The trailer shines the spotlight on four new characters whose vault hunter shoes you’ll inhabit, and perceptive fans will spot fleeting glimpses of old favorites throughout the trailer.

Let’s not forget the club dancing Claptrap. In what world is that not awesome?

Borderlands 2 comes out on September 18th! Gah, too long! Where’s my Delorian? I need to go back… TO THE FUTURE!

On February 26, 2011, the UFC will hold its highly-anticipated “UFC 144” event, featuring Frank Edgar defending his UFC Lightweight Championship against Benson Henderson. Also, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and former PRIDE FC mega-star Quinton Jackson returns to Japan for the first time since 2006. Still, some fans may be asking themselves: what are the best reasons to check out this card? Here’s my answer to just that: 5 reasons to watch UFC 144.

No.5 The preliminary card on FX boasts some interesting Japanese stars.

Maybe they aren’t the biggest stars right now, but back in their day, many of the fighters on the FX prelims were Japanese mega-stars. Takanori Gomi is the most-obvious example, since he was once thought of as the most dangerous, most exciting Lightweight on the planet. You’ve also got Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto, who was known for his wild knockouts and wilder personality. Riki Fukuda and Takeya Mizugaki may not have been the biggest stars, but they are entertaining fighters.

No.4 Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon will be all kinds of crazy and all kinds of awesome.

Joe Lauzon is a beast, plain and simple. Most of the time I’ve got nothing negative to say about him, although sometimes I think he can be hit-and-miss. But to be fair, “hit and miss” perfectly describes Anthony Pettis’ run in the UFC. Coming off the famous “Showtime Kick” that practically catapulted him into superstardom, Pettis seems to have fizzled in his UFC run. The great thing about this fight, though, is that both men match up so well with each other.

No.3 If Hatsu Hioki isn’t UFC-ready, Bart Palaszewski will prove that.

For all the hype surrounding him before his UFC debut, Hatsu Hioki seemed ready to succumb to the “foreign fighter’s curse” in the UFC, which is when fighters who were dominant in foreign countries come into the UFC and fail to live up to their hype. Hioki’s close call with the curse came when he won a Split Decision against George Roop. Bart Palaszewski, meanwhile, just knocked out Tyson Griffin. Can Hatsu Hioki really compete with the elite of the division? I honestly don’t know, but what I do know is this: if Hatsu Hioki beats Bart Palaszewski, he’ll take a big step forward in his efforts to avoid the “foreign fighter’s curse”. He may have even beaten it entirely.

No.2 Just about all the main card fights are loaded with stars.

In addition to the aforementioned Pettis/Lauzon and Hioki/Palaszewski, you’ve also got people like Yushin Okami (who just fought for the title), Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jake Shields, Mark Hunt, Cheick Kongo, and of course, former UFC champion Quinton Jackson. Akiyama vs. Shields should be very entertaining, Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo should be very entertaining, Quinton Jackson fighting in Japan for the first time in several long years should be very entertaining as well. In terms of star power, maybe it’s not the biggest UFC show. In terms of fight potential, this card is stacked.

And the number-one reason to watch UFC 144 is…

UFC 144

No.1 Frank Edgar vs. Benson Henderson sounds amazing on paper.

How can you not love this fight? Like all fights there’s a chance it could end up sucking. But I’m going to only consider the positive going into this fight, since I’m a big fan of both men. I’ve always believed Frank Edgar had what it took to be champion, and it’s been a joy to see him fully mature into the undisputed best fighter at Lightweight. Benson Henderson, meanwhile, has been amazing me for so long that I have no reason to doubt that he’ll stop anytime soon. I absolutely cannot wait to see this fight.

About the author

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

But, I can’t get down on the security guard too much; Volbeat could have walked past me and I wouldn’t have known them from an emo kid needing his overgrown Justin Beiber hair cut.

