Guardians of the Galaxy Review (Spoiler Free)

Star Wars meets The Avengers and yet so much more

There is something special about Guardians of the Galaxy. It is a unique recipe of titles that many know, yet put in a way that makes it fresh, new and exciting. It has the scope of 2012's The Avengers mixed with the dynamic teamwork of the X-Men movies. Take both of those titles and blend it with the wonder of Star Wars and you have an idea of what Guardians is like. So, let me get right to the point. Go see this movie as soon as it opens. If you have plans, change them. If you have a date, bring them. If you have work, I will personally write you a semi-believable note for why you were absent.

Now before I go on, let me preface this with saying that while I am a comic writer/lover/collector, I mainly follow DC comics. You can ask me about the history of any Justice League member and I can rattle it off. Marvel on the other hand is something I only dove into in the last few years. I started with Thor and moved through Captain America and the rest of the Avengers lineup. When I heard of this movie, I had some homework to do. While beneficial, it was not needed. Guardians of the Galaxy introduces you to all the members in a natural, fluid manner. It doesn't hurt that each actor played their role exquisitely. Chris Pratt took on the role of Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) and made him a believable leader. His ability to spit one liners one moment and rallying speeches the next is something not many actors could do; or at least do well.

While Pratt is the leader of this band of wayward souls, he doesn't over shadow the rest of the cast. Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket) and Vin Diesel (Groot) all give wonderful and captivating performances. I will admit that I was a little worried about Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket. In the trailers leading up the film, I would hear Rocket and think of Cooper. Once unleashed in the full film you will forget about the actor and will be invested in the character alone. As someone who regularly has a difficult time suspending disbelief, this is to be a wonderful thing.

Another actor who needs to be recognized is Dave Bautista. Known to many as Batista in the WWE, he was the one I was most worried about. His lack of acting roles left him open to being the weakest link in the title cast. I am very pleased, however, to confirm that his portrayal of Drax the Destroyer was spot on. Bautista was able to convey the emotion of Drax while still keeping the rage palpable. Also, be ready to laugh as Drax has some of the best lines in the film. The banter between the group is some of the movie's highest points; even in a film with so many good things.

Every hero, or in this case anti-hero, is only a good as the villain he/she is pitted against. Ronan (Lee Pace) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), while not the true focus of the movie, play their parts well. The two are one of the driving forces that form the heroic group. I won't say what they are after exactly, but I will mention that they aren't the only ones. Much bigger things are in play.

Finally, I have to mention the director, James Gunn. His unique take on directing is really what made Guardians shine. This movie could have easily been a flop if handled by anyone else. His use of lighting, sound and camera work truly transported you out of the theater and into deep space. Not just that, but his ability to let each character have their time in the spotlight, is something worth noting. Too many times have I seen a movie where the hero is either skimmed over or much too much back story is given (do we really need to know how Peter Parker became Spider-Man again?). Gunn also has this knack for assuming the viewer is paying attention. Not once during the films 121 minute running time did I feel as though my hand was being held. A fact that I am grateful for. I am excited to see what he brings to the table for the second movie. A movie which I will surely be in the front of the line to see.

Overall, I found the film - one that must have been a risk in the eyes of Marvel - to be a resounding hit. It gives each actor and the subsequent character their time in the forefront. Guardians of the Galaxy may have villains to fight, yet the movie itself focuses on the group and how they came together. A smart move by the director. As I said in the opening paragraph, go see this movie.

I give it a 9.5 / 10

Oh, one more thing, Thanos. That is all.

Destiny beta impression.

Destiny, property of Bungie studios

Destiny, the persistent world - not MMO - first person shooter, has finally been unleashed as an open beta for a limited time. The game, developed by Bungie (the creators of Myth, Marathon and most notably the Halo series) is only accessible to people who pre-ordered the title as well as their friends with whom they shared one of their spare keys. 

Not only have I been feverishly playing the beta, but I was also in the closed alpha around the time of E3 2014. With the launch of the game imminent, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on what I have seen and experienced. 

First let me preface this with the fact that I have been playing it on the Playstation 4. Also, I pre-ordered the Digital Guardian Edition (I like swag and don't have the room for anymore physical items). Come July 17, I booted up my PS4 and there it was; ready for me to help the Traveler. Time to make my Guardian. 

The first thing I noticed was the fact that this time around I got some more background in the form of the opening cinematic. Following that, I dove into the extensive character creator. In the alpha I decided to focus on making a hunter. While fun, I found that the super move (the golden gun) just wasn't the best choice for me. Seeing as my hand-eye coordination isn't what it used to be, I found that I just couldn't hit my enemies well enough to justify the character. For the beta, I chose the warlock as my class. Let me tell you, that was the right choice. 

I found the new class to be the much more suited to play style. The super move, the nova bomb, is much more tactical for what I need. I like to run in and blow stuff up. I am almost positive that this will also be my choice for the final release as well. 

