Review

Comic Book Corner Review: Edge of Spider-Verse #2

The Story: One of Spider-Man’s most vicious foes, Morlun is traveling through multiple universes to kill all Spider-Men. Otto Octavius (The Superior Spider-Man) has learned this and is on a quest to recruit every Spider-Man to defeat him. Each issue of Edge is a one shot to introduce readers to these new Spider-Men, or in this case Spider-Woman. This issue was the most talked about since it was announced. Making Peter Parker’s first love the one who got bit by the spider and not Peter is intriguing plus add a sweet character design and Spidey fans take notice. However, could Spider-Woman live up to the hype? I can happily say that it absolutely does. In the story Gwen is in a band with Mary Jane and Glory Grant, but she is juggling the duties of being a crime fighter, a daughter, and a normal young woman. Jason Latour does an amazing job setting up this world in the very first pages. J. Jonah Jameson is his normal Spidey hating self, and Peter is dead. What makes this issue such a winner too is it isn’t just Gwen got bit instead of Peter so let’s phone the rest of the issue in. Gwen here is tough and whip smart, she also has to deal with her father, Police Captain George Stacy and his crusade against Spider-Woman for killing the Lizard, who happened to be Peter Parker!

The Art: Robbi Rodriguez’s art was the biggest selling point for this issue even before it was read, and it absolutely pops. Great pacing and easy to follow, your eyes are in for a treat. Rodriguez perfectly captures the tone of the book and draws a great looking Spider-Woman. Inker Rico Renzi helps make Rodriguez’s art stand out even more. A lot of times when you deal with different versions of comic universes some of the characters look silly, but here from The Lizard to The Rhino everything is this issue is just stellar.

The Verdict: From top to bottom this issue is Amazing. The story, the art and everything in between is winning. The only bummer is that this is a one shot. I would be happy to read the continuing story of Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman, hopefully the powers that be at Marvel realize the potential here and give us fans more. As a fan of never bringing Gwen Stacy back from the dead, I would be willing to make an exception to have this Gwen stay in the 616 universe, her character is so fresh and cool it would be fun to see her and Peter team up. Make sure you rush out a pick this book up, something tells me that maybe this was under ordered and when everyone learns how great this issue is it will sell out fast.

Blu-Ray Review: The Walking Dead: The Complete Season 4

The Film: Rick Grimes(Andrew Lincoln) and his band of survivors are thriving in The Prison. Rick has settled into his role as no longer being the leader but, on being a farmer. Rick’s son Carl(Chandler Riggs) feels his dad has gone soft, causing tension in their relationship. Maggie(Lauren Cohan) and Glenn(Steven Yeun) continue to have a strong relationship. Daryl(Norman Reedus) has settled into the role of the leader (view https://kurtuhlir.com/hire-to-speak/ to know how to become one). Of course in the world of The Walking Dead, nothing good can last for long. Carol(Melissa McBride) is teaching the children to defend themselves with weapons behind the back of Rick, but that’s the least of their worries as a new flu infects one of the survivors, who soon rises and infects everyone in the cell block. This is the strongest season top to bottom. I loved how a lot of the episodes focused on one or two characters allowing certain ones to have a chance at the spotlight. Lincoln is in top form yet again as Rick. When he realizes that the epidemic might be transmitted from the pigs he raised, he sacrifices them to remove Walkers from the fences around the prison. It’s like he is slitting his own throat, a powerful performance without speaking a word. Chandler Riggs continues to grow as an actor and he has some of the best moments in the season. However this season has two unlikely MVP’s. The first hands down is Melissa McBride as Carol. Once an abused woman, Carol has continued to be the character who has grown the most throughout the series. In the seasons best episode, “The Grove” McBride commands the screen with tender and intense readings. In another episode, “Indifference”, Rick takes Carol out on a run. He decides to leave her behind after he discovers she killed two people at the prison. Here McBride shines yet again, the way she talks to Rick is so to the point and strong, a huge change from season one. The other MVP is Emily Kinney as Beth. After the prison falls, Beth and Darryl are on the run. They seem like an unlikely match but it soon develop a strong bound, anchored by Kinney’s heartfelt and tender choices. All that and the usual shocking deaths, the return of the Governor, make this the strongest season from beginning to end.

