Posted by
Sean Hamilton
- Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Valiant has provided an advance preview of its upcoming BLOODSHOT #25 – a 48-page anniversary issue featuring a veritable who's who of talent from the bullet-riddled history of Valiant's most brutal and relentless hero!
Meet the man behind Bloodshot – or is he? Bloodshot's history becomes murkier when one soldier’s untapped killer instinct takes over in Bloodshot: The Glitch – a feature-sized lead tale of blood, guts, and heart by Peter Milligan (Hellblazer) and Lewis LaRosa (Punisher MAX)!
"With 'Glitch,' Peter has crafted a gripping, action-packed, and psychological take on Bloodshot – and Lewis's pages have only made it that much more devastating," said Bloodshot editor Alejandro Arbona. "This is Lewis's first full-length interior work in almost a decade, and he spent the better part of a year just packing in as much detail and emotion as possible. It's been well worth the wait, and when you see his artwork, you'll see why."
BLOODSHOT #25 is loaded with extras including an all-new Bloodshot tale by the legendary Howard Chaykin, and the original launch team of Duane Swierczynski and Manuel García reunite for a brand new adventure. Also witness the origin of Bloodshot retold, plus more stories and artwork from Justin Jordan (Spread), Rafer Roberts (X-O Manowar #25), and more.
Packed to the rafters with bonus features and artwork, including a complete cover gallery of Bloodshot’s exploits from 1993 to now, BLOODSHOT #25 features standard covers by Lewis LaRosa and Al Barrionuevo; incentive variant covers by Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire) and Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates); and a new throwback variant featuring Bloodshot's original logo and trade dress design by Bloodshot co-creator and comics legend Don Perlin (The Defenders).
BLOODSHOT #25 – releases on November 5th.
Posted by
Unknown
- Monday, September 29, 2014
It is without a doubt that Bungie created Destiny with the mindset that gamers would be locked on for quite a few years, and with good reason. Destiny is a sci-fi epic that immerses players in an interstellar online multiplayer universe filled with all sorts of enemies from Dregs to Fallen Walkers and tough bosses, allowing for story-mode, open world patrols, fire-team strikes, and all out Crucible matches.
Released only three weeks ago, Bungie stated it has plans to continuously support the game with additional content. Several gamers got a first glimpse of that after finding a bug that locked them out of the Tower, revealing content not currently available in the game.
According to Ben Kinsella, who says he's the first to find the glitch, the bug shows several locked areas, including new Story Missions, Strikes, and Raids on already available planets.
Reddit user KilledbyDice compiled a list of content that was revealed in the glitch, which includes Crota's End, a level 28 Raid on the Moon, and a level 28 Raid on the Reef. It also shows the already planned expansions: The Dark Below, which will be released in December, House of Wolves, which is planned for release sometime next year, and The Iron Banner, which will be available Oct. 7 through the 14, replacing The Queen's Wrath bounties that end Oct. 6.
Since the bug revealed content Bungie didn't intend to be seen, they could easily be changed before they're officially released. Bungie made some new announcements, however, including an upcoming tweak that will be released this week.
Following Bungie's patched Loot Caves and the promise of more engram drops during missions, the 1.0.2 update will bring several changes to the Cryptarch and Engram experience. Decoherent engrams will no longer be decoded to a lesser-valued item, meaning legendary and rare engrams will not give you a useless uncommon item. In a post on the Destiny blog, the update will also include rare and legendary items in addition to existing rewards in weekly and daily heroic strike missions, giving more incentive to play.
If you have any encrypted engrams in your inventory, now's the time to decode them, as Bungie stated that "Legendary Engram items that exist in your inventory will be demoted to Rare quality when the patch goes live."
Further improvements to the game include social voice communication. Bungie issued a statement saying, "Our vision for Destiny is that all players, even match made players in the Crucible, Strikes, the Tower, or public spaces, be able to communicate with one another in a way that promotes positive socialization." The feature is expected to launch later this year in Strikes and the Crucible where players will be able to opt-in to voice communication.
