Ruined Glory

“One of the best Spiderman stories.”

What if Peter Parker gave up on being Spiderman? Not for a day or a week, but for decades? What would happen to NYC if Spiderman didn’t exist anymore and all the villains that were once kept in check were allowed free reign over the city and it’s people? 

What if Mary Jane died? This is the story of SPIDERMAN REIGN.

REIGN stars an old and withered Peter Parker who lives a quiet and pathetic life as a florist who tends to his own business and wallows in the regrets of his glory days as the superhero vigilante he once was. REIGN is a dark and sad story of a man who literally just gives up on everything after the deaths of all those around him could not be saved no matter what he did.

This is the lowest I’ve ever seen the character as he gets beaten senseless and dragged to such dark depths that it’s almost crazy that this is a Spiderman book. The villains in the story are equally as dark and twisted. Seriously, this is some dark shit.

There’s a giant force field around NYC built to keep everything out of the city called “The Web”. There’s villains in all the departments of command and when Peter finally dons the costume again he’s greeted with his greatest villains to face one more time.

The likes of Scorpion, Doc Ock and Electro are only a few of the villains that face him as he struggles to get back the feeling of being Spiderman again. Stand out characters go to J Jonah Jameson and the conflicted Sandman that really brings this story to a fitting crescendo in the end.

The whole story reminds me of the excellent Batman book, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS which REIGN clearly gains inspiration from. It’s bleak, dark and shows how important it is for us to never give up on who we are and that even when things are their darkest we must never give in to our fears and face them with bravery for a better tomorrow.

If there’s ever a book which clearly defines Peter as a heroic figure with unimaginable odds stacked against him, it’s this story right here. You won’t find a more desperate version of the character and you’ll root for Spidey all the way through this stand alone story.

It’s great, unforgettable and stands as one of my favourite takes on the webhead himself. If you have any interest in a story that stands by itself and want to enjoy a very obscure version of Spiderman then this book is for you.

This story truly defines the quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 

OVERALL SCORE: 9.5 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“No Turning Back.”

AMAZING #688 starts off right away with a huge fight going on between Spiderman and The Lizard in the sewers of Manhattan. The story begins with the aftermath of the Dr.Octopus incident and Peter’s vow to not allow anyone else to die under his protection anymore.

This leads to Spiderman teaming up with Morbius on a cure to save Dr.Curt Connors from the clutches of his vicious alter ego. The story is engaging and interesting as the story bounces between the vicious fight, Peter talking with Mary Jane and the revelation that The Lizard could possibly be made rid of forever.

The new life of Peter Parker is exciting, from his new career as a scientific engineer and head of one of the divisions of the most scientifically advanced facility on Earth, Horizon. The much more adult and strong willed Peter is interesting to see as he’s taken control of his life and matured in ways I never really saw coming from his beginnings as a teenager with a camera.

The artwork is also really wonderful, especially during the fight sequence with Spiderman and Lizard taking central stage as a wonderful cinematic presentation that combat can be effectively shown in comic books as well. Just love it.

The conversation between Peter and his ex-wife Mary Jane is also equally endearing as MJ tells Peter that he can’t possibly save everyone and it’s okay to accept the fact that among all the strength and agility he has, he’s only human. He can’t save everyone from being the next Uncle Ben.

There’s not much to say about what’s wrong with this issue. It’s great to look at, it’s full of interesting stuff to read and ends with a crazy bang. This is just a great issue and gets me excited to see Spidey fight The Lizard on the big screen soon.

This is also a great jumping point for those looking to get into Spiderman. They get you up to speed and then lay out the calamari awesomeness right off the bat. Get on it, this is a great book.

I just love to see this new braver version of Spiderman, so freaking badass.

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“Amazing meets Ultimate.”

SPIDERMEN is a limited series comic written by Brian Michael Bendis, starring Peter Parker from Earth-616 ( which is the main reality ) and Miles Morales the new Spiderman after the death of Peter Parker in the ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN comics.

Peter is swinging through New York when he discovers an ethereal glow from the other side of town, then investigating goes sour when Peter is suddenly attacked by Mysterio and through an altercation is transported via this dimensional portal device to the world of ULTIMATE SPIDERMAN, where Peter Parker has died at the hands of Green Goblin.

