I keep getting impressed every trailer I see for the upcoming Captain Marvel. To help you catch up on the latest MCU installment, here’s a link to my reviews on Captain Marvel trailer 1 and Captain Marvel trailer 2 ; while we didn’t see her in the Avengers 4 trailer , it’s safe to say she may be the key to beating Thanos. The only issue I see is I can see the MCU formula prominent so I can see it feeling much like the others but no doubt it’ll be epic as hell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Category: Comic review
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
There are a few rare times in life where I’d say a sequel is just as good as the original. Many try being bigger and better and failing. Hellboy was a cool superhero movie and 4 years later came the sequel, indeed bigger and more badass but does Hellboy 2 still keep the magic of the first?
Life is changing for our lovable, stone armed demonic hero. Abe stumbles on the secret Liz is keeping that she’s pregnant with Hellboy’s son; Hellboy has a new boss after years of breaking cover and damages in the strict and peculiar Dr Kraus and Hellboy has to deal with being exposed to the public. Meanwhile Abe discovers love with a Elven princess on the run from her twin brother, who plans on unleashing a unstoppable army on mankind. Can Hellboy and his friends stop this dormant evil?
Whether the second Hellboy movie is better than the first is up for debate; they’re pretty damn close in my opinion but I like the second one just a little more. The action is indeed bigger and better with a more compelling villain. The characters we knew from the first grow and we do feel for them. Del Toro’s strange art style comes out in full and it makes it feel more wondrous than the first. The only little gripe I have is that it does feel a little more mainstream than the first movie. I don’t think the tones and plot structure hurt the movie at all. I think it’s one of the better sequels I’ve ever seen and I do recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Hellboy
As we often do here on the blog, when something ” new” comes out ( I say “new” in quotations because how much do we get in art anymore is actually new really) we tend to look back at what came before. what launched me to look in this uncanny place was the Hellboy 2019 first trailer . Also, I don’t normally begin reviews this way but I am today- Ron Pearlman will always be Hellboy to me in the category of RDJ as Iron Man, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, or Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. He is simply awesome.
Hellboy is a strange kind of hero. His father, Professor Trevor Broom finds him during a paranormal operation during WW2; a little red boy with horns, tail and a stone arm breaches his way into our world from another. Decades later, the child has grown into pretty much a normal dude that just happens to be the destined bringer of doom, look like the devil, and work for the government fighting all sorts of cool supernatural shit along with his friend and psychic fish man Abe Sapien, and dealing with his rocky relationship with volatile pyro-kinectic sweetheart Liz and together they face Rasputin, who brought Hellboy here and is out to start the end of days…
Hellboy is a pretty damn unique superhero movie in a lot of ways. The characters are strange and humanly flawed, there’s a meta edge to the film and the comics it’s based and there’s a good balance between light and dark elements. As I said, Pearlman is fantastic as Hellboy and the supporting characters are pretty solid. I must say the villains are bland by comparison and a rare occasion where the heroes way outshine the bad guys. This was the movie that made me a fan of Guillermo Del Toro, who was a perfect fit for the strange world and he clearly appreciated the source material. In the end, Hellboy was a cool superhero movie that I feel deserves more credit than it got and definitely deserves a watch. May the gods bring you glory.
Marvel’s Spider-man (PS4)
It’s been a long time coming, but Marvel finally gave us a epic game again. Batman: Arkham Asylum , Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight changed superhero games forever and made DC the king of superhero games for nearly a decade but I’m happy to say Marvel came back with a vengeance.
