Hi guys, and welcome to Game Box; a new series where I look at some of the games I’ve been playing recently since I finally have a console again. First up, I’m coming to be talking about the recent Open Beta for Gazillion Entertainment’s Marvel Heroes Omega.

Marvel Heroes Omega assembles one of the largest gatherings of iconic Super Heroes, Super Villains, and locations from the Marvel Universe in gaming history for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac.

Set in the iconic Marvel Universe, Marvel Heroes Omega combines the core game-play style of Action RPGs and MMOs with the expansive library of heroes from the Marvel Universe. In the game, players can collect and play as their favorite Marvel Super Heroes (including Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America and many others).

Team up with friends and try to stop Doctor Doom from devastating the world with the power of the Cosmic Cube in a story written by Marvel comic super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis.

From moment one, you’re given a gorgeous introduction sequence featuring some pretty good 3D models and 2D animated sections retelling the origins of the more famous Marvel Heroes. A fair few of the cut scenes in-game follow a more motion comic style and while the blend of styles is a little jarring at first, I give the creators credit for trying something different.

The tutorial drops you in the middle of a mission with Captain America and allows you the time to figure out your buttons before setting you against Ultron and his minions. Each of your attacks is assigned to one of the four face buttons and you can bring up a secondary menu by holding L2. It’s an intuitive system to help console players easily access their full range of abilities that’s a staple of MMOs on consoles.

Throughout the tutorial, you’re given the ability to play as Cap, Black Widow and Hulk before they allow you to access the launch roster of heroes. It’s a right Who’s Who of MCU characters alongside more established characters. You get all the ones you know and then you get the likes of Wiccan, Squirrel Girl and Angela, which is cool. Given this is a Free-To-Play game, you’re given the opportunity to try before you buy any of these characters before Level 10 when you have to pick your starter character.

I eventually chose She-Hulk and upon entering the game proper, I noticed a cute quirk this game has. Depending on the characters in the vicinity, there are unique snippets of dialogue from both your character and those of other players. This gives the world a little more connectivity and hearing Shulkie interact with Gambit in the moments in the mission worlds or at the HQ is pretty fun. The voice cast for this game is exhaustive too, bringing in all the voices you’d associate with these characters from various animated shows as well as bringing in actors such as Clark Gregg and Keith David, voicing Agent Coulson and Nick Fury, respectively.

Being a FTP game, more heroes are unlocked through Founder’s Packs of various price points, by using Eternity Splinters or by accumulating the specfic in-game currency to buy them or unlock additional costumes. You can get an additional hero for nothing though, by downloading Daredevil for free and the additional Man Without Fear costume for free if you are a PS Plus member.

You can customise your heroes with character-specific loot drops for defeating enemies and augment their abilities through levelling or attaching Medallions from defeated super villains.

Given the amount of FTP MMO games on consoles at the moment, you could be forgiven for thinking this is just another but the game plays like the X-Men Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games, taking an isometric view of the action but adds the MMO component and the whole package feels a little like that Avengers Alliance game for its breadth of characters and customisation potential.

If you’re looking for a quick and fun MMO to get into or are jonesing for a Marvel game that isn’t on mobile (that’s me) then I recommend giving this game a shot. Marvel Heroes Omega is currently available for Open Beta on Playstation 4 and will be officially released on June 4 2017. For more details and updates, head over to the official website and be sure to follow the game’s Twitter.

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Right out of the gate, we’re introduced to the downtrodden, out of work father of one, Mike Peterson (played by Angel Alumni, J. August Richards) as he’s witness to an apartment explosion and wastes no time in jumping in to rescue a woman. His heroic efforts catch the eye of a young hacker and, eventually, the attention of SHIELD as Coulson and Maria Hill gather a new team together in an effort to recruit new heroes as they appear and put a stop to foreseeable threats.

Being the pilot for a new show, we’re hit with a lot of information very fast but none of it feels especially rushed. We spend a little more time with Maria Hill and learn that she actually has a sense of humour, as well being conspiratorial with SHIELD physician, Dr. Streiten, played by Firefly Alumni Ron Glass. If more and more actors from Whedon’s past projects show up, I’ll be a happy camper. Who wouldn’t want to see the likes of Nathan Fillion, Jewel Staite and Adam Baldwin in this show?

Now, to the subject of speculation: Phil “Agent” Coulson. We all saw the Son of Coul die in New York but why is he here now? According the man himself, Fury faked his death and sent him on vacation to Tahiti but Hill and Dr. Streiten seem to know more. Is he a clone? A Life Model Decoy? Hell, is he even human? This will no doubt be an underlying subplot throughtout the season but my personal take is this: He is Coulson. Doesn’t matter what he is, he’s still Coulson and that’s good enough for me. For now.