Where Destiny trumps other games:
Whether you love to play alone or multiplayer, Destiny has something for everyone. Reminiscent of Halo, the option of fighting in the Crucible or creating a fire-team to scour the galaxy can easily rival other first-person shooters with its extensive gameplay, stunning graphics, and epic soundtrack. Rated for teens, developers of Destiny knew what they were doing: creating a fan base that will grow with the game, unlike older players that are more likely to move on to another game faster.
From the beginning, the character customization allows you to pick a Guardian class—Hunter, Warlock, or Titan—and alter their features and race. Each Guardian has been resurrected by the Traveler's Light (though never actually explained) and has its own unique abilities, strengths, and armor. Creating more than one character (you're allotted three) gives an interesting change in gaming style.
The Tower is a social hub in the game where you can turn in bounties and purchase weapons and armor. The lack of actual socializing here takes away from the experience, but Bungie's added voice communication will definitely make it what it should've been from the start. In the mean time, you can still find people to join your fire team and have fun dance parties! There's also a soccer ball Easter Egg to play with.
Leveling up unlocks better weapons and armor, and once you reach level 20, everything changes. Getting past level 20 requires "light" which can only be obtained from special armor. Joining factions such as Dead Orbit or Future War Cult allows you to buy armor with +18 light and adds a combination of two from Discipline, Intellect, and Strength to cool down your melee and bombs. Buying armor requires reputation from either the Vanguard or your selected faction using either Vanguard or Crucible marks. This makes doing bounties, patrols, and playing in the Crucible even more important. If you're lucky, you'll find a dropped engram that gives you an Exotic armor, which can also be bought from Agent of the Nine using strange coins—if you can find him in the Tower as he only appears on weekends in a new place.
Where Destiny is flawed:
While the game is overall addicting—and I'm not just talking about the short-lived Loot Caves that gave us easy access to dropped engrams—it lacks major story plot and forces you to do outside research via Grimorie Cards that can only be viewed after you set up a Bungie.net account and link your Xbox gamertag or PSN account. I have no idea why I'm shooting at these various enemies from Earth to Mars and collecting hard to find Dead Ghosts, but it's still fun and Bungie.net allows me to view shaders on my character. I just can't help but question my motives, and really question why Bungie didn't provide this in-game.
Shallow storyline is accompanied by repetitive missions that can get old fast. Changing the level difficulty helps keep it at least somewhat interesting, but I don't know how many times I can defeat Sepiks Prime without getting bored of it, and I'm sometimes not even rewarded anything afterwards. I also wish there were more planets to explore since finishing the story mode left me wanting more, but that could be added in future expansions.
Exotic weapons are the gem in the game, but the great effort put into completing exotic weapon bounties for the Thorn and Bad Juju leave players dispirited with its lack of power and not living up to its name. The design is incredible, but after finally getting my hands on the Thorn, its handling is somewhat disappointing. Killing low-levels with one shot is great, and it gets better when the hand canon is upgraded to cause extra lingering poison damage, but the recoil is ridiculous compared to other weapons until it's fully upgraded. The Bad Juju pulse rifle looks sick, but it's only good for killing simple enemies since the design of it is far too distracting to match up.
Overall: this game is addicting, and I haven't spent this many continuous hours every day on a single game since Skyrim. I can only wait for future DLC expansions to be released.
What do you think of Destiny? Have you gotten your hands on any Exotic weapons and armor that are worth mentioning? Let us know in the comments below.
Posted by
Sean Hamilton
- Sunday, September 28, 2014
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Magneto #10 Cover by
Mike Perkins and Andy Troy |
The Master of Magnetism has us still marching towards AXIS.
To recap the last issue, Magneto has arrived at Genosha to find horrifying scenes, reminiscent of those of his youth in NAZI Germany. Finding himself charged by the grisly conditions he finds of mutants and inhumans on the island, Magneto moves to quell the Red Skull before further harm can come about. However, he is captured by the S-Men and as the issue comes to a close, the audience is left anticipating Magneto's fate.
Magneto #10 continues this unique solo experience in Marvel's X-Universe. The dark noir feel has been a main stay of the series crafted by Cullen Bunn and masterly brought to life by Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Javier Fernandez. It is great in this issue to see the momentum and influence of AXIS build through Magneto. This will undoubtedly lead to some great story points for Bunn to explore after the event has come to its conclusion.
