TITLE: Shank
PLATFORM: PSN, XBLA
DEVELOPER: Klei Entertainment
PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
ESRB: M
RELEASED: August 24 (PSN), August 25 (XBLA)

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

With a story that plays out like Kill Bill as imagined and directed by Robert Rodriguez and an art style that brings to mind any number of the Adult Swim cartoons, Shank is clearly one of the coolest looking games to hit the downloadable title circuit.

The thing that really sets Shank apart from the many brawlers out there is the style. Quite frankly, the game is like a bloody, violent and (at times) hilarious cartoon that you can play. The game is as much a treat to watch as it is to play, but is it as cool as it looks? Yes and no. There are some small problems that prevent this game from rising above the competition.

Like many action games and the movies it’s reminiscent of, Shank is a man done wrong; the bad guys killed his girl, and now everyone’s gonna pay. Gameplay is varied but remarkably simple. Throughout the sidescrolling brawler, Shank has three main attacks: his shanks, which serves as his melee attack; a chainsaw for the heavy attack; and two pistols for his firearms. Think of it as a modern take on classics like Final Fight and Streets of Rage, except with much more lethal weapons, and buckets more blood.

Image from shankgame.com.

As the game progresses, he’ll pick up other weapons along the way, such as machetes, a shotgun, and more, but Klei Entertainment has managed to make all of this very fluid when in action. What may seem daunting quickly becomes second nature in a matter of minutes. Even the idea of throwing in additional fighting moves, such as the ability to use grenades, grappling and lunging and the easy to use yet hard to master dodging technique become very intuitive, quickly elevating the action in a way that welcomes novices to the game, but requires a mastery of all of the fighting styles in order to get through alive.

As the game progresses, the plot thickens, and Shank has a very good way of catching the player up without the obligatory game-pausing cutscenes found in many of today’s games. At many points in the game, the game utilizes a picture-in-picture format that smoothly transitions players from one main plot point to the next without stopping the carnage. While it still has some traditional cutscenes from time to time, the integration of the internal cutscenes is a very cool feature that I’d like to see used in more games. It helps to establish things that don’t necessarily need to be said in a fully dedicated scene.

However, not everything is as perfect as it seems. Despite having relatively tight controls, I have to admit that when things start getting hairier, they don’t really work as well as they ought to. For instance, throughout the game, players will find health items strewn throughout the levels. In order to use them, as well as some other context-based controls, the Square button (or X on the 360) has to be pressed. This also happens to be the button used for melee, which is used most during close combat, and when the levels start becoming flooded with enemies—which it does, at a merciless rate might I add—players are going to want to preserve these items for when they really need them. Unfortunately, these tend to get accidentally wasted quite often during fights.

Image from shankgame.com.

Another basic problem that doesn’t really show its ugly side until later on is Shank’s inability to aim properly during fights. Many times, he’ll end up attacking the air rather than the enemy you were pointing at because he was in the middle of a combo. And don’t even get me started on the Uzi, where pressing down on the analog stick in any direction causes him to spray bullets all in a hemispherical pattern, seemingly hitting everything but the target. This also becomes a liability in the multiplayer portion, where players will find themselves unable to revive downed players unless they are not moving in any direction. This makes for both a frustrating and stupid oversight in the game design. In order to perform any of the context-based controls, the player cannot even touch the analog stick; doing so makes the game think the player is trying to perform an attack.

My final gripe on the game comes in the difficulty. Now, I’m not usually one to complain, but a couple of the boss fights, and one extremely drawn out fight about three-quarters of the way through the single player campaign get so difficult that I had to actually set the controller down and walk away for awhile. It’s not even the difficulty, per se, but the fact that while the enemies keep pouring out, the health replenishments don’t. While there are plenty of health items in the game, five waves of enemies in one area without reprieve will take their toll after awhile.

As far as the boss fights go, for the most part they are well-designed exercises in trial-and-error. Every boss has their own pattern, and to learn them is to learn how to defeat them, and beating them felt like much more of an accomplishment than it probably was, but that’s the point, isn’t it?

Image from shankgame.com.

As an added bonus, Shank’s multiplayer component is a co-op campaign that is completely different than the main single player campaign. While the story feels much more tacked-on than it did in the single player, it gets the job done. While gameplay isn’t much different—the sole exception being the ability to revive your downed comrade—the boss fights do emphasize, in CAPITAL LETTERS, co-op. The majority of these fights are not able to be won without both players learning the boss’ patterns and working together. Depending on the partner, this makes for either a really awesome game session or a very frustrating game of fingerpointing and namecalling. Either way, it ends up being amusing. However, the lack of online co-op kind of spoils it, as it kind of cuts down the options of who to play with.

