TITLE: Batman & Red Robin #19
AUTHOR: Peter Tomasi
PENCILLER: Patrick Gleason
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASED: April 10, 2013

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Lose a Robin? Eh, don’t worry. You can always pull one from an alternate universe.

Indeed, Batman & Red Robin #19 (different characters like Red Robin and Batgirl will apparently be revolving in and out of the series every month now that Damian is gone) introduces us to someone I’m not sure we’ve ever met before: A canonical version of Carrie Kelley. Most comic book readers know Carrie as Robin from Frank Miller’s iconic story The Dark Knight Returns. In this issue, Carrie is introduced as Damian’s former tutor, unsure of where he’s vanished to. Meanwhile, desperate to bring his son back from the grave, Batman frantically turns to Frankenstein, agent of S.H.A.D.E. But Alfred and Red Robin insert themselves into the situation to ensure he doesn’t do something he’ll regret.

Sticking Carrie Kelley in an issue is a nice way to tide us over until Damian either comes back, or more likely someone takes his spot. Carrie being around in the mainstream DCU obviously makes her a candidate to replace Damian. But I don’t see it happening, especially since we have Harper Row around. But just seeing her here makes this issue noteworthy. But my question is, what exactly what she tutoring Damian in? We never get a definitive answer. Carrie’s a film student, which might mean Damian was taking some sort of cultural studies or film school type lessons. But why? Damian never had much use for arts or recreation. He was pretty no nonsense. At the end we see her playing some kind of dance video game, which might imply he was taking dance lessons. But again, why? What does this version of Carrie have to teach Damian? I get the appeal of a renowned character like Carrie mentoring the current Robin in some way. But it just doesn’t seem to work with these two characters.

Batman’s abduction of the Frankenstein character to learn how to resurrect Damian is definitely a dramatic move, so much so that it borders on being out-of-character. Death and tragedy are such a huge element in Batman’s mythology, and we’re so used to seeing him grit, brood and bear it. But it’s rare that we see him actually try and cheat death, especially in such an emotional and violent way. He actually captures Frankenstein and takes him apart piece by piece, and in the process screams “I NEED my son back! And you’re going to help me — whether you like it or not.” If this weren’t a situation where Batman was grieving, and perhaps grieving as heavily as he ever has, this would have been too far. But here, I think it’s fine. All you have to do is imagine the pain a parent goes through when they lose a child, and I think it becomes understandable, though not necessarily justifiable.

Red Robin is in this issue, and is ultimately the one who forces Batman back from the brink. Gleason’s rendering of Tim Drake’s face in the panel at left is the only major artistic misstep of this issue, from where I sit. I have yet to warm up to New 52 Tim Drake at all, as most of the depth that made the character interesting in the old continuity seems to have evaporated. He plays his role fine, but frankly I almost wish it had just been Alfred who stopped Bruce.

Moving forward, it looks like we’ve got the Red Hood guest starring next month, followed by Batgirl, then Catwoman. I’m particularly anxious to see what Tomasi and Gleason do with Jason Todd. I’ve yet to be satisfied with the way the Bat books have addressed the fact that two Robins have now died. We’re two for four now, people. Those aren’t exactly the numbers you want when you’re talking about dead partners who are children. But I think as far as this issue is concerned, the bottom line is: Great emotion, flawed execution.

For more Batman & Robin, check out Batman Reborn, Batman vs. Robin, Batman Must Die, Dark Knight vs. White Knight and Born to Kill.

Front page image/image 1 from themarysue.com. Image 2 from whatculture.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

A trailer for The Hangover Part III hit the web this week, giving moviegoers their first look at the plot, in which the Wolf Pack is kidnapped while delivering Alan to rehab.

The Hangover Part III stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms. Directed by Todd Phillips, the film comes out May 24.

Front page image from comingsoon.net.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

This week, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Game Informer broke the news about not one, but two new installments in the Arkham game franchise. Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate are on their way to game consoles.

Arkham Origins, set for release on the Playstation 3, XBox 360, Nintendo Wii U and PC (and presumably corresponding next-gen systems) will star a younger Batman as he faces off with various enemies for the first time, including a new addition to the franchise, Deathstroke. The Deathstroke character has recently appeared on the CW’s Arrow TV show, and has been a mainstay of the Teen Titans and Green Arrow comic books over the years. The character will reportedly lead “eight of the best assassins in the world” in an attack on Batman.

