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From: www.gamesradar.com

From: www.gamesradar.com

The best video game comics you could be reading now

Added: 10.07.2015 20:00 | 35 views | 0 comments


To those who've never delved into comics before, but would really like to try, the format can feel impenetrable. Super hero serials have decades-long backlogs, a sea of creator-owned comics can leave you little clue where to start, and the financial commitment of comic readership would make anyone anxious to invest in the unknown. It can be a daunting challenge, and you may feel like giving up hope on ever really becoming a Reader of Comics with so many obstacles in your path.

But what if you had a starting point, a story you were already familiar with transferred into comic form? Like, say, one based on a video game? If that sounds good, then you're in luck, because game developers have long since discovered the pros of going comic-side. There are now a plethora of video game comics on the market, and I'm not talking shameless cash-ins. These are proper comics done by proper comic authors and artists, often with help from the creative minds behind the games that inspired them. To help you figure out the best way to launch into game-comic readership, we've collected some of the best you could be reading right now and the optimal place to snag them. Read on, and if you think we missed a great title, sound off in the comments - help your fellow readers, and we'll get through this together.

Status: Ongoing

Co-written by comic giant Gail Simone and the lead writer of the Tomb Raider reboot, Rhianna Pratchett, Dark Horse's Tomb Raider comic puts Lara Croft in the hands of creators you know will treat her right. Its takes place between the reboot and Rise of the Tomb Raider, giving insight into Lara's personal struggles as she deals with the fallout from her time in Yamatai. It also gives a nice introduction to Trinity, the shadowy organization she's destined to encounter in her search for all manner of things mythical, priceless, and powerful. Her adventures take her to some strange places, from the jungles of South America to the subway tunnels and theater stages of London, all lovingly rendered by a rotating group of talented artists.

Best place to read it: Issues can be purchased individually from the are available as well.

Status: Ongoing special release, currently complete

Shepard may be the savior of the Mass Effect universe, but s/he isn't privy to everything that goes on in its vast expanse. In fact, s/he doesn't even know everything that happens on the Normandy, and that's where the Mass Effect comics come in. Considered fully canon (and written/co-written by Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters), these comics cover events that only get cursory attention in the games, like the First Contact War, how Liara got her shadowy title, or what everyone was up to while Shepard was in stasis. Featuring gorgeous full color art over 27 issues, there's more than enough here to help fans occupied during the wait for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Plus, how could you resist the tale of a

Best place to read it: Those who prefer physical media have .

Status: Ongoing special release

It takes some serious creativity to pull a coherent plot out of a game like Team Fortress 2, which doesn't have a hint of story and centers around a bunch of mercenaries wearing weird hats. But the Team Fortress 2 comics pull it off, because if nothing else, they are very creative. Acting as accompaniment to the game's biggest updates, the comics build an erratic, yet plausible storyline where the sudden emergence of robot soldiers and haunted swords actually makes sense. It's all as ridiculous as you'd expect, and the comic's absurd sense of humor is what really pushes it into must-read territory. It's the story Team Fortress never needed, yet is so much richer and funnier for having it around.

Best place to read it: All the comics are free-to-read on the compilation (alongside a pair of Left 4 Dead and Portal comics).

Status: Complete

When a game works well, there's little need to reinvent the wheel to make a comic of the same property. Or reinvent the cog, in the case of the Gears of War comic. Focusing on minor characters and miscellaneous happenings between the events of Gears and Gears 2, the Gears comic succeeds by focusing on what made the original so enthralling: a gritty and melancholy setting, sharp attention to detail, and plenty of heart-thumping, chainsaw-based brutality. It doesn't exactly tread any new territory, but does such an excellent job of translating the spirit of the Gears games onto the page that it really doesn't need to do anything else.

Best place to read it: The full digital collection is available on available at retail.

Status: Complete

The Last of Us has a fine prequel in the touching Left Behind DLC, but it never hurts to get a little extra love. That's what's to be found in The Last of Us: American Dreams comic, a prologue to Left Behind that focuses on the relationship between Ellie and Riley as it develops in the confines of an oppressive military boarding school. Though it boasts an art style closer to Scott Pilgrim than the CGI of its source material, American Dreams' story is appropriately poignant, and introduces the reader to a new, delinquent side of Ellie. Integrating itself into the grander story through the smallest of details but immediately feeling like part of the whole, American Dreams deserves a place on any fan's shelf right next to Naughty Dog's apocalyptic opus.

