Author: Dr. K

Back Issues: Aliens vs. Predator: Duel

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Story Titles: “Duel: Book One” and “Duel: Book One”
Published: March 1995 to April 1995

Writer: Randy Stradley
Artist: Javier Saltares

Quick Facts:
As Dark Horse Comics achieved mainstream success with licensed adaptations of horror and science-fiction films, it made sense to pit the Alien (Various, 1977 to present) and Predator (Various, 1987 to present) franchises against each other. The initial mini series spawned numerous follow-ups and eventually debuted the Xenomorph/Alien “Predalien” hybrid in this two-part story.

The Review:
“Duel” is a follow-up to the five-issue “Aliens vs. Predator” story arc that followed the first three-issue clash between the two species and set the foundation for the sub-franchise that followed. Like in that story, “Duel” is set on the planet Ryushi, a desolate wasteland where Xenomorphs roam freely amongst the remains of Prosperity Wells and other outposts. The story begins thirty-odd hours after a squad of United States Marine Corps (USMC) respond to a distress beacon, only to be caught between the Aliens and Predators, who slaughter anyone who either crosses their path or interferes with the sanctity of the “hunt”. There’s some uncertainty when the only human inhabitant of the planet, Colony Administrator Machiko Noguchi, doesn’t respond to their communication attempts and the planet, formally controlled by the Chigusa Corporation, is a known dead zone (though the USMC aren’t privy to the slaughter that occurred there). Led by Captain Glass, the Marines explore the abandoned settlement and conclude that Noguchi is a “write-off”. It’s revealed that Weyland-Yutani were forced to share information about the Aliens for their own protection, meaning the Marines are far more knowledgeable than their Aliens (Cameron, 1986) counterparts and they’re understandably stunned when the alien craft they stumble upon is nothing like the Engineer’s crescent ship they expected. Unaware they’re being watched and sweltering in the intense heat, they instinctively open fire upon a monstrous Briar Wolf, a native of Ryushi, when it attacks.

While investigating Ryushi, a group of Marines are attacked by Aliens, Predator, and a monstrous hybrid!

As the Marines explore, they find an unconscious Yautja warrior. After making preparations to transport the bizarre creature back to their ship, the Marines find a chained-up Xenomorph Queen. Though they arrogantly believe she’s dead, Lieutenant Sali is splattered by the bitch’s extendable mouth when she suddenly revives and attacks, leading the Marines to blast her to corrosive chunks. As the Marines carry the Predator outside, they’re suddenly ambushed by Alien drones, who leap from the sands and quickly surround them. When a group of semi-cloaked Yautja appear to join the fray, Captain Glass orders his men to stand down, identifying the creatures as “survivors” from the wreckage, though he later notes that this was a mistake, despite the Predators seemingly helping them by dicing the Xenomorphs with axe-like spears. While the aliens renew their rivalry, the Marines race to their All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), where they’re confronted by one-armed Predator veteran “Light-Stepper”, who appeared in previous Dark Horse publications. Though apprehensive, the Marines attempt to make contact, only for Private Cogeletti to get speared through the chest! Naturally, the Marines open fire and, though Light-Stepper easily evades them, one of his cohorts isn’t so lucky and the Marines learn that, despite the Predator’s technology, they are as vulnerable as any other creature. The Marines quickly prepare to evacuate, with Captain Glass insisting they keep their survivor alive so the species can be further studied, a decision that also backfires when the Yautja violently spasms and births a particularly gruesome Chestburster! Although the Marines try to blast the scurrying little hybrid, it’s too quick and Sergeant Lesser is picked off by a Predator’s plasma cannon during the fracas. Spooked and sure that the Yautja have them surrounded, the Marines lay down crossfire against their invisible foes, though their hopes are quickly raised when they see their pilot, Murphy, flying in to pick them up in a “Cheyenne” class Utility Dropship.

With his squad dead, Captain Glass is forced to help Light-Stepper defeat the Predalien.

However, just as they’re scrambling to reach the rendezvous point, the Marines are stunned when Light-Stepper hefts a massive shoulder cannon and blows the dropship to smithereens! With no choice but to flee and try to think of an alternative escape plan, the Marines frantically race off in the ATV, shredding another Yautja with the vehicle’s blaster cannons and desperately trying to keep from being overwhelmed by their need for revenge. Spotting the remains of Prosperity Wells, Captain Glass heads to the ruins and has the Marines set up defenses to fend off their assailants. As night falls and his men take turns resting, Captain Glass remains vigilant, determined to make the creatures pay for murdering his troops, though they’re caught completely off-guard when the fully grown Predalien sneaks in and massacres two of his men! Bigger, more aggressive and uglier than either species, easily capable of crushing heads with one malformed claw, Captain Glass theorises that the Predators are pursuing them for allowing such an abomination to be born. After the Predalien gives them the slip and another plasma cannon shot offs one of his squad, Captain Glass detonates the mines they placed around the perimeter and kills two Predators, eventually leaving himself and Light-Stepper the only survivors. Thus, an unlikely alliance is forged when the Predalien reappears, with Captain Glass distracting the abomination long enough for his one-armed ally to cut the creature’s throat and stab it to death. With both warriors exhausted, neither has the strength or will to fight, with Captain Glass hypothesising that they’ve developed a mutual respect. Thus, the two simply sit and wait and are left to wonder which of their allies will arrive first, and what will happen when they do.

Final Thoughts:
“Aliens vs. Predator: Duel” was a decent enough continuation of the dual narrative first thought up by Dark Horse Comics in 1990, and certainly influenced both franchises, but I was left a bit disappointed by the overall presentation. While some lauded the artwork, I found things were overly simplistic, with the environment barely standing out and the Marines being largely interchangeable. I had a hard time telling who was who or even caring about them since none of them receive any characterisation beyond being “Oorah!” meatheads except for Captain Glass, a man so bland and forgettable that he pales in comparison to even the most one-dimensional Marines from Cameron’s sci-fi classic. Ryushi has never made for a compelling location, being mostly a barren wasteland, and it’s even more difficult to connect with it now that the few bastions of civilisation have been abandoned or destroyed. Thus, I’m glad “Duel” was only a two-part tale as it could jump into the action a lot faster, but it does feel oddly paced despite its short length. There is barely any conventional Alien action here and, when the Xenomorphs do appear, they’re slaughtered like “bugs” and don’t even factor into the finale. Captain Glass theorises that the Predalien is some kind of affront to the Yautja, but we never see how the Aliens react to it. Would they obey it as a superior creature or turn against it? Either scenario would’ve added to the gore, action, and intrigue but, instead, the Aliens disappear from the narrative, despite the presence of a prisoner Queen indicating that Ryushi should probably be overrun by them. Returning to the artwork, Javier Saltares seems to be going for a stylised, minimalist approach but it comes across as amateurish to me. Aliens, Predators, and Marines alike lack detail, most of the gore is obscured in shadows, and it’s difficult to make out what’s happening in some panels.

A disappointing debut for the Predalien that doesn’t live up to its full potential.

Captain Glass is defined as the quintessential Marine. A tough, no-nonsense leader who’s simply following orders but is very protective of his troops, meaning he takes it very personally when they’re killed and actively organises them to dig in and fight back against their aggressive alien enemies. He admittedly makes numerous mistakes throughout, ultimately hedging his bets on aiding Light-Stepper simply to try and survive. Light-Stepper (who should be familiar to long-time Dark Horse Comics readers) is depicted as a wily and hostile Yautja, one far more experienced, durable, and capable than his peers despite only having one arm. He seems to have a personal, perhaps even religious obsession with slaughtering the Marines after they take the infected body of one of his kin, leading to him systematically picking off Captain Glass’s troops to recover the body and contain the situation. That being, of course, the Predalien, which is honestly the only saving grace of this story and, even then, it’s so poorly brought to life that, at first, I mistook it for a regular Xenomorph! The Predalien is a bastardised hybrid of the two species, sporting the iconic Yautja dreadlocks and greater bulk, and showcases augmented strength and speed, but is otherwise indistinguishable from a drone. The battle between it and Light-Stepper is short and violent and the creature is killed with relative ease, with Captain Glass barely contributing. This is a shame as it would’ve been cool to see a long, violent battle between the three, with man and Yautja setting aside their differences against a common enemy to showcase what makes the Predalien truly unique. Instead, it’s a few indistinct panels and then that’s it, with Light-Stepper not even injured by the abomination’s acidic blood. So, yeah, “Duel” may be important to the Aliens vs. Predator canon, but it left a lot to be desired in terms of its visuals, narrative, and action. I would’ve preferred to see the Predalien already fully grown, perhaps having slaughtered a hive and battling a Queen for dominance, and to see the Predators actively hunting it, with the Marines caught in the crossfire. Instead, I was left with a bit of a mess that didn’t quite live up to its potential.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Have you ever read “Aliens vs. Predator: Duel”? If so, what did you think to it and how it continued this spin-off canon? Were you also disappointed by the artwork and the narrative or were you impressed by the fidelity to the source material? What did you think the this batch of Marines, specifically Captain Glass, and their lack of characterisation? Were you impressed by the Predalien or do you agree that it should’ve had a bigger role in the story? Which of the Aliens vs. Predator stories or adaptations was your favourite and how are you celebrating the Predator franchise this month? Whatever your thoughts on Aliens vs. Predator, drop a comment down below, send me some love on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Predator (and Aliens) content.

Screen Time [Captain Picard Day]: Star Trek: The Next Generation: “The Best of Both Worlds” (S3: E26/S4:E1)

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As seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) episode “The Pegasus” (Burton, 1994), the U.S.S. Enterprise-D celebrates “Captain Picard Day” on Stardate 47457.1, which roughly translates to June 16th, and I am no different.

Season Three, Episode 26 and Season Four, Episode 1:
“The Best of Both Worlds (Part I and Part II)”

Director: Cliff Bole
Air Date: 18 June 1990 and 24 September 1990
UK Network: Sky One

Original Network: Various (syndication)
IMDb Rating: 9.3/10

Quick Facts:
Amazed by the continued popularity of Star Trek: The Original Series (1966 to 1969) and the success of their feature films, Paramount Pictures finally approved a new series with an all-new cast. After The Next Generation’s early success and some retooling, the producers ended season three on a daring cliff-hanger focused on breakout villains the Borg, who were redesigned by make-up supervisor Michael Westmore. This consistently popular two-parter laid the foundation for future Borg appearances and forever shaped the character of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

The Review:
Although the Borg are well established as a significant threat across all Star Trek media, at this point there were still a mystery and a source of great fear for both viewers and the Next Generation characters. First introduced in “Q Who” (Bowman, 1989), the Borg were an aggressive semi-cybernetic race who posed a threat to all living creatures but were far away in the Delta Quadrant, meaning the likes of Admiral J.P. Hanson (George Murdock) and Captain Picard had hoped the United Federation of Planets would have more time to prepare for an invasion from the all-conquering species. Since being alerted to the Borg, Admiral Hanson and other Federation officials scrambled to come up with defensive measures against their terrifying ability to “adapt” to weapons, technology, and strategy, which renders consistent attacks minimal, at best. Admiral Hanson’s efforts at designing new weapons and tactics were greatly aided by the ambitious Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy), a Borg expert who joins the Enterprise-D for this two-parter. Initially, the Enterprise-D is unaware of the Borg threat when they respond to a distress signal from Jouret IV, though an initial investigation by Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn), and Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) suggests the Borg wiped out the colony. Shelby confirms the threat with a smug confidence and an eagerness to impress that ruffles Riker’s feathers and puts the Enterprise-D and the Federation in a state of war as they prepare to engage and counter the pending Borg treat, represented by a single Borg cube heading for Earth.

Shelby’s ambitious nature clashes with Riker and forces them to find common ground against the Borg,

Although a plot thread throughout both parts, part one is especially focused on Riker and his rivalry with Shelby. Shelby arrives with a fire in her belly, in awe of Picard and the Enterprise-D and desperate to impress him and be assigned as First Officer. Ambitious, driven, and determined, she tirelessly prepares the Enterprise-D for battle with the Borg, exploring all options to stand a chance against the Borg cube and their drones (Adrian Tafoya, Christopher Doyle, Keith Rayve, Lynn Salvatori). This includes randomly fluctuating the frequencies and power of their phasers and shields to deal damage before the Borg can adapt and working with Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) to reconfigure the ship’s deflector dish into a destructive energy discharge. Shelby’s ambition impresses Admiral Hanson and Picard but clashes with Riker, who’s not ready to stand aside despite being offered another captaincy and who finds Shelby’s reckless and insubordinate as she takes too many risks and lacks his “seasoned” experience. This creates something of a crisis for Riker, who questions why he keeps refusing the captain’s chair and his place aboard the Enterprise-D and is dismayed to think he’s lost the hot-headed qualities that Shelby possesses. Riker discusses this with Counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Picard, who’s eager for him to take the next step in his career, and routinely puts Shelby in his place, maintaining his composure around the crew but chewing her out for going over his head and defying his orders. Shelby sees Riker as an obstacle. She respects him as her senior officer but she’s happy to step over him if it means advancing her career, especially as she sees him as being too comfortable in his role as Picard’s second, leading them to clash on multiple occasions and be begrudgingly forced to find a middle ground to combat the Borg.

Assimilated by the Borg, Picard’s knowledge and experience are used against his crew and comrades.

Though focused on conquering and assimilating Earth, the Borg exhibit an uncharacteristic interest in Picard here, deviating from their course to order him to submit to them and act as their representative for their attack. Although Picard naturally refuses, he quickly uses this to his advantage and lures the Borg cube into a nearby nebula to repair the damage caused by the Borg and strategise for their next attack. Picard receives counsel from mysterious bartender Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), whose race were driven to near extinction by the Borg, and is fully prepared to give his life, and sacrifice the Enterprise-D, to stop the Borg’s advance. Picard remains steadfast in his defiance of the Borg and resolute in leading the charge against them, utilising every option available to score even the smallest of wins and fully confident that the deflector dish plan will work. Even when he’s abducted by the Borg, Picard remains insolent, despite their claims that “resistance is futile”, which makes it even more impactful when he’s transformed into “Locutus of Borg” and his knowledge and experience are twisted to serve the Borg. Locutus is cold and unemotional, using Picard’s knowledge and familiarity with the Enterprise-D crew to to mock them and shrug off even their energy beam. Using Picard’s intel, the Borg easily wipe out Admiral Hanson’s armada at Wolf 359 and counteract every strategy the Enterprise-D comes up with since Picard was fully briefed on their plans and knows the crew, especially Riker, intimately. Although extremely lucky to not have any of his appendages or organs replaced by Borg technology, Picard is nonetheless riddled with Borg implants and transformed into their malicious representative. However, it’s made clear that Picard is fully aware of his actions and conscious of the torture he’s enduring, which allows him to reaffirm his personality thanks to Data circumventing the Borg neural network.

