First Impressions: Ferals #1

Title: Ferals

Writer: David Lapham

Illustrator: Gabriel Andrade

Publisher: Avatar Press

Pages: 22

WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS.

I’m always struck with excitement when a new werewolf story comes around so when I saw new release of Ferals at my local comic shop, you can bet your ass that I snatched a copy. The cover on this book just screams for attention for while I was not aware of this new series, out of almost fifty new releases on the wall, this one still managed to catch my eye. It’s easy to suspect that this will be a true horror tale of lycanthropy as we see a poor bloody woman about to meet her demise with the story’s long fanged beast.

Spanning across twenty two pages, this book does manage to create a solid foundation as we learn a little bit about the town involved, and the main character Dale who’s a cop patrolling an area of less then five hundred residents. Brutality shows up on the first page forcing Dale to investigate and soon our hero runs into a female character who I suspect is the main werewolf though it’s not spelled out for us yet. Later on Dale is caught off guard by the murderous animal escaping with his life but not before getting injured foreshadowing the curse falling on him.

At this point and time while the story is interesting, I must say that I have yet to find any of the characters likable. So far all we have going on for the good guys is a coroner who bitches about being called out to a crime scene and Dale, who gets drunk off his ass and uses his badge to prey on skirts in the local tavern managing to score tail twice in one night. That’s a lot of sex for just twenty two pages and makes me ponder if its going to be a constant reoccurring theme in future installments. I know werewolves and sex go hand and hand but when dealing in this medium I hope more actual story takes precedence. Dale even goes as far as to flat out punch a woman when she says something that pisses him off bringing my respect for this guy down to almost zilch.  

The artwork, like the cover remained impressive throughout. Graphically it is not for the faint of heart as gore and genitals on corpses occur here. This is going to be a gritty series holding nothing back which hopefully will drive the horror element up to eleven. The werewolf design here is awesome looking. It walks on two legs but still manages to look more beast than human with a unique muscle structure and intimadating facial features.

           Overall this first issue does a good job of establishing an origin story of the main character. The dialog is easy to follow and understand keeping conversations short and sweet for the most part but sometimes comes off a little forced. It does show right off the line though that this is going to be an adult gore fest and so far seems to be staying close to the classic lycanthropy mythos. I will be giving this one another shot.


Ryan Pierce

Twisted Metal Review

5.5 out of 10

Game Name: Twisted Metal

Platform: Playstation 3

Developer: Eat Sleep Play

Genre: Action

Rating: M

            Twisted Metal has always been ne of those titles I would instantly buy a new system just to play. When I saw the original as a playable demo at KB Toys way back in 1995 I would easily spend time combating other kids to see who the best driver was. Twisted Metal was everything that the thirteen year old me could’ve wanted in a game. It had bad ass vehicles, weapons, explosions, and awesome arenas to play in. After finally saving up my allowance money to purchase my first Playstation, one can only guess how many hours of my youth was wasted in front of that old TV screen playing my personal favorite vehicle Darkside. Ever since then I’ve always followed this series religiously so you can only imagine my excitement when I learned that the original car combat title was making a return on the PS3. Following the dark style of Twisted Metal Black, I couldn’t wait to see what new stories Calypso and the drivers had in store for us this time and with online play being a major selling point this time around, surely this would go down as the best release in the series to date right? Boy was I in for a let down.

           

            Like all the previous titles, this new installment throws players in the driver seats of murderous designed vehicles to compete the famous tournament held by Calypso as he promises to grant the winner any one wish they desire; no matter how impossible it may seem.  Throughout the history of the franchise, this simple plot device has helped create stacks of interesting tales about all the combatants in the tournament and what drove them to commit mass murder in order to get one wish. Believe it or not, stories has always been a big part of the TM name and with the average roster boasting sixteen characters between the previous seven games, you got a ton of replay value trying to see how every person’s tale resolved. Some endings were funny, some horrific, and some were dare I say, twisted. You never knew what scheme Calypso had up his sleeve when the victor arrived to claim their prize and with that said we arrive to the first carnal sin of this game’s design. Twisted metal has only three characters to tell stories about. You’ve read that right all you get in this release is Sweet Tooth, Doll Face, and Mr. Grim this time around. The game advertised four characters with the last being the preacher from Black but he only appears in the backgrounds of the other character’s tales and doesn’t progress the story at all. His one true reason for being here is to be a playable driver online for free-for-all matches and that’s it. The stories that are told with the main three are excellent, but it’s just unacceptable that the developers didn’t go further resulting in the replay value being destroyed for the single player campaign.

References to previous games remind players how much story this release is lacking.

