Nowadays, it seems every form of entertainment features zombies or Nazis. In the comic book world, the monotony has left some readers jaded, and caused them to purposely brush off new titles offering either of the two. But what sets Captain Midnight apart from others books containing Nazis is that the character, and his stories, have been around since the ’30s, spawning radio shows, television programs, and even comics. Now Dark Horse has revived the hero, collecting three stories from its Dark Horse Presents title to bring readers the #0 issue of an all-new ongoing series.

The story begins present day with a military aircraft making its final rounds near a deadly storm in The Bermuda Triangle. Suddenly, a damaged Douglas SBD World War II plane emerges from the storm and nearly crashes into the aircraft. Inside contains the legendary Captain Midnight who jumps from his plane and onto the cockpit of the other, demanding it to land on the flight deck of a nearby military ship.

From there a typical detainment scene takes place, with high-ranking officials writing the man off as being insane. One man, however, believes Captain Midnight’s story and past reputation as a war hero. The premise is all too familiar and the narrative is self-aware of that, thus being a bit tongue-in-cheek at times (noticeably in the final act).

The direction Joshua Williamson takes the story is fun and builds anticipation for Captain Midnight #1 (which has a special preview section at the end of this book). Artist Victor Ibanez’s clean and tastefully detailed designs are only matched by colorist Ego’s visually pleasing shades. Expect issue number one of Captain Midnight to hit store shelves this July.
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You can buy Captain Midnight #0 at Darkhorse.com for $2.99.

Platinum Games, the wonderfully creative team behind thrilling action titles such as Bayonetta 2, Vanquish, and Anarchy Reigns, blesses the Wii U with what will be the company’s first next-generation effort, The Wonderful 101. I previously played the game at New York Comic Con 2012, but an updated E3 build showcased many of the game’s new features.

The Wonderful 101 is the story of a Super Sentai-like team, and its non-powered friends, defending the earth from an alien invasion in what is essentially an action-packed blend of Viewtiful Joe (fitting as director Hideki Kamiya also worked on that game) and Pikmin.

You guide your fleet-footed squad of superheroes and average joes through brightly colored, cartoon-like isometric urban and suburban environments to battle metal menaces ranging from tanks to giant robots. Battles happen at a swift, near-breakneck pace that’s fitting of superhumans battling otherworldly villains; it approaches a big ball of violence. You recruit new members into your band of costumed brothers by drawing circles around them using the GamePad’s right stick. The more people you pull into your ranks, the stronger your offensive and defensive capabilities. An orange power gauge displays your current power level

Every time your team takes damage, you lose a few of your squadmates as they fall stunned to the ground. Losing all your heroes doesn’t result in insta-death, but it will weaken you. Stunned teammates eventually recover and rejoin your ranks, but you can wake them my walking near them. Deft dodging will help keep your team intact, and it’s an enjoyable animation — the crew evades my forming the Slinky-like arc seen in many Wonderful 101 gameplay videos. Sprinting also assists by keeping you out of damage range — and it also looks incredibly cute as you leave a rainbow and sparkles trail behind as you move.

You can combine heroes to form giant weapons and tools to overcome obstacles. Drawing a straight line with the GamePad’s right stick, for example, causes the heroes  to merge into a giant sword for swiping at alien forces. At another point I assembled a giant whip to attack foes from a distance.

There’s excellent use of scale. The miniature super-squad makes the enemies appear huge , but you don’t feel any loss of power. In fact, the demo I played at New York Comic Con featured a mechanical villain so huge that you actually conducted battle on the surface of its body. The fight wasn’t quite as visually dynamic as Krato’s battle on Gaia’s arm in God of War III, but it’s impressive nonetheless.

A newly introduced five-player local multiplayer mode lets players compete to wipe out the invading army. One would think that the already small sprites would look absolutely tiny with multiple hero teams on screen at once, but I didn’t have trouble tracking the action in a three-player match with Nintendo representatives. The only caveat is that one person must use the GamePad in multiplayer matches — all others can use their Wii U Pro Controllers.

The Wonderful 101 will feature an in-game store which you can use to purchase upgrades. Don’t fret, your wallet is safe. All purchases are made with The Wonderful 101′s in-game currency. Thank goodness! I don’t know whether to chalk that up to Nintendo’s comparatively ancient online vision (which now looks kinda-sorta okay in a Xbox One world) or Platinum Games’ non-greedy benevolence, but it’s quite refreshing.

The Wonderful 101 looks like another winning action title from Platinum Games. It leaps and bounds into retail on September 15, 2013.

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You can pre-order The Wonderful 101 at Amazon.com for $59.99.

