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Benedick Lewis (3001 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Marvel's Avengers in Video Games
Sep 21, 2020 (Updated Sep 21, 2020)
Great introduction to Ms Marvel (3 more)
Voice acting is great
Certain moments are very exciting to play as certain characters
DLC could be promising
Combat is very shoddy (3 more)
Lot of bugs
Upgrade system confusing
Campaign very short
Hidden under a cash grab is a good story
Unfortunately nothing new is going to be added here that game critic sites haven’t already covered but here is the review anyway.
It will come as no surprise that Marvel Avengers is nothing special. It is in fact a pretty poor game at launch - full of bugs and essentially a very short story. The story is good as is the voice acting (except for one major niggle which will be gotten to later) but the game promised the Avengers and what was given was perhaps maybe the Av part of the name - essentially a small part.
It’s difficult to envision how a Avengers game could work and what genre it would fall into. What is presented is probably the best way to portray an array of Marvel characters but it is dangerously close to mimicking the LEGO videogames. Certain parts can only be played by certain heroes, areas can only be accessed by certain heroes, etc etc.
You build up the Avengers one by one and unfortunately, this won’t give anything away, when you have established your roster of superheroes, the game essentially is finished. There is the endgame content, which personally hasn’t been explored yet, but overall it felt a little underwhelming.
The upgrade system was initially comparable to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey but what is actually is is just loot crates and different resources that you just boost to power up four different tiers. This system barely scratches the surface before the campaign is over so this may improve in the endgame but it is disappointing to see little needs to be done to tweak your hero the way you want him/her to be tweaked.
The combat system is ok. Kamala/ms Marvel, hulk, black widow and Thor feel good to handle as you smash through wave after wave of enemies but Captain America and in particular Iron Man both feel a little clunky. Cappy is way too weak initially to play with and you heavily rely on defending rather than attacking to survive. Iron Man’s flight controls and the way he ‘sprints’ are laughable. It doesn’t feel as badass as it should to play Iron Man and all his technological capabilities.
The voice acting is fantastic. The only issue is that veterans like Troy Baker (Bruce Banner) and Nolan North (Iron Man) are a little too recognisable now. Baker and North worked on the Uncharted series together as well as The Last of Us (the latter is really commendable as they really were unrecognisable in their roles). They have individually worked on a plethora of voice acting jobs yet here, because they are so well known, it takes you out of the moment from time to time. Is that Tony Stark or Nathan Drake? Banner or Joel? This observation is not a discredit to their talent but a mere unfortunate side effect to being so well known.
The biggest disappointment is, while micro transactions won’t involve power up capabilities- because of how clumsy the upgrade system is, it is more desirable to get outfits for your hero and in some cases it can be £15.99/$20.72 for one outfit. Given it is an aesthetic that seems pretty pathetic but there must be some people out there who just have the money to spare.
The prospect of DLC which will be free when it becomes available is attractive. With the likes of Hawkeye and Spider-Man already confirmed, it is with hope, the campaign story gets more fleshed out and gameplay will improve, certainly with regards to the upgrade system and making that properly work.
This game could have been more but it sadly falls into the cash cow category for now
Play this if you can get it on the cheap and wouldn’t mind playing one of the Avengers. It’s nothing special but it could have potential to grow.
It will come as no surprise that Marvel Avengers is nothing special. It is in fact a pretty poor game at launch - full of bugs and essentially a very short story. The story is good as is the voice acting (except for one major niggle which will be gotten to later) but the game promised the Avengers and what was given was perhaps maybe the Av part of the name - essentially a small part.
It’s difficult to envision how a Avengers game could work and what genre it would fall into. What is presented is probably the best way to portray an array of Marvel characters but it is dangerously close to mimicking the LEGO videogames. Certain parts can only be played by certain heroes, areas can only be accessed by certain heroes, etc etc.
You build up the Avengers one by one and unfortunately, this won’t give anything away, when you have established your roster of superheroes, the game essentially is finished. There is the endgame content, which personally hasn’t been explored yet, but overall it felt a little underwhelming.
The upgrade system was initially comparable to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey but what is actually is is just loot crates and different resources that you just boost to power up four different tiers. This system barely scratches the surface before the campaign is over so this may improve in the endgame but it is disappointing to see little needs to be done to tweak your hero the way you want him/her to be tweaked.
The combat system is ok. Kamala/ms Marvel, hulk, black widow and Thor feel good to handle as you smash through wave after wave of enemies but Captain America and in particular Iron Man both feel a little clunky. Cappy is way too weak initially to play with and you heavily rely on defending rather than attacking to survive. Iron Man’s flight controls and the way he ‘sprints’ are laughable. It doesn’t feel as badass as it should to play Iron Man and all his technological capabilities.
The voice acting is fantastic. The only issue is that veterans like Troy Baker (Bruce Banner) and Nolan North (Iron Man) are a little too recognisable now. Baker and North worked on the Uncharted series together as well as The Last of Us (the latter is really commendable as they really were unrecognisable in their roles). They have individually worked on a plethora of voice acting jobs yet here, because they are so well known, it takes you out of the moment from time to time. Is that Tony Stark or Nathan Drake? Banner or Joel? This observation is not a discredit to their talent but a mere unfortunate side effect to being so well known.
The biggest disappointment is, while micro transactions won’t involve power up capabilities- because of how clumsy the upgrade system is, it is more desirable to get outfits for your hero and in some cases it can be £15.99/$20.72 for one outfit. Given it is an aesthetic that seems pretty pathetic but there must be some people out there who just have the money to spare.
The prospect of DLC which will be free when it becomes available is attractive. With the likes of Hawkeye and Spider-Man already confirmed, it is with hope, the campaign story gets more fleshed out and gameplay will improve, certainly with regards to the upgrade system and making that properly work.
This game could have been more but it sadly falls into the cash cow category for now
Play this if you can get it on the cheap and wouldn’t mind playing one of the Avengers. It’s nothing special but it could have potential to grow.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Doctor Strange (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Well multiversed.
In the latest Marvel film (notably now available with the snazzy new Marvel production logo at the start) Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”, “Star Trek Into Darkness”) plays the titular hero: a neurosurgeon with exceptional skills, an encyclopedic knowledge of discographies and an ego to rival Donald Trump.
After an horrific car crash (topically addressing the dangers of mobile use while driving) Strange loses the ability to practice his craft, and descends into a spiral of self-pity and despair. Finding a similar soul, Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt, “24: Live Another Day”) who’s undergone a miracle cure, Strange travels to Katmandu in search of similar salvation where he is trained in spiritual control by “The Ancient One” (Tilda Swinton, “Hail Caesar”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”) ably supported by her assistant Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”) and librarian Wong (Benedict Wong, “The Martian”). So far so “Batman Begins”.
