We find ourself in Hong Kong with what appears to be an ordinary street magician. After performing a lackluster illusion with no love from the crowd, Renshu Tseng decides to kick it up a notch. “This is no trick,” he says as he ignites a small vortex of fire in the palm of his hand and throws it at a rather unimpressed couple in the crowed. Tseng catches the attention of a mysterious woman who tells him he’s meant for more. In typical villain fashion Raina puts on a seductive charm and immediately calls in the goons to take Tseng in.
Jump to the Bus where we find Skye and Grant bonding over a game of Battleship. It’s a good character moment interrupted by the recent kidnapping of our fire bender. Last week I noted how odd it was that May was shocked by the idea of a telepath. That interesting bit is counteracted by the Shield teaming telling Skye about the scale of which they rate the people on their list of power wielders. While Mr. Tseng rates low enough on their list to remain in the public, they suggest there are other powers that are a little more dangerous.
It’s revealed the Tseng’s capture was aided in part by the Rising Tide and immediately Skye is put back under the microscope. She assures Coulson and Grant that she had nothing to do with the information leak and offers to trace the hack back to it’s origin. This leads the team after an infamous hacker in Austin, Texas. Grant is quickly spotted and (the hacker) gets away thanks to some traffic hacks. Just when we thought Skye’s loyalties were with Shield, guess who shows up in (hacker’s) house. Quickly her loyalty to Shield is doubted once again as she hops into bed with our hunky hacker. Since when are computer nerds so beautiful?
The duo is caught by agent May and both are apprehended and taken to the Bus to spill their guts. Turns out our noble hacker isn’t isn’t immune to temptation, and in this instance temptation means a million dollars, much to the dismay of Skye. Meanwhile the experiments on Tseng reveal that his platelets resist the adverse effects of the Extremis in Project Centipede. So while Shield mounts a rescue mission, Tseng isn’t so happy about the treatment he’s receiving and takes matters into his own hands. This results in Tseng blasting a hole through the first Shield agent he runs into, much to the surprise of Coulson and May. Small rant incoming. Can we stop pretending like Coulson is some badass agent. Maybe he used to be, but the one punch and the waste of a full clip of tranquilizers shows otherwise, and that’s more than enough stupidity I need from the leader of a Shield team.
The ending plays out in a way you wouldn’t expect a super hero show to end. Maybe that’s too much of a hint, but hopefully it’s enough to get you to watch the episode. (Hacker) makes it out with a slap on the wrist and a million dollar donation to a dead Shield agent’s family. We get glimpse at a villain a little higher up in the food chain as Raina pays a visit to someone in prison. They mention someone who might be a psychic and hint that even Raina may have some kind of powers. Meanwhile we learn what Skye is doing on the Bus...Looking for information on her parents? Seems like a pretty dull secret to be keeping to me. Fitz and Simmons are still massively under utilize. The only moment we get is Fitz acting like a five year old who just lost his dog when he learns that Skye betrayed them. There is some hope though because in the preview for the show in two weeks it looks like Simmons might die, which probably means Fitz will die instead.
Forgive me, I missed Skye’s hacker boyfriend’s name, thus (hacker)
Since the first trailer, I’ve had some pent up excitement for Lego Marvel Superheroes. I haven’t played much of the Lego series. I’ve played the Lego Star Wars games here and there, never to completion. I also played through the demo for Lego Batman 2 with my girlfriend, though the demo doesn’t show off the open world at all. It’s impressive how much the games have grown in scope, appealing to an older audience, yet continue to remain simple enough for children (and my non-gamer girlfriend) to enjoy. After playing the demo this may be not only the best Lego game but the best superhero game to date.
The open cinematic of Lego Marvel Superheroes immediately captures the feel of the Marvel universe. If you know anything about Marvel you’ll know the character off-screen is Galactus as you see large chunks of Legos floating by with the sound of someone chewing as they float out of view. We get a quick look at the Silver Surfer as he flies by and acknowledges Galactus’ wishes.
Cut to Lego New York as we find Sandman and Abomination terrorizing the city. Iron Man flies and Hulk, well you know, smashes in soon after. This is where it’s clearly apparent that the voice acting will continue to be top notch. Industry superstars Troy Baker and Nolan North are here, with Nolan North reprising his role as Deadpool. Clark Gregg continues to bring Agent Colson to life. Adrian Pasdar, who has voiced Iron Man in a number of projects lends his talents as well. Hardcore gamers may scoff at the Lego games but the writing here is top notch and often hilarious. Puns are fired off like a semi-automatic weapon and had me laughing out loud at times. The three heroes shown in the demo (Spider-Man being the third) all feel like they should. Iron Man can fly around the battlefield, Spider-Man can swing and use his spider sense, and the Hulk can pick up heavy objects. The heroes all have fantastic banter as they battle through enemies.