Best place to read it: Digital version of all the issues can be purchased if you're willing to pay a bit more for a Kindle or paperback edition.

Status: Complete

With nearly two decades of games to its name, Silent Hill has a plethora of content to fill out its small and ill-lit universe, and just as many gaps for new stories to fill in. Spanning 25 issues, the Silent Hill comic series tells eight standalone stories that take place within Silent Hill, each focused on a new unfortunate soul that wanders into its foggy confines. Each has its own unique art style (Downpour: Anne's Story has a realistic look with a high level of detail, while Dead/Alive resembles a disturbed child's sketchpad) and take on the nature of the town, letting each new volume approach fear in its own unique, perfectly unsettling way.

Best place to read it: This one's a little tricky, because while the series has an excellent - can all be purchased separately.

Status: Complete

A world the size of Thedas can't be contained in a single game, and even after three it feels we've only just breached the dragon's lair. The Dragon Age comic trilogy guides us a little further inside with a new story about the adventures of companions Alistair, Isabela, and Varric as they search for Alistair's lost royal father. Though the story is thick with Dragon Age lore and might seem inaccessible to those just getting into the series, the density of its narrative detail is perfect for fans who already know enough to make sense of it. That's in addition to the impressive visual detail in the book's beautiful, polished illustrations. Though it's only a trilogy, there's plenty of material here to keep fans busy during the wait for the new .

Best place to read it: Buying is the prettiest and cheapest available option.

Status: Complete

Master Chief may not talk much about himself (or anything at all), but that silence conceals a fascinating backstory that defines the Halo universe as we know it. Thankfully you won't have to wait for Chief to get chatty to hear the whole tale - you'll just have to grab a copy of Halo: Fall of Reach. A comic adaption of the novel of the same name, Fall of Reach is broken up into three parts, each detailing an important part of the Chief's life: his childhood abduction and training as a Spartan, the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, and fall of the colony of Reach (which leads directly into of Halo: Combat Evolved). While the events of the comic will be familiar to anyone who's read the novel, the comic's gives it an extra leg up, making it a worthy addition to any Halo collection.

Best place to read it: Sadly there's no omnibus for this series and it's not part of Marvel Unlimited, but thankfully the three arcs <(a href="http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Fall-Reach-Boot-Camp/dp/0785151478?tag=gredit-20ascsubtag=videogamecomics" target="blank">Boot Camp, are each available as a full volume.

Status: Complete

Ace Attorney might seem like an odd series to adapt to comic form, since much of its appeal rests in eviscerating your opposition with the power of lawyering. But while it doesn't have that level of interactivity, the Ace Attorney manga fully embraces the series' best qualities and creates a fun side-story for fans to get their Phoenix fix. A five-volume mini-series covering a slew of new cases, its heavy focus on the evidence lets you play a more passive part in the solving of the crime, but nonetheless pushes you to figure out the answer yourself. Featuring brain-teasing puzzles and the charm that the Ace Attorney series is famous for, this manga is great for established fans or new arrivals who want to check the story out before taking on the challenge of crime-solving.

Best place to read it: There aren't many options here for those who prefer digital editions or collections, but the are all available at a relatively decent price.

Status: Complete

Despite its wide popularity, Kingdom Hearts can be , particularly because different parts of the story are exclusive to different platforms. Thankfully, those who can't swing the purchase of a new system to play a single game can turn to the Kingdom Hearts manga instead, which covers the events of the games in a relatively faithful manner, while adding a few extra bits of story exclusive to print. The most recent (and arguably most helpful) addition to this Kingdom Hearts collection is the five-issue Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, which tells the story of Alex, Roxas, and Xion that sets up Kingdom Hearts 2. Laying out an otherwise convoluted story through simple but elegant illustrations instantly makes it easier for fans and newcomers to access the full plot of Kingdom Hearts, and any comic that does that is a winner in my book.

