Savior Gaming

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.

The Diabolical 2015

The Diabolical

The Diabolical stars Ali Larter, Arjun Gupta and Max Rose, directed by Alistair Legrand is a movie about a widowed mother attempting to protect her children from strange things in her home. Yes, I am well aware that this seems to be a pretty standard movie plot. However, i’m not going to bash this movie for it. This movie actually reminded me that while many stories are done to death brought back to life and beaten to death again, sometimes that story is done well. The movie doesn’t spend a ton of time setting up and gets right into the meat and bones of the story which is a nice change of pace and has plenty of good but not blatant foreshadowing to to the multiple twist at the end, some veteran movie buffs will see coming a mile away, but even at that it is very well done.

The visuals are pretty nice as well, nothing overly gory but enough to get the message across while keeping the story itself realistic while the sound helps paint a nice picture of the struggle this family is facing. The troubled young boy still coping with the loss of his father and the creepy little sister he is over protective of while as cliche a you can get re both well played. Now I admit my first thought here was great, another kid with psychic powers or accidentally conjuring ghost. I found myself at time questioning if this was even what was going on and by the end of the movie there is a clear picture of what is going on and I would be more than happy to say its worth checking out. Thanks for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War

scw1 Sinestro Corps War plays a major role to Green Lantern’s story because it ends with the shattering of the emotional spectrum and the emergance of other lights, other lanterns, and the last coming before the finality of the prophesied Blackest Night. It takes place after Parallax possessed Hal Jordan and slayed most of the Green Lantern Corps, for which the other Lanterns now fear him. The Corp is rebuilding but so is Sinestro’s with a plan to destroy them all once and for all. Using Parallax again, he uses Kyle Raynor this time, formerly the Green Lanterns last hope and bearer of their entity Ion; and using another lesser known weakness of the green power rings and there inability to use lethal force, he assembles a massive. bloody attack on the remnants of the Green Lanterns. Suddenly the mistakes of the Guardians of the universe start forming a noose around there necks as they begin to argue over the validity of the prophecy of Blackest Night as well as well as the pressure of unlocking the lethal force protocols, opening the pandoras box they had opened with the Manhunters centuries ago. Against the wishes of two of the Guardians, who see the vows they had taken to abandon emotion being used against them, they take the names of Ganthet and Sayd and reach out privately to once greatest Green Lantern Hal Jordan to warn him of the horrible times coming, urging him to pull himself together and get ready to lead the Corps and face his ultimate fears and his ultimate enemy…

This book is they definition of epic with it roster of rich characters both good and evil and it’s massive battlegrounds through worlds and space. Again Geoff Johns writes an an amazing story of fear and revenge. The art is breathtaking and color full. It caneither be read in two volumes or a large combined book. I will say I won’t recommend it for DC comic virgins because the story is very involved in the DC universe with the inclusion of Cyborg-Superman as a main character on Sinestro’s side, the events of Emerald Twilight, and and some deep lantern mythos. It’s not a totally inaccessible story for new comers but I sure as hell don’t recommend it as a first dip into Green Lantern, but recommend it I do.

scw2 “In Brightest Day and Blackest Night, no evil shall escape my sight. For those who worship evil’s might, beware my power: Green Lantern’s Light!” the green lantern oath.

“In Blackest Day and Brighest Night, beware your fears made into light. Let those who try to stop what’s right, burn lie my power: Sinestro’s might!” Sinestro Corps oath.

Preacher Six Preview

preacher six

Full disclosure/disclaimer, Savior Gaming is in no way shape or form affiliated with this movie or anyone on their staff. Everything within is strictly my opinion that was not asked for and I am receiving no money or other compensation from its creators…Unless they want to hook me up with some free swag,a hoodie or shirt would be sweet.

Now that this formality is out of the way, here is a quick trailer I found on their website which i will post a link to under the video.

http://www.preachersix.com/

Now it is story time. Probably about a year ago, when Savior Gaming was nothing but a dream of a guy that enjoyed the occasional stream on Twitch with friends, I made the Savior Gaming twitter page. Not long after I was followed by a man named Kyle Hester who for some reason looked familiar. So I checked out his page saw he was an actor and followed him back. Now as many of you know I always thank my followers for following me, and Mr. Hester was no exception, but to my surprise he replied basically saying hey thanks. Never really tried to sell me on his project that I only learned about later. Eventually the movies twitter page followed me and it seemed pretty cool so I checked the movie out and discovered something amazing. This group has thrown their heart and soul into this project and is very responsive to their fans and followers. Now I don’t expect anyone besides me to remember this and I doubt many will care, but its still an interesting fact.

With all that being said Preacher Six seems to be exactly what it sounds like. A horror movie involving a holy man fighting evil, 6 bullets at a time.

