(AfroGamers.com) In the late -1940s, during the Golden Age of Comics, there weren’t many Black characters of note. Those who were there were primarily sidekicks to more established comic book characters or featured in funnies, comedy characters.

Roughly eight years ago, we covered the sole issue of the anthology All-Negro Comics. Released in 1947, it featured seven comics handled by All-Negro Comics’ team of Black writers and artists. To be honest, the only remarkable thing about the comic is that it is a Black first in publication.

However, there is one story in those pages that was salvageable. Well, let’s say one-and-a-half. Let’s look at the stories “Ace Harlem” and “Lion Man”.

The Usual Loop of a Golden Age Comic

The antagonist typically had some scheme or committed some crime in any given issue. Our protagonist either investigated the situation before encountering their foe or they just so happened to know exactly where to go to confront them.

We can’t forget the protagonist either being able to escape any trap or having the luck to do so. If the antagonist was captured and meant to be a reoccurring character, they either escaped capture after their plot was foiled or just escaped prison.

Layered storytelling or even just backstory into the major characters involved didn’t become industry standard until the late-1960s or early-1970s when we’d see more multi-part stories, story arcs, and events. You know, the stuff that lays the foundation for a comics universe.

This was the same issue with Ace Harlem and Lion Man.

Lion Man

Of the two, “Lion Man” is the half of a story that was salvageable. By salvageable, I mean that it could’ve gone further with more tales, characters, and character development. It was very much an episodic comic but as mentioned, the majority of the dedicated comics from larger publishers were very “villainous act of the issue”.

In All-Negro Comics, Lion Man is an intelligent ambassador of sorts for the United Nations. Now, it’s briefly explained how and why he was sent to Africa to protect some uranium but there could’ve been more backstory here.

This guy had collegiate or professional-level athleticism and a college education, so he’s a good pick for a powerless superhero but for him to be a pick to go protect uranium for the UN means there’s something more there. Also, he went alone. The UN can rally a peacekeeping force to provide some backup to Lion Man or something.

Then again, his main threat in the issue were resource thieves which he handled readily with his martial arts. He definitely pieces these guys up solo. He must have had quite the background but we wouldn’t know. He’s just a pre-cooked badass.

Salvaging the Uranium Warden

The best way to expand upon “Lion Man” is just to provide some lore to this guy and give him a regular foe. An organization that traffics in multiple crimes in the country or throughout the continent. Even easier, just give Lion Man similar situations and adventures as the titular character in Lee Falk’s The Phantom.

I mean, Lion Man was basically The Phantom but leaned more Tarzan. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, “Lion Man” could’ve gotten by with just that storyline loop without that much lore and world building.

Plus, like many heroes who were around during the Silver Age, he would have enough prior adventures and character to retcon and build upon for future audiences.

Ace Harlem

“Ace Harlem” was my favorite comic in All-Negro Comics. It was definitely a product of the Golden Age approach to writing but I love pulp and detective comics and comics such as Dick Tracy, The Spirit, and Black Mask. Since detective stories like this tend to lend themselves to more storytelling even during this period, I’d say this is an easier comic to salvage.

The titular character was a private investigator with what I figure is a boxing background. You couldn’t be a private detective without some martial arts background or being a marksman with handguns. You’ll need more than observation and deductive reasoning, here.

These crime fighters were often dealing with masterminds with violent streaks or criminal groups and their main opposition were Golden Age cops. In the comics, they were still patrolling by foot and largely ineffective outside of chatting outside of the deli and putting goons in the police wagon.

They needed either private eyes who were on a case that happened to involve this criminal the cops were getting slammed by or a masked vigilante who happens to have investigation skills.

Certainly there were comics with heroic, able police officers from this period but even then, that was often one exceptional cop who always made the collar. The rest of that department was mid at best while Officer Hero stopped bank robbers…with a service revolver 1 v 4…with no harmed or killed hostages. All money returned.

Officer Hero gets a medal and the chief is happy.

Salvaging Ace

No, these cops needed Ace Harlem to solve a crime they probably wouldn’t have actually bothered with. These weren’t exactly cops from the community. Harlem was just on good terms with them in this instance.

The “Ace Harlem” story could’ve easily been expanded with a couple of multi-part cases. Some private work that has ties to the larger criminal underworld in the community (or beyond). Then tie in a big, underworld-civilian world-altering event. Very basic stuff but it gives lore and continuity to the series.

Like “Lion Man”, it would exist at a time where a chain of one-off, “Crime doesn’t pay” cases would suffice. However, I see something in the Ace Harlem character for a comic strip or just ongoing short stories.

It would be an interesting take on the pulp detective given the period in time. It’s post-Renaissance and pre-Civil Rights movement and immediately post-war.

If you’re wondering about the other stories in All-Negro Comics and how they could be salvaged or revived: those stories aren’t particularly good or interesting .

They probably wouldn’t have made it out of 1947. I know the stories included were meant to be a little something for everyone but the everything else just seemed like cutting room floor funnies.

If you’ve read All-Negro Comics, what were the stories that stood out to you? Haven’t read it? The sole issue is available on the Internet Archive and the Digital Comic Museum free to read online.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) Mad Max is one of my favorite film franchises. Mind you, there aren’t a ton of movies, games, and comics for a franchise that has been around since 1979. It’s actually pretty criminal but ultimately, it doesn’t matter since the stories are so loosely tied and that content creators such as OneTake had to drop a video detailing the timeline.