As always in these films though there is also a villain, in this case a rogue former pupil turned to the dark side (have we not been here before Anakin?) called Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelssen, “Quantum of Solace”). The world risks total destruction from spiritual attack (“…the Avengers handle the physical threats…” – LOL) and the team stand together to battle Kaecilius’s attempts to open a portal (“Zuuuul”) and ‘let the right one in’.
Followers of this blog will generally be aware that I am not a great fan of the Marvel and DC universes in general. However, there is a large variation in the style of films dished out by the studios ranging from the pompously full-of-themselves films at the “Batman vs Superman” (bottom) end to the more light-hearted (bordering on “Kick-Ass-style”) films at the “Ant Man” (top) end. Along this continuum I would judge “Doctor Strange” to be about a 7: so it is a lot more fun than I expected it to be.
The film is largely carried by Cumberbatch, effecting a vaguely annoying American accent but generally adding acting credence to some pretty ludicrous material. In particular he milks all the comic lines to maximum effect, leading to some genuinely funny moments: yes, the comedy gold extends past Ejiofor’s (very funny) wi-fi password line in the trailer.
Cumberbatch also has the range to convincingly play the fall of the egocentric Strange: his extreme unpleasantness towards his beleaguered on/off girlfriend (the ever-reliable Rachel McAdams (“Sherlock Holmes”)) drew audible gasps of shock from a few of the ‘Cumberbitches’ in my screening. (As I’m writing this on November 9th, the day of Trumpagedden, we might have already found a candidate able to play the new President elect!)
In fact, the whole of the first half of the film is a delight: Strange’s decline; effective Nepalese locations; a highly entertaining “training” sequence; and Cumberbatch and Swinton sparking off each other beautifully.
Where the film pitches downhill is where it gets too “BIG”: both in a hugely overblown New York morphing sequence (the – remember – human heroes suffer skyscraper-level falls without injury) and where (traditionally) a cosmic being gets involved and our puny heroes have to defend earth against it. Once again we have a “big CGI thing” centre screen with the logic behind the (long-term) defeating of the “big CGI thing” little better than that behind the defeat of the “big CGI thing” in “Batman vs Superman” (but without Gal Gadot’s legs unfortunately to distract the male audience).
Music is by Michael Giacchino, and his suitably bombastic Strange theme is given a very nice reworking over the end titles. By the way, for those who are interested in “Monkeys” (see glossary) there is a scene a few minutes into the credits featuring Strange and one of the Avengers (fairly pointless) and a second right at the end of the credits featuring Pangborn and Mordo setting up (not very convincingly I must say) the potential villain for Strange 2.
Not Shakespeare, but still an enjoyable and fun night out at the movies and far better than I was expecting.
After an horrific car crash (topically addressing the dangers of mobile use while driving) Strange loses the ability to practice his craft, and descends into a spiral of self-pity and despair. Finding a similar soul, Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt, “24: Live Another Day”) who’s undergone a miracle cure, Strange travels to Katmandu in search of similar salvation where he is trained in spiritual control by “The Ancient One” (Tilda Swinton, “Hail Caesar”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”) ably supported by her assistant Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”) and librarian Wong (Benedict Wong, “The Martian”). So far so “Batman Begins”.
As always in these films though there is also a villain, in this case a rogue former pupil turned to the dark side (have we not been here before Anakin?) called Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelssen, “Quantum of Solace”). The world risks total destruction from spiritual attack (“…the Avengers handle the physical threats…” – LOL) and the team stand together to battle Kaecilius’s attempts to open a portal (“Zuuuul”) and ‘let the right one in’.
Followers of this blog will generally be aware that I am not a great fan of the Marvel and DC universes in general. However, there is a large variation in the style of films dished out by the studios ranging from the pompously full-of-themselves films at the “Batman vs Superman” (bottom) end to the more light-hearted (bordering on “Kick-Ass-style”) films at the “Ant Man” (top) end. Along this continuum I would judge “Doctor Strange” to be about a 7: so it is a lot more fun than I expected it to be.
The film is largely carried by Cumberbatch, effecting a vaguely annoying American accent but generally adding acting credence to some pretty ludicrous material. In particular he milks all the comic lines to maximum effect, leading to some genuinely funny moments: yes, the comedy gold extends past Ejiofor’s (very funny) wi-fi password line in the trailer.
Cumberbatch also has the range to convincingly play the fall of the egocentric Strange: his extreme unpleasantness towards his beleaguered on/off girlfriend (the ever-reliable Rachel McAdams (“Sherlock Holmes”)) drew audible gasps of shock from a few of the ‘Cumberbitches’ in my screening. (As I’m writing this on November 9th, the day of Trumpagedden, we might have already found a candidate able to play the new President elect!)
In fact, the whole of the first half of the film is a delight: Strange’s decline; effective Nepalese locations; a highly entertaining “training” sequence; and Cumberbatch and Swinton sparking off each other beautifully.
Where the film pitches downhill is where it gets too “BIG”: both in a hugely overblown New York morphing sequence (the – remember – human heroes suffer skyscraper-level falls without injury) and where (traditionally) a cosmic being gets involved and our puny heroes have to defend earth against it. Once again we have a “big CGI thing” centre screen with the logic behind the (long-term) defeating of the “big CGI thing” little better than that behind the defeat of the “big CGI thing” in “Batman vs Superman” (but without Gal Gadot’s legs unfortunately to distract the male audience).
Music is by Michael Giacchino, and his suitably bombastic Strange theme is given a very nice reworking over the end titles. By the way, for those who are interested in “Monkeys” (see glossary) there is a scene a few minutes into the credits featuring Strange and one of the Avengers (fairly pointless) and a second right at the end of the credits featuring Pangborn and Mordo setting up (not very convincingly I must say) the potential villain for Strange 2.
Not Shakespeare, but still an enjoyable and fun night out at the movies and far better than I was expecting.
Mandy and G.D. Burkhead (26 KP) rated Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1) in Books
May 20, 2018
Shelf Life – Kushiel’s Legacy, the Naamah Trilogy, and How Jacqueline Carey Ruined My Ability to Be Impartial About Them
Contains spoilers, click to show
I can honestly say that the nine books that comprise these three trilogies are among the best fantasy available today as well as nine of my all-time favorite books I’ve ever read.
The Spoiler-Free Overview
If you want the shorter, less spoilery answer for what I think of these books: holy crap, yes, they’re as good as everyone says they are. Jacqueline Carey has a way of making me just…feel stuff like no other author can. Plenty of books have caught and held my interest enough that I didn’t want to put them down, but few have made the act of putting them down anyway so torturous. More than once, I hit a point in these stories where I had to drop whatever else I was gonna do that day (that I could realistically drop) just because I had to keep reading to make sure the characters were going to be okay.
