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Hero Factory Website Updated


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The Hero Factory website has been updated with a new beautiful design, the new game, new bios, weapon, mech and beast descriptions and more, new dowloads (including the comics from the building instructions in high res) and the new episode, which can be watched from the game and is quite different from the previous ones. All in all, the update is totally worth checking out. As the US are getting the sets in March, only the design has been updated there, so if you want to see all the new content, I advise you to go to the British version. Go see for yourself!

 

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First, this website is miles better than the Brain Attack one, thank God.

 

Second, I haven't seen the full episode yet, I just watched the 5-minute recap. Um... it was solid, I guess. Not great, but not the worst.

 

Pros:

  • Lots of action, something severely lacking in some previous episodes. And actually the action is pretty good.
  • Pretty good animation
  • Pretty much no stupid humor for kids, actually. This is a big plus.
  • New voices mean Surge sounds less annoying
  • New, very unique looking heads

 

Cons:

  • New voices sound bored and lifeless. Like the voice actors were practically sleepwalking.
  • No continuity with old episodes
  • Even less actual story than Brain Attack. In fact, this demonstrates more than ever that Hero Factory is nothing more than a toy commercial, they're not even really pretending anymore.
  • The heads look weird
  • Animation is mostly limited by reusing old elements.
  • From what I understand, this episode ends on yet another cliffhanger that will never be resolved.
  • This is a matter of opinion, I guess, but the Beasts/Mechs are kind of poorly animated, they don't seem as large or heavy as they should. They move basically like regular heroes do, they should have more weight to them.
  • They still talk about their weapons all the time, that's it. The dialogue is pretty bare-bones in this one. Even in Brain Attack, we get some human-like interaction between them (Stormer and Breez' thing about animals, etc). Again, obviously just a toy commercial.

But I'm afraid I'm making it sound worse than it was. It wasn't that bad, it was pretty underwhelming.

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Thank you, BZPower staff. In the past, I wish I showed more appreciation for all that you do. From one Bionicle fan to another, thank you.

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My gosh is this beautiful. I do highly recommend going over this and watching the full episode through the game, and by that it's just going to the game's main menu after playing for a bit.

I will comment that I do disagree with a few of Zaz's point, though many of them are likely just because of the full episode vs. the 5 minute recap.

I found that, like Zaz, the animation, action, and voice acting were quite good. One thing I'd like to add though is that yes, the heads they animated the Heroes with seem weird, though I'd pin-point that to the fact that it's practically just one color, and the only thing standing out is the eyes: You can't really even see the mouth when they're not speaking, and it's just so... featureless. It was more than slightly discomforting when one took their helmets off, removing practically all detail, and added to the fact that it was Breez, the female, made it stranger.

Yes, continuity didn't really exist all that much, but Hero Factory is built like that, pretty much. Separate things with some of the same Heroes.

Now, for the main thing. The story.

While the dialogue could've been worded better, for sure, in some places, it's still very nice. The plot is basic but a twist on HF's usual fare, and it contains a few things that most wouldn't predict, like for example: (spoilers for those who haven't seen the episode and don't want it, well, spoiled)

-The beasts communicate

-The larger ones are grown from the smaller ones

-Breez's animal talking is actually used :o :D (It's not like it's been 4 years since it was last relevant.. :P )

-The Queen can transform people into beasts? (Not clear on this, but citizens and Heroes alike are at the least imprisoned in the same cocoons used to make the beasts

Are the Heroes totally human? No, they're still kinda robotic/cheesy, but it's an improvement. There's conflict between them, dialogue, and yes, a few cheesy one-liners, but it's better.

All in all, a worth-while ~20-30 minutes in my opinion. :)

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These days, TV shows are stuck in a rut of disgusting, peaceful messages like "be nice" or "make peace" or some atrocious pacifist moral like that.

 

That's why I love Hero Factory. I can always count on the Hero Factory to bring kids the good, traditional messages. Rise of the Rookies showed kids the importance of police brutality, Ordeal of Fire taught us that even if you screw up it's still the other person's fault, Savage Planet taught us that so-called "global warming" is all the Jamaican's fault, and Breakout taught us that infanticide is only an option if there's no risk of it backfiring on you. (I'm not sure Brain Attack had any such message, sadly; it was a gag-worthy message about "community service".)

 

Invasion from Below is no different from the others. As we reached the thrilling climax, not only do we finally get to see some infanticide (since Evo couldn't do it before), once it's ascertained that the creatures are only trying to protect their home, the Heroes do the wise thing: they plunge an entire species into a pool of acid, effectively completing Hero Factory's first genocide.

 

THESE are the messages our children SHOULD be getting. I'm glad to see LEGO supporting traditional values over namby-pamby "peace".

Edited by Baron Alberto
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they plunge an entire species into a pool of acid, effectively completing Hero Factory's first genocide.

 

Actually, it was a jumper that stepped on the gun, hitting the support ropes and letting them all plunge into the acid. Why did the writes have to kill them, though? :( As far as the Queen goes, does she really fall into acid? It drains away somehow...not sure what that meant.

