Monthly Archives: February 2015
Founding Member Returns to Justice League
Spoilers for Justice League #39!
Today's Justice League #39 saw quite a few plot developments, but the one to out-shine them all is the return of Green Lantern Hal Jordan.
Green Lantern took a leave of absence from the Justice League in order to deal with his responsibilities as new leader of the Green Lantern Corps. In his stead, a new ring-wielder called Power Ring took his place. Power Ring, however, is not a Green Lantern, but a woman named Jessica Cruz who was chosen by a fear-inducing ring from another dimension after the events of Forever Evil. She told Flash that she's been having trouble controlling her powers, so he called his old buddy Green Lantern to give her a hand. With the latest Godhead crossover concluding in the Green Lantern books, it appears that Jordan is now free to resume his role as an active member of the Justice League.
Destiny Player Solos Crota’s Raid on Hard
Destiny player "The Legend Himself" was the first person to solo the Crota's End raid on normal difficulty –– and now, he did it on hard.
"There was much less 'luck' in this run than it may seem," the player writes on the YouTube page where a video of the run was published. "First of all, this took dozens of hours to perfect and accomplish. Secondly, most of the seemingly random aspects of the Crota fight can be influenced in some way by careful gameplay."
"The Legend Himself" says the run seems impossible with "a character anything short of level 32 Sunsinger Warlock with Starfire Protocol, Gjallarhorn, Ice Breaker, Red Death, Black Hammer, and a weapon with surplus." He also says having very high discipline helped a lot.
DC’s Creators on Returning to Crisis on Infinite Earths
DC's upcoming Convergence event will see the entire publishing line put on hold for two months, replaced by 40 two-part mini-series that feature different characters from across the multiverse as they fight to survive Brainiac's experiment. Each week of mini-series will have a different theme. The second week's theme focuses on the Crisis on Infinite Earths conflict from the mid-1980's, along with characters from the Kamandi and Tangent universes. We spoke to the artists and writers working on these Crisis-themed Convergence titles. Check out what they had to say, then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Before we get to the interviews, here's a quick history lesson. Crisis on Infinite Earths was one of DC's first huge, line-wide crossovers. This event saw the entire multiverse being devoured by the Anti-Monitor, forcing heroes from numerous surviving realities to band together and oppose him. By the end, major characters like The Flash and Supergirl were dead, and only one streamlined (and generally more grounded) DC Universe remained in place of the multiverse. These various tie-ins showcase the DCU as it existed leading up to and during the Crisis conflict - a period when Guy Gardener was all the rage, Supergirl was rocking her '80s look, and the traditional Justice League had been replaced by the more eclectic cast of Justice League Detroit.
The Legend of Candlewind: Nights & Candles Review
The Legend of Candlewind: Nights and Candles had me at "Eye of the Beholder"--and lost me about five minutes after I finished the install process. You may be willing to try any role-playing game promising to evoke the feel of the classic D&D first-person adventures, but developer Atmosphere Entertainment Studios' dismal and pointless exercise in nostalgia is unlikely to win your admiration. Mindless action, stupid difficulty, a needlessly convoluted interface, and filmstrip production values combine to turn off even the most forgiving player looking for a blast from the past.
In many ways, Legend of Candlewind is even more primitive than games like Eye of the Beholder and other late 1980s and early 1990s dungeon crawls like Dungeon Master, which sold a whole lot of Atari STs in their day. The game opens with a lengthy text blurb about the fantasy realm around the town of Candlewind and the need to venture off to ominous Blackwood Forest to deal with some rogues. So, no cutscenes or animations here, though the font looks kind of nice and Tolkien-esque, at least. From there, you get dumped right into a dungeon labyrinth (uh, what happened to that forest?) with four adventurers ready to go. This gang consists of the standard tanks up front and mages in the back. There are no options to create your own characters or do any sort of customizing.
