All posts by Jake Combs

Sure other games have brought various hellscapes to the science fiction genre but Hellpoint does it a bit differently.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. A corporation bent (might even say hell-bent) on evil shenanigans ruin the world by bringing a new form of hell to Earth. This time literally bringing hell to the Irid Novo space colony. Hellpoint aims to do just that. Before we jump in fully here are a few notable hellscape/scifi titles to consider playing as well- Dead Space 1-3 and Doom franchise. To begin with as far as similar titles go this is some amazing company to keep, but how did Cradle Games‘ Hellpoint fare?

To say this is on par with the previously mentioned franchises would be a gross overstatement but also an oversimplification. Doom revolutionized the First Person Shooter genre where Dead Space did the same for the Third Person Shooter. The world looks and feels very similar to that of Dead Space complete with stunning visuals and creepy ambiance. Instead of just managing your weapon and suit loadouts Hellpoint has you manage so much more. For starters I only ever encountered melee weapons where Dead Space focuses more on ranged weapons.

Players take control of their demon-like creature carving your way through Irid Novo. Along the way you pick up weapons, items and armor, all in the hopes of making your character strong enough to take on the gods themselves. Here are the main highlights and downsides to the game:

• The visuals are stunning and horrifying.

• Controls are solid and easy to master.

• Abilities come off dynamic and work well with the environment.

• The story is practically nonexistent after the into cinematic finishes for the first couple hours of the game.

In summary the game feels and looks like the unholy offspring of Dark Souls and Dead Space. The lack of story elements at the start of the game are a bit troubling and hard to engage with. If you’re looking for a straight up hack and slash title this game is for you but if story is your thing from start to finish this will be a hard pass.

Players take the role of their favorite Hogwarts heroes in the Hogwarts Battle Cooperative Deck Building Game from USAopoly!

In Hogwarts Battle players work together fighting against increasing odds but with the help of your expanding decks of spells you will be able to fight and eventually defeat them. The fine folks at USAopoly supplies us with our review copy of this game (along with others) and we let our son choose which we played first. So one thing became apparent early on in the game- the more players you have the easier the fight will be. Makes sense because anytime you have a set number of enemies and increase the number of people fighting them you usually will have an easier time of it.

We went around the table adding cards to our individual pools of magic spells in order to quickly get an upper hand against Draco Malfoy, Crabbe & Goyle and eventually Professor Quirrell.

I’m notorious for misreading rules the first few times I go over them so to save time I asked my wife to give them a quick read and we were able to jump right into the game within only a couple minutes. The rule book is full color and well written and you’d have to be a fool to misunderstand them. Somehow I did and she straightened it out quickly.

The first stage of the game took about forty five minutes total, including multiple readings of the rules and even a check of them again later on. In our house the toughest critics are the kids and after completing the first stage Merrick immediately asked if we could do the second stage tomorrow. This game is a definite keeper and I think this image says all you need to know about whether or not you should get this for the Harry Potter fan in your life.

WELCOME TO THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF A NEW SERIES WHERE WE WILL BE FOCUSING ON ONE OF THE EXCLUSIVE CHAOS WARBANDS FROM WARCRY. TO START THINGS OFF WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE IRON GOLEM.

The Iron Golem  is one of the warbands in the core box for Warcry and hail from Ferrium Mountains in Chamon. For those that aren’t aware Chamon is the Realm of Metal in the Warhammer world. It is home to the Yellow Wind of Magic, specifically transmutation. Being from the realm of Metal it is not a surprise to see the members of Iron Golem to be covered in armor.

The units within Iron Golem are slow, deal decent damage but can really take a beating. This warband is best used as a training faction. Most units only have short ranged attacks, moderate melee attacks and a high defense.

Out of the box, either the core set or faction only box, a couple of the models offer some customization options. Specifically the Signifier can be modified to be a Prefector. By name these don’t mean much but the Signifier is essentially the Banner Bearer for the group. Changing him to a Prefector offers you a higher critical hit damage but in exchange you lose the Buffs provided by the Signifier. Personally I went for visual aesthetic of the Signifier. I typically go for the higher damage units and minimal buffs but the look of the Signifier was so awesome I couldn’t not use him.

The reason I say this is best for learning the game is because of the high defense. The more of a beating you can take the longer you are in the game. For trying to win with this faction you are best off using your lower cost Legionnaires to soak up damage while you move your heavy hitters into position.

