The Mild Mannered Podcast

Hector Badge Of Courage

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:00:43 +0000

Hector Badge of Courage is a very simple game in comparison to other games of its ilk, simple not in the ease of how one would play it, but in its story. You’re not a pirate who has unleashed a voodoo curse, a small robot trying to bring an entire robot city back online, a french journalist investigating a series of political murders that somehow involved your father years ago. Your just a cop, no, not even the psychotic rabbit with dog dectective kind. I know, crazy, right? Your just a chubby cop named Hector and some dude be shooting up the town yah? Sorry couldn’t help it, the game itself is very well written and funny, with thick heavy accents on every character, it bleeds Britishness from its very pores, its not a view of the UK that many people are actually familiar with. If you don’t know what a Chav or an ASBO is all about, or did not know about the public obsession/fear of sexual deviants, you may be a little bit lost. Luckily I’m an anglophile and had studied abroad there for 4 months previously. It has a very intentional layer of gross humour (spelled with a U because its British) that won’t ever be suitable for anyone under the age of 17 and over the age of say 30/40, and while it wasn’t always necessary, the dirty humour certainly makes the game memorable and is a character in itself.

I had actually bought the game once already for the iPhone when it first came out, and volunteered to review the game out of interest of whether or not anything new was added to the game now that Straandlooper had the might of Telltale games behind them. Sadly nothing new had been added to this release, the time in-between had been spent making the game run for the computer and also replacing the original touch based controls with a mouse. The game certainly looks amazing on my 27 inch iMac with the resolution maxed out. The original problem I had with the game of being unable to actually click on an item in the game correctly(Damn your size, thumbs!) is now gone since it has left the small screen of the iPhone and moved to a computer.

The difficulty in this game is hard, I beat it on the iPhone and that was only after I went looking for hints online, now the game has the hint system built in. But even after beating the game once before I still had trouble figuring things out again (Hindsight where did you go!?). I think it was said best by the cool cats at the Joystiq podcast when they described some of the puzzles as not making much sense, there is of course some allowance of puzzle solving in any of these games, things don’t always have a logical solution, using a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle on the rope going over the chasm instead of just climbing along it isn’t exactly the most obvious choice, but you would eventually come to think of it by going over the items in your inventory. Some of the puzzles in Hector get far more complicated than this very early Monkey Island example and suffer from creator’s hindsight, “If I thought of it, so will someone else obviously,” which does plague a lot of other point and click adventure game.

But I applaud the game, first, for being a well done game with a very high production value when it was only developed by a very small group of folks, and second for Richard Morss, who did EVERY VOICE IN THE GAME, which is fucking feat in itself, and one I didn’t notice until just recently when I was looking at the credits. I would love to see some crossover now in other Telltale games with Morss supplying some voices now that Hector is in the Telltale family. Strandlooper took a big risk making an unknown IP like Hector and only putting it on the iPhone market, but luckily they were picked up by Telltale and can keep the story going. I certainly look forward to the future episodes.

From the
Mild Mannered Photographer, who keeps clicking the bed but nothing happens.

PS: Here are some improvements I would like to see added in the future installments of the game.
– Better audio recording of Richard Morss, while he did a great job, half the time some of the characters sounded like they were recorded underwater or in a auditorium which can take you out of the game, hopefully they can hire a full time audio engineer for this, as well as a nice mic and studio.
– The ability to turn subtitles on and off, because sometimes I prefer to be able to hear the joke instead of accidently reading it before its delivered, but then sometimes I need to figure out what the hell is being said.

A Games Review?

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:54:57 +0000

I’ve been on an adventure game kick for the past couple of weeks, call it what you will, a case of the point and clicks, clicker’s finger, I think I’ve already run out things to call it. I played through season 3 of Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse and had an enjoyable time playing it. I went back to season 2 and began playing through that. During this time I also have been eagerly awaiting each and every episode of the new Back To The Future game, playing through them in about 2 sittings each. I even replayed The Devil’s Playhouse just for fun, which I can’t say I have ever done with a point and clicker. And just recently I finished the Tales of Monkey Island series.

So of course when I received an e-mail from the PR person for Telltale Games offering a review copy of Hector Badge of Courage for the Mac I jumped at the chance. Only thing is, I just sort of forgot to mention that I had never actually written a game review before. Podcasting a review is much easier, all the steps are there and you can just fall down them and no one will be too mad; because you know, your injured, the steps were very hard.

Steps for a Podcast Game Review

Ask co-host/s if he/she has ever heard of said game.
Read description of game with best radio voice if game is good, if not apply thick layer of sarcasm to reading while co-host/s laughs.
Talk about experience with game.
If you did not enjoy your time with the game find something that you did like that you occasionally return to as not to sound too harsh. If you did enjoy the game, find some flaw you can nit pick about so you don’t come off as sounding like a fanboy. (As much as you can try to avoid either label in the end someday someone will accuse you either)
Ask co-host/s for opinions and patiently wait for them to stop talking. Try to pretend that you care what they think and ask them a question before finishing the review.

Done

So I know absolutely nothing about writing a game review, and had already downloaded the game to my computer for free. And without the energy to go about recording, editing, and uploading the podcast I had made a promise that seemed I would be unable to keep. So with my degree in english from Binghamton University underneath some pile of junk staring a hole in the back of my head(If it had eyes), I’ll try my hand at writing this review. Bear with me.