In the 21^st century, content tends to have more backstory and lore. There are callbacks to previous events, antagonists once thought dead can return and it’s not via soap opera means. We find out what they were doing since their demise and how they survived. Hell, we might even get lore on them to keep them from being cartoonishly evil.

Mad Max has typically kept things simple storyline-wise with the comics and Furiosa giving the biggest bumps in lore in regards to Max’s world. That’s different from the hard world shift from Mad Max and The World Warrior.

We’re getting into what rocker about the first film and get more into what I feel is its biggest flaw.

Mad Max: Highway Patrol Extreme

The first movie takes place in the not-so-distant future of Australia. Max is a highway patrol officer known for being the best of the best and the most feared. At this time, Australia was hit with a lot of crime and the roads are the playground of gangs. So, the Main Force Patrol is established to handle road crimes.

One gang terrorizing the roads is a group of wild bikers led by Toecutter. The MPF has a rough go of it dealing with them as the biker Johnny avoids jail time for his crimes thanks to intimidating witnesses. Over time, the MPF is whittled down to just Max and Captain Fifi following the gruesome injury suffered by his friend Jim Goose.

Rattled, Max—a husband and father—looks to retire. Instead, Fifi gives him vacation time. Tragedy would strike during the vacation with Max losing his wife and kid. This kicks off the best stretch of the film with Max going on the offensive.

Mind you, the film had most been Toecutter’s gang just terrorizing the roads without being checked. Now that he has nothing to lose, Max Rockatansky is out for blood. We get the start of some film consistencies. Max’s injuries never actually heal up. It’s the wasteland, so good luck finding skilled doctors and surgeons in the apocalypse.

Highs and Lows

One of the highs included a rapid pace for the story. It was fantastic and remind me of watching Death Race 3000. Things kept moving and we were evenly introduced to both the MPF and Toecutter’s gang in a way that didn’t bog the film down to mostly extended scenes of just dialogue.

The black Pursuit Special making its road debut was awesome. It’s my favorite fictional vehicle and is iconic in the franchise. Much like Max, it takes its bumps and bruises…only Max is taken through the ringer multiple times and in each movie.

I felt the biker gang was a good foil to Max and the MPF. It’s the origin of Max and Toecutter’s actions really set this youngster on a fun revenge quest.

The main con is that there wasn’t much Mad Max continue post-Beyond Thunderdome. Max is a wandering hero, so his adventures are mostly one-offs with little continuity between them. There was a lot to explore without being super layered with the story.

A television show would explain what happened to the MPF before Mad Max 2. I bring that up because a lot happened between MM and Road Warrior. Like, nukes were dropped but Max is still alive and kicking. What occurred is explained but what a quick turnaround to get the post-apocalypse going.

That’s an area that could be explored as well as what other MPF-like forces were doing at the time and following Max’s departure. Hell, The Dark One—simply mentioned in Mad Max–could finally make their debut. The thing is: load us up on Max content.

My final gripe against this film is that while as good as it is, it suffers from the first movie curse. Mad Max 2 was a movie that could’ve been considered the start of the franchise since that version of Max is who many think off when Mad Max is mentioned. It’s like the first Friday the 13^th or Evil Dead.

Part of that is because of the timeline of the first three movies. The first and second film are pretty much different franchises with the world in full-on apocalypse rebounding just three years after the incident with Johnny. Sure, the nukes were going to f**k some stuff up but they’ve already started establishing raider parties with tactics and cars!

Just three years for society to end up on a ventilator but Max is the same as he’s been following his son’s death and his wife going into a coma.

All of that aside, I love my post-apocalyptic stuff and Mad Max was always an example of adventures in the wasteland. The films often put more of the character focus on those around Max and building them up so that Max sees some hope for humanity and himself. It doesn’t hurt that there’s heaping handfuls of action and villains with great catchphrases throughout the franchise.

In the OG film alone, Nightrider’s “I am rocker, I am a roller, I am a out of controller” is probably the banger quote!

What did you like or dislike about the original Mad Max film? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) So, Grand Theft Auto VI drops next year and I’ve been thinking of the double spin-offs and one particular expansion. We’re getting into the time machine and checking out some extra GTA titles that you may have played or forgotten about.

GTA: London 1969 (1999)

This was a fun expansion of the OG Grand Theft Auto. This was top-down GTA with a late-1960s London setting. Yes, the red double buses, bobbies, and phone booths were there.

Also there were enjoyable missions with dialogue fitting these gangs and firms. Yeah, the missions in GTA and GTA 2 weren’t the most involved—things were still 2D—but there’s just something about 2D open world and that lack of fluid motion.

This early Grand Theft Auto approach will appear again in this list.

GTA: Liberty City Stories (2005)

Originally a PSP release, Liberty City Stories is prequel to Grand Theft Auto III, which was released roughly four years earlier. This story focused on low-rank Leone Family mobster Toni Ciprani. Toni has returned to Liberty City after four years in hiding following a situation where he killed a made man. At time, Ciprani wasn’t a made man and the killing wasn’t cleared—meaning he broke one of the tenets and had to go.

Sure, he could’ve faced his fate but fleeing to Sicily and letting things die down worked as well.

While the game played a lot like Vice City, the story was better than GTA III. This is in part because the protagonist speaks and seems more involved with the world than Claude Speed from III and later San Andreas. Another thing it had going for it is just the approach of playing through a previous time in the Grand Theft Auto 3D universe and seeing how things came to be in present day—the 2000s.

