Category: Written


EGM Interview: The Secret World’s Martin Bruusgaard

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July 9, 2012

Set in a world just like ours, The Secret World asks what would be if all the monsters, myths, and legends we’ve told over the years were actually true…and gives you a chance to kick their butts. We sat down with Martin Bruusgaard, Lead Designer on The Secret World to pick his brain about it all as the game launches today.

EGM: Instead of your typical class or level systems, The Secret World touts being ‘highly customizable’ when it comes to your characters so there isn’t the standard level grind of a lot of other MMOs. How do you think this will affect the draw of your game to the more hardcore MMO player who is used to these systems and how does this customization feature work in powering up your character?

Martin Bruusgaard, Lead Designer: I think hardcore MMO-ers will find this as a very welcomed break from the norm. I think players have been waiting for a game where they’re not locked down to a class, but rather let the players forge their own play style. Remember that when you play a class, you are locked down to that class forever. If you want to try a new class you have to start a new character and then play through all the content you played before, while your friends are all in the endgame. In The Secret World you can swap out abilities whenever you want, except for when you’re in the middle of combat. This means that the different strategies to take down a difficult encounter multiplies thousand fold, and this has always been the design intent; To give players the freedom to make smart decisions, and reward them for it.

EGM: The game takes place all over the world in both real world locales and fictional settings. With the real world settings it is easy to draw inspiration from, but where did you get your designs for the mythical places your adventure in The Secret World will take you?

MB: What do you mean by fictional setting? Everything is true! Hehe, joke aside, we have a fantastic team who have investigated all types of myths and legends all around the world. We developed many different concepts for the different locations, and went with the ones that seemed most plausible in our real world setting. Since we are mimicking the real world, OUR real world, it’s very important that even the fictional locations are believable. We are trying hard to make it feel just like another place you can visit. What does El Dorado look like today? What is all this machinery doing in Hell? Play the game and find out!

EGM: Aside from these mythical locations, much of the game draws from various mythologies, local legends, and pop culture and even features time travel. How was it to try to strike a balance between these creative elements to make them still feel new and refreshing to players?

MB: As I mentioned, we have a great team that investigates all these different elements of our world, and a lot of the challenge are incorporating this into the game world in a believable fashion. I really hope players will appreciate the amount of research that has gotten into the game. Everything from NPC names, to item names to little snippets of information you can pick up through the lore system. Some players will probably enter our travel hub, and think “Cool, they have a travel hub”, but I hope most of our players will actually Google why it’s called Agartha…

EGM: A key to any MMO is PvP. Talk to us about how The Secret World‘s PvP works in a world without leveling and what makes it stand out from the competition. 

MB: First of all I should mention that we have 3 factions, The Templars, The Illuminati and The Dragon. Having three sides in PvP always creates more interesting gameplay. There’s never 2 sides just butting heads, but one always have to look out for that joker in the mix.

We have 3 different kinds of PvP. In each hub, we have a fight club, which is a free for all PvP arena. This is a perfect spot for players to practice dueling, or just to test out their builds. Players are also already making plans to host PvP tournaments there. In addition to that we have the Battlefields. These are legendary locations all over the world, which the secret societies fight over. The two locations we launched with are Stonehenge, and Eldorado. Stonehenge is a king of the hill type of match, where each of the three secret societies has sent a team of five players to battle over who gets to control the power of Stonehenge. In Eldorado, the secret societies have sent a team of 10 to battle over some ancient Mayan artifacts. This is a capture the flag type of gameplay, but the twist is that instead of bringing the flags back to your base, you have to pick a spot on the map and defend them with your life.

Finally we have the Warzones, which are persistent PvP playfields that can hold up to 275 players simultaneously. Players fight over control of different facilities, and the cool thing is that the bonus for controlling these facilities is distributed across the whole secret society, not just the ones fighting. So you can basically go in there, kick ass, and become the hero of your secret society, since they all benefit from your efforts.

EGM: Another thing that we noticed makes The Secret World stand out a bit is the audio. From the moans and groans of the undead to the citizens you try to help, it sounds like there is a voice actor for every character in the game! What went into the audio production in the game and how important do you think it is to setting the supernatural mood?

MB: We are putting huge emphasis on the sound in our game. We have gotten some fantastic music composed that really sets the tone perfectly if you’re walking in a back alley in London, exploring the forest in Transylvania or traversing the desert in Egypt. We have also gotten some world class voice actors to give life and soul to the various characters the players will encounter. We give out quests or missions as we call them, a bit differently in our game. The characters the players will meet in the game world will never ask for anything specific from the player, but rather tell them a snippet of their own life and the situation they’re in. Therefore it’s very important that their voices are first class, and that the players believe and empathize with them.

EGM: The elephant in the room is obviously you guys have a subscription base going in. You’re starting to see a lot of MMOs move towards the Free-to-play route. Was this ever an option for you guys? Is there a possibility of that happening in the future? What made you stick to this route?

MB: We’ve obviously considered several business models, and we concluded that the subscription model was the right one for The Secret World. There is definitely still room for the subscription MMO provided you can supply the level of quality both in the launch version as well as in the ongoing updates after launch.

