June in Review

June has come to a close. This month has been packed to the brim and summer isn't near over. We've had everything from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson coming back together for The Internship to Kal-El laying the hurt down on Zod, Brad Pitt blasting his way through the zombie horde, James Franco and Seth Rogen surviving the apocalypse, and James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski going off to Monsters University. 

That was just in theatres.

Naughty Dog gave us what could be a leading contender for Game of the Year with The Last of Us. Joel and Ellie's adventure through a ravaged United States is, without a doubt, one of the last greatest hits on the Playstation 3. Beyond: Two Souls is due out in a few months, so keep a weathered eye on the horizon. 

E3 was nothing more than a dick-measuring contest between Sony and Microsoft. Needless to say, Sony bitch-slapped a then-DRM riddled console. With the announcement the PS4 would NOT require an always-online connection, thousands upon thousands of gamers flocked to the online stores to secure a pre-order with whatever exclusive titles. We finally saw the design of Sony's next-gen system and it honestly looked like two PS2s glued together. Ouya even made an E3 appearance...just not the kind they expected. Dudes, shell out the money if you want positive press instead of being booted off the island. It's only a cool $100? Awesome, I still want to see more gameplay footage. 

Near the verge of going postal on negative gamers, Microsoft's Don Mattrick gave way to the extreme backlash with the Xbox One's always-online approach. In all honesty, what the f*ck were you dumbasses thinking? Granted, I didn't and still don't give a damn about the DRM requirement, but seriously? Go ahead and f*ck over the gaming community again, Microsoft. It may not be in the form of a beautifully bright red ring o' death, but you nearly made that muck up again. Your exclusives look great, but don't cut out the little gamer's chance to play these brilliant titles. 

Oh, Nintendo made an appearance as well. Something about a new Super Smash Bros or whatever. Please...give up. You had your time, Mario....and Link, Samus, Fox, Luigi, Kirby, whoever else under the big red logo. 

Marvel Now re-started Guardians of the Galaxy which is now on #4. DC's New 52 kicked off the new(er) Batman/Superman collaboration. Age of Ultron came to an end, Daredevil has a new look, Superman's pulling a Django and going unchained (see what I did there?), Deadpool Killustrated went trade paperback, and I've yet to read any of my several single issues. 

I did finish Batman: The Killing Joke. Shame how I finally completed a graphic novel that's been around for twenty-five years.

So. Many. Comics.

While I only have a handful of paperbacks to burn through, my single issue collection is starting to bury me. July won't be any less cumbersome comic-wise as Deadpool Kills Deadpool starts next month. Luckily, there won't be any AAA video game titles launching in the coming months, so my full focus can be put on comics and the oh-so-shiny movies in the coming weeks. What movies, you ask?

The Lone Ranger, Despicable Me 2, Pacific Rim, The Wolverine, R.I.P.D., and Red 2

As The Late Duck moves into video format (don't worry, I'll still be here on the blog), more and more video discussions and/or reviews will start showing up. Our Youtube channel is finally up with few posts, but more content will come in the near future. The team's expanding gradually which only means the hangout chats get more and more interestingly off-topic. 

If anyone at all reads this blog, you're welcome to join the ramblings on Google+ or check us out on Youtube. Like us, subscribe to us, tell your friends, and always remember...

Catch it late or on time only at The Late Duck.

www.youtube.com/thelateduck

www.facebook.com/thelateduck

Some Final Thoughts

I intentionally left out information regarding The Last of Us for a couple reasons:

1) At the time, I hardly touched the surface of the game

2) I had yet to play multiplayer

3) I wrote that post at 2 AM 

Permit me then, if you will, the opportunity to close out some final thoughts over the game. 

