Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall by James Swallow - Blog Tour

 

'Legendary agent Sam Fischer teams up with a new NSA recruit – his own daughter – to save the world in this gripping new thriller from the renowned Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® videogame universe.

'Veteran Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher has a new mission recruiting and training the next generation of Splinter Cell operatives for the NSA’s covert action division, including his own daughter Sarah. But when a lethal assassin from Fisher’s past returns from the dead on a mission of murder, father and daughter are thrust into a race against time as a sinister threat to global security is revealed. 

'A dangerous cyberwarfare technology known as Gordian Sword – capable of crashing airliners, destroying computer networks and plunging entire cities into darkness – is being auctioned off to whichever rogue state makes the highest bid. Sam and Sarah must call on their very singular set of skills to neutralise Gordian Sword and stop the weapon falling into the wrong hands – at any cost...'

Splinter Cell has been a franchise for as long back as I can remember, a staple of stealth action gaming that has become an iconic part of gaming. I remember the first time I played the original game, stepping into the shoes of Sam Fisher and his glowing green goggles to sneak my way through enemy strongholds. Taking a more realistic approach than other big name stealth espionage games (no giant robots here), Splinter Cell would force players to take their time, peek into rooms with cameras, disable alarm systems, and avoid combat at all costs. With that in mind, I was left wondering if this kind of experience could translate into a novel.

Splinter Cell: Firewall is my first time reading a Splinter Cell book, and as such I wasn't sure what to expect. Spending hours sneaking through enemy filled complexes can be fun from a game-play point of view, but would it be enjoyable to read? Well, it became pretty clear fairly quickly for me when I started reading the book that this is less of the steal sneaking experience I'd come to expect from the game, and more of an action espionage story that you'd find on the big screen. In short, it was a pretty damn exciting ride.

The story begins with three trainees being tasked wit finding and neutralising a target in an abandoned building in Germany. Drawn from different backgrounds, their identities hidden behind code-names, the three are being tested by a shadowy government organisation to see if they have what it takes to join them. Whilst two of the candidates are taken down by their target, their field evaluator Sam Fisher, the third manages to impress him enough to get a passing grade. This is where Sam gets his first big shock of the book, when he finds out he's just given a passing grade to his daughter, Sarah.

Whilst Sam is still dealing with the fact that he's given the green light for his own daughter to become a field agent (one of the last things he wanted), he and the rest of his team get sent on an important mission as a new threat has emerged on the global stage. A tech giant has been secretly developing a digital super weapon decades beyond anything else in existence; one that could change the face of the world. Not only that, but a deadly Russian assassin from Sam's past has returned. Now Sam has to face a ghost from his past, a deadly new threat to global security, and his own feelings around Sarah being out in the field.

Splinter Cell: Firewall was not the book that I was expecting. Instead of playing out like the slow, methodical games it read more like a big screen adventure, more in line with movies like the Mission Impossible series. Sam isn't alone in this adventure, he has a team with him, they get to travel the world, infiltrate multiple locations, get into shootout and chases, and there's a big global threat to deal with. It doesn't feel like James Swallow is trying to translate the games into a book, but to just tell a decent story within this universe; which is absolutely the best approach.

The book never once feels like it needs you to have played any of the games that have come before, even when dealing with returning characters or referencing things from the game. Swallow manages to make it all feel incredibly accessible, giving you the right amount of background when needed so that you understand character motivations and their pasts but not overwhelming you with stuff. Whilst I have played a few of the games I'm by no means an expert in the lore of this universe, but I never felt like I was missing out on anything, and there was never a moment where I felt the need to go and look anything up online to find out what I was missing.

Not only does Swallow do a great job at making the book accessible for new readers, but he manages to introduce some great new lore throughout the book too; and it was only after finishing and looking into it was I able to discover what was new to this book and what was from the games as he does that good a job. One of the best new additions to the Splinter Cell mythos is Aslanov, the Russian killer from Sam's past who has returned from the dead. Aslanov is an almost perfect villain for someone like Sam Fisher. Their pasts are tied together, they come from opposite sides, have similar skill sets, yet are so morally opposed. Sam fights to preserve life, and will kill is he really has to but doesn't take any pleasure in it, whilst Aslanov likes to get up close and personal, to kill people in the worst ways possible. He's one of those characters who you can actually call evil and it to apply to; and it makes his scenes in this book delightful to read.

It's not just the action and world travel that gets a focus in Splinter Cell: Firewall, however, as Sam and Sarah also get a decent amount of focus, especially in regards to their relationship and Sarah's decision to become a field agent. Sam is, as one would expect, a protective father, and he absolutely hates the idea of Sarah being put into dangerous situations. Of course, he's being a bit of a hypocrite as these are the exact kind of things he does on a regular basis. This brings the two of them into some conflict, and it makes for some of the more interesting moments in the book. These moments even made me kind of hate Sam at times too, especially when he'd go behind Sarah's back to try and get her off the team, treating her like a child instead of the competent adult she is. Its a side to the character I'd not seen before, and something that I'd love to see more of in the future.

This being my first forray into the Splinter Cell books, it was a really enjoyable read, one that brought back some fond memories of the game and made me want to go back and play some of them again. But even if you've not got any experience in this franchise, or even gaming in general, there's a lot to like here. 

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Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

There have been a lot of Star Wars video games over the years. Whether taking on a side-scrolling reproduction of the movies, flying around in X-Wings taking down Imperial ships, or playing as prequel era Jedi in a beat ’em up game, there’s something for everyone in the Star Wars catalogue. One series of games that has always been held in high regards by fans has been the Jedi Knight series, and now that we’ve reached its 20th anniversary it felt like a good time to look back at Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

Despite the name, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast isn’t actually the second game in this series, but the third. Following on from Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, the game once again puts players in control of Kyle Katarn (Jeff Bennett), former Jedi Knight and mercenary who works for the New Republic after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Having almost fallen to the dark side in the previous game, Kyle has broken his connection to the Force, and given up on being a Jedi.