EGM: You’re wrapping up the beta here as the game prepares to drop July 3rd. How important has the beta been towards making the push to the final product and making those last tweaks to the game world, especially so close to launch?

MB: It’s been incredibly valuable. We have had some fantastic testers, which actually focused on testing, instead of just playing the game for a couple of hours to see if they will buy the game at launch. We have reacted to their feedback continuously, and have patched very frequently. We have also set up runs with the testers where the developers went in as observers to see what issues the players were facing, what they could potentially exploit, measure the difficulty rating, etc.  It has been a very successful beta in our views, and we are very grateful to all our testers.

EGM: The game’s story does come to an end after a long and winding road, but are there any plans in the future for add-ons possibly already in the works or a fourth faction maybe to play as aside from the Dragons, Illuminati, or Templars? 

MB: We have lots of plans for the coming years! The story does not end, but a chapter finishes. It will give the players some closure and more understanding of The Secret World universe, but there are still questions to be answered. As the players play the game, they will realize that there are definitely other factions at play here, but if the players get to play as them remains to be seen. We will release our post launch plans, and our content update info relatively shortly after launch.

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The Pullbox – Issue 3.2

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A huge week last week means no surprise that this week was a bit of a lighter hit on the ol’ wallet. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have some quality comics though for us to deliver in this week’s Pullbox!

Marvel – Wolverine and the X-Men #12 – Wolverine and the Avengers continue to keep Hope away from the Phoenix Five as a massive fight breaks out in one of Wolverine’s favorite dive bars. Hope escapes though after Wolverine and Rachel Grey have an impassioned speech explaining both their cases and Rachel must return to Cyclops empty-handed.

So, I’ve been avoiding the whole Avengers vs X-Men event, but with the slim pickings this week, it was an inevitability. There were a lot of great things about this issue. The two-page spread of the Avengers amping up for battle was the first ‘Oh wow’ moment I’ve had in a while from a comic book in terms of art and with the cheap shots that Wolverine throws at Rachel like saying it’s great her mother wasn’t here to see this was just wonderful writing. It shows how personal this fight has really gotten. The only thing better was the ending where you see that Rachel starts to remember who she really is and Gladiator finally reaches Earth, setting up an epic fight for the next issue!

Marvel – X-Men Legacy #269 – Rogue starts coming into her own as she sees the real good that the Phoenix Five are doing and borrows Iceman’s powers for a short while to assist some folks down in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately for her, Ms. Marvel crashes the party (looking as hot as ever) looking to talk. Rogue isn’t really in a talking mood though.

Again, this issue shows how personal things are starting to get for a lot of these characters as Rogue tries to absorb Ms. Marvel’s powers again and Ms. Marvel freaks out as these two had a long and sordid history caused by Rogue absorbing too much for a long time and putting Ms. Marvel into a coma. The fight though between Rogue with a hint of Ms. Marvel’s power and a hint of Iceman’s versus a fully powered Ms. Marvel was epic to see play out, but I admit I was a little disappointed in how brash Rogue acted as it didn’t offer up a chance for the quality dialog like what we saw in Wolverine and the X-Men. The twist ending though with Magik helps us see where this whole event is going though as it looks like a lot of the X-Men not touched by the Phoenix may start rebelling soon.

DC – Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #1 (of 4) – The Nite Owl we know from Watchmen is actually a legacy hero, carrying on the mantle for the original when he grew too old. This book explores his origins, his relationship with Rorschach, and his first encounter with Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre, also a legacy hero at that point inheriting it from her mother.

Honestly, this Before Watchmen event has been hit or miss with me so far and DC is only batting .500. The Comedian book was stellar, Minutemen and Silk Spectre were both disappointing, but Nite Owl falls on the side of awesome. Seeing how young Daniel was inspired by robotics and designed a lot of his tech from an early age was something we never really saw from the character. Or the crush he instantly developed for Silk Spectre. His rapport with Rorschach was also comical and so this book lays an interesting foundation of action, humor, and romance in only its first couple dozen pages in this first of four mini-series.

DC – Green Lantern: New Guardians #10 – The Reach are on the verge of claiming the Hope Lanterns’ Power Battery, but Kyle, Arkillo, and Fatality arrive on the scene to provide aid and allow the Hope Lanterns to reach their full offensive potential. But is the battle already lost and what will happen should the Hope Power Battery fall into the wrong hands?

It’s rare to see the bad guys win in comics, but Kyle’s uncharacteristic lack of hope is the downfall for the group here. Saint Walker is not pleased with abandoning the homeworld of Hope and you may start to see some other lanterns exercise other emotions…like rage. I admit, this new Green Lantern monthly has slowed down some in the past few issues and it doesn’t seem to know what direction it wants to take. The characters are definitely dynamic enough if properly written, but aside from Arkillo and Saint Walker, no one has really stood out since the first couple of issues. If this trend continues, this monthly may no longer have a place in my box.

IDW – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #11 – The TMNT are still without Master Splinter, but a lucky break may point them in the direction they need to finally track down the Foot headquarters and bring home their father. Meanwhile, Splinter is trapped in a life or death battle against the entirety of the Foot Clan as the Shredder watches on!

