Games

As a lifelong Batman fan, I was really intrigued by how Absolute Batman reworked Bruce Wayne’s origin story. It wasn’t the classic double tragedy – instead, Bruce lost just his dad as a kid. And the way it happened was incredibly impactful: Thomas Wayne wasn’t killed in a simple mugging, but in a mass shooting at a zoo during a school field trip he was chaperoning. Honestly, that loss felt even more devastating for this version of Bruce than the one we usually see. But the Absolute Universe wasn’t finished piling on the heartache for its Batman, sadly.

As a bit of a sci-fi and military movie fan, I finally got around to watching Battle: Los Angeles – it came out in 2011, and I’d always meant to check it out. It stars Aaron Eckhart as a Marine leader and Michelle Rodriguez, among others, and it’s basically about a sudden alien invasion of Los Angeles – and then the whole world, really. It wasn’t exactly a critical darling when it first came out, but it did pretty well in theaters. Now that it’s available to stream, I’m seeing more and more people discovering it and realizing it’s a really fun, action-packed movie – and I’m definitely one of them!

Spider-Man isn’t the only superhero with many different versions existing across alternate universes. DC Comics, home to Batman and Superman, also features countless alternate takes on these iconic heroes. In fact, different versions of Batman are incredibly popular, and one alternate reality Batman comic recently became a best-seller for over a year. It’s likely we’ll see an alternate universe Batman lead a TV series soon, and several versions would be a great fit.

Creating detailed and believable worlds has long been important for popular science fiction and fantasy stories, and it’s even more crucial for TV shows. To stay invested in a series, viewers need to connect with the world the characters inhabit, not just the characters themselves. A strong setting can make or break a show, meaning that well-developed world-building is often essential for its success.

Although Penny was a central character, many fans feel she wasn’t used to her full potential throughout the show’s run. Early seasons especially focused too much on her appearance. The show’s creators have since acknowledged this was a mistake. While things improved as Kaley Cuoco gained more creative control over her character, certain aspects of Penny’s backstory, like the mystery surrounding her last name, were never fully explored before the series ended.

As a PlayStation Plus subscriber, I’m super excited to share that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will be available to download and play for free starting March 17th! It’s already been a huge hit on Xbox Game Pass since January, consistently ranking as one of their most popular games. We’ll have to see if it does as well on PS5 with PlayStation Plus, but I think a lot of us are going to love having this one to play – it’s definitely the biggest addition for March!

According to the website Redanian Intelligence (though HBO hasn’t officially confirmed this), Pearl Clark is joining the cast. She’ll reportedly play Jaehaera Targaryen, the daughter of King Aegon II and Queen Helaena. Jaehaera has made a few appearances in House of the Dragon, including the memorable ‘Blood and Cheese’ scene in Season 2, Episode 1, where her brother Jaehaerys was killed.

PC gamers can now get Total War: Rome II – Emperor Edition for free through Amazon and its Luna service (previously known as Prime Gaming). The Total War series has been a major success for Sega since its debut in the early 2000s. Total War: Rome II, released in 2013 as the eighth installment developed by Creative Assembly, continues to be a well-regarded and popular title, earning positive reviews from players.

I was so excited when I first heard about Project Ragtag – it was a Star Wars game that started development around 2013! It went through a bunch of phases, but sadly it got canceled in 2017, which was a real disappointment. It was being made by Amy Hennig, who created the Uncharted series, and it sounded incredible – a huge heist game set right after the Battle of Yavin. The problem was, Star Wars Battlefront did really well, and a lot of the developers working on Ragtag were moved over to help with Battlefront II. That pretty much sealed its fate. They even tried to revive it later as a big, open-world game, but unfortunately, that version got canceled too. It’s a shame – it sounded like something really special.

Released in 2015, I Am Bread is a quirky platformer where you play as – you guessed it – a slice of bread! This isn’t your average bread slice, though; it can stick to things, and the goal is to navigate puzzles and reach the toaster. Watch out for obstacles like pets and dirty floors! The game’s unique humor and challenging gameplay made it a success, and it was released on all major consoles, including Android and iOS, offering plenty of ways to play.