The rest of the team is assembled and is a surprisingly diverse bunch. Ward is a specialist, conflict resolution, that kind of deal, but he admits to being scared of women and that he loves his Grandma. Admittedly, he said that after being nailed with truth serum by Coulson but still. Melinda May is Mulan the pilot and obviously has a mysterious reputation as a field agent. Fitz and Simmons are the adorable techies who have a really fun brother/sister bond and Skye is the hacker I mentioned earlier. They don’t get much development but you get a good sense of each character and we’ll be seeing more of them throughout the season so it’s a good introduction.

One thing I love in my entertainment is continuity and references so this show will be perfect for me. All the little nods to the cinematic universe and to a larger Marvel Universe made me smile. Mentions of Puente Antiguo, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., and freakin’ Longshot all had me sitting there saying:

The pilot episode was quick, to the point and highly entertaining. I can see so much potential for this show being the springboard for concepts later seen in the movies and vice-versa. We could have all-new heroes and villains to deal with and, budget be willing, maybe even some A-list guest stars (The A stand for Avenger). I’m looking forward to what wonders and woes this series will bring us and I hope you’ll be following along with his here on The Website of Doom! See you next weeeeeeeeeek!

The second trailer for Thor 2: Asgardian Boogaloo was released today. The movie comes out on October 30th this year and will be the second post-Avengers film.

There has been a change of director since the first Thor. Kenneth Branagh has been replaced by Alan Taylor, a director who has worked primarily on television. He’s worked on Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Sopranos, and tons more shows but he has only made 3 movies previously and none with the kind of budget that this film has so it will be considered a step up for him.

All the principal cast return, along with a few additions, and with a late release date like it has there shouldn’t be much competition in the box office. Can’t fail, right?

Right?

– Take Me Down To The Paradise City

The colour and style of the last film was a little on the cartoon side. Things tended to look a little clunky. Similar to toys. This film however looks a little bit more sophisticated. Even Asgard looks more detailed.

– Cancel The Ragnorak

Idris Elba plays Heimdall, who in the comics almost never takes off his helmet. It’s not a destruction of his character to have him here with the helmet off or anything like that but it took me by surprise nonetheless. And I’m sure the ladies aren’t complaining.

– Smile Like You Mean It

Tom Hiddleston returns once again as Loki. If ever there was a man just having the time of his life in a role, it’s him. I really get the impression that he’d play this character as long as they ask him to. I hope they keep asking him. And I’m sure the ladies aren’t complaining.

– Swedish Murder Machine

Chris Hemsworth is turning into a man before our very eyes, folks. If the first movie was Thor learning to grow up, then this movie will show that effect. More-so Hemsworth is starting to look like an older man too. More commanding. And I’m sure the ladies aren’t complaining.

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Overall: in the end, Thor 1 did better in the box office than some of his Avenger counterparts, so hopefully this sequel can continue that success. It certainly looks a better film, hopefully it will back that claim up come release time. Bring a female friend.

When Marvel‘s first phase of films were announced, the one film we were all a little skeptical of was Thor. He had the wildest back story. He was a god. He was known the least by the general public. How would they react to such madness? Well, while he probably had the most mixed critical reception, he actually took in more at the box office than Captain America. So I would claim that’s a pretty sound success.

No doubt Marvel will want to improve on those reviews from the press and with movement towards the next Avengers movie beginning this year, they’ll want to capitalize on the good feeling the franchise has. On board are all the original cast and with the addition of Christopher Eccleston as our bad guy and Chris O’Dowd in an as yet unnamed roll (ooooooooooo) that’s a nice place to start.

This is the first trailer to be released for the film but with it being released in October we’re sure to see more soon. Let’s check it out.

– Howaya?

Eccleston plays Malekith, a leader of the Dark Elves. And while that’s cool and all, he’s not exactly a recognized character so teasing his look like this is a little pointless.

But he’s a reliable actor so whatever they make him to look like, I have no doubt he’ll make us scared of him.

– Guurrrrl, get yo hands offa him!

For years in the comics there has been a weird kind of love triangle with Thor, Sif, Jane, and Doctor Donald Blake. In the movie universe, Blake isn’t a factor but it’s nice that they’re introducing an element of it here.

Oh, how do I know that they’re doing that?

Look at that face! I’ve lived enough years on this earth to know that this is a look that doesn’t end well. Trust me. Every other guy with a jealous girlfriend will back me up on this.