 

 

All in all, the lack of continuity along with the new animation style and also new style of storytelling (it felt quite different from previous episodes) reminds me of the LEGO Alpha Team reboot where some characters disappeared (Stringer and Nex in this case) and some of the others got their looks swapped (their personalities here). It feels like a different theme now. Also, somehow Hero Factory feels like an actual LEGO theme like all others, for the first time. The entire episode had some sort of innocent feel to it that HF or BIONICLE didn't have before that you can find in LEGO City, for example. But maybe that's just me. Whether this all is a change for the better or not I can't really say, but it certainly seems like LEGO is trying a different approach to the theme. Which was perhaps necessary, after over three years.

 

The game is pretty fun, by the way.

 

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These days, TV shows are stuck in a rut of disgusting, peaceful messages like "be nice" or "make peace" or some atrocious pacifist moral like that.

 

That's why I love Hero Factory. I can always count on the Hero Factory to bring kids the good, traditional messages. Rise of the Rookies showed kids the importance of police brutality, Ordeal of Fire taught us that even if you screw up it's still the other person's fault, Savage Planet taught us that so-called "global warming" is all the Jamaican's fault, and Breakout taught us that infanticide is only an option if there's no risk of it backfiring on you. (I'm not sure Brain Attack had any such message, sadly; it was a gag-worthy message about "community service".)

 

Invasion from Below is no different from the others. As we reached the thrilling climax, not only do we finally get to see some infanticide (since Evo couldn't do it before), once it's ascertained that the creatures are only trying to protect their home, the Heroes do the wise thing: they plunge an entire species into a pool of acid, effectively completing Hero Factory's first genocide.

 

THESE are the messages our children SHOULD be getting. I'm glad to see LEGO supporting traditional values over namby-pamby "peace".

So I take it you liked it? :D

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they plunge an entire species into a pool of acid, effectively completing Hero Factory's first genocide.

 

Actually, it was a jumper that stepped on the gun, hitting the support ropes and letting them all plunge into the acid. Why did the writes have to kill them, though? :( As far as the Queen goes, does she really fall into acid? It drains away somehow...not sure what that meant.

 

 

Actually, iirc, the nest still stood after the jumper stepping on the gun; it just lost a few more cocoons. The Queen got enraged, so the Heroes figured all bets were off and shot the rest of the "webs".

 

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^and at the end, it's treated as cause for celebration, not a tragedy. If it had been treated differently, maybe it would've worked better.

Thank you, BZPower staff. In the past, I wish I showed more appreciation for all that you do. From one Bionicle fan to another, thank you.

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Does anyone have any idea of how to separate the episode from the game so it's downloadable? I have all the others downloaded and I'd like to add this one to my collection.

Here you go.

 

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Thanks. This would be episode 11, right?

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Does anyone have any idea of how to separate the episode from the game so it's downloadable? I have all the others downloaded and I'd like to add this one to my collection.

Here you go.

 

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Thanks. This would be episode 11, right?

 

I believe so.

 

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

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These days, TV shows are stuck in a rut of disgusting, peaceful messages like "be nice" or "make peace" or some atrocious pacifist moral like that.

 

That's why I love Hero Factory. I can always count on the Hero Factory to bring kids the good, traditional messages. Rise of the Rookies showed kids the importance of police brutality, Ordeal of Fire taught us that even if you screw up it's still the other person's fault, Savage Planet taught us that so-called "global warming" is all the Jamaican's fault, and Breakout taught us that infanticide is only an option if there's no risk of it backfiring on you. (I'm not sure Brain Attack had any such message, sadly; it was a gag-worthy message about "community service".)

 

Invasion from Below is no different from the others. As we reached the thrilling climax, not only do we finally get to see some infanticide (since Evo couldn't do it before), once it's ascertained that the creatures are only trying to protect their home, the Heroes do the wise thing: they plunge an entire species into a pool of acid, effectively completing Hero Factory's first genocide.

 

THESE are the messages our children SHOULD be getting. I'm glad to see LEGO supporting traditional values over namby-pamby "peace".

 

So true. This pretty much sums up my thoughts on this.

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

The lid wasn't meant to keep the beasts in, it was supposed to keep the citizens out. From what I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't watched the episode myself), the digging project was the whole reason the beasts were attacking the surface in the first place. By cancelling the digging project and sealing the tunnel entrance, they're making it so that the underground beasts and surface dwellers could live peacefully without interfering with one another.

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

Reviewing the scene, you may be right; only the Queen is seen visibly falling down into the acid.

 

However, the cavern IS suspiciously empty afterwards, and, assuming this species works like ants or bees, without the queen, they're doomed to extinction regardless.

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

Reviewing the scene, you may be right; only the Queen is seen visibly falling down into the acid.

 

However, the cavern IS suspiciously empty afterwards, and, assuming this species works like ants or bees, without the queen, they're doomed to extinction regardless.