Somehow the comic works without being a complete and total mess and amongst the gorgeous artwork and snippy one liners Peter stumbles upon Miles, the new Spiderman. The two have a fight as Peter freaks out that there’s another Spiderman on the loose. Bendis again somehow creates a compelling conversation between the two as our Spiderman cluelessly freaks out and this new Spiderman is freaking out thinking his dimension’s Peter Parker is alive.

Confused yet?

It’s humorous and equally disorienting to watch Peter come to terms with the fact that he was ultimately killed being Spiderman in this world and through a conversation with Nick Fury and even more questions Peter slowly starts to come to terms with the gravity of his situation.

Miles on the other hand gleefully battles and surprisingly holds his own against the older and original Spiderman as he displays his new abilities such as his venom sting and talent to render himself invisible to the naked eye. This leads to some exciting combat between the webheads as well.

As of right now the story is clearly farfetched and wildly odd but the limited series shows promise of the duo as they are clearly going to be up against the entire rogues gallery of the Ultimate universe. 

It’s going to be interesting to see how Peter will deal with his own death at the hands of his greatest villain in this universe and how the ramifications of witnessing a different world will affect our realities wall-crawler in the long run. 

But as of right now? I’m excited to see where it goes.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“Thunder buddies for life.”

TED is the brainchild of the creator of FAMILY GUY and stars Mark Wahlberg, the insanely hot Mila Kunis and Seth McFarlene himself portraying the womanizing beer guzzling talking stuffed animal himself.

The basic concept is that Ted is the outcome of a lonely eight year old boys wish to have a best friend for the rest of his life and when wishing for this the magic of innocence brings a loveable stuffed animal to life. But after a series of bad decisions, questionable intakes of foreign substances the duo are just weed smoking bro’s who have an unhealthy obsession with the glories of the eighties.

If you’re easily offended or generally hate the humor of Seth McFarlene’s mega popular series FAMILY GUY, well you shouldn’t watch this movie. Jokes ranging from feminism, terrorist attacks and even rare diseases are joked about constantly throughout the films run-time. 

Between all the drugs, sex and foul language lies a profoundly heart-warming tale of friendship, love and the importance of accepting those around us for who they are as people. It’s strange at first to see this talking CGI-teddy bear and actually care about what’s going on between Wahlberg and Kunis’s characters.

McFarlene balances a great connection between his main characters while never making the animated teddy bear seem like a gimmick. Some of the best jokes are by no surprise delievered by Ted with some of the best comedic dialogue being between Ted and his grocery store boss in these quick conversations that left me laughing out loud.

Although written by the creator of FAMILY GUY, don’t expect the exact same kind of humor. Among all the dirty and pop culture references the jokes are clearly refined to work well as Ted is used as a literary device for McFarlene to vent his frustrations with Hollywood and even taking several jabs at some high profile flicks.

The villains of the film range from a wealthy rich man to a duo of creepy fans giving the film it’s necessary doses of douchebaggery and fanboyism and are clearly caricatures of how McFarlene views corporate people and creepy fans alike.

Mark Wahlberg is the innocent guy with a heart of gold and is only wanting the two most important people in his life to happily co-exist amongst eachother while Mila Kunis plays the understanding and considerably charming girlfriend that gives the film a real and great female angle to the overall cast.

And then there’s Ted. He’s just awesome. I’m the sort of guy who likes his raunchy humor like hot sauce. I’ll take as much as I can get on my plate because I love it so damn much. Ted is full of twisted comedy and vulgar language and it’s just so damn funny most of the time.

The film has some problems but overally if you like comedies and anything to do with Family Guy, there’s tons of the voice actors in this film from the show, you’ll absolutely want to give Ted a look.

But if you’re boring, close minded and dislike having fun this film is not for you. Go watch it, Ted is a great time.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“With great material comes a great game.”

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN is the movie-tie in game to the flick of the same name. It takes place a little while after the events of the film and the story is set up with the emergence of cross-species experiments escaping from OSCORP and the threat of a technological armageddon in the making. The game is developed by BEENOX, the team that made previous Spiderman games such as SHATTERED DIMENSIONS and EDGE OF TIME. This is however, much better than anything they’ve ever created before and stands as a game that finally shows the gaming community that you can indeed craft a compelling and surprisingly exciting game out of a movie property. 