Preacher six-2

One last thing before I go, this movie seems to be the epitome of a crowdfunded with a lot of people from a lot of places donating what they can or just spreading the word so please, if you have the means support their efforts, I have placed the link for that below.

https://www.gofundme.com/preachersixarkansasshoot

As always thank you for your time, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lord of the flies

flies So this is a weird one, friends. Lord of Flies is a book that is both strange and deep, much like Animal Farm, showcasing the the evils that can spawn in the hearts of man without the threat of society’s consequence. During the dawn of WW2, a plane full of English boys crash lands on a island in the middle of nowhere. They are the only human inhabitants. Our character is Ralph, a carefree young lad transfixed with the promise of no grown ups and a island to explore. Soon he meets Piggy, a fat, asthmatic boy in glasses who acts as a thread to rationality to the story. Together they find a conch shell in the sand; Ralph blows on it to summon the others. Others come forth, including a band of black clad choir group led by Jack Merridew. Ralph and Jack, two of the oldest, old a vote to see who leads the group. Ralph is voted chief, while Jack takes point of leading hunters for food. The goal is simple: build and maintain a fire on top of the island and survive. Ralph quickly discovers the hardships of chiefdom- the fire isn’t easy to keep up, fear spreads among the little ones of a monster that lives on the island eating the children, and ultimately his tumultuous clashing with Jack, who slowly falls into madness and overthrows Ralph by violent force.

By itself Lord of the Flies is a hard book to classify; it exhibits pieces of psychological horror, parable like animal farm, and straight up adventure epic. It’s a very slow burn, but like many good stories of this kind, once the eerie and dark parts begin it escalates nicely. My favorite aspect is Jack’s slow descent into madness and how he throws away much of morality behind clay paint he wears, feeling disconnected enough not to be affected by the blood he starts enjoying spilling. I enjoy the grim look at man’s action without consequence. My only gripe is yes this is a slow ass burn and not even a big book. A lot of detail goes into the scenery and setting, much like the novel for The Shining which is fine but sometimes, ok more than sometimes, hurts the pacing. Absolutely worth a read if you ever wondered what a cross between Children of the Corn and Gilligan’s Island would be like.

Castlevania review

castlevania

Let me preface this by saying, I was not a fan of the games, they weren’t bad or anything like that, they just were not my scene so to speak. So when i heard the first season of the Netflix serious was out I was very meh about the whole thing. That being said i felt I owed it to my readers ( hey guys how are you) to sit down and watch the first episode of season 1 so I could properly say, meh. The season consist of 4 episodes between 20-25 minutes long and i have to say they went quick. This was not what i was expecting at all, and I am happy to say this was amazingly done. From the opening minutes of the show i was hooked, the art style is fantastic, the sounds are well done and range from creepy to magical and all at the right times. The story itself has some nice nods to the games themselves leaving plenty of room to either do their stories or simply do its own thing.

This is definitely however, adult oriented. Some very graphic death scenes and strong language throughout and even a bar mans story about how he a hit man with a shovel for having sex with his goat, this is not a story for children. That being said I actually feel for good old Dracula, while admittedly he may be taking things to far I understand why he does what he is doing which only makes his evil actions seem all the more evil.

When all is said and done, if you like the Castlevania series, vampire stories or just anime in general you owe it to yourself to watch this show that has already been picked up for an 8 episode season 2. Thanks for joining me and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars: the Clone Wars (05)

Since I covered what I felt to be the most overrated Star Wars entry to date, I thought it would only be fitting to cover the most underrated piece of the series that sadly isn’t canon anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I hold no ill will towards the canon series; I enjoy that a lot too. But the first series came to me at a time when I was beginning to discover anime. The animation style feels very reminiscent of Samurai Jack, and though only 25 episodes, most of which are only 5 minutes long, they’ve stuck with me more 12 years after the fact with there unique blend of quick storytelling and anime influences.

This series directly bridges the gap between Attack of the clones and Revenge of the Sith. The Clone Wars are in full swing. Count Dooku arranges an unusual bounty hunter to assassinate Obi-Wan. But while in seclusion, a young woman finds him and slays the beasts Dooku sends against her with ease because she is strong with the force. Wielding two lightsabers, one blue and the other green, she drops the final beast and utters the words “I am sith.” Dooku sends the woman, Aasj Ventress to assassinate Anakin SkyWalker with her new red sabers. In space she finds him, strands him alone on a swampy world, murdering his troops one by one until he’s alone. They duel, pushing Anakin over the edge, making him strike her down with the power of the dark side. The image of Anakin standing on a cliff while Ventress falls, screaming with the glowing red blade in his mechanical hand against a red sky is very powerful. Soon after, a new figure in the Confederacy emerges, the fearsome droid commander General Grievous. When first debuted, Grievous was a beast with a agile, strong body and a dangerously strange means of using Lightsabers in combat. The finale of the series leads into the opening scene of Sith. The whole series can be found on Youtube; if you want a more condensed, less child-friendly take on the Clone Wars that has more of a anime feel, I highly recommend it. May the force be with you and the gaming gods bring you glory.