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Batman: Arkham Knight

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The epic conclusion to the Arkham trilogy, and yes, though the twist made many a comic fan groan, it still is a epic game.

Joker is dead, but Gotham’s problems aren’t over. Scarecrow has returned with a more damaging and drastic version of his infamous toxin and a new foe has come to his aid. Armed with a badass suit and an army of trained badasses against Batman’s tactics, the Arkham Knight has come. On top of this, Batman is haunted by the death of his greatest enemy and we see Joker’s final plot come to fruition; his blood is mutagenic, causing his likeness and madness to spread through it’s victims like a virus.With everything Batman has built crashing all around him, can he survive when all seems lost?

So, first, I’m not going to spoil what I know pissed off a lot of people- the true identity of the Arkham Knight. That being said, the game’s story is great all around and we get perhaps one of Hamil’s greatest ever performances as Joker. Visually the game is breathtaking and the gameplay is honed beautifully, including the new Batmobile stuff. Besides playing as the Bat, we get to take command of his epic ride and actually get to fight alongside the Bat family and Catwoman in pretty damn fluid combat. It’s a nerds wet dream. Many of the problems I had with City got fixed. The only real issues I have is that you can’t get the real end until you beat the game with it’s overabundance of Riddler shit and some of the Batmobile shit is annoying after awhile. Overall, I highly recommend it even if the reveal wasn’t great. Best Wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

DC Universe Online

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My old roommate Gambit used to be utterly obsessed with this game, and for the most part he ain’t even a DC fan except for Flash and Wonder Woman. First time I saw it action, I was blown away but the level of customization. DC Universe Online is a MMORPG that can be played on PC or PlayStation 3 and 4.

The main story is Brainiac is attacking Earth and the JLA gets informed by Lex Luthor from the future that he very well can kill the planet. Meanwhile, through Exobytes that are releasing powers in ordinary people, the JLA has to try to stop Brainiac…but not all are heroes. We create our own characters from scratch: allegiance to good or evil, which mentor we will follow (Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman/ Luthor, Joker, and Circe), our costumes, our powers, weapons and means of transportation. For example: my first character is a ice villain that flies, uses hand blasters, and follows Luthor. There’s a shit load of options at start which is really cool. The roster of heroes and villains we meet in game is amazing and epic to behold; it was a dream come true to stand with Jon Stewart and Killowag and fight Sinestro, defend Gotham from a fear gas attack by Scarecrow, or help Grodd beat Flash into the ground. But for all the game has to offer, there is one teeny tiny drawback: FUCKING PAY WALL! You’re able to get your character through the opening levels and up to tier 3 of 8 before it sets in, but I guarantee you, the game gets 50 times more incredible behind the pay wall. Also, many of the insanely strong powers lay behind there too like red lanterns, atomic, and celestial powers for example. Getting into a PVP match against these powers can wreck you quick if you aren’t very well equipped. It’s $15 a month and once and a while I play but I can’t keep up with it. Overall, it’s a really cool game with a gaping flaw. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Flash, season 1

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A few years ago, I was drastically obsessed with the CW DC shows; Arrow was in it’s prime and in season 2 we saw Grant Gustin debuted as Barry Allen ending his arc with the events that lead to him becoming the Flash.

Barry Allen wakes from a coma after being hit by lightening after a disastrous incident with a particle accelerator, leaving him with superhuman speed and a connection to the Speed Force. After the incident, lives are turned upside down however. Dr. Harrison Wells, creator of the device, is left paralyzed but fascinated by Barry’s transformation; his assistant Cisco Ramon is thrilled by the discovery of a Meta-human, while his other assistant, Caitlin Snow, is grieving her fiance, Ronnie Raymond’s seeming demise in the accident. Before the change, Barry was a forensic scientist hoping to crack the case that put his dad wrongfully behind bars, being taken in by Detective Joe West, and his daughter Iris, who Barry secretly loves. And it’s because Joe is in danger from someone much like Barry, another Meta human, does he don the red of the Scarlet Speedster and take on his famous villains like Captain Cold, Grodd, Trickster, and Weather Wizard. But there is someone like Barry, someone malevolent that we discover has been the driving force of Barry’s life and misery, the powerful Reverse-Flash…

Ok, to start I have to confess that I only got to see the first season so far. And I loved it. Gustin is spot on as Barry Allen and the cast does have a great chemistry. Tom Cavanagh especially caught me as especial as Reverse Flash. For a TV show, the special effects are awesome and the fights are cool. The overall story is engaging, and really cool seeing Barry push himself to learn more about his powers and the Speed Force. My only real complaint is a lot of the villains felt like X men clones. In the end, I highly recommend it and I can’t wait to hit season 2 in the near future.

Batman: Arkham Origins

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I wanted to talk about this when Christmas was closer because it is in fact a Christmas game, but I think holidays are holidays. So I saw the trailer and was blown away but the cinematic sharpness and come on, watching Batman and Deathstroke face off only to interrupted by Deadshot was amazing. So what happened?..

