Halloween special!

With Halloween just around the corner The Pixel Empire are devoting the next week and a bit to a Halloween special. Four reviews on the horror genre, one each by the four site contributors, will begin to be posted on the site over the course of the next few days. Until then why not check out our responses to five very simple questions on scary games.  

The Pixel Empire 

Or read the extended answers I provided for each question below (which Tom ruthlessly edited for The Pixel Empire)! 

Favourite scary game? 

Survival horror at it's best...

This is likely to change in the future as I’ve not had the pleasure to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent yet, which is supposed to be amazingly spine-chilling. Hopefully it will be on Steam’s forthcoming Christmas sale! Until then it’s got to be Resident Evil 2. Perfect pacing, atmosphere and scenario, the Racoon City Police Station is just as highly memorable now as George A. Romero’s shopping mall in Dawn of the Dead. And whilst some of the scares are fairly obvious horror clichés, there is still very little that can prepare your underwear for the murder of crows crashing through windows and pecking away at Leon’s nicely groomed hair. The low moans of zombies just round the corner, blinking huge hairy spiders in the sewers, a massive threat in the T-Virus and the spine-chilling notion that Racoon City has been completely desolated all add to the oppressive air of the game. It only gets better when you play the ‘what really happened’ scenarios and spend the whole time running away from the pre-Nemesis Nemesis’ that never ever stop, ever, until you are dead. They, like the Nemesis in Resident Evil 3, are utterly shit-inducing every time they appear on screen; no matter how much you blast away they just keep coming for you. Resident Evil 2 is a totally barnstorming survival horror. Turn up the volume, dim the lights and enjoy! 

Scariest creature/foe? 

Fucking spider! 

That fucking spider in Limbo. It’s animated far too well and moves far too quickly for my frayed nerves, making it utterly terrifying. That it out-sizes the tiny little protagonist by quite a way just makes it even more associated with squeaky bum time. Jump little boy, jump. Faster, the flipping spider is gaining. Arrgh, mis-timed jump. Splat! The little boy’s haunting, piercing eyes when you restart after breaking his tiny neck (the death animations are rather marvellous if slightly grim in Limbo) make you feel totally guilty, although his death rarely has anything to do with your platforming ineptitude. It’s that fucking spiders fault. 

Scariest scene moment? 

Seriously, avoid playing Heavy Rain if you are a Dad. It will give you nightmares. 

Ack. Dead Space almost topped this one after just missing out on favourite scary game and scariest creature (any of the Necromorph’s bar the Hive Mind which is just plain shit). But again it’s been piped to the post, this time by psychological murder mystery next-gen style point-and-click adventure Heavy Rain. And no, it’s not the torturously tense scenes of finger slicing, belly crawling on glass or executing drug dealers that will terrify your moral sense of well-being. It’s a simple sequence near the beginning where you lose your son in a shopping mall crowd, and no matter how hard you search you can never quite find him or get close enough to him through the mingling crowd until it’s too late. The scene, like most of the rest of the game (Maddison Page fighting off masked intruders in her apartment is a close second), is absolutely nerve-jangling beyond all belief and all the more terrifying because of it. Maybe it’s because I’m a dad, but I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child in a mass crowd of people. Scary, scary stuff. 

Are games scarier than ten years ago? 

No. Resident Evil and Silent Hill were at their peak at the turn of the century. I’d defy anyone to suggest that whilst games have become more stylish, those titles still hold their own against more modern horror games, particularly with regards to atmosphere. Dead Space, if anything, is from the exact same breed of survival horror that spawned both those titles, and still does not better them despite the awesome setting, scenes of mild peril and cack-inducing encounters with Necromorphs. Also, is there a modern equivalent for Pyramid Head? No. There isn’t. 

Where do you see horror games going in the future? 

Isaac Clarke, yesterday. Gutted to be going home as second best in three categories. 

