This book takes a lot of criticism for making Batman a lot more violent than his true nature as a hero is. And it’s by no means one of the better Batman stories told by Frank Miller. That aside, though, I really enjoyed reading it and seeing a different side to the Dark Knight.

It’s a retelling of the origin of Batman’s sidekick, Dick Grayson aka Robin. Bruce Wayne goes to the circus with is hot date, and witnesses Dick’s parents get murdered right in front of him. Dick is placed in taking in by some corrupt cops and Batman saves him from them. He takes him in but news hits that Batman kidnapped an orphaned 12 year old boy. He mentally tortures the boy by leaving him in his dark cave with only rodents to eat as a food source. He tries his best to scare the kid, because he believes it would leave him to time to grieve for his parents.

“I’m TORTURING this boy. TORTURING him. Just LOOK at him. He’s a BABY. And I’m TORTURING him. It’s a TERRIBLE thing to do. But it’s the only WAY. It’s the only WAY. If I don’t keep the PRESSURE up, he’ll find time to GRIEVE. I can’t let him GRIEVE. GRIEF is the ENEMY. There’s no TIME for GRIEF. There’s no ROOM for GRIEF. GRIEF turns into ACCEPTANCE. FORGIVENESS. GRIEF forgives what can NEVER be forgiven. NEVER.” – Batman

This eventually backfires on Batman later on in the book with a little altercation between Robin and Green Lantern.

Upon hearing the news of the boy’s kidnap, Superman gets pissed off at Batman and fears that his actions will taint the reputation of the JLA. He calls a meeting with Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and some shape shifting dude that I don’t know. Wonder Woman thinks they should kill Batman to set an example but Superman believes in justice and thinks they should turn him in.

“I told you Diana, I told you all. From the first moment I heard of that maniac, I knew his methods would make us all look like monsters. We’d all be soiled by him in the public eye.” -Superman

In the end, this whole conflict with Superman went nowhere. I was hoping to see a battle or at least some dialogue between the two but it didn’t come to fruition.

Much of the criticism of the book comes from the depiction of Batman. In this story he’s violent and sadistic. He loves bringing fear to his victims and he loves to mentally and physically beat the scum of Gotham City. I like how they often referred to Batman as “the goddam Batman” because in this story he truly is.

There many brief cameos; Black Cannery gets an entire issue (#3) and appears briefly in others. Joker and Catwoman appear for half an issue (#8). Batgirl very briefly appears in an issue (#6), even though she’s on the cover. Superman and Wonder Woman appear in half an issue (#5). It just all left me wanting more. This series had a lot of potential but it couldn’t deliver.

It’s currently in hiatus, which is a fancy way of saying it’s production got cancelled. There are currently 10 issues available but the HC edition only collects the first 9 issues, as a Volume 1.

The best thing about the book is the art by Jim Lee, and I’d recommend it as a purchase even if just for that. You can pick up All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol. 1 over at Amazon or visit your local comic shop.

She’s Out of My League

"Kirk, an average Joe, can’t believe his luck. Though he’s stuck in a seemingly dead-end job as an airport security agent, against all odds, Molly, a successful and outrageously gorgeous babe, has fallen for him. Not only is Kirk stunned, but his friends, family and his ex-girlfriend, too. Now he has to figure out how to make the relationship work, even though he’d be the first to admit she’s totally out of his league."

Looks like a stupid comedy but might be something to watch on DVD on a lazy Sunday night.

[Release Date: March 12th, 2010]

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The Bounty Hunter

"Milo Boyd, a down-on-his-luck bounty hunter, gets his dream job when he is assigned to track down his bail-jumping ex-wife, reporter Nicole Hurly. He thinks all that’s ahead is an easy payday, but when Nicole gives him the slip so she can chase a lead on a murder cover-up, Milo realizes that nothing's ever simple with him and Nicole."

Gerard “THIS IS SPARTA” Butler and Jennifer “Rachel Green” Aniston star in this comedy.

[Release Date: March 19th, 2010]

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Date Night

"Claire and Phil Foster are a suburban couple slogging through their daily lives and marriage. Even their "date nights" of dinner and a movie have become routine. To reignite the marital spark, they visit a trendy Manhattan bistro, where a case of mistaken identity hurtles them through the city at breakneck speeds, into non-stop adventure."

Steve Carrell and Tina Fey, ’nuff said.

[Release Date: April 9th, 2010]

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MacGruber

"In the 10 years since his fiancée was killed, special op MacGruber has sworn a life of fighting crime with his bare hands. But when he learns that his country needs him to find a nuclear warhead that's been stolen by his sworn enemy, Dieter von Cunth, MacGruber figures he's the only one tough enough for the job."

Movie about a retarded MacGyver.

[Release Date: April 23rd, 2010]

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Get Him to the Greek

"Aaron Green is a driven, idealistic young college graduate who works as an intern at a record company. Aaron is given his big break when he is sent to transport flaky English musician Aldous Snow to a concert at Los Angeles' Greek Theater."