Gameplay
I discussed this only briefly last time. Naughty Dog forces you to save every bullet for that opportune moment. You'll feel guilty or foolish for pulling off a premature shot that hits the wall rather than the advancing horde of clickers. Luckily for the bow, you can retrieve arrows that are still intact for later use. One of the best methods when using the bow is to combine it with the 'sights and sounds' perk to know what direction enemies are heading in and how many shots to save. Aiming for the head on clickers almost guarantees a kill. Sometimes the arrow only breaks the protective fungus face-shield thingy. This simply isn't Uncharted. Bullets are few and far between. Melee in the form of fists, boards, baseball bats, machetes, and hatchets become your best friend when either out of ammo or forced into stealth. Upgrading your melee weapon increases its durability for more hits and grants you a bonus insta-kill. 

Graphics
Again, a subject in which I was excessively vague. Those who played Uncharted will know Naughty Dog can push the PS3 to its limit. Absolutely stunning graphical backdrops and character design. The Last of Us never falls short of immersing the player into the apocalyptic landscape of a long-gone industrial nation. Locations such as downtown Boston and Pittsburgh bring alive the sense of desolation and desperate acts to quell this heavy threat. Skyscrapers buckled under the intense bombings to cleanse the area of the infection. Buildings fell onto other structures, rubble litters the streets, and cities once booming with life now resemble ghost towns with only the sounds of birds chirping to demonstrate signs of life remaining. This is no longer man's world. Nature has reclaimed her natural right to reign and Naughty Dog shows this without a hitch. From moss growing over streets and cars to vines and tree roots stretching across buildings, we are truly within a new No Man's Land. 

Multiplayer
Not many online versus matches generate a real feeling of dread. Multiplayer pits two teams of four in a deathmatch-style game. You're given a selection of load-outs and the option to customize your gear. From there, various perks can be added such as Marathon giving you a boost in speed or Reviver to assist downed teammates faster. Spare parts are the multiplayer currency to level up and buy new gear. The backpack from single-player returns with the same ability to craft medkits, molotovs, or nail bombs to further screw over the opposing team. Just like single-player, the game doesn't stop just because you did. Find a shady spot or get a team member to cover you long enough to heal or craft. The bow is more deadlier online than in story mode. If your skill is high enough, find the high ground or stalk your opponent. I would, however, recommend having the shiv perk if you're the hunter-type player. Scoring comes in two ways: downing an enemy or executing them. Once they're down, go in for the kill or collect dropped parts. You'll need them to meet your match quota (usually around sixteen starting off). With every match won, more 'survivors' will join your camp in the form of Facebook friends. Do yourself a favor and don't suck at multiplayer. Winning a match actually feels rewarding especially if you just ran out of ammo and the last kill of the game came from you via bashing the poor soul's brains out on the pavement. Grab a few mates and enjoy one of two modes available right now. I hope Naughty Dog adds a horde mode down the road. Nothing can be more brown-pants inducing than spotting a couple Bloaters stomping towards you. 

Well, I believe that wraps up The Last of Us. Stretch the re-playability as far as you can to last until Fall. We're in for a long ride. 

Catch it late or on time only on The Late Duck. 

Men of Steel

I say men for a reason. Friday reintroduced the world to an old friend we've known on the silver screen for over thirty years. This time, however, he wasn't bogged down by an over-whelming cheese factor or campy dialogue nor was the plot somewhat boring, predictable, and convoluted. Christopher Reeves may be the first filmed incarnation of Superman, but for the love of Krypton, I couldn't take him serious enough to re-watch any of the oldies. Brandon Routh pretty much captured Reeves' performance and recycled it for Superman Returns. Henry Cavill, on the other hand, took the role into his own element. I didn't see Reeves, Routh, or Tim Daly in this performance. Zack Snyder, David S. Goyer, and Christopher Nolan did what needed to be done to the Man of Steel: a complete over-haul set in a realistic universe (in this case, the literal universe). So few elements from the Superman lore were mentioned on the account that we all know his weaknesses, love interest, secret identity, etc. This reboot didn't go as far as completely rehashing Superman 2, but established the franchise in a believable setting. 

Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Clark Kent and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, refreshes the long-beloved character for another generation. The seventies had the unfortunate cheese-riddled series that kids now couldn't possibly bear to watch. Hell, I can barely watch Christopher Reeves stumble over himself as Clark. In the time since, Dean Cain, Tim Daly, and Tom Welling have all lent their charm to either filmed or animated renditions with the best of all, of course, being Superman: The Animated Series. I can still remember watching both Superman and Batman cartoons every Saturday morning back in the nineties. Oh, childhood...must you pass by so fast?

Fast-forward to 14 June 2013, after the 'meh' that was Superman Returns, and we finally have a film involving Kal-El that not only makes sense, but is entirely enjoyable and bad-ass. Man of Steel takes influence from Mark Waid's 2004 Superman: Birthright. This twelve-issue series (now found in trade paperback at your local comic shop) spins a fresh origin story for the 'man of tomorrow' without stepping over already tread-upon ground. Krypton is in its final hours and a sorrowful Jor-El and Lara make the fated decision to launch baby Kal-El into the vast universe. I really don't want to get into particulars only because the book is an amazing read. While reading the trade first is a recommendation, you can easily skip over it and watch the movie without ruining/spoiling anything. 

First, let's talk acting. Right at the start, we're on Krypton with Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Ayelet Zurer) awaiting the birth of their son, Krypton's first natural birth in centuries (hence the title 'The Last Son of Krypton). SPOILER ALERT: The planet core starts becoming rapidly unstable giving its inhabitants only mere hours. Having foreseen this fate as a result of unnecessary tampering on behalf of the Council, Jor-El urges an evacuation. His effort is cut short once the infamous General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts a coup for the protection of Krypton. 

Crowe and Shannon played their roles quite well. No offense to Marlon Brando (his speech to Kal was memorable, I'll give him that), but given the script and serious acting chops of Crowe, I found him to be more believable and grounded. Snyder's use of Crowe as Jor later in the film allowed the story to continue flowing without any unwanted choppy breaks or drawn out sequences involving Superman's humble abode. We, along with Clark, had a backstory clearly explained which then helped to connect who and what, where and when, and how and why.

I was pleased with General Zod as the villain of choice especially under the plot's circumstances. Shannon's portrayal as the iconic nemesis wasn't evil by decision, but (as just stated) by the circumstances in which he encounters. And when Zod gets pissed...oh, does he get pissed. Now, the villain formula is easy:

Planet destroyed - Codex of Krypton's population + having his ass shipped to the Phantom Zone = one pissed-off Kryptonian general and subordinates (yes, Faora's back. Smiley face.)

Shannon had also filmed Iceman prior to Man of Steel, so seeing him go from notorious serial killer Richard Kuklinski to General Zod wasn't difficult. His madness and desperation to capture Kal-El lent more to his increasing villainy. Shannon was never even for a second out-paced by anyone else on screen. I will, however, say that Crowe and Costner (Papa Kent) make a case for show-stealing in their respective scenes. On one hand, you have the biological father explaining to a son where he comes from and the other a loving adoptive father helping his son come to terms with being 'different'. With Father's Day this weekend, the message is clear: the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son. 

In regards to Kal-El himself, as I said above, Henry Cavill doesn't borrow or steal from those before him. His Superman is very much his own. Granted, he's the first non-American to tackle the coveted role, but he brings out a ghost-like quality with Clark Kent. How does an individual with such extraordinary gifts come to live in a basic society? Easy, blend in and then disappear like a ghost. Leave no traces behind. What I loved most about Cavill's performance was that we didn't see the bumbling Daily Planet journalist. We saw Clark Kent re-discovering his name and becoming Superman. Snyder, Goyer, and Nolan made sure Cavill wasn't going to be seen as yet another Reeves clone. 

Amy Adams did something with Lois Lane I never thought possible: she brought out the red-head within and struck out with such ferocity. From the second we meet up with Lois, she's in no position to be f*cked with in any means. She's feisty and I'm loving it. I also found the slow, but inevitable spark forming between her and Kal well played. It wasn't "Oh, Superman, you're so handsome and...nah, you couldn't be Clark Kent at all. That's just silly." Instead, she learns of his dual-identity while the rest of the world might as well be Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder. OPEN YOUR F*CKING EYES, PERRY WHITE! YOU JUST HIRED SUPERMAN! 

