Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (2011) - Adventure Video Game Review (Nintendo DS)

I was in two minds on whether this should warrant a review on my blog for while there are ghosts in this game there is no horror to speak of, still here I am writing away regardless.

In Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective you play as Sissel, or rather the ghost of Sissel as when the game starts you have just been murdered. As a spirit you have access to special abilities, namely that you are able to possess and manipulate objects, can travel via phone lines, and that you can head back in time four minutes before a persons death. A fellow spirit tells you that if you want to solve the mystery of who you are and how you came to die then you must do so before dawn as that is when you will cease to exist.

Dementium: The Ward (2009) - Horror Videogame Review (Nintendo DS)

I'm unsure if this is good or bad timing on my part but earlier this year I brought Dementium II and so I thought I should replay the first one for review. This morning I discovered that Dementium and it's sequel are going to be re released on the Nintendo 3DS later this year with improvements made and that a third game in the series is to follow after that.

The game starts with you on a wheelchair being wheeled through a nightmare psychiatric hospital populated with monsters. After being left alone in a room you get to try and find a way to escape from the hellish place. During your escape a creepy little girl and a tortured woman frequently appear to show you the way, while clues you discover seem to indicate that you might have had a shady past...

Dementium is a first person level based survival horror that sees you controlling your movements with the buttons but using the DS stylus to move your on screen hand around. Starting off weaponless you soon get access to a torch that lets you see in the dark environments, and then a crowbar. Later on you get access to firearms also such as a shotgun and pistol. Combat is ok but there is not much depth to it, the main enemies being zombies with stakes in their eye sockets, and with an exposed heart showing on their chest. Other enemies include leeches and flying screaming skulls along with a few other ones, not too much variation.

Bosses appear every now and again and while they look decent enough they are usually an exercise in frustration due to them showing up at the end of a level meaning if you die you have to re do the entire thing again. My biggest complaint with Dementium is that while levels are around twenty minutes in length each it is still super annoying to have to start over whenever you die. To make this more anger inducing, when ever you go through a door you get a little message that says the game is saving, yet when you die the only option you are given is to start the level from scratch or quit to the title screen, I don't have a clue what is actually saving when that message appears!

The hospital you are trapped in feels authentic, but maybe too much so, each level is pretty identical to the last with the many floors of the place being set out as if it were a real hospital; lots of identical rooms and corridors. Occasionally you get some variation such as a stint out on the roof of the building, or visiting the chapel but mostly it is all so similar. That said there are some cool bits. Early on your in the baby ward, this heralds in the introduction of the leech enemies which squeal like babies and first appear coming out of a cot. The graphics for the most part are pretty patchy, it was cool a first person game was made on the DS but leads to some bland and blurry visuals.

Most the levels have a maze type structure to them and feature simple puzzles along the way such as finding combinations for locks, or assembling pieces of a missing photograph. You find files dotted around the place but these are quite dull and don't really add anything to the mystery of where you are. I did appreciate how it really makes you feel trapped, the trick of getting outside thinking your home free only to find you are not is something that Outlast later copied for it's own. As a maze like place you are bound to get lost, unfortunately enemies respawn whenever you go back to a previously visited area meaning many times you get to a boss with limited health and ammo and so stand no chance of surviving.

The best part of Dementium is the fantastic sound design. The music is piano based for the most part and fits the vibe of the world perfectly. Even better are the sound effects, the monsters all sound great, and the initial starting area with it's flashing red lights and monotone emergency broadcast announcement do a lot to get you immersed in the world. The plot doesn't do as much as I had wished though and it all ends on a bit of a bizarre note with no real resolution to anything. I had planned to replay this game for review but I was not enjoying it at all really, seemed to be a lot more hard than memory had me believe.

This is certainly survival horror but with an updated version soon to be coming out there's just no point in playing this original version of Dementium: The Ward, I'm really hoping the many issues get fixed as they do stand in the way of a cool horror and it may actually turn from being mediocre to something that is actually good.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) - Zombie Mode

I have long intended to do a blog post about the awesome zombie modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2. It was first included in Call of Duty: World at War but I won't talk about that much as the maps were re-released as DLC for Black Ops. I promised I would state that I only ever got into the zombie mode due to my dear friend Lucinda who is a keen advocate of it. I have discovered I wrote about this two years ago but hey; this is an update. My original post on this can be found here.

The zombie mode tasks you with one objective only; survive. It takes place over a confined map in which zombies assault barricades eventually destroying them and coming after you. Whilst it can be played in single player it is really designed for co-op play. You earn points from killing zombies which you can use to buy better weapons, power ups from vending machines (such as quick revive), and unlock more areas in the map you are in. Each round the zombies get stronger and there are more of them. You will die! The puzzle box is the most essential item to find in each level. Opening it gives you a random weapon, the one hit kill Ray-gun is the one you really want to get.