Arkham Origins Blackgate, set for release on the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita consoles, will take place after the events of Origins, and reportedly be a ”2.5-D Metroid-style exploration action” game. In the DC Comics universe, Blackgate is the Gotham City prison for inmates who aren’t considered insane.

Conspicuous by their absence is Rocksteady Studios, the company that developed Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City. Warner Bros. Games Montreal will take the reigns for the Origin games, using the modified Unreal engine developed for the first two games.

The first look at the Origins video games can be seen below.

Source: Newsarama
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Between Wrestlemania and Raw we had a big week. Let’s dive in with some broad strokes about the big pay per view…

Thoughts From Wrestlemania:

- I’ll echo my old buddy Mike Bessler’s thoughts on Wrestlemania, and say the event was “fine.” If you watch the full event from start to finish, it tends to be exhausting, which it was. I think WWE made a mistake putting our three main events on one after another without any “buffers” in between. I was fading during Brock and Triple H’s fight, and then Cena and Rock turned out to be a snoozefest. Toward the end they just hit their finishes again and again. There’s not much art in that as far as I’m concerned.

- For the fifth year in a row, the Undertaker stole the show at Wrestlemania. His match with CM Punk was epic, and the only match on the card worthy of the name Wrestlemania. There’s a pretty vocal group of fans who don’t take kindly to part-timers (or in ‘Taker’s case, one-nighters) taking up so much space at the big dance. But sadly, I can count the number of full time guys capable of giving us magic like that on one hand. Heck, less than one hand. As if it wasn’t already obvious, the match solidified Punk’s status as the best worker on the full-time roster.

- Chris Jericho and Fandango turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect things to be so one-sided in favor of Jericho, but of course Fandango pulled out the win as expected.

- Ryback had a heck of a Wrestlemania moment. I didn’t think it was humanly possible to hold Mark Henry on one’s shoulders like that. Damn sure one for the books.

Thoughts From Raw:

- Gotta love a night after Wrestlemania crowd. I actually felt a little bad for Randy Orton and Sheamus, having to work through various non sequitor chants of “Randy Savage,” “RVD,” “JBL” and even “Michael Cole!” This show also marked the first time I’ve ever heard a crowd hum a wrestler’s instrumental entrance theme. That’s an interesting little distinction for Fandango.

- Well how about that? Dolph Ziggler cashes in and wins the World Heavyweight Title, perhaps one night later than he should have. Given how Ziggler performs, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who thinks he doesn’t deserve it. Did you hear that crowd pop when Ziggler’s music hit? Looks like we can look forward to a Dolph Ziggler/Alberto Del Rio match at Extreme Rules.

- Ryback attacks Cena? Well that’s…unexpected.

- My years as a wrestling fan have prevented me from seeing the Undertaker and Kane together without hearing “Rollin’” by Limp Bizkit in my head.

- I’m terrified Seth Rollins is going to break his neck one day when he dives over that guard rail.

- Not at all surprised to see Miz take the title at Mania, only to drop it back to Wade Barrett on Raw. Miz made his babyface turn work, and he deserved a Wrestlemania win. And heck, this is exactly what they did with Cody Rhodes and the Big Show last year. They just sped up the process this year.

- I wasn’t expecting to be impressed by Big E. Langston. But he seems to have a lot of explosive power, and he seems to move around pretty well. Maybe we’re in luck and he’s not our typical boring, sluggish big man.

Images from WWE.com.
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By Becky Luksa
Contributor

Terrible stories sell. They sell all the time.

The Twilight Saga was a pretty awful story. But it somehow managed to not suck as bad as Stephanie Meyer’s following novel, The Host. The funny thing is, the movie adaptation of the latter is somewhat better than the Twilight adaptation. It’s not exactly good, but it’s better than both the original Host novel and the Twilight movies.

Yet, it failed at the box office. Comparatively, the first Twilight movie grossed around $69 million dollars in its opening weekend. It would seem that the filmmakers were hoping to cash in on the Twilight pandemonium. It’s similar to what happened when the novel The Host was originally released. It did not sell as well as Stephanie Meyer’s other novels and simply didn’t succeed like Twilight.

