Action Figures, Video Games, Comics, Toys, Superheroes, Wrestling — We've Got Game.
Well, in what can only be described as a quick drop, the maestro himself, Todd McFarlane dropped a few figures for preorder over at GameStop!
McFarlane Day 2021 showcased Warhammer 40K, The Joker from Batman’s The Three Jokers storyline, two variants of Swamp Thing and a figure from the new The Witcher line.
Like most of the readers here, I love video games. I have argued for years that the stories, plots, and overall artistic expression of interactive entertainment are as worthy of praise as any Academy award film or Pulitzer novel. I do not write that as an exaggeration. Video games are obviously much more these days than their ancestors like Pong and Asteroids. Now, we have dynamic open worlds with enough subplots and side quests to populate a monthly literary journal. We get to explore the moral consequences of our actions with games like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, The Elder Scrolls and, notably, The Witcher.
So, when I learned that Netflix was producing a show based on the latter’s books and video games, I thought it was high time that Hollywood got on board with my opinion (Note: a Mass Effect production would probably make me squeak with excitement). I spent the last few days powering through the first season of The Witcher in an effort to temper your expectations, so let’s slay the beast that is toxic fandom and collect the reward…
The foremost thing one can stress about this show, it is not the video game. If you want it to be a sequel to what you have already played through or a physical remastering of the game itself, the show is going to disappoint you in a big way (and you’ll probably make some inane YouTube video about why it sucks so much, but it is you, sir, who sucks). Without giving away too much, they built the storyline off of a lot within The Witcher 3.
The show is, so far, a magnificent representation of the story definitely aimed at a larger audience than its traditional fan base. There’s a lot in there for the guys: fights, naked women, awesome special effects, etc. And, there’s a lot in it for the ladies: Henry Cavill constantly bathing, powerful female characters and, of course, fights, naked women, and awesome special effects. Cavill presents us with an absolutely awesome portrayal of Geralt of Rivia. He has managed to make me laugh out loud with his grunts of disapproval alone. Meant as no insult to Geralt’s video game voice, Doug Cockle, but Cavill blows him out of the water…
Henry Cavill’s Geralt quickly emerges as the show’s rich, creamy center. To say he is magnificent understates just how well he has both adapted the original character and added his own stamp onto his portrayal. In a sense, he’s the Geralt we all wish we experienced in the game. If I really boil it down, Geralt is my primary attraction to the show. He’s a great character on his own, but we all really lucked out that someone on the casting team bagged Cavill to do the part (or was it Cavill who bagged Hollywood into doing this project first?).
I can find few faults within the show because I love what I have watched. I get a sense of the moral conflicts presented to the player when I watch the show. In almost every episode, Geralt demonstrates an arrival at a mental crossroads where he must make an inevitable decision. While I doubt he makes the decision of which we all would approve, he definitely maintains a high ethical code and steers towards justice.
Gerry is very much the dark hero from both the books and the games. The show also follows a very gamer-influenced plot development. Each episode feels like a freestanding quest with its own objective and reward. However, just like a game, each quest takes our hero further down the road to an epic, encompassing climax.
I believe only the most cynical gamer will turn their nose up at The Witcher, but that does not make the show immune to criticism. For hardcore fans, who have already read the books and played through the games several times, it will be predictable and lack the novelty it presents to the uninitiated.
However, to that charge, I would compare Witcher to book-movies like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones: yes, we all knew the outcome before the first line, but the visual representations of our imagination carried them through. For the nerds in all of us, they also carried our passions to a wider audience, and brought in a lot more people into our nerd-tribe. That might be the greatest success of The Witcher.
I could continue at length about everything within the show that I find amazing, but I will save that for another day. At the minimum, there are a lot of terrible shows streaming on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and others. The Witcher is not one of them. Suffice to say, I think you should watch it. 4.5/5 Bibles.
-Ryan Forber
THE WITCHER (Friday – Hall H) – Slow your roll, geeks. We hear you! You played and delved into 100+ hours of one of the very best RPG video games of all time: CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.
That was Witcher 3. This new adaptation, a Netflix Original, is ready to launch its debut season. Not everything is going to line up one-to-one; hell, this panel cites the Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels as its primary source of inspiration– while Henry Cavill, the Geralt of Steel himself, also dove deep into the games.
You could tell too, as it wasn’t difficult to be impressed with Cavill’s Witcher knowledge. At the Hall H panel the former Superman shared plenty of thoughts on Geralt of Rivia’s moral agenda and persona dichotomy. The Witcher’s “very hard on the exterior because that’s how he thinks the world is– [despite the fact that] there’s this man who has a belief of what the world can be.” Cavill later added that there was hardly a moment on set where he didn’t find a sword in his hand.