The crew struggles to adapt to losing their beloved commander and come up with new strategies.

Picard’s assimilation rocks the crew. Worf is especially shaken to see his captain transformed, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is heartbroken and desperate to try and recover him so they can try and save him, and Riker struggles to acclimate to his field promotion in the wake of the tragedy, especially as Picard “wrote the book” on the Enterprise-D and was such a commanding and inspirational force. Riker adapts to his command very well, taking charge and even publicly burying the hatchet with Shelby to promote her to First Officer, but it’s clear Picard’s “ghost” haunts him. Riker’s mannerisms and command style emulate Picard, to the point where Guinan encourages him to “let Picard go” as it’s damaging to his authority and their mission. I loved how threatening the Borg are here. While their drones and even the cube is partially damaged by modulating phaser fire and forced to slow when the away team damage critical power nodes to “make them scratch”, they’re presented as an unconquerable force who immediately adapt to every situation. Their cutting beam devastates the Enterprise-D, their technology drains their shields, and they’re seen as so superior that they don’t even care when the crew transport aboard the cube as they don’t consider them a threat! As the Borg rip through Earth’s defences, Riker desperately tries to keep pace and slow them down but is forced to make repairs and re-strategise. Knowing that Locutus will be fully aware of their plans, Riker uses this against their corrupted captain and pretends to employ a diversionary tactic they discussed, distracting Locutus with talk of surrender while the separated saucer section unleashes anti-matter that allows Data and Worf to penetrate the Borg’s defences and reacquire their former captain. Beverly is practically giddy at the prospect of studying a captive Borg, as fascinated by their technology as Data is, and is confident she can remove all the relatively non-invasive implants but not while Locutus is still “plugged in” to the Borg neural network.

The crew manage to reach Picard and halt Locutus’s rampage, though he’s left shaken by the experience.

Though slowed by the abduction of their figurehead, the Borg continue on regardless and Locutus promises not to harm the shellshocked crew (though he does amusingly threaten and mock Data and Worf). Collaborating with Beverly and Troi, Data desperately works to bypass the Borg neural network to slow or stop the Borg by planting commands into their systems. The effort allows Picard’s consciousness to break through and make basic contact as Data struggles to access vital systems and the Enterprise-D faces imminent destruction. Picard’s simple statement, “sleep”, inspires Data to trick the Borg into entering their regeneration cycle, causing their weapons and systems to shut down. Somehow, this also causes a feedback loop throughout the Borg cube that sees it self-destruct, which Riker decides to risk not preventing in favour of getting to safety. Luckily, this pays off as Picard is restored following the cube’s destruction and Beverly easily removes his implants. However, Picard is left rattled by his experiences with the Borg, clearly disturbed by the ordeal, despite the Federation making plans to strengthen their defences against the Borg. It’s actually crazy that Picard returns to duty so quickly considering everything. This also might’ve been a great opportunity to spend at least half of the fourth season with Riker in command of the Enterprise-D while Picard recovers in various sub-plots. Of course, Picard’s experiences with the Borg and his time as Locutus would come back to haunt him throughout his life, and beyond, and these episodes represented something of a turning point for Picard and the show as it explored the fallout from this arc and ensured that the Borg would be a terrifying threat throughout the entire franchise.

Final Thoughts:
I’m extremely biased when it comes to “The Best of Both Worlds”, which are two of my favourite episodes of The Next Generation (and in all of Star Trek). The Next Generation was my main source of Star Trek as a kid beyond the movies with the old crew and I’ve always enjoyed their adventures. Additionally, the Borg are one of my favourite antagonists from the franchise for how disturbing they are. Piloting simple, unassuming cube-shaped ships, the Borg are a horrifying threat as they don’t just conquer and destroy, they transform and supplant entire cultures with their own. Assimilating the technology and knowledge of entire civilisations, the Borg are extremely formidable in their ability to adapt. Their hive mind culture means they are in perfect harmony and unison, lacking empathy and emotion and focused only on expanding their empire and getting closer to “perfection”. Their assimilation of others, especially Picard, is seen as a physical violation akin to torture or even rape. Picard is forced from his loved ones, his personality erased, his body transformed, and becomes little more than a soulless puppet for the Borg as Locutus, who wields Picard’s knowledge like a weapon and uses it to effectively decimate the Federation and the Enterprise-D, forcing the crew to fight against their enigmatic and inspirational captain. The visual imagery of Picard transformed by the Borg is striking, even if the Borg look quite cheap and tacky at this point, and seeing him slowly lose more of his humanity, even weeping a single tear for his fate, is incredibly impactful for both audiences and the crew, who must adapt to the new threat,

A fantastic, emotional showcase for Picard, Riker, and the Borg, who’s threat was cemented here.

If you’re a fan of Riker, then this is the story for you as Will is forced to take centre stage and assume command of the Enterprise-D. Obviously, it would upset the status quo of the show if Riker did the natural thing and graduated to his own command, but “The Best of Both Worlds” explores why he chooses to stay where he is and gives a glimpse of his capability as captain. He does a decent job, but he struggles to shake off Picard’s influence in his mannerisms and decisions. It’s a hell of a test for him to go head-to-head with his former captain, who anticipates and derails his every move, forcing Riker and the crew to come up with new solutions to outwit Locutus. Shelby makes for a perfect rival for Riker as she’s everything he once was (ambitious, headstrong, and a risk taker) and forces him to confront the fact that he’s not that person anymore and has matured. She is a royal pain in the ass and I’m always a little sad she didn’t get some comeuppance but she was invaluable to besting Locutus and I enjoyed seeing Riker chastise her insubordination. This two-parter gives most of the bridge crew something to do, with even Beverly aiding Picard’s restoration and Troi helping Riker to acclimatise to his new role. I would’ve liked to see a bit more from Worf, perhaps a more interesting fight between him and the Borg and focus more on his anger at Picard’s transformation, but I enjoyed Data’s solution to defeating the Borg and it went a long way to showing that innovation and adaptability are key to overcoming the Borg. Though I would have loved to see the status quo mixed up for a few episodes after this, I really loved the long-term implications this two-parter had for Picard and how it established the Borg’s threat. It’s one of the quintessential Next Generation stories and led to bigger and better things, so it’s always a blast to put this one on and see Locutus act so cold and cruel towards his beloved former crew.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Is “The Best of Both Worlds” one of your favourite Next Generation stories? Were you shocked to see Picard transformed into Locutus? Did you enjoy seeing Riker take command or do you think he’s better as the First Officer? Were you a fan of the rivalry between Riker and Shelby? Did you like how fearsome the Borg were presented, even with the dodgy costumes? What are some of your favourite Borg episodes and how are you celebrating Captain Picard Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on “The Best of Both Worlds”, support me on Ko-Fi and leave a like and a comment.

Movie Night: Predator: Badlands

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Released: 7 November 2025
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Distributor: 20th Century Studios

Budget: $105 million
Box Office: $184.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 87% / 95%

Quick Facts:
After 20th Century Fox was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2017, director Dan Trachtenberg revitalised the Predator franchise (Various, 1987 to present) with Prey (2022) and a successful anthology film. Trachtenberg followed these efforts with this Western-inspired, Yautja-centric film that aimed to further expanded the species’ culture. Wētā Workshop contributed to the redesigned hunter and intricate effects work, and the movie even revisited combining the Alien (1979 to present) and Predator franchises for a celebrated entry more than worthy of discussing on “Predator Day”.

The Review:
I’ve said for years that the Predator franchise is severely misused in cinema. There is so much potential with where you can place the Yautja, how you can change up their technology and settings, from dropping them in the Old West to exploring other alien worlds. Thankfully, Dan Trachtenberg seems to fully understand this as his efforts have done a masterful job of expanding upon Yautja society and showcasing the alien hunters in new locations. Predator: Badlands finally gives a better look at their home world, Yautja Prime, which is noticeably different from the glimpse we got in AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (The Brothers Strause, 2007). In a barren, rocky, but no less dangerous sector of the planet, “unblooded” Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) matches himself against his bigger, older brother, Kwei (Mike Homik/Stefan Grube), in hopes of earning his cloak. Fuelled by rage and with a chip on his shoulder, Dek fights furiously with a plasma sword and shoulder-mounted grapnel, having not yet earned his plasma cannon or blades, but fails to best his brother, who’s not only bigger and stronger but also far more experienced at using the environment to his advantage. Considered the “runt” of their clan and the embarrassment of their decorated father, Njohrr (Reuben De Jong/Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), Dek is desperate to prove himself as worthy as his brother and thus eagerly demands to head to Genna, a hostile world home to the dreaded Kalisk, an unkillable apex predator even Njohrr fears. Enraged that Kwei protected his brother rather than cull him, Njohrr summarily executes Kwei as a helpless Dek watches on, furious at the loss and remotely transported to Genna with his brother’s last breath.

Runt hunter Drek must team with a damaged android to find his prey.

Though he hasn’t earned the iconic Yautja gear, Dek still crash lands with an assortment of weapons that he promptly loses when Genna’s forest attacks him. Left with only his plasma sword and a glaive, Dek continues through the hazardous world on the trail of the Kalisk, only to stumble into a field of explosive plants that threaten to leave him helpless against a gigantic, winged lizard. Luckily for Dek, Thia (Elle Fanning), a dismembered Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic who speaks Yautja, is nearby to convince the stubborn, prideful Dek to accept her help. After being torn in two by the Kalisk, her entire synthetic crew destroyed by the beast, and separated from her “sister”, Tessa (Elle Fanning), Thia offers to guide Dek to the Kalisk to reunite with her sister (and her legs) and get Dek his trophy. Though reluctant to accept help, and annoyed by Thia’s chatty nature, Dek agrees, viewing her as a “tool” to assist him, and lugs her around, encountering more of Genna’s dangers such as razor-sharp grass, acid-spitting worms, and exploding slugs. Dek’s forced to take on another straggler when the armour-plated, goblin-like “Bud” (Rohinal Nayaran) helps him bring down a Bone Bison amidst the razor grass, being branded by the creature but hesitant to accept her, or Thia, as he’s been rejected by his people and determined to claim his prize alone, as per Yautja creed. Still, Dek reluctantly shares some of his past and motivations with the inquisitive Thia, betraying his grief for his brother and inspiring him to be a protector rather than an apex predator. The relationship between Dek and Thia is a highlight, with the Predator showcasing a sarcastic sense of humour. Still, he’s blinded by his determination, learning the hard way that the Kalisk has an uncanny healing factor that makes it virtually unbeatable. Dek also abandons Bud since he has no use for him, yet rages when Thia alerts the Company to their location so she can reunite with Tessa.

The hostile environment is made worse by Tessa and the Company’s synthetics.

After being critically damaged by the Kalisk, Tessa is repaired and reprimanded by MU/TH/UR (Alison Wright), learning that her compassion for her sister led to their failure to capture the Kalisk and exploit its incredibly regenerative powers. Driven by this prime directive, Tessa has a far less empathy than her sister and is noticeably more cold-hearted, stealing Dek’s weapons to combat the environment and using Yautja freeze grenades to capture the Kalisk and the Predator. Thia’s joy at being reunited with her sibling quickly dissipates when she witnesses Tessa’s callous treatment of Dek and her, with Thia ordered to be deactivated and Tessa having the other synthetics (Cameron Brown) transport their quarry off-world. Thanks to Thia’s intervention, Dek is freed and re-evaluates his priorities, cobbling together makeshift “weaponry” and armour from the planet’s ecosystem and inhabitants. He feeds some of the acid worms to use them as substitute plasma blasters, uses the slugs as explosives, protects himself in Bone Bison hide, and even uses Thia’s dismembered legs to distract the synths. Finally recognising Thia and Bud as allies, Dek storms the Weyland-Yutani base, gloriously slaughtering the synthetics without a drop of red blood. He also showcases his growth into a protector as he becomes determined to rescue to Kalisk after realising it’s Bud’s mother and spared his life thanks to Bud marking him with her scent. He might be a runt and lack the regular Yautja weaponry, but Dek is still a capable and impressive hunter. He’s stubborn and determined to prove himself, but far from naïve and has clearly tested himself in the past. As the lead, he showcases more emotion and personality than previous Predators, revealing more about their culture and their code of honour and initially reluctant to work with others. He’s highly adaptable and refuses to quit, utilising the environment that’s tried so hard to kill him to rescue his makeshift clan and tearing through the synthetics despite being outnumbered and outgunned.

Dek forms an unlikely clan to claim his honour.


I was surprised by how big a role Weyland-Yutani played in Predator: Badlands. I assumed Thia would be the only link to the Company, but Weyland-Yutani are all over Genna, their synthetics act as cannon fodder for Dek, and Tessa is positioned as a heartless antagonist. It’s difficult to place where the film fits in the combined Alien and Predator timeline but I liked that the Company is aware of the Yautja, to the point where Thia can speak their language, and that the film finally brought both franchises together again. Despite the size, ferocity, and reputation of the Kalisk, Dek faces it without fear, ready to die with honour but eager to succeed where others (and his father) failed. Unfortunately, he fails to heed Thia’s warnings and underestimates the voracious beast, just as he underestimates Tessa’s capabilities as she attacks him in a massive power loader equipped with buzzsaws, mechanical fists, and Dek’s plasma cannon. Thanks to Thia and Bud, Dek holds Tessa off long enough to disable the power loader with one of his freeze grenades, leaving her as food for the Kalisk, which Dek affectionately bonds with moments before Thia freezes and explodes it from the inside out! Disgusted by Thia’s emotions, Tessa moves to execute her with the plasma cannon, rejecting their familial bond, only to be skewered by Dek, her head claimed as a trophy that Dek and his newfound clan return to Yautja Prime sometime later. Dek demands that Njohrr gift his cloak as a reward and clashes with his father when he continues to dismiss him for his smaller stature, leading Dek to attack. Though still outmatched by Njohrr, Dek’s experiences allow him to disarm his father and restrain him with a plasma trap, just as he did Kwei, driving the humbled Njohrr to finally acknowledge Dek’s strengths and offer him a place with the clan. Dek refuses, however, having already found his people, leaving the grown-up Bud to devour his father’s head and claiming his cloak, only for Dek and his allies to face the looming threat of his mother (though it would’ve been fun to have the three hunted by the Grendel King (Britton Watkins)).

