Minecraft: Story Mode Episode Five - Order Up!

By: Robert Murphy

The biggest question on my mind when entering into the latest episode of Story Mode was where could the tale possibly go to with Jesse and his friends? The last episode brought the Whither Storm saga to a close and the new Order of the Stone had come out on top and were ready to take on a whole new adventure. This is precisely what "Order Up!" sets out to do as our heroes head forth into an unknown land in search of a legendary item with immense power. But, they may all be sent further down the rabbit hole than they initially had planned.

Jesse and his friends have grown up immensely since their initial debut back in October of last year. They have all since become mirror images of their idols the former members of the Order of the Stone and it rather suits them. The people of the world look at them as if they were great heroes and they have proved it to them time and again by not only beating the Whither Storm but also going on countless adventures since then in search of mythical items that the world has only dreamed about. However, not everyone is as enthused with our new heroes as we soon learn. The former members of the Awesome Ocelots, who now refer to themselves as the Blaze Rods, have become envious of the groups fame and feel they are stealing all of the best items for themselves. Thus they set out to challenge our heroes and claim their latest find for themselves, a flint and steel with some mysterious powers. 

The discovery of this item is what sets the story in motion as a lost order that was even more impressive than the Order of the Stone is revealed. They had done many experiments with portals and thus the flint and steel comes into play by transporting everyone to a strange city in the sky. The idea of which plays wonderfully with those familiar with Minecraft's randomly generated worlds and how often times chunks of land can form that simply float on air. It's usually simple enough to get to though or look upon them and admire the ridiculousness of it but what happens when that's all there is? What is Minecraft world where you cannot destroy everything around you and build it into whatever you wish? Well, Jesse and his friends are about to find out.

An interesting stand alone idea comes from the story this time around as the people of the land have never been given the chance to build for themselves. They lack the simplest knowledge of building and even things like ladders are a mystery to them as to how you would create them. Naturally the hero worship for Jesse and his friends becomes even stronger here do to their abilities but this is a double edged sword that gets them into serious trouble here as building without permission is expressly forbidden. It's an interesting dynamic to be sure as there are characters presented on both sides, those who want to freely build and the followers of the Founder of the land. Neither are necessarily bad or good as you will find out but there in lies an issue for the choices presented.

The choices for Story Mode have never been all that grueling to begin with, there have been many interesting combat points and fun little nods to the audience but here the choices feel rather bland. I had almost forgotten that the game was a choose your own style game until almost the very end of this episode. The dialogue wasn't at all bad and in fact it felt as though the freedom of an independent story made things feel looser for the writers. But, by the end their is a relatively simple choice to go with as you can simple wrap everything up with a few kind words. It's rather story book and for a game geared more towards younger audiences I can see the appeal, it just doesn't wow you. 

By the end however, I was satisfied with where the adventure has gone with this latest entry into Story Mode. I know that after the last episode I questioned what exactly was the end game for Telltales' Story Mode, but with the series renewed for four more episodes following "Order Up!" and an enticing finale to leave everyone off with, I feel that even better episodes are just around the corner. 

Good:

- The writing feels lose, fun and free

- Solid stand alone tale that sets up for so much more down the road

- A beautifully crafted world that once again makes great use of Minecraft lore 

Bad:

- The "tough" choices were lack luster

- No true semblance of conflict to be had here

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

11.22.63

By: Robert Murphy

One of the biggest conspiracies in American history has revolved around the John Kennedy assassination that shook the nation to it's core. It was an unbelievable tragedy, but years later there are still many different ideas about what actually happened on that day. People always question whether or not it was actually done by the shooter that they arrested, Lee Harvey Oswald, or whether there were bigger elements at play. Was the CIA somehow behind it? Was there a second shooter? Or was it even Oswald? And while I've never been one to get wrapped up in all of the crack pot theories, this new series from the mind of Stephen King peeked my interests. 

