SF at the Movies - January '12

Let's see what was at the movies this month, you never know some might still be showing!!!

The Darkest Hour





And that's your lot - more next month!

Blogga's Video Game Diary - 27/1/12

I'm sorry for the lack of content - things are hectic in the real world right now so I may be sporadic in posting for a while I'm sorry. Anyway here's some more of what I've been up to Video Game wise.

Diary

I'm still collecting Riddler Trophies and I've got the confrontation with Riddler to come as well, then I will have completed the full Campaign (except the stupid AR challenges!!). One secret I managed to find by myself (though I already knew about it from online!) was Crime Alley where you can see the spot where Wayne's parents died as well as hearing a taunting message from Hugo Strange. In other news I've started Assassin's Creed: Revelations and also played the first act of Gears of War 3. I play that with a friend and we have a tradition of only playing in the dark which makes it more fun!!

New Stuff

Right I'm gonna write about the new characters who pop up in the game. I'd kinda hoped to go through the story as I did it, but that might get complicated. We'll see anyway.

The game starts with Bruce Wayne leading a public protest against Arkham City a walled-off ghetto inside which all criminals are thrown together. The billionaire is captured by TYGER guards working fore the head of Arkham.

Hugo Strange
Real Name: Hugo Strange
Occupation: Psychiatrist, Head of Arkham City












Strange has a great deal of power, not only is he head of the new super-prison he also commands his own private army of soldiers and through his manipulations has the Mayor of Gotham in his pocket. More than this he also has deduced the true identity of Batman and is keen to have Bruce Wayne inside his walls. He is very interested in the super-criminals of Gotham, keen to study them and psych-analyse them. But his truen intentions are...well I'll get to that!

Wayne is thrown into the supermax prison and makes his way through, passing a number of dangerous criminals who asre out for his blood.

Black Mask
Real Name: Roman Sionis
Occupation: Mob Boss










Similar to Wayne in that he lost both his parents Sionis instead turned to a life of crime, carving a wooden mask and becoming feared mob boss Black Mask. Inside Arkham city he ran operations from his family's Sionis steel mill until he was muscled out by Joker. When Wayne encountered him he was being beaten mercilessly by TYGER guards.

And I've run out of time - more soon!

Smallville - From strip to screen, part 4

Long overdue, but it's finally here - let's look at who popped up in the final few episodes of Smallville before Clark took up his destiny as the superhero we all know and love.

Booster Gold











Booster show up in an episode where Clark is about to reveal his powers to the world. Just as he does this guy rocks up and manages to be at every crash, kidnapping and disaster to save the day ahead of the 'Blur'. After investigation it turns out Booster is a former sports star who travelled back in time to escape his gambling debts, using his companion Skeets, an AI with extensive knowledge of the 21st century he is able to be at every scene with a dramatic save, aiming to replace Clark as the hero of the 21st century. Despite his ignoble plan he still wants to be a hero and agrees to work with Clark and train his new friend Blue Beetle. In the comics Booster has a similar story, travelling back in time to escape his mistakes he revels in the opportunity to join the heroes of his past.

Jamie Reyes/ Blue Beetle












Jamie is a high school loser who inadvertantly picks up an alien weapon known as a scarab. Inspired by Booster Gold he wants to learn how to be a hero, but the alien weapkn takes over and forces him to attack his idol. Timely intervention by Clark allows Booster the opportunity to help Jamie fight the weapon and control it himself. Jamie elects to keep the technology and train under Booster to learn the path of the hero. Again Jamie has a similar story in the comics, aquiring the technology by accident, and being recruited by Superman, Batman and partnering with Booster Gold in many adventures.

And that's it - we saw Clark defeat Darkseid (a little too easily if you ask me) and finally take on the red and blue suit he's famous for. So that's it, we wave goodbye to Smallville. There will be a spot missing in my heart as well as my TV schedule for this show.

Star Wars Invasion- Revelations

The latest series of Invasion sets things off at a roaring pace for the Galfridian family as the course of the galactic war hinges on their actions. Naturally many secrets are revealed, but not with the results you might expect - the Vong aren't going to know what hit them!

Well there aren't any new Jedi this time but there are plenty of

New Vehicles

There's the Star of Gabrielle, a YT-2400 or similar ship used by Dray.

Defender- class Star Destroyer














This is one of the New Republic's new fleet, mentioned in Novels and sourcebooks but great to see visually in action here.

Republic-class Star Destroyer












Same goes for this ship!!

Breath of the Balyeg







This cool new Pirate ship also joined the battle against the Vong, fighting alongside the New Republic and Imperial military forces. There was also a cargo ship joined the fight but I had a problem with my scanner so no pic sorry!

New Troopers

Palace Guards











It's great to see more types of troops in this era, these palace guards were a cool sight, with the right blend of regal and lethal.

Map

Here is a map of the action in this series - I'm guessing at the location of Shramar but the other locations are pretty much accurate.













Story

Fresh from their costly victory at Dibrook, where the New Republic defeated an army mostly comprised of mutated slaves of the Yuuzhan Vong, Kaye and Nina Galfridian journey to Shramar where refugees from Artorias had been placed in Imperial custody. They discovered a plot by the Imperial commanders to use the refugees as a slave force, growing crops for the Vong to keep them at bay. Meanwhile Dray and Finn discover an assassination plot against the Chief of State and journey to Coruscant to stop it. During the stress of the battle Nina's true identify as a Yuuzhan Vong, a shamed one cast out of their ranks, is exposed but she uses this to rally troops to their side, using her knowledge of the Vong to weaken them, calling in forces from across the galaxy to defend the refugees and destroy the Vong crops. Meanwhile Dray and Finn stop the assassination attempt but Finn discovers that Dray wants to rule the galaxy as well as save it!!

Another great Star Wars read!!