Whilst investigating a supposedly abandoned Imperial mine, Kyle and his partner Jan (Vanessa Marshall) discover that the Imperial Remnant are mining kyber crystals. Travelling to a second planet, where the Imperials have established a stronghold, Kyle comes face to face with Desann (Mark Klastorin), a dark Jedi who seems to be leading the Imperial forces. When Desann captures and apparently kills Jan, Kyle swears to get revenge, reconnecting with the Force in order to do so. From here Kyle will travel the galaxy, visiting some iconic locations from the films, meeting well known characters, and uncovering a vast and dangerous plot during his quest to avenge Jan and stop Desann.

Much like with previous games in the series, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast has a focus on combat, and the first few levels of the game have the player fighting their way through Imperial facilities in first-person gun combat. Over the course of the game the player gets access to a variety of weapons from the movies, such as E-12 blaster rifle and the Wookiee bowcaster, as well as some new weapons. However, after losing Jan and reconnecting with the Force, Kyle retrieves his lightsaber, and this is where the fun really begins. The player can now switch over to their Jedi weapon, engaging in lightsaber combat with any foe, as well as wielding powerful Force abilities.

Over the course of the game the player will need to use their Force powers to help solve puzzles, and to traverse some of the more difficult parts of levels, such as using Force jumps to navigate raised walkways and moving platforms. The player also gets the chance to learn new abilities, and to power-up the ones that they already have, opening up more avenues for them. Whilst the first-person shooting is top-notch, and well put together, it’s the parts of the game where you can run around as a powerful Jedi that are the most fun, especially if you put in the cheat code that actually lets you sever enemy limbs, rather than just leaving them with burn marks on their bodies.

Upon its release Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast was met with positive reviews, with many publications giving it high marks. The game was praised not only for its engaging story and connections to the expanded Star Wars universe (the game even got Billy Dee Williams back to play Lando), but for the large levels, great sound design, and fun combat. The game managed to give players something new and exciting, yet absolutely felt like it belonged in the Star Wars universe; that it was expanding upon the canon and giving players one of the best experiences.

Over the years Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast would sell 900,000 copies, earning the studio $17 million within the first five years, becoming the best selling game in the series. Thanks to the popularity, the game, which was originally released on PC, would get both an Xbox and GameCube version in the following years. Along with its sequel, it has now also been released on the Nintendo Switch, offering modern players a chance to replay, or discover, this classic piece of PC gaming.

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Sword of the White Horse: An Assassin's Creed Valhalla Novel by Elsa Sjunneson - Book Review

 

'A Celtic warrior defending her people from Viking raiders infiltrates an ancient sect to save her homeland, in this gripping original saga set in the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla

'Mercia, 878. Witch-warrior Niamh discovers a new order called the Hidden Ones is seeking to establish a foothold in Lunden. Her land is already scarred by Viking raiders, bloody wars, and clashing cultures. Determined to protect what remains of her homeland, she infiltrates this new group to discover whether they stand with her… or against her. Yet when Niamh learns the Hidden Ones have stolen an artifact sacred to her people, her own loyalties are challenged. Casting aside newfound alliances and friendships, Niamh soon discovers that betrayal comes with a heavy price and it will take everything in her power – her gods willing – to survive.'

I've yet to play Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but as someone who's enjoyed many of the games in the series and has always liked Viking history and Norse mythology it's a game that I'm looking forward to sitting down to play at some point in the future. As such, when it was announced that a tie-in novel was being released I was eager to read it, hoping that it would encourage me to finally play the game.

Set some time after the events of the game, Sword of the White Horse follows Niamh, a warrior witch of the Women of the Mist, a secret order that operates out of the hidden isle of Avalon. Following the events of the game, one of their sacred artefacts, the sword Excalibur, was taken from beneath Stonehenge by the Viking shield-maiden Eivor. When a secret group called the Hidden Ones sends out word that they're looking for a skilled warrior to join their cause the Lady of Avalon sends Niamh to pretend to be this warrior and infiltrate their organisation.

Upon arriving in Lunden, Niamh is met by two members of the order, the mistrustful Marcella, and the kind Hytham. Working together with Hytham, Niamh is deemed to be worthy of becoming a temporary member of the group, and begins to perform missions with them. Through working with them Niamh learns more than she ever thought she would, discovering that there's a secret war going on in Mercia, one that sees rival factions fighting to gain power, and that Excalibur is an item that all sides seek to possess. However, when Niamh finally discovers who has the sword, she must decide if she can really turn on her new allies, even if she is sworn to return the artefact to her people.

As someone who hasn't yet played the game I was a little worried that there would be times reading this book that I'd get a little lost, or that my lack of knowledge would leave me having to google for background information. Other than one scene in which I felt there was a lack of information (Niamh got filled in on the rival faction but the reader didn't get this info) I never felt too lost. It quickly became apparent who each group was in the grand scheme of things. I even discovered after finishing the book when doing a little background reading that several characters other than Eivor appeared in the game too. For someone like myself, coming in with no information, this all read fine and didn't change my enjoyment; but I can imagine that for those who have played the game this would have been a great surprise.

Despite the inclusion of several characters from the game, the book focuses on a brand new character, Niamh. Elsa Sjunneson does a great job at putting the reader into Niamh's head throughout the book, and she quickly becomes a very complex and conflicted character. Her people mean everything to her, her position as a warrior witch is one she holds with pride. She takes care in her duties, and is willing to put her life on the line. However, as the book progresses she begins to gain a different outlook on things, thanks in part to the relationships she begins to form with those she'd have once considered her enemies. She starts to wonder if there could be more peaceful solutions, if she and her people could change their relationships with the outside world going forward. These thoughts put her in opposition to what she's been ordered to do, and over the course of the book we see how this all weighs on her as she tries to find the perfect solution.

