Punk and co-writer Cullen Bunn take a very movie-inspired approach to Drax here. He's written as a very literal-minded bruiser at a loss for how to conduct himself when the time for destroying has ended. I don't mind the series leaning so heavily on the film except where the issue of Drax's vendetta against Thanos is concerned. That's not really the character's defining purpose in life in this post-Annihilation era, and dredging it up again seems like a cheap and easy way to get the conflict rolling. But as this is clearly one of those books where the journey is far more important than the destination, this isn't a huge concern in the end. The writers take a very lighthearted approach to Drax's world (despite the allusions to his dead family) and craft a book very much at home alongside the recent Rocket Raccoon and Groot comics.

The real MVP of this series right now is artist Scott Hepburn. Hepburn brings a very kinetic quality to his pages. Drax is rendered as a man brimming over with muscle and propelled by a relentless need to smash, stab and otherwise maim everything in his path. In addition to the strong sense of energy in his storytelling, Hepburn's line-work boasts an impressive level of detail. This is one of those rare cases where the cover shows you exactly what to expect inside.
The straightforward, no-nonsense approach to this issue helps the book in a lot of ways. There's no tiresome exposition and only a minimum of setup before Drax is sent on his merry way. But it would be nice if the book had a bit more on its mind. So far the story doesn't seem to be building towards more ambitious than "Drax vs. Cosmic Villain of the Month." Whether the focus is on Drax's lingering hatred of Thanos or his perpetual loneliness, there is pathos to explore here.
THE VERDICT
If all you want from Marvel's new Drax comic is a fun, lighthearted adventure full of violence and space tomfoolery, this debut issue delivers the goods. The execution is made that much better by Scott Hepburn's amazingly dynamic art. However, the book doesn't show much ambition when it comes to dramatic storytelling. There's potential in exploring the darker aspects of Drax's life and personality, and hopefully we'll see this series delve into those areas.

On November 2nd, Lost World will be available digitally for $25. The digital version includes Steam achievements, controller support, and the game's Nightmare DLC.
Originally released for the Wii U in 2013, Sonic Lost World's story focuses on an unlikely alliance between Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Robotnik to take down a mutual enemy.

