Tricks AND Treats with these Halloween Video Games

Halloween is awesome.  It’s one of the few genuinely fun holidays left, one that’s not obsessed with Olympic-level shopping for over-priced gifts, political correctness, or putting up with THOSE ANNOYING IN-LAWS.  No, Halloween is about partying with your friends, consuming massive amounts of candy, and letting your creativity stretch its legs with that best part of Halloween: the costume.  And even if you don’t go all out with your costume, you at least get to goof off a little bit; surely you can at least put on a black cape and pop in the trusty vampire teeth (yeah, that’s totally what I’m doing this year).

Video games play a pretty big part of Halloween as well.  Sure, when we think video games, we usually think of Christmas–namely because, for most gamers, video games comprise most of what is under the tree on Christmas morning (and it’s one of the few days our families are totally cool with us spending twelve hours in front of the TV, chiefly because of all the new shinies).

But think about it: how many video games scream “Christmas” to you when you consider their content?  How many video games are about warmth and sharing, about giving more than you receive?  How many video games depict Santa and his reindeer?  Sure, there are a few out there, but very few.  Contrast that to the number of spooky, scary, and weird games that are right at home during the month of October: games that make you think of Halloween, as opposed to Christmas making you think of video games.

Here are a few of my favorites–from the past and present–that I like to break out when the air goes chill, the leaves turn, and you get the odd suspicion that there is a vampire waiting outside your door.

Doom

It might not be the original horror video game, but with its demons, occult symbols, and intense violence, it is certainly one of the most viable entries in the genre out there.  Doom is one of the first video games I played that would, at times, instill into me a sense of panic and dread.  The disembodied snarls of some dark beast, the eerie silence of a newly-discovered room, the attacks from all around you, the confined spaces–John Carmack and company knew what they were doing.  Like so many old-school games, Doom didn’t want to empower the gamer; it wanted to make you feel helpless, and few games do a better job of  it.  Sure, Mega Man makes you feel helpless, but I don’t remember any goat-headed enemies in Mega Man; there is just something about that to make you feel extra-screwed.

Resident Evil

I kind of stopped liking the Resident Evil series after the first one.  Oh sure, Resident Evil 2-4 are all well-designed games, and RE5 looks great (I haven’t played it, other than the demo, but I hear it’s a pretty awesome co-op experience).  But most Resident Evil games are action games with horror elements; the original Resident Evil was pure B-grade horror goodness, and for a high school boy who was just starting to dabble in scary stuff, it was the Greatest Thing Ever.  I often credit this game with introducing me to the horror genre, with getting me into zombies and vampires and werewolves and heavy metal music.  I feel confident that I am not unique in this.  It’s also the first game to introduce me to setting and atmosphere as a game play mechanic: the mansion was just as much of a character as the giant snake, those terrifying dogs that crashed through the windows, and the last big boss Tyrant.  And that character was so, so scary: I would even say deliciously scary (and I really hate saying that).

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

If Resident Evil launched a thousand horror fans, then Castlevania: Symphony of the Night launched a thousand goth kids–or at least it should have.  This game was a bit of a sales flop when it first released, but as with most critical successes/commercial failures, it earned the respect of a classic and has been re-released on both XBLA and PSN, allowing it to earn the love and respect from the masses it truly deserves.  As for its Halloween appropriateness, it doesn’t get much better than this: Dracula’s good-natured son rises from an eternal slumber to traverse his father’s haunted castle on a quest to end the Dark Lord’s reign of terror forever.  It’s not really a scary game, but it is certainly a dark one.  The sprawling, seemingly endless castle is populated with a myriad of fantastical creatures, and every gothic flourish you can think of can be found–from ruined turrets to an eerie cathedral to a whole lot of artfully applied blood.  Other than the original, this is the best Castlevania game, and it’s one of the best video games ever made, period.

Left 4 Dead

I could write at length why this is a great game to play for Halloween, but really: do I have to?  You and three other friends have to make it from point A to B in a zombie-infested world.  You’ll creep through deserted hospitals, traverse dank sewers, and make a desperate run across a cornfield in your travels–and that’s just a few of the utterly terrifying places you will go.  At the end of each chapter, you’ll have to get onto a rescue vehicle of some sort, while EVERY ZOMBIE IN THE UNIVERSE is bearing down on you.  In short: this game is concerned with zombies and the killing of them.  Enough said.  With about one hour needed for each chapter, a full play-through is a great way to spend Halloween.

