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The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 3 & 4 DVD Review
May 19th, 2012Article first published as DVD Review: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 3 & 4 on Blogcritics.
With the live action Avengers movie breaking all kinds of records and already surpassing a billion dollars internationally, if you’re an Avengers fan, visiting the Disney XD animated series isn’t a bad idea. It’s not as if the nearly fifty year old collection of superheroes hasn’t been given enough media. From the original comic books, to countless books, TV shows, films and video games of the combined or individual heroes on the team, The Avengers are a well-established franchise.
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 3 & 4 covers the end of the first disjointed season of Disney XD’s animated series that started in early 2010. Like the original 1963 comics, in Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers started with Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, The Hulk, and The Wasp to quickly be joined by Captain America, Black Panther and Hawkeye. Although, how and when they all get together varies between the media. Besides maybe Joss Whedon’s feature film though, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is the best iteration of the ensemble you’ll find.
Volume 3 of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is titled Iron Man Unleashed and contains six episodes where Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk and the rest of the Avengers face Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil to defend earth from an alien invasion led by long time Iron Man nemesis, Kang the Conqueror. Included is a bonus feature, The Avengers Unmasked: Masters of Evil, an animated in-episode comic book loaded with Avengers villains facts.
The disc runs approximately 132 minutes and the clean transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 Widescreen ratio, enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The collection is rated TV-Y7-FV and offers English and Spanish audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. The voice cast is a veteran group and though some may now be used to live action counterparts, the animated voices shouldn’t turn anyone off.
Volume 4 is titled Thor’s Last Stand and contains another seven episodes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. This time The Avengers must stop Ultron and an army of robots from ending all of humanity and at the same time prevent Loki from unleashing his armies from Asgard on Earth. Running 148 minutes this time and also in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio and rated TV-Y7-VF, Volume 4 includes The Avengers Unmasked: Hail Hydra. This volume is also recorded in English and Spanish in Dolby Digital 5.1.
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series is directed by Ciro Nieli from TV’s Transformers,
Vinton Heuck from The Batman and Sebastian Montes who worked on the Ben 10 series. While created by animation veterans, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes may be too juvenile and preachy for some older more cynical fans. Remember it is a Disney Chanel production and their target demographics aren’t jaded 40 year-olds.
Not available on Blu-ray, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume 3 &4 is an adequate transfer for most High Def TVs. The color and sharpness are well maintained and 5.1 Dolby Digital is more than what should be expected for a children’s animated series. The lone pop-up video bonus feature is a little weak considering the history of the series, but again, this series isn’t really for us old folks. The prior attempts at animating The Avengers are laughable compared to Disney’s new series and there are some nuggets, more obscure references thrown into the mix for us longtime fans. If you’re a fan and haven’t watched Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, you should.
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Abarat: Absolute Midnight by Clive Barker book review
May 18th, 2012Article first published as Book Review: Abarat: Absolute Midnight by Clive Barker on Blogcritics.
I first met Clive Barker a few years ago and yes, he is really that brilliant and a little bit crazy. As a young teen his Hellraiser movie blew my mind and I voraciously consumed every book of his I could get a hold of. I appreciated his willingness to take everything a little further than anyone else would and his beautiful crafting of language to paint pictures I had never seen before. When I met him in Las Vegas, I had brought The Thief of Always, Mr. Barker’s first foray into fiction for younger readers.
My enjoyment of The Thief of Always ensured that I would appreciate his Abarat series and after seven long years, Clive Barker has finally delivered the third book, Abarat: Absolute Midnight, a beautiful 569 page epic, featuring over one hundred and fifty original Clive Barker paintings. Regardless, of the series having been written for younger readers, it was at one time linked to Disney, Clive Barker doesn’t shy away from his typical mind-bending surrealism. The sexual themes and visceral gore have of course been tamed down for this younger audience.
The story Abarat began nearly 10 years ago, when Clive Barker first let us into his new dream. Not only an author, he is also an accomplished painter and illustrator notorious for drawing little sketches for fans. Though unnecessary, to assist readers with their journey, he’s included over 100 oil paintings that are reproduced within the hardback editions of the books. I suppose it wouldn’t be a book for young readers without them and surely older fans won’t mind.
