Old Horror Games I Can't Bear to Part With

So, lately, I've been selling off all of my old nes games.  I don't play them any more.  I don't even have an NES to play them on.  I was going through a pile of them today and came across one I just couldn't stand to list.

A lot of people outright hate this game.  They think it's too difficult, it's confusing, Jason wears purple, the music is repetitive.  That's all sort of true, But I always had a great time with it.

The story is that some counselors are working at the old camp.  A group of little kids (15 of them) have arrived for the summer, and they're all staying at some cabins by the lake.  


Then Jason shows up and starts fucking ruining everyone.  The idea of the game is simple:  Kill Jason before he kills all of you.  Of course, if you've seen the movies, you know that isn't really that simple after all.


On top of Jason, the camp is also suddenly crawling with zombies (the manual suggests that they are his past victims), wolves that are decidedly vicious and some crows are just being total dicks for seemingly no reason. God I hate video game birds.

There are 6 camp counselors who stand in the way of Jason's murderous spree, and they're all armed with rocks.  Yeah, just rocks.  Fortunately, by running around the camp, killing zombies, you start to find some better weapons-- a knife, and eventually a machete will show up.  You can also acquire a torch by lighting all of the fireplaces in the large cabins around the lake (there's 7, if I remember right). Through time and careful exploration, you can also come across a few machetes and axes hidden in the woods and cave.


Oh yeah, by the way, there's a cave.  Pretty sure I never saw that in any of the movies.  Who lives in the cave?  Jason's mother's head.  That is to say, Jason's mother's reanimated flying gigantic head.  She is literally a tougher enemy than Jason.  I hadn't seen Friday the 13th Part 2 back when I first played this game, so I was pretty confused by her appearance here.


Actually, I have since seen the film, and I'm still confused about it.


The good news is, you have to purposefully seek her out.  You can beat her once per in-game day.  The first day gets you a weapon, either a machete or ax.  On the second day, you get her sweater.  On the third day, you get a pitchfork, which for some reason is Jason's most feared weapon. I guess nobody ever tried it on him in the movies.

As I mentioned, the game takes place over 3 days.  Each time you kill Jason, a new day starts.  He's back and he's faster than previous (this runs inverse to the movies, where he continuously got slower).

So yeah, I was a huge Friday the 13th fan, and I played the hell out of this game as a kid.  I must have beaten it dozens of times.  I might have even killed Jason more times than he came back to life in the movies.  I had the whole play-through down to a science.  Use one teen to run around lighting all the fireplaces, getting the torch and flashlight.  Then I'd send another one out to get the key and hit up the woods for the weapons hidden there, and pick up a lot of vitamins along the way.  Meanwhile, I'd be making sure to fight Jason using characters armed only with rocks on the first day, just so I would have more time before advancing and I could get everyone properly armed before Jason got tougher.

I'd also have to have one counselor stationed near the lake to go protect the children every time that Jason attacked them.


Oh, I didn't mention that, did I?  When he's not attacking your counselors, Jason goes to the cabins by the lake and brutally murders children until a counselor comes out to fight him off.  He didn't even do that shit in the movies.  Eleven movies, not one dead child (unless you count Jason). You have a limited time to scurry out there.  If you don't make it in time, he kills 5 kids and leaves.  Even if you get there before the time is up, he'll usually have managed to hack his way through a few.  It's virtually impossible to get through the game with all 15 children still alive.  I've never done it.  The games attitude about this is "Hey no big deal, there's still a couple.  One kid's as good as another, right?"


The Angry Video Game Nerd did a really fun review of the game a couple years back.  You can see it here. He hates it, of course, but I don't begrudge anyone that.


No official Friday the 13th game has come out since, despite the series rolling in money.  Even now, with so many video games targeted toward adults, there has not been a proper Jason video game.


A while back, a forum user on the old Fridaythe13thfilms.com forums released a romhack of the game titled Friday the 13th v1.3.  It's pretty much just a graphical update, putting Jason in more appropriate attire rather than his purple jump suit.  It also changes the names of all the counselors to names of characters in the films.  I scoured the internet for it before making this post, and unfortunately I cannot find the original author-- or anything about it really.  I've included a download link to it right here.  If anyone out there knows any more information about this romhack or the name/contact of the author, please let me know so I can give him credit.  It's pretty good work.