Dead Space

Do you like Alien?  Have you played Dead Space?  If not, you should.  There are all kinds of things that make it scary: constant feelings of dread and loneliness, doubts about the main character’s mental stability, and the old sci-fi standby of an imposing monolith older than time (which, in this case, really does look like something Satan made).  But the blood-red cherry on this horror sundae are the Necromorphs: an alien race that re-animates human corpses.  Zombies?  Well, sure: but horribly deformed zombies that–going along with the whole Satan theme–look far more demonic and grotesque than your typical undead human.  The Necromorphs are the most nightmare-inducing creatures I have ever seen in a video game or movie, and on top of dealing with them, there are moments when you will enter the unforgiving void of space with only a limited supply of air.  As your air gauge dials down far more quickly than you need it to, your pulse quickens and your palms sweat.  This game doesn’t let up for one instance, and it all culminates in one of the most tense final boss battles ever.  A great game to play in the days leading up to Halloween, when the last big battle reserved for Halloween night.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Not really a horror game, but as any Batman fan will tell you: Arkham Asylum is the scariest place on Earth.  With every major villain he has ever faced actively working to break his mind, Batman faces a challenge no less terrifying than anything in any other game on this list.  Chief among the scares is the encounters with Scarecrow: mind-bending battles of will that build up slowly and grow in intensity as they progress.  With bonus material that probes the psyche of Arkhman’s most terrifying alumni (some of it would make Hannibal Lecter feel…uncomfortable), it’s hard not to consider this game a great play for those chilly autumn days where twilight lasts a little bit longer than it should.

So there you go: spooky gaming that is perfect for Halloween time.   Grab a bag of Reese’s Pumpkins and settle in for a long night of gaming–a long night because, you probably won’t be able to go to sleep.

On Superhero Games: Lay off the Weak Sauce, Will Ya?

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best game of the year so far, and will no doubt be a strong contender for the official title when the time comes.  Of course, judging by the “Game of the Year Edition” re-releases on the shelf, there were approximately 9,956 titles earning such accolade last year, so I’m going ahead and giving the win to Batman right now.

That doesn’t erase the fact, however, that as good as this game is (“unrelenting in its quality” says Tycho from Penny Arcade), as flawlessly designed and executed as it is, as much as it keeps calling you back even long after you have finished it and found every single hidden gem it has to offer, it glances over one very important fact, something I thank my friend mysticalforest for bringing to my attention.

That point is: you are playing a superhero, not a superhero-in-training.  So, why don’t we get to be a superhero for the length of the game, instead of having to slog away and earn the really cool skills and gadgets?

By the end of this game, you will have an assortment of high-powered technological gadgets that assist you in traversing the environment, opening up secret passages, and disabling multiple enemies.  You will be able to remove foes from fights instantly with bone-breaking takedowns and withstand a substantial (thought still not excessive) amount of gunfire.  By game’s end, you will feel like Batman, doing everything he can do in the comics and films and cartoons, all with minimal effort.

However, at the game’s start, you know a few basic moves, have only a single batarang, and are easily felled by a few swings of an iron bar.

Does this ruin the game?  Not for me.  Watching a character grow stronger as you play a game is immensely satisfying, and considering that a little re-working to the script would make this title easily work as a Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid game, the progression of strength doesn’t feel entirely out-of-place.

This typical element of game design, however, is twisted a bit when you’re dealing with an iconic of a character as Batman.  There are other things to consider besides giving the player a growing sense of confidence and strength: chiefly that this character comes with pre-conceived notions of how they should handle themselves during combat and exploration.  Rocksteady nailed this right from the start, making Batman a perceptive individual with a sharp, logical mind as well as a big, strong man with incredible agility and strength (seriously, Batman breaks his vow to never use guns in the first five minutes of game play, if you catch my drift).  However, part of those pre-conceived notions people have of Batman concerns not just his physical prowess and razor-sharp intellect–it’s also his gadgets and training.

So why do I not have access to said gadgets and training right from the start?  Sure, a simple punch is as strong as it should be, coming from Batman, and I can track objects at the molecular level, but why do I have to earn a takedown move, or improved armor?  Why do I have to dig up a zipline?  Why am I half-way through the game before I can hack security gates?