The game takes place years after Peter Parker was fatefully bitten by the radioactive spider. Here we see Parker working for Octavious Industries, a upcoming scientific company lead by Parker’s mentor and dear friend, Otto Octavious, who is working on a series of cybernetic prosthesis. Aunt May works side by side with Martin Li, founder of F.E.A.S.T, a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping the homeless. Parker and Mary Jane Watson have split up and there relationship strained but find there paths crossing as MJ becomes an investigative reporter for the Daily Bugle. Norman Osborn has become mayor while his son Harry is “away in Europe”. After bringing down Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, a new villain appears, leading Spider-man to fight the sinister 6 lead by one of his greatest adversaries and fallen idol, testing everything he stands for along side Mary Jane and young Miles Morales. Enter Doc Ock…
This maybe my favorite version of Spider-man. While I adore Spider-man and Spider- man 2 as well as Spider-man: Homecoming and Spider-man: the animated series , the game’s story gives me pieces of what I love about all of those titles with a great story of it’s own. The story is a perfect blend of lightheartedness and pathos with a hell of a lot of Spidey’s villains. Combat flows beautifully ans while it takes time to get used to it, when you do you feel like an absolute badass with a huge mix of attacks, gadgets, and environmental aids. Web Swinging is truly flawless, quick and smooth, you’ll find yourself having a blast swing through New York visiting real and fictional landmarks. The game offers a lot to do and about 90% is fun as hell. For the Marvel fans, there’s plenty of famous landmarks to visit, plenty of Spidey’s iconic costumes to acquire, villains to fight. The only complaints I have are that boss fights are too easy and the stealth sections with MJ and Miles while not horrible, do break the immersion for me at times. In the end, Spider-man is the best game I’ve played all year and I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Aquaman
Arthur Curry, the Aquaman, is a force to be reckoned with in the DC universe. Half man, half Atlantean born from the Queen of the mythical under sea kingdom. Arthur rules the seven seas, is strong, durable, can swim warp speed and communicate with sea life as well as kick your ass with his epic trident. But despite these feats his character has always been a joke, but I’m glad to say his movie kicks ass…
The movie tells the origin story of how Arthur Curry, son of a simple lighthouse keeper would rule the seas. After the events of Justice League (second opinion) Arthur returns home to to visit his dad only to get visited by the beautiful princess Mera who begs him to come to Atlantis before Orm, Arthur’s younger half brother begins a war to destroy the surface world. Angry the Atlanteans seemingly executed his mother for treason, Arthur refuses the princess’s plea. Orm launches a strike on the surface after a fixed attack on a diplomatic meeting and after seeing his brother’s drive, Arthur sets off on a quest to find his ancestor’s mystical trident and stop the bloodshed and war of the power hungry Ocean Master…
As a Aquaman fan, I can absolutely say this is what I was hoping for. Jason Momoa brings his natural likability but surprises at how heartfelt he could be. Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, and Willem Dafoe lend really good supoorting performances. I wish there was a little more Manta, but he was awesome for what he was in. Visually it’s a treat for the eyes, unlike JLA, there is so much beautiful use of colors and there’s plenty of life to feast your eyes on- Atlantis isn’t dull and murky. The final battle is truly badass in scale and shows why I fell in love with character and comics. I’d say it’s say Aquaman dethroned Wonder Woman as the crown jewel of DC movies, but I highly recommend it as a fun adventure flick. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Infamous: Second Son
Here we come to the first game I played for PlayStation 4, the continuation of the Infamous story, leading off of the good karma ending of Infamous 2 where Cole sacrificed much of the Conduits as well as Himself and the Beast to preserve mankind. At first I was hesitant to follow the series with a new hero/ villain but eventually I caved, but what did I find diving into Seattle as Conduit Delson Rowe?
The world has changed since the Beast came and now Conduits are seen as monsters, freaks. An agency called D.U.P is on the warpath against them, lead by Augustine and her concrete abilities. She’s called to a small Native American reservation on the outskirts of town in search for a Conduit fugitive that we meet our main character, Delson, the rebellious young graffiti artist who discovers his own abilities- he can copy other Conduit’s powers. After Augustine harms his people, it’s up to Delson, his cop brother Reggie, and a couple of Conduit outcasts to ban together and take D.U.P and Augustine down.