All in all, Shank is a very enjoyable experience, with great visuals and solid gameplay, and despite a couple of glaring flaws, it’s hard to fault the game. However, there aren’t many games out there where I’ve found myself thinking, mid-level, how much fun I was having. Even if I ended up dying a couple hundred times along the way, I never stopped thinking about how fun it was, and to me, that makes up for a lot.

RATING: 8.5/10

Front page image from shankgame.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

We may need another Bat-Signal.

The New York Post reported today that starting this October, there will be two Batmen in the DC Universe: Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.

The Bruce Wayne character was presumed dead in early 2009, but returns this fall. Grayson, who was once Robin the Boy Wonder, and later Nightwing, has been in the role since last June.

“Just as readers were getting comfortable with the idea of former sidekick Dick Grayson playing the role of Batman, along comes Bruce Wayne’s triumphant return to the Cape and Cowl,” DC Comics editor Mike Marts told Newsarama. “Is Gotham City ready for two Batmen? Is the world? And who’s to say the fun will end there?”

Grayson will remain the star of the Batman, Detective Comics and Batman & Robin monthly titles. Bruce Wayne will be the star of Grant Morrison’s new Batman, Inc. title, as well as David Finch’s upcoming Batman: The Dark Knight. Morrison’s title will feature Batman “branching out” into a wider role, teaming with other heroes.

“Grayson’s role really is the protector of Gotham City,” DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan Didio said. “But we thought it only made sense for Bruce Wayne, a billionaire, to take a more global view.”

To avoid confusion, Bruce Wayne’s costume will once again bear a yellow oval over the Bat emblem on his chest. Dick Grayson’s costume will remain the same.

Damian Wayne, Bruce’s son and the new Robin, will presumably remain paired with Grayson, but will interact with his father as well.

“So aside from the new interaction between the two Batmen, there’s the interesting relationship between Bruce and his son,” DiDio said.

Batman Inc. #1 comes out Nov. 3. Batman: The Dark Knight #1 comes out Nov. 24.

ARTIST: Iron Maiden
ALBUM TITLE: The Final Frontier
RECORD LABEL: Sony Legacy
RELEASED: August 17

By Mark Leja
Staff Writer, The X Factor

Fifteen studio albums, 100 million albums sold, over 125 songs written. Iron Maiden defined what metal was in the 80′s and still provides a shining example for metalheads to follow. Their latest album, The Final Frontier, is no exception, and overall a good album. After listening to the album a total of three times—no easy feat—it is their longest studio recording.

What better way to start an Iron Maiden album than with “Satellite 15…The Final Frontier”? As a song title, it stands as a very straightforward symbol; they’ve released 15 albums so it’s like the ‘Satellite’ is their album, right? Well here, the metaphor is that Iron Maiden has had such an expansive career, from their eponymous debut album to The Final Frontier, that they’ve really have reached the stars.

That’s really what The Final Frontier is, an overview of their career and the simple fact that while they’re now amongst the stars, they have plenty of room to expand, their creativity is now endless. Iron Maiden has always tried new things and this album definitely shows their experimental side. Using minimal keyboards and utilizing three guitars, the work they created is much more technically oriented and orchestrated than any of their previous albums.

“Satellite 15” kicks off the album with a booming bass line and strange orbital sounding guitars; my first thought was that this was going to be an instrumental, following in line with “Transylvania,” “Ides of March,” “Genghis Khan” and “Losfer Words” from earlier releases. I was digging it, but then the fun was ruined by Bruce Dickinson. It’s not that his vocals were bad—I was hoping for a blast from the past. This first part in general is very well orchestrated; the instruments sound like they were out of this world, Bruce’s voice echoes through the stars, seamless transitions and great depth to the atmosphere of the song. Then there’s a pause…a big ass hard rock riff melts your freakin’ face.  One slam away from cracking open my skull, Bruce comes back!

Then comes the problem…the lyrics, I don’t know why a lot of the 80′s and 90′s metal bands just don’t know how to write lyrics anymore, but in this reviewer’s opinion, these seriously suck. Bruce tries hard to rhyme the passages together with his vocal pitches but come on. “I have no regrets, but I wish I could talk to my family and tell them that last goodbye”. The song has great instruments, what you’d expect from Iron Maiden, but this one’s lyrics are very lacking and hard to get into. So the question is, why wasn’t it left as an instrumental? The world may never know.

Photo from last.fm.

Now at first listen, I thought that “Satellite 15” had two big rock endings, where the band just goes insane. Well that song ends with one, and then the following song, “El Dorado”, begins with another. I thought for a second that the two songs were one and the same, but that’s not the case. After the intro, a very reminiscent gallop starts up. This song is the first single off the album and really sounds like it should be, in comparison to the other songs which average out to 7 minutes apiece. This one also makes a great live performance, I’ve seen it live and man did the crowd get into it. It’s nothing too revolutionary, but still one kick ass song.