Kevin Eastman’s return to comics with a re-launched TMNT has been glorious and this issue continues that trend. It’s build up to the battle we’ve longed to see between Splinter and Shredder is terrific and Splinter’s inner dialogue is something of pure beauty, only eclipsed by the banter the two ninja masters have with each other as Splinter takes down lackey after lackey. It will be interesting to see where the turtles themselves go from here though as the spotlight really hasn’t been on them for a couple of issues and if they can get to Splinter in time before exhaustion allows one of the Shredder’s deadly blades to hit a critical blow and just what will happen when they take on Shredder for the first time.

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EGM Review: The Walking Dead: Episode 2—Starved for Help

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Zombies aren’t always the biggest concern…

Continuing the five-part series based on Robert Kirkman’s celebrated comic book, Telltale’s second episode of The Walking Dead will leave you horrified, disgusted, and inexplicably craving more by the time you’re done.

Subtitled Starved for Help, this tale takes place three months after the end of the first episode and sees Lee, Clementine, and the rest of the survivors from the first chapter bunkering down in an abandoned motel. Running low on supplies and even lower on food, the group starts to turn on each other, with Kenny and Lilly vying the most to assert themselves as the alpha dogs. All seems lost, but other survivors suddenly approach the gate and offer a trade that seems too good to be true: food for fuel.

It turns out these survivors happen to own a dairy farm up the road, so Lee and the rest of the gang set out to explore the grounds in order to see whether a change in venue might give the group a better chance of surviving. But along the way, they run across bandits—and, when it seems like these aren’t just any ordinary old dairy farmers, Lee realizes that the zombies aren’t the only monsters out there in the world…

If you enjoyed the first episode of The Walking Dead, then Starved for Help definitely won’t disappoint. The continued character development of the core group—with the introduction of several new members to your ragtag band of survivors—constantly intrigues. All decisions and non-decisions are even more critical this time around, and I loved the fact that the zombie invasion really serves as more of a simple backdrop for this episode—the whole motif surrounding humanity’s dark side will make you rethink a lot of your decisions as the game unfolds. And all I can say is that I can’t wait until more of my friends play so that we can discuss certain scenarios and explore how we all handled them differently. Personally, I was in the minority for some and the majority for others; the stat tracker that illustrates how other Walking Dead players approached the game is a highlight of the experience.

That’s not to say that this episode is without its flaws, though. Lee’s walking pace is dreadful, and though this understandably builds suspense at times, it just feels like a drag most of the time—it takes forever to walk from one end of the farm to the other. I just wish that, in certain scenarios, the player could hold down a button, and he’d break out into a light jog. There’s a zombie apocalypse going on, man—show some hustle! I also love how, no matter how big an item Lee may add to his inventory, it magically disappears when he places it behind himself—like he’s got a wormhole in his butt that he uses to dispose of all large items.

If you love The Walking Dead and enjoy point-and-click adventures, though, this series may well be Telltale’s crowning achievement when all is said and done. Until then, we’ll all just have to endure the painful wait until the next episode, Long Road Ahead, finally becomes available later this year.

SUMMARY: The second episode in this five-part series cranks the twisted-ness up to 11—and may push you in directions you never even thought possible. 

  • THE GOOD: A twisted story chapter that shows zombies may not be the only monsters out there…
  • THE BAD: Lee’s lackluster walking pace needlessly extends the experience.
  • THE UGLY: Human-flavored beef.

SCORE: 9.0

The Walking Dead: Episode 2—Starved for Help is available on XBLA, PSN, and PC. Primary version reviewed was for XBLA. 

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The Sleeper Hold – Episode 3

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With Money in the Bank fast approaching, several wrestlers were revealed to be in contention for the fabled contract that guarantees a title shot at any time within 365 days of the PPV.

Main Plot Overview: Vickie Guerrero kicked the night off by excusing herself and saying she was Interim GM for this week’s Raw and Smackdown. The biggest news that Vickie revealed though was the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match would only be full of former champions themselves. So when John Cena revealed he would be partaking in his first Money in the Bank, along with Kane, Jericho, and Big Show, the stakes were immediately raised. Meanwhile CM Punk, the current title holder, will defend the WWE Championship that night anyway against Daniel Bryan after he won a triple threat match with Punk and Kane to kick things off.

Honestly, the biggest positive that comes from this is seeing John Cena back in the title hunt after being absent from that picture for almost a full year after losing the belt at Money in the Bank and then losing the re-unification match to CM Punk at Summerslam last year. Cena is at his best when the belt is involved and after this recent feud with Big Johnny and the Big Show seems to have won over a good portion of the crowd back to Cena’s side, now is the perfect time to re-insert him back into the picture. If we see ‘Super Cena’ too early though, the positive energy John has been getting lately may be flushed back down the toilet. Best outcome for the WWE Championship MITB? Jericho winning hands down.

