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Fantastic 4 (2005) the game

f4 game

I fell for the onslaught of movie games pre- MCU and it all boils to being just a kid. I was pretty disappointed with Fantastic 4 (2005) and I was praying for a better experience. Well, it’s a game…pretty much the story follows the movie loosely, only with added villains like Mole Man, Dragon Man, El Diablo, and Puppet Master with Dr Doom as the main bad guy.

We get to play as each member of the Four: Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing. The game doesn’t do bad with most of the characters but Human Torch felt the least under powered of the group and Invisible Woman felt almost OP with her stealth take downs and the push beam from force field. Level design was simple- straight beat em up with some cut scenes and QTEs thrown in for good measure and with the exception of the Torch levels it’s not a bad game, just repetitive. Everyone gets a solo level, then boss and repeat. Graphics are meh and the voice acting ain’t great. It’s an Ok game but nothing fantastic- pun intended. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Superman returns: the game

superman returns the game

There is a lot of movie tie-in games out there. Not so much these days, but when I was a kid every movie seemed to have a damn video game counterpart. Superman Returns stuck with me after all these years because there were some ideas that could have been awesome, and maybe if done now could have been astounding.

The story of the game for Superman Returns doesn’t really follow the movie- at all. The fact Superman comes back to Earth and Lex Luthor is doing something naughty is pretty much where the similarities end. Somehow he finds himself in a Colosseum in space in a fight with Mongul , which is weirdly the tutorial. You escape and go to Earth where you fight Bizzaro, Metallo, and that little creepy inter-dimensional guy no one but a true comic geek can even pronounce let a lone spell while Luthor does build up stuff to a create a bunch of evil tornadoes…this is the story in a nutshell.

Playing as Superman in a open world isn’t perfect but I have to give the game credit, it works remarkably damn well. You get heat vision, super breath, freeze breath, super speed, flight, and strength and for the most part, they work really well. I like how you really can’t die but you can get weakened but the closer you get to sun, the stronger you get. What does have a health bar is Metropolis itself, which is a fair idea but damn it’s a pain in the ass to maintain. The fights you get into cause a lot of collateral damage. Actual fighting I think sucks. Your vision powers aren’t really effective against enemies on there own and the combos you can do aren’t great but alright. The game never feels fluid, it feels clunky and that hurts the Bizarro fight for example. The final boss is a huge letdown. There is fun here but after a few hours it gets old and repetitive fast. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Daredevil season 3 teaser

Daredevil, season 1 blew my mind. What I saw between Daredevil and Punisher of season 2 was perfectly done; the staircase fight scene maybe one of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen given towards a superhero story. Sadly because of personal reasons I wasn’t able to finish season 2 and I haven’t seen Defenders but I’m surprised to see his original costume back. I love his monologue in this teaser. I’m hoping Kingpin returns and the rumors of Bullseye coming this season are true. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms trailer

Why Disney, why? Why the hell did the Nutcracker need another dark retelling? Ok, better question, why the hell does the Nutcracker- a ballet- need a movie to begin with? Something like Fantasia where you play the music to a cartoon, no voices just the music, I think that would be awesome but not another Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland clone (by the way I actually liked the movie). Visually it looks nice but you know damn well it’s CGI but I can’t thinking of Alice. Even the lead actress’s dress reminds me of classic Alice. I’d watch it but I’m not expecting much. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Anna and the Apocalypse trailer

A little known fact about me is I have a weird taste for musicals; I love WTF musicals however, not really the traditional kind. Anyone who saw Repo the Genetic Opera will get what I mean. Anyway, so a zombie Christmas musical and already I’m invested.I’ll be happy if it makes me ask WTF and gives me a new song to sing in my travels. I’m looking forward to it, may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Superman Returns

superman returns

Before Man of Steel I was never much of a Superman fan, but my dad had a fondness for the old Christopher Reeves movies. They were simple, good natured movies where good was good, bad was bad and things were simple. When Tim Burton’s Batman dropped, there became an evident line between light and dark- Superman the poster child for the light. As years went on, everyone ran towards the dark while Superman stayed for the light. How did it hold up in a time in the gutter?