But Cavill knows that Geralt isn’t Geralt without his trusty horse, Roach. “[She’s] more than just a horse, and more than just a fine horse for some of you, as well. [Roach] is the one source of humanity left in the world– an anchor to Geralt’s honest and true self.”
Things aren’t going to be so easy for Cavill’s co-stars either. Freya Allan plays gamer favorite Ceri, albeit a vastly different Ceri than the grown gal we just played with in The Wild Hunt. Allan’s version is younger, appears far more haunted and mystical. The actress recalls her Ceri being “constantly in flux throughout the season”, with her prominent story theme is seeing the good in other people.
Anya Chalotra takes on the role of Yennefer, who looks and comes off really awesome in the panel footage, particularly in one monologue scene on the beach with a dead baby. Her Yennefer intends to find “a true connection and the unconditional love which she never experienced.”
Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich wanted the audience to showcase other characters through a different lense than just Geralt’s. While the Netflix series honors the books and source material, the series aims to give these characters more breathing room.
While whether the Netflix version will fill the appetites of the zillion gamers who’ve embraced Geralt, Ceri and Yennefer’s journey remains to be seen, the trailer looks red hot and the motivation behind the adaptation can certainly give us great hope for the release later this year. 3.75/5 Bibles.
-Travis Moody
Happy Monday, geeks and geekettes! Sure, the holidays are over, and the new year is just now getting started, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have nice things, now, does it? We’ve got some of the newest titles on which to spend that money that your great aunt Gilda mailed to you over the holidays, and you’ve got to have something to read while you’re at the gym getting started on your New Years’ Resolution! We’ve got some of the newest titles, by some of the best reviewers you can find online. So let’s take a look…
CROM! The Northern Barbarian who is destined to be King is back on his throne in the Mighty House of Marvel! First appearing for Marvel in 1970, Robert E. Howard’s creation has been a pop culture icon of paperbacks, film, comics and television ever since he first arrived in 1932. After a brief layover at Dark Horse Comics – Conan is once again home where he belongs. This time we have Jason (Thor)Aaron and Mahmud (Avengers, X-Men) Asrar bringing us this new tale of blood, sand, sex, violence, steel and magic. Jason has a long and proven track record for knowing a thing or two about handing beer drinking /hard fighting brutes on epic journeys, where Mr Asrar is no slouch himself when it comes to action and drama.
The first twelve issues also hold a new prose story by novelist John C Hocking! Words without pictures?! What a concept! Only in America! If you’re an old fan of Conan paperbacks, comics, the original films, or you’ve only seen the last film and somehow you still want to see more? This book will satisfy that craving for Crom’s devoted follower. 4/5 Bibles.
-Sean Farrell
Daredevil is a fascinating character who’s defining quality is both his biggest strength and weakness– he’s a man without fear. He’s both a hero who won’t think twice to jump into any dangerous situation to save somebody and a man who recklessly jumps into dangerous situations that have negative consequences for himself and anyone around him. The Man Without Fear mini-series by Jed MacKay, Danilo S. Beyruth and Andres Mossa that will bridge the gap between the Charles Soule and Chip Zdarsky/Marco Chechetto runs seems to be exploring the dynamic between those two aspects of Matt Murdock and it does a fantastic job in this first issue. In general, I’m a huge fan of these deep explorations of characters though there are certainly exceptions. I just hope this continues along the same lines of some of the better examples (such as The Return of Bruce Wayne) and doesn’t become a huge missed opportunity (ironically enough like the last Daredevil story to attempt something like this, Daredevil: Reborn).
4/5 Devil Horns.
-Kevin Palma
Writer Ed Brisson does a great job, in X-Force #1, in dealing with the immediate fallout from the Extermination event story. X-Force has reunited to hunt down the younger time-displaced Cable, who is responsible for murdering his older self. There is a strong political thriller vibe mixed into the high octane 90’s-style action, all with quick wit and dialogue that is snappy, but never becomes self indulgent. The backup story featuring Boom Boom, which runs parallel to the events of the main story, was hilarious. Brisson, and artist Juanan Ramirez, do their best to channel the flavor of Ellis/Immonen’s Nextwave. While the art here was pitch-perfect, we have to discuss the main story pencils.I am quite the Dylan Burnett fan. Reactor and Interceptor were the business. Cosmic Ghost Rider is one of my personal favorites. However, I’ve always believed that, no matter how good the artist is, if he doesn’t fit the tone of the story, it halts the book dead in its tracks. And that is exactly what happened here. Any moment where there’s a moment of grim violence, or when the story goes into “Tom Clancy” territory with the political intrigue, I was taken out of the narrative completely. 2/5 Bibles.
