The Elder Scrolls Online - The Arrival Cinematic Trailer

Zach Goodier

Hey guys, have a new Elder Scrolls Online trailer for you.  It's been up for the last couple of days, but I'm sharing it in case anyone out there has missed it.  This introduces what looks to be the main conflict in the game aside from the apparent PvP driven faction conflicts.  Apparently, some form of deadra come into Tamriel and introduce an undead plague in their brief incursion into our world.  While this is a new concept to the Elder Scrolls games, there are a pair of novels that already delved into a similar type of concept.  

These books, titled "The Elder Scrolls: The Infernal City" and "Elder Scrolls: Lord of Souls" are a 2-part story involving a city that crosses over into Tamriel from Oblivion, and creates an army of undead servants that begin wreaking havoc, and eventually attack the Imperial City.  This concept seems to have either served as inspiration for this games conflict, or it is all entirely coincidental, which seems an odd coincidence.  The books are set between the Oblivion Crisis and the return of the dragons, so this game couldn't be cover this event since the setting is centuries before either of the games take place.  

I'm interested to hear more of the villains, and just how they fit into the story, quests, and the game as a whole.  It could be interesting to band together with rivals to fight these deadra, and their undead army.  It could also be interesting to compete with rivals to be the first to resolve this crisis and destroy them.  The potential dynamic between reluctant allies or bitter rivals against a common foe could provide a great deal of entertainment and excitement as the game unfolds, but we still have a bit of a wait until the game releases, so we'll just have to see.

Bleach 566: What is Your Fear?

Zach Goodier

This week, we start up a new round of battles, this time with Rukia facing As Nodt, "The Fear."  Renji is also being pursued, but he hasn't been openly engaged yet.  The chapter opens with a flashback to just before Rukia and Renji arrived on the battlefield, discussing their plan to hide after finishing a battle so that they don't become surrounded by the enemy.  By using guerrilla tactics, they apparently hope to get the jump on some of the sternritter before arriving at their base for a final attack on the stronghold.  However, it appears that they might have a tough go of it before they even get the chance to regroup for their assault.  However, Rukia was able to get help for Rose and Kensei, who were badly wounded in their fight with "The Superstar."

After the last chapter, it's really interesting to see what happens, since even if Rukia and Renji go around dominating their battles, it seems like they would only be making Ywhach even stronger, or at least stopping his power from diminishing.  So it looks like even though the Soul Society appears to have some momentum built up, with Rukia and Renji arriving as backup, in the long-run it might be problematic if Yhwach becomes stronger due to the elimination of the Quincy army. It will be interesting to see how events continue to unfold, and when and how the other characters will become involved, such and Ginjo, Sado, Orihime, Urahara, and all the other returning/supporting characters that have yet to join the fray.

Dead Space 3

Zach Goodier

Isaac Clarke is back, and there’s more necromorphs to be dismembered.  This time around, you’re heading to the Marker homeworld, in a quest to finish off the menace once and for all.  However, the Unitologists are hot on your heels, and they want to make sure that “convergence” takes place, which means killing you and allowing the Markers to spread their signal throughout the universe.  However, Isaac in not alone, he has help from the last battalion of EarthGov at his back, but the odds are still stacked against him.  Can you end the menace once and for all? Or is the universe doomed to suffer the extinction of all life?

You've seen monsters like this before, but when they've had 200 years to make themselves at home, it somehow feels even scarier than ever, since you truly feel like you're on their turf this time around.

Story:

For starters, you begin the game 200 years before the current point in the story, playing as a soldier on Tau Volantis serving with a Sovereign Colonies unit exploring the icy world.  They are already in the midst of a Necromorph infestation when you start, and your job is to recover a “codex” needed to somehow end the Necromorph infestation on the colony.  Without getting into spoilers too much, that story serves as a prologue, which then leads into Isaac, who is struggling with living his life after surviving 2 encounters with Necromorphs and all of the marker knowledge swimming in his head. You’ll start out on New Horizons colony, where you quickly have to run off to Tau Volantis on the, being pursued by Unitologist terrorists who have overthrown EarthGov and taken control of the markers, and have begun using them to spread Necromorphs throughout the settled worlds of humanity. 

