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Lock your squad into formation, charge your bolters, and prepare your genetically-enhanced blue skin for a parade of panzer-busting action because this week on Play Comics we’re putting boots to dirt in the grim, industrial wastelands of Rogue Trooper, the 2005 third-person shooter that took Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons’s iconic tale of a genetically engineered super-soldier and transformed it into a cover-based combat experience that somehow managed to capture the grit, the fury, and the desperate isolation of being a lone warrior against overwhelming odds. Originally deployed across PS2, Xbox, and Wii, Rogue’s had more platform changes than a soldier has armor repairs, eventually landing a remaster invasion on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, proving that some grimdark British sci-fi concepts just refuse to stay buried in the trenches.

Speaking of refusing to stay down, we’re genuinely thrilled to have Steve Morris from Shelfdust joining us for this deep dive. When he’s not busy operating as the marketing manager for 2000 AD itself, essentially being the guy who decides which corner of Judge Dredd’s dystopia gets the spotlight treatment, he’s the critical voice behind one of comics fandom’s most thoughtful, hilarious, and incisive podcast ecosystems. Steve brings both the insider knowledge of how 2000 AD operates AND the fan’s perspective that makes him the perfect guide through this particular adaptation’s journey from glossy magazine pages to console warfare.

Together, we’ll investigate whether this hyper-violent squad-based adventure managed to capture what makes Rogue Trooper such an enduring character, a soldier stripped of everything but his wits, his weapons, and three AI companions implanted directly into his equipment. Does the game understand the existential dread of being created solely as a weapon? Can it convey the isolation that defines the character while also providing the kind of multiplayer mayhem that defines the era? And perhaps most importantly: does this game explain why blue skin became the ultimate badge of being expendable in the far future?

Grab your tactical visor, synchronize your biometric links, and prepare for an episode that’s more explosive than a Rogue Trooper ambush and considerably more thoughtful than you’d expect from a game about murdering aliens on a lifeless planet.Continue Reading

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Lock and load your law enforcement credentials, plug in your justice-dispensing visor, and prepare for some megacity-sized mayhem as Play Comics dives into the brutal, unforgiving world of Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death—the PSX, Xbox, and GameCube shooter that proved you could make a genuinely compelling Judge Dredd game if you weren’t afraid to lean into the dystopian carnage and stylized ultraviolence that makes Mega-City One such a joy to read about. Released when Judge Dredd was already a 2000 AD institution spanning decades of comic book brutality, this game took the Dredd vs Death story arc and transformed it into a first-person adrenaline rush where the law doesn’t negotiate—it just executes.

This week, we’re absolutely thrilled to welcome the phenomenally knowledgeable Chloe Maveal from the official 2000 AD podcast In Orbit Every Wednesday, where she and her co-host Molch-R break down the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic with the kind of passion and insight that would make even Judge Dredd stop and listen (okay, maybe not, but he’d at least acknowledge it happened). Chloe is also the publisher behind the critically acclaimed TRASH HUMPER zine, where she explores everything from comics criticism to culture with a sharp, witty eye. When she’s not busy being the voice of sophisticated 2000 AD fandom, she’s creating comics-focused content that makes you think twice about what you’re reading.

Together, we’ll investigate whether this brutal pixel-based interpretation of Judge Dredd’s most gothic storyline managed to capture what makes the Judge such an iconic character—a faceless instrument of a broken justice system who’s somehow still the hero we deserve, even if we don’t deserve him. Does the gameplay hold up after all these years, or does it feel like it belongs in the Iso-Cube? How faithful does it stay to the source material, and does that even matter when you’re blasting away at demonic horrors and mutant abominations in a mega-city dystopia? And perhaps most importantly: in a game where you’re literally fighting the undead, where does Judge Dredd rank among other video game adaptations of 2000 AD’s most iconic characters?

Grab your daystick, practice your best “I am the law” growl, and join us for an episode that’s guaranteed to be bloodier than a Justice Department discipline report.Continue Reading

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Does anyone else think it’s weird that I got an American guest last time to look at Judge Dredd, a British comic that’s clearly riffing on American ideals? I kind of think it was, even though I wasn’t thinking about that at all the first time around.

Listen in as real life British person Andrew Young from 4 Panel comes on the show to give us a more nuanced perspective on where Judge Dredd comes from and what makes it something worth exploring today.Continue Reading

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In the “fictional” future a single person gets to be judge, jury, and executioner. Well, a bunch of single people but you get the idea. This is the world of instant justice. This is the faaaaar far future of 2080.

Drew Hallum from Reel Feels and CritStorm Cast comes by the show to take a look at the 1995 Sylvester Stallone classic Judge Dredd. Just make sure you follow the law while you’re doing it so you don’t get judged!Continue Reading