The Summary:
After years of uncertainty or questionable absences from cinema screens, it’s wonderful to see the Predator franchise going through this newfound resurgence. I find it amazing that we’ve reached a point where a Yautja can be cast as the lead in one of these movies and for it to still be an enjoyable and surprisingly complex experience. While I still find Dex’s ponytail look a bit unflattering for a Predator, I really enjoyed the further insight into Yautja culture and language. It was a nice change of pace to focus on a young, inexperienced, and outcast hunter who is compelled to prove himself, especially as this gave Dek an engaging narrative arc where he learns there’s more to life than the strict Yautja code. Dek faces an uphill battle no matter where he is as even his own people turn against him, to say nothing of Genna’s hostile inhabitants and flora, which Dek wisely utilises to his advantage in the finale. Dek’s relationship with Thia was a highlight of the film, with her constantly needling him and in many ways mirroring him, especially in her relationship with Tessa, who becomes almost a mirror of Dek as the film goes on. Predator: Badlands looks incredible and smartly splashes only alien and synthetic blood, allowing for some gruesome kills that don’t detract from the film’s mainstream appeal, and I was super excited to officially get back on the road towards a more faithful Aliens vs. Predator film. I always enjoy seeing new sides to the Predator and fleshing out their species, and seeing different variations of the hunters in actions, and Predator: Badlands easily stands as one of the best and most engaging entries in the series.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy Predator: Badlands? What did you think to the relationship between Dek and Thia? Did you like the idea of following a Yautja runt or did the subtitles bother you? Were you surprised by how big a role Weyland-Yutani played? Where do you see Dek and his clan going next? What time periods or settings would you like to see the Predator placed in? How are you celebrating the franchise today? Whatever you thought about Predator: Badlands, comment below and then donate to my Ko-Fi if you liked this review.

Screen Time [Ghostbusters Day]: The Real Ghostbusters: “Citizen Ghost” (S1: E11)

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June 8th is “Ghostbusters Day”! Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984) was first released on this day back in 1984 and, since then, has become a major pop culture franchise.

Season One, Episode Eleven: “Citizen Ghost”

Director: Richard Raynis
Air Date: 22 November 1986

Original Network: ABC
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 100%/ 88%

Quick Facts:
Produced following the universal success of Ghostbusters and retitled to avoid a potential lawsuit, the beloved Real Ghostbusters was a cultural phenomenon for a time. After initially mirroring their film counterparts, the characters were redesigned, with Ernie Hudson famously failing to reprise his role. Though later irrevocably damaged by studio interference, The Real Ghostbusters spawned a wave of merchandise and remains one of the defining cartoons of its era.

The Review:
While it may seem odd to review the eleventh episode of the first series of this classic cartoon, there are a few good reasons for it. Firstly, “Citizen Ghost” acts as a direct follow-up to Ghostbusters, with the main plot a flashback narrated by Doctor Peter Venkman (Lorenzo Music) to reporter Cynthia Crawford (Julie Bennett). Secondly, the episode explains how and why the Ghostbusters adopted the ravenous, mischievous ghost Slimer (Frank Welker). Thirdly, it explains why the Ghostbusters wear distinctly “toyetic” uniforms. And, finally, it explains why they refer to themselves as the “real” Ghostbusters, so there’s a lot of important stuff here. “Citizen Ghost” sees Cynthia navigating the bizarre day-to-day operations of the Ghostbusters’ firehouse to interview Peter regarding the team, who are still quite a mystery to New York City. Eager to understand more about them, and why they keep a ghost as a pet despite dedicating their lives to bustin’ spirits and trapping them within their ecto containment unit, Cynthia presses the besotted Peter and he happily tells her about what happened right after they defeated Gozer the Gozerian and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The exhausted Ghostbusters returned to find their firehouse a shambles from the containment unit breach and their uniforms splattered in psychokinetic energy from the destroyed Mister Stay Puft. While Doctor Egon Spengler (Maurice La Marche), Doctor Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Frank Welker), and Winston Zeddemore (Arsenio Hall) rebuild the fire station and the ecto containment unit, Peter is given the simple task of disposing of the contaminated uniforms. However, he’s too tired and lazy to do so and leaves them by the ecto containment unit, unaware that they’re dosed in spirit energy leaking from the storage facility.

When spirits possess the Ghostbusters’ uniforms, Slimer helps the team to win them over.

Once the firehouse is fixed up, the team celebrates with Janine Melnitz (Laura Summer), only for the ravenous Slimer to burst in and steal their meal. Recognising the “little spud” as the one who slimed him in the Sedgewick Hotel, Peter leads the Ghostbusters in pursuing the ghost, only to be frustrated by failure. Over the next few days, Slimer reappeared again and again and each of the team reacted differently to him: Egon attempted to study Slimer, Winston was friendly to him, and Ray tried to teach him tricks. Peter, however, attacked Slimer on sight, leading the others to shelter the ghost and unofficially adopt him to annoy Peter. Peter’s issues with Slimer take a backseat, however, when the excess spirit energy brings the Ghostbusters’ old uniforms to life, birthing “spectral” doppelgängers made of ectoplasm who immediately try to replace their originals. The spectral Ghostbusters vanish for several days, then attack as the Ghostbusters are working in the city, firing blasts of ectoplasm from their warped proton packs and forcing the Ghostbusters to race back to base. Theorising that the spectres will be weakened if they can be tricked into firing more than necessary, the Ghostbusters attempt to defeat their doppelgängers, only to have their equipment stolen when their ghostly counterparts boost Ecto-1. With only one spare proton pack, Ray prepares to potentially sacrifice himself to distract the spectres but Slimer, having grown fond of Ray, eagerly swoops in to take his place. Cheered on by the Ghostbusters, Slimer flies rings around the spectres, goading them into literally blowing their loads, weakening them so the Ghostbusters can reclaim their proton packs, entrap the spectres, and assert themselves as the “real” Ghostbusters. Impressed by Slimer’s bravery, Peter begrudgingly accepted him onto the team, though he was left mildly annoyed when Cynthia turned her news report into an exposé on Slimer rather than him.

Final Thoughts:
Despite being a big fan of the films, I was only a fair-weather fan of The Real Ghostbusters. I had a lot of the comics, a handful of toys, and maybe one VHS tape but that was about it. I don’t really remember watching it on television at the time, but I’ve always enjoyed what I have seen. I find “Citizen Ghost” fascinating as it’s one of the few episodes to explicitly reference the movie, thereby establishing the cartoon as a direct spin-off from the films (or, at least, an animated alternative). There’s something really enjoyable about seeing the Real Ghostbusters wearing the film uniforms, covered in residual goo from Mr. Stay Puft, and repairing the damage caused by Walter Peck (William Atherton). Considering the cartoon didn’t follow a serial format, meaning it was perfect for syndication, it makes sense that “Citizen Ghost” (or a version of it) wasn’t used as the pilot or first episode of the cartoon and the flashback framing narrative means you can watch it at any point and it makes perfect sense. While the animation can be a bit wonky and cheap, The Real Ghostbusters has always been a colourful and visually engaging show. We don’t see many wacky ghosts in this episode but the spectral Ghostbusters were impressive enough and fittingly spooky, with their wispy heads and distorted voices and violent desire to displace their organic counterparts.

An important episode that ties directly into the first movie and establishes the style for the cartoon.

“Citizen Ghost” is a great episode at showing just how arrogant, self-absorbed, and lazy Peter is. The spectral Ghostbusters only appear because he’s too lazy to burn the uniforms and he routinely avoids taking responsibility for his mistakes. He also spins the entire narrative into a heroic moment for him, so it’s fun seeing him be denied the spotlight by the end. As would become increasingly evident, this is a Slimer-centric episode that shows how Slimer was adopted by the Ghostbusters. Clearly lonely and eager for company, Slimer is a mischievous and troublesome spirit, but one who’s good-natured and just wants to help and be accepted. He gladly goes along with Egon’s experiments (even if his breath is too much for the curious scientist) and happily helps Ray fix Ecto-1 but is relentlessly hounded by Peter despite showing great affection for him (and the others). It’s this appreciation for the Ghostbusters that drives Slimer to risk his existence against their ghostly doubles and sees him hurt by their ectoplasmic blasts. Surprisingly, even Peter rallies behind Slimer in this moment, showing that he does begrudgingly care for the little spud, which becomes a running joke throughout the cartoon. Ultimately, while you can’t really go wrong with most episodes of The Real Ghostbusters, especially in the first series, “Citizen Ghost” is a great one for those (like me) who were curious to see how the film versions transitioned to their animated counterparts.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Is “Citizen Ghost” one of your favourite episodes of The Real Ghostbusters? Were you an avid fan of the show as a kid? Did you like seeing how Slimer was adopted by the team? What did you think to the spectral Ghostbusters and the way the episode follows on from the movie? Which Ghostbuster was your favourite and how are you celebrating Ghostbusters Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Ghostbusters, share them below and donate to my Ko-Fi to fund other Ghostbusters reviews on the site.

Movie Night: A Million Ways to Die in the West

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Released: 30 May 2014
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Distributor: Universal Pictures

Budget: $40 million
Box Office: $87.2 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 33% / 41%

Quick Facts:
Seth MacFarlane and co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild conceived of this Western comedy while watching Hang ’Em High (Post, 1968) and musing about how dangerous the Wild West was. McFarlane’s second foray into live-action directing saw Charlize Theron jump at the chance to be in a comedy and gave Liam Neeson (who was born on this day in 1952) a rare opportunity to use his natural Irish accent, though the film’s critical response was largely mixed.

The Review:
It’s only fair to begin by saying I’ve never been a huge fan of Westerns. I don’t like to say it because it applies to so many genres, but they really are one of the most predictable types of movies. There’s always a dusty town in the middle of nowhere with little to no law, a bar, probably a square dance, and a shoot out or two, and usually a gruff loner or gunslinger to boot. In A Million Ways to Die in the West, our dusty town is Old Stump, Arizona, an unremarkable location in the grand scheme of things and yet no less dangerous. As pointed out by timid sheep farmer Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane), 1882 is a bad time to be alive. There are literally a million ways to meet your end in the Old West, from diseases like cholera and dysentery, to wild animals like wolves, coyotes, and rattlesnakes, to bandits, enraged “Indians”, bar fights, and even visiting the doctor. As related by our unseen narrator (Rex Linn), Albert was born in the wrong era. While everyone else in town barely blinks an eye at the sight of the mayor laying dead in the street or a worker being smushed into red paste while unloading a block of ice, or Pastor Wilson (John Aylward) gunning down a man and his son, Albert is mortified by the constant threat of danger. A distinctly twentieth century soul who makes anachronistic allusions, Albert desperately tries to make people see how disgusting, hazardous, and awful life is in the Old West and is generally laughed off, even by his good friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi), who simply shrugs off their ludicrous situation. Armed with this metatextual awareness, Albert does everything he can to stay safe and out of trouble, talking his way out of gunfights by promising to pay off those he’s inadvertently wronged and meekly burying his head in the sand and despair at his lot in life.

Heartbroken, aggrieved sheep farmer Albert finds a kindred soul in Anna, who boosts his confidence.

As Albert would rather avoid confrontation and danger whenever possible, his meek character is met with apathy and dismissal by his long-term girlfriend, Louise (Amanda Seyfried), who callously dumps him for being “yellow” and leaves him distraught as she was the only good thing in his life. Faced with a lifetime of misery as a near useless sheep farmer cursed with a flock of unruly and incompetent sheep, Albert drowns his sorrows with Edward and frequently rages at the state of the world, even contemplating suicide since he hates the Old West so much. While Edward tries to lift his friend’s spirits, he’s faced with his own dilemma as he tries to stay a devout Christian while clumsily desiring his prostitute girlfriend, Ruth (Sarah Silverman), who is amusingly happy to perform unspeakable sex acts with her patrons but hesitates to have pre-marital sex as she’s very beholden to her religious beliefs. Though stuck in a quagmire of self-loathing, Albert can’t help but help newcomer Anna Barnes-Leatherwood (Charlize Theron) during a bar fight started by her “brother”, Lewis (Evan Jones). Out of gratitude, Anna offers Albert a sympathetic ear and they quickly become friends, with her questioning his heartache over Louise, a flaky and shallow beauty who hooks up with well-to-do moustache connoisseur Foy (Neil Patrick Harris) since he’s so conceited, arrogant, and rich that she can have everything she wanted. Initially, Anna happily poses as Albert’s new girlfriend, helping him to make Louise jealous and get one up on Foy, a wealthy businessman with great social stature who constantly mocks Albert out of smug superiority. Emboldened by Anna’s support, Albert surprises himself by challenging Foy to a duel and, after seeing how awful his marksmanship skills are, Anna offers to help him since she’s a crack shot with a six-shooter. In the process, Albert finds a kindred spirit as Anna also recognises the absurdity of the Old West, where even something as simple as the county fair is fraught with death and danger.

Abused by her outlaw husband, Anna is smitten by Albert’s kindness and down-to-earth attitude.

While Albert is understandably smitten by Anna thanks to her kindness and companionship, eventually kissing her after a barn dance and in her debt after she slips Foy a laxative that humiliates him with a bout of public diarrhoea, he’s sadly unaware of her true background. Arriving in town with Lewis and standing out for her beauty and rationality, Anna is actually the abused wife of infamous outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson), a quietly psychotic gunslinger who orders Anna to wait in Old Stump while he and his men pull off another job. After a lifetime of Clinch’s abuse and violence, Anna is relieved to be amongst normal people and appreciates Albert in a way Louise never could, seeing him as a kind-hearted soul beaten into self-loathing by a dangerous world and the people around him. Somewhat unaccustomed to social norms, Anna struggles to acclimatise to formal functions and is much happier knocking back shots or blasting bottles with her keen eye. Sharing many of Albert’s observations on the Old West, Anna gets swept up in what he sees as his boring, humdrum, everyday life but to her is a welcome reprieve from Clinch’s brutality. Albert is devastated when Clinch arrives, having been alerted to his wife’s infidelity by Lewis, and is ready to pack up and leave after the betrayal. Although Anna tries to explain and protect him, she’s forced to reveal Albert’s name to Clinch to protect her adopted dog, Plugger (Unknown). However, realising she loves Albert, Anna fends Clinch off when he tries to rape her and Albert, returning her feelings, cannot help but shield her when Clinch comes looking for her, leading Albert to race into the desert where he’s aided by Apaches led by Chief Cochise (Wes Studi), who subject Albert to a drug-induced mind fuck that sees him gather his resolve to meet Clinch’s challenge to a duel.

While Clinch is sadly absent, Foy makes for an amusing and snarky rival for Albert.