 

Well, I don't think we can assume they work like ants or bees, because we know that all the larger beasts are mutated from identical jumpers. So there's a possibility one of the jumpers could mutate into a Queen Beast in the same fashion — it doesn't necessarily have to have been genetically "born" a queen. Also, that might not have been the only hive, so the surviving beasts and jumpers could possibly be adopted by other hives. Beyond that, I am not entirely convinced that the queen died. It was falling into the same chamber as the acid pool, but it does have rudimentary wings, so like Bulk it may have been able to halt its fall before reaching however deep that hole would go before the acid settled.

 

Also I didn't realize my comment on Eurobricks referring to "some critics on BZPower" (never to you in particular) seemed like I was referring specifically to you. I wasn't, so I apologize if it seemed like some kind of veiled passive-aggressive jab. I didn't even intend for "critics" to be taken as an insult, so I apologize if it seemed like one. You have as much right to voice the things that bothered you about the episode as anybody (personally, I was unimpressed by the pacing and music).

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

The lid wasn't meant to keep the beasts in, it was supposed to keep the citizens out. From what I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't watched the episode myself), the digging project was the whole reason the beasts were attacking the surface in the first place. By cancelling the digging project and sealing the tunnel entrance, they're making it so that the underground beasts and surface dwellers could live peacefully without interfering with one another.

 

I suppose that's a nice take on it, but don't you think the beasts would be angry at the surface dwellers for the death of their queen and destruction of their nest?

 

 

Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

Reviewing the scene, you may be right; only the Queen is seen visibly falling down into the acid.

 

However, the cavern IS suspiciously empty afterwards, and, assuming this species works like ants or bees, without the queen, they're doomed to extinction regardless.

 

Well, I don't think we can assume they work like ants or bees, because we know that all the larger beasts are mutated from identical jumpers. So there's a possibility one of the jumpers could mutate into a Queen Beast in the same fashion — it doesn't necessarily have to have been genetically "born" a queen. Also, that might not have been the only hive, so the surviving beasts and jumpers could possibly be adopted by other hives. Beyond that, I am not entirely convinced that the queen died. It was falling into the same chamber as the acid pool, but it does have rudimentary wings, so like Bulk it may have been able to halt its fall before reaching however deep that hole would go before the acid settled.

 

Also I didn't realize my comment on Eurobricks referring to "some critics on BZPower" (never to you in particular) seemed like I was referring specifically to you. I wasn't, so I apologize if it seemed like some kind of veiled passive-aggressive jab. I didn't even intend for "critics" to be taken as an insult, so I apologize if it seemed like one. You have as much right to voice the things that bothered you about the episode as anybody (personally, I was unimpressed by the pacing and music).

 

Very possible; there might be a recessive trait in every jumper that determines what it can evolve into if that particular niche isn't filled, so if, say, the flyer beast was disposed of, a jumper carrying that trait may become a new flyer beast, but since there still is an active flyer beast those particular jumpers remain as they are. Could work similarly with the queen, assuming she is dead.

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Pretty sure only the queen and nest fell into acid(and the queen may have caught her fall). Even yet, that's mass infanticide. Hero Factory better hope they have good lawyers!

I say this because the other creatures backed out of the cavern before the nest was shot down. I really don't know how Antropolis city feels safe because they put a sewer lid on a hole that led to the caves when the beasts are obviously capable of burrowing (there's a designated breed called "Tunneler Beast").

Reviewing the scene, you may be right; only the Queen is seen visibly falling down into the acid.

 

However, the cavern IS suspiciously empty afterwards, and, assuming this species works like ants or bees, without the queen, they're doomed to extinction regardless.

 

Well, I don't think we can assume they work like ants or bees, because we know that all the larger beasts are mutated from identical jumpers. So there's a possibility one of the jumpers could mutate into a Queen Beast in the same fashion — it doesn't necessarily have to have been genetically "born" a queen. Also, that might not have been the only hive, so the surviving beasts and jumpers could possibly be adopted by other hives. Beyond that, I am not entirely convinced that the queen died. It was falling into the same chamber as the acid pool, but it does have rudimentary wings, so like Bulk it may have been able to halt its fall before reaching however deep that hole would go before the acid settled.

I'm not certain "mutated" is quite the right word; the jumpers are like baby forms of the beasts (perfect for Evo), and it's not too far out to believe they might be born with specific roles in mind. However, all of this gets further and further from what actual evidence we saw in the episode. Nothing in the episode specifically points to other Queens, other hives, or the possibility of mutation to another Queen, and that means the Heroes didn't know anything of the sort, either. As far as the Heroes knew, this was the only nest, with the only Queen, and Preston Stormer pinned it against the nest with a pod, sent it hurtling down a tunnel with a lake of acid. (Speaking of the Queen, while she may have wings, it's not quite the same as Bulk's case; a rocket, like on the crawler, can take off instantly. Meanwhile, a Queen Beast pinned against a pillar tumbling down a relatively narrow tunnel surrounded by acid would have a hard time finding a situation where she could generate sufficient lift to even escape being pressed against the nest.)

