Robert Kirkman's OUTCAST: NEW Cinemax 30 sec. Promo

     Outcast is a 10 episode Cinemax show based on the Skybound/Image Comics series by Robert Kirkman of The Walking Dead fame.  I'd rather recommend his tremendous comic series Invincible, but that's far less well known, or even his runs on Destroyer or Irredeemable Ant-Man.

     Cinemax has appeared to have given great life to this tale of demonic possession and the toll it takes on those that deal with it for their whole lives.  Outcast is the story of Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) on a journey to live a life of relative normalcy with the aid of Reverend Anderson (Philip Glenister) who is dealing with demons of the personal kind.  There seems to be a lot more to what lies just out of sight from most mortals, and these two may have a hand in keeping them from creeping into this realm.

     As I wrote when the first trailer arrived, the supernatural-horror genre has needed a kick to its ass in recent years, and this show looks to capture the dark roads some must walk quite wonderfully.

     Outcast is set to premiere on Cinemax on June 3rd.

Deus Ex Go, Just Cause Go, and Life is Strange Go Registered Domains!

     Something I've been hoping for since back in October of last year has happened, maybe the Deus Ex costume in Lara Croft Go was indeed Easter Egg I thought it to be- as Deus Ex Go is one of 3 new domains registered.  It's looking good that Square-Enix Montreal might be continuing the path of turn based puzzle games.
     Back in November I had tweeted Square-Enix Montreal and got this as a reply-

     -leaving me hoping for more of their tremendous mobile games.

     Three Square-Enix properties have been registered for domains, Deus Ex Go, Just Cause Go, and Life is Strange Go.  These domain registrations have been done through CSC Domain Tools, which Square-Enix has used previously for their domain registrations, making this a much more likely that this is a real thing.  BUT!  Simply registering domains is obviously not a guarantee of game development.  We can only hope that these are all on the way.

     I am actually surprised with the Life is Strange Go.  I would've thought Thief or Murdered: Soul Suspect to be much more appropriate properties to adapt to the Spartan designs of the Go games, with some intriguing mechanics potential that could be used.  Perhaps Life is Strange Go will have a time-warping process included in the turn-based system to keep in line with the main game, possibly working a bit like the dimensional warping in Ghosts of Memories.

     Beginning with Hitman Go, they've followed up with Lara Croft Go and its DLC The Shard of Life, and have kept up a wonderfully elegant and distilled form of gameplay.  And I would genuinely like to see what they can do for these other properties in the Go style.

     Source [ NeoGAF ] via [ Gamespot ]

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Thoughts v Review

     Just in time we for this Easter weekend, we got an Easter Basket.  What I mean about that is the fact that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn't really a movie with a few Easter Eggs, but rather it's a series of Easter Eggs strung together in an attempt to be 2 and a half hour commercial for DC Comics' future films.  I'm not even kidding, the whole film was predicated on setting other films up when it should've rightfully been it's own damn story.

SPOILER ALERT for past the break
     (This is also a long-winded rant warning.)

[ EDIT: I forgot to post this Friday night before I left for the Holiday weekend. ]

Wonder Woman: What's with the Fucking High Heels

     I'll be seeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice tonight after work, and with the film's release, Entertainment Weekly has posted an article about the future Wonder Woman film.  The picture itself looks pretty damn great.  I'm still hesitant about Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but I'll wait to see her in action to make a full judgement on how she does, as some people pull off roles despite not appearing as many believe they should.  Warning: this could get into ramble mode.

     The Amazonian warriors from left to right: Lieutenant Menalippe (Lisa Loven Kongsli), Diana/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Diana’s mother Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), General Antiope (Robin Wright).