A notorious and widely feared outlaw, Clinch isn’t a man to be trifled with. While he routinely snaps at and belittles his wife, exerting his physical dominance and barking orders, he’s also extremely possessive of Anna and thinks nothing of gunning down a random bystander (Ryan Reynolds) when he hears she’s been unfaithful or an elderly prospector (Matt Clark) just to prove a point. Though she hates her husband, Anna is terrified of his wrath and desperately tries to shield Albert from him, to the point where she’s reduced to being a hostage to force Albert into a duel. Although Anna helps improve Albert’s shooting skills, he knows he’s no match for Clinch and instead choose to fight smarter, using the knowledge that Clinch will fire on “two” to wound the outlaw with a grazing shot laced with snake venom. Thus, Albert uses his dislike of the hazardous Old West to his advantage and, while Clinch dies without hearing Albert’s plan, it’s enough to impress the town, and Louise, who Albert happily snubs in favour of Anna. While Liam Neeson oozes quiet menace as Clinch, he’s sadly absent for most of the film and even Lewis is a minor antagonist, at best. Thus, Albert largely clashes with Foy, played with expert comedic charisma by Neil Patrick Harris. An egotistical blowhard who is especially proud of his beautiful moustache, Foy sees Albert as inferior in every way and relishes the chance to rub his wealth and social stature in his rival’s face, happy to shoot Albert to cement his claim to Louise. Since he can’t hope to afford the products required for a moustache and is awful at dancing, Albert’s overwhelmed and pushed to his limit after Foy leads a scathing dance number in the film’s most amusing moment. Sadly, Albert and Foy’s rivalry ends in little more than toilet humour when Anna induces explosive diarrhoea in him, which was a bit disappointing considering their bickering had been so amusing prior to that.

The film’s comedy is at its best when it’s criticising the genre and focusing on Albert and Foy’s rivalry.

I always find reviewing comedies tough as it’s difficult to relate what makes something funny and how the jokes work. A Million Ways to Die in the West bases much of its humour around the absurdity of the Old West, a time when just going to the outhouse could be fatal, when doctors prescribe potential lethal remedies, and when stampeding bulls can gore through the annual fair. Albert comments upon all of this, and more, with an alarmed and disgusted manner, raging at how violent and dangerous the Old West is and begging those around him to admit that life is unreasonably hard, only to be met with apathy. Seth MacFarlane delivers this comedy with his trademark deadpan, metatextual delivery as Albert casually talks about horrendous diseases and events as being part of everyday life. Albert is an awkward and timid soul who’s initially unsure of himself and desperate to avoid conflict, so he rambles to get out of gunfights and stages a playfight during a barroom brawl to avoid injury. While Clinch doesn’t give Neeson much of a chance to flex his comedic chops, his growling delivery and surly nature make him the perfect comedic foil when Anna blasts him with a rock and sticks a flower into his ass crack. The film excels when focusing on the rivalry between Albert and Foy, however, with the two trading insults at a rapid and witty pace, or when demonstrating how hazardous the Old West can be as a single gunshot is enough to incite a brawl and you never know when some stranger (Jamie Foxx) is going to show up to gun you down for your racist shooting gallery. While the comedy lands most of the time, the film wasn’t as funny as McFarlane’s animated efforts, lacking his signature cut-away gags and over the top violence. There are still some amusing bits, though, like the running gag about Albert’s sheep being on his roof and Ruth’s questionable sexual activity, the hilarious moustache song, and Albert’s bizarre mind trip courtesy of Chief Cochise.

Final Thoughts:
I feel like A Million Ways to Die in the West is largely overlooked, especially compared to Seth McFarlane’s other works, and that is a bit of a shame as there’s a lot to like here. Albert Stark was an amusing character and a fun underdog to get behind. Since I’m not a fan of Westerns, I really enjoyed him commentating on and criticising the Old West and the ludicrous depiction of how dangerous life on the frontier could be. I felt he and Anna had great chemistry as kindred spirits, with her bolstering his self-esteem and him showing her the affection and respect she so lacked in her marriage. While Liam Neeson commanded the screen every time he appeared, Clinch was sadly far too absent for my liking. It worked to paint him up as a near-mythical, feared figure but I can’t help but wonder if the film might’ve been better if Clinch had set himself up as the town mayor or something. Thankfully, Foy is on hand to make a great rival for Albert, being a slimy, arrogant snob who delights in belittling Albert and gets off on his wealth and social status. The bickering between Albert and Foy was a highlight of the movie and again something that might’ve been better to focus on as the film loses some momentum after Foy shits himself in the street. I can see why many would dismiss and forget this film as it’s not as memorable as McFarlane’s animated shows or other filmic ventures and a lot of the comedy doesn’t land unless, perhaps, you’re a fan of seeing the genre be picked apart. Even some fun cameos by the likes of Christopher Lloyd don’t help bolster A Million Ways to Die in the West, which remains a somewhat amusing venture that sadly isn’t as gut-burstingly hilarious as it might like to be.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Are you a fan of A Million Ways to Die in the West? Are you a fan of Westerns and, if so, did you like seeing the genre mocked? Did you enjoy Albert’s outbursts about how dangerous and ridiculous the Old West was? Do you agree that Clinch should’ve featured more prominently? Did you also enjoy the rivalry between Foy and Albert? Do you have a moustache? How are you celebrating Liam Neeson’s birthday today? Leave a like and comment below with your feedback and donate to my Ko-Fi to support the site.

Back Issues [RoboCop Day]: RoboCop Versus The Terminator

Dr. K2 Comments

To celebrate the release of RoboCop (Padilha, 2014) on home media, June 3rd was declared “RoboCop Day” in the city of Detroit, providing the perfect excuse to celebrate RoboCop each year.

Published: 1 May 1992 to 1 August 1992

Writer: Frank Miller

Artist: Walter Simonson

Quick Facts:
Having achieved mainstream success with licensed adaptations of horror and science-fiction films, Dark Horse Comics sought to replicate their success with mashing together the Alien (Various, 1977 to present) and Predator (Various, 1987 to present) franchises. Having already published spin-offs of the Terminator films (Cameron, 1984; 1991), Dark Horse started a run of RoboCop (Verhoeven, 1987) comics with this four-issue crossover, which led to a popular videogame, Frank Miller’s complicated relationship with the cyborg, and a somewhat divisive second encounter almost twenty years later.

The Review:
In true Terminator fashion, RoboCop Versus The Terminator begins in the nuclear wastelands of the war-torn 2029, where malicious rogue artificial intelligence Skynet sweeps across the remains of human civilisation, enslaving or vaporising any human resistance. With Skynet on the verge of absolute victory, Florence “Flo” Langer infiltrates Skynet’s “regional mind” looking to gain insight into Skynet’s creation and verifying resistance leader John Connor’s theory that a human mind merged with software (specifically cyborg police officer Alex Murphy/RoboCop) birthed Skynet in the past. Blaming RoboCop, Flo fights her way to the Time Displacement Equipment and takes a jaunt to the past to kill Murphy and change the future. Dumped in a busy Detroit street, the naked Flo immediately attracts attention and acquires a pistol, hoping to murder Murphy before he becomes RoboCop, only to find she’s too late for that. Though overwhelmed by the lively, flourishing world, Flo cobbles together a rudimentary plasma rifle, only to find it malfunctions when she’s accosted by an Enforcement Droid-209 (ED-209) for “[violating] street cleaning city ordinance 66B”. Luckily, the ED-209 is as dumb as ever and is easily tricked into tripping over itself, allowing her to get her weapon working to turn it into scrap metal. Thanks to the “frivolous” magazines of the time, Flo heads to the police station where RoboCop is based and easily reaches RoboCop’s lab, where Doctor Marie Lazarus worries that Murphy has been driving himself to exhaustion with his duties and that self-imposed isolation may be making him suicidal. Flo knocks Dr. Lazarus out and steals the tracking device they use to keep tabs on RoboCop, who’s out knocking off kidnappers and would-be bombers with a dispassionate efficiency.

RoboCop’s horrified to learn he unwittingly creates the machines that will destroy humanity!

While brooding over his lost humanity and family, RoboCop is caught completely off-guard when Flo attacks and she coldly blasts him to pieces with her plasma rifle. This sends shockwaves through time that slowly erase the hellish future Skynet fought so hard to create. With only moments to spare, Skynet sends three Terminators back to stop Flo from destroying their “creator”. Quickly acquiring clothes and weapons from the well-armed Detroit locals, the Terminators gun Flo down Though she’s disgusted by RoboCop’s assistance, the critically injured Flo is brought to a hospital, and he queries her about her clearly non-human attackers and her massive cannon. Although his scans reveal Flo’s telling the truth, RoboCop has Lazarus hook him into the Pentagon so he can investigate through cyberspace, verifying (to his horror) the threat Skynet (and, by association, he) poses to mankind. Although RoboCop tries to get the ED-209s on side to even the odds against the Terminators, the dumb things attack each other when ordered to “scan for cybernetic activity”. Luckily, one’s left to reduce the attacking Terminators to their exoskeletons and the Terminators, puzzled by their “creator” defending the humans they so deeply despise, seek only to subdue rather than destroy RoboCop. While the damaged and defective ED-209s destroy one Terminator and RoboCop grapples with another, the third enters the hospital and guns down everyone in its hunt for Flo. Luckily, Lazarus saves Flo and re-arms her, allowing her to blast it to smithereens and take some comfort in the familiarity of combat. Although badly damaged and missing his left arm, RoboCop eventually pummels the remaining Terminator to pieces after a brutal fist fight. However, as RoboCop still lives, the future sees the Terminators spread out into the universe to free other worlds of the “infection” of organic life.

Ready to die to save the world, RoboCop is forced to usher in the machine apocalypse.

Accordingly, RoboCop offers no resistance when Flo prepares to execute him, despite Lazarus’s protests, even encouraging her to step closer so her unreliable weapon doesn’t miss. However, Flo refuses, now seeing RoboCop as a noble soul and remembering her vow to never take a human life. However, haunted by visions of the future and driven by his Prime Directives, RoboCop resolves to mince himself at a nearby scrapyard. Accordingly, evidence of the Future War disappears from the past and the future again begins to be erased, forcing Skynet to again scramble two Terminators and send them back to preserve its existence. This time, they send back a child and a dog infiltration unit, who approach RoboCop directly as he’s contemplating suicide by his gravestone. The “boy” accuses “the flesh” of tricking RoboCop into thinking he’s human and is aghast when RoboCop opens fire. The “dog” attacks with writhing tentacles, easily overpowering the damaged RoboCop and severing his head, dragging him back to the police station and hooking him up to the mainframe. Flo frees herself from a jail cell and rushes to the commotion to witness the Terminator break Dr. Lazarus’s neck and Murphy’s screaming head begging her to kill him. This time, Flo doesn’t hesitate, but the Terminator catches the bullet, shrugs off her gunfire, and brutalises her to the helpless RoboCop’s horror. The Terminator then forcibly connects RoboCop to the mainframe and kick-starts Skynet’s evolution, leaving the disembodied and helpless RoboCop to watch as Skynet unleashes nuclear Armageddon and an army of relentless machines to wipe out humanity. Though horrified, RoboCop duplicates his humanity and wanders through cyberspace as a computer virus, evading Skynet for decades before finally using Skynet’s robotics technology against them to construct a fully armed and war-ready replica body for himself in 2029.

RoboCop saves the future by destroying Skynet at both ends of the timeline.

Thus, the story comes full circle, with Skynet on the brink of absolute victory. This time, RoboCop saves Flo as she’s infiltrating the regional mind, easily blasting the Hunter-Killers with his rockets and heavy-duty ordinance. Stunned by the sight of a machine helping her kind, Flo confronts him as the others recuperate at a makeshift encampment. Seeing that the dogs aren’t afraid of him and that he has a human face and name, Flo chooses to trust Murphy, who warns that Terminators will arrive soon. RoboCop’s actions cause subtle changes to the future, but he remains as an anomaly, helping the Resistance prepare for Skynet’s counterattack. However, when Skynet surprises them with a nuke, RoboCop jets off to intercept, detaching his legs to redirect the missile towards Skynet’s regional mind! Heavily damaged by re-entry, RoboCop has Flo take him to the Terminator factory for repairs, where she marvels at his ability to control the “junk”, unaware that RoboCop feels his humanity slipping away the more he emulates his enemy. Still, inspired by Flo, Murphy constructs an army of RoboCop clones to battle Skynet’s forces in a spectacular display of metal-on-metal action. While they fight alongside Flo and the Resistance, RoboCop heads to Skynet’s now-vulnerable central complex where, in desperation, Skynet offers to make him a “God” and bring his deepest fantasies to life. However, when Flo is killed, RoboCop vehemently turns down the offer and destroys the Skynet system core (a gigantic duplicate of his head!) and all its machines. Although Flo dies hopeful for a better future, RoboCop literally makes it happen by encasing himself in living tissue and travelling back in time to destroy the orbiting defence system that would become Skynet. In doing so, this cold, mechanical version of RoboCop is erased and Flo wakes up in a utopian future, barely remembering a bad dream of the world that once was, and the present-day RoboCop decides to heed Dr. Lazarus’s advice and get some rest. As before, Skynet scrambles to preserve its victory by sending a Terminator back through time. However, amusingly, they miscalculate the time jump in their panic and the machine is simply crushed by a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Final Thoughts: 
I’ve had my issues with Frank Miller over the years, but this was one of his better efforts. Sure, some “Miller-isms” are still present, mainly in the blunt, repetitious dialogue, but it served the purpose of the story very well. I really liked seeing Skynet panic when it realises the timeline is changing, erasing its influence and replacing it with natural life, which it hates for their destructive tendencies and disorder. RoboCop Versus The Terminator suggests the future is one malleable timeline. So, changes in the past directly affect the future rather than producing alternative timelines as in the films. This means that destroying RoboCop in the past doesn’t immediately prevent the Future War; it just alters the timeline. This gives Skynet the chance to quickly send Terminators back to undo the damage, which perfectly captures the desperation the machines felt when the Resistance destroying their defence grid in the films. Indeed, Miller characterises Skynet and the machines as surprisingly emotional beings. They hate “the flesh” and have no qualms about hunting down and killing even children to purge the “cancer” of humanity. They even take to the stars upon achieving absolute victory, seeking to conquer other worlds and spread their doctrine further, and are amazed when RoboCop refuses to embrace their cold, clinical logic. The Terminators’ relationship with RoboCop is complex. They see him as their “creator” and seek to preserve him but will rip him to pieces and subdue him to ensure their survival and think nothing of turning their full force against him in 2029.

RoboCop’s determined to save mankind, even if it costs him his life and his humanity.