I’m just going to say, Infamous: Second Son is a hell of a first game to jump into PlayStation 4. The gameplay is remarkably smooth, especially switching between all four power sets: smoke, neon, video, and concrete (which sucks). each power has its own set of traits, strengths and weaknesses and epic as hell ultimate moves. Visually the game is colorful and striking and a treat for the eye. Because it was a launch title, there was some interesting uses of the new controller functions that work well like waving it to spray paint or getting calls through the controller’s microphone. The story is above solid on good karma but honestly the evil karma side is weak as hell. the story is inferior, all the powers replace there vast color pallets and styles with shades of red and purple. Another drawback is the fact I couldn’t help but feel the X-Men comparisons in this story. Augustine isn’t a really remarkable villain either. Overall, it’s a damn fun game but I have to say it loses it’s replay value and feels cliche but if you stay good, the game is well worth it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Avengers 4 trailer
The day has arrived at last, our first trailer for Avengers: Endgame has come. Thanos has won and what few Avengers remain are lost and desolate. The feel of the trailer is a perfect follow up to the end of Avengers: Infinity War . I was glad to see Hawkeye return as well as Antman’s funny bit at the end. I wish they showed a little bit more but the feeling of defeat and loneliness was perfect. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Ultimate Fantastic 4: N- Zone
Originally my plan was to cover volumes 3 and 4 together but the next volume is literally like 3 stories in one where as volume 3 is one solid story. Also to avoid a recap, check out my review on Ultimate Fantastic 4: Fantastic / Doom but essentially we’re wrapping up there primary origin as the 4 embark into the N- Zone, where it’s believed they got there powers.
After facing the nefarious Mole Man and Dr Doom, Reed Richards ( Mr Fantastic) discovers a means to travel to the Negative Zone, the place who’s mere exposure caused there mutations and Doom’s deformation. It takes some talking with the volatile General Ross but Reed gets clearance to venture unto the breach with there custom shuttle, the Awesome. The N Zone is a dying universe, cold and near lifeless. The rules of physics are nearly null and void. The environment has a nasty, almost lethal effect on Johnny and his powers but they can’t go back without answers or empty handed. They come across a mangled space station inhabited by the starving dwellers of the universe, overseen by Nihilus, a eerie fly like creature who is desperate and wants a way out by any means necessary. Can the Four overcome this new threat with a man down and escape this dying hell?
This is a solid book but there is some drawbacks. There are some strong character moments between Sue and Johnny as brother and sister and I like seeing the conflict in Reed stemming from his ambition. Nihilus does have a creepy vibe to him his motives are sympathetic. A problem that kills the story for me is the fact he’s honestly a wimp. One punch from Thing basically takes him out, and once they return to our dimension Johnny pretty much roasts his damn posse in 30 seconds. I felt like the pacing was off and the beginning was a little too long and the end game was too quick and there were a few times there could have been some sweet action scenes. In the end its a good solid story I think many would enjoy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Captain Marvel trailer 2
After Captain Marvel trailer 1 I was pretty excited but I have to say now I’m pumped up ten fold. Seeing her red and blue costume in full, kicking ass in space was pretty damn sweet. We finally get to see the Skrull which look better than I thought they would. It’s good to have Sam Jackson back in the MCU once again. With the Avengers 4 trailer coming soon, the timing was perfect and the hype was real. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Infamous 2
Infamous left off with Cole standing over Kessler, enlightened that a dark future was coming. The Beast was coming and Cole was going to fail against it. Infamous 2 begins right after the first leaves off, with the foretold Beast invading Empire City and Cole faces off against him, failing miserably and the city does fall. Cole and Zeke fall back to the Cajun town of New Marais so Cole can heal and grow his shattered powers to new heights he has yet to achieve. Monsters emerge from the Bayou, the gangs are fighting over the streets, a hate filled politician with a dark secret is fueling the hate against Conduits, and Cole finds himself facing bigger, harder choices that go beyond New Marais, but the future of man and Conduits. The Beast is coming…
Infamous 2, like many sequels, kicks up the crazy factor up 10 fold. Cole’s electric powers from the first return, now with multiple options to each attack, a cool new set of melee attacks, faster travel, and the ability to splice your powers with icey Kuo or firey Nix making a epic ton of options. The story maintains good quality and once again there is a lot of replay-ability. While the Beast wasn’t as interesting or as challenging as Kessler in the first, Bertrand makes up for it as a interesting villain. One huge issue I have is even on hardest difficulty, the Beast is too easy. A smaller issue I have is with all the attack options, having to stop the game to open a menu to readjust everything can be cumbersome but you get used to it. The game is epic as hell as the first one and definitely worth playing. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 