In the latest issue of Game Informer there is a cover image, and associated article, about Dead Space. This is supposed to be the scariest game EVER made. The developers had to immerse themselves in a pantheon of sci-fi/horror movies that is a perfect list of geek related movies. The list includes Alien, Event Horizon, and The Thing as well as the games Resident Evil and Silent Hill. They have the right source material, and they came up with a Survival/Horror game, played in both First and Third person, that in many ways reminds me of DOOM 3 but less weapons and more creatures. You play an engineer (not a soldier) with a plasma torch and what looks like an armored zero-gee suit. You're trying to fix a ship that's been taken over by, uh... something, and you need to survive. Sounds generic but they're trying to do it right. The first previews of the game were unveiled by EA a couple days ago. Click here to view. Previews like this make me drool for a movie.
This brings up an interesting conundrum that I've been mulling over since the new batch of horror movies hit theaters for halloween. I don't like horror films so I rarely watch them, however I do like sci-fi/horror (like the above mentioned movies) for reasons I can't explain. And I like playing survival/horror games at nite, in the dark, in full surround sound. I believe the reason is due to the fact I get to react how I want. I know I'm in a horror story and react accordingly. From Silent Hill to Condemned I've enjoyed and dreaded every minute. Movies are different due to their passive nature. Maybe puting horror in a sci-fi setting forces a certain amount of plot and character work that elevates the movie above the usual horror plot. My biggest problem with horror is I don't identify with the characters and I'd like to think that in the same situation I'd react differently and survive the encounter (sorry Freddy and Jason). I may not identify with the game characters, but it is still me playing, not him/her. In fact, once you realize you're in a horror story (examine the situation like the movie "Stranger Than Fiction") you should immediatly go into survival mode. In sci-fi/horror I think characters act a bit more realistic, even given the setting. Look at the Colonial Marines from Aliens, they were far more human and realistic than they could have been. One of those things movie geeks ought to know are the names of at least some of the Marines. This made easier by well crafted characters by James Cameron.
Alright, I opened it up. What should geeks get out of Aliens? Why is Aliens a geek movie? The movie is well paced, even the extended directors cut, and it takes place in the future. Everyone wants to know what the future looks like, right? So the movie takes us slowly through Earth's space station Ripley doesn't even recognize, the Colonial Marines personal starship Sulaco and all their awesome gear and weapons, and many, many scenes detailing the "Shake & Bake" colony of LV-426. All this careful prep lets the characters develop enough, and we learn a bit about them. Other than Ripley there is Newt, Burke, Hicks, Hudson, Apone, Drake, Vazquez, Bishop, Frost, Ferro, Wierzbowski, Spunkmeyer, Dietrich, Crowe, and Gorman. Lots and lots of aliens on screen this time with my favorite piece of hardware, the gun camera turrets (which come in handy in Half-Life 2), in one of the most intense scenes of the movie. Aliens provides many great terms and quotes: "Xenomorph"; "Power Loader"; "Game Over, Man"; "What are we supposed to use, harsh language"; "Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."; "They mostly come out at night, mostly"; "This colony has a substantial dollar value"; "Get away from her, you bitch!"; "Hey, Vazquez, anyone ever mistake you for a man?" These are mostly dredged from my memory so I might have mashed the quote but you get the idea. The end scene with the Queen on the Sulaco is so good Nintendo 64 borrowed the scene for a level in Conker's Bad Fur Day (they also used the Matrix lobby scene too).
Tonight I begin the final leg of Half-Life 2 with Episode 2. This carries on the tradition of excellent gameplay started in HL2, and it still seems fresh. I don't know how Valve does it. One of the most tempting achievements, worth 20 points (a lot on this game of 99 achievements), requires me to kill 333 larvae of an alien insectoid called a Sand Lion. They look like "The Bugs" from Starship Troopers, and die with the same satisfaction. I even ran around in thier hive, which also looks "Bug" inspired, from the Roughnecks TV show. What kind of number is 333. It's not a round number like 300 or 50. How the hell am I supposed to find 333. I can find 50 things in a game, but not even a Final Fantasy game has you looking for 333 anything. Arrrgh. I once had to find 76 pieces of something for a Final Fantasy game on GameBoy, then it turned out that there is one more I didn't know about right after I lost them all. That's when god stepped in and I had to fight him and some angels or something. It was a really wierd FF game. I kicked his ass though, and still 76 is 257 less than 333. There are so many larva in some areas I squished them by accident by stepping on them. When you kill one a little green pellet "poops" out and gives a little health back. I can't wait to see the guide for all 333 larvae. GTA doesn't even have a combined item location game of over 300. Yeesh. I missed my mark by six (6) larvae. You know, that's still nearly geneocide of their species (since I'm shooting and the adults, anyway). Doesn't that count for something?
Tomorrow night begins a new 6-part series on Mars, and I'm looking forward to it. If there is an ounce of an Astronomy geek in you I recommend the show, even if it just a primer on the history of Mars Exploration. It's so close and yet so far away, and everytime one of our Mars Rovers, Spirit or Opportunity, send a new picture home, Mars seems so much closer.
I hope to figure out how to post pictures soon, and then these blogs will come alive. Once I figure it out I'll post a picture of the new Yoda stamps that just came out, which I intend to frame and mount somewhere. I told you I'll buy anything Star Wars. You can click here for a picture, though. That's all I got tonight. EmpTass reminded me of the second Star Wars starship collectible game that you build out of cardboard (like the Pirates game) but I haven't found it yet. When I do I'll try it out. See you next broadcast.
