How to Make DC Legends Better

Over at Biff Bam Pop!, founder and publisher Andy Burns loves the game DC Legends, but thinks it can be better, here's how, click here!

Injustice

I like games with superheroes, mostly because I'm a big comic book geek. Injustice: Gods Among Us is therefore my jam. You've got known DC Comics superheroes squaring off against DC Comics super-villains, or not.

The fact is, you can manipulate any character to fight any other character involved, even themselves. The story revolves around the concept of multiple parallel universes, a pretty common bugaboo in DC Comics. So you not only have the characters you know, but you also have evil, and sometimes good versions of those characters as well.

The characters at your disposal, at least at first, include heroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Shazam (sooo disappointed it's not Captain Marvel), Nightwing, Raven, and villains Lex Luthor, Catwoman, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy, Ares, Deathstroke, Killer Frost, Black Adam, Doomsday, Bane, Harley Quinn, and the Joker. Later characters were Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, Batgirl, Lobo, Zod, even Mortal Kombat's Scorpion. Additional skins were available for a number of concepts like Blackest Night, Red Son, Earth 2 and others.

The game is very similar to MK, mostly because it's designed by NetherRealm Studios, the folks who did Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, so there you go as far control techniques and the appearance of Scorpion. I found his presence charming, but also a bit distracting. Scorpion isn't a DC character, ya know?

Another bonus is the locations and the background characters. All the choice DCU places are here, Arkham, Gotham, Metropolis, Atlantis, Themyscira, and the Batcave, the Fortress of Solitude, and the Hall of Justice just to name a few. Easter eggs are many, look for characters and the like in the background. My favorite is watching Atom Smasher battle Giganta as you fight your own fight.

There's also some fabulous voicework by folks who have worked in DC Comics animation, videogames, and even in the case of Stephen Amell as Arrow, their live-action properties. Listen for Kevin Conroy as Batman, Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman, Phil LaMarr as John Stewart, and Tara Strong as Raven, among others. Great skins have been available as well, covering the New 52, Earth 2, Red Son, and Blackest Night, just to name a few. However, any new characters or skins have been halted in the same manner that Pain was stopped by Sony. They're just not supporting the game any longer…

Injustice on iPhone

So while waiting to see who has the best deal to buy Injustice (cuz $60 is just not cool), I happened to notice there was an iPhone app called Injustice Gods Among Us. I thought, could it be? It was. Much smaller, but at least it had more characters to use.

Now warning up front, my phone informed me right away that the fame was not built for iPhone and there might be some technical difficulties. That's all right, a funky game I want to play is better than no game at all, right?

The graphics are pretty intense for the phone. I was very impressed. It's not my Justice League, mind you, in this fancy-schmancy armor, as more than a few toy lines have ruined the JLA with extra armors, but these animatics looked very good.

The iPhone version had a swell tutorial, however unrealistic, allowing the player, as Green Arrow, to wallop Superman something fierce. GA beats Supes so hard he probably went home to foster momma for a new pair of shorts (which he is sadly lacking here - the real Superman wears his undies outside his pants, period).

Once the tutorial ends, I got to play for real, and was introduced to the true reality of the game. Nobody, absolutely nobody, just stands there like tutorial Superman and let's you hit them. I learned this very very quickly as first Sinestro, and then a very nasty version of Solomon Grundy, took turns taking my ass to school.

The game is similar to Avengers Initiative, also on the iPhone, but with more fun characters and backgrounds, has more characters than the Injustice demo for PS3, and should sate most of our appetites 'til the real thing comes out. I dug this.

The Injustice Demo

My friend Ray and I got together to try out the new Zinburger in Cherry Hill, then came back to the house to chill and of course, sooner or later, the PS3 was turned on. I always cruise through the PlayStation Store before I do anything with the PS3, and lo and behold, there was a demo available for the new Injustice: Gods Among Us. If you think these two comic book nerds could resist trying it out, you're fooling yourself…

Once it downloaded, we found ourselves with a two-player fight game that only allowed us the use of three characters (well, it is a demo) - Batman, Wonder Woman, and Lex Luthor. Once we started playing this game, that Ray had initially heard bad off-putting things about, we were having a ball.

Once Ray started to actually pay attention to what controls did what actions, and I started getting into my button mashing groove, we started to not only have fun, but also really get the hang of the game. We really dug it, and I'm betting we're both getting copies of the game the day it comes out. Yeah, it was that good.

The Simpsons - Still Tapping

I talked about this one before, The Simpsons Tapped Out. Well, I'm still playing it on my phone. A lot of the folks who were playing when I started have stopped or just faded away, but really I continue to enjoy it.

