First, I would like to comment that I never, ever want to watch this show on Cartoon Network again. Not for any other reason than my schedule forced me to download the iTunes HD version of the episode and the staggering quality of the animation and detail and lighting in HD caused me to rethink my need for cable completely.

Everything looked better, cleaner, crisper, I didn’t have to put up with commercial breaks and, in fact, they even took out the black spaces where commercials would go so it felt like a 22 minute movie.

There’s nothing against Cartoon Network, specifically, but this show is just too good to watch on TV, with all their stupid lower thirds running and the obnoxious commercial breaks, and in an inferior picture and sound quality. The $2.99 on iTunes is a small price to pay for the marked difference in quality.

Now if only they could sell it on iTunes to coincide with the first airing on US television.

On to the specific merits of Bounty, this was a very mature episode as far as the filmmaking was concerned. There were very specific story and character touches, particularly for Boba Fett and Ventress, that spoke volumes. But the filmmaking was mature in that it didn’t draw too much attention to them. Did anyone notice that Boba was using his father’s pistols on the job? Or the simple idea that he’s slowly taking on the traits of his father one bit at a time. He’s overcompensating with his bravado, but doesn’t feel man enough to take on the mantle of his father, but uses his pistols as the smallest act of remembrance. But that Boba is dead now, his head cut off with the helmet falling to the ground in just the same way Jango’s did in Attack of the Clones. He’s been humbled by this experience with Ventress.

Ventress on the other hand is confronted by her listlessness and her need for a goal and through this job she’s able to find herself. Will she be financing her quest for revenge? It’s anyone’s guess.

But as we move into the next episode and see the return of Darth Maul, we’ll see how involved she is.

Or maybe I’m just reading too deeply into all of this. Either way.

As for the rest of this episode, it was truly fantastic. The lighting effects, the costumes, the new creatures, the sets, everything. This was another episode that raised the bar on quality. Even the animation of background characters (that Jawa? the Eeopies? the denizens of the Cantina?) was beyond what I would have ever expected from this show as I sat in the theatre and watched the first movie all those years ago.

This animation universe has finally gotten to the point where it feels “lived in” and real. I truly believe they can do anything now. And they’re getting more and more ambitious to the point where every episode of season 6 may well make our heads explode.

Another thing I loved about this episode was the use of the sense of motion… From the space elevator to the platform (which reminded me of a level in Shadows of the Empire), this episode felt as though it was whizzing by at the speed of light.

And did I mention the space ninjas? This episode, more than any other, was a total homage to all of your favorite Kung Fu movies. The fight choreography was very, very sharp and had a lifelike quality to it that let you feel the body blows. When Dengar (Simon Pegg) hits guys and blows them up, you feel it. When Ventress executes people, there’s a visceral reaction.

This whole show is truly short format filmmaking at its best and it really needs to start winning some awards for the effort.

The people behind the show are truly cinematic storytellers and artists of the highest calibre.

This episode started off rocky, and ended incredibly. I was not in the mood to watch more romantic drama between Jonah, Lincoln and Lena. Gladly the drama ends quickly when their ship is run aground by a mysterious vessel. After hours of distress calls they are finally brought the parts they need by the crew of the Exodus. As the two groups spend time together to celebrate their meeting, Kurt isn’t believing that the Exodus’ crew has good intentions. This is where the episode really picks up and where the spoilers begin. I knew something had to be up with the crew, and my presumptions left me disappointed. I was under the impression they were going to end up being pirates and Kurt would save the day making him more of a hero than he deserved to be (let’s not forget that he’s trying to prevent them from finding “the source” that Emmett was hunting). I guess I was wrong, I didn’t not think they’d find Lena’s dad aboard the other boat, and definitely didn’t think it was a ghost ship trading human sacrifice for their own freedom. When Kurt confronts the captain of the Exodus, I figured he’d shoot him in the chest, I just didn’t believe that the captain would get back up.

The episode was a great snap back into reality that not only are they looking for Emmett Cole, but his entire crew. The last few episodes there was minimal mention of any other crew members. You don’t really notice it in previous episodes but every time they discuss finding Emmett, Lena pipes up with a soft-spoken, “and my dad.” The last thing I expected in this episode was for them to find him. Watching their short-lived reunion reinstated the feeling of dread attached to the show. The crew truly seems to be on a hopeless voyage and this episode reinforced that feeling.

I’m glad to see the surprises and excitement on the show keep growing, can’t wait to see what happens next week when they start moving towards the tribe Emmett left with.