Niamh was enjoyable to spend time with, and I found her to be a character that had a lot more to her than first appeared. Initially set up as a hardened warrior, we see that she has a deep caring to her. She will go out of her way to help oppressed people, especially women. She tried to use her skills to help and heal where she can. And despite her occupation, there are several times where she avoids killing, even though that'd be her best solution. I'd have liked to have spent more time with the character, to really get to see more of her in more complex situations, as I felt she was a character that could go on to be a very interesting figure; especially with how the book ends.

The novel also manages to fit a lot of interesting locations in too, and sees Niamh travelling all over Great Britain. From London, to Hadrians Wall, to Ravensthorpe, and even White Horse Hill, our hero spends a great deal of her time going from place to place in order to complete her mission. This does in some way make me think of the Assassin's Creed games, and how you have to travel all over the map, going from your home base to mission locations and back again over and over; and it was kind of neat that the author managed to get this gaming feel into the novel.

Whether you're a fan of the game looking to experience more of the ever expanding Assassin's Creed universe, or a complete newcomer who was attracted by how the story sounded, this is a book that anyone can pick up and enjoy. It's got some great characters, some wonderful world building, and some tense action sequences that are sure to keep folks entertained. Here's hoping we get more from Niamh and her story in the future.

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The Hunger Games – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The early 2010s was a big time for young adult and teen fiction, especially in film. The wizard school films had just come to an end, the Twilight saga was closing up, and studios were looking for the next big series to adapt. There were a number of popular titles that they could pick from, and a lot of these would make their way to screens over the next few years. But the one that would move things away from magic and supernatural creatures to post-apocalypses and teen rebels was The Hunger Games.

Written by Suzanne Collins in 2008, The Hunger Games tells the story of Panem, a nation that has formed in the remains of a war that destroyed North America. Here the surviving population is split into twelve districts, with each district producing something that is needed to keep Panem running, such as coal mining, fishing, or lumber. Unfortunately, many of the districts live in poverty, whilst the Capital lives a life of luxury and extravagance. In order to keep control, the Capital holds the Hunger Games once a year, where two children from each district are randomly selected and forced to fight for the death on live television. When her younger sister is drawn for the games, a teenage rebel named Katniss volunteers in her place. Now Katniss finds herself travelling to the Capital, where she will have to kill in order to survive.

Upon the release of the book in 2008, The Hunger Games quickly found itself on the bestseller list, selling hundreds of thousands of copies globally. The book found an audience with teen readers, especially teen girls who connected to the central lead female character of Katniss. The book soon spawned a number of imitators, some of which would also go on to get movies over the next decade, and teen dystopia became the new big thing, with supernatural romance titles making way for stories of plucky teenage rebels overthrowing corrupt governments.

Thanks to the popularity of the book it was no surprise that the film rights were soon picked up, and in 2009 Lionsgate became attached to the project, alongside the independent film production company Color Force, who acquired the rights to the film just weeks before. Over the next year the script was adapted by Collins, who wrote the screenplay shortly after completing the third book in the series. Due to the book being written from the point of view of Katniss, several new scenes were added to the film in order to expand the story and provide extra context for the audience. Other changes included the removal of a subplot about enslaved people in the capital, details about how Katniss received her iconic mocking-jay pin, and a few side characters that were removed.

Once the film entered production the casting was announced to huge fanfare, with fans following rumours closely to try and find out who would be playing their favourite characters. After several rounds of casting it was announced that Jennifer Lawrence, best known for her role in X-Men: First Class would be playing Katniss, with her two love interests being played by Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. Other cast members would include Elizabeth Banks as the over-the-top Effie, the escort for Katniss from the Captial, Woody Harrelson as former Hunger Games survivor and trainer Haymitch, and Donald Sutherland as President Snow, the head of the Capital.

Upon release the film quickly became a commercial success, earning a worldwide total of $694.4 million against its budget of $78 million. The film was a smash hit, and the rest of the series adaptations were quickly announced, with it being revealed that the final entry in the trilogy would be getting split into two films. The film received positive reviews from critics, though some criticism was levelled at the over abundance of shaky-cam, something that would be dropped entirely from the subsequent films.

Thanks to the huge commercial success of The Hunger Games, Lionsgate knew that they had a big thing on their hands, more than tripling the budget on the second film in the series; something that definitely showed on screen, as the production value of the other movies in the series took a big jump going forwards. Despite being a huge success, and kick-starting the next big teen franchise, The Hunger Games kind of became a victim of its own success. With more money being poured into the other entries, with more and more lavish production values and special effects, and stories that become grander in scope, the first entry in the series has ended up feeling the most dull in comparison. It feels smaller, cheaper, and less visually entertaining than the others.

Despite this, The Hunger Games began something big, a trend that would see other, similar books making their way to the cinema screens, such as Divergent, The Maze Runner, and The 5th Wave. Despite there having been big teen book adaptations before this, this became the point where other studios began to want to capture some of this magic, and was the start of a lot of these projects. Perhaps because it was the instigator, or maybe just because it was better, The Hunger Games ended up being one of the most successful and popular YA movies around.

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Escape From Mogadishu – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Films based on real-life events tend to be stories worth paying attention to. If events end up being so dramatic, so amazing, or so frightening that they outshine some of the best fiction that writers can come up with, they’re events that belong on the big screen. They often end up being the place for stories about some of the bravest and most daring people to be told, and Escape From Mogadishu is no exception to this, as I was left increasingly amazed as its story unfolded.

Escape From Mogadishu begins just before the fall of the Barre regime in Somalia in 1991. Here we spend some time getting to know two of the embassies situated in the capital Mogadishu. There’s the South Korean embassy, a relatively new, small team headed up by ambassador Han Shin-sung (Kim Yoon-seok) with the help of his tough intelligence officer, Kang Dae-Jin (Ing-Sung Jo). And there’s the North Korean embassy, run by the much more experienced ambassador Rim Yong-su (Joon-ho Huh). As the South Korean embassy tries to get meetings with President Barre, bringing him gifts, trying to get him to back their petition to be admitted to the UN, the two embassies clash.