Match of the Night: In terms of actual wrestling, this was one of the worst MNRs in a while as most matches were gimmick matches, but the US Championship match between Santino and Jack Swagger actually had a couple of nice spots to barely beat out the women’s match (I was very tempted to make this the Divas Summertime Beach Battle Brawl match it was so bad a night), and the Alberto Del Rio/Dolph Ziggler #1 Contender’s match (the Del Rio Samoan Drop from the second turnbuckle was the spot of the night for sure) and only that there was a cop out outcome where there would just be a triple threat match Friday for Sheamus’ World Heavyweight Championship kept that from getting match of the night.

Swagger and Santino are both very strong in the ring although their styles are completely different. Santino’ speed versus Swagger’s strength were clearly played up throughout. Santino hit his classic arm drag after doing a split to duck a clothesline and Swagger showed off his power by countering several moves into solid suplexes and power slams. So technically this was a very solid match. But in the end the Cobra would be Swagger’s undoing as Santino continues a remarkable run as the US Champion.

Promo of the Night: It was very unusual that RAW didn’t really have a promo to kick the night off and instead got very quickly into the Punk/Kane/Bryan triple threat match. Instead, the biggest promo of the night was John Cena’s ‘historic’ announcment where he said he would take part in MITB for the WWE Championship.

The promo started with John doing a horrible Star Wars parallel to recent events in the WWE, but we were all saved by Chris Jericho (after a very long Fozzy promo) who called Cena out on his arrogance and how he doesn’t know what he’s getting into at MITB. The best line of the promo though was Jericho making fun of Cena’s Star Wars promo that seemed dedicated to 9-year olds and then Cena pointing out that is the majority of their audience. Cena was also quick to point out that although Jericho has been in more MITB than anyone on the current roster, he’s also never won it. It was a great promo that really helps set the stage for the weeks to come and possible a Cena/Jericho/Big Show rivalry or maybe the return of Jeri-Show!

Shocker of the Night: RAW opened up with AJ (I love her) practicing how she was going to break up with her recent love interests in front of a mirror, but the shock came when she was backstage with Kane and the Big Red Machine beat her to it. Calling AJ’s sanity into question in a bit of delicious irony, Kane appreciated her affection but was too much of a monster to become involved with Daniel Bryan’s former flame. This entertaining moment was definitely a shock as it seemed Kane broke character to let her down gently, although it reality it was all part of AJ’s plan…I think.

Cheap Pop of the Night: Sycho Sid was a dominate force in the WWE and WCW when he was in his prime before a career ending leg injury forced the 6’ 9” mountain of a man into limited action and then retirement. So to see him come out for a match against Heath Slater as we continue the build up RAW’s 1000th episode was a great moment indeed. Sid looked very stiff in the ring, no surprise considering most of his one leg is an iron bar, but Slater took the bumps well and seeing Sid toss the ‘One-Man Band’ down with authority when he hit his finishing release powerbomb was definitely worthy of the cheap pop of the night.

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EGM Review: The Amazing Spider-Man

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Spider blood…spider blood…radioactive spider blood

The Amazing Spider-Man marks Beenox’s third Spider-Man game in as many years, after 2010’s Shattered Dimensions and 2011’s Edge of Time. But unlike the Quebec-based developer’s previous representations of everyone’s friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, this title marks a return to classic form for Spidey, as Beenox finally takes a shot at inserting Marvel’s webhead into an open-world New York City.

Taking place immediately after the events of the alternate-universe movie from which the game draws its inspiration, Amazing Spider-Man sees Spidey once again saving the city from a cataclysmic threat—and he’ll need to forge unusual alliances in order to overcome the hurdles thrown his way. And that’s all I’ll divulge; while the game spoils elements of the movie, I won’t ruin anything when it comes to the plot. Just trust me when I say that whether you’re for or against this Spider-Man relaunch, the Amazing Spider-Man spins an intriguing tale that features lots of entertaining callbacks from the wall-crawler’s history that’ll have old-school fans cheering—yet it still stays true to the new universe that the folks at Sony Pictures created for the film.

The most marked difference in Beenox’s open world comes from the camera angle; it pulls in tight on Spidey as he swings through a beautifully rendered digital Manhattan. This up-close, personal feel really imparts the proper sensation of swinging at high speeds through the concrete canyons. Unfortunately, when Spidey moves into indoor areas—such as when he infiltrates labs or goes deep into the sewers—the zoomed-in camera becomes a hindrance, as it makes wall-crawling and combat much more difficult.

And speaking of combat, that element sees an overhaul as well, as it takes a page from Batman: Arkham City and offers Spidey a new counter system. But instead of wavy lines appearing above enemy heads à la Arkham City, they appear above Spidey’s noggin as an indication that his Spider-Sense is tingling—and using the wall-crawler’s inherent super-agility to pull off impressive combos definitely feels rewarding. But the zoomed-in camera makes it difficult to see where all the enemies are at a given time—and to know just when you’re in or out of trouble. As a result, using Spider-Sense really becomes necessary, as many enemies like to lurk just off-camera.

Another new addition to Spidey’s arsenal is the Web Rush maneuver. Old-school fans will immediately see similarities to the Web Zip move from older Spider-Man games, but the Web Rush is interesting because you can pull it off just about anywhere, anytime—the game’s engine calculates, in real time, how Spidey would naturally get from Point A to Point B. Sure, the animation makes it look like he’s floating instead of actually using his superagility, but indoors, Web Rush is critical—and outdoors, it makes gathering the game’s 700 collectibles much easier.