The Video: The Walking Dead looks stunning on Blu-Ray. Every frame on the screen pops with lots of detail and color. The blacks and blues are dark, and the blood is a gushy red. This is one of the best looking shows on Blu-Ray hands down.

The Audio: The Walking Dead once again has an amazing soundtrack. The music is one of the highlights this season, on top of Bear McCreary’s great original score this season is peppered with folk songs that fit the mood of the show. The sound effects are gruesome and the Walkers moans are terrifying as ever.

The Extras: Season 4 of The Walking Dead is loaded with some great features. There are some extended episodes(the best little bit is from episode 16, where in the broadcast version Rick says after being captured “They’re messing with the wrong people”. In the extended version he says “They’re fucking with the wrong people”). Eight informative featurettes ranging from the make-up process to the return of the Governor. Five episodes have commentaries. Plus a handful of deleted scenes, this is how Blu-Rays should be.

The Verdict: The Walking Dead continues to be an impressive show. Five years ago no one could’ve guessed that a horror black and white comic would become the highest rated show on TV. What makes it even more impressive is the makers of the show don’t rest on their success’ they continue to build on it. This season they took a chance by focusing on several of the supporting characters and in return they got some of the strongest episodes in the series. If you are the fan of the show it’s a no brainer purchase.

Blu-Ray Review: Road House

The Film: Road House follows the story of Dalton(Patrick Swayze), the worlds best bouncer. He is hired by Tilghman(Kevin Tighe) to help him fix up the night club he just purchased, Double Deuce. Dalton arrives and attempts to clean the bar up. While he is there he sees bartenders skimming off the top and waitresses dealing drugs. He fires them and tells everyone else follow his three rules:

1. Never Underestimate your opponent, expect the unexpected.

2. Take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it is absolutely necessary.

3. Be Nice.

Dalton soon learns that the town is being hustled by a business man named Brad Wesley(Ben Gazzara), and he doesn’t take to kindly to Dalton not only firing his cronies from the bar but he also beds the beautiful Doctor, Doc(Kelly Lynch). The gloves are off in an all out war!

This movie is on my list of shame. I have never seen it until tonight and for some reason always put off watching it. I am disappointed in myself for taking so long to see this amazing piece of 80’s cinema. The film is loaded with gratuitous violence, curse words, big hair, loads of nudity, and tons of classic one liners. Is the movie cheesy? Of course. Is it awesomely over the top? Hell Yes! We learn that Swayze’s Dalton graduated from NYU with a degree in Philosophy, we learn this because he carries his medical file with him, because he gets hurt in fights all the time. When asked if he wants a shot to relieve the pain from a knife wound that will require nine staples he refuses. When asked why he waxes poetically, “Pain don’t hurt”. Sam Elliot has a fun part as Dalton’s bouncer mentor(they’re real!) who also spouts words of wisdom like, “That gal’s got entirely too many brains to have an ass like that.” The fights are crazy over the top. Dalton even has a Fatality. He rips the throats out of his opponents with his bare hands! I had so much fun watching this movie, I miss movies that are this silly fun. If you love explosions, synth-rock songs, naked women(and men, we see Swayze’s butt too ladies), and balls out fight scenes you can’t go wrong with Road House.

The Video: Surprisingly this film looks great on Blu-Ray. Colors pop, there is no grain and the blacks are silky smooth. You will never see a clearer picture of Patrick Swayze’s butt, I promise.

The Audio: The audio is solid as well. The bar fight sound effects are clear and the awesome soundtrack thumps out those 80’s hits and in the tender love making scene Otis Reddings’ These Arms Of Mine sounds crystal clear.

The Extras: The only bummer is this Blu-Ray is bare bones, only the awesome trailer, that’s it.

The Verdict: This is a winning 80’s action movie. It deserves its status of a cult film. It might not be great filmmaking but it is a load of fun. What other movie has a scene when after Dalton rips the throat out of a dude he drags him into a lake and screams at the top of his lungs at the evil business guy, “F@ck You, Wesley!” The answer? Only one. Road House. If this Blu-Ray had even a little more special features I would give it a perfect score. Maybe for the 30th anniversary.