A spin-off to Forgetting Sarah Mashall. Except Jonah Hill plays a different character than he did in FSM. wtf?

[Release Date: June 4th, 2010]

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Robin Hood

"In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people."

A new movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe based on the legend of Robin Hood. I believe the last movie based on the character was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner back in ‘91. The only other movies I’ve seen were either a comedy, a teen TV movie, or the Disney cartoon, so this should be a treat.

[Release Date: May 14th, 2010]

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The Last Airbender

"Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara, a Waterbender, and her brother Sokka to restore balance to their war-torn world. "

Not a big fan of the Nickelodeon animated series but in all honesty I’ve never really seen it. Despite the fact that many people dislike M. Night Shyamalan, I’ve really enjoyed all of his movies since The Sixth Sense. Yes, that includes his last three; The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening, which are the ones that garner the most negativity. The visual effects look fantastic and I’m sure this will be a great fantasy film to watch in theaters.

[Release Date: July 2nd, 2010]

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Killers

"For three years, Spencer and Jen have been enjoying a picture-perfect marriage…that is, until the morning after Spencer’s 30th birthday. That’s when Spencer and Jen learn he’s the target of a multi-million dollar hit. Even worse, the hired killers have been stalking the happy couple for years, and could be anyone: friends, neighbors, the grocery store clerk, even that crabby old guy shuffling across the street."

Really I just put this movie on here because I wanted to say that it looks like a cheap teen comedy version of the movie below. It looks exactly like Knight and Day but not as cool. Ashton Kutcher just CANNOT pull off the role of a government killer dude like Tom Cruise can. And that is the one thing that will definitely make this movie be an epic fail, as the cool kids like to say nowadays.

[Release Date: June 4th, 2010]

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Knight and Day

"A wholesome, Midwestern woman accidentally gets involved with an international super spy and is forced to flee the country with him while he protects a dangerous new piece of technology. "

Skip the movie Killers mentioned above, wait a month, and watch this one. Many people think he’s crazy with all that scientology stuff, but the fact is, Tom Cruise is fucking awesome in action flicks.

[Release Date: July 2nd, 2010]

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Inception

"In a world where entering dreams is possible, a single idea from the human mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset."

Inception? More like Incredible!
A modern sci-fi thriller directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio…FUCK YEAH! I’ve loved all movies directed by Nolan since Memento, and I’ve loved DiCaprio’s work in all of his movies since Gangs of New York. This is probably one of my most anticipated movies of the year.

*fun fact: this movie releases on my 23rd birthday, w00t! Should be a wonderful birthday present.

[Release Date: July 16th, 2010]

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twitRev: The House of the Devil is a refreshing horror flick, it's nothing like the constant bullshit that Hollywood calls "horror" nowadays

*Tweet Link*

The House of the Devil is about some chick trying to make it on her own and looking for a job to pay for rent on her new home. Outside of her current college dorm she sees an ad for a babysitting gig. She takes the job, drives to the house in the middle of nowhere, then shit hits the fan. The story is simple but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for this type of movie. It’s set in the ’80s and is shot in the same manner as movies of that era. In a day and age that is plagued with horror movies of the “torture porn” genre or gory remakes of original slasher flicks, The House of the Devil comes off as a true homage to late ’70s and early ’80s horror classics. The last half hour of the film plays out like a slasher flick but it’s the hour before hand that has an intense slowly paced build up. People who enjoy the previously mentioned torture porn flicks or remakes will definitely not dig this. It isn’t for them and they really wouldn’t appreciate this type of horror flick.

twitRev: Daybreakers had an interesting concept, was fairly entertaining, but some vfx made it look like a low budget direct-to-video flick

*Tweet Link*

Daybreakers is about vampires and shit. Though it’s take on vampire’s is a bit different than many others. In this movie the vampires are the dominant species and the human are the ones on the verge of extinction. A company is harvesting humans for their blood and they’re in short supply. The main character is a scientist dude hired to invent a synthetic blood. He later meets some humans that have come up with a “cure” so to speak and convince him to help them out. He’s sympathetic to humans anyway so he’s immediately on board. Some parts of the story were a bit confusing. Essentially people get converted into vampires, and then turn back into humans, but then if they get bitten by a vampire again they don’t turn into vampires anymore but the vampires that did the biting were turned into humans…yeah, I didn’t get it either.

twitRev: The Men Who Stare at Goats was pretty funny, the story was unique, great acting, and George Clooney kills a goat...with his MIND!

*Tweet Link*

The Men Who Stare at Goats is about some dude that goes to Kuwait to “investigate” the Iraq war after losing his wife to his boss. In an attempt to make her jealous or see how much of a man he really is or something. Once there, he meets this Special Forces dude that was apparently part of an American Army unit trained to use psychic powers like invisibility, remote viewing, intuition, walking through walls, and best of all cloud bursting…the ability to disperse clouds in the air! It had it’s funny moment here and there. By no means is this a hilarious movie but it isn’t really supposed to be a comedy. I loved all of the actors and the roles that they portrayed. It was an entertaining movie to watch and I would recommend it to others.

twitRev: The Road was so-so, wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't good, kinda boring at times, and the kid was annoying. overall, meh.