Yes, I said 700 collectibles! That, unfortunately, is another downside here. Literally every corner in Manhattan is littered with digital comic-book pages, and if you’re a completist like myself, you’ll go insane trying to collect them all. I appreciate that these pages unlock some digital versions of key Spider-Man comics from which the game draws its inspiration, like the first appearance of Iguana (Spectacular Spider-Man #32) or the first appearance of Rhino (Amazing Spider-Man #41), but the bevy of collectibles, along with a plentiful amount of side missions similar those seen in older Spidey games, comes across as clutter that almost gets in the way of the story the game tries to tell.

Still, this is certainly a well-polished Spider-Man experience, and it’s rare that a movie game actually doesn’t suck. The story is intriguing, web-swinging is enjoyable, and you honestly can’t fault Beenox too much for cramming in so much content—after all, we’re usually complaining when it’s the other way around. I will warn you again, though, that you’ll probably enjoy the story a bit more if you actually see the movie first, which means you’ll have to wait at least another week before playing the game. It’ll be worth the wait, though—all Spider-Man fans will enjoy this novel, twisted take on one of comics’ most iconic heroes.

SUMMARY: The best Spider-Man adventure in years isn’t quite what it should’ve been. Developer Beenox actually crams too much into the package, cluttering what could’ve been a landmark tale for Marvel’s wall-crawler. 

  • THE GOOD: Best web-swinging mechanics in years.
  • THE BAD: Way too many collectibles and side missions clutter up the main experience.
  • THE UGLY: Rhino, Iguana, and Vermin cross that line in a three-way tie.

SCORE: 8.0

The Amazing Spider-Man is available on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, DS, PC, and iOS. Primary version reviewed was for Xbox 360. 

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EGM Review: Resident Evil: Chronicles: HD Collection

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July 8, 2012

Don’t forget to bring an Umbrella

Serving as a refresher course on the bulk of the Resident Evil series before Resident Evil 6 hits this October, Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection pairs the previously released Umbrella Chronicles and Darkside Chronicles for the Wii, gives them an HD facelift, and delivers them on a silver platter for less than $30 on the PS3. And, considering the amount of content here, if you haven’t played these on-rails renditions of the original classic Resident Evil game—or the originals, period—you should definitely jump on this bargain.

But if you’ve played these titles previously and remember all the way back to 1996 (when the first Resident Evil released), there really isn’t much here that you haven’t already seen. Not to mention that if you lack a Move controller, you’re out of luck altogether. Sure, seeing the original Resident Evil titles from a first-person, on-rails arcade-shooter perspective might be interesting, as they offer slightly different takes on the in-game events. Aside from reliving the major beats of this iconic survival-horror franchise from a different viewpoint, though, there’s just nothing new to suck you in.

Umbrella Chronicles follows Resident Evil Zero, the original Resident Evil, and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. What’s interesting here, though, is that the between-level narration comes via the viewpoint of the franchise’s longtime antagonist, Albert Wesker. The final level is original to Umbrella Chronicles (though not the collection) and offers you the chance to play as Wesker as he attempts to remove Umbrella’s most important files from a Russian stronghold while Chris and Jill try to take it down.

Darkside Chronicles follows Resident Evil 2 and Code: Veronica and also sees its own original chapter (again, not original to the collection) that centers around the personal loss of many of the series’ more popular protagonists.

I will say that if you’ve never played these games before, there’s a chance you could easily get addicted if you’re a lightgun fiend. The action plays out like a classic arcade game, with plenty of collectibles in each level that help flesh out the Resident Evil backstory. And, much like the Wiimote did during these games’ first run, the Move controller works perfectly for on-rails action like this, especially if you’ve got the Sharp Shooter attachment.

Again, the major drawback here is that if you’ve played these games before, there’s really no point in picking them up again aside from the promise of crisper graphics—and this isn’t a title that, by itself, is going to sell you on a Move controller. But if you haven’t played these games and have a Move controller, you can’t go wrong if you’re looking to kill a few hours with some classic arcade lightgun action based on a story millions of gamers already know and love.

SUMMARY: Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection is a solid pairing considering the price tag, but with nothing new besides the HD facelift, there’s little here to entice veteran players.  

  • THE GOOD: Plenty of content for the low price point.
  • THE BAD: Nothing new aside from the improved graphics.
  • THE UGLY: Nemesis is even uglier in HD.

SCORE: 7.0

Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection is a PS3 exclusive.

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EGM Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

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Four gore and seven years ago…

By the time we’re probably about 10 years old, if not younger, we all know who Abraham Lincoln is and we continue to learn about him throughout out lives. And because of this we all know the major talking points about him. He freed the slaves, saved the Union, and was assassinated in a theater (there’s obviously a lot more, but I’m not writing a biography here). But what if there was more to him than what we knew in our history books?

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, based off the book of the same name, is the fun, over-the-top, action-packed ‘what if?’ story about out 16th President and if the driving force behind many of his greatest moments in history was really all just part of his unending campaign to destroy the undead bloodsuckers.

