaming industry, infecting our beloved series and turning them into warped versions of their original selves that we no longer recognize. This plague is more common than we’d like to think—a silent killer that we only detect once it strikes a game close to our hearts. “Never my favorite,” we tell ourselves. But it happens, sometimes inevitably: One games developer hangs up its hat, and another tries it on for size and thinks it looks too pimpin’ not to wear.

Tags: Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, Spyro the Dragon
Posted in RadNerd, Video Games, Writing | No Comments »

Lame Tagline, but a Trailer to Turn Back Time

I adore the Prince of Persia games, so when talk comes to a movie adaptation, I whip out the armor and flaming swords and prepare to kick some ass. I can’t help being a defender of things I love—from superheroes to pixelated anti-heroes, I don the metaphorical warpaint when I learn that my beloved characters and mediums are being abused.

Okay, I didn’t hold my breath when I heard they were making a film based on The Sands of Time … and then died a little inside when I discovered they were making a terribly awkward casting choice: Jake Gyllenhaal as the darkly handsome and rebellious Prince.

Although imagining Gyllenhaal with shoulder-length hair, a serious demeanor in warrior armor, and general scruffiness tends to send me into fits of giggles, I have to admit that under that fangirl cloud (no, myself not included in the audience distortion of what is actually a respectable short story) of Brokeback Mountain, Gyllenhaal can actually be a worthy actor. After all, I fell in love with him in Donnie Darko—before the inevitable campfire-themed fan-fictions started cropping up on the interwebz.

So when I watched the freshly released trailer today, my expectations of cheesiness were grated with each passing frame. It actually impressed me … a lot. With the aid of the Disney and Bruckheimer powers that shaped the successful Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this thing can actually change the scene for video game-based flicks—if, of course, it’s as good as it looks. And man, I’m drooling already. But before you point out the Disney part of that prior sentence, keep in mind that the marketing and talent of Disney doesn’t mean they’re going to rip to shreds the spirit of the source. There have been good, and dark, Disney movies, and Sands of Time bears a PG-13 rating—not bad considering the video game installment by the same name is the most lighthearted, yet arguably the best, of the trilogy.

Tags: Bruckheimer, Disney, Jake Gyllenhaal, Mike Newell, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Posted in Movies/TV | 1 Comment »

PSP Review: Daxter

As a long-time fan of Naughty Dog, I expect only the highest quality and entertainment from games stamped with the infamous red and white paw. The Jak and Daxter series managed to pull at my heartstrings and win me over—from its charming yet ungrounded first installment to its dramatic and challenging sequel, thrilling end of the trilogy, and silly but wild combat racing extra, I find myself returning time and time again to each moment in the Jak and Daxter legacy. So when it came to the orange, lovable ottsel’s solo debut on the PSP, I wanted the fur to fly in glorious, chafing puffs. But Daxter wasn’t developed by Naughty Dog, and although the voices and many of the characters are the same, the end product by Ready at Dawn didn’t exactly captivate me.

What You’ll Like

Behind the Fuzzball

The game fills in the two-year gap between the duo’s rough landing in the future to the sidekick’s heroic but belated rescue of his yellow and green-haired partner Jak, held prisoner and lab rat in Baron Praxis’ palace. Daxter joins an outdated but still kickin’ exterminator service run by Osmo and his radical dude of son, Ximon. The sinister Kaedin means to stamp out the bug-killing threat, but Daxter’s fight against the alleged competition reveals a dark conspiracy that connects with the larger story of Jak II. The PSP game allows you to crawl, whack, and slide your way to heroism … all while tackling those hard-to-reach places. Bug nests. I’m talking about bug nests.

Whip those snakes good, Ind—I mean, Daxter.

Blue Eco … or Red Eco?