The story revolves around an interesting take on time travel when longtime diner owner Al Templeton (Chris Cooper) reveals to the recently divorced English teacher Jake Epping (James Franco) that he has discovered a portal to 1960. Simply by walking into the pantry closet of Al's diner will transport anyone back to this era and for years he has tried to stop the assassination of one our most famous presidents but with no success. His last passage through has left him a doddering old man with cancer and unable to try and continue his work in the past. So he hands the task on to Jake knowing that he doesn't have too much longer in this world and since Jake was eager for a fresh start, who better to continue on where he left off.

Events of the story though feel more centered around Jake than his overall goal to stop the Kennedy assassination from happening. Naturally so since it will be three years before the fated day when Kennedy gets shot and the show compensates for this quite well. Jake spends much of the first year getting the lay of the land and learning just why Al has failed so many times before him. Time itself wants to happen in this world, it has a set path that does not want to be tampered with. This becomes painfully clear when Jake goes through the worst case of diarrhea in his life, one of the high points of time travel humor to come out of the series. But, Jake's early attempts at altering time lead him to learn some harsh lessons and while he succeeds at altering one life in his future it still took an immense amount of effort to overcome. So what will it be like when he tries to alter a huge point in history like the one between Oswald and Kennedy?

As Jake slowly makes moves to get close to Kennedy and Oswald various dangers pop up for him such as vivid hallucinations and random events preventing him from trying to learn the truth about what is to come. Music in a room will get louder so he can't hear a conversation, a flaming drink will nearly burn his entire arm up, a car will come crashing through a phone booth he was using, these just to name a few. The most bizarre of these occurrences comes when a seemingly average homeless man appears wherever Jake ends up. Perhaps he is an agent of time itself or just another time traveler but it really is never fully explained why he focuses so much on Jake or how he possess the abilities he has despite a brief explanation to what he is after in a later episode. It comes off as the rantings of a mad man more or less and made the character feel less effective than I thought he would end up being. 

These time occurrences also effect those Jake becomes closest to in the 1960's. Despite the warnings left by Al before he left Jake becomes extremely close to a number of people during this era. Some were bit players who never got in on the grand scheme of things but they still played their parts wonderfully such as Deke Simmons and Mimi Corcoran. But even more exceptional were those who learned that Jake was a time traveler on a mission to save the future. Early on Jake reluctantly takes the help of Bill Turcotte (George MacKay) who is searching for something to believe in after losing his sister and having Jake come along with this mission to save the president was just the thing. Bill unfortunately suffers the most after Jake starts to lead double lives with another character Sadie (Sarah Gadon), leaving him to do most of the grunt work while he is away. But this also leads him to get increasingly close to our potential assassin Oswald (Daniel Webber) and his neglected wife Marina (Lucy Fry). It becomes a tangled web of mystery as Bill wanders dangerously close to Oswald without Jake ever realizing the two had become fast friends. Could he have been a second shooter? It cannot be risked.  

As for Oswald himself, the story never quite makes it all the mystery it is cracked up to be. Jake struggles to uncover the truth as to whether or not he is the real killer or not, simply because he does not want to harm an innocent man for no reason. However, the story doesn't give credence to any other potential killers out there. There is some speculation with the CIA and agents are constantly revolving around Oswald for some unknown reason. The story almost makes it seem like it's their fault in the first place that Oswald shoots JFK without ever really going into the "why" that is on everyone's minds. Oswald never really pops either and I feel the story had trouble shifting focus from Jake back onto Oswald especially in the final episode when all caution is thrown to the wind and the assassination needs to be stopped.

In any case, James Franco's commanding on screen performance sucked me in to the story as I learned of the many details surrounding the life of the man that killed a president. There is genuine intrigue throughout the entire story as to finding out what did or didn't happen during the months leading towards JFK's death, even though Oswald himself never quite stands out as a character you fear or want to get an understanding for. He talks about Marxism one minute and then his rights as an American the next and it makes him feel like a jumbled up mess of ideas. As for time traveling back to 1960's, it is handled in an engaging manner and the concepts of time "pushing back" make things even more difficult for Jake and those trying to help him. It gives those out there who would think time traveling back and changing one thing for the better would be so simple and have them think twice about the effects it may have on themselves and the future.