The Host tells of the story of a somehow non-hostile alien takeover of Earth. Aliens, called “souls,” inhabit human bodies and take over their minds. The story focuses on Melanie Stryder after an alien called Wanderer is inserted into her body. But Melanie fights back and the two eventually come to trust each other, with Melanie leading Wanderer back to her family. Eventually, humans and aliens learn to live together peacefully as one of the humans, Ian, falls in love with the alien co-habituating in Melanie’s body.

One of the reasons that The Host did not rake in the cash that Twilight did is because of the fan base. Twilight had a huge fan base that had been steadily growing since the original novel’s release in 2005. The audience was pre-established by the time the first movie was released in 2008. It was going to draw large crowds because teen girls, and some middle aged women all over the country had gone nuts over the story. The money was simply there. The Host does not have this same type of following. Though the novel was a best seller when it was released in 2008, it never gathered the attention that the Twilight series did.

It was also a misstep to feature Stephanie Meyer’s name so prominently. People like Twilight; they don’t like Stephanie Meyer. There are many people who will read a novel simply because it is written by an author they like. Many novelists typically have a following like this, i.e. Stephen King. and Stephanie Meyer is not Stephen King. It’s why the fans of the series talk about Twilight from a story perspective, and not the fact that it is from Stephanie Meyer.

Another thing that Twilight had on its side was all the negative attention that it received from people. No publicity is bad publicity. For all the people that love Twilight, there are just as many people that hate it. And they hate it with a passion. The hate for Twilight is about as unhealthy as the undying love that some people have for it. It’s an obsession either way. Because of the hate that exists for it, people who have never read the story will go see the movie just to see what all the hype is about. Since The Host never received this type of attention, the curiosity about the story was not there. People who read the novel and liked it will go see the movie, and that’s about it.

The Host‘s biggest problem was the way that it was marketed. Summit produced all five of the Twilight Saga movies and made a killing off it. So much so that they went from having practically unknown actors to being able to afford big names. While the fan base existed for the movie, those at Summit Entertainment understood who that fan base was. The reason that Twilight sells is because it is a romance novel for teenage girls. It has vampires and other mythical creatures, but at heart it’s a romance. They didn’t try to make an epic vampire story.

The Host creates some confusion. Is this a romance or is it a sci-fi story? Stephanie Meyer herself describes the story as a sci-fi novel for people who don’t like sci-fi. Basically, it’s a romance story that wants to be a sci-fi novel. The company that produced The Host, Open Road Films, seemed disoriented about who they were trying to make this movie appeal to. They concentrated on the romance, but also tried to add more sci-fi elements than previously existed in the story. It seems as though they were trying to make it into something that it was not, which is an epic sci-fi story. Ummm…no.  If they wanted to appeal to the same demographic that enjoyed Twilight, than they should have solely focused on the romance element of the story and marketed it that way. Though in this reviewer’s opinion the movie adaptation of The Host told the romance in a better manner, it did not draw an audience because it was unclear who the audience was.

Bad stories always have, and always will, sell. There are letters between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville complaining about how less superior writers continue to sell while their work is largely ignored. But bad stories also fail. The novel The Host was unsuccessful and the movie adaptation followed in its footsteps. Stephanie Meyer tried to appeal to the same demographic as Twilight but she failed both times. The novel failed because simply it did not appeal to her audience. The movie failed because it was not marketed properly and did not understand the demographic it was trying to appeal to. In this reviewers’ opinion both The Host and Twilight suck, it’s just a matter of whether you prefer shirtless men or non hostile Nazi/Communist aliens.

Images from rottentomatoes.com. 
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The Chicago Sun-Times announced this week that iconic film critic Roger Ebert passed away April 4 at the age of 70.

Ebert, who wrote for the Sun-Times for many years, was perhaps best known for his work with fellow critic Gene Siskel on Siskel & Ebert, a TV show famous for its thumbs up/thumbs down reviews.

In 2002 Ebert began his battle with cancer, as he was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Further complications would later lead to Ebert having surgeries which altered his appearance. Nevertheless, he eventually resumed reviewing for the Sun-Times and on his web site.