*Tweet Link*

The Road is about a man and his son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. From what I remember they travel south to the coast where it’s warmer or something. On the way they seek shelter and food and such while trying to avoid cannibals and such. I really wanted to like this movie but it just didn’t do it for me. It’s not that it’s a bad film but I was just expecting it to be a lot better. There isn’t much else that I can remember or want to talk about the movie.

twitRev: Couple's Retreat is pretty funny, had it's hilarious moments, and Vince Vaughn + Jon Favreau + Jason Batemen = Awesome!

*Tweet Link*

Couples Retreat is about four couples that go on a vacation to some resort and it doesn’t turn out to be what they expected. Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, and Jason Bateman are always hilarious. On the female side, Malin Akerman and Kristen Bell are always hot. Plus that one chick from Sex and the City, for her age, is still pretty hot as well. It’s your typical comedy but it was fairly entertaining. The type of movie to watch on a weekend when you have nothing else to do.

Age of Zombies is the next game by the developers at Halfbrick. It’s a top down twin stick style zombie shooter set in different periods throughout history. It looks like an HD remake of a SNES game, which is really awesome. It’ll be releasing on the PS Store as a “mini” for PS3/PSP on February 25th. If this game has some form of online co-op, then that’ll be the icing on the cake.

“No one has anything against a good zombie game really, it’s just that there’s a lot of them. So we needed to try something different. We didn’t want to kill zombies in the usual way. We didn’t want to survive a deadly undead army in the ruins of some scary-ass town. We wanted to travel through time and shoot zombie dinosaurs and mummies and junk. So, we created Age of Zombies!” -Halfbrick

Though I’ve never heard of the studio, they have released other minis on PSN to positive reviews. At only 5 bucks, this’ll definitely be a great game to pick up and play.

I wish the developers at PixelJunk would make something like this. Given the high quality of their games, it would be a joy to play. Not that I doubt Halfbrick did an excellent job on Age of Zombies.

Green Zone

"Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region."

From the director of the Bourne sequels and starring Matt Damon. Seems very similar to the aforementioned films but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Damon kicking ass, should be a decent action flick.

[Release Date: March 12th, 2010]

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Hot Tub Time Machine

"A group of best friends have become bored with their adult lives: Adam has been dumped by his girlfriend; Lou is a party guy who can’t find the party; Nick’s wife controls his every move; and video game-obsessed Jacob won’t leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads pounding, in the year 1986"

The premise seems kind of ridiculous, seriously, a hot tub that’s ALSO time machine! But even then that sounds just as awesome as it sounds ridiculous. As long as this doesn’t turn out to be like The Hangover, which I didn’t care for, then it’s fine by me. Plus, I’m generally a fan of John Cusack.

[Release Date: March 26th, 2010]

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Clash of the Titans

"Born of a God but raised as a man, Perseus is helpless to save his family from Hades, vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth."

I absolutely LOVE the original. I’ve seen it dozens of times and can never get tired of it. While I love the original’s use of stop motion, big fan of stop motion here, I’m eagerly anticipating seeing a big budgeted CG release of this epic adventure. Though I doubt it’ll live up to my expectations, it should be a treat to watch. Directed by Louis Leterrier, whom directed one of my favorite super hero movies, The Incredible Hulk.

[Release Date: April 2nd, 2010]

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Repo Men

"Humans have extended and improved lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called The Union. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don’t pay your bill, The Union sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property…with no concern for your comfort or survival."

Jude Law looks like a bad ass in this movie! Sounds like an interesting concept as well. Don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like it. The trailer shows lots of action and blood, which is always great in my book.

[Release Date: April 2nd, 2010]

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Kick-Ass

"Dave Lizewski, a comic-book fanboy decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name, Kick-Ass, assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers."

Based on the comic book of the same name, which I’ve personally never heard of. From seeing the poster, I initially thought this was going to be some cheesy comedy similar to those horrible Scary Movie type spin-offs. I couldn’t be more wrong after I watched the “Hit-Girl” teaser trailer. This movie really does look kick-ass… …
Seeing a little girl beat some dudes to death was awesome! I really was in awe.

*Fun Fact*
‘Kick-Ass’ director Matthew Vaughn, produced Snatch which was directed by Guy Ritchie. Whom directed RocknRolla, which starred Mark Strong, whom also stars in Kick-Ass!

[Release Date: April 16th, 2010]

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“Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them…. and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all…!”

Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez.

