Preview.

Here's a quick, not so finished screen shot from an upcoming project. Not much to say that the picture can't.

This is why I need a planner...

So... I haven't updated in a while. There are several reasons why some people might not do that. Not enough things to write about, less free time to spend on Blogger and stuff, real world distractions, etc. Never would I find a combination of the latter mixed with the simple fact that I have too much to write about I can't decide what to do.

Simultaneously I have Batman; Arkham Asylum left to review, as well as the recently released Halo 3: ODST. (Notable for being the first Halo game with substance :O) I also have animation projects progressing and action figure and collectibles I want to review. My first thought was to finish the Batman AA review, but because of the obnoxiously stupid format I set myself out to review it in it will probably take no less than little under two months to complete in it's entirety. Long story short, I'll just do a shorter, less descriptive review and if you really need a walk through, you can do a hell of a lot worse than me. Well, we live and learn.

The second thing was ODST, which just came out and has been taking up most of my free time. Again, something else I want to review. Nevertheless, I will work towards getting more stuff onto this blog.

In Retrospect: Transformers Animated

Note: First off, yes, I am still reviewing Batman: Arkham Asylum. You may see this more often with multi-part reviews here. I will finish it. I offer this retrospective as a sort of tribute the Transformers: Animated and it's (to many) untimely demise.

Back in 2007 toy-manufacturer giant Hasbro first introduced it's fans to a re imagining of it's ever-popular Transformers line. Following a soon-to-be summer blockbuster under the same brand name that was already a drastic deviation from the traditional appearance of the Transformers characters. The fans and followers of the Transformers franchise were taken off-guard by the revealing of Transformers: Animated. A new series separate but partially inspired by the coming live-action film.

First reactions were largely negative. people dismissed the early designs as childish, ugly and uninspired. This was before the movie actually hit theatres, and many fans were not a fan of either style choices. However, this quickly changed when the following San Diego Comic Con, where fan were exposed to concept drawings and character models, along with prototypes of the coming series of action figures. This was around when the toys for the movie were being released and selling very well. Too well, as I'll get into in a moment.

Though some fans still weren't sold on the design of the cartoon or the toys, but there was a third "Universe" series that was combining the classic characters of the 80's with modern toy engineering, though it didn't have any widely-available associated media. Transformers Animated, or TFA as it would be abbreviated, did, and when first footage leaked responses were largely positive. The show was a massive throwback to the characters and concepts of the 80's cartoon. Opinions would be cemented when the show actually began to air. The characters were three-dimensional, the voice acting was top-notch, and the stories were intricate. This was a massive step up from the past "Unicron Trilogy" of imported Japanese cartoons with flat and interchangeable characters, poor vocal performances even from stellar voice talent, and contrived and nonsensical story lines typical of low-budget Japanese animated shows.

There was just one problem: where were the highly-anticipated toys the show was promoting? prerelease samples and test-shots of the first 'wave" of figures had already been streaming off of eBay at a steady rate, and impressions were largely positive, but toy shelves still only gave shelter to movie figures. While never outright stated by Hasbro or retailers, the commonly accepted cause was that the hugely successful live-action film toys were more popular, and retailers didn't want to put a "nobody" line on the shelves while the movie toys were so popular.

While the Animated toys did eventually hit stores about a month after the show aired, this would prove damaging later-on. But the fanbase wasn't concerned at that point. The figures were excellent quality. detailed yet streamlined and clean sculpts in both modes that followed the on-screen depictions of characters almost bizarrely. The show was increasing in quality and popularity, and by the time the second season had ended, a fair chunk of the figures were out. Unfortunately, the gap between the shows premiere and the toys' release meant that most of the characters who showed up in the show weren't available until much later. This was damaging to line as a whole, and on top of that, there was a significant, but not unusually large gap between the second and third seasons, and the toys only barely caught up.

However, somewhere around the beginning of 2009, it was decided that with a sequel to 2007's live-action movie on it's way the coming summer, Animated would be cancelled. The show completed it's third season, and the last toys were designed. (set for a 2010 release) A series that for over a year had given the fans almost everything they wanted had been discontinued before it could finish the last leg of the course. But fans remember it fondly and while it's not truely over, with a few more figures on the way, (and possibly, however slim the chance, a comic) it is certainly not Hasbro's main focus any longer.

