Grave Gamer News & Views — comics

pixalry:

I Have Faith In You - Created by Kotor Comics

Note from the Artist:

Hmm. This comic changed on me at the last second.

I’ve felt pretty much like this the past couple of weeks – life keeps kicking me and it’s hard to keep going. Everything from a lack of freelance work to health scares have happened in the past few weeks, and it’s been all I can do to keep my head above water. But I will not give up. So I wrote a comic about that feeling – the drive to keep going in spite of harsh odds.

But when it came time to write in the words, all I could hear was Dr Light’s love for his son. It wasn’t angry or fierce, just a quiet, calm, loving encouragement. I’m guessing that’s how those around me feel right about now, and it gives me strength.

This comic was sponsored by two amazing people on Patreon, who will remain anonymous as I’m not sure if they want credit. Running a Patreon is really scary for me, and I’m so appreciative of their support.

If you enjoyed this comic, please please please consider supporting me on Patreon, as even a tiny bit or support will make a huge difference to how much time I can put into making comics this next month.

We’re all a little bit mega.

Injustice’s Ultimate Edition Announced; Crisis Extends to Next-Gen

Warner Bros. and NetherRealm’s 2D comic book fighter is coming back to a store shelf near you with a DLC vengeance. Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition sees the original superhero slobberknocker repackaged with every shred of downloadable content dropped since the game’s release.

Besides a bonus of forty character skins to adorn your favorite hero or villain with, the Ultimate Edition is your chance to collect the full roster of additional fighters originally debuted as DLC. That includes Batgirl, General Zod, Lobo, Martian Manhunter, Scorpion (of Mortal Kombat fame, how dare you question it?), and Zatanna.

Released in April, Injustice went on to earn itself some favorable reviews, with some calling it more refined than 2011’s Mortal Kombat – the gameplay basis upon which Injustice lays its foundation on. Personally, any game that allows me to uppercut my opponent through the stratosphere earns my good graces automatically; it helps greatly that the game is righteously enjoyable, be you an open-minded fighting fan or an advocate of DC lore. 

The Ultimate Edition brings Injustice back to the PS3 and Xbox 360 for $59.99 while introducing itself to the PC ($49.99) and the PS Vita ($39.99), all dated for November 12th. On the very same day, a PlayStation 4 version of the game releases, featuring touchpad compatibility, streaming and video sharing, and remastered graphics. Its arrival does indeed make it the very first fighting game to launch for PS4 (it edges out Divekick by three whole days…not that you can play much of it without a PS4, what with its Nov. 15th date…Still, flawless victory).

[An Xbox One version has not been confirmed as of this writing.]

The Arkham Game Universe Won’t Cross Over with the Movie-verse

Producer Guillaume Voghel, whose newly formed studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal is wearing the development cape on Batman: Arkham Origins, had some noteworthy insights for fans of the Dark Knight’s showstopping game franchise – specifically concerning any potential spillover from the growing DC Movie-Verse WB is building brick by brick. To clarify: there won’t be any.

“The Arkham brand is really independent from the movies and that’s something I think is at the core of its success; Rocksteady did that really well,” said Voghel to IGN. “They isolated the game from the movies and the Arkham brand will keep going in that direction if there are other entries down the line.”

Even the notion of Arkham’s story being told beyond the controller was squashed, with Voghel saying “it’s a franchise we want to focus on only through video games.” [There are, however, tie-in comics but the producer likely means we probably won’t see an Arkham Asylum movie adaptation.]

So no Arkham movies and, likewise, no movie canon, be Nolan’s or Snyder’s, will make it into the games anytime soon. That’s for certain. But what isn’t locked down is whether WB Games Montreal is to bat-tackle another title in the series beyond Origins or if franchise propagator, Rocksteady Games, is set to don the cape n’ cowl (of development) again.

Gulliaume wouldn’t budge on the issue but rumors suggest Rocksteady is working on something in the cover of shadows…

Arkham Origins: New Trailer, Screens, and Playable Character

This fine day has brought with it more than enough news for true fans of the Caped Crusader to go completely bat-shit over.

First up, a full trailer depicting an eloquent exchange of fists between Batman and hired killer Deathstroke.  Other personalities that make the cut – and Bruce’s life infinitely harder – are Deadshot, the marksmen that never misses, and Black Mask, the criminal ringleader that’s turned Gotham into a murder circus.  Gameplay doesn’t make a cameo, unfortunately, what with the whole trailer being fancy, schmancy CGI, so your eyes will have to chow down on the screens above for now.

Pre-ordering a copy of Batman: Arkham Origins scores you the inclusion of Slade “Deathstroke” Wilson as a playable character in the game’s challenge rooms.  Slade comes stocked with two of his own challenge maps and two skins.

Rounding out the rest of Origins news, let’s touch on this casting kerfuffle.  Initial reports had it that longtime Batman voice actor, Kevin Conroy, would not be reprising his role in the third Arkham game.  Everyone got sad, then angry, and rightfully so.  Then, Mr. Conroy up and outs his involvement, stating he wasn’t able to talk about it beforehand, having had to wait until the new title’s reveal.  While press quickly took this to mean Conroy would be Batsy once more, Warner Bros. squashed that insinuation into the ground.

Instead, our young Dark Knight will be voiced by Roger Craig Smith, whose laid down vocals for the likes of Ezio Auditore and Chris “Boulder Punch” Redfield, and the new Joker will be played by Troy Baker – a modern voice acting veteran most recently associated as Booker Dewitt in Bioshock Infinite and Joel from The Last of Us; more fittingly, Baker was Two-Face in Arkham City.  That still leaves the matter of Kevin Conroy, his role still unannounced, but the great detective in me thinks we’ll likely hear him narrate the affair as the older, battle hardened Batman we all love and wisely fear.

Shots from C2E2 2013.  Special thanks to everyone who visited the Glitch booth and allowed me to snap pics with my shitty camera; you’re all heroes (except Scarecrow and Bane…you’re villains).