However, their own personal vendettas have to go on the back-burner when rebel forces reach Mogadishu, bringing war to the city. As both groups sit inside their embassies the fighting gets worse, and they each realise that their only hope for survival in ever increasing violence is to get out of the country. Unfortunately, neither has a way of contacting their governments, and there seems to be no way out. When rebels attack the North Korean embassy, killing some of the staff in the process, Rim leads the survivors, including several children, to look for a safe haven. When all they can find is the South Korean embassy, both groups realise that only by working together and putting their differences aside will they be able to survive; but can so much animosity and mistrust be easily forgotten?

Escape From Mogadishu paints a very stark picture. Mogadishu is shown as a hot, depressing, and dangerous place even before the fighting starts, with none of the people from the Korean embassies really wanting to be there. Each side is desperate to get backing from President Barre to get admittance to the UN, and if it wasn’t for children being kept as hostages in North Korea, and intense governmental pressure from both sides, neither ambassador would choose to be there. Even before the violence begins you get a sense that these are people close to the end of their ropes, who want nothing more than to go home.

Once the fighting begins it doesn’t take long for things to go from bad to downright horrifying. Director Seung-wan Ryu doesn’t shy away from showing the brutal, harsh realities of this conflict. Police chase down and beat suspected rebels to death in the street, people end up rioting over food and supplies, and rebel forces strip and publicly execute those working for Barre. The film doesn’t hide these horrors from the audience, and there are several times I found myself watching on in horror as I wanted to turn away because of how unflinching things are.

It’s hard to imagine what it would have been like to live through these events, especially as people with no real stake in the conflict, potentially being seen as enemies or conspirators by either side at any moment. The cast of Escape From Mogadishu seem to play this very well though, and as the movie progresses you see calm and confident men reduced to fearful wrecks, people unsure of themselves stepping up and taking on a leadership role, and decades long cultural tensions boiling up to breaking point. Every single actor does an amazing job, but especially the two principal leads, Kim Yoon-seok and Joon-ho Huh.

The thing that makes this story even more amazing is that it’s not just watching people try to survive this awful, brutal situation, but seeing the two groups come together. Even if you know very little about the history between North Korea and South Korea you really feel it here, and as such you quickly understand just how momentous it is when both sides come together. Both groups know that if their governments find out it would mean facing military tribunals, it could mean never seeing their families again. Both sides have been taught to think of the other as alien, dangerous, and strange, and we see moments where they talk about the other side like they’re completely different. This pays off wonderfully when both sides sit down to eat together for the first time and you see each discovering how similar they are to the other, without a single piece of dialogue being said. It’s an amazing moment, one that really gets you invested in these two groups, and one that’s a stand-out for the film.

It’s not just these small character focused moments that stand out either, as there are several scenes where violence and tension runs high. The scenes where the North Korean group makes their way through the city at night, searching for a safe haven, are nerve wracking, and the final run to freedom at the end is an incredible sequence that will have you on the edge of your seat. Other than a few CGI dogs that look less than perfect making a couple of appearances, the film looks and feels incredible, and you end up feeling like you’re in the middle of this nightmare.

I didn’t know about the events this film depicted before coming to it, but by the end I found myself wanting to learn more about this event, and these amazing people. This is a film that not only brought this moment in history to life in amazing, captivating detail, but made it something that I’m going to be thinking about for a long while too.

I don’t often like war films based on real events, I don’t like to relish in entertainment derived from the deaths and horror that humanity has caused each other, but this film isn’t just about that. Escape From Mogadishu showcases how our shared humanity is much more powerful, and how you can put aside lifetimes of hate and mistrust, see the connections you share with others, and do amazing things. This is without a doubt the best film that I’ve seen yet this year, and it’s a travesty it didn’t end up nominated for this year’s Oscars.

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Godzilla vs Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

As someone who has loved tokusatsu ever since I first saw Godzilla as a child, marvelling at this huge lizard monster, and being a fan of the Power Rangers franchise since it burst onto screens back in 1993, it’s astonishing that the two franchises have taken this long to meet. The Power Rangers routinely fight giant monsters to the point where it becomes noteworthy when an episode doesn’t include it, and when you consider that the original Dragon Zord was essentially a Mecha Godzilla style robot, it feels like the two were made to come together. Well, after close to three decades the two finally do meet in the new IDW comic series Godzilla vs Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Taking place somewhere during the first season of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series (context clues make that pretty apparent), the story begins with Tommy, the Green Ranger, having been sent on a recon mission to a remote tomb. The place seems to be some kind of ancient temple, guarded by monks, who’ve been dispatched by Rita Repulsa and her team of Goldar, Scorpina, and Finster. When Rita retrieves the item the monks were guarding, the Multiversal Focus, she works her magic and transports herself, her minions, and Tommy into a parallel world where the Power Rangers don’t exist.

Whilst Rita celebrates the idea of being in a world without Rangers to stop her conquest, the celebrations are interrupted by two giant monster fighting in the ruins of Angel Grove: Godzilla and Megalon. Seeing that this world has no heroes, yet has such wonderful monsters, the ancient witch begins to make plans to use the kaiju to her own advantage; but little does she know that Tommy followed her to this world, and that the other Rangers are on their way to help.

Godzilla vs Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a book that is absolutely packed to the gills. The breakdown I gave above for the premise of the story sounds like I’ve given step-by-step of the entire first issue, but is only the first half a dozen pages. A lot happens in this first issue. The benefit of this is that there’s not a moment of this book where it’s not being used well. The plot is always moving forward, the characters are always doing something, and there’s not long to wait for the next action scene.

