Tag Archive: hell


Secret Six #32 Review

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April 6, 2011

Originally Published: April 6, 2011, on Comicvine.com

The Secret Six confront Ragdoll in hell itself in the hopes of still being able to revive Knockout and go back to the land of the living. Ragdoll though has a few other ideas especially when it comes to the “Get Out of Hell Free” card!

The Good

This depiction of hell is an interesting one and to see everyone’s reaction when Ragdoll reveals they will all end up there gives minor character development to all characters in a matter of a couple of pages. The most telling with this is Bane who nearly breaks down when he argues that he still has an honor code and Ragdoll tells him that men who do what he’s done but have honor codes are used as landfill for the compost heaps in hell.

The humor of the comic is still also evident even though the setting has shifted to the most abominable of places as Ragdoll, Deadshot, and even King Shark have some nice one-liners and banter as the comic progresses and we learn just what happened to Ragdoll when he wished himself to hell.

Couple this with a surprise ending that reveals what has happened to Knockout and if you’ve been reading the Secret Six, now is not the time to stop.

The Bad

Not a lot of action and when it does erupt the pages just seem convoluted with the various foes the Secret Six find themselves up against.

And although the banter is enjoyable at times, the entire comic is really just one long argument between Ragdoll and Scandel as to who should hold the “Get Out of Hell” free card and what has become of Knockout since she came to hell. I would have loved a lot more input from Deadshot and Bane especially after his near breakdown when he learns he is not destined for the pearly gates, but to cross the River Styx instead.

This is also a bad time to jump into the comic since it is the middle part of a three-part arc not to mention there has clearly been a lot of build up to this between Ragdoll, Scandel, and the others.

The Verdict

For the middle part of a three-part arc, I was expecting a bit more action, but the plot was forwarded considerably so hopefully the time for talking is done come part three. I also hope this leads to some issues with Bane down the road and explores his difficulty in accepting his fate.

If you’ve been reading the Secret Six, this is no time to stop now as I’m sure this arc will end explosively next issue and still maintain that spark of humor even in hell, but this is also definitely not the time to be jumping into this comic if you’re looking to add something to your weekly pull list.

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Wolverine #7 Review

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March 30, 2011

Originally Published: March 30, 2011, on Comicvine.com

After knocking the Devil himself off his throne in hell, Wolverine must now exorcise the demons in possession of his earthly body. But can he eliminate the threat in his own mind before his friends eliminate him altogether?

The Good

The middle part of this 3-part arc did exactly what it is supposed to do in ramping up the action successfully on both fronts. Wolverine lets loose some of his worst memories in order to help him fight the demons and we see some awesome montages of Wolverines past and present including the ones from his Weapon X and Department H days.

On the physical front, we see the demons pray on the weaknesses of the X-Men Cyclops has brought with him, like making the water boil when fighting Namor or bombarding Magneto with flashbacks of concentration camps, and turn Cyke’s plan completely on its head until some unexpected help arrives from the living ladies in Wolverine’s life.

The Bad

If you haven’t been picking up this series, this is not the issue to jump into things with. And even though this is billed as the second part of a three-issue arc, you really need to have read the opening five-issue arc to really understand what is going on.

On top of this, there are plot holes abound with the regular X-Men continuity. For example, when Wolverine’s lady friends show up to help provide mental support, Jubilee is in tow with them. Last I checked, she was a vampire and couldn’t walk out in the middle of the day as her blood transfusions from Wolverine only provide resistance against limited UV light and this is never addressed. Include showing Nightcrawler and the Phoenix Force symbol at various points inside Wolverine’s mind and this arc looks to be coming to a very predictable end.

The Verdict

This comic gives fans of Wolverine everything they’ve come to expect. They show his depth as a character, his perseverance as a hero, and just why he is the best there is at what he does. It also shows how much of an effect he has had on the people around him over the years.

Despite all this, there are plot holes that will be noticeable to people reading the X-books right now. For a book that did a great job of holding your attention and kept you guessing through its first six issues, Wolverine #7 makes some very predictable turns. If you have been reading Wolverine up to this point then this issue forwards the plot enough to make it worthwhile, but newcomers to the series should look to hold off until the beginning of the next arc.