You’ll be facing off against gigantic killer robots, a rogues gallery with plenty of interesting encounters and tons of criminals and other things to keep you busy. The best part about AMAZING is that almost half of the coolest things in the game are completely optional. For example, Rhino and Black Cat don’t have anything to do with the story but are awesome encounters if you choose to seek them out but it’s not necessary to the plot.

The game boasts good visuals, amazing sense of movement and perpetual freedom as Spidey swings at mach speed in his concrete jungle zipping past busy buses and running in-between apartment buildings as he dodges missles from cross-species mechs, rounds from ground sniper teams and the occasional car chase or petty crime theft that needs rectifying. 

The game is so good at making you feel like Spiderman himself. From jumping off a huge building and swinging your way through the city it never gets old or tiring to shoot another web as you fling yourself stories into the air only to pause time for a brief moment and choose your next tactical move.

This is probably one of my favourite new additions to Spiderman, WEB RUSH.

Essentially “Web Rush” is the ability to stop everything for a second like Spiderman’s signature Spidey Sense and make decisions that can greatly change the outcome of your situation. Imagine swinging through the city and having to stop a car chase, seeing the criminals but zipping by as you frustratingly do trial and error until you eventually sort of reach your objective.

That isn’t this game.

Instead as you swing by majestically you stop, not completely for Web Rush has a timer that eventually runs out then you’ll slowly fall to the ground if you can’t make up your mind, and you can choose multiple vantage points which in sequence show Spidey maneuver his environment in ridiculously cool ways instead of just being static and only swinging.

Nothing is more rewarding in the game then Web Rushing across a skyscraper, swinging from a pole then running along the roof of a city bus as it’s moving then leaping up in the air webslinging through a intersection then vaulting yourself masterfully onto the hood of the criminals car.

It’s just plain exciting to watch and play.

I also enjoyed how Spidey’s suit gets damaged over time and reflects the state he’s in. You can look all pristine then by the end of a mission or boss battle look like someone threw you in a blender full of knives and the end result is a blood stained, costume ripped total ass kicked looking superhero. 

The story is surprisingly good featuring some interesting characters and a misguided villain. All the cameos and side missions rule from hints that there’s more to this situation then meets the eye. Respectful nods to characters like Hydro Man, Vulture and even Mister Negative are made along with a good amount of actual villains being in the game.

Villains such as Scorpion, Rhino and Iguana litter the city as you’re tasked with finding out what they want and how you’re going to stop them. The extras are also some of the best extras in any game with entire full length HD comicbooks available to stream from the first issue of Spiderman ever to the introductions of characters like Rhino and Scorpion.

There’s so much superhero goodness to go around in the game that it just made me excited to jump into every mission and fix all the problems NYC had. I ended up doing all the sidequests and never felt annoyed by what I had to do. I ended the game with a decent run time as well.

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN is a game that any self respecting fan of Spiderman should get and enjoy at their own leisure. It’s full of Spidey’s rogues gallery, has a pretty good story and excites you for what’s next in the movies and games alike featuring everyones favourite webhead.

It also alludes to fan favourites possibly being in the movies or future games. Characters like Otto Octavius, Norman Osborn and a very specific alien-esque villain that everyone loves.

It has it’s fair share of minor problems and little shortcomings but this is a game that truly shows you that all you need to do sometimes is let go and just have fun. And that’s THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN in a nutshell.

Go get it, play it and enjoy it. This is a great game that really makes you feel like your Spiderman and that alone is enough warrant for purchase. Plus there’s bonus costumes. Sweet! It’s also my favourite Spiderman game to date, yup even better than Web of Shadows! Get it!

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

The next major comicbook team to join the ever growing cinematic universe of the Marvel is the peculiar and awesome team known as THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. The team is a collection of other worldly beings from multiple different planets brought together under one ideal to protect the universe from certain destruction.

Basically, THE AVENGERS in freaking space.

This is a good idea because the team directly connects to a many number of plot points and stories already established in the movie universes we already have. After the credits of THE AVENGERS it’s revealed that the main villain is none other than Thanos himself.