This is character-driven fiction at its finest, with people in the pages who come alive and subtly win your heart. More than once, I’ve found reading about their ordeals to be worrying, a little bit painful, and a little bit infuriating (all in a good way, though), and I had to stop and remind myself that these weren’t real people that I was so concerned over and angry for. So if you ever wanted to be really, really invested in the story you’re reading and the people in it, Terre d’Ange is the place to go. All of the eroticism that everyone talks about is just a really nice bonus.
If you want an even shorter answer: do you watch Game of Thrones? Have you read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books? Have you at least heard of the fan hype around these stories? The Kushiel and Naamah books are like that, except sexier and with deeper court intrigue. And a lot less incest.
If you want the long answer…
A Dizzying Amount of Adventure Mileage
One thing that has to be said for Kushiel’s Legacy and the Naamah trilogy is that you definitely get your money’s worth of story out of each book. There’s a pattern that I’ve noticed with each of them, which is that you’ll follow the heroine/hero through a massive tribulation, see them endure their hardships and take their small victories where they can, then finally watch matters come to a crux, a climax, and a satisfying resolution…only to realize that you’re only a third of the way through the full page count.
Where most books are content to have one major conflict, Carey packs hers with about three each. The best part is that they’re not laid out in rigid sequence like a series of video game side quests – fight this problem, win, check it off the list, leave it behind and find a new one to fill the word count. No, each new adventure in the same book arises completely organically from the story overall. It makes you realize just how huge a scope these characters’ destinies really are, and just how incredibly wearying it can be and how much seemingly inhuman endurance it takes to be one of the gods’ chosen.
For instance, the first book to kick everything off, Kushiel’s Dart, begins slowly and simply enough. Phedre is an unwanted child who is basically sold into indentured servitude, then trained to be a spy and courtesan while we’re introduced to Terre d’Ange through her eyes over the next couple hundred pages, learning more about the politics and the players in time to watch the drama around them steadily unfold and escalate.
And then her wise mentor gets killed (as wise mentors tend to do), she and her bodyguard companion are betrayed, and the both of them get sold into full-on slavery to the vikings of Skaldia. Plenty of conflict and hardship and planning later, they make their escape and flee into harsh, snowy mountain terrain, falling in love for good measure while they fend off the deadly cold and the pursuit from their enemies. Finally, they make it back to their homeland and clear their names.
This is where most books would be content to stop and maybe leave further contentions for a sequel. Kushiel’s Dart would have been well within its rights to do so as well, and I wouldn’t have complained if it did. But no, it reminds readers, we’re not done yet. There’s a war coming, remember? We talked about this. Catch your breath for a moment, but then we gotta go rally our armies.
So Phedre and Joscelin set off to the wild and secluded island nation of Alba on the other side of an enchanted strait, a body of water where a vengeful, divine power known as the Master of the Straits lives and for some reason prevents almost all contact between the two nations. Arriving safely enough, they find that Alba is also war-torn at the moment, and the armies they had hoped to rally are busy defending their land from another foe. More plotting and intrigue ensues, alliances and promises are made, and with our heroes’ help, the two sides clash in a decisive battle that gains the side we’re rooting for victory as well as gives them their rightful sovereignty back. Now Phedre has the army she needs. After a sudden and unexpected stop at the Master of the Straits’ island, where they learn the secret of his power and guarantee indefinite safe passage between the nations in return for Phedre losing her closest friend, our heroes finally make it back to their homeland again with their army in tow.
Finally! After all of that struggle, we get a happy ending after all. But wait, not yet you don’t, the chunk of pages left at the end remind you. All you did was get your forces together. Good for you. Now you still gotta go actually fight the war with the Skaldi invaders to determine the fate of your entire nation.
So they do. And only after an awesome last-stand battle (the excitement and careful strategy of which will take you completely by surprise if you first entered this book expecting little more than kinky sex scenes) is the story allowed to wrap up in earnest, our heroes finally earning their long-deserved rest. The dangerous and cunning warlord is defeated, the invading army has been pushed back, the new Queen has ascended the throne, Terre d’Ange has been saved, and Phedre and Joscelin are free to finally be together – with the only little niggle being that the real mastermind behind all of their problems is still loose and taunting them. But we can get to that in the next book. Or five.
The Spoiler-Free Overview
If you want the shorter, less spoilery answer for what I think of these books: holy crap, yes, they’re as good as everyone says they are. Jacqueline Carey has a way of making me just…feel stuff like no other author can. Plenty of books have caught and held my interest enough that I didn’t want to put them down, but few have made the act of putting them down anyway so torturous. More than once, I hit a point in these stories where I had to drop whatever else I was gonna do that day (that I could realistically drop) just because I had to keep reading to make sure the characters were going to be okay.
This is character-driven fiction at its finest, with people in the pages who come alive and subtly win your heart. More than once, I’ve found reading about their ordeals to be worrying, a little bit painful, and a little bit infuriating (all in a good way, though), and I had to stop and remind myself that these weren’t real people that I was so concerned over and angry for. So if you ever wanted to be really, really invested in the story you’re reading and the people in it, Terre d’Ange is the place to go. All of the eroticism that everyone talks about is just a really nice bonus.
If you want an even shorter answer: do you watch Game of Thrones? Have you read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books? Have you at least heard of the fan hype around these stories? The Kushiel and Naamah books are like that, except sexier and with deeper court intrigue. And a lot less incest.
If you want the long answer…
A Dizzying Amount of Adventure Mileage
One thing that has to be said for Kushiel’s Legacy and the Naamah trilogy is that you definitely get your money’s worth of story out of each book. There’s a pattern that I’ve noticed with each of them, which is that you’ll follow the heroine/hero through a massive tribulation, see them endure their hardships and take their small victories where they can, then finally watch matters come to a crux, a climax, and a satisfying resolution…only to realize that you’re only a third of the way through the full page count.
Where most books are content to have one major conflict, Carey packs hers with about three each. The best part is that they’re not laid out in rigid sequence like a series of video game side quests – fight this problem, win, check it off the list, leave it behind and find a new one to fill the word count. No, each new adventure in the same book arises completely organically from the story overall. It makes you realize just how huge a scope these characters’ destinies really are, and just how incredibly wearying it can be and how much seemingly inhuman endurance it takes to be one of the gods’ chosen.
For instance, the first book to kick everything off, Kushiel’s Dart, begins slowly and simply enough. Phedre is an unwanted child who is basically sold into indentured servitude, then trained to be a spy and courtesan while we’re introduced to Terre d’Ange through her eyes over the next couple hundred pages, learning more about the politics and the players in time to watch the drama around them steadily unfold and escalate.