Danik is a guy I had mixed feelings towards. On one hand, I understood that since humanity has eaten and built its way into the corner Al Gore has been warning us about, he is trying to find a solution.  On the other hand.... HE KEEPS TRYING TO KILL ISAAC... Not cool, bro.

Gameplay:

You really have already played this game, just like in 2, but that’s not a bad thing.  One of the differences, however, is that you now have to fight against humans, as well as Necros.  Unitologist militants provide an interesting element to combat, and they definitely add a new challenge to an already challenging scenario. 

You'll spend a good chunk of the early game navigating a derelict fleet, before heading down to the planet... None of the locals are friendly, though.

Another big change is the ability to build custom weapons and modifications to create a potentially massive arsenal, although the ability to only carry 2 at a time is a little bit of a disappointment.  Ammo is now generalized, with one type going to every weapon.  This means you no longer have to juggle 4 types of ammunition trying to keep yourself stocked for whatever lies behind the next blood-covered door. 

Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Lord Cthulhu?

The scares are more of the same, but once again, that’s not a bad thing.  There are new Necros, and some of the classics return.  The scenery changes frequently, as your arrival on Tau Volantis starts with a struggle to find a new ship among the remnants of the Sovereign Colonies fleet, which has been derelict for the past 200 years.  Scary right from the start, right? I mean, of course they must be empty, right? 

While I wasn't able to delve into co-op very much, it does provide a thrilling way to game with your friends, and makes the darkness feel a little less perilous when you have backup.

There is one major element of the Dead Space series that has turned me off a bit, and this game only accentuated it even more for me.  For example, at one point in the game, you have to find a shuttle in order to get down to the planet.  Now, after heading across the ship to find the shuttle in the rear hangar, you find the shuttle, only to find that it needs parts before it can be ready to launch.  So, you fight around the hangar, fighting Necros and gathering the parts before you can assemble what you need.  You do that, then you find out the shuttle is out of fuel, so then you have to go to the rear section and go through the refueling process.  THEN, after that, you find out the hangar door is jammed and you have to head to the upper section above the hangar and un-jam the gears before you can finally get out, and mind you this is all after traversing across the entire ship to get there.  There are a few sections like this in the game, and it can really mess with the momentum of the story, and really make it feel like sometimes the developers just wanted to drag this game out as long as possible with as little effort as possible.

Weapon crafting allows you to combo things like shotguns with a ripper attachment, or however you wanna set it up.  By the end of the game, Necros didn't even scare me anymore because I was a tearing through them so fast I honestly think they were more scared of me.

Characters:

This is mostly a big weak point for the game, since you don’t spend a great deal of time interacting on any serious level with other characters.  There are a few moments, and there are a few twists along the way, but for the most part it’s like a horror movie in terms of supporting characters.  Isaac is still just… there, killing monsters and fighting Unitologists.  It really doesn’t change much from there.  But to be fair, the stupidity of the characters at some key moments does irritate me.  Without spoiling it, the only reason there was a last level was because of some random inability of Isaac and his buddy Carver could have easily put down the Unitologist leader, Danik, before he did something that really put the screws to Isaac, Carver, and Ellie.  All of this was clearly to set up for a massive boss fight, but it just felt so forced it kind of ruined the entire final act of the story for me.

HEY!!! Stay out of that cookie jar.

Overall:

This game is good, but not quite up to great for me.  The only reason is that a lot of the story elements, as well as the mission layout, just felt like they were trying to make less seem like more.  However, the gameplay is very good, with the ability to build weapons and a streamlined ammo system to save on some inventory space, it’s all very functional and fun, but there are a lot of times where you need to stop and think about what you’re doing, and why.  That’s what really held this game back.  And I really wasn’t at all surprised by any of the twists, because it was all so obvious I face-palmed when Isaac was surprised.  This game is worth playing, just not worth getting invested in the story for. 