Minor complaints only come in the way of simplistic controls that can sometimes make it difficult to target enemies. Enemies that die in one hit, so I wont pretend that I expected depth in combat. The showdown between Hulk and Abomination is purely mash X and then mash Y but with a bit of humor thrown in. With the number of heroes and villains in this game there is plenty to look forward to. I can’t help but wonder what this studio could do if they ever branched outside of the Lego franchise. Lego Marvel Superheroes is definitely a game you should be excited about, however, with fun, simple combat, great writing and voice acting and a plethora of collectibles.
Since I didn’t get a write up of episode 3 of Agents of Shield let me give a quick recap of my thoughts. I thought episode 3 was a step in the right direction for the series. Apparently ABC did too because it got picked up for a full 22 episodes. Episode three saw Skye thrown into the field in a pseudo undercover role.
The episode did a convincing enough job of giving Skye motivation moving forward, making you wonder even more where her loyalties lie. I thought Fitz and Simmons got a little more likeable, the quips were a little fewer and more on point, and we got to see the our first supervillain created. The almost double twist of Doctor Franklin Hall’s motivations hit pretty well. It would be interesting if we got to see Gravitron in a film. I could definitely see the opening sequence of Avengers 2 being the Avengers taking down Gravitron. It would be a quick way to introduce how the team got back together and maybe a quick intro to the beginnings of Ultron.
BECAUSE I'M DEFYING GRAVITY
Episode 4 of Agents of Shield starts off with a mysterious group of red-masked men walking through a busy train station. The group is quickly taken out by a mysterious woman while on the subway. The fight isn’t shown, thanks to some flashing lights, but once we see the bodies littering the ground we see that our mysterious woman literally ripped the hand off of one in order to get the handcuffed briefcase full of diamonds from him.
Coulson grabs Skye and Agent May and heads out to investigate. It’s interesting to note that May seems to against the notion of humans with powers. When Skye suggests that maybe the thief may have had ESP, May remarks that the ability has never been proven. It’s interesting that in a world that could potentially house the X-men that she wouldn’t know about the powers. We quickly find out that the thief is actually a Shield agent, believed to be dead. Agent Akela Amador was also trained by Coulson.
The manhunt commences and we find that Fitz, Simmons, and Skye are still quite childish, despite what I thought was a bit of growing last episode, calling Ward mid-mission to ask where to pee and for snacks. I understand the need for comedy but not at the expense of the characters.
THE VIDEO THEIR WATCHING IS PROBABLY MILEY TWERKING
Amador, using her unknown powers, gets the jump on our naive trio as they wait in a van. Skye still can’t work a gun and the van is sent tumbling down a hillside. Despite worry from May and Dalton the team is left pretty much unscathed mentally and physically. It’s interesting to see Dalton switch from the badass lone wolf of episode one, to over protective older brother. Some of that undoubtedly comes from feelings towards Skye. Meanwhile May urges Coulson to call for backup, but Coulson insists that the team is capable. Once the team finds out what’s really happening Agent May tries to take matters into her own hands. This gives a short but great fight between the two, which is eventually broken up by Coulson to bring Amador in.
Later, Skye and Dalton are sent to complete Amador’s mission. Part of this puts Dalton in a couple precarious situations but provide a good action sequence for Dalton who has been a bit weak the last two episodes. Fitz and Simmons are still under utilized, but serve a small purpose in the mission of the week. The end of the episode leaves us with about as many questions as we started with including Amador telling May that Coulson is different. It looks like the Coulson question is one that they could hold onto for quite a while. Overall I think I liked the previous episode better, but next week shows more promise with a preview of a man with the power to shoot fire and Skye being called out as a traitor.
Perhaps the biggest battle in console “war” history is set to take place in just over a month. The Playstation 4 and Xbox One will meet on store shelves mid November. The PS4 is set to release on Friday, November 15 with the Xbox One nipping at its heels, set for November 22, exactly a week later. For many people the decision of which console to buy may be as simple as sticking to what they know or currently have. Both consoles make it very simple to upgrade from their previous iterations by migrating current accounts to the next generation. Sony, Microsoft, and third party publishers are even offering low cost ways to upgrade split-gen games and in most cases you can upgrade your current generation Xbox 360 or PS3 game (Watch Dogs for example) to an Xbox One or PS4 version for just $10. This is a great deal compared to the last console generation in which you would have to pay full price if you were too impatient to wait. It is unclear how long this offer will last though.
If you are unsure on which console is the better purchase for your hard earned cash let’s take a look at the information out there and what you should base your decision on.