I  don't own all the maps for Black Ops but I do have most of them. Following is a small description of the various maps...

Ascension: I don't own this map, it takes place at an abandoned Soviet Cosmodrome and features four characters from World at War. There is a special enemy type in the form of space monkeys (sounds cool).

Call of the Dead: Again I do not own this map. This one takes place on the Siberian coast and features a lighthouse and a ship wreck. A special enemy type is zombie legend George Romero! You play as one of four horror icons; Danny Trejo, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker, and Sarah Michelle Gellar who provide voices for these characters.

Shangri-La: The last of the Black Ops zombie maps I do not own. This one takes place in a jungle and features a host of new enemy types (such as a zombie monkey) and again the character you play as are the four ones from World at War.

Kino Der Toten (Theatre of the Dead) - This is the first of the three maps that come with the disc and is one of the best zombie maps. As the title suggests this is set in a theatre and has you battling Nazi zombies as well as crawling zombies that explode upon death. It is quite a large map and includes a huge theatre room as well as a teleporter that briefly takes you away to a safe room for a breather. Every five or so rounds rather than zombies you have to survive against Hellhounds that spawn in randomly.

"Five" - Set in the Pentagon, you play as either John F.Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon or Robert McNamara. The layout for this one is quite linear rather than the looping design most maps have. Once the press room is over run you can take an elevator down to the mission room. From here you can get to some offices which includes a teleporter that takes you back to the start. A hard level I find.

Dead Ops Arcade - Different to all the other maps this is an overhead shooter similar to Smash TV. You are attacked by waves of enemies and after they are all killed you move on to the next arena. There is lots of treasure and power ups to collect. Is ok but I often get bored with this one.

Nacht Der Untoten  - This was the very first zombies map and it shows due to a very small layout. Nonetheless it is fun and chaotic after an initially slow start. Set in a ruined building.

Verruckt (Asylum) - There are many doors in this level and as with quite a few of the maps the power is off until you find the switch. It seems that you either spawn in one of two parts of the building. Another level I never seem to do well in.

Shi No Numa - For this one you are fighting Japanese zombies in a building in the middle of a swamp. Quite a large level and features Hellhounds again. The swamp water makes your character move slowly.

Der Riese  - Starting in a courtyard in the middle of the factory the big draw for this one is to initiate four different teleporters which then opens up a Pack-a-punch machine in the courtyard (this machine upgrades your weapons). Another large map that has quite a few ledges you can drop down from to make cheeky escapes from death.

Moon - The last map and the most bizarre. Moon features the largest zombie map out of both Black Ops and Black Ops 2. Starting on Earth you have to get to a teleporter that takes you to a secret Nazi moon base. On the moon you have to wear a space suit to avoid suffocating while altered gravity means you can jump long distances. I have yet to see all this level has to offer. Here you get teleporting crawling zombies as well as zombie astronauts who cause you to teleport to a random section of the map if they grab you!

So there you have it, quite a self indulgent blog post but it is something I have always wanted to write about. I love the zombie mode in this game, I wish they would make a stand alone Call of Duty zombie game and no, the mobile games do not count.

General Update for August 2010

Another general update! My new site is not coming on at all, so am going to concentrate on this blog for the time being. I have not done a zombie based post for an age now, hope to rectify that soon.

I finished Earth Defence Force 2017.  A fun game, but more sci-fi based than horror. In the game an alien invasion is taking place on Earth. Spaceships keep depositing giant ants, giant spiders, and giant robots in cities around the Earth. Levels alternate between humongous ant nests, cities, and the countryside. It's a brainless shooter, but the amount of enemies on screen is terrific. Seeing huge ants crawling over buildings, leaping spiders, and laser spitting robots is pretty scary, and most levels descend into a waves of green and yellow blood as you dispense justice Earth Defence Force style!

Started playing Dragon Quest IX on the Nintendo DS.  It is a brilliant game, very fun and not in the slightest bit frustrating. Have come across a few zombie enemies, well they were ghouls, but looked the part. So far the main enemy type has been various monster type creatures such as 'meowgicians', and 'clawserors' (Cat magicians, heh).

Gotten back into Dragon Age: Origins. Managed to defeat the undead legions assaulting a large town, now just mooching around various cities doing fun non-combat side quests like dumping bodies down deep wells!

There has been more zombie based X-Box Indie games. They all look pretty terrible, mostly involving avatars. I have brought them all and will be giving my horrified reviews of them in due course. On a brighter note the sequel to Decay: Pt 1 has appeared.  Fittingly called Decay: Pt 2, looking forward to trying that.