Like any horror flick, you know that half of these people are disposable right from the get-go.

So much of this world could have been compelling, but I feel like the Dead Space universe just isn’t utilized as much as it could be for story, character, and lore.  The lore that exists is good, but I felt like a few interesting concepts like the depletion of resources, and the loss of necessary materials for mankind, weren’t explored as much as they could have been, especially since they fuel the Unitologist cause.  It all just feels like a wasted opportunity for the story and universe, but that doesn’t mean this game has nothing to offer.  The action, thrills, and scares are all as good as the franchise gets, I just sometimes found myself frustrated with the objectives, story, and irritating characters that let things go to hell, just so you can fight the big boss at the end.

Good:

-Awesome action and scares

-Monster design is awesome

-Weapon creation/upgrades make the arsenal fully customizable

-CO-OP!!!

Bad:

-Objectives, particularly sub-objectives, can feel like a real pain, and an attempt by the studio to make one or two areas take up over a half hour of your time running silly fetch quests while necros come after you.

-Characters  allow some very preventable events to occur, leading the obligatory boss battle that just left me shaking my head.

Scully Rating: 8 out of 10

SMITE

By: Robert Murphy

Welcome everybody to SMITE, have you ever wondered what it would be like to see powerful Gods fight against one another, throwing out powerful magic and skills till there was one left standing, well now you can. SMITE is a free to download PC game that allows you to choose from a large list of Gods that have come from a variety of cultures and myth throughout time. You will not be cut short in the variety of Gods you have to choose from and more get added all the time for you and your friends to fight against each other with in a highly enjoyable 3D MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena.)

Much like League of Legends, players play against one another to destroy objectives and ultimately beat their opponents but SMITE is different in regards to League of Legends and other MOBAs. In SMITE, players are given an aerial view behind their God as they move them about the various arenas and attempt to destroy tower defenses then a Phoenix at their opponents base and final a Minotaur at your enemies spawn point inside the base. There is also a jungle area outside the main objectives where creatures live and can be killed for some additional XP and gold or to be used as a way to sneak around on your enemy and chip away at their defenses or kill them. This makes ambushing a much more challenging thing for players to watch out for as it can do a number against your health and be bad for your God if he reaches a high level and respawns slower.

The more enjoyable camera angle of SMITE  really puts you more into the action and thick of things and also makes it harder to keep track of your opponents because if they aren’t right in front of you, you lose track of them. Also in SMITE, you have to personally aim your attacks with the mouse to whoever your facing along with aiming your special abilities that your God can use. This comes more into play with Gods who have ranged melee attacks such as Cupid who shoots arrows and others that do the same but then there are up close and personal combat Gods that swing powerful heavy weapons at enemies but they still need to be swung in the right direction. The more powerful God attacks recharge over time as you use them, your number 1 being the quickest to recharge and number 4 being longer to attack because of its devastating power.

SMITE also comes with an in depth tutorial program for players who haven’t experienced an MOBA before. It teaches you how to control your Gods and how to use all the features I’ve explained above but also explains the market system as well. Players will earn gold throughout their battles that can be used to buy in game items such as health potions and other items to help either locate your enemies or escape from them. In game currency can also be used to purchase more Gods and skins for them and if you don’t want to wait you can also make purchases with cash too.

Now as you all know, I’m really more of a console guy but I do dabble in the PC genre and its games like SMITE that make me glad that I do. There is a great assortment of Norse, Greek, Egyptian and many other forms of Gods to choose from and learn to master. Also the over the shoulder 3D camera angle really brings something new that other MOBA’s don’t have and it really brings the action and the characters to life as you play. And with more Gods being added to play and enjoy, SMITE will definitely bring plenty of enjoyment for you and your friends.