Abarat is an archipelago of islands representing the 24 hours in a day and a 25th island to represent time out of time. If this sounds a little bit Lewis Carroll, Mr. Barker’s Candy isn’t far removed from the prior’s Alice. If Alice were real, I would certainly imagine her more as Barker’s Candy than what the movies portray. There is genuineness to his characters and no matter the bizarre circumstances they succeed and fail through their real strengths and weaknesses. It is typically human weakness that leads to the depravity and horror in many of Clive Barker’s other books.
Absolute Midnight continues right where Book Two left off. The sixteen year-old Candy Quackenbush along with her companions, Malingo the geshrat and master thief John Mischief have narrowly escaped her pursuer, The Prince of Midnight. The centerpiece of Absolute Midnight is a brutal war that Candy and her friends are right in the middle of. Her foes are of course are ruthless. The powerful and evil sorceress, Mater Motley, the prince’s grandmother intends on extinguishing every trace of light from there world and ours.
Without spoiling more of the story, it would be a disservice to start reading this series with Absolute Midnight. The first two books are essential to getting you where the final battle is about to begin and how the teenage Minnesotan was brought to this strange world. Her journey to where she is what will lead her to the answers and choices before her. Unfortunately, the hard covers are out of print and the soft backs aren’t illustrated.
Absolute Midnight’s pacing is quick and though fairly long for installment in a young reader series, Barker’s wordiness is never obtuse. There is poetry to his writing but the action and dialogue flow fast. The Abarat books are somewhere between Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time and Alice in Wonderland but told with a gritty honesty. Luckily, there are still two more books to come because Absolute Midnight will leave you with bated breath. It’s hard to imagine a single dreamer out there that wouldn’t enjoy a trip to Abarat.
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Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees book review
May 18th, 2012Article first published as Book Review: The Demi-Monde: Winter by Rod Rees on Blogcritics.
The dated term of demi-monde betrays the opulent steam punk setting of Rod Rees’ first book under his real name. Literally, the French translates to half the world and refers to those who live conspicuously hedonistic lifestyles. The term was most commonly used in Europe during the industrial age, from the late 18th to the early 20th century. Though certainly a futuristic tale, the dystopian world of Demi-Mode: Winter is rich in its Victorian opulence.
The vibrant settings are no doubt due to the author Rod Rees having spent his life traveling throughout Africa, the Middle East, Bangladesh and Russia, and then living in Qatar, Tehran, and Moscow. His medical background was utilized as he helped build pharmaceutical factories in Dhaka, set up a satellite communication network in Moscow and then as no doubt a tribute to his siren wife, conceived and designed a jazz-themed hotel in the UK.
A rich life can serve a writer well and after reading the first of Rod Rees Demi-Monde books, Winter I can attest to the value in his writing. Though his words are never gaudy they convey the vivid images he seeks to share. The style is easy to read but the conveyance is gritty and perhaps too honest for younger readers and probably better appreciated by those with wider perspective. The pacing however is quick enough for any attention span.
Demi-Monde, in the book by the same name, is the code name for a sophisticated and due to its artificial intelligence, an unpredictable computer simulation. The brainchild of the U.S. military, the Demi-Monde was designed to virtually train soldiers and prepare them for modern urban warfare. To add to its effectiveness, the Demi-Monde is in a state of eternal civil war, ruled by “Dupes”, cyber-duplicates of some of history’s most notorious tyrants. As an artificial intelligence, the Demi-Monde teaches itself and adapts. How far the program is able to evolve is now the question that needs answering.
The prologue begins with Norma, the President of the United States trapped inside the Demi-Monde and running for her life. Norma, the daughter of the president of the United States, was lured into the computer simulation. Like other players in the Demi-Monde, Norma’s physical body is left behind and vulnerable, similar to the movie Inception. In a more Dreamscape-ish twist, if she dies in the virtual game, she actually dies, instead of just waking. In an effort to save the President’s daughter, a young jazz singer Ella Thomas is made an offer she can’t refuse. Ella soon discovers though, that this virtual world is much more dangerous than she or anyone else imagined.
