Alan wake site gets a revamp

-and a nice one too i might add. been a while since any wake news came out, shame the sites lost some of those really impressive weather shots it used to have but still, any wake news is good news, and keeps it out of the same folder city of the dead and asylum were put in.

have a ganders.

http://www.alanwake.com/

okay, ive found it

'member i wrote how i was perplexed, neigh, flabbergasted at the notion dead space proposed. that E.A could make good games still?!?, insane i thought. there had to be a chink in its armor. 

-And whilst i loved the game and have not actively searched for such a chink  found it i have.

ready for this?

great game, great graphics, controls, solid voice acting and a.i

-BUT!, it occurs to me they left something loose which has been snagging at the back of my critical breakdown of the gameplay experience every-time i play.

to be blunt what the hell is the deal with Isaac's girlfriend?

let me explain.

SPOILERS

So Isaac discovers at the end that the woman he came to save, the love of his life, is dead, has been since before the mission started, he saw her commit suicide at the end of that vid log and blocked it out.

okay, keep that in mind.

So the biggest problems are as follows:

1: Isaac cant open a sealed door, across a large ,deep pit there is a switch to open it (great design), and his girlfriend appears and opens it for you, with you protecting her from necromorphs.

-SHE ISNT REAL!?!, what is pulling the switch, what are the necromorphs attacking?, the official explanation is that she was a hallucination used by the red marker to get back to the planet, so then how is this possible?

2: if she is a mental figment of Isaac's mind being used as a puppet by the red marker to return it, why?

- The red marker created the necromorphs, so why is it trying to work against them?, why are the necromorphs trying to stop this imaginary woman from doing there creators bidding?

now that IS slightly explainable, the necromorphs are controlled by the hive mind on the planets surface, which was created by and sealed on the planet by the red marker, it was released and used its minions to stop it being resealed again.

but then what is the marker doing?, if it can also effect peoples minds and wants to keep the creations it makes sealed, why give people visions which lead to the opposite effect?

3: at the end, when all seems safe, Isaac is accosted by a nercomorph version of his girlfriend.

-the hive mind no longer exists, the necromorphs are all dead, or brainless vegetables.

-how did she get there?

-if the hive mind did not want the marker returned why not just send her after Issac to break his spirit?

i could go on about this for a while but the more you think about it the less the plot makes sense.

Humans reverse engineered this red marker from a black alien one. So how did they do that?, unitology came AFTER, so why?, if it looks like a carved rock with no energy readings why bother? -and again, how , what gave them a starting point? if it was just to copy the code for the necrotic polymorphing life-form why not just copy it off the original?, surely they must have done already to know what they were copying to create the hivemind to begin with.

-i can digress more but  to end, thank you E.A for reinforcing my secure belief there will always be an impossible to ignore, glaring fault, in everyone of your games.

-ah, the theory is still sound.

-still a great game though.

Has my favorite silent hill forum gone under?

So ive been trying to check out the silent hill forum that got a mention in the credits, ive been a member since 2004 and venture back every few months or so, only now it appears its gone. The sites account suspended, is it just me?, if not, anyone know why? -granted i didn't visit much but it had a very regular list of posters that, whilst very strict, leaning towards grammar nazis sometimes, ill admit it, its still a very good sight for survival horror fans.

im digressing slightly but yeah, anyone getting on here?: silent hill forum test, click here

Resident evil: Degeneration - The Review

So for all you survival horror fans who have been living under a rock for the past few years, first of all welcome back to the surface world, 'o dwellers of the underneath. second. Resident evil degeneration is the 2nd canonical resident evil cg motion picture outing by capcom, the first being resident evil 4d-executer. This outing tells the tale of the time between resident evil 4 and 5, When an airport in the american midwest is caught in the midst of a T -AND G virus outbreak.

Things look bleak but wouldn't you know it,, all around unlucky people of the millennium Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy happen to be in the area. 

Released on december 17th in japan and the 30th of the same month in the u.s (no english and european release date though...) its not long till you can all get your grubby mitts on a copy. 

-however this lucky bugger just finished watching it.

My mostly spoiler free thoughts?

I went in very skeptical, studying film academically for the last few years has, unfortunatley turned me into a film snob at times. Though being a long, LONG time biohazard fan, -and that i enjoyed the live action outings (bar the first) as mindless fun for 2 hours i gave it a shot.

 Now you all expect me to say i liked it but actually i really enjoyed it. a lot. coming from me thats a lot.

 It starts off quite slow, and given the trailers show only a small airport i was thinking "over an hour and a half?, they must stretch this out!" but honestly no they dont. the only spoiler ill give is that the airport is only a portion of the plot and thats over with 65 minutes to spare.

my biggest gripe was that, aside from the romero zombies and the g virus mutation you've all seen in the trailer, it seems the t virus is much more tame nowadays and cant be arsed to create lickers or hunters and the like.

but for what it is i loved what i got. seeing claire and leons reunion was a total nostalgia trip back to the summer of '98. the little funny moments they share and in jokes- like at one point claire arms herself with a red and white umbrella and quips about the irony- make it a joy to watch for a fan, and for a regular zombie movie enthusiast its action packed enough to drag you in regardless of wether you've been a longstanding fan of the biohazard series.

graphically its very impressive, in some ways its not up to advent children's standards (the cg final fantasy movie -for the rock dwellers) and in others its better. The facial expression's, whilst often a rarity are so striking they take you out of the moment a little, like when claire winks at leon before a door closes we see her entire facial muscles move on the side thats winking. now that's attention to detail.

i cant say too much without ruining it, and i really don't want to, the fans have got to discover the little jokes and hidden references for themselves. but all in all after a slow start i was enthralled right till the ending credits. i hoped till the last 5 that there would be more monsters in it like i mentioned a few lines back but i have to say ive not seen a horror movie that ive enjoyed as much in quite a long time.

To sum it up all us silent hill fans dug some aspects of the movie, the use of yamaoka's soundtrack, the use of static camera and a great set piece list throughout. but it wasn't made by konami, it wasn't made by anyone behind the games and it was simply to make cash.

Biohazard degeneration on the other hand is a proper movie for the fans, its not a cheap rehash of ideas or a tie in- though it does tie into resident evil 5- its a flick thats had a lot of care and attention to the source material included and i know if your a fan of the games you will really enjoy this.

Now just sit back and twiddle your thumbs for a couple of weeks, -OR replay resi 2 and 4 to get with the lore again, i'm playing 2 right now and it takes me back. 

just wait folks, your in for a bloody treat.