I will admit that the game is pretty skippable but for lore fans, if you can find it on PSP or PS2…maybe give it a play. It’s fun but I wouldn’t say essential.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)

Another PSP and PS2 release by the studio duo of Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, GTA: Vice City Stories is the stronger of the two Stories games. However, with the 3D universe, that was just the case with games released after GTA III. Each game was an improvement over previous titles because Rockstar utilized mechanics from other games in the franchise.

Vice City Stories is centered around Vic Vance, an army corporal who was dishonorably discharged in a double cross for trafficking drugs. Since the game isn’t available to play now, if you’ve played Vice City, Vic is Lance Vance’s brother who was killed at the beginning of the game.

VCS takes place in 1984, two years before Tommy Vercetti’s arrival in the city and allows the player to experience the rise of the short-lived Vance Crime Family.

Again, this plays like an early-2000s 3D universe Grand Theft Auto title but it had a little something extra that really made this a fun time investment. San Andreas featured a couple of features that allowed the player to experience San Andreas through CJ: clothing stores, dates, cheeks, bars, lowriders, clubs, businesses, and gang wars with claimable territory that weakened the opps’ influence in the city.

While GTA: Vice City featured businesses, it was a simple affair of raiding a gang’s front, taking it over and investing money into it. San Andreas typically had more of a story involved in taking over businesses. In Vice City Stories, we have turf wars in the form of a more involved business system. Not only did players take a front over, they also invested in the upkeep and growth of the business both by dropping money into it and doing related missions. Not only that, these businesses had to be defended from opposing gangs.

This mechanic was something I wished returned in future GTA games and is my favorite part of the game. Aside from that, VCS also featured improved combat, with the hand-to-hand stuff taking heavily from San Andreas’ improved combat.

GTA: Chinatown Wars (2009)

This game launched on the popular Nintendo 3DS console. It’s the only game on this list that Rockstar has available for download via app stores. Chinatown Wars uses the GTA and GTA II top-down approach but mixes in some features that weren’t seen in either the 2D or 3D titles.

First, let’s getting a bit into the story. Huang Lee is the nephew of a triad boss living in Liberty City. He is visiting from Hong Kong to hand him a ceremonial sword that belonged to his father. While en route, he is ambushed and the sword stolen.

This results in a lengthy story with some interesting twists and turns along the way. Can’t have a GTA story without some kind of betrayal by perceived allies and/or FIB having the main character by the balls. Maybe Grand Theft Auto VI will break that trope.

Tasked with various jobs to make up for the dishonor of being ambushed, Huang experiences crime the American way. This brings me to a few mechanics I really enjoyed with one being something I wish would return in future titles.

In GTA V, it’s possible to get the cops off of you by making them crash in a chase. Chinatown Wars featured this and while it should’ve been easier because it was top-down, the streets got congested often in this game and could ruin a fun chase. However, the featured did its job well—when players had room to groove.

Another shared feature between the two is hotwiring cars. Being that it was the 3DS and using that stylus was just something developers or Nintendo insisted on, hotwiring in Chinatown Wars could be more involved before players rode off in their in their criminally captured cars.

The featured that impressed me the most and was a feature I loved in GTA-clone Scarface: The World is Yours was the drug trafficking. This was basically Rockstar Games Presents Dope Wars and it was great! Drug prices changed, CCTVs were a problem, suppliers taxed, rivals were salty, drug trucks could be hit—this was the most entertaining part of the game hands down. It was GTA criminal shenanigans and hustling but it was something unique to this game.

Which of the games have you played in the past? Where would you rank them? Are there any gameplay mechanics or characters you’d like to see return?

Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) Simulation games are a genre that I really enjoy. They’re addictive in that in games or anything, humans like to see progress. We like to see something we’re working on come together or improvements being made. Would it be great if we had an isekai or progression series status screen with numbers and grades? Of course it would.

Gaming gives us that and simulation games apply that to occupation and business simulators to great effect. It’s essential to gameplay and keeping players hooked. But this isn’t about status screen UIs or human improvement, we’re looking at three simulators worth diving into right now.

All games but the second are available on PC and console.

Drug Dealer Simulator (Byterunners)

Currently, this has been my primary jam. It’s also my weekend stream starter before getting into some Cyberpunk 2077 shenanigans. Drug Dealer Simulator puts you in the role of a dealer, smuggler, street pharmacist, trafficker, and businessman all in one.

The player is dropped into a city under heavy lockdown with a hard stance against drugs. Eddie, the player’s mentor and plug trains the young trapper on how to do business, get drugs, launder money, and keeps him abreast of story-advancing developments. The narrator fills the player in on more granular aspects while giving an abrasive and humorous take of the trapper’s rise.

While a major aspect is giving out samples and making enough for sales and to hand off to your dealers, I find that the most enjoyable part is actually growing and cooking. Then again, I love crafting in games.

Byterunners have released Drug Dealer Simulator 2 and it looks great but for those who can’t play the sequel, the OG DDS is still a time-eating blast to dive into.

American Truck Simulator (SCS Software)

Honestly, either American Truck Simulator or European Truck Simulator 2 are a great pick for your simulation game session. It exists in this realm of having time limits on deliveries, fines for traffic infractions, and needing to gas up but also being extremely chill.

