The idea of hillbillies trying to stop an alien invasion seems pretty absurd, and it is. Clay County isn’t a serious horror comic but a funny farce in the whole military vs. aliens genre. A bar full of hillbillies is drinking away when an army officer shows up and tells them to get out because aliens are coming. They think he means illegal Mexican aliens, but the officer insists it’s space aliens. The bar gets blown up, but the hillbillies are still not seeing the picture. The comic is both funny and frustrating because these guys are so stupid and simple-minded that they think they are just some rival bar or something.
It also makes for great comedy, but Clay County has far from clever writing. The writing is pretty average and just gets the job done. The aliens end up coming after a fuel source called SF-92, which is actually one of the guys’ moonshines from 1992. They try to destroy the alien mothership, but their friend, Hot Dog, gets captured. They go through some more stunts (I won’t explain them all) that are pretty dumb, but later they break in to save their friend. They escape not by using guns or anything like that, but the dog’s farts from eating too much jerky allow them to escape. It’s pretty funny potty humor, but who doesn’t like to take a break from the serious comics every so often?
As it stands, Clay County won’t go down in history as a memorable story; in fact, many comic readers may never read or hear of this mini-series. The art style is very cartoonish, but it gets the job done and is pretty detailed. There’s nothing memorable here, but it’s fun to pick up and pass off to friends and family. If you love aliens, you will enjoy this series, and if you love potty humor, you will enjoy this mini-series. If you are a serious comic reader, you need to take a load off and relax to enjoy this.
Mortal Kombat is one of the most popular and well-known fighting games ever made. It has been around for over 20 years, yet not a single comic book could depict the atmosphere and violence. It’s almost like Malibu purposefully ruined the series, made it kid-friendly, and screwed up all the lore. The series ran for 3 years with 31 issues. The writing was horrific, the art was bad, and there were no gore or fatalities. The art style also made everything bright and colorful, like some sort of superhero comic. Where is the dark atmosphere? The moody colors? It didn’t exist; I never even knew these comics existed growing up. There’s probably a reason for that.
There are two large series that ran, and they were both horrible. They tried building up to the Mortal Kombat tournament, but each series went absolutely nowhere. If I had to pick one, Battle Wave was better than Blood & Thunder, but only slightly. There were a few mini-series that ran, as well as a few one-shots. Goro and Prince of Pain were probably the worst of the bunch; U.S. Special Forces had terrible new characters; and Rayden and Kano were just pointless. There were one-shots for Kung Lao, Kitana, and Mileena, as well as two tournament editions that were the finales for Blood & Thunder and Battle Wave. There was one issue of the 0 comic as well as a one-shot for Mortal Kombat 4. All were terrible; they all had the same crappy writing and art, despite the art and writing teams being mixed up. Why didn’t the MK team stop these guys? It was horrendous and offensive on every front.
Kitana and Mileena had really bad lore inconsistencies. It said their secret was revealed on the front cover, but the entire comic is completely wrong. Kitana wasn’t taken from a previous king of Outworld. They made the old Outworld look like something from King Arthur. What the hell? Shao Kahn invaded Edenia and brainwashed Kitana into thinking she was his true daughter. He killed Sindel and then later brought her back from the dead to make her his queen; that’s what really happened. Sindel was never married to this Arthur-looking king. Why did they make this crap up? It was so bad! I also hate how Smoke always says toasty! He doesn’t say it! Dan Forden pops up during MK3 after a big combo and says it! Just because you have a smoky and toasty kind of relationship doesn’t mean you can bastardize it. Why didn’t they make Toasty a new ninja? A fan made him one; he was orange and had the power of fire. Why did they come up with these lame new characters?
In the end, the comic series is just plain bad. There’s no redeeming value here; you won’t learn any new secrets from the series or anything hidden. It’s all crap that’s made up, and the entire comic line-up doesn’t go anywhere with the game. Just stay away and play the older games instead.