If the developers had made this a “year one” story, then it would have made sense for Batman to grow in strength as the game progressed.  But this is not a year one story–this is Batman in his prime, with an established history with his allies and enemies.  Batman should be a walking weapon capable of handling himself in any situation at the start of the game.

There are still plenty of ways to make this game challenging, even with a fully-armed Batman.  More confrontations with armed enemies, the danger of an innocent person mixed in with the bad guys you have to take out, more puzzles to solve, and more intricate boss battles would have satisfied the need for challenge all throughout the game, while still presenting a fully-realized Batman.

Arkham Asylum is a wonderful game that serves as a love letter to the source material, and it’s refreshing to see Batman operate in an environment this varied and to have his skills tested so fully.  But please, Rocksteady, for the inevitable sequel, don’t make me have to earn the right to play the character that I am supposed to be playing.

Batman: Arkham Asylum–My God, It’s Beautiful

There are some games that, when you play them, they instill in you a feeling of awe and wonder.  You know that you are playing a classic when you play them, and to experience them is to be  in the presence of something incredible, beautiful, maybe even sacred.

These kinds of games are few and far between.  Yes, there are many games that are incredibly well designed, are engaging in both mechanics and narrative, but only a few games accomplish what all of them attempt: fully immerse you in another world.  They do not make you forget reality so much as they, even when you are not playing them, replace reality with the game world, pulling you into a realm of imagination and discovery and giving you the tools to explore this place not as if you were visiting there, but as if you lived there and was only exploring an as-of-yet undiscovered niche of a greater expanse.

BioShock.  The original God of War.  Half-Life.  The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  Final Fantasy VII.  Goldeneye.  The true gaming classics that will never outlive their prime, that will never age, that will always seem fresh and new and exciting.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the most recent of these kind of mythical, mystical classics.

I can’t say enough good things about the game.  Griffin McElroy from Joystiq said it best when he stopped just short of saying “it will birth you anew in its magnificence.” Every review from all the major outlets has been overwhelmingly positive, and deservedly so.  Put simply, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best game this year thus far and will long be remembered as one of the best games of this console generation, perhaps ever.  It excels at taking an already existing fictional canon and making it the developers’ own while giving us a game that would be amazing even without the framing of said canon.  This is the game that Batman fans have been waiting for, and the game that people who couldn’t care less about Batman have been waiting for, without even knowing it.

Everything is top-notch.  The combat is brutal and quick, complex yet easy to control.  It keeps you on your toes without overwhelming you and empowers you without pandering to you.  The stealth game play is deep and satisfying, and somewhere along the way you find yourself thinking “I’m actually thinking like Batman,” and it’s exhilirating.  Boss battles are neither overly complex or dumbed down, with strategies befitting the situation and the opponent.  Level design has a logical flow and backtracking is kept interesting with a steady stream of new items with which you access previously unreachable secret areas.

The aesthetics of the game are everything that a game set in an old-style insane asylum should be, whether it is a Batman game set in Arkham Asylum or not.  At times beautiful, at times eerie, at times cold and unfeeling, at times downright terrifying: the asylum itself is a character, silently observing the events within it, completely neutral in the conflict this game represents.  The artistic staff on this game deserve delicious cake from every Batman fanboy in the world, because they brought Arkham Asylum to life the way Christopher Nolan brought Gotham City itself to life in his superb films.

The musical score and voice-acting have the integrity of a major motion picture, with Mark Hamill giving us a Joker that stands toe-to-toe with Heath Ledger and makes us forget entirely about Jack Nicholson.  Kevin Conroy has been the voice of Batman since the animated series from the ’90s, and he brings the same dignity and authority to the character that he always has.  The music is matched flawlessly with the on-screen game play; swelling crescendos highlight stealthy takedowns, pitched riffs frame cat-and-mouse sequences as Batman strikes from the dark, and shrilling string instruments underline moments of dread.

The story feels like a comic book story, with sensible turns and true-to-form dialogue.  Paul Dini really should look into adapting this into a graphic novel; it would be awesome, I’m sure.  Every cliffhanger, every moment of tension, every unnerving confrontation and race against the clock before the Joker or Harley Quinn do something really, really bad to innocent people feels like a love letter to the comics that inspired this game.

I usually don’t examine a game this fully.  I’m a stickler when it comes to game play and mechanics, but I consider narrative and environmental aesthetics icing on the cake.  I sometimes feel that designers spend too much time making their game look pretty or giving their game a solid story and not enough time making their game a solid play experience.