This book was a great read. From cover to cover I could not bring myself to stop reading. It was suspenseful, thrilling, mysterious, with tones of fantasy, and played out like a movie. It’s very well written and I highly recommend it to any mature reader. The art is also very crisp and some scenes are beautiful even in a haunting way. I’d delve more into the story but I don’t want to spoil anything. This story deserves to be read. I personally can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Welcome to Lovecraft acts as a prologue to a massive ongoing story and it’s definitely made a fan out of me.

I also loved the hard cover. This is how it should be done. The art is printed on the cover itself, no plastic dust sleeve to cheapen it. It even has a ribbon bookmark sewn to the top of the binding. The kind you find on large old dusty books. This alone makes it worth the price, which is less than 20 bucks. You have no excuse not to buy it.

Head on over to Amazon and purchase your copy of Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft or visit your local comic shop.

Book Two “Head Games” is also out with Book Three “Crown of Shadows” currently in progress.

The story follows an orphaned 12 year old girl named Dorothy. She lives in a farmhouse “in the midst of the great Kansas prairies” with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. On one stormy day the farmhouse, with Dorothy in it, is caught up in a cyclone and carried far away to the mysterious land of Oz. In order to return to Kansas, Dorothy must travel to the Emerald City and ask the great Wizard of Oz to help her. And so begins her journey.

If you are only familiar with the story from The Wizard of Oz movie, then you’ll find this to be quite different. I never personally read the original but it’s said that this is a faithful adaptation of it.

The writing was a bit simplistic, even repetitive at times. It felt as though I was forcing myself to read through each page. In all fairness, though, the original is in fact a children’s novel. Despite this, I think it’s still a good enough read for young teens/adults (I’m 22 myself).

The art is what really got my attention. At first glance I fell in love. Every single scene is remarkably beautiful. If this book had no words at all, you could still enjoy seeing the pages come to life as the story progressed through each panel.

All of the characters are drawn so lovingly and with much detail. I defy anyone to look at Dorothy in this book and not have your heart melt for her.

“Dorothy is the soul of this story and if I couldn’t convince you to love her within two seconds of seeing her on the page, then I should take another job.” – Skottie Young

I hope in the near future the collaborative team of Shanower and Young work on other projects. I would love to see them adapt Alice in Wonderland (or Fantastic Mr. Fox) with the same art style that this book has.

Head on over to Amazon and buy the hard cover edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Or visit your local comic book shop.

My only gripe is with the hard cover edition. It has the usual dust jacket thing glued onto it. It makes it feel a little cheap. I wish the art had been printed on the actual cover. I’ve always hated those plastic dust sleeves but maybe that’s just me. The book is still worth the money.

I really wanted to give the site a new look as well. Pretty much just update the entire website with SquareSpace. Unfortunately that costs money, which I do not have. Once a bit of cash gets rolling my way, I’ll sign up for the squarespace and redesign the site. For now, it’s still the same old bleak look.

New Changes:

WTF Fridays has been brutally raped and murdered. It started to become a chore having to look for funny or weird videos to talk about. So I’ll no longer be posting those.

Trailer Tuesdays is still alive and kicking but I’ve decided to do it on a biweekly basis. Meaning every two weeks (twice a month).

As of right now, that’s all I can think of. Any future changes will be noted in the Announcements section.

Storywise, you take control of B.J. Blazkowicz after he finds a mysterious medallion, known as the Thule Medallion, that uses power known as Black Sun energy that the Nazi’s are trying to harness. You are sent to Isenstadt, Germany and are tasked with aiding the resistance groups, the Kreisau Circle and the Golden Dawn, to stop the Third Reich in their master plan.

Pros:

• Thule Medallion-The focal point of the entire game. With this, B.J. can use what is known as Veil Sight which shows enemy weak spots and reveals the other dimension that can only be accessed using the medallion. Three other powers include; the ability to slow down time Max Payne style, a protective shield and the other lets B.J. deal more damage. Normal fare for shooter fans.
• Gore-One of my favorite things to do was take aim with my Kar98k on a Nazi head, fire and watch it fly off as he writhes in pain. Weird? Yes, but it was ever so satisfying. You can also take appendages off with grenades and char bodies to a crisp with the flamethrower. An excellent way to let off some aggression.
• Collectibles-For those who like to run around in search of hidden stuff to pick up, this game is right up your alley. With pieces of gold, enemy intel and supernatural tomes scattered throughout, finding everything is a game in and of itself. It will definitely add to the length.
• Huge Environment-The city of Isenstadt is broken up into three sub-sections, Midtown West, Midtown East and Downtown. Each with various nooks and crannies, sewer systems and rooftops to explore.

