Strange #2: Micro Review

This mini-series keeps getting more and more interesting with some great character development. Issue #1 made me want to buy issue #2 and issue #2 makes me want to buy issue #3. 

Web of Spider-Man #3: Micro Review

Three strikes and you are out Marvel. Stay away from this one unless you are a huge Spider-Girl fan. I will be dropping this title. 

God of War Collection: Review

This will not be a review of the games per se, as both God of War and God of War II were last generation games that received multitudes of stellar reviews. I will, however, review how these PS2 classics translate to the PS3 and its trophy system. 

First off, I will say that you still get a lot of game for $40. There is at least 20 hours of solid, solid gaming here and you get value for your money.

The games look fantastic; they are presented in full HD glory, but I do have one quibble: the in-game cut scenes for God of War look awful. GOW II doesn't have this problem, but the in-game cut scenes from the original game look grainy and washed out. This difference isn't totally surprising because GOW II did have HD capabilities (it was originally released in 2007), but I would have expected a bit more from a PS3 re-release.

This collection also highlights a fundamental shift in gameplay from last generation to the current one. In a vast majority of current-gen games the story mode is divided into chapters or missions, and you can replay these chapters or mission as many times as you want. This makes getting trophies (secret or otherwise) much easier. However, in both GOW games you only have the option of restarting where you made a save file. So it is very easy to miss a trophy and have no recourse in going back to acquire it. The only choice you would have is to start another game from the beginning. Normally a current gen game would have 0-2 missable trophies. But GOW has 8 and GOW II has 11! As a result you need a careful playthrough to ensure that you don't miss any trophies.

If you loved the games on the PS2 you should be playing them right now, but if you have never played these game before and if you enjoy gory action hack and slash games you should pick this up. For me, it will hold me over until God of War III comes out in March.

Amazing Spider-Man #613: Mini Review

A bit better. Some good Electro stuff, but we still don't have a sense of why we should care about this Gauntlet storyline. The art still doesn't work. This issue continues to highlight is the problem of having rotating creative teams; there is no sense of continuity on the book. 

Thor Giant-Size: Bill, William the Warrior: Mini Review

I am not really sure why there is a consistent stream of giant size one-shot issues for this title when the story should really just be part of the actual numbered issues. Shame on you Marvel for the money-grab. All of that aside, Doom and Loki's plans are finally revealed and the creative team begins to set up the Siege storyline. If you are a fan of Thor the issue is great and you probably already own it, but if you have not picked up any Thor comics in a while (or ever) this should not be your first issue unless you love begin introduced to stories in media res. 

Amazing Spider-Man #612: Mini Review

So the big Spidey event The Gauntlet starts off with... a yawn. Not a lot happened; Electro is back and a victim of a Bernie Madoff like scheme. He speaks out for the little guy at a series of demonstrations while secretly working with the Mad Thinker on removing his powers (that are killing him or something). What really is needed is a bit more about the mysterious force behind the Gauntlet (which we only really know about thanks to the text synopsis at the front of the issue), and a different artist. The art is fine, but doesn't fit Spider-Man and would be more suited to edgier stuff like Daredevil or Punisher. I'll stick with it to see where it is going, but it is not off to a good start. Great cover though. 

Web of Spider-Man #2: Micro Review

Strike two Marvel. Avoid unless you have read every issue of Spider-Girl.