 

Survival is a possibility, but so far it takes some mental gymnastics to find it, probably the same mental gymnastics the Heroes themselves would use to justify their actions. As far as the episode shows, the Queen is most likely dead, and Preston Stormer, if not the whole of Alpha Team (besides Breez, maybe), is responsible for the extinction of the species.

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Well, I don't think we can assume they work like ants or bees, because we know that all the larger beasts are mutated from identical jumpers. So there's a possibility one of the jumpers could mutate into a Queen Beast in the same fashion — it doesn't necessarily have to have been genetically "born" a queen. Also, that might not have been the only hive, so the surviving beasts and jumpers could possibly be adopted by other hives. Beyond that, I am not entirely convinced that the queen died. It was falling into the same chamber as the acid pool, but it does have rudimentary wings, so like Bulk it may have been able to halt its fall before reaching however deep that hole would go before the acid settled.

I'm not certain "mutated" is quite the right word; the jumpers are like baby forms of the beasts (perfect for Evo), and it's not too far out to believe they might be born with specific roles in mind. However, all of this gets further and further from what actual evidence we saw in the episode. Nothing in the episode specifically points to other Queens, other hives, or the possibility of mutation to another Queen, and that means the Heroes didn't know anything of the sort, either. As far as the Heroes knew, this was the only nest, with the only Queen, and Preston Stormer pinned it against the nest with a pod, sent it hurtling down a tunnel with a lake of acid. (Speaking of the Queen, while she may have wings, it's not quite the same as Bulk's case; a rocket, like on the crawler, can take off instantly. Meanwhile, a Queen Beast pinned against a pillar tumbling down a relatively narrow tunnel surrounded by acid would have a hard time finding a situation where she could generate sufficient lift to even escape being pressed against the nest.)

 

Survival is a possibility, but so far it takes some mental gymnastics to find it, probably the same mental gymnastics the Heroes themselves would use to justify their actions. As far as the episode shows, the Queen is most likely dead, and Preston Stormer, if not the whole of Alpha Team (besides Breez, maybe), is responsible for the extinction of the species.

 

I just said "mutated" because that's the word the Hero Factory website uses here. I agree it's a weird word to use when you're talking about a natural life cycle... then again, I've always thought it was a bit of a weird word to use when talking about mechanical or biomechanical beings in general, but I guess it's mainly just used for those situations where the writers feel like "transformed" isn't weird or unsettling enough. It's also possible that some jumpers remain jumpers all their lives.

 

The Queen was pressed against the pillar when the pillar began to fall, but came loose immediately after and was actually flying (with difficulty) by the time she disappeared into that giant chasm. The only reason she even fell was because she was hit by falling rubble as she tried to reach the ledge the heroes were on. But here's another important thing I notice, re-watching that scene. The machine fell well before Bulk did, and the only reason Bulk even fell was that the Queen was still functioning enough to grab him again on her way down. If she fell into the acid, he would have as well, well before he could get into Evo's fallen machine!

 

Stormer's attack on the queen seems a bit like overkill, but you have to remember that earlier, none of their actual weapons had any effect on the Queen, not even enough to make her recoil. And when Stormer attacked her, she was in the process of carrying Bulk away, so Stormer didn't have much time to formulate a plan. Watching the scene again, I don't think he even expected or intended that attack to collapse the central column. In fact, other than Bulk's initial trigger-happy attack that took out the first support web, none of the attacks that brought down the column were intended to do so. One jumper stepped on a Hero weapon, bringing down a second support web, and the third support web was brought down by one of the Queen's own energy blasts when she was trying to hit Furno. And then we had Stormer's canister attack, but the Queen was his target — not the column.

 

I understand you're using "mental gymnastics" to suggest wild and irrational leaps of logic, but in a sense, that's all that the heroes could really have done in this situation. Making a species go extinct was never a part of their plan. But being incredibly outnumbered and facing a foe that was far more powerful than any of them or even their machines, they had to make some split-second decisions. There wasn't time to analyze all of the possible consequences.

 

Overall, while I enjoyed this episode, I think the fact that it even creates this kind of confusion in the first place is a real flaw. It would have been easy to throw in two lines of dialogue between Bulk and the other heroes, like so:

 

Bulk: "Look what I found, team! These new battle machines hold up pretty well!

Breez: "And the queen?"

Bulk: "Alive, but I don't think she'll be coming after us. Climb on! Let's get out of here."

 

It's possible that there was such a line, but it was cut for time. But if so it's still a poor decision on the part of the writers, because there was a lot of dialogue earlier in the episode that I think would have made much more sense to cut.

 

At least it's better than Voltix's shenanigans at the beginning of the Breakout episode, which were downright impossible to understand from the episode by itself. It took a "young readers" book to actually give us a clue what was actually going on there: Voltix was generating a solid electrical projection that happened, perplexingly, to be shaped like Von Nebula, in what I can only imagine was some incredibly poorly executed symbolism.

