Tag: gaming blog

Casting Johnny Cage

The 2021, R rated, Mortal Kombat adaptation hit the big screen as well as HBO Max on April 23, reviving mixed but majority positive reviews. The movie is targeted at long time fans of the video game franchise and dives into the lore behind the in game characters and events. Grossing a whopping $9 Million opening night and topping the box office. With the film being such a financial success, it’s only a matter of time before we are presented with a sequel. One character from the original beat ‘em up not feature in this new adaptation expected to make his debut in the sequel is Johnny Cage. Cage is an arrogant, and egotistical character from the Mortal Kombat franchise complete with leather jacket and douchebag sunglasses to boot. The question now is who will play this much beloved asshole in the film adaptation?

The Miz

For those unaware, who have more than likely been living under a rock for the last two decades, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin is a professional wrestler and two time Grand Slam Champion under the WWE banner. The Miz is also no stranger to the big screen, getting his start on MTV’s 10th season of The Real World before transitioning into his professional wrestling career where he has also found himself as the leading man of The Marine franchise, along with other films such as Christmas Bounty and Fighting with my Family. Following the release of Mortal Kombat The Miz took to Twitter, noticing the lack of one Johnny Cage, offering his likeness for the role.

Photo from The Miz on Twitter

Apart from his obvious acting and fighting chops, Miz bares a striking resemblance to Cage that is undeniable! Having been the perfect fit for the arrogant, egotistical, asshole fans love to hate for the better part of almost two decades now, Miz is seemingly the perfect for the role,Not to mention his apparent affection for the series, and fans seem to be rallying around this casting choice as well. Boss Logic, noted for making actor edits and adaptations for fantasy roles, even took to Twitter to post a non-edited picture of Miz claiming no edit was needed, “The guy is literally him”.

Photo from BossLogic on Twitter

Ryan Reynolds

The Miz is not the only person fans are creating buzz around however. The man responsible for reviving “The Merc with a Mouth” has been in heavy consideration amongst the Mortal Kombat fan base as well. Reynolds has proven he has the ability to play a natural, lovable jackass who is simultaneously a badass time and time again. Reynolds, never one to be left out of the loop on Twitter, took to the app amidst the speculation playing into the hype by posting a photo of himself as Cage to promote his partnership with phone provider, Mint.

Photo from Ryan Reynolds Twitter

While an announcement for the casting of Johnny Cage is nothing we should expect in the near future, we have to believe once casting begins for the inevitable sequel of Mortal Kombat, Miz and Reynolds have to be top contenders to fill the much anticipated role. Let us know who you think should play Johnny Cage in the comment section below and be sure to check out more related blogs right here! Don’t forget to tap that subscribe button to FINISH HIM!

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“Mortal Kombat (2021 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Apr. 2021, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Kombat_(2021_film).

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Another Multiplayer Fallout?

How Fallout 76 could’ve been approached differently and keeping future multiplayer Fallouts story oriented.

Fallout 76 brought a multiplayer experience into the Fallout series, one that was long asked for, but poorly executed. That said, is there a chance to save the long awaited multiplayer aspect without muddying the story driven game? A concept that up tp just a few years ago was nothing more than hopeful speculation, is there a way to take your typical single player, story driven Fallout and play with a friend. In order to understand how to approach this, we must first look back at how the multiplayer Fallout we were given was presented.

What Fallout 76 Did Right

Photo: Pastemagazine.com

Easy is it to jump aboard the band wagon and deem Fallout 76 a bad game. While not exactly what you’d look for in or expect from your typical post-apocalyptic adventure, and while rushed, Fallout 76 like it or not does have some redeeming qualities. The first and foremost thing 76 has going for it is server size. Todd Howard made it extremely apparent during the E3 reveal of the game this is not a party, its the apocalypse. By keeping server sizes limited to “Dozens” of players rather than hundreds, Bethesda made a very smart and more lore friendly online experience for players. Apart from the small servers, 76 also capitalized on Fallout 4’s building engine. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m entirely of the opinion that less is definitely more when it comes to settlement building, However, in the age of current day Bethesda titles the settlement building g suite is something that just isn’t going away. While Fallout 76 may have gone a bit over kill on it, they adapted it well for the game we were given.