Cons:

• Limited Weapons-Kar98k, MP40, MP43, Panzerchreck, Flammenwerfer, Particle Cannon, Tesla Gun, and what is called a Lechenfaust 44. Thats rounds out your arsenal. Yes, there is variety, but with not enough ammo to go around you’ll mainly stick to the less exotic machine guns.
• Graphics-While not necessarily bad, they do seem almost drab and boring. It may just be the setting but nothing stands out as visually amazing. It also suffers from some framerate issues, especially with multiple enemies and allies on screen at once.
• Frustrating A.I.-With enemies that go invisible, run at high speeds, and some that are immune to regular bullet damage, the game can get pretty annoying. Especially when your Thule medallion that you need to use to defeat them runs out of juice. Your allies are pretty brain dead too and usually wind up as nothing more than cannon fodder.
• Multiplayer-It lacks the replayability you would want from a multiplayer game. It doesn’t push the envelope or bring anything new to the table. It was/is quite buggy and is sometimes rendered unplayable.

Although a worthwhile effort, Wolfenstein fails to raise the bar in the shooter franchise it helped develop. A so-so single player that doesn’t surprise or challenge to an unexciting multiplayer that is a down-right chore to play. You’d be better off waiting for the big name shooters releasing later this year and early next year. At most I’d recommend this as a rental, or perhaps wait for a substantial price drop.

Codemasters‘ follow up to the hit DiRT and the latest installment in the Colin McRae Rally racing scene DiRT 2 takes racing to an impressive new level. Hitting the ground running with a bevy of new; cars, tracks, locations, and races, this games sure wants to make a name for itself in a sea of upcoming racing games.

Pros:

• Graphics-Let me start out by saying, “Holy Mother of all that is great in this world this game looks amazing!” I hate mentioning graphics because they aren’t that important to making a good game but DiRT deserves its dues. The cars all look lifelike, the different countries that you get to visit all look gorgeous and the game boasts one of the most impressive cock-pit cameras available. Ever.
• Interface-The original DiRT had one of the best menu designs in any racing game, and this game follows suit. You are put into an RV that serves as your hub for everything. Checking the world map for new races, buying new cars, checking stats, hitting multiplayer, pretty much everything is done through here. As you progress through the career you also see different collectible items start appearing randomly about your RV, such as medals won at the X-Games, sombreros from your trip to Baja California and an awesome dancing robot from Japan. Which all adds to the immersion that you are the driver.

  Also adding to the immersion is the in-game chatter from the other drivers. They’re all friends in real life and in game it seems no different. Another nice touch, when in a rally race, your co-driver calls out the upcoming turns and hazards. Crash, and they’ll grunt in pain. Get close to the finish line and they start sounding excited. Add it all together and it just makes the game that much more personal.

• Cars-With a laundry list of cars that span 7 classes you’ll be pressed to find something that you don’t like. You got your trophy trucks, true rally cars, rally cross, stock baja and even some buggies thrown in the mix.
• Locations-Races take place in typical fare such as the U.S. Central America and London, but then progress to the breathtaking locales of Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Each changes the course settings too. Race in Morocco and you’re kicking up the dust from all that desert, go to Malaysia and you’re battling through the jungles and swampy marshland, hit Japan and you’re drifting across the paved streets.
• Driving Mechanics-As I was whipping my Subaru Impreza WRX STI around a hairpin turn in China I noticed something. Precision. Lift your finger off the gas and lightly tap the brake and you can hit a drift while still maintaining speed. With practice, a race can turn into a beautiful work of art with drifts, slides, overtakes, the works.
• Realistic Damage-After hitting a turn too fast and slamming into a wall my car reacted. It lost its door, the front bumper came loose, the windshield cracked and I got some wheel damage that prevented me from winning. The damage is superb and actually feels like it can change the outcome, which makes for a more concise racer.

Cons:

• Tracks-Even with the different locations, most of the tracks are overused. Usually they get split or turned in reverse, but it still gets cumbersome traveling the same lines over and over.
• Floaty Cars-At times and especially at high speeds, some of the trucks start feeling like they are sliding on ice and are going to lose control at any time.
• Limited Unlockables-With the exception of a few cars, all that you unlock as you go through the game are liveries (decals), dashboard and mirror items and different sounding horns. Kind of boring stuff.
• Mulitplayer-Not a fault of the game, but the MP community is filled with reckless drivers that love using other peoples cars as brakes. It sucks when you get into an awesome drift only to be slammed out of it by some guy that doesn’t want to take the time to apply the brakes.

All in all, DiRT 2 definitely delivers the goods as the first major racer releasing towards the end of this year. For sure it will be competing for attention against the likes of Need For Speed: Shift, Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5. But one thing that DiRT 2 will definitely do, that no other will, is make a wonderful homage to the legend that is Colin McRae.

If the demo is any indication of what can be expected in the final product, then yes, they have delivered and quite dashingly if I do say so myself.

Gameplay relies heavily on CQC (close quarters combat) and detectiveness…detectiviosity…detective skillz! The “free flow” combat system is actually really cool and feels very smooth in action. It’s also the little touches like sound effects when punching or kicking enemies and the slo-mo action shots that add a great deal of quality to the gameplay. The detective side of things aren’t as stale or boring as you’d think. Most of which involve puzzle-like elements. I could go into greater detail but I’ll save that for a future review.