The most stressful parts tend to come from falling a bit behind on a delivery. Even worse when is cutting it close, being at the destination but being unable to get the truck and trailer in the loading area exactly.

Beyond that, the player mainly  manages their trucking career, handles their skill points, purchase trucks and upgrades. As the game advances and the player makes more cash from deliveries, they can invest in their own trucking company and hire drivers NPC to do deliveries.

There’s also an online mode where players join other truckers for convoys. It’s not a mode I’ve explored heavily but it was fun doing deliveries through Nevada and hearing my fellow trucker lamenting about traffic up ahead.

Of the games in this list, I’d say American/Euro Truck Simulator has the best music. It uses streaming radio in-game and it works perfectly as traveling music with a lot of variety. This is also the game with the most longevity. The games are all addictive and the player might have fun in restarting or advancing their businesses further but the Truck Simulator titles are different in that it’s as close to a perfect balance of chill and challenge.

That goes a long way for simulation games and replay value.

Gas Station Simulator (DRAGO Entertainment)

Now this is a game that increases the stress of cops chasing the player in DDS while also having a chill approach like the Truck Simulator games. Sure, placing and stocking shelves is easy (as someone who has done it, it depends) but keeping the store clean and seeing that tour bus pull up to the gas station is another story.

Most of the week, it’s basic dead end gas station in the desert business. Yeah, there’s an element of shadiness going on as far as cash flow but business is steady and manageable. However, the weirdest things go down in the gas station once the bus rolls in but the player is going to make a wad or two with the bump in business.

Managing inventory, store cleanliness and tending to the service at the pump are the player’s initial duties but eventually workers can be hired to manage that. There is stronger storyline here than in the other two entries and exploration plays a part in that. There are also a few other activities to get into outside of pure business.

What are some of your favorite simulation games and are there any you’re currently playing? Share in the comments!

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

Gaming since 1989 and headbanging since 1999, James is a talented writer, podcast host, and lifelong comic book fan who loves all things old-school and retro. His passions include RPGs, wrestling, and classic gaming culture. You can also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) Destiny: Rising is a mobile first-person/third-person shooter from NetEase Games. It is a sequel to Bungie’s Destiny franchise and has seen a lot of action in its first few weeks out.

Now, I’m not as hardcore a Destiny 2 player as my younger brother. As a matter of fact, while I did catch the most recent “World’s First” raid, I wasn’t heavily active during the expansion launch. A large part of that had to do with crashes on PlayStation 4.

However, as far as Destiny 2 creators and keeping up with news, I follow to a degree. Even while playing, unless I’m playing with my brother, I tend to get in and find activities where I can just get in and slam such as Iron Banner, strikes that are on the shorter side, or just public events. I’m not particularly interested in jumping puzzles or figuring out mechanics, two important ingredients in the franchise’s gameplay.

Destiny: Rising Launches

I had come across Destiny: Rising on the Google Play Store when it was still in the pre-register phase. Mind you, I didn’t pre-register as I was looking for another game to play. Since it was a bigger mobile game—I don’t reckon Sony or Bungie would get on board with a trash mobile title—it would remain in the “For You” section until launch.

After my brother reminded me that it had launched, I logged on the day after launch and dove into the issues of Haven, the hub city of Destiny: Rising. As mentioned above, this is a sequel to the main Destiny games and I’d say that so far, it’s a good entry.

I’m still going through the story—in true Destiny fashion, character really chat. Everyone’s a yapper in the game and the urge to hit “Skip” was ever present. Fortunately, some cutscenes allow the player to double the speed as a soft skip. I feel this should be for all cutscenes and cinematics.

Move it along, already.

It should be noted that as a NetEase title, there’s the expected gacha element here. It’s actually an important element of the gameplay since the characters are all built to substitute for the more focused build and gear crafting of the main titles.

Characters and Build Crafting

That isn’t to say this game is pick-and-play. The Guardians (characters) all have a light element: solar (fire), void (gravity/space), and arc (lightning). Stasis (ice), strand (kind of like void and stasis) and prismatic (all abilities) aren’t featured yet. However, in true gacha fashion, expect more characters to drop and some to be loaded up with the best skills of those elements.

In Destiny 2, players are free to jump among elemental subclasses as desired and craft builds around certain abilities and aspects. Over on Destiny: Rising, the characters have pretty much settled into their most proficient subclass. The player just has to select the best Guardian for the activity.

Players will get to do some build crafting here but it’s streamlined for both mobile gameplay and how players tend to play mobile. For those who have explored Destiny 2, you will know it’s a bit of a time investment regardless of your skill level. Whether you’re mainly a PvP (player vs. player) or PvE (player vs. environment) gamer, you’re sinking time into the game because there’s so much to manage, improve, craft, and hunt for—never mind actually getting into the adventuring, raiding, and dungeon delving. It’s not necessarily a game where you can jump in for 10 minutes here and there for bite-sized, quick sessions.

In Rising, the approach is geared mainly towards shorter sessions or if you really want to just drain your battery. On the road to team level 61 at the time of writing this, I’ve hovered between both.

Back to the characters! They’re pretty much different subclasses with baked in builds—or abilities geared towards their intended combat and utility style. From there, you’re able to level up their relic abilities—the elemental powers Guardians can use in combat and improve your weapons.

If you haven’t gotten into Destiny: Rising, you might be wondering about armor sets and the like. Don’t worry about that, the focus is on weapons in DR—meaning the Guardians are just rocking with their established armor sets. No one’s running around with mismatched gear or anything.

