Savior Gaming

Silence of the Lambs (book)

The Silence of the Lambs (novel) - Wikipedia

Clarice Starling is a promising cadet at the FBI academy pushing herself she can make it in the field. Driven and determined, she’s surprised when Jack Crawford asks her to question the legendary psychopath, Dr. Hannibal Lector. After the events of Red Dragon (book) he hasn’t responded to any questioning and his advice can become crucial in catching a disturbed killer called Buffalo Bill, who flays the flesh off of woman. When Buffalo Bill kidnaps a senator’s daughter, it’s up to Starling to try and discover the identity of this madman and save her, relying on Dr. Lector for advice and clues into the mind of madness.

So this book is pretty much what kids today would call a se-boot. You can pick it up just fine on it’s own without reading Red Dragon; their are callbacks to Graham and events of the first book but the info you get is pretty sufficient. While I personally like Will Graham better as a main character, Clarice is compelling in her own way and it is interesting to see how she interacts with familiar characters. Again, the villains steal the show. Lector is pretty damn memorable and Buffalo Bill is a creepy ass son of a bitch. The end comes together really nicely and there’s a lot of tension. The pacing is good and admittedly I never got bored with it. In the end I’d definitely say it’s well worth a read. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Curse of The Dead Gods (PS4 Review)

As always the first thing I want to do is thank the people at Focus Home Interactive for tossing me a review copy of this one. It is always a pleasure and this time is possibly more than ever.

First, this is one of those classic rouge-likes that is easy to pick up and play. In fact the first level will really give you a false sense of security. It isn’t overly difficult and with the controls being as simple as they are how bad can it be? You simply dodge with one button counter with another and have different attacks with different weapons or hold them for charged attacks.

This quickly turns on you as different enemies have different timing to defend or dodge, and many will attack you at the same time so you will have to choose what is about to happen to you. Do you just take one hit and dodge another? Do you block one and hope you times it right to avoid the damage all together?

There isn’t exactly a right or wrong answer, it all comes down to your play style and what rooms are coming up. Some rooms allow you to heal, but just like entering each room builds up corruption so will healing in this way. The more corruption the more curses you get hit with. Some are minor like you can no longer collect gold from chest, others are worse like you lose health every few seconds.

The graphics and sound are solid but nothing to brag about, but I also wouldn’t complain. The enemies are nice and having to get yourself some light to hold off enemies doing extra damage is a nice touch. The game is both fair and unforgiving of your mistakes with plenty of weapons and such to unlock but not so many locked to start that you are handicapped to start. Your skill will matter we much we your load out.

Death also isn’t much of a punishment, in fact it is expected. Each run gives you random weapons to start and allows you to spend assorted currencies to upgrade your game permenently. There are even daily events for when you want something new. This was one of the better rogue-likes I have played, and will keep playing it. A solid 8 out of 10. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

On Writing, a memoir of the craft

So for those who have been keeping up with things on the blog, my first book is debuting through Barnes and Noble’s website as Savior covered in The Flies Inside Pre-order . That being said, I myself enjoy reading books on reading to find truth on how to improve or get a laugh on how full of shit the author is. I’m glad to say On Writing by King is one of the most helpful and insightful I’ve heard. In this book, we get a good look at the legendary writer’s back story as well as some of his personnel tips on the trade. If you have Audible, I highly recommend adding this to your library because it’s pretty cool hearing it straight from the man himself as well as from his son Joe Hill, another good author in his own right. While not my typical content for review, I’ll say it’s well worth a read or listen for good advice and some stories from a legend, especially if you are a writer like myself. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Red Dragon (book)

Being a horror fan for my whole life, I’m almost ashamed to say I have no connections to Dr. Hannibal Lector. I’ve never seen the movies and only few months ago started reading the books. So after finishing the first story to introduce the legendary killer, are the stories worth the hype?

Will Graham was a talented FBI Investigator who had been pushed to the brink of his sanity by prominent psychologist turned killer Hannibal Lector. Graham never felt the same and was hesitant when his old friend and colleague Jack Crawford comes to him begging for help with a new case. There’s a new killer who violently slays whole families. Cunning as well as savage, Graham is at a loss, resorting to ask help from his old nemesis for advice, unaware Lector and this new foe deemed the “Tooth Fairy” may be connected. Can Graham stop this brutal killer before he falls victim to the madmen?