Whilst this is great, those who’ve been reading the Power Rangers comics from Boom! Studios, and have been enjoying the quieter scenes where we get a chance to delve into the Rangers’ minds and see how this kind of life affects them as human beings, might find this issue to be a bit lacking. The heroes don’t get a moment to breathe here, we don’t get to see what they think about going to another world, about the existence of kaiju, or even how seeing innocent monks murdered by monsters affects Tommy. I don’t know if this is something that is going to continue for the rest of the series, and if we do get moments where we can slow down and spend time with the Rangers as characters that’d be great; but even if that doesn’t happen it still feels entertaining enough to be good. After all, we never got characterisation in the original show.

Outside of the Rangers, the comic is full of awesome stuff for fans of Godzilla. As mentioned, the titular King of the Monsters makes his appearance fairly early on, along with another classic creature for him to fight. But he gets more to do other than just bash on another giant monster. I won’t say what that is, but let’s just say you don’t have to wait until the finale to get some amazing stuff. There are also some other characters and ideas from the existing Godzilla canon that make their way into this story, and the fact that we get some silly 1960’s style designs alongside the Power Rangers and their villains is wonderful. Cullen Bunn clearly knows a lot about both franchises, and doesn’t just want to rely on the titular monster as the only thing for Godzilla fans to find in the book.

The art on the book is provided by Freddie Williams II and Andrew Dalhouse, who provide the drawing and colours respectively. The art is very nice, and feels very different to other Power Rangers comics on the market right now. The Rangers and their villains are all clearly recognisable, but they seem to have a stylised twist to them that makes them really pop; such as Goldar, who feels so much bigger and more hulking than normal. The art team also do the giant monsters justice, and the creatures look just goofy enough to not be totally frightening, yet feel wonderfully realistic too.

A far as first issues go, this is a fast paced one, packed full of story and action that don’t give you a chance to slow down too much. With how much gets packed into this first issue it does leave me wondering just what else might be coming, and what other surprises Cullen Bunn has in store for readers. As a fan of both franchises I had a blast with this one, and can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla is a franchise that has had many different identities over the years, and whilst it might have began as a horror film abut the awful reality of the nuclear attacks made against Japan, it’s become something that has appealed to audiences of all ages over the decades since its creation. Whether it’s the inclusion and focus on children in the films, animated series for kids, or Godzilla himself advertising things like the Game Boy, he’s become something that kids love. As such, it’s lovely to see some of the comics being produced by IDW Publishing focusing on younger readers.

Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors tells the story of Cedric Nishimura, a tween geek who hosts his own MeToob channel where he wants to tell the tale of how he helped to save the world from Godzilla. These internet video segments act as bookends to each of the issues collected in the book, provide us with extra context, and allow the reader to get to know Cedric in more detail. Between these segments, however, we get the real meat of the story.

It all begins when the Linival corporation tries to make history. Out in the middle of the ocean, on their floating island, the company switches on a new kind of reactor, one that they promise will provide the world with limitless clean energy. Whilst the reactor works fine, and the launch goes well, there is one unknown side effect. The energy hurts krill. Now, this might not seem like much, but this upsets the important ecological balance, threatening thousands of species, and the planet itself. And this is something that pisses Godzilla off. And so the giant lizard begins a campaign of destruction to stop Linival. However, when it looks like he may carry on his destruction, fed up with humanity as a whole, Cedric finds himself being drawn into a plan to prevent total destruction, thanks to two tiny fairies from Infant island.

I first started reading this series when it was released monthly, and stopped after the first issue. The first issue of the story isn’t hugely exciting, and is just Godzilla stomping around on this floating island, wrecking stuff. However, collected together into one volume, where I didn’t have to wait for the next issue and could read the story in one sitting, made this a much more enjoyable story. The first issue is very much stage setting, and once the second begins the story really fills out and expands into some interesting directions.

Fans of the Godzilla franchise will find a lot of stuff to enjoy here, not just down to the titular creature. There are other places, characters, and creatures taken from around the Godzilla franchise, mixed in and reworked into this story. For the most part there’s not much that happens here that feels out of place or contradictory, although there is a monster that appears later on in the book who has their origins slightly tweaked in order to provide something of a surprise inclusion, but it still feels true to the creature, and made for a delightful appearance.

As said earlier, this book is designed for younger readers, and is definitely in the middle grade category. The main characters are young, barely into their teens, and other than one or two adults, they’re the only people in the story. Whilst this works well and I had no problem with kids getting to save the day and be the focus, there were a few things that felt slightly weird or silly. There are times where the writer, Eric Burnham, seemingly wanted to include certain things but had to change the name. That’s why we get MeToob instead of YouTube, Nottendo instead of Nintendo, and Super Smash Sisters in place of Super Smash Brothers. I don’t know how this kind of thing would read for kids, whether it’d be funny or entertaining for them, but these references always felt weird and jarring as an adult reader.

The art on the book, by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado, is really nice. The drawings are bold and simple, and filled with bright colours. Being designed for a younger audience the book has a somewhat stylised look to it, with characters feeling less focused on being realistic or anatomically correct, and more geared towards being bold and easily identifiable. It looks really nice throughout, and works well for the human characters. The monsters look really good too, and have a more Saturday morning cartoon vibe to them over a more frightening, realistic approach. The whole thing just pops..

Whilst I’m sure that there could be some readers who find the book too simple, and the story too child-friendly to be entertaining, I really enjoyed Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors. It showcased how this is a broad franchise, one that can appeal to a wide range of audiences, and can be approached in a number of different ways. Yes, it was simple, easy to read, and had lower stakes than some Godzilla stories, but sometimes that’s just the kind of thing you want to read.

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In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power - Book Review

 

'Rhea and her twin brother, Lexos, have spent an eternity helping their father rule their small, unstable country, using their control over the seasons, tides, and stars to keep the people in line. For a hundred years, they've been each other's only ally, defending each other and their younger siblings against their father's increasingly unpredictable anger.