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Aanchir, there's one thing I think needs to be made clear here: my argument is not whether or not the Heroes intended to drive this species to extinction.

 

What I want made perfectly clear is that Hero Factory is definitely responsible, and I also want to pose a question, which is, why?

 

Why did the story end the way it did?

 

The ending was pushed by several plot points (including the heroes own impulsiveness [or bloodthirstiness?] when it came to the nest and the Queen) but it didn't need to end the way it did. The reason why it did was simple: the writers wanted an action-packed ending. The episode reached what could have been a far better ending when Breez made peace with the Queen.

 

"Yeah, but then the one baby stepped on the gun, and the Heroes HAD to plunge her into a lake of acid!" Accidents don't happen in writing. A writer chose to have a baby Beast step on the gun for one simple reason: in the eyes of a "boy's toyline", a peaceful ending is "boring". The story ended unstatisfactorily for the exact reason I'm criticizing it. It ended because someone in the hierarchy of Hero Factory story process decided "peace is boring, let's completely throw away our peaceful message and end this story with war!"

 

I'm not criticizing the actions of Heroes as characters. I'm criticizing the actions of Heroes as the poorly-written devices through which poor writers shred anything resembling a moral in place of pure action-packed gritty "storytelling" that only serves to keep young minds distracted with flashy toys.

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Aanchir, there's one thing I think needs to be made clear here: my argument is not whether or not the Heroes intended to drive this species to extinction.

 

What I want made perfectly clear is that Hero Factory is definitely responsible, and I also want to pose a question, which is, why?

 

Why did the story end the way it did?

 

The ending was pushed by several plot points (including the heroes own impulsiveness [or bloodthirstiness?] when it came to the nest and the Queen) but it didn't need to end the way it did. The reason why it did was simple: the writers wanted an action-packed ending. The episode reached what could have been a far better ending when Breez made peace with the Queen.

 

"Yeah, but then the one baby stepped on the gun, and the Heroes HAD to plunge her into a lake of acid!" Accidents don't happen in writing. A writer chose to have a baby Beast step on the gun for one simple reason: in the eyes of a "boy's toyline", a peaceful ending is "boring". The story ended unstatisfactorily for the exact reason I'm criticizing it. It ended because someone in the hierarchy of Hero Factory story process decided "peace is boring, let's completely throw away our peaceful message and end this story with war!"

 

I'm not criticizing the actions of Heroes as characters. I'm criticizing the actions of Heroes as the poorly-written devices through which poor writers shred anything resembling a moral in place of pure action-packed gritty "storytelling" that only serves to keep young minds distracted with flashy toys.

You have a pretty good argument. I can't say you're wrong. I CAN say that I would have been slightly bored if there were a neat, tidy ending without any complications, since it would be basically a repeat of Breez, Surge, and Stringer's storyline in the third episode with the Tratix Reptoid. But for me the complication that most defined this episode's finale was not the beasts turning on the heroes, but Bulk falling into the chasm.

 

Perhaps a way to end things peacefully without cutting down on that last suspenseful moment would have been for the nest to remain intact, for Bulk to be knocked off the ledge during the scuffle that erupted after the stray laser blast was fired (or even knocked down by the laser blast) so that he'd be at risk of falling in the acid, and for the queen and the other beasts to have rescued him and brought the heroes back to the surface. For instance, the queen could order some jumpers could form a chain to help drag him back up to safety. It might seem a bit sappy for some people (after all, even if the beasts can be negotiated with, they're anything but tame), but it would have wrapped up any loose ends a lot more neatly by showing that there were no hard feelings between the beasts and heroes. And one final rescue would have maintained that extra bit of action and complexity that a no-fuss diplomatic resolution would have lacked.

 

I was still more or less happy with the conclusion that the episode had (it was a real treat on a visual level and was one of the places where I had no issue with the dramatic pacing), but I agree it didn't HAVE to be that way, and a different ending that better reinforces the episode's message would probably have been better if that same level of action and urgency could be maintained.

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Website: This update is a lot better then the other, you can move around good and it great that they organize it a lot better. With Brain Attack (the worst update i have ver seen) you can hardly move around with the timeline type of theme of the website and it was not organize that well.

 

Charcter Bio: Okay what have they done to evo, it not even Evo anymore, it more like Nex if they just going to change the character of anout just make a new chartacter. Stormer is good like that they keep him as a solder type of guy. Furno well it look more like they are trying to give Furno a Ego... a really big Ego.

Rocka i do like that they made him use to act like Furno but found out that his character was different and that he was really a Recon Team member (that we never heard from again) but was out of character in the IFB when they went under ground. Breez well the first half was good, like that it have that she can communicate woth any animals but that other half, well what was going on there, it said that "Her team mates tease her that she may be ‘the missing link’ between the Alpa Team and their evil villains" that i don't get at all plus in the IFB Movie she was the mostly the only one with a brain. Anyway i do like that they have Quotes from the movie but i think they she have use more Quotes that is not just the IFB Movie.

