Monthly Archives: June 2015
Can FAST Racing Neo Fill the F-Zero Shaped Hole in Our Hearts?
Shin'en Multimedia FAST Racing Neo will come to Wii U this year, and it looks like it should scratch the itch Nintendo fans might have for a futuristic racer.
From the game's screenshots, it looks like a mix between F-Zero and Wipeout. Neither of those series have seen a new release in a while, and so a high-speed, futuristic racer could be a welcome addition to the Wii U library.
FAST Racing Neo is itself a follow-up to 2013's WiiWare game Fast Racing League. Shin'en Multimedia has been making games for Nintendo platforms for some time, with the superb Nano Assault Neo landing on Wii U in 2012. We gave Nano Assault Neo a 9.0 in our review, by the way.
DC Revamps The Omega Men
DC kicked off their post-Convergence relaunch this week with a number of new series and new storylines. One such new title is The Omega Men, a revamp of a lesser-known DC team by Grayson co-writer Tom King and newcomer artist Barnaby Bagenda. Not only does this series offer a bold new take on these characters, it kicked off with an eight-page preview that resulted in the apparent death of White Lantern Kyle Rayner.
We recently had a chance to chat with King and find out how this new series fits into DC's larger plans. Whether or not you're familiar with the team, King makes a strong case for why all DC fans should check out the first issue (available in stores and via digital providers today).
Batman: Arkham Knight File Size Revealed
Regardless of platform, Batman: Arkham Knight will require you to have a whopping 45 GB of free space on your hard drive.
Rocksteady Studios' upcoming superhero action game is up for pre-order, and according to the Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 listings, you'll need just shy of 50 GB to download an install the game.
Disney Wants to Bring Back Sister Act
Disney is reportedly developing a remake of the 1992 film Sister Act.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be written by Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah of Legally Blone, The House Bunny, and She's the Man. Cinderella's Allison Shearmur will serve as the film's producer.
James Wan to Direct Aquaman, Robotech Movies
James Wan, the director behind the incredibly successful Furious 7, has struck a deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to direct Aquaman.
However, that's not the only film that's been added to Wan's plate, as, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he also locked down a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to direct the hit 1980s mecha anime, Robotech. (Wan is also still directing The Conjuring 2 for Warners.)
With regard to the upcoming DC Comics' superhero film, Warner Bros. boss Greg Silverman said: "The Aquaman film will be a major tentpole picture for us and James’s span of work has proven him able to take on any manner of project, bringing his incredible creative talent and unique voice to the material."
Rumor: Marvel Developing Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Cloak & Dagger TV Shows
As Marvel continues to beef up their cinematic universe with the likes of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and the future Infinity War films, a large amount of attention has also been turned to the TV side of the company.
Heroic Hollywood reports is saying that Marvel has several concepts in development as upcoming TV series, including Cloak & Dagger, Ms. Marvel, and a Hulk prequel.
Hulk is a character Marvel had already attempted to bring back to TV since Disney bought them, with Guillermo Del Toro working on a potential series that never came to be. If a new Hulk show is in the works, it remains to be seen how much of Del Toro's concepts remain. Meanwhile, recent rumors indicated a Ms. Marvel ABC miniseries may currently be in the hands of 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley, who is known to have a mystery Marvel project in the works for the network. Cloak & Dagger was previously in development as a TV show for ABC Family, shortly after the Marvel/Disney deal occurred.
Her Story, an FMV Mystery, Arriving June 24
Her Story is an upcoming adventure game that revolves around a series of fictional police interviews from 1994. It's headed to PC, Mac, and iOS on June 24th and will cost just $5 USD.
Fueled by live action video featuring actress Viva Seifert, Her Story asks you to dig through archived video files in an old police database and try to piece together a mysterious missing persons investigation.
FMV games were once hailed as technologically advanced and "futuristic" back in the day.
Classic 90s games like Spycraft, The 7th Guest, and Night Trap utilized live action video and actors for some or all sequences, but weren't as popular or practical once more improved 3D graphics capabilities began rolling around.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 3 Review
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III is an absurd game in the most literal sense of the word. Between explosive assaults on a circus of demonic clouds and trading Monty Python references with a Minotaur, at times it's hard to say what drives this frenetic adventure. You find the same over-the-top action, pop culture quips, and touches of gothic horror here that you do in the previous games in this series. Thematically, however, the series has grown. Underneath bursts of raucous action and tongue-in-cheek winks to the audience, there's an earnest, albeit haphazard attempt at character drama that works because the rest of the game is so ludicrous.
Until now, the Van Helsing series has played out as something of a comedic parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein stapled to the kind of quick-firing comedy that made the Banjo-Kazooie series stand out in its day. The comparison holds up well partly because you don't play as the eponymous Van Helsing, at least not completely. You're also paired with his companion--the ghost of Lady Katarina. Because this is a role-playing game, there are plenty of stats and skills to tinker with, but when Van Helsing levels up, she does too. You can create joint strategies and tactics to play her strengths off your weaknesses and vice versa. This major ludic twist reinforces the bond between these two characters and as I played, that's what I kept settling on.