Bayonetta is an over-the-top, stylish action game developed by Platinum Games and directed by Hideki Kamiya, of Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe fame. Bayonetta brilliantly integrates free-form combat with structured combos, resulting in one of the best action games of the generation. Unfortunately, despite the critical acclaim, publisher SEGA never gave Platinum Games the green light for a sequel. All of that changed during the Wii U showcase last fall, where Nintendo announced a sequel to Bayonetta as a Wii U exclusive title. While a teaser trailer was revealed earlier this year to tide fans over while Platinum Games worked on Bayonetta 2, the game’s current state was kept secret until the day E3 2013 began. Not only did fans get a new trailer, but E3 2013 attendees could also get hands-on with a playable demo of Bayonetta 2.

Aside from the swapping of the confirm and cancel buttons, (A to confirm, B to cancel, as is the case with all Nintendo games), controls in Bayonetta 2 are essentially identical to those from the original game. Bayonetta punches with X and kicks with A. Combining punches and kicks result in unique and powerful combos. Holding either attack button results in a charge attack, which varies depending on the weapon. Her pistols will spray bullets when attacks are charged, her swords will unleash heavy magical slashes when charged, and her whips will grab and throw enemies when charged.

More advanced mechanics like the “Dodge Offset” and taunting return from the first game as well. Dodge offset allows players to continue their combo even after dodging an attack by holding down an attack button during the dodge. Because Bayonetta’s combo finishers are so devastating (more on that in a bit), players would want to utilize them as often as possible. While dodge offset is not at all crucial to completing the original game, it was a valuable tool for those players hoping to control enemies and master combat. It is great to see the mechanic return in Bayonetta 2.

Taunting is another advanced tool players could exploit to boost the points they earn from combat. In the original game, Bayonetta could taunt nearby enemies to enrage them. This boosts their strength significantly, but also allows Bayonetta to earn more combo points when striking them. In Bayonetta 2, she can taunt by pressing L3 on the gamepad. It functions as it did in the original, with one noticeable difference – enemy strength is boosted to a horrifying degree. In one of my demo play-throughs, I made the mistake of taunting the boss Gomorrah and taking a hit – that single blow took out half of my health. It is clear that the taunting mechanic in Bayonetta 2 is designed for advanced players willing to dance on a razor’s edge to maximize their combat score.

Bayonetta 2 changes things up by introducing a mechanic called “Umbran Climax.” In the original game, Bayonetta would summon a magical fist or heel to attack enemies whenever she performed a finisher in her combo. Bayonetta 2 gives her the Umbran Climax, which temporarily powers-up all her attacks in the same way. When Bayonetta’s magic gauge is full, players will be prompted to press the L button and trigger the climax. In many respects, the Umbran Climax functions like “Devil Trigger” did in the older Devil May Cry games. Whenever Bayonetta performs a finisher during an Umbran Climax, she summons a full demon to perform an area-clearing attack. With demons regularly popping in to add flavor to the fight, the scale of combat feels much more expanded, and Bayonetta herself feels incredibly powerful.

The E3 2013 demo starts off with Bayonetta standing on a falling fighter jet as she is assaulted by a storm of angels. The most common of these are centaur-like, and they use their lances to attack Bayonetta in a variety of ways. Red versions are larger and have more health, and are also more aggressive and difficult to interrupt.

Bayonetta has access to two weapon sets, much like she did in the original game. Her initial set is her classic four-pistol combination, and her secondary set is a pair of katanas and heel-whips. The second set is unique to Bayonetta 2, as the original game did not allow players to equip a a second sword, nor did it allow players to equip the whip as a foot weapon. This set also gives Bayonetta quite a bit of range with her attacks, making it easier to keep some distance between her and her enemies.

As Bayonetta devastates the angel hordes, several larger boss angels throw in attacks of their own to whittle down her health and spice-up the fight. The jet is eventually torn to pieces, and the fight carries over to a runaway train on a collapsing bridge. A boss angel called “Belief” chases the train down and attacks our heroine with its whip-like tentacle arm. Fellow witch Jeanne pops in from time to time to aid Bayonetta with an attack or two, before yet another angel boss destroys the bridge completely and forces the witches to fight Belief directly.

Once the angel is defeated, Bayonetta and Jeanne launch the grotesquery against a skyscraper, where the summoned demon-dragon Gomorrah finishes it off. And this is where Bayonetta 2 gets really interesting. Gomorrah breaks free of the hair Bayonetta uses to control it, and attacks her. Jeanne intervenes only to have her soul dragged to hell, leaving Bayonetta to fight the enraged dragon alone. She uses her magic to summon a pair of wings to aid her in flight, and the battle begins. The dragon scales the building as it attempts to breathe fire, slash and bite our heroine. When Gomorrah loses half of its health, it rushes to the top of the skyscraper and adds tail swipes and more breath attacks to its assault.

