A gamer who lives on a spaceship, possesses an off-the-wall reviewing style and a mite too much energy, "Angry" Joe Vargas got his start by submitting a video review for Army of Two giving constructive criticism that was surprisingly what the developers really wanted to hear. Angry Joe now does reviews and other videos on his own website and is a major contributor for That Guy with the Glasses.Back in November 2010, he and the other video games segments of TGWTG were spun off onto their own separate website, Blistered Thumbs, with Joe as the site's executive leader. Now, however, he has left Blistered Thumbs to focus on managing his own site located here. In addition, he is a member of The Game Station.
Provides Examples Of:
Acting for Two: Used in many of his reviews, such as his Dragon Age: Origins review as Darkspawn!Joe and Warden!Joe. Also used heavily in his review of reasons why Empire Total War rocks, forming a two opposing regiments from just two people. He also plays Corporate Commander, though you wouldn't be able to tell ordinarily what with CC's mask.
And again in his Dragon's Dogma review, after the game somehow transports his friend—who had been taking a shower at the time and is thus naked—into his living room.
One of particular note is his Iron Man 2 review...which only bleeps out the middle third.
Cut Short: His video on the forthcoming 3D re-release of the Star Wars films begins with one.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: He hates Fable III because of most of the bullshit it has in the game (like Co-Op, easy, unbalanced battles, an Anticlimax Boss, etc) yet the 32nd reason why he hates it is because his ingame son and wife died in the cutscene after the fight against the king.
Author Appeal: For some unfathomable reason, and very unlike what you'd expect of him, Joe lovesdancing games.
Joe: What's that!? You think this is a game? This isn't a game! It's the way of life!
Badass Mustache: Pointed out in his Final Fight review: Mike Haggar has a Badass Mustache, and so does he.
He does not like it when people make fun of it (See Berserk Button below)
In "Hotel Awesome Season 2, Episode 4" we see that his mustache is so badass that if someone else tries to tear it off, he can magically grow a new one. It seems it's now made of Adamantium
Bad Bad Acting: Other Joe isn't really an actor, and doesn't try to be. It's pretty funny seeing him in contrast to the Large Ham of Angry Joe.
Try to make Joe watch a movie in 3D. What sets Joe off about 3D is the surcharge added on to the price of a movie ticket as well as its improper implementation (e.g. colors are too dark, motion effects that are too fast, etc.).
However, he will praise 3D visuals when they are executed well, such as the slow motion effects in Dredd.
Or you can try to make him play Kane and Lynch any full-price game that can be beaten in under 12 hours.
SONIC FREE RIDERS! This game is the absolute worst game that Joe has ever reviewed. The entire review is one giant tangent about how horrible it is.
Mindjack sure as hell came close to outsuckying SFR for him, and while SFR could be given a pass for being a bad implementation of new technology, Mindjack is in a firmly established genre, which has no excuse.
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime made Joe so unbelievably mad that, instead of just doing a review, he first did a Let's Play to show just how bad the game is THEN did an angry review.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's existence led Joe to do an Angry Rant that tore apart the lack of new features and price tag. He didn't even bother with a review.
Mass Effect 3 and its shoehorned conclusion. So bad, that Joe had to write a separate video, detailing the main reasons why he thinks it sucks so bad; and to further hammer in his distaste for the ending, the video was very clearly Joe Vargas speaking & not the Angry Joe persona.note He admits though that the rest of the series, and 90% of ME 3 is still damned good
Also keep in mind that he highly praised the extended cut for pretty much solving most of the complaints everyone had, stating that it seems like the developers really took the time to listen to the fans and give them what they wanted.
In his 'Comic Jumper' review, Do NOT make fun of his moustache or else you're in a beatdown, as Bizarro Joe learned the hard way.
Joe himself has specifically stated that he despises Capcom's DLC practices, and the increasingly common codes required for online play.
On-Disc DLC in general...and bad DLC. See below for one game he ALSO complains about having it.
He's never liked online passes and despises things that prevent used games from being played/sold easily, so he completely blew his stack when he found out that the Xbox One charged a fee for disc-sharing.
Boisterous Bruiser: Especially in crossovers with other TGWTG contributors.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Joe may be hammy, crazy, and more energetic than a room full of five-year-olds, but he's great at analyzing games and movies and providing insightful criticism.
Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Joe plays so much Skyrim, he thinks he's a knight, and attacks Corporate Commander... with a broom and a helmet made of foil.
The "new" series has The Overlord (essentially Doctor Claw with a teddy bear instead of the Mad Cat) as Corporate Commander's superior.
Caption Humor: Sometimes employed on the right-side caption.
The caption guy is his own character who likes to make stabs at Joe whenever he can.
Casanova Wannabe: In one of the 1-year anniversary crossover videos, he goes around delivering horrendous pick-up lines to all the women on the site.
Caustic Critic: Despite the name, he's usually pretty nice. Nowhere did this become more apparent than when he teamed up with Spoony at E3 2010, where the two practically became a Good Cop/Bad Cop comedy duo. When Joe does lose his temper, it's usually over something most people would be frustrated about, and he manages to get control of himself quite quickly. He even always takes the time to point out things he likes in games he doesn't like, and makes the reviews funny whether or not he makes fun of the game.
When Lisa Foiles complains about the Iron Man 2 video game, and gradually loses clothing as she gets angrier, Joe forgets that he was supposed to be reviewing the game becomes fixated on Lisa, even remarking "I think I'm in love!"
The Ditz/Malaproper: While he's not excessively dim, Joe's limited vernacular is treated as a running joke by his peers on the Channel Awesome podcast.
Joe: I'm going home! Oh, I am home... Well, I'm gonna play my (board) game!