If you’ve ever watched Batman: The Animated Series you’ll be happy to know that writer Paul Dini is involved with Arkham Asylum’s story. Also reprising their roles from the animated series are Kevin Conroy as Batman and Luke Skywalker as the Joker. As well as the chick that does the voice for Harley Quinn…whom by the way is HOT! in Arkham Asylum.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is set to release on August 25th, 2009. Mark your calendars! PS3 folk will get the Joker as an exclusive “challenge room” character (for the game) as well as an unlockable “Batcave Outpost” for Home. For a taste of what’s to come, you can go hands-on with demo downloadable now on PSN, XBL, and for PC.

From PS.blog

We know that you Home-dwellers just love your rewards, so we’ve worked with the fine folk over at Eidos to ensure that their next release integrates tightly with our platform. Those of you who scoop up the highly-anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum for your PLAYSTATION 3s next week will be pleased to see that the game unlocks a special Batcave Outpost personal space. It’s safe to say that hardcore Batman fans are going to seriously spazz out when they unlock Bruce Wayne’s secondary lair under Arkham, so if you count yourself a disciple of the Dark Knight, you’d better rush to get your hands on this title when it is released on August 25th.

Special thanks to Batmania for providing the onomatopoeic signs from the original ’60s live action Batman show.

Upon hearing the rogue alien radio signal, a new location is added to the map. Discovering the location yeilds a crashed UFO, but without delay the wanderer is immediately abducted, imprisoned, and tasked with finding an exit back to the wasteland, all while battling the hostile inhabitants of the ship.

So begins Mothership Zeta…

Pros:

• Length-The slow and methodical players will have at least 5-9 hours of quality gameplay. Rummaging the ship takes quite a bit of time since it is quite large in general scope.
• New Weapons-MZ adds 8 new and very powerful energy weapons, 3 melee weapons in the forms of batons and a samurai sword, and 2 unique explosives, the Cryo Grenade and the Cryo Mine.

• Radio Messages-Another collection fest, which is pretty much synonymous with Fallout 3. This time around you have the option to find 25 radio messages that are scattered around the ship. Most are imformative and add to the storyline, while one in particular is quite hilarious.

Cons:

• Cramped Ship-Tight corridors plus mutlitple speedy aliens equals a lot of damage taken. Luckily most of the rooms are sufficient in space.
• Missions-Only three this time around, and they are all far too linear. Escape the holding cell, sabotage the ship, take it over. Just like that.
• Enemies-One would think little green aliens wouldn’t put up much of a fight with all the weaponry available, but these guys are tough. It sometimes took me four-five shots with an Alien Disintegrator repaired to perfect condition to take one little bugger down. Only problem was, they usually traveled in large numbers so there would be another three left to deal with.
• Limited Collectables-With only 14 unique items to collect, not counting the weapons, there is very little to stockpile and take back to the wastes.

With only a few quests, and limited collectibles, this DLC seems proper for fans of the game. Other casual players may want to steer clear, or possibly wait for a price drop. Its such a shame that the final add-on for Fallout 3 was somewhat disappointing and quite the sour note to go out on.

Mothership Zeta is available through xbox.com or your Xbox 360’s Dashboard for 800 MS points. Just a reminder for PS3 fans, you will get all of Fallout 3’s DLC but you’ll have to wait a bit longer. If you have yet to purchase Fallout 3, then the Game of The Year Edition is right for you! It includes all of the DLC packs that have been released thus far. The GotY Edition releases October 13th, 2009 and will retail for the regular price of $60. You’re essentially getting $50 worth of add-ons absolutely FREE!

“A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.”

I just recently discovered Machinarium. After watching the wonderful trailer I immediately had to seek out information on the developers. Though their games are short with simple gameplay, the surreal graphics and original score make them very unique. Once you see this game in motion it really is like beautiful art come to life.

If you’re interested, which you should be, you might want to check out their first two games to get an idea of games’ style. You can play the full 6 levels of Samorost completely free on it’s official website. Samorost 2, however, will cost you 5 bucks. Though you can play a preview of the first 3 levels, 7 in total, for free as well.

I played both games yesterday and they were very entertaining. Great stuff for a lazy Saturday night. I didn’t actually time it but it felt like I got a good half hour of game time out of each. Not bad at all for a free game and another worth $5. Very inexpensive and you are helping out some independent developers. Which is always a great thing.

Machinarium is scheduled to release in October 2009. You can now pre-order the game to get $3 off the final price of $20 plus some additional goodies. Though Machinarium and the Samorost series have different art direction, they are both great none the less.

And now that I can think of anything else to say, head on over to Adventure Gamers where you can read a great hands-on preview.

A couple of years back the original 1989 TMNT arcade game was ported to the XBLA. Now, we finally get an HD/3D remake of it’s sequel.

