This is a weekly(ish) blog in which Tayo writes about video games, comics, movies, society and basically whatever he damn well pleases. Be warned that there might be spoilers for a piece of pop-culture you haven’t experienced yet.

Arkham Horrors

Last week I decided to clear out my backlog, starting with the Arkham games. I managed to beat Arkham Asylum, but I’ve only played Arkham City for a couple of hours. So far, I’m kind of enjoying the series. There are problems, for sure, but overall I really dig the “Dark Knight Simulator” approach. Honestly, I can’t think of any other superhero games that managed to accomplish transporting the player into said superhero’s world and genuinely make them feel like the character.

But, like I said, I do have my issues with the franchise. Let’s start with Asylum.

Even though they never look up, I still love driving these guys bonkers with all of Batman’s sneaky tricks.

The first installment begins strong, with the Joker getting hauled into Arkham Asylum and then unleashing a scheme to take over the entire island. It’s a great introduction that highlights the game’s strong points: smooth combat, creative stealth mechanics and superb voice-acting that makes Paul Dini’s script shine. Dini’s work with Bruce Timm on Batman: The Animated Series is some of the best ever for a comic book television series, and Asylum’s narrative would feel mostly right at home in the classic show.

However, when it becomes clear what the Joker’s master plan is, it’s rather laughable. Using Titan to create a bunch of Bane clones to send traipsing around Gotham City is probably one of the dumbest ideas he has ever had. Worse, this plot goes in the obvious direction – the last boss is a Titan-fueled Joker, and holy hell is it one of the most atrocious boss fights I’ve ever played. Indeed, Asylum has some horrible Big Bad encounters, but Titan Joker is beyond frustrating.

I hate everything about this.

After I complete all three Arkham games I’ll probably review each one for this here personal blog, so I’ll spare any further thoughts until that happens. I’ll just finish with this quip on City’s design: making an open-world bigger isn’t always a good thing.

Console War Indifference

Don’t care.

The only time I actually enjoyed the console wars was when Sega and Nintendo were at the top of the industry food chain. Both companies had hilarious ad campaigns that shamelessly hyped their respective console’s superiority, though Sega always seemed to have the edge as far as promotion went.

This act of competition is almost non-existent in this day and age, but it’s not surprising considering the fact that gamers are behind all of the trash-talk now. I mean, why sink a bunch of money into smear campaigns against the opposition when the fans do that for free on social media, forums and Amazon reviews?

I really just don’t care about what system is better, probably because I’m no longer twelve. I just want to play games regardless of platform, and because of that I’m getting both a Playstation 4 and Xbox One (bought the PS4 at launch, Xbone next month). Also, since I decided to try and become a freelance reviewer earlier this year, owning both is in my best interest.

NBA 2K14: Next-Gen vs. Current-Gen

I managed to pick up the PC version of NBA 2K14 for dirt cheap on Green Man Gaming. It’d been years since I played a hoops game, so I figured it was about time to give another one of Visual Concepts basketball sims a shot.

The big draw for me in the 2K series is the MyCareer mode. I find the concept of creating an NBA draft prospect in the hopes of sending him to the hall of fame incredibly appealing, especially since MyCareer is basically an RPG. Unfortunately, it has some big problems (glitches, unfair personal goals during games, dumb teammates, etc.), and Current-Gen 2K14 continues this trend.

Next-Gen 2K14 (currently playing the PS4 version), on the other hand, is a refreshing take on MyCareer. Sure, it’s stripped down compared to previous iterations (no draft combine, no Summer League, no practices or shoot-a-rounds, less create-a-player options), but I’m enjoying it a helluva lot more than its PS3/360/PC counterpart, mainly for its awesomely-bad story. Yes, a sports game that actually has a story. Really. It has cutscenes and everything.

Jackson Ellis is a tool.

The gist is that you play an overlooked rookie trying to make a name for himself in the NBA. To go along with fighting for a high draft spot in the Rookie Showcase, not to mention the ups and downs of your first season, is your rival Jackson Ellis – a cocky, wannabe tough guy.

This scenario is the biggest sports movie cliché of all time, but the cheesy banter between your player and Ellis in the tunnel before the Showcase and at mid-court when their teams meet during the regular season is entertaining, to say the least.

Hmm… study film, or go out and party? Oh, to be young, athletic and rich.

Ellis isn’t the only person you’ll be interacting with, either. Everyone from your team’s General Manager (GM) to LeBron James make appearances, and in many of these situations you get to choose how your player responds. This isn’t anything new in video games, of course, but the impact of your decisions is reflected on the court.

For example, there’s one scripted moment that happens early in the season when one of your teammates gets fouled hard by an opponent. You get two options: stick up for him or let the refs handle it. The choice effects team chemistry, so choosing the wrong one translates to your teammates paying less attention to you throughout the rest of the game, and potentially the next few games if you don’t try and make up for it by performing better.

Having a poor relationship with the coach and GM can lead to disaster, as well. It’s entirely possible to piss off either one of them so much that you wind up never making the starting lineup and eventually get traded to another team.

Visual Concepts has tried to incorporate “select-a-response” mechanics before, but they didn’t really work out that well. Some of the old issues are still present (coach grills you after a game even though you put up big numbers), but they don’t appear as often and more of what you do on the court matches press, player and management reactions before and after games. One of the few drawbacks here is that a lot of these scenes repeat themselves as the season moves forward.

I could go on, but I’ve written too much already. Perhaps I’ll post something more detailed later. It may sound like I’m in love with the overhauled MyCareer, but this isn’t the case. I’ll freely admit that I am finding it addicting, but even though it has improved a lot it’s still a mixed-bag and filled with frustrating moments.

Cheers Binge Continues

I’m a sitcom junkie. Let me rephrase that: I’m a junkie for 1970s to 1990s sitcoms. Some of my favorites include All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Soap, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Frasier, Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show. Of course, I’m also a big fan of Cheers, which I still think has some of the best character development in TV comedy history.

I’m approaching the end of Season 3 as I revisit the historic Boston pub, and I’m noticing a lot of things that I apparently missed when I watched it as a kid, and later in reruns. For one, since I rewatched Frasier last year, I couldn’t help but be taken aback when it dawned at me that Dr. Crane was an underused, non-regular character throughout the third season (his first appearance). He wasn’t fully developed either, and he appeared to be only a mere plot device to make Sam realize that he still has feelings for Diane, whom Frasier had started dating.

After some research, I found out that Kelsey Grammer had only signed a seven episode contract for this major story arc, so his lack of appearances make a lot more sense. Thankfully he became a cast member later on, and was able to use his stellar acting chops to make Frasier Crane not just one of the best characters in all of television, but one of the best characters in all of fiction. If you don’t believe me, just ask my friend and fellow Frasier aficionado, Steve Haske. He knows what’s up.

Up Next

This week I’ll continue my Cheers-a-thon, tackle Arkham City, read some Dickens and do all that productive stuff I need to do in order to pay the bills. Oh, and there’s a holiday or something going on on Thursday. I’ll probably celebrate that, too.