Ebert’s last words to the public on his final blog read: ”So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.”

Image from oprah.com.

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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

- I wish it hadn’t taken this long for the Undertaker/CM Punk rivalry to reach the intensity level we saw this week. Up to this point, Punk had basically just been tossing the urn around. But having Punk use some of ‘Taker’s trademark stuff against him, and then actually dumping the ashes on him made for a heck of a segment. It hits a little close to home if you’re a long time wrestling fan, but that’s what it was designed to do.

I think if people remember that Paul Bearer was just a character that William Moody played on a TV show, it makes it a bit easier to digest. That was the problem I had with the build up to that Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio match several years ago, when they wrapped Eddie Guerrero’s death into the whole thing. Granted, Eddie always played a character too. But the line between Eddie the character and Eddie the man was pretty blurred at times. So when Randy said that horrendous line about how “Eddie’s down there in hell,” it was that much more offensive.

- When John Cena called Rock “the greatest WWE Champion of all time,” I literally dropped an F-bomb. Are you kidding me? Great star? Obviously. Great champion? No. Hey, I was watching back then, ya’ll. I know. That being said, it was nice to see Cena get a little angry toward the end there.

- While I’m sure the match itself will be interesting, the build up for Rock/Cena II has been fairly lackluster from where I’m sitting. Rock was gone for two consecutive weeks, so we missed some opportunities for added depth there. Okay, so Cena wants redemption, and the Rock is confident because he beat Cena last year. Got it. They fleshed things out a little bit in this episode, but things still feel a little shallow. Remember folks, this is the main event of Wrestlemania we’re talking about…

- I actually think the best developed Wrestlemania angle this year has been Triple H/Brock Lesnar. They’ve got some nice history between them, and with Paul Heyman’s help they’ve done a nice job making it personal. Involving the likes of Vince, Stephanie and Shawn Michaels has raised the emotional stakes, and has set the stage for a great collision at the pay per view.

Shawn Michaels always delivers when they bring him back. I still remember his post Summerslam promo on Triple H and Brock Lesnar fondly. He didn’t have a heck of a lot to dive into tonight, but adding him to the Wrestlemania match adds a little extra dimension to it.

- Looks like Stephanie McMahon will be the one to induct Trish Stratus into the Hall of Fame. I would have preferred Lita, myself. But Steph and Trish had a heck of a match back at No Way Out in November 2001. It was one of the most hard hitting and exciting ladies matches I’ve ever seen on WWE TV.

- So wait, The Miz and Wade Barrett are relegated to the pre-show, but the eight person tag match with the Bella Twins gets on the show? Well THAT’s BS.

- So who wrote King’s “999 megabytes, ’cause they haven’t had a gig yet” line?

- I think Alberto Del Rio’s Jumanji reference was lost on the audience because of his accent. Nice one, though. You’ve got to believe that at some point, Ricardo Rodriguez is going to pull a Paul Bearer from Summerslam ’96, and turn on Del Rio. It’s really just a matter of time, isn’t it? Could it be this Sunday?

- Haven’t seen a Tarantula on Raw in quite some time! My hats off to Daniel Bryan for that one. Heck of an impact on that double cross body block too. Bryan and Dolph Ziggler usually put on a solid show at the very least.

Images from wwe.com.
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By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Dark Horse Comics will release a comic book adaptation of The Star Wars, George Lucas’ unproduced screenplay, which later became Star Wars.

Via press release, Dark Horse calls the story “a tale of fantastic adventures, daring escapes, “lazer swords,” romance, and monsters. A story of Jedi Annikin Starkiller and General Luke Skywalker, an alien named Han Solo, and evil Sith Knights. The screenplay was titled The Star Wars!”

Lucas Books executive editor J.W. Rinzler will write the eight-issue miniseries, and Mike Mayhew will pencil. The first issue comes out this September

“While researching in the Lucasfilm Archives I’ve found many treasures—but one which truly astounded me was George’s rough draft for The Star Wars. His first complete imaginings were hallucinating to read—mind blowing,” Rinzler said. “While working with George on another book project, I once asked if we could adapt his rough draft. He was hesitant. Years later, with Dark Horse’s invaluable help, we showed him a few drawn and colored pages of what it might look like. He gave us the okay.”