At first I was hesitant to “When the Wild Wind Blows”, with melodies that sound like something played at my church, but it’s hard to understand Bruce’s voice. Also, it’s not very metal; this is very much a progressive song, with almost no time to bang your head at all. After listening to it three times, and reading the lyrics, it has become my favorite song. This is a great way to end The Final Frontier and hopefully future releases will continue with this style.

At roughly 76 minutes, it’s their longest studio recording, but I feel as though if they just cut out three of the songs: “The Talisman,” “Starblind” and “The Man Who Would Become King,” this would be one of Maiden’s best albums after Brave New World.  I’d like to think that the band wrote seven songs, then bassist/lead songwriter Steve Harris was like, “Why don’t we make three more and make this our longest album? C’mon it’ll be totally prog!” So they wrote some riffs and pushed out some vocal tracks and just in general it seems like the songs had potential but were rushed.

The Final Frontier is an improvement over Dance of Death, but it’s not as good as A Matter of Life and Death. However, with recent trends in the old metal bands it’s good to hear at least one band still making great music. With great production quality from Harris and Kevin Shirley, the album flows together so seamlessly I had to look to make sure that I wasn’t on the same song. Iron Maiden has always liked venturing in and out of genres, and this progression into a prog/metal/rock hybrid is awesome, reminiscent of Somewhere in Time and Fear of the Dark. It’s great to hear them trying something new, and doing amazing at it nonetheless.  Definitely go check it out, it does suffer from some problems, but when it’s good it’s good.

RATING: 7/10

Front page photo from chartattack.com.

***Blatant Insubordination is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Rob Siebert, editor and Fanboy Wonder. The views expressed therein are his, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

THINK FAST! Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game was the best?

Well, actually that would be Turtles In Time, a Super Nintendo game distributed in 1992.

Um…alright, THINK FAST AGAIN! Which game laid the groundwork for Turtles In Time, and every Ninja Turtle game thereafter?

That would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game, developed by Konami and released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1989, then updated and re-released on the original Nintendo system in 1990.

In its heyday, this game kicked ass in every sense of the word. Whether you were playing with your buddies at a Chuck E. Cheese, or going solo at home, it was the original adrenaline-pumping, pizza-scarfing, foot-soldier-stomping, beat-em-up action thrill ride. If you didn’t love this game, check your lineage, because you’re probably a Nazi, a Soviet, AND a member of the Taliban.

Photo from the pinballcompany.com.

It was released at the height of the first generation of the TMNT fandom. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie came out the same year, the cartoon was in its fourth season, and the endorsement deal with Pizza Hut was paying off in spades.

In spite of how awesome this game was, you never heard anybody giving it the credit it deserved as an educational tool. Don’t look at me like that. It’s true! Parents always ganged up on action hero franchises like the Ninja Turtles because they thought the only thing they promoted was mindless violence and bad jokes. And okay, the bad joke thing was true (it was the ’90s, what do you expect?). But much like Super Mario World and Final Fantasy VII, this game provided me with some fundamental life skills that I use to this day.

So pull out your solid-colored headbands, sharpen your katana blades, and order a pepperoni and pickle pizza. It’s time for some educational ass-whooping!

1. Product Placement Works…Kinda
By 1990, product placement was already a staple in movies and television. But Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game was one of the first video games to utilize it. The natural plug for the Turtle franchise was, of course, Pizza Hut. In the cartoon, the Turtles ate pizza and…nothing else. That was it. And they topped it with the weirdest stuff. Peanut butter, marshmallows, mayonnaise, etc (“But no anchovies, and I mean, NO anchovies!”)

Image from games.multimedia.cx

In the game, as it would be in many subsequent games, the Turtles re-gain lost health by obtaining pizza boxes, which conveniently have the words “Pizza Hut” on them. But they even went a step beyond that. At any random moment (like the one pictured to the right), you could be walking along in the game, and you’d find a Pizza Hut sign somewhere for no apparent reason. As kids it didn’t phase us at all. In fact, it actually seemed to make the game seem more realistic (relatively speaking). But as adults it’s hilarious, because it’s so unabashedly blatant.

For me, there’s a tragic irony associated with the Pizza Hut/Ninja Turtles team up. Whenever my family ordered pizza, the Turtles were the first thing that popped into my little head. But Mr. and Mrs. Siebert didn’t like Pizza Hut. So we always ordered from a different pizza place.

Today, I believe this would be referred to as an EPIC FAIL.

