Flashpoint June 22 Reviews

The latest reviews for this weeks Flashpoint titles which include Kid Flash Lost #1,Reverse Flash #1, Lois Lane and the Resistance #1 and The Outsider #1

Kid Flash Lost #1

Another great tie to the Flashpoint series, Kid Flash Lost starts of with Bart Allen and his grandfather racing around the world but something is odd about the world and his grandfather. He certainly is not in the central city he knows.
The issue is great with solid to great writing with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing till the very end, the story never lets up something is always happening which just keeps building till the very end. Some surprising individuals show up throughout the issue, which leaves you think if that can happen what else could happen.
This is a great tie in which is mostly has a self contained story similar to the Batman series, it looks to build on the momentum created here and if it follows through with that momentum it could be one of the best tie ins of the series.

Robin leaps into Arkham City as a exclusive pre order bonus

The boy wonder makes his debut in Batman Arkham City; coming in as a pro order bonus from Best Buy but which Robin will this be Dick Grayson or Tim Drake?

A post bt Best Buy on Arkhamcity.co.uk reports that Robin will indeed be playable in the upcoming Arkham City, so far we know he will be playable in two of the games challenge maps. We still don’t know what other retailers will be offering but I can’t imagine another pre order character considering we will have three so far, Batman Catwoman and Robin.

Updated with first image of Robin

Flashpoint June 16th

Deadman and the Flying Grayson #1

 

Out of all the tie ins I had a bit of an interest in this issue beforehand as I’ve been reading through Brightest Day, Boston Brand (Deadman) is a prominent character which I’ve grown to like also with the addition of Dick Grayson in this issue, I gave it a chance and it did not disappoint.
The writing is great throughout with all the characters staying true to form but in different circumstances, considering everything else that is going on this feels very grounded in this universe and just fits in nicely, we get to see a little more from the Amazons and what they are doing which I liked considering so far the majority of the focus has been on Aquaman.
Unlike a lot of the tie ins so far this one deals more with getting away from the war well almost trying to avoid so that is nice change of pace. The issue also fills in a few gaps of some of the major events happening in the Flashpoint universe, it really starts to build momentum but it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger which will get people to buy the next issue but it feels it is a little to abrupt. Overall this is a fun quick read and while it is not essential reading it does setup/ reveal a few things for later issues in this series and the over arching Flashpoint story.

Interactive Storytelling

When it comes to the future of story telling in games with questions like, where does it go from here? It is a difficult question to answer, for one there is a multitude of ways to tell a story. I suppose it can be put down to cut scenes and a story that is told while the player is still interacting with the game. The fact that unlike most forms of media, you can actually interact with it to further progress the story or to make choices to decide where the story goes, it becomes an active experience rather than a passive one.

Late Night Thoughts and Updates

Just wanted to put a little update out there seeing as I have a few posts I'm working and they should be up soon. I wanted to get back on to talking about game design, one of the posts I'm working on focuses on story telling in games, how I see it progressing in the future and what goes towards good story telling. Not so much in the way it is written but the way it is presented.

I'll be continuing my reviews of the Flashpoint series as well as a review for Arkham City # 2, I'm enjoying writing about comics a lot so I'm considering doing some stuff leading into the DC revamp coming in September to possibly help out new readers. I started collecting around three years ago but recently started collecting the single issues over the collected trades so my experience of getting into comics and the useful places I have found to get a good insight into it might be useful for new readers if it is all in one place. Actually while writing this the idea is sounds pretty good to me.

Getting into comics can seem a little daunting at first especially where to start, though this will be easy for new readers come September with DC launching number ones of 52 titles so everyone can jump in at the same point.

Oh and I forgot to mention I will be covering two games next week Duke Nukem Forever and the Green  Lantern game which were both released last week. Unfortunately I am still waiting for them to arrive, hopefully they will arrive on Monday so I can start putting some coverage up, really interested to see how the Green Lantern game turns out. I don't expect too much considering it's a movie based game so wait and see.

Duke Nukem Forever: Demo Impressions

The Duke Nukem Forever demo hit on Friday for the first access club members, so after twelve years since its announcement will Duke is able to make a mark in this current generation of gaming?

The demo features two short sections of larger levels one being the final boss from Duke 3D on the football field and the other is in a desert canyon environment that includes a driving sequence and an on foot section that takes you around the canyon and through a mine. The two levels are a nice touch with the first showing off some of the interactivity in the environment while the other is more of what you would expect from gun on gun action.

DC Flashpoint June 1st

DC is rebooting it universe which means come September a whole new set #1 will be released. With this in mind I will be moving on to the single issue comics over the trades because it seems like the perfect time to do so  for a number of reasons. One collecting trades, your are always behind and with what is currently happening so news is frequently coming out about anything major that occurs so it is hard to avoid hearing about it. I also like the fact of having a continuing story arc to constantly read rather than waiting for the next trade to be collected and released.

I’ve plunged into Flashpoint as sort of a test run to see how I like collecting the single issues over the trades and so far I’m enjoying it, one positive I find is the gap between issues really lets things sink in to what has happened and what will happen in future issues. Below I've given short reviews on the issues I've picked up and two of the Flashpoint tie ins.

DC Universe Reboot

With rumours circulating that the current Flashpoint story arc would lead to some kind of a reboot can now be put to rest as details have emerged on just what the future holds for the DC Universe.

The facts are that come September there will be 52 new #1 issues for each of the respecting titles such as The Justice League of America, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to name a few. There is still more speculation about what direction this reboot will be taking, and what they will carry over from the current continuity