News
Death Of A Franchise
The video game industry can be a scary place for developers. Fail to please fans just once, and the results can be catastrophic. With 2009’s Red Faction: Guerrilla, Volition Inc. had a sleeper hit on its hands thanks to its incredible engine–dubbed Geomod 2.0–that allowed for large-scale destruction to be done in a Grand Theft Auto-esque open-world. Flash forward two years and the game’s getting a sequel. The engine’s more refined, there’s a Syfy Channel movie tie-in, and the expectations are much higher, but something’s changed; the open-world’s been scrapped, and the game turned into a linear third-person shooter. The resulting backlash not only aided THQ in having a miserable quarter financially, but also caused the death of the entire Red Faction franchise. Knowing the game’s reputation, I recently picked it up to try it out for myself. Check out the video below to see what I found.
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3. Price: $19.99. If you have a game you’d like me to check out, or just some feedback, tell me! donallendoes@gmail.com
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.