I generally don't mind being stuck with pre-rolled heroes. Nevertheless, I have to admit to being annoyed here, if only because of ridiculous names like Garrison Hiffs and Shailee Frostflower. Even worse, all the character profile pics are of the same scraggly haired guy who looks like he might have been hauling gear for Deep Purple circa 1973. All are given minor alterations with the less-than-creative application of facial hair and a helmet, although the attempt to make the members of this gang of four look different from one another is so half-hearted that it's laughable. And yes, even poor Shailee gets this treatment, which leaves her looking more like a third-rate groupie hanging out with the roadies backstage than "the daughter of a forest witch."
Game mechanics are even more irritating. There are no frills here--absolutely none. The game doesn't have keyboard shortcuts, which leaves you doing everything with the mouse. There are no proper tool-tips, even for the usual items, like spells. The developers also seem to have gone out of their way to create the most cumbersome interface possible. You need to hold down the left mouse button and open up a menu just to select and move objects in your inventory. The whole system is ridiculously obtuse. It took me 10 minutes to figure out how to shoot an arrow, because you have to actually pick arrows, divide them, and then manually load one onto a bow.
Adventuring is boring and repetitive. All you do is trudge through the stone-walled chambers of a labyrinth, stopping only to kill the same handful of unconvincing monsters in exhausting turn-based battles. Creatures like goblins, rogues, and, uh, goblins and rogues are static models that simply blink their way closer and closer to your position. Actual combat is depicted by these models leaping up in the air, in an effect akin to somebody waving a paper cutout at you. Only single creatures are shown. Attacks by groups of goons happen, but their numbers are depicted via icons at the bottom of the screen, as they line up and go at you single file.
Successful attacks in Legend of Candlewind aren't shown by any sort of swinging sword, but by the enemy in question flashing red and occasionally spitting out a few drops of blood. Spells come with rudimentary pyrotechnics: I've thrown cherry bombs more impressive than the game's Fireball. The only sort-of presentation plus is the musical score, which features enough flute to sound like Jethro Tull on a bad day. That said, this score is a single looping song, and it vanishes completely after just a couple of minutes of play, never to return. Oh, and the sound effects consist of thuds and louder thuds.
All you do is trudge through the stone-walled chambers of a labyrinth, stopping only to kill the same handful of unconvincing monsters in exhausting turn-based battles.
As for combat strategizing, there isn't any. Once an enemy appears, everything gets locked down. You can't access your inventory during scraps at all, so forget about swapping weapons, taking a potion, or using some sort of magical gizmo. The lack of access to cool gear doesn't mean much, though, because the dungeon isn't exactly rich with treasure. Vanquished monsters don't leave behind loot drops. You're about as likely to walk out your front door right now and spot Bigfoot as you are to find a treasure chest in this game. Even when you do spot one, it's always stuffed with useless items like apples, loaves of bread, arrows, a rare gold coin or two, and the odd potion of healing or magic. Weapons and armor are virtually impossible to find. I spent most of the game with the same pathetic gear (the lead fighter is equipped with nothing but torches and a shield) that I received at the start of the game. These clowns come off more like wandering vagrants than the usual RPG heroes swinging swords and rocking plate mail.
Difficulty almost immediately soars off the charts. If you push ahead into the labyrinth, you quickly run into murderous opponents who simply cannot be slain. You can't rest, either. Your only option when it comes to restoring health or mana is to quaff potions or cast spells, although the former is in short supply and mana points can be quickly exhausted by throwing around just a few incantations. The only way to get anywhere is by grinding out levels, courtesy of the game's handy "Wait for Monster" button that summons up random encounters. This is as exciting as it sounds. And very slow. Just a handful of experience points are earned in each battle. Arriving at last at the second level is cause to pop some corks.
Doors with obvious locks are scattered throughout the dungeon. Click on them, and you get a message about the door being opened with a key. Only there aren't any keys, and most of the doors are actually unlocked. It took me an hour to figure this out, and that was only because I accidentally clicked to move forward one too many times and wound up going right through a door. Even without these fake-out doors, nothing about the dungeon seems real. Encounters with friendly characters are not shown on-screen. Wandering traders, folks who need a hand, and other characters are shown solely with text descriptions and boxes you click to select actions.