Image from newsarama.com.
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TITLE: Batman, Vol. 2: City of Owls
AUTHORS: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV
PENCILLERS: Greg Capullo, Jason Fabok, Rafael Albuquerque. Becky Cloonan, Andy Clarke
COLLECTS: Batman #8-12, Batman Annual #1
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $24.99
RELEASED: March 20, 2013

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

I’ve never been as in love with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman stuff as other fans have. But I’ve got to admit, the Court of Owls make for a damn cool addition to the Caped Crusader’s already epic rogues gallery. And in the second volume of Snyder and Capullo’s run on the title, they take center stage again.

The Court of Owls has unleashed their Talons, their personal flock of deadly assassins, on Gotham City. Their targets are Gotham’s major city officials. But Batman is also in harms way, as the Talons take the fight directly into Wayne Manor! But as the Dark Knight wages war against this deadly alliance of evil, he’s painfully unaware of a revelation waiting in the wing, which could change his life forever. Also included in City of Owls are the revamped New 52 origin of Mr. Freeze, and the debut of a delightfully intriguing new character named Harper Row.

Before we get into the main story, let’s talk about Mr. Freeze. Initially, I wasn’t too pleased with what we got from Snyder, James Tynion IV and Jason Fabok. Firstly, why doesn’t he have sleeves? In the issue, a doctor says that if Freeze exposed himself to any kind of heat, he’d “boil alive.” So when we say heat, how hot are we talking about? Conventionally, historically, Freeze has had to stay in his cooling suit in order to survive in room temperature conditions. And yet in this issue, we see him outside a sub zero environment and he’s apparently fine, despite his skin being icy blue. His new origin also involves Bruce Wayne shutting down his experiments to save his wife Nora, which is a little too serendipitous for my taste.

But the whole thing was saved by a single line from Batman: “Victor, you and I both know that woman is not your wife.”

Indeed, in the New 52 continuity, Victor Fries apparently became fixated on a woman who was cryogenically frozen in the 1940s, whom he wrote his graduate thesis on. Batman emphasizes that Freeze loves the idea and illusion of Nora being his wife, as she’s wrapped up in “the only thing you’ve ever cared about…the cold.” I like this change because it makes Freeze a less sympathetic character. No one can deny how awesome Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Series episode “Heart of Ice” was, and how brilliantly it expanded on a character who was essentially a generic cold villain. But I think 20 years later, this makes for a nice twist.

Harper Row also has a great debut in Batman #12, and Becky Cloonan draws her with a wonderfully pseudo brash charisma. Sadly she doesn’t get to finish the issue, and Andy Clarke (no slouch in his own right) takes over. Harper’s bravery, her compassion for her brother, a gay man who is often harassed, and her devotion to Batman make her easy to fall for. But for her sake, I hope she doesn’t end up in a Robin costume…

There’s a lot of haunting imagery in this book that Snyder, Capullo and the creative team do very well with. The white owl masks we see the Court members wear are still very creepy. When Batman goes into Harbor House, Snyder gives us some talk about all the pieces of a mystery suddenly fitting together as our hero walks through this old, dusty, creepy mansion. Then later we go to the Willowwood Home For Children, an abandoned children’s hospital covered in wreckage, and occasionally an old wheelchair or gurney. It all creates this haunting aura of innocence being shattered by a menace that can’t be seen, but is constantly watching you.

I’ve never been a fan of Batman fighting in big robot suits, as he does in this book to protect Alfred and the Batcave from the Talons. There have been a few exceptions, but by and large I think it’s cheap, and to an extent it takes the character’s balls away. Batman is a character who strives to be at the apex of physical and mental perfection. But what good is any of that if he just wraps himself in a big robot suit and starts punching people?

We also get some supplementary content about Alfred’s father Jarvis Pennyworth, and his dealings with the Court of Owls when Bruce was a young child. I’m not sure how necessary it is in terms of the story. But at the very least, it gives us a bit more insight into Martha Wayne’s New 52 existence, as well as Alfred’s links to the Wayne family.

This book gives us a big twist ending, which I’ve discussed before. There’s not much to say at this point, as the true test of how that all works out will come when Snyder decides to follow up on it. But I’m definitely interested.