Aerial combat in Bayonetta 2, fortunately, is very similar to ground-based combat. Despite being presented as an aerial battle, movement still takes place on a two-dimensional plane, so players needn’t concern themselves with elevation during the segment. The only notable change in controls is that jumping is replaced with a dash. This allows Bayonetta to quickly dart in to launch her attacks. Otherwise, her combos, evasion and movement all feel as natural and familiar as her ground-based combat. The transition is not jarring or awkward, like the motorbike or Space Harrier mini-missions in the original game.

The sheer scale of the fighting in the Bayonetta 2 demo is amazing. As mentioned above, combat starts off on a damaged fighter jet circling a sprawling cityscape. It then moves on to a speeding train on a collapsing bridge, and finally a battle against a demon-dragon as it scales a skyscraper. Platinum Games is masterful when it comes to scale and empowering players, and Bayonetta 2 starts off with a massive bang. She feels as powerful as she did at the end of the original game, yet Bayonetta 2 still demands skill and quick reflexes. All of her angel adversaries are dangerous and aggressive; while Bayonetta can crush them with relative ease, enemies can make short work of her if players don’t effectively evade attacks.

On a final note, during the press-only event at the Nintendo Booth prior to the start of E3, it was mentioned that Bayonetta 2 would feature some form of 2-player cooperative play. Judging from Jeanne’s presence in the demo, it seems entirely possible that Bayonetta 2 may include some sort of 2-player local play. Platinum did not elaborate on this matter beyond stating that the feature was being worked on.

As a fan of the original game, Bayonetta 2 left me desperate for more. I went back to the Nintendo booth twice more to fool around with the mechanics and try out new combos and was pleasantly surprised with each replay. The new story also has me intrigued, as the rebellious demons make for fantastic opponents. Slated for a 2014 release, I can honestly say that I eagerly await any new developments regarding Bayonetta 2.

I never got around to playing Bastion, but I did watch friends play it. The game seemed odd, the isometric camera angle weirded me out, and it lacked a hook to pull me into its world. This isn’t the case with Supergiant Games’ turn-based strategy game Transistor. When it was revealed at the Sony press conference on Monday evening, I immediately felt compelled to give it a go.

I met up Greg Kasavin, Transistor‘s writer and designer, at Sony’s booth. I was honest: I told him that I hadn’t touched Bastion, but wanted to play Transistor. I asked him what it was about, how it differed from Bastion, and what gamers should expect. Kasavin laughed and said, “You know what? How about you go in cold. I think it’ll be better for you that way instead of me trying to explain everything.”

And boy, was he right.

Red is the main character, a former singer who’s hunted by assassins. Her voice is stolen, so she ventures forward to discover who took it. Near the start of the demo, Red walks across the screen and picks up a sword — a talking sword. The blade, also known as Transistor, apologizes for Red’s voice loss, and informs her that she must help stop an outbreak of disappearing people across the city. It’s in Red’s best interest to do so as she’s the next victim.

You guide Red through several different rooms, fending off “Processes,” which are enemies that “process” people, and want to get their hands on Transistor. They remind me of Kingdom Hearts’ The Heartless; dark remains of Cloudbank’s missing populace.

Transistor’s gameplay is similar to Bastion‘s. Red’s powers are mapped to individual controller buttons, and each has a refresh rate. There are close-range attacks, AOE attacks, and a dashing ability which helps Red evade the faster, more life-threatening enemies. As you find others who are dying (or stolen, perhaps?) they enter Transistor. This grants you additional abilities.

The R2 trigger initiates a freeze-time mode that allows you to plot out a number of moves. Here’s an example of how it works. I was in a room with two Processes, and one larger enemy. Using the freeze mode, I plotted out an AOE that hit the two enemies in front of me, dashed to the other side, and attacked the last one with a close-range attack. Once I hit play, I watched my moves play out, like a Civilization game. Very cool.

Transistor‘s music is an odd mix that draws from trance, ambient, trip-hop, and drum-and-bass. As weird as that sounds, it’s perfect for the game’s environment and feel. Each composition’s uniquely orchestrated, and the overall soundtrack is one any genre fan will appreciate.

