Tag: hoth

E3 2015: We Use The Force And Get In Touch With Our Emotions In ‘Disney Infinity 3.0’

by Josh Jackson

When I first played Disney Infinity in 2013, the idea that one game could contain so many different genres was far more ambitious than you would expect from a company that could sell games on name value alone. Each of its five Play Sets and the custom Toy Box mode that accompanied them went on to prove how vastly different characters, worlds and ideas could come together in one comprehensive package. Mechanics would only be improved upon in Disney Infinity 2.0, bringing Marvel’s finest super heroes into a more focused, much larger open world, with refinements made to the combat and creation modes. So where does 3.0 go from here? We sought to find out, so we took some time with the Star Wars and Inside Out sets to see what changes the new game has in store for all us toy collectors out there.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Screen 2

Starting with the Star Wars side of things, it’s clear that Disney is doing their best to create a compelling experience while taking a more lighthearted approach to a galaxy far, far away. While blaster combat with characters like Han and Leia is largely the same as past iterations, (essentially locking on and shooting with some character specific abilities thrown in,) Lightsaber combat is where the game looks to shine. Developed by Ninja Theory, the team behind such action titles as DmC: Devil May Cry, Enslaved, Odyssee to the West, and Heavenly Sword, some of the actions were instantly recognizable. Taking bits of what they included from their past works, melee combat was much more focused this time, allowing the Jedi to combo enemies, launch them in the air, or throw in Force Powers to manipulate the space around their enemies. When it came down to the boss fight against General Grievous, there was never a moment where I felt like I had too few options to take him down.

Considering the steps the combat is taking towards a more focused, refined standard, 3.0 still hopes to keep its playful side intact. Exploring Endor with Darth Vader riding a Speeder Bike looks as ridiculous as it sounds, and the Battle of Hoth is a whole new experience when you have to take down AT-AT’s with Han Solo’s fists. Speaking of Hoth, one of the more interesting aspects of the demo was how tying up their legs was handled. Unlike any Star Wars game I’ve played, speed and height played a role in whether or not tripping it was successful. Fly to fast or too slow, or become misaligned with its moving joints, and your cord will break off, adding more depth to a battle we’ve played many times in the past. Of course, this leads to climbing it and breaking its weak points with your fists, but it wouldn’t be a Toys to Life game if it wasn’t silly.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Screen 3

Moving over to the Inside Out Play Set, playing with our emotions takes a more puzzle/platform approach to the game as opposed to the aggressive nature of the Star Wars stages. Playing as Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust and Fear, each character has specific traits used to navigate the stages, presented as both 2D and 3D stages. For example, Joy can float a’la Princess Peach to reach farther away areas, while Anger can walk through fire without taking damange. Often being presented with light puzzle elements that required delivering orbs to the right doors, this set came off as what you would expect from your typical licensed game. Well designed, but nothing ground breaking, the switch between perspectives and the puzzles added some variety, but these sections are obviously designed with young kids in mind. And trust me, they’ll want all the merchandise they can get once these toys and games start hitting shelves. They just look too nice to resist!

Disney Infinity 3.0 Screen 1

With these two sets, I felt like I was getting a drastically different experience, moreso than in 2.0 and its Play Sets. From what we’ve seen so far, 3.0 is on track to advancing the original concept even further by bringing something for everyone with its final package. Promsing even more accessible Toy Box tools, stand alone Toy Box game modes, more unannounced Play Sets and more to experience in the stages we got to demo, and it’s safe to say that 3.0 will be bigger than ever, with the potential to be even better.

Game of Thrones Post Game: A Man Without Honor

by Joe Starr

We’ve come to it: The first episode of Game of Thrones that I didn’t really enjoy. About half of it ran like a collection of deleted scenes that would have been cut for running time. But still I carry on- for I, who can be followed @joestarr187, am the man that must write the jokes! TO THE MAP!

BEYOND THE WALL!

I’ll say this: ‘A Man Without Honor’ was boring as hell until Ygritte finally said her catch phrase, and then the episode literally took off running. I’m not even sure where to start. Jon and Ygritte woke up. She made a boner joke. Then they walked around for a while. Then we watched scenes with other characters that accomplished nothing. Then Jon and Ygritte walked around some more. Ygritte said ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow,’ and the heavens opened up, and light cascaded down onto the nerdy indoor kids that devour these books. Meaning me. Then we watched scenes with other characters that were much better than pre ‘know nothing Jon Snow’ scenes. And then Ygritte got away and led Jon right into a rebel encampment. Those uniforms look familiar… Are they on Hoth? If they’re on Hoth, then if Jon finally bangs Ygritte he had better say ‘and I thought they smelled bad…on the outside!’ At least we’ll know that he’ll shoot first.

Burn.