Blu-Ray Review: Silent Night (2012)

Yes Reel Nerd fans, I will be taking a little time off form the Podcast to focus on my soon to be born son. But fear not I will still find a way to make sure my voice is heard, I will be reviewing the Blu-Rays I will be watching so you can still know what films I am checking out.

The Film: Silent Night is a remake of the “classic” slasher film, Silent Night, Deadly Night. In the film a small town in terrorized by a killer Santa Claus. The film relies heavily on the imagery of a psycho Santa and for the most part it succeeds. The film is well shot, the camera moves fluidly and there are some cool deaths for sure, which is a must for slasher films. The story is pretty ho-hum(or Ho-Ho). Two police officers played by the hit or miss Jaime King and the always spot on scene chewing Malcolm McDowell. Jaime King plays Aubrey Bradimore, a woman who has recently lost her husband and now lives with her parents. I guess that’s what happened because it is only briefly mentioned in the beginning. King gives an uneven performance through out the film, at times she is wonderful with a lot of warmth behind her eyes. Every once in awhile, whether the director did not care about her performance or if the writing let her down, she just reads the lines very flat. On the other hand Malcolm McDowell is once again relishing in the camp. His performance is right in tune with the tone of the film. Over the top and funny at the same time, I loved it. The kills are pretty gruesome, highlighted by a nude woman shoved in a wood chipper. The film does flip, flop on the motivation of the killer. Does he kill sinners, like it says on the Blu-Ray case? Or is he seeking revenge? Both are presented and I guess it doesn’t matter that much. Overall this film was a lot better then I was expecting and if you are looking for a campy, gory, good time you could do a lot worse.

The Video: The film is very sharp. The colors pop with a blue hue through out. The director seems to be more in love with lens flares then J.J. Abrams however, as he uses them an awful lot, especially when flashlights are in use. There is little or no grain and the blacks are inky good. This film looks really good for a low budget horror flick.

The Audio: The mix is solid, but nothing spectacular. The sound effects are squishy when they need to be. The music is nothing memorable, in fact I can’t even remember what the theme to the film is. Overall the sound is good not great.

The Extras: The extras are pretty weak. There is a fifteen minute making of, but it is just a bunch of cobbled together behind the scenes footage. No interviews with the cast or crew, just some dude who is filming behind the crew while they shot the film, pretty boring. Same goes for the only other feature which are some deleted scenes. Nothing special.

The Verdict: As far as the Blu-Ray is concerned it doesn’t offer a lot besides the film so it hurts the overall package. Overall I was pleasantly surprised how much fun this film was. Going into remakes can be a little scary, but with 80’s slasher films like Silent Night, Deadly Night if you stick close to the story and add better filmmaking techniques you can usually make a film that might not be better, but is not any worse.

Reel Gamers: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (PS4)

With the release of the new movie, so too must come a tie in game. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is here and it does a great job capturing the fun of web slinging through New York. And while there is fun to be had in this game it also has some issues that keep it from the top of the super hero genre.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a standalone game, so it basically is a branching story from the movie which is good because the first game had major spoilers from the film,there are mild spoilers in the game but it won’t ruin the movie if you haven’t seen it. The bulk of the story concerns Peter tracking down his uncles killer only to have been beaten to the punch by someone the cops have dubbed the Carnage Killer. Any Spider-Fans will dig this story as it deals with a cool villain from the comics. At the same time a powerful crime lord known as the Kingpin is making his present felt and it’s up to Spidey to figure out who he is and bring him to justice.

Beenox has been the developer for Spider-Man games for awhile now and their ability to showcase Spider-Man’s abilities is great. Swinging through New York is a blast. One slight change to the controls is now the R1 and L1 triggers represent Spidey’s hands, meaning you have to press the buttons to fire a web from his left or right side. That is easy as the controls for web slinging are silky smooth.