            Gameplay is what you would expect out of a vehicle combat game. The cars have a very loose arcady feel to them with control being very responsive. Almost everything in the worlds are destructible give and take a few gigantic buildings making driving through crowded suburbs and highways a breeze.

Eat Sleep Play did take some initiative in adding some interesting and unique gaming mechanics in an attempt to inject some new life into the series. Unlockable side arms, a new playable helicopter, along with each vehicle having two unique special attacks and limited defense attacks add incredible depth to strategy making on the go. Some matches have players pick three vehicles placing two of them in garages on the battlefield. If the player’s car gets too banged up, they can pull into the garage pick another vehicle and continue to fight as the previous one gets repaired. New modes also include last man standing, Endurance, are also nice additions and add a shot of freshness to an otherwise stale formula.

The last new installment in the single player campaign are the races, and with for lack of a better description THEY F@*KING SUCK. TM’s game engine an physics are great for crazy mayhem but simply transforming the death match battlefields into checkpoint racing does not work here. This new addition single handily sucks all the enjoyment out of the single player campaign. Navigating between checkpoints is near impossible since there are no direction guides in a hub and that the races don’t even follow roads. The levels are insanely unforgiving as one mistake will cost you the entire race. If you fall off a building your vehicle doesn’t reset, you got to back track and work your way up to the roofs again making any efforts a lost cause as your opponents are now miles ahead. Being penalized for missing gates is another slap in the face since the AI drivers obviously play by different set of rules as they constantly ignore them. Doll Face’s race is complete utter bullsh!t and is honestly unplayable since even if you do manage to finish first you can still loose as you’ll have to hunt around to activate a bomb to destroy all the other racers. If a car finishing fifth finds that bomb before you do, guess what, game over. I have no problem with races being added to the franchise but give the games physics, the battle levels simply can’t be recycled to act as a race track. Motor Storm Apocalypse pulled this off perfectly even with the skyscraper tracks and that’s what the races in Twisted Metal should’ve been like. This mode was obviously wrenched in quickly as a half assed attempt to make single player longer.

My reaction to Doll Face's race.

Online gaming is a much better experience but even that couldn’t escape some serious problems. First off the hosting system; it’s crap. Twisted Metal has no set time limit for setting up matches so idle hosts lurk everywhere. Players are extremely pissed off by this as the chat screens are filled with profanities yelling at some inconsiderate AFK douche to start the game. At the moment there is no such thing as a quick game match as odds are you’ll most likely being waiting up to 20 minutes to play a ten minute match as finding an active host is a horrendous endaver. Connection problems are another serious problem where three out of five tries will always result in you getting an error message at the moment. Since TM released a public online beta before release there is no excuse for this issue at all.

If you are able to connect to a game however, this is where this game shines. TM gameplay online is absolute bliss and it becomes absolutely clear that this was the main focus of this title’s development. Hunter mode is fun where players hunt down the opposing team’s marked car and destroy it for points. Nuke is my personal favorite as it plays a lot like capture the flag but with an additional arc. Teams have to capture the opposing team’s leader and sacrifice them into a missile launcher where they have to destroy each other’s giant statues hovering over the battlegrounds. If one is good enough they can shoot down the missiles making every moment of this mode a tension filled nail biting experience. Racing did not make it as an online mode because honestly who the hell would willingly want to play it? As expected, Players earn XP in games which can be used to unlock new cars, perks, side arms, and skins.

Vehicle customizing is another new addition and an impressive one at that. If one has the skills, you can download templates of the vehicles, place them in Photoshop, and create a truly unique ride to drive online. The only problem is with all the explosions and mayhem going on, odds are no one will notice your hard work. If a My Little Pony themed Van doesn’t grant you any comments or homophobic insults, then it’s clear that it’s just not noticeable. So while this is a new and fun addition, be prepared to do this just for yourself instead of trying to impress your online peers.

Skin customizing can be very involved.

Graphically this is without a doubt the best looking Twisted Metal to date but with that said it’s still not going to bring home any rewards. Pop ups are badly noticeable at times and everything has a muddy look to it. That doesn’t mean vehicles aren’t heavily detailed though because they are and like the maps that surround them are highly destructible. The worlds are huge; easily supporting the max sixteen player limit and every level does have its on own unique sets of characteristics.

The cinematic deserve a lot of praise themselves. For the first time since I can remember from the PSX era, Twisted Metal brings back live action actors to play the main characters. It’s so nice to see a company strive to be different where CGI is now the standard in interactive entertainment. The actors give off great performances adding more realism to the games dark atmosphere. This makes that lack of stories in this title all the more disappointing, since having a vast cast of honest human actors would’ve made the single player replay value so much better and memorable but sadly like most games now, online play remains the primary focus.