After three games, I saw Van Helsing and Katarina develop their own brand of snark. Helsing is flippant and dry, often settling things with a pithy remark and an endearing one-liner. Katarina is more direct. She says what she feels and verbally mixes it up with demons and mad scientists alike--all while maintaining a defensive air of detachment. The two have a charming dynamic, which has been a vital element of their adventure so far. After all, what's an epic journey to cleanse the world of demons and vampires without relatable characters to anchor that quest? The notably non-romantic relationship between Van Helsing and Katarina accomplishes that with deft skill, particularly in this third arc of their tale.
At one point, for example, Katarina opens up about the circumstances of her death--an event often hinted at but never fully explored throughout the series. It's an arresting, personal moment for both of them--that happens to be punctuated with spurts of spastic violence and gratuitous gore. It's not a masterful moment by any means, but it's honest and touching all the same--particularly given the context of the other two games.
In exchange for narrative closure, almost everything else has been copied and pasted from its previous iterations.
If you've noticed that I haven't commented much about how the game is played, that's because Van Helsing III is almost identical to the second game in the series. This entry includes a couple more classes, bringing the total up to six, which range from gunslingers and swordsmen to the more exotic exo-skeleton-bound phlogistoneer. They're all distinct enough, with unique skills and abilities that complement those of Katarina, but none feel like they expound on the play in the second game. That entry introduced two additional skill slots and two extra classes, which gave the combat system substantive depth. Now there's clear distinction without a meaningful difference.
If anything, the biggest improvement here is the pacing. Whereas the first entry hadn't found its footing and lacked confidence, the second entry took a few hours to get going. The third Van Helsing opens up right away with a short tutorial and a bevy of side quests. It assumes that you're familiar with the basics of how some of the ancillary missions work, but there's enough guidance for new players to keep them from feeling too lost--at least in terms of play. From a big-picture perspective, most of the context for Helsing and his resistance movement will lack context, but the experience is better for it nonetheless. Veterans won't have their hands held for long, while newbies can immediately understand the scope of this massive campaign.
From the beginning, you have access to potion and equipment crafting as well as adjuvant missions for your pet chimera and your army of resistance fighters. All of these are here to help you either make money or spend money to create the best possible gear. It takes a few hours to gather up the resources to begin investing, but when you do, the process yields very little.
As with any game in the Diablo lineage, Van Helsing is meant to be played in one of two discrete ways. You can play through a standard game, only gathering and selling the loot you find naturally. You won't need to run side quests or devote much time to managing your base at all. In contrast, dedicated players can utilize the large rabbit hole filled to the brim with options to customize and precisely manage your character and your companion--or at least that's what Van Helsing II had. Here, there's little of substance beyond the base game. Even worse is that all that extra content was originally intended to help support a robust set of online modes, but most of those have been cut down. For example, the Neverending story mode, one of the biggest replayability features, is all but gone. When added to the game's decreased level cap (30, down from 60), the exclusion cuts down on the long-term potential of a game that once thrived on post-campaign play.
These unfortunate oversights hint at the biggest problem with Van Helsing III--in exchange for narrative closure, almost everything else has been copied and pasted from its previous iterations. Potions, a quick pick-me-up staple in almost any action RPG, have been cut, but the user interface still has buttons corresponding to where the potion displays were in the last game. Furthermore, some skills explicitly upgrade the functionality of potions that don't exist. Many textures, enemies, and missions are almost identical as well. Adding to that are some pernicious bugs that can cause all manner of issues, from game crashes to quests that cannot be completed. There's nothing game-breaking, but it's still sad to see. This was a series to which I, and many others, had become quite attached. It was a refreshing take on a modern myth and a rote genre.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III is like visiting your hometown after years of absence. Everything's the same, yet off somehow. As you visit all the same places and exchange words with old friends, you're faced with an uncomfortable duality. On one hand, you get the closure of knowing how it all turned out, but on the other, you wonder what could have been, making you simultaneously satisfied and unsettled by the reality that this is the end.
John Noble Joins Elementary as a Series Regular
Everyone's favorite mad scientist dad John Noble (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow) is joining the cast of CBS' Elementary to play Sherlock Holmes’ wealthy, estranged father.
At the end of the Season 3 finale, Watson (Lucy Liu) informed a rock-bottom Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) that his father (who'd only been mentioned thus far, never seen) was on his way to New York to intervene in Sherlock's crumbled life.
Night on Bald Mountain Live-Action Movie in Works
Disney is reportedly working on a live-action film based on the Night on Bald Mountain sequence from its iconic animated movie Fantasia.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will not only be putting together the script, but also executive producing the motion picture, which is reportedly in "early development."