Bevendre

Let me preface this by saying that I like, and even love many DC characters, yet have often said that I hate what DC does with its characters.  Let me also say now that I prefer Marvel over DC, and the MCU has only widened the preference gap for me.  As with any review, the opinions here are my own, and they are biased.  That being said, I cannot in good conscience recommend Batman vs Superman.  Continue reading below for the full review.

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After a decent drought the PS4 has a new exclusive, and it’s not been met particularly well.  With ratings averaging around 6.5 throughout the web, how bad could it be?  Is it a waste of an exclusive, or are reviewers being too rough on the game with complaints about its length and its gameplay?  

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Marvel Studio’s second film of the year is out now, and after Captain America: Winter Soldier it has a lot to live up to.  Guardians of the Galaxy is without a doubt the riskiest move that the MCU has pulled so far, and it is receiving a lot of praise, but was the risk worth it, and does it fulfill the hype?

As always, spoilers after the break.

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The summer movie season is in full swing, and new movies are coming out on a regular basis intended to be little more than popcorn fluff and fodder.  The new Apes movie is not one of these movies, and that is a very, very, very, VERYgood thing.

As always, spoiler alert below the break.

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fleurmod:

Very enjoyable. The animation surpassed the original, for obvious reasons, and there were some great character moments, particularly for Stoic and Hiccup. While I feel that the first one was a more balanced movie in terms of progression and in pacing, the second one beats it in ambition, grandeur, presentation, and in character.
There were several moments in 2 that were very emotional, and arguably really pushed its rating. While the first saw great change for the setting, and supporting cast, the second’s growth is largely centered around Hiccup and his coming into his own, which is a very good place to take a sequel to such a highly regarded film.
The sound design, music, and character design were all top notch, although I do wish that they had spent a little more time on the dragons or at least explained them a little more. That was a real strength of the first, the dragons felt real and incorporated because there were very few species covered, and those that were were described and explained. There are a LOT more dragons in this film, both in quantity and variety, and while knowing a little about many of them wouldn’t have hurt the film in any way, I can see why the cut out such explanations and explication.

All in all a very good sequel, and a very good movie.

9.3/10

A reminder that HTTYD2 is a fantastic movie and well worth your time.  If you chose to see it, please support Dreamworks and see it in theaters!

At the request of a certain chicken man, let’s take a look at one of the best, and most controversial, games of 2012: Mass Effect 3.  Bear in mind that I have not played this game since it was released, and have not touched the DLC, so this review is over the main game alone.

Spoilers, duh.

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Michael Bay is back to destroy a childhood franchise.  Except he’s not.  Kind of.  It depends.  The film definitely bears a strong resemblance to its predecessors, but at the same time feels fairly new due in large part to a changed human cast, a reworked Autobot cast, and a general shift in tone.

Spoilers.

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Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is the newest Transformers action game, this time for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox 360.  Despite being made by Edge of Reality (Loadout) the game acts as a continuation of High Moon Studios’ Cybertron series and bridges the gap between Fall of Cybertron, and the launching of the Ark.  However, it also acts as a pseudo-tie-in with the newest Bayformer flick, Age of Extinction.

Gameplay

First and foremost, there is good news: The game feels like a good Transformers game.  It plays almost identically to War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, both of which are fantastic games and must sees for anyone who considers themselves a fan of Transformers (If you disliked the High Moon Cybertron series, feel free to tell me why so we can try and diagnose you.)  The game is primarily a third person shooter that allows for easy transition between the Transformer’s vehicle and robot modes.  This allows for some quick combat and fairly easy mobility which is a must on higher difficulties as there is no cover system.  Instead, you must use your environment to your advantage, as while you can’t duck or hide behind cover, you can freely switch your firing hand to work around what cover you can find.  

The weapons of Fall of Cybertron are back, both standard and heavy, and with them come the upgrade system introduced in the previous game, albeit slightly tweaked.  Whereas in Fall one would upgrade their arsenal through collecting currency and purchasing the upgrades, in RotDS upgrades are acquired through receiving copies of the weapon’s card in a Gear Box, an unlockable achieved through completing events, leveling up, finishing challenges etc.  Every weapon has a unique look and feel, in both the Cybertron, and the Earth sections of the 14 chapter (6-8 hour) campaign, and each one comes with its advantages and drawbacks.  Luckily, as soon as you unlock an item it can be equipped at a weapons cache, which are scattered throughout every map.  