Best place to read it: In a vast departure from how Kingdom Hearts is typically organized, all five volumes are available to western readers and can . That was easier than expected!
17 chaotic and brutal things I did in 2 hours in the Wasteland in Mad Max

Added: 10.07.2015 17:39 | 27 views | 0 comments


is all about the Wasteland. An expansive open world of faded brown that makes you positively thirsty just looking at it. Whether you’re on foot or have your pedal to the metal in the Magnum Opus, there’s always the distinct feeling that you could die at any moment in the most inhospitable environment on Earth. The game is an explosive love letter to George Miller’s dusty, petrol-headed post-apocalypse but, after Fury Road’s almost effortless revival of action cinema earlier this year, can Avalanche’s Mad Max compete? The short answer, from what I’ve seen, is yes.

Madness and explosives in equal measure await in the shimmering heat. A warlord called Scrotus rules over the area around Gas Town where, coincidentally, Max needs to go to get fuel. After waking up in the Wasteland, robbed and with nothing, he needs to reclaim what’s his. Start your engine and get ready for the 17 things I did in Mad Max when I was let loose in the Wasteland for two hours. There really should have been a grown up present.

 You’re nothing without a car in the Wasteland, and your very own hunk of junk is known as the Magnum Opus. This is Max’s baby and it’s yours now too. Fully upgradeable in a hefty customisation screen, it can be fully tweaked to your diesel hungry desires. From gearboxes to intake valves, treads to engines, it can all be switched out. Whether you want to arm up with sideburners and as much armour as possible, or customise to travel fast and in style, it’s up to you. There’s no ‘right’ way to upgrade the Magnum Opus, with a focus on different styles of play throughout. Plus, it’s a pleasure to drive. Responsive and suitably weighty. Add in the boost button for a cinematic surge forward, and it makes a worthy Wasteland steed. Who says a backseat driver is a bad thing? Especially one who thinks you’re some kind of god of cars. Meet Max’s sidekick Chumbucket. Known as a ‘Blackfinger’ in the Wasteland, Chumbucket is your mechanic who’ll not only fix the Magnum Opus when you inevitably set it on fire, but bring the car to you if you’ve decided to go on foot. We don’t all have a remote control for summoning our vehicles a la Bruce Wayne, so a totally insane chauffeur wearing goggles is the next best thing. Chumbucket’s also on hand to berate you for driving recklessly so yeah, think the Wasteland equivalent of your gran. But bald. Car combat in Mad Max is utterly chaotic. Vehicles of all types swerve through the sand, and rogue enemies patrol the Wasteland just waiting for someone to loot. Thankfully you’re armed with an intimidating armoury of weapons, the most important of which is the harpoon. Hurtling along beside a car and tapping B will yank said car towards you, but aim specifically at certain areas and things get a lot more fun. Pull off bumpers, doors, and wheels, all while travelling at 100mph. But the most satisfying? Aiming at the driver of the offending vehicle and plucking them effortlessly from their seat, dragging them along behind your car. They deserve it. Honest. Ammo is pretty thin on the ground in the Wasteland, meaning you need to get inventive with explosives. While flaming fuel canisters can be thrown for some BBQ time, bombs on sticks can be tossed or stabbed through to flambé foes. Whether you’re on foot and destroying oil reserves in camps, or at the wheel and firing a well aimed, explosive Thunderpoon, Michael Bay has nothing on the carnage on offer here. With each car battle ending in flames no matter which way you play, every encounter becomes a cinematic bomb-fest. Intimidating Wicker Man style scarecrows of wood and bodies loom across the Wasteland, representing the threat of the local warlords, so it’s a good thing you’ve got your handy harpoon. Speeding past one of these behemoths, yanking it down with the harpoon as you go, is ridiculously satisfying. The remains leave behind scrap that you can use for car upgrades and armour, but you’ll have to pick it out from amongst the body-strewn wreckage. The Wasteland might be vast but it’s little details and side distractions like this that ensure that it never feels empty. So it turns out that you can’t afford to be picky in the Wasteland, and that means cramming chunks of post apocalyptic Pedigree Chum into your mouth. Mmmm, eating tinned reconstituted mystery meat with hands that probably haven’t ever seen a bottle of antibacterial wash. Max doesn’t seem too be worried about bacteria. Especially given the fact that you can also refill his health with fistfuls of squirming maggots removed from the ribcages of the unfortunate human corpses that litter the Wasteland. It might be a good source of protein, but ‘Press A to scoff maggots’ is a delightfully vile prompt. Discover a convoy route zig zagging across the world, and you can follow it for inevitable treats to pillage from Scrotus’ War Boys. Ferrying fuel and goods across the world, these oh so smashable convoys are ripe for the picking but won’t go down without a serious fight. Some convoys also hold specific pieces of car you’ll want for the Magnum Opus. This is a perfect time to play with your harpoon and combine it with the Magnum Opus’ boost. Line up an enemy vehicle in front before letting fly with your harpoon and boosting into them. Boom. Literally. With