For yours truly, Snyder’s Batman stuff has its flaws. But by and large, there are more good ideas being put forth than bad ones. Frankly, the more I look at it, the more I’m impressed by Greg Capullo. I haven’t been a fan of some of his depictions of classic villains (Mohawk Riddler, Saggy Two-Face, and of course, Flappy Face Joker), but he compliments Snyder’s writing perfectly. At this point I think he’s cemented himself as the next great Batman artist. Here’s hoping he sticks around for awhile, as it appears Snyder certainly is.

RATING: 7.5/10

Front page image from dccomics.com. Image 1 from whatculture.com. Image 2 from apple.com. Image 3 from themartianmanhunter.blogspot.com.
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TITLE: Tomb Raider
PLATFORM: 360, PS3, PC
DEVELOPER: Crystal Dynamics
PUBLISHER: Square Enix
ESRB: M
RELEASED: March 5, 2013

By Seth Miller
Staff Writer, Part Time Ninja

My console of choice in late ’90s was the Nintendo 64. I loved that console so much but it did mean I missed out on some great games Playstation games like Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider. I never got to play Metal Gear Solid, which I regret. But I do not regret missing Tomb Raider. The character is an icon, but the number of complaints about the series has not encouraged me to ever give it a shot. But as far as this reboot is concerned, all I can say is I’m really glad I played Tomb Raider!

Set years before she became a badass action archaeologist, Lara is eager to prove herself by discovering a legendary island that was thought to not exist. The ship she is on encounters a storm and is destroyed. Lara winds up on the island she was searching for but finds more than she bargained for. Surrounded by survivors from other who that have gone insane and want to kill her, Lara must fight for survival and find a way to escape the island.

To make this game work, the developers had to toss out almost everything that has been associated with the previous incarnation of Lara Croft. The result is an actual character that has a natural progression, who connects with the player on an emotional level. We see her endure the death of her colleagues, being shot at by insane cultists, jumping from one structurally unsound platform to another, and a whole myriad of trials that she has to go through. This creates a sympathetic character that makes her triumphant victory all the more powerful. Her transformation from naïve but driven explorer to battle hardened survivor is exciting to watch and meshes perfectly with the spectacular action.

The action in this game is some of the best I have seen in awhile. The camera is dynamic and follows you around while you jump around some incredibly elaborate levels; this creates cinema quality action scenes that puts you right in the center of all the mayhem and, in my experience, has never been a nuisance by not following my character precisely and ending up in a spot that obstructed my view like other third-person games. The control scheme is very responsive and feels natural whether you are exploring a tomb or dodging enemy attacks and landing a killing blow. The combat is great because of enemies who don’t have much in the way of variety for most of the game, but make up for it with very competent AI; and while you get your standard guns, the bow and arrow is the standout weapon of this game. Side quests in tombs that involve more puzzles and less action provide a balance to the action of the regular game.

The game actually has so many strengths that its flaws, while few, are noticeable. Lara is well developed over the course of the game, but the rest of the characters feel more one-dimensional. There were segments of the game when Lara would play a video from the ship because the expedition was being recorded as a potential documentary. We see more interactions between the various members of the expedition and learn more about them. This makes sense to me. Someone thrown into an extraordinary situation could study or fall back on something to remind them of better times to cope with their situation. But this is abandoned later in the game, and while Lara’s journal entries illuminate more about her character, the supporting cast gets left behind and the game suffers.

The other problem with the game is multiplayer. It’s your standard team deathmatch, which is okay. But there are so many other games with better multiplayer, and Tomb Raider doesn’t do enough to justify why it should played, and not something that was added on because some executive told the developers that every game has to have multiplayer. I did find the exploration moves from the single player campaign being integrated into multiplayer to be refreshing. They expand the maps more than just about every other game with multiplayer; but this is not enough for me to spend hours playing the multiplayer.

If this was not tied to the previous franchise, than this would be a thrilling action game that is fit for sequels. As part of the Tomb Raider series, it is all the things I mentioned previously. But it also signals a rebirth of a video gaming icon.

RATING: 9/10

Front page image from digitaltrends.com. Image 1 from xboxramble.com. Image 2 from highersgames.blogspot.com. Image 3 from play-pulse.com.
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