I think this picture says more than my words ever could. The sheer awesomeness of Lauren Cohan in this photo makes me wish I had a time machine simply to bump me forward to October. Heck, I'd even give up the nearly two months of vacation I have between now and then. Anyone who has read the comics will tell you that the prison is definitely the best part of the series, and these photos only serve to reassure me that the producers are going to do it justice.
Read the entire teaser article here, and check out another awesome photo that shows even more penal, zombie shredding goodness. The article also includes a little from producer Glen Mazzara about the role of the prison in season three.
Left 4 Dead 2 lovers who play the using the Xbox 360 platform have been left out in the cold a little bit when compared to their PC/Mac counterparts. In March of 2011, L4D2 released a new campaign but only on the PC/Mac versions as a beta test. Well, the time has (almost) come for us Xbox users to join in on the fun.
On July 24th, a mere three weeks away, Valve will release the "Cold Stream" campaign as downloadable content for the Xbox. I'll be honest, my L4D2 game has been gathering some dust on the shelf recently, but I guess it will be time to crack it back out. I need the "stream crosser" achievement asap!
This weekend, a friend alerted me to a new zombie app for the iPhone and iPad platform. The app, Z-Day, is a sort of digital "choose your own adventure" with realistic scenarios and choices.
The good? This app is logical and is clearly made by lovers of the apocalyptic genre. I didn't feel like choices had unrealistic or random consequences as some choose your own adventure stories do. When I died, I felt that I probably deserved it. You also get to make almost every choice which gives you an added commitment to the game. You don't feel like a spectator; you feel like you are truly at the helm of the storytelling. Additionally, the visuals for this game are well stylized. It has a very comic book noir vibe to it. The game also provides you with a variety of different side characters, inventory items, and interesting weapon choices.
The bad? Well, first of all it isn't free and I'm always skeptical of paid apps on the iPhone. This one is $1.99, which isn't bad, but it's also not a whole lot of game play for your dime. There is really only one main route for the storyline. Your decisions can either get you killed or take you on small detours, but for the most part this doesn't hold up to hours of replaying. I'd say this is an hour of entertainment at best. The story is also short, so you could probably play from beginning to a successful end in fifteen minutes. Also, and this is just the nerd in me, but they misspell "apocalypse" on the title screen. Uncool, guys.
Overall, I think this is a good buy if you're having a particularly boring lunch break, train ride, or blind date. It'll keep you pretty darned engaged even if that only lasts for a limited amount of time. However, if you are looking for a more fulfilling choose your own experience, pay the extra dozen bucks for Max Brailler's Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?($13.98 on amazon.com). Check out the review for that novel here.
Well, it's better than going out to the movies and it's half as expensive. That's right. I spent my Wednesday evening like any self-respecting geek should: sitting on my couch and taking in Episode 2 of Telltale's Walking Dead game. Almost a month late from its anticipated monthly release, this game was certainly a tease...but now that I've bedded the beast, I must say that it was worth the wait.
You can check out my review of Episode 1 right here, and I wouldn't proceed any further on this review if you haven't played the first episode yet. This episode was so packed with suspense that it will be difficult to review without giving away too much of the good stuff as it is.
Episode 2 jumps Lee, Clementine, and the group forward about three months. They're still in the motel, but they're starving and even more at each other's throats than usual. After making the difficult decision of whom to feed and whom to leave hungry, you embark on the main narrative of the episode which is sure to have you paying attention to every detail.
My favorite thing about this episode was that it built consistent and realistic tension in a variety of ways. You didn't have moments where you could let down your guard, sigh, or grab a quick trip to the bathroom. Instead, I was planted to my sofa for the two hour duration of the game play. I was fully engaged in the decision making, and I found myself really stressing the decisions--even the seemingly minor ones. Even more so than in Episode 1, Episode 2 feels like a fairly realistic scenario. Often it's difficult to know what the "right" choice is, and there often isn't a way to please everyone or look like the plucky hero. This makes the game satisfying in its honesty and commitment to truthful storytelling.