And then her wise mentor gets killed (as wise mentors tend to do), she and her bodyguard companion are betrayed, and the both of them get sold into full-on slavery to the vikings of Skaldia. Plenty of conflict and hardship and planning later, they make their escape and flee into harsh, snowy mountain terrain, falling in love for good measure while they fend off the deadly cold and the pursuit from their enemies. Finally, they make it back to their homeland and clear their names.
This is where most books would be content to stop and maybe leave further contentions for a sequel. Kushiel’s Dart would have been well within its rights to do so as well, and I wouldn’t have complained if it did. But no, it reminds readers, we’re not done yet. There’s a war coming, remember? We talked about this. Catch your breath for a moment, but then we gotta go rally our armies.
So Phedre and Joscelin set off to the wild and secluded island nation of Alba on the other side of an enchanted strait, a body of water where a vengeful, divine power known as the Master of the Straits lives and for some reason prevents almost all contact between the two nations. Arriving safely enough, they find that Alba is also war-torn at the moment, and the armies they had hoped to rally are busy defending their land from another foe. More plotting and intrigue ensues, alliances and promises are made, and with our heroes’ help, the two sides clash in a decisive battle that gains the side we’re rooting for victory as well as gives them their rightful sovereignty back. Now Phedre has the army she needs. After a sudden and unexpected stop at the Master of the Straits’ island, where they learn the secret of his power and guarantee indefinite safe passage between the nations in return for Phedre losing her closest friend, our heroes finally make it back to their homeland again with their army in tow.
Finally! After all of that struggle, we get a happy ending after all. But wait, not yet you don’t, the chunk of pages left at the end remind you. All you did was get your forces together. Good for you. Now you still gotta go actually fight the war with the Skaldi invaders to determine the fate of your entire nation.
So they do. And only after an awesome last-stand battle (the excitement and careful strategy of which will take you completely by surprise if you first entered this book expecting little more than kinky sex scenes) is the story allowed to wrap up in earnest, our heroes finally earning their long-deserved rest. The dangerous and cunning warlord is defeated, the invading army has been pushed back, the new Queen has ascended the throne, Terre d’Ange has been saved, and Phedre and Joscelin are free to finally be together – with the only little niggle being that the real mastermind behind all of their problems is still loose and taunting them. But we can get to that in the next book. Or five.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Horrified: Universal Monsters Strategy Board Game in Tabletop Games
Aug 6, 2021
I was a child a long time ago. Okay, not THAT long ago, but I remember being frightened of a great many thing on TV: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, the TV show “V,” and so many others. I still to this day have not watched an entire old school Universal Studios Monster movie. However, I used to live in California for part of my childhood and my family had season passes to Universal Studios and we would go quite a lot, so I have always been familiar with the monsters. So when I saw a game was being crafted featuring these lovable, but in a nostalgic way, creatures I knew I just had to have it.
Horrified is a pickup and deliver, action points, cooperative game with dice and miniatures utilizing a variable setup. In it players take on the role of a hero in a monster movie – but not just A monster movie, but SEVERAL monsters will be haunting the town! It is the heroes’ goal to defeat the monsters before the Terror Marker reaches maximum or the heroes run out of time and the monsters take over the town.
To setup, place the board on the table and draw 12 Item tokens from the bag. Place these Items on the board in the specified location printed on the Item. Depending on how many players (for this review I will be using the Solo rules in the rule book) place the Terror Marker appropriately on the board – the photo above was taken before I realized that it starts on three in the Solo game. Choose the monsters to be faced and place their mats near the board. The rulebook states where the monster minis will start the game. Place the Frenzy token on the lowest Frenzy-numbered monster. Shuffle the Monster and Perk decks of cards separately and deal each player one Perk card. Each player chooses or is randomly dealt a character badge and places the standee in the appropriate location on the board. The game may now begin!
Players will be taking turns traveling the town, picking up Items, attempting to defeat the monsters per their defeat instructions on their mats, delivering villagers that randomly appear to their safe locations, and keeping the Terror Marker in the acceptable range. Each character has a certain number of actions that can be taken on their turns, but any Perk cards used are spent as a bonus action on the hero’s turn. The hero actions are: Move (one space along the lit pathways, even with a villager in tow), Guide (a villager one space away from the hero), Pick Up (Items from locations), Share (Items from player to player – not needed in a Solo game), Special Action (if the character being played has one on their badge), Advance (complete a task on the Monster mat to move one step closer to defeat), and Defeat (once all the tasks are complete and the player has enough Items to defeat the Monster at the same location). Once a hero has used up all their Action Points per their badge, it will be the Monster phase.
Monster phases begin with a draw from the Monster deck. Upon the card will be a number printed on the top which instructs players as to how many Items to draw and place from the bag. Next, players will read the text on the card and complete any instructions. Finally, the Monsters will strike. At the bottom of the card will be printed several icons pertaining to Monsters individually and also the Monster who happens to currently be Frenzied. These icons instruct players to move certain Monsters and if they share a space with a hero or villager, to roll the attack dice. One hit from a Monster defeats either a villager or hero (unless the hero discards any Item to block the attack). If a hero or villager is defeated, the Terror Marker moves up a space toward ultimate doom. Play then is passed to the players again. The game continues in this fashion until one of the game end conditions is met and the heroe(s) win or the Monsters succeed in their hostile haunted takeover.
Components. I’d like to start with the art. I love it. The art has a very 1930s Hollywood style and is simply beautiful. The colors are vibrant, where color is used, and the board is stunning. All of the cardboard components are top notch quality, and the Monster minis are fab. Obviously it would be great for all the heroes and villagers to have minis as well, but there is text printed on those standees that just can’t translate to a miniature. All in all, the components here are wonderful and high quality.
The gameplay is also wonderful and high quality. The solo game from which these photos are taken I randomly drew the Mayor character and decided to hit the town with Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. That’s a Standard game in the rules. The Mayor is great because she is able to take five actions on her turn (plus Perks), but she has no special abilities. That is both a blessing and a curse and wonderfully balanced. I would say I finished the game needing just one or two more Monster cards to draw before all three baddies were defeated. But, that’s the difficulty of having three Monsters showing. With just two Monsters I would have won handily, but maybe would not have enjoyed it as much and written it off as too easy. Luckily I always learn games on normal standard difficulty first.
Traipsing around town picking up Items and ushering villagers to their safe spaces sounds relaxing, but when the Monsters are on your trail and ready to Strike it adds a layer of anxiety that is just delicious. I admit I probably spent too much time trying to save every villager and that’s partly why I failed at this one game. Also I miscalculated how many extra Items to have on hand when attempting to Advance the Monster tasks. Couple those with my strategy to concentrate on defeating one Monster at a time and, well, that’s a losing strategy it seems.