There are a few easter eggs throughout the film, so keep your eyes peeled. Just don't hope to catch Jimmy Olsen anywhere. He's someone else and of the...female persuasion. 

Take Man of Steel with pleasure or a grain of salt. One of two ways makes you a hard cookie to crack with comic book movies. I award Kal-El's latest origin film a ranking of "Get the f*ck off the couch and see this damn film". 

You didn't think I'd leave THIS out did you? Well, sit back in the chair and keep scrolling, dear readers. Naughty Dog delivered once again with a hefty one-two knockout punch with The Last of Us. I bought my PS3 over a year ago strictly because of this game. In the past twenty-four hours or so, no regrets have surfaced. Survival horror hasn't been this entertaining, tear-jerking, or brown-pants inducing since The Walking Dead or even the original Resident Evil games. The first twenty minutes alone are worthy of enough praise most games can only dream of receiving. And when I mean that, I mean as in "Holy f*ck, that just happened" or "How the f*ck did I just survive that shit?". 

All I'll say on the story is that most of the US has been overtaken by a parasitoidal fungus known as ophiocordyceps unilaterlis. In plain English, there's some virus that has infected a majority of the population with zombie-like tendencies. Joel, our main protagonist, feels and looks like an older Nathan Drake with a little Booker DeWitt thrown in (who, coincidentally, is voiced by the same actor, Troy Baker); a no-nonsense, no mercy gun-runner/smuggler. Here's a man who had your normal American life-style in the nation's greatest state...Texas. In his late twenties when we first meet him, Joel comes home to his daughter, Sarah, after another average day at work. Little did he know that the evening had other plans in store. Twenty years pass from when we met Joel and nature has reclaimed what was wrongfully taken. Buildings, roads, homes have all been covered with moss and vines. The virus itself evolved or grew worse in some cases. Clickers formed a hardened fungal face-plate over their eyes rendering them blind. Echo-location and heightened hearing allow them to traverse the wasteland US. Make too much noise or get close without means of execution means game over. 

The crafting system plays into the amount of scraps found throughout the world. Firearms are useful in sticky situations, but ammunition is scarce. Every shot counts and alerts everything in the area to your location, so choose your shots wisely. Melee comes into play for stealth take-downs or ammo conservation. By crafting or upgrading, you'll have access to shivs, molotovs, nail bombs, spiked baseball bats, and a variety of unpleasant things for all of your mutilation needs. Spare parts serve to upgrade firearms including a pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifle, bow, and a weapon I've yet to acquire. Meds act as currency to trade for skill upgrades like decreased weapon sway or increased healing. 

Apart from crafting and upgrading, the overall gameplay is easy to get. Controls might seem a little weird at first, but I adapted pretty quickly. Don't get too comfortable, though. Just because you stopped to craft some medkits or shivs doesn't mean clickers, hunters, or other baddies did. You're a sitting duck unless you legitimately pause the game. Clear an area, use a medkit, craft more, and keep moving. Enemy AI is smart enough to know how to flank, yet surprisingly not so much as to notice when Ellie, a fourteen year-old girl living in the Boston quarantine zone, is in plain sight. I'm not kidding. A hunter will walk right past her with not even batting an eyelash, yet as soon as I peek my head up, it's shit hitting the fan time. This, along with a few pops and minor framerate issues, are not even worth complaining over in the grand scheme of the game. 

Graphics...holy mushroom men, Batman. If The Last of Us and Beyond: Two Souls are the last songs for the PS3, then I say hails to you, Sony! Bow out the PS3 with a gusto. And while you're at it, just go ahead and kick all the other publishers in the nuts. Gearbox who? I regress, where was I? Ah, yes, visual presentation. Might as well throw in audio. The sights and sounds of The Last of Us are mesmerizing. Walking around Boston and Pittsburgh is enough to get lost. From the blood spatter on Joel's shirt to the ambient sound of nature dominating industry in the form of birds chirping or a gentle breeze swaying the trees, Naughty Dog made sure to show how video games can be works of art. The landscapes are truly stunning. You'll go from downtown Boston, an area now ravaged by bombings and left for nature's reclamation to dark, flooded basements, and vibrant forests untouched by the virus. 