What Fallout 76 Did Wrong

Photo: pngaaa.com

Now for the fun part. While fans had been split for over a decade in wether or not their favorite title should adapt a multiplayer aspect, very few expected this. Bethesda Studios took an interesting and bold rout using the MMORPG style similar to a World Of Warcraft game, and in the end, it didn’t exactly pay off like they would’ve expected. The open world aspect is 100% in line with what we’re used to In the series, however the distinct lack of NPCs leaves a lot to be desired in therms of the main, as well as side, quest lines. Quests seem empty and unimportant, doing something simply because a voice on a hollowtape said to then doing that same exact thing every mission gets tired very quickly. Honestly, the lack of interesting quests and dialog is enough to kill the game dead in its tracks right there, and while there are a ton of other issues present, I could be here all day listening them. For your sanity as well as mine, here’s the quick and easy breakdown of all the issues I’m sure you’ve already figured out for yourself!

Settlement building seems like a chore, when it works that is. Constantly having to hope and pray your house will be able to be placed every time you enter a server is not something I should have to worry about. “Companions” are just side quest beacons that rarely add any kind of interesting aspect to the gameplay, looking at you Beckett. The replay-ability aspect is simply not there, interesting thought out side quests have been replaced with timed events and daily challenges that are just more of the same. Of course we can’t forget constantly having to deal with that one guy in each server who somehow was able to sit though countless hours of 76 and reach an ungodly level just to try and start problems with other players.

How Multiplayer Could’ve Been Approached

Photo: Fallout Wiki

Asl any life long Fallout follower how they would’ve pitched a multiplayer Fallout prior to the release of 76 and I guarantee 9/10 times someone will bring up what I like to call “the companion option”. The companion option essentially boils down to the second player would take over the role of whoever the main player’s NPC companion is at the time. Not very complicated, and quite reminiscent of the PS2 days of co-op multiplayer! However the downside to this will always be the second players limitations. Having to deal with a preset character that is ultimately the first players decision. No personalization or custom stats to work off of, just dropped into a role and attached at the hip to the host. Now, my proposal for a work around? Use the same idea that 76 had. Now hear me out, remember how we talked about keeping the server size small, make it smaller. Same open world concept, build a single player game like the days of FO3 or NV, then add in a second private slot. Same single player aspect we’ve grown to love but with two main characters, that can interact, team up, or duke it out. No strangers If not wanted and full ability to keep it single player. If Fallout 76 has shown us anything, anything is possible when it comes to the Fallout series. Will we see another multiplayer Fallout, most likely down the road. The only deciding factor of how it will play out following the backlash from Fallout 76 will be what the community is clamoring for.

Let me know what you thought of Fallout 76, and how you would build an ideal multiplayer fallout below! Don’t forget to check out more fallout blogs right here and keep up to date on everting happening at StylesRebelRadio.com

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My First (And Worst) Fallout Experience

My First Fallout Experience Was The Absolute Worst Time I’ve Ever Had Playing…

I’ve been a die hard fan of the Fallout franchise for many, many years now. By far it’s my favorite game series and one I’ve played over again easily a dozen times each. Typically when someone finds their favorite game it’s a fantastic and exciting experience, for me, not so much. I was unfortunate enough to experience the absolute worst the wasteland had to offer on my very first run through, and I’m talking RIGHT AWAY. An experience I’ve never seen anything come close to in my near 100 following play throughs of the series, you’d think I had a real life Luck of zero!

A few things to keep in mind before I get into it:

• The copy of Fallout 3 I purchased came with all the DLC on a second disc .

• I used to keep my TV relatively dark to get away with playing it last midnight on school nights.

Alright, so the year is 2010. I was the absolute last of my friends to play Fallout 3. I decided to pick it up from my local Game Stop after hearing my cousin talk it up for quite some time. Opting for the slightly more expensive Game Of The Year edition, I got home and began installing the DLC from the second disc. Later in the evening once everything was installed I began my journey into the Fallout universe.

