Archives July 2021

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me codes to some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 discussed Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong. We have returned with Part 5 and are talking about Wrath of Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Space Jam.

Wrath of Man

Guy Ritchie has been one of THE best directors and when my contact at Warner Bros offered this film to us to review I jumped at the chance. Wrath of Man follows H as he takes a job as a crewmen on an armored truck and as the story unfolds we learn that there is more to him than meets the eye when he stops an armed robbery without a scratch. The film was absolutely brilliant. Ritchie’s control of the story is phenomenal and Statham delivered one of his best performances, ever!

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

This is the original story starring Gene Wilder in 4k and is just as disturbing as it was when I was a child. In 4k it is more vivid than ever and watching it again I can appreciate the stellar performance by Wilder.

Space Jam

Space Jam is one of those films that you remember fondly and as an adult give it another chance and watch with your children. The problem with the film is not the story or the performances but the fact that these days staple characters like Bugs or Daffy are rarely seen and today’s children aren’t really interested in them at all. They have not invested hours upon hours in watching these characters. Some of their antics may not carry over as well in today’s culture but for the most part they were fun. It was great to see these characters return and share them with the family but I was the only one on the couch that seemed to enjoy the film.

SO WHICH WARNER BROS FILMS DID YOU SEE? WHICH DID YOU ENJOY?

Focus Home Interactive brings us a new offering in the Warhammer universe with Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground!

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground is bringing a new war to the mortal realms thanks to Focus Home Interactive and they were generous enough to share a copy with us! Playing the tutorial you must start as the Stormcast Eternals but after that first stage you unlock the ability to play as both Nighthaunt and Maggotkin of Nurgle. Players take turns moving and attacking with their units on a hexagonal map, each unit has their own default distance they are able to move and crossing difficult terrain will slow them down.

The movement mechanics look and feel like a cross between two of the different tabletop games set in the Mortal Realms- Age of Sigmar itself and Age of Sigmar: Underworlds. Visually, in every aspect I’ve seen so far, the game is absolutely stunning. I have read numerous comments about glitches in the game and after a couple hours I have yet to experience them myself.

As a whole I found the game to be an amazingly built adventure into the realm of death that exceeded every expectation I had for the game and on images alone they were already higher than most titles.

Green Hell is an FPS survival horror game based in the uncharted jungles of the Amazon where you must survive physically and mentally.

Creepy Jar is an awesome name for a game developer and those same minds brought us their newest release, Green Hell. Green Hell was previously released on Steam years ago but we were not able to play it until it was ported over to the Xbox One and we recently received a copy for the purpose of this review.

The game itself feels quite unique, or at least I have yet to play anything that came before that had this same feel to it. Some of the mechanics are tried and true across many games but this particular recipe feels new and that is rare. Before playing the game and before even seeing images of the gameplay I saw there was a tabletop version of the game about to go on kickstarter so it gave me a different expectation of the gameplay. I thought that the game would be an isometric game where you had to navigate the Amazon to some unknown end (I literally went into this game without doing any research on the story) and was shocked when I loaded the game up for the first time and was greeted to a first person shooter styled experience.

For the game mechanics you will likely recognize crafting mechanics similar to those in 7 Days to Die or the fact that any items that can be picked up as they are will receive a glowing outline like in so many other games. Graphically the rendering is not the best I’ve seen on the Xbox but I would say that it is on par with the earlier releases of the Xbox One. The story focuses on Jake and his Mia as they arrive in the Amazon. Their first step after making camp is for Mia to earn the trust of a local indigenous tribe. One day you wake up to her screams over your radio and you go charging into the jungle (as Jake) to find her. With several comments regarding Jake’s mental health throughout the tutorial led me to wonder if her voice was real. Very quickly you begin to question everything, like during the tutorial there was a path near your camp and after the tutorial the path is replaced by a stream. Very few games I have played have messed with your senses like Green Hell has and that was just in the first couple hours of the game. I can’t wait to see how else the game screws with my head.