How about you internet, loving it yet?

This year’s Xbox Live Arcade: House Party was kicked off by a quirky little game called Warp. Created by Trapdoor Inc, and published by E.A. the game has a simple play style. Warp is a top down, stealth, puzzler. Yes, sounds strange, but imagine if you took the controls of Smash TV or the first Legend of Zelda and mixed it with the stylish puzzles from the Portal games.
In Warp, you play as Zero, an alien who’s been brought to a secret government facility where they experiment on…you guessed it, ALIENS! During your battery of tests you hear a voice, another alien is communicating with you through telepathy. After talking with your new acquaintance, you realize escape is the only option. This is your primary objective in Warp.
Zero has the ability to warp from place to place, like Nightcrawler from the X-Men. You can warp yourself into barrels, turrets, a ball, or even people. Once inside any of these objects, you can shake yourself to cause whatever you are in to explode. My new hobby is blowing up scientists and security officers. Upon escaping, you will absorb other captured aliens, and gain their powers Mega Man style. Their powers help you to escape. Some of what you will learn from them is how to throw echoes of yourself, swap places with your echo, and launch the objects that you are inside of.

As you explore the underwater lab you will discover grubs which power up your abilities. You can upgrade the speed of his warp, the pace at which he walks, his health, stealth and many other abilities. By making Zero’s footsteps quieter, or his warping quieter, there will be a lesser chance for detection by security guards or anyone else who might want to stop you from leaving. The film canisters unlock concept art in the options menu.
The biggest obstacle to your survival in Warp is the commander of the facility. His goal is to protect the world by making sure you are dead. There are plenty of checkpoints throughout the game to save your progress which is good because you will die, it’s unavoidable, but it’s okay because you usually, at most, only go back a minute or so from where you died. Challenge levels are unlocked as you find them in story mode. You can do them as you find them or from the start menu, but beware, challenge levels are not easy. The leader boards are nice because they let you see how you compare to the rest of the world and your friends. Much like a Metal Gear game, you can let everyone live if you so choose, or kill anyone you come across, the choice is yours. The voice acting is not bad, almost comical at times as to the 50’s nature of the game. The look is nothing to write home about either, but that’s not what makes this game appealing; the appeal is in its puzzles. The variety of puzzles and the way they are delivered makes them addicting because you find yourself wanting to solve them in order to move into the next hall or lab.

Trapdoor has done a great job delivering a puzzle based game to the masses. Kudos to Microsoft for choosing Warp to lead off the house party as it is everything it should be, fun and challenging at the same time. It’s well worth the price of admission. If you don’t believe me then download the demo and give it a whirl.

For fans of: puzzle games, especially the Portal games.

Coming March 13, 2012 to the Playstation Network

Today I’m evaluating the Circle Pad Pro attachment from Nintendo, the game I’m using it to test it out,
Resident Evil Revelations. It is currently one of only two games supporting the attachment. The other Metal Gear Solid 3D, and in the future Kid Icarus and reportedly Kingdom Hearts. The CPP is a simple attachment that the 3DS sits in, giving you a second analog stick, a left trigger (LZ) and a right trigger (RZ). It’s battery powered and connects to the 3DS through the I.R. port. Once you connect the CPP the game recognizes the connection and offers the different control scheme. Awkward looks aside the Circle Pad feels surprisingly fluid. It makes the new RE handle similar to RE5, but you can walk and shoot at the same time! (It’s about damned time.) When you hold
LZ it zooms into a first person shooter type view and you pull the right trigger to shoot.

The CPP offers a few upgrades to game play. For example: when you zoom in to shoot you can only look
side to side. With the CPP, zoom in and you have the total control. The CPP makes walking and panning much easier, similar to controlling a consoles 3rd person shooter.

For games supporting the CPP it’s a must have accessory. The explains why it’s sold out every, that and the lack of manufacturing.

The wonders of this attachment aside, I wonder why Nintendo didn’t just build the system with dual analog sticks in the first place? It’s become a universal standard that many games are better with two thumbsticks. The Vita Did it, all other consoles did it, I suppose Nintendo needed to rebel? There’s a chance that some of the 3DS titles that struggled such as Jaws: Ultimate Predator would have done better with dual stick support. Another question then arises, why didn’t
Nintendo have a better supply of them in the U.S.? GameStop is currently the exclusive retailer in
America, but CPPs are currently sold out company-wide, aside from mild popularity the inventory isn’t available for the retailer. To make up for the shortage, GameStop is allowing people to reserve the next shipment due
to arrive on or before April fourth. If you don’t have one which I highly recommend spending the $19.99 and having the additional play.