I have tried other games of its ilk. A few Sims things, Megapolis, stuff like that. But it's just not the same, and I don't like them, so keep your Farmville requests away from me please. It's the familiarity of the characters and the situations that appeals to me. So with that logic, I have to wonder why DC Comics with their amazing fictional cities or Marvel Comics with their fantastic Marvel Universe New York City haven't jumped on the bandwagon. I would be all over either of those two games.

There is one thing I do wonder about however. Where do folks get all the donuts from? Donuts are the currency in this game, and you get one or two per level (currently 27 is the highest level), or you can buy them outright. When a new building is available I see folks who get it immediately, no matter if it's only costs a handful of donuts or hundreds of donuts. Do people really buy that much for one of these games? That's a serious cash put out…

New updates happen all the time, some relating to holidays, or upcoming episodes, or even very Simpsons-centric things like Whacking Day, currently going on. If you want to add me to your Other Springfields, you can find me at monsura2 or if you want, help The Bride out at glenifer. We'll both still be tapping away.

Justice League Heroes Revisited

When I got the PlayStation 2, my first order of business was playing Justice League Heroes. As I mentioned, I really enjoyed playing this game a few New Year's Eves ago and wanted to play again.

I jumped right in, and after a half-hour or so of button-mashing I finally figured out what buttons to push and what combinations did what. Of course I was only on the first level so it was just Superman and Batman and I was only fighting Brainiac's minions and rescuing citizens. Fun, but slow going. I did find a nice tactic in having Superman carry around a car to beat the baddies with. But that's as far as I got. I played a few more times but couldn't get any farther than the confrontation with Brainiac (another of his minions actually). I needed help, as I am, after all, The Non-Gamer. I needed Jeff.

Jeff, as I've mentioned before, has some sort of supernatural gaming skill, mad mad skilz when it comes to videogames, so I waited 'til the next time he was over and urged him to play.

With Jeff's help we got quickly through the Superman/Batman phase and into the Martian Manhunter phase against the Queen Bee, and even into the Flash/Green Lantern phase taking on The Key. And that's when I realized what I liked about the game so much. Unlike DCU Online where you deal with more new player characters than anything else, here you are established characters fighting real villains in a semi-accurate DC Comics continuity.

Now while we saved the game at the point where we stopped, I think I still may need Jeff's help to move forward. Either way, I definitely give Justice League Heroes higher marks than DCU Online. I can't wait to get back to playing. Thanks, Jeff!

The Other Side

It had been a while since I cracked open the PS3. That's actually a good thing as I've been getting some writing done. Life also sometimes gets in the way. I played the prerequisite hour or so of Pain, and then went looking for something else to play.

As our current tabletop DC Comics role-playing game has been stalled by folks' busy schedule I was jonesing for superhero action so I turned to DCU Online. As I said, it had been a while, so it took forever and a day for it to download updates. Does this happen to everyone, or is it just me because I haven't turned on the machine in a bit?

When it was done I flew around Metropolis as The Red Sun trying to figure out what's what when I got a brainstorm. You have options in the game to have more than one character so I thought, just for kicks and giggles, I'd make a super-villain, and see what different. Walking through the steps of creation was easier this time. I think I had a young woman with zombie skin, inspired by Live Wire and the Joker with electrical powers. As last time, the hardest part was the naming. After several misses, I hit on the name Deadshock, although I think it's spelled 'dedshok.'

Much like my problems as a hero, I had a hard time getting out of Brainiac's spaceship, which is apparently the default starting point. Being a villain, at least I didn't have to fight my way out like before. But I did still have to find a way out.

Once out I ended up in Metropolis, and instead going to the police station I went to the villain equivalent. Same steps, same rules, same old same old, just cooler powers this time. I did take quite a delight in blasting everything in sight. I have to go to a certain place for a mission, yet I can't find it. I guess I need to buy a GPS.

Is there some sort of guide as to how to play this game? Color me confused, as I'm a DC Comics fan who really wants to play and experience this world - and I'm hopefully just limited by my non-experience with games.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Announced

The new DC Comics game from NetherRealm Studios. Looks dark and creepy, a la the Batman Arkham games, and it appears that the good guys might not be the good guys in this one. NR Studios previously produced the DC Universe Vs. Mortal Kombat game.

Level Up (or is that down?)

My buddy Ray, in order to give me some more range in what I write about here on The Non-Gamer's Gamer's Blog, and just because he's a great guy, and a helluva friend, lent me his PS2. He even came over to hook it up, and gave me a game.

Ray got me the Atari Anthology, yeah, baby, kicking it old school. I think it was also a left-handed way of saying I was inept at gaming, and just old, period. The implication is that these would be the only games I would be good at. I can't deny that, I guess. I was damned happy to play Yar's Revenge on my HD TV.

