Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

fallen order

Hell may have frozen over because EA gave us what I’m saying is honestly the best Star Wars gaming experience I’ve ever had. Remember EA? The ones who crushed so many souls with such disasters as Anthem, Star Wars: Battlefront as well as the catastrophic Battlefront II, and Mass Effect: Andromeda. It was looking like EA had gone to the Dark Side without a sign of redemption, but here we have it…

Years after Order 66 decimated the Jedi and the Empire conquered the galaxy, the Inquisitors under Darth Vader hunt the last remnants of the Jedi. Cal Kestis was a child padawan when 66 dropped; he’s grown up in hiding, living job to job in secret and afraid of the day when he’s found. One day, he uses the force to save a friend and the Empire comes, lead by the Second Sister, a powerful Inquisitor. Saved by a runaway Jedi master and a ex scoundrel, it’s up to Cal to recover his power, face not only the demons of his past as well of those of his new friends, and find a artifact that could reinstate the Jedi or damn the universe forever armed only with his lightsaber, the Force, and his helpful droid BD-1.

Despite the hugely positive reviews, I was hugely skeptical but for the most part I was blown away. Gameplay feels like a healthy, fluid mix of Souls and Uncharted while feeling unique on it’s own. Shockingly, especially in this day and age in gaming, the bulk of the game is story with a ton of collectibles ( many a which are parts to build your own lightsaber from scratch). The story is damn good and adds a lot to Star Wars lore without beating you senseless with aimless nostalgia like Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker tried doing. I got invested in the characters more than I have in Star Wars in a while, and I was rooting for them as the plot thickened, even sympathizing with the tragic Inquisitors. I do have some issues sadly. On certain worlds, the graphics do get muddy; whether the graphical dampening is because I’m not playing on a 4K TV matters or not I’m not sure. Also another problem I have are the frequent, long load times as well as the hard crashes that made me go back a ways. Despite some issues, this is a great game I can’t recommend enough and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

jimmy neutron movie

The other night I was feeling old as hell, recently turning 29, and I needed to feel like a kid again. I remember seeing the trailer for the first time and being perplexed by this new CGI animation. So almost two decades later, did I still enjoy a old childhood favorite or did it die with much other nostalgic things?

Retroville is a quiet little suburb that would be a run of the mill town if not for the chaotic inventions of Jimmy Neutron, 10 year old boy genius. Jimmy is mostly a normal kid with normal parents, has friends, and a robot dog named Goddard and has a desire to communicate with extraterrestrial beings. After sending a probe into orbit, a race of egg based aliens finds it and heads to Earth for the adults because of Jimmy. At first, the kids are living a dream that becomes a nightmare once reality sets in- they need there parents. So the kids of Retroville have to ban together and save there parents before they are sacrificed to a Kaiju chicken god!

I’m pretty surprised how much fun I had with Jimmy Neutron as an adult. The movie has a good blend of humor and heart with a solid story and characters behind it. Patrick Stewart as King GooBot is a pretty nice touch as well. The animation holds up well enough but I have to admit the pop music makes the movie feel dated as shit. In the end, I’d say it’s a pretty good movie the whole family can enjoy. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Brahms: The Boy II trailer 2

First, I gotta give the studio credit for posting this trailer on Make A Friend Day. Besides that, I still haven’t stopped asking why this movie exists. I guess Brahms possessed a kid, even though he wasn’t a ghost, this just gives me a hard kind of generic vibe. I can’t say I’m waiting it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Possession

possession

You ever watch a movie and think to yourself  “Damn, this actor is way too good for this movie”? Well that was me throughout the entirety of this movie with Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Clyde is a basketball coach who is recently divorced, taking his daughters Hannah and Emily for the weekend. During a casual trip to a yard sale, Emily comes across a cute wooden box with some carvings in on it. They buy the box. Emily becomes infatuated by the box and starts becoming distant, ravenous, and eventually hostile when not without it. What’s her obsession with the box?

