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Plenty of Cones: Universal Utilities

cones

We come to the thrilling end of Billy Kraser’s “Earth’s Instruments” trilogy and what mind blowing climx do we have to look forward to from the groundbreaking author of Sticks:A tool in Time and Stones: The Eternal Instrument . Will there be an epic battle for the fate of the universe? Will there be betrayal, murder, or the definitive answer to a love triangle?

The answer is…cones.

Yes, the final installment of this trilogy involves cones in our everyday life; my favorite cone is definitely a waffle cone, mm. As the rest of the series goes, it’s a fun, absurd, quick read that will make you laugh because..well it’s pretty insane to say you read a series about sticks, stones, and plenty of cones. It’s worth a read as is the rest of the series and it’s well worth a read.

As I did in my review for Stones, I’m also posting a link for Billy’s GoFundMe for his new project. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

https://www.gofundme.com/6oioxh4

Alien: Covenant “Last Signs of Life”

I admit I’m pretty surprised this came out but all the same happy it did. While many of the 40th anniversary Alien fan films were great in there own right, none of them dealt with the prequel material. David’s Lab was one of my favorite pieces of Alien: Covenant . Recreating the look and vibe of the lab was done really well and I like the use of score and music. I think Alien fans will appreciate this little film. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Crash Bandicoot remastered

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Did you guys know bandicoots were real animals? No, I was as shocked as you probably are. This is a actual bandicoot.

Faure Island

Adorable, right? Anyway let’s talk about Crash Bandicoot, one of PlayStation’s most beloved mascots.

Experimented on by the nefarious Dr Neo Cortex, Crash escapes and goes about his adventure through forests, ancient ruins, and the lair of Cortex himself. Crash Bandicoot is a perfect example of an old school platformer, easy to learn but hard as hell to master. I spent entire days stuck on levels, holding my breath when the levels started getting crazy. While Crash can fall from a an insane height, without the help of the Aku-Aku masks a single hit instantly kills you which adds a lot of tension, combined with the fact you have a limited number of lives. While the game kicks your ass pretty hard, it is fair which I appreciated. Collecting 100 Wumpa fruits grants you a extra life; the game grants you Aku-Aku masks if you die too many times so you can take an extra hit or two. Graphically, the game looks damn good on PS4 and the controls are fluid as ever. If you ever need an old school throwback game, the first Crash Bandicoot game as part of the N Sane Trilogy is well worth the play through. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Stones: The Eternal Instrument

stones

Here we get book two of Billy Kraser’s “Earth’s Instruments” trilogy, the first being Sticks:A tool in Time . Once again, we get a brief but hilariously absurd look at stones, things we pretty much have been in contact with since we were born. There’s nothing informational here and you won’t learn any new facts but I found myself once again laughing that the book exists as the author intended. While the humor isn’t for everyone, some people will get a good laugh at a decent price and I do recommend checking it out on Amazon.

Also, I just want to take a second to put Billy’s Go Fund Me link below. Besides being a humor writer, Billy Kraser is also a friend and supporter of Saviorgaming and is raising money for his new project so some help would always be appreciated. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

https://www.gofundme.com/6oioxh4

The Thing

the thing

Awhile back in my list of 5 horror remakes I loved and during our Halloween special ( Our Favorites, Day 18, The Thing ) I briefly talked about this superior remake from horror master John Carpenter. Beside the cold and isolation and the basic premise, this movie stands completely on it’s own merit.

We begin with a stranger sight, a armed helicopter chasing down a husky through the Arctic tundra. Why would anyone go the trouble you wonder? The guys chased the dog to American outpost where there chopper exploded, leaving the dog with them. They decide to lock it in the kennel with the other dogs and they investigate the other outpost, led by pilot McCreedy. It becomes apparent they found something deadly; they had found a large craft buried under the ice and a lot of dead bodies. Back at there camp, the dog transforms into a horrible monstrosity. The alien is a microscopic organism that takes in the bodies and traits of whatever it comes into contact with, recalling its traits as a defense mechanism. Alone in the middle of frozen nowhere, tensions rise as everyone has to wonder not only can they kill the Thing but who is the Thing?