Upon starting the game everything ran like expected, Tunnel Snakes, GOAT tests, Overseer , all that good stuff. Then, came time to exit the vault. Stepping into the bright blinding light of the wasteland with nothing but my vault security armor and a baseball bat, I was beyond excited to explore the Capitol Wastes. That lasted all about 15 seconds however. Taking roughly 10 steps from the door, I began to walk toward a tall black figure that stood just off to the right of the vault entrance. Immediately without haste I was greeted with a barge of fire flying towards me. That’s right, the very first enemy I encountered in Fallout was none other than an Enclave Hellfire Trooper. So here I am, level 1, never played before, wood baseball bat, and being repeatedly spawned in front of and killed by a Hellfire Trooper with a heavy incinerator. Fortunately after a dozen deaths and a few tears, I realized I had saved before I left the vault while figuring out the controls.

After loading a new save file and exiting the vault for a second time, I was able to leave in peace! Arriving in megaton I began the main quest of finding my dad. However once again my game wasn’t having it. After informing Lucas Simms about Mister Burke’s offer to blow up the town, I met the two at the saloon, as you do. Only before Burke shot Simms, Simms’ body vanished! Burke shot thin air and Lucas was nowhere to be found for the rest of the game…. alright… guess he’s dead then. Moving on. Exiting the building and coming to realize the day cycle exists, I began wandering aimlessly around Megaton unable to see a damn thing in the dark.

The run from hell wasn’t over there however, opting to help out Moira after the whole Mister Burke incident, I began to make my way down to Super Duper Mart. Now, while I was warned about the vast amount of Raiders that can be found there, what I was not warned about was a damn Deathclaw. Upon arriving to the parking lot I was greeted with the body of a wastelands being thrown about as the giant mutated monstrosity charged toward me. After several deaths, my level 2 ass had just about had enough. Finally having the sense to just turn around and run the opposite direction upon spawning, I opted to run down the map and AROUND Super Duper Mart, just far enough to not be noticed by the Deathclaw.

My plan was fool proof, until I began to get a little too close to the parking lot once again. Finding myself in [Caution] I slowly began to back away toward the bridge just south of the store before turning and running away in full sprint… well, Fallout 3’s equivalent to a “full sprint”. Sprinting right into a Mirelurk King. Keep in mind, I didn’t even know better than to try and engage it! So here I am running away from the Mirelurk King back TOWARDS the Deathclaw just praying one of them would target the other. Fortunately for me the Deathclaw wasn’t having it and decided to attack the king, providing me just enough time to get the fuck outta dodge.

After this, I promptly turned off my Xbox wondering if I had just wasted $40. It would take me about a month or two before I finally gave it a second chance with a new profile and a normal ass play through. Here I am 10+ years later still playing Fallout 3 and every other Fallout title 100 times over, yet I’ve never once experienced anything that has even come close to that first one.

I’d love to hear about your first and/or worst Fallout experience! Let me know if you’ve ever experienced anything like what I went through my first time around and be sure to check out more Fallout right here!

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Fallout’s Cut Content

The Fallout series most interesting and mysterious cut content

The Fallout series has adapted, improved, and tested numerous new ideas and gameplay modifications over the years right in front of our eyes as the series progressed. However, there are still plenty of scrapped concepts and designs that we never got to experience first hand in post-apocalyptia. The following are just a few examples of interesting and mysterious cut content of the Fallout franchise we’ve been able to uncover.

Tenpenny Tower Radio

YouTube.com/ Ketaruz

Home to the “elite” of the Capital Wasteland, Tenpenny Tower is the brainchild of founder Allistair Tenpenny. The prewar hotel remains relatively untouched by the outside world and as such, the residents have taken up a prewar lifestyle to compliment that. Dressed head to toe in Casualwear and Parkstroller outfits, you can’t expect the residents of such a classy establishment to be subjected to the rough and rowdy sounds of Galaxy News Radio! Enter Tenpenny Tower Radio. A station seemingly cut for unknown reasons in the late stages of development, several audio files can still be pulled from Allistair Tenpenny’s file!