It's hard to describe a game like The Last of Us without ruining the spectacle. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson give Joel and Ellie the spark of life they need to bring the story alive. Ashley's portrayal of a female teenager unaware of the world before her is at times hilarious and saddening to know some people take what they have for granted. Music, comics, movies, and every form of entertainment is gone or was never finished. Ellie's naive, of course, but this world's the only one she has ever known. Baker, however, gives Joel the right amount of gruff and no-bullshit attitude a character like his needs. Someone who's been witness to endless tragedy is almost demanded to be withdrawn, shut out, and emotionally disconnected in order to cope with such a traumatic world. This is the tone of The Last of Us: desolation, desperation, devastation. Baker and Johnson perform admirably in roles almost written specifically for them. 

If you've been needing a true survival horror game, then The Last of Us is where to go. Don't expect ammo to be every time you kill an enemy. Don't expect cover to be your best friend or the enemy AI to be dumb as a f*cking rock. And don't ever think of running-and-gunning your way through an area. Be afraid of Mother Nature...be afraid.



Don't think I'm done there. The Last of Us released in three editions: Standard, Survival, and Post-Pandemic. The Survival Pack comes with a limited edition coffee table-sized artbook of concept art for characters, weapons, and locations. For $100, it's a solid buy. However, if you're like me...a sucker for gamer goodies, then get ready to shell out an extra $60 for the Post-Pandemic Edition. Featuring a 12" statue of Joel and Ellie, this $160 package is a must-have for any collector. And I just happen to have the unboxing process in photographic form.

This is, by far, the largest box an edition's come in

Variant issue #1 of the prequel comic, American Dreams

I'll have a review up in the next few days

Front of the steel-book case featuring Ellie

Back featuring Joel

Interior with game disc and Sights and Sounds DLC

Custom interior case art

Box art for the statue

Joel and Ellie.

The attention to detail is none I've seen in many statues lately

Close-up of Joel

Close-up of Ellie

A pack of Naughty Dog stickers comes with the edition as well. In summation, The Last of Us is an incredibly beautiful game with a powerful story led by amazing actors. Naughty Dog losing Game of the Year will be the biggest upset unless Beyond: Two Souls way out-performs. For right now, at least until September, this will be my mainstay game. I have zero reservations awarding The Last of Us a Crashed Moose award.

The Last of Us is this intense. Trust me. 

The moose is fine, but you're left wondering what the f*ck just happened. 

There's been too damn much going on at E3 this week for me to include any bit of news. If you've been watching, then you know the fanboys are flocking to Sony. I don't give a damn regardless of what Microsoft does with always online or anything else on the matter. I have a viable internet connection and have no issue being connected 24/7. As of right now, current gen is perfectly fine the way it is. A year from now will have both next-gen consoles in my possession. That's my stance. Microsoft has a majority of the exclusives this time. Sony needs to get their heads back in the exclusive market rather than beating a dead horse with a broken record. Final Fantasy XV, anyone? I regress. Both systems will have their exclusives and the fanboys will shout with glee. 

In the coming months until GTA V, I will do my best to post reviews of the current and upcoming films/comics. I declare the spring gaming season over. The holidays await...

Catch it late or on time only at The Late Duck. 

The Only One...

...that you will ever need. 

Welcome back, everyone, to the fifty-eighth installment of The Late Duck! Indeed, we have passed the one-year anniversary of this blog's humble beginning. I've finally recovered from my wee accident from Cinco de Mayo and will return to focusing all effort to the progress of this jumbled mess of a blog. Much has occurred whilst on my sabbatical. Let's get moving, shall we?