The gameplay is so much fun, and the components are so wonderful to play with, it’s really no surprise I enjoy this game as much as I do. I have purposely left out some rules for readers to enjoy discovering themselves, but this is a tight game with pressure from different fronts to complete objectives. It’s the kind of game where even with a loss you find yourself wanting to try again right away. And that’s a sing of an excellent game. Purple Phoenix Games gives this very high ratings, even as a solo experience. If you need more horror-style adventure games in your collection, please check out Horrified. It’s not really that scary to play, but you will certainly be haunted by your choices you make throughout the game.
Horrified is a pickup and deliver, action points, cooperative game with dice and miniatures utilizing a variable setup. In it players take on the role of a hero in a monster movie – but not just A monster movie, but SEVERAL monsters will be haunting the town! It is the heroes’ goal to defeat the monsters before the Terror Marker reaches maximum or the heroes run out of time and the monsters take over the town.
To setup, place the board on the table and draw 12 Item tokens from the bag. Place these Items on the board in the specified location printed on the Item. Depending on how many players (for this review I will be using the Solo rules in the rule book) place the Terror Marker appropriately on the board – the photo above was taken before I realized that it starts on three in the Solo game. Choose the monsters to be faced and place their mats near the board. The rulebook states where the monster minis will start the game. Place the Frenzy token on the lowest Frenzy-numbered monster. Shuffle the Monster and Perk decks of cards separately and deal each player one Perk card. Each player chooses or is randomly dealt a character badge and places the standee in the appropriate location on the board. The game may now begin!
Players will be taking turns traveling the town, picking up Items, attempting to defeat the monsters per their defeat instructions on their mats, delivering villagers that randomly appear to their safe locations, and keeping the Terror Marker in the acceptable range. Each character has a certain number of actions that can be taken on their turns, but any Perk cards used are spent as a bonus action on the hero’s turn. The hero actions are: Move (one space along the lit pathways, even with a villager in tow), Guide (a villager one space away from the hero), Pick Up (Items from locations), Share (Items from player to player – not needed in a Solo game), Special Action (if the character being played has one on their badge), Advance (complete a task on the Monster mat to move one step closer to defeat), and Defeat (once all the tasks are complete and the player has enough Items to defeat the Monster at the same location). Once a hero has used up all their Action Points per their badge, it will be the Monster phase.
Monster phases begin with a draw from the Monster deck. Upon the card will be a number printed on the top which instructs players as to how many Items to draw and place from the bag. Next, players will read the text on the card and complete any instructions. Finally, the Monsters will strike. At the bottom of the card will be printed several icons pertaining to Monsters individually and also the Monster who happens to currently be Frenzied. These icons instruct players to move certain Monsters and if they share a space with a hero or villager, to roll the attack dice. One hit from a Monster defeats either a villager or hero (unless the hero discards any Item to block the attack). If a hero or villager is defeated, the Terror Marker moves up a space toward ultimate doom. Play then is passed to the players again. The game continues in this fashion until one of the game end conditions is met and the heroe(s) win or the Monsters succeed in their hostile haunted takeover.
Components. I’d like to start with the art. I love it. The art has a very 1930s Hollywood style and is simply beautiful. The colors are vibrant, where color is used, and the board is stunning. All of the cardboard components are top notch quality, and the Monster minis are fab. Obviously it would be great for all the heroes and villagers to have minis as well, but there is text printed on those standees that just can’t translate to a miniature. All in all, the components here are wonderful and high quality.
The gameplay is also wonderful and high quality. The solo game from which these photos are taken I randomly drew the Mayor character and decided to hit the town with Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man. That’s a Standard game in the rules. The Mayor is great because she is able to take five actions on her turn (plus Perks), but she has no special abilities. That is both a blessing and a curse and wonderfully balanced. I would say I finished the game needing just one or two more Monster cards to draw before all three baddies were defeated. But, that’s the difficulty of having three Monsters showing. With just two Monsters I would have won handily, but maybe would not have enjoyed it as much and written it off as too easy. Luckily I always learn games on normal standard difficulty first.
Traipsing around town picking up Items and ushering villagers to their safe spaces sounds relaxing, but when the Monsters are on your trail and ready to Strike it adds a layer of anxiety that is just delicious. I admit I probably spent too much time trying to save every villager and that’s partly why I failed at this one game. Also I miscalculated how many extra Items to have on hand when attempting to Advance the Monster tasks. Couple those with my strategy to concentrate on defeating one Monster at a time and, well, that’s a losing strategy it seems.
The gameplay is so much fun, and the components are so wonderful to play with, it’s really no surprise I enjoy this game as much as I do. I have purposely left out some rules for readers to enjoy discovering themselves, but this is a tight game with pressure from different fronts to complete objectives. It’s the kind of game where even with a loss you find yourself wanting to try again right away. And that’s a sing of an excellent game. Purple Phoenix Games gives this very high ratings, even as a solo experience. If you need more horror-style adventure games in your collection, please check out Horrified. It’s not really that scary to play, but you will certainly be haunted by your choices you make throughout the game.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Soul Raiders in Tabletop Games
Jul 5, 2021
Check out that cover art! Amazing! If there is one thing that will certainly help my enjoyment of any game, it is definitely great art and components. Yes, I want the game to play well, but if it also looks great, that merely sends it soaring for me. While Soul Raiders has great art in spades, will I equally love the gameplay? Spoiler: yeah, it’s a pretty good game!
Soul Raiders is a storytelling role-playing game for up to four players. Each player takes the role of an aspiring Soul Raider tasked with saving the realms from the influence of evil. The game is played over several sessions that all affect the overarching plot of the narrative, but this preview version simply allows players to learn the game mechanics through a prologue scenario.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure which final components will be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook. There are too many to list here. Once setup, the play area may look similar to the photo below.
As there are 36 pages in the preliminary rulebook, I am unable to detail everything in this preview. However, I can give an overall gameplay feeling.
Players control pawns (standees in this version, but plastic minis in the final) that will adventure on Location tiles that spawn baddies, traps, and other elements. Each round played has no turn structure; players can take their actions however they like in any order, and sometimes players will take actions simultaneously. Once all players have taken their actions, the baddies will attack (though some attack immediately upon spawning in a Location as well).
Combat is resolved through clever chaining card play. The cards drawn to the players’ hand are multi-use and can be combined with others in hand to pull off complex combos. All players will have access to melee combat cards, movement cards, and also magic spell cards. Utilizing the cards efficiently, as well as leveraging each players’ inherent strengths, can make or break combats and skill checks throughout the game.
In addition to the myriad combats players will face, they will also be able to encounter events, special characters, and traps. Many times these will result in skill checks or other card shedding activities in order to progress the story.
Throughout the game a tracker board constantly keeps players aware of the current vitae of the party (collective health), threat level, and active events. Players will also be using personalized player boards to keep track of their deck of cards, active engaged enemies, and status tokens. Each character has special talents different from each other, and the final game will have at least four characters, whereas this version has two.