All of that has been streamlined to cut down the micromanagement aspect of Destiny for mobile. There’s still micromanagement but the amount of stuff to manage is reduced.

Gameplay and Adventuring

I’m certain the build crafting and micromanagement are big draws of the franchise for some players but this game shines with the actual adventuring and in-the-field stuff. The activity and menu UI sets up everything in mainly one location while checking your ghost (your Light imbued companion who guides and revived you).

From the main story mission to PvE, PvP, PvPvE activities, players can find it here along with stuff like rankings, the map, season level, characters, and items. Just like the main games, selecting any kind of adventure or activity will get it started for matchmaking.

There are some adventures that require the player to travel to certain areas. The game will drop you in the region at the closest fast travel spot but there might be some hiking required to the objective. It occurs for some main story missions but for specific characters that aren’t Wolf, the game just drops you in the location their story takes place.

The gunplay in Destiny: Rising is really good. It’s not to the level of Destiny 2 but for a mobile adaptation, it’s really fun and easy to learn. The game allows the player to experience the game in third-person or first-person and I strongly remember going with first. When using super abilities, the perspective is snapped to third-person for the duration as it does in the main games.

I found it odd that third-person was even an option but NetEase Games tend to offer both.

Loot and Odds N’ Ends

Any combat activity or adventure rewards loot in the form of leveled engrams (which can have weapons, weapon mods, etc), one of the game’s various currencies, fragments that can make full engrams), weapon enhancement material, and miscellaneous loot that can be used for other activities.

For instance, you could get bait for fishing from doing strikes or whatever activity. Fishing itself rewards nothing but the fish and occasionally guns, but fish can be sold for fishing shop currency—which can then be used to purchase a variety of fishing and non-fishing goods.

Matchmaking for fire teams tends to be very quick. Very rarely have I left the matchmaking or mission screen because the matching was taking a while. Players are even warned that matchmaking could take a while because of a low participation pool (which I got twice).

Speaking of warnings, in a nice bit of a quality of life feature, Destiny: Rising warned me that a character mission would take at least 15 minutes. I greatly appreciated that.

Another warning: this is a gacha game as far as the meat and potatoes of its business. That means some characters can be purchased and getting the battle pass is recommended but not necessary. The extra bonuses are nice but the grind isn’t too bad in this game. Hell, I primarily grind strikes and other PvE activities…and fishing.

The first wave of characters can be gained via pulls using the associated currencies. Those can be purchased as well or gained as a potential reward. Expect Rising to push players more towards purchasing content when even better or more interesting characters are released.

As a matter of fact, two new characters have been announced as coming soon. All of that said, I say that Rising is a game worth playing.

Will you be play or pass on Destiny: Rising? If you’re already in, what are some of activities and characters you enjoy? Let’s us know in the comments and if you playing, feel free to add me: MetalSwift.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) While chatting with a good friend about open-world crime games, we got around to discussing Saints Row. From 2006 until 2022, the game was developed by Volition and underwent directional changes as the lore of the titular Saints gang grew.

Two strengths for Saints Row included always having fun locations and its turf war approach. We’re going to look at both.

Location, Location, Location

Open-world crime games typically run with a fictional location inspired by a real world city. GTA has Vice City (Miami), Liberty City (New York), and San Andreas (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas) while Mafia has Lost Haven (Chicago), Empire Bay (mostly New York), and New Bordeaux (New Orleans).

Saints Row has its own fictional areas with Steelport and Stillwater being the two main focuses. The 2022 reboot introduced Santo Ileso which is based on Las Vegas. It’s another strong location but there were a few things that didn’t make this a contender for replayability for me. It wasn’t a dismal game but it wasn’t as fun of an adventure as the previous four were.

That’s for another time.

Stilwater in Saints Row 2 and Steelport in SR: The Third were my favorite locations in the franchise. The player spent the first SR game assisting in taking a small gang to the top of the city only to wake up from a coma and find the gang in shambles. Not only that but they’ve lost a lot of turf and parts of the city are changing.

Mind you, between the first and second game—canonically five years apart—the city grew in size. That just meant more room to groove, more space for chaos, and more activities! You could even go on the stroll in SR2. That was very new when you’re used to just picking up sex workers in GTA games and having them drain your money while the car rocks.

In SR: The Third, the gang has gone from a recovered street gang to gangsta celebrities. They’re in a different city away from their power base of Stilwater and the Ultor Corporation isn’t the threat here. Steelport is run by The Syndicate which is made up of three gangs. There’s also the threat of the government’s anti-aging task force which has shown up to drop the hammer.

At the time, there were grumblings about the new location but there will be grumblings about any particular feature or element of a game. I did find the city to be not as active as Stilwater while appearing to be larger—which is always a problem.

That aside, what you were able to do in the city and missions that had you out and about in Steelport were very fun. It also helps that the team you put together in SR2 are better rounded out which is something that would continue in SR4 with the characters having matured while remaining immature and bringing in some new faces.

Turf Wars in Saints Row

Turf wars or gang wars made their debut in open-world crime gangs with GTA: San Andreas. Saints Row, The Godfather, and to a degree Mafia improved on that mechanic. Of the three, Saints Row did the most with it because it was tied closely to the gameplay and story.

Volition got away from that element somewhat in SR4. Sure, there’s still turf to fight for but your main character The Boss is trapped in a simulation and the main opposition comes from an alien controlling things.