Order of Battle: World War 2 is a turn based take on the battles of World War 2 by Slitherine Games.

Have you ever wanted to command troops during World War 2 over land, sea and air? With Order of Battle: World War 2 you can. Slitherine Games shared their newest Xbox One release to try and share our thoughts.

The visuals for the game are like something out of the early nineties. I don’t mean to say that this is garbage because I have played and enjoyed much worse. It’s on par with the original Command and Conquer games as far as the visuals are concerned but play style is quite different. Each turn you move your various troops up to a certain number of hexes (each varying from unit to unit) and most can also attack.

The gameplay is slow and tedious but still the game was enjoyable. I found myself on many occasions saying “just one more level” and after several hours I’d wonder where the time went. The game is tedious and everything about the interface screams that you need a mouse and computer to play this but it is enjoyable. Though it would likely be even more enjoyable with a mouse or an upgrade to the controls and interface.

Necromunda has been one of those games that will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks to Games Workshop we have the opportunity to dive back into the underhive.

This is not the first time we’ve delved into the world of Necromunda, nor the first time we’ve received review materials from Games Workshop. As with any other item we’ve received the shared opinions are not influenced by the source. This isn’t the only Necromunda item we received either- we were sent a copy of the House of Blades and the Mercator Nautica Syphoning Delegation from Forge World and we will be discussing them each!

Hive War

Hive war includes two full gangs (House Escher and House Delaque), a full set of objective tokens and additional Zone Mortalis terrain. For both gangs these are the same as can be found in the normal gang boxes. Objective tokens are the same as the original Second Edition boxset as is the Zone Mortalis terrain. Each of the items in this box can be ordered separately but you are getting them at a discount getting them boxed together. The only difference in this box is that the rulebook is updated to include all FAQ changes prior to the book’s printing!

Set in the Warhammer 40k universe, Necromunda is a hive planet that produces munitions for the Astra Militarum. The planet is covered in massive hive cities but below these are the homes and territories of numerous gangs, most of which have aligned themselves to one of the major house- Escher, Delaque, Goliath, Orlock, Cawdor and Van Saar. Each house operates under strict morals and rules that members must abide by.

Gameplay is as solid as before- when you played with the FAQ rules previously there is no transition to the new rulebook. This is not a new edition, just an updated printing. Any chance at more terrain, models I don’t have, more objectives and additional models for your favorite faction is a win for sure and for me this box has that in spades. Escher have always been my favorite House to play so additional models are great as that will allow me to try some new load outs that will also appease the WYSIWYG crowd as these will already have the weapons.

House of Blades

In addition to containing the most up to date lore on House Escher, House of Blades features rules for the main fighter types- Queens, Matriarchs, Death-Maidens, Wyld Runners, Sisters, and Little Sisters. Additionally you will find rules for the various abilities or weapons used by this House and even how to hire the various brutes and thugs. This includes how to hire the Syphoning Delegation as well! This book is a must for fans of House Escher or any other House that wants to know more about their enemies.

Mercator Nautica Syphoning Delegation

The Delegation has some special ties to House Escher but can work with any law abiding gang. With this trio I love the concept draining the water from my enemies to then sell to others for a profit. Aesthetically they look like they might belong with a Tau army in 40k but really feel like a call out to days of first edition when we had elite members from high up in the Spyre coming down to eradicate some of the gangs. The chosen paint scheme GW used I feel is too bright so I will be doing something a bit darker but am looking forward to the task as well as fielding them with my Eschers.

BeeFense BeeMastered was once a mobile game that has been remastered for the current generation of consoles by Byterockers’ Games.