Good:

3D camera angle brings you right down into the action

Wide assortment of Norse, Greek, Egyptian and other Gods to choose from

An informative tutorial mode for players unfamiliar with MOBA’s

An easy to use market system to aid in battles, buy more Gods and much more

Bad:

Not as big as League of Legends but will still lead to hours of fun for your friends

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10

In the News: Black Lagoon is Coming to Toonami

Give credit to the guys who suggested it, and look around to see what other shows have been suggested, you might see something that peaks your interest.

Zach Goodier

Yup, you read that, BLACK LAGOON is coming to Toonami, starting March 22nd.  Hopefully, this will mark the return of some fresh, ADULT material to the Adult Swim Toonami lineup.  I'm excited, because this is a great show (that will be properly reviewed in the coming weeks) and it should bring in a more mature audience for Toonami.  While I enjoy Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, and Sword Art, I'm finding much of the lineup (especially both Naruto and Shippuden) to be somewhat unappealing to me.  Some fresh blood should energize the lineup, and draw in a broader audience.  So if you can, stay tuned to Toonami for more news, and give them your love and support to keep the anime lineup alive.

Code Breaker

By: Robert Murphy

  

The story begins with a girl named Sakura Sakurakouji who is riding the bus late one night when she sees a blaze of blue flames and people being burned alive around a boy of about the same age as her. Fearing what has happened she runs to the scene only to find no bodies remained, no flames and no boy to be seen anywhere around. However, to her surprise the next day in her class they receive a new student, Rei Ogami, a boy who instantly catches the eyes of every girl in the room but none more so than Sakura. After initially throwing himself off the scent of Sakura, she catches him in the act once again burning people alive (bad people) with some kind of power he has and Rei in turn threatens to kill Sakura if she tells a soul about his work. But Sakura for whatever reason responds to this by following Rei around to try and prevent him from killing more people that he perceives as bad and by those who employ him as a Code Breaker, people who do not exist and are above the law because they don’t believe in them.

When I first saw commercials for the show I was initially very excited to get to watch Code Breaker and once I learned the ground story and overall premise, that didn’t change. It was kind of a tee-hee moment to call the characters with unique abilities in the show Code Breakers because that is in fact what they are; these people are above the codes that people live by. Also each Code Breaker has their own unique abilities that have been granted to them with six Code Breakers all together killing the scum of the world who have no right to live. It is a very black and white view with no middle ground much like the views of Kira in Death Note, you do bad things like sell drugs and kill people then you die no matter if you are someone like a cop with a few kids, evil is evil. Unfortunately, I got more behind this idea in Death Note than I did in Code Breaker for some reason; maybe it was the cocky kids who were dishing out the punishment or what I can’t say for certain.

Now I will say that Code Breakers is something that you have to wait a bit to get into fully, the first half of the thirteen episode series consists of the odd relationship between Sakura and Rei. Sakura follows Rei around on his various jobs in killing people in order to stop him which is a noble thing to try and do but she mainly ends up giving a long winded speech to the bad guys that doesn’t work and then Rei burns them all. Rather than stopping this Rei continues to let her follow along and she continues to try and stop him each time and she apparently never learns which annoying because she’s supposedly the smartest student in her grade. This got very repetitive for me and quite mind numbing to the point where I almost stopped watching but I trudged on for more scenes of Rei who was so hard to get a bead on as a character.

My patience paid off in another way as well when the show finally picks up more, we get to meet the main antagonist in the story, an ex Code Breaker named Hitomi and this is where we meet the rest of the Code Breakers. Now don’t be discouraged by the fact that they are all attractive dudes, we aren’t in a reverse harem type anime each character has a degree of depth and story to them along with some awesome powers. Some interesting fights also take place between Rei and Hitomi who have a past together but also has an interesting story behind him leaving the Code Breakers and attacking them now. Sadly though this really couldn’t save the show for me, good action can only take you so far and it didn’t do enough to make Code Breaker great.

