WB Interactive has officially announced the sequel to 2013 fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us. A trailer for Injustice 2 dropped alongside the game announcement:
A final release date has not been confirmed, but the game is expected to release some time in 2017.
The announcement comes just days before E3 kicks off with Bethesda’s press conference on Sunday, June 12.
Miss our scheduled broadcast of Andrew trying (and failing pretty horribly) to beat Chex Quest on the hardest difficulty? No worries! You can catch the replay below.
The very idea of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a silly one. Initially a parody of other popular comics in the 80s, TMNT would explode in its own popularity spanning a series of television shows, live-action and animated movies, and arcade and console games. While it’s certainly not as popular nowadays as it was in its heyday, the fact that the four turtles are still recognizable to children over thirty years later is a testament to the brand’s appeal. The Turtles are back in cinemas this summer in Out of the Shadows, the sequel to the 2014 reboot of the film franchise. Is it worth a watch?
The film begins with an animated stunt sequence and a short break at a basketball game before diving into a little plot. It’s fun enough, but serves little purpose other than a silly gag featuring the anthropomorphic turtles’ dish of choice: pizza. From there, audiences are “treated” to a gratuitous amount of Megan Fox doing that thing she does in movies. The dialogue exchange between Fox’s April O’Neil and Tyler Perry’s Dr. Baxter Stockman is hammy and dumb, but it feels consistent with the overall tone of the film. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the sequence that follows as April sheds her outer layer for a quick costume change to make sure the film gets in its requisite sex appeal.
The story is set one year after the last film. Shredder has been defeated and is in prison. Will Arnett’s Vern Fenwick is, according to an agreement made with the Turtles, regarded as the hero who brought down The Shredder. And, thanks to this agreement, the Turtles are able to remain in the shadows protecting New York.
After our detour at the basketball game, we learn that The Shredder is being transported and there’s a plan to break him out. This sets up a solid highway chase sequence with as many laughs and explosions as there are groans. Some of the dialogue is just plain stupid but, most times, it works favorably for the film. The actors know they’re in a silly movie and they appear to be having fun with that, chewing through some painful writing with a mouthful of cheese and a toothy grin.
The plot opens up after the highway scene with what could have been something awesome: Krang and Dimension X. Unfortunately, exposition is not one of this movie’s strong points. I’d like to say it’s formulaic in its plot progression, but that would be giving the film far too much credit. It tries to be – it pretty rapidly moves from point to point to point, but each point is a misstep on a scenic route for about two thirds of the movie. After it finally takes us somewhere we want to be, the film forgets the fact that an important item has gone missing so it can rehash some group conflict that was already covered in the first movie. While the Turtles are caught up in their moody discourse and shunning of each other, the bad guys get to move forward with their evil plot. It’s all good, though, because we need that to happen for that final boss fight – which is, sadly, less spectacular than it should be given everything that’s involved.
Out of the Shadows does a solid job keeping the Turtles true to their roots while keeping them updated enough so they don’t feel like they’re trapped in the 90s. Contrasting this, you have Bebop and Rocksteady. The character designs are perfect, even if the execution is a little off. Despite how good the CG renders of the Turtles are, Bebop and Rocksteady never really look believable in this world. Still, it is fun seeing them on the big screen – even if there are some missteps with how the characters are handled. As if to make sure the film wouldn’t get a PG rating, the two need to check their nether regions to see how everything was changed after their mutation. It’s a small thing, but something that doesn’t jibe with the rest of the film, regardless how messy it is.
The problem with the film isn’t the campy dialogue and one-liners – while some lines definitely don’t work and the script is quite a mess, the Turtles’ banter and Mikey’s quips are, more often than not, enjoyable. The problem is the film’s nonsensical plot and incoherent editing. I’m not expecting Shakespearean level art here, but staying focused on a single idea instead of pointless tangents would make the film a little more watchable (I can’t call them subplots, because these detours don’t have any plot). Its few shining moments are far outweighed by the wasted potential, misguided writing, and shoehorned sexuality. This could have easily been a great summer film anyone could enjoy. Unfortunately, the end result is something that can be entertaining in short bursts, but offers little enjoyment as a whole.