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Dante’s Inferno Review for the PS3

Filed under: CGR Undertow — Leave a comment
January 17, 2011

Originally Published: January 14, 2011, on youtube.com/CGRUndertow

As a part of CGR Undertow, I reviewed Dante’s Inferno for the PS3 from EA. Following the first chapter of the revered Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri, Dante’s Inferno has you dive through all 9 circles of hell in order to save your beloved Beatrice.

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The Highway to Hell

Filed under: Written — Leave a comment
April 20, 2010

Originally Published: July 31, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Examiner.com, and Lundberg.me

Fallen angels, hellfire-based powers, mind-control, and a lost god are all rolled into the new game for the Xbox 360, Infernal: Hell’s Vengeance. You would think that all these amazing action elements would spell a sure winner, but this port of the 2007 third-person shooter for the PC, Infernal, should have stayed put.

The basic plot has you playing as Ryan Lennox, a renegade angel whose methods were called into question a few times too often by the holiest of causes and is banished to the earthly plane. His amazing talent with a firearm draws the attention of Lucifer, though, and he offers Ryan the chance to serve him in an attempt to maintain the balance between good and evil as heaven has supposedly procured a weapon that would vanquish sin from the Earth for all time. Now an agent of vengeance, Ryan Lennox must fight both an internal and external battle to maintain the eternal balance.

A decent sounding plot aside, this game is abysmal. The glitches in this atrocity are beyond anything I have ever seen on the current generation of consoles. Freezing after dying, while saving, and/or just standing around and you have easily the most frustrating gaming experience that I’ve had in years.

And that is just from the glitches! Never mind that there is no auto-save or quick save feature so when you do actually get into the plot of the game, on those rare occurrences, and forget to save and then die and get flung back two levels…THAT’S FRUSTRATION.

I understand how easy it is for a PC game to be directly ported to the Xbox due to the Microsoft connection, but you have to fix these small, irritating, repetitive errors when you do because console players expect a more streamlined playing experience than those who deal with the PC.

Add in that the graphics haven’t been brought up to speed and do not take advantage of the 360’s capabilities, the music is annoyingly repetitive, and the A.I. tries to overwhelm you more with sheer numbers than any sort of strategy, and you have a horrible gaming experience reminiscent of Goldeneye: Rouge Agent. There is no stealth required in this game and it is more about conserving ammo as you mow down seemingly limitless enemies in each room as the game tries to hold your attention through five sleep inducing levels.

Infernal: Hell’s Vengeance was full of potential considering the abilities to wrap your bullets in hell-fire, teleport, and consume people’s souls for energy. The lack of polish on this game, though, along with a plethora of glitches and a poorly implemented plot leaves me with no choice but to only recommend this game if you find it at the bottom of the $5 bargain bin somewhere.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 5.0: Infernal: Hell’s Vengeance looks exactly like the PC game it was ported from. No upgrades or polish added to visuals that were only on par in 2007 leaves this at a sub-par level now, especially considering the capabilities of the Xbox 360. This game is best described as visually lackluster and dull.

Audio: 4.0: Repetitive, uninspired music really takes away from the already poor experience with this game. On top of this, the voice acting sounds like it was done by a cast of anime voiceover rejects. The SFX are solid and is the only audible saving grace for Infernal: Hell’s Vengeance.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.0: This gets a passing score because the overall plot is actually an awesome idea. Fallen angels trying to maintain the balance between good and evil sounds like it could be full of great action sequences that would keep you entertained for a long while. Due to awful story telling and glitches galore, though, the plot is implemented poorly and knocks this back down.

Gameplay: 1.0: Considering all the glitches, lag, and lack of firing accuracy (that’s a big problem since it is a third-person shooter) and I could not give this anything more than my worst possible score.

Replay Value: 2.0: Aside from the three difficulty levels, there is nothing to bring you back to play this again, especially since you should be able to beat the entire game on the hardest difficulty without much effort, just like I did.

Overall (not an average): 3.0: Horrible glitches, abysmal gameplay, no replay value, and a lackluster attempt on the peripherals leaves this game towards the bottom of the bargain bin at best. This was a pitiful effort on porting over what was once a decent PC game over to the Xbox 360. I expected much more from this effort and am horribly disappointed. I would avoid this game at all costs.

Infernal: Hell’s Vengeance is available now for Xbox 360.

-Ray Carsillo

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