| Agent Helix; -worst Joe ever | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Aug 25 2009, 12:54 PM (52 Views) | |
| Dominic Guglieme | Aug 25 2009, 12:54 PM Post #1 |
|
the human MICROscope!!
|
reposted from my blog: Rather than post a detailed review of the toy or comic, I am just going to post general thoughts on the basic premise and character of Agent Helix. If nothing else, I do not own the Electronic Arts game, and have no intention of playing it. Agent Helix: One of the most striking things about Agent Helix is how badly she fits in with the "GI Joe" franchise, to say nothing of how bad a character she is to begin with. The toy looks like it was based on rejected designs from a bad "Star Wars" tie-in book. Helix apparently runs into battle clad in a corset looking thing. (Nothing says "ready for battle" better than a garment that restricts both breathing and movement. Anyone who wears one, in or out of a war-zone, is nominating themself for a "Darwin" Award.) The Helix figure is packaged with a number of accessories, including a rifle, the standard spring-loaded missile launcher, and two matching pistols for Hong Kong shit-cinema fun. The designers at Electronic Arts note in an interview, (published in the first issue of IDW's adaptation of the movie) that Helix's gimmick is "total battle-field awareness". (The comic shows Duke speculating that Helix may be autistic. There might be a joke here about this explaining why Helix dors not seem to fit with the rest of the franchise, but I will not make it.) Helix is sup-duper cool, being able to count the rounds in enemy weapons, along with being a master of several martial arts. She is not military, but only because she is so bad-ass. There is more to Agent Helix than being a ridiculously over-powered power-game character. She is also, when the need arises, an anime tart. And, she has character. The designers at Electronic Arts point out that Helix is a gamer turned soldier. Wow. She is a gamer turned soldier, (despite not being military). She is so totally awesome. Actually, Helix might be the stupidest fan-identification character of all time. (And, because Helix was designed by gamers, she might even be in the running stupidest Mary-Sue of all time.) For some reason, she is being introduced into IDW's "sophisticated" and hard-core "GI Joe" series. There is no better character to have in a series that pretends at being "mature" than one designed to appeal to teenage gamers who probably do not read comics (if much of anything) to begin with. Aside from having Helix stand around during a fight and rattle off facts and figures about her opponents' weapons, (which she does in the "Agent Helix" special), using her in any setting will be a nettlesome task for any writer. "Total Battle-Field Awareness" is a difficult, if not impossible, thing to manage in real-life. Duplicating such a feat in fiction may well prove beyond the abilities of most writers, who likely will not have any inherent capacity for it. The fact writers control so many aspects of a story's setting may not prove to be the advantage one might initially think it to be. The writers will need to both account for and (correctly) understand every variable in any scenario written for Helix. And, even the "realistic" setting of IDW's "GI Joe" has a fair amount of unreal (to my understanding) tech. Writers will have to logically account not only for unreal technology (with no historic precedent), but its impact on tactics and military culture. I have not played, nor do I intend to play, the game Helix was designed for. But, I have to wonder how the awesome skills of Agent Helix can be represented in a playable game where Helix's awesomeness will be married to the limits of both the game's programming and the ability of the players. Grade: F Well, she is not quite as bad as the Crime Syndicate of America, if only because she is likely to fade away. Dom -damns Helix with the faintest of praise. |
|
Keep it local. The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick. www.theanimalrescuesite.com | |
 |
 
|
| viper commander | Aug 26 2009, 06:58 PM Post #2 |
Mercenary, Assassin
|
To add to your review, for a supposed anime tart she's not even that tarty. I'm not sure if that makes sense but thats how I feel about her design. |
 Click here to view my photostream on FLICKR! | |
|
|
|
| Dominic Guglieme | Aug 27 2009, 02:20 PM Post #3 |
|
the human MICROscope!!
|
There is a shot of her in the comic that is there just to play her up an as anime tart. Dom -wants to see a "Kiss Play" cross-over figure. |
|
Keep it local. The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick. www.theanimalrescuesite.com | |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · HQ - Reviews · Next Topic » |
11:30 PM Jul 31
