Halo anniversary:
So its the 20th anniversary of the Halo game that shaped millions of peoples' lives. The game and universe has gone through so many narratives and genres of media and gaming but has always held onto its core. The Halo franchise started off as a sandbox space warfare open world game filled with space dinosaurs and hordes of aliens and space marines fighting over a ring world with no lore or back story, but would one day come to be the Halo Universe with its spartan heroes and deep lore we know today. We have had countless books, games and comics set over a 100,000 years to fall in love with, plus fan projects like red vs blue and Arby as the chief. Halo has set in our hearts as land parties of friends playing capture the flag or fighting off hordes of aliens in fire fight or drawing erotic fan art of Catana. With the new Halo on the way, which intends to bring fans back to the heart and core spirit of what the first Halo with many of those space dinos and open world elements coming back, I am stoked. In the meantime, I say give the master chief collection of all the core Halo games in one filled with modding, new functions and a thriving legacy community a shot.
-- By Grant Nelson
Book Series Review:
A book series that I would suggest for any hard core fantasy fan is the DND book series, Drizzle. These books follow the dark elf Rouge Drizzle in his adventure across the forgotten realms trying to help as many as he can from the forces of evil and his search for companionship and to do the right thing. The books start off in his childhood in the dark elf empire of the under dark as he trans and battles his way into the army. He finds his people to be corrupt and cruel and is banished. Throughout dozens of books, Drizzle and his party save the realms from orks, mindlayers, demons, and seeks to maintain peace in the midst of many conflicts in the world. The books really dive deep into the lore of DND and the forgotten realms and have many deep characters and conflicts that make one think. There are 30 years worth of books, but for any fan of fantasy adventure, the books come without all the politics and conflicts of the real world and if you want to get lost in a world of magic, give it a shot.
-- By Grant Nelson
Film Review: Ewok films
A guilty pleasure/socially suicidal experience I can highly recommend to any nerdy Star Wars college-aged fan with plenty of intoxicants lying around, is the hidden Star Wars films known as the Ewok films. We are going to a dark place. The Ewok movies were made in the mid 80s when the future of Star Wars was very uncertain. There was no expanded universe yet and no plans for the current Skywalker saga, but George Lucas wanted to keep telling stories in the Star Wars mythos. So he declined to tell Star Wars stories to families on television and what's more kid friendly than space teddy bears. So the movie focuses on a human family that crash lands on Endor and the parents get captured by a space forest giant. Yes, this is a very D&D-like Star Wars fan fiction. The children meet the ewoks and form a fellowship of the ring to go save their parents from the giant. They go on horseback, riding little ponies. They fight dragons, space wolves, and use magic wands. In the second part, the ewoks go to war with space pirates like something out Metroid with the help of a dark side witch years before the clone wars or even the legends books of the 90s. How Star Wars loves retcons.
The film can have very bad acting but it makes up for it with very trippy 80s space magic and special effects that made Star Wars in my view so great. So if you have some drugs and are tired of Disney-like Star Wars and its winy characters like Rey and Fin, give this film a shot.
-- By Grant Nelson
Game Review: MMO Neverwinter
A game I would highly recommend for nerds who grew up in their parents' basements playing D&D and not getting laid, is MMO Neverwinter. This game is set in the multivuniverse of Dungeons and Dragons and is filled with many features such as raids and dungeons, but is very deep in its world building and lore and player customization. You can play as any race from an elf to dwarf and ork, to even a dragonborn ( think human size dragon person). The game is very much the magic and skills system of D&D tabletop turned into video game form. The game is filled with many regions to explore and many events going on in the world. While not on world of warcraft or elder scrolls level, this game is the perfect MMO to role play and host D&D campaigns and players stories in the digital world. The game is filled with customization when it comes to what your character looks like to what your mounts are raging, from dinosaurs to mammoths to dragons, Speaking of dragons, they form some the great hunts and events in the game. Also the number of raids you can participate in is very much a good grind. If you are looking for an online world to play to DM your games, in look no further.
-- By Grant Nelson
Game Review: Dungeons and Dragons Baldur's Gate 3
A game that I would highly recommend is Dungeons and Dragons Baldur's Gate 3. This long-awaited sequel in the D&D universe comes after decades of development hell. The game is rpg to the core. You can play from a large selection of races, from elves to demons to dwarfs, as well as from classes such as mages, fighters, etc. You also can create a vast fellowship of companions (many of which you can sleep with and have pillow talk if you're into that sort of thing).
The game is literally a D&D game made into a modern video game form featuring combat and is filled with choices such as who you will journey with, who you will save in life-or-death situations and more. The game follows you on your quest to stop the alien mind flayers from harvesting the world and to get the plan b for the alien baby that is eating your brain. The game is filled with lore and world building and is filled with every monster and creature from the monster books. The game is still in early access but its definitely worth the shot.
-- By Grant Nelson
The Bristol Renaissance Faire returns after a COVID-19 break. Check it out through Sept. 6.
Saturdays, Sundays, and Labor Day
thru Sept. 6, 2021
Off I-94 at the Illinois/Wisconsin border · Ph: 847-395-7773
Ask Metal Max team member, Grant Nelson, attended the Fair in 2019. Check it out and get ready for the 2021 Faire.