No, the first three Saints Row games and to a lesser degree the reboot got turf wars right. Rival gangs were introduced, they were prominent in areas they controlled, and the main missions focused on taking them down and taking over their spots. Success resulted in some perks for the gang, being able to go through a piece of turf without enemies lighting you up, and seeing Saints purple on the map indicating your territory.

Sometimes the battles were pretty spicy, especially if the law showed up or were just passing by. Most of the times, it was your usual slam all the enemies in this mission until you wipe the waves or achieved some objective. In some ways, it was very straight forward but it wasn’t purely “clap the ops to sleep.”

That was the San Andreas approach and sometimes it didn’t work when a stray Balla gang member was stuck somewhere or at the border of the block or turf you were fighting over and you couldn’t find them. It was always that one guy.

If you’ve played the Saints Row franchise, what was your favorite and least favorite title? Also, it was mentioned in passing but have you played The Godfather?

As always, let us know down below!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) There are some video game titles that are worthy of remake or a reboot. What makes them worthy varies by studio and gamer. A studio could decide that a poorly received title deserves another shot because development technology and hardware have gotten better. Maybe the studio can get it done now whereas 20 years ago the project just wasn’t going to work.

Meanwhile, a gamer could feel strongly about a title and want it modernized or to at least get a sequel—yes, decades after the previous release. Obviously, I’m not a game designer or associated with a developer, so you can guess which group I fall in with this list.

We’re going to look at five titles that could do with a comeback season whether it’s a sequel or a reboot.

Sleeping Dogs (2012, United Front/Square Enix)

Sleeping Dogs is considered the spiritual successor to the True Crime series, a PS2 GTA-clone where the police detective element was the focus. The True Crime series was supposed to have a third entry based again in New York—that later became Hong Kong with United Front’s work on the then unnamed title. However, that was axed by Activision. Mind you, the True Crime: New York City did have some big-name TV and film actors doing voice work for a game that…it flopped, folks.

We’re talking less than 80,000 units sold in its first two weeks. That lets you know that this wasn’t going to meet the budget put into the game at all.

Then United Front came along with what would become Sleeping Dogs after Activision passed on publishing it. The rest is history: it was received very well and presented enough that a sequel wasn’t out of the question. Performance-wise, it sold enough units to warrant exploring a sequel—yet here we are.

The game was supposed to see a sequel which followed the future cases and adventures of Shen and was to feature a mobile gaming aspect that impacted Sleeping Dogs 2’s gameplay. While there is no sequel on the horizon, the license was picked up and is being turned into a film.

Kengo (2000, Genki/Crave)

Let’s get into even older franchises that have seen no recent developments—such as Bushido Blade. Well, let’s go with the spiritual successor: Kengo. While Bushido Blade added a realistic element to the 3D fighting game genre with wounds and bleed outs resulting in victory or defeat, I enjoyed Kengo’s approach of putting the player in the shoes of a traveling swordsman.

This wasn’t going through different parts of a village and slaughtering the opps and their heavies. No, you went from established dojo to established dojo to practice, learn techniques, and apply those techniques in duels. Then you fought the masters of the dojos and eventually participated in the imperial tournament. Outside of the absence of some slice-of-life stuff, this was basically a swordsman simulator.

Now, the third entry was a bit of a bust because it was a garden variety fighting game with swords and we already had Bushido Blade 2 as well as Soulcalibur and Battle Arena Toshiden by that time.

Rival Schools (1997, Capcom)

On the one hand, it’s like—there are enough fighting games out there, do we really need to bring back one from almost 30 years ago? Especially if nothing new is done, it’s just a return of this game’s roster. Capcom even did something new with Street Fighter 6, so a Rival Schools return would have to be something fresh instead of an expensive investment in nostalgia.

I say add aged Rival Schools characters to the Street Fighter roster because Capcom had some great characters from the R.S and Street Fighter EX titles. Batsu? Skullomania? Yes, add them to the roster.

Inindo: Way of the Ninja (1991, Koei)

I can’t say enough good things about this Super Nintendo title. It was like playing as an officer in Romance of the Three Kingdoms in turn-based JRPG. For a game released in 1991, it had features that would make many RPGs worth playing multiple times. The main feature is the recruiting of allies actively forming a rapport with them.

However, some potential allies or teammates might not agree with your motivations, or they might believe that serving Nobunaga is the ultimate job—when you’re trying to take him out for razing your village.

The other major element is that each month, the landscape/map is updated with the battles that went down. The player can work for a daimyo and by doing mission for them successfully, they can participate in battles. Meaning, they can impact the power dynamic in feudal Japan and probably weaken Nobunaga’s influence.

With the advancements in development and writing over 30-plus years, I’d say Koei could make the ultimate ninja game if they decided to revisit this title.

Alpha Protocol (2010, Obsidian Entertainment/Sega)

Listen, Alpha Protocol wasn’t perfect at all and at times it could drag at points, but the game was one of the best espionage games made. The only franchises or games I would put over it are Metal Gear Solid and Deus Ex (under Square Enix). Having to travel to different locations around the world for missions, decisions that impacted future missions, a decent combat system that could’ve been more polished in a sequel—Alpha Protocol had the makings for a good, regular series for Sega.