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4 comments:
How funny you mention horror. Being Halloween, you can't help but being in horror survival mode. Maybe it was my mispent youth, hangin with Jason, all 9 (at that time) versions as well as the Freddy that was dead, but yet.. never could die. I read Fangoria (kinda like hey--look there making this movie and its disgusting) and I remember loving ever tidbit and wanna be Hellraiser movie clip. For some reason, at 12 R rated was ok. Maybe it was the fact that my stepfather brought me from G rated movies to X (gore) at age 8 ("ITS GOOD FOR THE BOY") or some nonesense. But i digress. I saw the new AVP-R trailer, which, looks more interesting that AVP was. I respected AVP because I didn't expect to walk out with Aliens 2, but with a movie that was nothing more than a fist fight between the two species with some humans who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So what if one of the guys was the forefather of bishop (AlkaizerX is cringing right now I know how much he hates this movie). So check out the AVP-R, as it starts kinda with the tagline of this blog. ON a side note: I think you should check out the saw now quadtriology. I mean, the first one is excellent, the second one is 'OMG should of been straight to video', the third one is "OmG they have a plan and this is aweosme" and then i got to see the fourth installment in the theaters on sunday and was like "I'm INSPIRED". Its horror, but not, OMG run you stupid girl, NOT THAT WAY, OMG pick up the gun, pick it up!!! type horror. More horror in the sense of being accountable for your sins, and realizing there is salvation - for a price. Really man. Check it out. The ending on 1,3, and 4 makes you pumped (Again, AlkaizerX is rolling his eyes - by the way mr. A, i got a nice length email for you).
Enough said - looked at Hellgate: London - hrmmm. Oh and DOOM 3 (since you mentioned it) is so friggin dark, i ended up doing what I probably would in reallife, just unloading into the darkness. Good game though. Quake 4 was pretty good 2.
The AvP-R has my complete attention. As much as it is filled with teens and not Colonial Marines it still looks darker and closer to the world Dan O'bannon/Ridley Scott worked out (and carried on by James Cameron). My issues with AvP stemmed from the fact the previews mis-lead me, I didn't care about anyone and it was rated PG-13. Rated R "Alien" + Rated R "Predator" = Rated PG-13 "AvP"? The core adience is well above 13 at this point, respect your fans movie producers. The actual fight between them was good, I almost wish the whole fight was done in rubber suits like a Godzilla/Kaiju movie. To paraphrase Jules from Pulp Fiction, "That better be one charmin' mother fuckin' horror movie to make me watch it." I think Hostel ruined me on horror forever. Sorry, Saw, you're not getting my money.
I played DOOM 3 for the first time in Iraq (or as I like to call it Fraggle Iraq) and my roommate, Napolean Dynamite (I'm serious), could wait to see me kill more so kept talking me through the levels. Stupid impatient 18 kid didn't completely ruin the fun for me and I thought DOOM 3 is a technical marvel on the Xbox. A release on the 360 (with achievements) would be great.
Yes, AlkaizerX (or Gandry, my name for commenting on this blog) is indeed cringing at any discussion that paints the first Saw as anything more than a pile of garbage. However, arguing horror is useless – horror and comedy are two things that cant really be discussed – whatever scares/amuses a person is a personal perference, so even a shitty horror movie like Saw can land with some effect.
But I wont go into Saw. Emptas has heard enough of it, and I know our fearless lead blogger doesn’t really care. I wont even touch how lame and boring Hostel was. What I do want to talk about is AVP, because it falls under that Horror/Scifi umbrella o’ doom. And because it was a horrible movie.
Lets review the directors of the Aliens movies: Ridly Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, and some French guy for Resurrection (which was written by Joss Whedon). Who directed AVP? Paul Anderson. Black Hawk Down, Titanic, Se7en (aka the first first ‘Saw’)…um, Mortal Kombat? Love or hate the later films, Alien has always been that next step of SciFi/Horror. They are all exemplary in one way or another. Some of today’s top directors cut their teeth on these films. So what does Paul do? He makes a bland, hackneyed, ineffective, seriously flawed, ignorant film that people waited a long time for.
Meanwhile, the Predator films were just two movies (one great, one reasonably ok but not deserving of the hatred it receives) that set some nice groundwork for some great comics.
I got plenty of beef with AVP. Most of which is that despite the title, it wasn’t alien versus predator. We got an hour of human based plot development, which is funny, because they turn out to be nothing more than lambs to the slaughter. Who the hell names lambs, let alone makes me watch them graze for an hour? There is an eventual alien vs predator match up though…in fact, they go mano y mano at one point! For about 2 minutes. During which time, Paul sets new lows for unawesomeness, as a predator body slams an alien like a reject from the WWE. A predator. With an arsenal of intelligent bladed weapons. Bodyslams an alien. Never mind that the movie opens with a handful of predators easily slaughtering thousands of aliens – All of a sudden, one on one is a challenge? Then a human teams up with a predator to kill the que…bahhahahahhaha…see, I couldn’t even finish that sentence without laughing. So the movie was less AVP and more HvAvP+H.
So now we have another AVP coming up, right around xmas thank god, and looky there…more humans. And this time he decided to completely ape Ripley, because relying on Bishop for credibility last time wasn’t good enough. Good work, Pauly. There doesnt even need to be dialog in these fucking films. Just two alien species goin' at it.
I like the attempted sense of continuity in AvP by showing the origin of the Bishop model and that's about it. I would rather watch Alien 3 or Ressurection than AvP. First an excellent comic, an equal good set of games (arcade & PC), then suddenly a trashy PG-13 wasted summer flik.
I like Mortal Kombat the movie. Prior to Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat was the best translation of game-to-movie. This is an impressive achievement do to the abject failure of the Street Fighter live action movie Hollywood made , that killed Raul Julia. (The anime Street Fighter movie rocked.)
BTW, for great Predator action (as compared to AvP) see Batman: Dead End.
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