I am rather pleased at my waiting to post on the next-generation console race. Microsoft held their fated reveal conference back on the 21st and it couldn't have gone any more confusing/disappointing. The Xbox One or Infinity, Durango, Xbox 720, NextBox (my favorite) was unveiled to an anxious crowd of people I wished I was for that moment. While Sony rose to the occasion earlier in February, they never really showed how the damn thing looked. Yes, it's not over until the fat gamer screams various obscenities at the "n00bs" on Halo 5, Ghosts, or BF 4. Sony still has the chance to wow crowds at E3 and win the hearts of fanboys whether they be Sony or Microsoft. What I know is this: my PS3 is little over a year old while my 360 nears the five year mark. I'd love to jump on the PS4, but given the perfect condition my Sony console's in, I'm leaning to the newer tech on the One just on the landscape of an upgrade. 

The One finally touts a Blu Ray player, but hey, my PS3 already does that. Great job, Bill Gates, you took your dear sweet time including tech that another system introduced seven years ago. Both consoles are running on 8GB of RAM and I believe an octo-core processor, so we're not looking at tremendous differences. Sony's going for more social integration while Microsoft is attempting the all-in-one home entertainment system. Both manufacturers have changed the design of their respective controllers in ways, I believe, that reflect the new features of the consoles themselves. 

Sony ditched the Start and Select buttons for Share and Options. Microsoft has done similar with View and Share. The PS4 controller's thumbsticks are concave allowing a better hold when nervous gamers can't keep their thumbs in one place. What was especially interesting was the touchpad on the PS4 controller. It only looks to be around two maybe three inches across, but perhaps that inclusion paired with a more ergonomic design akin to the 360's will make for a comfortable experience. The One's controller is only slightly bigger than the 360's, but does away with most of the weight. Microsoft ditched battery packs for a smooth backing made possible by an embedded rechargeable battery. This will probably play out like the USB cable with the PS3. I'm fine with less trips to the junk-drawer to grab AAs at two in the morning. 

The One also brings Kinect 2.0 bundled with the console. Everything about the motion-sensor has been redesigned to allow a more user-friendly experience. Voice recognition and camera recognition now allows players to speak at a more indoor volume and move faster without worrying about the camera lagging. Kinect 2.0 now picks up individual joint movement like elbows, knees, and wrists for example. While Kinect has been somewhat of a let-down in regards to its range, I honestly have faith 2.0 will allow players with limited space to expand without rearranging the living room furniture. 

The only One you'll ever need

This is all we know until 10 June

I'm only to guess Sony wants to hit E3 hard and leave Microsoft crying in the corner. We know a majority of the controller specs, but a wee bit on the console itself. The PS4 controller, as you can see, has a built-in microphone for various in-game command options or voice-navigation on the dashboard. I believe Microsoft is doing the same with the One's controller given the fact they're heading in the home entertainment direction. However, with the upgraded Kinect, it may not. 

So, there's the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft is going for what looks like a VCR-looking console (honestly, look at the damn thing. BetaMax, anyone?) while Sony is shying away for the opportune moment to strike. Sony's bringing in the AMD x86 Jaguar CPU while Microsoft is going for their own brand of CPUs. Hard-drives look to be around 500GBs starting off, but bundles will most likely give lower options or maybe even more. Both line-up almost neck-to-neck. We'll see in five days who goes through the adolescent growth spurt and reaches the win. Several launch titles (both exclusive and multi-platform) will be available with the consoles later in the year. Most likely another holiday debut, so get those accounts ready for some abuse. Developers and their grandmothers are cranking out more exclusive titles than we'll be able to count (Microsoft has exclusives again!). More Call of Duty and Battlefield is on the way, but I know you all want something to really shake things up again. 

Check out the interwebs or just stay tuned here throughout E3 for more information on the next generation on all your gaming goodies. 

In a last tid-bit, Kryptonians and Earthlings unite! Man of Steel hits theatres next Friday or Thursday if you're into the early premieres. June has arrived and it's time for some f*cking awesome cinema sauce. World War Z, Monsters U, and so much more. 

Catch it late or on time only at The Late Duck.