RoboCop is in a bad place in RoboCop Versus The Terminator. The trauma of his condition and the pain of being separated from his humanity and family ser him throw himself into his work, rendering him a cold, emotionless machine at the story’s start. Dr. Lazarus is even concerned that he’s suicidal and, indeed, RoboCop is more than willing to sacrifice his life to save humanity once he learns of his awful destiny. Determined to save the world, follow his Prime Directives, and end his suffering, RoboCop resolves to destroy himself once he verifies Skynet’s threat. Indeed, RoboCop practically jumps at the chance to die and begs Flo to kill him, especially when he’s forcibly hooked into Skynet. Rather than giving up, RoboCop creates a digital doppelgänger and endures the horrific machine takeover just so he can rebuild himself and turn the tide. Interestingly, RoboCop takes the time to rescue Flo and lead the fight against Skynet in the future before going back to erase them from existence. I assume this is to ensure that there’s no chance Skynet can mount another counterattack and to avenge all those killed, but it would’ve been far more efficient if RoboCop had simply built a body and travelled to the past to destroy Skynet then. However, that would’ve robbed us of some of the story’s best visuals. I particularly liked seeing RoboCop all decked out in missiles and Terminator technology, blasting through the sky and raining missiles and commanding an army of Robo clones on the battlefield! Similarly, I enjoyed the one-on-one fight between RoboCop and a Terminator in the past, which delivered a knock-down, brutal melee far beyond what the movies would’ve been capable of, I’m sure.

An exciting and intriguing marriage of both franchise that results in a fun and engaging story.

Unusually, RoboCop Versus The Terminator doesn’t feature John or Sarah Connor; John is only referred to by Flo. Flo is a decent enough main character, being hyper focused on destroying RoboCop and vehemently hating all machines due to her traumatic experiences in the Future War. Flo’s capable enough to build a plasma rifle, easily outwits the ED-209s, and holds her own against the Terminators. She destroys RoboCop without hesitation in one timeline and then ends up fighting to defend him in others, touched by his humanity and ultimately trusting him despite her repeatedly dying because of the cyborg cop. We get some fun Terminator variants here, including a little person, child, and dogs, showing that Skynet’s infiltration strategy was incredibly layered. Unfortunately, we don’t see RoboCop fighting with or alongside a reprogrammed T-800 (beyond his fist-fight with an endoskeleton) but I liked that there was a lot of action in the past and that RoboCop was forced to witness Skynet’s destructive plot in real time to fight against them in the future, giving us the best of both worlds and putting both characters in each other’s home turf. Miller even found an interesting way to merge the two franchises by having RoboCop be the spark that gives Skynet sentience, which makes perfect sense as he’s “part man, part machine”. I also enjoyed seeing elements of Miller’s RoboCop sequels weaved into the story, like Dr. Lazarus and a reference to Nikko Halloran, and seeing ED-209s as bumbling robot enforcers. Overall, RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a super fun story full of explosive action, time travel shenanigans, and thrilling interactions and battles between the titular cyborgs. It’s a shame we never got to see it in live-action (though I live in hope for an animated feature…) but we did pretty well between this, the videogame, and the action figures.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Did you enjoy RoboCop Versus The Terminator? What did you think to RoboCop being in such a bad head space and him being painted as Skynet’s creator? Did you enjoy the time travel shenanigans and the fights between the two cyborgs? What did you think of Flo and RoboCop’s new look in the future? Would you have liked to see more clashes between the two and a movie of the premise? How are you celebrating RoboCop Day today? Drop your thoughts on RoboCop Versus The Terminator in the comments, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other RoboCop content for the site.

Game Corner: [Dinosaur Day]: Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (Xbox Series X)

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Sixty-five million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. These massive beasts existed for about 180 million years before a cataclysmic event left them mere fossils. Fittingly, “Dinosaur Day” gives dino fans an ample opportunity to pay homage to these near-mythical titans.

Released: 28 February 2021
Originally Released: 4 March 1997
Developer: Nightdive Studios
Original Developer: Iguana Entertainment

Metacritic Scores: 85 / 8.0
Also Available For: Nintendo 64, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC (Original Release); Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S (Remaster)


Quick Facts:
Based on the Valiant Comics revival of Dell Comics’ Turok, Son of Stone, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter came about after Acclaim Entertainment purchased Valiant in 1994. The fifteen-person team developed Turok as a first-person shooter (FPS) to showcase the power of the Nintendo 64. A critical and commercial success, Turok impressed at the time and spawned sequels and spin-offs of varying quality before being remastered for modern consoles to largely positive reviews.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is an early FPS title for the generation-defining Nintendo 64, actually the first FPS game developed for the system and, as such, set the bar for future FPS games released for the console (to the point where Turok’s control scheme was often a default or alternative for other shooters). Naturally, Turok takes a lot of inspiration from Doom (id Software, 1993) for its gameplay and controls, with  players assuming control of Tal’Set, the titular Turok (despite the original Nintendo 64 version depicting his successor, Joshua Fireseed), and journeying across eight levels (nine, if you include the hub world) to oppose the mysterious Campaigner’s plot to tear apart reality with his techno-organic army of dinosaurs and other minions. The game’s controls are entirely customisable, and I’d recommend tweaking them to your liking. For example, I set the “bindings” to have the Right Trigger attack with Turok’s current weapon, A to jump, and the Left and Right Bumpers switch weapons. I had X toggle between ammo types (where available), Y bring up the surprisingly useful wireframe map, and set the run toggle to the right directional pad. There’s no reloading in Turok, though you can tweak the settings to set whether or not you automatically switch weapons upon acquiring new ones, change the colour of the blood, toggle Turok’s head bob, and toggle various sound and graphic effects (such as draw distance and fog). Turok offers a “Training” mode for you to get accustomed to the gameplay, which mainly sees you exploring levels cutting down respawning enemies, collecting various keys, and tackling one of the worst affronts to FPS gameplay ever conceived: first-person platforming! Although this is a remaster of the classic Nintendo 64 game, Nightdive Studios haven’t implemented modern quality of life features like save states or rewinds, so you’ll still be relying on extra lives (acquired by collecting 100 Life Force points) and rare checkpoints and manual save points scattered across each level.

Shoot, jump, and explore to track down elusive keys in the classic but clunky FPS title.

Turok’s reasonably durable and can partially or fully recover his health with various pickups and can even permanently extend it by collecting “Mortal Wounds” that randomly drop when you kill enemies with your knife or basic arrows. “Spiritual Invincibility” temporarily makes you invincible and slows enemies, “Tek Armour” grant additional armour points, and backpacks increase how much ammo you can carry. Turok can (awkwardly) swim and climb vine walls and ladders; while he doesn’t take fall damage, he will be hurt by lava or boiling tar pits, and you lose a life if you plummet down a pit. This respawns you from your last checkpoint, though any collectibles and non-respawning enemies helpfully stay gone. Turok utilises a wide array of weapons, starting with a simple knife and a bow that fires regular and “Tek Arrows” that explode on contact. You quickly grab a pistol, a shotgun, and a fairly useless assault rifle. The automatic shotgun later became my default weapon, especially when you acquire explosive shells, while the minigun is great for shredding larger enemies. The rapid-fire pulse rifle is a far better alternative to the assault rifle, the grenade launcher is decent for blowing up enemies from a distance, and you even get a heavy-duty quad rocket launcher that’s best saved for bosses. Search around enough and you’ll find an alien weapon that fires explosive energy bursts, a shockwave cannon, and the ridiculously powerful particle cannon, though these all have very limited ammunition. Every level also hides part of the legendary “Chronoscepter”, the ultimate weapon that you’ll only complete right before the final boss and which decimates anything caught in its blast radius. Although ammo is plentiful, it’s usually best not to kill most enemies as they quickly respawn and most can just be avoided. However, there are times when you’re forced to defeat all enemies in a given area to lower barriers or raise platforms. It’s also worth noting that hazards like falls, falling boulders, and even some enemy attacks hurt your enemies, and also that some areas are rigged with flame bursts, spike pits and traps, wall lasers, and heavy cannons.

As if hazards and tough enemies weren’t bad enough, platforming becomes challenging as you progress.

Although things start fairly linear, later levels become much larger or more maze-like, which can leave you running in circles frantically searching for the right path. The map helps but it can be difficult following it when dealing with the respawning enemies. Each level contains several keys that must be found to unlock levels from the hub and these can be easily missed, meaning you must replay previous levels to hunt them down. The pause menu tracks which ones you’re missing and they’re fairly easy to spot, either being out in the open, across short jumps, or accessed via obvious alternative paths. Teleporters transport you across levels, pressure switches lower gates, raise paths, or open doors, and you must occasionally race from a switch to a door before it closes. Turok is littered with aggravating platforming challenges that start relatively safe (you’ll drop to water or a lower level if you fall and must climb back up to try again) but quickly become very tricky as you’re jumping to moving or extremely narrow platforms over lava or bottomless pits. The longer you hold the jump button, the further Turok jumps, and it can help to look down before you jump, but these platforms and columns eventually become so small that it’s very anxiety-inducing jumping to them. When on the Ruins level, you must jump to ledges so narrow they’re barely distinguishable from the rest of the environment or you must take running jumps from tiny platforms and will be frustrated by failure. The Lost Land sees you hopping to stone columns that rise and fall, making jumps difficult to judge while the Ancient City are more labyrinthine, offering higher paths and tunnels to goodies or shortcuts, and containing various doors and narrow corridors where enemies skulk around every corner. Blue portals also spawn all over, transporting you to relatively safe bonus areas where you must hop to or cross various platforms to stock up on ammo or Life Force points, though these are entirely optional.

Presentation:
I remember the original Turok. I think everyone had a copy on Nintendo 64 back in the day. It was a foggy mess whose environments popped in from the murk and your vision was largely obscured when underwater. Thankfully, this remaster fixes most of that but there’s still a lot of fog. The Treetop Village employs it as a gameplay mechanic, however, as you’re high up in villages built around giant trees, watching as gigantic Brontosauruses stomp around you. Fog also obscures much of the Ruins level to make jumps to narrow ledges or wooden platforms even more troublesome and there’s a murky haze in the Lost Land that’s explained by the volcanic activity. Surprisingly, and disappointingly, there’s no story in Turok, not even some text setting the stage. You get no in-game context behind anything, no ending beyond watching Tal’Set escape the Campaigner’s exploding citadel, and no introductory sequence beyond Tal’Set dramatically shooting an arrow at the title screen. Even the old instruction manual was light on context, which is a shame as even Doom had some text to set the scene. You rarely see Tal’Set during gameplay unless you mess up, then you’re treated to various fun death animations (if enabled), but you do hear him grunt and scream when attacked and loudly proclaim “I am Turok!” when you earn an extra life. Turok’s music is a largely forgettable mixture of tribal sounds, ambient noises, and thumping bass. I did like the growls and screeches of unseen animals lurking in the jungle and appreciated the sounds of enemies teleporting in, which kept me moving at a steady (if often frantic) pace. You’ll often see wild boar, deer, and monkeys wandering levels that can be attacked for extra health, fish in the water, and blood will splatter with each attack. Enemies have some fun death animations, like slowly choking to death as arterial spray juts from the necks or blowing to pieces when you fire grenades at their bodies.

Sadly, the lack of story and visual variety drags the game down and the visuals remain as murky as ever.

Sadly, there’s not much visual variety to Turok. You start in the hub, which is a dense, linear jungle area consisting of various crumbling ruins, water pools, narrow canyons, and bottomless spits. This leads directly into the first level, the Jungle, which is mostly the same and establishes that you must find keys, press switches, and defeat waves of respawning enemies. The Jungle introduces log bridges, abandoned settlements, and that the Tek Arrows can blow up certain areas. You’ll venture into narrow, twisting caverns, wade or dive into water, and hop across some simple gaps as a taste for things to come. The Ancient City takes the jungle assets and muddies them up, placing more emphasis on vaguely Aztec ruins, temples, and structures made from dilapidated stone. The Ruins up the emphasis on platform as the level is based almost entirely around a cliffside area, with twisting log platforms winding around stone columns, narrow rope bridges threaten to drop you to your death, a maze of pillars, and various waterfalls and flooded areas. When in the Catacombs, things become more restrictive and maze-like as you avoid boiling tar and press switches to open various doors, dodging blade gears, raiding tombs, and being surprised when the brutish Pur-Lins burst through the stone walls. This ancient tomb also sees stone panels breathe fire at you, has you climbing blocky walls, and sees you pressing a specific switch to drain water and open a new area. The Treetop Village was surprisingly impressive, despite the fog, as you’re suspended high above, fighting past wooden huts, making numerous jumps to narrow cliff ledges, and battling waves of enemies against a thunderstorm backdrop. The Lost Land is a largely barren hellscape full of volcanos, lava pits, and the Campaigner’s heavily guarded, futuristic citadel. This level features some of the trickiest platforming as you hop to floating platforms and to extremely narrow columns, and narrow corridors within the highly advanced citadel that represents the game’s busiest location. It all gets a bit samey, however, as the same jungle environments, caverns, cliffsides, and ruins and recycled across each area, meaning many levels lack a strong visual identity.

Enemies and Bosses:
The Campaigner’s forces are many and varied, ranging from humanoid to dinosaur to alien warriors. You’ll encounter aggressive natives who wield knifes, pistols, spears, and shotguns, with some tossing grenades or unloading with assault rifles. These are upgraded to cyborgs in the Final Confrontation, with their shotgun-wielding commanders being notably durable. Demonic humanoids also appear, with their priests being particularly annoying as they launch fireballs and lightning and can take a lot of shots to put down, while their skeleton-painted minions spit darts. Acid-spitting, man-eating plants later appear, extremely annoying beetles and gremlin-like Lurkers hop around the various caverns, and giant prehistoric dragonflies flitter about in the skies of the Lost Land. You’ll also encounter giant grabs in the fetid sewers of the Campaigner’s citadel, giant burrowing sandworms, and heavily armoured battle robots who boast minigun arms and quad rocket launchers. The hulking Pur-Lins are smartly positioned like mini bosses, dropping in to guard keys, switches, or gates. They also produce a shockwave, launch fireballs, and tumble into you when downed so it’s best to keep your distance, especially if you’re near a pit. Various cybernetically enhanced, frog-like aliens also appear, firing plasma shots, flying with a jetpack, and occasionally initiating a self-destruct. You’ll also encounter voracious Utahraptors who bite, swipe, and jump kick you, slower Dimetrodons wander about snapping at your heels, and enemies will ride Triceratopses in the Lost Land. Like later Dimetrodons and Utahraptors, these are cybernetically enhanced, boasting miniguns and grenade launchers, which can make these usually simple (if annoying) enemies much more formidable as they’re packing serious heat!

The gigantic and powerful bosses are impressive but sadly in short number.