Graphics and Power
There is no question that we will continue to get much better graphics over the life of these new consoles. Game developers will also be able to put more on the screen as seen in previews of games like Knack and Dead Rising 3. The question is will one console have a graphical advantage over the other. Both consoles have the same amount of RAM in the box, but while the Xbox One settles for the older DDR3, PS4 utilizes the newer GDDR5 which should give developers more power to work with. There are some claims that the Xbox One is trying to close this power gap with some differences in their GPU but this remains to be seen. Still the PS4 boasts a more powerful GPU than the Xbox One so the adjustments may be null and void. Both consoles utilize custom AMD 8-core, single chip, CPUs. Though the PS4 boasts more power, it’s important to remember that the PS3 had a power advantage over the 360 as well, yet the advantage didn’t show much of a difference in cross-platform games throughout the generation. If and when we see a visual difference in PS4 and Xbox One games it will come mid to late generation. Games made for both consoles usually work towards the lowest common denominator. The real difference will show in PS4 exclusives, which we will get into in a bit.
Features
It will come up again and again but there are a lot of similarities between these two consoles. Both allow you to record your gameplay and share it with friends. Both have live streaming support. Both are importing and improving their Trophy/Achievement systems. Both have deeply integrated second screen experiences through your tablet and phone. And both consoles now feature Blu-ray drives. The controllers have both seen design tweeks. The PS4 controller is more comfortable in hand, features a touch pad in the center and a light bar that works with the Playstation Eye. The Xbox controller features an improved D-pad as well as extra rumble devices in the triggers for unique player feedback.
Xbox Features
Hence the name, the Xbox One is really striving to be your all-in-one media destination. The Xbox One sports an HDMI Input, allowing you to route your cable or satellite connection through the Xbox One. Using this connection you will be able to control your cable/satellite box using your Xbox One. This includes the ability to use voice commands via the power of Kinect. Xbox Live will continue to improve with 300,000 dedicated servers at launch. These will allow developers unique opportunities to provide improvements for online multiplayer like dedicated servers and cloud support. This includes the new “Smart Match” feature which allows you to queue up a multiplayer match while you watch tv, play a different game, or are using a different app. Xbox is also partnering with the NFL, though the extent of the partnership is not yet known. Xbox Live Gold members will also get access to Xbox Fitness free for the first year of the console which provides popular workout routines such as P90x, Insanity, and more. Xbox Live Gold members have also begun receiving two free games a month.
PS4 Features
The Playstation 4 has been very focused on console integration with the Playstation Vita handheld. With the ability to play your PS4 games remotely via your Vita, the Vita provides another level of second screen experiences. Sony has also promised the ability to stream games to your devices with Sony’s acquisition Gaikai. The extent and viability of the streaming is yet to be seen however. Playstation Plus has already been a very popular service, providing free games and deep discounts to subscribers. While PS+ will now be needed in order to play your games online, the service is not required to access streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix.
Wireless Xbox Controller, 2 AA batteries (recharge pack sold separately)
Wired earbud headset
Wired headset
HDMI Cable
HDMI Cable
14 days of PS+
14 days of Xbox Live Gold
(Playstation Eye not included) $60 amazon
Kinect 2.0
Games
A big part of your next generation console decision should be console exclusive games. While there are plenty of cross-platform games, there are also plenty of timed-exclusives and first party games to consider. Sony has shown exciting new iterations of old favorites Killzone and Infamous, while Microsoft showed off Forza 5 and teased the next Halo. Playstation has seen an increased focus on smaller “Indie” games, though Microsoft has introduced the Indie Initiative which we’re still waiting to see a large number of developers jump on to. Microsoft has also gained exclusivity on big games like Dead Rising 3 and the much hyped Titanfall. Both consoles have exciting new titles coming down the line like Playstation’s The Order: 1866 and Xbox’s television/game hybrid Quantum Break. Many see a lackluster launch, but that’s not a terrible thing. The lineup is missing many first party studio games, such as the next big game from Uncharted and Last of Us developer, Naughty Dog.
The Long Haul
The current console generation started in 2005 with the launch of the Xbox 360. Though the Playstation 3 would be released later, that’s eight years for the consoles. There’s no reason to think that this cycle will be any shorter so you have to be prepared for the long haul. We’ve seen both console’s online services improve by leaps and bounds. (Remember the “Blades” interface?)
Friends and Family
Perhaps the biggest factor in your decision is where your friends are playing continuing to play with your Call of Duty clan, or continuing to build your dynasty in your favorite sports game. Also what does your family want? Maybe you need to convince your parents that the Xbox One is a great buy because you they can utilize it’s Kinect and television features. Maybe you need to convince your significant other by showing them the awesome motion controlled games of the Xbox One’s improved Kinect with the added bonus of getting into shape with Xbox Fitness.
There really is no right or wrong answer here. I think if the Microsoft policy changes show anything, it’s that Sony and Microsoft are going to be borrowing ideas from one another a lot more. These consoles are going to remain very similar and you can bet that Sony is going to be adding features to make the PS4 an entertainment hub while the Xbox One is still very much a games machine. Either way, make an informed decision on how to spend that next big paycheck. Both consoles are extremely exciting and have incredible potential. The future of gaming is looking very bright! Game on!