Overall, Demi-Monde: Winter is more than a good book and once the series is completed will probably have to be re-evaluated. What keeps it from ascending to more now is there is little in it you haven’t read or seen before in books, movies, TV shows and video games. Though if the individual components are recycled, the formula itself isn’t. That being said, fans of the cancelled Caprica TV series should definitely give this book a read. As one that misses it terribly myself, it’s certainly your type of science fiction. Demi-Monde: Winter borrows heavily from established science fiction premises but never feels as derivative as it could. There is enough different and fresh to distinguish the journey from the huge number of stories it deftly borrows from. Stylistically, the 528 pages read freshly and easily and the tale rarely gets bogged down. Where, it really shines is the authenticity of the fantastic character that could easily come off as campy, particularly in an over the top steam punk world.
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Prototype 2 Playstation 3 Review
May 18th, 2012Article first published as PlayStation 3 Review: Prototype 2 on Blogcritics.
Activision is in the news again, reportedly asking a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for an extension in their ongoing lawsuit with the former heads and even some employees of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series developers, Infinity Ward. The L.A. based publisher may also have issues with the recently announced Black Ops 2 due to language in previous contracts. Though a huge portion of Activision’s sales, there is more to their portfolio than Call of Duty including, the just released dungeon-crawler, Diablo 2 and the action-adventure romp, Prototype 2.
Prototype 2 is the sequel to three year old open-world Prototype game not surprisingly developed by the same group that that brought us the mayhem-filled The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. Prototype 2 definitely wears that same superhero outfit and while you play it, you’re bound to wonder why playing Spider-Man games never felt like this. Though, neither James Heller, the protagonist of this story nor the original anti-hero, Alex Mercer is much like Peter Parker.
James Heller was a soldier, deployed at the time of the outbreak of the Blacklight virus that Alex Mercer spent much of the original Prototype game trying to eradicate. James makes it home to New York in time to find the city overrun with infected causing him to join back up with the military in order to get revenge on the apparent mastermind of the disease, Alex Mercer. Those who finished the first Prototype game will wonder how all of this got pinned on Alex and the story does weave a complex web of motivations and strange alliances. Strangely, if you’re new to the story, you’re probably at a slight advantage.
If you’ve ever played a sandbox game like Grand Theft Auto, you should be right at home with Prototype 2. The main difference is of course, you don’t need to steal and drive cars to get around although; there are some opportunities to grab some vehicles. James Heller and his team, on his first mission in New York are attacked by Alex Mercer. Strangely, Alex infects James in a way that ends up giving James amazing powers like the ability to run up walls and fly or glide in addition to being able to consume victims and then morph into them.
Continue
Arland Atelier finale release pushed back
May 18th, 2012
Ryan Phillips the marketing coordinator for Los Angeles based publisher, NIS America shared some bad news a couple of days ago, about the highly anticipated conclusion to the Arland Atelier series.
“We wanted to inform you of a small change to the ship date for Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland.”
“Retail copies were initially slated to ship next week on May 22nd, but due to a delay in the manufacturing process, copies will ship a week later on May 29th in North America. “
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland finishes the adventures in Arland on a high note. The graphics and voice work are the best yet and gameplay has in some ways been built upon and at the same time, streamlined to what works well. While the basic framework of the Atelier series is dated, it might not be a bad idea for JRPG fans to pick up this one. The combat is still turn based but additions like the building mechanic help separate Atelier Meruru from the pack. Atelier Meruru also serves as a curtain call for the series with many past characters returning and finishes with a number of alternate endings.
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Final Fantasy and Mass Effect voice actor shows her other talents
May 12th, 2012
Fans of the Mass Effect series and Final Fantasy RPGs have the opportunity to get to know the voice behind a couple of their favorite characters. Los Angeles resident, Ali Hillis voices the always-curious Liara in Mass Effect and the often-cosplayed Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2. She gives life to many other voices in anime and games, from Naruto to the just released Kid Icarus for Nintendo’s 3DS. Though she has been seen on the small and large screens before, this indie film is bound to draw some love from L.A. locals.
In the movie Nesting, Sarah, played by Ali Hillis is married to Neil and in the ever-growing distant past, they were cool kids in the trendy L.A. neighborhood, Silverlake. After a bit of liquid courage they head off to reclaim their irresponsible youth. They end up breaking into their old apartment and squatting for a few days. On their re-entry to reality, they are forced to rely on their resources to avoid the serious consequences of their temporary lapse.