It's usually the version I choose to play now, but I'll always have my actual copy on hand.

A little late

I said it would be later last week, but it wasn't.

Talking about games: The upcoming Fall Horror Game Deluge, Part 2!

Okay! We're back to toss out a few life rafts in the horror game flood.  We're talking about brand new games here, along with one pseudo-sequel.  

Alright, it's about time.  I want to start hitting up stores.

Well don't forget, Yikes, most of these games aren't out until the fall. We do have one that is out right now though, and there is a downloadable demo available!  Since you're anxious to throw money around, we'll start with that one:

Catherine

Catherine, for the PS3 and X-Box 360 is

What the hell are you doing?  This isn't a porn blog.  Yet.

It's not porn, Yikes. I don't think so, anyway.  Catherine is a puzzle game game with a strong story line and also social gameplay.  It's about a 30-something guy named Vincent who's afraid to tie the knot with his long-term girlfriend and dealing with the seductions of single life and his own fears of commitment.  When he falls asleep, he has nightmares where he's climbing ever taller towers of blocks, trying to escape something deadly that's chasing him.  

Or maybe it's not just a nightmare-- as various other cheating guys in town are waking up dead.

Besides the puzzle games, there is also the social element where you interact with people via text message.  What you decide to say guides Vincent down a moral or immoral path and helps determine how the story plays out.

If it sounds weird and not up your alley, I suggest you check out the trailer.  That was my first impression from reading the synopsis, but the gameplay really caught my interest.

I was able to play the PS3 demo.  The puzzle gameplay is fast, the controls are responsive and it keeps you on your toes by always presenting new challenges.  The social game is also interesting, and I really like the interface used for typing out text messages.

Eh, that one doesn't really seem like my thing.   Seems like some kind of anime weirdness.

Yikes, will you please not alienate the fan base. It's a fun game that I'll probably be picking up.

There's a fan base now?

Well, no.

Next up is another zombie game out to compete with Dead Rising 2: Off the record.

Dead Island

Dead Island, coming out for Ps3 and 360, is largely known from its emotionally manipulative artistic trailer that hit earlier this year.  Unfortunately that leaves a lot of us not knowing what the actual game will be like, because the trailer clearly has little to nothing to do with the game, other than the fact that zombies are attacking an island.

Well, what's the game about, then?

Zombies are attacking an island.

It's meant to be an open world survivor game.  Apparently combat is supposed to focus more on melee weapons.  There is some kind of RPG stat progression, and you can upgrade weapons.  From the gameplay footage I've seen, it looks like you truck around the island taking on quests, a little bit like Borderlands.  

I'd like to check out a demo for this game.  I've been following it, always kind of hoping there will be a bit of the tone that was in the trailer, but the action generally looks pretty off the wall and wacky, with the protagonist uttering the same few one-liners repetitively.

I've decided to forego the trailer this time and include 12 minutes of gameplay footage instead.

Could be fun.

Could be.

Lastly, we have our one and only thing I consider to be a must buy.

Dark Souls

This is the thematic followup to Demon's Souls, which is still one of the best games to have come out in the last few years.  The gameplay looks to be fairly similar, with some improvements made.  Gone is the nexus system, which teleported you to various locations, replaced instead with one large open world. Players can meet up and recover at camp fires.  They've also introduced a lot of new and creative ways to dick other players over-- including a spell that sends a monster into another player's game that then spawns other monsters until they can find and kill it.  The designers have also promised a harder difficulty this time-- a promise leaving players curious, intrigued and a little bit frightened.

Details about the story are limited-- but that's how games in this series seem to play out.  The actual story needs to be pieced together by the player via contextual clues in the game itself.

Creepy.  AND it looks like there's some sword  chopping to be had.  I'm interested.

You should be.

So that pretty much wraps it up, unless there's yet another game that's slid under my radar.  With so much stuff coming out in a short amount of time, it's not impossible.