Superman, the Man of Steel, disappeared one day, thinking there was hope his birth home of Krypton may not have been totally destroyed. Five years later, after leaving his world behind, he returned to Earth back on the Kent farm in Smallville. While it was easy to get his job back at the Daily Planet, he quickly finds out Lois is an award winning writer who moved on with a handsome fiance and a son, and the world he left is falling into chaos. While a stunning return brings excitement from most of the world, an old enemy is plotting to bring some of Clark’s real home to Earth in a strange plan only Superman could stop…

Before I talk about how I feel about this movie, I admit to respecting what it was trying to do. Sadly, this may be the most boring superhero movie I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s almost no action whatsoever and no really intense conflict to speak of. The movie looks great, I will say that. Brandon Routh was a good successor to Reeves and I’d say his performance was underrated; Kevin Spacey was alright as Lex Luthor but could have been more menacing. I felt Kate Bosworth was bland as Lois Lane. The ultimate plot is lame and the movie drags on. I give them points for trying to go back to an older style of superhero film, but there’s better ways it could’ve been done. Mostly this movie boils down to style over substance and I don’t totally recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

My 10 favorite Spider-man villains, part 2

spidey comic 2

Here we continue with my list of favorite Spider-man villains, starting from the 5th spot to number 1. Here we get a lot of the big well known Spidey bad guys, the ones that test him the most, starting with…

kingpin spidey 5. Kingpin-

While just as much of a Daredevil villain, Spider-man has given Wilson Fisk a ton of headaches over the years. Fisk is a criminal mastermind and a brutal physical threat that can certainly take a ass kicking.

carnage spidey 4. Carnage-

With all the hype over Venom’s movie and many wondering why he wasn’t the villain revealed in Venom trailer 3 I have to give Cleatus a shout out. He’s a stark raving lunatic that won’t go down, loves Lynard Skynard, and warp his body into deadly things. Ain’t he a bundle of fun for the family?

doc ock spidey 3. Doctor Octopus/ Doc Ock-

My personal favorite rendition was Alfred Molina’s in Spider- man 2 , though I loved him in the animated series too and in Amazing Spider-man: Superior I loved seeing Peter’s former mentor try to live up to his enemy. Ock’s tentacles are some of my favorite weapons in comics that are frankly badass.

venom spidey 2. Venom-

Venom in almost every way is the dark version of Spider-man, and his story is full of sheer awesomeness and revenge. You can’t talk about Venom without bringing up Spider-man: the animated series or Spider-man (N64) .Of course Spider-man 3 didn’t do the character justice but the movie has promise. What makes Venom cool is the fact he means to do good at the expense of his hate for the wall crawler, and they do make an awesome pair in a fight.

green goblin marvel 1. Green Goblin-

No villain has really brought Spider-man the pain and hardship as the Green Goblin. Because of Goblin, he lost his greatest love Gwen Stacy, and his best friend Harry Osborn went mad after losing his father Norman, the first Goblin just eventually meet the same fate. The Goblin’s creepy outfit, Halloween themed arsenal, cool glider, and utter madness makes him my number one.

There’s plenty of other villains I’d like to include like Shocker, Hobgoblin, Kraven the Hunter, and Mysterio but that’s part of what makes Spider-man so great, he’s got so many great villains. I hope you enjoyed and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

My top 10 favorite Spider-man villains part 1

spidey comic 1

Spider-man has come a long way in the few years after Tom Holland’s spot on performance as the wall crawler in Captain America Civil War (Iron Man Side) , Spider-man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War . I’ve also been covering a lot of the trailers for the ps4 game. That being said, as much as our friendly neighborhood Spider-man, I love his villains just as much. In this post, from spot 10 to 6, let’s begin with…

lizard spidey 10. The Lizard-

Curt Connors was a teacher, scientist, and friend to Peter who had lost an arm and tried regrowing it with reptilian DNA with monstrous results. My attraction to him has always been the draw of how sympathetic he his on top of how viscous he can be… plus he was my favorite part of Amazing Spider-man

electro 9. Electro –

Ok, this is going to blow a lot of minds but I didn’t hate The Amazing Spider-man 2 as much as many did. I’ve never been a huge fan of Electro but I loved the power he had in the movie. Every game I’ve faced him in kicked my ass and electricity powers are sweet so here’s to the 9 spot.