Nesting was featured earlier this year in the Newport Beach Film Festival but now can be seen at Laemmle’s NoHo 7 at 5240 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood. You can call (310) 478-3836 for showtimes this weekend. If that won’t fit into your plans, the film can be purchased on iTunes by clicking here. It’s always interesting to get to know the actors that give voice to your favorite characters and the often-funny, always down-to-earth Ali Hills is definitely worth getting to know a little better.
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Xbox 360 with Kinect now only $99 confirmed
May 8th, 2012After nearly a week of rumors, Larry Hyrb, Microsoft’s Director of Programming for Xbox Live today confirmed, on his twitter account, that Microsoft is now offering the Xbox 360 with a Kinect sensor for only $99. There is however, a catch or two, the offer requires two years of $15 monthly payments and is only available at official Microsoft stores. Luckily, for those living in the Los Angeles area there are a couple of these retail outlets nearby and a couple more if you feeling driving south, towards San Diego.
Those that maybe concerned about the monthly payments and ending cost that ends up at $460, keep in mind that Xbox Live itself runs about $5 by itself and if you were to pay cash for the bundle you would only save a few dollars. Used Xbox 360s bundled with a Kinect sensor at your local GameStop will set you back $250 and will not include Xbox Live. Microsoft seems to be counting on a cell phone-type pricing plan that includes their high margin Xbox Live service.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is over seven years old but has been able to outsell its competitors over the last couple of years, regardless of lacking the blu-ray playback that Sony’s Playstation 3 includes. Arguably, the Xbox 360 offers the most variety in gameplay and a host of new features and software that utilizes the Kinect sensor. Microsoft has spent that last year focusing their efforts on fleshing out the Kinect in apps and gaming. Core games like Mass Effect 3 and now Skyrim have been enhanced to utilize the sensor.
At the time of this article, the Microsoft store website does not contain any mention of the special offer. Luckily, Major Nelson included a link to the coupon offer in his post. While reading the terms of the offer, there is a cancellation penalty. There may also be a credit worthiness requirement as the terms do require an authorization for a credit check. If all of that sounds good to you, you’re bad at saving money and you’re looking for an Xbox 360, this is a pretty good deal. Make sure you print off the coupon before you head out as it does contain a promotion code.
Be sure to check out our videos on YouTube and extra pictures on Facebook, subscribe to this page and check out my column on Examiner.com (www.examiner.com/la-console-rpg-in-los-angeles/lance-roth) or (http://www.examiner.com/la-actionadventure-game-in-los-angeles/lance-roth).
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The Walking Dead Episode 1 Xbox Live Arcade Review
May 4th, 2012Article first published as XBLA Review: The Walking Dead: Episode 1 on Blogcritics.
The Walking Dead are back and not just in an Occupy L.A. – May Day convergence exercise in downtown Los Angeles. Interactive story game maker, Telltale Games has put together something new based off the popular comic book series. The art is nearly identical to the comics but The Walking Dead game doesn’t bother retelling the comic or that of the TV series. The game lets you play as a convict named Lee Everett, who manages to escape custody as the epidemic breaks out. This allows the game to run concurrent to the early part of the story fans already know.
The Walking Dead game borrows heavily from the last couple of generations of survival horror games and the classic point and click type adventure games on PC. Luckily, Telltale is mostly successful at marrying the two genres. Most of the cell-shaded scenes are presented with classic Resident Evil-type fixed camera angles although thankfully, there are no tank controls. The camera is slightly adjustable with the right analog stick and Lee moves directly with the left analog stick. When the shaded crosshairs come across an item or person Lee can interact with, icons pop onto the display with your choice of action.
More than just solving puzzles, The Walking Dead game uses relationships and dialogue as the puzzle. Nearly everything you say plays into how the game plays out. Most of the characters Lee meets are of course, suspicious of him due to the circumstances and some even know who he is. Your choices are really about who to ally with and how honest to be. There are also some optional fetch quests that can influence the others in your group. The meat of it though, is your relationship with the little girl you’ve chosen to take care of, Clementine. If the choices weren’t difficult enough, many of them are timed.