I found myself wanting more Transistor as the demo came to an end. I wanted to know why the citizens of Cloudbank were disappearing, and why assassins were after Red. This title alone made me want to buy a PlayStation 4. Kasavin was incredibly appreciative of my genuine enjoyment.

“We first announced the game at PAX. We had no idea what platforms we were going to release this on,” he said. “Sony saw it, and they were very supportive of the game, and are continuing to be incredibly supportive. Had you told me six months ago we’d [Supergiant Games] have a booth directly across from Assassin’s Creed IV, I would have never believed you.”

If you’re a fan of Bastion, good music, or fun trippy games, keep your eyes open for Transistor, which is slated for a 2014 release. Transistor will be available day-one on PC and Playstation 4, and Mac and Linux soon after that.

Now I think I’ll give Bastion another shot.

It’s Father’s Day 2013. Instead of taking a trip to the mall to buy dear ol’ dad a heinous tie or coffee mug, consider opening your laptop and showing daddy our list of memorable video game fathers. They may not be the best, they may not be the worst, but you’ll definitely remember them. Just like pops.

Dr. Light
Doctor Thomas Light is a master roboticist, Nobel Price winner, and the proud Papa of Mega Man and several other robots in the Mega Man universe (he’s also a proud owner of a Santa Claus-like beard and gut). Throughout the Mega Man series he plays Q to the various Mega Men’s Bond, offering gear and moral support as his kids battle the mechanical baddies created by his former partner (and BFF), Dr. Wily.
Ass-Spanking Moment: He created Mega Man. Nuff said.

Takuma Sakazaki
Art of Fighting‘s Takuma Sakazaki is one odd character. On one hand he’s the visionary creator of the Kyokogen karate ( a style that his children Ryo and Yuri have adopted, as well as Marco Rodriquez/Kushnood Butt), and he’s also a bat-shit insane man who dons a tengu mask to become Mr. Karate, his not-so-secret identity.
Ass-Spanking Moment: Takuma dons a tengu mask and squares off against his son Ryo (after Geese orders Mr. Big to kidnap Takuma’s daughter Yuri).

Big Boss
For the current generation of gamers, Big Boss is the neigh-mythical father figure whose legacy spurred the events in the Metal Gear Solid series. After all, without the man with the eye-patch, there wouldn’t be any Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake, Solid Snake, or number of Genome Soldiers cloned from Big Boss’ DNA. Back in the heyday of the NES and the MSX home computer, Big Boss was the perceived villain who was hell-bent on killing kittens, sticking his fingers in mom’s apple pie, and hating freedom. But after the events of the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker we learned that this infamous figure wasn’t quite the bastard we were lead to believe. We’ll see what happens in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Ass-Spanking Moment: In Metal Gear, Big Boss was Solid Snake’s commanding officer, offering guidance and good will, until the end of the game where he spits out misleading advice and orders you to abort the mission (not unlike the virtual colonel in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty). After you defeat the giant, non-walking PC that is considered a Metal Gear, Big Boss turns a-hole and becomes, well, the final boss.

Geese Howard
The most bad ass of bad ass fighting game antagonists, Geese Howard, former corrupt police commissioner turned kingpin, ruled the streets of South Town with this strong, gangster fist. Not only did Geese have his city on complete and utter lock down thanks to thug underlings Mr. Big and Billy Kane, he was also the master of an absolutely brutal fighting style that shattered many fighting game fans’ wills.
Ass-Spanking Moment: Although assumed to have committed many an atrocity, Geese’s relation to children is particularly vile. Not only did Geese order the hit on Jeff Bogard (leaving two previously orphaned Bogard boys once again parentless), he also was responsible for kidnapping of Yuri Sazaki in Art of Fighting, and doesn’t acknowledge the existence of his own seed, Rock. In other words, Geese hates kids, and probably you. Happy Father’s Day!

Mike Haggar
Final Fight‘s Mike Haggar is what Rudolph Giuliani would’ve been if he were taller, went to the gym, and had the sack to physically backup his big yap. Haggar, the extremely pumped and manly head of Metro City, doesn’t shuffle papers or court corrupt businessmen; he cleans up the gang-infested streets one spinal snap at a time. Not much is known about Mayor Mike Haggar previous to his political career other than the fact that the he-man grappler was, shockingly, a pro wrestler before taking public office. But when the Mad Gear Gang kidnapped Jessica, his lovely daughter, he returned to the way of the fist by regulating Metro City thugs with clotheslines and piledrivers.
Ass-Spanking Moment: Whenever he did this.

A few weeks ago, we brought you an X-List that featured dormant series that we thought needed a revival. Well, E3 2013 saw the surprising return of a few long-dead franchises. In fact, one of the games listed below was revealed an entire console generation ago.