all these explosions and a heat haze shimmering over the Wasteland, health-replenishing water is the most precious of soggy treasures when you’re lucky enough to find it. Marked with a nice blue droplet on the map, wells and water taps are a welcome sight. So much so that when Max slowly fills his canteen via an oddly satisfying filling/emptying mechanic, it’s guaranteed to make you thirsty. Although wells and water sources do refill eventually, it takes time that you might not have, so you’ll need to be sparing with the old eau. Ok, it might just be a slightly less exciting name for flame-throwers, but that doesn’t matter when you turn on your sideburners mid-battle. There are few things more grimly exhilarating than spewing fire from both sides of the Magnum Opus at once, and hearing the opposition roar in fury. Your sideburners can be upgraded too, to make sure that you’re always cooking your enemies well done. Yup, sometimes there’s something enjoyable about taking the non-Batman approach to things. While you can take a more softly softly approach to taking down camps and view it all through binoculars before planning your attack, it’s far more entertaining to arrive at a camp and yank down every guard tower in sight with your harpoon, before hauling down the front door and skipping inside to slaughter the evil horde within. The first thing to do once in there is to check above for a caged enemy strapped to an explosive barrel. He’ll rile up the other goons, so taking him out is a good call, if nothing else but to watch him disappear in a ball of flame. Furiousa might not be present in the game, but Max has his very own Fury meter. With Batman-style, counter-focused combat, Max has both a light and heavy attacks. Juggle them just right and Max’s Fury meter slowly builds, culminating in an utter rage that means you inflict more damage. And oh what damage. While this isn’t quite at Rocksteady’s level of punchy panache, a perfect parry - pressing the counter button at just the right time - will reward you with delightfully crunchy skull crushing and bone breaking finishers. Which leads me nicely onto... Just like Joel in The Last Of Us, Max has a collection of shivs for close combat carnage. Short and brutal, you can see how many you’ve got in your collection at the bottom right of the screen. Unlike in The Last Of Us however, these are just bonus bloody extras during combat. When there’s a chance to use one of the deadly blades, a prompt appears for a shiv execution, which come in a number of delightfully brutal variations. Stabbings against walls, plunging blades into the necks of prone enemies... none of these things disappoint when you want things to get satisfyingly nasty. Max’s handy sniper rifle can only be used from the rear of the car, and Chumbucket will hand it over for easy targeting of distant goons. Sniper towers are scattered across the world and clearly labelled in red on your world map. Sniping is a far more controlled way to clean up the guard areas outside camps, but you’ll miss out on some gloriously chaotic carnage if you choose to play it safe. The joy of this almost completely desolate open-world is the freedom to drive in whichever direction you like. Chances are you’ll find something interesting whichever way you head. Doing so, I discovered two enormous guarded oil silos called The Twins. Sniper bullets greeted me as I screeched up, so I quickly darted inside the only door that wasn’t guarded by flames. Once inside I battled slews of neon dust covered enemies in near darkness, before heading up to the roof and taking out even more mutated nasties. A bridge linked the two silos. and a quick jaunt across later, I was doing it all again on other other side. The best bit? However strenuous a gauntlet this whole assault was, it felt like just a drop in a rich and brutal ocean. Avalanche didn’t want to build a racing game with Max, but of course there are opportunities to get behind the wheel and prove you’re better than everyone else. Races and unique time trials are scattered across the Wasteland. During one, I ended up screeching across the world, desperately trying to reach a designated point on the map before the explosives strapped to my car decided to go off. Making matters somewhat worse, I was attacked by a mob of bandits on the way. Whether I was just unlucky, or this was a scripted occurrence, who knows, but it certainly added to the general, ongoing theme of complete and utter chaos. Handily, Avalanche has made sure you’ve got the same controls for both driving and when you’re on foot, for a more seamless transition between the two. However, this does mean you’re firing your weapons with the B button and not the traditional trigger. You get used to it pretty speedily, but it does mean a little rewiring of your brain until you stop missing well-trained sniper shots as a result of, well, not actually firing. Scattered across the world are historical images taken before that big bad apocalypse of unknown origin. These signs and tokens of the world before everything was just hot and insane are intriguing snapshots. Yet this is just the beginning of the collectibles strewn across the Wasteland. Scrap is lying around everywhere, just waiting to be thrown into upgrades, and chests of ammo can be discovered too. Less invitingly, Scrotus’ insignia is also hidden across various campsites for you to destroy. OCD MacGuffin-hunters are going to have a field day with this overwhelming open-world.
French Magazine Honours PS4's Incredible E3 2015