Now when Ray told me he was doing this last week, I knew what I had to do. I had to get a copy of Justice League Heroes. On one New Year's Eve several years ago, Jeff and I played this game for about, oh, I don't know, six or seven hours straight while our respective other halves chatted and eventually slept. I had a blast. Not only was it a reintroduction to videogames for me, but it was also a cool superhero game that also played with the continuity of the comics. This was a DC Universe of characters and situations I knew. I loved it.

Once I knew there was a PS2 coming, this was the game I wanted. Well, that and the Godzilla and Ultraman games for the PS2, but those have proven slightly elusive, if not impossible. Why wouldn't you make a game for the whole world to play? Grrr… don't get me started…

So after warming up with some Atari, looking bright and colorful in high definition, I moved over to Justice League Heroes and enjoyed smashing Brainiac's robot minions with Superman and Batman. Hmmm… I guess Brainiac is the default bad guy for DC Comics videogames…

I had a blast. I confess to having to call Ray to ask how to turn it off when I was done, but I'm learning. More reviews to come, especially from the PS2 now too. Thanks, Ray!

St. Patrick's Day in the DC Universe

At Christmas the DC Universe Online game had some special goodies going on with Larfleeze the Orange Lantern. There's something similar happening this weekend for St. Patrick's Day with Superman foe Mister Mxyzptlk. I guess the fifth dimensional imp is the closest that DC Comics has to a leprechaun, so he shows up with pots of gold full of gold coins. Here's a video that gives you a better idea.



I gave it a shot with The Red Sun, but I don't think I managed to snag any coins. I'm still working on the controller...

The YouTube video is courtesy of 2TM's House Of Pain.

Who Plays the Watchmen?

Who Watches the Watchmen? was the question spray-painted on walls in defiance throughout perhaps the greatest superhero story ever told. The answer is that everyone does now. Especially with DC Comics' recent announcement that this summer would be highlighted by an extensive series of prequels to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic twelve-issue maxi-series.

In 1986, Moore and Gibbons revolutionized the comics industry, and how we think about superheroes with Watchmen. It brought four color comics storytelling to a whole new level and told a tale of intrigue, betrayal, romance, politics, adventure, and even pirates and nuclear suspense. Utilizing a nine-panel grid layout and nonlinear narrative, it jumped through time and space and even plot to create a masterful and complex story of superheroes deconstructed in a real world setting. It was, and is, epic.

Now I'm not going to pass any judgment on "Before Watchmen," or at least not here on this blog, but it should be noted that a year or two back a movie was made of the comic series, one that I really did like, and from that, a videogame came into being, one that I've downloaded not just one part, but two. Yeah, this time, we're talking about Who Plays the Watchmen? That'd be me.


Watchmen: The End Is Nigh comes in two parts as a downloadable demo for the PS3. I've talked a little bit about the first part here. Part one happens during a prison break, and part two you get to go to a strip club. As the two playable protagonists, Rorshach and Nite Owl, in a time before costumed vigilantes were outlawed, the 1970s, you are promised to encounter villains from the comics who are only mentioned, like the Underboss, the Twilight Lady, as well as more famous (or infamous) folks like the Comedian, and even Woodward and Bernstein.

Now that might al sound like a blast to those of us who love the comics, and dig story in our videogames, but for folks like me, who have trouble with the controllers and aren't seasoned gamer professionals - we'll barely get through the prison and/or the strip club to any actual plot. Also, knowing there's a programmed-in ending, no matter what, is also a bit of a disappointment even before you play. The fight moves are repetitive, and it's always raining, so there's really not much to see, but it is always a treat to see characters you know as opposed to unfamiliar gaming characters.

And as an added bonus, this is technically a pseudo-prequel to the great comic series. Like the DC Heroes RPG module "Taking Out the Trash," a panel or two in Countdown, and of course The Question #17, this is one of the real addenda to the Watchmen saga before the announcement of Before Watchmen. Watch out, the universe is about to get bigger...

Christmas in the DC Universe Online

When last we left The Red Sun, in the DC Universe Online game, he had escaped from Brainiac's ship and was wandering around the Metropolis (at least I think it's Metropolis) police station trying not to tick off other online players whose characters, flagging their names behind them, whizzed to and fro. Yeah, I was lost again. Basically I was at the "Now what?" point.

Eventually after wandering in circles for awhile, and trying to talk to characters who were not player-controlled, I learned that Super-Gorilla Grodd was attacking again, this time with a plan to turn humans into apes. Again? But that trick never works. Despite all that, I learned how to fly, and use the map, and got myself to the big battle.