Ahem…

Oh mah gawd ITS GRAYT! 5 out of 5!
Just kidding, seriously, don’t leave.

Episode #36 – Mild Mannered Drama-Cast

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:29:48 +0000

We’re Back! Well, sort of… It’s just the Mild Mannered Photographer accompanied by returning guest Carolyn, the Magical Tanooki and a completely new guest, Magical School Girl Sinead! And It’s finally happened, we review a manga on the podcast, and it’s called DRAMA-CON!

It’s by Svetlana Chmakova, and while there is no harem of girls, light swords, or tentacles there is a whole bunch of girls dressed up in costume so thats cool.

But seriously, listen to our review first before you dismiss what be one of the most interesting slice of life comics about an anime convention, but in the form of a manga!

Download it now!!!

Episode #35 – Accents Abound!

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:08:15 +0000

On this episode of the Mild Mannered Podcast we’re doing an episode entirely in London! I, your long running host, The Mild Mannered Photographer was unable to record with The Mild Mannered Man on the Street or the Mild Mannered Music Man this week, luckily I was able to wrangle in some new friends from the other room and the original 3 man podcast became a 6 man podcast party, lots of subjects were discussed, here are just some of them.

– Doesn’t matter whether it’s Gosh Comics or Forbidden Planet, buying comics in London is expensive!

– We debate the storytelling merits of Seaguy by Grant Morrison

– I do some live on the scene reporting at Forbidden Planet during the signing of The 45 from ComX Comics

– And we all agree that Axe Cop is smegging awesome.

There is so much more so Download Now!!!

Episode #34 – WhiteOut

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:05:31 +0000

Apologies for the late episode, London has kept me busy. Won’t write a long post, but we reviewed Whiteout by Greg Rucka. Download it Here

Episode #33 – The Great Post-Christmas Podcast Palooza!!!

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:50:01 +0000

Happy Holidays geeks and comic nerds around the oblate spheroid!! After taking a week off for moving back home from college, we are here just in time before the new year for our 33rd episode. On this episode, we review each of our gifts that we got for each other individually, then go over some of this week’s and last week’s incoming trades. This will include reviews of The Sandman Vol 1., Gotham Central, and Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations!! Plus, we go over what we got/did over the holiday, and one of us has a “Bitches A Lot” segment, but it’s not who you think it is! All this and more on this classically comical episode of the Mild Mannered Podcast!

Click here to LISTEN

Episode #32 – Mild-Mannered Mice

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:42:53 +0000

This week, along with the commentary of Mild Mannered (But Not Really) Girlfriend Carolyn, we open debate over David Peterson’s Mouse Guard: Winter 1152; and let’s just say that tiny mouse-befitting swords will clash! Also, we hear the latest intallment of “Sam Bitches a Lot”, Mike talks about his favorite serial killer (Dexter Morgan) and his comic-book like webisodes, and Alex is forced to lock horns with Carolyn in a heated discussion of Marvel Super Hero Squad. There is all this and much more awaiting you listeners this week on the Mild Mannered Podcast!

Episode #31 – In Which We Find Ourselves On A Boat

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:23:20 +0000

This week, we review Kevin Cannon’s “Far Arden,” an epic adventure of love, loss, and angry orphan punches! Plus, the content of our upcoming holiday show is revealed amid copious gift-giving, and we discover Mike’s personal Kryptonite in the wrapping paper! What is the secret of Sam’s supple skin? What’s the deal with David Gallaher’s secret project he told us about in Episode 10? And did we honestly just make an “I’m On A Boat” reference? The answers lie in store for you on the Mild Mannered Podcast!

Listen here, and tell your friends!

Episode #30 – Too Mild Mannered To Be Forgotten

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:51:27 +0000

That’s right, kiddies, it’s our 30th episode bonanza! Though the gang felt under the weather, we perked up in a hurry when we heard that we’d be getting to interview The Man, The Head, and The Legend: Alex Robinson! Yes, the creator of “Box Office Poison” and “Tricked” joined us for the show to divulge his inspirations, discuss his books (the newest of which, “A Kidnapped Santa Claus,” has just been released by Harper Collins), and ever so much more.

Later, we review Robinson’s third book, “Too Cool To Be Forgotten”! The heartwarming story of a boy, some hypnosis, and a fateful cigarette! What’s the opposite of “Sam Bitches A Lot”? Did Mike survive his hell week with all of his cheeriness intact? And just what’s the deal with the Ultimate Alliance 2 downloadable content? The answers to all of these questions–and ever so much more–lie in this double-sized 30th episode of the Mild Mannered Podcast!

Listen here and tell your friends!

Episode #29: Mild Mannered G-Men

alexerde@gmail.com (Three Mild Mannered Men) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:37:51 +0000

Don’t shoot, G-men, don’t shoot! Ah, it’s okay, we’ll only talk at you for a while. It’s our review of Ande Parks and Eduardo Barreto’s historical fiction graphic novel, Union Station! Mike might have been off having an action-packed theater weekend, but Alex and Sam somehow found the time to gabble on about the FBI, this year’s Lulu Awards, and the recently released Kick-Ass trailer.

Need to hear a little bit more of Sam’s endless bitching about how Mark Millar is a Bad Man? Want to jam out to our fresh (and also “poppin'”) new musical interludes? Just itching to find out what the best and worst new trades are for this week? We can accommodate all of those wishes and more on this weeks’ episode of the Mild Mannered Podcast!

Listen to and share Episode #29 now!