One of the things that I noticed off the bat in the alpha was how gorgeous the game looked. The draw distance was far, the details were breath-taking and world felt alive. I wasn't expecting as much of a jump in quality as I saw when I first landed in the first playable level in the beta. While everything I saw from the alpha was there, I found that there was so much more detail now. The particle effects were abundant, the light bloom and lens flares helped add an extra layer of realism. 

Probably the most intriguing aspect of the game to me is the social interaction with other players. Destiny, while not being an MMO, is very massively multi-player. Yes, I know it is confusing, so let me try and flesh that out a bit. The world that the game takes place in is persistent. That means that while you are playing, others are in the same world with you. There were numerous times that I was in a white knuckle firefight only to find that at the last minute, another player would dive in and help out. 

Those random bouts of assistance even make up another side to the experience; random events. During my time with the beta I would be flying around and find the world suddenly darker, as if I was plunged into a solar eclipse. Next thing I know, my AI assistant (voiced by Peter Dinklage of Game of Thrones.) called a ghost would announce an event was happening nearby. A waypoint marker would appear and off I would go. Now, this wasn't just for me either. Everyone in the area would be notified and we would all run to defeat whatever mean baddie would show up. The earlier you got there, more damage you did and helpfulness to the team got you a rating. The higher the rating, the better the rewards. 

The similarities between Destiny and an MMO don't end there. It has dungeon like areas called "Strike Missions" where you team up with two other players to make a fireteam. The enemies are harder, the battles larger and the bosses are meaner. Oh, and the loot, the loot is sweeter too. In the beta, we only get to experience one of them. I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. 

The last major piece to the whole experience is the "Crucible", or Destiny's name for PVP muliplayer. In this limited preview we were only allowed to try out the mode titled "Control". This was a mix of your standard team death match and king-of-the-hill. Each team of six fought for control of three areas. Each of the maps were tightly balanced and perfect for this mode. 

While everything so far has been positive, I do have some gripes that pulled me out of the immersion. I fully realize that this is supposed to be a sliver of what the full experience is, I found numerous invisible walls that would instantly start a countdown timer. Once zero is reached you die and have the pleasure of seeing your corpse with your ghost floating about it. I can see having them in areas obviously not allowed to players. But I ran into them in areas that I didn't have to try and glitch my way into. I would be exploring and walking up a hill (admittedly it was the side of a small passage between areas) and the timer would kick in. What's that? A ledge I can check out, nope. Not major, just slightly frustrating. 

The next two annoyances also came from the single player experience. The beta caps out at a modest level eight. Enough to tantalize, but keep you wanting more. There were areas in the open world were the enemies would go from level four or seven to "???". They tended to be around level eighteen or twenty (revealed when they kill you in one hit). I would be happily enjoying myself and then dead. Just like that. To go along with that scale in levels is the armor. There were numerous time I would win a Strike mission or a Crucible battle (or find a chest) where I would get a shotgun or cloak I couldn't wear. It wasn't that I was not the right class, just to low a level. Again, nothing major, just a minor frustration. Both of these will become less of a frustration when we access to all the levels. 

My final qualm came from the Crucible and can be fixed prior to launch. On one map there are vehicles the teams can use. I found them to be WAY overpowered. I played game after game where if I didn't have my super ability, I would be mowed down. Not fun. But that is all stat adjustment that can be looked at post-beta. 

All in all, I would say I have spent close to fifteen hours with the beta and a total of about twenty five including the alpha. My expectations are very high and I can say I am truly excited to dive in fully. I hope to see you all out there too. Now, check out some of the screens I captured on my PS4. 

I had to kind of glitch my way up here. 

OOOOOHHHHHH, particles a-plenty

Thoughts on the reveal of Arsenal from "Arrow: Season 3"

Colton Haynes as Arsenal (via Entertainment Weekly)

DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Big Dog, Skybound, IDW, Top Cow, Zenescope, Syndicate Press, Aspen Comics. All of those names are comic companies. I grew up loving comics. My favorite of which is Detective Comics, more widely known as DC. Of all their heroes, Green Lantern followed closely by The Flash and Green Arrow. 

While the Green Lantern movie (2011) was, in my opinion, terrible. The television show Arrow, which is going into its third season, is something I greatly enjoy. Not just me though, my wife, friends and even my 59 year old mother have fallen for Oliver Queen. As much as I love Ollie, I was hoping to see Speedy, Red Arrow or Arsenal. With the introduction of Roy Harper in season one, I got a taste for that. Even more so in season two. 

SPOILERS!

Finally seeing Roy don his own red bow and quiver in the finale of season two was amazing. I am pretty sure I scared all my neighbors with my shouts of glee. Yes, glee. He may of still only been wearing his red hoodie, but it was major progress. 

