Ravensburger is Launching New ALIEN and GARGOYLES Games This Year

Ravensburger has some amazing news about two new board games releasing this year. We have two incredible IPs getting new board games and both sound like so much fun and will be available on August 1. The first game I want to talk about is the one that is more exciting to me, Disney Gargoyles: Awakening.

The classic animated series that everyone but me streamed when Disney+ first launched is getting a new board game that sounds like so much fun. Available at Target this summer for $34.99, two to five players will each play as Goliath, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Hudson, or Detective Elisa Maza and work together to stop Xanatos and Demona. The game features four different scenarios, each with a unique challenge, that unfold on a three-dimensional cityscape board of Manhattan from the cartoon. I cannot wait for this game to launch. Just look at the minis that are coming with it!

Disney Gargoyles: Awakening takes its name from the first episode of the show. In the game, players take on the role of one of six heroes: Goliath, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway, Hudson, or Detective Elisa Maza. Working together, they’ll take on Xanatos and Demona in four different scenarios. Players do battle on three-dimensional cityscape board showing Manhattan as it was presented in the cartoon, complete with Xanatos’ castle-topped skyscraper, the police clock tower, and more.

Each of the scenarios provides the players with a unique challenge. In “Reawakening,” players face off against Xanatos and Demona, and must save Coldstone’s mind. In “Temptation and Magic,” Demona has stolen the Grimorum Arcanorum and used the magic to enslave innocents. Players must collect three stolen data disks in “Information Warfare.” Finally, in “Battle with the Steel Clan,” one player takes the role of Xanatos and the Steel Clan and tries to either defeat a hero or destroy the police tower while the other players (as the Gargoyles) try to defeat Xanatos.

The other game is for fans of sci-fi horror, Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. This game supports one to five players in another cooperative strategy game as they must complete one of five final missions while staying alive. Once again, the miniatures look awesome! Fate of Nostromo was designed by Scott Rogers and developed by Steve Warner and will retail for $29.99.

Executive Officer Kane is dead and the Alien stalks the halls of the Nostromo. Players must work together in this cooperative strategy game to craft items, fulfill objectives and complete one of five final missions. Choose your next move carefully; the ALIEN could be just around the corner. Play solo or add Science Officer Ash to the game for a true challenge.

TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 1 AND 2 Coming to Next-Gen Consoles and Switch

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 was one of my favorite games last year. It was released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Well, Activision has announced that the amazing skateboard game is now coming to more platforms. On March 26, the game will land on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S with a release for the Nintendo Switch planned for sometime this year. This is so awesome!

The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of the game will play at 120 FPS in 1080p or 60 FPS in native 4K (upscaled on the Series S from 1440p). You’ll also have spatial audio, and more added like sharper dynamic shadows, reflections, and lens flares.

If you already own a digital copy of THPS1&2 on PS4 or Xbox One, you have two options for going next-gen. First, if you have the digital deluxe version, you’ll get the next-gen upgrade at no cost as long as you live outside of Japan. If you don’t have the digital deluxe version, you’ll need to spend $10 to upgrade. However, the upgrade does include the secret skater Ripper; retro gear for Create-A-Skater; and retro skins for Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rodney Mullen.

I highly recommend grabbing this game on your preferred platform and I think it’s really cool that it’s coming to the Switch too. The game probably won’t be as pretty on there, but being able to play this incredible game on the go is sure to be a blast. What platform are you getting ready to play THPS1&2 on?

Steven Spielberg’s HALO Series Project Moves From Showtime To Paramount+

Producer Steven Spielberg has been working with Showtime, 343 Industries, and Amblin Television on a series adaptation of the hit video game franchise Halo for years. Well, it’s now been announced that the project will move from Showtime to ViacomCBS’ streaming service Paramount+.

The series is currently in production in Budapest and will premiere on Paramount+ in 2022. Pablo Schreiber plays Master Chief in the series, and he’s been described as “Earth’s most advanced warrior in the 26th century and the only hope of salvation for a civilization pushed to the brink of destruction by the Covenant, an unstoppable alliance of alien worlds committed to the destruction of humanity.”

The series is said to respect the Halo canon. Everything in the video games, the comics, novels, and the previously made series, will all be taken into account as the story for this series plays out. David Nevins, Chief Creative Officer, CBS & Chairman and CEO, Showtime Networks, said about the series.

“It delivers the visceral excitement of playing the game, along with a much deeper emotional experience around the Spartans, human beings who got their humanity chemically and genetically altered. The story is about reclaiming what makes them human, and therefore it’s a very powerful story.”