Also on the X-Box front there is a new chapter for the survival horror game Alan Wake called 'The Signal'. I have yet to play the main game though. As soon as it is cheap enough! A RPG called DeathSpank has been released on X-Box live arcade made by one of the creators of the Monkey Island series. I assume it will have zombies in it at some point. A new Castlevania game is coming out any week now for X-Box Live Arcade.  It is in a Metroidvania style but I fear it may be focused on multiplayer, and don't know how good it will be for people like me who can only play games single player.

Onto the film front. I have borrowed Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon off my friend's daughter. Twilight was embarrassingly entertaining, so will review that soon (hey, it has vampires!).  Don't know if any horror films are due out at the cinema. I have recently saw the awesome Inception, well worth a watch. I saw A-Team but that is not a fantastic film, but fun enough I guess.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (2009) - Horror Videogame Review (Nintendo DS)

I love the Metroidvania style of games, the GBA Castlevania trilogy were awesome, fantastic games. The DS ones have never really bottled that same magic, though are still good games. I think it's just the manga style artwork which puts me off, I much prefer the Gothic artwork style of the older games, it just suits it better. 

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia starts with you (a female magician called Shanoa) about to participate in a rite that will seal Dracula away forever. However a jealous rival (Albus) interrupts the ceremony stealing the magical runes necessary for the banishment, and causing you to lose your memory in the process. It is your job to hunt down your rival and take back the runes he has stolen so that the rite can be completed.

Like Portrait of Ruin before it Order of Ecclesia is split into levels rather than just the one big castle. It's not till over halfway through the game that you actually get access to Castlevania itself. Portrait of Ruin levels were cool, featuring pyramids, circuses and towns. Unfortunately Ecclesia shows far less originality, locations being more mundane and realistic. You get mountains, forests, mansions, and caves. Some of which are cool (enjoyed the Skull Crypt) but others like the billion forest and mountain levels get boring and bland.

Rather than physical attacks you use magical runes which can be found in the levels, as well as taken from defeated enemies. These magical attacks can manifest themselves as weapons, as well as more traditional magic such as fireballs. Also some helpful runes give you powers such as flight, the ability to breath underwater and speed that help you to reach at first inaccessible places.

The enemies are nearly all the same as ones from previous games. This is not a bad thing though, as the continuity works really well in the Castlevania series. The bosses are mostly all new featuring such memorable terrors as a 'Giant Enemy Crab (TM)' you fight in a lighthouse, a gigantic screen filling armoured fire breathing bull type monstrosity, and a funny man who you defeat by stealing his rune that allows him to pass through walls whilst he is passing through a wall, funny.

The music is good, not great, later on some classic tunes make a comeback when you get to Castlevania. I would argue that the only really good levels are those in Castlevania, all that come before just a bit plain.

Rather than the traditional merchant (soldier, priest etc) who sells you items you now have a whole village full of shops where you can get everything you desire, as well as complete a number of side quests. The side quests are not as numerous or as interesting as Winds side quests in Portrait of Ruin though.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is another good Castlevania game, may be a bit hard for Castlevania virgins (I had to do some mass grinding to be able to 100% the game) but recommended if your looking for a fun DS game.

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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2007) - Horror Videogame Review (Nintendo DS)

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is the second Castlevania game to turn up on the DS, and about the billionth Castlevania in the series. Like the previous DS and GBA ones it is a Metroidvania, meaning that the game takes place in one huge level - Dracula's Castle - Castlevania. Unlike the others though, this does feature mini levels.

The game takes place during World War II. The amount of death and suffering in the world has inadvertently summoned Castlevania, which is certainly an interesting concept. Two people head to the castle to defeat Dracula as their ancestors have done before. There they discover that Dracula is not about, but instead a vampire named Brauner has used his painting magic to seal off the dark lord's power and taken control of the castle for his own end.

The game is a platform RPG like before. You control two characters - a female magic user, and the Belmont like whip using character. They can be switched about at the press of a button, and can do combo attacks. Items and spells hidden around the castle help you power up, and level up. Much of the game takes place in Brauner's various paintings, so as well as the typical Castlevania locations (eg: clock tower, dungeons) there is also fresh locations such as pyramids, and a circus of the damned. The level based nature of this game was a disappointment at first, but really it is still the one big level, as all can be revisited anytime to find new secrets, items, and hidden areas. The bosses as always are fantastic, and feature many of the usual suspects (including Dracula's henchman Death).

The music is ace, the enemies are the same as usual but cool. The game is about ten hours long. Lots of replay value due to various fun sub-missions given to you by a ghost, additional characters to play the game as, and a cool boss-rush mode which features many of the bosses from the previous DS game.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is another fantastic entry in a most spectacular series!

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