In a world of live action comic book superhero horror adaptations, it is almost hard to imagine superpowers and fear in the same chain of thought. While movies like Split , Brightburn , and Carrie broke that mold; there’s always been one special film that managed to be smart, quirky, full of action and moments of sickening gore. Enter Scanners.
Scanners are defined as unhinged folks who possess strong telepathic and telekinetic abilities- lonely derelict Cameron Vale is one of these Scanners. Captured and given a drug to subdue the voices in his head, Dr. Ruth of the organization Consec asks a favor of Vale. He asks him to go undercover in search of a destructive and powerful Scanner named Daryl Revok who plans on starting bloody movement. As Vale leads to track down the madman, conspiracies begin to unveil themselves around Cameron as he’s being hunted by a seemingly all powerful foe…
First of all, Scanners is what I consider to be a cult classic by the man who brought us Videodrome and The Fly . I love the gore effects on display and the eerie science fiction music that is responsible for much of the tension; honestly without the score and effects there are things in this movie that would just look silly. While the acting is solid all around, I have to say Michael Ironside is great as Revok, delivering a command performance as a villainous demigod. The story flows well but there are some twists that felt funky to me in the final act. I do appreciate the dark as hell turnout in the end and the fact that the movie doesn’t feel like a comic book but a sci fi thriller all it’s own. In the end, Scanners is a fun sci fi action movie with some memorable gore, a great villain, and some interesting questions to ask. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
As always with these things, huge shout out to ININ games for hooking us up with a copy of Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!
What at first I thought would be nothing more than a variation of the Smash formula turned out to be so much more. While yes that obviously exist, as you can tell from the trailer, there is also a full challenge mode you can play, which for you trophy hunters is mandatory if you want this pretty easy platinum to pick up. I know how much of a selling point that is for some of you.
The controls are admittedly a little sluggish and the graphics will let some of you down, but as with most ININ games these aren’t meant to be AAA titles, they are for people that love the old fashioned classic feel of gaming. This game truly does capture that feeling of nostalgia. As I sat on my bed playing explaining to my daughter what the hell I was playing I recalled my time playing my NES and SNES for hours on end. That being said when my daughter played the game with me, she had no issue playing and she didn’t start gaming until the Xbox 360 era. They always manage to walk that fine like between classic feel and new age gaming.
That all being said, there isn’t much of a story here and the game play can be repetitive. Outside of a multiplayer party setting or trophy hunting outside of some quick nostalgia fun or to kill some time before leaving for work, this isn’t something you will want to play for hours on end. I did like popping it on for 15 or 20 minutes here or there though. Each character also feels pretty much the same outside of their special moves.
With all that taken into account this is a solid 7/10 for me. If you like that classic feel and this sort of game, its a good buy for you. If you don’t however, save your money. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
First and foremost, huge shout out to the guys and gals over at Sekai Games, with developer Mr.Tired Media for hooking me up with this one. I wasn’t truly sure what I was in for, but this close to Halloween and it being October you guys know I was all too happy to play anything with the word undead in it.
First and foremost, this is a dungeon crawling RPG with turn-based combat. It kind of reminds me of the old first person dungeon crawler system of Persona, fully equipped with an automapping tool so you know where you have been. When you enter combat, it has a Phantasy Star 4 vibe, you see your characters from behind choose your attacks and some moves will even combine to make new moves. The only real issue I had here was that weapons eventually break (though they can be repaired before that happens) but this was hardly a major thing, it just annoyed me.
While the battle system is fun and easy to get used to, it isn’t anything we as gamers haven’t seen before. The story however was something I found refreshing and worth the time. You will wake up to find your childhood friend a zombie, but not he eating you kind. It turns out some zombies retain their humanity and these can be cured. The rest aren’t so lucky. Why you haven’t turned and how your father is connected to all this is quickly explained before you are on your way, with some of it outright mocking the fact that it doesn’t exactly make sense and you shouldn’t be asking questions because it ruins the narrative.
The story is full of small nods to video game and horror movie tropes that are fully acknowledged as being what they are and mocked or admittedly ignored. You will meet new characters, many of which will admit to the the fact things are messed up but go along with it anyway and always in a humorous manner even to the point the monsters themselves are explained something that are there and one of the lovely zombie ladies comments she wises she was one of the cute ones instead of a zombie.