2. Human/Mutant Turtle Beastality is Acceptable
After the first level, April O’Neil gets kidnapped by The Shredder, as is par for the course in all the early TMNT games. You end up saving her in a parking garage. That location actually makes sense if you think about it. Would you think to look there?

Image from arcade-museum.com.

After you save her (from Bebop & Rocksteady or Baxster Stockman, depending on which version your playing), you and April jump in the Turtle Van, and then they show you a picture of her kissing one of the Turtles, saying: “I owe you one.” In the coin version, there’s even a little heart shown.

I owe you one? That’s a little cold. They are TEENAGE Mutant Ninja Turtles after all. And for a chick with an ’80s haircut in a yellow jumpsuit and white boots, April was pretty hot. And how many times did the Turtles save her? I mean, after Princess Toadstool, she was pop culture’s most consistently distressed damsel. After all those rescues, this chick needed to at least put an offer on the table to one of them.

The sheer mechanics of it are mind-boggling, of course. But it had to be done. April wouldn’t have been able to look herself in the mirror if she didn’t do it. But the question is…who got it?

Thankfully, as kids it never crossed our minds. We had bigger things on our minds, like saving the world from a talking brain and a guy with cheese graters on his forearms.

3. We All Get Our Moment in the Sun
Recognize the blue character in the image below? You shouldn’t. He’s Lieutenant Granitor, the second-in-command of Krang’s evil rock soldier army from Dimension X. When Shredder and Krang were deciding who was going to guard the kidnapped Master Splinter, for some reason they said: “No, we need General Traag here. We’re going to let his toadie defend the ninja master.

Image from hardcoregaming101.net

That seems like a plan that was doomed from the start. But in actuality, it was a great move.

Granitor was horribly underrated as a video game boss. In the NES version, by the time you got to Granitor, fatigue was starting to set in. You’d just busted your ass through a burning building, the streets of New York, the sewers, a dirty parking garage, and a busy highway. All the while fighting foot soldiers trying to slice you with swords, blow you up with dynamite, or run you over with friggin’ cars.

But Granitor didn’t care about the friggin’ cars. Granitor was here to test you, to make sure you were committed to saving Splinter, taking down the Technodrome, and getting your Pizza Hut plugs in. He was a rock soldier that carried a flame thrower. He didn’t even need the flame thrower. Half the time he’d just smack you and you’d fly into the wall. He had the flame thrower as an added FU.

But somehow, when the big upgrade to Super Nintendo game around, Granitor didn’t make the cut. He was nowhere to be found in Turtles in Time. Nobody remembers him. Do a Google Image search for him. You’ll find one image from the old cartoon show, some screen shots from this game, and a custom action figure that somebody made.

In a world of unsung heroes, Granitor is truly an unsung villain. Actually, I take that back. There is one song out there that reminds me of Granitor, and it brings me to tears every time I hear it…

I will remember you…Will you remember me…Don’t let your life pass you by…Weep not for the memories.

That one was for you Granitor, you flame thrower sportin’ lug.

4. Jump Attacks Work The Best
It’s true. Try attacking someone tomorrow. It always works better when you’re jumping.

5. The Only Thing That Matters is the Ending
Shredder always got the top billing in the video games, even though Krang was probably more powerful. Krang was another underrated villain, but we’ll get to him another day.

Image from arcade-museum.com

In this game, Shredder could somehow clone himself at any given time. The number of clones you faced depended on what version of the game you were playing. The NES version only had one clone, then there was another version that had two. The original coin version seemed to have three our four. Either way, it was confusing. For some reason, Shredder also had dark side lightning powers, which turned you into a regular turtle.

The object here was obviously to find the real Shredder and beat him. But what always got to me was the end sequence. After the Technodrome blows up, the credits role, then Shredder appears on the screen with his trademark “HA HA HA HA HA.” Then the Game Over graphic appears.

So you’re telling me that after ALL that, we didn’t even get the guy? The Empire Strikes Back ending had more closure than this! I mean, obviously he’s got to come back for the sequel. But sheesh, can you let us savor the victory we just spent three hours fighting for? At least in Hyperstone Heist (the Sega version of Turtles in Time) we got to see him fall from a skyscraper. That was pretty cool.

The ending aside, you can’t deny the fact that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game was a lot of fun, and a staple of early ’90s video games. Play some of the TMNT games that are based on the 4Kids series, and you can clearly see the influence this game  had. It’s the classic Ninja Turtles at their best.

And yes, it must be said…COWABUNGA!

Front page image from toy-tma.com.