     There's something a little disconcerting about the article.  I found the decidedly strange take on the costumes a bit odd.  They want them to be authentic and real, but not like the males?  Interesting, the armor definitely keeps a semi-Grecian vibe, but also looks a little like Viking gear.
     The issue isn't with the clothes, it's with the heels.  Why?  I can see for the cinematic quality it would be ok to a point for the clothing- but why have the fucking high heels?!?  I've bitched about the issue for years, if a person takes action in any combat capacity- do not use heels!  I even raged at the idea of Nolan's version of Catwoman and her idiotic heels.  A cat burglar needs to be stealthy, quiet, and agile, not clacky-sounding as hell and totally impractical for any sort of evasive maneuvering for breaking in and out of places.  Where is this idea of needing heels from?  At least on some boots it serves as a control for stirrups, but here they are useless.

“To me, they shouldn’t be dressed in armor like men,” Jenkins says of the women’s battle wear. “It should be different. It should be authentic and real – and appealing to women.” Jenkins and her costume designer, Lindy Hemming (The Dark Knight), crafted a look that showed off the women’s ripped shoulders and toned legs, in outfits that looked practical but that still featured the tropes of the comic book, in particular the braces on their wrists and, yes, even the high heels. 

Jenkins defends the impractical footwear. “It’s total wish-fulfillment,” she says, adding that the warriors have flats for heavy fighting. “I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time – the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.”

     All right, I've written about this topic over and over and over and over and over again.  From a male's perspective, we don't want Superman to look like he's one of those preposterously huge muscle heads, we want someone to look like what they are doing is something they actually could do.  I'd recommend you read the much lengthier post here, but in it I can sum up the image thing with this snippet from it:

     Body types do mean something in these films.  I'm not talking about breast size.  I couldn't care less about that.  This is about a fighter's physique.  There's a reason no one would think of casting DJ Qualls in the role of Batman.  No one would consider hiring a hundred pound actor for Superman.  If Snyder is trying to keep with his own, new versions of these characters- grounded in reality, more gritty and realistic, then she needs to look the part of a hand-to-hand combat warrior.  Think of Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess.  Would she have had the same impact if she was a twig?  Not even close. 

     Think about it- would anyone hire Mackenzie Crook as Batman?  No.  He would, however, make a wonderful Scarecrow.  Why is that?  It's the image.  It's because appearance is important, they are archetypal for some roles- most notably in globally recognizable iconic ones at that.  Nobody is going to believe a scrawny Batman will get the job done now.  Michael Keaton worked well back in the late 80's, but now?  He wouldn't work.  If we require the males to be buff and ripped to look their respective roles, so should the ladies.

     Image does mean something, and the high heel came into fashion long after the Greek culture Themyscira is based off of is set in.  I do think the armor looks great, I don't really have an issue with that.  It's the heels, they look quite out of place.  Even for the non-heavy fighting it's just plain stupid.  If there's any fighting, there should be no heels.  Seriously, I can suspend disbelief in most of the powers, and even that the twiggy-sized Gadot can be Wonder Woman, but those god-damned heels are ridiculous.  It's almost worse than the Jurassic World high-heel fiasco- if a T Rex could run at roughly 18mph, there is no way she'd outrun one, let alone outrunning one in a pair of high heels.  It was easily the most outrageous moment in the film.

     On the other hand I must say the fact that Director Patty Jenkins wants "as a woman, Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time."  I really hope this will dispel the notion that beautiful or attractive superheroines are merely a male fantasy.  No male looks at an ugly character, such as Toad from the X-Men comics, and thinks they want to be that dude. No men are lining up to be morbidly obese Blob either.  This is exactly what I was saying with the snippets I took from my old posts- Mackenzie Crook or DJ Qualls would never fly as Batman because they aren't considered attractive male lead material.
     It just seems like a double standard, that somehow males want fantasized muscular men and attractive women, but for some reason women don't?  Attractive heroes, regardless of gender, will always be appreciated over those that are not (how many women went to see Deadpool simply because of Ryan Reynolds?), and it is so damn refreshing to hear a woman admit that she wants a capable and hot heroine.

     Besides, it's about fucking time there's a bad ass superheroine film.  It's been long overdue.  There's a lot riding on this movie, and hopefully it does well enough to start getting some other female lead hero stuff in the mix.  I mean, it's been 5 years since Iron Man 2, and Black Widow hasn't gotten an awesome espionage film yet and Captain Marvel isn't set to release until 2019.