PLEASE ENJOY PAINT JOBS PROVIDED BY THE AZ WARCRY AND AGE OF SIGMAR PUBLIC FACEBOOK GROUP:

WARCRY IS A GAME THAT FOCUSES ON SMALLER SKIRMISH BATTLES AND NOW YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE EXPLOITS OF YOUR FAVORITE WARBANDS!

Each story follows a specific warband at their core, focusing on what really makes them tick. One of my favorite warbands by appearance was the Unmade and David Annandale’s tale about them, The Harrower, made them actually make sense. They are addicted to pain, sometimes cutting off their own limbs and attaching weapons to them. Seems rather extreme to me but seeing it through the eyes of the warband you could see why they relished losing their limbs. Each drop of blood, each ounce of pain they feel is joy for them, a blessing from their gods. At least that’s what they tell themselves and each other. This is just one example of the great stories within.

Each story is full of action and more than that just sucks you in as a reader. Most books take me months to read as I typically read about two or three pages a day due to my schedule. This book only took me two weeks to read!

If, like me, are a fan of the chaos gods, the game of warcry or stories about anti-heroes cutting down their foes you will absolutely love this book!

Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):

The Harrower by David Annandale
The Method of Madness by Peter McLean
The Devourer’s Demand by Ben Counter
Proving Ground by Sarah Cawkwell
Eight-Tailed Naga by David Guymer
The Iron Promise by Josh Reynolds

Invocations is a Warhammer Horror Anthology from the Black Library and features such names as C L Werner and David Annandale!

Invocations is a collection of horror stories, most of which are exclusive to this collection, while four were previously released as ebook short stories. Perhaps my favorite story from the list was From The Halls, The Silence which took us back to Solus as a followup to The House of Night and Chain. The original tale had a solid ending that still left me with questions and this tale resolved some of them.

The worlds of Warhammer 40k have always had a tendency to fall along the lines of horrific between the machinations of Chaos or the terrifying swarms of the Tyranid. This means that these stories must be absolutely dreadful to be labeled as Horror. Many of these stories however are about on par from what we’ve come to expect from the Black Library but a few definitely pushed the envelope a bit further. This is the second Horror anthology and also the second contains both Warhammer Fantasy AND Warhammer 40k stories. Overall this book is a great read when you are looking for easier to digest stories. These stories still kick some major ass despite their length.

Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):

The Hunt by David Annandale

The Confession of Convict Kline by Justin D Hill

He Feasts Forever by Lora Grayv

Stitches by Nick Kyme

The Healer by Steven Shiel

Blood Sacrifice by Peter McLean

The Growing Seasons by Richard Strachan

Supplication by Jake Ozga

From the Halls, the Silence by David Annandale

A Sending from the Grave by C L Werner

Flesh and Blood by Ray Cluley

The Summons of Shadows by David Annandale

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to deliver packages in a world of ragdoll physics? In Totally Reliable Delivery Service from Epic Games and TinyBuild you can!

Totally Reliable Delivery Service was a title I was given to review courtesy of Epic Games and TinyBuild, but their generosity has in no way influenced my thoughts on this game. We were able to test it out on both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. My son preferred the controls on the Switch and I thought they felt more natural on the Xbox.

The concept of the game is that you play a delivery person who must deliver an assortment of packages. The base idea is rather dull and I’m sure there are more than enough people that would not want to play a video game based on their day job. Epic Game and TinyBuild took a very different approach. Instead of the tedious driving door to door and dropping off of packages you drive, fly and carry packages across dozens of scenarios including up a steep hill to a ski lodge while avoiding falling trees or using a forklift to deliver an explosive through a second story residential building. There are ramps to jump your vehicles over, hidden castles and plenty of challenges to keep you having to replay missions to grind them all out.

My son found the game to be dull and gave up playing after his first time playing it. I spent probably about five total hours on the title, messing around more than trying to score well on challenges and agreed. It is a bit dull in terms of story and excitement but the game is cute, family friendly and easy to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. Longer doses of this game leaves me prone to yawning after I explored all of the areas I felt there was no need to keep at it and removed the game from my system. One day I may revisit it but chances are slim on this title.