After awhile, we were escorted to the Megadeth interview room to wait for our interview with Chris Broderick. The room was adorned with walls, sports memorabilia, and antiquated wooden trim, among other things, instead of black curtains squaring off an area. There was a queue of media types waiting for their interview, as a couple different interviews were conducted simultaneously and one right after the other. It wasn’t as intimate as we’re accustomed; it was sort of like getting a lap dance in a strip club – everyone could see and hear the goods you were getting.

In our interview with Chris Broderick, we learned what his first guitar was and why he regrets not having it anymore, and we tried to get him to talk shit [Editor's note: we meant to convey some kind of humor with this comment, but there are some who are taking this a bit too literally] about Dave Ellefson, but it didn’t exactly play out the way we wanted it to.

Enjoy and…

Rock Hard!

Video games based on existing properties are always a dicey proposition. I can name a list of games as long as my arm based on comic books, movies, or TV shows that were rushed out the door with lousy production, buggy programming, and minimal originality. For example, the summer movie season is always accompanied by an onslaught of video games based on blockbusters, games thrown to the rabid masses after only a few months of development time and low expectations. Luckily, once in a blue moon, the odd game comes along to buck the trend. Starbreeze Studios‘s 2007 FPS The Darkness was such a game, which should have come as no surprise since the studio had previously successfully adapted Vin Diesel’s Riddick franchise into two popular video games: Escape From Butcher Bay and Assault On Dark Athena.

The game was a mostly faithful adaptation of the Top Cow comic of the same name. The story concerns an immoral mob hit-man named Jackie Estacado who, upon his 18th birthday, inherits the power of The Darkness, which allows him to summon a veritable army of Darklings to his side, along with the ability to perform other assorted mystical feats. On the down side, he can’t have sex, since passing along the seed of The Darkness will instantly kill him, which gives a whole new meaning to “with great power comes great responsibility.” So it’s a good news/bad news type of situation. Oh well, it’s not like a mafia hit-man is likely to get temptation regularly thrown his way…

Spontaneous combustion doesn’t seem so bad all of a sudden…

The reins of The Darkness franchise have now passed to developer Digital Extremes. Can they uphold the same level of quality as the initial entry? Or will the team behind the sequel need to cower in Jackie’s considerable shadows to hide their faces in shame? This is Yell! Magazine’s review of The Darkness 2, available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PCs. For review purposes, the PC version was used. To prevent my demon spawn from passing to the bevy of beauties I bed on a daily basis, ironclad willpower and good timing was used. Pft! How hard can it be to pull out just in time to avoid…

Whoops!

The Story

Taking place shortly after the events of the previous game, Darkness 2 picks up with Jackie as the new head honcho of the Franchetti crime family Unfortunately, his newly found success came with a hefty price tag attached: Jenny, the love of his life, is now being spit-roasted in Hell for all eternity, which sends Jackie spiraling into a deep depression. While pondering the question if Hallmark makes a “Sorry you ended up burning in Hell” card, Jackie is the victim of a mob hit in a restaurant and, despite his best efforts, ends up surrendering himself to The Darkness once again.

The pasta was overcooked, but the wiseguy brains are to die for!

Shortly after reawakening his powers, Jackie begins to suffer from a series of bizarre visions, which present him with an alternative reality where he, and several other acquaintances, are captive patients in a mental hospital. Not only that, but sinister apparitions of Jenny also begin to haunt him, leading to the possibility that it might be possible for Jackie to rescue her soul from the clutches of Hell and redeem himself.

The Darkness 2’s plot is appropriately comic book in feel and tone. It deals with heavy subject matter while constantly keeping demonic tongue firmly planted in cheek. The banter from Jackie and his entourage of Mafia clichés is amusing if excessively foul mouthed and there’s a pattern of darkly funny humor throughout the game, unsurprising since the script was written by graphic novel veteran Paul Jenkins, a prior writer of The Darkness comic. Fittingly, The Darkness 2 ends with a gigantic cliffhanger, which will no doubt please and frustrate fans in equal measure, perhaps more of the later if there never ends up being a Darkness 3. Still, all in all, The Darkness 2’s main plotline is dark, twisted and funny enough to keep players interested for the eight or so hours it will take you to finish the game’s single player campaign.