-Gene Selassie
Wolverine: The Long Night is written by Benjamin Percy and illustrated by Marcio Takara. It starts with an interview between federal agents and the Captain of a fishing boat. The captain and his crew had checked on a second vessel adrift earlier that morning. They checked the hold, where they found mutilated bodies of the crew along with “packages” stored in there. When the agents check the boat themselves, the said packages weren’t there and were not covered in any documentation by previous investigators. The story plays out like a crime drama, coming up to an ever closer conclusion that the killer is the title character of the story. The art and color enhance the tone without making it dreary — I never took my eyes off it. I wanted to absorb the details in the recounts told by the characters as I also got invested in this small town. So now I’m left wondering, did he really do it, though? What was his motive? 3.5/5 Bibles.
-Matt Garza
These days, I’ve been keeping up on Spider-Gwen, so I’m quite aware of the Spider-Geddon, and the fight against the Inheritors, and while that crossover event plays very little in this re-introduction to Elliot Tolliver (ersatz Otto Octavius), the few references helped orient me here (this is a positive, coming from someone who otherwise hates name-dropping crossovers and events). As a quick re-introduction to the San Francisco-based superior web-slinger, though, this issue gets the job done. Writer Christos Gage does an impressive job of not only wrapping up the fallout of Spider-Geddon, but also retelling the entire origin of the Superior Spider-Man: from Doctor Octopus dying and commandeering Peter Parker’s body; his tenure of, and subsequent personal inspiration by, Spider-Man; and his prior life as Elliot Tolliver, just one of many identities he’d had stored away in case of just such an emergency.
An early appearance by Stilt-Man was a humorous inclusion, and it was interesting to see this Spidey as more “serious”, and less quippy; there’s certainly a darker edge to him, and juxtaposing that with brief history of Octavius’s personal life was also an interesting take. Being only tangentially familiar with Superior Spider-Man, it was easy to jump right in and get caught up, and the art and layouts by Mike Hawthorne was clear and expressive, if nothing too extravagant (which is not at all a problem). 3/5 Smack-dab-in-the-middle Bibles.
-J.L. Caraballo
Firstly, I understand that this is probably required in all Marvel stories currently, but anything with a memorial to the great, late Stan Lee at the beginning is okay in my book! Regarding the story, Champions #1 was a roller-coaster of emotions, spending a majority catching everybody up to speed on what has happened. I appreciate the catch up as not everyone may be in the loop as to what has happened. Especially at the beginning where the writer, Jim Zub (Samurai Jack Comics, and Avengers), introduced everyone. A new reader may not know that Sam Alexander was Nova, or that Miles Morales is Spider-Man. A casual fan would probably be confused as to why it isn’t Peter Parker. It was a great introduction to the world of The Champions.
In terms of aesthetics, Steven Cummings did a great job on the art. My favorite part was Ms. Marvel’s transformation at the end. That was well communicated. Overall, Champions #1 is another great recommendation for anyone who wants a team-based comic like the Avengers, with lots of drama. Especially the newbies and casuals that are just getting into the world of comics. An easy in to the ever-growing, ever-expanding House of Ideas. 3/5 Strike Force Teams Agree.
-Tim Markham
The daunting task of reviewing this book left me perplexed. On the one hand, I was a huge fan of the criminally underrated Freedom Fighters arcs by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, and felt that run couldn’t be touched. On the other hand, Robert Venditti has become a Jack-of-All-Trades writer at DC, and he was bound to turn in a good run. “Good” undersells what this team produced. We return to Earth X, where the Nazis won WWII and rule America with an iron fist. The story opens in the past, where a post-WWII Freedom Fighters are portrayed as an underground rebellion. Some fans may have found certain elements a bit hokey or jingoistic, but given the heroes and their plight, it felt apropos. What did not feel apropos was yet another massacre in a Freedom Fighters story. DC has gone to this well a bit too much over the past 12-13 years and really should have backed away from it this time. This wasn’t enough to ruin the issue, thankfully.