TMNT: TiT RS (…hehe, I said tit..) has up to 4 player online/offline co-op. One new 3D aspect is that you can attack in a full 360 degrees. This is achieved while still maintaining the 2D side scrolling feel of the game. All 9 original levels from the arcade version have been beautifully remastered in HD. Since ‘Re-Shelled’ is a remake of the arcade version, fans of the SNES port will likely be disappointed to see a few things missing. Mainly the original music, the Technodrome level, and a few boss fights (either slightly changed or gone completely).

Leif and I played the demo locally and it was actually pretty fun. It felt a lot like the original just with updated graphics. Unfortunately, it was just the demo so I can’t go into greater detail. It consisted of only one short level. The very first “scene” of the game entitled ‘Big Apple, 3 AM’ in which you take on foot soldiers and inevitably make your way to the boss fight with Baxter Stockman, the mutated fly man…thing.

Thanks to the fine folks over at machinima.com for making this great comparison vid.

You can buy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled at xbox.com or through your Xbox 360’s Dashboard. PS3 folk, unfortunately, will have to wait until later this year. Rumored to release some time in November for the PlayStation Network.

Castle Crashers is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up 4 player action adventure game with a dash of RPG elements. If that didn’t get you all tingly inside then I don’t know what will. Btw, in the image above, that is a giant cat fish shark thing being ridden by a polar bear! How fucking badass is that!!!

Developed by the Behem0th, creators of the wonderfully addictive but painfully difficult Alien Hominid. The game starts with a bunch of little knight dudes dancing, drinking, and living it up when all of a sudden a dark wizard breaks in and kidnaps their women!…oh, and he takes some magical crystal which belongs to the King as well, but that’s beside the point…So the main 4 colorful knights set out on a quest to get their bitches back! That pretty much sums up the story. There are many levels in this game and each one is just so much fun to play. Especially with a few close buddies, which you will undoubtedly need when taking on the ‘Insane’ difficulty mode. The game supports up to 4 player offline/online co-op.

Braid is a 2D puzzler platformer akin to the likes of the classic ‘Super Mario Bros.‘ but with a unique time bending twist. Essentially the SMB of a new era, if you will.

The settings in this game look like water paintings come to life. Once you see it in action it’s quite beautiful. The story revolves around a little English looking dude, named Tim, on a quest to find and rescue a “princess.” The game is divided into six worlds, each of which has it’s own time-base mechanic. While progressing, the beginning of each world has an excerpt that reveals a part of the story. In addition to that, each stage contains puzzle pieces which must be collected and ultimately assembled into a jiggsaw puzzle. Which depicts a frame pertaining to that part of the story. All in all the game is simple and complex at the same time. Something that very little games achieve.

I’ll be sure to update when information about release dates are announced.

The fourth installment in Bethesda’s line of downloadable content for Fallout 3, Point Lookout, takes the lone wanderer to a murky seaside town on the Maryland coast.

Pros:

• New Environment-In place of the Capital Wasteland, Point Lookout takes players to a small coastal town and vast swampy forest. Plenty of exploration opportunities with 37 new locations waiting to be discovered and a creepy atmosphere with the lurking fog and roving inbred cannibals.
• New Enemies-Replacing the highly irradiated mutants roaming the wastes,  Point Lookout’s marshland is inhabited by NPC’s known as Swampfolk. Made to resemble cannibalistic hicks like that of The Hills Have Eyes, these guys are powerful and dangerous. Even for an experienced character, they can take a lot of damage while dealing out more than their fair share.
• Added Quests-With five main quests, five side quests and three unmarked quests, it is very difficult to find yourself not doing something. Whether you’re in search of the whereabouts of a missing Chinese agent, infiltrating a local tribe, or making your own moonshine, you will have plenty to do.
• New Aresenal-Point Lookout adds 11 unique weapons to the world of Fallout 3. My personal favorite being the powerful double-barreled shotgun. For the melee players out there, there are two new axe’s and two knives to play out your psychotic fantasies.
• Length-With all the different locations to explore and 13 quests to partake in, Point Lookout adds about 4-5 hours, if not more, of game time. Definitely nice for $10.

Cons:

• Bugs-At times, the framerate would stutter with multiple enemies on screen and a couple of times my game froze and locked up my 360 completely. Thankfully, no corrupt game saves but its still annoying.

For 8oo Microsoft Points you really can’t go wrong with this add-on. It has variety, plenty to do and new items waiting to be collected. Aside from the framerate issues, which seems like the norm unfortunately with Bethesda’s downloads, there is very little to dislike.

You can download Point Lookout off the 360 dashboard or off xbox.com. For the PS3 users, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.

Fat Princess was released this past Thursday, July 30th, exclusively for the PlayStation Network. This has been a highly anticipated title for me since I first saw it last year at Sony’s E3 ‘08 press event. Granted it was only a 5 second reveal during a mash-up trailer for other PSN titles, but oh what a wonderful 5 seconds they were. It’s so eye-catchingly unique that I was intrigued at first sight.