Battle is kind of a misleading. Massacre is more like it. They beat me down, bad. Luckily Jeff came over and gave me a boost with the game. He played his way through quite a few gorilla soldiers, and got us (I know, but I'll get to play after he's done) to the next level. Coolness, thank you, Jeff.

In the midst of battle throughout Metropolis (yep, it's definitely Metropolis), we kept seeing Christmas trees, which I thought at first were a nice holiday decoration. I'm guessing that's what the massive update was before we started playing. It could have been that or the two new (buyable) updates for speedsters and Green Lanterns, of which there were many, far too many actually. I guess everyone abandons their old characters when new powers become available.

We soon learned that the update was probably a special Christmas present for DCUO players - a new adventure called "Season's Greedings" featuring Orange Lantern Larfleeze who has come to Earth to strike back at Santa for leaving him empty-handed this year. The new quest involves collecting stolen gifts and fighting Larfleeze's orange constructs without being trapped in snowglobes or turned into orange energy snowmen.

What a pleasant surprise! It sure beats being clobbered by big monkeys any day. Merry Christmas!

…And Breaking the Hero

Okay, last time, I had finally succeeded in creating a character to play in DC Universe Online, called "theredsun" AKA The Red Sun, a Mon-El clone with fire powers. I was all set to start playing in the DC Universe, woo hoo! And then the game started.

I don't know what I did wrong, or if I did do something wrong, but I started out on Brainiac's spaceship. I had to get out before I could actually start playing. The narrative, the computer, or whatever, kept telling me I only had to take out a couple guards and I could go. But no, that never worked out. There kept being 'just two more guards' and then I had to find the exit. It never seemed to end.

I must have been flying or walking around this stupid ship for hours, when Jeff finally showed up, figured stuff out in a few minutes and finally got The Red Sun off the ship. Damn gaming veteran. I'm jealous and frustrated, yes, but also thankful. I think I might've died on the ship if he hadn't come along, and lord knows what that would've meant, maybe starting the character creation process over again.

Off the ship, I found myself in a city, and at a police headquarters, which seemed more like the place I should've started. The weird part, and Jeff informed me this was how online games worked, was seeing other costumed folk wandering aimlessly around. All of them had their names floating above them. This I thought was funny, and I wondered what would happen if I just followed one of them around constantly.

By this time however, we had other non-videogames things to do and had to leave it go. So I guess I just missed out on getting a cyber-punch in the nose. Good place to stop though, and hopefully the game saved.

Making the Hero

I was so anxious to get started playing DC Universe Online that I jumped right in without a parachute or even knowing how to swim. I was immediately confronted with an intimidating barrage of additional downloads and Apple style contract agreements just to get on with it. It did much to diminish my enthusiasm. Again, I'm learning that patience is a major factor in playing these newer videogames.

I was finally able to play, no, that's not the right word… I was finally able to actually do something some time the next day. After a fantastic cinematic about the framing sequence of the story of the game, I would be able to start making my character. I have to tell you though, that this intro -which I had seen before, but on YouTube - is absolutely stunning on the high definition big screen. I'm happy to watch it multiple times and did.

Here's the gist: Brainiac is secretly absorbing the powers of Earth's metahumans while also inciting them to go to war with each other. In the final climatic battle that we see, Luthor and the other major villains destroy what is left of the Justice League. When no one is left standing except for Luthor, Brainiac plays his hand, and invades the Earth. No is left to stop him. Luthor steals Brainiac's power-absorbing devices and travels back in time to warn the Justice League. On his way, he releases the devices which shower the earth with excess powers, creating new superhumans (the players), whom the heroes, and villains, must train to eventually stop Brainiac. Got it?



So to start, you are a new hero, inspired by any of several metahuman characters in the DC Universe, and you go on training missions to learn your craft and prepare to fight Brainiac. In the meantime, you get to interact with established heroes and villains and explore the elaborate fantasy world that is the DC Universe.

Now I had been told that there was a detailed character creation system, but that's not so true. My initial thought was to create an existing but obscure DC character that wouldn't already be in the game. My fantasies included the Golden Age Mr. Terrific, Congo Bill, and from the Legion's time, Questar. Wasn't happening.

There's a limited number of heroes who can 'inspire' your character, and your powers and costume color schemes kind of match up to that hero (or villain), or at least that's the way it appears to me. If that's not the case, please let me know, because as I've pointed out on multiple occasions, I am handicapped when it comes to videogames. I ended up finally with a character inspired by Superman, who looks like Mon-El, has fire powers, and called The Red Sun, spelled in the game "theredsun" because someone, or several someones probably already thought of it. Ah, the perils of online gaming - everyone's doing it.

Next, The Red Sun actually gets to adventure in the DC Universe...