Added: 10.07.2015 10:15 | 14 views | 0 comments


Push Square: "Not everyone was as jazzed as us at Sony's incredible E3 2015 press conference, but those born during a certain era will have understood the significance of the event. At times, the platform holder's media briefing bordered on fan fiction, with The Last Guardian, Shenmue III, and Final Fantasy VII Remake all appearing during the show."

From: n4g.com

StickTwiddlers Podcast 69: Nintendosaurus NX

Added: 10.07.2015 9:18 | 7 views | 0 comments


Ben, Sarah and Jamie discuss exactly what the Nintendo NX will be, Jamies pro poker player past, and Alan reacts to news of The Last Of Us 2.

From: n4g.com

The Last Guardian and the Fear of Heights

Added: 10.07.2015 9:15 | 25 views | 0 comments


As it happens, director Fumito Ueda intends the game to instill a fear of verticality, the psychological stress of traversal over precarious ground which at times is no ground at all. The collective surprise felt at this years re-reveal and gameplay demonstration was in part at how retained this design goal, in the sheer misty scale of the ruins which act as the games setting, the frail boarded architectures whose maximum weight is you, plus a friend.

From: n4g.com

StickTwiddlers Podcast 69: Nintendosaurus NX

Added: 10.07.2015 7:15 | 1 views | 0 comments


Ben, Sarah and Jamie discuss exactly what the Nintendo NX will be, Jamies pro poker player past, and Alan reacts to news of The Last Of Us 2.

From: n4g.com

Sweeney Creates Art for Shenmue Kickstarter

Added: 09.07.2015 19:15 | 2 views | 0 comments


"John Sweeney - concept artist for Sony's The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 - is a huge Shenmue fan. Under official license from SEGA and in co-operation with Cook Becker he created this official, limited edition art print of Shenmue. He will donate his royalties of any copy of this artwork purchased before July 17 to the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter! Sweeney says about his Shenmue artwork: "I'm so excited that Shenmue 3 is finally happening! I wanted to capture the moment just after Ryo's father Iwao is killed by Lan Di. In the game the scene stops with Ryo cradling Iwao and screaming "No!". I wanted to imagine a shot where Ryo is standing just outside the dojo where his father was just killed. It is cold and very early in the morning. Snow is falling. The morning light is still weak and only some of the wood interior is catching light from the outside. Ryo's pose already hints at him seeking revenge." Watch his 'How to' video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqcj4XIIkhs

From: n4g.com

Daily Deals: Dark Souls II, HDMI Switch, Budget Gaming Mouse

Added: 08.07.2015 19:53 | 5 views | 0 comments


Plus deals on Superman: Red Son, Ghost in the Shell, The Last of Us Remastered, Firefly, The Princess Bride and more.

From: www.ign.com

Daily Deals: Dark Souls II, HDMI Switch, Budget Gaming Mouse

Added: 08.07.2015 19:53 | 3 views | 0 comments


Plus deals on Superman: Red Son, Ghost in the Shell, The Last of Us Remastered, Firefly, The Princess Bride and more.

From: www.ign.com


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