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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trilogy

scary stories tril

As much as I love Goosebumps , the original Scary Stories trilogy gave me and a bunch of kids nightmares in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I’m saying this right now, if you got younger kids and want to spook them out old school this Halloween, these book have you covered. With some surprisingly grisly tales throughout Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones and truly nightmarish artwork throughout. I admit, the kid in me went spastic when I saw the trailers for the movie and saw the ghouls and stories brought to life. Some tales that stuck out to me was the story of the girl with the terrible zit, the “wonderful” sausage, and a wedding game gone wrong. As an adult, I love to bring the treasury out which contains the trilogy and enjoy a good horror tale or 2 before bed. These books are a must read for horror fans of all ages and a fun thing that needs to be shared with the younger generations. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Phantasm 2

phantasm 2

Phantasm is one of my all time favorite horror movies and one of my first reviews I ever did on the blog. The Tall Man is a dark, menacing figure with untold horrors at his disposal. Unlike typical horror series though, Phantasm has a huge story that continues each installment.

The sequel picks up right where the first left off. Mike and Reggie barely escape there house, blowing the Tall Man up inside. Mike tells his story to the cops and is understandably thrown into the funny farm, released when he’s a full grown adult, reuniting with Reggie who go on a cross country hunt for the Tall Man. Setting up another remote funeral home, the Tall Man and his minions come across a gifted young woman named Liz. Can Mike and Reggie vanquish the sinister Tall Man once and for all?

I got to admit, as far as sequels go, Phantasm 2 is pretty damn awesome. The story stays fresh and stays strangely unpredictable as the original was. Angus Scrum is once again awesome as the Tall Man. The score is a cool, more action paced version of the original. There is a awesome amount of kills, including new modifications to the sphere that are simply badass. I definitely recommend checking out this strange, WTF, sequel that doesn’t disappoint if you loved the first. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Borderlands 3

borderlands 3

A couple weeks ago I did a Borderlands 3 first impressions post I highly recommend checking out in conjunction with review. It’s basically going to give you a better look at my thoughts on the game as a whole, but I’m driving the point I originally made here.

Borderlands 3 picks up 5 years after the events of Borderlands 2 and the Borderlands 2: Commander Lilith and the fight for Sanctuary DLC. The Calypso Twins, Tyreen and Troy, are uniting the bandits and scum of the borderlands together in a massive cult called the Children of the Vault (or COV), known for hosting there brutal killings live on the net YouTube style for the masses. They seek to find all the vaults across the galaxy and become the gods they are seen as. With Lilith’s Siren powers gone and in Tyreen’s grasp, things look bleak for our heroes. It’s up to our new Vault Hunters, Moze, Fl4k, Zane, and Amara to stop the COV from conquering not just Pandora but the galaxy…

It’s been a long ass time since I felt so divided on a game. The gameplay, as I previously said, is immaculate. The guns and shooting are better then they ever have been; new mechanics like power sliding and the alternate fires make combat more exciting with the improved AI and the increased enemy damage. Each class is a blast to play as and the new class system offers more possible replay-ability than any other game in the series. The enemies and settings are much more varied and refreshing. So what’s the catch? The writing is frankly sub-par. The jokes are cringe-worthy, you’re favorite characters pretty much are glorified cameos mostly, and the Calypso Twins get annoying quickly. The format feels closer to the original Borderlands before they got there story telling mojo. Essentially you feel like you’re playing a damn good shooter with a Borderlands skin attached. In conclusion, the game is amazing to play but the story is a huge disappointment. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dragonball Z: Fusion Reborn

dbz fusion reborn

All hell basically breaks loose as a new entity emerges in the afterlife, busting the barrier between HELL and the living world. This means many of the familiar Z rogues have returned to Earth including Frieza, Bojack, The Ginyu Force, and Cell ( and a hilarious caricature of Adolf Hitler) and it’s up to Gohan, Videl, Goten, and Trunks to stop them. Meanwhile, in the afterlife, Goku finds a fat, yellow, baby like dimension warping creature called Janemba is the source of the commotion. Using the full power of Super Saiyan 3 he puts Janemba down, or so he thinks. Janemba returns in a sleek, more malevolent form and quickly overpowers Goku’s SS3 form. The only solution is to fuse with Vegeta through the fusion dance, which they’ve never done before. Can our heroes get there shit together and beat this dimension shattering foe?

Fusion Reborn is probably my favorite movie from the DragonBall Z: The Buu Saga era. The fights are badass and Janemba is a strange but fitting fiend I prefer over Buu if I’m going to be honest. Seeing other DBZ villains return was awesome and the Hitler cameo was easily one of the funniest moments I recall from anime. My only real gripe is that once Gogeta shows up, Janemba is finished in about 3 seconds, feeling way too abrupt for my taste. Fusion Reborn is a cool, pretty badass movie I recommend to any DBZ fan. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Gretel and Hansel teaser

Seeing IT Chapter Two (Review) with Savior, I was pleasantly surprised to see this trailer. The idea of doing a genuine horror movie in the style of The Witch: a New-England Folktale based on the dark as hell original Grimm Fairy Tales is pretty ingenious. Hopefully the January release day is simply a coincidence and it’ll be awesome. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Last of Us 2 date reveal trailer

I got to admit, this trailer made my hype for this game explode. It was great to get a good look at the gameplay and I’m pretty curious how Ellie’s story will continue. The Last of Us was a great story in a genre that may be over saturated but I’m still pretty pumped. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Batman: The Killing Joke

killing joke

With Joker hitting theaters today, I thought it would be appropriate to cover Joker’s most diabolical plan, to make sure Batman has one really bad day as well as one of comic’s most controversial graphic novels written by the writer of the Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

For years, Batman and Joker have fought across Gotham, with Batman knowing the day would come when someone would kill the other. The sad truth is neither really know each other, but the hate they garnish for each other. Joker sets off to break Batman and those he cares for the most. In a single night he breaks into the Gordon residence, paralyzing Barbara with a shot through the spine and taking naked pictures of his immobile body to later torture her father the Commissioner with as he is stripped and sent on a macabre ride while Joker recalls his really bad day. Things are personal as Batman finds his nemesis, but has the Dark Knight finally broken after a really bad day?

I must admit, I was pretty shocked how far this book went, especially for such a quick read. If you played Batman: Arkham Knight you might be familiar with some of this material, but the book is far more disturbing. It is written really well and Joker is shown in a different light and is actually pretty sympathetic in his origin. The artwork is great and the colors really pop. This is the perfect book with a haunting ending for any Bat fan and I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Birds of Prey full trailer

This caught me through a loop; I seriously thought the other teasers were the actual trailers? Anyway, here’s the first real look at Birds of Prey and all I can think of is that it’s pretty much a Harley Quinn movie. I’m ok with that because Margot Robbie was great as Joker’s other half; my fear is that this is looking to be a all female Suicide Squad in regards to tone and a really misplaced villain. I’m hoping for the best but I ain’t impressed. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tony Hawk’s Underground

th underground

I’m not a sports fan by any means but damn I love the old school Tony Hawk games, my favorite being the first Underground. You create your own skater and custom board and go from random skate punk in Jersey to superstar while dueling your rival Eric for the spot as pro spanning throughout the US and even going into Moscow on a fun as hell adventure. I had a blast being a skate punk, causing havoc and doing tricks. The skating is top notch and controls great better than the games that would come console generations later. I love the huge selection of licensed music at your disposal and the varied locations you can travel to, including a KISS concert as a bonus level with none other than Marvel’s Invincible Iron Man as a unlockable character. The most memorable moment I can recall is doing the 360 McTwist off a skyscraper over a helicopter. This game gave me a lot of awesome ideas growing up that went into my book throughout the years. I highly recommend this game. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars pod racer 64

When Star Wars reignited after Phantom Menace debuted, there were a crap load of video games. One of my favorites capitalized on the pod race scene, which besides the final lightsaber fight was Menace’s most memorable part. Extreme speeds and a lot of damage, pod racing was the shit. This racing game used to make my heart stop as the other racers would smash the hell out of my pod, forcing me to pull back and repair my engines so I didn’t explode. The worst was getting slammed off course mid jump and crashing to my fiery death. Make no mistake, this game was a hard son of a bitch but it was really fun for a racing game which I’m normally not into. If you were disappointed by Star Wars Episode 1: the game on PlayStation, this makes up for it on the N64. May the gaming gods bring you glory.