Live actors are a unique aspect of the story telling.

Sound in Twisted Metal is an all out boom fest. The roar of engines, the blasts of gunfire, the bangs of missiles and screams of terrorized victims makes a sound buffet that Michael Bay would approve. The soundtrack is high octane all the way as it brings back hit Rob Zombie songs from previous games and new appropriate ballads from other artists. The list of tracks though is very limited sadly so even after a good days playing the songs quickly get old and repetitive.

Over all Twisted Metal is an unfortunate wreck of a game. What it does extremely well online is weighed down far too much by a tiny story, lack of character, and some seriously terrible race levels that should’ve never got pass the QA testers. The game just feels rushed to make a deadline as the single player campaign is so short and lacking in attention while the online aspect clearly was the main priority. It’s nice to see the developers bring some new ideas to the table, but if there’s to be another title, the single player needs a total revamp. The online aspect while glorious is plagued by more poor design decisions in the hosting department, and the connection issues should’ve never existed with the beta that released prior to its release. I was really disappointed with the overall outcome of this release and normally I would’ve given this a rating of 6 since the online gameplay is so much fun. Sadly at the time of this review; a week after its release with all the connection problems and hosting issues, I must go lower. Buy this only if you have no interest in single player and strive for multiplayer action because it’s this titles only saving grace. Otherwise avoid this junker of a sequel.

PROS: Best looking Twisted Metal game to date.

              Brings some new interesting gameplay elements to the table.

              Online gameplay is an absolute blast.

              Live actors in cutscenes are a nice change in story telling.

              Highly customizable vehicles if you got the right art tools on your PC

CONS: Telling the story of only three characters is a joke

               Race levels completely suck the fun out of single player.

               Single player is way to short.

               Idle hosts with no set up time limit are a constant problem

               Connection issues are an embarrassment.

Ryan Pierce

Chronicle Review

TITLE: Chronicle

DIRECTOR: Josh Trank

STAR(S): Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan

WRITER: Max Landis

RATING: PG-13

GENRE(S): Action, Sci-fi, Drama

            What would you do if you had super powers? Would you use it for good? Would you spread terror throughout humanity? Would you just take your new found gift and play pranks on unsuspecting people? For the most of us, I suspect the later would be our main choice; at least for a while anyway.

            Chronicle is a story about three seniors in high school that stumble across some unknown object that grants them the power of telekinesis. Andrew Detmer, played by Dane Dehaan (True Blood) is a boy whose life has brought him nothing but misery. With his mother’s health rapidly deteriorating and his alcoholic father always abusing him, school life shows any doesn’t comforts either since he’s socially an outcast among his fellow peers and constantly harassed by bullies. His cousin Matt Garetty, played by Alex Russell, (Halloween Knight) along with friend Steve Montgomery played by Michael B Jordan, (Gears of War 3) join a pact with each other as they strive to improve their new found powers. At first all is fun and games but after awhile it becomes apparent that after all the abuse bestowed on Andrew, he is very angry inside and that his new powers are causing him to dish his hostile feelings in dangerous ways. Anyone who’s familiar with Akira will immediately relate Andrew to Tetsuo as they almost step by step go down the same path. Though Matt and Steve try their best to help fix their emotionally disturbed friend by boosting his popularity and making him feel wanted, life always seems to throw them a curve ball sending Andrew’s psyche into even darker levels of hate and anger. It’s no surprise from the trailer that eventually Andrew’s temper gets the best of him and that things start to get out of hand later on.

           

            Chronicle is another found footage film that in my opinion is the best example of the genre out there. It does suffer from the obvious abnormally that everybody in the city of Seattle carries a video camera recording everything no matter how mundane or crazy things get but it works better here then in any other film of this type. The pacing never gets so slow that it’s boring and holy crap when things get crazy the cinematography is right on par with Cloverfield. I’d even go as far to say that it’s even better. Some of the shots here were masterfully put together showing new and exciting scenarios of blending normal activities in intense situations. I am not one to care about the super bowl but football never looked so fun as it did to me here. Even scenes that couldn’t possibly be recorded by the main characters are cleverly caught by surveillance cameras surrounding them, sending home a message that no matter what you do, odds are you really are being filmed without your knowledge in today’s society.

            The special effects in this film are absolutely jaw dropping. Everything from damage inflicted on buildings to throwing cars and launching people through walls bests the effects of any film in this genre that I can think of. There’s some blatant green screen and CGI to be found but the main climax scene is second to none. Some of special effects are the next best thing to a point-of-view action screen ride in an amusement park.

            Dialog between the main cast and the many supporting characters are very believable and never once forced me out of the movie. Written by Max Landis who wrote both the story and screen play, you really do get a sense of chemistry forming between the three main characters and truly feel for Andrew knowing that he is a time bomb waiting to go off. You can’t help but feel for Matt as he tries to be the voice of reason for the trio while Steve uses his popularity to present Andrew to a fun world that any teen would love to be apart of. You really can’t hate Andrew at the same time though because seeing all the torment and helpless situations he goes through everyday, you can’t help but understand why he acts the way he does when he begins to finally feel invulnerable towards everyday threats. With that said, when the time eventually comes for things to go wrong it really grabs hold of your emotions.

            The sound in Chronicle is what one would expect out of a found footage movie. There is no music to be mentioned except what’s caught on camera in the background thus the film is driven solely on the dialog and acting which is all of good quality. The sounds used for the special effects fits perfectly with the amazing special effects as mentioned earlier.

           

            Overall, Chronicle is not another superhero flick but instead a cleverly put together tragedy piece about what can happen when great power falls into the wrong hands. Not being a fan of the found footage genre I can’t help but make an exception of recommending this one to others. It is a fun look at what superpowers could bring but at same time takes a dark mature look on it as well. It may not be for everyone, but to those who love stories about super powers this is a must see.

Rating 4 out 5

Ryan Pierce

Gotham City Imposters Review

Game Name: Gotham City Imposters

Platform: PS3, XBOX 360

Developer: WB Games

Genre: First Person Shooter Multiplayer

ESRB Rating: Teen

Ah Batman, the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader. Who hasn’t fantasized about putting on the cowl and fight crime at one time in their life? It would be awesome, evil doers would tremble at the very mention of our name. We would look like absolute tools in the public’s eye. But fear not fellow 90 pound weakling asthmatics and overweight fan boys with neck beards for your time has come. Remember the scene in the Dark Knight where gun totting vigilantes dressed in hockey pads tried to gun down Scarecrow while impersonating Batman? Well Warner Brothers pretty much saw that scene and decided to cash in on those aspiring young superheroes. Gotham City Imposters is downloadable title jumping on the FPS bandwagon to compete against the greats like Call of Duty and Battlefield. With a price tag of only 15.00 it’s already got the attention of the gamer on budget but who does the rest of the game fair out?

            Right from the opening cutscene, it becomes apparently clear that GCI realizes the silliness of the game’s premise and doesn’t take itself seriously in a good way. Goofy humor is everywhere and the cartoony look of the characters only enhances the lighthearted nature of this beast. While not breaking new grounds in the way of graphics, animations are smooth enough looking no hiccups or pop ups worth mentioning. Derezzing issues at distances are very noticeable at times. Still the look of the characters and their surroundings do stir up nostalgic feelings of Team Fortress and I can’t help but wonder if that title was the inspiration for this game. Weapon designs vary from run of the mill rifles and machine guns to clever homemade devices that truly feel like a socially inept fan boys would create if they had the means to. Characters mouths however, do not talk in game while there are voices to be heard is a constant reminder of the game’s cheap price tag.

            It should be noted right from the get go that GSI is strictly a multiplayer game so those looking for a silly single player story this sadly isn’t what you are looking for. The game features five multiplayer maps that feel large enough to support the max twelve player rosters. The game also features three game modes including team death match, fumigation which is equivalent to conquest or territories, and battery which is essentially capture the flag. There is a fourth challenge mode for single player but all that does is help boost XP. As expected from a shooter title, Collecting XP levels up player’s ranks and grants them unlock keys for new weapons, mods, perks, and body types. GCI features five unique body types ranging from thin and tiny to huge and slow. Where other FPS titles use body types as nothing more than a feature to express individualism, GSI uses them as a strategy mechanic for different stats. For example, where a tiny body will be fast and hard to hit, its health is really low compared to its larger and slower counterparts. This does add a new unique form of strategy to the game but it is not without its problems.

            Those unlikely enough to not play the game as soon as it is released will find themselves getting aggravated with how unbalanced the game can feel at first. With health perks being able to be added to even the toughest characters, someone just starting out has little to no hope of bringing more seasoned players down. The fact that head shots and knife attacks don’t guarantee instant kills will make players want to throw their controllers in a fit of rage. That was a strange choice of gaming mechanics on the developer’s part and honestly it’s something that shouldn’t been messed with. Heck you can even unlock a perk that makes head shots harmless to you. What the F@&k. As a result, players are gonna have to take initiation beatings round after round until you reach level 8 or 10. Only then can the playing field begin to feel better balanced. Modern Warfare solved this problem a long time ago with by forcing players to participate in beginner lobbies and later move them out into the main servers where everyone has a fair chance.