Starting off in his early childhood with his parents as indentured servants, Abe rushes to the aide of an African-American friend of his named Will Johnson who was being whipped for no good reason. When the taskmaster looks to strike Abe as well for interjecting, Abe’s father rushes in and strikes the man. The landowner that Abe’s family works for doesn’t take kindly to this and threatens to collect all his debts that evening. And indeed he does as that night, the man enters the Lincoln home, reveals himself as a vampire, and drains Abe’s mother right before his eyes as he peered through the cracks in the bunk above. Thus, Abe’s lifelong quest for vengeance began.

It is also after this that the movie quickly changes pace from something a bit more suspenseful to straight up action with a small dose of comedy along the way. If you’re looking to be scared folks, this definitely isn’t the movie for you. If you’re looking for some deep, moving experience, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a dude dressed like Abe Lincoln to act like a badass and chop off vampires’ heads with an axe, you’ve come to the right place, and in that regard, this movie is very solid.

The fight scenes are well planned out and indeed, young Abe, and even older Abe, comes off looking like someone who knows well what he’s doing. And with the History channel-like narration, you almost believe that this could have all actually happened as the movie does a wonderful job of buying so deeply into the idea of vampires being a real threat to the well-being of our nation in the mid-19th century.

The acting is also solid throughout from all major players, but Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturges, Abe’s vamp killing mentor, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln steal the show though on the whole.

The only real drawbacks I think for the movie is the fact that the character development is relatively weak, especially when it comes to Abe’s training as a vampire hunter, which very much used the montage method to blow through it. The definition of the vampire menace was also very unclear, relying on only a few lines of dialogue to explain the differences between the vampires Abe faces and the ones people have come to expect from other forms of media. For example, the vampires in this movie can go in the sun, whereas it is widely accepted that this is the one true weakness to the undead.

Aside from this though, if you’re looking for some mindless fun from a well-made action flick, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a solid choice. Good acting, great action sequences, a little bit of humor, and even a few nods to history that folks might find enjoyable round out a solid night at the movies.

SCORE: 7.5

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The Pullbox – Issue #2.2

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A huge week for comics this week and so it was hard to pick what five to give you folks reviews on. We continue to steer clear of the major Marvel event with Avengers vs X-Men mostly because it would be hard to jump into right now and I don’t want some of the other great titles to get lost. We also have a new comic from Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead that highlights our indie pick. And DC maintains the course. So, here is this week’s Pullbox!

DC – Green Lantern Corps #10 – John Stewart’s verdict has been passed down by the Alpha Lanterns, but even the Guardians are somewhat shocked that they’ve called for Stewart’s death. Guy Gardner won’t be having that though!

John Stewart always seems to be a moral compass for the Green Lantern Corps and issues that tend to be polarizing seem to always surround this character. So this story that deals with duty, honor, commitment, and a lot of other military-like values really does a great job of sticking true to form. On the other side of the coin, the brash Guy Gardner stays true to form as well as he orchestrated Stewart’s prison break. What’s most interesting though is how the rest of the Corps has rallied around Stewart and his big break out from prison is only the beginning of what looks to be an epic fight between the Alpha Lanterns and the Corps in the next issue. Plus, it will be interesting to see how the more villainous acting Guardians react to all this even further down the line. Right now, this is probably the best read of the Green Lantern monthlies and this issue continues that trend as well.

DC – Red Hood and the Outlaws #10 – Never a dull moment is to be had for our three favorite rejects. Shortly after the Night of the Owls incident has calmed down, Roy, Jason, and Kori are having some quiet time with loved ones. But right as Red Hood was in the middle of something, Starfire is visited by some old friends from her home planet and she is called back into action to fight for them…and Roy and Jason come along for the ride!

This is one of my favorite books of the ‘New 52’ and much of it revolves around the dynamic that Arsenal (Roy Harper), Red Hood (Jason Todd), and Starfire all have with one another. Plus Starfire may be the best drawn character in DC right now. I’m not sure exactly where this storyline is headed, but with possibilities of Starfire’s sister being involved, it could have an old school Teen Titans feel to it, which could be an interesting aside from how the book started and then the brief Night of the Owls interlude with Mr. Freeze. All I know is that this is usually near the top of my reading list every month and although this issue was a little slow, it’s yet to disappoint as a whole. Not to mention I’m absolutely loving Kenneth Rocafort’s art on this series. It’s just very visually striking and I love how he makes things stand out or blend together depending on the message needing to be sent.

Marvel – Winter Soldier #7 – A sleeper agent named Leo Novokov that Bucky Barnes trained years ago has been forcibly awakened. With no mission and little recollection of his past, all he wants now is vengeance on Bucky for what has happened and he will do anything to accomplish this, including forcibly removing anyone and everyone that is related to Bucky in any way from the picture. I think he’ll get the message.