Have you thought about what you're likely to pick up, Yikes?

I see no reason I shouldn't cut a bloody swath through  the store and leave with as many as I want.

Well, you'd go to jail forever, for one thing.

I have yet to see a jail that can  hold me. No, really.  I'm only like half an inch thick.

This might be a good time to avoid retail jobs.  

Talking about games: The upcoming Fall Horror Game Deluge, Part 1!

Deluge?  There's a flood?  Should I be worried about this?

Only if you have limited funds, Yikes. There's a whole pile of games coming out this Q3 that are forcing me and other gamers like myself into a difficult situation: We're going to have to choose which horror games to buy.

Wait, choose?  You're telling me that some games are going to be designed, produced, sent to stores and then just. . . abandoned?  Just left rotting on the shelves, untouched and left to gather dust until the eventual store's close?  Sitting on the shelf and staring longingly into dark, empty parking lot?

Well, more or less.  Thanks. . . thanks for making me feel bad for an inanimate object.  But that only serves to illustrate my point even further:  Which games to purchase this fall is going to be a difficult choice, and one that should be made with care.

Alright.  Let me try to get a handle on this.  I can't seem to think of any way to eat, stab, bite, burn or murder all of the games into freedom from their store shelves, so let's start from the top.  I suppose you have some kind of list for us.

Absolutely.  I'm on top of it.  I've got sequential list of all the games I was able to think of that are coming out within the next couple months. 

List it up!

For part one of this subject, let's start out with a few games that aren't exactly "new." There are a number of games coming up that are either reimaginings or HD updated ports of older games.


Starting out for the 3ds, we have:
Devil Survivor Overclocked

Does he have cat ears?

No, they're headphones.

How do you make headphones out of cat ears?

No, see, he's got the headphones on, and the wires go up over his head-- they just are, OK?

So Devil Survivor Overclocked is an updated port of Devil Survivor for the Nintendo DS.  Devil Survivor is a part of the SMT series of games which tend to involve kids summoning demons and various fantastical creatures with computers, then doing crazy crossbreeding experiments to create new ones.  

Totally normal.

And lots of fun. The situation is that demons have invaded Tokyo, and the whole city has been locked down. There are a few lucky kids with DS-like computers that are able to summon their own demons and thus present the only defense against the attacking creatures.  

The new 3ds port features upgraded graphics, a new 8th day and the dialogue is now fully voiced.  

We have a trailer here: 

Overall, considering it's really only been about 1 generation since the previous game was released, if you already own this game, I don't know if a second purchase can be justified.  However, if you don't already own this game and you have a 3ds, you may be causing injustice to yourself by skipping it.  It's a great game and this version can only be better (unless you hate voices).

It depends on what they're telling me to do this time.  Sometimes it's "Kill," sometimes it's  "Open your own dog-grooming business."

I don't think I need to tell anyone that you don't own a dog-grooming business.

Second in the HD update list is:

House of the Dead: Overkill: Extended Cut

Coming this fall to the PS3.  Holy shit, this looks great.  A great HD update to a great game that was criminally overlooked when it came out on the Wii.  Classic zombie (er, mutant) shooting lightgun action with a grimy groundhouse feel, owing a lot of its tone to Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror.  

I've completed this game on the Wii, and I'm still tempted to grab this up on the PS3.  The only downer is that it's clearly most fun as a lightgun game, which means purchasing a Move.  Considering nothing has motivated me to get one previously, you're looking at over a $100 investment for a game that a lot of people have already finished years ago.

On the plus side, there are new levels, new weapons, new gameplay modes and the visuals look fantastic.  

Once again, we were able to scrounge up a trailer:

I want it.  I just wish I didn't have to get a Move.

Moving on, we have:

Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

This is kind of a weird one.  It's Dead Rising 2 all over again, but with Frank West instead of Chuck Greene.  Apparently the locations are somewhat revamped and there are new psychos to fight.  There also appears to be an all new, sort of amusement park like area.  Footage so far makes it look to me like it's going to be even more silly and over the top than DR2.  It's not a whole new game, but it is only $40 instead of $60.  

Personally, I'll probably be waiting until some fans of the original have given their opinions.