Although Turok boasts eight levels, there are only five bosses to contend with so the battle robots, Pur-Lins, and Triceratopses often act as mid- or end guardians. When you do fight bosses, they boast a health bar and you respawn in the boss arena if you die, which is super helpful. You may encounter some bosses out of order depending on what keys you have, but you’ll most likely fight the Longhunter first. This is a two-stage battle that first sees you attacked by two Humvees that race around firing machine guns and rockets and ram into you if you get too close. Once they’re gone, the Longhunter rolls about firing plasma shots and tossing a boomerang-like razor blade that’s tricky to avoid. Oddly, the gigantic Mantis was a far easier fight despite it being much larger and having better attacks. The Mantis leaps about, destroying walls and spitting corrosive acid that lingers for a short time. It also swipes with its bladed arms and eventually flies about dropping gunk or scrambling about on the ceiling and firing explosive shots, though I did pretty good with the minigun and pulse rifle. After clearing out the aliens, cyborgs, and hulking robots littered throughout the Campaigner’s futuristic citadel, players area teleported to a circular arena and fight a titanic, cybernetically enhanced Tyrannosaurs rex named “Thunder”. A fast, huge enemy, Thunder quickly stomps towards you and will decimate your health if it bites you. If you stay back, Thunder produces a shockwave off a leap and breathes fire, eventually sweeping the arena with is laser eye as your attacks destroy its mechanical parts. Thankfully, you’re given a save point and loads of gear prior to battling the Campaigner, who frantically teleports about, hides behind an energy shield, and unleashes a barrage of enemy projectiles. He also attacks with an axe-like club and can restrict your more powerful weapons if they’re used, though the Chronoscepter drains huge chunk of his help if you have it and if you can get a clear shot.

Additional Features:
There are a paltry ten Achievements up for grabs in this remaster of Turok, with one being awarded each time you defeat a boss and when you complete the game on any difficulty. You’ll get another if you collect enough Mortal Wounds, another for killing three enemies at once with the knife (I recommended doing this against the beetles), and another for clearing the “Training” mode and assembling the Chronoscepter. Although the game has four difficulty modes, you’re better off sticking to “Easy” unless you really need a greater challenge, and there’s little point in jumping into the blue bonus portals unless you’re really low on resources. There are a bunch of secret areas to discover, which generally yield additional health or weapons, and finding them all grants you another Achievement. Though there’s no multiplayer option, there is a time trial mode that gifts another Achievement if you beat it fast enough. You can input a bunch of cheat codes to gain infinite lives, all weapons and keys, big head mode, invincibility, and more, however they disable the Achievements.

Final Thoughts:
Like I said, it seemed as though everyone owned Turok: Dinosaur Hunter back in the day, and that includes me. However, this is the first time I’ve ever legitimately beaten the game much less played through it from start to finish. I used to just mess around with cheats, blowing enemies up with the Chronoscepter and skipping to the bosses, so it was nice to finally sit down and play it. Sadly, Turok hasn’t aged well, despite the graphical and performance enhancements made to this remaster. It’s a very barebones FPS, even with the emphasis on exploration to find all the keys and Chronoscepter pieces. You’ll mostly see the same enemies in every level, the same assets recycled into tougher challenges, and repeat the same gameplay loop of shooting, pressing switches, and teleporting about until you reach the end. The game is disappointingly light on story, even for an FPS title or an early Nintendo 64 release, and I found myself holding back from using most of the heavier weapons as I wanted to save them for the bosses, only for bosses to be extremely rare and such bullet sponges that you quickly exhaust your best ammo. I really liked the cybernetic dinosaurs and wish these had been more prominent, with less humanoid enemies and more prehistoric or alien enemies to lean into the game’s unique setting. The environments also really needed more visual variety. The jungle setting and Aztec ruins are fine for the first two levels, and I loved the atmosphere of the Treetop Village, but the futuristic, alien aesthetic should’ve been incorporated more prominently, perhaps with crashed alien craft or outposts set up by the Campaigner in each area. The lack of multiplayer is a surprising omission given how popular “Deathmatches” were back then and the focus on FPS platforming really drags Turok down. It’s a fairly unique gimmick, for sure, but FPS platforming is never fun and some of the jumps are ridiculously finnicky and frustrating. Therefore, while Turok: Dinosaur Hunter may be a Nintendo 64 classic and have a place in the history books, it’s largely inferior to other FPS titles from yesteryear even with its bizarre enemies and setting.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Did you own Turok: Dinosaur Hunter on the Nintendo 64 back in the day or was this your first time discovering it? Did you ever read the Valiant comics? Were you also annoyed by the finnicky, first-person platforming? Did you also find the levels lacking in visual variety? Did you ever construct the Chronoscepter and defeat the Campaigner? Which Turok videogame is your favourite and how are you celebrating Dinosaur Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, and dinosaurs in general, leave them below and donate to my Ko-Fi if you want to see more Turok content.

Back Issues [HulkaMAYnia]: The Fantastic Four #12

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Since his explosive debut in May 1962, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s gamma-irradiated Jade Giant has been one of their most recognisable and successful characters.

Story Titles: “The Incredible Hulk”
“Part 2. Mission: Stop the Hulk”
“Part 2. Who is The Wrecker?”
“Part 4. The Hulk at Last!”

Published: 10 December 1962 (cover-dated: March 1963) 
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Quick Facts:
Inspired by a story of a hysterical mother summoning superhuman strength to rescue her child and classic screen monsters, Doctor Robert Bruce Banner’s monstrous alter ego quickly crossed paths with one of his most notable rivals, Benjamin “Ben” Grimm/The Thing, about six months after his debut. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Thing echoed the Hulk’s position as a misunderstood, often feared creature and they have butted heads numerous times over the years.

The Review:
The story of the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing’s first encounter with the Incredible Hulk begins outside the New York City symphony auditorium, of all places. Disguised by a long trenchcoat, fetching hat, and shades, the Thing exits the auditorium with his girlfriend, blind sculptor Alicia Masters, after sharing (begrudgingly, on Grimm’s part) a romantic evening at the orchestra. When a patron suddenly gets all excited and patriotic at spotting a passing company of infantrymen, the Thing is annoyed and insulted to have his disguise knocked off and be branded a monster. When the Thing accosts the blustering civilian, the soldiers spot him and assume he’s the super strong target they’ve been deployed to find and surround Ben, apparently not recognising him. Aggravated by the brazen attack, the Thing douses them with a nearby fire hydrant and easily snaps their “special flexible steel bands”. His patience at an all-time low, the Thing moves to up his attack and is pacified by gas shells, only for the commander to step halt the attack. Although he apologises, the commander riles Ben up further when he reveals the soldiers have been deployed to find the Hulk. Insulted to be mistaken for such a mindless beast, the Thing returns to the Fantastic Four’s headquarters at the Baxter Building and impatiently rips the elevator doors off and climbs thirty-five floors to the living quarters when he misplaces his key card. When the Thing shares the incident with the team, he’s angered to learn that General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is popping over to discuss the Hulk’s threat with the Fantastic Four.

Although the Thing’s eager to fight the Hulk. Dr. Banner’s adamant that the real culprit is the “Wrecker”.

Sure enough, ol’ T-Bolt shows up, also apologises to the Thing, and reveals that the Hulk is suspected of sabotaging the military’s desert missile installations. During the presentation, Sue Storm/The Invisible Girl is so unnerved by the monstrous Hulk that she briefly loses control of her powers, much to the concern of the fascinated Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. The Thing, however, is unimpressed by the brute and boasts that he could easily overpower the Hulk. Hot-headed Johnny Storm/The Human Torch mocks the Thing and gloats that he would stand a better chance against the Hulk, suggesting he could trap the beast in a maze of flames. Mr. Fantastic suggests a simpler approach: simply baiting the Hulk into a trap so Reed can envelop him with his malleable body. Oddly, Sue downplays her usefulness and, annoyingly, Ross reduces her to a simple cheerleader with a statement that even Reed backs up. Mr. Fantastic then shows off the team’s new Fantasi-Car and Ross joins them in flying over to meet Dr. Banner, his assistant (Doctor Karl Kort), and his “young helper” (perennial sidekick Rick Jones). While Dr. Kort is all for catching the Hulk, Dr. Banner insists that the damage doesn’t align with the Hulk’s most logical form of attack, earning him the ire of General Ross. After being insulted by Dr. Kort’s double take and annoyed by the Human Torch, the Thing decides to crash the meeting, angering both Reed and General Ross, who blows a gasket when the Thing proves his strength by tearing apart a stash of Ross’s bound telephone books. Cooler heads prevail and Dr. Banner offers to help Mr. Fantastic locate the true saboteur (dubbed “The Wrecker”), though he and Rick secretly lament that they can’t share the knowledge of Dr. Banner’s dual identity with the dysfunctional team. Dr. Banner and Rick’s wish to find the man behind the sabotage of an experimental nuclear deterrent instantly comes true when Rick glances at Dr. Kort’s wallet and finds he’s a card-carrying member of a “subversive communist-front organisation”, leading to the Commie bastard taking him hostage.

A brief scuffle between the Hulk and the Thing sees the Wrecker’s threat ended.

Rather than search for the Hulk, Mr. Fantastic fixes the base’s rocket sled for the Thing to take a jet-powered ride, only to be scuppered by bent tracks. Though rescued by Johnny and Reed, the incident convinces Ben that the Hulk is behind the sabotage. Thus, the team dismiss Dr. Banner’s protests to the contrary, so he slinks back to his laboratory to activate a special gamma-inducing machine and transform into the Hulk. Uncharacteristically retaining much of his intelligence and reason, the Hulk traverses the base using a network of underground tunnels, soon bumping into the Fantastic Four when they follow the Thing’s hunch that the Hulk is hiding underground. The Hulk eagerly clobbers the Thing, only to immediately regret it due to Ben’s stone hide and attempt to leave, dousing the Human Torch with sand and clawing his way to the surface in search of Rick. The team regroup in an abandoned town, so the Hulk upends a house and tries to crush them with it, only for the Thing to swat it aside. The Hulk easily overpowers Reed’s attempts to subdue him and again makes short work of Johnny, leading to a brief fist fight with the Thing. However, just as they’re getting into it, the Hulk is zapped by a “strange, atom-powered ray” from underground and knocked unconscious. Annoyed at being cheated out of his victory, the Thing burrows underground and destroys the Wrecker’s machine, realising that Dr. Banner was right all along. The Thing then busts down an iron door and discovers Dr. Kort armed with a ray gun, with Rick tied up as a hostage. Luckily, the Invisible Girl swats the device away and Dr. Kort is easily apprehended by the incensed Thing. In the confusion, the Hulk slips away to revert to Dr. Banner and thank Mr. Fantastic for all his help, watching from afar (as the Hulk) as the team are celebrated by the military and race off to their next adventure.

Final Thoughts: 
Obviously, this is very early in the Hulk’s Marvel career (the same year as his debut, no less!) so you have to cut it some slack and realise that a lot of his now-recognisable tropes were still being developed. For example, the Hulk isn’t a mindless, rampaging beast or even a child-like creature. In fact, he’s barely that angry at all and Dr. Banner can freely control his transformations using a special machine, retaining some control as the Hulk (though appearing noticeably more aggressive and confident when transformed). This story is also about a year after the Fantastic Four’s debut, so there are still some kinks being worked out there (the military doesn’t recognise the Thing, for example). This may also be one of the first, if not the first, crossovers between Marvel Comics characters as the Fantastic Four are specifically sought out by General Ross to combat the Hulk’s apparent sabotage. This issue is also set in the less-than-progressive sixties, meaning Sue is depicted as a fragile, useless woman only good for bolstering the men’s morale (though I did like that she played a pivotal role in apprehending the Wrecker). The story is a bit inconsistent at times, too. General Ross initially says that the “only way” to recognise the Hulk is by his superhuman strength, then immediately hands the Thing a photograph of the Hulk and treats the Fantastic Four to a slideshow of the Green Goliath, making me question why the hell those soldiers mistook the Thing for the Hulk! I can only assume they weren’t properly briefed, being mere infantrymen, and it seems the goal was to show that the Thing is as feared and judged by others as the Hulk. This also emphasises the Thing’s prideful nature and his incredible strength, both qualities continually highlighted throughout the issue to present him as being at least equal to the Hulk in these regards.

Sadly, the fight between the Hulk and the Thing is as disappointing as Sue’s characterisation.

This was actually one of the first Hulk and Fantastic Four stories I read as a kid (I think it was included in a generic Marvel annual I had), so I have some nostalgia for it. However, the much-anticipated clash between the Hulk and the Thing is disappointingly lacklustre. Despite the Thing’s boasting, the Hulk proves far more formidable than he thought and even the Hulk is surprised by how painful it is to strike Ben’s rocky hide. One punch is enough to have the Hulk rethink his strategy, though he easily bests the Human Torch and shrugs off Mr. Fantastic’s attempts to wrap him up. I enjoyed the irony of this, as Johnny and Reed were very confident of their chances against the Hulk, but it turns out the Thing stands the best chance of subduing the Green Goliath, only for the two to be depicted as equally matched and for the Wrecker’s atom ray bullshit to end the fight just as it’s about to get interesting. Considering the story is squarely on the Thing, it would’ve been far better to have him and the Hulk tear through that “ghost town” knocking the stuffing out of each other while Reed and the others deal with the Wrecker and his machine. There’s not much to Dr. Banner and Rick here; it’s just the same thing of them protesting the Hulk’s innocence and being judged for it. I did like that he and Reed seem to hit it off, but we don’t get to see them working together in any meaningful way. Hell, we get more of a rivalry between Rick and Johnny than a science bromance between Dr. Banner and Reed, which was a shame. The Wrecker was also a lame villain, but I liked that Dr. Kort was smart enough to frame the Hulk and how easy it was for him to do thanks to Thunderbolt’s prejudices. Ultimately, this is a decent and note-worthy story but probably best read in a collection of other, more dramatic and exciting confrontations between the Hulk and the Thing.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy the first encounter between the Hulk and the Thing? Were you also annoyed that the military mistook the Thing for the Hulk? Did you enjoy seeing the Thing’s pride and strength take the spotlight? Were you disappointed that their fights were barely worth mentioning? What are some of your favourite fights or moments between the Hulk and the Thing? How are you celebrating the Hulk today? Whatever you thoughts on the Hulk, share them below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Hulk content for the site.

Game Corner [Turtle Tuesday]: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed (Xbox Series X)

Dr. K1 Comment

Since Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) first appeared in May 1984, they’ve achieved worldwide success thanks to many influential cartoons, videogames, and action figures.