If the players can navigate the game efficiently and quickly enough to satisfy the win conditions, then victory is to be shared. However, if you, like me, are still trying to figure out how to win, the game ships with an interesting session saving ability so you can pick up where you left off with any combination of players and characters.
Components. Again, this is a preview copy of the game, and not everything is final. That said, I can see the direction this game is going, and if it results in a successful Kickstarter campaign, I foresee me praising the publisher for their excellent components. Most of the art seems complete, and the character art is so amazing. In contrast, I feel the landscape art doesn’t necessarily match the intensity and details given in the character art. It just feels out of place in an otherwise excellently-illustrated game.
The gameplay, however, felt very fresh and familiar at the same time. I have played several games where the players’ card decks offer multi-use cards in much the same fashion, and here in Soul Raiders, the cards can be played for their numeric values or their special abilities. What I like about this is the ability to use the cards in hand to pull off sweeping combos of insane damage, or to really nail the lockpicking difficulty checks. There will be times the heroes will need to be engaged in combat with four or more enemies, and having certain spells that can wipe out most of them with one card is always very satisfying.
Movement has largely been neglected in my plays of Soul Raiders, as I haven’t found a great way to make it sing as a card type. Players will need to use movement to travel from one Location card to others, but there are also mechanics in place for the heroes to flee away from battles. I have yet to feel the need to flee from battle. I also have yet to truly understand the need for a big selling point for the game – character invisibility. Yes, I can see how being invisible would be a great benefit, but I rarely had the ability cards in hand to use it properly or effectively. I am told, though, that the game will ship with both a normal character mini and a transparent mini to indicate when they are invisible. So there’s that.
All in all I really do enjoy the storytelling gameplay of Soul Raiders. I think this intro prologue scenario has piqued my interest and triggered my desire to play more in the story. I hope that some adjustments will be made to make invisibility and fleeing more important aspects of the game, but for now I am ignoring them almost systematically. That said, if you are looking for a new game with a great theme and some pretty good mechanics, I invite you to check out the Kickstarter campaign launching very soon. I think this would be a great one to have in a collection, especially as I can see it being infinitely expandable with new books of scenarios and small expansion packs with new heroes, etc.
Soul Raiders is a storytelling role-playing game for up to four players. Each player takes the role of an aspiring Soul Raider tasked with saving the realms from the influence of evil. The game is played over several sessions that all affect the overarching plot of the narrative, but this preview version simply allows players to learn the game mechanics through a prologue scenario.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure which final components will be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook. There are too many to list here. Once setup, the play area may look similar to the photo below.
As there are 36 pages in the preliminary rulebook, I am unable to detail everything in this preview. However, I can give an overall gameplay feeling.
Players control pawns (standees in this version, but plastic minis in the final) that will adventure on Location tiles that spawn baddies, traps, and other elements. Each round played has no turn structure; players can take their actions however they like in any order, and sometimes players will take actions simultaneously. Once all players have taken their actions, the baddies will attack (though some attack immediately upon spawning in a Location as well).
Combat is resolved through clever chaining card play. The cards drawn to the players’ hand are multi-use and can be combined with others in hand to pull off complex combos. All players will have access to melee combat cards, movement cards, and also magic spell cards. Utilizing the cards efficiently, as well as leveraging each players’ inherent strengths, can make or break combats and skill checks throughout the game.
In addition to the myriad combats players will face, they will also be able to encounter events, special characters, and traps. Many times these will result in skill checks or other card shedding activities in order to progress the story.
Throughout the game a tracker board constantly keeps players aware of the current vitae of the party (collective health), threat level, and active events. Players will also be using personalized player boards to keep track of their deck of cards, active engaged enemies, and status tokens. Each character has special talents different from each other, and the final game will have at least four characters, whereas this version has two.
If the players can navigate the game efficiently and quickly enough to satisfy the win conditions, then victory is to be shared. However, if you, like me, are still trying to figure out how to win, the game ships with an interesting session saving ability so you can pick up where you left off with any combination of players and characters.
Components. Again, this is a preview copy of the game, and not everything is final. That said, I can see the direction this game is going, and if it results in a successful Kickstarter campaign, I foresee me praising the publisher for their excellent components. Most of the art seems complete, and the character art is so amazing. In contrast, I feel the landscape art doesn’t necessarily match the intensity and details given in the character art. It just feels out of place in an otherwise excellently-illustrated game.
The gameplay, however, felt very fresh and familiar at the same time. I have played several games where the players’ card decks offer multi-use cards in much the same fashion, and here in Soul Raiders, the cards can be played for their numeric values or their special abilities. What I like about this is the ability to use the cards in hand to pull off sweeping combos of insane damage, or to really nail the lockpicking difficulty checks. There will be times the heroes will need to be engaged in combat with four or more enemies, and having certain spells that can wipe out most of them with one card is always very satisfying.
Movement has largely been neglected in my plays of Soul Raiders, as I haven’t found a great way to make it sing as a card type. Players will need to use movement to travel from one Location card to others, but there are also mechanics in place for the heroes to flee away from battles. I have yet to feel the need to flee from battle. I also have yet to truly understand the need for a big selling point for the game – character invisibility. Yes, I can see how being invisible would be a great benefit, but I rarely had the ability cards in hand to use it properly or effectively. I am told, though, that the game will ship with both a normal character mini and a transparent mini to indicate when they are invisible. So there’s that.
All in all I really do enjoy the storytelling gameplay of Soul Raiders. I think this intro prologue scenario has piqued my interest and triggered my desire to play more in the story. I hope that some adjustments will be made to make invisibility and fleeing more important aspects of the game, but for now I am ignoring them almost systematically. That said, if you are looking for a new game with a great theme and some pretty good mechanics, I invite you to check out the Kickstarter campaign launching very soon. I think this would be a great one to have in a collection, especially as I can see it being infinitely expandable with new books of scenarios and small expansion packs with new heroes, etc.
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Arrow - Season 1 in TV
May 25, 2017
Stephen Amell is brilliant as Oliver Queen (3 more)
Great cast
Brilliantly directed with great special effects (CGI & Practical)
Action Sequences are brilliantly choreographed
My name is Oliver Queen.. (every single episode) (1 more)
Everyone seems to want to start an argument with Ollie
My name, is Oliver Queen...
Green Arrow is my favourite character in comic books. A modern day Robin Hood, with greater foes that he manages to overcome. However, this show isn't about the Green Arrow, not exactly anyways. It is about The Arrow.
Oliver Queen brings a vigilante justice that crosses a line, as he lets his arrows fly without a care of the lives he takes, as long as they are on the side of the corrupt, they deserve to die. This is his burden to bare, and eventually with the recruitment of John Diggle, he learns that there are others who share his point of view, about the corruption in the city. Finally, with the third addition to their team, Felicity Smoke, Oliver Queen discovers that whilst his goal is good, his methods are not.