Read about the gameplay, presentation, and verdict after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

3 out of 5 stars

Published by:

2K Games

Developed by:

Digital Extremes

Year Released:

February 7, 2012

Also Available On:

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Genre:

FPS

Official URL:

The Darkness 2

Credit: Angel Witch

Angel Witch – “Dead Sea Scrolls”

Place your pre-order now at MetalBlade.com.

Angel Witch will be performing on Saturday, March 17th in London at The Garage with Grand Magus and In Solitude. For more information, check out the event on facebook HERE.

As Above, So Below track listing:

1. Dead Sea Scrolls
2. Into the Dark
3. Geburah
4. The Horla
5. Witching Hour
6. Upon This Cord
7. Guillotine
8. Brainwashed

Angel Witch is:

Kevin Heybourne – Vocals/Lead Guitar
Andrew Prestidge – Drums
Will Palmer – Bass

Good news, everyone!

…

Uh…

No wait, never mind.

You see, in the spirit of enthusiastic journalism, I was about to expound on the fun action set-pieces of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, but then I realized that they were really just crammed between boring bits of plot development, centered around characters that no one in their right mind would invest in.

I was gonna say something like, “We get to see Ghost Rider, when he pees. He pees fire.”  And then leave it to you to decide whether or not information like this is worthy of the title of “Good news.” However, seeing Nicholas Cage relieve himself (in the same vein as say, a flamethrower) isn’t enough to pull a film like this out of the banal, fetid sewage that it has accidentally found itself mired in.

Yes, there seems to be a niche audience for this film – you may see them hiding out in trash cans as you walk the streets at night. There’s something absurdly entertaining that’s brought to the table by Crank directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor that seems to blend well with Nicholas Cage’s overacting, as well as the Ghost Rider’s own forced bad-assery.

“This scenery tastes great!”

In between portions like this, though – the thick gooey centers that are comprised of what a film like this was supposed to be – are very long portions of what amounts to absolute nothingness. You could say that, much like the installment that came before it, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is just plain boring.

“But wait!” You shout. “How is a film about what’s essentially an Incredible Hulk analogue who’s made of fire and pees fire and eats fire, and sets people of fire – how does a guy like that make for a crappy protagonist? I mean, anything he rides technically bursts into flames and becomes an extension of his body! He can wrap people in chains and they basically incinerate! It’s a symphony of bloodless carnage that your mom will foolishly take you to see – then she’ll be horrified by that peeing-fire scene.”

Yes, good point. You raise some good objections, dear reader, and I have to say that I’m impressed by your witty eloquence. Take this oatmeal spoon, my friend – but don’t tell anyone where you got it. Seriously, it’s in your best interests.

Remarkably, the problem with having a protagonist who’s basically invincible is that your protagonist is basically invincible. It holds no dramatic weight when he fights, aside from the aforementioned “shit’s about to get real feeling” – but he’s also pretty much overpowered. He just…he just can’t die.

Boring Invincible Hero – looks pretty cool, though.

Get the verdict after the jump…

Yell! Rating (x/5 Skulls):

2 out of 5 stars

Year Released:

17 February 2012

Director:

Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor

Cast/Crew

Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Violante Placido, Johnny Whitworth, Fergus Riordan, Spencer Wilding, Jacek Koman, Anthony Head, and Idris Elba

Genre

Action, Fantasy, Thriller

Official URL:

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Official

Carrina Suicide - Credit: SuicideGirls.com

Because Mondays suck – Here’s your suicide solution.

Welcome to Suicide Monday on Yell! Magazine. Each week we’re going to bring you a favorite girl or two who were featured on SuicideGirls.com during the previous week.

