Batman: Arkham Asylum

Directed By: Sefton Hill
Written By: Paul Dini
Voice Cast:
Kevin Conroy
Mark Hamill
Arleen Sorkin
Kimberly Brooks
Tom Kane

“Welcome to the madhouse Batman! I set a trap and you sprung it gloriously!” – Joker

Batman Arkham Asylum comes after a slew of subpar Batman games and in 2009 we Batman fans finally got the videogame we deserved and the one we needed.

Batman takes Joker to Arkham Asylum after he foils yet another one of his mad plots. After handing joker over to the Arkham guards he decides that something’s not right, that he gave up too easily, he was right. Joker gets loose and with the help of Harley Quinn completely takes over the asylum and lets free all of its inhabitants. It takes the saying of the inmates taking over the asylum to feverishly new heights.

This is everything a Bat-fan can hope for in a game based on the caped crusader. My favorite Bat-scribe Paul Dini was hired to script the game which tiled the game into my favor even before it was released.

There is a great combat system in place (the free flow combat system). You can beat criminals up in style, just as Batman would. You can also utilize Batman’s predatory stealth abilities and use the shadows to strike terror into the hearts of the inmates. There is a feature called detective mode which can be turned on at any time to see more than the naked eye and get info on your surroundings, you can even see enemies heart rates and if they are: calm, terrified etc. These combines to make you really become the “The Worlds Greatest Detective”.

Detective Mode

Through the years I began to lose hope that a great Batman game would ever be released. I owned Batman: Vengeance (the game based on Batman: The Animated Series), a good game but lacking to some degree and there was the game based on Batman Begins which I never played but didn’t hear much good things. So I wasn’t expecting anything amazing to come from any Batman game.

Freeflow Combat

The greatest superhero game up until 2009 was Spider-Man 2 (based on the movie) which I saw as the pinnacle of the superhero gaming genre. By the time 2009 rolled around and the trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum started making the rounds, I thought wow this looks really good! When I finally got my hands on the game I was fully blown away. The main voice actors from Batman: T.A.S on voice duty, Paul Dini writing and Rocksteady on stellar form this game was such a joy to play through from start to finish.

As great as the character design is and the voice actors are in there respective roles, maybe the best character is Arkham Asylum itself with its meticulous gothic architecture and design that really evokes a dark and creepy atmosphere. It’s really something to behold, as you have free roam of the iconic madhouse from Bat-lore.

The map is jam packed with Easter eggs relating to the Batman mythos. Most of these can be found while completing the Riddler side story that runs throughout the game where you have to solve riddles and find trophies.

All the boss fights are well designed and fun. A standout is the Scarecrow’s fear toxin induced nightmare sequences. By far the best in the game is the Killer Croc battle which depending on how you react to horror movies might just scare the piss out of you, but at the least will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.

This game is phenomenal and you don’t need to be a Batman fan to love it. (Although you will definitely appreciate it more if you are). This is an outstanding game in its own right not just a fantastic superhero game.

10/10 – Cody

10/10 – Michael

  8/10 – Matthew

10/10 – John

   N/A – Jason

95%

 

 

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Directed By: Hideo Kojima

Written By: Hideo Kojima & Tomokazu Fukushima

Story By: Hideo Kojima

Starring: 

David Hayter

Quinton Flynn

Christopher Randolph

Lara Cody

Vanessa Marshall

Paul Eiding

John Cygan

Jennifer Hale

“Land, Friends, dignity, all sold to the highest bidder, The United States Of America!” – Colonel Gurlukovich

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is the 2001 follow up to Hideo Kojima’s 1998 masterpiece Metal Gear Solid.

Following the incident on Shadow Mosses island players once again gain control of Solid Snake. Snake has started his own anti Metal Gear organisation “philanthropy” with Otacon. After reports of the US marines unveiling a Metal Gear (Metal Gear Ray) Snake gets himself onto the tanker just off Manhattan where the unveiling is to take place. His mission is to acquire evidence of “Ray”  and get this evidence back to Otacon. This relatively simple sounding plan goes to hell however, as Snake arrives on the tanker so too does a team of mercenaries who take over, this is just the beginning. Soon thereafter Revolver Ocelot (Shalashaska) comes aboard and hijacks “Ray”. The mayhem caused by Revolver Ocelot leads to the sinking of the tanker and apparent death of Solid Snake.

2 years later FOXHOUND agent Raiden is sent to infiltrate the Big Shell and off shore decontamination facility set up after the oil spill caused by the Manhattan tanker incident. The Big Shell is where the president is being held hostage, after a routine inspection is interrupted by a terrorist group who call themselves the Sons of Liberty who take control of and threaten to blow up the Big Shell (this would ignite the crude oil in the Manhattan Harbor and burn the chlorides used during the cleanup, creating high levels of dioxins that would wipe out the bay’s ecosystem and become the worst environmental disaster in history) unless they a receive 30 billion dollars. On top of this the terrorist leader claims to be Solid Snake.

Gameplay wise this was quite an improvement over MGS1. The you were now able to aim and shoot in first person view, so now you can shoot at any area of an enemies body and when you shoot the enemies react accordingly.

First Person Aim

The graphics are a world better than in the first game, the textures are so much smoother and the people now have more defined features.

MGS1 Graphics

MGS2 Graphics

Harry Gregson-Williams’ score is superb. Every time i hear the theme song I get an overwhelming urge to play this game.

A fair number of Metal Gear Solid fans didn’t like Raiden when he was introduced all the way back in 2001, calling the change in protagonists from Snake to Raiden a bait and switch. Raiden is an interesting character, he is on his first field mission unlike Solid Snake who is a legendary soldier, this I think makes him a more relatable character to gamers, maybe not as cool as Solid Snake but a good character in his own right.