A day late, and seven dollars short, Mexicus Prime and Arse-bot finally decided to brave the sequel to 2007’s Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, over the weekend. Suckers for any superhero movie that hits the big screen, they ventured out to their local cinema to once again watch Nicholas Cage’s head burst into flames and are here with a joint review for you!

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Directed by Neveldine/Taylor

Starring Nicholas Cage, Idris Elba, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Fergus Riordan and Johnny Whitworth

Plot: Johnny Blaze is on the run on the other side of the world trying to prevent harm coming to those around him from the demon inside of him. When a monk by the name of Moreau approaches him with a deal to rid Blaze of the vengeance-seeking demon, he once again finds himself going head to head with Devil as he tries to prevent him from taking over the body of it’s own son.

Mexicus Prime –

Our favorite heavy-metal hero from the 90’s is back in black for another full length feature! Grab a steak sandwich ‘cuz this movie delivers the cheese.

After the sour taste of the first film from 2007 just barely leaving me, I felt the need to see if they’ve improved on the character since then. To answer short and sweet, I’d say yes. Visually speaking (3D aside) I’d say it was a major improvement from the first film. From the opening fast paced fight sequence to the pounding of bad dudes later, the action was fun to watch. From the trailer, the fight sequences looked like they would be very talky and funny, but they came out very dark and vengeful – which for Marvel was a nice change of pace. Had they given this the R-rating treatment, I think it would’ve packed a harder punch, but none-the-less enjoyable.

As you may have presumed from the other Ghost Rider movie, the dialogue was very obnoxious. “CRANK-ESQ” styled jokes (toned down), boring, drawn out lines from Nicholas Cage. The “pissing fire” joke from the trailer is not half as bad as some of the one-liners in this movie though. Nobody was that impressive acting or character wise, except for “Moreau” played by Idris Elba, who I feel character and otherwise was a joy to watch on screen. He plays a kind of a rogue monk if you will who helps Johnny Blaze find the boy (possible anti-Christ) he’s supposed to save in return for giving back his soul. I liked the character’s quirks and sensibilities and found myself wondering what a different (for the better) movie this would have been had he’d been the one making a deal with the devil or merely just trying to stop the dark rebirth.

My last bit about this movie, and many comic related movies in general, is the invincibility with the heroes. The only antagonist seemed to be Johnny’s race against the clock. Villain-wise, he rocked the living hell (no pun intended) out of everyone on screen without even flinching. Way too overpowered compared to his rogues and the ending fight scene came with no rebuttal and was like a Mortal Kombat, Scorpion-styled fatality.

I would not recommend Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to anyone, but maybe parents who want to waste a few cheap laughs with the kids on the weekend. With all the plot holes in the movie with villains, powers, and responsibility I do not see this appealing to anyone but kids and young adults alike.

Arse-bot –

Mexicus Prime pretty much summed up our reasoning for seeing Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. Aside from the fact that we see pretty much any superhero flick, we were curious to see how this stacked up to the lack-luster fist go around with this character nearly 5 years ago. Was this sequel an overall improvement? Sure. But it still ranks really low on the superhero movie list.

I appreciated the way they handled breezing over recapping Johnny Blaze’s deal with the devil and how he became the Ghost Rider. The animation used for this was pretty slick, and the whole thing was taken pretty lightly – it’s almost as if the directors knew how ridiculous this all comes across on screen so they tried to play it to their advantage. Speaking of ridiculous: Nicholas Cage. I actually enjoy Cage’s manic portrayal of a lot of his characters. In the right film I think he’s fun to watch. In this film, he keeps flipping from “calm, cool, collected” hero, to “I have a demon inside of me and it has driven bat-shit crazy”. Cage isn’t great in this film, and you never really connect with his character, but he’s tolerable enough.

The action in this film and the overall manic approach was what really separates this from its predecessor. You can definitely tell it’s from the guys responsible for the CRANK films, which is a good and bad thing. Some filming choices and effects don’t make a lot of sense, and some are down right confusing; but the straight-forward action sequences were pretty cool. The problem is though, as Mexicus Prime already mentioned, is that Ghost Rider is essentially invincible, so it just becomes a waiting game as bad guys pointlessly empty entire ammunition clips into the demon until he dispatches of them in some over-the-top way or another. There was really never any risk to Ghost Rider except for the fact that he would be too late to stop the Devil from becoming all-powerful.