 

Weapons: Well i do like that they have something to show the weapons that they have but don't show anything about the weapon like with the odd weapons with teh name Goo Ball Shooter and another thing is that most of the weapons was new showen being use in the Movie. Canisters is really good and somewhat weminds me of the Space Police plus i do like to see these Canister again in different colors but mostly stay in a Trans Color.

 

I'll talk about the game and the movie later

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Charcter Bio: Okay what have they done to evo, it not even Evo anymore, it more like Nex if they just going to change the character of anout just make a new chartacter. Stormer is good like that they keep him as a solder type of guy. Furno well it look more like they are trying to give Furno a Ego... a really big Ego.

Rocka i do like that they made him use to act like Furno but found out that his character was different and that he was really a Recon Team member (that we never heard from again) but was out of character in the IFB when they went under ground. Breez well the first half was good, like that it have that she can communicate woth any animals but that other half, well what was going on there, it said that "Her team mates tease her that she may be ‘the missing link’ between the Alpa Team and their evil villains" that i don't get at all plus in the IFB Movie she was the mostly the only one with a brain. Anyway i do like that they have Quotes from the movie but i think they she have use more Quotes that is not just the IFB Movie.

 

Actually, Evo from Ordeal of Fire accidentally got Nex's personality because the names of their prototypes were reversed. The Evo we got from Breakout on is who Evo is supposed to be.

 

As for Furno, I thought his ego was obvious from the beginning :P

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I like how the Hero Factory website is updated. Well, thank goodness that it did this way because the Brain Attack update was kind of terrible. However, it is sad that everything from 2010-2012, including the Breakout online game, are gone, so how are we supposed to see and do with them now?:(

 

Anyway, the Invasion From Below game is very awesome and fun! We got a lot of interesting stuff in the Invasion From Below storyline and content in the website, such as more information about the Heroes and the monsters.:)

 

But the question is why Lego changed Hero Factory completely. I mean, in the new Invasion From Below episode, the opening and ending scenes are changed, and the Heroes got new voice actors that we never heard of before. What happened to the original voice actors? What's wrong with them? I mean, they are great, so why are they replaced?:( Anyway, how the new voice actors voice the Heroes remind me of the 2009 Lego Power Miners videos where the Power Miners talked this kind of way as if we are talking to each other and monsters through some kinds of communication devices, even though they are usually very near each other.

 

And also, the episode looks kind of like a reboot of the whole Hero Factory TV series because these things make the episode look like that, so, as I said, why Lego did that?

 

The new Invasion From Below episode is great, epic, and awesome!:) However, there are a couple things that I don't like about the episode and they are:

1. Stringer and Nex did not appear in there for some reason. I mean, why didn't they? What's wrong with them? I mean, they are great characters. Stringer is one of the founding members of the Alpha 1 team, and Nex is like Evo's twin brother and best friend and also Breez's lover. So, as I said, why didn't they appear?:(

2. As I said, too, why new voice actors?

 

There are some interesting things that I noticed about the new episode. I saw the first time seeing the Heroes's newly designed heads without their helmets on. Although the creatures are the main villains in the episode, I feel very sorry for them, including their queen, to die and become extinct when they either get crushed by the falling debris or the acid. I feel so sorry for them that I cried.:( This is all a terrible accident. I mean, one of the jumpers just accidently triggered one of the Heroes' gun, which caused all this tragic incident.:( The Heroes were kind of the ones to blame for their deaths, too. I hope that this may not affect the censorship on the episode because to me, it looks kind of like animal cruelty in a way or two.

 

The Heroes' eyes in the episode remind me of the Autobots' from Transformers: Prime TV series. I like the Heroes' neat and awesome tech stuff, including their guns and mechs.:)

 

Something bugs me about the Invasion From Below episode, and that is that it doesn't look like that it is focusing on the main thing where Von Nebula or whoever caused the Breakout and the Brain Attack events is attacking the Hero Factory. I mean, why?:(

 

It looks like that we got ourselves another episode where at the very end of it at least an attacking creature is hiding and look like that there is a kind of unresolved cliffhanger.:( I have a feeling that the Brains from the very end of the Brain Attack episode and the jumper from the very end of the Invasion From Below episode would team up to destroy the Hero Factory together, which would be awesome if this would try to happen.:)

 

Anyway, something else bugs me about the episode, too, and that makes me wonder why Lego showed us the episode this early in this year. I mean, why not for the rest of the year until it is over usually? Hmm...

 

Also anyway, the storyline in the Invasion From Below episode seems to be rushed, and why does Lego always make this kind of episodes, like the Brain Attack one? Is the TV series failing for some reason? To me, I think that it, including the episode, is going well, so, as I said also, why all these?

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I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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Actually, Evo from Ordeal of Fire accidentally got Nex's personality because the names of their prototypes were reversed. The Evo we got from Breakout on is who Evo is supposed to be.

