Whiteout, Gamer, and all the other things that’s been going on.

Sorry for the lack of updates on our behalf.  Seems like I am always late on the updates but I can’t help it at times.  This time it was due to Bryan and I being sick for the past week.  So without further adieu let’s get going with the updates and such.

First up, Batman: Arkham Asylum.  Let me just say that as a consummate gamer I went into this game expecting and hoping for vast improvements over other Batman game.  Suffice to say I was blown away.  This game pulled out all the stops.  I popped it in and didn’t do anything but play this game for the next few days (maybe I should have used that as an excuse instead of being sick hehe).

I always look at a game an judge based on Visuals, Action, Gameplay, Story, and voice acting.  So when I rate out of 5 stars then you know that if it is less than 5 stars than it was missing on some level on those parts.

Batman: Arkham Asylum gets a 5 out of 5 stars.  The visuals were stunning, though admittingly I spent most of the game in detective mode.  Action, well this game has it in spades delivering an unrelenting amount of action that guarantees never a dull moment.  Gamepley, amazing.  Not only do you have a fairly strong linear storyline but the interactivity is something that other games should take a cue from.  Story, well it’s Arkham Asylum now isn’t it.  Once of the most celebrated and greatest Batman story ever told.  True it doesn’t stick to the graphic novel much but the overall feel of it makes up for that.  Voice acting, come now really?  Bringing back and banking on the fact that most of us watched Batman the Animated Series while it was out, this game recruits the original gang and brings them back to bring that familiar feel to an old friend.  At this point in my life, I can’t and refuse to imagine anyone other than Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

I can’t say enough great things about this game.  The few gripes I had were this:  I didn’t like not having full interactivity with all the objects in the game.  That would have been nice.  And that’s it.  A great game otherwise.

Gamer.  I was able to catch this movie on opening weekend.  I walked into the theater pretty amped at the prospect of the future of gaming caught in a movie.  I was not disappointed.

The movie starts Michael C. Hall as a software developer who devises of a way to remotely control people.  He first tries out this new discovery by developing a game called Society.  This game was designer to be a Sims esq type of game where users get to control other people in real time and determine the things they do in a preset social location.  After running this for awhile he begins working on another project called Slayers.  Slayers is basically a first person shooter where Gamers control prisoners in what is basically an all out Capture the Flag.

This movie was pretty cool in that it does a great job of appealing to Video Gamers everywhere.  From great little easter eggs (such as teabaggin) to the all out non stop violence, this movie does not let down.

Where it excels at apex-ing on the geek scale, it only moderately appeals everywhere else.  The story is one we have all seen before.  The feel was very Escape From New York.  And the cast (except for Butler) basically phoned in their roles and then hung up after 10 mins. I mean really, when you have a cast of Alison Lohman, John Leguizamo,   Ludacris, Terry Crews, and Milo Ventimiglia it would have been nice if they were in the film longer than 15 mins a piece.  Though it was nice to see Terry Crews play a psycho.  Overall I liked the movie even though at the end it felt like it was missing something.  Don’t take the kids to see this one.

Lastly, let’s talk Whiteout.  Whiteout is a movie that was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name written by Greg Rucka and artist Steve Lieber.  This movie was hard for me to gauge.  I had recently read the book and then went to go see this movie.  And with the exception of a few minor points, the movie pretty much follows the book.  Unfortunately knowing the big surprise that came at the end of the movie pretty much ruined it for me.  Not to say it’s a good movie, it is, just I wasn’t as emotionally involved in it as I should have been.

Whiteout takes place in Antartica and focus’s around Marshall Stetko as she tries to solve the first murder to ever take place there.  I feel that I would have really enjoyed this movie in that it’s just an old fashioned Murder/Mystery but set in a remote location.  But due to the fact that I recently finished the book all the magic was taken away for me.  So do yourself a favor, go check out the movie and then read the graphic novel.  You may enjoy playing the comparison game.

Well that’s about all I’ve got for now.  This past week was a sea of thera-flu and old videos.  The great thing about being sick is that it gives you a legitimate excuse to play video games and not get out of your PJ’s.

On the FP front, I am still currently editing EP#39 of the Panelcast.  I am hoping to have it up by the end of the day.  Also, High Tower Comics, 4 Color Fantasies, and Forbidden Panel are going to begin working on a new project.  Stay tuned as more info will be coming soon.