It’s Xmas Eve in Gotham. Batman is relatively fresh being a vigilante only pumping out a year or two at this point. Most of the police are corrupt as hell and a spunky Detective named Jim Gordon wants to take Batman down as well as the other trash in Gotham. The cruel gangster Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask, is fed up with Batman and decides to deliver an enticing offer to eight assassins to have Batman dead by Xmas morning and the killer will have a shit load of cash. These assassins are Killer Croc, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Firefly, Copperhead, Shiva, Electrocuitoner, and Bane. I loved it so far until one question popped up, and after that I groaned…”Who’s the Joker?” Yep, this entire game boils down to the first time Batman and Joker met, oh and the first time Bane used super roids.

For the most part, Origin feels like a glitchier version of Arkham City with a Xmas skin on it. Without internet, this thing kept freezing more than my experience with the trilogy combined. Not to say there isn’t fun. Fighting is just as fun and many of the boss battles are fun to play. Deathstroke steals the show as probably the best Arkham boss fight to date, followed closely with Firefly. The story isn’t bad on a whole but it becomes apparent a lot of the Dark Knight trilogy found its way into this thing: Joker’s face has been cut, Bane looks and speaks like Tom Hardy’s version, and Batman growls when he talks. Ugh, Batman pissed me off in this game. He ends up being a selfish, know-it-all asshole most of the game; Conroy doesn’t do the voice either, nor did Hamil return as Joker. Baker does a fair shot at Joker, I give him that. I’d say if you loved City, Origins is worth a single playthrough but not much further than that. I ain’t going to trash it but I won’t count it among the trilogy. Best wishes everyone and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Deadpool 2 “Wet on Wet” trailer

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Arguably the two most anticipated films of next year are going to Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2, both I’m super pumped for. The first Deadpool was honestly one of the honest to god, truest comic book character portrayals I’ve seen. Well, if the other two teasers for the sequel didn’t prove it, this sure as shit will. Any Deadpool fan knows his love of parodies and whacky antics fused into his badassness; today I can say Deadpool taught me how to paint. Laced through his hilarious parodies of one of Bob Ross’s painting lessons, we got to see glimpses of what’s to come and HOLY SHIT IT LOOKS EPIC! Smartly, they don’t fully reveal Cable or the villain which I applaud them for. I really can’t tell you how pumped I am to get a full trailer but I do commend the trailers we got, now if you excuse me, I got chimichangas brewing :p

Evil Bong 2: Devil’s Harvest

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Also called “King Bong”, we have the sequel to Evil Bong. Oh boy.So we join our stoners again after Alistair saved them from Eebee, the Evil Bong. Alistair is called by his old friends because they are suffering from bizarre symptoms from getting high like one dude who has constant munchies, another who won’t stop humping shit, and another who randomly keeps passing out. So randomly the dude who delivered the bong in the first one comes and some how we find ourselves going to a mysterious island to confront the ex boyfriend of Eebee the Evil Bong, King Bong and yeah…I laughed my ass off how fucking stupid this movie was but that’s the fun. As I said before in my previous review of the Evil Bong series, don’t watch this expecting a high brow comedy. If you enjoy dumb shit for the sake of dumb shit, you’ll have a blast. I know I did. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hunger Games

hunger games book Something about the upcoming holiday made me think of the amazing book and the lame ass movie. Yes, I said it, the first movie sucked. Seriously, I almost got me and a friend kicked out of our local movie theater because I was that pissed. I’m going to predominately focus on the book, but oh I will get to the movie at the end.

Katniss Everdeen is a pissed off, quiet, depressed seventeen year old girl living in District 12 in the post-apocalypse of Panem. Each district provides a service to the tyrannical Capitol that reigns supreme and every year, to prove there might and superiority, they hold the Hunger Games. Two tributes, one boy and one girl from each district are placed in a game for all to see where the only victor is the child who manages to kill and outlive the others. Prim, Katniss’s little sister is chosen but Katniss takes her place alongside Peeta Mellark, a handsome, kind young man who showed her mercy years before in her darkest days. Katniss is a survivor though and skilled with a bow, but will that be enough to survive?

Ok, so I am a huge fan of the book trilogy. I seriously devoured the book page to page when I first read it and still held up after a few rereadings which is impressive. Here is two reasons why I hated how it was adapted: the book was in first person and almost nothing was as I imagined it. As I said above, Katniss is a quiet, introverted young woman so the first person perspective added depth and melancholy where needed; during the movie there were times she acted bizarrely. If you read the book, it may make sense but as a casual movie goer it may make you ask WTF? Next, a lot of this wasn’t how I imagined. Much like an experience with the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the story in the first Hunger Games gave me hard, visceral images without really giving them to me, making me imagine them rather than washing the page in fictional blood and guts. The movie doesn’t show you jack shit but you get a nice assload of shaky-cam. Two huge gripes I have is that for a district riddled with poverty, coal dust, and starvation, our lead actors look pretty damn well fed and ugh- Peeta your damn family can barely afford food but you can gel your hair, bullshit ahoy! And the second thing, the final monsters got WAY bitched down from the book and on top of that, the CGI effects for them look like shit. I do enjoy the music in the movie and Woody Harrelson is awesome as Haymitch but that’s about all the good I got to say. Please read the book trilogy. Best wishes, may the gaming gods bring you glory and may the odds be ever in your favor.

