Savior Gaming

George A Romero

Now some of you may have noticed, while the name of the blog is Savior Gaming, we cover a LOT of horror movies. A large part of this comes from as a kid one day my father that died recently from cancer says to me hey savior ( hey you weren’t there he could have called me savior) lets watch a movie. This turned out to be my first horror movie, Night of The Living Dead.

Now being from Scranton Pennsylvania it was filmed pretty close to home, so it holds many special places in my heart. Romero had many great movies, but this one will always stick with me. May he rest in peace, and may the gaming gods watch over him.

Final Fantasy 12 Review

I have a history with this game going all the way back to its original PS2 release. I remember buying Dragon Quest 8 just because it came with the demo, and actually ended up really liking DQ8. I can not say the same for Final Fantasy 12. While I enjoyed the more adult and political story to it but that was about the end of it. The characters all seemed boring I hated the gambit system even tho it was very easy to use and very well explained. The battle system also left much to be desired as most fights until mid game can many times be beaten if you simply don’t touch anything. I can’t comment on much after that, I got so bored i stopped playing around the mid point 3 separate times. My two biggest complaints tho were the fact that there was very little reason to customize characters outside of weapons and armor every one ended up with every ability and spell in the game. My other complaint was the maps were huge but empty and took forever to navigate.

I took a chance on the PS4 version because my two biggest complaints were addressed. The new job system would create some variety and the new speed button lets me zoom around much quicker, 2 or 4 times faster to be precise. And both are successfully done, the job system absolutely gives some variety and traveling around is easier than ever. If you were a fan of the original release you should absolutely pick this iteration up. That being said, if like me you found it boring and uninteresting these updates both graphical and overall improvements offer nothing to really change that view point. As always thanks for reading and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

American Poltergeist 2

So here we are. Another American poltergeist movie. Let me start out by saying the concept behind this one is not as good as the 1st one which weirdly came out after this one. Yes, poltergeist 2 was actually released prior to 1 and the movies are in no way connected. It was also called The Poltergeist of Borley Forest. Tho knowing all this does explain why the video work and acting seems to be done by a bunch of students, I would like to think no professional would change the name of their movie after release and make it seem like a Sequal to a movie that released a few years afterwards. All that being said the story of a spirit following a teenage girl home after she walks under a noose in a haunted forest at a keg party is rather interesting and the movie itself is not bad. If you don’t mind what appears to be an indy film under bad management definitely check it out. Thanks for your time and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

From The Dark (2014l

Every so often picking horror movies off Netflix completely and utterly bites me on the ass and I stumble across a movie so bad I feel like it will never end. This is one of those god forsaken movies I never should have watched. A couple on a trip in the middle of nowhere in the country of Ireland gets stuck in some mud and attempts to find help. What they find is an old country home with a man in need of help. Now everything about this has potential,especially if you happen to enjoy Irish lore and scenery. Sadly what it ends up being is a badly shot movie that some parts are so dark you can’t really see whats going on, even if it was just someone washing their hands. The acting itself feels stiff and the creature hunting them all night is not at all believable as a creature and seems to simply be some guy that’s a bit crazy. I truly can not recommend anyone watch this movie. Thanks for reading and may the gaming gods guide you to glory.

Viral (2016)

So i picked this movie randomly off Netflix, like I do most of my horror movies. For once I have to say this worked out in my favor. The story goes like this. A family has just moved to town, dad is a biology teacher at the local school his daughters attend as usual. Mom is out of town for whatever work related reason and as you already knew I am sure, one sister is more party hard than the other and one is the typical girl next door that happens to have a crush on the boy across the street.

As usual in these movies the typical high school things happen that leads to a best friend being dead at the hands of whatever is killing everyone, this time its parasitic worms that have suddenly started turning people into what can only be described as mindless drones to feed the before mentioned worms.

Despite all the usual suspects and cliches in the movie it was actually very well done. The pacing and acting were both done fairly great , the sounds were right where they should have been and the visuals were down right creepy and wiggly at times. My biggest issue with the movie is the cliffhanger ending with no real reason to suspect a follow up. As always thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien Abduction

alien abduction

Honestly I was not sold on another footage movie with a shaky camera and some annoying family. But anyway, here I am, watching another one staring Katherine Sigismund,Corey Eid and Ripley Polanski and directed by Matty Beckerman. The movie starts off with a family camping in North Carolina in some mountains known to be home to a bunch of extraterrestrial activity that runs the gambit from weird lights to strange creature sightings and of course rumors of alien abductions. The visuals aren’t as bad as one would think they would be for a movie mostly made up of home movie footage as its happening. It was also pretty nice touch that is done from the sons perspective that many times someone has to remind him to stop filming things, for example a dead animal found the morning of the second day. I didn’t find the movie to be the most interesting thing in the world, but it did a pretty good job at being both creepy and entertaining which honestly is all i ask from a movie. It had its flaws, mostly the same one all these movies have with flickering cameras and being overly dark. They aren’t hard to look passed tho and its absolutely not the worst film in the genre. As always thanks for joining me, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Universal expansion: good or evil?