My only major complaint would be that during a couple of sequences, I felt smarter than the game was allowing me to be. I saw a few things before they came, which helped add to the suspense, but it also made me frustrated that I couldn't say or do the appropriate thing to act on my suspicions as I would have in real life. Still, it obviously only made me want to play that much more. I would also say that the character of Larry made me want to hurl my controller on more than one occasion, but a strong emotional response is the sign of a captivating game. Lastly in the "negative" department, this episode was a little light on the zombie combat, but if you've read any of my posts, you'll know that that isn't the main thing that makes zombie drama compelling to me anyway. Despite the absence of zombies, there's no shortage of life or death situations. In fact, I think I died almost twice as many times in episode 2 as I did during my first crack at episode 1.
I hope it doesn't take them two more months to come out with Episode 3. It's going to be a long summer if I can't swing some punches with my man Lee Everett until the end of August. For now, start playing Episode 2! Xbox users can download the episode starting today for 400 points ($5), but PS3 and PC/Mac users will have to wait until Friday. Or, you could just buy an Xbox like us cool kids.
A few months ago I reported that the Brad Pitt-produced film version of Max Brook's awesome novel had its release date pushed back about six months to the summer of 2013. But news out this week suggests that the project has been infected with a variety of production problems. These problems include reported directorial impotence, excessive spending, re-shoots, rewrites, and production goof-ups.
Obviously the biggest problems are those that affect the final product, such as the reported rewrite and re-shoot of the film's ending, which doesn't fill me with confidence about the rest of the storyline. Apparently, the ending was rewritten to seem more feasible. Now, to be fair, most movies now days could use a little rewriting, so at least Pitt's crew is making an attempt to right wrongs. But again, this does not make me a confident movie-goer.
I was, however, skeptical from the start. Brooks's novel is genius, but it would really work best as a television show, with each person's interview lasting for a single episode. From what I've been able to piece together about the film version, it seems to be a lot like Dawn of the Dead (2004). It's borrowing the name of something well-liked and powerful in order to gain interest, but it otherwise very different from its "original". Still, just like the newest Dawn of the Dead, that's no reason this movie can't be good in its own right, but color me cautious until opening night.
Telltale games released the first episode of The Walking Dead game to PC/Mac, Xbox, and PS3 this week. This afternoon, after 2.5 hours of supremely focused game play, I immediately headed to their website to see when I'd be able to continue to play with the next episode...only to find out they're only releasing one a month! AHHH! Patience FAIL!
So, needless to say, I enjoyed the game. The gaming style was really the kind of game play I can get into; it was primarily based on character interactions and decision making. There was some zombie killing action, but really not very much. This isn't the next Left 4 Dead, but I think it's something just as special and engaging.
The game follows the story of Lee Everett, a man on his way to prison for murder when the zombie apocalypse hits. After his cop car crashes, Lee finds a young girl, Clementine, and the two team up to face a bleak and dangerous world. From there on? I can't really tell you what happens because that will be determined by the decisions that YOU make. And, unlike in some games, the decisions are reasonable and your response choices are realistic. I didn't feel like I was forced to say anything in the game that I really wouldn't have said in real life.
In episode one, Walking Dead fans will enjoy seeing Herschel and Glenn as well as the Greene farm. The world seems to be a comic-television show hybrid. For example, Herschel only has two kids (like in the show), but his farm looks a lot like the comics. In fact, the animation was very reminiscent of Adlard's work which gave it a familiar feel.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing and I can't wait until next month! Download the game on Telltale's website or on your Xbox/PS3. I opted for the XBox version and was happy with the choice.
My last review from Chicago Fear Fest this year is going to be for the last flick we saw at the festival: Fear Eats the Seoul. It's difficult to know where to start when reviewing a movie like this. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the film. I absolutely loved the opening sequence, and I was really excited from the first minute of movie, but after that, a lot of it let me down.
My primary struggle was with the pace of the film. The flick was about two hours in length, but you left the theater feeling as though the story really could have been cut down to about 70-80 minutes. Rarely do I find a horror or zombie film that has me checking my watch, but this one certainly did. That's not to say that there weren't some genuine moments of both tension and action--there were. Still, the gaps between these moments seemed a little languorous.