And so, my first retrospective. I hope you found the reading insightful, even if it's more like a cliffnotes version.

Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Xbox 360, Part 2

And we're back! I'm trying to compose these reviews as I actually play the game, so I don't miss anything. That said, I'm doing a pretty poor job. I've already played far past since I left off and am now typing off memory. (luckily, this is the second time I've played through, so I have a better idea of when events occurred) But hey, let's give it my best shot.

Part 1: Intensive Treatment part II

As the player makes his way through the smiley face door, a cutscene begins and Batman encounters the Joker standing on top of a metal cage hanging above a pit. In the brief cutscene Batman attempts to stop the Joker before a dis-proportioned monster climbs out of the cell. This is the first time players are shown how to defeat a "Titan": mutated inmates that have grown to grotesque sizes due to Joker's "experiments". Naturally, Joker isn't much of a chemist, so this battle is short, as the titan only has a few moves that a steady hand and quick eye will be able to counter. When the beast roars, you can quick throw a batarang to it's face by tapping the left trigger (LT) this will stun it and throw the battle into slow motion long enough for you to evade (double tap the "A" button) it's charge attack following the roar. It will seem a little distraught, swinging it's arms violently and grasping it's face. It may try to throw a dead guard at you but another batarang to the face when it charges will finish it off.

I originally was let down, as I didn't even break a sweat on this big, scary boss-fight. But in the cutscene the titan appears to suffer either a heart-attack or a stroke and swiftly expires, while Joker makes a mental note to use stronger test patients. Obviously, it wasn't supposed to be so easy. Slight tension follows as Joker gives Batman a chance to "end it all" and knock him off the cell into the pit below. Batman, of course, won't, and Joker laughs at his predictability. We are returned to the game and then literally three more steps into a guard box and we get another cutscene. Here, Frank Boles, a guard we met earlier, kidnaps Commissioner Gordon. We are then instructed by Batman to return him to the place where Joker first escaped and set up a crime scene. This is done by pressing the left button (LB) to take you into "Detective mode." This puts you into a sort of "see-everything" mode. The world goes blue, usable items and objects turn a sort of amber copper colour, you are able to track the heart rates, locations (since everybody shows up as a skeleton visable through solid walls and objects) and conditions of everyone and evidence is pointed out with little pop-up boxes. This adds a great "CSI" element to the game. Setting up a crime scene switches the perspective to first-person and key pieces of evidence in the crime scene are able to be scanned. One such instance is where you scan a flask belonging to Frank Boles and follow the trail alcohol in the air.

Following this trail with take you to the elevator you once rode earlier, only this time, Harley Quinn is there to send it plummeting down to crush you. She fails, and now you must grapple and shimmy your way to the top. Nothing new is learned here, but there is a sort of amusing commentary by the Joker and Harley over the loud-speaker. Once you get to the top, you're going to need to fend off a few thugs before finding both doors locked. However, breaking into a vent on the wall will deliver you to the right path. Here we find Our next little tutorial: dealing with thugs with firearms. These men appear as all-red in detective mode and can't be approached directly, or else they'd merely shoot you down before you could prime a batarang. Instead, you must negotiate over and around them via the many gargoyles that little the ceilings. You can drop down silently from them and approach them from behind, holding RT to crouch. pressing "Y" when prompted will perform a "silent takedown" which basically removes them without alerting anyone who's not looking. Do this three times (or beat up the last guy if you're cheeky) and you can continue following Franky's trail.

Well, not completely. Batman doesn't have the proper tools to open security-locked doors (yet) so you have to sneak him into the small room to the door's right, and silently send another hapless thug to dreamland. After that, Joker makes a joke about your pointy ears and you must climb into another vent on the walls. Good thing Arkham's not bat-proof. Here we are dumped into our first "silent predator" area. This is not a tutorial, but the point where the game just sits back, kicks up it's feet and lets you go nuts. All three henchmen are armed, and you have an obscene amount of options to take them out. Another option is to take out maybe two and just screw around with the last guy, but there's only two waves of thugs, and once they're gone, a guard comes to free you. You exchange a few words, and them proceed down a back hallway, a few vents, and eventually emerge into the open world of Arkham Island, which I will cover next.

That's all for today, stay tuned. Hopefully I can wrap the rest of the chapters up a lot quicker. Maybe just summaries instead of play-by plays, but I want to stay in-depth. Check back, because there's a lot more to this game.

Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Xbox 360, Part 1

This is the first of a few parts of my in-depth review and walkthrough of Batman: Arkham Asylum. It is an action/adventure game with a hint of detective-novel storytelling and true epic-ness so many times lost on other games of today. Here I will post my journey and impressions as I get behind the Bat and dive in the the virtual world of Gotham city's criminally insane. Now lets waste no more time.

Part 1: Intensive Treatment

The game itself is split into three main parts: the story, the challenge mode, and the amusing little side-quests in the form of riddles. I will first review the story aspect. This is the "main" part of the game. The story starts off simple enough. The Joker, Batman's arch nemesis, has been captured by the Batman and is returned to Arkham Asylum, a large house for the criminally insane situated on a large island. The game starts off with a sort of cinematic game play of you controlling Batman as he merely escorts the Joker strapped to a gurney being transported through the halls of the intensive treatment ward. Nothing action-y or physical happens here, but it is a great moment to let the player sink into the game. It lets you take in the atmosphere in a controlled environment, without having to worry about the next bad guy to beat up. It works great, especially considering the game is third-person based (the term meaning the 'camera" is situated behind the character, rather than literally viewing the game through their eyes) as far as immersing the player in the game, and the graphics and level-design are top-notch, if a little dull in the colours department. (we'll get to that shortly)

The first thing fans of Batman: The Animated Series will notice is Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy reprising their roles as the Joker and Batman respectively. They hits their notes perfectly, and some of the lines Joker is given are downright hilarious at times. After the "tutorial" level there's another cutscene. Here, it is explained that Joker surrendered without a fight, and not long before, a fire was started at Black gate prison, where most of the Joker's "sane" crew was incarcerated. After that, Joker escapes, and we are given our first shot at combat. The controls for combat are quite simple. The "X" button on the 360 controller is the strike move, while "Y" counters oncoming attacks. (indicated by little warnings above the attacker's head) When an opponent is down (on the floor with little starts spinning 'round their head) you can preform a ground take-down, holding the right trigger down and pressing "Y" near an opponent. the controls are smooth, and the game is pretty forgiving if your reflexes aren't lightning quick. Average console gamers or newcomers to video games should be able to grasp the basic controls.

After that combat introduction the game fully starts. The Joker invites Batman to come find him, and the chase is on. On the way, however, you find your path blocked and are alerted to an escaped patient who is holding a guard hostage. It is hear we first get to try out Batman's ability to grapple up to and perch on gargoyles mounted near the ceiling. (well, technically they would be grotesques, since they're... well, never mind) While up on one of these gargoyles, Batman can perform a gliding kick, where he uses his cape to glide down to the ground and kick an unsuspecting inmate onto the ground and take them down. Pressing "X" will execute this move. After that we get another brief cutscene, introducing Harley Quinn. (who is, like Joker and Batman, voiced by Arleen Sorken, her voice actor from the animated cartoon) She basically tells Batman that Arkahm island belongs to the Joker now, shows off her new outfit, and locks him in the room. To escape you merely have to travel to your left to a small ventilation cover on the wall, and use the "A" button to open it. Holding the right trigger (RT) will have Batman crouch, and be able to fit into vents.

Whilst crawling through the you will find a green "?" icon. This is a Riddler Trophy, left by, well, the Riddler. There are many of these scattered all over the island, but more on them in future installments. When you reach the end of the vent you will find yourself at the previously blocked door, however a guard has managed to unlock it and rushes over to find the decontamination room is filled with Joker gas. A toxic arisol poison that sends the guards and patients inside into helpless fits of laughter, and eventually dieing. Your job is to grapple up into an opening in the ceiling and work your way to the vents, into the room. Here, you have to amke your way to the end of the room, rescuing guards and inmates along the way. Holding down "A" will make Batman run, and when he gets to a ledge, he'll jump off. Continuing to hold "A" will make his cape flare out and allow him to glide. Once at the end of the room, hold the left trigger to ready a batarang, target the control panel on the wall, and pull RT to throw it. doing so with cause the control panel to malfunction and start the fans, clearing the room of gas.

After that, you get to a door with a sinister smiling face painted on it with green paint. The mystery and mayhem beyond that door will be covered in my Part 2 walkthrough, so check back within the next few days. Same bat-time, same bat-blog.