Bad – 1 / 3
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The latest PowerUP Online Podcast is now up! We apologize for the audio issues this week – we had an issue during the recording process we didn’t realize until after the recording was completed. We have taken measures to ensure better audio quality in the future.
I was introduced to The Monkees as a kid. Long past their days of the phenomenon they were in the mid to late sixties. I had a cassette tape of their greatest hits my mom gave me, and that’s how I knew them. I didn’t know they were a made-for-TV fake pop band at their inception. To me, they were just a band. I knew their names. I knew their voices. I knew their music. That’s what mattered to me as a kid. Not who played the instruments on their first two albums, just the music.
It wasn’t until Justus and the TV special episode of their show in the late 90s that I learned that they were, indeed, an assembled group of guys who were supposed to pretend to be a band. Learning this didn’t affect my view of their music, but it did encourage my curiosity to know more about them. I read more, listened more, and watched more. I learned that while they may have had little input on their first two albums, they fought for and gained creative control over their music. I learned that their third album, Headquarters, was entirely produced by the fake band that was previously called out for not playing their own instruments. I learned about their psychedelic cult film Head. I learned about how they’d eventually go their own ways, regain popularity again in the 80s, and make one last album in the 90s. I listened to every song, every “missing link,” and every deluxe album. I can hum and sing along with all their tunes. They’ve become a part of me – defining my tastes and curating my sense of humor. When Davy Jones passed away in 2012, I felt a sense of loss I can’t say I’ve ever experienced with the death of a celebrity, and I was sure The Monkees were over.
It’s been twenty years since the last Monkees studio album was released. While the previous two reunion albums, Pool it! and Justus, attempted to be more contemporary with the music that was hot at the time, Good Times! takes a different approach by bringing the band back to their roots. The new album features new tracks written specifically for The Monkees by a variety of talented artists including original Monkees songwriters Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. Included in the new cast of writers is Andy Partridge of XTC, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, among others. The surviving three Monkees didn’t just sit this one out and provide vocals, however, with Peter, Micky, and Mike penning three tracks on the 13-track album and, yes, playing their own instruments.
The album starts strong with the title track “Good Times.” It’s a song that dives into the backlog of Monkees history with duet vocals provided by the late Harry Nilsson, who wrote the track, and Micky Dolenz. It’s a great, energetic frame for the album that follows. Davy Jones’ unparalleled charm is also brought back to life on Good Times! with the Neil Diamond penned “Love to Love.” While the song may be familiar to some fans, the track never got a proper release, having only been previously included in one of the Missing Links collections.
Good Times! invites you on a journey through the past and the band’s evolution, and it gives you 13 good reasons to take that journey. From upbeat bubblegum songs like “You Bring the Summer” and “She Makes Me Laugh” to more somber and thoughtful tracks like “Me & Magdalena” and “I Know What I Know” – both featuring Mike Nesmith on lead vocals – Good Times! has a solid variety of tunes that would feel at home on any of the band’s first 9 albums.
I’ve listened to the album several times now – each time with an ear-to-ear grin – and there aren’t any duds. Some songs may not stand out quite as strong, but there isn’t a weak track to be found. Having grown up listening to The Monkees, and having little hope that I’d ever hear new songs from them, it’s strangely emotional to hear this new material. The experience of hearing these familiar sounds and voices in something entirely new is overwhelming. Good Times! perfectly encapsulates everything that made The Monkees speak to me so strongly growing up. It’s a striking return to form and a beautiful love letter to their fans and their legacy. It’s an absolutely perfect way to come back… and say goodbye.
Good – 3 / 3
Doom is synonymous with FPS. Early games in the genre were dubbed “Doom Clones” and often carried the stigma of never being quite as good as the id-developed shareware hit. Doom II landed in 1994, just one year after the original, but things would be pretty quiet for the franchise for about a decade after, with Ultimate Doom and Final Doom being the endcaps on the original Doom saga. Doom 3 brought some new life to the franchise in 2004, focusing more on jump scares and horror elements than just mowing down endless hordes of hellspawn, serving as a reboot to the franchise, but, again, things would go quiet. There was one expansion, Resurrection of Evil, and several promises of a sequel, but that would never see the light of day.