All said, my expectations going into this film were low. I was just hoping that it would be better than the first one, which it was. Neveldine and Taylor do a good job at just hitting the ground running for this film and packing it with a lot of action, but with a “hero” who pretty much can’t be hurt there never seems to be a real threat. Even when the Devil bestows the “power of decay” on his main lackey, turning him into a “super villain”, you’re not really that concerned about it. Okay, so this guy can decay anything he touches, BFD, he’s going up against a demon who is already a flaming skull. A smart Devil would have said, “I have given you the power of having fire hoses for arms. Go get ‘im, buster!”

Ghost Rider is a less-popular character from the Marvel Universe, and from what I can tell from what little I’ve been exposed to him, not one of the stronger ones. With a huge lack of villains, sense of threat, and a roster of characters you just never really care about, this film amounts to little more than just waiting for the next action sequence, which they were smart to include a lot of. Idris Elba is the standout character in this film, but sadly he his missing through most of the entire second act, but when he is on screen the film improves considerably, but not enough to turn the tide on it. Saying this film is an improvement over the original isn’t saying much, so I’m guessing that this will be the last we see of Johnny Blaze for a long while – and when we do see him again, I’m guessing “reboot”. Marvel fans, and fans of superhero flicks in general, I know I’m telling you what you already know, but wait on this one until it hits Netflix.

Tonight’s episode of Walking Dead, resolved loads of conflicts. Sharing my thoughts on the episode is impossible without discussing many events, simply saying spoiler alert didn’t quite feel right, but I will attempt to be vague.

The lengths that Rick and Shane are willing to go to to protect their people has been continually growing episode to episode. If you missed two weeks ago, or even last week, go back and find a way to watch them. The show has taken an incredible turn into being a show about what a world that cruel will do to a person. It’s not about the Zombie killing anymore, they’re merely the catalyst for the tension between the multiple groups.

While deciding what to do with the man they “saved”, the tension between Shane and Rick finally comes to a head. The ruthless brawl between the two kept me on the edge of my seat. I’m not sure if it’s my pure hope that they’ll take more elements from the comic, or my hatred of Shane’s character, (not that I wish he wasn’t in the show, but he’s an incredible anti-hero, and I hate his character). I kept waiting for an accidental discharge, or a stray zombie to snag him, anything to reconcile the fight and end Shane. But with the true strength of partnership, our hero Rick returns to save his partner from the bus ‘o zombies in their Mazda CX7. I have a feeling the man they saved also known as Randall has a tough road ahead with the crew.

Not allowing the men to have all the fun, the tension continues back at the farm where Beth has decided that living isn’t that great of an option. While Lori and Maggie try to convince her otherwise a slight lapse in judgement leaves her alone with Patricia. Still battling her own inner demons she allows Beth to make the choice again, getting her banned from the house, and making her already precarious placement in the group even worse.

This half of season 2 has been absolutely incredible and tonights episode was no different. The writing, acting, and pacing is absolutely phenomenal. By the time my heart stops pounding next weeks episode will be upon us. What’d you fine internet folk think about tonight’s episode? Is Randall doomed? Thoughts below.

A few times each month Mexicus Prime will be teaming up with another member of BSR to review a completely random comic. Top or bottom of the pile; first, last or middle issue of a story arc – literally anything he can get his hands on will be haphazardly reviewed with extreme bias.

FERALS, ISSUE 1

AVATAR PRESS COMICS

STORY: DAVID LAPHAM

ART & COVERS: GABRIEL ANDRADE

COLOR: DIGIKORE STUDIOS

Mexicus Prime – Not so much random here. I am really starting to get into this new series from AVATAR PRESS and wanted to share my love with y’all. As a fan of horror and most sub-genres, I had to give this new title a few reads. With all the glitz and glam associated with werewolves and vampires now-a-days it’s refreshing to read something more catered to the monsters that gave me nightmares as a kid.

Right from picking this book up you can feel the quality in the paper and overall weight of the comic, which is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum (production-wise) to let’s say, “Avenging Spider-Man”. Just a solid feeling, well colored book, the way a comic costing $3.99 should feel.

David Lapham, as first introduced to me by Vagatron, has been one of my favorite writers and someone who can help me indulge myself in material that’s, generally speaking, a bit twisted. Picking up this title was not difficult on that merit alone. It was the chance to experience a new artist whom I’ve never seen before, Gabriel Andrade. Thank God -or Merlin for that matter- that Gabriel’s work is superb! The panels were pretty general for the most part, but the realistic artwork really jumps off the pages. I prefer his style to Javier Barreno’s (which I do enjoy). I feel that he tells a better story with his art, and unlike the title “Crossed”, is a little easier to digest.