The ending! Finally! These last two issues were “mega” issues, being over 35 pages each. It tells the story of Sonya and Jax, and they’re a made-up Special Forces team trying to stop the Black Dragon clan from stealing ancient gold and a device that opens up interdimensional treasure vaults. It’s a pretty nifty story, but the rest is complete crap.
Once again, the dialog is still lame and juvenile. Jax throws out lame puns, and everybody has the same stupid writing; there’s no character development here. There’s a lot of action, but the art is still horrible. There’s no blood, no gore, and no censored curse words. Even until the very end, Malibu destroyed what could have been a very atmospheric and fantastic comic series. The new Special Forces characters are forgettable and too superhero-like. The story goes nowhere, like all the other comics in the series, and it ends up with another open ending where you think all the effort the good guys put in was for nothing. Oh no! Foiled again! That’s not satisfying, and the writers never got it.
This being the shortest series in the MK comic line is a blessing. You can tell it was rushed, and it actually ended with an MK4 comic, so by 1996, the series was finally done and killed off. There isn’t a single redeeming value in this mini-series, let alone the entire line-up. Jax and Sonya have an interesting history, yet it doesn’t even show in this mini-series. Do yourself a favor and just stay the hell away.
This game made a huge splash in the indie scene thanks to its rocking soundtrack and unique take on mobile games. I have to say that Superbrothers uses tablets and phones unlike any other mobile game out there. It is a breath of fresh air, but in the end, it is way too short and just leaves a feeling of emptiness, like there is no point in playing it.
You play as a man or boy who is on a quest to destroy an evil being at the top of a mountain called Mingi Taw. You come across a magic tome and must find three triangles to make a trifecta. The story is pretty thin, and there really isn’t much of one there. It’s all about adventure, music, and unique art styles. You tap along this countryside during the first half, trying to find your way to a cliffside. After you play for a bit, you get a sword and shield and fight your first monster. If you turn your phone or tablet sideways to fight, you can block an attack, but it’s very simple and not very complicated. There are only a few fights in the entire game. The bulk of the game is made up of using your swoony powers to solve little puzzles, but these feel easy and slightly uninspired.
You hold down on your character to enter this mode. You then have to figure out what to tap in order to get the little sprite out of the ground. You need these to advance to the next stage. Sometimes things have to be tapped in order, but it’s not all that hard to figure out. One interesting concept is that you need to find two of these triangles during the bright and dark phases of the moon—in real-time. You will have to come back when the phases of the moon are just right, and the game will tell you when. Or you can just cheat and advance your calendar on your device. If you do this, the developers are on to you, and they only give you a 99% completion rating for cheating. This is a pretty interesting idea, as no other mobile game has done this, but it’s not very significant and feels like a cheap way to extend the game’s length.
The only challenging part of the game was the three major boss fights and figuring out where to go. There are almost no hints; sometimes I wandered around forever, not knowing what to do. The boss fights require precise reaction times for dodging and attacking and can get pretty tough. You can beat the game in a few short hours if you cheat, but when I finished the game, there was no attachment. The characters are just there, and there’s not much of a story to get attached to. The music is great, but only during certain scenes or events. I honestly just feel this game is really overrated; it’s good, but not that good. I personally loved the 8-bit retro art style, and it’s beautifully done. I just wish there was better gameplay to go with it.
In the end, this is just an odd game that you play for the hell of it. It’s a unique mobile game, yet everything in it feels unnecessary, and in the end, you wonder why you played it. There’s nothing here that will keep you talking about it years later; it’s really short and lacks any challenge or depth. I just like that it took a different approach to game design, and that is greatly respected.
These superhero games and movies are just coming out left and right. Sure, the quality has gone way up over time, but Marvel’s side of the games department has been floating around average for the last decade. Deadpool is one of those weird comic characters that has a huge fan base, yet another large amount of people hate him. I’ve always liked Marvel’s more lax approach to adult-oriented comic content. Deadpool curses, makes penis jokes, motorboats breasts, and is just a seriously goofy character. You won’t find that in a DC comic. The game itself is just average; it starts out great but falls downhill pretty fast. This is expected of High Moon Studios, which became famous for their Transformers games. Those as well were just lacking more passion.