None of those unveiled E3 2013 games made that X-List (prophets, I suppose, we are not), but it’s still quite interesting to see series once thought dead and buried resurface.

Let’s take a look at ‘em shall we?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Star Wars: Battlefront (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
The last time we saw anything Battlefront-related, it was just before LucasArts cancelled the game. An alpha showcasing interplanetary travel, massive ground battles, and epic aerial and vehicular warfare was all that remained of the potential new game. However, Electronic Arts bought the Battlefront rights, which saved the series. My imagination has run rampant since the E3 teaser trailer showed an AT-AT crushing an A-Wing on the barren snow-planet Hoth. Imagine a 64 person multiplayer battle featuring storm troopers, Jedi, and other Star War characters — now try to imagine all of this without smiling. Even better: Battlefront will run on DICE’s incredible Frostbite 3 engine so the environmental chaos will be top-notch. That’s all the info DICE has shared at the moment, but it’s still reason for excitement.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Mirrors Edge 2 (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
While we’re still on the topics of EA and DICE, it’s been six long years since the original Mirrors Edge debuted. It’s a cult classic that highlighted parkour/free-running culture, while telling a tale about corruption, Big Brother, and government censorship — heavy stuff. The unveiled Mirrors Edge 2 looks very much like a prequel as its trailer shows protagonist Faith receiving her familiar eye and arm tattoos. The original’s fast-paced, first-person gameplay appears to return with smooth, natural combat. Let’s hope it remains this way and doesn’t morph into a typical FPS. EA executive Frank Gibeau has stated that Mirror’s Edge 2 is an open-world adventure, which can really make for a massive games with near-limitless maneuverability.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Killer Instinct (Xbox One)
Friend and 2D-X contributor Sean Paul-Adams lost his mind when Microsoft unveiled Killer Instinct – and for good reason. It’s been more than 15 years since we last saw Killer Instinct on a home console. If you’ve never played Killer Instinct this is a great time to become acquainted. The series is known for being over-the-top, combo heavy, and easy to jump into, but also packing a surprising amount of depth. Although the Xbox One Killer Instinct comes with a new announcer, the insane combos remain. It’s also important to note that series-creator Rare isn’t behind the title; instead, Double Helix Studios handles the development duties. Check out our hands-on preview for more juicy bits.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Crimson Dragon (Xbox One)
A Saturn favorite has soared out of SEGA’s crypt — unofficially. Yukio Futasugi is hard at work on Crimson Dragon, a spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon. Although the E3 reveal trailer glitched the audio, fans still got hyped for the return of the belobed on-rails dragon shooter. The Dragoon series is known for its challenging gameplay, beautiful visuals, and elegant soundtracks, so we hope Crimson Dragon lives up to those lofty standards. Crimson Dragon will be an Xbox Live Arcade game, which might mean a smaller scaled Dragoon game than we’re accustomed to playing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
I can’t stress how long gamers have awaited Kingdom Hearts III. It’s real and looks amazing (based on the brief gameplay glimpses shown at E3). Unfortunately, next to nothing is known about Kingdom Hearts III at the moment. According to a Famitsu interview with Kingdom Hearts III director Nomura Tetsuya, the game isn’t anywhere near completion. But it’s coming!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Final Fantasy XV (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
We have been waiting for Final Fantasy Versus 13 for quite some time — since 2006 to be exact. In fact, so much time has passed that Square Enix repackaged the game as the upcoming Final Fantasy XV. The trailer revealed gameplay that’s been updated to match current gaming standards. There are also reports that there will be multiple direct sequels much like Final Fantasy XIII. Interesting.

Killer Instinct, Rare’s bombastic fighting game series, returns to combat after a 17 year hiatus. Last appearing on the Nintendo 64 as Killer Instinct Gold, Killer Instinct lied dormant until it was teased at Microsoft’s E3 2013 Xbox One press conference.

Killer Instinct, now under the guidance of developer Double Helix, has returned at the right time. Fighting games have enjoyed a renaissance that’s resulted in Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Dead or Alive, and Virtua Fighter receiving new series entries. The fighting game landscape hasn’t been this rich in decades, so its good to see Killer Instinct, one of the ’90s fighting game posterboys, contribute to this second coming.

Many of the series’ defining elements are in place — for the most part. Killer Instinct 2013 has its trademark chatty announcer, eye-catching 3D graphics (though more cartoony than the original’s dark aesthetic), c-c-c-combo breakers, and hard-hitting action. Unfortunately, No Mercy and Ultimate combos have fallen to the wayside according to The Escapist.