Well Adam Warlock, the man directly connected to Thanos is apart of Guardians. Other characters include Star-Lord who is a intergalactic space cowboy badass bounter hunter, Drax The Destroyer a man who’s single purpose is to murder Thanos himself, and looks like a green skinned Kratos, even obtuse characters like the goddamn Rocket Racoon. 

The basic story is that the guardians are from the future where they battle with the hilariously badly named alien race, The Badoons. This race starts swallowing planets and the team decides to go back in time to find help stumbling upon a group of people we call THE AVENGERS.

The movie will also apparently link itself to THE AVENGERS 2 which will come out in 2015 after the new Ironman, Captain America, Thor and all the other stuff comes out first. And According to Latino Review, the script is penned by Nicole Perlman and is said to be ridiculously awesome and amazing to boot.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY flick will storm into theaters sometime in 2014 and if this means I get to see the gun-wielding intergalactic space badass known as Rocket Raccoon, I’m more than excited. 

Gotta love being a geek!

By Milan J

“The best movie title of the year.”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER is a movie that I went into with extremely low expectations. I saw the trailer for this film and saw cheesy slow-mo action scenes and thought this was going to either be the most ridiculous waste of my time or a really interesting and cool experience.

Thank god it was the second one.

The flick tells the tale of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of The United States of America and re-tells the origin story of petty commoner to the man who would shape one of the most powerful nations in history. Oh yeah and there’s these things called vampires that are tossed in for good mix.

This film could have easily of derailed so fast with such a concept but is miraculously handled well as the story shifts from real world events to badass action scenes where Abraham Lincoln annihilates hordes of the undead with nothing but his awesome silver axe/blunderbuss shotgun of ultimate doom.

The film really comes into its own when the story shifts from Abe’s younger years to his time rallying the troops during the American Revolutionary War. In the second half of the film is where the story really does actually shine as were shown that Abe and his armies are losing the fight not because of opposing human forces but because vampires are swarming his men with their demonic hellish fangs. 

Then the ever exciting vampire hunter segments come into play and toss in a few quips that show the seasoned president by day badass by night use various hunting techniques and almost superhuman abilities to vanquish the darkness that looks to destroy his country and his people.

I can’t stress just how cool of a concept this really is. It’s so refreshingly cynical, brutal and hilariously awesome to see such a prominent political figure be used in a way that will please historical nerds and plain geeks a like. 

At the heart this is a history lesson of how America was established as a country but is drizzled with just the right sort of science fiction to really make this period piece one of my favorite history movies in a long long time.

There are issues from the film running a little longer than it should have, the villains being a little one dimensional and some truly cheesy moments and a few hoo-hum parts but it’s overall a gem of a film that makes you smile and root for this badass twist on someone you would never even imagine in such a manner.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER wins not only the best movie title of the year by far but it wins in being a film that will strangely excite you and laugh at the obscurity of genres that are blended into this historical film. It will also be a little rough around the edges and display a somewhat boring love story to boot.

But at the end of the day this is a flick about a freaking president of a country in a giant hat and a ridiculous beard killing the creatures of the night and that alone warrants a ticket of admission.

This is just bananas crazy, it’s truly badass.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“Change your fate”

BRAVE is the next flick from Disney and Pixar and tells the story of Merida, a princess who wants to decide her own fate and freedom and live a life under the rule of only herself and not that of tradition. After trying to be forced into marriage Merida searches for a way to change fate, finds it, then basically asks for a refund.

This is BRAVE in a nutshell.

Is it good? Yeah. I mean, in a way I guess yeah. The first half of the film is clearly a lot stronger and memorable than the second half as the fire locked hair of the films heroine dazzles in amazing animation as she argues with her parents, shows her independence and is refreshingly strong willed and physically able to take care of herself which easily puts her above previous Disney princesses in terms of overall inner strength.

Looking like what would be the love child of Marvel Comics’ Hawkeye and Black Widow, Merida is pretty cool overall. The supporting cast is equally as good from Merida’s over-bearing mother and fun loving father as well as the trio of mischief triplets and the other clans leaders and seemingly semi-idiotic offsprings.