There’s really not much of a story here. Deadpool is bored, so he calls up a guy to make a video game about him; it’s the one you’re playing, and he breaks the 4th wall constantly. It’s great humor and a lot of fun, but the overlying plot is watered down and boring. Deadpool is trying to stop Sinister from creating an army of clones. On the way, you meet The Marauders (Arclight, Vertigo, and Blockbuster) as well as a few of the X-Men. Wolverine makes an appearance as well as Rogue, but they are pretty much useless. Cable fights alongside you for a while, but again, it’s not really worth having him in there.
The combat is where superhero games are supposed to shine, and Deadpool needs more polish. The controls work well; there are a lot of upgrades and a small arsenal of melee and ranged weapons, but it’s very repetitive and gets so boring towards the end. The problem lies in pacing. You will get a fun little scenario where you’re on a turret, floating in an amusement ride, shooting cardboard cutouts, or spinning prize wheels, but these are so short and so spread apart that you beg for something different. It’s just level after level of the same bad guys over and over again. No matter how many upgrades I bought, I never felt powerful enough. I maxed out my hammers at the end of the game, and it just did a bit more damage than the standard damage. What kind of crap is that? The guns are the same way. There are momentum moves you can do that do massive damage; it varies with each weapon, but it takes so long to build up the meters. The combat just feels average in the end, with buttons mashing the light and heavy attacks.
Every so often, you will be forced into a stealth section, but it’s broken or purposefully made that way. You can use your guns or your weapon. Sometimes the rest of the guys heard me, and sometimes they didn’t. The animations are funny, and they are well done, but who cares if they’re linked to monotonous combat? The other parts of the game, where you walk around mingling with hot chicks in bikinis, slapping Wolverine in the face, using a giant robot foot as a rocket, and spinning prize wheels, are the fun parts. I can count them all on one hand. There aren’t even that many cutscenes; it’s just 80% combat. Even the humor starts to wear off after a while. Deadpool even makes fun of his own game by saying he doesn’t have any new jokes. The slapstick humor and penis one-liners are funny during the first half of the game only.
Graphics-wise…it’s average. There’s no unique art style like the Batman Arkham games. The PC just has better textures and slightly better lighting. High Moon really needs to get it in gear and stop pushing out these half-baked games of theirs. It’s like there’s no passion, or it runs out halfway through development. Deadpool is a fun weekend rental, but in the end, it’s forgettable and somehow shouldn’t be.
I usually don’t care much for vampire stories, but 30 Days of Night hits the nail on the head. This comic is so dark and vile that it made me uncomfortable, and that was good. The writing is fantastic, and it sucks you in from the beginning. There’s a tiny little start-up with a husband and wife Sheriff duo of Barrow, Alaska. It’s dark for 30 days out of the year between November and December. They watch the final sunset, and then suddenly things start attacking the remote town.
The two sheriffs do their best to try to round up the town, but they get wiped out quickly and can only save a few. There’s a mysterious man who is sent via helicopter by his mother to take reconnaissance photos; you never find out who this mystery man is either. The leader of the vampires shows his face and runs amok. I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say it’s very heartbreaking and pretty emotional. This three-part mini-series does an amazing job of providing excellent character in such a short time.
Ben Templesmith’s art style is something to be desired; it’s an acquired taste. If you read the recent Dead Space comics, you would know what I’m talking about. His art is very messy and spidery; it is one of a kind, but not exactly detailed. It’s all about the atmosphere he gets across. Barrow is a remote town, so you feel claustrophobia when you read it. You know there’s nowhere for these people to go, and you feel the fear as they only have a couple of miles of buildings to hide in. The part about Ben’s art is during fight scenes. He highlights the blood and gore, and you can really get the idea across. He uses side-shot silhouettes and up-close shots of the vampire that look frightening. It’s a very stylized art style, and Ben draws like no one else in the industry. Many people accustomed to Zenescope’s art with rich, vibrant colors and scantily clad women may not like this series. I say dig in because horror comic fans will find a long-running series to dive into and keep busy for days. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Another terrible mini-series. Rayden tries to make Kano turn good, and that’s about it. They made up some crap about an ancient sword that Shao Kahn is afraid of. Only a man who is bad and wants to turn good can wield it. What?! That is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard. Rayden and Kano duke it out for the entire one-and-a half issues with the same crappy writing and art as before. Rayden finally thinks Kano sees the light when Kano walks right into Shao Kahn’s fortress and hands the sword over “as promised.” That was a nice twist of events, but everyone knows Kano does this! So later, Rayden is so shocked (no pun intended) that Kano turns on him and scolds him. They fight some more, and that’s pretty much the end.