Released: 18 October 2024
Developer: Aheartfulofgames
Metacritic Scores: 66 / 4.6

Also Available For: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S

Quick Facts:
Following Michael Bay’s monstrous reimaginings, Nickelodeon partnered with Seth Rogan and Jeff Rowe on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Rowe, 2023), a visually impressive box office success. Mutant Mayhem was accompanied by this tie-in videogame, which was marketed as a direct follow-up and bolstered by downloadable content (DLC). While the visuals and writing were praised, the game’s performance was heavily criticised.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is a direct follow-up to the surprisingly energetic and entertaining 2023 animated movie of a similar name and directly follows the events of that film, with mutants like the TMNT living freely in New York City. However, when the malevolent Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) sends mutants into a frenzy with a pheromone harvested from anthropomorphic chameleon Cammy, players must journey through the sewers, subways, and rooftops to subdue the threat and find a cure. Unlike most TMNT videogames, Mutants Unleashed only offers single or two-player co-op and, as far as I can see, there are no team-based attacks on offer (though you can compete for letter grades). The TMNT all share the same basic controls and are somewhat differentiated by their weapons and gameplay. Raphael, for example, seems slower and has a shorter reach, Michelangelo seems much faster, Donatello has great reach, and Leonardo seems like an all-rounder. Combat is extremely simple, with players unleashing basic combos by tapping X (or holding it for a stronger attack) and performing a stronger dash attack with Y. You can string these buttons together for more elaborate combos, but mashing X or Y generally does the job. Players jump with A, double jumping by pressing it twice, and run by holding the Right Trigger. This allows you to wall run, hop to pipes to skate across gaps or areas, and perform additional attacks. You hold B to block or tap it when indicated to dodge roll from enemy attacks, unleashing a powerful counter with either X or Y (though these can leave you vulnerable). As ever, pizza restores your health, though you must restart the mission if you fall in battle as there’s only ever a checkpoint before a boss battle, which can get aggravating.

Mindless combat, aggravating controls, and frustrating hit detection drag this game down.

Pizza and other temporary power-ups, like fizzy drinks that increase your attack power, are dropped by enemies or found in destructible objects. You can hit explosive barrels to damage enemies (though these also blow up in your face!), knock them off rooftops and into water (both of which damage you as the TMNT can’t swim!), and use environmental hazards like speeding subway trains to hurt enemies. As you complete missions and collect VHS tapes, you’ll earn experience points (XP) to spend upgrading characters in their sewer lair, adding additional moves to their arsenal. You can also increase their maximum health, their damage, and how fast and long the assist gauge raises by finding hidden ooze canisters. You can also find arcade tokens to spend on single-use items that, for example, refill your health when it’s drained but, to get the most out of each character, you must chat to various non-playable characters (NPCs) to offer encouragement, guest star on podcasts, and complete combat and time trial missions for additional XP and rewards. As you dish out damage, the assist gauge fills and allows you to call in another character to assist you using the Left Bumper, either by attacking enemies or spawning pizza and fizzy drinks. I found these extremely temperamental as most have a short range, cutscenes cancel them out, and you must smash crates to get the power-ups rather than them just appearing. Donnie, Mikey, and Raph also have unique special abilities: Donnie stuns enemies with a camera flash, Mikey automatically twirls his nunchaku, and Raph briefly enters “Rage Mode” after a successful dodge and counterattack. Again, I had trouble with these, and they weren’t as intuitive as I’d like. The game is also extremely finnicky with its lock-on and camera, which makes platforming a chore, combat a hectic mess at times, and often sees you taking a plummet or being bashed about and forced to frantically mash B to get up before you’re stun locked.

Alongside the endless combat, you’ll be exploring the same locations helping NPCs with their troubles.

Mutants Unleashed uses an odd time-based mechanic where some missions must be completed within a certain number of days. Time passes as you chat with NPCs and complete tasks, like running obstacles courses to deliver pizzas for Bebop, Rocksteady, and Ray Fillet, battling enemy waves as part of Splinter’s training regime, and hunting down “contagious” enemies. I’m not sure what the penalty is if you miss the deadline for a mission as I completed them all on time, but it was frustrating being limited by this mechanic. Most of these sub-missions involve revisiting the same areas and battling the same enemies but in different configurations and contexts, though you do unlock additional apps for your smartphone, such as a monster finding game and fun stickers to virtually place on people’s heads! When in story-based missions, you quickly see everything Mutants Unleashed has to offer as you visit the same locations over and over, sometimes at night or in reverse, with little variation beyond tougher enemies. You can make enemies more manageable by passing time on the world map and even run past most of them unless you’re forced into a fight. Environmental hazards like electrical pylons and live wires, giant fans, sticky oil, and moving or bouncy platforms can really mess up your combat especially as it’s easy to get snagged on the environment. Occasionally, the mindless action is broken up by the odd zip wire or autoscrolling section, with you often battling through (and on the roof of) subway trains or hopping to various vehicles on a busy highway (extra dangerous given the janky camera and controls!) You’ll hop to submerged shipping containers (some of which sink), run across collapsible wooden planks, jump to rooftops and giant fans over dangerous sewer water, and occasionally chase the TMNT’s infected mutant allies (though this is merely a ploy to lead you to the same platforming and combat sections). Mutants Unleashed can be surprisingly frustrating even when you’re at full power. The TMNT can be pummelled to death quite easily if you’re not careful and the lack of checkpoints gets especially frustrating in the late game, where enemies are naturally more formidable.

Presentation:
Mutants Unleashed does a fantastic job of mirroring the art style and action of Mutant Mayhem, a fact helped by the four leads being voiced by the same teenage voice actors from the movie. The graphics adopt a sketchbook-like, cel-shaded style that mimics the unique presentation of the film and adds some interesting touches to the action, such as scribbles for shadows and character outlines when they’re obscured. This comes to a head in the endgame when Cammy riles the “Mewbies” into a mob, with the rioting crowd represented by shifting, distorted, potentially 2D art, which is a nice touch. Comic book style sound effects and cutaways add to the combat, though the voice samples do get quite repetitive. I did like that the TMNT chat with each other and their allies to progress the plot, though I wasn’t expecting the game to focus so heavily on NPC interaction. Each character has an NPC they interact with alongside the team helping their other allies in various ways. Leo gets leadership and self-confidence pointers from shifty influencer Toby, Raph helps a disabled swimmer get back on form, Mikey guests on a podcast, and Donnie helps a young, drone enthusiast. You also snap pictures of graffiti and learn about art from Mondo Gecko, help budding reporter April O’Neil chase leads, watch movies with Splinter, and play dance rhythm games (in cutscenes…) with Wingnut. Each area changes as you progress and explore, with different NPCs in the background or changing entirely, such as scientist Sai Modi being forced from his laboratory and Bebop and the others temporarily relocating their pizza business. The TMNT have some fun banter with each other, with Raph surprising the others with his knowledge of various animals after binge-watching nature documentaries and the others mocking Leo for his crush on April. Mutants Unleashed is surprisingly long, too, with a lot of cutscenes to sit through (which you can thankfully skip), which is very unusual for a videogame tie-in to a movie.

Although the game captures the aesthetic of the movie, its locations are extremely repetitive.

Sadly, as good as the presentation is, it’s very visually repetitive. Between missions, you wander about the TMNT’s cramped sewer lair, upgrading characters or engaging with Splinter, before choosing your next mission from the world map. Almost every mission has you venturing to the city streets from either the sewers or the subway, hopping across various rooftops, or visiting the docks. These areas have many variations, with the subways tunnels sometimes being active, flooded, or you fighting through moving trains and the rooftops being at different times of the day, but it all gets very old very quickly. Sometimes, you revisit an area backwards (meaning you start at where you exited before and head right instead of left) or at different times of the day, or tougher enemies and new hazards appear. These are usually giant fans that blow you into the water, bouncing washing lines, or more water and bottomless pits. Areas are pretty well detailed, for the most part, with the city streets being an obvious standout. You’ll see businesses, graffiti, alleyways, overground trains, and sewer pipes all around and it can be fun veering off the painfully linear path to explore or wasting time in the skate park. Some missions see you stuck in claustrophobic interiors, such as the abandoned movie theatre, the cramped shopping mall, or the hazardous TCRI facility, where pistons threaten to crush you or push you into spiked walls. Other times, you’re attacking generators to briefly disable electrical hazards around construction sites, desperately avoiding the rushing tarmac on the highway, or clambering to piles of shipping containers or disused boats. Mutants Unleashed eventually adds a bit more variety, such as snow or you battling across the wreckage of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the endgame, you venture into TCRI airships, grinding around the wings and smashing consoles inside, before storming their main facility, battling hordes of the game’s worst enemies and smashing power nodes to stop them pumping out the madness-inducing pheromone.

Enemies and Bosses:
Mutants Unleashed has you striking down waves of Mewbies, bizarre anthropomorphic animals driven crazy by TCRI’s pheromone. While you are forced to fight waves of them, as indicated by the anime-like cutaways and annoying focus on nearby groups, others can simply be avoided (which I would recommend). Although the same Mewbies pop up all throughout the game, each has different variants and they’re all aggravating in different ways. Crabapults are the most common, weakest enemy and even they can protect against your attacks by hiding in the bins strapped to their backs and toss rubbish from a distance that always seems to hit! Later, defeating them sees a smaller variant linger about, which was very frustrating as they also always seemed to do damage. Rumblebees are also very common and can be tricky to hit with your mid-air attacks. They swoop at you, attack with their boxing gloves, and later swing chainsaws or emit a damaging gas cloud and even explode upon defeat! The luchador-like El Hippo takes quite a pounding before going down and charges up a punch or especially annoying charge that send you flying, or performs a belly drop that homes in on you to make dodging it even more frustrating. Fin Harris attack with tridents, charging a dash and sometimes protecting themselves with an electrical field, while the bulky Eel-A-Watts also employ a body slam alongside a devastating laser cannon! Zebrakens can be ridiculously annoying as they can snag you with their extendable, crab-like pincer; Rock N Moles pop up from below, sometimes sporting drill-like noses or unleashing a soundwave; and Roller Blade mantises quickly dash about on roller skates. I found the worst enemies were the Roaster Fish and Maul Tusks. Roaster Fish weild flamethrower-like blowtorches and nail guns that constantly knocked me out of the air, sent me flying, or hit no matter where I was; and they teleport, too! Maul Tusks are mutant snails that swing massive mallets to decimate your health bar or unleash a barrage of rockets, sometimes being protected by forcefields and fought in small areas where you either can’t dodge or get snagged on the environment!

Bosses can be an uphill battle thanks to some odd perspectives and cheap exploits.

Despite Mutants Unleashed featuring a world map and many side missions, the story follows a linear path, and you battle the TMNT’s crazed mutant friends in a set order, often after chasing them or cleaning up their messes. As is common in TMNT videogames, your first boss battle is against the duo of Bebop and Rocksteady, who take it in turns battling you in a mosh pit. Rocksteady tries to gore you, though gets stunned if you trick him into running into the walls, as Bebop tosses grenades from the DJ deck, while Bebop fires a laser from his ghetto blaster and tosses those same grenades as Rocksteady fires flames. After besting both, they attack together, which can be a tough fight even with pizzas being flung into the arena (I recommend focusing on Rocksteady first). The first fight against Genghis Frog is merely a teaser as he quickly flees after a short battle. When you fight him in the water treatment facility, his axe game is much improved, with him swinging it wildly and in an overhead arc. When he hops to the background, you must trick him into snagging explosive barrels with his tongue and pummel him when he’s stunned. Leatherhead was a much trickier boss as you must sneak around her lair from a quasi-overhead perspective, avoiding making noise or being spotted or she basically immediately kills you with her shotgun. Instead, you must follow glowing cables to a generator that must be attacked to temporarily blind her, and then do this again but without visual indicators. When you finally confront Wingnut at the cinema, she’s fought on a 2.5D plane before the movie screen and attacks from above, swooping low before landing and firing energy waves both high and low. After enough hits, she adds a bombardment of flaming projectiles to her arsenal, but her attacks are easily telegraphed so she’s not too difficult to beat if you time your jumps properly.

Turbo Cammy represents the game’s toughest, cheapest boss challenge due to some awful mechanics.

When Mikey also turns feral, he’s temporarily removed from the playable roster and you must track him to the city streets. Although he’s fast and seems to boast all his regular attacks, Mikey was the easiest boss battle and went down in no time. At first, this is true for Cammy, who you fight a few times amidst the rioting Mewbies. Each time, I hit her enough for her to flee and tag in her minions, so I never saw her use a single attack. After she joins the TMNT in opposing TCRI, Cammy’s mutated into the far more monstrous and formidable “Turbo Cammy”, who’s fought in three phases (with no checkpoints). Turbo Cammy first attacks with claw swipes, a big stomp, and turns invisible, which is pretty manageable. She then uses her extendable tongue, adds a charge attack, and leaps across the wrecked bridge to crush you. Finally, she spews ooze, spitting at you, and adds faster combos to her arsenal. Luckily, your allies toss pizza to help, but this was a gruelling boss battle as I kept getting stun locked, caught on the environment, or tossed about due to the dodgy lock-on gimmick! After Cammy seemingly dies, Leo’s ally Toby is revealed to be a traitor and is fought in a giant, distinctly Krang-like mech aboard a TCRI airship. This was a much easier boss battle as it’s ridiculously easy to avoid his missile barrage, sweeping lasers, and jet powered drop. Even when Toby regenerates his health for the second phase and adds more lasers, a flying attack, and a punch combo, it’s super easy to get behind him and pummel him into submission, especially if your TMNT are fully upgraded.

Additional Features:
Twenty-seven Achievements are up for grabs in Mutants Unleashed, with one awarded every time you defeat a boss, upgrade a character, or reach maximum friendship with each NPC. You’ll snag another if you find all the “DigiMutants” using the smartphone app, photograph every piece of graffiti, and locate all the ooze cannisters to max out your health, damage, and assist gauge. Even playing casually, you should manage to complete all these Achievements on a single playthrough, though it was surprising to not see extra Achievements for playing with a friend or defeating thousands of enemies. Beating the game unlocks “New Game+”, which carries over all your skills and makes the enemies even tougher, though I wouldn’t recommend playing this game more than once (specially as there’s no Achievement for clearing New Game+). By inputting codes into the TMNT’s computer, you unlock additional skins that see the characters transformed into action figures or wear their casual clothes, and extra skins can be bought as DLC to turn them into Metalheads or their counterparts from the 1980s cartoon and original comics. The “Fresh Meat Mission Pack” offers additional missions, featuring three new enemies, a “Horde Mode”, and a new boss battle against Scumbug, though there also aren’t any Achievements tied to the DLC so you’re probably better off saving your cash.