All in all at the price point and as a fan of RPGs this is one of the better ones in that range. Definitely an 8/10 from me. For what the game is and was trying to be it succeeds beautifully.
Admittedly my experience with Doom has been pretty limited but I loved 2016 and Doom: Eternal is likely the best game I’ve played all year. With Halloween time upon us, I wanted to see what this iconic series had to offer. What did I find, descending into the black sheep of the Doom franchise?
The UAC has been busy at work on Mars, at the height of there fame and prosperity. A lone, silent marine comes to Mars as part of the security team for the new experiments going on up there. Things go awry as power dies and otherworldly creatures are let loose, demons straight from hell, slaughtering the soldiers and scientists in the facility. Alone, you must battle you’re way through the layers of hell and stop the end…
So first and foremost, I have to say the game runs pretty good for something 2 console gens old and graphicly it holds up quite decent at times. That being said, Doom 3 feels like a generic horror shooter rather than the crazy ass, ultra-violent mayhem fest the series was and is now known for. It’s really dark, there’s creepy whispering in tight corridors, a crazy mad scientist, spooky music and you’re fighting mostly gun wielding zombies, ghost creatures, with some series regulars sprinkled throughout. Gone is the ultra violence and kick ass metal music and feeling like a bloodthirsty unstoppable badass. The shotgun sucks but the weapons from the machine gun and up are serviceable; while you do fair damage, you don’t feel the oomph behind them and the sounds are weak. For a game that involves a lot of sneaking enemies, there could have been better sound ques to alert you for things coming up behind you. In the end, Doom 3 isn’t a terrible game in a pinch but it lacks anything that made the classics and reboots so memorable, but it’s ok as a standard horror shooter. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
As always with these things I like to give a quick up front shout out the people that hooked me up with review copies, and this time it is the fine folks over at Stratton studios for hooking us up with this Halloween inspired game.
Now to be perfectly up front this was a rough game for me to review for a variety of reasons. Every time it did something I enjoyed, there was something i hated close by. I love the pokemon style of game play (known as Hallomon in this one) and I loved that the enemies leveled up with you. I hated that you really couldn’t catch them though and you relied on getting new mask to get new monsters. I loved using the mask to solve puzzles and do different things, but I hated that many times finding a new mask relied on someone giving you a vague direction like its over in the forest while you are in a town surrounded by trees.
Graphically however the game was about what you would expect from an indy company, it won’t win any rewards but the game looks solid and the sound serves its purpose which honestly is all I will ever ask from any video game I play. It doesn’t have to be outstanding and amazing, it has to add to the feeling of the environment and this does that.
The story is simple, you play as a kid trying to win the Apex cup which is just a tournament the town has on Halloween and true to fashion you end up saving the place. I honestly can’t say anything about the game in any strong feelings fashion. I didn’t dislike the game, or like it. I didn’t even find it memorable. I would never tell someone not to buy it, but I can’t recommend it either. Th is game literally just exist to me. It is a 5/10 to me. It isn’t a waste of money, but it won’t be well spent either. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Well folks, I’m officially back and I can now say I scratched a huge box off of my bucket list as a horror fan. With Savior, I finally can say I’ve watched Romero’s original Dead trilogy, including NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – Movie and Dawn of the Dead . Both legendary titles and both well deserving of there statuses as 2 of some of the greatest horror movies of all time, I was pretty curious what Day would bring?
Day begins when basically all hope seems lost. No signs of survivors as the undead flood the streets and time is running out for a underground outpost comprised of military personnel and scientists. The scientists are trying to figure out any way to find a cure, a reason the zombies exist, anything that could save them; the soldiers are there to protect them at all costs and maintain order. Tensions are running high as ideas and the power struggle between the two ensues, fueled by the tyranny of Captain Rhodes who is going mad as his men are seemingly wasted on fruitless experiments while the scientists fear the mentally broken and volatile soldiers. But when the question of “can zombies be taught?” comes into play in the form of Bub, a domesticated zombie, will they find there answers or the end of the road?