Though the game does contain a lot of dialogue, there are zombies to kill. Many of these combat sequences require quickly lining up the cross hairs on a target and selecting the appropriate action. There isn’t any swinging of melee weapons or unloading copious amounts of ammo into walkers. The combat is fairly rare which may dismay some potential players and result in the game being dismissed as an interactive comic like those found on smartphones. While fairly short, there is certainly more to this game than just a lightly interactive television episode.
A couple of characters from the established franchise do make their way in The Walking Dead: Episode 1 game but in forms closer to the comics than the TV series. The game is however, presented in a format similar to a television episode, with a coming soon sequence at the end. Seeing where your choices put you will probably make you want to replay Episode 1 and even more so considering those choices will carry through continuing episodes. What else will you do while waiting for the next one to be released?
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition Xbox 360 Review
May 2nd, 2012Article first published as Xbox 360 Review: The Witcher 2 – Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition on Blogcritics.
Warner Bros Interactive had quite a ways to travel, nearly halfway around the world from the gates of their Burbank, CA offices to pick up their latest RPG release, The Witcher 2. Though, The Witcher 2 is its console debut, the collection of short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski was first brought to Western gamers on PC in the first Witcher game, in 2007. The Xbox 360 release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition coincides with a free patch for the resource intensive PC version and on the heels of Bethesda’s blockbuster, Skyrim.
Though glancing at some screen shots might indicate otherwise, Witcher 2 and Skyrim have very little in common. Sure, they are both Western-styled fantasy RPGs, which makes them more action oriented than their Japanese counterparts but, The Witcher 2 has a much tighter narrative and a combat system that shares more with Mass Effect than Skyrim. Speaking of Mass Effect, those that were disappointed with Mass Effect’s finale will be happy to hear that decisions made The Witcher 2 do change the game. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, without multiple playthroughs, you will miss out on a good portion of what the story has to offer.
The title, The Witcher 2 may put off some gamers that may be afraid of starting the story of Geralt of Rivia in the middle and not being able to keep up with the deep narrative. Most fantasy enthusiasts should have no trouble getting up to speed, thanks to the new opening cinematic by Oscar nominee, Tomasz Baginski. If you know who’s who in the Game of Thrones series and know the difference between Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister, without Mr. Garrison from South Park’s chart in this season’s finale, you should have no trouble with The Witcher 2. Some characters won’t have the same weight for newcomers they have for veterans but the in-game cutscenes and conversations adequately introduce everyone of importance.
Besides the system requirements, one of the knocks on the PC versions of The Witcher games is the lack of an adequate explanation the deep combat system. The Enhanced Edition has remedied this with an extensive tutorial to gradually introduce new players to the gameplay. A good bit of the exploration and combat framework of Assassins of Kings is Zelda-esqe. Players can run around large areas at will and interact with characters or play mini-games. The combat, like the exploration is third person with the ability to lock on to enemies.
Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland Playstation 3 Review
May 1st, 2012Article first published as PlayStation 3 Review: Atelier Meruru – The Apprentice of Arland on Blogcritics.
The name of the latest young heroine in Los Angeles based import publisher, NIS America’s newest offering may sound like a Scooby-ism or something from the Aaron Burr milk commercial but, pronunciation difficulties aside the conclusion to the adventures in Arland is the most complete effort yet. Meruru is pronounced Meru-ru, not Me-ru-ru, if that helps. Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland, in what will please many longtime fans, also brings back many favorite characters from the earlier games for a curtain call.
Atelier Meruru is set in the tiny kingdom of Arls, located in a remote area on the northeastern border of the Arland Republic. Since Princess Meruru met the Adventurer of Arland, Totori Helmond all she could think about was becoming an alchemist. Not a typical career path for a princess, initially her father opposes what he assumes is latest fancy of his immature and unrefined daughter. It’s not until her determination is confirmed that he relents by allowing Princess Meruru to study alchemy on the condition she uses it to serve Arls.
All of the Atelier games consist mainly of turn based combat, resource collection and item synthesis and yes, Atelier Meruru still has them. The combat while pretty simplistic compared to other Japanese RPG series has a few new wrinkles this time around. Of course, no one would expect a princess to do all of this solo, let alone a protective father. Princess Meruru can travel with two companions though this is only indicated in battle. The rest of the time, she can actually find and talk to her companions.