It was a spy game that was purely about spycraft. This wasn’t a shooter based around a spy or spy fighting game, no—stealth was necessary here, folks. Negotiation was necessary as well. You could tell that Obsidian Entertainment had plans for the gameplay mechanics in place and that more could’ve been done with those mechanics.

My two gripes with AP are that the game felt a little short for what was going down—it’s the same feeling I had for Deus Ex: Human Revolution—and it ended on a something of a cliffhanger. The combat, camera, and all that didn’t bother me as much as it bothered others, but a cliffhanger will always burn my biscuit.

What are your five games that you’d love to see get a reboot or sequel? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) So, after a lengthy wait for anything resembling a trailer, Rockstar Games dropped the goods for Grand Theft Auto VI. It’s a dead horse at this point but it has to be mentioned: the last GTA game came out in 2013. Since then, Rockstar worked heavily on GTA Online but also released some remasters in this decade-long wait.

It should be noted that the studio had another big project in that decade with the highly acclaimed Red Dead Redemption II. So, Rockstar hasn’t been idly twiddling their thumbs while Online printed money. Work was being done in that time and on the Grand Theft Auto front, a lot has been done.

There Was Another Trailer on GTA VI Day

Although, Rockstar was giving a lot of time to GTA Online—especially during the COVID-era boom for GTA V with FiveM and player servers keeping the game active. It’s just that there were players not on Online doing things they’d like to do in Online. Yes, GTA roleplay.

The GTA VI trailer gave us a cinematic look at the iconic Vice City from the 2002 titular game—40 years into the future. Rockstar has a real talent for capturing American mainstream culture in specific periods of time. The present day seems to be easiest but I recommend a quick jaunt to 1984 Vice City and 1992 Los Santos.

That aside, this trailer was a great drop on a day where the only trailer that I was aware of is the new expansion for Destiny 2. Actually, my brother was considering getting back into Destiny 2–as was I for the summer—when he sent me a text that the GTA VI trailer had dropped…the same day as the trailer for “The Edge of Fate” trailer.

This is Grand Theft Auto VI we’re talking about. There’s going to be about 13 years between the two main series titles. It’s smarter to just move your trailer release date if you want to snap up some more casual players or those not familiar with your game or series. Then again, it was a well-received surprise drop.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate Trailer

With that said, Destiny 2’s trailer was also great. Bungie tends to really deliver with their trailers with one important inclusion: combat gameplay. When looking games on the PlayStation Network, you’ll find a lot of trailers are cinematic in nature. That’s fine, that’s a developer choice but if it’s anything but a business or trading sim—show the combat in the first trailer!

Yes, we’re in a time where the writing is more layered and gives more lore but we’re also in a time where developers really want you to see these mini-movies. Not only the reveal trailer but also the follow-up. You can be three or four trailers in before the devs actually focus on gameplay and combat—if available.

Not Bungie. Oh no, they mix cinematic cutscenes and story cues with in-game combat. Oh and they show off the new guns and abilities. The studio knows what we mainly show up for and they whet your whistle for it because to be honest: at a certain point in the season, you can dip out and play something else. It’ll be a bit before the next chapter in the story is released and if you feel you’ve done enough that season, why not?

The main thing about the trailer for “The Edge of Fate” and Destiny 2 in general is it’s a title very much for the hardcores. If you’re a fan of Destiny or maybe even Bungie’s work, the trailer is geared towards you. You’ve likely followed the story actively, you might live in PvP, your sole goal in the game might be to hunt down the best rolls on weapons you enjoy using—but you know your sh** about Destiny. Myself, I exist between casual and hardcore for the series. I’m in it mainly for the gunplay, loot in PvE, and slamming in PvP—the trailer did its job.

From what I see from the two releases, the GTA VI trailer hit harder because of the amount of time between the two games and the release date reveal. That combination will always do it for an acclaimed series. With Destiny 2, it would probably take announcement of Destiny 3 to get a similar—but not exact buzz.

That and Rockstar not announcing a new Bully or Manhunt.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) Open world is my favorite setting approach for games. Ever since I experienced the 3D overworld map of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I wanted more worlds like that. Sure, it was a barren Hyrule even before the time jump but it great to just explore the towns, fight monsters on the map and so on.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule Was Pretty Bare

I first played Ocarina of Time in 1998, it was my Christmas game that year. The hype around in GamePro, Game Informer, and Nintendo Power was immense. Most of the gaming magazines at the time were into this game. The commercial for OoT sold me since I was heavily into fantasy stuff like Xena and Hercules at the time.

Now, for the power limitations at the time and this being Nintendo’s first attempt at something more involved—Link had an inventory and an armory all on his person—Hyrule Field was bare. Honestly, it should’ve been very safe to travel Hyrule Field.

Then again, when you see how spaced the major towns are, how they’re all set up on the border of the overworld map, and how dangerous it is just to get to Zora’s Domain, Goron City, and Kakariko Village…

Well, Kakariko Village isn’t a particularly dangerous trek but Goron City is within proximity of Death Mountain. Enough said. Considering that: who would bother leaving their towns? It’s just a trek from anywhere you’re coming from in Hyrule. There should be no issues traveling during the day. Decades later and I’m thinking “It would’ve been nice to have some bandits or orcs during the daytime.”

Link had a sword, Link had a shield: let Link slam! You could definitely slam if you headed into the different area maps en route to another town—day or night. Hyrule’s different chiefs/leaders didn’t have the best security in mind for their domains. I mean, I guess knights patrolled Hyrule Field but you never saw them.