Venditti, and artist Eddy Barrows, have great synergy and everything from the pacing and dialogue (except for the term “Ratzi”, which was incredibly overused) felt spot on. Venditti turned down the dialogue at times and let Barrows cut loose with some well choreographed fight scenes and splash pages. I’m completely on board and can’t wait to see where the rest of this 12 issue maxi-series takes us. 4/5 Bibles.
-Gene Selassie
Dark Horse’s first issue of its four issue mini series, has just been released. Written by Aleksandra Motyka, and art by Marianna Strychowska, they reintroduce us to Geralt as he enters the town Novigrad. There he takes on a contract from a friend, to identify who or what is entering his youngest daughter’s chamber at night and assess the danger they pose. The story is very simple in it’s set up and flow quickly, but as someone who isn’t familiar with The Witcher series, there is zero hand holding. One of the characters later in the issue isn’t named out loud so I’m only assuming the audience is supposed to know him, which lends a lot of expectation on the reader. If the character isn’t someone the reader should be familiar with, then for someone who plays a significant role in the events of the story, it might be important to know who he is. The assumption of familiarity might pay off for some readers, but others might be left wondering why they should care. The art has a simple animated feel when characters are at a distance and more detailed in close up. As for the tone, it kinda has the camp of a Hercules or Xena episode, so that might make or break for some readers. 2.5/5 Bibles.
-Matt Garza
With the newest anime fighter from Bandai Namco, I got the best of both worlds at E3 2018–having, yesterday, a pair of hands-on matches at the Xbox E3 Showcase, and, today, learning more detail with a roughly 20-minute behind closed doors panel at Bandai Namco. Both got me psyched for the game.
Jump Force is a stupid name, but fun as heck; if you like super saiyan super powers exploding all over the screen in a massive 3D arena fighter, this one’s for you. This one will be for a lot of anime fans, really, since Jump Force will have fighters from multiple manga staples such as the Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, Death Note (Not playable yet, but Light Yagami and Ryukand were revealed at the trailer’s end) and more — hopefully Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach, One Punch Man, Yu Yu Haksuho, and My Hero Academia. I swear this game was a fuckin’ Facebook joke of mine about potential DBfZ DLC! Nuttier, these wildly popular anime doodZ can come together license conflict free due to the game being based on the weekly Shonen Jump manga. Slick. Real slick…
The only two levels we had to choose from in this early demo were the French Alps and New York’s Times Square. As mentioned, both stages are huge.. setting the stage for more strategic thought and calculation than the more confined, hyper warp speed, super tag action of Dragon Ball FighterZ. But while the two games are different in direction, they both pack the same level of pair-up power. Team-ups are nowhere near as frequent, as least in this early impression, but the vast spaced allow for much more verticality; the Matterhorn stage sorta reminded me of an epic brawl from Final Fantasy XV, just without all the swords, weapons, and slowdown. Hi, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm!
The art style was told to us as a mesh of human realism and Jump manga. Stages depict intense, far less cartoony landscapes while the characters look rougher around the edges, but only slightly; of course Namco wants weebs to recognize these awesome characters without criticism. The game is a blast to play, although it’s yet to be seen how the roster, story and online play hold up. For now, 2019 is just too far away. 3.75/5 Shonen Jump Bibles.
-Travis Moody
After being on break for a few years, Soul Calibur is coming back strong. It’s a series that started out as Soul Edge, and now — 20 years later — Soul Calibur VI looks better and more over the top arcadey than ever. After getting some VIP hands-on time at Bandai Namco with my favorite character, Taki, of course, and watching a preview video, I’m excited and ready.
Xbox One X and PS4 Pro heads will love to hear that SC6 looks great in 4K, especially the game stages, has new fighting combos and an in-depth story mode; also, when your swordfigher fill up their battle gauge and you pull of string of combos, it’s similar to the rage attack in Tekken 7 — but without having to take a lot of damage to use it. Counter attacks and Guard Impact parries felt great at stopping combos; and, so goes the trend, Critical Edges are special action slow-down cutscene moves that can give you the advantage with the correct counter button. The demo host declared that this only makes the game slightly more inviting to n00bz, but Soul Cal vets shouldn’t be worried as Critical Edges and Soul Charges can only be used at critical moments of a fight.
And lest we not forget that, much like past installments when we had special bonus characters like Link, Spawn and Kratos, this time around we’re equiped with fan favorite Geralt of Rivia, also voiced by the game’s same actor Doug Cockle. Hopefully there’ll be a few more surprises in store for what appears to be the top contender for Fight Game of the Year. 4.75/5 Bibles.
-Artez Bailey
Be sure to look out for Bandai Namco’s Soul Calibur VI on October 19th, 2018.