Fast forward another decade, and enter Doom – no numbers, no subtitles, just DOOM. Yet another reboot of the franchise, Doom the new brings things back to a more traditional styled action-oriented shooter experience.
The game begins with absolutely no exposition – not unlike starting up the original DOS classic. You play the voiceless DOOM MARINE and awaken bound to a table and surrounded by grotesque minions of hell. Evil things need killing and you have the means to do so. That’s your motivation, and that’s all the exposition you get as the game thrusts you head first into a nonstop killing spree. There is plenty of story in Doom, though, and you’ll encounter it by way of data logs, infrequent cutscenes, and bits of text on loading screens. It gives you enough motivation to continue killing (because just shooting ugly bastards may not be enough for modern audiences), but never actually gets in the way of said killing. It’s a story that does its job to keep you interested for the ten to fifteen hours it’ll probably take you to beat (it took me around 20 on Hurt Me Plenty) but it, thankfully, never takes itself too seriously.
The impressively large single player campaign is composed of 13 huge levels – all of which feature a smattering of secret areas and collectible items. Progression through the game feels similar to a hybrid of classic Doom and Metroid Prime, with sprawling levels and moderate backtracking to get to the next area after picking up a colored keycard or new ability. There’s plenty to go back for if you’re a completionist with dozens of well-hidden secrets to test your exploration skills, gameplay challenges for meeting certain requirements in any given level, not to mention just how damned fun the game is. It’s incredibly replayable.
Gunplay in the new Doom feels absolutely fantastic. Guns have weight, shots have impact, and, just like the game that spawned the series, there’s no reloading. You’ve got a number of rounds in your inventory, sure, but you never have to actively reload your guns which have seemingly endless clips. Ammo is always in abundant supply, as well. The game never leaves you out to dry and, if you do begin to run low on rounds, you can whip out the powerful chainsaw for a quick, on-demand ammo drop when you rip through a nearby enemy. To keep things balanced with the chainsaw, which can take down any non-boss enemy with one hit, the weapon runs on fuel and harder enemies will consume more fuel – so a possessed will take one bar of fuel, a revenant will take three, and a mancubus will take five. As powerful as you feel never having to pause to reload, the game makes sure you never feel too powerful at any given time. There’s plenty of death to be had in Doom and, depending on your difficulty, you’ll probably get more than your fair share.
Outside the campaign, the game offers a variety of multiplayer modes in addition to a scenario editor called Snap Map. While the multiplayer modes have received little love from fans and press alike, Snap Map opens up endless possibilities for new gaming experiences. It’s basically Super Mario Maker with guns. And demons. And gobs of goo. Snap Map is impressive in how much you can do with it – everything from the map layout, enemy placement, items, spawns, and sound effects are up to you. You can place interactive switches that trigger events in the level, program paths and behaviors for your enemies, set conditions and objectives to win your scenario. It’s a great, simple to use tool that basically makes you an FPS dungeon master in charge of mini campaign. The community offerings are hit and miss, to be sure, but there is so much potential with what is possible the Snap Map tools that you can spend countless hours in this game – whether you’re constructing your own scenarios, or playing maps posted by the community.
The resurgence of id’s iconic properties like Wolfenstein and Doom is exciting to me as someone who grew up with those properties for the nostalgic value, but also to see how well the franchises can hold up in these new iterations. Much like Wolfenstein: The New Order that came before it, Doom is absolutely worth a playthrough. The multiplayer may leave you wanting, but the campaign and snapmap community should keep you satisfied for, potentially, endless hours.
Good – 3 / 3
“The third film is always the worst.” This pseudo self-aware line is spoken as a not so subtle nod to the less than stellar reception X-Men 3: The Last Stand received. And, as painful as it was hearing this piss poor attempt at irony, it couldn’t be more true.
X-Men: Apocalypse is the third film in the new X-Men timeline and follows the events of the X-Men sequel / reboot Days of Future Past. While Days of Future Past had its faults, it still stood out as one of the stronger entries in the X-Men film franchise. Sadly, the legacy of the excellent First Class does nothing to elevate Apocalypse above mediocrity.
The film opens strong enough with a thundering score and the titular En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse) and his four henchman marching to a ritual to transfer his consciousness. We’re treated to a fun, if a little clumsy, action scene right off the bat before the film tosses up the title card… and then devolves into a muddy mess of mediocrity and wasted potential.