Final Thoughts:
I was expecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed to be another arcade-style beat-‘em-up that simply saw one to four players battling waves of mutants through the sewers and streets of New York City. Instead, the mission-based narrative and focus on side missions and upgrading the TMNT has more in common with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan (PlatinumGames, 2016) than the simple, mindless simplicity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Konami, 1991). On the one hand, the game is thus far longer and more involved than I would expect from a videogame based on a movie, cramming in so much story and so many character interactions that it starts to become tedious. It feels unfair to criticise this as it’s clearly not a cheap cash-in like other tie-in videogames, but Mutants Unleashed wears out its welcome very quickly. The basic combat is fine, but it’s thrown all out of whack when you sprinkle in platforming or precarious environments to fight in. It’s especially aggravating that the TMNT take damage when they fall in water, that they can easily get caught on the environment and pummelled by enemy hordes, and that the game’s so stingy with checkpoints. I didn’t mind the NPC side missions, but most are just cutscenes or reskinned areas you’ve already visited a dozen times. The deadline gimmick seemed an arbitrary way to extend the game’s life, as was forcing you to repeatedly do the same tasks for basically the same rewards. While the game faithfully captures the look, humour, and atmosphere of the movie, I felt no sense of accomplishment from upgrading the characters, barely cared about the NPCs, and was extremely disappointed that the 16-bit titles have more variety in their environments. The bosses could be fun but were also extremely cheap at times due to the dodgy controls, janky camera, and awful collision detection. With little incentive to replay the game and no collectibles or unlockables worth shouting about, I’d definitely say you’re better off avoiding Mutants Unleashed and sticking to the classic TMNT videogames as they might be short, but at last they’re fun!

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you also disappointed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed despite how long the story mode was? Did you enjoy how it mimicked the presentation and continued the story of the movie? How invested were you in the NPC’s problems? Which of the bosses was your favourite? Did you also get frustrated by the controls and collision detection? Which TMNT videogame is your favourite and how are you celebrating the TMNT this month? Tell me what you think in the comments and go donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest another TMNT videogame for me to review.

Back Issues [X-Men Day]: The Uncanny X-Men #141-142

Dr. K1 Comment

To commemorate the culmination of their long-running and successful X-Men movies, 20th Century Fox declared May 13th “X-Men Day”.

Story Title: “Days of Future Past”
Published: 21 October 1980 (cover-dated: January 1981)
Writers: Chris Claremont and John Byrne
Artist: John Byrne

Story Title: “Mind Out of Time”
Published: 18 November 1980 (cover-dated: February 1981)

Quick Facts:
Revitalised by a 1975 revival courtesy of acclaimed writer and artist duo Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s socially conscious X-Men dabbled with time travel in this purposely focused, much-lauded, seminal story that influenced both comics and X-Men media for years. Many videogames reference it, issue 141’s cover is repeatedly recreated, the story as notably adapted for the highly-praised animated series, and “Days of Future Past” inspired Bryan Singer’s critical and commercial hit 2014 movie of the same name.

The Review:
This classic two-part X-Men story, collectively known as “Days of Future Past”, is set in one of many possible Marvel futures (later designated Earth-811). In this dystopian future world, New York City has been devastated, leaving it a depressing shambles of debris and wreckage. Thanks to the internal monologue of the aged Katherine “Kitty” Pryde/Sprite, who’s scrambling through the ruins to rendezvous with James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, we learn that the cause of the destruction was the Sentinels, gigantic, mechanised weapons created to hunt and destroy Mutants. Already uneasy about being forced to venture into an unsafe part of the city, Kate is frustrated when she falls for a trap laid by the “Rogues”, punk-like human survivors with no love for “Muties” or Sentinels. Although she tries to talk her way out of it, Kate lashes out when the punks advance on her, unwilling to go down without a fight despite her Mutant power to become intangible being negated by an inhibitor collar. Luckily, the visibly aged Wolverine shows up to help, purposely avoiding popping his Adamantium claws to avoid alerting the Sentinels. Still, Logan easily handles such street trash and rescues Kate, revealing that the world is on the brink of nuclear destruction should the Sentinels advance out of North America. Logan hands Kate the last component to the “jammer”, a device she and her fellow enslaved and imprisoned Mutants secretly made to disrupt their inhibitor collars. Returning to her Mutant internment center, Kate quietly laments 2013 America, which is divided into three classes: “clean” humans, humans with the potential to sire Mutants and who are this forbidden to breed, and outcast Mutants who are either killed or kept in camps.

To prevent an apocalyptic future, Kate has her consciousness sent back into her younger body.

Kate is one of the latter, forced to work as slave labour for the Sentinels and carry the guilt of outliving her Mutant and super-powered friends. Kate’s interred alongside two surviving X-Men – her husband, Piotr “Peter” Rasputin/Colossus and Ororo Munroe/Storm – Franklin Richards, last survivor of the Fantastic Four, and his “lady”, telepath Rachel (later revealed to be the daughter of Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops and Jean Grey/Phoenix)), and unlikely ally Erik “Magnus” Lehnsherr/Magneto, ironically now confined to a wheelchair like his long dead friend and rival, Professor Charles Xavier/ Professor X. Alongside Wolverine, the six represent the Anti-Sentinel Resistance and plot to undo the death and destruction caused by the Sentinels, which resulted in the deaths of Kate and Peter’s children. Franklin completes the jammer and restores Rachel and Kate’s powers, allowing Rachel to mysteriously send Kate’s consciousness back through time. Logan then leads his fellow Mutants through the subways, where they’re quickly discovered by the Sentinels. When Franklin is vaporised, Rachel fights back with her telekinetic powers, holding off one of the machines to protect Kate’s unconscious form while Storm and Wolverine (with the aid of a “fastball special”) take out the second Sentinel. Colossus then brings down a nearby building to bury more Sentinels so the grieving survivors can reach the Baxter Building, the heart of the Sentinel’s operation. When the story shifts to the 1980s, Kitty walks in on X-Men testing their powers and combat prowess in the hazardous Danger Room and Professor X’s school, much to the shock of Colossus, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Storm, Warren Worthington III/Angel, and Wolverine. After the X-Men to save her and Kitty showcases her amazing phasing powers, Sprite suddenly writhes in agony and collapses as her future self possesses her, leading them to rush her to the medical bay and be amazed when she rants about being from the future.

Tensions run high as the X-Men battle the Brotherhood to safeguard the future.

Kate quickly convinces them by revealing that the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are due to assassinate Presidential candidate Robert Kelly, Professor X, and Mutant specialist Doctor Moira McTaggart. This escalates the fear and hatred or Mutants and sees the election of an anti-Mutant President, who orders the reactivation of the Sentinels and the summary execution and imprisonment of all Mutants and super-powered beings. Though sceptical, Storm agrees to fly them to Washington, D.C. so Professor X can mind scan Kate, unaware that Raven Darkholme/Mystique has already infiltrated the Pentagon using her shape-shifting powers. Mystique has also snuck in her Brotherhood comrades – Dominic Petros/Avalanche, Fred Dukes/The Blob, Irene Adler/Destiny, and St. John Allerdyce/Pyro – to assist in her plot, despite blind precog Destiny revealing the future is clouded and the Blob objecting to Mystique’s leadership. While Senator Kelly shares his concerns about Mutantkind with the United States senate, the Brotherhood strike, just as Kate predicted. Despite Kelly’s bigotry, the X-Men defend him and a fight ensues that sees Avalanche send the X-Men flying by erupting the ground and Storm forced to whisk Wolverine away with a whirlwind when the bloodthirsty X-Man goes to gut Pyro. In the fracas, Professor X and Moira are saved by a policewoman, who turns out to be Mystique in disguise, who subdues them with nerve gas. The fight between the X-Men and the Brotherhood spills into the streets, where the Army attack both teams and the X-Men struggle to protect innocents. After being roasted by Pyro, the enraged Wolverine argues with Storm when she asserts her authority, begrudgingly deferring to her wish that he sheaths his claws.

Although Senator Kelly is saved, the future remains uncertain for the X-Men…

Thanks to some physics-based teamwork, Colossus and Wolverine defeat Avalanche and the Blob. Although Storm douses Pyro’s flaming monster avatar and takes him off the board with a bout of rain, Nightcrawler hesitates to finish Mystique when she hints at knowledge of his past, allowing her to escape. Still, the X-Men are victorious, unlike their future counterparts. After infiltrating the Baxter Building and pondering what affect their time meddling will have, the future survivors encounter an “Omega series” Sentinel. Naturally, Logan insists on tackling the threat alone and is horrifically reduced to a smouldering metal skeleton by a single blast! When she fights back, Storm is fatally impaled by another Sentinel, driving Colossus into a berserker fury that also ends with his death. This leaves a distraught Rachel to cradle Kate’s body and hope that her friend can change the future, or at least create an alternative, less painful timeline. As the time switch has conveniently made Kitty invisible to Destiny’s prescient abilities, she easily prevents the precog from assassinating the defiant Senator Kelly, expelling Kate from her younger body and leaving the X-Men to wonder if they prevented the apocalypse and Mystique to swear revenge. Rather than give a definitive answer to this, the story ends with the President of the United States meeting with Senator Kelly and industrialist Sebastian Shaw. Despite Kelly owing his life to the X-Men, his concerns about Mutants have not softened and are only fostered by the scheming Shaw, who’s secretly part of the malicious Hellfire Club. The President appears to agree with their concerns but insists that any actions they take must remain top secret. He then introduces them to Henry Peter Gyrich, whom he tasks with head up “Project Wideawake” and begin construction of a new series of Sentinels…

Final Thoughts: 
While I appreciate “Days of Future Past” telling its story over two issues rather than dragging the plot out across a sprawling, multi-issue saga, I do think it would’ve benefitted from being at least four issues long just to further explore the past and future events. We’re dropped into this dystopian world that sees Mutants executed or imprisoned on sight and the few survivors making a desperate gamble to alter their fate, but don’t spend much time getting to know them in this environment. Like, how did Magneto end up in a wheelchair? How did the surviving X-Men set aside their past with him to form a resistance movement? How did Logan escape the Sentinels? What’s with Rachel and Franklin? These questions, and others, are left purposely vague as the story intentionally presents the worst, most intriguing future for the X-Men and then wastes no time in focusing on preventing that future. Ironically, I’ve read most of the follow-ups to “Days of Future Past” and found them lacklustre, so clearly keeping things vague was the best idea, it just would’ve been nice to explore just how dire things have become in America with a racist, warmongering, crazed bigot running the country. I like the idea that the Sentinels have usurped governmental and societal control, taking their anti-Mutant programming to the extreme to exterminate all super-powered individuals and ensure the extinction of the X-gene by limiting breeding. It ironically means that the machines built to ensure the survival of humanity have largely destroyed it, at least in America. The world now fears the Sentinels more than Mutants and is prepared to launch nuclear weapons against them, resulting in one of Marvel’s bleakest future worlds since basically all the superheroes (and supervillains) have already fallen and the Sentinels’ power is absolute.

Kitty takes centre stage in this harrowing time travel adventure.

I’ve never been a big fan of Kitty Pryde, but this is a great showcase of her. In the future, Kate is desperate to change her fate and the fate of her friends and children. Distraught at having seen all her loved ones murdered or enslaved, Kate gambles everything on a drastic plan to cobble together a jammer and have Rachel project her mind into her younger body. While this leaves Kate defenceless in the future, it sees her quickly convince her old friends of the looming threat and ultimately intervene to save Senator Kelly. Kate doesn’t get to do much between those points as much of the story focuses on the battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, but it’s fitting that she’s the one to stop Destiny (literally and figuratively). Kate’s overwhelmed to see her friends alive, and they are noticeably shocked by her adult demeanour when she’s in her younger body, especially as the X-Men largely regard Kitty as a child and someone they must nurture. Still, they’re quickly convinced and throw themselves against the Brotherhood to protect Kelly, Professor X, and Moira. This leads to some conflict between Wolverine and Storm as Storm seeks to assert her authority, overcoming her insecurities and demanding that Wolverine use non-lethal methods to avoid tarnishing their reputation. Ironically, the future Wolverine willingly sheathes his claws so as not to attract attention and Storm worries she’s becoming as ruthless as Logan since she’s ready to kill to protect her few remaining friends and to try and change the timeline. Indeed, the future X-Men are ready to die one way or another to change their fate since they will potentially be erased from existence if Kate succeeds. The story is vague about this, with Rachel suggesting their timeline may continue unaltered but will result in an alternative future for their past selves, and gives no resolution on what happened to the dystopian 2013 beyond Kate being expelled from Kitty’s body.

The ruthless Sentinels are portrayed as a significant threat here.

This is doubly interesting considering the story ends with the President ordering Kelly, Shaw, and Gyrich to work on “Project Wideawake”, meaning Sentinels will stalk Mutants regardless of Kate’s actions, but it can be assumed that the future will be at least partially different as the President isn’t a gibbering racist with a bad tan. Predating Cyberdyne System’s finest by a good four years, the Sentinels are ruthless mechanical terminators, towering robot giants who detect heartbeats, anticipate enemy movements, and vaporise with a single blast. The fact they do this to Franklin, one of Marvel’s most powerful cosmic beings, is one thing but seeing them reduce Wolverine to his Adamantium skeleton is quite another. Rachel telepathically feels the pain whenever her friends die, leaving her an enraged, distraught mess when her lover is killed and seeing her left cradling Kate when she feels Colossus die. Though this happens off-panel, it’s said to be horrifically fast and also showcases just how powerful the Sentinels are. The Sentinels are used sparingly, appearing as looming, authoritative slave drivers at the Mutant camp to begin with. Instead, we see the fallout from their rule, expertly presented by John Byrne. The Sentinels more than live up to their threat once they start blasting Mutants, but the story does a phenomenal job of showcasing their devastating power by focusing more on an air of ominous dread. We see New York reduced to rubble, society divided and living in fear, and the gravestones of Marvel’s famous heroes and villains, which emphasises that the Sentinels are a serious threat. The Brotherhood are no slouches either as their fight against the X-Men takes up most of “Mind Out of Time” and paints them as a significant threat, one willing to kill in the name of Mutant supremacy. All-in-all, “Days of Future Past” remains a quintessential X-Men story, one that’s both shocking and intriguing, that might’ve benefitted from being a few issues longer but still makes quite an impact even to this day.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Do you consider “Days of Future Past” a classic X-Men story? Do you think the story should’ve been a few issues long or do you think it’s the perfect length? Were you horrified to see so many of our heroes killed in the future? Can you imagine a world where the President of the United States is a racist fanatic? Did you enjoy any of the sequels to this story? Which stories involving the Sentinels are your favourites and how are to celebrating X-Men Day today? Whatever your thoughts on the X-Men and the Sentinels, drop them in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest more X-Men related content for the site.