In almost every way, Halo 5: Guardians is bigger than the already large and excellent games that came before it.
Developer 343 Industries has engineered the strongest combat Halo has ever seen, with tons of excellent weapons, varied maps, an expansive and intense new multiplayer mode joining a host of returning greats, and some game-changing new mobility. At the same time, Guardians repeats Halo 4’s mistake of telling a story that can’t stand on its own without Halo’s expanded universe. This hurts, but doesn’t ruin, its otherwise impressive cooperative campaign.
I Need a Hero
Make no mistake: though Spartan Jameson Locke and Master Chief share the cover of Halo 5, Locke is the main character. You play as him, leading Fireteam Osiris, in 80% of the campaign’s 15 missions, but he doesn’t have the charisma needed to fill that role. He falls into the same trap that ensnares many similar military-type main characters: Locke doesn’t really want anything for himself; he just wants to complete the mission that someone else gave him.
Locke doesn’t really want anything for himself; he just wants to complete the mission...
The lack of a hero with a cause to root for costs Halo 5’s bigger story dearly, which wastes some good potential. Though the plot is overly complicated and unclear at times, it’s interesting that the new threat is less black-and-white in its motives than the Covenant, the Flood, or the Forerunners.
One great thing about this new story is that, after spending so much one-on-one time with Cortana in previous games, it’s refreshing to hear new voices share their stories about Halo’s universe. Learning backstories, such as how Osiris’ 22-year-old Spartan Vale came to learn the Elites’ language, is a neat, believable touch that’s well conveyed just through background chatter. Unfortunately, Master Chief’s Blue Team doesn’t get the same treatment.
GAMINGEON GAMES !
If I didn’t know them from Halo’s expanded universe, I’d have only a weak idea about who Fred, Kelly, and Linda are, where they came from, or why I should care about them. What should be a meaningful reunion for Chief – a chance to again fight alongside the few who truly understand him – feels like business as usual, except with three extra guns behind his back due to lack of context. 343 has released an animated Fall of Reach series alongside Halo 5 that explains the origins of Blue Team, but it’s only included with pricey special editions.
Divide and Conquer
It’s surprising the characters’ backstories weren’t worked into audio logs or something, considering how dense the seven-hour campaign is with other important stuff and secrets I missed at first glance. After a battle, I’d wander around Halo 5’s diverse locations looking for the thoroughly hidden skulls and realize I hadn’t even seen whole other rooms, hidden pathways, weapons, vehicles, and more. Halo 5’s levels often aren’t physically as big as areas in, say, Halo 3, but they’re so dense with things to discover that I didn’t miss the breathing room.
There are many more options available than “point four guns at the thing and shoot.”
This kind of design makes Halo 5’s campaign ripe for replaying, and well suited for the convenient drop-in, four-player (online-only) co-op it’s clearly made for. You and your friends can spread out, grab a variety of weapons, and use these levels to their fullest – maybe have one person sniping priority targets from the high ground, another sneaking off to activate auto-turrets, and the other two people engaging the rest of the enemies in mid-range fights. There are many more options available than “point four guns at the thing and shoot.”
When playing solo, the new squad commands for your AI-controlled team (mapped to the D-pad) are about as simple as possible: stand over there, get in that vehicle, or shoot that enemy. This is a great quality-of-life improvement over past Halo games, where the only communication you could have with your NPC helpers was “Gimmie that gun you’ve got.”
In addition, they seemed to know what I wanted them to do. I spent very little time waiting for allies to jump on my Warthog’s turret, or getting them to hop into a spare Ghost for some extra firepower and mobility. The targeting command is useful for taking out elusive enemies, especially if you and your teammates are spread out and have different angles on the same area.
A Full Match of Halo 5 Early Access Multiplayer
The one issue I had with squad commands is that sometimes teammates just didn’t listen. I get it: If I run out into the middle of the enemies, die, and need to be revived, that’s a dumb move on my part and no sane teammate would want to make the same mistake. At the same time, when they sometimes decide to let me bleed out, it’s game over... so it’s frustrating when they inconsistently decide they don’t want to take one for the team.
Old Guns, New Tricks
Halo 5 also has the most satisfying arsenal in the series going for it, thanks to returning classics and design facelifts for guns that used to feel worthless. Old favorites like the battle rifle, Spartan laser, and trusty assault rifle look and feel great, and work in new ways with the new hover mechanics. One unexpected standout is the Suppressor, a Forerunner assault rifle that’s mediocre in Halo 4. It now fires homing projectiles, which are perfect for hunting down Halo 5’s quicker enemy types.
I was constantly trying to fit three or four really cool weapons into my two slots.
A few weapons are disappointing, like the new Hydra Launcher. That monstrosity looks huge and menacing, but the homing rockets it fires don’t do enough damage to warrant a spot in my holster – especially since the campaign is so generous with handing out great guns. I was constantly trying to fit three or four really cool weapons into my two slots, which is a great problem to have.
You’ll have plenty of things to shoot, thanks to Halo 5’s strong enemy variety. Forerunner troops are highly mobile and will dodge slower projectiles if you’re not careful. The annoying flying enemies that provide shields are much less prevalent than they are in Halo 4, so they still provide an occasional challenge without becoming overbearing.
Halo 5: Launch Gameplay Trailer
The major negative standout here is the series of boss battles with a similar enemy type, who really drives home that Halo 5 is a co-op-first campaign. This guy’s weakest point is on his back, which is hard to shoot without a real human being helping to distract it. In co-op it’s fine, but if you’re playing solo there’s no way to spread out your AI to get different angles, making it more frustrating than fun.
Invisible Elites have much more convincing active camo...
Old-school Covenant soldiers are as strong as they’ve always been, with tough enemies like sniper Jackals and Hunter pairs. One major improvement is the invisible Elites, whose much more convincing active camouflage effect is one of the benefits of Halo 5 being native to the Xbox One. I was taken out by surprise much more frequently by the stealthy warriors, but not so often that it felt cheap – it was nice to be surprised and outsmarted.
Of course, Halo 5 also looks better in all the ways you’d expect from a generational leap forward. The campaign takes us to an eerie abandoned research station, a backwater planet ripe with odd, gorgeous life and vegetation, ruins with ancient and worn-looking monuments, and several other excellent looking locations. There is detail everywhere, and it contributes greatly to the fantasy.