The story in issue 1, for the most part is what you would expect an AVATAR PRESS werewolf comic to flow like (Sex, Violence, & Gritty suspense). I really enjoyed the suspense and danger in the comic, but wasn’t really surprised until jumping ahead and reading issue 2. In issue 1, you’re left with (story-wise) an ending you were waiting for from the first few panels of the first page. In closing, I’d suggest reading/ sinking (your teeth) into the first 2 issues of the series to see if this suits your “Mature Reading” needs. I’m glad I did.

Arse-bot – Jesus Christ. I really don’t think Mexicus Prime could have picked a genre in which we have a more different taste in. I don’t mind a good “horror” comic, but as far as fucked up imagery goes, it’s not really my taste. I knew within the first few pages that I wasn’t going to dig this title when (SPOILER) a mutilated body is found in the woods with his own dingaling dismembered and shoved into his mouth. Werewolves are obviously violent creatures, but to go as far as to consciously go through the trouble of dismembering a penis and shoving it into the victim’s mouth? (END SPOILER) Seemed a bit over the top for me.

That being said, Andrade’s art was very good, and I agree with Mexicus that all of the images, whether they be mundane, violent, sexual, or sexually violent really jump off the page. For me though, Lapham’s story was nothing terribly unique in this first issue. If you take away the way-over-the-top graphic violence of this story, you basically have a pretty standard “small mountain town being terrorized by monster” story; but for those of you who like a little fucked-uppedness in your comics, there is definitely some flare added to this story that you’ll probably enjoy.

At the end of the day, Ferals just isn’t my cup of tea when it comes to picking up comic book titles – but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad purchase. I have plenty of friends who would find this to be right up their alley (read: all of them), and I know there’s a pretty big market for this genre out there. If you consider yourself to be a fan of this genre and like somewhat similar titles like Crossed, then Ferals should not disappoint. For the rest of you like me who prefer the pages of your comics filled with standard superhero fare, I’d probably pass.

GONK enjoys the action in this week’s Star Wars comic offering: Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness #4.
(more…)

Uncharted to this day is one of the best looking games I have ever played and it was no shock to see it be the best looking game on the Vita that I’ve seen yet. Using the same equation that they assembled the other 3 games with this blockbuster is a perfect pickup for anyone looking to kill time on their new Vita.

Sony’s new handheld runs Uncharted beautifully and the dual-analog controls make the gameplay fluid. Playing something like this on a single thumb stick would have been brutal, (no offense PSP 3000). Golden Abyss is packed full of Drake’s usual one-liners as you run along side Dante and Chase in pursuit of one of the 7 cities of gold. Following the Journal of Chase’s grandfather you are guided from jungle to cave researching ancient relics and unlocking puzzles.

The game itself took me about 5-6 hours to complete. I probably found 30% of the unlockables and died 5 or 6 times, it isn’t terribly challenging, (I say that because I played simply on hard not on crushing.) and the combat system is fluid. You can aim with the six-axis style accelerometer or keep it old school and use the thumb sticks. I was impressed with how often I found myself tilting the system ever so slightly to get the perfect headshot with the dragon sniper. Climbing ropes can be done 2 ways: option a press up, option b stroke the rear touch screen in a motion simulating climbing a rope and Drake will climb. Once again the thumb sticks were my weapon of choice, the rear touch pad felt a bit too gimmicky. My favorite addition to the game are the God of War style cut scenes during certain combat scenarios. While fighting an enemy you have to swipe across the screen in the correct directions to avoid being punched, shot, stabbed, or ya know…maimed. I loved this addition to the combat, it made the battles feel a thousand times more intense than simply hiding and shooting.

The story is pretty standard issue as far as Uncharted games go, it flows incredibly well and is enjoyable, but I definitely wasn’t surprised by any of the plot twists. I don’t want to be an apologist for predictability but I enjoyed the game play and content so much that its hard to knock em for following their tried and true story formula. It was also so well written that my gripes are merely based on my experience with the series previously.

The soundtrack is beautiful, the game sounds like a AAA title should, perfect. The music keeps you locked into whatever is happening and the voice work is top notch. The weapons all sound right and the explosions sound, look, and feel gorgeous. Truthfully this game is a must own for anyone with a Vita if you didn’t buy this with your system then what did you buy? I’d love to know.

Score: