Resident Evil 5 - The Demo thoughts

Yesterday I played the demo for Resident Evil 5. The game again has no proper zombies, but still I was looking forward to it. Resident Evil 4 was mind blowingly good, a game I had no interest in (due to no zombies, but the day I saw it at a friends house was the day I rushed out to the shops and brought it.

Resident Evil 5 is set in Africa, the main character is unfortunately Chris Redfield; surely the very worst and most generic of all the Resident Evil characters. He is joined with either an A.I controlled or human controlled second character, some woman.

There are 2 different scenes you can select from the demo. The first sees you taking refuge in a house under attack from masses of zombie villagers. I got overwhelmed and killed. The gun in the demo was dreadful, and really seemed to have no impact on the enemies, like a cap gun it felt and sounded. My A.I controlled partner (hey, so I have no X-Box 360 friends) was useless and got battered. For some ridiculous reason Capcom have decided to implement Resident Evil: Outbreaks frankly broken inventory screen, in which the game doesn't pause while your in it. When your surrounded by hordes of angry villagers and your close to death the last thing you want to do is bring up a inventory screen to use a herb to cure yourself as this will most likely result in you being murdered mid selection.

The 2nd section took place in a square arena it had lots of villagers and a chainsaw wielding maniac chasing you. My A.I controlled moron lost all her bullets, and stole all the herbs before I could pick them up. I was only able to give her all my bullets, not just some of them. I had my head lopped off whilst trying to select a herb from the broken inventory screen.

I was really annoyed with this demo. I hope it was just the fact that it threw you into action scenes that made it bad, and that the actual game will be more...well fun. Not impressed, not impressed at all.

Maybe it's too much Far Cry 2, but I'm really sick of African locations in games.

Jenifer - Master of Horror TV Episode Review

Masters of Horror is a mind blowingly good series in which each stand alone episode is directed by a different 'Master of Horror'. The greats really are represented with offerings to date from such Masters as John Carpenter (The Thing), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and John Landis (An American Werewolf in London) having all directed episodes.

Jenifer is Dario Argentos effort. I am not that familiar with the films of Argento, though I definitely want to see them. The most common feeling nowadays is that as a director Argento has lost the plot, with a slew of terrible films under his name in recent years. This episode was also slandered as tripe. All I really know about Argento is that his daughter Asia cannot act at all, and made the terrible 'Land of the Dead' somehow even worse.

Jenifer's plot concerns a rookie police officer who saves a horrifically disfigured young woman from being murdered by a maniac. The Officer finds himself increasingly attracted to the strange mute girl, and decides to take care of her. Horror ensures.

What I love most about the Master of Horror series is the lack of shyness towards blood. Nearly every episode is coated in the stuff, and Jenifer is no exception. I found this episode to be another great one, and certainly not deserving of the criticism it has gotten. Chocolate - now that was a terrible episode.

Another great episode in a fantastic series, see it, and give it a chance!

Super Metroid - Sci-fi Videogame Review (Virtual Console)

I recently finished Super Metroid for the first time ever, kudos to me! Back in the day I had borrowed a Super NES and this game off a friend. I had really liked it, but after a week I had given the console back and so never got to finish the game.

Last year, or maybe the year before that Super Metroid was released onto the wondrous Virtual Console. I had plenty of trouble with the controls, and after a few hours I gave up on it to my shame. Towards the middle of last year I started a new game, did over half of it, then promptly forgot all about it until last week when I revisited it and finished it off.

The game is sublime, I do admit I mostly like it because of the obvious influence it has had on the Castlevania games. A 2d platform action game set in one massive level, fantastic!

The game sees you as Samus a bounty hunter. Responding to a distress signal from a Science HQ space station, you arrive to find all the scientists dead, and a Metroid (a rare parasitic life form) on the brink of being stolen by a giant alien bird - Ridley, who is a leader of the Space Pirates. After a brief battle Ridley escapes with the Metroid and heads to a nearby planet (the Metroids home world, and Space Pirate base). Chasing him you land on the alien planet and the adventure begins.

As is the now legendary style of the Metroidvania games the action as stated takes place over one massive level, broken down into smaller areas. As you progress through the game you discover upgrades for your space suit, new weapon attachments., and health power ups, half the fun of these type of games is the exploration. The game is very atmospheric, the music fits the different locations very well. Locations are varied and range everywhere from lava caves to derelict spacecraft. The sound effects are top notch, especially the automatic doors which link all the 100's of rooms together.

The very best thing about this game are the bosses! There are so many varied bosses in the game, all are fantastic, and a joy to fight, this game has a stupidly large number of fantastic enemies, everything from giant man eating plants, to Mother Brain itself. The last section of the game is absolutely fantastic. I really recommend this game, while the Sci-fi setting isn't as good as the Gothic setting of the Castlevania, it handles it very well. The GBA Metroids were good, but not a patch on this, the best!


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Fallout 3 (2008) - Post Apocalyptic Video Game Review (Xbox 360)

Finally completed! After thirty seven hours I have laid that almighty beast to rest. What a great game! Made by the same team who made the snore fest Oblivion, and it really shows. Oblivion failed for me as I just found it so damn boring, first person combat with swords isn't fun, and the po-faced fantasy setting left me cold, plus the broken level up system which saw me get sixty five hours into it before being completely stuck.

Fallout 3 has guns, lots of guns, guns of all sizes and types, from the mini nuke launcher to debris launchers - this game has it all. The game takes place in a post Armageddon Washington DC. A place of ruins, and of mutants. Your character lives in a vault, locked away safe from the evils of the world. Soon your peace is shattered when your father vanishes to the outside world, following him you emerge into the broken world.

The game is all about choices, will you be good or bad? The choice is completely yours. Everything goes, from selling children into slavery to nuking an entire town, it's all possible.

I really enjoyed the game, the V.A.T.S system makes combat an entertaining feature. The main quest itself isn't too long, but there are lots and lots of optional quests, of which I didn't experience all of them. The best thing about the game is the world. There is an amazing number of locations which you don't even need to visit, but the option to do so is there, and visiting these lets you create your own story in your head.

If you hated Oblivion you will love this. If you loved Oblivion you will definitely love this, buy it!

An Update (December 2010): This is a bad early review I did for this game.  With the abundance of DLC for this game my playtime extended to around eighty hours and that is still without me having done everything there is to do in the gigantic world.

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I Am Legend - Zombie Film Review

I Am Legend is a film based on the book of the same name. It is the third film to do so. First there was Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth in the 50's (I think), then in the 70's there was the excellent The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston and now this starring Will Smith.

Like the others it concerns a man who appears to be the last man alive on Earth. Everyone else having mutated into monster like creatures allergic to sunlight. By day Will Smith searches New York for food and supplies, and works on a vaccine to the virus everyone has. By night him and his dog hide in his fortified apartment building. The film is much like the others, everything from the flash back to pre-virus Earth, and general plot are the same. That's all I can say really, the worst film version of the book, but still a good, solid film.

The extras on the DVD were amazing. They comprised of 4 short animated stories, all very very dark and bleak. They had so much atmosphere to them.

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The Possessed - Horror Film Review

The Possessed is clearly a film made on a tight budget. It looks terrible, has mostly terrible acting, and the plot is all over the place. Characters seem to teleport from location to location which makes things more confusing than the near empty plot.

The film starts with a hideous music video. After this bizarre intro a small flat is shown. The depressed female singer of the music video calls her boyfriend into their bedroom before committing suicide in front of him.

Several months later her boyfriend, and the other band members visit a psychic, the best character of the film. The psychic is a flamboyant theatrical man, wearing clown make up, quite freaky looking. The band members have visited him to find out if their dead band member 'Cassidy' is ok for them to start up the band again, having stopped it after her death. The psychic seems to get possessed by the spirit of Cassidy and tells the members that their all going to die. They ignore him as a crank and head off to their friends recording studio. Soon the spirit of Cassidy arrives and starts her killing spree...

As mentioned the film is extremely badly acted with the exception of a few characters. I really don't understand what the point of the film was, but I still enjoyed watching it. The special effects are quite bad, I still guess I recommend it though.

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Obscure - Horror Videogame Review (X-Box)

Obscure is a survival horror which was released on the Playstation 2, X-box, PC and maybe Gamecube a few years ago. The game is unique in that it is actually a 2 player game. If you don't have a friend to play it with then the 2nd character is controlled by A.I, and you are able to switch between the 2 characters with the touch of a button.

The setting of the game is a high school. A group of students hide behind after school one day to search for their friend who has vanished. The school has a long history of missing students, so they figure that seeing as the last place they saw him was the school gym that it's likely he is within the school grounds somewhere. Unfortunately the night they chose to hide out in the school is the same night that the school suddenly becomes over run by strange monsters. As well as the 5 students being in the school, several teachers have also become mixed up in the madness.

The game is a mix of puzzles and combat. The combat is not really a strong part of the game. The enemies are allergic to light, so at first seems a bit similar to 'Alone in the Dark' (The Dreamcast and PSOne version at least). There's some clever touches such as smashing grubby windows to flood rooms with sunlight. As the game progresses the sun goes down, so for the 2nd half of the game this cant be done. There are 5 different characters you can play as. They all have different special abilities, but you never need a specific characters abilities, so any 2 will do.

The puzzle elements are quite simple, and the map you have always clearly shows you where to go next, the game is also quite short. Despite this I had a lot of fun with it. The story while not original was sufficient to keep me wanting to play. The A.I is kinda terrible at times, I assume it would be more fun in 2 player.

There is a sequel, I believe it's called 'Obscure: The Aftermath'. I think its on the PS2, X-Box, and possibly Wii. If you see the game cheap - get it!

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Murder Party - Horror Film Review

It's been over a month since my last post, I really need to keep this updated. I have quite a big list of things to write about now in the world of horror.

Murder Party is a horror laced with lots of black humour. A 30 something nerd (Chris) is on his way back from his job as a hated traffic warden on Halloween when he happens across an invitation to a party titled 'Murder Party'. Being the lonely guy he is, and having no better option other than to sit at home and watch some newly purchased horror films he decides he will go. He makes a Knight costume out of a cardboard box which is hilarious looking in its pure rubbishness, then heads to the address on the invite.

The party is in a rough industrial area of New York, eventually he finds the place; an old dilapidated warehouse. Inside he comes across the party. A group of odd art students. Their costumes are quite cool, ones dressed as a baseball gang character from The Warriors, a girl dressed as a Replicant from Bladerunner, as well as a Vampire, Werewolf, and a Cheerleader.

After talking briefly they pounce on Chris, after a short tussle he is knocked out and awakes tied up to a chair, the art students reveal they are going to kill him as part of an art installation there doing to impress their idol who is going to give a grant to the one with the best art installation idea.

Most of the film happens from this setting. Chris spends a lot of the film not only tied up, but also gagged, so it is a credit to the actor playing him that he comes across as such a sweet and likable character despite hardly having any lines at all.

The film as mentioned is darkly humorous, the art students are fantastic characters, and as the film progress become increasingly bitter and shallow, showing their own insecurities as they are killed off one by one, mostly by hilarious accidents. Also the fact that during the entire film Chris never takes off his amazingly funny cumbersome, cardboard Knight costume is a very cool touch

The films obviously been made on a budget, most the action takes place in the one location, but despite this the acting is of a very high quality, and the look of the film is very sharp. The plot is quite simple, but the life the actors put into the characters make the film seem such a breath of fresh air. The film is quite bloody and violent, especially later on, but is only a 15 which I found surprising. A surprise hit I thought.

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Spongebob Squarepants: Once Bitten - Random Zombie Appearance

I love Spongebob, and today I saw a zombie themed episode, woop!

In 'Once Bitten' Squidward gets bitten by Spongebob's pet Snail Gary - who had been acting strangely. Patrick identifies Gary as having mad snail disease, and tells Squidward that anyone bitten by the Snail will turn into a zombie. Gary wanders off, and soon is biting people in the town left right and centre.

Hysteria ensures as everyone bitten, and a vast majority who haven't start to think they are zombies. Soon the survivors are all holed up in the Krusty Krab.
Spongebob, pursued by zombies led by a zombie Squidward manages to get there as well.

While the Krusty Krab is under siege by the zombie hordes the survivors start to doubt whether they themselves are not zombies and just haven't realised it.

It all comes to an end when one of the survivors steps forward and introduces himself as an expert on Snail diseases. He explains there is no such thing as mad snail disease, and that Gary had been biting everyone as he had a splinter in him. Realising this the zombies all turn back into their normal selves.

Was a fun little episode.

Zombie Smashers X4 Guitarpocalypse! Review

This Xbox 360 community game goes to show that not all zombie games are good. Calling this game a Zombie one does Zombies a diservice anyway, as Zombies only feature as a power up.

The game is basically a Smash Brothers clone. You can choose one of about 10 characters, all who have a guitar they can attack with, as well as the usual punches and kicks. Upto 4 players can fight at once. The Zombies as said before only appear as a special move, so not worth getting at all! Boring!

Dead Set (2008) - Zombie Series Review

I got the DVD of Dead Set in the post today, this was a good end to a bad day. The DVD has good presentation, and the episodes are easily selectable.

The extras are tied to each episode which is handy, rather than having big chunks. I love extras in small slices. It is for this reason I shall never watch the Lord of the Rings extras, there's just too much of it. Here the extras are all short at a few minutes long each.

The extras are split between interviews with the cast, special fx reveals, and deleted scenes. The interview with Charlie Brooker is absolutely hilarious and essential viewing!

Dead Set: A Way Out (2008) - Episode 5 Zombie Series Review

Whew, just seen the last episode of Dead Set, it was fantastic! I knew what happened in it, as a friend had explained to me in detail as I was unable to see it on the Friday it showed. The episode was everything I had hoped it would be. For once I wont ruin much, other than to say it is possibly the best episode of the series!

It is a fantastic end to a series that seemed to arrive completely out of the blue. I knew about it about a week before it began. I had no interest until I discovered I now have E4. Damn worth getting on DVD.

The Last Stand - Zombie Horror Videogame Review (PC)

The Last Stand is a fantastic flash web based game in which you play as a survivor of a zombie apocalypse. You stand behind a cruddy barricade on the right of the screen and must use the mouse to shoot zombies advancing from the left until daybreak comes. The zombies come at various speeds, mostly walking, but some sprinting. If your barricade breaks before daylight your dead.

Daylight takes place on a stat screen. You have 12 hours to which you can allocate to different tasks - repair the barricade, search for survivors, and search for weapons. This cycle repeats until you inevitably get eaten. A really fun, surprisingly gloomy quick game, though not too much to it.

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