Everyone, I have to be honest, this is one of those times I felt bad for the actors involved. Jeffrey Dean Morgan tries his ass off to make something out of this movie and the cast is pretty solid around him with a decent horror score. BUT this is pretty much every by-the-numbers haunting/ possession movie ever. There aren’t really any curve balls but there is some spotty CGI  and unnecessary jump scares. Honestly, I think this could have been a better family drama because all the horror elements bring down what could’ve been a alright movie.  In the end, this is totally skip-able and generic. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

28 Weeks Later

28 weeks

28 Days Later is hands down my favorite zombie film and one of my all time favorite horror movies. The sequel, many consider to be a superior sequel or at least of the prestige few horror sequels achieve by being near as good as the first.

We join a family torn apart during the Rage virus outbreak in Britain. John and his wife were hiding out until a massive swarm descended upon them; he watched his wife seemingly get devoured and instead of trying to save her, he ran. 28 weeks after the outbreak, NATO declares a small part of Britain is clean to re-inhabit and the Rage virus has been cleared out. John is reunited with his kids Sam and Andy, who discover that there mom is still alive after breaking quarantine. In her blood is a natural immunity to Rage but she still is a carrier and highly contagious. And with a single kiss, the hope of that the Rage virus was destroyed comes to a violent and bloody end…

That last part I can’t stress enough, 28 Weeks is way bloodier and more disturbing than the first. There were a few times where I felt my eyes pop open in surprise how far it went. While I admire the choice, I also feel the gore became too gratuitous for it’s own good ( the helicopter scene as an example). I will say, the movie continues the original’s legacy of good characters and being filmed really damn well as well as being genuinely scary. What’s nice is this is a completely standalone sequel so you don’t need to have watched the first one. The opening is expertly done and one of my favorite opening horror scenes. Something I regretfully have to say unfortunately besides the overuse of gore, I hate the couple jump scare scenes they add in but, to the movie’s credit, only one is just totally fruitless. In the end, 28 Weeks Later is a damn good sequel I’d highly recommend and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

“The Batman” Bat-suit reveal

This is going to be a quick post, but a juicy one for the Bat fans out there: our first look at Rob Pattinson in the iconic Bat-suit. I love the Batman: Arkham Knight kinda vibe with the armor and I love the idea of the symbol being forged from the gun that killed his parents. I’m excited to see the coloring on the suit, but so far the look is brooding and realistic and a welcome sight so far. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dog Duty (Preview)

Rotterdam, the Netherlands – February 12, 2020 – The Real Time Tactics game Dog Duty is coming to Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Steam® in the spring of 2020. The fast-paced game is currently in Early Access on Steam and is being developed by indie developer Zanardi & Liza. Co-developer SOEDESCO Studios is also involved in the development of Dog Duty and is mainly focusing on the console version of the game. The action-packed title offers players epic gunfights and a healthy dose of humor as they try to defeat the evil octopus army.

 

With Dog Duty in its final development stages in Early Access on Steam, Leonardo Zimbres, founder of development studio Zanardi & Liza, is excited to see the game come to Nintendo Switch, PS4™ and Xbox One. “It’s great to work together with SOEDESCO Studios on the development of Dog Duty and to see them bring the game to other platforms. I’m confident in their skills, as they’ve made great progress so far. The console version looks and plays well and I can’t wait for the release.”

During its Early Access period on Steam, Dog Duty has already received several huge updates. With feedback from the community, Zanardi & Liza worked hard on further improving the game. They have added new playable characters and enemies. Players can now assemble a squad of 3 out of 8 playable characters. Zanardi & Liza have also completely revamped the UI, adding more dialogues and encounters with both friendly and enemy NPCs. Via a whole new radio deploy system, players can engage with conquered and enemy outposts. For example, players now receive taunting messages from outposts that have not been conquered yet. The Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One version will also be released with these updates.

About Dog Duty

Control a squad of misfits as they go up against some evil bigwig Octopus Commander and his army who are threatening world-peace. In this fun, fast-paced Real Time Tactics game, you go into combat and use guerrilla warfare to eliminate all octo-scum. Fight on top of your moving vehicle as you go from island to island to liberate outposts and defeat wicked bosses in their crazy octo-machines. Wreck those squids up, but beware, they’re well-armed.