scorpion spidey 8. Scorpion-

I always felt kinda bad for Mac Gargon, a guy who found himself in a raw deal. Yes he got strength, agility, and a suit that can up the damage he can take with a tail that can spray acid but the drawback is he’s stuck in the suit. Besides being awesome, whether its in Spider-man (N64) or Spider-man: the animated series , he’s a force to be reckoned with.

hydro man spidey 7. Hydro Man-

Water is everywhere, in fact, it’s a majority of what makes us up. Hell, most of our planet is water. When your girlfriend’s crazy asshole ex boyfriend is virtually indestructible and has an extremely accessible power source at his disposal, well Spidey is in for a hell of a fight.

vulture spidey 6.Vulture-

I have to admit, before Homecoming I never really understood why I liked Vulture so much. He looked cool in the Spider-man movie game, but he was easy as hell to take down, In Homecoming, Michael Keaton gave a great performance as a father trying to do right for his family.

I hope you enjoyed the first half of my list, the second half will be up later today. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Red Dead Redemption

red dead redemption

Red Dead Redemption is one of those rare games that truly deserves to be called a masterpiece. Whether you want a game where you can inflict your own sadistic whims out on others and just enjoy yourself, you surely can; if you want a clever satire that’s thought provoking and deeply character driven in ways so few games are anymore, it’s that too.

Red Dead Redemption is a former outlaw on a mission: hunt down his old gang and kill them. Not for revenge though, but because a shady government man tells John Marsten that they have his wife and son. Through this huge journey through the old west, we understand who Marsten was and the kind simple man he wants to be who just wants to be left alone to raise his family. But can any of us ever escape the past?

There is so much to say about this game. The huge, twisting, sprawling story was my favorite part. The characters felt so human and authentic it was impossible not to be invested in them. The gameplay runs damn good. Shooting is simple to pick up but challenging to truly master, especially on horseback, but you’ll feel badass once you do. I like the blend of western drama, dark comedy, and fiction throughout; there’s a truly sad side mission with Sasquatch that almost made me tear up. The game has so many unique side quests and mini games that are engaging and fun it’s so easy to keep entertained. The graphics were amazing for the time and hold up damn good to this day. In the end, I couldn’t recommend this game more and needs to be tried. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Steel

steel

Hey everyone, remember the 90’s when no one had an idea what makes a good superhero movie? Because of this, we got such majestic gems as Batman and Robin and Spawn/ Spawn: origins so why the hell should it come as a shock that anyone thought of giving Shaq the role of a DC superhero? Well…here’s Steel…

Shaq plays John Henry Irons, a weapons maker for the military with his best friend Sparks. Together with a dick named Nathaniel they made a whole new line of laser weapons to help the government get a leg up on shit. Well, Nathaniel rigs one of the weapons for maximum power, it backfires and people end up dead, Sparks ends up in a wheelchair, and John Henry says F U to the army and leaves to go back home to his grandma while he works in a steel mill to get his head together. Well his old friend comes back with a gang and those weapons and intends to sell them. So its up to John Henry, his uncle Joe, and Sparks to stop them, but first he’ll need his own armor and weapons to become Steel…

Oh boy…so when I was a kid, this movie wasn’t bad. Wasn’t great, but wasn’t bad. As an adult, this movie is ass. The acting is meh at best but what really kills this movie are the effects. The suit looks fake as hell and damn right gaudy. There’s a lot of unintentionally funny stuff in this movie like the fact grandma making a souffle is an actual side plot, Shaq free throws a grenade, and the awkward dialogue choices throughout. I can’t sadly say it’s hilarious enough to be a total WTF movie, its just bland and by the numbers moment by moment. Its really forgettable and I can’t say its worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.