The controls to falter however when you try to climb a building and make precise web rush commands. Also the fighting tries to mirror the awesome Batman: Arkham controls and you can’t help but feel that it is a stripped down version of Batman’s fighting ability. And just like the Arkham titles instead of detective mode we get Spider-Sense mode which allows Spider-Man see his enemies and grapple from flag poles and web them up, every aspect of combat has been lifted from Batman’s world but not as effectively as I would have hoped.

The graphics are hit or miss. Spider-Man looks great. The details in his costume and his movements are spot on. On the new consoles I was hoping for a huge improvement in textures and lighting and it just wasn’t there. Some of the areas look great but others like when you go into the sewers do not offer anything “next gen”. The lighting looks like PS3 as well, Where games like Tomb Raider upped the look of all aspects it seems that Beenox just smoothed out some textures. The main villains look great but the thugs and gang members all look the same and are rather ho-hum plus they all where bandannas over their mouths, weird. There are also a lot of technical missteps, in a scene where you are talking to Harry Osborn his drink distorts the whole screen with a polygon that is as wide as the screen, it just looks bizarre and not the kind of graphical hiccup you would expect from a marquee game.

The sound is pretty good. The music does a good job giving you the sense of adventure and excitement. The voice acting however is hit or miss. Spider-Man is good but not great, the voice just doesn’t seem to work at times. Kraven is one of the best in the game, he is menacing and understanding at the same time. The biggest disappointment is Cletus Kasady AKA Carnage, he tries to be scary but he comes across as a bad B-Movie villain. It doesn’t help that the dialogue he is given is average at best, again Beenox tries to infuse Arkham into this by having you recover audio files of Kasady’s ramblings but it comes across as a poor mans Victor Zsasz. Speaking of the super villains all their fights are pretty much the same, dodge, punch, dodge, repeat, nothing too exciting or unique.

The game does have a lot of fun diversions though. Once again you collect comic pages to unlock a bunch of goodies at Stan’s Comic Store, yes run by Mr. Stan Lee. There’s also races and other little distractions to have fun with while you are on your way to the next chapter in the story. Plus there is a ton of content to unlock, character bios, awesome Spidey outfits and more, the game will keep you busy if you try and unlock 100% of it.

Another Spider-Man game that doesn’t quite live up to the wall crawler. The story is fun and web slinging is a blast but clunky fight controls, average graphics and tons of Arkham rip offs keep this from swinging high.

Graphics 3.0

Spider-Man looks great and so too do the main villains everything else looks last-gen

Controls 4.0

Web slinging is great, fighting not so much

Sound 3.5

Music is not bad, and the voice talent is good at parts horrible at others.

Fun Factor 4.0

Even though the game is a little uneven there is still fun to be had, collecting comics and unlocking suits is a blast, if Beenox can ever lock down the fighting engine they would have a must buy

Reel Review: Delivery (2013) Telluride Horror Show

“Not every child is a blessing”, never has more haunting words been said about a movie. Delivery is a terrifying found footage movie from the twisted minds of Director/Co-Writer Brian Netto and Co-Writer Adam Schindler. Not only does Delivery have scares to spare it also does something that is unusual for the horror genre nowadays, it lets itself breathe with the characters, and also with the horror.

Delivery takes a risk as soon as the movie starts. It tells you that the video diary you are watching is being filmed 6 months before Rachel (Laurel Vail) dies. You soon learn that Rachel along with her husband, Kyle (Danny Barclay) have been selected for a reality show that chronicles a couple through their first pregnancy, also called Delivery. The movie then takes a big tonal shift and shows you the actual pilot of the reality show. This is where the film also becomes incredibly smart. It is literally a show that would not be out of place on TLC. It comes complete with happy music and silly graphics. Brian Netto shoots this like he has shot many reality shows adding to the films authenticity. I won’t spoil a surprise that happens in the “pilot” but it is shocking and terrifyingly real. Both actors here really shine, Laurel Vail has to be good because so much is happening to her and so much of the story rests on her performance that if her performance isn’t great the film would sink with her. Thankfully she rocks and Danny Barclay is also very good as Kyle.

After the pilot the movie goes very dark. The film tells you that they pulled the remaining footage from over 200 hours of film. My biggest gripe with found footage movies is , if something bad is happening to you, drop the damn camera. What Netto and Schindler do to combat this is you are watching a reality show so all the horrible things that are happening are being filmed because the camera men are simply doing their jobs. The film does a fantastic job showing the deterioration of both Kyle and Rachel. This is conveyed not only through their actions but also in the actual show itself.