Nevins went on to talk about why they made the push to get Halo on Paramount+ saying, “We were on the hunt for signature shows beyond the Star Trek franchise on CBS All Access and were thinking, what could be a defining series for Paramount+. Halo always fit the bill but seeing it, we felt it would work.”

Nevins went on to say that, “It could be a defining show for a newish service that’s got all firepower of an entertainment corporation behind it.”

When it comes to the casting, Pablo will be joined by newcomer Yerin Ha, who will play a new character within the Halo world named Quan Ah, “a shrewd, audacious 16-year-old from the Outer Colonies who meets Master Chief at a fateful time for them both.” The cast of the series also includes Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Kate Kennedy.

McElhone (Californication) will take on the role of two characters in the series. Dr. Catherine Halsey, “the creator of the Spartan supersoldiers, and Cortana, the most advanced AI in human history, and potentially the key to the survival of the human race.”

Woodbine (Fargo) will play Soren-066, “a privateer at the fringes of human civilization whose fate will bring him into conflict with his former military masters and his old friend, the Master Chief.”

Azmi (Next Of Kin) will play Admiral Margaret Parangosky, “the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence.”

Kalu (Avengers: Age of Ultron) will play a new character for the series, Spartan Vannak-134, “a cybernetically augmented supersoldier conscripted at childhood who serves as the defacto deputy to the Master Chief.”

Culzac (The Witcher) will take on another new role of Spartan Riz-028, “a focused, professional and deadly, cybernetically enhanced killing machine.”

Kennedy (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) will be yet another new character named Spartan Kai-125, “a courageous, curious, and deadly Spartan supersoldier.”

The first season will consist of 10-episodes and is scheduled to air in the first quarter of 2021. Multiple episodes of the series will be directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) from writer Kyle Killen (Awake) who is also serving as executive producer and showrunner.

I’ve been looking forward to this project for years. It’s been in development for ten years, and it’s exciting to know that it’s eventually going to see the light of day.

Source: Deadline

Review: TOPH’S METALBENDING ACADEMY Is a Bad Filler Episode

Dark Horse recently released a new graphic novel for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender titled Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy. The story is written by Faith Erin Hicks, illustrated by Peter Wartman, and colored by Adele Matera. The story takes place after The Rift Part Three for those familiar with the other graphic novels or after the original show at an undisclosed time frame for those not. This is a standalone story, so you don’t need to read anything else to know what’s going on. Dark Horse were kind enough to provide me with a copy of the graphic novel to review, and I’ve got some thoughts. You can purchase your copy now through your local comic shops, book shops, Amazon, Dark Horse, or even comiXology (affiliate link).

Things are looking bright at the Beifong Metalbending Academy! But after all the adventures Toph’s had with Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Katara, the whole thing feels a bit dull. Luckily, Sokka and Suki come to visit and reintroduce some familiar faces from their wandering days. And while out and about to celebrate, Toph discovers something that just might put the sparkle back in her eye…

I’m not going to sugarcoat this. I did not like Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy very much. There were some things that I did like such as the appearances of Toph, Sokka, Suki, and Trustfully In Love (the musicians who sing “Secret Tunnel”). The color work by Matera is also very well done.

Unfortunately, the story just feels like a bad filler episode. I don’t want to spoil anything and will try my best not to, but I’m pretty sure that there are about 10 or so pages that lend absolutely nothing to the story. Sokka and Suki are in the graphic novel, but there’s not really any point to them being in it to begin with. There’s a secondary story as well revolving around Toph’s top three students, but it just feels tacked on. Don’t get me wrong, the start of this part of the story does feel fairly natural, but it doesn’t really lead anywhere.

Now let’s talk about something that bothers me the most about this graphic novel that gets a tiny bit spoilery. Toph becomes interested in finding a young person with a unique ability. That ability is lavabending. This is a cool technique that most fans didn’t really pay attention to until the third season of The Legend of Korra. When it happened, it seemed like such an unknown part of bending. Now, this didn’t go over well with me, not necessarily because of a canonical reason (and if someone can prove one way or the other that’d be great), but because I feel like lavabending would’ve been more commonly known about by the time of Korra if one of Toph Beifong’s students was a lavabender. I don’t think this is an incredible leap in logic, but maybe I’m just being too nitpicky here.

As I mentioned before, the story for the graphic novel just isn’t great. If it were an episode of the show it would be a bad filler. I do want to applaud the fact that the motivations and some of the actual dialogue do feel like the characters we’ve come to love, the story itself just feels pointless. The artwork is pretty good and the colors are great though.