Avengers vs. X-Men #7 Review

After five issues of dull fighting and jumpy narratives, Avengers vs. X-Men #6 was the first chapter to realize the potential of this event. But the constantly rotating cast of writers means readers can never be sure that the quality will remain consistent, a fact that has been both a blessing and a curse for this book. AvX backslides a bit in issue #7. Luckily, Act 2 still remains markedly improved over Act 1.

Cyclops closed out issue #6 by promising "No more Avengers." We've seen that decree play out a bit in certain tie-in books, but here we see the full might of the Phoenix Five unleashed against Captain America's ragtag team. The tables certainly have changed since the Avengers stormed Utopia at the end of issue #1. While Cap keeps fighting a losing battle against the X-Men, Matt Fraction also follows Tony Stark and Black Panther's desperate battle to find a scientific solution and explores the twin mysteries of how Scarlet Witch and the Iron Fist factor into the conflict.

Characterization is one area this series has often faltered. The problems now are ones of consistency and focus. Both within this series and among the various tie-ins, there's very little consistency in how the Phoenix Five are portrayed. Are they retaining their normal personalities for now, or is the Phoenix Force speaking through them? It's really difficult to tell at times, but on the whole Fraction's dialogue for these five X-Men is much more casual than we saw from Jonathan Hickman in issue #6. In some ways this works better, as we see a bit of bickering and dissension among the group, but again, greater consistency would be nice.

This issue is also too narrow in its focus at times. For one thing, the various X-Men not currently empowered by the Phoenix are nothing more than window dressing -- extra bodies to toss into battle scenes. Unlike issue #6 and its Magneto/Xavier exchange, there's absolutely no sense of how the X-Men are reacting to their sudden rise in fortunes. How do characters like Psylocke and Storm feel about hunting down the Avengers in brutal, militaristic fashion? Uncanny X-Men #15 does a great job of mining that material, but that brings us back to one of the recurring complaints about this event -- too much vital story material is being left to the tie-ins. AvX is also beginning to feel a bit like Fear Itself in the sense that there's no wider context for the conflict. This issue is so concerned with specific Avengers and X-Men characters that it ignores how the rest of the world is responding to the conflict between heroes and the actions of the Phoenix Five. It's as if the Marvel Universe is an empty place beyond those few dozen creatures wearing spandex.

Still, this issue does a lot right, as well. Fraction does a fine job of capturing the growing tension on the Avengers side. The interaction between Black Panther and Tony Stark stands out particularly. These two have never had the warmest of relationships to start with, but here Tony's latent death wish becomes a major source of friction for them both. With Wolverine continuing to fade into the background in Act 2, it's really Panther of all characters that is stepping us as the neutral party and moderate voice of reason. Marvel has also been promising a major game-changer with this issue. While I'm not sure I would describe the final pages as "game-changing," Fraction does deliver an impressive escalation in the conflict that promises a very memorable issue #8.

Issue #6 also does a better job than most of providing fully realized, engaging battle scenes rather than the choppy, truncated ones of earlier issues. Fraction's script makes excellent use of Olivier Coipel's talent for epic scale and bold, dramatic figures. Coipel nails the tense emotions as the Avengers struggle to remain free, as well as the surreal action as characters like Magik and Scarlet Witch unleash their full power. There's an impressive amount of detail and energy at work in these pages, and it's a shame that Coipel only has one issue remaining before the next visual shake-up.

As with nearly every chapter of this event, Avengers vs. X-Men #7 is guilty of glossing over certain vital parts of the story in its charge forward. Even so, the series remains in better shape than it was during Act 1. I would be surprised if issue #8 were to kill that momentum given the groundwork Fraction has laid here.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Review

The decades to come may be full of unknown potential for wondrous inventions, but in the gaming realm, the future is old hat. Invisibility, X-ray vision, and miniature floating cameras are modern marvels that have long since become familiar. Though these tools are potent in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, there's precious little novelty in your futuristic arsenal, and this can make you feel like you're undertaking missions you've run many times before. So is Future Soldier just another by-the-book third-person shooter?

Sometimes the silent route gets loud.

Fortunately not. Though there's plenty of familiarity to be found here, Future Soldier's brand of stealthy action and streamlined teamwork gives it a distinct appeal. The lengthy campaign lets you wield your AI allies like autonomous weapons; their guns are yours to command, but they handle their own maneuvers, pushing the action along at a slick pace. Replacing them with your fellow humans brings its own challenges and rewards, as does facing off against said humans in the lively competitive multiplayer modes. Though it's more of a product of the past than a vision of the future, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a robust package that provides plenty of satisfying ways to exercise your itchy trigger finger.

In the campaign, you play as the ghosts, a four-man team of elite soldiers. Cutscenes and mid-mission dialogue combine to create a nice sense of camaraderie among the crew, and hackneyed archetypes are downplayed in favor of more understated characterization. Personalities are colored in during small moments, like a song streaming out of earbuds, a fleeting facial expression, and a conversation about used trucks. Interactions with other military personnel reveal how isolated the ghosts are from the soldiers they break bread with and how oblivious those soldiers are to this fact. This segregation creates a connection among the ghosts that is a refreshing change from the familiar "bonds forged on the crucible of combat" trope.

Line 'em up and knock 'em down.

On the field of battle, the ghosts try to emulate their namesakes, moving silently with the aid of slick optical camouflage that dissolves if you jog, sprint, or fire your weapon. Staying stealthy is often a mission requirement, and even when it isn't, avoiding detection gives you a distinct advantage. It's easy to maneuver unseen, and you spend a lot of time silently eliminating foes. Stealth melee kills and suppressed weapons are your basic tools, but the key mechanic is the sync shot. Spotting enemies through your scope or tagging them from aloft with your aerial drone, you can designate up to four targets for you and your squad to eliminate in one fell swoop. To execute, simply open fire on your own target, or issue the command with a press of the right bumper.

It's a neat trick, and the seconds of slo-mo that follow are a welcome flourish that allow you to silently mop up more than the few targeted foes. Using sync shots to eliminate enemies is pleasing and relatively easy, thanks to the array of detection methods at your disposal. Drones, sensor grenades, and a few flavors of optical gadgetry give you plenty of ways to detect nearby foes. As long as no one sees the dead bodies, no one gets suspicious, and many situations lay out foes in discrete, easily sync-shot-able groups.

Only in later levels do you encounter larger groups that put your coordination skills to the test. You must now take into account multiple lines of sight and interlocking movement patterns, as well as calibrate the exact speed at which you can tag and take down a new set of targets. Methodically carving your way through these scenarios is very satisfying, and you might even find yourself choosing to reload checkpoints when you are discovered, even if you aren't forced to. Though an alert doesn't always bring your mission to a close, challenging yourself to maintain stealth is usually more engaging and fun than blasting your way through.

It's important to remember that you are camouflaged, not invisible.

Aside from sync shot orders, your AI allies are mostly autonomous. They follow your lead but move, take cover, and engage alerted targets on their own. They are very reliable, but they are prone to a number of unrealistic behaviors that can hamper your immersion. Shooting effectively through multiple thick walls, sprinting past enemies while maintaining camouflage, or failing to acquire a marked target in line of sight are all intermittent AI oddities.

Source : http://www.gamespot.com