     If you've made it this far I wonder if I should make the joke about Achilles' Heel being a 6 inch stiletto.  But then again, it's only slightly less absurd than seeing it on all the Greek warrior women.

     Wonder Woman is set to hit theaters on June 23rd, 2017.

     Source [ Entertainment Weekly ] via [ Comic Book Resources ]

X-Men: Apocalypse: "Let's go to War" Trailer & Thoughts

     The newest X-Men: Apocalypse trailer has dropped, and I feel somewhat underwhelmed by it.  Once again they're shooting for a global event and the fate of humankind hanging in the balance type story.  Good fucking cripes.  Did Fox learn nothing from Deadpool?!?  Not every X-Men movie needs to be about the world ending.

     Ok- here's a couple things that bothered me.  First off, how the hell does Cyclops MISS hitting Storm with his optic blast?  If he can SEE her hit will HIT her, unless he isn't looking at her.
     Then, I have to say there's a lot of shots that look, as best I can describe it as, empty.  And the arrival shots of the Four Horsemen looks very campy- should I even mentioned that the Quicksilver shot looks extremely off.  Why are his arms not pumping into view?  People don't run with their arms straight down to their sides.
     There's a lot to question about this film.  Psylocke's fight scene looks absurd, Sophie Turner doesn't quite sell me on her portrayal of Jean Grey, and why do Archangel and Nightcrawler have modern hipster hairstyles in the early 80's?  It appears Fox has pushed Mystique into the role of leader to capitalize on Jennifer Lawrence's popularity, instead of utilizing her in the perfect role of subterfuge.  Xavier vanishes for a what looks to be a decent amount of time (granted, he IS stuck in a wheelchair and probably can't attend the big fight in person), and the whole big battle scene feels as empty as much of the trailer itself seems.  At least in Marvel's Avengers films there are people running around in the backgrounds creating the appropriate level of world filler.  The Avengers shows that the world is populated, and you can see it plainly.  Here they are apparently fighting over an abandoned city that gets reduced to ruin.
     Then I'd also like to know why Havok is unleashing his less-cool-version-of-his-own-power-from-First Class inside of Cerebro?  Yes I know it's more focused, but it's also 100 times less visually interesting to see.

     This might be the first new X-Men film that doesn't strike the right chords and has me doubting the franchise again.

     X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters May 27th.

Marvel Future Fight: Timeline Battles HORRIBLY Imbalanced (and new Black Order patch comments)

THE BLACK ORDER HAS ARRIVED

     As some of my readers know, I've been generally enjoying the Marvel Future Fight mobile game since it hit devices almost a year ago.  There's been a ton of new characters added, new costumes galore, and just an all around great amount of variance in ways to play the game.  In the new Black Order patch, we get a cool new World Boss Mode related to the cosmic threat of Thanos with Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and Corvus Glaive.
     On other thing they added was increasing a level's biometrics count from 3 to 5 a day.  That is a huge change that will make a lot of people happy.

TIMELINE INSANITY  

     However, lately there's been some changes that really took a few steps backwards in the fun factor department, and it has to do with the Timeline Battles.  This part of play pits you against other players' teams and used to have the ability to change who you battled against.  The last major Future Fight patch altered it to the game picking for you based on "score." (Here's the link to Netmarble's official notes post)  This method of matchmaking is damned awful because everyone begins with an even 1000 points.  Which means that players with low levels like the ones I've been playing are pitted against players with fully maxed out teams they literally cannot hope to beat.  Just look at the screen captures I posted below.
     When even a couple levels can mean certain doom, 30 plus level differences is catastrophic giving the player absolutely no way to come out a winner if they are on the low end.  Netmarble claimed they would be fixing this in the new patch and, somehow, it got even worse.  How am I still being put against teams I have no hope of winning?  Even after trying to search for new opponents, I still keep getting placed against max level 60s!  This is ridiculous.  That isn't even taking into account the blatant imbalance between some characters- such as Spider-Man, Loki, and Hulkbuster Iron Man- that are all innately far too powerful against many other characters.