***“In Defense of the Medium” is a regular column published on Primary Ignition by Chris Kromphardt, staff writer and Justice Administrator. The views expressed here are his alone, and do not reflect those of the staff of Primary Ignition.***

Rod Blagojevich, shamed former Illinois governor (as if there were any other kind of former Illinois governor), fresh off a declared mistrial for 23 of 24 charges emanating from actions that prosecutor Fitzgerald claimed “would make Lincoln turn over in his grave” made the next most logical move after hitting the television circuit to sell, now that he doesn’t have an open Senate seat to bargain with, himself I guess: he went to Comic Con.

AP photo.

Blago was a guest at Wizard World Chicago this past weekend; his John Hancock commanded $50, while the opportunity to be immortalized in a photograph with him was a bargain for convention-goers at $80. 

Whether Blagojevich belongs at Comic Con raises some interesting existential questions about the current state of pop culture; people are considered to be celebrities after some television exec decides to turn them into one by giving them their own show on MTV or E! You could make the argument that a personality like Blago, as skewered nightly as he was (is) by The Daily Show, might warrant a small booth between various freaks of Youtube and retired wrestling superstar Virgil. 

I had a chance to meet pre-indicted Blago, at a party in Denver that he was hosting for a beloved Illinois political figure. He hadn’t been in attendance at any of the other big parties hosted for the Illinois delegation (I can’t confirm whether or not he was invited to them), but for an attention-whore of his magnitude, his scarce presence at the Democratic National Convention strongly implied that he was being kept under wraps and it was only by “honoring” a veteran of the War in Iraq that he was allowed to play a part in the celebration.

As he worked the room, I—and likely most everyone else there—performed a shifting act, keeping an eye on the mound of hair and strategically positioning myself with at least one available escape route at all times. Or at least I tried to. He ended up zeroing in on the group I was with—probably because we were the only ones under 30—and, seizing my hand and not letting go, preceded to tell me about how great it was that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had gone to Eastern Illinois University, my school at the time. And after running through a litany of everyone he knew affiliated with EIU, still holding my hand in his cold grip, he made the single most astonishing proposal I have ever received.

“If you and the college democrats ever come to Springfield, I’m sure we could put you up in the Governor’s Mansion.”

He seemed completely sincere, and as I accepted a personalized business card from one of his people and stood staring as he finally moved on, I thought: What the $%#@ just happened here?

I actually followed up on his offer to see to what degree he was pulling my leg, and communicated back and forth a few times with one of his people—I found out, months later and completely at random, that another person in another situation had received the exact same offer—but then he had to go and get indicted.

Blago with Adam West. Photo from C.M. Wiggins/WENN.com.

The point of this whole story is that you couldn’t pay people to mingle with pre-indicted Blago. (You could, however, bribe them into indifference with an open bar).

But comics fans are a curious breed. We’re inclined toward doing strange things, such as ritualistic weekly trips to the comic book store, and collecting busts and sundry other pieces of crap; we’re often quick with the wallet when something has piqued our interest. Maybe Comic Con is the perfect place for Blago—lots of people with open wallets looking for a spectacle, such as the latest Freak of the Week.

But maybe Comic Con really is the right place for Blagojevich for another reason. I’m sure he’d fit right in among the cosplayers, an Edward Scissorhands-sort with head-0f-hair of a Wookie.

TITLE: The Last Exorcism
STARRING: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum, Caleb Landry Jones
DIRECTOR: Daniel Stamm
STUDIO: Lionsgate
RATING: PG-13
RUN TIME: 100 min
RELEASE DATE: August 27

By Seth Miller
Staff Writer, Part-Time Ninja

There is a disturbing trend in the horror movie genre now; the shift from traditional filmmaking and crafted scares to the fake documentary style horror movie.  The biggest examples of this are The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. For the studios making these films, they can make an okay horror movie for a lot less money and make a profit; they have no reason to stop making these films and will probably continue releasing them until we reach the inevitable seventh sequel to Paranormal Activity.

These types of movies make money but they lack substance and the scares rely on fact that the audience is forced to view the movie in a limited perspective. That’s what I thought I would expect when I went to see The Last Exorcism, but I left surprised at how well it turned out.

Photo from rottentomatoes.com.

What really stands out in this movie is that the story is actually pretty good.  The movie follows Rev. Cotton Marcus (Fabian), a Southern preacher who performs exorcisms and views his role as a reverend as an act to get people’s money.  After his son nearly dies during birth and hearing about deaths resulting from exorcisms, he loses his faith in God and decides to give up his life as a reverend but not before taking a documentary film crew with him to show how he and others fake exorcisms to get people’s money. He thinks he’ll perform a routine exorcism on Nell (Brown) to satisfy her father’s (Herthum) religious views. But the situation changes as it seems Nell really is possessed. Marcus’ beliefs are challenged while trying to figure out if Nell has been driven crazy by her family or possessed by a demon.