Hopefully not the route that Dead Space 3 seems likely to travel; irritating AI co-op. It was an awful setup for Resident Evil 5, not just because the AI was truly terrible, but because it takes away from the pivotal factor that makes horror gaming successful. The player is, for the most part, on their lonesome. It’s their resourcefulness and courage in the face of seemingly oppressive odds that generates a truly marvellous horror atmosphere. When you’ve got some annoying cheese-eating dick-monkey constantly yapping on in your ear-hole in mundane fashion about nothing interesting whatsoever, it takes away from the atmosphere somewhat. No longer does every small noise as you creep along a corridor make your skin-crawl. Mostly because you can’t hear such things over inane chatter!

Instead, let’s pray that game designers keep an eye to what made the early Resident Evil’s and Silent Hill’s so impressive. An interactive adventure that was challenging, atmospheric and not for the faint hearted! If Dead Space was not so easy (far too many save points for its own good) it would be held in far higher regard than it already is. This is what we need in the future. Not Resident Evil 6. Alternatively, more games like Hard Rain. Like Japanese horror movies, the horror here is more psychological than gore-laden, and involves more aspects where you truly have to question your moral integrity. Perhaps there is little more challenging than that; perhaps that is the way forward. We don’t want scary games to become mindless schlock like the Saw franchise now, do we?

Stop this running madness!

On the 7 October I completed the Royal Park’s Half Marathon. Go me. And not just completed it; I smashed my personal best at this distance by three minutes. Which is not bad considering I’m four years older since my last half-marathon, trained less owing to work commitments and fatherhood responsibilities and drunk more beer during training than the previous time round. So, proof positive that beer contains magical properties beyond helping ugly people have sex since 1964.

Luckily, the mantras from semi-professional football managers of old constantly sounded encouragement between my ears during the run – “you’re only cheating yourself” I would constantly remind myself. And it seemingly worked. After a comfortable 10k (six miles) which whizzed by the last seven miles were painful and agonising. It didn’t help that the sun was shining brightly and there was nowhere to hide on the large expanse of Hyde Park that the last seven miles zig-zagged across. At one point, diving into the Serpentine appeared to be a refreshing idea given the lack of a comforting rain storm. But despite the nagging pain in the calves, the mantra kept me going, kept me ahead of the hour and fifty minute pacemaker and ensured I crossed the finishing line in one hour 45 minutes and 57 seconds.

The main difference between the MS tent at the Great North Run and the Royal Parks? No Wine Gums at the Royal Parks. Gah!

Of course, the other thing that kept me going was that I was raising money and awareness for the MS Society, as well as running in the memory of my Mum who suffered with the progressive form of the illness for 29 years. Given that I watched her slowly fall apart until there was nothing else left to fall off, stopping for a breather or even contemplating walking (unless I picked up an injury) would have been particularly poor form. Hopefully she would have been proud, especially the £700 currently raised by me and Callum (my co-runner who’s knee went wonky at the 10 mile mark but managed to finish despite the injury – good work bud). I’d like this to be a little more than at present so if you’re feeling generous and have not already done so, the justgiving webpage will remain up until the beginning of January. It’s for a very good cause and if everyone I knew just gave a quid, then the MS Society would have a shitload of quids:

http://www.justgiving.com/Al-Jim-Cal-MS-run

Anyway, enough of this running madness! I’ve got sitting on my arse to do and games to play. Although I am starting to become fond of the washer-board six-pack that is starting to poke through the barrel; and the fact that I’m no longer out of breath after climbing stairs. I’m not doing a fucking marathon though. That’s crazy talk for crazy people…! 

Marathon? Even Dawson thinks that is a crazy idea...

Cinemaphobe

March 2011. That’s the last time I watched a film at the cinema. It was not even a night out. It was the local midday ‘baby’ cinema viewing of Hop. No balls to the wall action or inappropriate f-ing and blinding; just James Marsden fucking around as the Easter bunny whilst Russell Brand did voices! Apart from the ever delightful Penny from Big Bang Theory appearing as Marsden’s sister, I don’t actually recall much about it, which is a sure fire signal for defining mediocrity. So, the last time I properly went to the cinema was sometime in 2010, which was so long ago now I can’t even recall what it was I watched…

Kaley Cuoco - yum!