Please leave a comment in the designated section below to tell us what you think of our sexy selection.

What constitutes a “favorite” girl? Well, she has to meet a few of our standards: She should be fairly heavily tattooed and/or pierced, into one or more of our topics of interest (heavy metal/hardcore rap, horror/sci-fi/action movies, MMA, and/or specific types of video games), and seemingly interesting as a person (as best as we can judge from the brief bio SuicidGirls sends us), and sexy.

Why SuicideGirls? They say it best: “SuicideGirls is a community that celebrates Alternative Beauty and alternative culture from all over the world.” Hey, we’re into that subculture thing too.

The Girls

How can we not feature the editorial director of an unnamed rock magazine? Come to think of it, this could mean Ilanna Suicide works for a petrology magazine, but we’ll take our chances. Ilanna comes from Colombia, and while her Linda Blair smile is a bit quirky, she has some great artwork (including an old-school microphone on her arm), good taste in music and films, and anything gets her hot (yes, finally a chick who’s into necrophilia!).

Good ol’ California girls. But Carrina Suicide isn’t your typical California girl, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s pretty safe to assume that she has a bit of an old soul. A quick look at the authors and bands she likes will tell you the same. We’re just wondering where her interest in Johnny Cash went. Well, check out Carrina Suicide’s killer little booty and we’ll see you next month.

Don’t forget to click on the images for a larger version.

Ilanna Suicide

Age: 25
Location: Colombia
Occupation: Columnist. Social Networking Sites campaigns. Editorial director – Rock Magazine

Body mods: 14 tattoos, 2 piercings
Gets me hot: Anything
Into: Pin Up, tattoos, rock, vampirism
Vices: Tattoos, electric guitars, chocolate, Nutella, coke, sex.

Films: Interview with the Vampire, Nosferatu, Pulp Fiction, Seven, The Crow, V for Vendetta, Blade Runner, The Shining, The Usual Suspects, Moebius

Books: The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, Ensayo sobre la ceguera, Carmilla, Lost Souls, Das Parfum, Rayuela, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, El Aleph

Warning! If you click through to see Carrina Suicide, you may miss work/school for the rest of the week…

UFC on Fuel

“UFC on FUEL TV 1” was a fun night of fights from the start of the show all the way to the main event. Now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after several dominant and heart-felt performances by a variety of UFC talent? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring “UFC on FUEL TV 1”.

Ivan Menjivar/T.J. Dillashaw

Each other, which is why I’m grouping them together. Both men had pretty entertaining performances, with Menjivar finishing his opponent and Dillashaw dominating his opponent for three rounds. Both men line up with each other pretty well in terms of both fighting style and divisional ranking, so I’d love to see this match.

Stipe Miocic

Imagine a fight between Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry? Now that’s a fight I’d love to see. Miocic vs. Barry would be all kinds of crazy, and somebody would probably get KTFO’d. Aside from Barry, Miocic could face the regular cast of characters that are traditionally used as Heavyweight gatekeepers: Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, Cheick Kongo, etc.

Ronny Markes

I’d like to see Ronny Markes go up against Demian Maia. Maia’s basically the #1 gatekeeper in the UFC’s Middleweight division right now, and I think both men could beat each other. This would be the biggest name/challenge Markes has faced in the UFC to date, but at 13-1 and with a six-fight win-streak, I think Markes has earned his shot at divisional relevancy.

Stefan Struve

How about a rematch with Roy Nelson? I definitely think that would be an interesting fight to see. It makes a good amount of sense too: by the time this fight got around to happening, it’ll have been over two years since their first fight. Struve is 4-1 in his last five against good competition, while Nelson is 2-3 in his last five against some of the best competition the UFC has to offer. Nelson is also 1-3 in his last four, so his job may be on the line in his next fight. At least to me, this rematch definitely makes sense.

Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez

Jake Ellenberger

Jake Ellenberger, UFC on Fuel

About the author

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.