In conclusion, I feel like there could have been a lot more done to Code Breaker, maybe if it had more episodes or maybe if the characters were a bit more engaging, who knows. I was hoping for a bit more from the show honestly but there is a good level of action and the overall background was quite interesting and leads to some dark toned scenes that I probably shouldn’t of liked as much as I did but oh well, sue me. While the good does outweigh the bad it wasn’t enough for me.

Good:

The Code Breakers all come with unique powers making for some great action scenes

A dark, Death Note, style and premise that got me interested from the get go

Bad:

Characters had depth but not nearly enough

Sakura was such an annoying and naïve character who was initially more appealing but soured

I am not one for the whole pretty boy thing especially when they’re supposed to be professional killers for a hidden organization not teenaged heart throbs

Scully Rating: 5.0 out of 10 

Bound by Flame Trailer

Hey guys, Zach here.  Today, I have a trailer for the upcoming game Bound by Flame.  I haven't had a chance to look around too much for news at this point, but I'll share what I know so far.

First off, this game is being made by a small studio.  Why is this relevant? Well, it means that even though it comes off as a fantasy epic the likes of Skyrim, it is going to be closed off, linear with individual missions that you play as.  The focus for this limited studio is going to be the story, which will have branching paths that lead to various endings, but no specifics on the number of divergent paths yet.

The story focuses on your character trying to summon and harness a fire demon, only to have it invade his body.  You have 3 branching skill trees, which helps this feel more like an RPG, and you can focus on warrior/tank, ranger/bowman, or mage/demon.  As you develop your demon powers (which you don't have to do, apparently), you will visibly look more like a demonic version of yourself, as you will be empowering your inner demon by spending points in his development.

While these features aren't entirely new to gaming, after games like Fable using morality as a basis for changing appearances,  it would be interesting to see more of how this all comes out.  My interest is more in the story, which has an undead army being used to conquer the world, and our hero's summoning of the demon presumably comes out of desperation.  It would be interesting to see where the story goes, and it's nice that the studio has already said that the main focus of the game is going to rest with story.  I will be paying close attention to this as more new comes out, and I think it would be nice to see a small, independent studio make a name for themselves and garner some well-deserved fans out of this project.

Naruto 662: The real end

By: Robert Murphy

Read the Manga here

Hey everybody, it’s Wednesday and we all know what that means, its time for another week of Naruto. This week’s chapter is entitled “The real end” and picks up at a rather shocking point in the story as the fight against Madara gets bleaker and bleaker by the moment. Everyone in the shinobi alliance is completely drained of chakra and it’s making fighting this battle near impossible for everyone, we do finally see the third Hokage in action and aiding the alliance that’s struggling to fight. Unfortunately it’s not enough with all of the Tailed Beast absorbed into the Gedo Statue and due to this Naruto is left fighting for his life just like Gaara when he lost his Tailed Beast. And on the opposite end Sasuke has also been dealt a fatal blow at the hands of Madara. What will happen in this week’s chapter, well click the link and find out and see you all next week for more Naruto.

Bleach 565: God like You

Zach Goodier

http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/565

This week, we're taking a break from all the action, and we're turning back towards the most mysterious (and dangerous) figure in the arc, Yhwach/Juha Bach.  This delves more into his origin as a blind, deaf, immobile child that couldn't function at all.  However, he had the unique ability to gift pieces of his own soul to others to cure them of their afflictions and ailments. However, they would almost always die soon after, returning the pieces of his soul back, but with their experiences and strength being gifted back to him, eventually allowing him to function.  Unfortunately for him, he must keep taking souls in order to sustain himself.