Although Microsoft dedicated an entire area of its both to Killer Instinct, I got my mitts on it at Mad Catz’s booth. The fighter had two playable characters: Jago and Sabrewulf. The pair underwent slight redesigns and are now a bit bulkier and less ’90s than past incarnations. But what caught my eye are Killer Instinct‘s incredible particle effects. When one of Jago’s fireball’s hits its mark, the energy projectile explodes in a beautiful rain of sparks that looks like a scene from an ’80s hair metal video.

Fists and feet fly fast, but each blow feels extremely weighty — in a good way. When you land a hard blow, you accompanying sound effect sounds as if you delivered the blow with a brick in hand.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The returning auto-combos can make players of average skill level look good, and master-level players appear god-like. The more casual fighting game fan, however, may not master the numerous special attacks, supers, and very vital combo breakers. Mastering combo breakers is essential to victory as they enable you to escape  gazillion-hit critical beatdowns. Killer Instinct‘s familiar announcer lets you know just how well you’re fighting by stating “Basic!” when you score a low-hit combo, or “Ultra!” when you go execute an ungodly number of hits. Each combo is accompanied by a numerical percentage that represents the damage dealt.

Characters have two lifebars which result in a game-over when they’re depleted. Killer Instinct doesn’t have traditional rounds, but there’s a brief gameplay pause you move from the first to the second bar. You aren’t, however, forced back into neutral positions, so if you had an opponent in the corner, you maintain that advantage.

It’s far too early to determine if the fighting game community will take a liking to Killer Instinct, but it has the seed of a fine fighting game. Still, Killer Instinct is an Xbox One digital launch game, so you can expect to find it in the Xbox Live marketplace this November (with an unusual retail sales scheme).

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You can pre-order an Xbox One home video game console at Amazon.com for $499.96.

Comic book worlds are filled with boy scouts in capes, optic blasts, and ironmen, so it’s sometimes nice to read a book where basic ass-kicking and name-taking reigns supreme. Dark Horse Comics’ Bloodhound replaces Silver Age bravado with Modern Age grit, violence, and sexuality. The story follows ex-cop turned convict, Travis Clevenger (Clev) a man who rose to the tops of the Atlanta Police Department because of his incredible ability to track superhumans. Clev was placed in prison on a twenty-year sentence for killing his ex-partner.

Written by Dan Jolley (Prototype 2, JSA: The Liberty File), the story begins when the FBI calls for Travis’ release because the organization needs his expertise to hunt a serial killer. While Clev initially disagrees, the allure of a reduced sentence and the nature of the crimes convibrings him to agree to the FBI’s terms. This killer has specifically contacted and killed young, beautiful, brunettes, and the daughter of Clev’s ex-partner is slated to be the next target. So this time…it’s personal!

The story paints Clev as a gruesome vigilante-styled cop with a knack for severe brutality. While Bloodhound‘s artwork is fairly good, it takes away from the perceived seriousness. The violence is brutal, but completely unrealistic. Clev easily caves in people’s entire faces with bright, bloody detail.  It was very hard for me to get acquainted to Clev, as I couldn’t easily relate to this crime-fighting convict — he lacked even a glimpse of humanity. What did keep my interest was the mystery surrounding the killer.  I enjoy detective stories, and while Clev is a more brutal than your average detective, watching him work is interesting. He’s a big guy who can physically take people out, but he’s also a thinker.

My biggest complaint about Bloodhound is that it feels incredibly rushed. Plot events are thrown at the reader, and Jolley never really establishes a good pace. One minute Clev is having a conversation with the FBI in prison, the next second he’s battling prisoners.  Major plot points are thrown away and just accepted as truth. As Clev hunts the serial killer, he discovers something that adds a bit of a twist to the story. It’s not a huge reveal, just something Clev says without substance. The discovery is understandable within the scope of this universe, but I expected more of a reaction from our hero.

In most superhuman themed comics, we have men with the powers of bugs, or women who can shoot lasers from their fists. Clev has an inhuman ability to kick ass, can easily track down superhumans, and seems as though he can recover from injury very quickly. Clev’s unique abilities do paint a mysterious light on his true nature, and you’ll ask yourself “Is Clev a superhuman?” It adds some much-needed depth to the character, even if purposely left vague so the reader will continue onward.

Lenord Kirk’s visual style is neither unique or original, but it gets the job done.  The visuals don’t match Jim Lee’s classic lines and aren’t as stylized as Humberto Ramos’ work. I would have liked a more gritty, stylized visual element. That said, Kirk does illustrate violence well, as blood and guts explode over each page like a landscape of brutality.