The first patch examples:

The newest patch:

     To top it off with something to make the changes even worse, they've cut off the ability to choose a new opponent unless you pay gold- and as soon as you "search for an opponent" it goes almost directly into the fight with a few mere seconds to stop the process.  This might not be an issue, but if you'd like to earn the daily bonuses you have to participate in 5 Timeline Battles.  Many of us have grown accustomed to logging in and getting crushed for 5 battles because there isn't a way to fairly play with the current system- maybe Netmarble needs to match by levels instead of a score that everyone begins at.

     Seriously Netmarble, this is easily the worst part of the game.  Timelines began all right, but it has progressively gotten worse with each patch, and I'm not even close to the only person that hates this new Timeline system.

     Oh- and I'm still very, VERY displeased with the fact I bought the "subscription" package and got some Carnage biometrics and then used some on other days for other characters, and now I can't choose him with normal biometrics from the Combat selector ones after initially unlocking him.  Meaning if I don't use the subscription for EXCLUSIVELY him, I can't level him later.  Not cool at all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan: NEW Boss Battle Trailer & Launch Date!

     Platinum Games' upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan has gotten an IGN exclusive trailer and a release date- May 24th!  It'll be just in time for the theatrical release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows on June 3rd.
     The new trailer focuses on boss battles showcasing the likes of Bebop, Rocksteady, Karai, Super Shredder and more.  It also gives us some good shots of what certainly appears to be the 4 player co-op we've been waiting for.

     Platinum Games, developer of awesome games such as Bayonetta, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, The Legend of Korra, and the amazing Transformers: Devastation, has a pretty good track record with making entertaining products out of existing properties.  Their TMNT game looks to follow suit with the way they handled the Transformers in that it'll be a great homage to the old combined with the new- a bridge for all fans to enjoy the Ninja Turtles.

     For more of my Turtles related posts [ TMNT ]

     Sources [ IGN ] [ Gamnesia ]

451 Media: Humbug: Issue 4 Review

BAH HUMBUG!

     Humbug is an interesting revision of the old tale of miserly curmudgeon Ebeneezer Scrooge from the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.  In this series, he's a spry old man and still curmudgeonly, but he's acting as a sort of supernatural Sherlock and not as the cantankerous, cold-hearted greed-machine of Dickens' tale.

     Acting as the world's first paranormal investigator, Scrooge is joined by a group of Humbuggers, including Tiny Tim, as a team of Victorian era Ghostbusters.  London has come under attack from ghosts and it's up to these guys to figure out how to rid their city of this apparition-filled epidemic.

LINKS OF A CHAIN

     The story so far has been quite action-packed with loads of weird and well-designed ghosts with a very neat ghost-capturing technology.  In this issue the netherworld chain links of all the ghosts that have come before are beginning to come together to form a whole.  The spectral incursions are flooding the city in an effort to abduct Scrooge's nephew Ruben.  
     
     As the city is becoming more overrun with spooks, the Humbuggers need to work overtime to get things under control, leading Scrooge to seek help.  With this need there comes plenty of references to the era's great writers.  There's appearance's by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells, and Charles Dickens himself in The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn- a group of brilliant thinkers of the time. They meet Scrooge with skepticism forcing him to move on without their aid.
     He diligently forges ahead, taking a case and inadvertently winding up in police custody.  His Humbuggers then are left to find a way to break him out while saving the city and Ruben.

     Finally in the 4th issue, the frequent quote's from Alice's adventures through the looking glass take on a much more sinister significance now to create something very dreadful- adding a completely new layer to exactly which boundary the looking glass divides.  What comes through the glass comes gives us serious problems straight out of The Exorcist, and promises to be an extremely difficult problem to deal with for the Humbuggers.