The story telling i this game is high caliber. When players are not in control the story is told through long cinematic and visually stunning cutscenes. The story is also told through codec conversations.

The Codec

In the codec conversations there is a wealth of great dialogue and funny back n’ forths between characters. The codec can be used at anytime and is a clever in-game hint system if you call someone when you are stuck for what to do.

Some great stealth gameplay, fantastic score and a brilliant story make for a must-play game.

10/10 – Cody

  8/10 – Jason

  N/A – Michael

  N/A – Matthew

  N/A – John

90%

 

Army Of Darkness (Evil Dead III)

Directed By: Sam Raimi

Written By: Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi

Starring:

Bruce Campbell

Embeth Davidtz

Ian Abercrombie

Hail to the king, baby – Ash

 

 

Alright you Primitive Screwheads, listen up! You see this? This… is my boomstick! – Ash

 

I’ve got news for you pal, you ain’t leadin’ but two things, right now: Jack and shit… and Jack left town – Ash

Bruce Campbell returns to kick undead ass and spurt one-liners as Ash in this madcap third outing in the Evil Dead franchise

After Ash is accidentally transported back to the 13th century, he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead which he unwittingly unleashed in order to return home

Army of Darkness is clearly the most extravagant of the Evil Dead films. Here Sam Raimi tones down the horror and ups the ante on the humour which undoubtedly make for a more entertaining movie to watch than the first Evil Dead. I am not entirely sure if it was the best of ideas as I really do love the horror aspect of the previous two films.

While Evil Dead 2 was far better for having introduced comedy, to mainly do away with the horror was a bold move but they didn’t go too far wrong, as they did add a combination witty one-liners and more deadite killing action into the franchise which makes for an entertaining viewing

Writing and directing is good in this film and Bruce Campbell is just as great as ever playing an action hero Ash. The special effects are good but by today’s standards are noticeably dated

Army of Darkness may not be great but it is great fun and is definitely worth a watch

  7/10 – Cody

10/10 – Matthew

  6/10 – Jason

  N/A – Michael

  N/A – John

77%

 

Kick Ass 2

Directed by: Jeff Wadlow

 

Written by: Jeff Wadlow

 

Starring:

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Chloe Grace Moretz

Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Jim Carrey

Morris Chestnut

Claudia Lee

Donald Faison

Let’s do some gratuitous violence
– Norman Reedus (Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day)

This is the highly awaited sequel to 2010’s Kick-Ass

When I heard that they were making a sequel to Kick-Ass, I was excited to say the least, when I heard that Mathew Vaughn wasn’t directing it I was very disappointed and when I saw the trailer when it first came out I became skeptical but I did go to see it anyway because I wanted to see what they are doing with the series.

The plot of this movie, again follows Dave Lizewski as Kick Ass and his dealing with everyday high school life, the story also involves Mindy Mcready (Hit Girl) simultaneously trying to adjust to her new life after the events of the first movie. The movie shows these two characters trying to manage their time between being Kick Ass and Hit Girl to being just regular teenagers. The conflict of the film comes as Chis D’Amico, still enraged after the events that unfolded in the first Kick Ass, is trying to set out to be the “Worlds First Super-Villain” and is assembling an evil team to cause destruction and also kill Kick Ass in the Process.

This film disappointed me a huge amount, it is a large dip in quality from the original and comes off to me as kind of cartoonish.

Ultimately where this movie fails is the fact that it is too intent on trying to show “cool” action sequences with gratuitous violence, an abundance of swearing and flashy things happening on screen than it is with character development and the evolving nature of the relationships between characters.

The plot is sloppy and seems thrown together as an excuse to show a number of action sequences.

There are a couple of good points to the movie, Chloe Grace Moretz is once again in great form as Hit Girl and really steals the show for the most part of the movie and there is a few new characters who are quite good, but the best of the new characters by far is Col. Stars and Stripes (played well by Jim Carrey).

The action scenes in this movie are undoubtedly going to entertain a good number of people but the lack of an interesting plot and failure to add anything new (apart from minor characters) to the series, has led me to advise fans of the original to wait until the movie comes out on dvd so they can rent it rather that go to the cinema to see it.

4/10 – Cody

4/10 – Jason

N/A – Matthew

N/A – Michael

N/A – John

40%

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Directed By: J.J Abrams

 

Written by:

Roberto Orci

Alex Kurtzman

Damon Lindelof

 

Starring:

Chris Pine

Zachary Quinto

Benedict Cumberbatch

Zoe Saldana

Karl Urban

Simon Pegg

You think you world is safe? It is an illusion. A comforting lie told to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance. So, shall we begin?– John Harrison

The needs of the many are greater than the need of the few – Spock (originally from Charles Dickins)

I was highly awaiting this sequel to the 2009 action blockbuster Star Trek and after a week into its release i finally got around to going to see it in the cinema

After Starfleet comes under attack by intergalactic terrorist John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a mission into a war-zone to catch him

This movie is action packed and it is very good right from its fast paced opening right to the very end

The acting in in this movie is really good all around especially from the three main leads

Title of the movie makes it seem like a dark dramatic film but really it has frequent funny moments that are there to relieve you from the drama

After watching this movie I can safely say that J.J Abrams has done a great job of bringing Star Trek to a new generation of people and this piece of highly entertaining cinema will please fans of the original series and people new to the Star Trek universe, if they are to make a sequel I will happily turn up at the cinema and I trust the direction this franchise is going in

I really love the way these two new Star Trek films are Reboots but also sequels to the original Star Trek television series and they handle doing this very well

7/10 – Cody

7/10 – Michael

70%