Author: torstenvblog

Writer of the strange and everything; lover of horror, literature, comics, and the alien is my spirit animal

Avengers: Endgame

avengers endgame

11 years have come down to one final bout against Thanos, the Mad Titan. If you paid attention to Age of Ultron, you’ll remember the line that inspired the title of a movie that is definitely the end of an era.

Beginning days after Thanos wiped 50% of the universe’s living creatures, the last remaining Avengers mourn for there fallen and there loss. After being reunited with Iron Man and Nebula, they plan a final attack on Thanos, but to no avail. All hope seems lost. Years go by and they try to live there new lives but then hope comes from an unlikely fellow that gives them an idea what to do, but there is no guarantee it will work and could destroy what little they were able to rebuild. Can the Avengers rise to face failure, loss, and fear and bring down Thanos one last time?

It takes a lot to make me speechless during a movie and even more to choke me up and I was choked up hard here, especially the ending. I’m not going to spoil anything but Savior and I agreed it closed the door to this particular saga while keeping some new doors open. The acting is fantastic and there is a very good mix of levity and sadness throughout. The pacing is slow for the first hour or so but it doesn’t feel 3 hours. There are minor story complaints I have, but sadly I can’t discuss them without spoiler territory. In the end, Endgame is a great end to an amazing saga that is long, but well worth the wait for an insanely epic climax and highly recommended. As is customary for my reviews for Avengers  and Avengers: Age of Ultron , here’s a list of phase 3 and it’s movies leading into Endgame. May the gaming gods bring you glory, whatever it takes…

Captain America: Civil War (Cap side) / Doctor Strange ( 2016) / Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) / Spider-man: Homecoming / Thor: Ragnarok / Black Panther / Avengers: Infinity War / Ant-Man and the Wasp / Captain Marvel / Avengers: Endgame.

Happy Alien day 2019

alien day 2019  Happy Alien day everyone and what a strange year it’s been for the Xenomorph, finding a new home with Disney ( a fact that still gets me to scratch my head now and then but laugh knowing the Queen is now a Disney princess). While we haven’t got any concrete news of a new movie, we have Fox helping to release some awesome fan films including Alien: Containment , Alien: Specimen , Alien: Night Shift , and Alien: Ore . This year is the 40th anniversary of the classic Alien , a icon of horror and science fiction that has nothing but my love and respect that proves in space, no one can hear you scream. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Happy Alien Day!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

girl dragon tattoo

I remember hearing about these series of books just as I got into reading in my late teens, mainly because of the disturbing nature of there subject matters. Going into them, I was excited as hell to read them, especially considering the David Fincher movie was right around the corner then. The question is, did it live up to the hype?

Mikael Blomkvist was a well off journalist, publisher, and co owner of a popular magazine until a lawsuit turned his life to shit and nearly destroyed his career overnight. With his career in jeopardy, he figures he has nothing left to lose when he’s summoned to a private meeting with Henrik Vanger, a millionaire with a task for Blomkvist: discover what happened to Harriet Vanger and in return he’ll get the evidence to win his suit and save his career. In this he isn’t alone, crossing paths with anti-social, strange hacker and researcher Lisabeth Salander, who’s dealing with her dark past and present. Can these two solve the dark mystery of what happened to Harriet Vanger?

Before I begin, I only read the first book and haven’t seen any of the movies so my familiarity with the series ends here. The book was pretty fascinating with two interesting lead characters and a lot of twisting back stories in the Vanger family. Salander keeps you’re attention because the first few chapters are slow. On the whole, the mystery is good and there is some really dark shit in it; the ending I feel was disappointing. Also I have to note something that was a bit disorienting. Like Let the Right One In it was translated into English from native Swedish and the sentence structures and wording feels odd and takes getting used to. In the end, I found it to be a solid book worth checking out if you like mysteries or dark thrillers. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Alien: Night Shift

Here we have the 3rd of 6 Alien anniversary shorts. Of the ones I’ve seen this maybe my least favorite, maybe just because it feels a lot like Alien: Containment in a different atmosphere. The setting is damn good but I have to say the chestburster looks kind of off. It’s not the best, but it’s not bad either. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption

sinner 2

I can’t help but love a great boss fight in games and honestly there aren’t many outside the Souls series and the flock of games that followed in it’s steps, just in there own way. Sinner is a member of that flock that says F the grinding and gets us the main attractions from the get go.

We play as a lonely knight who has survived a cataclysm of sorts and has sinned to do so and become strong. For redemption, they must sacrifice their power and strength to vanquish the beasts and fiends sin created. With dwindling resources, can you face such greater evils?

Sinner is a cool game I can’t help but to have fallen in love with. If you are familiar to Souls type combat layout, you will have an advantage going in although you may want to customize the button configurations a bit. The weapons you get are what you get, but they are simple but effective. I like the art style and how it has a dark, fairy tale twist to everything. What enthralled me a lot is the strategy aspect there is to the game, having to decide which bosses to take on first and learning to cope with the piling of debuffs you accrue throughout the game. In the end, Sinner is a nice is on the Souls formula and for less than $20 on PSN it’s well worth the price. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

sinner

 

Alien: Ore

Happy Easter everyone, and to celebrate, here’s the 5th short Alien film we’ve gotten before this special Alien day. Honestly, this one may be my favorite of the five. The atmosphere is good, the characters solid, and decent effects. I liked the touch with the full grown Alien at the end. It’s a really cool little movie I think true Alien fans will appreciate, may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Child’s Play trailer 2

I’m pretty sure the reason I’m invested in this remake, much like many of us are since the epic reveal, boils down to two words: Mark Hamil. I was all smiling at the end hearing his version of Chucky and I think he’ll steal the show. I’m interested how Chucky can now control tech almost Watch Dogs style. Other than that, it looks decent but I have some fair hopes. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Surge

the surge

I don’t know what it is about Souls type games but they help me unwind. There is just something about having to adapt to a hard situation overcoming some huge obstacles, and feeling awesome after beating them. I also hate machines so a game that combines the uphill battle aspect and the destruction of our possible mechanical overlords was a game for me.

We play as a dude named Warren about to get a job at the Creo corporation . Warren is a paraplegic who is given a robotic exo- rig like a majority of Creo’s employees to help with the heavy lifting. During the process, Warren wasn’t properly sedated and blacks out, waking up in the wastes of there corporate facility. The rigs have caused the workers to go insane and the robots have turned. Armed with weapons and armor made of scrap, Warren finds himself alone to discover what the hell happened…

I found The Surge addictive as hell as many games of this type and while the combat mechanics are pretty similar to Souls or Bloodborne, there are some neat mechanics that make the game stand. Being able to decide whether to finish an enemy quick by aiming directly for there weak spots or trying to smash off there armored pieces and use them for yourself. I also love being able to bank my credits so I can explore more safely. While Warren is kinda bland as a character, the creepy atmosphere and weird enemies make up for it. My only complaints are pretty small like the upgrade system could be better and I have the wavering shoulder lights in the pitch black areas. In the end, the Surge is a cool game that’s a steal for free on PS+ right now and worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order trailer

As every main hero of Star Wars has had to deal with, I too feel a powerful sense of conflict after seeing this trailer. The trailer’s story looks awesome; I love the idea of a young Jedi having to live in secrecy, hiding from the Empire and the Inquisitors, not trying to fight a grand rebellion but simply stay alive. BUT, there is a dark side- its a EA game. After the complaints about Anthem, as well as the last hand full of games they produced, it’s no wonder a game fan would cringe. There is hope I’m sure as always, at least I’m praying to the gaming gods there is but I ain’t holding my breath. May the gaming gods bring you glory.