Game over man review: The Thing

So while the Dark Horse comics do a fair enough job of giving a fair go at a Thing sequel but for me the game does the best job at it.
Released in 2002 for PS2, Xbox and PC the game was a combination of third person survival horror mixed with team based combat.
You play captain Blake and his team is sent of investigate what happened at Outpost 31 and the Norwegian camp a mere 24 hours after the movie. There Blake suspects one or more of your team mates are infected. The enamies range from small things called scuttlers like the Norries head. These can be dispatched with small arms fire but with the larger creatures they must be injured then burnt after to stop them. Weapons range from pistols, machine guns, shotguns, flamethrowes and explovies. The combat also effects the difficulty. Your giving a wide range cone on an easier level while its harder when the cone is smaller and your fire field is smaller.

The other aspects of that game that are cool are the fear and trust management sysetem. If your team mate is afraid you need to calm them and if you do odd things and hurt other team mates and you could have a coup on your hands if they think your the Thing.

The downside to team elements selecting your team mates and arming them as the A.I at the time was not up to top notch. Example you could give your team mate a flame thrower to kill the thing beast while you hit it also with the shotgun. However this fool could fuck off into another room and hide of cry. Also another niggle if your team mate has been normal or if you even tested them with a blood kit and their fine you come to a boss battle their going to turn into the thing. That got to me a bit but still a minor niggle.

The voice cast is amazing Perr Sollie does a wicked turn as the grizzled but also cool Captain Blake. X-files William B Davis does the voice of the shady Colonel Whitley and none other then the main man John Carpenter lends both his likeness and voice to Dr Faraday.

A fun and intresting game that takes a while to get used to and if your a fan of the Thing its a must.

An Important Christmas message

Remember folks an alien imitation dog isnt just for Christmas! Its for a life time....no really that fucker can last about tens of millions of years in the Tundras Ice....you've been warned. 

John Carpenters the Thing.

I remember staying up late watching this wicked flick on Tv3 when I was a young lad. Its was action packed  ,gory  and packed with suspenseful  but what got me was the alien. It wasent just one creature like the xenomorph or Predator its was anything it wanted to be.I picked it up on VHS years later and my love for the movie grew. John Carpenters the Thing was a remake of the 50's movie from Howard Hawks the Thing from another world with itself is an adaption of John W. Campbell book Who goes there?

Hawks for his movie dropped the shape shifting aspect of creature for a more B-movie monster. Carpenter loved the concept and made it the focal point of his movie. What if your trapped in a place, isolated and those around you are not as they seem.

Set in the Antartic in the winter of 1982 at a U.S research station 31 the movie plonks us into the action in a what the fuck moment when a dog is chased in to the camp buy what would seem to be stir crazy Norwegians. Shit goes from bad to worse resulting in some of the U.S outpost traveling to the Norwegian base and finding that some very crazy shit took place there. They return and some realise that some people are not what they seem. This plays out paranoia and suspense like nobodies business. The men soon turn on each other and one buy one the team is picked off either buy the creature or the men them selves.

This is one of my top fave movies of all time, The acting is wicked, the music is amazing but what else would you expect from Ennio Morricone, the effect while not as flashy today a still the fucking bomb. Rob Bottin should have gone on to do bigger things...no pun intened. This was John Carpenter at his A game and yet another great collabortation with the ever awesome Kurt Russel as McReady. The Ending of the movie is fantastic...It makes you wonder who came out on top.

The ending along with the fact this movie came out in 82 the same time as a friendly alien called E.T showed up did cause issues for its success and the film didnt do well at all. Over the years it found a massive cult following spawning a video game, a range of comic books and a prequel movie in 2011 but more about them later.

So if your like me and your a huge Sci-fi and horror fan .....you need to see this movie...its mandatory and if you dont think so well then "You gotta be fucking kidding!"

A Thing for Christmas!

So leading up to Christmas I've decided to do a review of elements from my other beloved killer alien franchise. The Thing. Why well you make as...well its set in the snow and like Christmas you never knew what your going to get with the thing it could be anything like a Christmas present...that could kill you.
Ill be reviewing the movies, the  PS2 video game and the Darkhorse comic series. So wrap up warm and rock a flamethrower....We're going to find out whats the thing.

The Thing Christmas blow is buy NightmareHound.
Check out his stuff here. http://nightmarehound.deviantart.com/
and here
http://nightmarehound.tumblr.com/

Interview with concept artist Aga Romańska

Im chatting to the uber talented concept artist and sci-fi enthusiast and Alien fan .
((she's got a pet chestburster)) Aga Romańska 

Martin: What age were you when you say your first Alien movie and which was it?

Aga: I think I was about 6 or 7 when I saw the first Alien Movie and it was literally the first one, from 1979.Was mentally scarred only for a few years.

Martin: Which charater of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?

Aga:  I would say Ripley, for a few reasons. One was, she surprised everyone that a woman played a main character. Two, she's completely badass, not ever breaking down, even when she's been stuck with the Alien for 3 movies. Three, she fought the Queen in a fucking mech.

Martin: Which of the Aliens franchise was your favorite and why?

Aga: I have a dilemma between the first and the third movie. I would say, the Alien storyline is my favourite, but the editing in Alien 3 is great, along with the colour palette. Yup, still can't decide.

Martin: Where would you like to see the Alien franchise go considering the mess that was Prometheus?

Aga: Honestly? I don't think any more films should be made. I think it's best to leave it alone, before any more overly ambitious directors ruin it that bit more. The trilogy is perfect as it is (I'm not gonna aknowledge Resurrection). There is a time when one just has to say ''stop''. However, I would be happy to see more Alien themed games. I've yet to play Alien: Isolation.

Martin:Has parts of the sci-fi series has influnanced your art ?


Aga: Unfortunately, no. I've drawn plenty of Alien fanart, but when it comes to my original work, I'm not inspired by it. However, in the future I would like to experiment more with the theme, maybe mix it into my character designs.It would be a bit of a challenge, but I think it'd prove to be interesting.

You can check out more of Aga's work here. https://www.facebook.com/ArtsyStuffOfAga
                                                                     http://mangakapoof.deviantart.com/