Good:

- James Franco was on top of his game

- Characters were all engaging no matter how short a time spent on them

- Concepts of time travel and time fighting back felt fresh

Bad:

- Oswald and the mystery around him didn't pan out

- The mystery man following Jake throughout the story was a bust in the end

Scully Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

By: Robert Murphy

It is one of the oldest superhero debates in the books, who would win in a fight? Whether it be Iron Man versus Captain America, Wolverine versus Deadpool, the list goes on and on. But perhaps the first and most time tested question has to be, if Batman and Superman were to ever be at odds with one another then who would win? Would Batman's witts and gadgets prevail? Or would Superman's incredible strength and raw power prove too much for the Dark Knight. Man versus God. It's the name of the game here and I couldn't wait to see who would come out on top.

Before we can have the fight however we must get to know our two contestants and while our new Superman (Henry Cavill) has already received a movie of his own, our new Batman (Ben Affleck) has not. So, much of the first half of Batman v Superman serves as an introduction to everything that spurred Bruce Wayne to becoming a capped hero and why he has such a deep hatred for Earth's greatest defender. The movie itself does a good enough job of making viewers see why for themselves as it opens on the destruction caused during Superman and General Zod in the Superman movie. Bruce Wayne lost countless people in the chaos and while he did his best to help those that were caught in the destruction, there were still those who hated the son of krypton for what he did. 

But, Ben Affleck's Batman isn't centered around just an angry man looking to teach Superman a lesson about the damage he caused, no he has actually had a tough twenty years of defending Gotham from bad guys and terrifying foes. While audiences don't get to meet any of the big name bad guys (i.e Joker and the rest) we do see signs of the damage they caused. Batman keeps a memorial to a former Robin in his Batcave with graffiti written all over it and it appears to be very obviously left by his most infamous enemy The Joker. You can see all of this wane on his character throughout the movie and he struggles with all the damage that has been done by his enemies and years of fighting crime. Perhaps it is why he has taken a much darker approach in taking out bad guys by killing them and even going so far as branding them before going to prison, a procedure that also leads to their eventual deaths as well. 

This is something that Superman will not stand for any of this however as right from the get go his alter ego is dead set on writing a story about the Batman vigilante while his buff tights wearing counterpart aims to put a stop to him by mild force. It's pretty laughable to be honest as Superman tries to make Batman stop what he has been doing for years without anyone else questioning his motives. Especially since the movie focuses greatly on how Superman is such a deadly force, what if he goes off the handle one day? Who could stop someone like Superman if it came down to it? Sure, we all know Superman is a good guy but with power like that you don't need to wonder why people would be scared of him swooping down and taking over. 

Henry Cavill's portrayal succeeds in this department as being the soft eyed optimist who would like to see the best in the world and wants to protect Earth and it's people. It's everywhere else that I feel Superman has his shortcomings. Against Batman and Bruce Wayne on screen Superman and Clark Kent feel over shadowed. It's almost like the movie should be a Batman movie with characters from his story and not characters from Superman's like Lois Lane (Amy Adams) filling in the spare screen time which gets shoehorned in to give her character something to admits all the bluster and bravado being thrown around. 

That's where Batman v Superman has it's downfall as all the other nitty gritty nonsense leading up to the climactic conclusion for the story leads viewers down some boring roads. Lois Lane struggles to find out who set Superman up during an early scene in Africa involving some shady warlord. She seeks back channel contacts and tries to prove her lover's innocence and you're all left there wondering why does it even matter. The biggest source for controversy hit when Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) makes his way onto the stage. The character is a walking talking cliche and truly strides away from the character audiences would be expecting. He constantly is spouting off about this philosophy or that and when he stands before Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent he is so giddy that it seemed like he already knew the big secret in the room before everyone else did. He sticks out like a sore thumb with his manic behavior and clearly isn't driven by the same egotistical tendencies that former Lex's have before him. 

As for the big showstopper Doomsday, the creatures overall introduction into the story was an interesting one to say the least, it was one of the few moments where Lex wasn't all over the place as he learns ancient kryptonian knowledge and crafts his plan to take down Superman. Once on screen however Doomsday looks like a rip off of the new Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles character model with all the bad CGI that comes with it. There was a whole disconnect between the action and the characters reactions on screen during these final moments. It felt like Affleck, Cavill and the addition of Gadot were in a whole other world only entering into the action to dash across the screen and then go back to talking and reacting to one another. There was a fake atmosphere to the situation and it leaves much to be desired. 