BeeFense BeeMastered is a tower defense game from Byterockers’ Games and the latest in a series of cute, adorable, family friendly titles of games (most of which are on mobile). In BeeFense you assist a bee hive defend themselves from evil wasps and their bug allies. Where most tower defense games you earn currency by waiting, this is more of a hybrid mixed with RTS mechanics (Real Time Strategy). Specifically you must farm pollen for purchases, nectar to feed your bees and honeydew to pay for researching upgrades. You can also farm water which gives your weapons a boost to their effectiveness. Most levels give you three goals that award honeycombs (instead of stars).

Each stage becomes a dance between defending the path, feeding your bees and paying for everything. As stages progress you unlock new towers and upgrades for them. Personally I never enjoyed tower defense games but already found myself pushing replay on stages I missed goals until I completed them. Some levels feel impossible to unlock each of the goals but as you unlock permanent upgrades playing them again becomes easier than before but many are still quite challenging. 

With the level of control needed through many of the levels I feel that a mobile version simply allow you to effectively order your troops. Now keep in mind this is just an observation based on the mechanics on the Xbox One and mobile version could function entirely differently. I simply don’t know. If everything is controlled in the same manner then I don’t see mobile working very well. On the Xbox though it is a unique experience that will likely aggravate younger players but provide a challenge that will push adult gamers to their limits and do it in a world that you don’t need to worry about children being around while you play.

HeroCraft has released an Xbox One version of their mobile hit Space Wolf, a turn and card based strategy game.

When I discovered Warhammer 40k Space Wolf I immediately reached out to the team at HeroCraft to see if we could receive a review copy to try it out. Little did I know at the time this was the same game I had played several years ago on my iPhone. When it first released I found it to be a good deal of fun but soon found a new title to draw my attention on my phone. Fast forward to last month when I received the download code for the game.

I had the game installed for several weeks before playing it and within the first couple turns I realized how similar this was to a game I played before. After a few minutes on google taught me that my suspicions were correct, this game was an updated version of a mobile game I’ve played previously. That isn’t a bad thing mind you, merely an observation.

Gameplay is based on an initiative system that can be manipulated by various cards to speed you up or slow you down. Each character has a set of cards that are randomized and then dealt to be used. Each card can offer movement, some sort of buff, an attack or even healing options. Under the image on each card will list the damage the weapon CAN do but you are limited on ammo or it is a single use card. Compared to most Xbox One titles the graphics are a bit dated but appear to be a significant improvement off of the original. My only complaint with this game is that movement and targeting is along a predefined X and Y axis regardless of the rotation of the camera. Compared to the original format I felt this was a huge improvement as on mobile devices the screen is just too small to really enjoy the effects.

When it comes to family games if there is a cat we will usually play it and Tacocat Spelled Backwards is no exception.

The folks at Exploding Kittens shared another game with us to review and that was Tacocat Spelled Backwards. As this is technically sponsored content the agreement is only that we would review the game but that agreement does not guarantee a certain opinion. The below are our thoughts on the game and ours alone.

The mechanics of the game are quite simple, like most games from Exploding Kittens. Each round both players draw up to seven cards and play those cards until ultimately you have your lowest number left in your hand to end the round. Whomever has the lower card at this point wins the round. In between depending on how you want to play you will either play a high or equal card to play first next turn or play lower cards and give control to the other player. Now, there are more advanced rules and I played the game with my children so we did not explore those options at this time. Specifically I played with my thirteen year old son and my five year old daughter.

For both children this game was a ton of fun but as my youngest doesn’t know her numbers very well it did slow the game a bit. After playing two games though she can now visually identify the numbers 1-12!

As can be expected the cards and other pieces for the game were adorable and/or quite funny, like the baby yelling “Doom” on a yam. Hella random but we found it funny as hell. Now despite the simplicity of the game we had a blast as a family and immediately after the four games we played my youngest was begging to teach it to my father in law, and she rarely enjoys games that aren’t aimed at her age group. If that’s not a deal of approval I don’t know what it. As for myself I found the game to be quite enjoyable and well worth the low price point of $14.99!