But like I said before this movie does fall apart quite a bit once the actual problem arises. The basic concept of the problem is an interesting one and something I could see being a very interesting tale if it was told in a more mature manner but seeing as how this is a film crafted for children it instead falls a little flat in several areas.

The villain of the film, if you can even say there is one really in this film, is not very interesting and never expanded upon. The fate of the characters is never dire and you pretty much know how it’s all going to end up. Too much of the film is the heroine and her companions rushing around the two major locations in the film as were treated to similar environments constantly leaving a very “meh” feel to the overall experience.

The film is gorgeous as usual since it being created by the legendary PIXAR team and has very beautiful music from the Scottish influences soaring through the feature from the bag pipes and orchestral scores. But this is more a film for mothers and daughters to enjoy personally as that’s one of the major concepts of the entire films existence.

Ultimately it’s about defying our own fate and showing that as long as we are brave enough to face our own destinies are we actually able to forge our own paths. And I like that, it’s a good message to send to kids instead of what the other Disney princesses convey as seen in most of them being pathetic women who are just damsels in distress being able to accomplish utterly nothing until a man comes along to save them.

Merida is refreshing, I liked the music and the animations are top notch I just didn’t connect very well to the overall problem and felt it was sort of a predictable movie. But the message is strong and it’s still a good movie.

Just don’t expect the next UP or THE INCREDIBLES. By the way, we get a CARS 2 sequel but not one to THE INCREDIBLES? Come on PIXAR. Watch BRAVE if you must but it’s not going to wow you like previous films from PIXAR. But you will dig it for the most part.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.5 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“A shadow of a story.”

SECRET is a story about well…I’m not too sure to be completely honest just yet. What I can tell you so far anyway that there’s espionage, tons of hacking and lots of corporate businesses hanging in the balance of a problem not quite revealed just yet.

The story follows Grant, a man well versed in the ways of hacking entire infrastructures and dabbling in some really heavy stuff that makes the world go the way it’s supposed to. It’s hard to talk about a book with a name as blatant as it is. This book keeps a lot from you, you’re never quite sure what to expect or who is evil and if there is any good left in the world to begin with.

The language and content is graphic and is rightfully so as this is a story about the brutality of keeping secrets that can unravel entire industries and economies. I feel like I’m talking out of my ass a little here because the story is in its infancy and there’s a lot of questions as to what’s going on exactly.

Is Grant a villain? This company he works for called Steadfast, are they in the best interests of society? What was that all about with his father? Passwords? Teeth? It’s intriguing to see where this story is gonna go ‘cause as of now there isn’t even a solid villain or anything.

Like read these two pages to get a feel of how good this book reads and all that.

The visuals rock, the writing is grade A stuff and the choice of colours in the panels are interesting from the soft warm colours showing moments of compassion or even violence like seen above and when the panels go dark and blue the story gets all serious and cryptic. It’s interesting how the colour scheme almost makes your mind instantly turn on to a certain emotion instantly as soon as the colour is present in the panels you’re seeing it’s great stuff.

So far SECRET is a compelling new and thrilling series offering a much more adult and intellectual take on modern comics. It’s only going to get more shady, dark and twisted from here. And it’s only 2 issues in! #3 hits in July. Get on it now.

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

BY MILAN J

This next Tuesday is like an early Christmas for me. There’s so many good things coming out then. What exactly? I’ll give you a rundown.

1. DAWNGUARD

The first expansion pack to the wildly popular SKYRIM will hit on Tuesday. The story revolves around you the player being cast in an immortal war between vampire slayers and vampires alike in this stand alone story.

You can become one of the Dawnguard and repel the darkness and arm yourself with crossbows and other badass weaponry or accept the darkness and become a vampire lord and transform yourself into a figure of the night. Additionally it’s said vampires and werewolves will also now have skill trees that you can level up as well.

Can’t wait.

2. THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

This is probably one of my most anticipated games of the first half of the year. Open world Spiderman games just rule so hard with the free roaming and ability to swing around New York City just dishing out justice and wisecracking your way out of trouble.

AMAZING SPIDERMAN seems like a great addition to the brand with new combat, graphics, a larger open world and similarities to the game BATMAN ARKHAM CITY. It also is clearly tied to the movie of the same name and acts as an epilogue to the Spidey reboot which hits theaters on July 3rd. This looks great, I cannot WAIT to play it.