This wouldn’t have happened in 1999 when in the space of two weeks I saw things you wouldn’t have believed; the second coming being rightly trashed by the greatest sleeper hit ever is kind of what I imagine c-beams glittering on the shoulder of Orion and attack ships on fire by the Tanhauser Gate probably looks like. So where has it all gone wrong? Some delicate introspection is required to ascertain whether I have become a grumpy and reclusive cinemaphobe.

Taking a shit in George Lucas' cereal since 1999.

There is some tangible context to apply before coming to any pre-determined judgements. Clowny Jnr was born in January 2011; a point in time when I was immediately beset upon by hitherto unknown responsibility. Decision-making now followed a defined order – the boy before my own selfish wants and needs. Nappies and shit are flipping expensive, as is a night out at the cinema. Two tickets, popcorn, a possible meal beforehand and beers after to discuss the hidden depths of the latest Adam Sandler flick and you’ve pretty much spent the best part of £40 to sit though tedious wank like The Expendables (sadly, not every movie is Scott Pilgrim vs The World). That’s like 250 nappies. With such reasoning you can begin to see why cinema-going has fallen off the radar.

In addition, I’ve kind of moved out of my comfort zone. Essex to Surrey to be precise! Back in the homeland there is an entourage of like-minded individuals whom travel regularly to Festival Park in Bas Vegas to watch the latest cinema releases. And by latest I mean just that. There really must have been nothing else on the weekend Mission to Mars was released (I still haven’t forgiven you for that Wenty). Yet it did also provide the opportunity to sit through little known gems like Ravenous, The Limey and Syrianna as well. But I seem to be at a loss without having good company at the cinema. Frequenting the cinema on my own just seems weird, especially the mingling with poshos from Surrey. I never thought I’d ever have the need to say this, but it’s just not Basildon (shit, now you’re all going to think I yearn for The Sugar Hut) and, therefore, a little disorientating.

Just one of the very many good reasons to seek out The Limey.

Finally, it’s very rare an Amelie comes along (the middle ground between District 9 and Jane Eyre) to allow for the better half and I to agree on a cinema date together. She won’t come along simply to hold my hand and make it look like I’m not some weird and creepy thirtysomething who goes to the cinema on his own if she has to sit through Tucker and Dale vs Evil. Which I don’t even understand; Tucker and Dale vs Evil is freaking awesome!

So, I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do other than bide my time and wait for the DVD release. Just like I’m doing now for The Raid, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists, Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises and Judge Dredd. If there is one thing I’ve learnt as a father its patience and these relatively non-essential things can wait. But that doesn’t make it an easy thing to see through; especially watching others discuss movies whilst you’re on the outside looking in with no frame of reference, carefully navigating a route through potential spoilers to DVDville. It’s a bollock-aching agony. Particular when you recognise Scott Pilgrim is an arsehole, rather than a hipster, only to find a million monkeys have already noticed this beforehand and propagated the Internet to bursting point with such obvious insight, stealing my thunder.

Gits.

Just like Willam in Mallrats, I can no longer see the sailboat. 

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Return of the Freeman

So, whilst we’re all still twiddling our thumbs and scratching our arses waiting for Valve to pull out their finger and deliver unto us the next instalment of the further adventures of Dr Gordon Freeman, it was announced earlier this week that Black Mesa would finally be released on 14 September. Well part of it anyway. It’s been eight years in the making and it’s still not actually finished. Even loyal followers of Valve seem unable to absolve themselves totally from the quantum peculiarity of Valve time (which the original resonance cascade may or may not be directly responsible for).

One day dammit, one day. 