It’s no surprise that this comic was originally dropped by DC Comics. Clev is a throwaway character who delivers the same tough guy bullshit we’ve read in Wolverine, The Punisher, and Batman. He’s a tough-as-nails detective who can find anyone, beat the crap out of anyone, and come back from the brink of death. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s essentially every ’80s and ’90s comic book character who needed a gritty makeover. Jolley is just turning the gears here, and while he’s trying to put a cool spin on the superhuman detective story, it doesn’t fly.

Bloodhoud is a mess of good ideas and two-dimensional characters wrapped up in an ’80s shell. You’re better off reading (or rereading) Punisher Max, Wolverine (Claermont/Miller), or Batman.  I finished reading Bloodhound and felt unfulfilled. I wasn’t pleased or displeased. I just felt as though I wasted some time.

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You can purchase Bloodhound at Amazon.com for $14.41.

Bethesda opened its E3 presentation with Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within. A Tango Gameworks representatives claimed, “We wanted to make a game that was truly horrifying.” Horrifying is right.

The Evil Within, even within a hands-off preview context, is so damn scary that I truly do not have faith in myself, or many others to review it. The game has an old Resident Evil or Silent Hill feel that keeps you not only on the edge of your seat, but on the edge of sanity.

The demo features your player-character, Detective Sebastian, and two other police officers driving up to Beacon Mental Hospital. Along the way, the trio notices the many abandoned police cars that were emptied of weapons and ammo. Shortly after walking into the establishment, Sebastian’s attacked by a cloaked enemy. The screen goes dark and he awakes hanging upside down, trying desperately to pull out a knife lodged in a dead body to free himself.

After doing so, Sebastian gets caught in a flood of blood, and is deposited in a clean, nearly untouched area — an area that just happens to contain body parts which transform into a Grudge-like demon with several legs. Just as the beast approaches…you’re taken back to hospital lobby. My heart raced as the demo came to an end.

The rest of The Evil Within‘s demo showcased the combat mechanics, how to use syringes to replenish health, and the much-needed ability to build items using scraps you find along the way. The game hit all the right horror cues such as dim lighting, blood-soaked walls. The Evil Within is horror at its finest.

The Evil Within is slated for a Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 2014 release.

Wolfenstein: The New Order was next up in Bethesda’s E3 showcase. The latest franchise entry takes place in 1960, but still details a Nazi threat. This is an alternate history: Nazis are still in power, and the protagonist William “B.J.” Blazkowicz awakes after a 15-year coma. To convey an authentic feel, all the characters speak German (with English subtitles).

The city-combat involved shredding robots with guns in scenes that look like they were ripped straight out of Duke Nukem. A battle across the broken bridge featured plasma-like guns, gatling guns, and rifles which fit the ridiculous setting quite well.

Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available next year on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC.

The Elder Scrolls Online was Bethesda’s closer. Although the game is playable here at E3, many PvP features are not. The developer on-hand explained that “you can participate in numerous PvP matches with and against friends.” Roughly 200 players can participate in one raid. ESO takes place in all areas of Tamriel, including Daggerfall and Morrowind.

Like the single-player franchise, The Elder Scrolls Online has incredibly deep character customization. When we saw ESO at last year’s presentation, first-person and the traditional real-time combat were not present, and it had a very strong WoW feel. Bethesda seemed to have listened to both the media and franchise fans by making ESO more Elder Scrolls-like. Instead of focusing on grinding, you experience a main campaign. Bethesda will give players the freedom to do whatever they please, from picking up cheese wheels to picking locks. The game holds much promise.

Elder Scrolls Online will be on PC, Playstation 4 and Xbox One. No release date or price has been confirmed.

Eric Guzman, Features Editor
I’m usually all for Nintendo, but I’m not impressed by its showcase. Besides Smash Bros. what was new? It’s beginning to be clear why Nintendo didn’t have a big conference this year — he company doesn’t have anything new to show. We knew about Zelda, Bayonetta and Pikmin already. The new Super Mario and Donkey Kong games are both playing it safe.

Granted, I’m not saying that these games won’t be fun and it’s great to see the Wii U game drought coming to an end, but Nintendo has to start capturing our imaginations again. Remember Super Mario 64 or even Super Mario Galaxy? Those were genre-defining titles. I love Nintendo, but the Wii U needs the diverse library that the 3DS has. The 3DS is easily carrying Nintendo and the library continues to grow. Later this month, Project X Zone hits stores, a new Zelda‘s coming down the pipe, and a Layton and Phoenix Wright game’s coming soon, too.