Nintendo Has Done an Amazing Job with Hyrule Now

Nintendo would work on this over the decades to make Hyrule a world worth venturing through. In each Zelda title, you could see there was a goal to make the land of Hyrule more alive. Link should’ve had memorable interactions with the locals given he’s working to save the world.

The first step was in Ocarina of Time just by having a day-night cycle. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, you’d see more game exploring this mechanic. When paired with Zelda or Pokémon, it adds a sense of a passage of time for your adventure. This isn’t the longest day as it was in Pokémon Red or Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

The Wind Waker and The Skyward Sword opened the world up some more, there were more inhabitants of the world. Then we get to the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom—the closest to the realization of a living Hyrule. I say “closest” because developers can always push an element of gameplay.

Just look at the open world in Fallout 3 compared to Fallout 4 where there are fewer settlements or towns that need a transition screen. There are more places that you merely walk into or open a door. Something as simple as that is big for a complete or perfect open world setting.

While it wasn’t a perfect open world and a lot of things that were promised just didn’t get done, Fable is a game where the open world managed to do some simplistic elements you’d expect. Such as: walking right into someone’s home without a brief loading or transition—a 2004 accomplishment.

On the note of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom: the addition of the player using any weapon they can get and those weapons having durability? Amazing combat mechanic, compliments to the chef.

This Is the Way

It’s not unusual for developers to “Bring the game back to its roots” but I say keep going forward with The Legend of Zelda. Go back to the roots for an action-puzzle project but for these titles with cinematic cutscenes, improved mechanics, dialogue, and lore pushing stories—make the quest an adventure. Keep it open world and let Link and the player to explore the world.

Why not? Link either constantly misses whole swathes of time because they’re in mystical eternal rest or has been reincarnated and lives in the boonies. Let Link experience the world. Don’t just shotgun one of Nintendo and gaming’s greatest heroes through towns they’re never revisiting and puzzle-riddled dungeon after puzzle-riddled dungeon.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

(AfroGamers.com) In part one, we mainly focused on ineffective, incompetent authority in anime and manga. We didn’t even get into comics when it comes to bumbling government or being so bad at your job a disaster occurs.

It’s worth noting that in American comics, there is a reason for why it’s not unusual to have corrupt cops, lazy police chiefs, mayors on the take, evil presidents, or cities where the heroes do the job of the police—sans the pay. Then again, if they were paid they would be government superheroes and that’s always proven to be a problem.

No, the reason for this lies in the Comics Code. The short of it was that in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S was in the throes of one its many moral panics/witch hunts. Some stuffy lobbyists, busy-bodies, and politicians came to the conclusion that comics were part of thing ruining the youth—along with devil’s music, devil’s lettuce, and whatever other “subversive elements.”

The Comics Code Wasn’t Having It

Actually, this was just part of a larger witch hunt but that gets into politics and history. One of the terms of the Comics Code involved how law enforcement and government officials are depicted. This particular rule from the 1954 code:

Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.

This meant for years, police weren’t to be depicted as corrupt or patsies—even if Batman is doing all their heavy lifting or they’re in a standoff with a bank robber and need Superman to walk them down. You would see both situations in those early comics—before the writing got better—and it’s just vigilantes helping the cops.

Actually, the cops were more accepting of adults in underwear solving their problems back them. The pre-hatred of paperwork days.

That rule was also tied into other rules that made it hard for layered, poignant stories to be written without taking some risk as was the case with EC Comics and the stories they often published. Hell, an iconic franchise like The X-Men had to work around these restrictions. At the time, Marvel Comics set out to produce a superhero group that reflected times while also tackling issues of the times while going on adventures and facing down threats.

Mutants were considered different from humans but you had these other Marvel titles where superhumans were lauded for saving the world or stopping the criminals. The X-Men would do the same but faced prejudice. It’s not like the difference between mutants/mutates/gods/disguised aliens were known to 1960s 616 dwellers.

However, that rule meant that the U.S government couldn’t be depicted as a force of oppression. Another rule tied to this meant that Magneto couldn’t be sympathized with nor could Senator Kelly be punished for targeting mutants:

Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.

Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

If you present bigotry and racism as an evil, Kelly should be punished but you can’t depict the government unfavorably—even if it’s just the one guy pushing for mutant killing robots. And you certainly can’t have people warming up to Magneto and feeling “Well, Robert Kelly is such a d**k maybe Magneto ain’t wrong.”

Again, rules for comics written during a time when the country was involved in war and social issues—and there was a distrust of the government by people who got shafted and soldiers left out to dry.

By 1970s, those themes were explored and the writing became less “Aquaman saved some sailors” and more “What is Superman even fighting for if you’re all treating each other like this?”

A Dreddful Use of Power

My favorite depiction of the ineffective/incompetent authority in western comics has to be President Robert Booth from the Judge Dredd franchise. This guy was the prime example of “Don’t let him have the launch codes.”

I’ve said a lot about Judge Dredd, Booth, and the world of Dredd over the years but someone who could cause a global nuclear apocalypse as well as a civil war off of big d**king—incompetent. The 22^nd century is a mess and the only effective authority happens to be the Judges. Sure, there’s issues among the Judges and with each decade of publication their power seems to weaken but it’s better than being under Booth.

I suppose you could say that Booth was effective at destroying the world or rather d**king the world, especially with all the mayhem that followed as the U.S and other countries got back “normal”.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.