Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Dead Island... you have to see this

Joystiq reposted the IGN trailer for Dead Island (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) that is tearing up the internet with buzz. Deep Silver, the publisher of the underappreciated Cursed Mountain for the Wii, is publishing this game from Techland. Some of you may be familiar with Techland's work in the second Call of Juarez game series. We can only hope this new game meets the incredibly high bar set by its trailer--if its this good, things will never be the same in the zombie game genre.



After you watch the trailer, be sure to click over and read some of the detailed info that IGN has posted about the game--we're talking scavenged weapons (not many guns), zombie destruction models that may prove stomach turning, all-melee combat, and RPG skill trees. Pretty ambitious...

EDIT: all that being said, its just a trailer--and its made by a company that specializes in trailers. I can't imagine how this will be indicative of actual gameplay.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

"30 Days of Night" books on sale


BTW, several collected volumes of the 30 Days of Night graphic novel/comic book series are currently on clearance at your local Barnes & Noble booksellers. This creepy book was adapted into an equally creepy (and bloody) movie in 2007. The books feature the writing of Steve Niles and (most) have the wonderful art of Ben Templesmith, who some of you may remember from the Silent Hill graphic novels. Templesmith also illustrated the Dead Space comic book which was reproduced as an animated motion comic in the highly underrated Wii game Dead Space Extraction.

I've always been interested in Templesmith's work, but never engaged with it until I played Dead Space Extraction (highly underrated IMHO), and watched the motion comic as I unlocked it during the game--the comic's animated presentation, complete with full voice cast and sound effects is amazing.

The 30 Days of Night books can be found at your local brick and mortar Barnes & Nobles--be aware that online pricing doesn't match what you may find in the stores. If you miss these books at their special price, they are still worth picking up, and I'm sure your local comic book store would be more than happy to help you amass a collection. For myself, I plan on finally picking up the Silent Hill Omnibus in the next couple of weeks, so I can finally catch up with what has been happening in the illustrated pages depicting our favorite town.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"Be Buried in Silent Hill" finalists are ready for your vote


 Its time to vote! Konami presents the top ten finalists for their tombstone contest promoting Silent Hill: Downpour. Click on over to Facebook (login required) and vote for your favorite in the "be Buried in Silent Hill" contest which will put the winning tombstones into the actual game.

My favorite has to be the one by Mike Hiscott, shown above.

You have until February 16th to cast your vote, so vote now!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

LIT lights up the Wii with a demo


In the mood for a trip to Silent Hill, but need something a little different? The WiiWare game LIT now  has a free demo available for download on the Wii console as of this past Friday (February 4). For Silent Hill fans, this game delivers a nice slow burn of creepiness as you maneuver through a high school beset with shadowy horror. Sure, its another school, but at least its not the "same" school we have already visited in our many trips to Silent Hill.


LIT is a puzzle game where you activate lamp switches and break glass windows to create paths of light that will enable you to reach a room's exit. Malevolent creatures hide within the shadows and will take any opportunity they can to grab you and absorb you into the darkness should you make a mistake. Obstacles located around the room mean there is some decent problem solving on each level. And, every couple of levels presents you with a boss fight. Bosses tend to be aggressive, and can break the rule that monsters exist only in the shadows of the rooms you are traversing. While there are trial and error elements to the puzzle solving, the game really does build a nice, constant tension, and when you accidentally step into the dark and are pulled under by the the hands of unseen terrors, you can't help but jump, no matter how many times you misstep to your doom.


Grab the demo from the Wii Shop Channel while it is available, and give it a try. LIT definitely got some fun gameplay and nice polish, and it might help scratch your Silent Hill itch on the Wii for a while.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Jill's not so Final retrospective

If you know Jill Sandwich, you know Final Girl. If you know Final Girl you know of Stacie. If you follow the Final Girl blog, you know you will see some crazy things. Stacie Ponder, the webmistress of both sites, has posted a retrospective on the Silent Hill series. Sure, there are lots of retrospectives on Silent Hill, but only one written by Stacie.

Stacie is one of those women, that when you learn about who she is and what she does you think, "Damn, she sounds so cool. I would love to be able to hang out with her." But then, as you read about all the things she blogs about and does, you realize that you just can't keep up with her awesomeness. Go check out her article, and then explore the rest of her sites. Keep in mind Final Girl covers some crazy stuff occasionally, but if you play Silent Hill, then you know what you will be getting into by becoming a Final Girl fan.
 
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