…oh, yes it is–the dawn of a new day for longtime Killzone developer, Guerrilla Games. With PS4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn, GG brings us a vast new open-world experience in the shoes of Aloy — a mysterious outcast with a particular set of skills. Our protagonist starts off as an infant orphan from her tribe, raised and ultimately trained by fellow outcast Rose. After a short and relatively painless tutorial, Aloy goes through a total ‘180’ montage (everybody loves a montage) and–poof!–she’s an adult, ready to conquer the wild. From here, the prime story arc is solving the mystery of who Aloy’s parents were; the rest.. is up to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQDqurZJNk
GAMEPLAY & INFLUENCE
HZD is huge, and borrows a lot of successful gameplay mechanics from other successful franchises. The core combat gives Aloy a selection of several different weapons: her trusty bow, grenadelaunching wrist-rocket or the enemy-tethering ropecaster, just to name a few. Each weapon has unique damage types–fire, shock, ice–that can be matched up to the weaknesses of your foes. The 3rd person combat is quick and responsive and lends itself to several strategy choices: stealth, pre-stage traps, full frontal assault or a combination of these. My only issue with the combat is the lack of a “lock-on” feature, since it’s a crutch that I’m used to in games of this type (come on; even Dark Souls has a lock on!), but it does add an unintended layer of difficulty when facing multiple enemies and trying to prioritize you targets.
All ammo and health regeneration components must be foraged from plants and trees or scavenged off downed enemies. This system is identical to that of Far Cry Primal, right down to the crafting of fire arrows. Assassin’s Creed fans will be familiar with how players slowly reveal the map; but instead of scaling tall buildings, you’ll climb equally-as-high Tallnecks. And once you reach the top, Aloy will sync with the Tallneck dinosaur striping away some fog of war (while there may be no haystack to do you leap of faith, Aloy still performs a daring jump off and repels down the moving skyscraper). The “investigate area” and “follow the trail” mechanic will seem like deja-vu to Witcher fans, as well.
INNOVATION & STYLE
Aloy also acquires some technology that allows her to see the world in a type of augmented reality, revealing enemies’ weak points and tracks. Several quests will have you investigate an area and follow the monsters scent. While these missions work on a functional level, they just aren’t all that much fun. HZD is not all borrowed elements, either… Can you say ROBOT DINOSAURS! These mechanical Jurassic Park science projects range from the small raptoresque watchers to the massive Tallnecks and fire spewing Bellowbacks. Aloy can scan each dinosaur to reveal unique weak points that can be exploited for easier kills and even parts broken off to use in crafting.
Bringing down the metal beasts feels freshly great, forcing the player to use different strategies depending on which and how many dinosaurs you face. as far as weapons in 25+ hour playthrough, I love the ropecaster. This weapon tethers dinosaurs to the ground and gives you time to sit back and chip away with your bow targeting weak points. How you hunt is, ultimately, up to you. Your playstyle can be tailored in the typical level-up though combat and questing, then fill out with the skill tree in three different branches: Prowler, for the stealthier approach; Brace, for the frontal assault style; or Forager, helping gather more resources from the environment and kills.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
Sony and Guerrilla Games have made the best looking game I’ve seen in all my 28-years of.. well.. gaming. Though I began my initial playthrough on a standard 1080p HDTV, I wanted to see what the PS4 Pro and 4K fuss is all about. I noticed a difference immediately. The best way to describe the transfer? It’s looks like the a VHS upgrade to DVD or DVD upgrade to Blu-ray. Running at a full 2160p, everything in HZD looks real, with visuals popping off the screen down to the details in the motion capture. Heck, even supplemental characters look amazing–from their lips moving perfectly in sync to the voice acting. At dawn, ironically, the sky lights up with awe-inspiring detail of the sun beaming through the trees. It’s all so smooth; no pop-ups, screen tears or jaggies to seen here.
Aloy’s animation is fluid and realistic, not to mention I didn’t have any framerate drops–no matter how much chaos was around me. The music and sound effects are great, as well. From the crackling of lightning on your weapons to the dinosaurs roaring as they leap to strike, all the sound is crisp and exciting. The voice acting is well done; our protagonist’s performance seems sincere, caring and.. ahem.. Brave. Yeah. Each dinosaur has their own unique roar, and the colossal dino’s stride by causing thunder as each step strikes the earth. And, hey, HZD still looks great in 1080p; but if you get the opportunity to give Aloy’s epic adventure a shot in 4K, you won’t regret it.
Sony and Guerilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn in stores now.