Secrets unfold and each episode leaves you wanting more. However, being a CW show, there is a lot of drama between characters, and a lot of audience members seem to find this an issue, because they want more action and don't like to see their heroes facing real world issues with friends and family.
In this first season, it seems that despite him being gone for 5 years, everyone wants to argue with him over petty things. To me, this just brings out a reality to the show that most audiences wouldn't expect from a comic book show. However, if you read more classic Green Arrow comics, you'll discover that there is in fact a lot of drama between Ollie and other characters that help him to evolve into a better man. This show has a lot of drama, the result of which is a great character development throughout the following episodes and seasons.
With a great cast, great writers and brilliant choreographed action, as well as some great references to the comics, and other DC Characters, this season of the show is one of the better seasons, and had me hooked from episode 1.
Oliver Queen brings a vigilante justice that crosses a line, as he lets his arrows fly without a care of the lives he takes, as long as they are on the side of the corrupt, they deserve to die. This is his burden to bare, and eventually with the recruitment of John Diggle, he learns that there are others who share his point of view, about the corruption in the city. Finally, with the third addition to their team, Felicity Smoke, Oliver Queen discovers that whilst his goal is good, his methods are not.
Secrets unfold and each episode leaves you wanting more. However, being a CW show, there is a lot of drama between characters, and a lot of audience members seem to find this an issue, because they want more action and don't like to see their heroes facing real world issues with friends and family.
In this first season, it seems that despite him being gone for 5 years, everyone wants to argue with him over petty things. To me, this just brings out a reality to the show that most audiences wouldn't expect from a comic book show. However, if you read more classic Green Arrow comics, you'll discover that there is in fact a lot of drama between Ollie and other characters that help him to evolve into a better man. This show has a lot of drama, the result of which is a great character development throughout the following episodes and seasons.
With a great cast, great writers and brilliant choreographed action, as well as some great references to the comics, and other DC Characters, this season of the show is one of the better seasons, and had me hooked from episode 1.
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated End of Watch in Books
May 16, 2018
Whew, I finally finished End of Watch and man... It's been more than twenty-four hours and I'm still messed up about it. King definitely has a way of drawing the reader in, even if said reader is as nihilistic as me when it comes to developing character attachments. Unlike Finders Keepers, book two of the trilogy, King dives right into continuing the story with our main characters, Bill, Holly, and Jerome rather than beginning from the left field as he had with the Saubers family and the Rothstein manuscripts.
The Mercedes Killer himself, Brady Hartsfield, is back thanks to the help of Dr. Babineau. Desiring to truly earn his name as the Suicide Prince, he continues on his rampage of convincing people to kill themselves. His bitterness towards Hodges is stronger than ever and our trio of heroes soon find themselves within the scope of Harsfeild's thirst for blood.
This time around, we aren't really introduced to a whole ton of new characters. In fact, the majority of characters in End of Watch we've already met. Because of that, King is able to jump right into the action and wastes no time in doing what King does best: keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. (Not counting From a Buick 8, of course, but let's not get into that. I'd review it, but I don't even want to pick it up again, let alone buy it.)
Other than that I really don't have a whole lot to say about the final installment in this series that I haven't already said on the books before it. I loved the fact that we were able to immediately return to the story that was left open ended at the conclusion of Mr. Mercedes, rather than being dragged through the filler episode that was Finders Keepers. (I couldn't think of a much better way to word that because before I turned to reviewing books, I spent quite a bit of time reviewing anime and if you've ever watched the mainstream, popular series you know exactly what I mean.) I would have felt alright for the most part if I had skipped Finders Keepers, as it plays a very small role outside of the company being created.
The Mercedes Killer himself, Brady Hartsfield, is back thanks to the help of Dr. Babineau. Desiring to truly earn his name as the Suicide Prince, he continues on his rampage of convincing people to kill themselves. His bitterness towards Hodges is stronger than ever and our trio of heroes soon find themselves within the scope of Harsfeild's thirst for blood.
This time around, we aren't really introduced to a whole ton of new characters. In fact, the majority of characters in End of Watch we've already met. Because of that, King is able to jump right into the action and wastes no time in doing what King does best: keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. (Not counting From a Buick 8, of course, but let's not get into that. I'd review it, but I don't even want to pick it up again, let alone buy it.)
Other than that I really don't have a whole lot to say about the final installment in this series that I haven't already said on the books before it. I loved the fact that we were able to immediately return to the story that was left open ended at the conclusion of Mr. Mercedes, rather than being dragged through the filler episode that was Finders Keepers. (I couldn't think of a much better way to word that because before I turned to reviewing books, I spent quite a bit of time reviewing anime and if you've ever watched the mainstream, popular series you know exactly what I mean.) I would have felt alright for the most part if I had skipped Finders Keepers, as it plays a very small role outside of the company being created.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Seize the Night (Dark-Hunter, #5) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Another absolutely wonderful addition to the Dark-Hunter series - I loved it! Tabitha was way better than I expected (I was worried she would be too much) and Valerius was as great as I had hoped. What can I say? I love tortured heroes, and he's one of the best. I felt so much for him and hated how horrid the others treated him for no good reason - other than being judgmental @$$es anyway, especially Kyrian. Now I don't remember much about <i>Night Pleasures</i> for some reason, probably because it is my least favorite in the series, but I thought Kyrian was such a you-know-what with how he treated Valerius. I mean, come on, he was just a five-year-old for crying out loud. Jerk. Same goes with Zarek, but I understand that a bit more. But really, couldn't these idiots have gotten over something that happened 2,000 years ago, instead of acting like children? Grow up already and face facts, he was just a kid who didn't do anything to Kyrian, tried to help Zarek, and was born a Roman. Poor guy. He never knew kindness until Tabitha.
Closer to the end there were some real shockers and since Nick was featured in <i>Night Pleasures</i>, I need to get my hands on that book to re-read it, so I can reacquaint myself to him and the story. Maybe then I'd like it better and be able to remember more from it. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who has not read it yet, but this is one well-paced and plotted book! :)
As much as I loved the book, I was rather disappointed with the ending. It was rushed and was a good thirty or more pages shorter than other Dark-Hunter books. I felt that there needed to be more. The truce was rather lame and anti-climatic and so was the soul thing (or whatever it should be called) with Tabitha and Valerius. However, I loved the epilogue, and overall it is one of my faves of the series, I just wish more justice could have been done to the end of Valerius's story.
