Comic Book Reviews for September 7, 2016
September kicked off with a fresh wave of DC Rebirth comics, including the debut of the new Cyborg comic and stellar conclusions to the first story arc of Batman and Superman. DC also brought Fables back into the spotlight with the sequel series Everafter. Marvel continued to expand on the events of Civil War II while beginning a new era for Doctor Strange and delivering a particularly strong issue of Moon Knight. Elsewhere, Image debuted Glitterbomb and Eclipse and Frank Cho kicked off his latest creator-owned project at Boom Studios.
Scroll down to check out our reviews for these and many other new releases, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.
Avatar: James Cameron Says Sequels Will Be a ‘Family Saga’
Toruk is a Cirque du Soleil sequel to Avatar which will be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a few more nights, and director James Cameron says there are clues about the themes of the movie sequels in the show.
According to Variety, even though Toruk won't directly tie into the movies, there will be some thematic overlap. “The storyline in the sequels really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children,” said Cameron, who has been serving as a consultant on Toruk.
"It’s more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans," Cameron continued. "But thematically, ‘Toruk’ manages to land very very closely to the feeling of where the sequel stories are going.”
Meet the Ryders – Mass Effect’s New Main Characters Revealed
Following last night's first Mass Effect Andromeda gameplay, Bioware has revealed that the male and female player options are brother and sister - and we've also seen their father before.
Previously in the series, players assumed the role of a single Commander Shepard, who could be either male or female. In Andromeda, however,whichever sex you choose designates which sibling you’ll play as, with the other placed elsewhere in the story.
The family revelation comes from BioWare creative director Mac Walters who was narrating last night’s Andromeda demo with PlayStation Access.
"We're seeing our male character, at E3 we got to see our female character. A little surprise here: These two are actually brother and sister.
Daily Deals: PlayStation 4 Pro, PlayStation DualShock V2 Controller
Help us get to 1000 likes! Like our page to get the latest deals straight to your news feed and also look out for exclusive codes for our readers.
Just Announced from Sony! Get the Latest PlayStation Products Here
With its sleeker model, the new PlayStation 4 console packs all the amazing features gamers have come to expect from PlayStation 4. The world’s best-selling console is now with a new look and stunning HDR visuals - meet the new look PlayStation 4 Slim Console.
4 New PS4 Peripherals Announced
Following the formal reveals of both the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, Sony has announced four new peripherals to be sold separately.
The new lightbar-on-touchpad version of the DualShock 4 that accompanies both new editions of PS4 will be sold individually for $59 USD / £54.
The new DualShock 4.
A redesigned PlayStation Camera has all the same internal features as the original PS4 version, but now comes in a cylinder shape, and with an angle-adjusting stand, presumably to allow for easier use with PlayStation VR. It also costs $59 USD / £54.
Get The Crew Free on PC Next Week
Ubisoft has confirmed PC owners will be able to grab The Crew for free starting next week.
The Crew “will be available with all the content that we’ve been adding in the past two years,” said Ivory Tower’s Soufyane Brahimi via Ubisoft’s Facebook page.
According to Brahimi over 9 million players have played The Crew since its release back in late 2014.
Ubisoft is giving away a free PC game each month until the end of the year to celebrate the publisher’s 30th anniversary. Previous free games include Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the original Splinter Cell. The current free game is Rayman Origins, but that will be replaced on September 14 with The Crew.
New Pokemon Go Plus Release Date Announced
The Pokemon Go Plus accessory will now launch on September 16, Nintendo has confirmed on Twitter.
According to a blog post from Niantic, Pokemon Go Plus will launch on September 16 in “most countries,” save for a few South American territories, where it will launch "later in the year."
As described by Niantic, the Pokemon Go Plus is a companion device that connects via Bluetooth and allows you to “keep your phone in your pocket and go about your day-to-day activities while still being able to collect valuable resources and capture even the most elusive Pokemon.”
We Played Super Mario Run One-Handed
What’s it like to play Super Mario Run? Nintendo’s new Mario platformer coming to iOS this Holiday (and next year to Android) puts the company’s world-famous mascot on mobile devices in a smart way. I played three quick stages and couldn’t help but admire how Nintendo uses simple controls, short stages full of coins and scoring opportunities, and skillful jumps as strong hooks to keep us playing and increase our scores. It’s easy to play with one-hand, too. In fact, I did just that right at the start of our demo.
‘HDR Is Really the Future,’ Says Naughty Dog Lead Programmer
In the wake of Sony’s reveal of the new PS4 Pro earlier today developers from Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog have discussed why high-dynamic-range imaging, or HDR, is set to be an especially exciting new step when it comes to video game visuals.
“For our Spider-Man project we’re really working as hard as we can to build a really rich, detailed version of New York City and the amount of detail and improved fidelity you can get on a 4K display – especially a 4K display that has HDR – is pretty stunning,” said Al Hastings, chief architect at Insomniac Games, during an interview following Sony’s presentation. “It’s a real step forward. That’s what we’re most excited about.”
Microsoft Still Confident It Will Have ‘Most Powerful Console Ever’
Microsoft is confident its E3 claim calling Xbox One Scorpio “the most powerful console ever built” is still accurate, even after the PS4 Pro reveal earlier today.
Speaking to IGN, Albert Penello, senior director of product management and planning at Xbox, was bullish about the chances of Scorpio (and Xbox One S) versus Sony’s newly revealed hardware.
“I believe that the difference between what we’re going to deliver with Scorpio from a performance perspective and PS4 Pro will be obvious to customers,” Penello told IGN. “I believe we have the best value this holiday, and I think we’re going to have the most powerful box next year.”