This is a pretty good story for this type of horror movie and it is one of the film’s strengths. The story is done well enough to add to the overall creepiness of the movie and that makes the scares more effective than just having a having a bunch of shaky camera footage where something pops out every 10 minutes to scream boo at the audience. Another strength in this movie is the way the tone is able to shift in the middle; it’s still a horror movie but for the first 20 to 25 minutes it comes off slightly humorous in a strange way before shifting effortlessly into a horror movie.

The main actors in this movie play their roles well and elevate the film above other horror movies that have come out this year. Fabian is great as a reverend that has conned people with their religion and enjoys it because he doesn’t share their beliefs. He just uses them to make money for his family; someone who is trying to give it all up but is having his beliefs about God tested by what could be an actual possession. Bell also does a great job as Nell; one second she is an innocent girl who seems a little too sheltered, the next she is twisting her body in ways that seem inhuman and scaring the crap out of everyone in the movie.

Photo from rottentomatoes.com.

What this film does not deal with well are the moments between the action. There are moments in the film after Nell does something crazy that seem to drag for longer than necessary and this takes a bit of the momentum away.  Also, some of the audience may not like how this movie ends and I thought that there were parts of it that didn’t completely mesh with what had been shown earlier. But this doesn’t ruin the movie, which turns out to be pretty good and is better than most of the other horror films that use this fake documentary style because it has an actual story driving the movie forward and making the scares more powerful. It’s a nice film that surprised me and a good way to start off the fall movie season

RATING: 8/10

TITLE: Mockingjay
AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins
PUBLISHER: Scholastic
RELEASED August 24

Suzanne Collins ends her Hunger Games trilogy with Mockingjay. The first book, Hunger Games, built a world ruled by a dictatorship, where every year children from different regions are chosen to fight to the death in a giant televised event. In that book, Katniss, a young girl, disrupts the games by breaking all the rules and taking control. In Mockingjay, Katniss is still breaking the rules. She is the face of a rebellion against the Capital. This book is all out war. The games are no longer contained to an arena. They’ve spread out over the entire world, in everyone’s home.

Heartbreaking, horrifying, and brutal are the best ways to describe the events that take place in this book. Collins does not spare on blood and gore, but doesn’t do it pointlessly. Each wound, each kill, they all have a purpose and a horrible aftermath. Everything is connected, everything is written for a specific reason. The reader feels every blow emotionally, just as Katniss does. As loved ones fall (and there are many that do), Katniss slowly falls apart and Collins writes so well that the audience falls apart with her.

Not only is the action intense and riveting, but the relationships are so real. Twilight may have Team Edward and Team Jacob, but Hunger Games has Team Gale and Team Peeta, two men in Katniss’ life who both declared their love for her in the previous books. She loves them both, but romance has never been a priority for her and that stays true in Mockingjay.  It’s always been about survival for Katniss and making sure all of her loved ones, including Gale and Peeta, survive at all costs. Nevertheless, she does decide between the two and that decision is satisfying and real.

Collins. AP photo.

The relationships Katniss has with all the people she loves are so intense and so well described that she is not the only character the reader cares about. Each character carries their own weight, making this not only a great action and suspense story, but clearly character driven.

The trilogy is wrapped up well with this story, but not in a false or unrealistic way. Nothing is nicely presented with a bow on top and the characters don’t go frolicking into the sunset in the end. This is not a predictable or even a happy ending, but just an ending, which stays true to the tone of the rest of the books.

Mockingjay also has a brief epilogue. Many epilogues fail and drag a story on needlessly, but I found this one to be very well placed. It stayed true to Katniss’ character and how all the struggles she endured in the story will affect her for the rest of her life. She can never leave her nightmares behind.

People who have not read the other two books would not follow, or really enjoy this book. It’s a continuous story, and you can’t just jump in at the end. But if you’ve followed along, this book (even moreso than the other two) will make you catch your breath and stop everything you’re doing just to finish the text on the page. Pure reading pleasure. Fantastic!

RATING: 10/10

TITLE: Superman: Secret Origin
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
PENCILLER: Gary Frank
ISSUES: Superman: Secret Origin #1-6
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
GRAPHIC NOVEL RELEASE: December 15 (tentative)

The question we need to ask ourselves about Superman: Secret Origin isn’t whether it’s good. We’re pretty much talking about the ORIGINAL origin story. Everybody knows Superman’s origin story. My mother knows Superman’s origin story. If it weren’t a good story it wouldn’t have endured for 75 years. The question is, what have Geoff Johns and Gary Frank done with it that’s fresh and different?

Johns essentially uses the same formula he used in Green Lantern: Secret Origin. We open the book with Clark in Smallville, follow him into Metropolis, and we see his first days in the suit. Along the way we meet the supporting cast, i.e. Lois Lane, the Kents, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. Lex Luthor is the main villain, but like Green Lantern, he also squeezes in the origins of two other villains: The Parasite and Metallo. Same formula, different characters and theme.