This ultimately leads up to the present time in the arc, where we understand that one of the reasons the Quincy are conducting this war is to provide souls to Juha Bach, and to strengthen him even more.  However, There is still a great deal that hasn't been delved into regarding his character, but this is starting to paint a picture.  Regardless, there is still a lot of battles to be finished, and Ichigo still hasn't arrived.  However, there is more going on this chapter, specifically between Hashwald and Uryuu.  After finding out the nature of Juha Bach's power, Uryuu starts to see the position he has gotten himself into, and how he will proceed should be interesting in the coming chapters.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

Zach Goodier

While I have played the original Sins, I basically refer to this as the true game.  This game is about galactic domination, and lets  you manage an empire in real time as you expand, explore, and conduct diplomacy, and eventually go to war in order to achieve victory.  You can choose between 3 races, and those 3 races each have 2 factions: loyalist and rebels.  While there is a back-story to these races and factions, you can ignore it, since you can assign teams to any faction.

Establish an empire that would make the Empire from Star Wars look like an Amish enclave.

You start out with one planet, then proceed to move out and explore, as you research military and civil technology to improve your empire.  These can range from improving weapon damage or armor for you ships, to improving tax income on your planets.  These can all help in various ways, but each faction is unique; some are more commerce oriented, while others focus mostly on combat, but all are able to branch out in some way so they don’t feel limited. 

The galaxy can be a beautiful, but dangerous place.

You can select pre-made maps, or do random maps of various sizes.  As you explore these maps, you’ll find various planets, like volcanic, frozen, desert, and terran.  There are also dwarf planets and asteroids.  There are also wormholes, pirates, and other wonders mixed in. Each one is different, with planets being able to accommodate a higher population in general, but different types are ideal for different developments, whether they focus on cultural or industrial output.  Each has its own value, with culture helping to convert planets, and industry helping to improve your military and commercial fleets.  However, overspecializing in one area leaves you vulnerable in the other, so balance is always key in developing a good strategy. 

Here's an overview of this map, but you can SEAMLESSLY scroll in on any system to see what's there, as long as you have some way of monitoring it, that is.

Capital ships are harder to build, and their numbers or severely limited, but they offer unique abilities as they level up from experience that make them indispensible in your armada.  You’ll want to protect them, because if you lose them, that means having to rebuild the ship and starting over from scratch, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your fleets when they’re engaged to withdraw any capital ships that might be at risk.  However, they aren’t fragile by any means, but if your enemy is well-equipped, then it can give you cause for concern.

The reason this is the version to play is that it comes with the star bases and the rebel factions, which the main game doesn’t have.  Star bases allow for you to establish an orbital platform that you can customize with various improvements ranging from establishing a proxy government to maintain control of a planet even if the enemy takes the ground, to construction bays for ships and trade ships. 

The ultimate ships that each faction controls are the Titans, and they require an enormous amount of resources and time to construct.  While this seems daunting, the rewards are as big as the ship itself.   Each faction has a unique titan, which generally specializes in offense or defense.  Simply put, each ship is a flying super fortress, capable of packing an entire fleet’s worth of firepower and armor into a single ship.  That being said, you’ll want to defend your titan, and sending it out alone is never a great idea, since you’ll want support ships to keep it from being the sole target of your enemies, because it’s not invincible.

This titan is literally a giant gun with smaller guns and missile batteries built around it... and an engine to make it move.

The graphics are amazing, you can seamlessly zoom in and out of the action to quickly transition from one system to another.   This game has an impressive sense of scale, and it can seem overwhelming at first to manage an empire in real time when you truly feel that you have to eventually run half a solar system down to the mining and trade.  While a lot of it is automated, it can seem a little daunting to have to manage it all when the situation changes, and something almost always slips through the cracks.

Titans are tough, but situations like this are bad.  Every ship is firing at the titan, and while it can take a beating, a combined assault like this will wear it down.

The problems with this game are few, but significant.  Diplomacy is cool, but unless you’re actually on the same team, you HAVE to fight eventually, so if you’re hoping for a Civilization-style diplomacy victory, guess again.  Plus the way you earn favor with each group is generally to perform some silly mission they give, whether you have to attack someone or just give them things.  While this alone isn’t a bad thing, when it requires attacking an ally, or someone that is one the other side of the galaxy, well out of reach, then it really becomes a hassle.  And the worst part is, if you don’t finish the mission, the provider becomes dissatisfied with you, making diplomacy a real pain at times, and it can seem rather simplistic and one-sided. 

