Alright, alright, so maybe Heavenly Sword will be a nearly three-year-old PlayStation 3 game by the time this Nariko action figure ships next July. But maybe Sony and Twisted Metal co-creator David Jaffe will have a new Twisted Metal game readied for the PS3 around the same time. Then the release of a new Sweet Tooth action figure will make a lot more sense.

Details on the figures are still scant, but solicitations from DC Direct put them on course for landing at toy store shelves on July 28, 2010.

“Aiva’s Story” tells the story of a young Asmodian warrior named Aiva, which seems completely appropriate given the name of the issue. Aiva has vowed vengeance against the Elyos who killed her family during a raid, and the comic tells the story of this quest for revenge through the artwork of Neil Googe and the words of David Noonan and Ricardo Sanchez.

The limited-edition comic will be given away free to folks who purchase the game at GameStop (US only) later this month, with a limited number of copies also available to visitors to NCsoft’s booth at PAX 09 this weekend.

I like the idea of delving more into the fiction of Aion via a comic, but a limited-edition one-shot? That will never do. Full series please.

Gadgetry and ass-kicking are a big part of what makes Batman unique among other comic book heroes. While other mutated monsters and masked miscreants waste time yelling incoherently or waxing philosophical about emotional issues, Batman busts out his gadgets, embraces his emo and kicks arse.

Batman: Arkham Asylum aims to deliver plenty of both and a bit more besides. With most of the original voice cast from the animated series of the 90s reprising their roles and Emmy award-winning writer Paul Dini behind the script, the value of the game extends well beyond a mere 12 hours or so of distraction. It’s a fusion of all that is Batman.

But does that carry an entire game?

Loved
The Gameplay: Arkham Asylum relies on about 30 per cent gadgets and 70 per cent ass-kicking to get Batman through the twisted halls of Gotham’s overtaken mental institution. The gadgets range from the familiar Batarang to the funky Cryptographic Sequencer that blows up electronic locks. The combat is a punch-and-kick throwdown that rewards you for combos and for final knockouts with spectacular slow-mo and zoom-in vision. Both function beautifully, and the latter provides so much entertainment, it gets its own gameplay section in Challenge Mode. Also, you can switch up the gadget-to-combat ratio by using gadgets mid-ass-kicking or as a means to set up traps for goons who then get their asses kicked. Batman is all about variety.

Mark Hamill: Say what you want about Star Wars and Wing Commander—as far as video games are concerned, Mark Hamill as the Joker is the performance of a lifetime. He’s funny, he’s sinister, he’s scary…he’s everything Joker is supposed to be. Even if you’re watching the same Joker-mocking-you game over screen for the fifth time, it’s just such a joy to hear Hamill at work you almost don’t mind the loading screen to get back to the game.

The Production Values: Playing this game is like watching a movie—and not in a bad Metal Gear Solid way where you could order a pizza and eat it during a cut scene. Arkham Asylum’s scenes are eloquent and often witty, and the gameplay for the most part is entertaining and fast-paced. It’s definitely a game you’d want to have an audience for, especially if you’re not up on your Batman trivia and need some help with some of the Riddler Challenges.

The Riddler Challenges: The Riddler challenges provide Arkham Asylum an excuse to let you wander the grounds, scouring every nook and cranny for interview tapes, Riddler trophies, maps of Riddler challenges and obscure pieces of scenery to scan in Detective Mode. Far from being tedious, this is actually where most of the fan service in the game appears (because sadly, they couldn’t work Catwoman in anywhere else) and it rewards you with experience points to spend on upgrades. The Riddler Challenges make the game worth a second play through just to find them all.

Scarecrow: Paralysing fear of spoilers prevent me from saying anything other than the fact that he’s in the game. But yeah, he’s easily the best part of it.

It’s Really, Really Batman! Almost everything about Arkham Asylum jibes perfectly with what Batman is, was and continues to be in the comics, the movies and the animated series. The gadgets, the combat and the characterisation of the entire cast all fit together to form a seamless representation of a superhero most Americans are more familiar with than they are with the President of the United States. Even if you’ve never read the comics, seen the movies or watched the cartoon, Arkham Asylum is comprehensive and effective enough to be a good place for a newcomer to start.

Hated
The Camera: The right stick controls the camera, but that doesn’t mean it will always do what you want it to. Maybe Batman moves too fast, or the camera moves too slow—either way, you’ll find yourself fighting it in certain environments or cursing it during boss fights in tight spaces.