Computer: By yourself, Joe? LOL!
Drugs Are Bad: And so is chewing Cat Butt Gum. "It will take over your life!"
Ironically, you rarely see Angry Joe actually being angry. Even when he did, it's not nearly as angry as AVGN; a more appropriate nickname for him might be "Crazy Joe," because most often he's grinning like a maniac. Sometimes even when he is showing displeasure.
His first review of The Last Airbender had genuine anger, but he forgot to turn on the mic.
He certainly didn't make that mistake in his review of Sonic Free Riders...let's just say that, apparently, the entire game is his Berserk Button.
Four Point Scale: Heavily averted, and he's basically stated in this video that it's a Pet Peeve Trope of his. Instead he uses just about every number on his 1-10 scale and always qualifies it. 5 is flat average, 3 (like Risen) has nice points but is not worth recommending and so on.
And while 7 would be a weak score on that scale, Joe considered that the best score he could give Dance Central, even though he thought the game was still awesome, and named it one of his top games of the year.
Although, 7 would still be considered good, as he said Two Worlds II was a 'great' game, yet gave it a 7. The Gunstringer got a 7, yet he said it was a must buy for Kinect owners. 7 would be considered highly above average.
Similarly, he gave Asura's Wrath as 6 out 10, but gave it his Badass Seal of Approval because he was in sheer awe of the game the whole time playing.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: His subtitle monitor asks this in the Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters review.
Gilligan Cut: After vowing to take down Chick-Fil-A unless they start opening on Sundays, he's shown on Monday enjoying one of their chicken sandwiches instead.
Greek Chorus: The background screen in Joe's new base of operations on his show. Sometimes it seems to have a personality, such as in the review of Risen, where it wakes him up after sleeping standing up.
Hot Blooded: Joe's blood is ON FIRE. Fortunately, he's not totally kneejerk and will usually justify his reactions to things. Sometimes, his passionate style backfires on him (see Creator Backlash or Internet Backdraft) but he hits more often than he misses. Even if you disagree with his opinions, odds are good that you'll still be entertained by his reviews.
Hostile Show Takeover: For the 2011 April Fool's video, Corporate Commander briefly commandeers the Resistance Base and attempts to provide a "professional, coolheaded counterbalance" to Joe. To say he failsisanunderstatement.
Large Ham: Particularly bombastic; makes some of the others look like Deadpan Snarkers in comparison.
Particularly in his Dragon Age: Origins review, where he hams up both Abomination Joe and Warden Joe - especially after Warden Joe slays the Abomination.
Hell, he could give BRIAN BLESSED a run for his money. This is barely hyperbole: just look at the opening to his UFO: Extraterrestrials review where he gives a slow-mo Big "NO!" followed by a stentorian "I WILL AVENGE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL!"
Limited Wardrobe: His characters tend to wear just one outfit. Joe himself almost always wears the same black Superboy t-shirt, with exceptions for certain reviews.
Judge Joe: I knew you would say that. (beat) Actually...actually, I didn't know you would say that. Interesting. (charges his Lawgiver pistol)
Bizarro Joe: Wait, Judge...NOOOOO!!! (Judge Joe proceeds to shoot him dead in slow motion)
Judge Joe: Court's adjourned, creep!
Nonindicative Name: He really isn't that angry at all, and has actually said that he hates giving negative reviews. If anything he's Vitriolically Enthusiastic Joe.
Once an Episode: "I'll see you guys on the next Angry Joe Show!"
One Steve Limit: Averted: One of his real-life friends is also named Joe. Other Joe helps out with LPs and is a background character in some video reviews.
Real-Life Relative: He has featured his younger brothers in a few reviews.
Real Men Wear Pink: Donned a pink tutu and boa (plus a military helmet) for an interpretive dance at the end of his Battlefield 3 review.
Retool: The show retooled itself sometime after Kickassia, and is easily the best produced show on Channel Awesome, as far as visuals and backdrops go.
Shown Their Work: Joe does plenty of background research for his reviews, especially for games that are part of an existing franchise. For instance, being able to provide examples of The Darkness' Super Weight despite being an obscure IP, and researching Ace Combat enough to warn fans that Assault Horizon was not a 'true' installment of the main series, despite earlier admitting he hadn't actually played any of the previous games before his review.
Sound Effect Bleep: Sometimes when Joe swears, it's bleeped out, and sometimes, it's not, seemingly at random. There's no real reason for this other than Joe being silly. He claims he does this just to see if anyone points it out. That's it.
The Stinger: Directing people to his website, for those who watch his videos elsewhere.
Stunned Silence: His review of Starcraft II begins with him staring blankly into the camera for about a minute, swaying slightly before falling over. Yes, he likes the game.
Conversely, his review of Aliens Colonial Marines begins with him walking in front of the Green Screen dressed like a USMC, and standing there staring dourly into the camera for several Beats, before just saying, "... you fucked it up."
Stylistic Suck: Parodied in the review for Kane and Lynch: Dog Days. Corporate Commander tells his employees to just take the first game and add tons of terrible YouTube video filter effects to screw it up and add Shaky Cam until nothing is visible. "Yes! More! Excellent!"
"Assault in the First Degree: To knowingly inflict bodily harm"
The only other game he's given a 1/10 to, Mindjack, was so bad it left him a Stephen-Hawking-like shell unable to speak or move without mechanical assistance; it probably would have been a lot less offensive if the game hadn't had such a cool initial concept married to such a broken execution. Its one good point? Monkeys.
and is a major contributor for That Guy with the Glasses.Back in November 2010, he and the other video games segments of TGWTG were spun off onto their own separate website, Blistered Thumbs
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