Essentially a remake of Half-Life developed by around 40 modders using Valve’s Source engine, Black Mesa is the Half-Life community’s response to the barely noticeable and somewhat disappointing graphical changes to the original game when it was made available on Steam in 2004. But this is not just further graphical tweaks; Black Mesa is a fully realised remake. Supposedly it will divert little, if at all, from the main storyboard, but the more tedious parts of the original game have been streamlined and level maps increased in size to accommodate greater challenge. It has even been suggested that Valve’s marvellous AI routines have been tweaked and improved upon. If so, wowsers! As a bonus, Black Mesa makes Half-Life look just as crisp as Half-Life 2, if not better:

So, Black Mesa has the potential to be most excellent; although re-working a masterpiece means there is added pressure to deliver. Look at the remakes of most movie masterpieces, such as Psycho or the recent The Thing travesty. Oh dear. Then there’s the eight year wait which touches more upon Daikatana time, let alone Valve time. Let’s hope it’s just a perfection thing, rather than a ‘we’ve kind of ballsed it up’ thing. More worryingly, from the video sequence above, there seems to be a lot of swooping camera views. That means cut-scenes. One of the key reasons as to why Half-Life worked so well was that everything in game was witnessed from Gordon’s eye-view, absolving the need for an out of body experience and making the game more interactive as a result. Please, don’t let it be bloody cut-scenes.

'No to cut scenes'. Gordon Freeman, yesterday.

Anyway, enough of the pessimism! I’m sure it will all work out great in the end. Although Valve are not involved, there is enough Valve in the starting point for Black Mesa to rise above many a modern FPS. Despite only half a game (it ends in the Lambda complex around the point Gordon dimension jumps to the alien world Xen) there’s expected to be around 10 hours of gaming available, which means plenty of alien-arse kicking with the now iconic crow-bar. But the really awesome news is Black Mesa is being offered as a free download from the mod team’s main site. Bless them and their Tim Berners-Lee approach to sticking two fingers up at capitalism. Excited? I’ve just let out a little bit of wee…

Visit the Black Mesa project site here! 

Retro City Rampage vs GTA V

GTA V is just around the corner. Big whoop! Sure the trailer and early screen-shots look flash, but it also remains abundantly sterile and soulless, a quagmire the franchise has found itself shoulder deep in since GTA 3. Cutting out all of the stupid fun and silliness of the original (including the mowing down of a line of Hare-Krishna for simple chuckles) the now serious high-minded nature of professional criminality and all of the mucky business that goes with it is just tedious bobbins. A bit like the endless fecking cut-scenes! Where’s fast, frantic and notoriously daft fun when you need it?

Skate or Die. 720 was better.

Well, luckily for us some Canadian dude called Brian Provinciano has been crafting an open-world action parody in the form of an 8-bit styled gaming extravaganza. Retro City Rampage, on the face of it, appears to be the GTA V we really want; pure hokum where blowing the shit out of anything is everything. APB, Paperboy and Cannon Fodder all seem to be thrown into the mix for good measure, providing a return to what made Grand Theft Auto really marvellous in the first place. Fast, smooth scrolling graphics (see the gameplay videos available) making for a break-neck pace as civilians are blown to smithereens, cars are jacked, high-scores are totted up and achievements earned – a nice modern touch to complement the retro gaudiness of the visuals.

Sure it looks somewhat garish, but this really could be the essence of the Commodore 64 showcased on modern systems, not just simple emulation. And obviously it’s retro enough to make me feel ever so slightly giddy. Brian has even slaved over the game for the last seven years to get it right, mimicking the individual programmers that frequented yesteryear before big gaming studios were the done thing. If Retro City Rampage does the business we could, therefore, be mentioning Brian in the same breath as Tony Crowther, Jeff Minter, Manfred Trenz, Sensible Software, Archer McLean and Geoff Crammond. Groovy company indeed!

 This could be based on any number of 8-bit titles. Inspired by Ikari Warriors? 