In 2008, most of us freaked the hell out when Samuel L. Jackson uttered the phrase that orgasm-ed every nerd’s heart at the end of Iron Man: “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative”. I myself didn’t think it would work, building up to one huge cinematic event over five movies. But in 2012 I ate my words when it worked. Marvel and Disney started the trend and now cinematic universes have either resurfaced or tried to emerge on there own, but no one has come close to Marvel’s success with the MCU. Three phases in and still kicking ass. DC attempted to sloppily rush to catch up, stumbling with the critical punching bag Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice that essentially tried to be a Man of Steel sequel, a stand alone batman film, a Dark Knight Returns adaptation, a Wonder Woman intro, a Death of Superman adaptation, as well introduce, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg while introducing the concepts of the MotherBoxes and holy shit it was bloated with not much pay off any where. Recently, Universal pictures released its latest incarnation of The Mummy specifically made to launch there updated “Dark Universe”. Well, it bombed. You see, back in grandparents day when black and white film was standard and Universal Pictures was king of the Hill, they were one of the first examples of crossing properties with movies like “Dracula versus The Wolfman” and such like it. Decades later, from what I’ve gathered, they took the classic Universal monsters and tried fitting them into an Avengers formula. So Far the Kaiju Universe has met with fair to moderate success with the 2014 Godzilla remake and Kong: Skull Island which got mixed reviews and the Godzilla sequel set for 2019 I believe; another example of another cinematic universe revived for modern times. Meanwhile Star Wars expanded their cinematic universe with the inclusion of side stories like last year’s Rogue One, which met with critical review (despite my own review); Fox released Deadpool, a spin off to the X Men Universe with critical acclaim, set to launch a possible X Force universe someday; coming this August and September are the Dark Tower film and It remakes from the mind of Stephen King, the most legendary horror writer of our time. If eyed closely, the Dark Tower books are the spoke that locks King’s universe together cleverly with easter eggs rather full on cross overs.

So what separates the unforgettables from the duds? It’s a mix of effort, material, and understanding. Marvel gets this almost perfectly. They understand their heroes, what makes them stand out, what themes surround each individual story and the importance of theme to each character, and there huge stories are told with care. I was genuinely impressed with Captain America: Cival War and how well all the characters felt relevant and there was growth in them since previous installments, they weren’t just there to be there (I’m talking to YOU D.O.J and Mummy!). I’m not entirely against the flood of universes making there way to the cinemas, I just ask they be made with love.

So, what’s you guys take on all this? Leave a comment below and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Game of Thrones Telltales Review

Game of thrones

Game of Thrones is in my opinion probably the weakest of the Telltale Games out there, but that doesn’t make it a bad game in any sense. The story itself is interesting and pretty on par with the rest of the games and even the books and t.v. series. The episodes follow the Forrester family and those close to them after the Red Wedding. It doesn’t focus on anyone in particular rather multiple people, some of which in true thrones fashion end up on the wrong end of a sword. This time around the game relies more heavily on timed button presses and button mashing than previous entries which may turn many people off of this Telltale adventure. Personally I like the more serious and violent tone of the these episodes. There is no shortness of blood and death tho admittedly I have witnessed more than a few graphical glitches, for example Jon Snow gliding up some stairs or a cane that is just seemingly large pixel blocks one moment than a cane the next. The sound and voice work is well done tho and the graphical issues while annoying aren’t game breaking or significant. To wrap it all up, the game isn’t bad and is free this month, so at the very least you get a solid story and a platinum trophy for your time, which to me isn’t to shabby. Thanks for reading and may the gaming gods grant you glory.

The Void

The void (2016) staring Aaron Poole fits right into that nostalgia niche for people that love old 80’s low budget horror films. The main villains are basically a cult seemingly worshiping some strange creature. And by cult I mean non Christian KKK members, seriously look at these guys.

The Void klan

I can’t really tell you if like this movie or not, we all know I love a good nostalgia trip,and old horror movies is one of my favorite trips to take. But this movie about a cop and some others trapped inside of hospital before all hell breaks out has been done before many times and mostly its been done much better. visuals and sound are pretty well done for what it is, and I always enjoy seeing an unborn baby tear itself out of its mom and go on a killing spree and a disgusting monster before being set on fire. I wouldn’t classify the movie as bad or a waste of time, but there are far better movies out there with far better stories. I won’t say don’t watch it, but don’t go in expecting anything grand or special. Once again thanks for joining me, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Until Dawn

Until Dawn did for horror gaming Cabin in the Woods did for horror movies, and that’s the best compliment I can give. Normally I’m not a fan of point and click games but when I got dropped into what at first I assumed was gong to be a rip off of Friday the 13th in video game form, much like how Cabin leads you to think it’s going to a Evil Dead clone at first glance. The story revolves around a group of College friends who traditionally meet at a cabin during holiday break. Tragedy strikes when two of there friends die in what seems to a accident after a prank gone wrong. A year later the friends meet again, there friendships strained by the tragedy. During the course of a fierce blizzard, they begin to suspect they aren’t alone up there after all…

No, I’m not spoiling it because frankly the ending is cleaver as hell. Also, I give the writers bonus credit for talking about a monster not often utilized in horror that’s both fascinating and has a lot of potential; aren’t we all a bit burned out on vampires and zombies these days? As I I mentioned, I’m not a point and click fan but the mechanics they add like fast QTES and the motion control parts add a little extra flavor. The game is built around the “butterfly effect”, where every action you do or don’t do greatly impacts the characters. Once you are aware of this, you can use this to either aid or hinder them; oh did I screw some of the characters I hated. There are several outcomes to the game so highly replayable. The voice acting is good, but Peter Stommare steals the show as “the therapist”. Overall, it’s a fun game in the spirit of Cabin in the Woods or Friday the 13th so pick it up for free this month on PS plus.