Now with the introduction of Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, I felt that she played her role well and was used with the correct touch during the entire story. Wonder Woman was never meant to be a big addition to everything that was happening during the story and yet her character is still an important one to the story down the road so her presence was a vital one. Gadot does this perfectly as she mainly deals with Bruce Wayne and her story gradually becomes more realized through their interactions and his investigative know-how. Her incorporation also led to an interesting introduction to the rest of the Justice League and rather than wasting more movie time on it it becomes addressed and then moved on from. Boom boom, simple as that. It built on the DC universe lore to come and then got right back to the matters at hand with the movie and I was thankful for that. 

Unfortunately, Batman v Superman does not deliver on all the hype surrounding it as the two most iconic DC superheroes go head to head and eventually formed an alliance like no other in universe. Ben Affleck's Batman was a surprise hit and everything he did on screen was top notch as he plays the brilliant detective that is Batman and the swarvy playboy that is Bruce Wayne. Even the story had a solid idea going for it as it weighed in on heavy controversy of how absolute power can be dangerous and others but it doesn't have the follow through to pull it all off. And while I liked the light touch that was used to introduce Wonder Woman and the rest of the DC cast into the story, there was just no raw excitement when it got there. The same could be said for most of the proceedings here as well.

Good:

- Ben Affleck as Batman

- Cavill, Gadot and Affleck had great symmetry together

- Hard hitting themes and controversies involving superheroes

Bad:

- Doomsday was aptly named here

- Where was the fun? Where was the excitement?

- Side characters like Amy Adams were dull

- Jesse Eisenberg's Luthor

Scully Rating: 5.0 out of 10

Daredevil (Season 2)

Zach Goodier

Daredevil is back, and this season is just as tense as evil. Still dealing with the aftermath of Fisk’s attempts to take over the city, Matt Murdock is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. However, crime is still running rampant in the city, and with the rise of violence as a mysterious new vigilante starts killing off mobsters and other criminals, Daredevil is still working overtime to try to clean up Hell’s Kitchen.

My favorite character this season.

The big new addition this season is the Punisher. I had concerns about how he was going to handled in this show, given his bloody and much grittier feel than typical comic characters, but he is executed very well, especially with a solid performance by Jon Bernthal. The Punisher is a very faithful adaptation of the character, with Frank Castle being the victim of losing his family in an unfortunate shootout between mobsters and police in a failed sting operation. Frank seeks revenge by hunting down criminals throughout Hell’s Kitchen, which puts him at odds with Daredevil, who believes in imprisoning criminals rather than kill them.

While fighting a common enemy, these two are far from friends.

This brings us to one of the great parts about this season: the moral conflict. Daredevil is frequently challenged by both Castle and Elektra (who plays a major role later in the season), who have no reservations about killing to rid the streets of criminals who prey on the innocent. In one scene, these two have a discussion about their methods, during which Daredevil claims that Castle is no better than the people he kills, while Castle points out that all the criminals that Daredevil defeats merely go to jail, and many are already returning to the streets to resume preying on people. It goes a long way toward bringing the battle home for both characters, who struggle with their choices, but are committed to their own paths.

The firm faces new cases, and the dynamic between friends changes as secrets are revealed, and choices made.

Elektra makes an appearance later in the season, becoming important as a new enemy rises in Hell’s Kitchen: The Hand. Elektra is interesting, but kind of feels weak when being introduced so close to The Punisher. I felt she might have been a greater character if they maybe held off another season so the Punisher storyline could reach a conclusion of sorts, because I had a hard time shifting my attention from the anti-hero when Elektra is introduced in the midst of Punisher’s story.

Elektra is a nice addition, but felt somewhat forced into the story while other story arcs were still in major sections.

Still, this season is great, but not without a few weaker moments. That being said, the strong definitely outweighs the weak in this season, and between The Hand, Fisk’s revival, and the Punisher; Hell’s Kitchen is getting crowded fast, as various individuals/groups are preparing to fight for the future of the not only the city, but the world at large. 