Nintendo, we need a new refreshing mix of titles for your home console.

Bayonetta shows off her killer new haircut!

Tim Torres, Podcast Host/Senior Reviews Editor
This morning’s Nintendo Direct video revealed the latest iterations of The Big N’s biggest franchises. Or, rather, most of them. Anyone (like me) waiting for a new Metroid, F-Zero or Star Fox was left to continue waiting. Even Zelda failed to appear. The sequel to A Link to the Past, now called A Link Between Worlds, was absent from the Direct feed, only to be unearthed later on Nintendo’s YouTube page. It looks great, but why didn’t they include it as part of the main event? The new Yoshi’s Island got left out too.

Regardless, I was impressed with what the Direct actually showed us. Pokemon X and Y looks like traditional Pokemon with tons of new 3D animation and a new Fairy-type that will finally put Dragon-types in their place. The Pokemon-rubbing mini-game didn’t seem that big a deal, but I appreciated the squishy cuteness of it all. Mario Kart 8 looks like it mixes elements of Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Wii to make something that actually looks like a little step forward for the series. The anti-gravity segments gave it an F-Zero flavor, perhaps a concession to fans who want that series to return. The blue sparks forming the “8″ at the end was a very nice touch. Wii Party U, Wii Fit U and Art Academy look bland but will likely find their audiences. I wondered how much of a bigger deal it would have been had Mario Paint made a comeback rather than Art Academy.

Mega Man and the Animal Crossing Villager join Smash!

Super Mario 3D World, the first console 3D Mario since Galaxy 2, looks terrific. An evolution of the excellent Super Mario 3D Land for 3DS, the Wii U iteration adds 4-player multiplayer co-op to the 3D gameplay — a first for the series. Best of all, the 3rd and 4th player character slots aren’t wasted with multi-colored Toads. We get Peach and a blue Toad, a welcome throwback to the character selection from Super Mario Bros. 2. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad even have their unique characteristics from the NES sequel, like Luigi’s floaty jump, Peach’s hover and Toad’s speed. Hopefully we’ll see some turnip-pulling too.

Wonderful 101, Wind Waker HD, Bayonetta 2 and the new Donkey Kong Country round out an excellent E3 lineup. 101 looks fun, Wind Waker looks fantastic, I’m diggin’ Bayonetta’s new haircut and the original DKC composer, David Wise, is returning to score the ape game. Good news all around. Tetsuya Takahashi’s X, or whatever it will be called, also caught my attention with gorgeous mechs, giant monsters, lovely music and vast open worlds. There were few new details on this Xenoblade Chronicles successor, but it looks to fulfill my need for more flying giant robots in my games.

The real clincher for me was Nintendo and Namco’s resurrection of  Mega Man. Not fat Mega Man, not Zero, not some other facsimile — honest-to-goodness classic Mega Man, now in the new Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. Treated with the reverence the Smash Bros. series is known for, Mega Man resembles his NES sprite, upgraded with just the right amount of HD detail like eyes-as-screens and transformable arms that accommodate his numerous boss-stolen powers. Leaf Shield, Crash Bomb, Metal Blade and Top Spin are just a few of his moves I spotted in the trailer. Robo-dog Rush acts as his double jump to boot, and there’s even a Dr. Wily stage with Mega Man 2 music. This is the kind of treatment the real Rockman deserves. Nintendo might as well take over the character…

Oh, and the Villager from Animal Crossing and the Wii Fit Trainer Girl continue the series’ oddball character lineup nicely!

A Link Between Worlds – looks familiar!

Nintendo gave us much-needed Wii U games to look forward to and enhanced an already stellar 3DS lineup. The reaction I see online fails to see that everyone is playing it safe this generation, not just Nintendo. How many familiar shooters, racing games and sports game did we see from everyone else? Too many. You can count the number of “unsafe” games on two fingers maybe. That’s where the industry is right now: safe mode. Proven and marketable ideas from last generation are crossing into the new one. Sadly, that’s why you don’t see many female protagonists or new non-FPS IPs. It’s unfair to target Nintendo alone. In Nintendo’s case, they’re doing business as usual: giving us new versions of the characters and IPs we’ve loved since the 80s. Could they stand to deliver some new, fresh stuff? Of course, but with a new Smash Bros. starring Mega Man, a new 3D Mario with multiplayer, a new Mario Kart that seems to try new stuff, new Yoshi’s Island, A Link to the Past sequel, and a new game from the Xenogears creator, I’d say Nintendo’s doing pretty damn well.

And if we’re judging by who has the most exclusives then the E3 2013 winner becomes clear.