There is a special feeling brought about by the gritty artistic style. The subject matter is likewise dark and this is what is so appealing about Magneto as a series. It sets itself apart as a result of the feel and tone, in a positive manner.
Opening the issue, Bunn has the narrative voice of Magneto to guide us in. Bunn has used this technique throughout the series as Magneto is a one-man campaign for mutant retribution. Most often, an issue will open and close in this manner and it is effective to bring the weight and gravitas associated sigh this series. Cory Petit's use of black background letter boxes and white writing provides a stark contrast that does well to support this tone.
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| Magneto faces a tortuous ordeal. |
In Magneto #10, Bunn has the titular antihero desperate to escape the mental anguish that the Red Skull is bombarding him with. Watched over by the grudge holding Mzee, Magneto retreats into his memories to hide from the assault.
Ultimately it is of no use as the Red Skull contours the Nazi officer Hitzig, who oversaw the young Magneto when he was a prisoner in Auschwitz. Hitzig is relentless in his pursuit and trying to make Magneto surrender his will and mind to him.
Bunn uses great pacing to build suspension during Magneto #10. Utilizing a panel arrangement of an average of 5 panels per page, Bunn's script is interpreted by Walta and Fernandez to great effect.
Walta and Fernandez open up the art in this issue, as the memories of Magneto allow and interpretative take on the history we have seen before from other Marvel stories.
These are still given the rough, dark feeling associated with Magneto. To enhance this issue the colors become more prominent.
Dan Brown and Jordie Bellaire do a nice job in highlighting the right aspects of the character interaction by use if the colors. The Red Skull stands out in such a darkly colored book.
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| The hypnotic stare of the Red Skull is hard to resist. |
Even Magneto's treatment displays thought as his inward depiction is contrasted differently to the Magneto left on the torturers rack on Genosha.
As we come to the close of Magneto #10, it is now so much more apparent that we are nearly deep into AXIS already. We have been marching for the last two weeks and we have still one one more to go.
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| Magneto faces demons from his past. |
The crossover with Magneto and Uncanny Avengers is a great way to continue the story and for Marvel to maximize the opportunity of AXIS.
The hanging end if the issue with Magneto flowing with a power induced from MGH is a tantalizing tease that brings together the threads that have been building in the series for a while now. Recently Axel Alonso paid tribute to the writing ability of Bunn and his maturity of style and versatility. It is apparent from his output across various titles currently and in the past that Bunn plays a subtle long term game. His promise of this, and as hinted at by Bunn, this means that the series longevity is supported well after AXIS. The best way to guarantee this though is to get this comic on your pull-list. I highly recommend it, as Magneto shows a refreshingly unique take on a much loved genre.
While I look forward to seeing where we are taken next in the series, what do you like about Magneto? While he has been one of the truest villains Marvel have had for decades, what is your impression of this latest incarnation of Magneto? Make sure you leave your thoughts and comments below.
Posted by
The Dace Man
- Saturday, September 27, 2014
Hey, hey, hey, Dacetacular nation! Dace Man here with the ninth edition of The Dace Man Plays!
Going forward, yours truly will play a game here and there usually for about 10 to 20 minutes because, frankly, anything longer and you all would lose interest. Hear my commentary as I take on some of the classics and some of the new age stuff I don't quite understand!
In the ninth installment of The Dace Man Plays, I take on the latest release in The Legend of Zelda franchise, Hyrule Warriors. Let's see how the Dace Man fares playing as Link in the first level of this new Wii U release.
As always, check back regularly to see what Chris "The Dace Man" Dace is looking at (and no, not just porn), as well as all of the other bloggers here at Fanboys Anonymous. Remember, keyboard warriors: leave your feedback! Until the next time, for the few, the proud, and, of course, the Dacetacular, grab a beer—and in this case a TV remote—and check out what's going on here in the Dace-Sphere. See ya next time!
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Valiant has provided an advance preview of its upcoming BLOODSHOT #25 – a 48-page anniversary issue featuring a veritable who's who of talent from the bullet-riddled history of Valiant's most brutal and relentless hero!
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