Tomb Raider: Lara Croft a Villain?

     Let me start this post off with- I absolutely love this game, and I think it's a great thing that they've made Lara Croft more than the object her character had become.  In fact I hope they make many more games in the series.  BUT...
     ...Ok, this is gonna sound VERY terrible- but I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here- but what if Lara was the villain?  No, really- think about this. 

     I'm just throwing this out there because I see all this hubbub about Uncharted's Nathan Drake being less realistic.  I've read people saying that he makes jokes about all the people he kills.  He doesn't show remorse, he doesn't regret the things he does.  Well, Lara does... once.  After her first actual kill... for like a minute.  (not including the deer she hunted)

     Think about this, the first person to die as a result of her actions was the crazy beard guy in the cave where Lara awakens hanging upside down.  The man with the beard that claims he's there to "help" her- and you know what?  I believe he was there to try and help her.  Look at the state of this man- beard, back pack, worn attire.  He was trying to get to her in a swift manner, possibly so the guards wouldn't spot him.  This isn't just a random goon.  He's someone that was on the run and hiding from the rest of the people on the island.  In Lara's defense, he did go about trying to "help" her in a poor manner.  Granted, his time on the island, presumably scavenging and scrounging for sustenance, may have made him lose some of the general courtesy of introducing oneself to a person in need.
     But anyways- this man died in a botched attempt to assist Lara.

     Later, after wrestling with a man definitely intent on killing her, shoots a man in self defense.  Shortly after that she comments to Roth that it was almost too easy.  (I believe the quote is, "It's scary just how easy that was.")  Could this be the start of another Drake?  Give this some serious thought.  After a single kill, she goes on what appears to be a murder spree.
     She displays sadness for learning (or re-learning) how to use a bow by killing a deer for food. That lasts until she's stuffed her cake hole and moved on.  Really, the mechanic wasn't to learn to hunt and forage for things to keep you alive. It was just for one moment of feeling an ounce of emotion.  And it ended up being the perfect foreshadowing for her killing her first human later on.  A minute of regret and she's off to slay any number of enemies in her path.
     I would say it's pretty damn similar to Drake, because she slays hundreds of others on Yamatai.  All of them would probably rather be alive.  All of them would kill her if it meant surviving.  I would even go as far to say they would even kill to save their friends-   Just.  Like.  Lara.

     Why didn't the game makers show the struggle a bit longer. (perhaps have a stealth option for a NO kills run, like many other recent games)  Make her have extra wobbly hands and horrible accuracy?  It's one thing to be able to hunt animals, but it's a different thing to kill other people.  So I can account for a little of her great initial skills with weapons.
     What might be nice to point out that this situation on the island is a life or death occasion.  Kill or be killed.  Mathias wants to find the Sun Queen's new vessel so she might be appeased into letting people get off the island.  He wants to help his people, just like Lara.  Trying to save their friends.

     In the end, to save her friends, Lara kills a majority of the inhabitants of Yamatai.  In the end it's either Himiko the Sun Queen or Sam.  One would die.  (Also of note, the only human female I recall Lara killing is Himiko)
     Nobody thinks they are the villain, and I suppose to the people that were already struggling and holding on for dear life on the island, Lara was it.  Lara has become just like all of the "enemies" on the island, savage and brutal in their learning to survive.  They should be hiding.  She is coming for them. 


RUN!!!   Even bunnies aren't safe.

     I can only imagine this is what it was like for Robert Neville at the end of Richard Matheson's "I am Legend" -that disturbing moment when he realizes he's become their legendary killer, the stalker in the night, he's become their "Dracula."  He is the villain.

Kick-Ass 2 Red Band Trailer



There's a dog on your balls!

     It's been a few years since reaing the original Kick-ass comic series, and a bit less since the first film- but DAMN does this second one look great!  I was worried when they adapted it for film that it wouldn't be as brutal or funny, but they did remarkably well and produced a highly enjoyable comic book movie.  Now I have no reservations for this one.  As it stands, there will be plenty of moments of laugh out loud humor in regards to horrible violence, something quite typical in Mark Millar's(wrote the comics) body of work.