What jumps out at you from the get-go is Gary Frank’s art. He’s as good with facial expressions, eyes in particular, as anyone I’ve ever seen. His scenes between young Clark and his father, as well as Superman and Lois are very strong. They almost have a fairy tale quality to them, and that’s fitting for a story like this.

Issue #1, page 40. Image from comicbookbin.com.

The over-arcing theme of the book is hope, perseverence and human comaradery in the face of an overly cynical world. Much like Superman: Birthright, the Mark Waid/Leinil Francis Yu story that was published a few years ago, when Superman first appears he is met with fear and skepticism from the general public, and the paranoid United States government goes on the defensive. Johns’ pre-Superman Metropolis is also dirty and corrupt. Lex Luthor is deemed “the most important man in America.” As the only news outlet in the city not influenced by Luthor, The Daily Planet is struggling to keep its head above water.

Obviously, the appearance of Superman changes everything. Johns portrays the character not simply as a beacon of hope, but a symbol of honesty, purity, and faith the human spirit. It’s what the character should be, and ironically it’s also why a lot of readers call him a wuss.

What was so off-putting about this mini-series is that Waid’s Birthright only came out in 2003/2004. Johns cited the fans were asking for a new, definitive origin story for the character that would line up with events in modern continuity, which include characters like the Legion of Superheroes. Characters like Cat Grant, who were re-introduced in Johns’ run on Action Comics, are also included.

On the other hand, I’ve had people suggest to me that comic book writers can’t resist re-telling an origin story to suit their own ideas. And you’ve got to admit, Secret Origins caters to a modern continuity largely influenced by Johns.

In any event, I can’t in good conscience give Secret Origin a bad review because it rehashes the most well-known story in all of comics, especially when that rehash is done WELL. It’s predictable, but the core characters are well-rounded, the art is gorgeous, and the central theme is strong. Though I still ultimately question the need for it, the book accomplishes what it’s meant to, as anyone can pick up Secret Origin and be able to understand what Superman is about in the 21st century. Hopefully it will stay in-continuity for a few decades.

So Geoff…what are your thoughts on an Aquaman: Secret Origin?

RATING: 8.5/10

TITLE: Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1
STORY: Kurt Busiek
AUTHOR: Daryl Gregory
PENCILLER: Scott Godlewski
PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASED: August 25

Have to admit, I’ve never ever been much of a Dracula fan, or a fan of vampires in general. With the Twilight craze at its peak, that’s not likely to change soon. But I have a feeling the Twilight tweens could stand to take a look at this title if they’d like to know what vampire with some balls is like.

Our main character is Evan, an employee of his Uncle Conrad’s multi-million dollar corporation. Lately, Conrad has tasked Evan with translating numerous centuries-old parchments relating to Dracula. Evan doesn’t believe in any kind of mystical forces, but is later shocked to see that Conrad plans to use the information from the parchments to resurrect Dracula, whose skeleton is mystically entombed in Athens, Greece. This issue also dives into some of Dracula’s pre-vampire history,

Page 12. Image from brokenfrontier.com.

One thing I can appreciate about this book is that it’s based in the world of the original novel by Bram Stoker. It’s not bound by any modern, or popular interpretation. If nothing else, that gives this title a bit of credibility that it wouldn’t have otherwise.

The premise of this title is Dracula-Meets-Corporate-America, in a “Who is the real monster?” scenario. This issue certainly provides the right amount of intrigue to bring readers back for round two, even though we’re not exactly sure what Conrad wants with Dracula, or what sort of Dracula we’ll get once he’s resurrected. But Busiek and Gregory have laid a nice foundation with this issue. Whether they can follow it up is anyone’s guess.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t a miniseries. It’s a new ongoing. I’m wondering what they’ve got in mind for once they get past the initial story arc. The title has potential, that’s for sure…

***

TITLE: Star Wars: Blood Ties #1
AUTHOR: Tom Taylor
PENCILLER: Chris Scalf
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE DATE: August 25

I’d forgotten how good Star Wars comics can be when they’re done well. And this one is certainly done well.

The book opens with Boba Fett surrounded by gunmen, not to mention a rancor. He flashes back to his days training with his father, Jango Fett. We see that Jango refused to allow Boba to be weak, as he sends him to pull a tooth from one of the galaxy’s most dangerous monsters. Then, when Count Dooku send Jango to assassinate someone who “represents a danger to our operation on Kamino.” Fett goes in for the kill, but is shocked when he sees his target’s true identity.

Page 2. Image from darkhorse.com.