Ed Brubaker’s work on this book so far has been absolutely stellar. Tying Cold War era spy story motifs into modern super heroes has been brilliant and the dynamic between Bucky, the Black Widow, and their handler should be turned into a handbook for a lot of other writers out there when it comes to interaction. Couple that with an intriguing story where Bucky’s past as Winter Soldier keeps coming back to haunt him in ways where there is always some crazy twist and this has been a fun and enjoyable ride thus far and I can’t wait to see how it continues from here. 

Marvel – Daredevil #14 – With the Omega Drive supposedly taken out of the picture, the five families of Mega Crime are in shambles after taking themselves out trying to get it back from Daredevil. Matt Murdock is indeed mighty pleased with himself. Until he is suddenly teleported to Latveria and must face the wrath of Victor von Doom who had his own plans for the Omega Drive!

Daredevil has been a constant joy every month and this issue leaves us on yet another cliffhanger as Matt Murdock’s world goes from bad to worse. His sudden disappearance is once again destroying his personal life and his crimefighting life may be down the toilet as for revenge for disposing of the Omega Drive, one of Doom’s cronies has infected Daredevil with nanites that are meant to remove all his remaining senses. And without his other senses to guide him, Daredevil is all but lost. I can’t wait to see how he gets out of this one next month. Maybe a little help from his friends, the Avengers?

Top Cow/Image – Hardcore #1 – A top of the line assassin named Drake never sees his targets. At least not in person. No, this assassin uses advanced technology that allows him to ‘plug-in’ to those close to his targets, monitor them for several days, and the pull the trigger with no one the wiser. They simply think the person has gone mad. And just before the puppet triggerman is done away with, Drake jacks out. But what happens if someone tires to do something to Drake’s body while he’s jacked in?

Part of Top Cow’s ‘Pilot Season’ two years ago, this one shot by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman has finally been turned into a monthly and it definitely looks intriguing as the twist in this first issue is a doozy and sets up an exciting start to this series. With Drake suspended in stasis while his consciousness is in another’s body, he has only 72 hours to use the borrowed body to save the real one that is under attack right now. Chock full of action, this book looks to be something that everyone should add to their pullbox right now if they enjoy a little conspiracy theory stuff thrown in with their violence as this book blew me away.

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EGM Review: LEGO Batman 2: DC Superheroes

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You can call me…JOKER!

In my mind, the major issue holding the Lego videogame franchise back since its 2005 debut has been the strict guidelines to which the games adhere, since they’re all based on established properties. Mind you, they’re all terrific franchises: Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and soon, Lord of the Rings. But one game in the series that bucked that trend was the first Lego Batman. Though the Caped Crusader’s clearly an established property, the story didn’t limit itself to a comic book, cartoon, or movie story arc—and many of us celebrated that fact.

Flash forward four years after the release of the first Lego Batman, and developer Traveller’s Tales has decided to forgo their proven-successful mold once more with Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes. Not only does this entry provide players with an original storyline, but it also marks several significant series firsts. Midlevel checkpoints might be one of the more noticeable changes, as the size and scale of each story level is several times larger than anything else seen to date in the Lego franchise. The game also includes a centralized hub world—in this case, Lego Gotham City—that connects players to many of the major plot points.

But let’s get to the biggest change: talking! For the first time ever, each character in the game actually speaks and doesn’t just mime their intentions or resort to physical humor to get a point across. Now, that’s not to say that the childish Lego slapstick’s been entirely done away with—there’s just a bit less of it. And DC Superheroes’ cast is more or less a Who’s Who of voice actors, with Nolan North, Rob Paulsen, Claudia Black, Tara Strong, Jennifer Hale, and many more—spearheaded by Clancy Brown, who reprises his DC Animated role of Lex Luthor.

But as always, it’s that classic Lego gameplay model of destroying and rebuilding everything in your path—and the kooky plot at the center of it all—that really makes DC Superheroes. And, of course, as our tale unfolds, the Joker’s back up to his old hijinks; he crashes the Gotham “Man of the Year” awards, demanding that he should be the recipient. Bruce Wayne, the actual winner, makes a quick costume change into Batman and proceeds to apprehend his longtime nemesis. But Lex Luthor, also in attendance, decides that working with the Joker to possibly help rig his upcoming presidential run could be just what he needs to change his address to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And so, as soon as the Joker lands back in Arkham Asylum, Lex busts him out. A nefarious duo of such epic proportions might be too much for even Batman to handle, so the entire Justice League comes in to lend their support.

More so than any Lego game to date, this one should strike a chord with audiences of all ages. Older Batfans will appreciate several moments that pay homage to Adam West, Michael Keaton, and essentially every actor who’s worn the cape and cowl over the years, while younger players will love being able to break apart and rebuild an entirely interactive Gotham. And with the expanded roster of the Justice League at your command, exploring the same area with different characters can make DC Superheroes seem like a whole new adventure each time—not to mention that you’ll need to switch often if you want to find every secret red or golden block.

The expanded Gotham does provide some navigational problems, though. Although the game includes a map feature—and you can place markers that create a Fable-like trail in the ground comprised of Lego studs—the markers blend too easily into the background and can be confused with those you pick up as currency to unlock characters. And while there’s also a compass in the upper-left corner of your HUD when in the Gotham hub world, it’s difficult to really tell where you want to go, especially when soaring around in the Batwing or taking hairpin turns in the Batmobile—the compass spins around faster than the Flash on a straightaway!