When you explain it that way, it makes a lot of sense. I always figured that it was the other way around, though — that the bios were reversed back then. That would have explained why Nex's personality remained the same in Savage Planet, and why in the Breakout series sets, Nex continued to have a technology/communications theme and Evo continued to have a heavy weaponry theme. But perhaps the set designers were still working with the incorrect bios at that time? Really goes to show how even a small screw-up can create lasting confusion.

 

But the question is why Lego changed Hero Factory completely. I mean, in the new Invasion From Below episode, the opening and ending scenes are changed, and the Heroes got new voice actors that we never heard of before. What happened to the original voice actors? What's wrong with them? I mean, they are great, so why are they replaced? :( Anyway, how the new voice actors voice the Heroes remind me of the 2009 Lego Power Miners videos where the Power Miners talked this kind of way as if we are talking to each other and monsters through some kinds of communication devices, even though they are usually very near each other.

Because the new episode is being written, directed, and produced by entirely different agencies/studios, they can't just keep using the same opening and ending scenes. The same is probably true of voice actors — the old voice actors' contracts were with Threshold Animation Studios, not with Advance.

 

Anyway, something else bugs me about the episode, too, and that makes me wonder why Lego showed us the episode this early in this year. I mean, why not for the rest of the year until it is over usually? Hmm...

The episode is being showed this early because it's included in the new online/mobile game, so delaying the episode would mean delaying the game as well. Which woudl mean very little in the way of media for the first half of the year. I don't at all think the storyline is being rushed — really, the story here doesn't need anything more than a single 22-minute episode.
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Anyway, something else bugs me about the episode, too, and that makes me wonder why Lego showed us the episode this early in this year. I mean, why not for the rest of the year until it is over usually? Hmm...

The episode is being showed this early because it's included in the new online/mobile game, so delaying the episode would mean delaying the game as well. Which woudl mean very little in the way of media for the first half of the year. I don't at all think the storyline is being rushed — really, the story here doesn't need anything more than a single 22-minute episode.

 

 

I'd have to disagree. I think the conflict was far too rushed and many things didn't get the attention they deserved. Mechas were disposed of like used napkins, and torn through about as easily as them. Many of the beasts feel like asides rather than plot points, especially Flyer Beast, who only appears to make the point of communication between beasts that Rocka proves later anyway.

 

I feel like with two episodes (episode one focusing on the invasion above, episode two focusing on the journey below) many of the pacing issues could have been resolved, and overall it could have gone much more satisfactorily than the entire conflict finishing in one Michael Bay day (that sunset came awfully quickly.) Plus, with more time for more action, the lines where they advertise features (such as the freeze blaster and such) would not have had to feel as forced, since they could be spread out more effectively and more dialogue could have gone towards meaningful exposition (which we got very little of; the nature of the beasts is left very unclear in the episode alone, which is unfortunate since many people are likely to leave their exploring of the story to the episode alone.)

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I like the new, unique design on the characters.:) However, I wonder why the Heroes have lost their pinky fingers in this episode. I mean, there were once five fingers, but now, it's back with four fingers. Hmm...

 

I feel sad that the monsters could have became friends with Heroes, like the Savage Planet and Brain Attack beasts did in the past episode when they made them stop attacking like villains, if the jumper and the Heroes didn't cause genocide to the monsters.:( I mean, it's like a peace treaty between them to promise not to attack, fight, or have a grudge with each other anymore instead of trying to kill each other.

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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I like the new, unique design on the characters. :) However, I wonder why the Heroes have lost their pinky fingers in this episode. I mean, there were once five fingers, but now, it's back with four fingers. Hmm...

I noticed that, too. Perhaps it was because they based the 3D models on those of the 2.0-Heroes and simply missed that detail.

 

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Any one know when these sets going to be available to buy in the US?

The official release date for the first wave is March 1. However, it's possible some stores might start stocking them in mid– to late February.

 

No idea when the summer sets should be expected, but I'm guessing July or August.

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Any one know when these sets going to be available to buy in the US?

The official release date for the first wave is March 1. However, it's possible some stores might start stocking them in mid– to late February.No idea when the summer sets should be expected, but I'm guessing July or August.

Why not in late December or January right after that will the winter wave sets be released in like always? I mean, why that late in March?

 

Anyway, since I find the episode so great, epic, and awesome, I wonder when will it be aired in the television, including the American one? Hmm...

I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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Why not in late December or January right after that will the winter wave sets be released in like always? I mean, why that late in March?

Nobody knows for sure. It's being speculated that it's so LEGO can push The LEGO Movie.

 

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Just caught the latest episode and I can safely say that I found it be...actually pretty awful. Which is pretty depressing because Ghost did such a good job on those promotional Bionicle videos, that I actually had faith in them to keep up the good work. Look at how wrong I was.