 

Dragonball Super: Broly

dbs broly

Dragonball Z: Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan was one the Z series most popular features but wasn’t considered canon officially. With Super overtaking the divisive GT, the door opened to justify this by retelling the story of the mad Saiyan as well as add a new layer to the story and character unseen before…

The fall of the Saiyans was upon them as Frieza was about to lay waste to the Saiyan populace when a child was born with an exceptional power level, even more than the prodigal Prince Vegeta. The king was furious, damning the child to death by sending him to a hellish planet. His father Paragus stranded himself to save the boy, raising him to seek revenge against Vegeta, seemingly the last Bastille of the old regime. Broly, trained to be a monster, is actually a kind soul who never got to blossom with a keen fighting ability and a frightening power he can’t control. Without achieving Super Saiyan, he easily matches the power of Goku and Vegeta at God level but it’s Frieza, remembering what drove Goku to snap, decides to snap Broly and the 3 are faced with something nearly unstoppable but can they defeat him before his power leads the power of Gogeta to destroy him?

This very well maybe the best DBZ movie yet and I’m really surprised how well Broly was reinvented. His character has a lot of depth and is surprisingly tragic as well as extremely badass. The fights are top notch and are shown in some really awesome, fresh ways on top of the vibrant colors and fast action. The new backstory I’m mostly good with but I have to say Goku’s part reminded me too much of Superman’s origin which is my only real gripe along with not seeing Beerus or Whise facing off against Legendary SS. In the end, it’s a hell of a movie I’d definitely recommend. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

broly lss

Name The Monster

NAME THE DREADLANDS MONSTER

An epic monster deserves an epic name

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, February 12, 2020. Fatshark and Blackfox Studios are in need of a creative soul that will help us give our unnamed monster a name that a gruesome monster deserves.

We are looking for a name, and you can be the Senior Monster Name Specialist at Blackfox Studios. The position is only open for one unnamed monster which so far is unknown to the masses.

The brief is simple, send us your best ideas for a name that people in the Dreadlands can include in their stories and tall tales, like when they faced this monstrous beast head-on bare knuckles and all and survived to tell the tale. Of course, that’s just the Dreadlands version of the fish story; no mortal man would survive a fist fight with “new name here”!

The best name submitted will be included in the game, and will forever be the name of this deadly beast in Dreadlands. Who knows, you could be the lucky person who names the monster, and get your name in the credits (hey, now you’re a game developer!).

Here’s where to send all your best name ideas www.playdreadlands.com/name-the-monster

No joke, click the link and name the monster pictured. There is a prize for the winning name. Good luck my friends, may the gaming gods smile upon you.

Liberated, 9 Minutes of Gameplay

Liberated, one of the most exciting Polish video games of the first half of the year, is a groundbreaking, award winning, new vision of the future of digital comics. Panel by panel, you’ll switch between action, stealth, puzzles, and an engaging comic book story with compelling player-led choices. Liberated is coming first to Nintendo Switch in 2020, shortly followed by PC on GOG and Steam.

Liberated is set in a near-future, tech-noir society slipping into the throes of authoritarianism. Powered by corporations and enabled by new technology, join the fight against state-driven misinformation. As government surveillance and weaponised personal data have painted the world in shades of grey, knowing where to draw the line between revolution and terrorism has never been more paramount.

Publisher Walkabout Games have released nine minutes of brand new direct feed gameplay of the game. In this footage, you’ll see the main character Barry Edwards being taken to the headquarters of the mysterious insurgent group “Liberated” after being intercepted by one of its members. The video shows off the seamless transitions between storytelling and gameplay, as told through Barry’s first infiltration mission, including some precision shooting and an exciting driving segment.

The game itself seems pretty exciting, and I must admit it looks quite unique as well. Check out the gameplay below and may the gaming gods bring you glory.