The majority of the film is set in 1983, over 20 years after First Class, and it does little to emphasize this point aside from a few period outfits and a Return of the Jedi marquee. Despite the cast having aged only 5 years since this new (old) class of heroes was introduced, we’re thrust into yet another decade with little to no reason. Really, the only cues we have, aside from the punk clothing and movies playing in cinemas, that any time has passed between films is the damage done in the last two movies is barely a passing thought to anyone in this universe and one of the characters has a family now.
With First Class, and to a lesser extent Days of Future Past, the characters felt new and refreshing. Even if we had seen them before in these films, the new interpretations added a new layer of depth. In the original X-Men film, we were given a glimpse into what turned Erik into Magneto. First Class took us deeper into that character evolution with an extended look at Erik’s time in Auschwitz and Michael Fassbender giving us a Magneto that, in spite of his feelings toward them, is more human. The relationship between Charles and Erik in First Class gives more weight to each instance you hear the line “old friend” spoken in the original films. It’s a compelling relationship and one I’d love to see more of, but one that takes a back seat to some of the new gifted youngsters as Apocalypse tries desperately to bridge the gap between the old and new.
While Days of Future Past did little to develop that relationship further, being essentially another Wolverine movie, the characters in that go ‘round were actually fun to follow. Apocalypse shifts its focus to follow Jean Grey, Kurt Wagner, and Scott Summers in their “first” appearance in the franchise. I’ve never been a fan of how Cyclops has been presented in the film franchise, being a bit of a whiny douche, which is disappointing because he was always my favorite in the comics. Apocalypse somehow manages to make the character even less likable than the James Marsden iteration of the character. I understand, he’s going through some unexpected changes that are difficult to handle, but the stilted performance, cringe-worthy dialogue, and lack of chemistry do nothing to make those changes relatable – or even tolerable.
On the topic of dialogue, the script is downright terrible at times. With a hodgepodge of graceless exposition, ham-fisted attempts at humor, and standard, impact-less “us versus the world” hero speeches, you’re sure to shake your head more than a few times at just how utterly stupid these characters can sound when they open their mouths. That’s not to say that it’s all bad – there are moments with true dramatic weight, but I think that has less to do with the script and more to do with Michael Fassbender’s better-than-this-movie-deserves performance. Each scene he’s in is mesmerizing, with one in particular striking nearly every emotional cord. It’s a shame, then, that he’s such a small presence in the film. Each scene with Erik is like watching a different movie. A good movie.
The primary conflict in X-Men: Apocolypse centers on the return of Apocalypse as he gathers an army of mutants to push the reset button on the world so the strong can survive and start anew. It’s an idea with potential: all-powerful being hell-bent on world destruction and domination surrounds himself with other, like-minded powerful beings to see that plan through. Unfortunately, it’s wasted on unnecessary subplots and stupid characters.
Apocalypse keeps four henchmen nearby and, of those, only two are actually interesting in any way. Olivia Munn as Psylocke is hard to watch – even if she is just a blip on the radar in the film – and the inclusion of Angel is downright baffling (I don’t remember him being in his forties in The Last Stand). Alexandra Shipp’s turn as Storm is a vast improvement over Halle Berry’s, but she gets about as much screen time as Psylocke – which is a shame because she manages to be one of the few enjoyable characters in the film. Apocalypse himself is bland and a waste of Oscar Isaac’s talent as the blue makeup and boring progression do a fine job of making him as unrecognizable as he is uninteresting. There are brief moments where you can see a glimmer of what could be only to be pulled back down by a groan-inducing line someone managed to choke out.
There was an opportunity to build toward something bigger with Apocalypse. Days of Future Past reset the timeline and created the possibility to do something new; instead, they went with another paint-by-numbers standalone superhero flick. While some of the action is enjoyable and the time you get to spend with the Magneto subplot is absolutely worth watching, there’s little to nothing else in this film worth recommending. It’s like a cocktail of one part good movie, two parts painfully mediocre movie, and one part absolutely horrible movie. While it’s not downright terrible as a whole, it rarely ever tries not to be.
Meh – 2 / 3
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