     Of course Cloe Grace Moretz's Hit Girl and Jim Carrey's Colonel Stars and Stripes are stealing the show in the red band trailer.  If you've read the comics, they pretty much steal that show as well.  Hit Girl is trying to fit in at a school with all the "normal" girls and kids, and Stars and Stripes is a former bad guy, being a born again Christian trying to do "good" by turning away from his old ways.  Sounds like a recipe for violent and absurd humor to me!

     This'll be a must see.
Here's a link to the trailer(having trouble with the embed function): http://youtu.be/7UMbwxbgv8U

Metal Gear Solid V= Ground Zeroes + The Phantom Pain

     Well, at the Game Developers Conference the legendary Hideo Kojima confirmed that The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes combined make Metal Gear Solid 5.  This announcement sort of makes me wonder about what the extent of that combination is though.  He has been talking about games moving towards episodic release- so could this be a marketing hint at Metal Gear becoming a chapter based story?  This game looks undeniably amazing, as it is run on the new FOX Engine.

     In this video we see a bunch of semi familiar faces.  People that resemble Psycho Mantis, Revolver, and one that looks a bit like "Master Miller" from MGS1 appear.
     And these 2 statements, in particular, make me very curious:

From "FOX" Two Phantoms were Born

V has come to.

     So is this going to be like Twin Snakes?  Maybe another super soldier program, other Snakes were made, and this could be their story?  Might it be a retelling of one the earlier games from other perspectives?  The viewpoint of Big Boss perhaps?  Will the "Two Phantoms" be secretive covert ops soldiers we have never met?   

     Is one of the 2 games just a portion of the other?  There is a "9 year gap" spoken of by a Doctor in the trailer.  Is it anything like Metal Gear Solid 2- with multiple protagonists?  So much to speculate on, and only vague confirmations.  So many questions.

     Regardless of what it is, it will be great.  As is the fact that it is an "open world" game on top of it all.  Kojima is the future of video gaming.  Always carving new paths. 

*UPDATE*

The Wolverine Full Trailer Thoughts

     After getting my hopes up for a more gritty and realistic Wolverine movie, my hopes are dashed again.  Especially because we got 2 teaser pics, a 6 second and a 30 second teaser for this full trailer.  Really... the train sequence looks completely absurd.  All the ninjas in the snowy well-lit pagoda area?  Also absurd.  Wolverine bemoaning his immortality- meh.  This is another cartoony looking film, and my expectations weren't even that high to begin with.

This'll be better than Origins?!?  You sure, Bub?

     Wolverine looking to be made "mortal" is so overdone.  He couldn't even survive without the healing because of metal poisoning from his skeleton.  It would be easy to guess the old sickly fellow (Lord Shingen?) will probably take the healing for himself while Logan cries about his continually bleeding blade holes during his mutant mid-life crisis. 

Is this The Silver Samurai?  Probably.

     Seriously, weren't we promised something better than Origins?  This only looks slightly less ridiculous.  Barely.    
     Come on Marvel- get someone like Darren Aronofsky back on board.  You know why the Batman: Dark Knight series did so well?  Because it was aimed at serious mature audiences, not campy teenage idiots.  Make it worth our time.  Adapt Frank Miller/Chris Claremont's story, adapt Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X.  We want true Wolverine, not mopey emo Wolverine.
     Market and make the film we need- the fans will follow.

     On a positive note- I believe we finally got to see the Silver Samurai. (see above pic)

Links to trailers:  http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/03/27/the-full-trailer-for-the-wolverine-is-here

Guacamelee! Release Date Announced!

     After a LONG wait, we learn the date of Guacamelee's release!  We will be getting Juan the agave farmer's story on April 9th(North America) with Playstation and Vita (Cross-buy) for $14.99. 



     Soon we will be straddling the divide between the living and the dead with a supernatural luchador.

Borderlands 2: More Bank Storage FINALLY!!!

     Gearbox has been doling out all kinds of good news- here's one I've been complaining about since Borderlands 2 was loaded on my PS3- MORE inventory/storage/bank space.  This has been needed since the game's initial release, and we were promised that we "wouldn't have to worry" about storage space- so this will be a wonderful addition.
     The ammo expansion SDU is a pleasant surprise.  The larger Eridium capacity will be nice as well.

The Wolverine Pics, Poster, and 6 seconds of footage

Caught in his zipper!

     I see there is a plethora of new things for the upcoming film The Wolverine.  Horribly photoshopped posters and 6 seconds of random movie pics have not increased my hopes of this being better than X-men Origins.