The Loss of Pace: The last third of the game drags noticeably—particularly the Killer Croc’s level, one is the most repetitive and the least entertaining, standing out as the lame duck of the Arkham Asylum. It’s not enough to throw the whole game off balance, but it is a letdown. Part of it comes from the fact that being a superhero is a lot of work; but most of it is that not even Paul Dini is infallible when it comes to plot resolutions.

Pyrrhic Victories: There are several parts of the game where you begin to think that Batman’s “I work alone,” phrase has a second unspoken part about people always dying when he tries to help them. Oh, the angst!

The Last Two Bosses: For the most part, Arkham Asylum reconciles video game tenets to Batman lore. But some parts—particularly the last two boss fights—just can’t hack it. In these sections, Batman’s intelligence is chucked aside in favour of knockdown, drag-out fights we’re more used to seeing in God of War or Resident Evil. That’s not to say Batman hasn’t had knockdown, drag-out fights in the comics; but the two characters he’s matched against in these fights don’t really make sense in Batman terms. You might even catch yourself wondering if you’re facing off against a Marvel Comics villain instead of a DC one. Ten points to you if you name the one I’m thinking of.

I really enjoyed this game, so much so that I would have its babies if such a thing were possible. Sure, the last two boss fights sour the attraction a little, but all relationships have problems. Just look at Batman’s list of lovers and Robins if you want examples.

Seriously, though, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an excellent game. Buy it, play it and bask in the glow of the brightest Batman game to date.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive / Warner Bros. Interactive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Released August 25 for 360 and PS3, retails for $US59.99. Completed story mode and played challenge mode on the Xbox 360. Found about half the Riddler Challenges in one play through, but only because I was looking around frantically for a Zatanna Zatara reference.

Rather than worry about issuing a preview comic months in advance like some video game adaptations, the Free Realms comic series kicks off today, with issue one arriving on comic store shelves around the country as we speak. The book is penned by J.S. Lewis, writer of the Grey Griffon series of young adult fantasy books, with art by art by Jon Buran and Allen Martinez.

SOE has passed along the first several pages, and already I am seeing inconsistencies with the game. For example, all combat is instanced, so that poor guy would have been dead. And then he’d come back to life two or three times before the mission ended. Lewis did however nail the common response to a friend request.

Lee and Wolfman talked about the challenges of squeezing the 75-year-old DC Universe into the game, focusing on “the coolest characters, the coolest content” for DCUO, which is still in a pre-alpha state. Geoff Johns was the one on the DC Comics side responsible for the overarching story in DCUO, with Wolfman fleshing out the story concepts appropriate for the game.

“If you think about a building, Geoff created the entire structure, the beams, now I’m filling in the individual rooms, the plastering,” Wolfman said. “We’re all coming up with story concepts that fit within the DC universe. They’ll take up a paragraph I’ve marked up, and the developer turns it into 60 missions. It passes through us a second time to make sure it fits in the universe.”

Those on the DC side sounded enthusiastic to be able to work within the broader confines of DC Universe Online, with Wolfman relishing the chance to write for the player who chooses to side with DC’s villains.

“In DCUO sometimes the hero loses,” he said, noting that DC writers are “trained to have it the other way.”

Lee joked that it was challenging on the artistic side, making the transition from 2D comic book panel to 3D multiplayer online video game, bemoaning that “Drawing the other side of buildings was tough.”

“There is no map of Metropolis,” adds Johns, one of two main locations that DCUO is focusing on for its initial release. But Andersson pointed out the depth of the game’s interiors, particularly S.T.A.R. Labs in Gotham City and the thrill of “cleaning up all the disasters that happen there.”

“There’s just too much cool stuff to put in the game at launch,” Lee said, explaining SOE and DC’s focus on two main cities. That obviously doesn’t rule out other famous DC Universe locations in future expansions and patches, but considering the MMO is dated for “2000-something” right now, don’t expect to hear anything about a Central City expansion any time soon.

Lee did joke that the bottle city of Kandor, miniaturized by Braniac, would probably be the easiest, quickest to download city expansion.

Sony Online Entertainment says the game is due to hit an alpha milestone “soon,” but still has no release date to announce.

Both the Horde and Alliance will get 24 karat gold plated, Sterling silver and copper coins, based on the gold, silver and copper pieces used in World of Warcraft’s currency system. No price or release date announced at Comic-Con, but don’t expect to be able to cash these in for a flying mount.

Sounds like they’ll be packed in a display box, the kind of thing we don’t expect to be cheap. They’ll probably look a lot better in person than the shaky digital camera shot above.