'Now, with an independence movement gaining ground and their father's rule weakening, the twins must take matters into their own hands to keep their family—and their entire world—from crashing down around them. But other nations are jockeying for power, ready to cross and double cross, and if Rhea and Lexos aren't careful, they'll end up facing each other across the battlefield.'

In a Garden Burning Gold tells the story of a family that rules a troubled nation, of a fierce and abusive man who has held power for more than a century thanks to the magical powers that he controls, and his twin children who come to try to challenge his rule.

The story takes place in Thyzakos, one of several nations that have come together to form a federation of countries ruled by un-ageing, magical leaders called Stratagiozi. The Argyros family has ruled Thyzakos for more than a century, ever since patriarch Vasilis Argyros killed the former Stratagiozi and claimed his title and powers for himself. As with other Stratagiozi, Vasilis has shared some of his power and responsibilities with his children, tasking them with controlling the tides, creating the constellations in the night sky, and changing the season.

His eldest daughter, Rhea, is tasked with ushering in each new season, and her powers are tied to her consorts. At the start of each season Rhea picks a suitor to marry, spends the season with them and their family, and come the end she kills them to end the season and usher in the new. She's had hundreds of consorts over the years, and has become numb to the killing, believing it's part of her duty to her father and her nation. However, when she returns home at the end of autumn, having delayed the changing of the season when she didn't kill her latest husband on time, she finds an angry father, and a nation on the brink.

Rhea's twin brother, Alexandros, who is also their father's right hand, tells Rhea that the nation is on the brink of war. Some of the lords and nobility have begun to tire of their fathers rule and are unhappy, and open rebellion has begun to form in the distant north where separatist groups have started to form in secret. When new suitors arrive at their home for Rhea to pick out for the new season her father tells her quite flatly which man to choose, wishing to strengthen their relationship with one of the noble houses. However, Alexandros has plans of his own to try and get to the bottom of the separatist issue, and has invited one of the northern heirs to present themselves to Rhea. 

Despite fearing her fathers wrath, Rhea chooses Michalia, the northern heir, as her consort. Heading out into the cold north, Rhea prepares to try to learn the secrets her brother needs to solve the Separatist issue; whilst back at home Alexandros must try to keep everything from falling apart whilst avoiding his fathers punishment.

In a Garden Burning Gold is a dense book. Just picking this novel up you can feel it's a thick, heavy thing; and the content inside mirrors this in some ways. The first thing that you'll notice when you open the book is that there's a big list of people and places before you've even gotten to the story. This is probably something that you're going to want to just skip right past. I would not recommend reading this first as I got three or four names into this and was immediately lost. For example, the list begins with several location names, titles, and characters both living and dead with no context to them at all. I didn't know what Thyzakos was, where Ksigora is or how it relates to the story, why it was telling me about a dead saint, what a Startagiozi was. I felt my eyes beginning to glaze within the first minutes of starting the book.

Skip this. Just skip these pages and use it as reference later if you need it, because everything important that you need to know, all of the places, people, titles, and how they all relate to each other get explained in easy to understand ways as the story unfolds. It was much better to discover it as it went, and I honestly never found myself going back to the list at the front of the book because Rory Power made all of these new complex systems and people easy to track over close to six hundred pages; no easy feat. I can only think that perhaps the publisher wanted to include a list of characters to help readers out, but probably should have put it in the back of the book rather than the front.

After this somewhat odd start, however, In a Garden Burning Gold quickly became a book filled with political intrigue and complex schemes. Whilst the book is very much a fantasy novel, set within its own world with certain people possessing magical abilities, it's not a traditional fantasy story, and instead plays out like a political thriller. Very little of the book deals with the regular folk of this world, other than a handful of times when we get to meet the ordinary, everyday citizens through the eyes of their rulers, this book deals almost exclusively with people in positions of power, wealth, and privilege. More specifically, the book deals with the Argyros family.

The Argyros' are a strange mix to say the least. Vasilis, the head of the family, is frankly a bit of a bastard. It's clear very quickly that he's a man who runs his family through fear. His children, people who are more than a century old themselves, are treated like children who don't know better, and are afraid to set foot out of line for fear of his punishments. In a Garden Burning Gold isn't afraid to show Vasilis punishing his children, and has some pretty graphic depictions of abuse throughout the book. Having seen novels where fathers seem to rule with fear, yet never go into how, it makes for a decent change to see how these kinds of situations come about. It highlights what abusive behaviour is like, and doesn't shy away from its depictions.

The two youngest children in the family, Chrysanthi and Nitsos, are the least developed of the group, and we don't really get much chance to know them. This is in large parts due to how they're treated by Vasilis, given even less responsibility or trust than their older siblings. Despite being decades old they act like kids, not really having much to do, being kept out of important discussions, and spending most of their time doing whatever activity they want. They've been initialised by their father so much that it seems to have affected who they are as people.

Rounding out the family are Rhea and Alexandros, our two point of view characters. As discussed in the breakdown of the plot, these two characters actually have responsibility, and play important parts in the running of the nation. Despite this, they are both also prisoners of Vasilis in a lot of ways. Alexandros is desperate to be seen as a man, to be listened to when he comes to his father with advice and suggestions. He's a smart man who is capable of doing more than he's given, yet never gets a chance to shine. This is a big driving force behind everything he does in the book, as he desperately tries to prove himself by 'saving' the family. Rhea begins the book quite dissimilar to her brother, and simply wants to perform her duties as her father lays out  so as not to incur his anger. She isn't looking to prove herself beyond simply keeping Vasilis happy, and it's only through what she experiences in the north that we see her actually begin to grow and thrive as a character.