The Thing is a rare and perfect blend of body horror and suspense. The originality of the creature’s designs steal the show and are things I have rarely seen matched. Kurt Russel as always is awesome as McCreedy but the rest of the cast does a great job. The music is very fitting and well used. What is really cool is rewatching the movie for hidden details, trying to pinpoint when people were taken by the Thing. Some may not like the unclear ending or that there isn’t a true sequel other than the PS2 game but I love it. In the end, it is one of the best remakes ever and must watch for horror fans. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Thing From Another World

thing 1950

There are rare times I approve of remakes; especially when it comes to ones that seem so close together. As a kid, I remember watching the classic black and white Thing with my parents and later, in high school I wrote a paper on how this movie related to the Cold War.

A reporter visits a isolated Air Force outpost in the far reaches of Alaska. A scientist comes to them requesting aid in investing a strange crash up north. The men go to investigate, finding some large and round buried beneath the ice. They uncover what appears to be a man with what appears to be a flying saucer. The take the frozen man back to the outpost, where it thaws and goes on a rampage, a monster from another world…

As far as old horror movies go, the classic Thing holds up decently well. There is some good atmosphere and music. James Arnes as the creature is pretty effective and he is pretty physically threatening as a big, lumbering creature. The characters are pretty standard for the times with a love story tacked on that doesn’t really add to anything. The movie is definitely a product of its time; there’s no blood, language, and the creature’s origin is really goofy when you find out it’s a “Space Vegetable”. In the end, it’s a decent old time horror movie that deserves a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dragonball Z: Broly, Second Coming

dbz broly 2

It’s really hard to live up the epicness of Dragonball Z: Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan which is still my favorite Dragonball Z movie but it was almost certain the mad Saiyan would return.

Videl, Goten, and Trunks are off on a fun little trip to search for the Dragonballs. When Goten starts crying, something is unearthed. After being defeated by Goku, Broly managed to crawl into an escape pod and find his way to Earth, getting frozen in some mountain ice. The sound of Goten’s crying wakes up Broly and the rampage begins. Gohan comes to the rescue but he’s no match for the monstrous Saiyan in his Legendary form, it’s going to take everything they have to bring down Broly.

There isn’t much to say, Second Coming is a pretty flat sequel. There isn’t much of a story. Broly just exists to grunt and beat people up; he doesn’t even go full Legendary until the final minutes of the film. It was cool to have Goku’s ghost join Gohan and Goten in a Kamehameha and I did laugh my ass off when Goten pisses on Broly’s face. It’s alright to skip to if you want, there isn’t much you’re missing if you do. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Titans, season 2 trailer

well, I’ll give them this, it looks better than the first but that really wasn’t saying much. I like the bigger cast f characters including Superboy, Aqualad, Wonder-girl, and Krypto the super dog. Fans of the comics knew Deathstroke would pop up as the main villain sooner or later; I can’t tell what I think of his look yet. There are still some cringe worthy moments like Todd yelling ” Titans are back bitches!”. In the end, it looks like a improvement but not too great.

This is What you Want, This is What you Get

want get

First of all, I want to give a shout out to the author of this book, Jim Scheers, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Weird and Wired Bazaar in Scranton a couple of months ago. Thank you for the advice and reassurance.

It’s the 1980’s and the punk scene is alive and kicking with loud, wild shows. For nineteen year old Nick Leblanche these shows keep him sane from a cold life in suburban hell with his boring, nagging parents and his tedious office job full of gossiping idiots and pressure to stay there and rot. The music gives him a soul. At one of these shows he meet a quiet, sad looking girl named Victoria and from the on things start changing as the scene itself; the shows begin turning out of control violent as more and more skinheads begin turning up, making mosh pits into full fledged riots. Can Nick find himself amongst the chaos of his new friends and the scene he loves?

I have to admit, I was surprised how much I found myself reflecting back to my own age 19 and relating to Nick, growing up in suburbia and loving neu-metal myself. There is a lot of great imagery in the book and was very easy to put myself in the story. The story flows really well for the most part but I found a couple times in the second act where it slowed a bit but to no damning extent. One of the only minor complaints I have is that I wished there was something more extreme to end the second act to give the story a little bit more of a impact. All in all, it’s a really cool look at the 80’s punk scene and a good book I’d recommend. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Boundary gameplay trailer

I have to give a shout out to my pal Speedy for the heads up on this one. While games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Borderlands: The Pre-sequel have a lot of space and futuristic stuff in them, Boundary looks to be like a standard FPS in the dead of space. Honestly this looks really cool and I see a lot of cool opportunities this game has for some insane Z-G gun fights and some cool multiplayer matches. I’m pretty pumped for it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.