We all know monsters don’t exist, so tell that to James, the sole survivor of a sleepover gone violently wrong. Something viscously ripped his friends to pieces, leaving James as the town pariah. So many children have disappeared in Archer Bay with little evidence and no reason. A strange blond lady comes to town to help, knowing exactly what’s happening. Erica Slaughter is on the hunt for monsters and nothing will get in her way…
I’ve heard rave reviews for this comic over the past few years. I finally got to snag the first volume and I’m pretty happy I did. The premise is simple but effective. The writing is raw at points and never becomes goofy. Erica is a interesting character you want to know more about; I want to know what the hell is with the stuffed octopus she carries. The book leaves a lot of questions but is written so naturally, I breezed it through effortlessly. The artwork is gruesome and I love we never get a clear visual of the monster itself. I will say it may trigger some people because you do see some bloody stuff involving children, so if that triggers you, that’s basically way I wouldn’t recommend this comic. I’d say this was a damn good read I can’t wait to follow up on. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
The Apocalypse is here and it’s being televised. Carl just broke up with his girlfriend Beatrice while she was on vacation. Bummed, still babysitting her apartment and her fluffy show cat, Princess Donut, Carl is in a bad spot. When Donut attempts to runaway in the middle of the night, Carl runs into the night in just his jacket and boxers. All hell breaks loose. Millions dead instantly, leaving the baffled survivors with an announcement: they’re now contestants in a intergalactic game show. Thrown into the Dungeon, now dubbed Crawlers, the survivors most traverse hellscapses full of monsters, looting for gear, and facing bosses before the level collapses. 18 floors, each harder than the rest. And Carl’s only companion is Princess Donut…
The hype around this book was pretty nuts. Every author tuber I follow has this book somewhere on their bookshelves, I’ve seen it posted all over Instagram and Tiktok, and recently it was greenlit for a series on Peacock. I went inn totally blind, weary of literary Blockbusters. This is one of the rare times I think it was warranted.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a really fun book with great characters, humor, heart, lore and some really cool action. As a gamer, I enjoyed the gaming tropes and found the setup really relatable. Carl and Doughout are great characters that play well off each other, though Doughnut does steal the show more than not. Matt Dinnaman’s writing is down to earth and easygoing, making for a smooth read. My only real complaint is I feel like the book doesn’t come to a real climax. It just ends. No main antagonist per say. There’s alot of threads to be followed up on and their are plenty more books so I’m not too mad. In the end, I loved this book and I highly recommend checking on it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
We begin our story as a hacker getting busted by the Trioptimum Corporation after failing to steal tech. Edward Diego, the man in charge, offers us a deal: face the wraith of the company or do disable the safety protocols on Shodan, the AI for Citadel Station. After disabling the AI, we find ourselves on Citadel. Shodan has gone insane. Most of the crew is slaughtered, many reconfigured into cybernetic monstrosities, the machines have gone rogue, and genetic experiments are running amok. Can you escape the wrathful clutches of a wannabe god?
The original System Shock is a pioneer of immersive sims, heavily inspiring games like Bioshock and Prey. I was thrilled when the remake dropped, having never been able to experience the original.
First, Shodan is easily my favorite part of the game. Terry Brosius is absolutely iconic with her cold, hateful delivery. Shodan has become one of my all time favorite game villains. She is a all encompassing presence on Citadel with multiple Doomsday schemes to eradicate humanity. The game is a lot more eerie and unsettling than I thought it’d be, even more so having Shodan’s face following you, and her cameras eyeing your every step. The enemies themselves are haunting. I love he game’s overall cyberpunk sci-fi horror aesthetic.
Gameplay is very old school in some of the best and worst ways. This game does not hold your hand. You had better pay attention, take some notes, and be ready to dig through every nook and cranny for audio logs and data sticks for what the hell to do and where to go. Like the horror games of old, there’s a hell of a lot of back tracking but I found it fun. The environment tells a story and every floor I found either something fascinating or terrifying. Most of the combat is FPS which is solid, even awesome at times. It was pretty awesome beheading Temu Borg with a laser sword or setting mutants on fire with dragon breath shotgun rounds. There are plenty of puzzles and the cyberspace segments which give me a retro Star Fox meets 80’s space shooter vibe.