3. MASS EFFECT 3: EXTENDED CUT ENDING

This one was a long time coming, it’s the continuation of the ending of the original game that many gamers loved until the last twenty minutes when a murky and confusing ending killed it for many players.

This will actually be my most iffy thing to look forward to. I really hope it does justice to Mass Effect since I too wasn’t too crazy about the ending either. Guess I’ll see then, also it’s FREE!

4. MEMPHIS MAY FIRE’s new album, CHALLENGER

MMF’s new album is amazing. I’ve listened to it back to back to back probably thirty times already and it’s just great. It comes out officially this Tuesday and I’ll buy it just to support the band but lemme tell you if you want some really badass slick new wave of Metal, look no further than CHALLENGER. 

5. LINKIN PARK’s new album, LIVING THINGS

This is a great addition to LP’s signature sound and play-style and features some really great tracks on it. It’s not as good as Meteora but it stands tall and far beyond better than their last few albums.

I’ve also listened to this entire album probably ten times and it’s a good one. Some really great stuff on here, give it a listen when it drops this Tuesday as well.

———

And that’s it for TUESDAY so far. It’s got some great stuff on the way, looking forward to it! Probably will play MASS EFFECT 3’s ending first then hop onto SPIDERMAN then when I’m done with that head onto DAWNGUARD probably. 

Tuesday can’t come soon enough!

- MILAN J

After all the backlash from fans with the original ending to the excellent MASS EFFECT 3, Bioware has listened and is releasing an extended ending with additional endings, cinematics and epilogues to further allow fans to experience an end to this saga that feels more personalized.

But will it be good? Check back on release day when I’ll write up on the ending to my favorite science fiction trilogy of all time.

MASS EFFECT 3: Extended Cut DLC lands on TUESDAY JUNE 26th 2012 for X-Box 360, Ps3 and PC. And it’s FREE.

Can’t wait to see what happens, I chose the DESTROY ending. Excited!

- MILAN J

“We Fight.”

SAGA #4 is the next chapter in one of my favorite new series of the year. Again it blends slick and interesting dialogue with wonderful artwork and visually stunning worlds that really captures the abstract side of our imaginations.

Chapter four begins with The Will and Lying Cat arriving to the world of Sextillion. It’s a planet full of whores, sluts and slaves where people come from all over the galaxy to get pleasure and probably diseases too. The world of Sextillion is vibrant and funky and really gives the term “Red Light District” a whole other dimension.

The inhabitants of this world are awkward and creepy such as the huge headed women with nothing but legs and one of the owners looking like a creepy slime bag with a face as long as a skateboard and huge grating teeth and suspicious eyes. What ends up happening on this visit shows a more clear headed view of The Will, let’s leave it at that.

On the other hand we also get to see what’s going on with Marko, Alana, Hazel and the newest addition to the cast Izabel the ghost punk rock chick who again steals the show with hilarious comments about how to breastfeed even though she was never old enough to do so and trying to act like a marriage counsellor which again she also has no experience in whatsoever. But it’s still entertaining nonetheless.

We also learn of Marko’s love life and in these moments Brian K. Vaughan should be commended for how he gives distinct personalities to his characters that reflect their insecurities in a humane way that allows the reader to really feel for this cast. They show jealousy and the personality traits of looking for compliments just to boost their own ego. It’s just great.

This issue was more of a transition issue to a bigger problem but it was full of enough reveals and in-depth looks at our heroes that it was still entertaining to visit the world of SAGA again. This is a book no one should miss, it honestly doesn’t get more wild, fun and eye opening than this excellent series.

This is my favorite book series of this year so far, some great stuff here. SAGA #4 comes out today and it’s already flying off the shelves! ( I got the last copy at my local shop and it was only 11am! ) Go read it! If you can find an issue that is.

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

By Milan Jegenjan 

“No More Avengers.”

After five issues with questionable storytelling AVX has finally solidified itself as a force to be reckoned with this awesome step forward for the series. Everyone believed The Phoenix Force was heading for Hope Summers when it was really heading for not one but all the X-Men.