Vault 120

Aminoapps.com

Most likely to be an end result of completing Fallout 4’s cut quest, 20 Leagues Under the Sea, Vault 120 was to be located in the waters of The Commonwealth! Files and assets for this vault can still be found using the Fallout 4 Creation Kit as well as several unused scripts referencing the underwater vault. Furthermore, Vault 120 appears to have been tossed around as an idea for the wild wasteland of Appalachia in Fallout 76 as multiple unused cells can be found for Vault 120 that are not present in the files for Fallout 4. Don’t be surprised when the next Fallout title or even 76 DLC features this underwater mystery.

Catfish Mierlurk

Fallout.Fandom.com

Sticking to the underwater genre, there have been several references to a catfish like creature across multiple titles In the Fallout franchise. That being said there shouldn’t be any surprise the idea has been toyed with as to how it should be represented in game. The only official In game name given to the creature occurs in Fallout when a fisherman speaks of a “Giant Catfish” . However, Fallout 3’s concept art shows the idea for a mierlurk variant referred to as the “Catfish Mirelurk” a mutated bipedal fish with menacing teeth and barbs that very well could’ve been another obstacle for The Lone Wanderer. Yet another entry we are expecting to eventually see become canon.

Vault 65

Fallout.fandom.com

A vault cut from the final release of Fallout 76, Vault 65 contains numerous files depicting a large scale vault including several rooms, elevators, machinery, and crafting stations. Diving into the game files will find the vault also referred to as “Vault 75” which might have been an early prototype for Vault 76 or other larger scale vaults according to Fallout Wiki. Interestingly enough while this vault was cut and may not even have ever been intended for gameplay, a Vault 65 trunk does exist alongside the other canon vault numbered containers.

Vault 11 Survivor

Fallout.Fandom.com

Naturally, a game built around the idea of surviving nuclear annihilation via underground vaults is going to have plenty of vault related content that doesn’t make it off the cutting room floor. With that said, we tack on our third vault related entry to the list. Located in the barren wastes of the Mohave, Vault 11 played host to one of Vault-Tec’s darkest social experiments. For those not familiar, residents of the vault were told each year one member of their community must be scarified in order for the rest of them to be able to sustainably survive, failure to do so would result in all dwellers death. In reality, Vault-Tec had a prepared message once the residents refused to do so explaining they are a true beacon of humanity and as a reward for not killing one another would be granted access to the vault door. Unfortunately the dwellers found this out much too late, with only 5 remaining survivors. The final five are said to have gone insane form the realization of that they had done resulting in eventual suicide or homicide of all the remaining member except for one. This one remaining member was originally meant to be able to be discovered in game with game files containing a character model able to be spawned via console commands. However, unlike the previous entries, while the NPC itself was removed, this character as a concept is still canon thanks to the Holotapes able to be collected in Vault 11.

Mister Burke

DiviantArt.com/ Vincent-Is-Mine

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Mr.Burke? One of the primary characters in Fallout 3? Someone who is directly involved in one of the largest choices the player can make in game?” Yes. While the majority of us who have played through Fallout 3 are faced early on with the option to either save or destroy the town of Megaton courtesy of Mister Burke, players who revived the Japanese version of the game did not! The Japanese release of Fallout 3 featured the removal of Mister Burke and with him the players ability to revive the detonation device, meaning destroying Megaton wasn’t even an option! While this was removed for “Cultural Reasons” and understandably so, it just seems odd to play through the events of Fallout 3 without one of the biggest choices the character has to make, as well as seemingly removing much of the appeal of Tenpenny tower.

These are just a handful of the mysteriously interesting cut content found within the Fallout series. As always, we’d love to hear your favorite content that never got the chance to make it to release day! Let us know in the comments down below, and check out more Fallout related content right here!

-Style

“Fallout Wiki.” Fandom, fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_

“Fallout 3 Concept Art.” Neoseeker, http://www.neoseeker.com/fallout-3/concept_art/.