Description:
Rescue your beloved princess through teamwork in this comic medieval battle royale. There’s a catch, though—the other team has been feeding her magical cake, making her harder to escort back to your castle. Choose from five distinct character classes and switch at any time to best help your team. Charge head first into battle, heal teammates as they break through enemy lines, and upgrade your team and the castle defenses as you work with your team to save your princess.

• Online Multiplayer – Face off in online matches with up to 32 players and in-game voice chat.
• Unique and Varied Maps – Enjoy eight comical and challenging maps, plus two special arena-style single-player levels.
• Five Character Classes – Change between Worker, Warrior, Ranger, Mage and Priest simply by picking up a new hat.
• Unique Game Modes – After the seven-chapter single-player campaign, enjoy custom games of Rescue the Princess, Snatch ‘n Grab, Team Deathmatch and Invasion.
• Customizable Avatars – Create your own personal avatar before you charge into battle, and unlock new customization options during gameplay.

Many have been complaining of connection issues with the game. Mainly lag. This has been addressed by Titan Studios via their blog. At the very least they are listening to the consumer and are currently working on a fix. Aside from that, this looks like a really fun game. Really, though, are any games ever released without some flaws?

Another game with connection issues that comes to mind is Castle Crashers. Which coincidentally enough was recently announced as coming to the PSN as well, later next year (which made me giggle since many of the Behemoth forum members said it would never happen). We all know that game had it’s fair share of issues at launch. Despite a patch taking months to release, the game sold unbelievably well. When games are this good, most problems seem minute. The YME staff played CC at launch with all the connection problems and lag and yet we still loved and played the shit out of that game. Something which I hope we can do with Fat Princess as well, in due time.

I mention Castle Crashers because it’s the only game I can think of that can be compared to Fat Princess. They both look like cute and cuddly kid games but at the core are über violent and fucking awesome! I congratulate Titan Studios on making such a great looking game. Sadly, with my current situation, I don’t have access to my PS3 at the moment. I’ll talk to the other YME staff and see if they can buy/play/review the game for us. Hopefully that’ll be posted soon.

Fat Princess is out now on the Playstation Network for $15! Seriously, go buy it, like right now!

Also, make sure to follow @titanstudios on twitter for current updates from the developers of Fat Princess.

I can tell you that it has good humor, great art, and some great animated action/fighting sequences. The characters don’t look exactly like they do in the show but they look close enough for you to recognize who’s who (Morgan looks amazingly hilarious). Only thing this comic book doesn’t have that the TV show does is romance, and up to where I’ve read there’s no sign of it. It’s no big deal though. The characters seem to have the same personality as their TV counterparts and the witty dialog is close to that as well, which is a huge plus.

If you’ve seen the show, which I assume you have (I hope) then you know Chuck always seems to be getting into trouble one way or another. The same thing happens in the comic which is always fun. All of the Chuck characters also make some sort of appearance, including Anna, Lester, Jeff and everyone’s favorite character, Captain Awesome…which is awesome.

What I don’t like, is that sometimes the characters say stuff they wouldn’t normally say on the show. It happens rarely so I don’t mind it much. Besides that, I like everything on this book and I’m very happy with my purchase. All in all it should satisfy Chuck fans and the casual comic readers as well.

Will Chuck survive his first trips to Japan, South America, Eastern Europe and Singapore? Who knows, you’ll just have to buy yourself a copy at Amazon (or your local comic book shop – help support them, they need and deserve it) and read to find out! It’s quite the bargain at less than $14 and If you’re a Chuck fan it’s a no brainer! People still say no brainer, right? Whatever, it’s worth it.

GHOSTBUSTERS! Released on yesterday’s PS Store update was a Ghostbusters DLC set for everyone’s favorite cute and cuddly little platformer, LittleBigPlanet.

Dr Ray Stantz: Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?
Dr. Peter Venkman: Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre or ghost?
Dr Ray Stantz: If the answer is “yes,” then don’t wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals…
Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Peter Venkman: Ghostbusters.
Dr Ray Stantz: Our courteous and efficient staff is on call 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs.
Dr Ray Stantz, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Peter Venkman: We’re ready to believe you.

You can buy the set of 4 costumes and a sticker pack for 6 bucks or individual costumes for 2 bucks each. I kinda wish they would release less costumes and more level packs. Those MGS levels from a while back were a lot of fun, and quite game changing too with that Paintinator. Lots of fun.

If you don’t have it already, head over to Amazon and buy Ghosbusters on DVD or Blu-ray. Here’s a double feature DVD pack which includes both movies (in widescreen format) at a very affordable price. You can also pick up The Real Ghostbusters which is the animated series which aired on ABC in the late ’80s. And of course, last but not least, don’t forget to check out Ghostbusters: The Video Game on your console of choice. I played the demo not too long ago and it wasn’t that bad. It was ok, I think the level they chose for the demo wasn’t perfect but from the trailers I’ve seen the rest of the game looks like tons of fun.