Day of the Dead is often said to be the darkest film in the whole Dead saga and much like Alien 3 the film goes for a pretty bleak outlook. I love how claustrophobic the movie feels, even in the opening which takes place on a empty street in broad daylight. This movie does a damn good job at building tension and while Rhodes is a fantastic villain, Bub steals the show for me and only someone like Romero could make me feel sympathy and actually care for a zombie. There is no shortage of zombie gore and kills which is always appreciated. The ending is satisfying as hell and I can’t really complain about the music or cinematography. In the end, I can’t recommend this movie enough as perhaps my favorite of the Dead saga. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
First, once again huge shout out to the guys over at https://twitter.com/PQubeGames for tossing us a review code for a game I honestly had no clue was based on an anime but wanted to play anyway because the name instantly made me ask the question, what is this game about?
Well for better or worse the game is not about picking up women in a dungeon. You will play as two characters, Bell Cranel and Ais Wallenstien as their separate stories unfold and cross paths. It is a very basic story that matches a very basic dungeon crawler. I don’t say any of that as an insult though.
The combat is quite simple, mostly just typical hack and slash with some special moves. There are some difficulty spikes if you don’t make it a point to grind out some items and such to upgrade your equipment. Weapons upgrades and even some new weapons and armor themselves require you to sell certain items at the store itself.
The quest system however is where the game sadly loses me. It is basically just a matter of go to the guild, accept a quest run though the same basic dungeon levels, kill enemies, get to the stairs or find the items, and the quest is over. This is pretty easy to use but it doesn’t really make for interesting gameplay in the long term but it is essentially necessary for playing the game in full.
Graphically the game isn’t going to outshine the competition but I enjoy the cute anime like cut-scenes and such and the sound also is nothing special, but serves the purpose it is intended for. I never felt the music was out of place or taking away from what I was doing. The game however would be better off played by fans of the series or for more hardcore fans of dungeon crawlers as I feel the more casual base will really just feel let down. This game is a nice 7/10 for me. I enjoyed it, but it clearly was made for fans of that series. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
As always I like to be upfront with these things, so a huge shout out to the guys and gals over at PQube for the review copy of this one. Always love being chosen for these things and this is no exception.
That being said, this game has received some mixed reviews and they are honestly quite deserved. I would LOVE to go through this whole review, but truth be told if anyone does that they are really just doing it as a challenge and aren’t being totally honest. The game starts out fast, but you will essentially finally be old enough to go get your first Nexomon. You will be attacked by a wild creature, though this one is a huge dragon, and someone will show up and let you choose your first. Unlike Pokemon tho you get nine choices, don’t beat yourself up over it though, you can get them all a little later anyway.
From here your adventure will start with you hiding in a cave and having to escape by fighting your way through some wild Nexomon which you can catch. You will quickly notice however that power leveling serves very little purpose since the wild pok…I mean Nexomon, will level with you. This is actually nice because it creates an environment where you can explore where you choose and catch what you want to use.
The story is actually pretty good and is quite a bit more mature than most Pokemon clones, it is also quite a bit more challenging. The game also has quite the sense of humor to it and doesn’t shy away from making fun of itself.
Part of my biggest issue with the game is the difficulty comes mostly from the fact that in a battle or two your team will be totally drained. Even evolving doesn’t much help the situation at least early on. Healing is also done at some weirdly positioned buildings and while i understand what they were going for with the whole feeding the Nexomon and using different traps it didn’t always feel right. The balance just always seemed off in both battles and trapping.
All in all I have to admit the game was very enjoyable. I will even so far as to say its the best Pokemon clone I have played. The game isn’t perfect, but for me it was good enough and the right support for some balancing issues it would be even better. I give this game a 7/10. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
This is one of those games that I wasn’t sure about so I hit up my good friends over at Sometimes You and said hey guys, mind telling me more? And they said here just play it! Ok none of that is true, but they did toss me a review code and for that i am grateful.
Swordbreaker starts off with a quick little story that explains why your character about how our adventurer ends up hearing about the castle where our game takes place, and how he ends up going there.
The game has a very simple premise, one that I thought I would hate. It plays out like a sort of choose your own adventure graphic novel. You read short paragraph about your surroundings with some amazing artwork to go along with it. Each choice you make will change events of the story, some times for the better sometimes for the worse. Luckily when making the game they decided to be quite forgiving, you can die three times before they force you to restart entirely. For me this not only encouraged me to take more risk, it also made me test out some of the silly options to see what would happen. By the way, many of the silly options can be quite worth it.