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO 20TH CENTURY FOX I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at 20th Century Fox (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part One of this article (shared a couple weeks ago) I discussed The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Red Sparrow. Part Two discusses Maze Runner: Death Cure, Alien Covenant and Love, Simon. Part three covers Super Troopers 2 and Murder on the Orient Express. Part Four discusses Sorry To Bother You and Darkest Minds. Part Five discussed The Predator and Bad Times at the El Royale. Part Six covered Bohemian Rhapsody, The Hate U Give and Once Upon a Deadpool. Part Seven talked about The Sisters Brothers, London Fields, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Widows and the Favourite! Part Eight covered Destroyer, The Prodigy, Alien 40th Anniversary Edition, Vice, The Kid Who Would Be King and If Beale Street Could Talk, and Part Nine we discussed Missing Link and Alita Battle Angel. Part Ten we discussed Tolkien, Booksmart, X-Men Dark Phoenix and Stuber. Part 11 discussed The Art of Racing in the Rain, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Ad Astra, and Ready or Not. Part 12 talked about Ford v Ferrari, Spies in Disguise and A Hidden Life.  Part 13 was the last part I did with PNTV and discussed Downhill and The Call of the Wild. Part 14 (and our first with the Nerd Cult) is all about Underwater!

Underwater

When I heard about this film I was certain it would be garbage. The lead is Kristen Stewart, that alone was reason enough for me to not want to watch this film but after seeing her in Charlie’s Angels I knew she had the ability to rise above her role in the Twilight movies. She plays an Engineer, a believable one too, in an underwater station and within the first few minutes of the film the station starts to collapse. Her and the other surviving members of the crew must escape to the surface and the captain is determined to save as many of them as he can. Expectations were low but I must admit that this film was quite enjoyable. The suspense was well managed, visuals were stunning and the acting was great. I highly recommend this film for fans of science fiction and survival horror.

WHICH OF THESE FILMS FROM 20TH CENTURY FOX HAVE YOU SEEN? WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE?

THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT POSTAL FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, THE END OF THE VOLUME BUT NOT THE END TO THE CHARACTERS….HOPEFULLY.

The final installment of this volume of Postal is here and it is by far one of the most perfect endings to a story we’ve ever had the pleasure to read. The issue gives a perfect ending while leaving it completely open for a new story arc. Last issue resolved all remaining threads concerning Mark’s father by giving him a homemade lobotomy in the basement of a church. This issue focuses on Mark as he becomes the mayor he wanted to be instead of the mayor his mother wanted a year after his father was defeated.

Oddly Mark visits his mother’s grave. The act itself is not odd but the fact that she died and we didn’t see it happen in previous issues, does that mean she’s really dead? Is there a flashback showing what happened? To find out you will need to read the issue and I can tell you that this issue does answer those questions.

The artwork was by far some of Isaac’s best and I hope to see him back on the book when it finally returns. It won’t be the same without him. The same can be said for the rest of the creative team as well. This book continues to be one of the best series I’ve read and even though all good things must end I must say that I wish it wouldn’t.

UNTIL THE NEXT VOLUME BEGINS PLEASE ENJOY THIS PREVIEW COURTESY OF TOP COW PRODUCTIONS AND IMAGE COMICS:

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD IS THE STORY OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE LIFE OF HARRY POTTER BUT IS CENTERED AROUND HIS SON ALBUS.

The folks at the Curran Theater invited us to attend the opening night showing of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. With showings in only four cities we knew this was our only chance to attend in the near future. Taking the long drive we arrived and were excited for the show. Entering the theater we made two immediate observations. The first was that the theater was gorgeous. The design speaks to years of history. The second observation was that the carpets and walls were adorned with the letter H. Speaking with my contact at the theater I was able to confirm that this H was for Hogwarts and was part of the transformation the theater underwent for the play.

The Cursed Child follows as Albus, Harry’s son, decides to try to go back in time to save Cedric Diggory, believing that his death was needless.  The book is written as a full script which was intended to see stage instead of a screen.

The play was not only performed by a fantastic cast but it featured effects that made magic come to life on the stage. During the moments of time travel the effects team performed some lighting tricks that made the physical set appear to become liquid. Every time this happened I tried to figure out how it was done and could not.

The play was a stunning masterpiece that should be required viewing for all fans of the Harry Potter films or books. It is divided into two parts, each about two and a half hours long including intermission and as the world is changed by the actions of Albus the staff and decorations have shifted to a Voldemort theme and we’re greeted with “Happy Voldemort Day”. It’s touches like this that made the experience even better.