Go forth, and do great things, my friends.

Overall, this is a fun game, while it isn’t without fault, and the play times can drag on for ages (so be prepared), it is still a fun game.  Diplomacy feels weak, but as a military space RTS, this is probably as good as it gets.  Empire building is always fun for me, but without the ability to see more diverse AI in the single-player, and the difficulty of forming alliances, and knowing they will only be temporary, leaves the diplomacy in general as feeling like more of an afterthought than a significant component of the game itself.  While it helps keep monkeys off your back, it doesn’t add a whole lot to the game as a whole.  That being said, I never cared much for diplomacy when I have a massive space armada under my command, anyways.

Good:

-Excellent Empire building, space RTS

-Sense of scale is impressive throughout, with varied planet types and new horizons to explore (until you find everything, that is).

-Sophisticated research trees and diversity between races and factions

-TITANS!!! They make the bad ships go away in style.

Bad:

-Diplomacy is a weak, which hurts the overall feel more than it should.

-Enemy AI isn’t poor, it does feel a little straightforward though.

Scully Rating: 9 out of 10

The Game of Things

Sean Dibble

So, I have had the honor of playing this game a few times, and each time I have had nothing but fun playing it. The rules are simple one player reads a card, everyone including the reader writes down what they think is the best answer, folds it twice and hands it back to the reader. The reader then reads the card once more and then all the answers he/she was given, and the player to the left starts the round of guessing. With the guessing round a player tries to guess who wrote what, if correct the guesser gets a point and the person who he guessed is out of the round, this continues until only one person is left un-guessed (reader does not get a turn at guessing) and the player to the left becomes the new reader.

This game can be as innocent or as devious as you make it.

So the game calls for at least four players at least fourteen years of age or older. Now this game is great for a party game or an ice breaker at a dinner party where you know no one. That is what is so great about this game it is a quick two minute instruction and then everyone jumps in and has a blast with who comes up with what. Now with how it is set up, it can be a game that anyone can play; whether you're good and nice people, or evil, EVIL horrible monsters with no filter, because the cards are so generic they allow this; just beware of who you are playing with. for example one of the cards reads "Things....you should be able to win a Nobel Prize for" you can have answers that range from giving to charity or *$#@ing, its completely up to you.

Be sick, be silly, it's all up to you.

Nothing else really to say about the game, a great party game made by a great party game company in Hasbro and the Parker Bros. Quick and simple to play and can create a lot of laughs along the way. Only downfall is if you have that one really lucky friend that can just run the table when he guesses who said what.

Good:

-Easy to pick up

-Great Party/ ice breaker

-Can be played with anyone

Bad:

-If you know your friends to well you can easily run the table at guessing who said what

Scully Rating 8.5 out of 10

Deadpool Naruto Reference

Zach Goodier

I have never been much of a Naruto fan, myself.  I am, however, a fan of Deadpool, and the Naruto reference here is just hilarious.  Deadpool is an awesome character because he not only has all the references to other fascets of geek/nerd culture, but by breaking the 4th wall, he can have so much more fun than most other comic book characters because he is free to do so.  Deadpool is fan-service done right, with all the little references that make us nerds squeal with delight, but enough about that, just relax and enjoy.

TFS Abridged Parody Episode 39

Zach Goodier

Have a Team Four Star update with the release of DBZ Abridged episode 39.  This one had me holding my sides together, with some more classic Vegeta humor/put-downs.  But the androids are also a source for some solid laughs, with 17 and 18 really working well at maintaining the imposing and dangerous presence they had in the original series, while adding some hilarious comedy of their own to the existing cast.  With all that has gone on, I wonder how TFS will be able to address Cell later on in the series, since his character was more on the simply imposing side of the spectrum, with only a few bits of comedy compared to some of the other characters.  I know TFS could pull it off, but it will be interesting to see how they parody his character on the show and work the humor element more.  But in the meantime, stay nerdy my friends.