This is Act 2 of this mega storyline showing what happens after Ironman attempts to halt the Phoenix by attacking it with a countermeasure he was developing since the beginning of this event but what should have stopped the Phoenix itself instead splintered it and cause five X-Men to become gods. Because what’s worse than one Phoenix? How about FIVE of them.

The Phoenix Force includes Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik and Namor the goddamn Submariner himself. Not only have these characters become messiahs of life and death but have become so powerful and ethereal that they begin immediately changing the course of history by providing free renewable energy for the entire world by creating a source of power out of super villains and eventually Cyclops gives the entire world an ultimatum. 

The request is simple: Stop creating weapons, stop fighting one another and learn to accept each others differences if you want this world to grow together as a unified world. Naturally the United Nations takes ill to this idea as the Phoenix Force itself now controls the planet and when Scarlet Witch has a vision of the future The Avengers bounce right into action to stop the coming X-Men/Phoenix messiah apocalypse that will burn away all of mankind and begin evolution anew.

Finally all the battling, bickering and questions have paid off with this excellent set up to a danger where the stakes are so high the slightest bit of miscalculations can lead to all seven billion people on Earth being wiped away on a single whim. And so Captain America ‘n’ Ironman spring into action a plan to steal Hope Summers.

Divisions start to divide The Avengers between if the Phoenix Force itself is nothing more than the new hope of the universe and what leads to a special ops mission to recover the person who was in the middle of this all to begin with sparks a fury within Cyclops that could possibly lead to dramatically altering effects to Marvel Comics.

It’s wonderful to see Cyclops as the central villain in this plot. He’s so dark and badass and is the single most powerful person on the planet showcasing his amazing feats by creating the Utopia for the mutant race in a matter of days and standing up to Thor and defeating him almost too easily while mocking the fact that being a god means nothing anymore.

This is what a major crossover event should be like. Great new villains, fascinating ideals between major characters and the possibility and uncertainty of what will become of the X-Men and more importantly, the rest of the planet.

What happens next? I can’t wait to find out. 

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

By Milan Jegenjan

Tomorrow is the day I’ve been waiting for! SAGA #4 is coming in at the comic stores! EEEEEP <3

“Silence is a virtue.”

GHOST RECON FUTURE SOLDIER is developed by UBISOFT PARIS, RED STORM and ROMANIA and stars four elite operative soldiers armed with the latest and greatest in technology in the world leading them to be called “Ghosts” respectively.

The story starts up with four Ghosts being killed in a terrorist accident that leads to the deployment of Hunter squad where you the player take control of Kosek, a Russian-American badass who along with his squad must find out what this new Russian terrorist group dubbed Raven’s Rock is truly after and what it means for the rest of the world.

The story is predictable, the characters are somewhat memorable with only Kosek and Fergueson, your captain of Hunter squad being the only two characters I might even walk away from this story and be like, “Yeah they were pretty cool.” Everyone else? Who cares. The bad guys are one dimensional and boring and the enemies are nothing but cannon fodder for you to stab, shoot and make pansies out of really.

Gameplay wise the game shines when it comes to stealth combat. The most rewarding sections of the game are when you and the rest of your squad silently moves invisible to the naked eye as you use drones, night and magnetic vision and easy to use button prompts that lead to slick takedowns that really make you feel like you’re a badass Ghost. 

The game takes a lot of creative ideas from a far more superior game called Splinter Cell Conviction with the ability to mark and execute enemies on the fly and the visual presentation of text displaying where to go and which country you’re in just in case you forgot that Russia has snow in it and Pakistan looks like…well Pakistan. I also enjoyed the tight camera that zooms in on Kosek as enemies fire down on your cover and really adds a nice cinematic touch to the overall feeling of the battle.

Another thing this game nails down is the cover system. You get into cover, easily enough, then if you choose to head forward to another spot a easy to use arrow will display where you will end up if you choose to roadie run to your new destination. It’s quick, slick and just damn right great how easy it is to go from behind a pillar as soldiers destroy the object you’re hiding behind only to hit one button and suddenly be running forward and getting behind a more sturdy structure. I loved it.