Anyway, a release date isn’t far off and at just under ten quid on the PC it at least reflects former prices for 8-bit gaming. You could even pre-order from the games' website now!

http://www.retrocityrampage.com/index.php

Seriously can’t wait. A review of Retro City Rampage (the real GTA V) will be available after release and once I’ve given it considerable playtime. Is anyone else creaming in their jeans with the anticipation of it all?

 Paperboy was actually a pretty rubbish game.

Blood of the Zombies – Fighting Fantasy returns

The joys of being a man-child are boundless, or so a recent foray into my Dad’s loft would indicate. All my cool stuff from when I was a child lies hidden away up there like a treasure trove just waiting for someone to dive in (think Scroodge McDuck and his money pit in the Duck Tales opening credits). Whilst my Action Force figures have been snapped in half by some unknown hand (except Snake Eyes of course, proving once and for all you don’t fuck with a ninja), the whole adventure of sneaking a peak through the gaps of a variety of cello-taped boxes made for some giddy excitement. There was my Amiga 600 and a horde of games just waiting to see the light of day again; an old Scaletrix track about the length of the A127; a worn Blood Bowl board which has reminded me that spending £50 for a brand new one is well worth it; some old Dark Horse ‘Aliens’ comics; and, most importantly, castle freaking LEGO!

I was also fortunate enough to find my old collection of Fighting Fantasy Books. Remember those? Adventures typically set in the far flung lands of Allansia where you were the hero, which meant frequent dice rolling and choosing your own path to complement the dizzying descriptions of despicable beasts and terrifying terrors. Of course, by frequent dice rolling I mean automatically setting your stamina to 24 and skill level to 12; and by choosing your own path I mean keeping hold of the previous page from which you’ve turned so you can quickly continue on the right path just in case moving that curious brick at the bottom of that wall results in instant death from sharp spiky things.

Spooky...

Still, despite their often linear method of progression, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson were rightly held aloft by young teens who did not know any better as geniuses for the fantasy universe they had created. Jackson in particular produced some of the more unique entries in the series. House of Hell was the first book that moved away from Allansia and instead took centre stage in the modern world. It was more survival horror than fantasy and remains the inspiration for my own book which owes a fair few nods in the direction of House of Hell. Still, it was no Creature of Havoc, probably the high-point in the whole fighting fantasy series. Playing a creature who cannot speak (you grunt throughout), the journey to finding your true nature is marvellous and the finale features a great unexpected reveal that will keep you smiling for days.

Zharradan Marr - total bastard! 

So the news that a new Fighting Fantasy book has just been released to coincide with the 30^th anniversary of the release ofThe Warlock of Firetop Mountain (the first Fighting Fantasy book in the series for those lacking an inner child) is very much welcome. Disappointingly, Jackson has not been involved so the more direct and less challenging approach of Livingstone is expected; however, Blood of the Zombies at least seems to bring the franchise bang up-to-date with modern geek sensibilities. World War Z showed that zombie literature can be dynamic and thoughtful-provoking (particularly where the zombie is used to exacerbate the ills of man being a bastard to fellow man), and whilst such an expectation is not warranted here the least Blood of the Zombies could provide the adventurer with is a combat system that revels in fighting off hordes of the unliving with baseball bats and golf clubs whilst trying to survive a zombie uprising at Ikea, Croydon. So what have we got? You wake chained up in a cell in a Romanian castle with some deranged mad doctor infecting people with zombie blood for chuckles. A little bit B-movie, a little bit cheesy. Ikea, Croydon would make for a far better scenario.

Still, it remains a new Fighting Fantasy book, and hopefully this is just the beginning of a few new titles appearing in the series. An Evil Dead 2 inspired effort would be marvellous, so get working on it Ian (or better yet, Steve). Until then, I’m going to venture over to Amazon and wallow in some fruitful nostalgia; even if the Blood of the Zombies plot does on the surface appear to be ever so shit…

Blood of the Zombies - Ian Livingstone