I really didn’t know what to expect and about half way through I was pretty damn engaged in this book. Thomas Harris is fantastic at putting you in the killer’s shoes and once we start seeing the story from their perspective, I was hooked in. Graham himself is a good protagonist I enjoyed following who seemed mentally burned out throughout the story and I could feel his frustration and obsession growing. As for Lector- he ain’t in there much. He is involved in the story but this far from his story so don’t go in looking for a lot of him. The story is paced really well but I feel like the ending fumbles. Red Dragon is pretty self contained which I liked (yes, I’m now currently reading Lambs). In the end, I enjoyed this story as a good psychological crime thriller I’d definitely recommend. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Flies Inside Pre-order

The time has come my friends, our very own @torstenvblog and his first book, The Flies Inside is now live for pre-order.

https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-flies-inside-torsten-v/1138929829?ean=9780578858821

For $10 you can support a new author and check out his first book, in paper back. Stay tuned for my review, and possibly an interview. Thank you for the continued support. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Aliens: Fireteam reveal trailer

As a Alien fanboy, I bet you want me to be excited for this new game in the Aliens universe. Truth be told, I’m not. I wanted another horror game, not another action shooter. The graphics look fine but I’m not really impressed at the look of the Aliens. Maybe it will be good and slay those awful memories of that game we don’t speak of, but I’m not holding my breath. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Marvel Aliens #1 trailer

Well, I guess it really ends an era of Dark Horse’s Aliens comics. How do I feel about the Alien debut in the Marvel Universe? Eh. The art looks nice but will we get the gritty, lore filled stories we deserve or simply just cash grabs? Time will tell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Flies Inside by Torsten V, Coming March 19th 2021

This is one of my proudest post to have ever written if I am being 100% honest. Our own writer, and possibly the best friend I have ever had, @torstenvblog will soon be releasing his first book, The Flies Inside. It will be up for pre-order soon on the Barnes and Nobles website and cost $9.99.(It is a physical release) Which is funny because until today I did not know the full title, that is how kept in the dark I was.

I also want to give a huge shout out to https://twitter.com/CatzkriegArtz for the great work she did on this preview of the back cover of the book, and you can even check out her soon to come Etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/shop/catzkriegartz/

Cat is a personal friend of Torsten, and I think it is pretty cool that from the bottom up this entire process was completed by friends just working their way into getting started. Obviously this was just a quick post to let everyone know it was coming, and I do have plans to follow up when those pre-orders go live and I will have a full review shortly after release.

I am told its a sort of Horror/mystery deal by a friend that has read an earlier draft but the author described it as more of a horror/dark drama. It seems like an intriguing combo, and knowing he wrote this for his father that he lost last year it makes sense. They bonded a lot when he was a kid over horror movies and comics, and this has really colored his writing style. His father whom we affectionally called Duke was a good man, one you couldn’t help but love and respect. Where ever he is I know he is as proud of him as I am. May the gaming gods smile upon you all, and please consider supporting one of our very own when the time comes.

Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World

Green Lantern: Earth One (V2)

Image result for green lantern earth one vol 2

A few years have passed since the events of Green Lantern: Earth One(V 1) and the Green Lantern Corp is struggling to maintain order. Beside ridding the universe of the Manhunters, a new power emerges from a old threat when new, yellow lanterns appear. Proclaimed saviors armed with power rings far stronger than those of the Green Lanterns, it isn’t long before the last Guardian emerges as their creator, offering amends for follies and offering to adopt the Green Lanterns under his stronger new regime. The offer causes discourse amongst the Green Lanterns and a divide. If things weren’t dire as it were, Earth’s first contact with alien life has gone terribly wrong as it appears Earth attacks them war is on the horizon where Jordan discovers the Yellow Lanterns at the scene. Can Hal Jordan stop the oncoming war as well as refuse a greater power?

I loved the first volume of this Earth One series and awaited the second hungrily. While not quite as good as the first, the second book goes into some interesting directions I really liked. I really liked the design of the Yellow Lanterns and how they were portrayed as well as the questions around power they present. Hal’s story is continued pretty well and I like how his story plays out. I wish Jon Stewart was a bit more flushed out and he joined the Green side at the end. The art continues to be gritty but colorful. The only minor complaints I have is how the plots are juggled, getting a bit hard to follow at times and the lack of construct play in this series- the Lantern’s basically pretty much rely on forcefields and lasers which seems kind of bland after a while. In the end this is a damn good follow up to the first book and I’m pretty excited to see what Book 3 could be. May the gaming gods bring you glory.