Personally, I think it sounds like mindless zombie  slaughter just for the sake of slaughtering zombies.  I'll never understand how heartless people can be.

Lastly in this update, we have a double shot.  

Resident Evil: Code Veronica X and Resident Evil 4

Both titles are coming via download for PS3 and Xbox 360 early this fall with upgraded graphics.  

This is at least the second re-release of Resident Evil 4 for a newer console.  Originally out on the Gamecube and Ps2, it was later ported to the Wii with motion control aiming and added content. This edition will supposedly include all of the added content, but there is no word yet if it will support the Move.

These are both really fun games, but I have to wonder how many times you can kill the same zombies.

It depends on how many times they get back up.

That's true, Yikes.  These games seem to take after the monsters they feature.  They just keep coming back over and over-- and in these cases, they seem to get better each time, as well.

So is it time for us to make that horrible Sophie's choice  like decision now?

Hah, not even.  We haven't even touched on the brand new games and sequels coming out.  Stay tuned for part 2 of the FALL HORROR GAMES DELUGE!

Walking Dead season 2 without Darabont?

So this is a surprise, at least to me. Apparently he is "stepping down," even though Walking Dead has been a complete and total Darabont production as soon as it left the comic pages. It doesn't sound like something he would happily walk away from.

After all the talk last season about trouble with the writers, it really has me wondering about the new season. Even if it's good, it's hard to deny that it's likely to have a completely different feel.

What could possibly cause this kind of thing?

My guess is an argument over zombie survival. Darabont probably got into it with the AMC execs about melee vs firearms.  I've seen these arguments in the past, and they can go on for daaays.




Well, that is a theory.

Talking about movies: The Resident

Hey, everyone.  For the first time, Yikes is joining me for a post.

So as I've said, I've been very excited for the return of Hammer Horror.  I enjoyed the hell out of Wake Wood, and last night I got a chance to watch The Resident on Netflix streaming.

Well, shit.

Great.  1.5 floating heads.  Uh oh, she's looking this way. I better not say anything bad.

So, first of all, this is set in America, in Brooklyn, so already most of the Hammer feel is jetissoned and this is just another thriller about about a girl who moves into an apartment by herself, and I guess that's scary because girls can't take care of themselves and need a big burly landlord to protect them.

Of course, the twist, which is that he is not her protector but rather her stalker, is revealed halfway through the movie, or IMMEDIATELY if you read the Netflix synopsis:

A young doctor moves into a Brooklyn loft and realizes she isn't alone in her new abode. Now she's struggling to survive as she attempts to disentangle herself from her landlord, who has a key to her home and a growing obsession for his tenant

Of course, it's revealed even faster if you looked at the video cover and saw the grumpy landlord on the front.  I would complain, except the movie makes it so obvious I felt like the big reveal was just giving me a refresher on what happened over the previous 40 minutes.

You're posting spoilers.

Garbage can't spoil, yikes.  So basically, everything throughout the movie felt completely nonthreatening to me.  Her landlord is mostly a self-concious oaf who peeks at her through peep holes and creeps around in the walls.  I guess that's sort of unsettling, but it's also not a problem that can't be solved with a change of address. Later in the movie he gets a little more invasive, but by that point I was already disinterested and just waiting for it to end.

There was a part in the movie where he's hiding under her bed, and her arm is dangling down, and I thought he was going to bite her finger off.  I was disappointed.

Okay?

Well, I was dissapointed with the movie overall.  There was exactly 0 character arc for everyone, and the climax was nothing more than a source of irritation.  Swank's character, Juliette, does the cliched hitting the attacker with a weapon, then abandoning said weapon and fleeing no less than 4 times.  

I think the only positive thing I have to say about the movie is that Lee Pace, hopefully best known as Ned from Pushing Daisies, shows up for a little bit.

Hi, Ned! Please keep getting work.

So if you're in the mood to check out what might as well be a remake of previous, better done girl-moves-into-an-apartment-but-it's-scary movies, then you might as well check this out on instant watch. Alternatively, you could just watch something on Lifetime.

A preview of things coming later this week