     It's not all serious though, as there are touches of humor such as the butt grabbing ghost that afflicts a couple ladies while they are fearful of The Ripper, who is name-dropped a couple times but has yet remained an unseen presence.  It has the effect of leaving me wondering if we will actually see the person or if they will stay off screen.  Either way works as it is nice to know some things aren't being dealt with by the main characters and the world is bigger than they are.

   
THE HOUSE OF HUMBUG

     A. J. Gentile's writing and dialogue is a peculiar blend of modern era's and the Dickensian terminology of those days shaped into successful amalgam.  All of this is brought to life by Cosmo White's illustrations (with colors by Jason Cardy and James Statye).  White's unconventional panel layouts provide a very dynamic feel to the world and the coloring is surprisingly bold and bright, avoiding the cliched muted palettes and banal color schemes that most Victorian period pieces gravitate towards.  It goes a very long way in creating a wonderful contrast to the grim and dark nature of the story, establishing a gestalt that works remarkably well with the writing itself.  It's a seemingly incongruent combination that works perfectly here.

     Humbug holds a strange charm to it- it's a little silly, and it's a little serious, but it's also a whole lot of fun- and with only a single issue left, I am truly looking forward to seeing how Scrooge and his Humbuggers handle the dire situation they've found themselves in.  There's a lot of threads that will need to be tied up- will Scrooge get free, will they get Ruben back, what has possessed Mrs. Holywell, and is Vandenberg's dog all right?- but I think the Humbug team is more than up to the task.

     A great advertisement for the comic [ Humbug ]

     For more check out the official site [ 451 Media ]

*Humbug issue 4 review copy provided by 451 Media.  Thank you!

Captain America: Civil War: Trailer 2 is Damned Amazing... Like Spider-Man

     The new Captain America: Civil War trailer is downright spectacular... much like our first glimpse of Spider-Man in the film.  Although I think he looks a little bit "off"- like the cg is strange or something, it's great that we get to see him.  The new suit design is neat but looks a little cartoony considering the more serious looks of all the other characters in the movie.

     We finally get to see the Hawkeye and Ant-Man arrow, real Black Panther hatred towards the Winter Soldier, and Scarlet Witch being a true contender to take down Vision in terms of real power and potential.
     I was hoping that this film would be far better than the ridiculousness that came out of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it definitely looks like it will be.  Marvel appears to be putting in the actual creative time to craft a story worth watching that isn't just an end of the world scenario loaded with shallow writing and plots and over-the-top action sequences that Hollywood is so intent on using.

  Captain America: Civil War arrives in theaters May 6th.

Huntdown: A Mobile Arcade Shooter in a Crime-Ridden Dystopian Future

     Two Swedish guys, Tommy Gustafsson and Andreas Rehnberg, have taken it upon themselves to create a mobile game reminiscent of the good old days of arcade game shooters.  Their game, Huntdown, is a grand and pixelated cyberpunk world filled with violence and mayhem evocative of the classic sci fi film Blade Runner.  The world presented here is very akin to those of the Shadowrun, Judge Dredd, and Robocop variety.  It's dark, it's gritty, and it's absolutely brimming with bad guys to be gunned down.

In the future, crime is king. Mighty gangs rule the streets while the police desperately lose control. The authorities put their trust in hired guns to do their dirty work. A price is set on all the gang leader´s heads.

It´s time for the Bounty Hunters. 

It´s time to hunt ´em down.

     The creators say they're sick of IAPs and microtransactions for health and weapons and so on creating barriers in mobile gaming.  They wanted to make an old school game that had some challenge, but more importantly- was the type of game they wanted to play- with fun gameplay.

     Huntdown looks to be a glorious homage to classic arcade shooters made by people that actually grew up playing these type of games.  Games like Contra, Rush'n Attack, and the ever-persistent Metal Slug series.  Honestly, this trailer brings me back to the days of playing Blackthorne, Robocop vs Terminator, and Alien 3.  Frankly, it looks amazing.

     Huntdown is expected to release in 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

     Source [ Huntdown ]