           

            A new unique unlocking feature is the amount of costume unlocks. XP doesn’t contribute to pimping out your imposter because after every match players are rewarded costume coins based on their performance. By saving up, players can make their imposter look as cool, goofy, or in the case of female imposters as sexy as they like. However, costumes can consume A LOT of coins so if wanted, GSI will happily take your real world cash in exchange for individual items or even double your reward points for a limited amount of time if you feel the fifteen dollars wasn’t enough to spend. At first I was against this but since it only aids players in elements that don’t effect gameplay I became ok with it; although it does cheapen the boasting rights of rank since it speeds that up as well.

            Controls are pretty cookie cutter for a FPS but there are some clever gadgets that give GSI a unique experience that no other FPS out there offers. The grapple gun which quickly lifts players across vast distances and onto any elevation without any recharging really brings a unique element to the game since one will have to keep a sharp eye out in spots on normally wouldn’t in any other title. Other gadgets like gliders, roller skates, smoke bombs and inflatable, (double jump boots) only further enhance the gameplay mechanics making this title stand out from the pack.

            The voice over work in GCI is gloriously over the top and campy. Players can unlock and mod voices for their imposters creating some pretty funny combinations. If you don’t laugh seeing a three hundred pound man with mutton chops calling himself a bat babe then you must be dead inside. At the same time though, the dialog is very limited and gets repetitive very quickly causing that aspect of the game to lose its flare way sooner then it should. Music is kind of forgettable as far as in game goes but in the match result and options screens it does give off an appropriate atmosphere for the game.

            In the end GSI is a decent shooter that for only fifteen dollars offers quite a bit in the form of replay value and fun. One wouldn’t think that a batman title featuring guns in the player’s hands would work but due to the success of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, it’s no surprised that DC and Warner Brothers decided to take a shot at this genre. Luckily for the most part it works but it is definitely not without its problems. There definitely are unbalanced class issues here and the head shots along with knife attacks not guaranteeing instant kills is a joke that even the Joker himself would find in bad taste. However, the interesting gadgets and loads of unlockables make this title worthy of taking a look; especially if you are a batman fan. If you can bare getting over the frustrating rank level hurtle, you will find an entertaining game here. Plus I can’t express enough that for only fifteen bucks this does bring a lot to the table as far as money goes. So go ahead put on that Halloween adventures batman mask, plug in your headset and give out your best, “MY PARENTS ARE DEAD” impression before grappling off to fight some clown badies. At least here other players will get the joke.

Rating 7 out of 10

Ryan Pierce

Driver for the Dead Review

Title: Driver for the Dead

Arthur: John Heffernan

Artist: Leonardo Manco

Publisher: Radical Books

Binding: Paperback trade

Release Date: September 2011

           

            I’ve always have had a small obsession with the occult and supernatural. The idea of there possibly being creatures existing outside of normal explanation quickly fascinated me at a young age. I’m also quite the history buff as my library and long Netflix que of documentaries would suggest. I always love when a story manages to mix these two elements together. Now go ahead and add a gun totting hero with a bad ass muscle car in the mix and my nerdgasm is complete. “Driver for the Dead” manages to collect all these ingredients and conjures up a simply epic tale of tough undertaker who battles the undead in his supped up 69 GTO hearse dubbed Black Betty. If that last sentence doesn’t make you want to scream, “Fuck yeah” then I don’t know what else to say. Go read another super hero comic because if your interest isn’t already peaked within the context of this paragraph then it’s already a lost cause.

I’ll open this review with a little back story but fear not for spoilers as I’m not giving out any more information then what is really on the back cover. Louisiana is a state filled with culture. The food, the music may hold appeal to the tourists, but the voodoo culture and hoodoo religion holds a big chunk of what makes New Orleans so unique. Our story opens up with an elderly voodoo healer named Mose Freeman, (who’s looks are obviously taken from Morgan Freeman) arriving at house on the rich side of town. Turns out the family living there has a son who has mysteriously fallen ill requiring the, “special” services of Mr. Freeman. He quickly determines that a powerful hoodoo curse was placed on the boy by the family’s now fired maid and prepares to lift the curse from its young host and cast the spell back on its creator. Immediately the boy retaliates spewing out a giant snake-like demon from his mouth, giving Freeman the chance he needed to rescue the young soul, but not before fatally wounding himself in the process. With his last dying breaths the old man requests that the family call a Mr. Alabaster Graves, (modeled after Liam Nesson most likely) who turns out to be a driver for a funeral home. We learn quickly that Graves has if you pardon my ‘Taken’ reference, “a special set of skills” when it comes to the funeral home business and accepts the job just as Freeman’s great granddaughter; Marissa intervenes to tag along despite his protest. Now dragging along a third wheel, Graves and Marissa set out for a 10 hour drive to recover Freeman’s remains all the while unaware that an evil presence is spreading terror throughout New Orleans and closing in on them fast.