     Apparently tomorrow we'll be getting to see 30 seconds of footage, and then the next day- an actual trailer- so I'll wait to see more.  The fact Jean Grey has been spotted is questionable.  Maybe she's just a cameo shoved into it.  Maybe a flashback, I don't know.  The cheese factor in the first 6 seconds is pretty high.

     Seriously Marvel- what the F***!- just give Wolverine the R rating and real grit.  I want dark and feral.  He is the best there is at what he does and what that is is a killer.  Not a hugger.  Make this and you will have a film to rival DC's Batman (Dark Knight) series.  It's what the fans want.

     Really, give this the real dark treatment.  We want Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X.  We want Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's Wolverine.  Wolverine deserve's an overhaul.

Valiant Comics: World's Worst Superhero Teaser

     Valiant comics, since their reappearance on the comics scene, have been positively outstanding.  Here's their teaser for something this summer-

     This sounds VERY intriguing.  I don't know if it's a humorous series or not, but I can guarantee I will be buying it- as the revamped Valiant Universe has not let me down yet.  They have, however, made me excited once more for comics in general.

     Keep up the good work Valiant!

Michael Bay's Ninja Turtles Fully Cast

     We are one step closer to having our beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruined forever.  Michael Bay's (and Jonathan Liebesman's) Ninja Turtles reboot, possibly being aliens, and not even teenagers, has been fully cast.  Well, just April O'Neil and the 4 turtles. 

Alan Ritchson as Raphael
Pete Ploszek as Leonardo
Jeremy Howard as Donatell
Noel Fisher as Michelangelo
and...
Megan "Cardboard human" Fox as April.

     Apparently the turtles themselves will be motion captured, and that fact does absoluetly nothing for consoling my low expectations for this probable tragedy.

This Ninja Turtles is slated for release on June 6, 2014.

Tomb Raider: Modern Archeology with Lara Croft

     I've finished the single player campaign and played a few hours of the multiplayer in the new Tomb raider about a week ago and have a few things to say.  But since it became an unreadable novella length writing, containing both serious and non-serious things, I've decided to break the article up into more manageable segments.  So here's the first-

Modern Archeology with Lara Croft

Oh look, free shit!

     Lara Croft, like her younger video game sibling Nathan Drake, is the progeny of an adventure hero many current middle aged gamers grew up with- Indiana Jones.  Lara follows in those footsteps quite well.  After watching the Indiana Jones films repeatedly over the last few decades, and playing all the Tomb Raiders and Uncharteds, they've been giving some bad impressions of current trends in the field of archeology.

 

     Where's all the adventure in real life?  When I watch the History channel (when they play shows about history, and not the crappy "reality" programming they've been so keen on airing in recent years) I don't imagine that a dig site could be so dangerous.  Nazis, militias and stranded crazies abound in every locale that contains these hidden treasures from the past when our heroes arrive.  Why don't the scientists and doctors on these shows get attacked for the valuables lost by ancient civilizations they've retrieved?  Surely the various enemies looking to get rich or obtain mystical powers are eager to take these items once they've been unearthed.

     Hundreds of treasure hunting goons should be flooding the dig sites in search of magnificent booty.  I mean what good what it be for me to have to go through all the work of excavating something when I can just kill someone and take it after they've done the job so nicely?  I mean Yamatai is swarming with people... except for the tombs.  Why is that?  Is it because they are waiting for me to solve puzzles that have been clearly set up by someone not long ago?  And with all the things that got set up- why did they leave the goodies?  All the giant gold chests were left unopened.  Very suspicious if you ask me.  Not to mention the fact there are extremely valuable historical trinkets and baubles left out around all over the place.

     Where's the cut off?  Exactly when is it ok to desecrate a resting place in order to profit?  Whether it's for money or knowledge, there seems no clear answer.

     After the few tombs I've raided, or more accurately- the graves I've robbed as Lara Croft in the new game, I've come to the conclusion that if it's for educational purposes "tomb raiding" is considered archeology... even to the point of looting the still warm, seconds old corpse of someone I just killed.

     If I was on Yamatai, I would be the guy that sneaks into the tombs and lights all the thousands of candles.  The return of one of my alter egos- Jacob Wicklighter.  I'm not kidding.  Who do you think lit all those candles- the crazy beard guy?!?  Nope.  It was me.