Category: Opinion

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

I-HAVE-NO-MOUTH-AND-I-MUST-SCREAM

Ok, so this is highly unusual for me because normally I cover books and comics and so on but I never dedicated a whole post to a short story before. Normally I wouldn’t but honestly this story, while roughly 20 pages, kept me thinking for days and haunted my day dreams with lurid imagery and touched a primal fear of mine- machines and man’s ludicrous reliance on them. The story follows the last five humans on earth, after a godlike A.I called Am eradicated humanity. Am keeps these people alive as a sick joke, not allowing them to die, de-evolving them and stomping them deeper into torturous madness and everlasting pain. In such a short package there is a lot of bleak imagery and touchy subjects like suicide, rape, and violence. The writer, Harlan Ellison, has a very simple style which somehow brings the horror of this scenario closer to home and feel more palpable. I really can’t remember the last time a short story intrigued me and left me speechless and inspired and that is the best compliment I can give. I can’t recommend this story enough, especially if you want to write horror or dark sci-fi yourself. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Heart Shaped Box

heart box

So because of a string of WTF events in life, I went back to being a full throttle, hardcore Lit nerd for a couple weeks. In those weeks, I got to read somethings off my to-do list, one of which is Joe Hill’s debut novel. Hill is the son of the legendary Stephen King so I was really interested to see if the apple fell far from the tree…

Judas Coyne is a aging rocker with a morbid collection of various things he’s acquired over the years. One day, his assistant finds a online bid for a ghost attached to a dead man’s vintage black suit in a heart shaped box; Jude buys it for giggles, just to have. His young, goth girlfriend laughs too, despite getting pricked by something sharp in the suit. It’s not long before Jude finds validity to his purchase and he’s visited by the owner of the suit, wielding a blade pendulum and X’s replacing his eyes. When Jude demands a refund from the seller, he finds out she has a sinister plot for him after blaming him for the death of her sister, Jude’s previous girlfriend. It’s up to Jude and his girlfriend Georgia to survive the vengeful spirit of a heartbroken step father as they run for there lives, but is there an escape?

I have to give Hill credit, while not perfect I ate this book up. Hill has a easy style that channels hint’s of his father’s earlier work but feels uniquely his own. The story is well paced and there is a good sense of dread throughout. Craddock, the spirit, is a eerie force that feels threatening and works as a good antagonist. My favorite part of the story was Jude and Georgia’s relationship and character arcs throughout the story. What I admit what I didn’t like was the actual end to Craddock, feeling like it came to out of left field and went to too far out to land a happy ending. In the end, it’s a enjoyable book by a good author I can’t wait to read more of that I recommend picking up. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Batman: Assault on Arkham

220px-Batman_Assault_on_Arkham_cover

So when I talked about Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay  I said it was basically the interpretation I wanted; in Batman: Arkham Origins we got the hint of Waller and the Suicide Squad that sadly never got to go anywhere in the Arkham verse…until now.

The Riddler is on the loose again and the feds are on his trail as well as his nemesis, Batman. He’s apprehended and sent to Arkham Asylum, but Amanda Waller isn’t pleases; Riddler has some vital information she needs. She assembles Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad, to infiltrate the asylum and get him. Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Killer Frost make there way in but nothing is ever easy. Harley and Joker’s relationship is on the rocks after a messy breakup and she’s out for blood, Batman is on there ass, and Waller has ulterior motives than cost them there lives as a plot is unleashed from inside the asylum.

Much like Hell to Pay, this is exactly what I wanted from a Suicide Squad film, unapologetic badassery from some great bad guys as well as Batman being the stoic badass he is. I love watching the clash between  the Bat and the Squad. Riddler was unexpected cool and welcome part of things as well. The movie feels very much part of the Arkham verse with a lot of game accurate voices and character cameos; what bothered me however was trying to place it in the timeline- I personally want to say it’s between Origins and Asylum but I can’t really be sure. The only little gripe I have is the title feels misleading and I feel like this is a Suicide Squad movie first instead of a Bat movie. In the end, if you love the Arkham games, you will have plenty of fun with this movie. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ratched series trailer

We live in a strange time friends. This strange time now includes a Nurse Ratched origin series, the tyrannical nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’m sorta curious where the hell this series is going to take this. I want to watch it for Sarah Paulson and I’m hoping for the best. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Update On Life

Just wanted to give you guys a quick update on things with us here at Savior Gaming. Due to personal reasons Tor will be missing for a few days or weeks, or whatever he needs. He usually isn’t gone for long tho.