END SPOILERS!!

So here we are. Entertainment Weekly unveiled the above image just before San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2014. I have to say, I am hugely impressed. It is less Speedy and much more of a fusion between Red Arrow/ Arsenal from "Young Justice" and the version from "Red Hood and the Outlaws", the DC New 52 publications. 

The suit has a nice mix of Ollie's suit, the leather from the new Flash show and the previous versions of the character mentioned previously. It is interesting to see where DC and the CW will take the character seeing as they are skipping (at least in title) the previous two iterations. October can't come soon enough!

The great switch.

Kerplinket!

That was the sound of an achievement being unlocked. That was also the sound I would strive to hear whenever I loaded a game on my Xbox 360. I would hunt for them, kill 999 zombies for a lowly 40GS. A raindrop in my oceanic goal of 50,000GS. I know, i know. 50k isn't a lot now for a gamerscore. For me however, it was something to strive for.

I had the itch. I needed to earn achievements in order to enjoy a game. I needed a bigger score than my friends to fee self worth. Silly, isn't it. Attaching a number, just to bolster yourself. But there I was, from November 2005 until May of 2014, hunting a silly noise with a number attached to it. Hell, at one point I bought a Windows Phone just to have mobile games with achievements.

Let me back up for a second, I need to fill in some history about me. I am a techaholic. I need the newest, greatest piece of electronic gear. I am that guy who used to feel the insatiable need to buy the next gen of whatever to feel important. I was competitive with people who didn't know they were in a competition. Some may have called me a tech snob and I accept that. I was. 

Something happened in early 2014 that loosened that addiction to needing the newest bobble. I got a used first gen Playstation Vita. I don't remember the last time I bought a used piece of hardware (games are a WHOLE different story for another post) from Craigslist, Gamestop or wherever. I had always took pleasure in cracking open the box for the first time.

Anyways, back to the original topic. This was unique to me in a few ways. Not only did I buy a used console (granted it was from a friend I trusted) but it was a Sony product. Now, I have owned previous Playstation products in the past. I rocked the joystick-less PS1 controller, various Dualshocks and even the singular sliding disc of the PSP. However, I never felt a connection to the Playstation ecosystem. They were never the first console of a generation that I would buy. It was always N64 then PS1, Gamecube then PS2 (then Xbox), 360 then PS3. Beyond that, I had already known there was a new version of the Vita on the horizon. I didn't care, it was a good deal and I snatched it up.

The moment I turned on the Vita, it was like a whole new world. I was hooked. I went right our and bought Persona 4: Golden (based on IGN's Greg Miller's recommendation) and a PSN+ subscription. I found myself playing this more and more. This was turning into my go-to console. I would get trophies and I didn't feel the immediate urge to see what it was for. I just played to play, not to get something extra from it. Net thing I knew, I had received an email from Microsoft notifying my that my Xbox Live Gold had run out. Holy crap! My whole gaming world was on XBL and I had let it run out without batting an eyelash. Something must be wrong. I mean, I had owned a PS3 for years at this point. It was, however, never more than a game playing Blu-ray player (to be honest, I hated the Dualshock 3 with a passion.).

By this point in time I had been debating since E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) on whether I should invest in a Playstation 4 or an Xbox One. This was a hot topic as I (like a lot of people) HATED the XB1's limitations set forth by Microsoft; but buy a Playstation first went against everything I had done for years. It also meant leaving behind my full friends list, 50,000+ GS (which I only finally had earned) and loyalty to Xbox.

I sat on it, I wasn't going to shell out $400+ on a console if I didn't know for sure which one I wanted. Plus, being newly married in March meant I must think of OUR finances, not just my own. I needed to be responsible and choose just one. Just one... that singular thought hit me every time I would read a new game review. Every time I would sop at a Best Buy or hear a friend talk about their new console.

Side note part two. I may sound crazy as I was stressing so much about this choice. I guess a little more info should be given. I have always thought of myself as a hardcore gamer. That title means less now that I am pushing thirty, but video games are still a big part of my life. They have literally save me from the edge a few times. Again, another story for another post. 

By May of this year I had read all the reviews I could. Watched two E3's and listened to my friends, YouTube videos and Gaming websites say why each was better. I was still torn. Each night, after my wife would doze off, I would play my Vita. It was when I got my first Platinum (for Telltale's The Walking Dead) that I knew I wanted a PS4 first.

I may not have the huge friends list or the high gamerscore any longer, but I was just having fun. I would earn trophies for me and not in some unspoken competition with my friends. A Platinum trophy was a personal goal for each game. The smaller friends list (which has grown since then) meant I could focus on playing games without my self imposed need to be better. So on May 21st (my birthday) my wife helped me buy my very first "next gen" console, the Playstation 4.

I haven't been so happy in my choice in a long time. Oh, and the PS4 is awesome too!

-Kyle