 

Now, in its favour it actually managed to fix the mistakes that the last four years of episodes made. Makuhero city felt a lot more fleshed out and realistic than it did in Brain Attack and in general the artstyle shifted from generic to fairly inspired. I loved the exploration of the hive because it had a real alien quality to it. I quite liked the idea of the hero's building their mechs on the spot, as it tied in with the very idea of what Lego is and would no doubt give a kid something else to play around with, as well as extra incentive to take their sets apart and fuse them together into their own creation. It also cut down on the pop culture references that made the last few episodes so very cringeworthy which is always a point its favour.

 

But that's pretty much where it ends. Everything else was pretty painful to watch. The pacing was so jarring, as the only hint of an equilibrium that we get is a flyover of Makuhero city which is then tossed aside in favour of shooting some bugs. The voice actors clearly didn't want to be there and it seemed that their paycheck was being lazily dangled over the script. Seriously, it sounded like everything was done in one take. The guy who voiced Evo didn't even want to be interested in what he was doing, as everytime something exciting happened he just reacted in the same dull monotone. "Oh noooooo...guyssss...Furno's been captured. Or something. Can we break for lunch?"

 

It didn't help that, as has earlier been noted, almost every line felt forced in order to sell the toys. I can see why Ghost were originally hired to do the Bionicle ads because this just felt like a lot of them spliced together, peppered with conversations about how their new robot is the coolest and awesomest thing and how Jimmy across the street is a complete loser because he doesn't have one of these. Yeah yeah, these episodes are made to sell the toys but for people who were paid for this, they didn't exactly seem bothered about making the dialogue all that natural. In Tinseltoon's favour, they actually seemed more concerned about characterisation than Ghost did.

 

Then we get to that ending. Good lord, that ending. Even if it didn't result in the genocide of an entire species, it's still a truly abysmal way to conclude it. So let's just make the point that the Mother is actually in favour of peace so that she can preserve her children and is all too willing to comply with Breez's demands so that they can both live in harmony. And then...they get killed anyway. Just cuz. Didn't need to happen, served no purpose in happening, actually left me with a sour taste in my mouth that it did happen. It didn't even seem to resonate with the heroes that they obliterated a hive filled with sapient creatures as they went back to joking about it as soon as they left. What a truly terrible way to force in a final, climactic minute.

 

And it was all so that we could get the important message that...tunnels are bad...apparently? I don't know, it really wasn't very clear. Apparently miners are now on the level of thieves and murderers and we should all hail our true wise leaders, the bridge constructors.

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Now, in its favour it actually managed to fix the mistakes that the last four years of episodes made. Makuhero city felt a lot more fleshed out and realistic than it did in Brain Attack and in general the artstyle shifted from generic to fairly inspired.

Only that that isn't Makuhero City at all, it's Antropolis City. :P

 

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Now, in its favour it actually managed to fix the mistakes that the last four years of episodes made. Makuhero city felt a lot more fleshed out and realistic than it did in Brain Attack and in general the artstyle shifted from generic to fairly inspired.

Only that that isn't Makuhero City at all, it's Antropolis City. :P

 

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...Whatevaaaaaaaaaaa

 

:P

 

Still looks nicer than Makuhero city.

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Just caught the latest episode and I can safely say that I found it be...actually pretty awful. Which is pretty depressing because Ghost did such a good job on those promotional Bionicle videos, that I actually had faith in them to keep up the good work. Look at how wrong I was.

Keep in mind that Ghost is just an animation/VFX studio. They are not responsible for the script (which was written by the same person who wrote the Brain Attack episode), or the overall storyline (which, like all the episodes, is jointly handled by the LEGO Group and Advance), or the directing (which, in this case, was handled directly by Advance rather than by Tinseltown Toons). Ghost really wouldn't have had anything to do with any quality concerns not related to the visuals themselves.

 

Granted, some of your criticisms are perfectly valid if you substitute "Advance" for "Ghost". Advance handled all the non-visual components for the old BIONICLE ads as well, so the "feels like a bunch of ads strung together" could apply just as well in that case.

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Just caught the latest episode and I can safely say that I found it be...actually pretty awful. Which is pretty depressing because Ghost did such a good job on those promotional Bionicle videos, that I actually had faith in them to keep up the good work. Look at how wrong I was.

Keep in mind that Ghost is just an animation/VFX studio. They are not responsible for the script (which was written by the same person who wrote the Brain Attack episode), or the overall storyline (which, like all the episodes, is jointly handled by the LEGO Group and Advance), or the directing (which, in this case, was handled directly by Advance rather than by Tinseltown Toons). Ghost really wouldn't have had anything to do with any quality concerns not related to the visuals themselves.

 

Granted, some of your criticisms are perfectly valid if you substitute "Advance" for "Ghost". Advance handled all the non-visual components for the old BIONICLE ads as well, so the "feels like a bunch of ads strung together" could apply just as well in that case.

 

Er, the Brain Attack episode wasn't exactly all that great either, so not sure why the change in studios would have anything to do with that.

 

I think the part Ghost did was the part that most of us are admiring - the visuals - which is pretty slick in most regard. The storytelling seems to just be sliding downhill in general for HF, and that doesn't seem to change regardless of studio or direction.

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