5 great stories from DC new 52

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The new 52 comic run brought us some cool new ideas as well as introduced me to a lot of new characters I feel in love with and even helped reshaped the way we viewed some of them. Working my way to number 1, here’s my list of 5 favorite DC new 52 stories starting with…

new 52 shazam 5. Shazam (volume 1)- I’m not a magic fan but I do love Black Adam, who stole every panel he appeared in for me. Menacing, intelligent, and powerful, he was a great way to start Shazam’s origin. After reading this, Adam became a favorite of mine.

new 52 suicide squad 4. Suicide Squad: Kicked in the teeth (volume 1)- I borrowed the first 3 volumes of the new 52 a year before the movie came out and absolutely devoured them. I loved a story based primarily of villains kicking ass and spouting dark 1 liners. Also, King Shark rules!

new 52 flash 3. Flash: Gorilla Warfare (volume 3)- I love Grodd. I love the Rogues. This book boils down to Flash and the Rogues teaming up to stop Grodd and his ape army. It’s badass and ends with a awesome fight and a Easter egg I loved.

new 52 aquaman 2. Aquaman: The Trench (volume 1)- Like many people, I never thought into Aquaman much. To quote Batman, “Arthur Curry, I hear you can talk to fish.) But the gorgeous artwork and epic fight got me on board instantly. 1 superhero vs a army of mutated piranha people, what’s not to love?

new 52 batman 1 1. Batman: Court of Owls/ Night of the owls (volumes 1 and 2)- It’s not everyday a great Batman story comes out that has nothing to do with Joker. In fact, this story brings the history we thought we knew deeply into question and not only is Batman and the Bat-family at match by these creepy, damn near unstoppable assassins but they truly test what Batman stands for and that is the sign of a great story.

Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Scary Movie

Ok, so once upon a time, before I became Torsten V I had a stick up my ass about horror. I didn’t think horror and comedy could blend together, like Fettuccine Alfredo and Rocky Road ice cream; separately great but together you get the worst kind of diarrhea the devil couldn’t imagine. When Scary Movie debuted, I was high on the Scream trilogy and was pretty pissed about having a movie satirizing it. Well, in school I heard how hilarious I was and really had nothing to rent from Blockbuster that weekend so there I went- and I loved it.

Essentially the movie is mash up of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, with jabs at such 90’s hits like The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense. Seventeen years later, some of the references as well the movies it is based on may feel dated but if you grew up around then, you’ll get a good laugh. The Comedy is crude but I don’t know what you were expecting walking into something like this. I had a lot of fun with it and it holds up well years later and multiple rewatches. Best wishes, may the gaming gods bring you glory, and WHATZ UP!

Batman: Arkham City

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The follow up to Arkham Asylum royally kicked the notches up when it came to scope and gameplay, but it ain’t perfect. I would say Asylum was a 10/10, Knight a 9.5/10, and City a 9/10. By no means horrendous, but still my least favorite of the three.

The begins with a bang, Bruce Wayne is arrested during a press conference protesting the formation of Arkham City: a huge, contained part of Gotham acting as a massive prison for all of Gotham’s criminals from the common thugs to the Super villains. The head of Arkham City, Hugo Strange, knows Wayne’s true identity as he tells him how he will make Gotham a better, safer place without Batman with the mysterious Protocol 10. So it’s up to Batman to face off against a city in the clutches of a three way gang between Two-Face, Penguin, and a dying Joker who requires Bats help, injecting him with his own tainted blood to ensure Batman’s help. It’s a race against time to save the good, the bad, and the insane from Strange and his dark benefactor lurking behind the scene.

I love the story as it first stood. Arkham City the best rogues gallery of any batman game I’ve ever played facing off against Two-Face, Penguin, Mr Freeze, Clayface, Rhas al Ghul, Solomon Grundy, and Deadshot to name a few. Mark Hamil and Kevin Conroy are amazing as always as Joker and Batman, with all around great voice acting. The combat is much more fluid this time around and being able to add gadgets into my combos was friggin sweet; I loved the gliding mechanics for getting around Arkham City. Then we come into some issues with the Riddler and Catwoman. shit. The Catwoman sections on there own aren’t bad but I hate how they were integrated into the game after the Game of the Year edition came out which kinda kills the flow of the game for me. And the Riddler stuff ranges from cool to flat out, blood boiling annoying and oh there is a shit ton of it. So if you don’t like collecting shit- oh well. Another pet peeve is that find things to complete the side missions are a major pain at times. You either have to wait a lot or randomly find things along to continue them, which thank god they fixed the mission for Hush because that drove me crazy. Overall Arkham City is a really sweet game with some drawbacks but a lot of fun. May the gaming gods bring you glory and best wishes.