According to a report from VentureBeat, Warner Bros. has given the go ahead to release a game based on the property, a bold decision that should surprise no one. That report also pegs developer Irvine, California based Double Helix—nee Shiny and The Collective—as responsible for the adaptation.

A PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version is said to be in the works, but don’t be surprised if there are Wii, DS and PSP variations on the way.

Double Helix is no stranger to turning Hollywood’s cinematic creations into video games, having handled games based on The Golden Compass, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The Matrix. Who’s excited?!

Warner Bros. greenlights Green Lantern superhero game [GamesBeat]

The first issue of DC imprint Wildstorm’s new Resident Evil comic book mini-series hits comic book stores tomorrow, and we’ve taken a sneak peek to see if it’s worth your bathroom reading time.

The Bioterrorism Security Assignment Alliance is a great deal busier than the Resident Evil video game series would have us believe, at least going by the first issue of Wildstorm’s Resident Evil comic book series. Written by game industry veteran Ricardo Sanchez with art by Kevin Sharpe, the first issue follows BSAA agents Holiday Sugarman and Mina Gere as they take of two different but eventually overlapping missions.

Mina Gere’s story actually takes place five days before Sugarman’s. A new agent, Gere is assigned with investigating a report on bio-weapon experimentation on the Join Nations Space Station, which of course leads to her crawling through cramped spaces and shooting at mutated creatures. Meanwhile, in the present, gruff veteran Holiday Sugarman leads a strike team into Grezbekistan in order to retrieve a downed satellite containing samples of a tweaked version of the T-Virus. While the two never meet during the first issue, it’s easy to see how the characters’ paths will cross.

I’m not sure exactly where this story is supposed to tie-in with Resident Evil canon, if at all. The Wildstorm website actually lists the series as a prequel to Resident Evil 5, making mention of Chris Redfield, who doesn’t actually appear in this book. The official description reads like so:

Capcom’s international video game sensation returns in March with Resident Evil 5 and WildStorm debuts the new prequel miniseries tying into the highly anticipated release! Find out what led Chris Redfield to Africa and learn the dark burden that haunts him! An absolute must-read for fans of the franchise and a starting point for new readers!

From reading that, I don’t think that expecting an appearance by Redfield was too much for me to ask, but alas, it isn’t so. What we do get is the appearance of enemies from previous games. A Licker makes the scene first, while Holiday’s team takes on a horde of Tyrants.

Ricardo Sanchez’s writing leaves a lot to be desired. The two main characters fail to make a lasting impression in this first issue, coming off as generic despite some laughable attempts at giving them personality quirks. Sugarman randomly quotes everyone from Euripides to Iron Heroes lead singer Maximus Kilgore, while Gere tells children’s jokes to the pilot of her shuttle to help ease her nerves as she travels down a series of corridors that bothers her, despite looking the same as the other corridors she’s gone down throughout the issue.

This leads directly to Kevin Sharpe’s artwork. While certainly capable, it doesn’t feel like there was very much communication between the writer and the artist on the book, as many of the drawings simply don;t feel write for the action they are portraying. Large panels featuring impressive-looking creatures highlight the artist’s skill, but don’t seem to have any real place in the storyline, and the final page of the book simply had me confused.

As the first issue of a six-issue limited series, Resident Evil #1 doesn’t offer much that would make me want to continue reading. There are no obvious hooks to Resident Evil 5, no truly compelling characters, and the storyline as it stands completely failed to grab my interest. It could very well pick up as the series continues, but I’m not sure I’ll be there to witness it.

When Brash Entertainment, the plague of a publisher that did serious harm to independent developers industry-wide, gave up the ghost, several projects went with it. That includes one based on DC Comics’ The Flash.

In development at Bottlerocket Entertainment, the same of Splatterhouse infamy, The Flash was just one entry in a long list of titles that Brash had in the works before a string of crap releases caused it to fold, mercifully. Hopefully, they’ll do no more damage.

A few shots of the game, listed as an “Unannounced Title” for the Xbox 360 were dug up by superannuation. The give us a quick glimpse of Central City, The Flash and a very tiny Mirror Master.

“We’re ecstatic that Resident Evil is returning to WildStorm, where we have already established deep roots into the mythos of this world,” said Hank Kanalz, Vice President/General Manager for WildStorm. “We can’t wait to continue, and bring a freshness and excitement to the property to match the amazing things they are doing with the game.”

Details on creative teams, launch months, and storylines are still forthcoming. This needs to stop. As a recovering weekly comic book addict, combining comics and video games makes it far too easy for me to justify those weekly comic shop visits. Have mercy!