The cover for “Driver of the Dead” immediately caught my eye when I discovered this book online. The Dark grayish colors clash well with bright white font used in the title. Graves strikes a pose holding his trusty 50 cal. Sniper rifle in the foreground while the hero car lies in background with the grim reaper. It is from this image that Graves’s resemblance to Liam Nesson is uncanny in my opinion but whether it was intentional or not I don’t know as his facial features do tend to change a little bit throughout the comic.

Open up the book and reader is presented to artwork that can only be described as amazing. Penciled and inked by Leonardo Manco, (John Constantine, Hellblazer series), the level of detail between the characters and their surroundings is breath taking. The colors jump out on the pages and do a supreme job of depicting the many atmospheres throughout the story. Most people can only strive in illustrating figures or machines but Manco shows that he has excellent skills with both. Black Betty while admittedly a silly concept is designed in such a way that screams epicness and surely borrowed some cues from the Mad Max Interceptor with its huge blower and exaggerated exhaust. But don’t think that makes Betty unoriginal. The overall details that went into her are indeed unique and somebody needs to make this machine a reality.

Throughout the story, Graves encounters all kinds of monsters and none of them fail to impress. From vampires and werewolves to witches and rotting reanimated corpses, Manco pulls out all the stops on this incredibly dark comic. Their designs are all memorable as they are intimidating looking and will cause certain images to last in the readers mind for a while

Another particular construction In ‘Driver for the Dead’ is its sequential art style. Unlike most comics that use random sized panels throughout the pages, this title relies heavily on repetitious panoramic or vertical columns to tell the story. This helps give the art a more cinematic feel and also imitates time passing quite well. Mixed with dynamic shots, every page feels fresh and new; never once feeling banal.

The dialog bubble layouts are perfect as they never get in the way of the gorgeous scenes and are easy to understand who’s emitting the lines. Where most stick with just plain white bubbles and black text, we find that even here artistic designs are given to enhance effects. Cold dead vampires speak out of blue bubbles while those possessed by true evil speak out of black bubbles with red text making the dialog even easier to understand who is talking.

‘Driver of the Dead’ is once again a debut publication. This time by John Heffernan and most can only hope that they’re first attempts execute as well as he does here. It’s clear that he too has a thing for history and the hoodoo culture as it shows in his storytelling. Many of the monsters like the Loup Garoux exist in Louisiana’s folklore while Marie Laveau the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans was in fact a real person whose grave illustrated in the book is an actual place visited today by those hoping to have wishes come true or to gain good luck. The book dives deep in southern heritage including the civil war and even more recent known events like the tragedy of Katrina get mentioned here. Louisiana itself is indeed a supporting character here and Heffernan takes great care in showing that. All the main characters are fleshed out nicely, making everyone interesting in their own way. Many of the characters get their pasts brought up in extreme detail and really help show what makes them who they are. Personalities are abundant here and not once did I find a character being annoying and hoping for their scene to end. The dialog feels natural and fits the characters and their timelines. While Graves would speak like you and I, People who have been around for centuries talk with a much more distinctive form of dialog. The story also has a noir feel to it thanks to Grave’s Exposition dialog which I must say fits the atmosphere perfectly.

When it comes to grips with this book only three come to mind. The artwork while always stunning does have issues with continuity. For example the Reader sees early on that Freeman died from a large snake bite impaling right through him only later to have his corpse be shown dressed nicely and without wounds of any kind. There are some other scenes where bodies that should be stiff from rigamortis are shown still flaccid and easy to move around. My second complaint is sometimes characters are performing tasks that would obviously raise questions but don’t. For example, Graves parking his car in the middle of the woods and telling  Marissa to walk to a rest stop two miles away while he simply stretches his legs. If that wouldn’t make you say what in protest I don’t know what will. My third complaint is more of a pet peeve then a real issue. At one point of the story it is mentioned that a character died of broken heart, (cue Darth Vader's infamous NOOOOOO scene). Here we have a story filled with monsters, guns, gore, and American muscle and for a brief moment it all has to stop for death worthy of a cheesy soap opera. All theses are forgivable though as the story still kept me very much intrigued and entertained beyond what I was expecting.

