issue 09 / volume 41 Chairman of the Board: Is it a duck? » 'Telestrations’ game review Ed Appleby iilustrator Miillustrator @theotherpress.ca t was only a matter of time before I reviewed a game that required drawing. Telestrations isa party game for four to eight players published by USAopoly in 2009. Each player is assigned a word, which they write ona white board. The board is then passed to the player beside them, who interprets that word in a drawing. Play continues until the boards reach their original players and they see what kind of monstrosity has : been created. The game is basically a : combination of Pictionary and : Telephone, and I have played : the public domain version : called Eat Poop You Cat before. : Even so, the addition of a : timer, reusable whiteboards, : and card-selection mechanic : makes Telestrations more party : friendly than pencil-and-paper- : heavy Eat Poop You Cat. The gameplay itself is hilarious. There have been : few instances where I have : had more fun playing a party : game. The publishers have : added a scoring system to the : game if you want to be more competitive, but they also encourage you to ignore it and just have fun. This is definitely a situation where having more players is always better, and there is an expansion that allows you to go up to twelve players. I can also attest that being a professional illustrator does not help as much as you might think. A lot of hardcore game players may stick their noses up to party games, viewing them as a sort of Bud Light of gaming. But I found the game to bea load of fun. Something you can play with little kids as well as a good ending to a long night of gaming and drinking. Screenshot of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Animesque: A cross-genre jam session for the ages » ‘Cowboy Bebop’ goes where no Anime has gone since Adam Tatelman Senior Columnist OOOO I: the wake of a planet-wide catastrophe, the people of Earth look to the stars for salvation. Space has indeed become the final frontier, and every settler is looking to make a buck however he can. Techno-cults and Triad-like criminals slink about behind the scenes of a cultural melting pot that spans the galaxy. A misfit collection of perpetually impoverished bounty hunters thrust together by happenstance struggle to make a living aboard their pitiful junker of a spaceship, stay one step ahead of their checkered pasts, and above all keep on flying. No, it’s not Joss Whedon’s Firefly. However, many believe Shinichiro Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop was an inspiration for that show. Premiering in the West on Toonami in the early 20008, Cowboy Bebop has often been credited as the “gateway Anime. One thing that’s always made it difficult for me to enjoy Anime are the jarring tonal shifts. Depending on the show in question, a dinner table : family dilemma might turn into : a frantic ninja duel as if it were : the most natural transition : possible. Then along came : Cowboy Bebop, majestically : marrying a consistent tone with : intermittent kung-fu battles, : meditations on faith, space : dogfights, crushing existential : ennui, and magic mushrooms. : Each episode tackles a different : genre than the last, running : the gamut from sci-fi to horror : to crime thriller, yet always : maintaining stylistic elements : cribbed from Sergio Leone’s : spaghetti westerns, John Woo’s : heroic bloodshed, and 1950s film : : noir, Yoko Kanno’s outstanding : soundtrack goes a long way : towards meshing everything : together. Aside from the : squealing jazz-club intro theme, : each episode has a distinct and : powerful musical mood that : reflects its content. A few notes : into the episode “Mushroom : Samba” and you know exactly : what youre in for. Fittingly, : the episodes are referred to as “sessions.” So how does Cowboy Bebop drug” for my generation’s love of produce a coherent whole : through such myriad muses? : Through the characters. Their : most pressing issue is usually : putting something semi-edible : on the table, so the show always : feels grounded. Meet Spike : Spiegel, a former criminal witha : lazy streak and a Bruce Lee-like : philosophy; Jet Black, a grizzled : ex-cop with questionable : cooking skills who struggles : to keep the crew in line; Faye : Valentine, a seductive grifter : with more debts than gambling : sense; Edward, a prepubescent : mad genius who can make : encrypted computer code dance : the kazatsky; and a Welsh : Corgi named Ein. Each of these : characters has something to : hide, but the genius of the show : is that we never find out the : details. The noir-esque flashbacks : give us the broad strokes, but : leave enough mystery to keep : things interesting without ever : feeling like a cop-out. I’d praise : the quality performances of the : English dubbers, but I'll settle for : saying that even subtitle purists : are known to watch the dubbed : version of this show. That alone : should speak volumes. It’s hard for me to say : enough wonderful things : about Cowboy Bebop. Despite : its ridiculous title, it is one of : the first Anime accepted in the : West as a true work of art, and : continues to inspire sci-fi writers : to this very day. The series is : available and reasonably priced : on Blu-ray, so there’s really no : reason not to give it a go if you're : even mildly interested in Anime. arts // 9 Screenshot of ‘Saints Row IV: Re-Elected’ Steven's Man-Cave: A full package of absurdity » ‘Saints Row IV: Re-Elected’ and ‘Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell’ PS4 games review Steven Cayer Senior Columnist 60000 : standalone game that’s : included, which is based on : my favourite character in : the series, Johnny Gat. After : becoming the US president : and creating so much chaos : in Saints Row IV, Satan : has decided that you're the : perfect person to marry his : daughter, Jezebel. You then : get sucked into Hell by a Ouija : board, and Johnny Gat and United States after you foil the : : to save you. You now control : them as they meet awesome : people such as Blackbeard, down and kidnap the Saints in : Shakespeare asa DJ, Vlad the : Impaler, and the DeWinter : twins from previous games to : help them save the president : of the United States. I love : how the one objective in this : game is to punch Satan in the face. lhe Saints Row series has always been known for being a much wackier, humorous version of Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row IV has been released again, this time on next-gen consoles, called Saints Row IV: Re-Elected. In the game, you play as a customizable character who becomes the president of the plans of Cyrus Temple, who tries to nuke Washington, DC. Five years later, aliens come their ship, destroying Earth in their wake. The leader, Zinyak, creates a virtual world where you need to find and rescue your friends. I love this series for many reasons. I never know where the story will go because it’s so absurd. One moment youre escaping an alien ship and the next moment you're ina ‘sos-themed small town where you can’t say *beep*. : : The comedic writing is smart : and poignant throughout, : and I had fun going back to : Steelport. My favourite thing : about the re-release is, of course, the new stuff. Gat Out of Hellisa Kinzie Kensington jump in If you've already played : Saints Row IV, I still believe it’s : worth buying again, including : Gat Out of Hell of course. It’s : time to literally escape reality, : again.