What did we learn today? Everyone in 1995 waited 3 months to read a bunch of nonsensical bull crap. Everyone talks in the third person still, the characters look like deformed blobs, and there’s still no gore or fatalities. The shoehorned morals don’t help anything either. Why couldn’t they just stick with the fighting and do that right first? I have no clue, and I don’t think Malibu does either.
In the end, Rayden & Kano is another crappy mini-series and just an excuse to keep milking the early Mortal Kombat craze. They didn’t do the fans any service by creating these abominations. Somehow they kept buying them despite every comic book critic bashing them. Rayden and Kano are better left in the games and should stay out of the glossy pages.
Call of Juarez has been a very rocky Wild West series. The first game was terrible, the second game was great, the third game was horrible, and the fourth game was great. Will the fifth game be horrible? Who knows. What I do know is that for $15, this is a very enjoyable shooter with a pretty good story and a narrative inspired by Bastion. You play as Silas Greaves, a “retired” bounty hunter who went after the most notorious outlaws in the west, such as Jesse James, Kid Curry, The Dalton Brothers, and The Sundance Kid.
The story’s cutscenes are told through black-and-white stills, but the narrative is really fun. If you have played Bastion, you will know what I’m talking about. As you play the game, it is being narrated as you go. Sometimes things will change right in front of you, on the fly, as Silas narrates his tales. Sometimes you will go through a whole section of a level; a bar patron will ask Silas if that really happened, then he will back up and correct himself. You then play that part again in a different way. It’s really fun, and as you progress, you start to question if Silas is really who he is or if he is even telling the truth. The battles get more outlandish, and even the patrons start questioning him. The story has a nice twist ending, and I have been hooked the whole time thanks to the tight gunplay and fun story.
The game is very simple and basic at heart. You get four different weapons: dynamite, pistols, shotguns, and rifles. There are a couple variations of them, but they shoot damn well, and I have to say I haven’t had this much fun as a shooter in a long time. While the enemies repeat often and it’s the same shootouts throughout the level, the environments change often, and the fun narrative keeps things mixed up so you are never bored. Every so often, you will have a duel with a boss. You need to use the two analog sticks to control the focus on the enemy and the speed of your hand. It’s tough to concentrate on two things at once, but it makes it fun and a bit challenging. During shootouts, you can slow down time and highlight enemies in red. You also get a “last chance” by being able to dodge the bullet that would normally kill you. Push both sticks in the opposite direction to save yourself. These little elements are just fun and a bit different from your typical military shooter.
Some boss fights require you to hide, sneak around, or use dynamite. There are also hidden secrets in the game that tell the real-life tales and occurrences of these real-life outlaws and skirmishes. They are pretty interesting for anyone who likes some history in their game (Assassin’s Creed fans!). That’s all there really is to it. The game is simple yet a lot of fun. You can do challenge missions afterward and a new game+ to continue with your leveled skills. There are three categories: trapper/melee, long-range, and short-range. As you advance in each section, you unlock a special gun in that category, which makes the game both easier and more fun.
Overall, Gunslinger is a really fun game. There’s not much wrong here other than it being bitten simply by some people. The graphics are fantastic, the gunplay is solid, and the narrative is a lot of fun and will keep you hooked to the end (I rarely put the controller down!). For $15, this is one of the best downloadable games you can buy this year. It may also be a good jumping-in point for anyone who hasn’t played a Call of Juarez game before.
