Azure

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/02/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , . Leave a comment
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Post-apocalyptic comics always grab my attention. They bring the true human spirit out—the fight for survival. Emelie is a woman who has been living underwater on her ship, Pearl. After 15 years, she finally makes contact with another human being, but they aren’t friendly. The first few issues build up the characters and the plot and explain how the world went to complete crap. Later, you find out Emelie is a scientist, one of four, who worked on trying to save humankind’s brightest minds. She also later finds out a big secret about herself.

I can’t reveal this secret because it would spoil the whole series. I just have to say that it’s the only highlight of the entire comic. We find out later that there’s a utopia called Avalon where the last of humanity has come together to live. The story itself is very linear and forgettable. I wanted to see more of Avalon; I wanted to know what goes on inside there. We just see this back and forth between Emelie, the scientists, and this new-world-order group called League that wants them wiped out. They are made up of cutthroat pirates, and you end up rolling your eyes at this Water World type of story. There are hints of something greater here and there, but they fall flat, and the story ultimately doesn’t pan out. I felt left out of a lot of detail; this probably needed more than just six issues to breathe.

There are some cool fight scenes, and the comic can be quite gory with decapitations and limbs being ripped off. The idea of each scientist having their own ship with AI accustomed to them is really interesting, but I wanted to see more. You end up not caring about anyone because the writer tried cramming too much into six issues without a continuation. There’s a forced relationship between a survivor and Emelie, but it’s just a 4-page scene, and nothing else is explained. They apparently dated before, but there’s no flashback.

What we have is an interesting post-apocalyptic aquatic adventure, but there is so much crammed in here that we get bits and pieces of everything without knowing the whole picture. The art is decent, despite the people looking pretty ugly in close-ups. There are some fun fight scenes, but overall, you will quickly forget about this one.

Harbor Moon

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 08/01/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
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Werewolves. Not really touched much by comics. The comic’s messy and watercolor-stained art attracted me, and to hear this was a murder mystery was a nice touch. The cover even looks like something from Ben Templesmith, but as you will see in the pages, it isn’t quite so. The story starts off with about 5 pages of onomatopoeia about a group of men killing a family. Later, you are shown a man who is visiting Harbor Moon to find out why his father requested him to go there. He is soon met with resistance and cold shoulders; this town doesn’t like strangers. That really got me hooked because it kind of felt like Silent Hill. It was a quiet country town that no one goes to, and usually you never come out of those. As I read further along, there would be 2-3 pages of dialog, but you never knew half their names until later in the story; it was pretty odd. I was confused as to who was saying what and what time frame this was all in. It all comes together in the end, but I hate being left 100% clueless like that so early on; it frustrated me and almost made me put the book down.

Flipping back and forth a few pages to find out who’s talking about it is bad writing. The action scenes were also confusing and disorienting, either because of the art style or poor storyboarding. The action picks up later on, but the plot starts to become predictable towards the end instead of leaving you clueless. I eventually realized who was what and why before the story told me, and that’s not good. It doesn’t mean that’s completely bad; it just won’t leave you hanging like most comics will. I also couldn’t become attached to any of the characters because they felt generic and there weren’t any special traits about them. The Sheriff is your typical man in charge of hiding the town secretly; there’s a girl who falls for the stranger; and then there’s the band of secret cult society who are out to kill the townspeople (I won’t say why). We’ve seen this set up in horror movies before, so it’s nothing new at all.

It doesn’t mean this is a bad comic; it’s just average. While the art is very stylized, the characters look deformed, and everyone has nearly perfectly square heads—very strange. I also found that all the men looked the same, so I didn’t know who was talking. This comic has a lot of potential and is entertaining while it lasts—just nothing memorable like 30 Days of Night, Cancertown, or The Walking Dead. This is an average horror comic, but still worth a read.

Fly: The Fall

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/30/2013
Posted in: Comics, Zenescope. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
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The first volume was just fantastic. It was short but sweet, and it hit an emotional high note towards the end. Fly is about drug addiction, but instead of a boring regular drug, this one lets you fly. Eddie has a psychotic girlfriend after him who wants the drug, while his friend, Francis, took over his dad’s empire and is one of the richest men in the world. In The Fall, Eddie finally escapes his wife but is now haunted by his current girlfriend’s past. We find out who the guy who burned down Francis’ parent’s home is in the first volume, and everything comes to a head.

The same clever writing and great art are still present. The Fall feels a bit more linear and less relatable than the first one, but it’s still great. Eddie’s life feels like it’s hit rock bottom, and Francis ends up becoming a person we thought he wouldn’t. Their lifetime friendship is put to the test, including a setup that Francis puts Eddie through. Francis is a smart guy, and it turns out he’s sick in the head as well. Revenge can turn a good person into something evil, especially if it’s been eating away at them since childhood.

The Fall is pretty gory this time around, even more so than the first volume. There’s more violence, and things just go from bad to worse quickly this time around, and you really feel it. There’s tension in the air between all the characters, and the final issue just lets all that explode. Fly is an amazing series, and any fan who wants a sense of realism should pick this up. Of course, you should read the first, but the second doesn’t disappoint and has a satisfying ending.

Clay County

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/28/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment
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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 – 18 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/28/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment
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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.

Mortal Kombat: U.S. Special Forces – 18 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/27/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
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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.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/27/2013
Posted in: Android, iOS, Mac, Mobile Reviews, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Switch. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Developer: Capybara Games

Release Date: 3/24/2011


Available On

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Deadpool

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/27/2013
Posted in: Microsoft, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Retro Consoles, Sony, Sony Consoles, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: High Moon Studios

Release Date: 6/25/2013


Available On

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Reviewed On

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30 Days of Night

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/26/2013
Posted in: Comics, IDW Publishing. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
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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.

Mortal Kombat: Rayden & Kano – 18 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 07/26/2013
Posted in: Comics, Other. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
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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.