Speaking of the north, we get to visit a number of interesting locations throughout In a Garden Burning Gold, and Rory Power manages to make a lot of these locations feel different and unique, whilst also having it feel like one cohesive whole. The Argyros family home, Stratathoma, feels like a wonderful Mediterranean estate, surrounded by beautiful blue waters and open, airy architecture. Ksigora in the north feels cold and hard, a place where it's more difficult to live; yet always feels like a beautiful, mountainous place. Trefazio is almost wild and exciting, with strange customs, oppressive heat, and huge, expansive buildings. Each of the places that the reader visits in the book feels so incredibly clear in your head, with wonderful descriptions that leap off the page. 

One of the things that Power does best though is the political intrigue and shady dealings. There are multiple times where our characters find themselves in dark rooms, plotting out schemes and making deals. These moments are done incredibly well, and I got bought into a lot of the trickery that takes place in this book, trusting characters I shouldn't have whilst being suspicious of the wrong ones. It was wonderfully crafted so that I never felt like I had all of the information, and was always thirsting to learn more, but seemed to think I knew enough to have most of it figured out. Much like the characters, I bought into the lies and the half truths and was totally taken in by it; leading to a wonderfully surprising series of conclusions.

Sadly, the story doesn't really end with this book, with it instead being the first part of a continuing story. That being said, it still felt like a book that stands on its own, that you can read and be happy with and not need to return to this series if you don't want to. I think that people will want to, however, and that this is a series that will get a lot of notice thanks to how clever and complex it is, without being exclusionary. I think In a Garden Burning Gold is a book that people who don't normally read this kind of genre will be able to pick up and really enjoy.

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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Resident Evil games have often been held up as the gold standard of survival horror games, with a series that has evolved over the years to try and reach new audiences and meet new gaming expectations. Sometimes this works well and the game is universally loved, such as the remake of Resident Evil 2, but other times the game ends up a bit of a mess that the majority of fans dislike (we’re looking at you, Resident Evil 6). But one game that I’ve seen consistently getting mixed reception, either being loved or hated, is 2012’s Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.

As the title suggests, the game is set during the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, in the fictional town of Raccoon City, as a deadly zombie virus runs rampant. The game puts you in control of one of the members of Delta Team from the Umbrella Security Services, a team of specially trained soldiers who are sent to the secret lab beneath Raccoon City to assist Alpha Team in stopping scientist William Birkin from selling his research to the US military. Teaming up with Hunk, a USS character from Resident Evil 2, the team is able to stop the sale from going through; however, Birkin is able to infect himself with the G-Virus, mutating into a rampaging monster that causes the full-scale outbreak across the city.

From here Delta Team are tasked with moving through the city and removing evidence of Umbrella’s involvement in the disaster. This will see the team visiting locations that fans of the series will recognise, including the Raccoon City Police Department, the cemetery, and Raccoon City Hospital. Along the way Delta Team will have to fight through hordes of zombies, bio-weapons, and tyrants before their mission comes to an end, and a few familiar faces will make appearances along the way too.

Developed by Slant Six Games, the studio behind the SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs game series, in partnership with Capcom, the game began life after the popularity of the cooperative game Resident Evil Outbreak, which saw four players taking on the roles of survivors during the disaster in Raccoon City. With following instalments in the series taking a more action-oriented approach, and the popularity of the two player co-op in Resident Evil 5, Capcom chose to develop a team based cooperative shooter.

Slant Six Games spent two years developing the game, using their experience on the SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs games to create the four player squad-based game. They also filled the game with a number of locations and enemies from previous entries in the series. Long time fans were pleased to be able to find that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City allowed them to return to some locations in interesting new ways, such as the Raccoon City Hospital that appeared briefly in Resident Evil 3. 

The game also involved a lot of street sequences, where players would find themselves in the middle of huge pitched battles between military forces and hordes of monsters. Players had the option to use the skills and equipment of the USS team to their advantage in these large battles, taking momentary control of some creatures such as Hunters, sending them towards enemy squads in order to take them out.

The game featured a large variety of creatures too, one of the bigger rosters of monsters in a Resident Evil game. There were the regular zombies and infected dogs that have become a staple of the series, but also some of the more iconic creatures, like Hunters and Lickers, and even Crimson Heads (specially mutated zombies that appeared in the Resident Evil Remake). Most excitingly, the game featured some big boss monsters, and there would be times where you would find yourself having to fight against Nemesis, or being pursued by multiple Tyrants at the same time.

Despite all of these good things, the game was far from perfect. The level design relied on nostalgia a lot of the time, taking you to locations that you were already familiar with, and having them as the reward for traversing ruined streets or underground tunnels for long periods of time. Whilst the combat was fun, and made a big change from the regular Resident Evil formula, it wasn’t completely polished, and there would be times where you’d find yourself glitching into cover, missing your enemy wildly, or having issues with the AI-controlled squad members if you were playing offline.

Despite these issues, the game did receive some positive reviews upon release, and sold more than two million copies within the first two months of release, and is still within Capcom’s top twenty selling titles. Some people didn’t like this weird ‘What if?’ game, where you were able to mess with the Resident Evil story and play as the villains, but I had a ton of fun with this title when it came out, and still think that this is one of the better spin-off titles in the Resident Evil catalogue, and is still a lot of fun to play.

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Zachareth: A Descent: Legends of the Dark Novel by Robbie MacNiven - Book Review

 

'The first in an exciting new series of heroic fantasy novels, Zachareth, explores the past of one of Descent: Legends of the Dark’s most notorious villains.

'Zachareth, Baron of Carthridge, is a driven, ruthless and obsessive man – a man who could be a hero, but he wants so much more. Having watched his father fall under the sway of a sorceress, Zachareth grows up craving knowledge and power. When his tutor at Greyhaven introduces him to forbidden magics, Zachareth discovers there is more to power than meets the eye. As he returns home to a barony on the verge of rebellion and beset by necromantic foes, Zachareth must choose his true path – the path of virtue and heroism, or that of darkness and villainy; the line between the two is finer than most imagine.'