The game has over 300 scenes to view and at least 3 “proper” ends that involve making it through the entire castle. There are numerous others, mostly involving you dying. The choices however aren’t just simply this or that and that is it. Most of the choices have future repercussions or even benefits. I once saved a character just to find out 20 minutes later it could save me a ton of time figuring out a puzzle.
All in all there isn’t a ton to say about this game. A single play through may take 2 minutes because you made a lot of bad choices, might take about 45 minutes or an hour. The story is pretty good and has some nice twist and turns. I can easily recommend this game to anyone that just wants to relax. 8/10, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
As this always starts, huge thank you to NIS America for hooking me up with a copy of this one. You all know I have a history with the PC release so I was very excited to see how it translated to the PS4. Now if you want some small details about how NIS America doesn’t publish the console version you can look at mt preview from earlier last month.
This however will simply focus on the actual game play. First the tutorial will give you the basics of what you need to do, and it does it quite well. It will show you how to add tiles and how to use those tiles to make structures and how to add maps. It will also show you how to then use events to connect those maps. This is a bit weird to explain, but essentially events are used to do everything from transitioning from one map to another, to talking to NPCs and creating shops. The can be as basic as talking to a kid in a village that wants to whine about not having an apple to as advanced creating a 12 step quest that will result in that same kid getting an apple after your characters slay an ogre and deliver the apples he drops and making that kid run home and disappear all together, and yes you can do exactly what I just described with some patience and imagination.
The character creator is also quite easy to use, tho a bit limited. You can mostly just pick parts and change colors but there are quite a few parts to pick and choose from and you do have parts for men, women and children, and there is also a randomize option that you can keep hitting until you get something you like, or that is simply off the wall and use that. This for example is the picture of a character I made, his only purpose is to exist in the little game I am making, in fact the helmet he is wearing is only on his head so someone can ask him why he is wearing the helmet.
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The map editor is amazing and far more in depth than anything you will find on console and is only matched on PC honestly by other game making software. There are thousands of tiles you can use to make your maps, from water to snow and desert. Trees and ocean,mountains basically just about anything you want, you can have. I even turned a motorcycle into a flying bike because, well reasons I guess, it was there. I simply felt the need to do it. You can design any kind of RPG trope you want from a cave to a tower to a city busting at the seams with activity. Or do what i did, be lazy and put four buildings and pretend they live in the middle of nowhere.
So far I have not scratched the surface of what can be done here. This is very much a how far down this rabbit hole do you want to dive situation. Want to make that old fashioned Dragon quest (Dragon Warrior) you always felt the world deserved, do it. he combat system is built right in. Felt that Final Fantasy VI could have been better? Do it right this time. (the only downfall is that there is no true active time battle system) but you can choose from some premade spells, items, and weapons or go into the system and start from scratch, design each and every item and what it does, each and every spell and how it is cast and its animation and yes, even the match on how damage is calculated. That is all at your disposal. Now you don’t HAVE to do that, you can simply use their stuff but they won’t stop you from messing with it.
Speaking of creating stuff, no RPG is complete without monsters, and yes those are tours to create and manipulate as well. From starting bats and slime to end game dragons. Or mess with your friends and just palate swap the slime until the end of time. Your call guys.
The game however isn’t perfect, mostly because for as great at creating stuff as it is, you have to be patient and sink time into it. You wont make anything truly decent without sinking a ton of hours into this, and YouTube will be your best friend. This isn’t made for people that want to dive in and make a game because that can’t be done. Even tho they managed to simplify making a game by taking the hardest parts out of it, and by that I mean coding and the actual part of designing all of these tiles, you still need to design all the cities and such and the characters. Also on one occasion the game crashed while I was saving and I lost about an hour of work, but seeing as how that was a one time thing that easily could have been on my end so I won’t hold that against it. I am truly looking forward to seeing what other people make. This game from me tho will get a 9/10, with the note that this game is designed for RPG fans that dream of making their own. Everyone else, probably won’t appreciate this game for what it is.. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 