No matter how starved you might be for old-timey role-playing, give The Legend of Candlewind a wide berth. This is a terrible, aggravating experience bound to disappoint you no matter how much you might want to relive the glory days of Eye of the Beholder.
The Order: 1886 Pre-Loading Live in North America
Players in North America can now begin pre-loading the digital version of The Order: 1886 on PlayStation 4.
According to The Order: 1886’s official Twitter page, pre-loading isn’t live outside North America yet.
“We just want to ensure it's 100% working before confirming for other regions,” a representative stated on Twitter.
After the 30 MB day-one patch, the game is just over 31 GB.
Don't forget to check out our guide on everything you need to know about The Order: 1886 before the game launches this Friday, February 20th exclusively on PS4.
Game of Thrones Cast on the Dead Characters They Miss the Most
If Game of Thrones is known for one thing, it's death. By now, we're familiar with George R.R. Martin's sadistic pen as it ends beloved character's lives in a fell swoop, and similarly used to seeing our favorite actors in the HBO series with their throats cut, their faces smooshed in, and their bodies thrown down mountainsides.
But it's one thing for us to grieve - what about the Game of Thrones cast, whose characters had relationships with the now-deceased? To celebrate the release of Game of Thrones Season 4 on DVD and Blu-ray, we asked actors Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) which dead character they miss the most.
Chronicle Producer Plots Shaft Reboot
The black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks is coming again to a theater near you.
According to TheWrap, a Shaft reboot is in development at New Line Cinema with veteran producer John Davis (the Predator franchise, Chronicle, I, Robot).
The original 1970s Shaft movies starred Richard Roundtree as the eponymous detective, while a 2000 movie starred Samuel L. Jackson as the nephew of the original John Shaft, but who was no less a bad mother -- shut your mouth!
TheWrap claims the role of Shaft will be recast. Let us know in the Comments which actors you think are the best fit to play the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about.
9 Best Things We Saw at New York Toy Fair 2015
With New York Toy Fair 2015 wrapped up, we rounded up the best of the best. The collectibles that were most desirable, the figures that were best designed, and the toys we couldn't wait to play with... er... give to our kids!
Take a look at our picks, then let us know your favorites in the comments.
This is actually two pieces, not one, but they go so nicely together! Or not so nicely, as the case might be…
Of Kotobukiya’s many excellent pieces, these ArtFX+ statues have got to be the most eye-catching and epic. The scene depicted here is sure to be a highlight of Avengers: Age of Ultron when it hits in May, but thanks to Koto it can live on forever on your bookshelf next to your desk while you scribble away at your Tony Stark/Bruce Banner fanfic. These are big pieces, with the Hulkbuster Iron Man clocking in at just short of a foot tall, and the sculpts are pretty remarkable in their detail. Just check out that Avengers “A” on Hulk’s shorts!
AC Unity No Longer Requires App For Unlocks
A new patch is rolling out for Assassin’s Creed Unity, today on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and tomorrow on PC.
Content exclusive to Initiates and the companion app will be made available to all players. While you can still use the companion app, it won’t be required to unlock chests in the main game.
Other changes in Patch 5 include a fix for the “Find Leon” objective, which sometimes did not spawn in the Dead Kings Memory 2 mission.
Read the full release notes on the Ubisoft forums.
This Case Turns Your iPhone Into a DeLorean
If you could turn your iPhone into a time machine, why not do it with some style? You'll have to find your own flux capacitor, but the style part should be easy thanks to an iPhone 6 case that makes your smartphone look like the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future II.
It's no coincidence that this case appeared in 2015 -- year Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in 1989's Back to the Future II. This DeLorean has even been given the same modifications as the one in the popular sequel, including wheels that fold up for flight.
The case even lights up with blue LEDs along the lower edge of the car to simulate the DeLorean's blue glow as it jumps across time. As you can imagine, this is a pretty chunky cover, but it has movable parts to give access to the iPhone's ports and camera.