Delivery also succeeds because it tells the point of view of many of the people that were involved in the Massy’s pregnancy. There are interviews with them shot like a documentary, giving you insight to all characters. Mr. Netto told me in an interview(stay tuned that will be up soon on our site, and iTunes) that one of the reasons they decided to do that was they did not want anyone to be a villain. I loved Rob Cobuzio as the creator of the show Delivery, Rick, his performance is amazing.

Delivery succeeds where so many found footage films fail. It’s uplifting, and scary from scene to scene. It will absolutely leave you breathless, the ending is so shocking and unsettling, it will give you nightmares. Here’s a true story from Telluride Horror Show. The movies last 20 minutes are relentless (no spoilers here folks, you have to see it) that a lady sitting next to me was clenching her fists, and when the last gut punch happens, she says out loud, “Oh. My. GOD!”. Yes, the ending will stick with you long after the credits role. If the film is playing near you, trust me check it out, it is one hell of a ride.

Reel Gamers Review: The Last Of Us

Hauntingly beautiful, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is the ultimate test of not only survival but also the most important game that has ever been produced for the Playstation 3. That is quite the statement, yes with amazing exclusive titles such as the Uncharted series, God of War and Infamous, The Last of Us stands above them all.

The Last of Us tells the story of Joel, an ordinary man that must survive a deadly virus outbreak. The story has been told before but not this well. Joel’s story begins the night of the outbreak, his brother Tommy rushes to Joel’s house and informs him he must leave. Joel grabs his daughter and they go. It doesn’t take long for the world to go to Hell. The government has started to panic and the virus has infected many people already. You have no time to figure out what is going on and Joel’s life is forever changed in an instant.

Flash forward 20 years and Joel is a changed man. He does anything he can to survive, even killing other people. Joel is recruited by his friend Tess to transport cargo across the city. The “cargo” turns out to be in the form of a fiercely independent 14 year old girl Ellie. Ellie is might be carrying the cure for all of humanity, herself. But in order to extract the cure Joel, Tess, and Ellie must first locate the Fireflies, a group of resistance fighters who can help. They encounter danger along the way, not only in the form of the infected but also there are many evil people around.

The Last of Us is such an amazing piece of entertainment. Not only as a video game but as a form of storytelling. The game succeeds in all areas. The first thing that grabs your attention is how beautiful the game is. Every detail in the game is fully realized and wonderfully rendered. Look at the screenshot to the right, that is in game graphics. The cities are in ruin but the Earth has taken them back. They are overgrown with vegetation and wildlife.The game’s story takes place over a year and each season has it’s own unique look. Also, it takes place over several major cities each with there own personalities and dangers. If you are familiar with any of the cities the story takes place in you will immediately recognize landmarks.

The controls are tight as well. At first they seem a little overwhelming because there is so much you can do. But after about 20 minutes they seem like second nature. And it’s a good thing too because the gameplay is so diverse.You have to sneak around, run, shoot, throw, make weapons, make bombs, make health kits. The controls are precise and shooting is accurate.

The sound design is also top notch. Although there is not music throughout, it is well placed and hits all the right emotional core. The game is also terrifying. The infected are very scary. There are several types. The most common are referred to as runners. They are fast and attack in packs. Runners are newly infected, so they are wild and out of control. The scariest type are known as clickers. The fungus has infected them so much that they are blind. But they can kill you instantly and are incredibly difficult to kill. The noise they make will haunt your dreams.

What makes the game so unforgettable is the characters. Joel is a no nonsense tough son of a bitch. He doesn’t let anyone get close to him and keeps everyone at a distance. He is a borderline villain for the things he does until you realize the world he lives in, and you think I would probably do the same things. My favorite character and I’m sure I am not alone is Ellie. She is so real and honest I do not think there is a better written character in video games. The interaction between her and Joel is so real you swear that these are not scripted moments. I love too how she calls out where there is danger and how much she kicks ass in fights, I can’t count how many times I was about to get shot, stabbed and Ellie would shoot them before they got to me.