Batman: Arkhams Asylum, however, does everything right.  Rocksteady made an incredible game, and fleshed it out with artistic integrity rivaling what one would see in a movie theater, or a museum for that matter.  And it’s because they approached everything with equal zeal, because they refused to compromise on anything, because they didn’t sacrifice game play for fan service but managed to pump this game full of goodness all the way around, that Batman: Arkham Asylum is such a brilliant piece of work.

Batman: Arkham Asylum–Best Comic Book Game EVER

The demo for what may be the most anticipated game this year that isn’t called Modern Warfare 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, has finally hit both PSN and Xbox Live.  Download now–right now–and play it, because it is incredibly awesome. 

Much like The Dark Knight really felt like a Jeph Loeb Batman story sublimated to film, this game really feels like the developers went for the comic book feel first, and then fleshed out the game play elements around it.  Of course, their “fleshing out” amounted to a fluid, intuitive combat system that (even in the short demo) evolves into almost puzzle-based encounters once the enemies get ahold of guns.  Unfortunately, experiencing Batman-as-detective–something that Eidos and Warner Bros. have been quite enthusiastic about in their attempts to point out that this game is not a brawler by any means–is not something in the demo, but Batman is a fighter; a smart, tactical, precise fighter.  That element of his character comes across without a hitch.  His combos are not the big, loopy, “RAWR ME AWESOME!!!” viking-on-crack ‘roid rages of God of War and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  He fights with quick punches, going for big moves only when the opponent is dazed.  Counters are bone-crushing without being theatrical, and takedown moves look like they really hurt–but also look like I, with enough training, could totally pull them off.  Those of you who were fearful of another God of War or Devil May Cry rip-off need not worry.  Combat in Arkham Asylum has more in common with Metal Gear Solid 3 than Ninja Gaiden 2.

Purists may gripe with some of the character design, but much like Batman wears black in the movies because it looks better than navy-and-gray tights, the newly-imagined characters work.  Bane and Killer Croc are more terrifying than ever, all ripping muscles and grotesques posture, and Harley Quinn will make those sad and lonely goth boys drool even more heavily, all dressed up in her nurse’s uniform.  I’m more of a Poison Ivy man myself, and yes–she looks equally seductive (if the character whom I think is Poison Ivy from the attached trailer is indeed, Poison Ivy).

I’ve never been more excited for a game after playing a demo than for Batman: Arkham Asylum.  August 25th cannot come soon enough, and as long as the game keeps delivering moments like the fight with Dr. Zsaz it will be a real thrill ride for Batman fans. 

And how did the fight with Dr. Zsaz go?  Simple: move in the shadows around the ceiling, sneak behind him, glide from a post above his head, kick in the back of the skull, and then pounce on him with a single hard punch to the jaw.  Quick, clean, brutal: just like Batman.  I have a feeling we’ll be hearing those words a good number of times as people talk about this game.

An Introduction to Alan Moore

If you find yourself asking “Who is Alan Moore?” don’t feel ashamed.  Not too many people outside of college English departments, IT professionals, scientists, and comic shop owners (you know: geeks) know.  He has written many great comics, and is a brilliant literary mind.  He is also an eccentric and a recluse and has been worked over by Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry more than a few times, so whenever an adaptation of his work is made he wants no part of it.  His most famous work is Watchmen, essentially a deconstruction of superheroes, and it inspired the movie that you’ve been seeing trailers for since you went to see The Dark Knight.

Watchmen hits theaters next week, and I’m prepared to be greatly disappointed.  You see, I know the Great Big Change that Zack Snyder made to the ending, and–admittedly out of context–I’m angered by it.  I will pass final (harsh, cold, unfeeling) judgment next week when I see the movie, but my hopes (which had been increased by the trailer attached to Friday the 13th) were dashed when I read this review earlier this evening. I guess I don’t have to say “spoiler alert.”.

In preparation for the movie, I’m re-reading the comic mini-series from which Snyder drew his inspiration.  It’s just as jaw-dropping and mind-blowing as it was when I read it for the first time shortly after college, when I was convinced I was a hip and edgy bad-boy of academia who was about to hit the literary world like a blood-soaked storm (re: before reality set in).

Now is the perfect time to get into Watchmen, if you haven’t already, so you can look all cool and stuff when you’re talking about how badly the movie butchered your memories of that final, numbing, a-rock-just-fell-into-my-stomach scene that closed out the book’s exhilarating climax.