The majority of this problem might have stemmed from the fact that this film jumps back in time frequently to look at the characters before the outbreak. This could be a nice touch, and occasionally it is, but often it seems unnecessary. We don't usually learn anything important from the flashbacks, and I feel that many of the flashbacks didn't answer any questions for me or inform my understanding of the characters one bit.
Possibly, that's because I wasn't really invested in the characters. It was very difficult, as a 28 year old senior citizen, to sympathize with the characters in this story. The majority of the characters struck me as self absorbed, whiny, and without solid ideas or survival instinct. At times I found myself thinking, "Really? This is who makes it out?" As a result, I didn't care about their back story and I certainly didn't care if they made it out of Korea before it was bombed.
The main protagonist, Nadia (Amber Green), was my primary fish-to-be-fried. Her voice over was cliche, trite, and vastly lacking in maturity. She was moody and bitchy with other people, and not in a funny or relatable way, but rather in a "Dude, why haven't you people thrown her to the mutants?" sort of way. That being said, I'm absolutely sure that I would have adored both this movie and her character when I was seventeen. This flick would have been like my bible, and she would have been my idol. Thank the lords of Kobol that I'm no longer seventeen.
But the film wasn't all bad. First, you have to give the director, Nick Calder, some mad props for undertaking such an immensely challenging project and executing it completely and professionally at such a young age. I've certainly never been that dedicated to my craft. The film looks and feels more professional than you would expect, and for a very low budget, Calder has done some admirable work. In addition to being the director and writer, he's also the only mildly palatable actor in the whole movie. The effects on the infected (they're not...really...zombies. more like demons.) are really cool and original. They certainly strike a little bit of fear into the soul. And speaking of my horrible pun, I really dug the title of this flick. It was one of the main things that had me speeding up to Rosemont from C2E2 to watch it.
But aside from a few moments of "looking cool", an interesting base-level concept, and some original make up effects, this film is not destined to be a horror cult film for decades to come. The film is weighed down at many points by overly emotional writing, purposely shaky cinematography, slothful pacing, and unlikeable characters. All of these elements band together to make the audience disengaged and apathetic. Will they get out of Seoul? Will you care? Decide for yourself by watching Fear Eats the Seoul.
The trailer is below. Rewatching the trailer makes me rethink this entire review (the trailer is really good), but unfortunately the movie is not what the trailer advertizes. God, I wish it was. Maybe some very generous editing could recut the movie into a faster paced narrative. When that happens, someone call me.
The bad? Well, first of all it isn't free and I'm always skeptical of paid apps on the iPhone. This one is $1.99, which isn't bad, but it's also not a whole lot of game play for your dime. There is really only one main route for the storyline. Your decisions can either get you killed or take you on small detours, but for the most part this doesn't hold up to hours of replaying. I'd say this is an hour of entertainment at best. The story is also short, so you could probably play from beginning to a successful end in fifteen minutes. Also, and this is just the nerd in me, but they misspell "apocalypse" on the title screen. Uncool, guys.
You can check out my review of Episode 1 right here, and I wouldn't proceed any further on this review if you haven't played the first episode yet. This episode was so packed with suspense that it will be difficult to review without giving away too much of the good stuff as it is.
In episode one, Walking Dead fans will enjoy seeing Herschel and Glenn as well as the Greene farm. The world seems to be a comic-television show hybrid. For example, Herschel only has two kids (like in the show), but his farm looks a lot like the comics. In fact, the animation was very reminiscent of Adlard's work which gave it a familiar feel.
My last review from Chicago Fear Fest this year is going to be for the last flick we saw at the festival: Fear Eats the Seoul. It's difficult to know where to start when reviewing a movie like this. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the film. I absolutely loved the opening sequence, and I was really excited from the first minute of movie, but after that, a lot of it let me down.
The majority of this problem might have stemmed from the fact that this film jumps back in time frequently to look at the characters before the outbreak. This could be a nice touch, and occasionally it is, but often it seems unnecessary. We don't usually learn anything important from the flashbacks, and I feel that many of the flashbacks didn't answer any questions for me or inform my understanding of the characters one bit.