I loved this game. I have never felt this way playing any other game. It was heart breaking, powerful and intense. It would also have moments when I was smiling when Joel and Ellie’s relationship grows from weary strangers to two individuals who care so much for each other. You have to play this game. If you own a PS3 and do not own this game, shame on you, if you own a Xbox 360 trade it in for a PS3 and get this game and play it.

Graphics 5.0

Stunning, every detail from faces to ruined cities are amazing.

Controls 5.0

Tight and precise.

Sound 5.0

Voice work is amazing, and the soundtrack is first rate.

Fun Factor 5.0

Get this game now.

Reel Advanced Review: Johnnie To’s Drug War

When a powerful Chinese drug kingpin is caught by police he joins them to save his own skin. That’s the premise for Johnnie To’s powerful film Drug War. Louis Koo plays Timmy Choi, a ruthless drug manufacturer who barley escapes a lab accident that killed his wife. After crashing his car into a restaurant he is taken to the hospital where he is under the watchful eye of Captain Zhang, played intensely by Sun Honglei. After trying to escape the hospital he is caught by Zhang. He is told that for manufacturing only 50 grams of meth, you will get the death penalty. Choi crumbles and starts spilling the beans about deliveries and other warehouses he uses to produce meth.

Drug War is a really cool movie. There is tension throughout the film and To does a great job balancing the interrogation scenes with the action scenes. Watching the film too as an American it is cool to see how the Chinese government uses tech to catch criminals. Koo is fantastic as Choi. He is a coward but also incredibly dangerous. And he plays both so well. You are never quite sure if you can trust him because everything he does is for himself. I got the feeling he would stab his own mother if it meant he would not die. The only way this movie would work is if Choi’s “partner” matched his intensity and Honglei does just that. He is a cop that will do what it takes to get his man. And if that means he has to snort a bunch of coke to convince drug dealers that he is legit, then that’s just what he does. His partner, Yang played by Huang Yi also has some memorable lines and moments like telling a drug mule who is pain because of all the balloons up his ass to “Go shit yourself!” I love tough women.

The biggest drawback in the film is the somewhat campy way the drugs effect people. It’s happens immediately and not very realistically. It becomes distracting in an other wise tight film. The film also succeeds in making no one safe. There are shootouts that the cops get killed just as much as the drug dealers and not just some no name background officers, characters that you’ve gotten to know throughout the film are not safe.

Drug War opens August 16th in Denver at The Sie Filmcenter on Colfax. Make sure you go and check it out. If you are a fan of cop thrillers Drug War does not disappoint.

Reel Review: To Die Is Hard

The Reel Nerds have had the pleasure of interviewing director Glenn Berggoetz about his most recent movie, Midget Zombie Takeover, and in the process he mentioned that he was a fan of Leslie Nielsen and he made a spoof of Die Hard called To Die Is Hard. Right away I was excited to see this movie. I love spoof movies and when we saw Zombie Takeover and he had To Die Is Hard I knew I had to get a copy. And it did not disappoint.

The movie starts with Mr. Berggoetz suiting up, as Joe McCann a no nonsense English professor, who everyone loves. His wife can’t get over how hot he is, and his daughter just beams with admiration. The tone of the movie is set very early as on his way to work Joe is listening to a song which lyrics describing how awesome he is, and at the end of the song he declares “I am awesome.”

In Joe’s office he is grading and helping a female student who is also in love with McCann. He tells a story of how he placed 3rd in co-ed softball, and shows off the trophy that he is really proud of. Great Easter egg gag on McCann’s desk is a super sexy picture of himself, yes he love himself as much as everyone else. Terrorists strike his University and only Joe McCann can stop them! He is the most terrifying adversary of all time “a pissed off English professor!”

A spoof movie either succeeds or fails on the lead actor and Glenn Berggoetz shines throughout. He plays McCann with the right amount of gruffness and his ability to deliver silly dialogue and believe it is not easy but he pulls it off. His love for the Naked Gun and Leslie Nielsen shines all over this movie. From a physical and comedic delivery Berggoetz is in top form. The movie moves by briskly and doesn’t linger on jokes, you have to watch it more then once to catch them all and a tribute to Bergoettz the writer for being able to squeeze so many jokes into the dialogue. The music is also pretty good, gloriously over the top at times and delivers the right mood.