Bleach Movie 4: The Hell Verse

By: Robert Murphy

We open the movie on one of my favorite fights from the entire Bleach series as Ichigo has lost control of his inner hollow in his fight with Ulquiorra and completely over powers him in every way. But those who were there weren’t the only ones who witnessed the fight and Ichigo’s devastating power in that fight, no others were watching and this leads us to Bleach Movie 4: The Hell Verse. We now find ourselves in Karakura and Ichigo is enjoying some down time but we all know that it won’t last and we’d be right as he’s attack by robbed figures with unusual reishi. These characters are the Unforgiven and we soon find out that they are from the plains of Hell and want the power that is bubbling right under the surface of Ichigo.

At first glance, I saw everything that I would love about a Bleach movie, especially with the appearance of Ichigo’s hollow form once again which makes for some incredible action. Now for those of you who haven’t caught up to the Aizen saga of the show you may be a little lost with what’s going on with Ichigo as well as his power increase and his new appearance so this may not be a movie you can follow easily. The story follows Ichigo as he travels to the Hell Verse in order to save his sister, seems like he’s always saving some damsel in distress but this time it’s different because it’s his family and I wouldn’t want to mess with Ichigo’s family. The story also digs further into just how scary it is for Ichigo at times to use his powers because they can get out of hand and Ichigo cannot control himself once the hollow side takes over.

We also get the introduction of a new interesting character who appears whn the first Unforgiven appear but he helps Ichigo fight them back. His name is Kokuto and from the way he talks you wouldn’t think that he should have been banished to Hell for eternal punishment. He was in fact banished there for defending his sister’s murder and taking revenge against him for taking her away from him. This is all well and good but you can tell there is more to it than what he is saying and as for being a character we just met he immediately stands out.

Sadly, I feel the movie goes down from here, we see Ichigo unleash his inner hollow yes, interesting new characters and appealing story all over with the introduction of the Hell Verse but it sours from there. We already get enough of Ichigo’s bellyaching during the show about how dangerous his powers are and how hard it is to control them at times, we don’t need a whole movie about it. Then there’s the fact that somehow “Hell” as an entity chooses to be on Ichigo’s side at the end of the movie, transforming him and allowing him to beat his enemy and save his sister in the end. It will have you sitting there and asking yourself “what the hell just happened” it really made no earthly sense to it.

In conclusion, Bleach: The Hell Verse doesn’t really stand out as a movie which is upsetting because it boasted so much promise. We do see some incredible fight scenes especially from Ichigo’s inner hollow, who always is a great sight to see on screen as it destroys just about everything in its path. Then we have Kokuto who was an interesting character right off the bat and made for the only other strong attribute to the story. If it wasn’t for the way the movie ended it would have been a much more appealing addition to the Bleach universe.

Good:

- Hollow Ichigo causing large scale devastation

- Kokuto was is a stellar character

- The Hell Verse and the overall story was very appealing

Bad:

- A horrible and disappointing ending

- Ichigo gains a new form that defied logic and explanation

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Naruto 661: The Failed World

By: Robert Murphy

Read Manga here

Hey everybody, we finally have a Manga update for all of you this week in Naruto and we jump back into the action first thing. The chapter is entitled “The Failed World” and continues to follow Madara’s assault on the Bijuu as if fighting off Obito wasn’t hard enough we have a ninja who was beyond powerful all on his own. And we also see Naruto finally falter as Kurama is taken from him along with the other Bijuu into the Gedo Statue once more. It all seems that Madara’s plans will finally come to fruition and the old world that he believes Harashima created will be destroyed to make way for the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Hop on in and find out just what’s in store for you all in this week’s chapter of Naruto.