Despite these occasional navigational issues, though, this is still the most complete experience you’re likely to get in a Lego game. Whether it’s taking to the air as Superman, making constructs as the Green Lantern, or just sticking to the main story as the Dark Knight and rocking out in his iconic vehicles, gamers of all ages should be able to appreciate what Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes brings to the table.

SUMMARY: Easily the best Lego game yet, Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes’ expansive world, original story, and bevy of unlockables should please fans of all ages.  

  • THE GOOD: Massive world, entertaining original story.
  • THE BAD: Easy to get lost in Lego Gotham.
  • THE UGLY: Aquaman. Aquaman is always the answer to this one.

SCORE: 9.5

Lego Batman 2: DC Superheros is available on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, DS, 3DS, and PS Vita. Primary version reviewed was for the Xbox 360. 

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The Sleeper Hold – Episode 2

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With the fallout of No Way Out starting to settle, it was definitely one of the less interesting Monday Night Raw’s I’ve seen in a while. Being one of the last of the 2-hour episodes though, I’m sure everyone was trying to take it easy after one of the better WWE PPVs in quite some time and I’m sure some folks mailed it in.

Main Plot Overview: John Laurinaitis is finally gone. Embarrassingly fired the night before, Interim General Manager for the week, Mick Foley (RAW was in Uniondale, NY, very close to where Mick lives and he received a great hand) allowed Big Johnny one last goodbye to the WWE Universe. Instead, Laurinaitis belittled the raucous Long Island crowd and revealed he had set up a 3-on-1 handicap match between Otunga, Big Show, and himself versus John Cena before the steel cage match the night before. Mick said there was nothing he could do about that, but he personally set up a tag match between Daniel Bryan and Kane versus CM Punk and Sheamus that would get the night started.

Later in the evening, both Otunga and Big Show would walk out on Big Johnny since neither has to work for him anymore and in a crowd rallying beat down, John Cena performed three AA’s before making him submit. A final farewell indeed to Mr. Laurinaitis. We still don’t know who will become the permanent GM though of RAW and Smackdown, although Teddy Long remains the hands down favorite, especially after watching Laurinaitis’s final beat down ringside.

Match of the Night: The feud between Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger had been simmering for some time now. Last night, Ziggler took that simmering pan and beat Swagger over the head with it. Although one of the shorter matches of the night, it was also one of the few that actually had a conclusive finish with no real outside interference. In a match that looks to be the end of the tag team, Swagger and Ziggler put on an impressive show as both wrestlers show how technically sound they are in the ring.  Swagger took the early advantage, looking to have damaged Ziggler’s knee, but a surprise Zig Zag saw the Show Off emerge victorious. We then saw another surprise as Ziggler locked lips with Vickie Guerrero to celebrate his victory as Swagger was left stunned and managerless in the ring.

Promo of the Night: Although Mick Foley’s classic humor was evident throughout the show’s open, the promo of the night was clearly when ECW founder, and current legal representation for Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman came to the ring to tell HHH that Lesnar does not want to face him at Summerslam.

HHH then came out though sand said Lesnar would because his ego wouldn’t have it any other way. Heyman then began to goad HHH in a way that only great heels can and finally forced HHH to knock Heyman out with a surprise right hand that sent Heyman flying.

Heyman, whether his more natural heel persona or a face, always can’t help but draw eyeballs to him when he’s in a ring. He may not have the physique of a wrestler, but his charisma pulls people to him like flies to cow dung and going against a pro’s pro with the mic in HHH was a great moment.

Shocker of the Night: The previously mentioned tag match between CM Punk and Sheamus vs Kane and Daniel Bryan had a guest visit from none other than AJ. It’s not so much that her continued presence in that twisted love-quadrangle that was a shock, but that she came skipping to the ring in a rejected Harley Quinn set of tights and a Kane mask.

Just like the previous two times, the Big Red Machine left ring side in confusion, lust, and whatever else is supposed to go on behind that mask and left Bryan all alone to be decimated by Punk and Sheamus. The most shocking part of all this though may be how much the WWE is dragging this out before Kane snaps and this storyline comes to an end. But, much like CM Punk, I dig crazy chicks and so the more AJ stays around, the happier I actually am.

Cheap Pop of the Night: After a more than 20-year absence from the ring, Cyndi Lauper came out with WWE Hall of Famer Wendi Richter and current Divas Champion Layla for a brief ceremony. The ceremony was cut short by Heath Slater unfortunately who wished to show off his singing ability. Saving the day though was good ol’ Rowdy Roddy Piper who was also on hand to present Cyndi Lauper with a special gold record. When Heath wouldn’t shut up, Cyndi smashed him over the head with the glass frame, actually cutting Slater if you looked closely.

The cheap pop though, aside from Roddy’s very presence, was the mentioning of Captain Lou Albano several times. Anyone who is a fan of wrestling was a fan of Lou and so when Roddy mentioned several times in his speech, the crowd erupted. It was a sign of respect, love, and admiration for one of the great wrestlers of the last generation, but it was also a little cheap.

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