One of the things that I love the most about the books being produced by Aconyte is that its introducing me to worlds that I've never experienced before, producing stories about games that I've only ever heard about, but have never had the chance to play. Descent: Legends of the Dark is one of these worlds, a game that I'd only heard whispers of in gaming shops. As such, I went into Zachareth a complete novice, with no knowledge or expectations; but I soon found myself wanting to experience more of this amazing fantasy setting.

The story follows the life of Zachareth Carth, a figure that will probably be familiar to fans of the series as he's one of the main antagonists of the game. Zachareth is described as being something of a figure that divides peoples opinions on whether he's a villain, or simply a dark hero; and the book very much explores this idea by showing a descent down a path that leads to some dangerous places, making deals with some dark folk, but always doing so from a place of wanting to do the right thing.

The novel begins years before Zachareth has become the figure from the game, when he's a young boy living in his fathers keep, Castle Talon. Barely into his teens, Zachareth hates his studies, doesn't get on with his ageing and angry father, and distrusts Leanna, his fathers elven adviser. His anger and frustration gets pushed to a breaking point during the Silver Tourney, an event that sees several of the surrounding baronies travelling to his home to compete with each other, when he comes to blows with the son of a rival. Zachareth is an angry teen, one who wants to simply lash out at the world, to find the easiest solution and take it as quickly as he can. Over the course of these chapters we get to see Zachareth getting taught his first important lessons in life; that sometimes there are better way to achieve his goals that simple force.

From here the book jumps forward several years as Zachareth prepares to become a man, ready to take his oath. The years have been good to Zachareth, and he's become an attentive student to his teacher, seeking out knowledge wherever he can find it. Whilst this has broadened his horizons considerably, and make him into a much more even headed man, his relationship with his father is still strained. At his banner hold ceremony Zachareth announces to the assembled nobles that he intends to leave Carthridge to study at Greyhaven, a prestigious university, where he plans to try to learn the secrets of rune magic to help him protect his future barony. His father is appalled at this idea, yet Zachareth leaves his home and sets out to learn what he can. With murmurs of undead at his home's borders, and his father growing more and more resentful of his son each day, Zachareth becomes determined to learn every magical secret that he can to protect his home; but this begins a journey that will lead Zachareth to some truly dark places.

I know that the book described this as an origin story for one of the game's 'most notorious villains', but I didn't come away from this book with that impression. Zachareth is not a villain. Or at least he's not a simple villain by the end of this book. He is, if anything, a man with a desire to do good who makes a few mistakes, and finds himself walking down the wrong path.

With so many villains in media wanting to conquer other lands, to wipe out certain peoples, or to amass power simply for the sake of having it I think it's fair to say that we've all had swathes of fairly simple villains in the past. We might often be able to see where those villains started from, yet end up condemning their means. There's a certain point where killing innocents means you've gone too far. Zachareth never has any moments like this in this book. He doesn't weight up one life versus many, he doesn't consider certain sacrifices to be worth it. He constantly wants to do what is best for his people. That's all.

Because of this, and because of the place where MacNiven has to have the character end up, there was never a time when the character felt dull or uninteresting. Knowing that this person is destined to end up a villain meant that I was constantly weighing up everything that they were going through, and all of the choices they were making. I was considering whether the choices they were making were right, if the actions they were taking could be considered justified, and if they'd made that turn into the villainous. I ended up engaging with the text a lot more than I thought, and I found that I came to care for Zachareth more than I was expecting because I felt this kind of odd sympathy for him. I could see that he was trying to be a good, decent protector for his home; but I was also aware that this would not have the outcome that he was hoping for.

Over the course of his journey Zachareth takes the readers to some interesting locations. As I've said, I'm not familiar with this setting, so I don't know how many of these are locations that will be familiar to players and how many are newly created by MacNiven, but there is a wonderful and varied mix. Zachareth's home of Castle Talon feels like a very traditional fantasy style lords home. It's a castle in a more norther, remote location that means the people are hardier and used to war, especially with the shared border to a land where the undead walk. You could make the comparison to the North in A Song of Ice and Fire, and that wouldn't be a completely wrong comparison as I did get those kind of vibes from it.

There's also Greyhaven, a city built around the school that sits at its heart. Everything in the city seems geared around this seat of learning, from the school itself to the shops that sell supplies to students, bars for people to relax, and import for the many needed supplies. It felt like a bustling, ancient city where people were always rushing around getting from one class to another, and it really did feel like the fantasy equivalent of a bustling university campus. We also visit another city that seems to have a much darker kind of feel to it, a creepy remote island, mist shrouded bog-lands, and we even get a traditional fantasy tavern thrown into the mix too. Despite only seeming to take place in one small corner of this hugely fleshed-out world there's a sense of scale to things here, and it feels like a bustling, lived in world.

MacNiven also includes a number of action scenes throughout the book, adding a nice break to the wonderful world building and character development. It's clear that MacNiven knows his stuff, and the fights feel like they leap off the page and are wonderfully clear and easy to follow. He gives plenty of detail, enough that you can clearly picture everything that's happening, and you'll soon find yourself getting swept up by the grandeur of it. Despite knowing that Zachareth must come out of every combat alright due to this being his origin story, MacNiven makes it always feel like there's a large degree of risk during these moments, and you never quite feel safe for the characters; especially towards the final chapters.

Zachareth: A Descent: Legends of the Dark Novel was a book that I found to be intriguing from the first time I saw the gorgeous cover and read the blurb, but I never expected it to grab me the way this did. I ended up devouring the book, desperate to keep reading to find out what happened next. This became a world that I went from knowing nothing about to being really invested in, with some of the best morally complex characters I've read in a long time. Part of me is angry that this is a first volume, because it means that I have to wait to get more of this character; but on the other hand, as someone who absolutely loved this book I'm extremely happy to know that I'm going to be getting more of this in the future.

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