Closer to the end there were some real shockers and since Nick was featured in <i>Night Pleasures</i>, I need to get my hands on that book to re-read it, so I can reacquaint myself to him and the story. Maybe then I'd like it better and be able to remember more from it. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who has not read it yet, but this is one well-paced and plotted book! :)
As much as I loved the book, I was rather disappointed with the ending. It was rushed and was a good thirty or more pages shorter than other Dark-Hunter books. I felt that there needed to be more. The truce was rather lame and anti-climatic and so was the soul thing (or whatever it should be called) with Tabitha and Valerius. However, I loved the epilogue, and overall it is one of my faves of the series, I just wish more justice could have been done to the end of Valerius's story.
TacoDave (3838 KP) rated Avengers: Endgame (2019) in Movies
Apr 26, 2019
Cast (3 more)
Humor
Story
Epic Scale
Almost a perfect movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
I just got out of Avengers: Endgame. This will have minor spoilers, but nothing related to the plot.
If you read my review of Captain Marvel, you'll see that I was underwhelmed because they didn't really explain her powers or weaknesses. Avengers: Endgame is exciting, funny, rich, and fantastic, full of great callbacks to earlier MCU movies and references to things we hadn't heard about it a while.
And yet... Here comes Captain Marvel. Again, her powers aren't explained. She doesn't help much until the last 20 minutes, and in those minutes she is seemingly invincible. Because we don't know what can hurt her, the stakes are minimal. It's an invincible woman punching an invincible man and there isn't really an expectation of anything.
But then she gets hit. And someone says "She has backup" or "She has friends" or something similar, and then we see almost every female character from the MCU come behind her to help.
I literally don't care if a superhero is male or female. It doesn't matter. But by forcing scene into the film, it is a reminder that Captain Marvel = Girl Power!!! and it pulled me right out of the film. It was an unnecessary political statement in the midst of a galatic battle. And I hated it.
I'm pro-woman. I'm pro-man. I think both sexes have unique attributes and abilities and features. But trying to say "The women have her back!" was, again, like I felt the directors sitting next to me in the theater, poking me in the ribs, saying "Look at the woke subtext!!!"
It isn't necessary. It is dumb. Let the heroes - all of them - have moments of strength and weakness. Imagine if there was a hero who suddenly called on the name of God and a big cross appeared behind them and the hand of God came down and helped them. That's the kind of heavy-handedness (pun intended) it felt like.
Go see the movie. It's great. But that one bit really soured the end of the movie for me, reminding me that it was a fictional story set in modern times. Why?
If you read my review of Captain Marvel, you'll see that I was underwhelmed because they didn't really explain her powers or weaknesses. Avengers: Endgame is exciting, funny, rich, and fantastic, full of great callbacks to earlier MCU movies and references to things we hadn't heard about it a while.
And yet... Here comes Captain Marvel. Again, her powers aren't explained. She doesn't help much until the last 20 minutes, and in those minutes she is seemingly invincible. Because we don't know what can hurt her, the stakes are minimal. It's an invincible woman punching an invincible man and there isn't really an expectation of anything.
But then she gets hit. And someone says "She has backup" or "She has friends" or something similar, and then we see almost every female character from the MCU come behind her to help.
I literally don't care if a superhero is male or female. It doesn't matter. But by forcing scene into the film, it is a reminder that Captain Marvel = Girl Power!!! and it pulled me right out of the film. It was an unnecessary political statement in the midst of a galatic battle. And I hated it.
I'm pro-woman. I'm pro-man. I think both sexes have unique attributes and abilities and features. But trying to say "The women have her back!" was, again, like I felt the directors sitting next to me in the theater, poking me in the ribs, saying "Look at the woke subtext!!!"
It isn't necessary. It is dumb. Let the heroes - all of them - have moments of strength and weakness. Imagine if there was a hero who suddenly called on the name of God and a big cross appeared behind them and the hand of God came down and helped them. That's the kind of heavy-handedness (pun intended) it felt like.
Go see the movie. It's great. But that one bit really soured the end of the movie for me, reminding me that it was a fictional story set in modern times. Why?
Paul Kellett (118 KP) rated Dawn of the Zeds (Third edition) in Tabletop Games
May 20, 2019
Staged rules to ease you in slowly (1 more)
Strong solo game plus team and 1 Vs many rules
The Ultimate Zombie Tower Defense
I've been wanting DotZ for some time so jumped on the reprint and expansions when they hit Kickstarter last year.
As a solo player, having a town defense game designed as a solo game first was a big draw for me and the game certainly doesn't disappoint.
After hearing so much about it and the complexity, I was surprised to find it a lot smaller than I expected - the board is smaller than most modern board games and there aren't anywhere near as many chits and cards as other wargames. The game will play easily on a coffee table.
The first thing you see are the 5 rule books, but these are handily split into a "Start Here" basic game book which lets you quickly jump in and play a basic game, just your heroes fending off the Zeds from reaching the town, the advanced rules which lead you through the next level of difficulty, adding in extra rules, the set-up guide with all the instructions for each difficulty level plus epilogues to see how well you did. Next there is the Farmingdale Dossier - a reference book with all the various hero and zombie special skills and finally, the complete rules A-Z with rules for all difficulty levels and game modes.
The levels are all colour coded so it is easy to sort and set up the desired difficulty level and the rules are similarly split up and each rule numbered so you can quickly find what you need.
Gameplay is tight and atmospheric, you really feel like you are holding back the zombie hoardes. Careful planning and strategy is vital as actions are limited (and you never actually know how many actions you will get from turn to turn making you make some hard choices as to what is best to do each turn.
Overall a very satisfying game that will keep me busy for a long time and the ability to add more advanced rules when I feel comfortable is great.
As a solo player, having a town defense game designed as a solo game first was a big draw for me and the game certainly doesn't disappoint.
After hearing so much about it and the complexity, I was surprised to find it a lot smaller than I expected - the board is smaller than most modern board games and there aren't anywhere near as many chits and cards as other wargames. The game will play easily on a coffee table.
The first thing you see are the 5 rule books, but these are handily split into a "Start Here" basic game book which lets you quickly jump in and play a basic game, just your heroes fending off the Zeds from reaching the town, the advanced rules which lead you through the next level of difficulty, adding in extra rules, the set-up guide with all the instructions for each difficulty level plus epilogues to see how well you did. Next there is the Farmingdale Dossier - a reference book with all the various hero and zombie special skills and finally, the complete rules A-Z with rules for all difficulty levels and game modes.
The levels are all colour coded so it is easy to sort and set up the desired difficulty level and the rules are similarly split up and each rule numbered so you can quickly find what you need.
Gameplay is tight and atmospheric, you really feel like you are holding back the zombie hoardes. Careful planning and strategy is vital as actions are limited (and you never actually know how many actions you will get from turn to turn making you make some hard choices as to what is best to do each turn.
Overall a very satisfying game that will keep me busy for a long time and the ability to add more advanced rules when I feel comfortable is great.