In the end ‘Driver for the Dead’ is a gem of a find considering how it came from a lesser unknown publisher. Heffernan and Manco worked perfectly together and with the writer stating that he already has future stories in mind, I can only hope that these two get working on sequels soon. Graves is a fascinating character who obviously has potential yet to be discovered by the end of this story leaving the reader wanting more in a good way. It should be noted that full nudity does exist in this book but it’s never done in a way that feels like porn and instead exists in the contexts to certain mythos. If you are into the supernatural this is without a doubt a must buy title. The artwork is stunning, the characters are well developed and that GTO hearse is just bitchen. Seriously, somebody get to work on that. When my last ride eventually comes I want it to be in that automobile. So go ahead and get your copy from your local book store. You will not regret it.

Ryan Pierce

Back to the Future: The Game Review

Game Name: Back to the Future: The Game

Developer: Telltale Games

Genre: Adventure, Problem Solving

Rating: Teen
Platforms: PC, PS3, Wii

           

Back to the future is a title that I will always hold dear in my heart. It was those films that really stuck with me from the earliest memories of my childhood. Even to this day if I see Doc Brown or Marty Mcfly on TV with that unmistakable Delorean time machine, I find myself sitting down to finish the story despite the fact that I know the script in it’s entirety. What’s not to love about those three films? The cast is flawless with even the villains being likable with a smart compelling story. That Huey Lewis soundtrack sending me back to simpler times along with that beautiful delorean hitting 88 miles per hour; constantly reminding the geek in me that I so desperately want one for myself. Yes sir, the ‘Back to the Future’ films are indeed milestones in film making history, but when it came to the games it was always a catastrophic failure. But with the future now here, the franchise may be getting the interactive treatment it deserves thanks to Telltale games forming a deal with Universal Studios to create a new story for our beloved time travelers. Telltale Games is well known for their point and click adventure titles like ‘Sam & Max Save the World’ and ‘Tales of Monkey Island’, giving BTTF the same game play style treatment. Divided into five episodes, the first was available for PC in December 2010 with the following episodes being individually released through out 2011. Now available as a complete package for PS3 and Wii, I took the time to play all of them back to back to see if I would truly be blown away, or left disappointed and maybe even insulted. With that said, grab your cassette walkman, and cue the saxophone intro to ‘Back in Time’ as we discover if this is the game fans have been waiting for or just another let down to add to the list of movie license game titles? 

            Taking place some time after the events of the third film, Marty awakes in May 14, 1986 after having a nightmare to learn that Doc Brown’s house has been reposessed from the bank and is having all his assets auctioned off. We learn that Doc has been missing for months now and to some questions arise that he may even be dead until a familiar noise is heard and Marty discovers that the Delorean has appeared out in front of Doc’s home. Investigating the time machine, Marty ends up at an old apartment owned by Edna Strickland, Principle Strickland’s sister and tries to unravel her association with Docs past. Figuring out the connection between them, Marty finds out that Emmett Brown is in fact stuck in June 13, 1931 where he is destined to be falsely convicted as an arsonist for the burning down of a speakeasy owned by Biff’s grandfather Kid Tannen. In true BTTF fashion, Marty hops in the Delorean and goes back in time where he eventually runs into Doc both young and old, the youthful yet still up tight Edna, along with Marty’s grandfather. From there it’s a race against the clock as Marty must trick young Emmett to unknowingly bust his older self out of jail, while Kid Tannen is always nipping at their heels to stop them. Who knows what the future may hold for our two time travelers.

BTTF has a unique cartoony look about it which works surprisingly well. While caricatures of themselves, Marty and Doc are still instantly recognizable from their live action counterparts. Hill Valley goes through many cool changes throughout the story and is always interesting to explore learning new interesting facts about the town’s history. Animations however can seem unpolished and glitchy at times with details like sound sync issues arising and wheels not spinning when vehicles are in motion. The facial animations on characters though are great with facial expression depicting emotions perfectly. I think the younger female faces at times can look a little odd and even creepy in the eye department but those are far in between. The artists do a great job though showing the alternate versions of characters when alternating histories affect them.

            The controls in BTTF are going to be the “make or break” factor for most players. The game is not an open world sandbox title and is instead a point and click adventure title similar to the popular ‘Myst’ PC games in the 90s. This can make Hill Valley feel small condensed, and not very lively since most of the game keeps players in the main court yard area with a handful of other areas appearing later on for short periods of time. Even with the use of the PS3’s analog stick to walk around, the world is painfully liner where you can’t even walk freely in streets because the game wants you to use the crosswalks instead. Controls become even more frustrating when camera angles change along with the directional layouts. One minute you’ll be walking left and when the angle changes, you better not keep holding left or it will take you back to the previous screen. It does seem to get a little bit more forgiving as you progress through the episodes but it is still always a rough experience.