What immediately stood out about this issue was the art. I’d never seen Chris Scalf’s work before. But it’s beautiful, and really suits the Star Wars universe. He seems to do almost everything well. The faces look like the actors from Attack of the Clones and carry emotion perfectly, the action sequences look beautiful, and the story flows well.

I’m a sucker for backstory content, so this issue appealed to me from the get-go. In Clones, we didn’t have time to gain a lot of insight into the father/son dynamic Jango and Boba had. That’s probably for the best, as Daniel Logan’s acting wasn’t easy to watch. But this story gives us the chance to explore that without the cringing. It’s clear that Jango and Boba love each other dearly, but the tough-love scenarios young Boba is forced to go through make for a nice, meaty story.

As a Star Wars fan, I’ll probably be coming back for more on this one. I was never as big a Boba Fett fan as a lot of people are, but you can’t deny the character’s appeal, and this story offers a great chance for us to get a look under the helmet.

TITLE: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
PLATFORM: XBLA
DEVELOPER: Konami
PUBLISHER: Konami
ESRB: T
RELESASED: August 4

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Having never been the biggest fan of the Castlevania series, Harmony of Despair was perhaps the worst game to dive head first into for a first time, but I never do anything easy, so what the hell? That being said, I should also acknowledge my idiocy in the fact that I forced myself —along with the help of my partner in crime, Stephen McCarthy—to plow through this game in single player mode, knowing quite well that its whole point was to be played as a multiplayer title. And what a title it is!

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, is basically the distillation of the last thirteen years of Castlevania titles, stripped down to their most basic essences, and then smashed and homogenized into a puree of what theoretically was to be a fun, arcade-style multiplayer mash-up of the series’ many post-Symphony of the Night 2D ‘Metroidvania’ titles.

Image from kotaku.com.

Harmony of Despair takes Alucard (SotN) Soma Cruz (Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow) Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin (Portrait of Ruin) and Shanoa (Order of Ecclesia), all with their powers from each of their respective games, and throws them into levels that look more like patchwork quilts of parts from better, more fun games. Up to six players can join at once, albeit via online multiplayer, and the whole object is to reach the final boss and get as much loot as possible.

All of the enemies and bosses are recycled from past games, but aside from that and the ridiculous premise of many of the series’ power ups and items, the fun, explorative nature of those games has been completely been scrapped in favor of what amounts to little more than having the player’s ass repeatedly handed to them ad nauseum. Unlike the older games, there’s no traditional leveling system; players basically have to keep playing the levels until they’ve earned enough gold to buy better equipment, as that is the only way to bring up one’s stats.

The leveling system is inexplicably designed to only increase a player’s attack powers by using their secondary weapon, or in some cases, spells. Better yet, none of this is documented in any way, shape or form in the game. There is a small tutorial that explains some simple aspects of the game, but nearly everything in the game is up to the player to decipher, including the nine stat designations, which are all abbreviated. Seriously, the game designer that assumed that players would know what stats like CON and INT were, let alone did, should finish their career only making shitty superhero movie tie-in games.

Image from kotaku.com.

The only way to switch these power ups or equipment is to access them from a grimoire, often strategically placed at the most inconvenient places imaginable, or from the game’s main menu screen. Players can also buy items from the game’s shop, but this can only be done from the menu screen, so if you’re out of health potions, you’re shit out of luck.

Basically, the only way to progress through the game is to keep playing the same levels over and over until the chosen player is strong enough to complete each of the six levels. Add to that the fact that the game was designed with multiplayer in mind, not single player, so there is no pause button, and all of the levels are limited to thirty minutes. Now none of the levels are all so long to the point that the time limit would really come into play as a hindrance, it’s just an unnecessary addition to a game series that always emphasized adventure over speed.

Multiplayer, on the other hand, seems to make the game quite a breeze, provided that the player is only looking for a quick match. Konami has done a good job of making the matches work quite well, without much in terms of lagging, which could definitely kill the game quite quickly. An added bonus is that downed players turn into skeletons that can still fight. These players can be brought back to life by other players with Water of Life, found in some of the treasure chests, but only in multiplayer mode.

The co-op mode is very much like the single player, except with obviously more players, but the thing I noticed was that the levels turned into a free-for-all race to the boss, with the emphasis on co-op placed in the backseat. Survival mode, on the other hand, gives players three minutes to defeat a boss while being able to attack other players as well, with the last man standing being the winner. While an interesting gameplay mode, it’s nothing to write home about.

Ultimately, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair serves as a prime example of why certain games should never be shoehorned into the multiplayer trend. However, it’s the ridiculous difficulty, the constant need to grind levels just to continue, and the complete lack of coherent instructions that ultimately makes this one of those games with a lot of promise that just didn’t cut the mustard.

RATING: 4.5/10