While there’s so much of this game I love, I’d be lying if I said this game didn’t piss me off at times. Their were times the game’s objectives are too abstract and for the second half I had to lean real heavy on Youtube to finish the game. Much like Dark Souls dying has big consequences. Autosave is unpredictable and more than I want to admit, it made my life way harder so save often. I also love the game’s retro approach but dammit a few small quality of life improvements would’ve done wonders like having your total ammo on your HUD, not just what’s in the clip. Automatically reloading would be nice too. Like every game, there are pain in the ass part, System Shock’s are FromSoft levels of brutal. I played the game on all the easiest difficulties possible and still took me 36 hours because of the back tracking and difficulty spikes. It wasn’t always fun but it was fulfilling much like my time with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
In the end, I loved the System Shock remake and I’m willing to say it’s up their with Resident Evil 2 (2019) and Dead Space (2023) as far as horror game remakes go. It’s absolutely not a game for everyone, its hard as hell but well worth a play. May the gaming gods bring you glory, insect.
Holy hell the horror nerd in me is freaking out. I love Clive Barker’s work. I’ve read the The Hellbound Heart at least a dozen times. Hellraiser is one of my favorite horror movies, and even Hellbound: Hellraiser 2. I’m hyped Doug Bradley is voicing Pinhead. The visuals are gritty, gory, and kinky as they ought to be. This might be the first game n a long while I buy day one. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Hallelujah! Alien: Isolation was my nightmares come true in the best ways. I heard whispers of a sequel but I didn’t believe it until we got the full reveal. We’re stuck on a dark, dreary planet being hunted by the Alien. So far I enjoy what I see. We don’t get much information, which I’m glad for. I’m absolutely going to follow Isolation 2. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
The latest Spiderman movie has me more than curious. The character list is pretty eclectic and we have a wide variety of story arcs going on. I’m glad me get to see Spidey beat down Scorpion. I’m extremely confident Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey after this trailer. I’m super pumped classic Hulk is returning but I’m a little disappointed we haven’t gotten any glimpse of Tombstone yet. In the end, this trailer actually got me pretty hyped and I can’t wait to catch it this summer. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
We finally have our next RE remake after the banger that was Resident Evil 4 Remake . Personally its Veronica as opposed to the original or Resident Evil 5. I can already tell just from the reveal trailer it’s going to be a wildly different game in a lot of ways. The set up isn’t the same and I know damn well they are redoing the Ashford lore. Overall I’m pretty pumped and I’m sure it’ll be a good time (even Resident Evil 3 (2020) wasn’t all that bad.) May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Until Dawn was one of my biggest surprises of the PS4 era. I loved the story, the atmosphere, and there was passion behind it. I never really expected a sequel to Supermassive’s masterpiece. Upon seeing this, I’m just very confused how this is a Until Dawn 2. I feel like this might’ve been a project they slapped the title on to generate buzz. It doesn’t look bad by any means, just hardly what I think any of us were expecting. Hopefully we’ll get a better idea what’s coming soon. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
There’s a few rare times I see a trailer for anything and truly have no idea what the hell went on. This game is one of those cases. I got a bit of a PT vibe meets Cabin in the Woods feel which could be pretty cool. Some of the imagery was interesting. Honestly this one of those games I’m pretty invested in just to find out what the hell is actually happening. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
So once again I came across a game channeling some old school horror vibes ala the Tortured Souls series. Admittedly this game gives off a huge, classic Resident Evil 1 vibe with the scenery. What I think is cool is the idea of killer plants and plant monsters. In that regard I was getting a lil bit of Poison Ivy’s section of Batman: Arkham Asylum feel too. The tank camera is a lil bit of a con but if the game is smoother, I’ll be ok with it. In the end, I’d definately would keep on eye out for it when it comes to PS5. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