Why stop at Watchmen however?  Why not delve deeper into the works of Alan Moore?  He is only constantly trading places with Neil Gaiman as the greatest comics writer ever (at least in my mind).

In fact, don’t start with Watchmen.  Let it be the second or third work of Moore that you read.  Put off seeing the movie if need be.  Start instead with something just as engaging and thought-provoking, but a little less multilayer and a bit easier to digest.  V for Vendetta is the other major work of Alan Moore.  You may remember the movie that came out a couple of years back.  It was a good movie, but a not-so-good adaptation.  I highly suggest you immerse yourself in the text and imagery of this work: experience a dystopia of epic proportions and the mad hero out to change it.  Witness the young girl caught up in it all, the young girl who wants to see change but doesn’t know if she wants to see how it happens.  Be prepared to walk away with a healthy distrust of government in general, coupled with this weird sense that chaos is brilliant.

Having polished off V for Vendetta, move on to Moore’s more traditional comics work.  Swamp Thing was one of the more popular horror comics titles, and the run Moore had on it is phenomenal.  He established it as a mature, intellectual comic; one not for kids or sensitive adults, one that dealt more with pain and loss and the human condition than it did with derring-do and damsels in distress.  You can find his run collected as trade paperbacks in the Saga of the Swamp Thing series; a recent hardback edition of Volume 1 sees a never-before-seen reprint of the very first issue that Moore wrote, and it serves as a fine wrap-up to the stories before it, so the reader can fully appreciate the brilliant narrative transition Moore made that claimed the series as his own.

Batman fans need not be without “The Killing Joke.”  It was a one-shot that Moore penned, a story that focuses mainly on the Joker.  The mesmerizing performance of Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight owes more to this book than you would think: Moore’s Joker is a frightening, unhinged, brilliant sociopath.  Not to mention the ending is a surreal treat that ranks among the greatest comics endings ever.  Pick up the trade that has a special bonus story where the Joker fantasizes about killing Batman in a variety of unique ways, or grab “The Killing Joke” as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore.  This is a good one because you can see Moore put his spin on numerous classic characters.

Some other works of Moore: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell, Promothea, a few issues of Spawn, and the highly controversial book Lost Girls.  Lost Girls was Moore’s attempt at making pornography mean something; to make it a method of exploring human sexuality while still indulging in pleasures of the flesh–what erotica is supposed to be, but oftentimes ends up falling short.  Unfortunately (for sensitive readers) he does so using your favorite fairy tale and childrens’ stories characters.

Definitely read Watchmen soon though, no matter what you do.  I would say: “The Killing Joke,” V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing (at least the first volume of the trade series), and then Watchmen.  After that, it’s your playground.

See a complete list of his works here, and when you hit the highlights start delving deeper.  Your friendly neighborhood comic shop is happy to help you.  They’ll hook you up with any trade paperback you would like, and they may have some of those old back issues for which you are looking.  Plus, they know comics, so they can give you further recommendations and introduce you even more awesome writers and artists. Patronize them before throwing even more money at [INSERT NAME OF FACELESS CORPORATE ENTITY HERE].

So go out and read.  Have fun.  Discover one of the greatest writers that has ever lived, comics or otherwise.  Go see Watchmen next week.  All snarkiness aside, Zack Snyder had some serious wa-hoo-hahs to take on this film.

Just too bad it does not really have to exist.

Your Head Will A-Splode with awesome

First, my most recent article for WomenGamers.com can be found here.  It’s an interview with some stand-out musicians from OverClocked Remix.  Check it out, and then drop by OCR’s site for some video game music goodness.

I picked this video up from Outer Heaven.  Not only is it pretty funny, but it’s rather thought-provoking: just how would competitive multiplayer using Fallout 3’s V.A.T.S. system play?  More like a traditional board game I’m sure.  I think it could work.  For now, we’ll just live with this pretty cool bit.

This video came to me courtesy of EXTRALIFE.  Funny stuff, and further proof that Batman is both the most awesome superhero ever and the easiest one to spoof, all at once.

I don’t know about you, but I actually kind of want to go out and get Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe right now because of that video.

Finally, speaking of Batman and video games, here’s the latest trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum, one of the games I’m looking forward to the most.  Even if the game is half as good as it looks, it’s going to be pretty sweet; now, how about that sandbox Gotham City game, eh?