The environments range from sort of lackluster to suddenly gorgeous as you travel from many countries with standout missions in Africa, Pakistan and Norway. The worst part of the game however is the painfully awful lip synch and facial animations which really detracted me from the whole story when some reporter who is trying to make the situation look dire and instead looks like someone dubbed an old Chinese kung fu movie as nothing really lines up. And the characters faces, ughhh. So bad sometimes. 

GHOST RECON FUTURE SOLDIER is a mixed bag with some really great elements and unnecessary problems that seem like they could have been fixed so easily if the team just applied to these situations. It’s sort of simple to play, the story is predictable and the facial animations are downright horrid. But it makes up with gratifying stealth gameplay, surprisingly intuitive AI that helps you most of the time and some really cool moments where the game goes from being a rehash of past experiences to a, “Oh shit” moment.

If you like squad based shooters with an emphasis on stealth you’ll enjoy the latest entry in the GHOST RECON franchise otherwise I’d say wait ‘til it drops in price before you delve deep into this adventure. And enough with the Russians being bad guys it’s getting annoying guys.

OVERALL SCORE: 8 out of 10

BY MILAN JEGENJAN

“Rockstar does it again.”

MAX PAYNE 3 is a game I didn’t think I’d enjoy, I’ll admit from the get go I haven’t played the previous games prior to this one. Thankfully though I knew the story due to my cousin spewing every plot point in my face when I was younger so I had a good idea of what was going on.

MP3 is developed by ROCKSTAR, one of the greatest videogame developers in the business today responsible for games such as the wildly popular GRAND THEFT AUTO series and the masterfully beautiful game known as RED DEAD REDEMPTION. MP3 is a different beast as it’s not open world such as previous ROCKSTAR games but instead follows a very linear character driven story in the heart of crime.

Speaking of the story, it’s absolutely fantastic. The backdrop for this adventure is that Max has been lost since the death of his loved ones and ends up taking a job to protect a powerful family that has hands in all the wrong places in the criminal underworld, Hollywood and other unknown sources. The story is constantly engaging with stylish cutscenes and fantastic voice work and sound effects.

From the beautifully crafted environments ranging from lively night clubs, favelas and the ghettos the games environments constantly change and offer up a new obstacle, a new cinematic event or plain maddeningly fun gameplay sequences as Max swings from chains in slow mo popping fools in the face like it’s Christmas and the occasional shocking moment where something you can’t believe happened happens.

There’s not much to complain about with this game really. The gameplay is fluid, brutal and absolutely rewarding as the game shows the graphic violence that ensues as Max kills enemies with a large variety of weapons at his disposal. I love ROCKSTAR for their attention to detail and it shows in how Max isn’t a superhero, he can’t carry a gazillion guns all over him.

Instead the game takes a realistic approach in that you can carry two side arms such as pistols, magnums or sub machine guns and a larger weapon such as a rifle or shotgun as well. But if you choose to use dual pistols for example Max drops his assault rifle to the ground to use his dual guns because he obviously can’t hold the shotgun as well. And I love how when you use one gun Max is constantly holding the larger weapon in his other free hand showing you that this guy doesn’t have a plan physically and mentally he’s just going with instinct and I absolutely loved this.

The multi-player is also pretty fun but being the kind of gamer I am I care much more for story, characters and attention to detail then running online to shoot random people I don’t know. Call me what you want but I only care about multi-player in a very small number of games ( Halo, Gears of War, Call of Duty I guess ) 

Let’s just say this, Max Payne 3 is one of those great games that you play and are genuinely surprised constantly by what’s shown to you. The gruesome set pieces, the unreal amount of detail in this world and a story that really shows you the dark side of what humans are capable of to achieve a goal they want absolutely warrants you to play this game if you are an enthusiast for stories and great memorable characters and moments.

This is Rockstar showing the game industry how to craft a single player shooting game. You don’t need to blow up the Eiffel Tower or make it another generic “Oh shit we gotta stop those Russians again!” storyline and really delve deep into what makes us drive ourselves to obtain what we always wanted in life and if what we believe is considered morally correct and expendable in this place we call society.

It’s just a damn fine game. 

OVERALL SCORE: 9 out of 10

By Milan Jegenjan

I FUCKING HATE MISPLACING SHIT. RRRRRHGHGHGFFUUUCCKKK