As for myself,I’m just working on finishing school up and possibly finding a job with my Commercial Drivers Licence. Learning to drive a truck has been pretty awesome honestly. School of course sucks as it always has and always probably will, but the actual act of learning about the different parts and aspects of it has been interesting. There are plenty of subtle things I never really knew about it.

That honestly is really all I have, I just wanted to let you know what we had going on. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Predators

predators

We begin with Royce, a mercenary,  falling from the sky, unaware how he ended up in such a predicament. After avoiding death, he discovers he isn’t the only one. The survivors of the drop land in an uncharted jungle, each armed and each a soldier, killer from there respective field. After a run in with with these four legged alien beasts, they start to question what’s going on when an unseen assailant starts picking them off. Prey for a new kind of hunter on a lien world, how long can they survive the ultimate hunters?

Predator 3 is a mixed bag but I appreciate that they tried expanding the lore and didn’t just repackage the formula of the first 2 movies. I actually like how the characters are mostly hostile towards each other and have pretty cool backgrounds with a curve-ball towards the end; the story reminds me of The Most Dangerous Game featuring the Predator. I like the idea of introducing different Predator clans but the bastard Predator looked kinda goofy with the half mask and under bite. The effects are good for the most part but there are a few questionable moments. My favorite action scene is definitely the sword fight between the Yakuza assassin and the Predator. The ending is fine but I hate how open ended it is. There is a lot of callbacks to the first and the score is a nice updated feel of the original. In the end, Predators is a decent sequel that you may like if you want something a little different from the series. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

What Savior Has Been Doing

Some of you may have noticed that @torstenvblog as been doing much of the writing lately with myself mostly doing the reviews for games tossed our way. If you haven’t noticed, hey guys @torstenvblog has been doing most of the writing lately and I have been mostly just doing the reviews for games tossed our way. There have been a couple reasons for this. First, my internet has been quite hit and miss lately. Ever since COVID started it has been cutting in and out pretty consistently and as you can imagine getting someone out here to fix it has been pretty much impossible. Second, I may have had it myself. It was early when it all started and I live in an area where testing wasn’t really set up yet. I had all the symptoms and as I am not high risk it was decided that I should self-quarantine and to the emergency room if things got worse. Luckily for me, they did not, but there was still about a month getting out of bed was not easy to do without losing my breath. I am actually still not even fully recovered to be 100% honest. So it was either that or the world’s worst chest cold, either way, I am not concerned.

Now that brings me to the picture of that Tractor Trailor. (Don’t worry this isn’t sponsored by Amazon and I don’t work for them, the picture just made me laugh) The roughly month and a half I have been getting ready and returned to school to get my CDL (commercial driver’s license)  Between that and the internet my time has been limited and @torstenvblog has been cool enough to pick up the slack for me. I did however want to assure you Savior Gaming is not going anywhere. He and I will be here for a while to come and even when I am on the road there will be reviews for games and movies and even pictures from my eventual travels. I have always just been quite upfront with you guys and that hasn’t changed. Many of you have been here since our very first post, the death of both our fathers, lost girlfriends, and even to hear about the raising of baby savior and her antics. I look forward to sharing this as well. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gameplay trailer

It’s no surprise the latest Assassin’s Creed to drop looks like it’s shaping up to be the best we’ve seen in ages. I love the combat changes and the graphics look stunning but I can’t help but wish it wasn’t an Assassin’s Creed game but a whole new IP instead. I’m wishing for the best and may the gaming gods bring you glory.