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The Best and Worst Let’s Players

If 2020 has given us anything, it’s the chance to sit on our couch as our life rots away around us. You could spend this time learning a life skill or bettering yourself in different aspects of your life but instead you spend this time watching video games. The key word there being ‘watching’. In a world full of people demanding instant gratification we cannot simply be expected to play through an entire video game level by level, defeating our enemies and earning our praises. Absolutely not! Luckily for us let’s plays exist. For those who don’t frequent living victoriously through internet personalities, a let’s play is defined as “One or more people, usually from message boards, that record themselves playing video games through screenshots or captured video (Mostly the latter)” by Urban Dictionary. Just like any other job, there are people who are good at it, and those who are bad at it. Compiled below are some of the best and worst the internet has to offer!

Best

Markiplier

Starting up in May of 2012, Markiplier took to the interwebs creating gaming content the likes of which were largely unknown. Many years and many, many videos later, Mark sits comfortably among the top of the YouTube gaming community. Known for his compelling voice and over the top reactions, Markiplier has gained a following of 26.8 Million subscribers and for good reason. Mark seems to be the total package when it comes to the Let’s Play community bringing both sophisticated and sophomoric humor to his game play while more often then not still being able to buckle down and beat a series in a reasonable amount of time.

Worst

Ninja

Talk about finding your demographic and milking it for all it’s got. Rising to popularity seemingly overnight Richard Blevins, otherwise known as Ninja, gained his popularity playing the 2017 free battle royal game Fortnite. Being that this game’s primary demographic consists of children, Ninja wasted no time pumping out game play and commentary tailor fit to that demo. In this case it really is a matter of quantity over quality, I strongly urge anyone who hasn’t yet to attempt and sit through a Ninja stream, you will quickly find a lack of any verbal substance or attempt to provide comedic or thought provoking dialect. The issue comes from the fact, Fortnite being the hot new trend in the young gaining world led mainstream media to select Ninja to represent the face of the let’s play community in their narrative, not to mention he refuses to stream with anyone of the female gender. Not to take anything away from his dedication to the game, but if you have arrived at his channel seeking variety you will be very disappointed. Apart from the occasional one off, the hefty majority of Ninja’s videos are exactly what you would expect, Fortnite game play and more Fortnite game play. Stick to what you know I suppose, he seems to be doing just fine with his 24 Million subs backing him up.

Best

Game Grumps

What happens when well known comedy content creator JonTron joins forces with fellow NewGrounds.com OG creator Egoraptor, pure gold. While Arin and Jon began tearing up the YouTube community with their brash and bold comedy game play back in 2012, it was not until Jon’s departure and replacement with Dan Avidan the following year the channel really began to take off. Involving two genuinely funny and creative individuals, Game Grumps tick all the boxes. Providing compelling game play including some of the most abstract and anticipated games of all time partnered with over the top situational and relatable comedy, The Grumps take let’s plays to the next level. Never afraid to expand or try new things for their community Game Grumps have previously expanded their content to involve a series for Steam based games as well as multiplayer arcade style party games. In more recent times, The Game Grumps have capitalized on their Guest Grumps series involving some truly iconic celebrities and comedians, as well as launching a weekly live action show entitled simply, The Grumps.

Best

SuperMega

Friends of and former co-workers of the Game Grumps, Matt and Ryan provide their own unique game play experience. If you are a long time fan of The Grumps who fears that they have lost their crude edge over the years SuperMega may be just the place for you. Never afraid to push a few boundaries or do what ever it takes to commit to the joke, Matt and Ryan go the extra mile to provide quality and humorous content for their viewers. Banking not only on their killer comedic timing but their bold and abrupt editing style, their simple videos always seem to be comedy gold. In addition to their Let’s Plays, SuperMega also provides their viewers with a weekly podcast as well as frequent live action sketches.

