I was just thinking about the Hero Factory Brain Attack sets and was struck by something unusual. Obviously, from a story perspective, it's obvious that the theme for the year was a combination alien invasion/zombie apocalypse. But has anybody noticed that the sets almost had more of a historical fantasy flavor to them?

Think about it — the heroes had helmets with visors that folded down over their eyes, and segmented metallic armor. Rocka, Furno, and Stormer all carried a traditional sword and shield combo, Breez carried a staff and shield, Evo carried a polearm, and Surge carried some type of lightning lance. Furno even had a cape. The villains had elemental themes and included a dragon, an ogre, a minotaur, a rock giant, a frost giant, a spider monster, and some type of sea or lake monster, and those that carried weapons also carried very traditional sorts of weapons like swords and flails.

Needless to say, this "robot knights" theme was a lot different than the "robot police" theme of 2012, in which every hero carried a pair of handcuffs and some type of shooter as either a primary or secondary weapon, and the villains looked more like the sort of theme villains you'd expect to see in a superhero comic.

I wonder if the sets and story for the Brain Attack arc might have been better if they didn't have to balance these medieval-inspired design sensibilities with a 50s B-movie storyline about genetically engineered mind-controlling brain creatures from SPACE! A time travel arc, with the heroes stranded in their robotic world's distant past, might have suited the designs better.