Star Wars Rebels’ sorta/kinda season premiere – given the actual first new episode of Season 2 aired back in June – brought back another major element from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as none other than Captain Rex returned.
During the run of The Clone Wars, two big questions fans asked were what happened to both Ahsoka and Rex, given we didn’t see them during the events of Revenge of the Sith. We got a pretty firm answer on Ahsoka before The Clone Wars ended, as she left the Jedi order completely – and hence would have no reason to be in the thick of things when Order 66 occurred. But what about Rex? What happened to him?
Star Wars Rebels: We've Seen Captain Rex's Return - NYCC 2015
“The Lost Commanders” gave us some answers on this front, as we caught up with Rex long after the Clone Wars ended – even as we were left to ponder some exact specifics. Finding out Rex (along with Wolffe and Gregor) had removed the chips that forced Clones to obey Order 66 was gratifying to learn, and made a lot of sense with Rex’s trajectory on The Clone Wars and what he saw near the end of the show. Of course, it doesn’t tell us what exactly Rex and the others were doing and how they responded when Order 66 actually occurred, but that question is no doubt being kept purposefully vague – because maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to see those specifics told in a story one day. Still, given Rex and the others were simply listed as "decommissioned", they couldn't have, say, been labeled as traitors for ignoring Order 66. So how did they avoid being a part of it?
Star Wars Rebels: Season 2 Trailer - NYCC 2015
Even as we ponder all of that, it was great to see Rex again and learn he was still with a couple of other Clone Troopers – frequently-seen Clone Wars character Wolfe, and Republic Commando Gregor. Gregor only made a single appearance on The Clone Wars, in the show’s 100th episode, but between his apparent (though clearly there was a way out) death in that episode and his less than stable state of mind here, there’s plenty of gaps still to be filled in here as well.
Star Wars Rebels: Dave Filoni Interview - NYCC 2015
The best parts of “The Lost Commanders” dealt with Kanan’s issues working with Rex – something very understandable given Kanan was there for Order 66. If you’ve read the Kanan comic book (and you should!) it was both cool and chilling to have him recount moments we saw there, as his master was killed in front of him by Clone Troopers she trusted.
Star Wars Rebels: Taylor Gray Season 2 Interview - NYCC 2015
It was also interesting to see Ezra somewhat caught in the middle – liking Rex and bonding with him, and not being able to directly connect to Kanan’s issues. Also, some of what Kanan mentioned about Order 66 bring up the compelling idea of some of the Clones who hadn’t removed their chips realizing the horror of what they did later - “Later they said they had chips in their head that made them do it." Perhaps a tragic Commander Cody story could be in our future?
Star Wars Rebels - The Return of the Clones in Season 2
On the downside, the episode had a notably sluggish mid-section, as Gregor convinced everyone to go “slinging” with him. The idea behind this large-scale fishing was fun, but it just felt out of place in the middle of this episode and even with Zeb supposedly in danger, there was a notable lack of energy to what was occurring.
Season 2 Clip: There Are Questions
Also not working was Wolffe ‘s betrayal – or, to be precise, the fallout, or lack thereof, for how it was handled. The idea of Wolffe notifying the Empire a Jedi had shown up ignored to keep he and his friends safe and in the Empire's good graces was strong, but then Wolffe’s instant apology (and everyone seeming to accept it) just felt so rushed and like the incident was being swept aside

With the Empire attacking the Kingdoms of the North and the Wild Hunt, a cavalcade of ghastly riders, breathing down your neck, the only way to survive is to fight back. As Geralt of Rivia, a master swordsman and monster hunter, leave none of your enemies standing. Explore a gigantic open world, slay beasts and decide the fates of whole communities with your actions, all in a genuine next generation format.