            Finding items and solving problems on the other hand is a much more forgiving element. Players can freely acquire hints from the game if they get stuck, and the game has a hot key that can show every interactive spot on the screen making searches a breeze. The choice of difficulty is completely up to the player as they can go cold turkey or have the game practically hold their hand to advance on.

            As reading my plot summary may have suggested, while the story is without a doubt the best part of the game, it isn’t without its problems. Why is the delorean back after it got destroyed in the third film I don’t know but its back. Plus there are multiple times though through out the story Marty, Doc, and the time machine honestly should have disappeared do to changes in the past but for the sake of the plot, time never properly catches up to with them while everything else is still bound to the rules of time travel. With that said though, don’t think the story in here is complete garbage. Overall, the writing is extremely smart and impressive as Telltale nailed the feel of the classic films and had me uttering to myself, “that was clever” at certain points. Marty and Doc act just as you expect they would and even Hill Valley itself is presented as a character and not just a place. The new villain aside for the usual Tannen descendant is also a well drawn out antagonist, letting players get to see sides of Emmett Brown that are truly memorable and honestly worthy of the big screen.

            The Side characters are ok and interesting, but there are a lot of times their dialog comes off ham handed and really forced do to the questions players must ask them to progress through the game. Along with that, their actions and depicted reasoning’s are nonsensical. For example, players learn that Jennifer’s grandfather was a cop back in 1931 and he’s a customer in a speak easy during prohibition. He doesn’t go in civilian clothes but instead gets drunk right in his officer uniform on duty while the owner of the speak easy is having dealings with the law trying to incarcerate him for dealing alcohol. Why would he let a cop into that establishment? That’s the world’s dumbest gangster if I ever saw one. That there leaves Marty and Doc’s story, the main part to pay attention to and with that I say it is well worth seeing unfold despite these hiccups.

            I would be nuts if I didn’t go into detail about the voice over work used in this game. Where the story is the cake, this shinny speck would be the icing. Telltale Games was able to acquire Christopher Lloyd to reprise his role as Doc Brown and damn was it good hearing his voice again. You could tell he really cares for this character as he puts his all into his performance and really drives the emotions home. If I didn’t research the cast, I would’ve never believed that Marty wasn’t voiced by Michael J. Fox. Instead Marty is voiced by A.J. Locascio and his impressions of Michael are flawless. There wasn’t a single second in this game I didn’t believe I was playing the Marty I always knew. If they ever bring back an animated series this kid deserves the job as he formed a great sense of chemistry along with Lloyd in the script. Fans will be happy to know that Michael does make a guest star appearance in the game as another character that is also brilliantly fitting. A lot of care was taken into the overall cast and I don’t see how they could’ve done better.

The soundtrack is pure nostalgia as Telltale went with the,”if it’s not broke don’t fix it” mentality porting most of the soundtrack from the films over into the game along with Huey Lewis’s famous song. The new music is kept in style of the films and doesn’t stray far from the expected style and never seems out of place. Sound effects are ok, but it’s the sounds of the time machine that really hit home when the action heats up.

Overall, ‘Back to the Future: The Game’ is an overall satisfying experience. Yes it is plagued with control issues at times and there are some plot problems but this is a game you buy for the overall story. Telltale shows they have passion for the franchise by producing a smart script, by bringing the original actors into the project and by putting nice touches of details throughout the game; fully connecting this chapter to the previous films. I found myself easily marathoning through the chapters to see what happens next. There are plenty of moments to be found here just as memorable as any of the three films produced and if you don’t almost shed tears at some points then you are a heartless human being. In the end, this left me feeling very satisfied and with this game going for only $15.00 on the Playstation Network, it makes this title a steal and all the problems it has forgivable. If you are a true fan and yearn to experience a new BTTF story this is well worth your money. I can only hope Telltale has a sequel in the works.

PROS: Stellar Story worthy of the franchise

            Difficulty is extremely forgiving making it fun for all ages

            Brings back Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox

            All Star cast who pour their hearts into their roles.

            Interesting character design and facial animations.

            Nostalgic fueled soundtrack

CONS: Controls can make you want to pull your hair out.

            World is extremely linear causing Hill Valley to seem small at times.

            Plot holes regarding continuity and effects of space time continuum

7 Out of 10

Ryan Pierce