WINTERFELL!

Really? You’re going to open the show with Theon and his gross rape whistle nipples? Fun fact: Girls that think Theon is hot are to dorkdom what girls that were like ‘grrl don’t u judge Chris Brown u don’t know him’ are to hip hop.

Anyway, Theon isn’t happy about the Stark kids escaping. I’ll give him this: the reaction on his face when one of his guys laments that ‘the giant must have taken them’ was pretty priceless. But seriously, fuck this guy for terrorizing Winterfell and its twelve residents.

Meanwhile, Bran and Rickon are making their escape with Hodor and Tonks from Harry Potter. Honestly, I can’t remember her name right now and I’m too mad at her to look her up.

Why U a hater Joe Starr?

I’m a hater because there are supposed to be two awesome kids named Jojen and Meera Reed helping the gang escape and teaching Bran about his weird dreams, but it looks like they’re rolling the characters into Osha. I totally get that there are already too many characters and sometimes for an adaptation, people have to go and that Game has done a remarkable job juggling its massive supporting cast but, well, this one got me a little butt hurt, ok?

Just a little butt hurt.

Oh and Theon comes back to Winterfell with two burned up little boys. Are they Bran and Rickon? Would HBO have really passed up the opportunity to burn two young main characters alive on screen?

THE ROBB ZONE

Robb meets with Redshirt Lannister, who informs him that Cersai isn’t all that impressed by his being the King of the North. Robb rewards him by putting him in a cell with Jaime Lannister. AND WHAT A REWARD IT IS. Wait for it.

Lady Nurse drops in and lets Robb know she needs supplies to treat the wounded and suggests that the Westerlings of the Crag, whose surrender Robb is leaving to oversee will have them. Robb suggests she just come with him and get the supplies herself, which she doesn’t seem crazy thrilled about. Or does she? Is she someone important? SPOILER ALERT: She stole the dragons!

Redshirt Lannister might as well be a 14 year old girl/46 year old creepy dude in a cell with Justin Beiber. He is gushing to be in a cell with Jaime Lannister. We haven’t seen much of Jaime, so he’s back with a vengeance: The two have an awesome scene about how Redshirt once squired for Jaime and Jaime squired for Barristan Selmy and how amazing it was. And then Jaime beats him to death so that a guard opens the cell. And then Jaime chokes out the guard and bails. This is why I’m assuming there are more than 20 variations of a ‘Fuck Yeah Jaime Lannister’ tumblr. The Kingslayer deserves every animated gif the world makes him.

He’s not out for long, however. He gets dragged back and the camp is pissed. And Catelyn Stark needs him alive to trade him out for her daughters. So her and Brienne are gonna do something real dumb. Like, really dumb.

That scene with Jaime and Redshirt was so good though. Thank god Ygritte said her catchphrase or the whole episode could have been Daenerys making frumpy faces. And speaking of frumpy faces…

QARTH

Dragons are still gone. Daenerys yells at some people. She has a repeat of last week’s chat with Jorah Mormont. That weird blanket face lady is back and she’s sort of stupid. The Warlocks have the dragons and kill the Thirteen. Xaro Ducksauce reveals himself to be The Outsiders’ third man and crowns himself the King of Qarth, brother.

“You know something, Mean Gene…these dragons can stick it, dude”

Qarth is stupid in the books, too. We can’t get out of here fast enough.

KING LANDING

Oh shit, Sansa is bleeding out her vag! Now Joffrey gets to hit her with props have kids with her! Shae tries to help her hide it but then The Hound finds all that blood on the sheets! It’s like a Judy Bloom novel: ‘Are you there God? It’s Me Sansa and This Guy With a Burned Face Knows I Had My First Period.’

But don’t worry! It’s…Cersei to the rescue? Cersei was weirdly nice to everyone in this episode. I’m getting scared that the next one is just going to with a ‘Cersei slits all the throats’ montage. She has a quiet scene with Sansa where she tells her that love is a weakness she should only give to her children, and then an even touchinger scene with Tyrion of all people. But would it have killed them to give us a hard cut to of Bronn making a funny reaction face at the end?

HARRENHAL

I can’t say enough good things about Tywin and Arya. The whole show could be about them with ravens flying in every now and then to give updates on the other 106 characters and I’d be ok with it. Every now and then Tyrion and Bronn could stop in because they’re staying in the guest house. It’ll be like a Neil Simon play. Except good.

Overall, this was a rough episode. It meandered and dragged and a few killer scenes and performances carried it across the finish line. You know, like the Dark Knight. Oh really? It’s a perfect movie? What was your favorite scene that didn’t have a Heath in it?

The boatz wuz so dramatic!

Man. I’m really negative today. See what happens when you take away my Reeds? I turn into a little bitch. A little Reedless bitch.