– Michael Knight is a Dark Elf?

Is it just me, or does the glowing red light at the front of the alien ships look a lot like the car from Knight Rider?

Just me?

– Oh Hi Thor

Of all the things in the trailer, this has caused the biggest stir online.

Why? Well, partially because the ladies of the internet are OBSESSED with Loki but mostly because he looks like Tommy Wiseau from The Room.

Yeah. Try taking the movie seriously now.

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Overall: There is VERY little in this trailer. Maybe a lot of the effect shots might not be finished yet and that’s where most of the action will be, but the trailer is kind of boring. Hopefully the next one will up the ante but so far my reaction is… meh?

JJ “The Host” and his amazing friends “Jazzy” Jason and “Astonishing” Aaron are here to discuss Marvel’s latest blockbuster! First, the trio discuss the path that had to be paved to deliver this latest adventure! Will our trio be “Friends Of ‘Ol Marvel” or will they give the “Merry Marvel Marching Society” the boot? There is only one way to find out, True Believer, and that is to tune in to this DOUBLE SIZED issue…uh…episode. ASSEMBLE! EXCELSIOR! and stuff.

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Considering the coverage this site has given in the past to the Marvel films of Thor, Captain America etc. it’s probably not very surprising that we here at DOOM Towers are quite excited at the prospect of seeing The Avengers. In fact, three of our staff have the same Thor action figure. So now that the first real trailer has been released we’re… well, lets say “giddy”.

I personally felt that the teaser trailer we got after the credits of Captain America was pretty weak. We got flashes of nothing in a pretty large sense and apart from one shot of the gang standing in the same room, I saw very little to get excited about. I also saw very little.

We have a year to go before this film is going to be released, so whatever we see now will be the easiest stuff to shoot and finish (so lots of talking and intense staring). But lets hope it manages to stir the same feeling in my loins as the last few trailers for the solo films.

Lets have a closer look, shall we?

– What Are You Looking At?

You may have noticed that there are a couple shots of people aiming guns at the sky. Lots of people, lots of sky, and they’re ALL looking up. So what has them scared?

I can’t believe that it’s just Loki. Is the Skrulls rumour true? Are they looking at an alien invasion?

– Hit Him!

Could we be looking at the first meeting of Cap and Thor?

It certainly has all the hallmarks of a comic-book meeting by two heroes. Read any comic about Spidey meeting Daredevil for the first time or Hulk and Wolverine… they’re all misconstrued fights that turn to a friendship. I look forward to seeing this playing out on the big screen.

– Blink And You’ll Miss It

So there is a half second shot of Loki choking Tony Stark and throwing him out a window. It’s so quick, any snapshot I tried to get of it ended up blurred like this.

But, with thanks to the internet (and specifically Tumblr) I found this nifty little gif of it.

Cool, right?

– Green Giant

They have shown very little of Hulk in the build up to this. It’s understandable why, though. His film was the least popular. The momentum is with the other characters who we’ve all seen more recently. And yet, THIS is the thing that got me excited.

I seriously can’t wait to see Hulk interact with the rest of the team and, well, I just can’t wait to see him smash stuff guilt free.

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Was I thrilled with the trailer? Not really. Am I happy with it? Sure. I wasn’t expecting much more than what we got at this early stage and there is nothing I’ve seen that would dissapoint me or bug me going into the film.

Although that “we’ll avenge it” line was laughably bad. Guys, you don’t have to give us a reason to call the team The Avengers. Just leave it be.

Thanks for watching and let us know what you think below!

JJ and his amazing friend Elizabeth would like to warn you, the following podcast will contain spoilers for the movies Super 8 and possibly a bit for Fright Night, you have been warned. As you may have guessed, the pair have taken the time to see a couple of movies recently…can you guess which ones? After some discussion of the wonders of Colin Farrell and David Tennant, JJ asks Elizabeth to elaborate on the book series she has fallen in love with. All this and more just days before the Mars Needs crew start bombarding you with Dragon*Con goodness.

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JJ and his amazing friend Jason dedicate this our third “clean” show to our landlord and resident zombie enthusiast here at The Website Of Doom, Mr. Antonio “JJ Still Feels Odd Referring To Him By His Real Name” Bay. JJ opens the show explaining why he thinks it is a good idea to keep up the annual tradition, and then highly recommends a film he saw recently, then the conversion makes its own path…never to return. Movies, Comics, Collectibles, Television Shows, Circumcision all gets at least mentioned in a profanity free trip into the psyche of the geek.

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