Good:

-Punisher is great.

-Fisk is still in the picture.

-Plenty of strong moments for all major characters.

Bad:

-Too much going on at certain points, distracts from the individual storylines.

-Elektra definitely upstaged by Punisher.

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Superhot

By: Robert Murphy

What if I told you that the world you are experiencing isn't real. That your mind is trap inside of a prison that you can feel, taste or touch and that the world is holding you back. Okay, it's not as crazy as all that but with each mind bending level of Superhot it felt as though you were stumbling further down the rabbit hole of some grand conspiracy involving a hidden game with a simple premise. Time moves when you move. 

Each level of the game plays out like some sort of action movie where players must perform insane actions in order to take out massive amounts of enemies in what appears to be mere minutes for them but it could be an eternity for you. You aren't sure why these faceless red men are continuously trying to harm you, you are only told that you should not be in this game in the first place. Also you're super hot apparently, as the end of each level rejoices in telling you. Anyways, the one thing that you do have in common with your red faced enemies is that one hit equals in your unfortunate end and the level resetting back to where you began. This means whatever method you use or they use to kill are extremely effective and it ranges from hitting, kicking, slashing and shooting until they shatter into little red triangles all over the place.

It's a rush to say the least as certain levels feature massive amounts of room and venues for players to take out their enemies, where others require quick thinking and careful maneuvering in order to succeed. While your character is not moving the screen is basically in a state of pure frozen silence as you assess the situation at hand. Bullets will inch their way closer and enemies will come in ready to do battle but just like Neo in The Matrix, you can see it all coming. Skillfully making it through levels in this manner makes it feel all the more satisfying as well and even more so with the variety of different ways the enemies can be played around with or the fun little additions the game has going for it as well.

Punching enemies backward into an oncoming train, throwing a katana and shish kabobing two enemies together or slicing bullets in half as they manage to get too close. It's crazy but it makes you think of the many different ways a given situation can be handled with the tools at your disposal. Superhot itself wouldn't give you this impression at first though as the game gives off a very minimalistic presence to it. Not much is devoted to super detailed graphics or insanely lifelike environments and there doesn't need to be for this simple idea presented here. Bad guys are red, weapons are black and everything else is an off white color. It's basic and it works as each level truly only boils down to moment to moment encounters and replayed over again at the end like a highlight real of your awesomeness.

Later levels keep things interesting by adding in more items to the equation. Better armaments like assault rifles make blazing away bullets a bit of a challenge as the burst fire will send three jutting out at a time and so with one quick side step you can be taking out multiple enemies instantly. But the biggest among these changes is the ability to body snatch enemies later on in the game. As you learn to free your mind from it's perceptions of your body you can begin to take over others and make former enemies your friends. It's a clever mechanic and plays into the games mind bending story quite well.

Underneath all the slow motion antics there is a meta-layered story taking place between each level that tries to shake players perceptions on reality. Is this really a game? Is this reality? Is my body holding me back? Is my mind in a prison waiting to be released? All this fourth wall stuff comes to mind as the story progresses, hitting myself in the head was one of the highlights as the computer system attempting to free me berated and reveled at the sheer stupidity. The home menu screen is a mind warping experience in itself too, appearing as an old school DOS system it features layers after layers of hidden software and engines to find for yourself. It also gives players the allusion of control in the game, taking away your ability to write a response in the chat or call for help, even making you dance around like a caged rat even at one point. It may be an idea that has been done before but in many ways Superhot makes it it's own. 

While it is an incredible thrill to play, Superhot does suffer from some replay factors as I beat the games main storymode within a few hours and short of a few other challenge modes there wasn't a real drive to relive the experience over again. That being said, I did revel in the experience as it happened bit by bit, flashing before my eyes in a haze of gun shots and flying fists. It was like a drug I couldn't get enough of and that drug had me shouting "SUPER HOT" from the top of my lungs, not giving a crap about who heard me. 

Good:

- Very unique idea for the games main drive, time moving as you do

- Challenging situations

- Blowing away enemies into tiny bits is a blast

Bad:

- Story is interesting but has been done already

- Lack of replay value

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10