The answer to the POP quiz no one asked for: Marvel comics is to Marvel SNAP as World of Warcraft is to Hearthstone. This card game developed by Second Dinner is the brainchild of Ben Brode, who also was the lead designer of Hearthstone until 2018. My feelings on Hearthstone are well documented in my top 10 games of the decade article for BSF. I ended that paragraph stating how “I long for...
Ryan Files
Ryan Files
Ryan Files is an avid comic book and video game consumer, reviewer, and critic hailing from the boondocks of Illinois. He has taken his ethnographic cultural studies background and applied it to his love of geekdom. He is a huge Star Wars nerd, Castlevania fanatic, and his power level is definitely over 9000. When he isn’t online writing about how he misses old school beat em’ ups like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, or TMNT IV Turtles in Time, he raises his 3 Dora Milaje warrior girls with the most awesome wife a blerd could ask for.
Jolee Bindo: The Forgotten Black Jedi
In 2000, a small Canadian video game studio named BioWare was given an opportunity. The famed publisher LucasArts was looking for a tie-in to the next Star Wars movie, Episode II, but BioWare wanted to use their newly-acquired Star Wars license to create something...
Review: Up Up Ubie
Up Up Ubie is a unique mobile game experience as quirky as its balloon-wielding main character. Up Up Ubie is a platforming, point and click style mobile game that is the brainchild of Andrew Augustin and his company Notion Games. Augustin created this entire project...
Review/ Batman by John Ridley: The Deluxe Edition
The phrase “needs no introduction” was crafted for men like John Ridley. He is a writer, director, and producer across various media including movies, television, cartoons, and comic books. He famously won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 12 Years a...
Review/ Pax Samson Vol. 1: The Cookout
If one could capture the essence of the black experience, many persons would find a succinct link between the value of friendship and the value of family. Two people may not be related but at the family party and/or cookout? They are “cousins.” And the amazing thing...
Top 10 ‘Mass Effect’ Companions
As Mass Effect: Legendary Edition reinserts the epic space opera trilogy back into the limelight, I figured what better way to kick off my gaming binge with a bit of controversy. Here are my top ten Mass Effect companions (minor spoilers below). 10. EDI Image credit...
What Got Me Through 2020, Part 2
Challenging is the perfect way to describe this year. Many people in that March time frame were in the same place as my family. I was left uncertain about my children’s future when the school district suddenly closed. I spent the rest of April and May trying to come...
An Interview with Adam Kareem, Creator of Protodroid DeLTA
Adam Kareem is the creator extraordinaire of the new Protodroid DeLTA videogame coming to Steam and Nintendo Switch. His Kickstarter has already exceeded expectations, and he looks to bring his “solarpunk” vision to fruition in 2021. He was kind enough to spend some...
Castlevania/ Season 3: Isaac’s Bloodlust is Challenged by the Captain
The return of Castlevania to Netflix brings with it a renewed hope for plot and character development in a traditionally short episodic adventure. One could argue on the effectiveness of that goal within this season, but what cannot be denied is the pointed effort...
Top Ten Games of the Decade
This decade of gaming has been outstanding on every level. Graphical precision, narrative complexity, and input precision have evolved and made each genre of games more and more amazing as time has progressed. This list was as much a delight to put together as it was...
Review- Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Sweet Christmas…it’s back. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is the sequel to the acclaimed Activision titles of the same name, Ultimate Alliance (2006) and Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009). When the games suddenly disappeared from digital stores in 2018 due to...
Review: Livewire #4
Writer: Vita Ayala Artist: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin Letters: Saida Temofonte Publisher: Valiant Entertainment Rating: 12+ Only Livewire #4 is here and the showdown between Pan de Santos and Amanda “Livewire” McKee has finally arrived. For those who have followed...
Apex Legends Ping System Makes Online Gaming Enjoyable Again
Apex Legends has set the gaming world on fire with its smooth gunplay, level design, and heroic abilities of its legend list. It has remained in the top 5 on Twitch since its inception and even dethroned the mighty Fortnite as the most watched game for several days....
Review/ Starfish
Anxiety. Depression. Pain. Guilt. Loss. Each of these words evokes a visceral weight when written onto a page or stated in a moment. Visual media has the ability to take these words and give them dimension. But the interesting irony is that the form these words take...
Review: Livewire #3
Writer: Vita Ayala Artist: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin Letterer: Saida Temofonte Publisher: Valiant Entertainment Rating: 12+ Only What is it that separates a hero from a villain? Is it intent? Is it sacrifice? Is it love? Is it belief? Is it the result of...
Review/ Corsairs
Writer: Daniel McNeal Illustrator: Charlie “Fab” Goubile Publisher: Kid Monster Creations Rating: 12+ Only Space! Pirates! Aliens! Adventure! Corsairs, co-created by writer Daniel McNeal and illustrator Charlie Goubile, has all the elements of an epic space opera. The...
Review: Livewire #2
Writer: Vita Ayala Artist: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin Letterer: Saida Temofonte Publisher: Valiant Entertainment Rating: 12+ Only For those who have read my initial Livewire #1 review, I note that I am excited for the future related to the title character and her...
Review/ Livewire #1
Writer: Vita Ayala Artists: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin Publisher: Valiant Entertainment Letterer: Saida Temofonte Rating: 12+ Only Technopathy, the ability to control electronics and forms of technology with the mind, is one of the most underutilized superpowers...
Castlevania’s Isaac: The Collision of Character Development and Racial Tropes
Note: There are minor spoilers for Netflix’s Castlevania below I am an enormous fan of video game series Castlevania. I have been playing the games since I was six years old. The concept of a lone warrior battling against the monsters, ghouls, and ghosts of historical...
Review/ Assassin’s Creed Uprising: Volume 3
Writers: Alex Paknadel and Dan Watters Artist: Jose Holder Colors: Marko Lesko Letters: Jimmy Betancourt Publisher: Titan Comics Rating: 13+ Only Assassin’s Creed is a title well known to video game fans. The stealth action game and its subsequent sequels have helped...
The End of Telltale
For many, Telltale Incorporated is synonymous with adventure gaming. The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, Minecraft: Story Mode, and the award winning The Walking Dead games were crafted with care since the studio’s inception in 2004. However, on September...