The biggest drawback in the movie is that not all the performances are as good as Berggoetz, where he understands the spoof genre not everyone in the cast does. It’s not about being over the top, the dialogue and the situations already are, you have to play it straight. Greg Nemer as Detective Al Stimpson doesn’t understand that and comes across as annoying.

If you like spoof movies there’s a good chance that you will like To Die Is Hard. Glenn Berggoetz crafted a fun spoof of Die Hard and Naked Gun. Make sure you check out our interview with Glenn, and if Zombie Midget Takeover is playing in your town check it out, it too is a good time.

https://pdcn.co/e/reelnerdspodcast.com/2013/05/01/reel-interview-midget-zombie-takeover/

Reel Gamers Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS3)

From the creators of Mortal Kombat comes a fighting game that features over 20 heroes and villains from the DC Universe. The game is fun and also surprisingly violent for a Teen rated game.

This isn’t the first time NetherRealm Studios have worked on a DC fighting game. In 2008 they combined Mortal Kombat and DC Universe for (duh) Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. The game was fun but the down side was it was basically a toned down MK and the super heroes just seemed tacked on. That game did feature some unique features. One that has been carried over for Injustice and that is the ability to knock your opponent through multiple stages. But enough of the past let’s dig into the new.

Injustice takes place in an alternate universe where The Joker somehow tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane and his unborn child! Yes, it’s shocking and it is a very cool way to start this game. Superman enraged kills, yes kills The Joker. This changes everything. Supes now rules the world with an iron fist and kills any super hero in his way. I was sucked into this game instantly. I loved the new take on Superman and that Batman is rallying rebel heroes against him makes it even cooler.While the story is cool it means nothing if the game is not fun to play, and thankfully Injustice is a lot of fun. One of the things that NertherRealm does better then anyone in the game business is make punches,kicks and throws feel painful. You will fell the impact and cringe at some of the moves. NetherRealm has also made subtle changes to the fight engine. Gone are High Punch, Low Punch, etc. Now you have 3 different attack buttons with the 4th serving as a unique attack for every character. The controls are tight and have a lot of depth. Backgrounds are also alive with objects that the fighters can grab and throw at an enemy. Some characters are a lot stronger then others, and it does seem silly that The Joker or Catwoman would engage in a fight with Superman, but who cares it’s still a blast. Fatalities are gone. In their place are some devastating super moves that are earned by beating your opponent to a pulp, and they are really cool.

The graphics are a mixed bag. The main characters look fantastic, but the other characters like civilians and police officers look horrible. What makes it even more jarring is how great everything else around them look. I was actually cringing when there was a scene involving many police officers, not only do a lot look the same, they are animated extremely stiff. The backgrounds are also a mixed bag. Arkham looks great but some of the details are just not that detailed. Another bummer is some of the characters are lame. Would you rather play as Raven or Hawkman? Killer Frost or Mr. Freeze. I do respect the developers for digging deep in the DC universe but we are missing some really cool characters. Also some of the character designs are really silly. It feels like DC did not want there to be any doubt that this is not canon so all the characters have some sort of lame armor on.

One thing NetherRealm never skimps on is bonus content. Besides the normal arcade ladder there is also a lot of unlockables. There is also a MK style battle tower called Skylabs where you earn stars and exp to purchase goodies. And this is one of the only fighting games I can think of that actually has a level up system. And while that doesn’t make you stronger it does unlock more stuff for use in the game.

Injustice: Gods Among Us offers a lot to not only fighting game fans but also comic fans. It packs one powerful punch and with a lot of stuff to unlock this game will keep you busy for hours.

Graphics 4.0

The main characters look great almost everything else looks blah.

Control 5.0

Tight and precise, exactly what you need in a fighting game

Sound 4.5

The punches and kicks sound great, some of the voice work is great. Some not so much

Fun Factor 5.0

Lots to do, huge combos, brutal super moves make this one awesome fighter

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