Controlling the little orange fuzzball involves more than just cuteness and sassy one-liners. After all, Daxter’s been known to pack the heat before. The game doesn’t give you many weapons, but it does turn a limited offense into a versatile arsenal; each upgrade comes equipped with a multitude of uses alongside Daxter’s kung-fu action. When he’s not frying bugs with fancy gadgets, Daxter’s reenacting famous movies in hilarious and addictive mini-games while he counts sheep.

What You Won’t Like

Rapid Backfire

Once fingers hit buttons, it’s clear there’s something odd about the latest adventure in Jak and Daxter’s new world—and it isn’t the rotten stench of bug guts on a cold morning. Daxter feels like it would better serve as a series of sidequests in a main installment than it would as its own entity. It’s strange that, for a game labeled “Greatest Hits,” most of the actual gameplay would be so often devoid of music.

However, the score and length are the least of the game’s problems. While Daxter kicks off to an impressive start, filling the player with nostalgia for Jak II‘s environments while presenting the story from a fresh but familiar perspective, the game suffers from sloppy plotting. The majority of the game is spent running errands and squashing bugs to help save Osmo’s business, but only the last fourth or so of the game focuses on the real objective: rescuing Jak. The final sections of the game, in which Daxter must infiltrate the Baron’s palace and defeat Kaedin, are jammed with too much story in order to catch up with the events of Jak II, and the gameplay becomes drawn out and packed with repetition in the process.

Jet-packing ottsels? What's next, talking bug lords?

Mission Possibly Ridiculous

The quality of the dialogue slips later in the game, as well. There were actually times when I was cringing, remembering with longing when the Jak and Daxter stories were always well-crafted when dealing with characters and dialogue alike … or at least pleasantly awkward.

Recommendation:

Though a bit on the short side and definitely lacking in the end, Daxter doesn’t wholly disappoint. While not nearly as thrilling or smartly paced as its brethren, the game provides plenty of entertaining sequences and it makes well-rounded use of the otherwise limited weapon upgrades Daxter receives. Not to mention the final boss showdown proves that even itty-bitty ottsels can dish out the pain whoop-ass style. Forget six-feet tall, roguish heroes. I’ll take their devilishly handsome, tail-sporting pals. 6/10

Jak's chatty sidekick finally gets his moment in the sun.

Tags: Daxter, PSP, Ready at Dawn
Posted in Reviews, Video Games | No Comments »

Pilot: Arkham Reborn

This week’s Impulse article focuses on the premiere issue of the three-part mini-series, Arkham Reborn. The name kind of gives the basic set-up away—the recently blown-to-smithereens Arkham Asylum receives new brick and mortar—but the real bulk of the issue comes from an unexpected source. Here’s a preview:

Welcome to another installment of Pilot! As comic book readers ourselves, we at Impulse know how important it is to get a quality bang for money spent on a single issue. Comic prices add up, after all! So every so often we’ll take an in-depth look at a new title or mini-series. We’ll give you the heads up on whether it’s is worth getting into or passing up. If it’s good, then you’ll know. If it’s not so good … well, we read it so you don’t have to.

Heroes are defined by their villains. For Batman and Robin and their allies, Gotham’s rogues are no exception. Gotham bears a pulse similar to that of its characters; whether considering heroes or the lunatics who they hunt, the city acts as a thriving playground that fuels the vicious activity. Of course, the beating heart of the expansive Gotham lurks in the background, away from the sirens and floodlights on rooftops. Arkham Asylum offers pitiless refuge for the criminally insane who the costumed heroes beat up and drag into the confines of its stone walls. However, the asylum with an infamous past was built on a foundation as mad as its colorful inmates, and the new mini-series Arkham Reborn emphasizes the link between the old and the new. True fans of Batman comics will be sore to miss the construction not only of a new Arkham, but a new philosophy in dealing with its patients, as well.

To read the full article, head over to the Impulse Creations forums.

Tags: Arkham Reborn #1
Posted in Comics/Manga, Impulse Creations, Reviews, Writing | No Comments »