The game does present some deal of challenge, where on the easiest difficulty you die soon after your shields are depleted, and on the hardest you die as soon as an enemy gets an extra shot off.  Unfortunately, challenge is about all that the campaign may offer as its story has a fair few issues.  Because the game is split between the Cybertron set by High Moon, and the Earth set by Michael Bay it can be somewhat odd trying to keep things straight and together, especially as the Earth sections are supposed to take place after Age of Extinction which has not yet come out as of this review.  At times it seems as though there are scenes missing, with the narrative jumping between Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron with less fluidity than in previous games, and shoehorning in the events of the Bayformer characters on either end of the story.  Also, the events of RotDS are not as grand, memorable, or cinematic (ironically) as were those of its predecessors.

Presentation

The presentation is admirable, but not ideal.  Having played it on PS4, the game looked on par, and at times worse, than its predecessors on the previous generation of consoles.  While I shouldn’t be surprised at this by a movie tie in, it still hurts.  The presentation issues are especially present during the Earth segments, and in the Earth model Transformers.  While the Cybertron models and locals maintain the slick, shiny, and generally awesome feel that was set up in both War for Cybertron, and Fall of Cybertron, the Bayformers segments are relatively stiff and rough.  Locations don’t look horrible, but they are a far cry from their Cybertronian counterparts, and even similar titles on the previous generation.  Likewise, the Bayformer character models, that rely so much upon moving parts and a feeling of mobility and motion in the movies appear solid and stiff in game, though this is not nearly as apparent during gameplay as it is during cutscenes which are thankfully very short and sparse. 

Music was about the same as it was in the predecessors, so good but not particularly memorable.  Luckily, however, the same cannot be said about the voicework.  The favorites of the Transformers’ history are back to voice their characters, especially Peter Cullen again reprising his role as the last Prime of Cybertron.  There is a surprising amount of dialogue in the game, and it is largely presented very well.

Sound design, much like the music, is solid being both fitting and palpable. That there is a gun available that looks, fires, and sounds almost exactly like Optimus Prime’s blaster from the original series helps too.

Replayability

While there are multiple difficulties, and a spattering of collectibles throughout the campaign, there is frankly no need to replay the story.  For completionists, every chapter is replayable and fairly short meaning if you want to collect everything you can do so at your own pace without having to slog through a few hours to get to the point you need.  Like I said, the story isn’t bad by any means, but it isn’t quite worth replaying overall.

The real source of replay in the game is the Escalation game mode, which acts as a Horde mode that is surprisingly addictive.  Unfortunately, the competitive multiplayer that was supported in War of Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron has been removed, but the Escalation mode seems much more refined than previous titles.  Leveling takes place across the campaign and Escalation, and every unlock received in one is available in both.

Verdict

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is not a bad game.  For a game overall it plays very well, and has plenty in it including a story mode that runs about average for its genre, and a Horde mode that is pretty awesome, as well as character models that are awesome (Cybertron), passable (Bayformers) or nostalgic bliss (Optimus Prime Classic can be acquired and played in Escalation) and presentation that, despite some hiccups, is pretty good for what is there.  For a movie tie in, it’s rather impressive.  

Alone it stands up rather well, but in comparison to its predecessors it kind of falters.  While the presentation is good, it doesn’t quite hold up to what its predecessors have done, despite having more time to improve.  While the story is good, it does not hold up to its predecessors, even though it beats the vast majority of Michael Bay fluff.  Most of the major issues in the game come from it being a pseudo-tie-in game and having to fit in the Bayformer bits, despite Bayformers not being technically compatible with the Cybertron series which is more or less a direct tie in to the original series.

Is it worth your time? For the most part.  It’s worth a playthrough, or at least a let’s play viewing.  Escalation is a lot of fun, especially with friends, and alone can be enough to warrant the price tag, but that depends on your preferences in gameplay.  Is it worth your money?  On the PC and previous generation of consoles it is marked down to $49.99, and I’d say that it’s worth that much.  The extra $10 doesn’t seem like a great loss for the PS4 and Xbone, so while I would recommend getting it on an older console I’d also say it is worth looking into if you have one of the newer consoles and want something to play.

There’s a fair bit here.  Not as much as in past games, but a lot more than can generally be expected from tie-in games.  All in all, it is a good game and worth some attention, despite its flaws.

7.8/10