This has been a long time coming. I have been trying to get through this game since it was released, but I just gave up. The game is not only difficult, but it’s so repetitive and strange. It has an odd vibe to it, but at least it controls well for the PSP and looks fantastic. The voice acting is spot on, but the story is so strange and broken up that I just couldn’t follow it.
That’s not to say the game’s horrible. All I know is that you play as Aya Brea from Parasite Eve (this is the spiritual successor), and you get jacked into a system where you can warp into people’s bodies and control them. Think of them as lives. Once one guy is dead, you have to transfer to another body, or you will die. As you bring down the health of these parasites that have taken over New York City, a yellow triangle will flash over them that lets you transfer into them and do massive damage. This is essential to winning most boss fights. You just run around blasting everything with traditional military weapons, but at least you can upgrade them. Adding more power, accuracy, and various other things requires points that you acquire through completing levels. There are a plethora of weapons in the game, from handguns to rocket launchers. It’s nothing special, and I wish there were more unique weapons. The combat is fun at first but gets tiringly repetitive as you get further in.
Every level nearly plays the same. You blast through parasites, transfer through bodies, and then fight a boss. Sometimes you have to destroy nodes to advance, but it stops being fun less than halfway through. The bosses are extraordinarily tough, and you will die dozens of times. If you shoot stuff long enough, you get Overdrive, which allows you to do massive damage, but there’s a weird pause between every few shots, and it wastes precious time. Some bosses I died on dozens of times and nearly gave up on—they have multiple life bars, and if you don’t beat them a certain way, you never will.
The action never lets up, but the pacing is so poorly balanced. You get a good run through a level, then suddenly you have to run from some unbeatable monster. The platforming is atrocious, and even climbing ladders can be hard. I died multiple times because of how linear the levels are, and I just couldn’t maneuver properly. The game could have been one of the last great PSP games if it had just had more polish. The graphics are fantastic, with some great lighting effects and good-looking textures. There are just too many issues for this to be considered one of the PSPs’ best.
Overall, The 3rd Birthday has a lot of amazing aspects and ideas, but they fall flat because they weren’t fleshed out all the way. The platforming stinks, the game is just too damn hard, and it’s overly linear. The story is an unfocused mess, but at least the game looks amazing and the controls are great. The shooting feels good as well, and there are a lot of customizable features. It just needs more polish, but what’s here is worth a rental or cheap bargain bin price.
Will it ever end? Why did these comics go on for so long? Thankfully, I was spared by this only being a 3-issue mini-series. It is the most ridiculous piece of crap I have ever read. I’d rather read the other comics in the series again than read this just once. It just doesn’t make any sense. Were the writers on crack? This isn’t even Mortal Kombat anymore!
It starts out with Goro just appearing on Earth for no reason. In Blood & Thunder, he just disappeared in the middle of a battle, just an excuse to create another series. He shows up with two cops on duty; that’s fine, and it makes sense. He beats them senselessly and kills them, which also makes sense. Then a talking crow comes into the scene. What. The. Hell. There are no talking crows in Mortal Kombat! It doesn’t end there; he then meets a talking Spanish magician named Zaggot. WHY?! That’s not even lady-friendly! This magician is the god of chaos, and his brother is the god of order. Why are they magicians, and why do they not even look like something that belongs in Mortal Kombat? Zaggot is apparently older than Shao Kahn himself and has gathered so much chaos energy that he takes the best from every Mortal Kombat character and creates one big one. That sounds kind of original, but why does it look like Goro with the Terminator’s head?! What in God’s name were they thinking?
I’m sorry, they weren’t. Later, his brother gives Goro a giant magical mini-gun, and then he starts making Duke Nukem-style jokes. WHAT?! He mows everyone down with a machine gun, and then Zaggot dies. Why are the writers trying to make the bad guys try to turn good and then suddenly go bad again? This is the stupidest comic series I have ever read. Do yourself a favor and just stay away. Everyone still talks in the third person, narrating their own actions, and the writing is still very juvenile and lame, and everyone looks like blobs!
thebinarymessiah.com 
Try multiplayer. A lot of fun !