Worst

ProJared

What can best be described as a boring video game reviewer to begin with, ProJared doubled down when he decided to do the same on his personal life. Jared’s videos have always been vanilla, using the absolute bare bones approach to game review as well as let’s plays. He did his research and presented you with his findings but if you are tuning in for his witty commentary or comedic timing prepare for it to fall short. A relativity mediocre gaming channel at most suffered the end all be all when in 2019 Jared was accused of cheating on his then wife while also soliciting nude photographs to his fan base. This marked the end of ProJared, while he may still produce his watered down content, his channel will never recover.

These are just a few of the highs and lows in the Let’s Play community and I would love to hear who you think the best and worst Let’s Players are below!

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Reviving Saints Row: The Saints Row Reboot Proposition

Wallpaper Cave

Alright let’s face it, Saints Row The Third and all titles following it are absolute abominations. Now don’t get me wrong, they can be fun to play and there were reasons for the switch however if you are a fan of the Saints series this new generation of The Third Street Saints is a low blow to the true fans. This is something that has bothered me for years on end now, and I’m not going to sit here and beat a dead horse discussing the questionable graphical or plot changes in the later entries of the series. I’m going to explain how it’s not too late to fix the Saints Row series and how it should go about being handled.

Now before we dive in let’s clarify that in my vision Saints The Third and all following titles are NOT canon. The following will take place in the year 2012, One year after the events of Saints Row 2 and will be titled Saints Row 3… yes Saints Row 3, Not “The Third”, 3 and before we hop into the comments full of piss and vinegar, If Call of Duty can get away with “Modern Warfare” then Saints Row 3 it is.

The game would open with the player surrounded by Johnny Gat, Peirce, Shaundi, and even Troy. It is revealed that the player had been in a coma for the past year… again. A subtle joke is made about the boss having a “knack” for finding himself in these situations. The boss explains this alternate reality he has seemingly lived through recapping all the events of the modern era Saints games. After listing to this wild reality the boss recalls and a brief moment of awkward silence from the gang, the tension is broken by Johnny Gat who’s only response to all of this is “you know it’s with one L bitch” A call out to the diehard Saints fans who were outraged to find Stilwater had been misspelled in the later games.

As the boss enters back into the real world he comes to realize The Saints have been sitting pretty under the new leadership of Ultor headed by Eric Gryphon. Upon seeing the way The Saints have essentially been bought out by Ultor and rarely even appear as a gang unless it involves strong-arming an opposition to Ultor for a nice payday, The player begins to fear The Saints are doomed to end up just like how he had envisioned during his comma.

The boss confronts The Saints members about his fears and explains that instead of running the town they had fought and killed to claim, they are content being bought out by the same “corporate assholes” who tried to eliminate them. Met with mixed opinions from the group, the player confronts Gryphon about cutting ties with the Ultor group in favor of reviving the old Saints. Knowing without The Third Street Saints he faces the likely odds of losing the public backing and opening up the opportunity for other companies to move into Stilwater unopposed, Gryphon attempts to bribe The Saints to stay on board.

Turning down the offer, The Saints once again move back into the church where they get back to the basics. The Saints get word through Shaundi of a new gang sprouting up who look to dispose of The Saints and their corporate backers. Naturally, The Player confronts the leader in a meeting organized by Shaundi to explain that The Saints had broken their ties with Ultor and extend the olive branch for this new gang to dissolve by way of joining The Third Street Saints. The opposing gang doesn’t believe that ties have been cut and it is revealed that the whole meeting was set up from the start in an effort to ambush The Saints.

While dealing with the newly growing, anti-establishment rival gang, the old “Enemy of my enemy” trope is put into effect as desperate times call for desperate measures, Gryphon reaches out to mutual rival Dex in an attempt to recruit him in order to eliminate The Saints in exchange for a 50/50 split partnership in Ultor. Dex joins forces with the man he had put a hit on the prior year in an attempt to once and for all snuff out The Saints and finally gain control of The Ultor Corporation.

Thus the plot of Saints Row 3 is set. The Saints return to their roots in the fight against and anti-establishment rival game as well as the establishment itself headed by the turncoat you’ve been waiting to get your hands on for years.

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